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Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
So, thanks go out to: Virpi, Blackrose, Joe, Phoenixandashes
and Butterfly Ishida for reviewing the last chapter all those months ago.

I�m so incredibly sorry for the long wait.. And I�ll
reply to your reviews for the last chapter when I update this next because I�ve
got to go to school now and I really want to get this up!

I hate people.

Don�t tell me that it�s a stupid thing to be thinking, I am already
fully aware of that. But if you were sitting in a crowded dining room, with
four 12-year-old brats sitting beside you, all with names starting with a �C�
bantering on about freaking attack rings and how they�re going to whip everyone
else�s arses later today, you�d see the fucking logic in my statement.

I hate people. All people, especially ones with mouths that
work properly. And those who are aged under 13 and think that Simple Plan make real
music� dumb fucking brats.

I�ve changed my mind about everything I have ever said
before. As of this moment I am now officially an anti-social cyborg with no
emotions and absolutely no desire for relationships with any people whatsoever.

Kai doesn�t count, because he looks funny when he�s angry
and it makes me laugh, and I can�t help but pity him because he got stuck with
a bunch of juniors a million times worse than mine, though at least he can
remember their names. I�ve conveniently re-named mine �1�, �2�, �3� and� oh,
you guessed it smarty� �4�.

Tyson doesn�t count either because he�s more of an angel
than a person and I own his arse.

�

I hate people.

�What I hate even
more about people is that their close-mindedness is prohibiting me from sitting
with my Ty-koi, and I have to sit here and stare at him with cloudy sapphire
eyes from the other side of dining hall and pretend that I�m really just
staring at the wall. Haven�t you heard? Staring at walls is apparently so the
cyborg thing to do these days.

It was a nice day. Crisp, cold and wintry, just the way I
liked it to be. I�d have to remember later to go for a walk through the
gardens, though they�d probably be packed full of fans and everything, considering
the stadium was only 200 feet from them. I wondered vaguely if there was going
to be a big turn out at the tournament. There was something about competing
that really turned me off food. I noticed that Veronika was fixing me with that
look that mothers use on their five-year-olds� that �eat it before I shove it
down your throat� expression. I took a sip of orange juice, my stomach churning
squeamishly at the acrid taste of it on my tongue. Blegh. I could really go for
some nice Russian tea right about now� Or vodka. You can�t go past vodka at a
time like this.

Dom sat down beside Riki then, with Taya and Raven to her
left, each of them in black and violet pants with matching jackets, the
material thin and velveteen, boasting slender lined limbs and feminine
shoulders and I was surprised to see her there at all. Dom wasn�t eating
anything, just pushing a few blueberries and some pieces of melon around her
plate absently, fork in one hand and the BeyBlade that had claimed her
attention in the other. I don�t think anyone really expected her to eat
anything, and no one was about to pester her about it either. It was just the
way things were, the way they�d always been and despite how much it irked us,
it was what felt right and normal� which was as close to homely as we could
feel together. Raven and Tatiana were chatting like the tournament was nothing
out of the ordinary to them, sharing each other�s blinny � Russian buckwheat
pancakes� yum - and apple juice. And then there was my Ty-koi, 20 odd metres
away on the other side of the huge dining parlour, scowling at something Hilary
and Max must have said about him, judging by their amused, smug expressions.
Kenny wasn�t there� probably down at the arena already, doing some last minute
checks and whatever. Kai wasn�t there either, though I�d noticed that quite a
bit earlier�

�Tala� what time do we have to be down at the arena?�

I frowned inwardly, really not wanting anyone to talk to me,
especially pesky little rug rats, and looked up at Carolyn or Calista or
whoever it was � �4�... �12.30 pm, but I want you to watch the other teams
battle before us so you can see what their blading style is like for when we
battle them later in the tournament.�

�Oh.�

I went back to staring across the room, wishing that I could
breathe through my ears or something because the aroma of the food and the
taste of it in the air was making me feel nauseous.

�Who do you think will win?�

�Us.�

�What about the Blade Breakers? They�re the world
champions��

�Maybe.�

�Can we go to the city after the battle?�

�No. You can go to bed and nap for a few hours, and then we
have training.�

�Awww�� do we have to
train? And after a battle??�

�Calista, you�re here to experience what it�s like to be in
our division, and in our division this team trains after every battle, except
for in the worlds�,� I replied in the most monotonous voice I possibly could,
sincerely hoping that I got her name right.

