Hey folks, here's the next update. Hope you guys like it, in all honesty I'm not entirly sure I'm happy but I was unsure of an alternate way of going about this so here it is. Enjoy.

Thank you to CorynofHoole for your review. Much appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own beyblade or any of it's characters, however I do own Buzz, Kisha and Keara.

P.S. I appologise for any spelling mistakes or gramatical errors, I did do a few sweeps but maybe I missed one or two.


"Get him Steve! Get him!"

"Kick his ass!"

"Don't you worry," Came Steve's cocky reply. "I'll bury him before he knows what hit him."

Rei quickened his pace from the kitchen, through to the living room as he overheard the shouts determined to put a stop to any confrontation before it could escalate. But when he hurried through the door he stopped short. What he found wasn't what he had been expecting at all.

Tyson and Steve were both sitting on the couch in front of the TV, both sitting forward, fingers furiously stabbing at buttons on the PS3 controllers they each gripped in their hands. Such a look of concentration and determination.

The rest of the All Starz were dotted around the couch, avidly observing the on screen battle and cheering, taunting and jeering the current players. Tala and Bryan were there as well, both leaning back against the wall. One corner of Tala's mouth quirked up as he murmured something to Bryan in Russian, his bright eyes never leaving the television screen. Bryan snorted humorously, a smirk playing on his lips as he murmured something back in Russian to his red headed companion, he too was concentrating on the ongoing battle between Steve and Tyson. Tala had clearly been amused by the answer Bryan had given him as a short low chuckle rumbled in his throat.

Rei felt silly for assuming that a fight was going to break out, but he was also grateful that he had been wrong; there had been enough arguments for one day. Although Rei had an inkling that there could be more by the end of the day; there were a lot of strong personalities staying under one roof with more to join shortly.

Rei was suddenly glomped as Max caught up to him, he could feel the blonde twitching and jerking, struggling to control his body as the sugar took a firmer grip on him. Rei sighed internally as he laid an arm around Max's shoulders, giving him a few pats on his shoulder, Max was worse than he originally thought.

Tyson and Steve continued to battle it out, neither had been gaining much ground. Both had been hammering away at each other's health but none taking a clear advantage. Until Tyson managed to land a good hit in. From then on Tyson started to slowly carve out a lead.

"Jesus, dude, I thought you were going to bury him?" Michael challenged.

"Yeah Steve, kick his ass."

"I'm trying." Steve's voice was strained with effort and growing frustration.

"You gonna let a little punk like him cream you?" Rick taunted.

"Shut up." Steve growled.

"C'mon man. Get your act together!" Eddie shouted as Steve endured another huge blow.

"Get off my case! I'm trying here!" Steve yelled back. The All Starz blader's momentary distraction caused his finger to hit a wrong button, ruining the combination, and the big attack he'd just had an opening for, failed. Steven growled.

"Steven, stop letting your anger get the better of you! Calm down and take the battle back." Emily advised, but her well-intended advice only fed Steve's growing impatience and frustration as a vein popped up on his temple.

"Yeah, come on Tyson! You show him whose boss!" Came the cheer that announced Hilary's presence in the room. A few of the onlookers turned and had a look at the girl standing just inside the doorway, the one that separated the living room from the hall that lead to the bathroom and bedrooms.

"You've got him on the ropes, Tyson! Finish him off." Mariam said as she and Julia spread out on Hilary's left while Mariah slipped round to Hilary's right.

Mariah hadn't noticed the pair of Russians leaning unobtrusively on the wall when she had first stepped into the living room but as she slipped round Hilary to get a better view of the TV she spotted them. The White Tiger felt her heart flutter excitedly as Tala, his attention drawn by the bright pink flash out of the corner of his eye, let his eyes leave the TV screen and meet the energetic golden orbs that were trained on him. That same cheeky smirk from before quickly took his lips as he turned his head to look at her straight on.

Bryan hadn't been distracted by the girls' entrance to the room but when he noticed Tala's movement in his peripheral vision and sensed the change in his captain's mood, Bryan was intrigued enough to glance at the redhead. Tala was clearly looking at something that greatly interested him so Bryan shifted his head marginally to follow his comrade's line of sight. Bryan's eyebrows lifted a touch in surprise, but a grin full of knowing and amusement quickly followed. He glanced back at Tala, grin still in place. It widened and a small chuckle escaped him as Tala made a barely audible, unhappy noise in his throat as Rei unwittingly interrupted Tala and Mariah's silent exchange by drawing the pinkette into a conversation.

Bryan let his eyes roll skyward. "Romance is for idiots." Bryan quoted, his tone full of false contemplation as he recalled a conversation he'd had with Tala last year. Tala gave him a withering look. "What?" Bryan laughed "Your words. Just saying."

