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Weeping Angel
Chapter 3Tyson sighed as he met Ray outside of the door to Emily's room. It was, he had found, the Chinese boy's job to lead him to and from the doctors' offices, and basically see to his health. He had found out early on that if he did anything wrong it was the other boy who paid for it.
After the third day in this world, Tyson had started to keep track of the days. He had asked for some paper, and a pen, and when the staff realized that he wasn't going to use the writing implements to hurt himself or draw on the walls again, they had readily coughed them up. Now he had an almost constant supply of pens and paper. He had been keeping some sort of calendar, after he found out the day and date from Ray, and he intended to check it as soon as he got back to his room. It had been almost 3 weeks since he had been thrown into this world he didn't quite understand, but Tyson was always good at adjusting quickly when he needed to.
"Hello, Takao," Ray greeted.
"Hi Ray!" Tyson said. He still hadn't been able to break the other boy from his habit of calling him Takao, since Ray truly believed that was his name. It had taken some time for him to get used to the other name, but now he answered to Takao as easily and quickly as he answered to Tyson.
Emily came out behind him. "Hello Ray."
"Good morning, Dr Emily," Ray greeted her politely.
"Ray, would you be able to step inside my office for a second? Takao, you too, please." Emily asked. Emily did call him Tyson, but only when they were in her private counseling sessions.
"Of course, Doctor."
Tyson had grown to like the inside of Emily's office. It had a sort of friendly appeal, one that he wouldn't have associated with the girl in the real world.
That was the only way he was able to keep himself from being swept away in confusion about the differences between the world he was meant to be in and the one he was in. He had to keep reminding himself that this world was not the proper one.
Emily's office was painted almost stark white. The main colour, aside from the white was a band of yellow – Emily's favourite colour – on the walls a few inches from the ceiling, and about a foot thick. The panel was in various shades of yellow as it went around the room. There was another panel, in blue, that went around the room a few inches from the floor.
There was a desk with a black leather chair behind it, and two chairs in front. Off to the side, there was a lounging chair.
When Tyson entered the room for the second time that day, he watched Emily head for her chair behind the desk, and saw Ray sit in one of the chairs in front of it. Grinning, he passed them both, and took a flying leap, landing on the couch.
"Takao!" Emily called, her voice concerned. Ray was immediately beside him to make sure he hadn't hurt himself. Tyson waved off Ray's concerns with a laugh.
"I'm fine, Ray!"
Ray gave an almost inaudible sigh of relief. "Don't do anything stupid like that again," he told Tyson in a stern voice, but his eyes sparkled slightly.
"Okay, okay!" Tyson said, still laughing. He turned to Emily, who, like Ray, returned to her seat when she realized Tyson wasn't injured. "What did you want, Dr Em?" he asked, shortening her name to the nickname he had given her.
"The Institute has decided that you are well enough to go outside the hospital. You have made incredible progress in the last three weeks, Takao," she complimented him.
"Yes!" Tyson crowed, pumping a fist into the air, "I get to leave! I'm free!"
"Hold on, Takao," Emily held up a hand to silence him, "you must remember, this is only a trial. And you will have a guardian as well. Don't forget that, Takao."
"That's cool," Tyson said, jumping up off the couch, and slinging an arm around Ray's shoulders, "me and Ray get along well!"
"That may be, Takao, but Ray is not the one who will be going with you."
The smile on Tyson's face froze. "Not…Ray?" he asked slowly in disbelief. "Why not Ray?"
"I still have my duties here, Takao, I can't just leave," Ray said. "You aren't my only charge, Takao."
"Then, you, Dr Em?" Tyson asked, turning his gaze from Ray to her. "You'll be coming with me, wont you?" It almost sounded like a plea.
"I'm sorry, Takao, but I can't leave the Institute either. I'm sorry," she repeated.
"Then, who?"
"The directors will be appointing someone tonight at the meeting. Takao, you are required to attend," Ray answered.
"You knew?" Tyson asked, turning back to Ray, "you knew and you didn't tell me?"
"I knew it was a possibility, Takao. I knew the directors were planning on putting one of my charges on trial, but I didn't know who. I didn't tell any of you, in case I got your hopes up, and it wasn't you," Ray explained.
"Oh," Tyson said slowly. "I guess I understand. Are there, like, candidates for who'll come with me? Have I met any of them before?"
"No, I don't think you've met any of the choices before," Emily said, standing up. Ray and Tyson followed her example. "That was all I wanted to tell you both," she said, looking at first Tyson, then Ray. "I will also be at the meeting tonight, Takao, so don't worry," she told Tyson, smiling.
"I wont!" Tyson cheered, with a fake smile. Inside though, he was worried. He didn't know what would be thrown at him next. He hoped the person who the directors chose to go with him was someone he recognized, and, even better, liked.
"This meeting will come to order."
