One Life One Love
Chapter 14: Russia: Enter the Demolition Boys
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.
"No Shaorin, you promised no sugar," Kai frowned, holding the chocolate chip cookies out of her grasp, he'd had enough of a headache this morning from the hang over and didn't need anything else to irritate him.
"Aww, but Kai!"
"No," he answered firmly.
"You're so cruel," Shaorin huffed, crossing her arms and turning her back to him.
"What?" he blinked in bewilderment. She turned back to face him and stuck her tongue out before stomping out to find the others.
"Trouble with the cookies?" Max grinned, coming in after he saw Shaorin leave.
"Hn, she's hunting for sugar again," Kai replied, about to put down the object.
Max raised an eyebrow, eyeing the cookie jar. "Really?"
"Hell no, not you as well," Kai muttered, taking the cookie jar with him as he left the kitchen. Max's face fell.
"You almost done?" Celina questioned as she walked into Shaorin's room.
"Huh? Oh, I was just looking for you," Shaorin smiled, motioning her over, "Help me close this up?"
"Sure," Celina walked to the overflowing suitcase, "What the heck do you have in here? 16 pairs of jeans?"
Shaorin laughed, "Nah, it's just my bad organizational skills."
"Right, and that," Celina nodded, pushing down the suitcase.
"Oh shoot, I forgot something," Shaorin snapped her fingers, and picked up a heavily decorated book from the bed.
"What's that?"
"Oh, just a scrapbook I keep," shrugged Shaorin.
"Can I see?" Celina held out her hands.
"I guess so…" Celina lifted the moderately heavy book and opened it up to the first few pages.
"Aww, you looked so cute when you were little," she gushed at a picture of Baby Shaorin. She chuckled softly.
"Is this Kai?" Celina pointed to a picture of a 6 year old Shaorin and 7 year olds Tala and Kai.
"Yup, and that's Tala, our other friend."
"Where's this?" Shaorin glanced at the photo; it was one of a willow tree.
"Uh, it's the tree that Kai and I were supposed to meet at…"
"I see, I see," Celina changed the subject, "What's this about?"
"Hm…Christmas, I was 9 and the guys were 10," Shaorin grinned at the picture. Kai was scowling at the fact that Shaorin had put tinsel in his hair with Tala laughing at him whom also had leftover wrapping paper stuck to him. Shaorin was standing behind Kai grinning triumphantly, but had a Christmas Wreath on her head.
"Poor Kai," Celina commented.
"Hey, he put the wreath on my head first!" Shaorin protested. Celina laughed.
"Hey, these are of us!" the ruby eyed girl exclaimed. Shaorin giggled at the pictures she had taken with her three friends. There were ones at concerts, birthdays, dances, graduation, Christmases and times when they were just hanging out.
"I thought I told you to erase this from your camera!" Celina whined.
"Uh un, no way am I gonna waste this precious picture," Shaorin grinned, taking the book from her reach, so that Celina couldn't take out the picture of herself in a ridiculous hairdo that the others had done for her.
"Hey guys, you better get your packing done, we're leaving tonight," Ray smirked from behind the door to Shaorin's room, "Nice look by the way." He commented when he caught sight of the photo. Shaorin laughed as Celina cried out in frustration.
"Why are we here again?" Kai muttered, staring up at Shaorin's home. She had pulled him along with her.
"I have some things to take care of," she answered.
"So why am I here?"
"Because I can't drive."
"Hn."
"Right… Anyways…" Shaorin waited for Rosa to answer the door.
"Miss. Shaorin, what are you doing here? I thought you were leaving for Russia today," Rosa gasped.
"Oh, we're leaving tonight, I've just come to take care of something," she repeated what she had told Kai.
"I see, off with you then," Rosa ushered them inside.
"Thanks Rosa," Shaorin grinned, dashing towards the stairs.
"And don't run! I just waxed the floor!" A loud thump followed by an "Oh crud…" was heard.
"Klutz." Was what came afterwards.
"Shut it, and give me a hand up, would yah?" Kai rolled his eyes at her childishness and he reluctantly extended his hand to her. She pulled herself up and brushed off her pants.
"Thanks," she grinned still.
"After all those years at the Abbey, I would've thought you'd learned more grace."
"Hey! Lay off will you?" Rosa chuckled softly at the couple ascending the stairs.
"Teenagers…" she mumbled half-heartedly.
"Hm, I'll take these I guess," Shaorin threw a couple of CDs into her bag.
"You came back just to take some CDs?" Kai raised an eyebrow. Shaorin shrugged and trudged to the bed. She knelt down and retrieved a box from under it. Opening it, she took out the letter given to her almost three years ago.
