Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Alarming Attachment ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: DefiantVixen 
As if Kai wasn't frustrating him enough before, Ray now realizes that Kai is hiding something. But what could it be?
Anime/Manga: Beyblade Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Mystery / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.05.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.9K | Visits: 402 | Status: Work In Progress
As if Kai wasn't frustrating him enough before, Ray now realizes that Kai is hiding something. But what could it be?
Anime/Manga: Beyblade Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Mystery / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.05.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.9K | Visits: 402 | Status: Work In Progress
Alarming Attachment
Summary: It was suppose to be a relaxing vacation, but for Ray it’s anything but. Meeting a girl called Asia who annoys him and dealing with Kai who appears annoyed with him, what’s a neko to do? And what is it that Kai is hiding?
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Arista “Asia” Rainstorm. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else’s character, again if any likeness, it’s purely coincidental.
Warning: Usage of a female OC. She is not the hero of the story, and the fic will not be centered on her. Any fans of OC pairings should leave now. Do not ask me to turn this fic into a Ray/OC or any other canon character/OC as I cannot stand such pairings. I have no hesitation in bashing my own created characters.
Another warning; I have turned a male character into a female disguised behind male clothing. The character’s identity will not be revealed until later on in the story.
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Chapter Three:
“Isn’t this romantic?” Asia giggled as she rested her head on Ray’s shoulder, completely oblivious to his discomfort. Here they were walking through the flowers and roses of the hotel’s beautifully kept gardens, only each other as company.
Asia giggled again as she began to steer Ray towards the beautiful sculpted ponds. With all the water lilies and the cute gold fish swimming around in the crystal clear waters, what could be a better place for them to experience their first kiss together?
They’ll exclaim their attraction to each other, decide to give dating ago and fall deeply in love. They were meant to be! After all, Ray did turn up at her family hotel. What more do they need?
“Yeah,” Ray muttered a reply to Asia’s question, but not giving her his full attention. Romantic wasn’t the word Ray had in mind. Annoyed, frustrated, completely and utteredly confused? Yeah, that was the state of mind he’s currently occupying.
Kai…just what was up with him? He seemed to hate Asia for some reason. Sure, she was rude to him and was a little overwhelming at times, but the two seemed to clash the moment they met. But that question, that question about whether or not he thought Asia was pretty came out of left field. He answered it honestly because hey, she’s not ugly, but Kai’s response to the answer left him baffled. He seemed disappointed, annoyed and dare say, jealous?
Kai was hiding something, something big and Ray came so close to finding out what it was, if only Asia hadn’t appear when she did. Dealing with Asia’s obsession with him and dealing with Kai being unpredictable, moody and mysterious on top of that, and it was no wonder he had a headache.
This vacation has only just begun and he hated it already!
“Arista!”
The sound of a deep voice tittering on the edge of yelling pulled Ray abruptly from his thoughts and the young brunette next to him bristled in annoyance. The voice sounded familiar and it wasn’t until Ray heard it again did he recognize it.
“You’re father is looking for you,” Ray told the young woman.
“No he isn’t,” Asia muttered as she tightened her grip on his arm, her lips pressed tightly together in a frown.
“Asia…”
“He can wait,” Asia replied sharply as she tried to pull Ray along faster. “I’m busy.”
Ray dug his heel into the soil and stopped in his movements, causing Asia to momentarily lose grip on his arm. “What if it’s important?” he asked.
Asia spun around and glared at Ray, so fearsomely that he physically reeled back in surprise. “I don’t care,” she hissed and moved forward and snatched his arm again, her long nails biting into his skin. “Let’s go.”
“Arista!” her father’s voice called out, closer this time and not a moment later, he appeared in the clearing. “There you are.”
Once again, Asia spun around, her face pulled into a deep look of anger. “I’m busy, old man. What do you want?” she asked as she stamped her foot on the ground, reminding Ray of a small child throwing a temper tantrum.
While he felt sympathy for Asia’s father, Ray knew that this was the perfect opportunity for him to make a break for it. Silently and discreetly, Ray edged his way towards the thick green hedges that surrounded the path they were walking on, and soon only the sound of rustled leaves where left in his place.
A deep sigh of relief escaped Ray’s lips as he quietly made his way through the gardens, his feline hearing picking up on the sound of running water. He followed his senses and they lead him towards a large pond, green water pads littering the water surface.
Ah, peace at last!
