MasterFranny: hello! I know, last chapter had all of you shocked, but believe me, it can happen. Mr. Dickinson had the wrong number…
Enjoy?
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Rating: PG-13 may get higher…
Warnings: Contains Yaoi, which is male x male relationship. Don't like, don't read, don't flame. Got it?
Disclaimer: if I owned BeyBlade, Kai would be making out with all the other males… but you don't see that in the episodes so no, I don't own.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"(Talking into other languages)"
–Dreams sequences, flashbacks, memories–
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The Way You Feel
Chapter 06: Misunderstandings…
"We're on a BeyBlade team," Rei quietly answered as Kai stared at him questioningly.
They were sitting in the living room together, and by just looking at them it would seem nothing was wrong between the two teams, but indeed they were enemies and rivals –because they shared a team mate, and none of the two groups wanted to let him go.
Said team–mate was simply looking at them all, fairly confused and in need of some kind of explaining.
Both BladeBreakers and Demolition Boys wanted to prove him their friendship, and they were not going to back down anytime soon.
"What's BeyBlade?"
Kai was utterly at loss now; he was standing in the middle, bad position if one was to ask him, with the teens he was comfortable with at his right (there was only Tala, but it felt like he was representing the rest of them as well), and the new incomers at his left, shifting his gaze from one side to the other.
He could see they didn't like each other at all, but he could not understand why for the sake of it.
Kai really wanted to remember about his past, to see if he really knew them all, and to find out why exactly they were standing in the same room glaring at each other, but for now it could only end up with headache and he wanted to calm down a bit.
He'd already had too many painful triggers for his memories, and he wanted some rest before trying again. maybe it simply was too soon.
"Is BeyBlade some sort of… game?" he asked tentatively, earning glances from all of them.
"Well, sort of," Kenny replied. The teen had been silent up to now, his guilt for the information he was keeping from his friends poking at him in the ribs, but now he had decided to join in the conversation.
Dizzi was in his arms as he shifted uncomfortably under the stares of the other teens –how he hated people staring…
"You are Hiwatari Kai, captain of a BeyBlade team… our BeyBlade team. You fought with us around the world until we got there, where we challenged Tala's team as well," he stated.
His professional tone mildly surprised Kai even though he didn't show it; instead the slate haired teen turned to the red head to confirm the midget was saying the truth.
Tala nodded, "yes, at the last tournament of BeyBlade you were with them… but at first… many years ago… you were part of our team" Tala paused for a second, uncertain about what to add, then he decided to go for it. "You belong to us".
"That's not true!" Rei stood up in a flash with flaming eyes, staring with hatred at the red head, as if daring him to say it again. "Kai is our friend, you are just the enemies! It's a shame he even considers you all his friends!"
Kai's eyes widened at the behaviour of the raven haired teen; at first he'd looked mild and nice, with his golden eyes and his beautiful hair, but now Kai wasn't exactly sure. He'd been kind of nasty to Tala and the others, and Kai didn't like it at all.
How could this guy enter in his house and start questioning his own friendships? Even if Kai could not remember any of them, he still felt more comfortable with Tala, Bryan, Ian and Spencer, and they were his friends –and he was sure they had been before as well.
Not caring about the slate haired teen's reaction to his words, Rei and Tala started bickering, making Kai feel actually useless; he wanted to stop them but did not know how to… they were fighting over him, after all.
It was not helping the fact that he felt deep inside it had already happened before, and not just once.
The raven blader glared at his rival, "you are only trying to lure Kai against us" he taunted. "he won't be easily fooled, even without his memory!"
That was the moment Bryan chose to come out of the kitchen, hearing some noises and deciding to come and have a look; he'd cleaned all the kitchen, feeling proud of himself, and entering in the living room he was surprised to see Tala, Kai and the BladeBreakers all sitting there.
The first thing that passed through his mind was 'holy cow, they decided to cooperate! Shit… I own twenty bucks to Spencer for this…' before noticing the tense aura around them; the Japanese boys had determined expressions, and he had to admit with himself they were actually trying with Kai.
