Yay, finally chapter 3! Thanks to all who reviewed, I'm glad I got a good response from this fic.

Kinomiya is Tyson's family name, and Sumeragi is Daichi's. Sorry for not explaining that, to those who were wondering. Sorry for any OOC-ness. Gaia Dragoon is Strata Dragoon. It was Gaia Dragoon in my manga and I think it sounds better. Oh yeah, Hilary will be in this chapter. The reason for her absence is passable too, I must say.

Pairings for this chapter: Kaitaka, a bit of ReiMao, and a little bit of Tala/Hilary, although it's really only friendly concern.

-X-

The two people on the roof stared each other down, standing rigid against the chill breeze that has picked up around them, blowing their hair across their faces and ruffling their clothes. Goosebumps formed on the back of Daichi's neck, partly from the cold wing blowing against his exposed skin, and partly from the gaze Kai had locked on him.

Kai was staring at him with mixed expressions flitting across his usually blank face. Shock was definitely there, and perhaps even a slight flicker of apprehension. However, those two small emotions could not compare to the way anger was spreading across the older teen's face. Like wildfire, Kai's eyes suddenly lit up with fury, and Daichi took an uncertain step back from him, and surveyed the Demolition Boy carefully while watching for any sign of movement.

It came abruptly, and Daichi suddenly became aware that he hadn't been prepared for Kai's anger to be of this calibre. He had always seen Tyson's former teammate as a calm and collected person, knowing exactly when to act, and never making his move until he was positive it was the right time. Having beybattled him quite a few times, Daichi knew that Kai was never one to make his weaknesses or strategies known to his opponent, and aside from when beyblading pulled him into some social situation, he generally kept to himself.

Perhaps that was why Daichi was so surprised when Kai's suddenly made a dash for the letter that was still clutched in his hand, like a wild animal going for it's prey.

Daichi, who was thankfully still perched against the door that led back down to the hotel, followed his instinct and grasped at the door handle behind his back, twisted it violently and spun around the frame of the door, slamming it violently behind him, just as he turned to see Kai's pace slowing to a casual walk. Daichi pressed his back against the door, waiting for Kai to try and open it, but no attempt came. Instead, a low hiss came from under door, and Daichi felt an uncomfortable chill slide down his back when he heard Kai's voice.

"Give that to me, Sumeragi."

Daichi opened his mouth to reply, but no sound emerged from his throat. A soft sound of amusement came from the other side of the door, and Kai spoke again. "You have no right to be holding that letter, now give it back."

Daichi's mind was swimming with possible options. He could lock the door from the inside and leave Kai out there, or he could give the letter to Tyson and leave Kai to face the consequences... or he could rebuke Kai for his choice of communication. The redheaded boy's face creased into a frown as he considered his choices. Finally, being the person he was, Daichi decided on the third option.

"You're a coward, Hiwatari!" he snapped, earning a snort from the older boy.

"Which one of us is hiding behind the door?"

Daichi ignored Kai and continued with his rebuttal. "You act like you have no fears, yet when push comes to shove, you're terrified of your own emotions!" Kai didn't reply, so Daichi continued. "You and Tyson are exactly the same. You're both the big, strong, confident Beybladers but get you away from the stadium and you have no courage to face what you know you feel yet you can't come to terms with!" There was still no response from Kai. Daichi felt his anger rise; it was anger and frustration for his friend Tyson.

"Hiwatari, if you haven't realized that Tyson feels the same way that you do by now, you really don't deserve to have him!"

At his point in time, Daichi did feel the sudden force of Kai opening the door, and jumped out of the way just in time to prevent himself from being jammed between the door and the adjacent wall.

Kai stared directly at Daichi, his expression unreadable. "What?"

Daichi frowned and planted his hands onto his hips, trying to make up for his lack of height with a confident posture. "He didn't want to partner me at all in this tournament. It was going to be you and him, conquering the world together, going up against Max and Rei and proving you were the best. But your selfishness and cowardice really did put a dent in those plans in the end, and you took off to join the Demolition Boys. Max, Rei and you all abandoned Tyson for the sake of self-glorification, and I can understand that, because I need to become the best in memory of my Dad..." Daichi paused for a moment, and then glared at Kai once again, "but you're the only one of the group who didn't do it for the sake of taking your skills higher than Tyson's, and although you make think it was, you really know that you were just scared of what would happen if your love for Tyson became too obvious! Rei and Max also had people they cared about on their teams; Max had his mother, and Rei had Mao and the rest of his old friends, but you hate the Demolition Boys, and you know you're just using them as a reason to get away!"

