fanfiPale Stained Darkness
Rating: T
Summary: The rewrite of Smile Empty Soul! Kai is sent to live with a foster family. He's a silent, moody and sometimes hostile teen but once among the Granger and Tate home will he change for the better or will what he experienced in the past rule his future?
Author Note: So, here we are, chapter 21! I know you guys have been waiting for Kai's return. Well your wish has been granted! Wha-la! Also I dunno if they have Amber Alerts in Japan but it was the first thing that came to mind. So, without further ado, please enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, V-Force, or G-Revolution or any of its characters/settings or ideas. This is a strictly fan made thing and no money is being made from its writing. Pure enjoyment is all I ask and maybe a few reviews.
Pale Stained Darkness
Chapter 21: The Boy is Back
"Holy crap Kai!" I jump up, wanting to embrace the other teen but stop myself when he pulls back, putting a good distance between himself and me. I frown slightly but don't put too much thought into the action, knowing Kai had always been a little strange about physical contact. Instead I opt to look over the other. I try my hardest not to gasp at the sight of him. Now Kai had always been on the lean side, his body more toned to that of a runner or in his case a Parkour-ist. But now all the lean muscle he had built up is hardly noticable under the dirty and stained clothing. Baggy pants that use to fit just right slip haphazardly from his too slim hips, the black seat belt styled belt cinched up to take in as much slack as possible. The once pale and smooth skin is reddened slightly from exposure and a drawn, tired look has taken up the area below his eyes, casting them in a dark shadow. Instead of his unique two-toned blue hair Kai has chestnut down hair and eyebrows. All these factors cast him to look like a completely different person.
"Huh… now I know why all the photo's and Amber alerts put out on you didn't come back with any matches." I smile and Kai runs a hand through his hair and settles himself down beside the bench. I sit back down on the concrete seat and reach into my bag, plucking out the apple I saved from lunch and hand it to the pale teen. Kai accepts the bannana apple with a nod and hungirly bites into it.
"So, how's the situation?" he asks around a mouth full of apple, some of the juice spilling down into his chin. Kai reaches a dirty and marred hand up to wipe it away before rubbing the used hand on his pants.
I cringe, if Judy had seen him….
"Well, after you screwed your gra-" Kai holds up his hand
"He's not my grandfather." He growls and I cwallow, seeing the anger in the dark eyes. I nod and continue
"Voltaire, took Bruce and Judy to court. But since you had ran away three days prior there really wasn;t a case and the Judge deemed that you wouldn't have just up and left the pleacement if Voltaire hadn't suddenly showed up." I conclude and watch as Kai finishes the apple and then tosses the core into a nearby bush where it lands softly. Kai sits back against the tree and chews thoughtfully.
"Has he been coming around lately?" he asks and I laugh
"Yeah, almost everyday after the court hearing there was a black SUV parked out in front of the Dojo. After about the fifth day of having it parked there myself, Tyson, Max and Tala decided to take matters into our own hands." I stop and start to laugh, reliving the act in my head. Kai looks up at me, his usually expressionless eyes pratically screaming at me to let him in.
"We took some of Grandpa-G's 'skin nature wraps' ya know the ones with the seaweed, fishguts and mud?" Kai nods, a small smile breaking out on his usually stoic face " well we took three of those and hid up in the trees until one of those suits got out for whatever reason. We pelted him and the car with those nasty things! Tala even got a wrap inside the SUV!" I laugh, nearly falling off the bench as the memories of the men's faces as the gross wrapes were launched at them from the trees.
"After that, whenever we saw anyone lurking around the dojo we would sneek attack them with some gross but non-threatening item." Kai nods, the smile a bit larger.
"How about Judy and Bruce? Bet they were pretty upset." He says softly and looks down at the ground, his dirt covered hand playing with the grass blades. I shake my head
"Not really, they were more worried about you getting caught up in the mess of this. I actually overheard Bruce say one night before the court hearing that if might have been a good thing you dissapeared, that way after your last reaction you wouldn't have to deal with all the stress and pressure." Kai looks up at me, suspicion in his eyes but I hold my hands up
"Gods honest truth." That seems to placate him. We sit in silence for a while, listening to the sounds of the afterschool activities starting up.
"Where have you been Kai… I mean four months? Where did you go?" I finally ask and Kai shoots me a brief smirk before shaking his head and reaching around the tree for his satchel, the poor thing. Ragged and just as dirty as Kai the black bag is riddled with holes and marred from whatever.
"Well I will tell you. After leaving here I hopped a train headed for Kyoto, the place my parents first lived while they were still settling in. I tracked down a few of their old neighbors and spoke to them, found out everything I could before getting on another transport to Hokkaido." He stops and pulls out a few things, pictures from the looks of it.
"There I met an older woman, she ran her own dry cleaning and laudry mat buisness named Nami Ginta. I went in there to see if I could maybe scrounge up some warmer clothes from people who left their clothes in a stopped dryer. Well as I was picking through the clothes this woman came around the corner, startling me. I grabed what I could and went to make my get away when she grabbed onto my arm." I stare at Kai for a moment
"Well what was I going to do? Kick her in the shins and run? Jeez Ray she was like six-hundred years old!" he defends and I laugh.
