Chapter 18

Castles in the Sky: I think he'd feel worse actually.

the tigris: Last day of school should have made you happy. I mean, NO MORE HOMEWORK!!!

russle: Kenny's 15, and no, that guy will not reappear. Sorry. Just a cameo. Pick an actor. :p

Koneko no Rei: you can have new characters in this one! Oh the fun you can have!

Chibi Wingzero: Don't worry, I'm 19 and I don't drink either. So many other things you can spend your money on... such as Manga and anime videos... :p

LingXiaoyu: It made you think? Wow. I have discovered a new power I must exploit...

KuronekoHikage: Liking it thus far? Hm?

Ashla: I wrote the chapter around the song. I good the 'Best Of' for Christmas. I've always loved Johnny Farnham.

Has anyone else noticed that a character from Honesty has not yet appeared yet? No longer…

Gary smiled as he waved, his little cousin Cale Ki waving back as he vanished down the road and around the corner, heading home. Turning, Gary moved back into his home, touching his mothers shoulder lightly as he passed her and heading to his room to put away the beyblade parts he had taken out to help fix Cale's blade.

He had just passed the phone when it began to rang, Gary stopping and picking it up. "Hello."

"Hi Gary, its Ray." He paused. "By any chance have you heard from Lee and Kevin recently?"

"No."

"Thought not. Just figured that with Kevin being your cousin and Lee your second cousin they might have rang and said something." Ray let out a long breath. "Their relationships falling apart, Gaz."

"Huh?" Gary looked up, his mum smiling and moving away, giving him privacy. "What happened?"

"A number of things. It's a real chain reaction. Mainly, Kevin's never gotten over the whole Mariah thing, and from what Tyson told me when I called him, Kev's blaming Lee for letting it happen. On top of that Lee's getting frustrated with Kevin's attitude and said some things that made Kevin shut him out." Ray hesitated. "And it gets worse."

Gary frowned. "What's wrong?"

"It's like this Bear… If Kevin leaves, Lee's gonna commit suicide."

Gary almost dropped the phone, sitting down heavily in the nearest chair. "Gary gonna come to Japan."

"No, don't. Stay there Gaz, please. I'm still on my holiday. I'm getting my information from Tyson and Max. Look, the best thing we can do is stay away from them, but that doesn't mean we can't talk." Ray sighed. "I think you should call Lee, see if he's okay. He needs all the support he can get at the moment."

"Right." Gary frowned. "Want me to tell Mariah?"

Ray hesitated. "Not yet. It might upset her."

"But she might help fix things."

"She might also make things worse." Gary heard someone talking in the background, Ray replying before Ray spoke again. "I've got to go, Gaz. The resort where we're staying is holding a party and it starts soon. Been good talking though."

"Yeah. Don't worry, I ring Lee. You have fun."

"Yeah. Bye Gaz."

"Bye Ray."

==========

Kevin stretched and stifled a yawn as he moved through the corridors of the BBA centre toward the staff cafeteria. Okay, so maybe he had partied a little too hard the night before. At least he hadn't come home smelling like liquor as Lee had. Kevin's violet eyes narrowed as he remembered the faint wobble to Lee's walk as he had entered the apartment, not even looking at Kevin as he had entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Lee never drank that much.

As expected, the Lion had had a hangover that morning, Kevin catching him sneaking painkillers behind the Monkey's back. Kevin had raised an eyebrow, Lee's dull eyes looking away before he refilled his drink.

Kevin spotted Lee in the back corner of the cafeteria, picking at his food. Kevin ran his eyes over him, taking in how run down the other looked. He hadn't shaven for days, the beginnings of a beard almost covering his strong jaw. His eyes were bloodshot, usually smooth hair looking as if it needed to be washed.

His clothes were rumpled, and Kevin could see that he was losing weight. That didn't surprise him, as he had noticed that Lee barely ate these days. Kevin sighed, turning away and trying to force it to the back of his mind. If Lee was coming down with something then he should go to the doctors. It wasn't Kevin's problem.

Getting his meal, Kevin found a seat and dug into his food. He risked a look out the corner of his eye and saw that Lee was staring off into space. Yet another thing that was un-Lee-like. It had always been Ray and Mariah who were the dreamers, though you could often catch Gary lost in through drooling over a meal in his head. Lee was always focused on the then and now, so for him to be daydreaming…

Or was he? Kevin risked another glance, noting the glaze to the Lions eyes. Probably had something to do with the hangover.

Kevin concentrated on his meal, running through the morning's activities in his mind and deciding what he needed to work on with each student. He mentally ran through a checklist of exercises and drew up a schedule, nodding to himself as he finally worked out what the weakness of one of the bladers was, something he had been pondering for over a week. They would have to work on that this afternoon.

Catching a movement to the side, Kevin looked up, spotting Lee gesturing for his attention. Kevin went to ignore him but Lee pointed toward the doorway, the younger turning and raising an eyebrow.

They were taller than they remembered them, but it had been two years. They stood side by side, smiling as Mr Dickenson approached them and took them up in conversation. Kevin rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, knowing that Tyson would be very interested to know that these two were in town.

Enrique Giancarlo and Oliver Polanski.

Hello. Two new characters. Yes, enter the Majestics!

Come take a look at my latest story, Centrepiece. Rated NC-17. Just remove the spaces. http :adultfan.nexcess.net /aff /story.php?no=28184