I don't own Beyblade or any of the characters, so please don't sue me.

I'm alive! I just recently got back into writing—I've had a ton of tests, and my cousins have moved in with me, causing mass chaos, so this story will be slow-going, but I'll try to make it worth your while. And ff.net isn't letting me format this, so forgive me if the spacing is screwed up.

Kai/Rei slash eventually, Max/Emily, past tense Tyson/Max…and any other pairings I feel like tossing in. This takes place when they're all twenty-one or twenty-two, give or take.

What Wasn't There Before—Prologue

Rei arrived home just in time to hear the phone ringing, and picked it up as he entered his room. "Hello?" He brightened. "Max, hey, what's up?" he greeted. Surprise dawned in his eyes. "You finally did it? Congratulations, Max! Uh huh...so soon?...Oh, I see. Of course I'll be there, Kai too, even if I have to drag him all the way there." He listened for a few more minutes, and a question occurred to him as his eyes darkened. "Max...did you call Tyson?" he asked. "He did? That's good. I'm glad. Yeah. Okay, I'll be looking for it...okay. Yeah, I don't think he'll agree, but I can try. Yeah. Sure thing. Bye."

He hung up and set his things down, padding down the hall to Kai's room. "Kai? You there?" he asked, knocking. Even though they had been living together for years, he was still polite when it came to entering Kai's room.

"Yeah," replied Kai's voice, and Rei knew it meant, 'come in, the door's open.' So he did, pushing open the large mahogany doors and sitting down on Kai's bed. "Guess what?" he announced, as Kai turned from his desk to regard him silently.

Kai just arched an eyebrow, and Rei continued, "Max and Emily are getting married!" Kai pondered this for a moment, then said, "Took them long enough."

Rei stifled a laugh. "Sorry they couldn't do it fast enough for you, Kai," he replied, amused. "But they're getting married in two months. We're invited, it's in America."

Kai paused. "Does Tyson know?" he asked. Rei nodded. "Yeah, and apparently he took it quite well," he replied, shrugging. "In any case, he and Kenny are going. Max said he was inviting all the old teams. The All-Stars, of course, the Majestics, the White Tigers...hell, he said something about inviting the Demolition Boys."

Kai wasn't too surprised by this. "And let me guess. You promised him I would come," he said dryly. Rei fixed him with a stern look. "You *are* going," he said. "Max is our friend and our old teammate. You owe it to him."

"I don't owe anybody anything," replied Kai. Rei arched an eyebrow. "You still owe me for convincing Muramoto to join that merger," he said. "You're never going to forgive me for that, are you," stated Kai, annoyed.

"You set me up on a date with your business partner's *older* daughter–she was like, thirty–just so you could get him to sign a stupid contract," pointed out Rei. "You agreed," replied Kai defensively. "Yeah, and then it didn't matter 'cause you ended up buying him out!" retorted Rei. "Look, just go, pretend to be happy for Max's sake, and I'll consider the debt paid in full."

Kai eyed him suspiciously. "...Fine," he agreed at last. "You also have to perform at the reception," said Rei, smirking. Kai blanched. "What?!" he exclaimed, glaring at Rei. Rei shrugged. "Hey, it's either that or you stay in my debt forever..." he said, knowing that Kai hated owing anything to anyone.

"Fine. But then this whole Muramoto thing will never be mentioned again," said Kai, glaring at him. Rei nodded. "Sure thing, Kai," he replied cheerfully. Kai just muttered something in Russian and went back to work.

What do you think? A good start? Please review and let me know what you think. I'll try to get the next chapter posted by next week.