The next tournament was in Russia, which is why we stayed there. Our team - the Demolition Boys - were the absolute stars and undisputed favorites here. There was no one who didn't know us and no matter where we went, the eyes of passers-by looked at us with admiring glances. Because our appearance was elegant, our tactics unique and our strength overwhelming. There was no one who could seriously take on us, or even came close to holding a candle to us. That's why I was looking forward to this tournament - like every other before - rather confidently and yet also bored.

The next fight in the tournament was on. The Bladebreakers and the Demolition Boys faced each other. Next up was Ray. They did not yet know which of their opponents would fight. The next fight for the Demolition Boys was for me to do. But I didn't want it and stayed in the corridor until I got a push from Tala, who was standing right behind me and was supposed to take care of me. No, I wasn't afraid of the fight. No…. , it was more the fear of seeing my brother again. I heard he'd become a very good blader. But it was the first time, in all these years, that I saw him again. Should I be mad at him for just leaving me back then? Could I even do it? He had just left, escaped from this nightmare, this terrible childhood and this organization. He apparently forgot about me. In any case, it made the impression, because he showed no emotion when he saw me. So much went through my head until I finally got to the arena. I was actually very good at hiding my feelings and everything. But this time I just couldn't make it, and it took a lot of effort trying to focus on this fight.

I was really happy that I didn't have to fight my brother. But I couldn't help but keep looking over at him during the fight. Fortunately for me, he didn't seem to really notice. I also looked up at Boris a few times. But there was no friendliness to be seen in my face and pure hate was reflected in my eyes. I noticed how closely he was watching me and after every further minute that passed he became more and more irritated and this could be seen clearly in him. Until he finally said something about himself. "Now do it." As always, it wasn't a friendly tone, but we were used to that from him. Also among the fans slowly but ceaselessly - like a tidal wave - astonishment spread, which could be seen in the many questioning looks they threw at each other and the wild murmur, whereby one did not understand a single word because they were all mixed up talked what could not be overheard. But the surprise was not unjustified because it didn't take me very long until I had finished a fight.

I wanted to answer and, above all, I just couldn't Boris, since I never liked him anyway, nothing good would come of it.But I kept wondering how you could be so naive. Not understanding it, but obviously it was all just a facade, pure pretense. But everyone fell for his lousy scam. I just couldn't understand it, it was just incomprehensible to me. After all, I knew his real face and knew how he really felt. The anger grew in me too and I felt it increase further, like a saucepan full of water that was just before the boiling point. Nevertheless, of course I didn't want to show it to me, which cost me a lot of control, which is why my expression was slightly distorted because of my suppressed anger. However, I didn't want to put up with Boris snapping at me like that, even without lowering myself to his level, I wanted to tell him my opinion.

I knew that there was a very high probability that there would be consequences again. But I really didn't care at the moment. I was probably the only one who was not voluntarily in this organization, but also the only one who had no change to escape from it all. I didn't put up with everything either, it was really enough. I just wanted the little freedom that I had now and then, just to have my peace and quiet and then not let myself be turned on too. Of course, he didn't like it either. But he had to live with that. I could do whatever I wanted anyway, I was trapped in a golden cage like a bird, had no chance to escape because someone was constantly guarding me. It was really horror. My brother managed to escape as a young child. And I always hoped that one day he would come back to save me. But he never did.

Ray tried to defeat me for a long time and even though I wasn't quite at it and couldn't concentrate properly, he was still unable to defeat me, thanks to the use of my Bit-Beast. But slowly Phönix didn’t go along with the whole thing and made it unmistakably clear to me that I should finally end it. He brought me back to reality, then I focused back on the fight and only a short time later I had defeated him. Sei Blade flew straight out of the arena past him and you could see his shocked look. Then I grabbed my blade and wanted to turn around to leave the arena again. But without a comment from the side, it wasn't possible. "Well, it was about time Aki", Boris said angrily. I didn't answer him. Instead, I just glared at him and wordlessly walked past Tala, who was standing at the side of the others and had watched the fight. The next fight ended in a narrow draw for the Bladebreakers.

