I'm baaaacccccckkkkk! Be afraid…be very afraid…Haha, no seriously, sorry it took so long! But when I first typed this chapter a while ago it just didn't turn out the way I wanted it to so I had to do some serious editing! But I got there!

All right, just before I start chapter two there are a few things I have to address.

#1 THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH! to everyone who reviewed! You made me so happy!

#2 A SUPER HUMUNGO THANK YOU to Diamond Core for the most wonderful review imaginable. (Seriously, if you don't believe me go look). That was way beyond what I deserved, you had me stuck to the ceiling for hours! This chappie is for you DC. Thanks again.

#3 A NOTE OF RECOMMENDATION. To any and everyone reading this, if you're into KaiOC fics then you have to check out AngelOfDarkness83's "Dance Like No One's Watching" which is absolutely amazing! Don't forget to drop her a review

Now, on with the fic!


The Planning of a Mini Tournament…

Kaoru stood in complete disbelief. It was Kai Hiwatari, the Kai Hiwatari standing six feet away from her. Somehow, she hadn't been quite ready for that. Alright, she thought to herself, deep breaths…

"You know what? You're late!" it was Tyson who spoke and she, along with the rest of the team and Kai face-faulted.

"OH REALLY! I'M SO SORRY THAT MY 12-HOUR FLIGHT FROM RUSSIA RAN LATE. OH YEAH, AND I'M SO SORRY THAT I HAD TO COME HERE TO FIND YOU AFTER BEING AWAKE FOR 32 HOURS!" Kai shouted.

"Well, that's alright then." Tyson told him, nodding. Kai growled.

Kaoru watched Kai smoulder, a vein popping in his head. He still looked good. No she wasn't a fan girl but she did think fairly high of him. Especially his Beyblading skills. Although Tyson had beaten him some 4 times, Tyson's techniques did little to impress her. His attacks were relentless, rough and unthought out. However, what Kaoru admired about Kai was that every attack, ever move, everything that he did, in battle and out, was very precise. He did nothing without thinking it through and all of it had a purpose.

The rest of the team had already begun to greet Kai with various 'Good to see ya buddy's and 'We didn't think you were going to come's and from Hilary a simple 'How are you, Kai?' Kai barely answered them except to tell Hilary he was 'Fine'. To the rest he just 'Hn'ed. But as his friends crowded him with stupid questions Kaoru could see just the traces of a smile on his face and she knew he had missed them. Kaoru had to smile too and it was then that Kai looked her way.

"Kai, what did you do in Russia?" Hilary asked. Kai said nothing and it was then the team realised his focus was elsewhere. Kaoru looked almost shy, her hands clasped in front of her and her mouth a little open in surprise. Kai raised an eyebrow.

Hilary was first to react. She raced to Kaoru and grabbed the girls' hand dragging her towards Kai.

"H-Hilary!" Kaoru tried to protest but Hilary's grip was strong.

"Come on Ru, come meet Kai!" she insisted excitedly taking the girl by the shoulders and literally shoving her into Kai.

"Um, s-sorry." Kaoru found herself stuttering as she pulled herself off Kai.

"Hn," He said quietly "S'okay". She looked up and met his gaze again. Hilary wedged herself in the middle.

"Kai, this is Tyson's best friend, Kaoru! Kaoru you know Kai, right?"

"Right." Wow, he's…tall. She thought. In fact, Kai was about three maybe four inches taller than her. The fan girls had said he was about 5'6" which was how tall she was now. Hmm, he must have grown. She thought and smiled.

This is Tyson's best friend? I thought he hated girls. She's…pretty. Pft, probably just a fan girl anyway.

"Nice to meet you." She told him happily and held out her hand for him to take.

"Uh-huh." Kai replied, still lost in thought, and took it. There was a quiet gasp from the group.

All of a sudden Kai was aware that her hand was in his and immediately a hundred alarms went off in his head. Drop it, he urged himself silently, just drop it. He wrenched his hand from her grasp and held it protectively to his chest.

What am I doing? Kai Hiwatari does not shake hands with anyone. He thought angrily. I have to pay more attention; I'm becoming too soft around them. He shot a glance at his wide-eyed friends. I can't let my guard down, especially if there's a new girl. She must…

Gentle laughter met his ears. Kai broke free from his thoughts and looked at Kaoru. A hand sporting two bracelets covered her laughing mouth and the bracelets jangled happily as her body shook with humour.

"You should see your face Kai!" she laughed. "You'd think I had an electric buzzer on my hand or something!"

The others began to laugh too.

Kai looked on angrily. A vein popped on his head and a harsh pink blush coloured the bridge of his nose and cheeks.

Kai straightened up, nose in the air.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kai. But it really was funny." Kaoru said, recovering in time to see Kai's less than happy demeanour.

"Hn. I'm sure." Kai turned, walking back the same way he had come.

"Not such a great first impression huh?" Kaoru asked, watching him go. Tyson came up behind her and patted her comically on the back.

"It was fine. I think he likes you." He commented, giving her one of his winning smiles.

"That's right, he didn't even speak to me when I first met him." Said Hilary, smiling.

"And he actually shook your hand!" Max said in an almost congratulatory way.

"He really is as cold as everyone says, huh?" She muttered to herself as they began walking after Kai.


"MA LIL' HOMIES! YA'R ALL BACK!" Grandpa had Max, Ray and Kai in one giant headlock and was swinging them from side to side, great tears rolling down his tired old cheeks. Hilary and Kaoru were laughing and Tyson was desperately trying to free his friends from the clutches of the emotional grandpa.

"Grandp-pa," Kaoru managed through her laughter, "y-you'd better l-let them go, th-they'll suffocate!"

Grandpa did as she asked and dramatically wiped tears from his eyes. Ray and Max fell to the floor gasping for air as Kai struggled to regain his composure.

"You dogs back to join the BB's?" asked a hopeful grandpa.

"The what's?"

"BladeBreakers." Supplied Tyson.

