Okay. I said that this was a two-shot, yes? That was before I wrote so much and didn't manage to squeeze everything I want into this chapter.

So, it was a one-shot, a two-shot... and now it's a THREE-SHOT!

I have to say thank you all for the reviews! I got so many good comments. I thought that cause this is only a little story that people wouldn't bother leaving a review, but I grateful to all who did.

Please review and tell me what you think!

Fragile Nights

Chapter 2

Max raised his hand to his mouth and tired to stifle a very loud and long yawn without much success. It was 9:15am, and they were enjoying their second Breakfast in Vegas. Well, saying 'enjoying' is a bit of a lie. Of the group, only Mr. Dickinson seemed to be fully appreciating his food. Even Tyson was eating much slower than usual, in his current drowsy condition, raising a forkful of food seemed to take just a little too much effort.

As Max yawned, Ray glanced at him through the corner of his eye. The Neko wasn't eating at all. Instead he sat leaning with his right elbow on the table and his face in his right hand. He didn't realise he was swaying ever so slightly as he stared with heavy eyelids at the wall opposite him. To his left on the circular table, was Kenny. The computer wizard didn't look like he be cracking down on his laptop anytime soon, as he was playing with the food on his plate with his fork, and like Max, was stifling a yawn every few minutes.

Next to Kenny was Kai. Kai was the only one of the group, sans Mr. Dickinson, who showed no tiredness. He sat up straight, his right leg crossed over his left, eyes closed and a cup of coffee in his hand. He would open his eyes every now and again, and take a look at each of his team-mates, frowning at them disapprovingly. He found it hard to believe that they were so tired this morning. He would always have to use a fair amount of effort dragging Tyson out of bed, but that morning when he came back to their room at 8am after going for a morning stroll; he couldn't believe it when they were all still in bed! He even had to whack Ray with a pillow, and the Chinese teen was very rarely still in bed past 8.

Kai took a sip of his coffee, and leaned back into his chair comfortably. He stayed like this only for a few seconds before his body tensed unconsciously, hairs prickling as he sensed someone was watching him. He opened his eyelids smoothly, glancing to his left, past Mr. Dickinson who was sat next to him, his eyes meeting with Tyson's, who had not been watching him, but glaring at him. Kai's brow furrowed in annoyance at the younger teen who had not turned away when he realised Kai was staring back. Tyson was glaring with determination, even when Kai's simply annoyed look turned into his own deathly glare, he refused to look away, despite the icy wave that emitted from the Russian teen and washed over him, chilling him to the bones.

Tyson got a slight shock however, when Kai closed his eyes and looked away before downing the rest of the coffee in his cup and standing up.

"I expect you all in the training room in half an hour," he stated, glancing briefly at them all and then leaving the table, his long white scarf trailing behind him.

Tyson continued to glare after him while the other three barely managed to nod. Kenny went back to playing with his food, while Ray and Max simply lounged in their chairs, the same thought running through their minds. What if they just went back upstairs and went to bed? Sure, Kai would roast them for it later, but at least then they'd have the energy to argue back.

Mr. Dickinson looked at the four remaining boys. Never before had seen them so drained. And they hadn't done anything yet! Tyson had never had just one serving at any meal before, especially not breakfast. And Ray would never sit with such a slouch in his posture, he had a little more pride than that. Max wasn't as cheerful as usual, and he barely put more than four words together at once, which was highly unusual. And as for Kenny, he was normally typing away frantically on Dizzi, working on his next breakthrough in Beyblade development.

Mr. Dickinson placed his cup of tea back down on the table.

"So would any of you boys care to explain why there seems to be no spirit here?" he asked, and the boys turned to look at him. The morning had shown an obvious change in their behaviours, but none of them seemed to want to explain. None but Tyson that is.

"It's because of our wonderful, mighty captain, that's why!" he snapped a bit more aggressively than he intended to. Mr. Dickinson looked at the boy sat on his left with wide eyes.

"He didn't go out again, did -"

"Oh no, he stayed in," Tyson said bitterly, slouching back in his chair, his bottom lip curling and he gained a confused look from Mr. Dickinson. Tyson sighed irritably, "he was listening to his walkman for about four hours straight. And he listens to those really heavy bands that scream and stuff. I didn't fall asleep until after three."

"Lucky you," Max murmured, "I was still up at four when he finally switched it off..."