“Finally got away from the leech?” A familiar voice suddenly asked.
Ray whipped around, his eyes wide in surprise. He clutched at his chest in fright as he heart thundered in his chest. “Kai!” he yelped when he recognized the familiar figure of his team captain as he leant up against a tree, his arms folded over his chest in his usual stance. “How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?!”
An amused look appeared on Kai’s face for a moment before being replaced with his usual mask of indifference. “I didn’t sneak up on you,” he said coolly. “You walked in front of me. It appeared that you weren’t looking where you were going.”
Although embarrassed that Kai picked up on a fault, Ray chose to ignore it, instead he decided to turn their conversation back to their previous one; Kai explaining his behavior. “What were you going to say earlier, Kai?” he asked.
Kai’s eyes shimmered with a sense of something Ray couldn’t quite pick up before they turned into an unreadable sheen. “Nothing,” he replied bluntly before he abruptly pushed himself away from the tree and moved to step around Ray.
But Ray’s frustrations got the better of him and he suddenly reached forward and grabbed Kai by his shirt, not only catching the usually unshakable teen off guard, but off balance as well.
Kai looked surprised for a moment but quickly recovered as he wrapped his fingers around Ray’s wrist, trying to get him to drop his grip. “Let go,” he demanded with a hiss.
“Not until you tell me what’s bothering you,” Ray replied with an equally annoyed hiss.
Kai narrowed his eyes in a dangerous manner before he suddenly tugged at Ray’s wrists while he reeled back abruptly. What happened next happened so quickly that neither teen had no idea what was going on.
All Ray heard was a loud rip and then he suddenly found himself leaning over Kai’s surprisingly slim body, his hands planted on either side of his head as his knees leaned heavily on the ground next to his hips. Kai was flat on his back on the dirt, his arms above his head, and a look of blatant surprise on his face.
If anyone should happen to stumble across them by accident, they’d assumed that Ray was straddling Kai. Of course, that wasn’t the case.
“Ray?” Kai stuttered uncharacteristically, his face lightly flushed with embarrassment.
Ray blinked silently for a moment, his mind not quite comprehending what just happened. His eyes trailed down to Kai’s shirt, a feeling of guilt hitting him in the chest when he noticed that during his scuffle with Kai, he had ripped his shirt a little.
He opened his mouth to apologize for his behavior when he noticed something white sticking out from beneath Kai’s shirt. He furrowed his brow in thought and narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
“What’s this?” Ray asked more to himself, than to Kai beneath him as he picked at Kai’s shirt, lifting it up just a fraction. He managed to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be thick white bandages before Kai suddenly lifted his hips off the ground, causing Ray to become off balanced and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. With what appeared to have been done with little effort, Kai had now changed their order of position, Kai now leaning over Ray and sitting on his stomach.
“Don’t touch me,” Kai growled with his eyes narrowed but the flustered look still present. He had one hand on the collar of Ray’s shirt while the other grasped at his own shirt, holding the black material of his clothing tightly together to hide any evidence of what was underneath.
“Are you wearing bandages?” Ray asked in a state of concern.
“That is none of your business,” Kai hissed at him as his fingers curled tightly around his shirt.
Ray suddenly narrowed his eyes and he grabbed at Kai’s wrist with his two hands and bared his feline fangs. “Like hell it isn’t!” he practically yelled as he struggled under Kai’s weight. He was surprisingly heavy despite being so thin.
“If you’re hurt, don’t you think that gives me the right to know?”
“I’m not hurt,” Kai muttered quickly as the fearsome look in his eyes dissipated a fraction and Ray could have sworn there was an expression of guilt on his face.
Ray stopped struggling for a moment to regard Kai more calmly. “Then why are you wearing bandages?” he asked when he realized that yelling at his captain wasn’t helping any.
But Kai dismissed his concern quickly. “It doesn’t concern you,” he muttered, looking off to the side. He hissed a little when Ray subconsciously tightening his grip around his wrist.
“What has gotten into you?” Ray asked suddenly as he narrowed his eyes again, his anger quickly reaching boiling point.
“Nothing has gotten into me,” Kai said, once again brushing off his concern.
Ray’s anger boiled over. “Stop dismissing my concern!”
“Stop being so concerned!” Kai quickly yelled back. He squeezed his eyelids shut tightly as he took a deep breath. He muttered something under his breath, in Russian Ray deduced, and shook his head as if he was trying to rid himself of an unwanted thought. “Look, it’s my problem, ok? I’ll…tell you when I’m ready.”
