A/N: This is a mature fic. I don't want any little ones reading this shit okay? You will be scarred for life.

CHAPTER 25

We all have our experiences

And sometimes

They feel worth sharing

Anonymous

Tala walked down the lacquered hallway, humming a merry tune, footsteps echoing, the ice in the drink in his hands clinking. He was at the official residence for bladers participating in the Expo, set up by the one and only Kai Hiwatari. The generous man. Their food and accommodation was already paid for. All they had to do was bring their A game to the stadium.

And Tala had given his best the last time . Or had that been the first time? It had been the opening match after all. He hummed away, rounding a corner before coming to a stop in front of Bryan's room. He knocked, waited for a beat for him to open the door and let him in, then entered with his nose in the air. He surveyed the inside of the room. Ten feet long and wide, the space was modern and funky-looking. Tala liked his residence grudgingly.

There was a dismantled beyblade on the small desk, a chair pulled out beside it. Bryan had been working on the blade. Tala dragged the other chair, which was next to the window, to the desk and sat down, drawing one leg over the other. Bryan plopped on his chair, picked up the base of his blade and resumed tinkering with it.

Tala observed him, drumming his fingers on the table, drink balanced on a knee. "This place is full of insufferable fools. I hate them all," declared Tala. "One of them, I couldn't be bothered to remember his name, skipped up to me earlier like a retard, and asked me for an autograph."

Bryan looked up at him, eyes a watery blue. "I thought you liked when people worshipped you."

Tala made a strangled noise. "Yes. But not like this. This one was acting like a shameless dog with half a brain." He shifted the drink from his knee to the desk. "It was more insulting than flattering. Can you imagine? A dumb little runt with no self respect or dignity asking you for an autograph? Absolutely appalling."

Bryan snorted lightly, screwdriver in hand, attaching pieces together. Usually he would try ruffling Tala's feathers a bit more, but today he remained quiet. Withdrawn. Focused on his work.

He was upset.

Tala stared at him for a minute as he sat hunched in his short chair, the screwdriver looking tiny in his big fingers. Then rolled his eyes at himself for what he was about to do. "She'll come back, you know," he told Bryan. "Falborg has always been resilient. She'll be back before long." He reached out and grabbed his wrist, the hand with the tool, so he met his eyes. He made sure to look into them properly. "Before the next match. I assure you." Bryan smiled. Tala gave his arm a squeeze.

"Wanna see something?" He asked jumping up to his feet.

"Sure" said Bryan with a lopsided grin.

Tala breathed out elaborately, closing his eyes and finding the center of power within him. Molten like lava. He could sense it moving within him the moment he touched it. He glanced toward the window and raised a hand toward it. Then snapped his fingers once. The glass frosted up, the sound of ice crackling amazing Bryan to no end.

"Wow" he praised. Now, this was the kind of worship Tala liked. "How can you do that?"

Tala let his arm drop. The frost vanished into thin air. "You can do it too," he said with a smile that shimmered like icicles in sunlight.

O – O – O – O – O

Tyson was woken with a kiss and a spray of water on his face. "What the fuck?" He sprang up, gasping. Kai stood over him with an obnoxious sneer.

"Get up" he said, swatting the rest of the water droplets in his hands on Tyson, who tore his blankets off and hurled them at Kai.

"No I won't," he shouted. "What is wrong with you?"

"It's half past eleven," Kai gathered the blanket into his arms and began folding it. "Almost noon. You've slept long enough."

Tyson sputtered. "So you threw water in my face?" He wiped a hand down said face. "Who does things like that?"

"Me" Kai draped the neatly bundled blanket at the food of the bed, then stared at him. Unabashedly. And Tyson realized he was sitting there naked and not even in a flattering pose, one leg bent, the other stretched, back slouched, a loose fist on the mattress between his thighs. Jeez.

Tyson straightened his back, eyeing the blanket. He cleared his throat. Kai's gaze was on his waist, before it trailed lower. And lower. And the dull ache deep within him finally made its presence known, memories of the night before flooding into his mind without mercy. His skin felt hot. "Stop staring."

