Mizu_Tenshi: Thanks for reviewing to everyone! Thank you so much!
Disclaimer: I only own the Miss Berry and the orphans
"..." Speech '...' Thought *...* Implied words
**********************
Chapter 2: The Outcast
Kai had not unpacked yet but instead made his way down the corridors and until he reached a large set of double doors.
Pushing them open every head in the hall turned to stare at him; it was rather uncomfortable to say the least. From the corner of his eye he spotted Miss Berry waving at him enthusiastically.
Without much choice he made his way past the rows of long tables and to Miss Berry's side.
"Hello, Stray," she always seemed to have a huge smile plastered on her face as if she was *made* of sunshine. It was quite nauseating for Kai to be around her too much.
"I'm not introducing myself," Kai stated firmly.
"But, Stray," Miss Berry was taken aback for some unknown reason that Kai couldn't understand. "Don't you want to meet all the nice boys and girls? Very well, I guess you can introduce yourself personally later on."
Kai thankfully walked away from the little ball of sunshine, grabbing a bowl he approached one of the tables and sat a little awkwardly between two orphans.
He filled his bowl with Cornflakes and then added milk to his bowl. If Takao had been here he would've probably screamed at the prospect being able to eat only one bowl of Cornflakes.
The thought made Kai smirk a little as he mentally pictured Takao running around hysterically.
"Hey, wot's so funny?" A girl sitting opposite, about five years of age, asked innocently.
"Ah, don't talk to him, Trish," Another boy sitting opposite the little girl scolded her. "You heard what Ryo said; he's a zombie, he ain't got the brains to know what you said."
"I'm not a zombie," Kai told the boy calmly but this whole zombie business was getting to him. "Zombies don't exist and I think I have far more brains than you."
"Oh yeah?" The boy raised his voice in anger.
Kai smirked; it was so easy to work people up here.
"Well, what do you know about anything?" his words drawled across his tongue.
"Obviously more than you," Kai retaliated with a mask of indifference and an arrogant yet calm tone of voice.
"Y...you...silver-haired freak!"
"You can talk," Kai spoke as he eyed the boy's fuchsia coloured hair.
The girl giggled but immediately fell silent when the boy glared at her.
The boy's tether had snapped and he flung himself at Kai, knocking them both to the ground.
Miss Berry ran up and tried to pry the two apart while chants of "Fight! Fight! Fight!" rang through the hall.
Kai punched the boy on top and he backed off, allowing Kai to stand. The boy quickly recovered and he tried to punch Kai but missed. Kai was going for a roundhouse kick when Miss Berry grabbed him and pulled him away with such force he had not thought possible for such a thin woman.
"Come with me!" her shrill voice pierced the hall. Kai was dragged away while he watched the other boy slink away unpunished and the sound of the kids' laughter and jeers followed him through the hallways.
~ Outside ~
Kai spent the rest of the afternoon sauntering through the orphanage grounds after being told by Miss Berry in that sickening motherly tone that 'fighting was wrong' he was in no mood to be messed with.
He hated everything about this place from the ignorant and imprudent children to the very room he was forced to live in.
The only thing that made this place bearable was that there were several small training dishes in the grounds but the kids were probably going to be nothing more than amateurs.
"Hey, zombie!" Ryo's already familiar voice called Kai back to the orphanage.
Ryo was standing with two more boys both looked almost identical with blonde hair and azure blue eyes but though they bother wore beige jeans one had a T-shirt with the letter 'S' and the other had the letter 'T' on it.
"You there, freak!" Ryo called.
"What's with the marks on your face? You from some tribe or something?" The boy with the letter T began to prod Kai with the stupidest questions he had ever heard.
This time Kai chose not to say anything; his markings still covered a rather sensitive part of his life.
"He's probably from one of those tribes that eat people, I wouldn't share a room with him if I were you, Ryo," The second twin cautioned. "If he licks his lips run for it!"
Kai refused to let their assumptions that he was a cannibal annoy him, though the sheer irrationality of their accusations gave him a headache. Never before had he encountered such immaturity in all his life.
