Title: Torment

Author: Kirie Hiiwatari

Rating: PG-13

Warning: See Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or any of its characters. Any and all unrecognizable characters belong to me and only me.

Summary: See Chapter 1

Rei entered the dining room to find Kenny sat with his laptop open behind his bowl of cereal in front of him, Max sat opposite Kenny; legs crossed in his chair playing his game-boy. Rei gave a small smile at the sight of his teammates. He carried on looking up the table, near the window he spotted the silent bluenette drinking a cup of tea while reading one of his books. Rei's smile grew bigger as he made his way to the seat opposite him. He sat in front of him silently; he placed Dranzer next to Kai's hand and sat back in his chair waiting for Kai's response.

Kai took a quick glance at Dranzer then carried on reading, 'Ok he got my message...now what?' Kai turned the page, but didn't take his eyes of the book. Rei leaned forward and took a look at the front of the book; he gave Kai a confused look. Kai noticed Rei's face; a small smile crept over his lips. Rei stared into the crimson orbs and smiled. Kai closed his book and placed it on the table next to his cup.

"What's your book about? What's it called?" Rei asked to start off their conversation, he didn't want to jump straight into Kai's problem. He sat in his chair playing with the end of his ponytail waiting for Kai to reply. When he saw the smile on Kai's face he dropped his hair and started to blush. He glanced at Kai again only to find that he was trying to hide his smile, "Erm...Kai it's ok you can smile...Tyson isn't up yet as normal. So, tell me what is your book about?" Rei started to get impatient, so he started rocking in his chair. Kai let his smile out as he watched Rei rocking back and forth in his chair.

"How do I keep a curious neko under control?" Rei raised an eyebrow when he heard what Kai just said. Kai leaned back and closed his eyes, "Confuse him! That's how. Ok seriously, my book is called 'The Dark' it is the sequel to 'The Named' you know the one you're reading. The only reason why you didn't recognize it is because it is in Russian. Very rare you can find a book that is written in English here..." Rei sat in silence as the bluenette spoke. 'Kai! Calm yourself down for crying out loud. He only wanted to know the title not its life story!' Kai stopped speaking when he realized that he was rambling on about nothing. "Sorry..." Rei silence turned into laughter when the phoenix apologized.

"Sorry for laughing but that is the first time I have ever heard you talk endlessly." Rei stopped laughing when he noticed Kenny and Max looking at them. Kai felt himself blushing; he stared out of the window to hide his embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Kai. I suppose you're not used to me being like this on a morning." Silence came from the bluenette once again; Rei joined him staring out of the window. Kai sighed. Rei put his eyes back on his distressed teammate, "Kai...?" Kai turned his head to let Rei's eyes meet his. Rei reached out and placed his hand on Kai's wrist that was sat on top of his book. "...You can trust me, you know that. You're not just my captain, you're my best friend and when you're upset, so am I...so whenever you need someone to talk to you know where I am, ok?" Kai nodded, Rei gave him a small smile. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Rei decided that now was the time to talk. Kai breathed deeply.

"Ok, I..." Kai was interrupted

"Hey Kai!! You're at breakfast table! What's wrong? Too cold outside for ya?" Tyson shouted at the top of his voice, like he does every time he sees Kai. "Hiya Rei? Why you eating up there? Is he lecturing you again?" Tyson started laughing as loud as he could, but soon stopped when a white beyblade just misses the side of his face and places a hole in the wall. "Wha...wha...what the hell? What are you trying to do? Kill me or something?"

"That wouldn't be such a bad idea. Why don't you shut up for a while, give your mouth a rest. You do nothing but talk, you shout when you're awake and you talk when you're asleep! Either keep your voice level down or Drigger won't miss next time!" Tyson was gob-smacked at Rei's outburst, along with Max who dropped his game-boy, and Kenny who deleted all of his work when he pushed the wrong button by accident. Kai tried to hide his smile as he looked up at the angry but calm blader. "DRIGGER!" Rei called back his blade, which just missed Tyson again who was still stood there with his mouth wide open. Rei calmly sat back down. Without looking back at Tyson he simply pointed out that he looked like a gold fish. "So you was saying..." Rei tried to carry on their conversation.

"I...erm...I just wanted to...erm tell you that...erm...oh for crying out loud, what the hell was that all about? Where did it come from? I never thought you had it in you." Kai couldn't keep to the original conversation. Rei smiled when he felt himself blush, his eyes stayed on Kai's. He saw that Kai was showing his curiosity by messing with his hands and the smile on his face.

"How do I keep a curious Russian under control?" Rei gave Kai a mischievous smile, which Kai returned. "Tell him that Tyson is starting to annoy me and I hate him bad mouthing his team captain. That's how. And I'm being serious." Kai's smile started to disappear, but Rei carried on talking. "I hate people bad mouthing you, I mean you don't deserve it. You had a hard time in the Abbey and all you need is a few more friends, I mean the Demolition Boys are you're friends but you need some that didn't live in the Abbey, you know what I mean?" Kai's smile came back again that developed into laughter. Rei glared at Kai. "Hey I'm trying to be a good friend here!" Kai calmed himself down.

"I know. I'm laughing at the fact that I know what you mean, but...I can't abandon Tala and the guys." Kai turned serious and his smile disappeared. Rei finally found out what was bothering him and he smiled.

"Kai, you're friends are my friends, ok?" Rei brought back Kai's smile but it was smaller than before when he heard Tyson shouting his name again.

"Kai!"

"I'm off for a walk. You coming Rei?" Kai stood up and looked at Rei. He nodded.

"Kai, Where are you going? What were you talking about? Why are you being so secretive?" Tyson started asking questions that was starting to annoy Kai. Kai looked at Rei and flashed him a mischievous smile and turned to Tyson.

"Tyson, to you what we are talking about is irrelevant, we are secretive because YOU cant keep anything quiet, and where we are going is none of your concern so why don't you tebya ne ebut, ti ne podmakhivai!" Kai turned back to Rei and smiled. Kai made his way to the door.

"What the hell? Is that from another one of your books? Let me guess it's called 'How do I shut up an annoying, stubborn, loud bastard?'" Rei started laughing at his title. Kai was quiet but then smiled.

"Almost. You forgot greedy." Rei stopped and looked at Kai with a smirk on his face. "And how do I shut one up, Rei?" Kai turned round to laugh at his face expression.

"Erm, you confuse him by shouting something Russian at him! Am I right?" Kai nodded. "YAY! Do I get a prize?" the two bladers started laughing and started walking again. Rei watched Kai as they walked towards the front door. 'Thanks Kai, one step at a time. I'll help the Demolition Boys for you; you're not going back there. Not again.'