Next chapter's up! Read and enjoy!

Hilary sat up in bed, rubbing at her eyes furiously. She had no idea it was possible to cry while you were asleep. Sniffing the last of the tears back, she took a deep breath. With a silent sigh, she climbed out of bed, her throat unpleasantly dry. Grumbling softly, she limped towards the kitchen. Her ankle hurt abdominally, but she couldn't be bothered to find the crutches. She leaned on the counter for a few seconds, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes.

Tyson…why… She dragged her mind from that soul-destroying question and held a glass under the tap. She checked the clock on the wall. She had been asleep for about five hours, which would explain why she felt so wide-awake at eleven o'clock. Her ears suddenly picked up a faint noise coming from Kai's bedroom. Intrigued despite herself, she limped in, swearing mentally as her ankle started to give way.

Kai was lying in bed with the covers drawn up, twitching slightly. Hilary looked closer, frowning at the strained look on his face, as if he was in pain. She limped further in, her ankle sending red-hot bolts of pain up her leg.

"Ow…shit, that hurt! Kai? Wake up!" she whispered. Kai stirred and his eyes flickered open, dull, blank amethyst.

"H-Hilary?" She had never heard him sound so…vulnerable before.

"Yeah, it's me. What's wrong?" she asked, limping closer. He tried to shrug, his face even paler than normal.

"Nothing." Hilary glared at him, sitting down on the bed with a sigh of relief. "I remembered… you know…after I fought Brooklyn." Hilary nodded, remembering it only too well. "I'm just a bit…" He trailed off and said a word in Russian, closing his eyes again. Worried, Hilary leaned forwards and placed a hand gently on his forehead, checking for a temperature. His eyes opened again. "I'm not ill, Hilary. Just tired, that's all." Hilary grinned, hearing the familiar curt tone in his voice, which up until now had been faint and unsteady.

"That's more like it, Kai!" she laughed. Kai smiled slightly and pushed himself into a sitting position.

"I'm sorry…about what I said." he said uncomfortably. Hilary stopped grinning and shrugged equally uncomfortably.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. I was really shitty to you, and I shouldn't've been." Hilary shrugged again. "What's wrong?" Hilary was silent for a long time, not trusting her voice.

"Do you…do you really want to know why I left home?" Kai nodded. Hilary took a deep breath, shivering as the cool night air went straight through her flimsy T-shirt. She hadn't bothered to change into any kind of nightwear, simply taking off her jumper and crying herself to sleep where she had been lying.

"Here." She looked. Kai was holding out a dark-green dressing gown. "You're cold." She took it from him, nodding her thanks as she wrapped the soft, warm dressing gown round herself. She swung her legs backwards and forwards, wondering where to start.

"Okay. I won't bother you with the how and why, but Tyson and I started going out about three months after you left." She blushed slightly, thinking about it. "Everything went great until about four months ago, when Max decided that he wanted me as well." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kai raise an eyebrow in surprise. She smiled sadly. "Yeah, unexpected, huh? We all thought that Mariam and him were an item, but apparently not." She curled a strand of hair loosely around her finger. "So, it turned into a bit of a battleground, because, of course, Tyson wouldn't give me up without a fight. So, about two weeks ago, they were standing in Tyson's living room, yelling at each other loud enough to break your eardrums. Max was off his head at the time, but I didn't realise that until afterwards. I tried to get them to stop, but they had stopped listening to me about six days before. Suddenly, they both went silent. I looked up at them, and…" She trailed off, fighting back a sob.

"And they kissed, right?" She stared at Kai.

"Yeah. How did you guess?" she asked, astounded.

"Oh, just one of my many talents." Kai replied, with a smirk. Hilary scowled.

"So, of course, I went slightly nuts and started yelling at Tyson like a demon. The dumb git stood there and tried to reason with me, but I just asked him whether he'd liked it not. That fucking shut him up!" She punched the duvet angrily, tears bulging in the corners of her eyes. "I just - ran. I couldn't take being near either of them any more. I just packed my bags and left." She laughed bitterly. "They're welcome to each other!" There was a long silence. Hilary picked at a loose thread in the dressing gown and shoved the tears back where they belonged.

