I'm really just writing because I'm escaping finals stress, and because it's been years, but I haven't stopped loving Beyblade. There's so much more to the show than meets the eye. It's kind of captivating.

Regardless, this story follows G-Revolutions canon. It's just a story of friendship for now, although it may morph into TyKa in future chapters, but I really do want to keep it as close to canon as possible. However, as true to canon as it is, some scenes are rearranged and some conversations and scenes have been modified. Call it creative liberty. There may be side pairings, not sure what direction this story is going to take. Absolutely no OCs, although there may be some OOC-ness on Kai's part. It's very hard to write Kai perfectly in character. It takes a lot of work to decipher all the 'Hns!' It's written in a mix of third person POV and Kai's POV (which I try to clarify so it doesn't get confusing, and yes I know it's bad form to randomly switch POVs, but it works here…sort of) and follows Kai's battles with all of his former teammates, and reveals his thoughts and feelings and the bonds here shares with all of the other bladers. I'm basically taking scenes from G-Rev and dissecting them from Kai's point of view, inserting his feelings and opinions as I can see them. It sounds boring but I'm really trying not to be :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any of the characters, including Kai.

Summary: Kai's personal journey as he battles all three of his former teammates and his closest friends in the world. Did anyone notice that Kai was the only former Bladebreaker to do that? Ray only fought Kai, and Tyson only fought Max and Kai –I'm not counting the two-on-one battle with Tyson, Lee and Ray early in the season– Max fighting both Kai and Tyson. Other moments from the season –may- be included, although I'm trying to keep it fairly battle oriented.

Each chapter depicts a different battle or a different moment in the season.

Dedication/credit to: FireKali Chaos. Her fic Between the Lines kind of inspired this, though I promise that the two are not the same, though they follow a similar format. I don't support plagiarization, and my writing is all my own, and I didn't purposely follow her storyline in any way, but her story did inspire me in a strange way to write my own, so I suppose I owe her for that! Please check her story out if you've got the time.

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'Where is Tyson?' was the only thought running like a looped track through Kai's brain. His eyes darted around, trying to pick out the blue-haired blader somewhere in the stands, but he came up short. His crimson eyes narrowed slightly as he noted the hard set of Hiro's mouth in the BBA Revolutions corner. So, he guessed that Tyson had been benched by his elder brother, although he couldn't comprehend why Hiro was okay with letting Kenny face them, the Blitzkrieg Boys, arguably the most skilled and definitely the most intimidating team present at the competition. They had certainly been sweeping the rankings so far, and Tala's smirk had grown cockier as they'd advanced match to match. Kai clutched Dranzer in a hard grip and spared his red-headed teammate a cool look as Jazzman, seemingly puzzled, commented on the distinct absence of Tyson too. The match-ups for the first battle were announced, and Kai was not surprised to find that he would face Tyson's tag-team partner, Daichi. The boy was certainly skilled, and there was a certain air about him that was so…very…Tyson-like. Kai bit back a slight grin as that thought fluttered around the edges of his mind. Then, narrowing his eyes once again, rapidly calculating, he was all business once more. He really would have rather faced Kenny; he would have had mercy and gone somewhat easy on 'the Chief', but Tala would not. Tala never showed mercy to his opponents, no matter who they were. He valued skill and fair play, but that was about it. He never let friendships enter the beystadium. Kai still had trouble with that occasionally. But he would do whatever it took to face Tyson in the finals…unfortunately… his thoughts were abruptly cut off as he and Daichi squared off across the dish and Jazzman counted down. Narrowing his eyes in concentration, Kai knew what he must do. At the launch, Kai made sure to meet Daichi's Strata Dragoon head on, and angle his blade just such that it would shoot out of the dish and across the room. Dranzer smashed into the wall just beside Hiro's head, and Kai sported the faintest hint of a smirk as he called Dranzer back to him. He had a feeling that Hiro got the point and understood his displeasure at being kept away from Tyson. Jazzman, the Chief, Hilary and even Daichi all had the same bewildered look on their faces even as the announcer hesitatingly announced the result of the match: the victory had gone to the BBA Revolutions. Kai closed his eyes, brushing off imaginary lint from his clothes, he turned around and walked back to the bench, scarf flapping dramatically behind him. "Kai!" Tala's voice rang in Kai's eyes, and his eyebrow twitched a little in irritation as the redhead grabbed his arm as he walked past. "Kai! What was that?" Tala's voice was flat, cold, but it didn't faze Kai. "Hn." He yanked his arm out of Tala's grip. "Does it matter? I'm sure you'll win your match." He folded his arms and took a seat back on the bench, steadfastly ignoring Bryan and Spencer's glares of askance directed at him. Tala chose to glare at Kai a moment longer before walking to the beydish for his own battle. "I had to. If I can't fight Tyson now, then I'll meet him at the finals. Maybe it's better that way. It's too early right now. I had to let BBA take this win. Tala will crush Kenny in the next battle mercilessly, but I really hope that Daichi has an ace up his sleeve." Kai was going to be pissed as hell if BBA revolution was finished this early in the tournament. He had to hope that they would advance, and that Tyson would be at his best when they met. He wondered what was going on with Tyson, but figured that the bluenette would be back in top form sooner or later. He always did bounce back with a vengeance.

