Review Replies
Yume no Anime: Thanks so much for your review, I'm happy you like the story. I've included Daichi a little more in this chapter, and he's actually been quite useful so thank you for inspiring the idea for me, haha! You'll soon find out who the stranger is too!
Suzanne: Hey there, thank you SO much for this review and all your others! I had a great Christmas and New Year, I hope you did too. Ray is definitely good at stealing, haha! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Yo People! How are you all? Last time I updated Breathless was before Christmas so I hope you all had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year!
So, Chapter Four. As requested by Yume no Anime there is more of Daichi, and as it happens Daichi has proved to be a very useful part of the story so I'm quite pleased with what I've come up with.
WARNINGS: Bad language. Hinted Yaoi-ness.
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade nor any of its characters.
Last Time: Kai returned back to Tyson's home injured and Ray clean the wound, much to Kai's displeasure. He and Ray had a small fight over what Kai was keeping from Ray who is worried about Kai because of the hinted drinking problem Kai is getting himself in to. While all this was going on someone (Kai's charge) was watching the Bladebreakers through the window and was incapable of understanding why Kai leaves him for a bunch of idiots (The Bladebreakers). Tala appeared on the scene and had feelings of trepidation about what Kai was doing and how he was risking the Bladebreakers.
Enjoy!
Breathless
Chapter Four: From His Lips To His Mouth
Ray arched his back and stretched his arms before opening his eyes and sitting up with yawn; having another stretch and pushing the hair from his eyes he reached for the small clock by his bed.
8:15 am.
The sun shone through the slim gap in the curtains sending a cleft of bright light across the room and darkening the remainder of the room in shadow. Not one to ever shut out the light Ray always opened his curtains the moment he awoke. Yawning once more the neko-jin scrambled out of bed and walked over to the window to open his curtains and let light in to the darkened room.
Sad to say, he'd forgotten about Kai.
"Whoa!"
Ray picked himself up from the tangled heap on the floor and sat back with a rather astonished expression; he heard a rustle of sheets as a dark form sat up. Ray grinned.
"Good morning, Kai"
"Raymond"
"I apologise for falling over you"
"So you should" replied Kai coolly "I don't appreciate your example of an alarm clock"
"There's no need to be like that, I didn't do it deliberately"
"If you say so"
"I didn't do it on purpose"
"I believe you"
"You're lying"
"I never lie"
Ray snorted, "now I know you're lying"
"Hn" was Kai's less than expressive response as he laid back down "was there a reason you were tramping around like an elephant?"
"I wasn't tramping around like an elephant!"
"Tell that to my chest"
Ray aimed his foot to kick the infuriating phoenix but thought better of it, kicking Kai would probably hurt him a lot more than it would hurt the Russian. Kai was made of solid rock after all. Instead the neko-jin asked casually "you didn't get back until late last night, where did you go?"
"Since when did you become my mother?" Kai asked back hackles rising slightly.
Ray ignored this "I'm only asking…" he trailed off mid sentence with a sigh and enquired quietly "so, how much did you drink?"
"That is none of your business even if I had drunk anything" Kai closed his eyes.
"You didn't drink anything?"
"No"
"Why not?"
"Someone stole my wallet, remember?"
"Oh yeah" Ray realised "forgot that"
"I want it back"
"You want what back?"
"Don't play dumb with me" Kai half snapped, "I want my wallet back"
"Oh. That"
"Yes. That"
"You'll get it back" Ray assured him.
Kai's eyes narrowed in the gloom "when exactly?"
Ray smiled so brightly Kai could practically see the neko-jin glowing "when I think you've got a handle on this drinking habit of yours"
"I haven't got a drinking habit"
Ray sighed emphatically "denial isn't going to get your wallet back to you"
He scrambled up to reach the curtains again, only to have Kai trip him up; for the second time Ray crashed down. He let out a curse.
"Ow!" he scowled at the phoenix who smirked "what was that for?"
"To stop you from opening the curtains"
"Why don't you want me to open the curtains?"
"Because I like the dark"
"Well I don't" Ray turned to the curtains and tried reach up to them but Kai grabbed his foot.
