Chapter 57------Sold your Soul
Mai stared at the math equation; the math equation stared back at her. 'Find the approximate percentage change in y?' She re-read the question, tapping her mechanical pencil impatiently on the textbook, 'Argh! I don't know!'
The girl glanced up at the clock, 20 more minutes till dismissal, then shifted her vision to the school gate and then back to her textbook and sighed. 'Maybe I could ask Hila—never mind…' Mai knew the girl was upset, Hilary hardly talked to her during lunch today and would barely smile whenever they met each others gaze. She wasn't herself, they all weren't themselves. Nothing nice ever came out of Tyson's mouth anymore, Kai skipped breakfast and left early for school, Max didn't crack a joke today and Kenny, well Kenny was just himself. The only person who didn't treat her differently was Rei.
"Takuya-san."
Mai jerked at the touch of something on her shoulder. She took the worksheet, extracted her own from her bag and passed it up to the front.
"I want all of you to bring your mathematical sets tomorrow. We're moving onto Transformation. Class dismissed."
The students bowed and hurriedly packed their bags. Mai chucked the stationery into her pencil box, pulled the zipper across and stuffed it into her bag.
"Let's go Hilary!"
"Coming!" She threw her bag over her shoulder and jogged after Tyson.
Mai watched as Tyson, Hilary and Kenny ran out of the classroom…
Something inside her compressed, shrivelled up and died. They NEVER did that! They never left without her! They ALWAYS leave together! How could they? HOW COULD THEY?
She slowed her pace, taking time to close her books and place them neatly in her bag. She could feel it, the feeling of being hated, ostracised, it was as though she had become a total stranger to them overnight. They wouldn't even…wouldn't even… Mai swallowed hard.
She headed up to the fourth floor where the 3rd years were; hopefully she could catch him in time before he left. A junior in a senior level, especially a girl, usually gave people the impression that she was waiting for someone 'special' and hence, the weird looks Mai was receiving as she walked through the corridors. '3B…Where's 3B?'
"Is Rei around?" Mai announced as she stepped into 3B.
Kai looked up at the sound of a familiar voice.
The class erupted into sniggers and "Ooooo"s and some people turned to face Rei.
"Hey, Rei! Your girlfriend's here to see you!" A group of boys started laughing.
"Quit it, guys. She's not my girlfriend," Rei laughed and walked towards Mai. "Yes?"
"Well uh, maybe Kai hasn't told you but, I'm meeting Copellia and the rest after school today so you guys can go off first."
Rei nodded, "Don't stay out too late, okay?"
"Yeah. Ja ittekimasu," she bowed and hurried off.
Rei went back inside, taking a detour and halting at Kai's desk. "Why didn't you tell us that she's meeting Copellia after school today?"
Kai shrugged.
Knowing that he wouldn't entertain him, Rei gave up went back to his seat…
A pair of feet scurried through the school doors, stepping over puddles, shifting in and out of the many pairs of feet heading towards the gate. Once outside school, Mai broke free from the sea of students and stood by the wall, looking out for her friends. 'Osoi na. (They're late)'
"He's here!"
"Who?"
"Riya! Fujimori Riya!"
'Riya?' Mai eavesdropped on the conversation.
"REALLY?"
"Let's go!" A girl pulled her friend by the hand.
Mai followed the two into the school and saw that a swarming mass of girls had gathered near the field.
"RIYA-KUN!"
"Sign my book, Riya!"
"KYAA!"
"Aitsu wa… (That guy…)" She marched up to the crowd…
-Upstairs-
Rei stood by the window and chuckled, "Looks like Riya's here." Kai stood abreast him, looking down at the mass of girls clustering around a single figure. But a head moving in the crowd caught his attention. It wasn't like the rest, bobbing up and down; this one was moving towards the centre of attention.
-Outside-
"Excuse me. Coming through," Mai pushed herself through the multitude of jostling bodies, squeezing through the gaps, however tiny. She didn't know if she was headed in the right direction but from the pushing, the students were leading her straight to Riya.
"Sign my hand, Riya!"
"Over here Riya-kun!"
"Actually I—" The boy smiled weakly. 'Drex! You traitor!'
"T-Thank you!"
"You're welcome?" Riya scanned his surroundings, wondering who said the thanks when he spotted someone smirking at him.
"Tanoshii sou? (Enjoying yourself)" Mai stood there, her arms crossed, wearing a smug look on her face.
