To all those who reviewed:
Snow Wind , native-kitten , reebiegirl and oceam,
THANKS SO MUCH! –feels motivated to continue with fic- I really appreciate you guys' reviews. Anyway, by request, here's your chappie!
Chapter 6-----Uncovered birthmark
The door opened. "Good morning! I hope your fee—" Dr Klein halted a few feet from the door.
The room was in a mess. Pillows were strewn across the floor and the sheets were creased. Seven sleepy bodies lay in random positions all over the room:
Mai was lying back to back with Hilary on the bed.
Kai sat at the corner of the bed. His arms were crossed with his head leaning back against the wall.
Kenny was slumped on top of his laptop.
Max and Rei had their heads on the coffee table.
And for some reason, Tyson was on the floor with one arm clinging on the edge of the bed. He was mumbling something in his sleep "Gimme back my cream puff……"
Dr Klein just stood there wondering what on earth happened in the room, and then gave a sigh. "Heh, kids these days…" Suddenly a bright idea came to her head as she snuck out of the room and came back with a siren in her hands. A mischievous smile played on her lips and as pushed the 'on' button.
BBBEBOHBEEBBBBBBOHHHHHHBBBBEEBBBBBOOOOHHHH!-
Mai jerked up "Whhaaa! WHAT THE HELL?" and so did everyone…
Kai kicked the bed side lamp.
Max and Rei had bumped their heads together.
Hilary was wide-eyed and Kenny just screamed "IIIeeeaaaa!"
…else except Tyson. Dr Klein turned off the siren and laughed. "Sorry but that was the quickest way to get you guys up. Hahaha, you should've seen the look on your faces, hahahahaha."
The gang sweatdropped… "Hey, is she really a doctor…?" Max's eyebrow twitched. 'My god, she almost gave us a heart attack!' He thought.
"Well enough playing around. I came to tell Mai that she's free to go today. Mai, would you like me to call your parents to pick you up?"
"No…that's ok…I think I can manage…" Her expression altered a little, Rei noticed that it had become sad.
"Oh, alright then. You're free to go anytime but remember to check out at the counter before you go, ok?" With that, Dr Klein gave a smile, spun on her heels and left the room.
"-yawns- …This place looks like a dump…" Hilary said as she rubbed her eyes.
"Dun worry, we'll clean it up…but first things first…How do we wake Tyson?" Mai nudged him as if he were some disgusting thing on the ground.
Apparently everyone had forgotten about Tyson…He was still lying on the floor, a little bit of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth.
"Oh, I can handle that." Max marched up to Tyson and shouted in his ear "TYSON!MAI'S GONNA EAT ALL YOUR PANCAKES IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP!"
"STAY AWAY FROM MY FOOD!" Tyson shot up. Just then, a pillow came flying in his direction and hit him square in the face, causing him to fall on the ground once more.
"You blockhead…you're gonna get us all deaf!" Kai huffed. Mai laughed. 'All that idiot ever thinks about is food…'
"Anyway, let's clear up guys" Hilary said in a leader-ly kind of tone. Everyone helped except Kai who just leaned against the cupboard, observing his –well in his opinion- servants…
Everything was spotless when everyone was done. "Can we go get some breakfast now? I'm starving!" Tyson said. Everyone agreed and gathered their stuff together.
"Hey wait, Mai can't go in those –Hilary points to Mai's clothes which were still torn-"
"Then lend her some! Hurry up, I'm starving!" Tyson complained.
"What! No way am I wearing some stupid mini skirt! Why can't I borrow Max's clothes? –Max is the shortest, sry if I have offended Max fans- I ca— " Her words faded as she got dragged away by Hilary. "We'll meet you guys down stairs!" Hilary called back; delighted that she could make Mai her Barbie doll for today.
Downstairs-
The place was alive with a multitude of noises. Smells of delicious, piping-hot food wafted through the air, making Tyson's mouth water. He rushed off to find an empty table and the rest followed after him.
"Uhh…Tyson, shouldn't you eat a lil' slower? You're gonna choke yourself doing that…" Kenny informed him. –if ya guys watch saiyuki, then picture hakkai giving that nervous smile and holding his finger up, Kenny looks like tht now-
"Hmph, let him choke…"Kai grunted. "We'd have one less moron to look after."
Max burst out laughing then stopped abruptly. "Hey, whaddya mean one less moron!"
But before anyone could say anything, something had caught their attention.
"Hilary, you're gonna pay for making me look like this…you are sooo gonna pay." Mai threatened, but Hilary wasn't paying attention as she dragged Mai by the hand to where the guys were seated.
"Hey guys!" Hilary made sure she got the gang's attention. Mai stood behind her, feeling stupid…and placing death glares on Hilary's back and on anyone else in the room who was checking her out. "May I present to you, the new Mai!" Hilary pushed Mai forward.
Mai had on a dark purple tank top and a long white crumpled-looking skirt –I dun really know what its called but its in fashion now- with beads lacing the bottom. She must've bathed because her hair looked sleek and was pinned up –by one of those long sticks you insert into yr hair and it stays in place with a bit of hair falling over…and again…I dun know wat its called…- with a few strands of hair falling over her face.
"Wow, Mai. You look…good!" Rei exclaimed, shocked to see this new side of Mai. Then again, so was everyone else; even Tyson stopped eating...only because he choked on his food at the sight of Mai. "I told you so…"was all that Kenny could say.
