When she read the articles that said the BladeBreakers had four members, she was angry.

Then they said five... Daichi joined the group.

It was on television, on the radio, on every poster... Tyson's face above all. Kai's face came next, because after all he was still the captain and he'd won the world championships once before too. Ray's face was usually there, so was Max's. Daichi's excited grin was showing up on more and more posters right along with theirs.

But there was always one face they seemed to forget.

It made Emily very, very angry.

But she'd never say anything; even though she wanted to. Kenny would be so upset if she went to Mr. Dickenson or said anything to Tyson. Her lover just wasn't that type of person... He loved to avoid conflict, and he would at any and all cost. In fact the only person Kenny ever felt comfortable enough to say something to was Tyson, and when Granger became world champion for the first time Kenny had said their relationship was never the same.

Tyson had room for one other person in his life, and that other person was his ego.

The entire world had watched the champ's raucous attitude drive the BladeBreakers apart; they watched as Ray and Max walked away with the sole mission of beating their once-best friend; saw Kai stalk off without a word or a glance.

Everyone abandoned Tyson. Except for one person.

The Chief.

Kenny was always there for him. Even when Emily knew that Kenny sometimes got the backlash of some of Tyson's worst tantrums. A plan didn't work out? Kenny's fault. Dragoon was too slow? Kenny's fault. Kai was being a dick again today? Kenny's fault.

Fuck, they might as well have blamed global warming on him too.

Emily saw and heard all this from her quiet, reserved love and sometimes she felt herself get so mad that her fingernails dug into her palms and drew blood. It was so fucking unfair.

How could it be justified...? How was leaving him out made okay? Sure, Kenny didn't blade; he didn't have a bitbeast that could come out and slaughter opponents at his beck and call. Poor, poor Dizzi... No one knew how Kenny felt for her. About his guilt, his obsessive quest to un-trap her from his laptop...

No one knew but Emily.

But then again, most of Kenny's life was like that wasn't it.

His team leader didn't see his potential; in fact, even though it was three years ago, Kenny could still recall a time when he was held hostage in a train tunnel by a bunch of hooded freaks who were ready to rip him limb from limb unless Kai submitted to a battle. 'Enjoy your home-cooked Kenny burgers', he'd said. Yeah real funny.

Ray tried to make him feel like he was a true part of the team. At least on most days. But like any other beyblader Kenny dealt with on a daily basis, Ray's attention to the details of Kenny's goings-on were lost as soon as a mic was placed in front of his face or a pretty girl walked by with her ass swinging. Forgotten, again.

Max tried too, he did. The blonde was always happy to see the Chief; always did his best to include Kenny in anything he did. But when Max stepped into the beystadium, only one other thing existed: Draciel. And when he stepped down, even if he'd used a strategy that Kenny had come up with, he never said thank you.

Tyson was pretty self-explanatory. There was never room for Kenny in his victory speeches. It took Tyson nearly an hour to even make it to Kenny's first match in the third world championships. He was there to see Kenny fall against Tala... But he was never there for Kenny's triumphs. When he was having a bad day and he needed someone to yell at, the good ol' Chief was always there.

Always there...

Emily peered around the doorjamb at her man in the kitchen. Kenny was sitting at the table, typing away on Dizzi restlessly. It had been a busy day at the Beyblade Battle Association headquarters in New York. Judy and her partner had been engineering new strategies to make the magnacore more efficient, and as her head researchers... The job mostly fell to Kenny and Emily to put the evidence into practice.

So now he sat there... Trying to match velocity with Driger's speed. Trying to make the core weighty enough to suit Draciel; light enough for Dranzer, or durable enough to last Dragoon.

She sucked in a deep breath, and walked over to the counter to make him some coffee. She knew Kenny loved his job... He'd been dreaming of working at the BBA all his life. The day Judy finally asked him to hop aboard, she thought Kenny was going to kiss her feet and then the ground right after. God she found it so funny back then. But now, when she saw him work, shoulders hunched over and sweat on his brow she realized that maybe Kenny was always going to be fighting a losing battle.

In the beystadium or not.

"Would ya slow down Chief? My circuits are going to melt if you keep typing so fast!"

"Sorry Dizzi... I told Kai and Tyson I'd have these cores ready for my trip home at the end of the week. I need to get Kai and Ray's in the mail and sent off at least a day before. And there's still so much left to do!"

He didn't even look up at Emily as she tipped the coffee pot, poured a steaming mug of java into Kenny's cup. '#1 Customizer', it read.

Wasn't that the truth.

