Well hello, it's Animerle here! Like I said in my note, I would be writing a rewrite of For the Love of Kane. Well, here it is, and I assure you that it is much longer than it was before. I've added new scenes and kept old ones which readers who read For the Love of Kane will recognize. For those of you who haven't, you can if you would like too, but it's almost the same as this one and they both follow the same story line. This is simply put, a longer and better version of For the Love of Kane. This one chapter alone is exactly 5054 words long excluding this note, the disclaimer and the ending comments, (ff.net counted wrong!) and For the Love of Kane with all chapters including the note is only 16786 words long. I really hope you enjoy this rewrite and I'd love to hear from all of the reviewers from For the Love of Kane and new reviewers. Thanks for taking the time to read.
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, any of it's symbols or any of it's characters or concepts. Amber is property of Zadien along with her relationship of Kai and Aspin and her relationship with Kane are mine. Please do not steal any of these things or else you will either be sued by Hasbro and the company that makes Beyblade or have a complaint sent to ff.net by me and I am quite sure, several others. With that said, please enjoy the story. Aspin felt around for the alarm clock that she knew was somewhere near by. She reached over to her bedside table, not even caring to open her eyes. Her frustration grew as she felt around, her hand coming in contact with several objects which were scattered about, many of them falling to the ground as her hand passed over them. With a grunt of frustration she hurled the clock to the other side of the room, wincing as she heard it smash against the wall and fall to the floor, the beeping alarm distorted until it finally stopped.
Real Emotion
In the Beginning
"Aspin Grant! That better have not been another alarm clock!" Aspin mentally kicked herself as she heard her mother shout up at her from the kitchen which was located directly below her bedroom.
With a low growl she heaved her tired and heavy body out of bed and slid her cold feet into her fuzzy pink slippers. Normally she would never have worn something so pink, but lately, pink had begun to look very cheerful so she assumed that having bright pink slippers would help put her in a good mood in the mornings. Sadly she was wrong as she stomped out of her bedroom and into the bathroom across the hall.
"Same crappy morning and same useless slippers," she huffed as she turned the hot water on high, kicked off her slippers and got into the shower.
Fifteen minutes later, she was sitting in the kitchen with her wet hair pulled back into a pony tail and only half dressed.
"Aspin, if I heard correctly you broke yet another alarm clock," Her mother began as she spooned out eggs and bacon for her and her father.
"Damn it mom, I told you not to put it right beside the bed. Didn't I?" Aspin retorted. She grabbed the salt and pepper away from her father with a sly grin and began the process of decorating her food.
"It's not going to work if it's on the floor and buried under god knows what you have in that room," she scolded as she sat down herself, " And you are not going to school looking like that. Your hair is all sloppy and your still wearing half of your pajamas."
Aspin huffed, " I know that. Their comfortable and I am wearing them whether you like it or not. And what's wrong with my hair? Every girl wears it like this now!"
" I said your not wearing them so your not wearing them. Their half see through and you'll catch cold walking around in those. You'd might as well be half naked for gods sakes. And as for the hair," Aspin's mother paused to think of the right words as her daughter stared at her intensely with her piercing green eyes, " Well, oh you tell her Jay, I have to get these dishes cleaned up."
Aspin's gaze shifted over to her father who was struggling not to laugh as he drank his morning coffee. "Well, Dad. You tell me what's wrong with my hair." She waited patiently for her father to finish sipping his coffee.
"Well...it's not like you don't have bad looking hair..it's just that...well you know.." he trailed off, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth and his green eyes laughing at her.
"Well..what?"
" Hurry up Jay, she's got to go to school sometime this morning."
"It just..the style doesn't suit you that's all..." He trailed off as both mother and daughter glared at him. He inwardly shrunk down and quickly finished his coffee, placing the cup on the table and almost running out of the room.
Aspin sighed and pushed away from the table. "You'd better fix that hair and put some normal clothes on," her mother called as she exited the room and returned to her bedroom.
