Warning : Strong language, violence & M/M

Disclaimer : I don't own Beyblade or any of the characters. The characters you do not recognise are mine and are not to be stolen/used in any story other than my own.

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'Where am I?' He rolled onto his back, feeling pain all over. He groaned, opening his eyes to see… Concrete? Kai sat up, moaning about the pain in his side. 'No wonder it hurts,' he thought, 'sleeping on concrete all night.' It was barely light. He looked around to take in the place he'd woken to find himself. There were benches dotted along the side of the large building he had been sprawled against, and a large digital clock read 05:58. 'The train station…' Kai realised where he was. He also realised that his train would arrive in fifteen minutes. He rubbed his eyes, standing up and pulling his bag onto his back, people giving him looks of disgust, sympathy and utterconfusion as hescanned the areawith crimson eyes, unsure what he was searching for.'Food.' Whether it was his head or his stomach that had made the demand, Kai decided it would be a good idea to oblige, so sauntered off to find something to eat.

Strolling casually into a sandwich bar, he noticed a certain gang of people in the corner. Ignoring them as theysaw him, he ordered himself some breakfast. Glancing sideways, henoted that it was not the usual group of six, but a group of four. Three boys and a girl. The loud blond boy seemed to be cheering on his navy-haired friend, who was eating, Kai decided, an impressive amount for someone his size and age. The third of the boys sat quietly, his bandaged black hair curving over his shoulder and hanging limply at his side, his golden eyes concentrating on the food before them, occasionally flicking up to watch his louder friends. The lilac haired girl, Kai noticed, was the one who had offered him conversation and had asked if he was alright, as he'd stood moodily by himself at the station the day before.

"Here's your food mate." The man behind the counter pushed a sandwich and drink toward Kai. "356 please mate."

Kai searched around in his bag until he found his wallet. He gave 360Y to the man and waited for his change. On receiving it, he took his food over to a table away from the foursome, keeping his back turned to them. It wasn't that he didn't like them, those new first years appeared to be the only six in the school who didn't treat him as an inferior, he just didn't feel like socialising. Apparently that didn't matter.

"Hey…" A soft voice from behind made him turn and, what he thought of as a nice sight, met his eyes. Crimson met gold and shone slightly as Kai gave a polite smile. The neko-jin smiled back, flashing fangs. "Why don't you come and sit with us?"

Kai had to try hard not to glare. "No thanks. I've got some homework to finish." He lied. 'Sit with them.. Yeah right. I need some alone time..' He then noticed the slight disappointment in the cat's yellow eyes. It only stayed for a second, but it had been there, and Kai had felt the slight pang of guilt.

"Oh, okay." Replied the boy, returning to his friends. Kai turned back to his breakfast and began poking at it. He wasn't really hungry anymore. Instead of eating, he gathered up his bag and drink and slowly dragged himself back outside onto the platform. He looked up at the clock. 06:11.

'I hate waiting for things.' He sighed deeply, glancing up and down the tracks that lay before him. He again settled into thought, something he'd recently decided he did too often. His mind came to rest upon the note. Three days, now two days, he supposed. 'But.. Until what? Maybe it means.. Two days until everything stops and goes back to normal.' Kai felt his stomach turn. 'Or.. Or maybe it means.. Two days until the next attack..' He rolled these ideas around in his head for a while, until loud, squeaky brakes on metal tracks brought him back to reality.

As usual, the train ride was silent. The bustle of people around him was completely ignored by Kai, though the loud chomping from a few seats away did interrupt his thinking.

"I don't know what his problem is." Came the muffled voice, food was obviously still in the speaker's mouth. Kai pricked his ears and listened to the conversation; they didn't seem know he was there.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth." The girl replied huffily. "It's disgusting."

"No, what's disgusting…" The boy swallowed his food. "Was that guy's attitude."

"He said he had homework to finish…" Kai recognised that voice. His cat friend seemed to be sticking up for him.

"No excuse. Anyway, I didn't see him with any homework." The boy didn't seem to shut up. Ignoring him and rolling his eyes, Kai pulled a book and pen from his bag and began to write.

1. Woke up downstairs.

2. Face paint smudged, hair mess.

3. Homework done.

4. Neighbour's fire.

5. School fire.

6. Note – Three days.

7. Haunted hotel.

8. Keys.

9. Lighter missing.

Kai thought for a minute before adding the last one. Okay, so it was nothing big, but it was still a bit strange. He kept it on him at all times. 'What else has been happening lately?' He wondered. 'Oh yeah…'

10. Waking up at station.

Scanning his list, a little voice in the back of his mind made a very obvious statement. 'Some weird stuff's been going on.' Just after that thought, a loud scream and kafuffle from behind him caused him to look round. His eyes met the scene :A man in his early twenties was holding a young lilac-haired girl by the throat, demanding money, while the crowds around them were shouting and trying to help her… Or hissing. He noticed the neko-jin looking very angry, fangs bared, narrowed golden eyes with slits for pupils. Kai suddenly realised everyone was looking at him… Then noticed why.

