A/N: First of all, I humbly bow into the sand and I will eat it if you wish. This thing is late beyond imagination and I nearly killed myself for it. But know this; it wasn't my fault. Something went wrong when I tried to upload it and I still don't know what. But somehow, I finally got this thing online. For those who say: 'Hey, you totally stole this from Fuurai!', I didn't. I AM Fuurai. Go check on her homepage. Eh... my homepage. And if you're still not satisfied, ask her...me. Whatever. If you're wondering why exactly 'To Catch A Butterfly' was removed in the first place, you'll have to thank FF for that. I kinda denied the rules and it got deleted for that. I totally rebuilt it (you probably won't even recognize it at first and some chapters were lost so I had to rewrite them) and it's 100 percent FF aproved now. Let's try again and see what we'll make of it. Adios!

Summary: Now 17, the Bladebreakers are still active until this very day. But when Kai finds himself in a very déjà vu situation - in other words, the hospital - his roommate isn't making it any easier on him. Remake of Fuurai's 'TCAB'.

Rated: T

Gerne: Romance, humor, angst, drama, tragedy

Pairing: KaixOC

Love is like a butterfly: if you keep it, it will die.

Everything was a daze. Hazy and surreal. I felt like in a drunken frenzy. The cheers of the crowd were everywhere, yet sounded far away. The spot lights took refuge into the four corners of the stadium and were focused just on the two of us. They heated up my skin, forming a slight sheen of sweat on my brow and threw multiple shadows on the ground. The only source of coolness and tranquility was in the palm of my hand and was - ironically - the cause of all distress.

I looked up to the man in front of me, only 50 feet away, to see the same haunted look in his eyes that supposedly decorated mine. Everything depended on us. Win or lose. Champions or not. There were no draws. If the game ended with both our defeat, we would just play over and over again until there was a victor. There was no losing this. If I lost, the team lost. If he, lost, the team wins. As simple as that. The roar of the crowd and the blazing lights fell apart as we both stepped forward until our feet hit the edge of the huge, stone arena. He wasn't glaring at me, just staring. But the way he stared, was a promise of danger and pain. He was the kind of man that alerted every fiber of your body to run as fast as you can, as hard as you can. But I stayed put. I was not going to let myself be intimidated. Not after what I've been trough. I have worked too hard to reach the top and it's a long way down.

I reluctantly allowed my heart to speed up as the referee closed in on us. Now was the time to shine. It was now or never.

"3…" I fished my launcher out of my pocket.

…2…" I snapped my Beyblade into place

…1…" I took an offensive stance and permitted a few arrogant thoughts corrupt my mind.

'If there's anyone going to win, it will be me!' I smirked as I saw my opponent mimic my actions.

"Let it rip!" we yelled in unison, as I pulled my ripcord as hard as I could.

"Go Kai!" cheered a verve teen with a cap from the stands, half hanging over the railings.

"Sit down, Tyson! Distracting him won't do him any good" a Chinese boy lectured, almost forcibly peeling him from the iron bars that separated the booths from the battle arena.

Everything was one big chaos and the only ones of the currently five-man team keeping his cool were Rei and the only female of the merry company. Too bad that Tyson wasn't even containable with a whole army.

"What are the odds, Dizzy?" asked a mousy boy to his computer in the farthest corner of the private seats – specially arranged for the participating teams – completely oblivious to the nearby drama.

"Well, his opponent is no pushover. I say Kai can take him, but playing it safe might be of his best interests. Better to have one bird in the bush then ten in the sky, right? Do you get it? Bird? Dranzer?" the electronically caged bit-beast replied, gracefully failing to lighten the mood.

"It might be of your best interests to shut up, Dizzy. I'm trying to watch" a more then slightly aggravated American boy warned – acting under stress usually was his forte, but now seemed like a good time to lash out.

"Come on, Kai! You can do it! If you won't do it for the team, then do it for yourself!" yelled Tyson - now abandoned from Rei's supervision - once again from the palings.

"Isn't it the other way around, Tyson?" inquired the rather serene Hilary from her seat.

"Not in Kai's case" he truthfully answered at a normal tone, to continue screaming anew.

