A/N : This was meant to be a one-shot but it's too long so over a couple of chapters.
Warning : Shonen-ai, various couples. Some strong and suggestive language, hint of violence. (Nothing major and not yaoi)
Disclaimer : I don't own Beyblade or any of the characters. The characters you do not recognise are mine and are not to be stolen/used in any story other than my own.
'……' – Thoughts
"……" – Speech
'……' – TV or radio or something like that
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Role Reversal
-VampirycentAngel-
The Bladebreakers team were asleep, tucked up happily in their hotel beds as the warm glow of the morning sun glimmered through the thin blinds and played across the pale bed sheets. It was but the crack of dawn as one brown eye sidled open, shortly followed by it's partner. Tyson grunted, wondering what had woken him up; he was never awake this early. He looked around the room and noticed the orange patterns on his sheets from the sunrise and felt warm inside; nature really was quite beautiful sometimes. Realising that he wasn't really tired anymore, the young blunette stretched his body and headed for the shower, gathering up a few clothes on the way.
'The others are so lazy.' He thought to himself, then did a double-take, remembering what time he usually got up. He turned the shower on. 'Bit strange seeing Kai asleep… He's always up before me. Long before me.' Tyson stripped off the underwear that he'd slept in and stepped into the shower, loving the feel of the water trickling down his skin as he refreshed himself. He stayed in for a while, just thinking to himself about the up-coming competitions that the team would be entering. They'd done very well so far – Beaten the All Starz out-right in every match against them, won three of the four battles against the White Tigers and had successfully brought down the Demolition Boys, going halves on the scores. They were in the lead at the moment, though Tala and his bunch weren't far behind.
Feeling fully cleansed, Tyson hopped out from under the jets and wrapped himself in a towel, smirking. They were going to win the tournament for sure. Drying the drips from his lean body, the blunette flexed his muscles in the mirror. "Not bad Granger, not bad!" He praised himself. For a fifteen year old he really wasn't doing too badly, almost up to scratch. As he pulled his fresh underwear on, Tyson decided that he wanted a figure like Kai's, which was perfectly toned, but he'd never had that thought before. He didn't tend to care about stuff like that. He dried his navy hair, styling it, thinking about his team mates. 'I hope they try hard… We just have to win. We can train all day today.' The young teen never thought this much about anything! He dressed himself in his usual attire and left the bathroom to see Kai still asleep, while Rei, Max and Kenny all turned their gaze toward him, looking surprised.
"Tyson!" The blue-eyed blond exclaimed. "You okay? You're never up this early!"
Nobody was more shocked at the reply that escaped Tyson's lips than the young blunette himself. "Hn." He retorted, glaring at Max. Walking toward the door, he stopped at the eldest teen's bed on the way and gave him a hard shove. "Get up Kai. We've got training to do." Then he promptly left, leaving three perplexed teens staring after their friend then slowly turning their gaze to the crimson-eyed boy who was groaning, pulling his duvet up over his head to block out the morning light.
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The breakfast room of the hotel was decorated with style and taste, looking rather grand. Tyson had gone down much earlier than the remaining team members and was already sat at a table, reading.
"I didn't know Tyson could read." Kai giggled, getting smirks from the other three. None of them understood why Tyson was being so distant that day, especially when Kai was this happy – It would have been a perfect day for the team to really bond. Sure, they all cheered each other on in battles and stood tall to stick up for one another, but only two of them were really friends, and that was Tyson and Max. Today though, it was as if Tyson didn't care. The four rushed over to their moody team-mate, led by the strangely hyperactive captain.
"What's up Tyson?" Max asked his friend, sitting next to the dark blunette. "You're not eating… Are you alright?"
"Go away Max. I'm reading." Came the stony reply, perplexing the others. Kai sighed and turned to his team with a grin.
"Well I'm hungry, so let's leave moody-guts here by himself and grab some food." He practically bounced over to the food tables, being watching in awe and confusion by the younger team members, who slowly followed.
