Perfectly Incompatible
Summary: A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?
Pairings: Michael/Kai
Disclaimer: I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.
Warnings: Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.
Gripe for the Day: It's not really a gripe, but more like a question. I have a sudden thing for weird and bizarre names Suthors are calling their Sues. There's the usual of Raven, Revenge, Sakura and Phoenix; what eye-rolling names have you come across? Let me know so I can spork the hell out of them ^^ Thanks in advance.
AN: Hey there, sorry, no Kai and Mariasha confrontation yet. Next chapter, I promise. In this chapter, Kai learns a bit more about Mariasha…and how she's not as popular with the males in town that she would like to believe. Could there be more reason to hate her? Let's find out, shall we?
Thank you to; mimic shalle, marishka91, DarkBombayAngel, CleverPhoenix, Rapunzelle, Tony, glitteredvixen06, kaitouahiru, G-Wing Gurl, angelvan105, van and Elemental Gypsy for reviewing. I appreciate it very much. I hope you hear from you all again.
Chapter 7:
Draping a blanket over a now sleeping Michael, Kai felt her anger bubble in her chest as she gazed upon his weary face, the lines under his eyes telling her that he had a fitful night sleep. She pressed her lips into a thin line when she thought about the obnoxious bitch who was the sole reason for Michael's ailment.
Mariasha...
Was it even possible to absolutely loath someone you haven't yet met? For Kai, the hatred for Mariasha was very real and all she wanted to do was to punch her in the face...repeatedly. And she's not normally a violent person.
All her life she has dealt with annoying, arrogant and frustratingly egotistical people, but not one of them before had ever made her imaging violent ways to deal with them. That just tells you how much she detests Mariasha.
It was a little frightening, really.
Running her fingers through Michael's hair Kai could only imagine the torment Mariasha has put him through and that made her feel even angrier. A lot of people liked to pick on him solely because they see him as a pretty boy and a brainless jock. She hated how people made judgments the moment they laid eyes on you, even though she knows it's only human nature.
Still, we wished people wouldn't be so judgmental.
Slipping on her coat, Kai quietly placed a couple of large logs onto the fire to keep the house warm and Michael comfortable as he slept. She then silently made her way outside, gently shutting the door behind her as it was obviously Michael really needed his rest.
While driving into town, Kai started to formulate a plan in her head, unfortunately, by the way her hands gripped the steering while with white knuckles, only thoughts of violence reigned in her mind.
Kai was looking forward to her confrontation with Mariasha, no doubt about that, but first she needed to calm herself down a little. It would do her no good to storm into town and start ranting and raving; it would make her out to be a troublemaker while placing Mariasha higher on her pedestal. The last thing Kai wanted was for the biddies in town to like Mariasha even more.
Besides, she still doesn't know what Mariasha even looks like. She can stand out in the middle of the street, screaming out Mariasha's name at the top of her lungs and calling her out for a showdown in the middle of town.
No, she had to approach this in a diplomatic way. Besides, that previous scenario was something she would do, not her. She needed to find a bit more information on Michael's neighbour and to learn if she really is the golden girl in town she presented herself to be.
Somehow, Kai found that unlikely.
From what Michael has told her, Nana detests Mariasha as much as he does. It's comforting to know that he has at least someone on his side no matter what. She wonders if Nana knows what happened to him last night. He arrived at her ranch quite early this morning and seemed to be in a bit of a daze, so he might have slipped out without talking to anyone.
Pulling into town, Kai parked her car in front of the cafe once again, offering a small wave to the town biddy inside, who was actually the one to initiate the wave in the first place. Fixing her bag upon her shoulder, Kai looked up when she heard the sound of children's voices laughing on the other side of the road, where the park was situated. A group of child, about six of them where playing with a ball kicking it around and just having a bit of old fashion fun. It's so good to see them not stuck inside, playing video games all day.
Suddenly, one of the little boys kicked the ball too hard and it went spinning across the grass and into the river that flowed through the middle of the parklands. The kids followed the ball, but stopped at the shore, watching with distress as the ball came to rest upon a dead branch. One of the boys then announced that he'll get it and began to walk along the stones, unbalanced.
