Mei: Hehe… I haven't updated in while, have I? I'm really really really sorry guys! I don't know what happened T.T I've been so brain dead these past few months, I couldn't think of anything to write! I stayed up late to finish this though, I haven't even had supper XP Not that you guys will really pity me or anything, since I've taken and excruciatingly long time to update this…

Thanks for all the excellent reviews! n.n You all said such nice things! I'm glad you guys like this fic. You guys are really great! Even though I've been really lazy :sweatdrop:

Disclaimer: I sent a letter to Takao Aoki, begging them to at least let me have Tyson and Kai, but they wouldn't give them to me. T.T

WARNING: I had too much coffee when I wrote this. Hence the extensive reference to coffee in the first few paragraphs. Also contains yaoi and other stuff. (I think you know the drill)

Please don't kill me for the OOC-ness, I try to keep them in character, I really do! T.T I'm just not good at it…

..:Chapter Nine:..

Kai smirked evilly. It had finally arrived! After all his patient waiting he was finally going to get his revenge on Tyson for dragging him to that bar. He had it all planned out, his boyfriend wouldn't know what had hit him! Or so Kai thought.

He was almost singing on his way down to breakfast, but of course he didn't, because he was Kai, and Kai didn't sing songs. Not in public anyway. Tyson had once accused him of singing in the shower, which Kai had naturally denied. Never mind the fact that he actually had been singing, there was no way that he was ever going to admit it.

The only reason he had been singing in the first place, was because he'd drunk too much coffee. Coffee impairs your judgment, especially when you drink six cups the stuff, and then top it off with half a bottle of red wine…

The eldest Bladebreaker sat down at the table where the rest of his team was already assembled, ignoring their complaints that he was late – not just because he was Kai and didn't need an excuse to be late (although really, that was reason enough anyway, wasn't it?) but also because he was simply too preoccupied to care. Revenge was a sweet, sweet thing.

Poor Kai, little did he know that his plan for "revenge" might be quite as sweet as he imagined it to be…

Tyson had been watching Kai very closely. There was something odd about his boyfriend this morning. He looked almost happy. The world champion could have sworn the other boy had been humming when he came to the table. Then again, he couldn't really tell. He could have been imagining it. He'd have sworn it was the same song he'd caught Kai singing in the shower, (he remembered, because it had been a particularly feminine song). And the older boy had been singing in the shower, no matter how much he denied it, Tyson knew what he had heard.

He could only assume that what made Kai seem so happy was that something had happened which had pleased him greatly. Tyson doubted that it was the events of the other night, because Kai wasn't happy in that kind of way… He was happy in an evil way.

Not that Tyson was really sure if there was an evil way to be happy, but with Kai anything was possible. The elder bladebreaker seemed a little too mellow, given the fact that he was usually very grumpy on tournament days, especially if he didn't think they had trained enough (and to Tyson, Kai's opinion of "enough" training was truly ridiculous). He hadn't glared when Max had eaten the last cinnamon bun – Tyson knew for a fact that Kai liked the cinnamon buns – he hadn't even noticed. His phoenix hadn't ordered a coffee either. Something was definitely up.

He hadn't even given them his "I'm Kai, I don't need a reason" look when they'd asked him why he was late!

Ray was eyeing Max from the corner of his eye. After Lee had told him about Michael, Ray had found himself telling his old teammates about what had happened between him and Max. They hadn't been too impressed. The stunned silence had kind of given that away… Then it had become painfully obvious when Mariah started yelling at him and calling him an idiot repeatedly.

Thinking about it, the neko-jin supposed thing could have been worse. In the end, his old friends in the White Tigers had given him some pretty good advice. They'd made him feel better, more confident. Much better than any coffee could make you feel anyway. He had no idea why Kai and the Chief liked it so much, it only seemed to make him feel worse.

