Hey everyone. I'm really sorry about how long it took me to get this out, but real life beckoned (I re-enrolled in school) and I hurt my wrist which is making writing a pain. But anyway, I'm glad that so many of you like this.
Review replies:
Raven's Light: I'm glad you like this story. Fics about them are hard to find, aren't they? Enjoy this chapter, please.
Nanashi2: Thanks. I like to think that I'm making their relationship believable, but it's good to hear that others believe I am as well.
Skittles the Sugar Fairy: Thanks. As you'll see in this chapter, Tyson does get slightly less confused… but then again, nothing ever lasts in my worlds. *smirk*
Crescente Nuwedes: Thanks. I've continued. If you don't mind answering, what does your name mean, if it does mean anything? It looks really cool! Enjoy this chapter.
Vialana: Well, Rei and Kai still don't know that it was Kai that Tyson liked, but they will find out soon. Nobody knowing Tala's true intentions… hmm, I hope you like what happens this chapter. Some details about the Bond are cleared up, and a small shock is discovered. And you still haven't updated Phantom Pain!
Ms Hobgoblin: I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Here's the next chapter, so enjoy.
xXxCeRuLeAn-x-'SxXx: Boy, your name is hard to type! *laugh* But fun to try to! I updated, and there is more Tyta for you to enjoy!
F.A. Star Hawk: yeah, Tala is cool. Enjoy the next chapter.
SoulSister: You'd read it before, but hadn't reviewed? I'm glad you got the chance to review, and I'm glad you like it. Here's more.
Timberwolf220: Kai likes to sulk, doesn't he? Poor baby… in that case, I'm not sure you should let him read the end of this chapter… Otherwises, I'm glad you like it. And I liked your new Tyta fic too. The second chapter is brilliant, and I'll review it when I have the chance, I just haven't yet. Please update it soon. Plus, YKS will be updated soon… I hope. *smiles innocently* Don't worry! It's coming!
shinigami tenshi: I tried, I really did, to do some Kai/Rei fluff for you, but I'm terrible at fluff, and I have a tendency to torture characters, so it didn't really turn out well. But, they do have some screen time, so that should make you happy at least. Enjoy!
Feirdra: They do seem sorta oblivious, don't they? Here's more for you to read.
Kalico: He's just dense. Some people just don't see what is right in front of their eyes. And besides, he's so unsociable, he probably couldn't see Tyson liking him anyway, because of how hyper Tyson is. So, don't blame him. Interesting chapter, you say. It is, in my opinion. Have fun!
Titanicbabe: Updated. Please enjoy!
Lady Blade WarAngel: Hey! Glad you could make it! Battle is coming, I promise, but I've been having so many problems lately – you may have noticed I haven't been on the net very often lately? But it is coming, I swear. Enjoy this chapter.
Chibi-Mariah: Am I right in assuming that you're enjoying this?*Laughs* I hope you like this chapter. And thanks for reading my other stuff too.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone at all is this chapter! That's right, there are no original characters in here!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: PLEASE READ!!!!!
About the Bond. This chapter features information about the Bond that might not sit properly with what the Tala and Bryan have said in the previous chapters. Before you say "That's wrong", Voltaire only released certain bits of information to the boys, and also told them some lies about it as well. ie, Tala knows more about the Bond then Bryan, but Bryan knows bits that Tala doesn't. Neither boy knows the full details of the Bond, and this is for a reason! The other people in this chapter who know about the Bond, also don't know the full of it, and you shouldn't trust anything that isn't specified as 'part of the report'. If it's in the report, it's true, if it isn't, there is a chance it's a lie.
Chapter 4
I smile
You say I take your breath away
You say you love me and you make
All the right promises to break
~ Predictable, Delta Goodrem
When the phone rang at the shop at nearly 3 am that night, Mr Mizuhura was not happy. When the person on the other end demanded he wake up his son (a futile gesture, as Max had woken up when the phone rang), Mr Mizuhura became annoyed. But, he did let Max speak to the person, who Max identified as Mr Kinomiya, Tyson's grandfather, immediately.
