disclaimer: I still still still own nothing!
A/N: I actually like how this chapter ended. However, I'm not to thrilled with the beginning. I'm trying to make up for all those missed months. But the hurrier I go the behinder I get! Some sloppy writing maybe, cause I'm going so fast, but maybe I'll have time to make adjustments later. For now, you'll get the basic idea.
Max felt a finger prod his side and felt his reality slip. The scene before him blurred and vanished and he was suddenly surrounded by darkness. A friendly voice speaking from within the blackness.
"Hey, Maxy. Yo, Max, we're here." Max opened his eyes and a small amount of confusion enveloped him. He gazed around and found the voice's owner. He felt a click and everything flooded back to him. In the van, riding to the carnival. He looked out the van window watching the brightly colored tents and rides go by before turning and smiling sleepily at his excited friend.
"All right, Tyson, you lead the way!"
"You gonna ride the rollercoaster with me til I barf, right, Maxy!?"
Max made a playful grossed-out face. "I'll ride with you, Tyson, but not if you're gonna throw-up on me." He laughed. Kai smirked when he heard this and jumped at the opportunity.
"Yeah. After you 'browse' the food court, Tyson, Max would prolly come off the rollercoaster looking like a caramel apple himself, sticky and brown. That or a movie theatre floor." The van slowed to a stop as it found its parking space near a blue and red striped tent.
Rei, sitting next to Kai in the van's back row, made a face. "Kai, do you have to be so graphic?"
Kai stared blankly at the neko-jin. "Yes," he replied simply. Rei stared back at the team captain, apparently waiting for him to expound, however he gave up after Kai's attention turned back to Tyson who had thrown open the door with relish. The loner teen kept a serious face as he placed one foot on the back of Tyson's seat. Rei watched in horrified amusement as Kai kicked out sharply, ejecting the pony-tailed boy from the van and into a pile of hay stacked messily between the tent and van. Max laughed in good nature before getting out of the van to help his friend locate his ball cap and pick the hay out of his hair.
Rei scowled at Kai. "Kai, that wasn't very nice!" Kai gazed at the raven-haired boy for a moment before pushing the seat in front of him over with his foot. He began to climb from the van.
"Enough with the act, Rei," he smirked as he spoke. "You thought it was funny, too." Rei watched his leader disembark with wide-eyes. Kai turned back to face him once he was outside. "You coming?" He made a gesture with his hand and then added, "It's all in good fun, Rei." Rei started as he watched a genuine smile replace Kai's smirk. "Tyson knows that." Rei felt himself return the smile and he began to exit the vehicle.
Once he had found his hat and had placed it back in its rightful place, Tyson stood, stretched his arms wide, and took a deep breath, inhaling the carnival air. The breeze carried delicious aromas of hotdogs and hamburgers as well as the sticky-sweet scents of candied apples and cotten candy. Tyson felt his mouth begin to water at the thought of all the food carnivals specialized in, such as the funnel cakes and the SFG, or 'Stick Food Group,' as he liked to call it.
The SFG was large and unlimited to creativity. Chicken on a stick, sausage on a stick, deer on a stick, corn on a stick, alligator on a stick, apples on a stick. The list went on and on. Anything could be put on a stick and made special by a carnival's food court.
"Maxy, c'mon, I'll buy you the biggest wad of cotton candy you never thought existed! We'll eat sweet stuff until we..." There was a tug on the salivating boy's shirt and he looked down to see a small boy smiling up at him. He had a gap between his front teeth. Tyson wiped the drool from his chin and eyed the boy curiously.
"Are you really THE Tyson Kinomiya?" The young boy clutched his beyblade to his chest in blind facination and Tyson closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest in a gesture of pride.
"The one and only." Max watched as stars developed in the child's eyes and smiled. He felt that no one deserved to be a hero more than Tyson. The boy handed his blade and a pen to Tyson.
"Do you think you could... you know..." The boy's face reddened. Tyson's took the offered items and looked at each one in turn before turning his attention back to the child and smiling widely.
"You want my autograph, kid?"
The child shook his head. "No, I was hoping you could get me Hiwatari-sama's!" Max's jaw dropped and he fell backwards into another pile of hay.
"Shut-up, Max," Tyson fumed at his friend laughing hysterically on the ground. "I'ma tell everyone you snort when you laugh."
"That's got to be like... the 50th blade I've signed since we got here three hours ago," Tyson sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Kai raised an azure eyebrow.
"Really? Only fifty? I could have sworn I'd signed at least 148 by now," The phoenix flashed a toothy smile as the dragon 's face turned red. Tyson sputtered, looking for a comeback.