Riya's eyes had a look that said SAVE-ME! The girl did nothing. He had gotten himself into this mess, he'd have to get himself out of it. 'Onegai! (Please)' he mouthed.
Sighing, Mai took him by the arm, "Sorry, Riya's got an important BBA meeting to attend! Make way, please!" It was like the parting of the red sea as Mai pulled Riya along. Some girls watched with jaws hanging open, 'She—She's holding Riya's arm!' while others whispered among themselves.
"Walking out in broad daylight like that, why didn't you wear a disguise?"
Riya stayed silent, letting himself be lead like a dog. Eventually, Mai dragged him out of the school where she saw Copellia, Mit-chan and Drex waiting by a car. "What took you so long?" Copellia's eyes were laughing. Riya narrowed his purple orbs, she knew very well what took him so long.
"Looks like we've got company," Her eyes darted to the approaching fan girls, "get in! Quick!" The five of them ducked into the car, "Ow! That's my foot!" "Sorry!" "Step on it, King!" and it sped off. Riya glanced back at the group of screaming fans trailing after the car and faced front, squishing himself between the door and Mai. They had packed into the car so quickly that they didn't have time to 'arrange' themselves. Giving up, he crossed his legs and sat sideways.
"You guys all right back there?" Drex asked through the rear view mirror.
"Yeah," Mit-chan growled. She didn't like being pressed up against the window.
"Jeez, Mai, you've gained weight," Copellia shifted about, trying to get comfortable.
"IT'S THE JACKET!" The girl defended. Riya chuckled at this.
The maroon-haired girl clucked her tongue, "Well take it off then!"
Mai struggled to remove her jacket, her arm knocking against Riya and Copellia, and placed it on her lap. At that moment, something fell out of her jacket pocket. Riya bent low to retrieve the tiny pouch when—
-Ba-dump-
'!' It struck him like static on a cold day.
'Kono kanji—!' Holding the pouch, he could feel it; he could feel it calling to him, he— A hand swiped it out of his grasp, "Thanks," Mai shoved the pouch into her bag and pulled it close.
"Got something important inside?" Riya questioned.
"Yeah," the girl replied quickly, "you know, girl's stuff." She stared straight ahead, pretending that nothing was wrong.
The boy nodded his head and turned to the scenery zipping by. But unknown to the rest of them, the corner of his mouth curved into a sly grin. Oh he knew all right, he knew exactly what was in the pouch, and he'd stop at nothing to get it…
-Granger residence-
"C'MON DRAGOON!"
"LET'S GO DRACIEL!"
Draciel spun out of Dragoon's line of attack and tackled him from behind, knocking Dragoon off balance for a quart of a second and taking this opportunity to attack him again, slamming the white beyblade into the side of the dish.
"NO, DRAGOON! ARGH! TYPHOON ATTACK!"
"Whoa! He's all fired up," Hilary watched from the corridor.
"Yeah, but for all the wrong reasons," Kenny watched the battle on his computer screen, "he isn't concentrating. He's blinded by his anger and just throwing out attacks, he's gonna run himself in if he doesn't focus on the battle."
Dragoon kicked up speed, charging at Draciel with a whirlwind raging behind him. "DRACIEL!" The green blade glowed and headed straight into the whirlwind, the next thing they knew, Dragoon's attack had turned into a water cyclone, much to Draciel's advantage. The tidal wave crashed down Dragoon, and like flotsam and jetsam, the white blade washed up on the ground while Draciel leapt out of the dish right into Max's palm.
"Dragoon…" Tyson knelt next to his blade and clenched his fists. 'This wasn't supposed to happen! How could I lose? I'm world champ! How could I LOSE?' "Jikkushyo!" The boy punched the ground.
"Tyson…" Max watched his friend. That wasn't just an ordinary battle, there was more to it. "Hey, you did your best buddy." He stood next to Tyson, the boy kept his head down, "And it was an awesome battle!"
Still no response…
"Leave him, Max. Let the sore loser wallow in his own defeat," Kai got up to leave.
Tyson let out a laugh, "So the pot's calling the kettle black? It's not as if you haven't been affected by it, Kai." He sneered on the last word.
