Author's note:

I don't own beyblade or it's characters.

Here's another fic to keep us both busy, I do need another hobby...

This story takes place 15 years after the American anime series, some nods to the manga, but only slightly.

[] Represents speaking in Russian, or any other foreign language to me.

Welp, hope you enjoy this.

UPDATE:

I've made a play list for this fic, with changing the name to Carnival of Rust (By Poets of the Fall)

Each chapter will have a song to go with it, that will help build the suspense and feelings of Kai and Ray. The song may speak for the flashbacks, the whole chapter, or the whole of their emotions. I recommend checking out the songs, the chapter names are the song names, I don't own any of them as they belong to Poets of the Fall, all the songs I have picked out belong to them.

Normal POV

"I've made up my mind, Tyson. I'm sorry it has to be like this…" Ray trailed, prying Tyson's fingers from his arm where Tyson had clamped onto him for dear life.

"You can't just leave the team, not after everything we've been through!" Tyson dug his heels into the wooden floors of his dojo, barely slowing Ray down from his attempts at leaving.

"Please, Ray. There has to be another way, wait till Kai comes back and we'll talk this over. You can't just leave him, can you?" Tyson pleaded, his grip on Ray's arm loosening as he could feel Ray's muscles relax under his touch.

"It's because of him… That I have to do this…" Ray stopped his attempts of walking away, Tyson's hand falling from Ray's arm as he became to stunned to speak.

"W… Why? I thought… You two were happy?" Tyson mumbled, Ray only shook and hung his head as he stared at his feet.

Without another word from either of the boys, and those who had been watching it all unfold from the safety of the couch, Ray stomped down the hall to his room to fetch his things. Unbeknownst to them all that Kai had indeed been there to witness it all, hidden off in the dark corner by the front door, slipping inside after hearing the shouting match from outside.

"What do we do Tyson?" Max asked, his voice wavering as he peeked over the back of the couch.

"I don't think there's anything we can do…" Tyson mumbled, fighting back his tears as he clenched his fists at his side.

Without a sound Kai slipped back through the front door, the soft click going unheard by the others in the living room. He waited outside the front of the gate, leaning up against the cold stone that ran the property of the Granger's home. Heart pounding in his chest, he had never anticipated this happening, nor had he ever been in situation where he had to deal with this before.

The minutes ticked on and he caught sight of a taxi pulling up the road, stopping at the corner by the sidewalk in front of him. A few more minutes passed and he could hear the soft footsteps he had known all too well, for a second his heart stopped as Ray came up and stood beside him, bags clutched in one hand while another was slung over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Kai." Ray began, though he didn't dare look beside him as he kept his eyes focused on the taxi in front of him.

"Are you?" Came Kai's cold and harsh reply, his eyes opening and starring off past the taxi as if he didn't see it there.

"Not really… No…" Ray said sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

Kai's muscles tensed at the reply, but all he did in response was assume his natural cold and off distant look with a snort.

"Least you're honest, for once." Kai managed, after a few seconds of silence had loomed over them.

As Ray went to speak the taxi driver honked the horn, causing him to close his mouth and start for the taxi without a word. He filled the trunk with his bags and slipped into the back of the cab, not once looking back at Kai as the taxi drove off down the road. Through it all Kai had been screaming in his head for Ray to turn around, look at him or say something. His heart shattered when the door of the taxi had closed, Ray didn't look back and next thing he knew, he was standing there; alone. A cold shiver running down his back, and he bit his bottom lip.

Kai's POV

Opening my eyes to the darkness of my room, I laid there starring up at my ceiling. It was spinning lazily around in circles, giving off a soft whirring sound as it spun. Replaying the dream in my head, though it was more than just a dream; it was a memory and a painful one at that. But it wasn't just a dream or a memory either, it was a nightmare and a constant reminder of my pathetic life.

Having to still my breathing a bit, I rested my head under my arms; sleep wasn't going to come back to me now and I didn't feel like getting out of bed just yet. It had been what; 15 years since that had happened? Though it didn't matter how long it had been, that memory was always as clear as the day it happened. It happened so fast and without warning, one day we were happy and the next Ray was up and gone. No word or reason why; I was such a fool.