He said the last part softly, almost tiredly. It was almost like he’s been debating with himself for the longest time and was tired of it all.
“Kai…” Ray muttered softly, mildly aware that he’s heart was going out to his captain. Kai had always appeared to be a lost soul to Ray, and despite his strong physically appearance, he could be quite fragile at times.
Well, emotionally fragile, anyway.
“Ray!? Are you here? Stop playing hide and seek! Jeez, what are you, ten years old?”
The loud voice of a certain daughter of a certain hotel owner ripped through the tension like a chainsaw and harshly pulled the two teens out of their thoughts. Kai suddenly leapt to his feet and clutched his torn shirt on his chest tightly with both hands. An annoyed look appeared briefly on his face for a moment before he turned on his heel and fled into the thick trees and bushes of the gardens.
Dazed and confused, Ray blinked as he pushed himself into a sitting position on the dusty ground, his eyes never leaving the direction that Kai had so quickly departed in.
“What was that about?” he muttered to himself.
“Ray!” Asia’s voice but through the silence, steadily becoming annoyed with each passing second. “Where are you?!”
A deep seated sigh of frustration passed Ray’s lips as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger when he realized that the voice of a certain young woman wasn’t letting up. In fact, Asia was actually heading straight for him.
So much for avoiding her until dark…
“Ray!” Asia yelled loudly as she walked into the clearing. She stopped in her movement to plant her hands on her hips and stamped her foot once on the ground in anger. Her raven eyes are narrowed with annoyance and she glared at the surrounding trees and plants.
“Stupid plants,” she muttered angrily as she looked around. She demanded that her father get rid of these useless things. They’re only in the way and they dropped leaves all year round. What’s the point of having trees if you’re constantly picking up after them?
Suddenly, her face lit up when she noticed Ray on the ground. “Ray!” she giggled and skipped over to him, only to stop a few steps away and scowled at him, her hands on her hips in a disapproving way just again.
“Oh, ew!” she whined when she saw all the dust and dirt on Ray’s back and shoulders, and she screwed up her nose when she noticed a stick hanging in his hair. “You’re so disgusting! I can’t believe you would roll around in the dirt like that. What are you, some kind of a wild animal?”
“I wasn’t rolling around in the dirt,” Ray snapped at her as he picked himself up off the ground and brushed the leaves and dust off his pants. Dammit, dammit, dammit! He was so close to finding out what was bothering Kai, when yet again, Asia interrupted. Ray was beginning to suspect that she was doing this on purpose.
With a small curse under his breath, Ray spun on his heel and started for the main hotel, only mildly aware that Asia was calling his name.
A million thoughts were racing through his head. Kai had thick bandages wrapped around his chest, and yet he insisted that he wasn’t hurt. True, Kai often played down his injuries, and maybe the wounds he sustained during his battle with Brooklyn still remained.
Ray knew Kai was hiding something. Was he hiding his injuries from them? Was that the reason he seemed so annoyed lately?
“Ray! You heartless jerk! Stop ignoring me!”
In anger, Ray spun around and physically hissed at the young girl. “Stop bothering me, Asia. I’ve got something on my mind.”
Asia reeled back in surprised, physically taking a step back. She blinked her raven eyes at Ray for a moment before her bottom lip trembled and she swallowed thickly. “You jerk,” she hiccupped before she buried her face in her hands and began to sob. Her shoulders shook with each cries, her loud sobs easily reached Ray’s ears.
And Ray felt like the biggest jerk.
“Woah, stop crying, ok?” Ray pleaded as he moved to stand in front of the young brunette and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry that I seemed like I was mad at you. I just have a headache and it’s making me irritable.”
Asia abruptly took a step backwards and spun around to present her back to Ray as more sobs reached the surface. “You didn’t have to take it out on me!” she cried.
“I know,” Ray sighed as he placed his hand on her back and rubbed soothing circles to calm her down. “I’m sorry, ok?”
Asia continued to cry for a few more minutes, and her sobs slowly turned into sniffles. She turned around and rubbed at her eyes with the palms of her hand, much like she did the first time Ray saw her cry. “Fine,” she sniffled. “I’ll forgive you this time. But you better not do it again.”
Ray smothered a sigh. “I’ll try.”