'Shit.' He thought to himself. Without realising, he had got to his feet and strode over to the crowd, and was now face to face with the girl's attacker, who pushed her away from him and stared down into Kai's angry crimson eyes.

"What are you looking at kid? Want a piece of me?" The large man made a grab toward Kai's throat, but seemed shocked when his fist was easily blocked by the young blunette before him. Whether he had meant to do it or not, Kai hadn't really registered this, he had punched the man in the jaw, practically asking for trouble. This blatantly angered the man, but seeing three security men walking toward him, he decided to let it drop. After watching the beefy man being escorted away, he turned to the group, to find them smiling appreciatively.

"Thank you so much!" The girl beamed at him. Kai smiled slightly and nodded, giving her a 'you're welcome' look. "What's your name?"

Kai hesitated. 'What is my problem?' He mentally scolded himself. "Kai."

"I'm Helena." She then nodded toward her friends. "And this is Tyson, Max and Rei."

Kai nodded again, taking in the information. 'Rei… So that's his name.' He quickly turned away from the group, accidentally blushing. Over his shoulder, he gave a quick 'see ya' nod, and headed back to his seat. He collected his pen and book back into his hands and sighed.

11. Train fight.

'I don't get it. Trouble is just following me, I'm surprised I'm still alive.' A split second after thinking that particular thought, he wished he hadn't. He was just expecting something bad to happen, a bomb to go off in the train or an explosion at the station, or even some huge and scary psycho to attack him on his way home after school. 'Why do I have to think things like that?' He hated himself for his negative thoughts. He couldn't remember when he had stopped thinking positively. He guessed it was after his parents were murdered when he was younger. Until then he had been a happy child, very happy. He was talkative, playful, caring, always smiling and laughing… But then his parents went out for an evening together and never came back. So he went to live with his grandfather; a very stern and strict man. That is what had done it. That had killed the sweet, bouncy spirit inside of Kai.

Coming out of his thoughts as the journey jolted to an end, Kai clambered off the train, shoving his book back into his bag. He wasn't too sure what to expect that day – Would the police want to see him about the fire in the school? He didn't understand why everybody suspected him, he just hoped that he could prove his innocence. Like Irika had said… 'You're going to need a better alibi than that.' Kai groaned as he waited as the bus stop. There was no point questioning her, it was true. What kind of person did go for a walk before the sun was up? He sighed, wishing the bus would come soon so he could get the day over with. He still needed to find somewhere to stay – No way would he go back to that haunted place.

'Since when have I believed in ghosts?' Kai felt like hitting himself. He knew he was just being stupid… Right?

"You okay?" The voice sidled him back to reality. He turned and looked at the group and nodded. 'Why don't they just leave me alone..'

"Look, I kind of want to thank you for what you did on the train. I don't know what I would have done…" Kai had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. She had thanked him once already.

"It's fine." He replied simply. The voice at the back of his head was pushing him, so he asked. "Are you okay now?"

The girl smiled brightly. "I'm good, thanks." Kai put his head back down and sighed. He soon wished he hadn't, this just got more unwanted attention. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Persistent…" Kai mumbled to himself gruffly. He then raised his head and gained eye contact with the girl, for the second time. "Yeah. Fine."

Apparently she was extremely talkative and didn't get the hint that was written all over Kai's face and body – he didn't really want to chat. Still, the girl went on. He wasn't really listening, until she mentioned the school.

"What do you think happened anyway? It's all a bit weird isn't it!" Kai hadn't expected her to wait for an answer, but her group of friends were all looking at him.

"I…" He began, looking up. "I think it was another of the attacks." He spoke quietly, as if trying to keep his thoughts to himself. The group heard though, and for once, it wasn't Helena that replied.

"That's what I thought." Kai looked at the worried expression playing on the cat's face. "The attacks made me leave my last school." Kai then noted the sadness in those beautiful golden eyes.

"… What happened?" He couldn't believe that he'd actually asked that. It might be personal to the boy and bring back memories he didn't want. 'How insensitive of me…' He reflected.

"We were still in classes when it happened. People were hurt." Kai felt a strong urge to hug the neko-jin and calm his nerves; luckily the bus came.

"It's okay, Rei…" Helena muttered as they boarded their ride. Kai had wished they were his words, and his arm curved around the cat's shoulders – But they weren't. They belonged to Helena. The only thing that did belong to Kai, concerning Rei, was…

Jealousy.

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