"I'm so sorry." Kai's quiet voice made her turn to him. She shrugged.

"Hey, I'll get over it eventually," she said bravely. "But…thanks. It means a lot." A thought struck her and she swivelled round until she was sitting cross-legged on the bed, facing Kai. "You know what's kind of ironic?" Kai shook his head. "If I actually think about it, going out with Tyson wasn't that great. It was just like before, except when we argued, we'd kiss to make up."

"Just kiss?" Kai asked, smirking. Hilary blushed and swatted him round the head.

"Yeah, that was another thing. He wasn't that good in bed, either. It was okay, but I never really climaxed or anything. And…he was…kinda small…not I have anyone else to compare him with…" She was blushing fiercely now, partly at Kai's stifled hysterics. "So, I don't really know why I'm so upset." she finished, her whole face on fire.

"I think I know…hold on a sec, gotta stop laughing…" Kai took a deep breath and managed to bring himself under control. "It's because he was your first crush, the first person you ever had feelings for. That's why you're still holding on, because you're afraid that if you let go, there'll be nothing left." Hilary nodded slowly, seeing the truth in that. "You and Tyson are more like brother and sister than boyfriend and girlfriend anyway."

"Yeah, I've thought that a couple of times." Hilary agreed. Suddenly, her stomach grumbled loudly. She blushed yet again. "Sorry," she apologised quickly.

"Don't worry. You haven't eaten for about ten hours."

"Neither have you!" Hilary pointed out. Kai frowned.

"Oh yeah, so I haven't. Shall we go and get something to eat, then?" he suggested, pulling the covers off him and standing up. Hilary stood up quickly and swore loudly as she lost her balance, her sprained ankle burning with pain.

"Oh...hell!" She wobbled around frantically on her good leg. Kai caught her round the waist and steadied her.

"Why haven't you got the crutches?" Hilary shrugged.

"Couldn't be stuffed." Kai grinned at the sassy reply. The slightly tense atmosphere, a leftover from their row five hours and a half ago, had disappeared.

"Idiot." he remarked absentmindedly. "Now then, let's go get something to eat!"

"Not before time! My stomach thinks my throat's been cut!"

"That can be arranged, but you'd probably prefer some food…"

Hilary licked her lips as she stared at the burger that sat in front of her. Kai watched her with amusement.

"Well? Eat it, then!" He laughed at the glare she shot him. Taking an apple out of the fruit bowl that stood on the table, he wandered out. "I'll be back in a sec, okay?" he yelled.

"'Kay!" came the muffled answer. Kai smiled and walked into the one room Hilary hadn't been in yet. It was what he thought of as his training room. In it was a few things for exercising, a punching bag, a set of weights, and, most importantly, a beydish. He launched Dranzer in one swift, fluid motion, the beyblade landing in the exact centre of the dish. The bit-chip started glowing almost instantly, sparks flying from it.

"Feisty tonight, are we, Dranzer?" Kai murmured, a predatory gleam in his eye. "I'll soon sort that out." The magnificent phoenix burst from the beyblade with an eager shriek. Kai smoothly unwound his scarf from his neck and threw it to the floor, his eyes narrowing in anticipation.

"Go, Dranzer!"

Hilary blinked and swallowed her last mouthful of burger. So that was what Kai was doing, the crafty sod! The room was soundproofed, but Hilary hadn't spent five, nearly six years hanging round with world-class beybladers for nothing, and the astounding power of the phoenix fizzed through her blood. She got up and limped painfully towards where it was coming from. She stood in front of the door and felt heat wash over her, her whole body twitching in response to Dranzer, only a vague idea about privacy stopping her from going inside. The sheer magnitude of it nearly overwhelmed her; it was far stronger than she remembered. She let herself sink to the floor and sat, listening to the wild song that coursed through her blood.