“Good.”
“So,” Ray said as he felt a bit awkward. “What is it that you wanted?”
“Oh,” Asia said, quickly turning back to her perky and cheerful self. “I was wondering if you would like to go for a swim. I bought a new swim suit and I’m dying to show it off!”
Summary: It was suppose to be a relaxing vacation, but for Ray it’s anything but. Meeting a girl called Asia who annoys him and dealing with Kai who appears annoyed with him, what’s a neko to do? And what is it that Kai is hiding?
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Arista “Asia” Rainstorm. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else’s character, again if any likeness, it’s purely coincidental.
Warning: Usage of a female OC. She is not the hero of the story, and the fic will not be centered on her. Any fans of OC pairings should leave now. Do not ask me to turn this fic into a Ray/OC or any other canon character/OC as I cannot stand such pairings. I have no hesitation in bashing my own created characters.
Another warning; I have turned a male character into a female disguised behind male clothing. The character’s identity will not be revealed until later on in the story.
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Chapter Three:
“Isn’t this romantic?” Asia giggled as she rested her head on Ray’s shoulder, completely oblivious to his discomfort. Here they were walking through the flowers and roses of the hotel’s beautifully kept gardens, only each other as company.
Asia giggled again as she began to steer Ray towards the beautiful sculpted ponds. With all the water lilies and the cute gold fish swimming around in the crystal clear waters, what could be a better place for them to experience their first kiss together?
They’ll exclaim their attraction to each other, decide to give dating ago and fall deeply in love. They were meant to be! After all, Ray did turn up at her family hotel. What more do they need?
“Yeah,” Ray muttered a reply to Asia’s question, but not giving her his full attention. Romantic wasn’t the word Ray had in mind. Annoyed, frustrated, completely and utteredly confused? Yeah, that was the state of mind he’s currently occupying.
Kai…just what was up with him? He seemed to hate Asia for some reason. Sure, she was rude to him and was a little overwhelming at times, but the two seemed to clash the moment they met. But that question, that question about whether or not he thought Asia was pretty came out of left field. He answered it honestly because hey, she’s not ugly, but Kai’s response to the answer left him baffled. He seemed disappointed, annoyed and dare say, jealous?
Kai was hiding something, something big and Ray came so close to finding out what it was, if only Asia hadn’t appear when she did. Dealing with Asia’s obsession with him and dealing with Kai being unpredictable, moody and mysterious on top of that, and it was no wonder he had a headache.
This vacation has only just begun and he hated it already!
“Arista!”
The sound of a deep voice tittering on the edge of yelling pulled Ray abruptly from his thoughts and the young brunette next to him bristled in annoyance. The voice sounded familiar and it wasn’t until Ray heard it again did he recognize it.
“You’re father is looking for you,” Ray told the young woman.
“No he isn’t,” Asia muttered as she tightened her grip on his arm, her lips pressed tightly together in a frown.
“Asia…”
“He can wait,” Asia replied sharply as she tried to pull Ray along faster. “I’m busy.”
Ray dug his heel into the soil and stopped in his movements, causing Asia to momentarily lose grip on his arm. “What if it’s important?” he asked.
Asia spun around and glared at Ray, so fearsomely that he physically reeled back in surprise. “I don’t care,” she hissed and moved forward and snatched his arm again, her long nails biting into his skin. “Let’s go.”
“Arista!” her father’s voice called out, closer this time and not a moment later, he appeared in the clearing. “There you are.”
Once again, Asia spun around, her face pulled into a deep look of anger. “I’m busy, old man. What do you want?” she asked as she stamped her foot on the ground, reminding Ray of a small child throwing a temper tantrum.
While he felt sympathy for Asia’s father, Ray knew that this was the perfect opportunity for him to make a break for it. Silently and discreetly, Ray edged his way towards the thick green hedges that surrounded the path they were walking on, and soon only the sound of rustled leaves where left in his place.
A deep sigh of relief escaped Ray’s lips as he quietly made his way through the gardens, his feline hearing picking up on the sound of running water. He followed his senses and they lead him towards a large pond, green water pads littering the water surface.
Ah, peace at last!
“Finally got away from the leech?” A familiar voice suddenly asked.
Ray whipped around, his eyes wide in surprise. He clutched at his chest in fright as he heart thundered in his chest. “Kai!” he yelped when he recognized the familiar figure of his team captain as he leant up against a tree, his arms folded over his chest in his usual stance. “How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?!”
