Kain's POV

After having said my goodbyes to my dad I followed the rest of my team into Tyson's mini-van, having to use it fit us all inside it. Thomas sat up front with his dad, where Matthew and I took the two captains chairs in the middle with Stella and Victor in the very back. Thomas and Tyson chatted all the way up to the mountainside where the camp was situated, even though I've been going here for three years I still get excited every time.

"Hey." Matt leans over towards me, bridging the space of the gap between us.

"Yeah?" I whisper back, meeting his bright blue eyes with my crimson ones.

"You brought the stuff, right?" He grins at me mischievously, and I return my own with a pointed fang sticking over my lower lip.

"But of course, have I ever let you down before?" I whisper back and he just nods, no one else can hear us because they're not paying attention. The 'stuff' he is referring to is alcohol and cigarettes, we're underaged but that hasn't stopped us yet.

Stella, Matthew's older twin sister is talking about attack rings with Victor. Him being the son of the one and only Kenny has dubbed him our new 'Chief', and we go to him when we need to up our blades. Before I forget I lean back, pulling Driger from my pocket and turning to face Victor.

"Hey Chief, can you switch Driger's attack ring before we get there? It cracked the other day in a battle with Matt." I hand it to him as he holds out his hand, shifting his rectangular glasses over his eyes and ginger hair.

"Sure Kain." He smiles at me and I nod while turning back into my seat, enjoying the rest of the ride.

For the most part I try to ignore the conversations around me, being part neko-jin causes the others to sound louder than what they are, specially in such a small enclosure. I close my eyes, resting into the back of my chair and cross my arms over my chest. Tyson mumbles something under his breath about how it's been a while since he's seen that pose, but I don't bother asking him what he means since he's always rambling about something that hardly makes sense.

Thomas is sometimes no different, but he is a bit more organized than his father, taking after his mother Hilary. He has Hilary's hair color but Tyson's eyes, and he's pretty short compared to me and Matt. Tyson and Hilary are old friends of my fathers when he bladed with them, having Thomas when I was one. Matthew and Stella are Max's twins, they were born a few months after me and we grew up with each other like brothers and sisters. Matthew looks like Max, but he has shaggy brunette hair and not blonde. His eyes though put Max's to shame, something I always found attractive about him. He's the tallest out of us all at six feet, where I'm five-eight.

We've dated on and off since turning fourteen, but it's never stuck since he flirts way too much with other people. We're more comfortable being friends and teammates than anything, but that doesn't really stop us from enjoying the others company when the want calls for it. We tried to keep our relationship a secret when we first started going out, until my dad walked in on us one time. He became so flustered he shut the door apologizing before slamming it back open, where we both got the scolding of our lives by both our dads that night.

Stella is a bit of both their mother and Max, but I'm only assuming since I've never met the woman and neither have the twins, kind of like my own mother I suppose. Stella has the blonde hair that she styles in a pixie cut, but her eyes are a beautiful violet with freckles along her nose and cheeks. I see her more as a younger sister than anything, plus she's not interested in guys in the slightest, but I don't blame her. Being around us, all the time probably put a damper on that ever happening, and I'm surprised I'm still attracted to guys at all even.

Victor is the youngest of us all, having just turned thirteen, he's also the shortest with ginger hair and green eyes. He's Kenny and Emily's son and he's like a perfect mix of them in looks and brains, which is why he's our new Chief. We all didn't start going to the camp until he turned ten, so we've only been going for three years.

Then there's me. I look nothing like my father. The only things I've inherited from him is his hair color with natural slate highlights running through it, and his eye shape. I keep it styled in a sort of spiky fashion, where the back of it reaches the nape of my neck. My ears are pointed like his where I have my left pierced in the lobe, side and cartilage. I also have fangs, like the good little half neko-jin I am. My skin is paler than his, so I must be a mix of Asian and western, but I've never met my mother he claims is out there somewhere. My eyes are crimson in color, which people find very attractive. I'm pretty lean but I do have a good amount of muscle on me from training all the time, which also gets me attention. I don't crave the attention though, it just comes with being the son of a famous blader and being co-captain of the reborn team.

I must have fallen asleep on the ride up, getting punched in the arm as my wake-up call when we arrived jolted me right out of the chair. Matt just snickers at me and I glare at him, I can be playful when I want to be but damn that hurt.

"C'mon slow poke!" He called out as he climbed out of the van, letting Victor and Stella shuffle out on his side since I was still fumbling with the seat belt.

"Whatever wise guy." I growl out, finally unhooking the blasted belt and jumping out of the van.

"Alright guys, I have to go meet up with Hiro and Brooklyn now you all know the drill by now." Tyson says as he places his hands on his hips, smiling wide at us all as we come around the front of the van.

