All right, time to add another fic to the 14 fics that I haven't finished yet! Why do I do this to myself? (wails)

Now then, I know most people will have read the summary and thought "Urgh, is she out of her mind? Kai/Ming Ming?" Believe it or not, I'm quite enjoying writing this, and I hope you all enjoy reading it!

This is dedicated to Lamanth, who put the idea for this pairing in my head and wrote a oneshot on it. This will probably be about two or three chapters, depending on how the plot goes.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't rub it in.

"Please fasten your seatbelts, the plane is coming in to land." Kai opened his eyes and waited for the world to come back into focus. He stood, wincing as the blood flow to his legs restarted painfully. Grabbing his small rucksack, he swung it over his shoulder and joined the crush of people, all eager to get out of the aeroplane.

Customs passed without incident for once in his life - his grandfather's name was infamous in all foreign security circles - and he was now tapping his foot with impatience at the amount of time that the baggage was taking to come through. Eventually, an infuriating half an hour later, he hauled the suitcase off the conveyer belt and unzipped it, careless of the neatly-folded clothes that he was disturbing. Rummaging around inside, he let out a mental sigh of relief as his hand closed around his beloved beyblade, feeling Dranzer pulse with warmth in a greeting. His shoulders sank a fraction, some of the tension trickling away a little. Being separated from Dranzer for twelve hours non-stop wasn't good for his state of mind, he decided, zipping up the case and standing up with the beautiful royal-blue beyblade safe in his hand. Right now, all he wanted was a couple of painkillers to get rid of the nagging headache he had developed and a mug of the blackest coffee in the entire airport. Forget sleep. It was only eleven o'clock at night, he normally wouldn't sleep until near three in the morning.

He strode towards the café. People made way for him without even realising that they were doing so. It was something in the way he carried himself, something in his closed-off, distant expression that suggested he was above mere mortals. In reality, he was very mortal, and suffering from jet-lag and coffee withdrawal, but who were they to know that? He chuckled inwardly at the thought. What was a masquerade like this for indeed, if not hiding your real feelings from nosy passer-bys? And anybody else who tried to get too close.

"An espresso, please. As strong as you can make it." The teenager behind the counter nodded, his eyes wide with awe that he didn't quite dare voice. Kai sighed as he leant on the counter. It was to be expected, of course. After three years, he should be used to it by now. As a world-class beyblader, one of the very best in the world if he wanted to be precise, he got attention regularly. Daily, as a matter of fact. When would they get the picture?

The more they tried to learn about Kai Hiwatari, the more the real Kai Hiwatari retreated behind his mask. That was how it had worked for eighteen years now, and that was how it would always work.

"Your coffee, sir," Nodding in thanks, Kai took hold of the mug and sat down in the corner. The smallest table there was a two-seater. That was just plain annoying. Not everyone had someone meeting them at the other end. Didn't airport staff know that?

Deep chocolate-coloured eyes stared into the mirror that hung over the sink, carefully applying cover-up makeup to an ugly purple bruise that showed up horribly against the clear brown skin. With a sigh of defeat, the hand fell away, slipping the make-up back into its case. Seconds later, the door shut softly.
Halfway down his jet-black coffee, Kai took a break, the heat burning the back of his throat. The teenager behind the counter had been American, without a doubt, the badly-disguised accent confirmed it. Thoughts of a certain blond American predictably followed this observations, swiftly succeeded by the rest of the World Champion team. If he was being pedantic, only Tyson and Daichi were World Champions, but it was generally accepted in the beyblading community that the Justice 5 tournament had been just as hard as a World Championship, if not more.

Daichi and Kenny, last time he heard from either of them, were still fighting over Matilda. The young girl appeared to be taking an uncharacteristic pleasure in playing them against each other, and Kevin had recently been bitten by the puberty bug as well.

Result; hello, love-square. He chuckled in his head, making doubly sure that none of his emotions showed on his face.

Hilary was apparently training to be a nurse, and annoying everyone around her with her constant lectures about eating healthily and daily exercise. She had laughed about it over the phone last time they had talked, but he could tell she wasn't at her happiest, to put it lightly. One of these days, he was going to ring up Tyson and tell him a little something that had been right under his nose for over two years.

Max was splitting his time between America and Japan, six months each way. He was unusually taciturn about what he was doing in America, but Kai had his suspicions. Not that he would ever mention them, even to himself. Privacy was privacy, after all.

Ray's case was much more clear-cut. He and Mariah were glued to each other's side over in China, and he was busy, as he put it, "raising the next Asian champion." Teaching, that was, not making his own. Although, it was only a matter of time.

