Ray Kon and Kai Hiwatari have ganged up with two girls, Teira Mishizu and Emma McFerrin for beyblading purposes. Teira and Ray are strong friends and beybattle against each other constantly, while Kai and Emma do the same. They all live together in a dojo that Mr. Dickenson rented for them.
Note: the info above won't be much help to this story; I was just explaining Emma and Teira's names. Enjoy!
"Ray?" Teira stepped timidly into the room with a plate of steaming spaghetti in her hands. Ray didn't bother to look up, his face buried into a book. He glowered at the fine print and bit his lip, please just go away, Teira…he pleaded to himself.
"I brought you dinner incase you didn't feel up to eating with us." She said, "The trip must have been hard." She sat the tray down in front of him, expecting at least a look, but received nothing from the Chinese teen. Teira sighed. He had been this way from the time he had gotten back from visiting his old team mates in China…he had been so cold. "Ray?" She tried again to catch his attention, "um, well—hope you like it…" said Teira dully. The younger girl walked coldly out of the room without a second glance back. If he didn't want to talk, he wouldn't.
Ray looked over at the hot plate and distractively picked up the fork, sticking it into a few stray noodles.
"You will die, Kon!"
Ray recalled the words so finely…he sat the book down on the bed and placed the fork back down to the plate. He wandered over to his dresser and looked into the mirror, glaring.
"Traitor! I'll make sure you never set another foot out of this village!"
He stared sadly up at ruffled black bangs, amber eyes, and pale flesh. All of this had been different when he had last looked. He had looked so happy…until—
"You gave up on us because we weren't good enough! Now, we're giving up on you! For good!"
Ray unexpectantly clutched at his chest and wobbled on his feet, hunching over. Pain flooded through his veins like fire, "S-stop it…." He called to his reflection. Your going mad, Ray…your going sheer mad! He said to himself as that same voice flooded into his mind,
"You. Will. DIE!"
He screamed aloud and wearily let his eyes close and his knees give way. He was stoned by the pain and remembrance.
"Yeah, Ray looks a bit—!" Teira stopped and dropped her fork in mid sentence. The blood drained from her face as a scream echoed through the house. Kai dashed out of his seat with Emma and Teira in hot pursuit. The scream had come from the only other person in the house. Ray Kon.
Teira busted through the door and gasped at what was before her. Kai frowned and Emma stood breathless on entrance.
"What happened?" Emma choked.
"He—passed out?" Kai answered worriedly. Ray's body was down on the ground and crumpled. Teira scrambled over to the Neko Jin's aid and lifted his head to her lap.
"I'll go get some water!" Emma called and disappeared through the doors. Kai knelt down in front of his friend and checked his pulse. Everything was still beating, but very slowly. Emma soon returned with a glass of water and the nearest phone.
"We need to call 911." She started punching in numbers when Kai silenced her, grabbing the glass, as well.
"R-Ray!" Teira parted his bangs as the older teen began to cough himself awake. His eyes flew open and he clutched his chest once more. Kai moved in closer and put his team mate's hands down by his side, "Ray, whats wrong?" He asked. Teira stared down at him with worried eyes. What happened, what's wrong? Emma scurried over to Teira's other side and observed him, still clutching the phone. Ray looked up at the many faces around him. He didn't recognize any of them…?
"Ray…what hurts?" a voice asked. He looked up into amber eyes of the girl who was apparently holding him. That voice…the sound…was familiar in some way?
"Who are you…?" He asked. The girl looked down at him and let her mouth drop open, "I—I'm your friend Teira!" she shouted, almost in tears. Teira? Ray blinked in astonishment and closed his eyes. A hand grabbed onto his arm and he opened and glared darkly at yet another girl.
"Ray, do you remember any of us?" she asked. He shook his head slowly and the girl gasped, "I'm Emma…you have to remember me! I'm your team mate! We all are."
