Disclaimer- I don't own Beyblade or any of the beyblade characters. However all OCs are owned by me and are not to be stolen (though I know nobody has that intention)
December
It was winter. The weather had changed with the season and it was pitch black outside the large windows, and not much lighter inside. Two chairs were taken up around the large dining table in the west wing of the mansion, while the people sitting in them ate in silence. A normal family would call this dinner, but in Kai's case it was the time of day where he would eat very little and glare down at his plate, avoid his grandfather's eyes at all cost, and dismiss himself as soon as he could.
Sure enough, he was staring at his food with a harsh dislike, as though he were staring into the familiar cold eyes that bore on him from across the table. He pushed his food around but he wasn't hungry. He could not understand why his grandfather would condemn him to such suffering, when they had nothing to talk about and Kai could easily eat in his own dining room in the mansion's right wing, alone and in peace, as he liked to be. He hated unnecessary and uncomfortable situations. Though he was usually the best at creating them, these he would always avoid if he could.
'Kai,' the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end at the sudden voice, ringing out harshly in the silence.
He replied politely, though he did not look up. 'Yes?'
'I trust that you remember the plans we have been making?'
For a moment, Kai thought his grandfather was talking about their previous meeting in the board room. Naturally, he had not been listening to a word that was being said, too lost in his thought to pay attention to such unimportant discussions.
'I-' But before he was even going to begin, he was cut off.
'Now Kai, quite a bit of thought has gone into this. I won't have you mess it up, you understand?'
Now Kai was really confused. Still not looking up, or attempting to speak again if he would only be cut off, he tried to make it look as though he knew exactly what his grandfather was talking about.
Voltaire took his usual silence for an agreement and carried on. 'This whole situation is important, both for business and for blood. I will not stand for-'
'Blood?' Kai repeated, before he could stop himself. After a quick state of even greater confusion, the whole thing began to unravel. Kai had assumed this discussion would be based on a new business strategy, or some other insane method of taking over the world. But apparently, this was not the case.
'That's right, Kai, blood. Continuing the Hiwatari business will require a blood relative, and I will accept nothing less.'
Kai rolled his eyes at the absurdity. Business and blood. Everything that his grandfather strived for could be summed up in those two words. It was typical of him to describe family as 'blood', a deep red liquid that could kill anyone who lost too much. It was not the family he cared about, it was having a blood relative that could take control of business, 'produce an heir', as Voltaire would say. It made Kai want to laugh and gag at the same time, to hear it referred to in such a way, as though they ran a kingdom. A company was a company in Kai's mind, and nothing more. This plan may have shocked him once but he was no longer surprised by it. He was expected to marry and produce a son that could continue the business. After his own father's death, Voltaire had begun to panic and thrown Kai into a world he didn't want to be in, encouraging him to do the same as quickly as possible. Kai would have felt sorry for this non-existant child, had he had any intentions of actually obeying his grandfather's mad-cap demands. Of course, he did not speak any of his thoughts at that moment.
'Right…' he said, in a sarcastic tone. Then, standing up, he added as an after-thought 'Can I go now?'
'Not yet,' came the reply, and much to Kai's irritation, he added, with a slight smirk 'Have a little patience, Kai. There's just one more thing and then you can go.'
Kai did not sit back down, but he was now looking into his grandfather's eyes. The look was challenging and would have belittled anybody except, of course, Voltaire. He stared back into his grandsons eyes with the same sincere look. He cleared his throat and spoke slowly. 'There's somebody here, who will be staying with you.'
Kai's eyes narrowed. He could have guessed what his grandfather was about to say, but he still exhaled a little too quickly when this new guest of theirs was called into the room. The butler entered the room first to announce her entrance. Kai rolled his eyes; Voltaire had really taken their wealth seriously.
'Miss Raisa Luinwe.' He spoke, and bowed out of the way as the announced entered the room. She walked with confidence in her stride, but still looked as though she found the whole situation awkward.
Kai could agree with her there. With everything he had been doing lately, he had almost completely forgotten about Raisa. He inwardly groaned at the thought of having something else to think about. And without doubt, Raisa would be living in the right wing of the mansion with him. He imagined that her luggage was being brought up to the spare room at that very moment.
Voltaire nodded at the butler, and he turned to Raisa. 'Master Voltaire bids you to take a seat.'
