This is the second last chapter!! I had StormRider-ShadowWolf and Rei,
Oliver, and Kai r da bomb read this chappie over to make sure it was 'post-
able' and Rei, Oliver, and Kai r da bomb also read the ninth and final
chapter to make sure it was good. I'm a sucker when it comes to giving out
chappies ahead of time... if you ask me, I'll give you.
Another Word for Strength
Chapter 8: Cassette
***
Rei rolled over, throwing his arms around the nearest thing, a pillow. The sunlight shone through the window and straight into his face, causing him to groan out loud. He rolled over again, this time with the pillow still firmly held in his grip and tried to keep on sleeping. It didn't work. He cursed the sun as he sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned.
'Wait a second.' He thought suddenly as he glanced at his surroundings. He was in his room and wrapped snugly around him was his plain white bed sheets. 'I thought I had fallen asleep on the couch beside Kai.' He remembered what had happened last night. He yawned again and climbed out of bed to see if Kai was still around.
He checked the living room first and found nothing. He sighed in disappointment and returned to the bedroom, finally noticing another note beside the one Takao had left.
~I didn't know if you wanted me to stay~
Rei sighed and dropped the note back onto the table.
"Of course I wanted you to stay." He said to himself and turned to go back to the living room. He looked up for a second and found himself face to face with Kai who was leaning against the door frame with his face free of face paint and a damp towel draped over one shoulder.
"I'm glad." He smirked, knowing that was the last thing Rei expected.
"Why are you-" Rei trailed off. "I thought you... the note said... I thought..." but Rei was at a loss for words. He looked back to the note and read it over again.
"I never wrote that I had left." Kai walked up to him and placed the towel on a chair to dry. "Just that I didn't know if you wanted me to stay or not." He grinned. Rei was making fish faces with his mouth and still staring at him in shock.
Giving up on speech, Rei sat down (more like collapsed) on the bed, still staring at Kai.
"Is the room bugged?" Kai asked, sitting down on the bed just opposite of Rei.
"Dizzy disables all the bugs in the room." Rei answered, finally having found his voice.
"Good, then. My grandfather must have thought it best if I kept up the charade." Rei tilted his head slightly and cocked an eyebrow at this, giving Kai a quizzical look.
"Huh?" he asked.
"My grandfather didn't send men for me last night. The Demolition Boys might be suspected of spying on you guys if he tried to take me away and have me act as if I had never come seeking peace." Kai explained this to Rei. "The Bladebreakers are untouchable, now that you've made it to the finals, and the Demolition Boys would be the first suspects if anything happened." Rei nodded. He looked down at his hands and began to fidget. Kai looked him over for a moment before realizing that Rei was affected by the uncomfortable silence that had descended upon them.
"I was thinking," he started. Rei looked up and grinned.
"Had to happen sooner or later." He kidded. Kai snorted at the joke.
"What are you doing today?" he asked, not bothering to make a snide comeback.
"Well, since Takao and the others are out until lunch time I don't have much to do." Rei replied, wondering what was on the other boy's mind.
"Do you want to have a quick Beyblade match?" Kai asked. Rei grinned again and nodded.
"Sure." He agreed. "But please don't use Black Dranzer. He scares me a bit." Kai's eyes widened at the confession, but nodded.
"Deal. I don't want to use him anyways. He's much too destructive." Rei leaned over to the nightstand and picked up Kai's old blade. He handed it over. Kai looked it over, as one stares at a friend they haven't seen in decades, and noticed that it had something missing. He then remembered that Rei was keeping Dranzer safely tied around his neck.
"Do you think I could use Dranzer's bit?" he asked, startling Rei. He had forgotten about the bit that Kai had allowed him to keep.
He quickly pulled the string from his neck and placed the bit in its master's hand. It glowed in recognition and Kai smiled.
"Good to see you too, girl." He grinned.
***
After a quick continental breakfast, they went out to the park and found an unoccupied dish to stage their friendly battle. They got into their stances and Rei counted down.
"Three."
"Two."
"One! Let it RIP!" they let loose their blades simultaneously. A crowd began to gather as Kai called forth his bit-beast.
"Let's get them Dranzer!" he cried. Dranzer immediately rose from her blade and engulfed Kai in an enormous red glow.
"I'm sorry I ditched you for Black Dranzer." He whispered to the fire bird. "I wanted the power at first, but now I'm blading with him because I have to protect Rei and the other Bladebreakers from my grandfather. You remember what he was like with me. Imagine what he'll be like with someone who isn't his own flesh and blood. When I find a way to get away from him, I promise I'll come back to you." Dranzer crowed in understanding and flew back to the battle. Rei had understood that they needed to talk things over for a minute, and refrained from attacking. The crowd around their dish was immense as everyone in the practice area had seen the enormous red glow and came to see what it was.
"Get her Drigger!" Rei yelled, sensing that their conversation was over. His blade glowed green and his bit-breast came out, too. The phoenix flew straight at the tiger, but Drigger dodged her attack. He began to sprint around the dish and smirked when Dranzer began to chase him. Rei began to laugh, when he saw the same frustrated look on both Kai and Dranzer's faces.
