Mei: I updated! I had this huge writing spree this afternoon! Okay, so it wasn't that big, but now I have tons of ideas for this story… Unfortunatley, with all the weird plot complications I've thrown in this chapter, it looks like this fic is going to be a long one ::sighs::

DISCLAIMER – Don't own Beyblade. Never did, and never will.

Warning – This chappie has some bad language… courtesy of Tyson of all people. Who'd have thought? He always seemed so innocent… Also yaoi and shounen ai and slash and stuff. If you don't know that by now then I don't think you've been reading… O.o

..::Chapter Seven::..

Tyson paced around his boyfriend's room. Kai was in the shower taking his own sweet time, much to the younger boy's annoyance. Tyson was the kind of guy to get bored very easily when no one else was around.

Which is why, when a package arrived at the door addressed to the captain of the Bladebreakers, Tyson couldn't resist opening it. The fifteen-year-old reasoned that whatever it was, Kai would probably end up telling him anyway, so there was no harm in looking through it now, right?

The navy-haired champion pulled out the Styrofoam packaging, tugging at the plastic wrapping beneath with excited curiosity. Growing impatient, the Japanese teen dumped the large box upside down, spilling the contents all over the floor. He raised a confused eyebrow at the pile of clothes before him. A small envelope caught his attention and he opened it.

He was presented with an order form, and a small note saying: We have made the changes you requested, we apologize for any inconvenience. Tyson snickered, realizing that this must be the infamous uniforms that Kai hated so much. His smile quickly vanished as he read on.

He did what?! Tyson could have sworn the whole room turned red when he saw that "changes" Kai had made. Oh, his Phoenix was going to regret making that move. Forcing himself to calm down, the world champion worked on stuffing all the uniforms back in the box. He had to admit, while he wasn't one who cared much about what he was wearing – he would never want to wear these. They looked more like an outfit a circus clown would wear.

Panic rose as the sound of running water in the background stopped. That meant Kai was out of the shower, and he only had approximately ten minutes to finish and get rid of the box before his lover came out and asked what he was up to. Hurriedly he scribbled on the order form, making another set of changes. He paused for a few seconds to admire his work before stuffing the sheet in an envelope and taping to the box.

His eyes widened as he heard the door to the bathroom unlock. Quickly, the navy-haired teen opened the door and kicked the box out into the hallway before shutting it again. He leaned against it with a sigh of relief as his boyfriend walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed.

Kai raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

Tyson nearly jumped, but it was a very good thing he didn't, otherwise Kai might not have believed his next words, "Nothing. I'm bored that's all. Next time you either don't take so long in the shower… or you let me come in with you," he grinned suggestively.

Kai rolled his eyes.

::-::-::-::-::-::

The next day Kai slept in. It was odd for him, because he usually woke up bright and early but gazing at his watch today, he was shocked to find it reading 11:22 a.m. in bright neon numbers. Even Tyson would be up by this time. Speaking of the younger boy, Kai wondered why he hadn't come up to his room by now. Tyson was always up and pounding on Kai's door after he was dressed, looking for a good morning kiss, or a make-out session or something to start the day off before they were stuck having to keep to themselves around the others.

Not this morning.

It was amazing how such a small thing bugged Kai, but it did. He tried to brush it off, reasoning that Tyson probably had come to his room and knocked on the door, but Kai had slept through it and he'd given up when no one answered. Then again, Kai wasn't one to sleep through much – especially his boyfriend's insistent rapping.

He forced himself to stop thinking about it as he got dressed for the day. Their next match was tomorrow, so the others would be looking to do some site-seeing. Kai didn't really mind, but it occasionally felt like baby-sitting when he wandered around a city with them. His protectiveness of the team – and especially Tyson – would get the better of him, and Kai would find him self watching them constantly, and almost anxiously, whether he wanted to or not.

Although, if anyone had ever asked Kai about this, he would have denied it without a second thought.

