Okay, I'm not too sure about this chapter. It seems a bit...pointless. Oh well, on with the fic!
Kai watched as Phoenix moved to lie on top of him, her skin icy-cold to the touch. He felt numb. This had been a long time in coming. He had sensed it from the very beginning all those years ago, known that one day she would catch him off guard. He shivered as her cold lips brushed against his bare chest. What did it matter, anyway? A slight smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth. If they joined phsycially, their minds would also merge, giving him full control over her at last. Heat ran through him at the thought. Seven years he had been waiting for that. Control. Absolute, utter control over the strongest bit-beast that the world had ever known. Did she even realise that? Or was she too obbssed with crowing over her own cleverness... He met her gaze confidently. Weak from blood loss he might be, but no one and nothing would ever get the better of Kai Hitwatari. He was in control.
Stupid boy, Phoenix thought almost fondly. Doesn't he know that I worked him out a long time ago? He thinks that he can control me, he's oozing with confidence. Pity I'm about to shatter it. Voltaire's order's, Kai. Nothing...personal.
Kai caught his breath as Phoenix kissed him fiercely, demandingly. His head began to spin. Unable to resist, unable to react, he lay motionless, struggling to stay conscious as the kiss grew hotter, harder, intrusive... With an effort, he pulled his aching, spinning head away and took a quick breath.
"Oh no you don't," a voice purred in his ear. "You wanted me, Kai. Now you've got me."
"I want you...on my terms!" Kai whispered, trying to sound angry through the thick blanket of weariness that had wrapped itself tightly around him.
"What, so now you don't want me?" A gentle hold on his wrist suddenly intensified. He gasped in pain. "Then I'll just take you!" The previously cool, seductive voice was now wild, ferocious, menancing. Two hands pushed inside his boxers and began to rouse him with hard, brutal pulls. "Your grandfather did once say that you liked it rough, after all." Phoenix added as an afterthought. Kai opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out. No, his brain was screaming, he raped me until the only way to arousal that I knew was by brute force! With the last of his energy, he let out a thin cry, then closed his eyes, all his fight gone. Just before his eyes closed, he saw the blood-red mist creep up, fitting around him like a second skin. Slowly, the familiar feeling of power rose up inside him, taking him over. Cracking one eye open a slit, he saw Phoenix preparing to thrust herself onto him. Literally. He smiled, past caring. He had the power. Let the bitch do what she liked. As long as he felt like this, nothing and nobody mattered. Nothing and nobody...
Ray...
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door.
"Kai, bud? You okay in there?" In an instant, Phoenix disappeared, suddenly nothing more than a streak of black racing for her beyblade, which was still under the bed. "Kai?" Through a rapidly spreading blackness, Kai saw Tyson open the door and gape down at him. One corner of his mouth crooked up in a grotesque parody of a grin and he gratefully passed out.
"Kai? Kai, can you hear me?" Kai moaned softly and moved closer to the hand that was gently caressing his cheek. Slowly, he managed to open his eyes, to see Ray looking worriedly down at him. "It's okay, Kai. Don't try to talk for a bit. You're still really tired." Kai bristled inwardly. How dare he tell me how I'm feeling? Ray smiled faintly. "Yeah, I know. I've got no right to tell you how to feel." He chuckled softly, brushing a loose strand of hair out of his eyes. "Trust me on this, okay?" Kai closed his eyes again, enjoying the feeling of Ray being so close to him, Ray's warm hand lightly stroking his cold cheek. A black pit yawned in front of him and he fell into it
Ray got up stiffly and hobbled outside and down the corridor, where the rest of the team and Mr Dickenson were waiting.
"He woke up for a few seconds, but he's asleep now." he reported, struggling to keep himself from blushing at his recent close proximity to Kai. The other four nodded. Unbidden, a thought strayed into Ray's mind, making him chuckle softly.
"What's so funny?" Tyson asked in puzzlement.
"Oh, nothing." Ray said airily, his mind floating back a few hours.
Ray stopped outside Kai's door, hearing the unusual sound of Tyson's voice coming from inside.
