The grey haired teen merely stared ahead, his eyes unfocused and his muscles untensed under her hand. Rage was faintly aware of Ray's own efforts to get Kai to respond.

This wasn't right; this wasn't how Kai would act.

Rage gripped his shoulder tightly as she stared at his unseeing eyes. Waiting for a response, a blink, a sound, anything.

Deep inside the guilt had already begun to claw at her heart.

'What have I done?'

Without warning Kai swung his legs stiffly over the side of the bed and got up. He scooped up his blade and pocketed it without even looking at anything. His eyes remained dull and blank as he made his way unsteadily out of the door.

Rage and Ray shared a shocked glance, before they rushed out in pursuit.

They saw him disappear into the kitchen, and followed uncertainly. A racket of clinking metal caused them to step rather warily into the room.

Kai was fumbling through the knife drawer, picking up each blade in turn and examining it. Before throwing it back into the drawer in annoyance. His frustration growing as each knife he studied appeared to be the wrong one.

Tyson and the others stepped into the room. Halting suddenly as they caught sight of the near fuming Kai.

"Kai?" Tyson questioned cautiously, "Are you all right?"

The grey haired teen didn't seem to hear as he slid a small sharp looking blade into his belt, looking satisfied with that knife at least. He stood still for a minute, just staring at the gleaming knifes in the drawer. Before he snapped back to sorting out the knifes again. Taking them out of the drawer and placing them on the counter in front of him. His back was to his friends.

"Kai?" Ray tried, approaching his friend as if he were a startled animal that would turn on him given the slightest wrong move.

"What are you planning to do with that knife?" Ray made his best effort to keep his voice calm. There was no telling what Kai might do in this state. His whole body language had become unpredictable and unfamiliar.

"To kill him of course"

The voice was so quiet and blatant that for a moment Ray, like the others could only stand. Blinking confusedly at the sudden phrase from their traumatised captain.

While just the fact that he was still able to form speech was comforting. What he had said was much less so.

At long last, Kai snatched a large blade from the carefully laid out selection on the counter. His head remained tilted slightly forward. Causing his sleep messed up hair to flop forward defensively, casting his face in shadow and hiding his crimson eyes from view.

"To kill who?" Kenny squeaked from his spot practically hiding behind Hilary in his nervousness at his friend's behaviour. The fact that he was carrying a knife wasn't especially comforting either.

Kai turned toward the door leading to the hall. Toward the hotel lobby where the large glass doors lead to the world outside. He seemed barely conscious, as he took a wavering step toward his destination.

"Kai" Ray ordered, stepping suddenly to his friend's side. Kai halted his process immediately, his much needed concentration broken. Ray made sure to maintain some distance though; Kai was gripping rather tightly to that knife.

"Give me the knife Kai" Ray pleaded, trying to remain calm. In situations such as this you had to remain very calm and reassuring, not that he'd ever been in a situation such as this before.

Kai stood still, with his shoulders slumped and his gaze lowered. His arms hung limp by his sides, yet his knuckles were tinted white from where he was gripping the large knife rigidly in his fist.

He stayed like that for a moment, before walking forward again. Without a word to any of his friends. He was forced to an abrupt halt when Rage impulsively stepped into his path.

Her eyes flashed dangerously as she deliberately spread her arms wide to block his path.

"I'm not letting you leave Kai," she stated firmly, blue green eyes narrowed. Her haphazard coal black hair giving her a wild appearance.

"You don't understand" Kai growled, his lowered head still causing his hair to obstruct his face from view.

"Then help me understand Kai" Rage said simply, firmly crossing her arms over her chest to show that she was serious about this. She was still unconsciously searching for his gaze, so that she could stare him down. To make him see it her way.

Slowly Kai raised his head, only when she met his eyes her plans of staring him down went out the window.

Tears pooled in his crimson eyes, sliding silently down the sides of his face. He didn't even seem aware as to the fact that he was crying. The fury in his glare was as strong as ever, stronger in fact. His eyes were practically blazing with rage and anger.

"You don't get it!" he accused her vehemently. "He killed them!"

"He killed them," he repeated with less volume. "They're dead because of him…so I've got to kill him" he finished thoughtfully glancing at the knife in his hand.

His hand was trembling he realised. Why was that? He puzzled, before his attention was drawn to the pitter-patter of tears hitting the floor by his feet. He frowned confused…was he crying?

"Tell me who's dead Kai" Rage said, trying to keep her voice calm and steady. Kai didn't appear to be in the best state of mind, and he was holding a knife. Not to mention the fact that she was the only thing between him and the door.

"My parents" he said softly, his voice barely a whisper.

"He killed my parents alright!" he closed his eyes, yelling furiously at the only person standing between him and the doorway. The person stopping him from plunging his knife into his target, from getting his much wanted revenge. Hot tears trailed down his anger filled face, which was quickly being joined by frustration.

"They were unarmed and he bloody shot them through the head! Is that what you wanted to hear!"

