I'm back! At last! After ... 10 months? I really am so sorry!!
A huge thank you to Lamanth, Angiechan101, Whatevergurlx0x, thought i choose death instead of pointless pain, AngelFire1472, Kimkizna, eMpTy-ShElLs, Nubia, Angelic Kitsune, LEGOLAS' lady 101, Amber, anas-belonging, DarkWolf88, Amanita Virosa-Midnight Wrath, Ember, .angel.del.silencio, (you reviewed twice?) super saiyon vegeta bulma, hil2378, lovette ngbeken temi and Kai and Hilary love forever for reviewing!
Omg! 20 reviews!!! I love you all! (hugs all reviewers and hands out Kai-plushies)
A massive thank you to eMpTy-ShElLs, who took the time to beta-read for me and make corrections that I didn't know had to be made!
"Remind me again how you managed to persuade me to do this?" Hilary mumbled, glaring at the grinning girl opposite her. Sara shrugged.
"Natural talent." she said modestly.
"Yeah, you're naturally talented at something…" Sara tossed her head smugly and carried on trying to find the phone number of Ray's agent on the Internet. Suddenly, she grinned and clicked her fingers.
"Got it!" she exclaimed, pointing to a tiny row of numbers hidden away in the bottom corner of the screen. "Where's the phone…" Panicking, Hilary grabbed for the phone and sat on it.
"I-don't-think-that-this-is-a-very-good-idea-after-all…" she said quickly, shuffling backwards. Sara frowned.
"Don't chicken out now!" Hilary stayed put. "What's up?" Hilary shrugged.
"What if he hates us?" she mumbled at last. "What if he doesn't want anything to do with us?" Sara shrugged, imitating Hilary.
"Then I hang the phone up." she said matter-of-factly. "If the agent doesn't let me through to him, I also hang the phone up. Problem is solved." Hilary raised an eyebrow as Sara's English started to slip. That's what you get when you turn up hungover. Hillary thought smugly to herself. Sara grimaced and rolled her eyes as she noticed Hilary's silent mockery. "No one gets hurt." she continued. She patted Hilary encouragingly on the shoulder. "Come on, Hil!" Hilary bit her lip.
Ray had always been like an older brother to her, the one who was polite to a fault, the only one of them who recognized that she was a girl, and not just a machine programmed to scream at Tyson. Yet, the memory of how he had behaved when Kai had left them was startlingly vivid still. He had become almost like a replacement Kai, taciturn, preferring to be alone and flying off the handle at the slightest provocation. How would he react if he found out that she was living with Kai, had been for months, and hadn't told any of them?
Answer: Badly. She didn't want to lose his friendship. That was, if she still had it.
"But…I don't want Ray to hate me…" she whispered.
"No one could hate you, Hil!" Sara said fiercely. Hilary blushed and muttered something under her breath. "If you were gay, I'd have jumped on you first chance I got!" The two girls laughed.
"Kai would rip you to shreds if you tried that now!" Sara shuddered, narrowing her green, slightly bloodshot eyes.
"Don't I know it!" Her face creased and she swore under her breath. "Damn, that reminds me!" She stood up so quickly that the chair fell over, sending her tangled hair flying everywhere. "Sorry Hil, gotta go, Kai's gonna kill me as it is, ring that agent guy or I'll do it for you!" She flew out the door, leaving Hilary staring after her, bewildered.
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Ten minutes of staring at the telephone number as thought it might bite her later, Hilary jumped violently as the phone rang. Nervously, she reached the it and held it to her ear.
"Hello?" she quavered. Should I be answering this? It's Kai's work phone; what if it's someone who wants to speak to him, should I just say that he's out, or-
"Hils?" She relaxed, virtually melting into the seat at the sound of Kai's voice.
"Yeah?"
"Turn on the TV in half an hour, ok? I'll be back at some point."
"Where are you?" Hilary asked, her curiosity thoroughly piqued.
"Somewhere." he said flatly.
"Never." Hilary replied bitingly. "When is some point? I'm bored."
"Do something, then."
"What?" she exclaimed, exasperated with her taciturn boyfriend.
"I don't know, do I? Do girl things." Hilary rolled her eyes.
"Girl things generally need someone else to do them with, Kai, and in case you hadn't noticed, Sara's off with you."
"Of course I've noticed; she's driving me insane. Go and explore or something."