But coffee wasn't really an important thing on Ray's mind at the moment. He'd decided that he would get back together with Max! Of course he acknowledged that he'd probably have to do some groveling first, but it was worth it. He'd tell Max today, when they won their next match. Not that Ray thought about the possibility of losing their next match, the Bladebreakers were accustomed to winning all the time.

Then again, the Chinese boy probably wouldn't even notice if they won or lost their match, just as long as he got his Maxie back. Assuming he got his Max back… He sipped his drink nervously. Max would forgive him right? Right…?

Kenny had decided to come back to the team. They were his friends after all, and good friends too. He shouldn't have said all those things to them. It's wasn't like they were actually gay or anything. At least, that was what Kenny continued to tell himself. He'd walked in on Tyson and Kai's "kiss and make-up" the other night, not that they had noticed, of course – they were too busy "apologizing". Of course little Kenny was sure there was a good reason why Tyson hadn't had his shirt on. He also told himself that there was a logical explanation for why Kai had been wearing nothing but his shirt.

He'd probably just keep telling himself that.

He'd spent the last couple of days with Emily. She was nice, and easy to get along with. They had lots in common. Neither of them could believe they hadn't seen it before, that neither of them had thought to look up the reason behind the tournament, or that they hadn't seen the clues. Of course the Spanish team didn't exist. Why else wouldn't they be able to find it?

The whole thing with Mr. Dickenson's sudden resignation had probably put the idea out of their minds. The computer mastermind frowned as he sipped at his coffee – with lots of sugar and cream. Kenny couldn't stand black coffee. He was sure Kai must be insane, as their captain drank about three cups of straight black coffee every morning. He wondered briefly if Mr. Dickenson drank coffee. Why had the old man retired? He'd loved his job after all. It just didn't make sense.

Max drank his apple juice. Max didn't like coffee. He hated it. So he always drank apple juice. For a while, Tyson always drank apple juice too, but then the Kai-syndrome had struck, and he'd tried coffee. What was the Kai-syndrome? Well, that was what Max called it when Tyson became obsessed with Kai. It seemed to happen at random times during the day. Either he would start ranting about Kai endlessly until he was told to shut up, or he would start trying to be like Kai. The American blader wasn't sure which one was worse, but he was opting for the latter. Max figured it must be a disease of some kind. Then again, he did sometimes to similar things with… he-who-would-not-be-thought-about.

Anyway, Max had tried to warn his friend, but Tyson was dead set on having a cup of coffee. Unsweetened coffee too, since that was the only kind of coffee Kai seemed to drink. And of course, Tyson was trying to be like Kai, so he had to drink exactly the same type of coffee that Kai was drinking. The results hadn't been pretty, since unsweetened dark coffee is very bitter and very strong. Tyson never drank unsweetened coffee after that. But the Kai-syndrome must have had a very strong effect on him, because he kept trying to drink coffee. Only now, he'd add a ton of cream.

Max thought that the smart thing to do would be to just stick with the apple juice. It had never failed him, after all. Miriam liked apple juice too. He frowned as he played with the ice in his glass. Their plan was going to work… It had to.

Hilary had been going over all the details of the little plot she and Tyson had thought up. She wasn't sure how the two of them would pull it off. They hadn't been able to make it work with Ray and Max, and this plan would be much more difficult. At least she and Tyson knew Max and Ray, and most of the details to their relationship.

Not that those details had been gained by spying on the couple, oh no. They would never resort to stalking the two around and watching them from the bushes, uh-uh.

But she barely knew Mr. Dickenson! Tyson claimed he knew the old man very well, he said that Mr. Dickenson and his grandfather were good friends. She still had her doubts, regardless of how "well" Tyson claimed to know Mr. Dickenson, the world champion still had no idea about Ms. Dochstader.

They couldn't possibly get the two back together. They couldn't even get Ray and Max back together! Hilary frowned as she watched the two eat in uncomfortable silence. The whole table was silent. Kenny was drinking his coffee wordlessly. Max was sipping his apple juice every now and again, staring ahead of him, but not blankly, more like he was deep in thought. Tyson seemed intently focused on Kai. Kai didn't seem to notice, and in fact, seemed to be in a very good mood – at least in comparison to how he usually was.

