The Journey

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.

Kira felt her body shaking, to have to face the White Tigers X? Already? How was that possible?

"Ki, are you okay?" Enrique asked, placing his hand on her shoulder. She nodded and listened as the rest of the teams were announced, All Starz versus Barthez Battalion, and Blitzkreig Boys versus BBA Revolution. Gasps were sounding over the arena, and Kira knew why. Tyson versus Kai was going to be an explosive event, she knew that. But was the world ready for it? Were Tyson and Kai ready? There were so many questions blurring through her mind, she could barely process her thoughts.

"It's going to be okay Kira, don't let them get to you." Oliver smiled, trying his best to reassure her.

"Let's go to our room so... so I can process this, I need to figure out what to do right now." Kira said blankly, standing up. Amara's emerald eyes followed Kira leaving as she smirked slightly.

"I'll be right there Johnny." Amara tilted her head as her boyfriend looked back at her and shrugged, following his teammates. Amara pulled her touchscreen phone out of her crossbody bag and scrolled through her messages. Once she was sure there was enough space between her and the Majestics, she started walking into the hallway. Her heels clicked on the linoleum as she pressed call, held the phone up to her ear, and heard the ringing sound.

"Zdravstvuyte." (Hello.) A deep male voice answered, and Amara smiled.

"We're breaking her, I don't know how you did it but making her battle Ray was a wonderful blow." She looked behind her and turned into a hallway where the traffic was very light. "I think she might be getting close to ready."

"Don't play with me, Alyona. I'm not in the mood."

"Believe me, I wouldn't be in such a wonderful mood right now if it weren't true. Aren't you watching the tournament live? She's going to get everything she deserves soon, and I can't wait for it to happen. This is just the beginning."

"When did you turn into such a sadist? It's very becoming of you my dear." The girl tucked a long auburn hair behind her ear and chuckled softly.

"It's been a long time coming, truly. I'm just ready for this all to be over. Oh, I've got to go, I hear footsteps. Do svidanya Boris." Amara hung up the phone and turned the corner, running into a deep magenta pair of eyes. The absolute last person she was expecting to see. "Oh excuse me, I must have gotten lost looking for the Majestics' break room..." Amara paused, smirking. "Kai, right? I don't believe we've had the chance to formally introduce ourselves." He chuckled shortly before stepping towards her, placing one hand on either side of her head, practically pinning her against the wall.

"Don't act like you don't know who I am. I'm not an idiot like the rest of the people in Kira's life. If I find out in any way that you intend to harm her or do anything else... well I'm sure you can imagine.. You've seen me out there." He gestured his head back towards the arena, his eyes burning into hers. But Amara didn't blink or show any fear whatsoever.

"Why Mr. Hiwatari, if I didn't know any better, I would think you're threatening me. That and that you're in love with Kira. We wouldn't want that getting out into the public, now would we?"

"Don't take me for a fool Amara, and don't try to threaten me." Kai said as he backed up, freeing the brunette beauty. "I think of Kira as my family, and I would die for her if I had to. If I find out there's any fishy business going on..."

"Good to know." Amara smiled as she interrupted him and walked away from the handsome beyblader. Kai glared as she walked from him, his thoughts trailing off, thinking back to his conversation with Kira. Maybe her ideas weren't as far-fetched as he had thought they were. Something strange was definitely going on.

Kira had her maroon colored hair tied up in a topknot bun, she had changed into a regular black, fitted tank top and gray yoga pants. and was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Majestics' waiting room, trying her best to meditate and clear her head. It wasn't working very well, as she could hear absolutely everything going on around her... Mainly the boys arguing about something completely random and insignificant as usual, and it wasn't helping her stress whatsoever. She leaned back against the sofa she was sitting in front of, pushing air quickly out of her mouth in frustration.

"You guys, you aren't helping her right now." Oliver gestured to Kira and Enrique and Johnny grunted.

"No, it's okay." Kira sighed, standing up. She looked over to the television where Max and Rick were absolutely getting obliterated by Barthez Battallion and Kira felt terrible. She knew something sketchy was going on with them but she couldn't put her finger on it.

'Johnny.. are we okay?' She closed her eyes, waiting for his answer. Nothing but silence. She turned her head to where he was standing, just staring off into space. 'Please stop ignoring me and blocking me. I don't know how much more of this I can take. As much as I've never wanted to admit it, I need you Johnny. This connection that we have, I can't just break it. I don't know how you're able to, but I can't.' Still nothing, no response. 'If you want to make it any further in this tournament, we need to find a way to work through this...' Kira saw his eyes move in her direction and she sighed. "I can't take anymore of this heartbreak... I want my Johnny back..." She heard the door open as she finished her sentence.

"Woah, what's going on in here? I could cut the tension with a knife." Kira heard Amara's light voice and she shook her head, grabbing her jacket.

"I need to go.."

"Kira, wait!" Robert yelled out as Kira darted out of the room, and he turned to look at Johnny in frustration. "You know, I don't know what happened, but you need to fix this or you're not going to be blading with her anymore."

A little while earlier.