"Um...right, um, help, what do I do now? DRABC, that's it! Oh yeah, go me... Right...D stands for Danger, which means "check the surround area for danger". The only danger in here's right in front of me. If he wakes up, I am so screwed... 'I don't need your help, Tyson!' and so on and so on. Well, sorry Mr Sourpuss, but you're just gonna have to get over it! R stands for Response which means...check person for response by calling their name and/or patting their shoulder. Yeah, right. Like I'm ever going to actually touch him! He'd rip my head off! And if he hasn't heard me talking up 'til now, then he isn't going to! A stands for Airway...oh god...I can't skip this bit...Okay, tip Kai's head up with ONE finger, less contact, less grounds for potential murder later. B stands for Breathing. Yeah right, if he wasn't breathing, he'd be going blue. I am not going any closer to him than an arm's length. C stands for Circulation. I can see his cirulation's just fine, most of it's coming out his leg! Oh damn...I should do something about that...what?"
Taking pity on Tyson - and light-headed from holding in his laughter - Ray stepped into the room, only to be confronted with a deathly pale, unconscious and bleeding Kai.
"Nothing." Ray repeated, sobered up by the recollection of the dread that had landed like a lead weight in his stomach. Unconvinced, Tyson pulled a sulky face and stuck his tongue out at Ray.
"Tyson, grow up!" Kenny snapped. Tyson blinked, taken aback by the unusual fierceness from the little genius.
"Okay, Kenny. Chill, already." he said peaceably. Somewhat pacified, Kenny turned away slightly and continued hacking into the hospital computer, trying to get the information on Kai that the hospital was being annoyingly slow in giving them.
"Ah!" Recognising the triumphant exclamation, everyone clustered around Kenny. Mr Dickenson, who had deliberately turned a blind eye to the highly illgeal activity being commited right in front of him, was no less eager than the rest. "Okay... Kai's file...gotcha! Right, Kai's suffered some pretty major blood loss, but that looks like all of it...wait, there's more!" Everyone waited (im)patiently for Kenny to tell them. "Dammit, no...damn...stupid..." Interrupting the infuriated monolouge, Max waved a hand in front of Kenny's face.
"Earth to Kenny! What's the problem?" Kenny looked up fleetingly, his mouth set in a grim line.
"Later, Max. I'm not letting some stupid little security system beat me..." He sat down in the middle of the corrior, frowning in irritated concentration. Ten minutes later, Max nudged the boy urgently, seeing a nurse approaching them purposefully.
"Kenny!" Tyson hissed when Kenny didn't react, kicking him sharply. "Shut that down!" Instantly, Kenny closed the laptop. The nurse stopped in front of them, barely even glancing at the boys.
"Mr Dickenson?" The man in question nodded. "May I have a word, please?"
"Of course." The nurse nodded briskly and motioned for the old man to follow her a short distance away. With a warning glance at the four boys, Mr Dickenson walked over to her. Ray strained his acute hearing, but only managed to pick up a few words here and there.
"Fifteen year-old boy...blood loss...left alone recently? Strictest confidence, sir...we suspect..." Then suddenly, easily audible to the people on the other side of the hospital let alone the four boys standing nearby, Mr Dickenson's startled outburst.
"You must be mistaken!" The blood ran cold in Ray's veins, and judging by the expression on the other's faces, they felt much the same.
Suddenly, inexplicably terrified.
Mr Dickenson came over, his face pale. He suddenly looked every year of his age.
"Boys..." His voice shook and trailed off. Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Boys, I don't even know if I should be telling you this, but..."
"But what?" Tyson burst out impatiently, his voice quivering. "Spit it out!" Glaring at the impudent thirteen year-old, Mr Dickenson complied.
"They suspect that Kai... They think that Kai has been raped." he said in a rush. Stunned silence greeted his words.
Slowly, Kai came back to consciousness. Shifting his position slightly, he let out a low hiss of annoyance at the discovery of Ray's absence. Old habits quickly reasserted themselves, though, and he pushed the thought out of his head. He didn't need him, he didn't need anyone. Opening his eyes, he blinked a few times, refocusing his vision. The friendly face of a woman floated into his line of sight. She looked about forty-odd, her lined face framed by a mass of brown ringlets.
