Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.
Title: Waiting in the Wings
Chapter Title: Waiting Alone
Rating: T
Categories: Romance/Drama
Summary: Dedicated to GothicSabrina. Mariam and Kai both want to be independent, not relying on someone else. Not relying on 'love'. When they meet, their opinions only grow stronger. But could there be love waiting in the fiery wings of Dranzer?
Feedback: Reviews! YUM! Flames? Why would you bother?
Status: Chapters. But only if you review!
Notes: HI!
Reviewer Responses
GothicSabrina: Aw, maybe you're not like regular fan-girls – you're very obsessive and strange. And no, I'm not planning on killing 'Celery' or Hilary or 'The Pink Haired Bimbo' or Mariah. Ok? I hope you had a good time in England… was it York? Hey, can I borrow Kai's boxers? Just for a short while…
SilverWolf-Ryuki: Uh… ((hands a handkerchief)) There, there. Kai/Mariam is a good pairing, and one of my favourites but unfortunately, it's very rare ((sob)). And Max/Mariam, Ozuma/Mariam, Dunga/Mariam, Hilary/Kai or yaoi fans probably hate me for writing this pairing. Oh well… to me in the show, Tyson has some very strange qualities. But when paired up with Hilary, who can blame him? Another murder? Uh… course I haven't…
Cute Beyblader: Don't cry! DON'T CRY! Look! I updated! Be happy! XD
Bluestray: Yep, I updated. Because I like my readers!
Andre: YAY! A Mariam/Kai fan! ((hugs)) Fans of that couple are so rare and it's so unfair! I hope that you continue to read.
WAITING IN THE WINGS
Kai/Mariam
Mariam and Kai both want to be independent, not relying on someone else. Not relying on 'love'. When they meet, their opinions only grown stronger. But could there be love waiting in the fiery wings of Dranzer?
Flowerperson
© 2005
Part III
Waiting Alone
"I have to get home. My brother is probably worried." Before Kai could say anything, Mariam began to depardt, deciding that she would phone for a taxi. "Don't worry," she called, "I won't tell anyone how I managed to beat The Almighty Kai."
Hn, Kai thought then left for home so he could have a strong espresso. That was just a fluke.
There would definitely be more beyblade training in the morning.
Mariam groaned as she opened the door to her apartment and saw the bomb site that was the kitchen. Running a hand through her hair, Mariam reminded herself never to ask Joseph if he could cook for himself. Take-away, though unhealthy, would be better than Joseph burning the whole darn apartment block.
Her brother was asleep on the sofa – the television on some sports news channel. Nothing interesting. Beyblading – though a few competitions went on – was no where near as popular as it was when Mariam, Joseph and Kai played.
Oh well, she beat him, and she was damn right glad about it. The truth was, she had gone into the battle thinking that she would win on the surface but knowing she would lose deep down. It turned out that her inner feeling was wrong, and that partly scared her. Kai, second in the Beyblade championships had been beaten by her, who probably wasn't even in the top ten.
There must have been something wrong with him – that was the only explanation. But what? He seemed fine and focused until he figured out who she was. It must have been a shock to see her in Tokyo, when she lived in a far, isolated village and was a guardian of ancient bit-beasts. She had abandoned her role that had been given at birth, and would never be able to return to her village again.
She poked her green-haired brother gently, then harder as he mumbled something about 'green eggs and ham' (1). Resisting the urge to shake him, Mariam instead said his name. But it wasn't a whisper or a normal frequency. Instead, it was loud.
"JOSEPH!" she hollered and he instantly awoke, wincing from the damage to his ear drums. He yawned sleepily then looked up at his blue haired sister with emerald green eyes that they shared.
"Hey, you're back." He greeted, "I was getting worried. What happened?"
Mariam shrugged as she collapsed onto the sofa next to Joseph. "I did overtime for some extra cash. I didn't realise how dark it was, and I sort of got lost."
Hmmm… lost… more like got jumped by a bunch of jerks then got talked to by an even bigger jerk that had the audacity to associate her with bumbling fan girls. But she had beaten him, so she guessed it was even. And she hoped that she wouldn't see him again.
"Go on, bro. You need your sleep for school." She punched him on the arm and he yawned again as he stood up and stumbled towards his bedroom. "Oh… and Joseph?"
He turned to face her as he rubbed his eye, "Yeah?"
"Next time, get a take-away, ok?" He made a thumbs-up sign before pushing open his door and most likely burrowing into his covers on the bed and continuing his dreams of 'green eggs and ham'.
Mariam sighed as she looked around the apartment. The walls originally had been covered in peeling wallpaper with condensation patches. She and Joseph had gathered enough money for some paint (a grey, since it was very cheap) and painted the walls. The floor was a dark blue carpet but with ominous darker stains of unknown substances.
The kitchen, living room and hall were all the same room. The kitchen was in the left corner and had only a fridge, freezer, a stove and two dark grey counters with cupboards underneath. Their dining table was a small light blue folding table that came with two matching folding chairs that were very uncomfortable.
In the living room area, there was a small television (provided by the landlord as a courtesy) and a moth-eaten blue couch with more worrying stains of the unidentified liquids as well as numerous cigarette burns. Thankfully, none of the springs were broken and it was surprisingly comfortable. Despite the table and chairs, Mariam and Joseph frequently ate on the sofa. After all, smudges of mayonnaise or spaghetti-O's weren't going to make it any worse than it already was.
