Mizu_Tenshi: The song 'Somewhere I belong' by Linkin Park I'm saving for the end but it will be in
there but for now I'm just gonna wallow on Evanescence lyrics. (I know, I know, I'm such a sucker for
that kind of thing.)

"…" Speech
'…' Thought
*…* Implied words

******************

Chapter 4: And so it begins

Takao, Max and Kenny found Rei standing in the alleyways, his head still lowered, rooted firmly in the
same spot he had been in before and as still as a statue.

"Rei?" Max asked tentatively, as if Rei was a delicate porcelain figure that would break if he got too
near.

"Hey, buddy," Takao called. "Where did you go? Did you find Kai?"

Rei refused to answer his enquiring team-mate. He continued to stare at the ground that seemed to
interest him so much. Those words kept spinning and swirling through his head until they erased any
other thought, all that remained in the cage of his consciousness was that one sentence.

'…They're just an extra load to carry on my road to perfection and it's a load that's barring my way...'

Sure, Kai had always displayed feeling of resentment towards being on the team, he had always
distanced himself from the others but Rei had always thought that, even though he acted the way he
did, that maybe Kai still cared about them. Maybe, somewhere deep down, maybe Kai wanted to open
up but just didn't know how. What about when they had pulled him to safety when the ice had broken
on that freezing lake? Had he always thought of them as burdens? Had he just gotten sick of them and
decided to leave?

'And what about me?' Rei wanted to say desperately but he had lost his voice and couldn't find it again,
it had gone with the phoenix. 'What about me? Was that what you always saw me as, a burden? Didn't
you even care the slightest bit about the team?'

He wished he never knew that, he wished he'd never found Kai, he was forced to learn a truth he'd
rather stay ignorant of and it wasn't fair.

"Hey, I said, did you find Kai?" Takao repeated.

"Yeah, I found him," Rei clenched and unclenched his fists. "I found him alright."

'…And then I lost him.'

"Err, great!" Takao smiled nervously. "So…why so down?"

"Takao..." Kenny warned him not to say anything stupid.

"He resigned," Rei almost choked up the words, using all his strength to keep his voice steady, he didn't
want to go into details about it or what Kai had said.

'…I hate you…'

Kai hated him? Rei's logic tried to reassure him that it was nothing personal; hadn't Kai hated
everyone?

"What do you mean he resigned?" Max gasped, unable to believe what he was hearing from the
Chinese boy. "He just got up and left? So close to the New Zealand tournament?"

"No guys!" Takao shook his head defiantly. "Kai would never do that! He wouldn't betray us again!
Not after everything, there has to be a reason to it!"

Rei wished he had as much blind faith as Takao but then again, Takao hadn't been there to hear Kai's so
called 'confession.'

"What are we gonna do now, guys?" Max asked. "We've got no captain, no extra team-mate and the
tournament isn't too far away!"

"Well Mr. Dickinson will provide us with another team-mate, I'm sure of that," Kenny stated firmly. "I
just want to know why Kai left."

"He hated us, we were burdens," Rei whispered, finally allowing himself to walk away, not caring
where he was going or what would happen next.

~ Wherever the hell Kai is ~

Kai stared up at the cloudy yet sunny sky, the whole city was like a perfect painting of peace and
serenity. He was so out of place in this portrait full of busy, content people scurrying to get on with
their own lives. He was shrouded in shadow; it consumed him, and blocked him off from the rest of the
world…yet it also protected him.

'The human race is cursed with inevitable spirals of fate. It is fate that dictates that we must hurt each
other to survive yet this curse can be turned into a blessing; this curse can make us strong.'

Those sayings and chants he was taught when he was young came flooding back into his mind; the
familiar nostalgic feeling almost made him nauseous. In a strange way he was grateful that Biovolt had
made him strong, helped him to build up a wall of inky blackness to protect himself from things others
couldn't handle yet at the same time he hated them. He hated his inability to let others close to him; he
hated the beatings, the brainwashing, and the greed that spurred their company.