"Yep, um…at least I think. Kai, are you joining?" Max spoke up.

"Hn." Said Kai with a nod.

"WHOA! REALLY? WHY?" Tyson was ecstatic. Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Would you like me…not to?"

"NO, I MEAN YES, I MEAN…PLEASE JOIN!"

"He means, why aren't you with the Demolition Boys? I though you wanted to beat Tyson." Ray told them, clarifying the situation.

"I do, and I will." At this Tyson huffed angrily, "But I also want to be champion, and to do that I need a team that can win the championships." Kai stated obviously.

"Right."

"So you are joining?" Tyson asked.

"Hn."

"HA! That means we have five Bladers! We only need three more!" Tyson punched the air triumphantly.

"What do you mean three more?" asked Kai, and Kaoru sighed.

"Can we please talk about this after dinner?" she whined.

"Ha. Imagine that." Hilary said, surprised. "It wasn't Tyson who brought up dinner. Amazing."

-----

"Mmmm…this is delicious Ray!" Complemented Tyson. "It's been so long since I've had a good dinner."

The BladeBreakers sat around a table pilled high with grilled fish, bowls of Ramen noodles, chow mein and many other odd delicacies.

"Doesn't grandpa cook?" asked Max.

"Well, yeah, but if grandpa cooks then we eat really late cause he won't cook anything that's not 'Hip'."

"What about Hilary?" Ray raised an eyebrow at Tyson, knowing the boy would have to complement her cooking if he wanted to live another day.

"Yeah, Hill's not a bad cook, but it's still nothing compared to yours Ray!"

"Mmm, I agree!" said Hilary enthusiastically.

"Well can't Kaoru cook?"

There was silence.

Suddenly Tyson choked on his food, hastily swallowing it before bursting into hilarious laughter. Hilary did the same, clutching at her stomach. The others, minus Kaoru, just stared at the two as if they were crazy. It had been a mere question but by the way they where acting it would seem that they had just been told the most wonderful joke in the world.

Kaoru hung her head slightly, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

"Uh…I'm not really a very good cook." She told them sincerely.

"Oh man," Tyson wiped the tears from his eyes, "Now that has got to be the understatement of the century!"

"Fine then, I CAN'T cook, at all! I'm hopeless, horrible, and tragic far beyond belief. I BURN cereal!" she stated but there was a smile playing on her lips that reassured the boys that this did not upset her in any way.

"Yep, that's more like it." Hilary said knowingly.

Over dinner they told Kai what they knew about the tournament and further discussed the idea of a Mini Tournament. When money came up Kai said, in a case of worse come to worse he would 'lend' them enough to set up a 'decent' Tournament.

Presently the dinner was finished, with many compliments to the chef, and discussion began again, though this time Tyson could input seeing as he wasn't stuffing his face.

"Alright, in that case I'll get Kenny to organise us a meeting with Mr.D so we can tell him the plan. Cool?" Tyson asked, standing up from the table.

"Cool!" replied everyone with, of course, the exception of Kai who chose instead to say…

"Hn"

"Which brings us to our second point of business." Said Tyson formally. "Kai," he turned to regard the boy, "I believe you owe me a re-match!"

Kai smiled but shook his head. "No thanks."

"WHAT! But last time you were here the only thing you wanted to do was beat me and now that I'm giving you a chance you don't want it?"

"Unless memory fails me, I just knocked yours, Ray's and Max's blades out all by myself, which, in case you're having trouble doing the maths, means I am more than a match for just one of you."

"Say what?" Tyson was starting to get angry.

"I'll tell you what Tyson, you train hard all week and I'll face you at the end."

"TRAINING! But you've only just got back, we don't even have a full team yet and just what makes you think you're automatically captain again?" exclaimed Tyson.

Kai growled, "And who else were you expecting to be captain!" He asked angrily and turned, storming out of the room. Kaoru stood and followed, there was something she needed to do.

"Your Bitbeast…" Kai turned. Kaoru stood just behind him. Her eyes were shining gently in the over-head light and she had a strange look on her face. "Dranzer, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah? So what?"

"May I see her?" HER?

How…how could she have known that Dranzer was female? Kai had never told anyone. Not even his grandfather.

"Her?" Tyson echoed his thoughts and Kai noticed that he and the rest of the BladeBreakers stood in the doorway behind Kaoru, watching the proceedings. When Kaoru didn't answer he asked Kai, "Is she right? Is Dranzer a 'her'?"

Kai nodded. "Why do you want to see Dranzer?" he asked Kaoru.

Kaoru didn't reply for a minute. It's better not to tell him, she decided.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt her." She muttered, decided on a compromise.

"Ru, I don't think Kai is just going to give you Dranzer." Hilary cut in. "I've been on this team for three years and I still haven't even been close enough to see it's…her bit chip."

Kai ignored her. "I said 'Why do you want to see her?'"

"I…" Kaoru sighed, he wasn't going to give her Dranzer unless she told him. "I just want to talk to her. Please, I promise I won't hurt her. I swear."

"Talk to her?" echoed all but Tyson and Hilary.

"How can you talk to her?" asked Kai his tone rising a few decibels in frustration. "It's impossible for anyone but the Bit beast's master to talk to it!"

"Not for Kay! She talks to Dragoon all the time! They get along heaps too." Tyson was quick to clarify.

"There's no way!" Ray stated surely.

"That's right, it's not possible!" Max said, agreeing.

"Well, she can, so believe it!" Hilary told them defensively.

"Look, it's not that big of a deal. Please Kai, just let me see her. I'll stand right here, you can keep an eye on me to make sure I don't run off. I'll only be a second. Just please trust me."

Kai was about to shoot her down when instead he was caught by her eyes. He hadn't noticed them before. There was no hidden agenda to them, no reason for betrayal. He found, to his surprise, that he did trust her. Her eyes were sincere, understanding, and hopeful. He could see a rare admiration shining within their silver, blue depths and something almost…sad.