Kai stood perfectly still, eyes slightly widened and mouth open, taking tiny gulps of air every few seconds. "Why are you telling me this, Sumeragi?"

"Although it's not really in the same category of love… I never said goodbye to my dad when he died, or said how much I'd cared. But I made him a promise, a promise that I swore I was gonna keep. You broke your promise of fighting on a team with Tyson. And later is never better. One day you'll just lose his trust entirely."

Daichi held his hand out to Kai, and the slate-haired teen stared at the dishevelled letter in the boy's palm. It was thoroughly creased from being folded and held in so many different ways, the writing, which had been almost unreadable in the first place due to Kai's nerves, was now completely illegible. The edges were rough and slightly torn.

Kai reached out cautiously to take the letter, and although he now realized that Daichi would leave telling Tyson to him alone, he felt a strange rush of relief when the paper was back in his hands.

'This letter... it represents all I've been through with Tyson... it represents our relationship.' Kai looked down at the letter in his hand bitterly. 'At the moment... it's almost destroyed. It's almost gone and it slips further towards being destroyed with every passing moment...'

He shut his eyes slowly, and slipped the letter into his back pocket. 'And only I can repair the damage that has been done.'

"Thank you, Sumeragi."

Daichi's eyes fleeted towards Kai, and the teen let his head move forward in a quick, jerking nod. He then turned on his heel and began to head back towards the hotel room. 'I'm sorry Tyson...' Kai thought, clenching his fist in determination.

A moment after Kai had disappeared from Daichi's line of site, the Japanese boy nodded, satisfied that his words had got through to Kai for the sake of his teammate. Knowing he'd given Kai the push in the right direction that he had needed, the owner of Gaia Dragoon headed back towards the BBA Revolution hotel room.

-X-

Tyson Kinomiya was lying on his bed in the room he and Daichi were sharing for the tournament. Hilary had, of course, insisted on a separate room (although she hadn't been around to enjoy her 'privacy' much, choosing instead to go into the bustle of the nearby city), and Kenny had apparently needed his own room for 'peace and quiet' while he was doing research, so he'd managed to find himself stuck in a small room with Daichi, with the only furniture in the room being the two worn-out single beds for them to sleep on. Their suitcases were in the corner and their contents was strewn everywhere.

The teen's mind vaguely wondered why Daichi had needed to talk to Kai. What if he was crushing on Kai too? It was highly unlikely, as well as disturbing. About the only thing Daichi loved was food. He'd probably end up marrying the owner of a grocery store chain. And then he could have Kai to himself...

Tyson's face reddened at the thought of being married to Kai. Waking up with his warm breath caressing his face, body against body, opening his eyes to have Kai's deep mahogany eyes staring back at him, Kai moving forward to kiss him... that would be true bliss. And before, they had been so close…

There was a loud knock at the door, and Tyson snapped back to reality. A muffled call from Kenny asked Tyson to get the door, so the world champ sighed and rolled off the bed. He slipped into his shoes and didn't bother doing up the laces, but regretted this when he tripped over his own feet on the way to open the door. The midnight-haired teen cursed violently, before tucking his laces into his shoes and hauling himself off the ground. He twisted the handle and shut his eyes supremely, assuming Daichi would be at the door.

"Boy, you sure took your sweet time."

Icy blue eyes flashed and a broad smirk flashed across the pale face.

"I didn't know you were expecting me."

Tyson's eyes shot open to see Tala standing in the doorway, eyes shining in bizarre amusement. "Now, we need to have a little chat, Kinomiya."

Tala grabbed the Japanese boy by the bottom of his shirt and began dragging him towards the elevator at the end of the hall. Tyson tried to wriggle out of the Russian's grasp, but it wasn't doing any good. Tyson's next instinct told him to scream.

"I'm being molested! Someone help!" Tyson hollered at the top of his lungs. Tala paused, and turned around to look at Tyson. "You moron, Kinomiya, I'm not that desperate."

"Oh, thanks," Tyson snorted. "That makes me feel so much better."

