Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade but I own Nicolai, Grace and Amber.

Chapter Three

Kai's new sister better not be hot.

Clasping her necklace at her nape, Amber studied the road through her bedroom window and wondered what car they'd be driving when they arrived. Cars told a lot about people. Of course, she wasn't well versed on the psychology of the matter but she figured she could hazard a guess. Silver Volvo = Edward Cullen wannabe. Ferrari = Italian gigolo. For men, cars seemed to say: look at my car; it's an outward show of my sexual prowess. If that was the case, she wondered if shoes and handbags said something similar about women. Maybe that's why they were called snatch bags... or was that clutch? She could never be sure so she never used them. Her wallet suited her just fine.

Stick your hand into my snatch – yeah she was pretty certain it was clutch.

Her phone beeped as she was slipping on her shoes and she grabbed it from the dressing table. If that was Kai again –

"Yep?"

"Hey."

"Oh hi." Not Kai then.

"You sound disappointed."

"Not disappointed, surprised. Kai's been annoying me for the past ten minutes so I figured it was him again but it's you and so it's a nice surprise. What's up?"

"Tonight's the dinner isn't it?" Mystel sighed but it was an expression of dawning and she smiled.

"You forgot huh? Yeah tonight's the night we meet Kai's new step-family. Not that I've said that to Kai but... it seems fairly serious."

"So you think an engagement's on the cards?"

"Fairly certain. Nicolai and Mum have been having some really in-depth conversations lately. You know the kind that insists on that heavy silence when someone, namely me, steps into the room. They make me feel like an intruder in my own – for frick sake would you go on," she growled yanking on the shoe. "Sorry, my shoe is being mean. So why did you phone?"

"Was just wondering if you wanted to go out tonight but since you're busy I'll catch you online later, ok?"

"Yeah if things go well; Kai's going to be pissy so I'll probably need to rant at you. Don't hate me for it."

"Not going to happen."

She grinned and her heart fluttered. Christ, Mystel was so cute. She'd really lucked out with him, no matter what Kai said.

"I'll talk to you later. Enjoy your dinner."

"It'll be interesting at any rate." She smiled and put her phone in her hoody pocket as he hung up. She slipped out of her bedroom and closing her door, she rounded the landing with its mahogany topped white railings before she skipped down the stairs into the hall. She crossed to the front door, checked the locks were secure before she down the hall into the kitchen. She tapped the lights under the cupboards so that she or her mother wouldn't be stepping into a dark house later and pressing a kiss to her fingers, she touched them to the picture of her parents before the divorce. Divorce was ugly and it was hard but at least both her parents were still in the picture, she couldn't imagine losing her mother the way Kai lost Jean. Sure it was a blow to her, Jean had been a second mom, but it was nowhere near what Kai experienced. She just hoped Nicolai was right about this Grace Sanchez woman.

After keying in the code for the alarm, she opened the backdoor and stepped into the blue light of the icy December night. The cold sneaked through her tights and up the sleeves of her jacket as she yanked the backdoor into place.

Heedless of the ice and almost paying for it, she struggled over to the Hiwatari's backdoor. It faced her own house though her backdoor faced the backyard fence. Despite the houses looking almost identical from the outside, they couldn't have been more different.

She knocked quickly, as was her custom, and opened the backdoor, stepping into the heat of the kitchen and wiping her feet on the mat. She didn't want to leave footprints over the terracotta tiled floor. The silence of the house made her frown.

"You guys still here?" Maybe they'd done a last minute runner. Kai could have knocked his father out and took him away from the place. She wouldn't put it past him. He was notoriously ruthless when it came to getting his own way. Shoot, she should have checked the driveway for Kai's car.

"Amber, what tie should I wear?" Nicolai's voice coming from upstairs sent a wave of relief through her. Then his question registered. Tie?

"No tie, Nicolai," she called back, "It's already a farce that I have to wear a dress." She continued, muttering, as she headed into the lounge area where she found Kai lying across the sofa.

"Hey," she greeted, moving to sit on the armrest. "Why aren't you changed yet?"

He angled his head and appraised her with those very dark eyes. She disguised a shiver by rolling her shoulders and feigning cold. Kai looked away to the TV. "I'm dressed."

"In a T-shirt and a pair of jeans." Yes, he'd changed but... she was wearing a dress. He should have been at least in a shirt.

"So? It's my house."

Nicolai stepped in at that moment and moved to stand in front of the fireplace. "Does this look alr – Amber, you're wearing a dress. You look lovely."

The light began to dawn and Amber tried to smile at Nicolai but it felt tight and awkward. "Yeah, well, I want to make a good impression. Show her that you have at least partially raised one good teenager."

Nicolai chuckled but it trailed off as he focused on Kai. "Please, give her a chance."

