My first original-Beyblade-only fic in a while, and I know, it's short. Written mostly as an attempt to get rid of writer's block, and because the last line of this fic has been written out on a piece of paper on my desk for at least six months begging me to write the rest of it.

Name taken from one of my favourite pieces from the English dub OST, which I do not own the rights to, etc etc.

Rise Above The Storm

Hiro once told me that a blader should soar through a beybattle like an eagle through a storm, finding the perfect moment to lift our wings into the night and strengthen them with the winds that give us the power to rise above the turmoil and win.

Whenever I think of that analogy, I also think of Kai.

Because Kai is a very strange man.

I've known that ever since I met him, really. It isn't that he's always quiet (which he isn't – he sings in the shower if he thinks no-one else is awake). It isn't that he's always appearing and disappearing. In fact, I find it stranger when he's here for more than two days straight than when he's flitting about like an absent-minded butterfly between the dojo, his grandfather's home and wandering.

He's just... unreadable. I'm usually a pretty good judge of character, you know. You can ask Maxie or Ray or Kenny about that and they'll tell you straight off that I can usually work out what someone's about after a few minutes of talking to them. But Kai? Kai I can't get.

Whenever I think I've worked him out, he throws all my assumptions back in my face and forces me to start again from the beginning. Oh, I trust him, certainly. He's tricksy, and flighty, and more than a little selfish, and he never stays long in one place but he's dependable. When push comes to shove, he's got my back every single time, and will probably be the one death-glaring whoever has decided to do the shoving. I've got his back too, though he has an unfortunate habit of turning that same back on me whenever I try.

That's where I lose him. He's strong, almost unbearably so. Every time we battle, even if we're not going about it seriously, it's out of this world. Dranzer's flame can't be put out even by the strongest gale that Dragoon commands. Every turn his blade makes is as crisp as new paper, crackling with energy, and its attacks are like paper-cuts – it may not seem like much at the time, but it hurts like anything for ages afterwards. His control is perfect, more than perfect. I could watch him battle for hours and I still wouldn't be able to pin down just what it is about his technique that gets such good results.

But every now and then we end up on opposite sides of the dish, and that tremendous power is brought to bear against my dragon. I can answer it – there's a good reason why I'm the champion – but every single time the same thing happens. I get stronger through battling him.

Now, this is not unusual. It would be unusual if I didn't get stronger through battling strong opponents. The thing about battling Kai, though, is that I get so much stronger. Against Maxie or Ray, I'll have to pull out all the stops to beat them because they're so good. Against Kai, I have to go beyond my limits, nearly destroy my blade and invent a few more tricks - and even then the outcome isn't set in stone. It doesn't matter where I am, Kai pushes me to the next level and beyond.

He is extraordinary, and I know that if I live to be one hundred I will not meet another like him. With his strength behind me, I can do anything. With his strength against me, I can become anything.

So sometimes I ask myself – and I still don't have an answer – is Kai the storm? Or is he the wings that carry me above it?