Lhune: Oyasuminnasai degozaru!!
Kana: Nani?
Lhune: Good evening.
Kana: Aah.
Lhune and Kana: We wanna thank all the reviewers, that was really great.
Lhune: Specifically thanks to Wise Wolf, Krixel and Silver-eyes Magician Girl since they were the First three.
Kana: We apologize for missing words.
Lhune: That would be me. Gomen.
Kana: We'll try not to do that again.
Lhune: Now, let's have some fun.
Kana: Aa
Kai: What are you going to do? //Looks suspicious//
Lhune: Poor Kai, he has no idea.
Kana: This is just so much fun. //Smirks evilly//
Kai: //Glares at Kana//
Kana: Ouch, death glare. //drops dead//
Lhune: Kai! Look what you have done!! How am I supposed to write this fic without her?!
Kana: //stands up, arms stretched out in front of her// MHUAHAHAHA!!
Rei: Whaa Nosferatum!!!
Kai, Lhune and Kana: Huh.Nani?
Rei: Living dead.
Kai, Lhune and Kana: Aah.
Lhune: Wait a sec. //gives Kana a karate kick//
Kana: Ai, Why did you that?
Lhune: Gomen Kana. //to the rest// Nope, she's not dead. She's alive as you and I.
Kai and Rei: ?
Lhune: Okay, Alive as I.
Kana: Sure. //glares murderous at Lhune//
Lhune: Stop glaring at me. read the fic.
Freezing Fire
By Lhune and Kana.
Chapter 2
*More effort, more damage-This is my daily life. Taking a cynical attitude may give me some comfort.*
"Mm Rei, That nasi was really, really great!" Takao said while he lay down on his improvised bed.
"I already thought so, considering you ate 7 bowls of it." Rei chuckled, 'though you would eat everything' He added in his thoughts.
Max laughed. "Good you remembered Takao's appetite or there hadn't been enough for the rest of us."
The Chief put down his laptop. "But you have to admit it, Takao was right. I've eaten a lot more than usually."
The neko-jin blushed at so many compliments, only Kai hadn't said a thing. He'd come back, from wherever he went, just in time to eat one bowl of nasi and go sit down in a corner of the cave.
Now, two hours later, the phoenix still sat there in the same position. One knee in front of him, his arm resting on top of it, the other leg stretched out. Bangs of his floppy hair covered his eyes which where gazing in the distance.
All of a sudden the captain stood up. All the Breakers turned their attention to Kai.
"Where are you going Kai?"
The scarlet-eyed blader glared at Takao.
"Out"
Silence remained until the white scarf disappeared out of sight.
Takao let out his breath which he didn't know he was holding. "You would almost drop dead 'cause of that glare!" He grunted, annoyed that his captain had such a big influence.
The others nodded in agreement. Kai sure knew how to scare people.
"Still I wonder why he is like that." The Chinese blader spoke softly.
Again there was silence until broken by Max' voice.
"I don't know but don't try to find it out. He won't tell you and I'm sure he won't appreciate you searching for the answer."
"Aa, I know." Rei said while snuggling deeper into his sleeping bag, curling up like a cat. 'But I'm still going to find out. Besides I love a challenge.
"Night." He said sleepily after yawning a last time.
The others followed his example. "Sleep well."
~*~
Just outside the cave a slate-haired boy leaned against the wall, staring at the pale moon. He had heard everything that was said inside.
"That's right Max." He murmured softly. "You don't want to know me."
He wandered a bit in the area, his senses alert for danger.
'It seems to be a quiet night.' Kai mused, positioning himself on a rock nearby the cave.
Suddenly the crimson-eyes teen winced and his hand flew to his injury. 'Weird, it should have healed by now. Hmm, Sure it's deep but I think Tala did something special with his blade.'
When Kai pulled his hand back, it was stained with blood. His brow furrowed.
"Still bleeding. By this rate I will probably faint by loss of blood in a couple of days, maybe a week." He stated softly, not really concerned.
He started rebandaging the wound for the thousandth time. A small smile crept on his lips.
"By this rate I will be out of cloth in a couple of days, maybe a week." The slate-haired teen said matter-of-factly but sarcastic.
