Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or any of its characters. However, I do own the plot.
Warnings: Slight language
Author's Note: So, here we go, the second chapter. Out of 32. 33 if you count the epilogue. I'd like to thank everyone who read Chapter 1, and I hope everyone enjoys the second chapter!

All Will End - Part 1: Learning to Trust

Chapter 2: Fight Me, Break Me

"...Only fifteen students?" Kai asked himself quietly as he observed the homeroom list. Luckily, he managed to find his homeroom relatively quickly. There was only one thing that he wanted at the moment, and it was to escape the thick crowd of students. Kai supposed that the students had forgotten their homerooms or the papers weren't posted until the morning of the first day.

There was only fifteen students in his homeroom, much to his surprise. In Russia, he had heard stories of homerooms having over thirty students. Kai couldn't even imagine how crowded the classroom would have been. Teachers never were paid enough, at least, that was Kai's opinion. He had told others that trying to learn is useless without someone to teach. It is a shame that people just don't listen.

"Of all the colors..." Kai muttered as he entered the high school. Kai could've sworn that he had entered an asylum instead, the rationale being the sheer amount of white covering the walls and floor. Although there were occasional tiles of blue on the floor, it was nowhere near enough to offset the white.

A glance at the clock told him that he had five minutes to locate his homeroom. Despite having left his hand-made home rather early this morning, trying to push his way through the crowd of students slowed his pace to a crawl. Even if he was unable to locate his homeroom within five minutes, he could just reason with the teacher that he was a new student, a student that wasn't even born in America! Culture shock would be a good reason for tardiness, at least for the first week of school.

"D-110" was what he thought to himself as he frantically searched the hallways for the classroom. Despite the student's clamor of having to return to school, Kai managed to overhear a conversation between two teenage boys.

"What homeroom are you in, Tyson?" one teenager asked. His hair was as black as night and pulled away from his face, as if to show off his golden eyes. Kai risked a glance at the teenager and noticed the ying-yang printed on the tight, white sleeveless shirt. Apart from the shirt and his crimson ying-yang headband (and of course, his golden eyes), he seemed to be an ordinary person.

"I don't know, Ray," the other teenager responded. "Max said he'd find me when he found out." Tyson had a unique fashion sense, Kai noticed. A yellow t-shirt was underneath a red, short-sleeved jacket, which hung down to his jeans. A red and white hat was trying to tame the messy black hair but was failing miserably.

Ray sighed. "I'm in D-110 this year. The teacher absolutely hates me."

"Same," Tyson agreed. "She took off a random point of my math quiz. I even got Kenny to check the math for me, and she randomly took a point off. If she didn't take the point off, I would've passed."

"I don't like her, but since I'll be dealing with her until next June...I better make sure I get to homeroom soon. I don't want to be killed if I walk in the room one second late."

With that, Ray turned around and accidentally bumped into Kai. Gold met crimson for a brief moment as Ray looked up at Kai from the ground. The impact had not affected Kai, although it had caused the other teenager to fall to the ground. Other teenagers watched the scene intently, whispering amongst themselves whether or not the "new kid" is a bully.

"I'm sorry," Ray stammered. "I didn't see you there. I should be more careful."

"Yes, you should," Kai agreed quietly. He watched as Ray pushed himself to his feet, observing how Ray's muscles flexed with the relatively simple movement. Every muscle in the body is like a part of a machine. If one piece doesn't work, the machine cannot function.

"Sorry again for bumping into you. I'll see you around!" Ray chirped, trying to forget the entire incident. Kai shook his head and followed the raven-haired teenager. After all, Ray was in the same homeroom that Kai had been assigned. And being unfamiliar with the layout of the school, Kai figured it would be in his own best interest to follow the teenager.

As he had planned, Ray had led him directly to their homeroom, D-110, a room where many students would be tortured with math problems and difficult algebra within a week. Kai almost smirked at the thought. Though he hailed from a small village, he had managed to get a hold of enough books to learn the concepts of mathematics and science. If his father wasn't a drunken bastard, surely he would be proud of his son. Well, his father would be proud of his son, but only after the teenager tossed him a few bottles of vodka. It might only last an hour, but still...

Kai had entered the room and chosen a seat in the back of the classroom at the desk closest to the window - and the air conditioning. As of now, the school appeared to have a functional air conditioning system, but in the afternoon, whether or not the air conditioning would still be on remains a mystery to the majority of the student body. Kai noted that the same raven-haired teenager had taken a seat on his right. "If this guy turns out to be annoying, I don't think I could resist the urge to strangle him," Kai thought as he pondered the long year (well, about nine months) ahead of him.

