A Somewhat Normal Life
A/N: All right, confused yet? You ought to be. But don't worry, it's coming together.
DISCLAIMER: I own only Reuven, Marek and Marishka.
Chapter 3: Getting Pulled Out Of Class
It was a nice day, for December. Not too cold, no wind, some sun, and it was only -5 C[1].
"This is nice." Reuven said happily, lying back on the steps of Kagoshima Academy, comfortably bundled up in his unzipped heavy parka, scarf, gloves and hat. "I could live with this."
"No kidding," Marek sighed, standing against one of the pillars. "This is nice."
Kai was oh so unusually silent, but he nodded his agreement. He, too, was leaning back against the pillar, but sitting with one leg stretched out and one swinging off the side. He was dressed significantly lighter than the other two, wearing only an unzipped light parka and a scarf. (A/N: Yes, Joe is back! For those who don't know who Joe is, see the website www.fiercekai.cjb.net, click on the tab marked Kai, then on Uniforms. Read it, and then you'll understand.)
"Kai, aren't you cold?" Reuven asked, sitting up.
"No," Kai responded. "This is nothing compared to other places I've been."
"Places like where?" Marek challenged.
"Places that are colder than here." Kai answered vaguely.
"And what year was this town established, Mr. Tameru?" Mrs. Eii asked, brandishing her pointer at Kai, who looked bored.
Kai looked at her. "You're not seriously asking me that."
"He doesn't know." Anastasia Lemieux said snippily.
"Ms. Lemieux, you have yet to get one question correct in this class," Mrs. Eii snapped. "Well? Mr. Tameru?"
Kai sighed. "January 7, 1520."
"Thank you. Now, by whom was this town established?"
The intercom crackled to life. "Mrs. Eii, send Mr. Tameru down to the central office immediately."
Kai grabbed his bag and headed out the door, when Mrs. Eii called, "The answer?"
Kai stuck his head back in the classroom. "Bykin Sayatami. It was first named Sayatamisato, then changed to Kagoshima on August 10, 1616, when the emperor seized control." He disappeared once again.
"Thank you!" Mrs. Eii said in exasperation. "Someone gets it right!…"
"Ah, young Mr. Tameru," the principal said. "You have a visitor."
"Kai!"
"M—M—Mr. Dickinson," Kai stammered. "Sir."
"Kai, you haven't forgotten our meeting at headquarters, have you?" Mr. Dickinson asked, eyes twinkling. "You have a retirement speech to deliver, remember?"
"I—I—I—I—I, no." Kai said uneasily. "Yes. I did forget." He admitted.
"Well then?" Mr. Dickinson said expectantly. "Come on, we can still make it."
Kai smelled a rat. Well, actually, this had TYSON'S IDEA! written all over it. "Oh, um, I can't exactly leave. I don't have a pass."
"Mr. Dickinson had informed me of the reason, you have permission to leave. Is your grandfather aware of your early departure?"
'Of course not. He wouldn't have let me go outside today if he had.' Kai thought sarcastically. "Yes," is what he actually responded. "Well, I suppose we'd better go then." he muttered.
"Kai!" the other Bladebreakers all yelled happily as the bus puttered along the highway out of Kagoshima and it was safe to emerge.
"Hey." Kai said quietly, his bad leg stretched out over the seat. Today in particular, probably because of the humidity in the air and a recovering cold, it was alternately throbbing and burning with pain. "Tyson, that idea was one of the stupidest I've ever seen. And I've seen quite a few of yours."
"How do you know it was me who came up with it?" Tyson demanded.
"It had TYSON'S IDEA! written all over it." Kai answered dryly.
"Well it worked any way, didn't it?" Tyson mumbled.
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Kai warned. "Just because we got out of Kagoshima doesn't mean we're going to make it out of the vile clutches of Biovolt. Boris should still be somewhere between Nagasaki and Kagoshima. And he'll be on the lookout. It's not the first time I've tried to get out."
"Um, Kai?" Max asked timidly. "Wouldn't we have to go to, like, Antarctica or somewhere if we're trying to get out of Biovolt's vile clutches?"
"No." Mr. Dickinson answered cheerfully. "We're just trying to get back to Tokyo. Kai, you have asylum in Tokyo."