"I don't know any of you…leave me alone." He said dully and Emma let go of his arm and sunk down to her knees. He sat up from Teira's lap and glared around at his team mates. The other male spoke up to Ray, "Ray, its Kai. Did you just forget who we all are?" Ray stood up from the three others and made his way over to the bed.
"You're sadly mistaken. I have absolutely no idea who any of you are. I've never seen any of you in my life." He whispered, "Now, please get out of my room."
Teira stayed the rest of the night with Ray, even though he refused to talk to her. Kai and Emma had gone over to the doctors, but Ray had refused to go, so they went ahead and tried to discuss his conditions.
Teira looked down at her silver watch and watch the second hand tick from one side to another; it was now 9:31. She looked over at Ray, who was reading in bed, back to her. It was useless to try and make conversation with him, because he still had no idea who she was. She still just wanted to make herself familiar with him, if anything, try to start a whole new friendship with her old team mate. "Ray." She called to him and he said nothing back, "Ray please talk to me."
No reply.
"We were good friends, Ray." She smiled to herself and looked down at the ground. Ray looked up from his book and over his shoulder, now interested in what the girl was saying. "We hung out, we talked, we did everything together." She paused as her eyes moved up to the Chinese teen. Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes and she quickly blinked them away. Ray looked at her curiously.
"But you don't remember…me at all." Teira whispered. "It's like you've never seen me—"
"I want to re—remember you…" Ray finally spoke up. He sat his book back down on the bed and got up. Teira watched him come over next to her and sit down on the floor beside her. "We were good friends…?" he asked in a hushed tone. Teira nodded and smiled. He nodded with her slowly.
"Ray." Teira said, having a pretty good idea.
"Hn?"
"Turn around." He did so obediently, and Teira put her fingers on his mid back pony tail. Undoing the wrapping, she let the raven strands fall down over his back and tangle through her fingers. Grabbing a near by brush, she started to work the bristles through his hair.
"Why can't I remember someone like you?" Ray asked suddenly, eyes transfixed on the floor, "You seem to be important to me…but I don't remember you—I can't—!"
"Maybe it's something you did…or amnesia." Teira combed through his black strands and pondered what she had just said. Amnesia was possible, but how? Had Ray lost his memory from the fall?
"Do you remember what you did with the White Tigers?" She asked abstractedly. Ray's muscles tensed all over and he pulled away from the girl, looking mortified. His golden eyes glared down at her as his hair spilled wildly over his back, "What…?" he spat. Teira stood up and backed farther into a corner, "R—Ray whats wrong with you?" she whispered. Suddenly, without warning, Ray crouched over and yelled angrily, clutching at his chest like it was on fire. Teira's eyes widened as she scrambled over to the Chinese boy. He was panting and screaming in Chinese, refusing to stop.
"Ray! Ray—stop it!" She stared at him with astonished eyes, not knowing what to do. He snapped his head up to look at her with narrowed yellow slits, now not screaming, he walked over to his team mate, "Mariah…!" he growled, towering over the girl. Teira looked up at him and started to stand up when Ray grabbed her wrist and slung her to the cold wall. She gasped in surprise and closed her eyes as the Neko Jin neared her strangling body.
"Ray! Stop it—I'm not Mariah!"
"Shut up." He grabbed her other wrist and pressed it to the wall as well. She was left to flounder against the far stronger teen. Ray moved up closer to the girl until they're bodies where flush against each other. Teira cried out and let her face slam up against the wall, "Stop it Ray! I'm not her!" Ray let his eyes flicker from side to side, angrily.
"Shut up Mariah," He yelled, "I'll do what I want!" Teira tried to control herself from yelling, she needed to show Ray that she wasn't who he thought she was.
"Ray…I'm not her—."
"I don't want to hear you!"
"I don't care! Tell me whats wrong. I'm not her or any of the others. I'm Teira!" She shouted into his face, Ray turned away from her, frustrated, but didn't let his grip on her slip. He dug his nails into her flesh and snarled at the ground, "I want you to…sh-shut up! Y-your confusing me!" He shouted once more, shaking slightly.