"Well don't." Tala glared at Bryan. Bryan just laughed. Tala let out an irritated sigh. "I hate you." Tala scowled.

"Pfft. I know you love me."

"What on earth gave you that idea?" Tala sneered. Bryan put his hand across his heart and tilted his head to look up at Tala through his lashes as he fluttered them.

"I just know."

Tala dug his elbow into Bryan's ribs, but because Bryan had anticipated this move and thus had already started to shift out of reach, it didn't hurt very much.

"Domestic abuse is a crime."

"So is murder but you're pushing me to it." Tala growled. A throat was cleared but Tala ignored it as he glared at Bryan.

"Tala?"

"Hm?" Tala's voice was deceptively calm as he continued to glare at Bryan. Bryan had been looking at him with amusement but when he'd verbally responded to Mariah, Bryan grinned at him; Tala ignored anyone he didn't consider a friend or at least an interest when he was in a situation like this. He would keep his glare trained on the person until Tala decided it was time to stop, not anyone else.

By even giving Mariah that acknowledgement Tala had let Bryan know back-handedly that he was in fact interested in Mariah. If he hadn't been, and merely thought it was a bit of stringless fun then he would have ignored the pinkette and smoothed it over later if he deemed it worth it.

By putting in the effort of making his voice seem calm, the level of interested rose from 'Meh, I'm a little interested' to 'Hey! There might actually be something here'.

Funny how a mono-syllabic response could express so much to those who knew him.

The second Bryan had grinned, Tala had realised what Bryan had. Tala intensified his glare but Bryan kept his gaze, not backing down.

Mariah, oblivious to the internal conversation that had transpired in a mere moment between the two Russians, knew that she didn't have Tala's full attention so she tried again. "Tala?"

"God damn it!" All but two heads turned in the direction of the TV as Steve's shout of defeat sounded off. Steve stood and tossed the controller back onto the couch behind him.

"Yay Tyson!" Hilary cheered.

"You did it, Tyson!" Max finally let go of Rei's steadying arm and leant over the back of the couch to clap a supportive hand on Tyson's shoulder. Hilary finally noticed Max's 'condition'. She looked at Rei with a raised eyebrow. Rei was quick to shoot back a look that clearly conveyed that he was not responsible for the blonde's sugar induced state. Hilary mouthed the word 'Kai?' and the Neko shook his head; no, Kai didn't know. Hilary sighed in a mixture of relief and irritation. Relief that Kai hadn't been made aware yet, but irritation that Max had been allowed to get in to this mess in the first place.

While everyone had been distracted, two had continued their silent battle. Tala had kept his glare on Bryan.

Eventually Bryan figured he'd better relent in his teasing before Tala burst a blood vessel. When Mariah had called him a second time, the falcon had seen that Tala had wanted to respond to her, but he also refused break his glare until Bryan backed down. Bryan rolled his eyes mockingly upwards to let Tala know that he wouldn't tease him anymore. Tala realised that Bryan's surrender had been a tease in itself, but it was more of a last rib before he stopped so Tala turned his attention from the falcon to the goings on round the TV.

"Anyone else wanna test their mettle against the champ?" Tyson asked boastfully, his chest puffed out, still on a high from his last win.

"I'll take you on, Tyson." Max grinned as he skipped round the couch.

"Yeah Maxie! We haven't had a game in ages." Max was just about to reach down for the controller.

"Uh Max, I think we should figure out where your friends are going to be bunking." Rei cut in. Max's face fell and Rei felt a little bad but he needed to know things were organised.

"Aww Rei," Max pouted. "Can't we do that later?"

"No Max, I have other things to organise now as well, we're just about to start getting dinner sorted and we'll need to get a grocery run arranged. This will be one less thing on my mind, besides I'm sure the All Starz will want to get settled in with their stuff." Rei inclined his head towards the All Starz' luggage that was heaped against the wall next to the door that the girls had come through.

"They can stay in with me, Rei." Max offered.

"I don't think that's going to work Maxie." Rei said gently. Max's lip came back out.

"But you guys have your teammates sleeping in with you." Max protested and Rei sighed.

"Max, Kai, Hilary and I only have three other people staying in our rooms each, we have double beds and floor space for air beds. You have a single bed and a smaller room, you aren't going to fit five other people in there."

"I guess." Max reluctantly relented. Rei gave him a sympathetic look before a thought occurred to him.

"Emily?"

"What's up Rei?"

"If you want to bunk with a few of the other girls then you could join Ming Ming and Monica in the spare bedroom. I think Salima might join you." Rei said as an afterthought.

"Sure Rei." Emily smiled. "I'll just go dump my stuff." And she went to do just that.