She had a feeling something odd was going to happen today.

After breakfast, Kai had told them all that the uniforms had finally arrived, so they would have to wear them. Amazingly, there were no moans and groans from the team. Ray had nodded amiably, Max hadn't appeared to notice, Hilary had been happy, because she was positive that the boy's would look handsome in the new outfits, and Tyson, well Tyson had let out a huge grin.

One would think that Kai would have become suspicious at that point.

Unfortunately, he simply assumed Tyson was smiling because he knew the idea of being forced to wear a uniform annoyed him. It was one of the many things Kai had disliked about attending the private school where he had met Wyatt.

The team filed up to Kai's room silently. There was a brief moment when the silence was broke, as Tyson attempted to make a joke to lift spirits. Max had smiled, and so had Ray. Yet, this led them to look at each other, which resulted in an even more uncomfortable silence. Kai had to admit that the tension was quite unnerving, but he said nothing.

When they got to his room the captain opened the box, tossing the order form aside without paying it much attention; and handing Ray, Max, and Kenny their uniforms, which conveniently at the top of the box, and neatly wrapped in plastic film. They went off to get changed, and he gave Hilary a pointed glare (as she was ogling over the clothing) and she left. He then pulled out the remaining two uniforms, intending to hand the "special" one to Tyson, but ended up dropping them instead.

Tyson struggled to withhold his laughter. "What's wrong Kai?"

Kai frowned, reaching over and snatching the order form from the floor. He forced himself to remain calm as he looked over it critically.

Meanwhile, Tyson has having a hard time keeping a straight face, "Well?"

Kai looked up from the form and at the box, his expression slightly apprehensive, "I think there's been a mistake," he said slowly.

Tyson was practically dancing with glee, "Really?"

Kai nodded, placing the sheet on the ground. His face was completely expressionless, "You did this didn't you?" he asked evenly.

"Did what?" asked Tyson innocently, hardly able to contain himself. This was going to be hilarious.

Kai smiled thinly, "I wouldn't look too pleased if I were you."

His boyfriend blinked, "What?"

Meanwhile, back in his own room, Ray was having extreme difficulty understanding how the uniform worked. He was positive that his was too small. It didn't fit properly… He was puzzled. His uniform was bright, neon red, outlined at the sleeves and the collar in yellow. It was too tight, and didn't even reach his ankles. He felt like a clown…

Still, there was nothing to be done about it. They didn't have an excuse like the Egyptian team did, although he was pretty sure they had made theirs up.

He sighed, taking a deep breath and stepping out of his room, he walked somewhat nervously down to the lobby. Kenny sat on the bench typing away on his lap top as per usual. Unsurprisingly, Hilary was also waiting for him, all ready to gush over how great the uniform looked.

She didn't.

She saw him and her jaw dropped open. She looked him over, with what looked like some difficulty, "Who- who designed that?"

"I guess the new BBA chairperson," said Ray quietly.

Kenny looked up, he seemed lost for words, "Well, it's… err… certainly… interesting," he offered feebly.

Hilary looked somewhat aghast, "Are you sure it's the right one?" she asked.

"Well, we'd have to ask Kai, I think."

"I see," Hilary cringed, "What do the other teams think of this… uh… thing?" she motioned to the uniform with some distaste.

"I haven't seen any of them wearing it…" said Kenny softly. "The Egyptian team claimed it went against their religion."

Ray frowned, "From what I heard, all of the captains are coming up with as many excuses as they can to avoid wearing them."

"Gee," replied the girl, "I wonder why that is." There was a short silence between them as they waited for the others to arrive. Finally Hilary said, "I think Kai could have done better…"

The neko-jin blinked, "Huh?"

"Well, you know, red and yellow aren't really his colours… You'd think he could make up a better excuse."

