Welcome to the long awaited chapter one! As mentioned before in the previous 'chapter', it was really a prologue, and so this is the official first chapter of Despairs Rain. Please enjoy, and pardon for my grammar and spelling mistakes. A beta is still being searched for, but for now I think I'm doing alright. My live journal will now be the place with all my 'in between' updates on expected chapter release dates, replies to reviewers, and anything else you may need to know. In a nutshell, any questions, concerns, or if you just want to know me on a more personal level, please refer there. There might also be some important stuff for you there, I'm not sure though so you'll just have to check it all out.

Without further ado, enjoy!

PS. Amber is property of Zadien, I don't own Beyblade, or any of its Characters, and I love reviews.

Fayeth

新年、新しい寮

Shinnen - Atarashii ryou

Two Years Past

"" Sayounara, " kanojo ha kanojo toshite nichibotsu ni shirizoi te iru kanojo ga kare no keitai o mi ta to doujini sotto shime ta kanojo ga kesshite kare ni mata awa nai koto o shitte iru doa o tsubuyai ta."

Aspin whispered softly to herself as she shifted into a more comfortable position in the plush seat. It had been a long four hour bus ride, and thanks to the insensitive people sitting behind her, she had not been able to lean her seat back. The small boy sitting in front of her wasn't much better. He had begun whining only five minutes into the trip about how uncomfortable and bored he was. The result was his mother peeking over the headrest to her seat, giving a sickeningly sweet smile as she apologized in a fake sounding tone, and promptly cranked his chair back as far as it would go.

She glanced over towards her cousin who was thoroughly enjoying the latest issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, her nose practically was touching the page and she seemed completely immune to the discomforts of a long bus ride.

"You should really get glasses you know," Aspin muttered as she tried to return back to her book. It was thrilling, it really was Aspin thought as she rolled her eyes at the endless pages of kanji. Thrilling.

Molly glanced up from her reading briefly and fixed her with an irritated glare to which Aspin merely raised an eyebrow.

"How can you stand to read all that garakuta?"

Aspin let out a long sigh, "Its not crap. It really isn't, I've been absolutely captivated by this novel."

"Uh, yeah sure," Molly flicked the page of the magazine. Her eyes immediately lit up as they travelled down the page, and a purely lecherous grin had plastered itself on her face.

"Now this is good reading!" She practically shoved the magazine into Aspin's face, "See here, this is the sort of stuff that little girls like you need to be looking at!"

"I'm only two years younger than you," Aspin ground out. Realizing that she wouldn't be freed from the offending mass of pages until her cousin had received a satisfactory response, she allowed her emerald eyes to scan the offered page.

Oh my god.

Her face paled, and suddenly she wished that she hadn't looked.

"See, this is what I'm going to get myself this year!" Molly squealed, "He's obviously not wearing a towel, and although the page cuts off all the interesting bits, I'm positive that he's well endowed. Ookii inkei!"

Please someone kill me now.

Aspin couldn't help the burning that she felt manifesting itself into her cheeks. Molly cackled to herself insanely all the while chattering to herself about American's and hooking up. Aspin curled up as tightly as possible into her seat and transfixed herself with the last pages of her book again.

Kami. Kono jousha ga sugu ni toaru you ni shi nasai. Please god, let this ride be over with soon.

Aspin read over her timetable, a satisfactory smirk threatened to break out on her face, destroying her act of being unbelievably disappointed. Molly's fake blonde head poked its way in front of her vision as she yet again compared the two sheets that they were holding.

"This isn't fair," she pouted, "Don't they know I'm new to America? I need my cousin with me!"

Aspin groaned inwardly and nearly cursed out her mother for even suggesting that Aspin return to America from Japan for schooling, and that she take Molly with her. She nearly cringed as she gave a comforting pat on the shoulder which seemed to calm the older girl slightly.

"Sore ha anata ga shitte iru sekai no hashita de nai," she cooed.

