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Everywhere
~Last Chapter of Everywhere (since you all probably forgot)~
Kai found something glinting on the floor and was about to check it out. Meanwhile, the rest of the Bladebreakers ran into a silver-haired girl in front of the hotel. Back at the stadium, Mariah set out in search for a band-aid.
Chapter 5: Diverse Measures
The four boys exchanged glances as the girl left; they were somewhat confused about the little meeting. Why was she there anyway? Oh well, at least she seemed nice enough, which was an upside since the usual encounter the guys first had with other competitors was a bit short of pleasant.
Without warning, Tyson smacked his fist against his other hand, acquiring his friends's attention. "Okay guys, time for Operation J," he declared, resuming back to the task.
"J?" Max echoed, stifling laughter.
Tyson raised an eyebrow sternly. "J for Jamie. Every mission needs a special code name, you know," he stated matter-of-factly.
The blonde rolled his eyes, but a small grin still managed to loiter onto his freckled cheeks. It was nice to have someone like Tyson around, regardless of how crazy he acted at times.
"Okay team, are you ready to take on this dangerous assignment?" the navy-haired teen began, semi-seriously. "The mission, if you choose to accept, is to discover the identity of this "Jamie" character. Be aware that the consequences are dire if we are caught," he added darkly.
His friends glanced at each other with the same dumbfounded expression painted on their faces; Tyson sure said the weirdest things. Nevertheless, the other teens decided to play along, giving their friend stiff nods.
"Okay troops! Let's get moving!" ordered the fourteen-year-old, marching towards the hotel, his recently proclaimed "troops" trudging along behind him.
The silver haired girl's claret eyes watched the four boys curiously behind a newsstand. She couldn't help but to smile at their little performance. Kai's team was a very odd group of boys indeed. Nice, but still odd.
She began contemplating about how Kai and them got along. The blue-haired blader had such aloof personality. Being in a group with boys like that would surely drive any lone wolf crazy. And Kai, to her knowledge, wasn't exactly the most friendliest or patient individual.
With a grin and soft laughter, she finally dismissed her speculations and decided she had better get back to her team before they started wondering where she had disappeared to. Swiftly, she took one last look at the hotel before continuing on her way.
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Kai picked up the silver Beyblade and began examining it inquisitively. It was quite an intense model. Advanced parts and a mind-blowing attack ring. From all corners, there didn't seem to be a single flaw.
'So this is what she's been looking at,' he thought to himself. 'Hm. Well it sure is a piece of work."
The metal object sat in his hand in an unusually comfortable manner, as if it had been there before. Strange. He didn't remembering seeing it prior to today, yet it still felt familiar. It felt like one of those items from one's child hood, but that couldn't be right…could it? All Kai remembered about growing up was training in the abbey, memories he'd rather not recall.
Kai shrugged away his thoughts, along with the Beyblade as he slipped it into his pocket. It was pointless to ponder over something so petty. It was just a sophisticated Beyblade, nothing more. He's seen lots of high-tech stuff, this wasn't any different…except for maybe that strange feeling it gave him…that small sense of déjà vu…that part of him that-
RING!
Kai blinked out of his musings. Was he hearing things or did a phone just ring?
RING!
There it was again! Now, either a phone was actually ringing or his desperation to escape was making him delusional.
RING!
'Okay, that has to be real,' he finally declared to himself, heading towards the door. He paused briefly by the doorframe, waiting for the familiar chime to return once again. When it finally came, he resumed his walk towards the sound. The constant ringing ultimately lead him to a small, isolated office. It's no surprise they missed checking this place, it looked like a closet.
Stepping onto the soft carpet, his eyes began wandering around the room, searching for the phone. Mechanically, his gaze came across a small desk with an ergonomically correct chair situated beside it and a petite black lamping sitting comfortably on the dark wood. Adjacent to the desk was a rather large file cabinet that took about the same amount of space, if not more, than the desk.
The ringing had long stopped, but Kai knew that the phone was in this room somewhere; he just had to look for it. Besides the fact that this office was rather cramped, the bright side was that at least he wouldn't have too much choice about where he would be looking.
With a low grunt, Kai quickly stretched his arms, getting ready for another room inspection.
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A certain pink haired girl poked her head out of the room she was in. She had finally found a band-aid and was now very curious and eager to find out where the ringing sound she heard a second ago had come from.
When she initially heard it, she thought it was probably her imagination. Although as the ringing progressed, she came to realize that it might actually be real. Mariah would have gone to investigate sooner, but at that time, she was rather engaged trying to find a band-aid. So, she decided to disregard the ringing till she was finished with her most recent quest. It's always best to do one thing at a time anyway… unless you had the wonderful talent of being a multitasker.
Quickly securing the newly place band-aid, she started her way through the hallway. As she walked, her mind unconsciously began to wander back to the awkward moment with Kai.
