Mei: MUAHAHA!! Two chapters in ONE day!! Aren't I the best? I am the best! Come on, say it with me – Mei rules!! Okay, maybe I don't, but two chappies in one day ain't half bad, am I right? n.n;; Although, be prepared for some more corny mushy stuff in this chapter (including my being very mean to Ray – I don't why, but I've got it in for the poor dude).

Also, I apologize for making Lee pretty out of character… I dunno, he's not really my favourite (I find him kinda boring, no offense to his fans) and I don't write about him often so when I do his character's kinda warped. I'm sorry all you White Tiger and Lee fans! n.n;; Actually, I think I pretty much warp most of the characters personalities, so I don't know why I'm only apologizing for Lee…

..::Chapter Eight::..

Kai still couldn't understand what had gone wrong. All of a sudden, it had seemed that Tyson was paying more attention to Hilary than to him… He could tell she was enjoying it. He knew that she liked him, she'd always liked him. Heck, she was always flirting with him. The elder boy clenched his fists angrily, twisting his pillow as tightly as he could in an attempt to wear out his frustration.

It was one of the reasons he hadn't liked Hilary when they'd been introduced. She'd made him feel so jealous, so threatened. She still did. He didn't want to lose his Tyson to her. Even back when he'd had no right to call the other boy "my Tyson" he'd hated the thought of his dragon being in love with her. In a way, he had never actually come to like her.

Kai rolled over in his bed for the seventh time that night. He still wasn't comfortable enough to fall asleep. Maybe he was over-reacting; maybe Tyson and Hilary were just friends. No, scratch that, they were just friends, and he was over-reacting. He should apologize to Tyson… It wasn't like Hilary liked him that much, she was like that with Max and Kenny too… besides, his boyfriend would never do that to him, right? Why didn't he trust the younger boy anyway? Tyson always trusted him…

Except for that night in the bar, with that bartender, the little voice in the back of his mind reminded him, He didn't trust you then, did he?

Kai sat up and hugged his pillow to his chest. It was very childlike, and out of character for him – but it wasn't like there was anyone here to see. The little voice cackled, seeming to get a sadistic pleasure from his misery. This was really quite ironic when one considered that the little voice was actually him, or his conscience, whatever seemed more reasonable.

The silent captain of the Bladebreakers discarded his pillow, not seeming to notice when it knocked a magazine of the bedside table due to how carelessly he had tossed it aside. He reached down beside his bed, pulling out an old novel from his travel-worn bag. He turned the lamp on and quietly began to read.

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

It was safe to say that Ray's visit with his old friends, the White Tigers, had not gone well. Maybe that wasn't entirely true, but for the most part, that was what Ray thought as it had really only served to make his day worse. He'd spent the rest of the afternoon, and the evening, and now half the night, feeling like a total and complete jackass.

Although, all things considered, he probably was.

He'd gone down to a local restaurant to meet them, and at first all had gone well. They'd talked about old times, back in their village, when Lee and Ray had used to battle, train and attempt to make up special moves together, and Ray had taught Mariah how to beyblade. Remembering "the good old days" did make him feel better, a lot better, considering the recent events. What had happened next did not.

Mariah had cleared her throat, and gestured pointedly at Lee, "I think it's time to break the news to him, don't you think so, Lee?"

Her brother had choked on his tea, spitting it back into the cup, "Uh, um no, I don't," he said, fumbling with his napkin as he struggled to regain his composure.

"Aw, c'mon! I think Ray deserves to know," said Kevin, elbowing Gary and grinning mischieviously.

Gary, startled out of his rather enthusiastic eating by Kevin's persistant elbowing, nodded feverishly, "Yeah, Lee. Tell."

"Guys! I can't," to Ray's surprise his old friend turned a bright shade of red, "Really, I mean it… Maybe some other time."

"Oh, you big chicken!" said Mariah impatiently, "Micheal did it – he told all of his team and his coach, Judy, didn't he? The least you could do is let one of your very old friends know before he finds out for himself," she cast a glare at the young green-haired teen beside her, "Like Kevin."

The small boy raised his arms in defense, "Hey! It's not my fault I was spying – er, I mean, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time! Hehe, that's all."

Lee shook his head, "No, no… You guys don't get it at all. I can't do it, sorry Ray."

By this time, however, Ray's interest was caught, "Oh no, Lee. You've got me curious now!" he flashed a fanged grin, "You have to tell me."

Lee moaned, "No… Please?"

"Come on Lee!" said Mariah, "Be a man!"

"But I'm not! The… um… man," Lee protested weakly.

The was a shocked silence, in which Ray was completely confused. It didn't help his confusion when Kevin turned to Gary and said softly, "I don't think we needed to know that, did we?"

Mariah cleared her throat again, "Well, um, even if you're... well, yeah... You still have to tell Ray."

Lee turned bright red, "Um… okay. Well, uh Ray, you see… I… um…" his voice trailed off as he muttered something inaudibly under his breath.

Ray raised an eyebrow, glancing at the other White Tigers for some sort of explanation.

"Oh, I can't believe you!" cried Mariah, smacking her brother half-heartedly, "What Lee is trying to say, is that he and Micheal are together."

"Together?" Ray repeated, he couldn't believe it. By the looks of it, Lee couldn't believe it either, judging from the way he pleaded for the earth to open up and swallow him.

"Yeah!" piped up Kevin, "As in, the dating kinda thing. I walked in on them making out-"

"Kevin!" shouted Lee, snapping out of his humiliation temporarily to shoot an angry glare at his youngest teammate, "Shut. Up."

"Shutting," smirked Kevin slyly, enjoying the way his captain's face reddened once again.