Kai's gaze lifted up to his own. "Why should I?"

"Because you threw water on me," Tyson stood up, trying not to think about how naked he was. He put on an angry expression and attempted to steer around Kai. He made it a foot far before he was caught around the waist and pulled into his chest, his slightly cold hand on Tyson's warm back. Kai had a tiny, barely there, mole at the tip of his nose, which he stared at before looking up at him.

Their eyes met. Tyson flushed a ruby red. His skin felt fragile. About to go up in flames. Kai's hand slid across his back, deliberately. Savouring the feel of him. Tyson recalled the way he'd kissed him last night. Kissed him in places he'd never been kissed before. He'd seemed to enjoy it. Tyson understood the pleasure of giving in bed. But Kai liked to give more than take and Tyson suspected it was more about being in control than anything else. Kai hated giving up control. Of any kind.

You couldn't lead a multi billion dollar company without liking the feeling of being in power. And Kai liked it a lot.

"I also gave you this," he said. Tyson frowned. Confused.

"What?"

Kai leaned forward and Tyson reared back in reflex. He'd only wanted to kiss but Tyson didn't know this yet. Their lips touched once. His eyes were open, still pulling back. He stopped when he realized what he was doing. Kai pressed their lips together again and Tyson's eyelids fell closed.

Oh

Kisses in the morning were nice. His hand curled into Kai's shirt collar. He purred as the palm on his back glided gently along his lower back, igniting sparks. Damn. He hadn't felt anything like this in a long while. When was the last time somebody kissed him before he'd even brushed his teeth? There was that one girl in first year who had stayed the night and cuddled with him a bit in the morning. But that experience had nothing on this one. Kai was making his heart soar.

Tyson broke away smiling. "I'll have my revenge," he swore. There was no way he wasn't getting him back for the unexpected spray.

Kai pecked him. "I'm looking forward to it." His voice was that perfect mixture of rough and smooth. His smile a rare treasure.

Both of his arms circled his waist before Kai drew him close and dipped him backward with a kiss. Tyson felt it in his toes. "Go take a shower," Kai murmured into his mouth. "I'll lay some clothes out for you on the bed."

"Hmm okay" Tyson didn't want to let him go. He touched his nose to his. "You have a mole on your right eyelid," he told him when he noticed it among his lashes.

"And you have a mole on the inside of your right butt cheek."

Tyson blushed furiously. His brain shortcircuited. He stuttered. "D-do I?"

"Yeah" His hands skimmed his hips. "I like it." Tyson stared at him for a beat too long after he said that. And he could see it. Sense it coming from a mile away. The inevitable fall. Kai hit him when he wasn't looking. Perfect, pointed hooks straight to his heart. Try as he might, be couldn't protect himself from him. Sooner or later, he'd slip up and fall hard. Face first. And then there would be no getting back up because Kai knew Tyson's weaknesses. He'd learned them all a long while ago. And even if he chose to cut his heart out of his chest just to not feel for him anymore, Tyson feared, that by that time, the love would have spread to the rest of him. Like a cancer. That would slowly but surely kill him.

He didn't want to fall in love. But there he stood. Holding him in his arms and smiling his lopsided smile. Ready to be the death of him.

O – O – O – O – O

"So, how was your weekend?"

"Oh you know," Tyson dipped a fry into the ketchup. "We had fun."

"Yeah, fun," Max said in that giggly fashion of his. A little too happy and smug. Tyson rolled his eyes at him.

"I know it will be gross and stomach-turning but I'm curious," Kenny leaned across the table with wide irises. "What exactly did you do for one whole day? Just the two of you. In the house. Wasn't it boring?"

Rei's snort was transmitted across continents to the small café they were huddled in right now. "Did your dad never give you the talk, Chief?" Tyson bit into his cheese burger.

Kenny narrowed his eyes at him. "What talk?"

"About the birds and the bees," Tyson talked between chews. Mayo dripped down the corner of his lip and he swiped at it with a napkin. "Woah, she tasty," he commented on his burger.

