The only reason Kai bothered with the party was because he wanted to take his mind off the warning he had received from his grandfather. And he must say, it had been quite effective for some time. He'd had a few drinks, and was getting quite close with his girlfriend when they were interrupted by shoutings downstairs. 

"Wait, is that Cassie? And Roadie! What's he doing here?" groaned Laura. "I've got to check this." She said, breaking their kiss. She smirked a little when she caught him getting a little irritated with the break, but nonetheless pecked him in the cheek, promising to get back to him soon. 

It was during moments like this that Kai felt a small twinge in his heart, before reminding himself that they were nothing more than a game. A game of putting the other down and one-upping ourselves. A game with benifits. As though he could afford to grow a soft spot for a devil like her. 

Footsteps sounded on the stairs again, making Kai frown. " Laura had only been gone for a few minutes. Surely she couldn't be back this soon... he thought, checking the stairs. Yet, there she was, holding a highly tipsy Cassandra. "It was her first party after a long time, maybe she went a bit overboard with the drinks. Keep an eye on her for me, will you please? I still have to resolve the fight down there!" She pleaded with her eyes like Tyson and Max did, somehow making it impossible for him to refuse. She didn't wait for his answer though, leaving her friend at the door. 

He'd never really talked to Cassandra before, but from what he'd heard, she seemed to have the perfect life. Good grades, wealthy and loving family, influential friends, yet soft spoken and hardworking. Had been the nation's best swimmer and performer until recently. And not to mention her beauty. She normally had an angelic beauty to her. To be honest, she looked exactly like how he'd imagine a Japanese angel to look like. Long curvy arms and legs, porcelain fair skin, small black eyes, a button nose and a sweet smile.

 But there was no trace of the grace she was so known for. She giggled randomly and had a dreamy sort of expression, no doubt due to the drinks, as he led her to one of the couches. Her eyes were bloodshot and tears stained her cheeks. Normally, she could have easily pulled off the forest-green shimmer dress look, or pretty much anything for that matter, but she looked nothing more than a broken angel now. 

She caught hold of his wrist after lying down, annoying him some more. He didn't understand what his girlfriend thought of her. He was no baby sitter. He tried to get her to leave him, but somehow her fingers wouldn't budge. In turn, her grip got so strong that her nails even drew blood! "What the hell is wrong with you!" He cussed, caught off guard. 

"What do you do when you have blood on your hands Kai?" she whispered, completely out of the blue. Her voice was broken and ragged, no doubt due to the screaming he'd heard downstairs. 

Kai froze on hearing this, forgetting about his hand. "What do you mean?" He found himself whispering, half curious and half confused. Goody shoes like her don't have dirty secrets like blood on their hands. "My little brother was my life-my joy. I was his h-hero. But when the t-time came, I let him down... When they came to snatch him away from me, I-I let them..." She hiccuped. Kai could hardly believe what he was hearing. 

"What do you mean? " He questioned, hating himself for being nosey now. He had just stumbled on something that wasn't for him to hear. He doubted Cassandra had told anyone about whatever she'd just told him. 

But she was in no shape to continue talking. Whatever she was talking about was eating her up from the inside. She curled into herself and rocked back and forth, hiccuping the last few words on repeat. 

Something about her words made Kai feel uneasy. He wasn't able to pin point it right then, but his hands felt sweaty and the collar of his shirt felt too tight. The room seemed to be closing into him like he needed to leave immediately.

 And the moment he stepped out, he bumped into another girl. Instincts kicked in and before he could think off it, he caught her wrist, steadying her. "Thank you for catching me. It would have been a nasty tumble.." The girl was saying, adjusting her heels. He recognised the pitchy voice before he even saw her face. 

Of all the people in the party, of course he had to cross paths with one of the only people who wouldn't leave him alone. He tried schooling his panic and uneasiness before she saw his face.  "Kai! What are you doing here?" She asked, sounding surprised.

Kai was in no mood to tolerate her whining, especially not after having to put up with her upset boyfriend for the past few weeks. "Hm" He replied, trying to move past her. "Honestly, what is so difficult about holding a conversation for you?" She demanded, getting in his way again.