The water, though shallow, was moving quite quickly and if any of those small children should fall in, they could freeze!
Without much thought, Kai dashed across the road and over to them. "Hey, get away from there, you could fall in!" she said as the young boy who was toeing the edge of the creek pulled back, looking up at her in surprise.
"Wait here," Kai said as she placed her bag down onto the grass and walked over to the river, noting that there was a roll of rocks leading to where the ball was perched on a dead branch in the water. She then turned to the children who were all looking at her in surprise and confusion and offered them a small smile. They're probably wondering who she was and what she was going to do.
"I'll get it, I don't want any of you to fall in and hurt yourselves," she said as she effortlessly walked, almost glided, along the rocks, not wobbling or faltering once. She then leaned down and plucked the ball out of the water and dead branch, turned around and walked back to shore, not getting her boots wet at all.
Walking over to the kids that are now looking at her in awe, Kai leaned down and presented them their ball. She thought the children before her looked quite cute, staring at her with wide eyes of youthful innocence.
"You have to be careful around water," she told them without the lecturing tone, knowing that kids don't like to be scowled and they didn't really deserve it anyway, it was an accident, so no harm was done.
A small boy with messy brown hair continued to stare at her with wide eyes before a large grin appeared on his lips and he took the ball from her hands. "Thank you lady!" he said cheerfully.
A small laugh passed Kai's lips as she stood up, watching as the kids whisper amongst themselves. "You're very welcome," she said. Kids like the ones in front of her always put her in a good mood. And she needed something like this to help get her head straight.
"Wow, she's nothing like Mariasha." One child whispered to his friends as the only girl of the group with blonde hair in pigtails, tied with blue ribbon continued to stare at her.
"She's pretty," she said as she grinned up at her, surprising Kai as well. "She seems nice as well."
"Oh, you know Mariasha?" Kai asked, surprise giving way to interest when the little girl wrinkled her nose in annoyance.
"Yeah," she said.
"What do you think of her?" Kai found herself asking, leaning against her knees so she was now eye level with the children. "You can tell me, I won't tell a soul."
"I don't like her," a boy with thick glasses up said as he rubbed his noise. "She's scary."
That alarmed Kai a little. "Why is she scary?"
"She's mean to us," the boy with the ball said, sounding cross. "She thinks we're stupid just because we're kids."
Again, the blonde girl frowned and folded her arms over her chest in a huff. "She said that girls shouldn't play with boys because they're smelly."
Kai immediately bit her tongue, her hatred for Mariasha seemingly growing with each person she spoke to. "You don't think they're smelly?"
"They're my friends!" she said as she threw her tiny hands into the air, causing Kai to smile softly, knowing that she will be quite a bright spark when she gets older. "I shouldn't have to listen to her."
"You're right," Kai said as she placed a gentle hand on top of her soft blonde hair, calming her down a little. "No one should tell you who you should be friends with. That's not right."
"Yeah!"
"Don't worry about her, ok?" Kai said as she removed her hand from the little girl's hair and stood up tall again, picking up her bag as she did so. "Now, go on and play. But make sure you stay away from the water. It's cold this time of year."
"Kay! Thanks again, lady!"
Once again, Kai laughed lightly and waved as the children continued their playing. She turned to walk back to her car when she noticed a slightly older man looking at her from a stone pathway. He looked to be about 30 odd with wayward sandy blonde hair and deep brown eyes. He was quite a handsome man and by the white coat he was wearing, he was probably the town's doctor.
"You have quite a way with children," he commented as he gave her a smile.
Kai was slightly startled by that as she didn't sense him before. She must have been too busy trying to keep her anger for Mariasha in check. "Oh!"
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," he said with a mild sense of amusement in his voice. "I was just heading into work when I saw what happened. That was incredibly nice of you."
Kai immediately blushed a light pink. "I'm just glad that I arrived before one of them fell in," she said humbly as she walked over to him and onto the stone path as well.
