AnimeKiwi369: Hello, again! This is my second fanfiction for the "Beyblade" fandom. However, this is not a sequel to my previous story "Trail of Roses". This is a new story universe for "Beyblade", but this has the same pairing as my last and will have future pairings. I hope to be able to continue this story universe with a series of one-shots. So without further ado, I don't own Beyblade or it's characters, I only own my OC, Adeline, and the storyline. Oh, and I apologize if Kai is OOC! Please enjoy.

The Girl in Apartment 286

Cold, violet eyes looked around the box-filled apartment. There was no putting it off. If he was going to live here for the next few to several years, he was going to have to unpack. And sooner was better than later. Briefly running his hand through his hair, Kai made his way to the bedroom to unpack the boxes in there first. He had made the decision to live on his own about a month ago. He had thought about it for a while, but he had just had enough of the arguing between Tyson and Daichi or Tyson and Hilary the previous month. He could get some peace and quiet in the apartment, unlike before. That would be good for the assignments he was given during the week. Besides, he was nineteen; he should be living on his own.

This was his second semester of college at a local university. As well as his second year working under his grandfather, who was out of jail and running the family business that had nothing to do with the Abbey. He couldn't wait until he could take over the business, just so he could change a few things. But for now, it was something to occupy his time when he wasn't studying or practicing. The latter was getting more and more difficult to do, though. He still managed to get a little bit of practice in each day, though. For the next time he took on his teammate that held Dragoon.

The Russian let out a sigh as he started to put away clothing and other items that belonged in the bedroom. Things were going to be a lot different now. More different anyway. At least he didn't have to deal with moving a lot of furniture around since the apartment was completely furnished. It was a nice apartment and not too expensive a month, but not so cheap that it was a terrible place. One of the other interns had told him about the apartment since his relative lived there. Plus it was in walking distance to the university.

The holder of Dranzer moved the now empty box on his bed onto the ground and started to look for the box that had bedding in it. He placed that box on the bed, deciding to make up the bed later. He took the bag with his college stuff out to the living room area of the apartment and placed it on the desk in the corner. He'd set that up later as well. For now he'd try to organize where to put the kitchen items, which he had only recently purchased.

Kai carefully put the few plates and glasses in a cupboard as he heard a knock on the door of the apartment. Suppressing his annoyance at the interruption, he went and opened the door without looking through the peephole to see who was in the hall.

A brunette-haired girl stood in the hallway. She looked about his age. Her brunette hair was tied back, accentuating her light green, almond-shaped eyes. The girl was a couple inches shorter than he was. She was dressed in a dark blue long t-sleeve shirt and black jeans, most of which were covered by dark brown, thigh high boots. The brunette had three sets of piercings on her ears along with a cartilage piercing on her right ear, a silver clasp earring on her right ear, and a small stud on the right side of her nose. She seemed slightly familiar.

"What do you want?" The beyblader asked coldly.

The girl was unfazed by his attitude, "I just thought I'd come by and welcome you to the building." The girl replied with a smile, revealing silver braces on her teeth, as she held out her hand. The brunette looked a little closer, "You're Kai Hiwatari."

"Yeah, what of it?" he demanded.

"Nothing," the girl said. "I just know you're a famous beyblader and in my physics class at the university."

That was why she looked familiar, "And who are you again?"

"Adeline Taskwood," she told him with a grin. "I really did come to welcome you. But I see you have unpacking to do, so I'll get out of your hair, but if you need any favors, I'm in apartment 286. Bye, Kai." She said before walking off.

That was strange, He thought, shutting the door. But at least she didn't go crazy over who I was. It was actually really nice of her to welcome me.

He shook off the brief encounter and went back to unpacking the boxes.

With Adeline

The brunette was in a slight daze as she got ready for her job at a café and restaurant several blocks away. She hadn't a clue that Kai Hiwatari, a world famous beyblader, had moved into the apartment below hers. She really had just gone down to introduce herself to her downstairs neighbor. But she must have seemed like a crazed fangirl eager to meet him. She did like him as a beyblader, but she was nowhere near to being a crazy fangirl. She sighed and shook it off as she tied placed the black ribbon choker that was a part of her uniform around her neck.

She had known that the holder of Dranzer was in her physics class at the university, but she'd always left him alone, figuring that he didn't want fans around him. And because of his intimidating demeanor, no one usually sat near him. He was always so quiet, although he did have some good questions and profound answers that she wouldn't have expected of him. She was impressed with his knowledge. She had always been known as the science geek in high school and middle school and had even been the president of the science club from her second year of high school until graduation.

