Desires of the Heart


Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade and never have, and never will!


"..." voices/people speaking


/.../ thoughts


(*A/N ...) author's notes


Last chapter:


Kai didn't understand. Bit-chips were just about the most durable and sturdiest pieces of a blade... A whole blade could be easily shattered, while the bit-chip remained without a scratch. They were made to last, so that the bit-beast would stay contained safely, through tough battles... It was almost as if Koji hadn't wanted anybody to know what his old bit-chip looked like...


~~~Chapter 3: Crazy Events~~~


Kai shrugged it off, and concentrated on the battle. This was no time for his mind to wander.


"Dranzer, attack!"


"Defence Beta, attack Alpha!" was Koji's strange reply.


Kai watched the battle. /What's he up to? "Defence Beta, attack Alpha"? ...What in the world could that be?/


Koji's blade dodged Dranzer skilfully, dancing circles around the angry red phoenix. Then, it went into a complex attack pattern, knocking Kai's blade around like a toy. But. Of course, Dranzer wouldn't lose so easily... and neither would Kai... Kai grit his teeth, glaring at Koji, who he had passed as an amateur looking for a fight.


"Dranzer, Fire Arrow!"


"Finish 5!"


Koji's blade appeared to jump over Kai's flame attack, crashing into Kai's blade at an angle. Kai's blade, and several pieces of the trashed dish flew past Kai, scratching his arms. Kai ignored the pain from the cuts, nothing compared to what he had been through, and barely noticed the blood trickling down to his elbows and staining the white tiles of Kai's basement.


"What?!" This exclamation came not from Kai, but from a few "bystanders." The Bladebreakers and the All-Starz, each either hearing some noise and coming to investigate, or searching for Kai for some reason or another, had made it to the basement, and witnessed most of the battle, including Koji's odd orders.


There was one exception. Tyson had been making a "night snack," an utterly revolting sandwich with bizarre ingredients, and had been almost literally dragged down the stairs.


Kai held his blade in his hands, and formed a mind-link with the phoenix. /Dranzer,/ Kai thought, /are you okay? What happened?/


/Master... I mean, Kai. Uh... I'm all right... A little bit of pain from the battle, but nothing worse than those bleeding cuts on your arms. Ugh... I-I'm not sure... his blade had a mind of it's own... without a bit-beast... I heard about some... invisible bit-beasts... but he didn't have one. One bit-beast can always... c-can al-always... sense an-another... ugh.../


/Dranzer!/


/Just a bit weak, that's all... going to sleep now.../


/Rest... you did well.../


/Thank you... Kai.../


Dranzer and Kai's relationship had developed much more since their time in Russia. Kai had insisted on dropping the "Master" part, and had begun to accept Dranzer as a friend, not a slave.


He slipped his blade and launcher in his pocket, and walked away, calling back stonily, "Training starts first thing tomorrow morning."


"Aw, Kai!" Tyson whined.


"Tyson!" Ray said, "Don't complain! Kai is the team leader, you know."


Kai turned to face the small crowd of people. "I wasn't talking to you," he said coldly. He pointed past both teams at Koji, who stood there looking quite smug. "I was talking to him. You can sleep to your heart's content."


"ALRIGHT!!!" Tyson screamed into the silence, unaware of how strange that sounded coming from Kai's mouth.


Kai turned his back on them again and walked away, his white "cape" swinging from side to side.


~~~~


"I just don't get it!"


"You know, I think Kai let you have this room so you could sleep," Dizzi replied sarcastically.


"Right after I figure out how Koji's blade can act like that without a bit-beast!"


"Good luck," Dizzi said. "We've been looking at the data for hours!"


"I just gotta figure it out!"


"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Well, you won't," a voice darkly muttered from the doorway.


"Aw, look who it is," Dizzi said, sarcasm running off every letter.


Koji coolly walked over to the laptop. "How do you get it to shut up? By pressing this button?"


Kenny panicked as he reached for the power button. "Save! Save!"


"Yeah, yeah. I saved the minute Mr. Smart Mouth walked in the door. You just didn't see him because you were sleep-deprived and trying to figure out his blade."


"Ha! There's a laugh. The greatest beyblade lab in the world wouldn't be able to figure it out, let alone amateurs like you! No one's ever figured it out, and no one ever will." He stepped up to the doorway, then called over his shoulder, "And don't get involved in things you don't have to." He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him softly.


~~~~~


"I wonder how that kid gets his blade to act like that," Max said to himself. "Oh, well, I'm sure Kenny will figure it out and bore us with an explanation... (*SNORE*)"


~~~~~

"There's something about that kid I don't trust," Ray mumbled to himself. "He's after something, and his blade is weird..." Ray was asleep almost before he got the last word out.


~~~~~


"(*SNORE*)" was all that was heard from a certain room on the fourth floor, the one next to the dumbwaiter. It was obvious that, like the rest of his team, Tyson Kinoyama was worried about Koji and Kai. And, like everyone else, he had many questions...


"Aw, man!" Tyson mumbled in his sleep. "Pizza or a sub? What d'ya mean I can only have one? I got enough money, don't I? Well, don't I?" Except, unlike the others, all of his questions were related to food.


~~~~~


"Now launch it again."


Koji did as he was told, his blade flying into his hand. Kai had Koji jump through hoops for hours after a short breakfast.


"More speed," Kai ordered.


Koji nodded and launched, smooth and hard. The blade did laps after laps after laps.


Kai finally, and hesitantly, decided, "Training's over for today."


Koji nodded an acknowledgement, retrieved his blade and headed upstairs. Kai assumed he was getting breakfast. He easily reached the top of the stairs quickly, Koji nowhere in sight. Kai took no notice and stepped into the dining room. The Bladebreakers and All-Starz sat there, eating toast, sausages, scrambled eggs, and bacon with orange juice.


"Morning. Where's..." Ray paused, trying to remember. "Koji?"


"Like I care."


"There's more food in the kitchen," Ray told him, catching his tone.


Kai grunted and headed for the kitchen. He helped himself to some food.


After breakfast, the Bladebreakers and All-Starz lounged around in Kai's enormous living room. Then, the doorbell rang.


"I'll get it," Kai said matter-of-factly as he walked over to the door. He pulled it open. Three people stood there: a middle-aged man, a handsome man with midnight blue hair, a youthful-looking woman, and a black-haired boy a few years older than Kai.


"Hi! You must be Kai!" The woman greeted him. "You probably don't remember us. Your grandfather introduced you to us when you were just a kid!"


"Wh-Who are you?" Kai asked, but he did have a feeling he had met them before.


The handsome and tall man answered first, "I'm Komi. I've been your neighbour for years, I lived here even before your grandfather moved here. And I helped watch over you..." The man had something about him that made Kai stop.


The man replied, "Why, we're the Sakoyamas! I'm Hiro, this is Melody, and this is our son, Koji."


~~TO BE CONTINUED...~~


I already got the ending figured out, and it's... kinda depressing, and quite sad... I'd say only one or two more chapters left.