He walked down to the lobby where the others were supposed to meet. Kenny wasn't there. Kai briefly wondered if the computer genius would be joining them that day, or if he was still angry. The two people who were there left Kai with an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

Tyson and Hilary were sitting on a bench, looking through some newspapers. They were talking in hushed whispers, and promptly fell silent when they caught Kai watching them. The dual-haired blader sudden felt very jealous, wondering why Tyson had been talking to Hilary instead of coming to say good morning, and what they could have been talking about that they didn't want Kai to hear. He kept it to himself, though.

"Hi Kai!" said Tyson brightly, hopping off the bench, "Ray said he was going to see the White Tigers today, and Max said he was busy and couldn't come with us…" he trailed off.

"We haven't heard anything from Kenny," said Hilary worriedly, "We don't think he's coming."

Tyson laughed uneasily, "I guess it's just you, me and the sourpuss then, huh?" he said turning to Hilary.

The girl threw him an odd look, "Sourpuss?"

"Oh, it's just an old nickname me and the others had for Kai," replied the dragon, sending Kai a cheerful wink.

Kai gave a small half smile, but really he was feeling a little dejected, He hasn't called me "sourpuss" in years… why now?

::-::-::-::-::-::

Max and Miriam were at a small café together. They'd agreed yesterday to come here and talk, but so far no talking had been done. After running into her the day before, Max had completely forgotten to go to the stadium and confront Ray – but somehow he wasn't worried about it anymore.

It was very taxing on the normally happy-go-lucky teen, the way he was always thinking about Ray. Ever since their break-up it had been pretty much all he had done. He was tired of it. It felt good to get out, and get some fresh air – to forget about Ray. Max had a feeling that Miriam was going through much the same thing.

The two sat in a comfortable silence from a while, Miriam sipping at her hot, black coffee and Max drinking his apple juice. He wasn't like his team captain, Kai, or Miriam for that matter – he hated coffee.

Eventually Max asked the question he'd been wanting to ask since he'd spilled his guts to the blue-haired girl, and she'd understood his situation perfectly. She eyed him sadly for a while before finally explaining how her relationship with Dunga had started… and ended. It seemed a similar situation to Max and Ray… but at the same time entirely different, but Max understood completely.

After her story, Max said nothing. There was nothing to say. They eventually finished their drinks, and decided to sit for a while longer, gazing out the window at Spain's crowded streets.

"Max…" Miriam finally said quietly. He turned to her, eyebrow raised questioningly.

"What you said before," she looked at him sincerely, "About making Ray love you again…" she shook her head as he looked away, "Max, I think it's a good idea. We'll make them care again… If our feelings for them haven't gone away… then theirs can't have disappeared that easily…"

Max sighed, "But how would we do it?"

"… I have a plan."

::-::-::-::-::-::

Kenny hadn't shown up all day. It had left Tyson feeling down, even after his discovery that morning. Hilary had come running up to him the minute he was out of his room, brandishing a newspaper in his face and screaming, "Guess what! Guess what!" She'd made him miss visiting Kai and that had annoyed him.

Of course, what she showed him in the newspaper almost made up for that. Apparently, the rumours that the new BBA chairwomen was Mr. Dickenson's ex-wife weren't entirely off. She was his ex-girlfriend.

While the champion couldn't even begin to imagine how a man Mr. Dickenson's age would have a girlfriend and be dating, he'd continued reading anyway. Apparently the two had been going out for a year or so before Mr. Dickenson had been promoted to the chairperson of the Beyblade Battle Association. From then on his workload had increased, and he'd had little time for his personal life – or his girlfriend, for that matter.

Eventually said girlfriend, Ms. Dochstader, had given up trying to get her man's attention and broken up with him, saying she was "tired of being ignored". This had left the old man "in a state of severe depression" (it was Tyson's opinion that the newspaper article was way too melodramatic). However, breaking up wasn't the only punishment his ex-girlfriend had in store for him. Ms. Dochstader had also decided to ruin her former lover's career, by overthrowing his position as chairman of the BBA.