"I'll get lost." Hilary countered, fighting to keep her increasing mirth from her voice. Kai was pathetically easy to wind up at times.
"You're playing with me, aren't you?" he demanded suddenly.
"Uh-huh." she agreed happily. He growled, and she laughed. "Don't worry, Kai. I'm fine over here. How are you?" She could vividly see him shrugging.
"Fine. Be back soon, okay? If this phone rings again and it isn't me, just pretend you're a secretary or something like that."
"Okay."
"Oh, wait … Sara, what is it now … what? Sara says that she's prepared to act out her threat. What's going on with you two?" Hilary nearly split her sides in silent laughter at the utter puzzlement in Kai's voice.
"Stop thinking Kai, you'll hurt yourself."
"Shut up." he replied automatically. "I've got to go now, bye." The phone clicked.
"Bye." Hilary said to an empty line. She scowled. She hated Kai's abrupt way of ending phone calls. Or conversations, come to that.
Half an hour later, that little row of numbers was still hovering on the computer screen in front of her. Glaring at it, she quickly clicked the cross icon and got back to the original page. Silently filing it away in her mind, she exited from that too and shut down the computer, a pang entering her chest as she reflected on how cowardly she was, and how much she longed to hear Ray's voice.
"Oh well, might as well go and see what Kai was babbling about." she muttered to herself.
Curling up comfortably on the sofa, she eventually dug the remote out from down the side of the sofa and turned on the TV. Suddenly, a thought hit her and she starting giggling uncontrollably. "You didn't think to tell me what channel, did you?" she demanded of the empty air, shaking her head. "Course not…" Resting her head on the arm of the sofa, she began the impossible task of flicking through all nine hundred and sixty five channels.
Fifty chapters later, she gave up. "Kai, you're a completely and utter idiot." she groaned. Getting up, she wandered aimlessly around the flat for a few minutes. An idea struck her, and, a grin spreading across her face, she slipped into the room that she knew Kai used for beyblading practise.
Instantly, her eyes were drawn to the beydish in the middle of the room. To be more specific, the beyblade and launcher that lay in the middle of it. Hesitantly, she walked over and bent down. With hands that trembled more than a little bit, she scooped up the heavy metal beyblade and cradled it in her palms, scrutinising it carefully. It's so shiny … was her first, rather childish thought. Her second thought … well, she almost dismissed it without thinking. It was absurd. Kai would slaughter her.
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It niggled away as she stared at the gleaming blue blade and ran her thumb over it absentmindedly. Finally, her resolve snapped.
"I have absolutely no willpower … please God don't let me ever need to diet …" she mumbled as she bent down and picked up the bulky launcher. Clumsily, she pushed the beyblade onto the launcher until it clicked. For a split second, she stared at it, appalled by her own daring. Kai's going to be so angry with me, she thought dimly. She grinned mischievously. Oh well. Unconsciously imitating the boys that she had spent the best part of four years watching, she settled into some approximation of a launching stance and gave the ripcord an awkward, inept yank.
The beyblade landed in the dish - just - and spun unsteadily. Come on, Hilary willed it silently, don't stop… Amazingly, Dranzer steadied and was soon spinning merrily away.
With a kind of reckless bravado, Hilary said something that she regretted the second it left her mouth.
"Dranzer, Blazing Gig!" With a sense of looking through a long tunnel, she watched the bit-chip begin to glow a blinding white and something stirred inside it. A deafening shriek made her ears ring and a terrific backlash of power and heat hit her head-on. An incredible sensation swept through her mind, leaving only blankness in its wake.
Her vision shrank to a tiny circle of white, then nothing.
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"Hilary? Come on sweetie, I know you can hear me … come on, wake up…" Hilary groaned, only vaguely registering Sara's voice.
Her head felt strange, she couldn't seem to gather her thoughts properly. It hurt, too. Badly. It felt like something sharp was being driven into her skull, deeper with every heartbeat. Heat washed over her in long, drowsy waves.
Gradually, she came round enough to blink sleepily up at Sara's worried face. Sara instantly flung herself on her friend, muttering in thankful Russian.
"Mm … Kai?" Hilary murmured dazedly. Sara bit her lip.
"Over there. He's … a bit pissed off with you?" She laughed nervously. Hilary turned her head in the direction Sara had indicated. Ice flooded her veins at the murderous look in Kai's eyes.
