Disclaimer: No, I don't own Beyblade, and no, I don't make money with this.

A/N:

Hello dear reader and welcome to this new story of mine!

It's going to be a bit more serious and darker than my usual writing. I'm exploring new grounds here! :D
It will be heading in a more fun direction, though, so it's really only a quick trip into the drama-genre.

So, ladies and gentlemen *drum roll* I am happy to present to you the first chapter of "A Promise Is a Promise":

A Promise Is a Promise

Chapter 1

The Other Battle

With the Justice Five tournament over and BEGA destroyed things should have been back to normal now. Should have, yes, but they weren't. As a matter of fact, Tyson wasn't sure things would ever go back to the way they were.

He looked at the person lying in the hospital bed in front of him. The naturally pale skin was even whiter than usual, only scratches and bruises adding some color to the still face. Tubes and wires seemed to be everywhere, checking vital functions and taking care of breathing and nourishment.

Kai.

Tyson started to blink fiercely as tears shot into his eyes again. Not being able to look at his friend any longer, he got up and left the room. For what must be the 100th time today he made his way to one of the vending machines. He hadn't been able to find sleep last night; his mind had been trying too hard to process everything that had happened...

Merely 24 hours earlier Tyson had been sitting on a treatment couch in one of the hospital's examination rooms. His friends and Gramps had kept urging him to let a doctor examine him after his match, so here he was.

"Say Doc, what room is my friend Kai in?" Tyson asked the doctor examining him and rubbed his hands. "I gotta tell him about the wicked battle he missed. Surely you've seen it. Wasn't it awesome?"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw his grandfather flinch. Had he said something wrong? His loud mouth was usually quicker than his brain, which made him often say things he didn't mean or probably should not have said out loud. Tyson couldn't see how anything was wrong with this question though.

He looked at the doctor expectantly.

The man cleared his throat and said, "I'm afraid that won't be possible."

"What do you mean? Oh, please don't say Kai has discharged himself and disappeared again?"

"Mr. Hiwatari is in no condition to do so. I'm sorry to inform you, Mr. Granger, but there has been a car accident in which your friend has been gravely injured."

"A car accident? I don't understand. What's going on?" Tyson demanded to know. He saw the doctor exchange looks with Gramps, who nodded slightly.

Then he explained, "After his last match Mr. Hiwatari was found unconscious in the hallway by an employee, who immediately called for an ambulance. On the way to the hospital, a car crashed into the side of the ambulance at full speed. The driver was killed instantly and the medic in the back of the ambulance died at the scene. It's a miracle your friend survived at all! However, due to impact he received various broken ribs, one of which punctured the lung, internal bleeding and a severe traumatic brain injury. This left us no choice but to put him into an artificial coma."

Tyson felt as if suddenly all energy had been drained from his body. This couldn't be! Gramps moved closer and firmly grasped his shoulder. Tyson looked up, only to see the most serious expression he'd ever seen on his grandfather's face.

"You knew?" Tyson asked in a low voice.

His grandfather looked at him with sad eyes and slowly nodded.

"But why hasn't anyone told me?"

"Dr. D and I thought it best not to tell you until after the game, homeboy," his Gramps said. "K-man would not have wanted you to miss your big game, ya know!"

"Would have wanted? Listen to yourself! You speak as if Kai is dead! He's not going to die, is he, Doctor?"

"I cannot deny that he is in a very critical condition," the doctor said. "We were able to stop the internal bleeding in an emergency surgery, as well as repair the lung and re-locate the rib that caused the puncture. As for the traumatic brain injury, all we can do for now is to wait and see how the patient responds to treatment."

Tyson's head was swimming. He couldn't comprehend anything the doctor was saying, neither did he want to. This couldn't be happening. Kai couldn't be dying. Not Kai!

Tears started to blur his vision and Tyson gritted his teeth.

"He won't die!" he said and dug his fingers into the treatment couch. "He won't!"

And then darkness closed in and Tyson lost consciousness.

When Tyson came to everything was white. For a moment he didn't know where he was and what had happened. The white color of the walls, the low beeping of machines and the strong smell of disinfectants quickly told him he was in the hospital.

Then everything came back to him.

The examination room. Kai. The coma.

This had to be a dream. It just couldn't be! No way! Kai's life couldn't be hanging by a thread. This had to be a really, really bad dream! It just had to! Tyson bit down hard on the inside of his cheeks. It hurt like hell. So he was awake. And this wasn't a dream. Tears shot into his eyes. No, please, this could not be happening!

Kai couldn't possibly be suffering from - what had the doctor called it? - a severe traumatic brain injury. What did this even mean? Whatever it was, Kai couldn't possibly have it. Right? Kai was so strong. It always seemed as if nothing and no one could harm him. And now he should be fighting for his life?

Impossible!

There had to be a mistake. Clearly this must be a misdiagnosis.

A single tear made its way down Tyson's cheek. He could not and did not want to imagine a world without Kai. After all, they still had a score to settle, right? Kai had yet to beat him in Bey-battle. He promised they'd battle again. He couldn't just go.

Thinking about it, Kai still had lots of scores to settle. With his grandfather, for example, for using him all those years! With Boris, for all he had to go through in the abbey.

No, it just couldn't be happening.

But what if… if he really… if Kai… no!

"You're not dying, Kai!" Tyson said out loud, to convince himself of his own thoughts.

