Reshki: I'M NOT DEAD!

Horde of Assignments and Reports: Not yet, anyway.

Reshki: Go away. I'm currently in denial and am pretending you don't exist.

Horde of Assignments and Reports: You can run…BUT YOU CANNOT HIDE! (evil laugh in stereo)

Inspiration: (looks up from examining cuticles) Hmm? Sorry? Somebody say something?

Reshki: As for you…did I give you permission to just die on me like this?

Inspiration: No. (smiles sweetly)

Reshki: (sighs melodramatically) Ah, damn it. I don't know what I'm doing anymore. This chapter is very dead…just a lot of nonsense from Tyson's PoV.

Tyson: Good. I haven't expressed my LURVE for Kai nearly enough yet…heh, heh, heh… (drifts off into a certain sparkly little universe)

Reshki: I'm warning you, it's insanely boring. Happily, I've got the beginning of Chapter Ten floating around on the back of my (way, way overdue) Afrikaans essay at this very moment, and it's looking a bit better. Until I get that up, though, enjoy being bored…

Warnings: I attempt a slightly different version of the 'watching your crush sleep' cliché, Tyson experiences the joys of unrequited love, and Max (who, unfortunately, is very OOC – it sucks, 'cause I love him, but cannot write him) does some interrogation.

Disclaimer: Consider the facts - I'm broke, I can't draw, and I'm writing fanfiction. Conclusion? I'm not Aoki Takao, which means that I'm not the owner of Beyblade. Well done. Have a gold star.

Correction: I wrote Ian in the last chapter when I was actually referring to Spencer…should I just run around wearing a sign saying 'AIRHEAD'? Anyway, I've fixed it up now. Sorry.

Thank you: TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! Just thinking about all the nice stuff you said makes me get hyper! You people so rock.

Chapter Nine:

Sleep

It was raining, it was cold, and Kai was asleep.

You know how people always go on and on and on about how romantic and stuff it is to watch someone sleeping? Well, they said that a lot in those movies Hilary always used to cry over, anyway.

Heh. The real deal is that watching someone sleep is just plain boring.

The once cool thing was that I got to stare at him without being interrupted – and I could stare at Kai for a long, long time, so it wasn't like I was complaining or anything. I'm just pointing out that it wasn't like he looked cute or defenceless or whatever.

He looked grumpy.

No, seriously. His lips were this sort of annoyed pout, and his breathing was slow and heavy, like it is when he's trying hard to calm himself down and not get mad at someone. One hand rested lightly on the blanket across his stomach, rising and falling with each breath, and, at his side, the other hand was wrapped tightly around Dranzer. That made me smile.

Hey, he'd actually started crying when I'd given him Dranzer back. Serves him right, in a way. I would never just chuck Dragoon away like that. Still, though, I guess he wasn't thinking clearly when he did it. If I know him, and I think that by now I pretty much do, he was getting all worked up about not being good enough to blade anymore or whatever. He's done it before, anyway, and it still makes me get kind of mad every time it happens. He just doesn't know when to give himself a break.

Besides, you'd think he'd know by now how amazingly talented he really is. You'd think someone who's as good as he is could afford to take time out every now and then…but no. He just keeps on pushing himself. One of these days I'm really going to have to bang some sense into his stupid head.

Basically – really long story short? I ran all over Moscow looking for him with the help of Tala and Bryan and that Spencer dude, as well as a couple of other bladers who'd known Kai in the old days. I found him staring at nothing in the frost, I gave him his blade back, he started sobbing into my chest, I practically dragged him by the scarf onto the next available aeroplane, and there we were, back home in Bay City.

By the time we reached the dojo, I swear I was half-carrying the guy. He hadn't slept at all in the twenty-odd hours since I'd found him, and I don't think he'd had much rest while he was in Russia, either. Hilary took one look at him and ordered Rei and Maxie to bundle him off to bed. Yeah, he grumbled a lot - something about being just fine, and about how all he needed was a little time by himself, and about how we were all being pathetic. He didn't say too much else, though, 'cause he was asleep about three seconds after we got him onto his sofa.

