Mizu_Tenshi: ATTENTION! I need help. Everytime I try to write a pause, you know, three dots? Well It turns out like this… I'd be very grateful if anyone could tell me how to fix that problem.

" ~ " Speech ' ~ ' Thought * ~ * Implied words

Disclaimer: I don't own this anime

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Chapter 4: Boris Balkov

Kai made his way through the polished corridors of Crossroads Orphanage. Apparently news of this mysterious purple-haired man had travelled fast and now orphans were popping their heads out of the activities room or from their own rooms, giggling, whispering or pointing at Kai as he walked down the aisle.

"What's he doing?" Someone asked as Kai walked past the kids, acting as if they were not there.

"Maybe he's found a home."

"No way, who would adopt *him?*"

"Maybe they found out what tribe he belongs to and that guy's here to take him back."

"No, he looks like he's in trouble, maybe he's a criminal."

"Or a murderer."

'Idiots!' Kai mentally rolled his eyes.

Miss Berry's office was a small cubicle with the same flooring as the rest of the orphanage and painted in a disgusting, sickly, shade of olive green imprinted with brick red polka dots that clashed with the rest of the room.

Kai was not the first person you'd come to for fashion tips but even his face was a picture of disgust at the room.

A phone was hanging on the wall next to several windows each covered by electric pink drapes and in front of the window was a cheap plastic desk and chair. Sitting on that cheap plastic chair was Miss Berry and next to her stood none other than Boris Balkov.

"Ah, you're here!" Miss Berry got up and walked around the desk to greet Kai. "This is Mr. Balkov and he's interested in adopting you."

Kai looked bewildered for about a second and then he leaned over to the right so that he could catch a glimpse of Boris. His grandfather had just disowned him and now Voltaire's second hand man was adopting him?

"It's not for me," Boris reminded her in a curt voice. "I'm here doing a favour for Mr Roskovi."

Where had Kai heard that name before? Well he knew enough to know that whoever knew Boris was probably as much of a creep as Voltaire. No way in hell would Kai fall into Boris' or this Mr Roskovi's plans just like that.

"I'm not going anywhere with him," Kai crossed his arms defiantly.

"But Stray!" Miss Berry stuttered. "Don't you want a loving family and a home of your own?"

"You can't force me to be adopted," Kai planted his feet firmly on the ground, indicating that he would not move until Boris had gone.

"Of course we can't force you to be adopted but I'm sure you'd be happy with Mr Roskovi," Miss Berry looked at him with pleading eyes. "I'll let you two talk things out and maybe you'll change your mind."

"Why are you here?" Kai demanded to know almost immediately after Miss Berry had left the room.

"Come on Kai," Boris smirked. "You can't honestly say that you like it here."

"And you can't honestly say that you expected me to come running into your arms," Kai retorted.

"Of course not," Boris' smirk widened. "Mr Roskovi owns a corporation not unlike Biovolt and he wants you to be his bit-beast thief."

"Boris, the day I'll work for you or any of your 'colleagues' is the day you'll find me on the roof singing 'I believe I can fly'" Kai said with disgust.

"Think about it before you reject it; you'd be trained to be powerful again, you'd be up against *real* opponents and most of all you'd be out of this place. You'd be needed."

Kai thought for a moment. He hated this place after all and Mr Roskovi would be his one way out of this hellhole but then again he'd be stealing and he didn't think he could to do something like that again even if it was his only ticket out.

Boris saw Kai's indecisiveness and handed him a small white envelope. "If you ever change your mind there's a number in there," and with that Boris left the office and Kai all alone.

~ Later ~

Miss Berry had been devastated to say the least that Kai had not taken up the offer to be adopted. Her face was of pure shock when he said he would be staying, it was as if it was every kids' dream to be adopted.

He couldn't really care what Miss Berry thought. He just wanted to sleep right now, unfortunately he wasn't going to get what he desired so quickly because Ryo was still up, apparently waiting for him to come back.

"I knew you wouldn't be adopted," Ryo smirked as Kai entered the room. "He probably took one look at you and ran."

Kai didn't bother answering any of Ryo's questions; they would probably be just as stupid as Ryo was.

