Ray bit down on the inside of his cheek hard, tasting copper and not really minding so long as it kept the taste of the bitter tears running down his face out of his mouth as his feet slapped against the frigid pavement of downtown Beycity.

Picking up pace, Ray kept up his impromptu run, silently dashing around the forms of people and turning corners with dizzying speed. Rain that had been threatening to fall since early that morning drifted down around him in a light sprinkle, something that he just barely noticed.

His throat burning, Ray dashed across the street, uncaring of the minimal traffic that puttered about around him at the late hour, and turned up the next street keeping up his run right up until he finally came to a busy intersection which his instincts wouldn't allow him to speed through, even in his current state of hysterics.

His sides heaved as he waited for the sign to tell him it was good to keep going and Ray's mind, unbidden by him, started to rerun the events that had brought him to this point.

He'd gone over to the hotel that the White Tigers were staying in for the next few months in the lead up to this year's World Tournament, starting here in Beycity once again, in order to talk to them about a secret he'd been keeping since a year and a half before. He'd gone alone, telling his significant other that he'd be fine, that he trusted his team and to stop worrying so much…

Heh.

Well, that had certainly been a mistake.

Ray smirked bitterly before pushing himself into another punishing run as soon as the little electronic sign lit up with the walking man.

It was so ridiculous that four young, strong, competent people could have such...crazy ideals about his choices that they would threaten him so horribly. All he had done was tell his supposed teammates (his supposed fucking best-friends) about his lover, just to have it fucking thrown in his face once the stunned silence had ended.

Ray shook his head violently, his long braid whipping behind him. Why, oh, why hadn't he just listened to Kai?

The other blader was always so much better at reading people than Ray was, so much better at predicting things. He'd tried to warn Ray gently, set him up for the pain of rejection, but Ray had just smiled at him, too damn blinded by his own heart to look at things logically.

Closing his eyes, Ray let out a shaky breath and increased his speed, desperate to get out of the heart of the busy city and onto the quiet street where Kai and the other Blitzkrieg Boys were currently living in their own private apartment.

Ray laughed a little under his breath. Oh, the questions that would come up if he was seen visiting, nay, sleeping at the Blitzkrieg Boys' place of residence.

He could just hear the stories; everything from bribery to blackmail, he was sure, when really he was only heading there because that was where his boyfriend was.

Yeah, that's right. His name was Ray Kon, resident Chinese Country-Bloody-Bumpkin of World Class Beyblade, and he was gay. Deal with it.

And he wasn't just dating any guy either; he was dating Kai Hiwatari, the legendary multi-billionaire, sex-on-legs, star blader of the BBA.

Yeah, because when Ray Kon decided to screw village traditions, he really decided to screw village traditions.

Ray laughed breathily at the semi-sarcastic thought; as if that's what their relationship was really about…

He and Kai had come together by accident if anything else.

At the time he himself had only just thought that perhaps he might be leaning towards being just a little bit bi, and he'd been plenty jumpy about people finding about that. He'd also been stressed about his teammates and their constant pressuring to get him to come back to the village, about the upcoming tournaments and finding out just what the hell it was he wanted to do with his life.

He hadn't been looking for a partner of any kind, let alone a male one.

Kai had been in a similar spot. Just a week free from the hospital after the BEGA Fiasco, as the press now kindly called it, and he was being pressured by his family's lawyers to fly back to Russia and start getting his newly inherited company back together again after his grandfather's reign of terror over it had officially ended, with the media stalking his every move.

As well as that, he'd also been busy pulling strings to get the Blitzkrieg Boys away from the foster system and emancipated just as he was; which, the red-eyed blader would admit later, after a couple shots of something he technically wasn't supposed to have, was probably the easiest part of it all.

They'd stumbled across each other by complete chance.

Ray had been sitting in a local coffee shop in Tokyo, debating if he should miss his connecting flight to China or not, when Kai had stumbled in looking half-crazed before slumping down in a chair just in time for a group of even crazier-looking media hounds to run right by.

Safe to say that had led to some questions (which Kai had, amazingly, answered) and from there one thing had just led to another until Ray had realized he had indeed missed his flight to China (though it was more of a relief than anything else) and when he'd mentioned it to Kai, the other blader had hesitantly offered to let the Neko crash at his apartment in Tokyo until he could schedule another one.

I never did schedule that flight, Ray thought with a smirk as he swung around another corner, the sweetness of those memories combatting the pain he'd faced tonight.

And damn did it fucking hurt. Nothing excused causing someone this kind of pain; not culture shock and definitely not their fucking precious traditions, most of which were fucking skewedanyway.