Slowly, without taking his eyes off hers, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a blue and red blade. He reached forward to her outstretched hand and softly placed Dranzer there. There was no 'gasp' from their audience, just a fascinated silence.

"You trust me?" Kaoru asked hopefully.

He did, but did she need to know that?

"Hn. I'm still going to stay here and watch." He turned, walking to the opposite wall and leaning on it comfortably.

Kaoru smiled. "Okay!"

"Can we watch too?" asked Max.

Kaoru nodded. She looked down to the blade and lightly ran her thumb over the bitchip. "She's very beautiful." Kaoru said, not averting her eyes from the beast. A red light shone from underneath her thumb and suddenly the world around her had vanished.

"Dranzer?"

Kaoru stood, surrounded by a white expanse. This was the domain of a Bitbeast; it was nothing new to her. The difference was, the Bitbeast was nowhere to be seen.

"Who are you?" a voice echoed around the space.

"My name is Kaoru Kumori." Kaoru replied knowing that, when talking to a Bitbeast, it was best to be as to-the-point as possible.

"I see. How did you come to posses my blade?"

"I was given it."

"By Kai?"

"Yes."

The bird now appeared above her. It shot Kaoru a fiery glare, obviously disbelieving. Kaoru waited patiently for the next question.

"Why?"

"He trusts me."

"How?"

"Because he has no reason not to."

Dranzer let herself fall gently to the ground.

"Kai trusts no one," it told her.

"He trusts me." She repeated. True, he had not told her in so many words, but she could tell. He had looked into her eyes with amusement at first, believing it humorous for her to even ask to see his Dranzer. But he had seen something there, a sincerity and innocence that told him she meant no harm. And so he had trusted her, and she knew he had.

The Bitbeast looked at her long and hard. Its eyes darted about her body, sizing her up and taking in any information it could get without breaking the fragile silence.

"How are you able to talk to me?" Dranzer's fiery eyes were now trained solely on Kaoru's face, watching for any sign of a lie.

"I can talk to all Bitbeasts."

"All?"

"Yes."

And as if that had answered all questions, the great bird's eyes, which had been clouded with confusion and anger, were cleared. Its great wings folded behind it and its claws retracted a bit. The fire that had consumed it began to die down and it looked at her with an immense understanding.

"Of course you can. And you have before, am I right?" Kaoru nodded. "Yes, that makes a lot more sense. The first time I spoke to Kai he was overflowing with questions even with his usually calm demeanour. But you, you speak of nothing irrelevant. Young one, you have a wisdom beyond your years."

Kaoru smiled. "Thank you."

"Kaoru Kumori was it? A pretty name. How long have you known Kai, how do you know him?"

"Oh, I've only known him a few hours. I'm a friend of Tyson's."

"Ah, Dragoons Master."

If Dranzer was surprised then she didn't show it. Instead she nodded and squinted her eyes at Kaoru as if searching for something.

"There is a peculiar aura surrounding you young one." The bird squinted harder. "It radiates off you. An energy, a power the likes I've never seen. What is it?"

Kaoru shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I meant, are you sure you're not lying." Dranzer eyed her suspiciously.

"What reason would I have to lie?" Asked Kaoru.

"Indeed." Dranzer now regarded her with something similar to amusement and Kaoru had a feeling that the 'Indeed' had actually been a question, something like 'Indeed, what reasons do you have?'

"If Kai asks you what we talked about, you'll tell him. Even if you promise me you won't. So I can't tell you anything I wouldn't…want him to hear."

Dranzer smiled knowingly. "As I said, wise beyond your years."

"Kaoru." The call echoed through out the white expanse.

"Yes?" Kaoru turned to the great bird in front of her. Dranzer shook her head.

"It was not I child."

"Kaoru!"

"Your friends beckon your return to their world. It's time to leave."

"KAORU!"

The girl winced. "That'll be Tyson", she confirmed.

"You have been a joy to talk to, young one. I rarely have such interesting conversations with Kai."

Kaoru smiled. "We'll talk again?" she asked.

"Yes." Dranzer agreed as another call rang out around them. "I am sure we will speak again." And with that the great bird disappeared.

Kaoru shook her head exasperatedly. "Good bye to you too." She closed her eyes and concentrated on returning to her own world as one final call rang out, though this time it seemed a lot closer.

Kaoru let her eyes flutter open. In front of her face was a pair of chocolate brown eyes blinking curiously at her.

"Tyson?" she asked. Realising she had returned to her own world she immediately sat up, bumping straight into the boy's forehead.

"OW! Kaoru!" Tyson complained, sitting back and rubbing his head.

"Sorry!" she apologised.

"S'okay," Tyson mumbled, getting up and heading to the door, "time for bed, come on." Kaoru blinked at him, confused.

"Bed?" she echoed.

"Yeah! You've been just sitting there for two hours, what on earth did you talk about?" asked Max.

"Two hours?" Then it dawned on her. Two minutes in the realm of a BitBeast was like two hours in this world. She always seemed to forget that, no matter how many times she talked to Dragoon and other beasts. "OH! No, I was only there for about two minutes! But two minutes is about two hours in this world! I completely forgot! Sorry!"

"Right…" Ray drawled, trying to make some sense of what the girl was saying. "So, you've only been in there two minutes?"

"Yup!" Kaoru stood and walked over to Kai. "Thanks for letting me talk to her."

"Hn." said Kai and took his blade back from her.

"KAORU! Come on! Didn't you hear Kai? We have training tomorrow. Which means he's gonna wake us up a 7:00 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!" Tyson stood at the doorway beckoning them into the big room.

"Tyson, 7:00 isn't that early you know." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"IT IS ON A SUNDAY!"

Kaoru sighed "Sure, whatever." She muttered, watching the boy bound back into the big room to don his pyjamas. "Hopeless." She shook her head as Hilary came to stand beside her.

"Utterly Hopeless" agreed the other girl as she and Kaoru headed off after Tyson and the other BladeBreakers.

