Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or any of its related themes or characters. This is purely FANfiction!
Thank you so much for all your reviews! I can't believe it's at the FOURTH chapter! WOW! Thank you so much for all the views! I honestly didn't think it'd get this far!
I just had to dedicate this chappie to: LovelySinner7, Norweg91, Inside the Box, Yoko Fujioka and Kiotana!
And *super hugs* for Inside the Box, Yoko Fujioka and Norweg91 for your messages. They made my day ^-^
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Exclamation
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"Tyson! Hey bud!" Max yelled, concern written all over his face, running down the hall to meet up with the pair.
"Hey, Maxie!" Tyson said and had to hold up his arms as a barrier to block the younger from tackling him in a hug, "Ahhh… still broken, dude."
The blonde quickly dropped his eyes to the floor, "Sorry… forgot…" he looked up though after a moment, smiling, "So, uh…. What's happening?"
Kai frowned as he looked over to Tyson, "He's sitting out this one… I'm taking over," he said and took off. He headed down the hall to the stadium where Ray and the Chief were already waiting. Even before the BEGA incident, Kai always stayed loyal to the team. He was there when they really needed him, not necessarily when they wanted him to be there.
"So… Tyson… " Max prodded, not sure what to ask or what to talk about. Except for Beyblades, Tyson didn't have many other interests…. Well… unless you count food.
"I'm fine with it," Tyson answered the coming question, sparing an unconvincing smile towards his best friend.
"Are you sure?" Max asked, suddenly having to catch up to Tyson's pace as they headed towards the stadium.
"Yep!" Tyson replied without missing a beat, a grin pasted in place.
Any protests from Max were swallowed by the roar of the crowd cheering for the Blade Breakers. The team the four of them had made up eight years ago, still going strong.
"And now! Let the eight match of the National Championships begin!" Jazzman announced, grinning widely as he started introducing the two teams. Blade Breakers and Blade Brawlers.
"Hey, Tyson," Ray said, walking closer and put his hand on the World Champion's shoulder, "How're you doing?"
"I'm fine! Stop asking!" Tyson suddenly snapped, stalking over to the bench and plomping down.
A shriek from the World Champ had the other Blade Breakers on edge, snapping their attention towards him in an instant. They edged closer hesitantly before finally running closer, unsure of what was wrong. "What happened, Ty!" Max asked, his hands hovering unsurely in front of his friend.
The bluenette was hunched over, holding his chest, "I –ih…. Ugh… damnit! G-go … get my grandpa!" he said through clenched teeth, "PLEASE!"
"Max, you go get his grandfather… I'll get the medic," Kai said, already heading to the stairs.
"Right!" Max quickly agreed, taking off into the stands.
With both boys outside, only Kenny, Ray and Tyson remained.
"Did you hear a snap… or something?" Kenny asked, unsure of Tyson's sudden symptom development. "You probably just pinched a muscle."
"It's possible… but, it is possible that you made your break worse… " Ray said, trying to pry Tyson's arm up, "… Would you let me help you, please!"
Tyson looked up to see Ray's cat-like irises slanted and glaring dangerously, "Hahah! Got you!" Tyson winked and jumped up, "I can't believe you fell for that! The worst performance of the year and you fell for it hook, line and sinker!"
Ray and Kenny's faces darkened as their moods suddenly dropped, they really thought he was in trouble. They could only watch numbly as Tyson walked up the steps towards the dish.
"HOW DARE YOU MAKE US WORRY LIKE THAT!" Kenny shrieked, ignoring Dizzy's protests from being waved around haphazardly. Ray and Kenny caught up to Tyson, standing at the edge of the podium.
"Don't be such drama-queens!" Tyson said, loading Dragoon into the launcher.
"You lied to your team, Tyson! We thought you were in trouble!" Ray snapped, grabbing Tyson's arm, "They're calling the medics and your grandfather to come and help you!".
"Chill, dude," Tyson placated patting Ray's arm and slowly uncurling the other's boy fingers from its grasp, "It's not that bad!"
"Yes it IS!" Ray growled, starting to become dangerously close to considering punching out his friend in order to stop him.
"Nag, nag, nag!" Tyson muttered, inserting the ripcord into the launcher, "I'm doing this!"
