Kai and Eva, sittin' in a tree!!!
K-I-S-S-I --- huh?
--CK suddenly realises that there are people watching her. --
-- She blushes and grins sheepishly --
Hehehe...sorry. Anyways, continue reading!
I hope you like it!
Love from, CK
Chapter 3 : Sentimentals
Kai gave an 'hmph' of uncaring before walking out of the room, leaving a very uncomfortable Eva.
She turned to the others and they sweatdropped, trying to give her reassuring smiles about Kai's attitude.
Eva let out a tired and frustrated sigh, running a hand trough her hair and trying to calm herself over what her grandmother had done.
Abandoned her.
"Wait," Ray said as everyone turned to look at him. He nodded towards Eva.
"Raise your right arm again" he instructed.
Eva cautiously raised her arm upwards and extended it, just like he'd asked.
Ray gave a grin, one of his fangs sitting over his bottom lip as he said, "I knew there was something familiar about you! You're a neko-jin, aren't you?" he asked.
Eva gave a look of surprise and nodded.
"I'm a halfling—my mother was a neko-jin, but my father was Russian" she told him, "but I'm still considered Russian, since that was where I was born and my mother took on my dad's Russian last name when they married."
Ray's grin widened. "Do you know where your mother was from?" Ray asked.
Eva gave a small grin in return. "Where are you from Ray? You're obviously a neko-jin…but my mother came from a small town in Italy. You don't look Italian to me…are you…but you're…Chinese? I'm sorry--I don't mean to be rude…it's just that… my mother and her village were very close with a tiny village in China. I doubt you've heard of it, though…"
Ray's heart jumped and he stepped closer to Eva, hardly believing what he was hearing.
"Do you mean White Tiger Village?"
"Yes! Are you from there?" Eva said turning to look at him in disbelief and excitement.
"From there?" Ray repeated, "That's my hometown! I'm the one that holds the sacred white-tiger as my bitbeast!"
"Are you kidding me? You have Driger, the white-tiger, as your bitbeast? That's amazing!" she cried out.
Ray laughed happily. "This sounds like the start of a beautiful friendship!" he joked. Eva smiled at his friendliness towards her.
"Looks like it!" she joked back, feeling comfortable around him as she walked over and gave him a quick hug.
Ray smiled as he hugged her back, now noticing her cat-like poise, the slight point to her ears, and her slightly sharper-thabn-average teeth as she smiled.
Kai walked into the kitchen, getting ready to yell at everyone that it was time for training, but stopped when he saw Ray and Eva hugging.
An image of himself yanking Eva out of Ray's arms and into his own flashed through his head.
'What's wrong with me? It's not like I care or anything…'he told himself.
He gave a grunt of annoyance at his thoughts, which caught everyone's attention.
"Alright, time for training. Everyone get out and wait for my instructions" Kai ordered.
Grumbles followed Kai's order, but everyone shuffled outside anyways.
"Hehehe, hey Kenny!" Tyson called out happily, seeing the computer-genius waiting for them in Tyson's backyard.
Kenny waved at them and a second later he was joined by Hilary who appeared from around the corner.
"AHHH!!" Tyson yelled, trying to turn around and run at the sight of the brown-haired girl. He was stopped by Kai who roughly grabbed his shirt and carelessly dragged him back outside.
"Oh my gosh, grow up Tyson!" she said, her hands on her hips. Tyson sneered at her in response. Just then, both Hilary and Kenny were surprised when Eva timidly walked out from behind Kai.
Hilary looked her over from head-to-toe disapprovingly, noting her stained dress.
"Who are you?" Hilary asked suspiciously.
"Oh, my name is Eva" Eva quickly said, "I'm staying with these guys for the next little while."
"Why?' Hilary asked.
"It—it was my grandmother's idea. She's friends with Mr. Dickinson."
Hilary raised an eyebrow and looked Eva over from head-to-toe again.
Eva shifted uncomfortably, and seeing Hilary's intense gaze sweep over her, she instinctively moved closer to the person who was standing beside her--Kai.
Hilary's eyes narrowed when she saw Eva move closer to Kai.
Just what does she think she's trying to do with my man?! Hilary thought. Well…if she tries anything with him, she'll desperately regret it! Kai is mine and that girl better know it!'
Hilary gave a sickeningly sweet smile to Eva and moved closer towards her.
"So then, Eva…do you beyblade?" Hilary asked. Eva shyly nodded.
"Are you a beginner?" Hilary asked. Eva wasn't sure what Hilary meant by that question, but she replied with a quiet, "no."
"Really? That's great!" Hilary said darkly, "so if you're staying with us for a while, does that mean you're going to be Tyson's partner for the next Beyblade tournament?."
