Chapter 43------Selfish…huh?

My Day

About the rain pelting on the window

The sun has lost its shine

About the inconsiderate man

Who took the last can of grape wine

About the girl lying on the bed

All of us are praying that she's not dead

About Tyson drumming his fingers

Rei making himself cosy on the couch

About Max in his green jumper

Kai in his flout

About me and my pencil

There's nothing to do

About waiting for you

To wake up

Please do

Hilary sighed and put the pencil down. She stared at the poem, reading it once through. Then contemplated for a bit, and finally crushed it and threw it in the waste paper basket. She took a glance at the bed, the beeping confirmed her thoughts. Mai was safe. They didn't have to worry so much. She was just asleep.

She needed sleep.

The brunette plopped her head on the table, and blinked hard to shake off the sleepiness. 'How long more,' she thought, 'How long more…'

But her prayers were answered and little by little Mai began to respond. "She's waking up!" They all exclaimed.

The girl rubbed her sleepy eyes and shifted around in her bed, but a piercing pain in her shoulder, sent her wincing instead.

"Hey, easy now."

"How do you feel?"

"Are you hungry? Want me to call the nurse?"

Comforting words; such comforting words. Mai smiled, she had woken up to familiar faces, faces that she could trust, faces which belonged to people who would protect her. She was finally safe. "What happened?" She mumbled, pointing at the bandages on her left shoulder.

"You got cut by a piece of glass. The doctors stitched it up for you." Max replied jovially. "Want something to eat?"

Mai shook her head, "Levian wa?" Tyson remembered, took the shiny blade out of his pocket and handed it to the girl. Levian, he was all right. She hadn't lost him.

'You…you said you'd protect me…' She stared hard at the bit-chip.

Levian: …

'I could've died…You PROMISED you'd protect me…but were where you? Where were you when I was in trouble? When I was beaten? When I was ashamed?' Mai's fingers clenched the blade as she recalled the memories. Tighter and tighter till the diamond coating cut into her skin causing red lines to form on her fingers.

"Hey! Stop it!" Hilary snatched away the beyblade.

"Huh?" Mai seemed to have snapped out of her subconscious state. She stared at her fingers, they were bleeding. What was she doing? What was she thinking?

Rei grabbed a handful of tissue from the dispenser and took hold of Mai's hand, pressing hard to stop the bleeding. "What were you thinking? Tyson, go call a nurse."

"I don't know…" The girl muttered, "I just…" she shook her head.

"You are all right, right?" Kenny asked with a raised brow. Mai hummed a reply.

Just then, a stout middle-aged woman entered the room. Her curly blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail which bounced up and down as she moved around the bed, checking the readings of the monitor and dripper. Finally, she stopped beside Mai, "How do you feel, honey?" she asked as her hands busied themselves with opening a first aid kit.

"Tsk tsk. How'd you cut yourself? You've already lost a lot of blood and the first thing you do when you wake up is lose some more blood?" The lady wiped a damp cotton wool over the cuts and applied the antiseptic.

"Sorry…" Mai muttered and hung her head. "Sorry…I'm sorry…" Patches of dark blue bloomed on the blue blanket, drop by drop.

"Are you crying?" Hilary placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. She tilted her head to the side to see under Mai's bangs and saw that those deep blue eyes were watery. "Why are you crying? Does it hurt?" But Mai shook her head. She blinked back the tears but they just kept coming.

The guys were at a loss and the nurse was no help either, she had scurried out of the room once she had finished treating Mai. They exchanged confused glances, why was she crying? "Mai? What's wrong?" Rei questioned, a little worried for the girl as he placed a hand on her arm.

As if his touch had singed her, Mai pulled back immediately. She didn't want any men touching her, not after what they had done… Their grip, their filthy hands tracing her skin; she remembered the feeling…that slimy irksome feeling that would not go away.

"Mai." Hilary held her arms, "Look at me, tell me what's wrong?"