"My point is," Tyson continued, folding his arms, "I wish he had buggered off, at least then we could of got a decent nights sleep."

Although, no one openly expressed agreement to what Tyson had said, it was obvious to all, even Mr. Dickinson, that they had all wished the same thing. Kai always woke them up at seven, then he would disappear for an hour or so and then come back to usually drag Tyson out of bed. During the day, he was a real slave-driver, working them like dogs and only allowing them an hours lunch break before he was pushing them all back in the direction of the training room. Although after dinner, they would usually just relax and watch movies, they would rarely go to bed before 11pm, and even then Kai would always have a light on for another hour or so which would keep them awake. But still they normally managed to get a sufficient seven/eight hours sleep, which they all felt was enough (except Tyson). But today, none of them had got more than five hours sleep.

Mr. Dickinson picked up his cup and took another sip of coffee, mulling over his thoughts.

"Well," he said after a while, licking his lips, "have you spoke to Kai about it?"

"And have him bite our heads off?" Tyson mumbled.

Mr. Dickinson sighed. He silently agreed with Tyson here. He knew all too well just how difficult Kai could be, though the 14 year old was less ignorant when speaking with an adult or someone he considered intelligent and mature. However, unfortunately for the Bladebreakers, Kai saw them as neither, therefore he was more ignorant towards his team-mates than he was to others.

"I suppose I could have a word with him," Mr. Dickinson concluded, draining the remaining contents of his cup. A sigh of relief seemed to spread through the group like a Mexican wave as Mr. Dickinson pushed his chair back and stood up.

"Thanks Mr. D," Ray said gratefully, giving the BBA chairman a thankful smile. Mr. Dickinson nodded in response and left the table.

Kai stood inside the training dish, setting his beyblade into his launcher, vainly trying to ignore the group of people that stood on the other side of the large glass doors, goggling at him in awe. He screwed up his face in annoyance as he tried to focus on aiming his launch but was disturbed by the sound of girly, squealing. Out of the corner of his eye he glanced at the doors and saw that more people had joined the already-large crowd and were whispering (loud whispering mind you) amongst themselves.

Taking a deep breathe, Kai urged himself to ignore their childish antics. Hooking his index and middle finger through the hoop on his rip-chord, he aimed his blade at the right-hand side of the bey-dish on the slant. Ready to launch.

However at that moment, the doors banged open, and Kai almost jumped out of his skin. He turned around to see two girls sprawled on the floor just in front of the doors, and that all the other people who had previously been watching him had now ran away. He glared fiercely at the two girls around his age, who were blushing uncontrollably.

"Yes?" he snarled at them as they climbed to their feet, the smaller of the two backing away a bit, her face looking very red compared to her almost-white hair that was scrapped back into high pig-tails.

"W-we were... I - erm..." the taller girl, with long brown hair, said, tumbling over her words. She looked around frantically. She was speaking with Kai Hiwatari! She'd dreamed of this moment for so long (well a few weeks) but now that the time was here, she didn't know what to say. Embarrassed, her cheeks heated up again.

"Yes?" Kai hissed venomously at the two again, annoyed by their sudden intrusion and also because they didn't seem to have any reason for barging in. Though he was well aware that the two girls in front of him had probably not intended to come flying into the room. Someone probably pushed them.

The taller girl, feeling extremely humiliated in front of her crush, turned around and pointed at the smaller girl.

"She wanted me to tell you that she loves you!" she cried, and without giving either Kai nor the small girl a chance to blink, she sprinted from the room.

Kai, completely unfazed, just scowled at the small girl, who looked as though she wanted to die where she stood. Seconds past and the girl made no attempt to move, instead she stared, frozen to the spot, at Kai, knowing she had just been shown up by her best friend in front of her idol.

Kai mentally sighed. He walked towards the girl, who's eyes seemed to widen with every step closer he got, until he was stood directly in front of her. He leaned over so his face was level with hers.

"Scoot."

The girl let out what sounded like a sob, turned on her heel and darted out of the room, her pig-tails flying behind her. The doors slammed shut, and the girl glanced back through the glass and Kai saw a few tears fall down her face. He did nothing but roll his eyes.

"Stupid girl," he muttered, going back to the bey-dish, with the happy knowledge that his 'fans' had disappeared. Or at least he thought they had. However, his launch was interrupted when he heard the glass doors to his right open again.