Tyson emerged from his bedroom in red Beyblade print Pyjamas. He walked to a small closet in the side wall and took out two futons. "You wanna sleep in here with us Kay?"

Kaoru shrugged, "Sure."

"Ru, can I borrow some pyjamas?" asked Hilary looking down at her tight and chained attire.

Kaoru laughed. "Sure, though I reckon it would be pretty funny to see you try and sleep in that."

Hilary stuck her tongue out at the other girl and followed her to her bedroom.

"Kai can you grab two futons, please." Tyson asked, setting his two out on the ground. "You too Ray."

Suddenly a piercing scream sounded from the Kaoru's bedroom.

"KAORU!" Hilary yelled from within.

Kaoru emerged from the room doubled over laughing and crying.

"Kaoru, I am NOT wearing this." Hilary told her, still not coming out from the room.

"Fine, if you want to sleep naked in a room full of boys then don't let me be the one to stop you." Kaoru was wearing a pair of violet pyjama pants with white heart print, and a black top which read 'I WUV U!' in bold violet writing.

"I may as well be naked for as much of me is covered by this…can it even be called a nightie?"

"No, probably not." Kaoru admitted.

"Ru, why do you even own something so…what's the right word…prostitute-ish?"

"I dunno, its cute." Kaoru smiled. "I'm sure Tyson will think so too." She added and Tyson gave her a dirty look.

"Like I care what Tyson thinks."

Kaoru sighed. "Sure, o' course you don't." She shook her head exasperatedly.

Hilary slowly opened the bedroom door, emerging, as she had so correctly joked, half naked. Every mouth in the room, save for Kaoru's, dropped at the sight of her.

"Do you have to stare?" asked Hilary, tugging uncomfortably at the hem of her 'nightie'.

"Whoa…" Ray managed.

"Double whoa!" agreed Max, wiping a little drool from his chin.

"Told you they'd think it was cute." Kaoru said with a sly smile.

"WHOA! HILARY! You have BOOBS!" Tyson stated and Hilary went bright red. She stormed up to Tyson and hit him over the back of the head.

"THANK YOU FOR THE ANALYSIS, EINSTEIN!" she barked.

The 'nightie' was black silk and was laced with red fluff. The bottom half was like a skirt and reached just above her mid thigh. The top half was like a pair of triangle bikinis except much tighter judging by the way they creased horizontally and pushed her boobs together making them appear quite a bit bigger. The entire mid section was made in see-through black silk and was split down the middle and held together by a cross hatched ribbon.

Hilary realised a little too late that she had just smacked Tyson's head in the direction of her newly discovered chest. She felt a little moisture drip there and turned red again.

"PERVERT!" she screamed and ran over to the Futon Kai was putting down and jumped in.

Kai just raised an eyebrow. He walked over to Tyson's bedroom and disappeared, closing the door behind himself.

"Come on," Ray beckoned for max to follow after Kai, "let's get changed and go to bed, it'll be a long day tomorrow." Max nodded.

-----

Kai lay awake long into the night. Tyson was snoring loudly and mumbling various embarrassing things. Kai made sure to keep a mental tab of all of the Hilary based mumbles knowing that even a threat of revealing such information would immediately see to Tyson's lack of enthusiasm towards training.

"Mmmm…Hilary…so pretty…" Tyson drawled.

Kai snickered. Although he would never admit it, Kai had missed his team. Even Tyson and his loud sleeping habits.

Ray was still in his sleep, occasionally uttering small crys that sounded suspiciously like cat mews. Max, however, twisted and turned in his sleep but unlike the daylight hours he was silent. Hilary only moved or spoke to hit Tyson or to mumble to him to keep quiet and Kaoru, in contrast to the others, was both silent and still, breathing softly and soundly, apparently completely at peace in this strange sleeping environment.

'Dranzer', thought Kai to his Bitbeast, 'did you really talk to her?'

Yes, we talked. Answered the beast.

'About what?' Kai asked.

She said you trusted her. Do you?

Silence.

I see. She also said that she could talk to all Bitbeasts. And that she had done so before.

'Yes, Tyson said she talked to Dragoon.'

Mmm, she met you through Dragoon's Master so that makes sense. She is very wise. Kai, does anything about her seem…odd…to you?

'Odd? In what way do you mean odd, Dranzer?'

The Bitbeast thought for a moment. I sensed a strange aura surrounding her.

'A strange Aura? Like what? A power?'

Something like that. I asked her about it but she denied its existence. I'm not sure why.

'She may not know about it, Dranzer.'

She knows of it. But she refused to tell me, I'm sure she hasn't told anyone else either.

'Are you sure? I don't think she would keep anything from Tyson. They seem really close.'

Even married couples keep secrets Kai.

'You think it's that serious?'

Who knows.

'Dranzer, is it possible you just misinterpreted it? Maybe you're wrong.'

I'm never wrong Kai. I could read her eyes as clear as a book. She was lying when she said she didn't know. I could see it.

'She's right,' thought Kai, 'Kaoru's eyes are so bright and blue, and you can see all the emotion in them. So is it possible to see lies too?'

It is, Kai, Dranzer answered, having listened to his thoughts, and her eyes were purple.

'Purple? Don't be stupid Dranzer, they're blue, I know they are. And don't listen to my thoughts.'

My apologies Master Kai. And I'm sorry but they were purple.

'They can't be! Come on Dranzer, the one time I notice the colour of a girl's eyes and you mean to tell me that I was wrong?'

I'm sorry Kai.

The boy sighed. 'Maybe you're right, I'm just tired. I think I'll go to sleep now, I can worry about Kaoru's eyes tomorrow.'

Very well, goodnight master Kai.

'Good night Dranzer.'

Kai felt the great bird leave the chambers of his mind. He sighed contentedly; the room for once was silent. Ray was in-between mews and Max had found a comfortable spot. Tyson had shifted so that his mouth was stuffed with pillow and so Hilary had no one to yell at. The only noise in the room came from the girl in front of him. A low regular breathing that was almost intoxicating to the already sleepy boy.