"You're not hurting me Ray. If you want me to be in pain, I'm not." She said calmly as the Neko Jin looked up at her with confused eyes. "I'm not Mariah; I'm not any of them! I don't know what they did to you, but stop trying to hurt me, Ray! I'm not them…I—I am Teira." Ray started to pant for breath as Teira spoke calmly to him. His nails were still digging into her arm, but she didn't feel the pain, too much was going on around her to focus on the dripping blood.
He's not listening to me! Teira though angrily. A snarl escaped her mouth as she lifted her head to glare up at her team mate.
"Ray! Look at me! Who am I?" She asked him.
Ray looked down and shook his head, "I—I can't…"
"Stop saying you can't. Tell me who I am!"
"I…I don't know any more…"
"Yes you do! Tell me Ray…" She was starting to linger as the breath caught in her throat, he was still suffocating her. "Y—you know me….you do! Tell me who I look like, tell me who you think I am—!"
Ray tried desperately to fit the screaming girl into his memory. Something about her made him frustrated. She didn't sound like Mariah—or smell like her. But who else…? Who are you?
"T…Tei—Teira…" He gasped and dropped the girl to the floor, backing away in astonishment at what he had done. Teira let her body slam down to the carpet, too tired to care. Her arms where bloody from the scratching, and her head was pounding from the yelling.
Teira gave one last weak smile before letting her head droop. Ray ran over to her side and brought the girl into his arms. "Oh…god, Teira…I h-hurt you!" Ray started to sob at seeing what he had done to his team mate. "I—I didn't even…know…how did I—?" Ray picked Teira up in his arms and walked over to place her on his bed. He backed away from the girl and glared down at his hands. I hurt her…without knowing it? Teira's eyes fluttered open as the older teen looked down at the ground in disgust; he had started to back up to the door, muttering little things in Chinese. "Ray—don't leave." She called to him. Ray looked over at the woken girl and stared with cold frustrated eyes, "I hurt you—I hurt you…!"
"Ray—"
"I have to get away…from here."
"No, Ray!—"
"Teira…I didn't mean to—"
"I know." She nodded and sat up, "Please stay…" Ray looked extremely doubtful, but stayed where he was. "I'll hurt you, though." He hissed darkly, "Like they did…"
"Like who?" she asked.
"N-nothing." Ray said, starting to change the subject. He stepped forward and touched Teira's arm timidly, glaring down at the open scratch marks he had caused.
"I can't believe I did that…I'm sorry." He choked and sat down on the side of the bed, cupping his hands over face. Teira rubbed his back comfortingly, "You called me Mariah, Ray." She said.
"I did?"
"Yeah…care to explain?"
"Uh—I just was out of it…I guess." He said calmly. Teira frowned and moved over to hug the Chinese boy. Ray flinched under touch, but soothed up as she rubbed his shoulders softly, "You would talk to me if you could, right Ray?" Ray didn't answer quickly, but paused to think, "Yeah…" he finally replied. His tone was cold and unsure, this wasn't Ray…he had changed, decided Teira. He had changed once he had gotten back from China. Something was wrong with him, and his old team had something to do with it.
Later on, Emma and Kai had called saying that no luck had been found from the doctors. They would come home as soon as they could, but they would try again to find some answers. Teira had left Ray to sleep later on that night, deciding to phone Ray's old team mates for some well deserved answers.
"Hello?" Mariah called into the other line of the phone.
Teira calmed herself down, she needed answers from the other team, not arguments, "Mariah, this is Teira. I need to talk to Lee." Mariah's breath rasped at the sentence and she took in a deep breath before continuing, "He doesn't want to talk to you right now." She snapped. Teira grasped the phone tighter and let out a low growl, "Oh, I really don't care what he wants." She said, hearing a soft gasp from the other end, "It's about Ray."
