DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Beyblades, only my OCS.
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Chapter 5: Bruised Ego
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"Ams." Amara groaned at the sound of her name interrupting her sleep. She knew the person was trying to wake her up but the bed was so soft and the last thing she wanted what to leave its warmth. Not to mention she would have to face another day in the company of Kai Hiwatari.
"Amara." The voice whispered again this time the tone was a little sharper. Amara let out an annoyed whimper and rolled over away from the voice. After a few minutes of silence she was sure the person was gone. A small smile crept across her face thinking that she had won.
"Morning Ams!" There was no gentle whisper this time. A new voice that was distinctly her brothers called at her.
"Bugger off," Amara grumbled pulling the covers over her head. She hoped this would discourage him a little. She wanted a bit more sleep after it had taken her till about three in the morning to finally fall asleep.
Unfortunately for her this did not deter Brian from his task. He pulled the blankets away making Amara shiver. She was wearing flannel pajama pants that she had cut off at the knee and an oversized baseball shirt but the sudden removal of the two quilts she had warmed up to made her chilly.
"Wakey, wakey, Ams," Brian cooed as if he was talking to a baby. "Time to rise and shine." He made a move to tickle her sides, which sent her into hysterics. Amara couldn't stand anyone touching the sides of her stomach. Even the lightest touch made her jump and generally flail. Amara kicked and screamed trying to make her brother stop.
"I asked you to wake her up not kill her," Nancy stood in the doorway, a cup of coffee in her hands, watching her children.
"She wouldn't get up," Brian replied with a smile still torturously tickling his sister. "Drastic times call for drastic measures, Mom." He grinned mischievously at her.
"Well I think she's up now," Nancy smiled turning to leave.
Brian stopped allowing Amara to catch her breath. Amara's long red hair was covering her face in one tangled mass making it difficult for Brian to make out her expression. He tentatively brought his hand up and pulled the red strands out of her face. Even with tired eyes Brian could make out his sister's death glare.
"Hello Sunshine," he said trying not to burst out laughing. Amara continued to glare at him but Brian had a feeling she was about to snap. To his surprise she did nothing other than sit there and give him the evil eye. "If you want to go snowboarding you need to get up and have some breakfast." Brian relayed the message.
He let go of her hair and it fell right back into place in front of her eyes. Amara didn't ask her brother to leave she just pointed at the door and lucky for him he got the point of his sister's actions without her having to say much more.
Once he was gone Amara got off the bed and opened the drawers to find some clothes. She pulled out her long johns, which went, under her snowboarding pants. Next she grabbed a black turtleneck and black UCLA sweatshirt. After finding all her gear that she would need to keep warm, Amara put all the stuff on and headed out of the room to the kitchen where everyone else had gathered.
"Morning Amara," Vicki greeted her cheerfully cuddling her cup of coffee for warmth.
"Morning," Amara replied putting on a smile. She took a seat at the small kitchen table beside Holly. The younger girl was too busy munching on Lucky Charms cereal to even notice that Amara was there. Her eyes were very intent on reading the cereal box.
"Can I get you anything for breakfast?" Vicki asked being the ever-helpful hostess. "We have cereal, eggs, bacon, toast…" Amara couldn't help but tune Vicki out. In her mind it was still too early to be civilized and especially after her rude awakening. It was bad enough that she didn't want to be here and her brother wasn't really helping to improve her attitude.
"So what would you like?" Amara turned her attention back to Vicki hoping she didn't notice Amara's disinterest.
"Um…" Amara mumbled trying to remember something she had said. "Fruit?" Vicki pointed to the large bowl of fruit on the table. Amara thanked her with a sheepish smile and grabbed an apple.
"Are we going snowboarding or what?" Kai appeared in the doorway wearing all his snowboarding gear. "I want to get out there before all the fresh powder is taken by a bunch of novices."
"Honey, there's still plenty of time," Vicki told him motioning for him to take a seat and placing a bowl in front of him. Kai sighed and took the box of Lucky Charms from his sister.
"Hey!" Holly shrieked frowning at him. " I was reading that."
"Hold on Squirt. You can have it back in a second," Kai told her filling his bowl till it almost over flowed. "Besides do you even know what half of those ingredients are?"
"I don't care," Holly huffed continuing her reading. Kai smirked to himself as he poured the milk onto his cereal. Amara watched them in silence.
The relationship between Kai and Holly seemed a lot like Amara's relationship with her own brother. She wasn't sure why this surprised her but it did. Maybe it was because she expected Kai to be completely unfeeling as he had been to her. There was a time though when her bond with Kai had been something like that. He would usually tease her about something telling her that she didn't know what she was doing and her reply was always that she didn't care. Everything was a learning experience and she was always willing to try no matter what Kai told her.
"Problem Jones?" Kai's cocky voice broke through her thoughts.
"What?" Amara asked completely confused.
"You were staring at me with a dreamy look on your face," Kai informed her, his grin widening before he continued. "See something you like?"
Amara rolled her eyes. "I was merely wondering how you were planning on fitting milk on your cereal without making a mess." Amara took a bite of her apple after giving him her explanation. An explanation she had to make up quickly since she didn't want him to know that she had been thinking about the past. That would be treading on dangerous ground.
"Oh really?" Kai nodded as if he was agreeing with her excuse. "You've suddenly become concerned about my eating habits?"
"No," Amara replied not missing a beat. "I was more concerned about you making a mess after your mother already cleaned the table." She finished off her apple and tossed the core in the garbage can beside the sink.