I crashed, too, a little while after that. I guess I was also feeling pretty out of it, and that was just the jetlag. Kai had had a whole week of beating himself up. Sometimes I just don't know what I'm going to do with him.

Anyway, I woke up late the next morning to find the dojo empty, with a note on the fridge from the Chief saying that everyone had gone to the airport to meet the White Tigers, who'd just flown in. So, grumbling a bit, I got myself breakfast and decided to go back to bed.

Then I realised that Kai was still asleep.

So I thought, why pass up a perfectly good opportunity to gaze uninterrupted at the guy who is possibly hotter than anyone else in the history of the universe?

And that's how I ended up munching on some crackers at half-past nine in the morning on a grey, rainy day in early autumn, determinedly watching Kai sleeping.

You know, it's kind of difficult to explain how much he actually means to me. I don't talk about it a lot. Heh, I know that sounds weird coming from me. People are always telling me I talk too much, and I think Kai tells me to shut up or else about once every ten minutes. I still don't think it's fair, 'cause it's not like there's a law against being friendly, or something, but I'm getting off the topic.

The point is that…well…Kai is just so unbelievably special to me that it's almost like telling someone else about how I feel for him would ruin it, somehow. The things between us have always been unspoken, and that's 'cause half the time we don't need to talk. When you get to know someone that well, the two of you can look at each other and understand each other perfectly. It's no big deal – it's just what comes of being really close. And all the stuff I feel for him…all the secret, special, warm-and-fuzzy-undying-love stuff…it's kind of private, you know?

OK. If you want to start from way back at the very beginning, I guess I could say that I've always been drawn to him, in this weird way. I mean, I've met a lot of people, and I've made a lot of amazing friends, but Kai just…stood out, and mostly 'cause he was such a jerk.

He used to get on my nerves a lot. What is so great about being the leader of some street trash bullies who pick on little kids? Or about hanging around in a corner shooting dirty looks at anyone who tries to be nice to you? I used to think he must have a pretty boring life, and that was why I used to try so hard to get him to talk. I was worried about him, even if he was just some weird grouch Mr Dickinson had gotten us stuck with. Hey, if someone's standing alone being all moody, you're going to want to cheer them up, right? I don't like seeing people being all sulky and sad. It puts me in a bad mood, and then nothing's fun.

'Sides, when there's so much you can do with your life, why would you want to waste it moping around? That's just dumb.

That was before I began to realise how serious he was about blading, of course.

It was like all he ever did was work. He just kept on and on testing himself, challenging himself. It made me see how much I could still achieve, so I began to work harder, too – but no matter how good I got, it seemed like he was always one step ahead of me. Ever since I started Beyblading, I'd always hoped that one day I would be the best – and while I battled against the toughest competitors from all over the world, and while each and every single battle was important, I just couldn't stop thinking about Kai.

Even though he spent half his time biting my head off and the other half pretending I didn't exist, I was seriously starting to respect him, and maybe even look up to him a little. He didn't accept failure. The way he acted, losing a battle was the worst thing that could happen, and so he spent all his time making sure that he wouldn't lose. That's a little extreme, if you ask me, because not even Kai can win all the time. I'd used to think that I would be able to. I can't. No one can. I think we worked that out together, in a way.

He was more powerful than I'd ever imagined anyone could be – not just because he won all the time, 'cause he didn't, but because he was so focused, so determined. I'd never known anyone who could push himself so much and still keep on going.

I think Hiro said once that I was too dependant on Kai, and maybe he was right. I couldn't even imagine what it would be like not to have known him, not to have been his friend. He had touched my life more than anyone else I'd ever known.

Kai…Kai is awe-inspiring, that's what he is.