I had never been in love before, he was my first; everything. I thought he was happy with me; guess not. I was happy with him, we started dating shortly after the third world championships. Having come near death I gathered the balls to tell him how I felt, he seemed overjoyed and not repulsed. Apparently, he had liked me too; how stupid I was back then.

We were both 16 and young, but for a while it didn't seem to matter how young we were. I had just turned 17 August second when he had left, and he'd be turning 17 on October eighth. The guys and Hilary were all set on throwing a party, while I was only concerned with the after party. Him leaving the way he did, threw all that planning to the wind. I ended up staying with them for another year, taking over Hiwatari Enterprises from my grandfather as I came of age and took the business with me to Russia.

Tyson insisted we go after him, though no one knew where to even begin looking. Sure, we knew he'd be going back to his village, but we didn't know where that was, Dickenson didn't even know where it was. The others tried to be sympathetic when around me, but I didn't need their pity. At the time I supposed I deserved it, my life was going too well for the gods to let me enjoy that bit of happiness. So, they took him away from me, just to remind me that I don't deserve to live a happy life. Being a Hiwatari cemented that fact, my life was never a pleasant one.

Beyond feeling heartbroken, I felt angry. I had given someone hold of my heart, for them to turn around and crush it. Voltaire would have scoffed at the idea, the great Kai Hiwatari being such a weak man to have his heart broken; he always said love was a weakness and he was right. I never made the same mistake twice, occasionally I'd have a lay here and there with some random person but it never meant anything. More than half of them were just after my wealth anyways, and I deemed them to be beneath me; because they were. Nobody was going to make a fool of me again.

It'd be good to say that I had changed into a better, more compassionate man, but that would be a lie. I became cold and hard, I crushed the competing companies for full supreme reign over the military arms distribution. Those who crossed me were dealt with, quietly and swiftly; leaving them on the verge of death each time as a warning. After a few years, nobody dared crossed me.

I lost contact with the others, though at times I'd catch news reports of them as they continued along the path of Beyblading. Of course, there was never any news on Ray. He could have been dead for all I knew, and I didn't care. Loving him was a mistake, even meeting him was a mistake. The constant worrying, I did when we were a team, the nights I'd stay up late to make sure he came home safely were all a waste of my time.

Normal POV

A soft murmur emitted from under the cover beside Kai, waking him from his inner musing as the tuft of pale blonde hair poked over the hem of the sheets and stirred beside him. Dull green eyes fluttering open and blinking a few times in the darkness of the room, Kai only glanced over at the man beside him. He was a smaller, younger man than he was and Kai hadn't asked his age prior to bringing him to his bed that night.

"Hey baby." A pale arm snuck out from under the covers, reaching out to touch Kai's bare chest.

"Out." Came the command, not looking or moving from the younger man's hand.

"What?" The hand stopped, hanging between them, dull green eyes wide.

"I said, out." Kai deepened his tone.

"It's four in the fucking morning!" The pale blonde man sat up in the bed in a huff.

"That's my problem?" Kai asked, settling down into the warmth of his bed.

"Fuckin unbelievable." The blonde shook his head, pulling his naked self out from under the warm thick blankets. Shuffling around the dark for his clothes before he left the room in a flurry of anger, cursing under his breath as he slammed the door shut.

Kai didn't react, only closing his eyes as he let sleep take over him. The warmth from the other man left the other side of the bed, leaving it cold to the touch and he kept closer to his side of the bed as if it offended him. He didn't have dreams of memories again, able to sleep peacefully until his alarm sounded and woke him.

He started his day as he always did, being a terrible creature of habit. First with a warm shower, dressing in a dark suit for work after drying and combing his slate bangs back out of his face, tying the dark-blue strands in a low pony tail that fell around his shoulder blades. Having two cups of coffee with his breakfast; provided by the house maid. His usual morning phone call to Tala, getting his list of meetings and plans for the day before heading out the door all by ten o'clock. Though the habit was broken the moment he opened the front door, pausing in the doorway as crimson eyes locked onto another set of crimson eyes.