"If you're going to go through with this…. I'll be the one to tell you 'I told you so'!" Ray said, stomping down the steps.
Tyson watched as Ray sent him one more deathly glare before sitting down, his arms and legs crossed, no doubt it was an attempt to stop himself from pummeling the Bey-champ into a pulp at that very moment.
"Let the match begin!" DJ Jazzman yelled.
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Halfway through the match, Kai and Max had returned, neither medic or grandfather by their sides. They had heard the announcement. TYSON was blading.
"What is he doing?" Max yelled angrily, his hands clenched to fists at his side.
"He's trying to beat his opponent… " Ray said in a bored tone, "Keyword: Trying!"
"He can't win like this!" Kenny yelled angrily, not even bothering to have Dizzy analyze the opponent's blade.
"Guys! I CAN HEAR YOU!" Tyson turned and yelled at his teammates. They all waved innocently at him. Yes, even Kai. Dragoon's handler huffed irritably and returned his focus to the match.
"Let him do whatever he wants," Kai said, sitting down on the bench, resting his head back against the board.
"But what if-" Kenny started, only to be distracted by Tyson's painful yelp.
The team looked over, only to see Tyson clutching his side, in obvious pain.
"We should stop the battle!" Max declared, riling up enough confidence to counter Jazzman and Mr. Dickenson if needed.
"No, wait, Max. Kai's right…. Tyson needs this," Ray agreed, reluctantly joining the team captain on the bench.
"Are you all going insane!" Kenny snapped, feeling as if his voice was about to break from hysteria, "This is Tyson we're talking about that…. No, scratch that…. One of the Blade Breakers! He won't quit until he's won the match or-!"
They all shifted their gaze back to their battling teammate. They all knew exactly what was going to happen, but they knew it wouldn't help them to intervene or try and stop it. The same quality that won many of the Blade Breaker's victories with the Beyblade Champion was about to cost them a victory.
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And it didn't take long for the inevitable to strike. With the last desperate attack from his opponent, a shockwave of energy sent Tyson hurtling away from the dish, landing in a heap on the bottom steps.
The young blader tried to stand up again, only to drop back down like a ragdoll. "Damnit!" Tyson wheezed desperately, his arms finally giving out from under him.
Dragoon quickly followed suite, spluttering from the dish, embedding into the wall of the coliseum.
The match loss was announced by a very surprised DJ Jazzman, but he didn't waste time calling up the next pair. Ray was up next.
The other Breakers walked closer to Tyson, peering down at him. "Feeling better?" Max chirped, grinning as Tyson was visibly tempted to flip him the bird.
"Wait…. Wait…. Guys…. He's hurt… " Ray placated, bending down and placed a hand comfortingly on Tyson's forehead. He looked down, smiling, "and…..", he flicked Tyson's nose, "I TOLD YOU SO!"
Tyson growled uselessly, mumbling incoherently for a moment as he grabbed his nose. He finally sighed, resigning himself to his current predicament. "I know…. Just… help me up, would ya?" he said, his bangs shading his eyes.
"Ray! You're up!" Kenny called from the bench, already sounding relieved that Tyson's disaster of a match was finally over.
Max and Kai helped Tyson up as Ray headed up to the podium for the next match. The three of them headed to the locker room, practically carrying Tyson there, Max leaving only a moment later when they heard Ray's match concluding.
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Tyson, who was sitting on the bench in the locker room, lowered himself down to the ground. He crawled closer to the lockers, taking a seat at the edge of the lockers, out of sight.
Kai watched Tyson's attempt of preserving at least a fragment of his self-esteem. He stayed silent, not moving from his spot or letting his eyes wander.
The defeated World Champ pulled up his knees to his chest, ignoring the pain shooting up right through him as he rested his arms on his knees, head on his arms.
"You don't have to say it," Tyson said, his voice muffled by his jacket.
Kai walked closer, taking a seat next to him. He crossed his arms, closed his eyes and rested his head against the lockers.
"You should just take me off the team," Tyson said, his voice straining the more he spoke.
"If we take you off the team we can't add you in our team to compete in the Asian Tournament," Kai answered.
"Why t-the hell would you c-care?" Tyson snapped, so far gone into his self-pity that he didn't care that his voice was shaking.
