AN: Another chapter up. This is a shorter one. Hope you enjoy. And REVIEW!
I am hardly getting enough of those.... But of course, thanks to all those
who did review. I love you all, you really made my day!
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When in the morning Kai found Ray gone, he was the least surprised. He knew something like that would happen. And when he heard an indignant Tyson and a concerned Max were determined to go search for Ray, he was still not surprised, if slightly irritated. He watched the pair set off with a nonchalant expression, before turning back into the hotel. He had another task in mind for the day.
He asked for a travel brochure in Japanese at the lobby and looked through it quickly. All the famous sights in the city were listed in the brochure: the Palace of Ming emperors, the River of Qinhuai, the ancient city-gates, and (this would definitely interest Max) the Lake of Draciel. He flipped through all of those quickly, for he was not interested in them. Finally, on the last page of the brochure, he found it. There was a picture of a solemn looking building inside a black iron gate that looked cold and bleak. The caption reads, "Memorial Museum of Massacre of Nanjing". Kai looked at the picture critically, before quickly writing down the address and directions. Then he set off hurriedly, without a word to anyone.
The morning was grey and cold, and the cars and passengers on the street were scarce. Kai took a long bus ride. Despite his attempt to remain hidden in the shadows, he seemed to attract a handful of curious glances. He reached the museum almost near noon. The building looked even gloomier up close. There was a tall gravestone of grey. Not a single name can be found on it, but only a large, piercing number that reads "300,000". Beside the gate was a bronze sculpture of a lonely head and a grasping hand, bursting above the earthen floor, as if reluctant to leave the world. There were a few people scattered about the gravestone and the statues. Some were tying white flowers to the evergreens, others with head bowed in some silent prayers. They all seemed grieved. Kai passed them without sparing another glance; on his face there was still the same uncaring expression.
He went into the building, and looked at each article and photo in turn, observing silently. Not many people were in there, but at least half of them he recognized as his countrymen. He could hear snatches of words of shock and guilt muttered in Japanese. But still he was silent, and seemingly unmoved. Just when he was about the exit the building, a large black-and-white photograph caught his eyes. On that photo there was the same ancient wall he saw on Tyson's photo. There were the same weather- beaten bricks, the same three arched gates, and the same three Chinese characters carved above the gates. The only difference is that on this photo, there were many more Japanese soldiers. They were on the wall, before the gate, at the feet of the wall, and by their side there were tanks and trucks. Some had their arms raised skyward, others mouth wide open with silent exclamations. They were in a celebration. Beneath the photo, the caption reads "December 13, 1937."
Kai stared long and hard at the photo, and suddenly a new thought struck him, and his mahogany eyes narrowed. It has just occurred to him that the final of the Asian Championship will be held on December the thirteenth.
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After dinner, the Blade Breakers scattered to their own things. Kai found Kenny working alone on his laptop in the empty lobby. Kai went up to the small boy and asked, "Did you do what I asked, Kenny? Found out anything?"
Kenny raised his head and regarded Kai, before answering, "Yeah, I did, Kai. This tournament is arranged by BBA and the city of Nanjing together. Everything is done is in co-operation, it seems."
"Then who decided the date of the finals?" Kai asked.
"Yeah, I checked that too." Kenny said. "BBA did, Mr. Dickinson appointed that date especially. I emailed him and asked him about it, and he told me that is due to the request of our Minister of National Defence."
"What?" Kai barked, his eyes narrowing with a spark of rage.
"Yeah." Kenny replied, "Mr. Dickinson told me about it rather briefly. He said he had a chance meeting with the Minister, who claimed to love beyblade, and really wanted to see the finals on December 13, because that's the only day his family is free, according to him."
At those words Kai's fist landed on the table with an angry sound. "Sadistic bastard!" He hissed. "Love beyblade? I am sure that's the case. He wanted to see us beat the Chinese on that day, that's all, regardless how many people's minds he will torture."
"What? What do you mean, Kai?" Kenny asked quizzically.
Kai said with a bite of impatience, "The Japanese army sacked this city on December 13th, 1937. Think, Kenny, what can that chauvinistic minister of ours be planning? "
Kenny paled as he slowly caught the idea. He exclaimed, "You mean he wants to send a message? He wants to connect the beyblade match to the war so long ago?"
