Hi everyone, this chapter features some very dark themes. There will be a trigger warning for rape in this chapter . There will be minor mentions of it in the future of Maps, just a heads up. But I will be putting warnings, just in case.
If you're triggered please don't read this one, I don't want anyone to be uncomfortable. I will be putting up the next chapter very soon.
Maps
Chapter 17
A good eleven hours later, Kira had landed in Tokyo. She yawned and stretched as she walked off the plane, heading to the luggage carousel.
As she waited, her phone started to vibrate in her pocket, so of course, she answered.
"Kira! How is LA?!" Luna sounded super excited on her sighed, Kira had to wince from the volume of her voice.
"Hm? I'm already back in Japan. Just landed, actually."
"Ooooohh, how's Ray doing with all that back to back travel? I'm sure he's exhausted."
"Ugh, dont remind me." Kira sighed, shaking her head. "I feel so guilty. He's actually on the plane now, they canceled his seat because they over booked and he wouldn't let me change my flight." Kira frowned, thinking back to it.
"...so you're by yourself?! That idiot, I'm gonna come to the airport now and-"
Kira yawned again and stretched. "It's fine, really. I'm just going to head home and sleep for a few hours. It's the middle of the night anyways. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Actually! While I have you on the phone, I need to tell you something. The boys wanted to wait, but I think you need to hear it."
"Um.. okay. what's going on?"
"Freaking Salima is part of the PSYKICKS!" Luna was practically screaming in her ear, but Kira's eyes widened as she held the phone. "I don't know if she was ever actually interested in Ray, but they wanted to split you two up for some reason, I'm sure of it."
"H-how do you know?"
"Hilary got tape of them meeting up with one of those people you guys encountered on the island! She's a beyblader, Ki!"
Kira couldn't help but think back to all of the days that Salima pulled Ray away from practice or would steal his attention when Kira was trying to help him with something beyblade related. She squeezed the phone in her hand and let out a short, frustrated sigh.
"Of course she is..." Kira saw her bag and hurried over to get it. "I'll.. be over first thing in the morning. I wanna see those tapes please."
"We each have a copy so they're nice and safe. See you in the morning!" Kira heard Luna hang up and sighed. She grabbed her bag and put her phone under her chin, deep in thought.
Salima definitely had feelings for Ray, she could tell. There's eyes that you look at people normally with, and eyes that you look at people you're in love with. The way she looked at Ray.. Kira felt a burning in her chest and shook her head. How was Ray gonna react to this? He was either going to get super pissed like he was after the World Tournament, or he was going to be super hurt that he was used.
But used for what? Why go after Ray of all people?
Was it because their relationship was broken so he was an easy target? Or was there another reason? She grabbed the handle of her bag and walked out to go find her Uber.
The whole drive home, the Uber driver was talking to Kira, but she couldn't stop thinking about Salima and the Psykicks. It was only about a twenty minute ride to her apartment from the airport, and by the time she got back, she could feel exhaustion hitting her like a train.
'Hey, just made it back to my apt. I'm just gonna pass out and try to get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow at the house.' She messaged Ray's phone so he would get the message when he landed. She greeted her security guard at the front desk and went to the elevator to take her upstairs.
Kira opened the door to her apartment. She dropped her bag and her eyes were heavy. She literally just wanted to climb into bed and pass out. Tomorrow she'd go check in with the BladeBreakers, but tonight she just...
Wait...
Kira looked around, and all of her lights were on. She'd double, no, triple checked to make sure she had turned them off before she left. The front door clicked heavily behind her as it closed, and she heard footsteps from her bedroom.
Please just be Kai or Max or someone making sure she was safe... She felt nausea sitting in the pit of her stomach, she absent-mindedly backed up to the door.
"Hello, Kira." The same large, tan-skinned man that had attacked her both times stepped forward from her doorway, a smirk on his face. He was at least twice Kira's size, so she had no chance of defending herself against him. Kira gulped, backing up towards her door. At least if anything happened... his face would be on camera.
"It's been a while. I've given you plenty of time to complete what I asked of you. So where is Draiga?"