"What's got Kai in such a good mood?" Max asked in a whisper. Kenny & Rei shrugged.
"Maybe he and Tyson had an argument and he won… Tyson isn't his self today." The neko-jin replied to his blond friend. Approaching the long tables, the three teens saw a sight that they never had before (and probably never would) – Kai was stuffing his face with as much food as he could, piling up sandwiches, cheese, various meats and pies onto his plate. Usually the slate-haired boy only had food in the evening, though he ate barely anything and never did so in front of his team.
"This is some good food!" The captain exclaimed through a mouthful of bread. "Rei, try this!" The dark-haired teen's cat-like reflexes enabled him to catch the pie that was thrown is his direction by Kai, who was still filling his plate. Max and Kenny exchanged puzzled glances, though somehow finding the situation quite amusing.
"What's going on here Chief?" The blond smirked at his bespectacled companion.
"I don't have a clue. Maybe we should ask Dizzi?" The younger boy replied. Max nodded his hyper agreement and they sidled from the area, headed back to the hotel room. "It's like Tyson and Kai have… Swapped." He added as they clambered the stairs.
Max leapt through the door and onto the floor, waiting for Kenny to join him. As soon as he had, the young blond began to pester him until he had Dizzi doing some searches.
"I've found something that might help." A girls voice piped up from the laptop speakers. Kenny read the screen and shrugged. He showed the screen to Max, whose eyes widened, half in amusement, half in disbelief.
"A spell? That's a bit far-fetched isn't it?" He asked the brunette, who was pushing his glasses back up as they had slipped down slightly in his shock. He nodded.
"A little, but it's possible. I just don't know who would have cast it… Isn't there anything else Diz?" Kenny's laptop started a new search as the two boys sat in confusion, thinking. 'Max can probably think of something crazy enough to suit this situation...' Kenny thought to himself. "Any ideas?"
The blond shrugged with his reply. "Well… maybe it was someone from the tournaments. We're in the lead, if we get knocked then the Demolition Boys are going to win. I can think of various people who would do it for that reason."
Kenny was stumped. 'Amazing...' he nodded curtly. "Good idea." He paused, "Found anything else yet Dizzi?"
"Not yet, but I think Max is on to something. I wouldn't put it past that team to cheat."
The three sat there in confusion… Well, two sat, one was inside a computer. The silence was broken by Kai and Rei walking casually into the room – Chatting. Max and Kenny immediately looked at each other.
"Sit down…" Kenny asked politely to the elder teens. They obeyed. "We have something to tell you."
Ten Minutes Later…
"The Demolition Boys?"
"I wouldn't put it past them…"
"That's what Dizzi said."
"They wouldn't do that. I've known Tala for…" The blunette stopped and seemed to be thinking very hard. He sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Don't tell me I've lost the ability to count too."
Rei smiled in sympathy. "Tyson's never been good at Maths." The four boys sat and tried to think. Suddenly it was as if a light bulb had been switched on inside Rei's brain. He sat up and looked around the others, a little smile playing on his lips. "Brooklyn."
The others just stared. "What?" Max finally asked, in utter confusion. Rei laughed at the lost expressions on the faces around him.
"Brooklyn. We haven't battled against them yet and it's just the kind of thing that he'd come up with to throw us off. That means… We'll have to either find something to remove the magic, or throw him off too." He waited for a reaction, but carried on when none came. "Kai's battling him in the finals… Right?" The group nodded. "And everyone knows – Brooklyn can't beat Kai. But he can beat Tyson. So he will have swapped your abilities, taking your personality traits with it. Make sense?" The group nodded enthusiastically. Rei felt proud of himself and grinned, baring his fangs playfully. Things started to make sense.
"So I have to get Tyson to train me with my skills?" Kai sighed as Rei nodded. "Oh boy…"
Max chuckled. "It's going to be a long day."
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"Call yourself a captain? A child could have done better than that!"
"Well at least you can see your own skill now!"
