Emptiness
By: Black Dranzer
"." speaking and thinking
---------- Scene Change
--flashback sequences--
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. I only own any of the characters that you haven't seen in the original Beyblade series.
----------
In the last chapter of Emptiness:
((Shatei..
Had she confused Ian for Alexander? Maybe.
But there was not resemblance between the two at all.
Maybe it was because she had missed having a brother. It had been eight months since her little oniichan had been taken from her.))
((Thud.
Uh-oh.
The round object had landed directly on a certain blue-haired Bladebreaker's head.
Kai's head, that is.))
((The girl stared at the red-haired boy's face for some time.
She hoped that somehow, Tala would look back at her.
Wait.
She wasn't supposed to wish for such stupid things, especially if it concerns a michi.
No. She didn't need anybody.))
----------
Chapter Sixteen: Convene
The brightly shining moon reflected off of Tala's icy eyes. It soothed him to be staring at that distant object in the night sky, contrasting the black background with its pale, white glow. A sudden image appeared on the blank surface of the moon. Tala's eyes glazed over as Kazuki's dark features appeared, eclipsing the moon's shine. He shook his head and shut his eyes.
Was it that he somehow felt more towards Kazuki than he normally would another person? It was true that they were similar in a way..
"Stop thinking this nonsense," his conscience quipped, "you aren't supposed to have these petty emotions,"
Tala buried his face in his hands as he tried to stop thinking of the girl. After having wiped his mind clear, he returned to stand at the window, staring down at the snow lying on the ground.
"Does this endless white echo my thoughts?" Tala wandered.
A sudden shadow dragged him out of his daydream. Something had broken the white spell of the crisp, fresh snow as it traversed through, leaving footprints imprinted behind it.
The raven-black hair, the steady strides, there was no mistake.
"Kazuki," he whispered to himself before he could stop.
"What's she doing down there at the middle of the night?" Tala thought as the built-in clock inside of his computer system flashed 11:33 P.M. He felt something like a magnetic force that drew him to the girl, but it kept changing as he was pushed away, and then pulled forward again.
----------
The lounge of the McGregor mansion was littered with discarded bags of chips, candy and other snacks.
Tyson was munching away at the pack of deserts he had just opened, pushing Max away once in a while as the blond tried to steal his chips. Ray, Kenny and the Majestics sat on cushions around them. They were laughing despite the two people missing from the group, Jackie and Kai.
"She hit him twice?" Max laughed as he gave up trying to steal Tyson's overly well-protected chips. He was taking joy in discussing the golf accident with the others.
"Once in the head and once below the chin," Johnny snickered as he recited what had happened.
"He's not hurt badly is he?" Kenny asked, his usual worrywart self.
"Don't worry Chief," Ray comforted the young boy, "we all know how hard- headed Kai is."
Laughter rang down the hall at Ray's joke.
The laughing ceased though, when the person in question came down the stairs with his usual frown.
"Hi Kai!" Tyson said cheerfully. He was plotting to tease his captain about the golf incident all day long.
"Shut it Tyson, before you end up in way worse condition than I am," Kai threatened with a fist as though he had read Tyson's mind.
"Aw," Tyson groaned, but he shut up right away because he didn't want a taste of Kai's lethal punches.
Growling at Tyson one more time, Kai stormed past everyone and out the front door, slamming it behind him.
Robert turned back to the conversation they were having and brought up an idea.
"Friends," he proposed, "since Jackie's birthday is coming up in a few days, why don't we find a way to celebrate for her?"
"Good idea Robert," Enrique carried on, "we could have a ball."
"A ball?" Tyson asked, "Why would Jackie want a rubber ball for her birthday?"
Oliver sighed before explaining, "No Tyson, a ball as in a prom."
"I knew that," Tyson said with his hand behind his head and a big, fake smile.
"Sure.." Johnny said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"I think it would be fun," Ray offered.
"Well," Johnny thought out loud, "I guess, since father and mother are coming back to celebrate anyways."
"Then it's decided!" Tyson said jumping up and down, "Make sure that there is lots of food!"
Everyone gave him questionable glances.
Tyson immediately stopped jumping and blushed, "I mean..for the guests of course!"
Oliver broke the silence and suggested, "Johnny, let's go and make a guest list, I'm sure that Jackie will want to have some of her friends to come."
"Sure, why not," Johnny agreed and the Majestics left the lounge to find Jackie.
"Let's play chess!" Max suggested out of the blue.
"Ok," Ray said and took out a chess set from apparently nowhere.
"You got to teach me how you do that!" Tyson said, eyes wide as he crammed a chip into his already-full mouth.
Ray laughed and said, "You'll need lots of hard work!"
