Chapter II – Better Left Behind
[Thanks for the reviews! ^^ They really made my day when I found them before I went to school in the morning. If there are any spelling errors,
I apologize because I tend to miss a lot of obvious misspellings and
whatnot. Anyway... enjoy this next chapter! Disclaimer: I do not own
Beyblade.]
Ray put down is almost empty bowl of noodles back on the table, keeping his eyes on the scarf that lay folded on the dinner table in front of him. He could feel most of the team staring at him as they waited for an answer or at least an explanation.
"Come on, Ray! You've been holding out all day on what's been bothering you! You said you'd talk!" Tyson complained. "It must be something big if it caused that much trouble this morning!"
Ray breathed a slow sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. "I know... and I will."
"I say you've had enough time to think about it..." Kai said, watching Ray out of the corner of his eye. "Just spit it out..."
"Okay already!" Ray 's voice grew serious as he opened his eyes and looked at his fellow teammates. "You guys already know that I was born in China and from the same place that Mariah and the rest of the White Tigers. That kid who got his beyblade stolen today...that wasn't just some ordinary thief. This was carefully planned to almost the exact second... I can't quite put together a few details though..."
"Memory lapse perhaps?" Kenny suggested. "It's very common from a strong hit to the head. You told us earlier that someone hit you, right?"
"Yeah..." Ray nodded. "I did get hit but it was towards a dangerous spot... almost my neck, even if the kick was aimed any lower. Aside from that... there's something more important that may just give me a clue of who exactly that person is..."
"Really? What is it?" Max blinked.
"This cloth..." Ray picked up the scarf, holding it with both hands. "It..."
"Well...?" Kenny adjusted his glasses slightly as he waited for Ray to continue.
"... It smells familiar..." Ray finally said.
Max, Kenny and Tyson fell out of their chairs from the answer they had gotten and Kai actually looked more or less shocked at the Chinese blader.
"... Excuse me?" Kai broke the odd silence.
"What, are you a dog now?" Tyson questioned as he put his hat back on.
"No, I'm not kidding!" Ray protested, looking at the skeptical faces. "It smells like something familiar back at my home village... Some sort of a flower but I don't remember..."
"I doubt that any boy in his right mind would wear something that smells like some old flowers." Tyson slammed his fist lightly on the dinner table. "I know! It belongs to a –girl-, doesn't it, Ray... Is Mariah after you again?"
"Believe me, I'd know if it was her. Besides, black isn't her colour and another reason that it couldn't be here is that she'd never attack anyone for their beyblades; not even steal them." Ray paused for a moment, looking back at his half-finished bowl of noodles. "I still don't know who this could belong to..."
"Ah to hell with it. If one beyblade was stolen, then I'm sure that person'll just come back so snatch some more." Tyson waved a hand lazily. "Simple as that, we can catch the crook."
"Even if that is true, why would a thief be going after an amateur's beyblade? Especially since some of the teams from the recent tournament are still around." Kenny pointed out. "I mean, come on. There has to be something more important than just stealing new blades."
Kai raised an eyebrow as he noticed Ray playing with his food, poking the noodles with the chopsticks idly. "That's not just going to disappear and neither is that little problem."
Ray kept quiet, still stirring his half-eaten dinner in the bowl as he thought back earlier that day when he caught up with the thief. Nothing could completely add up in his mind of whom exactly the criminal was, everything seemed to lead off in different directions and not even give him a proper indication.
"Hm..." Ray stopped playing with his food, just looked at it with a preoccupied distant look.
"Five times."
"Huh?" Ray blinked, looking up at Tyson. "Five what?"
"Fives times. We've been keeping a count on how many times you've zoned out today and you've just broken the record, buddy. Don't worry about it so much, it can't be that bad. We'll get some sleep tonight and sort this out tomorrow. Besides, there's nothing else for us to do this late at night." Tyson stretched back. "We'll catch that thief then we can go back to enjoying ourselves before we go home. How about it, does that sound good?"
"It can't get any worse, Ray." Max said.
"... Oh, alright." Ray sighed, bowing his head. "I guess you guys have a point..."
Later that night, most of the members of the Blade Breakers were asleep and Ray found himself the last one awake. He sighed heavily, scratching his head a bit as he took a few glances around the room at the others.
"Maybe they're right... I shouldn't worry about this so much..." He said to himself quietly as he lay back down and pulled the covers back up. "Maybe I'll remember in the morning."
Kai lay still in his bed by the wall, keeping his back to everyone and looked at Ray out of the corner of his eye. 'Hm... maybe that pink-haired brat is following him again...'
