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)

Raisa woke the next morning to the golden sun seeping in from the gap between the curtains and the floor. She stretched and rose, opening the curtains before doing anything else to let the sun wash over her room. She had unpacked some of her belongings, but had found she was too tired to continue. By the dresser was now a small neat pile of the things left to be unpacked. She decided though, that she would do it later. Now she would wash and get dressed. Despite the cold, it was a lovely day. Too lovely to simply waste away in her room.

Kai had woken several hours before, and was downstairs in the kitchen eating breakfast. While in the left wing, Voltaire probably sat at the head of the dining room table, having his fine breakfast, prepared by the cook, brought out for him by the servants, Kai sat down at the bar in the empty kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal in the right wing. He had turned down his grandfather's offer to send half of his servants to Kai's wing. Kai had flatly stated that he wanted no servants, no help of any kind. He was happy to independently live alone in his wing.

But as he was thinking his, the other current occupant wandered through the doors. When she caught sight of him, she smiled and said, with relief 'Oh, found it.'

In return for her smile, Kai took a gulp of tea. 'Did you get lost?' He asked, slightly amused.

She chuckled 'For a few minutes.' She joined Kai at the bar, pulling out a stool that wasn't too close to him, and taking a look at the newspaper that lay on the counter. Kai suddenly realised that he was supposed to be a host of some kind.

'You want some breakfast?'

She looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned her head towards him, her golden hair creating a strange halo around her head. 'Tea would be great,' then she added, 'But I can get it…'

'No, I will.' Getting up from his cereal, Kai headed towards the kettle. Raisa continued to read the paper. It was a Sunday so Kai had the day off work. He assumed that Raisa had managed to get the day off too, having just moved into a new house. Putting down the paper, she gazed out of the large windows at the beautiful view, covered in a white blanket of snow. She had never seen anything like it; her house certainly didn't have a view like this one. Where she lived, there was nothing to see except other large houses. Voltaire's mansion was high on the hill, isolated from all other grand mansions and homes. You could see for miles out of the kitchen and lounge windows. She suspected that Kai had the fantastic view aswell, while her balcony looked over the front of the house, down the long drive that seemed to go on for ever, through the tall fur trees. Thinking of her house brought a sudden thought to her mind, and she looked over at Kai, who was still waiting for the water to boil. 'Kai, could I use the phone? I need to call my mother.'

Kai looked over at her for a moment, and then returned his gaze to the tiles on the floor. 'I'll get you the phone. In the future there's no need to ask. You live here too now.'

'Oh,' Raisa was slightly surprised at his response, and had easily sensed the resentment in what he had said. When he returned to the kitchen with the phone in his hand, she took it gratefully. 'Thankyou.'

Kai nodded and went back to the kettle while Raisa dialled the number. When the little light suddenly went off, he was relieved to have something to do other than wait, and suddenly understood why people liked to work so much: it gave them something to do. Kai's work bored him to death, but at least he was doing something with his time everyday. Raisa seemed to be just the opposite. She owned a company, doing the work she loved, and worked from the comfort of her home, or wherever she was. Kai usually spent his Sunday's training, doing extra work, or reading. Today he had the job of showing Raisa the rooms of his wing. He glanced over at her, sitting at the bar stool, ankles crossed, a distant look on her face as she spoke into the receiver. The circle of light reflected on her hair was still surrounding her head. He sighed and turned back to where he was making her tea.

The tour around the right wing was brief, but still took time. It simply consisted of a long walk around the many rooms and down the corridors, in an almost silent game of follow the leader. Raisa was inwardly fascinated with the many great rooms of the right wing of the Hiwatari home, most of which probably went unused. The library was filled with shelves of books which looked as though they had never been touched. They did not venture into this room; Kai must have felt it unimportant. He simply decided to walk past it. After he had passed the door, it opened once again and Raisa almost walked into someone coming out. It was a girl, probably not much older than Raisa, but she looked startled at her presence. Raisa too, froze for a moment. Kai turned back, noticing that there had been a disruption, and scowled a little when he saw the girl. A look of pure embarrassment swept over her face, and with a swift curtsey to Raisa, she scuttled away in the other direction.

Raisa was a little bemused 'I thought you didn't keep servants?'

Kai made a smug 'hm' sound in response, then added 'Someone has to clean.'

'I see. What's her name?'

'Beats me.'

Raisa frowned and bit her lower lip, but said no more and continued to follow Kai through the mansion. She came from a household where servants were always addressed respectively, by name. They were treated fairly, though as servants should be. But this girl had looked startled at the sight of Raisa, and discomforted that Kai had even seen her. Kai did not know her name, and Raisa doubted that anybody in the whole of Voltaire's mansion knew any of the servant's names. This may have been her first hint at the social class awareness of the Hiwatari's.

Once every room had been shown they found themselves back in the sitting room. The portrait Raisa had caught a glimpse of the previous evening glared down at them, keeping a watchful eye on its territory. Perched comfortably on the royal blue sofa, they prepared for a peaceful afternoon of silence.