His face indifferent, he pulled on a new black top, discarding the soaked one and grabbed his sweater. The others and declared him insane when he had refused to wear a warm coat but he was trained for this kind of weather after all.
He decided to go check on his teammates.
He smiled when he saw Takao and Max snuggled close to each other. Max was using Takao's chest as a pillow while Takao had draped his arm loosely over Max. Kai left his gaze longingly on the two friends for a couple of seconds but quickly shrugged the feeling of.
He snorted. 'They may not know it yet. But there is something special between those two idiots.'
He shook his head at the sight of Kenny hugging his laptop close to his body. 'He's one weirdo. If he's ever gonna get a girlfriend other than Dizzy, it'll be a miracle. But I guess he's a good friend to the others. unlike me.' A small voice in his head added which he blocked out immediately.
His smile faltered when he saw Rei. The neko-jin was shivering in his sleeping bag, still curled up to get warmer.
'A real kitten, you still have to take care of them.' He mused as he went to the corner of the cave to get his own sleeping bag. He draped the sleeping bag, similar to Rei's, over the trembling frame of the kitten.
The instant the weight of the bag reached Rei, he grabbed it gladly, already smiling in his sleep. The Chinese blader accidentally brushed against the pale skin of his leader's hand.
Kai jerked his hand back sharply, not pleased at all. The slate-haired boy kicked himself mentally, get back to reality! It's only Rei! He turned around, leaving the cave without looking back for once.
~*~
Next morning, Rei was the first to wake up.
'Man, I got a freaky dream. What the hell did Kai do in it? I clearly need to worry less about that guy.' He thought bewildered.
The neko-jin looked around and snickered as he saw Max and Takao. 'I wonder how Kai shall react when he sees them. speaking of him, where is he?'
Not a sign of the stoic blader. "Now where did he go this time?" He murmured out loud.
At the same moment his last word was spoken, the crimson-eyed teen entered the cave. He walked up to the fire and stoked it up again. Rei noticed that Kai's eyes held the same intensity and colour of the fire.
Coming back to his senses he addressed Kai. "Uhm Where have you been Kai?"
Rei sat straight in his sleeping bag, not sure if he had to expect an answer. The slate-haired boy didn't seem to have heard him although Rei knew Kai had heard him perfectly well.
The captain stayed concentrated on the fire. The flames almost licked at his skin but he didn't back of.
"Out." He said suddenly as if there hadn't been any pause of three whole minutes.
'Short and cold as usual. Thank you Kai, now that explains everything.' Rei thought sarcastic. 'But at least I got an answer.'
"Out? The whole night?! In this kind of weather?!" The raven-haired boy asked in surprise as the realisation came down on him.
"Aa."
Rei blinked a couple of times, trying to comprehend why Kai would do such a thing.
"You watched over us while we were sleeping?" He asked hesitating, fidgeting with his hair.
Kai sighed. 'So many questions. Stop it Rei.' He thought sadly.
"Why would I care to do such a thing." He sneered, flinching at his own tone behind his cold mask.
Rei was left speechless at this reply. He would never understand that guy. He had been sure Kai had watched over them at night but now he was beginning to doubt.
Al of a sudden Kai rose from his position near the fire and, without giving Rei a last glance, walked out again.
Rei shook his head and looked in the distance, where the crimson-eyed blader had left once again. He stayed like that for a couple of minutes, until Max' cheery voice broke his trance.
"Morning nasi-boy!" He chirped way to hyper to be just awoken. "Slept well?"
Rei turned his head to the blonde and smiled. "Yeah, and you?"
Max nodded happily. The smile on his face was soon replaced by total surprise.
"Nani? What's wrong Max?" The raven-haired blader asked concerned with the abrupt change.
"You. You took Kai's sleeping bag?!! He is SO gonna kill you when he finds out!" The sugar-high teen said warning.
Rei picked up the second sleeping bag he hadn't noticed before and held it in front of his eyes. The golden orbs widened when the realisation hit him.
"Kai's sleeping bag?" He asked non-comprehending.
Max laughed. "Now, don't act like you're innocent. It's good Kai allows you more than us or you would meet a very pissed of captain. And THAT is not something I look forward too." He chirped teasingly.