Usually, Kai kept his cool around Mariah, for Ray's sake only, but that didn't count there. "Want a piece of my mind? Then take it. I'm done with putting up with your cranky boyfriend. You can't just trigger a childhood anguish and expect him to talk to be the one to talk to you. So, stop being so difficult, apologize, talk to him and get the bloody problem solved. It's been a bleeding month! Happy now?" He demanded, before bounding down the stairs.

So much for a getaway evening, he thought, sighing. 

******

He didn't go home right away. He didn't know why, but he took a detour to the abandoned amusement park. It wasn't far from the party anyway. 

Just when he was about to scale the rusty fence, he heard a disturbance. "The bitch's more worth than her purse, idiot!" someone hissed. On following them, he found two burly men standing in front of each other, one of them holding a girl by her hair. He had a knife to her throat. 

 Kai's heart raced as he tip-toed further, wondering what the hell was going on there. 

The guys we're big and burly, wearing all black with goggles and all, but still looked amateurish. The girl had a wierd hair-style that make her hair keep coming to her face, making it hard to see her features. 

"Tell me who your daddy is." He demanded, looking pissed. The girl must have been testing his limits for quite some time then. "I realise the purse isn't much, but those earrings are enough to keep you out of work for a year! Let me go now!" she demanded instead. 

"Ahh!!" she screamed loudly, the knife having drawn a bit of blood. First blood had been drawn now. Things always get messy in a few minutes after this. The victims usually lose the resolve to fight after this too. Victims who value their lives. The guy quickly covered her mouth to keep her quiet. The other guy came in front of her. "Listen missy. We could do it the hard way if you want to. But I'm willing to give you a chance. Call your daddy now and tell him to be ready with a million yen by 2 o'clock, and you're free to go!" 

Kai, hid in the shadows, being as close to them as he could be without being spotted. His senses tingled. He didn't know how he knew it, but the guy's patience was out. And he dealt with enough cheeky people to know that they didn't really recognise the limits either. "I'm your dreams!" She hissed back, spitting in his face. 

And then Kai made his move. He hit the guy with his body weight, smashing him into the opposite wall. The girl bit the guy with the knife in the arm, and hit his stomach with her elbow. Before either of them could do more damage, the two thugs run away with her purse. He thought of running behind them to get the purse, but the girl didn't seem to be missing it. From what he'd heard, she probably had a hundred more. Then something shiny caught his eye. 

It was a pair of ear rings, no doubt dropped by the guy he'd tackled. Didn't the girl clearly mention that the earrings were more worthy than the purse? What could he say, amateurs. 

*****
Well, he did a quick scan of the girl, checking for injuries, as she dusted her clothes. Except for a small line across her throat, she seemed fine. "What are you doing here?" Asked the girl, looking upset, as though he hadn't just saved her from being kidnapped. "I think you mean, thank you for saving me." He intoned, looking at her pointedly. She had the audacity to roll her eyes. "If you'd observed, I was just about to save myself when you barged in." And before he could call her a few choice names that were on his mind, she changed the topic. 

"Were you here for the amusement park too, Kai? I heard you had a big match here a few months back." She asked instead. Now, there weren't many people who knew of the Blade Breakers' face-off with Saint Shields. Both the teams were very tight-lipped as they didn't want more people to know of their bit-beasts' strength. They didn't want to the world to think of it as anything more than sport. Well, there are a few fan pages who try to prove this by showing evidence, but none of them have made any sensational news, hence harmless for now. 

"Wait, do I know you?" , he asked, eyes narrowed. Now that he thought of it, she did look familiar. "Oh.. Not directly, we haven't ever met before. But my boyfriend is almost obsessed with you guys. Not like creepy or anything, just a cute little fanpage of his with jokes and happy snip-bits of all you guys. And he also has a sister Isa who's Ray's friend in school." "So, you know Ray?" "Not directly of course, but we have talked a few times, as I recently got together with his friend's little brother but not enough to know him, but we were talking the other day and he off-handedly mentioned about an abandoned amusement park where they had a huge match and-" "Will you please stop? You're giving me a talking whiplash!" He commented. She stopped immediately, blushing, but it was hard to be sure in the dim lighting.

She recovered quickly though. "Do you still want to go to the amusement park? I could show you a few tricks, since you "saved" my life and all that" she added in double quoted and took his non-responsiveness as a 'yes'. "Follow me" She whispered, before bounding down a narrow alley. Not the way he'd usually use, which was just climb the high fence, but he still followed her. At the end of the alley, she opened a creaking door, and they were inside the maintenance department. 