The green-eyed teen glanced at the open textbook she had lying on the couch. It was for their physics class, which she was only taking for a minor degree. She wondered if the beyblader living in the apartment below her was also taking it as a minor degree. And if he was, what was he majoring in?

Again, Adeline, she shook it off as she started to remove the majority of her piercings. It really shouldn't matter. Kai was a loner; that wasn't going to change. If she tried to get to know him, she'd probably be regarded as a fangirl. Although maybe if she approached him casually like she had, she wouldn't come off that way. She'd just being trying to get to know her downstairs neighbor.

"It's worth a shot," she said to herself as she slipped on her high heels and looked at the clock. Her eyes widened, "Ah! I'm gonna be late!"

A Few Days Later

Kai ignored the other people around as he walked towards the university. He had finally finished unpacking the previous night around two in the morning or so. As a result, he wasn't in that great of a mood. Granted he didn't seem to be in a good mood often, but he was very tired that morning. He didn't want anything to bother him until after the lecture. Not until he was more awake. And unless someone wanted their head bitten off, they'd stay away from him. Normally he liked the morning, but he was too tired to be anything but cross.

Footsteps came at a running pace towards him as he kept his eyes ahead. He didn't look back or think anything of it. It was probably some kid late for school or something. Tyson had been late to school enough times. The footsteps slowed though as they came close to him. He rolled his eyes slightly, thinking it was a fan or something, which annoyed him. He looked back at the person only to find it was his upstairs neighbor, Adeline. She was in a dark bluish-green v-neck blouse and short jean shorts with similar boots to the ones she wore the other day. Her hair was hanging loose and she held a book bag in her hands.

"Mind if I walk with you to the lecture?" She asked cheerfully.

"Whatever," he replied, continuing to walk.

The brunette sped up a little so she was walking side by side with the holder of Dranzer. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes as they walked in silence. Was he always so cross? Or was he just not a morning person? Truth be told, she wasn't much of a morning person herself. It took everything to get her ready and awake in the morning. But after breakfast and a cup of something hot to drink she was bright and cheery. If she took a shower in the morning, that helped, too.

The Bladebreaker didn't say anything for the next several minutes as the two of them walked. The brunette felt kind of awkward as she walked along side him. He was just ignoring her. She tried to think of a way to start the conversation. Maybe just a simple question. As long as she didn't say the clichéd "the weather's nice today", she should be fine. He didn't need to hear that.

Then he'd really think I was a fangirl probably, she thought. I should just go for it. Oh, I think I have something.

She took a deep breath, "Are you enjoying your apartment, Kai?"

He was silent.

Should have figured, she thought with a sigh, he doesn't want to talk.

"It's not bad," he said after several more seconds, making her look up. "I only finished unpacking last night."

"You sure unpacked in a short amount of time," she commented, "It took me nearly a month to unpack after I moved into my apartment last summer."

"You've been in your apartment since last summer?" he asked, surprising her.

"Yeah. I wanted to move out as quickly as possible," the brunette explained. "And I've had the same job for almost three years, and I work a few other jobs once in a while. So I have a pretty steady income, I guess. And I didn't want to pay for a dorm. My parents were actually pretty mortified at the thought of me living in a dorm. They'd rather I had my apartment."

"Your parents didn't want you living in a dorm?" he asked skeptically.

"My parents are pretty strict. They didn't even want me to continue my education after high school." She replied, "They just wanted me to be an obedient, little trophy wife. I shouldn't be talking about this. I'm probably boring you with all my talk about me," the girl commented. "How are you getting by, if I may ask?"

Kai stayed silent, ignoring the question. He wasn't too proud to say he was working for his grandfather. In truth, he actually didn't want to be talking to his 'neighbor' at all. It was hard to ignore her though. She was so friendly. And yet it wasn't an intrusive kind of friendly. It was the inquisitive type. He figured she was just trying to get to know him because she was either a) fangirl, which she didn't appear to be that big of or b) trying to get to know him as a neighbor. It seemed more likely to be the latter choice.

She looked at him, "You don't have to answer if you don't wanna." She told him, shrugging her shoulders slightly, "But I am curious to why you decided to live on your own so young."

"I got tired of living with the team," he told her bluntly.

"Hmmm," Adeline commented. "Living in the same place with the same day-to-day activities can get pretty boring. Especially as you change, huh?"

"Yeah," the holder of Dranzer responded.

"I hate to be so chatty, but I'm just curious, Kai," the brunette began, "what are you majoring in?"

The violet-eyed man stayed silent again as he and the girl kept walking. The brunette sighed inwardly. He was annoyed with her. Maybe she should have waited a few more days or weeks before getting to know him. She had always been a little off when it came to timing with things like this. She'd just stay silent until they got to class then leave him alone for as long as possible. Oh, well, that was probably to be expected. The Russian was the least friendly of the Bladebreakers. If only she hadn't been so straightforward; maybe things would have been different.