The Russian halted and gritted his teeth, 'How dare you…'
Kai turned around and stared him straight in the eye, "Unlike you," he started in a cold voice as he walked towards Tyson, "I have my pride," and closer, "and unlike you," until he was inches away from Tyson that they could share the same air, "I don't let my feelings get in the way of a beybattle." His crimson eyes glared at the bluenette, as if trying to say "what do you have to say to that now, huh?"
Tyson didn't utter a word, he couldn't think of a better comeback to match up to Kai's; the boy had delivered the ultimatum. With that, Kai broke eye contact and went inside the house. He wasn't going to waste his time proving himself to Tyson; he didn't have to prove anything.
"I don't get it. What 'it' was he talking about?"
"The Mai problem…" Kenny, Rei and Hilary replied tersely.
"Ohhh, that…" the blond nodded his head. "Well I hope he recovers in time for the European tournament.
"Yeah, and it better be soon." Rei looked worriedly at Tyson, he was just standing there, watching his beyblade spin in the dish…
-Back to Riya and gang-
"And then?" Copellia leaned in closer.
"And then Kai jumped in front and blew away all the snakes with Dranzer Gigs and we managed to escape."
"REALLY?" Mai's friend had stars shining in her eyes, "THAT'S SO COOL!"
"Yeah!" Mai beamed.
Mit-chan listened with disinterest and picked at her cheesecake while Drex and Riya were amused at how animated Mai was telling the story.
"What else did he do?"
Mit-chan let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, what is it with girls and their crushes? She found it stupid, the giggling and the squealing, ugh! Didn't they have anything better to do?
"Lots of things, I can't remember." Mai took a sip of her hot chocolate, "But why do you like him so much? He's an egoistic, stubborn, mute, cold-hearted, unfriendly, quarrelsome, hot-tempered –"
"Jerk!" Mit-chan interrupted.
"Ditto!" Mai pointed out.
"Really? If he's that unbearable then why do you pay so much attention to him?" Copellia smirked.
"What do you mean?"
"He's an egoistic, stubborn, mute, cold-hearted, blah blah blah," she mimicked. "How would you know all this if you don't pay any attention to him?"
"Because I'm speaking from experience!" The table shook. Mai recalled the time when he made her clean the kitchen all by herself, made her his servant for two weeks, made her look like a fool in front of the rest when he trashed her beyblade (blu: several times, mind you), made her suffer on that stupid game show! 'You !#$! Wait till I get my !#$ revenge and then you'll !#$ pay!'
"All right! Don't need to get all melodramatic. I was just kidding," Copellia passed a serviette to Drex to wipe up the spilt coffee.
"Sorry," the ashen-haired girl dipped her head, "I'll get you another—"
"That's okay," Drex chuckled, "Kai must be that bad to make you this angry."
Mai leant back in her chair and huffed, "If you can stand him then I take my hat off to you, Lia. That guy has mood-swings worse than a girl. One minute he's scolding you and the next he's being nice…" She stabbed her fork into Mit-chan's cheesecake and placed a piece in her mouth.
"He must really like you," Riya replied off-handedly as he stared into his cup; the brown liquid was swirling about, licking at the porcelain walls.
'!' The girl stopped chewing…
…and then started again, more slowly this time, breaking the piece crumb by crumb in her mouth with her tongue, taking her time…stalling… "No," Mai finally swallowed, "he doesn't like me," she smiled wryly, "because I'm a burden to the team…"
"Then come with us!" Mit-chan spoke up. "Why stay with those Humans when they don't appreciate you?"
'So she calls them Humans huh…' Mai forced a laugh. Her flaxen-haired friend had made it very obvious who side she was on. Ever since she found out the truth about Mai's grandfather, about how he burnt the whole village and killed everyone, she had developed a hatred for all Humans, a grudge so deep that it ran in her blood. If evil Eden was unleashed, there was no doubt she'd be his right-hand man. "It's not that they don't appreciate me, it's just…just…"
She hated bringing up the subject but… "What about Eden?"
'So you haven't forgotten…' Riya thought. But then he remembered something else.
"Forget that!" Copellia argued, "What about the both of you?" She looked from Riya to Mai.
"Sorry, I need to use the washroom for a while," Riya got up from his seat.
Copellia gave him a look that said why-are-you-leaving-now-when-we're-discussing-this? But the boy ignored it and headed out of the café. He, or should I say, Eden, had more important things to do…
-Room 108-
-Riya's POV-
Dammit! WHERE IS IT?