"See? I told you, you looked nice" Hilary said, but Mai still had that pissed-off frown on her face. They both sat down; Hilary sat down nicely of course, but Mai just pulled out her chair and slumped in it. She was too busy trying to conjure up some kind of revenge to get back at Hilary.
"C'mon Mai, you look better when you smile you know" Hilary said as she popped a sausage into her mouth. "Oh yeah? We'll I don't feel like it…" Mai answered. She hated skirts…she couldn't run in them. 'Stupid things' she thought as she reached out to grab the plate of pancakes that Kenny was passing around. Just then, Rei noticed something on her right wrist. It was a phoenix-shaped birthmark. 'Hey, I know that birthmark!' Rei was stunned but decided to wait till they went back up stairs to ask her about it. 'No wonder she looked sad…'
Upstairs-
Rei was silent the whole time throughout breakfast ever since he noticed the birthmark…He didn't know what to say…Was she going to leave just like that?
"So Mai, where will ya go from here?" Max asked as he and Mai rejoined the group in Tyson's room after she had checked out.
"She doesn't have anywhere to go…"Kai answered coldly. He was leaning against the wall. Rei turned to look at him. 'How did he know!' he thought. Mai was stupefied… 'He knows…'
"What're you saying Kai?" Hilary asked. She looked puzzled.
"Why don't you tell 'em, Mai. Tell 'em who you really are." Rei finally spoke up. Kai cocked an eyebrow 'So Rei knows too huh…'
'They know…but how…?' Then it occurred to her that her wrist was exposed. She wasn't wearing her gloves anymore. Her left hand darted across to cover her right wrist.
"Tells us what Mai?" Tyson was confused.
"No use trying to hide it, I already know…" Rei studied Mai; he could tell she was nervous, she kept fiddling with the zipper of her jacket. –its her old one, she just wore it over the tank top- You're from that tribe that got wiped out by the fire…You're one of the Zeelas."
"So you know…" Mai spoke softly, she mentally cursed herself for not remembering to put on her gloves… 'This is partly Hilary's fault…damn her!'
"Zeelas? What're you guys talking about?" Max questioned.
"According to my research, –Kenny had been doing a lil' research on the Zeelas- the Zeelas were a tribe from China. Kinda like Rei's clan and the Saint shields. Anyway, it says here that they have a history with beyblading and bit-beasts and were the guardians of – "
"Alzea, the bit-beast of wind…" Mai interrupted. She sat down on the edge of the bed, not bothering to cover up her wrist anymore. What's the point? They already knew…
"So now you don't have any place to go from here? Since your tribe is gone and all…" Hilary asked; a hint of sympathy in her voice.
Mai shook her head. "My parents died in the fire… so I have no one left…All I can do now is search for the last of my tribe…that is, if anyone else had survived …"
"Then what about the scars and injuries? You were badly hurt when we found you. The fire couldn't have caused so much damage." Max questioned.
Mai hesitated. This was the one thing that could endanger their lives if they hung around with her. 'Should I tell them? But I trust them right…I said that I would take the risk…'
"I…I was running away…away from…my grandfather…" Mai gritted her teeth as she remembered what that monster had done. She hated him, she hated saying his name, she hated the look on his face when he killed her tribe members…She hated everything about him.
"Your grandfather? But why would he want to hurt you?" Rei said.
"…I'm not fully Zeelan…My mother is but my dad is a regular person…as in not from any tribe. My grandfather didn't approve of my mother and objected to their marriage… so my dad ran away with my mother. He married into the tribe so I grew up amongst the Zeelans and learnt everything there was to know about my tribe. My dad and I considered ourselves Zeelans… But then he came…." Mai clenched her fists in anger. "That bastard set the town on fire and killed everyone just to get me…" Mai's voice was dripping with hatred.
"I haven't seen him my whole life… Why is he coming after me only now…"
'I haven't done anything…'
"Maybe he did it out of hatred for your tribe?" Max asked.
"He would've killed them a long time ago if that had been the reason…Why now…after so many years…" Mai searched for an answer…and then remembered what he had said...
Flashback-
"Henry, you know I'm doing this for your own good. For the good of our kind; to save humanity. It was wrong of you to marry Serena and create that…that thing!"
End of flashback-
'That thing! That thing…that thing…' The words echoed in Mai's mind. The way he said it felt like he was calling her a…a monster. 'To save humanity… but how could I endanger hu—'
But her thoughts were cut off. "Mai…? Hey, Mai!" Hilary waved a hand in front of her.
"Huh…whhha?"
"Were you listening to what Kenny was saying?" Hilary sounded irritated…
"Uhh…no…could you repeat that Kenny?"
"Well as I was saying, maybe your grandfather knows about your ability to sense that creature" Kenny said a-matter-of-factly.
"But how could he know? I only started having those premonitions a few days ago… I dun even know why myself…" Mai looked frustrated. There were so many questions with hardly any answers to them… She couldn't take it anymore. She didn't even know what was happening to her.
"There's a possibility that Kenny could be right…Maybe your grandfather does know something we don't. Well I guess there's only one way to find out." Rei said calmly.
"No…You're not thinking of asking that monster…." A look of disbelief washed over Mai's face.
Rei flashed a smile then said "Of course not, we're going to the place where it all happened… your town."
"My town?"
Okiez, that was chapter 6 for ya. Stupid document manager is screwy...won't let me add in more exclaimation marks or question mark after an exclaimation mark...dumb thing...
Moving on, hope you guys enjoyed it! Sorry if the fic is a bit boring towards the end, had a lil' writer's block…too sleepy maybe… Anyway, pls review!
Blu drags pillow and goes off to sleep—