Hey, I finally caught a break from school to write this. Sorry it's not as long as you guys deserve it to be… I'm currently going through a lot right now… and I'm quite emotionally unstable… But I really hope you guys enjoy. Sadly, there will be no review replies… You can thank fanfiction(.)net for that… But still, Kai and Ray cupcakes to all those of you that reviewed! Now, on with the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.
Haunted by Darkness
Chapter 3
"He was finally able to fall asleep…" Kai mused as he let out a slight yawn. He looked over to his bed, where Ray now lay curled sleeping after a completely restless night of tossing and turning. The younger boy's chest rose and fell steadily with his breathing; his lips were slightly parted, and a single strand of soft raven hair was falling on his face.
Slowly inching his hand towards Ray's features, Kai hesitated before gently brushing the strand away from the smooth angelic face. The crimson-eyed blader's hand unconsciously lingered on the Chinese boy's skin, marveling in the unusual softness; that is, until Kai realized what he was doing and quickly withdrew his hand, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks.
"What the hell am I doing?" he gasped mentally, looking away in shame. "Ray's my friend… my teammate… he's…"
Kai turned to face the young blader, taking in every detail… every motion. He couldn't help it. The boy was just so unique… so intriguing… so…
"So beautiful…" he whispered unconsciously. Then, as if suddenly realizing what he just said, he shook his head vigorously. "I can't think of him that way… It's just not right…"
But still, he turned once more to look at Ray. This time, the raven-haired boy was shivering slightly so Kai pulled the covers up on him. The sleeping Ray unconsciously grasped the blankets and curled into them, shifting his position before continuing his rest.
Kai shifted in his seat, before letting out a deep sigh.
"Ray… I want to help you… I really do…"
The small figure of a child now lay curled in darkness. His long raven bangs shielded his eyes from view, as he extended a terribly pale arm towards an equally pale figure standing a few feet before him.
"No… please don't go!" the child cried to the young man before him. The other's back was turned, flowing alabaster scarf trailing behind. He didn't seem moved by the child's words… for he remained as silent as a grave. The child pleaded yet again. "Don't go… I don't wanna be alone."
The pale figure did not look back, only turning his dark gaze to look down as slate bangs obscured indistinguishable eyes. No words uttered from his lips; no emotions made themselves noticed.
"Don't leave me alone." The young boy supplicated, now on his knees as he wept silvery tears. The older boy then started walking away.
"Kai… no!"
"Kai!"
With a gasp, Ray snapped his golden eyes open as he sat up, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. The boy put a trembling hand to his forehead, taking deep intakes of breath.
"Are you alright?"
A gentle but firm hand placed itself on top of Ray's, causing him to look up. He met with concerned crimson eyes… Kai.
"Are you alright?" the Russian boy repeated. Ray's gaze was fixated on the sheets. That dream he just had…
"Ray, you called my name."
The neko-jin froze, as he slowly turned to face the other. "What?"
"I heard you call my name…" Kai repeated, passionate crimson gaze boring right into golden eyes. "What happened? Was it another nightmare?"
A slight tint of red crept unto Ray's cheeks in embarrassment. He felt so ashamed. He was being such a burden to his usually indifferent team captain… Kai was being so unusually caring… and here he was… being nothing but a weight on his shoulders.
He felt bad. He had kept Kai awake all night. The other boy hadn't slept a thing… that much was evident from the dark circles under his eyes. But he didn't want to be a burden to anybody, especially not to Kai.
"Kai… I'm so sorry." The raven-haired boy replied, pulling himself up from the bed as Kai looked at him bewildered.
The younger boy's hair, which had been tied in a low ponytail, had come slightly unbound during the night. A couple renegade strands were flowing out here and there. To complete the effect, the boy's usually bright golden eyes seemed now cheerless and melancholic, making Ray look like a sad fallen angel.
As much as he tried, Kai couldn't advert his eyes from the slim figure before him. Ray looked so beautiful… so sad. A creature so beautiful did not deserve to be so sad.
"Ray, no, it's ok." He said softly, trying to reassure the boy. He knew Ray had a tendency to be extremely hard on himself, and always put others before himself.
Kai got up his bed, but before he could get to Ray, the raven-haired boy exited the room in a hurry.
"Ray!"
By the time Kai made it to his door, Ray had already shut himself in his room. The slate-haired blader smashed his fist against the wall, cracking it slightly.
"Dammit, Ray… Just let me help you…" he whispered dejectedly. "I just want to help…"
Ray closed his door behind him, then leaning against it to catch his breath.
"I shouldn't have run like that…" the boy whispered to himself. "I know I didn't want to… But still… I can't let him get involved."
Ray looked down, pain visible in his golden eyes.
"Kai, I'm so sorry…"
"Grandfather, is it true?"
A breathless Lee Yin rushed into the wooden hut that was home to the Village Elders. He had just heard news… very exciting news. And he just had to know if they were true or not.
"Grandfather!" Lee called out as he halted abruptly, hunching over to catch his breath. He had come over running all the way from the White Tiger Hills, where a very excited Mariah had told him the news. As a result, he was completely breathless and panting.