"On second thought," Tyson said heading upstairs towards the dining room, "I think the kitchen's calling my stomach."
Ray and Max sweat dropped as they watched Tyson stroll down the hall.
"He's just acting innocent, when all the while he's plotting how he should invade and conquer the kitchen with his stomach of steel." Ray said in a hushed voice as he whispered to his blond companion.
"Scary," Max shivered as a sweat drop crawled down his head.
----------
The surface of the river rippled as a silhouette dived into the silky substance. Kazuki felt the water's smooth texture as it brushed against her pale skin. The water that entered her nose was converted into the minimal amounts of oxygen that existed in all water particles, allowing her to breathe it in without much trouble. Her arms carried her though the darkened stream as she enjoyed the feeling of flying. It was one of the only times she ever felt free from her father's prying eyes.
But knowing that if she stayed under too long she would short-circuit her system, she reluctantly rose above the surface. By the river, she had placed a towel that she wrapped herself and a kushi that had once belonged to her mother that she picked up to comb out her hair. She quietly allowed herself to hum to the melody of her mother's favorite tune as she worked.
----------
Soft footsteps marked themselves into the packed snow as Tala trudged along; looking at the forest he was aiming for getting closer and closer. He had been bored just staring at the moon from the window and decided to come out for a breath of fresh air. There was another reason, but he refused to acknowledge it. Instead, he focused all of his attention on the canopy of the dark coniferous forest beyond the river.
During his earlier days at the abbey, he had visited the forest many times at night. He would then climb one of the evergreen trees and sit near top as he admired the night sky. But tonight, he was thinking more of sitting in the massive shadow of the old trees and maybe sleep there.
A sudden splashing sound alerted his ears and he moved behind the nearest bushes, looking through the barren branches at any suspicious movement. He then spotted Kazuki lifting herself out of the water, her clothes drenched in the cold liquid as he skin glistened with hardening water droplets.
Trying to decide on whether he should attempt to leave undetected or to await the girl to go away, Tala unintentionally brushed his sweater against a twig. The snap echoed softly around the silent air.
Tala saw Kazuki's body tense as she paused from brushing her hair and look up. Even though her face was in shadows, silver glistened though as the color of her widened eyes.
"Initialize Heat Detector," she commanded in her mind.
"Heat Detector Initialized," the voice replied as her sight blurred over and focused again.
Her surroundings were outlined with mostly blue outlines as they were mostly frozen, but a flash of red was hard to miss on her computerized screen.
She stepped closer to the heated form and stopped a few feet away.
"Come out," she commanded threateningly as her silver eyes faded along with her heat-sensor vision.
She was surprised to see Tala step out to face her. A frown plastered itself against her face as she folded her arms.
"And what are you doing here?" she asked coldly, though she didn't mean to be harsh.
Tala returned her frown and folded his own arms, "I suppose you own this place? If not, then I have just as much right being here as you." His voice competed with her own icy tone.
"Whatever," she replied with slight hurt at the tone of Tala's voice, though she hid it well.
Tala's frown faded as he watched Kazuki's back as it walked away. He could sense that the straight form was just a mask for the lonely figure underneath.
"Don't act so tough," he thought to her, not expecting Kazuki's receiver to be on.
But Kazuki stopped and she slowly turned around. No sound escaped her mouth as she looked at Tala.
Tala couldn't help but look back as he held the girl's brown eyes with his own. He was astonished to see that her brown eyes were filled with so many different feelings. Sadness. Hate. Fear. Anger. Loneliness. But beneath all of these, there was a black hole that seemed larger than all of the others combined. There was no feeling from it, only emptiness.
"What good will that do?" Kazuki finally thought back to him.
Tala didn't reply as he had the same fault. Hadn't he also put up a false mask to hide his feelings beneath? Instead, he had gone and corrected Kazuki while all along, he had wanted to correct himself.
"It will do us both good," he replied, looking truthfully into Kazuki's eyes.
Kazuki looked away first, and settled for staring at the lake. A few moments later, she closed her eyes and looked back at the boy.
"Us both?"
Tala was taken aback by Kazuki's softened voice, but replied, "I wouldn't be sure if your mask is thicker or mine," He even more surprised by the gentle tone in his own voice. He looked up at Kazuki and saw her smirk. He raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sure mine's thicker than yours," she said with a hint of taunting.
Tala smirked back, "Oh really?"
"Really," Kazuki replied. This time, Tala sensed seriousness in her tone. Trying to find something else to say, he noticed that Kazuki's hair was still tangled up and eyed her comb.
"Need some help combing out that hornet nest you call your hair?" he asked as he walked over to stand beside her.
