Oh! This is so cool! New Chapter up! What's going to happen? Well, just wait and see! Hehehe, I'm so cruel!
Reis1gurl - Thanks for the review! I'm taking your consept into mind, and that may be in the next chapter!
Viper and Lisa - You know who you are, and I hope you like this chappy!
On with the story!!!
Disclaimer: Don't own, Don't sue. If I did own, I would be in the story, and who knows what would happen. I also don't own CSI: I just really love the program!
CHAPTER 3
"She wants to talk to me?" Kai asked, using a softer tone of voice. "But why?"
"I don't know," Hilary said. "All she said was something about a Nona Nikki. Does that mean anything to you?"
Ray's POV
Kai's face changed. Then he rushed off, leaving me spooning the sauce over the pasta. I mean, Kai once mention something about a grandparent who treated him better than Voltaire, but he never said anything about another relative.
I wonder why, I though. I shrugged. They'll tell us in their own time.
Normal POV
"Foods up!" Ray shouted, holding two plates in each hand. "And Tyson!" Ray said, holding Tyson's plate just out of reach. He looked up, begging. "No eating like a pig. We don't want Shiri to lose her appetite, do we?" Tyson shook his head, just wanting to get at the food. Shiri chuckled.
"Don't worry, Ray," Shiri grinned. "I've probably seen worse eating habits than the ones of a never-full Tyson." She laughed as Tyson pretty much proved her point. Ray turned a slight shade of red as he passed her the plate. She looked suspiciously at the pasta sitting on her plate.
"It isn't poisoned," Kai said, putting a forkful into his own mouth.
"Sorry," Shiri giggled, "but I'm so used to being cautious, that even in safe company I'm still on edge." She took a bite and gasped. Ray looked suspicious. "Goodness, who cooked this?"
"Ray did, mostly," Kai said, grasping his cup. "But I helped somewhat."
"Well, then," Shiri said, getting up and walking around the table. "Here's to a good meal only rivalled by a nice Chinese chef in Paris!" She placed a small kiss onto Kai's cheek, then turned and did the same thing to Ray. Tyson was appalled; Max shocked and both Kenny and Hilary were amused. Ray flushed slightly.
"Oy! What about us, hm?" Tyson said, pointing to his cheek.
"Well, when you do something that impresses me a lot, then you'll get one, cheeky!" Shiri said, patting Tyson's cheek before sitting down. Everyone laughed (except Kai. He just smirked).
"So, Shiri," Hilary said. "Tell us a little more about yourself. There's still so much we don't know!"
"Well," Shiri said, smiling slightly, "there's some stuff I don't really remember, so forgive me if some pieces are a little blank. I don't remember much of my childhood, but I grew up with a nice elderly lady in Russia. She was great, and she taught me many of the things I know today, like sewing, beyblading, self defence, cooking, and so on. Life was ok, then about two years ago, she came down with a crippling cancer. She knew she wouldn't get out of this one alive, so she told me that I was being pursued. That and she told me my birth history, given to her when she took me in. She left everything to me when she died – her house, her money, the beyblade that I now keep. Not long after her funeral, the chase started. I've been chased all over the world. You name it, most likely I've been there. Then I met up with you guys and here I am," Shiri shrugged, and finished off her pasta.
"So you mean you've been everywhere in the world?" Max asked, "Including Las Vegas?"
"Want proof? Watch CSI tomorrow night," Shiri chuckled as she collected the now empty plates. "I'm the victim." She laughed as she headed for the kitchen.
-Later that night, lights go out -
"So you guys are cool with me staying here?" Shiri asked, folding out the sleeping mat.
"Absolutely!" Tyson beamed, "and Gramps doesn't really mind either!"
"And now it's more like a sleepover, especially with TWO girls over!" Max grinned at Hilary as she lay out her own sleeping mat between Tyson and Shiri.
"Don't get any ideas, Maxie," Hilary growled. "We are NOT playing Truth or Dare!"
"Agreed," Kai, Shiri and Ray toned. They looked at each other and laughed.
"Come on, lets get some sleep," Kenny said. Everyone climbed into their beds as Tyson dimmed the lights.
After the 'goodnights' had been shared, everyone dozed off. Except one.