"You are not opening those curtains"
"It's my room dammit!" the neko-jin growled, "I can do what I like!"
"And I'm the captain" the phoenix answered back "which also means I can do what I like"
Ray huffed and glowered crossly; with a grunt of great determination he reached forward for his curtains again. Kai opened his eyes as a crack of light flashed across the room, setting his jaw and taking a firmer hold of Ray's foot he flicked his wrist with a jolt.
Ray found himself flying through the air, over Kai before landing on his bed with a thud.
"You are not opening those curtains" his captain stated.
Ray sighed and sat up "I'd forgotten sharing a room with you was hell"
"You're the one who purrs in his sleep" Kai retorted.
"I do not purr!"
"You certainly do" the phoenix pushed the hair from his eyes "all night, it's worse than snoring"
"I don't!"
"Yes, you do. Throughout the whole night I was periodically awoken by you purring" Kai replied, "it was a nightmare"
"I hope it kept you awake all night" Ray said with vengeance.
"It did"
"Excellent" Ray scrambled from his bed for the second time that morning and began to tread around in search of his clothes.
"Ow"
"Oh goodness! Was that your foot? I am SO sorry!"
Kai's eyes narrowed at Ray's less than sincere tone "sarcasm does not suit you, Raymond. It is the lowest form of humour"
"But humour is the highest form of intelligence" Ray answered back serenely "and don't call me Raymond. You know I hate it"
"You do? I'll have to remember that"
Ray pursed his lips at Kai's own sardonic tone but was spared from answering by the door crashing open; something that felt like an stampeding horse hit Ray in the midriff and sent him sprawling, he landed on Kai heavily who gave him a few Russian insults only to be kicked in the face by the person who had just head butted in to the neko-jin.
"Why do I get the feeling sleeping in here is going to be an occupational hazard?" the phoenix mused to himself as Ray and the person on top of Ray fought each other to gain some kind of vertical stance.
"Daichi, stop kicking me" Ray managed to grab what he hoped was a foot and shoved the body above him "get off"
"It's my birthday! It's my birthday! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" Daichi howled and sang in excitement hopping to the upright position in one smooth movement, he began to dance and whoop on top of the phoenix and tiger all the while hooting "happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!"
A foot caught Daichi between the legs.
The little monkey froze in place mid-dance and he fell backwards with a tiny squeal.
Kai sat up "I knew there was a reason I should have stayed away" he sighed.
"Oh come now, Daichi's birthday's aren't that bad" Ray reasoned.
"Do you remember the last one?"
"Hey, that wasn't Daichi's fault"
"Well, lets think about that, shall we?" Kai replied, "on Daichi's birthday last year we went to the aquarium"
"I know, I remember"
"Do you remember what happened at that aquarium?" the phoenix asked.
"It wasn't Daichi's fault"
"The fish tank broke, the fish escaped"
"Well yeah, but the keepers soon got them back, and none of us were in any danger"
"It was the shark tank, Raymond. They have made movies about the shark, and none of those movies are light-hearted"
"You're over reacting" Ray told him.
"Daichi then prolonged his havoc by setting free the octopuses" Kai continued in a deadpan voice.
"Yeah, but-"
"He also let loose the poisonous sea snakes"
"I know, but-"
"In fact, by the time we'd left the aquarium Daichi had managed to release over 80% of the entire aquarium"
"Yes but-"
"Raymond, 30% of the sea creatures that were 'released' died due to lack of water"
"Yes-"
"Another 20% were eaten by their natural enemies"
"I know-"
"Overall the keepers at the aquarium lost more than half their stock"
"Yes-"
"They had to shut down"
"I know-"
"The owner of the aquarium still phones me up with vows of revenge"
"Look, Daichi just thought he was doing the fish a favour" Ray cut in before Kai could carry on "he didn't think about what he was doing"
"You have that right" Kai agreed "I doubt Daichi is capable of having a proper thought, his head would probably explode"
"That's harsh!"
"But fair" Kai looked sideways at the neko-jin still laying on the floor next to him "so hit me, where does he want to go this year?"
