In a poorly written attempt to ease my yearning for a little sadness, and to comfort my depression-filled friend by showing her to keep that bit of hope alive, this came out of my imagination. CC is appreciated. My regular happy fic will continue shortly.
Title: Unfolding time
Rating: PG-13 for some swearing and the mention of homosexuality…
Disclaimer: I do not own BeyBlade or it's characters. I am merely using them as the subjects of my story. Any unrecognizable characters belong to me and do not necessarily relate to the actual anime.
Part one of…
:: Sometimes in life, we get fairytale endings, and sometimes we don't. That's just the way things are. What really matters, though, is how we deal with those endings, and that we realize things always happen for a reason…::
3 years ago…
Kai stuffed his last article of clothing into his bag and zipped it shut. He took one last look around the room, searching for anything he might have forgotten in the packing process. He seemed to have gotten everything that was of utmost importance. Well, there was a photograph of his team, but he knew he wouldn't forget them, besides, he was pretty sure that was Rei's.
'Damn…' He promised himself he wouldn't think about the raven-haired boy, at least, not until he had gotten on the plane and was at least halfway to Russia.
The World Championships had ended about a month ago, and even though they all knew they were going to split up and go home sooner or later, Tyson had insisted that they return to Japan first for celebrations and what not. Kai would have refused if it were not for the fact that Rei had begged him to come, and that Mr. Dickenson and the BBA had already paid for the ride.
Now, thirty days later, Kai figured it was time for the team to go their separate ways. Tyson and Kenny were staying here of course, and Max was going to be here until the summer ended. No doubt, the blond would have to part with his friends when his mom returned to New York, but at the moment, he was enjoying the time he had left. Kai had received a few letters from Tala throughout the month. The redhead wanted him to come back to help out at the Abbey and with the kids that are now free from Biovolt's control. Kai had agreed, and Tala told him to expect a 'warm' welcome at the airport. The boy shuddered at the thought. He could only imagine what kind of idiotic stunt Tala had set up for him upon his arrival.
As for Rei, he was going to go back home to his village the following week. The White Tigers were expecting him, and despite what part of him felt, he had decided to go.
'Rei.' Kai sat down, his bag still beside him. That was the main reason why he was having trouble leaving. During the plane ride from Russia to Japan, he had formed a comfortable relationship with the tiger. It wasn't anything serious, just an acknowledgement that they liked each other in a way that surpassed friendship. However, somewhere in that understanding, they had agreed that this 'relationship' would only remain if it were convenient for both of them. That meant that it was going to end as soon as Kai left.
Upon realization, Rei didn't seem to mind that much. And neither did Kai, or so he thought. Of course being with Rei was nice. The past month was a surprisingly happy one for the bluenette. He didn't feel pressured by Rei, but the younger boy's presence calmed him like nothing else could. They shared embraces, kisses…but it didn't go much farther than that because then their 'relationship' would actually be something bigger. It would be something that neither were ready for or wanted.
Kai bowed his head. 'I don't want it. It would only complicate things…' Behind him, he could hear the door slide open and close. Soft footsteps approached him, and he knew who it was.
"Kai, your ride if here." Standing up, Kai grabbed the strap of his duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder.
"Thanks, Rei." He turned to meet the golden-eyed boy. The honey-yellow color was the first thing that Kai noticed and liked about him. It was a soothing shade, perfectly fitting the boy's demeanor.
"Guess, this is good bye, ne?" Kai nodded. It really was. There wasn't much chance they'd see each other again anytime soon, unless Tyson organized some kind of BladeBreaker reunion later on.
Rei's eyes shifted, which caught the bluenette's attention. He glanced down at his hand and saw why. The tiger was holding a piece of paper, probably a note since it was folded over. "Is that for me?" Kai asked, a tinge of curiosity in his voice.