"Don't insult my hair," she growled, but her eyes showed a playful glance.
"Didn't I dub it the 'Hornet's Nest'? " Tala replied as he took the comb from Kazuki's hand.
"Hey, give that back," Kazuki said as she saw Tala dangling the comb in her face. She reached out to grab it, but Tala pulled it away with a teasing chuckle.
Giving up after many unsuccessful attempts, Kazuki sat down on the rock and pouted, "Fine, take the comb, I doubt it'll be very useful to you,"
Tala walked behind Kazuki and started to comb her hair out gently.
"Thanks," she thought quietly to him.
"For what?" Tala thought back, trying to focus on untangling the girl's midnight black hair.
"For making me loose up," she replied as if it were obvious. But Tala had to admit that he expected that answer.
"Don't thank me, thank your 'Hornet Nest'." He replied and had to dodge a hand that came up to slap him. But inside, he smiled, "I should thank you too,"
----------
Kai's blue beyblade crashed against the walls of the darkened alley he was in with so much force that dust that collected over the years could be seen floating in the air in great puffs.
"Finally peace and quiet," the beyblader thought with a frown.
When he recollected Dranzer to launch him again, Kai's muscles tensed. He was still angry with Jackie for hitting him twice with her stupid golf equipment. That girl was Bad Luck itself. With a loud ripping sound, Dranzer once again shot out of its launcher at top speed. It crashed into one of the crates mounted high against the wall with great force. The compact made the crate tip over and fall, causing a chain reaction with the other crates stacked on top of it.
Kai looked up in time to see the large wooden objects falling towards him. Their large shadows covered him as they descended. The boy had to jump back a few times to avoid the first few crates and crouched on the ground to pounce out of the way again, but his scarf seemed to have gotten stuck on the tip of a broken pipeline as he was jumping. Kai struggled again and again to free his scarf.
"Kuso," he muttered, as the scarf started to rip. It was his most prized possession next to Dranzer. Looking up, he saw the last crate make its way towards him.
"If I just rip it," Kai thought, "then I could get away," But he forbade himself to move.
"It's too precious," he thought to himself and put his hands over his head to soften the compact of the crate though he doubted how much good that would do.
--To be continued
----------
Definitions:
kushi: a Japanese comb, part of a set of hair decorations
kuso: Japanese for "darn it"
By: Black Dranzer
"." speaking and thinking
---------- Scene Change
--flashback sequences--
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. I only own any of the characters that you haven't seen in the original Beyblade series.
----------
In the last chapter of Emptiness:
((Shatei..
Had she confused Ian for Alexander? Maybe.
But there was not resemblance between the two at all.
Maybe it was because she had missed having a brother. It had been eight months since her little oniichan had been taken from her.))
((Thud.
Uh-oh.
The round object had landed directly on a certain blue-haired Bladebreaker's head.
Kai's head, that is.))
((The girl stared at the red-haired boy's face for some time.
She hoped that somehow, Tala would look back at her.
Wait.
She wasn't supposed to wish for such stupid things, especially if it concerns a michi.
No. She didn't need anybody.))
----------
Chapter Sixteen: Convene
The brightly shining moon reflected off of Tala's icy eyes. It soothed him to be staring at that distant object in the night sky, contrasting the black background with its pale, white glow. A sudden image appeared on the blank surface of the moon. Tala's eyes glazed over as Kazuki's dark features appeared, eclipsing the moon's shine. He shook his head and shut his eyes.
Was it that he somehow felt more towards Kazuki than he normally would another person? It was true that they were similar in a way..
"Stop thinking this nonsense," his conscience quipped, "you aren't supposed to have these petty emotions,"
Tala buried his face in his hands as he tried to stop thinking of the girl. After having wiped his mind clear, he returned to stand at the window, staring down at the snow lying on the ground.
"Does this endless white echo my thoughts?" Tala wandered.
A sudden shadow dragged him out of his daydream. Something had broken the white spell of the crisp, fresh snow as it traversed through, leaving footprints imprinted behind it.
The raven-black hair, the steady strides, there was no mistake.
"Kazuki," he whispered to himself before he could stop.
"What's she doing down there at the middle of the night?" Tala thought as the built-in clock inside of his computer system flashed 11:33 P.M. He felt something like a magnetic force that drew him to the girl, but it kept changing as he was pushed away, and then pulled forward again.
----------
The lounge of the McGregor mansion was littered with discarded bags of chips, candy and other snacks.
Tyson was munching away at the pack of deserts he had just opened, pushing Max away once in a while as the blond tried to steal his chips. Ray, Kenny and the Majestics sat on cushions around them. They were laughing despite the two people missing from the group, Jackie and Kai.