Kai turned so that his head was resting on his arms and he was staring at Kaoru. Things would change now that she was here. Somehow Kai knew that. What would change and how he didn't have a clue, but they would, and for the better, he hoped.

Kai turned to face the wall and let his mind drift into other matters After the Mini Tournament; who would be on their team? Kai didn't want to know, he liked it the way it was.

Slowly he felt sleep pulling at him and let it, a small smile tugging at his lips. It was good to be back.


Kaoru awoke when the early morning light was just beginning to shine in from underneath the Shoji door. She yawned. (1)

What on earth is the time? She stood and walked to her room where she knew there was a clock. 6:00? Damn, I wanted to sleep longer than that…Kaoru sighed.

She looked to the window and smiled to find a bright sunny day awaiting her outside.

Kaoru stripped off her pyjama top and instead donned a light pink bra and a yellow top with sleeves that came just below her shoulders. She dropped her pyjama pants and replaced them with a dark blue skirt. It was pleated and had three chains, which met on the side and were covered by a big dark pink bow. A single chain hung down from the bow. She bent back to her suitcase and picked up a sky blue denim jacket, the base of each sleeve scattered haphazardly with sparkles.

"Huh, only ten past six. Kai said training was at 7:00. Fifty minutes." Kaoru did the maths out loud. "Well, I'm not waiting for that long! Maybe I could go run a few laps now, then Kai might let me do less later." She nodded happily and made her way to the front door. Her hand paused on the frame.

Kaoru turned, it was oddly silent, she noticed all of a sudden. She walked back into the big room. Tyson's face was buried in a pillow and Hilary's hand on his head was keeping it there. Max was twisted impossibly in the blankets, face up and mouth open, he wasn't moving and something told Kaoru that that wasn't because he was comfortable. Ray was chewing on the corner of his blanket and Kai was as silent and as still as ever.

It was then, for the first time that Kaoru noticed Kai was smiling. It was only small, a ghost of a smile really, but it was there. It made her smile too. She wondered what he was dreaming about.

"You know you really should smile more often Kai-kun." (2)


Kai awoke when the early morning sun was shining strongly from underneath the Shoji door. He sat up. The first thing he noticed was Kaoru was gone. He shrugged, it's not like it matters, he thought, she'll be back.

Kai walked to Tyson's room and shrugged on his usual attire. Comfortable for running, blading, even sleeping.

Taking a quick look at his team, he smiled before heading out the front door and to the park.

Kai sighed, there was another runner out there. He hated running in company, especially if he couldn't jog beside said company and egg them on with insults about their speed. Wait…was that a girl running out there? At this hour?

It was a girl. No, it was THAT girl. Kaoru…

And she was running in a skirt? Kai raised an eyebrow. Okay…Tyson's best friend, a girl, is running, at 6:30 am, in a skirt. Huh.

Kaoru rounded a turn and found herself facing the emotionless figure of Kai Hiwatari. She stopped.

"Hey!" she called out happily, raising her hand in a friendly wave.

Kai began to walk the distance between them. He wasn't the type to yell out across the entire park, even though there was no one there.

"What are you doing." He asked when he reached her.

"Jogging." She smiled

"Hn. Why."

"Figured I'd get a jump start on the competition."

"What competition?"

"Silly. It was a joke. I'm jogging so I'll be able to do less later, when we train."

"You're not training with us."

"You can't stop me." She smirked.

"You're not on the team."

"Do I look like I care?"

"Hn, you're wearing a skirt."

"So? I like running in a skirt, you know what they say: don't knock it 'till you've tried it. It's fresh and flexible."

"Still weird."

"Whatever, I'm off to get some breaky, you coming?"

"Hn." He said, walking in the other direction and running as he got further away.

"Fine then. Mr. Sourpuss." She stuck out her tongue in his direction and began on her way to a little diner that opened at 6:30. Mmmm…Breakfast. God, I sound like Tyson.


Kaoru entered the dojo to find a sleeping Tyson, an exasperated Ray, an exhausted Max, an angry Hilary and a twice as angry Kai.

"I'm guessing I missed something?" Kaoru interrupted and all faces turned her way.

"Tyson called Kenny last night when you were talking with Dranzer," it was Ray who spoke, "He organised a conference with Mr.Dickenson but only just called to tell us the time."

"It's in half an hour," Max put in, "So Kai's angry 'cause we can't train now, and we can't get Tyson up either, we've been trying for ages."

Kaoru smiled, getting Tyson up wouldn't be a problem, she had experience.

"Alright then, lets see." She pondered for a minute. Walking over to stand above Tyson she looked towards Hilary and then Kai. "You mind if I give it a try?"

"Shoot." Hilary replied.

Kaoru squatted down to survey Tyson. How shall I wake him up today? She wondered.

She straddled him. The BladeBreakers eyes when wide as Kaoru bent towards Tyson, but instead of kissing him Kaoru turned her head and set it beside Tyson's so that her nose was buried in his hair and lips were parted beside his ear.

"Tyson…" she whispered, doing her best Hilary impression, "Tyson, it's Hilary." Kaoru cleverly concealed her voice so only Tyson could hear. "You look so hot right now, did you know that. I just wanna kiss you" She pressed her lips gently against Tyson's cheek and sat back.

"Kaoru…" hissed Hilary.

"Shhh, just wait." And in that moment Tyson's body caught up to his brain and his eyes shot wide open. He blushed beet red and sat straight up. "Good morning Tyson dearest, did you have a good sleep?" Kaoru smiled coyly.

"Bu…wha…where? I thought…" Kaoru burst out laughing, "KAORU! That was evil!" He yelled going even redder.

"Awww…I'm sorry Tyson, here I'll kiss it better. Or instead of me how about Hil – Mmnf!" Tyson clamped a hand over her mouth.

"You will speak of this to no one understand?"

"Mhmmbmayswnwa." She nodded whilst trying to tell him through his hand that the others had seen it anyway.