Kenny suddenly appeared, happily munching on a corndog (also on a stick.) "Hey, Chief, no fair! Eating in front of us like that!" Tyson whined at the injustice of it all, forgetting about Kai's comment.
Kenny waved the half-eaten treat at the Bladebreakers. "That's what I've come to tell you. Another team has come in for a shift. You guys can go have some lunch."
At that, Tyson jumped to his feet. "You really mean it, Chief! ALL RIGHT! Let's go, Max!" Tyson quickly took a firm hold on Max's wrist and dashed for the tent opening.
"BUT WAIT!" Tyson tripped over his feet and almost smashed into another pile of hay... but missed. Max smiled down at his comrade.
"You okay, Tyson?"
"Sure... this rock broke my fall... *cough*"
"Don't get too caught up in festivities," Kenny warned, sitting at the table holding his laptop.
"That's right boys, you've still got work to do," spoke the computer.
Tyson brushed the dust from his jacket and made a face. "WHADAYA MEAN!?"
"Dizzi is refering to the fact that the team that was supposed to take the shift after the shift after us, can't make it." Tyson stared at Kenny.
"Wha?"
"He means he volunteered us for another shift." Rei sighed.
"WHAT!?" Tyson stomped a foot. "I can't believe this! There's a great carnival out there and we're gonna miss it!"
"Relax," Kenny replied, straining to remain calm in the wake of Tyson's whining. "You'll have plenty of time to enjoy the carnival after your next shift." Tyson sighed.
"All right... BUT YOU OWE ME SOMETHING ON A STICK!"
Tyson and Max made their way through the crowds of people, clutching their lunches protectively. "Min, fwee foo, ha-wow coo wis thith!?" Tyson mused as best he could with a bag of peanuts held firming between his teeth. His arms were filled with as many edible delights as he could manage to hold. Max grinned brightly at his friend. "Sis carnival ii lie tha bess thin thassever happen tah me." Max laughed.
"Hey!" Max pointed to a grassy spot near a pond where several couples were paddling boats around, the sun shining brightly above. It might have been quite hot out if it hadn't been so breezy. "Let's eat there! That looks like a good spot!" Tyson followed Max's finger and nodded.
"Yo gah ihat, Mathy."
The two bladers strode over to the decided spot, sat down, and began spreading out their own personal smorgasbords. They began to munch away quietly, watching the boaters. Tyson looked over at the typically talkative Max and was surprised to see him with a worried, pensive look as he ate a hotdog.
"Yo, Maxy. Something wrong, bud?"
Max snapped out of his reverie and blinked at Tyson as though he had never seen him before. A minute later, he set his half-eaten dog down on a napkin and stared at the ground. Quiet for several minutes before speaking. "Tyson, can I ask you a question?"
"You just did, Maxy." Tyson smiled, but when Max didn't return it he grew concerned. "What's up, Max?"
"Well, it's... you have to really think about it before answering, okay? You can't just answer as soon as I ask, okay? And you can't tell the guys, okay?"
"Sure, Maxy. Shoot."
"Well... okay..."
Kai and Rei wondered up and down the rows of food stands. "Wow... this is like... Tyson's heaven, isn't it, Kai?" Kai raised a brow at the question.
"Are you kidding? Free food at a place that has just about anything you can imagine? We'll have to rent another van just to drive Tyson back to the hotel." Rei felt slightly impolite, but chuckled at the comment anyway. Tyson would have taken it in stride. It had taken everyone a while, but they had come to realize that Kai never meant it when he said mean things. However, maybe in the beginning he had been being truthful. Rei pushed that gladly from his mind. Maybe Kai hadn't cared to associate with the rest of the team when it was first created, but things change. Times change. People change. Kai changed.
He began to turn to Kenny for information more, seeming to accept the fact that the youngest boy had quite a spectacular mind. Kenny had taken to this like a duck to water, revealing that he like the attention and credit that Kai was finally giving him and was happy that he could finally be useful to the older boy. And Kai appeared to enjoy discussing strategies over cups of coffee (Kenny would have hot chocolate.)
Kai had began giving Tyson seemingly nonchalant pointers instead of hurting the stubborn boy's pride with stinging accusations of shortcomings in his tactics. Tyson didn't seem to notice he was actually getting advice from his rival and let Kai contribute gladly. Whenever Tyson would become suspicious of one of Kai's suggestions, Kai would slyly reply, "Well, I knew you wouldn't be able to do it..." and of course Tyson wouldn't stop until he proved Kai wrong. It had become thoroughly amusing to watch Kai's mind games. Particularly since Kai would actually let Tyson believe he had won, his only goal being to better Tyson's skills. The bitter rivalry had turned to a friendly one. Kai had finally seen the potential lying within the navy-haired youth and had decided he couldn't stand back and let it go to waste. There was too much stuff he could teach the boy. And too much stuff lying beyond those things to postpone the teaching. Tyson would surpass Kai. Most definitely. It couldn't be helped. But Kai wanted to have a hand in it somewhere. To show his acceptance. And Tyson enjoyed the intense but now friendly challenges he received from Kai, happy that the older boy had accepted him as a challenge. Though he'd never admit it, Tyson looked up to Kai "The Phoenix" Hiwatari just as all of the other BladeBreakers did. Tyson had even slipped and called Kai 'senpai' once.