An amused look appeared on Kai’s face for a moment before being replaced with his usual mask of indifference. “I didn’t sneak up on you,” he said coolly. “You walked in front of me. It appeared that you weren’t looking where you were going.”
Although embarrassed that Kai picked up on a fault, Ray chose to ignore it, instead he decided to turn their conversation back to their previous one; Kai explaining his behavior. “What were you going to say earlier, Kai?” he asked.
Kai’s eyes shimmered with a sense of something Ray couldn’t quite pick up before they turned into an unreadable sheen. “Nothing,” he replied bluntly before he abruptly pushed himself away from the tree and moved to step around Ray.
But Ray’s frustrations got the better of him and he suddenly reached forward and grabbed Kai by his shirt, not only catching the usually unshakable teen off guard, but off balance as well.
Kai looked surprised for a moment but quickly recovered as he wrapped his fingers around Ray’s wrist, trying to get him to drop his grip. “Let go,” he demanded with a hiss.
“Not until you tell me what’s bothering you,” Ray replied with an equally annoyed hiss.
Kai narrowed his eyes in a dangerous manner before he suddenly tugged at Ray’s wrists while he reeled back abruptly. What happened next happened so quickly that neither teen had no idea what was going on.
All Ray heard was a loud rip and then he suddenly found himself leaning over Kai’s surprisingly slim body, his hands planted on either side of his head as his knees leaned heavily on the ground next to his hips. Kai was flat on his back on the dirt, his arms above his head, and a look of blatant surprise on his face.
If anyone should happen to stumble across them by accident, they’d assumed that Ray was straddling Kai. Of course, that wasn’t the case.
“Ray?” Kai stuttered uncharacteristically, his face lightly flushed with embarrassment.
Ray blinked silently for a moment, his mind not quite comprehending what just happened. His eyes trailed down to Kai’s shirt, a feeling of guilt hitting him in the chest when he noticed that during his scuffle with Kai, he had ripped his shirt a little.
He opened his mouth to apologize for his behavior when he noticed something white sticking out from beneath Kai’s shirt. He furrowed his brow in thought and narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
“What’s this?” Ray asked more to himself, than to Kai beneath him as he picked at Kai’s shirt, lifting it up just a fraction. He managed to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be thick white bandages before Kai suddenly lifted his hips off the ground, causing Ray to become off balanced and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. With what appeared to have been done with little effort, Kai had now changed their order of position, Kai now leaning over Ray and sitting on his stomach.
“Don’t touch me,” Kai growled with his eyes narrowed but the flustered look still present. He had one hand on the collar of Ray’s shirt while the other grasped at his own shirt, holding the black material of his clothing tightly together to hide any evidence of what was underneath.
“Are you wearing bandages?” Ray asked in a state of concern.
“That is none of your business,” Kai hissed at him as his fingers curled tightly around his shirt.
Ray suddenly narrowed his eyes and he grabbed at Kai’s wrist with his two hands and bared his feline fangs. “Like hell it isn’t!” he practically yelled as he struggled under Kai’s weight. He was surprisingly heavy despite being so thin.
“If you’re hurt, don’t you think that gives me the right to know?”
“I’m not hurt,” Kai muttered quickly as the fearsome look in his eyes dissipated a fraction and Ray could have sworn there was an expression of guilt on his face.
Ray stopped struggling for a moment to regard Kai more calmly. “Then why are you wearing bandages?” he asked when he realized that yelling at his captain wasn’t helping any.
But Kai dismissed his concern quickly. “It doesn’t concern you,” he muttered, looking off to the side. He hissed a little when Ray subconsciously tightening his grip around his wrist.
“What has gotten into you?” Ray asked suddenly as he narrowed his eyes again, his anger quickly reaching boiling point.
“Nothing has gotten into me,” Kai said, once again brushing off his concern.
Ray’s anger boiled over. “Stop dismissing my concern!”
“Stop being so concerned!” Kai quickly yelled back. He squeezed his eyelids shut tightly as he took a deep breath. He muttered something under his breath, in Russian Ray deduced, and shook his head as if he was trying to rid himself of an unwanted thought. “Look, it’s my problem, ok? I’ll…tell you when I’m ready.”
He said the last part softly, almost tiredly. It was almost like he’s been debating with himself for the longest time and was tired of it all.