I emptied out the contents of her bag. My hand dug through the pile of books and stationery. Pouch…pouch…WHERE'S THE POUCH?
I checked on the floor and under the bed, nothing. Argh! Where could it be? It has to be here! I turned over every object again, making sure I didn't miss anything.
"Tsk!" I straightened up and frowned at my failed attempt. It really wasn't here. I neatly placed everything backed into her bag, back into its original position; I had to get rid of the evidence.
"Kill the girl." (blu: okay, the words in italics belong to Eden. Here, Riya is speaking but it's Eden's voice. Unlike Mai, Riya is able to subconsciously shift in and out of his transformation, allowing him to communicate with Eden. Whenever Riya changes to Eden, his eyes become crimson -refer to 'Clash of the Divines' in Blue Eyes-)
Wha—? I blinked, it was happening again.
"Get the jewels and kill the girl."
"I can't kill Mai! She's my—enemy— NO!"
-Ba-dump!-
I clutched my head, "Eden! Omae! (You—!) –Ba-dump- AAARRGH!" The pain was sudden, like a giant needle piercing through the side of my head. I crumbled to my knees, tucking my chin under my neck. "Mai's…coming with us," I struggled to fight the pain, "and then I'll have the jewels…dakara…kanojou wa…korosenai…onegai! (so please…don't kill her!)" I pushed away all thoughts of cursing Eden or arguing back. I HAD to if I didn't want my head to explode any time soon.
The pain lingered for a while and like a dream, it seemed to float away. I lifted my right leg, then my left and slowly managed to steady myself. Clumsily, I lumbered towards the bathroom, clinging onto walls, chairs, anything for support. I turned on the faucet and splashed the cooling liquid onto my face. I couldn't let them see me like this, I needed to regain my composure before I went back downstairs.
I looked up and met with my reflection in the mirror. Those purple eyes which once shone with laughter and happiness had lost its luster. I gazed into their dark pupils, watching it expand and contract in size. That person wasn't me…It wasn't!
And then it struck me. Mai couldn't tell the difference!
Can't you tell? Can't you see the realme behind Eden?
You couldn't tell…
You couldn't see…
My fingers gripped the marble countertop.
That the one you love…
Isn't me…
I watched my expression falter, the contours of my face shifting, changing with every level of emotion I felt: from disappointment to sadness, to anguish…
This is all your fault.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR BLOODY FAULT, EDEN!" I slammed a fist against the mirror, the sound rattled throughout the bathroom. I would've been embarrassed by my barbaric act if I hadn't been so infuriated. That's right. Right now I didn't care! I didn't care what anyone would think, or say or do! I wanted out of this! Out of this fucking life!
"It's your destiny."
"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" I smacked my head. "Why are you doing this? First the people in Ishbal (blu: Eden destroyed Ishbal to obtain the jewel. So now Riya has one and Mai has two) and now Mai? Who's next huh? Copellia? Drex? MIT-CHA—AAARGH!"
The pain shot through my head and I winced in agony.
"Heh," I saw myself smirk, "insolent fool! If you get rid of her then there'll be no one left to stop us!"
"Demo…Mai wa…aisuru no hito! (But I love her!)"
"Ai? Haha…HahahaAHAHAHAHA! Fuzakeru da! Ningen wa ai to nani mo wakaranai! (Love? HahahahaAHAHAHAHAH! Stop fooling around! Humans know nothing about love!)" I shouted exasperatedly.
"I'll do anything…" the pain was still pulsating through my head, "just please…don't hurt Mai."
"Moshi kimi dekinai kara, na boku kanojou wa korosu! (If you can't kill her, then I will!)."
'!'
With that, the pain disappeared and the crimson in my eyes faded back to its original purple hue. I placed my palms against the sink, ' 'Moshi kimi dekinai kara, na boku kanojou wa korosu.' He's going to kill her,' my eyes shifted uneasily. I was frantic; I didn't know how to stop him! Eden could take over my body anytime he liked, he could kill Mai anytime he liked!
I had to warn Mai!
I reached for the bathroom door when—
I'm soooo terribly sorry i took so long to update, i had to go on a computer hiatus for a while (readers: a while? A WHILE? YOU TOOK LIKE A FREAKING CENTURY!) because of my majorly important exam. But it's over!!! Woo!! and this chapter's kinda long so i guess i've made up for the wait? I hope... Please review!