The directors meeting, Tyson was sure, would be boring. The directors themselves were old men in boring suits of grey, black, blue or brown. No bright colours anywhere! Tyson didn't recognize any of the men on the board, although he had been hoping that maybe Mr Dickinson would be there.
"We have chosen Takao Kinomiya as a candidate to be placed into the POHC scheme."
"The what?" Tyson whispered to Ray, who sat next to him.
"Patients Out of Hospital with Carers," Ray told him just as quietly.
Tyson nodded in understanding, turning his attention back to the directors.
"The choices for the carer for Takao Kinomiya are as follows," the director continued, reading off a piece of paper. "Ayden Atkinson. Tala Pilokoauf. Matthew Ayres. Max Mizuhara. Jason Harding."
Tyson thought over the names. He couldn't place any as his friends, but then he wouldn't have been able to get Tyson Granger from Takao Kinomiya either. It was possible that some of his friends' names were different then how he knew them.
He knew not all of them could be different. Ray's name was still Ray Kon, in both this world and the real one.
The directors continued talking, but Tyson had stopped listening. He was reviewing the names in his head. Ayden Atkinson didn't sound familiar at all, but it might have been the name of one of his friends from before the Bladebreakers. He just couldn't remember what his name was. Adam Something, maybe? Or was it Chad?
Tyson's eyes opened suddenly. Why couldn't he remember? He had never had trouble remembering his friends before this. What was going on?
He silently reviewed all the things that had happened to him in the two years.
He remembered the finals in Russia, where he battled Tala, and won. That was the match that made him world champion. He remembered all of the other teams, seeing Emily every day had kept his memories of the All Stars fresh in his mind. Similarly, Ray had kept the memories of both the Bladebreakers and the White Tigers alive.
Then he focused on the Majestics. There was a tall boy as their leader, he was sure. A tall, regal boy with…green hair? No, the boy with green hair was short, he was sure. There was another boy with a temper. Who didn't like Kai – but why? What had Kai done to this boy to earn his dislike?
Shaking his head, he tried to refocus on the meeting. He woke himself up just in time to the directors' close the meeting.
He could feel Ray's eyes on him as the other boy stood, so Tyson quickly jumped to his feet too.
"Come on, Takao. Let's go back to your room," Ray muttered quietly.
"Sure…Ray?" Tyson said, watching in shock as Ray turned and began to walk away, not even waiting for Tyson's response. What was wrong with his friend?
"Ray, what's wrong?" Tyson asked once they got back to Tyson's room. Emily had followed them back, and she was as silent as Ray. "Dr Em?" he asked, turning to her.
"You weren't paying attention in the meeting, were you, Takao?" Emily asked.
Sheepishly, Tyson shook his head, "not all of it," he said. "I sorta stopped listening after the directors said the names. Why? Did they say who the final choice was?"
"Yes. They did," Ray said shortly.
Tyson blinked. "And it was?" he prompted.
"Tala Pilokoauf."
*~*~*
It had been three days since Tyson's disappearance. Three days of complete worrying by all of Tyson's friends. Tyson's grandfather was worrying himself sick, literally. The elderly Granger had been admitted to hospital for a case of severe shock – learning his grandson had been kidnapped, most probably by someone who wanted him dead had startled him more than he would like to admit. He hadn't been released yet.
All of the beyblading teams had been notified of the situation, and by unanimous agreement, it had been agreed that the press wouldn't be told of Tyson's disappearance at all. All the press would be told was that Tyson had come down with a rather severe cold, which, aside from being badly timed, was also quite contagious. The whole of the Bladebreakers team was being put into quarantine.
The other teams, minus the Demolition Boys, of course, were putting in discreet inquires into where Tyson could have been taken.
Shamefully, the Majestics were making the most progress, having the use of their rather large funding. It was amazing, and somewhat sickening to know how many people could be bought off with the right amount of money.
The Dark Bladers had appeared before the remaining Bladebreakers with a proposition. Because of their nature, they were able to sense Tyson. There was a slight drawback to this though, being they could only sense the basic country he was in. The Dark Bladers had been able to tell them that Tyson was alive, but unconscious – they didn't think he would have been sleeping for the past three days. If he was conscious, they would have been able to get a more precise location of the blue-haired blader.
The Dark Bladers, of course, had demanded something in return - a rematch with the Bladebreakers once Tyson was back. Kai had no choice but to accept the conditions.
Tyson was in Russia. But Russia was a huge country. Until Tyson was awake, all they could do was search blindly.
So search blindly they did.
*~*~*
Voltaire looked down at his prisoner.
"You know what I want to happen, don't you?" he demanded of the closest scientist
"Yes sir. We have put it into motion."
"Good. Have our friend Takao meet up with Kai as well," Voltaire added, pleased, "make sure it is a meeting he will never forget."
"Yes sir."