.: Sweet tragedy :.

by cherry fantasy


Chapter two : Separated

In the plane, 10:27 a.m.

" I knew it ! " exclaimed Max rather loudly.

He and Kenny were both sitting in the plane that would bring them to Moscow's airport. The seats were comfy, the view was great, the stewards were friendly, everything was fine, except the fact that... Tyson wasn't there.

" I knew it ! " nearly shouted Max once again. " I knew that idiot would miss his flight ! I had told him to follow me ! "

" Max, may I remind you that you were late as well ? " Kenny said, sighing.

" Maybe, but ' I ' got on the plane, unlike a certain idiot we know ! "

" Only because I kept you a seat and pleaded the steward to wait for you " retorted Kenny.

" That... that's not the point ! " said Max angrily.

Kenny rolled his eyes (A/N : does he have eyes anyway ?). He knew Max wasn't really angry. In fact, the blond teen was worried to the bones and it was so obvious that some other passengers were actually looking at him with sympathy. Kenny was a bit worried himself. True, getting in that kind of situation was a lot like Tyson, but... Who knows ? There was always a slight possibility that something might've happened to him. ' Great, now I'm getting worried too ! ' thought Kenny. Max and him were both paranoids...

" Calm down, Max, I'm sure he's fine ! You know him, he probably just got lost or something ! "

Max glanced at him and tried to relax. He wasn't really good at hiding his real emotions. Maybe he should ask lessons from Kai... ' No thanks, I want to live ' he thought with a little grin.

True, he was worried about Tyson. His friend had been just behind him but when he had reached the gates, he wasn't there anymore. Kenny and him had waited as long as possible (which wasn't much), but Tyson hadn't showed up. Where the Hell was he ! ' Come on, Kenny's right, I'm totally overreacting ! ' Max told himself.

Sighing, he settled himself in his seat. He had a cell phone, and he was practically sure that Tyson would try to call him, but of course when you're God knows how many feet up in the sky, the reception is close to non-existent. So, he would have to wait until they'd reached Moscow. ' I have the feeling this will be a loooooong flight ! ' Max thought.

o0o

Bay City's airport, 10:32 a.m.

" Thank you, I really don't know how to repay you ! " said a brown-haired woman, her green eyes shining with gratitude.

" Really, it was nothing ! " answered Tyson, blushing a little.

He was presently talking with Sano's mother, who couldn't seem to stop thanking him for helping her son. He hadn't done much, really. He had just went to the reception with the little boy and asked the woman working there to make a call for Hitomi Yasuka (Sano had told him his mother's name on the way there). About ten minutes later the said woman had arrived and at the sight of her young son she had broke into tears, running to him and holding him close. Tyson had explained her what had happened and she had thanked him almost a hundred times since then. Honestly, it was becoming embarrassing !

Finally, the two left, but not after the Champ had to autograph Sano's shirt ! Now this, Tyson could handle ! It was practically his daily life !

Now, what to do ? He had missed his plane, that was a fact. He could've called Max on his cell phone, but he knew that the reception wasn't working when you were in a plane, so he wouldn't be able to join his blond friend.

Tyson made his calculations (yes, he knew how to calculate and he was good at it !) : Max and Kenny wouldn't arrive at Moscow before at least 6 hours, maybe a bit more. He would try to call them then. As for him, the next flight for Moscow wasn't before another 6 hours and a half, so he would have to wait until then. Tyson didn't really like to wait, in fact he despised it, but it seemed he didn't have a choice. ' Serves me right for playing the Good Samaritan ! ' he told himself.

Sighing, he went to buy some Chips and a soda, then he sat on a chair with a stupid magazine in hand and waited.

o0o

Moscow's airport, 4:26 p.m.

" Do you see them ? " Kenny asked Max.

" Hum... wait... yes ! They're over there ! " Max said happily, pointing something to his left.

And indeed, a few feet away, were standing Ray, Kai and Hilary. They really hadn't changed that much, but it was a good thing. Max ran to Ray and practically jumped on him, causing both of them to fall to the ground. Hilary laughed and Kenny shook his head. Kai quirked an eyebrow, resisting his urge to smile. Max and Ray were in love with each other, it was obvious to everyone except for the two of them.

At that thought, Kai's heart started to beat faster. The image of a certain midnight-haired beauty crossed his mind. Heat spread through his body like burning lava, and Kai didn't need to look in a mirror to know he was blushing. How he had longed to see his blue angel... But wait. Something was wrong : Tyson wasn't there !

Looking at Max who was helping Ray get back on his feet, Kai asked him :

" Max, where's Tyson ? "

Just then, Hilary and Ray also seemed to notice the absence of their cheerful friend.