'How in the world did that happen?' she wondered to herself, gazing blindly ahead. 'Why did I even bring my face so close to his? And why the hell couldn't I move? Ugh! I blame it on all those evil romance movies. They are so rotting my brain,' she declared to herself sternly.
Mariah instinctively began twirling a strand of pink hair with her index finger, still thinking about the bizarre incident. Her pace soon decreased to a leisurely stride. Her mind, on the other hand, worked quickly trying to come up with explanations for all the annoying questions that were constantly raiding her brain.
'It wasn't all my fault…I mean, he didn't do much to move either!' she thought in exclamation. 'But…why didn't he do anything? Lord, Kai definitely is *not* your ordinary guy. I always thought he was just one of those typical hot bastards that think they're superior to everyone and goes for the loner act and-"
Mariah not only cut off her musings, but her stroll was brought to a sudden cessation as well. Her vision finally returned to reality as she stared through the empty hall. Her golden eyes were widely open, just as her mouth formed an "o" of incredulity.
Finally, the pink-haired White Tiger reinitiated her wonderings. "D-did I just call Kai hot?" she whispered to herself in disbelief. "Okay no…I did not mean what I think I meant. Kai is definitely not hot. He's totally repulsive! Well…maybe not *totally*…but he's now hot…okay maybe a bit…well sort of…I mean-GAH!" she finally let out a shriek of frustration.
After letting out some of that exasperation, she sighed, firmly pushing the previous thoughts out of her head. It was getting pretty damn annoying thinking about them and she definitely needed to give her brain a rest anyway. Unfortunately before she could do that, the voice of the source of all this oddity bounced to her ears.
"What were you yelling about?" that oh-so familiar irritated voice asked her.
Soon enough, the goaded voice was matched as that arrogant blue-haired blader stepped out of the room he was in and was now standing across from her, giving her an intrusive stare. Mariah sighed, shaking her head. There was just no escape, was there?
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"Tyson! I think Kai will notice that we've been going through his stuff if you keep that up!" exclaimed the brunette, staring at his friend with a disapproving expression. "And y'know Kai will probably be here any second now!"
"What makes you say that? Kai won't notice a thing," he replied looking up from the duffel bag he was going through. "And anyway, Ray's keeping lookout. He'll tell us if Mr. Cranky Pants is coming."
Kenny, along with Max, sighed, as they shook their heads. Figures. Of course if anybody could miss the obvious kink in this picture it would be Tyson.
Most of the items in Kai's bag lay scattered on the ground, littering the light-coloured carpet. Tyson had a strange notion that Kai had probably wrapped up whatever he was hiding in a piece of clothing, which explained the unfolded garments thrown carelessly on the bed. After going through more or less half of Kai's stuff, he had yet to come up with anything significant. In addition, he had also yet to engage in trying to clean up this "little" mess.
"Tyson you know you're going to have to fold all these clothes again…" Max tried to point out, picking up one of Kai's distinctive sleeveless black tops.
His brown-gloved hands suspended their present mission as his dark coloured eyes looked up to meet his friend's blue ones. "Fold?" the navy-haired boy echoed in genuine surprise.
The fair-haired teen bobbed his head up and down. Subsequently, he picked up another dark article; this time, a pair of teal cargo pants. Soon joining Max, Kenny began collecting the white scarves that involuntarily decorated their room. The long, silk-like material flowed across the floor, over the cabinets, on the bed, and at the present moment, along the short arms of a certain Bladebreaker with glasses. Tyson, on the other hand, was grinning tactlessly at his friends. Beyblading he could do, but folding clothes? Well…that wasn't exactly his specialty.
Tyson cocked an eyebrow, scratching his chin with a lopsided grin plastered on his face. "Fold…" he repeated again. "Well I guess I'm glad that you guys are here then, right?"
His two friends responded by rolling their eyes. What a typical Tyson-like thing to say.
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The white hotel door barely creaked as a girl with silver hair slowly opened it. Her crimson eyes warily peered into the living room. Empty.
'Good. I guess they went out for lunch,' she thought to herself. 'That gives me some time to think of an excuse.'
Slipping out of her light gray jacket, she let out a sigh of relief. As much as she loved her group, she preferred that her team captain did not know about her little outing. He was a tad touchy when members left without telling anyone, but he had good reason for that. After finding out that one of their members was a paid spy for another group, any captain would become more cautious concerning his teammates.
It's kind of sad actually that a leader is unable to fully trust his team, especially in this sport. Beyblading wasn't all about skill. It had a lot to do with trusting your friends and helping each other out too. Unfortunately, this particular team was lacking that important trait.
The young girl walked quietly into the living room, sliding the bag off of her shoulder along the way. Casually placing it on the floor, she settled herself onto the nearby couch. After walking around for most of the morning trying to find that hotel, a nice break was definitely one of her present top priorities.
