AN: ~~flashbacks~~ sorry, forgot to mention that one.
Chapter One — Shedding light on a Winter's day
He walked familiar streets, passed familiar squares. This was his third time to the city, his second visit back to the place of his childhood.
The bells of a cathedral tolled, bringing back memories of the abbey, of the grey walls, grey like the colour of his dreams, like his memories …
/Stop it!/ he shouted at himself mentally, his internal frustrations not showing on his cool face as he walked through the cold, windy, snow-covered streets. /I'm not here for that./ He focused on where he was walking and soon he stood before a huge stadium.
"Kai? Kai! KAI!" The 16-year-old barely had time to react before a long-haired boy barreled into him. "I can't believe you actually came! This is so cool!" Takao ignored how the older boy tried to disentangle himself and dragged him into the building. "Everyone'll be so excited to see you again! I know Max and Kenny will, they're waiting for us all to show. We're the first ones here, but the All-Stars have shown up too, but nobody else. They're not here yet, but they've arrived in Moscow."
/Yippee, I have to spend hours with psychotic sports freaks,/ Kai thought sarcastically as he was dragged along the hallway. "Hey," he asked as he realised the omission, "hasn't Rei shown up yet?"
"No, not that I know."
"He said he'd probably be here before me, I thought he was going straight here from the train."
Takao stopped and looked at Kai strangely. "You were with Rei? Why didn't you two just come together?"
"I had something to take care of."
~~
Kai wandered the streets and finally came to a stop before a house near the outskirts.
/Why here? Why did I come here? What's so special about this place?/ Kai looked around a bit. It was an ordinary house with a small yard and a huge tree in the middle of it. You could get lost in the branches, even in the dead of winter.
/I have a sudden urge to climb it. Do I know this place?/ Kai looked around to see if anything else spurred his interest. He couldn't see anything that interesting, so he decided to go back to the city, only after he looked back over his shoulder to stare once more at the huge tree.
~~
Kai was jolted out of his memory by Takao dragging him further into the building. He was yammering away again, but Kai didn't hear a word of it, still caught up in his thoughts.
/What is it about that place that drew me there?/ He couldn't get it out of his mind. What drew him to that place? He felt like he should know it somehow, but the memories eluded him, slipping through his fingers like water through a sieve.
"Kai?" The blue-haired boy glanced at his companion to see worry etched on his features. "You okay man? You seem a bit out of it."
"I'm fine." Kai snarled, some of his former irritation cutting through to snap at Takao. When the other boy flinched slightly, Kai realised what he had done.
Ever since the world tournament last year he'd been working on trying not to be so cold to people, and only recently it had been paying off. It seemed though that he could slip all too easily back into his former cold mask of indifference and anger. Takao didn't deserve that.
"Sorry," Kai murmured to his teammate and brushed past him.
/Woah! Did I just hear Kai apologising to me?/ Takao looked after his captain in amazement. /I guess he's changed since I last saw him. I hope he has, he held too much inside before and that's not healthy for anyone./ Everyone had gone through some changes over the past year, Takao realised as he caught up with Kai again. Most were for the better.
Smiling at Kai, he decided to just lead him to the others in a companionable silence that was all too easy to fall into when around Kai these days. It wasn't awkward anymore, Takao noticed, nor cold, but easy and contented.
He decided he definitely liked this change for the better.
***
"So, I wonder who else will be here today?" Max was bouncing with barely suppressed excitement.
"I'm not sure Maxie." Kenny had picked up Takao's nickname of the blond boy somewhere along the long road of their travels. "Some people might not be able to make it until tomorrow."
"Like Mr. D." Dizzy piped up from her spot on the table nearby, adamant about not being left out of the celebrations and any conversations she could but into.
"And my mum." Max looked a bit sad, but cheered up a bit when he noticed the door opening. "Oh, I wonder if that's the All-Stars. Emily called me earlier and said that they might be over today if they finished unpacking."
And indeed it was as Max predicted. The All-Stars walked through the doors and spotted the two boys near the food table.
"Max, Kenny!" Emily squealed in an uncharacteristic display of delight. But then, she hadn't seen either of them for over a year. She ran up to the son of her team's founder and hugged him tightly. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too Emily," Max laughed and hugged his friends back. "Did mum say when she'd be here?"
"She'll be here tomorrow, if there aren't any major weather delays." Emily smiled at him. "Don't worry Max, she'll be here." Max nodded and turned to greet the rest of the All-Stars, while Emily blushed and lightly hugged a blushing Kenny.
"Maxy-boy!" Michael shook the blond boy's hand with a friendly smile. "Nice to see you."
"You too Michael. Hey Eddy, Steve."
"Max." The two boys clapped Judy's son on the back. "How you been?"
"Not to bad. Yourselves?"
Eddy smiled. "We've been training extra hard."
Michael but in with a grin, "But we also got a cool holiday after the world tournament. So, where's everyone else?" Kenny came over to offer his greetings to the rest of the team and another round of back slaps and handshakes went around before Max could answer.
"Takao's waiting for Rei and Kai to arrive. They were supposed to be here today." Max and Kenny both noticed the slight tightening around the eyes of all the All-Stars at the mention of their captain's name but decided not to comment on it. "We can go get him if you want?"
"Nah, it's cool. We'll wait for him and Rei to arrive." No one commented on the omission of Kai to Michael's statement.
"Well how about some music while we're waiting." Dizzy really disliked being left out.
Kenny rushed over to his laptop. "Sure thing, thanks for the suggestion Dizzy. Sorry for leaving you out."
"Humph," Dizzy snorted. "Just don't do it again."
Kenny and the others laughed at the bit-beast's temperamental attitude and soon music and conversations sprung up.
Kenny and Emily discussed Beyblade technicalities and other smart things with Dizzy piping in occasionally. Eddy and Steve talked a bit while shoveling food into their mouths while Max and Michael laughed at them nearby and talked of inconsequential things.
No one really noticed when the door opened once more and another figure entered the room until he'd reached Michael and Max and cleared his throat to get their attention. Once caught, no one's attention wavered from the haughty redhead standing in the middle of the room.
***
Kai smiled slightly at Takao's antics, feeling a pang familiarity that seemed so right. He'd never admit it, but he had missed the Japanese boy's humorous actions and had missed the boy himself even more. The smile on his face wasn't necessarily only one of amusement at Takao's stupidity.
Kai was once again happy. He'd missed his companions. Takao, Max, Kenny, all of them. He'd missed Rei especially and felt a small twitch of sorrow that he wasn't here right now, but he'd be here soon.
So Kai decided that he'd enjoy himself as much as possible until everyone was here, and then he'd enjoy himself more.
Having made that promise to himself, Kai walked into the room after Tyson and would have ran up to the other members of his team were it not for something that stopped him in his tracks and drained his smile away.
Upon entering the room, both Kai and Takao noticed that another person besides the All-Stars, Max and Kenny was in the room, having arrived while Takao was greeting Kai.
He turned his icy blue gaze on the two and smiled at them in greeting, like a wolf smirks before attacking his prey.