A.C.: apparently there is a saying that not even idiots get colds. Alas I rate less than an idiot -sneezes- ah summer cold, I was wondering when you'd show up. –Sneezes repeatedly-
Oh and I don't own Beyblade apparently, damn
-
-
"Would they wake up if I bring back... you know..."
"No I don't know Takao." Kane hissed in an eerily accurate imitation of Ray. "Are you mad?" It was the first shred of emotion he had shown in the entirety of the other blunette's visit. He kicked the chair to the floor, the cheap plastic clattering against the scuffed tiles. "Those are what did this to us in the first place!" Takao flinched, but the three around them didn't even move. "I... we should have never taken them." Kane's hand shook visibly. He quickly shoved them into the greasy tangle of his hair where they took root and spread against the blue dotted scalp. "It wasn't worth it; it'll never be worth it." he threw Takao a sardonic look before slipping down to sit, his back against Salima's bed frame.
"But they might get better! If separating them was why they won't wake up in the first place then..."
"Coma Takao." Kane laughed, his eyes touched by hysteria. "They're in a fucking coma."
"It might help..."
"How would you get them back huh?" Kane snapped, "Kai is a credible foe, even if he didn't touch Jim and Salima."
"He's being controlled," Takao argued, kneeling down. He grabbed Kane's shoulder. Kane winced and tried to get away. "I just need to help him remember like before, about Dranzer, about our team, about us... about me."
Kane shook his head shivering and wrapping both his hands around his scraped elbows.
"You're being suicidal."
And there it was, a fool's courage blossoming blue in his eyes.
"I can do it. I have to do it for you guys."
No, you're doing it for him
No, you're doing it for yourself.
"I'll be back." Takao promised solemnly, "with all your bit beasts." Takao ran out of the room, near colliding with the nurses around the water cooler in the corner. Kane watched quietly as the flashes of red, yellow and blue disappeared from his sight.
"No you won't."
-
-
"Here's one idiot imported from Bumfuck, wherever. Need someone to hold your hand
while you talk to him?"
"Don't be crass"
The young man grunted disagreeably and took a reluctant step back. A girl stepped forward replacing him, face white and sharp with heavy make up. She was short and petite in stature; she looked far too young though she had a good year or two up on Hiroshi.
"May we take our leave? Some of us do have prior commitments."
"You don't know who you're dealing with." Dunga spat as the duct tape was stripped from his lips with a prolonged ripping noise. "I'm warning you, let go of me now and maybe...!"
"You'll what? You can't try anything; the Neo Borg has near decimated your numbers in Japan. They get a wind of the fact that you guys are still up and running, you guys will be shot down faster than you can say 'let it rip'."
"...What do you want?"
"Just a little question I have that's been bothering me." Hiroshi knelt down and crouched until they were eye to eye. "You're not after Kai anymore, not even you guys are that stupid. So I wanted to ask, will Takao be next?"
-
-
Yuriy gently pried Kai's fingers from the frozen bars and kissed his palm. Kai twitched and pulled his hand away. The redhead shrugged and led him towards the side door.
"Does it hurt?"
Kai tried to let out a noncommittal answer when the world spun and he froze in place like a frightened rabbit before a circling hawk. It was as though the ground was flying towards his face to greet him. He immediately jerked his head back, his left ankle bent underneath his leg as he stumbled. He fell backwards landing in the soft snow. He breathed tiny puffs of steam. He quieted, all limbs gone numb.
Yuriy appeared as a shadow against the sky. He knelt down, fingers pressed against Kai's cool skin. Kai closed his eyes his breathing shallow. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and he reached out to grab the redhead's wrist. His silver lashes fluttered uneasily, something dark shifting beneath his face. When he opened his eyes again his expression was one of confusion, his eyes like the most perfect amethyst known to mankind. If there had been a name, he would have been the one to receive it. The first to be marked by Kuro Suzaku, Hiwatari Kai.
"...It hurts, more than you know. When I don't see you..." he thumbed Yuriy's inner wrist, at the delicate pulse that jumped at his touch. "When I can't touch you."
"When you won't."
He let go of Yuriy's wrist. The other teen didn't think he meant to but missed the loose contact all the same. His legs ached with the cold weather and all. But it was a welcome kind of pain, something that grounded him to reality, something that prevented him from
pushing Kai away and being pushed away. He sat down, trying to move Kai's body over his legs so that the younger wouldn't die of hypothermia before they got back inside.
"When I can't." Kai corrected mildly. Was there a difference though in this situation? Can't or won't, it seemed like a minor problem of late. "When the last thing I want is to taint you..."
Yuriy shook his head, snowflakes raining down from his hair. He grabbed the back of Kai's head and brought their faces close. He huffed against their lips,
"Let me worry about that."
He swallowed the string of protests that followed. "Let me worry for once."
-
-
There was knocking.
And more knocking.
With a muffled groan Boris pulled away.
"Busy!" He barked out and nuzzled the girl's neck. The girl purred, her rich brown hair curling against her cheeks. He was just about to figure out how to wiggle out of his pants without moving from his position when the knock came again incessant and loud. Plastering a fake smile on his face he stalked towards the door and threw it open.
It wasn't Ivan.
Hell it wasn't anyone in the household like he thought it'd be.
"Uhh..." Takao stared mouth wide at what little he could see of the strange girl on the bed and... The brunette backpedaled, falling on his butt before repeating apologies and prayer for whatever deity that was listening. Face redder than a ripe tomato, he spun and ran away.
"Eh..." Boris grunted noncommittally. "You did that on purpose you brat."
"Serves you right for using Kai's bed."
"Kai has a very nice bed." Boris explained slowly. "He won't mind, hell he won't even notice."
"Right," Ivan rolled his eyes and flicked a casual glance at the suddenly meek girl crouch beside the bed. "Well carry on, thanks for getting rid of him."
"Doubt that." Boris replied dubiously, looking towards where Takao had gone before swinging the door shut. "You might want to find him before he gets into something."
"Yeah, yeah."
-
-
Despite the many servants within the walls of the Hiwatari mansion, few actually stopped
to take the notice of the blunette lost in the halls. Even fewer paid attention as Takao, losing patience with the never ending panels of dark wood, carpet, marble sculptures and faded pictures, gave up on--unnecessary--stealth and began to demand that he be shown a way out.
A passing butler took a pity on the young teen and ushered him out the closest exit--via kitchen. He immediately regretted it when the Dragoon blader lost all thoughts of leaving then and began sampling the food right under the kitchen staff's nose.
Needless to say, no one was very pleased about this and they were chased out just as Yuriy pushed the door open and consequently sandwiched Takao against the wall.
"Gah!" Takao yelped and pushed back. One of the redhead's hands snaked sideways and twisted him out of the wedge by the collar. The blunette ended up on the kitchen floor, flopping uselessly as he was steadily bent backwards.
"What's he doing here?"
"It's my fault sir, he was looking for the exit and this was the closest one..."
Yuriy let go. Takao floundered before sitting up, rubbing at the back of his neck. He glared at the older teen before noticing the pair of shaded eyes peeking over the redhead's shoulders.
"Kai?" Takao ducked around a swipe. Relief flooded his features. "You're here!" then came regret and disappointment as he rubbed his feet meekly against the floor and scratched the back of his head. "heh, of course you're here... look... what happened at back there..."
"Yes?"
"Hiroshi ah... told me stuff... and... yeah."
"Hn" And Kai brushed past him without a single comment.
-
-
"Why are you here?"
Takao kicked a pebble forward only he missed by a hair width and ended up spraying the air with snow. Yuriy looked on unimpressed as he followed quietly with both his hand in his pockets.
"I live here."
"No, why are you following me?"
"To make sure you actually find the way out this time."
"I'm not a kid."
"Never said you were."--Though Yuriy privately thought that Takao was a kid and it would probably stay that way till the blunette someday dropped dead with the understanding that the world wasn't made of puppies and rainbows.
Takao gritted his teeth. Was there no exit to this place? Where was the fence? Where was the door?--Then he saw the familiar line of black bars jutting out of the ground. His stride lengthened, feet stamping damp footprints haphazardly across the snow. The redhead stopped where he was and observed Takao's high-pitched yipping when his fingers made contact with the cold metal. The door opened with an ungainly screech and Yuriy cringed despite of himself. Figuring that even the blunette would know where to go once he exited the grounds, Yuriy headed back to the mansion. He didn't get far before younger teen stopped him once more.
"About Kai...!" The teen said suddenly. Yuriy glanced over his shoulders, irritation printed in block letters over his features.
"...What about Kai?"
"Don't you think he's changed?" Takao continued desperately. "Like he's different? Like back during the tournaments when we..." he closed the distance between them and they stood face to face, the blunette's hand almost itching to get a hold of the older teen's black sweater. The grim set to the other's features stopped him however and he stepped back, unnerved by the feral blue eyes.
"...I think you're confusing him with someone else."
Takao let out a desperate cough? Laugh? 'soudesuka' and turned towards the small doorway. He was brushing off the frost with his yellow sleeves when Yuriy suddenly spoke up,
"Takao, what exactly do you see Kai as?"
Takao whirled around, eager, desperate to provide an answer. His mouth dropped open and his tongue found a few syllables, nothing more, nothing less.
"He's... he's..."
What was Kai to him now?
-
-
Soudesuka- 'is that so', 'I see', but can be translated into most anything else. While speaking Japanese, when in doubt about what to say/how to carry on a conversation, this is the way to go. It's like the Japanese version of answer to life and all that. Very useful. –nods empathetically-
-
YuriyTalaIvanov- heh... thanks for the review anyways :)
Catchmeloon- glad you thinks so, thank you!
Kurosaisei- haha it's okay, you left a big one this time x3
...And now I'm getting confused because it's been so long since I've looked at all 19 chapters (waah!) and it's like--holy when did I do that? Then I realize that I've been doing this for 19 chapters and two and a half years? and become sad that I've dragged it on for so long (sorry) -facepalm-
-sigh- summer already -sneeze-
Ma.anda- glad you think so, thanks for the review
nssk2202- thank you