"Hey, what's that?" Ryo saw the envelope Kai was holding and made a grab for it but Kai dodged just in time to save it.

"What I have is none of your business," Kai glared icily.

"Huh, whatever," Ryo shrugged and tried to turned back to bed but Kai grabbed him before he could make it to his bed and almost lifted him up by his shirt.

"Don't think I've forgotten about my blade!" Kai growled. He was not used to being without Dranzer for too long. It was the one thing that had been with him through thick and thins. The only thing that understood him, they were like two halves of a whole and without Dranzer his half was rotting.

"I'll show you where it is tomorrow morning, I swear!" Ryo cried with fear evident in his eyes.

Reluctantly Kai put Ryo down and allowed the boy to return to his slumber.

Kai waited until Ryo was definitely asleep and then he carefully opened the envelope to reveal a single sentence written in spindly red ink on the lined paper.

'Mr Roskovi, owner of Roskovi inc. and member of the BBA board.'

Kai's eyes widened. He was on the board? If Mr Roskovi wanted bit-beasts he was in a perfect position to take them. Kai wondered how he had managed to get on the board. Didn't the BBA suspect something?

Below that line was a number. Kai frowned at it suspiciously. What if he just stole into Miss Berry's office and give him a call? Just to find out more about this Mr Roskovi. No, he couldn't do that, he wouldn't be a puppet for anyone anymore.

In a sudden rush of anger he crumpled the letter and the envelope in the palm of his hand and threw it into the waste bin.

Feeling pleased that he had successfully overcome that temptation he got ready for a not so peaceful night's sleep.

~ Mansion ~

In the same study dimly lit study Boris sat up straight in his velvet chair, in front of him was Mr Roskovi standing stiffly by the mahogany desk.

"I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrongly," said Mr Roskovi. "Now, what was it that you said?"

"I told you," Boris growled. "That he refused my offer. What could I do? Drag him away in front of everyone?"

"How you became the second hand man to Mr. Hiwatari, I shall ever know," Mr Roskovi snapped. "For God's sake! You're part of an organised criminal corporation! Did you expect him to follow you like a blind lemming? Bribe him, blackmail him, drug him, use force for all I care!"

"He's not allowed out of the orphanage without an adult to accompany him," Boris defended himself. "I can't get to him without making my presence known."

"Then break into the orphanage!" Mr Roskovi was red with rage. "I want Kai working for me before the upcoming tournament."

~ Bladebreakers ~

"I can't believe it," Rei muttered as he hung up the phone.

"Well?" Takao asked, patiently awaiting news of Rei's latest phone call.

"Well Voltaire was busy, of course," Rei retold this conversation on the phone. "I asked for Kai but the servant on the other side said that it no longer possible to talk to him."

"Did you ask why?" Max asked.

Rei nodded, "the servant got a little nervous I think, and said that Kai had been sent away."

"Sent away?" Max looked puzzled, "sent to where?"

"To an orphanage."

"An orphanage!?" The rest cried in unison.

Ray nodded, "that's what I was told but to which orphanage he wouldn't say."

"Guys, I'm getting a little worried here; Kai's not exactly like the other kids." Max voiced his fears.

"Kai can look after himself," Takao nodded but then added, "still, we better check just to make sure."

"Yes, but where would we start looking?" Kenny asked. "There are quite a few orphanages in Tokyo, this could take forever!"

"Well we still have to try," Takao said defensively.

"Okay," Rei nodded, "let's start searching."

~ Crossroads Orphanage ~

The sun rose in the crimson sky, swept with purple and sweeps of grey and dusty pinks making the walls of the orphanage glow a majestic orange and yet each day seemed the same to Kai.

News of the purple-haired man had travelled through the orphanage as fast a lightning; most people were staying away from him as Kai ate breakfast. Only Trish was with him, her face buried in a bowl of rice.

"Hey," the pair looked up from their breakfast. The voice belonged to a boy about eight years old.

"Kensuke," Trish acknowledged through a mouthful of rice.

The boy sat opposite Trish but turned to face Kai. He looked around nervously then leaned closer to Kai.