"You should know by now that I don't travel with her on my person..." The man's face twisted to pure annoyance and anger and saw Kira moving her arm behind her. "Not that I would give her to you anyways."
"Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you. You see, you may have upgraded your security." He motioned towards the camera, and reached down into his waistband. "So I had to get some upgrades myself." He pulled out a gun and cocked back the hammer, pointing it straight at her head. Kira held her breath in her chest and put her arms back down by her side.
"I gave you one job, Kira." The man said the words with an ironic laugh in his voice. "I've let you fuck around... have some fun with your friends... but I don't have time to wait around anymore. I'm getting in trouble for being too nice." The guy smiled, his pearly white teeth gleaming from the light in her kitchen. "So where is she? We'll go get her together." He had a gun, so no way she was taking him back to the BladeBreakers' house.
"I don't... know.." Kira grit her teeth, and he could see her shaking. He sighed, shaking his head.
"You know, I really wanted this to be a quick visit. I come here, get what I want, and then leave. But you're making this a really hard and stressful experience for me." He slowly stepped forward to her and pulled her away from the door and pointed the gun so she could feel the cold metal against her skin.
Is this it? She thought. Who would find her body? Would he hide her body? Or would he make it look like a robbery gone wrong? "Kill me then..." She whispered. He raised his brow at her and then laughed, almost maniacally.
"And they say I'm crazy." He shook his head. "No. I'm not allowed to kill you. But, luckily for me, I'm allowed to torture you how I see fit. And I really... really need some stress relief." He used the gun to pull the top of her shirt down and practically licked his lips. "Oh yeah, I know what I want."
TRIGGER WARNING
She stared at him, her eyes burning into his skin. Memorizing every facial feature he had. She winced as he shoved her pants down and felt herself shake. He bent down, licking his two fingers and rubbing her with his fingers, then he stuck a finger then two inside of her.
"You're not going to get away with this..." She whispered, staring at the windows behind him.
He chuckled as he shoved her in deeper to her apartment as she tripped on her pants. "I'm not trying to get away with it. I just want your bitbeast. Give me that and all of this will stop. For now, this will suffice. Now... where should I- ahh perfect." He pushed her over to her bed, bent her over and held her wrists together behind her back as he took his own pants off. He smacked her ass, hard, leaving a large red handprint on her. She could tell it was going to bruise.
Tears came to her eyes.
Why...?
Kira clenched her eyes shut as she felt him shove himself into her... and then forced herself to disassociate.
After what felt like forever, she felt him pull out and then grimaced as he released all over her back.
"God, I feel better." He let go of her arms to pull his pants back up. "Remember, Kira. Get me Draiga, or this is just going to keep getting worse for you." He raised the gun back and hit her over the back of the head once, then twice, causing her to black out.
A few days went by, and Kira hadn't really been mentally present at the BladeBreakers' practices. She was there... but she wasn't really herself. And she had been avoiding being alone with Ray at all costs.
Ray had left the house that day, confused about why she was acting so differently. He had gone back to the BladeBreakers house like she asked after the trip. He knew she was exhausted and needed rest. Was she mad at him for doing so? No... that didn't make sense.
When he came back home he could smell something delicious coming from the kitchen. It wasn't a familiar smell, as far as he was aware but.. whatever it was smelled amazing. He went into the house, seeing everyone hanging out in the living room.
"Hey Ray!" Max called out and smiled, before returning to the game they were playing.
"Hey... who's...?" Ray pointed to the kitchen.
"Kira's making food." Tyson shrugged. Ray's eyes widened.
What? He thought, rushing to the kitchen. Indeed, she was standing in front of the stove, watching whatever she was cooking... cook. She seemed semi-zoned out. He saw some vegetables on the counter that she had yet to cut. He walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder, and immediately she spun around with a knife in hand, and terrified look in her eyes.
Luckily for him, he had the reflexes of a cat and caught her wrist. "H..hey.." He looked at her concerned, and she focused her eyes on her face, and shook her head.
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry!" She dropped the knife on the counter and fell to the floor, covering her face. "I'm so sorry, Ray."
