Querencia Chapter 17: A Part of Past, a beyblade fanfic

A/N: I hope you all are liking the way things are going.

Please Note:

1. My laptop isn't working so it's a lot harder to write. That's why I'm not updating much even though I'm practically free at home.

2. I'm gonna change my account soon most likely, so please have a look at my profile once in a while.

Thank you to the Guest for your review. Sadly, it's not showing here. :( Anyways, I'm happy that you like my way of prescribing their 'character development/decay'. It means a lot to me that you are liking this perspective. :)

Thank you to CruelBruenette for following! I hope you keep reading, and like it! :)

Ch 17

(A part of past)

The dark room was flooding with the light of the sun rays as day approached, a few of said rays falling on the pale face deep in restful sleep, awakening him rudely.

The crimson eyes blinked open blearily before a groan escaped the teen, and he sat up, holding his forehead with one hand as the action made his head throb a little.

Untangling himself from the mess that the covers had created around him, he stood up shakily and stretched himself out, a yawn escaping him.

He turned his head to look at the other occupant of the bed, who was still blissfully submerged in his slumber.

He opened the glass doors and stepped onto the balcony, the sunlight now directly hitting him, giving him a welcomed warmth that mornings always brought.

Gazing below, his eyes fell on the old gardener who was watering the floors in the front garden.

Last night, Vladimir had called him regarding some business, and instead, Tala had informed him about his fever. Vladimir had offered them to come to the mansion, and Tala had at once agreed.

Stupid redhead, hadn't even asked his opinion once. He had gotten to know about it only when Vladimir came to get them.

And then there had been more fussing, the cook, a sweet elderly lady, who had been under the service of Voltaire for many years, and knew about his eating habits a lot, had stood right over him as he ate, all while the redhead not so discteetly snickered at him.

Sighing tiredly to himself, he left the balcony and went into the room, giving the still asleep Tala one glance, and going downstairs.

His fever had lowered some, still not gone, and would probably strike up once again, as had happened many times before, but for now, he didn't feel like dying with every breath he took, and his head wasn't pounding as hard.

The maid had already cleaned the front portions, where they mostly ventured, and was probably cleaning the back ones.

There was no one in the kitchen. He filled a glass with water and walked outside, spotting Vladimir standing at a distance.

Said old man noticed him and came to his side.

"How are you now, Master Kai?"

"I'm fine," he nodded at him.

"What did you call me for last night?"

Vladimir looked confused before recollecting his thoughts.

"Oh, I called to inform that there were some letters, for you."

"Who is it?"

"...Your grandfather"

His eyes hardened at the words.

"Send them back, I'm not reading them," with that, he went back inside, sitting down on the sofa and huffing out irritatedly.

What did the fucker want from him now?

He decided to leave the matter for some other time and gazed down at the fire crackling in the garret.

His eyes illuminated as the flickering flames reflected over them, his face deep in thought.

It had been a few months since Voltaire had been sentenced to life long imprisonment, and since then, every month, he had been sending him letters.

Needless to say he hadn't read them, and had ordered them to be sent back, but they would come back again and again, and now he just put them in a tiny box in his room, and locked it away. Why he didn't just throw them away, he didn't know.

Maybe, because even after all that had happened, Voltaire was still family. Ironical, but true.

How he wished things could back to those times when he had been really young, living under the loving care of his parents, a time, when he used to love Voltaire.

Everything had changed after that day, every fucking thing. And even after more than a decade, nothing had gone back to the way it was before.

He didn't miss his parents, or maybe he did, but it was like a faint bruise, one that he forgot about most of the time, and one that would remind him of its existence seldomly.

But with Voltaire, it was a whole different thing. He hated the man with all his life, but, there was this really tiny stupid voice that sometimes questioned if there would ever be a day where Voltaire would let go of all his bitterness and sins, and just love him. That hope had been more prominent when he had been living with him after the incident. Even when Voltaire was nothing but inhumanly cruel to him, he still thought, maybe.

No one else knew, they would think, really? You think that'd be possible? But there was nothing wrong with hoping, especially when everything else in your life had been completely and utterly destroyed.