"What now? - Oh!"

Mr. Dickinson raised his eyebrows, as Kai looked surprised to see him.

"Mr. Dickinson," Kai acknowledged, nodding his head in what someone may have believed was greetings, but instead it was an apology. Mr. Dickinson knew better than to expect a verbal apology from the Bladebreaker captain, so he let it slip, not that it was a major issue anyway.

"Kai, I need a word," Mr. Dickinson started and Kai cocked up an eyebrow as a gesture for him to continue. He swallowed quickly, "well the other boys are upset this morning because last night they say they were kept awake..."

Kai stood there and listened to Mr. Dickinson tell him exactly what his team-mates had said. In any other situation where the four younger boys were complaining about him, Kai wouldn't have given the slightest damn, he would have continued doing whatever he felt like and ignored their childish whining. But now, as Mr. Dickinson spoke, Kai's eyes fell to his feet and he hung his head slightly. Mr. Dickinson noticed this.

"Kai?" he asked, coming closer to the teen. Kai did not look up but seemed to clench his fists into tight balls. Mr. Dickinson cautiously placed a hand on Kai's shoulders, feeling the teen tense beneath his grip and quickly pull away. It was as Kai moved away from him that Mr. Dickinson noticed the red flush across the boys cheeks.

He sighed, "you've got nothing to be ashamed of, Kai."

Kai's head snapped up, the blush still evident on his face, however he didn't seem to care at that moment. He glared intensely at the older man.

"What would you know?" he snapped rather hurtfully.

Mr. Dickinson quickly stepped forward, surprisingly fast for a man of his age, and it took Kai off guard; because he was not able to dodge when elder seized his wrists, not tightly, but firmly.

"I know..." Mr. Dickinson began, looking straight into those startled, crimson eyes, "...that not one of your fellow team-mates would look down on you in any way - if they knew, that is."

Kai hid his surprise at Mr. Dickinson's words and turned his innocent stare into a deadly glare. He hissed, "well they don't know. And it's going to stay that way!" His tone was threatening, and although he knew that Mr. Dickinson did not find him particularly intimidating, it was the only way he knew how to act in these circumstances.

And Mr. Dickinson knew also, that in the circumstances, there was no reasoning with Kai. The teen would anger himself so much he would them turn a deaf ear on anything you had to say. Selective hearing. Mr. Dickinson sighed in defeat; for now, he would leave Kai to himself.

That night Kai stared at his walkman for a long time as he lay on the sofa. It was half eleven.

Max and Kenny had gone to bed around 8pm and were asleep within minutes. Tyson and Ray had stayed up and watched TV on low volume until eleven, when they had switched it off and climbed into their own beds. Kai had sat with them for a few hours while they watched a couple of movies. Kai himself had not actually paid attention to whatever was on the television, instead, strangely enough, he had been discreetly watching Ray and Tyson through the corners of his eye. It wasn't difficult to notice the signs of exhaustion. Apart from the obvious yawning every few seconds; their postures were slumped, their eyelids kept sliding closed and their facial expressions - well they just said it all.

Although he hadn't, and would never, openly express this, Kai had felt a pang of guilt as he'd watched them. Especially whenever they stood up and moved around, like when Tyson went to the bathroom and he drowsily walked into the doorframe. Or when Ray went to get a drink and missed his glass and poured the lemonade all over the counter instead.

It didn't help that none of them had spoke to him all day. They hadn't argued with him during training, and that caused him to half-heartedly yell at them to pick up the pace. They hardly spoke with one another let alone Kai throughout dinner and up until they'd gone to bed. All of which contributed to the guilt and uneasiness that Kai felt.

The guilt which turned into embarrassment. Why embarrassment? Well, it was something that Kai didn't even like to think about.

Kai sighed as he stared longingly at his walkman. He thought maybe he could listen to some music after he made sure all the others were fast asleep. But Tyson and Ray had only gone to bed half an hour ago and Kai was positive they weren't asleep yet.

So for now, Kai was having to make do with reading. Before he had laid down, Kai had unplugged one of the lamps next to the TV, attached it to an extension cable and placed the lamp on the floor next to his bed/sofa; giving him the light he needed to read. However, unbeknownst to Kai, the light from the lamp was causing a silent argument behind the sofa.