"Don't laugh, she was scary." He continues
"Well anyway she pulled me into her office and sat me down, I thought for sure she was going to call the cops on me but instead she went to a filing cabinate and pulled out a small box. She opened it an produced these pictures." He hands me the photographs
"she said that she knew who I was and showed me that first photo." He says and I gaze at it, finding the two people smiling happily at the camera staring back. The woman was a tall one, her arms holding onto a newborn swaddled in hospital blankets, her long silver-grey hair plaited back in a braid reaching her waste. Very exotic looking with her deep mahogany eyes and pale skin. Beside her a beeming male of Japanese descent stands, his smile wide and prideful. His long dark blue hair held at the nape of his neck with a silver clasp and dark eyes focused on the baby in the woman's hands.
"She said this photogrpah was taken by her the day I was brought home from the hospital, that is my mother and father Ray." He says softly and I look at Kai, whose eyes have softended as he gazes at the picture.
"Your mother was a beautiful person Kai." Kai nods his head
"I forgot what her and my father looked like Ray… I know it makes no sense but until I saw these pictures I felt like a piece of me was missing somehow…." He trails off and I clear my throat.
"I guess I wouldn't understand since I never saw my parents, so I learned to move on and not dwell upon it, but Kai this is great." I tell him, sadness creeping into my heart as I stare down at the happy couple. I vaugly wonder if my parents were this happy when I was born, if there are photographs of me somewhere out there. Or someone like this woman Ginta who held onto photographs.
Sometimes it's not fair
"His name was Eiji, he was a pharmacists son. I guess my father's father died of Pancriatic cancer four months before I was born and my mother Vasya was disowned from that dispicable man Voltaire after she chose to marry Eiji." He says softly and I hands back the photogrpahs. Kai tenderly places the photos back into his bag and leans back against the tree.
"So that was it, you visited those two places and found everythhing you wanted?" I ask and Kai gives a soft chuckle
"Hardly, the next person I want to speak too is Voltaire. I want to know why he dissaproved of my father and why he said and did the things he did back at the dojo that day. I want to understand the hatred he had for my mother and the anger he held for her. I just want to understand, that's all." I am silent after that, unsure of how to proceed. I've never heard Kai speak so openly or so emotionally about what he thinks and feels.
"C'mon Kai." I state and stand, turning to look at the other teen.
"what?" he asks slowly and I reach down and grab his satchel
"We're going home." I tell him, a hint of stone in my voice. It was something I learned long ago while dealing with the stoic teen. If you don't present yourself as a person strong and willful Kai will walk all over you.
"They won't want me back." he growls back and stands, his dirty hand once more combling through his drown hair. I scoff at his words and sling my own bag over my shoulder
"Bull. They were worried about you. I swear Bruce and Judy won't be angry with you. They'll be relieved that you've returned home. C'mon if we hurry we can make it back in time for you to shower before dinner and get cleaned up." I tell him and step away from Kai, knowing this has to be his decision to follow me home. Kai stands for a moment, weighing his options carefully in his mind.
"Alright. Let's go." He says and I hand his bag back. Kai tacks up stride beside me and for the first time in months the hole that had been developing in my chest is starting to heal, I only now hope that things will go as smoothly as I made them out to be once we get home.
(Granger/Tate residence Kai's Pov.)
Ray ushers me through the gate and into the secluded yard and away from the prying eyes of would-be spy's. I am nervous and don't understand why. I mean if they decide I'm too much of a problem I'll be returned to Mr. Dickinson's care at the facility.
No biggie there.
Except for one thing.
I came to like it here. I came to enjoy the family atmosphere and the routine, the sounds and warmth being here among these people. The cold nights I spent on the streets or in condemed buildings I would use this memory to keep me moving, give me something to hope for.
But now as I stand before the familier walkway, the gardens and the brightly lit home the nervousness is bubbling up. Following Ray at a much slower pace I toe off my worn out boots and step up onto the walkway. We silently wind our way down the halls, past the room Ray and I shared to the source of the laughter and conversations. I hesitate in the doorway as the others greet Ray, the hope for accpetence slipping away by the minute, I'm about to give into my nervousness and flee when Ray's voice cuts through the din.
"Ahh guys. I have someone for you to meet." I suck in a deep breath and step out of the shadows of the hallway and look around the room at the shocked faces. Clearing my throat and knowing what I must look like I try to ease the situation
"Uh… Hey guys."
Author Note: so I was going to stop this chapter right before Ray and Kai head for the house but decided I'd give ya'z a little bit more for being so awesome and waiting so long for this. I know Kai was a little OOC and talkative in this chapter but I wanted him to seem like he learned something while on his little 'vacation'.So, I am going to ask you guys (who celebrate) to have a good Thanksgiving and to please review. Thanks to all!