"Who would have thought," and just when her day couldn't possibly get any worse," Aspin, a nihonjin!"

She felt a heavy arm slip its way around her shoulders. She inwardly mused over how it felt more like a boa constrictor than an actual arm, as it dragged her back into a very warm and very solid body. As much as she disliked this, she couldn't help the fact that she did in fact enjoy it very much. The body she had found herself suddenly clutched against was all to warm, all to hard, all to male, and she herself was all to female.

" Kangei sa re ta ie no kawaii hito," he breathed into her ear, his warm breath caressing it lightly.

Kawaii? She would have blushed, perhaps at the lean body that had currently contented itself with molding itself with her own, but he had called her kawaii.

She reacted immediately, flipping his arm off of her shoulders and grabbing her far too interested cousin off towards the female dormitory. She could hear him snicker behind her back as she retreated as fast as possible, ignoring Molly's pleas to stop.

"Who was that?!" Molly asked as Aspin dragged her around a corner to catch her breath. How the girl had managed to keep up with her while wearing the two inch heels, and still had so much energy to bounce back with, was completely beyond her.

"That was Kane."

It was a vague explanation, but it served its purpose. Aspin nearly recoiled in horror as yet another lecherous grin found itself plastered on the older girls face.

"He's hot for you."

"Ugh," Aspin threw up her hands with a huff and turned in the hall to get her bearings, "It was just another one of his games."

"He a nihonjo too?"

Aspin began to retreat down the hall with an exasperated sigh. She could hear Molly trotting along behind her, a happy new bounce had found its way into her step.

"Well?"

"Yes he is nihonjin," Aspin finally hissed, "Though not one that you want to associate yourself with," she added as an afterthought.

"That's wish wash," Molly replied, "You two haven't seen each other for how many years? Didn't you tell me it was back in grade school?"

Aspin gave the expected confirming nod.

"Well, he is hot, do I have to spell it out for you?"

Gods, please don't.

Aspin lead her cousin along in silence, praying that her new dorm mates would keep the older girl busy and out of her personal life. She hadn't really known Molly that long, and admittedly they had become very close, but Aspin was very personal. She knew that Molly only really sought adventure and excitement with her, but when it came to such personal things as her sex life, it was really the last straw.

She glanced over her shoulder, smiling slightly as she saw Molly skipping along behind her. Wide, chocolate eyes took in every detail of the halls they were passing through. It was the same way back at the airport.

Aspin had been depressed, but excited to be beginning her new life. Although she missed him dearly, after everything that had been going on in the past year, Aspin was glad that her mother had finally divorced her father. Sure it sounded like something traitorous to say, so be glad for the splitting of your own family, but after crying and spending countless hours reflecting over everything that had gone on, she needed a break.

Her mother was Japanese by birth, her father an american. Once the divorce had been finalized, Yumiko had vouched to return to her homeland and finally introduce Aspin to her extended family.

She could still remember in vivid detail, just how overpowering Japan had been, and how overpowering her homesickness had been as well. She had left behind all that she was familiar with, her language, her customs, and most of all, her friends.

For the first few months she had pined over how badly she needed to talk to Amber. Although she was a mere phone call away, it was never the same as talking face to face, everything seemed so much more mechanical and awkward. She felt as though she had lost the only person she had ever trusted enough to confide in, the only person who she felt would listen to, and understand what was really on her mind.

Molly had filled that gap, though it was a bit forced. Being that the two girls were the same age, their families encouraged them to spend more time together. The fact that the rest of her cousins were male didn't help the fact either. Molly had taught her the sights and sounds of Japan, had never laughed when Aspin got lost among the crowds in the busy Tokyo streets, and had always been patient as she fumbled around for the right words, in Japanese.

It wasn't until August that she found out that she would be returning.

"I've been speaking to your father," Yumiko began, "We've decided that it would be best if you completed your education in America."

Aspin glared at her from across the room, "What made you think that I'd ever want to return there. What makes you think I ever want to see him again?"

