Bastet walked down the busy streets, her hands behind her head. The sun was just starting to go down, casting long shadows on the sides of buildings. She sighed.

"Jezze, it's even boring here." She mumbled.

Hikari nudged the side of her face, catching her attention. "What's the deal, light?" she looked over to the ally to her right.



* * *



"OW! Hey! What's the deal?!"

Rei winced as he felt his body slam against the wall once again. He gritted his teeth to keep from yelling out as his head connected with the brick with a hollow thud. He was confused about what was going on, and getting hit in the head wasn't helping any.

He had arrived in Phoen city a few hours ago, and he had been spending the time showing Kai's picture to anyone he saw. Things had been going well, a few people had indeed seen him, but when he stopped to ask a ground of kids hanging out in the ally, they jumped him.

Rei was strong, but he was badly out numbered. A trickle of blood ran down his chin from his mouth.

The leader of the gang scowled at Rei. "You know that kid huh? That's too bad. Your gonna have to pay the price for what he did to us." he growled, aiming another punch at Rei's face.

"Huh?" the leader stopped mid punch as a flash of gold passed the group, snatching his Beyblade from it's place on his belt. "What the hell?!"

He followed the quick moving golden blur with his eyes, watching it head toward the entrance of the ally. The small golden bird, slowed, dropping the stolen blade into the waiting hand of a short girl at the end of the ally.

The girl smirked, looking at the blade. "Nice, too bad you won't have it anymore." She said, crushing it in her hand and dropping the pieces to the ground.

The leader of the gang dropped Rei, who slumped against the wall. "You'll pay for that, bitch!"

The girl narrowed her violet eyes. "No, you will pay for this."

One of the other members took a step back. "I recognize you. Your name is Bastet right?"

Bastet crossed her arms over her chest. "By the time I'm finished with you, you'll wish you never knew who I was." She said coldly.

Rei wiped his hand over his face, wiping away blood and dirt. He didn't know who this person was, but he was grateful for the break in the beating.

"Whore!" the leader yelled. "And what exactly do you think your going to do?"

Bastet smiled. "I'll let you leave peacefully." She said, and the leader growled.

"Not a chance!"

"Or," Bastet continued, drawing her sword. "I can cut you into little pieces and feed you to my birds."

The gang members took a step back at her threat, and Rei felt a tremor of fear in his stomach.

"Your choice."

The gang decided it would be best not to mess with the angry girl with the sword, so they scattered, yelling various threats over their shoulders. When they were gone, Rei climbed painfully to his feet.

"You should have fought back." Bastet said, turning her back and walking away.

"Wait!" Rei said, running after her. He was in pain, but he want to know if she had seen Kai.

"What?" she said, looking at him.

Rei dug the picture of Kai out of his pocket. He held it up and pointed to the slate haired boy. "I'm looking for this guy. Have you seen him?"

'Kai-kun?' Bastet thought when she saw the picture. "Yeah, I've seen him." She said.

Rei nearly jumped for joy. Finally, he had another lead. Maybe she would know where he was. "Do you know where I can find him?"

Bastet considered. She wasn't sure what Kai's past was like, and she didn't want to tell his guy where he was if Kai didn't want to see him. "How do you know Kai-kun?"

Rei felt his hope rise. If she called him Kai-kun, that would mean she was familiar with him. "I'm a member of his former team, the bladebreakers."

Bastet didn't answer. She turned and started walking back to the palace. Rei watched her start to leave, before calling after her. "Hey! Wait! Aren't you going to tell me where he is?"

Bastet stopped. "The only thing any reasonable intelligent person has to do is follow me."



* * *



Kai smirked as he watched Dranzer slam against Cent's blade, the water phoenix, Suisei. He had finally gotten out of his meeting with the Lord, and was looking forward to training some more. The sun was starting to go down, and they would all be called into dinner soon, but he was glad to train.

Sparks few up as Dranzer gave one final push, sending Suisei flying out of the dish. Cent caught it, and smiled.

"You're very good. I'm very impressed." He said.

Kai crossed his arms over his chest. He knew that already.


* * *



Rei sipped his tea slowly. Bastet had led him to a nearby coffee house, where they now sat. For a moment he thought that maybe Kai worked there now, but Bastet told him she wasn't ready to lead him to his friend until she knew more about him.

"What's the deal with you guys?" Bastet said, her eyes piercing through Rei like cold knives.

Rei nearly chocked on his tea. "Excuse me?"

Bastet narrowed an eye. "The team you guys were on. Where you any good?"

Rei nodded. "Yeah. I think so. Kai was our captain."

'That's why he has such a problem with authority.' Bastet thought. "And you came to look for him…because you miss him?"

Rei nodded.

'I knew it.' Bastet thought, taking a sip of her own tea.

"So do you know where he is?" Rei continued, eager to know if he could finally find him.

"He lives with me."

Rei felt his heart drop. "So…are you…"

Bastet seemed to recoil. "NO! Don't misunderstand." She leaned back in her chair. "Just because I have a snow based bitbeast, doesn't mean I like a man with a soul of ice."




A lot of enthusiastic reviews, and one death threat! So here you guys go! Just keep leaving comments, and I'll keep typing. ^-^