Kai's eyes widened as she searched for a lighter and found one that was a souvenir from a vacation. She held the lighter up to the corner of the paper and lit it up. The sheet of paper slowly disintegrated as she dropped it into the waste bin.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
"I don't want to dwell on the past anymore, besides, it was a misunderstanding," Shaorin let a small smile appear on her lips. She walked over to Kai and threw her arms around him. Slightly surprised, he stumbled back a step before holding her to him. Wordlessly, the two watched the meek fire die off.
"I was scared when you left me, you know," She poked him almost accusingly. He replied by brushing his lips against her forehead, before leading her out of the room.
"I call window seat!" Tyson shouted as they piled onto the plane. Ray chuckled and sat in the middle rows. Celina, Naomi, Sandy and Kenny followed him. Max took the seat next to Tyson while Kai and Shaorin sat by the other window.
'At least I'm far away from Tyson.' Kai glanced towards the other side of the plane.
"What 'cha thinking about?" Shaorin asked on his other side.
"Nothing," he answered gruffly.
"You're no fun," she pouted, popping a CD into her CD player. (1)
"And you're annoying." But his voice was drowned out by the music blaring in her ear.
Kai was watching the plane movie, extremely bored. He glanced over to the others and found them either sleeping or watching the movie and Kenny was typing away on Dizzy. Looking to his right he watched in mild amusement as Shaorin, half asleep, nodded her head as she fell in and out of consciousness.
Sighing inwardly, he pushed her head slightly so that it rested on his shoulder. Shaorin opened her hazel eyes, looking up at him. Kai looked away and went back to the movie. Grinning softly, she hugged his arm and closed her eyes again. She felt his chest rumble from the annoyed sound he made, and poked him in the waist from where she was, in a motion for him to be quiet.
Celina glanced over to the two and smiled softly.
"Tired?" Shaorin asked when Naomi yawned. The copper haired girl nodded.
"Can't get enough sleep on planes."
She shrugged, "I seem to sleep fine on planes."
"Of course you would, with a pillow like that," Celina smirked. Shaorin blushed.
"What?" Naomi frowned in confusion.
"It's nothing," Shaorin said quickly, covering Celina's mouth with her hand.
Naomi shook Shaorin by the shoulders. "Tell me!"
"Gah!" Shaorin held her head trying to make the world stop spinning so fast.
"What happened? Don't keep me in the dark here!" Naomi pleaded Celina.
"Should I?" Celina smirked.
"Oh no you don't! I've still got the photo, miss," Shaorin motioned to her bag.
Celina frowned and sighed, "Fine…"
"What? What photo? What are you talking about?" Naomi wailed. Shaorin laughed awkwardly, trying to inch away from her friend.
The two teams managed to get out of the airport and arrive at their hotel after Naomi had calmed down from her breakdown. They picked out their rooms and settled down before dinner.
This time they no longer had the common room-type of suite, so instead everyone got their own ordinary rooms with connecting doors to every two.
Shaorin placed the last article of clothing into the closet before stuffing the empty suitcase into the floor of the closet. Glancing around the room, she caught sight of the door that connected her room to someone else's. Curious to see who was on the other side, she quietly crept over. But she hadn't predicted on finding her missing shoes lying on the floor in front of the bed…
THUMP
"Oww…" she moaned, nursing her toe. The click of the door caught her attention and she looked up to see Kai standing in the doorway of his room to hers. Shaorin looked up at him, blinking in innocence.
"You tripped…again?" the crimson eyed male sighed. Shaorin grinned sheepishly.
"I swear you were built with two left feet…"
"Hey! If I had two left feet then I wouldn't have danced with you last time, now would I?" she defended, before realizing what she had said.
'Oops…' Why did she bring up that embarrassing topic again?
An awkward silence fell over them as Shaorin looked away to hide her blush. There was no blush showing on Kai's face but he still looked a little…uncomfortable.
"Uh…so…when's dinner?" Shaorin meekly changed the subject.
"In an hour."
"Alright then, I'll um…unpack some more," she lied, getting up from the floor to close the door. As her hand reached the knob, another one enclosed on top of her. Her eyes rested on their hands, soon intertwined, more blood rushed to her cheeks.
"Come visit somewhere with me," Kai said, almost commandingly.
"But my stuff…I need to unpack…"
"Your suitcase is empty," he stated dryly. Shaorin mentally smacked herself.
"Alright then, fine," she replied hastily. Kai smirked; it was easy to get her flustered, especially when someone could see through her.
"Where are we going again?"
