I'm really sorry for this chapter! It's not very good and I have a seriously bad case of writer's block that I can't get rid of. I think the next chapters will steadily improve and I'm also sorry for the lack of Kai.Hil-iness here! I'm trying, I swear!
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade
Confrontations
"Go Dranzer!" Kai commanded his faithful phoenix.
He and Ray were now in the process of battling it out for a win against their team's name. Already Tala had beaten Lee and it was up to him now to conclude the match. It was turning out to be tougher than he originally expected. He had underestimated Ray's drive and new abilities and it had almost cost him the match at the beginning. It would have if he hadn't gotten his head in the game by Tala's demand. It wasn't his fault he was so distracted, it was entirely his team mate's. He knew Tala and Garnet had been conspiring against something and were refusing to tell him what and played innocent when he asked. Now he couldn't het his mind off it. Between that and the guilt he was now feeling whenever he rejected a call from his parents it was a wonder he could blade at all.
He felt a sharp dig into his sides as Drigger slashed Dranzer's wing, causing the phoenix to scream in pain.
"Focus, Kai!" Tala hollered, his face screwing up in agitation.
Kai nodded once and turned back to the match. He watched as Ray smirked cockily, thinking he had Kai right were he wanted him. He ordered Drigger in for another blow but Dranzer dodged out of the way and retaliated with a nose dive into Drigger's chest. Kai felt his heart quicken as the adrenaline began to kick in again when Ray's blade swayed dangerously. This was the part he loved best of all when blading: the kill. Dranzer circled and swooped again with enough force to knock Ray's blade clear out of the dish.
The crowd went wild.
"Good match," Ray commended him with a slap on the back and a cheery grin. "Good luck for the next round."
"Same to you," Kai replied, not quite smiling but not frowning either. He let Dranzer flip into his hand and put her safely in his pocket. She felt warm from all the efforts she had made in the battle against Drigger. He knew that he hadn't really helped her at all; he hadn't been able to focus properly and he also knew Tala wasn't going to be over the moon about their shaky victory either. Mentally he felt like slapping himself for being so careless but his exterior showed only confidence.
As Kai expected, Tala didn't look to happy with their victory. Kai noticed his arms were folded and his lips were tightly together; a sign that years of experience told him he was fuming. "That was too close. Next time, don't let your concentration slip." Kai grunted and walked past them.
"What's the big deal?" Garnet asked, not understanding what the problem was. From what she saw Kai had emerged victorious and to her that was the only thing that mattered. "He still won, right?"
"Yeah but it's the principle. He got lucky. Next time, he might not." Tala sighed. Kai's troubled mind was causing him grief that he could really do without. It would need to be sorted as soon as possible and not just for his benefit but Kai's too. If they lost the tournament because Kai's head wasn't in the game, the dual haired blader would be furious with himself. "I think if we're going to mediate, we'd better do it soon. If I lose this tournament because he's too stubborn to admit his own mistakes I won't be too happy."
She frowned. "Yes, because I'm sure he's ecstatic at the moment…Let's go find him."
Ian and Bryan exchanged puzzled glances as Tala and his girlfriend left to find Kai. There was something going on between the three of them and they were being kept in the dark about it, as usual. Not that it bothered them that much but it got to get quite annoying after a while. The Kai and Tala they knew had never been so friend orientated and such attitudes were strange to them. They were used to stoic, non-communicative team mates. Sighing heavily, they decided to follow them too seeing as they had nothing better to do and also that they would need some referee for any screaming match they might have about Kai if they all lost their tempers.
Hilary watched as Kai's blade bashed against Ray's dealing it a final fatal blow and found herself trying to conceal a smile. He'd won the match! Tyson wasn't too pleased about it and felt the urge to point out that it was a well-earned victory but thought against it. She had a feeling Tyson already had suspicions and further adding to them would only cause her grief in the long run. That and she had no idea what she was talking about. The art of beyblading to her was just like the laws of physics: things she just couldn't understand. Tyson had seemed elated at the way Kai's attention had seemed to be elsewhere, gone with the wind, as they say. The pig probably thought that Kai was still hung up on her and the team and if he knew how far, far, far from the truth he was he'd be exploding like a volcano. She hadn't really spoken to Kai but she had a feeling that the real truth was he hadn't made up with his parents yet and wouldn't for a long time. Her fingers twitched as she reached for her mobile to phone Garnet; an action she had been contemplating for some time now. She got closer than ever this time and actually began the call before hanging up. It was entirely possible that Garnet – and Tala, for that matter – already knew what was wrong but she knew Kai hadn't told them. Call it woman's intuition but she just knew.