"Right," Kai drawled. "My mother's clean kitchen is high on your list of priorities I'm sure." Amara had to resist the urge not to stick her tongue out at him for mocking her but she held it back when Neil came into view.
"Kai, Amara, are you two ready to go?" Neil asked appearing at the kitchen door that led outside. "All the gear is loading up."
"I'm ready," Kai mumbled stuffing a few more spoonfuls of cereal into his mouth. He stood up to walk over to the sink still stuffing his face as he went.
Amara went to her room and gathered the rest of her gear and then joined Neil and Holly on the driveway. Holly was going on about how excited she was to be skiing after a year without it.
"Are you a good snowboarder Amara?" the little girl asked with her usual angelic smile. She climbed into the SUV and waited for Amara's answer.
"I guess," Amara shrugged climbing in beside the younger girl.
"Kai is really good," Holly informed Amara beaming at her older brother who was now occupying the front seat. "You want to be able to keep up with him." Kai turned and cast a cocky smile at Amara.
"Thanks for the concern Holls," Amara patted the little blonde on the arm then turned and glared at Kai. "But I think I can manage."
"Okay," Holly shrugged completely oblivious to the tension that was rising between the two older teens. "It wouldn't be good if something happened to you…"
Amara blocked out Holly's ramblings yet again. She wasn't sure how much of what the younger girl was saying was true and what part of it was just bragging over her beloved older brother. Amara knew she wasn't a bad snowboarder. She had been doing it for years but there was still a bit of fear. Kai would push her to her limit that was a given.
"I can't believe you're blaming me for this," Kai groaned shaking his head and running his fingers through his blue-gray hair. "Well I guess it isn't too shocking…you always were quick to shift the blame."
"What is that suppose to mean?" Amara snapped cradling her left wrist against her body. The throbbing pain in her wrist was not helping her attitude at all. Kai seemed to be making it worse. "What right do you have to make an accusation like that?" Amara wagged her finger in his face.
"Never mind. Keep the ice on or it's going to swell more," Kai turned her attention back to her injured wrist. He shifted the ice pack for her so it was right on the swollen part. "Let's not make it worse then it already is."
"Thank you, but you are not the doctor," Amara huffed, shifting in her seat so her back was slightly facing Kai.
They were in the first aid station awaiting the return of the medic. He said he could only put a tensor bandage on it since he wasn't qualified to put a cast on it without proper x-rays. There was a possibility that Amara's wrist was fractured and the ski patrolmen had already sent out a dispatch to alert Neil of her injury.
"So if it still hurts tomorrow I recommend you get x-rays to see if it is fractured or not," the medic had returned and crouched down in front of Amara. He unraveled the bandaged and gently wrapped it around Amara's left wrist. "If it really hurts you might want to take some ibprophen or something."
Amara nodded knowing perfectly well that she would need a few painkillers. Even with the ice her wrist was still throbbing.
"I just need to get a few details about what happened and then you'll be free to be on your way," the medic informed them taking a clipboard from the table.
After going through all the typical stuff like name and address, he asked the question neither teen really wanted to answer.
"How did you acquire said injury?"
Kai turned to Amara interested to hear how she would reply. He noticed that she was squirming a little in her seat and keeping her eyes focused on the clock behind the medic's head.
"I fell," Amara answered lamely knowing full well this wasn't quite what he was looking for. This answer would only bring more questions.
"Alright," he nodded, scribbling furiously on the form. "Were any other people involved? Did you hit anyone or did anyone hit you?"
"Yeah I guess." Amara's eyes shifted down to her wrist. She could feel Kai's eyes on her and she was pretty sure he was smiling.
"Care to elaborate?"
"Him," Amara extended a thumb in Kai's direction. "I collided with him."
The medic nodded writing down the information. He asked Kai for his name and address. Kai willingly complied.
"Alright, you two are free to go."
Amara smiled and got out of her seat quickly. Kai followed behind her thanking the young medic. They came out of the first aid station just as Holly and Neil came down the hill towards them.
"Amara! Amara!" Holly called running to Amara the best she could in her uncomfortable ski boots. "Are you okay? What happened?" The young girl fired questions rapidly.
"I'm fine," Amara replied.
Holly flung her arms around Amara's waist. "I was so worried."
"Thanks Holls," she patted the younger girl's toque covered head.
"Well it doesn't look like you're all fine," Neil commented pointing at Amara's bandaged wrist.
"Yeah…well you don't end up in the first aid station for nothing," Amara shrugged. She shifted her position in the snow so she could balance with Holly's arms still around her waist.
"What about you son?" Neil turned his attention to Kai who had been standing there quietly watching the interaction between Amara and his sister.
"He lucked out with nothing more than a bruised ego," Amara interjected casting a quick glare Kai's way.
"And who's fault would that be? Hmm," Kai said with an irksome smile. The red head's glare seemed to intensify. If looks could kill Kai would be dead about ten times over. "Oh right I forgot. This is all my fault."
"I'm glad we have an understanding," Amara replied with a satisfied smile.
"Well then," Neil cut in before Kai had a chance to retaliate. "I guess we should pack it in for the day."
No one bothered to answer they just headed in the direction of the parking lot and the SUV. The drive home was shared in silence. It seemed even little Holly had nothing to say.
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Thanks to all who reviewed...hope you enjoy this chapter too :)
Miss Wright