I walked through the corridors a bit and tried to distract myself a little and to avoid the others as well. Because I really didn't feel like it. On the way I suddenly ran into the Bladebreakers.And when I saw Kai with them, I stood frozen and couldn't move anymore. I wanted to run away, but I couldn't move. I looked at my brother the whole time. My eyes spoke volumes, but I couldn't utter a word. Should I throw all these things at him? Why did he leave me alone? Does he even remember me? Or should I leave it? No i couldn't do it. But I somehow managed to get a whisper out after a few minutes. "Kai ..." Suddenly they all looked over at me, also stopped and stopped their conversation.

"Kai? Do you know her?" Tyson asked, looking rather confused. However, he got no answer. I found it hard to take my eyes off my brother, especially since I couldn't get rid of the feeling that he recognized me after all. At least he gave the impression, even if he remained silent and seemed to ignore everything that was said. At that moment - when he met my gaze briefly - the whole facade fell away from me. I felt weak and pushed back in time. I was no longer able to mule the strong, merciless girl who defeated everyone in the arena without batting an eyelid. But now you could read every emotion in my eyes, even if I wasn't fully aware of it. My innards became knotted and my heart beat faster, I was so naive because I let a glimmer of hope grow in me that I had shed long ago. The hope that one day my brother would come back to me to save me. The silence slowly weighed down on the mood of the group and I was still in the middle of it, rooted to the spot, unable to say or do anything. However, I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I did not hear anyone approaching and therefore winced violently when I heard the loud voice of Tala.

“What are you doing here?” He seemed a little annoyed but kept his composure. I jerked around, feeling my heart beating up to my throat and hoping that he didn't notice it. I really didn't expect that, I felt caught and clenched my fists to cover up my surprise. I quickly put on an emotionless look again and holed up behind my inner wall. "That's none of your business." I replied annoyed and looked at him rather coolly and condescendingly. "Anyway ... Boris wants to see you right now." Tala just said and shrugged her shoulders. I still had it because he hadn't noticed anything. "Tsss, I don't care ..." I hissed back, but at the same time started moving because I didn't care, because I knew exactly what would happen if I were to sit down with Boris. Inside I was totally upset and confused, couldn't understand my own feelings and actually wanted to just switch them off. On the outside, however, I managed to show my usual facade, so that no one really knew what was going on inside me and what I was actually thinking about.Unfortunately, my body reacted on its own and instinctively, I couldn't prevent my last look at Kai, who looked at his teammates with interest and apparently let them chat with him. With a thick lump in my chest, I finally looked away and sighed softly so that Tala couldn't hear. "What did you want from them?" he finally broke the silence and made me look up. "Nothing ... they just happened to get in my way." I said as cool and emotionless as I could. Because it couldn't break under any circumstances, my facade had to remain in place. If I couldn't do that, everything I'd been through in the past few years would have been in vain. No! Under no circumstances should that happen. I had to concentrate on the essentials again, the encounter with Kai had totally confused me, that it was difficult for me to organize my thoughts and to suppress my feelings. However, I had no other choice and closed myself completely, isolated myself from the outside world and was now almost just a doll. At least I felt that way in part, because pupae were controlled and had no will of their own, nor did they have feelings and that was exactly what would describe my situation.

I only carried out orders and holed up behind an imaginary wall inside me, I was not allowed to show any weakness and was just a tool. Secretly I wondered how much longer I had to hold out, to be so cold. But then I asked myself what Boris could want from me and a cold shower - like a cool breeze on a clear summer night - spread over my skin and gave me goose bumps, it was an uncomfortable feeling. Nevertheless, I decided not to show anything and to keep the indifferent, emotionless manner, because that way I could still protect myself, that way I wasn't vulnerable, because nobody knew how to hurt me. Since I was on my own, it was the only and best thing I