"This isn't fair." Kai whined, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Attack him, Dranzer!"
"Not so fast." Rei called. "Tiger claw attack!"
Drigger turned around and began to run straight at the other bit-beast. They both let out a ferocious cry and collided in a large burst of light. Both bladers were thrown back onto their buts and both blades landed at their feet. They looked at each other and grinned. Kai stood up first and walked over to Rei. He offered a hand to him, offering a genuine smile. Rei accepted his hand and dusted himself off. The crowd cheered, as if it had been a tournament match.
"Nice win." Kai remarked, walking back to his blade.
"I didn't win." Rei retorted, placing his hands on his hips. "We tied."
"No, in my mind, you won that match fair and square." Kai turned and chucked his blade at Rei. "I've got to go. I saw some unwanted spectators. Thanks for letting me borrow Dranzer." The crowd gasped, believing Rei was the owner of both bit-beasts. Kai disappeared into the crowd, just as the Bladebreakers pushed their way through.
"What's going on?" Takao asked Rei. Rei was still grinning when he noticed his friends.
"Oh, nothing." He replied. "Just a beybattle."
"What's everybody talking about?" Kenny asked, referring to the dispersing crowd's whispering. "Everyone's saying you're the strongest Beyblader around. Their saying you can control two bit-beasts."
"Really?" Rei asked, mildly surprised.
"What do they mean by that?" Max asked.
"I guess they mean because I am currently in possession of Dranzer and they saw me battle against her." Rei explained, pulling Dranzer-s bit from the blade and returning it to its spot around his neck. It glowed faintly before being shoved beneath his robes.
"Wait, you fought against Dranzer?" Takao called out as Rei began to walk back to the hotel. "But how?" Rei smirked but kept walking. 'Let them figure out how I did it.'
***
Kai entered the arena minutes before his match to find the Demolition Boys and Boris waiting for him.
"You know, I saw that Chinese boy here at the stadium on Sunday. He looked very upset at your condition." Tala taunted Kai. Kai ignored him and sat on the edge of the bench, waiting for the announcer to begin the match.
"He seems to really be attached to you, ne?" he continued. Kai shot a glare down the bench at him and continued to ignore his stupid comments. The announcer's voice sounded throughout the stadium and Tala stepped up to the dish, looking back at Kai, grinning snidely.
***
Although Tala had made easy work of the first opponent, the Demolition Boys had narrowly escaped defeat. Spencer had lost the second match and if Kai hadn't snapped out of his thoughts before it was too late, they would have lost. Everyone got the rest of the day off except Kai, who was forced to do extra work in return for almost costing the Russian team the win. In Boris' mind he was the only one to blame.
"If you had kept your mind focused on Beyblading then we would have won easily." Boris snapped when he dumped a bucked of soapy water and a cloth into Kai's hands.
"You will scrub every inch of this abbey until it's sparkling clean. And when you are finished, you will go to the training dish and practice until I think you are done." He sneered at Kai before turning and walking out, leaving Kai to realise just how big the abbey really was.
***
Back in the hotel, Max and Takao had busied themselves with a few games of Go Fish and Kenny was in the other room, updating their blades for their final match the next day. Rei found himself staring aimlessly at the white tiled ceiling with one hand behind his head while the other absent-mindedly played with Kai's bit around his neck.
A knock at the door grabbed his attention and Rei looked over to the door to see Mr. Dickenson walk into the room with a slightly troubled look on his face. Rei didn't much care and returned his gaze to the ceiling.
"The Demolition Boys have made it to the finals." He told them. Rei made no move to suggest he had heard what Mr. Dickenson had said, even though he knew the old man's eyes were on him. "I have a video to show you. Their win was very odd. Kai's attention seemed to be anywhere but on the battle." He popped the video into the VCR and called Kenny to come to watch it, too.
Rei sat up and looked at the screen, vaguely interested in what Mr. Dickenson meant. The tape was set at the precise moment that Kai stepped up to battle. They watched as he launched his blade and his focus disappear just as fast as his blade left its launcher. His eyes glazed over and he wasn't even watching the dish. His opponent hadn't noticed Kai's lack of interest and left open plenty of opportunities for Kai to attack and win easily, but Kai didn't seem to notice them at all. It was only when Black Dranzer began to wobble and the dark bird gave out a shrill cry, that Kai was shaken from his reverie and brought back to the battle. They won quickly after that and Mr. Dickenson stopped the tape.
"He wasn't hurt or anything, just distracted." Takao pointed out. "I wonder what it was that he was thinking about."
"Well, what ever it was, it was very obvious and I'm sure the Demolition Boys noticed it." Kenny exclaimed solemnly. "They're probably going to do something about it." Rei lay back down on the bed, his brow knotted with worry. He hoped they didn't hurt him again, like they had the last time.