They'd treated him like trash tonight, like he was nothing but fucking garbage. Like he was something dirty.

Ray shook his head against the tears that he felt building in the corners of his eyes. Even Mariah, who he'd always had a sort of camaraderie with when it came to the strict rules of their village, had just sat there while her brother screamed his abuse at him, Kevin and Gary sitting there watching right beside her.

That'd hurt him more than anything else, their silence. At least Lee had shown he'd been hurt by the situation, the others had just sat there; as if Ray wasn't even worth their anger.

Coming to a stop in front of a moderately sized, pristine stone building at the end of the street, Ray tiredly shoved open the door; fighting to keep the tears that were trying to escape his eyes locked away until he reached the safety of his boyfriend's apartment.

Stepping into the lobby Ray saw from the clock that hung above the reception's desk that it was late, nearly twelve in the morning if he wanted to be exact. If he was lucky he'd be able to sneak into the apartment, grab something for the horrible headache he'd gotten sometime between crying bluntly and trying not to cry, and just quietly wallow for a bit before facing Kai and the others.

He should have known it wouldn't work that way.

Half way down the hallway to number 596, a luxurious penthouse apartment on the very top floor, he started to feel sick, his legs shaky and weak, which really wasn't that hard to understand. He had been running for god-knew-how-long after all and he hadn't felt all that great before that either and then the stress and the rain as well…

All in all, Ray didn't figure anyone could blame him when he passed out just minutes after knocking on his boyfriend's door, a startled cry ringing in his ears.

Kai growled lowly in his throat as his eyes caught on the still form of his boyfriend; the cool compress that he'd been wringing in his hand as he walked taking harsh abuse as he used it to funnel his rage at the situation.

Putting a cap on his anger, Kai set the bowl and cloth down on the bedside table before reaching behind him and dragging the computer chair over to the edge of the bed. Taking a seat he gently pressed the back of his hand against Ray's burning forehead, grimacing all the more when he realized the ravenette's fever hadn't gone down at all in the time he'd been gone.

Placing the cool cloth on his unconscious boyfriend's forehead, Kai gently placed a kiss on his lips before taking the Neko's hand and leaning back in the chair, content to stay like that and stew on all that had happened until either Ray woke up or Spencer sent someone to drag him to the kitchen to eat.

Sighing, Kai scanned his sleeping love; feeling guilt chew at him every second Ray lay there, his face pale beneath his tan and contrasting sharply against his midnight black hair and the dark blue bed set.

Kai knew he shouldn't have let Ray go talk to those... those traitors alone. He knewhe should have gone with Ray to keep this from happening, despite what Ray said about how much he trusted them. Trust meant nothing in the face of fear; Kai knew that better than anyone.

And as much as the White Tigers stated that they were all open-minded to new techniques and all that, Kai knew that most things about the modern world still scared the crap out of them.

And what do you do with something you fear? You start to hate it, naturally.

Of course those damned Elders of theirs couldn't be of much help either. Kai had managed to weasel some truly condemning horror stories out of Ray in the past about how they "dealt" with the "corruption" of their young people.

It had started when Kai had asked why Ray wore gloves so religiously now, even though he hadn't when they'd first met. The other blader had paled and stuttered something about a climbing accident that had resulted in severe rope burns on his hands which had left some fairly noticeable scars behind.

Kai hadn't exactly bought it (something in his gut and the fact that Ray always stuttered when he lied told him his boyfriend might not have been totally honest with him), but he'd dropped it all the same; issuing the ravenette the same courtesy Ray had given him in regards to his blue triangle tattoos a few months before.

Or, he had at least, until he'd caught Ray just as he was coming out of the shower before a trip back to his village.

He'd apparently forgotten his precious red gloves when he'd grabbed his change of clothes, because when Kai had walked in he hadn't been wearing them and Kai had gotten full sight on the long, thin scars that stood out bluntly against the slightly paler skin on the backs of his hands which were usually covered by said gloves.

That had led to what would probably go down as the most awkward, emotionally tormenting conversation that would ever happen in their relationship; ending with Ray swearing not to return to his village if there was a chance that he could be hurt and Kai holding the crying Neko Jin during a string of nightmares that would happen later that night.

It had been a hard thing to get the Neko to agree to. That village was, after all, the home of Ray's dead parents, as well as where they were buried and where he'd spent his whole life until he'd run. That, and he'd been scared about how his friends would take it.

Heh, Kai thought with a deep-rooted bitterness, like that was worth worrying about.

After long, Kai had gotten him to agree though and, honestly, Kai could see it was more of a relief than it was a burden to his lover.