"I don't even want to know what arms you twisted." Kai moaned, then yelled in pain as Tyson jumped over the seat back and landed on his leg. "Cripes, Tyson, get off!!"
"All right, all right!" Tyson yelped. Then he rubbed his backside. "Ow, that hurt! Kai, you're like, anorexic on that leg!"
"I'm not anorexic, Tyson," Kai sighed. "I've just got enough hardware on that leg to open up a Rona. And if it wasn't that I don't intend to move from this seat for the duration of the trip, I would box you for doing that."
"What happened, any way?" Rei asked quietly.
"You don't want to know," Kai answered shortly.
"I do, actually."
"Kai had no permission to leave school grounds, let alone the town." Darius growled at the principal as the portly man twisted his tie around his hand. "Master Tameru will not be pleased at this lapse in security."
The cell phone rang and Darius snatched it up. "Yessir? No, sir, it appeared he's gone AWOL. Yessir, I'm trying to ascertain that at the moment. No sir, nobody has seen him since about one in the afternoon. Stanley Dickinson took him to some sort of meeting in Tokyo." He jumped as Voltaire's haranguing voice screamed about his incompetence. "Yessir, I'll be right on it."
He left the office at a sprint and was already dialing frantically as he screeched away in the limo.
"We're still about an hour and a half away from Tokyo, sir." The driver called back.
"Thank you, Anderson." Mr. Dickinson said. "Well, Kai, now would be a good time to explain what's been going on."
"Please, Kai?" the other four begged, crowding in the seats behind and in front of Kai.
"Oh, fine." Kai sighed. Stealthily, Mr. Dickinson pressed the recording button on the taping device hidden in his suit pocket.
"First of all, if I may inquire as to the nature of the injury? And let me see it, please."
"What is this, a criminal inquisition?" Kai muttered. "Max and Kenny, avert your eyes."
The two weaker-stomached Bladebreakers did as they were told and Kai rolled up the pant leg of his uniform.
"Oh, that's nasty!" Tyson yelped, ducking his head. Even Mr. Dickinson had paled a few shades at the sight.
"Please, Kai," Rei began, but Kai seemed to understand the message and rolled his pant leg back down. "Thank you. Max, Kenny, you can look now."
"What. Happened." Tyson asked, before Mr. Dickinson could work up the courage to ask.
"Hmph." Kai sniffed. "Voltaire. Who else?" He had ceased to call him Grandfather when he wasn't in his presence.
"What did they do to you?" Rei asked.
"Kai!"
"Yes, Grandfather?" Kai asked sullenly as he entered the drawing room of the Hiwatari mansion. He stopped as he saw his grandfather's two bodyguards advance threateningly.
"As you very well know by now, we have little time before that idiot Dickinson and his cronies come and arrest us for the activities involving Biovolt. Boris, himself, has already been apprehended." Voltaire stated.
"Us?" Kai asked sarcastically.
"Yes." Voltaire repeated. "Guilty by crime of association, Kai. So tonight, I am going to a safe house I have already procured far from here. You will come with me."
"And exactly how do you plan to go unnoticed, Grandfather?" Kai asked again, shaking his head.
"Simple, Kai, simple." Voltaire said. "With new papers, new identities, a bit of help from estheticians and a bit of acting."
"And what if I don't want to leave?" Kai asked defiantly.
"You will." Voltaire smiled maliciously. "You'll have no choice, once we're through with you."
"Hey! Hey!" Kai yelled, dodging the bodyguards. This worked for a minute, then they finally got a hold on him and Dr. Resven, the head 'doctor' at Balkoff Abbey stepped forward, holding some sort of machine with a very menacing appearance.
Kai stopped just then and let out a stifled yelp as the bus bumped over a gravel road, sending pain waves through his leg. "Sorry. Where was I?"
"About to give us nightmares," Chief supplied.
"Oh. Right. Well, I'm not going into detail. Just, in short and layman's terms, the leg is virtually useless." Kai muttered.
"Ugh." Rei muttered. He shivered again. "I'm having nightmares tonight."
[1] I'm comparing this against my experiences of a normal of -20 to -40 C. *shudder* -5 C, with no wind and some sun, that's paradise. It's also virtually impossible here, but still… half you people don't know how good you have it. .