"Who are you calling?" Tyson asked nosily and tried to peek over her shoulder.
"No one," She answered irritably. "I was about to send Ray and Tala a text but I can't do it with you watching me like a vulture."
Tyson made a face behind her back which she ignored. He wasn't worth it, not this time. When he saw he wasn't going to get a rise out of the girl he gave up and turned off the T.V to see if Daichi would respond to provocation. When he did, Hilary rolled her eyes and left the room and the two boys to fight amongst themselves. Kenny would have to deal with their bickering for she just was not in the mood.
She crouched beside the wall outside and typed in a message, erased it, then typed it in again. She didn't know what to say and that kind of worried her. He was her boyfriend – secretly, but still – and shouldn't words come naturally to her when talking to him?
"Hey! Saw your match well done! Where you goin next? Luv you lots xx"
Was that alright? Before she could object or add anything else she forced her thumb to press the send button. A few minutes later there was a reply of:
"Thanks. I didn't catch yours but I heard you beat Max's team. Congrats. We're going to Australia next. U? xx"
Hilary felt her mood lower. Part of her was hoping Kai would be going to Egypt which was their next destination. It would have been great to have been able to see him again and she really needed to. Spending time without him was killing her. It was worse since she couldn't talk about it to anyone since they wouldn't understand. If only she could tell them but she knew she couldn't. Tyson would kill her and then fall out with her for good measure.
Her fingers flew rapidly over the keypad and typed:
"Egypt. Too bad huh:P Maybe next week well be together. Xx"
"I know:( Have fun anyway. Love you xxx"
Hilary put her phone away with the promise to herself to talk to him later on that night, more so for personal satisfaction than anything else. Then her face fell when she remembered that night where she was is the very small hours of the morning for Kai. She felt frustrated to no end. She wanted to run, scream, shout as loud as she could but where would that get her except on a one way trip to the mental asylum.
"Hilary?" She jumped when Kenny sat down beside her. She hadn't even heard him come out of the room. "Don't worry the other two are still inside battling it out. Are you alright?"
"Sure," She replied cheerfully. "Why?"
"I don't know. I get the feeling that you're still upset over Kai and not because he split up with you. I sort of know he didn't." She looked alarmed but Kenny shrugged nervously and pushed his glasses further up his nose. "I won't tell anybody but I saw you getting out a limousine that night you were supposed to be with Garnet and I put two and two together. Am I wrong?"
He looked worried about this confrontation and Hilary felt her heart going out to him. Sweet Kenny who would never say boo to a goose - to use an old cliché - probably had has heart beating at a hundred mile an hour. "No, you're not. We never really did split up since Kai didn't want to. And look," She pulled out her phoenix pendant for Kenny to look at. "He gave me this as a token of his devotion. Cheesy but true. The thing is you can't tell Tyson. He'll go insane if he finds out."
"I know." He looked genuinly sympathetic towards Hilary. "Tyson's just…pigheaded. And a little immature if I'm being honest. I don't see anything wrong with you and Kai being together. I wanted to talk to you earlier but…I didn't know if I was right. But now that I know I want to help you guys out." His eyes shone earnestly through their bespectacled barrier and Hilary smiled. At least she knew some one that wasn't on Kai's team was on her side. "I feel sort of bad for the guy. He's getting a lot of stick when he really hasn't done anything wrong. It's not fair and Tyson doesn't see that yet."
Hilary flung herself on Kenny in a huge hug. "Thank God you've realised." He timidly hugged her back. "Why didn't you tell me this before? Do you have any idea how much I've been worrying about this?"