Rei lifted the note up. "Oh, this?" He was obviously trying to decide whether or not to give it to him, and it seemed to be a hard decision. Then he glanced up into Kai's mahogany eyes, as if searching for something. The older boy blinked, unsure as to what he was doing. Finally, with a shake of the head, Rei stuffed it in his pocket. "No, it's…it's nothing."
Kai tilted his head. "Ok."
"Kai! Your ride is here!"
"Tyson, didn't Rei get him?"
"Guess not. Kai, are you coming?!" Tyson and Max were calling for him; he had to leave. Rei frowned, but then managed a smile.
"I…" He paused and then started again. "This past month was…nice…" The bluenette nodded. He thought he heard the raven-haired boy sniffle, but didn't give it much thought, especially when the younger hugged him. "I'm…well, we'll all miss you, Kai." Unable to answer, he merely returned the embrace.
"…" Rei held onto him, as if waiting for something to happen, for him to say something…but nothing came. So he slowly let go of him and looked away. The phoenix was going to question him about why he was acting so different, until another voice interrupted them.
"C'mon Kai, you're gonna miss your flight if you don't get in this car and get your butt to the airport!" Taking his cue, Kai brushed some of the boy's midnight bangs out of his face and kissed his soft lips one more time.
"I have to go…" It was Rei's turn to stay silent as Kai let go of his waist and began walking towards the door. His hand rested on the handle, and he glanced over his shoulder. The raven-haired boy hadn't moved. His hand was in his pocket, and the sound of crunching paper reached Kai's ears.
The phoenix turned away and slid the door open. "I'll…remember this month." The younger boy pivoted. He thought Kai had left already. "It was…" He stopped; it wasn't the way he wanted to go. "I really…" He was getting frustrated, why was it so hard to explain? "Thanks for everything, Rei." With that, he swallowed the lump in his throat, let go of the handle, and walked away.
Rei stayed there, the note clutched tightly in his hand. This time, when he smiled, it wasn't forced. "You're welcome…"
Present day…
The wind blew Kai's bangs wildly as he practically flew through the semi-empty streets in his convertible. He quickly glanced at the directions again and made a turn. It was a warm, summer evening, the sun lazily setting along the horizon as the minutes passed by. Kai was nineteen now, a second year college student who was currently vacationing in Japan for three weeks with Arini. This was the last week of his stay.
He took another turn and slowed down, searching for a parking space so that he could pick up dinner. The smart thing to do would be to wake up Arini and send her to pick it up while he circled the block, but no…he had to be nice.
'Sometimes I wonder what exactly she did to me.'
So he found a parking space, and walked up two blocks to the restaurant. It was a little sushi house affectionately called "Shokuryoshin" (1), one that was constantly busy because of its good reputation and tasty food. He opened the door and stepped inside, immediately met with a host of people waiting in line to be seated and a bunch of bustling waiters and waitresses moving from tables to the sushi bar to the register.
It was actually a small place. For all of its popularity and business, the owners never made it any bigger. It was a family business, and most of the employees were relatives…most of them anyway.
Kai made his way through the initial crowd and headed for the register. That was where Arini told him to go to pick up their take-out order. So he waited. Two or three girls passed by, each carrying trays of food, order slips, or money for the bills. He tried to get their attention, but each was so busy that they answered with 'I'll be right with you' and probably didn't even mean it.
He looked around, searching for a server who wasn't occupied…or at least not more so than the others. Seeing one girl coming from the tables without a tray, he tried to get her attention. "Excuse me, can you--"
"I'm sorry, I'll be right with you." Kai sighed. She disappeared into the kitchen while he sought out someone else.
"Miss, can you please--" But that was another dead end.
"One moment sir, I just need to take care of something." She slipped the bill into a small rack and jogged to the back. When a new girl came, he didn't even have time to ask. She grabbed the bill the previous waitress put in, took it out and walked to the register. Once she was done, a boy came, took the change and returned to the table. It was an interconnected system. Almost as if they were trained to keep track of, not only their actions, but also what the other workers did. That way, if something was left undone or forgotten, one of the passing servers could pick up the slack. Kai would have been impressed, if he weren't so frustrated by the lack of service.
