Hey...this is our first story. Flames will be laughed at, tortured, and eventually will die in a fire.

This is the basic story:

When Kai's team starts to bully Rei, Kai feels a strange obligation to protect him. But what started out as harmless pranks quickly turned into abuse. And when Rei gets injured so badly he is rushed to the ER, Kai has to choose: his cherished friendship (and confused feelings for Rei), or his team, and his overwhelming desire to win.

Hope you enjoy it! Remember what we said about flames. You can flame if you want, but it won't really bother us. BWAHAHA!!!

DISCLAIMER:

We do not own Beyblade. And if we did, it would NOT be a kids' show.

CHAPTER ONE

…Something simple, like an accident, can turn into something horrible…

…Here's how the story goes…

It all started with soda. Yes, soda. Three sodas, to be exact. You're not reading this wrong. It was just after lunch and Kai was walking back to his team's room. He was annoyed, and slightly pissed off. He had been up all night training for the past few days, and had gone without proper sleep. The smallest of things set him off. Like running into someone.

As he fell, he hit his head on a doorknob. That did it. He stood angrily and, without looking to see who it was, hissed, "Watch where you're going, baka!"

"Oh…sorry, Kai," came a small voice.

Kai looked down. It was Rei, who had fallen down as well and who had a blush on his face.

Kai sighed. "It's all right. I'm irritable. But seriously, watch where you're going."

Kai gave his hand to Rei and the hybrid took it. As Rei stood, Kai looked at him carefully and noticed that Rei was wet. Wet and sticky. Gross.

Rei looked at the ground. "So…I'll see you around, then?" His voice sounded sad.

The phoenix watched him as he turned the corner and vague thoughts filled his head. Then, one vague thought turned into a full-blown concern. Why was Rei wet? Deciding to find out, he called, "Hey, Kon!"

Kai turned the corner to see Rei standing still with his back to Kai. "Yeah, Kai?"

Dranzer's owner walked up to him. "Why are you wet?"

"No reason," the hybrid replied, trying to pull a strand of hair out of his eyes. The hair was sticking to his eyelashes. "And it certainly doesn't involve your tea…" Rei stopped abruptly. He could feel Kai's gaze on him, although he was forcefully looking down. "Ne – never mind. Bye."

The Neko started to walk away with astounding bravado, but felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Rei…what happened?" Kai's voice was sharp and demanding, and Rei felt himself being turned around quickly and harshly.

After a long, fierce glaring battle, Rei gave in. "Well…your team invited me to go for a soda. Well, I got a soda…just not the way I expected. They were nice enough to give me three…" Rei looked down. Was that…a tear? No, it couldn't be.

"Rei…what did they do?"

"I told you. They gave three sodas to me…well, they gave three sodas to my hair, anyway."

Kai's hand slipped off Rei's shoulder and fell to hang loosely at his side. He was dumbfounded. "I – I'm sorry, Rei…" And he found that he truly was.

Rei gave him a small, disbelieving smile. "I'll bet you are." The Neko left, leaving Kai staring after him in shock and annoyance. But this time, he was annoyed at his team…something that made him wary and more upset than usual.

Rei opened the door to the room of the White Tiger X team. Poking his head inside, he gave a sigh of relief. No one was there. He walked in, hoping his own team would not find out what had happened. Knowing them, they were likely to get protective. And that would end badly for at least one someone.

The door to the Blitzkreig Boys' rooms was pulled open quite roughly and slammed shut. Kai Hiwatari was pissed. And poor Tala! He was the only one in the room. Boy, was he in for a…treat…

Tala was sitting on the couch, flipping through channels. "Kai."

"Don't 'Kai' me. Why did you do that to Rei?"

Tala looked over at Kai, amused. "Do what to that freak?"

Kai's fuse was very, very short. "You know exactly 'what.' Don't try to play this off."

Tala turned back to the television, trying to hide the smirk that was creeping onto his face. "Oh, that. Heh. That was a complete accident. We didn't mean to make a fool out of him."