The boy, looking to be 15 years old, stood on the porch of his home. Standing just under Kai's chin, he was visibly shaking from the cold; in a small thin jacket that looked worn out and too big for him to be wearing. His skin was pale but his cheeks and nose were tinted red and stung from the bitterness of the air. The boy wore a dark blue wool cap, short black hair poking out around the rim and where the sun caught it, Kai could make out the natural slate colored highlights within the locks.

"I'm sorry sir… But… Are you Kai? Kai Hiwatari?" The boy shook more as another gust of wind caught him, clinging to his jacket to keep from freezing completely. His legs shook, only wearing brown colored shorts that looked ragged and tattered; much like his jacket wearing black cotton slippers on his feet.

"I don't do charity boy, now move." Kai's hand rested on the edge of the door, and when the boy didn't move his grip tightened against the wood. "I don't like repeating myself." He growled between clenched teeth.

"I'm not here for that." Shaking, the boy reached into his pocket.

Kai tensed, quietly reaching behind his back and gripping the handle of his gun that rested in its holster; hidden under his jacket. He kept his hand on the handle, having unclasped the leather strap that held the gun in its place as he watched the boy dig out a piece of paper and held it out at arm's length.

"What is this?" Kai sneered, his hand not leaving the handle of his gun as he looked from the paper to boy's face.

"Please… Just read it." The boy said, teeth chattering as he used his free hand to keep his jacket closed around his small frame.

Kai released the door and snatched the paper from the boy's fingers, who quickly drew them back into the sleeves of his jacket. Kai's other hand not leaving his backside, though his grip loosened slightly on the guns handle. His eyes danced over the paper a few times, glancing up at the boy every now and then.

"You really expect me to believe this shit?" Kai scoffed, tossing the paper back at the boy, getting carried away by the wind.

"I have no reason to lie to you. What it says is the truth, whether you want to believe it or not." Even though the boy was freezing down to the bone, his tone rivaled Kai's own and he gave a pointed stare at the man.

Kai's eyes narrowed, he never took well to when others spoke to him in such a way; it made his blood boil. Crimson locked onto crimson again, snow started drift down around them but went unnoticed. Kai released his grip on his gun, stepping forward as the boy took a step back, his eyes not leaving Kai's as he continued to glare at him. Closing the door behind him, Kai reached out quickly and grabbed the boy by the wrist and started pulling him off the steps of his porch.

"We'll see about that." Kai growled, throwing open the door to the car that was waiting for them and shoved the boy inside the warmness of the car.

Kai slid in after him, slamming the door closed. Once settled the driver, without a word, pulled out of the driveway and down the fresh snow-covered roads. The boy sat quietly beside Kai, starring out the window as he watched the city of Moscow roll by him, rubbing his hands together to get the feeling back in his numb fingers. Kai didn't bother giving him a second glance, pulling out his phone as he went to Tala's number and placed it to his ear as it started to ring.

["Cancel the twelve o'clock meeting, somethings come up."] The boy turned slightly, not understanding a word Kai was speaking.

["Is everything alright?"] Came Tala's emotionless reply, truly he could care less, he knew Kai well enough that he wasn't in any mortal danger.

["It better be…"] Kai mumbled, then hung up before Tala could respond.

Stuffing his phone in the pocket on the inside of his suit jacket he rested against the leather seats of the car, pressing a button that caused the divider window to roll down slightly.

["Take us to the hospital."] With that he pressed the button again, the window rolling up.

"You got a name?" Kai asked, his voice causing the boy beside him to jump in his seat.

"Kain, it was on the paper I gave you…" The boy murmured, fiddling with the ends of his jacket sleeves that ran past his fingers.

"How did you get here?" He wasn't truly that interested, but he figured if the kid had ulterior motives he'd more than likely slip something up.

"Hitchhiked most of the way…" The boy shrugged, as if it was no big deal.

The two fell silent once more, the ride to the hospital taking much longer as the roads became littered in fresh fallen snow. When they had arrived Kai stepped out, holding the door open for Kain as he slid out from the back. Kai slammed the door and again, stalking off towards the entrance of the ER doors. Kain following slowly behind him, hands stuffed into his jacket pockets.