"(I cleaned up everything)" he said casually, his voice coming out in a growl; since the BladeBreakers would not understand Russian, he decided to play a trick on them. "(Spencer should be here anytime now,)" he added as an afterthought.
His voice was low and aggressive, even though his words meant nothing scary at all; he wanted Kai to remember everything, yes, but that did not mean he liked the Japanese team. They had yet to gain his acceptance, much less his respect.
He had faith and trusted Kai and his own decisions, but he was not going to be as condescending as the slate haired teen was.
Kenny and Max fidgeted slightly under his scrutiny, only vaguely grasping the evil things Bryan was surely saying against them by his dark tone, and looking at them the lilac haired blader could not suppress a satisfied smirk.
"(I hope we will be able to afford a new oven,)" he mumbled then, glaring in direction of the kitchen.
"(I will buy it again!)" was Kai's immediate reply, his eyes flashing excitedly at the prospect of being able to do something nice to the ones that had helped him so much until now.
Bryan turned towards him, his eyes almost smiling –almost being the key word– even if his face was still as emotionless as ever, and he flopped down next to Tala, taking a guarded stance as the BladeBreakers moved backwards, intimidated by him.
Kai blinked, feeling partly amused by their reaction to Bryan's speech. He had to admit it, it was fun.
Unfortunately, not even Bryan's presence was enough to stop the arguing, so as it was about to start again there was a knocking from the entrance; Tala huffed and stood up, meeting Bryan's eyes, silently asking him to look over Kai while he was gone.
The lilac haired teen mentally rolled his eyes. Tala was such a protective git when it came to the slate haired teen it wasn't even funny.
Nonetheless he glared back at Tala in confirmation as the redhead walked towards the door stomping all the way there; to say he was pissed would be an understatement, because he wanted nothing more than spending some time with Kai alone, and now his house was filled with unwanted visitors… why was the world against him?
Opening the door he realized it was Mr. Dickinson again, with Bruce and the other old guy Tala knew to be Tyson's grandfather.
The two men in front of him were quite angry and Tala scowled at them, raising one eyebrow questioningly. "What are you doing here? I thought you wanted to come back later…" his voice clearly lacked of respect.
Mr. Dickinson stared hard at him (the man's version of a glare) stepping inside the apartment, determined to find Kai.
"How could you even think we would buy it?" he asked, moving towards the slate haired teen and gently tugging him to stand up next to him.
Kai frowned in confusion, not liking what was happening, and most of all not liking the fact that the older man was touching him.
"Kai," Bruce called gently, standing up in front of him. "You're coming with us".
"What!" Kai gasped in shock, trying to pry away his wrist from the man's grip.
"How could you believe we wouldn't check the phone number you gave us?" Mr. Dickinson's voice sounded hurt, more than angered. He felt betrayed since it had been Kai the one who asked him to trust the teens. "You gave us a false number" he stated.
"What!" Tala widened his eyes, anger burning its way up in his chest. "Wait a second, old coot!" he stepped forwards, glaring at the man. "I would never do something like this!"
Mr. Dickinson threw a piece of paper towards Tala, "this is the number you gave us. The one you said the doctor handed to you… but it's not a doctor's… it's the number for Pronto Pizza" he sighed, all anger leaving him. "I thought you deserved the second chance Kai asked me to give you… but I am not sure anymore… you were lying and I can't trust you with Kai".
"What!"
Tala and Bryan paled as Tyson and Rei stared in shock and fury at them, before brightening considerably at the prospect of taking Kai with them.
So they were right. The Demolition Boys were just trying to lure Kai away from them!
Max and Kenny, who had been starting to believe in the Russians' genuine concern for Kai, simply stood there frozen; this was too unreal to be really happening.
But Mr. Dickinson was damn serious–looking, and Bruce was fuming. There was no way they were lying… but then, it meant that…
"No" Kai tried to free himself from the man's grip again, not liking the direction of the conversation. He didn't want to leave his friends, the only familiar faces he had. "I don't want to come!"
Bruce stared at him and decided to join in the struggle, holding Kai's arm to stop him; he was worried, because he feared for Kai's safety. Plus, he feared that the Demolition Boys were the responsible for Naruto's amnesia in the first place.