She'd started small, spreading rumours about how his methods of training were "inadequate" and "irresponsible". She'd used the Bladebreakers as an example, stating on how Stanley Dickenson had deliberately "abandoned" them in Europe so that they learn, and how they'd been no older than twelve and thirteen at the time. Of course, Tyson had a fit at this saying "Kai was fourteen!" causing Hilary to sweatdrop.

But aside from his anger at all the lies Ms. Dochstader had spread about her "ex", Tyson was very pleased with the newfound information. Why?

Well it was most likely due to the matchmaking mindset he and Hilary had been put in from trying to rekindle Ray and Max's relationship, but for some reason the two teenagers thought that they would be able to get Mr. Stanley Dickenson and Ms. Abigail Dochstader back together.

And in Tyson's case, remembering Kai and the uniforms, he'd figured that it would be a perfect surprise for his boyfriend if he could get rid of them. Although he was slightly disappointed that he wouldn't get to see Kai's little punishment backfire if their match-making plan worked…

He and Hilary had spent the whole day planning out what they were going to do, most of the time completely forgetting about Kai who tagged along with them. Tyson had decided that he didn't want Kai to know about their plan, partly because he was sure the older boy would tell them they were being silly and it was "none of their business" and partly because he wanted to surprise his Phoenix. Neither of them noticed Kai's excluded, and more than slightly jealous looks throughout the day as they exchanged hushed whispers.

By the end of the day Hilary and Tyson had basically decided what they were going to do. Unfortunatley, Tyson wasn't sure how they could do it without Kai's help, but he decided he would think of that later. They sat at the table where they had eaten dinner long after Kai had gone back upstairs to his room, discussing their plan. The two tenth-graders thought they were very clever for thinking up their plan.

Hilary yawned, "I'm tired, let's call it a night, okay?"

Tyson was disappointed, since the two of them still hadn't figured out a way to avoid involving Kai, but he nodded, "Yeah, I guess. We'll work out the rest tomorrow."

She sighed, "I'd better go find Kenny, see how he's doing."

Tyson tensed. They hadn't seen Kenny all day, "Yeah, you better do that." He watched his friend leave and sighed, remembering Kenny's angry words. He'll get over it, the world champion told himself doubtfully.

The he remembered Kai. He'd hardly spoken to his Phoenix all day. Feeling guilty, Tyson decided to go upstairs and see his boyfriend.

He pushed the elevator button six times before getting impatient with it and taking the stairs. The navy-haired teenager knocked on the door four times, before trying the doorknob to find it was already unlocked. He poked head in and saw Kai sitting on the bed, flipping through various Spanish TV channels with the romote, and looking kind of sad.

"Hi Kai," said Tyson, waving cheerfully. Kai looked up at him in silent acknowledgement of his presence, and then quietly switched off the television, waiting for the dragon to say something. Tyson walked in cautiously, shutting the door behind him. He dropped his navy blue back pack that he'd been carrying around all day (to collect souvenirs) on the bed, beside his boyfriend.

"Hey, how are you?" he asked gently.

Kai sighed and stood up, turning away from Tyson.

"Kai?"

He slowly walked over to the window. He gazed out of it unseeingly, Tyson had come to recognize this as a sign that Kai was about to say something meaningful, "Has anyone seen Kenny?"

Tyson shifted uncomfortably, remembering his small friend's outburst from the previous day, "No… Not since he... well…"

"You're upset, aren't you?" asked Kai quietly.

"What do you mean?" the world champion didn't like how the elder boy's voice was softening. He sounded almost… insecure. That was always a bad sign. It usually meant Kai was looking for something by asking these questions, something to reassure him in Tyson's answers. The problem was, that Tyson didn't know what Kai was looking for and his Phoenix had a habit of speaking in riddles, so the dragon almost always said the wrong thing.

"Kenny, what he said – that upset you," Kai was still looking out the window, his voice barely audible.

"Yeah well, of course it upset me," said Tyson uncomfortably, "Didn't it upset you?"

There was a long pause, and when Kai finally spoke it was in such a soft whisper that Tyson has to strain to hear him, "But you said… it didn't matter…"

Tyson sighed impatiently, annoyed with the fact that Kai still refused to look at him, "What are you getting at?"

