Chapter 3: Beach Blanket (Beyblading) Bimbo

"Mmmm, what a way to wake up," Mariah said softly as she stretched her arms over her head. The sun's rays streamed in from the window by her bed and cast the room in an illuminating golden glow that seemed to rejuvenate her spirits. Not that her spirits fell that far. They were in the Bahamas! Mariah could still hardly believe they were there. If it weren't for the sound of lapping waves off in the distance she'd think she was back in her hut in the White Tiger village.

She got out of bed and smiled once her feet made contact with the plush white carpet. She pushed her long pink hair over her shoulders and got to her feet, shuffling over to the French doors that lead to the balcony. Resting her arms on the railing she looked out as far as the eye could see, gasping at the sunrise. Hues of pinks, reds, and oranges splashed across the pale blue sky as the sun steadily started to rise.

It was a moment like this one that Mariah cherished the most, as if every sunrise was a way of saying that the day was starting fresh, anew. Whatever happened the day before didn't matter anymore, the new day was a blank canvas.

"Hmm?" Mariah turned around as soon as her ears picked up the sound of the ringing phone. "Who would be calling us this early?" She asked herself as she walked over into the groom, gathering her nightgown up in her hands to get to the phone faster. In the other bed, Hilary and Crystal were stirring, the sound of the phone having woken them from their sleep. "Hello?" Mariah answered the phone while sitting down on her bed, crossing one leg over the other.

"Hey Mariah, we're all in the lobby," Ray's voice floated over the line. A smile formed on Mariah's face once she heard his voice on the line. "We're going to have some breakfast and then decide on what to do for the day. Come down whenever you girls are ready." He paused to laugh and add, "But don't take too long, Tyson might eat everything before you get here."

"Okay, we'll be down soon," Mariah replied and then hung up the phone. "Everyone's meeting downstairs for breakfast."

"I call shower first!" Crystal yelled before jumping off the bed and dashed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

Hilary covered her mouth and giggled softly. "It's just as well, she doesn't shower long," Hilary explained at the look on Mariah's face. "So, what do you think we should do today?" She changed the subject, turning her ruby red eyes to the French doors and the cityscape on the other side of them. "I know the boys would want to do something but I'm in the mood to lay around on the beach all day."

"And even my tan!" Mariah added with a squeal of delight. "Yes! We can read magazines all day! It'll be fun. Maybe we can even go to the spa later and get massages."

"Oh, I've been dying for one. God knows I need it for dealing with Tyson for so long," Hilary sighed, running her fingers through her bangs.

Mariah let out a soft laugh and sat down on the edge of her bed, dragging her pillow into her lap. "Y'know, had you not been so adamant on Tyson doing his school duties you wouldn't be here nor would we be friends. I'd say you have a lot to be happy about because of Tyson. You have a lot you need to thank him for."

Hilary lifted an eyebrow. "The headaches? Migraines? Frustration?"

Mariah shook her head. "You know what I mean. Tyson could've easily shoved you out of the way, kept you out of the loop but he let you in and accepted you onto the team. Have you ever thanked him, Hil? Like, really thanked him?"

Hilary's mouth opened and closed as she struggled to find a way to answer Mariah's question. There had to be a time that she thanked her navy haired friend for something. But the harder Hilary tried the larger the blank that she drew. While Tyson was the main reason for Hilary's daily frustrations, Mariah was right. He was the reason for her finally making friends. He was the reason she got to get out of Japan and travel the world. He was the reason she was finally able to open herself up and show the world the real her: the one that was caring and patient, a shinning difference from her public personality.

"You know I'm right," Mariah teased.

"Yeah yeah," Hilary mumbled with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Onto more important matters, what's going on with you and Ray?"

"Absolutely nothing," Mariah replied.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Mariah shrugged and picked at the thread on her pillow. "I don't know," she muttered. "I like Ray but…he's confusing. He's really nice and sweet and he's such a gentleman but…"

"…But he's like that with everyone," Hilary finished for her pink haired friend. "You haven't even tried to talk to him? I, um…" She paused and cleared her throat. "I saw you two. At the Ball." Hilary nodded a little when Mariah's eyes widened. "Things seemed fine then. What happened? And, more importantly, did you kiss him or did he kiss you?"

Mariah sighed and looked down, her bangs creating a shadow across her face. "I kissed him," she replied. "But he kissed me back! That counts for something, right?"

"Yeah, I think so," Hilary replied. "Though…" She paused. Mariah's golden eyes turned to her in anticipation. Hilary turned her eyes over to the closed bathroom door where the sound of running shower water poured into the bedroom. Turning back to Mariah, Hilary sighed. "I think…I think you have some competition," she admitted.

Mariah blinked and Hilary sat, holding her breath while the news sank into the pinkette's mind. Mariah blinked and turned her own eyes to the bathroom door before looking back at Hilary. "You don't think…?" She couldn't even finish her sentence. She shook her head slightly, as if to knock the invading thoughts out but they continued to push into her brain. "You think Crys likes him?" She asked, her voice barely reaching octaves above a whisper. It was an idea that was so foreign to her that she couldn't even ask at a normal volume. That and she didn't know when the aforementioned girl would leave the bathroom.

