Emptiness
By:
Black Dranzer
".." speaking and thinking
--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.
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In the last chapter of Emptiness:
(("Oh,
I almost forgot," Kai suddenly said and took something out of his
pocket.
It was a small package wrapped neatly in blue wrapping
paper. He threw the package to a surprised Jackie and turned
around.
"Happy Birthday," he said and started to limp
away.
"It's kind of late," Jackie said to his retreating
form, "Stupid Kai,"))
(("Punishment?"
Tala questioned.
"Yes," Boris said matter-of-factly, "she
has disobeyed my instructions by exposing herself to the
Bladebreakers,"))
((Swan
Lake Hotel, Room 249.
"Might as well listen to what he has
to say," Kai muttered and turned onto his side on his bed.))
(("Leave
me alone," Kai said and attempted to pass Jackie.
"Nuh
uh." Jackie said tutting, "You're not going anywhere in that
condition,"
"And why should I listen to you?" Kai shot
back.
"As your hostess, I am saying that you, the guest,
must heal fully before leaving this house," Jackie said and led him
over to a sofa.))
(("Master
Boris has asked that you accompany him for breakfast," he said in
his flat voice and, looking at his watch, said, "he will be in the
master dining room at 8 o'clock."
"Tell him I will be
there," Kazuki replied.
The worker nodded and
left.
"Breakfast with father.." she thought with a sigh,
"I haven't had breakfast with him for four years,"))
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Note
at end of chapter: PLEASE READ!!!
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Chapter
TwentySix: Response
Boris sat in his office. It was early
morning and he had been rethinking of his plans.
"I hate to
do this to your son, but you have to understand, he is in my way,"
Boris said as he held up a photograph of three friends smiling.
The
one was a younger version of Boris himself; the second was a boy with
slate blue hair.
"Yuri," he whispered, staring at the
picture of himself and his best friend.
In the picture, the
two boys were sitting on a rock beside a river. They were both
smiling and flashing peace signs. In the back, a girl with black hair
stood, with her arms wrapped around both boys' necks.
"How
I wish you were still here," he whispered.
A knock on the
door made him regain his solid, menacing mask of calmness.
"Come
in," he called.
"What is it you wish sir?" an abbey
worker asked as he stepped into the office.
"Ah yes,"
Boris said, "I would like you to inform my daughter that she is to
join me for breakfast in the main dining room at 8 o'clock,"
"Is
that all sir?" the abbey worker asked.
"Yes, that is all,"
Boris said and waved the worker out.
Bowing the abbey worker
closed the door.
Looking back at the picture he had clenched
in his hand tightly under the desk, Boris got up from his chair and
placed the picture like a treasure inside a safe hidden behind a
painting.
"Your son looks just like you," he said after he
had locked the safe, "That may be why I sometimes fear
him."
Pausing as he replaced the painting, he also added,
"When I see his mahogany eyes glare at me, I sometimes see you in
his place,"
----------
"I
can live without you making it any worse," Kai grumbled glaring at
Jackie with his red-brown mahogany eyes as she rewrapped his
bandages.
"I'm not making it worse, I'm just checking if
the wounds are going to be infected," Jackie replied.
"Your
hands are going to infect it," Kai shot back and pulled his arm
away from her grasp.
"Just trying to help!" Jackie growled
and crossed her arms.
"Your 'help' isn't what I need,"
Kai said and continued to rewrap his bandages by himself.
"Hey
guys," Ray greeted as he came down the stairs. Kai automatically
covered his bandages with the long sleeved sweater he wore that
day.
Looking at Kai and Jackie's grumpy faces, he said
sarcastically, "Woah, aren't we full of sunshine," He smiled as
both Jackie and Kai glared at him. "I'll leave you two to
yourselves now," Ray said winking and walked towards the
kitchen.
For a few more minutes, the two rivals sat on the
sofa in silence. Kai was just about to finish the rewrapping
when:
"HI!" a voice called, making them both seem to jump
five feet into the air.
"Max!" Jackie yelled, "Don't
EVER do that again!"
