This took me a long time to write because I wasn't sure how to approach this chapter, though I eventually decided to take it head on with bluntness, In other words this chapter will answer some questions but probabaly leave you with more than you started with, though this chapter was kind of a dissapointment for me. And no, Kai won't be an ass for ever.
I don't own Beyblade. I do own Jin though. hotness.
Once again I will apologize again for the spacing but those line breaks bother me too much to us so three dots to end a scene and three dots to begin it as well. Also this is an updated version of this chapter, just a few minor changes to make more sense later on.
Chapter Four
The Breaking Point
Kai fished about his lumpy brown stew that Rei placed before him. Looking up he tried to capture the neko jin's amber gaze with his own, however the Chinese man refused to meet contact and instead returned to the kitchen. Sakura glanced quickly at Kai, caught his stubborn gaze for a moment, and then took a sudden interest in the dollar-store-ring on her hand.
Rei returned with same sullen expression imprinting his features, placing a smaller serving of dinner in front of Sakura and then himself. Sakura smiled a grateful thanks and began to eat.
Kai returned his gaze to the soup then to Rei and then to Rei's meal. Kai noticed the difference in serving sizes and for a moment felt grateful to the hard neko jin before scooping a spoonful of the unidentified meal on to the utensil, so he supposed he could show some gratitude. He swallowed the chunky liquid down, at first cringing at the thought, then running his tongue along his lips he realized that it tasted quite good, in a comforting homey way. Rei had always been a good cook.
Silence embraced the small eating room like a plague. Sakura sat swinging her legs beneath the table either pretending to be oblivious to the tension or just plain bored. Rei ate slow small mouthfuls of the meal searching the murky depths for the answers to unexplainable questions. And Kai watched the other two occupants warily, periodically taking bites, frustrated by the way Rei was acting.
When the bluenette was finished he stood abruptly startling Sakura and causing Rei to shy away. He vaguely thought to ignore the reactions and walk away but then turned to burrow his crimson gaze into Rei's golden pools, dying to tell Rei what he thought of him.
"What the hell?" He asked referring to the way Rei had shied away, then looking at Sakura he asked her to leave the room. She looked from Kai to Rei then nodded as if slightly frightened and left.
"Don't send her away like that." Rei retaliated in a soft voice.
"We need to talk." Crimson flashed, ignoring Rei's plead. "What happened to you?"
"What happened to me?" Rei asked his gaze melting with confusion. "What has happened to me?" He asked again raising his voice slightly. "What has happened to you Kai?"
"What happened to the strong Rei I used to know? The strong Rei who wouldn't take this shit from me. Who used to stand his ground and retaliate if I pissed him off." Kai asked surprised by his own anger. He glowered down at the still sitting neko jin. "I can't believe you, is this what you have been reduced to?"
"Kai- I-" Rei tried to look away with these words but his jaw was gently grabbed by the accusing Russian who dragged Rei's gaze up to his own.
"Listen to me." Kai snarled. "Grow a back bone Rei. You are better than this and you know it." Then all at once he let go of Rei and stepped away as if nothing had happened, turning around he grabbed the keys from the dresser next to the front door and grabbed his jacket.
"I need some air." He told whoever was listening over his shoulder and slammed the door behind him.
He pulled out of the driveway and let the tires screech as he rounded the corner. Staring back at the little house that Rei and he shared, he glared and continued driving.
"I need a drink." Kai said in a matter of fact tone. "I nice drink of something strong." He smiled setting out in search of a bar. ...
... Pulling into what he figured was a bar, if that's what you call a shabby one floored building with the word lchol, written above, the a and the o obviously burnt out. Shaking his head he parked the car. It was beginning to snow big wet flakes of slush, so Kai hurried in and found him self amidst, loud music playing for no one on the dance floor, and bartenders serving only a few men who looked like they seen better days. One particular man, the one who was demanding another beer right away, caught Kai's attention with his lavender hair. Nodding his head he went to sit beside him he smiling slightly.
"Your only retreat too?" Kai asked sliding on to a bar stool.
