Chapter 13
Bluumberry: Um... how could you have already read it?
Shaman Wolf: I've never heard of Cirque du Freak, so that's a no. And yes, I've heard Linkin Park. My sister has the first album and Izure gave me the second one only the other week. Indeed, good music. :p
Chaco and Lily: Don't worry, I can't get the anime either. I wish I could though. And yes, pink n' fluffy. I borrowed it from a review in Honesty. Can't remember who said it though. I'd have to look.
Tariki Rania: I don't think Ray sees his problem as a good thing, even if we do. :p
Prozacfairy: We all have blond moments, so don't worry. And yes, very clueless.
TNTiggris: How could you almost fly? And at the moment Bryan is refusing to have any part of the case. You just know having read Honesty II.
KaiWaiiRei: There are moments of Bry/Tal in here, but not much. However, if you hold out for Ketsuron, they appear in the flesh. And I made you like Bryan? I guess that's good. So many people don't like him it's a real shame. He's such a good character.
GemGemJoo: Very demanding indeed. And patience...
Koneko no Rei: Actually, depending on the story, Bryan gets affection from other sources. I've seen him with Ray, and with Kai. And you'd better let Bryan out of the closet. I can't glomp him while he's in there.
Mizuyah: He most certainly is cool. :D
dead yet a love sick puppy: Hm... that review was a little longer. Not much, but still. :p
animeandraia: I couldn't do that to any animal, but this is Bryan we're talking about. And there's nothing wrong with being twisted. My friends consider my insanity normal. In fact, when I act sane they ask me what's wrong. :D
Ramen II: You liked a lot in this chapter, and it was good to see that. And yes, when updating I have a system - Sunday and Wednesday nights unless something comes up. In terms of writing I try to get a chapter a night. Sometimes I get more, depending on how I'm feeling and/or if I get distracted.
Kappy Locks: Bryan is misunderstood, but I'm glad you now like him. Heh, and I'm 19. Almost 20 now though. 20 in December.
KuronekoHikage: You mean Believe. I'm aiming to finish writing it once I finish writing Ketsuron. Hopefully you'll have both Ketsuron and Believe running at the same time like this and Into the Light is. And yes, I'll still be your beta. It'll be good practice with my editing skills. You'll have to tell me how far I'm allowed to go though - just correcting spelling and grammar, or can I offer suggestions for bits that don't seem to work right or reshuffle stuff, etc. Being the author you call the shots.
keisan: Yes, Bryan's the one who appears more. And Bryan makes all the big observations in this fic and is one of the ones to do some... prodding... :p
lilmatchgirl007: Boris is free in this fic, yes. But about other fics... no comment. And I'm not that big a fan of closure in fics ;)
Zap cannon: Sending me continuous reviews saying for me to update won't make me update any faster. Twice a week unless something happens. It's a lot better than some authors who update, it seems, only twice a year. Be thankful I'm not one of them. :p And thankies for the plushies!!!
And back to the whining.
"We eat, we sleep, we train. We eat, we sleep, we train." Tyson groaned, head dropping to land with a thud on his desk, beyblade parts scattering. "Somebody seriously needs to talk with Kai about changing the routine."
Ray bit back a smile, exchanging a knowing wink with Max as they watched the bluenette. "Kai just thinks we need to work harder, and I think he might be right."
Tyson growled. "Whose side are you on?"
"I'm not on anyone's side." Ray shrugged. "Just that I creamed you today like you were nothin'. Were you even trying?"
Max chuckled. "I think he was too busy thinking about the 'eating' side of things."
"I was not." Tyson straightened, swinging the chair around to face them. "Look, it's been two days since Ray arrived and what have we done?"
"Actually, Ty, apart from picking up Ray at the airport and when Kai got Kenny out of the house so we could… you know, that's all we've done."
"But that's my point. It's okay for Kenny, cause he gets more data to work on, but I've had it!" Tyson crossed his arms over his chest. "I think it's time we took a stand."
Max frowned. "What?"
"I say we walk up to Kai and tell him we're not going to train anymore!"
Max's eyebrows rose slightly. "That's not such a smart thing to do, Ty."
"Whoever said I was smart."
Ray bit back a smirk. "That's true."