Despite whatever memories he'd had there, Ray had been terrified of having to go back again. The only reason he'd even kept going back in the first place was because his friends had wanted him to come visit them at their home, unknowing of the abuse Ray went through.

Ray had gone to keep them happy, silently taking the whippings to the backs of his hands and the beatings to the rest of him with a smile until Kai had finally noticed.

Looking at his ill boyfriend now, Kai couldn't help but think it had been a lot of innocent blood spilled over a whole lot of nothing.

Or maybe not nothing, Kai thought dully, just the stupidity and arrogance of a group of old 'wise' men.

Snorting quietly at the irony, Kai stared down at the now sleeping Ray; his hand silently leaving Ray's to run through the raven haired boy's longish bangs.

Kai wasn't sure he'd ever been as scared as when Tala had come barreling in from the foyer with Ray in his arms; limp, soaked and shaking. Visions of every horrible thing that had ever happened to someone he'd cared about had gone screaming through his head, leaving him feeling breathless with terror and anger.

It was a feeling that hadn't fully abated even now, with Ray right there in front of him and Spencer's diagnosis of just a fever and a bad case of exhaustion ringing in his ears.

Smiling a little, Kai placed a soft kiss on Ray's forehead once more before pulling himself up from his chair and leaving the room, planning on giving a status update to the rest of the Blitzkrieg Boys before Spencer summoned them all to the table for dinner.

Dinner, Kai thought to himself with a snort, more like a war meeting.He had very little doubt that, now that Ray was on the mend, his brothers would be able to keep the mention of revenge off the table.

Every one of his brothers-in-everything-but-blood had grown close to the Neko, accepting him like he was just another member of their mixed up little family. And rule one of the Blitzkrieg Boys was that you didn't let family get hurt without a fight.

Kai's smirk became just a little more evil as he pushed open the door to the kitchen. Really, he thought as his eyes connected with Tala's icy ones, the question isn't so much what to do next, but more so how to go about it.

When Ray awoke, it was to the scent of lilac fabric softener and a steady, beating ache that started somewhere near the pads of his feet before flowing up to the base of his skull. His eyes, which he'd quickly closed after catching the light of the sun the first time, stung and his throat was sticky and dry.

And yet still, there was a kind of peace in his vaguely dazed mind; one which he hadn't felt in years.

It was solemn, soothing kind of peace. The kind that came when you just realized that people did as they did and that there wasn't anything you could do to change it.

The last time he felt this kind of… of freedom, he guessed, was years ago; back when the Bladebreakers were just a ragtag bunch of underestimated rookies combing through the streets of China looking for their missing captain, only to stumble upon the White Tigers...

Ray shook his head harshly, immediately wishing he hadn't when his headache began to make itself known. Though, in the big picture, he guessed a headache didn't really matter if it meant the pain chased away his memories; ones that threatened to drown him even when he'd stopped trying to swim in them.

Stretching, Ray cracked open his tired amber eyes and glanced around the room, immediately recognizing the dark blue walls and cherry wood furniture as being that of the guestroom of the Blitzkrieg Boys' apartment, which more times than not was his.

Smiling a bit at the familiar surroundings, Ray let himself slip back below the sheets; utterly content to just rest until someone (most likely his boyfriend) came into the room to check on him, rather than climb out and go find someone. Plus there was the fact that it was rather debatable whether or not he could walk without some serious cramps right then, so…

As it turned out Ray didn't have long to wait. About ten or twenty minutes after waking up he noticed the door open with a soft click to reveal Kai, dressed in black sweats and a white tank top and looking like death himself with harsh, dark circles under his beguiling burgundy eyes and a frown on his lips.

A frown that immediately melted away once he saw that Ray was awake.

Crossing the room in three quick steps Kai pulled Ray into a hot kiss; his arms, strong and defined, locking Ray in their safety as his lips claimed him desperately.

Ray moaned, winding his arms around Kai's neck and clinging to his shoulders as the older boy blanketed him with his body. Mint and Vodka and just Kai invaded his mouth in a delectable cocktail that Ray simply could not get enough of.

When the kiss was finally broken, Ray simply lay there breathlessly. His body was hyper-aware of Kai's and his boyfriend's eyes were smoldering as he held himself above Ray, their legs entangled.

"I was so worried…" Kai's voice whispered, his words trailing along Ray's skin desperate and hot like lava as Kai bent his head down to kiss his cheek.

"I'm sorry," Ray whispered back. So sorry he couldn't protect himself, sorry he didn't have better control, that he couldn't read people…

"Not your fault," Kai managed to bite out through the countless kisses he peppered to Ray's face and throat, "never your fault."