"Nah, just the only place where I don't have Tyson nagging me to change the channel." Bryan responded taking a sip of the frothy drink he had finally obtained. "Service may suck here, but it's the best we got." He told the bluenette holding up the drink.
"I'll have a scotch on the rocks," Kai had eventually decided against the previous ideas of straight up vodka and now chose the more classy drink.
"Scotch on the rocks?" Bryan raised an eyebrow, "since when do you drink scotch? He'll have a beer." Bryan told the bartender.
"Well I haven't exactly felt like myself." Kai said sinking his head into his arms.
"Yea Tala told me about you and Rei."
"How is Tala?" Kai asked figuring the two of them were together as they had always planned to be in their younger years.
"How the hell am I suppose to know?" Bryan asked quizzically.
"Don't you live with him?" Kai asked hoping maybe he could get some information out of the taller Russian.
"He wishes." Bryan laughed. "No, we broke up years ago when he got all snotty with his profession."
"What does he do?" The bluenette asked accepting the drink the bar tender gave him. Interested in the differences between this life and the one he had previously lived.
"He's a lawyer. Christ Kai. You know this stuff." Bryan laughed again, this time Kai could smell the alcohol already on the Russian like a stagnant cloud. Bryan had been here for some time. This, Kai could use to his advantage.
"I know. Its just," Kai told the man playing into the act, "Everything is so fucked up." The man's eyes sliding shut as he muffled his words into the sleeves of his jacket.
"Understandable, I mean the past was pretty fucked up, we were all wondering when it would catch up with you." Bryan nodded to Kai, draining half the mug of beer in one swig.
Kai took the statement to thought, wondering why the past was so "fucked up" before deciding it best to change the subject first. "Hmmm… so Rei's a waiter?" He needed to know the facts before he got to in depth, besides this wasn't actually his life, why did he care?
"Yup and damn good at that, those fucking bastards he serves don't really how good they got it." The lavender haired man laughed smirking at Kai with longing eyes for the neko jin.
"I thought Rei completed chef school." The crimson eyed man rhetorically stated taking his first sip of the thick alcohol which was surprisingly good.
"Your fucked the finances." Bryan stated coolly not really caring about his bluntness. "He couldn't afford to finish."
"What do you mean?" Kai finally bit the bait. Obviously there was something wrong about the past and it was his fault.
"You were suppose to sell your business but your Grandfather snagged it right out from underneath you when he found out what you were doing." Bryan paused contemplating the fact. "He didn't like the fact that his grandson was a gay, and even worse was that you were going to give up something about the Hiwatari pride for Rei." The older Russian told Kai not really focused on what he was saying.
"So I did own it at once?" Kai asked trying to piece together the puzzle.
"Course you owned the whole fuckin complex but you wanted to sell it." At this Bryan took his index finger and pushed it towards the bluenette causing him to lean back. "If you had just kept it, you wouldn't be so fucking poor now." Bryan laughed, calling for another drink in his alcoholic state.
Kai looked away taking another sip of the drink, then allowing Bryan words to soak in he turned back to the beer and finished it off in one gulp, asking for another.
"Impressive Hiwatari, though Rei would kill you if he knew you were drinking again."
"So then what happened?" Kai asked eagerly awaiting his second beer to drown away the confusion.
"What do you mean?" Bryan asked. "Then you ended up on the streets."
"Before that, how did Voltaire take the business back from me?" Kai asked needing to know now what had happened.
"Well there was that big conference where you inherited the business because he was retiring," Bryan paused as if recalling the events of the forgotten past. "Then Rei came back-"
"Rei came back?" Kai was shocked. Even after Rei was told to stay in China he had returned, Kai didn't no whether to feel anger towards the neko jin or admiration.
"Yea, you were convinced. That's all it took and you had buyers lined up from as far away as New York." Kai wondered briefly if it was strange at all for Bryan to be retelling Kai's entire past to the person it supposedly belonged to in the first place, but as Bryan swaggered on his stool and asked for another drink Kai realized he was probably too drunk to care.