Tala prodded the buttons on the elevator impatiently. Finally, the sharp ringing sound that signalled the elevator had arrived sounded, and the doors slowly slid open. The elevator was unoccupied, and Tala pushed Tyson into the empty vessel and followed shortly after. The doors shut behind the redhead, and he hit the button for the ground level.

"The lobby?" Tyson asked.

"The common room in the lobby, to be more accurate," Tala replied, leaning casually against the wall of the elevator.

"Why?" Tyson asked, scratching the back of his head.

"We have to discuss the matter of Hiwatari."

"Kai?" Tyson asked, feeling a light heat rise to his face. "What do you need to know? Is anything wrong?"

"We'll talk when we get to the common area."

For the remainder of the elevator trip, the two teens regarded each other in total silence. They were on nearly the highest floor of the hotel, and the time clicked by slowly as the lights above the door lit up every time they passed another floor. Finally, the lift jerked to a halt, and the door skimmed open with an irritating 'ping' sound.

As the doors opened wider, both of the boys could see that the common room was already occupied. The White Tigers and the All-Starz were sitting on the couches, friendly chatter passing between both teams and their members.

Tala grunted, shut his eyes for a moment, and gestured for Tyson to follow him into the common room. Tyson nodded jarringly and stepped out of the elevator just as the door began closing. Max looked away from Lee, whom he had been talking to, and grinned at the two newcomers. "Hey Tyson! Nice to see you. And Tala..."

Max paused as he realized all of his teammates with the exception of Rick had gone harshly silent at Tala's appearance. Apparently they still hadn't forgiven him for the incident with Biovolt a few years beforehand.

"I think we'll be going now," Michael said stiffly, getting to his feet and turning to leave.

"We just got here, Michael!" Rick muttered gruffly, folding his arms across his chest.

"There's no point in fighting with him," Emily sighed, getting to her feet. She looked at Max apologetically before she and Rick both followed Michael towards the lift. Eddy soon followed.

Max sighed and stood up. "Sorry about this guys. I wanted to talk with you more, but Michael's so stubborn."

"That's okay Max," Mao shrugged.

"I'm sure we'll catch up with you again soon," Rei grinned, sliding his arm around Mao's shoulders.

Max smiled gratefully at his friends, and nodded to Tyson. "Sorry we didn't get to talk more, buddy."

"No worries, I'll catch up with you sooner or later, Maxie!" Tyson exclaimed waving to his friend as the blonde walked out of the large room.

Kevin looked at Tala and Tyson amusedly, his head tilted slightly to one side. "What're you two doing down here? I always thought of you two seeing each other as..." the Chinese boy paused, considering his words, "Rivals?"

"I could say the same for your team and the All-Starz," Tala stated in reply, and Kevin flinched. "Now, Kinomiya and myself have some rather important issues to discuss with one another."

That was an implication to leave, and although curious as to what they were going to talk about, the White tigers felt it was a good idea to leave, and perhaps if whatever Tyson and Tala were discussing worked out, they'd see the after effects of their conversation sooner. Then again, it might not have been something they didn't want anyone else to find out about, and their privacy was to be respected.

Lee stood up from the crouching position he'd been in, leaning against the armrest of the sofa Rei, Mao and Kevin had been sitting on, and gestured to his friends. "Come on, let's get back to our room."

Gary and Kevin both got up and slouched out of the room, Kevin stretching his cramped muscles along the way by swinging his arms around in a pendulum-like rhythm. Once they were out of the room, Tala cast his glare back to Rei and Mao, who were still sitting on the couch. Mao was mid-yawn and Tala's irritable gaze stayed on her until she'd reopened her eyes. Rei rolled his up towards the heavens at Tala's impatient behaviour, and got to his feet, grabbing Mao's hand and pulling her to her feet too.

"See you around, Tyson," Rei muttered, shooting one last snappish glare at Tala, who immediately matched it, before retreating from the room and heading towards the elevator with Mao.

Tala snorted and Tyson dragged his thoughts away from his former teammate and the pink-paired girl, too look at Tala, only to find a look of pure disgust on his face.

"Affection..." Tala began, lowering himself slowly into a early reclining armchair and sitting nervously, as though thousands of sharp blades were about to burst through the cushion and impale him.