Mai looked up to meet hazel eyes. Hilary loosened her grip, Mai's eyes were streaming, and she was biting her lip as though trying so hard to hold back. "Did something happen? Tell me, tell me!" Mai looked at her with hurt eyes and finally gave in. She sobbed hard on the girl's shoulder, feeling Hilary pat her back in attempts to console her. "It's all right. There's no need to cry. It's all right."

"He…was never there…No one was there!" Mai said in between sobs 'Levian wasn't there…No one helped me… No one bothered…they just watched…they were all just watching…watching me get hurt, raped…and they didn't care. They didn't care!'

"Who wasn't there?" Hilary felt the girl shake her head. She lifted Mai off her body and looked at her straight in the eyes, "You have to tell us what happened. We can help you." Mai looked away, they couldn't help her. No one could. Her life was so screwed up, it was beyond repair. "You can't…"

"Yes we can! Just tell us!"

Mai glared at her and spoke through gritted teeth, "Then can you rid me of Eden? Make my Grandfather disappear? Were you there when they tried to RAPE me? All of them just bloody stood there watching! Nobody helped me!" Hilary's eyes widened at the sound of that word. 'She was raped?' She looked at her flabbergasted.

"Then what good is it to keep it all inside?" Kai emerged from behind Tyson and Rei. "Do you know how long we've been worried sick about you? And now you're making us worry again because you refuse to let us help you? Stop being so selfish!"

'Selfish!' Mai's head jerked.

"Didn't someone decide that she would fight for herself? Didn't someone say she wanted to live? How can you be strong when the only things you have are hate and negativity!"

"Give her a break," Rei defended, "How do expect her to react after an experience like that? I'd be terrified too if I were her."

Mai watched the two boys argue. Kai said some things, Rei said some things. "All she does is bring herself down! And she brings others down along with her!" Kai's eyes locked with hers, "I'd rather quit than be in a team with a weakling like you." With that, he stormed out of the room.

KAI'S POV

I walked out of the hospital.

She's too much! Always seeking people's sympathy, blaming them if she got hurt? What the hell! And those guys keep comforting her? They're only making her even more dependent on us!

I flagged a taxi and got in, "Sasakura Lane, number 84." The driver gave a nod and drove off.

'I wanna live,' 'Fight for myself,' Hmph! What bullshit! She'll never change…

END OF POV

-Fast forward-

"Lights out, Ms Takuya." The nurse called from the door and flipped the switch.

"Thanks!" Mai's fingers played with the buttons on the side of the bed, 'No, not this one…no...no...ahah!' The bedside lamp flickered on.

She looked at the ceiling, the shadows cast over the wall. She avoided the dark areas; too many things came out from dark corners in horror movies. Hence, the bedside lamp.

'"And now you're making us worry again because you refuse to let us help you? Stop being so selfish!" …Selfish huh?' Mai rolled over on her side, 'He doesn't know what it feels like.'

Levian: But he DOES know, and you know he does

'He doesn't know everything. Kai…stop talking like you know me.'

Levian: It's because he cares for you

Mai snorted at this.

Levian: Fine, don't believe me. But you should start standing up for yourself, don't be too reliant on others. Remember what you said? 'I—

'—trust no one but myself. Yeah yeah, I know. But when you think about it, can people really stand being alone?'

'Humans are social creatures, leave a baby by itself and it'll not survive longer than a year…And yet, we strive so hard to be independent creatures. We think the world owes us a living but in reality, the world owes us nothing. We're only mere insignificant beings, the world can do without us; just like it did in the past… Maybe Eden was right; we do not deserve this land.'

Levian: That's not true. One person may mean nothing to the world, but he or she means the world to someone else. Are you gonna let that person down by giving up on yourself? If so, you're just like Kai said, selfish

'Heh…Who do I mean the world to? That's what I'd like to know…' And the girl drifted off to sleep.

-Really fast forward-

"Yoz Mai!" Grampa G greeted her with a wide grin as she stepped out of the taxi, "How's ya shoulder?"

"Still hurts a lil'" She moved her shoulder. Yup, it still hurt.

Mai entered the familiar house and headed straight for her room—

'!' "Where's all my stuff?" The whole dojo was bare. No more futon, no clothes. She checked her secret hiding place. 'Phew, it's still here.' She placed the jewel in her pocket, folded the letters and tucked them under her belt. She pulled her shirt down so that it would cover up any evidence of it.

