Title: A Promise Kept

Authoress: Asuki

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: See chapter one

Summary: See chapter one

Disclaimer: I do not own beyblade or its characters. I simply borrow them from time to time for a bit of fun and return them relatively unharmed.

Status: Unrevised

Enjoy, if possible.

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Chapter 2:
It's a promise

The gleaming sun slowly sank far below the horizon, reflecting a rich warm and red glow upon the whole city. Among the busy traffic and people hurrying to get back to their families and homes, a young man strolled through the pathways in a slow and casual manner, contrast to the frantic world surrounding him. No body looked at him as they passed, no one probably ever noticed that the boy was there, but he was.

A summer breeze came striding in, playing with the boy's two-toned hair and ruffled through the soft strands. Yet the boy never noticed, he was in a deep stance, registered in his own thoughts, as if contemplating about something of great importance. Clutched tightly in his right hand was a magnificent azure beyblade, scarlet patches graced the top, and sparkled under the last of the sun's rays. To top it off, at the centre of the blade was a scarlet bit-chip that matched the colours of the beyblade, there sat a beautiful red phoenix, glowing as in response to its master's thoughts.

Half an hour of aimless walking passed, and another half. By now the sun had far gone and darkness draped over the still sky. There were no stars, but a couple of sparks in the distance, or maybe it was just the clouds that had enveloped them, hiding them in the shadows. Yet the moon was clearly noticeable, its slightly crescent form stood out conspicuously in the mysterious night.

The boy kept walking, but the temperature was dropping, he wasn't going to be stopped by something like that but he knew that now was probably a good time to return to the hotel, before the others started worrying about him, namely a certain Chinese blader. He picked up his pace, actually making an effort to arrive at his destination sooner, while he plunged back into his contemplations. It was confusing, no matter how hard he had tried to be emotionless and act like he didn't care about anything, or anyone around his fellow comrades, they still tried to befriend him. Why are they so god damn naïve!? He had put up a wall, blocking them out, and concealed his feelings in a rather stolid and impassive manner, thinking that would keep them out.

But maybe it wasn't going to be long until his seemingly ice cold exterior wear off, revealing the true Kai behind all the masks. Indeed it would only be a matter of time.

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Rei walked out of the room he shared with his stoic captain to greet the returning trio from their 'one day shopping spree'. As the raven haired boy enters the kitchen, he was greeted with the sight, bagfuls of… well stuff. It seems that his friends decided to take advantage of their spare time to grab as much as they can, well mainly Tyson.

His amber pupils darted around to find the responsible ones for all that… junk. And there, beyond the mounts of plastic bags, there was a distinctive blond patch, which could only belong to the boy who was basically the eternal optimism on the team, Max. Rei didn't bother to look for Tyson any longer, he knew that those two were practically inseparable, their friendship was strong and brotherly. He decided to see what mischief they were up to, knowing that putting Max and Tyson in the kitchen wasn't the best idea.

"Hey dude, whatcha been up to Rei?" Tyson was the first to notice Rei's presence.

"Nothing much, just been lazing about."

"Wanna join us? We've got some left overs from the restaurant and I don't think Tyson has had enough yet." The blonde boy suggested.

"Err… no thanks… I'm not exactly hungry," Rei didn't have anything for dinner but the thought of watching Tyson eat can make anyone lose their appetite.

"Well then, have you seen Mr. Sunshine?" Max questioned. Tyson snorted at his buddy's remark.

"If you mean Kai, then no." Rei responded.

"I wonder where he is, it is getting late…" Max opined, concern showing in his tone.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he can take care of himself, he did spend most of his life alone anyways. Besides, I bet he's somewhere practicing on his own," Tyson reminded.

"Yeah, you're right Tyson." Rei stated, " I think I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed, I am rather tired, I'll see ya guys tomorrow."

"Night Rei," both boys replied.

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Having grabbed a simple t-shirt and some sweatpants, the tiger slipped into the bathroom. Freeing himself from his usual clothing, Rei turned on the water taps and stepped in for a warm and deserving shower. There he could be in peace and comfort, just getting away from the everyday reality, not to mention a time to think over things when you need the privacy and space.

Water glistened over his slightly tanned skin, running over every inch of his body, splattering on his back and bouncing on his shoulder, it was a feeling like no other. Rei grouped his long, raven hair with his hands and let the warm flowing water gently wash and clean it.

After about 30 minutes of relaxation in the shower, Rei found his fingers getting crinkled and decided it was about time he got out. After drying off his body and putting on his night clothes Rei started the unimaginably long task of drying his hair.

Deciding that he would be better off letting it dry naturally, Rei walked out from the heavily steamed bathroom. It was summer yet his skin shivered and tingled as it made its first contact with the air in the hotel room. Rei glanced over to the alarm clock that sat on the bedside table, it read 22:47. He should be getting some rest since they would probably be practicing all day long tomorrow, since we had today off, but Rei was in no mood to sleep until his captain come back.

(I wonder where he could be, it sure is getting late. I know, I can sit out in the balcony and wait for Kai! That way my hair will dry quicker too.)

Positive about what he was going to do, Rei stepped out into the warm summer air and sat down in a recliner that situated on the balcony. He stared into the dark majestic sky and started to drift into his own pool of thoughts.