He stood up and made his way over to her, his dark eyes pinning her to the floor.
"Stupid." he hissed. "You stupid little girl. What did you think you were doing?" Hilary stared up at him mutely, suddenly afraid.
"Kai, give her a break!" Sara cried protectively. Kai ignored her.
"Do you have any idea at all how irresponsible that was?" For the first time, Hilary made out the suspicious glimmer in her boyfriend's eyes. "By rights, the power surge should have wiped your mind completely clean! Do you want to end up like Wyatt?" He was yelling by now, his eyes wild. "Did you?" he shouted. A tear slid down Hilary's hot cheek as she shook her head minutely. Kai glared at her for a few more seconds, then turned away with a violent shake of his head. Striding out, he slammed the door viciously behind him.
The thick silence was broken by Sara, who let out a breath that she had clearly been holding for a while.
"How you feeling, hun?" she asked softly. Hilary tried to pull herself up, and managed on the third attempt.
"Hot, tired, like my head might explode…" She tried to smile as tears fell down her cheeks. "Does Kai hate me now?"
"No!" She shot Sara a faintly disbelieving look. "He doesn't, Hil." Sara confirmed earnestly. "He was just scared shitless for you. And I think he was more than a little angry at himself, for leaving Dranzer out for you to find." She hugged Hilary gently. "He doesn't hate you, Hil. I don't think he could if he tried." Hilary hugged Sara back, then pulled away, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
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Ray yawned and changed his position on the sofa.
"Kon!" He opened one eye lazily to see his publicity manager standing in the doorway, a mobile phone held loosely in his plump hand.
"What?" he drawled, rolling over onto his stomach.
"Someone from your old team," Ray levered himself up onto his elbows, only mildly interested. Tyson and Kenny rang from time to time, and Lee rang constantly. "A girl," the man added. Interest sharpened and flared into the first stirrings of alarm. Swinging himself into a sitting position, he stretched his hand out, silently demanding. The phone was placed in his hand, then the man retreated hurriedly.
"Hello?"
"Oh … hi Ray … how are you?" A panicky giggle. He sat bolt upright.
"Hilary?" he asked after a pause of sheer disbelief.
"Y-yes, Ray. I was just - "
"Do you know how worried the others have been? You need to ring them, Tyson especially - "
"Did they tell you what happened?" Hilary asked timidly. Ray took a deep breath, his mind racing as he wondered how to cope with the situation.
"Yes." he said at last.
"I can't talk to Ty, not just over a phone …"
"Needs to be within slapping distance, hey?" Ray chuckled. She giggled shrilly. "Where are you, anyway?" There was a long silence. "Hil?"
"Russia." A tense, expectant pause. Ray found every muscle in his body tensing, rejecting what his mind had already sought ahead and claimed as fact. "With Kai." She started giggling again, hysterically. Knowing that the laughing fit signaled nerves rather than amusement, Ray let her quiet down.
"How's Kai doing?" he asked at last, awkwardly.
"Oh, he's okay. Over-working himself a bit and not listening to me when I tell him that, but, well, that's Kai, isn't it?"
"He works? What does he do?"
"I don't really know." He sensed real frustration in her voice. "Something to do with helping kids that came into contact with this Biovolt thingy." He couldn't suppress a chuckle.
"What?" she demanded.
"Thingy? Oh, that's the Hilary we all know and love!" They laughed in unison.
After a few minutes of exchanging trivialities, Ray asked the question that he knew had to be asked. "Hil? Why did you run like that?" The mood became somber again.
"I just couldn't stay, Ray. I just … couldn't. Not knowing that he was with him, and over me … he chose him over me … "
"Did you love him?" Blunt, abrupt, lacking in any of the finesse and charm that Ray usually coated potentially hurtful questions in. Hilary made a small choking sound. "Did you?"
"No." she whispered. "I-I thought I did. But I don't." The words "Not anymore" hummed over the phone line as effectively as of they had been spoken aloud and Ray bit his bottom lip. "Anyway, this wasn't why I phoned!" she exclaimed suddenly, back to her usual, brisk, absentminded self. "I was … well, that is … I thought that … to fix everything up … see everyone again …"
"You're rambling, Hil."
"Sorry." She took a few deep breaths, obviously collecting herself. "I was wondering whether you would come to Japan, so that we could all meet up again?"