Tyson shot him a look, before closing his eyes. "I say we go check a movie or something. Or maybe go to an arcade or whatever. Just generally do something fun!"
Max nodded. "Sounds cool to me. Ray?"
"Uh…" Ray looked from one to the other. "Let me talk to him, guys. He always listened to me more than you two and Kenny anyway."
As he stood and moved toward the doorway, Max and Tyson exchanged a knowing look, Tyson looking up after him. "Hey Ray… Do you have a thing for Kai?"
Ray stiffened, glancing over his shoulder. "What?"
Max leant forward. "Are you in love with Kai?"
Ray frowned. "What makes you say that?"
"Dude, you're always staring at him when he's not looking." Tyson shrugged. "And don't think we didn't catch that dreamy smile yesterday after you tripped over my feet and Kai caught you."
Ray glared at him. "You probably did that deliberately."
Tyson averted his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck as he chuckled sheepishly.
"I think it's cute." Max grinned. "It'll be me and Tyson, and you and Kai."
"I do not have a thing for Kai, guys." Ray closed his eyes and turned back toward the doorway, nose raised slightly in the air. "And if you haven't noticed, I'm straight."
Tyson raised an eyebrow as Ray left the room. "So were we."
((------------------------------))
The papers lay strewn across the desk, silently calling for attention but going ignored as Kai flipped through the magazine, filling out the puzzles and wishing they would bother to make them harder. Even the questions marked 'tough' proved hardly a challenge, causing him to wonder how so many people could struggle over them.
What are the colours of Australia's Olympic Team? Hn. Easy. Green and yellow. He paused, frowning and crossing out yellow, replacing it with gold. Gotta remember Australians like the minerals. They always say gold instead of yellow… yeah, gold… eyes… beautiful gold eyes… long ebony hair and a perfect-
His forehead hit the desktop with a crack.
Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY!?
With each 'why' he hit his forehead against the wooden surface, the blows doing little to ease his troubled mind. It was getting harder, getting more impossible by the day to keep his mind on the matter at hand. At training he had been forced to keep his back to the neko-jin, and even in doing that he forever wondered what the other was doing… or if the other was looking.
He hated it. And he hated even more the fact that Bryan could be right. Was it possible, by some twist of fate, that Kai had a crush on the distinctly male teammate of his? How could it be possible? Could it… be?
Hearing a knock on the door, Kai straightened, glad for the interruption to his misguided thoughts. Standing, he moved toward the door and opened it, inwardly groaning as he met golden eyes.
Ray set his jaw, falling into those crimson orbs before he forced himself to snap out of it: he had a mission after all. "We want to do something other than train."
How about making out with me… ARGH! Out. Of. My. Head! Do not need to be thinking this right now. Kai raised an eyebrow. "They need to train."
"They need to live."
"They can live any other time, but at the moment, we train."
Ray sighed. "Kai, the Championship isn't for another few months."
"You think I don't know that?" Kai narrowed his eyes. "The D Boys have been training for the last couple of months in preparation-"
"We aren't the Demolition Boys!" Ray sighed, shaking his head. "Kai, your old team has their way, my old team has their way, but it isn't our way. Max, Tyson, and Kenny weren't raised to be machines, nor have they known each other since they were little. Kai, they're 15, and Max is 16. They need to get out there, have fun. Catch a movie, hang out at the mall… you can't expect them to train and train and train without snapping."
"You can't let them go wild-"
"Kai, they are at breaking point." Ray met his eye. "One, maybe two days a week. What do you say?"
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Days off?"
"Days training. At least until we get closer to the Championship. Then we'll get back into the swing of things."
Kai set his jaw, wanting to flatly tell Ray and the others where to go, but feeling something else tugging at his mind. He could see the reason behind Ray's arguments, could see the logic, and he couldn't argue against that. Sighing, he looked away. "Fine."
Ray grinned, nodding his head and turning back down the corridor, ponytail whipping around behind him. He hadn't gone two steps when Kai called out after him.
"You do realise, once your minds no longer preoccupied, what's going to happen."
Ray hesitated as he heard Kai close the door, the reasons why Ray had come to Japan in the first place already bubbling to life in the back of his mind. Yeah. He knew what was going to happen.
Max and Tyson have made an observation, and it would appear Kai has a wandering mind. :p