Kai grunted something unintelligible and while Nicolai focused on his cuffs, Amber slipped her fingers into Kai's hair and gripped the silk strands firmly without pulling them; a gentle warning.

"I need cufflinks."

When Nicolai left and was making his way up the stairs, Amber began to tug on the strands between her fingers. Kai hissed out an expletive and his arm flew up so his hand could snap around her wrist.

"Bitch."

"Asshole. You told me it was formal and I needed a dress!" She pulled harder, ignoring Kai's unrelenting grip on her wrist. She was going to have a bruise in the morning.

"Let go, Ember. I don't want to hurt you."

"No way, you made me wear a dress. I was being nice to you! I'm going home."

Kai snarled, shifting his grip and moving on the sofa, he grabbed her and pulled her on top of him. "Let go of my hair, Ember."

"Let go off my hands, I'm exposing myself!" She could feel that her skirt had flipped up.

Kai snorted out a laugh and reached down to bat the skirt back into place. "When are you going to act like a girl? No wonder Mystel won't sleep with you."

She was going to kill him.

She punched his side hard and blew her hair out of her face. "My sex life is none of yours."

"When you have one, you can keep all the secrets you like." He chuckled, grabbing her hands and capturing them behind her back.

An exhaled sound caught their attention and Kai sat up enough so they could both peek over the back of the sofa. Nicolai leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"Wild animal sex." The words were out before she could help it and she choked on her own breath.

Kai groaned and let go of her hands, falling back onto the sofa. "You wish, Benson."

"I'd like to have that scratched –" Nicolai quirked a brow while Kai coughed out a laugh. She groaned as she realized how that sounded. "I meant, from the record, not..." She whimpered and slumped against Kai, hitting her head off his chest lightly.

"Maybe you two should sit in the recliners. Separately."

"Yeah wouldn't want to your girlfriend to be freaked out by your incestuous children."

Amber swatted Kai's head. "Oy. Stop being a dick." She growled, before glowering at Nicolai so he could feel the brunt of her wrath too. "And it wouldn't be incestuous between us because we're not actually related! I can jump Kai's bones if I want!"

Nicolai raised his eyes to the ceiling and deciding the conversation wasn't worth it, he headed back to the kitchen.

Kai blew out a breath, turning his head to watch the TV while idly stroking her back. "Do I even get a say in you jumping my bones to relieve your sexual frustration?"

She dug her elbow into his gut and he cursed, poking his own finger into her lower back so that she arched away from it and into him. "Moron! Besides, I could just tie you up with handcuffs and Chinese knots and stuff so I can just use you. I'll probably need a gag too but sure, that'll be grand for you, you're probably into all that kinky stuff – and this is just too weird to talk with you about." She rolled off him and stood up, presenting her hand. "Truce?"

He batted her hand away gently and sat up, inching over. She dropped down onto the sofa beside him. Her eyes wandered to the clock to check the time. Surely they would be arriving soon. A tickle developed in her stomach; then something caught her attention.

"Kai?" He grunted and she continued, her eyes narrowing. "Is every picture of Jean in this room?"

Kai jerked a shoulder but Amber could see them all now. Twenty plus framed photos were scattered throughout the living room; all of them including Jean's smiling face in full Technicolor. Some, she realized, were even duplicates. Nicolai was probably so nervous he hadn't noticed but she was sure Grace would.

"Kai," She groaned, turning her face and burying it in his shoulder. "You're not making things easy."

"Are we nearly there?"

Tala ground his teeth and shifted down a gear to inch up the steep slope. The car's wheels were beginning to squeak against the slick layer of ice covering the road.

"We're going to die."

"Oh shut up," He snarled. Ever since his brother joined the emo crowd he'd become a melodramatic fuckwit.

His sister heaved a pointed sigh while his mother shifted in her seat, deliberately ignoring their reluctance.

"It's just at the top of this hill."

Tala grunted and was silently thankful they'd taken his mother's four wheel drive rather than his own car. The latter would have gotten half way up the hill before making a sliding dash to the bottom. At least they would have avoided the impending dinner of doom.

As the car crested the slope Tala heard his sister's gasp. "Is that it?" She wondered.

"Sit down, you're blocking my view."

"Both of you sit down, it's just a house." He snarled, glancing at his mother before looking back to the houses that sat on prominently on top of the hill. The others arched down either side but these two held court at the top, the King and Queen of houses. They were Victorian style painted a dark grey with slate black roofs that jutted out of the house in peaks and slopes. White railings framed the steps and lined the wraparound porches. Christmas lights twinkled along the edges and wrapped around poles while ornaments hovered in windows. In the large Bay windows that jutted from the front of both houses, Christmas trees ladened with coloured baubles and sprinkled with tiny lights glittered merrily. They even sported wreaths on the doors with stained glass windows.

"Which one?"

