Title: Tears I Cried

Author: eternal radiance

Email: zeni24@hotmail.com

Rating: pg13 for language and mention of character death

Pairings: K/Ty, R/Ma, Ta/Ty friendship

Summary: something in Tyson changes, but not for the better and when Kai's training techniques go too far, has he really lost Tyson forever? He'll have to get through the overprotective brother first.

Author's Notes: I just noticed that I forgot the disclaimer again… mou…. Saa….thank you to all those people who have reiewed this fic and other fics… I'm sorry, I'm being really lazy at the moment, and time… well, I have no time to write a personalized thank you note to everyone, so… ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU, MINNA-SAN! (-- hehe, the good thing about having a Japanese boyfriend.)

Disclaimer: BB does not belong to me…. Only the storyline does.

~ change of POV or time gap

"speaking"

'thinking'

(author's note)

flashback

dream or letter

Tears I Cried – Chapter 2

By: eternal radiance

            The next morning, Kai was the first to wake - as usual. He did his daily things; shower, dress, brush, etc, before heading to kitchen to get some food. On his way, he passed by Takao's room and noticed that the door was slightly opened. Succumbing to his sappy side, he peeked in and saw the cleanest room ever. There was nothing in it – no trace that his dragon ever lived or slept there.

            The bed was made to perfection, and the drawers were taken out and no clothes were in them. Upon inspection, he noticed that there were o clothes in the closet as well and the desk was spotless, other than a beige envelope, which was addressed to all the Bladebreakers. Kai recognized the writing at once.

            It was Takao's.

            '- the hell!' Kai yelled out in his mind, his hand reaching out to grab the envelope. In one swift motion, he ripped the envelope open and out fell a small note. It read:

            'Dear Kenny, Max, Ray and Kai

            I can't take it anymore. I have no clue why I'm still here, but… I just need to get away. I quit okay?? I'm no good to anyone now, happy? I'm going home. Don't come to me. I don't care anymore. Take care of Max, Ray. Take care of each other. Maybe we'll see each other again, but I highly doubt it.

                                                ~Kinomiya Takao'

            It took awhile for this to sink into Kais head. Takao.Was.Gone. He was gone. Kai went on a rampage, searching the kitchen, the lounge area, even peeking in his own room. There was a possibility that it was nothing but a prank, but deep inside him, he knew that it was true. Takao had left them. He had quit.

            Finally the red phoenix slumped down on the bed in Takao's bedroom, burying his head in the soft blue covers. 'It's too late…. He's gone and it's all my fault… I made him leave…' His head sobbed out silently, his heart shattering to pieces.

            And for the first time in a long while, Kai found himself crying. He tried to wipe them away at first, but they just kept rolling down his cheeks. Finally he gave up. 'Takao… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…'

~

            A tall dark blue-haired teen waited at the airport where he was expecting someone to come. He sat there for what seemed like hours, a book on stocks in his hand, but his eyes weren't actually seeing or reading the words. Finally he heard the announcement that he had been waiting for.

            "The plane from America to Tokyo has just arrived. Passengers will be descending the plane at gate C12. I repeat, flight 785 from America to Tokyo has just arrived. Passengers will be getting off at gate C12."

            With a snap (um… books may not go snap, but…. It's my story la!), he closed his book and stood up from his seat, brushing the none-existent dirt off his sweater and khakis. With long strides, he made his way to the gate C12 and waited patiently for the person he was waiting for.

            He didn't have to wait long though, as the boy was one of the first passengers to get off the plane. A duffel bag was thrown over one shoulder while one hand dragged a medium-sized suitcase.

            The world froze around them as the boy's blue eyes met eyes of the same colour.

            "'niichan!" Takao launched himself onto his brother, wrapping thin arms around his older brother's neck.

            "Ty…" Ren breathed, drawing his little brother close to him.

           "'niichan, I missed you.." Takao said softly, sounding every bit like a little child.

            "I missed you too." The deep baritone said, rubbing the smaller boy's shoulder blades. Then he set his brother down and took hold of his suitcase with one hand and Takao's hand with the other. "Come on, little one. Let's go home."