Kai finally exploded. "Accident? Accident? Tala, Rei was almost crying when I met him in the hallway. He said you were nice enough to give his hair three sodas. That was some 'accident.' Of course. You didn't mean to. I understand completely." With a roll of his eyes, Kai stuffed his anger down…for the moment.

Tala looked him in the eye and said, with cruel amusement, "He was crying? Why do you care what we do to that halfwit?"

Kai was taken aback. "Er…" Why did he care so much? "That is not your concern…halfwit? Rei is not…dumb…"

Tala had given up all pretense of hiding his smirk; indeed, he was laughing silently and rocking back and forth. "You," he said between bouts of laughter, "need to sleep more. You know it's bad when you stand up for an idiot like that Neko-Jin."

Furious with Tala, the rest of the team, and himself, Kai stormed to his own room and slammed the door roughly. He would deal with the rest of his team later. Hopefully their legs were feeling up to a night's worth of laps. For now, though, he would take to heart the one piece of Tala's cruel ramblings and sleep.

Unfortunately, sleep wouldn't come. Again, vague thoughts began to form in his mind, and although he had trouble grasping even one, eventually a few stood out as clearly as if someone had shouted them in his ear.

Why was he so worried about what happened to Rei?

He thought for a while, and then a plausible answer came: he was used to being

Rei's captain, and, as a captain, he needed to be concerned about his teammates.

"Yeah…that's it," he mused sleepily.

Kai yawned and settled himself down into the soft bed. As he closed his eyes, another thought popped into his head, making him irritated again.

But maybe it's because Rei is a close friend…

Kai shook himself. "I don't have friends. I like being alone. It's easier that way." Now irritated at himself for thinking such nonsense, he realized he wasn't getting any sleep today either. He got up and started to pace back and forth, trying (and failing) to push Rei out of his mind.

After a long shower, Rei finally had washed the soda out of his hair and eyes and off his face. Remembering suddenly that Mr. Dickinson wanted to talk to him about his team, he set off. He was on his way back from the office when it happened.

REI'S POV

THUD. You know, I've always been a klutz. I was just walking along when I just happened to trip over…Dranzer? No, not the bird. The beyblade. I got up on my knees and picked it up. Kai must've dropped it when I ran into him. Oh! He was battling tomorrow. He would need Dranzer back!

I stood and headed for his room. I knocked on the door, hoping they weren't there. They were.

"Well…if it isn't the kitty. How purrrrfect," Brian sneered. Oh, give me a break, will ya?

"I came to give Dranzer back to Kai. He…"

"What? You stole it?" Brian's glare was ice cold.

"No! I…we…"

"Shut it. You probably fixed it so Kai would lose. We'll need to fix that."

I couldn't move. Brian grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me (rather roughly, I must say) into the room. "Tala," Brian hissed, "get Kai. He has an…unwanted visitor."

Tala sneered at me before knocking on Kai's door. Brian left and I felt incredibly small and insignificant. I could hear Kai and Tala's discussion, and then it happened. The final straw.

END REI'S POV

"Kai! You have a visitor!" Kai's door opened. "The halfwit's here to see you," Tala said.

Kai blinked. "Halfwit?"

"Yeah. That so-called human named Rei," came the disgusted answer.

"Rei's not a half…"

"He's stupid…and half cat. He's a monster." The sentence was said almost too loudly. Kai didn't notice that Rei had suddenly shaded his eyes. Tala continued his tirade. "Get him out of here before he contaminates this place. He'll probably shed everywhere, and I don't want his nappy hair on my bed, thank you very much."

Everyone's head turned as the door was suddenly slammed shut. On the table, Kai saw his missing beyblade. Dranzer.

Rei had his back against the door, knees bent slightly, holding himself up with his hands. He couldn't stop his face from turning red; nor could he stop the silent tears that were making their ways down his cheeks.

END CHAPTER ONE

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