"I just came up here because I thought you'd like to see what you're opponents did in their latest round." Mr. Dickenson looked back to Rei, disappointed that he had withdrawn back into his shell again. "I got this copy from a good friend of mine." He winked mysteriously at the rest of the team and went to the door. He turned back for a second, a thought just crossing his mind.
"You should practice." He said absently before leaving the room.
"Why don't we wait for tomorrow." Takao said lazily. Now would have been the time for Kai to argue but all the team got was dead air. Max hung his head and shrugged and Kenny looked to Rei.
"Sure, whatever." Rei said, not even giving his words a second thought. Kenny sighed and nodded to Takao his agreement. Without Kai around, there was no one to argue with Takao about procrastination.
"I'm gonna go back to work." Kenny exclaimed softly and walked back to the dimly lit room he had been working in before the distraction. He flicked on the light switch and got back to work.
"Do you want to go out, Max?" Takao asked. Max shrugged.
"Sure." He said. "How about you, Rei?" Max asked, turning to the blader crashed out on the bed.
"No thanks, guys." He replied. "I'll hang out with Kenny."
"Ok, buddy." Takao answered, and led Max out the door, probably to head to the nearest buffet table.
***
"Hey, can I watch?" Rei asked, coming up behind Kenny with a chair.
"Sure, I'd be glad to have a bit of company." Kenny replied, earning a snort from his laptop. "That's not to say you aren't company, Dizz." He sweatdropped at his bit-beast's easily offended pride.
Kenny was working on Dragoon first.
"What's going on between you and Kai?" he asked, not taking his full attention from the disassembled blade.
"What do you mean?" Rei replied, wondering if he was really that easy to read.
"Well, you said earlier that you battled against Dranzer, and you and I both know only Kai can control that beast." Kenny pointed out. Rei winced, realising how obvious it really was.
"And your point is?" he asked, opting to remain as stubborn as possible.
"You were battling Kai." Kenny answered bluntly. "How come you didn't tell us who it was?" he looked up from Takao's blade and looked earnestly into Rei's eyes.
"I don't know." Rei responded meekly. Kenny looked back to the blade.
"I know you are more involved with Kai than you let on." Kenny exclaimed. Rei's eyes widened.
"There's nothing going on." He retorted. "We're just friends." Kenny looked at him again and shook his head. If his hair were shorter Rei would have seen the boy roll his eyes.
"But I'm sure you'd like there to be more going on, ne?" he replied, getting to the bottom of Rei's emotions.
"Am I really that easy to read?" Rei asked, incredulously. Kenny smiled, knowing he had gotten through to his friend and returned his main focus to the repair of Takao's Beyblade.
"Well, I only make assumptions from what I observe." He assured him. Rei snorted.
"You're not the first one to make that same observation."
"Really?" Kenny wondered.
"Yeah, Mr. Dickenson also talked to me about it." Kenny looked back to Rei to try to read the emotions on his face. Being on the sidelines a lot helped him develop that skill. But Rei's face was facing the floor and his hair covered up what Kenny would have been able to see of his face.
"What exactly is it you feel for Kai?" he asked, drawing Rei's face back up to his.
"Um, well- you see..." he began to stammer, trying to find the right words for what he felt. Kenny did it for him.
"Are you in love with him?" he asked, frankly, saving Rei the trouble of saying it himself.
"Hn." Rei replied. Kenny burst out laughing, shocking Rei. He would have thought the younger boy would have been a little more sensitive.
"That's a typical Kai response." Kenny explained when he caught his breath again. Rei snickered a little realising just how much like Kai his reply did sound.
"Does he know how you feel?" Kenny asked, regaining the seriousness of the conversation. Rei was abashed by the suggestion.
"Hell no!" he exclaimed loudly. "I could never tell him." Kenny shrugged and turned back to his workshop.
"And why not?"
"Because I don't want to fuck up our friendship." He exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kenny was silent for a few minutes and Rei thought that was the end of the conversation.
"A friendship he doesn't have with anyone else." Kenny pointed out. "I'm sure he's told you things he wouldn't normally tell anyone." Rei realised that Kenny was right about that.
"Yeah, but-" he tried to explain the opposite but found he was at a loss of words.
"How much emotion has he shown around you? How far has he let you get through his barriers?" Kenny pushed Rei into seeing the reality, but Rei was as stubborn as a mule.
"That doesn't prove anything." He huffed, not realising what Kenny was trying to tell him.
"You are closer to him than anyone else has gotten to him. If he doesn't feel slightly the same as you, then you're at least close enough for your friendship to survive any confession you might make." Kenny explained.
"Maybe you're right." Rei bowed his head, soaking in his friend's advice.
"I know I'm right." Kenny replied, smiling cheerfully. Rei grinned, too.
"Thanks a lot, Chief." He exclaimed. Kenny put Takao's blade back together and put it off to one side.
"Can you pass me Max's blade?" he asked Rei, pointing to the blade beside Rei.
"Sure." He picked up the blade and handed it to Kenny.