Ray squatted down next to her, a look of deep concern on his face, shaking his head. "It's okay... I'm just glad it was me and not someone else... are you okay?" Kira took a few deep breaths and stood.
"Y-y..yeah.. I'm good." She stood back up and sniffled, grabbing the knife off the counter again. She moved over to the veggies which she had washed and was getting ready to cut. "S...so I'm surprised you're here... not out... on a pretend date or something."
"Is that why you're here? Because you thought I'd be gone?"
"...kinda." She murmured. "Max... also asked for 'Cajun food'. I knew you probably didn't know how to make it so... here I am." She cut down on a pepper and Ray winced watching her almost slice her finger.
"Can... can I help you, please? It's killing me watching you try to cut those."
"Go for it..." She said setting down the knife and turning towards him.
"Actually..." He whispered, grabbing the knife and standing closely behind her. He placed the knife in her hand and placed his hand over hers. "This way you can watch and learn. Muscle memory and all..." He pressed up against her back and felt her tense up.
He helped her chop up all the peppers, a few jalapeños, a few onions, and tomatoes.
"So... how do you know how to make Cajun food? Isn't that an-"
"American thing.. yes.." Ray backed away from her and leaned against the counter as she seasoned the food and veggies a bit more. She sighed and looked over at him. "When... I first returned to Europe after you left, I was super depressed. Knowing my love of food, Oliver decided to take me on a food tour around the world. So we went to a bunch of different places in America... Mexico... Ch...China, Eastern Europe... God we must have gone to like fifteen different countries."
"You went to China? You guys should have-"
"What? Called you?" Kira looked at him with her brow lifted, and he sighed. She started stirring the food again.
"Anyways, Oliver picks up how to make food like that," Kira snapped her fingers. "And taught me the basic flavors for" she gestured to the food. "this. It might not be great but... at least it'll make Max happy." Kira sighed, leaning her elbows on the counter, biting her lip nervously. She stared off into the distance, getting lost in whatever thoughts she was having. "Can.. we start defensive training again?"
"Um... yeah? Of course. The only reason we stopped is because you-"
"Okay... just.. don't tell anyone right now, please?" She was staring at the wall in front of her, her eyes downtrodden. Ray stood back up and stirred the food some more, and looked at her.
"You've been acting weird since we got back from the U.S..." He tasted the food and his eyes widened. "Holy crap that's good!" Then he turned to face her again. She didn't even react to his compliment. "Kira.. whats going on? Did something happen?" She looked down at her hands and shook her head softly.
"I can't talk about it... not right now at least... okay?" Ray stood up straight, hearing her words and opened his mouth to talk.
"God, that smells so good Ki!" Max came in the kitchen with a big ol' smile on his face. Kira stood up at the counter and gave him a smile, sniffling.
"Great... it should be ready soon, okay?" Ray looked at her, worried and then looked at Max with a small smile on his face too.
"Aw man, Ray's helping you? I just know it's gonna be amazing. I'll go let everyone know!" Ray watched Max hurry back to the living room and put a hand on her arm, and watched as she yanked it away.
"Hey..." He furrowed his brows. "You're not regretting us... are you? If you are, all you need to do is say so and I'll take a step back?" Kira looked down at the counter, and then back at him.
"It has nothing to do with us... I promise.." Ray's brows furrowed together looking at her, wishing for just once he could look into her mind like Johnny could.
The next day, Kira was laying on the floor of the training room, waiting for Ray. She was staring at the ceiling, dead pan. She heard the door open and shut.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. Kai added an extra two miles last minute." She heard Ray drop his bag by the door, and sigh. His quiet footsteps came closer, and he sat down next to her. "I tried to finish as fast as I could."
"You're fine..." Kira whispered. Ray's brows furrowed. She was like, a shell of her former self. She didn't even have her usual fire at practice.
"I'm really worried about you. What's going on? Did... something happen with Johnny?" Kira's eyes averted up, and she blinked away tears.
"No..."
"Did... you.. get attacked again?" She was silent, and Ray sat forward, leaning over her. "Kira... I need to know what happened so I can help you." She finally made eye contact with him, and saw the look on his face. It was similar to the look when he found out about the initial attack a few months ago.