~

            When they reached the dojo, Takao stared up at the place that had been his home for so many years. The tears started running down his cheeks as everything finally set in. His grandfather was dead. He had quit beyblading. He had left Kai and Max and Ray and Kenny.

            But he had reason to. Beyblading. It had been his entire life. Even after the death of his mother when he was small. And his grandfather had been the one to encourage him to taking up the sport. Him and his father. His father had been doing a dig when the ceiling of a cave collapsed and a giant chunk of the stone fell and hit him on the head. Takao had been told that he had died instantly. When his grandfather heard the news, the death of his one and only son caused him to have a heart attack and he too died instantly.

            Takao and his older brother did have some relatives in other countries of the world, but they were very distant and never really had a chance to meet. Which meant that the two blue-haired boys were now orphans. Takao, being 14 years of age, had to be taken care of Ren, who had fortunately turned 18 just a while ago. Everything belonged to him no. Including the dojo, which unfortunately cost a lot of money to maintain. But Takao and Ren wanted to keep it though, in memory of their family and the sword of dragoon – the family emblem.

            "Are you going in?" Ren asked his younger brother who had froze at the entrance, with tears running down his face. When he turned, he grew concerned. "Ty, what's wrong?" He asked softly, using the nickname he had given Takao a long time ago. He was even more concerned when the tears did not stop.

            Since Ren had already take the bags in the house, he lifted Takao up in a one sweep, hugging the body close to his chest. "Takao, what's wrong?"

            He had to lean in close to hear the tiny mumbling coming from Takao's mouth. Something about Kai and Bladebreakers and hurt and leaving.

            Using one hand, Ren held the small chin to make Takao look him, face to face. "What did they do?" He demanded, his anger flowing at. What did they do to reduce his sweet little brother into this weak and vulnerable creature?

            Little by little, Takao told him all about what had happened. How Kai had made fun of him while training, how it had hurt, how he liked the Bladebreaker leader, and how he left them.

            Ren was seething inside but he kept it all inside, not wanting his little brother to be afraid of him. After awhile, Takao had fallen asleep and Ren carried him to bed. He gently placed his brother in the bed and drew the covers over him.

            Placing a tiny kiss upon the frowning brow, Ren whispered his promise. "He won't hurt you anymore. I swear it. I'll protect you, Ty…"

            And Ren was determined to keep that promise. No matter what. Also exhausted from the whole day, he slumped beside the bed and leaned his head on the cover, close to Takao's head, watching over his precious little brother. "I swear he won't hurt you…"

~

            It's been a few weeks since the Bladebreakers had last seen Takao. Mr. Dickenson had given them a chance wanting them to do battle after battle. Inwardly, Kai suspected that the BBA owner had deliberately done that to allow Takao sometime to cope, but he didn't say anything about his suspicions. And cope with what? In Takao's letter, he said noting about WHY he had left them in the first place. There was no explanation, now matter how many times he and everyone else read the letter.

            The crimson-eyed boy now looked around him. He was sitting in a private jet that the BBA had given them. Beside him, the Chief was typing furiously in his laptop, with Dizzy stopping to comment once in a while. Max and Ray sat in the seat across to the left of the plane, where the blonde had fallen asleep on the Chinese boy's shoulder. Mr. Dickenson himself sat behind, staring out the window.

Kai turned his attention back to the side window which he was sitting beside, watching the clouds pass by quickly. 'Takao…why?' His mind screamed out. 'Why did you leave us? Why did you leave me? Why are you so... unTakao-like?' He had so many questions. Questions which he would find the answer to. He wasn't going to take nothing for an answer.

After awhile, the jet arrived at the Tokyo airport and Kai was the first to get off. He waited impatiently for the jet to drop their luggage and then waited some for the limo to pick up the bags.

He glared at anyone who dared to approach them and stall them from getting to Takao, and was even more frustrated when Mr. Dickenson decided to stop somewhere else first.

"Where are we going?" He demanded to know.

Beside him, Max –who had woken up- and Ray gave him a concerned look, which he just ignored.

The BBA owner just chuckled at the death glare he was receiving. "You shall see once we get there, Kai."

It wasn't long before they were driving into a long driveway that not only Max, Ray and Kenny stared at, but Kai as well. It was the mansion that Voltaire had owned in Tokyo.