"Hn…I'll see what I can do." Mariah sneered and set the phone down to go find her brother. Teira sighed in frustration. Mariah wasn't her favorite person in the world, and Mariah knew it. The whole White Tiger tribe had blamed Ray's new team for his leaving; Lee especially.
Teira clutched the phone tightly to her ear and listened to the soft voices arguing over the other line. Suddenly the voices stopped abruptly, and Lee's gruff voice answered to the pause, "Hello?"
"It's Teira." She said with an edge on her voice.
Lee sighed angrily, "What can I do for you, Mishizu?"
"A few questions answered would be just nice," Teira answered rather calmly, "concerning Ray—that is." Lee let out a gruff sound and chuckled darkly, "go on." He replied.
Teira let her face drain of emotion and continued, "What did you do to him?"
"Excuse me?"
"What. Did. You. Do. To. Him?" Teira repeated slowly. Lee snorted into the receiver, "I have no idea what you are talking about—."
"Yes you do." Teira interrupted, "He passed out on the floor and tried to kill me while calling me Mariah, now that leads me to believe that she has something to do with this."
"Than talk to her."
"I don't feel like it." Said Teira, shortly, "He's been acting strange ever sense he's gotten back."
There was a long pause before Lee spoke up in a hushed manner, "You say he tried to kill you?"
"Yep."
"And you are blaming me for this, why? Maybe he just hates you…?"
"He tried to kill me after I mentioned the White Tigers." She spat. Lee fell silent after this and breathed slowly into the receiver.
"If you think I've got anything to do with this, than your plain mad, Mishizu!" and he hung up the phone, leaving Teira with all her questions still unanswered.
It was 12:19 when Teira finally fell asleep on the kitchen table. It had been such a frustrating day, nothing seemed to go well but sleep. She had about three hours of sleep when a firm hand shook her awake.
"Huh…?" She looked up at Kai with groggy eyes, "Y-you're back."
"Yes, but all we got from the doctors was one answer, nothing else." The Russian said sadly. Emma took a seat down beside the blond and poured herself a cup of tea. She offered Teira some and she gladly took it. She picked up the warm cup with pale hands, taking in the warm aroma. She took a few sips of the English tea before setting the cup back down, "He called me Mariah." Teira said awkwardly. Kai stared down at her, "What are you talking about?"
"Ray—I mentioned the White Tigers and he started to freak and call me Mariah…he was really upset." Emma blinked and took another swig of the warm liquid, "Did he hurt you?"
Teira held out her injured arms on the table and let her team mates gape, "He tried." Kai growled and set his arms across his chest, "I think his former team has something to do with this crap."
"Same here." Teira agreed and looked down at her tea, "I called Lee up, but he wouldn't say much just that I was mad to think he was involved in this…I still know it; they have to have done something." Emma nodded and poured more tea into the cup.
"It's obvious. He wasn't acting this way before he left." Emma admitted, fingering the ceramic cup as steam rose and fell over the brim.
"What did they do to him—to make him react like that…?" Teira wondered aloud with a blank expression plastered on her face.
"Abuse." Kai said simply. Teira sighed…was that it? Had Lee hit Ray? Had he hurt him emotionally? She growled under her breath, standing up she walked back to her room, dazed in an angry fog.
"This isn't right…" Ray mumbled aloud. He was curled up in a loose ball under the covers of his bed, thinking of everything that had happened…everything—
Suddenly his cell phone beeped loudly from the night stand he had set it on. Ray sighed. Not bothering to undo his covers, he reached a hand out to grab it. Snatching it, he pulled his hand back under the bedding and flipped it open.
"What?" He asked, irritated.
"Ooo, you sound tense, Kon." Ray's blood ran cold at the voice. His hand clenched the phone so tight he threatened to break it. Ray pulled his hand away from his ear and glared angrily at the phone. With one finger, he shut the black object closed and threw it to the way side. This was not the time to get angry and explode…he needed rest.