"That's true," he said as he focused his attention on the petite young lady next to him and held out his hand to introduce himself. "I didn't catch your name. You can call me Dane. I'm the doctor in town."
"Oh, my name is Kai," Kai said as she shook his hand, tilting her head to the side in question when Dane's eyes suddenly lit up in recognition.
"Ah, so you're the one that has been creating quite a stir in town," he said as he dropped their grip and placed his hands into his pockets of his coat.
Kai blinked once. "Pardon?"
Dane simply laughed at her reaction, realizing that she had no idea of the impact her presence has brought to town. "It seems that you have the town biddies divided at the moment," he explained. "I guess they're beginning to realize that Mariasha isn't that perfect after all."
Kai instantly perked up at that. "You're not a Mariasha fan?"
"I guess you could say that I'm indifferent to her," Dane said with a shrug. "I don't outright hate her like some people, but I don't like her either."
Kai wanted to ask about the 'some people' remark, but decide not to as she probably wouldn't know who he was talking about. Besides, he might have meant Nana and she already knew about her dislike toward Mariasha. She hasn't met Nana yet, but she already liked her.
"I've heard quite a bit about Mariasha, but I haven't met her yet," Kai said as she subconsciously tugged at her shoulder bag. "She doesn't seem like a very nice person, though. From what I understand, she's sweet one minute and then rude the next."
Dane appeared in deep thought for a moment, turning to gaze out at the rushing river. "She has always been like that. The women in town just say she's in touch with her emotions and it was great to have such a powerful young woman like her. Some the women here are sorta old fashioned. They would like nothing more than for Michael to get married and start a family of his own."
"But he's only 18 years old," Kai said as she shook her head in disbelief. "Shouldn't he think about getting a career before settling down?" she asked before suddenly sighing and glancing at her watch. She needed to hit the hardware store and get what she needed before she bumped into Mariasha. She can't have that obnoxious female distract her from what was really important.
She was becoming more and more annoying, and she still hasn't met her yet!
"Anyway, it was nice to meet you," Kai said as she gave Dane a forced smile, once again trying to quell her anger at the increasingly distasteful Mariasha. "But I really must find that hardware store. I need to buy some paint."
"Ah, yes, I should be going as well," Dane said as he glanced at his watch as well before looking up and giving Kai a bright, charming smile. "The hardware store is next to the bakery, you can't miss it."
"Thank you," Kai said as she bowed her head slightly in gratitude. "It was nice talking to you."
Dane nodded his head and walked away, Kai walking in the opposite direction to him.
Finding the hardware store was not a difficult task and soon Kai was inspecting the painting section with the store manager offering advice and tips. She had driven her car around to the store as it would be easier to place the products she buys straight into the back of her 4WD.
The manager, who she was told to call Simon, was an older man, about middle age with slightly greying brown hair. He was quite tall and well built, your average handyman, no doubt.
They struck up small conversation and Kai mentioned to him that she was a good friend of Michael's, earning her a look of mild sympathy from her companion.
"They're trying to hook Michael up with Mariasha," Simon said as he scratched the back of his head.
"Yes, I've heard," Kai said as she tried to quell that becoming all too familiar sense of inner rage whenever someone mentioned that name. True, she wanted to learn what the other townsfolk thought of her, but it didn't make it any less painful.
Simon suddenly glanced wearily around the store before saying under his breath, "I don't think that's a good idea."
Kai was mildly surprised by that and blinked slowly before asking with a low voice of her own, "You don't?"
"Mariasha's a little...flighty one could say," Simon explained as Kai handed him the colours she wanted for painting. "She has one hell of a temper."
"You've seen her lose her temper?" Kai queried as she walked over to the counter as Simon carried the tins of paint she required for her rooms.
"Oh yes, plenty of times," Simon said as he winced seemingly from memories of what he had witness previous from the sassy female. "Don't tell anyone I said anything," he immediately warned. "I'd cop an earful from the missus if she found out."
Kai placed a finger to her lips. "I won't say a word."