Kai had always avoided Max when possible. The young blonde had made multiple attempts to make friends with Kai. To talk to him. Blade with him. Simply smile at him. Kai wanted no part. No matter how rude Kai would find himself being to the boy, Max would just shrug it off and continue smiling. Kai wanted to ignore Max. But Max wouldn't let himself be ignored. Even though Kai wouldn't appear to be listening, Max would always go to Kai with worries or fears. There were few of these for Max, sure, but he always turned to Kai. Carrying on a seemingly one-sided conversation until Max would come to his own conclusion. Of course, Max would always give the older boy credit, even though he hadn't really done anything. "I don't think I'd ever get through any of this stuff without your help, Kai-san!" Max would laugh sincerely. There wasn't a gradual process of change in Kai and Max's relationship. It had just suddenly changed, though Max didn't seem to think there was anything different than before. Somewhere along the way, Kai had taken comfort in the fact that someone needed him. Or at least seemed to think they did. And Kai had begun discussing Max's worries with him for real. Kai's feelings toward the pup radiated from the seemingly loner teen. Perhaps that was why, as long as Kai was around, no one messed with Max. No one was quite sure of the consequenses. But they knew that there WOULD be some.
Rei had often found Kai's lack of compassion disconcerting. Though he would help with chores or other things, he always seemed to do them out of duty rather than simply because it was moral or polite. Kai always avoided any type of emotional interaction if it could be helped. And Rei, being an emotional guy, couldn't help but feel cold around his captain. He was constantly being drawn into disputes or confrontations with Tyson, even after he had stopped treating Kenny like an idiot, Max like a leper, and Rei like a hinderance. But Rei remembered blushing intensely and feeling rather light-headed when Kai pulled him aside one night and apologized. "Don't let my arguments with Tyson hurt your feelings, Rei," the phoenix had said. "We're not being serious. Not any more." Rei had felt a warmth then that he only felt around Max.
Rei could never explain why he put so much more emotional energy into his relationship with Max. Perhaps it had been because Rei had always been drawn to people with affection toward his or her fellow man. And Rei was sure no one in the world could be more open and affectionate toward others than Max Mizuhara. His aura glowed as bright as a thousand suns and Rei had picked up on that the first time he was in the same beystadium as Max. Though at the time, he hadn't known where or whom exactly the energy had been coming from, Rei had nonetheless been moved by its intensity. At that time, Rei had felt other extreme energies. The strong, stubborn energy of a hero Rei traced quickly to Tyson. The steady, noble energy of a loyal cohort resonated in waves from Kenny. And the faultering, chilly energy of a lost soul, the exact opposite of Max's energy, but just as intense, flowed from Kai like a fevery illness.
But that had changed. And at first, Rei wasn't sure why. But when he looked at the rest of the team, he saw it. Kai's aura wasn't the only one that had changed. And knew that he should have figured out easily to begin with.
It was Max.
Rei compared his theory to the yawn contagion belief. If someone sees another person yawn, then they themself can't help but do so as well. And if another person sees the second yawning person yawn, they will too feel the urge to yawn. And the chain would continue as long as there was another person to witness the yawn.
Rei had also heard that if a happy person were to walk by a sad person and smile at him or her, then the sad person would smile back reflexively, perhaps brightening their day a little as well. Then that person might smile at another, then that person at another, and so on and so on. Not long after Rei thought of this, he discovered that he even felt sluggish and a bit depressed when Max wasn't around. That's when Rei came to a conclusion. Happiness and cheer were contagious. And that, if exposed to the two long enough, one might take on the feelings him or herself.
Maxy had rubbed off on all of them. And no one showed it more than Kai Hiwatari.
Things had changed. The 5 of them had become an odd sort of... of... well, family, for lack of a better word. Rei didn't see THAT changing. Not anytime soon anyway. At least he didn't think so. Though there was a mysterious layer of uneasiness beneath all of Rei's positive thoughts. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on. THUNK!
Rei was startled from his thoughts as he walked right into Kai's back. He looked up in surprise, not even having realized that he had fallen behind the slightly older boy.
"What's the matter, Kai?"
"Did you see that gynumbis wad of gum I just walked though?" The slate-haired boy sweatdropped.