"Thanks." Kenny took the blade and began to search for something else. "He spotted an attack ring where Draciel was and pointed to it. "Can you pass me that, too?"
"Sure." Rei repeated and gave him the enhanced part.
"How come you have Dranzer?" Kenny asked, taking Draciel apart.
"Huh?" Rei didn't know what Kenny meant. The blade had been left behind when Kai went to blade for the Demolition Boys.
"When you were in the hospital, the doctor told us you refused to part with it." Kenny explained, not taking his eyes off the blade he was working on. "Did Kai really give it to you?"
"Yeah, he told me to keep it safe for him." Rei explained. "He wanted at least one bit-beast to elude the Demolition Boys' hands."
"Oh." Kenny exclaimed. It didn't explain why Rei was so attached to it.
"He said it would be something to remind me of him." Rei added, seeing Kenny's sceptical look. Kenny began to laugh.
"Kai?" He asked. "A sap? I'll believe it when I see it." Rei chuckled, too.
"Oh, shut up." Rei slapped Kenny playfully on the shoulder. "When he said it, it wasn't cheesy." He tried defending Kai.
"I'm so sure that's the way you heard it." Kenny continued to laugh.
"Whatever." Rei rolled his eyes. "You're starting to sound like Takao. Is there something I should know about?" that halted Kenny's laughs.
"No! Ew! Not Takao. I've just been around him too long. Besides, I'm not interested in anyone right now." Rei chuckled at Kenny's defence. "Plus we all know he has a thing for Max. It's more obvious than you're affections."
"Oh, yeah." Rei agreed and stood up. He decided to let Kenny get back to work on their blades and crash out on the bed again.
***
Half an hour later, Takao and Max came roaring back into the hotel room, obviously sugar high. Takao jumped onto his bed and tried to explain what they had just seen, when Kenny came back into the room.
Rei looked up at the boy and smiled.
"Takao you sound just like Max." He commented, causing both him and Kenny to crack up. Takao stopped for a moment and looked at them strangely. To him it seemed that their hyperness had rubbed off on the other two.
"I just came through to see what the commotion was about." Kenny explained when he caught his breath. "I'm gonna go back, I don't think Dizzy scanned the rooms recently for bugs." With that he left Takao and Max to begin their wild explanations again.
***
"Come in, boy." A gruff voice called to the closed door. Tala stepped forward into the darkened room and walked up to the large desk.
"Here's the latest tape that you asked for." Voltaire exclaimed, handing him a small cassette.
"Thank you very much, sir." Tala bowed. "I'm sure I can find the thing I need on one of these tapes."
"It's no problem for such a loyal boy as yourself." Hiwatari-sama smiled proudly. "I hope you can find some useful information that I've overlooked. I haven't even heard this one." Tala bowed once more. He was extremely grateful at Voltaire's eagerness to help him.
"Thank you, again, sir." He professed. "I'm sure one of these holds the information I'm looking for." He smirked and walked out of the room, leaving Voltaire to look on him proudly as the grandson he never had.
He walked back to his room and found a cassette player on his desk. He popped in the latest tape and played it.
"What exactly is it you feel for Kai?"
"Um, well- you see..."
"Are you in love with him?"
"Hn."
Tala's smirk grew to an evil grin.
"Bingo." He whispered to himself. He had found exactly what he was looking for. 'I've finally found the proof I need that will help us destroy the Bladebreakers.' He thought and began to laugh, maniacally.
~Finis
Hee hee... I wonder what he's going to do. Well, I don't because I already know, but I'm sure you all do. Did you know that the next chapter is the last? Yup. So, that means I have to include some form of punishment for Hiwatari-sama, reveal Tala's plot, have the entire finals, introduce Rei's parents (then find a way to get rid of them), and come up with the perfect ending. *Sigh* The work of an author... it's a good thing I already have the entire chapter in jot notes in a notebook right here in front of me.
Chapter 9: Love and Friendship
Teaser! (Because I'm a cruel person):
"I know why this hurts you so much Rei." He cackled and pulled a cassette player from his pocket. "Cause I know just exactly how you feel for Kai." He laughed again. Turning up the volume so everyone could hear it, he pushed play.
"What exactly is it you feel for Kai?"
"Um, well- you see..."
"Are you in love with him?"
"Hn."
"That's a typical Kai response... Does he know how you feel?"
"Hell no! I could never tell him."
Tala stopped the tape, seeing Rei's eyes widen in shock and surprise. Rei felt like he was the one receiving each blow instead of Kai. He began to wobble on his feet, much like his blade and his gaze faltered to the ground.
***
Tala couldn't speak, and even when he tried, all he got was a squeak. His master plan to force Rei to give up had back-fired severely into his own. He looked up from the dish to Rei and his eyes widened even more. Though the blast didn't affect him in any way, something was obviously wrong with Rei...
uiDun dun dun...... lol the only reason this is in italics and underlined (if it works) is to check to make sure that FF.N can show it cause the next chapter needs to have something both italicised and underlined. /i/u
Please review! Or you can e-mail me your review (firebird_dranzer@hotmail.com) and tell me what you think. You can also add me to your MSN if you have it. I love chattin to ppl from FF.N!!!
