Disclaimer: Nope, not owning Beyblade at all.

A Rush of Blood to the Head

/

I'm gonna buy a gun and start a war

/

Jealously isn't a word that he would associate with himself but right now that was all that was radiating off his body. He didn't even understand why but all he wanted to do was smash that arrogant orange head into the ground. He watched as Hilary laughed and smiled up at Brooklyn as they conversed a few feet away from him. Kai's left hand curled into a fist. Who gave him the right to talk to her like that? Close, intimate, like as if something was going on between them. He wanted to go over there and guide her away from him. Brooklyn was bad news. Hilary was naive and trusting, too naive and trusting as far as he was concerned. Kai grinded his teeth together as he watched Brooklyn move even closer to Hilary, his hand resting on her upper-arm, his other hand on her waist. Why was he even reacting like this to seeing them together? He did not like Hilary like that, not even one bit. Sure he cared about her, as a friend, but... Kai stood frozen as he watched Hilary and Brooklyn move even closer. Fuck this, he thought as he watched as Brooklyn's hand that was on her arm, tangled it's self into her long brown hair. As he walked away, he told himself that he didn't have one jealous bone in his body.

/

Five months later, Kai's still telling himself that he isn't jealous, but every time he looked at himself in the mirror, he knew the lie wasn't as convincing as when he first told himself it. Hilary was actually dating that loser. Still. She hadn't told him directly; instead Tyson had mentioned it to him when he saw that Brooklyn had joined them all for dinner one night, not long after he had seen them together. He felt bad. She was happy, the happiest he had seen her in the whole time he had known her and there he was, in the corner, sulking like a five year old.

It was Tyson's birthday and Kai found himself forced to attend the celebration. Standing alone, drinking straight whiskey while he watched people he knew make bad choices involving alcohol, which was not how he originally had planned his night. The original plan was to drink alone, in his apartment, without the annoying noise of these losers were making. Hilary is there as well, but what annoyed him the most is that she isn't alone. He's here too, which makes Kai drink his whiskey a lot faster than he had planned on doing. Kai looked down at the empty glass. He looked over at where all the alcohol was sitting. Those harpies were still standing there, screaming about some girl who had worn the wrong thing or something.

"I've got you mate." Kai peeled his eyes away from the table to see Tala standing next to him with two glasses in his hand.

"Thanks." Kai said as Tala handed him one and he stuffed the empty one on the bookshelf behind him. "What are you doing here?" He asked. Kai watched as Tala looked over at Mariah who was talking to Rei. "Ah..."

"Yep." Tala said. "She dragged me along, I had no choice."

Kai snorted. "You're whipped."

Tala glared at him. "You've just jealous you've got no one to drag you along to shit you don't want to go to." He retorted. "At least, I get a reward from coming tonight."

Kai took another swig from his glass. "Who says I won't get rewarded for coming tonight?"

Tala raised his glass. "Touché." He said. "Did you see...?"

"See...?"

Tala looked around to see if anyone was listening and moved in a little closer. "You know... tiny, long dark hair, wearing this little white dress that does not leave much to the imagination..." Kai grit his teeth. If she was here, then her orange haired douchebag of a boyfriend was here too. "Dude, calm down, I was just asking if you had seen Hilary."

Kai wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him silly and scream, 'IT'S JUST HILARY?!' over and over again. Kai raised his glass to his lips only to realise it was empty. "I need another drink." He said slowly, looking around for a glimpse of a certain tiny, long haired girl in a white dress. "I'll be right back." Kai made his way over to the table with all the alcohol on it.

"Fancy seeing you here stranger."

Kai froze. He turned to his left to see her. "Hi." He said as he re-filled his glass. Tala is right. The dress doesn't leave much to the imagination.

"You don't talk to me for months and all I get is 'hi'?"

Kai picked up the glass and turned to her. "Hello." He said.

Hilary laughed. "And they you have no sense of humour." She said smiling. "How have you been?" She asked, taking a sip of her own glass.

Kai looked over to where he had been standing to see that Tala had disappeared. Bastard. "Good. You?"

"Better, since you finally have spoken to me." She said. "I thought I was going to have to beat words out of you."

