A/N: I didn't really expect a lot of reviews. Thank you for those peeps who reviewed. And those people who researched the OC…damn he IS hot. When will this OC appear in hilariberri's stories? Well, soon.
Disclaimer: Don't rub it in, I don't own Beyblade or the OC.
Chapter 2: On the second day…
Her eyes roamed around the coffee table the next day, unsure of what to do really. Should I let someone know about this? Tell one of the boys perhaps? Nah, they sounded busy in the other room, probably holding one of those boy talk discussions which vaguely involved beyblading. How to 'own' the next championships whatnot…
All the boys were in there, except for their team captain.
Kai reclined lazily on the couch across from her; his crimson eyes closed. She had been told about his random sneezing fit the other day. He was supposed to sit out for the rest of the day until they were sure Kai wasn't ill.
He seems out of it, as usual. She audibly sighed causing Kai to snap his eyes open. His periphery caught the brunette with an uncomfortable expression in her eyes.
"Is there something wrong?"
For a moment, Hilary stared vacantly into his eyes then pulled on a cheeky grin, "Nothing's wrong! Come on, take this." She proffered a cup of the hot liquid before him, visible steam surfacing from the tea.
Grateful, the phoenix wielder nodded and slowly placed the tip of the cup between his lips. His nose caught the citrus scent as he took a sip and glanced at Hil. Swallowing, he felt the hot sensation and the citrus taste tingle down his dry throat. "Thanks," he placed the cup down. He avoided her eyes and tilted back on the couch.
"No problem," Hilary settled onto her seat and sighed again.
"I heard that you were with Tala last night," Kai confided with a grim look, which Hilary didn't notice. But she gave him a slighted look for fear that Kai hinted another meaning. It was difficult to tell what Kai's eyes meant; it was hard to maintain eye contact.
Intense silence endued.
Hilary broke it with a retort, "So? He helped me carry some stuff. It's not a big deal."
He snorted, "Hn, I guess." He folded his hands behind his head and glared at the brunette.
"Sourpuss. Don't tell me that you were worried," her ruby eyes narrowed in a rather dangerous manner that equaled to his own.
"Hn."
She nearly shot out of her seat at the outcry, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hn. Let's just pretend I understood all that crap. In short…Do you like him?"
"Do I like him?" Hilary echoed incredulously as she cuddled a pillow to her chest. "NO," she affirmed, gathering the cushions beside her in one large pile and lobbing them at him, in hopes that the one pillow would take care of the annoying, arrogant bastard.
"Hn," closing his eyes, he ducked an airborne cushion. He chuckled at her antics. Just then, another one bounced off against his face. Falling backwards, a panting brunette became visible in the corner of his eye.
"JERK!" her cheeks were flushed from embarrassment.
Kai gave Hilary a questioning look while the brown haired girl sprang out of the couch and waved it off.
She angrily tapped her feet as she leaned against the kitchen counter that day. Stupid asshole. Doesn't he know that I like HIM? How stupid is he!
Just then, she heard the phone ring. Eyes widened and her thoughts flying out of the window, Hilary went to the phone in record speed. Instantly she picked it off its cradle.
"Hello?"
A familiar candid voice answered, "Hey."
Tala? "Hi, why'd you call? Are you looking for Kai? He's here! Just one sec—KA—" before she could pull the phone away from her ear, Tala protested.
"—No. You don't have to." Hilary could picture his sharp signature glare at the other end.
"…O-Okay…" she stuttered, her bloodshot eyes saucer-wide. Why is he calling? "What about Ty—"
"—No, it's you who I want." Oh my GOD! She froze. Then Tala began to sound worried, "Hey, are you there? I wanted to ask you…"
"A-a-ask away," she swallowed.
"Do you want to go back to the café this afternoon? You know…hn, how am I suppose to put this…"
"Like…a…date," the last word had been a squeak—to which hopefully, Tala hadn't heard. The brunette felt weak in the knees and her voice sounded far away. She didn't just hint a date with Tala, did she!
He chuckled. "Yeah sort of...with an acquaintance," Hilary's eye twitched eerily on the other end, "The waiter you met last night—"
Her mind went blank and the silence indicated her realization slowly registering.