Lee's grandfather, also the top-ranked elder in the village, sat with his back facing his grandson. He was sitting with his legs crossed, in the lotus position, with his eyes closed. Apparently he had been meditating before his grandson had stormed into the hut.
With a sigh, the old man turned to face his fiery grandson. "Yes? What is it, young one?"
"Is it true?" Lee asked quickly, an elated look visible in his eyes. "It it true that Rei will soon be back?"
The old man chuckled at the excitement present in Lee's voice. Mariah and Kevin had acted similarly when they received the news.
"Yes, it is true, my child. Rei will be back."
"Yes!"
Elder Yin looked on with a sweatdrop as Lee pumped his fist into the air before running out, letting out a series of "Whoo!"s and "Alright!"s. Letting out a sigh, he turned back to his thoughts.
"Rei, my child, I am truly sorry for summoning you to the village. I know coming here will pain you further… But only by facing one's fear does one acquire true courage."
"Yes! Alright! Woo!"
Lee was euphoric as he ran through White Tiger Hill towards the WT training camp. It all seemed just to good to be true.
"I can't believe Rei is finally coming back after all this time… I've waited… kept it to myself for so long… I've had to hide my feelings… But this time, I won't hold back. I'm not gonna let this chance slip right through my fingers."
"I love you, Rei. And I'm going to make you mine. You just wait and see."
"What was that, Tyson?" Ray asked turning to the dragon blader as he finished braiding his long raven hair.
The navy-haired boy popped up from outside the neko's doorframe. "I said, I think a letter came for you in the mail. It's down in the kitchen."
Nipping his thumb slightly, Ray held a thoughtful look before replying. "Hmm… okay… thanks."
"Don't mention it, pal. Oh, and since you slept in today, Max already started breakfast." The Japanese teen called over his shoulder as he rushed down the hallway to the kitchen.
"Alright…" the golden-eyed teen whispered before turning to look towards Kai's room. The Russian's door was shut, so he assumed Kai had already gone down to the kitchen.
"I guess I should head down too…"
With this thought, Ray closed his door and set down the hallway behind Tyson. When he entered the kitchen, he was greeted with the sizzling of the pan and the scent of sunny-side up eggs and bacon. Tyson was already leaning on the counter impatiently, making impatient faces as he waited for the toast to pop up, while Max was at the stove, flipping slice after slice of juicy bacon. Ray looked to the far side of the room and saw Kai sitting at the table already, slowly downing his daily dose of caffeine.
"Ohoho… MAX! This stupid toast is taking FOREVER!" Tyson whined annoyingly while his lips pursed in a silly pout. This only caused the fair-haired cook to giggle.
"It'll come up soon enough, Ty. In the meantime… here." Max replied as he handed the navy-haired boy a plate with his steaming delicious breakfast. Tyson's eyes turned into a sparkle-fest as he grabbed the plate from the American boy's offering hands. With a "woot", he settled noisily at the table to gobble down his breakfast.
Ray chuckled at the silly display, before accepting a steamy cup from Max.
"It's your favorite, Ray. Blueberry Vanilla. Mom sent it especially for you." Max beamed in all his bright glory, and the neko-jin couldn't resist smiling.
"Thanks." He whispered gratefully as he blew some of the rising steam from the tea before taking a comforting sip… Mmm… delicious.
Now with his tea, Ray moved towards the table, where several letters where neatly separated in four distinct piles, one for each of the Bladebreakers. His pile was especially big, practically matching that of his team captain… mostly fan letters… except for one plain white envelope that sat above the rest. With a quirked eyebrow, the raven-haired teen picked it up. Looking over the envelope, he noticed it was indeed addressed to him but, curiously, had no return address.
"That's weird… Lee and Mariah normally write their names when they send me a letter… I guess it's not from them…"
Using his finger, he carefully separated the flap from the rest of the envelope, producing a cream-colored paper delicately embedded with Chinese characters.
Tyson looked up from his breakfast in curiosity. "What's it say?"
Ray's golden orbs skimmed over the characters as he took a sip of his tea. As he kept reading, his eyes started to widen more and more…
Tyson and Kai looked up alarmed at the sound of a shattering cup against the floor. Ray's hand was shaking, and his normally tanned skin was extremely pale.
"Ray, what's wrong?" Kai voiced worriedly as he stood up in a hurry. Placing both his arms on Ray's shaking arm, he tried to settle his teammate down. "Ray…"
"No… they… they want me to go back…"
To Be Continued…
So there we go… after almost three months of waiting… Sorry, but I really haven't had any time to write… -' Well, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I should probably point out that the constant switching between the forms of "Ray" and "Rei" during the story are not accidental… but you guys probably realized it by now… heheh. Oh, and I don't think Kenny is gonna be in this fic… so don't expect him to pop out at all…
Well, sorry I can't reply to reviews. But I'm really grateful, though. Thanks, you guys. Well, later.
XOXO
Ruby Hiwatari aka Neko Phoenix Girl