Hatred never looked this good

Another story inspired by a song, this time lost prophets.

Ok then on with the show!

Coming up to the Russian tourney I figured there would be some tension between team mates and of course other…emotions ; ) springing up.

Kai stood, almost lost in a trance. He gazed into the mirror. The house was dark and quiet around him. His team.

He looked away. He had never deserved them. He felt so beneath them sometimes, so distant. They all seemed capable of having fun, letting go of their problems for awhile. But he…he just could never let anything rest. From arranging the next tournament to dwelling on his grandfather's plot- He was sent to bring them down, capture their bit beasts, nothing more. Yet here he was starting to consider them friends.

"You are a failure Kai Hiwatari" he told himself sternly. He couldn't let them win like this. Even thinking about it meant he was betraying everything he had ever worked for, everything he had ever lived for.

Running a hand through his slate coloured hair, he rested his hands on the porcelain white sink and took another good look into his own brooding, coffee coloured eyes. He shouldn't even be doing this, he couldn't. If he was to betray them all, Tyson, Max… Ray…then he needed to be strong, fearless, and emotionless. He needed to hate them.

Giving a disgusted growl at his own incompetence he spun on his heel, away from the mirror- he couldn't face himself anymore; he had made up his mind.

"Hey Maxie have you seen Kai?" Tyson stood, hands in pockets, face uncharacteristically creased in worry. The boy in question turned from his crossed legged position on the floor where he had been polishing his beyblade. He fixed his dancing blue eyes on his best friend. "Nope, sorry, I haven't seen him. Don't worry Tyson" The blond reassured- "Kai can look after himself." The navy haired blader nodded mutely. Turning away he strode out of the Dojo gates. He didn't care what Max said. He wanted to find Kai. He had something he needed to tell him. Something he just had to get off his chest. Something more intimate than Kai could ever have imagined.

Kai was by the river. The dual haired blader had spent the entire day practicing. Evening was drawing in as a familiar figure cast its shadow upon him from atop the bank. "Hey Kai! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Tyson yelled, half in triumph, half in anticipation. Kai began to walk away. Tyson ran up to him, blocking his path. "I've got something to tell you…" the pony tailed boy said in the quietest tones Kai had ever heard him use. Kai looked at him uneasily, though it didn't show. It never showed with Kai.

The younger boy's eyes were shining now; glowing a delicious chocolate colour, reflecting the sun dying behind him.

A figure under the bridge watched them carefully. Hidden in the shadows as he had been all day, Ray gazed fixedly on the duo, confronting each other on the river bank like it was only their first meeting.

The white tiger didn't trust Kai an inch. It was clear to him that the other boy was meeting with someone. He would disappear for hours at a time and come back with clothes smelling of an unfamiliar scent.

Ray was constantly in disbelief at Tyson's naivety, yet here the boy was again, about to spill his heart out to Kai. What made him so certain Kai even had a good side? 'But then…' Ray murmured 'he never lost his faith in me...'
But Kai was different. Ray was sure that, if Tyson knew what Ray had found out, then he wouldn't be so trusting.

Then that led to a question: why hadn't Ray told Tyson his suspicions? They were perfectly well founded since Ray had almost even caught a glimpse of Kai's shadowy companion with his own eyes. But he was sure Kai had realized. The dual haired blader was being far more careful. Ray had to use all of his stealth and cunning to follow the stoic captain now. And if he was found again then it could become almost impossible…

Maybe that was it. Ray was afraid that Tyson would let something slip, shoot his mouth off, without thinking, like he had so many times before. Like he was about to do now in fact…

"K-Kai, I've got to tell you something…" Tyson's voice was visibly trembling, his eyes now holding clouds of doubt at his decision.

Ray could read his body language even from this distance…"Don't do it Ty...what ever it is…Kai won't play nice with you…you should know that by now" The Chinese blader gritted his teeth, waiting for Tyson to blunder on, heedless of his silent warnings.

"Ever since we first met…" Tyson began, still nervous- Kai was already switching off- " I-I've felt th-that…we…sh-share a special bond…"

"Get to the point Tyson! What do you want!"

Ray could have leapt out and floored Kai for that. Tyson was obviously about to say something very important. Feeling his heart go out for the blue haired dragon, Ray saw his friend's shoulders hunch in disappointment.

Kai threw a glance at him, disgusted, and began to walk away.

Tyson turned round. Ray was shocked to see tears running down his cheeks. "But Tyson…you never cry…" Ray thought through his astonishment.
The boy turned and sprinted as hard as he could up the hill.Ray watched him from the shadows, hatred and vengeance blazing in his brilliant golden eyes. Kai was going to pay dearly for that.

Ray had no idea how much he really would…

"You are late AGAIN!" The voice snapped from the shadows. Kai muttered a solemn apology, from his position of kneeling, out of respect, on the ground, knowing full well what was coming. The figure stepped swiftly from the shadows, gleaming office shoes resounding harshly on the tiled floor of the abandoned ware house. "Three minutes late…" the man hissed, advancing slowly on the boy kneeling, defenceless, on the floor "Punctuality is of essence!" Bringing a whip out from behind him he brought it down unmercifully on the boy's hunched back. Kai clawed the ground in silent pain. He couldn't answer back. He couldn't fight back. He couldn't even scream. Bracing himself against the cold tiles he waited, counting slowly under his breath. Boris was an expert in pain. He knew exactly the right amount of time to wait. When the welt had just passed its maximum agony, he would strike again with hideous accuracy.

The whip cracked twice more over the blader's spinal column.

Through the pain and rigid throbbing of his spine Kai dimly heard those clean shiny shoes step,

carefully and quickly away...

He couldn't move. Three minutes late. That Tyson had cost him this. Kai pressed his forehead harder into the ground, teeth gritted, trying to block out some of the pain. "Tyson…" He managed to whisper, he would pay most of all.

Holding it all in as though he was about to burst. This was impossible. Kai let himself collapse. Hopefully Boris wasn't going to come back this time. Curling as tight as he could in a foetal position he finally let himself cry. Squinting through his quickly darkening vision he noticed blood on the floor. Great, more mess to clean up and explaining to do once he woke up again.

Kai let himself slip away into unconsciousness, unaware of the lone blader standing in the door way of the ware house, eyes alight with confusion. Ray had arrived just too late.

As much as he didn't trust Kai Ray left that aside. The dual haired boy needed him now. Ray recognised that smell. Here it was again. Crimson drops on the floor glinting like stars in the night. Blood.

Ray rushed to his side. Why didn't he tell someone? He should have told them before now, Tyson, Max.
This was big: Mr D even.
Who ever Kai was communicating with, they were hurting him. Hang on, how could he know that? This could be a one off random attackby thugs. Ray tried to convince himself, he didn't know this had been going on for ages…
Yes he did. He had been tailing Kai for months. He had betrayed his team mates trust, lied to the others about where he had been. Kai could deal with this. If Ray just left now he could pretend he had never seen anything. Leave the blader like this. He deserved it after what he had done to crush Tyson like that...

"Hold on!" the Chinese teen demanded to his panicking mind. "If a team mate is in trouble I have to do everything I can to help him."

So being in the white tigers had taught him something.

Absolute morality.

Crouching down, Ray set to work…

OOOOoooo whats Kai gonna think when he wakes up eh?

There's gonna be some suprises in the next chappie! And just saying, I'm loading this with twists I've decided, so don't u peeps go getting comfy with any pairing! MWAHAHAHAHAH:) over n out!