"What are we doing here?" Kai asked, trying not to let his confusion mark his voice, but failing.

Mr. Dickenson smiled as the other boys turned their heads towards to listen as well. "The courts have deemed Voltaire as a dangerous man, and although you weren't supposed to be receiving the Hiwatari fortune at your age, the government decided to let this slip. It's all your now." Then he grinned, noticing that Kai and the others were still looking at the mansion in awe. "Of course, we'd be staying here for the time being."

Kai was still staring when they reached the door and Mr. Dickenson reached out to ring the doorbell.

The door opened and a tall old looking man stepped out. "Ah, Mr. Dickenson. We've been expecting you." Then he bowed low and motioned them to come in. When his warm eyes rested upon Kai, he smiled. "So this is young Master Kai." He bowed once more. "I am Henry, your butler."

Kai liked him at once. He had this warm look on his face and his in his eyes, opposite of his grandfather. Then it finally hit him. His grandfather was gone! The house was his! Everything belonged to him now. He smiled, thinking about how he could finally convince Takao he loved him now, without being afraid of his grandfather hurting anyone.

Ray did a double take as he looked over at Kai. The Bladebreaker leader was smiling! He was actually smiling. He was a lot handsomer when he smiled and now the Chinese boy knew why Takao had fallen in love with him. Ray watched as the crimson-eyed boy's expression grew faraway and knew he was thinking about Takao.

Ray grinned to himself. 'Good luck getting away, Takao.' He knew that once Kai put his eye on something, the leader wouldn't give up on getting that something. 'Good luck.'

~

            Soon they had dropped off their stuff and were in the long black limo, ready to see Takao. Max was jumping up and down on his seat, excited to be able to see his best friend once again.

            Kai wanted to do the same thing. Inside he was jumping up and down excitedly like a little child at Christmas day, but on the outside, only a small itsy-bitsy smiled showed.

            Finally they all stood outside the big dojo that belonged to the Kinomiya family. It looked just like it always did, when the Bladebreakers had visited before.

            Mr. Dickenson smiled at them. " I will leave you here for now. Call me or Howard (the chauffeur) if you want a ride back to the house." He signalled the chauffeur and they drove off.

            The team watched the car leave and then turned to back to the dojo. The looked at each other in silent agreement and Kenny walked up to the door and knocked three times.

            The boys waited for a while, but no one came to the door.

            "That's odd. Takao's grandfather is usually home." Kenny commented out loud. He reached out one hand to touch the doorknob and the was surprised when the door slid open.

            They walked inside, deciding to look for their friend and teammate. The Chief closed the door behind them. Afterall, he'd been here the most and Takao's grandfather had said that he would always be welcome.

            He led them inside. "Takao?" Max asked out.

No one answered.

In the distance, they could hear sounds of wood being knocked against each other. At first, the sounds worried them as they sounded like people fighting, but when they realized it was only kendo sticks being hit against each other, they were greatly relieved. But there were no loud yells, which were sure to come if the blue-haired boy was fighting his grandfather. So whom could Takao be fighting against?

They followed the sounds of the clashing wood sticks to a partially opened door close to the middle of the dojo. Upon opening the door, they saw two fighters going at each other from both side of the room. One whom the expected to be there, and another whom they hadn't.

The one whom they've been expecting to be there though, bounced off the other person's blade and the blue-haired boy himself turned suddenly at the sound of the door opening, the tip of the deadly wooden blade pointed directly at the throat of the person leading the group.

Kai.

TBC…

Eternal: la di da di dah… hehe, cliffhanger.. I'm so evil… Sorry, I need something to do... after doing so bad on some tests…. My parents are going to yell soo much…. And they'll probably ground me again, and take away the internet. So don't be expecting the next chapter any time soon okay? I'll try to get it out next week, but no promises!

Oh yeah, before I forget… I haven't gotten through season 2 yet, cuz I haven't been allowed to watch TV for a bit, but it just ended… L Thing is, I have no clue what ages Takao-kun and minna-san are supposed to be, so I'm estimating around 12-14. I'm putting 14, because …it sounds better I guess…

Review please!