Kai really did groan that time. This meant he would have to sit there longer. He watched as Raisa slowly lowered herself into a chair, bowing her head in thanks as it was pulled out for her. She had clearly just arrived; she still wore her black coat and deep red silk scarf. Kai remembered their first meeting in the summer as he watched her sit. She did not lean against the table, nor the back of the chair. She sat, completely upright, and kept her head perfectly still, though her eyes were looking around her. She had sat herself in the one seat between Kai and his grandfather.
Voltaire finished his food and it was taken away. 'Now,' he began, as though this were a business meeting. 'Miss Luinwe is to stay with you, Kai. Her belongings are already in her room, and I trust that you will show her around.' He added, stiffly, 'Is that understood?'
'Yes, grandfather.' Kai responded, through gritted teeth, without looking up from the deep wood of the table. Raisa nodded, and said a clear 'Thankyou', but it was unclear who she was speaking to.
Voltaire nodded, 'Good. You will escort her there now, Kai. I dismiss you both.'
Kai got up a little too quickly, and Raisa gracefully followed suit. She walked behind Kai as he led her to her room. Walking down the many corridors, up the many staircases, she was certain that she would never manage to find her away around the large house by herself. She had thought hers was big enough, but this one was at least twice the size. Slightly unnecessary, she thought, but kept it to herself. After all, she didn't know the whole relationship between Kai and his grandfather, or the lack of, and didn't properly understand that the more space put between them, the better. As it was, the mansion was divided in half; the left wing for Voltaire, and Kai lived in the right wing. Each one had it's own bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, and everything that would be needed. They had now crossed into the right wing, which looked much the same as the left. The only difference was the lack of servants on this side of the main hall. The place was well-lit by artificial light, and large paintings hung on the walls. There were many portraits; relatives and ancestors. Walking by a large door-way, Raisa took a quick look into a great room which she took to be the lounge. Above the fireplace hung a handsome portrait of Kai himself. He was, as usual, staring with a sincere and strong expression, that the artist had captured very well. But Raisa didn't have the time to look at it properly. She couldn't risk falling behind Kai and getting lost.
'It's a beautiful house,' she remarked, not expecting a reply. In the silence her heels made a clip-clop noise on the floor, which she started to become conscious of, but continued to walk anyway.
By the time they had reached the top of the stairs, Kai had almost forgotten what he was doing, and inwardly cursed the mansion for being so large. Assuming that Raisa had been placed in the largest and grandest of the spare rooms, he approached the large oak door and opened it, stepping back to let her enter.
She smiled when she stepped into the room. Her luggage had all been placed at the foot of the large canopy bed, some of her clothes already hung up in the large closet. The room had its own bathroom and balcony. It was lovely.
She turned back to Kai, who was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed.
'Thankyou.'
He nodded in return, then pointed further down the hall. 'My room's over there, if you…need anything.' He said, awkwardly. She smiled back at him and he left her to unpack, closing the door behind him.
As he entered his own room, he leaned back against the closed door and sighed. Though it was unnecessarily big, he liked to have the right wing to himself. He now had to share his sanctuary with somebody else, and though he could stand her, he didn't think he was too keen on the idea. But he would have to deal with it; no matter how things would eventually work out, Raisa would be with him for a while. This idea of her moving in suggested to him that Voltaire would be planning for the wedding to be sooner than he had expected. No matter how long Kai could hold it off, Raisa would still be there. But then again, Kai didn't get the feeling that Raisa was completely against this marriage, as he was. Either that, or she had just simply accepted it, which is what it seemed like. She may have owned her own company, but in his opinion, she still seemed likely to just let her fate be decided for her. He wasn't like that, though. The only person who would decide his fate was him, and he was pretty sure that he would not be marrying Raisa, no matter how long he had to have her living with him.
But as he sat back on his bed, book in hand, he figured he might as well just deal with it. Raisa was not a bad person, as far as he knew anyway. She didn't annoy him and she seemed to understand that he would talk to her as little as possible, as he did everyone else. Tomorrow, he would show her the wing, and after that, he would hope she could find her way around, and try to keep space between them at all times. Besides, they both worked, so their time would be taken up most days anyway.
Giving up on reading, Kai decided to turn in early. He strolled into his own bathroom to brush his teeth, still trying to think of possible ways to get out of this situation, and the wedding he had a bad feeling his grandfather was already setting dates for.
(A/N) I apologize once again to all of you who hate OC's. This one is not a minor and does have an important role in the story, sorry to say.
