There's Just Something About Gaia
A Beyblade Fic
By SakinA/N: Revised, rewritten and re-mastered.
Disclaimer: Beyblade does not belong to me in any shape or form.
Chapter 6: 'Blood in the Sink'
(In Hong Kong Central, at the bus-stop for the buses to the airport, late evening around 5pm)
-----------
"Call me when you get there, okay? I'll be at Keira's."
"Don't worry about it, I'll call."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Gaia was saying a reluctant goodbye to Rei and the others at the bus-stop, and trying to get him to remember to call. She turned to the others, smiling.
"Thank you guys so much for attending grandpa's funeral. I really… really appreciate it."
She took each of their hands in turn, and shook them. Tyson looked abashed, and Max was blushing, making her think (How sweet!); Kenny was surprised, and Kai had a pained look on his face. Gaia frowned, once again regretting that she had walked in on him crying in the empty car on the train this afternoon. She felt a twinge of guilt, but Rei, happily unaware of what had passed between his best friend and his girlfriend, pulled her away to a more secluded area.
Rei kissed her, bringing all the same, strange feelings back to life again. He held her close for a long time, and Gaia never moved, never uttered a word. She tried to stay close to him like this forever, to never let go… but the real world rushed in mercilessly as Tyson shouted that the bus had arrived.
"This is it, then."
Gaia sighed.
"This is it."
She moved closer, and kissed him again, bitterly, because she knew she would not see him for a while yet. "I love you," she breathed,
"Don't take too long, Rei. I will miss you."
His eyes blurred a little, as he tried to find a way to say goodbye without causing her to cry.
"I'll only be gone for a little while. Honest. And if you stay with Keira, I'll be able to call you everyday." He grinned at her, imagining her annoyance at Gaia using the phone day and night.
"I love you, too." Rei said tenderly, then ran his hand through her hair, kissed her cheek (she blushed), and ran away for the bus.
Gaia came after him, and watched as his friends elbowed him and winked suggestively, to his embarrassment. She waved as the bus rolled out of the station, and sighed, feeling a little empty.
She went and sat in the café, having called Kiera and asked if she could stay over for a week or so, waiting for her friend to pick her up in the old, crappy blue Audi she owned.
When the red-head arrived, she looked as stunning as usual, and greeted Gaia with a hug and enthusiastic kiss.
"How's it been?" Keira asked, green eyes sparkling with life. In comparison, Gaia felt veritably dull; but she knew that she had a gleam in her eyes too, as she smirked mysteriously at Kiera.
"What have you been up to?" her friend asked her.
"Keira, have I got a story to tell you!" Gaia exclaimed, all beams of smug happiness;
"I have just had the best few weeks of my life! But…"
Keira looked excited.
"…I'll tell you when we get home."
"Gaia!"
(At Hong Kong General Airport, boys are sitting in the terminal, waiting for the plane…)
-----------
"Okay, who ate my Mars-bar? Come on, 'fess up, Ty."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Max had opened his satchel and found, to his horror, that all his Mars-bars had been eaten! Since Kai nor Rei would go in somebody else's bags, and Kenny was too busy on his laptop, there remained only one suspect.
"Hey, Max, isn't your plane leaving in ten?" Rei said, looking at him with one sleepy eye.
Max looked at his watch, and gasped. "Why didn't you tell me before?!" he quickly grabbed his satchel, and ran off to the depot.
Two minutes later, he came back, angry.
"Hey, Rei?"
"Yeah?"
"TAKE THIS!"
Rei yelped at the sudden cold. Max had poured freezing bottled water down the back of his shirt, and was laughing at the neko-jin's expression of horror.
"Nyahahahahaaa!"
"Take care, Maxie."
"Yeah, don't get lost in the plane!"
"And no sugar."
Max was glad that they had all come to see him off, considering that this might be the last time they would see each other for a long time. He looked at Kai, waiting for the older boy to say something to him.
But Kai was strangely silent, even more than usual.
"Kai? No good-bye's for an old pal?"
"I…" Kai looked like he had great trouble coming up with something to say to Max. "…Goodbye, Max," and then he swept off, a sweeping that was far less impressive without his white scarf.
The boys looked at each other, worried.