Shaorin asked, from behind the slate haired boy, being taken or rather dragged to their destination.
"…You'll see."
Shaorin pouted, she hated waiting. She was being pulled down the familiar streets of Moscow, but somehow she didn't remember where she was going. But what irked her most was the helicopter that they had just stopped in front of.
"Kai…you don't mean we're going to…?"
"Come on."
"No," Shaorin shook her head, trying to pull away from his grasp.
"Rin…"
"No! I don't want to go…" she protested.
"You're coming, whether you like it or not," Kai replied, picking her up bridal style and climbing onto the aircraft. He nodded to the pilot and the loud noises drowned out Shaorin's voice.
She gripped onto his shirt tightly.
"Why are we going back?"
"Don't…you want to see Tala and the rest of them?"
"Yes, but why there?"
"Because, they're training there?" Kai muttered sarcastically.
"Oh, but still-…"
"Just shut up for a bit," Kai was tempted to just leave her in the snow, best friend or not, but he couldn't since he was supposed to bring her to see their red-headed companion.
Shaorin was silent the rest of the way.
"We're here sir," the pilot announced as they landed.
Kai nodded, "I'll call you after to take us back." He stood up with Shaorin still in his arms and jumped onto the white snowy ground. Once they were on flat ground again, he let Shaorin stand up again.
"Come," he motioned for her to follow. Muttering incoherent words under her breath, she grudgingly went after him.
They walked for a short distance across the snowy plains before reaching the gates to the Abbey.
Pushing the gates in a swift movement, Kai stepping in, turning around to wait for the hazel eyed girl. Shaorin inhaled a deep breathe before continuing on.
"You alright?"
"Yah, I'm fine."
"You're a little pale…" Kai commented.
"I'm just fine."
"If you say so."
The two continued on into the building as Kai led her through the turning and twisting corridors. Shaorin was beginning to lose track of where they were going when they finally stopped in front of a pair of heavy double doors.
"Rin…you want?" Kai motioned to the doors. Stepping forward, she pushed them open, revealing a room that contained a few blading dishes, and a whole lot of high-tech equipment with adults donning white lab coats shuffling through the room. But what caught her eye the most was the red haired boy and his companions standing in the middle of the room, training.
"Tala!" Shaorin grinned. Said red head inclined his head to the door in surprise.
"Shaorin? Kai?" He stopped what he was doing, "But we weren't expecting you for a few days!"
"Well we're here anyways so deal with it," Shaorin laughed, overjoyed to see him. She ran up and let herself be caught up in an embrace.
"Hey Shaorin, don't forget about us," Ian smirked. Letting go of Tala, she whirled around to smile.
"Now how could I forget about you, Pinocchio?" she giggled, hugging the boy.
"Pink Pixie…" he muttered. Sticking her tongue out at him she went over to hug both Brian and Spencer.
"I missed you people!" she squealed. The three smirked.
"Though I'll never forget the pranks you pulled on me when I was a kid…" Shaorin eyed them. Ian whistled, Brian was looking up at the ceiling, Spencer had a blank look and Tala hid a smirk.
"But it was entertaining," Tala grinned wolfishly.
"Yeah for you! But you're not the one who gets drench in water on every Saturday morning," Shaorin pointed out.
"But you had your revenge!" Ian protested. It was Shaorin's turn to smirk.
"Oh yes, of course," she giggled. Ian was right, she did have her revenge. There were times like when she replaced Tala's hair gel with Silly Putty and changed all four of their shampoos into hair dye. It was all old stuff, but satisfying nonetheless. She had even tried sneaking into their rooms at night and using black markers to draw on their faces. Ahhh, the fun. They had come out of their rooms the next morning, some donning squiggly marks and black rings around their eyes, horrid black like 'blush', happy faces, the works. Shaorin had even thought about using pink, blue and green highlighters, but she thought that black would stay longer maybe.
Kai smirked at the vague memory of walking out the door and seeing his friends covered in blue. Why? Shaorin of course. Body soap was changed into blue dye.
"Are you hungry?" Ian suddenly asked, "We're done training here anyways, so we can go grab a bite to eat."
"Hm?" Shaorin remembered then remembered dinner with the others," Oh we're eating with the others…but I'm sure you can come anyways, right Kai?"
"Hn…not my decision to make," he replied.
"It's okay then, we don't wanna intrude," Tala shook his head.
"No really, come eat with us!" Shaorin tugged on his arm persistently.
"If you're sure, then fine."
Bryan nodded.
"I don't think we'd all fit in the helicopter though…" Shaorin thought aloud, she glanced at Kai meaningfully.