"Umm…care to explain that?" asked Ray leaning in around Kaoru. Tyson's eyes went wide.

"YOU DIDN'T!" he asked using a surprisingly Kai-like glare on Kaoru.

"Hehe…didn't what?" she asked nervously.

"You didn't just…and in front of them…and…oh god…" Tyson buried his head in his hands desperately. Kaoru laughed

"C-calm down Ty," she said, "I was whispering, they didn't hear."

"Oh."

"Get dressed Tyson. We're meeting Mr. Dickenson"

"Really."

"Yes really," Kai said angrily, "and you had better hope we're not late."

Tyson scrambled up. He had learned, after many years of knowing Kai that a threat like that actually meant: "Under penalty of double training!" And Tyson had no wish to voke that wrath.


"Gah! Where is he!" Asked Tyson for what was probably the fifth or sixth time in the last two minutes. They had only been waiting about fifteen minutes, twenty at the most, but the champ was getting increasingly impatient.

Kai leaned against the wall quietly pondering the wasted training time and Hilary, who sat in a meditation pose, was mumbling things along the lines of "Will maintain sanity," and "Will no kill Tyson."

"WHERE IS HE?" Kaoru wished Hilary would though.

"Calm down Tyson." She said quietly. The boy sat down gently on the ground. He loved and respected Kaoru greatly and if he was annoying her, he would stop.

Kai looked over towards Kaoru. How does she control him, Kai wondered, maybe she knows something we don't, or she's just very wise Kai almost laughed at his own joke when he suddenly remembered hearing something similar before. That's right; Dranzer said she was wise too and that her eyes were purple. But they're not, they're blue…I think.

Kai squinted. Yes, her eyes were blue. Silvery blue.

"Err...Kai? Is, um, something the matter?" Kaoru asked awkwardly. The captain was staring at her openly and it was making Kaoru uncomfortable.

Great, thought Kai, realising the rest of the team was now paying attention too, how do I get out of this. "Your eyes are weird." Ah, insults, was there ever a greater use for the spoken word?

"BOYS…and…girls?" Mr.Dickenson appeared just as Tyson prepared to throw a punch at Kai's face.

Hilary put a hand on Tyson's outstretched arm and Tyson withdrew his fist. "Don't insult my sister." Said Tyson venomously and disappeared into the room behind Mr. Dickenson. Kaoru blushed and bowed to Kai in apology.

"It's alright, really."

"Everything alright here?" asked Mr.Dickenson.

"Yep." Said Hilary cheerily as the others trooped into the room. "Everything's just fine." She came up next to Kaoru and led her to Mr. Dickenson. "This is Kaoru."

The girl bowed slightly and the old man laughed.

"Now, now, no need for such formalities here lass. I'm Mr.Dickenson but Mr.D is fine." He smiled making the wrinkles on his forehead crease. Kaoru liked the man instantly.

"Nice to meet you Mr.D! I'm an old friend of Tyson's and I'm sorry I haven't met you before but I'll be travelling with the BladeBreakers for a while so I'm sure we'll see more of each other." Kaoru told him, happy as ever.

Mr.Dickenson laughed. "Well I must say I'm glad to hear that. It'll do these boys some good to have another girl around here to keep them in line don't you think boys?" Various mumbles were heard from the other room.

"You can count on me." She laughed.

"Now what's all this then," asked Mr.Dickenson coming to stand in front of the Bladers, "You're all back together I see."

"You bet!" Said Max excitedly. "We only need three more bladers and then we'll have eight."

"Hmm, so I see, but I'm sure that wasn't the only thing you wanted to tell me today."

Ray smiled, typical Mr.Dickenson heading straight for the point.

"We need to recruit new bladers so we were planning on having a Mini Tournament" he said.

"And I suppose you're expecting the BBA to fund this little tournament then?" asked Mr.Dickenson.

"Um…well, we were kinda, sorta hoping." Hilary admitted. Mr.Dickenson looked alternately from one blader to the other, his eyes rested on Kai. The boy raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Is there a problem?' Mr.Dickenson smiled, he was glad Kai had returned, this would be the hardest tournament ever and they would need a strong captain.

"Of course the BBA would be happy to fund your tournament, in fact, you just leave it to me. There are many fans out there who will be thrilled to hear that the BladeBreakers are back together and many bladers who would give almost anything to be a part of you. Yes," Mr.Dickenson sat forward in his chair and laid his chin on his interlocked fingers, "I'm sure this little tournament will produce some very good publicity. You boys," Kaoru and Hilary 'Ahem'ed "and girls just figure out the plan and the rules and I'll set up everything, arena, commentators, advertisement, you name it!"

"What do you mean the Plan and the Rules, Mr.D?" asked Tyson.

"Just how you want the Tournament to run, doubles or singles matches, how many battles at one time, Bitbeasts or no Bitbeasts, age limit, I'm guessing you don't want five year olds on your team?"

"No, not really," Ray nodded, "Oh, and one more thing."

"What's that Ray?" asked Mr.Dickenson.

"About the new Tournament, there are all these rumours floating around and no one really knows which is true, like are we really not going to be able to use Bitbeasts?"

Mr.Dickenson laughed. "I honestly don't know where that one came from. Bitbeasts will be allowed. But I'm afraid I can't tell you much more than that. You see we're meant to be keeping our bladers and our Audience in suspense. Basically the BBA found that the old tournaments weren't sufficient in crowning a champion and,"

"Wait! Are you saying I don't deserve to be Champion?" Tyson interrupted angrily.

"No Tyson, not at all, the BBA just developed a new way for you to prove yourself. You see, all the old tournaments take is strength and a good all-round blade, therefore all the old tournaments produced was the Strongest blader with the best blade. Through this Tournament we hope to find the Best All 'round Blader. That might be you Tyson, and I'm not saying it isn't, but I am giving you a chance to prove it. Win this Tournament."

"You bet I will Mr.D." said Tyson happily, "Then lemme see 'em try to tell me I'm not the rightful World Champion." Tyson nodded and proceeded to stand and walk out of the room.