"Huh?" Tyson muttered curiously, his eyes watchful as the Russian placed his elbows on his knees and linked his fingers together, partly covering his face. It was somehow strange to see Tala in a strange, half-relaxed slouching position instead of his usual upright position and alertness.

"Affection... love... the feelings people hold for each other..." Tala restarted, ice blue eyes observing the midnight-haired teen over the steeples of his gloved fingers. "I find it disgusting."

"Why?" Tyson questioned, sitting down on the couch Mao and Rei has previously occupied. Tala suddenly seemed totally unaware of his presence.

"I find it nauseating, but..." Tala paused, and he subconsciously parted his hands and clenched his fists. "Sometimes the urge is too strong to ignore... it takes over you. I could never fully understand why I did it..." Tala stared down at his gloved hand, and Tyson glanced at it as well. An unpleasant, chilled feeling ran through his body when he noticed the small, dark red stain on the thumb of Tala's glove. 'It couldn't be...' he looking down at his own fingerless blue gloves, and noticed a small, red stain on the palm of the deep blue material of the item. It must have been from when he had tried to clean Kai's lip, but had ended up...

"I found it sickening at first, that I felt I needed to justify my existence with the existence of another," Tala hissed, breaking Tyson from his contemplation. "But that's what it feels like… you feel as if you can't live life without the other…"

"Don't talk like that Tala," Tyson said haltingly, now knowing whom the redhead was talking about, and feeling a little more than defensive.

"Jealousy," Tala again interrupted Tyson, and the world champ glared. "It's plastered all over your face. I knew it as soon as you realized whom I was talking about." Tala's gaze locked with Tyson's, and the ice blue eyes pierced through to Tyson's very soul.

"You're in love with Hiwatari, aren't you?"

Tyson's face flushed violently and he opened his mouth to reply, but Tala smirked and held out a hand to halt him. "You needn't answer. Once again, your facial expression, your body language, everything about you gives away the answer."

"... What about you?" Tyson asked hesitantly, his feet shuffling uncomfortably against the carpeted floor.

"I never understood him. I somehow always knew I'd never be the one to understand him, to bring him out of the dark and into the light. His hand was always reaching for help, but I never had the strength to pull him away from the danger. You were different… he trusted you, although he had a bizarre way of showing it, and even if he had a million offers for help, your hand would be the one he would reach out for, the one he would know he could rely on to be trustworthy and strong in his times of need."

"Tala..." Tyson murmured, noticing at the strained look on Tala's face and realizing he was pouring his heart out, and putting his trust in him.

"So, all I ask is this, Kinomiya; make sure you're always there to catch him when he falls. I think that's all he's ever wanted from you."

"And that's a promise I swear I'll hold true," Tyson nodded, and Tala smirked.

"And now, Kinomiya, it's your choice what path you take from this moment on."

Tyson nodded, and stood up slowly. "I think I'll need some time to figure out where I go from here."

"Understandable," Tala nodded, finally letting himself lean against the back of the couch.

"I'm going back to my hotel room. Are you coming?"

"I think I want some time alone."

"That's fine then," Tyson grinned at the teen who seemed to have been so many things to him; a threat, a rival, and in a strange way, a friend. "Thank you, Tala."

"You gave me your word, and that's all I want. Oh..." Tala smirked at Tyson, "And make sure you fight your best when we face each other in our next beybattle, so I know I've beaten you when you're at your limits."

"You can count on it," Tyson grinned, and with that he spun around and headed for the elevator.

-X-

Kai stared down at the thin strip of paper he had just finished writing on. Was this cowardice? He didn't think so, seeing that he'd taken more precautions to make sure that this time, Tyson was the only possible recipient. He gazed down at the delicate envelope, ran his fingers over the corners of the paper, thought what would happen when Tyson read it's contents...

There was nothing left for him to lose. He stood, with the letter delicately held between his fingers. He looked at the old letter, and compared it to its newer counterpart, and decided that this way was definitely better. He wanted to tell Tyson himself. He nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He then left his room, and was all too soon in front of the same familiar door, where everything had last time managed to go wrong. He slid the thin paper under the door carefully, and crept back down the hallway and into the shadows.