"—NO WAY! I'M GOING TO MEET THE WAITER! NO WAY! HE'S SO HOT"
Hell yeah! An invisible fist punched the air by her inner self.
Sweatdropping, Tala continued, his voice unfazed by Hilary's reaction, "—and Kai."
"You Party Pooper! Why does he have to be there?" she exhaled softly.
"For moral support and he wants to meet him."
Hilary fell silent.
"I'll put him on a leash if you want."
How would he do that? Just then she imagined a chibi Kai sporting a collar around his neck. It had replaced his long white scarf and in all, he looked rather adorable.
Sniggering, she agreed. "Aw…alright."
Minutes later, Tala arrived at the dojo and from there, he literally man-handled Kai (who was asleep on the couch) all the way down to the corner café.
Arriving into the café, the group moved to sit down at a table next to the large glass window. The air was mild for the season and there was no grey cloud in sight.
Every damn wall is covered with pictures.
He coughed. Sarcasm dripped away from his every word. "Thanks for dragging me here." Much to his chagrin, he sat nonchalantly on his chair—next to Hilary's—muttering curses under his breath. Kai wanted to be anywhere but here.
"No problem," Tala smirked, musing at his friend's humiliation.
"Can I take your order?" an oh-so familiar voice smoothed Hilary's nerves. Don't swoon, don't swoon… Her bloodshot eyes slowly traveled up from his waist to his face adorned with a small smile. His eyes seemed to gleam, or was it Hilary dreaming? 'KYA! THE PINK APRON!' A hand rested under her chin to keep it from falling to the ground like the last time they met.
Tala remained silent, secretly regretting of bringing Hilary and Kai along.
"Hi…" Hilary giggled.
"Food?" Kai shrugged.
Her elbow slipped off the table and jarred her stomach. The brunette turned to glare at the dual-haired Russian. "You have to be more specific than that," she condescended.
Kai glared at the waiter who was looking at Hilary. He was practically ogling her! "Fine. Hey, you think you can find me a super sized coke around here?"
Tala chuckled.
This is a freaking café! What the hell is he doing! Hilary fumed mentally.
"With ice?" the Korean asked, still with his eyes glued to Hilary who was looking right back at him. He felt another wave of loathing for the Korean…right then Kai decided to get rid of the waiter as soon as possible.
"Yeah with lots of ice," Kai challenged with a cool glare.
"How about you?" the waiter cooed.
Why can't Kai be like this guy? "Your…n-name?" she stammered. Her cheeks flashed into the darkest hue of pink. You're so cute…take me away… "I mean…I have to…somehow…remember the guy that served me twice…"
His eyebrows rose. The waiter was rather impressed by her boldness. "My name is Jin Kim."
"A-and…I'm Hilary…" she spat her words out in short phrases, "I'll have the uh…usual…please…"
"Anything for the cute lady," he soothed and with that, he left.
Cute? Well, with her brown locks, peaches and cream skin and big garnet eyes, she was—he'd stab himself a hundred times before admitting it out loud—pretty. A hot tinge suddenly tickled his cheeks. Damn it. In an instant, Kai looked down at the surface of his table, hoping his grey-blue bangs would hide the heat that radiated from his former pallid cheeks.
"Hey Kai," Tala called, fiddling with the sugar cube pot on the table.
Don't say it…don't say it…
"What?" he shot back, watching the redhead's fiddling fingers with annoyance.
"Are you sick? You're kinda beet red."
"I was not—" he paused then gave Tala a cold look. "What?"
"Ooh…bitter are we?" he smirked suspiciously.
Butterflies fluttered furiously all over his stomach, tickling his sides and Tala was grating on his nerves. Kai sighed and rolled his eyes. Exhaling softly, the butterflies in his stomach had flown to a stop. "What do you want, idiot?" he asked as icily as he could. He prayed that the redhead wouldn't mention the color on his face or how clammy his hands were.
"Are you sick or something?"
Stupid Idiot. He briefly massaged his temples and cleared his throat. "I think I am."
Tala let out a boisterous laugh, "Too bad then. You won't be able to see Hilary and Jin mingling!"
