Kai and Kori to the rescue! So they've saved Hiromi...but is she okay? Hiromi sees Kai's house for the first time, and a little plot pushing is introduced. This is pretty much a filler chapter; not much happens, but it's necessary.

Warnings: violence, character death, EXTREME FLUFF AND CHEESE! Scared? Then click the back button. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or its characters.


CHAPTER FOUR: INSIDE OF THE SUDDEN LIGHT


Brown eyes opened slowly, blinking themselves into focus despite the searing headache that thudded at the girl's head. With an annoyed groan, she shut her eyes tightly and rolled - with more difficulty than expected - onto her stomach. It took her quite a while before she remembered what had happened and jolted up so fast that her head started to spin, throbbing harder as she forced herself into a sitting position. She cradled her head in her hands and opened her eyes just a little, to peek around. As she suspected, she had no idea where she was, Did they kidnap me..? Suddenly more alert, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, taking a few shaky steps towards the exit of the room before she collapsed in a pile on the floor. Luckily for her, it was a plush white rug that broke her fall, and all that hurt was her head, still. Ooow, what did they do to me? She thought morosely, wondering how on earth she allowed herself to get into this mess. Thoughts and questions spiralled in her mind until it was too much for her to take anymore. She blacked out and flopped down onto the rug with only so much as a soft "thud".

When Hiromi felt herself wake to consciousness again, she decided she'd better be more careful. She pushed herself up slowly, and sure enough she was still in that same spot on the floor. She glanced to the window, noting that it was now considerably darker than when she'd first woken up in this foreign house. Her headache had ceased now but the dizziness remained. Deciding to make another effort of getting out, she carefully got to her feet and padded over to the door. I don't care how many times I have to collapse along the way, but I will get out of here! She told herself firmly before placing a hand on the cold silver doorknob and twisting it, heaving the door open and leaning against its frame for support as she glanced outside the room.

A corridor to the left and a corridor to the right, with a blank wall straight ahead. Things didn't look too good, This place must be huge... Settling on taking the left route, she made her way down the blandly decorated corridor. Luckily for her, it seemed she'd chosen the right direction, because she came to a staircase leading down to the floor below. Sneaking as quietly as her legs allowed her to the edge of the top step, she took a quick glance around to make sure nobody was following her.

"Hey!"

She heard a voice and suddenly the world seemed to spin around her. It was only moments before she realised she'd fallen into someone's arms, and began to struggle desperately to get out of them before he had chance to do anything, "H-Hiromi, you're gonna--" In that split second it took for her to recognise that voice as her own boyfriend's, they were sent flying down the huge staircase, and landed not-too-graciously at the bottom.

"Ow..." Hiromi mumbled and rubbed her head, the headache now coming back. Her eyes flew open and she sat up, "Kai, I'm so..." She looked down, heat rushing to her face when she realised that she was actually sat on him, "S-sorry..?"

He blinked, "Are you okay?" He asked, obviously more concerned for Hiromi than himself, which must have meant that he was alright.

The brunette nodded and got to her feet, sitting down again on a step, "I...didn't know where I was and..." She trailed of, staring at the ground. She was far too embarrassed and guilty to look at Kai right now, so she settled for tracing the patterns on the carpet with her eyes. Suddenly, something occurred to her. Her eyes widened, "Wait, you live here?"

Kai nodded, seeming confused. In the time Hiromi had been lost in her emotions Kai had gotten to his feet and was now standing in front of her.

"Woah..." She breathed, unable to say anything else on the matter, It's like a...a mansion or something! I mean, I knew he was rich, but this is... Wow. She blushed harder, embarrassed once more at her own stupidity. Another thought occurred to her; she had no idea how on earth she'd gotten here from being in the woods surrounded by drunken groping men. She looked up at Kai again, who was staring back with a sort of nervous expression, "What happened? In... In the woods, I blacked out..."

Kai scratched the back of his neck and averted his gaze with a shrug, "Kori and I came to get you. I brought you back here, because I don't know...where you live."

Hiromi nodded in understanding and took once again to blushing, I'm so pathetic... I was meant to be going for a walk, not getting molested. She was interrupted from her musings by a loud crash of thunder. Her eyes widened almost impossibly and she resisted the urge to jump up and cling onto Kai for dear life. At least they were inside, and she knew that the lightning couldn't get to her, but somehow even that thought did little to comfort her.