"Dranzer! Blazing Gig!" Kai flung his head back, every muscle bunched and taut, watching as the flames licked up the wall, the power that was flooding through his veins making him shudder. "DRANZER!" he bellowed, spread-eagling his arms. The phoenix nearly doubled in size, shrieking out a joyful cry as it unleashed its final burst of strength. With a satisfied nod, Kai recalled the beyblade to his hand, panting heavily. Sweat was pouring off him and he was slightly light-headed from the combination of heat and exertion. With a contented sigh, he went over to where a bowl of water stood and dunked his head in swiftly, shaking his now-wet hair furiously to get rid of the excess droplets. "That's better," he murmured. As he started to remember what Hilary had told him, he found himself automatically launching Dranzer again. The sight of the blue beyblade spinning in the middle of the dish helped him think. What had really caught his attention? Oh yes, the whole Max-kissing-Tyson thing.

Before he had left, he had seen Max looking at Tyson with something approaching lust in his eyes. So theoretically, Max probably hadn't wanted Hilary at all, it had all been an elaborate scam to get him to Tyson. He didn't like thinking that Max could be so manipulative, it felt wrong, but it made perfect sense.

How could anyone pretend to like her…it's hard enough to- He cut himself off mid-thought, a familiar heavy feeling settling over his heart. He felt a warmth touch his arm softly. He looked up and smiled, raising a hand and laying it on Dranzer's glowing feathers.

Hilary pulled herself upright and wobbled into the room. She stopped, transfixed by what she was seeing.

Kai was standing in front of the beydish, his clothes and hair soaked with sweat, his skin tinged pink. One hand was stretched out and gently stroking Dranzer's beak. The expression on his face was one of such sadness and resignation that she felt tears rising up inside her yet again.

"Kai?" At the sound of her voice, he dropped his hand to his launcher, his face wary. Dranzer soared to the other side of the dish. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt…" Hilary apologised hurriedly. Kai's face relaxed slightly and he shrugged, as if to say, "it doesn't matter"

"I didn't know that you could touch Dranzer, Kai." Hilary said cautiously. Kai gave her a thin smile.

"Well, you can. Do you want to?" he asked abruptly. Hilary blinked, a smile creeping unbidden onto her face.

"C-Could I?" she asked timidly, gazing at the radiant phoenix.

"That's what I said, wasn't it?" Kai said bluntly. He gestured, and Dranzer flew forwards, landing just in front of her. Hilary gazed at the sacred bit beast in wonderment. She had never been this close before, had never been allowed to actually touch one… Hesitantly, she reached up and placed her hand on Dranzer's scarlet head. Dranzer cawed in encouragement and nudged her hand playfully. Smiling, Hilary rubbed the top of his head gently.

A few minutes later, she became aware of Kai, who was just standing there, looking fixedly at a spot on the wall.

"Kai? What's wrong?" she asked anxiously, withdrawing her hand. Dranzer let out a quiet squawk and pushed her towards Kai with his beak. She walked over and rested a hand on his arm. "Kai?" she repeated nervously. Kai blinked, his gaze flicking to her for a split second.

"Nothing. I was just thinking…if it weren't for you…I wouldn't have Dranzer. I can't imagine life without him." Hilary sat down heavily, her ankle hurting intensely. She knew what he was talking about. Of course she did. How could she forget?

"Yeah, well, I thought you weren't gonna have a life!" she said fiercely. "I've never been so scared in my life!"

"Yeah." Kai sat down next to her. "I didn't think I did, either."

"I know." Hilary said softly. "You kept telling me to just let you go." Slowly, uncertainly, she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around him.

"But you didn't, did you? You wouldn't let me go…" She felt Kai's arms coming round her, holding her tightly. He was warm and slightly damp with sweat, his torso hard and muscular. "You know people say that just before you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes? Well, mine did then.

