NOTE : This chapter may actually disturb some people. If you have a weak stomach, don't read it.
Warning : Strong language, violence & M/M
Disclaimer : I don't own Beyblade or any of the characters. The characters you do not recognise are mine and are not to be stolen/used in any story other than my own.
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"Today's the day… I have to be careful. I'm ready for anything. Nothing can happen to me here… I have Rei with me. I can protect him here. And I have Tyson and Max… Everything will be fine." Kai had been muttering to himself for the past two hours, just waiting for some bad news. He had refused to let his friends leave, even for a drink. The three of them were getting restless, hungry, thirsty, and utterly confused by their friend's murmurs. Tyson signalled to Rei that he was going to get some food, then the elder blunette spoke up. "Tyson sit down." Kai was glaring at him.
"Aww man! Kai, you can't keep us locked up in here for the whole day!" The navy-haired teen's stomach spoke up too, growling loudly. Rei walked over and sat on the edge of the blunette's bed and stroked his hair.
"What's wrong with you?" Throughout the two hours of mumblings from the elder teen, the three younger boys had noticed that the crimson eyes would glaze over and Kai would occasionally rock back and forth gently, staring at nothing. Doing this, he looked like something from a horror film. Rei and Tyson had exchanged wary glances, while Max had had to look away altogether.
The silence was broken by a nurse bustling in through the door. She was a short, stout, happy redheaded woman that had taken it upon herself to look after all four boys during the day, so of course, Tyson was ecstatic when he saw her bring a plate of sandwiches and jugs of juice. After placing the tray on the table, she moved over to her patient and checked his temperature with the back of her hand. Once satisfied that Kai felt okay, she smiled widely at the other lads – who had already started the food – and left the room.
"D'ya want some food Kai?" Tyson asked the glaring teen in front of him. "… Kai?" After hearing no answer, the cat and the blond turned to their friend as well.
"Kai?"
"He's completely out of it."
"Shut up Tyson… Kai, come on… Talk."
"He's freaking me out."
"Don't be such a baby. He's just a bit… Spaced out."
Kai wasn't listening to the three teens. He was completely lost in thought, in his own little dream world, and jumped when Rei touched him.
"Kai… We've got some food now." He wrapped a protective arm around the slate-haired teen. "Are you hungry?"
"Oh… Yeah. Thanks." Max took him the plate of sandwiches, while Tyson poured him a drink. Rei just sat and cuddled his beloved. 'Stuff's going to be okay…' Kai kept telling himself, though he wasn't really sure if he believed it. He held onto to the neko-jin's arm that was round him, and sighed. As long as he kept those three safe, everything would be fine…
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'Welcome to the News-at-midday.' The voice lingered in the air as Kai turned up the television. He was sat up in his hospital bed, sipping at a cup of water, concentrating hard on the TV. He hadn't gone to school since he was still in shock and pretty confused about how he'd ended up there in the first place, but he had kissed Rei goodbye and given Tyson his last sandwich, so that had made him feel good.
'Breaking news!' The presenter screamed. 'A teenage boy was found dead on the school field while the students were on their lunch break just fifteen minutes ago…'
Kai's eyes practically burst in his sockets as the face of the deceased loomed on to the screen. "Ozuma…" he breathed, his voice catching slightly in his throat. One of the boys who always annoyed and picked on Kai at school, right from when they were young. Although the blunette hated the older teen, damn was he shocked.
"Serves him right…"
"NO!" Kai shouted as loud as he possibly could as he heard that too-familiar voice. "Leave me alone!"
"You know who's next, don't you Kai?"
He didn't want to answer. But he needed to know. "Who." It wasn't even a question, it was a demand – If he knew, he could help.
"They always say it… You know it's true…"
"Stop it. Just tell me." Silence followed. The blunette waited impatiently until he heard it. That phrase that would haunt his mind until he knew the person in question was safe. That horrible, eerie whisper…
"Curiosity killed the cat."
The voice was laughing, cackling at Kai's dismay, but the teen was nowhere to be found. He'd already left the hospital room through the window and was now shinning down the drainpipe. He had to get to Rei, before it was too late. His feet hit the floor and he ran out toward the road, he didn't know which direction the school was in, but hopefully some road signs would give him a clue.
Reaching the road's edge, he looked at the T-junction in front of him. "Left or right..?" He asked himself, searching for a signpost. He guessed at 'left' and sprinted up the long, straight road. He was worn out when he approached the top of the hill, but knew he'd be able to see a hell of a lot once he was there, so carried on, dragging his feet. Once at the peak, he gazed around and was happy to see he had been going in the right direction but the happiness soon disappeared as he stared down at the scene below.
"What the…?" There were police cars and ambulances surrounding the buildings and field; he knew that a student was dead but… All that? He began to run again, he had to get there and warn Rei. 'But the hell can I warn him about something when I don't even know what's going on?' Kai scolded himself for his negative thoughts, even though his positive ones weren't much use in his situation. He could feel the cold wind tugging at his hair and clothes, the slaps of light rain on his face, the sound of sirens behind him, the... 'Behind me?'