"What?" Eva said in surprise, "I uhh—I didn't even know there was a—"
"There's a beyblade tournament coming up!?" Tyson interrupted, looking to Kenny excitedly.
Kenny smiled knowingly and nodded. "Mr. Dickinson called me in this morning to tell me about it, and I was supposed to relay the message to you guys. It starts in two months time, and he'll be advertising it at the end of this week.
The tournament is more of an exhibition game than an actual competitive game. It's to celebrate the BBA's new corporate sponsors officially signing with them.
Most teams have already been notified and if my data is correct, some teams are even arriving as soon as this week to prepare for the tournament's opening date.
It's a tag team tournament, so each blader must pair up with another to enter. Hilary and I have been going over the statistics and co-operability of each of you, and we've determined that since Hilary now blades, she's licensed to enter, so all we need is one more blader and we're set to register" Kenny told them.
"Sweet!" Tyson shouted throwing a fist up into the air. "So, do you guys know who's gonna be paired with who?"
Kenny nodded. "After Hilary and I ran over all of your statistics this morning, we've decided that Hilary and Kai are a strong match together, so they'll be together for the tournament. Hilary is strong defensively but slightly weak offensively, and Kai is incredibly strong on offence as well as defence, so they'll be paired together."
Hilary smiled at Kai, who didn't bother to react.
"Also, since both Max and Ray are equally strong in offence and in defence, they'd be best as partners, which leaves only you, Tyson, who needs a partner to match your skills and strengths."
"Cool!" Tyson said, taking what Kenny had said as a compliment. He grinned and threw his arms around Eva cheerily.
"So Eva, do wanna be my partner?' he asked her grinning.
"Oh wait!" Hilary suddenly interrupted in mock surprise, "how do we know you're good enough to be on the team?" she asked. Eva stuttered in confusion.
"I-uhh, I don't even---"
"She'll blade Tyson in two weeks. If she wins, she's on the team, if not… go find yourself another partner Kinomya," Kai said coldly.
"Wonderful" Hilary said mockingly, but it appeared that only Eva heard the comment.
Kai gave an 'hmph' uncaringly and turned to the rest of the team before speaking.
"Whatever, we'll skip training today. Eva get your stuff and let's go" he ordered her. The rest of the team sighed in relief that training was cancelled but stopped when Kai looked at them warningly.
"Training is cancelled for today, but tomorrow you will be doing twice as much work. So don't get too happy over it…." Kai turned soundlessly and walked away as Eva followed him unsurely.
She quickly grabbed her bags and within a few minutes a black car rolled up and Eva and Kai were both driven home by the Hiwatari's personal chauffeur. Awkwardly, Eva spent most of the trip looking out the window at the streets of Japan but after a short drive out of town she recognized the Hiwatari emblem on the black gates where their car pulled up.
A moment later the gates swung open and Eva looked with new interest at Kai's mansion.
It was stone grey and as large as a mansion could be. There was a small fence around the driveway and a tiny almost non-existent garden took up the front of the driveway's round-about, along with a small grey fountain.
"This is your house?" Eva asked.
"Yes" was Kai's cold reply. Eva smiled softly to herself.
At least he's talking to me… she thought on the bright side.
"It's nice" she told him. He grunted as if to disagree with her naïve opinion.
The chauffeur opened the door for them and told Eva that he would take her luggage for her up to her room. She thanked him kindly and then quickly ran to catch up with Kai, who had already entered the house.
He waited for her impatiently at the bottom of a large staircase and wordlessly brought her upstairs. They went through a few twisted, richly decorated corridors before finally stopping in a wide hallway in front of a solid, French door.
"Here. This is your room" he told her, but before he could continue someone rounded the corner and stopped behind them.
An tall, elderly man with a grey moustache and a kind face bowed apologetically behind them, and said in a thick accent,
"Forgive me Master Kai; I did not know you were home." Kai 'hmph'ed in response to the man's words but nodded to him in acknowledgement. The older man then looked up from his bow and met Eva's gaze uncertainly. Eva stiffened but relaxed a moment later as a smile crept onto her surprised face.
"Vlad!" she said happily walking over to give the man a hug. The man chuckled and returned the smile and the hug, pulling away after a moment to view her at an arm's length.
"My goodness…Eva! Oh, Mistress Eva! What a wonderful surprise this is!" he commented to her happily. "When on earth did you get here?" he asked.
"Today, it was grandmother's idea since she's going away on business. I didn't know you were here, though! I thought you were supposed to back in Russia at the Hiwatari Palace!" she said.
