Chapter: Long time ago

Exhausted and exhausted, Kai unlocked the front door. It was pitch dark inside, but he was so tired that he didn't even bother turning on the light. He just kept groping towards the stairs. One foot on the first step and his hand on the railing, he suddenly noticed a light coming from the porch. Something made him hesitate, in the end curiosity won out. Carefully putting one foot in front of the other, he reached the patio door unnoticed. This stood wide open while the small lamp above the alarm system burned on the veranda. Kai was just about to comment on the carelessness of his friends when he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye. As soon as he cocked his head to one side, he drew in a sharp breath: on the porch floor sat with his knees drawn up, Leylan. She stared lost in thought at the small pond in the middle of the garden and didn't seem to notice Kai. He could not take his eyes off her, followed the play of her long hair, traced the contours of her back and wondered what he was actually doing here.
When she suddenly stood at the door this afternoon, the sight of her had taken him completely off guard. Pointless to want to count how often he had imagined that she would stand in front of him, would return despite all the things he had said. When she finally stood in front of him, if more indirectly, everything in him stopped.

It was like a street battle of the most varied of emotions, without rules, without result. On the one hand, feeling angry that she really dared to return, she had simply left him again, but also an unspeakable relief; like Tala, he too had feared for her condition and whereabouts. In between all of this, the thought of being hurt beyond words, a deep sadness and the memory of the time when he longed to wake up in her arms and fall asleep again in the same. Love?> They don't exist anymore! <, he thought angrily.> If only I hadn't gotten into all this junk in the first place! <
He took one last look at Leylan and then turned to leave when a piercing voice stopped him: "I know you're there. It's not exactly polite to watch other people."
Leylan rose slowly and looked directly at him. Kai laughed inwardly at his stupidity in believing Leylan wouldn't notice his presence. "Polite? Something like that is completely alien to you," he replied coldly and saw how irony mingled in her look. "Like in the old days, what Kai? In an argument we part and in an argument we meet again."

She never let him out of her sight for a second, like a predator she stalked her prey. Kai kept waiting for his answer - his gaze was only on the black-haired Bladerin. He ran his eyes along her face, the serious expression around the mouth, the full lips, the sad dark eyes ... he knew all of this all too well and suddenly he felt such a longing that he involuntarily turned to it Chest. "I'm going to sleep.", He replied with a decidedly indifferent answer, not wanting to linger in this place for a minute longer. When he arrived in his room, he dropped back on his bed, his gaze fixed on the ceiling.
> What does she think she is? Nobody, nobody talks to me like that! <
But deep down, Kai knew that this was not true. Angry, he turned to one side, sleep soon overpowering him.

On the other side of the floor, 20-year-old Leylan couldn't sleep. Seeing Kai again after such a long time threw her off balance. She longed for his touch, wanted to wrap her arms around his neck without hesitation and forget all that had happened ... but she couldn't. Kai's words sounded clear in her head, as if the argument had only happened yesterday./ Flashback /After the breathtaking fight between Kai and Brooklyn, Kai was barely able to stand on his feet and stumbled towards Leylan and Tyson. "Mind your fight Ty, I'll take Kai to the hotel room."
"I- is good.", Tyson stammered and looked depressed after the badly battered team leader. Leylan took the exhausted quay to the nearby hotel where they had previously enrolled. When he was comfortably on the bed, Leylan sat down next to him and asked hesitantly: "Listen, Kai, don't you want to settle down? Hotel rooms are not an optimal solution in the long run and now that you are no longer fighting ..." She looked at him expectantly. "I've already thought about that. Now that the most important Beyblade issues are over, Dranzer deserves a break - I could look for work or study. Maybe find something like an apartment."
He met her gaze and added: "And you? What do you intend to do? Maybe ... to run away again for a moment or, best of all, scratch the curve without a word?"
His voice was cutting and oozing irony. Suddenly and without warning, the anger boiled up inside him. Confused, Leylan looked into Kai's crimson eyes, and he returned her gaze reproachfully. "Don't pretend, you know what I mean. Like last year when you left everything behind you, everything, including me, damn it!" He sat up angrily. "When you had to be mysterious again and took off at night and in fog. Well, are you planning something like that again?"

