Chapter title: Questions
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.
Notes: I figured that, since this bit had already been written, I'd post it before I went to school today. Because I'm rather bored, and I've got a lovely four hours of English literature and Spanish to look forward to. I've only sort of scanned this for mistakes and stuff, so if there's any I've missed I apologise.

Ray stared down at his milkshake, still not quite believing the situation he was in. When he woke up that morning, he would never have even considered the possibility of getting a glance at Kai, let alone quite literally bumping into him in the street. And now here they were, sitting in some coffee shop. To make matters even more surreal for poor Ray, Kai was even paying for his milkshake.

This made no sense to him whatsoever. What was Kai doing back in London after all these years? Surely he was doing fine in…that place that he'd gone? Ray realised with a start that not only did he not know why Kai had come back; he also had absolutely no idea where he'd gone in the first place. Or why.

Ray tightened his grip on his glass. He didn't dare look up in case Kai wasn't there and it was all just another nightmare after all. Instead he fixed his eyes on his chocolate drink and didn't move except to breathe or to cross and uncross his feet every now and then under his chair. He squeezed his eyes shut. He was being silly, he knew it. It was only Kai, not some random, half-crazed, perverted stranger. It was only Kai. He really hoped that when he decided to look up, Kai would still be there. He remembered that last random, half-crazed, perverted stranger he met, and he remembered where it had got him. He shuddered involuntarily, and reminded himself again that it was only Kai.

Kai, on the other hand, sipped at his coffee (without coffee granules, cream, sugar or milk) quietly, staring at the boy he used to know. He didn't understand the way Ray was acting. Well, he never used to either, but this was different. It was like Ray was a different person. He would never have cried in front of anyone so easily four years ago. Perhaps something had happened? Kai's head tilted slightly to the side as he continued to stare, and wondered what could possibly have provoked such a huge change in his old friend.

Then something caught his attention, and now that he'd noticed it, it was beginning to bother him. It was the middle of summer. Mother Nature was being a pain in the backside and not sending even the slightest breezes; Kai had even spotted some people pouring bottles of water over themselves as they walked past the coffee shop in a vain effort to cool themselves down. If Kai had, hypothetically of course, asked one of them if it was working, they would have replied that yes, it was helping temporarily. Temporarily meaning for about 5 seconds, by which point they would need another bottle. The coffee shop itself was supposed to have air conditioning; if it did, Kai honestly hadn't noticed it at all when he had first entered. Inconveniently broken, he guessed. He could have probably fried an egg on their table.

So why on earth was Ray wearing a hoodie?

"Um…Kai?"

Their eyes met, and Kai saw something he'd never seen in Ray before. Fear. Ray was scared? Of him? Ray took the fact that Kai had looked at him as encouragement to continue.

"Can I ask you something?"

Kai set his mug down, breaking the silence of his pause. Their eye contact was ended only for a few seconds while he watched what he was doing, and then he returned to his staring and rested his cheek in his hand. "Go ahead."

"I…um…" This time it was Ray to look away, suddenly finding the glass in his hands far more interesting. Kai's gaze didn't falter. It was obvious that Ray was having great difficulty in getting these words out, whatever he wanted to say. There was silence for a while longer as Ray struggled to get his wording right. "Wh-"

He was interrupted by a beeping sound. Kai shut his eyes and clenched the hand that his cheek had been resting in previously into a fist, his mouth twisting into an expression of annoyance and impatience. A few more beeps were heard and Kai moved to pull a mobile phone from his pocket, now looking completely and utterly pissed off. He didn't even bother to look at the caller ID.

"What?"

Ray couldn't hear what was being said on the other end of the phone, but from the look on Kai's face he didn't think it was of much importance. Well, at least to Kai it didn't seem to be.

"What of it?"