Kai watched as she took another sip of her drink. Her hair had gotten long, really long and wavy. Had it always been that wavy? "How's school?" He asked, emptying the rest of the glass. He quickly poured himself another one.

"Good, actually, I've just applied to spend a semester abroad next year."

Kai gripped his glass tighter. "Where about?"

"France and Germany but I really want France, considering I don't know a word of German." She said. "How is school treating you?"

Kai shrugged. "It's rather tedious." He said as he quickly scanned the room for a certain orange haired asshole.

"I guess for a genius like you, it would be." He watched as she tapped against the side of her glass. She took a step closer. If she moved any closer, he would get a direct view straight down her dress. Kai felt himself tense up. She smelled like... flowers... "I missed you." She said softly, reaching out and grasping his hand.

Kai stared at her. Her hand was freezing. He wanted to drop his glass, grab her by the waist and kiss her. He blinked. "I missed you too." He whispered. He grasped her hand tightly. He never wanted to let go of it. It was tiny and bony and delicate, just like she was. They stared at each other for what felt like hours until Hilary wrenched her hand out of his and took a step back.

"There you are." He heard someone behind him say. Kai gripped his glass even tighter as he downed the rest of the drink.

"Brooklyn, you remember Kai?" Hilary said, moving over towards Brooklyn. Kai turned his head towards Brooklyn and stared. He didn't care that he was Hilary's boyfriend. He hated him. Even before they had started dating. Brooklyn stared back at him. "Perhaps we should go see Mariah. Come on." Hilary said, dragging Brooklyn away.

Kai closed his eyes and counted to ten, trying to calm himself down. He opened them. Nope, that didn't work. He grabbed the bottle of whiskey and walked away.

/

Almost a year later, a postcard from France arrives in the mail. Kai stared at it, confused. How did she know that he was no longer in Japan? He narrowed his eyes as he thought of the possibilities. Damn Tala and his inability to keep his mouth shut, though he suspected that Mariah was the real culprit. The postcard is a scenic picture of the Eiffel Tower with three words written in Hilary's shocking scrawl; 'I miss you'. He placed the postcard onto the kitchen counter and placed his hands next to it, staring it. Why would she just write 'I miss you' and nothing else? He exhaled deeply and reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He scrolled his contacts list until Mariah popped up and pressed call.

"Hello?"

"Why did you give her my address?"

"Who's calling? Because you sound awfully like this guy I know, Mr Grouchy."

"Mariah, don't. Answer the question."

Mariah let out a loud sigh. "She asks about you all the time, I might have mentioned it? I don't remember you ever telling me 'Don't tell Hilary that I've moved'."

"You would've told her that even if I did tell you not to tell her!"

"She is my best friend you know. Kind of qualifies for me to tell her everything."

"I guess that's why Tala insists on telling me all the dirty shit you two do." Kai smirked. That would be payback to Tala for ever talking about it when Kai had insisted on him shutting the fuck up.

"KAI ALEXANDER HIWATARI, IF YOU SO MENTION IT TO ANYONE EVER, I WILL CUT YOUR BALLS OFF!" Mariah screeched down the phone. "Don't you want to go see her? I know she would want you to go see her."

"You know... I..."

"You what? You're being a little scaredy cat? Well, listen to me, you are going to miss the opportune moment buddy and I don't want to be the one to tell you so when she's marrying that dickhead."

Kai stared at the cupboards in front of him. Why was he even stopping himself from seeing her? He wanted to go see her more than anything. "Where is she?"

/

Kai raised his hand and knocked on the door. He wiped his hands on his pants. Why were they so god damn sweaty? What was he meant to say? 'Hey Hilary, it's the middle of the night and I've just turned up randomly and I have no idea what to say?' The door swung open. Hilary stared at him. "You cut your hair." He said, staring at her hair. It had been cut all the way above her shoulders.

Hilary raised her arm and patted her hair. "Yeah, I thought it would be more grown up." She said, giving him a smile. "What are you doing here?"

Why was he here? Would she stop looking at him like that? "I..." He was at a complete loss of words. "I have no honest idea why I'm here." He said truthfully.

