Atta651 asked me to continue, and since I did finish this, I humbly took her advice. Yay. Now go read my other stories and review. No pressure. P
I don't own beyblade, just this particular storyline
Chapter Three- I Walk Alone
The hotel Mr. Dickenson had booked for them was quite nice, simple, and down-to-earth. There was quite a bit of privacy, and god knew, they all needed their privacy every now and then.
The Bladebreakers were participating in an exhibition tournament in a small town, quite a distance from Tyson's dojo. Kenny had coaxed, cajoled, and bribed the four bladers into coming to this tournament, much to Kai's grudging amusement, and Tyson's borderline violent protests. The temperamental blader had only agreed to Kenny's plan after Hilary was allowed to come with them; otherwise what was the use of vacation time if he couldn't spend it with his girlfriend?
Okay, so Tyson has every right to demand the presence of his girlfriend here. Why can't I demand mine?
Ray missed Mariah terribly. She was back in their hometown with her brother, putting the finishing touches on a mural she had help complete with the local elementary school. He hadn't seen her all year—owing to the fact he was too busy to take a trip out there, and she was too busy to take a trip out here.
She called often, but sometimes even that wasn't enough. Thankfully, with the BioVolt invitational, they'd be seeing each other soon.
God, he had missed her. And right now, he missed her cooking. He was freaking starving!
Ray stood before their window, contemplating on how they were going to order dinner for six people. Kai had retreated to a corner of the room, reading a book he had picked up on the way to the hotel. Tyson and Max were discussing the various mechanical methods a blade could be altered, like they had many times before. Ray had been interested in the conversation, but he couldn't hold his attention on one thing for very long when starving. Kenny could not be pried off his laptop at the present; he was absorbed with his work for the BBA. Hilary was busy unpacking for herself and Tyson, which could be quite a chore, since Tyson tended to throw whatever was at hand in his luggage, without a second thought.
"Kenny?" Hilary poked her head out of her room. "Where'd you put your suitcase?"
"Mmmphf." She sighed.
"I'm only asking for two seconds of your time. Even you can't have lost track of it from the airport here."
Kenny looked up briefly, annoyed. "Isn't it in the room?"
"If it were, would I ask?"
He waved his hand at her. "Nope. But worry about that later. Not now, Hil. I've got to figure this little problem with Max's Draciel. I can find my stuff later." His absentminded stare focused back onto his computer.
Tyson peered over his friend's shoulder. "Maybe you should do it now, Chief."
"Why! I'm busy as it is!" he snapped.
"Well, your laptop's gonna die from lack of battery power, and you're not hooked up to any power source. You packed your spare batteries and AC cords in your suitcase, remember?" A smile sneaked across Tyson's face before he was able to force it back to look at a panic-stricken Kenny seriously.
"I didn't even see it! Where's my stuff? Hilary! Some help here!"
Kai rolled his eyes and flipped a page as Kenny flew into the bedroom at a neckbreaking speed.
Silence. Rummaging. Silence. Wail.
Max bit back a chuckle as Kai shot the door an irritated look. "Such is the life of Kenny. Work, anxiety, work." He noticed his best friend was shaking rather hard… with laughter?
"Tyson?" Ray had noticed too.
"Sorry," he bluenette responded, gasping, "it's just that I hid Kenny's bag under his bed. Far under his bed. Can't even kick if you tried."
Max grinned. "Tell me you did that just to see Chief freak out like that."
"You know it! High five!"
"Tysonnnnn! I heard that, you bastard!" Kenny was scowling, dragging his bag from the room, and looking slightly dusty from crawling under the bed. Finding his spare battery, he glared triumphantly at Max and Tyson, who were crying with merriment, and went back to his work, muttering death threats to all that dared disturb him.
Soon the room fell silent again, as the occupants were absorbed in their own thoughts and projects.
Ray sighed, and headed for the door to see if he could talk to room service about a meal.
Someone rapped on the door, just as he was about to reach for the handle.
Ray was startled. He was not expecting anyone, and by the looks on everyone else's face, neither were they. Tyson and Max looked curious, Hilary stood with a question mark etched upon her expression and a pair of socks in her hand, Kai looked mildly interested, and Kenny… well, Kenny hadn't noticed a blessed thing. Giving the others a shrug, Ray opened the door.