-X-

Tala was still sitting cross-legged in the common room, on the same couch on which he had talked to Tyson. It had been nearly 30 minutes since Tyson had left, and he hadn't moved since. He wished to remain alone, and had totally ignored the hotel staff that had come over to ask if he was all right. A sudden chime caused him to open his eyes and stare at the clock; it was nine o'clock. The hotel's front doors would be closing shortly, but the other facilities would remain open for anyone who was late getting back from wherever they had been for the day. He hadn't eaten lunch or dinner, yet he didn't feel particularly hungry at all. He assumed weariness was overriding his hunger and thirst.

The front door of the hotel clicked open, and Tala's eyes moved to lock onto the entrance. Hilary of the BBA Revolution slipped through the door, and looked around wearily. In her left hand were many plastic shopping bags from various chain stores and speciality shops that were only found in this city, and in her right hand was her hotel entry key and a small purple handbag of sorts, which, in accordance to the full shopping bags, looked relatively empty.

Her chocolate-brown eyes fell on Tala and she raised an eyebrow.

"Tala Ivanov from the Demolition Boys, right?"

Tala nodded. Hilary frowned and folded her heavily laden arms.

"You really should be heading up towards your hotel room. The entire thing will be closed soon."

Tala scowled at the brunette. "I don't need you telling me what to do."

Hilary glared at the Russian angrily. "Well, excuse me for showing any concern for you!"

Irritated by the presence of the teenage girl, Tala got to his feet and faced Hilary, who also stood her ground and looked fiercely at the redhead.

"I didn't ask for your concern girl, and I don't need it. I'm down here so I can get some time to think, so leave me be!"

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm so sorry for showing some human decency! It would help you to be a little more trusting and a whole lot more grateful for what people do for you!" Hilary sniffed indignantly. "Anyway, I'm hungry, so I'd like to get to the kitchens before they shut for the night."

"Fine with me. In fact, I think I'll head over that way, too."

A muscle in Hilary's temple twitched. She knew Tala was trying to get under her skin for annoying him, and unfortunately he was succeeding. She could hear his soft footfalls behind her and she snarled under her breath. She found her way to the dining area, and was thankful to see that the large metal buffet tables were still in the middle of the room. At this point, Tala overtook Hilary and snatched a plate from the pile next to the buffet, scooped a small portion of plain spaghetti onto his plate, put about a teaspoonful of bolognaise sauce on top of that, grabbed a fork, and sat down at the nearest table.

"Not much of an eater, are you?" Hilary commented. Tala ignored her, and used his fork to pick up one strand of spaghetti and place it cautiously in his mouth. Hilary rolled her eyes and scooped some fried rice onto her place. She grabbed a fork, as she'd never been particularly skilful with chopsticks, and sat down opposite Tala. They ate in silence; Hilary constantly looked up to see if Tala was about to strike up conversation, but the pale teen seemed too interested in eating his spaghetti strand by strand. However, they were finishing at almost the same pace, due to Tala's slow eating.

Hilary sighed and stirred her rice with the prongs of her fork, before opening her mouth to speak.

"Ivanov?"

Tala grunted, which Hilary assumed was an acknowledgment of her existence, so she continued.

"What were you doing in the common room alone? I can tell the reason you gave me isn't the whole story."

Tala blinked, and placed his fork on his place. "I had spoken with Kinomiya a short time prior to your arrival on the matter of Hiwatari."

"Kai... you… 'liked' him didn't you?" Hilary asked hesitantly.

Tala's right eyebrow twitched upwards.

"You knew?"

"I first noticed at Monday's match."

"You pay that much attention to what I do?" Tala asked, amusement in his voice.

"Even though I don't beyblade, I'm still a member of the BBA Bladebreakers! I keep an eye on all the teams. I have to prove my spot on the team," Hilary nodded firmly. "And don't worry..."

Tala looked up to face Hilary and she grinned uncertainly. "No-one is ever truly alone. There will always be someone thinking about you and keeping you close to their heart."

At this point, Hilary finished her fried rice. She stood up, leaving the plate on her side of the table.

"Maybe I'll talk to you again sometime, Tala."

Hilary walked out of the room, leaving Tala to contemplate what she had just said.

-X-

"Tyson? Tyson, wake up!"

Dark russet eyes forced themselves open. Tyson yawned deeply and scratched the top of his head, ruffling his hair into an even untidier state. He winced when light from the small window of the room his him directly in the face.

