Chapter 2: On my own
The sun rose in the east as it had always done since the beginning of time. Kai wondered around the almost empty streets of Russia while the sweet choir of birds singing their praises to the new day hung overhead. Kai looked at them strangely. Though he would rather stay human he couldn't help but wish that his life were as easy as theirs. It must be nice to be able to fly. A little simplicity had never hurt anyone.
"I can stay at a youth hostel while I search for a place to rent out," he muttered to himself as he walked, trying to make sense of what he should do next.
'And then what, Kai?' his mind snapped at him. 'And then what will you do? You've given up everything you had and now what will you do with your life?'
"It would have happened sooner or later," Kai murmured feeling stupid that he was talking to himself. Sooner or later it would have happened again. Just like it always did. Just like it had always done and would continue to do so. Sooner or later he would only end up as another tool. A means to an end just as he had always been used before.
Yet at that moment he could not help but wonder how everyone else was. They were probably still asleep, totally oblivious to his late night departure but when they realised he was gone what then? Would they come looking for him? Kai shook his head, he doubted that they would. He doubted they would even miss him. They would probably think he had betrayed them again and, to some extent, he had. He had left them; he had left them without a captain or anyone to rely on.
They would not miss him anymore than he would miss them he told himself confidently. He had always hated being on the team - that team full of idiots. They were so noisy. They were such a burden. Now that he was alone he could be free.
Yet still, something felt amiss.
There would be things he'd miss, there was no point in denying that but on the whole he was better off alone. Takao was way too annoying, Max was too hyper for his own good, Kenny was just too…Kenny and Rei…he never had any problems with Rei. Rei was the only one he could stand.
Kai shook his head in a futile attempt to rid himself of those thoughts. He tried to get rid of the doubting side of him, the side that kept trying to convince him to go back them.
XX
Rei woke with a slightly sleepy yawn as sunlight hit his eyes. He turned over in his bed, expecting to see the blue-haired team captain sleeping on the opposite bed but instead of the sleeping boy he found himself faced with a perfectly made hotel bed. Kai wasn't there.
Rei rose and changed into his normal wear. It wasn't that unusual, Kai always got up before everyone else to go train and didn't usually appear again until late in the afternoon but as Rei walked into the bathroom he noticed Kai's bath things had gone.
'Strange,' Rei mused as he walked back out. Kai's bag had gone too. There was no sign of the boy's belongings or any trace that he had even been there last night, as if the boy had never existed.
Rei panicked slightly, his logical side told him that there probably was some reason behind the disappearance of Kai's things but his instincts said otherwise. He doubted the others would have seen him but there was no harm in asking. He silently made his way to the next room and banged loudly on the locked door.
"Kenny! Have you seen Kai?" Rei yelled through the door.
There was a moment of silence then the rumpled sound of sheets being thrown off and Kenny appeared in the door way still in his pyjamas.
"Kai? No, I haven't seen him, I've only just woken up," Kenny replied blearily.
"Oh, sorry," Rei apologised and let the boy go back to sleep. If Kenny hadn't seen him he doubted Takao and Max would.
"Where could he be?" Rei wondered. Sometimes he wished that someone would attach a bell to Kai or something just so that he would know where their aloof and sometimes arrogant team leader was at all times.
Rei laughed at the thought of Kai with a bell around his neck but it died as quickly as it had come. Where was he? There was no note or anything to suggest where Kai could have gone. Didn't he care that he was making others worry?
It felt so strange to wake up and not see Kai there, sleeping soundly, to not even see traces that he had indeed spent the night there.
Had Kai gone back to the abbey? Had he gone back to Black Dranzer? Rei shook his head, Kai would never betray them, not again, but the possibility of it kept creeping into his mind. He felt ashamed that he had so little faith in the one person who had led the team through so much yet it was the lack of assurance that hardened Rei's resolve. Not wanting to wake the others, he shrugged on a coat and left the hotel to look for their elusive captain.