"What about now, Rei?" Rei turned to Max, the same sympathetic look from before on his face.

"I don't think it'll work Max, even with Emily in the spare room, that's still four extra people in your room and your teammates are big guys. It's just not-"

"Don't sweat it, Rei." Rei turned his attention to Rick and the white haired man continued with a shrug. "If Max wants us in with him then who are we to argue." Rei raised an eyebrow.

"You remember how small his room is?" Rei asked sceptically.

"Yeah I remember. We'll make it work." Rei pursed his lips looking like he was going to argue, but the tiger only sighed.

"Alright… okay, well if things get too cramped there will be space in the dojo."

"What's that noise?" Bryan asked curiously grasping everyone's attention. Immediately everyone was quiet, straining to listen for whatever the falcon had heard. Tala wasted barely a second before answering.

"Yeah … yeah, it's almost like fussing with some over tones of over thinking."

"Hm, like fretting."

"Now, there's a collective word for all of this." Tala said in his best teacher voice.

"Yeah, what was it again?" Some of the others were beginning to look amused at Tala and Bryan's little play.

Tala made an irritated clicking noise with his tongue against his teeth. "I really can't think…" His brows pulled together and his expression said that he was thinking really hard as he narrowed his eyes at the floor in contemplation.

"Jeez now what was it? Bryan scratched the back of his head.

"Right on the tip of my tongue." Tala made a point with all of his fingers in one hand, the tips of his fingers directed towards his mouth as if to illustrate his point. By this stage many of the room's other occupants were looking quite amused but were unwilling to participate in their teasing of Rei.

Meanwhile Max had been pondering hard; his sugar overdosed brain wasn't as sharp as usual and he was becoming a smidge distressed at the fact that he couldn't think on what word the Russian pair were looking for; usually word games and such like were his forte. But just then Max had a lightbulb moment as his brain got an intellectual blip amongst all the sugar-craze. "Stress?" Max asked curiously.

"Yes!" Tala said like he'd had the biggest epiphany ever. Mariah couldn't help but giggle as Rei glared at his tormentors, which was echoed by a few others in the room.

"I am not stressing." Rei protested firmly. "I just like to be organised and –"

"and know everything to a completely and unnecessary obsessive level." Tala finished cheerfully. Rei was beginning to look exasperated. "'chya, we know."

Rei rolled his eyes. "Do you know where Kai and Spencer are or not?"

"But of course." Tala said. Rei raised a questioning eyebrow but the wolf was clearly going to say no more.

"Well where are they then?" Rei asked with forced patience.

"Well they're in Kai's room silly. Where else would they be?" Rei let out an exasperated puff of air.

Mariah walked forward and placed a hand on Tala's forearm trying very hard not to laugh. "Tala stop, I think Rei's had enough."

"Yeah you're right, we wouldn't want him to get even more stressed."

"I am not stressed!"

"Simmer down there tiger, no need to boil over." Tala drawled.

"No need to get snippy Rei."

"Rei, snippy? Uh oh, I think that means he's stressed." Rei growled.

"Tala enough." Kai said as he entered the room with Spencer at his back.

"What?" Tala asked with fake innocence. "I was just trying to tell Rei not to stress."

"I said enough. Stop winding him up." Tala pouted.

"You never let me have any fun." The wolf complained. Kai glared at him.

"With good reason. This," Kai gestured to Rei's disgruntled and worked up state. "is what happens when you get let lose."

"Aw come on, Rei knew we were just playing." Tala grinned. Kai gave him a withering look before he addressed the room as a whole.

"Does anyone have any allergies that the cooks should be made aware of?" Then as an afterthought. "This does not mean food that you dislike to any degree, it means food that you could have a serious allergic reaction too." A few people who had opened their mouths to speak, closed them again. Kai sighed internally.

"I'm allergic to shellfish." Eddie piped up. Kai nodded to him in acknowledgement and Spencer grimaced as he scribbled something down on a small A5 note pad. Rei frowned, shellfish allergies could be particularly nasty, severe enough to cause anaphylaxis. They were going to have to make sure that absolutely everything they used was clear of any traces of any kind of shellfish. Even the food labels that stated that 'may contain' or were packaged in the same place as any shellfish source. The plan had been to send a few responsible people to go shopping for supplies for dinner, but now Rei thought that perhaps the best plan would be to send at least one of the cooks with the group just to be on the safe side.

Rei looked over at Spencer to find the whale already glancing at him with a look that Rei knew meant that the Russian was aware of the predicament at hand. Spencer nodded to him, they would talk later. Rei then looked to Mariah, a contemplative frown on her face. As though summoned by his looking at her, Mariah's attention was drawn to Rei and they shared a knowing look. She was on board as well. Her lips drew into a flat line as she subtly shrugged; they would just have to figure it out.