"Stop right there!" Kai came to a skidding halt as a police car pulled up beside him, both officers dashing through their doors to stand in front of the teenager. "You're coming with us." One of them stated.
"What?" Kai didn't understand. Going with them where?
"In. Now." The second officer held a door open for the teen to climb in, but said teen just stood and glared at both police men.
"I have to get to the school."
"You're going nowhere Hiwatari. In."
"OI!"
The officials shouted after the boy as he left the road and ran cross-country over the farming land toward his destination. 'Well done Kai… Now you're in deep shit.' The blunette reprimanded himself sarcastically. He didn't care though, all that was on his mind was getting to Rei before whatever that voice was did.
At the back entrance to the school, Kai waited for a clear run so he could get in. He was breathing heavily from his trek – After being unconscious in hospital, his stamina and endurance weren't exactly up to scratch. He carefully rounded a corner and had perfect view of the drama at the other end of the field.
Ozuma's body was covered by a white sheet, blue and white police tape staked to the ground in a square around it. Kai shuddered; despite all the strange happenings, this was definitely the most disturbing, not to mention gross. Apparently the boy's neck had been broken from being twisted, causing his bones to rip through the flesh, and were now protruding from either side of his throat, surrounded by torn skin, deep reddy-brown from the dried blood. He had also been stabbed in the stomach, which had ripped and soon become infected from the germs on the weapon, making the bleeding tissue become smudged with pus. There weren't even any fingerprints or evidence of how it had happened, or who had done the disgusting deed. The last thing that Kai wanted was for his neko-jin to end up the same way, so he had to act quickly.
Edging round the buildings, Kai decided, looked quite suspicious, so he simply legged it across the green instead. A lot of curious students were watching the 'event' as inspectors were investigating the surrounding area and questioning people. Nearing this scene, everyone turned their gaze toward the fast approaching teenager, and the police immediately stiffened upon seeing him. The boy's crimson eyes were searching the crowd for his friends, knowing he had to protect them, but from what exactly, he didn't know. Slowing up to a hasty walk, Kai glared at the police as he walked directly past them toward the beautiful golden eyes that were now directly in front of him. The cat had obviously seen him racing across the field and had pushed his way to the front of the swarm of anxious students. Tyson, Max and Helena were with him, all looking thoroughly confused.
"Kai!" He called out as the blunette approached. "Kai, what are you doing here?"
To everyone's surprise, including the policemen, the crimson eyes suddenly overflowed with tears as their owner collapsed into the cat's arms. Tyson and Helena instantly tried to comfort their friend, while the rest of the people just looked on in wonder. Kai was pretty annoyed at himself, that wasn't what he had meant to do. He'd thought everything out in his head, he was going to explain to Rei what was happening to him and hope that he'd believe him… Breaking down in a very pathetic display of emotion was not part of his plan. He straightened himself up and wiped his eyes, glaring harshly at the on-lookers, then back down into his love's beautiful, perfect yellow eyes.
"We have to get out of here." He whispered. Rei heard, raising his brow. Apparently Tyson had heard too.
"What do you mean?" The younger blunette asked, an obvious look of fear on his face at Kai's callous glare that he was directing to the police officers, who were slowly closing in on the elder teen.
"I mean, Tyson, that you, Rei and Helena have to come with me. Now." With that, he took hold of the younger teens' wrists and pulled them away from the crowd, hastily followed by the lilac-haired girl, who took hold of Tyson's hand as they were dragged away.
"Stop right there!" Kai surged forward as they heard the police chasing behind them.
"Kai… What the hell is going on man? Why are they chasing you?" After hurtling round a corner and coming face to face with the locked glass doors of the school, Tyson was getting a little agitated. Of the three younger teens, none of them understood, none of them wanted to be in trouble with the authorities, but none of them stopped their blunette friend when he side-kicked the glass in the doors and charged through, pulling the others with him. They headed straight for the stairs.
"Kai…" Rei placed a hand on his love's shoulder once the crimson-eyed teen had finally come to a stop in a small, dark room on the top floor of the three-storey building. "Kai, come on… What's going on?"
"Rei," Kai turned to face his cat and held him tightly. "I promised I wouldn't let anything hurt you, and I know something is going to happen today. I don't know how, and I don't know why. But what I do know, is that you are in danger. So you are staying with me, wherever I might go… Or you could end up like Ozuma"
Seemingly, that wasn't what the three younger teens were expecting to hear. Kai held protectively onto Rei, not letting him go. The neko cuddled his blunette boy, cat eyes wide with shock, his heart beating fast.
"P… P… Pard-don?" Was Tyson's stunned reply. Kai sighed, closing his eyes. He rested his head on Rei's shoulder, his arms around the cat's slim waist.
"Don't worry Tyson. Nothing will harm you. Any of you." Just as these words escaped his lips, the door slammed shut and they evaporated into the darkness. Four intakes of breath echoed around the dank, dark room, followed by a shrill scream.
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