"Fine..." She whispered, pushing herself to stand. "But I honestly don't even know if you're going to be able to help me..." She pushed past him and walked over to the door. He stood to follow her, and she put her hand out, motioning him to stop. "Imagine you're me. 5'2", just got home from an eleven hour flight. You go straight home, ready to take a hot shower and jump in bed..." She stared down at the floor, and then turned to look at him. "You get home, all your lights are on. You specifically remember turning them off before you left. Then you hear footsteps coming from your bedroom because your front door slammed shut. And out comes a man, probably over 6 feet tall. The exact same man who's assaulted you multiple times, yet no one can seem to find."
"Kira..." He whispered and saw the look on her face. It was a mix of being terrified, angry... There were tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"Then, after asking you where your stupid bitbeast is-" Kira took out her beyblade from her sweater pocket and violently threw it at the ground next to Ray. He winced, looking away from her beyblade that was now cracked, and looked at her as she pulled out a very realistic looking toy gun from her waist band and pointed it at him. "This happens." She slowly took steps towards him, and points it at his forehead. "How the hell am I supposed to defend myself from this, Ray?" The tears started to fall from her eyes and her lip was quivering. She cocked back the hammer piece and slowly looked him up and down. He could see in her eyes that she was broken.
"Kira... did he..." Ray stared at her worriedly. He couldn't even finish the question, and he saw her face shift completely to pain and she fell to the ground, but he caught her before she hit the ground. The toy gun clicked against the ground and it set the gun off.
"Let's just say... he did what Koharu didn't get a chance to do..." She whispered over sobs and Ray held her... he just held her.
He was pissed. How did these people always know how to find her, and when? It was always the rare moment she was alone. He had failed her... yet again.
He let her cry into his shoulder, and he just held her. He had no idea the pain she felt, what was going through her head, but he was done failing her. He had done enough of that, and couldn't allow himself to do that anymore.
"You need to move back in to Tyson's house... or I can stay there with you. I don't want you alone anymore." Ray said softly as he rubbed the skin of her back, in a way he knew comforted her. "I told Salima's she's not allowed back at the house anymore, so you don't have to worry about seeing her, okay? I will be by your side, twenty-four seven."
Kira was silent.
"Whatever you need from me, I'm here for you, okay?" He felt the smallest movement of a nod from her. His eyes looked around the room and he saw her beyblade. A piece of it had broken off from when she threw it, and he softly sighed. All of this... for that.
Even as much as Ray loved beyblade, he didn't think it was worth all this. He understood the need and drive for power, like what Kira has. But none of it was worth her safety, her sanity, or her life. He closed his eyes and tightened his hug against her. Her silent tears kept falling, and he would feel an occasional shake from her. He pulled back and wiped the tears from her face.
"I need to talk to you." Ray came from where he was supposed to be training with Kira. He looked at Kai who saw the look on Ray's face.
"What's going on?" Luna asked Ray, and Ray shook his head.
"Just need to talk to Kai."
"Where's Kira?" Luna stood, stuffing the pillow on her lap to the side.
"Still in the dojo." She nodded and rushed off. Ray kinda hoped she wouldn't say anything because Kira had asked Ray not to say anything but...
Kai stared at Ray, waiting and Ray pulled him out front of the house. "You're starting to worry me... What's going on?"
"Kira was attacked again, Kai." Kai's eyes widened and he looked like he was going to say something. "But.. that's not the only thing. It's the same guy," Ray shook his head. "He...he raped her." Ray watched Kai's face as it went from shock, to pure anger.
"Are you serious?"
"I wish I was kidding. She asked me not to tell you because-"
"Did she go to the police?"
"Let's go make a report. There has to be something the police will be able to do."
"That's the first place I went after I woke up, Ray. They have nothing." Kira said, exasperated. Her body shook from the tears. He sighed, and shook his head.
"You should have called me to go with you, or Luna, or Lucy. You shouldn't have had to go through that all alone?"