Turns out that Tala obliterated Kenny in his match. Kai rolled his eyes; did Tala really have to crush Hopper into thousands of tiny little pieces to get his point across? Even as Kenny's wails could be heard all the way across the stadium, Tala's smirk only intensified as Daichi stepped up to the dish, ready to take on the captain of the mighty Blitzkrieg Boys. Only Tyson rivalled Daichi in the ability to be overconfident, and Kai could hear Tala growling, promising painful punishment as Daichi clearly goaded him before the match had even begun. 'I could actually get used to the kid. He's clearly got guts and talent if he can get under Tala's skin. It's nice seeing Tala being knocked down a peg or two.' Turns out, it was even nicer to see Tala's Wolborg get knocked out of the stadium dish, because although Kenny had lost his battle, he had spotted a critical weak spot in Tala's attack in the process, and allowed Hopper to be sacrificed so that he could gain some more insight into Tala's blading style. Kai smirked openly. 'Leave it to Kenny to defeat Tala psychologically by spotting his weakness. You go, Chief." Kai, who had always respected the bespectacled teen's genius, had never remembered feeling prouder of Kenny's prowess. It couldn't be denied that Tyson was the heart and soul of his team, but Kenny was the real glue that held them all together. All the former Bladebreakers would have sunk at some point or another if Kenny hadn't been around to strategize, come up with new battle plans, and modify and repair their blades in the blink of an eye as necessary. He had been particularly appreciative of Kenny's skills after King and Queen had left Dranzer's attack ring in unusable condition many months ago. Bryan and Tala had never quite achieved the kind of technical perfection that Kenny had always come through with for them, and this, if anything, was going to be what gave Tyson and Daichi an edge in this tournament.

Midway through Kenny's battle, Tyson had also shown up, demanding to be let into the ring and held back by security. Tyson didn't think that his team could win it without him, but was dumbstruck as he was proven wrong. I recognized the look on Tyson's face: he had been nervous to face me so soon after my defection; Tyson was struggling with fighting against a friend. It had probably severely crippled his morale and blading, giving Hiro a reason to bench him. In a completely twisted way, he was actually becoming slightly grateful that Hiro had benched his brother, because now, with the BBA Revolution officially moving on to the next stage of the competition, Kai had a feeling that he would see Tyson spin in the finals. Kai gave Tala a wide smirk as he strode by after losing to Daichi, and got a very ugly look in return. Kai knew that the humiliating loss would only make Tala work harder, and that he would be just as eager to face Daichi in the finals for a rematch, as he himself was to face Tyson. They had the same goal now, and they would take it all the way to the top.

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Reviews appreciated. Flames are not allowed, but constructive criticism is welcomed.