Another Word for Strength
Chapter 8: Cassette
***
Rei rolled over, throwing his arms around the nearest thing, a pillow. The sunlight shone through the window and straight into his face, causing him to groan out loud. He rolled over again, this time with the pillow still firmly held in his grip and tried to keep on sleeping. It didn't work. He cursed the sun as he sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned.
'Wait a second.' He thought suddenly as he glanced at his surroundings. He was in his room and wrapped snugly around him was his plain white bed sheets. 'I thought I had fallen asleep on the couch beside Kai.' He remembered what had happened last night. He yawned again and climbed out of bed to see if Kai was still around.
He checked the living room first and found nothing. He sighed in disappointment and returned to the bedroom, finally noticing another note beside the one Takao had left.
~I didn't know if you wanted me to stay~
Rei sighed and dropped the note back onto the table.
"Of course I wanted you to stay." He said to himself and turned to go back to the living room. He looked up for a second and found himself face to face with Kai who was leaning against the door frame with his face free of face paint and a damp towel draped over one shoulder.
"I'm glad." He smirked, knowing that was the last thing Rei expected.
"Why are you-" Rei trailed off. "I thought you... the note said... I thought..." but Rei was at a loss for words. He looked back to the note and read it over again.
"I never wrote that I had left." Kai walked up to him and placed the towel on a chair to dry. "Just that I didn't know if you wanted me to stay or not." He grinned. Rei was making fish faces with his mouth and still staring at him in shock.
Giving up on speech, Rei sat down (more like collapsed) on the bed, still staring at Kai.
"Is the room bugged?" Kai asked, sitting down on the bed just opposite of Rei.
"Dizzy disables all the bugs in the room." Rei answered, finally having found his voice.
"Good, then. My grandfather must have thought it best if I kept up the charade." Rei tilted his head slightly and cocked an eyebrow at this, giving Kai a quizzical look.
"Huh?" he asked.
"My grandfather didn't send men for me last night. The Demolition Boys might be suspected of spying on you guys if he tried to take me away and have me act as if I had never come seeking peace." Kai explained this to Rei. "The Bladebreakers are untouchable, now that you've made it to the finals, and the Demolition Boys would be the first suspects if anything happened." Rei nodded. He looked down at his hands and began to fidget. Kai looked him over for a moment before realizing that Rei was affected by the uncomfortable silence that had descended upon them.
"I was thinking," he started. Rei looked up and grinned.
"Had to happen sooner or later." He kidded. Kai snorted at the joke.
"What are you doing today?" he asked, not bothering to make a snide comeback.
"Well, since Takao and the others are out until lunch time I don't have much to do." Rei replied, wondering what was on the other boy's mind.
"Do you want to have a quick Beyblade match?" Kai asked. Rei grinned again and nodded.
"Sure." He agreed. "But please don't use Black Dranzer. He scares me a bit." Kai's eyes widened at the confession, but nodded.
"Deal. I don't want to use him anyways. He's much too destructive." Rei leaned over to the nightstand and picked up Kai's old blade. He handed it over. Kai looked it over, as one stares at a friend they haven't seen in decades, and noticed that it had something missing. He then remembered that Rei was keeping Dranzer safely tied around his neck.
"Do you think I could use Dranzer's bit?" he asked, startling Rei. He had forgotten about the bit that Kai had allowed him to keep.
He quickly pulled the string from his neck and placed the bit in its master's hand. It glowed in recognition and Kai smiled.
"Good to see you too, girl." He grinned.
***
After a quick continental breakfast, they went out to the park and found an unoccupied dish to stage their friendly battle. They got into their stances and Rei counted down.
"Three."
"Two."
"One! Let it RIP!" they let loose their blades simultaneously. A crowd began to gather as Kai called forth his bit-beast.
"Let's get them Dranzer!" he cried. Dranzer immediately rose from her blade and engulfed Kai in an enormous red glow.
"I'm sorry I ditched you for Black Dranzer." He whispered to the fire bird. "I wanted the power at first, but now I'm blading with him because I have to protect Rei and the other Bladebreakers from my grandfather. You remember what he was like with me. Imagine what he'll be like with someone who isn't his own flesh and blood. When I find a way to get away from him, I promise I'll come back to you." Dranzer crowed in understanding and flew back to the battle. Rei had understood that they needed to talk things over for a minute, and refrained from attacking. The crowd around their dish was immense as everyone in the practice area had seen the enormous red glow and came to see what it was.
"Get her Drigger!" Rei yelled, sensing that their conversation was over. His blade glowed green and his bit-breast came out, too. The phoenix flew straight at the tiger, but Drigger dodged her attack. He began to sprint around the dish and smirked when Dranzer began to chase him. Rei began to laugh, when he saw the same frustrated look on both Kai and Dranzer's faces.