Hilary and Daichi rolled their eyes and looked at each other hopelessly. Hilary grabbed Tyson by the collar of his nightshirt, and leaned down to holler in his ear. "Tyson! You have a letter!"

"Huhn?" Tyson grunted. Daichi waved the white envelope in front of the world champ's face, and Tyson snatched it irritably from the shorter boy's grasp.

"Thank you, Daichi," Tyson snapped, looking at the front of the envelope, on which 'Tyson Kinomiya, private and confidential' was scrawled. He flicked the letter open and scanned it carefully, making sure to take in every word. Hilary and Daichi watched him carefully, and they could see more and more colour rising to Tyson's face with every passing moment. Tyson finally reached the bottom of the letter, and he did a double take. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table; it read 9:34. He groaned in a frustrated way.

"Holy crap! I'm late!" Tyson wailed. He bouncing off the bed and grabbed the grey jeans he had worn the previous day, yanking them over his boxers.

"Late for what?" Hilary implored curiously. Tyson just shook his head madly and scrabbled around the room for a clean t-shirt.

"No time! I've gotta get going!" Tyson said, finally finding a spare shirt. He grabbed his red jacket off the floor by his bed and quickly placed the letter on his bed. "See you guys later!"

"Aren't you gonna have breakfast or anything first?" Daichi asked, but Tyson simply shook his head and ran for the door. As soon as they heard the front door shut, both Hilary and Daichi made a mad grab at the letter. Daichi's hand managed to close around it first, and Hilary snarled angrily. Using her spare hand, she dug her fingernail into the soft skin of Daichi's inner arm. The boy yelped and released his grip on the piece of paper, and Hilary claimed it triumphantly.

"You crazy woman!" Daichi hollered, massaging his arm tenderly. "Do you honestly care that much?"

"Yes, in fact I do!" Hilary sniffed, unfolding the letter carefully and reading it. Immediately, her face turned red and she squealed in delight. "Aww... that's so sweet!"

"What?" Daichi asked, and Hilary handed him the letter. He read it, and his face broke into a huge grin. "I say we go and watch!"

"Leave them alone," Hilary rolled her eyes. "Honestly, your immaturity amazes me, Daichi."

"Humph... fine," Daichi growled, placing the letter back on the bed and following Hilary out of the room.

(Letter)

Tyson,

Meet me on the roof of the hotel at a quarter past nine. There's something I finally have the courage to tell you.

Kai.

(End letter)

-X-

Tyson reached the roof and immediately doubled over, panting for breath, having run the entire way there. As soon as he had regained his breath, he looked around for Kai. From his point of view, the rooftop was utterly deserted. Perhaps Kai had left after waiting twenty minutes for him to show up... Tyson clenched his fist angrily... had he lost his second chance?

Tyson was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun around, only to come face-to-face with Kai. Kai's face showed no emotion, but his head was swimming with relief.

"I thought you weren't coming," Kai stated simply, his hand still on Tyson's shoulder. The shorter teen laughed, nervousness unintentionally entering his voice.

"You know me, Kai… I never get up that early," Tyson grinned, and was relieved to see that Kai smiled back. His stomach gave a happy jolt.

"I should have known..." Kai trailed off and stared at Tyson, who also seemed to have lost himself in Kai's gaze. "Tyson..."

"Yes, Kai?" Tyson replied slowly, vaguely aware that the hand Kai had placed on his shoulder was now making it's way around his back. Kai didn't reply; it was if time had frozen once again. Kai took in a sharp breath, and Tyson stared at him, but nothing could compare to the surprise he got when Kai wrapped both of his arms tightly around Tyson's body, drawing him closer. The midnight-haired teen let out an exclamation of surprise, but was cut short when Kai pressed his lips against Tyson's hungrily. Tyson's eyes widened momentarily in shock, but he relaxed shortly afterwards. He slid his arms around Kai's neck and ran his fingers through the back of his hair. Kai let out a soft grunt of approval and stumbled towards the door that led back down to the hotel...

'No. Not yet...' Tyson thought, tugging on Kai's bottom lip. He couldn't be thinking of going back yet...