"Why do you do this to yourself?" Kai asked, swiveling the remaining liquid in his mug before swigging it back.
"Do what?"
"Waste away you skills on alcohol." Kai pondered having once respected the other Russian's talent and intelligence in another life time.
"Why not?" Its not like any of us are going anywhere anyway."
"How can you be so sure?" Kai asked almost offended that he was grouped in with this drunk, disregarding the fact that he ordered yet another drink.
"Because we can't." The lavender haired man retorted falling into his own sullen depression. "We are as low as it gets. People at work disregard me as little more than the "guy that fixes their fancy computers." I live in a house with three other men who can't situate their hormones from their sense of humor, I have no one who cares about me and I can't get much worse."
"Well maybe I'm not like that." Kai retaliated angry that Bryan had lost all hope in himself. What was it about this messed up world that made everyone have such insignificant lives with no chance of progressing any further?
"Look Kai, you had your chance, and guess what? You fucked it up."
"How I don't get it. I have a stable job why can't Rei and I make it anywhere?" Kai asked frustrated on why he mentioned Rei along with him. "How the fuck did I loose the company."
"Apparently you tried to kill him. Good on you Kai. He was an asshole anyway." Bryan laughed bitterly.
Kai looked puzzled. "What do you mean."
"You lost it! Apparently the stress got to you, you needed Rei back so bad that you threatened him with everything you had. Bit off more than you could chew I suppose Kai. Really fucked over everything. There was this broadcasted conference over the transfer of the corporations, you freaked out when Voltaire decided live that you weren't going to get what you wanted. He also privately threatened to take you away from Rei. He was real disappointed in you thought you had potential. A few mistakes here and a few mistakes there, rash decisions and you acting with your emotions for Rei and not with your head… there were law suits up the ass and now look where your sorry life is. In the gutter."
"I don't get it." Kai responded trying to figure out the new development.
"Rei makes more money then you do, and the only thing you can pull off is some low life job in the middle of no where, where no one knows your fucking name. That's the only thing keeping you and Rei above water anyway with all those debts you still have to pay off." Bryan glared at Kai. "You treat Rei like shit Kai, he's life is shit because of you because you let your fucking emotions get away with you."
"How the fuck do my emotions get away with me!" Kai asked angrily.
"If you could have just taken loosing your company like a man, and not a fucking Hiwatari, then you could have walked away with a light pay off and no debts." Bryan turned to stare deep in to Kai's eyes. "But you had to deal with it, with your dick, so you marched in there and tried to kill him. Isn't that how it works Kai? He's dead so therefore you don't have to worry about him anymore."
"That didn't fucking happen!" Kai snapped back.
"Then explain all your failures to me Kai Hiwatari! Explain why you think your life is so fucked up, because it sure as hell isn't anyone's but your own fault!"
"Fuck you Bryan!" Kai rose to his feet after polishing off a third drink. "Fuck this!" Leaving the older Russian to his own drunken failures he left the stank bar in search of some fresh air. ...
... It was like being trapped in a maze with no way out. The deeper Kai got the more lost be became and it was sure as hell not making things any better. It was a maze to the point where he could see the exit but there was no way to get there, so he just kept running around in circles.
Cascade complex. Kai leaned back in the driver seat of the parked Volkswagen and looked up the apartment building where he could tell the lights were on in his penthouse.
"I guess its not mine anymore." Kai said feeling a lurch in his stomach along with stupidity. "I'm pathetic, sitting here like this." He looked down at the steering wheel and around at the city light and laughed. "This is stupid!" He shouted out, all of a sudden overcome by insanity. "This if fuckin crazy. I'm talking to a fucking car in the middle of the fucking city!" He laughed, not sure what had come over him. Running his hands through his hair he got out of the car and stared at the building. "Its just some big fucking piece of architect! I mean what the hell am I moping about!" He laughed, doubling over. A small rock caught his eye and in one swoop he grabbed the stone and chucked it as high as he could at the building. It didn't quite reach the penthouse, so he grabbed another and another. Throwing them as high as could, at windows, balconies and whatever else his throw could reach.