Shiri's POV
I can't sleep. It's a habit I've gotten into since I started running. Light sleep for 2 hours, deep sleep for an hour and no sleep for the rest of the time, and not in that order. As quietly as possible, I stretched out and stared at the ceiling. Come on; give me a sign that you're asleep!
A loud snore filled the room. I glanced over and grinned as I discovered it was Tyson. Finally, a snorer that could wake the dead!
I slowly sat up, and pulled my blade from where I had hidden it when the lights had gone out. With the pale moonlight, the bitbeast could just be seen. I looked around and spotted the box that Kenny had said contained the boy's old launchers. I smiled.
"Lets go and practice, Skylark," I whispered, and climbed out of bed and out into the yard.
Normal POV
Ray woke to a humming in the yard, one he recognised as a beyblade running. Sitting up, he cast his eyes over the group to figure whose it was.
Tyson: Snoring impossibly loud.
Max: Dreaming of Sugar
Kenny: Just sleeping
Hilary: Probably dreaming of Tyson
Kai: Sleeping
That left Shiri. Ray quietly climbed out of bed and over to the door.
Ray's POV
I saw Shiri standing by the beystadium in Tyson's backyard, pausing every now and then to adjust her grip on one of my old launchers. She grumbled, then settled and held the ripcord and launcher ready.
"3...2...1...Let it rip!" Shiri murmured and pulled the ripcord, sending a blue/green beyblade spinning shakily into the dish. She grumbled, retrieved the blade and set it ready again. As I stood there, I admired what I could see. Shiri's blonde hair reached just below her shoulder blades and white-blonde sun streaks almost glowed in the moonlight. Her eyes glowed a bright green, melding in with the pale green t shirt and blue shorts she was wearing as nightclothes. She stood tall, just under my height and had the palest skin with a slight tan. All in all, she seemed to glow in the moonlight. I blushed as she bent over to pick up the Beyblade, then shook my head as she reset the blade. Quietly I walked over and grasped her elbows.
Normal POV
"You need to lift your arms up that little bit higher," Ray murmured into Shiri's ear. She jumped. "Sorry," Ray apologized.
"That's ok, it's ok," Shiri stammered. Their eyes locked, both of them turning away with a nervous chuckle and bright red cheeks. Shiri coughed. "So, I have to rase my arms a bit higher?"
Ray turned back. "Yeah. That and try to yank the ripcord out a bit faster and harder."
"Like this?" Shiri asked, and held the launcher just under shoulder height, looking to Ray for approval. Ray nodded, so Shiri took that as the cue to launch the blade. She ripped the ripcord out so hard and fast that the launcher started smoking and she fell back, knocking Ray over and landing in his lap. The Beyblade sat spinning evenly in the centre of the dish. But neither of them noticed. Their eyes were on each other and the awkward position they were in. They blushed red, moved slightly closer, lips almost touching until Shiri jerked back, looking into a tree that stuck over the fence.
"I don't think we should be out here," Shiri said, sounding nervous.
"Agreed," Ray said, looking worried. Shiri stood up, grabbed her blade and the two rushed inside. They climbed into their individual beds without a word, and tried to get to sleep.
Ray's POV
'Oh my goodness, did we almost kiss? If Shiri didn't notice something in the tree, would we have? Oh gosh, now I'm going to have to tell Kai that Shiri and me... Argh, I've got to stop thinking of her! But her lips looked so soft and subtle and she smelt of maples and jasmine and... ARGH!!!!'
Shiri's POV
'Man, I must be going crazy. I almost kissed Ray! I mean, I wouldn't have argued, but I couldn't. I can't be staying here for too long, they'll find me, and then the Bladebreakers would be in some serious trouble and it would be ALL MY FAULT!!! Argh, I can't stand this! I have to talk to Kai in the morning.'
Normal POV
Shiri rolled over and saw that Ray was lying restlessly, but asleep, on his back. She got up quietly, lent over and softly placed a kiss on his lips.
"Goodnight, Ray," Shiri murmured and slid back into bed, slipping into her hour of deep, dreamless sleep.
Outside in that very tree, a person clad in black pulled a mobile phone from his pocket and said, "Night Owl to Base. I've found the girl. Repeat: I've found the girl. She's with Him."
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