"Are you sure?" Max asked, his face going pale. Mr Mizuhura couldn't hear what Mr Kinomiya said, and then Max spoke again, "No, nothing that I can think of…… I'll call the others. Maybe they know something…… and you'll call if something changes?…… all right. Thank you for letting me know."
Max hung up and turned to face his father, his face ashen. "Tyson never came home last night," he said as an explanation, "I'm going to call the others." He turned back to the phone, dialling a number.
"Um, hi… may I please speak to Kenny? It's an emergency," he explained to one of Kenny's parents, "Thank you." A few moments passed and then Kenny must have come on. "Hi, it's Max. Sorry to wake you at this hour," Max quickly explained what was going on. "I'm about to call Kai and Rei. Meet at Tyson's house in half an hour, alright?"
Max hung up, dialled another number, and repeated the instructions, this time to Kai. Then he ran upstairs to get dressed.
"Dad," he called as he ran back down, flushing. "I forgot to ask, can you take me to Tyson's? Picking up Kai and Rei on the way?"
Mr Mizuhura grinned, swinging the keys to his car around on his finger. "What took you so long? I've been waiting for that question for the past five minutes. Come on," he added, heading for the door. "Let's go find your friend."
Max smiled gratefully, following his dad out. They just had to find Tyson…
~*~*~
Robert sat in his office reviewing the information his spies in the Biovault Corporation had given him, feeling disturbed. One of the spies was an assistant to Biovault's leading scientists, and he had revealed some shocking and potentially deadly information, sending it in bits and pieces and in code. It had taken Robert the better part of two days to decode the documents, and then a third to put it all together.
The Virgin Bond is an unbreakable bond between two people, strong enough to shatter the bond between a bit beast and its master, or cause the bond to be overridden by the other person involved. The bond is created when one of the subjects loses their virginity to the other. This can be through means such as rape, or the gift being given voluntarily. The more affection or love the giver has for the taker, the stronger the bond will be.
Voltaire had conducted tests in the past to discover the boundaries of bond, but all of them were unsuccessful, with both the victim and the instigator dieing each time. The strain of creating the bond would have been too powerful, and caused their bodies to simply shut down.
This happened nearly five years ago. All who worked on the original tests refused to partake in any further studies, and were therefore eliminated. All I have been able to gather from the information I obtained from one of the deceased's files is that people who are to participate in the bond have to have strong feelings for each other, whether it be love or hate or something entirely different, but for the bond to be created properly, these feelings must be the same on either side, and of the same strength. The reasons the bond failed in the past was that the ones creating the bond had conflicting emotions towards each other, or varying degrees of one emotion.
I have been unable to discover who Voltaire plans on using the Virgin Bond on. To my knowledge, the scientists themselves don't know all of Biovault's plans. They most likely would choose a target who was both powerful and emotional. As the tests revealed, people with those qualities tend to have been the closest to successfully creating the bond.
Most of the information the spy had been able to get was useful - the documents certainly told him what Biovault was up to.
Robert sat back and let out a sigh. This was useless. He wasn't much closer to discovering exactly what Biovault's goal was. What benefit to them would using the Bond be? And more importantly, if they did manage to successfully recreate the Bond, what damage could they do with it? Robert supposed the stronger one's soul was, the stronger one's bit beast would be. Tyson had the most powerful bit beast, and was the most emotional as well, caring deeply for his friends and comrades, but from what the documents read, Biovault wouldn't choose him to perform the bond on. It would fail if they did.
Tyson's heart was so big that the only way to get the bond to work with him as a participant was to have the other participant care for Tyson, or for them to be in love. Although the bond could be created in hate, Tyson forgave so quickly that it seemed impossible, from Robert's point of view, for the midnight-haired teen to actually hate someone. He had forgiven Tala after their match, hadn't he? So Tyson would have to fall in love with whoever was also participating in the Bond, which would mean the other person would have to love him back.
