Title: The Meddlesome Lesbian

Series: Beyblade

Pairing: TyKa; implied MaxRick

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, it is copyright of HUDSON SOFT/TAKARA/HASBRO, BEYBLADE PROJECT, TV TOKYO, Nelvana

Warning: Boy love; don't like, don't read. end of story.

"Man! It's such a nice day out. Why are we stuck here?" Tyson groaned from his slumped position on his desk beside the window.

"Oh come on Tyson! If we weren't in class you would be at home snacking on something, or still asleep." Max scolded.

As the two were bickering, the bell rang. The pair noticed that the rest of their group wasn't present. Except for Hilary and Chief (whose rooms were different), they should all have been there.

"Hey…where's Kai?" Tyson asked. "He's never late."

"Speaking of which, Ray isn't here either…" Max looked up at the door just in time to see their two friends walk through it. "Oh wait, there they are!"

Tyson pouted at the fact that the two weren't marked as "late" since the teacher wasn't there yet. "How come whenever you two are late, you don't get in trouble?"

Ray smirked at Tyson's ire. "Our lockers were giving us strife, so we went to the office. Mrs. Tobin is there by the way, with a new student."

Kai plopped down next to his blonde friend. "I think she's a transfer student from the states. I heard a bit of her voice and she sounds like she isn't from here, accent is way off. Actually, come to think of it, she sounds a little similar to you, Max…More so when you first got here."

"A little similar?" Max raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, she does sound like you Max, maybe she's from New York too." Ray added.

As Max tried to gripe about his "New Yorker" accent, the teacher walked in with the new student that Kai and Ray had been talking about. She was taller than the teacher (which wasn't too impressive as Mrs. Tobin was short anyway). She had short, dirty blonde hair, a boyish look about her, and seemed like one of those people you shouldn't even try to mess with.

"Class, listen up! We have a new student joining us today. This is Valerie Russ. She's an exchange student from America. Valerie, you can take that open seat next to Mr. Tate over by the window."

Valerie's eyes perked up at the last name and she scanned the room for the blonde she knew only too well. She nodded politely to the teacher and moved across the room to sit where she was directed. "Hi Maxie." She said with a wink as she sat down, Mrs. Tobin starting the lesson.

"Val! You never said you were transferring here!" Max looked shocked at the sight of his old friend from home.

"Is there something wrong, Mr. Tate?" Mrs. Tobin sneered, not appreciating being interrupted.

Max jumped in his seat. "N-no Mrs. Tobin!"

Mrs. Tobin continued with her lesson as the Bladebreakers looked around at each other, confused at Max and Valerie knowing each other, but determining that it would have to wait till lunch to find out how.

"So Maxie, you have to introduce me to your friends!" Valerie said as the two were getting food.

"I will, I will. We eat outside when it's nice out." Max finished getting his food. "They are so confused at the fact that we know each other."

Max led Valerie outside to where the group was sitting. Along with Tyson, Ray, and Kai, Hilary and Chief joined the rowdy group for lunch, occupying one of the larger round picnic tables. Max and Valerie were raving about some old thing they used to like when they arrived at the table.

"Hey guys! Valerie, this is the gang. Guys, this is Valerie." Max said curtly as he plopped down next to Kai, Valerie taking up the seat beside him. "More specifically, this is Kai, Ray, Hilary, Chief, and Tyson is on your right."

Valerie smiled, nodding a hello to the group. Before she could say something, Hilary jumped in. "Tyson filled me in on this morning, how the hell do you know each other!"

Max and Valerie looked at each other quickly, with smile plastered on their faces. "You want to explain Val?"

"Sure, why not." Valerie began. "We knew each other because of this camp thing we would do each year as kids. I was one of those shy kids who never talked to anyone I didn't know but Max made sure I talked to him." Max snickered at the memory. "Anyway, we kept talking after we became too old for the camp. As Judy began assembling the All Stars, I came along for the ride. I was so upset when Maxie went away with his dad." She made an overly dramatic anguished face. "Since before Max left, I had always wanted to study abroad and this past year I got into a program that dumped me here."

Max jumped in, "I knew she was coming to Japan, but I didn't know that she was coming to this school. You would have known if I knew she was coming here."

"So you've been friends for years?" Kai inquired. "He's never said anything about you."