As her head rested on the soft pillow, her mind unconsciously drifted back in time. Her thoughts unintentionally focused back to the day before he left. That day was one of the last she'd see him as he used to be: the kind soul he really was.
"Where are you going?" a small girl asked curiously.
A boy with blue hair looked at the younger child hesitantly, unsure of what to say to her. "On a trip," he finally said.
"A trip?" she exclaimed excitedly, her crimson eyes filled with zeal. "Can I come too?"
Again, he gave her a hesitant look. "You're too young," he said gently.
"Too young?!" she squealed, eyes firing up. "I'm four! I'm not too young," she said, her rebellious expression turning into a pout. Sniffing, she hopped on her bed and buried her head in a pillow. "Are you leaving forever because you don't like me anymore?"
"What? Of course not! And I'm not leaving forever, I'll be back," he tried to reassure her, climbing onto the bed as well.
"What if something happens to you?" she questioned, poking her head from under the pillow.
He grinned, lying down beside her. "Nothing will happen to me. I'm six; I can take care of myself."
"When are you going?" she pressed on.
"Tomorrow."
"TOMORROW!?" she wailed, instantly sitting up again. "But that's so soon!"
The boy echoed her movement, pushing himself up as well. "I know…but I'm not gone yet, right?" He lifted her chin tenderly, meeting her teary gaze. Her eyes unmistakably mirrored his own; both had the same brilliant mahogany colour, and the same spark of vivacity.
"No…you're not gone yet…" she repeated, whimpering softly.
Her soft cries were soon soothed as he brought her into a warm hug. She couldn't help but to smile; his hugs always made her feel better. They were just so soothing. When she was in his arms, she just felt that everything would be all right.
Finally, she moved a bit away from him, enough to meet his gaze again. "Promise you'll come back?"
"Promise." She smiled, as that feeling of comfort washed over her again in another embrace.
Knock! Knock!
The silver-haired girl groaned slightly, opening her eyes. She must have drifted off a bit. She promptly sat up, stretching her muscles.
Knock! Knock!
'That must be them…don't they have a key?' she asked herself, attempting to stand up.
Knock! Knock!
"I'm coming already!" she yelled. Finally managing to acquire some feeling in her legs, she quickly headed to answer the door.
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"Well? What were you yelling about?" Kai repeated, eyeing the pink-haired blader suspiciously.
"Like you care," she retorted, diverting her gaze.
"Hn. You're right, I don't," he scoffed, turning back into the room he was previously in.
Mariah rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. 'Looks like it's back to the old drawing board,' she thought to herself, recognizing their familiar dialogue from earlier. Sighing, she reluctantly started her way to the room Kai was in. She wasn't too thrilled about being in the same room as him again, but she also knew he was probably in there looking for the phone too.
"What do you want?" he asked, noticing the White Tiger's presence in the petite room.
"Do we have to go through this again?" she asked, a bored expression on her face.
She heard a low grunt of annoyance and then a muttered, "do what you want."
Mariah shook her head with a grin, walking opposite to where Kai was situated. Now she had hoped that being on the opposite end of the room as him would put some distance between them, but it was a small office. Being on the north and south poles didn't really help much.
'Why must she follow me?" Kai asked himself, looking through the same cupboard again. 'I think there's already been enough 'together' time between us. UGH! Damn you door for lacking the ability to open on the inside!' he cursed mentally.
The golden-eyed girl looked up, hearing incoherent mumbling in the office. "Kai?" she called out softly.
The Bladebreaker captain instantaneously brought his attention away from his search, soon locking his eyes on her's. 'No, not this again,' he groaned inwardly. "WHAT?" he asked sharply, keeping his gaze and tone as cold as ice.
"Um…I thought you said something," she answered quietly, immediately breaking the stare before anything bizarre happened again. "I guess not," she seemed to whisper to the floor.
Kai watched her for second. Maybe he said that a bit meaner than it had to be. She hadn't even dared to say anything to him before that little call of his name. And even when she did that, it lacked its usual pursuit of defiance compared to earlier. Maybe she was trying to be nice? That was new, but still considerate. So what did Kai do in return of her thoughtful attempt? Hiss back like an angry snake being provoked.
Now Kai wasn't the most sensitive guy in the world, but he wasn't completely emotionless, not anymore at least. After last year's experience, he did gain *some* of his lost compassion. Of course, he rarely showed it, but it was still there.
"Mariah?" Kai finally began in a direct tone.
"Yes?" she answered curiously.
Still keeping himself occupied with his search, he began to speak again. "I suggest you don't try to talk to me right now," he said plainly. "All this crap is annoying me," he stated simply, not bothering to look up.
Then, it was silent again. 'Was that…an apology?' Mariah wondered to herself, staring at the back of her fellow companion. It wasn't anything like you traditional "I'm sorry", but with guys like Kai, you had to read between the lines. Mariah smiled, recommencing her own quest. 'There might be actually more to him,' she thought contentedly, the grin still lingering on her face.