Kai walked through the BBA office leisurely, for once grateful for the absence of the human whirlwind that was normally attached to his side. He had dropped Anastasia off at the office that morning, and spent the rest of the day overseeing his team's practices, sans beyblades. An entire morning and afternoon of Tyson, Max, Rey, and even Tala groaning and whining as he made them run, jump, and basically act like circus clowns was music to his ears. No wonder Kenny had called him a sadist. Still, it had been necessary; the team was ridiculously out of shape, and they needed to be in top physical form to avoid any curve-balls the championships threw at them this year.
And the training wasn't over yet. He was only on his way back to take Anastasia home, and pick up the prototype that she had designed so he could take it back and the team could do a Battle Royale as the finishing touch on a good day of practice. Kai had been reluctant to engage in a rough battle so soon after getting a new beyblade, but it had been Anastasia's idea in the first place, and her confidence was hard to disagree with.
Kai wasn't sure what had come over her, but ever since last week when he had told her – in a very sleep-deprived state – that he wanted her to stay and work on his beyblade, there had been a weird spring in Anastasia's step. Work no longer seemed to be work: he had caught her humming at one point, even though she usually snapped and demanded silence when she was going over data or even putting together a beyblade. She was also smiling at him more often, if that was possible, and her comments had even ranged to flirty at one point, more so than usual at least: she had taken to requesting that he remove his shirt if he off-handedly asked her if she wanted something, like when he was going to get coffee or food. It was weird, but he wasn't complaining. Anastasia was beautiful, smart, and she knew when he wanted quiet; unfortunately, she also made him want to punch the teeth in of any guy that looked at her twice.
The door to the office was open when Kai reached the correct floor, and he raised his eyebrows when he saw what was inside. Anastasia was lying flat on her back in the middle of the room, surrounded by beyblading parts, loose pieces of paper, broken pencils, a hammer (he knew better than to ask), and her laptop, which was upside-down by her feet, for some reason. The room was a complete mess, and Kai didn't have to turn around to know that the trash-bin in the corner was already overflowing.
He cleared his throat as he entered the office, but Anastasia didn't get up. She merely raised a hand. "Hey."
"What are you doing?" asked Kai tiredly.
"Nothing. I'm finished," her voice was almost as flat as his. Without waiting for a response, Anastasia picked up something by her head and tossed it towards him. Kai had to take a few steps forward to catch it before it hit the ground. "Just put Dranzer in when you're ready."
Kai glanced down at the beyblade in his hand. It looked a lot like the last prototype, but was significantly lighter, which he didn't understand because the attack ring was definitely new, and slightly jagged, which meant it should have weighed more than it did. But he didn't voice his concerns: Anastasia would simply sprout a bunch of technicalities he had no hope of understanding, probably to confuse him on purpose.
"Looks good," he said, pocketing it. "Can we leave?"
"Sure," she didn't move.
Kai sighed and walked further into the room. "You finished a new prototype in one week, why aren't you doing cartwheels or something?" He sat down next to her, noting that her forehead was scrunched up in a scowl. Without considering what he was doing, he reached forward and smoothed the frown lines off her forehead.
Anastasia's eyes shot to his immediately. Fortunately, she didn't comment on it. Instead, she huffed. "My sister called me."
Kai rolled his eyes. "What happened now?"
"She wants me to call the lawyers and give my inheritance back to the family."
Kai snorted. "Yeah, right."
"That's what I said," Anastasia rolled her eyes and sat up, pushing her hair over her shoulder moodily. "She says I don't need it, if I'm ever short on money I should just ask her, and that I shouldn't want to be indebted to them for anything or associate with the family more than I have to."
"The money has nothing to do with associating with your family," pointed out Kai. "You showed me the will, Anna. They left you cash, a lot of it, but nothing else. Put it into your bank account and forget they exist."
"I said that too!" Anastasia threw her hands up in frustration. "She's just so damn secretive about everything, it's like I'm ten years old and she's trying to be some wise old woman or something! She won't tell me what's going on, and when I ask her flat-out what the big deal is about letting my dead parents pay my rent, she started crying! I felt like a jerk," she sighed, her shoulders slumping wearily. "I had to hang up, and now her fiancé keeps asking me why she's being so impossible. Even dead, my parents are such a pain. I really hate my family. Have I mentioned that?"
"You have," despite himself, Kai smiled a little. "Just forget about it, she'll cool off in a few days and you can talk about it later."
"I guess," Anastasia sighed, then gave him a small smile. "Sorry, you came to pick up your beyblade, not listen to my problems."
Kai merely nudged her shoulder and stood up, offering her a hand. "Come on," he said. "You can watch your prototype in action."
!
"Kai's doing really well," said Hilary thoughtfully. "He seems to have way more control over Dranzer than he did last time he let us watch him practice."