"Hello, Kai. Glad you're awake." she said cheerfully. He eyed her suspiciously. No one was ever cheerful around him, not for long, anyway. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" He shrugged. What did he care? He took stock of his surroundings. Hard bed...endless sterile whiteness...stink of disinfectant...whatever he was wearing rustled when he moved... he was in a hospital. Wait, how did he get here? "You passed out in your room, Kai. Your friends brought you in." That was that solved, then. They're not my friends! part of him insisted. "Could you tell me what you were doing in there?"
"None of your business." Kai said flatly. The woman paused, then changed tacks.
"Okay then, Kai. I know that this is a personal question, but are you sexually active?" Something clicked in Kai's head. They thought he'd been raped. They were wrong. He remembered it now, as clear as day, Phoenix lying on him, him lying motionless, helpless. But she hadn't penetrated him, of that he was sure. Tyson had come in at just the right moment. Or wrong, depending on your point of view. He swore mentally as he realised that he hadn't answered her question.
"Yes." The woman frowned.
"How long have you been sexually active?" Kai shrugged. "Don't be ashamed of it."
"I'm not." He allowed a little scorn to creep into his voice. As she scrabbled around for a different angle, he struggled to push himself into a sitting positon. He didn't want to deal with this lying down like a pathetic child. A wave of dizziness swamped him, but it quickly passed.
"When was the first time that you remember having any kind of sexual intercourse?" He shrugged again. As if he was going to know! He'd only just started getting his memories back, for fuck's sake! Earlier than she wanted to hear, that was for sure. "Was there ever a time when adults seemed overly interested in you?" He couldn't suppress a snort of laughter. First they suspected rape, now they were asking about paedophilia! What next? Incest? He laughed properly this time, a sour, bitter noise.
"I don't remember." he answered truthfully.
"You know that there's no need to lie to me, Kai. No one can hurt you in here." He bit his lip to hold back his rising temper. Foolish woman. Everyone could be hurt anywhere.
"I'm not lying." he gritted out through clenched teeth. His head was pounding like a drum.
"We think you've been raped, Kai-"
"Well then, you think wrong! Now leave me alone!"
"Remember, you don't need to lie to us-"
"I'm not lying!" he shouted, wincing at the increased pain in his head. Clearly unconvinced, the woman stood up.
"All right, Kai. I'll come back when you feel in a more co-operative mood." You do that, Kai thought savagely. You just do that, bitch. As she closed the door, he lay back down, silently fuming.
A crutch slipped from Ray's suddenly limp grasp and landed with a crash on the floor. He swayed, barely noticing as Max and Tyson grabbed his arms and steadied him, their faces pale. Kai, no...it can't be true... He shook himself free of the younger boy's grip. They've made a mistake...
"Let me see him!" he demanded, his voice none the less angry because of the way it was shaking. Mr Dickenson slowly shook his head, his plump face pitying. "I said let me see him!" Ray yelled, his entire body quivering. Vaguely, he was aware of the three younger boys eyeing him uneasily. The nurse who had delivered the news stepped forwards.
"I'm sorry, young man, but that isn't possible at the moment-"
"Did I ask your opinion?" Ray spat.
Tyson stared in shock at Ray. The boy was trembling uncontrollably, his face ashen under his tan. His pupils were thin black slits in his wide eyes, his teeth bared in a grimace of rage and horror. Who blames him, though? Tyson asked himself, shivering. He's always been closer to Kai than the rest of us. And to find out...this! He shivered again, and felt Max hug him comfortingly. He reached out one arm to Kenny and the three of them huddled in a little ball of shock, watching the remaining team member lash out at anything and everything in his distress.
"You're wrong!" Ray yelled, turning on his heel and hobbling awkwardly towards Kai's room. Ungraciously, he grabbed his other crutch from Max. "You've made a mistake!" Mr Dickenson's hand closed around his arm. He writhed furiously, but the old man had a grip far stronger than one panicked, injured teenager.
"Ray," Mr Dickenson said soothingly. "The reason that you can't go in there at the moment is that there's someone in there with Kai, asking him some questions. Then, when they come out, they'll want to talk to all of you as well. Just wait a little while, all right?" Ray nodded distractedly, patiently waiting for Mr Dickenson's grip on his arm to diminish. Suddenly, Kai's door opened and a brown-haired woman came out, her lips pressed together in a thin line. Seeing his chance, Ray tore free of the BBA chairman's grip and ran as quickly as he could into Kai's room.