"Everything…everything I've ever said, ever done…" Hilary felt his head drop onto her shoulder. "I saw it all, and I can't say I was satisfied. All my life, I've been unable to show my emotions, and contemptuous to the people who could. I've treated people like shit for as long as I can remember. That's why I started helping my grandfather's victims. Not because I knew what they've gone through, not out of sympathy. Out of my own selfish need, just like everything else I've ever done." Hilary rubbed his shoulder comfortingly, hearing the bitter, self-hating tone in his voice.

"It's okay, Kai." she whispered. "No one blames you." Kai's head shifted on her shoulder.

"Yeah? Well, I do." he said tetchily. Hilary flicked him gently on the arm.

"Yeah, but who cares about you?" she murmured teasingly. Kai smiled and pulled away slightly. Their eyes met. The sheer intensity of Kai's gaze swept her away. Kai's hand slowly slid under the dressing gown, stroking her stomach through the thin T-shirt. Hilary caught her breath, as an alien mixture of fear and passion flooded through her.

A dark memory of someone crushing her to his chest, muffling her terrified screams, hard, rough hands groping her …

Controlling herself, she grasped Kai's wrist and pulled it out. "No, Kai. Please. I can't…I can't do this..." Kai's eyes flashed with irritation for a moment, then calmed again. He gave her an unreadable look and stood up.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't've done that." he said tonelessly, preparing to walk away. Hilary opened her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. She watched through rapidly blurring eyes as Kai left the room. Slowly, the tears began to fall.

Hilary opened her eyes slowly, her eyelids sticky from the tears that she had failed to wipe away. Her head pounded. Grey, dim light struggled in through the small window, the muffled howl of the snow-laden wind echoing her sobs of hours earlier. Tears for the loss of her first love, her best friend, her brother, tears for the splintered friendships of the boys she loved like family, tears for herself, because her ankle hurt and she felt too drained to think clearly. Tears for the sudden attraction she felt for Kai, because he was, and had always been, unattainable.

There. She'd said it. She was starting to feel something for Kai. Did that mean that she was betraying Tyson? But how could it, they were over…

Betraying Tyson with the one person he had always relied on… She shook the pessimistic thought from her head and groaned mentally as it was replaced with a thousand others. Kai was unreachable. That was all there was to it. He would never want her. She couldn't beyblade, she had a panic attack if he touched her, she was nothing to him. A past team mate, a friend at the most. A thought was struggling to form at the edge of her foggy mind, but she pushed it away and burrowed under the covers again. She just wanted to sleep until she felt better.

Kai downed a mug of coffee in a single gulp, gulping instinctively as the heat hit his throat. He played idly with the end of his scarf, remembering when one very like it had been reduced to a few tattered shreds by a power that threatened to destroy everything he loved. He reached up and touched his cheek gently, remembering the light touch of Hilary's hand and lips as she pleaded with him to live. He was jolted out of his daze when his mobile rang, the shrill, metallic tune blasting through the silent kitchen. Clumsily, he took it out of his pocket.

"Yeah?" His voice was thick and slightly slurred. His tongue was furry and dry, his head buzzing with caffeine.

"What's up with you, Kai?" Sara demanded. "You sound utterly crap."

"I do?"

"You most definitely do."

"Oh." He yawed silently, unsure whether to add anything else.

"You feel okay?" He blinked, wondering what to say. "Kai? Tell me what you feel like." Damn it, he hated it when Sara tried to psychoanalyse him. Mainly because she was bloody good at it. "Kai?"

"I'm fine!" he snapped, anger burning away a little of the lethargy that had consumed him. "I didn't get much sleep last night, that's all!" He could practically hear Sara bristling.

"Well then, Mr I'm-fine, we've got a lot of work to do today! Some of which will be you testing Katy's abilities, so bring Dranzer!"

"When am I ever apart from him?" He was feeling much more wide-awake now...

"When you're depressed. Like now."

"I am not depressed!" Kai growled angrily.