Tyson was eating as much as ever, talking as much rubbish as ever, and as blind as ever. Kenny and Max were apparently plotting to lock him and Hilary in a room together and leave them there, never mind if something flew through a window. Secretly in love with each other or not, or perhaps because of that, they couldn't be in the same room as each other without something being launched through the air to miss the intended target and fly through a window. Generally a chair, thrown at Tyson. Always an expensive window.

Breaking away from his mindless ramblings, he looked absentmindedly around the part of the airport he was in. People streamed past in a never-ending stream, blurring into a bland mesh of flesh and brown hair. Brown, such an unexciting colour to look at constantly. Suddenly, as the rush of people heading for "Gate 7, calling all flight 153 passengers to Gate 7!" slowed, a flash of a new colour caught his eye. A bright, vibrant aqua-blue. Blinking, he checked his coffee. Yes, the coffee was normal. He looked again. Yes, there was bright blue hair in that crowd.

The crowd dispersed almost entirely, leaving a teenage girl standing uncertainly on her own, looking around with huge, velvety brown eyes. A name flew into Kai's mind immediately. Well, after the combination of Kenny's blind obsession and Hilary's scorching jealousy, how could any of them ever forget her?

"Ming Ming, of all people…" he murmured out loud, shaking his head fractionally in disbelief. He stared at her with interest as she began to move towards the café.

Her shiny, aqua-blue hair was tied back in a simple ponytail that swung as she moved. She was wearing a tight, low-cut dark-green top and equally tight blue jeans. The top rode up with each step that she took, exposing an expanse of smooth caramel-coloured skin and a pierced belly-button. Her eyes were made to look even larger with eyeliner, mascara-coated eyelashes sweeping down coyly as people turned to stare. Her lips were a natural-looking pink, only a slightly reflective sheen as the lights shone down on her telling otherwise.

She approached the counter and ordered something, her voice soft, inaudible. Turning away, her eyes suddenly met Kai's. They widened in surprise.

Ming Ming stared at the older blader, her mind racing frantically. W-what if he'd seen the bruise? Just in time, she stopped her hand from flying up to finger the tender, throbbing spot on her cheek. Taking slow, deep breaths, she calmed herself down. Everything would be fine. He knew nothing. It would probably be a good idea to go and make polite conversation, just to make sure, nonetheless. Never mind that she couldn't think of much that she would like to be doing less. When had that ever affected what had to be done? Fixing a happy, cheerful smile on her face, she took her bottle of water from the boy behind the counter and walked over to Kai.

"Hiya!" she said brightly as she slid into the seat next to him. He grunted in response. She mock-frowned. "That's not very nice!"

"Trust me, your voice isn't too pleasant, either." came the cold answer. She bristled, inwardly enjoying the feeling for once. "Not everyone's a fan." he elaborated. She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh well, I've got enough!" She winked cheekily and smiled at him. Expressionless amethyst eyes gazed back at her, their owner maintaining a disdainful silence. Giving up on conversation, she settled back into the chair, trying to look relaxed. She checked her watch - eleven thirty. The butterflies in her stomach intensified.

"You waiting for somebody?" She looked up, hearing Kai's curt inquiry only vaguely.

"Sorry?" She blushed slightly as he sighed in annoyance.

"Are you waiting for anybody?" he repeated, his tone indifferent.

"Oh! Yes, I am." If he wanted more information, tough, that was all she was willing to give him. He didn't seem to mind though, and went back to drinking what smelt like coffee and silently observing the goings-on around him. She studied him from under lowered eyelashes.

He was far taller than her, but they were the same height sitting down because of the way he was hunched over the table.

"Sitting like that's bad for your posture." She slapped a hand over her mouth and blushed, her caramel skin turning a dark shade of pink. "Oh my gosh, did I really just say that out loud?"

"Yes." He looked vaguely amused, the corner of his mouth tilting upwards in a slight smirk.

"I'm sorry, it just slipped out. Sometimes I just do that, you know? Say what I think." She giggled nervously.

"Forget about it." The smirk had disappeared, leaving a thin line in its place.

"Okay, sorry, it's too late at night for me. I'm going a bit hyperactive."

"I would never have noticed." She giggled again, the sound slightly hysterical. Kai sighed noiselessly and ran his free hand through his hair. "Remind me what country I'm in?" he muttered, raising an eyebrow. Ming Ming suppressed another edgy giggle with difficulty.

"France." she replied eventually. "Where have you come from?"