To him, the school was just plain weird. Or maybe, it was the other way around. "Nah," Kai thought, "Must be the school. The Americans did elect George W. Bush Jr. twice..."

As hard as he tried, he couldn't ignore the hushed whispers surrounding him. After all, it is hard to ignore someone if they whisper about you...when you're still in earshot. Kai singled out one boy - the boy appeared to be a nerd, anyway - and gave him the almighty, infamous Glare of Death, which seemed to be a genetic trait in the Hiwatari family. The nerdy teenager gulped nervously and proceeded to turn around to face the blackboard. Kai was so tempted to smirk at the teenager's reaction but ultimately decided against it. After all, it seemed to be an obligation to be nice to everyone on the first day.

The bell rang at eight, precisely. He watched obliviously as the other students hurried to their feet, staring at the American flag.

"Young man," the teacher began, observing Kai's appearance, "You must stand during the moment of silence and Pledge of Allegiance."

"The what?" Kai responded, raising an eyebrow. "I'm new here -"

"I don't care if this is your first year, young man. You must stand during the moment of silence and Pledge of Allegiance."

"How should I know of your customs? I'm not even from this country," Kai growled. "I'm Russian, and I came to this country a few days ago."

"Really?" the teacher asked, her suspicions confirmed. He did seem a bit out of the ordinary. "I apologize. I wasn't aware."

"Now, you are," Kai stated, noticing Ray was watching the argument between teacher and student. More specifically, the golden orbs laid upon Kai. Ignoring the feeling of being watched, he shifted his eyes to the desk while the other students spoke the Pledge of Allegiance. "No," Kai thought, "I'm still loyal to my country. I will not be a traitor."

Even after the students sat down, the atmosphere of the room was pure tension. The students eyes seemed to be glued to Kai - it was as if they had never seen anyone so pale. After all, most of the immigrants or foreigners were of Mexican descent, due to being so close to the border.

"Hey," Ray whispered, looking at Kai intently. Kai got the hint, and his crimson eyes met gold. Ray shivered under the intensity of those eyes. It was as if the pure essence of fire resided in those eyes, as if they could light a fire just by looking at an object. "You're from Russia?"

Kai nodded, waiting for Ray to continue.

"Cool. I'm from China," Ray said, closing his eyes to shake off a nostalgic feeling. "I came here a few years back. Let me give you some advice - people here don't like anyone...different."

"..." Kai thought about the presented information. Kai had already suspected that the people in the area didn't have open minds, but Ray's words had proven his hypothesis correct.

The teacher had been cut off in mid-sentence by the sound of a ringing bell. The students beamed at being freed from what they called, "The Devil's Torture Chamber." Even Ray had smiled, if only slightly. However, Kai's face was as expressionless as it had ever been. One could swear that Kai never felt any emotion, until they looked at the blazing fire in his eyes. That fire was a symbol of his passion, although what the passion was for was as mysterious as the origin of life.

Kai glanced at the schedule that the teacher had given him when he was listening to Ray. A single word caught his eye: Geometry. He had never learned geometry by himself, due to the extensive amount of dedication needed, and also the lack of time he had to study. He had learned the basics, but anything advanced was out of his league. He looked at the room numbers as he passed them, noticing a pattern forming. Since his geometry class was in the B Hallway, and the room numbers were beginning with a B with three numbers afterwards, he had determined that this must be the B hallway.

Upon spotting the room number of his class and proving his newest hypothesis to be true, he gracefully walked into the room, only to find that Ray was in the class as well! Ray was standing in the front corner of the room, chatting with friends, while Kai was busy finding a seat in the back. Much to his dismay, Ray had watched him enter the room, and eagerly, he took a seat beside the blue-haired teenager.

"At least there's someone I know in this class," Ray muttered, sighing softly afterwards. He noticed Kai's questioning look. "Those people up front, I really don't know them all that well. My mother's been trying to get me to find friends, but there's no one who will accept me for who I am. I hate putting on an act."

"Do you know math terms?" Ray asked, only to be answered by a shake of Kai's head. "Mind if I help you?" Kai didn't respond to that question. Why ask a student when you can get definite answers from the teacher of the course?"