"Of course." Kai snorted. "To declare his vain belief that his nation was not in the wrong 60 years ago, and he will triumph again. Arrogant fool." He added vehemently.
There was a moment of silence, before Kenny said quietly, "But what about Ray? What will he do? How can he choose between his country and us now? And he just returned to the team too..." He stopped rather abruptly, losing his next sentence.
Kai shook his head with ire, and then walked away hurriedly. He exited the lobby and was about to return to his own room, but suddenly he stopped short as he noticed Ray standing there, watching him with those golden orbs. Kai stiffened just the slightest, before he asked irritably, "How much did you hear?"
Ray answered, "Everything, from beginning to end."
Silence. Then Kai raised an eyebrow, "And?"
"And I am relieved. There is no doubt now, I have made the right choice." Ray replied with a smile.
Even Kai was having difficulty masking his surprise at that. "And may I ask why?" Kai said, a sarcastic note in his voice, "I was thinking you shouldn't be too happy about something like this."
"Of course I do not appreciate the minister's little antic," Ray said calmly, still with that serene smile, "But I realized his action does not represent the people of Japan. You are a born and bred Japanese, yet you felt righteous anger for my sake. That alone showed me I have not misplaced my trust and friendship."
Slowly a smirk took Kai's face, or was it a disguised smile? "Don't flatter yourself, Kon." Kai said. "I am a mere team leader worried over the performance of a member of the team. And by the way, I am half Russian."
Ray inclined his head, the smile never faded from his face. "If that's the way you want to put it, captain." He said teasingly.
Kai spoke no more, but he went away content. For the first time, he was confident that the championship would be theirs.
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The Asian Tournament continued, and again the Blade Breakers were in front of dish, fighting towards the gold. Soon it was Ray's turn. He stood before the dish, and looked at his pearl white blade. The bit-chip was still empty, but no longer he felt hollow. There was now a new confidence in him, and his heart did not falter and waver the least.
He loaded his launcher with his eyes closed, savouring every bit of the familiar motion. This is for you, Drigger, he thought, for my team, for this friendship that I will always believe in. With that he fired the blade into the dish. In response a silver light shone in the high arch of the stadium. In descended, growing into the hazy form of a tiger. With a mighty roar the tiger plunged into the dish, tearing down the structures and raising storms of dust.
The Whiter Tiger has returned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When in the morning Kai found Ray gone, he was the least surprised. He knew something like that would happen. And when he heard an indignant Tyson and a concerned Max were determined to go search for Ray, he was still not surprised, if slightly irritated. He watched the pair set off with a nonchalant expression, before turning back into the hotel. He had another task in mind for the day.
He asked for a travel brochure in Japanese at the lobby and looked through it quickly. All the famous sights in the city were listed in the brochure: the Palace of Ming emperors, the River of Qinhuai, the ancient city-gates, and (this would definitely interest Max) the Lake of Draciel. He flipped through all of those quickly, for he was not interested in them. Finally, on the last page of the brochure, he found it. There was a picture of a solemn looking building inside a black iron gate that looked cold and bleak. The caption reads, "Memorial Museum of Massacre of Nanjing". Kai looked at the picture critically, before quickly writing down the address and directions. Then he set off hurriedly, without a word to anyone.
The morning was grey and cold, and the cars and passengers on the street were scarce. Kai took a long bus ride. Despite his attempt to remain hidden in the shadows, he seemed to attract a handful of curious glances. He reached the museum almost near noon. The building looked even gloomier up close. There was a tall gravestone of grey. Not a single name can be found on it, but only a large, piercing number that reads "300,000". Beside the gate was a bronze sculpture of a lonely head and a grasping hand, bursting above the earthen floor, as if reluctant to leave the world. There were a few people scattered about the gravestone and the statues. Some were tying white flowers to the evergreens, others with head bowed in some silent prayers. They all seemed grieved. Kai passed them without sparing another glance; on his face there was still the same uncaring expression.
He went into the building, and looked at each article and photo in turn, observing silently. Not many people were in there, but at least half of them he recognized as his countrymen. He could hear snatches of words of shock and guilt muttered in Japanese. But still he was silent, and seemingly unmoved. Just when he was about the exit the building, a large black-and-white photograph caught his eyes. On that photo there was the same ancient wall he saw on Tyson's photo. There were the same weather- beaten bricks, the same three arched gates, and the same three Chinese characters carved above the gates. The only difference is that on this photo, there were many more Japanese soldiers. They were on the wall, before the gate, at the feet of the wall, and by their side there were tanks and trucks. Some had their arms raised skyward, others mouth wide open with silent exclamations. They were in a celebration. Beneath the photo, the caption reads "December 13, 1937."
