Hope you're all fab! Sorry that its taken me two weeks to update, I went on holiday . but anyway, on with the chapter!
Questions were racing through Kai's mind; why did Mr. Dickinson need to speak with all four of them? Surely the old man hadn't forgotten that he was no longer on the same team as Tala, Bryan and Spencer? No, that wasn't it. Maybe Kai needed to formally leave the Blitzkrieg Boys before taking part in the next championship. Surely not, switching teams had never been an issue in the past. Kai sulked quietly into his chair as he revisiting the many times he had betrayed his friends. I'm an ass, he thought, staring out of the window.
Both he and Spencer were sat alone in the lobby of the hotel. Neither of them spoke and the entire journey from the park to the hotel had been quite the same. Kai wished that the old man would hurry up; Spencer was fidgeting more and more as time went by and Kai was subsequently becoming more and more irritated by the second. During one particularly fidgety movement, Spencer caught Kai's eye and Kai glared back, but Spencer seemed not to notice. Kai frowned and looked the other way, clearly something was up. He pondered for a few moments, mind harking back to the conversation he had overheard in the park. He turned back to survey Spencer again, wondering what secret he might be keeping, that was until Kai decided that he didn't give a rats ass, and went back to staring out of the window with an aloof expression upon his face.
"Boys!" they both jumped at the stressed voice that had traveled over to the sofa. Finally! Thought Kai who quickly raised himself from his seat and walked towards Mr. Dickinson. He did not look impressed.
"Kai, you're late!"
"Hn," Kai grumbled in response.
"Don't give me that attitude, I had something very important to discuss with you outside of this meeting but now it shall have to wait!" Mr. Dickinson began to walk off and Kai and Spencer took this as an invitation to follow him.
They passed an area full of comfy looking plump purple sofas, the lighting was dim and the floor glistened from the reflection of the small ceiling lights. They followed Mr. Dickinson through a large marble archway, down a small side corridor and then into a private lounge. "Make yourselves comfortable, I'm going to go and wait for Tala and Bryan to arrive." He waddled out of the room hurriedly.
Kai looked around, the room was of a decent size, big enough to fit two of the velvet sofas he had seen in the communal living room and a mahogany coffee table. Kai selected a red armchair that had been pushed into the corner, slightly away from the sofas. It was quite comfy; he could imagine it would be a nice place to have a nap. He gazed at it enthusiastically but decided against it, imagining how Tala would never let him live it down if he discovered Kai curled up cozily in an armchair, hugging a fluffy gold cushion.
Instead, he retrieved his blade from his pocket and began to examine it, noticing a few scratches. He wondered when Kenny would be upgrading it to the second metal system. Fifteen minutes passed as he thought about the pros and cons of the newest release, until the door opened to reveal Tala and Bryan, closely followed by Mr. Dickinson and a woman who worked at the hotel, she was pushing a silver teacart similar to that which he had seen upstairs that morning.
"Fancy seeing you here, Kai." Said Bryan, grinning evilly again. Kai ignored him.
"Just sit down, Bryan." Tala cut across and Bryan stopped talking immediately and sat down on the velvet sofas. The entire team looked very casual and somewhat careless, Tala even stretched out and put his feet up on the mahogany coffee table with his hands resting behind his head. Kai rolled his eyes; they were so full of themselves.
"Tea, boys?" asked Mr. Dickinson, pouring five cups, not that any of them had said yes. They all sat there silently as the older man handed them each a china cup. Kai stared at the light brown liquid and wrinkled his nose; he had never been much of a tea drinker.
"Ok then, let me tell you boys why I've asked you all to meet me here this afternoon, or this morning for some of you I may add," Mr. Dickinson settled himself in a large purple armchair and cast a pointed glance in Kai's direction.
"I've recently been informed of a few things that I think you the four of you ought to know," he placed his hands together, looking as if he was trying to find a way to word his next sentence. Kai wanted nothing more than to tell Mr. Dickinson to spit it out, but quickly remembered that Mr. Dickinson wasn't Tyson and that, that would be incredibly rude.