Tala felt her movement beside him and glanced down at her, noting her slightly discontented but resigned expression before following her gaze to a matching expression on the tiger's face. Rei's attention was drawn away as someone else spoke up. Tala placed a comforting hand on Mariah's lower back so that no one noticed but also to let her know that he was there. He wasn't sure what had caused her unhappiness, even if it was small, but he wanted to remove it. She gave a small start at the unexpected touch but was quick to settle a little of her weight back into his hand as a small smile graced her lips. It was a subtle thank you that Tala picked up on and a small ghost of a smile pulled at one corner of his mouth as he turned his attention back to the rest of the room.

Their little exchange had gone unnoticed as most of the room was focused on Julia's announcement of her brother's allergy to shellfish also.

It wasn't till a few moments later that Mariah laid a hand on Tala's back. The wolf smiled and brought his arm more securely around the pinkette, his hand curling round her opposite hip. Mariah shuffled a smidge closer and let her hand slide up his back so that most of her arm now rested against his body. This position was going to be a lot more noticeable but neither could bring themselves to care about that.

The door between the kitchen and living room slid open and Kisha and Buzz bounded into the room still a little hyper from their playful scuffle in the back garden, followed by Brooklyn. Buzz tried to jump on Kisha again but the female had had enough rough-housing and relayed that through a grumbly nip to Buzz's neck, nothing aggressive just a clear indication to stop the game. Buzz watched her for a moment tail still wagging in an excited stance as Kisha skipped over to Kai and twisted in a spring to sit at heel to Kai, panting heavily. The promise of more play from another source became more interesting though as Buzz bounced over to Tyson and grabbed the other end of the tug rope that the Bladebreaker had produced.

Kisha lolled her head back against Kai's thigh gaining the Russian's attention. Kai looked down at her amusedly, giving her a quick scratch behind the ear. Having successfully attracted his attention, Kisha became excited again, standing and dancing from foot to foot, another twisty little spring brought her face front to Kai's body so that she was standing a little to his side but facing him.

"What?" Kai asked her, and she started doing little hops with her front feet. Kai could only laugh at her as others looked on with mirth in their gaze. "What?" He asked her again and Kisha whined excitedly once before jumping up and wrapping her front legs around Kai's waist. Kai used both hands to ruffle behind her ears and she buried her face into the crook of his elbow, nuzzling in.

There were a few 'aww's' from onlookers at the sweet moment. Kisha removed her head from Kai's arm and stretched her neck up trying to lick his chin, Kai kept an arm around her though to prevent her from jumping up further and scratched the base of her neck. Kisha quickly settled and a contented look came over her face as she enjoyed herself.

"Hey, where's Keara?" Hilary asked Kai.

"She's in my room. I don't think she'll come out while everyone is all in here like this." Kai explained and Hilary looked empathetic.

"That's a shame, I'm gonna go talk to her." Hilary went to leave the room but Kai called her back.

"Hilary, just leave her. Let her settle down and have a little quiet time." He told her. When Hilary looked like she was going to protest Kai added. "She won't get much of that over the next week or so." Hilary relented, she sighed as she stepped back into the room. Kai was right, and she knew it.

During the commotion of the dogs' entrance, Brooklyn had spoken to Rei and relayed that apart from Raul with his shellfish allergy, Monica was the only other person from either of the two teams staying in the dojo to have any eating restrictions. She had celiac disease, so was intolerant to gluten.

This was good, Rei thought; gluten intolerance they could handle. Not that it was good that Monica had celiac disease but that it was easy enough for them to make sure there were dishes that Monica could safely eat. Besides Brooklyn had said that it was mild, so if she mistakenly ate something that wasn't free from gluten then the most she would likely get would be a dodgy stomach; it wasn't going to kill her. Rei just hoped that the Psychics team didn't have any allergies; with only the shellfish allergy and celiac disease to concentrate on, things would more than likely go plain sailing.


"No."

"Oh come on, Kai."

"I said no, Rei."

"Just – please!"

"Why?"

"You know what I like."

"You know what he likes huh?" Bryan asked suggestively. Kai sent an impatient look towards a smirking Bryan.

Ignoring Bryan, Rei pleaded with Kai again. "Kai please." Kai looked back at Rei.

"Why? Hm? Tell me why I should."

"Haven't you been over this part already-"

"Shut up Bryan." Kai snapped, glaring at a grinning Bryan.

Again Rei ignored Bryan and continued to focus on Kai. "Because you know what I usually get and what I like to use."

"And Mariah doesn't?" Rei made an impatient noise.