Anastasia snorted. "Let you watch him practice?"
"Yeah," Hilary giggled. "I didn't even know how many prototypes you had made for him until just now. He's super secretive about the work you do."
"Of course he is," Anastasia rolled her eyes. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"Because he's Kai," Hilary smiled and shrugged. Anastasia laughed with her, but didn't take her eyes off the beydish, where the boys were battling fiercely. Tyson's dojo didn't have the adequate facilities for a Battle Royale, so they were in the park in one of the larger beydishes, and the girls were seated a few feet away on a bench, slightly higher up so they could still watch. Anastasia's laptop was off and sitting in her bag at her feet; she didn't need statistics to know the outcome of the battle, even though Kenny was madly typing away and yelling at Dizzi to work faster. "We just accept it now," continued Hilary. "But you've done a great job, Anna, on both of them."
"Both?" Anastasia finally tore her eyes away from the battle to give Hilary a curious look. "What do you mean?"
"Dranzer and Kai," Hilary gave her a secretive smile. "He smiles more, you know."
"That's because he's finally getting Dranzer back," said Anastasia immediately. "I don't make Kai smile or any of that sappy stuff, Hilary. We're friends, sure, but he only tolerates me more than other people because I know when to keep my mouth shut."
"As if. I've seen you talk non-stop at BBA parties and at clubs, and he still doesn't leave your side," Hilary rolled her eyes. "Plus, it's not just the smiling. The whole going to America thing? He wouldn't do that for anyone else."
"That's different," awkwardly, Anastasia played with a lock of her hair. "He understood what I was going through. He was being a good friend. It didn't mean what you think it does."
Hilary sighed. "Tala said you were dense about this, but I didn't realize how bad it was. Do you have no woman's intuition? He likes you!"
It was difficult to take offense at what Hilary said. Despite how brisk she was, her eyes were kind, and Anastasia knew that she and Tala were only trying to help. Nevertheless, she shook her head. "I'm sure he doesn't, but even if he did he's clearly not going to do anything about it, is he?"
"Since when do boys know what they want?" Hilary huffed. "You have to shove it in their faces before they realize what they're missing out on."
Anastasia grimaced. "Umm, I really don't want to –"
"Oh, no!" Hilary shuddered. "Please, I do not want to think of Kai like that, or even you! Or you and Kai!" she looked slightly green. "I mean, you guys look cute together and all, but that's just too much!"
"What's too much?" Max was the first one out, and he panted slightly as he flopped down onto the seat next to Hilary. Without batting an eye, she handed him a water-bottle and a bar of chocolate, which he accepted with a cute grin and a word of thanks. "By the way, sweet work on Dranzer, Anna. That new defense weight is killer."
"Thanks, Max," she smiled proudly. "Glad you approve."
"Do you think this is the final one?" he asked curiously.
Anastasia shook her head. "No way, it definitely needs a few more tweaks, but maybe less than I thought since he's lasted so long."
"If I wasn't afraid of my mom murdering me, I'd ask you to help out with Draciel too," confessed Max sheepishly. "But I know your contract says you can't do that."
Anastasia smiled and engaged Max in idle conversation about defense tactics, and Hilary pouted slightly when she realized they couldn't finish their discussion. Anastasia inwardly sighed with relief, until she noticed the slight smirk on Hilary's face as she watched the match. Her eyes flew back to the beydish, zeroing in on the only person she actually wanted to see, but Kai looked away as soon as they locked eyes. He had been staring at her. During a match.
"Idiot," she muttered to herself, before she could help it. Next to her, Hilary giggled.
Ray and Tala were out next at the same time, both supporting looks of wonder on their faces. "You are a goddess," said Tala, falling to Anastasia's feet dramatically. "Kai's finally stopped PMSing! We're saved!"
Anastasia laughed. "Knock it off, Tala," she poked his arm with the toe of her sneakers as he settled down on the ground at her feet. "You'll distract them."
"Nah, Tala's got a point. Kai's doing great," said Rey, accepting the water bottle and towel Hilary threw his way. He wiped the sweat off his brow and smiled at Anastasia. "Chief better watch out. You'll have a new fanclub after this is over."
"That's sweet of you, but I've had more experience, and training," said Anastasia smilingly. "Kenny's brilliant, you guys are lucky to have him. But Dranzer needed something else," she glanced back at the battle, and was impressed with Tyson's endurance. "Fortunately, I figured out what it was."
"Yeah, now if only Kai could figure out what he needs," Tala leaned back in his seat and grinned at Anastasia slyly.
"He's not the only one who needs to figure it out," muttered Hilary.
Anastasia pretended to ignore both of them, even as a tiny seed of hope began to grow in her heart.