Max' comments had wakened up Takao who was instantly awake when the meaning of those words came down on him.
"Waah, Rei has taken the Ice-captain's sleeping bag!!! He exclaimed frantically.
Rei who was looking very pale, wore an astonished expression on his face. "But." he stammered.
"Don't worry pall. We'll protect you. Besides I still want dinner tonight." Takao said importantly while balding his fist to show of.
The Chinese blader looked helpless.
"I didn't take Kai's sleeping bag!!! I have no suicidal thoughts!" He yelled, fed up with his teammates' incomprehension.
The others just eyed him mischievously, not impressed by his sudden outburst.
"Sure, whatever you say Rei." Takao said smugly.
"Rei didn't take my sleeping bag." A cold indifferent voice said.
They all whirled around to see their captain standing right behind them. The raven-haired blader blushed furiously.
"Kai, I didn't hear you come in." he flashed a watery smile. 'Of course you didn't! You were yelling too loudly.' An irritant voice in his head answered.
Kai didn't reply, he just retrieved his sleeping bag and glared hard at his frozen team.
"Pack up, we've got to get moving."
Immediately they complied with his command, scared to receive Kai's wrath.
~*~
Their cold captain was walking in front of them, alone as always. Max and Takao were having a heated discussion about the best beyblader ever while Chief would inject some technical explanation. Rei said some comments from time to time but was mostly dreaming. His gaze rested on the teen some feet ahead.
'It's strange, You can't reach Kai but he doesn't walk too fast for us to follow him. Oh there I go again, wondering about the Iceberg. Unbelievable. Max was right. He gives me a headache.' Rei sighed.
"Hey Kai!" Rei got an idea, Kai seemed to be nice when you asked impersonal stuff. "How much longer till the next town?"
The slate-haired teen stopped and faced Rei. "About half an hour if those kids keep walking fast enough."
Rei started to walk faster to get to his captain when Kai's eyes suddenly flashed a dangerous dark red.
"Stay back!" Kai growled.
Before Rei could even ask for an explanation, eight familiar bladers fell out of the trees.
Max gasped. "Those are the same bladers as yesterday!"
Chief quickly opened up Dizzy so they could study the others' strength. Dizzy bleeped unhappy. "Those punks are way too strong!"
For the first time Takao actually noticed something. "They. They are concentrating their attack on Kai!"
Kenny shook his head in despair. "No way Kai can beat those guys, doesn't matter how strong he and Dranzer are."
Rei stood there, still frozen in mid step. His golden eyes widened in horror.
'They are playing with him.' He thought with disdain.
The black bladers attacked Kai in small groups. The slate-haired boy did bring down some evil blades but with each move he made, the others would attack him viciously, their blades cutting his pale skin deep. Thin bloodstreams were leaving a horrific but at the same time bewitching pattern.
All of a sudden Rei came back to reality as he saw the dark bladers readying themselves to attack Kai all at the same time. Anger flared up in Rei, his eyes flashed their feline shine as he growled. He couldn't let them get away with that, he couldn't let them kill Kai. They needed him.
~*~
"Why don't you just come back instead of endangering your team and yourself?" Tala snapped while launching another attack. His eyes darted lustful over Kai's muscled body.
The crimson-eyed blader protected his body with his arms in vain. His clothes were torn into pieces, as were his arms. Ignoring Tala's lustful gaze he glared back.
"I won't go back, I won't be a slave anymore!" he hissed through clenched teeth.
Dranzer batted her wings majestically, spreading heat around her. Everybody took one step back except for Tala and Kai.
"And what about your past huh?" Tala sneered, his ice cold eyes penetrating Kai's.
But the phoenix didn't blink. Instead he spoke again, his voice cold and dangerously low.
"I still remember one thing and I doubt I want to know the rest. I won't kill. not again! I'm tired of hurting everybody." He let the words hang till he saw Tala understood. Then he added. "And I'm sick of you following me around!"
From the corner of his eye he saw a raven-haired boy approaching swiftly, his mind told him his enemies were going to attack him. The cruel realisation came crashing down on him, they were going to hit Rei.
