Happy New Year! Akemashiteomedetougozaimasu!



Bastet mumbled under her breath as she and Kai took their seats in the arena, waiting for the first match to begin. Kai hadn't liked her comment about Max, evidently, being as he put her in a headlock until she apologized.

No matter though. She was trying to push Kai's buttons anyway. He looked pretty funny whenever someone mentioned Rei. He would start blushing and suddenly become slightly speechless. She giggled softly. "It's so cute."

"What is?" Kai mumbled under his breath as he sat down and leaned against the railing in front of them, peering down at his former team.

"Nothing." Bastet answered. She followed Kai's eyes to look at the Bladebreakers. According to the files she had taken from Mr. Dickinson, they were a pretty decent team. Yet she still had to wonder how much of that greatness belonged to Kai.

"So do you know who this new member is?" Bastet asked, trying to break the silence. Kai was so focused that it was almost as if he was going to be battling.

Kai shook his head but didn't tear his eyes away. "I don't know."

Bastet leaned back in her seat, putting her hands behind her head. "His name is Randy. And apparently, he's just a dummy member."

Kai glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

"He's not going to battle unless one of the other members is six feet under." Bastet answered. She blinked. "He isn't even close to matching up with the rest of the team, and he probably knows it. He's just there because they need a fourth member." She shook her head. "It's a sorry state of affairs."

Kai narrowed his eyes. Why didn't they bring in a good blader? They could have found one in time. It wasn't like Kai had run off at the last minute. Bringing in a shitty player was a big risk. At anytime there could be a problem that would force Randy to fight, and there was no guarantee that the other members would be able to make up for his slack.

Bastet watched Kai closely. He seemed more stressed out than normal. He usually had good control of his emotions, but now he was wearing them right out in the open. 'I wonder, has his relationship with Rei really changed him that much? Is he really that worried that they'll lose?' she gave him a stern look. "Kai."

"What?"

She lowered her head a bit, letting her face disappear into the darkness of her hood. "You need to relax, you're making everyone around here nervous."

Kai turned slowly. The first battle was about to begin, but he hadn't heard any of the announcements or anticipation. He was focused on Rei. He hadn't been in a position like this before. He had seen Rei compete hundreds of times, but this was the first time where he couldn't offer any advice. It made him feel helpless.

"Kai."

Kai let out a deep breath before settling back into his seat. There wasn't anything he could do about the situation. It was his choice to be sitting up here, instead of with his friends.

Friends?

Kai frowned. He had never referred to the Bladebreakers like that before, not even in his own head. A shadow of doubt passed over him, but was quickly dispelled.

"I've been thinking about something Kai." Bastet said softly. Her face was still hidden, and she didn't bother to look at her teammate. "Do you think the Bladebreakers would throw the tournament just to try and prove how much they need you back?"

Kai glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "What do you mean?" he said coldly.

Bastet didn't move. "If they win the tournament, it proves to everyone, up to and including themselves, that they don't need you to win. However, if they don't give it their all, and lose, they can easily blame the loss on your absence. Which will give them ample reason to want you back."

Kai narrowed his eyes. "What are you implying?"

"I'm implying that it may not be under them to throw this tournament. If they lose, they can ask for you to come back with out sacrificing their pride. All they need to do, is convince themselves that they lost because you weren't there." She explained coldly.

Kai growled. They wouldn't do something like that. It fact they would try harder to win to prove that they didn't need him. "They're above that."

"Whatever." Bastet whispered softly, then added in a louder voice. "Tyson lost."

Kai blinked and turned back to the arena floor. Sure enough, Tyson was standing there with his blade on the ground and that founded look that he always had when he lost crossing his face. Kai cursed under his breath. He had been so distracted by Bastet that he hadn't even realized the battle had started.

"Don't curse, it makes you sound uneducated." Bastet piped up.

Kai growled and grabbed Bastet's hood, yanking it back roughly so he could look her in the eyes. "Why don't you…huh?"

Bastet blinked. Kai had gone silent awfully fast.

"Bastet, what did you do to your hair?" Kai blinked. "Are you wearing contacts?"

Bastet grabbed her hood and pulled it back over her head. "Rei's about to battle. Better pay attention or you'll miss this too."

Kai quickly looked back to the arena, forgetting about Bastet for the time being. He didn't want to miss Rei's battle. That was the whole reason he was here in the first place. He honestly didn't care about the rest of the team, but Rei was a different story.

He sighed. Having not seen the first battle, he couldn't tell if the Bladebreaker's opponents were really good, or Tyson had just lost because, well, he was Tyson.

Bastet glanced at Kai. The battle had already started, but didn't seem to be paying attention to it as much as he was paying attention to Rei. 'Weird.' She thought. 'Who would have thought that Kai would fall head over heels in love?'

She sighed and shook her head. "Kids these days, I swe,' "YOW!"

Bastet jumped about three feet in the air and to her right, causing her to land almost directly on Kai. The man had been sitting on her left had gotten up a few minutes ago, and now returned with a paper cup filled with coffee, which was radiating it's heat way to close to Bastet for her comfort.

Kai glared at her. "What the hell are you doing?"

Bastet smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I saw a spider." She lied. Then, a horrifying thought crossed her mind. "Kai, Dranzer isn't with you, is he?"

Kai glared at her. "No, and you're lucky that Rei's match is already over and that you didn't distract me."

Bastet blinked and stood. "It's over?" she looked down. Sure enough, Rei was leaving the dish and heading back to his teammates. "Did he win?"

"Of course he won! What kind of dumb question is that!?"

Bastet sighed in relief. But not because Rei had won. She was glad that Kai didn't have his Dranzer with him when she jumped on him. 'If he had, it would have been even worse than the heat from the coffee.'

She blinked, suddenly, realizing she was alone. She looked around quickly, spotting Kai walking away. "Hey! Are you leaving?"

"I only came to see Rei."

"…lovesick fool."



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