She turned back around and set the mug down beside him. Kenny's fingers never faltered even once. He flicked his blue eyes toward his girlfriend and gave her a brief smile. "Morning Em, I never heard you get up."

"Morning... How long have you been up, Kenny? We don't have work for another hour and a half..."

"I've been up for awhile."

"Mm..."

Emily watched his fingers still for what was probably the first time that morning, reach out for the coffee she'd made him. Kenny took a long sip of the morning brew and sighed. "I don't even remember how I used to get through a day without coffee." Emily pulled the back of her chair out and sat down beside him. Emily's apartment was small; but it was filled with the best of anything she and Kenny could afford (and there wasn't a lot they couldn't). With so much travelling back and forth for him, neither saw the point in getting a house together yet.

Maybe someday, when all this beyblading stuff came to an end... Maybe then. For now Emily's tiny New York flat would have to do.

"So have you heard from your parents yet...?"

Again, Kenny's fingers paused on the keys.

"No... Not yet. Maybe tomorrow." Emily nodded at his words. Kenny's parents were just as bad sometimes... They hated Kenny for what he did for the team, for the BBA. Of course they appreciated his son's big paycheque, but at the end of the day it wasn't Kenny's face they saw sparking up the screen on every sports channel in the world.

But instead of supporting Kenny on the issue and telling him that it was alright to not be the star of the show, then chose to neglect his involvement in the beyblading world. That pissed her off too, because at the end of the day, they owned a rice noodle shop.

And their son was a leading mind in the future of the sport of beyblading.

Tyson didn't go over there much anymore; Hilary was the only one who was really welcome. Emily's bottom lip curved up into a smile. Hilary always told her what was going down while Kenny was back home; she supposed, Hilary was a welcome guest in their household because Hilary never made it to the forefront of the magazine ads either. Emily had her own training to do, she never had the time to go back to Japan with him. The AllStarz were as strong as ever and getting stronger; Max or no Max. Rick chose to stay with the team, and that was great because after he dulled out his attitude he became a really loyal friend.

Things were good most days. They really were.

But some days... She saw the stress that broke Kenny's back getting heavier and heavier. She watched him sitting on the bench as the BladeBreakers fought and won and took pictures for charity tournaments. Pictures he wasn't included in unless one of the guys grabbed him up in a headlock.

Some days Emily was scared everything was going to come to a vicious head.

She took a sip of her own coffee, then traced her fingertips over the top of Kenny's rapidly moving hand. "Hey."

He looked up at her. "Hey..."

"I love you."

Kenny tilted his head while Dizzi buzzed her affection. "Awwww!"

"You okay Emily?"

She groaned and smacked her forehead on the table. "Thanks Chief; really.

"Hey I love you too." He grinned at her. "I'm just wondering where all this came from."

"I guess... I guess I figured I should just tell you." She picked her head up off the table and rubbed at the redness coming out right between her eyes. "Lovely... My forehead is as red as a run-down computer fan isn't it?"

Kenny chuckled at her, leaned forward and kissed the reddening spot of skin gently. "Not as red as that and not as red as your hair... But it's getting there."

She smiled up at him. Again, unseen or not, things were perfect.

"Uh... Hello? Guys I would like some loving over here too!" Dizzi's audio wavelengths bounced about the screen and both her partner and his girlfriend laughed at the distraction. Trygator on the kitchen counter seemed to gleam a little.

"Oh Dizzi, you know we love you."

"Do I?"

The electronic voice made Emily grin and roll her eyes before standing up. She tousled her fingers through the ends of her hair, then looked over her shoulder at Kenny and winked. "I think after work today I might stick around in the sports center of the training facility. It's been a long time since I gave my racket launcher a work-out."

Kenny's face brightened up; Hopper had been repaired and was ready to spin. "Need an opponent?"

"Don't I always?"

That same sassy smile for him again. Emily's eyes were always so beautiful when she smiled, and that warm thought had Kenny sitting down comfortably again to get his work finished. Yeah... Sometimes he didn't like the fact that he was treated like he wasn't technically a part of the team. Sometimes being ignored got to him a little.

But at the end of the day, he knew his friends cared. He looked over on the counter top at the postcard from Ray and smiled.

Yeah, they cared. Besides... Emily was who mattered the most.

And he was never invisible to her.

MS: It really only struck me two days ago just how under-appreciated Kenny is. He never gets the credit he deserves, and that's the one folly of the BladeBreakers that I don't agree with. Plus Kenny and Emily are just too cute together; her spirit to his calm is sweet as hell. :) I hope you enjoyed it, reviews would be greatly appreciated!