Ray grinned "the zoo"
"Oh good God" Kai sat up "well, good luck, don't say I didn't warn you. And when the tiger does eat you, just remember that Daichi didn't mean to do it"
Ray rolled his eyes "that's not going to happen, Daichi has learnt his lesson"
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes I am" Ray gave the phoenix a soft thwack as reprimand "and, as you will soon see, we will all have a nice relaxing day at the zoo"
Kai snorted "you keep telling yourself that-" he stopped and looked at the neko-jin sharply "what do you mean as I will soon see?"
"Well…" Ray gave Kai a smile that held a slight hint of sadistic enjoyment "you're coming too of course"
Kai was quiet for a moment, before he said calmly "let me make this quite clear to you, Raymond"
"Yes Kai?" Ray's smile grew.
"There is no way in hell I am accompanying you to the zoo"
"Come on, Kai!" Tyson called over his shoulder "you're dragging behind!"
From behind them Kai gave Tyson a look that clearly stated he didn't give a flying fuck that he was dragging behind and Tyson could go stuff himself up to the lion's ass for all he cared. Tyson sniggered.
"I still can't believe you managed to get him to come" Hilary said as she grabbed Daichi before the monkey could aim a flying punch at the person in front of them who, in Daichi's opinion, was holding up the queue.
"Ahh, we Bladebreakers have discovered a fail safe scheme that enables us to take Kai wherever we want" Max told her with a grin and a wink.
"And that is?" the girl asked with only a small feeling of impending doom.
"What is the one thing that Kai will never be able to handle?" Kenny asked her with a grin most uncharacteristic of him.
"Tomatoes?"
"Other than tomatoes" Tyson snatched Daichi out the way of a mother with a double pram and a pair of bawling babies.
Hilary thought about this "I have absolutely no idea"
"It's simple" Tyson replied pulling Daichi from a zoo keeper who seemed to think Daichi was a type of animal "the one thing Kai will never be able to handle is a person who cries"
Hilary blinked "I'm not sure I follow"
"It's quite straight forward" Max explained "us Bladebreakers have realised that, whenever we want Kai to do something he'll never do, we cry"
"You cry?"
"Yep" Tyson grinned, "of course, crying does have its pains"
"It does?"
"For one thing our pride is in shatters" Max said, "big men like us don't normally cry"
Hilary gave an ambiguous cough at the word 'men' and asked, "alright, how do you make yourselves cry?"
"Well, that's the second pain" Tyson replied.
"It is?"
"Yup, for example…" the dragon turned to Ray who had been paying for the tickets "Ray, how did you make yourself cry this morning?"
Ray held up his hand with a rueful grin "had to slam my fingers in the door"
Hilary and Kenny winced at the sight of Ray's bruised and swollen fingers "I think he's broken his little finger" Kenny's vision swam at the mere thought.
Tyson smiled victoriously "see? As soon as Kai sees the tears in Ray's eyes he's like putty in your hands!"
"I am? I'll remember that next time"
Tyson jumped and span round to see Kai standing behind him arms folded and with the obligatory tapping foot. Tyson cleared his throat "uhh…hey there, Kai" the dragon leaned over to Max "our rouse has just been busted"
"Are you guys ready?" Ray called to them through the entrance gates of the zoo "I paid for the tickets so lets go"
"YAY! I wanna go see the monkeys!" Daichi cried with joy.
"Go talk to the keeper and see if they have a spare cage for you" Kai muttered under his breath as he stalked through the gates of the zoo with an air of distaste for everything around him.
"I'll go with Daichi to see the monkeys" Hilary suggested "you coming, Kenny?"
"As long as Daichi doesn't set the gorilla loose" Kenny nodded and the pair set off after the red head who was already miles ahead of them.
"I'm gonna check out the fish" Max turned to a building on their right "see you guys later"
"I'm going to the shop to buy ice-cream!" Tyson practically salivated at the thought "what about you, Ray?"
Ray looked at the map that revealed the layout of the zoo "I might see the tigers" he replied softly.
Tyson rolled his eyes "Ray, just because your Bitbeast is a tiger doesn't mean it's your duty to see the tigers. Use your imagination a little, dude"
"I happen to like tigers thank you" Ray replied coolly before turning to the statue of total distain that Kai had become "what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to sit by the exit and wait for your losers to get eaten by the lions or crocodiles" with that Kai stalked off leaving Tyson and Ray to watch his retreating back.