Mr.Dickenson sighed and turned back to the others. "So," he began, "how do you think Tyson will do? Keep in mind that this tournament will be harder than any other."

"He'll do fine," Max said "Tyson may be cocky but he's a great blader and he always seems to make it to the top, even when he's faced with the most unbelievable odds."

Mr.Dickenson nodded. "I hope you're right Max. You'll be going for World Champ as well, right Kai?"

The slate haired teen nodded and then followed Tyson out of the room. "Well then," said Mr.Dickenson turning back to the remaining teens, "Come up with a plan for this Tournament and then send it to me, Kenny has my direct E-mail address, and good luck in with finding your new Bladers."

"Thanks Mr.D." Said Hilary, standing to leave. The others stood also and said their goodbyes before heading out to find the two BladeBreaker runaways.


The group were discussing The Mini Tournament whilst eating dinner much later that day.

"Tyson," growled Hilary angrily, "Would you please try to eat a little slower! Not only are you making me lose my appetite but you're going to choke!"

"Nonsense Hilary! I'll be fi-ack…"and with that Tyson face went red and he began to choke. Hilary sighed, it was not the first time this had happened, she began to hit Tyson lightly on the back until he managed to swallow the whole dumpling that he had been attempting to eat. "See? Just like I was saying: I'm fine!"

Hilary shook her head exasperatedly. "Right."

The team continued to eat undisturbed until finally Kai stood and coughed to get the attention of his team.

"Tyson…stop eating." Kai said angrily and when the boy complied he turned to the rest of the team to say his piece. "Alright, I'm going to go and e-mail the plan to Kenny so just let me make sure we're all on the same page." Everyone nodded.

"Firstly the rules: Bitbeast are allowed and the age limit is Ten and above." Nods. "There will probably be a lot of people trying out so we'll have to divide them into separate days. It will depend on how many show up - not many then we'll do them all on the first day, otherwise we'll divide them alphabetically, halves, thirds or quarters, depending." Nods. "Right," Kai took a breath and continued, "There will be two BladeBreakers up at once, each battling against one of the participants. Which means no double or tab-team matches." Nods.

"Ray and Max will be up first and then Tyson and I will take the rest of the day. If we have to have two days then we'll switch." Nods. "Who eventually makes it onto the team is up to us to decide, based on how well they battled." Nods. "Good. I'll go tell Kenny, oh, and Daichi's still training in the Mountains right?"

"Actually," Tyson replied sheepishly, "I got a call from him saying he wasn't joining the BladeBreakers…"

"WHAT?"

"Great, now we have even less people." Kai muttered darkly and walked out of the room to find a computer. The rest of the group stayed behind to talk.

-----

Kai sat at the computer situated in Kaoru's room, the one he had previously taken for the guest room. He was almost finished the e-mail to Kenny when he heard the door open and turned to see who it was.

Kaoru stood there blinking at him.

"Hey Kai." She said and smiled as she walked into the room.

"Hn." He said.

Kaoru laughed a little. "You have a pretty big vocabulary don't you?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do." He told her coldly.

"Take a chill pill sunshine, I was just joking."

Kaoru bent towards her suitcase and began shifting through it. Kai, who had stopped typing momentarily, was looking at her through the corner of his eye, confused. She had called him "Sunshine". For the entire day and a bit he had known her she had been nothing but nice and kind and happy whilst he treated her as coldly and indifferently as everyone else on the planet.

"Ah-ha!" Kaoru exclaimed, having found what she was looking for. She pulled out her black pyjama top and then, noticing Kai staring at her, smiled happily at him before continuing to search. "So tell me Kai-kun, what exactly are you doing in my room."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Sending an e-mail, are you blind or just stupid?"

"Neither, but perhaps you are. There is a much faster computer in the study and another one in Tyson's room, so why use this old hunk of junk?"

"Hn," He hit the send key, "The study is too close to the dining room, you were all talking really loudly and I have a headache. As for Tyson's room I'd much rather be here listening to you ramble on about nothing than with Tyson listening to him ramble on about being the World Champion again."

Kaoru laughed. "Well I'm very flattered to hear that my ramblings are your preference." She told him, triumphantly pulling out the nightie that she had lent Hilary the night before and laying it out next to the pyjama top.

Kai glanced at the computer screen which now read:

Message Sent

Return to Inbox or yadda-yadda

Kai didn't bother to read the rest. It's unusual of you to talk to someone Kai. Said Dranzer, entering his mind.

I suppose…he thought absently…but as long as I am then I may as well ask…

"Uh," Kai didn't usually start conversations but when Kaoru fixed him with her innocent blue gaze he swallowed and continued, "so, why do you have that anyway?" he asked, referring to the nightie. "I mean it's so…so…"

"So I've-slept-with-every-man-on-the-planetish?" she finished for him, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Yeah, I know. I didn't buy it if that's what you think. My friend got it for me when I was staying with her. It was a joke but I kept it anyway, for…you know, stuff, like scaring Tyson with. But I'm glad it's getting some real use, and Tyson seems to enjoy it on Hilary more than on me." She laughed.

I can't see why. Kai thought. Then realising where this was going blushed just as a mental image appeared in his mind.

"You mean the friend you stayed with in Australia?" asked Kai, hoping talking would clear his mind. Kaoru's head snapped up.

"Yeah…but how did you know about my friends in Australia?" she asked him curiously, Kaoru didn't remember even telling him how she knew Tyson, let alone about her travels.

Kai immediately realized his mistake. "Sorry." He mumbled. "Ray and Max told me last night, about you being an orphan and Tyson's mum and that you travelled and…stalked us…I hope you don't mind, they just thought I should know and, well, yeah…sorry." Kai said quietly, feeling guilty for knowing her past without her consent.