"Why? So I could be humiliated in public? So you guys could pity me? It's so embarrassing. Besides it's not like it fucking even matters. They make you do everything alone..." She murmured, looking away from him.
"What do you mean?"
"The exam, the pictures... everything." Kira was sitting with her chin on her knees, she still had a few tears streaming down her face.
"Yeah I'm not leaving your side again. I promise." Kira looked at him, and nodded.
"I don't know if that will do any better though.. he has a gun, I know he's not afraid to use it.."
Ray looked at Kai who was silent, as usual.
"Keep an eye on the girls. I'm going out." Kai told him.
"Where are you going?"
"There's no way the police have nothing. I'm gonna go make them find something."
"Kai..." Ray shook his head.
"No, Ray. I'm going. We need to find this guy. She is never going to recover from that. That's not just physical, that's a mental scar. Not even you can help her recover from that. And when we find him, I'm gonna kill him."
"Kai." Ray yelled, but he was already gone. Ray sighed heavily and looked back at the dojo. How should he handle this? He had no idea. This was a road he never thought they'd have to cross. He only hoped that Kai would find something... because Kira would never recover if this guy wasn't put away.
Kai sat in the detectives' office. His knee was bouncing with irritation. His anger brought him back to when he and Kira were kids. She was always at the brute end of torture and attacks when he wasn't the subject, and he just... had to protect her.
There was only so much he could do as a kid, especially when he retaliated his next punishment was much worse.
It got to a point where he and Kira just agreed to take whatever they were handed that day. It wasn't worth watching the other one be punished worse and worse to try and save them.
But... they weren't kids anymore and they weren't at the Abbey.
Kira seemed to heal from the torture that she received as a child. At least, from what he could tell. This.. he didn't know if it would break her.
!Possible Trigger Warning!
"Kai Hiwatari?" He heard his name be called and sprung to his feet walking over to the detectives office. "Ah, yes, Mr. Hiwatari." The detective sat down, shuffling through some papers.
"I'm here to talk about Kira." Kai said simply, and the detective stopped what he was doing before looking up at Kai. He took off the glasses on his face, tossing them onto the desk in front of him, and crossed his arms over his face.
"Okay... talk."
"She says there is no evidence. She was raped, she has security. Care to explain to me how the hell there's no evidence?" Kai leaned in on the desk, glaring at the detective in front of him. The detective stared at Kai, chuckled and shook his head.
"Oh to be young and ignorant again. If only it were that simple." The detective looked up at Kai. "There is no evidence, because her assailant was very vigilant in making sure he never left any. He showered her off before he left. Hacked her security cameras to make it look he was never there. The guy didn't even leave a damn finger print."
Kai stared at the man. No. Way. No one was that careful.
"Kira's only hope now is that she will... recognize him on the street and can give us a name. But even with that, all the evidence of her assault, is gone Mr. Hiwatari. I'm sorry. Just as I told Kira, I wish I had better news for you."
"So... what? We just wait until she's attacked again and hope that she isn't alone?"
The detective looked at him and sighed. "Even if we did capture him... Japan doesn't have the best record for arresting and convicting rapists."
Kai stared at the man, feeling a... lot less confident than when he came in. If these guys weren't gonna help, what the hell is point of having police?
"To be honest, Kira's lucky she didn't fight back. If she had, her assailant could have had her prosecuted for defending herself." The detective gave him a sad smile. "I know this isn't the news you were hoping to find, but let this be a cautionary tale to you and the rest of her friends. Don't let her out of your sight. The next time, she may not walk away."
There was a knock at the door and the detective nodded to Kai. "I have to get back to work. Good luck to you all." The detective stood and opened the door, motioning for Kai to leave.
Just as when he was a kid, there was nothing he could do to protect her. He took a cab back to the house, and walked in sort of dazed.
Ray met him at the front of the house, hearing the car drive in.
"So...?"
"Let's go get her stuff. I don't want her going back there. She's... not gonna like it, but I don't want her alone. Ever. If it's not you by her side, someone else needs to take a shift."
"Kai?" Ray looked at him confused.