He would not believe it unless there was proof of that, but he had to admit it was plausible.
He'd thought they were different, that they could be saved, but… they had lied. Maybe they wanted to make sure Kai was not going to leave them…
It could be just a stupid assumption, but at the present time it felt more real than many others. He could not make mistakes, he had to protect Kai.
"(Kai!)" Tala tried to reach out for the slate haired blader, but Rei stepped in–between them, "You're a bad liar, Tala," he growled out.
Mr. Dickinson shook his head slowly, "I am sorry, but until you are willingly to give me some straight and honest answer on why you lied to us, I won't allow Kai to stay here" he sighed, feeling older than ever. "Please, Kai, understand we're doing it for you".
"But the doctor was there!" Kai said, trying to make them understand. "He was there, and he visited me, and…"
"Kai, please," Bruce didn't let him finish. "You will have to come with us and be visited by a real doctor".
Tala was about to jump towards them and fight for Kai, but Bryan pressed his hand on the redhead's shoulder, his face cool.
"(You have to stay calm, Tala, it will help no one if you lose your cool… we will call the doctor and see what happened, but right now we have no power)".
Tala slumped down a bit, but he had to admit to himself Bryan was right.
On his part Kai bit his lip; it looked like something was wrong, and the men were not taking his word either. It looked like they were thinking he wasn't reliable only because he had a memory loss…
The doctor had been real, but for some mistake he could not understand he was now forced to follow them, leaving the security of the Demolition Boys' house.
But he was intelligent, and he knew he could not oppose to an adult; he had to follow them and wait for Tala and Bryan to come and help him out. After all, despite him not knowing them, the so called 'BladeBreakers' had up to now only acted on his welfare, even if wronging it all.
He could try and wait, and maybe force himself to remember.
Bruce nudged Kai gently out of the door, knowing he had to treat him with care after his improper behaviour from before, and now the teen would not trust him.
Crimson eyes stared uncertainly at him, but the slate haired blader did not object and followed him, sharing a hopeless look with Tala.
'What the hell happened!' Bryan and Tala could do nothing but observe their friend being taken away, as the BladeBreakers left their apartment.
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A brown haired man on his thirties scratched the back of his head with a sheepish and perplexed expression as he controlled one of his patients, an old man who was sleeping on a bed in front of him.
He scribbled down something on the medical record in his hand and checked the patient once more.
Something was bugging him, but he could not remember what.
"(Dr. Leykin…)" he turned around, frowning as one of the nurses appeared there holding out a pen to him.
The woman was on her late forties and had some grey hair here and there, and her dark blue eyes were deep and kind; she was used to his acting, and wasn't even surprised anymore –she knew him ever since his days back at the academy…
He stared down at his hand and noticed he was holding a syringe instead of a pen, and that his sheets were all scratched out; smiling sheepishly he scratched the back of his head again and took the pen from the nurse.
"(Really, Dr. Leykin, you should pay more attention to what you're doing…)" the nurse admonished, smiling almost motherly–like.
"(Thanks, Marya,)" he replied with a smile.
The doctor shook his head and walked away; as a crash could be heard in the general direction he disappeared to, another nurse stepped next to Marya and frowned, nudging the older woman with a perplexed expression. She was new in the hospital, and was not accustomed to such scenes.
"(Nothing happened! I am fine!)" came a yell from the corridor. Marya smiled shaking slightly her head.
"(What does that mean?)" the young nurse whispered. "(Does this happen a lot?)"
"(Yes, it does)" she replied amusedly. "(He's a great doctor, with a sixth sense when it comes to patients… you can say he's a genius in his field… but he's absurdly clumsy with everything else… cute, but absent–minded…)"Marya chuckled with a knowing smile.
The young nurse giggled with her, before returning to her work. She agreed whole heartedly.
Marya sighed again, her smile disappearing as she scratched her chin. 'But I am afraid someday he will do something wrong…'
She stared down at the table, and she realized Leo Leykin had once again written the wrong date on the report. He couldn't even remember the hospital's number… especially the private one he had for his office; luckily enough he'd never had the need to give it around, so any problem that could have caused was not probably going to happen anyway.