"Oh, no, it's okay! Don't worry. I was going to tell you, I just didn't get time. I was just surprised you knew." Kaoru smiled reassuringly and then went back to her searching. "There!" she said triumphantly pulling out a pair of purple pyjama pants. "Well, I'll save you from the embarrassment of having me change in here and head for the bathroom. Thank-you for talking to me Kai-kun." She bowed slightly before walking out of the room.


Kaoru woke the next morning to the usual sounds of her sleeping friends. 6:00 o'clock again, She thought tiredly, and this morning no Kai. He must be out running already.

Kaoru slumped over to her bedroom and pulled on a pair of faded black tracksuit pants with hot pink stitching and a hot pink stripe that ran along the hip area. Then, yawning, she slipped into an old white Singlet that read I Love Beyblade and then in brackets underneath (ers). I Love Beybladers. Tyson had brought her the top insisting that it referred to him.

Kaoru then made her way quietly back through the big room, to the front door and slipped out.

-----

Kaoru spotted Kai immediately when she reached the park. He was jogging alone, wearing his usual attire, with his scarf billowing behind him. Kaoru smiled and began to sprint to catch up with him. When she was just a few meters behind him Kai sensed her presence and turned his head to see her. He groaned.

"Now Kai, what kind of a greeting is that?" Kaoru asked happily.

"What are you doing here?" Kai asked bluntly.

"Didn't we have this discussion yesterday?"

"Why don't you just sleep in like the rest of them?"

"I dunno. I would, I mean I usually do, but I just haven't been able to lately. It's probably 'cause I'm sleeping on a futon rather than on my own bed and with all the noise those guys make…how on earth I manage to get to sleep in the first place is a mystery." She laughed. "So are we training today?"

"You're not." Kai said keeping his gaze fixed ahead.

"'Not like you have any say in it." Kaoru told him, smiling.

"Hn, no training today, press conference. The Mini Tournament is tomorrow."

"Really." She asked him, surprised.

"Hn."

Kai stopped running and turned to walk back to the dojo.

"'Not giving up already are you Kai?" Kaoru teased.

"Hn. Getting Breakfast."

She smiled "Why eat at the Dojo, after all there are so many distractions. Tyson snoring, Tyson stuffing his face, Tyson choking whilst stuffing his face, actually let me rephrase that: Why eat at the Dojo, there's Tyson."

Kai smirked and turned back to her. "And I suppose you have an alternative."

"Yup! I know this great diner that opens at 6:30 and it's…" she glanced at her watch, "6:22 now so…what do you say Kai? Two more laps then Breakfast with me?"

"Hn." He began to run again.


The BladeBreakers, accompanied by Hilary and Kaoru were waiting in the wings of the lage Bey-stadium Mr.Dickenson had hired for them. Currently the press conference they had had a day previous was playing on the great TVs that adorned the walls of the stadium. The fans were watching it because it explained a bit better what exactly the Mini Tournament was for and even a bit about the upcoming Championship Tournament.

On a smaller TV situated in the wings, the BladeBreakers also watched.

"We just want some strong Bladers." Said the TV Ray. "A few kids with the Beyblading Spirit and the moves to back it up."

The woman who had asked the question nodded and made a note on her clipboard. Mr.Dickenson pointed to a young man who was right at the back and waving his hand like crazy.

"Yes, you." Said Mr.Dickenson.

"Um, yes, I'm from Bey-press, I'd like to address a question to, uh, Mr.Hiwatari," the boy opened his eyes, "What exactly do you hope to accomplish by joining the BladeBreakers if, I am correct in assuming, you wish to become the World Champion. Wouldn't you have to defeat Mr.Granger, your team mate, to do so?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "How can I be Champion if my team isn't strong enough win the championships?" TV Kai answered with a question of his own.

"So you believe the BladeBreakers will win?"

"Of course."

"Yes, you in the blue." Mr.Dickenson said pointing to an elderly man in a blue suit.

"Right, this question is for any of you. I was wondering, why exactly do you need 8 bladers? That's a big leap from previous tournaments. And also, do you know anything more about the Championship Tournament that you could tell us? I know that I personally am hanging on the edge of my seat."

Tyson laughed. "Honestly, we have no more idea than you. We don't actually need 8 bladers but Mr.Dickenson said that the more bladers you have, the more of an advantage. As for the World Tournament, I have no idea. The BBA hasn't told us anymore than they've told you…"

"Actually," Mr.Dickenson interrupted, "I've just been informed that I am allowed to disclose some new information to you." Everyone immediately became silent. "Round one of the Tournament will start in approximately one month in Beijing in China." Mr.Dickenson smiled. "And that, I think, will conclude the press conference for today, come on boys."

"Well then," came the voice of DJ Jazzman from the inside the stadium, "I think we're about ready to start." Wild cheers were heard from outside and the TV's picture changed to show the great doors the BladeBreakers would enter by.

"Ok, are we all ready?" asked Hilary doing a final once-over of the bladers, making sure that Tyson hadn't accidentally tucked his shirt into his underwear. She sighed happily. "Alright then, good luck."

"THEN WITHOUT FUTHER ADO, PLEASE WELCOME…THE BLADEBREAKERS!"


Hmmm…does that count as a cliffhanger? Tell me what you think. Here are those A/N's...

(1) - Shoji Doors - Shoji doors are those Japanese slinding doors which have rice paper windows and…um…yer, I think that's right, don't hesitate to tell me if its not. And they are used in the Dojo.

(2) - Kai-kun - Kun is the title given men who are younger or the same age as the speaker. A male might address female inferiors by " kun," usually in schools or companies. It can be attached to both surnames and given names. It is less polite than " san." Normally I wouldn't use Japanese words unless I had to for the sake of accuracy (like above). But in the scenes that play around in my head Kaoru always calls Kai, Kai-kun. I've kind of gotten fond of it in a weird way and I think it sounds really cute. Kind of like a nickname. Sort of…

Anyway…check out my profile if you get time. I'm planning some other stories and details on them can be found there. I'd love some feedback and ideas if you have them!

Now only one thing remains…REVIEW!

Soi.