"Yeah. Right. The sky's bright green and I'm straight, too." Sara drawled sarcastically. "Meet me round mine, okay? Katy'll be there. Try and get into a better mood, please?" Kai snarled an obscure African swearword that he had got from one of his old girlfriend/sex toys at her and slammed down the phone, now fully awake and angry. Muttering furiously, he checked his clothes. Slightly messy, but just about acceptable. Not that he cared. He picked up his coat that was still hanging over the doorknob from the afternoon before and slammed out of the flat. Shrugging his coat on, he swung himself up onto his motorbike and took off at a speed that was, to say the least, dangerous.

"I WHAT!" Katy shrieked. "I am not good enough to face Kai! No way, no how…"

"Well, I'm sure Kai would be prepared to go easy on you…" Sara let the sentence trail off, knowing from experience how the dual emotions of pride and inferiority would be waging a fierce battle within the younger girl.

"No one goes easy on me!" Katy declared finally, transferring Fioen from her pocket to her hand and glaring at Sara defiantly.

"No, honey, I can imagine." Sara said sweetly, ignoring the suspicious, slightly exasperated look coming from Katy's hazel eyes. The roar of a motorbike interrupted her game of annoying people. She was pretty darn good at it, even if she did say so herself. That was two people nicely riled up, and just in time for their match… "That's Kai now." She sat back and silently counted to ten in her head. 1...2...3...4...5...- On six, the door was flung open.

Kai strode into the room and looked around, his anger cooling ever so slightly as he saw the nervous set of Katy's jaw.

"You ready to blade, kid?" he asked flatly, watched with unconcealed amusement as she stiffened at the "kid" comment.

"Ready." Katy replied, her voice unconsciously taking on the dead tone of the Abbey. In one, lightning swift movement, Kai kicked back the dark green rug in the middle of the floor and launched Dranzer into the exposed beydish. Fioen landed only a few seconds later, directly behind Dranzer. Instantly, Kai swerved, the most basic evasion move. Katy kept on him effortlessly, aquamarine chasing royal blue with apparent ease. Kai looked up at her briefly. The girl's face was a blank mask, all thoughts and emotions hidden. Just as she had been taught. Just as they had all been taught. Brushing away a wave of self-pity, Kai looked down again, only to find Katy considerably closer on his tail. He tried a double-swerve, first to the right, then the left. Fioen slowed for a second, uncertain, then smashed through the middle of the two directions, blocking the dodge. Kai continued to send Dranzer round the dish, trying to figure out Katy's weaknesses. Suddenly, Fioen slammed into the blue beyblade. Dranzer held steady, only rocking ever so slightly.

"Don't go easy on me, you motherfucker!" Katy demanded furiously. "You think you're so good? I'll show you just how good I am!" Fioen started to glow pale blue, a shape appearing from the misty radiance. A sheer white vixen stared at Kai, her navy eyes defiant. Kai felt the well-known, comforting battle rage rise up inside him. Without the need of a fancy introduction, Dranzer rose gracefully from the beyblade and shrieked his contempt for the colourless animal standing in front of him.

"You want a battle, Katy?" Kai asked, his voice now just as indifferent as Katy's had been. "You got what you wanted." Katy met his gaze steadily, but Kai could read the fear deep in her eyes. "Not so nice, is it?" he whispered.

"Fuck you." Katy whispered in reply. "Fioen, show him we mean business! Avalanche Storm!" she screamed. Fioen stood perfectly still, seeming to fade into her surroundings, which were getting whiter by the second. Finally, the hypnotising navy eyes closed and a large mass of snow engulfed Dranzer, falling without pause. The magnificent phoenix screeched in pain as the freezing snow and ice drenched its blazing scarlet feathers. Without a second's thought, Kai joined Dranzer's mind to his and took the full impact of the blizzard. Almost immediately, he realised his mistake. Katy's eyes lit up with a wintry light as she ordered Fioen to attack.