"Sorry guys," Max laughed, "I
just couldn't resist, you two were just sitting like statues on the
same couch and in the same position too,"
Jackie and Kai
looked surprised and looked at each other. They were indeed, both
with crossed arms and legs.
"I'm out of here," Kai said
and stalked out of the room.
"Same goes for me," Jackie
grumbled and followed after Kai.
Max just stood there, looking
clueless and then shrugged and bounced into the kitchen to join Ray
for his daily intake of sugar-filled coffee.
----------
Standing
before the doors of the main dining room, Kazuki looked up at the
double doors looming in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she
knocked on the wooden frame.
"Come in," her father's
voice replied.
Kazuki opened the door and stepped into the
candle-lit chamber.
Her father sat at the end of the table in
his abbey clothes. He smiled his fake smile and bid her to sit on the
seat opposite him, on the other side of the table. Kazuki nodded and
seated herself into the chair.
"You called me father?" she
asked as she stared at her plate, keeping silent.
Boris sat up
and rested his chin on his hands as he watched Kazuki.
"I
have just asked you to come have breakfast with me," Boris smiled,
"don't be so tense,"
"Yes father," Kazuki said and
reached for her cutlery.
She wondered why Boris hadn't
mentioned the incident last night. She had thought for sure that a
punishment awaited her.
A malevolent smile curled on Boris'
lips as she lifted a piece of smoked fish and put it in her
mouth.
Chewing slowly, Kazuki sneaked a look at her father,
who was also enjoying his borscht (beetroot soup). He had his usual
calm and inexpressible features on his face, but he seems pleased
about something. She quickly lowered her eyes as her father caught
her looking.
"Bring in the pancakes," Boris commanded.
An
abbey worker came into the room carrying a tray. He set it down on
the table and left without a word.
Kazuki looked in wonder at
the food in front of her. The pancakes were laid flat on the plate
while stewed fruit were gathered in a pattern on top.
"Go on
Kazuki, try it," Boris urged.
"Yes father," Kazuki
replied and carefully picked a piece of the fruit. There was a moment
of hesitance as doubts started to fill her mind, but when she saw
Boris' face, she placed the fruit in her mouth. Boris flashed
another sinister smile.
"Everything is going according to
plan, she won't be able to stop herself when the time
comes..literally," he thought as he leaned back in his chair. After
finishing the course, Kazuki wiped her mouth with a tissue and stood
up to go.
"Where should I go now father?" she
asked.
"Training is off for today," Boris replied also
getting up. He walked over to Kazuki and looked down at her. Kazuki
tensed as Boris' left hand came close to her, she tried not to show
her fear as the cold hand touched her cheek. "You should go and
rest," Boris whispered as he leaned down beside Kazuki's ear,
"you look pale," His voice was soft, but sounded like a command
at the same time.
"Y-yes father," Kazuki answered and
quickly walked out of the dining room. As she hurried towards her
room, she didn't notice a shadow slipping into the darkness right
outside of the dining hall she had came out of. All she could do
right now was lie on her bed because of her father's cameras. If he
found out she had gone elsewhere, he might get angry at her for not
obeying orders a second time. But as she reached her room, she felt
the need to go to sleep right away. The ceiling above her swirled as
she slumped on her bed and closed her eyes.
----------
"I
can't believe you didn't remember to buy Jackie a birthday
present," Oliver nagged Johnny as they walked down the streets of
Edinburgh. The party had been the night before and Johnny had spent
half the night trying to deny that he had forgotten to buy a present
for Jackie.
"Well, I've got her one now at least,"
Johnny muttered as he held up a golden necklace with a tiny blue
stone glittering in the night lamps.
"I'm sure she's
going to like it," Robert commented.
"Why don't you buy
her one then?" Johnny sneered as he turned to face his former
captain.
Robert blushed slightly and said, "I've already
gotten her another gift, you saw it too last night,"
"Yeah,
yeah," Johnny mumbled. Every guest had given Jackie a present,
everyone that is except for her own brother. "She deserves it,"
Johnny smirked as a small memory came back to him.