She took of her bottoms and threw them to the bed before turning to the closet and rummaging through the various clothing articles located there. She finally decided on a pair of black pants made out of a smooth material. They had white stitching and looked like a pair of cargo jeans. She pulled out a black T-shirt that had angel written on it in red and looked like blood. Slipping on her favorite pair of sneakers and attaching her wallet by chain to her pants she headed for the front door, pulling out her hair elastic and letting her lavender hair flow loose around her shoulders.
"You'd better be home at a reasonable time tonight!" her mother called to her as she pulled the door shut.
She skipped down the front steps and out onto the sidewalk. "It's about time I got out of that love nest," she said to herself as she increased her pace to catch up with her best friend Johnny, who's red flame shaped hair could be noticed from a mile away.
"Oi Johnny! Wait up!" she called out to him. When he didn't turn around to look for her she snuck up on him and pulled off his headphones, placing them on her own head.
"Hey, give those back!" He demanded as he reached out to pluck them off her head.
She expertly dodged him, being careful not to pull the cord out of the mp3 player which was tucked away in his pocket.
"Did you say something?" she asked with a weary smile.
She finally let him take them off and watched as he folded them up and placed them into his pocket.
"Excited to be back in school?" she asked him with a slight hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Yeah right," he replied, "Whoever looks forward to the first day of school needs to be sent to the loonie bin."
Aspin chuckled, " Yep, same old Johnny."
Just then an arm snaked itself around her shoulders, pulling her into a warm hard body. "Hey Aspirin, did you miss me?" She sighed, she could recognize that annoyingly hot voice and stupid nickname anywhere.
"No as a matter of fact I didn't," she threw him a false smile, " Hello Witch Bane!"
Kane rolled his periwinkle blue eyes at her. She nudged his arm off her shoulder and continued to walk to catch up to Johnny who had slipped away and managed to get a little farther up the road.
"You can't just say hi can you?" Kane called from behind her. She rolled her eyes at nobody in particular as she heard his pace increase and in a moment he was back beside her again, " There's always gotta be a nickname added on doesn't there? I thought that after a whole summer, wait, like six years you would have gotten over it by now."
"If I recall correctly, you spoke to me first and in that short sentence you called me Aspirin which is a nickname, a very stupid one I might add. And I have a right to be mad about that. I was ten and the whole class could have seen I might add." She glared up at him before looking away again.
"Come on, it was a stupid joke already," Kane protested.
From up the street Johnny snickered. He knew exactly what incident they were arguing about this time. He hadn't been there to witness it but he had heard about it for weeks after that. It could be said by some to be the prank that started the hate between Aspin and Kane but for someone like himself who had known both of them for quite a while, their mixed feelings for each other went way back.
It had all begun when Kane had moved into the neighborhood when they were just eight. Aspin was only seven and it was her birthday. She had received a pair of rollerblades and was outside practicing going up and down the street. It was at that time that Kai Hiwatari had waltzed over with his new best friend Kane and Kane being the idiot that he was, kicked a stone in her path. The result was some scraped knees, a broken ankle, and a crying Kane who received a black eye right after from yours truly.
Johnny grinned at the memory. It had been a great day, and watching Aspin beat up on Kane had made it even better.
"Maybe you just shouldn't talk to me anymore then!" Johnny came back to reality just in time to hear Aspin shout at Kane who glared back, kicking a stone in his path with his black sneakers.
"Fine then, maybe I will! It won't be any loss on my part!" Kane shouted to her as he increased his pace, being sure to 'accidentally' shoulder her on his way by.
Aspin glared at his back as she watched his retreating form which was headed straight for Kai, one of Kane's best friends who was currently holding a foot ball. His two toned blue and gray hair swayed gently in the breeze, causing his gray bangs which he always had in a messy fashion to blow into his face. He was currently wearing a tight black tank top with a pair of dark jean cargo pants with a chain which held his wallet tucked into his pocket.
He stood and said a few odd words to Kane as he tossed the football from hand to hand and waited for Kane to finish picking something out of one of his shoes. Kane was wearing all black that day, a medium tight black T- shirt and black shorts with silver stripes on the side that he wore so low they reached past his knees. Luckily his shirt was fairly long so nothing inappropriate was showing. He took a moment to fix his studded collar and ruffle up his blue hair which was always messy. Messy but a good messy that suited him quite well.