He took a shaky breath, these thoughts always left a nagging feeling in his chest. He sometimes just wanted to go back to Russia to visit the penthouse his parents had lived in, the one where their memories were the most alive, and just sit there, taking everything in, dull eyes raking over the dusty abandoned furniture, the paintings, everything giving a sad lost look.

He would lose himself in a certain world then, painful yet addicting, one that made him forget reality for a little while.

He stood up, almost subconsciously making his way towards a certain hall, which he kept locked most of the time, where their family pictures hung, coming to rest on the most familiar one.

His mother, holding him, just a few months old baby, while his father had an arm draped around her, both of them smiling at the camera. He could see his own hair, a few tiny bluish tufts, over the light blue blanket he was wrapped in.

His eyes took all the details, the tiny marks on their parents' cheeks as they smiled, unaware of what awaited their little one, and themselves in a few years. What would they think if they saw him now? Wouldn't even recognise him, for sure, he was so deformed now.

He could imagine their disappointed looks, but somehow, he didn't feel surprised, knowing he deserved it.

He slid down a wall and sat down, staring at the painting as if trying to memorize every stroke and hue and engrave it in his mind forever.

By the entrance, Vladimir stood with the door slightly ajar, watching the younger with worried eyes.

The door opening turned the redhead's attention towards the bluenette who now entered, after having almost disappeared for the last few hours.

Tala had searched for him in most of the places in the mansion, but hadn't found a single trace. None of the maids seemed to have seen him either.

"Where were you?"

"Nowhere."

Tala didn't say anything after that. Kai went to the closet and took out some clothes before going to the bathroom, the water hitting the floor indicating that he was taking a shower.

A few minutes later, he emerged, picking up a few things from his desk and making his way to the door.

"I'm going out. If you need anything, just ask Vladimir."

Tala stood up and went after him, clutching his arm and stopping him.

"Where are you going?"

Kai rolled his eyes and shook off the hand, "Work."

"But you are sick."

"I'm not anymore."

Kai stared at him for a moment, before turning around and resumed walking, leaving Tala standing there.

Tala stared at Kai's retreating back confusedly.

First, the bluenette had disappeared somewhere for more than have the day without telling anything, and hadn't given a proper reply to his questioning either. And now he was going somewhere again?

What was up with him now?

"Something seems to be on your mind, master."

He jerked his head towards the direction the voice had come from. Vladimir stood beside him, gazing calmly around the garden.

He shook his head and resumed his own staring at the flowers he had found at one nook of the garden, finding them mesmerizing.

"Master Kai said he'd be leaving the school for a while."

Tala nodded, he knew that. Kai had told him about those bladers that had attacked all his team, and what they were going to do about it.

"Do you know where Kai went yesterday?" He asked the other.

"Master Kai has a lot of things to take care of. You see, being the only heir. He went to meet someone to discuss something last evening."

"No, not evening, the daytime. Where was he all day?"

Vladimir fell silent.

"You know something, don't you?"

"I think you should ask him yourself."

The redhead frowned, what was he talking about?

Vladimir cleared his throat.

"I don't think he would appreciate me telling you, but still, I'm sure it would do no harm either. You see, since Master Voltaire has been imprisoned, he has been reaching out to him in order to get any sort of help to get out.

He's been sending letters to him, but he hasn't read any. The first one he received, he told me to read, it said that Voltaire wanted him to meet him and listen to what he wanted to say. Master Kai did not read it, but he guessed right about what was written. Since then, he's been sensitive about this issue.

Yesterday too, he received another letter from him. That must have put him in a sour mood."

"Voltaire writes to him?!" he was shocked by this piece of information, Kai had never mentioned anything about it before.

"Yes," the older answered.

"And where is he now?"

"Master Kai? Why, he is in school, of course."

The redhead's eyes widened, why hadn't Kai told him about that?

"He seemed a little troubled in the morning, I supposed it was because of yesterday."

"And what time is he going to come back?"

"Around 3:30"

Tala fell silent, gazing down at the flowers, mind deep in thoughts.

He hadn't seen Kai last night after he had gone to his 'work' and in the morning, by the time he had woken up, he was gone again.

If it was due to Voltaire he had been acting like this, why did he go to school? From what he had gathered, he wasn't too fond of this new school. Did he just go to keep himself busy?