"That's what I keep telling the bastard!"

Tyson quickly sat up and looked around. In the bed next to his was no other than Tala.

"Hi," the Redhead said lamely.

"Hi," Tyson replied just as lame.

With neither of them knowing what to say, they just kept eying each other. Tala looked miserable. There was barely an inch of his body that wasn't covered in white bandages and he had dark circles around his eyes.

After a while Tala said, "You look like shit."

"Thanks man, you look like life itself!" Tyson replied.

"I know. The nurses keep telling me white's totally my color!"

Tyson smiled slightly.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, Tala."

"Thanks."

A slightly awkward silence followed.

"So, um, how much longer do you have to stay in here?" Tyson picked up the small-talk.

"Only a couple more days, they want to make sure there are no aftereffects from the c-…" Tala abruptly interrupted himself. He quickly glanced over to Tyson and added, "… you know."

Tyson nodded. Oh, he knew! The coma! After his battle with Garland Tala, too, had been out for a while. It was only that Tala had been stable, so Tyson and the others hadn't worried so much.

With Kai, it was different. He could … No, Tyson refused to think about it. This was not an option!

Subconsciously, Tyson dug his fingers into the covers. For a moment, he was completely lost in his thoughts.

"Do you wanna see him?"

The sound of Tala's voice, unusually serious, snapped Tyson out of his thoughts.

He hesitated. Of course he wanted to see Kai. But seeing him would make this so very real. Tyson didn't know if he was ready for this to be real; ready to accept the fact that his friend was in an artificial coma, fighting for his life. Then again, would he ever be?

"Yes," he said his voice loud and firm.

Tala nodded and slowly put one leg after the other on the ground. It was obvious he was in a whole lot of pain, but when Tyson moved to help him he gestured him to stay away. With a pained expression he got to his feet.

"One day I'm going to return the favor," he said and reached for his drip.

Uh-oh, Garland better watch his back… For once, Tyson thought it was the smart thing to remain silent, so he followed Tala down the hall without a word.

"He's in intensive care," Tala said as he limped towards the elevators. Should Tala be even walking around like this? Tyson highly doubted that.

He instantly received an answer when he heard a nurse call out to them, "Mr. Valkov, where do you think you're going? The Doctor specifically told you not to leave your bed. I have to insist you lay back down at once." She walked towards them with the determination to get her runaway-patients back into their beds written clearly on her face. Tyson and Tala had a good head-start though.

"Quick!"

Tala used his free hand to push Tyson into the elevator. He followed and slammed his hand onto the button next to the sign that read "intensive care". Then he slumped against the elevator wall. Sweat covered his forehead and Tyson could see he was gritting his teeth. It was obvious Tala shouldn't be moving around.

Tyson caught a last glimpse of the furious nurse before the doors shut in her face and the elevator set off. Steadily it carried them upwards until they reached the top floor. The doors opened and a voice announced the intensive care unit. Tyson swallowed hard and stepped out of the elevator.

"This way," Tala said.

Slowly they made their way towards the end of the hall. Tyson's feet seemed to grow heavier with every step he took and he felt his stomach convulse. When they finally made halt he thought he was going to be sick.

Tala opened the door and said, "Go ahead."

Tyson looked at him and Tala gave him an encouraging nod. Mustering all his courage, he walked into the room.

Tyson had made it about half way into the room before he saw Kai and froze in place. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it couldn't possibly have been this bad. Beneath all the bandages, tapes and tubes Kai was barely recognizable. When reality came crashing in, tears shot into Tyson's eyes.

It was real.

His friend was in a coma.

In trance Tyson moved closer. He took a seat by Kai's bed and looked down on his former team captain. Multiple patched up cuts and large bruises covered his face. Apart from the colorful bruises, Kai's face was completely drained of color. His skin looked almost white.

Tyson lifted a shaking hand and carefully placed it onto Kai's arm. It felt warm, but not as warm as it should, so Tyson quickly pulled his hand away.

His eyes wandered back to Kai's face. So pale.

Tyson's hands were still shaking, so he folded them in his lap. His head was spinning and he wasn't capable of thinking straight. This was just too much to take in.

He took a couple deep breaths to clear his mind. He thought he really should say something to Kai. In movies, people always talked to coma patients and that always helped them fight their way back to life. But what should he say? What did one say in a situation like this?

"H-hi Kai," Tyson's voice broke. He cleared his throat and tried again, "Hey buddy, I-I don't know if you can hear me... maybe you don't… but maybe you do, so … don't go. …You can't go, Kai! You promised we'd bey-battle again, remember? So …you gotta wake up, Kai. Please… wake up."

Tyson was fighting the tears again when the door opened and Tala walked in. He slowly limped over to the bed and sat down on Kai's other side.

He looked at Kai and said, "This is so fucked up."

Slowly Tyson lifted his head. His eyes met Tala's and in that moment Tyson could see so many of the things he felt reflected in the Redhead's eyes: there was pain and sorrow, there was fear and anger, and there was a certain fighting spirit. Tyson knew that Tala recognized these emotions in his own eyes as well and they silently made a promise: Kai was alive and they were going to do everything humanly possible to keep it that way!

A/N: So, as you can see Kai's not going to play the main role in this story ...for now ;)

I'd appreciate your feedback, especially since this something new for me. Phew, so exciting!

Well, until then,
NoEarlyBird