No, Kai was a much more likely choice for the Bond. The duel haired teen held a lot of resentment and anger towards everyone in the Biovault Company, and a lot of the inner staff felt the same way towards the Hiwatari heir. And Dranzer was exceptionally powerful. But, was Kai emotional enough, Robert wondered.
There was also Rei to consider, Robert thought after a second. He had managed to defeat Bryan in the tournament, which proved his bit beast was powerful enough to be a contender. Robert had also heard about Rei's strong friendship ties with the White Tigers, and the Bladebreakers, and his budding relationship with Kai. That together might give him the level of emotion needed.
It would have to be one of the Demolition Boys who initiated the bond, he knew that. People of equal power were needed to perform the ritual, and the Demolition Boys were definitely strong enough to go up against all of the higher level teams - his own team, the Majestics; the All Stars; White Tiger team and the Bladebreakers.
So, if the Demolition Boys were going to be the instigators of the Bond, who would be the victims? Thinking about it, Robert could see that it could be any blader from any of the teams.
A sudden thought crossed his mind, unlikely but somewhat possible. What if it were Kai himself, instead of being a victim of the Bond, what if Kai was one of the instigators? What if Kai were using his relationship with Rei as a cover to perform the bond on him, and gain control of Drigger? Then Robert shook his head at the foolishness of it. Kai had denounced Biovault, and gone back to the Bladebreakers, and he did seem to care about Rei.
Robert sighed, looking at the clock on his desk. It was nearly four am in Japan at the moment, he realized after doing the calculations in his head, and certainly not the best time to call. Besides, only Tyson had given him his phone number, and from the stories he had heard, the boy wouldn't be up before 9am, depending on what he was doing for the day.
He would call Tyson in a couple of hours, he decided. But he could call the All Stars now. He had Dr Judy's number.
~*~*~
Tyson yawned as he woke up, comfortably incased in a pair of warm arms. As his mind slowly returned, he realized that just maybe, there was something wrong with waking up with someone's arms wrapped around him. Startled now that his mind had caught up with him, he tried to pull away, but the arms weren't letting him go, and someone, presumably the owners of the arms, nuzzled into the back of his neck.
Tyson wrenched his head around to look in shock at Tala. The red haired boy was still asleep, and a content look was on his face.
Tyson blushed remembering the night before. They hadn't done anything like that, but Tala had been so nice, letting him borrow some clothes, and promising to walk him home in the morning. Tala's apartment only had one bedroom, and before Tyson convinced Tala that he trusted him, Tala had been planning to sleep on the floor, or the couch. Tyson just couldn't let him do that – it was his apartment after all. So, they slept in the same bed.
Tala had asked his permission before wrapping his arms around Tyson's waist, and drawing the younger boy to him before drifting off to sleep.
Tyson slept better that night then he had in a long time.
Tyson twisted around so that his whole body was facing Tala instead of the other boy spooning him like they had been all night, and reached up with one hand to trace the outline of Tala's face.
The gentle touch of his hand woke Tala immediately, who tensed under Tyson's fingers, before coming to his senses and relaxing. His eyes closed for a second, before reopening, with the piercing ice blue orbs focusing on Tyson's face, and a lazy smile crossed his lips.
"Good morning," he whispered, "Did you sleep well?"
Tyson blushed, making Tala raise an eyebrow in question. "It's nothing," Tyson tried to reassure him, "and yes, I slept really well. Thank you, Tala," he added, "for not… you know…" he trailed off, blushing again.
"You're welcome," Tala said, understanding. "I'm not going to pressure you, Tyson. I can wait until you're ready."
Tala stretched, before climbing out of the bed, Tyson following him.
"If you like, I'll make breakfast for us, and you can have a shower if you want," Tala suggested. Tyson nodded, and Tala started getting out cooking utensils, and food. "After breakfast, I'll walk you back to your home. Unless, you'd like to stay here a bit longer…" Tala left the invitation open; both hoping Tyson would take the invitation, and praying he wouldn't.