What was with the silent treatment? Why was he avoiding him?

Someone would believe that as he had been the closest to Kai all those years, he would be able to read him like a book.

Hah. Who are you kidding?

Kai was god-damned mystery on a whole another level. A puzzle one would go crazy way before solving. Understanding his mind was one of the hardest tasks Tala had ever tried to do.

But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try. He hadn't come here for Kai to ignore him all the time.

He stood up and faced Vladimir, "Where is his school?"

Well, this was boring. And annoying. All his determination to meet Kai in a way that would eliminate his chances of ignoring him was fading away the longer he stood there. He just wanted the sun out of his face! And off his – paler than chalk – arms!

He had been standing there for the last, twenty, no twenty two, noo, twenty three minutes! Damn it!

Hadn't Vladimir said that school would be over by three thirty?! It was almost four already! Where the fuck was he?!

Didn't he know the importance of time? And didn't he know that he was making him wait? Oh wait, he didn't know he was here, so technically it wasn't his fault, but then whose fault was it? Surely not his? Why, he was just being a good fri-

"What are you doing here?"

A voice shook him out of his ramblings and he turned to look at Kai, standing there, giving him a questioning look.

There was one kid beside him, who the fuck was he?

"I came to get you," he replied, giving the kid a suspicious stare.

Seemed innocent, but that was the point! That innocent look was the perfect mask for concealing ill intentions! He knew, he had used that on Bryan so many times. Poor Bry…

"I'm not a kid, Tala."

"Oh wait! So you are Tala! As in Tala Ivanov?!" Wyatt came forward and took a hold of his hands, not knowing how much of a danger was lurking around him.

"Yes I am, so?" Tala snatched his hands away from the overexcited teen, giving him a disgusted glare.

"Oh! You don't know how big of a fan I am of yours! You're so cool!"

"Got the same treatment, minus the groping," Kai informed Tala in Russian, a smirk apparent on his face.

"Gro-what the fuck, Kai!! Get him the fuck away from me!" he retorted in Russian. His plan was working against him. What if Kai left him with the fucking stupid kid?

Kai's smirk widened, but he did as told, grabbing Wyatt from the back of his collar and dragging him away from Tala.

"Thank God!" The redhead dramatically dusted himself off and gave Wyatt a warning look. "You do that again, and I swear"

"I'm sorry! I just got a little too excited when I saw you. You know, everyone says you are dangerous and-"

"That's enough, Wyatt. Now go back," the bluenette ordered him, pushing him back from the way they had come.

Wyatt, seemingly disappointed, pouted slightly before going away, waving to them in the process.

Kai ignored him and started walking, Tala following him.

"So, you came to school today? Nothing happened, did it though?"

Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Your fever hasn't completely gone away. And even without that, you have a lot of other problems," he said.

"Hn, nothing happened," he replied.

Tala hmmed and asked him to give him his backpack. Kai glared at him and reasoned that he wasn't on the verge of dying and could carry it himself.

The hot afternoon sun was blazing on them, and even though summer hadn't yet shown its full intensity, being used to colder weathers, even this much heat seemed a lot to them, especially Tala, whose skin was really delicate against the sun, and would redden immediately if not protected, which was irritating him to no end.

The two walked silently through the lanes weaving the town.

"Fuck, it's so hot!" The redhead groaned, wiping his forehead with his arm.

"Who told you to come anyways?" Kai let out, amused.

Tala gave him a pointed glare. "Since someone decided it wasn't important to tell me anything, and just avoid me all fucking day long, I thought I could do with some explanation."

Kai sighed, slowing down his pace.

"Tala, I didn't mean to avoid you. I-"

He stopped.

"Vladimir told me, about Voltaire."

Crimson eyes widened, "What did he say?"

"He said he's been writing to you."

Kai looked down, picking at a pebble with his shoe.

"Did you ever read anything?"

He shook his head.

"I feel tempted to, sometimes. I don't know why, he's a fucking sick bastard who ruined my entire fucking life. I can't understand why the fuck I'm being such a wuss over it!!" He kicked the wall nearby angrily.

"Maybe, maybe because under all that, there used to be someone entirely different?"

Kai stared at him in confusion.

"Maybe, once, what you saw was not what you see now."

"What are you talking about?"