Luna leaned back against a wall, filing her nails. Her long, pale lilac hair lightly curled, falling down her back. "Another day, more drama here at the BBA. Where there never seems to be a quiet moment in the life of Luna Takeyama." Her eyes widened as she saw the teams being announced, and stood up, taking a few steps forward towards the window where everything unfolded in front of her eyes. "Oh no..." She saw Kira run off the stage and sighed heavily. "Well, this is bound to be epic. The classic, Kai versus Tyson, and the sex-tension filled drama of Kira versus Ray. Hmmm I wonder who's going to win what." Luna narrated to herself. 'Time to get some answers.' She tucked away her nail file into her bag and headed up some stairs that were close by to where she had been watching. After about five flights she got to the high-class "box" area of the arena where she knew her grandfather would be watching the battles. She knocked on the door and watched as it was opened by two burly men, who she presumed to be his bodyguards.

"Can we help you young lady? Mr. Dickenson isn't doing any interviews right now, nor is he helping any fans make their beyblading dreams come true." One of the burly men spoke up as they crossed their arms. Luna smiled sweetly and shook her head.

"Oh how you've got it all wrong. I'm not here for either of those things! I am just a lowly peasant girl trying to get a rich man to take me as his charity case. Now let me in, so I can make my own dreams come true!" She tried to squeeze past the two burly men and failed miserably.

"Nice try, now scat." The other burly man spoke and she sighed.

"Fine. Gramps, I need to talk to you!" She called out and heard footsteps in the room, before seeing her short pudgy grandfather stick his head out. "Really? You let me go through that?"

"I thought I could use the entertainment. It's fine, gentleman. Let her in." The men moved out of the way and Luna smiled. "My dear, you are glowing." He waved her in and she sat next to him, watching all the people run around the stadium before the battles started.

"While that may be true grandfather, I'm concerned. How could you let Kira and Ray battle each other so soon after what just happened? And Tyson and Kai?! I would have thought you all were saving that for the finale."

"In all actuality my dear, we're looking into that. It was supposed to be Majestics versus Blitzkreig Boys, White Tigers X versus Barthez, and All Starz versus BBA Revolution. Someone hacked into our computer system and changed it last minute from what I'm told."

"But why would anyone do that? It doesn't make any sense. Why don't you change it back to what it was supposed to be?" Luna frowned, she looked down and saw the All Starz lining up to battle the Barthez Battallion.

"Perhaps it was just a crazed fan wanting to see their favorite teams battle already? One cannot be too certain. There was no way to track who did it. And as far as changing it, we do all of this live. That's just not a possibility. Unfortunately, we didn't catch it in time before Jazz announced the battling teams." Luna felt her phone vibrate, and saw that she was getting a call from Kai. She looked back at Mr. Dickenson and nodded.

"Well, I'm going to look into this myself and find out who the person with a death wish is. And I have just the partner-in-crime in mind. Later Gramps!" Luna kissed her grandfather on the cheek before disappearing out the door.

"What a lively spirit that one is." He chuckled, as he turned his attention back to the match.

Kira was racing through the halls as she was fighting back tears. How was it possible that everything was going so wrong? She was trying so hard to stay strong after all of the humiliation from the sex tape, the personal humiliation of being rejected by Johnny, and now having to face Ray and his team in front of everyone in the world. She just didn't know if she had it in her. Kira stopped running once she felt the world spinning around her, and suddenly, she couldn't tell which way was which. She blinked, trying to regain her composure but it wasn't working. Nausea started setting in and she couldn't find her footing.

"Kira... Kira, oh my god, are you okay?" She felt herself falling backwards and a warm pair of arms surrounded her, holding her up.

"I...I.." Kira kept blinking her eyes, but everything was spinning.

"Just close your eyes and try to relax." She listened and felt herself being hoisted up. Suddenly the lights from the hall were gone and she heard a door close. The acoustics were bouncing off of the room she was now in as all she could hear were herself and this mysterious savior of hers, breathing. "Open your mouth a little." She was hesitant after everything that had happened to her, but she was willing to take whatever help she could get. Her lips parted and she felt a cold liquid rushing out of a bottle and into her mouth. Water. Something she hadn't thought of to drink all day. She reached out and grabbed the bottle and finished the beverage. Opening her eyes, she ran her eyes around the room. Just as she had suspected, a broom closet. At least they had privacy, which she appreciated. She tilted her head backwards to view her rescuer, and felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Ray... I..."

"Stop.. it's okay. You don't need to explain yourself." She lifted herself up off of his lap and sat across from him, feeling...something she just couldn't put a finger on. Regret? Worry? Fear?

"But I think I do though." Their eyes connected and she felt her chest tighten. "I... I'm scared."

"I am too..." He looked down, his expression sad. Last time they talked, she definitely gave him an earful. "Listen Kira, I didn't leak that sex tape. I didn't even know it was being taken, and when I ran into you in Venice, I was trying to explain myself so we could deal with it together. I never wanted anything like that to happen. That night made me so happy and... Mariah ruined it."