Kai stared long and hard at the photo, and suddenly a new thought struck him, and his mahogany eyes narrowed. It has just occurred to him that the final of the Asian Championship will be held on December the thirteenth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After dinner, the Blade Breakers scattered to their own things. Kai found Kenny working alone on his laptop in the empty lobby. Kai went up to the small boy and asked, "Did you do what I asked, Kenny? Found out anything?"
Kenny raised his head and regarded Kai, before answering, "Yeah, I did, Kai. This tournament is arranged by BBA and the city of Nanjing together. Everything is done is in co-operation, it seems."
"Then who decided the date of the finals?" Kai asked.
"Yeah, I checked that too." Kenny said. "BBA did, Mr. Dickinson appointed that date especially. I emailed him and asked him about it, and he told me that is due to the request of our Minister of National Defence."
"What?" Kai barked, his eyes narrowing with a spark of rage.
"Yeah." Kenny replied, "Mr. Dickinson told me about it rather briefly. He said he had a chance meeting with the Minister, who claimed to love beyblade, and really wanted to see the finals on December 13, because that's the only day his family is free, according to him."
At those words Kai's fist landed on the table with an angry sound. "Sadistic bastard!" He hissed. "Love beyblade? I am sure that's the case. He wanted to see us beat the Chinese on that day, that's all, regardless how many people's minds he will torture."
"What? What do you mean, Kai?" Kenny asked quizzically.
Kai said with a bite of impatience, "The Japanese army sacked this city on December 13th, 1937. Think, Kenny, what can that chauvinistic minister of ours be planning? "
Kenny paled as he slowly caught the idea. He exclaimed, "You mean he wants to send a message? He wants to connect the beyblade match to the war so long ago?"
"Of course." Kai snorted. "To declare his vain belief that his nation was not in the wrong 60 years ago, and he will triumph again. Arrogant fool." He added vehemently.
There was a moment of silence, before Kenny said quietly, "But what about Ray? What will he do? How can he choose between his country and us now? And he just returned to the team too..." He stopped rather abruptly, losing his next sentence.
Kai shook his head with ire, and then walked away hurriedly. He exited the lobby and was about to return to his own room, but suddenly he stopped short as he noticed Ray standing there, watching him with those golden orbs. Kai stiffened just the slightest, before he asked irritably, "How much did you hear?"
Ray answered, "Everything, from beginning to end."
Silence. Then Kai raised an eyebrow, "And?"
"And I am relieved. There is no doubt now, I have made the right choice." Ray replied with a smile.
Even Kai was having difficulty masking his surprise at that. "And may I ask why?" Kai said, a sarcastic note in his voice, "I was thinking you shouldn't be too happy about something like this."
"Of course I do not appreciate the minister's little antic," Ray said calmly, still with that serene smile, "But I realized his action does not represent the people of Japan. You are a born and bred Japanese, yet you felt righteous anger for my sake. That alone showed me I have not misplaced my trust and friendship."
Slowly a smirk took Kai's face, or was it a disguised smile? "Don't flatter yourself, Kon." Kai said. "I am a mere team leader worried over the performance of a member of the team. And by the way, I am half Russian."
Ray inclined his head, the smile never faded from his face. "If that's the way you want to put it, captain." He said teasingly.
Kai spoke no more, but he went away content. For the first time, he was confident that the championship would be theirs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Asian Tournament continued, and again the Blade Breakers were in front of dish, fighting towards the gold. Soon it was Ray's turn. He stood before the dish, and looked at his pearl white blade. The bit-chip was still empty, but no longer he felt hollow. There was now a new confidence in him, and his heart did not falter and waver the least.
He loaded his launcher with his eyes closed, savouring every bit of the familiar motion. This is for you, Drigger, he thought, for my team, for this friendship that I will always believe in. With that he fired the blade into the dish. In response a silver light shone in the high arch of the stadium. In descended, growing into the hazy form of a tiger. With a mighty roar the tiger plunged into the dish, tearing down the structures and raising storms of dust.
The Whiter Tiger has returned.