There were no ornaments or decorations, apart from a few photos. One was of all the Saint-Shields, another was of their parents, there was a photo of Mariam and Ozuma looking every bit the happy couple and there was another of Max Tate and that Emily girl's wedding. Mariam had been offered to attend, but had been unable to since at that time she was still in her village with Ozuma.
Yawning, Mariam decided to retire to bed also. She would have to wake up again tomorrow for work, but would think again before agreeing to working overtime…
After some intense training with Dranzer, Kai had a cooling shower as he thought about the events that occurred the previous night. It puzzled him on what the blue haired Saint-Shield was doing in Tokyo, and apparently her brother was also with her as she had said that he would have been worried. What was his name again? Jack? Jacob? Joseph? He was pretty certain it began with 'J'.
Whatever. It didn't matter what her younger brother was called. Mariam must have been working for she was wearing a white shirt and black skirt with a suit jacket and comfortable, scuffed, black shoes. It wasn't something you wore when partying.
It also irked him that Dranzer had been defeated by her Sharkrash. His focus was thrown off by the realisation of her identity, true, but she still shouldn't have won!
Damn, this was driving him crazy, and his fiery bit-beast was requiring another shot at defeating the invisible spirit. The phoenix's pride had been damaged, and that was something neither Dranzer nor its owner could handle. They wanted a rematch. They needed a rematch. They demanded a rematch.
However, the beyblader was lost to him. He didn't know where she lived, where she worked… nothing. Their meeting had been by chance, or by fate, by whichever way you wished to look at it. And most probably, they would never bump into each other again. Thus, Dranzer and Kai's pride would remain forever broken and their desires for another game would go unsatisfied.
Argh, he needed his caffeine fix and he needed it soon. It was either caffeine or sleep and sleep would only contain nightmares of things in the past and his worst fears.
Kai got out of a shower and wrapped a white cotton towel around his midriff (2). He walked out of the bathroom and down the corridor and stairs to the kitchen. He had no maids, butlers or any other staff apart from one, but she was currently on a break as she was not needed at the moment. He preferred to be alone in the house, and he didn't want others hearing his yells and screams of terror and pain when having a nightmare or witness him having a break down.
He hated being vulnerable in those moments, and did not want others to see them.
In the kitchen, as well as all the advanced gizmos that you would find in a rich person's kitchen, there was the best espresso-maker in the world's market of coffee-making machines. Imported all the way from Italy, its espressos were just as good as the adverts claimed, which wasn't very frequent in most products.
Sipping the brew, Kai instantly felt the fury of his wounded pride began to disappear and instead was replaced by a warm fire. He felt awake and alert, which was the way he liked to be.
The slate-haired Russian then walked into the living room and sat down on the black leather couch and turned on the 52-inch widescreen television. As always, he put it on the sports channel and was just in time to see the special report about a new Beyblading academy in Russia near Moscow on top of the old Biovolt complex.
"Valkov Academy for Beyblade Potential is aimed at all Junior Beybladers. Ages range from five to sixteen and both boys and girls are accepted. There is no fee, and beyblade parts are given for shockingly low prices."
"The Academy – founded by previous Blitzkrieg and Demolition Boy Tala Valkov – is replacing the abandoned Biovolt complex, once owned by Voltaire Hiwatari followed by Boris Balkov, who then founded BEGA. The complex was rumoured to be a training facility that experimented and altered the genetic structure of its members. Kai Hiwatari – one-time Beyblade Champion – and Tala Valkov are thought to be examples of these experiments."
"Mr Valkov, however, was quick to make it clear that VABP is nothing like Biovolt. Seeing the many eager children signing up, this reporter here thinks it looks like a bright future for the beybladers of Russia. This is Jun Takenouchi for Channel Two News. Back to the studio."
Kai remembered with a small grin of Tala phoning him a few months ago and telling him that he was building a brand new beyblade academy on top of his bastard of a grandfather's complex. First of all, he had been apprehensive of the idea. Both Kai and Tala were still – after all these years – plagued by horror-filled memories of the biological experiments and genetic alterations.
His former team-mate had also told him of a new girl he had met. Kai couldn't remember her name. Rhiannon or something? Maybe it was Rebecca… Kai was never very good with names. Apparently, they were 'in love'.
Pfft. Love? What a load of garbage. Lust, desire, need… who wanted that? He certainly didn't. Lust was, after all, one of the seven deadly sins. Giving in to your desires showed your resistance was weak. Need was the worst. Kai prided himself on being independent, and needing someone else's companionship was pitiful. Tala was becoming soft, but Kai had not said this. He had simply grunted with mock interest.
Speaking of which, he should phone Tala back soon. They always took turns in communicating with each other every few months. Oh well, he could save it until later. He had someone else to phone. Picking up the grey handset, he dialled a number.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Gou." (3)
Authoress' Notes
(1) — 'Green Eggs and Ham' is not mine. It belongs to Dr Seuss. I used it because Joseph's hair is green, as are his eyes and I was thinking of a combination of food and green… thus 'Green Eggs and Ham'.
(2) — ((drooling)) Gosh, I'm bad. Here's a little teaser for those Kai fan-girls out there. Don't say I don't do anything for you! Oh, and by the way, I expect him back when you're done for the next chapter.
(3) — I could tell you who Gou is… but then it would ruin the fun of revealing his identity later. I'm sure some of you know who 'Gou' is and if you do, well done. Very well done. ((grins))
Reviews are much appreciated. How about some of you guess who Gou is (hey, even if you know you can still see if you're right)?
Flowerperson (R a v e n o f D e s p a i r 1 3 AT a o l . c o m)