A look of confusion crossed Vlad's features. "Palace?" he muttered.
Eva covered her mouth in realisation.
"I mean the Hiwatari Mansion in Russia" she said quickly. "It's just that you, well, the Hiwatari's own so many mansions I usually call the main mansion a palace, just so I can remember the difference" she admitted.
Vlad let out a cheery laugh and touched her cheek tenderly.
"Oh I see, I see! Oh, if only your parents could see you now, Miss Eva. You've grown into such a beautiful young woman!—so full of life like your father and just as beautiful as your mother!" he commented.
Eva smiled in thanks at him.
"So young Mistress, does that mean you'll be staying with us for a while?" Vlad asked.
"Yes" Eva replied, "a few months…I'm really sorry if it's a problem" she added quickly.
"No problem at all!" he told her. Vlad then turned to Kai.
"Have you given the Mistress a room yet, Master?' Vlad asked.
"Yes" Kai replied, "You're standing in front of it. Get her set up and tell her to meet me at 7:00pm sharp for dinner."
"Yes, Master" Vlad said and seeming satisfied, Kai walked past them both without a word. Eva watched Kai go and Vlad gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, Master Kai is always like that, but we all know he's a big softie underneath it all" Vlad teased. "Now, Miss Eva, if you'll follow me I'll show you your room and your way around the mansion."
He opened the large white door and kindly let Eva walk in first. Like all the other times she had been in a Hiwatari Mansion, the room was extremely large and filled with a comfy double-bed, a television, a personal bathroom, a walk-in closet, a computer and a work desk, along with a beautiful window.
"You're quite familiar with the layout of the room I take it, Miss Eva" Vlad said, "so I'll just mention one little thing. You see that door over there? The one beside the bathroom door? That door connects to Master's Kai's bedroom, so if for any reason you should need assistance or get lonely, feel free to sneak in" he told her.
"Wait, Kai put my room next to his!?" Eva said turning to Vlad in surprise. Vlad nodded at her in amusement.
"But of course, anytime that you've ever slept over at the Hiwatari mansion your room has always been beside Master Kai's" Vlad told her. "Don't you remember?"
"No, I remember" Eva reassured, "it's just that… I'm surprised Kai remembered that. I've heard rumours that Kai has lost a lot of his memory since the Abbey" Eva said. Her face fell and a look of worry and sadness spread across her face as she mentioned the Abbey.
"Kai probably doesn't remember much about his childhood before the Abbey…and truthfully, I'm surprised he even remembered that we used to be friends. I just hope he's okay…."she trailed off worriedly.
Vlad laid a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring grin.
"Don't worry, Miss. Master Kai is stronger than you think, in more ways than one. He can take care of himself, and he'll regain his memories when the time is right."
Eva nodded gently but looked up to Vlad in support.
"Vlad, just so you know, even when I was a kid you were always my favourite person in the Hiwatari mansion," she told him. "You're an irreplaceable friend. But do you…do you ever think that Kai may never gets his memories back?" she asked.
Vlad shook his head at her with a smile.
"I know that Kai will get his memories back eventually. I can feel it, all the way in these old bones of mine" Vlad laughed. "Now, enough worrying" he told her, "do you want a tour of the mansion?"
"Oh, no thank you" Eva said, "I'll just explore on my own." Vlad nodded in response.
Just then, the chauffeur appeared around the corner with Eva's bags. Eva thanked him sweetly and took the bags and luggage from his hands and Vlad stepped in to help her.
They moved her suitcases into the room and Vlad went back out to pick up the last one.
"No wait!" Eva suddenly said running over to Vlad's side. She took a tiny green suitcase out from Vlad's hand and grinned sheepishly at him.
"I'll take this one" Eva insisted. Vlad raised an eyebrow at her but let her take the bag.
"Something important, I take it?" he questioned. Eva looked down in embarrassment.
"It's…personal…and very valuable to me" she told him quietly; as if she were afraid he was going to laugh.
"Sentimental jewellery?" he asked her. She shyly shook her head.
"No, much…much more valuable than jewellery" she said. Vlad nodded in understanding.
"I see. Well Miss Eva, if you need any assistance just call out, and watch over that suitcase of yours. If it's precious to you then don't ever lose sight of it, although I can't seem to think of anything more valuable than jewels to Russian girl…" Vlad pondered in thought as he turned away and walked down the stairs. Eva watched him go fondly and sighed in relief once he was gone.
"True" she muttered to herself sadly, "there isn't much that's more valuable than jewellery to most Russian girls…except me…Kai's memories are much more important than jewellery to me..."
YES!...Hehehehehe...
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Let me know!!!