Kai's POV

An hour had gone by that we had been in the hospital, we had given the nurse a spit sample and were now sitting together in a small room. Kain sat on the bed, kicking his feet out to keep busy; even though it was irritating to watch. I kept to the corner of the room, my muscles tense and my back rigid against the plastic chair. With every minute passing, my patience was growing thin.

None of this made sense, today wasn't supposed to happen like this. I had been planning on closing a deal with another rivaling company, not drag some kid to the hospital and get a damn paternity test. This had to be some kind of sick joke, I don't even know why I'm bothering with it. It's impossible for him to be my child, I've never laid with a woman. Though it wasn't a woman's name that had been signed on that birth certificate, it was Ray's name while my name had been placed under the father's section. It's a good thing the wind took it off, though I'm sure this kid could produce more fake copies.

"Mr. Hiwatari?" A nurse knocked on the door and I stood, eager to get this over with.

She smiled between Kain and me, looking down at her clipboard and back up as her smile grew.

"Congratulations, it's a boy." Was that supposed to be funny? Cus I sure as hell was not laughing.

"I told you." Kain scoffed at me, though I ignored him.

"You're wrong, he's not my son!" For once I lost control of my vocal chords, shouting louder than I had intended and the nurse turned whiter than a sheet of paper.

"We can do a blood sample, if you'd like instead. But these results are a perfect match." Her voice was shaking and my blood was boiling now, fists clenching to my sides.

"I can't have a son, I'm fucking gay!" I didn't care if the world new, it didn't change who I was or how people feared me.

"There's nothing more I can do sir, I'm sorry." The nurse looked to be on the verge of tears now and before I lashed out again she ran out of the room.

Kain sighed from the bed and I turned my attention to him, looking him over again quickly. This wasn't right; he had my eye and skin color, my high cheeks bones and the slate colored hair mixed with the black, raven, on his head. If it had been possible, he would have been the perfect mash-up of Ray and myself, but it wasn't possible.

"Who put you up to this, what do you get out of all this?" I snapped at him and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Nobody put me up to this, dad doesn't even know I came here." He retorted, crossing his arms. That was another thing, his mannerisms matched my own.

"Don't test me boy, this isn't possible. You are not my son, so tell me now what company you work for."

"I don't work for any 'company', you dumbass." He sneered, if my blood pressure hadn't been high before, it sure as hell was now.

"Excuse you!?" I bellowed, narrowing my eyes towards him and taking a step towards him. Shooting him on my door step would have been a better choice than dealing with this.

"I'm your son, I already told you this. The nurse even told you this." He gestured towards the closed door, but my eyes didn't leave his.

"You know what, this has been fun kid." I straightened my back, I was the adult here, I didn't have to deal with this. "Come near me again and I'll kill you." I threatened and started to walk past him to the door.

"I'm not letting you leave just like that. Do you know what I went through to get here?" This kid had some balls, to have grabbed my wrist and talk to me in such a way. He may have looked dirt poor, but whoever was paying him to do this must have been paying him good to keep up this whole charade.

"Frankly I don't give a damn, now stop this stupid nonsense and get out before I…" I don't know what possessed me to look back at him, but when I did I was caught off guard.

His eyes, his pupils to be exact, were slits mirroring that of a cat's when angry or in the light. I had seen the other neko-jins, Ray's, pupils do the same plenty of times when they were angry. Through his parted lips I could see two fangs sticking under his upper lip, looking less like me and more like Ray would have when angered.

"H… How?" My voice betrayed me again, and I spoke barely above a whisper.

"Oh, did I convince you now?" He said with a mock tone, releasing my wrist and crossing his arms over his chest again.

I glanced around the room, even though we were the only ones in there and grabbed his wrist, hauling him out of the room and back to the car. This wasn't making any sense to me, but somehow, I was convinced now. He didn't try to pull away or protest, having thrown him back into the back of the car I slid down next to him, the window rattling as I slammed the door shut once more.

"Don't speak." I cut him off as I saw him open his mouth to say something, he obeyed and closed his mouth.

I called Tala, being my secretary and all, I had him cancel all meetings for the rest of the day, to say I was less pleased than having to do that would be an understatement; I was livid. I had us taken to the office all the same though, Tala would be there and I was hoping he'd be able to give me some insight on this.