When you get down to what really matters, I love him. There've been times when he has sacrificed everything else just so that he wouldn't let me down. I mean, if he hadn't stepped in at the last moment, I would have been the one facing Brooklyn; I would have been the one who'd been so badly hurt; I would have been the one watching my bitbeast die. He knew what he was up against, and he knew what the risks were – and he did it all the same, just to save Beyblading, just to save me.

Oh, man, I love him.

It's the weirdest, most powerful, most frightening feeling I've ever known. Just knowing him makes me think that I really could do anything if he asked me to…and I know that that sounds really sappy, but it's true. Kai's done so much for me, and I don't know how I could even start to repay him. I just look up to him so much. In the end, he's always, always managed to help me pull through.

Of course, all that doesn't mean that he doesn't annoy me more than anyone else I know.

In fact, the whole thing was really starting to get annoying. I mean, he was the one who'd been trying to kiss me half the time, but he was also the one who'd apparently decided to let the whole thing go. All the stuff I said to him when I was trying to get him to come back with me…I was spelling it out for the guy! And he didn't even do anything! He just kept going on and on about how he was sorry, and about how he'd been unfair to me. What kind of crazy excuse was that? The only thing he'd actually done was kiss me, and that wasn't unfair at all. It had been…nice. I'd liked it.

Was it such a huge, scary, impossible thing for me even to hope that we had the teensiest chance of ending up…together? He says I'm his best friend. He says I'm more important to him than anyone else. He kisses me. He refuses to talk about any of it.

For once, I had absolutely no idea what the dude was trying to pull.

I'm telling you, I would have given a lot just to see him smile at me again.

See, when he smiles at me, I can pretend, even for just the littlest time, that he loves me, too.

Still sitting cross-legged in the semi-darkness on the cold floor, resting my elbow on my knee and cupping my face in my hand, I popped another cracker into my mouthful and chewed it miserably. I had made myself a promise that I wasn't going to leave Kai until he woke up, because I wanted to be the first to know if he was OK. I had also made myself a promise that I wasn't even going to mention The Kiss. Yeah, that was what I was calling it. I'd already played it over in my head about a billion times. Kai hadn't seemed to want to talk about it, so, I told myself, I wasn't going to even think about bringing it up.

Even if he didn't love me, I was still pretty sure that we were still friends…

…OK, I was…kind of sure.

Thing is, if he wanted to pretend The Kiss hadn't happened, then that was cool. It made me madder than ever, but it was still cool. If he was going to go all mean-and-cold-and-emotionless on me and delete it from his memory, then at least we could stay friends, and I would still get to be with him, and everything would go back to normal.

I hoped.

Outside, the wind blew again, and a shower of raindrops pattered against the roof. I shivered, and started on another cracker, my eyes still fixed on Kai, watching him take each breath and let it out again. If you looked at his arms really closely, you could still see the small scars sustained over the years, and, on top of those, the newer, thicker, whiter streaks left by much deeper wounds. I shifted closer to the sofa, and, on a sudden impulse, let my hand dart up to touch his. Nothing happened. He didn't even stir. Good. I hadn't wanted to wake him up. The guy needed his rest. So if he was going to be asleep for a while still…

I got up onto my knees, so that I could look down at his pale, sleeping face, and felt warmth flood through me. Almost unconsciously, I gave this little sigh of affection. His special little blue triangle thingies were all smudgy. Hah. Not so cool now, are you, Kai?

Not even trying to stop myself, I reached out and ran a finger gently along his forehead, just wanting to be able to feel his skin again. He was very cold. I let my finger pass down between his eyebrows, tracing the slightly raised, silvery scar that ran from beneath his eye almost to his jawbone, eventually just curling my entire hand up against his throat, tucking it underneath his chin, where I could feel his pulse humming beneath my fingers.

With the other hand, I touched his mouth, very, very softly, letting my fingers rest lightly on his lips, bending my face down to his. It was just like when I'd crept over to him on that night, and ended up asleep there on the sofa with him…just like I had then, watching him settle into sleep beneath me, with this goofy, uncontrollable smile pulling at my mouth, I pressed my lips to the bridge of his nose, just between his eyes, nuzzling at his face with mine.