My cobalt blue and his black and yellow blade aggressively shot towards the centre of the arena, in complete mirror of each other. As they collided, sparks could be seen, erupting from their clash of power. I tried to hold, but no matter how hard I pushed, my fiend pushed back with equal force. When I saw Dranzer wouldn't hold any longer, I let it leap a stride back, in synchronization with my foe.

With hunter's eyes, I watched him and greedily took in every detail I could. I realized that I wasn't going to win this with pure strength. I needed a strategy; I needed to find his weakness. I knew that when I decided to face the opposing team's captain. But I wanted to test him. How far I could push him. See what his boundaries were. And apparently, his boundaries were equal to mine.

'Or higher, if he's still playing around' I thought with gritted teeth and felt a muscle jump in my jaw.

I would need everything I had if I wanted to overthrow him.

In perfect unison, the two blades had started to circle around each other, like a primal dance between two predators. A battle of wills until an opening was found. Who would lose their nerves first? Who would attack?

In a short shift of eyes, I took notice of my counterpart. His blond hair was tipped forward in concentration as he covetously took in every aspect of the fight. His team sat - unmoving – in the stands behind him. The hoods on their outfits disabled me to see their expressions, but their stony posture told me everything there was to say.

This was getting me nowhere. The man would show as much of an opening as I would. None. Either he was mimicking my actions on purpose or the two of us were just thinking very alike. I cursed a colorful, Russian selection of swears. Normally, I wouldn't even dream of letting Dranzer out this early into the fight, but whatever was necessary to win, I would fit. And by all means, this was necessary.

"Dranzer! Emerge!" I commanded as my glorious phoenix shreered to life from the center of my blade.

"Kendra, show yourself!" my foe called on, a pearl white polar bear appearing above his bicoloured spinning top.

The fight was taken out of our hands and escalated into a conflict between mythical creatures.

Even though Bit Beasts usually had a great fighting spirit, they were known for holding no real grudge afterwards. But right now, it seemed like neither of the two held a liking towards the other. I had never seen Dranzer shriek like nails on a chalkboard, feathers spread in aggression like this before. Then again, Dranzer understood how important this was for me.

"Kendra, attack!" my foe commanded and I realized I had lost valuable seconds in my awe filled state.

"Dranzer, counter!" I managed to rasp in time, mere moments before receiving a ferocious tackle from the rivaling Beyblade.

I cursed. I needed to focus. I needed to think. This was not the time to marvel over the sunset phoenix.

Ocean blue pushed bee colored back, but had sustained significant damage. There was a slight falter in its movement. I had to attack now, or I was finished. I couldn't do that to the team. I couldn't do that to me.

"Dranzer! Fire arrow!" I barked, my iron nerves silent and slowly snapping in the back of my mind.

"Kendra! Aurora claw!" it sounded from the other side of the Beydish.

In unity, Dranzer drew fire and attacked with all its might as the snowflake polar bear smashed its paw into the ground, bleeding a beam with all the colors of the rainbow, colliding with my blade's attack.

At the center, they met and a miniature explosion tore at the end of my jacket as I instinctly shielded my eyes from the light and incoming debris. This wasn't the first time that when bit beast attacks collided, an explosion was born. After this, everything would be over. One blade standing, one down. Or both down. But the chance that either blade survived this hit was slim.

When the gusts subsided, I eagerly lowered my arms to see who was victor. I realized later that this was my greatest mistake ever. As the smoke settled and my hunger for victory rose with every passing moment, the most curious thing happened that somehow made want to laugh.

A familiar blinding pain burst into my left eye section. I never knew what hit me. But it hit me like a flashlight in the face on a dark night; unexpected and very much unbearable. I didn't remember hitting the floor and screaming. I didn't remember that they had to strap my hands so I wouldn't claw out my eye. I was told all that crap later. I just remembered how scared I was. Scared that I was going to die. The last time something nearly poked out my eye didn't even come close to defining this pain. I remember confusion. Raw and served right on a plate. I didn't understand anything anymore in my panicked state. Almost like flipping a switch; one moment I would be lusting for win, the other moment lusting for life.

But I'd be damned if I ever told anyone that.