Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade. All I own are my oc's and the plot line
I know last chapter was a bit confusing, and Kai was all tweaked out and shit, but that shall be explained soon enough. Just go along with it for now and you'll understand later. It won't last too much longer, 'cause that's just not Kai.
By Their Saving Grace
Chapter Five: Matching Faces To Names
Distant Storm
x x x
Kai stood before the window, watching the rain plummet down to earth. Each drop was cold and bittersweet, like the sky was mourning with him. It scared him. He felt exposed, scared, like the ten year old boy who became such a monster. Dranzer remained clutched in his hand. Sometimes his friends would ask if it ever left his hand. It had been over a week, and he hadn't beybladed once. The phoenix would sometimes protect him in his dreams, they'd notice. He'd have an eerie flame resting over his profile, Dranzer's own shield. His monsters were only in his mind. Angel hadn't bothered to send out her 'minions,' as the rest of the group called them, to anywhere else.
'I am a monster.'
"Kai?"
No answer.
"Kai?"
He closed his eyes, thinking it was only in his head. A hand came in contact with his shoulder. Hilary, he recognized. It was the touch of someone who was overly concerned.
'I deserve no pity.'
He didn't bother answer, as it was useless. The last time he had tried it, it hadn't worked the way he had wanted, and he had ended up sobbing into Tyson.
"Come on, you can't stare at the rain all day. Let's get something to eat."
"Yeah," Max's sweet innocent voice echoed in the background. "You haven't eaten anything in days."
That was common knowledge. He hadn't eaten anything that hadn't been literally forced down his throat by Tyson or Ray since he had seen Angel. And that was almost a week ago. Sure, he felt weak, but he deserved it. The Abbey always taught it's members to punish themselves so the punishments they'd receive for not being perfect wouldn't be as bad.
"I'm fine," He said in a vicious tone. Well, that had worked better.
"Kai, come on. Just eat something. A granola bar, egg roll, cookie, something. Just so we know you won't waste away."
"No."
Hilary snorted. "Would you quit being so stubborn?"
He said nothing, his attention back on the window, back into his own world.
The brunette bit her lip, and her friends came forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. He'll eat when he's ready."
'How could she make my sister leave?'
He felt the newly familiar sensation of moisture at the corners of his eyes. Mina had chosen Angel over her brother. How could she? Why? They were with Dickenson, therefore they were on the right side. But how did they know the password to the Biovolt Mainframe? And since when did Mina cling to Tala?
Most importantly, how did she live this long? They said she'd die in less than six months when she was younger, and now, she looks fine. How did she cheat?
x x x
Bryan tightened his grip upon the girl. Tala had been so concerned with Mina that his concerns for Angel had fallen by the wayside. Angel hadn't felt upset over this, she wasn't concerned with herself either. She was concerned for the younger Hiwatari, whom she knew had made the right decision, but at a high cost.
"Come on, you need something to do other than this," The snowy haired Russian insisted, grabbing her arm. "You've been dwelling on this for too long."
The girl's jade green eyes rested upon him. She nodded, and for once, an eerie look settled in them. She was more moved than Mina.
Tala had been told the story of how she had lived past the Abbey, but he hadn't told anyone. He had no idea how she'd done it. Bryan was concerned, curious, he wanted to know. Maybe she needed to tell someone else. So that they also knew what was such a secret that even Kai didn't know.
"You want my history," Angel whispered, taking his hand, as they left the complex. Bryan didn't bother with responses. She knew. She always seemed to know.
A gentle snow was falling, as the temperature had plummeted suddenly. It was as if her emotions controlled the winter wonderland before her. It seemed to be about as pure as her soul in this light. She wasn't evil. Her actions made her seem this way, but she was doing it for them. For Kai, and the world. For people she didn't know. For people who didn't like her for helping them out. It wasn't fair to her, but she still did it.
"What has Tala told you?" She asked, quietly.
He shrugged. "Nothing about you. Just said that Mina was never that bad off. Apparently she had it pretty good. I still don't know how she cheated God though, with that cancer thing."
Angel nodded thoughtfully. "Why don't I start at square one, with Mina and all?"
He nodded, saying nothing and waiting for her to begin.
x x x
Two Weeks Later
Kenny brought the computer into the living room of the Granger Dojo. He sighed and sat down next to Ray and Tyson, who both looked up at him. Kenny nodded to them, though Ray was the first to speak. "You fix that computer, Chief?"
Kenny nodded, his face bright and happy. "Yeah." Quickly, however, he sobered up. "That morning-" He trailed off- "I got into the mainframe, but-"
"Yeah," Tyson quickly interrupted. That morning's ordeal was one that was not talked about.
The computer genius typed frantically, stopping once to take a deep breath and type the rest carefully. "Uhh, guys?"
"Yeah?" Ray and Tyson responded, leaning forward.
He sighed. "I'm in."
Lines of stats and a slate colored background was featured on the screen. He gasped as he took a look at the sidebar and links to the rest of the site's contents. "What is it?" Max asked, poking his head in the room.
"There's... a list."