Aspin huffed. She couldn't deny that he did look good, and so did Kai. Almost all of the guys she knew and hung around were good looking individuals and many girls were jealous of her for hanging out with all of them. Currently, Kai and Kane were supposedly two of the best looking guys in the school according to the female student body. It was a little disturbing in Aspin's mind. Even the junior girls fell head over heels for both of them and took every opportunity given to flirt with them, even though they were both in their graduating year.
Aspin herself was in her graduating year even though she was a year younger than all the others. She had been a smart youngster, skipping the fourth grade to the excitement of her parents. What was also strange to her was the fact that so many female students were jealous of her, mainly because she argued with Kane alot. If they wanted to argue with him that badly she would gladly trade places, just as long as she didn't trade brains or bodies.
"Hello, earth to Aspin," Johnny's hand stuck out in front of her face and waved. She slapped it away and looked over at Johnny.
"Yeah, I'm still here Johnny," she sighed, "Even though I don't want to be."
"Yup, there's jolly old Fort Erie."
Aspin glared up at the old building. It had in fact been a fort once upon a time and still looked as forbidding as one. The teachers were like soldiers in the army and the principal their commander. The building itself was old and totally made out of gray brick. It almost looked like a castle, with it's towers and peaks. The field was located out front and right in front of the building were various trees and picnic benches that were arranged in a fashion that didn't look cluttered or took away from the beauty of the property.
Aspin began to look around. Amber had promised to meet out front the school that morning, but the sheer size of the front of the building meant that, that could be anywhere. Luckily she found who she was looking for and waved to Johnny as they parted. Aspin headed for Amber and Johnny to Tala, Kai and Kane.
Aspin plunked down on the bench beside Amber with a huff. Amber just peered at her, her black hair which was held in a messy bun allowed several strands of her hair to hang in her face and she brushed them back behind her ear.
"What's up with you this morning?" Amber questioned, her ochre eyes peering at Aspin with curiosity.
"Honestly, who do you think?"
Amber shrugged, "Well, it is the first day of school...," she looked thoughtful for a moment before she cracked a smile, "Kane again, huh?"
Aspin nodded, "You bet. I'm gone all summer and the first thing the guy does when he sees me is call me that stupid nickname, Aspirin," she made a face, " Then he started an argument over me calling him a nickname. Geez that guy really gets under my skin."
Amber smiled at her friends ranting and looked off to watch the boys who were starting up a game of football. They had more players now with the arrival of Oliver and Enrique who had some blonde haired girl hanging off his arm. At that sight, both Amber and Aspin made a face and then broke out in a giggle and conversation about how stupid she looked.
A few moments later, Michael arrived alongside Rei who was just kissing Mariah goodbye as she prepared to drive off to her own school which was somewhere near the outskirts of town. Tyson and Max arrived soon after and the boys began to split up into teams.
"So how was your summer Am's?" Aspin asked as she watched Kane grab the ball out of the air and begin the process of dodging the players as he made his way to the end zone. She rolled her eyes at his show off antics.
"Oh..nothing special..."
"Yeah right..what's up?"
Amber looked off into the field. Aspin followed her gaze carefully, "Kai?"
"He's being such a piss off jerk lately. And I also found out that my father is getting married to Pissy," Amber shifted at the very thought of it.
Aspin knew all about Pissy from Amber's letters to her over the summer. Apparently she was a bitchy no good idiot as Amber had fondly described in her various rants and Aspin didn't think at all that it was all lies. Nothing could get Amber going like Pissy could.
"So, other than that, what else is new?"
"Not much. Rei and Mariah have now been going out for a month and are still going strong. I don't know what the deal is with that bimbo hanging off Enrique. Me, Kai, Johnny and Tala had the unfortunate experience of meeting Kane's adopted father for the first time," she shuddered.
Aspin raised a eyebrow," Really? What's the guy like?"