Ice and snow drove into him like knives. The surrounding area turned artic in seconds. Within seconds his skin was blue with cold. As he stood, paralysed for those few, vital seconds, he heard Dranzer screech again and felt a blinding pain shoot up his left arm. He wasn't sure whether Dranzer had screeched in pain or just as a warning. A split second later, he was sure. Fioen appeared from nowhere and pounced on him, knocking him to the floor, her navy eyes glittering like the ice that she represented. With difficulty, while Fioen was still waiting for orders, Kai lifted his head and looked with a kind of sickened acknowledgement at the blank look in Katy's hazel eyes. The same look that Bryan had worn when he half-killed Ray, the same look that Tala had worn against Tyson. For that matter, the same look that the master of the Wind Weasel bit beast had worn when he had tried to slice Kai into pieces and the one plastered onto Brooklyn's face when he had nearly succeeded where everyone else had failed except the World Champion. Beating him. The blankness that comes from giving yourself totally to the darker side of your bit beast, the part that likes to kill.

Fioen drew back then pounced on him again, her dagger-sharp teeth tearing into his thick jacket, drawing thin lines of blood. Kai lashed out with a fist, catching her smack in the nose. She was only a fox. He had fought like this with wolves before, in that match before he had faced Tyson, when he had made Tala give it everything he had. Foxes were nothing. With a surge of energy, he stood up, Fioen sliding off with a surprised whimper.

"Dranzer!" The massive phoenix screamed an answer and soared over, landing in front of him. "Let's show Katy what power's all about! Blazing Gig Turbo!" Dranzer burst into bright blue flames and dived at the vixen. "Dranzer!" The flames doubled in size. Heat swept through the room as the screeching, blazing beacon of sapphire flames pelted for the suddenly defenceless aquamarine beyblade. The met with a crash as the room disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

Kai caught Dranzer by instinct, unable to see until the light began to fade. "You all right, Katy?" he called.

"I-I think so…" Katy replied, her voice shaky. Kai made out her figure, on her knees a few metres away. Sara went over and quickly checked her over, pronounced her fine and made her sit down until she stopped trembling.

"Kai, sit down." she called over her shoulder.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You're bleeding, in case you hadn't noticed." Grumbling, he sank onto the sofa and allowed her to wrap a bandage round the shallow wound.

"Load of fuss over nothing…" he grumbled under his breath, wincing as Sara pulled the bandage somewhat tighter than was necessary. "Kid's pretty good." he said brusquely.

"You don't say…" Sara muttered sarcastically. "You haven't been this pushed by an Abbey student since Lea-"

"Yes, I know." Kai cut her off mid-word, fighting to keep his face impassive. Sara looked up and her face softened. Obviously it hadn't worked…

"You miss her, don't you?" Kai nodded stiffly. Katy was watching and listening intently. "Kai, you know that living any longer would have been crueller to her than letting her die, don't you? She was incredibly sick-"

"Shut up." Kai said in a low voice, pulling his arm out of Sara's grip.

"All I'm saying, Kai, is that she's probably happier now than she was-"

"I said shut up."

"Yes, I did hear you the first time. You can't wallow like this, it's not good for you-"

"I SAID SHUTTHE HELLUP!" Kai bellowed. With a strength born of overwhelming anger and sorrow, his hand flew out and smacked into Sara's face, sending her tumbling to the floor. Katy let out a shocked cry, but was silenced by a sharp look from Sara. The incensed eighteen year-old was on her feet again in seconds, her right cheek swollen and blazing scarlet.

"Don't you dare hit me, Kai Hitwarti!" she hissed furiously. Her mind was working frantically, putting bits and pieces together from looks they had shot at each other, little touches of hands… No, the girl was eleven, the idea was disgusting, abhorrent…She drew herself up straight and looked up at Kai, seeing the raw grief barely concealed in his eyes. "Look at me, Kai, look right at me and swear to me you weren't involved with Leanne." Kai snorted with bitter laughter.

"I wasn't involved with Leanne." he said flatly. Sara blinked, taken aback. "She was my sister."

Yay! Another chapter up! I had a massivepanicwhile I was downloading it, because the stupid computer wasn't accepting any of the files on my memory stick (ie, ALL my stories!) Thank god it worked the fourth time! Oh yes,I need your opinions here, people.

One question. Is my pen name stupid?

Review please! Reviews make me happy, and make me update!