Ray leaned closer to the computer screen. "Of what?" He asked.
Kenny sighed and clicked on the top link of the page. "Uhh, every single person who was ever in the abbey. This data base was updated not too long before Kai left, but it has everyone."
Hilary appeared in the doorway, following Max into the room. "Should we call Kai?" she asked. Tyson looked up at her, a nervous and unsure look on his face.
"Let's check it out first," Tyson said. "Let's not get him worked up unless it's absolutely necessary."
Max, Ray, Kenny, and Hilary stared at the blunette, their jaws hanging down. "Tyson," Hilary said sheepishly, "That's probably the smartest thing you've ever said."
He beamed at her. "And you thought I was dumb!"
A blush spread across her cheeks as she stared up at Tyson, who was sitting on the couch, while she was kneeling below the coffee table in front of it. He pressed a hand to her cheek, tracing it's contours. "You're blushing, Hil," He said, after tracing it with his thumb. She shrugged, though a charming smile was on her face.
"Uhh, okay," Ray said, breaking the small trance between the two. "Let's get our heads out of the clouds, and back into reality."
Hilary sighed, but a hand was pressed to her shoulder, meaning that the previous moment was anything but over. "So, Chief," Hilary said, "Check out Angel's file first."
"Okay," He said, going back to the previous page where the links with names was, and sliding down three names to Angel's. With a click he looked back at the group. "I'm in."
"Okay," They said cautiously, "What do we have?"
The computer processed everything and suddenly, a bright-eyed photograph came up on the screen. "Uhh, guys?" Kenny asked.
"We see it," Max said carefully. "That isn't Angel."
"Chief-"
"On it." Within moments, another page came up next to the one with Angel's name on it, but there was no picture, and no information on the page. It just said, 'terminated.'
"They screwed something up," Max commented.
The group nodded, thinking a moment. "Kenny," Hilary said, nervously, "What if they didn't mess up the files?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if it was supposed to happen that way?"
The group looked at Hilary and then each other. "What are you thinking?"
Kai walked in the room, and the group tried its best not to look at him. They could hear Daichi eating something in the kitchen. "Hey, Kai?"
The captain turned from his somewhat dazed state and looked at Tyson. "What?" He asked softly.
The blunette felt a pang of sorrow at his best friend's condition. "How well did people, other than Boris, know you at the Abbey?"
He shrugged. "Not well enough to know our names." After this statement, his face tilted toward the window.
"They could've," Tyson said carefully. "But Mina had-" Kai's attention whipped quickly to Tyson.
"No," Ray said. "Maybe she didn't."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Max asked. The rest of the group nodded.
It seemed as though five lightbulbs lit up at once. "She never did," Tyson said, with a smile. "That would make sense!"
Kai's eyes fell upon the blunette champion, who slowly made his way over to him. "Kai," He said evenly, "I don't think Mina ever had cancer."
Within five seconds, the spark was back in his amethyst-grey eyes.
x x x
Bryan's arm was around Angel. She sighed. It had taken a few weeks to get all the information back to him, but it was probably worth it, she supposed. "And that leads us up to when I saw you again."
He nodded, and she leaned into him. "That's a hell of a story."
"And it's best kept a secret, so don't tell anyone. The last thing I want is pity. You had such a burning desire to know so I figured that I'd let you know instead of letting you rely on fragments of information you could turn into quite an interesting story." He noted that her lips were chapped from being out in the cold for so long.
"Come on," He said, turning around, with her in tow. "Let's go back. Mina will probably want to see you."
"We're practically sisters," she said to the boy.
He nodded. "After that, you'd have to be."
x x x
Kai's semi-icy, totally dominating attitude was back in full swing. The group had shared an inward sigh of relief. "So, explain this to me again."
Kenny nodded, not bothering to be afraid as he usually was. "Okay, well the data base doesn't have Mina's picture with her stats. And these stats go with the picture, not with her. So it wasn't her who had cancer."
The captain tilted his head out the window. "Whose face was on the page?"
"Which one?"
"The one with Mina's stats on it?"
"It just said, 'terminated,'" Hilary said. "We don't know."
"Someone blocked it on purpose." Kai reached out toward Kenny's laptop and clicked on another name. "See?" He said, turning the screen back to Kenny and the others. "This kid was kicked out when I was around. They killed him." He trailed off for a moment before continuing. "This page doesn't say 'terminated.'"
Tyson looked up at Kai. "So someone's been tampering with the data, huh?"
There was a nod. "We'll have to ask Boris," Ray said. Kai shrugged, but a flicker of fright crossed his features. He quickly concealed it, but Tyson had noticed, now taking great care in his captain's emotional spectrum.
"You guys go ahead," He said, throwing his head in the direction of the door. "I'll stay here; I'm hungary."
Hilary flashed Tyson a charming smile before she rounded up the rest of the group and headed toward the door. Once everyone had left, as it had been quite a commotion, Tyson set out to make a sandwich, around Kai, who was seated at the island-bar in the kitchen.
"You didn't have to stay," Kai said, after a moment. "I'm fine."