A girl stepped into the room, quickly and easily. She had on a hat which shielded so much of her face, the only thing Ray could see as a suggestion of a smile on a sensual mouth. She was not very tall, but gave the impression that she was with long, slender legs. She wore an airy white blouse and a dark blue skirt that barely touched her knees.
She was beautiful. And Ray didn't even know what her face looked like.
She spoke.
"Bladebreakers?" she had a soft lilting voice that somewhat echoed through the room. "Hello. I'm just a neighbor, staying two rooms down." She pointed a thin arm to her right. "I just could not pass up an opportunity to meet celebrities. Have you eaten, yet? No? Well, dinner is my treat. Please, help yourselves. I've already alerted the kitchen staff, and it's on its way. No, please, it's my pleasure to help you all." The suggestion of a smile became stronger. "I won't stay and bother you too long. If there's anything else I can do for you, I'm just down the hall, Room 207." She paused, thinking.
"Actually, I'm going to be in the gardens for the next hour. Feel free to join me. Please, enjoy." And before any of the Bladebreakers could protest, she left the room as mysteriously as she came.
And she left utter silence in her wake.
Ray and Max exchanged a glance before the both of them looked at their captain. Kai was still sitting casually in his chair with his book in hand. However, his knuckles were white from where he held the book, the look in his eye was hard. His eyes did not leave the door from which the girl had left from, and that particularly disturbed Ray. It was as though Kai was processing some sort of formula he had seen before but wasn't familiar with.
And knowing Kai, he didn't like things he wasn't familiar with.
Tyson looked at Kenny. "I thought you said Mr. Dickenson ensured us that we wouldn't be harassed by fangirls."
Wide-eyed, Kenny replied, "In fact, he did assure me of that. I don't know who she is or where she came from." He paused. "And Tyson, I wouldn't call buying us dinner harassing, by any standard."
Max frowned, "That's just the thing, Chief. Buying dinner for six people is no small favor. Granted, we are slightly famous, but still, that's no reason for a fangirl to buy us dinner."
Hilary was still studying the door the girl had exited. She leaned over to Tyson and rested her head on his shoulder. "Tyson?"
His eyes softened looking down at her. "Yeah, Hil?"
"I don't think fangirls can even afford huge meals like that."
Ray nodded, overhearing the two. "Especially if they're busy obsessing over every little thing we do.
Kai sat there silently, taking in what had just happened and every opinion expressed by his teammates. He didn't like what he was hearing.
Before another word was said, dinner was presented to them by the hotel staff. It was an excellent meal, filled with various dishes to whet any appetite, from chicken to fish to steaks, and the Bladebreakers had it all.
Hilary said musingly to Ray, "At least you won't have to worry about ordering food for all of us."
Unbelievingly, Ray looked at all the food. "Chief, whoever this girl is, she definitely planned this way ahead of time. There is no way you can get a dinner this elaborate from a normal fan. This is expensive stuff!"
That did it. Kai stood up and stalked towards the door.
"Kai? Aren't you at least going to try your food?" Kenny asked their team captain.
"Later," Kai said without a backwards glance at the table.
Hilary gave Kenny a look before he could say anything else. As the door closed on their captain, she shook her head. "He'll always be the same, won't he?"
Tyson looked confused for a moment. Then clarity dawned upon him. He gave her shoulders a squeeze. "Yeah. He will."
Max shook his head. "That doesn't have to do with anything, Hilary. What the hell does he have to fear from a girl?"
The color from Ray's face drained as he put down his chopsticks. He had just realized what Kai had deduced. "What did have to fear for the entirety of his life, Max?"
Max paled as well. "BioVolt."
He stormed angrily into the gardens. He found her there, under a weeping willow, whose leaves had come undone in the cold weather.
She stood staring at the branches, as if she expected there was something to find. Her back was turned towards him, so he couldn't tell if she knew he was there. Her clothes were too light for the chilly night. But there she was, undisturbed by it all.
"Come and sit," a girl's voice invited. The same voice that came from under the large hat. Kai glared at her figure.