"Business," he finally answered, surprising her again.

She furrowed her brow, "Wasn't expecting that. Why take physics as a minor then?"

"I enjoy it, and I wanted to understand beyblades more," he told her, again, astonishing her with his answer. This time because it was so long.

Kai had kind of given up on ignoring Adeline. He might as well try to get to know his neighbor. And if he was going into business, he should practice his social skills. Besides, she wasn't crazy; or at least didn't seem that way. If he had been in her shoes, he probably would have curious too. However, he probably would have kept it to himself. And then there was another factor to his speaking to her was the simple fact, she was kind of cute. It might not look too well if he had ignored a girl anyway.

"What are you majoring in?" he asked, attempting to be friendly.

"Chemical and Medical Sciences," she responded.

"Why?" he inquired, honestly intrigued. Chemistry and Physics were two different types of sciences. He shouldn't judge considering Physics and Business were about as far apart as two majors could be.

She looked at him with a quizzical look in her eyes, "You really want to know?"

With an internal sigh and a little bit of apprehension, he answered, "Yes."

The brunette looked down slightly as they kept walking forward, the university beginning to come into sight, "One reason is because I enjoy those sciences best. But that was a small factor in my choosing my major. The main reason was my past. That probably sounds cliché." She let out a sad laugh.

"Did something bad happen?" he asked, making her look up. Both her smile and eyes were a little sad.

"Kinda," she told him, "I shouldn't be sad since it's the past, but I still can't believe how close I came to death."

"How does that connect with your major?" he inquired. The Russian was going to tune out if she said she wanted to give back because she didn't realize how precious life was before.

Adeline stopped walking for a moment and set down her book bag. The girl reached up and unbuttoned the first couple buttons of her shirt, exposing part of her chest. He felt a small heat come to his face as he looked at her. What was she doing? He took his eyes away, but not before he got a glance of slight discoloration on her chest.

"I don't mind. I don't care if you look," she told him, with only a hint of shyness.

Slowly he looked back at the girl's chest. Nothing bad was exposed, other than a little cleavage. In the middle of her chest was a scar that ran down her torso. He looked a little closer, the heat more present on his face, and saw it was multiple scars. Some looked older than others.

"What are those from?" he asked as she buttoned up her shirt again, picked up her bag, and started to walk again.

"When I was really young, I got really sick, sounds clichéd, I know," she began. "But when I was around three my parents put me in ballet, like all other three year old girls. When we were learning, I got dizzy very easily and my heart wouldn't stop hammering in my chest. It was so bad that my chest actually hurt, and I actually passed out most of the time. I'd cough up blood, too, which only hurt my chest more. And what's worse is that my heart also slowed a couple times, so much that we couldn't find my pulse. My parents took me to the hospital under a cat scan, and they couldn't find what was wrong. So they had to put me in surgery, and they still couldn't find what was wrong. And sometimes my spasms were so bad, that I couldn't even stand up. I was in a wheelchair for nearly two years."

"Did they ever find what was wrong?" he asked her.

"They kinda did," the brunette said vaguely. "When I was five, I went under another surgery, where they found a defect with my heart. I don't even remember what they were called it other than Cardiac Dysrhythmia and a weak heart. But they couldn't completely fix it. They were able to temporarily curb it. It wasn't for forever, though. I was given medication to take immediately after I started to feel the symptoms of my condition. I hated relying on the medication. The only way to permanently fix my condition was to have a heart transplant. My parents took me out of ballet because they were worried. I wanted to make my heart stronger though."

"What did you do?"

"Well, when I was released from the hospital, my brothers and sister had given me a beyblade, thinking it'd be easy for me to handle with my condition. Our parents were not pleased and forbid me to beyblade, since it wasn't a classy activity. But I beybladed anyway, even when I could hardly stand. By not giving up and practicing beyblading, I was able to make my heart a little stronger. I wanted to do more, so I begged my parents to let me do gymnastics. And slowly, I made my heart stronger even more. To the point that my condition wouldn't bother me."

"So how did you almost die?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll get to that," she laughed at his impatience. "Anyways, by the time I was eleven, I wasn't really even using my medication. One day the hospital called though and said they had a heart for a transplant. My parents immediately jumped at the chance, and I was not happy. I had worked so hard to get my heart to be strong. And if I didn't have my own heart, I wouldn't be the same person, I felt. But I had no say in the matter. So I underwent surgery again. Almost instantly after the surgeons put the new heart, my body rejected it and if they didn't want me to die or go into shock, they put my heart back in."