He closed his eyes, still hearing Ray shift uncomfortably in his own bed. He muttered a curse word in Russian and chose to tune out the restless blader. The room fell silent and it seemed that the entire team was asleep and quiet. Black bandaged hands were carefully placed on the windowpane of the room from the outside and the window was slowly and carefully slid open. There was a slight pause, as if a confirmation that the boys were truly asleep then the light green-eyed thief slipped into the room quietly, not wearing the scarf that was currently in Ray's possession. Another black-clad person was propped up on the windowsill, his amber cat-like eyes watching the sleeping forms of the Blade Breakers.
The first one who entered nimbly crept across the floor on all fours, staying very focused and keeping her breathing disguised with the ones who were asleep. She took another crawl forward and stopped immediately when Tyson moved.
"HEY!"
The person in the third-story window slid back and seemed to disappear as he held the window-frame with his bandaged fingers.
"That's my slice of cake... give it here..." Tyson mumbled, turning onto his stomach as he continued to talk in his sleep.
The one hanging on the windowsill started pulling himself back up smoothly and quietly to perch on the edge again, taking a glance at the linked chains that held onto the ledge near the window and were tied onto a sturdy tree branch. He looked back, catching the gaze of the other and flicked his gaze to Ray's motionless form then back to her. The thief nodded slightly, resuming her crawl across the room to Ray's bed as quietly as she could. When she reached Ray's bedside, she slowly sat up on her haunches, seeing Ray sleeping on his back and holding the scarf in his hands.
'If I don't get this back and cover my face, our oldest brother is going to kill us...' She thought as she slowly reached over to try to pull the cloth away.
She tensed and stopped as she saw Ray's hand slightly tighten its grip on the material. She remained frozen until she thought he was just moving in his sleep and started gently trying to maneuver the scarf from his hands. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she couldn't get it free and brought her other bandaged hand up, gently prying at Ray's fingers. She ran her tongue slowly over her fangs as she managed to pull the scarf free then tied it back on just below her eyes to cover the rest of her face.
"I knew it smelt familiar..."
The thief froze, flicking her gaze over to Ray who watched her with one half-open eye. She hunched down and bounded onto the next bed, startling Kenny from his slumber and then to the next one, waking Max up as well.
"H-hey! What's going on?!" Max said as he sat up.
"What's the big idea?" Kenny glanced around frantically, patting the desk for his glasses.
Kai turned, shooting his beyblade at the window to startle the onlooker from his perch. "Well, well... looks like we've got visitors, boys..."
The thief jumped over to the window as soon as the watcher got out of the way and the two unlatched the chain from the nearby ledge, holding onto the chains tightly as they swung back towards the tree. Kai climbed out of bed and over to the window, Ray following him just a moment afterwards.
"I told you that the bandit would come back..." Kai said flatly, watching as the two jumped off; chains and all. "It's simple, really... You have something of theirs, they'll want it back."
Ray nodded. "Yeah..."
"Tyson! Tyson! Wake up!" Max started shaking the sleeping blue-haired boy. "Some people were in here!"
"What? Who?" Tyson blinked sleepily at Max. "What're you talking about?"
"Just like Tyson... sleeping through something like this..." Kenny sighed.
Elsewhere, the watcher and the thief speedily made their way down a few alleyways until they came by an abandoned warehouse.
"They knew, didn't they..." The older one asked.
"They were waiting... big brother is not going to be pleased..." The thief breathed quietly.
They entered the warehouse, slowing down to a walk as they walked side by side.
"Don't tell Kaze what happened..." The fifteen year-old watcher said quietly.
"Don't tell me what, Fang?" A voice hissed from around a corner.
"... Big brother, we can explain..." Fang said quickly, ducking his head down as he stopped walking. "They knew we were coming... it was a trap but they didn't bother capturing Chiko or I..."
"Of course it was a trap!" Kaze walked out from around the corner, some of his short spiked black bangs fell over his dark blue eyes. "Ray would definitely be aware... the scent of one of the wild flowers from back from our village is soaked into Chiko's scarf..."
The light green-eyed girl lowered her gaze, removing the scarf from her face and lowered the hood as she let her shoulder-length dark auburn hair frame her face. "I'm sorry, big brother... but I assure you. Ray doesn't know that it's us!"
"Doesn't he?" Kaze questioned, walking in a slow predatory circle around the two. "He stole your scarf... He saw your face... and knew you were in the room... Don't you think that is more than a mere glance, little sister? What have we taught you for all this time! Do not reveal yourself to the enemy!"