"This isn't fair." Kai whined, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Attack him, Dranzer!"
"Not so fast." Rei called. "Tiger claw attack!"
Drigger turned around and began to run straight at the other bit-beast. They both let out a ferocious cry and collided in a large burst of light. Both bladers were thrown back onto their buts and both blades landed at their feet. They looked at each other and grinned. Kai stood up first and walked over to Rei. He offered a hand to him, offering a genuine smile. Rei accepted his hand and dusted himself off. The crowd cheered, as if it had been a tournament match.
"Nice win." Kai remarked, walking back to his blade.
"I didn't win." Rei retorted, placing his hands on his hips. "We tied."
"No, in my mind, you won that match fair and square." Kai turned and chucked his blade at Rei. "I've got to go. I saw some unwanted spectators. Thanks for letting me borrow Dranzer." The crowd gasped, believing Rei was the owner of both bit-beasts. Kai disappeared into the crowd, just as the Bladebreakers pushed their way through.
"What's going on?" Takao asked Rei. Rei was still grinning when he noticed his friends.
"Oh, nothing." He replied. "Just a beybattle."
"What's everybody talking about?" Kenny asked, referring to the dispersing crowd's whispering. "Everyone's saying you're the strongest Beyblader around. Their saying you can control two bit-beasts."
"Really?" Rei asked, mildly surprised.
"What do they mean by that?" Max asked.
"I guess they mean because I am currently in possession of Dranzer and they saw me battle against her." Rei explained, pulling Dranzer-s bit from the blade and returning it to its spot around his neck. It glowed faintly before being shoved beneath his robes.
"Wait, you fought against Dranzer?" Takao called out as Rei began to walk back to the hotel. "But how?" Rei smirked but kept walking. 'Let them figure out how I did it.'
***
Kai entered the arena minutes before his match to find the Demolition Boys and Boris waiting for him.
"You know, I saw that Chinese boy here at the stadium on Sunday. He looked very upset at your condition." Tala taunted Kai. Kai ignored him and sat on the edge of the bench, waiting for the announcer to begin the match.
"He seems to really be attached to you, ne?" he continued. Kai shot a glare down the bench at him and continued to ignore his stupid comments. The announcer's voice sounded throughout the stadium and Tala stepped up to the dish, looking back at Kai, grinning snidely.
***
Although Tala had made easy work of the first opponent, the Demolition Boys had narrowly escaped defeat. Spencer had lost the second match and if Kai hadn't snapped out of his thoughts before it was too late, they would have lost. Everyone got the rest of the day off except Kai, who was forced to do extra work in return for almost costing the Russian team the win. In Boris' mind he was the only one to blame.
"If you had kept your mind focused on Beyblading then we would have won easily." Boris snapped when he dumped a bucked of soapy water and a cloth into Kai's hands.
"You will scrub every inch of this abbey until it's sparkling clean. And when you are finished, you will go to the training dish and practice until I think you are done." He sneered at Kai before turning and walking out, leaving Kai to realise just how big the abbey really was.
***
Back in the hotel, Max and Takao had busied themselves with a few games of Go Fish and Kenny was in the other room, updating their blades for their final match the next day. Rei found himself staring aimlessly at the white tiled ceiling with one hand behind his head while the other absent-mindedly played with Kai's bit around his neck.
A knock at the door grabbed his attention and Rei looked over to the door to see Mr. Dickenson walk into the room with a slightly troubled look on his face. Rei didn't much care and returned his gaze to the ceiling.
"The Demolition Boys have made it to the finals." He told them. Rei made no move to suggest he had heard what Mr. Dickenson had said, even though he knew the old man's eyes were on him. "I have a video to show you. Their win was very odd. Kai's attention seemed to be anywhere but on the battle." He popped the video into the VCR and called Kenny to come to watch it, too.
Rei sat up and looked at the screen, vaguely interested in what Mr. Dickenson meant. The tape was set at the precise moment that Kai stepped up to battle. They watched as he launched his blade and his focus disappear just as fast as his blade left its launcher. His eyes glazed over and he wasn't even watching the dish. His opponent hadn't noticed Kai's lack of interest and left open plenty of opportunities for Kai to attack and win easily, but Kai didn't seem to notice them at all. It was only when Black Dranzer began to wobble and the dark bird gave out a shrill cry, that Kai was shaken from his reverie and brought back to the battle. They won quickly after that and Mr. Dickenson stopped the tape.
"He wasn't hurt or anything, just distracted." Takao pointed out. "I wonder what it was that he was thinking about."
"Well, what ever it was, it was very obvious and I'm sure the Demolition Boys noticed it." Kenny exclaimed solemnly. "They're probably going to do something about it." Rei lay back down on the bed, his brow knotted with worry. He hoped they didn't hurt him again, like they had the last time.
"I just came up here because I thought you'd like to see what you're opponents did in their latest round." Mr. Dickenson looked back to Rei, disappointed that he had withdrawn back into his shell again. "I got this copy from a good friend of mine." He winked mysteriously at the rest of the team and went to the door. He turned back for a second, a thought just crossing his mind.