�But why?�

�Do you want to win?�

�Yes.�

�Then we�re training.�

�What if I change my mind and say I don�t want to win?�

�I�ll make you train an extra two hours for being difficult,
that�s what.�

Fucking 12-fucking-year-olds.

Fucking Bryan too, the bastard. I scowled darkly in his
direction, as he watched me put up with Carolyn� no, wait, Calista�
wearing the most amused expression I�ve ever seen on him.

I fucking hate people.

Obliteration Girls vs. The All Starz.

There had been something wrong with the BeyDish they were
supposed to use for the first battle of the tournament, a monitor malfunction
or something, so the battle had been postponed until third, and the battles
that had originally been second and third � BladeBreakers v. Majestics and
Tigers v. BladeBabes � were finished in their designated sectors of the arena
before the girls went against the All Starz.

We were sitting on the sidelines watching as Domeka defeated
Michael with Voxepa in a final flash of blinding gold and a loud snap of
crackling thunder. Raven had beaten Evelyn� Emily� Erin� - or was it Emma? �
just as easily - Saranzer had become stronger than I ever imagined she would.
There was a possibility that they�d even defeat us when we played them
later in the week.

Spencer let out a shrill, piercing whistle beside me as
Tatiana � the last of the seniors to battle � stepped up to the dish, silver
eyes blazing adamantly, her composure stony. I had been looking forward to
seeing her battle since the moment she walked into that room a few days ago �
she was always very good, excelling in all aspects except age. She was too
young to be too good, I was always thinking. There�s too much pressure on her
already, and I really disapprove of it. I shot a quick glance at Bryan, and
could tell by his expression that he was thinking along the same lines as me.

�Who�s that she�s up against, Tal?� asked Spencer, or I
think he asked, in Russian, and I tore my eyes away from Taya with a slight
frown around the corners of my eyes.

�What? Sorry, I totally missed whatever you were saying��

Spencer grinned a little at that, �That little white-headed
pixie up there against Taya�. Who is she?�

I shrugged tiredly, �Why�re you asking me?�

�Perhaps because you have the program in your lap, Tala��

Oh. Oops.

Even Bryan smirked at that, yanking the stapled wad of paper
from my hands and striking me up the back of the head with it before reading
through it. �Felicity Tate. Hmm� Must be related to Max or something. I can�t
see the resemblance though.�

�They�re twins. I met her yesterday when I went and visited
Kai.� � and Tyson.

Neither of them seemed very interested by that information,
and we turned our attention back to Taya as she and Felicity launched their
blades in simultaneous streaks of bronze and lilac, the whirring of the
spinning blades drowned out by the cheers of an exuberant crowd.

Taya�s little body hardly flinched as Felicity�s blade
tailed Veo, slamming into it and causing it to zigzag across the dish. The
excited screams of fans grew louder, the sound blurring into a loud rush of
noise and nothing less.

To my left Bryan sat up a little, leaning forwards with
interest or concern or some other reason. �That shouldn�t have happened�.�

�We�ve never seen Tate battle before though, so she might be
better than you thought,� mentioned Spencer with a shrug in response to Bryan�s
statement. �Her brother is incredibly talented, after all.�

If it were possible, Taya�s eyes hardened even more, silver
darkening to the shade of thunderclouds and fixing on the centre of the dish as
she summoned her BitBeast in a surge of bronze and orange light, raw energy
beaming through the stadium and crackled with heat as it burst from it�s
containment.

A giant fox built entirely of gleaming copper-coloured light
and unearthly energies sprang to life in the air, letting out a shrill bark as
the Blade it belonged to sped up and charged its opponent, an audible �thwack�
reaching us from the dish as it hit the other blade. I nearly went deaf when
Spencer whistled loudly beside me, and after the wince slid off my face I
glared at him.

�Sorry, little brother,� he said, though I knew he didn�t
really mean it as he sat back and watched a little more quietly, strong arms
folding across his chest.

Felicity�s BitBeast lurched out of her Blade, swirls of
searing lilac and white heat spinning together in a funnel shaped blur of
colour before forming the shape of a faerie or ghost or some other phantom
creature. The mechanical sound of the whirring blades was ruptured by silence
but then the noise began to build up again, a crescendo of cheers and the excited
voices of the commentators buzzing in the air.