"Stop beating around the bush Mr. D! The fact you've dragged Kai here surely means one thing!" Tala piped up, "Boris!" Clearly Tala had a little less respect for Mr. Dickinson than the boy currently occupying the red chair.
"Indeed Tala, you read right through me," Mr. Dickinson admitted, half smiling, and with that, he began.
"I've been informed that late last week, Balkov Abbey burned down." Tala raised an eyebrow and there was a small silence followed by a sarcastic 'wahoo' noise from Bryan. "The Russian police are treating it as arson."
Kai wondered why this had anything to do with them. If Mr. Dickinson thought he cared about that dingy, miserable place he had grown up in, then he was sorely mistaken. Kai had no sentimental feelings towards the abbey and was in fact, pretty pleased to hear of its demise. Regardless, he barely even remembered his time there.
"What does this have to do with us?" Tala asked sharply, crossing his legs and folding his arms.
"I know you boys broke ties with the abbey when you left at the end of the first world championship, but I believe- or more- I've been informed that the authorities intend to bring you in for questioning in regards to the case." said Mr. Dickinson, looking nervously between all four of them. Again, Kai wondered what this had to do with him; especially having not been to Russia since spring the previous year.
"Wha-why!" Tala demanded, "We've got nothing to do with it!"
"I know Tala, but you've got to understand the authorities have no idea where to start, so obviously they'll question you first," He nodded tentatively towards him, "anyone with a known grudge against Boris Balkov is of interest to them, you've never been particularly quiet about your hate towards the man."
Tala was getting increasingly angry; "They'll be questioning a hell of a lot of people then! This is fucking ridiculous, I have better things to do with my time, I have a championship to win!"
Kai snorted into his tea.
At this, Mr. Dickinson smiled, "that's all very well Tala but I'm afraid this is more serious than the beyblading championships."
"I've waited a whole year for another chance at the title and you're telling me to just throw it away for something I don't even want to be- and wasn't- involved in!" Tala demanded.
"Hmm yes I understand your disdain with the situation.." Mr. Dickinson leaned back in his chair.
"Disdain? DISDAIN? I'm livid!" Tala's face had gone bright red.
"Quiet!" Kai spoke, "we're gonna need more details."
"Thank you, Kai!" the elderly man said gratefully as Tala grumpily hunched his shoulders. "Unfortunately there is more. As you know, after the first world championship police investigated the BioVolt Corporation thoroughly, however, they found no wrongdoing had occurred at the abbey. All of the evidence had been removed without a trace!"
"Yeah," interjected Kai angrily, "we already know- Voltaire hushed it up."
"Yes Kai, no matter how much knowledge you four have about the abbey-" Kai thought momentarily about how little he knew and how little he wanted to find out- "there's absolutely no evidence to support that it was anything but an ordinary orphanage," Kai was doubtful of this, he himself had nightmares, numerous scars, and a terribly bad case of 'I was abused as a child and now I hate the world' syndrome. He was quite sure that was evidence enough to show that something incredibly twisted had happened where he grew up.
"Now, in addition to the Abbey burning down, someone, somewhere, has evidence, and they handed it in to the authorities just last week, causing the investigation to be reopened. In fact, I believe it was just after the fire." The four of them stared at Mr. Dickinson, mouths slightly open, looking half elated and half devastated. "You're all going to be called in to help identify and provide any information you can in regards to the evidence."
Kai felt his stomach begin to summersault, he didn't particularly want to reopen this part of his life. He had locked it away in an imaginary box, which ironically looked like an evil Russian doll. He had forced the doll and it's many layers into the back of his mind, never to be seen again, or so he thought.
"Justice." Bryan hissed, mockingly raising his fist into the air, which was quickly withdrawn with a small punch from Tala.