The said brunette turned away to the window, her face visibly red. Sharp crimson eyes directed toward icy blue ones, skeptical. "What?"
"Yeah," Tala answered smugly—not one bit unfazed by Kai's glare. "Dating."
Slightly surprised, he hissed, "Why?"
The drifter shrugged, two blood red locks of hair bouncing his cheeks. "It's Christmas and the mistletoe back at the dojo will be useless again this year."
Inwardly growling, Kai gripped the corners of the table. It was all he could do as to not punch Tala in the face. "Then why the hell am I here?" he drawled under his breath.
The waiter returned with a tray with hot beverages and a large cup of coke—just to mock the cold blue customer. Kai's gaze slowly slid to the condescending Korean who had a cheeky grin. Hilary kept her composure intact but Kai was desperate to throw him into a frozen river.
"Enjoy your drink," the waiter mocked.
"Whatever," he deadpanned, hearing Tala stifle a laugh and Hilary giggle.
Suddenly she sat up from her chair, excusing herself, "I…I…I need to go the ladies' room…"
All of the boys' heads rose up to look at Hilary. "For what?" Kai raised an eyebrow.
"It's none of your business, Kai! Hmph," she brushed past his chair and made her way to the back of the café. As the brunette continued to walk, Kai couldn't help but notice all of the men turning their heads in Hilary's direction. The waiter's eyes followed her every move then glanced back at the two boys, smiling.
"So what do you think?" Tala asked. Kai ignored him and drank his Coke silently.
Jin chuckled softly, "She's hot, of course."
Coke almost sprayed out of his nose. That bastard! He will die! Trying to look unfazed, he coughed and cleared his throat.
"I mean…I've just noticed now," the Korean smiled, "but she really is quite lovely."
Then you're freaking slow.
"You're right." Tala said with a smirk, blowing steam off his coffee. Then he gave Kai a disbelieving look. "Don't tell me you hadn't noticed."
Don't throw it… don't throw it… keep the damn table on the floor…
He wasn't God so Kai didn't feel he had to be honest. "I don't look at girls that way. Now that you ask, no. I didn't notice— because there's nothing to notice!"
"Denial," Tala stated bluntly. "Smooth curves in just the right places, her sleek peachy skin…her shiny brown hair…and not to mention those—"
"Massive breasts and ass, I get it," the bluenette glowered off at the back of the café— assuring himself that Hilary would never hear any of this.
Tala pointed out primly, "See, you do notice!"
Wielding his blush, he growled. His hand moved of its own accord, lifting the cup off the coffee-stained table and about to throw it at Tala's head. While Jin added something that made his blood boil. "She definitely has those."
YOU…DIE!
Tala's hand was faster and soon, Kai felt the cup slip from his grip.
Fuck you all. He glared at the redhead while Tala looked calmly back at him. Silent, Jin hn-ed and ran a hand through his ebony hair—ignoring the girls' swooning nearby. It was almost the end of his shift anyway.
"You did it again."
Kai fumed, "Did what?"
"Turn into the protective mode whenever someone compliments Hilary."
He nearly hit Tala again. "Don't think of it that way! She's not even considered a girl so don't go panting after her like salivating wolves. She's not interested like every other girl you've hit on."
"How'd you know?" Jin shoved his hands into his pant pockets with a serious look. "You saw her. She looked interested." His dark brown eyes broadened into a sneer, "Are you jealous?"
"Jealous of what?"
Kai turned to her in question, shock, awe…then heavily pleaded that she hadn't heard.
"Jin was complimenting here of how lovely you looked. Kai here," Tala pointed an accusing finger at the blue haired heir, "said otherwise."
Hilary let out a quiet "Oh." And there, she slipped back into her seat— her ruby eyes avoiding Kai's.
A table would nicely land on both of them. Why the hell did he even care! His thoughts slowly stewed inside his head. Confused, aggravated, annoyed and angry… He brushed those feelings away. Stupid. He didn't care what happened next!