"Hong Kong. Twelve hours on a plane. Why are you in France?"

"This is where I come from!" She smiled at the puzzled flicker in his amethyst eyes. She waited for him to ask, but he seemed determined to stay silent except for when it was entirely necessary. "Both my parents are Japanese, but I was born in France. I grew up here, too."

"What was it like?" Her bright smile faltered. Hastily, she stiffened her face muscles and held it there, hoping that he hadn't noticed her reaction.

"It was okay. You know, normal family life." She added the last comment deliberately, remembering the rumours that constantly circulated about Kai's upbringing. To her disappointment, he simply nodded and returned to staring at the passers-by. She pouted in annoyance and crossed her arms, inwardly wincing at the immaturity of the actions. Kai appeared to agree, he cast her a faintly repulsed look, one eyebrow raised as if to say; do you really want to do that? No, she answered silently.

Uncrossing her arms, she put them on the table, then dropped her head onto them, nestling comfortably into the makeshift pillow and blinking sleepily. Her eyes drifted to the clock on the wall nearby, and her eyes widened at the time. Eleven forty-five. At that very second, a slender teenage boy appeared from the crowd, distinguishable, as she was, by his striking mop of aqua-blue hair. Getting up so fast that her head whirled, she flew towards him. This time, slipping into childish behaviour was easy.

"Toni!" she squealed, rushing towards her older brother. Turquoise eyes crinkled as Tomi grinned widely in greeting and embraced his little sister in a tight hug.

Kai watched intently, partially obscured from the siblings by the position of the table. If it hadn't been for the identical hair colour, he would never have identified the boy as any relation to Ming Ming whatsoever. His hair was messy and cut relatively short. Where her eyes were dark brown, his were turquoise. Where she was attractively curvy, he was gangly and skinny. Her tan was lighter than his, and his skin was marred by spots. Nevertheless, siblings they obviously were. That much was apparent from the way they interacted; not that he was an expert in sibling interaction.

Suddenly, the boy's eyes caught Kai's. He pointed Kai out to Ming Ming and said something; they were too far away for Kai to hear properly. Ming Ming smiled, a little nervously, Kai thought, and replied quickly. They began to walk over to the café again. Older brother wants an introduction, Kai thought with a smirk. No worries, pal, I'm just passing through.

As they got closer, Kai noticed that they weren't as comfortable in each other's presence as he had first thought. There was a slight awkwardness between them, a stiffness in their postures, an edge to their rapid French.

"Tu t'appelle comment?" the boy asked, protectiveness oozing from every pore of his body. Ming Ming opened her mouth to translate, but Kai silenced her with a glare.

"Je m'appelle Kai. Et vous?" he shot back, his voice curt. The boy's eyes lit up with understanding.

"Kai? As in the beyblader?" he inquired, switching effortlessly into English without even a trace of an accent. Kai nodded. The boy put out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kai. I'm Antoine." Kai shook his hand, letting go a little faster than was polite.

"Pleasure." he said tersely.

"What brings you to France, Kai?" He shrugged.

"Travelling." he said flatly. Standing up, he settled his luggage more comfortably into his grip. "Speaking of which, I'd better get moving."

"You can stay with us, if you want," Ming Ming piped up, latching onto her brother's arm and looking up at him beseechingly. "Can't he, Toni?" Kai couldn't stop his lip curling in distaste at her juvenile behaviour.

"You wouldn't want me around after ten minutes." He nodded to Antoine and began to walk away. He stopped. Not because he wanted to, but because Ming Ming was clinging onto his arm like a monkey. He stared down at her, wondering at the badly-concealed look of misery in her huge chocolate-coloured eyes.

"You can call, if you want." the girl said brightly, her tone the very opposite of her eyes. "The number's 23610 510875." He nodded. Bending down until he was at her level of approximately five foot, he stared levelly at her.

"What are you trying to hide, kid?" he whispered. Ming Ming opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "If you want me to stop calling you kid, give me a reason to believe you aren't one." Straightening up, he detached his arm from her suddenly loosened grip, and walked away. As he turned to go round a corner, he saw Ming Ming re-attach herself to her brother.

He knew when someone was putting up a front, making out that they were someone they weren't, and Ming Ming was projecting naïveté and childishness as if her life depended on it. Before, he had simply thought that those characteristics were part of her personality. Seeing her close up, talking to her, had convinced him otherwise. The only question was; why? What was she so desperate to hide?

Nobody wore a mask for nothing.

Well? All opinions welcome, but please, if you feel like flaming, please don't! I really don't like them!Anyway, please review!