"I should have listened to you," Ray stated back, winding his hands in Kai's hair. "I shouldn't have gone alone, it was dumb, but I thought…" He'd thought they wouldn't hurt him. Not like this.

Kai shushed him quietly. "It's not your fault. All you did was trust. It's not your fault." Kai's voice was strong, a command that none would refute. Ray found himself nodding along with it. "Good," Kai said, quieter and softer than before, as he placed another few kisses on Ray's forehead.

"I love you," Ray said abruptly. He'd always felt it in his heart, but only recently had he felt like he'd had a right to say it, to proclaim it for others to hear.

Kai smiled at him. Small and soft and real, that little curve of his lips took undeserved age away from Kai's face; making him appear his just seventeen years instead of a grown man with a young face.

"So I suppose you don't regret us then?" Kai asked quietly, looking away from Ray's warm amber eyes.

Ray cupped his hand around Kai's cheek, his fingers brushing just below Kai's eye.

"Never."

The kiss born from that one word set them both on fire.

Kayli Ripper loved her job. As the host of the hit sports gossip show, Behind the Cord, not only did she get a two-million a year paycheck, but a legion of stylists and makeup artists devoted to making her look perfect, a high-ranking celebrity status, invites to all the hottest parties and a heads-up to all the latest gossip.

Kayli was a girl of simple pleasures. So long as she had her money, her makeup, her clothes and her gossip, she was happy. Men came and went and any of her free time was usually devoted to shopping, researching interesting celebrities for new leads, or gossiping with her fellow TV hosts.

That said, it was easy to understand her over-cloud-nine attitude when she came into work one morning and slapped down the hand-written letter she'd received earlier that morning on the desk of her producer, who'd taken one look at the ornate H on the old-fashioned wax seal before paling.

Kayli had just smirked, knowing that her boss was freaking out quietly without reason as he shakily opened the letter and read the first few lines.

Seconds later, a matching grin to the one of Kayli's face lit up the producer's.

"Ripper," the old-ish man grinned, "I don't know how you did it, but this is gold. Clear your schedule; I want you to have this story to me by the end of the week. And for the gods' sakes, girl," her producer snapped, eyeing her like an errant teenager, "I had better not hear from Hiwatari about any harassment issues after he dropped this into our laps! Hell, if anything we should be sending him and his Mr. Kon muffin baskets!"

Kayli frowned, that might be hard. Her usual routes of 'information gathering' weren't the most… subtle, you could say.

But, with all the drama in this story it would likely be the thing to make her career!

And besides, Kai Hiwatari and Ray Kon had to be the hottest pairing she'd seen in years! Oh, wouldn't the girls at her Yaoi Appreciation Club be jealous when she told them she actually got a real, legal interview with them? And after all, they had sent her that letter… perhaps they'd be willing to be cooperative?

Nodding to herself firmly she tossed her boss a quick "you got it" before scooping up her letter and racing out of the building and jumping into her expensive, pink Italian car; dialing her assistant as she went.

After finishing up giving out her orders, Kayli grinned.

A dramatic secret relationship, a verbal hate attack given by close friends ending with medical problems and one of the favourites for taking the BBA Championship Crown withdrawing from the tournament; and she was covering it! It was like Christmas and her birthday and the Grammies had come all wrapped up in one!

They would be talking about this for years. And who would they be thanking for giving them the lowdown on it all? Why her, Kayli Ripper, of course! Why, she could like, wind up getting one of those award thingies for this story!

Oh, it just made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

And with images of golden trophies and fancy dresses dancing in her head, Kayli proceeded to drive; completely aware of the dramatic hell she was about to unleash and absolutely giddy at the thought of it.

Well, I hope you all like this new, longer, fluffier and all around better first chapter of Black Cat! I absolutely hated the old beginning of this story so I figured I'd redo it while I wait for some more inspiration for the next chapter! Hope you all like this one better than the old one! And please, no one bite me about Kayli, I was just using her as a way to show the revenge the Blitz Boys and Ray decided to go with, you won't (likely) be seeing her again.

As well as that, no offence meant to anyone from a little village in China or anywhere else. I get it that my description probably isn't accurate, but that's just the way it is in this story. My sincere apologies if you're offended, but I won't be changing it and just a head's up, it's likely just going to get worse from here on out.

Also no offence to the media; I guess not all of you are hounds like Kayli ;)

Please Review (and tell me what pairings you'd like to see! No guarantee it'll get in but I'm always looking for new ships!)!

Bye!
Sincerely,

BlackRoseGirl666