The anger filled his entire body, tugging deeply. Leylan looked at first in disbelief, then deeply hurt. "How can you say such a thing ... how can you think of me like that? You should know that I didn't disappear on a whim. Yes, I didn't tell you anything about it, but there were good reasons for that. But as I already heard, you could comfort yourself well over my loss ... ", she replied, her voice trembling with anger and pain.It was the first time she had mentioned Kai's affair with Mariam. "Oh come on, you know it was nothing. Well, we flirted a little - that's all."
Kai's eyes flickered and he waited anxiously for her reaction. "Of course ... nothing. I'm careful not to be abusive now, but please don't try to kid me, Kai."

The tension was literally palpable until Leylan got up with a jerk and hissed through clenched teeth: "The others know where you are, they will be coming soon. I'm going."
At a run she dived to the door and let it crash into the lock. More than 1,000 insults, Kai's silence hurt. He didn't even try to hold her back. As soon as the door closed behind her, she collapsed abruptly to the floor, her knees simply sagging. Only slowly did she understand what had just happened. She wanted to cry - but it didn't work. Something in her refused to break. She used the last freely functioning part of her brain and pushed herself up against the wall - everything, just get away from here!
And Leylan ran. Without a goal, without orientation, just go on. She ran away from the numbing pain that slowly crept up her limbs. The mind was willing, but the body was weak. Leylan wanted to keep walking, as far as he could. Her burning lungs and legs that were getting heavier and heavier finally forced her to give in and settle under the nearest tree. What didn't want to break earlier now slowly began to crumble, so that she desperately listened to herself, trying to determine the severity of the damage. Indeed, Leylan saw itself as a house that was inspected by its owner after a devastating storm. Was it still habitable at all?

[i]> First take a deep breath. It was just an argument. <, she thought and at the same moment would have liked to laugh out loud. An argument can be a sharp gust of wind, sometimes an unsightly storm itself, but this was like a tornado and it had shaken Leylan's foundation.There wasn't much to say about its foundation - it started and ended with Kai.
> I keep running away, I'm the greatest coward God has ever let loose on this world! But last time I had no choice, too much was at stake. Today, however, there is no reason to run away, not this time. <, she thought and suddenly Kais Alitz appeared before her inner eye.
> Damn it, how can he say something like that ?! How long have I fought against his gruff manner and always believed in the good in him. Is that the thanks for that? <"Mariam ..."
The hated name hissed away and her fingernails dug deep into the flesh. Suddenly it was clear in front of her, inevitable and it would certainly help to improve her mood. Her mouth twisted in a grin, then her jaws clenched hard. Leylan knew that Ray had only recently met Mariam and her team - he would know where their goal was.

"Ray, this is Leylan ..."
"Leylan? Oh thank god, where are you?" Ray interrupted.
She cut him rudely: "Anyway, listen: Tell me where Mariam and her team could be?"
He was taken aback by the commanding tone, he brooked no further discussion and did not seem a stranger to Leylan.
"Wh- What do you want from them? So as far as I know, they mostly train in the old warehouse. 35th Street at the harbor. But what are you going to do?"
-CLICK-
As fast as she could she made the way to the harbor. Shortly before the warehouse in question, she slid to a stop and first climbed onto the roof to take a look inside. No doubt several members of the Saint Shields trained under her. However, there was no trace of Mariam. There was a deep rumble from the beach and then a bright, cheering voice. Leylan raised his head and saw a huge Bit Beast a few meters away in front of the crystal clear water. The Bit Beast was shaped like a shark ...~ The sun sank slowly into the water and gave the sea an almost magical effect. In front of this fairytale backdrop, Leylan stood, bent over, and examined her work. Mariam lay curled up and with a contorted face at her feet, with both hands she tried to stop the bleeding of a deep shoulder wound. "Honor to those who deserve it and pain to those who deserve it." Leylan hissed and wiped his bleeding lip with the back of his hand. "We'll talk another time if you're able to.", Grinning contemptuously, she looked down at Mariam. "And that won't be all too soon."
Without giving Mariam a single look, she turned and started walking back. Tyson and Hilary had organized a big barbecue to celebrate the Justice 5 tournament they had won