Welcome to the sequel of The Task of Leadership! I am so freakin' excited. For those of you who have never read The Task of Leadership, you might not know what's going on at the beginning. The rest is pretty easy to understand by itself, although I might make references to some stuff in TTOL.
Everyone's older in this fic. Kai and Rei are twenty, and Tyson's nineteen. Everyone else is somewhere around that age unless I say otherwise.
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Chapter One
shattered romance
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"Rei… you promised…"
"I'm sorry, Kai."
"You promised!"
"I'm sorry! Things change!"
The wind blasted through Kai's jacket. It wasn't a cold day. It was actually quite nice outside. The sky was beginning to turn a beautiful pink color as the sun faded to give way to the moon, which was already visible in the heavens. But to Kai, his world has just fallen apart, and everything seemed dismal and bleak.
Rei sighed. "After all these years… we can't be together Kai, it's just been too long. I'm… with someone else now."
So that was it. Someone else. Kai felt the cold walls around his heart going up again. The walls that had been down for so long. He shifted his weight on Rei's doorstep.
"You promised me you'd wait."
Rei looked up at him helplessly. "I'm sorry," was all he could say.
"Rei?" a soft voice drifted from inside the house. Rei's head turned slightly.
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?" the voice asked.
"Is that him?" Kai asked. Rei looked up, confused for a moment, and then nodded.
"Caleb?" he called. A slender young man appeared in he doorway. He looked young, maybe two years younger than Kai. He had a sweet, angel-like face, and a slight frame. He looked up at Rei, and then Kai with genuine innocence. Light blond hair framed his charming face.
"Hi," he said somewhat hesitantly. Kai abruptly turned on his heel and began walking back to his car. He heard Rei sigh again.
"Kai, please. We can still be friends," Rei called out in a pleading tone.
"What's wrong? Was it something I did?" Caleb asked.
"No, love, you're fine. This is between me and Kai."
Kai felt like screaming out in anger and breaking down and crying at the same time. He went to his car and unlocked it. His hand was on the handle when he heard Rei call out again.
"I don't want to lose our friendship, Kai!"
Kai opened the door and got in.
"I'm sorry!"
Kai turned the key in the ignition, and drove off. Rei shook his head and went inside, Caleb trailing at his heels.
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He promised. I can't believe he broke his promise to me!
Kai's thoughts were a jumbled mess as he drove back to Tokyo University. He was angry, and he felt betrayed. He mostly angry at himself for ever even falling in love in the first place.
Love isn't real. How long is it going to take for me to understand that? Love isn't real! Love is wishful thinking!
He was so busy chastising himself, that he almost didn't see the car right in front of him. He slammed on the brakes at the last moment, just barely spared from an accident. Kai let out a heavy sigh and flicked his wrist over his eyes. He reached the university safely and drove up the stacked parking lot. He hated lots like these. These were the kinds you have for hospitals, or large buildings. It took too damn long to drive up to your parking space and then take the elevator back to your dorm.
Kai drove smoothly into his space, and turned off his car. After a moment, he dropped his head on his arms resting on the steering wheel. He took a deep, shuddering breath, the reality of what had just happened finally settling on his shoulders.
It was over.
After the World Tournament, the Blade Breakers had split up. Max went to America to be with his mom, Rei went to China to be with his old friends, and Tyson and Kenny had stayed in Japan and finished high school. Kai himself had attended an exclusive boarding school, since his only living relative was in jail. It was there he had met Wyatt. At first, Kai thought the boy to be a hopeless case, but after Wyatt had persisted at being noticed by Kai, he had to give him some credit. He was the only person in the whole school who had even bothered to talk to him. Most of the other students were either scared of him because of whom his grandfather was, or wrote him off as a preppy jerk with an attitude. He didn't hold them at fault. He was indeed being a jerk as he allowed Wyatt to follow him around like a puppy, paying no attention to the rest of the world. In the end, Wyatt and him had become friends, and Wyatt had such an attachment with him that he had followed him to college as well. Now they were roommates, sharing the same dorm.
Wyatt was one of the few people that Kai didn't mind being around. He wasn't too close to him; he wasn't too close to anybody. And now, he remembered why.
Love isn't real. I was a fool to believe that it was.
Rei was the one person that he believed he could truly be close to. For years, he had longed for someone, someone like Rei to be with him. Though he would never admit it, he hated being lonely. It was strange. He always separated himself from everyone else, yet he didn't know why. He would always see the rest of his team laughing and mingling with each other. It was nothing new, but he had never been like that. He blamed his grandfather for that. He was raised to be emotionless, caring for nothing except himself and winning.
Maybe it's better like that. People don't get hurt if emotions aren't involved.
A lot of his anger and pain was directed at his grandfather. Even though he was in jail now, it didn't make life any easier for Kai. His name had been slandered terribly just because of who his grandfather was. Untrue rumors were everywhere. People assumed that because Voltaire was a sick and sadistic man, Kai was the same way. He had learned to cope after a bit, but still, it hurt. Some of the rumors had been so bad, that once Kai had dumped Wyatt into the hallway, locked himself in his dorm, and stayed there for three days, skipping all his classes. Once he came out, he had apologized to Wyatt and promised to never do it again. Wyatt said it had been understandable, and that he had stayed with Tyson during that time.
There was another thing Kai would never understand. To him, Tyson had never seemed the type to even attend college, must less the prestigious school Kai had chosen. He had always suspected that Tyson had pulled a few strings to get accepted. The standards to get in were high, and Tyson certainly didn't meet them. Either that, or Tyson was a mistake that they were too lazy to correct. Kai wasn't exactly thrilled to hear that Tyson would be attending the same college as he was, but he had assumed that Tyson would flunk out fairly soon, so he didn't really worry.