"All?"
"Yup, all of the Bladebreakers. I'll bring Kai, even if it means dragging him by his scarf." Ray felt his chest tighten at the mention of his old friend's name.
"Okay, I'll see if I can sort it with my agent. Any date in mind?" he asked carefully.
"Nope. Whatever suits you?"
"Okay then Hil, I'd love to. Does the invite extend to Mariah?"
"Why not? She's fun." Ray smirked.
"Agreed."
They talked for a few minutes, then hung up. Ray lay back on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling, pondering the events of the past ten minutes.
"This could be interesting." he whispered to no one in particular.
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Hilary seriously considered hiding behind something. A chair would do. Or the door. Oh, no, excellent, here came Sara; perfect!
"Hil, what?" Without looking from behind the taller girl, Hilary pointed towards where Kai was sitting. Sara followed her finger. "Ah. See your point. I suggest a tactical retreat … fairly soon … like, now …" Her babbling was cut off abruptly as Kai stood.
"Fine." he said carelessly. With a strange, unreadable glance at Hilary he walked past them.
Both girls stared at each other.
What?
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Kai shut the door behind him.
Then, slowly, without even the vaguest appearance of anger, he picked up a chair -
- and threw it at the wall.
No! he raged inwardly. I don't want to! You can't make me, nobody can make me - there was a reason I left in the first place!
He sucked in a short breath and held it. Okay, childish tantrum over. I go, beat the living shit out of Tyson and Max for devastating Hilary like they have, avoid Ray as much as possible, come back, get on with work. Problem solved.
I really need to cut down on the coffee.
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"I want to come!" Sara wailed, and pouted childishly.
"Why?" Kai shot back. Sara shrugged innocently. Kai turned to Hilary, who was grinning widely.
"One word, Kai," Hilary enlightened him. "Mariah." Kai rolled his eyes.
"If it causes problems, I'll send you back. While we're there, I'm your boss, you'll listen to me. Ok?"
"Yes, Kai, of course Kai." Sara was already off in dreamland as she spoke.
"I can't believe I'm doing this …" Kai muttered under his breath.
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Hilary yawned and wriggled slightly in the car seat, shuffling nearer to Kai.
"You ok?" Kai asked quietly, slipping an arm round her and giving her a gentle squeeze. She nodded sleepily.
"Jet lag." she said in between yawns. "How do you two survive?"
"Practice, and being tougher than you. Mainly the latter." Sara teased. Hilary opened one eye to glare at her friend.
"Wake me up when we arrive." They were meeting Ray and Mariah at a service station before moving on to the dojo.
As her breathing evened out and her sleeping face relaxed into blankness, Kai and Sara exchanged a long look.
"Remember, Sara. If anything happens …" Sara nodded, her face set.
"She'll be safe." Sara said, more a statement than a mere reassurance. "Which is more than could be said for the rest of us." Kai frowned at her.
"Leave it." She waved her hands around airily.
"Consider it left." She had made her point, and they both knew it.
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"Hilary! Great to see you again!" Hilary grinned happily and flung herself into Ray's open arms. He tightened his grip in a quick, welcoming hug.
"I missed you!" she mumbled, fighting back tears as she reluctantly retreated from his embrace.
"Missed you too, Hil." They smiled at each other.
"Too much sap!" Mariah declared loudly, grabbing Hilary in a one-armed hug and kissing her cheek. "Be happy!"
"I am!" Hilary protested, laughing as she tried to push the older girl away.
"Good! Now, who are those two skulking in the car?"
"Kai, and a friend." Both neko-jin's eyebrows shot up.
"Girlfriend?" Mariah inquired bluntly.
"No, just the bane of my life." Kai opened the door and got out. His face was unreadable, his eyes closed. "She's more your type, Mariah." Mariah's eyes lit up and she casually wandered over to the car.
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Hilary watched nervously as the two males regarded each other with almost identical expressions of wariness and suspicion. Her mind whirled with panic; she knew the temper these two had, and how hard it was to stop them once they became angry.
Have I made a mistake? she wondered, knowing that it was too late to back out now.
Well? What do you think? Worth a ten-month wait? No, I didn't think so either. Anyway, if anyone wants to offer ideas or opinions about how the various characters will react face-to-face at last, just say! If I use any of them, you'll get credit!
Review?
xIlbx