A Year To Live

A/N: Gosh¡­ First month in school and the work¡¯s already piling¡­

13¡ªOne last shot

¡°Right, the arrangement goes as follows¡­ Max¡¯s up first, followed by Ray, then Tyson. No changes¡­¡± Mr. Dickenson trailed off, peering into each boy¡¯s face. He stopped on Kai¡¯s indifferent stare.

¡°Unless Kai wants to have a shot.¡±

Everyone turned to him. Kai contemplated this carefully.

¡°It¡¯s not a bad idea¡­ You could face off their leader you know¡­¡± Tyson said.

¡°My last shot¡­¡±

¡°Don¡¯t say that!¡±

Silence¡­ It was mutual understanding that the statement was the simple truth.

¡°Ok¡­¡­ So I¡¯ll have to change the arrangement before submission¡­ You still have three days boys¡­ Good luck¡­ I¡¯ll be out of town.¡±

___

¡°Ready?¡± a solemn Tyson asked as he looked at the clock for the umpteenth time.

¡°Yeah,¡± came the replies.

¡°Wait¡­¡±

¡°Yeah, Kai?¡± Ray inquired.

¡°I¡­ want to thank you guys¡­ For showing me¡­ that somebody cares¡­¡± he said (A/n: ½á½á°Í°Íly ¡ª that¡¯s the best word¡­ But I can¡¯t use ¡®stuttered¡¯¡­ Think of a word for me?) awkwardly.

¡°Why ar¡ª¡° Ray was cut short¡ª

___

¡°Facing them off¡­ Iiiiss¡­ Our former world champion team, the BladeBreakers!¡±

Cheers rang from every corner of the stands. Fans were shouting themselves hoarse as the BladeBreakers walked into view. But the opposing team¡¯s supporters made themselves heard with the hisses.

Ray gulped. He was up first. Walking up to the platform was a girl is pale blue overalls. She rang a bell in Kai¡¯s mind. Who is she? He wondered uncomfortably.

___

Tyson smiled as he came back from round two. They¡¯d cleared the first two rounds, seating them comfortably in the winning seat. The final match was now just a showdown between the team captains. Either Kai clinch them an all win, or their opponents, the Sabres, lighten the disappointment from their supporters.

¡°I¡¯m sorry what happened last time¡­ ¡°

¡°Three¡­¡±

Then it dawned on him, why did the girl and boys look to familiar¡­

¡°Two¡­¡±

¡°But lets not show mercy here¡­¡±

¡°One. Let it RIP!¡±

¡°Urh!¡± Kai launched his blade into the dish. A dark whirl of green landed right on top of his blade.

¡°Dranzer¡­ throw him off with fire arrow!!!¡±

Fiery orange shot up from the disk. The other blade was thrown into the air. But dropped back into the dish with perfect balance. The boy smirked, ¡°Cats hardly fall bad¡­¡±

It was only the first few minutes into the game, but Kai felt drained. He shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

¡°Now, Dorsel! Get¡¯im!¡±

With amazing speed, the blade emmited a grey form above it and rush at Kai¡¯s blade.

¡°Flamethrower!¡±

It was the only thing Kai could think of, other than his altering vision. The boy was stunned. He¡¯d expected it to be countered. He studied Kai warily, the Kai with his eyes screwed up and teeth gritted.

Amazingly, it worked. The dark green blade swerved at the attack, but got rammed into the wall by the phoenix. The cat was scalded. He hardly noticed as he took deep calming breaths and opened his eyes. It was over. The boy smiled. But not even winning a match could lift his spirits now. Every twinge of pain scared him.

¡°My name¡¯s Tze Long, hope to see you ¡®gain.¡± He turned and left.

You won¡¯t be¡­

Kai was deaf to the fanatical screams. His last match¡­ He bent down to pick up the still spinning blade. Pocketed it and walked out of the arena.

___

The team found him sitting glumly in the bus, staring into thin air. The bus pulled to a stop outside their hotel. Everyone bounded down the steps. Everyone except Kai that is, he strolled off in another direction.

¡°Hey! Kai! Where are you going?¡±

¡°Take a walk. Bye.¡± Kai replied.

They didn¡¯t know the significance¡­

End of Chapter

Review???

A/n: I have no idea how to write out a match. Forgive the lameness. I¡¯m foreshadowing¡­ Oh no¡­ I¡¯m behaving like my literature teachers¡­ Using that word¡­

Encode to Chinese and you¡¯d be able to read the words below¡­ If the words are naturally there, then you can save the hassle. If you don¡¯t understand Chinese, you can save the hassle. If you¡¯re not interested in bored talk, you can save the hassle. If you don¡¯t wanta know how bad my Chinese if, save the hassle. Overall¡­ Save the hassle... You don¡¯t have to look¡­

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I¡¯m sorry for the interruption earlier¡­ I never believed in A/n¡¯s in the middle of a story. Sorry¡­ Very sorry¡­ Can you sense where this story is going?