"Just wait for a second." She said before walking to a corner and fumbling with something. Kai looked around as he'd never been to this side of the park. A thick layer of dust coated everything around, and most of it looked broken anyway. 

"Well, there you go." She called out, coming into view. It was a bottle of whiskey, one of the finer brands, from the looks of it. "I usually don't have guests over so you'll have to do with the chipped glass." She announced. "How old are you anyway? And no, thanks, I don't drink." He hadn't touched a bottle in nearly three years. "Fifteen years in forty-two minutes and nine seconds. And maybe you forgot the word 'anymore' or 'not today' because you surely don't have the looks of someone who doesn't drink." 

He chose not to comment and followed her out of the room. Then surprisingly, she started climbing up the stairs,instead of going out. The girl bounded ahead, humming a silly tune to herself. He was tempted to leave right then and there, but she'd guilt trapped him by mentioning her birthday was tonight. 

"Well, tan ta-da! " She said, presenting the Ferris Wheel. One of its carriages lay broken on the floor below. "This thing is definitely broken." He said, feeling foolish for having wasted his time. "Watch me." She said, going on to fiddle with the wires lying around. 

"You could just wait in one of the carriages there, you know, since you're so sure that this won't work." She called out after a minutes. He should have sensed the bait then and there itself, but he didn't. His instincts had definitely grown dull since the shoot-out. 

The ferris wheel jerked into motion the moment he sat down, surprising him. And the girl came bounding to the carriage just when it was about to leave the ground. "What do you have to say now?" she challenged, taking a seat beside him. But before he could get anything out of his mouth, the ferris wheel jerked to a halt. They were at the very top of the wheel, which was on the terrace of the four-storey maintenance building. 

Kai might have gasped when he laid his eyes on the view. They could see a thousand stars twinkling due to the clear sky. The city had grown quiet as the night descended, but was still very much alive. The ocean stretched to their west, illuminated by the full moon. The view was simply breath-taking. 

******

It was after a few minutes that the girl next to broke their silence. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" She said, pouring herself a pint. "Hm" "Would you take a coke?" She questioned, bringing out a can. He relented. They sat in silence for a long time, both lost in their own thoughts. There was something so mesmerising about being that high up in the sky, so far away from the mundane buzz of everyday life down in the city, that he found himself relaxing after a long time. 

After what felt like an eternity, they were interrupted by a beep. It was thirty seconds to mid-night. The girl beside him practically shivered with excitement, or maybe she was just cold. She sighed contently as the clock struck twelve. "What better way to celebrate your birthday than this. Cheers" She said, clinking her glass with his coke. He didn't reciprocate, but she didn't seem to have been expecting him to do it either.

"Happy birthday, uh-" He started, only to realise that he didn't know her name. She had been expecting it though. "Elizabeth, but most people just go with Lizzie" "Happy birthday Elizabeth." He completed. "Thanks"

He let five more minutes pass before asking. "So, how do we get down?" "Well, there's a small problem with that." She started, looking sheepish now. She hadn't looked sheepish the whole time they had been together. "The battery takes an hour to recharge...we're stuck till then."

He somehow didn't get annoyed with Elizabeth then. Maybe, it had something to do with the fact that she had single-handedly restarted a ferris wheel that had been shut down years ago, using left over cables and components lying around. Compared to that, this was just a minor inconvenience. 

And moreover, it wasn't that bad up here. It was a quiet place. The girl minded her own business, unlike a few others he knew. And the deal to not complain was finally sealed when she brought out a packet of chips to munch on. 

"Twenty minutes until reality kicks in?" "Yeah, something like that."

******

Words: 2660

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A/N: God's, it takes me so long to get on with an update theses days. I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting so long. The idea had been in my head for weeks but I somehow didn't find the words to write it all. Hope you guys like it. It's slightly longer than my average 2000-2200 words since the last update was quite small. Do vote and comment. What do you think of this party trilogy in between the story? Given that a few side characters have now been established, what do you think of them all? Do you think our main characters are getting lesser story time? Honestly, even I didn't have it in my mind to come up with so many new OCs, but they just fit the flow right. Hope you guys realise this. Happy Women's (girl's) day to all!! Happy reading! !!