"I hope he gets eaten by the crocodiles" Tyson muttered evilly.
"Oh just ignore him" Ray clapped the dragon on the shoulder "you know Kai, sulky when he doesn't get what he wants"
"I'll second that" the dragon replied, "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Sure thing" Ray watched Tyson disappear in to the crowd and then turned his attention back to the map to ascertain where the tigers were kept. Chewing his lip he looked from left to right, wondering whether to see the tigers as he'd first planned, or follow Kai as the impulsive part of him wanted to do.
He was already walking down the pathway after Kai when he decided that the tigers weren't going anyway, whereas Kai could slip from one place to another without telling a soul where he intended to go.
"I just can't seem to keep away" the neko-jin muttered with a sigh as he looked through the throng of people in search of a person who had the ability to disappear in to crowds without a trace.
However, Kai was not as hard to find as Ray had first supposed; his golden eyes spotted the phoenix lying in the grass a few feet from the exit, Kai looked good in a shirt and jeans with boots and Ray found he was looking too much before he caught himself.
The sun was hot and the tiger unzipped his jacket to pull it off as he sat down next to the seemingly sleeping Russian; he stayed silent unsure why he was here or what he was going to say, sometimes it was so hard to talk to Kai when the phoenix didn't want to speak. And, occasionally, Ray found it even harder to act normal around Kai; there was something Ray found alluring, enticing and when he found himself looking, he just couldn't stop.
Kai's lips were pursed to a frown as the phoenix lay there but the rest of his features were settled to a look of complete disinterest for anything around. Still, Ray couldn't take his eyes from those lips, that mouth.
His interest in Kai came and went along with the phoenix; every time Kai left Ray swore to himself he'd give up whatever it was he had for Kai. He'd promised himself he was a normal guy, interested in the people he should be interested in; for a while this would work, for a while Ray could convince himself he felt nothing for Kai. For a while he could believe he wasn't a fool.
But then Kai would return, just when Ray's resolve had persuaded him that he was normal, and all of Ray's positive upbeat promises would fade away; Kai would look at him, or speak to him and Ray's vows would be swallowed by the fluttering in his stomach, his pounding heart, and his swimming head-
Ray cut through his own thoughts with the shake of his head and focussed back to the object of his inner torment "hey, did you know that this zoo has a real unicorn living in with the rhinos?"
Kai's body didn't move, but he opened his eyes to stare at Ray while the famous eyebrow arched to give the neko-jin a quizzical look.
Ray grinned, "oh you are alive. Good, when you lie there motionless like that I'm always worried you've died"
Kai's expression turned to a slight sneer before he closed his eyes once more, making it perfectly clear he had no interest in talking to Ray.
"Oh come on" Ray gave Kai a nudge "don't ignore me, you know it doesn't work"
"I have no intention in speaking to you more than necessary" Kai replied, "it's your fault I'm here"
Ray sighed, "it wouldn't hurt for you to try and enjoy yourself"
"And why would I do that?"
"Because lying here in the grass and sulking is nothing short of childish"
"I intend to be childish"
The neko-jin rolled his eyes "that's just-"
"Ray, I don't want to be here and therefore I will not even bother to look around this stupid place" Kai's voice cut through Ray like a knife "as far as I'm concerned it's your fault I'm here in the first place so I have nothing to say to you, now leave me alone"
Ray went quiet; he felt he'd just been punched in the face "fine" he stood up "let me know when you've matured a little" he turned away from the phoenix; there was no point in staying here to be snapped at and insulted by a person who clearly didn't want him around "and don't forget to wish Daichi a happy birthday"
Kai opened his eyes to watch Ray return to the path and walk away from him; Ray's figure was almost a silhouette against the bright sun that shone down on them, the heat was particular hot as if the weather was trying to repent for all the rain. Ray had left his jacket behind, it was beside Kai on the grass now; absently Kai sat up and picked it up.