We all just nod to him and he waves at us as he walks off, taking in the smell of the fresh mountain air I breath in deeply and let it out. I love this place, I feel so more at home in the open wilderness like this, being part cat and all.

"Our cabins are the same as always, everyone get your bags and meet back at the front once you settle in." Matt starts taking in the reigns, commanding everyone as he towers over us all.

We all nod to him and head for the back of the van following Thomas, he lifts the hatch up and starts passing out our bags to us. Once everyone has their own bag the boys head off to the right of the camp, while Stella goes to the left. Even though I've been here so many times I still look around like it's the first time, the main campsite is enclosed by a brown rock wall that separates it from the parking lot. Stepping through the opening of the wall the main building stands in front of us, it's huge and doubles as the dining hall and rec room. There's a front porch that sticks out, with an overhang that only covers out the first part where two sides of the porch stick out on each side where they're not covered.

Going around the building's right side, passing through the crowds of other teams and bladers, the rock wall opens again right before the cabins. It's almost like a divider for the grounds, the front is all about space where you can relax or battle under the trees while the back is left for the sleeping quarters.

We find our normal cabins, they're nothing special or impressive. It's all wood, inside and out, but they're maintained well thanks to the BBA. Thomas and Victor step up the stairs to their cabin, which is on the left of Matt's and mine. Each cabin has a small front porch, two windows by the doors with wooden shutters that are open. Like the main building there's an overhang over the porch, with wooden beams that hold it up.

"See you guys in a minute!" Thomas waves at us before slipping into his cabin, Victor following behind him with his own little wave and sheepish grin.

Matt waves back before pushing the door open for our cabin, stepping inside as I follow him. As I said before, the cabins are nothing impressive. It's four walls a roof and floor, all wood. Across from the door are two beds on each side, the feet of the bed face the door. A window sits above each bed, where we can see out back past the camp site at the waterfall, I picked this cabin the first time just for that view. Between the beds is a single eight drawer dresser, on each wall by the feet of the bed sits a wooden shelf with hooks for other odds and ends of things.

As always Matt takes the bed on the right while I take the one on the left, dumping our bags down on the mattress at the same time. We've fallen in step with each other over the years, growing up and then being captains of the team, it was essential we did. I rummaged through my bag, pulling out the bottle of vodka from it and stuffing it under my bed at the far back. My cigarettes go in my right back pocket, while my phone sits in my left. Quietly we unpack the rest of our things, dividing four drawers for each of our clothes and using the shelves on our sides of the room for our other things.

"Ready?" Matt asks, having fixed his hair up a bit where his bangs are a bit more slicked back.

"I'm gonna have one of these first, wanna join me?" I offer a sly grin, holding up the cigarette between my fingers.

"Nah, just don't take too long and make sure to put some cologne on when you're done." He says, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.

I light it up with my lighter, stuffing that into my right front pocket and sit on my bed. I don't know why but I've been a nervous wreck these past few weeks, I've become more temperamental and nothing seems to be helping. Though of course it doesn't help that my father is dating my doctor of all things, it's been five years, but I still haven't gotten used to it. He's my dads age and a nice guy, but there's just something off about him to me and I can't put my finger on it. Dad of course is just too blind to see it though, he puts the guy on a pedestal and it irks me.

I draw in a deep breath and inhale the smoke, letting it out slowly trying to relax. My life isn't all that bad I suppose, I have a good group of friends and we're a good team, having won regional and national championships. One would think Thomas would be the champion, being the son of the world champion three years running and all, but no. It's me, I'm the one who picks the team up, I win all the title battles and have never lost a battle in my life, but we're a team and my accomplishments are only because of them. I don't boast about being the champ, it's my team that are the champions not just me.

I don't know if we're ready for a worlds tournament yet though, since Victor is still so young, and our parents don't like the idea of us running around the world like they did at their age. Hypocrites. For now, I'm content being here though, I've never traveled and even though my team is self-sufficient I don't want to have to baby anyone when I don't need to.

Finishing my cigarette, I toss the burnt-out end into the trash bin by the corner of the door, spraying myself with my cologne from the shelf before stepping out. Already I can hear the noise from across the camp site from the front, while other stragglers are leaving or entering their cabins around me as I jump the three steps of the stairs. I can hear my team even though they're not by me and follow their voices till I'm standing right behind them, they're so engrossed in conversation they don't know I'm here.

"Whoa!" Matt shouts, jumping about two feet into the air after I jabbed him in the side with a finger.

"Oh, hey Kain!" Thomas smiles, having just noticed me.

"Dammit, don't do that!" Matt scorns at me, his blue eyes lit with a fire at me and I smirk at him.

