Life in Monochrome

by PandaPjays

A flowerless room is a soulless room, to my way of thinking: but even one solitary little vase of a living flower may redeem it.
- Vita Sackville-West

He didn't know why or even how it started. He didn't really care. Kai didn't really care for much. All he knew was that one morning he was going through his usual routine: reading the paper, going through his notes on the day before, trying to figure out exactly why he could only find one black sock when the only socks he owned were black— when he looked out of the window.

Even the view out there wasn't particularly inspiring. It was another cold, grey day in the city of Moscow. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing exciting. People were going about their lives in much the same way Kai was; He had worked out long ago that the easiest way to get through life was to live without paying attention. Things were simpler that way, less painful.

But there was something different about that view. Something that didn't fit in with Kai's routine. He frowned for a second before rising from his habitual position at his breakfast table to investigate. In the world of grey outside there was colour. Colour that most definitely didn't belong. He couldn't see the details through the window—he had been meaning to clean the glass for weeks— so he carefully undid the latch and inched it open, closing his eyes against the rush of cold air into the room.

Set on the window sill was a simple, clear vase. In it was the strangest flower Kai had ever seen. It looked like a blade of grass, growing grown tired of its boring life, had grown to gigantic proportions. It had grown so much it had eventually given up being grass and from its head had burst long, waxy orange and blue petals in a fantastic display of how strange nature can be. Kai stared for a few seconds at the exotic plant before reaching for the vase and slowly drawing it inside, ignoring the discomfort of the cold glass against his fingertips.

Once inside, Kai shut the window firmly and studied the flower, his brows knitted together in thought. There was no note attached to the gift. Only the flower.

Bird of Paradise, Kai recalled, remembering seeing the exotic flower in one of the many flower arrangements that had decorated the Hiwatari Manor while he grew up. His mother had always been fond of surrounding herself with fresh-cut flowers. She had said they reminded her of her home where it wasn't always so cold.

He shook his head before checking that the vase had enough water to survive the day and getting back to his routine. Whoever had given him the flower hadn't seen fit to tell him who they were. That meant they could be safely filed under the category of 'Not Kai's problem'.

But the flower did add some colour to the otherwise neutral and bland room.

-o-

"Paperwork?"

"Always," Kai didn't even bother to look up as Tala entered his office. He had come to expect a visit from the redhead at least once every two hours. It was part of his routine, another part of his increasingly predictable days.

"Did you get my surprise this morning?"

Kai looked up, thinking of the flower that was now brightening his apartment. He'd forced himself to not think about the identity of the person who had left it outside his window. The logical part of his mind had reasoned that there was no use driving himself crazy over it—the wasn't enough evidence to implicate anyone si it was best not to mull over it. So he had walked into his office, as usual, closed the door, as usual, and sat down to work his way through the pile of paper that cluttered his desk. Nothing had been different. Only the flower.

But Tala?

"Of course he didn't," a rich, familiar voice filled with laughter and affectionate teasing filtered through Kai's door. "He was too focused on his work."

Kai blinked as he placed the voice to a name, "Ray?" He asked, a frown of confusion on his face when the Chinese man poked his head through the doorway. "What are you doing here?"

Tala smirked, "Remind me never to throw you a surprise party. You'd probably miss the whole thing."

"That's not quite true. He'd notice the mess the next morning," Ray countered.

"Nothing else, though."

"You still haven't answered my question," Kai said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Was Ray the one who had left him the flower? Why would he do that? When had he arrived in Russia?

Ray's eyes twinkled as his smile turned mischievous, "Honestly, Kai. I just don't know what to do with you. Come outside," he said, beckoning before disappearing out to the office proper.

Tala rolled his eyes, "All of this trouble and he doesn't even notice." He muttered to himself as he followed Ray.

Kai followed his friends cautiously, all thoughts of the flower disappearing from his mind. What had Tala done? What hadn't he noticed? Everything had seemed the same when he had walked into work. Not that he normally paid much attention. To be honest, a company as large as Hiwatari Enterprises mostly ran itself. Kai's job was mainly as a figurehead, to be the person people pointed to when they said 'He's in charge'. It wasn't very fulfilling but it was a job that had to be done. In order for a company to move forward they needed someone to follow, a leader. Even if that leader only went whatever way his followers guided him.

"Took you long enough!" A brassier, more arrogant voice greeted him as he left the relative safety of his office. Kai blinked when he saw Tyson leaning casually against a desk usually occupied by one of Kai's many secretaries and personal assistants.

"I was starting to think we were invisible! We had to stop Tyson from tearing down your door at least three times!"

"Maaax! You're destroying the cool thing I had going!" Tyson complained, giving up looking nonchalant and giving Kai a grin. "Seriously, though, you walked right past us."

"Tyson, you wouldn't know cool if it punched you in the face," Hilary said sweetly, reclining in one of the ridiculously comfortable office chairs. "Hey, Kai!'

Kai could only blink. He turned to Tala, unable to think of what to say, "What? Why?" he eventually asked.

Ray snickered, "Told you he didn't like surprises. But did you listen to me?"