Jin and her flirted with each other for a while. He constantly brushed her cheek while she giggled and blushed endlessly (calling him cute, hot, whatnot). Tala seemed to have been lost in his world while Kai sat there—face front (the best seat in the house)—tortured…torn…and never knowing why. Only if he could pluck his eyeballs and stick them back on later…he would. In his part, he should've thrown a chair at Jin. "Eleven piercing! That's awesome. Where are they?" she suddenly cried.
"Get a room…" he muttered, cracking his knuckles. One more finger on her cheek, this fist will land on yours.
Hilary simply glared at him. Jin sent Kai a mocking look with his tongue sticking out.
"Kai…grow up," Hilary said.
"Whatever."
Her attention quickly returned to Jin who apologized for not meeting her earlier. What cheesy asshole.
"Hilary-ah, I'm sorry that I can't go out with you today…perhaps another is better? Say…tomorrow?" Jin beamed his ten-million dollar smile at her as his fingers intertwined with hers.
Spellbound and possibly in loss of words, Hilary nodded. Her shocked expression was priceless.
Almost in a reflex move, he stood up from his chair and leaned in closer to her face. In an instant, his lips brushed over her forehead. Tala just rushed in time to hold Kai back. Hilary was red in the face, drenched in cold sweat and had somewhat a dazed expression. "O-okay," she choked, trying not to turn into a pile of goop like last night.
"See you," he purred as he stroked her cheek.
Sustaining a cry of rage, Kai was close to detaching Tala's arms in order to break free.
"Cool it, Kai!"
"Shut up!"
And with that, Jin made his way to the back of the cafe and vanished without a trace. Hilary was left trembling in her chair, her cheeks completely flushed and her brown locks ruffled.
Kai clenched his fists as he desperately fought the urge of slitting Jin's throat. Plans of killing him were already circulating in his head and ready to put into action. But all that broke when Hilary finally spoke,
"Hey Kai, Tala...can we go now?"
Before the words even made their way out of her lips, Kai took the liberty of grabbing her wrist and dragged her towards the door.
Limply, Tala trailed after them.
Kai wasn't talking to her, every once in a while she would here him muttered something under his breath, but that was it. Unsettling silence followed. The only sounds that could be heard were the faraway chattering from excited shoppers and the occasional bells ringing.
She cleared her throat—the first one to speak, "Kai?"
His head shot up in surprise, "Hn…"
"Why are you getting so frustrated about this?"
He gave her wrist a tight squeeze. To avoid being mortified to tomato red, he glanced down, "What do you mean? I'm not frustrated."
Liar. Hilary smiled and shook her head, "Never mind." She didn't bother arguing. It would only ruin both their moods. Are you jealous, Kai?
Without a doubt, Jin had swept Hilary off her feet. And desperately, Kai wanted to throw him in a river-then maybe Jin can get rid of his fan girls too.
"Thanks for the book, Hilary," Rei said softly, pushing the book into her hands. "It certainly helped me get over the holiday stress. I'd suggest you to read it over too." A smirk blossomed up his cat-like features.
"I will Ray," Hilary admired his cat grin for a moment then smiled. "I will."
Ray abruptly left the room, yelling something about the kitchen burning. The other boys had already begun to panic.
Looking at the book, a feeling crept upon her... Curious, she flipped it wide open and searched through the milky white pages filled with text. Just then she eyed a slip of paper caught between the pages. Taking it out, she straightened it out—assuming it was another lame-ass death note by Tyson or a frilly bookmark by Ray. Carefully, she read the slip. It was a poem.
The days go by slowly when I don't think of you.
It makes my whole day go blue.
The sun doesn't shine when your heart isn't mine.
The day goes slow like I am stuck in a hole.
Stuck there for hours,
I crave for a love like yours.
Your brown hair...
Your scarlet eyes, I'm spellbound to,
I just have to stare,
I just love everything about you!
You make my heart beat so fast,
I'll die in a minute if you don't say yes.
When it comes to falling in love, you always trip me...
Yours truly...
There was no name signed underneath.
But somehow, she felt this poem was meant for her to find.
She had to take the last line to heart, this boy was sincerely desperate. She had to admit, this poem was better than the blackened rose petals. Though, who could've written such a poem and have it slipped into her book?
Ray had the book with him.
So that must mean...
Her first suspicion was Ray Kon.