He pushed his glasses up again flustered. "I didn't know what to say, you know, in case I was wrong."
"Kenny, how often are you ever wrong?" Obviously please at the compliment, Kenny shrugged and smiled beneath his glasses. "I'm so glad that you finally did tell me. I've been feeling sort of alone and stuff with no one really knowing what was going on and having to hide it." There was a crash inside the room which made Hilary and Kenny look at each other. "Let's go see what they've broke and how much it'll cost us."
Garnet looked at Tala cautiously and Kai even more so. They decided that if they were going to talk to Kai now was the time to do so. The darkness that folded upon them seemed to be cheering them on. Besides, they couldn't afford to waste anymore time. If they didn't act now then they'd have to wait until after the next match and that could be dangerous for their victory. Anyway, Kai probably saw this coming. He always seemed to know. Garnet had specifically asked Bryan and Ian to leave the hotel room for half an hour especially so they could talk to Kai without the two boys feeling awkward. Really, they had nothing to lose since Kai was probably already preparing himself for this. It was so blatantly obvious. So why this reluctance?
"Kai…" Kai looked up as Garnet spoke his name and she trailed off. She felt Tala prod her in the ribs and she blurted out, "We know what happened with your parents."
If Kai was surprised he didn't show it. "How did you find out?"
"We asked them ourselves. Don't be mad, we were just worried about you and we wanted to know what was wrong."
"And don't give us any of the 'you did this behind my back' crap because we did ask you several times and had no other choice." Tala added as Kai opened his mouth to say something that probably wasn't too pleasant.
Kai glared at him. "Wasn't going to. I was going to say that it was none of your damn business and I like to keep some things private."
"What's so private about having an argument with you mom and dad? People do it all the time? I mean I couldn't count the number of times I've told my mom I hated her on my fingers." Garnet reasoned. "And when your problems are affecting this team's output then it kinda is our business."
"My problems have nothing to do with the team's output and what the hell is it to you? You don't even beyblade. You're like the cheerleader, the groupie of this team."
"Well Tala then. Whatever." She thought this over and added, "And I'm not a groupie."
Tala frowned at Kai as he tried to think of a means where he could put what was on his mind in a way which Kai couldn't argue against. "When you're mind's elsewhere like it was today it affects your game. You can't say that you won that match out of skill alone because everyone knows that you got lucky." He paused, "Well except Garnet, but she doesn't count since she's retarded when it comes to blading. Had you given the match you full attention it could be argued otherwise. Next time, though, if you show a repeat like that we're just as well handing the trophy over to Tyson." He looked at Kai slyly and saw his knuckles tighten. He knew old rivalry never really died.
"What's your solution then? If you're coming to me with a problem then give me a solution." Kai folded his arms and leaned back onto the sofa.
"Isn't it obvious?" Garnet asked. "Next time you get a call from Rosanne or Alexander, answer it. If makes you feel any better let them grovel for a bit but just give them another chance. They'd give you one."
"It's their paternal duty."
"Isn't it your duty too as a son?"
Tala smirked. She had him there.
"I suppose."
"You know that you need them. How else are you going to get permission to go on trips at school? Besides, God forbid, but what if something happened to either of them? Think of the guilt you'd feel if you never settled things. I know that's a pretty farfetched idea but it could happen and has happened in the past. How would you feel if one of them died or something and the last thing you said to them was that you never wanted to see them again?" She looked solemnly at the television. "That's what happened on 'Eight Simple Rules'."
"How can you compare my life to a T.V show?" Kai asked but not in the angry voice he had been using earlier.
"Kai your life is a T.V show with all the drama that's in it. Think about it. A hidden romance, betrayal, family feuds. I'd pay good money to see that in a cinema." Garnet said, looking completely serious.
"So," Tala said, "can you promise us that you'll talk to your parents next time they try to talk to you?"
Kai sighed. "I suppose I need to make amends so they can pay my tuition fees at school."
"Yeah," Garnet agreed, nodding, "that's what I was most worried about too." Kai and Tala both looked at her strangely. "I mean after you welfare, of course." She added hastily.
"Of course." Kai repeated.
Please review!
jellybean-kitty