"I'm like this fucking rock! I'm never going to fucking make it to the top-"
"Sir?" Kai stopped suddenly when he felt the firm grasp on his shoulder.
"Huh?" Kai asked slipping out of his delirium, and realizing what he did.
"Have you been drinking?" The officer asked, pulling out a small inhaler like object tot test Kai's breath.
"Uh…" Crimson eyes looked away. Now he was fucked, and felt like an idiot.
"You're drunk aren't you?" The cop asked after checking the results of the test.
"Oh good." A voice came from behind both of them. "You came officer, sorry to disturb you but this man was causing a disruption to our building. Thank you for coming."
Kai looked up just in time to see Jin Shai exit the lobby of the apartment and come strutting towards them.
"You!" He snarled.
"I'm sorry sir, but I've never seen you in my life." Jin smirked, waving his hand in a gesture.
"You fucking little sadistic shit."
"That's enough of you sir." The officer told the bluenette clasping a pair of handcuffs to his wrists. "A night in jail might change your attitude."
"What!" Kai exclaimed looking at his hands.
"Good night officer." Jin told the cop, his jade eyes flashing at Kai with laughter, as he returned to his luxuries lifestyle.
Kai bowed his head in defeat. ...
... Kai was allowed one call, but since he didn't no anyone's number he sat alone in the dank, cold cell watching the obese night shift officers stuff their faces with doughnuts and coffee, hoping that just maybe one of them would implode for a little entertainment.
Sighing, he felt the head ache of his to be hangover slowly over take him like a cloud of lazy locus. His back began to hurt from the cement wall, but deciding that he wouldn't give these men the satisfaction of showing discomfort well in the cuffs, he remained where he was.
It gave him time to think since the clock was situated just around the corner he couldn't quite tell what time it was, so he chose to just not care and fall victim to the ideas the worked through his mind. He wondered if Rei was worrying about him, and even felt a pang of guilt when he thought about how he wouldn't be able to tell him he was alright. He thought about Sakura, and wondered what kind of idiot this other Kai would have been to adopt a kid. Kai so wasn't a kid person. He thought about Bryan and how by day he worked at a business, well aware he was going no where, and at night spent all the money he had earned that day at the bars. He briefly thought on how it served Bryan right that he would have to pay for Kai's drinks. He thought about Tala, and wondered how he has made it in the world when all the others were reduced to nothing. And of Tyson, Max and Kenny who in a very uncharacteristically way to the lavender haired Russian, shared a house with him. He marveled at Bryan's accusations. Did he really try to kill Voltaire? He had never like his grandfather, but not enough to kill him. This seemed strange and where was he now? He wondered about his previous life, curious if maybe this was all a bad night mare, and even tried pinching himself, with some difficulty because he hands were restricted, to see if it would hurt. He thought about the reunion he was suppose to attend and how he had planned to never do so. He wondered if that Rei had a back bone, had he found someone? Was he still waiting for Kai? This time Kai felt like an ass. Ten years Rei would have been waiting for Kai and Kai had not even bothered to make contact with the neko jin following two years of his new ownership.
Why was he here? What was the lesson to be learned? So far all he was learning was that Russia's tax dollars were definitely not going to the justice system as his back twisted with throbbing pain. Who the hell with this Jin guy and why did he choose his life to mess with? And was he really as happy as he thought he had been? Had he felt as if he had been cheated by Jin after their first confrontation because the jaded eye boy hadn't taken his life, or had he. Maybe his life was taken. Maybe he was just dead. Maybe this was hell. Or maybe the bluenette was just in some good need of sleep.
Squinting his eyes to allow them to moisten again, the long night had made them feel dry and sand paperish, he noticed for the first time that a brightening shadow emerged on the cop desk. It was morning. Meaning he could go free.
Just wanted to point out that Voltaire's point is very miniscule so don't get excited with any post abbey stuff, because that won't be here.
Also I just wanted to say that I have been rewriting Addictive Mainpulation and when it is complete I'll post it seperatly under the title "Catharsis"