Smiling she resumed her work too.
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Kai was gently pulled into Bruce's car, having to sit down between Tyson and his father; he didn't like it one bit, it felt like they were blocking his escape routes –not that he was going to run, but still.
His eyes looked longingly back as Tala's house disappeared behind a corner, trying vainly to relax; he knew he shouldn't be thinking too badly about those new people that obviously were only trying to be nice with him, but all he could think was that they had taken him away from the only comfort he had.
Tala and Bryan had accepted the guys' presence, so he was not in danger, but he would wait for the two to come and take him away, no matter what. He trusted Tala and Bryan and Spencer and Ian, and knew they would help.
Still, he could not rely completely on them. his memories may not have been there for him at the moment, but that didn't mean he would be a weeping boy. He was not weak, he could feel it, just as clearly as he could tell he was breathing.
Relying on others, even if he trusted them, felt wrong.
He could take care of himself, until his memories reappeared, and he would wait.
He should also give a chance to this group. They meant well, even doing it wrong. His crimson eyes trailed to the people around him as he observed them, searching for something that could convince him he could trust them –he didn't really need a memory, just… a feeling.
Kai didn't want to burden anyone with his presence, but maybe he would have some more information from those teens if he acted right; they looked pretty dumb –or at least the bluenette at his right did.
"Don't worry Kai, soon enough you will remember everything," the man at his left, the one that was called Bruce, smiled down at him. "And if later on we realize that indeed the intensions of the Demolition Boys were good, we will let you see them again".
Kai had a feeling he wasn't convinced himself of what he was saying.
"There is nothing wrong with them" he hissed vehemently in Japanese, his voice showing a little Russian accent. He realized that this meant Russian was his native language, even though he could speak Japanese flawlessly.
Rei and the others BladeBreakers noticed his light accent and frowned; Kai had never shown an accent ever before, but it meant nothing. They knew already he'd lived in Russia when he was little.
The Neko–jin cast a glance towards the phoenix, enjoying the fact that he was not receiving back a glare from him.
"Kai, how do you explain the wrong number?" Mr. Dickinson asked, as Tyson's grandfather turned a corner with the car.
"I… I don't know, but I trust Tala" Kai stated.
Tyson's grandfather smiled at this, "then this is something from you that didn't change from before" he stated quietly.
Kai felt a wave of gratitude towards the old man, realizing he was the only one in that car not holding a grudge against his friends.
Rei gritted his teeth, feeling vaguely jealous. He was the one Kai had trusted before, and he wanted to protect the slate haired blader from Tala.
The car finally stopped in front of the building of the BladeBreakers' apartment, and Kai stared at it curiously; it was big and quite eye-catching, but he had to admit he quite liked it.
Bruce stepped out of the car and held out a hand, expecting him to grab it; Kai promptly ignored it, he wasn't crippled or ill, he only had amnesia.
Tyson chuckled a bit, recognizing a bit of the old Kai in this new version, and was partly relieved about this –he had waited for some sign that would reassure him Kai would get his memories back, and seeing him act a bit coldly was enough.
For now at least.
"Come on Kai, let's get inside! You live here, I want to show you everything around!"
Kai rolled his eyes, not liking the bluenette's antics at all –he wondered if he'd been used to them before, or not.
"Kai?"
Rei placed his hand comfortingly on the slate haired blader's shoulder, pleased to see the other did not turn away, or wince and glare at him like he would have done before.
Maybe this amnesia would be good for improving their relationship to more than just friendship, so when Kai regained his memories he could proceed further… this new, a bit more innocent Kai had a strange appeal that the old one didn't have, and if Rei wanted nothing more than woo him, he had to admit he wanted the Kai that recognized him and smiled at him back.
Nonetheless, Rei loved this Kai too.
"Kai, you have nothing to fear with us, we care for you" he smiled.
Kai felt a light blush he could not explain tinge his cheeks; this raven haired teen was nice, in a different way than Tala or Bryan were, but still. He was also… kind of cute, too, but in a feral way almost. He could not explain.
Noticing the blush, inner Rei did a happy dance, whilst on the outside he simply smiled more, "we helped you through hard times, and we will do it again!"