"My skill is fine – When I use it!"
"Tyson, shut up!"
"Don't talk to me like that Kai. You might be the team captain, but I won't tolerate people talking down to me."
"Funny, that's what you usually do to me!"
Everyone stopped. Kai and Tyson were glaring at each other but were now stood still, contemplating what had just been shouted. The elder blunette felt a slight pang of guilt in his chest as he realised how he'd been treating his team… 'So this is how it feels.' Rei and Max were poised ready to break up a fight if one occurred, looking back and forth between their two arguing team mates.
"See how it feels now Kai? I'm glad you've got guts, because if I'd always stayed as myself, I never would have been able to tell you just how I feel about you." Tyson began to glare again. "You and your…"
"Tyson… Calm down. Don't start anything. We're a team." Max didn't dare to speak up like Rei just did, but he did agree completely. With both sides of the argument, and with Rei's comments. The navy-haired boy huffed. Kai looked at him, crimson eyes glaring but not able to accomplish his usual 'talk-to-me-and-die' look.
"There's no I in team." He reminded the irate teen in front of him. Said teen glared back, but did however manage to give Kai a taste of his own medicine with a some-how-life-threatening stare from his dark eyes.
"There's no Kai in team either." The younger blunette turned away and went back to his training, ending the dispute. Kai slumped over to Max and Rei, looking down. The two younger boys glanced at each other, then Rei laid a hand on Kai's shoulder. He didn't shrug it off like he usually would have, he let it stay there and accepted comforting.
"Maybe I should be nicer to Tyson in the future… If that's really what I'm like then… I'm sorry." Kai wiped his forehead, sighing. He'd never realised how badly he treated his team, the people who'd got him so far in Beyblading, the people he could trust if he needed to, the people who were there for him if he wanted them to be. They actually did a lot for him, and he repaid it with attitude. Sighing again he thought about going to apologise to Tyson for his selfishness, but knew that while the boy had his personality, it wasn't a very good idea. He realised that he and the younger teen could probably be good friends if they set their differences aside… "That's it!"
Rei and Max jumped at the excited sound of Kai's voice beside them. They gave him questioning looks and waited for an explanation, which the blunette didn't hesitate to give.
"We have to set our differences aside! This is going to make our team a lot stronger… I wish I could thank Brooklyn for this!"
"Kai… We're going to need a little bit more than that." The neko-jin pointed out, making the captain smirk.
"What's the difference between me and Tyson?"
"Is that a joke?" Max asked, confusion clouding his pretty blue eyes. Kai laughed and shook his head.
"Tyson's really loud and happy, I'm the opposite… But since this spell, that has been reversed. Now I can see how Tyson feels all the time and he can feel the pressure I'm always under. We can understand each other now. That's all we needed in the last battle, remember? The Demolition Boys only won that match because there was a broken link in our team. That broken link was me and Tyson – That argument." The hyper teen paused for breath, then carried straight back on. "You get stronger if you use team spirit. Tyson couldn't win his match because he wasn't getting team support because the team spirit was broken. It's like an electrical circuit of the mind. You break a link in a circuit, it doesn't work. It's the same with the spirit… But now that me and Tyson can understand each other from being in the other's position. If we can talk it out and settle our seemingly-never-ending argument then our team will be stronger than ever and we can win." He stopped and looked from Rei, to Max, then back. "Does that make sense to you?"
"Just about…" Rei admitted. Max slowly nodded. Kai smirked at them.
"Now all I have to do is talk to Tyson. And he won't like it… I know that."
The others chuckled with their captain, watching their friend practising across the room. Finally they were getting somewhere.
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"So… You… Get what I'm saying?" Crimson and hazel were baring into each other, in an almost friendly fashion. Tyson nodded his reply to Kai.
"We need to sort a few things out."
"I know." Kai smiled the first smile that Tyson had ever seen upon the cold captain. It surprised him a little.
"It's strange seeing you smile." He told the elder with a smirk.