"I'll arrange for a car to pick us up, or you can," he tossed her his cell.
"Alright."
Shaorin left the guys to themselves.
"So how are things going along with Rin? I thought she was pissed off or something," Tala smirked at his best friend.
"She got over it."
"Okay and the carrying her around part?" Kai ignored the question.
"You guys are going out now, right?" Bryan laughed.
"That's none of your business," Kai answered calmly.
"Dammnit man, it's hard to pry information out of you," Ian sighed. Kai smirked.
"I'm ba-ack," Shaorin said in a sing-song voice, "The cars coming in a bit so I think I'll explore the place for now." She grinned and stepped into a random door.
"Shaorin…that's the custodian's closet," Spencer told her flatly.
"Oh…I knew that!" she giggled, closing the door again and sweeping down another hall.
"She has an incredibly bad sense of direction…" Kai muttered before following after her.
'Hm…let's see, right, left, straight, right, another right, straight, door… Yeah, I think that's it…' Shaorin shook her head, trying to figure out where she had gone and how to get back.
"Lost much?" Kai asked boredly, leaning against the door frame.
"Kai!" she blushed at the fact that he found her every time she was in a predicament like this.
"Come, I'll show you something."
He headed down the opposite hallway, stopping only to see if she was behind him, and indeed she was.
"Where are you taking me to?"
"You'll see."
At long last, after even more lefts, rights and doors they finally stood outside in a courtyard. And in the middle of the courtyard stood the willow tree. Their willow tree.
A familiar feeling sent a shiver down Shaorin's spine. She hadn't been here for a long time but the memories were still embedded in her mind clearly.
"Why did you take me here?" Kai didn't answer but instead knelt down in front of the tree and used his hand to dig at the ground. He began to form a hole until her reached a small box. Taking it out, he brushed off all the dirt and handed it to Shaorin.
"For me?" Kai nodded. Gingerly, she opened the box and found a small ring band made of silver with her name engraved on it.
"It's beautiful," she breathed.
"Here," he held his hand out to take the ring. Brushing Shaorin's hair away from her neck, he unclasped her locket and slipped on the ring onto the chain.
"It's so nice Kai!" Shaorin smiled, hugging him tightly.
"I was planning to give it to you 2 years ago when we're supposed to meet here."
"It doesn't matter, I still love it just the same." She leaned over to kiss him gently. He held her closer as she reached up to enclose her arms around his neck. They pulled apart for air but neither made a move to step away. Shaorin snuggled into his hold, breathing in his scent; a musky pine.
"Shaorin! Kai!" the familiar voice of Tala called them out of their moment. Quickly they pulled away before Tala could see them.
"What are you two doing here?" the redhead asked slyly.
Shaorin blushed,
"Visiting the old tree?" It wasn't all a lie was it?
"Heh, sure," Tala smirked. Kai showed indifference to what they were saying.
"Honestly Tala!" Shaorin threw her arms in the air.
"Whatever you say, Mrs. Hiwatari," Tala mocked. The hazel eyed girl stiffened.
"What?" she exclaimed finally.
"Gotta run," Tala chuckled and took off back into the building.
"Tala Ivanov!" Shaorin shouted, chasing after him. Groaning, Kai went after her.
"I (pant) give up, you win this time, Tal," Shaorin gasped, collapsing onto the snowy ground.
"Come to your senses I see," he grinned faintly, joining her only slightly winded though. And then Kai came after them, jogging.
"Hi!" Rin chirped, looking up at the looming figure of the blue haired boy.
"You're in pathetic shape, Rin. I'm training you to run more laps starting tomorrow."
Shaorin's jaw fell. "W-what?" her voice wavered.
"I'm training you to run more laps starting tomorrow," Kai repeated. Shaorin didn't know whether to be angry or scared. She chose the former…
About half an hour later, Kai was adorning a new bruise on his arm, more handprints around his neck and one hell of a headache. He had his arms cross, eyeing Shaorin plainly. Her? Oh, she was being held back by Tala, who was trying to keep down a chuckle. She grinned smugly at the damage.
"For goodness sakes Kai, just do something to calm her down!" Tala shouted finally, when Shaorin was trying to wriggle out of his hold.
Sighing, the slate haired boy strode over and tilted the shorter girl's chin, before swooping down for a long lingering kiss. Tala's eyes widened and let go of Shaorin.
"Ugh…keep your love life somewhere where I can't see it!" he commented and headed back to where the others were.
Kai smirked against her lips.
"Calm yet?" he remarked, after pulling away.
"Calm enough…" she sighed.
"I think we should be going back to the teams now, don't you?"