"I have no intention of eating any of you idiotic Neanderthals," he hissed with the same icy calmness that always got on the children's nerves, giving another death-glare but to no affect.
Maybe what had made his glare so effective before was his status but here he had no status, here he was Stray, and Stray was nobody.
"Maybe he doesn't eat, he didn't eat breakfast before," The twin with the letter T sneered at Kai. "Maybe he's a robot; he sure seems like one, he doesn't even get angry!"
"He's no robot, Tam; I betcha, I can make him cry!"
Cry? Kai had never cried in his life even through the beatings and degrading punishment he had received he had never shed a tear once and he supposed that it was quite impossible for them to do what Biovolt could not accomplish.
Turning, he decided it would be best to make for his room when he suddenly felt someone put their foot in front of him.
He tripped and was sent flying, unfortunately no matter how different he was to the kids the laws of gravity still applied to him and he came crashing down.
More kids came to join in Ryo's ring of mocking laughter.
Kai felt anger burning in him at being humiliated by Ryo; that brat was going to pay.
That was it; he had had just about enough of this. Picking himself and whatever little piece of dignity he could muster he made for an attack but froze when he saw what Ryo was holding.
Dranzer
"Hey, you have a bit-beast!" Ryo held Kai's blue blade to the sun to fully admire the expensive attack rings and the picture of Dranzer itself.
The blade glowed angrily at being taken away from its master but if Ryo noticed he didn't care.
"Give...that...back...now!" Kai spat poison through gritted teeth. The air around him seemed to burn with such an intense heat that it made a few kids step back.
Kai lunged at Ryo but the two twins stepped in front and Kai brought them to the ground instead.
"I think I'll keep it!" Kai heard Ryo say and looked up to watch the green eyed boy run into the orphanage.
Kai was torn between chasing after Ryo or beating the crap out of the two twins.
By the time he came to a decision it was too late for him to catch up with Ryo so he opted for the second option.
Raising his fists he simultaneously pummelled both twins in the stomach and chest area, fuelled with all the injustice and hatred that had been aimed at him in the two days he had been at the orphanage.
By the time Miss Berry was called and Kai was dragged off the two twins were a bloody mess and were sent to hospital for the rest of the day while Miss Berry began to lecture Kai on being civil.
"If there's a problem then tell me, there really is no need to hurt someone like that!" Miss Berry rambled on, repeating the same things she said to Kai at breakfast.
Kai nodded and tossed her the odd "Hn," but his mind was elsewhere. It was with Dranzer, his only lifeline, the thing that he treasured the most and above all, the thing that had stood by his side throughout his entire life.
He *needed* Dranzer back and he didn't care what he had to do to get her back.
Once the lecture was over Kai took a tour around the orphanage and the grounds until seven and he sill hadn't found Ryo. Finally he made for his room hoping that Ryo would be there.
He was not.
Kai flopped onto the bed by the window and looked longingly into the distance, past the school grounds and into the depths of Tokyo.
'Just to think,' Kai mused. 'That all my team mates are out there somewhere in Tokyo having the time of their lives.'
Is this what he was going to endure every time they broke up for the holidays? Was this his new home forever? Where was everyone else? Had they been so caught up in having a good time that they had forgotten about him? Did they even know he was here?
For the first time in...forever he felt totally alone. Not even Dranzer was there to give him comfort now
He was different from them, different from everyone but his team had accepted him as who he was. To them he was not 'That lonely, abused kid' or 'That emotionless experiment subject' he was just Kai to them, Kai Hiwatari.
Maybe he was better off with the Bladebreakers. He sighed as he thought of every time he pushed them away, every moment he was mean to them and they continued to be his oh-so-persistent friends. All this time he had not the slightest idea of what he had once had.
'Now who's the dumb one, Kai?' His mind spat maliciously.
Without thinking he took out his duffel bag from under his bed and went back to sitting on Ryo's bed by the window.