"So that's how you almost died?"

"No," she replied bluntly. "You seem a lot more impatient than when you beyblade."

He ignored her, signaling with his hands to let her know to continue.

"I made my heart stronger again after I recovered from surgery. And I honestly thought that I wouldn't have to use my medication or need another surgery again. Until I fell off the high bar and broke my hip when I was seventeen. Without being able to keep my heart strong with gymnastics and unable to beyblade, my health deteriorated quickly. My spasms came back worse than ever, and I ended up in the hospital for weeks during summer before senior year. And I had trouble keeping up with the championships. Especially after I got a metal plate put in my hip. But it was very bad. The doctor's didn't know how long I'd live. I was so afraid I'd die, even though I did know how precious life was."

"So what happened?"

"As I laid in the hospital, in and out of consciousness because of my spasms and medication and painkillers for my hip, one doctor suddenly came in. I was only vaguely aware of what I was being told. The doctors had finally learned a way to permanently fix my heart problem without a transplant. So I was rolled into surgery as quickly as possible. I still can't even really remember what happened, other than I fell unconscious as I was being wheeled into surgery. When I woke up, I was back in my hospital bed with bandages from my chest to my stomach.

"I honestly couldn't really even remember what I had been told until the doctors checked up on me and told me. I don't think I ever felt so relieved. After that, though, I don't even remember what happened for the next several weeks. I was so out of it. That was the only downside to the surgery; it took me nearly five months to completely recover. And I was in the hospital for two, almost three, months after my surgery before I was discharged. I'd been in the hospital for so long that my leg and hip were almost completely healed as well. By the time I was discharged, senior year was starting and so was my physical therapy.

"I think that the only thing I wish I could change is being able to be conscious enough to remember the Championships. I remember having the matches on, but I can't remember much because of how out of it I was. And I also wish I could have been able to beyblade sooner after my surgery," she finished with a hint of nostalgia and regret.

"But how does that connect to your major?" Kai asked again, just a little annoyed that his question had not been addressed quite yet.

"Right," she replied, unfazed by the curtness of his tone. "Apparently, in almost all of my surgeries, they had needed to use a ton of anesthesia to keep me unconscious. And even then, I would almost wake up in the middle of the procedure, requiring more anesthesias. Not to mention, how much medication I had to take to get my heart to settle down after a spasm back them. So, to answer your question, Kai, I'm majoring in Chemical and Medical Sciences to try and improve medicines and anesthetics. I want t be able to create medicines and anesthetics that require fewer doses and last longer, so patients don't have to go through what I went through. So that's why. Answer your question?" she asked with a slight giggle.

He nodded, staying silent as the two approached the entrance to the university. Despite being a little annoyed with the brunette, he found she was pretty interesting. And she had been brave to go through that heart ordeal. Plus she was not as annoying as Tyson was. In a way, she was a perfect mix of company. Cute, smart, a little annoying and talkative, and overall friendly—well, minus the 'cute', it was perfect company. The 'cute' aspect was just a bonus, even though he wasn't too interested in dating. To be honest, Adeline was actually kind of fun to talk to, and she wasn't really afraid to be around him.

"It's admirable," the violet-eyed beyblader commented shortly. "Your choice of major, I mean."

The green-eyed girl looked at him and smiled, "Thanks. I wish I knew why you were taking Business as your major, but you seemed uncomfortable with it."

"I have to take over my family's business," he replied, feeling it was only fair to give his reason.

"Short and sweet," she commented. "A lot simpler to say rather than mine, no?" asked.

Kai nodded as both he and the brunette came close to their Physics lecture. As the two of them went into the room, the dual-toned-haired man noticed a small, barely noticeable smile on his lips. Though he didn't know his upstairs neighbor real well, he found he had actually enjoyed walking with her. She was good company. The walk from the apartment to the university had just gone by very quickly with her.

He watched the girl as she waved goodbye to him when a group of girls waved over to her. The Dranzer holder looked over at her briefly as he sat down at a table alone. The brunette was laughing and seemed to be getting slightly interrogated by the other girls since she came in with him. The small smile on his lips turned into a slight smirk. His neighbor was trying to wave off the subject like it was nothing.

Maybe, he thought, having her as a neighbor and friend won't be as bad as I thought.

AnimeKiwi369: So how was that? Thought I'd try something different with this set of one-shots and start it off with Kai being his normal self and develop the friendship from there. And we get to see more of Adie's personality and past in this compared to my other story universe, but like I said, this is a different universe, and I plan to expand on this. Please be kind and please review. I really appreciate them. I hope you enjoyed the story. Until next time! ^.~