"It's not a joke!" the red haired boy snapped, he leaned forwards over the table towards the senior, banging one of his fists down which such force, one of the teacups rattled and fell over. Spencer on the other hand, still on the plump sofa, pulled his knees up to his chin and was staring worriedly at the wall opposite.
Kai was sure that this was something Tala and Bryan had wanted ever since their departure from BioVolt, but Spencer, although being incredibly strong, was much more of a softer character, Kai always thought of him as an incredibly docile pit bull. Spencer probably wanted to forget about his past just as much as Kai did.
Too late, thought Kai, sighing as the questions began.
"Who?"
"What evidence?"
"What's going to happen now?"
"Has Boris been arrested?"
"What's going to happen to…" Bryan and Tala trailed off and slowly, in unison, turned their heads to stare directly at Kai.
"My Grandfather?" he said, finished their question, staring lazily at the floor, although he wasn't really looking at it. He had just realized that if his Grandfather were to go to jail, it would mean his own life would be thrown completely into chaos. He was next in line to Hiwatari Enterprises.
Kai continued to focus on the extravagant patterns of the hotel carpet; it was the only thing he could think of to keep himself rooted to that red chair and not bolt immediately out of the door as the voices around him began to get more and more angry.
"I'm very sorry to say Kai, but your Grandfather was arrested this morning. As I understood it, it's going to take months to sift through the evidence, but apparently there is already an overwhelming amount." Kai's heart plummeted, he wasn't sure what to think, thought's just kept racing through his head.
"What about Boris!" Tala demanded, who had returned to his seat but was sitting bolt upright.
"Unfortunately Boris is currently missing."
"WHAT!" Demanded Tala and Bryan in disbelief, "how can he be missing? This is absolute crap!" shouted Tala, balling up his fists.
Kai had heard enough; he stood up, legs shaking slightly.
"Kai? Are you leaving?" Mr. Dickinson said worriedly. Kai ignored him and began to walk past the coffee table and slowly over to the door. "Kai I understand this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but as I said before, I have a few things I need to discuss with you!" he urged the teen to stay.
Kai didn't respond as he grabbed the door handle and yanked it open, letting it slam shut behind him with the same velocity. Panic began to set in; he ran down the corridor in search of a toilet, luckily, he was alone. He spotted a bathroom sign on his left; and crashed through the door underneath it, straight into the nearest cubicle, heaving over a seat. He tried to remember the last time he had thrown up; it must have been before the championship match with Tyson. He couldn't remember ever being that nervous before, but that was a different type of nervous, it was mingled with excitement, this however, was pure hell.
Kai hadn't seen his grandfather for a month and prior to that, it had been an entire year. He had meticulously planned his entire life for the past three years around avoiding the imposing man.
Three years ago when the first world championship ended, the BioVolt trial began. Kai was subjected to months of tedious questioning but it ultimately materialized into nothing. The charges dropped, due to lack of evidence, and Voltaire and Boris once again roamed the earth as free men.
After this, Kai went straight to boarding school where he remained for a whole year, not returning to the Hiwatari mansion once. He didn't have any friends there, apart from some annoying kid named Wyatt, not that he would exactly describe Wyatt was a friend, but he turned out to be more important than everyone else at that damn school.
Eventually, as the summer school holidays kicked in, Kai ended up at Tyson's house. It wasn't necessarily his first choice of places to stay, but it was a lot better than having to go home and face his Grandfather. He had been pretty sure that by not returning to the mansion, he was probably making things worse, but at the time he hadn't cared. Kai actually felt that had been the happiest time of his entire life; he had spent a lot of time with the Bladebreakers, and it had actually been fun (well, kinda). He was (somewhat) able to open up to his teammates, and shockingly was actually willing to talk to them on a daily basis. In fact one night he even bought Tyson a pizza because he thought he looked sad. Kai spat a little bit more sick into the toilet bowl just thinking about it.