Hearing the door slam, Kai opened his eyes and rolled over to face the doorway, preparing to give that interfering cow a piece of his mind. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw Ray, panting and wild-looking, peering anxiously through the door.
"Good, they're not coming after me." he heard him mumble.
"Ray?" Ray turned instantly, overbalancing slightly. His eyes were wide, furious, yet somehow unreadable.
"Kai." Ray replied stiffly. He moved to within an arm's reach of the bed. Suddenly, all his angry defences fell down. Tears glittered in the corner of his eyes, his eyes begged silently with the older boy. "Tell me they've got it wrong." he pleaded, his voice quaking dangerously. Kai fought to keep his own icy exterior up.
"They got it wrong." he said tonelessly. Ray's posture slumped, his knees buckling with relief. "Sit down before you faint." Kai said grudgingly, allowing a little concern to seep past his barriers. Obediently, Ray sank down onto the bed and put his head in his hands.
"I knew it." he whispered tiredly. "I knew it!" Kai felt compassion welling up inside him, squashed it down with anger.
"Oh, so you think you know me, do you?" Surprised, Ray opened his mouth to respond, but Kai cut in, afraid of what he might hear, desperately shoring up his crumbling walls of defence. "You thought that you were the first, huh?" Anger flashed through Ray's weary eyes.
"I never-"
"What if I told you the truth? They were wrong this time. And they were wrong every other time, when they should have been right!" Ray frowned as he tried to puzzle this statement out. Kai subsided, waiting for it to click. He didn't want to hurt Ray as he knew he was, but if he let his barriers down now, he was afraid he'd never stop screaming. Memories were slotting themselves into place even as he spoke, dark memories, from before the Bladebreakers, before Black Dranzer, cruel laughter, icy coldness, and so much pain...
"You've been raped before?" Ray jolted him out of his haunting thoughts.
"Oh, well done, Kon. Took you long enough!" Kai snarled in response. Ray's face twitched.
"There's no need to be so-" He broke off, a thought forming in his brain. His expression softened. "There's no need to be afraid." he whispered, meeting Kai's hostile glare full on. Kai snorted and turned his head away.
"I'm not afraid!" he shot back, lying through his teeth.
"Now you're lying." Ray replied calmly. Kai brought his head back round so fast his neck clicked painfully.
"I'm not lying." he said feebly, in a tone that wouldn't have convinced Kenny, let alone Ray at this close quarters.
"Of course you're not." Ray said soothingly. Tentatively, he reached out and placed a hand lightly on Kai's cold arm, rubbing gently. Kai didn't react, his eyes fixed on Ray's face. "Of course you're not." Ray murmured. He stayed in that position for a few minutes, before speaking again, his voice soft. "You don't want to think about it?" Slowly, Kai shook his head a fraction. "Well, you don't have to. Think about something else instead." His hand moved up Kai's arm. The corner of Kai's mouth twitched upward.
"Are you coming onto me?" he asked, a faint trace of amusement in his voice.
"Yes." Ray replied unashamedly, his eyes bright with laughter and wanting. "Are you taking me?" Kai stayed silent for a few seconds, then brushed aside his doubts for the minute.
"Yes." he replied, pulling Ray down onto the bed next to him and kissing him fiercely. Ray responded eagerly, tangling his fingers in Kai's hair.
Kai lost himself in a world of Ray's touch, Ray's voice, Ray's kissess. He was right, he thought dazedly. I don't have to think about it. He smiled to himself. I've got something much better to think about.
The hospital had to let him out in the end. He flatly refused to say anymore than what he had already said, and when the rest of the boys hadn't been able to add anything towards the rape theory, they had had no other choice. He was welcomed back warily, even Ray couldn't forget what Kai had told him.
Phoenix sat in her beyblade under Kai's bed and smirked Kai's smirk. The plan was still perfectly on schedule.
I've justre-read chapter 3, and there are so many stupid mistakes on it! It's because WordPad doesn't have spellchecker... if anyone sees any mistakes here, please tell me! Also, I'm taking a vote.
Should I make Tyson and Max (or just one of them) "realise their feelings"? Ie, try some Tyson/Max. Anyway, vote in your reviewplease, and I hope you liked this chapter