"That's impossible Kai, you're sounding like a mad man." Tala scoffed, having done his walk around Kain a few times as he inspected him.

"Don't you think I know that?" I said through gritted teeth, resting my forehead into the palm of my hand as I leaned against my desk.

Kain was sitting on the couch across the office, looking bored and more annoyed than before. He had snarled and growled at Tala as he had inspected him, finally having enough of it he put up a good distance between him and the redhead.

"What are you going to do? It's obvious he's a neko-jin, but how can he be your son?" Tala asked, glancing over his shoulder at Kain one last time before resting his arms across his chest.

"How the fuck should I know? I haven't seen Ray in fifteen years, haven't heard from him, nobody has." Then it hit me, and I sat up from my desk. "Boy." I barked out and he looked up at me, frowning at my choice of word from which I had called him.

"It's Kain." He narrowed his eyes at me, and I gave him my own pointed stare.

"How old are you?" Tala was looking between me and him as we each spoke, his head swiveling on his neck.

"Fifteen, my birthday is June twelfth."

I didn't respond, quickly gathering a sheet of paper and pen I started to do the math in my head while writing out a timeline on the paper. Ray had left us October fourth, four days before his birthday. Give or take a few days, June was nine months from when he had left us. The grip on my pen faltered and it clacked against the desk, rolling off onto the floor. Tala leaned over the desk, observing what I had written out and sighed loudly before straightening his back.

"Is this why Ray left? Do you know?" Tala broke the silence as I was to stun to speak, it still wasn't making any sense; Ray was a man.

"Dad never told me anything about that stuff, he just told me that I was his and his ex-boyfriends kid. I thought it weird at first, but he explained it to me and that being a neko-jin allowed him the ability to get pregnant if he were with another man." The boy shrugged, acting as if this wasn't as serious as it sounded.

"How did you find me then?" I managed, if Ray hadn't told him my name then how did he know who I was?

"He wouldn't tell me anything, and I got curious about my other father. I mean, who wouldn't be when you have two biological dads? So, I did some digging, a lot of digging, and came across an old article about the team you two had been on. Your name was listed under your picture, and just from looking at you I knew you were my father. It took me a while to find my birth certificate, so thanks for letting it get carried in away in the wind." He explained to us, Tala looked back down at me as if silently telling me he was impressed at Kain's detective skills. I was more pissed at his tone with me.

"You said Ray doesn't know you came?" He shook his head no, but he didn't seem to be feeling all that guilty for having ran away from home.

"What are you trying to accomplish by finding me? Surely you don't expect me to go back with you to see him?" Even though my words were harsh, I could feel my heart beat faster at the thought of seeing Ray; even if it was only to beat the living shit out of him for doing this to me.

"Well. It is almost Christmas, so yeah. That was sort of my plan." He shrugged, he was too cocky for his own good. Something I could see him inheriting from Ray.

I leaned back into my chair, mulling over the idea a bit while Tala and Kain looked on at me. Did I want to see him, ask him why he ran off because he was pregnant? I knew I didn't want to get back with him, and I definitely didn't want to be a father to Kain. Even if I wanted to, if Ray wanted to, the way I ran my business wasn't safe for either of them. My life was always in danger, competing companies were always trying to take me down. Luckily, I had employed Bryan and Spencer as the muscle that dealt with those problems, Ian worked in the developmental part of the company, but he knew how to kill if need be; just like Tala and I did.

"So, what do you say Kai?" Kain called from the couch, wearing a smile that allowed one of his fangs to poke over his bottom lip.

I simply nodded, if anything I was just doing it so I could strangle Ray to death. Tala gave me a questioning look, but didn't voice his opinion to me. Kain's smile widened and he clapped his hands together.

"Great! When do we leave?"

Author's note 2:

For those of you that read Do Us Part, yes. I am reusing the character Kain. I fell in love with his concept design, even if this isn't the same one, he looks the same and acts the same as the other. This story does not take part in that universe, as this is a separate story line.

I got their birth dates offline, there were a few too choose from, I read August 2nd was the official date for Kai given by the creator, but there were other's also listed, so I used that one. While other dates were listed for Ray, but to have him younger than Kai, I went for October 8th.