After the second world championships, everything changed. Kai had intended to go back to Tyson's; he only had a week before he was sixteen. For the past year he had scrimped and saved every last bit of money that he could get his hands on, which wasn't much. His Grandfather was still technically his legal guardian and he was required by law to pay for Kai to live, but only gave him the smallest amounts of money. Despite this, Kai had amounted enough to be able to pay for a deposit and two months of rent on a small flat, and intended to do so as soon as he turned sixteen. He had signed all the paperwork and his deposit was meant to be going through that very day, but in the early evening he received a phone call from the bank to say that actually, his account had been emptied a few days previous. Of course, it was Voltaire, clawing him back to the Hiwatari Mansion, and when he got there, well; he didn't want to think about it.
That last thought made him empty the rest of his stomach into the bowl. He threw himself back against the side of the cubical, gasping for breath.
Kai spent that entire summer living in an abandoned warehouse near Tyson's. He was too embarrassed to tell his teammates he hadn't moved into the flat. When they asked, he merely explained that it was too small for them to all visit, so they may as well just meet at Tyson's dojo as always. Well that was a downright lie, he thought, panting for air.
Gradually, he stopped visiting the dojo and training with his team and soon enough, he was on a plane to Russia to join the Blitzkrieg Boys. He felt like shit, and he had to prove himself. His only option was to defeat Tyson. He had to prove to himself that he was actually worth something. He slammed his fist into his temple; don't think about that, he told himself aggressively.
After his championship defeat, Kai found out that his grandfather was away on business in Russia for six months, and so he returned to the mansion. Now Kai thought about it, it was a bit suspicious, he was pretty sure his Grandfather cut all business ties with Russia after the BioVolt Investigation. When Voltaire had unexpectedly returned to the mansion a month ago, he had bolted, back to the warehouse for a few weeks until he left for London with the rest of his team.
Kai sighed; this was not his idea of a peaceful life.
A loud squeak from the bathroom door told him he was no longer alone, he stood up quickly, wiping his mouth on a piece of toilet tissue and flushed, slowly opening the cubicle door and peering out, he was greeted by a familiar blonde haired boy.
"Kai!" Max said enthusiastically, spotting Kai in the mirror and spinning around. "Man Tyson was so pissed you didn't come with us earlier!" his voice was way too happy.
"Hn." He replied, stepping towards the sink, turning the tap slowly and washing his hands.
"Hey man are you ok? You're really pale…" Max was peering at his face and he was way too close for comfort.
Kai flinched away, "I'm always pale."
"Heh heh, if you say so! Oh hey, guess who I just met in the lobby?" Kai ignored his teammate and popped his head under the water fountain, gulping down water as Max jabbered on, "one of the new teams! They're called Duality- I think- yeah definitely Duality!" Max looked excitedly at him in the mirror and Kai stared back blankly thinking about how much he didn't care. "Have you seen the girl? The little one, lilac hair…."
"I've seen her." He replied dryly.
"SHE'S SO CUTE!" Max was jumping up and down excitedly.
Kai inhaled a deep breath and turned away, he couldn't believe he had ended up in a conversation about how cute a girl was."Hn." He dried his hands on a paper towel and threw it angrily into the bin.
"She's so nice! I'm thinking of inviting her to my room tonight to ask her about her team, maybe we'll learn a thing or two!" he sounded like a excitable puppy.
"Hn." Nice? Was that a joke? Kai knew Max's efforts would be pretty fruitless if his previous conversation with that girl was anything to go by.
"Do you wanna come too?" Max asked innocently.
He surveyed his teammate and then replied bluntly, "I'd rather throw myself off the top of The Shard."
"Don't say that, she's lovely, apparently she's an amazing blader too!"
Kai bent back down for another few final gulps of water; maybe if he stayed there long enough he would be sucked into the plughole, never to emerge again. He straightened up, alas, he was still in the real world, and Max was still talking.
"She even let me call her Issy!"
"Max?"
"Yeah Kai?"
"Shut up."
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, pls do leave a review :))) Where should I take the story next? Who should be the focus of my next chapter ehh?