'NO!!' his mind yelled at him
With the speed of fear he whirled around to Rei. He gave the Chinese blader a rough shove. Due to his anxiousness, he wasn't able to contain his strength fully. Kai saw Rei falling down in slow-motion. Blades were tearing at his own skin but he didn't feel it, his attention was on his teammate.
A passing blade had cut the white wrap around Rei's hair, a raven mass now covering the Chinese blader's face. Rei hit the ground with a sickening noise, his body remained motionless. A few drops of blood were to be seen.
"No more hurting he?"
A sneering voice made Kai look to Tala.
"Well, it seems like you're doing a great job!" with an evil smirk he disappeared, leaving Kai behind with his overwhelming guilt. His companions followed, paying no attention to the shocked blader.
~*~
Max, Takao and Kenny were readying themselves to help Kai when they saw Rei hitting his hit on the ground. They had all seen their captain push him. In shock they stared at the slate-haired teen who walked over to the prone figure of the fallen blader and kneeled at his side. Kai pushed a few locks of hair out of the way and started bandaging Rei.
Takao rushed forward, anger close to hatred, clearly visible on his face.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!!" He yelled.
Kai didn't look up and answered, his tone still indifferent. "He lives."
Takao took a hold of Kai's shoulder and growled. "Not thanks to you!"
Kai slowly turned around to face the angry teen. "Let go!" his tone was lethal.
Takao quickly complied, taken aback by the ferocity in Kai's glare.
"He tried to help you and you." Max' soft voice contrasted Takao's, sadness written on his face.
Chief wore a not understanding expression that said more than words. Takao clenched his fists.
"How do you DARE to touch him, after all you've done!!"
The ice captain continued bandaging, once in a while tearing pieces of his scarf since he was out bandages. After a final check-up, he stood up not able to look the others in the eye. The crimson-eyed boy walked away, out of sight.
Max pulled of his scarf and stuffed it gently under Rei's head.
"I hate him!! How can he do that?!" Takao hissed while he sat down next to Rei.
"I. I don't know." Max sighed, his usually bright features now downcast.
Silence was broken by the murmuring of a stirring Rei. The golden eyes fluttered open.
"Rei, Rei are you Ok?" Max asked concerned.
Suddenly the wounded blader bolted upwards instantly grabbing his head as a major headache appeared.
"Ouch my head hurts." He complained.
"You hit the ground really hard." Kenny said also very concerned.
Rei looked around to find a certain stoic blader. "Where is Kai? Is he hurt?" he asked urgently.
Takao almost fell. "How can you ask after that bastard?! He almost KILLED you!"
"But Kai." Rei hesitated.
"Don't try and defend him, he isn't worth it." Takao growled.
"NO" Kenny's voice interrupted.
"Uh no?" Takao asked, looking at Kenny who was staring at his laptop.
"This can't be true." He exclaimed.
"What?" Takao lost the little patience he had.
Kenny looked up. "I left Dizzy on during the whole uh. accident and the readings she got from those dark bladers were impressive. Especially of that one with those freaky eyes but."
"But what?" now all three of them were curious.
"The speed and power of Kai. It wasn't possible!!"
***_~_***
Lhune: few, that was one long chapter. More than three thousand words.
Kana: And they haven't found out Kai's injuries yet.
Lhune: And he's received some more today.
Kai: Can you please stop talking about it. I think I'm getting sick.
Lhune: Now that's something I can do to you.
Kai: No. //Moans// You're worse than Boris.
Kana: How do you Dare!!!!
Lhune Oh oh.
Kana: Now you're gonna get it!
Kai: //looking very pale// I think I'm gonna faint. //actually faints//
Rei: Kai!! What have you done to him?! //Glares at Lhune and Kana//
Lhune: Shinigami's voice was right. Looks like Rei has learned Kai's death glare.
Rei: hush, it's gonna be okay Kai. //takes Kai into his arms and walks of//
Kana: Oooh how sweet.
Lhune: I was planning not to update this fic till the 25th but I read the reviews and decided I could work a little faster. I guess those things really work.^-^
Kana: Anyway.. see you next time.
Lhune: Ja mata.
