Elan Vitale:

Chapter 4: Surreal

A/N: [Disclaimers] I have never claimed ownership of the story or characters, therefore I obviously do not own them. Duh! O_o

I'm depressed. That's all I have to say. I'm not entirely sure if I can finish this fic anymore. Anyway, ignore me for a moment. I'd like to thank those that took the time to review! They really helped. ^-^ Can I count on you guys to review this too? Please read, review, and enjoy.

P.S.

Elbereth Gilthoniel: I thank you for your sincerity! Not many people like that nowadays! ^-^ Hope you drop this chapter a review too!

Hiwatari Kai: Thanks for the review! ^-^ I'm glad to hear it wasn't boring.

Yume no Hime: Thanks for the compliment. I'm not up to elaborating though, sorry. I'm depressed beyond belief.

Van Nash: Thanks for the patronage. Next time, though, don't go advertising my fics?

Anonymous: I'll try my best to make more, deal? Just drop another review please! =P

Crazy-anime-fanatic: Thanks! Sniff…You added me to your favorites! ^-^ Hope I didn't disappoint you!

Ephemereon: Rei is lost in space at the moment…Just kidding! ^_^ He'll pop out sooner than you think!

Anh D-ao: Yay! You reviewed! I'm so happy! ^-^ Please review this too!

***

"Damn it!" Kai cursed. He dug through his piles of paper again. Nothing? Not one piece of information on her? That's not right. He shuffled through the papers and through his grandfathers many drawers. He banged his fists onto the smooth table, still cursing. "Damn it, Damn it, Damn it!"

"I-Is this a bad time?" A muffled voice sounded from behind the doors of the study. He recognized it as Serena. He stood up and lifted the locks on the door. He soon realized he'd regret it.

"HI-YA KAI 'OL BUDDY!" Tyson bellowed as soon as he popped his head out to talk to Serena. He nearly fell back in his surprise; lucky really that he was Kai and not some other weakling that lets meaningless emotions show so easily. It turned out, Tyson, Kenny, and Max were standing right behind her…but the point was…What the hell were they doing here?!

"We were looking all OVER for ya! What are you doing stuck in there???" Max added right after Tyson spoke.

"Yeah, Max is right! We've got really odd news to tell you!" Kenny said.

"What?!" Kai managed to yell. He never expected this. Wait, they weren't even supposed to be let in. They're not my friends. I have no friends.

"Ooooohhh…grumpy today as usual, huh?" Tyson teased playfully.

"Whatever. What do you want?" Kai replied grumpily.

"Come on, Kai. Loosen up, will ya?" Max said cheerfully.

Serena silently giggled. Was he always like this with his friends? He never loosens up.

"Can you guys just spit it out and say it so I can kick you out already?" Kai replied exasperatedly. When are they going to leave?!

Tyson let out a big fake sigh. He flashed another one of those humongous grins at him afterwards and whispered to his face so only he could hear it.

"Kai…come on. We know your secret, man." Tyson said slyly.

"Yeah. Your night time secret." Max whispered from behind Kai before he could reply. Kai was working out a reply and wondering at the same time how Max slipped behind him.

"What are you talking about???" He hissed unpleasantly.

"Oh, you don't have to hide it from us! We know!" Tyson said gleefully.

"Yup! It's true! It's…" Max let out a dreamy sigh and continued exaggeratedly. "…really romantic!"

"The hell…?!" Kai replied. What were they playing at this time?

"Don't you get it yet, man???" Tyson said after he realized Kai didn't have a clue about what they've been teasing him about for the past few minutes. Kai glared at them and crossed his arms.

"If you people have nothing…intelligent to say, just leave. You're wasting my time with all this nonsense." Kai stated blandly, sounding extremely bored.

"You never loosen up!" Tyson pouted.

"Chill you guys!" Kenny interrupted. "Alright, enough is enough. Remember why we came here in the first place?"

"Oh yeah!" Tyson replied, going from sad to happy in mere milliseconds, if it was even possible.

"Kai, your grandfather invited us." Kenny continued. Kai did a double take.

"What???"

"It's true!" Tyson said defensively.

"Yeah." Max added. "Strange, right?"

"Why would he invite you?" Kai said. What the hell is going on here?

"Dunno. But he said something about a bey contest or something." Max said. "He told my dad to bring me, Chief and Tyson over. He also said something about the European bladders too."

"He's inviting them?" Kai repeated. This was too unbelievable to be true. "A beyblade tournament?"

"Yup." Kenny confirmed. "Except he didn't tell us anything else either. We were hoping you knew more about it."

"Hmm…" Kai murmured. His grandfather had tried to talk to him over dinner. But of course, Kai didn't want to hear it so he stormed off to bed. "We'll I don't know any more about it either. I'll try to ask around about it later."

"Yeah. Ok." Tyson agreed. Kai stared at him. He looked really happy for some reason.

"What now?" Kai sighed at the beaming Tyson, who was still flashing him puppy dog eyes.

"Well, since he told us we could stay here for a couple of days…" Tyson began.

"OH, NO!" Kai gasped as realization hit him. "NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! YOU ARE NOT SLEEPING OVER!"

"But Kai…" Tyson said, glomping him. "We have to sleep somewhere…"

"Yeah! It'll be like…a sleepover or something!" Max added happily.

"NO!!!" Kai replied almost instantly.

"We-ell…if you won't give us a room, we'll have to buck up in your room." Tyson said, feigning a sad expression. Kai went pale.

"You…wouldn't…" He replied softly.

"Oh, but we would!" Max and Tyson chorused. Kai felt a nerve pop, but also realized he'd loose either way.

"Al…right…" He mumbled.

"Woohooo!" Max whooped.

"Yeah man!!!" Tyson cheered.

And so…my nightmare begins…

~~~

"Dinner time!!!" Mia announced in the middle of the movie they were watching. Tyson insisted they should watch at least one movie as soon as he saw the wide screen T.V. in the lounge.

"Yeah!" Tyson said, jumping up and running out of the room first.

"Oh brother." Kai sighed as he, Max, and Kenny followed the over energetic boy.

They took a couple of turns around the corner and soon found out Tyson had gotten lost already. He followed after the smirking Kai though after that incident without another word. They reached the dining hall in a fairly quick time and sat down to eat. Dinner got too quiet, so Max decided to beak the ice.

"So…why isn't your grandpa here?" Max started uneasily. Kai flinched as Max said the word grandpa.

"How should I know where the geezer is? I'm not his keeper." Kai replied icily. Tyson stared at Kai.

"Don't you care about him?" Tyson asked innocently.

"No." Kai said simply.

"Do you…always eat alone?" Kenny tried a change of topic.

"Yeah. So what?" Kai snapped back.

"N-Nothing." Kenny replied at once.

"Don't ya get lonely?" Tyson said, finishing another plate clean.

"Is this some kind of sick show in which everyone asks about my personal life?" Kai shot back angrily.

"Gee, I think he's getting annoyed." Tyson said, grinning.

"You think?" Kai replied sarcastically.

"Oh yeah! By the way Kai, do we get to sleep over at your room anyway?" Tyson smiled.

"We have 235 rooms. Pick one except mine." Kai replied frigidly, finishing the rest of his food and sulked up to his room, finally leaving the three of them. That marked the end of their 'meaningful conversation' for the day.

***

A/N:

Erm…I feel empty. Sorry if this chapter was a bit (or a lot) dry. I can't find much humor in myself lately. I could find loads of sarcasm though! ^-^ Just kidding. But seriously, I need encouragement now more than ever. Please review! I don't care if you flame me. As long as it's reasonable and not too harsh. Thank you for reading!