Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.
Title: Can't Fight Love
Chapter Title: Brother
Rating: T
Categories: Angst/Romance.
Summary: Ray is in deeply in love with…? But what if she's married? Kai/Mariah/Ray. Who will Mariah choose? YOUR CHOICE!
Feedback: Reviews! YUM! Flames? Ah… toasting marshmallows…
Status: Nearly finished!
Notes: Ah… Kai is so OOC…
CAN'T FIGHT LOVE
Kai/Mariah/Ray
Ray is deeply in love with…? But what if she's married? Who will Mariah choose? Your choice!
Flowerperson
© 2005
Chapter 9
Brother
Mariah smiled as she hugged her older brother in the crowded airport. The upcoming Christmas Season was getting everyone in a rush, and Lee had had to book a whole month early for a simple one-way flight to Japan from China. They exchanged greetings politely at first before she jumped into her sibling's arms.
Pulling back from the embrace, the elder of the two looked into the other's deep amber eyes – they looked slightly saddened, unusual of the frequent optimist that was his sister. "Mariah, is anything wrong? Is it something to do with…Him?"
She sighed as she shook her head, pink bangs brushing against her face as she understood that her family member was referring to her husband. Lee had never completely approved of Kai, even though he had suddenly changed (for the better, Mariah would add) from a cold-hearted jerk to head-over-heels with his little sister. He had come to accept Ray as Mariah's potential soul-mate… until he betrayed her.
Ray had always been a back-stabber, or at least this was how Lee Wong saw it. Mariah – being the caring spirit she was – had forgiven him but Lee? No way! Those two used to be best friends, in their beyblading years; always being in-tune with each other whilst battling two against two (the one against Tyson and Daichi had been proof of their syncopation).
Learning of his cheating, Lee had gone to his house punched the other neko-jin as he answered the door before walking away back to his own home without telling his sister what had happened.
And the two men hadn't talked since.
"No, Lee, and Kai is fine, thanks for asking. How are Gary and Kevin? I haven't heard from them in such a long time. Are they coming to the New Year Party? Is Gary still married to that… cook… um… Ling, was it? He seemed head-over-heels in the last e-mail he sent me." She grinned toothily as she tried to change the subject. Mariah knew that the dark-haired man would go berserk if he discovered that Ray was hassling her, asking for a 'second chance'. It was best to keep quiet and prevent a fight between the two.
Lee was known to be prone to a violent argument.
He shook his head, "They aren't coming to the party but they're doing well – Gary's making good use of his wife's culinary capabilities," Mariah chuckled – a cook for a soul mate so suited the tall neko-jin, "Kevin has moved to a breeding programme in India for some… monkeys… or something. The pay he's getting… it's phenomenal. He'll create a small fortune in no time but knowing him, he'd probably waste it all on pointless ornaments or put it into his researching fund."
Mariah smiled, "Seems like that their life's going just as they planned but what about you, Lee? Met any special girls? Received any great job opportunities?"
"Being the Village Elder takes out a lot of my time now the darn government's adamant on trying to make it an urban area…" he grumbled. "Apart from that, I'm just helping around the village – a few DIY jobs here, agriculture there and teaching the kids beyblading. They're not as eager as we were but I suppose the sport is beginning to fade, huh? It's a shame – we had lots of fun and adventures, huh?"
Frowning, a sudden thought entered her mind – if Ray had not joined Tyson's team (the Blade-Breakers), he would have not met Salima and they wouldn't have… wouldn't have…
Broken my heart into a million pieces.
"Who has Galux, now?" Mariah questioned with yet another smile, eager to get away from this train of thought. She didn't need to think of him and her. They had hurt her enough! She wouldn't allow this to continue!
"A young girl called Michelle. She's quite tomboyish but still takes a liking to the mountain-cat spirit. She spends a lot of time in the mountains, herself." He paused, inhaling sharply, "Michelle was orphaned at an early age with no siblings."