"In China, yes. Not so much here, the things you get here and in China are different."

When Kai looked like he was about to object again, Spencer spoke up. "Kai, stop being anal and just go to the store please." Spencer said in a suffering tone. Kai sighed and pointedly snatched the shopping list from Rei's outstretched hand whilst throwing Spencer a peeved look. Kai scanned the list and his eyebrows furrowed before his eyes returned to the tiger.

"Rei, at least half of the items on this list is just regular stuff; nothing difficult about it."

"Then it should take you no time at all." Rei beamed at him. Kai scowled at him before looking over the list once more.

"How am I supposed to know which kind of beef to get?" Kai asked, his voice resigned.

"I got that covered." Mariah piped up. "And while I do the meat, Mystel is going to gather the veg and herbs we need." Kai barely nodded in acknowledgment before addressing Rei again.

"Is this it?" He asked indicating to the list.

"Yeah." Rei said quietly but he didn't sound too sure. Kai raised an eyebrow at him. Rei saw this and shrugged it off. "I can't think on what to make as a dessert, but its fine; I'll make something tomorrow. I'm sure everyone can go one night without a sweet."

"Yeah." Kai replied casually, which should have been Rei's second indicator. The first being Kai's irate and uncooperative behaviour. "It's not like we need anyone else running around on a sugar high." Kai said in that oh so casual voice and Rei barely managed to keep a guilty look off of his face. Instead he tried to mould his features into a genuinely confused expression. Tried being the operative word.

"What do you mean?" Kai wasn't sure what annoyed him more; the fact that Max was out of his brain on sugar, or the fact that Rei was trying to conceal it from him. Even when Kai had clearly cottoned on, Rei still wouldn't admit that Max was on a sugar high. Kai could see right through Rei's cover up though, he knew his Chinese teammate all too well and besides that, Rei was a shit liar.

Besides it was a bit hard to miss Max; he'd had so much sugar that he was not only hyper but he was twitching, almost spasming, and from what Kai had seen Max was talking so fast that he was slurring some of his words. Max tended to act more like a child when he was sugar high, he was a lot more clingy and a lot more huggy. He tended to hang off Rei a lot, although it didn't really help that Rei mothered him when he was in this state. Rei never seemed to mind though and Kai had wondered many a time if Rei didn't enjoy some aspects it; Rei was a classic mother hen and when Max was in this state it allowed him to cluck away unabatedly.

Kai gave Rei a look that was bordering on impatience sprinkled with a titch of irritated. "You know exactly what I am talking about." Kai told him with exaggerated patience. "And when I get back Max and I will be doing some training. You just better hope that he doesn't have stomach ache by the time I get back." Kai said as he started to make his way towards the door.

"You can't train him when he has stomach ache." Rei tried to reason. "That could make him sick." He called after Kai when his captain didn't stop to pay attention.

"Well, I would do it now but you need me to go to the store right? So he'll just have to wait till I get back." Kai shrugged. He called back over his shoulder for the folks going to the store to move out to the car as he exited the kitchen.

"Kai wait." Rei called out half-heartedly, but he knew that his captain wouldn't stop. The tiger rubbed his face with a hand. 'Oh boy' he thought. Mariah gave Rei a sympathetic smile.

"It'll be alright Rei. He'll get over it in no time; he knows you're only protecting Max." Mariah told him as she followed after Kai. Rei gave her a small appreciative smile at her attempt to better his mood.

"Yeah, thanks Mariah."

Mariah gave him a small wave as she left.

"I'll talk to Kai when he gets back." Spencer said as he grabbed a chopping board and a small serated knife to do veg prep with. Rei shook his head with a shrug. Spencer missed the actions as he had his back to Rei, but he could hear them in the tiger's voice.

"No." The Neko sighed. "He's right to be mad, I wasn't entirely honest with him."

Spencer said nothing; he agreed with Rei but didn't want to rub his face in it. Spencer was good at knowing when to speak up and stay silent; living with Kai, Tala and Bryan had left him uniquely qualified in that area. The whale didn't want to cause any bad vibes between Rei and himself because A) things would be really awkward later when they were all cooking together and B) he actually liked the tiger.

"I'll be back in a minute." Rei said.


When Rei returned to the kitchen he found that Spencer had done two full large bowls of mixed salad and had started cutting up peppers to add. Spencer's fingers were adept as he topped and tailed the pepper bells, cored them and then set about slicing them into strips. Spencer's knife looked to be a blur as he rapidly sliced each section of pepper, completing his task seemingly in one continuous, fast-paced movement before moving onto the next section. Rei was surprised; he'd never seen the large Russian at work in the kitchen but the tiger found himself impressed. Rei was also amazed the whale hadn't cut himself yet with the velocity of his knife.

"Wow Spencer," Rei commented, how impressed he was shone through in his voice. Spencer paused to look up from what he was doing. "You work fast. Kai said you were good, but he didn't say just how good. Do you have restaurant experience?" Spencer smiled and Rei could swear he could detect a faint trace of bashfulness in that smile. It made the corners of Rei's own mouth rise a bit; bashful was never something the tiger had ever associated with the whale before. Embarrassment yes; Bryan and Tala's antics saw to that but never shyness.

The large Russian shrugged as he said. "It's just from cooking at home. I like to cook, I used to practice and experiment a lot before I started in University. I don't have so much spare time anymore though so I do not get to cook as often as I did."

"I take it you do all of the cooking for your team then." Brooklyn said from his position along the counter from Spencer. The BEGA blader had another chopping board out and was crushing garlic cloves.

Spencer tilted his head toward Brooklyn in somewhat of a conceding nod. "In the beginning yes, but over the past year Tala and Bryan have gradually become more inclined to help out in the kitchen. Especially if I have late running classes or a course, one of them will make dinner."

Rei looked briefly horrified. "You let Bryan and Tala near knives unsupervised?" The tiger asked aghast. Brooklyn chuckled lightly and Spencer couldn't help but smirk.

"They are actually pretty good at some dishes, each have a few they are particularly good at. Even Kai will cook occasionally when he is home." Rei looked stupefied for a moment.

"Pardon?" He blurted out. Spencer frowned.

"What?" Spencer wasn't sure what he'd said to cause Rei's sudden change in demeanour. Although he found himself quite amused as Rei's next words reached his ears.

"Kai never cooks at home." Rei said emphatically. "Never. Not once in the whole time we have been living together as a team has he prepared a meal."

Spencer chose his next words carefully; he wanted to defend Kai somewhat but if he said too much then it would only vex the phoenix. "Honestly Rei, he leaves it up to you because he knows that you are good at it. He knows you enjoy cooking and that all of your teammates like to eat what he makes. Kai is actually very good at making a few meals but in all honesty, and at the risk of pissing him off should he find out I told you this, it's something that he isn't confident enough in his ability for him to share it with you guys."

Rei looked thoughtful for a moment. "You're saying he's embarrassed about his ability to cook?"

Spencer shook his head. "No. It's not that-"

"So he's good at it, but he doesn't think he is." Brooklyn said it more like a statement than a question and Spencer gave a conceding tilt of his head.

"In a way." Spencer replied. "He doesn't mind cooking for Tala, Bryan and myself because we had to overcome some enlightening experiences and hardships after leaving the Abbey together. It was Kai who cooked primarily in the initial few months until I took an interest and then started to learn properly. It was the same with a few of the other challenges we faced; we either learned from Kai or we all learned together and helped each other overcome them. He doesn't want to cook here because Kai is reluctant to leave himself open to criticism about his cooking."

"Are you trying to tell me he is shy? Because Kai and shy should never be put in the same sentence as one another."

"You'd be surprised, Rei."

"I just – I just can't see it." Rei shrugged. "Secretive, obstinately private and prideful to a self-destructive level maybe, but never shy." Rei mused almost humorously, trying to make light of the situation.

"What Spencer is trying to say is that Kai is afraid that you'd mock him if you didn't like his cooking." Brooklyn said gently. Rei's face fell.

"But I'd never make fun of him over something like that." Rei said genuinely saddened by the idea.

"Perhaps you wouldn't, but the less mature members of your team might. If only for a joke." Spencer added hastily when he saw Rei move to object. "But you know Kai, he wouldn't see it as a joke."

Rei nodded. Spencer was right, Kai wouldn't see it as a joke at all.

"I see where you are coming from." Rei admitted. "I just wish he felt comfortable enough to be able to do the things he likes or wants around us, express himself a bit more."

"It'll come with time." Spencer assured him.


"Just what the heck was that, Max!?" Rick demanded incredulously.

Rick had agreed to train Max for a few hours when Rei asked him. Rick knew that Max needed to drain some energy to at least stop the spasms and jerks that racked his body. But trying to get Max to focus enough to be able to even launch his blade properly was proving difficult. It had taken 10 minutes just to get Max to pay attention to the task at hand and when he finally let rip it barely landed in the dish; a few wobbly spins and the blade had toppled to a halt.

It wasn't just the spasms and jerks, Max's mind was racing, it was almost like pinball, ricocheting off of so many different thoughts, completely unorganised and totally unrelated to his current objective. It left him completely unable to focus. His beyblade responded to Max's higgledy piggledy mind set, which meant some pretty pathetic results.

And now on top of everything else Max was getting frustrated; his inability to focus and therefore beyblade was discouraging and now Rick was on his case about it. The blonde stared at his motionless beyblade for a moment before retrieving it from the dish.

"I – I'm sorry, Rick." Max said feeling rather put out.

"I knew that you would be lacking any real power with your concentration out of whack but I thought you would at least be able to make it spin." Said Rick. "You need to focus, Max."

"I'm trying."

"Well try harder." Rick voice sharpened. "I thought I would at least get a challenge out of you, but it looks like I was wrong."

"Hey Rick, lay off him a minute." Eddie interrupted. The Allstar had been standing off to the left, observing Max's non-progression. He was there to make sure that Rick didn't push Max too far, he knew that Rick's heart was in the right place when it came to trying to help Max out, but his methods could sometimes be a bit much.

"Yeah! Maxie will show you, he just had a bad spin that's all!" Tyson defended his friend from the other side of the dish, he too was there to lend support to Max.

"A pathetic spin more like." Rick didn't like pushing Max this way but he knew that when Max got mad, he got determined, and if he could trigger Max's determination then maybe the blonde could focus more. Besides there was nothing wrong with riling the blonde up a bit to help him out; Max would thank him for it later.

"See that right there isn't going to work." Eddie interjected calmly, almost as if reading his train of thought. When Rick turned his fiery gaze onto Eddie, the basketball Allstar held his hands up to let Rick know that he wasn't trying to muscle in. "I know what you are trying to do, Rick but I'm telling you it won't work."

"You got a better idea?" Rick challenged.

"I actually think I might." Eddie was an easy-going guy and that coupled with his relaxed voice and aura was like sand to Rick's fire; blocking his confrontational attitude and keeping things at a reasonable level. If it had been Michael or Steve that Rick had challenged then an argument would have broken out. Michael bit the bait and got upset too often and Steve was hot headed, he and Rick locked horns often.

Rick made a motion for Eddie to go ahead.

"Max, do you remember a couple of years back, before you guys competed in the Russian tournament at the Championships, you told me that the Majestics took you to some in-the-middle-of-nowhere ruin to teach you guys a lesson?" Max looked blank for a moment before the light of recognition ignited in his eyes and he nodded enthusiastically. "Do you remember what that lesson was?"

"Oh that's a brilliant idea." Tyson said as he caught on to what Eddie was talking about.

"What is?" Max asked, looking at Tyson but generally asking the question of everyone.

Eddie held up a hand to hold Tyson off from speaking. "Do you remember what the lesson was, Max?"

It took Max a few moments to struggle through his thoughts, but eventually he managed to sort through and the lightbulb flickered on. "Oh, I get it now. Transferring energy to my beyblade!"

"Right." Eddie agreed. "Once you can get Draciel to spin long enough, we can have Rick launch his blade so that you can try and transfer your energy to your blade to fuel your attacks and defensive manoeuvres."

As Rick, Eddie and Tyson continued to help Max, most of the others were out enjoying the heat of the day. It was after five pm but the sun still shone bright and hot. Hilary, Julia, Emily and then Ming Ming were on sun loungers on the decking, the four loungers a little spaced out but in a row. Garland was perched on the decking next to Ming Ming's chair with Crusher on his other side. Monica was sat next to her brother, her legs swinging gently off of the edge.

The 'no dogs allowed' rule in the kitchen while meals are being prepped or eaten meant that Kisha was outside with everyone else instead of with Brooklyn. She now lay beside Monica, front paws hanging over the decking, thoroughly enjoying the feel of the brush combing through her coat. Rei had provided Monica with a brush when asked and Monica was now gently brushing Kisha. Every now and again the young female's attention would be diverted to the noisy play near the tree as Dunga played tug-of-war with Buzz, she would observe a few moments before returning to gently panting and half lidded eyes, fully enjoying Monica's attentions and the young girl was only too happy to acquiesce her.

Kisha flopped onto her side, grunting noisily as she shimmied so that most of her upper body was almost on her back. Monica giggled. "You want your belly done, huh?"

"Hey guys watch out!" Dunga's yell suddenly attracted everyone's attention, including the bladers crowded round the beydish. Ozuma, Raul and Joseph had joined Max and the others. Ozuma only just managed to catch hold of Buzz by the collar before the young dog ended up in the dish.

After a few more failed attempts, Max had finally managed to launch his blade successfully. Each failed attempt had Buzz's eyes and ears flickering in that direction even though he was still thoroughly attached to the tug rope toy, Dunga had kept him busy though so his attention never strayed for too long. However, when the eventual successful launch had taken place the noise was just too interesting to ignore; Buzz was a lurcher, a sight hound primarily used for hunting and the sound of Max's blade zipping around had peaked his interest and gotten him excited. The young mutt had let go of the toy immediately and froze in place, looking around frantically for the noise. When his eyes caught sight of the speedy contraption darting around the dish his chasing instinct came alive. He took off for the beydish.