The Chief was outraged. "Yeah, I'm starting to think you're spending too much time with him."

"Why?"

"You have been sounding like a condescending asshole lately," said Kenny, choosing the words Tyson often used to describe Kai.

He put his food down. Apologized. "I'm sorry"

"I'm kidding"

"No, but Tyson," Rei interjected. "I want details too. What did you do? How much "fun" did you have?" He wagged his eyebrows. The phone rested on a napkin holder at the end of the table, positioned in such a way that he could see all of them at once.

"Really?" Tyson loomed over the camera. "Really?"

Max giggled again. Kenny picked at his salad.

Rei shrugged. "Yeah, Really. I wanna know. Is he good?" he asked casually. Tyson couldn't believe his friend. He mouthed the words "are you fucking kidding me?" at him.

"Oh tell us, Tyson," Max urged. Clearly way too excited.

"Why?" Tyson looked at all of them in turns.

"Because he's always so closed off and cold. We want to know what he's like when he's…only with you. We want to know what he's hiding."

"And use it for ammo," Kenny muttered under his breath, jabbing his fork into the lettuce.

Tyson weighed the pros and cons of disclosing private information to his friends and then shrugged when he realized he didn't actually care about the consequences. "Well," he began, emphatically. Three pairs of eyes and ears honed in on him with interest. "He's good," he said, before remembering how good and a smile curved on his lips. "Very good," his tongue caressing the syllables as they rolled out of his mouth.

"Wow," Max breathed. "Gross" He blinked. "But interesting. Tell us more."

It was Tyson who giggled this time. He placed his hands upon his thighs. "He um…he's, well, Kai, but," he thought about the things he'd said to him Friday night. You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen. His heart skipped a beat at the memory. It wasn't the words themselves, but the way he'd said it. Like he meant every word. And Tyson had almost believed him. But that couldn't have been true. He'd seen the type of women who adorned the arms of the men in Kai's social circles. Prettier than the diamonds on their necks. Yet Kai had said those words to him. And backed them up with the way he'd touched him after. As though Tyson was made of all things irresistible to Kai.

He cleared his throat. "He's good to me." He licked his lips. Grabbed another fry. Avoided his friends' gazes. "He makes me feel…rare. I like him."

Tyson looked up. Kenny rolled his eyes. "Of course you like him. You're dating him."

"Rare," Max reiterated, thoughtfully. Fascinated. "That's nice but I can't imagine Kai making anybody feel "rare"," he laughed. "So weird"

"Hm" Rei agreed. "What kind of love potion are you using Tyson?"

"Love potion?" He said dismissively. "Nobody's in love."

"You're not?!" Max was incredulous.

"No!" Tyson denied with fervor. "Why would you think that?" he asked with slight trepidation.

"Isn't he?"

"Who, Kai?"

"Yeah"

They were making it sound so casual. Like it was such a normal thing to fall in love. "He-" Tyson's throat dried up. Was he in love? What had Kai said by the riverbank? I meant what I said. But that didn't mean he was in love. Just that he had been. What the fuck? Why was he even having this stupid conversation with his friends? "He's not in love," Tyson said firmly.

Rei raised an eyebrow. They were all silent. Why were they silent? Did they know something he didn't? Tyson stopped himself right there. This was useless. There was no point of getting paranoid. He picked up his burger and resumed eating. Then changed the subject. "Anyone up for a movie night with me, Mike and Em?"

O – O – O – O – O

The movie night started out wonderfully. Everyone was in high spirits, excluding Kai, but that was normal, so Tyson didn't mind. A movie they hadn't seen before was put on and Tyson's dorm room was crowded. Max, Kenny, Emily and Michael sat on either sides of Tyson and Kai, who were on the couch, in pairs. Max and Kenny on the couch on their right. Michael and Emily on the floor on their left.

Tyson wanted to watch the movie but Kai was distracted. He kept shifting in the seat or taking covert glances at him. Tyson let his head fall back on Kai's shoulder and turned to face him. "What?" he asked when Kai sniffed. He was wearing a turtleneck. Tyson picked at the fabric covering his chest. "You don't want to watch the movie?"