May the burning phoenix forever light your path.
Kana: Nani?
Lhune: Good evening.
Kana: Aah.
Lhune and Kana: We wanna thank all the reviewers, that was really great.
Lhune: Specifically thanks to Wise Wolf, Krixel and Silver-eyes Magician Girl since they were the First three.
Kana: We apologize for missing words.
Lhune: That would be me. Gomen.
Kana: We'll try not to do that again.
Lhune: Now, let's have some fun.
Kana: Aa
Kai: What are you going to do? //Looks suspicious//
Lhune: Poor Kai, he has no idea.
Kana: This is just so much fun. //Smirks evilly//
Kai: //Glares at Kana//
Kana: Ouch, death glare. //drops dead//
Lhune: Kai! Look what you have done!! How am I supposed to write this fic without her?!
Kana: //stands up, arms stretched out in front of her// MHUAHAHAHA!!
Rei: Whaa Nosferatum!!!
Kai, Lhune and Kana: Huh.Nani?
Rei: Living dead.
Kai, Lhune and Kana: Aah.
Lhune: Wait a sec. //gives Kana a karate kick//
Kana: Ai, Why did you that?
Lhune: Gomen Kana. //to the rest// Nope, she's not dead. She's alive as you and I.
Kai and Rei: ?
Lhune: Okay, Alive as I.
Kana: Sure. //glares murderous at Lhune//
Lhune: Stop glaring at me. read the fic.
Freezing Fire
By Lhune and Kana.
Chapter 2
*More effort, more damage-This is my daily life. Taking a cynical attitude may give me some comfort.*
"Mm Rei, That nasi was really, really great!" Takao said while he lay down on his improvised bed.
"I already thought so, considering you ate 7 bowls of it." Rei chuckled, 'though you would eat everything' He added in his thoughts.
Max laughed. "Good you remembered Takao's appetite or there hadn't been enough for the rest of us."
The Chief put down his laptop. "But you have to admit it, Takao was right. I've eaten a lot more than usually."
The neko-jin blushed at so many compliments, only Kai hadn't said a thing. He'd come back, from wherever he went, just in time to eat one bowl of nasi and go sit down in a corner of the cave.
Now, two hours later, the phoenix still sat there in the same position. One knee in front of him, his arm resting on top of it, the other leg stretched out. Bangs of his floppy hair covered his eyes which where gazing in the distance.
All of a sudden the captain stood up. All the Breakers turned their attention to Kai.
"Where are you going Kai?"
The scarlet-eyed blader glared at Takao.
"Out"
Silence remained until the white scarf disappeared out of sight.
Takao let out his breath which he didn't know he was holding. "You would almost drop dead 'cause of that glare!" He grunted, annoyed that his captain had such a big influence.
The others nodded in agreement. Kai sure knew how to scare people.
"Still I wonder why he is like that." The Chinese blader spoke softly.
Again there was silence until broken by Max' voice.
"I don't know but don't try to find it out. He won't tell you and I'm sure he won't appreciate you searching for the answer."
"Aa, I know." Rei said while snuggling deeper into his sleeping bag, curling up like a cat. 'But I'm still going to find out. Besides I love a challenge.
"Night." He said sleepily after yawning a last time.
The others followed his example. "Sleep well."
~*~
Just outside the cave a slate-haired boy leaned against the wall, staring at the pale moon. He had heard everything that was said inside.
"That's right Max." He murmured softly. "You don't want to know me."
He wandered a bit in the area, his senses alert for danger.
'It seems to be a quiet night.' Kai mused, positioning himself on a rock nearby the cave.
Suddenly the crimson-eyes teen winced and his hand flew to his injury. 'Weird, it should have healed by now. Hmm, Sure it's deep but I think Tala did something special with his blade.'
When Kai pulled his hand back, it was stained with blood. His brow furrowed.
"Still bleeding. By this rate I will probably faint by loss of blood in a couple of days, maybe a week." He stated softly, not really concerned.
He started rebandaging the wound for the thousandth time. A small smile crept on his lips.
"By this rate I will be out of cloth in a couple of days, maybe a week." The slate-haired teen said matter-of-factly but sarcastic.