His golden eyes flashing, Rei let his fingers curl around Kai's own, making the other teen widen his eyes in shock –but he didn't recoil from the touch, and Rei smiled again before leading the slate haired blader towards the house, followed by the rest of the team.
Mr. Dickinson, Bruce and grandpa Granger remained behind for a moment, sighing in relief as they saw Kai not protesting against the BladeBreakers. They had feared he would not trust them, but it seemed like they were wrong.
The BBA's president was now feeling a lot guilty for his behaviour with the Demolition Boys, since Kai had seemed more comfortable with them, but he hoped he would feel this way with the BladeBreakers as well.
They would be able to clear everything with the doctor and the wrong phone number, he was sure of that.
Meanwhile inside the apartment Tyson and Max had decided that to make Kai comfortable they shouldn't breath down on his neck, and thought it better to let him explore around while they settled down on the GameCube; Kenny retired in his own room to upgrade Dizzi and speak with her a bit about the latest events.
None of them noticed the way Rei seemed to be acting with Kai, and if they did, they let it pass without commenting.
"Hey, are you hungry?" Rei turned to look at Kai, who was standing in the middle of the living room and looking around, a bit lost. He needed some time to accustom himself to the new place, after all.
Kai thought back at the thing the Demolition Boys had cooked for him and grimaced, nodding at the Neko–jin. Rei nodded, "I could cook you something if you want… you always kind of liked my food" he stated proudly.
Kai blinked and nodded again, wondering if he really was good, before following the raven in the kitchen, still holding hands.
The warmth seeping from the other teen's hand was making something tingle inside Kai's stomach, much like being near Tala did, and he found it pleasant, not willing to let go.
As Rei wandered around the kitchen to prepare the ingredients, Kai sat down at the table in the exact moment Max entered the kitchen, and stared at the bouncy blonde in curiosity.
"Kai, I hope you are prepared to taste one of the best cooking ever!" he smiled brightly at him, not noticing Rei's well–directed stare. "Rei's cooking is heavenly!"
Kai blinked, a bit put off by the blonde's behaviour, but decided to not let himself be intimidated, and simply shrugged.
"Well, I'll go back there" Max pointed towards the living room, "Tyson's waiting for me to defeat him!"
Then he left, leaving the two teens alone in the kitchen.
Kai shifted uncomfortably, looking around. He wanted to know if it had ever happened before, if Rei had already cooked for him, but didn't want to break the comfortable silence that had settled down on them, and decided to simply observe the raven as he cooked.
Rei moved around like he was in his element, every now and then glancing back at him and smiling, and after a while he started speaking, telling Kai one or two stories about the team in general, trying to make him relax a bit.
Listening to his melodic voice telling things he could not remember about how one day Tyson got food poisoning, or that Max was almost all day in sugarhigh, Kai found himself enjoying more and more Rei's company.
Without making it obvious, he was helping him place the teens called BladeBreakers into a more fitting category of people, not exactly friends, but not strangers anymore.
He was glad of this.
Rei was nice, not the same as the others were, but he still was. he kind of liked him, and liking this teens would help him until Tala and Bryan came back for him.
Kai frowned, wondering why Tala and Rei hadn't seemed much friendly towards each other; if they were all his friends, why couldn't they get along? What had happened? It looked like he needed some specific answers.
But even with all the confusion, Kai felt happy to have so many friends willing to help him. He had just to try harder to get his memories back, so then he would be able to thank all of them for their care.
As Kai was lost in this train of thoughts, a delicious scent filled the air, sifting to the living room where Tyson was moping about his loss to Max at their game, and a second later brown eyes sparkled with renewed energy as the Dragon jumped into the kitchen, throwing himself towards the still burning plate of pancakes Rei had placed on the table, with a trail of drool running down his cheek.
Halfway through he met unceremoniously with a wooden spoon that had magically appeared in front of his face, making him fall down on the floor.
"Owww!" he yelled, whining pitifully and rubbing his nose.
"Sorry Tyson, these are not for you, but for Kai," Rei growled at the bluenette, promising him pain with his eyes if he as much tried to steal the food.