"No"

"Then what do you want to do?"

Kai shrugged. "Something else."

Tyson could think about several something elses at the moment but he didn't voice any of them out loud. Instead he simply snuggled closer to him, enjoying the warmth he radiated. He was a soft but solid cushion. Tyson loved the feel of him against his side. He managed to watch three fourth of the movie, Kai minding his own business for the duration, before he heard him sigh a little heavily and got concerned. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

Kai scratched an eyebrow with his hand and shook his head, gaze unseeing on the tv. Tyson planted a tiny kiss on his cheekbone. "Are you bored?" An obvious question.

He nodded quietly in reply. Tyson brushed a few locks of his hair from his forehead. "Are you here only because I asked you?"

Another nod.

He wound an arm across his torso, in a sort of hug and rested his temple on Kai's shoulder. He traced his side profile with fond eyes. "College boys would never," he said in a voice low enough so that others won't hear. Watched an amused smile quirk up the corner of his mouth. And literally felt the defenses around his heart crack.

Kai glanced down at him then. He could probably see the affection in Tyson's gaze. But did he look away? No. He let him see. Let him know. Kai leaned in the tiniest fraction. Tyson tracked the lines of his face with a finger. Up his cheek. Down his high nose bridge. He smiled a small content smile at Kai. "Why are you not watching the movie?" He asked this time.

Tyson spotted the chance to say something cheesy and grabbed it with both hands. "Because you're more interesting," he answered, cupping his jaw.

Kai made a series of expressions that sent Tyson's heart into overdrive. A lift of his eyebrows. A downward shrug of his lips. He'd turned his head away, and so Tyson brought it back in his direction with a hand on the side of his chin.

Their gazes locked and held for a long moment where Tyson pretty much melted into him. His fingers slid along his neck and stopped at his nape. He tugged gently. Kai leaned the rest of the way.

When their lips touched, he gave a sigh. Kai's were cool and pliant. Tyson kissed him close-mouthed, relishing the experience. Loving the way their lips slid along each other with just the right amount of pressure. He tried not to moan. Kai's nape was the perfect fit in his hand. Like they were puzzle pieces that held snug in all the right places. And the feeling was incredible.

Kai's mouth opened a fraction. A hairsbreadth. When Tyson pressed against that opening, he felt a shock of teeth and for some reason it excited him to no end. He lapped a tongue across his lips and Kai opened up wider. And he let himself in, his tongue immediately finding Kai's. He grew hot and hard. Someone moaned.

An obscenely loud clearing of a throat brought them back to earth. Tyson drew away, a string of saliva connecting his lips to Kai's. He groaned. "What the hell do you want?" he growled at Max who had been the one who interrupted them.

"We're still here, you know," he complained, outraged.

"Sorry" Tyson said sheepishly, giving Kai a consolatory pat on his thigh. "Later" he whispered into his ear and watched his lips twitch with a repressed smile.

After the movie night ended and everyone filed out yawning sleepy goodbyes, and even Michael made himself scarce, leaving Tyson and Kai alone in the room, they cleared up the trash and straightened the place out. Then Tyson gave Kai a predatory look, who made a show of lying down on his small bed and patting the mattress by his side. Come.

Tyson laughed once before making his way over. "I knew you were suffering." He intertwined fingers with Kai, kneeling on the bed. They mock wrestled for a minute, trying to pin each other down, a silly fight for dominance. Tyson fought noisily, going aarrrrrgh and uuuuurrgghhhh but without putting any real strength into it. He got defeated though he went into the fight looking to lose and pouted up at Kai.

His clothes were gone in twenty seconds tops and he pulled a pissy face because Kai was still fully clothed in that overly modest turtleneck. "Take off your clothes," he whined. "I don't like this."

"Who said I was doing things you liked?" Kai sassed him in a bored voice.