"You're valuable to the team," Kai answered, forcing himself to ignore Tyson's sniffling. He was trying to convince himself that he wasn't about to show empathy, but that plan would only succeed if he honestly didn't.
"And that's all that interests you," Tyson said, coughing wetly into the crook of his elbow, his glazed dark blue eyes brimming with tears that he quickly wiped at.
"That's all that interests the BBA," Kai replied and looked over to the younger blader, "Why are you so hung up on this?"
"Because you don't care!"
~ "Of course I do"
"No you don't!"
~ "What?"
"You….. you… Kai! You don't care!" Tyson concluded, his chest heaving, his hatred-filled eyes finally meeting Kai's.
Kai's maroon orbs flashed angrily, his jaw set.
Tyson didn't see it coming. The next thing he knew… he was lying sprawled out on the floor, his cheek stinging. His hand swung to his cheek, cradling it gingerly as he gaped at Kai.
"You hit me!" Tyson said dumbfounded, watching as Kai retreated his hand, rubbing his knuckles.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Kai sneered, not even bothering to look at his teammate. He intended it to be a challenge, to get Tyson to react.
Tyson glared at him, clenching his teeth. He started to say something, only to have a choked sob escape his lips. He couldn't help but suddenly feel so angry at himself for letting it slip. He slapped his hand over his mouth, taking deep breaths through his nose to try and calm himself. Nothing worked.
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The older blader watched with narrowed maroon eyes, he hadn't meant things to go so wryly. "What's really bothering you?" he finally asked, his concern filtering into his sentence.
And that just broke the young blader's heart. He lunged forwards, his head coming to rest on Kai's chest, his arms flung around his shoulders. "I'm so so-sorry-y!" he cried, his voice shaking as he finally let all his bottled emotions go.
The door of the locker room and Ray stepped inside, Max and Kenny trailing him, he paused when he saw the scene in front of him.
'Is he okay?' Ray mouthed, looking extremely worried.
'He's fine,' Kai answered silently, motioning with his head for them to leave.
'We won,' was Ray's last mime before closing the door, and by the sounds coming from the background, it was true. They were all chanting the Breaker's name.
"I almost cost us the match!" Tyson yelled, furiously hitting Kai's chest in attempt to quell some of the hatred he was feeling from himself. It only made him feel even more guilty and a moment later he just hung his head down, "Sorry….".
Kai sat silently, awkwardly rubbing Tyson's back in order to calm him. He was never good at emotional stuff. That was Max's forte… he was never really good at personal advice. That was Ray's forte…. He was an expert Team Captain, but right now, it felt like he couldn't even do that right. 'Why didn't I notice it was this bad before?' Kai repeatedly chided himself.
It took time, but eventually Tyson's erratic breathing slowed down to sighing and the occasional hiccup. He seemed calmer, even though his face was thoroughly flushed and his eyes drooping tiredly. He yawned.
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"We won," Kai finally informed him, gingerly smiling as Tyson's head shot up.
"R-really?" he said with a grin, wiping at his nose with the back of his hand.
Dranzer's handler nodded, his eyes closed contently. He was relieved that it was finally over. Not that he didn't care about Tyson, but seeing him so fragile… so vulnerable was painful. It felt like his own throat was tightening, his heart clenching painfully each time Tyson sobbed.
When Kai opened his eyes, his breath caught in his throat. The bluenette was leaning forwards, eyes closed, his hands on Kai's shoulders. 'He's going to kiss me?' the thought ran over and over in Kai's head until Tyson was barely an inch away. Kai's arms shot forwards, pushing weakly at Tyson's chest, "T-Tys-son! …. No… " he protested, he felt himself starting to hyperventilate.
Tyson's eyes opened lazily, a content expression still on his face.
"I-I c-can't! " Kai said hastily, swallowing dryly at the lump in his throat. His legs felt numb, his arms too heavy to lift. His cheeks burned under his face paint, contrasting against his peach-coloured skin.
"What….?" Tyson murmured, his face dropping as he grasped what was going on.
Kai jumped to his feet, edging backwards as he shook his head, "It…. I … " and without a last word, Kai opened the door and took off, running down the hall, his sneakers sliding in his haste.
Sitting numbly on the floor of the locker room, Tyson watched as Kai's scarf trailed behind him as he ran.
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