"Where are all my things?" She stopped Max along the corridor.

"Huh? Oh that. They're in my room. Grampa Granger moved it by request of Kai."

'Kai…I should've known…' Mai frowned, he was always getting in the way. She climbed the stairs to the boys' bedroom and found her things lying on Tyson's bed. "And my clothes?"

"All neatly lyin' in the cupboard." Grampa G answered from the doorway, "Don't worry about Tyson, he's taking his parents' room."

"But…isn't this too much? I mean, I can –"

"The guys are worried for yer safety. Take heart, they're doing it to protect you."

Mai didn't press on the issue. She didn't want to be labelled as 'selfish' again. She gave him her thanks and settled into the room. She wrinkled her nose at the unfamiliar scent of 'boy'. 'Sharing a room with three guys…must be every girl's dream…Yeah right.' She rolled her eyes and flopped onto the lower bunk of a double-decker bed. Just then, her roommates entered the bedroom.

"So, you'll be bunking with us from now on." Mai felt the edge of the bed sink with someone's weight.

"Hn."

"What? No violent objections? I'm surprised." Rei gave a chuckle.

"Someone decided on it for my protection. I have no say…" Kai cast a sidelong glance at her.

"Suit yourself then. But I warn you, the room can get a bit messy."

"I'll make you clear it up then." Mai replied in a light-hearted manner as she nudged Rei's shoulder with her foot.

"Get your blades," Kai tapped Max and Rei on the shoulder, "We'll train downstairs…"

Mai rolled onto her back and stood up, she was about to take Levian from the desk table when a hand shot out and took it instead. "Stay here. I'll have Kenny fix your beyblade."

"You can't –!" Mai moved her hand in protest but it only caused her shoulder to sting with pain.

Kai's eyes narrowed and looked at her shoulder. Fine, Mai got the message. She'd stay put… albeit reluctantly. "Hai…" She mumbled.

Mai watched from the bedroom window as the boys took turns to battle it out. 'They've improved…and he's more focused now.' She eyed Tyson's blade as it spun around in the beydish, smoothly avoiding Dranzer's attempts to tackle it.

"Dranzer! Flaming Sabre!" The huge phoenix charged at the blue Dragon, its flailing wings crackling with amber flames.

"Dragoon!"

The white blade swerved to the right, 'Not a bad move.' Mai thought. Dragoon tackled Dranzer from behind and Kai's blade moved dangerously to the edge of the dish. Mai saw his face twitch, 'Oh? He's not happy. Let's see what he does.' A smirk appeared on her face. Knowing Kai, he'd never let himself lose to someone he found less superior than himself.

With a final blow from Dranzer's Dranzer Volcano, Dragoon was knocked out of the dish. 'I knew it.' Mai smiled, feeling satisfied with the outcome of her prediction.

"Great battle, Kai."

The Captain gave his usual grunt of a reply.

"Hey Mai! Why don't you join us?" Tyson called from below while the rest looked up at the girl sitting by the window.

"My shoulder! It still hurts so I can't launch properly!"

Mai managed to pick up a soft "Oh" from the group. "Never mind then!" Max shouted. She removed herself from the window seat, she had seen enough for today. She scanned the room; she needed to do something to release her from utter boredom. She opened the cupboard, 'Clothes…beyblading stuff…books. Hm? What's this?' She pulled out what seemed like a picture. At the back it wrote:

Dear Max,

Here's a picture of me at the site. Sorry I couldn't visit you for X'mas. Hope you are doing fine.

Love,
Mom.

Mai flipped the picture to the front, 'So she's Max's mom huh?' The blonde-haired woman was standing beside what seemed like pillars but something in the background made Mai gasp. 'This… This is—!'

Heys! Thanks so much to all those who reviewed! Reebiegirl, watermiral, glam-kitten and the many more readers out there XD! Somehow I've found time to update my stories. I'm doing chpt 44 now so keep yr fingers crossed!

blu: Woo! ahaha, okay, that was so random. REVIEW!