"It's strange seeing you so distant from Max and the others."
"All in all, this is strange. But we can work through this and with your information I doubt we can lose the few battles, as long as we keep this up." On hearing this, Kai had an uncanny urge to hug his team mate, which he resisted and extended his hand instead.
"Shake Tyson, and I'll be your friend. I know how I've been treating you all, it isn't right. But you do realise how annoying you can be?" Tyson smirked again, nodding. He took hold of Kai's hand and they shook on it.
"Friends. We need to keep this link, not just for Beyblading, not just for our team, but for ourselves." He paused. "Do you even have any friends, Kai?"
"Well…" Kai thought a little and shrugged. "Tala. And… I suppose I could call Rei a friend, but maybe only while I'm like you… I doubt he likes me when I'm being myself, just like the rest of you."
"We like you Kai." The response was so quick, but so sincere. Kai tilted his head to the side, questioning. "We like you. We've talked about it before. You could be a nice person if you showed your feelings more… Talk to us. Unlike you, we don't bite."
"I don't bite. I just have a lot on my mind most of the time." Kai explained to his new friend… Friend.
"Like I said, talk to us. Rei can be very helpful, and I'm not all bad once you get to know me."
"Neither am I."
"I know. I've got your attitude at the moment, but the feelings I have are my own. I'm choosing to talk, just like you are. If it's easier to talk about your problems when you're in my state of mind, then just let us know. We're happy to help you Kai, just like you've helped us – If it weren't for you, the Bladebreakers wouldn't have got so far in the tournaments. Actually, the Bladebreakers wouldn't still be going if it weren't for you and the harsh training you keep putting us through."
Both teens laughed a little. Again, Kai felt an odd urge to hug the other who was sat before him. Dare he ask Tyson about it? Did the younger teen ever want to hug him?
"Tyson..?"
The boy looked up. "Hmmm?" Kai had to think how to word this.
"Do you ever… Want…" It was going so badly. "Just wondering if…"
His words were cut off by a swift kiss from the younger teen, who quickly left afterwards. 'Damn…' Kai thought. 'That explains a lot.'
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Tyson had been pacing the hall for about fifteen minutes. He hadn't really thought about the consequences before doing that. He knew Kai didn't like him that way, but still. He'd felt the need to make a move while he had the guts, or... His captain's guts anyway. Captain. "Fuuuuck." The teen moaned, sliding to the floor against a wall. Running a hand through his hair, he realised he'd been avoiding Kai all day since the event. Surely the others would be suspicious. He didn't really care, funny really, usually he'd be panicking like mad. 'How can he stay so calm like this?' Tyson almost found it amusing. He'd wanted to kiss the elder blunette for so long and the one time he finally managed, he couldn't face the boy afterwards. 'Great.' He thought sarcastically. Even worse, he could hear his team mates advancing toward the stairs that he was sat at the top of.
"Tyson! Hey man!" Hearing this voice made Tyson smirk. Max was so hyperactive.
'Kami… There's Kai.' The boy gulped lightly, nodding to his friend. "Max."
"You alright?"
'Kami.' The younger teen looked up into crimson eyes. Max and Rei had carried on down the hall toward their hotel room. Tyson nodded, moving his gaze to a part of the wall he suddenly found very interesting. Kai sat down by him.
"What's up?"
"Kai… As I have your attitude, you of all people should know I don't want to be talked to." The boy muttered in frustration as Kai didn't move. Instead he opened his arms, thoroughly confusing his navy-haired friend.
"Actually you do want to be talked to. And of all people, I should know that." The elder blunette smirked back, letting Tyson settle in his embrace. The younger of the two sighed, clutching his captain's arm. 'So Kai knows how I feel.'
"That's right."
"Crap. I said that out loud!"
The elder teen laughed, sighing. "You know… I don't…" Kai stammered. Tyson got the gist and felt slightly disappointed. Of course Kai wasn't going to feel the same.