"Yes Max, " said Ray, " wasn't Tyson coming with you and Kenny ? "

" He was, but that stupid idiot missed the plane ! " answered Max.

He was frowning, but you couldn't miss the worried look that passed in his blue eyes.

" Are you serious ? Damn, trust Tyson to do something dumb like that ! " exclaimed Hilary. " What happened exactly ? "

Max told them, and soon they were more worried than angry. They looked at each other and noticed that they were all wearing the same expression, causing a thought to hit them all at the same time : how come were they turning totally paranoid when it came to Tyson ? Did they care that much about their loud-mouth friend ? The answer wasn't really hard to find : yes.

Tyson... Tyson was the soul of their group, its very core. He was their inspiration, the one that had always kept them strong. Each one of them had passed by him first before entering the team, in one way or another. They had gathered around him and his magnetic personality, and he was the one keeping them together. Sure he could be childish and immature, but he was also brave and persistent, never giving up and always willing to help those who needed it. You could trust him with anything, he had a good heart and he was the most loyal friend you could hope to have. All in all, his qualities were by far surpassing his faults.

Their train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by a little musical sound.

" MY CELLPHONE ! " Max yelled, making everyone jump in a five kilometres radius.

He picked the little ringing thing and quickly answered :

" Hi, Max here. "

There was a moment of silence, then :

" TYSON ! " he yelled again, nearly giving the whole airport a heart attack.

Kai and the others just waited anxiously, eager to know if their missing friend was alright. They listened to the one-sided conversation, trying to understand what was going on :

" Tyson, where the Hell do you think you are ? " Max was saying. " You missed the plane, idiot ! I was worried sick ! What happened ? Tell me right now ! (pause) What ? I dare you ! I'M PERFECTLY CALM ! "

The others sweat dropped. Max sure didn't sound calm... The blond pursued :

" I'm not yelling ! (pause) No ! (pause) Well, think what you want, just tell me where you are. (pause) What ? But what happened ? You got lost, didn't you ? (short pause !) Hey, whoa, OK OK I get it ! Then tell me what happened "

There was a longer silence, then :

" Awww, that's so sweet ! You really did that ? (pause) Of course not I don't think you're a liar. In fact, it's exactly what a good little boy like you would do ! (short pause...) Whoa ! Jeez Tyson keep it down, I was just joking ! So, what are you gonna do now ? "

Kai, Ray, Hilary and Kenny were getting more and more curious by the second. What was going on anyway ? Before them, Max was nodding slowly, listening to Tyson's explications. Then he talked again :

" OK then, I'll tell them. (pause) No no, I'm sure he won't mind. (pause) Yes. (pause) OK, we'll be waiting. See ya ! "

As soon as Max had closed his cell phone, Kai asked for everyone :

" What's the deal ? What happened ? "

Max smiled and answered :

" Our dear friend was punished by his good heart once again ! "

They looked at him quizzically, and so he explained :

" He met a little boy as he was following me. The child was lost and totally terrified. It's understandable, you should've seen the airport ! There was so much people I was afraid I wouldn't reach the gate without losing a limb ! I know that I wouldn't want to be lost in that if I was a little kid ! Anyway, the boy recognized Tyson for obvious reasons and asked him for help. You know Tyson, he's every children's hero ! And of course, Tyson accepted to help the kid, that's why he missed the flight. And that's the story ! "

Their expressions had softened. Yes, that was typical Tyson ! Then, Ray asked :

" What's Tyson gonna do now ? "

" He'll take the next flight in about half an hour and join us here. He should arrive around eleven tonight, and he asked if Kai could come and get him."

They looked at their former captain with an amused gaze ; they knew Kai had a thing for Tyson. Kai was trying madly not to blush, when he realized that they were waiting for an answer. Emotionlessly, he said :

" Sure, why not ? "

They grinned at him, not buying his act at all, and he resisted the urge to run and hide under a rock. No, he just stood his ground and glared, daring them to add something else. Of course, no one spoke and Kai smirked.

" Well, we should get going " said Kenny.

They agreed and exited the airport, walking toward the black limousine that was waiting for them (A/N : Kai is rich, remember ?). Once they were in it, Hilary sighed contentedly and said :

" That's what I like when we come at your place Kai, we're always given the royal treatment ! "

The boys laughed and Kai just snorted, but he was smiling inside. He was glad he could offer his friends, yes his friends, the best of the best. He knew already that they weren't friends with him just for his money, so he didn't mind that kind of comment coming from them. Also his wealth allowed him to treat Tyson all he wanted... That thought was his favourite.