As he started to drift off, the small wireless object beeped anxiously again, rousing the Neko Jin from sleep. Ray groaned openly and scrambled around for it. Once grabbing it, he yanked it open once more and growled into the receiver, "What—!"
"I'm hurt," That same voice taunted, "You hung up on me."
"Shut up Lee!"
"Make me!" Lee sneered. Ray narrowed his eyes, "I don't know what I did to you, but I'm not sorry, and I'm not intimidated by your little threat phone calls."
"You sounded pretty intimidated last time I heard from you." Lee's taunting voice laughed through the receiver. Ray didn't reply. All his emotions were whirled inside his head, screaming wouldn't help. Lee sighed over the phone and hummed lightly, "how's your day been going, Kon?"
"Shut up."
"I just asked a que—"
"Shut up!"
Lee chuckled over the phone, monstrous laughter echoing in Ray's ear, "You received what was needed, you deserved the pain. Teira called me a few hours ago, demanding to know what I did to you." Lee paused and Ray's eyes flickered over the bed room, "I said I had nothing to do with your strange behavior. Nothing at all." He laughed again, a satisfying sickly laugh. It coursed through Ray's body. He was too angry for words.
"If it makes you feel any better, the whole tribe is now against you. But you didn't hear it from me." Lee whispered. Ray's body shook with the bottled anger, his fists where clinched around the covers, grasping them until his knuckles turned white.
"Well, if you don't want to talk, than I will." Lee sighed, "Just to clear one fact up, you are no longer welcome in White Tiger Hill, and if your travel here last didn't prove that, than I will gladly prove it myself."
"What happened to you, Lee?" Ray asked astonished at how he was acting. Lee stopped in mid breath, not expecting him to talk at all.
"W-what are you talking about?" he spat.
"You weren't always like this; we used to be friend—"
"I WAS NEVER FRIENDS WITH YOU!"
"Admit it." Ray hissed darkly. "We were good friends until you started to get
jealous." Lee sucked in air and growled deeply, "Shut—!"
"What was there to be jealous about?" Ray yelled back, ignoring Lee entirely. "You got firsts on everything, you where Sensei's grandson, you were pampered. Are you still holding a stupid grudge because I got Driger?"
"Shut up! It wasn't like that!" Lee gasped; his breathing had become unleavened with shock as Ray started to play with his mind, "Y-you got was…rightfully mine!"
"I got nothing! My parents died when I was born, I have no family; I wasn't favored. I got where I am today by working alone!"
"No—no it wasn't like…t-that." Lee's voice had gone from high and shrill to dark and chantingly.
"I didn't expect to get Driger, I was shocked! Fully preparing myself for you to get it, and I got it…I still don't know why…why did I get it when I was absolutely nothing through out those former years!"
Lee was breaking down on the other end of the line, rasping for breath and chanting small words, "I did w-what needed…to b-be done! I—I had too!" He chanted.
"Lee—?" Ray called out confused, but was cut off by more chants, "I…I did it…don't—don't hurt me…anymore!" by this time Lee was sobbing over the other end of the line, leaving Ray to consider something was seriously wrong.
"Lee! Snap out of it!" He yelled through the phone. Lee voice was being slurred by more tears and chants, "R-ray?"
"Whats wrong with you!" He whispered shocked.
"I-I'm so—sorry…don't let him—hurt me!"
"Who hurt you?" Ray stuttered. "Lee, keep speaking to me!" suddenly, Lee's chanting evaporated, and a dark growling yell erupted through the static, it was like Lee was in pain?
Ray clutched at the phone with both hands and got up on his knees, "Lee!" But it was too late; the other end had gone dead.
NEXT chapter: Lee goes to the hospital and a chilling secret is discovered, how will every one cope; is the doctor's predictions worse than what they are really saying? I won't continue this if I don't have more than 10 reviews.