Tyson opened up the refridgerator and took out lettuce, tomatos, cheese, turkey, and ham. "That's a lie." Kai looked at the blunette, however his back was to him. "Just because you're back to your old self," Tyson continued, "Doesn't mean that all of a sudden, you're alright. The guys know you. We all know you. And you're not okay, and we're not stupid."
"Hn."
"Actually, when you do that," Tyson said, stacking the lettuce on top of the bread, "You're supposed to sound a bit more distant, like you aren't even hearing a word we say."
"I do," Kai said suddenly.
Tyson nodded. "We all knew that."
"Do you really think she switched with someone?"
Tyson nodded again. "Yes. Either that or someone, like your grandfather, was messing with the files."
Kai shrugged. "He's not in jail right now, so I wouldn't doubt it."
"Do you think they were right? Even just a little?" Tyson asked him.
Kai shook his head, his status as captain returning a bit. "Mr. Dickenson wouldn't do that. He's got better judgement."
"Let's hope so," Tyson said calmly. "The last thing we need is another issue."
"We've got one on our hands already."
Tyson nodded. "Kai," He began cautiously, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want, but out of curiousity, what happened between you and Angel that was so bad?"
Kai looked up at Tyson, and closed his eyes, a rattling breath taken by the captain. He pressed his index fingers to his temples and rubbed them. "Angel and I had a fight. I wasn't myself then, and I did some things I regret."
Tyson looked a bit confused, he wasn't sure what was going on, but nodded solemly all the same.
"I mean," Kai continued, "You'd know by looking at her."
Tyson's eyes widened for a moment. Those marks. Those ones.
"Yeah." He paused. "You'd think she'd blame me, but no, she blames Boris."
Tyson stood up. "Well it wasn't your fault, you were young."
"Old enough to know better."
"Do we have to go back to Lake Baikal?"
Kai's head shot up and he looked at Tyson. "What did you say?"
"Do we have to go back to Lake Baikal?" He paused. "The last time we went through your past, we ended up having to save you from sinking into the lake and dying. You know we'd all do it again, without a second thought." There was another pause. "Maybe this has more of an effect when the entire group's around, but there's nothing much I can do about it. We all care about you, as much as you don't think so. And we don't care what you've done, because you're our captain, and you've held us together. And so help us, we'll keep us all together, even if you can't do it for us."
Kai nodded, and Tyson smirked at him. "You know, I think you and I should beybattle."
"No."
"Yes."
"No, Tyson," He said darkly.
Tyson smirked. "I'll make you, and have no regrets about it."
Kai got up and walked away. Tyson followed, closing off the hallway, making the captain's only choice as the one to go outside. He did so, and a greyish-white beyblade flew past his head, whistling through the air as it did so. Kai sidestepped it, so Tyson sent it back at him.
"Tyson, no," He repeated.
"Yes."
"What the hell are you doing! I won't beybattle you."
"Then fight me."
"I won't hurt anyone!"
"It won't hurt me, I promise you."
"Would you snap out of it?" Tyson grabbed the Russian by the shoulders and threw him to the ground. Kai got back up and pulled back his arm to throw a punch, but he stopped himself first. "Fight me! You had no problem with it before!"
"I don't want to," Kai said.
"You sound pathetic."
"I thought you wanted to be the best blader in the world."
"I do."
"Then pick up your beyblade and let's go!" Kai looked at him in shock.
"Pick up your beyblade and let's go! We've only got a little while before Boris gets back, so let's make this one count!"
Laughter. "Come on, Kai," Tala said. "Angel and Mina have a good point. When Boris gets back we won't be able to do this-"
"Wrong,"
Angel said, black hair flickering in the wind behind her. "We'll
be able to, we'll just have to sneak out first. That's something
worth doing in our spare time."
"I swear to God," Tala said, "you have a death wish."
Mina slapped him. "Wrong. I think we're fine." She glanced at Angel whose face was passive.
"Anyway," Angel said, changing the subject away from death, "Let's go! Pick up your beyblade Kai. Or are you too scared of me. I'll probably beat you. Again."
Kai felt himself being shaken and he looked back up at Tyson. "Come on dude, I didn't mean to freak you out, I just want my buddy back."
"What?"
Tyson sighed in relief. "You going to fight me or not?"
"Not."
Tyson shrugged and grumbled something under his breath. It was at that moment that a blue beyblade flew past his head. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I never said I wouldn't beybattle."
x x x
Angel shut the door to her room behind her, checked around to make sure no one was there and locked the door. Within seconds, she had discarded her normal outfit for a tank top and a pair of shorts. The top of her scar was visible, and that was fine with her. She immediately went into the conjointed bathroom and twisted her leg around, resting her foot in the sink so she could see the back of it.
Her hand went to the bruise on her leg, and she cursed horribly in Russian before drawing out her cell phone.
"...I need to make an appointment." She said, not bothering with a greeting.
x x x
This is one of those times when people should look at the computer screen and say DUN DUN DUN! Anyway, you should get it figured out eventually.