He stirred, frown lines creasing his forehead, moving back from my touch irritably. "Mmmphf," he muttered, his eyelids flickering.

My heart hammering wildly, I lurched backwards, overbalanced, and toppled over onto the floor, waiting for him to wake up.

He didn't.

You are one lucky dude, Tyson, I told myself as he shifted slightly and then gave a small sigh. If he'd woken up…

You know, I just didn't even want to think about it.

OK, that had not been the brightest thing in the world to do, but ever since I found him I'd been longing just to touch him again. He was safe. That was all that mattered now.

I think that was when I heard the door opening, and a loud babble of voices spilled through the air. Cool. The guys were home. That meant I could pretend I hadn't eaten yet and get someone to fix me up a second breakfast. They were going to wake Kai up if they kept yelling like that, though.

After a few minutes of listening to everyone settling down, the door to the bedroom slid open, and Maxie bounced in, looking very cold, and a little wet from the rain, but also very pleased about something. His smile widened when he saw me. "Hey! Tyson! You're up! How are you?"

"Shhh!" I hissed, scrambling to my feet and leaping across the room, clamping a hand across his mouth. I said into his ear, "You'll wake him up!"

"Sorry," he whispered from behind my hand. "I didn't realise he was still asleep."

"It's cool," I whispered back. "Where were you guys?"

"The White Tigers flew in for the Tournament, so we picked them up and helped them find the hotel." He grinned wickedly. "Of course, Rei went off with Mariah…and no one's heard from them since…but we're all assuming that they're having a great time…"

Awww, how cute. Remind me to tease Rei mercilessly when I get the chance.

I started to say something, but the Chief wandered in then, looking kind of flushed. He jumped when he saw Maxie and me, and laughed nervously, and said, in this high-pitched little voice, "Oh…hi, Tyson…glad to see you're up…has anyone…um…er…I'll just…" He laughed squeakily again, and rushed back out of the room.

I blinked.

Maxie, giggling uncontrollably, said, "The All Starz were on the same flight. I could be wrong, but I think I saw Emily winking at Kenny…"

"Everyone's falling in love!" Daichi moaned, mooching in and slouching against the wall. "It's so boring."

"Oh, great. Did you have to bring the brat with you?" I muttered to Maxie.

"Hey!" Daichi protested, glaring up at me. "At least I'm not the one hitting on Kai all the time."

Whoa.

That was unexpected.

"And what's that supposed to mean, you little runt?" I snapped, completely forgetting the fact that I was supposed to be keeping my voice down.

Daichi just smirked. "Heh, you know what I mean, Tyson. I guess your little lovey-dovey, mushy-gushy romance isn't a secret after all…"

"That is not funny, man!" I yelled.

"But it's true!" he gloated, and then started cooing, "Kai and Tyson, sitting in a tree…"

I was going to jump on him and strangle him, but Maxie, still laughing his head off, held me back. "Just you finish that," I warned Daichi, fighting against Maxie's hold. "Come on…say it, dude, say it, and you will be so dead!"

"K – I – S – S…"

"Daichi!"

"Guys! Keep it down!" Maxie cut in suddenly, jerking his head back towards the sofa. I realised that poor old Kai was still trying to sleep. Right. I was just going to have to torture Daichi some other time.

"You," I whispered to him, "are toast."

"Yeah, yeah, you wish," he snickered, and darted out through the door again.

"One day I'm going to get that…that ignorant little loser…" I grumbled.

"Hey, chill, Tyson," Maxie said, still speaking in an undertone.

"Stupid kid," I muttered, stomping back over to the sofa and sitting down again, after making sure that Kai was still asleep, reached for the box of crackers and stuffed three into my mouth at once. Maxie sat down next to me, peering over at Kai's sleeping face, smiling a little when he saw Dranzer.

"How's old Mr Grumpy doing?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said, my mouth full. "He hasn't woken up yet. I'm just letting him sleep." I grinned. "Hey! I just thought of something! This means I can yell at him for sleeping in this time!"