"He needed a surprise. Look how scary set in his ways he's become," Tala said, patting Kai patronisingly on his shoulder. "He didn't even notice you all lounging around when he walked in."

"—I was thinking about something else." Kai tried, still trying to make sense of the presence of his old team. A lonely flower sitting outside his window, in stark contrast to its grey surroundings. "Why are you all here?"

"Remember how you put me in charge of dealing with the BBA?" Tala asked, "Well, me and Bryan in charge... Mostly me," he amended after a second.

Kai nodded cautiously. After the whole BEGA fiasco, Stanley Dickinson had needed some help to get the BBA back on its feet. Kai had only just inherited Hiwatari enterprises and it had seemed logical, even fitting, that he become the main backing behind the organisation. It had been a profitable venture, Beyblading as a professional sport only seemed to go from strength to strength.

Even when all of the teams Kai had known had retired and Mr Dickinson had given up public life, Hiwatari Enterprises had remained the main funding body behind the BBA. But it had needed a new head. Tala and Bryan had been working for him for years and had seemed logical choices.

"I thought we might need some help."

"So he brought us in!" Max said enthusiastically, his smile still the brilliant one Kai remembered from their time as teammates.

"We're his 'panel of experts'" Tyson said with a grin.

"Well, not you, obviously," Tala said with a glint in his eyes, "You just came with the package."

"You're just jealous you never got to be World Champion," Tyson said, rolling his eyes.

"No, I just got the satisfaction of knowing that I'm better than you at all things. Somehow, I'll make do with that."

"Boys," Hilary interrupted them before they could continue their only-half-joking fight. "Honestly," she smiled at Kai, "So, Tala invited us all to come stay here in Moscow. Just in case you didn't get that."

Kai nodded dumbly. He wasn't quite sure what to say to that. Experience had taught him that silence was often the best way to survive such situations; so he stayed silent.

"Still a big talker, I see," Rei said with a grin. "Grab your stuff, Bryan's booked us a table at a restaurant down the road so we can catch up. He's already down there with Kenny and Daichi."

"I wonder if Kenny's already traumatised?" Max mused aloud as Rei and Tala first shepherded Kai back into his office to collect his things and then outside.

"Surely Bryan couldn't get to him that fast," Hilary said with a frown. "I mean, I know Kenny's not exactly going to win any awards for bravery but it's just Bryan, right?"

"I always forget that you weren't there when Rei faced off against him the first time. It was epic."

-o-

After a lunch filled with reminiscing (it wasn't just Kai who had fallen out of touch) and some memories best left forgotten (Kai had blocked all recollection of Tyson's eating habits), Kai had escaped.

It wasn't that he didn't enjoy spending time with his old teammates. Or that he didn't appreciate the effort Tala had gone through to bring them all together again. It was just... the noise. He couldn't handle the noise anymore.

So he had made his excuses and left, promising to spend the next day with his team. He still wasn't sure how was going to survive that.

When Kai shut his door it was with a barely restrained sigh of relief. He still wasn't sure what Tala's scheme would mean for him. Though Tala was convinced that Kai had fallen into a rut and needed something to pry him out of it. Kai wasn't so sure. There was something comforting in the grey he'd been living his life in. It wasn't exciting and it wasn't novel but it was relaxing.

The first thing Kai saw in his apartment was the bold colour of the flower. It was so bright that it seemed to suck any distinction from its surroundings. Against the flower everything looked flat.

Still, it wasn't a bad thing. He still hadn't solved the mystery of the flower's origins but he couldn't deny that it was pretty, a splash of colour in an otherwise bland and comfortable dwelling.

Kai sighed quietly as he unclipped his briefcase, forcing himself to stop thinking of home decor and start thinking of the important things. His time spent with his old team had distracted him from completing his paperwork.

Though he acted mainly as a figurehead for his company, there were certain documents and certain legalities that couldn't exist and couldn't be processed without his approval. Most of his day was spent reading a never-shrinking pile of documents and signing them. It was boring but without his signature on the papers Hiwatari Enterprises and all its subsidiaries would come to a sudden and unpleasant halt. He couldn't afford to fall behind.

Sitting on top of the pile he'd brought home was something Kai hadn't put into his briefcase. Something that didn't belong in his bland, comfortable life.

A large yellow flower with a dark centre surrounded by small yellow petals that gave way to large, narrow ones smiled up at him. Kai reached in and picked it up, surprised at the fuzzy texture of the stem.

A Gerbera.

Kai stared at the flower for a few seconds, unsure. This wasn't a random flower placed outside his window. This was a flower that had been nestled in with his belongings. This was one that had been placed there courtesy of someone he knew while he wasn't looking.

This was... making the corners of his mouth twitch in what might have been a smile on a more expressive face.

Kai stood, holding the flower gently and walking to the table where he had placed his first flower. He slid the gerbera in beside the Bird of Paradise, smirking at how the new flower was dwarfed by the other. But there was nothing for it. He didn't own another vase.

If nothing else it added a bit more colour.

TBC

This chapter was written by PandaPjays for the Beyblade Community Project.

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