"You should practice." He said absently before leaving the room.
"Why don't we wait for tomorrow." Takao said lazily. Now would have been the time for Kai to argue but all the team got was dead air. Max hung his head and shrugged and Kenny looked to Rei.
"Sure, whatever." Rei said, not even giving his words a second thought. Kenny sighed and nodded to Takao his agreement. Without Kai around, there was no one to argue with Takao about procrastination.
"I'm gonna go back to work." Kenny exclaimed softly and walked back to the dimly lit room he had been working in before the distraction. He flicked on the light switch and got back to work.
"Do you want to go out, Max?" Takao asked. Max shrugged.
"Sure." He said. "How about you, Rei?" Max asked, turning to the blader crashed out on the bed.
"No thanks, guys." He replied. "I'll hang out with Kenny."
"Ok, buddy." Takao answered, and led Max out the door, probably to head to the nearest buffet table.
***
"Hey, can I watch?" Rei asked, coming up behind Kenny with a chair.
"Sure, I'd be glad to have a bit of company." Kenny replied, earning a snort from his laptop. "That's not to say you aren't company, Dizz." He sweatdropped at his bit-beast's easily offended pride.
Kenny was working on Dragoon first.
"What's going on between you and Kai?" he asked, not taking his full attention from the disassembled blade.
"What do you mean?" Rei replied, wondering if he was really that easy to read.
"Well, you said earlier that you battled against Dranzer, and you and I both know only Kai can control that beast." Kenny pointed out. Rei winced, realising how obvious it really was.
"And your point is?" he asked, opting to remain as stubborn as possible.
"You were battling Kai." Kenny answered bluntly. "How come you didn't tell us who it was?" he looked up from Takao's blade and looked earnestly into Rei's eyes.
"I don't know." Rei responded meekly. Kenny looked back to the blade.
"I know you are more involved with Kai than you let on." Kenny exclaimed. Rei's eyes widened.
"There's nothing going on." He retorted. "We're just friends." Kenny looked at him again and shook his head. If his hair were shorter Rei would have seen the boy roll his eyes.
"But I'm sure you'd like there to be more going on, ne?" he replied, getting to the bottom of Rei's emotions.
"Am I really that easy to read?" Rei asked, incredulously. Kenny smiled, knowing he had gotten through to his friend and returned his main focus to the repair of Takao's Beyblade.
"Well, I only make assumptions from what I observe." He assured him. Rei snorted.
"You're not the first one to make that same observation."
"Really?" Kenny wondered.
"Yeah, Mr. Dickenson also talked to me about it." Kenny looked back to Rei to try to read the emotions on his face. Being on the sidelines a lot helped him develop that skill. But Rei's face was facing the floor and his hair covered up what Kenny would have been able to see of his face.
"What exactly is it you feel for Kai?" he asked, drawing Rei's face back up to his.
"Um, well- you see..." he began to stammer, trying to find the right words for what he felt. Kenny did it for him.
"Are you in love with him?" he asked, frankly, saving Rei the trouble of saying it himself.
"Hn." Rei replied. Kenny burst out laughing, shocking Rei. He would have thought the younger boy would have been a little more sensitive.
"That's a typical Kai response." Kenny explained when he caught his breath again. Rei snickered a little realising just how much like Kai his reply did sound.
"Does he know how you feel?" Kenny asked, regaining the seriousness of the conversation. Rei was abashed by the suggestion.
"Hell no!" he exclaimed loudly. "I could never tell him." Kenny shrugged and turned back to his workshop.
"And why not?"
"Because I don't want to fuck up our friendship." He exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kenny was silent for a few minutes and Rei thought that was the end of the conversation.
"A friendship he doesn't have with anyone else." Kenny pointed out. "I'm sure he's told you things he wouldn't normally tell anyone." Rei realised that Kenny was right about that.
"Yeah, but-" he tried to explain the opposite but found he was at a loss of words.
"How much emotion has he shown around you? How far has he let you get through his barriers?" Kenny pushed Rei into seeing the reality, but Rei was as stubborn as a mule.
"That doesn't prove anything." He huffed, not realising what Kenny was trying to tell him.
"You are closer to him than anyone else has gotten to him. If he doesn't feel slightly the same as you, then you're at least close enough for your friendship to survive any confession you might make." Kenny explained.
"Maybe you're right." Rei bowed his head, soaking in his friend's advice.
"I know I'm right." Kenny replied, smiling cheerfully. Rei grinned, too.
"Thanks a lot, Chief." He exclaimed. Kenny put Takao's blade back together and put it off to one side.
"Can you pass me Max's blade?" he asked Rei, pointing to the blade beside Rei.
"Sure." He picked up the blade and handed it to Kenny.
"Thanks." Kenny took the blade and began to search for something else. "He spotted an attack ring where Draciel was and pointed to it. "Can you pass me that, too?"
"Sure." Rei repeated and gave him the enhanced part.
