Now where have I seen her before?

Safe, In Your Arms

Chapter 2: My New House-Mate

The date… November 1st, boring day, like everyday. I don't see the point of school sometimes. It's more like socializing with your friends and personally if they want us to socialize, I would rather beyblade or chat or something. Idiots. They have no brains. Sometime I wonder if people even think. For example this one girl—who's name I seriously can't remember—asked me to the movies 5 times today.

I told her 'no' 5 times. Can't she understand what I mean? Doesn't she have a brain? Oh well, to hell with that.

It's 4:30 now in the afternoon, and I'm still waiting for someone to call me, so that I can rent this freaking annoying room away. Personally, I think that my house is too big; actually, it's way too big. Not that I mind but my parents suggested that I should rent it out. They say that I should socialize, now that's a word that I hate.

I have "friends", they're my teammates, you know… the Bladebreakers. I'm sure that you've heard of them.

"Master Ray and Max are at the door, sir," James, my longtime butler, said.

James was a nice guy; he worked for my family for as long as I can remember. I could trust him with almost everything. After all, he practically raised me; I probably spent more time with him than with my parents. It's not my parents fault; they're just too busy with their business. And my brother too, he's gone in university.

"Hey, Kai!" Ray said as he patted my back. I turned my head slightly from the screen of my computer. I nodded and pocked an eyebrow. Ray was probably my best friend, Max was a bit of a softy and Tyson was a pig. Kenny… well he's Kenny, he only talks to his computer.

"Got bored," Max added.

I rolled my eyes in response. "Go ahead. Play, eat, whatever. Just leave me alone."

"Gee," Max said as he made himself comfortable on the couch in front of the TV. Ray grabbed the remote control and sat down.

The Chinese boy took out his beyblade.

"Anyone feel like having a match?" he asked.

"Hn, okay. Two minutes," I replied.

But suddenly James back again.

"Two ladies are at the door, one is asking about the room," he said. I nodded and waved to dismiss him.

"What's up?" Max asked quizzically.

"Parents want me to rent the big room upstairs away," I replied as I got up.

Two women sat in the big lounge. One older woman admiring some antique furniture that sat in the room. I merely smirked. The younger woman just sat there, expressionless, actually, she looked rather bored. I notice her yawn.

As I came closer I noticed the older woman had dark brown hair and some grey hair, but she looked very calm and warm. The younger woman, she looked… Chinese. I waved for Ray and Max to come over.

We all strolled over and sat across from the two women.

"Koni—" I started politely. After all, she was a stranger. But somehow she looked familiar.

"Oh joy. Theresa, I need to translate again, I'm so sorry," the younger woman said. Actually, I should call her a girl. She looked no older than 16.

"No need," Max said as he grinned. "English speaker right here," he said as he pointed to himself.

"Oh, thank God," the girl smiled as she said that. "So um, I'm interested about the room you're renting? And may I add that your house is quite… amazing."

I smirked.

"Yes, obviously, my parents sent famous architect to design this house, and everything else was planned perfectly. I think that you would enjoy it here. The room is upstairs, I could show it to you," it surprised me, yes really, how polite I was to this stranger. How odd. There was something that I liked about her, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

As I inspected this stranger further I noticed that she had dark green eyes, which was, very rare in Japan. But… she isn't Japanese, is she? She could be British? American?

I notice her grimace as I spoke. I must admit, my English wasn't the best, but at least, I could guess that it was better than her Japanese.

James stepped to the staircases and made a friendly gesture as I, too, went the staircases. Ray and Max both followed me… now I wonder where's Tyson and Kenny? Probably beyblading, which reminds me… I should be doing that too.

"Come on, follow us," Max said with a perfect American accent. I envied him for that.

The dark green-eyed girl and her companion followed us several steps behind. We made our way to a big room; it was my older brother's room—who's now in university in the Russia. My brother had a bigger room than me. But I cared less. I just loved the study room, with the TV, computer, video games and etc., oh and by the way, that's the room Ray, Max and me were in.

I turned the doorknob of the two big wooden doors. A big room with a magnificent red carpet appeared. It could have given anyone the impression that you were walking on the red carpet in Hollywood, like those stars. And as I turned my head, I saw the amazement of the older lady. Although she didn't quite show it, her mouth formed a 'O' but slowly faded away. I guess that those people were rich too; personally I would be impressed by the room if I didn't live here. Oh well. At least these people won't try to get money off of me.

"Velvet curtains and matching carpet all imported from India. Painting of Claude Monet there on the right. A small but original copy. The bed, king size, best quality. The sheets also made of velvet and pillowcases made of silk. There's a big walk-in closet, quite big and cozy. The bathroom, well I'll let you ladies explore," James said. I must admit, his English was no better than mine but his voice was… nice, I could say. Like I said, I didn't like to socialize.

"Thanks, sir," the younger lady said. I observed her as she made her way to the ruby colored bed. With her eyes wide, she stared at her environment and nodded happily. "I like this place. Although red isn't my favorite color, this looks lovely."

She walked further in the room. She traced the pattern of the pale green wallpaper with her fingers, I notice her lips curl into a smile.

Now you must say that I'm observant, I really am. Come on, if I don't socialize, so what would I do for the whole day?

After she walked around the room, examining it carefully, she sometimes squinted her eyes but she seemed happy. Then she stepped into the bathroom and nodded.

I knew the decorations by heart. Dark green marble sinks and bathtub. Crystal soap bottles and a gigantic mirror with lights. It was quite extravagant. The small details were ornamented with gold.