"I...I know that now, and I'm sorry. I just hadn't expected that, and I was hurt." Kira leaned forward and placed her hand on his shoulder. She physically felt the relief that Ray felt as he sighed as he looked back up at her. Their faces were so close, their noses were almost touching. She stared into his deep golden eyes, searching for any form of deceit...but there was none. Ray reached his hand up and softly touched the side of her face.

"How are you feeling now?" He asked quietly.

"Better...thank you."

"Then why are you looking at me that way?" Kira could feel him pulling her in closer as her cerulean eyes feathered shut.

"I'm trying to figure out if this... is real.." Her eyes closed all the way and she closed the gap between her and her former lover. Electricity flew through her, down to her core, and not like the other night. This time it was so intense that shot through her skin. She ran her hand through his hair and pulled herself onto his lap, feeling like she couldn't be close enough to him. He pulled away and they both opened their eyes, drunkenly.

"Is it real?" He asked, and she nodded.

"I... We just have so much.." He placed his finger over her lips, as he traced the curves, his eyes focused on them.

"I'm so sorry Ki. My priorities have been so warped for so long, I didn't know what I needed or wanted. I thought I knew what I was doing, but I never realized until I left back to China that you matter more than anything." He looked back up into her eyes which were welling up with tears, and she grabbed him into a tight hug. Ray felt his shoulder start to get wet from her tears and hugged her tightly back. "I'm so sorry... I never meant for any of this to happen. I should have been there with you when you were attacked, I shouldn't have ever left the BladeBreakers." Kira pulled back to look at him with her tear stained face.

"No..." She sniffled. "You needed to do this yourself, as did I. Tomorrow we are going to go up against each other and battle. Remember, we both said we wouldn't hold back." Kira looked back down at his lips and leaned forward, kissing him. "And this isn't going to change anything." She felt Ray smile against her lips.

"I would never forgive you if you did." Kira stood with Ray's help and turned towards him one last time.

"Can we just keep this between us for now? It'll be kind of exciting to have a secret of our own, and I think if we want this to have any sort of chance of working, that's our best bet." Ray nodded at her request and grabbed her hand, rubbing the top of it with his thumb.

"Would you... mind if I came to visit you tonight? Ever since that night I haven't been able to get you out of my head." Kira smiled, knowing what he meant.

"Well, we're staying at one of Enrique's many estates while we're here in Italy. Plus... I think we should save all this tension for after the match." She winked, turning and reaching for the door handle.

"Fine, you can attempt to destroy me during the match and I'll destroy you in the bedroom." Ray grabbed onto the front of her waist, softly kissing the back of her neck which sent chills down her spine. She quickly twisted the door handle and wiggled out of his grasp.

"Okay, bye! See you tomorrrow!" She squealed and closed the door behind her, causing Ray to chuckle.

'Maybe everything is going to be okay.' He thought to himself happily.

"I just don't understand, Kai. What do you mean Amara was talking to a man named Boris?" Luna asked her fiancé as he paced around the room they snuck away to.

"I have no idea, Luna." He looked at her, crossing his arms. "But I fear that Kira may be in more trouble than we thought. If it's the Boris that we grew up with that you had the dishonor of meeting last year... it's not good." Kai closed his eyes in concentration, thinking of all the possibilities.

"But I thought Boris was sent away because of everything that happened, why resurface now?"

"Amara's words... 'This is a long time coming, she deserves everything that she's gonna get...' I just have a feeling that it is the Boris that I'm thinking of... and if I'm right that means that Voltaire is behind this too. He's a lot more powerful than everyone gives him credit for. There's a lot more shady things that they had going on than I'd like to admit..." Kai scoffed and Luna frowned.

"I went to go see Gramps right before you texted me.. someone hacked into the BBA system and switched the teams battling today. You were supposed to go up against the Majestics, not the White Tigers... It's not that big of a deal but it definitely caught my attention."

"An insignificant spark can cause a wildfire, especially with her. Let's just hope my suspicions are wrong." Kai looked out the window, his eyes weary. Luna walked over to him and wedged herself between the window and Kai, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Kira can handle herself Kai. I know you feel that connection and the need to protect her because of what you both went through as children, but I promise she can. Plus don't you need to be worrying about your battle with Tyson in a few days?" Luna raised her eyebrow as Kai's gaze fell to meet hers.

"You insult me, Luna. I'm not worried in the slightest about Tyson, that buffoon is just going to embarrass himself like he did with Ray." Luna smiled as Kai captured her lips in his own and she closed her eyes letting herself get lost in the intoxication of her love.

Eeeee! I finally updated. Sorry for the long ass delay guys. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and please don't hate me for putting Kira back with Ray...for the time being! Hehe.

Please review guys, it honestly gives me the fuel to update much faster than if I have no reviews. Plus so does putting my story in your favorites and notifications lists ;)

So next chapter is gonna be White Tigers X vs the Majestics! Plus, how is Kira going to break the news to Ray that she slept with Johnny? How do y'all think he's gonna take it? What do y'all think is going on with Amara? Is Johnny ever going to start treating Kira like a human being again?! Ohhh the draaamaaa. Haha. Talk to you guys soon! If you ever have any suggestions or questions, feel free to leave them in a review or PM! I love love love talking to you guys!