Over Kenny's bed, Ray watched as Tyson was gritting his teeth in frustration. Tyson was glaring at the back of the sofa like he had done the night before. When he looked away and locked gaze with Ray, he frowned as the Neko shook his head, begging him not to loose his temper. A plea with Tyson ignored.

"For GOD'S sake!" he finally erupted, causing several different reactions. Ray slapped his hand over his eyes, Kai jumped slightly (though no one saw), and Kenny and Max awoke with startled gasps.

"Tyson!" Ray moaned, earning a glare from the stormy-eyed blader.

Kai pushed himself up and onto his knees looking over the back of the couch towards the beds to see what the commotion was. Though as soon as he straightened his back, he had to duck down again as a pillow came flying in his direction. The pillow soared over the sofa and landed with a soft 'plump' on the coffee table. Kai sat back up and scowled at Tyson, who made effort to hide the fact that he was the one who threw it.

"How immature," Kai remarked.

"Immature!" Tyson stormed, his voice raising and a vein popping out on his forehead, "you are so unbelievably selfish!"

Kai blinked slowly, not quite knowing what to make of this sudden accusation. Despite everything, he took it, as he always did, as a challenge.

"What, Granger, may I ask have I done that you would consider selfish?" he inquired icily.

Max and Kenny looked at each other worriedly, while Ray felt like banging his head on the headboard. He wasn't going to deny that he found it a little more difficult trying to fall asleep with a lamp on, but Tyson was blowing everything way out of proportion. Not only that, but he'd woken Kenny and Max, who still looked completely exhausted.

Tyson actually got out of his bed and stood in a fighting stance, pointing an accusing finger at Kai.

"You kept us all awake last night with your rubbish music," he snarled.

"Yes, and you were such a baby you didn't have to guts to say anything about it," Kai retorted, feeling a whirl of anger rising in his chest listening to Tyson shriek at him.

"Urgh! You can't take responsibility for anything can you, Kai?!" Tyson snapped, "you may be inhuman, but maybe you could at least try to understand that the rest of us need sleep! And we can't do that with that damn light on!"

"Oh, shut-the-fuck-up Tyson!"

Kenny and Max gasped while Ray sat up properly, eyes wider than normal. Tyson gaped with his mouth slightly open. Never had Kai swore before, especially not at them. But at that moment, Kai looked as though he didn't care in the least. He sent one final glare at Tyson before he laid back down on the sofa.

"If the light bothers you that much," Kai advised, "then pull your fucking blanket over your fat head!"

The silence that filled the breakfast table the next morning was almost suffocating. Tyson and Kai did not look at each other once, in fact, Kai had made Ray wake Tyson up that morning, not giving any reason as to why, though it was more than obvious to the other three. Kai had eaten his breakfast hurriedly, although all he had was a couple of slices of toast, and left the table as quickly as he could, more than likely heading to the training room.

Max, Ray and Kenny had managed to get a small conversation going although Tyson didn't join in. Instead he ate his fry-up slower than usual with a look that suggested he was in deep thought written across his face. Mr. Dickinson had noticed this second change to the boys attitude, even if their appetites had come back. He sighed and placed his cup down.

"What's happened now?" Mr. Dickinson asked, raising an eyebrow knowingly. Sure enough, as he guessed, the remaining four boys exchanged glances.

"Bit of an argument last night," Tyson mumbled. Yes, Tyson was feeling a bit guilty for last night. More for waking Max and Kenny up than anything else, but he did feel a little bad for yelling at Kai over a lamp. And even then, after Kai had yelled back, Tyson actually feel asleep quite quickly, only adding to his guilt.

"Please elaborate?" Mr. Dickinson said, though Tyson decided to remain silent.

"Kai kept us awake for a bit last night," Ray answered for Tyson, "it wasn't half as bad, but I guess it got under Tyson's skin a bit."

Ray gave Tyson an apologetic look. He wasn't trying to get Tyson in trouble, but he just didn't like keeping things from the BBA Head, after all, Mr' Dickinson was the one who formed the team, he should have a right to know how things are within the group.

Mr. Dickinson opened his mouth to speak, only he was cut across.

"Why did you make Kai team leader, Mr. Dickinson?" Max asked suddenly, taking everyone by surprise. The blonde sighed a little, "I don't mean to sound awful, and I know as well as anyone that Kai is a awesome beyblader... but I just don't get why you'd make him captain."

