Heyy! I'm still alive! Since you guys have been so patient, I shall waste no more of your time - Chapter 11!
Disclaimer : I do not own Beyblade
A Secret To Be Told
Chapter 11: Assessing the Situation
The adults were soon discussing the situation among themselves, leaving the teens to talk.
"How long do you think it will take for us to get back?" asked Ray, clearly worried.
Kenny sighed. "I really don't know, Ray. Like our future selves said, this is going to be a complicated and time-consuming process – it may actually take several weeks…maybe months."
The others stared in horror.
"You're-you're kidding, right?" choked Tyson.
Normally, in any alarming situation, Kenny would be hysterically nervous and panicky – now, however, he was acting all dejected and somber. Not a good sign, thought Tyson to himself.
"Don't worry," The consolation, surprisingly, came from Kai, who was still leaning against the wall. He turned to face them.
"They'll figure it out soon enough – remember, it's been done before and technology has advanced a lot over the years we've jumped – they said so themselves."
"Kai's right," said Max optimistically. "We'll be home in no time!"
"Yeah! So let's all hope for the best and try to enjoy our time here!" said Hilary, trying to cheer everyone up.
"Heh. How can I enjoy myself knowing that I get married to you?" grumbled Tyson. "I mean – how did that even happen? Was I drunk when I signed the marriage papers or what"-
"You JERK! I should be the one complaining – what tragedy made me marry you of all people!?" exclaimed Hilary in a shrill voice, causing Max and Ray, who were standing right beside her, to wince.
"Not again, you two!" Mariah came over to them, pushing Tyson and Hilary apart before they started throwing punches at each other. "It's time you started accepting the facts!"
"But I don't even like her!" yelled Tyson angrily, not noticing Hilary's furious expression falter at his words and a glimpse of some other emotion showing in her ruby eyes.
Mariah was secretly thankful that the Hilary from her time was not present in the room at the moment, having excused herself to use the washroom.
"Hey, come on, that's not cool," said adult Tyson with a frown, only causing his teen self to huff and turn away, his arms crossed sulkily. "I really hope you don't keep up this unreasonable behaviour just because of what you're seeing here."
"I'd listen if I were you, shrimp," called the grown-up Kai in a lazy drawl from across the room, where he stood with the rest of the adults. Then, his tone turned more serious. "You should try not to let this little excursion influence you – any of you." His eyes swept across the whole group, lingering for a moment on his teen self, before he turned his gaze away.
Teen Tyson turned to gape silently at the future version of his rival, while Hilary stared at her feet, seemingly lost in thought, and the others exchanged uncomfortable looks, not knowing what to make of the situation.
"Hmph, whatever," said teen Tyson finally, shoving his hands in his pockets sulkily and resolutely turning away to face the window.
...
"Here you are. I had these rooms tidied up just now - you guys are fine with sharing, aren't you? If not, I can have a few of the other spare bedrooms upstairs cleaned out too." Alex had taken the teens up to the first floor, and was showing them the spare rooms there, all completely furnished with a double bed, a large wardrobe, dressing table and armchairs.
"Seriously, how many rooms have you got in this place?" questioned Daichi incredulously.
Alex scratched her head and gave a nervous chuckle. "Honestly speaking, I haven't counted. But most of them are never used at all these days."
Ray stepped into the centre of the room they were currently looking at. "Well, I think the six of us will be able to comfortably share two a room, and Hilary can have a separate room to herself of course." He looked at his teammates for consent, and they all nodded their agreement. Each bedroom was more than spacious enough for two people, and they were all used to adjusting and sharing beds while they were on tour during the World Championships.
The boys quickly discussed the sleeping arrangements, and it was decided that Tyson would room with Kenny and Max with Daichi (Max was reluctant due to Daichi's habit of kicking, shoving and climbing onto people in his sleep, but found himself agreeing in spite of all this because of his good nature), which left Ray and Kai to share. Alex had offered Kai the use of his old bedroom, but he had declined, opting to stay in the vicinity of his friends, since he somehow felt like he would be accepting favoured treatment if he chose to stay in his own bedroom. Besides, he had shared a room with Ray on more than one occasion before, and the Chinese youth had never disturbed him or invaded his personal space, so he didn't really mind.
"Hmm...we're going to have to go out and buy some clothes and other things as well - you will be here a while, after all," mused Alex, putting a hand to her cheek thoughtfully. "We can go and get some for you first thing tomorrow morning."
Hilary started protesting. "Oh, no! You don't need to go to the trouble"-
Alex waved her off. "Please. It's no trouble at all. One of my friends just opened a boutique not too far from here. We can find some good clothing for you there."
They all thanked her.
"It's really no problem, so don't worry about it," she insisted, looking slightly uncomfortable at the gratitude shown. "You can rest up for a while over here - I'll call you downstairs later for dinner."
...
The teens had assembled in the room that had been designated as Max and Daichi's.
"No fair, Maxie! Your bed is bigger than ours!" said Tyson as he flopped down onto the large bed.
"Fair enough, Ty, considering I have to share with Daichi," replied Max calmly. "No offense," he quickly added, turning to the younger boy with a friendly smile as he let out an annoyed huff.
"So, what do we do now?" asked Ray, climbing onto the covers and sitting cross-legged beside Tyson.
Tyson shrugged. "Relax?" Seeing Ray frown at him, he said, "I mean, what else can we do? Max and Kenny - the other ones, that is - said they'd look into it, right? Not much else we can do other than wait for them to figure out a way back for us, since none of us have a clue as to how all this happened."