Yumiko gave her a stern look as she returned to her flower arranging. It was a new business that she had began, just a small shop, but enough to live off of, and she felt as though doing this she would always be at peace.

"Except for these past two years, all of your schooling was in America."

"We gave up life in America," Aspin retorted, "I'm just finally getting settled in here, don't uproot me again…please."

Yumiko glanced over and saw the tears begin to well up in her daughters emerald eyes, a disturbing trait that she shared with her father. She felt as though whenever she saw those eyes she saw her ex-husband staring back at her. It was something that unnerved her to no end.

"Your grades here aren't going to get you anywhere. The only reason why you haven't been failing is because they hate to fail our children."

"What makes you think that I would be better off over there?" Aspin spat out the words, her eyes practically sparking as she made eye contact.

"I don't want to be around him, not after what he did to us!"

Yumiko slammed her palm to the floor, the loud smacking sound immediately bringing her daughter back to attention.

"And what would you have me do?" She stood up and approached her daughter with slow and deliberate steps, "Would you have me see my daughter fail?!"

Aspin didn't reply, instead she opted for staring down at her hands which had occupied themselves with folding neatly into her lap.

"You won't get anywhere. No university would accept you, how would you survive?"

Again there was no reply. Yumiko felt a sudden spasm of fury grip her and like a flash she held her daughters quivering chin in her hand. She squeezed tightly, secretly enjoying how the green eyes that mocked her in her sleep stared up at her with shock, and with fear.

"Your american."

Aspin barely registered that she had come to a stop in front of a large wooden door. She shook her head slightly and paused to tuck a few strands of plum coloured hair behind her ears. She turned to Molly who was staring at her with an expectant look.

"Well, this is it," Aspin announced. She had tried to sound happy, but her voice had come out as a half-hearted whisper. Molly nodded and glanced down at the piece of paper that she had clutched tightly in her hands.

"Oh, I guess you need this," Aspin glanced down briefly before handing over the crisp white sheet, "Your floor mates most likely have been here before, so if you can't find your way around I'm sure they'll be helpful."

"Hey Spin," Molly began, but Aspin didn't want to hear it, "Don't worry about what obasan said to you before we left."

Aspin turned, giving the floor a cold glare in the process, " I wrote my room number on the back."

Aspin let out a contented sigh as she allowed her body to crumble back onto what was officially her bed for the year. One of the perks to having a flight from another country was that she was able to arrive earlier than most students, and in her case, earlier then all of her roommates.

It was with great satisfaction that she claimed the number one bunk in the entire room, a top bunk that coincidentally happened to be beside the only window in the room. She had happily organized her clothing, and hung it up neatly in her small cubby which was to be called a closet. She had also managed to invent a small platform that sat beside the window, which wasn't much more than a 1 foot by 6 foot slit located close to the ceiling. On this platform she placed a small photo of her mother, and a single stalk of bamboo.

She heaved in a deep breath of air, releasing it slowly. Her body now ached from the tiring tasks of setting up her room, but she knew that dinner would be soon, and she definitely wanted to finish up her wiping down of all the surfaces before then. Why she bothered with trying to be neat and clean, she didn't know. She knew for a fact exactly who all of her roommates were, friends from her childhood, and with that came the knowledge that this room would be torn to shreds before the week was up.

She lazily pulled herself from her bed and climbed down to the floor. She had only just started wiping down one of the desks that was located in the spacious room, when she felt another presence. She turned around, only to be met with the sight of periwinkle eyes, illuminated in the dimming sunset that cut across the room from the single window.

"Kane?"

"Nice shack," he greeted, glancing around the living quarters.

Aspin woke up from her confusion and stood up from her hunched position, tossing the rag aside. She smoothed out the pleats to her skirt and fixed him with an annoyed stare.

"What?"

"The door was open," he replied with a casual shrug.

"You shouldn't just walk into people's dorms, someone could be naked or something," Aspin said before stifling a yawn.