"Look, Stray," he whispered in a secretive manner. "You're meeting Ryo later, aren't you?"

Kai nodded suspiciously, he had an idea of where this conversation was going.

"I gotta warn you he's set something up with some other kids," Kensuke ruffled his already untidy black hair, "but you didn't hear anything from me, okay?"

"Why are you telling me this?" Kai's eyes narrowed to search the boy for any hidden motive.

Kensuke looked at Trish and blushed. Kai suddenly understood and let the boy go.

"Why did you do that?" Kai turned to Trish.

"Why not?" Trish shrugged. "I know what's wrong 'n' I know what's right. Jus' promise me dat ya won't beat 'im up, okay?"

Kai closed his mouth tightly. Why did little kids always ask the near impossible?

"I'll try," Kai grudgingly agreed. He stood up and made his way over to where Ryo was sitting.

"Oh well if it isn't the silver-haired freak monster," Ryo said out loud as Kai approached. "Of course, you want your blade, don't you? Well I'm afraid there's been a change of plan."

Kai looked back at Miss Berry and refrained from hitting the insolent boy there and then.

"Do you value your ability to breathe?"

Ryo detected the seriousness in Kai's voice but did his best to seem calm.

"Well, when you put it that way I guess I could take pity on you and reunite you with your beloved blade."

Pity? Kai felt his blood boil with anger yet his face remained impassive; an ability he was proud of being able to do.

"I hid it in a really good hiding place, not even the twins, Tam and Sam, know about it," Ryo got up and lead Kai out of the hall.

Kai said nothing to the brown haired boy; he already knew that Ryo was planning something.

They walked down the corridors of rooms. The word 'Store room' was painted across a door near Miss Berry's office.

Ryo slipped a small silver key from his pocket and inserted it into the keyhole.

"Where did you get that?" Kai asked questioningly.

"It's amazing how careless adults are, isn't it?"

The door clicked and swung open to reveal gloomy darkness. A few dusky boxes of cleaning equipment were just about visible in the dark but nothing suspicious could be seen.

"You go first," Kai ordered.

Ryo entered confidently and turned on a small lamp so the room had some, if not much, light.

Kai closed the door behind them and began surveying the room. There were a few old wardrobes and cupboards and several boxes of cleaning solution on the floor but that was it.

"Here," Ryo's voice brought him back to the present. Ryo was rummaging through a box of bottles.

Finally, Ryo produced Kai's blue blade and handed it to Kai.

Kai accepted it sceptically but the moment his finger touched the blue edges of his blade he knew something was wrong. Where was the warmth that Dranzer had provided throughout all their years together?

He looked down at the blade, directly at the problem. The bit-chip had gone!

"You said I had to return the blade but you never said anything about the bit-chip!" Ryo said triumphantly as he caught Kai's furious expression.

The wardrobes suddenly burst open to reveal three other teenagers each one had bottles of mustard and ketchup, holding them like guns.

Forgetting what he told Trish Kai ferociously lunged at Ryo but not before getting covered in mustard and ketchup.

Kai barged Ryo to the floor and pinned him there, sending angry punches flying straight at Ryo's face and chest.

Once the others had run out of mustard and ketchup they grabbed bottles of disinfectant and threw them at Kai from afar, shouting and yelling names.

A particularly heavy bottle of bleach hit Kai around the back of his head and Ryo took the opportunity to push Kai off.

"You monster!" Ryo yelled. "We're gonna get rid of you, we don't want to be eaten!"

More bottles rained down on Kai as he tried to deflect them while dodging Ryo's furious sweeps. He had had enough of this; he suddenly felt powered by a force deep down inside that screamed for revenge.

Someone's footsteps echoed down the corridor and got louder with each step.

"Miss Berry!" One of the children cried in a hushed tone and they all fled outside.

Ryo attempted to push past Kai but he was knocked down easily.

"Not so big without backup, are you?" Kai growled.

Ryo scrambled to his feet, growling horribly. He tried to punch Kai but the attack was blocked and countered.

"Give me my bit-beast and I'll make this easy for you."