Tyson kicked him in the chest and got his foot arrested. "Let go" He twisted in his hold. "I hate-" His protests were muffled by the pillow when his face was moshed into it in the struggle for his foot's freedom. "Stop!" He kicked again.

Kai bit him in retaliation. "Ow! What the fuck?" Tyson rose up on his elbows to gape at Kai. "Did you just fucking bite me?"

Kai's hand was wrapped around his sole. His face an odd mask of petulant rebellion. "You're an animal." Tyson tried to claw at him. "Let go of me."

"If I'm an animal, then you're an alien."

"Oh, rich comeback. Very mature."

Kai bit into his big toe this time. Hard. Tyson screamed. "Aaaaaargh! What. The. Fuck. Is wrong with you?" He jiggled his leg so crazily Kai lost his grip on him.

"Whoo!" he celebrated. "Finally!" Then sat up and pointed a finger at Kai. "Don't touch me again. You've been banned from touching me." Kai fumed. "You animal," Tyson called him again just to rile him up more.

And he got the results of his efforts when Kai lashed out and grabbed him. His naked self. Grappling with his hands and legs before somehow trapping him against the bed. Kai's entire weight on top of him. "You're heavy! I'm not your bean bag," Tyson wailed. "Get off of me, you caveman."

"I thought I was an animal," Kai said gruffly into his ear.

"Well, fuck you."

"Rich comeback," Kai mimicked him. "Very mature."

Tyson screamed again.

"Stop screaming!"

"No! Not till you get off of me!"

"What are you going to do?" Kai asked him.

"What?" Tyson calmed down to listen to him.

"If I let you go," Kai said in a more composed tone. "What would you do?"

"Huh?" Tyson was confused. "I'll put my clothes on for starters."

"Then I'm not letting you go."

Tyson made a sound of protest. "You're weird, Kai." He tried to look at him, lifting his head and turning. "Has anyone ever told you you're weird?"

Kai tickled him. Tyson giggled against his will. And got a kiss on his shoulder. He went pliant in his clutches. "What are you going to do?" Tyson asked, relaxed with his cheek smooshed on the pillow.

"Hmm?"

"Without letting me go?"

Hands sneaked down to his belly and a shiver went though him. "I'm going to fuck you," Kai whispered against the spot right below his ear in his raspy voice. Tyson hummed, grinning as his cheek and the corner of his mouth were kissed.

"I think I'd like that."

O – O – O – O – O

"The thing about bitbeasts, mi hermano, is that they never show themselves when you look for them. You gotta make them come to you. You gotta make them want to meet you. Sort of like chasing a feisty woman eh?" Hiro stared at the bartender with obvious judgement in his eyes. Was this guy really the person Brooklyn had referred to in his note?

The goatee man in the pub. Day Port, Missouri.

Hiro had read the note ten times over trying to make sense of it. Goatee man? Day Port? Missouri? Brooklyn had told him once long ago that he had grown up in the West side of the US, before being scouted at the age of ten. So did that mean Hiro had to go meet some man with a goatee in a pub somewhere in a town that wasn't even on the map all the way down in Missouri?

He'd packed up that very night and taken the highway to the Midwest. He'd reached the desolate town a solid twenty four hours later, having taken several wrong turns along the way. Nobody knew the goddamn place.

And just as he'd predicted, there weren't many pubs down here. In fact, there was only one. And he'd searched for a man wearing a goatee, wondering if he was even alive. If he was on a goose chase. But the person he'd been looking for was right at the bar. Toweling a shot glass dry. The bartender.

He reminded him strangely of Max's father. He had a worn look about him, but his eyes were sharp and bright. Two black pools that twinkled incessantly. Hiro had walked up to the bar and asked him, straight up, "you know about bitbeasts?" And the man had smiled at him over his shoulder, crookedly. He had twenty or so years of experience with training beasts and bladers alike. Hiro had inquired if he knew anyone named Brooklyn and he'd stared in confusion.

"I'm not looking for a bitbeast," Hiro clarified in clipped tones. "I'm looking for a boy who crossed over to their land."