Something burst somewhere, exploding into blinding light.
White filled the stadium, flaring from Felicity�s BeyBlade and washing away
every shadow, sucking them up into a vortex of pure light. Music filled our
ears, and I felt my soul sway on its soft, melodious hum, and for some reason
the sound of it reminded me of pristine crystal lakes with beaches of snow and
French grey skies.

A hard palm connected with the back of my head, the short
spurt of pain snatching me away from the clutches of the phantom�s song.� �Snap out of it Tala or you�ll miss the
battle.�

I sent Bryan a glower for hitting me, but I�d never tell him
I was quite thankful he stopped me from missing Taya�s battle. Looking around
the crowd with a quick sweep of my eyes I saw that many people had gone still
and blank-faced, a sort of misted, dreamy look in all their eyes.

And back to the battle�. Tatiana and Veo were winning quite
easily, well� not too easily� -
Felicity was a pretty damned good Blader � but Taya was very determined and
even more skilled. My eyes wandered to the bench behind Taya, where I could see
Domeka sitting beside Riki, a frown marring her delicate features and her lips
tightly pursed. She�d noticed something that I hadn�t� As Veo spat out a chain
of blistering brown flames and the fae shrieked, the flow of music faltering
momentarily and the stadium crashing back into what felt like semi-darkness, I
realised that Felicity hadn�t attacked back yet, and her blade was definitely
not in defence mode.

The music stopped, suddenly and bluntly so, people shaking
their heads with bewildered expressions as they were wrenched out of their
reveries, and Felicity cried out to her BitBeast in Japanese.

I wasn�t too sure what she said, my Japanese is terrible,
but I think she called her little� er big� sprite thing �Nissa�, which is an
old Slavic name that roughly translates into faerie.

It happened then in an eruption of fierce white lightning
that crackled through the arena at full pelt towards Veo and shattered into
shards like spears of shimmering light upon contact with the fox, falling away
into nothing like dust on the wind.

The hardened look that Tatiana had been wearing the whole
time faltered, and she looked around in a panic, as though she didn�t know what
to do, and I could see her swallow anxiously as she tried to steady her blade
as it wobbled dangerously after that last blow. Spencer had gone silent beside
me, and Ian, who had miraculously not said a thing since the battle started,
said something about Taya being capable enough to get back in the game.

He was right.

A flood of silver mist built up around the BeyDish, rippling
out towards the stands, and I felt it brush against the tip of my nose. I
recognised it immediately, though it had been years since I�d last felt that
embrace of pure silver. The others recognised it too. Bryan shivered very
obviously beside me, Spencer�s body turning to stone as he completely froze in
utter shock. In some sense it was like seeing a ghost, and the edges of my mind
and heart began to tingle with grief.

I think we�d all forgotten that Tatiana now owned Gaxuxa as
well, and as the magnificent water dragon flew upwards from the blade, towering
above the other two beasts, staring out over the entire stadium, the noises of
the stands hushing to an instant lull. I saw Taya for what she really was then,
as she craned her neck to look up at Gaxuxa, her face completely
expressionless, and the lines of her body trembling, eyes wide, round and more
vulnerable than I�d ever seen them. She looked so small and lost just then, and
I was reminded that she was only a child. Her blade stopped racing
around, spinning on the one spot in the centre of the dish as she sank to her
knees, shaking her head and trembling.

Nissa crashed into the blade, and it flew from the dish, Veo
and Gaxuxa plummeting back into it in a vortex of bronze and silver. A small
hand reached over for it, and Tatiana stood, quietly walking back to sit beside
Riki in utter silence. No one said anything, and the match proceeded onto the
junior section, one of the little Russian boys � Mischa or Tolenka � boldly
stepping up to the dish with a daring swagger in their stride. Tatiana watched
all four of the following battles in silence, her eyes empty and her composure
numb, and neither Bryan or myself watched them at all, because our eyes were on
Tatiana the whole time.

After we won our match later that afternoon, and watched the
juniors of Kai�s team completely unravel the great work that Kai, Max and Rei
had done in the senior�s round, I found Tatiana sitting out in the snow, her
clothes drenched, freezing and five shades darker with moisture as the powdery
white substance melted against her. She�d taken her gloves off, and they lay
discarded a metre from where she sat. Her skin was deathly pale, seeming almost
to be transparent, her lips and fingertips slightly blue but when I approached
her she refused to move.