"Let it go, Kaze..." A dark green-haired, sixteen year old teenager stepped out from the shadows, his own dark blue eyes narrowing. "It was just a mistake... Just because you're the oldest, doesn't mean you can chew them out for it... They were the best ones for the job and Ray would have caught on sooner or later... Nothing has changed..."
"Risks are taken no matter what and that mess up could have ruined everything, Vane... I am the eldest of all of us and I expect you all to follow my rules as you have been for years... We're here for a reason... a damned good one... And if you can't get that through your heads-"
"They get the point, Kaze. You don't have to repeat yourself." Vane crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed at the leader.
"Tch... then what about that Russian beyblader, hm? One of the best, formally a single-blader champion from the Japan tournaments is what some of those amateurs had said in the streets. He certainly caught onto what was going on... Look at this..." Kaze walked over to Fang, snagging a part of his attire and showing the rip that ran across it. "Ran into some trouble, did we?"
"... They seemed asleep." Fang flicked his amber gaze away as he pulled his hood down and scarf off, revealing his spiky dark cobalt hair.
"Kaze..." Chiko said quietly, looking up at him. "We can still get him, right?"
The leader looked down at the youngest one, putting his hands back at his sides. "Tomorrow, we sweep through the down and snag as many beyblades as you can before he catches on..." He paused, glancing back at the small, organized collection on a wooden crate. "You know what to do afterwards..."
The other three nodded, walking off towards different piles of beyblades that were organized by defensive power, attack power and weight.
Back at the hotel, Ray continued to stand by the open window while the others talked about the intrusion.
"How could you sleep through all of that?!" Kenny asked as he stared at the still sleepy Tyson.
"I didn't hear anything and I was having the nicest dream before Max shook me to death." Tyson yawned.
"Tch... probably about food..." Kai muttered loud enough.
"Actually... Yeah, it was. How'd you know?" Tyson scratched the back of his head.
Kai rolled his eyes. "Just a hunch..."
Max looked at Tyson then back at Kenny. "Are they gonna come back? What did they want?"
Ray shook his head slightly, glancing back at the group. "They got what they wanted... for now... I think I've almost put the puzzle together, guys... I almost know who they are..."
The room fell silent and the Max and Tyson exchanged worried glances as Ray looked back out the window without another word.
'I know what you look like...Just what is your name...' Ray thought as he looked up at the late night sky.
[And there's the second chapter o_O; Had to stay up late for this one...]
[Thanks for the reviews! ^^ They really made my day when I found them before I went to school in the morning. If there are any spelling errors,
I apologize because I tend to miss a lot of obvious misspellings and
whatnot. Anyway... enjoy this next chapter! Disclaimer: I do not own
Beyblade.]
Ray put down is almost empty bowl of noodles back on the table, keeping his eyes on the scarf that lay folded on the dinner table in front of him. He could feel most of the team staring at him as they waited for an answer or at least an explanation.
"Come on, Ray! You've been holding out all day on what's been bothering you! You said you'd talk!" Tyson complained. "It must be something big if it caused that much trouble this morning!"
Ray breathed a slow sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. "I know... and I will."
"I say you've had enough time to think about it..." Kai said, watching Ray out of the corner of his eye. "Just spit it out..."
"Okay already!" Ray 's voice grew serious as he opened his eyes and looked at his fellow teammates. "You guys already know that I was born in China and from the same place that Mariah and the rest of the White Tigers. That kid who got his beyblade stolen today...that wasn't just some ordinary thief. This was carefully planned to almost the exact second... I can't quite put together a few details though..."
"Memory lapse perhaps?" Kenny suggested. "It's very common from a strong hit to the head. You told us earlier that someone hit you, right?"
"Yeah..." Ray nodded. "I did get hit but it was towards a dangerous spot... almost my neck, even if the kick was aimed any lower. Aside from that... there's something more important that may just give me a clue of who exactly that person is..."
"Really? What is it?" Max blinked.
"This cloth..." Ray picked up the scarf, holding it with both hands. "It..."
"Well...?" Kenny adjusted his glasses slightly as he waited for Ray to continue.
"... It smells familiar..." Ray finally said.
Max, Kenny and Tyson fell out of their chairs from the answer they had gotten and Kai actually looked more or less shocked at the Chinese blader.
"... Excuse me?" Kai broke the odd silence.
"What, are you a dog now?" Tyson questioned as he put his hat back on.
"No, I'm not kidding!" Ray protested, looking at the skeptical faces. "It smells like something familiar back at my home village... Some sort of a flower but I don't remember..."
"I doubt that any boy in his right mind would wear something that smells like some old flowers." Tyson slammed his fist lightly on the dinner table. "I know! It belongs to a –girl-, doesn't it, Ray... Is Mariah after you again?"