"The detective said that if she gets attacked again, it's likely they'll kill her. That her rapist will likely never see jail time even if we do find him, and I don't want to put Kira through that trauma. She's been through too much in her life." Kai shook his head and pushed past Ray to walk inside. "I won't do it." Ray felt his heart sink.
So she was never going to get closure for this.
"At least we know, and can keep her safe." Ray stepped forward, putting a hand on Kai's shoulder. "Thank you for trying to keep her safe."
"It's all I've ever tried to do." Kai said simply, walking inside. Ray watched him go and closed his eyes, sighing.
He was honestly tempted to kidnap Kira himself and take her back to China with him. Yeah, the BladeBreakers needed them, but not at the risk of her life. He knew she would never go through with it though. If she had anything, it was loyalty to her team.
"Alright, spin kick... great job!" Ray cheered as Kira landed a spin kick to a Kung Fu dummy's head. She was picking up the techniques so quickly, he couldn't be more proud of her. She took her headphones out and smiled at him.
"Thanks." She bent over letting out a breath. "I... dunno.. how you spent your whole life... doing this. It's so hard."
"It is, but you're practically a natural."
"No wonder you're so freaking beefy, beyblading training is a piece of cake compared to this!" Kira went to sit down and grab her water bottle, squeezing its contents into her mouth. Ray sat next to her.
"Speaking of beyblading... we finally have a match scheduled with the Psykicks." Ray told her. He looked down at the floor and Kira frowned.
"How... how are you handling that Salima is one of them?" Kira asked, bending her leg and turning towards him.
"I... dunno." He sighed. "On one hand, I'm happy she's not interested in me anymore, not causing issues... on the other hand..."
"You're hurt. I get it." She told him and took another drink of her water. "Anyone would be, Ray. It's okay."
"It feels wrong, to be that upset about it when I have you." He told her and Kira shook her head.
"You two were together. She deceived you. I'm not upset that you're sad about it. Don't feel bad for having these emotions, okay?"
"How.. are you feeling? I'm scared to ask you about it because I don't know..."
"I wish I could say I'm okay but..." Kira's voice trailed off and she stared off to the side. "I'm still anxious he's going to be around the corner, sneak into the house in the middle of the night, finish the job. Hurt one of you." She shook her head. "And... I just can't get it out of my head. Every time I think I'm okay, I... my mind takes me back."
Ray frowned. He felt slightly responsible for the whole thing. He told her to go back early. He left her all alone.
"I'm gonna help you get through this. I don't know how, but I'll make sure you're safe, every chance."
"Thank you..." She whispered and he hugged her again, sighing. "Okay." She pushed back from the hug after a second and wiped at her eyes. "Let's run some more drills, hm?"
A few more days had passed, and time had begun to heal her wounds. It was a slow process... and still painful, but she could tell that she was starting to feel better. Kira woke up, and the bed next to her was empty. It was still slightly warm, meaning Ray hadn't left that long ago.
Kira got dressed and went downstairs, hearing slightly hushed voices from the dining room.
"Guys?"
"Finally you woke up sleepy head!" Kira heard Tyson call out to her, and she saw the boys all eating breakfast together. There were a bunch of their bags packed and her eyes trailed across her teammates, landing on Ray who had a small smile on his face. She tilted her head, looking at him curiously.
"As you know, Ki. We have the match with the Psykicks coming up." Kenny started, and Kira walked over to where they were all sitting and crossed her arms.
"Right... so is this match scaring you all into running away? What's with the bags?"
"My mom invited us to come to America, to look at our blades and help us prepare before this battle."
"But we have Lucy and Kenny, they're the best of the best. I don't really see the point-"
"They are the best of the best, Kira. But Judy's technology is unlike any other out there. If there's a chance to be better prepared for this match, I want us to take it." Kai interrupted her and Kira looked down, nodding slowly. The thought of traveling back to America right now had her nerves on end... but at the end of the day, she couldn't exactly just stay behind. For the teams' sake, and her own safety she had to go.
Okay, so heavy chapter. I'm sorry about the delay in the update yall, life has been insane over here. I hope you guys have a great week and I'll try to update again as soon as possible!
XO
Beautifuldisaster993