�Leave me alone for a bit, Tala. I like being cold � I�m
fine.�

I sat down beside her when it became more than obvious that
she wasn�t going to come back with me, and my arse immediately went numb in the
snow as I wrapped an arm around her lithe body. �It�s nice to be home isn�t
it?� I said softly, moving closer to her.

�Yeah� but�� her voice trailed off, as though she couldn�t
muster the words she wanted to use on her tongue.

�You should come and live with Kai and me in Japan. It�ll be
good, you can go to school there and � ,�

She shuddered beside me, and for a moment I thought it was
because of the cold but she looked up at me with tearful gunmetal-grey eyes and
I dismissed that thought immediately. Pain caught me in the chest, and I felt
angry that I hadn�t been around for her these past few years.

�I miss her Yuriy,� she cried, burying her face in my
clothes and sobbing into the already sodden fabric. �And I thought I was
getting past it all� but then Gaxuxa came out of my Blade a-and it all fell
apart again.�

I grimaced, sighing into her damp brown hair at her stumbling
words. �I know - I saw it happen. Taya, I want you to come and live with Kai
and me in Japan, you need to get away from all this for a while and be with us,
because we�re your family, little sister.�

She shook her head. �Kristan and Petenka are here though. I
can�t leave them��

I frowned. �Petenka?�

�The baby.�

My world spun into a vortex of greys then, because now the
baby was more than just an �it� that I felt no connection to. Before I had only
felt the need to mourn Rista, but this just changed everything, and my heart
plummeted � �It� was a he, with a name. Petenka. Knowing that
made the baby so much more real, like it had actually been alive and a real
part of our �family�.

I didn�t know what to say� how can anyone say something to that?
Out of my league, I gave up on trying to say something wonderfully
insightful � that was Kai and Bryan�s thing � and scooped her shivering form up
into my arms before she could protest. She didn�t weigh much, being so young,
and the fleeting moments it took to carry her back to the dorm were
insignificant.

When I was nearly at the door of the girls� dorm, our
clothes cold and dripping melted snow all over the carpet, I nearly ran head
first into Kai. It was obvious that his teams� loss to the Majestics in the
morning was still bothering him, though it had only been the junior battles
that had made their score suffer, and his eyes were hard and stony, the planes
of his face tense.

He swore none-too-mildly when he saw Tatiana and I, cupping
her cold cheek in his hand. She looked up at him, tears still rising in her
eyes and a glittering trail of moisture streaking her pale skin. Kai�s
expression softened, the coldness in his eyes melting into a kind, gentle
warmth as he dipped his head down to kiss her temple.

He opened his arms out to me, and I carefully transferred
Taya into his arms. �Go and warm up Tala,� he ordered me, cradling Taya in his
arms and brushing away her tears as she wrapped her arms around his neck. �And
let�s get you warmed up too, hey little sister.� It was a thing of ours�, we
all called each other �sister� and �brother�, particularly Tatiana and Raven,
the two littlest of our �family�.

I couldn�t see any reason to protest his demand so I nodded,
�Yeah� Um, can you get Tyson to come and see me later? Please?�

He nodded. �Yep. Around six?�

Already turning back down the hall, I nodded without looking
at them. �That�ll be great, thanks.�

I went back to my room feeling the melted snow that
saturated my jacket sinking through my skin to my bones, and I knew that the
chill I felt wasn�t just from the cold wetness. Somewhere amongst us I felt the
memory of Kristan linger, painfully, and the blood drained from my face at the
memories of her baby � of Petenka � that never got the chance to be.

�And then we can go to London. My cousin Shizuka lives
there, she�s fucking crazy. Even ask Hitoshi, she�s totally psychotic, but
she�s a bassist in this really awesome band and they just got signed to some
big studio thing in London and they have an album coming out in June or
something.�

I smiled; trying not to laugh at how excited Tyson was over
absolutely nothing, watching him bounce around me enthusiastically with far too
much energy racing through his veins.

We�d been discussing it for a while now � a vacation after
the tournament, just a few weeks or so lagging around Europe before we were
expected back at school. I wanted to take him to Ukraine and Georgia, two
places I had fond memories of. My mother was from Georgia, not Russia, but when
she was a child it was still the U.S.S.R, and both countries had been a part of
it. She moved to Ukraine before she met my father, with her parents and two
sisters. I was born there, actually, near Kiev, when she, my father and Dimitri
were visiting my babushka. My grandmother was a sweet woman. I remembered her
vaguely, nearly always in the kitchen, and if not she smelled like she�d just
been in there � the scents of wood smoke and sugar and roses always lingered
about her. She was always making jams from roses when my mother visited.
Always. I wondered if she was still alive, because I really had no idea. All
the more reason to go to Ukraine, really.