Ryo said nothing. He attacked again and this time it hit Kai on his already bruised cheek.

Growling, Kai seized Ryo by the throat and forced him against a wall.

Ryo gasped for breath and, for a while, neither of them moved. The only sound was the footsteps getting louder and closer to them and then, as if someone had hit the 'play' button everything resumed.

Kai's grip tightened on Ryo's neck, he felt strange, here he was covered in sauce, enduring childish name calling and down-right stupidity all mainly caused by the boy in front of him; no one had ever made him this mad before.

He had to take out his anger at its source.

"I'm sorry!" Ryo writhed and attempted to pry Kai's hands away from his neck.

Kai kneed him in the stomach to stop the hands from loosening his grip. Ryo doubled over and cried out in pain.

"The bit-chip!" Ryo practically screamed. "I have it! It's been with me all the time!" His hand moved to his pocket and he handed Kai the chip.

Kai snatched it off him and placed Dranzer safely in his own pocket.

The footsteps were very close and the pair stood frozen for a couple of minutes and then the steps faded into the distance.

Now he had what he wanted Kai felt his grip loosening but that fierce energy inside of him urged him to do more damage.

Seeing the look of sweet revenge in Kai's crimson eyes Ryo struggled even more and yelled, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry! Sorry for the names I called you, sorry for taking your blade, I'm sorry!"

Kai knew he should let the poor, pathetic excuse for a child go but something was there holding him in place.

"Sorry?" All the hatred in Kai seethed; it felt to him as if he was watching himself speak from the outside. "Sorry is not good enough! Get down like the dog you are and beg for red - "

Kai stopped himself just in time. He felt all the anger suddenly drain out of him.

'Get down like the dog you are and beg for redemption.'

Hadn't that been what Voltaire had told Kai himself? Yet here he was saying exactly the same thing to Ryo. There was no connection, was there? He wasn't like Voltaire, he wasn't becoming what he had hated all these years, there was just no way!

Kai slowly let go of Ryo. He could feel his own heart beating and his mind repeating over and over in his head.

'It's just a coincidence, a slip of the tongue, you would never become and evil, sadistic bastard like him!'

'You said exactly what Voltaire had said all those years ago, you just let your anger control you and you beat that kid to a pulp just like what Lord Voltaire would have done!' Another side of Kai sneered.

'He deserved it!'

'No he didn't, you could have used a less violent way.'

The two opposing feelings raged in Kai's mind. Breathing heavily, Kai turned and fled.

'They were right, you *are* a monster.'

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Mizu_Tenshi: I think the … problem is happening everywhere but still any advice would be heplful. Anyway, R&R! Here are my replies to everyone who reviewed ch3.

Angelfire - He finally got it back but not in a very nice way but Ryo deserved it.

Alkvingiel - Thanks for the idea, I might use it later on.

Kai baby-girl - Really? I didn't know there were other stories about Kai in an orphanage. Thanks, I'm honoured!

By the Stars - Okay, can't wait to start. Unfortunately I happen to live on this horrible little piece of wet and rainy land called England so the time zone's a bugger.

Identity Thief & BladerSINbad - Thanks and I will keep going.

Kuroi Neko - I read your story. Raven looks like she's gonna end up with Ray, is she? Wait, I should ask that in my next review. Never mind!

Dark Kai - Yep, I'm definitely gonna finish this.

Sighing Siren - Thanks for the info. Ryo is a little rat, isn't he?

Squirrel of Shadows - Unfortunately Kai can't kill Ryo but he did punch him!

whisper*2*imaginary - There's another Ryo? I wonder what he's like. Anyway, thanks for the review.

Bickabee - I agree, let's all shove Ryo and his friends in a burning cupboard!

anomynous - Yes, he got to beat Ryo a little and more revenge is soon to come once Kai gets over what he said.

ChibiKai (UL is amazing - What evil come next! You'll have to wait and find out but something will happen.

Carmina Burana - Thanks, I'll be writing a lot. R&R!

vegeta's lover - Thanks, I'm glad someone liked it; I think this story will get darker as it goes on…maybe.

CC - You got an account? Congratulations and thank you for your review.