The jacket had Ray's scent to it and Kai's expression softened as he gently placed the jacket back on the ground next to him. Laying back down he slipped his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.
He'd return the jacket to Ray later.
"Daichi! Don't run too far ahead!" Hilary called ineffectuality after the blur of red running ahead of her "honestly, it's like looking after a small child" she grumbled.
"I haven't had chance to give him his birthday present yet" Kenny said as he peered through a tree to look at a small monkey perched in one of the top branches.
Some of the monkeys were allowed free as they were friendly and visitors of the zoo liked to feed them bits of fruit; all around Kenny and Hilary were children and families accompanied by zoo keepers all feeding the monkeys bananas and other pieces of fruit. The little creatures would take the fruit with great delicacy and a little noise of delight causing the children to giggle and coo over the scoffing animals.
"What did you buy him?" asked Hilary as she eyed a monkey who had taken to following them, the resemblance between the monkey and Daichi was uncanny and Hilary was beginning to worry about whether she should question Daichi's heritage.
"A maths book" Kenny replied opening his bag to show a neatly wrapped present that was clearly a heavy book.
"A maths book?" repeated Hilary.
"Yes"
"You bought Daichi a maths book?"
"Yes, is that a problem?"
Kenny looked so suddenly worried and unsure Hilary didn't have the heart to point out that Daichi would only use the book as toilet paper, instead she smiled "I'm sure he'll love it, chief"
"Oh good" Kenny sighed with relief "I'm no good at buying presents" he looked curiously at the package that Hilary had been carrying under her arm "is that Daichi's present you bought him?"
"Yes, I thought I'd get him something useful" Hilary answered, "it's a raincoat, hopefully he'll have the sense to wear it"
While Hilary and Kenny discussed the number of colds Daichi had in a year the birthday boy himself was someway in front of them feeding a monkey a slice of banana; he laughed as the creature took it carefully from his hand and scrunched it carefully, licking its fingers for every morsel.
"Hey, can I have some of that banana to feed the monkey too? I don't have any"
Daichi turned to the boy who stood next to him hands clasped tightly together as he looked hopefully at Daichi.
Daichi grinned "sure. Here you go" he handed over some of the banana Hilary had bought for him and the boy smiled his thanks. Daichi moved over so the boy next to him could feed the monkey also.
There was a small silence between them as they watched the monkey; then the strange boy turned to Daichi shyly "I don't mean to be rude, but are you Daichi Sumeragi?"
"That's me" Daichi grinned again, but it was wiped away by surprise as the stranger's eyes lit up with excitement and he turned to Daichi.
"I knew it! I knew it was you! You're from the Bladebreakers, right? I am such a big fan! I love the Bladebreakers! Can I have your autograph? Oh please say yes! I love you guys so much!"
"Uhh…sure, why not" Daichi managed rather bedazzled by the excited boy who was now jumping up and down with enthusiasm "have you got some paper and-"
The boy held out a slip of paper and a pen before Daichi had even got his sentence out; Daichi took the paper and clicked the pen still bewildered and stunned by the explosive excitement of the stranger. After all, it had been a while since the Bladebreakers had been a part of any tournament.
The stranger took the paper Daichi handed back with stuttering gratitude; his mouth kept opening and closing as he tried to get his words out right.
"No problem" Daichi looked at the stranger for a moment "say, it's my birthday today and the Bladebreakers have organised a big dinner for me. Would you like to come?"
"Have lunch with the Bladebreakers?" the kid gasped in amazement "I don't think I could…"
"Sure you can" Daichi clapped him on the shoulder "come on, Hilary and Kenny are just behind me"
He led the stranger up the path through the crowd where he could see Kenny and Hilary being chased by a rather big monkey.
"THE Hilary and THE Kenny!" shrieked the stranger in more bubbling excitement.
"Yeah, don't get too thrilled about that" Daichi told him "they're really not that interesting"
And there we go! I get the feeling Kai and Ray are going to fight a lot before either of them admit any kind of feelings for the other. No Tala and Bryan in this chapter, but don't worry they'll be in the next where events are going to become complicated for Kai, espically when his charge sees the way the phoenix and Ray act around each other...
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review.
Thanks for reading!
Kiki