"He's a total ass. I'd almost feel sorry for Kane if he wasn't such an ass. Kane probably got his pricky personality from the freaky guy himself," Amber chuckled, "No seriously Rin, you've just gotta meet that guy. He's enough to even make Kai shiver."
"Really?" Aspin looked interested, " What did he do?"
"Well.." Amber gazed out at the field as she tried to recall everything correctly, "We were all hangin out at Olly's by ourselves. There wasn't much to do, everybody seemed to be away so I was stuck with Kai, Tala and Johnny."
She broke off as Aspin let out a laugh and looked over to see Kai brushing off his clothes and Kane get up off the ground with a dazed expression on his face.
"Sorry, please continue."
"Yeah, so anyways. We left and Kai came up with the idea of calling on Kane so he could drive us out somewhere since he has his Hummer now and Kai didn't feel like having us in his car. So we went to Kane's house. His hair was messier than ever and the guy obviously just woke up. He invited us in and he kinda stumbled onto the couch. So anyways, Kane was trying to wake up while Tala raided the fridge with Johnny, Kai was checkin out what was on tv and I was just sitting in a chair. So Kane asks Kai what we want and Kai tells him that he wants him to drive us somewhere..." Amber trailed off as she tried to remember the exact details.
"Let me guess, the freaky guy walked in right?"
"Actually, he walked in on Tala and Johnny in the kitchen. Apparently he just got home from work and totally freaked out on them and told them to get the hell out of the house. Kane heard him and went into the kitchen and me and Kai followed for the heck of it. You should have seen his face, it was all red and his eyes looked like they were about to burst out of his head," Amber chuckled at the memory.
"Tala and Johnny looked like they were about to piss their pants, it was so hilarious. Then the guy turned and saw me. He freaked out on Kane after that one saying all this bull about having an orgy in the house. The guy was totally nuts. So we left after that, I waited out front for my mom who had to pick me up because we were going out shopping for school crap." Amber finally finished her tale with a grin.
Aspin sighed, "Wish I could have been there."
"Yeah, that would have been great, but not much happened anyways," Amber chuckled.
Aspin could tell by the way that Amber just spoke that alot more had happened and she wasn't telling. She decided to pry the info out of her some other time as she settled into the bench and watched the boys play football as more students started to filter through the school gates.
Finally the school bell rung and Aspin felt Amber shake her firmly, bringing her back to reality.
"Rin, are you even here?" Amber asked.
Aspin took in a deep breath before responding, "Yup, unfortunatly."
"What's up with you? This is the second time in one day, and the notorious Aspin never lets her guard down," Johnny asked as he casually sauntered up to them followed by a line of friends.
"Yup," Aspin nodded, a huge smile plastered on her face, "I'm a tough girl!"
Amber rolled her eyes and Johnny snorted, earning them both green eyed glares from Aspin. The girls got up and headed towards the doors. Aspin, feeling uncomfortable in the silence decided to make conversation.
" Ray and Mariah?" Aspin questioned, " I didn't know they were going out."
" Yeah they started just after school got out. We finally got them to confess their feelings in a game of truth or dare," Amber replied with a smirk as she walked through the door followed by Aspin.
Aspin and Amber continued to chit chat about miscelanious things, as they searched along the school halls for their names which were posted up somewhere. They wandered down the crowded corridor in seach of their lists, pushing through throngs of students quite rudely and ignoring their shouts of anger. " Hey there's your name there," Aspin called over Amber as she read out her name, " Benson, Amber. 211."
" 211? Not a bad location. At least it's on the level with the exit," Amber joked.
Aspin raised an eyebrow, " Why? Planning on going somewhere?"
" Yeah if a certain jack ass is in my homeroom again," Amber said, rolling her eyes.
Aspin chuckled as she quickly located Kai's name on the list, " If your talking about Hiwatari then your in luck. He's in room 209, right next door."
" That's still to close. I'm never going to escape him am I? Havn't the teacher's learned that me plus Kai equals total destruction?" Amber asked looking towards Kai who was standing near the end of the hall, leaning on a locker.
