Well, here I am again! A big thanks to Nedunque, kailover2006, Elemental Gypsy and Dark Kaiser for reviewing the last chapter! School's finally ended! Whoo!

Enjoy!

"Go, Dragoon! Hyper-Victory-Tornado!" Tyson yelled, his eyes blazing with the thrill of battle.

"Flash Leopard! Go!" The menacing leopard snarled and hurled itself at the towering dragon, fur blazing with violet and yellow flames. Fire met wind in an explosive clash. Flash Leopard roared challengingly, staring at the strongest of the Sacred Four with no hint of fear in its glittering eyes. Both bladers took a step forwards, gathering their energy for a final strike.

"GO!" they bellowed. The bit-beasts roared, powered by their masters' battle-rage and charged towards each other. "Dragoon!" Tyson's fierce yell rang out over the dish. "You can beat this overgrown flea ball!" He cried out as Flash Leopard struck out with its vicious claws, automatically taking the hit. With a shout of rage, he reared up, his incoherent yell of defiance mixing with Dragoon's bellow as it charged, knocking both Flash Leopard and Ozuma back.

Kai, Kenny, Ray, and Mariam exchanged worried looks. The two opponent's faces were twisted with the desire to win, with the buzz that came with finding an opponent that you could go all out on. Last time that they had battled to this intensity, Flash Leopard had nearly been destroyed by Ozuma's relentless pushing, Dragoon's attack ring had been melted almost completely off, and both bladers had collapsed unconscious after the battle had ended in a draw. Tyson had barely been able to walk back home again, completely drained by the energy he had spent.

With a quick nod, Kai moved to the side of the dish, watching for his opportunity. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dunga bend down to listen to Mariam, then nod and do the same on the opposite side. Suddenly, he saw his chance, as the two blades rushed towards each other again. Signalling with a sharp nod, he launched Dranzer. The phoenix sped towards the rapidly closing gap between the battling blades, silent and deadly. With an ear-splitting crash, the four beyblades collided in the middle of the dish. Dragoon and Flash Leopard flew out, landing neatly beside their owner's feet. Satisfied, Kai and Dunga held out their hands for their own beyblades.

Ozuma fell to his knees, while Tyson simply let himself fall backwards, landing with a crash on the floor. Both of them were red-faced and panting heavily, matching grins of sheer adrenalin and exhilaration plastered widely on their faces. Within a few seconds, helped by Hilary, who had run over instantly, Tyson was sitting up and tidying himself up a little, already boasting to the nearest person (i.e.; Hilary) about how well he had bladed. Kai watched with narrowed eyes as he saw Ozuma stand unsteadily, refusing offers of help from all his team-mates and stagger to the side, where he sank down, head in-between his legs. Kai walked over to him and prodded him unceremoniously with his foot.

"You should be taking it easy for a bit. That was a pretty intense match." he commented matter-of-factly.

"I'm fine." Ozuma said through gritted teeth. Why wouldn't they ever leave him alone? Wherever he went, there was someone there, telling him to lighten up, to take it easy…

"Ozuma!" The command, sharp as a whip, jolted him out of his exhausted daze. Dizzy, he looked up. Focusing with difficulty, he saw Kai's impassive face staring down at him. A cool, firm hand was placed on his arm. "You need to lie down for a bit. There's no shame in it, Tyson's being forced to do it as well." Blinking rapidly, Ozuma stared at the others. Sure enough, a weakly protesting Tyson was being frog-marched off by Hilary and Kenny. Mariam caught his gaze and stalked over. The expression on her face did not bode well…

Kai watched in amusement and vague pity as Ozuma was dragged off to their room by Mariam and Dunga. A few minutes later, Hilary came back. Ray gave her a long, appraising look, starting at her rumpled hair and bright eyes and finishing with her partially un-done blouse. Hilary blushed a thousand different shades of red and gave Ray a poisonous glare.

"Tyson's a faster worker than I would've given him credit for." Ray smirked teasingly. Hilary hissed something under her breath about Ray's idea of fast working and stalked over to Mariam. The two girl promptly turned their backs on everyone and were soon chatting animatedly. Kai walked over to Ray. They turned away from the others slightly.

"Not before time, if you ask me." Kai murmured.