"I guess..." Ray turned away, disgruntled. He disliked not having any control over the current situation, more specifically the fact that they were pretty much powerless and dependent on others to solve their predicament - even if it was their own future counterparts. He voiced his feelings out loud. "It's just that I hate the idea of sitting around doing nothing."
"Tyson's right, Ray," said Max. "There's not much else for us to do for the time being - so I suppose we just stick around over here, let the guys from this timeline do their thing and help out if and when we can." He paused, thinking, and then added. "And like they said, it would also probably be a good idea for us to keep a low profile and avoid being identified by outsiders if we have to go out in public."
"True," said Kenny. "It could be a disaster if someone else sees us and starts snooping around or something."
"Well, in that case, if we're just careful about not showing our faces, at least we won't be stuck in here twenty four/seven," said Tyson, relieved, while Daichi immediately started bombarding Kenny with questions about disguises and fake moustaches. "Don't get me wrong or anything, Kai, but I prefer a little more freedom," he said, looking over at the older boy, who was leaning against the French doors leading to the balcony.
"Hmph." Kai simply closed his eyes and shrugged. He couldn't help but notice that while the others were eagerly discussing the situation at hand, Hilary had remained unusually quiet so far. She sat on the armrest of one of the old armchairs in the room, hands folded in her lap and seemingly rather out of it. He wondered if she was simply tired, or whether her current state of relative apathy had to do with her most recent spat with Tyson. Given her usual energy and need to comment on everything regardless of the situation, he suspected it to be the latter. He wondered momentarily if he should ask her about it, but dismissed the idea - it was probably not something she would want to discuss right now, in the presence of everyone else. Maybe the next time he caught her alone.
Tyson finally got up and announced that he was heading over to his own room to take a shower. Kenny followed him, saying he wanted to go over the data he had captured one more time. As Ray also stood and stretched lightly, Daichi took the opportunity to jump onto the bed himself, curling up into a ball in the middle of the duvet while yawning widely and closing his eyes. Ray chuckled as Max sighed and tried to shift Daichi towards one end of the bed. The raven-haired youth decided to go and try to get some shut-eye as well, and was about to ask Kai what his plans were when he realised that he was not in the room, and he was certain that he had not left through the door. He was not surprised thus, to find the French doors open; the long, thin curtains fluttering in the wind.
...
Dinner was a quiet affair, with the adult Hilary and Tyson having returned home, Ray, Mariah and Rin to the hotel they were staying at and Max and Kenny heading to their research lab with a copy of all the data collected in the laptop to get started on their work as soon as possible. Future Kai was not present at the dining table when the teens were called downstairs and Alex, though present, did not join them either, saying that they usually ate a little later, and thought it would be better if all of them ate and got to bed early today, since she was planning to take them out a bit early the next day to shop, so that they could avoid being seen by too many people and browse through the stores while they were relatively free of other customers.
The teens ate in relative silence, all rather tired by the day's bewildering events, and headed back to their own rooms for the night after finishing their meal.
...
The twelve loud and resounding chimes of the old grandfather clock in the mansion indicated that it was now midnight. The sound reached seventeen year old Kai's ears through the open window which he had climbed out of, making him aware of the hour as he sat on his perch on the roof, overlooking the expansive yet neatly kept gardens and walkways behind the house. He was dressed in a plain black t-shirt and baggy grey sweatpants, which he had found in his old cupboard. He hadn't been able to sleep - something which he had gotten fairly used to - and so had come up for some fresh air and an open view of the starry night sky and the moonlit gardens, which was also something which he had made a habit of. As he sat there, listening to the sounds of rustling leaves and chirping crickets, it almost felt completely normal. Almost.
His mind was still churning with questions. How did this happen? How would they get back? Was it even possible to go back? He had understood Ray's irritation when they had been discussing what they could do. He himself liked having a good measure of control and direction in whatever he did, whatever situation he was involved in. Now it felt as if he had just been thrown for a loop, unable to get himself out of this mess without the help of others - something which was right up there on the list of things he hated the most. He liked to think of himself as self-sufficient and fairly knowledgeable - of which he felt like neither in the current situation.
He was also worried about how their families would take their disappearance. Though over the last couple of years his grandfather had got used to him vanishing for days on end without explanation, he was sure Tyson's grandfather and Max, Kenny and Hilary's parents were probably completely freaking out right now. It didn't help that it would possibly be several weeks before they made it back home, if they managed to, that is.
His train of thought was interrupted when he caught a glimpse of movement below him from the corner of his eye, and carefully leaning forward over the edge of the eaves, he looked down to see someone step out onto a large balcony two storeys below him. Seeing the long hair glimmering in the moonlight, he realised that it was Alexandra.
So that's probably where my new room is, thought Kai, mentally noting the approximate location of the balcony. He remembered his older self's warning not to enter his room. Yeah right, as if I'll just go with that quietly...even if it was me who said it. I've never exactly been good at following orders, he thought to himself as he continued to watch Alexandra as she walked around the balcony. He could make out that she was wearing a light coloured, sleeveless nightgown and was carrying and rocking Gou, who was wrapped in a blanket and sniffling loudly. Eventually, the baby fell silent, presumably asleep. She continued to bounce him slightly, looking out over the gardens for a few seconds before turning around and heading back inside.
That's all for now, folks.
Once again, hope you are finding it enjoyable so far - please rate and review, opinions are welcome! (even if it's flak for my tardiness)
-AthenaSeiki