"Oh," the smile faltered, "Give her my sympathies when you return." She knew what it was like to be an orphan… except, she had had her brother and her friends to guide her through the difficult times and since this girl had no brothers or sisters, she would find the journey even more difficult. Hopefully, the other children were kind to her.
There was a gentle yet firm touch on her shoulder and she turned to see Kai, who then nodded to Lee in acknowledgement. "Lee," he greeted roughly and extended a hand. The Russian knew of the thick tension between them. In Lee's eyes, no one was good enough for his little sister. The pink-haired woman looked to him, silently begging him to behave just this once!
Muttering a gruff "Kai", Lee shook the other man's hand before withdrawing it hastily. Mariah sighed – that was the best she could hope for. She linked arms with her husband and brother as they began to depart the airport.
"So… where should we go first?"
After buying coffees (black for Kai, latte for Mariah and an espresso for Lee), the trio had decided to go for a walk in the park – well, it was more of the female's idea since her two loved ones seemed reluctant to talk whilst the other was present. If they weren't so stubborn, they could have seen how similar they were.
Both were passionate and both firmly defended their beliefs. The two had a terrible fury if you pushed the right buttons and they cared for Mariah deeply. But because they shared a powerful tenacity, neither would admit their similarities.
She rested her head on Kai's shoulder as the feeling of contentment overtook her. Lee was walking a few paces ahead, on the cell-phone discussing something that was obviously important – for he would have been growling at Kai for the way he was touching Mariah and the way she was holding on to him.
Mariah's arm was embracing her husband's middle and the other laid limply by her side. Kai's right hand was resting on her posterior (although not in a lecherous way) whilst his left limb was scratching his neck. The sunset caused the sky to give a faint pink glow with streaks of orange and gold yet this sky was nothing compared to her eyes.
This pink would never be as luscious as Mariah's hair – or at least, this was how the ex-Blitzkrieg Boy saw it. No sight would ever be able to come close to the beauty that his wife possessed.
"Beautiful," he turned and whispered into her satin-like hair. Even though he was not looking into her face, he could tell that she would be blushing as her amber eyes stared at the floor, always modest when receiving a compliment. "How long is Lee intending to stay? I can't wait for our alone time…" he accompanied this suggestive comment with a tender squeeze on her bottom.
Yep, her cheeks would be very red now.
"K-Kai… he's my brother…" she really hoped that Lee didn't turn around and saw Kai whispering into her ear with her blushing madly. He would quickly make assumptions and grow angry.
And those assumptions would be right.
"So?" his voice was so husky and so… he always made Mariah melt into a pool of gooey nothingness. The worst thing was… he knew this! "I'm your husband."
"Y-yes but…" Oh dear… was he blowing in her ear? Her eyes fluttered to a close as his lips descended onto hers, beginning to forget that her elder brother was only a few yards away and would soon be finishing his conversion. In fact, she did put Lee out of her mind…
Until she heard his deliberate cough. "Am I interrupting something?" he teased, resisting himself from separating them with his own hands. Mariah pulled herself from Kai's embrace and smiled with embarrassment as she tried to erase the warm flush that was still planted on her face. Kai smirked for a split-second before grunting and walking ahead of the siblings.
"Sorry, Lee. I got a bit carried away."
"Hn," he said, doing a good imitation of Kai. "Just don't do that again. I don't appreciate seeing my baby sister sucking face with some psychotic, black-hearted test-subject.
She hit his arm as she frowned. "Kai isn't a psychotic, black-hearted test-subject!"
The Russian in front overhead this and called back: "You only got one out of three right."
The brother and sister pondered over his comment, wondering which of the descriptions Kai was referring to. Mariah smiled as she pushed the worries of his mental-stability out of her head.
He was just joking…
… Right?
Authoress' Notes
Not as long as the last chapter and not much happened, but I just had the urge to bring Lee in and show what he thought about Ray betraying Mariah and her relationship with Kai.
VOTES
Ray – 30
Kai – 62 (whoa!)
Flowerperson
Note: The next chapter is the last. The ending will depend on your votes. I'm planning to upload it before 2006 ((sweatdrop)).