"That's what you get for punching me earlier." The others laugh at us, used to our teasing and flirting with each other this way.

"IF I COULD HAVE EVERYONE'S ATTENTION!" Hiro, Thomas's uncle and Tyson's older brother calls through the mega phone standing on one side of the uncovered portion of the porch.

My ears ring from the loudness of it, one thing I hate about this place is that damn mega phone. Everyone goes quiet and we shuffle with the rest of the crowd closer to the front of the main building, having come out from our spot under the tree on the right of the building.

"GREAT, GLAD TO SEE I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION NOW." Oh god, quit using that Hiro!

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming, for those who know the drills I expect you all to help those who maybe new to this place. In a moment the doors will open, teams are to go first and sign in by their captains at the desks at the front before sitting in the cafeteria. Those who do not belong to a team, stay behind and Tyson will be handing out your papers to you." He pauses and I'm thankful he's not using the mega-phone any longer.

"Once those papers are filled out, as you come up hand them to Brooklyn, the gentleman on my left." He motions to Brooklyn standing on the other side of the uncovered porch, he waves at everyone and smiles with a tilt of his head. Strange guy, I can never read him.

"Alright, teams first!" Tyson calls from his spot at the top of the stairs, there's three that lead up to him.

Some teams start to shuffle through the crowd of about one hundred bladers, their captains leading the way. I recognize some teams from tournaments, all having been beaten by my own team at one point or another. I follow Matt and the others up to the stairs when something catches my sights, long raven hair and beautiful long legs, she's maybe an inch or two shorter than I am.

I freeze in my spot to watch her walk with her team of two boys, one has flaming red hair with lavender eyes, he's tall and pale. The other boy towers over both of them, with blonde hair and dark blue eyes. I can only see the back of the girl as she leads them through the crowd, two teams away from my own.

"Hey, are you coming?!" Matt calls to me, and I nod quickly at him coming out of my daze as the girl disappears behind the doors of the main building.

I rush up to meet them, all having paused at the foot of the stairs to wait for me. I don't bother saying anything as they all turned back from me, finishing the ascent up the stairs and into the main building. It's crowded already, like always, with teams lined up in two rows at the two sign-in desks. There are benches that sit along the wall where the door sits, with another bench on each side of the adjoining wall. The walls are covered with Beyblading posters and rules and guidelines for being here, most of them Matt and I have ignored since coming here.

The room is slightly split up, with two walls in the center that divide the space of the bathrooms, boys on the right and girls on the left. The sign-in desks sit against these walls, where other BBA members sit behind the desks accepting the filled-out forms. The walls create a walkway of sorts which leads us into the dining area of the building, where tables and chairs are already set up and starting to fill as the teams who finished signing in take their places, by now I've lost sight of the girl again through the crowd.

I make sure to follow my team up to the sign-in desks, Matt fills it out and hands it back and we follow him into the dinning area quietly. My eyes are more focused on finding the girl again, but amongst the sea of people and different colored hair it's harder to do than I had imagined. On each side of the dinning area is a kitchen, where some bladers are already getting food from the open window.

"I'm gonna grab something to eat, be back in a minute!" Thomas says, and he is off before anyone of us can say anything to him as we sit down at our normal table by the kitchen on the left.

"Hey, are you doing alright Kain?" Stella asks me, her voice filled with concern as she sits on my left. Her normal spot, as Victor sits on her other side.

"Yeah." I nod, but I don't look at her as I'm still trying to scan the room full of people. Being at the head of the table has its perks, but sitting makes it harder to actually see over the heads.

"You sure?" Matt on my right asks, his normal spot with Thomas coming up to sit beside him on his other side.

"Yeah, just saw… THERE SHE IS!" I shout and jump, my teammates faces all drop and Victor falls out of his chair.

"Who?!" Stella's violet eyes go wide and her head swivels around to find who it is I found.

"Be right back." I say hurriedly, keeping my eyes locked on the raven hair I managed to spot across the dining hall.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Thomas calls but I ignore him, pushing past a few other bladers as the dining hall is becoming more crowded with the singles now filing in.

I finally make it over to my destination to her table, she's deep in conversation in a different language with her two teammates who sit around their four-seater table. I slip down into the one beside her, across from the tall burly blonde. They all stop abruptly and their eyes lock onto me, I offer a smile and notice her eyes are crimson like mine.

"Can we help you?" The red-head asks me, while the girl is eyeing me with a scowl.

"Hi, I'm Kain." I hold my hand out to her and she looks a bit sick at my gesture.

"That's nice, but why should I care?" She sneers at me.

"Just wanted to say hi, I haven't seen you here before and wanted to see how you liked the place. I've been coming here for three years now, my teammates dad is one of the coaches, and his uncle was the one with the mega-phone earlier."