Knowing that he wasn't going to leave anytime soon, and that she was not strong enough to physically force him to leave, she decided that she might as well get comfortable as she leaned back onto the desk. Kane watched as she suddenly thrust her hands into the air and arched her back, giving him an eyeful of a sliver of a taught stomach as she did so.

"I'd think people were more self respecting than to change with their doors wide open," he mumbled, tearing his eyes away from the sight of her stretching body.

"Guys are weird, and this is a co-ed floor. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody decided to stand in their room naked with the door wide open, probably hoping a girl will walk by and like what she sees," Aspin smirked slightly, "Or you know, I guess a guy might do too, right?"

Kane narrowed his eyes and glared, she could practically see his annoyance rising. When all else failed, she decided she would drive him out with her words.

"Only you seem to have a problem with homosexuality."

"Is that a confession?"

"I'm just pointing something out."

"Don't waste my time."

"Come with me for dinner."

"Your buying."

It had come out so quickly that she hadn't even registered what she had said until she noticed the victorious smirk that had plastered itself to his handsome features. She could feel her face flush as he gently tugged on her wrist, coaxing her into following him out into the hall.

"I-I didn't mean that."

"Only girls act this complicated," he muttered under his breath, "I wasn't planning on really going anywhere, just down to the cafeteria."

"I look like crap, my hair isn't even done."

"Are you taking this as a real date?"

His question stumped her. Was this really just another game to him? A strange coldness manifested itself into the confines of her chest.

Its just another mind game. Yet she had been foolish enough to fall into it. She silently cursed herself for falling into his trap. She could practically see the tally in his head switch numbers to read 2-0. She was violently ripped from her inner sulking when she slammed into his back.

"Only you could hold grudges for so long chou, I personally like to believe that some of us have grown up just a little."

His words struck her deep. Was that all she was, a pathetic little girl who couldn't let go of the grudge that she had held since childhood. She was sixteen, sixteen and still hating him over a mindless prank that nobody probably remembered in the first place.

"Are you coming?"

She gazed down at him, he had moved to the bottom of a stairwell that she currently stood at the top of. She took in all his features, his blue eyes, tousled hair, tall and lean frame, and for the first time she realized that he wasn't the boy she had socked two years ago before she boarded a plane headed for Tokyo. Kane had somehow managed to grow up, and she silently conceded that so had she.

She didn't really remember falling asleep, but she must be asleep because somebody was currently poking at her side and trying to coax her back to life. She rolled over onto her side and cracked open an eye. A pair of amber orbs stared back at her, and suddenly she was fully awake.

"Amber!"

She felt like crying, screaming and dancing all at once. She practically launched herself at her friend, but quickly pulled her onto the bed instead as they nearly took a tumble.

"Do you sleep long enough? You must have some serious jetlag, you slept through breakfast… and lunch."

Aspin blinked tiredly. Yesterday the trip hadn't seemed to have worn her down too much, but now as another wave of sleep tried to pull her under, she realized that it had finally caught up with her.

"How was Kane?"

"Pardon?" Aspin blinked slowly, had she just heard her friend right?

Amber huffed, "Like you don't know what I'm talking about. I know its embarrassing to go out with him, but everybody already knows."

Aspin blinked a few more times as she tried to absorb the new information that she had just been forced to take in, and then she remembered. She had gone out to dinner with Kane, it wasn't exactly anything special, just fries from the cafeteria really. He had asked her about Japan, and in return she had asked him about her friends.

They had sat there together for hours before the tiredness really crept up on Aspin and she found herself yawning and rubbing at her eyes.

"What did he say?"

"He said he scored."

Amber quickly ducked to the side as Aspin launched herself out of the bunk. She nearly tore the door off its frame as she stomped out into the hallway. For a few moments, all was eerily quite as she stalked her prey, and then it was all shattered.

"Kane!! BAKA!!"

3-0

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For those seeking information on the several Japanese words found in this chapter, please refer to my livejournal.