Kai helped her to her feet and placed a comforting arm around her waist in a semi-hug. He knew, after all, how scared she was of thunderstorms, "Looks like you're staying here tonight." He told her, "You can try and call your mom if you want, but the signals could be down." She nodded weakly and he rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a small silver flip-phone, handing it to her. She took it, hands shaking and somehow managed to dial the numbers correctly before holding the small phone to her ear, but it was just as Kai had said.

"N-no signal." She confirmed and passed it back to him, almost dropping it as she jumped when the thunder sounded again.

"Hmm..." He took her hand and led her through some rooms until they reached a large, modernly-furnished kitchen, "If we put on some music it can drown out the sounds." He explained and reached across the table for a remote. As his thumb pressed down on the power button, an almighty crash sent light flooding through the house and then suddenly...darkness. Nothing but darkness and the odd flashes of lightning from outside, "Oh great, a power cut." He sighed deeply and looked at Hiromi, who didn't appear to be enjoying herself at all. She stood with her eyes clasped tightly shut, shuddering at every sound of thunder and Kai came to wonder how on earth the girl could be so scared of something so...natural. But then he knew that childhood fears were not the easiest to suppress, and there was probably some kind of reasoning behind her fear, not that he thought it wise to ask her; especially at such a time.

Kai's brow furrowed in thought as Hiromi struggled to regain her sense of...just about anything. She cleared her throat and started to speak, her tone jolting to a high pitch with every thunder crash, "M-maybe we should g-get some candles or something." She suggested and Kai nodded with a sympathetic look.

"Yeah, good idea." He fumbled around the kitchen a while, Hiromi following him around as closely as she could without them standing on each-other's toes. After a while, he seemed to have found what he was looking for, and pulled out some small candles from a drawer, along with a lighter. He began placing them around various places in the room, Hiromi forcing herself to stay put as he did so, and he lit them one by one as he put them down. Soon, the room was restored to some state of lightness and Hiromi breathed a sigh of relief. At least that's not so bad... She tried to convince herself but despite her thoughts it felt as though her heart was trying to break through her ribcage.

Their attention was redirected with the sound of banging and clashing from upstairs, That wasn't thunder! Hiromi stated obviously in her mind, without the will to speak, and her comfort levels dropped back to zero. Kai glared up in the general direction of the noise before he looked at Hiromi in question, "Did you knock anything while you were up there?" He asked in contemplation, wondering if maybe something had just fallen off a surface, but his thought were dismissed with another, louder bang. Resuming his glare, he stepped towards the exit of the kitchen.

"W-wait! You're n-not gonna go up there, are you?" Hiromi asked, outraged but trying her best to keep her voice down, "It could be anybody! A-a murderer or something!"

Kai shrugged, "Whoever it is, they shouldn't be in my house." He glanced out of the door briefly and then back at Hiromi, "Look, why don't you just wait here, and I'll be right back, I promise. It's probably just...a cat or something." He tried to comfort her, but she didn't look very convinced.

"Wouldn't it be better just to call the police or something?" She proposed, but he didn't seem to be backing down.

"If I'm gone any longer than ten minutes, you call them, alright?" He told her with a smug smirk, "It's probably nothing, though." With that, he left a quaking brunette alone in the kitchen as he went to check out the noise. A little more banging had occurred while they were talking, but it didn't seem to be moving, though it had stopped now. He made his way back through some rooms to the staircase and walked up, clutching the banister as a means of direction and support. Everything was still near pitch black and if anything were to disorientate him, he didn't doubt that it would be his second time falling down those same stairs in one evening.

The sound seemed to be travelling now, and no matter where Kai went it seemed to be getting further away. It wasn't long before he'd searched all of the rooms upstairs, and something suddenly dawned on him. Shit. They're downstairs. All rational thought left him, and for a while he was stuck in the same, helpless position, unable to move from fear. Not for himself, but for Hiromi.

A familiar scream confirmed his suspicions and seemed to startle him back into reality. With more speed than should have been humanly possible, he sprinted down the stairs and to the kitchen as fast as his legs could possibly carry him.

"Hiromi!"


Aren't I mean to you all? Haha, sorry! But I like writing cliffhangers. I said I'd get this chapter up soon(ish) and here it is! Now send me lots of nice (non-threatening) reviews please!