"It's OK Kai. I wasn't expecting anything." The navy-haired boy slid down into his elder's arms, holding on. He sighed again and closed his eyes. He hadn't expected Kai to be so nice about it, but then… He was Kai. Kai was him. Unsure of how long it was going to last but thoroughly enjoying it, Tyson wriggled to be comfortable. He felt Kai's breath on his neck and shuddered, hearing a very soft whisper in his ear.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I wasn't even expecting you to talk about it." Tyson held on to Kai as he felt him move. Kai let go of his friend and slowly stood up, getting a subconscious plead from the dark eyes below him. The crimson orbs shone slightly, making a silent apology. Kai then walked toward the hotel room, leaving Tyson, who promptly punched a wall. "Fuck!"
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Kai walked into the hotel room and sat on his bed, quickly finding something to occupy his mind. This was a bit screwed up. He didn't want to hurt Tyson now that they'd finally made friends, but he didn't like him in that way. No, the stony, cold-hearted captain was already completely smitten with somebody else, though he dared not tell anyone. Him? That heartless bitch? In love? He could practically hear the others laughing at him. He sighed, collapsing backwards and hitting his head on the wall behind by accident. Shouting out in pain, he noticed that he wasn't alone in the room. When he'd walked in he hadn't even noticed his three companions sitting on the floor. Max looked at him inquiringly.
"Kai… Are you okay?" Six pairs of eyes were staring at the dazed expression on their captain's face. 'Wait…' Kai thought. 'Six pairs?' Kai simply nodded as two pairs of worried golden eyes merged to form one.
"You sure?" Asked the neko-jin, looking directly into Kai's crimson eyes and finding no particular answer, just one very confused teenager. This time the blunette shook his head, his vision whirring up again. He felt himself slide forward and everything turned black as his knees collided with the floor.
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Two eyes slowly sidled open, looking around at the dark room. He could hear heavy breathing, meaning everyone was asleep. His head really hurt from the accident and he wanted some pain killers. Kai slowly sat up in his bed, not seeing things clearly. He was about to get out of bed to find something to numb the pain when a hand outstretched from beside him and handed him a small glass of water and two pills.
"This should make you feel better." Kai accepted his medicine then lay back down, hoping to fall back to sleep. He sighed, feeling an arm curl around his waist from behind. His cheek tickled as some navy hair fell onto it, shortly followed by a gentle kiss. "I hope you're okay in the morning. Goodnight."
"Night Tyson." The sleepy blunette replied, snuggling further under his duvet. 'Why?' Kai questioned himself. 'Why does it have to happen like this?' He wished it had been different. He wished he could return what Tyson felt for him. That way he too could lie with an arm protectively around the boy, like said boy was doing now, lying awake behind Kai to make sure he was alright. He wished he could roll over and cuddle into his team mate and everything would be alright – He wished it, but he couldn't do it. The Bladebreakers captain had fallen in love with a captain of another team. Oh yes, he loved none other than the icy redheaded teen of the Demolition Boys. Tala.
"Tala?" Came the confused voice from behind him. Kai tensed. 'No… Kami no.' The warmth from his waist suddenly disappeared as Tyson removed his arm. "Tala?" He repeated. He understood now. Why'd he had to have spoken that last word aloud? Why? This wasn't fair on him, and it wasn't fair on Tyson.
"Tyson, I'm sorry." He whispered, searching for his friend in the darkness. He rolled over to see the younger blunette, almost distraught.
"It's okay Kai. I said I wasn't expecting anything, but… Tala? After all he's done to you… And… Tala?" It could be told right then and there that Tyson was not going to calm down for a while. Kai wanted to prove he was sorry. He wanted to hug his friend, but knew that it wouldn't make things any easier. "You've been through so much with us, Kai!"