“Kai…” Ray muttered softly, mildly aware that he’s heart was going out to his captain. Kai had always appeared to be a lost soul to Ray, and despite his strong physically appearance, he could be quite fragile at times.
Well, emotionally fragile, anyway.
“Ray!? Are you here? Stop playing hide and seek! Jeez, what are you, ten years old?”
The loud voice of a certain daughter of a certain hotel owner ripped through the tension like a chainsaw and harshly pulled the two teens out of their thoughts. Kai suddenly leapt to his feet and clutched his torn shirt on his chest tightly with both hands. An annoyed look appeared briefly on his face for a moment before he turned on his heel and fled into the thick trees and bushes of the gardens.
Dazed and confused, Ray blinked as he pushed himself into a sitting position on the dusty ground, his eyes never leaving the direction that Kai had so quickly departed in.
“What was that about?” he muttered to himself.
“Ray!” Asia’s voice but through the silence, steadily becoming annoyed with each passing second. “Where are you?!”
A deep seated sigh of frustration passed Ray’s lips as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger when he realized that the voice of a certain young woman wasn’t letting up. In fact, Asia was actually heading straight for him.
So much for avoiding her until dark…
“Ray!” Asia yelled loudly as she walked into the clearing. She stopped in her movement to plant her hands on her hips and stamped her foot once on the ground in anger. Her raven eyes are narrowed with annoyance and she glared at the surrounding trees and plants.
“Stupid plants,” she muttered angrily as she looked around. She demanded that her father get rid of these useless things. They’re only in the way and they dropped leaves all year round. What’s the point of having trees if you’re constantly picking up after them?
Suddenly, her face lit up when she noticed Ray on the ground. “Ray!” she giggled and skipped over to him, only to stop a few steps away and scowled at him, her hands on her hips in a disapproving way just again.
“Oh, ew!” she whined when she saw all the dust and dirt on Ray’s back and shoulders, and she screwed up her nose when she noticed a stick hanging in his hair. “You’re so disgusting! I can’t believe you would roll around in the dirt like that. What are you, some kind of a wild animal?”
“I wasn’t rolling around in the dirt,” Ray snapped at her as he picked himself up off the ground and brushed the leaves and dust off his pants. Dammit, dammit, dammit! He was so close to finding out what was bothering Kai, when yet again, Asia interrupted. Ray was beginning to suspect that she was doing this on purpose.
With a small curse under his breath, Ray spun on his heel and started for the main hotel, only mildly aware that Asia was calling his name.
A million thoughts were racing through his head. Kai had thick bandages wrapped around his chest, and yet he insisted that he wasn’t hurt. True, Kai often played down his injuries, and maybe the wounds he sustained during his battle with Brooklyn still remained.
Ray knew Kai was hiding something. Was he hiding his injuries from them? Was that the reason he seemed so annoyed lately?
“Ray! You heartless jerk! Stop ignoring me!”
In anger, Ray spun around and physically hissed at the young girl. “Stop bothering me, Asia. I’ve got something on my mind.”
Asia reeled back in surprised, physically taking a step back. She blinked her raven eyes at Ray for a moment before her bottom lip trembled and she swallowed thickly. “You jerk,” she hiccupped before she buried her face in her hands and began to sob. Her shoulders shook with each cries, her loud sobs easily reached Ray’s ears.
And Ray felt like the biggest jerk.
“Woah, stop crying, ok?” Ray pleaded as he moved to stand in front of the young brunette and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry that I seemed like I was mad at you. I just have a headache and it’s making me irritable.”
Asia abruptly took a step backwards and spun around to present her back to Ray as more sobs reached the surface. “You didn’t have to take it out on me!” she cried.
“I know,” Ray sighed as he placed his hand on her back and rubbed soothing circles to calm her down. “I’m sorry, ok?”
Asia continued to cry for a few more minutes, and her sobs slowly turned into sniffles. She turned around and rubbed at her eyes with the palms of her hand, much like she did the first time Ray saw her cry. “Fine,” she sniffled. “I’ll forgive you this time. But you better not do it again.”
Ray smothered a sigh. “I’ll try.”
“Good.”
“So,” Ray said as he felt a bit awkward. “What is it that you wanted?”
“Oh,” Asia said, quickly turning back to her perky and cheerful self. “I was wondering if you would like to go for a swim. I bought a new swim suit and I’m dying to show it off!”