" Guess they figured that a wall could stop you? They're obviously delusional. You two would have to be in different universes to ever stop fighting," Aspin mumbled as she scanned the numerous lists for her name.
" Figures. Stupid portable," she grumbled when she found her name at last.
Amber clapped a hand on her shoulder gently, " Hey at least your not in the same homeroom as Kai or Kane."
They began to walk down the hallway narrowly avoiding a group of ninth graders who were running down the hallways excitedly. The idea of finally becoming high school students driving them. Both girls looked at each other then broke into laughter, causing many of the occupants of the hall to stop and stare.
The bell rang to signal start of classes. Both girls parted ways as the hallways filled with excited students and the ringing of shouting and laughter. Aspin quickly made her way down a flight of stairs and through a door leading to the back of the school. Once outside she began her search for the ever so wonderful portable five.
" Why can't they get these damn things in order?" Aspin asked herself as she walked through the rows of portables. With a frusrated huff she gave up and leaned against one of the portables.
" Portable 7, portable 12 even portable 9 but no stupid portable 5," she muttered to herself as she dug around in her bag for her discman. At the moment, she really wanted some "soothing" music to ease her thoughts.
" Your leaning right on it dumbass," a very self confident voice met her ears.
She rolled her eyes and didn't even bother looking up, since she already knew who it was.
" Nice to see you too Kane," she spit out his name with some viciousness. She quickly shut her bag and looked up, sure enough the peeling black paint that barely read the number five was right above her head.
When she finally stopped staring in disbelief at the faded number on the portable, she was met with a stupid smirk plastered on Kane's face. She sighed, lifting her arms in defeat.
" Ok, I'm blind so shoot me," she mumbled as he rolled his piercing blue eyes at her.
" Whatever," he mumbled as he brushed past her.
She lingered a moment before following him to the entrance to the portable.
" What are you doing out here anyways," she questioned.
" Not that it matters, but I transferred," he explained as he opened the door. He was about to take a step in when Aspin pushed past him and entered first. He shot her a furious glare but she merely gave him a sweet smile.
" Sorry Kane but ladies first, that is unless your a lady," she chuckled as she made her way to the teachers desk, followed closely by Kane.
After recieving her timetable and designated seat, Aspin sat down and grabbed her discman out of her bag. She quickly popped in a cd and relaxed as one of her favourite songs started.
She vagly watched as Kane spoke to the teacher, handing him his timetable and explaining his situation. After that she started to daydream, not really paying attention to her surroundings. She didn't even notice Kane as he sat down at the table they were going to be sharing. That is, until he rudely shut off her discman.
" Hey what do you think your doing!" she asked in a harsh whisper as she snatched her discman back from him.
He simply grunted, " Teachers gonna start a speech. Unless you want detention, you should probably pay attention."
" He can't give out detention on the first day," she grumbled as she fiddled with the zipper on her bag.
" I can very well give out detention on the first day Miss. Grant, and if you and Mr. Susoru don't stop your whispering you'll be the first ones to recieve it," Mr. Van Norman, Aspin's english and homeroom teacher ground out. His booming voice seemed to bouce off the walls and direct itself right to her.
Aspin winced and mumbled her apologies before glaring at Kane who simply ignored her. The rest of the period seemed to drag on forever. Mr. Van Norman was busy giving them a lecture about his expactations and classroom rules, not that anybody ever payed attention or followed them. In Aspin's opinion it was a waste of time and energy, but it wasn't like any of the teachers were going to listen.
Aspin was brought back from her thoughts by the pleasant ringing of the school bell. She quickly grabbed her bag and rushed out, not caring if it was still open and things were about to fall out. All she wanted was to get away from the horrid teacher and Kane.
She scanned the school for sign of Amber, and sure enough she was waiting for her by the exit. She made her way over and the two headed out to the school yard together.
" So how was first day?" Aspin asked, making quick conversation.
Amber shrugged her shoulders, " Not to bad. This year I have half decent people in my class," she added.