"She hit him twice?" Max laughed as he gave up trying to steal Tyson's overly well-protected chips. He was taking joy in discussing the golf accident with the others.
"Once in the head and once below the chin," Johnny snickered as he recited what had happened.
"He's not hurt badly is he?" Kenny asked, his usual worrywart self.
"Don't worry Chief," Ray comforted the young boy, "we all know how hard- headed Kai is."
Laughter rang down the hall at Ray's joke.
The laughing ceased though, when the person in question came down the stairs with his usual frown.
"Hi Kai!" Tyson said cheerfully. He was plotting to tease his captain about the golf incident all day long.
"Shut it Tyson, before you end up in way worse condition than I am," Kai threatened with a fist as though he had read Tyson's mind.
"Aw," Tyson groaned, but he shut up right away because he didn't want a taste of Kai's lethal punches.
Growling at Tyson one more time, Kai stormed past everyone and out the front door, slamming it behind him.
Robert turned back to the conversation they were having and brought up an idea.
"Friends," he proposed, "since Jackie's birthday is coming up in a few days, why don't we find a way to celebrate for her?"
"Good idea Robert," Enrique carried on, "we could have a ball."
"A ball?" Tyson asked, "Why would Jackie want a rubber ball for her birthday?"
Oliver sighed before explaining, "No Tyson, a ball as in a prom."
"I knew that," Tyson said with his hand behind his head and a big, fake smile.
"Sure.." Johnny said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"I think it would be fun," Ray offered.
"Well," Johnny thought out loud, "I guess, since father and mother are coming back to celebrate anyways."
"Then it's decided!" Tyson said jumping up and down, "Make sure that there is lots of food!"
Everyone gave him questionable glances.
Tyson immediately stopped jumping and blushed, "I mean..for the guests of course!"
Oliver broke the silence and suggested, "Johnny, let's go and make a guest list, I'm sure that Jackie will want to have some of her friends to come."
"Sure, why not," Johnny agreed and the Majestics left the lounge to find Jackie.
"Let's play chess!" Max suggested out of the blue.
"Ok," Ray said and took out a chess set from apparently nowhere.
"You got to teach me how you do that!" Tyson said, eyes wide as he crammed a chip into his already-full mouth.
Ray laughed and said, "You'll need lots of hard work!"
"On second thought," Tyson said heading upstairs towards the dining room, "I think the kitchen's calling my stomach."
Ray and Max sweat dropped as they watched Tyson stroll down the hall.
"He's just acting innocent, when all the while he's plotting how he should invade and conquer the kitchen with his stomach of steel." Ray said in a hushed voice as he whispered to his blond companion.
"Scary," Max shivered as a sweat drop crawled down his head.
----------
The surface of the river rippled as a silhouette dived into the silky substance. Kazuki felt the water's smooth texture as it brushed against her pale skin. The water that entered her nose was converted into the minimal amounts of oxygen that existed in all water particles, allowing her to breathe it in without much trouble. Her arms carried her though the darkened stream as she enjoyed the feeling of flying. It was one of the only times she ever felt free from her father's prying eyes.
But knowing that if she stayed under too long she would short-circuit her system, she reluctantly rose above the surface. By the river, she had placed a towel that she wrapped herself and a kushi that had once belonged to her mother that she picked up to comb out her hair. She quietly allowed herself to hum to the melody of her mother's favorite tune as she worked.
----------
Soft footsteps marked themselves into the packed snow as Tala trudged along; looking at the forest he was aiming for getting closer and closer. He had been bored just staring at the moon from the window and decided to come out for a breath of fresh air. There was another reason, but he refused to acknowledge it. Instead, he focused all of his attention on the canopy of the dark coniferous forest beyond the river.
During his earlier days at the abbey, he had visited the forest many times at night. He would then climb one of the evergreen trees and sit near top as he admired the night sky. But tonight, he was thinking more of sitting in the massive shadow of the old trees and maybe sleep there.
A sudden splashing sound alerted his ears and he moved behind the nearest bushes, looking through the barren branches at any suspicious movement. He then spotted Kazuki lifting herself out of the water, her clothes drenched in the cold liquid as he skin glistened with hardening water droplets.
Trying to decide on whether he should attempt to leave undetected or to await the girl to go away, Tala unintentionally brushed his sweater against a twig. The snap echoed softly around the silent air.
Tala saw Kazuki's body tense as she paused from brushing her hair and look up. Even though her face was in shadows, silver glistened though as the color of her widened eyes.
"Initialize Heat Detector," she commanded in her mind.
"Heat Detector Initialized," the voice replied as her sight blurred over and focused again.