Liquid leaked through his tightly shut eyelids, burning his cheeks as they travelled down his face. His throat felt as dry as sandpaper as he tried uselessly to stop crying. As a small child he had become so good at hiding his emotions, learning fast that emotions were a weakness that brought about greater pain. Maybe his time spent with the blade breakers had softened him, or maybe the torment of his memories had just proved to be too much.

Either way, he could stop it. He couldn't control it, and it frustrated him to no end. His mind kept drifting back to how much blood there had been, how it had stained the pale carpet a deep red. How his mother had screamed and cried so loud that she no longer made any sense.

In the films he had watched with his team. When the hero in the movie had been threatened with death, he'd stayed strong. Insulting his enemy to the bitter end, even with a gun to his head. The hero always remained cool, determined and sure that he would win. Then the rescue would come, a few seconds before the trigger would have caused death. Or else the hero would figure some way out of the mess he was in, no matter how bad the odds.

Real life just wasn't like that.

In real life there were no last minute rescues. No ways out, no heroes. And it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all, they hadn't deserved that. They had been nice, good, kind. They had loved him, and he had loved them back.

He remembered his father had used to joke and play a lot. He would go down on all fours, to little Kai's height. And he would pretend to be a giant ferocious bear that ate up little boy's whole. He would roar and growl so loud that Kai, being small and unstable on his feet at the time would promptly fall on his rear, shocked.

Then he would stumble after the small boy. Moving so slowly that Kai found time to doge between his towering limbs. And even to clamber onto the giant bear's back before he was finally caught. Then his bear of a dad would tickle the now out of breath child relentlessly, until Kai giggled so much that he got hiccups.

His mother would shake her head at them both, seemingly in disapproval at their immature behaviour. But then she could not help but laugh as her young son squealed with joy as he escaped from the 'giant bear'. Not knowing that this peace wouldn't last, that Kai's time of being a child would soon be over. That they're lives would soon be over.

Rage looked worried as she placed an unsure hand on his shoulder.

"Kai" she said, ignoring the fact that he stepped back from her touch. His eyes still squeezed shut as his entire body shook with emotion. He appeared almost afraid of the emotions he was portraying.

"Believe me when I say that although this person killed something special to you. They've still got some time to suffer in life before they should suffer in death. And from what I understand, murderers get a one-way pass to prison if you just tell people what you saw. Besides no matter how many people you have seen kill or hurt, you should never become like them yourself."

Kai thought for a minute before very reluctantly agreeing with her. He lowered his head ashamedly trying to hide the tears that wouldn't stop scalding his skin. He hadn't thought what it would make him if he killed. He didn't want to become like that, his parents wouldn't want him to kill anyone either. He knew that much, not even for their revenge. For his revenge.

"Now give Ray the knife" Rage said quietly, her eyes hard and her voice firm.

His hand wavering, Kai brought the blade up to waist height. Hesitating before offering it hilt first to Ray's waiting hand.

"And the other one" Rage reminded him softly.

Kai blinked, confused for a moment before remembering about the small knife tucked into his belt. He gave it carefully to Ray, who placed them just as carefully into the knife drawer.

The room turned silent for a few minutes, as no one was able to think of anything suitable to say. Finally it was Kai, with downcast eyes who broke the quiet.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, clearly trying hard to hide the fact that he was crying.

"Its all right buddy" Tyson said before anyone else got a chance to speak. He moved closer to Kai, afraid that the shivering boy might just collapse at any given moment. Tyson didn't reach out to touch him however, afraid that an action like that might very well shift Kai back into defensive mode.

For a moment Kai stayed silent, his frame shuddering. And his fists clenching and unclenching themselves like he was trying to make his mind up what to do. His breathing was deliberately faint to attempt to conceal and control his crying.

"If I…" Kai started, choking slightly on the words. He looked almost like a small child afraid of being told off.

"If I say that I can't handle this…will you think that I am weak?" he kept his eyes glued to the floor.

"Are you kidding Kai!" Max exclaimed moving closer to the older boy. "You're the strongest out of the lot of us. If any one of us were in the same situation as you are now, we'd have been a blubbering mess on the floor a long time ago."

"Yeah" Ray put in smiling at the disbelieving look on Kai's face. The slate haired teenager had unglued his eyes from the floor to look at them curiously. "Its if you weren't crying that would really get us worried. Crying is a way to get things out of your system, it makes you feel better."

"All its doing is giving me a headache at the moment" Kai choked through tears. He stumbled slightly, his head felt light and his eyes were blurry.

"Kai" Ray said, picking his words carefully. "I know that you don't like being touched, but if I hug you then will you freak out?"

Kai shrugged, his movements were sluggish. And once again he felt exhausted, only this time emotionally rather than physically.

Ray nodded politely before slowly taking a step forward. After taking a moment to assess whether Kai was still comfortable about this, he gently wrapped his arms around Kai's shaking form. Making sure that Kai could back out at any time he wanted.

