There were only a few people occupying chairs in the waiting room when Hilary entered and sat down. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It had not been long since she had left the stadium after finding Kai so it was unlikely her team-mates would be wondering where she was. Nevertheless, she had to get back in time for Tyson's battle against Garland; the team would need her support and she did not want them to know she had been with Kai all that time. The people in the room conversed in low tones amongst themselves, their murmurs mingling with the soft tick of the clock. Minutes crawled by like hours.

Open. It was strange how a simple word such as that could be so complicated. Hilary's ruby eyes became glazed over with nostalgia. She remembered her confusing emotions for Tyson, how she had hid them beneath her frustration and exasperation at his recklessness and infuriating immaturity at school; how she had only been able to identify and accept them when he had apologised after hurting her feelings about the training schedule she had created for the team. She had known then that her love for him was not in the way of passion or desire but that of family and friendship. He was the annoying brother she had never had. That was why it had hurt so much when he had been unable to accept her as part of the team, which had become almost like a family to her and as the person she was. After that, she had been totally open with Tyson and the rest of the team.

Except for Kai. He was somehow different from the others. He always had been. From the time she had first seen him in a photo, she had known it. Cute being the defining word. She chuckled to herself. That was back when I hardly even knew him, she reflected. Now, I can think of all sorts of ways to describe him but they wouldn't come close. Kai is Kai and that's all that matters. Almost two years ago I would have found it hard to believe that I'd come so far with him and the G-revolutions, given the way things started off.

Hilary had waited all afternoon since Kai's sudden appearance when Tyson had been losing to a Beyblader called Snakey to become acquainted with him. She had been looking forward to meeting him ever since being shown his picture but all her hopes were dashed when he walked straight past her as she introduced herself. His silence and rudeness both shocked and hurt her and distrust and suspicion had taken their place shortly after.

To make matters worse, Tyson cast her out of the team the following day saying she did not belong with them and her training schedule was useless; she had never felt so alone and upset. She ran into him walking home two days later, saw that he could control the MG core perfectly. Realisation dawned on her that they had used her so-called worthless training programme but she turned away from him. Who cared if it worked? There was no way Tyson or the others would see her as part of the team now and anyway she did not want them to after how they had treated her.

Kenny's voice had sounded from behind her and she had spun around to see that the whole of the Bladebreakers were there, with the Chief holding up a repaired training poster. They had looked apologetic and guilty except for Kai, who had a small, mysterious smirk on his face. She had wondered at the cause of the team captain's smirk whilst the rest of the team including Tyson apologised and asked her to give them a chance to make up for what they had done.

After agreeing to let them, she learned later on from Kenny that Kai had found the torn half of the poster she had dropped on the ground and woken him and the others at the crack of dawn with the sounds of his practicing. He had probably been training all night. His blade's moves had been flawless with no signs of being beyond control. He had been the one that had given the training schedule and her another chance. It had surprised her to say the least, especially because he had been acting coldly toward her. Her distrust and suspicion of him had wavered. Maybe he was not as treacherous as she had first thought. Perhaps they could be friends after all.

From then on, a friendship formed between her and the Bladebreakers and she felt part of the team. Kai continued to surprise her with acts of courage and consideration she had not thought possible from him. He had been the only one who had offered to protect her and Kenny when the team were trapped on an island, had risked his life to save theirs when a rockslide had threatened to crush them. That had marked the start of her infatuation with him.

He had taken the liberty to explain things to her when no one else did, something he did not normally do for others. She had seen sides to him she had not expected he had; consideration when she did not understand things, willingness to risk his life to save hers, tolerance when she initiated physical contact with him, guilt and remorse at his own selfish actions, hatred of unfair play, thoughtfulness when someone was upset, sorrow and rage when something precious was lost to him. Hilary grew to admire and cherish these traits. There was definitely more to him than met the eye and that made her crush on him deepen.

When he had lost Dranzer to Zeo, she had been the only team-mate who had been worried about how he was feeling. The others were more concerned about winning his Bit Beast back, which was good but they had given no thought on the possibility that Kai might be troubled about his loss and needed reassurance. She had found him and gave that support though he walked away from her without a word. Having half expected such a cold reception, she had been about to call him back when she had witnessed another facet of his nature she thought he would never show. Acceptance of defeat. He had decided to quit Beyblading and the team for good.

Devastated and outraged, she asked him to wait. Which he did, much to her surprise. She told him how selfish he was being and that Max and Ray were working hard so they could get Dranzer back. How would they feel if he left? It was not his nature to give up, so why had he started now? When Ray lost Driger seemingly forever, Kai had still battled to get the Bit Beeast back. Ray had not lost hope that Driger would return to him. Why had he lost faith in his team-mates and his own Bit Beast at this stage? What she pointed out to him was true and Kai had been briefly taken aback. She thought for a moment she had gotten through to him but realised how wrong she was when he had resumed walking away.

Hilary had returned to the dojo frustrated and saddened at Kai's decision to quit and had resigned herself to helping the others find Tyson. Their search was fruitless until they decided to give the stadium one final try. They had found Tyson and Kai battling it out. She had been overjoyed. Kai had listened to her after all and decided to believe in his team-mates. Thanks to this, he had managed to whip Tyson back into shape for the next match.

Hilary had thought her crush on Kai was schoolgirlish and fleeting but other events this year had convinced her otherwise. She showed her feelings for Kai more openly than she had done the previous year around others though not around Kai himself. They had always been secretive around each other, never once opening up completely to one another. She had been worried at Kai's lack of action in his battle against Daichi in the preliminaries and voiced her hunch to Tyson and Kenny that he did not want to be there, having lost the drive to win. She hoped reverently that she was wrong and had been shocked when she was not on discovering he had left the team not long after.

She had felt more lonely than before in his absence; he had been the last Bladebreaker left, the last fragment of the family she had been part of a year before. With him gone, the Bladebreakers were no more. Without her realising it, her feelings for him had deepened. She knew then her crush would not be short-lived.

It had hurt her further when he did not return to the team when Boris overthrew the BBA. She was glad the others had come back and she knew they would not leave again but her family was not complete without him. Yet she still believed he would someday return. He did eventually after losing his first battle against Brooklyn and won the fourth match in the Justice Five Tournament. The battle after which he had lost Dranzer once more. The battle in which he had been injured badly and she was hoping he would recover from.

I don't want him to leave again once this is all over and after he battles Tyson, she thought. I don't think I could handle it. It hurt so much and I missed him loads. I hope we can finally be open with each other when he recovers; I want to tell him how I feel and him to do the same. I don't want us to hide anything from each other any longerwe've known one another for nearly two years. It's about time we told the truth and revealed all.

Hiroshi stepped into the waiting room. Hilary glanced up from her boring magazine hopefully.

He smiled at her. "You can see him now. I'll take you to his room - we put him there so he can rest quietly and you two can have some privacy."

She blushed a little at his reference to alone time with Kai. He thinks we're a couple already even though I haven't told him how I feel yet!