"I think so," Hilary replied.

Mariah let out a little incredulous laugh. "No, no I don't think so," she denied, moving her pink hair off of her shoulders. "All she does is make fun of him and go against what he says and suggests. He says do one thing she does the other, despite him looking out for the good of the team. And, besides, they haven't even talked to each other for weeks. You must be mistaken."

Hilary shrugged. "I must be," she replied. She turned around when the bathroom door opened and Crystal came out while finishing braiding a section of her hair. "Hey, I thought you said you went in first because Mariah took too long. What about you? That was a pretty long shower," Hilary pointed out.

"Do you know how hard it is to get all of the water out of this hair?" Crystal asked while pushing her braid behind her shoulders. "It's no picnic." She tossed her bundle of clothes onto her bag and then placed her hands on her hips. "Why?" She tilted her head in curiosity. "Were you timing me or something?"

"No," Hilary and Mariah quickly replied in unison and then glanced at each other.

"Ohhhkayyy," Crystal held out the word, her eyebrow crinkling. "Did Grandpa call at all?"

"No, not a ring," Mariah replied, jumping up and grabbing her bag. "I won't be too long," she said before dashing into the bathroom.

"You better not. I want to get a ride on that water slide before all the kids get in the way!" Crystal called after her before walking out into the living room. Hilary followed her out as she grabbed a grape off of the vine in the bowl and popped it into her mouth. "She's acting stranger than usual, which is saying something."

"Oh she…she just feels a little out of place here, that's all," Hilary said with a small smile. Changing the subject she asked, "What're you looking forward to the most?"

"I want to see the dolphins," Crystal replied, her eyes lighting up. "They're really cool, don't you think? I've never seen any before. Only in books. They're my favorite animal, you know."

"A tiger liking fish, that's not predictable at all," Hilary laughed.

"They're mammals actually," Crystal corrected her. "Because they're warm blooded and because they have wombs and give birth to live dolphins."

"Maybe you should work here, since you know so much."

Crystal smiled. "Live in paradise every day? Who would turn that down?" Then she shook her head. "I don't know, I've moved around so much I'm ready to just stick to one place for a while. Now, let's just hope the world grants my wish."

.:000:.

"Morning guys!" Hilary chirped as she, Crystal, and Mariah walked to the restaurant area of the hotel. The boys were already seated at a large, round table. Tyson looked as if he were about to die when the girls arrived.

"Good morning," Max greeted them enthusiastically.

"How in the world as you so peppy this early?" Lee asked with a yawn. He was slumped over a portion of the table in such a way it looked as if he had melted onto it.

"Lee, it's 9:00 am," Mariah pointed out. "We get up much earlier than this."

"He stayed up late last night and didn't get to bed until four," Ray replied.

"Was he watching Pay-Per View?" Tyson snickered before letting out a yell of pain from Hilary having kicked him. Chuckling, everyone reached forward and began to load their plates with food. "So, what're we going to do today?" He asked with a full mouth.

"What aren't we going to do? Kenny asked, his words filled the excitement that was shining through his face. "The whole resort has plenty of activities to do. Snorkeling, scuba diving, surfing, parasailing, jet-skiing, banana boat rides, the dolphin sanctuary, aquariums, water slides. We can even rent scooters and go into town."

"Really? I just want to lie out and get a tan," Mariah said with a pout."

"You're already tanner than a good bunch of us," Crystal pointed out. "Besides, we can to do something."

"No, we came on vacation and that entitles relaxing."

"Relax you two. There's plenty of time to do both," Ray spoke up, carefully setting his mug of tea down on the table. "The water slides are by the pool deck, those who want to go on the slides can and those who don't want to can lie around."

"I'm up for the slides," Tyson said with a large gin. "Maxie?"

"You know I'm in, Ty!" Max replied.

"Me too," Crystal jumped in.

"If she's going, I'm going," Kevin added.

"And I'll go to keep an eye on you," Lee stated, a slight growl to his voice. Kai and Gary stayed silent, Gary because he was stuffing his face and Kai because he was staring hard out the window.

"Are you not hungry, Kai?" Hilary asked, noticing that the silent captain hardly touched anything on his plate while the others were almost finished with their first course.

Kai, as usual, didn't say a word but turned his attention from the window and bit into a piece of toast. But even after a few bites of food he pushed his plate away, lowered his head, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes. Setting up a large signal that he was not to be disturbed by any of them unless they were asking for a death wish.

"So…half of us will be at the slides and half of us will just lounge around the beach then?" Ray asked. He got nods of affirmation.

"Just in case we change our minds and do something else I'll have my cell phone on me," Hilary spoke up. "And I can call Crys."

"You have a cell phone?" Mariah asked, her voice filled with curiosity and a little bit of envy.