Instinctively Kai tensed, his eyes becoming wide as he willed himself to stay still. While his mind was screaming at him to move, to get out of Ray's grip. Touch was meant for hurt not for comfort, he knew that. Boris had taught him that, and Voltaire and Bathos. His entire childhood had been about that…

…Wait. Not his entire childhood. His mum and dad had hugged him; his dad had even wrestled with him. They had never hurt him. So wouldn't that mean that not all physical contact was bad?

Flashback

The little boy ran excitedly to the door, following his father. His age must have only been around four. The thickest coat imaginable weighed him down, but he still managed to bounce up and down impatiently as he waited for his father to open up the door leading to the outside.

"Wait, Kai don't go outside without your scarf," his mother ordered firmly, kneeling down in front of the impatient boy. Kai made his best 'annoyed' face at her as she wrapped the giant white scarf around his small neck.

"Maaaam…its too long!" he complained, looking down to where it trailed on the ground by his feet.

"That just means that it will keep you extra warm" she smiled making sure that his coat was done up tight enough. "You'll grow into it."

"In about a hundred billion years" he said sulkily, staring frustrated at the impossibly long scarf.

"Don't be like that Kai. I'm not going to see you for a couple of hours while you play with your papa. So how about a goodbye hug." She said, clearly not used to being separated from the child.

"I'm not gonna be gone long Mama" Kai argued stubbornly. But he still leaned in for the hug anyway; hiding how much comfort it gave him.

"C'mon papa" Kai yelled impatiently as he ran out of the door into the freezing snow, his scarf billowing behind him.

End Flashback

Kai shuddered as the tears began to flow freely. Gentle sobs began to rack his frame as years of pain, torture, betrayal and loss were finally let free as tears. He hadn't cried in so long that it was a relief to be able to finally feel safe enough to be able to relax and let it all go. His hands hung as fists by his sides.

His parent's death kept on repeating itself in front of his glazed eyes. Making him feel fear enough to tentatively raise his hands enough to return the hug. So that he could feel safer, as he more or less cowered in Ray's arms. Afraid of what he was seeing, or rather, remembering.

'He's our son! You can't take him, we won't let you!' The voices rang out in his head.

'He's only a child for gods sake! He doesn't care about training or taking over the world. He just wants to play games and have fun!'

'What kind of monster are you!'

'GET AWAY FROM HIM!'

'Mama, help!'

'Get off you're hurting me!'

'Mama…why are you crying?'

Kai shuddered uncontrollably as Ray attempted to calm him down. Kai was shivering…and was afraid…very afraid. He'd squeezed his eyes shut again, in an attempt to block out the voices. Small amounts of liquid still leaked from his eyes, but he'd more or less run out of tears to shed.

After a while in which Kai refused to be calmed down, Hilary couldn't take it any more. She approached Kai carefully, before gently placing her head on the back of Kai's shoulder. She stroked his hair reassuringly, hating to see him so distraught.

When he didn't seem to react to this, the others moved carefully over to join in the group hug. Every one of them wanting to somehow, in some way offer Kai some comfort. To make him feel better, and safer. Even Kenny found a spare bit of shoulder to place a reassuring hand on.

Kai shivered, the voices filling his ears. Until he could barely take it anymore.

"We're all here for you Kai" Ray whispered, making Kai aware for the first time that the others had joined in the hug. Strangely enough, it didn't feel as bad as he thought it would have.

"We're your friends" Tyson added firmly.

"And we're going to help you through this" Max finished confidently.

And then…the voices stopped.

Kai blinked confused at the sudden peace in his mind. Knowing that all his friends were there for him helped somehow. That he wasn't alone in this help somehow.

He pulled slowly out of the hug, not wanting them to think that they'd scared him somehow.

"Thanks" he said nervously wiping his tears away, "I feel better now".

"Kai, I hate to ask this now" Hilary started, secretly mopping away a couple of tears of her own. "But we really do have to know who killed your parents. Do you feel up to telling us?"

Kai bit his lip anxiously, before shaking his head slightly. He didn't want to say, that would make all the voices come back again. In his pocket his bit beast glowed a deep red.

"Dranzer says that she can show you" Kai said, obviously not very keen on the idea. Silently he argued with the phoenix, but she could not be swayed. Apparently, she had already gone and gotten the other bit beast's approval for it. Kai's eyes darkened as she argued that he was not in the best state of mind to be making these kinds of decisions.

The others however were still confused as to the meaning of that. Including Rage, who had kept to herself during the little 'hug' incident. Merely watching fairly self consciously, and if truth be told a little jealously as well.

"Kai?" Tyson asked curiously, "What exactly do you mean when you say that Dranzer can show us?"

Kai was saved from answering when a red glow from his blade shone so bright that they had to look away. When they looked back, Kai had slumped to the floor.

They were robbed of any time to panic as the same bright glow began to happen to all their beyblades. Even Hilary, although absent of a blade and a bit beast still slumped to the floor unconscious like everyone else.

Just what was Dranzer planning?

I'm not really sure how this chapter went. Its a hard one to write because of all the emotion involved.

The next chapter will be called 'show and tell'

Please review and tell me your opinion of this chapter.