"Kai, that's rude! You never throw a friend under the bus like that!" Tyson sniped.

"I know." Valerie responded.

"You do?" Tyson eased off.

"I never really talked about him to my friends back home either. It just never came up in conversation."

"Fair enough." Kai nodded.

Hilary, happy to have another girl in the group, continued the conversation. "So Valerie, what are you like?"

"What kind of question is that?" Valerie was confused.

"I mean, what are your interests, your hobbies, etc. Do you have a boyfriend back home?"

"Ah. That's what you meant. I don't have a boyfriend, the whole "liking guys" thing never quite worked out for me. I have a girlfriend though. She's sweet. Max has met her." Hilary looked stunned for a moment. "As for hobbies, I guess I like Rubik's Cubes…and animals…"

Hilary couldn't get past what Valerie had said. "So wait, you're a lesbian?"

"Yeah."

"…oh."

The group fell silent at the awkward tension that seemed to form between Valerie and Hilary. Valerie glanced at Max with a look that said "did I just say something I shouldn't have?" Before the moment became too awkward, Hilary's expression went from shocked to curious.

"So you and Max never dated?"

Valerie and Max shared a glance before they burst out laughing. Max was the first to regain himself. "No! Oh no! We never did anything like that!"

"I've been gay for as long as I can remember!" Valerie inputted. "Max was actually the one who helped me figure out that I was gay…you know, in the "he was the friend who talked me through it" type help."

Now that the tension was broken between the girls, the group ended the lunch period with a laugh. During lunch, Valerie's eyes kept wandering to Kai and Tyson. She had noticed Kai repeatedly looking over at the other boy. Looking up, he had met her gaze, and diverted his eyes immediately. Tyson seemed to love instigating Kai, saying things, making faces, and being an overall nudge. During class, he would be the first to correct him, or to scold him when he did something stupid. In the small amount of time that she had interacted with them, she noticed something. In her opinion, they acted like an old married couple; one that bickered all the time. She made a mental note to talk to Max about it later.

"Dad I'm back! And I brought a friend!" Max shouted as they entered his father's store.

A hearty chuckle was heard from the doorway behind the counter. "You know you don't have to announce when you bring over a friend Maxie-" Taro Tate faltered as he walked to the counter, spying Valerie standing behind Max. "Valerie! What are you doing in Japan?" He walked around the counter to give her a brief hug.

"I'm here as an exchange student. I'm going to Max's school for the time being." Valerie smiled.

"This is great! I've heard Maxie here staying up late talking to you. Now he can go to bed early!" He said with a laugh, the two teens shortly joining in. "Ok now, you two go on up. I have to finish up in the back room before any customers come in."

"Ok dad." Max signalled Valerie to follow him.

"See you Mr. Tate!" Valerie jogged up the stairs after Max.

As soon as the door to Max's room was closed, Valerie wasted no time talking about his friends. "So, Kai and Tyson."

Max gave her a confused look. "What about them?"

"Are they close? Are they dating? You know!"

Max was startled at his friend's question. "They aren't even gay to my knowledge." He avoided eye contact.

"That's a pity. They look so great together. And I don't know if you noticed it, but they can't keep their eyes off of each other. Kai can't seem to stop himself from slipping into some comment about Tyson or something he said. Seriously, they want each other!"

Max laughed it off awkwardly, "I doubt that. They hate each other. They have since they first met."

"I call BS! They want to bone, I'm telling you! Watch them interact with each other."

Max simply rolled his eyes. "You are ridiculous."

Valerie pouted. "Hey, who was it who noticed a particular someone has a major crush on Rick Anderson?" Max's face went beet red.

"Fair enough."

Max pondered as he plopped down on the bed. "Actually, if you put it that way, and coming from you, it is a little more believable."

"Speaking of, when are you going to tell them you're gay?"

Max went silent, shifting his gaze to the floor. "It never really came up in conversation…I mean, I know they aren't homophobes or anything like that…"

"You have to tell them eventually. I mean, Hilary thought that we were together at one point and she only knew me for 15 minutes! Not even!"

"Fine! I will…eventually. Just drop it, please? We have some catching up to do."

Morty here! I had been wanting to write something for TyKa since FOREVER. Thanks to Warfang and Akkain for betaing this! lots of love 3