The bar had closed a while ago. Hiro had arrived just ten minutes before. The goatee guy, his name was, Ricardo, lit a cigarette, the flame illuminating his face for a moment. "Si. Boy. How old is he?"

"He's…twenty."

"Ohhh," Ricardo took a drag and blew smoke toward him. Hiro fanned it away, not pleased. "Why'd he go? What was his reason? You still keeping touch?"

Hiro wondered which question to respond to first. He chose to go with the one he knew the answer to. "Yes, we're still in touch. Sort of. I don't know why he left. It happened all of a sudden."

"Ah" He nodded. "Were you friends?" he tossed. "Lovers?"

Hiro frowned heavily at the second suggestion. Why did people always assume one had to have romantic feelings in order to care for someone? "Friends" Hiro said stiffly. Then exhaled impatiently. "How do I reach him?"

"What do you mean 'how do I reach'? You want to cross over?" he asked like that was a ridiculous idea.

"Yes!" Isn't that what he'd been asking all this time? Was this man drunk?

Ricardo scoffed first. Then outright barked a laugh. "You're crazy. People don't cross over that easily. It's not an everyday fiesta."

"I have to do it. I have to find him." Hiro was resolute.

"Then get ready to do all kinds of shit, bro," he finished his cigarette and stubbed it out on a nearby ashtray. "And I'm talking weird shit. Stuff that keeps you up at night." Then he looked up and stared straight into his eyes. "Ain't no chickencrap going to pass through that veil."

O – O – O – O – O

"In order to cross the veil keeping our world separate from the land of the beasts," said Ricardo. "You have to face your worst fears." Hiro stood beside him at one of the pig farms in the area, two days later. He'd been sleeping at an inn just outside the town and eating at the local burger stops.

"Let's start easy eh?" Ricardo gestured to him. "Touch her with your bare hands." Farrows and pigs. One of his biggest fears. But the feeling rested more heavily on the side of disgust than fear. His boots made a wet crunching noise as he padded through the waste littering the floor of the stinking farm and crouched next to the pig Ricardo had brought out for him. He wasn't doing this out of generosity. Hiro was paying him good money to put him through his own personal hell. Masochism at its finest. The pig made the snoring noise all pigs made that sent Hiro's skin crawling. He reached a hand out, fingers trembling and very much bare. The skin was pinkish and hairy. The flesh bulging outward. He tried to keep the bile rising up his throat from making its way out of his mouth as the tips of his fingers grazed the animal's body.

A shudder went through him. He held his eyes wide open as he pressed his palm down fully against the pig's soft, filthy, sweaty skin and felt something inside him physically recoil at the sensation. He held his hand there for one, two, three long drawn out seconds and then snatched it away. His heart beating wild, erratic beats in his chest.

"Good good," Ricardo praised him. "Very brave. Now push her into the farrow. She'll fight. She knows it's going to be nasty."

It was vile. Demeaning. A horrible act against the animal. A pig was never the same once put through the torment of farrowing. Hiro couldn't do it. How could Brooklyn have committed all these dehumanizing acts? May be Brooklyn's fears hadn't been so…insensitive? Didn't require such feats of inhumanity? Nd he couldn't pretend he wasn't doing it either. He had to be there. Present. Had to do it with the full knowledge that he was committing this atrocity. This unforgivable thing. He'd never be the same again. And that's what passing the veil meant. You strip away this very human, fragile, sensitive part of you and all of a sudden, your eyes don't just see what they want to see because there's nothing there to protect anymore. The veil is brought down. You didn't need to be protected. Because now, you were the monster.

A/N: HOWDY! I'M BACCCCKKKKK! Urm, yeah. How have yall been? I was toying with the idea of...nah, I can't say it. It's embarrassing. May be some other time. I hope you're all well and healthy. Thank you for reading this shitty chapter. I see yall loved the ending of the last one. Hehe. Pure self-service. Will do more if you guys don't mind. *smirks* Um I will try and update soon. Leave a review if you have time. THANK YOU. SEE YOU SOON. TAKE CARE.