" Only half decent?" Aspin raised an eyebrow, " I'm afraid nobody will ever fit your high standards, you majesty."
" Darn right," Amber laughed.
They continued their way out of the field and into the streets.
" What about you? Your class any good?" Amber asked.
" Absolutly horrible. I don't know what I did this time, but somebody up there obviously hates me," Aspin raised her eyes skyward, " I've got this pissy teacher and even worse i'm stuck sharing a table with Mr. Witchbane."
Amber laughed at the nickname, " Witchbane, I thought his name was Kane."
" Yeah but I think it suits him better."
They continued their way down the street when they were joined by one of their school mates. A blonde haired boy with light blue eyes, sauntered up to them.
" Hey cuties how's it goin?" he asked as he put his arms around their shoulders and began to walk in between them.
" Hello Enrique," Amber mumbled, as she rolled her eyes and shrugged his arm off.
" What are you two going to do now?" he asked, walking in his usual self confident strut.
" I dunno," Aspin replied, glancing briefly at Amber, " We were thinking of going to my house and watching some soap operas."
Enrique paused at the mention of soap operas, " Did you say soap operas?"
Amber winked at Aspin, careful to make sure Enrique didn't notice. " Yeah, you know. Like Day's of our Lives."
Enrique put on a face of disgust and began to back away, " Umm well then. You two have fun, I'll be umm somewhere," he excused himself as he quickly ran off.
Both girls broke out laughing as they continued their way down the street.
" Did you see the look on his face?" Amber asked as she regained control of herself.
" Yeah that was priceless. As if we would ever watch a stupid soap opera," Aspin grined. They turned to go around a corner when they came face to face with none other then Kane.
Aspin stumbled as he purposly bumped into her. She looked up at him with a glare and was met by his eyes full of laughter, although it didn't show anywhere else.
" Great what do you want," Aspin asked with a huff of annoyance. She quickly gathered the few things that had been knocked out of her bag upon impact.
" Days of our Lives. Never knew you liked that Aspirin," He smirked as he ran a hand through his messy blue hair.
" Shut it Kane or else your going to need some aspirin," Aspin spat as she pushed past him, followed by Amber.
From behind her she heard him call out to her, " You know, I think I do need some Aspirin!"
"Really? I think your going to need alot more than a docter when I'm through with you!" She shouted back to him as she dropped her bag promptly on the ground and bolted towards him.
He let out a small laugh as he dodged a punch that was aimed straight for his arm, recieving a growl from Aspin. Amber watched with amusment as the two teens seemed to dance about the street, Aspin trying to hit Kane and Kane expertly dodging them which earned him several curses and promises of pain. Finally the two stopped, Aspin successfully having slugged Kane a few times and Kane glaring at her back as she returned to Amber.
"You'd better go to the hospital and get those checked out, and then when you do you can explain that you got whipped by a girl!" Amber shouted out with a laugh as Aspin retrieved her bag and they began the walk home all over again.
Kane growled and muttered few curses under his breath as he turned in the opposite direction. Further down the street, the girls were busy telling the tale of Kane's recent loss to Kai who just stared at them with one of his silver brows raised.
"So you'd better be careful Kai, or else I might have to get Aspin to do the same thing to you," Amber warned, her ochre eyes gleaming, "Not that I couldn't take you myself, but it might be nice to witness it."
Kai rolled his eyes and Aspin let out a low chuckle, "Aspin wouldn't do anything like that to me."
"Well..if you give me a good reason too, I might," was the reply. With that said Aspin headed home, walking down the street remembering all of the events of the past day. Nothing could ruin her mood that night. Beating up Kane was just too funny to forget, especially the look on his face when she caught him for the first time, her fist connecting with his chest.
"Perhaps things won't be so bad after all.."
Thanks for taking the time to read this chapter, I'm sure it took a little while. I will be trying to keep the chapters around the same length although I can't gurantee anything. I will try to update regularily since summer holidays are just around the corner, I'm sure your all quite excited. I might not be able to keep this fic on a regular schedule due to the facts that with the end of the school year come exams and papers to write. Please review and continue to read!