The journey home in the car was silent and strained. I knew my siblings were cross with me but I did not care. I had done the right thing. My parents' faces were like thunder and that was because they had heard their side of the story. When we got to the house, they would hear mine and I was sure their attitudes would change.

How wrong I was. They thought that I was being dramatic about the whole thing and were appalled that I had not controlled my punches and my kicks.

"You hurt the poor man. You should have given him respect – he's a sensei!" Mum reprimanded.

"But he kicked me where he - "

"Don't give me that rubbish. He gave you a controlled, harmless kick to the stomach," Dad interposed. "He would have barely touched you."

"You weren't the one fighting him," I objected, trying not to wince at the increased throbbing in said place as I recalled the strike in fear of being accused once more of exaggerating and faking the pain.

"Your sister and brothers know what they saw. Their stories are the same but yours is different and I believe theirs because - "

"Because it's two against one!" I interrupted bitterly. "So what? It doesn't mean it's true."

"Don't argue with Dad!" Mum snapped. "It doesn't matter what you think. As far as we're concerned, they're right. Your antics embarrassed them and us. You humiliated our family out there in front of all of those people."

I gritted my teeth in frustration. Even my parents were against me. There no doubt that once they had told the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins I would have nobody to turn to about it. They believed that if anything like this happened, it reflected and brought shame on the whole family. I would be a disgrace to all of the relatives.

Something white on the arm of the chair in which my mother was sitting caught my eye and brought me out of my depressed daze. Papers. "What are those?"

"They're the practice papers for the theory exam for the next grading," Dad explained.

I frowned in confusion. "Why are there four of them?"

"You're taking the next grade too. It's in a couple of weeks," Mum replied.

I was horrified. "No!"

"You're still doing it."

"But you promised I wouldn't go after tonight, not to mention when I turned fifteen!" I pointed out.

She ignored my refusal. "You'll go for some more weeks, do the grade and then leave. Joanna will need you for a partner. Otherwise she'll be alone as the only girl."

My eyes widened. This was just like what had happened last time when I was ten.

I had gone to karate to try it out with my siblings; they had liked it but I had not. The fighting, violence, strict teachers, constant pressure to be disciplined, completely committed to going there, to the martial art itself and harsh, regimented rules had felt like a prison not liberation. I had told my parents as such but they had said I would be going whether I wanted to or not, going back on their previous promise that if any of us did not enjoy it we would not have to go again. I remained obstinate on not doing it anyway and then they guilt-tripped me.

What about my sister? they asked. My poor little sister amongst those big, strong, scary boys. She would be all alone. She would have nobody to talk to because she would be the only girl there. I should go and do it for Joanna as her eldest sister, set a good example.

Of course, not wanting to disappoint them and make her lonely, I conceded. I went there, did as I was told and put up with all the nastiness and everything else.

I did my best to ignore it. To hide it. To not let it get to me.

I did it for her.

As it was, it turned out to be me who suffered and not Joanna.

She got on fine with the people there; never had any trouble. Even knowing that, I still dealt with it all. She enjoyed karate so who was I to spoil her fun by showing how much they hurt me and how much I hated everything about it? Plus my parents would be mad because I would have been acting selfishly and only thinking of my own problems.

My silence and pushing away what I was feeling and going through caused all of it to build up and worsen as time went on. Little by little, my façade began to crack and my resolve started to falter. The pain, anger, frustration and sorrow were becoming too much to bear. I did not know how much more I could take of the other students beating me up and ostracising me, the teachers bullying and excluding me because I was the worst at learning moves, was always losing free fighting sessions, constantly being the most quiet and compliant (my parents would watch me like hawks from the sidelines to make sure I did not mess up on my commitment to Joanna or embarrass them by doing something wrong or not doing what I was asked, which I somehow did anyway in their eyes no matter how hard I tried).

I resorted to channeling it into the moves I learned and when I fought in sparring matches but I only ended up being told off by them and the senseis because I did not pull my punches, despite having been punished before for doing the very opposite. These double standards, along with the punishment that forbade me from ever entering a Beyblade tournament, my blades being taken away and never seeing Rebecca again, were what made me snap. I had tried my utmost to please my parents and endure it for the sake of my sister (who did not care about what I had done for her one bit) but it had come to nothing. My decision was that it was not worth it anymore and I resolved to quit there and then. My parents did not allow it but promised that in five years I would be permitted to do as I wished. I had held them to that to this day.