"His grandpa isn't around by any chance, is he?" Max asked them.
"Nah… there's something else." Tyson shook his head. "I mean, when I tried to annoy him today he just… SIGHED… like he was tired."
"And I've noticed that our big strong leader is not so big any more. His RPM yesterday, when we were training, was just plain awful." Kenny added.
"And he's getting smaller… sort of disappearing, day-by-day. No, this is getting serious, guys," Rei looked around at the others; "We've got to confront the Master Of Confrontation about this. We can't let the guy do this to himself."
"My guess is that this has got something to do with…" Kenny was reluctant. Max, Tyson and Rei were all completely mystified.
"With… and don't tell him I said this, but… err… you know Mai Li?"
"The Healer?" Rei asked, unbelieving.
Kenny gave him a grave look.
"I think she may have done MORE than healing for him."
Kai looked at his face in the mirror inside the toilets.
It looked empty, the wall in his mind doubly fortified.
He would never let anybody get close again.
He would never let anybody get so far under his skin.
There was blood in the dirty, chipped sink inside the toilets.
He didn't know if it was his or not.
He didn't much care either.
He loved Mai Li.
He would never see her again.
And he would never love another as he loved her.
Kai saw her image as if it was carved into the mirror, and he slowly reached out for it. Illusion or not, he was desperate.
The image disappeared like smoke, and Kai was thrown back into harsh reality again, this time without the rose-tinted glasses he'd been wearing all holiday.
Suddenly, anger flared through him, and he punched the mirror, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
He quickly washed his cut, bleeding hands, and got out.
At least he could not see his eyes anymore, see his misery reflected back at him again and again and again and again and again…
At least…
(Oh, what's the point?) he thought, tired.
(It's all over.)
Rei, Kai, Tyson and Kenny were on the plane to Tokyo. Tyson was guzzling air-plane food, Kenny was, as ever, on his computer, Kai was genuinely asleep, and Ray was watching TV with earphones on. Occasionally the three boys gave each other uneasy glances, and then went back to what they were doing.
"Uh… no… noooo…"
Kai began to moan in his sleep, and Tyson looked at him, alarmed. The others were too busy to notice, but as he watched, a pained look came on his face, and he turned, gripping the seat.
"…Can't… can't look… back… so sorry…" Kai mumbled, sweat breaking out on his forehead. Tyson began to feel very worried about Kai, who, until now, had never uttered a word in his sleep, or even turned.
"…Mai-" he gasped, then suddenly went quiet. His face became blank again, as it used to be when he slept, and Tyson exhaled, relieved. He knew how embarrassed the older boy would be if he knew that Tyson had noticed. And Kai HATED being embarrassed. But what had made Kai lose control like that? And what did it all have to do with Mai?
Tyson could only think of one thing.
It seemed terribly un-Kai-like, but it was the only thing that made it all make sense. The inexplicable cheerfulness, the lack of Kai's famous frown, the misery he appeared to be in now, and the emaciated look he always wore these days. Tyson had to fight to keep himself from laughing hysterically.
Kai was in love!
"Kai, are you okay?"
"We're worried."
"You look half-dead."
"Make that three-quarters."
Tyson, Kenny and Rei were ganging up on Kai in Tyson's living-room. They had blocked the entrance, and refused to let him go. Kai had simply gone back and turned on the TV, and plonked down on the sizeable couch.
All three now blocked the TV from sight, and Kai just gave them a weary glance, and turned away. Rei went and sat next to him, and Tyson sat on the other side.
"Tell us what's wrong, buddy." Rei said, a little nervous about his friends' discomfort. Kai barely even looked at him.
"We're here for ya," Tyson added, and patted his arm.
Kai stared at the middle distance, somewhere above all their heads.
"I'm… fine… I'm fine. There is nothing wrong." He stared defiantly at the spot in the distance, not meeting anyone's eyes.
Rei exploded.
"OH, COME ON! You can't possibly think that we're going to believe THAT?! Kai, tell us what's wrong. Can't you see we're worried about you?!" he spat at Kai, whose face remained a blank.
"Or are you so busy feeling SAD and SORRY for yourself that you cannot see beyond the tip of your nose?"
"WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?!!! WHAT WOULD ANY OF YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?!!" Kai shouted, angry now. Both of them were getting worked up over all of this, and Tyson and Kenny stood by, and watched them at it. Rei narrowed his eyes and said dangerously: "Well if you told us what it was, and let us help, maybe we wouldn't be so clueless as you say."
Kai blinked hard, and a muscle in his jaw twitched.
Ray sighed. "None of us can help you if you keep it all inside, Kai. You have to let us in-"
"NO! NEVER AGAIN, EVER!!!"
And he stormed out, leaving them all stunned.
As Kai ran out of the living room, he prayed no one would see him like this. God, he had almost let it all slip!
(Damn you, Rei, and all your soft talk!) he thought angrily; (Bloody idiot always finds the sore spot. Gets to me…)
He went into the bathroom, and quickly got into the shower.
He was in there so long he couldn't tell the difference between his tears and the water from the showerhead.
Good. That was the way he wanted it.
Better to keep it all inside rather than letting yourself break down in front of a nosy-parker Neko-jin.
"Gaia?"
"Hey, Rei! How are ya? I didn't think you were going to call!"
"Sorry. Got a little caught up in something over here."
"Hmph. I hope that something isn't a 'she'."
"WHAT?! No! Wait…"
"What?"
"Are you jealous?!"
"No way! What do you take me for?"
"Sure, sure, whatever you say, Gaia. Look, you know Kai, right?"
"Yes… why? Is he alright?"
"Err… not really. He… uh… he's not feeling too good."
"No kidding, I saw him-"
"What, when?"
"N-Never mind. I… just forget about it."
"No, honestly, what did you see?"
"Uh… I really hope he won't kill me for it, but… I – promise me you won't mention it to anyone?"
"Gaia, you-"
"PROMISE."
"…I promise."
"Well, I sort of saw him on the train, last week when we were all coming to Hong Kong, and he was in this empty car by himself. I saw him in there and I went further inside thinking: "Jeez, me and Rei didn't make THAT much noise", when he turns around, and his face is kinda red, and I think he was…"
"Yeah?"
"I think he… was, err… I can't… oh, well, I think he was… crying."
"…You know what, Gaia? I'm gonna call you back later, okay?"
"O-kay… and don't tell him I told you! Or I won't ever speak to you again!"
"Don't worry about it!"
Rei hung up, and stared at the wall, confused. Kai was getting so emotional that he was crying in the train, he wasn't taking care of himself, his RPM was getting low, Kenny thought he heard him mentioning Min Li, and his white scarf was gone. All these clues, and no possibilities. Well, actually, he COULD think of ONE… but it seemed so unlikely… so un-Kai-like that Rei had a hard time believing it.
Or maybe he just didn't want to think about that.
Gaia replaced the phone, angry with herself. Why couldn't she have kept it to herself? She remembered how Kai had grabbed her arm, and made her swear that she would tell no living soul EVER, about what she had seen.
She went into the toilet, feeling like a total hypocrite, when she began coughing. (BRRR,) she thought to herself, shivering, (It's COLD in here.)
She coughed again. And again. It felt like her throat was on fire. She doubled over the sink, shaking helplessly as each new coughing fit seemed to rack through her body, and make it so hard to breathe.
Gaia watched in horror as the sink suddenly turned a bright, garish red, and realized she had been coughing up blood. Her blood, in the sink.
She looked at the mirror, frightened, wondering what was wrong with her, watching a trickle of blood dripping down her chin and onto her white shirt, making a round stain like she had been shot.
Gaia shuddered. She felt suddenly like she had seen a premonition of her death, of how she would die, then told herself she was being silly.
"I'M HOOOOOOOOOOOME! GAIAAAAA!"
Gaia started at the sound of Keira coming in, and quickly washed her mouth and threw away her shirt, changing. She quickly came back, and before her friend noticed, washed away the blood in the sink.
AN: Sorry ever so much if the chapter is a little too short or too late.
I hate Chem., Physics, and Math. =X-X=!
N.E-ways, I will update soon!
Thanks to the folk who have reviewed for me. I wish you guys would be more criticizing, you know. I don't think anyone noticed that I've suddenly changed Keira to Kiera. An accident, most definitely so.