"No, I'd better get home soon," Tyson said. "I've got Kendo practice today, and Gramps…" Suddenly, and to Tala's complete amusement, Tyson's eyes bugged. "Gramps!" the blue haired teen exclaimed. "I forgot to call him last night! He was expecting me home around eight or nine."
"Relax, Ty," Tala said, pointing to the wall that held his phone, "Call your grandfather, then have a shower. Tell him you'll be home in about an hour and a half," he added.
"Thanks, Tala," Tyson said, looking visibly relieved.
Tala watched as Tyson walked over to the phone on the wall and dialled a number, making sure he saw what numbers were dialled and committed the sequence to memory. Having Tyson's phone number couldn't hurt.
Tyson had pulled a chair over to the wall, and he sat on it while he waited for someone to pick up.
However, it wasn't Gramps who did pick up.
"Hello?"
"Rei?" Tyson blinked. What was Rei doing at his house? And, better yet, how did Rei know where his house was?
"Tyson?" Rei sounded relieved. "Tyson, are you okay?"
"What are you doing at my house, Rei?"
"Where are you?" Rei asked, ignoring the question.
"Why? And I asked you first," Tyson reminded him.
"When you didn't come home last night, your grandfather called us. We've been searching for you since about 4am this morning. Your grandfather was worried sick about you," Rei's voice took on a hard tone. "I answered your question, now you answer mine. Where were you?"
"I… I was safe," Tyson hesitated, not answering the question. "Could you put Gramps on the phone please," Tyson requested.
"Alright," Rei agreed reluctantly. "But Tyson, don't think you'll be able to get out of answering when you get back."
A second later, Gramps was on the line. "Tyson, where have you been? Why didn't you call me? Do you know how much you've worried us?"
"I'm sorry Gramps," Tyson said, glancing at Tala, who had come up to stand behind him, "It was too late for me to call when we got home."
"WE?" Gramps almost yelped. "Who's 'we'? Who are you with, Tyson?"
"I'm safe, Gramps," Tyson insisted again. "I'm sorry I didn't call you. I'll be home soon, in about an hour and a half," he said, remembering what Tala told him. "Don't worry about me."
"Tyson…"
"Gramps, I promise. And I'll tell you everything when I get home, I swear," Tyson said, trying to calm his grandfather down.
"Fine. But I expect an explanation when you get home. A good one," he emphasized.
"Yes Gramps," Tyson muttered. "I'll see you soon."
Tyson hung up after a few more seconds, and turned to face Tala, a smile on his face. "Well, the worst is over," he grinned.
"That was the worst?" Tala smirked.
Tyson laughed. "Well, I don't see how it could get worse," he said. "It's got to get better," he added, still laughing.
Tala cut off his laughing with a kiss, pulled back and smirked. "Go. Shower," he ordered.
"Sir, yes Sir," Tyson mocked, ducking out of the way when Tala pretended to try to hit him.
"Go. And wash properly," Tala said.
Tyson smiled cheekily. "And what if I don't?"
"Then I'll have to come in and wash you myself."
Tyson paled at the answer. "No… I'll do it properly," he promised quickly.
"Good. Now, go. I still have to cook for you."
This time, Tyson obeyed, and Tala set about getting out utensils. Soon, the smell of sizzling bacon filled the small apartment.
~*~*~
The phone rang again at the Kinomiya residence. This time, Kai was the closest and so he answered it, expecting it to be Tyson again.
"What?"
"Kai?" the voice was not Tyson's, though it took Kai less than a second to place it as Robert's.
"Robert. What do you want?" Kai said flatly. He didn't like the leader of the Majestics, and he probably never would.
"I wished to speak to Tyson, but I suppose any member of the Bladebreakers will suffice," Robert stated.
Kai growled softly. He really didn't want to listen to whatever Robert had to say. "Hold on. I'll put Rei on," Kai beckoned to the boy in question, who took the phone.
"Robert?"
"Hello Rei," Robert greeted.
"Hi. Sorry about Kai. Tyson didn't come home last night," Rei began to explain, "and we spent most of the night looking for him. Kai's just cranky," he added, shooting a smirk at his boyfriend, who glared at him.
"Very well. I accept your apology on his behalf," Robert said. "However, the reason I called is urgent. I have a very important matter to discuss with the Bladebreakers. It's about Biovault."
"Biovault?" Rei's brow crinkled. "But I thought Biovault had disbanded, now that Voltaire is in prison," he pointed out.
"It seems we were wrong. Evidence I have compiled in the last two weeks reveals that Biovault has, in fact, not disbanded. Furthermore, they are continuing with their original plans, which were to gain control of the world through the bit beasts. The World Tournament was merely a test to reveal to Biovault whose bit beasts were the most powerful. Which, if you remember, it did."
"Did you find out anything about how Biovault's planning to do this?"
"Yes. Ask Kai what he knows about a ritual called the Virgin Bond."
"The Virgin Bond?" Rei repeated, turning to look at Kai, who had paled slightly. "I think Kai does know it."
"Good. That means I don't have to explain it. I have to call the White Tigers still, so ask Kai to explain it to you," Robert said. Rei could just imagine him checking a clock to see how much time he had spent on the phone already.
"Alright, I'll let you do that. Anything you want me to tell Tyson?" Rei asked.
"Please tell him to call me. I need to speak with him."
"Sure. Bye," Rei said, hanging up and turning to Kai, who had regained some of his composure, "Kai, what's the Virgin Bond?"
"A legend," Kai replied shortly. "A nightmare. I don't know much about it. Since I regained my memory about the Abbey, I'd remembered a few other things, one of which was the Bond," he explained.
"But what is the Bond?" Rei asked. "What does it do?"
"The Bond creates an unbreakable bond between two people, and is created when one person gifts the other with their virginity," Kai explained. "The Bonder - the one who creates the Bond – would have taken a serum up to six months earlier, which is what sparks the creation of the Bond."
Rei met Kai's eyes and a look of understanding passed through them. Rei looked away, as Kenny asked another question.
"What does it do? And what harm is caused to the Bondee?"
"The strength of the Bond," Kai began, "depends on the feelings between the two."
"So they have to love each other equally for it to be powerful?" Max asked.
"Not exactly. One of them has to love the other, or at least care for them, from what I remember," he amended, "although, if they dislike each other… a Bond created in hate is just as powerful as a Bond created in love. That's what we were told."
"You still haven't told us what this bond does, Kai," Kenny pointed out.
Kai glared at him. "If it's powerful enough, it can override your control of your bit beast, until they think that what someone else wants them to do is what you want them to do."
"So you're saying that, if Bryan created the Bond with, say… Mariah…" Max asked, his brow furrowed, picking names from thin air, "that Galax would think that Mariah was telling him to do something, when Bryan was instead?"
"Exactly," Kai said.
Rei's eyes narrowed in anger suddenly as a thought crossed his mind. "Kai. I want to talk to you. Now."
Without waiting for an answer, he stalked from the room. Resigned, Kai followed him. The duel-haired blader knew what this was about.
"Rei," Kai began, once they were outside and out of earshot of the others.
"You knew," Rei accused, turning angry golden eyes on his boyfriend. "You knew that Biovault might try something like this."
"Rei…"
"Don't lie to me Kai," Rei snapped. "I'm not stupid. That serum – it's in you, isn't it?"
~*~*~
The sky was clouded over, dark masses hanging in the air.
"I think it's going to rain, Tala," Tyson said, looking up, while at the same time quickening his footsteps. He really didn't want to get caught in the downpour that was sure to come.
"Actually, I think there's going to be a storm as well," Tala added. "We'd better get you home quickly."
Tyson smiled at what seemed to be a savior of sorts. His knight in shining armor. "Yeah."
When they were in front of Tyson's home, which Tala noted was a dojo like what Kenny had said it was, Tala stopped Tyson.
"Tala?" Tyson asked, looking at him, "What is it?"
"Tyson, I know this might be sudden, but will you go out with me?"
Tyson stared in shock at him, mouth open, too stunned to reply.
However, others didn't have that problem.
"WHAT?"