�-Ta-koi? Um�. You in there?� I snapped back from my sudden
bout of nostalgia when Tyson tapped me on the head a few times with his
knuckles, his eyes smiling at me.

�Huh? Oh� sorry Tyson. I � um � do you want to go to
Ukraine?�

He just rolled his eyes at me like I�d just said the
stupidest thing he�d ever heard, moving forwards to where I sat on the edge of my
bed, looking as though he was about to straddle me when the door whooshed open
and Bryan and Rei stumbled in, their faces red and smiling.

They nearly fell over when they saw us, Bryan�s expression
of �Oh shit� beyond absolutely priceless.

Raising an eyebrow, I tried my best not to laugh. �Finally,�
the crisp Russian word made Bryan�s lips thin to a line, his eyes growing
dark.� �Oh don�t worry, we were just
leaving,� I insisted, standing up and taking hold of Tyson by the scruff of his
collar. �Have you any idea where Spence is? I haven�t seen him since our
match��

�He�s with Riki and Kai, looking after Taya.� Bryan paused,
his mouth closing for a moment, �What the hell happened to her?�

Looking rather bored and bewildered, Rei and Tyson exchanged
glances as Bryan and I prattled on in Russian, though I�m sure if we weren�t
speaking so fast Tyson might have picked up fragments of what we were saying.

�She�s a bit upset over Rista and the baby. You should go
see her when you�re done being the cat-boy�s skinny little play thing.�

He blushed then, his face flushing a shade of red and� even
more red. I smiled at that, unsure of when I�d last seen him so shy. He was a
quiet person like that though, just not very social. It was nice to see this
side of him again.

�Come on you, we have places to be,� I said to Tyson in
English, dragging him out the door by the sleeve of his shirt and waving
goodbye to Bryan and Rei as they shut the door on us.

Tyson looked confused as he straightened up beside me. �Huh?
Where?�

�We�ll find somewhere��

Somewhere ended up being the cupboard under the stairs of
the first storey.

We both found the humour in the situation, Tyson flashing a
cheesy grin as he told me that we were right where we belonged for now, �In the
closet�.

It was true for the most part � aside from Kai and the other
Demolition Boys no one knew about us being together, and though it limited our
freedom of going on actual dates, I�d rather that than have Hilary and all of
the other girls cosseting us and dressing us up for parties and whatever else
it is that straight girls do to their good little pet gay boy-friends.

Not that I�m gay, anyway.

Bisexual, people. I did sleep with Domeka,
remember?

It was a little dusty; the confined space colder than I�d
expected it to be and smelling of old Russian spices and musty linen that had
probably been stored here for much too long. If there actually was real linen
there, and not just the faded scent of it, I wouldn�t have known because it was
so dark that I could hardly even make out where Tyson was cramped up in the
corner.

His hands moved down to my hips, mischievous fingers playing
with the waistband of my jeans until he suddenly jerked backward, my pants
pulling tight around the sides momentarily as he sneezed.

�Dust�� he whispered weakly. I couldn�t help but laugh at
his expression, but he rolled his eyes at my immaturity and yanked me down by a
sturdy hand on my neck, kissing me hard enough that he nearly bruised my mouth.

It wasn�t unusual for him to be so � powerful� in these
situations. I wouldn�t say he�s the dominant one, because he isn�t, but he
isn�t exactly submissive either. This was one of those moments when he�d
decided to take control, one hand firm on the blade of my shoulder, the other
in the back pocket of my jeans and his sweet little mouth planting kisses along
the open collar of my shirt. He began to nibble my collarbone, his breath warm,
mouth blazing and hands finding their way down to the zipper on my jeans�

I�ve made a fond memory of the following moments. One of
shaking knees and quivering legs, flushed pink skin glistening with sweat � it
had been so stuffy in that cupboard despite the cruelty of the Russian winter �
and unkempt hair, sticking to us so mercilessly as our hearts raced and our
breath hitched in our throats.

We didn�t go the whole way � because we didn�t have any
�supplies� and we were both required to be at our full potential for our
battles the next day� and, well, we were in a cupboard for goodness�
sake!