Before the next girl got away, he quickly asked her: "Excuse me, I know you're busy, but can you please get my--"
"I'll be right with you, just give me a second, I'm sorry for the inconvenience." He growled. Next time, Arini was going to pick up the stupid order. He kept track of that girl, wondering if she would actually come back. She was marking an order and sending it to the bar, and then she walked into the kitchen. "Ani, we need you!" She called out, and then grabbed another set of plates and disappeared into the adjacent room.
The next girl he asked told him the same thing and poked her head into the kitchen. "Ani, get out here already!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" The responding voice sounded familiar to Kai, but he couldn't tell just whom it belonged to. Three people walked out of the kitchen, but they were all carrying trays of food, so he couldn't ask them. Unable to take it any longer, Kai went into the kitchen and decided to try his luck.
"Excuse me, can anyone help me with--" A waiter coming out with an order gently pushed Kai out of the kitchen while muttering a 'One moment, sir'. The bluenette could have exploded if it were possible. The workers may have been efficient about serving and picking up in-house orders, but they weren't too good when it came to take-out situations.
Finally, he had had enough. He grabbed the shoulder of the next waiter that crossed his path and turned him around. "Excuse me…can you please…what?" Kai blinked, he couldn't believe what he saw.
"Nn…huh? K-Kai?!" The shocked bluenette came face to face with a pair of bright amber eyes…familiar, warm, yellow eyes.
"R-Rei?" A smile found its way to the younger boy's face as he pulled the phoenix away from all of the bustle and hugged him.
"Kai! I don't believe it! I haven't seen you in years!" Kai couldn't stop blinking…he was in utter disbelief. The last time he saw Rei was when he left for Russia. The last place he expected to find the tiger was in a crowded restaurant in Japan.
"Rei…what are you doing here? I thought you were in China?" The excited raven-haired boy pulled away from him and that's when Kai could get a good look at him. He was a little taller, but not surpassing his own height of course. Raven locks were still held back by a red headband and the rest of his hair was tied in a lose ponytail behind him. He wore a blue shirt and black pants, but guessed that was the uniform for the males. Rei was just as he remembered him, only more matured. His body had definitely shaped up. Still slender and well muscled, some of his curves had become more defined since the last they had been together.
"I came back a year ago to study. I talk to Tyson and Kenny every now and then, but our schedules keep us from seeing each other too often." Kai nodded, though he was still in awe about seeing Rei again. A part of him ached, but he wasn't sure why. "What about you, Kai? What in the world are you doing here?"
"Oh, well--"
"ANI!" Rei tensed and laughed nervously as he turned to meet two angry waitresses.
"H-Hey Michi, Fauna…what's up?"
One of them stepped up and placed her hands on her hip, clearly not in the mood for Rei's excuses. "What do you think you're doing? You can't just take a break! We need you out there!"
The other agreed. "Yea, we need your help! You can't hide." She caught sight of Kai and blushed. "Even if you're hiding with a cute guy…" That's when the first girl noticed Kai and smiled. Rei rolled his eyes, sighed and began pushing both of them away.
"All right you two, out! I'll be there in a minute!" After making sure they were working again, Rei smiled apologetically to his captain. "I'm sorry about all of that, Kai."
He shook his head. "It's ok." He was actually a bit amused by the scene. Then he remembered something. "They called you Ani…"
"Oh, yea. You see, the manager's name is Ray, so I had to get a nickname to ease the confusion. They call me Ani because I act like a big brother. You know, taking care of loose ends, making sure everyone's all right." (2)
"Makes sense, that's kind of like what you did back then."
Rei tilted his head. "Back then? You mean when we were traveling around as the BladeBreakers?" Kai nodded. "Mm, I guess that instinct has never really left me." His voice drifted as old memories resurfaced. "I didn't change much, did I?"