"Have you been with him the whole time?"

"Yup. Since I woke up. Hey, if he's not going to bother looking after himself, then I'll just do it for him."

He laughed, and winked at me, and said, "That's our Tyson. Kai's lucky to have you, bud."

I said, kind of wistfully, and completely without thinking, "Dude, I'm lucky to have him."

Maxie was quiet for a little bit, and then said, in this small, affectionate voice, "You do like him, don't you?"

OK.

Think fast.

Call me crazy, but I happen to have a problem with lying to my friends. It makes me feel kind of low. But no matter how bad it might make me feel about myself, no way could I tell anyone about this – not even Maxie. It would be like betraying Kai, and I wasn't even going to think about doing that. I didn't know what his feelings were, and I wasn't going to go splashing stuff around that might hurt him.

So I forced a laugh, and said, unconsciously rubbing the back of neck, "Aha, ha…why would you think that? I mean, I don't…that's…that sort of thing is just, like, wrong."

He looked at me intently, and then shrugged. "If you say so," he said. "But, Tyson…hey, you can think what you like, but I've always figured that…well, I always kind of thought that, if you really love someone, it doesn't matter if they're girl or if they're a guy."

You know, there are times when I feel so lucky to have friends like Maxie.

I just stared down at my hands. All I could say was, "Um. Yeah. I, uh…I guess you're right."

"Tyson, it's OK," he insisted, with this small hint of laughter in his voice.

"What is?"

"You two," he said, simply. "You and…you and Kai. You love each other, don't you?"

Oh, man.

I wish.

I didn't want to shoot Maxie down, not after he'd been so nice, but this was still between me and Kai. So I said, "Maxie…I…dude, you and the others…you're the best friends I could ever have, and I want to tell you guys everything, but…Kai…I don't think he…likes me, and…I…" I was not getting anywhere. Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair, and decided to pull the biggest, most apologetic grin I could. "You get what I'm saying, right?"

He shook his head, and said, warmly, "No. Hey, forget I said anything. Just…we're here for you, Tyson. All of us. We promise."

"I know," I said, punching him on the shoulder. "Hey, I'm me, right? Everyone loves me."

"Oh, dear," Maxie sighed. "I think you need food…you're starting to get delusional again…"

"Food?" I asked, brightly.

"You stay here," he said. "I'm going to see what's in the kitchen."

"Alright!" I cheered, and then clapped my hands over my mouth as Kai muttered something in his sleep.

"Hey, keep your voice down," Maxie laughed, and left.

Leaving me alone with Kai.

I scooched around on my knees, turning back to the sofa, leaning over Kai to make sure that he was still OK, and carefully brushing his hair away from his face.

His eyes opened, slowly, and he stared up at me blearily, snatching my hand away from his face, I said, loudly and cheerfully, "Hey, Kai! How're you feeling, buddy?"

He said, quietly, blinking a little, "Hello, Tyson." Then he gave a small gasp, and looked down quickly. Seeing Dranzer, he relaxed, and lay back again, and smiled up at me, just one of those soft, tender, adorable little smiles that I hardly ever got to see. Feeling this little shiver of happiness zip through me, I grinned back, and unconsciously reached out and touched his cheek again, just the softest, quickest touch.

Guess what?

He kept smiling.

Gah. Boring. Weird. Pointless. I'm trying to keep this going for another two or three chapters, so this was just a filler…ah, well.

The extra-specially good news is that I'm FINALLY done with theory…I sat the Grade Five exam on Wednesday! Which means no more transposition! EVER! Of course, starting from next year, I'm taking music as one of my main subjects, so I've got harmony classes to look forward to. Joy. Now I just need to prepare for my piano exam…(shudders)…I just hope I get to do voice training next year instead.

Sorry. Rambling.

Anyway, THANKS for all the encouragement so far! PLEASE keep the reviews coming…I really, really, really do drool over every single one! I'll try to update this soon, promise!