His face indifferent, he pulled on a new black top, discarding the soaked one and grabbed his sweater. The others and declared him insane when he had refused to wear a warm coat but he was trained for this kind of weather after all.
He decided to go check on his teammates.
He smiled when he saw Takao and Max snuggled close to each other. Max was using Takao's chest as a pillow while Takao had draped his arm loosely over Max. Kai left his gaze longingly on the two friends for a couple of seconds but quickly shrugged the feeling of.
He snorted. 'They may not know it yet. But there is something special between those two idiots.'
He shook his head at the sight of Kenny hugging his laptop close to his body. 'He's one weirdo. If he's ever gonna get a girlfriend other than Dizzy, it'll be a miracle. But I guess he's a good friend to the others. unlike me.' A small voice in his head added which he blocked out immediately.
His smile faltered when he saw Rei. The neko-jin was shivering in his sleeping bag, still curled up to get warmer.
'A real kitten, you still have to take care of them.' He mused as he went to the corner of the cave to get his own sleeping bag. He draped the sleeping bag, similar to Rei's, over the trembling frame of the kitten.
The instant the weight of the bag reached Rei, he grabbed it gladly, already smiling in his sleep. The Chinese blader accidentally brushed against the pale skin of his leader's hand.
Kai jerked his hand back sharply, not pleased at all. The slate-haired boy kicked himself mentally, get back to reality! It's only Rei! He turned around, leaving the cave without looking back for once.
~*~
Next morning, Rei was the first to wake up.
'Man, I got a freaky dream. What the hell did Kai do in it? I clearly need to worry less about that guy.' He thought bewildered.
The neko-jin looked around and snickered as he saw Max and Takao. 'I wonder how Kai shall react when he sees them. speaking of him, where is he?'
Not a sign of the stoic blader. "Now where did he go this time?" He murmured out loud.
At the same moment his last word was spoken, the crimson-eyed teen entered the cave. He walked up to the fire and stoked it up again. Rei noticed that Kai's eyes held the same intensity and colour of the fire.
Coming back to his senses he addressed Kai. "Uhm Where have you been Kai?"
Rei sat straight in his sleeping bag, not sure if he had to expect an answer. The slate-haired boy didn't seem to have heard him although Rei knew Kai had heard him perfectly well.
The captain stayed concentrated on the fire. The flames almost licked at his skin but he didn't back of.
"Out." He said suddenly as if there hadn't been any pause of three whole minutes.
'Short and cold as usual. Thank you Kai, now that explains everything.' Rei thought sarcastic. 'But at least I got an answer.'
"Out? The whole night?! In this kind of weather?!" The raven-haired boy asked in surprise as the realisation came down on him.
"Aa."
Rei blinked a couple of times, trying to comprehend why Kai would do such a thing.
"You watched over us while we were sleeping?" He asked hesitating, fidgeting with his hair.
Kai sighed. 'So many questions. Stop it Rei.' He thought sadly.
"Why would I care to do such a thing." He sneered, flinching at his own tone behind his cold mask.
Rei was left speechless at this reply. He would never understand that guy. He had been sure Kai had watched over them at night but now he was beginning to doubt.
Al of a sudden Kai rose from his position near the fire and, without giving Rei a last glance, walked out again.
Rei shook his head and looked in the distance, where the crimson-eyed blader had left once again. He stayed like that for a couple of minutes, until Max' cheery voice broke his trance.
"Morning nasi-boy!" He chirped way to hyper to be just awoken. "Slept well?"
Rei turned his head to the blonde and smiled. "Yeah, and you?"
Max nodded happily. The smile on his face was soon replaced by total surprise.
"Nani? What's wrong Max?" The raven-haired blader asked concerned with the abrupt change.
"You. You took Kai's sleeping bag?!! He is SO gonna kill you when he finds out!" The sugar-high teen said warning.
Rei picked up the second sleeping bag he hadn't noticed before and held it in front of his eyes. The golden orbs widened when the realisation hit him.
"Kai's sleeping bag?" He asked non-comprehending.
Max laughed. "Now, don't act like you're innocent. It's good Kai allows you more than us or you would meet a very pissed of captain. And THAT is not something I look forward too." He chirped teasingly.