(Lets see now, nearly all the times we stayed at hotels during our tournaments, I shared a room with Kai. We don't really talk much but hey at least he's not always shouting at me… hmm, maybe I rather have him at least say something, anything. I guess the poor guy isn't very comfortable about this whole team and friendship thing. For as long as I knew him, he has always been cold and distant to us, and he never needed any aid from us. He was strong and powerful, almost like the perfect warrior.

Tyson has always tried to include him in the team, no matter how much those two seemed to hate each other, heh. Max must have tried at least 100 times to get Kai to smile, but of course, he never cracked.

And I, I also tried to befriend him, but I was merely rejected countless times by his icy attitude, as if he doesn't even care. But I know that he does care for us, all of us, more than he lets on. He just prefers not to show it on that impassive mask he puts on. I would really like to be the one to get to know him better, and I understand that it wasn't going to be easy on him either. I would take it one step at a time, slowly. He'll learn to trust me one day…

I will be the one to take that mask of yours down Kai, just wait and see…
)

The night was ominously still and dark, and the tiger was just as lost in his own thoughts. So much so that he didn't even notice that the door to the hotel suite opened and closed, or the door to his room. A figure walked slowly into the room, not wanting to disturb the person that he thought would be asleep by now, but there was nobody in the room, the large double bed stood in the middle, its covers were as neat and spotless as he had left them this morning. Knowing the only other place where his comrade could be was the balcony, the figure stepped out into the humid summer air once more and surveyed the site.

Crimson orbs darted around and landed on a large raven bundle sitting comfortably in the recliner. The wind picked up and ruffled through the boys long raven strands, and across his soft features, then a small gust came in and waved strands of hair dancing in the air, Kai thought he looked so peaceful, but he pushed the thought soon enough. The other boy didn't seem to take notice of anything happening around him, apparently still in a deep stance. His amber eyes gazed into the city below and neon lights reflected off occasionally. Knowing the boy was probably not yet aware of his attendance, the figure decided to let the other boy acknowledge his presence.

"Rei." He called out.

Nothing.

"Rei." A little bit louder this time.

Still no response.

Deciding not to shout, not that he cared what time it was, but he didn't want to disturb the other youth. The figure placed a hand on the sitting boy's shoulder. That seemed to have worked for Rei had slightly leaped back a bit, quite startled at the sudden interruption, not really sure who it was.

"Hey!" Rei snapped at the intruder without a thought.

"Rei what are you doing at this time of the night, sitting out in the balcony?" Kai questioned in his accustomed impassive accent.

"Kai!"

"You shouldn't be out here, go inside and get some sleep now, you'll need it for tomorrow's practice." He ignored Rei's outburst.

"Sorry, I was planning to wait for you but I guess I kind of zoned out and lost track of time…" Rei explained to his captain still masked in solitude.

"There's no need to wait for me, now get some rest before the night is over."

"Okay. But where were you? I was starting to get worried." Rei pushed his luck and questioned.

"That's none of your business, and I don't need you to be worried about me." Kai's icy tone would surely send shivers down anyone's spine, but Rei wasn't about to give up.

"But I do care! We all do Kai." Rei persisted.

"I am not about to argue with you, but if you are not prepared to come in then you can stay out here all night, it's your choice." Kai retorted.

Rei decided that he wanted to wake in one piece tomorrow. And he was tired, plus sleeping out in the balcony did not sound very inviting. Rei sauntered past Kai and back into the bedroom.

"Just let us help you Kai, please." Rei muttered almost inaudibly, however it was still loud enough for the phoenix's ears to pick up.

"Hn."

Kai followed his comrade and closed the door behind him, the bedroom immediately became silenced without the minute noises that emitted from outside. Back inside, Rei quickly climbed into the bed seeking some well needed rest, pulling the covers on top of himself and curdled into it, leaving the other half of the bed empty, unintentionally.

"Rei, are you going to hog up all of the covers?" Kai asked rather sarcastically.

"Oh! Sorry Kai, I didn't mean to…" Rei mumbled, feeling considerably stupid. He then proceeded to 'roll' across over to Kai's side and thrown some of the covers on top of his captain. Kai noted his behaviour but took the covers nevertheless, immediately feeling a warm heat pour over him. He could not tell whether it was the cover or Rei, the raven haired boy was so close to him right now and he could practically feel the heat that radiated off him.

Rei on the other side, didn't seem to notice the rather strange position he was in now, but he did sense Kai's body heat. A wave of drowsiness hit him and Rei curled up tightly under the sheets and distinctive purring noises emitted from the boy. Not really noticing he was more like snuggling into Kai than the mattress or covers, Rei managed to utter two words before sleep finally claiming him.

"Goodnight Kai." Rei mumbled.

"Night." Kai grunted back, not knowing why he even bothered.

An oblivious small grin spread over Rei's features before he fell into darkness.

Kai however, did not go to sleep just yet, he tucked his arms behind his head, and while doing so he brushed Rei's long raven hair that was now all over the bed, and him. He slowly moved it away, feeling its softness and smoothness as the silky strands glided away from his fingers.

(Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on them, but I am their captain.)

Sighing deeply, Kai stared at the ceiling, his mind blank, and it wasn't long either before the boy too, slipped into darkness.

tbc...

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A/N: Please review, I crave your comments.