"Believe me, I'd know if it was her. Besides, black isn't her colour and another reason that it couldn't be here is that she'd never attack anyone for their beyblades; not even steal them." Ray paused for a moment, looking back at his half-finished bowl of noodles. "I still don't know who this could belong to..."
"Ah to hell with it. If one beyblade was stolen, then I'm sure that person'll just come back so snatch some more." Tyson waved a hand lazily. "Simple as that, we can catch the crook."
"Even if that is true, why would a thief be going after an amateur's beyblade? Especially since some of the teams from the recent tournament are still around." Kenny pointed out. "I mean, come on. There has to be something more important than just stealing new blades."
Kai raised an eyebrow as he noticed Ray playing with his food, poking the noodles with the chopsticks idly. "That's not just going to disappear and neither is that little problem."
Ray kept quiet, still stirring his half-eaten dinner in the bowl as he thought back earlier that day when he caught up with the thief. Nothing could completely add up in his mind of whom exactly the criminal was, everything seemed to lead off in different directions and not even give him a proper indication.
"Hm..." Ray stopped playing with his food, just looked at it with a preoccupied distant look.
"Five times."
"Huh?" Ray blinked, looking up at Tyson. "Five what?"
"Fives times. We've been keeping a count on how many times you've zoned out today and you've just broken the record, buddy. Don't worry about it so much, it can't be that bad. We'll get some sleep tonight and sort this out tomorrow. Besides, there's nothing else for us to do this late at night." Tyson stretched back. "We'll catch that thief then we can go back to enjoying ourselves before we go home. How about it, does that sound good?"
"It can't get any worse, Ray." Max said.
"... Oh, alright." Ray sighed, bowing his head. "I guess you guys have a point..."
Later that night, most of the members of the Blade Breakers were asleep and Ray found himself the last one awake. He sighed heavily, scratching his head a bit as he took a few glances around the room at the others.
"Maybe they're right... I shouldn't worry about this so much..." He said to himself quietly as he lay back down and pulled the covers back up. "Maybe I'll remember in the morning."
Kai lay still in his bed by the wall, keeping his back to everyone and looked at Ray out of the corner of his eye. 'Hm... maybe that pink-haired brat is following him again...'
He closed his eyes, still hearing Ray shift uncomfortably in his own bed. He muttered a curse word in Russian and chose to tune out the restless blader. The room fell silent and it seemed that the entire team was asleep and quiet. Black bandaged hands were carefully placed on the windowpane of the room from the outside and the window was slowly and carefully slid open. There was a slight pause, as if a confirmation that the boys were truly asleep then the light green-eyed thief slipped into the room quietly, not wearing the scarf that was currently in Ray's possession. Another black-clad person was propped up on the windowsill, his amber cat-like eyes watching the sleeping forms of the Blade Breakers.
The first one who entered nimbly crept across the floor on all fours, staying very focused and keeping her breathing disguised with the ones who were asleep. She took another crawl forward and stopped immediately when Tyson moved.
"HEY!"
The person in the third-story window slid back and seemed to disappear as he held the window-frame with his bandaged fingers.
"That's my slice of cake... give it here..." Tyson mumbled, turning onto his stomach as he continued to talk in his sleep.
The one hanging on the windowsill started pulling himself back up smoothly and quietly to perch on the edge again, taking a glance at the linked chains that held onto the ledge near the window and were tied onto a sturdy tree branch. He looked back, catching the gaze of the other and flicked his gaze to Ray's motionless form then back to her. The thief nodded slightly, resuming her crawl across the room to Ray's bed as quietly as she could. When she reached Ray's bedside, she slowly sat up on her haunches, seeing Ray sleeping on his back and holding the scarf in his hands.
'If I don't get this back and cover my face, our oldest brother is going to kill us...' She thought as she slowly reached over to try to pull the cloth away.
She tensed and stopped as she saw Ray's hand slightly tighten its grip on the material. She remained frozen until she thought he was just moving in his sleep and started gently trying to maneuver the scarf from his hands. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she couldn't get it free and brought her other bandaged hand up, gently prying at Ray's fingers. She ran her tongue slowly over her fangs as she managed to pull the scarf free then tied it back on just below her eyes to cover the rest of her face.
"I knew it smelt familiar..."
The thief froze, flicking her gaze over to Ray who watched her with one half-open eye. She hunched down and bounded onto the next bed, startling Kenny from his slumber and then to the next one, waking Max up as well.
"H-hey! What's going on?!" Max said as he sat up.
"What's the big idea?" Kenny glanced around frantically, patting the desk for his glasses.