"Hey,
look!" Enrique suddenly stopped the other three boys and pointed to
someone in front of them. They turned to look. It was Kai.
"What
do you think he is doing here?" Oliver asked as the four boys
watched Kai from across the street.
The boy entered a building
with a sign reading 'Swan Lake Hotel'.
"Let's go and
ask him then," Enrique said, "I heard that hotel is famous for
having attractive waiters,"
The other three boys sweat
dropped at Enrique; no matter what, girls always came first for
him.
"Let's go and catch up to him, before he disappears,"
Oliver said as he crossed the street.
The other three boys
followed behind their green-haired friend.
None of them
noticed dark shadows monitoring their every move.
----------
Kai
knocked on the door of Room 249 at Swan Lake Hotel. There was silence
for a few moments before the door opened a crack and Kyle's head
poked out.
"Oh, it's only you," he sighed as he fully
opened the door and let Kai in. The blue-haired boy had decided to
visit Kyle anyways before his wounds had healed. He hadn't wanted
to stay in the mansion with Jackie for the whole day.
"What
do you mean?" Kai asked as he entered the hotel suite.
"I
think people are following me," Kyle replied and closed the
door.
"Following you?" Kai asked with a raised
eyebrow.
"It's not that important," Kyle said and turned
to look at the boy who was now sitting on a chair beside a desk.
Kai
remained silent for a moment as the man seemed to look him up and
down. When he reached his face, his glance lingered and a smile
played across his lips.
"I still can't believe how much
you resemble your father," he whispered as he sighed and sat on the
bed.
Kai looked at himself in the mirror and replied, "Do I
really?"
"Yes, the exact same face," Kyle said, then
added, "But you've got your mother's mind-set."
"My
mother?" Kai asked. He was more and more interested in hearing
about his parents. "Who were they?" he asked and looked at
Kyle.
Kyle looked at the floor and when he looked up again, he
spotted a bandage poking out of the trench coat Kai had worn to hide
the white cloth.
"What happened to you?" he asked as he
pointed to the bandage.
"Nothing much," Kai answered
casually and stuck the bandage back into the trench coat.
"'Nothing
much' cannot do you enough damage to enforce bandages," Kyle said
with a determination to find out what had happened.
Kai
sighed, "Fine, I'll tell you,"
"I'm listening,"
Kyle said and sat back down on the bed.
"This girl came to
the mansion last night, right after you left, and she..attacked me,"
Kai explained.
Kyle's eyes widened, it can't be 'her'
can it?
"H-how much damage did she do?" Kyle finally
managed to say.
"She did this much," Kai answered, taking
off his trench coat and pulling up the sleeves of his sweater,
revealing the bandages wrapped around his arms.
Kyle silently
wished that 'she' wasn't 'her'. If 'she' really was
'her' then the girl had made a grave mistake.
--To be
continued
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A/N:
OK, so first of all, I need to clear something up, Kyle, who was
introduced a few chapters ago, is actually older than I had first
said. He is actually 38 years old, but he looks younger than he is.
Also, many people may know that Tala's Japanese version name is
Yuri Ivanov, just making it clear that this does not apply to this
story in any aspect at all, meaning the Yuri in this story is not
Tala, nor is he related to Tala.
Yea,
so now that that's cleared up, I've got good news for ppl who
watch beyblade. There's one NEW EPISODE OF BEYBLADE V-FORCE (SEASON
TWO) ON YTV this Saturday (August 2) at 8 pm. And in addition, YTV's
premier of Beyblade V-Force with a regular airing time (weekdays) is
on Monday, August 25 at 5:30 pm. It's going to restart with the
first episode of season two and continue with new episodes, so mark
your calendars those who want to watch! That's all the good news
for now, ja ne!
-Black Dranzer
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P.S.-Oh
yea, I've noticed that some of my earlier reviewers have stopped
reviewing..have you people stopped reading my fic? If you haven't
and are just not able to review for any reason please review for this
chapter and tell me so that I know you people haven't abandoned my
fic. Thanks.