Even though Ozuma had him by the collar, Buzz was still trying to get into the dish, pulling against his collar with a series of high pitched yips and barks. The lurcher is fully determined to chase down his prey but Ozuma managed to haul him away from the dish and over towards the house.

"Here. Let's get this on him." Hilary said. Ozuma looked up at her to see Buzz's lead in her hands.

"That's great, thanks." Ozuma kept Buzz as still as possible while Hilary clipped his lead on. Ozuma let go of the dog's collar once the lead was attached, big mistake. Hilary cried out as Buzz almost pulled her over in his bid to get at the beyblade.

Ozuma made a grab for the lead and almost had his arm pulled out of its socket for his trouble.

"Damn, he may not look like much but he's strong." Ozuma complained as he hauled the dog back to his side. Buzz flailed his head a few times and slipped his collar. "Dammit!"

Eddie heard Ozuma's exclamation and saw the dog coming. Eddie just managed to scruff the dog before picking him up. Buzz let out an unhappy yap at being picked up, especially by someone he hardly knew and started to struggle. Struggle as he might Buzz couldn't get loose; Eddie was strong and knew how to handle a dog. The basketball star carried the dog over to Ozuma and Hilary and Ozuma re-secured Buzz's collar as tight as it would go without choking the dog so he couldn't get loose again. When Eddie put him down Buzz started to pull towards the dish again.

"Here," Eddie motioned to Ozuma. "Pass me the leash would you?" Ozuma handed it over and Eddie pulled the end of the lead through the handle making a loop. He slipped the loop around the dog's head and tightened it around the top of Buzz's neck, just behind his head. Eddie used his foot to deliver a quick touch to the dog's flank before giving a sharp corrective tug on the lead at the end looped round his head.

"Hey! Don't hurt him." Hilary yelled when the dog let out a yelp.

"I'm not hurting him." Eddie said calmly but firmly. "That yelp was only an objection because he isn't used to being corrected like that." Eddie explained.

"But you kicked him." Hilary argued angrily.

"No." Eddie assured her. "I didn't. It was a touch not a kick. Here." Eddie motioned for Hilary to come over beside him. When she did he used his foot to deliver the same touch to her. "See, it's more like a sharp nudge, it's to snap his brain out of whatever he's doing and make him concentrate on me instead of the beyblade. The tug was just to reinforce that." Eddie tugged correctively again on the lead when he saw Buzz fixating on the blade again. This time there was no yelp but the dog did cower somewhat to Eddie. The results spoke for themselves though, Buzz was no longer paying attention to the beyblade, but to Eddie. Hilary and Ozuma as well as a few others looked surprised but impressed.

"It pays to know a little dog psychology." Eddie winked at them. "Besides I have two dogs of my own back home." When Buzz looked back over at the beyblade again Eddie corrected him again and then turned the dog round so he was facing away from the beydish and pushed his rump down. Buzz let out a sigh. "Much better." Eddie said to Buzz. To Hilary he said. "Let's move him over here." He indicated to the decking that wrapped around the entire house where the girls had their chairs.

"It's no wonder he ended up in a shelter if he goes for kids' beyblades." Ozuma mused.

"It's just his hunting instinct." Eddie shrugged. "I could work with him to desensitise him to the beyblades but right now my main focus is Max. Maybe another day though."

Dog secured, Eddie made his way back over to the dish. Buzz watched him leave as he lay next to Hilary's chair. He dropped his head down on his paws with a groan after Max recalled his blade and the zippy noise stopped but the dog's ears were pricked and twitching, alert and anticipating any new noises to come from the beydish.

When Max relaunched his blade Buzz whined and went to get up but Hilary pushed him back down. "Ah ah ah." She tutted at him. Buzz looked up at her briefly then back at the dish. He whimpered and made eager noises as he watched Draciel circle the dish but made no move to get up again. Hilary watched him for a few moments feeling sorry for the young pooch. "Sorry boy, but you can't chase the beyblade." She told him gently.

Hilary soon forgot all about the dog tied to her chair as she was drawn into a conversation with Julia and Emily. It was a mistake she would soon learn from because Max had now successfully transferred a teensy bit of energy to his beyblade … it meant upping the training … that meant an opponent. As soon as Rick launched his beyblade the temptation was just too much.

"Buzz stop!"


So what did you guys think? A review would be much appreciated. Do you guys have any ideas you might want to see, if so let me know and I'll see what I can do :) Thanks for reading. Till next time. XXMikaXX