"And while it all is the way it is, master Tala, it wasn't always like this."

"I know, his parents loved him."

"Definitely, they did. But I'm not talking about them here."

Tala raised an eyebrow.

"It's Voltaire I'm talking about."

"What do you mean?"

"Long ago, when master Kai's parents were just married, and even before that, – I'm telling about that specific time because that's when I got under their (Kai's parents') service – Master Voltaire held such an amiable personality that it sometimes feels shocking to even recall that. When master Kai was born, there was such happiness all around, especially in the eyes of master Voltaire. Those times, they were precious. I feel, those were the only times when he took the role of a grandfather with such love and seriousness. Long gone are those days now, so long gone."

The shocked eyes of the younger boy caused a chuckle to escape the older.

"Yes, master Tala, indeed were then times like that. Master Voltaire loved his grandson, you could ask anyone, and they would say that he was the apple of his eye. Such a beautiful bond there was. But suddenly, as if almost magically, everything disappeared. Forgotten were the ties of blood, of love, forgotten was the relation. All that mattered was money."

Looking into the older's saddened eyes, Tala realized there wasn't any lie in all that he had just been told.

"It's true, isn't it?"

Kai shook his head, "You know nothing, Tala."

"I know I don't know much. But tell me, is there really a memory you have where he isn't such a monster?"

Kai sighed and started walking.

"Answer me, Kai!"

Tala caught his arm and stopped him, a questioning look in the crystal orbs.

Kai looked away.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Tala's gaze softened, "Why don't you stop keeping things to yourself? Don't you trust me enough?"

Kai shook his head abruptly, "That's not it, Tala. I'll tell you, sometime."

Tala nodded, grabbing his arm and making him walk along with him.

"Is that why you came here?"

"I thought you'd go somewhere else from the school, and wouldn't come back till late like last night again."

Kai nodded. Indeed he had been planning not to go straight back. He didn't feel like talking about it to the redhead, no one in actual. He didn't want the redhead to look at him accusedly just because of the effect that letter was having on him. As if it was from someone really close. The fact that it was troubling him so much was making him angry at himself.

"God damn it! I swear! I'm gonna get a fucking umbrella tomorrow!!" The redhead almost shrieked, wiping another layer of sweat from his reddening forehead.

Tala nodded, "I have nothing to do anyways," he said, before eyeing a vendor at the far end of the lane, trying to read what he was selling.

Kai let a little smile slip on his lips, it felt nice, walking back home with the redhead, especially now that he knew the redhead wasn't mad at him anymore for avoiding him.

"That's ice cream!" Tala grabbed his arm.

Kai rolled his eyes as the redhead pulled him along, making him almost stumble.

Since when had Tala gotten so fond of that sweet, unhealthy thing?

Once reaching there, Tala stared at the various flavors with awe, reading along with what they were.

"I want this," he told the man, pointing at the strawberry one, "and this too," pointing at the mint chocolate one.

As the man filled the cones with the ice cream, Tala turned to Kai.

"What about you?"

Kai rolled his eyes again, taking out some money from his pocket.

"I don't want it."

After they had paid, which was, Kai had paid, they continued their way back, Tala getting confused as to which one to eat first.

"Eat them both at the same time, or they are gonna melt. Who even told you to get two?" Kai sighed, exasperatedly, shaking his head.

"I don't like this one," the redhead said, pointing to the mint chocolate one.

"Well, you chose it. Now quit whining."

Tala almost pouted at that, before raising a confused eyebrow as Kai took a different lane from the one that he had come through.

"Where are we going?"

"Just follow."

Soon they came to a part where houses ended and trees took up most of the place, the lane cut off by a wall. There was a small path among the trees, which they followed until they came to a clearing, quiet and peaceful, shaded from the sun.

Kai sat down under one of the trees, along which there was a wooden, almost ruined, railing that overlooked some parts of the city.

Tala sat down beside Kai, his eyes taking in the view, before turning his attention back to his ice creams.

"Fuck's sake! Couldn't you have stopped me from buying two?"

Kai chuckled at his misery.

Tala held them towards him, "Take one?"

Kai smirked at his almost pleading look and took the mint chocolate one. It didn't seem as sugary as the one Mr. Dickenson had brought that day, but he guessed that was a different flavor. He still wouldn't say that he liked it, but it was… okay.