Kai's voice was getting angrier by the second. Ray sort of felt sorry for whoever was on the other end of the line; he knew that, had they been in this situation four years ago with Kai in the same angry mood, the poor person he was on the phone to would soon have felt a painful equivalent to Kai's annoyed yelling. Ray looked back down at the table, suddenly feeling a lot more out of place than usual. He didn't know Kai anymore. Not that he'd known him very well before, but at least he had been aware of little things like the way Kai would smack someone in the head if they pissed him off at the wrong time. He had absolutely no idea whether Kai would have the same reactions now.

"No, as a matter of fact, you could not have picked a worse time. Don't call me again."

And on that note, Kai hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. He could honestly not believe the awful timing some people had. "Well?"

Ray looked back up at Kai, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "What?"

"You were going to ask me something."

Ray shut his eyes and shook his head quickly, turning his attention back to his milkshake. "It doesn't matter."

Kai sighed inaudibly and held his head in his hands. Something wasn't right here. Four years or not, Ray had changed for the worse. Something must have happened while he had been away, and he decided to make it his business to find out what it was. Hell, he was even prepared to contact Tyson if it meant getting the answers he was looking for.

Ray averted his eyes from the table to the floor, wishing he wasn't such a plank. He couldn't seem to do anything right. And now Kai was going to go away again because he was being such an idiot. He didn't want Kai to go away. He could really use Kai's help right now, or at least Kai's support. Actually, he figured, just the knowledge that Kai was there would be enough. He was beginning to get fed up of sleeping outside whenever he messed something up, and maybe Kai would let him stay with him on those nights, wherever he was staying.

Nah. Ray perished the thought. Kai was probably just back on some business thing, and Ray would just get in the way. Or he might have been staying with a girlfriend or something, however silly that idea would have sounded four years ago. As far as Ray could see, you'd have to be blind to deny the fact that Kai was incredibly attractive. It was true; his hair had grown slightly longer, he was still the taller of the two, and even though the blue triangles that used to be on his face had gone, his features didn't appear any softer, although he certainly looked older. The white t-shirt he was wearing fit him perfectly, and showed off his well-built figure. A tiny blush crept over Ray's cheeks as he realised that Kai made him look like a weak, skinny idiot, and he started chewing on the sleeve of his hoodie. It was what he did when he was nervous, and the bottoms of his sleeves were considerably faded from where he chewed them so much.

All of a sudden Kai stood up, and dumped some money on the table. He had had enough of this. Maybe Ray wasn't going to say anything because there were other people around? Or he wouldn't blame him if it were because of the time they'd spent apart. Whatever the reason, and whatever had happened to him, Kai was going to find out. He wasn't going to let Ray get away from him until he had some answers. When Ray looked up at him, his amber eyes widened and confused, Kai couldn't help but wonder why he was so concerned about Ray's well being all of a sudden. He wouldn't have been before; he would have just let Ray get on with it and sort himself out. Even if he would have kept an eye on him, just in case.

Ray refused to take his eyes off Kai. If Kai was going to leave him here, then he was going to make the most of the last seconds he had with him. Their eyes met briefly before Kai looked away.

"Come on Ray. Get up."

Ray furrowed his eyebrows. Why was he getting up too? Kai may have been leaving, but Ray wanted to stay away from the house he was supposed to live in for as long as possible. "What do you mean?"

"You're coming with me. I have some things I want to ask you that don't belong in a crowded London coffee shop."

Still rather confused, Ray hesitantly rose from his chair. What could Kai possibly want to ask him? If anyone was going to be asking questions, it should have been him. He wanted to know what had provoked Kai to leave all those years ago, or what had been going on with his life to cause him to be concerned about people. There was so much he could ask, and four years ago, that was the way it would have been. Although, he wouldn't have been given any straight answers. Kai would not have asked a single thing, yet here they were now, and Kai was pretty much forcing him to listen to the questions he was going to ask, not that he wouldn't listen anyway. It was just a little out of the ordinary from where Ray was standing. But then, what was ordinary? As of a few hours ago, Ray no longer had any idea. All he did was walk slowly towards the door, which Kai was holding open for him. And when he looked up at Kai's face, he was met with one of the most intense stares he had seen for four years, and was asked one preliminary question.

"Where's the Victoria Palace Hotel?"