Her surroundings were outlined with mostly blue outlines as they were mostly frozen, but a flash of red was hard to miss on her computerized screen.
She stepped closer to the heated form and stopped a few feet away.
"Come out," she commanded threateningly as her silver eyes faded along with her heat-sensor vision.
She was surprised to see Tala step out to face her. A frown plastered itself against her face as she folded her arms.
"And what are you doing here?" she asked coldly, though she didn't mean to be harsh.
Tala returned her frown and folded his own arms, "I suppose you own this place? If not, then I have just as much right being here as you." His voice competed with her own icy tone.
"Whatever," she replied with slight hurt at the tone of Tala's voice, though she hid it well.
Tala's frown faded as he watched Kazuki's back as it walked away. He could sense that the straight form was just a mask for the lonely figure underneath.
"Don't act so tough," he thought to her, not expecting Kazuki's receiver to be on.
But Kazuki stopped and she slowly turned around. No sound escaped her mouth as she looked at Tala.
Tala couldn't help but look back as he held the girl's brown eyes with his own. He was astonished to see that her brown eyes were filled with so many different feelings. Sadness. Hate. Fear. Anger. Loneliness. But beneath all of these, there was a black hole that seemed larger than all of the others combined. There was no feeling from it, only emptiness.
"What good will that do?" Kazuki finally thought back to him.
Tala didn't reply as he had the same fault. Hadn't he also put up a false mask to hide his feelings beneath? Instead, he had gone and corrected Kazuki while all along, he had wanted to correct himself.
"It will do us both good," he replied, looking truthfully into Kazuki's eyes.
Kazuki looked away first, and settled for staring at the lake. A few moments later, she closed her eyes and looked back at the boy.
"Us both?"
Tala was taken aback by Kazuki's softened voice, but replied, "I wouldn't be sure if your mask is thicker or mine," He even more surprised by the gentle tone in his own voice. He looked up at Kazuki and saw her smirk. He raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sure mine's thicker than yours," she said with a hint of taunting.
Tala smirked back, "Oh really?"
"Really," Kazuki replied. This time, Tala sensed seriousness in her tone. Trying to find something else to say, he noticed that Kazuki's hair was still tangled up and eyed her comb.
"Need some help combing out that hornet nest you call your hair?" he asked as he walked over to stand beside her.
"Don't insult my hair," she growled, but her eyes showed a playful glance.
"Didn't I dub it the 'Hornet's Nest'? " Tala replied as he took the comb from Kazuki's hand.
"Hey, give that back," Kazuki said as she saw Tala dangling the comb in her face. She reached out to grab it, but Tala pulled it away with a teasing chuckle.
Giving up after many unsuccessful attempts, Kazuki sat down on the rock and pouted, "Fine, take the comb, I doubt it'll be very useful to you,"
Tala walked behind Kazuki and started to comb her hair out gently.
"Thanks," she thought quietly to him.
"For what?" Tala thought back, trying to focus on untangling the girl's midnight black hair.
"For making me loose up," she replied as if it were obvious. But Tala had to admit that he expected that answer.
"Don't thank me, thank your 'Hornet Nest'." He replied and had to dodge a hand that came up to slap him. But inside, he smiled, "I should thank you too,"
----------
Kai's blue beyblade crashed against the walls of the darkened alley he was in with so much force that dust that collected over the years could be seen floating in the air in great puffs.
"Finally peace and quiet," the beyblader thought with a frown.
When he recollected Dranzer to launch him again, Kai's muscles tensed. He was still angry with Jackie for hitting him twice with her stupid golf equipment. That girl was Bad Luck itself. With a loud ripping sound, Dranzer once again shot out of its launcher at top speed. It crashed into one of the crates mounted high against the wall with great force. The compact made the crate tip over and fall, causing a chain reaction with the other crates stacked on top of it.
Kai looked up in time to see the large wooden objects falling towards him. Their large shadows covered him as they descended. The boy had to jump back a few times to avoid the first few crates and crouched on the ground to pounce out of the way again, but his scarf seemed to have gotten stuck on the tip of a broken pipeline as he was jumping. Kai struggled again and again to free his scarf.
"Kuso," he muttered, as the scarf started to rip. It was his most prized possession next to Dranzer. Looking up, he saw the last crate make its way towards him.
"If I just rip it," Kai thought, "then I could get away," But he forbade himself to move.
"It's too precious," he thought to himself and put his hands over his head to soften the compact of the crate though he doubted how much good that would do.
--To be continued
----------
Definitions:
kushi: a Japanese comb, part of a set of hair decorations
kuso: Japanese for "darn it"