The bluenette shook his head again. "Not to me you haven't." He wanted to talk more, but then he remembered why he had come here in the first place. "Oh, Rei, do you think you can find my order? I've been trying to get someone to get it for me, but--"
"It is pretty busy around here." He tucked one of his bangs behind his ear and walked towards the kitchen. "I'll find it, don't worry. Just wait here, ok?"
"Thank
you."
He smiled. "No problem!" As he
left, Kai leaned against the wall. He was happy to see Rei again, but…
'I wonder if he still…' His feelings for Rei haven't changed since he left three years ago. The smell of his hair, the feel of his skin, the beautiful, unchanging color of his eyes, it still incited something inside of him that made him smile. But there was no telling how Rei felt about him. He said that he hadn't changed, but could it be true?
"Kai! There you are!"
The older boy turned his head toward the source of the sound. "Hn?"
::
Rei rushed to the kitchen and searched the row of bags that lay waiting on the counter. They were all take-out orders, and now he had to find Kai's name. 'I can't believe he's here. What are the chances?! I wonder if he…' His hand instantly went to his pocket, feeling the folded piece of paper that sat there. He shook his head. 'No. If I really thought he did, I would have given that to him before he left for Russia. I would have told him I wanted him to stay…that maybe our 'relationship' could be more than what we had…' Skimming the tops of the bags, he finally found the one with Kai's name on it and picked it up.
'Still…he could…" Rei's spirits lifted at the thought. 'What could I lose by asking?' Nodding, he turned around and headed for the hall where Kai was waiting. Though…he didn't know that Kai had company with him.
::
"Arini…what are you doing here? I thought you were sleeping in the car."
"Well I was, but then I woke and decided to come up and keep you company." She clung to his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. "I forgot to tell you, but picking up an order around here can take a while…"
"No kidding." He tensed, unsure of what to do. Unfortunately, she felt it, and glanced at him.
"Kai, is something wrong?"
He looked away. "No, nothing."
"Kai!" Both turned to see Rei standing a few feet away from them, the order in his hands.
"Rei…"
The boy swallowed and walked up to them slowly, a bit confused. Who was the girl on Kai's arm? She was a bit shorter than him, had shoulder length mousy brown hair with highlights near the bottom, dark brown eyes, and a bright smile. She had a slim body and was dressed in a yellow t-shirt and a long jean skirt. "Uh, hi. Who are you?"
She let go of Kai's arm and introduced herself politely. "My name is Arini. Who are you?"
Rei handed her the order as she gave him the money. "I'm Rei. I used to be on Kai's team."
She nodded. "Oh, that's right, Kai's beyblade team. He told me about that a while ago." Rei eased up, she did seem nice enough. Still, something was left unanswered, and he feared her response.
"Um, Arini, how do you know Kai?" She was going to answer, but the bluenette tried to stop her.
"Rei, you must be busy, so we'll just--"
"Kai, it's rude to leave a question in the air." The older boy looked away. "Anyway, I'm his girlfriend." It was then, around 6:30pm, that Rei's life suddenly shattered.
Despite the response, he kept his smile and nodded. He held out his hand, which she shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Same here." She replied in a cheerful tone.
Rei glanced at his captain, a bit of emotion in his eyes. "Kai, I can't believe you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend." He merely shrugged.
Arini answered for him. "Well, Kai doesn't like to tell people. Plus it's only been a month since we've gotten together."
"I see. That does sound like the Kai I used to know…" Arini didn't catch the drop in his voice when he said that word, but he was sure Kai did. "Um, let me get your change, and then…you two can be on your way, ok?" He walked away without waiting for a reply and Arini turned to Kai.
"He seems really nice. No wonder you were friends."