Kenny nodded, "You know, that's a very good point. I don't imagine Kai would be caught dead wearing such a garment."

"Yeah… I guess so," Ray murmured, shifting uncomfortably. He could've sworn that his uniform was too small.

Just then, Max came bounding out. He looked decidedly cheerful, which was a complete surprise to Hilary and Ray, given the way he had been acting the past few days. He smiled cheerfully at them both, "These uniforms really are something, huh?"

"Max…" said Ray softly.

Hilary drew in a deep breath. Maybe she and Tyson hadn't done such a bad matchmaking job after all! Maybe there was hope for them, the BBA… and maybe Ray and Max were finally going to get back together.

"Oh no, don't say it Ray," said Max, with an odd smile on his face. It looked almost… cruel. It just didn't fit Max's normally bubbly personality, "I look great, don't I?"

Ray's voice seemed to catch in his throat, "Well, yeah…"

"I bet you're wishing you'd never broken up with me now!"

Ray said nothing. Hilary frowned – there was something wrong with this situation. Very wrong.

Max seemed angry with the lack of reaction that he'd gotten from Ray. He turned his nose in the air haughtily, something the teenaged girl and the neko-jin could've sworn he'd copied from a certain dual-haired team captain.

"Well, too bad Ray. You can't have me back," he gave a satisfied smirk (also very Kai-like) as Ray's eyes widened slightly in shock, and hurt, "I'm going out with Miriam now."

Hilary gaped at him disbelievingly, "Miriam? Why?" Ray made no comment.

"Well, you said it yourself Ray," said Max, focusing on him with narrowed eyes, "We weren't meant to be together. It wasn't… natural."

"But you don't mean that!" said Hilary desperately.

"Leave him be, Hilary," said Ray in a strangely calm tone, he looked up at Max with a forced smile, "If that's what makes him happy, then we should congratulate him."

"Uh…" Hilary glanced back and forth between the two boys. Kenny had shrunk into the bench behind her, looking rather uncomfortable. A long silence proceeded to ensue, with Ray and Max staring each other down, and Kenny and Hilary stuck in the middle, staring at the floor.

It was mercifully broken after a few minutes by Tyson's horrified wail, "I CAN'T GO OUT LIKE THIS!"

They all turned into the general direction of the stairwell, where Tyson's voice had come from. They could hear Kai's annoyed growl through the door, "Quit whining Kinomiya! It's your own fault!"

"My fault!" was Tyson's explosive response, "It's your fault! I'd never have done it if you hadn't done it first!"

"Well you shouldn't have been looking through my things anyway!" snapped Kai.

The group looked at each other, bewildered. Their own argument completely forgotten as they listen to Tyson and Kai bicker in from behind the wall.

"Just shut up and go." Kai was saying.

"Me? I'm not going first! You go!"

"Like hell! You're going first – it's you're fault we're in this mess anyway."

"I just told you it wasn't my fault!"

There was a new, deeper voice, "Alright ladies, move it along. You're blocking the stairway."

Kai's voice was dangerously low, "Do I look like a lady to you?"

The man's hesitation could almost be felt, although they couldn't see him. Tyson started laughing.

"Stuff it, Kinomiya! You're not exactly looking to masculine yourself."

Tyson's laughing instantly ceased.

The man seemed to have rethought about using the stairs, as a steady "thump thump" could be heard, growing fainter as it ascended.

Finally, the door to the stairwell opened, and what appeared to be Tyson and Kai, although of course, it couldn't be, walked out.

Hilary's jaw dropped, "Oh… my… god…"

Mei: There, it's done! Well the chapter anyway, the story still has a ways to go. I'm sorry for the cornyness of it all -.-;; And for delaying Maxie and Ray from getting back together yet AGAIN. I'm really bad.

Please review! If any of you are still reading this… since I took so long to update… Hello:tumbleweed rolls by: Um… hehe… Anyone? … … :dies: