AOD83:) Chapter 9 has come a little quicker this time. Thank you soooooooooooooooooooo much to EVERYONE who had reviewed, you are all so nice... now you'll get a hug from Kai.

Kai: No they won't!

AOD83: Hey! You were all for it last chapter!

Kai: I wasn't myself then.

A0D83: Excuses... excuses...

Kenny: Umm... while them two are babbling on, I may as well take their lines. Please review!

AOD83: Ohhh oh yeah folks, Kenny's going to have more of an 'active' roll too in some chapters. ;) -Laughs evilly- Heh heh.

Kenny: Oh GAWD, it's the evil laugh! You're so cruel, what are you planning for me?

AOD83: Don't worry Ken, it's not gonna happen... yet...

Kenny: -Gulp-


Dance Like No One's Watching


Chapter 9- Training on the Hill Tops Part 2

A tall, dark figure stepped out of the gloomy light, from the back of the old power building. Four youths stood before him in the powerless light, close to the chilly draft coming from underneath the metal, bolted door. Up above, hovering over each one of them, stood cracked orange lights, giving off an ungenerous amount of power. The random sound of buzzing electric would occur, which made the broken light shades suddenly flicker a bright yellow, revealing the appearance of the dark figure.

The single room they stood in, was damp from the constant snow falling that managed to reach inside the building, by the opening of the heavy, bolted door, soaking the dark blue sofa, tables and rough carpet under their feet. Each of the four boys watched as the figure became closer, and closer. Although, they weren't scared. They knew this man alright, and there was a reason for him intruding in their hide-out.

Once again the buzzing of the electric sparked a light on, but this time it stayed on. A tall, purple-haired man stood before the four boys. He wore a distinctive long, green jacket, and dark goggles covering his purple eyes. His tight, black shirt and trousers made it seem like his soul, was black. Not that everyone's soul was visible, but by looking at him, only darkness and hatred could be seen.

"They would never expect that girl, right?" The eery voice sang through the gloomy room, echoing silently as he faced the four boys, standing still and quietly, like they were in some sort of trance.

"We asked her and she said no." A scarred, 16 year old boy explained, flicking back his dark brown hair. The tall man shook his head slightly, and smiled.

"I know, I know... But you've been watching her right? She's become ever so close to those... Bladebreakers... has she not?"

"That is true, " A blue-haired looking trouble-maker pointed out, steeping further towards the tall man.

"Yes... And.. you told me she has a special ability?" The trench-coated man snarled back, breathing heavily like he was trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah.. We saw her..." Before the blue-haired blader could finish, the man interrupted.

"I know what you saw. I felt it too. Well? It's easy. Offer her my newest beauty- My newest creation! The woman who devours the land, is both creator and destroyer. She throws molten fountains into the air, governs the great flow of lava, and has been known the reveal herself throughout the island of Hawaii. Pele is a goddess of Fire, lightening, dance, volcanos and destruction!" A strong wind began to form, hurdling towards the four boys that stood in front of him, as he raised both of his hands, as if he was chanted some sort of spell. Cupped in his hand, was an orange and black blade, letting loose a powerful orange light and destructive wind. "COME BEFORE ME!"

Kai suddenly felt a rush of guilt run through is body. He knew he shouldn't of shouted at her, she didn't do anything wrong. But it just seemed like she was controlling him, trying to tell him what to do. And NO ONE told Kai what to do.

Fern and Kai were stood straight on top of the main, largest hill in the area. The snow was falling softly, dropping lightly onto their clothes and noses. Fern could feel her feet freezing up, she knew she should of put an extra pair of socks on. But that wasn't the only thing making her feel cold, oh no, it was Kai. After shouting at her, she felt like she had done something wrong. She felt guilty a little, just incase she had upset Kai somehow. But that's the thing, she just couldn't think how. Maybe Werex was right, maybe Kai was insecure and didn't like to have fun. But that's what she wanted to pull out of him. Everyone has a fun side to them, she just wanted to pull that extra little bit of fun out of him, and get a result.

The gentle waves of the sea rushed into their ears, making both of them suddenly feel sea sick. Stood in the same spot for ages made them dizzy, especially because the hill was high, and right next to the chilly sea. After a while, staring at the ground for ages made it look as if it was moving, like a ship. So the songs of the waves didn't help one bit. But what would Kai rather do? Stare at Fern or stare at the ground?

For some reason, he choose the ground. After shouting at her for no apparent reason, he had nothing to say to her, not like he said much to her anyway. But he felt somewhat guilty and ashamed. And now that Dranzer had been talking to him alot more than usual lately, made him think about what Dranzer had been saying.

'Me? Fern? BULL.' Just when Kai was about to go into another train of thoughts, a loud happy scream almost burst his ears drums, and worst of all, he was close to it.

"HEYYYYYY RAY! MAX! KENNY! AND TYSON I GUESS!" Fern called, resulting in Kai staring at her right in the face, wondering what the hell she was doing. She was standing on her tip toes, waving brightly and staring down at the bottom of the hill. Kai turned and look down; to see his team mates had finally dragged Tyson out of bed. 'Hmm... just a minute ago she seemed so sad... I wonder how she suddenly swapped emotions so.. quick?'

"Hey, you two," Ray smirked, as the four bladers began to make their way up the hill. Fern felt a smirk creep across her face, when she noticed what they were wearing. Tall, wooly hats with a cute pom-pom on top, nice knitted scarves, gloves, and long, cosy looking jackets. Then there was Kai, who came out in his usual white scarf, black vest and trousers. 'Big difference there...' She smirked, examining each of the bladers as they climbed the hill. She watched Tyson lazily slip on a layer of snow and fall over, grabbing the hood of Kenny's coat in the process and dragging the poor guy down with him.

Fern smiled at them both, until Ray and Max broke her eye contact when they stood face to face with her. They weren't smiling now, in fact, they looked a little angry. This made Fern feel a little uneasy.

"I thought you two came up here to do some blading?" Questioned Ray, as he sorted out his now-slanted hat and straightened it on his head. Max half-smiled at Fern, trying to make an effort. Sure, the snow was nice, but it made them feel cold obviously, and lazy due to the face it made them sleepy, slacky and too cold to move.

"Oh, well we had a break, I guess," Fern chirped back, now Tyson and Kenny joining them on the hill. Tyson bent down and scrubbed off the snow on his knees, then stood up straight, pulling Fern a cheesy smile.

"Hey Fern! Cold ain't it?" Tyson said, chattering his teeth together. Fern simply smiled and nodded, then turned back to Ray as he spoke.

"Oh... but you haven't been up here that long? Anyway, I don't blame you.. it's freezing! Hey, Kai, why didn't you take a hat?" Asked Ray, now everyone turning their attention onto Kai. He was staring right back at Ray, but hesitated to reply straight away.

"Who cares about a little snow? Just because it's cold, doesn't mean you lot will be slacking up or anything. So, now that we're all here, let's get to work!" Kai ordered, watching the sighing faces of each of the bladers.

"Aww geez, is feckin' frezzin'!" Tyson chanted, folding his arms across his stomach, trying to warm himself up.

"That's not my problem. Ray and Max, get on that hill over there and practice. Tyson and Kenny, do some warm-ups, two times up and down the hill over there," Kai pointed to the next nearby hill. Moans and groans came from each of the bladers, all apart from Fern. "Then after that, you can go ahead and join Ray and Max."

"And... what about Fern?" Asked Tyson, curiously.

"Fern..." Kai thought about this for a second, until he fully replied. Tyson, Max, Ray, Kenny and Fern stared at the stuttering captain, waiting for his next order. "Fern... is training with me. I want to see what she's got."

Fern felt herself smirk annoyingly. 'Heh heh... so he's forgiven me then?' She thought sneakily, yet confused by his actions.

Tyson raised an eyebrow slightly, but agreed anyway. "Alright, I guess. Come on, Kenny!" Tyson waved his arm at Kenny, signaling him to follow him. The two began to run down the hill, leaving behind a trail of footprints. Ray and Max looked at each other and nodded, then followed Tyson and Kenny down their trail of marks in the snow. Soon it left Kai and Fern together, getting froze to death standing around.

"So... you ready?" Fern smirked, ripping her blade out from her pocket. To her surprise, Kai threw her a half-smile. She knew it must of meant something. He doesn't smile often, that's for sure.

"Hn. Okay, we'll have a battle. Want some advice, or are you gonna pull a 'Tyson' and be ignorant, and not want any at all?" Kai asked, pulling Fern now a very serious face.

"Ummm... Sure Kai..." Fern said, lowering her ripcord and blade for now.

"Alright, listen up. No doubt, your bit-beast is powerful, but your blade's weak. You want it to spin faster, you need a longer ripcord. Like mine!" Kai brought out his ripcord, and placed it in his hand, laid flat so Fern could take a peek.

"Uh-huh..." Fern said, leaning over to look at his ripcord. "So, your saying I need a new ripcord?"

"No, I'm saying..."

"...That I shouldn't use my ripcord?"

"No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying..."

"...I need a shorter one?"

"NO! Just let me speak!"

Kai sighed. "Right, I'm saying, get Kenny to take a look at it for you. He'll be able to do something about it!"

"Ohhhhhh... ok no prob! Will do in a sec! Any more advice?" Fern happily chirped.

Kai felt like mentally slapping his head. He could feel she was going to be a hard one to train. He felt the boiling bubbles settle down in his head from before. He didn't want to get angry again, so this time, he tried to explain it to her simpler.

"Alright, now listen. Everyone has their own style of launching. So if you loose a battle, it could be because of the way you launch. Now, show me," Kai demanded. Fern blinked repeatedly in confusion.

"Show you... what?"

"Hey! Don't mess me about, Fern!" Kai felt like madly exploding, he knew deep inside Fern was intelligent and not truly this thick!

"Oh! You mean show you my launch! Sure, but you could of made it clearer!" Fern smirked, grabbing her ripcord and blade back out of her pocket. She glanced around for a second, confused. "And the arena is...what?"

Kai smirked. "This whole hill. It's rounded, right? It'll do."

"WHAT? But what if it falls into the sea?"

Kai frowned at Fern's point. "Hey, if your a good enough blader, you should be able to control it and stop it from doing that! Alright?"

Fern knew she wasn't a good blader, although she seemed fairly strong that day when she faced Tyson. She wasn't strong enough though, she needed to show Kai what she could really do. She slipped her ruby and black blade onto her ripcord, and held it towards her side, ready to launch.

"In 3. 3...2...1..." Kai directed, and immediately Fern brought her arms above her head and let her blade race to the hill ground like a wild rollercoaster. Kai and Fern watched as it spun around the hill, circling them perfectly. After a few minutes of spinning and picking up a load of snow, the blade slowly calmed down, and stopped spinning right underneath Fern's feet. Fern bent down and picked it up, a little disappointed. She was hoping it would have stayed spinning for a longer amount of time. Well, that was where the ripcord came in.

"Hn. Not as good as I had anticipated. Right; go to Kenny, and he'll fix your ripcord in not time," Kai suggested, looking over at Kenny, who was sat at the edge of one of the hills, watching Tyson, Max and Ray use one of Kenny's smaller dishes to have a three-wave Beyblade battle. Fern glanced over at the four bladers, then nodded back at Kai, fulfilling his request. She set off down the slippery hill, watching her step each and every time.

As she made her way over to Kenny, she began to think about Kai. Why the sudden change in attitude? Now he seemed so determined to help her, to help her become a better blader. Sometimes she wondered what the hell was going on in that head of his. Perhaps he felt guilty at shouting at her? 'Na, Kai isn't really... the guilty type, I guess. But then again... he's just full of surprises everyday. Haha... he's awesome!' She really did think he was... cool. He was so mysterious all the time, but other times, he could be so open and direct. She began to realise she had a soft spot for him, but really, she had a soft spot for each of the Bladebreakers. Ray, well, she enjoyed his cooking, he was so sweet and caring, it made her trust him with her life. Then there was Max, the bright and cheerful one. She loved messing about with him, both of them got along well. And... Kenny, he was always making sure she had everything she needed. He was even going to fix her ripcord, or so Kai said he would. Lastly but certainly not least, was Tyson. The spunky, laid-back hyperactive guy who although was now 14, still acted like a big kid. Fern loved the hyperactive sort of guys, they made her feel safe, and in a way, wanted.

Fern made her way up the hill the Bladebreakers were up, and quietly made it to the top she she couldn't disturb their training. She glanced across at Kenny, to see he was smiling back. She made her way across to him, almost getting knocked off the edge in the process by Tyson, who was excitedly jumping up and down off the ground as the blades were colliding in the dish. Getting her balance back, Fern ran and slid down next to Kenny to take cover from the hyperactive competitor Tyson.

"Hey Fern..." Kenny smiled, curling up against his scarf and laptop. "What's up?"

"Hm... well, I was wondering if you could do something with my ripcord. You know, lengthen it a bit?" Fern asked, placing her gloved hand on Kenny's shoulder. Her long, red hair swam through the air, as a sudden cold wind settled on the hills. 'Good job I had brought lots of knitted gear.. unlike Kai..' She smirked, quickly glancing over at Kai on the previous hill. He was stood in the middle of it, stroking his blade, as his scarf blew backwards. It was like.. he didn't feel any cold at all. He didn't even jerk, or twitch, or anything.

Shaking her head slightly, getting rid of her thoughts, she turned her attention back onto Kenny, who was still examining her ripcord.

"Sure, I can do it, "Kenny smiled. Just give me an hour. It seems a little battered, and short, but with Dizzi's help, I'll be able to prepare it now. Still, you must be a strong blader if you were to manage to still blade with this thing!"

"Uh..yeah.. " Fern seemed lost in her own words, as she stared curiously still at Kai.