Tyson felt the cool metal of the door against his back, and Kai forced his right leg between both of Tyson's, pinning him in place. Tyson broke away at this point and gasped for air, the added stimulation being a little too much. Kai smirked at Tyson's flushed cheeks and shifted the leg he had been using to hold the younger boy in place. Tyson's face went bright pink and a short moan came from his throat, and Kai broke away, and took a few steps back to give Tyson space, but Tyson simply grinned and walked back over to him, and engulfed him in a tight hug.

"That's... what I needed to tell you, Tyson," Kai said, putting his arm around Tyson's waist in a careful return of the hug. Tyson grinned cheekily up and Kai and tilted his head.

"Why didn't you do it sooner?"

10 Years Later...

A short, blue-haired boy of about seven years ran through the corridors of the Beyblade Stadium, desperately trying to get to the main stage for his qualifying round.

"C'mon Dad! I'm going to be late for the qualifiers!" the boy yelled back to the older man, obviously his father.

Tyson grinned at his son's enthusiasm, as the kid rounded the nearest corner and disappeared from sight. A taller child, about the same age as the other, snorted in disgust and folded his arms across his chest.

"Immature..." he muttered, reaching up to brush his two-toned hair from his eyes.

"Leave him alone, Gou," Kai commented, watching his son carefully. Gou shrugged and grunted. Kai crossed his arms and looked at Tyson. "His indifference amazes me." Gou glanced at Kai in response and Tyson grinned. "The resemblance is just uncanny." Kai smiled lovingly at Tyson and Gou rolled his eyes.

"On the other hand, I think I'm going to go up ahead with Makoto."

Kai and Tyson smirked as the boy hurried to catch up to his brother. Kai sighed in a dramatic, world-weary manner and Tyson looked at him questioningly.

"Sometimes I wonder why we went through all that red tape to end up with them," Kai sighed, but he was smirking to show he was kidding. "The surrogate mothers, the official adoption…"

"Aww, come on, you know you loved the nappy changing and bottle feeds at two in the morning," Tyson joked, putting his arm around Kai's shoulders in a faux-comforting gesture. "You were always an early riser anyway; I thought you'd like the head start."

"Dad!" Gou's voice came from around the corner. Kai smiled and broke away from Tyson, instead grabbing his hand, and made his way towards his son... their son.

Kai and Tyson rounded the corner to find Gou leaning against the wall of the hallway, and Makoto standing in the middle of the corridor, staring at the other child in the middle of the hallway.

Kai and Tyson looked at each other, and then back to the kid. She had dark pink hair and amber eyes that were extremely catlike. She was donned in a pink robe and black shorts, and her hair was done up into two long braided pigtails. Tyson nudged Kai in the ribs and looked back at the girl, who was standing in the middle of the hallway with her arms behind her back. Kai nodded and then said softly, "Who'd have thought?"

Makoto, being the energetic boy he was, was getting rather tired of this staring competition, so he took a step towards the girl and smiled. "Hey, little girl, are you lost?"

The change was almost immediate; the golden eyes narrowed into tiny, angry-looking slits, and her teeth clenched angrily, revealing some rather pointy canines.

"Don't call me little," she hissed angrily at Makoto, who looked back at her nervously, and took a step back.

The pink-haired girl took another step towards Makoto, and Makoto shuffled back, much to the amusement of his parents and brother, and a familiar male voice came from around the corner at the opposite end of the hallway.

"Rin? Where did you go?"

After another instantaneous change, the petite girl, apparently Rin, ran back to the end of the hallway and beamed at whoever had called her. Her parents; a dark-haired man and a woman with bright pink hair that matched her daughter's, came into view.

"Rin, don't run off like that!" the woman reprimanded, and Rin put a guilty, sorry look on her face.

"I'm sorry, Mama."

"Mao, you shouldn't be so hard on her," the man observed.

"And you shouldn't be too lenient, Rei," Mao replied dryly.

"Papa!" Rin wailed, tugging on Rei's hand, "That boy called me little!"

Rin pointed accusingly at Makoto, and the boy gulped and ran back to Tyson, and hid behind his legs.

Mao and Rei both looked down the adjoining hallway and grinned. Tyson raised one arm in greeting and Kai nodded.

Rin glanced at both Makoto and Gou in turn, but finally turned her attention to Gou, because Makoto tried to hide every time she looked at him. "Are you two competing today?"