She stepped outside of the bathroom and smiled widely.

"You like it?" Max asked casually.

She nodded and gave a thumb up. Now, that was a language that I understood.

Hn, I don't mind sharing a house with a girl and her… companion. It can't be that bad, now can it? But one thing was weird; she looked younger than me. I'm 17 and ½ and just started my junior year. I must admit, I am a bit older than Ray, Max, Tyson and Kenny but who cared. I'm not very good in academics anyway. We go beyblading too much. After all, you could count beyblading as a career, right?

"Is there a pool?" the girl asked. I simply nodded in reply.

That girl was sort of odd, anyone that I would have known would have overreacted at this house, I don't even know why my parents bought this. Not that I cared. I like this place. This girl was mostly expressionless, she frowned often but smiled, which confused me but otherwise she was quite expressionless. But then again, I'm blander than her.

I looked at her talking to the other lady, several times that girl grinned and looked as if she talked often with sarcasm. I liked that, sarcasm and humor. At least I would have a good… "roommate", no I couldn't call her a roommate. More like a house-mate. But who knows, she might decide to choose another house when she hears the price.

She didn't even go look at the pool. She just put a satisfied look on her face. She said something quickly to her maid in English, which I didn't catch.

"My lady likes this place. She wants to move in today, would that be possible?" the older lady asked me in Japanese.

I arched an eyebrow. Today? Well, that's a rush. But still, I nodded. I cared less.

"Arigatou," she said.

I gave her a nod which meant 'sure'.

"May I know your name?" I asked, trying out my English again.

"Forrest Fan," she replied.

Forest? As in woods? Well, I see where the name comes from her eyes. Not too bad.

"Kai Hiwatari," I said. "Do you go to high school?"

She nodded.

I frowned. Then it hit me, she was the girl who took a test in my second period class—French. Well, I wasn't going to tell her that I saw her before, was I? Then she'd think that I stalk people. I don't. I just observe and remember things, and that was a very useful quality for beyblading.

"So, how much?" she asked timidly. "I don't care how much I pay, as long as it's a considerable price," she added.

I was quite taken back by that then I nodded. Sure, whatever she wanted. Like I cared about money.

"On one condition," she started again. "My assistant Theresa needs a place to stay too."

So that's what she called the older lady, an assistant… interesting.

"There are small rooms upstairs, too. I could manage a room for her," I replied. It was true, this house had several smaller rooms, mainly guest rooms and James lived in one of them.

"Great, and um, Theresa can cook, clean and do a lot of things, she could help around."

Slowly I noticed Max and Ray leaving the room; James has been gone for a while now. Those two women and I were the only ones in the room.

"I'll take this room. So it's settled then? I'll move in tonight. I don't have much stuff so I'll go shopping for furniture and electronics today. Thank you, and good day to you," she said to me.

Before I could say anything, she stepped out of the room and waved for Theresa to follow her. I just shrugged. I, being polite, walked them to the door and closed it after they got out.

Well, one job done. I better search for Ray and Max now.

I looked around; they weren't in the study room or in the kitchen. So they much be outside, beyblading.

I was half right; Max was playing around with his blade while Ray was sitting on a thick branch 7 feet above from the ground. I bet he caught that habitude from me.

"Yo," Max said while his beyblade flew to his hand and he caught it.

Ray just swiftly jumped down from the tree and walked towards Max and me.

"So? What's up? Did she take it?" Max asked.

"Yeah. And I believe that we've seen her too. You know that girl who came French class today? That's her, I believe," I said.

"Oh. Well, that's good. I hope that she beyblades. We need a girl on the beyblade team," Ray said.

"What about Mariah?" Max asked casually.

Ray took several seconds to think about it but shook his head.

"Nah," he said. "Her attacks and mine are too similar. No good."

"What makes you think that Kai won't kick you out of the team and replace you with Mariah?" Max teased.

Ray elbowed him and rolled his eyes.

"Oh please. I don't know any woman who is good at beyblading," I spat.

"Come on," Max and Ray said at the same time.

I just shrugged. We weren't even sure if she beybladed or not. But it was true, we needed a new teammate, a guy or a girl, I cared less. As long as they're strong, I'll take them. We needed a wildcard or a replacement in case any of us can't beyblade. Yes, that's what we need. A wildcard. Someone who could surprise others. Someone who uses different strategies than us so when other teams study us they won't know about the newcomer. We'll place the person as a substitute in the statistics but we'll turn him/her into a secret weapon.

I rolled my eyes to myself. How was I going to find a prodigy like that? If someone like that existed in this city, they would have tried out for this team years ago. Oh well. Screw that plan.

"I'll call Tyson and Kenny over," Max said as he withdrew his cell phone from his pockets. I shrugged. Do whatever you want, I don't care. I have enough food for Tyson to pig out today. I just hope that they won't stay for dinner. It'd be awkward if that girl came back and she ate with… well, pigs like Tyson.

I scowled and quickly climbed the tree and sat flatly on that branch that Ray was on. I observed my environment and felt like sleeping. Such a boring day. Some fall colored leaves were on the ground. It was November. It turned cool but not cold. I felt like this winter would be a long one.

Author's Notes: Kai's POV if you haven't already guessed so. Of course, he's not going to stay like that throughout the whole fic. I just need to develop him :P

No more POV's from now on! Yess.

Sorry for the absolutely dull & boring chapter.