Tyson gulped in fear, backing away, as Max smiled sympathetically at him, patting the other on the shoulder; but of course Tyson was not one to be put down this easily.
'I will get what I want! I always get what I want!' he assured himself with an overly–serious face, laughing maniacally to himself.
'Scary…' Max shuddered, staring at the laughing Tyson with a hint of fear; it was normal –well, common, not normal– for the Dragon to follow his own thoughts and start spazzing without anyone understanding what or who caused such reaction, and it was kind of creepy to watch.
Max usually would tag along with the bluenette because it was funny, and ended most of the time with a bag filled with sweets (with Tyson, the matter was almost every time some kind of edible food, usually sweets), but the Evil Glare of Doom© from Rei, second only to the one he received when he broke the Neko–jin's hairdryer, made him back away hastily in fear.
He would not do the same mistake twice, not with Rei.
The raven haired blader wanted Kai, and would not renounce to the challenge easily.
Not to mention that Rei could be very, very scary.
Rei placed the plate of perfectly shaped pancakes in front of Kai, who felt his mouth water by just the sight and the scent of them, then smiled at him expectantly, making the slate haired teen blush again.
"Hold on," Rei brushed one finger over Kai's cheek, "You need the syrup…"
Rei turned around, and in that exact moment, a hand appeared from under the table and grabbed one of the steamy pancakes; Kai blinked, amused, as the hand was slapped away with fierce determination, being hit by Rei's spoon until it dropped the pancake again.
Amber eyes flashed with a promise of pain as Rei kicked Tyson forcefully out of the kitchen, the loud protests of the Dragon resonating around about how unfair Rei was, and how mean.
Kai blinked once, staring at the giggling blonde.
"Does this… happen a lot around here?"
Max laughed out, nodding at him.
Rei turned around, his glare melting into a warm smile, almost mischievous, "usually it's you who beat Tyson into submission," he stated.
Rei and max laughed as a long whine could be heard from the living room, and Kai blinked again, feeling a smirk flicker on his lips.
Starting finally to eat, Kai showed his appreciation for the delicious food as Rei stared at him with hungry eyes; this Kai was unguarded, almost clueless, making Rei feel twisted inside; he wanted to show him how much he loved him, and to be loved back.
'Don't forget, Tala, this is a fight, and all is fair in love and war' Rei smirked to himself, leaning down to eat a pancake as well, whilst Max exited the kitchen, for once willing to leave the sweets to the two.
Kai felt some syrup fall on his fingers, and placing down his pancake he searched his pocket for a handkerchief; he met with something round and metallic, and after having checked it with his hand he pulled it out to look at it; it took him a moment to remember what it was, but then he recognized the BitChip Tala had given him –the one that had been in his own bloodied clothes.
Tala had called it Black Dranzer, and there was a dark phoenix on its surface.
Shrugging, he placed it on the table and continued his search for something to wipe away the syrup with, not noticing Rei's face turn pale.
Rei could not believe what he was seeing.
This was… this was Black Dranzer!
"K… Kai?"
The slate haired teen looked up, surprised to hear Rei speak so quietly, and recognizing a light trace of… fear? In his voice.
"What? Is there something wrong?"
Rei gulped and tried to calm down, backing slightly away from the black chip on the table, feeling its dark energy in the air –it made his hair stand on its end.
"Where… where did you get… this?" he asked, trying to sound casual but poorly failing.
Kai didn't seem to be affected by Black Dranzer, and he didn't want to shock or scare him.
Finally having found a handkerchief, Kai cleaned his mouth and his fingers with it, before answering lightly, "ah? Tala gave it to me… he said it belonged to me".
And once again, Kai failed to see the hatred filling Rei's eyes.
'Tala… you bastard' Rei growled deeply in his throat. 'I knew… people like you never change'.
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MasterFranny: end of sixth chapter. I decided that there will be only three trying to have Kai's love.
ReiKai
TalaKai
BryanKai
Please, drop a review, and remember, I am still undecided as to which one will win Kai's heart. so everything's still open. I ask you to read this fic, even if in the end the final pairing won't please you at all. I promise I'll be good!
Review?