Max' comments had wakened up Takao who was instantly awake when the meaning of those words came down on him.
"Waah, Rei has taken the Ice-captain's sleeping bag!!! He exclaimed frantically.
Rei who was looking very pale, wore an astonished expression on his face. "But." he stammered.
"Don't worry pall. We'll protect you. Besides I still want dinner tonight." Takao said importantly while balding his fist to show of.
The Chinese blader looked helpless.
"I didn't take Kai's sleeping bag!!! I have no suicidal thoughts!" He yelled, fed up with his teammates' incomprehension.
The others just eyed him mischievously, not impressed by his sudden outburst.
"Sure, whatever you say Rei." Takao said smugly.
"Rei didn't take my sleeping bag." A cold indifferent voice said.
They all whirled around to see their captain standing right behind them. The raven-haired blader blushed furiously.
"Kai, I didn't hear you come in." he flashed a watery smile. 'Of course you didn't! You were yelling too loudly.' An irritant voice in his head answered.
Kai didn't reply, he just retrieved his sleeping bag and glared hard at his frozen team.
"Pack up, we've got to get moving."
Immediately they complied with his command, scared to receive Kai's wrath.
~*~
Their cold captain was walking in front of them, alone as always. Max and Takao were having a heated discussion about the best beyblader ever while Chief would inject some technical explanation. Rei said some comments from time to time but was mostly dreaming. His gaze rested on the teen some feet ahead.
'It's strange, You can't reach Kai but he doesn't walk too fast for us to follow him. Oh there I go again, wondering about the Iceberg. Unbelievable. Max was right. He gives me a headache.' Rei sighed.
"Hey Kai!" Rei got an idea, Kai seemed to be nice when you asked impersonal stuff. "How much longer till the next town?"
The slate-haired teen stopped and faced Rei. "About half an hour if those kids keep walking fast enough."
Rei started to walk faster to get to his captain when Kai's eyes suddenly flashed a dangerous dark red.
"Stay back!" Kai growled.
Before Rei could even ask for an explanation, eight familiar bladers fell out of the trees.
Max gasped. "Those are the same bladers as yesterday!"
Chief quickly opened up Dizzy so they could study the others' strength. Dizzy bleeped unhappy. "Those punks are way too strong!"
For the first time Takao actually noticed something. "They. They are concentrating their attack on Kai!"
Kenny shook his head in despair. "No way Kai can beat those guys, doesn't matter how strong he and Dranzer are."
Rei stood there, still frozen in mid step. His golden eyes widened in horror.
'They are playing with him.' He thought with disdain.
The black bladers attacked Kai in small groups. The slate-haired boy did bring down some evil blades but with each move he made, the others would attack him viciously, their blades cutting his pale skin deep. Thin bloodstreams were leaving a horrific but at the same time bewitching pattern.
All of a sudden Rei came back to reality as he saw the dark bladers readying themselves to attack Kai all at the same time. Anger flared up in Rei, his eyes flashed their feline shine as he growled. He couldn't let them get away with that, he couldn't let them kill Kai. They needed him.
~*~
"Why don't you just come back instead of endangering your team and yourself?" Tala snapped while launching another attack. His eyes darted lustful over Kai's muscled body.
The crimson-eyed blader protected his body with his arms in vain. His clothes were torn into pieces, as were his arms. Ignoring Tala's lustful gaze he glared back.
"I won't go back, I won't be a slave anymore!" he hissed through clenched teeth.
Dranzer batted her wings majestically, spreading heat around her. Everybody took one step back except for Tala and Kai.
"And what about your past huh?" Tala sneered, his ice cold eyes penetrating Kai's.
But the phoenix didn't blink. Instead he spoke again, his voice cold and dangerously low.
"I still remember one thing and I doubt I want to know the rest. I won't kill. not again! I'm tired of hurting everybody." He let the words hang till he saw Tala understood. Then he added. "And I'm sick of you following me around!"
From the corner of his eye he saw a raven-haired boy approaching swiftly, his mind told him his enemies were going to attack him. The cruel realisation came crashing down on him, they were going to hit Rei.