After a couple of hours, in which Kai sat lost in his thoughts and completely undisturbed, he assumed the lack of activity had taken an effect, as Raisa rose and announced she was taking a walk. Kai nodded, pointed out once again that she needn't ask permission for such things, and stayed seated as she swiftly shut the door behind her. For a moment he wondered whether she might try to escape, before he remembered how unlike her that was. An amusing image of the senile old man, ranting from an upstairs window at the girl he thinks is making a break for it, crossed his mind. With a small shake of the head to nobody in particular, he sighed at the thought of once again being by himself. But though he would never admit it, he deemed himself quite lucky, compared to what could have happened. He had never really met a person he could tolerate so much, who left him alone and spoke only a little more than him. The only thing that he could think of that got on his nerves was her constant seeking of approval. Anything she wanted to do, she felt she had to ask. Kai didn't know whether to be pleased with this or not. She clearly did not want to get on his bad side, and felt that making herself at home was a sure way to do just that. His attitude intimidated her, though she tried not to show it. He rubbed his eyes, which only increased his fatigue. Yet another who wanted to gain his endorsement.

There was only one room Kai had not shown her: his. This was partly for privacy reasons, and partly because he barely took an interest in it himself, so why should anybody else? Though the wealth had helped to turn it into the sort of room any guy at his age would want, Kai simply wasn't used to that sort of thing. While growing up in Balcov Abbey, the children had lived in grimy cells that lay deep underground. Even these were shared with several other boys. When travelling with the Bladebreakers and other teams, Kai had never had a room of his own; always some hotel room which they would share. Kai could deal just fine with that. A room of his own was a waste of space to him; though it was filled with his belongings, and much else to accommodate his every desire, it was no sanctuary. It was simply a room.

He had been on his way there when something had caught his attention. A frosty breeze was encircling the landing. Walking by, he noticed that Raisa's door and window were both open, the curtains flapping loudly with the wind. Exhaling heavily, Kai strode into the room in order to bring the wing back to a reasonable temperature. Once the window was shut the room was filled with silence. Glancing through the glass, Kai saw nothing but snow.

He had intended on leaving immediately, having closed the window. Without the intention of snooping, he had entered to do both him and Raisa a favour. It was the small sheet of paper that caught his eye, which lay, unfolded, on the dressing table. Kai retrieved it from the collection of hair lotions, perfume and makeup, reading it out of curiosity.

'Raisa, when you return from London I shall be gone, but I ensured that all your possessions be packed and nothing left behind. I am sorry to have missed you, and do hope that everything turns out for the best. You know that should you change your mind, I support your every decision. I know your wisdom would never lead you astray. Your father and I shall be returning for the new year. Though I must not explain where we have been, I will be sure to see you again very soon. All the best.'

So, Raisa had been in London the past few months. This explained why Kai had heard nothing of her name since their first meeting that summer. From the letter, it looked as though Raisa was highly thought of in her family, and perhaps they were unwilling to let her go so quickly. Until then, Kai had been under the impression that this engagement had been formed between the two families, but for a moment he wasn't too sure. He brushed off this thought instantly though, as a mother simply worried about her daughter.

Taking the opportunity to let his curiosity lead him further astray, Kai noticed a stack of papers sitting on the bed, still waiting to be put away in their rightful places. Standing with his back to the door, Kai flicked through them. They were mainly designs and rough thumbnails, obviously for work. But at the bottom of the small pile were two that stood out from the rest, being much larger and thicker. Gently placing the designs on the pillow, Kai bent over the remaining sheets.

They were portraits. Both skilfully done, by the same artist, using the same medium (some form of oil paint). The smaller of the two was clearly Raisa, but at a slightly younger age. It was the hair that gave it away; a striking ruby red that clearly wasn't natural, and a huge contrast to the calm golden colour of her hair now. The portrait was her head and shoulders. White material of clothing draped loosely over her shoulders, and around her neck hung a silver chain, the centre of which drew all eyes towards it immediately. Bringing out the colour of her eyes, a vast realm of deep blue. A blue diamond, in which one could get lost in. It was entrancing, and Kai's eyes had been drawn to it almost immediately.

The other painting was an upper-body portrait of two people. Raisa, with chestnut coloured hair, this time in an expensive-looking black gown, and a boy whom Kai did not recognise. He was almost a foot taller than Raisa, dressed as smartly as she was, with a slight smile on his face. He was faintly handsome, but could not be picked out in a crowd. Yet he had an honest face, with a shy aura about him. This Kai managed to gather simply from the painting. But Raisa was smiling in this portrait aswell, one of those rare smiles people give when they really mean it, and the artist had somehow managed to capture it perfectly.

While examining the paintings, Kai had temporarily forgotten to not let his guard down. Before he could contemplate returning to his room, as was the original plan, his thoughts were interrupted by a voice from the doorway.

'Having fun?'