We sat on the floor, in the cool embrace of the shadows as
they lingered over us, our feet stretched out to push against the door and our
clasped hands the only contact between us. My shirt lay in a crumpled heap
beside Tyson, who was busy trying to tame his hair and tie it back up again as
neatly as possible. My lips curved into a smirk as I watched him. He caught my
expression as he tossed his head to the side to grab another handful of blue
tresses and lent over and kissed me soundly on the mouth.

It was a nice feeling, and a nice memory, just sitting there
in a comfortable sort of silence, just watching him. I felt so proud that I
didn�t even take my eyes off him when he handed me my shirt and I slipped back
into it. How could I not be proud? It was his first time (that I knew of) and
he swallowed!

Our moment was speared straight through the middle, the door
bursting open so unexpectedly that we both flinched and thumped our heads back
on the wall.

�Er�. Oops,� Mariah looked as shocked as I felt, golden eyes
wide and her teeth chewing her bottom lip. An uncomfortable silence gripped
onto us, keeping us prisoner in its awkward alarm. Mariah just offered us a
small grin � one that made me wonder if she�d known all along that Tyson and I
were together. She pressed a finger to her lips in a silent promise of keeping
our secret to herself before backing out of the room and quietly shutting the
door.

Tyson looked over at me, our stunned eyes meeting before we
both burst into peals of laughter on the floor.

�I�m sorry that I got you back here so late,� Bryan
apologised in his usual quiet tone, coming to a half out the front of the
BladeBreakers� room. �You�ve got a battle tomorrow, don�t you?�

�It�s only 9.30 Bryan and I�m in the last battle tomorrow
anyway��

Reluctantly, the Chinese boy inched closer to the door�. He
wished that there was more of the night left for them to indulge in but no,
time was against him on this one. His eyes were cast down, fixed on their
linked hands, and for once the silence wasn�t unwelcome or unnerving� it was
just� silent but in a nice way. He tilted his head to look up at Bryan
again when he felt his lean hand start combing through masses of black hair.

�It�s so lovely and soft,� admitted Bryan in a low mumble,
though Rei knew he was just quietly spoken rather than scared to show
affection. With the corner of is mouth kicked up into an absent yet wicked sort
of smirk, he added, �Tala�d be jealous.�

Rei laughed. �We�re even then because I�m jealous of his
jeans.�

�The Tsubi ones?�

�No, no� the um� the ones with the little Chinese letter
stitched into the corner of one of the pockets.�

A dry expression flickered across Bryan�s pale face but Rei
could see the softness and warmth of a smile tough the graceful curve of his
mouth. �That�d be right. Those are the ones he nicked off me the week after we
moved to Bakuten.�

Something about what he�d said made Rei hike an eyebrow.
�You wear skinny leg jeans?� he asked, his tone lost somewhere between
skeptical and disbelieving.

�Only on the weekends.� Bryan winked.

Rei was wearing a pair himself, though the denim was loose
enough to just hide the defined shape of hard muscles and yet tight enough to
boast the sleek curves of his legs. He was wearing a grey coat, 60�s mod in
style and stitched with yellow seams that brought out the unique colouring of
his eyes. Mariah had a similar coat, though the seams were pink, and they often
wore them together for the fun of matching each other�s clothes.

�I�d better get going� Kai�ll be fit to murder me if I take
any longer��

Bryan nodded, releasing Rei�s hand and silently wishing that
this tournament could just blow over so the pair of them could run off to Paris
or London and spend some time alone for once. �Yeah�. You should get some rest
before your battle.�

�Thanks Bry. I really did have a nice time tonight.�

Bryan smiled and he stepped forward, eyes of a cold nuance
and a warm sparkle searching for something in depths of starlight-gold. It was
all so clich�d � the date, the things they�d discussed� such a generic first
date. And yet, in a shining example of the biggest clich� of all� it had been
with Rei, and that had made it perfect.

It occurred to both of them then that they were standing in
utter silence in the cold, still air of the empty hall both seemingly seeking
something in each other�s eyes.

Rei blushed.

Bryan blushed.

But then, as Rei bashfully turned his head away again,
Bryan�s cold hand reached up to draw his face closer again. Without a moment
passing his other arm had curled around the other�s waist, and Rei was pressed
warmly against him, caught in Bryan�s possessive grip. One � or maybe both � of
them leaned in closer to the other. It was inevitable now � not even Fate would
be so cruel as to intervene at this point.