But Ray wasn't paying any attention to Kevin's snickering, or Ray's embarrassment. What was running through his head was that fact that Lee had a boyfriend. It was still running through his head now, past midnight, while he was sitting on the hotel bed and attempting to meditate.

The whole reason he had broken up with Max had been because he was afraid – afraid of what his old friends might think of him. He liked to think that he'd done it for more noble reasons, to protect Max from being shunned by the others, but he's come to accept that it wasn't entirely true. He'd also been afraid.

After being hated by his old team for so long because of the misunderstanding surrounding his "betrayal", Ray had come to realize just how much their friendship had meant to him. He had become frightened of losing it again… and Max had payed the price.

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

Tyson marched up to his boyfriend's room early that morning, running over his little angry speech over and over again in his head. Each time he thought it out, the longer and more heated it became, until it eventually detailed every wrong that Kai had ever done to Tyson and had never apologized for… Needless to say, given the elder boy's cold and typically rude demeanor, there were quite a few…

He'd decided late the previous night, after wiping away most of his tears, that Kai had had no right to yell at him like that. It wasn't as if he had done anything wrong! The elder boy hadn't even tried to hear what he had to say, and when he'd tried to apologize – for something he hadn't even done, mind you – he'd gotten the door shut in his face.

Well, no more. He wasn't going to take any more bullshit because of Kai's stupid little mood swings – oh no. This time Tyson Kinomiya was going to make Kai Hiwatari listen to him. It might sound inpossible, but really, how hard could it be? Kai was only human after all… wasn't he? Tyson raised his hand defiantly to knock on his boyfriend's door, pausing for a few seconds to go over what he was going to say yet again before knocking (more like banging) on the poor, flat, wooden surface.

There was no answer.

Tyson fumed. I can't believe that baka is still ignoring me! The world champion vaguely acknowledged that it was 4:30 in the morning, and Kai probably wasn't awake, but at this point he just didn't care. He raised his hand to start banging on the door again, but found he had to drop it when the door swung open on its own.

Immediatley, all the anger and all the insults and the whole speech about how he, Tyson, was never appreciated, vanished, as he stared up into a pair shocked scarlet eyes. All Tyson was able to utter was a quiet little, "Hey Kai…"

"Hey…" Kai replied softly. He looked tired, as if he hadn't gone to sleep at all that night. That makes two of us… Tyson thought to himself. He wondered briefly if his Phoenix had stayed up making patronizing speeches about how he was right, and Tyson was wrong, much like Tyson himself had, but he found he didn't really care about that anymore. He just didn't want Kai mad at him.

"So…" said Tyson softly, "Um… About earlier, I-"

"I'm sorry," Kai said quickly, and for a minute Tyson thought that that was the end of the conversation. The elder boy looked like he wanted to say more, but his quiet nature seemed to get the better of him and he said nothing, leaving Tyson with an awkward silence instead.

It seemed to last forever, with Kai avoiding Tyson's eyes, favouring, instead, looking across his room and out the window again. Tyson hated that… Why couldn't Kai look at him?

"Kai?" he called, somewhat loudly. The elder boy looked around, crimson eyes met stormy blue…

"Uh, yeah. I'm sorry too…" said Tyson softly, not sure what else to say. He really hoped this wouldn't put a dent in their relationship… It would probably be a while before they could actually go back to how they once were, and things would be awkward and uncomfortable for a while, but they could still fix it right? It wasn't like—

Kai pulled Tyson, without warning, into a slow, passionate kiss, dragging the younger boy into his room, and pushing the door shut with a loud thud, not once letting go of his dragon. His hands roamed everywhere, one combed through Tyson's navy-blue hair, and another slipped up his bright yellow t-shirt. Stunned, all the other teen could do was kiss back until Kai decided to let go of him, which he didn't do until they had tumbled, breathless, onto his bed.

"What," panted the world champion, "Was that… all about?"

"Oh… you know how it goes," said Kai, struggling to keep his voice even despite the fact that he was obviously out of breath. The fact that Tyson was sitting on top of him probably didn't help much, " 'Kiss and make up', right?"

Tyson blinked. That was totally unexpected… but then, his Phoenix was always unpredictable. It was one of the reasons he loved him so much, "Right," the midnight-haired boy agreed, a sly smirk spreading across his face, he leaned down and kissed Kai roughly, before asking his question, "How about… we change it to, 'Kiss and make-out'?" he looked down at the other with a predatory grin that made the elder teen shiver unconsciously.

"That's fine with me," whispered Kai.

And Tyson kissed him again.

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

Kenny and Emily stared at Dr. Judy in disbelief, "You're joking!" they screeched simultaneously.

Judy Tate chuckled at the expressions on their faces, "Oh no, I'm not."

"But all our research-" protested Emily.

"We worked so hard!" wailed Kenny.

Judy sighed, "Well really, you two. You could have come and asked me right at the beginning, it would have saved you all the trouble!"

"But how can Spain-"

"It's just not possible!"

"Oh, it's very possible Emily," explained Judy, "Why do you think Spain is hosting this tournament? It's to decide."

The two fell silent, considering this possibility.

"Oh…"

"We never thought of that…"

Judy smiled, "Well, it's true. Spain doesn't have any champions."

Mei: … Right. I don't like how that little bit between Judy and Kenny and Emily turned out… X.x It was supposed to be funny. Oh well. Me has made Kai paranoid! MUAHAHAHA! Poor Kai-kun…

Kai: ::eyebrow twitches:: Don't call me that…

Mei: Anywho – Thank yous to everyone who reviewed so far! n-n Makes my day. You guys are really great! ::huggles bigger Neko-Kai plushie::

Tyson: Nani? MINE!! :: snatches it again::

Mei: Huh? . Why you little…! ::chases Tyson around:: GIVE ME BACK MY PLUSHIE BAKA!!

Kai: -.-;; Please review.