"The women in town adore Mariasha for reasons a male like me can't understand," Simon went on to explain as she tallied up Kai's purchases, noting in mild surprise that she was using a gold credit card. "They think she's a powerful and feisty woman, or something. I don't know these things. They go over my head, I tell you."
"You'd probably sleep better at night not knowing," Kai said, unable to stop a soft laugh from passing her lips.
"True," Simon said with a grin before he turned away from the counter and bellowed into the back office. "Noel! Get out here and give this young lady a hand with her purchases!" he then turned back to Kai, ready to continue their conversation. "So, anyway, Mariasha-"
"Jeez, you guys aren't talking about Mariasha again, are you?" Came a bored voice, laced with annoyance. Kai glanced over Simon's shoulder to see a younger male with messy brown hair appear from the back room, a black workers apron around his waist and a scowl on his face.
"I'm sick of hearing about her," he said as he roughly scratched the back of his head, appearing as though he had just awoken from a nap. "Jeez, you think nothing else matters the way those interfering biddies go on and on."
"You don't like Mariasha either?" Kai asked as she tilted her head to the side in question.
The younger male immediately gave her an expression that was a cross between boredom and annoyance. "She's a fucking headcase!" he said quite loudly.
Simon immediately looked panicky. "Noel!"
Noel then turned his boredom on him. "What, she is!"
"I know that, but don't say it out loud," Simon said with a low voice, casting a shifty gaze at their surroundings. "The women will hear."
"Yeah, whatever," Noel said with a shrugged and placed his hands on his hip, still looking bitter and bored. "I just don't like her. Walks around like she's the best thing since sliced bread. Honestly, I don't know why they even like her. Michael deserves a hell of a lot better if you ask me."
At last, someone else who seemed to detest Mariasha and was on Michael's side. Her day so far had not been in vain. Mariasha wasn't as liked by everyone as first thought.
"Have you spoken to her?" Noel suddenly asked her, pulling Kai out of her thoughts.
"Not yet," Kai said truthfully and shrugged lightly. "I've heard all about her, though."
"Man, I pity you," Noel said as he roughly scratched his head with his fingernails. "When she finds out your friends with Michael, she'll lay right into you."
Kai was actually counting on it. She has a few words she would like to share with Mariasha as well. That was, after all, one of the many reasons she came into town today without Michael's guidance. He needed to rest and she wanted to confront Mariasha without Michael copping the brunt of disapproval from the biddies in town.
Nothing like a good old fashion cat fight between two flighty young women, right?
If they thought Mariasha was fiery and sassy, wait until they see Kai rip into Mariasha. They haven't seen nothing yet.
"Don't worry about me," she said calmly as possible. "I can handle myself rather well. Thank you for your concern."
Ok, now it was time for her and Mariasha to have a chat. She was ready and felt confident that if she did lose her temper, not everyone in town would immediately turn against her. The last thing Kai wanted was the make things harder for Michael.
"Do you know where Mariasha is?" she asked the two males before her, earning her a look of surprise and disbelief from them. "I would like to have a chat with her."
"Are you mad?" Noel asked as he stared at her like she had grown a second head, picking up her purchases and following her to her car.
"Infuriated," Kai simply muttered under her breath.
Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she noticed a tall and skinny woman talking quite urgently to a younger woman with long purple hair who was wearing clothes totally inappropriate for this time of year. Or any time of year for that matter. The older woman suddenly pointed in her Kai's direction and the purple hair girl spun around, her hands balled into fists by her side, a fearsome glare on her face.
"Speak of the devil," Noel suddenly muttered as he moved to place Kai's purchases in the back of her car, noting with a look of displeasure how Mariasha was stalking over to them, her face burning with anger.
"So, you're the one then?" she said with a hiss as she appeared before them, Noel slouching his posture as he slipped his hands into his pockets and Kai raising an eyebrow at the new arrival. "You're the bitch who's been causing trouble in town."
Ah, so this was Mariasha, Kai mused to herself. Skanky clothing, haughty attitude, instant insult, the way she was trying to glare viciously at her...Yep, deranged and self-centred fanbrat.
This conversation should prove to be rather interesting.