There was that other girl who bothered him so much as well. Hillary, Kai thought her name was. He could vaguely remember her having some kind of crush on him when they first met, but she had gotten over it. Kai had never figured out why she and Tyson had both gone to the same college if they couldn't stand each other.
Kai slowly brought his head up. His anger was mostly gone. Now all that was left was an ache in his heart. A hole where Rei used to be. And sadness beyond anything Kai had ever experienced before. He had found that he couldn't blame Caleb for anything. The boy probably had no idea who he was, and Kai didn't doubt that he even knew Rei used to love him. Used to.
Love is not real, he reminded himself for what had to be the umpteenth million time.
He slowly unlocked the door and pushed it open. With a heavy sigh, he got out and shut the door lightly behind him.
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When he reached his dorm, he tried the knob to see if it was unlocked. It was, and that usually meant Wyatt was either studying, or dropping by quickly to pick up something. He opened it quietly and stepped inside. Wyatt was standing beside his desk looking at an open book whilst eating a candy bar. He looked up to greet Kai when he came in.
"Hi," he said, swallowing quickly. Kai barely acknowledged his presence. He crossed the room to the other side, where his own desk sat. Wyatt was used to Kai's sullen moods; he went through them quite a lot, although this was the first time in a while.
"Tyson came by earlier to pick up a book," Wyatt reported. He chewed slowly as he looked at Kai, who hadn't said anything or made eye contact with him. He saw Kai reach out to something sitting on his desk. Craning his neck, he saw it was a picture that had been there since he first moved in.
"Getting nostalgia thinking about your blading days?" Wyatt said as a light-hearted joke.
Kai was vaguely aware of Wyatt saying something. His crimson eyes were trained onto the photograph he now held in his hand. It was a snapshot Mr. Dickinson had taken right after the World Tournament. Tyson was in the middle, grinning madly and holding up the trophy they had won. Max had his arm looped around Tyson's neck as he beamed into the camera, one hand making a peace sign. Kenny, being the smallest, was in the front, also with a proud look on his face. Kai felt a surge of sorrow when he looked at Rei. He had his arm around Kai's shoulders and was smiling happily.
How things could change. His hand shook slightly as he gripped the frame around the picture.
"Kai?"
Kai was suddenly aware that Wyatt was standing behind him. He placed a hand on Kai's shoulder. With a slight gasp, Kai dropped the picture. It clattered loudly on the desk.
"Kai? Are you okay?" Wyatt asked, his book and half-eaten candy bar left forgotten on his desk. Kai didn't move for a moment.
"Kai. Talk to me… you're freaking me out," Wyatt said. Kai knew that Wyatt was easily shaken. Kai mumbled an apology.
Wyatt studied him closely. "Are you okay?" he asked again.
"Yeah… I-I'm fine."
"You don't look fine. Maybe you're coming down with something, you look kind of pale," Wyatt fretted. Kai let out a deep breath.
"No, really. I'm okay." His eyes fell on the picture again, and this time he picked it up and crossed the room to his dresser. He opened the first drawer and dropped it inside. Wyatt watched somewhat quizzically. When Kai turned back around and looked at him, he cocked his head in confusion.
"I thought you liked that picture," Wyatt commented, brushing it off as odd, but understandable. Kai was Kai. He did weird things.
"Things change," Kai muttered. Wyatt went back to his book and candy bar. He picked up the heavy textbook, and stuck the bar in his mouth.
"I'm heading over to the library," he said, his speech slightly jumbled by the large piece of sticky caramel and chocolate he was presently chewing. Kai glanced at his watch; it was almost 9:30 at night.
"Sure." Kai made a mental note to leave the door unlocked for Wyatt. It would probably be late by the time he returned, and Wyatt would be sleepy enough as it was. Wyatt headed out the door with the book in his arms, snatching up a binder off his bed as we walked past.
"See ya," he called out from over his shoulder. Kai watched as the door closed. He sat down on his bed with a sigh, and rubbed his eyes wearily. He wanted nothing more than to lie down and drift into an eternal sleep. He was still slightly upset with himself for believing that a fairy-tale's love could apply in his life, but for the most part, he was too tired to care. In the morning he'd have enough time and the strength to yell at himself some more.
Not bothering to do anything but switch the lights off, he fell onto his bed and buried himself under the covers. The curtains on his window were still drawn, and silver moonlight bathed a square of the floor. Kai gazed absently at the night sky, and suddenly saw a streak of light pass by quickly. His eyes widened slightly, and he almost smiled to himself. He had just seen a shooting star. As quickly as it came, his smile fell away from his lips, and he could feel tears prickling at his eyes. He sniffed, and turned over, away from the window.
Make a wish, his mind whispered. Kai groaned at being reminded of the stupid little tale of wishing on a shooting star. His life was hell; how could a simple wish help in the least?
Love is wishful thinking…"Take my broken wings," he said, almost inaudibly. He closed his eyes tightly, and a solitary tear ran down his cheek. "And make me fly."
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To Be Continued
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I'm sorry if that chapter was kind of boring, but first chapters usually are. (my first chapters, at least) Also, I apologize for making Kai seem so…weak. . He's out of character, I know. I'll try to get him back to his normal bastard self in the next chapter, because we all love him like that! Now make me happy and review please. Tell me how you like the way this started off (or how you disliked the way it started off). ;; Lol, just review! Tips to improve my writing are always welcome as well. Oh, and disguise your flames as constructive criticism, please. Flames will be ignored.
Lastly, I'd like to thank all the great people who read The Task of Leadership! I hope you enjoy this fic as well. This one is going to be centered mainly on romance, so it won't have much as much action as TTOL. (no physical Kai-torture in this one, sorry!) Let's see how he takes MENTAL torture. Ha HA! Okay, review please and thank you! Toodles.