Silently, they ate the ice cream, the gentle wind and the rustling of the leaves providing a soothing background.

"I could fall asleep here," Tala let out, leaning against the big trunk.

"I've done it"

The redhead stared at him.

"Last year, before Bladebreakers were formed."

Tala laughed, "What would your teammates have said, if they found the Great Kai Hiwatari taking a nap under some tree."

Kai shoved him, making him fall on his side, and stood up, "We should go."

The redhead followed his lead and grabbed his bag from him, before walking back, eager to get to the mansion now, as his skin wasn't gonna bear any more.

In a few minutes, they were back. Vladimir greeted them on their way to Kai's room which they returned with nods of their own.

Kai immediately sat down at his desk, taking out some textbooks and flicking through them.

"You just came back, Kai. Shouldn't you rest a bit?" Tala asked, sitting down on the bed cross legged.

"I have a load of work to catch up on, Tala," by now, he was typing away at his laptop.

Tala came up to him, resting a hand on the back of the chair.

"What are you writing?"

"An Essay."

"In English?"

Kai gave him an incredulous look, "Can't you see that it's English?"

"But most of your subjects are in English!"

Kai sighed exasperatedly, "Not every subject requires me to write essays, Tala. Just go."

Tala pouted, but obeyed, this time picking up his bag and fumbling through his books, before picking out one and landing clumsily on the bed, before flipping through it.

For a while, the room was filled with peaceful silence only broken by the typing sounds as Kai worked on his essay.

"This is funny," Tala said, almost amused.

"What is?" Kai asked, without turning to him.

"The fact that the whole matter is based on a single term 'atom', but no one has ever seen it."

"There are so many proofs though," the bluenette replied nonchalantly.

"But that doesn't change the fact that no one has seen them," Tala now sat up, book still held in both hands.

"An atom is around 0.1 nanometers or something, Tala. Making an instrument to see such a small size is gonna be so difficult."

"That's what I wanna know! If an atom is already so small, why the fuck do they divide it into even smaller parts?"

"Because, Tala, that is only how most of the things atoms do can be accounted for. If there wasn't an electron, how could there be any electricity?"

"Electricity could be produced whether we knew about electrons or not! There's something about that Thales guy and an amber rod or something! And electrons weren't discovered until the 19th century anyway!"

Kai sighed, why were they even arguing about this in the first place?

"I'm not talking about their existence, I'm talking about our acknowledgement of that existence," he said, gesturing with hand movements, seemingly trying to explain something to Kai which the latter wasn't at all excited about.

"As everything develops, it's obvious that things will be discovered," Kai said, voice sounding bored.

"That means-

"Why don't you just shut the fuck up and let me do my work in peace, Tala?!" he yelled at him, before turning his attention back to his task.

Tala glared at him for a moment before something else in the textbook caught his attention and he started reading again.

After writing a few more Paras, Kai leaned back in his chair and stretched out his arms, glancing back at Tala.

It seemed, the redhead had now taken out another book from his bag and was reading something with undivided attention.

He looked back at the monitor, nearly half of the essay was already done, and it had been only a few hours. It had been given a lot of days ago, but Tala's arrival and his fever had made him totally forget about it, along with all the other assignments and work. It was due the next day, so he needed to finish it before the day ended.

A gasp left the redhead, who was now holding onto another literature book of his, that he wasn't using at the time.

"What did you find now?"

"This is really sad."

"What are you reading?"

"It's about this statue of a prince, and there's a swallow, and he gives all of his things to him to give to the needy people."

Kai turned around to take a look at the book he was reading, before smirking amusedly at the serious expression on the redhead's face as he read further.

The smirk slowly melted into a small smile as a realization hit him.

This simple time, him continuing with his daily life, but with the redhead along with him, waiting for him at the gate, walking back with him, reading his books, being in his room, gave him a weird kind of calmness.

He felt relaxed in the presence of the other, even when he had so much work to do, or was going through so much, everything just stopped to give him a breath for the moment.

What he wouldn't give to have this arrangement going on forever?

He shook his head and turned back to his work, the small smile still prominent over his lips.

Thanks for reading!