He didn't really remember when he'd started to like... no, let's be honest, love Tyson this way. Thinking about it, he guessed that it must've been sometime after their third and last World Championship, where Tyson had once again beaten him, mind you. But Kai wasn't angry. He had come to love the beybattles with Tyson, who was probably the only blader alive that could best him and give him a worth and exciting challenge. Well, except Brooklyn maybe, although Kai had defeated that one.

Come to think of it, it was sometime after his last beybattle against Brooklyn that Kai had started to look at Tyson differently. He could still remember the feeling of Tyson's arms around him when, exhausted, Kai had practically collapsed on stage. His battle with Brooklyn had really wore him out and he hadn't been able to make it to the bench before his legs had decided to give way under him. He'd been expecting a hard encounter with the floor, and certainly not two arms wrapping around him gently and easing his fall. But before even looking up, he'd known it was Tyson who had caught him. That hadn't surprised him very much. What had really surprised Kai was how good he'd felt in Tyson's hold, and how he'd wished the blue-haired teen would hold him like that more often.

Of course, afterwards, Kai had told himself that he must've been delirious from exhaustion at the time and that was why he'd felt those things. However, it wasn't long before he'd found out how wrong he was. Those feelings he'd had for Tyson hadn't disappeared or even diminished, in fact they had only grown stronger with each passing day, during which (and despite his best efforts) the Beyblade Champion hadn't left his thoughts for a single second, either he was with him or not. But it wasn't until they had to part ways that Kai had suddenly realized what it was he was feeling for his younger team mate. Something he'd thought he would never be able to feel, for anyone : love.

It was kind of ironic, considering how rocky his relationship had been with Tyson when they had first met. Back then, he'd only seen Tyson as an annoying rookie who was too loud and much too reckless. In his mind, how the midnight-haired boy had beaten him was totally incomprehensible and probably just a stroke of luck. Kai had been resentful and had done nothing to hide it. He would've never guessed in a million years how much talent was hiding under Tyson's childish behaviour. But, even if at the beginning the boy had been exasperating him to no end, Kai had unconsciously grown attached to him. Maybe it'd been the way Tyson always seemed to care even though Kai constantly tried to push him away, or the way he'd never given up on him even when everybody else did, or again the way he'd forgiven him even his biggest mistakes. Tyson had always been willing to take him back despite his numerous betrayals and desertions (which Kai wasn't really proud of) and he'd always believed in him whatever the situation.

Actually, looking back on all that, it was no wonder Kai had fallen in love with Tyson. The younger blader had wormed his way to Kai's heart without even him noticing, slowly but surely melting the ice wall Kai had created around himself. It was thanks to Tyson if Kai's attitude was less cold then it was before, thanks to him that he now had friends to rely on. It was something he'd never thought he'd need, but once again Tyson had proven him wrong. And Kai was grateful for that. The empty feeling of loneliness that had always lingered in his heart since his parents' death, Tyson had washed it away with a friendly smile and an outstretched hand. Without his knowledge, he'd slowly become the most important person in Kai's life, unconsciously saving him from a faith that could've ended up much more tragically if he hadn't been there. Kai hadn't been aware of it yet, but it was only because of Tyson that he'd decided to change and to give life another shot. Had he known the results would be so satisfying, he would've tried much sooner. Tyson was wiser than he let on...

Coming back to the present, Kai looked through the limo's window and sighed softly. He desired so strongly to tell Tyson his feelings, but he feared rejection... More, he was terrified at the idea that maybe Tyson would be disgusted and never want to see him again. Of course Kai knew that there was very, very low chances that Tyson would do something cruel like that, but it still didn't keep the doubt from entering his mind. He just couldn't bring himself to risk it. A very little number of things could scare Kai, and losing Tyson forever was definitely a part of it. He couldn't even bear the thought. So, he'd decided that if Tyson's friendship was all he could have then he would take it gladly. At least it was allowing him to see and be near Tyson once in a while and that was all that mattered.

Separating had been hard though. He had missed his blue angel so much. Of course they sometimes talked on the phone and they wrote to each other, but it wasn't the same. His work was taking almost all his free time and Tyson was living so far from him. When business was forcing him to travel he would always try and stop at Bay City for a chance to see his (secret) love. Kai was also waiting eagerly for those annual meetings, because that meant that they would pass a whole week together. He always made sure that everything on his schedule was cancelled for that particular week, so that he could have at least that time to just be with Tyson.

As the limousine drove them toward his mansion, Kai thought about the evening to come. It would be great, they would all be together again and he would see his angel. Unknown to him, a tiny smile appeared on his lips.

Little did he know that in a few hours, there would be no such things as a great evening, nor would there be reasons to smile...


A/N : Alright ! Two done... hum, how much more to go ? I'm still not sure how many chapters this fic's gonna have...

Anyway, please review !