Gou nodded. Rin sighed and placed one hand to her forehead. "Oh well, I'll just have to make sure I beat both of you."

Gou mumbled something under his breath, and Makoto clung tightly to Tyson's right leg.

"I'll see you both there then, I guess," Rin shrugged and walked back to her parents, who were still shooting glances between themselves, as well as Tyson and Kai. "Come on Mama, I'm gonna be late for the first round." Rin then grabbed both her parents' hands and dragged them down the hallway they were standing in. Rei managed to wave goodbye with his spare hand before he was completely out of sight. Once he was, Kai laughed to himself, and Tyson looked at him in question.

"Somehow... I always knew that kid was going to have a bad attitude," Kai said, and Tyson nodded in agreement. Makoto had come from behind Tyson, and Gou was looking at him with an expression of superiority plastered all over his face.

"Man... girls are so weird!" Makoto groaned.

"Come on, you two," Kai said, steering both his sons in the direction that Rin, Rei and Mao had headed in. "You're going to be late if we stay here much longer."

-X-

The tournament eventually reached its final round; and the match was between Makoto and Gou, as Rin had lost to Makoto in the Semi-Finals, despite him still being scared of her. The girl was seated between her mother and Tyson, and was watching the first round very carefully.

"Well, they're both good bladers," she observed, her own Driger blade clutched in her right hand, "But I think Makoto's gonna win."

"He has to be good to beat you, sweetie," Rei doted, and Mao, Kai and Tyson sighed. Rin just grinned.

"I only lost because that one Ultimate Storm attack caught me off-guard... but I'll get him next time, Papa!" Rin said.

Kai shifted uncomfortably, and Tyson looked over at him.

"If you guys don't mind," Kai said, addressing Rei, Mao and Rin, "I'd like to get a better views of my sons beybattling."

"He wants to decide which one should be his favourite," Tyson joked, and Kai looked at him cynically.

"You're coming too, Tyson."

"Err... okay Kai," Tyson replied, looking towards the three Chinese people on his other side. "You guys don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," Mao replied. "Go ahead!"

"Thanks," Tyson smiled gratefully, and followed Kai to the end of the row. They both headed up towards the balcony that overlooked the beystadium, and Kai watched as Makoto just managed to knock Dranzer out of the stadium.

"And this round goes to Makoto!" the familiar DJ exclaimed, looking up into the stands and along the balconies, finally finding Tyson and Kai. He waved at them, and they waved back.

"Daichi was born for this job, I think..." Kai mused, "He has a loud mouth."

Tyson grinned, and watched as Gou retrieved Dranzer from the bottom of the dish. Makoto seemed to be doing some sort of victory dance, and was hopping from one leg to the other.

The man looked away from his son's bizarre antics to find Kai staring at him. "What wrong?"

"The remind me of us when we were younger," Kai stated simply. "I suppose I'm glad... that they took up the sport that we dedicated ourselves to."

"Without it, we never would have met," Tyson observed, as his sons readied their blades for the next round. "They wouldn't be here..." Tyson paused for a moment, considering his word. "Kai?"

"Hn?" Kai turned away from the battle to look at his love, just as Gou was ordering Dranzer to use End of Fire to finish Dragoon off.

"You've given me so much over the years, Kai... you taught me to believe in myself, to stand on my own two feet and walk... you never let me lose site of what was important," Tyson smiled. "You gave me a family, you gave me someone to love. You're the only one I ever loved, Kai."

Kai looked mildly surprised at Tyson's words, but eventually smiled and nodded. And as he watched Makoto and Gou start the final, tie-breaking round, Tyson spoke again.

"Just to think Kai, we got together only because of that simple letter you sent me..."

Kai opened his mouth to say something, but smiled, and kept his revered silence as he stood with the one he loved, and watched his sons.

He was truly satisfied with his life. And to think, all this had come to be through one letter...

-X-

Many thanks to Flareod, Rumi, AG, Mary, Ranma, Glay and everyone else who encouraged me and gave me ideas. Thanks to my reviewers and to the people who have me on their author alerts and favourites; I'm glad you enjoyed this fic.

Makoto, Gou and Rin are all real characters from the end of the manga, and they are really Tyson, Kai and Rei and Mao's children. I hope you enjoyed their guest appearances.

Thanks for reading!