"How come you have Dranzer?" Kenny asked, taking Draciel apart.
"Huh?" Rei didn't know what Kenny meant. The blade had been left behind when Kai went to blade for the Demolition Boys.
"When you were in the hospital, the doctor told us you refused to part with it." Kenny explained, not taking his eyes off the blade he was working on. "Did Kai really give it to you?"
"Yeah, he told me to keep it safe for him." Rei explained. "He wanted at least one bit-beast to elude the Demolition Boys' hands."
"Oh." Kenny exclaimed. It didn't explain why Rei was so attached to it.
"He said it would be something to remind me of him." Rei added, seeing Kenny's sceptical look. Kenny began to laugh.
"Kai?" He asked. "A sap? I'll believe it when I see it." Rei chuckled, too.
"Oh, shut up." Rei slapped Kenny playfully on the shoulder. "When he said it, it wasn't cheesy." He tried defending Kai.
"I'm so sure that's the way you heard it." Kenny continued to laugh.
"Whatever." Rei rolled his eyes. "You're starting to sound like Takao. Is there something I should know about?" that halted Kenny's laughs.
"No! Ew! Not Takao. I've just been around him too long. Besides, I'm not interested in anyone right now." Rei chuckled at Kenny's defence. "Plus we all know he has a thing for Max. It's more obvious than you're affections."
"Oh, yeah." Rei agreed and stood up. He decided to let Kenny get back to work on their blades and crash out on the bed again.
***
Half an hour later, Takao and Max came roaring back into the hotel room, obviously sugar high. Takao jumped onto his bed and tried to explain what they had just seen, when Kenny came back into the room.
Rei looked up at the boy and smiled.
"Takao you sound just like Max." He commented, causing both him and Kenny to crack up. Takao stopped for a moment and looked at them strangely. To him it seemed that their hyperness had rubbed off on the other two.
"I just came through to see what the commotion was about." Kenny explained when he caught his breath. "I'm gonna go back, I don't think Dizzy scanned the rooms recently for bugs." With that he left Takao and Max to begin their wild explanations again.
***
"Come in, boy." A gruff voice called to the closed door. Tala stepped forward into the darkened room and walked up to the large desk.
"Here's the latest tape that you asked for." Voltaire exclaimed, handing him a small cassette.
"Thank you very much, sir." Tala bowed. "I'm sure I can find the thing I need on one of these tapes."
"It's no problem for such a loyal boy as yourself." Hiwatari-sama smiled proudly. "I hope you can find some useful information that I've overlooked. I haven't even heard this one." Tala bowed once more. He was extremely grateful at Voltaire's eagerness to help him.
"Thank you, again, sir." He professed. "I'm sure one of these holds the information I'm looking for." He smirked and walked out of the room, leaving Voltaire to look on him proudly as the grandson he never had.
He walked back to his room and found a cassette player on his desk. He popped in the latest tape and played it.
"What exactly is it you feel for Kai?"
"Um, well- you see..."
"Are you in love with him?"
"Hn."
Tala's smirk grew to an evil grin.
"Bingo." He whispered to himself. He had found exactly what he was looking for. 'I've finally found the proof I need that will help us destroy the Bladebreakers.' He thought and began to laugh, maniacally.
~Finis
Hee hee... I wonder what he's going to do. Well, I don't because I already know, but I'm sure you all do. Did you know that the next chapter is the last? Yup. So, that means I have to include some form of punishment for Hiwatari-sama, reveal Tala's plot, have the entire finals, introduce Rei's parents (then find a way to get rid of them), and come up with the perfect ending. *Sigh* The work of an author... it's a good thing I already have the entire chapter in jot notes in a notebook right here in front of me.
Chapter 9: Love and Friendship
Teaser! (Because I'm a cruel person):
"I know why this hurts you so much Rei." He cackled and pulled a cassette player from his pocket. "Cause I know just exactly how you feel for Kai." He laughed again. Turning up the volume so everyone could hear it, he pushed play.
"What exactly is it you feel for Kai?"
"Um, well- you see..."
"Are you in love with him?"
"Hn."
"That's a typical Kai response... Does he know how you feel?"
"Hell no! I could never tell him."
Tala stopped the tape, seeing Rei's eyes widen in shock and surprise. Rei felt like he was the one receiving each blow instead of Kai. He began to wobble on his feet, much like his blade and his gaze faltered to the ground.
***
Tala couldn't speak, and even when he tried, all he got was a squeak. His master plan to force Rei to give up had back-fired severely into his own. He looked up from the dish to Rei and his eyes widened even more. Though the blast didn't affect him in any way, something was obviously wrong with Rei...
uiDun dun dun...... lol the only reason this is in italics and underlined (if it works) is to check to make sure that FF.N can show it cause the next chapter needs to have something both italicised and underlined. /i/u
Please review! Or you can e-mail me your review (firebird_dranzer@hotmail.com) and tell me what you think. You can also add me to your MSN if you have it. I love chattin to ppl from FF.N!!!