Crystal shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Grandpa Granger got one for me. Said I'm more reliable in keeping contact with him than Tyson is," she added, throwing a grin in Tyson's direction.

The navy haired blader rolled his eyes. "I don't bother because Grandpa can hardly use the phone right!" Tyson explained. "It takes him half an hour just to order a pizza!"

"If he's that bad imagine getting the White Tiger village computers," Crystal commented with a laugh that sounded like a snort.

Mariah and Kevin laughed at the idea. The village was so behind in technology it would be hard for them to adapt to the rush of technology that would be flung at them. And, if anyone wanted to use it badly enough they'd merely take the time to trek to the city. However many inhabitants of the village were fine with how disconnected they were from the digital age and took the time to focus on what mattered: themselves, their families, and the traditions and customs of the village.

Just then a hotel employee walked over to their table, a phone was sitting on a small pillow that he held in his hands. He walked around the table and stopped by Kai's side. "Excuse me, Mr. Hiwatari, but you have a phone call waiting for you. I've been told that it is with the utmost urgency that you pick up," the employee said with a small bow.

Kai finally opened his eyes and shifted them in the direction of the employee without turning his head. Standing, he reached out and took the phone while walking away. He made sure to place his napkin on his plate as he walked off, signaling that he was finished.

"Well, if he's not going to finish his breakfast…" Tyson's words trailed off as he leaned across the table to pick at Kai's plate.

"Leave it alone, Tyson," Kenny scolded. "Let's get going. Kai will meet us there. Besides, I'm sure he won't miss a few moments of silence."

"Yeah, let's go!" Kevin said excitedly while jumping up from his chair.

.:000:.

Kai let out a breath as soon as he jabbed his thumb on the end call button on the hotel's phone. He brought his fingers up to his temples which had begun to throb in the onslaught of a headache. Maybe he could skip the whole excursion and have time to himself in the hotel to read or catch up on his sleep. He let out a little scoff at his own idea. Tyson would hunt him down if he didn't show up to either location at all and he'd rather not subject himself to that torture.

Kai paused by the table that was left in a disarray from his 'friends' and wrinkled his nose at the state. It was amazing how easily it was to tell which seat Tyson had been sitting at. If the stacked plates weren't a tell tale sign the stains on the table cloth sure were.

Kai wrinkled his nose at the mess but stuck his hand in his back pocket to retrieve his wallet to leave a good tip. It was the least he could do. It would be torture to clean for whoever's shift it was to take care of the breakfast setting.

"Um, excuse me," a timid voice sounded from behind him. Kai turned around to see, to put it lightly, a blond bombshell standing behind him. A brightly colored sarong was tied around her waist. The straps of an orange and white striped bikini could be seen through the neck hole of the gray crop top that covered her chest but did little to hide her assets. "You're Kai, right? Kai Hiwatari from the Bladebreakers?"

Kai could feel his upper lip curling at the name that Tyson chose three years ago. Kai would've chosen a much better name but, of course, everyone agreed with Tyson because, well, he was Tyson.

"Yes," Kai said shortly. Maybe if he didn't lock eyes with her she'd go away.

"Oh my gosh!" She screeched, bouncing up and down on her toes and flapping her hands by her side. In Kai's mind she resembled a bird that was getting ready to take flight. Maybe it'd suddenly be possible for people to fly and she'd flap her arms enough to fly away and leave him alone. "I knew it was you! Oh my gosh, I think you're so hot! Oh my gosh. Can I have your autograph please?" She fluttered her long eyelashes and stuck her lower lip out.

Kai's frown deepened. Was that supposed to get him to say yes? Contorting her face into an expression that made her look more pathetic than she was already acting? Maybe if he said yes she'd go away. With a tiny nod of his head—a movement so slight he was surprised that she saw it—he accepted the marker that was being held out to him and signed her arm. Well, it was different than the body parts he was offered to sign on a normal day, body parts he refused to sign or even get near.

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" the girl squealed. "I'm Alicia. I'm a huge fan of yours!"

"That's nice," Kai said gruffly, shoving her marker back in her hand and turned to begin to walk away.

"Do you have Dranzer with you?" Alicia asked eagerly. Then she lightly slapped herself on her forehead. "Duh, of course you do. You don't go anywhere without it, I'll bet. Can I see Dranzer?"

Kai let out a soft growl in his throat. This girl was pushing her luck and really beginning to get on his nerves. He turned to give the girl a short yet forceful piece of his mind when he noticed the peculiar look in her eye. Then his eyes traveled down her neck, to her shoulder, and down her arm until it rested on the beyblade that was being held out at him from her palm.

"How about a battle?" She asked.

A/N:

I know it's been a while since I've updated but a lot has been going on. Packing, exams, and finally finishing up my sophomore year of college. Thanks for being patient with me and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It was different but interesting to write things from Kai's point of view. I've always found him the hardest to capture well so I hope I did a good job with him. Please read and review.

~C.M.