Bryan�s eyes flickered skyward, as though to than any
overlooking gods for this blessing, and Rei kissed him hard on the mouth. It
was sweet and lingering, and neither of them dared to draw away�

Someone�s watch beeped.

�Oh� shit!� cursed Rei in reflex. 10.00pm. Kai was
going to rip him for this.

�Night, Rei-Rei,� whispered Bryan cheerfully, briefly
kissing a rather anxious-looking Rei just once more before stepping around him
and heading back off to his room, the usual mechanical stiffness missing from
his stride and plans for the recovery of his stolen jeans forming in his head.

She was sitting at the top of the stairs, her hair falling
in threads of an unnatural blackness and every inch of her skin shrouded in the
darkness. It fell all around her, but the crinkled folds and creased layers of
her dress were whiter than the purest snow. It was not only dark but also
suffocatingly so, and I could barely make out the vague figure of her little
body from the bottom of the stairwell.

There was no light at all. Just darkness. Even the white
of her dress didn�t offer any slight radiance. Only her eyes, which shone like
twin fires of a ghostly violet-blue, illuminated the staircase� only a narrow
strip down the centre, with long shadows stretched across one another in jagged
patterns. The shadows reminded me of broken glass.� She blinked, and the insipid light flickered out for a
heart-splintering moment. My eyes met hers, though hers did not meet mine, and
I felt so cold suddenly that I shuddered and felt sick. Those purple eyes
widened but the light only grew weaker, duller� She was sad.

Something about her beckoned me to come closer.

So I did.

Or I tried.

One step at a time, I went up. And the weight of
impossibly heavy emotions grew, multiplied by the tenfold, with every step I
took.

I was 8 steps away from her � almost close enough to
reach out and touch what I imagined would be gravestone-cold skin � when the
burdens of this darkness� this darkness that consumed everything around me and
everything inside me crushed my strength into shards that speared through any
energy I had and left it in ragged shreds.

My legs crumpled beneath and as I stumbled backward,
tripped on one of the steps and went spinning and flailing down another four
stairs my hand flung out to catch the railing. Straightening myself up, I
looked down at my hands because the fact that I could see them at all caught my
attention.

I hurled. My stomach was retching, trying to vomit up
food or something that wasn�t in it. The blood on my hands was cold, but the
haunting smell of it was fresh; of copper and death and tragedy. Light shone
down the banisters and they were slick with blood. It didn�t look like blood
though� it was all thick, dried into clots every few inches and black and dripping
like paint. I wiped my hands off on my shirt, but I swiped the tip of my finger
along the banister and held it close to my face. It was definitely blood. I
looked back up at the girl and struggled to climb up just one more step.

The crying started then� and I remembered hearing it at
least once before. The sound hurt my ears, made my head spin� but the girl just
kept sitting there, ever so still, and sobbing � screaming, even.

I wanted so badly to just reach out to her and hug her�
because I knew who she was. This little girl. It was her.

And these stairs.

I knew these stairs from memories I�d packed away and
locked up in the depths of my mind.

And I knew what would come next.

But I was wrong.

Instead of the deep, pained roar of words I expected to
hear I heard the voice of a small boy, eight-and-a-half years old and I felt
someone reach out and grasp my hand with warm fingers.

�We can be brothers, and that way we�ll always be happy
because we only have each-other, and brothers never fight.�

Kai.

He was standing in front of me, as the man he was today,
blocking my view of her and he smiled at me.

But then the darkness washed over him � enough to leave
his features and shape like a blank, black canvas � and colours started to
build up again like threads of frosted paint spinning up around him.

And he became Dimitri. My real brother.

He opened his pale mouth, and I missed seeing it smile.
Then he started yelling, his voice hoarse. �I won�t! You can�t make me! I love
her! I LOVE HER!� Desperate, pleading, passionate�

His eyes were all teary, but he blinked the moisture away
so that only one tear spilt from his left eye, streaking down to his cheekbone
where it lingered in a half-formed droplet. A thin-boned hand wiped it away and
the faintest of grim smiles touched his mouth.

It promised revenge. Vengeance for what they�d done to
him. To her. To me.

�It�s almost time, Yuriy��

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. Warmth
blossomed up through me in immediate response, and everything spun into shards
of white and gold light� and I was left with nothing more than lingering words.

�It�s almost time��

I did it. Finally. Sorry about the wait..

~ Studio
- 5
- 6
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September