"Yeah, I was getting seriously fed up of waiting!" Ray replied, grinning. The two of them exchanged satisfied glances. Kai decided to go and check if they needed any help forcing Ozuma to rest.

"What?" Ozuma called out irritably in response to Kai's knock on the door. Sighing quietly, his suspicions confirmed, Kai opened the door. Ozuma scowled at him from where he was sitting on his bed.

"You should be resting." Kai said curtly. "You're as white as a sheet."

"Yeah, yeah, do I give a damn?" Ozuma snapped. "I'm fine! I've been in a worse condition before and survived!" With a determined expression on his face, he got up and tried to walk over to the wardrobe. Cursing, Kai caught him as he swayed, his eyes glazing over.

"Bed." he said in a tone that brooked no argument. Ozuma swore weakly and flipped him the finger, trying to get free. With a groan, Kai heaved Ozuma up until they were level. "Come on. I'm not taking responsibility if you pass out."

Ozuma looked blearily up at Kai, wondering why the blader had softened his voice slightly. He felt himself being pulled towards his bed and struggled helplessly against Kai's muscular arm. "Stop struggling, Ozuma. You're only delaying the inevitable."

"Screw you."

"Pointless insults are degrading and a mark of crudity. Like Tyson." Kai told him, a faint tinge of amusement in his voice. Ozuma growled softly and gave up at last, allowing Kai to gently slide him onto his bed. "Rest, Ozuma. It won't kill you, while I just might." He gave the feebly scowling teenager a grim smile.

"Fine. I give up." Ozuma snapped, closing his eyes.

"Good." Kai went out, shutting the door soundlessly behind him.

Kai looked up as Ozuma came into the dining room. Mariam and Ray were bringing in the food, with Max sending poisonous glares in Ray's direction if he so much as looked Mariam's way. Ozuma was still pale, but his eyes were no longer glassy, and he was moving without effort. He took a seat next to Kai.

"Happy now?" he said sullenly. Kai smirked at the Tyson-like behaviour.

"I suppose." he said quietly. He picked a small portion of food and began to eat neatly and deliberately, cutting each piece of meat into small chunks and chewing them thoroughly. With a weary acceptance, he counted down in his head. Three…two…one…

"Tyson Granger, that is disgusting! Close you mouth right now!" Hilary shrieked. Tyson responded angrily, his reply incoherent through his stuffed mouthful. The Saint Shields winced and looked on in a kind of shocked bemusement at the rowing pair.

"Ah, true love," Ray murmured in Kai's ear, his eyes glittering wickedly. Max was alternating eating and staring at Mariam, so used to the arguments that they didn't even register in his head anymore, and Kenny had resignedly inserted his faithful earplugs. So the meal progressed.

Quite suddenly, Kai felt dizzy. He put a hand out to steady himself, then gasped as a hot, acute needle of pain pierced his skull. Ray and Ozuma both looked sharply at him. He closed his eyes and fought for some kind of control over the sudden headache.

He wasn't getting it. Opening his eyes again, he flinched at the painfully bright lights. Wordlessly - he didn't think he could manage words at the moment - he stood up and walked away, fighting not to pass out, or vomit, or do any of the things that his brain was telling him to do.

Ozuma exchanged a puzzled, anxious look with Ray, who shrugged and pulled a confused face. With an effort, Ozuma dragged his attention back to his food.

Ten minutes later, the meal was finished. Tyson, Joseph and Dunga slouched like beached hales in their seats, having foolishly had an eating competition. Max had "accidentally" eaten a spoonful, quite literally a whole spoonful, of sugar, and was so hyper it was dizzying just looking at him. Mariam and Hilary were busy attending to their "stupid, stupid boys", so Ray and Ozuma exchanged another look, with only one thing in mind. They pushed their chairs back and strode out of the dining room.

Ray hovered uncertainly outside the door with his hand on the handle, the old beware-of-Kai instinct kicking in. With an impatient grunt, Ozuma pushed past him and pulled open the door to his and Kai's bedroom.

"Kai? You okay?" he called.

"Fine." came the curt reply. Both boys groaned softly at the blatant untruth of the answer.

Ozuma stepped into the room.

I suppose that's a cliffhanger. Oops. I just didn't know how to end it. I'm not too fond of this chapter, but as has been proved more times than I can count, I am the very worst judge of my own writing! So, please review and tell me what you think of it!