His phoenix still wouldn't budge, staring melancholically out the window, "You said it didn't matter what anyone thought. You said it would never matter what anyone thought," his voice had raised slightly, almost angrily.

"It doesn't!"

"It does," Kai whirled around from the window, finally facing Tyson. His silvery-blue bangs hung in his face, obscuring his eyes, and his arms were crossed stubbornly over his chest, "It does matter," he repeated through gritted teeth, "If it didn't, then you would care about what Kenny said!"

"That's not true!" Tyson protested.

"It is so," Kai growled, "That's why you were ignoring me all day." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

The world champion flinched, knowing this was true, but his temper flared and got the better of him, "I wasn't ignoring you! Even if I was – you ignore me in front of the others all the freakin' time!"

"I have my reasons," snapped Kai, his eyes flashing slightly beneath his mop of messy bangs.

"Screw your reasons! You always say you have your reasons, but you never tell me what the hell they are! Do you have any freakin' "reasons" for being so damn bitchy tonight? You're worse than Hilary!"

For a long time Kai was silent, leaving the atmosphere in the room eerily quiet, except for Tyson's harsh breathing. Eventually even that slowly faded as the midnight-haired blader calmed down, and the room was left utterly silent.

Finally, Kai picked up Tyson's bag and handed it to him, gesturing quietly to the door, "Good night."

The younger boy sighed, "Hey, Kai, I -"

Kai cut him off by giving him a light shove in the direction of the doorway, "We have a match tomorrow, Kinomiya," he said coldly, "You need to be up early."

Tyson's eyes widened, "But Kai, I'm -"

The door was opened and Tyson was shoved again, this time not so lightly. He stumbled out the door and whirled around to see it shut quietly, a soft "click" echoing through the hallway when it locked.

"…Sorry."

Mei: It would be so evil to end it here, wouldn't it? But I won't. I was originally going to, but then I got paranoid that I'd be flamed O.O;; So I waited until I had finished typing the next chapter, and then I posted them both! So… yeah, don't worry. 'Tis not a cliffy… at least, methinks it's not. 'Cause the next chappie ish posted right after it, ne? n.n;;

Akai Ame – O.o Me thought it was obvious. n.n;; Guess not. It was Miriam, who said that, she was walking back from the stadium and kinda ran into him n-n

Silvery Kitsune – Me tried to make this chapter sappy! Er… Me doesn't think it worked… -.-;; Me doesn't think the next chapter is all that sappy either. Gomen! I will try to make it fluffier in the future. It will definitely be fluffy when Ray and Max get back together… which they will… eventually, because I think people would kill me otherwise O.o

Minako – O.o Kenny and Tala? No, they're not going to be together in this story… Did I ever say they were? I don't remember saying that… O.O I have a bad memory though. Kai does look like a girl! Hehe, in the third season his eyelashes are drawn so long (they might even be longer than Hilary's O.o) and he looks like he's wearing mascara! ::sees people staring at her:: He does! I'm not saying he isn't drawn well though! I LOVE how Kai is drawn in G-Rev n-n

Renanimeangel – You did review before, didn't you? I remember you reviewing before… Me didn't forget you did I? ::checks:: No… No I didn't… O.o Me has baaaaaaaad memory, and me isn't even old yet -.-;; Oh, but Kai won't get to punish Ty ::cackles evilly:: I'm gonna… not give away the plot… Must not give away the plot… x.X

Crimson – Hehe, I poke people too! … Probably where I got the idea. I do so like Ray!

Ray: -.-;; Liar.

Mei: I do!! ;.; Why doesn't anyone believe me?

Ray: You'd think it would be obvious…

Mei: What would be obvious? O.o

(PS: You're better! Youyouyouyouyouyouyou!! ::dies:: X.X)

Mei: Big thank yous to everyone who reviewed! I really could not write this story without the encouragement you guys give me! :) You guys rule! ::hides Neko-Kai plushie behind her back::

Tyson: O.o ::eyes Mei suspiciously:: Please review.