"Yea…"
::
Rei unhurriedly rung up their change, trying to keep his person in check. 'A girlfriend? I should have known he didn't think of me that way…not entirely anyway.' Collecting the money, he tore the receipt from the register and made his way back to the couple. 'I guess that month we spent together didn't mean anything to him after all.' Upon reaching them, he put on a smile and handed Arini the dollars and coins.
"There you go. You two should get going before the crowd gets any bigger." He glanced at the exit. "Lots of people usually come in around this time."
"That sounds like a good idea." Arini said. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Rei."
"Same here." He muttered.
Nodding, she turned to Kai. "Let's go." He was about to, but shook his head.
"I'll be there in a minute; I need to talk to Rei for a second, ok?"
"Ok, sure. I'll meet you at the car then." With that, she left, leaving the two BladeBreakers alone.
Rei looked away, walking further down the small hallway. "You wanted to talk to me?"
Kai followed his suit. "Yea. Look Rei, about Arini--"
"It's ok, you don't have to explain." The bluenette stopped. "Why should you? She's part of your life, not mine. I don't need to know about your personal things."
"But Rei--"
The raven-haired boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a crinkled note and handed it to Kai without hesitation. "Here, take it. It's about time I let go of this." Kai wordlessly accepted it as Rei turned away. "You should go. Arini is waiting for you."
Gripping the note in his fist, the older boy tried again. "Can we talk about--"
"You don't want to keep her waiting." It was no use. The conversation was over. Rei picked up an empty tray and headed for the adjacent room. "It was…nice seeing you again, Kai." Though he knew the tiger couldn't hear him, Kai nodded. "Maybe I'll run into you again someday, maybe in another three years…" And then, he left. Just like that, Rei entered the next room, never looking back.
The phoenix let a breath blow past his lips slowly. "…Bye." He glanced at his closed fist and then turned to leave, disappearing in the seemingly faceless crowd.
::
As the wind continued to blow against his unruly bangs, Kai looked up. He saw his car parked on the next block, and spotted Arini waiting for him in it. He stopped. The note that remained in his hand was still unopened, its surface littered with wrinkles and ink spots. Tentatively, Kai unfolded the words, flattened the piece against his stomach, held it up to his dim mahogany eyes, and skimmed the small writing.
Its words were warm and familiar, the tone fitting of the boy he had received it from. He could almost hear Rei's voice in his mind as the sentences unraveled. When he finished, the phoenix glanced over his shoulder, his eyes catching sight of the cozy restaurant. Blinking a few times, his footing shifted, and he prepared to climb the hill back to the bustling eatery to talk to the raven-haired boy about the words on the paper. Then, as the breeze blew past him, he closed his eyes tightly and turned away.
Stuffing the note back into his pocket, he willed himself to walk the path he had chosen, the one that led to Arini and his new life. It was a good one. He had a caring girlfriend, was in a good school…he had a secure future ahead of him. But somehow, that wasn't enough. It was too safe.
For once in Kai's life, perfection, having an ideal life…it didn't seem too appealing.
In my fight for perfection
I fear something has slipped from my grasp
Something I had never feared of losing
A constant in my life of moving
Emptiness in my person
Loss of what used to be mine
Two paths have been chosen
Chance blinded my sign
You left me behind
Lonelier in my freedom
I search
Sitting in my room
I wait
Aching in my perfection
I cry
Risks that should have been taken were lost.
I can only hope that opportunity will again knock.
End part one
(1) Shokuryoshin – food stuffs
(2) Ani – my older brother (long vowel on the 'I') [Onii means someone else's older brother, usually followed by a suffix like -san]
I haven't decided on a part two or not (which would most likely be the happy ending half, since I'll be over the sad mood by then). I wanted to express a different side of my emotions, and that resulted in a story that tells something we don't always want to hear…an unhappy ending. They happen, and in our imaginations of good and 'the glass is always half full' some of us forget that that isn't always true.
**This is for my friend Rosalyn. May you keep being, stay breathing, long enough to find your happy ending…
Keep smiling – SS.Guardian