"Okay!" she chirped, smiling again.
"You know…you have a strong punch," he said before adding, "for a girl." Shaorin's expression hardened.
"Shut up before I hit you again."
"I'm so scared," Kai muttered sarcastically. Shaorin growled.
After piling into the white limo Shaorin had requested for and an extremely long ride with Tala grinning tauntingly at Shaorin and Kai every few minutes they finally reached the restaurant the rest of the RebelBladers and BladeBreakers were at.
"Afternoon, miss. Are there reservations made for you?" the waiter asked politely.
"Yes, under the name Hiwatari," she answered. Kai raised an eyebrow at her; he didn't remember calling any restaurant for reservations.
"Ah yes, the rest of your party is already seated, please come this way," he gestured for them to follow.
"Hey Shao, Kai!" Celina waved when she spotted them.
"Hi," the amber haired girl smiled back, seating herself beside the ruby eyed teen. Kai and the Demolition Boys sat on her other side.
"So who are you?" Celina smiled coyly at Tala.
"Tala, Tala Ivanov."
"Ah, I see, I'm Celina Inoshi, heir to the Inoshi Corporation."
Celina turned to Shaorin.
"You never told me your friends were such hotties." She whispered.
"Well you never asked!"
"Good point."
The RebelBladers seemed fine with the Demolition Boys eating with them but the BladeBreakers excluding Kai begged to differ. Tyson sat rigid in his seat, eyeing Tala suspiciously. How could a girl with a sweet (cough) personality like Shaorin know "evil" guys like the Demolition Boys?
"Didn't expect to see you guys here," Ray finally broke the ice. Bryan turned to look at him; his piercing violet eyes sent a shiver down Ray's spine, remembering their last encounter at the world tournaments.
"Something the matter?" Naomi asked, confused at their reactions.
"No, it's nothing," Max assured, not wanting them to get involved.
"Alright then if you say so…" Naomi nodded, eating her pasta again. Beside her, Tyson shot a look at Tala that said 'don't you dare do anything…'
Tala ignored him, focusing his attention back on Celina who was chatting away happily.
"So how long have you known Kai and Shaorin?" she asked.
"About 8 years…"
"Oh." Neither said anything and Celina was beginning to be nervous.
"He went to the Abbey at about 8 years old," Shaorin added, noticing the silence, "and I trained there too, but I quit and instead just hung around the place. It's not as if the guards could've done anything to me anyways, they know who I am and the consequences."
"So does the same go for Tala and Kai?" Celina asked curiously. Tala flinched slightly at the question as Kai's expression didn't change but his eyes darkened.
"Unfortunately…no."
"No?"
"You see…well, I'd rather not say," Shaorin shook her head.
"Oh, fine then, I won't ask," she nodded, not wanting to pry into other's secrets.
Shaorin glanced at her two guy friends who sent her a look of gratitude and partly annoyance that she had brought up the subject.
"Well, sorry-y," she muttered under her breath darkly.
"Why are you guys here?" Tyson confronted the Demolition Boys after lunch and after they'd left.
"What do you mean why?" Ian snapped, "Is it against the laws to talk to old team mates?"
"Not Kai, Shaorin and the other girls," Ray said.
"They're friends okay? And we don't even know the rest of the RebelBladers. Besides, Shaorin was once part of our team too," Tala rolled his eyes.
"Why'd we even want to hurt you? You're not even worth our time, in or out of the stadium," Brian sneered.
"Heh, you wish," Tyson rubbed his nose.
"Just don't harm anyone, okay?" Max stated.
Spencer snorted, "Idiots."
Ian smirked, "You really had no clue did you?"
"What?" Kenny blinked.
"We're not officially part of the Demolition Boys anymore now that Voltaire has been sentenced to jail."
"So…does that mean you're part of the good guys now?" Tyson asked slowly.
"Maybe," Tala smirked, "but don't expect us to be all friendly with you."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Ray grinned.
"Talaaaa!" Shaorin chirped, running towards them.
"Yeah?"
"You ready to head back yet?"
"Fine, let's go," Tala answered.
"'Till next time, Ivanov," Tyson waved. Tala nodded at him, following after Shaorin with the rest of the Demolition Boys.
"What was that all about?" Rin asked curiously.
"Nothing, just stuff," Ian answered her.
"What kind of stuff?"
"Nothing that would concern you, pixie."
"Ergh…stupid Pinocchio!" Bryan and Spencer snickered at the two arguing while Tala shook his head.
End Chapter 14
Revised: May 30, 2011
(1) In 2011, this sounds weird in the age of mp3s and iPods... and it makes me feel old.