Kai turned, shooting his beyblade at the window to startle the onlooker from his perch. "Well, well... looks like we've got visitors, boys..."
The thief jumped over to the window as soon as the watcher got out of the way and the two unlatched the chain from the nearby ledge, holding onto the chains tightly as they swung back towards the tree. Kai climbed out of bed and over to the window, Ray following him just a moment afterwards.
"I told you that the bandit would come back..." Kai said flatly, watching as the two jumped off; chains and all. "It's simple, really... You have something of theirs, they'll want it back."
Ray nodded. "Yeah..."
"Tyson! Tyson! Wake up!" Max started shaking the sleeping blue-haired boy. "Some people were in here!"
"What? Who?" Tyson blinked sleepily at Max. "What're you talking about?"
"Just like Tyson... sleeping through something like this..." Kenny sighed.
Elsewhere, the watcher and the thief speedily made their way down a few alleyways until they came by an abandoned warehouse.
"They knew, didn't they..." The older one asked.
"They were waiting... big brother is not going to be pleased..." The thief breathed quietly.
They entered the warehouse, slowing down to a walk as they walked side by side.
"Don't tell Kaze what happened..." The fifteen year-old watcher said quietly.
"Don't tell me what, Fang?" A voice hissed from around a corner.
"... Big brother, we can explain..." Fang said quickly, ducking his head down as he stopped walking. "They knew we were coming... it was a trap but they didn't bother capturing Chiko or I..."
"Of course it was a trap!" Kaze walked out from around the corner, some of his short spiked black bangs fell over his dark blue eyes. "Ray would definitely be aware... the scent of one of the wild flowers from back from our village is soaked into Chiko's scarf..."
The light green-eyed girl lowered her gaze, removing the scarf from her face and lowered the hood as she let her shoulder-length dark auburn hair frame her face. "I'm sorry, big brother... but I assure you. Ray doesn't know that it's us!"
"Doesn't he?" Kaze questioned, walking in a slow predatory circle around the two. "He stole your scarf... He saw your face... and knew you were in the room... Don't you think that is more than a mere glance, little sister? What have we taught you for all this time! Do not reveal yourself to the enemy!"
"Let it go, Kaze..." A dark green-haired, sixteen year old teenager stepped out from the shadows, his own dark blue eyes narrowing. "It was just a mistake... Just because you're the oldest, doesn't mean you can chew them out for it... They were the best ones for the job and Ray would have caught on sooner or later... Nothing has changed..."
"Risks are taken no matter what and that mess up could have ruined everything, Vane... I am the eldest of all of us and I expect you all to follow my rules as you have been for years... We're here for a reason... a damned good one... And if you can't get that through your heads-"
"They get the point, Kaze. You don't have to repeat yourself." Vane crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed at the leader.
"Tch... then what about that Russian beyblader, hm? One of the best, formally a single-blader champion from the Japan tournaments is what some of those amateurs had said in the streets. He certainly caught onto what was going on... Look at this..." Kaze walked over to Fang, snagging a part of his attire and showing the rip that ran across it. "Ran into some trouble, did we?"
"... They seemed asleep." Fang flicked his amber gaze away as he pulled his hood down and scarf off, revealing his spiky dark cobalt hair.
"Kaze..." Chiko said quietly, looking up at him. "We can still get him, right?"
The leader looked down at the youngest one, putting his hands back at his sides. "Tomorrow, we sweep through the down and snag as many beyblades as you can before he catches on..." He paused, glancing back at the small, organized collection on a wooden crate. "You know what to do afterwards..."
The other three nodded, walking off towards different piles of beyblades that were organized by defensive power, attack power and weight.
Back at the hotel, Ray continued to stand by the open window while the others talked about the intrusion.
"How could you sleep through all of that?!" Kenny asked as he stared at the still sleepy Tyson.
"I didn't hear anything and I was having the nicest dream before Max shook me to death." Tyson yawned.
"Tch... probably about food..." Kai muttered loud enough.
"Actually... Yeah, it was. How'd you know?" Tyson scratched the back of his head.
Kai rolled his eyes. "Just a hunch..."
Max looked at Tyson then back at Kenny. "Are they gonna come back? What did they want?"
Ray shook his head slightly, glancing back at the group. "They got what they wanted... for now... I think I've almost put the puzzle together, guys... I almost know who they are..."
The room fell silent and the Max and Tyson exchanged worried glances as Ray looked back out the window without another word.
'I know what you look like...Just what is your name...' Ray thought as he looked up at the late night sky.
[And there's the second chapter o_O; Had to stay up late for this one...]