"That one there," His mother pointed out the closest house and Tala indicated before swinging the jeep into the drive behind an Evo and a silver Lexus. The guy was pretentious, Tala surmised, putting the car out of gear and switching off the car. The house was impressive though but it was just another nail in the coffin. Who needed such a big house and two cars for himself and his one child?

He stepped out of the car and surveyed the neighbourhood. Too quiet, almost Stepford-ish.

His sister fixed her glasses firmly on the bridge of her nose as she stepped carefully after their mother along the glassy driveway. "It's not often you see identical Victorian houses," she commented.

Tala jerked a shoulder. She was full of useless information. All he cared about was getting out of there before the dark cloud overhead burst and stranded them with Mr. Brady. He ushered his brother ahead of him and cast one last longing glance at the car as his mother pressed the doorbell.

From her position on the recliner, opposite him, Amber eased forward and propped her chin on her laced fingers. "Megan Fox: Do or die?"

"Die."

Amber blinked at him and he jerked a shoulder though a small smirk flirted with his lips as he imagined her reaction to his answer. "She'd probably snap in half and I'd be up on a murder charge. Though if it was BJ or die, BJ every time."

"Ah," She nodded comprehending, "Ew."

"You're a girl; you're not supposed to understand –

"Kai!"

Amber and Kai rolled their heads to regard the man in the doorway flanked by the new arrivals. There she was, red haired, elfin and tiny, the absolute opposite to his mother. Where Jean Hiwatari had long blue hair, shades lighter than his own bangs, Grace's hair was burnished gold and cut into a short stylish bob. Where Jean had been tall and lean and obviously Japanese, Grace was short and curvy with tanned skin and soft European features. His mother's eyes had been brown; Grace had blue eyes to rival the calmest lake. His mother had always dressed with a casual chic; this woman was coming to an informal dinner in a black dress.

"Grace, you remember my son Kai."

Grace smiled warmly and approached him, holding out her hand. He heaved a sigh and rose to his feet, keeping the sofa between them as he reached across to grasp her hand. It was cold to the touch and butter soft, a woman who took great care of her skin. He couldn't resent that, his mother had always been the same, going to salons, painting her nails and slathering her hands in various crèmes.

"Nice to meet you again, Kai."

He grunted and Nicolai quickly moved into the room to urge Amber forward beside Kai, moving so that he stood behind both of them. He was, Kai noted with mild amusement, using Amber as a yard stick. The bewildered expression on Amber's face confirmed she'd noticed it too.

"This is Amber. I've told you about her before."

"Of course, it's very nice to meet you, Amber."

Amber smiled brightly, her friendliness overshadowing the wariness she'd initially shown. "You too and these are your children?"

Kai eyes napped to the doorway where the three extras stood solemn. Grace quickly hurried back to them and slipping between the boys and behind the girl. She placed a hand on both boys' shoulders, only for the blond to shrug it off. He was obviously in some emo stage, spiked silvery blond hair so out of place in the family of red heads, kohl rimmed blue eyes in golden skin. He was the furthest in colouration to Grace. He wasn't as tall as his brother but was bulkier, probably inheriting that from his mother. He was dressed in a plain black hoody and skinny black jeans decorated with a bright silver wallet chain.

Kai's eyes darted to Amber, wondering if she'd caught the sulky emo but her eyes were firmly fixed on the red head. Kai sighed. Great, trouble would brew in paradise. Amber would fixate on the tall lanky red head, who was pale enough to rival a vampire, while Mystel whined to him about how she didn't love him anymore. Well, they both had the bright blue eyes though in everything else they were chalk and cheese. Red head was at least a few inches taller than Kai but lanky with it. His vibrant red hair – had to be bottle bought – was styled in two horns with two strands framing his face. Devil worshipper? His skin was far too clear to be male, he probably had ovaries hidden somewhere. At least his clothing choice was more apt, a white shirt and blue jeans with a pair of docs.

His gaze dropped to the final figure centred in front of her mother and between her brothers. She too was a red head but her long hair was more an orange colour than actual red. Her skin tone wasn't the same white as her red haired brother but was certainly closer to her mother's. Her eyes were a lighter shade of blue, much like her mothers. She was dressed in a white blouse with a blue cardigan and a short black shirt, with black tights and a pair of flat black shoes.

"Yes," Grace smiled, "These are my children: Tala, Miguel and Emily."

AN. Well there you go, the next chapter. Yes the chapters are short but in being short, they're less daunting to sit at a screen and write :) That means I'm more likely to write them fast. Anyway, you've now been introduced to Tala's rather electic family. I have odd reasons for choosing these three as siblings, some will understand the Miguel thing and the Emily thing probably makes no sense since they're all different nationalities but... in my head it works. They're cartoon figures, they look alike and they certainly make an interesting family.

Please review guys, it's what keeps me writing fanfiction.