Ten minutes ticked by, and then another five. Fifteen minutes had passed, yet the teacher had not come to class. The students began to relax - being in school was bad enough, but it gets easier when you get a breather that's longer than three or four minutes. Kai, though, honestly couldn't care less about whether or not the teacher showed. As long as everyone left him alone, he was fine.

"Hey, look at the Russian!" Speak of the devil.

"Better not make him angry, or he'll throw a tantrum at you," another student jeered. Ray watched the teasing unfold, unsure of whether or not to intervene.

Before Kai realized it, the whole class was shouting offending comments at him. Angered, he stood up suddenly, causing the class to take a step back. Clearly, they could feel the anger radiating from his body and the flames within his crimson eyes. Normally, it would have been enough to quiet down anyone, but people become cocky when in numbers.

"Aww...the poor wittle Russian getting mad?" a student teased. All eyes shifted to Ray when he suddenly stood up and walked over to Kai.

"That's enough!" Ray shouted. Kai concluded that Ray must not lose his temper much, for the students were surprised.

"Have you really stooped that low?" Ray asked, the pupils of his eye narrowing like a cat's. "There's no reason to be picking on Kai! He didn't do anything to you."

"Ray must be the Russian's boyfriend!" a student smirked, causing an uproar of laughter.

Although Kai was now looking at Ray curiously, Ray could feel no hatred or anger flowing towards himself. Convinced that Kai accepted the offer of help, Ray opened his mouth to continue, only to be cut off by the harsh sound of Kai's voice.

"You," Kai pointed at the leader of the group. "Quiet down your lackeys before you come out of here with your limbs torn off."

"Is that a threat?" Despite trying to make himself appear confident, the teenager's voice was cracking.

"No, it's a promise," Ray corrected, cracking his knuckles.

Suddenly cocky, the student walked forward, with his lackeys close behind. What he wasn't expecting was to be punched in the face by a Russian. The leader watched the battle from below as bodies charged at the Russian and Chinese duo, only to fall down or fly backwards onto the floor. Several thumps were heard as heads and limbs were banged off of desks. To a casual passerby, it would be a disturbing scene.

Finally, the last of the students laid on the ground, rubbing his bruised arm. Ray sighed with relief as he looked at Kai, who seemed to be in fine condition.

"Hey, you alright?" Ray asked, attempting to put his hand on Kai's shoulder.

"Fine," Kai replies, brushing the hand away.

"You know, not everyone's this mean -" Ray was cut off by an angry Russian.

"Don't give me bull," Kai warned, glaring at him before walking out of the classroom. Ray ran after him, only to speed up when he saw Kai running from the building. They ran for what Ray believed to be miles. They had left school grounds without permission, but punishment was the last thing on Ray's mind. His first priority was the teenager running from the chaos in the classroom.

Finally, when Ray thought his heart was about to burst, Kai stopped running and sat on a bench, pulling a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket. Ray sat next to the blue-haired teenager, looking at him with sad eyes. "You know, smoking's not good for you..." Ray said quietly, shifting his gaze towards the ground.

Kai shrugged, then said, "Well, neither is picking a fight with the wrong guy."

"What? I wasn't trying to pick a fight with you!"

"I'm not stupid. You were trying to pick a fight with the other kid."

"Still..." Ray sighed, having run out of things to say. He was trying to stand up from the crimson eyed teenager, although he was picking a fight in the process.

A moment of silence passed between the two. Ray thought he was going to cough from the amount of smoke that one cigarette produced. That definitely couldn't be good for Kai's lungs...or his own, for that matter.

"This may sound odd, but would you like to stay at my house tonight?" Ray asked, his gaze shifting upwards to Kai.

"No thanks," Kai said quietly, stamping the cigarette under his foot.

"It'll be fun!" Ray insisted, resisting an urge to cling to the other teenager's arm. "Besides, we'll get to know each other better. I know how hard it is to be the new kid, especially if you're not from here."

"It's not odd that you want me to come home with you, but you don't even know my name?" Kai asked. Ray could've sworn that Kai was amused.

"Fine. I'm Ray," Ray sighed, slouching against the bench. He looked up with surprise when Kai suddenly stood up and began walking towards the forest. "Wait! Aren't you going to tell me your name?"

"...The name's Kai," Kai stated as he disappeared into the depths of the woods.

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Author's Note: Yay, that was fun. It took forever to finish, though. It took three or four sittings to finish because of all my homework. Poor Kai...Ray's hitting on him, and he doesn't even know it. Ray should really be more obvious with his hints. Thanks for reading the chapter, and remember that reviews of all types (including flames) are welcomed.