'NO!!' his mind yelled at him
With the speed of fear he whirled around to Rei. He gave the Chinese blader a rough shove. Due to his anxiousness, he wasn't able to contain his strength fully. Kai saw Rei falling down in slow-motion. Blades were tearing at his own skin but he didn't feel it, his attention was on his teammate.
A passing blade had cut the white wrap around Rei's hair, a raven mass now covering the Chinese blader's face. Rei hit the ground with a sickening noise, his body remained motionless. A few drops of blood were to be seen.
"No more hurting he?"
A sneering voice made Kai look to Tala.
"Well, it seems like you're doing a great job!" with an evil smirk he disappeared, leaving Kai behind with his overwhelming guilt. His companions followed, paying no attention to the shocked blader.
~*~
Max, Takao and Kenny were readying themselves to help Kai when they saw Rei hitting his hit on the ground. They had all seen their captain push him. In shock they stared at the slate-haired teen who walked over to the prone figure of the fallen blader and kneeled at his side. Kai pushed a few locks of hair out of the way and started bandaging Rei.
Takao rushed forward, anger close to hatred, clearly visible on his face.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!!" He yelled.
Kai didn't look up and answered, his tone still indifferent. "He lives."
Takao took a hold of Kai's shoulder and growled. "Not thanks to you!"
Kai slowly turned around to face the angry teen. "Let go!" his tone was lethal.
Takao quickly complied, taken aback by the ferocity in Kai's glare.
"He tried to help you and you." Max' soft voice contrasted Takao's, sadness written on his face.
Chief wore a not understanding expression that said more than words. Takao clenched his fists.
"How do you DARE to touch him, after all you've done!!"
The ice captain continued bandaging, once in a while tearing pieces of his scarf since he was out bandages. After a final check-up, he stood up not able to look the others in the eye. The crimson-eyed boy walked away, out of sight.
Max pulled of his scarf and stuffed it gently under Rei's head.
"I hate him!! How can he do that?!" Takao hissed while he sat down next to Rei.
"I. I don't know." Max sighed, his usually bright features now downcast.
Silence was broken by the murmuring of a stirring Rei. The golden eyes fluttered open.
"Rei, Rei are you Ok?" Max asked concerned.
Suddenly the wounded blader bolted upwards instantly grabbing his head as a major headache appeared.
"Ouch my head hurts." He complained.
"You hit the ground really hard." Kenny said also very concerned.
Rei looked around to find a certain stoic blader. "Where is Kai? Is he hurt?" he asked urgently.
Takao almost fell. "How can you ask after that bastard?! He almost KILLED you!"
"But Kai." Rei hesitated.
"Don't try and defend him, he isn't worth it." Takao growled.
"NO" Kenny's voice interrupted.
"Uh no?" Takao asked, looking at Kenny who was staring at his laptop.
"This can't be true." He exclaimed.
"What?" Takao lost the little patience he had.
Kenny looked up. "I left Dizzy on during the whole uh. accident and the readings she got from those dark bladers were impressive. Especially of that one with those freaky eyes but."
"But what?" now all three of them were curious.
"The speed and power of Kai. It wasn't possible!!"
***_~_***
Lhune: few, that was one long chapter. More than three thousand words.
Kana: And they haven't found out Kai's injuries yet.
Lhune: And he's received some more today.
Kai: Can you please stop talking about it. I think I'm getting sick.
Lhune: Now that's something I can do to you.
Kai: No. //Moans// You're worse than Boris.
Kana: How do you Dare!!!!
Lhune Oh oh.
Kana: Now you're gonna get it!
Kai: //looking very pale// I think I'm gonna faint. //actually faints//
Rei: Kai!! What have you done to him?! //Glares at Lhune and Kana//
Lhune: Shinigami's voice was right. Looks like Rei has learned Kai's death glare.
Rei: hush, it's gonna be okay Kai. //takes Kai into his arms and walks of//
Kana: Oooh how sweet.
Lhune: I was planning not to update this fic till the 25th but I read the reviews and decided I could work a little faster. I guess those things really work.^-^
Kana: Anyway.. see you next time.
Lhune: Ja mata.
May the burning phoenix forever light your path.