He unzipped his bag and rummaged through his things. He went past a new launcher he had received from Takao for his fifteenth birthday, a book from Kenny, an ice blue scarf from Max and a thick silver chain with a phoenix from Rei.
Finally he found what he was looking for; a small black leather book everyone had pitched in to make for him. He opened it slowly as if it was some kind of revered and holy book.
The pages were made of transparent pockets of plastic and each page held two photographs of other teams they had met on the way and of the whole time they had spent together as a team from the moment they had met to his fifteenth birthday party.
Nostalgic memories came flooding in and filed Kai with the warmth that was usually provided by Dranzer.
He fingered the photos, vainly trying to revive a spark of happy satisfaction the moments had brought but there was no warmth in any of them; only a deep and sudden longing for something he could of had.
The door opening made Kai close the photo album sharply and looked up but it was not who he expected it to be.
"E...Excuse me? Are ya busy?" The little girl from breakfast stepped in meekly.
"Trish?" Kai recalled her name.
She nodded and took several more steps towards the bed in her little yellow dress. Her petite nose was dotted with freckles but they were over-shadowed by large, thickly lashed, brown eyes and her black hair that fell just past her chin.
"Wot's that?" She asked as she saw Kai put the book back into his bag.
"Nothing," Kai shrugged. "It's just...a memory."
He slid the bag back under his own bed and then turned to Trish, waiting for her to tell him what she wanted.
"Mizz Berry wanted me ta tell ya that dinner's at eight p.m." Trish said then turned and was about to leave when something seemed to stop her. She turned around again and said. "Are ya Kai Hiwatari?"
If Kai was shocked that someone recognised him and knew his name he didn't show it; he merely nodded.
"I knew it!" Trish jumped up and down with glee. "I thought I saw yer picture in one of them ol' blading magazines. Ryo's showin' off Dranzer by the ol' blading dishes, just thought yer'd wanna know."
Kai didn't wait; he jumped off the bed and dashed past Trish.
Someone was going to pay.
~ Mansion ~
In the back of the large mansion there lay a study hidden from the eyes of any visitors.
Thick velvet curtains were pulled shut and the door to the rest of the mansion was shut to let no light in. The only luminous source was a solitary candle perched high on top of a bookshelf of old, dusty volumes.
Reclining against a wine red velvet chair Boris took another sip of Bordeaux wine before replacing it on his large mahogany desk.
"Mr Balkov," a gruff voice came from outside the study. "Mr Roskovi is here to see you."
"Send him in," Boris ordered.
The great oak door opened and a middle-aged man in a grey suit and tie stepped and holding a brief case briskly into the study just a meter away from Boris' desk.
"Nice place," Mr Roskovi observed. "Does Mr Hiwatari offer such good accommodation to all his employees?"
"This happens to be bought from my own hard-earned money," Boris answered complacently. "Now, to business," he sat up straight. "Kai Hiwatari was the one you were interested in, correct?"
"That's correct, I want him to work for me as a bit-beast thief," Mr Roskovi nodded. "I've heard good things about his last attempt."
"Well I have good news for you, Roskovi, you won't have to try and steal him of Voltaire; he's been disowned and belongs to whoever claims him first."
"Where is he?" Mr Roskovi asked in an eager voice.
"Well that depends what you mean by 'where?'"
Mr Roskovi sighed and placed a large bundle of money on Boris' desk. "Just get him for me, okay?"
Boris counted the money with a greedy smile. "Consider it done," he smirked.
***************
Mizu_Tenshi: I know and sorry if I made Kai sound weak; he's not really it's just that that sneaky rat Ryo is an idiot. I'm sure you guys and girls must hate him. What will happen to Kai now? Something bad is coming up, trust me.
Miekkie - Really? I like it too. R&R! It's gonna get interesting.
ChibiKai(UL is amazing - I know and now Boris is dealing with this Roskovi guy. Poor Kai, he just can't get a break.
Bickabee - Yes, he is an idiot. I think the Booby thing is interesting.
Identity Thief - Thanks R&R! The plot is just starting to come together.
Disclaimer: I only own the Miss Berry and the orphans
"..." Speech '...' Thought *...* Implied words
**********************
Chapter 2: The Outcast
Kai had not unpacked yet but instead made his way down the corridors and until he reached a large set of double doors.
Pushing them open every head in the hall turned to stare at him; it was rather uncomfortable to say the least. From the corner of his eye he spotted Miss Berry waving at him enthusiastically.
Without much choice he made his way past the rows of long tables and to Miss Berry's side.
"Hello, Stray," she always seemed to have a huge smile plastered on her face as if she was *made* of sunshine. It was quite nauseating for Kai to be around her too much.
"I'm not introducing myself," Kai stated firmly.
"But, Stray," Miss Berry was taken aback for some unknown reason that Kai couldn't understand. "Don't you want to meet all the nice boys and girls? Very well, I guess you can introduce yourself personally later on."
Kai thankfully walked away from the little ball of sunshine, grabbing a bowl he approached one of the tables and sat a little awkwardly between two orphans.
He filled his bowl with Cornflakes and then added milk to his bowl. If Takao had been here he would've probably screamed at the prospect being able to eat only one bowl of Cornflakes.
The thought made Kai smirk a little as he mentally pictured Takao running around hysterically.
"Hey, wot's so funny?" A girl sitting opposite, about five years of age, asked innocently.
"Ah, don't talk to him, Trish," Another boy sitting opposite the little girl scolded her. "You heard what Ryo said; he's a zombie, he ain't got the brains to know what you said."
"I'm not a zombie," Kai told the boy calmly but this whole zombie business was getting to him. "Zombies don't exist and I think I have far more brains than you."
"Oh yeah?" The boy raised his voice in anger.
Kai smirked; it was so easy to work people up here.
"Well, what do you know about anything?" his words drawled across his tongue.
"Obviously more than you," Kai retaliated with a mask of indifference and an arrogant yet calm tone of voice.
"Y...you...silver-haired freak!"
"You can talk," Kai spoke as he eyed the boy's fuchsia coloured hair.
The girl giggled but immediately fell silent when the boy glared at her.
The boy's tether had snapped and he flung himself at Kai, knocking them both to the ground.
Miss Berry ran up and tried to pry the two apart while chants of "Fight! Fight! Fight!" rang through the hall.
Kai punched the boy on top and he backed off, allowing Kai to stand. The boy quickly recovered and he tried to punch Kai but missed. Kai was going for a roundhouse kick when Miss Berry grabbed him and pulled him away with such force he had not thought possible for such a thin woman.
"Come with me!" her shrill voice pierced the hall. Kai was dragged away while he watched the other boy slink away unpunished and the sound of the kids' laughter and jeers followed him through the hallways.
~ Outside ~
Kai spent the rest of the afternoon sauntering through the orphanage grounds after being told by Miss Berry in that sickening motherly tone that 'fighting was wrong' he was in no mood to be messed with.
He hated everything about this place from the ignorant and imprudent children to the very room he was forced to live in.
The only thing that made this place bearable was that there were several small training dishes in the grounds but the kids were probably going to be nothing more than amateurs.
"Hey, zombie!" Ryo's already familiar voice called Kai back to the orphanage.
Ryo was standing with two more boys both looked almost identical with blonde hair and azure blue eyes but though they bother wore beige jeans one had a T-shirt with the letter 'S' and the other had the letter 'T' on it.
"You there, freak!" Ryo called.
"What's with the marks on your face? You from some tribe or something?" The boy with the letter T began to prod Kai with the stupidest questions he had ever heard.
This time Kai chose not to say anything; his markings still covered a rather sensitive part of his life.
"He's probably from one of those tribes that eat people, I wouldn't share a room with him if I were you, Ryo," The second twin cautioned. "If he licks his lips run for it!"
Kai refused to let their assumptions that he was a cannibal annoy him, though the sheer irrationality of their accusations gave him a headache. Never before had he encountered such immaturity in all his life.
"I have no intention of eating any of you idiotic Neanderthals," he hissed with the same icy calmness that always got on the children's nerves, giving another death-glare but to no affect.
Maybe what had made his glare so effective before was his status but here he had no status, here he was Stray, and Stray was nobody.
"Maybe he doesn't eat, he didn't eat breakfast before," The twin with the letter T sneered at Kai. "Maybe he's a robot; he sure seems like one, he doesn't even get angry!"
"He's no robot, Tam; I betcha, I can make him cry!"
Cry? Kai had never cried in his life even through the beatings and degrading punishment he had received he had never shed a tear once and he supposed that it was quite impossible for them to do what Biovolt could not accomplish.
Turning, he decided it would be best to make for his room when he suddenly felt someone put their foot in front of him.
He tripped and was sent flying, unfortunately no matter how different he was to the kids the laws of gravity still applied to him and he came crashing down.
More kids came to join in Ryo's ring of mocking laughter.
Kai felt anger burning in him at being humiliated by Ryo; that brat was going to pay.
That was it; he had had just about enough of this. Picking himself and whatever little piece of dignity he could muster he made for an attack but froze when he saw what Ryo was holding.
Dranzer
"Hey, you have a bit-beast!" Ryo held Kai's blue blade to the sun to fully admire the expensive attack rings and the picture of Dranzer itself.
The blade glowed angrily at being taken away from its master but if Ryo noticed he didn't care.
"Give...that...back...now!" Kai spat poison through gritted teeth. The air around him seemed to burn with such an intense heat that it made a few kids step back.
Kai lunged at Ryo but the two twins stepped in front and Kai brought them to the ground instead.
"I think I'll keep it!" Kai heard Ryo say and looked up to watch the green eyed boy run into the orphanage.
Kai was torn between chasing after Ryo or beating the crap out of the two twins.
By the time he came to a decision it was too late for him to catch up with Ryo so he opted for the second option.
Raising his fists he simultaneously pummelled both twins in the stomach and chest area, fuelled with all the injustice and hatred that had been aimed at him in the two days he had been at the orphanage.
By the time Miss Berry was called and Kai was dragged off the two twins were a bloody mess and were sent to hospital for the rest of the day while Miss Berry began to lecture Kai on being civil.
"If there's a problem then tell me, there really is no need to hurt someone like that!" Miss Berry rambled on, repeating the same things she said to Kai at breakfast.
Kai nodded and tossed her the odd "Hn," but his mind was elsewhere. It was with Dranzer, his only lifeline, the thing that he treasured the most and above all, the thing that had stood by his side throughout his entire life.
He *needed* Dranzer back and he didn't care what he had to do to get her back.
Once the lecture was over Kai took a tour around the orphanage and the grounds until seven and he sill hadn't found Ryo. Finally he made for his room hoping that Ryo would be there.
He was not.
Kai flopped onto the bed by the window and looked longingly into the distance, past the school grounds and into the depths of Tokyo.
'Just to think,' Kai mused. 'That all my team mates are out there somewhere in Tokyo having the time of their lives.'
Is this what he was going to endure every time they broke up for the holidays? Was this his new home forever? Where was everyone else? Had they been so caught up in having a good time that they had forgotten about him? Did they even know he was here?
For the first time in...forever he felt totally alone. Not even Dranzer was there to give him comfort now
He was different from them, different from everyone but his team had accepted him as who he was. To them he was not 'That lonely, abused kid' or 'That emotionless experiment subject' he was just Kai to them, Kai Hiwatari.
Maybe he was better off with the Bladebreakers. He sighed as he thought of every time he pushed them away, every moment he was mean to them and they continued to be his oh-so-persistent friends. All this time he had not the slightest idea of what he had once had.
'Now who's the dumb one, Kai?' His mind spat maliciously.
Without thinking he took out his duffel bag from under his bed and went back to sitting on Ryo's bed by the window.
He unzipped his bag and rummaged through his things. He went past a new launcher he had received from Takao for his fifteenth birthday, a book from Kenny, an ice blue scarf from Max and a thick silver chain with a phoenix from Rei.
Finally he found what he was looking for; a small black leather book everyone had pitched in to make for him. He opened it slowly as if it was some kind of revered and holy book.
The pages were made of transparent pockets of plastic and each page held two photographs of other teams they had met on the way and of the whole time they had spent together as a team from the moment they had met to his fifteenth birthday party.
Nostalgic memories came flooding in and filed Kai with the warmth that was usually provided by Dranzer.
He fingered the photos, vainly trying to revive a spark of happy satisfaction the moments had brought but there was no warmth in any of them; only a deep and sudden longing for something he could of had.
The door opening made Kai close the photo album sharply and looked up but it was not who he expected it to be.
"E...Excuse me? Are ya busy?" The little girl from breakfast stepped in meekly.
"Trish?" Kai recalled her name.
She nodded and took several more steps towards the bed in her little yellow dress. Her petite nose was dotted with freckles but they were over-shadowed by large, thickly lashed, brown eyes and her black hair that fell just past her chin.
"Wot's that?" She asked as she saw Kai put the book back into his bag.
"Nothing," Kai shrugged. "It's just...a memory."
He slid the bag back under his own bed and then turned to Trish, waiting for her to tell him what she wanted.
"Mizz Berry wanted me ta tell ya that dinner's at eight p.m." Trish said then turned and was about to leave when something seemed to stop her. She turned around again and said. "Are ya Kai Hiwatari?"
If Kai was shocked that someone recognised him and knew his name he didn't show it; he merely nodded.
"I knew it!" Trish jumped up and down with glee. "I thought I saw yer picture in one of them ol' blading magazines. Ryo's showin' off Dranzer by the ol' blading dishes, just thought yer'd wanna know."
Kai didn't wait; he jumped off the bed and dashed past Trish.
Someone was going to pay.
~ Mansion ~
In the back of the large mansion there lay a study hidden from the eyes of any visitors.
Thick velvet curtains were pulled shut and the door to the rest of the mansion was shut to let no light in. The only luminous source was a solitary candle perched high on top of a bookshelf of old, dusty volumes.
Reclining against a wine red velvet chair Boris took another sip of Bordeaux wine before replacing it on his large mahogany desk.
"Mr Balkov," a gruff voice came from outside the study. "Mr Roskovi is here to see you."
"Send him in," Boris ordered.
The great oak door opened and a middle-aged man in a grey suit and tie stepped and holding a brief case briskly into the study just a meter away from Boris' desk.
"Nice place," Mr Roskovi observed. "Does Mr Hiwatari offer such good accommodation to all his employees?"
"This happens to be bought from my own hard-earned money," Boris answered complacently. "Now, to business," he sat up straight. "Kai Hiwatari was the one you were interested in, correct?"
"That's correct, I want him to work for me as a bit-beast thief," Mr Roskovi nodded. "I've heard good things about his last attempt."
"Well I have good news for you, Roskovi, you won't have to try and steal him of Voltaire; he's been disowned and belongs to whoever claims him first."
"Where is he?" Mr Roskovi asked in an eager voice.
"Well that depends what you mean by 'where?'"
Mr Roskovi sighed and placed a large bundle of money on Boris' desk. "Just get him for me, okay?"
Boris counted the money with a greedy smile. "Consider it done," he smirked.
***************
Mizu_Tenshi: I know and sorry if I made Kai sound weak; he's not really it's just that that sneaky rat Ryo is an idiot. I'm sure you guys and girls must hate him. What will happen to Kai now? Something bad is coming up, trust me.
Miekkie - Really? I like it too. R&R! It's gonna get interesting.
ChibiKai(UL is amazing - I know and now Boris is dealing with this Roskovi guy. Poor Kai, he just can't get a break.
Bickabee - Yes, he is an idiot. I think the Booby thing is interesting.
Identity Thief - Thanks R&R! The plot is just starting to come together.