"And I care why?" She responds, damn she's hard to talk to.

"Just telling you." I shrug, pulling my hand back since it's clear she's not going to shake it. "Can I get your names at least?"

They all shift their eyes at one another before they all sigh out; the blonde speaks first so I look to him as he's sitting across fro me.

"I'm Sven." I nod and smile to him, he seems a bit friendlier than the other two.

"I'm Dimitri." The red-head to my right says, he's rather good looking to but it's been a while since I've been with a girl.

"Nice to meet you." I nod to him and smile, a fang slips but they don't seem to care.

"Kyra." The girl sighs out and rolls her eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you guys, if you ever need anything let me know since I've been coming here so long."

"Thanks, we appreciate it." Sven responds.

"Kain! Get your ass over here!" Matt calls me from across the hall and I drop my head, damn him.

"Well, I'll see you guys later." I stand and wave at them, Sven is the only one who acknowledges me as I leave with a nod of the head. With my back turned they start speaking their weird language again, so I head for my table unable to eavesdrop on them.

"What was that all about dude?" Thomas asks, engulfing his burger.

"Saw a cute girl." I shrug.

"Oh, her? That's my new roommate." Stella pops in, having been watching me from where I came from.

"So, is she always that nice?" I reply a bit sarcastically.

"Seemed so, didn't talk much." She shakes her head a bit.

With a defeated sigh I rest back down into my chair, as the rest of the bladers enter along with the three coaches who run the place. Luckily, we're inside so Hiro won't use the mega-phone again.

"Alright, it's great to see everyone settled. For the newcomers, our first day here is a free day, as is all weekends. You may explore the mountain ranges, but always make sure you sign out at one of the front desks and sign back in. There are paths that are marked that are safe to travel, while the ones that aren't are marked as well. We ask that you head these warnings and don't use the unsafe trails." Hiro starts, and the dining room is completely silent.

"Under NO circumstances are boys and girls to go into either room, even if you have a girl on your team. No boys in the girl's restrooms and vice versa, if you are caught being with the opposite gender in either of these rooms you will be sent home immediately. We're here to train and blade, not mingle and do other things. Those who are new, you all have maps of the grounds to help you." I suppress a snicker, remembering all the times Matt and I have gotten it on in our room the past two years of coming here.

"Breakfast starts at seven and ends at nine. Lunch is held from twelve to two, and dinner is from seven till nine. Lights out is at eleven, and training begins at ten after breakfast with it resuming after lunch with a two-hour interval for free time." He finishes his speech and then starts off to the closest kitchen he can reach, Tyson and Brooklyn following behind him.

"Free day tomorrow, what should we do?" Thomas pipes in, as the rest of the dining hall fills with chatter that I have to push past to hear my own team.

"I have to finish preparing Driger and Draciel." Victor pipes in, Draciel belongs to Max while Stella has her own blade.

"I'm just going to sleep, the ride up here really got to me." Stella says and with that she yawns and excuses herself from the table, telling us all goodnight.

"Probably go on a hike or climb the waterfall again." I offer, and the others shake their heads at me.

"You do that all the time." Thomas whines at me.

"So? I like doing it." I shrug.

"Alright, what do you want to do Matt?" Thomas turns to his other captain, his eyes shining with hope that Matt has a better plan for our free day.

"I might sleep in like Stella, dad was a bit overly excited before we left." Matt sighs out and the hope in Thomas's eyes dies away.

"Man, you're all no fun." He pouts, looking much like his father when I've seen him pout to his wife. "I guess I'll hang around and check out the new competition then." He grumbles.

After Thomas and Victor left the dining hall, most of the other bladers followed suit. I forgotten to eat anything before I headed back to my cabin with Matt, both of us opting out of taking a shower since we knew it would be cramped on the first night. We made that mistake the first time coming here, and almost missed lights out because it took so long to actually get into one.

Like clockwork we disrobe to nothing but our boxers, making sure to turn the lights out once Matt is settled since he can't see that well in the dark. I debate whether going to my bed or not and shrug, climbing into his.

"Ugh, Kain?!" He whines at me and pushes me away a bit. "Too hot!" He whines.

"But I like the heat." I whine back, and cling to his torso. We're not dating right now, but I always like cuddling with him when given the chance and he's like a big teddy bear.

"You're already too hot as it is without my body heat added to it." He huffs, but doesn't try to push me off again. What can I say, I'm naturally warmer than most people.

I nuzzle into his chest, tangling my legs with his and offer him a purr as thanks. He breathes out a sigh, but his arms come around me and he starts to run his fingers through my hair, which always puts me to sleep and without much effort I'm off into dream land.