"OH! I mean, thanks a lot, Kenny!" Fern snapped out of her 'staring-at-Kai' trance. "Oh, an hour? Okay, I'll go tell Kai! Thanks again!" Fern smiled cheerily, and immediately ran back down the hill and headed for Kai.

Kenny watched her closely, curiously. 'Hmmm... shes's a weird one...' Staring at her made Kenny fix his eyes on her like glue. He just couldn't take them off her. Her red and dark brown hair swerved softly in the wind as she ran off, her legs kicking up very flexibly, made Kenny cringe. But, in a good way. he snapped out of his staring, and faced the BladeBreakers again. For some reason, Fern once again popped into his head, and he just HAD to look at her again.

'Ah.. she's so... flowery... she smells nice...!' Kenny felt a big, strong flutter in his stomach. Strangely enough, despite being a cold day, the inside of him suddenly felt warm and bubbled up when he glanced down at her ripcord in his hand. 'Ah... I'll get to work...' Kenny sniffed excitedly.

"Hey, Kai!" Fern smiled, panting heavily as she reached the top of the hill Kai was stood waiting patiently on. He looked up at her straight away, as she walked further towards him.

"Well?" Asked Kai, meaning he wanted to know what was going on with her ripcord.

"Oh, yeah... well he said he can do it, but it'll take an hour," Fern explained, keeping her smile flat on her face, even as she spoke.

"Hn... great. Well, may as well give you more tips. Ready for your big battle..." Kai said, although Fern could see a smile forming on his face when he said those last words. She gulped hard; just was was his planning?

"Wha...What you mean.. 'Big Battle?'"

This just made Kai smile even more. "With me, of course. I want a battle with you. Haven't had one yet; just don't let me down and don't disappoint me."

"WHAT? But you're too good for me! I'll never be-"

Kai cut her off talking. "So? Just show me what you got. Hn. I better not have just wasted my time here. Now I want a good battle." Kai seemed determined on the outside, but he was secretly hiding something deep in the inside. Something even he didn't understand properly. One minute, he would feel okay around Fern. Even he knew he got along with her well, and he could even be nice to her, which was rare for him. But.. another part of him just had to be that same, cold Kai to her, even though he knew he didn't have to. It felt so different.

"Fine, gimme those tips, tiger!" Fern smiled, listening back to what she had just said. 'Gimme those tips, tigers? Hehe, that's a new one. He kinda suits the nickname tiger!'

'Tiger..?' Kai blankly stared at Fern at her unusual nickname. 'Whatever...'

Just over an hour of standing around, and Kai TRYING to give tips to Fern, although it was hard since she kept changing the subject onto how cold it was, Kenny finally got the ripcord fixed. Fern and Kai watched him rush over to the hill. He looked so small and cuddly in his coat, it made Fern just want to jump on him and hug him to death. And the fact that he was about two years younger than her, didn't stop her. She planned on prancing on him with a big 'thank you' to go with it for fixing her ripcord. As he staggered up the hill, he held Fern's ripcord into the air, jumping up happily onto the top of the hill with a wide smile on his face.

"It's fixed!" Kenny boasted, holding out the ripcord, waiting for Fern to take it. Instead, she smiled cheesily at Kenny, making his butterflies in his stomach flap all over the place. His heart began to speed up, as she smiled sweetly at him like she was up to no good. Kai looked on skeptically, as she just stood at watched Kenny's confused expression.

"THANKS KENNY!" And with that, Fern lept onto Kenny, throwing both her arms around him. Muffled screams could be heard from underneath Fern's scarf, where Kenny's little head was buried under.

Fern brought her cheek right close to his, squeezing him tighter and tighter. "Ohhh thanks so much!"

Poor Kenny was too scared to even try to escape, he just enjoyed the flowery scent that Fern gave off.

Kenny's POV

Ahhh I can't breathe! I can't breathe!

Huh... Ohhh... My stomach feels like it's gonna explode...

End POV

Fern slowly let go of Kenny, taking the ripcord out of his hand along with her. She stood back and let Kenny recover from the tight squeeze. For a few seconds, he felt dizzy and breath-less, making him almost fall over.

"Hn..." Kai's moan snapped Kenny out of his dreary state, and turned his attention to Kai instead of thinking about Fern.

"Oh... yeah... well the ripcord should be okay now..." Kenny said, still looking a little shaken.

"Right.. Excellent.. Now Fern, what do ya say to that battle?" Kai asked, looking at the cheesy Fern. She turned away from Kenny and looked at Kai, still with that cheeky grin on her face.

Fern's hair flapped in her face wildly after another strong gush of wind. She carefully moved it back, then placed her right foot behind her left foot, and placed her hands on her hips. "Sure. Bring it on, tiger!"