But now they were at it again. Joanna had been brought up once more. I had to stay with her because setting an example for my sister and the others was my duty, according to them. Plus I would be being extremely selfish and disgracing the family and myself further if I refused to do so. It was always about reputation and how I had to do something for somebody else and keep in line. What about me? I wanted to scream in their faces. What about what I want? I don't care anymore about doing it for my stupid sister or anyone else you can think of. Damn it all!

I could not believe my ears. I could not believe they expected me to fall for it again. They had broken their promise for a second time.

"Let her be alone. That's what I was for these past years after all."

"Don't answer back!" Dad shouted angrily. "At this rate, you won't stop after the grade - you'll stop when you're twenty."

Outrage and disbelief temporarily outstripped the pain of the wounds inflicted by Tim. What the heck? That's going too far! They've overstepped the line big time. Despite wanting to throttle them and yell at them for their stupidity, I sighed inwardly. There was no point in arguing with them. They would not listen. Another five years at that place would be torture. Although I did not want to, I had to back down.

"Fine!" I bit out. "Have it your way."

With that, I stomped up the two flights of stairs to my attic bedroom.

I vented my fury as I readied for bed. That promise had kept me going through five long hard years at the club. Now I had nothing to hope for. Just more years, more anger, more pain and more hatred.

My parents did not bid me goodnight nor worry about my injuries. I did not care. I did not trust them to make promises they would keep anymore. I lay in bed, wide awake and staring up at the ceiling. I was in a state of shock. I had never expected something like this to happen; the family siding against me in what I knew to be right and breaking a serious vow.

So much for family bonds.

So much for trust.

So much for keeping faith in one another.

I felt tears threaten and reached for Goldflame. It would be better to cry somewhere I would be understood and comforted, I reasoned. Doing it there would be only give them the satisfaction and make things worse. I vanished to the Beyblade universe; where I felt I had always belonged.

I appeared inside the dojo in the room with the huge sword displayed at one end. It was in darkness, everything quiet except for the sound of my team-mates' soft breaths as they slept. Moonlight bathed my slumbering friends in silver-blue luminescence. I saw Kai open his eyes and sit up in his futon as I approached.

He reached out and touched my cheek when I knelt beside him. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. I could not trust my voice.

He closed his eyes. "Hn."

We crept into the spare room, closing the door behind us. Kai laid out his futon on the floor. I did the same with mine so they were next to each other and touching. We sat down on the polished wooden floor facing one another.

My boyfriend noticed the discomfort on my face and the way I kept my hand on the place where Tim had kicked me. His eyebrows furrowed. His jaw clenched in disgust. "Somebody hit you there."

I nodded in affirmation.

His hands curled into fists as he caught sight of the glaring red mark on my clavicle. "Where else?"

I partially unbuttoned my striped purple pyjamas to reveal the angry welts swelling on my chest from the man's blows and the darkening bruises which he had made when his lips had attacked my skin. They stood out starkly against the silver hue from the moon tinting my complexion. It felt like his eyes were still burning holes into me and I shuddered at the remembered sensation of his sickening touch as I bared my back to Kai after showing him the injuries on my stomach and legs. Given how many places in which I was aching from the fight and after his assault, I knew I would not be surprised if I were to discover more weals blossoming the next morning.

"Tell me what happened."

His calm but firm command left no room for argument or hesitation. I blew out a shaky breath, turning around to face him once more as I did up my pyjama top. Tears gathered but did not spill over. I steadied my nerves as best I could and began recounting everything that had occurred tonight. The Russian sat there silently, listening intently to every word; only his narrowed eyes and stiff posture gave away how cross he was undoubtedly feeling about the whole thing. I was glad of that, for I had seen and experienced enough anger that evening and did not need any more to add to my distress.

I started to cry, finally releasing the tears I had been holding in. "I…I…I should have refused to go tonight. If I hadn't have agreed, they…they wouldn't have - " I choked on a sob. "That promise meant...a lot…to me. I waited five years... five years…But now…"

Kai carefully drew me close to him. "Don't blame yourself. It's their fault."