Hilary laughed. "There must be one reason." She said. "Do you want to come in?"

Kai closed the distance between them. She looked up at him, questioningly. Had she always been this short? "Do you want me to come in?" He said softly as his right hand brushed a stray bit of her hair back. Hilary nodded. He leaned down. "I missed you too." He whispered into her ear. He felt Hilary shake. He pulled back to his full height. Hilary grabbed his hands and pulled him inside her apartment. She dropped his hands as the door slammed shut behind him. Kai grabbed her by the waist, pulling her up and pressed his lips against hers. Hilary leaned into him; he gripped her waist even tighter as he spun them around, slamming her up against the front door. Oh god, he wasn't going to be able to control himself. It became a blur of hands, kisses, groping, biting that turned into him pushing her jeans down while she managed to pull down his pants and him basically fucking her into the door. As soon as it was over, a sinking feeling appeared in his stomach. He had just slept with Hilary. Who had a boyfriend. Kai pushed himself off Hilary. "I'm sorry." He muttered as he turned around and pulled up his pants.

"You're sorry?" Hilary asked behind him. "That's what you've got to say?"

Kai turned around. He stared at Hilary who was in the process of fixing herself up. "Yes." He said. "It was a mistake."

Hilary paled, her eyes wide. "A mistake?" She bit her lip and shook her head. "Why am I so surprised?" She looked away. "Mariah...I can't believe I listened to her."

The sinking feeling inside Kai's stomach churned. "What?" He asked.

Hilary shrugged. "Don't worry because she was obviously wrong." She said coldly. "I think you should leave." She said, opening the front door.

/

Kai doesn't hear from Hilary for almost two years. He didn't expect to either. She's a taboo subject between him and Mariah who married Tala in the time that past. For the first time in years, he hadn't thought of her until he gets an invitation in the mail for her wedding. A part of him seethed in anger as he read it but after a couple days, he calmed down. He might have been in love with Hilary but he was never going to be with her. That realization had been the hardest to cope with. Mariah might have insisted that she knew that Hilary's heart loved him but as he watched her walk down the aisle in her beautiful white dress, he knew it was never going to happen. After the wedding, he didn't see her again until Tyson's engagement party. She was pregnant and he thought she glowed as if the sun walked behind it her.

"Hey there, stranger."

Kai turned around. Hilary stood behind him, smiling. Kai's stomach flipped. "Hey." He said.

"How have you been?" She asked, walking towards him.

Kai shrugged. "Can't complain." He said. "You?"

Hilary rubbed her stomach. "Sore, tired, and craving potato chips and chocolate." She said. "Together."

Kai wrinkled his nose. "That's kind of gross." He said.

Hilary grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. "Wait, he's going to say hi in a second." Kai stared at his hand on her stomach. What was she...? He felt a sharp kick right into his hand. Kai looked up at Hilary.

"It just... Did that hurt?"

Hilary laughed. "Kind of but he wanted to say hi." She said. "This has been a lot lately." Hilary grabbed his hand off her stomach and gripped it tight. "I know we haven't really spoken since... I wanted you to know, I'm sorry." She said.

"I'm sorry too." He said, staring down at the lawn. He felt Hilary tug his hand. He looked back up.

"No, I'm sorry, so truly sorry. I... I...loved you, Kai but...I love Brooklyn. He's the one I wanted to marry and be with and I'm sorry, I should've...I don't know, I should've told you years ago." She said. "I want you to be happy with someone who will love you just as much as you love them. I feel terrible that I..." Hilary began to cry.

"Don't cry." Kai said softly. "You have no reason too. What's done is done."

Hilary sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I can't help the crying thing." She said. "I cried the other day because I squished a lady beetle." She laughed.

"You know, I'm happy you're happy." He said. "Honest."

Hilary looked up at him. "Really?" She asked.

Kai didn't feel happy but if Hilary was happy... "Yes." He said.

Hilary smiled. "I have to go help them with serving but I'm glad we could talk." She said.

Kai nodded. "Me too." He said. Hilary turned around and walked back inside. Kai turned back around and sighed. All that mattered was that she was happy.

/

So, Happy new years to everyone!