How dare they. How dare they think they can play up to us and try to kill us at the same time.
He was going to stop this before it got out of hand. BioVolt could not be unleashed on the world again, he was going to make damn sure of that.
How out of hand things were going to get, seemed to have escaped his perception at the moment.
Kai stepped closer until he was ten feet away from her. He didn't dare come any closer.
He studied her hands that were behind her: two pale hands, laced together, patiently, as if waiting for his arrival. The hat still shielded her from his gaze. His glare at her was hard. He whipped out Dranzer and his launcher with one cold sweep and aimed it at the girl.
She didn't even flinch, but she knew that he might as well have had pointed a gun at her head. It was as though she expected him to come to her and to react as he did. "Yes, Kai? Did you enjoy your meal? Or was seeing me much too important?"
Kai's arm became straighter at her comments. In a tightly controlled voice, he asked, "What I want to know is, who are you and what do you want with us? If you're with BioVolt, I want you to know that you are not welcome here, or anywhere else my team and I may go."
The girl took a step away from him. She leaned forward to examine the tree better, and then spoke softly.
"Is it that important? My identity matters to you?"
He laughed without amusement. "Why shouldn't it? That's your whole intention, isn't it? You want us to ask who you are. That's why you didn't introduce yourself." He indicated to her hat with a sharp movement of his head. "That's why you wear that ridiculous hat. That's why you talk in riddles. You want me to ask. All right. I'll bite. Who the hell are you?"
She was silent
"No? Dranzer!"
The girl leaped up and grabbed the lowest branch on the tree, missing the beyblade by inches. Her hat still remained on her head.
Dranzer hit the trunk of the tree and skidded upwards towards her. She pulled herself upward and sat on the branch. "You wouldn't," she said, her eyes on Dranzer.
Kai squinted up at her. He still couldn't see what she looked like. Better safe than sorry.
"I would. You'd better give in. You don't know Dranzer. Or me."
He was startled to hear bright laughter. "Oh, Kai, don't I?"
Kai clenched his teeth. She sounded like Boris mocking him. "Dranzer! Attack her!"
Dranzer flew up to where the girl was. She leapt off the branches, jumping on and even higher branch. Open-mouthed, Kai glared admiringly at her. She wasn't a novice.
"Dranzer!" The blade doubled back and rounded on the girl. She waited for the blade, and dodged it once more, disappearing into the night.
Kai looked around him, trying to search for her figure. Little girls didn't get lost all by themselves.
"You have toughened up." He whirled around to see her, on the ground, on both feet. The strap of her dress was askew, her voice was out of breath, but the hat still hid her.
His eyes narrowed. "Don't talk like you know me."
He pointed his launcher at her and whispered, "Destroy her, Dranzer."
The beyblade flew. She leaped up to avoid it, and smiled. Kai wouldn't learn, the stubborn bastard—
She gasped as she felt his arm around her neck from behind, locking her there. Where she could feel Dranzer at her feet, ready to deliver the final blow.
His smile was malicious. "Guess they haven't been doing to well at the abbey. You never take your eyes off the enemy." His grip grew tighter, threatening to strangle her.
She didn't reply but the hat fell off her head.
Brown locks cascaded down her neck, and over his arm. He released her in surprise. The color of warm caramel reminded him of someone…
He looked at the girl he had thrown to the ground. He wasn't sure if it really was her. The hair was one sign, but he was sure of it when he saw her eyes.
No one that he ever met in his entire life had eyes like hers. Soft, and hazel, they sparked with intelligence, and right now they gleamed with laughter.
"You're so predictable, Kai, honestly. Would I have taken my eyes off of you if I honestly thought you'd have killed me? Without my identity? You're Kai Hiwatari, of the Abbey!" She laughed. "For a minute there, I thought you were losing your touch. But you meant to that all along," she said happily. "Thanks."
She stepped forward, and held out her hand, cueing him to shake it. "Hello, Kai. Nice to see you again."
He wanted to shake her. He wanted to shake himself. Her being here, it made everything he knew these past years… fake. It almost made his childhood seem to be a lie.
He couldn't acknowledge her, all of this, anything. But he had to.
He had to say something to her.
"Nessie?" he whispered.