"Kai is a very experienced -"

"Experienced or not," Tyson broke in, though he seemed to be mumbling a bit, "shouldn't a captain always be supportive of his team?" he was met with a nod from Mr. Dickinson, "well his attitude over the past couple of days has been anything but supportive. All we want is to get a decent nights sleep..."

"I don't get how he manages to keep going all day," Kenny interjected, changing the subject a little, "it seems almost humanly impossible. From what I've seen... he appears to sleep for five hours at the utter maximum every night! And it's not like he eats a lot either..."

Mr. Dickinson cautiously pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed his forehead. As he listened to the youngsters talk about their captain like this, the senior suddenly felt himself become extremely protective over Kai, so much so he didn't want to have to hear them talking badly about him.

"Boys listen," Mr. Dickinson interrupted Tyson bitter speech at how he believed Kai was a robot. Tyson stopped speaking and they looked at the elder, "there are some things about Kai's personality which you may not understand at all, but believe when I say that there are reason for the way he acts."

Oh boy. He'd triggered their curiosity now.

"What do you mean by that?"

"What?

"Tell us Mr. D!"

"Did something happen to him in the past?"

Mr. Dickinson looked at Ray who asked the last question, "you could say that..." he said quietly, taking a small sip of his tea, glancing at the wall opposite him and choosing to not look at anything in particular. They waited for a few minutes, hoping for some sort of an explanation. They didn't receive one.

"Mr. D..." Max said after a while, "you - you brought it up..."

Mr. Dickinson sighed, once again, placing his cup back down on the table. A movement he seemed to have repeated a lot over the past two days.

"Kai doesn't want you boys - or anyone else for that matter - to know this," Mr. Dickinson said slowly, "and as much as I respect his decision; I feel - I know you four deserve the truth..."

Clasping his hands together on the table, Mr. Dickinson eyed each one of them, as if trying to detect some sort of falseness about them. They each seemed to lean forward slightly, although their faces did not show eagerness, more like expressions of concern. After a few moment silence, in which time everyone seemed to hold their breath, Mr. Dickinson exhaled loudly.

"Kai has somniphobia."

Mr. Dickinson noted how Ray and Kenny's eyes seemed to widen considerably at hearing this, were as Max and Tyson just looked bemused.

"Somniphobia is a very persistent and abnormal fear of sleep," Mr. Dickinson continued, "Kai has had it since he was around the age of nine. And it is the reason as to why he forces himself to stay awake at night, and also the reason why he wakes up early."

Mr. Dickinson watched as the puzzlement seemed to spread through the four boys like a disease. Frowns appearing on their faces as they thought about what had been said, racking over their memories and replaying the scenes of those nights when they had seen Kai wander out of the room at midnight or just simply sitting in his bed refusing to sleep...

It all seemed to fit into place, but at the same time, it just seemed so unusual, so bizarre, that they were unable to process it fully.

"B-But... how? I mean... it just," Ray was the first to voice his confusion. Mr. Dickinson raised his clasped hands up and rested them under his chian, whislt taking a deep breath.

"When Kai was eight, his father died from cancer," Mr. Dickinson explained, all the attention focused directly on his sorrowful face, "and his mother's health declined after that as well, she died when he was nine. B-Because Kai was so young, he was told by the social workers that his mum and dad had gone to sleep..."

Tyson closed his eyes and actually turned his head away. It just felt too awful to comprehend. Biting his lip furiously, he forced himself to hold back tears. Something which Max seemed completely unable to do. Silently thanking that there weren't many people left in the dining hall, he sniffed heavily, feeling tears leaking from each eye.

Mr. Dickinson closed his eyes for a moment. Seeing these boys, who he treated as if they were his own, mentally suffering with this news was something he did not enjoy watching. However, for Kai's sake... they needed to know.

"They told him that they'd gone to sleep, and they wouldn't be waking up."

Man, I just love giving Kai a hard time don't I?

Anyway, this is up way later than I expected, and I'm really sorry about that. I've been so tired this week. Just mooching around in my pyjamas eating cereal out of the box... yeah. it's been one of those weeks.

Anyway, please review! And the LAST (I mean it this time) chapter should be up soon.

Thanks guys!

Phoenix-falling