'…You know what Voltaire does to traitors, if he can't have you no one will…'

Kai shook his head, his slate bangs gently falling across his face with each movement. Letting a sigh
escape from his lips he leaned against a shop wall, crossing his arms and tilting his head back to stare at
the endless sea of blue. They were coming after him, they were coming to either drag him back to his
grandfather or kill him.

'Let them come,' Kai's mind said confidently.

He wasn't afraid of death, he had been taught not to fear it; it was another inevitability. He still had no
where to stay, there were no empty apartments, only people looking for a room mate and he wasn't too
keen on staying with a complete stranger.

'Maybe I'll book another hotel room.'

A different hotel from the one his former team-mates were staying in of course. He didn't want them to
ask him all those awkward and annoying questions they were bound to ask. Rei would tell them of his
resignation; maybe he had been too harsh on Rei.

'He wanted to know so I told him, it's not my fault,' his brain assured him. 'Who cares if he's hurt or
not? He'll get over it, why should I care?'

What would he do now? He didn't like thinking about the future because that meant thinking about
becoming everything he despised. He had avoided the all-important questions of 'Where will you go?'
and 'What will are you going to do?' There was only so long you could postpone those questions and
for Kai now was the time he had to face and tackle each one.

He looked up as a shadow fell upon him. What he saw made him jump back with shock.

"What do *you* want?" Kai growled with as much hostility as he could muster. "If you've come to take
me back to Biovolt you'll have to fight me first!"

"I'm not here to fight you," was the simple and composed yet somewhat arrogant reply. "I leave that
kind of dog work to the Biovolt employees."

"Than what do you want, Tala?" Kai asked suspiciously. His eyes narrowed into slits but it didn't seem
to unnerve his nonchalant company.

"They're persistent aren't they?" The indifferent redhead smirked. "You know, they say that they're
your friends but when the going gets tough they'll leave you just like everyone else has."

"Is that supposed to make me feel bad?" Kai asked stiffly.

Tala laughed quietly at Kai's discomfort. "No, it's not. You don't have any friends, do you?"

"It's what I choose," Kai answered bluntly. He didn't know why he was taking Tala's bait so willingly.

"Then whay do you do it, Kai?." Tala leaned on the same shop wall and turned to rest his ice blue eyes on
the softer blue sky. "Why do you turn away from Biovolt when we all know you want the power they offer us.
Is this some way of making up for the rest of your life? Atoning for the sins you commited?"

"I'm not that weak, faith is for the insecure."

"Of course," Tala smirked. "If we're God's unwanted children then so be it..."

"Why are you here?" Kai asked, in other words he was waiting for Tala to leave.

The redhead got the gist and proceeded to make his exit on the scene but before he left he passed Kai
one last remark that made him think. "...Just remember, Kai, you can't wash away blood-stained hands with blood."

~ Night ~

Darkness enveloped two wary figures in black as they crept stealthily and silently through the bushes
outside the hotel. The moon was full was blocked by dark foreboding rain clouds, trees moaned in the
wind, swaying back and forth as if they were alive, even the stars had seemed to hide from the
suspicious scene below.

The two men were dressed completely in black, staring at the dark hotel rooms from their hiding place
below.

"Yes," one of them growled into a walkie-talkie. "We've found the room, we'll proceed tomorrow."

Clicking the device off the figure signalled to his comrade to leave. They would continue with the
rising sun.

*************************

Mizu_Tenshi: Well that wasn't so bad but where is all my reviewers? Hello? Is anybody there? Dam, it
looks like I'm gonna have to do some begging and black mailing.

Shinigami's Voice - Wow! Thanks a ton! I love your fic! It's inspired me to do my own yaoi!

otaku12 - Just wait and see what I've got lined up! I need more reviewers!

darkarc - So you're a 'yes' in doing yaoi? Anyway, I really liked that fic as well but you wrote it so I
suppose you can do what you want.

Epona - Have you? Never mind. Please R&R!

Sunset dreams - Yeah, I love Linkin Park! The song will be near the end though.

Mistress of Anime - Thanks, please R&R!

Krisnkriss - I know, Rei doesn't deserve all this bad treatment I'm giving him but hey, it's necessary

S k y o - Really? You thought it was good? Yeah!

Cho Hakkai - Who knows? That's just how he is I guess?