"I know. But Tala and I have known each other for ages, we're really good friends." Crimson and hazel locked in a gaze for a second, before the younger teen looked away, sighing. Kai held his arms open by instinct, wanting to make Tyson feel better. The navy-haired boy sighed for the second time as he wriggled into his captain's open embrace. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I don't want to hurt you. But I've loved Tala since we were in the team together and… Tyson." He had stopped talking after feeling the gentle heave of the younger boy's back as he deepened his breathing, obviously trying to hold back tears. Kai tightened his hold on him, running his fingers through the shiny navy tufts and continuing down his back. This action caused Tyson to relax, cuddling closer to his crush.
"Ever since you joined this team Kai, I have loved you. You've been sour and cold hearted to me, but I still continued to love you, as I do now." He whispered, almost uncaringly. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Wow. That had hurt.
"Of course it means something! But you have to understand that the way you feel for me is the way I feel for Tala!" Tears came to Kai's eyes. He couldn't cry, not in front of… Too late. 'Damn this!' Kai closed his eyes, thinking about the conversation and feeling more tears flood from his eyes. 'What am I doing? I never cry!'
"But I do!" Tyson replied. "Here you go Kai. This is how it feels to be just like the rest of us. It isn't human to keep all your emotions cooped up all the time… It's okay to cry and it's okay to ask for help. So what are you going to do?"
Kai sniffed. "Do you always say things out loud that you aren't meant to?" Tyson smirked slightly and nodded.
"It gets quite embarrassing sometimes. That's how Max knows about… This. The way I feel around you." The younger blunette explained. Kai ran his words over in his head a couple of times before clinging helplessly onto his team mate and practically yowling. Tyson held him tightly and planted a soft kiss onto his captain's forehead.
"Help… Me… Tyson." Kai whispered through his tears. 'I wish everything was simpler! I wish I wasn't so pathetic… And I hope I'm not saying this out loud.' Apparently he hadn't as the younger teen gave no reaction apart from stroking Kai's hair and occasionally kissing him. 'I wish I could kiss back.'
"So do then."
Damn, he'd said it aloud again. He slowly shook his head, whimpering about not wanting to hurt his friend. Tyson interrupted and locked his lips against Kai's gently. The elder teen responded almost straight away, enjoying the feeling of being kissed –Something he hadn't felt since he and Rei had shared a very shy and unmentionable moment of celebration in an empty locker room once. This was a time that neither had said anything about, and never would. As these thoughts were running through Kai's mind, he absent-mindedly slid his hands onto Tyson's neck, who immediately deepened the kiss, nibbling at Kai's lower lip, asking for entrance. This pulled the captain back to reality, but he didn't stop kissing. He let the younger teen's tongue slip through his lips and brush across his own tongue, Tyson's hands on Kai's waist. The kiss lasted for a long time, seeming like forever to the elder, though obviously not long enough for the younger. Navy hair was pushed from Tyson's hazel eyes by a soft hand, which caused him to gasp as they pulled slowly apart. He automatically pulled Kai closer to him, not wanting to let go. He'd spent so long thinking about that moment, though imagining it would never happen. But it had. And it had been amazing. The younger blunette carefully glanced at his captain, hoping he hadn't said anything out loud as he usually did, and then praised Kai's inner-monologue for it's usefulness. If he had been in his own mind, Kai would have heard everything.
"Why do you like me like this? I'm nothing special…" The crimson-eyed teen murmured into Tyson's shoulder, wondering. If he was always so cold to everyone, why was he liked? By him as well! Someone he was far too mean to.
"At least you recognise that you're horrible to me." The deep brown eyes were shining as Kai inwardly cursed at accidentally speaking his thoughts rather than thinking them. Tyson wrapped his arms tighter round Kai's muscled, worked body and leant in for another kiss. He paused, his lips right next to the elder's. "But I know that deep down you have a heart. And by the way, I love you, not like you." He began the second kiss, Kai accepting. This wasn't so bad after all… Maybe he could be with Tyson. After all, he was really enjoying it. Really enjoying it. This time it was the captain that deepened their kiss, and of course, Tyson didn't refuse.
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End of 'Part One'