"I know but…I still have to go. I…I…I've had enough of waiting. I can't take it anymore!" I cried, sobbing into his shoulder. "What can I do? Th-they're all against…m-me n-now." My voice was slightly muffled by the material of his sleeveless shirt.

He held me tighter. "You don't have to go. It doesn't matter what they think. We will be behind you whatever happens."

I put my arms around him, relieved. "You're…you're right. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Kai rubbed my back lightly as I cried into his chest; his embrace never phased.

We stayed in each other's arms until I had stopped crying and calmed down. I slipped into my futon after we had pulled away, happy that I had a place like this to go to when nobody in my world would support me. Something warm enveloped my right hand. I glanced at the futon beside me to see Kai's hand holding my smaller one; I returned the gesture, our fingers entwining.

I smiled fondly. "Goodnight."

"Hn." He gave me a tiny smile back. "You too."

I let my eyes fall shut, enjoying the feel of his strong yet gentle grasp on my hand and drifted off to sleep not long after.

The Bladebreakers sat in a wide circle on the polished wooden floor in the spacious room with the Dragon Heart sword on display. It was early afternoon. Rebecca and I had finished school around the same time and appeared in the Beyblade universe together. Things had been mercifully normal in both universes with no attacks. Victor continued his inactive behaviour though I knew it would not last; at some point, he would resume his attempts to get my soul and my Bit Beast.

Presently, I recalled what had happened the previous night. My friends were horrified that Tim had tried to seduce me helpless and played dirty during our fight, not at all surprised when I added that he had been working with the Black Hell Bladers' leader. They were disgusted at how the karate club had dismissed my pain as exaggeration but pleased I had won and ignored people's comments. It was when I told them that I had heard my siblings' voices among the cat calls and how my parents supported them that they were shocked.

"So just because you were outnumbered they believed the majority? That's awful!" cried Hilary, appalled.

"They should have agreed with you; you're the one who fought him," Ray remarked. "They weren't even there! Your brothers and sister don't know what they're talking about – they didn't go through what you did."

"You would have thought they'd see Alana's point of view," Max concurred. "Her account of the fight is the truth so why did they get the parents to side with them?"

"To be nasty!" growled Tyson. "For some reason, they decided to get the family against her so she'd be alone."

"That's just harsh – family should stick together." Daichi was cross too.

"I know…but I think I have a reason why," Kenny stated. He glanced at me. "Your siblings might have sided against you because they're fed up of hearing you complain about the club and seeing you rebel against it."

I nodded. "It's quite likely, Chief. I wouldn't ask them about it though. There's something else that happened after that too…"

I explained how my parents broke their promise and how after the incident when I had been ten I had held them to their word for five years.

"That's terrible!" Rebecca exclaimed. "How dare they? After all that time and patience!"

"They said you can leave in a few weeks, right? Are you going to wait a little longer until then?" asked Max.

"No," I replied resolutely. "I'm not going anymore, even if they try and make me."

"That's right! Stand up to them," Tyson coached.

"What will you do when the others go to the club?" Rebecca questioned.

"I'll stay here," I answered simply.

"Great!" Daichi grinned. "We get to see you more often."

I smiled back. "Yes. Hopefully, if Rebecca can make it, we can all start training for the World Championships as well as do other things."

"That'd be cool," Rebecca chuckled. "Don't worry, I can make it."

"Then it's settled."

A week went by and then it was half term. Things had remained normal at school during that time and my plan of rebelling against going to the club had been put into action on the Wednesday. I had gone upstairs to my room and read when asked to put my gi on until it was time to go, refusing to come down when I was called. Due to the fact that there had been five minutes to go before the session began, I had been left at home. I had travelled to the Beyblade world and trained for the World Championships with my team for the duration of the karate lesson and returned to my own once I had finished. My parents had been cross but I had not cared; I had showed them I was not about to let them get away with breaking their promise and going against me. I was sure that they would give up insisting that I go when they saw I was not going to listen to them. I spent the whole week in the Beyblade universe, practicing with the Bladebreakers. Unlike the practice I did in karate, the training I went through alongside my team-mates was both pleasurable and beneficial. It would help me in the upcoming battles and those to come in future as well as strengthen the bond I shared with my friends, my Bit Beast and the one I loved. Now that was something the club would never do for me.