Warnings/Notes:
Let it be known to all that this story contains shounen ai, so if you have any problems with that, please feel free to press the back button!
Oh, and it's an AU.
Thank you for all your rewiews! I'm so glad that you all like this story!
And Ravenstar …………. (Obsidi's eyes suddenly go big and sparkley) Really? That's so…so KAWAII! I actually have Dranzer as a girl in one of my other ficcys, but I really did think she was meant to be a boy. (Grins) And now I know she's not! (Well in Japan anyway.) Thanks for the info!
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, or any of its characters. Nor do I own any of the fairytales which this story may refer to.
Happily Ever After
Chapter Three; The Middle- Part Two
Tyson shifted in his seat, stretching.
He felt Max lean over the back of the seat, "I'll drive if you're tired!"
Tyson shook his head, "You're too young."
"Then Kai can!" said Max helpfully.
Tyson glanced at Kai who was next to him in the passenger seat, and imagined what kind of driver Kai was……….
'I bet he suffers from road rage……………' he shuddered at the thought. "No, it's okay!" he answered brightly.
"But you need a break!" exclaimed Max, looking concerned.
Tyson shook his head, "We stopped a little while ago at that service station, and we still have to finish traveling 'Across the planes', and then we have to travel 'Over peaks' and 'Half way around the world'! We don't have time for a break!"
Kai rolled his eyes, "I still don't get why people have to give the roads around here such weird names."
Tyson shrugged, "Weird people think up weird things I guess."
Max shook his head stubbornly, "It's going to be getting dark soon, and we've already gone so far! Can't we stop! I'm getting fidgety sitting back here!"
Kai's eyes widened, "We need to stop," He stated in a tone of voice that said there were to be no arguments.
Tyson shook his head, "No! We'll fall too far behind Tala!"
Kai leaned over, to whisper in Tyson ear.
"When Max gets bored, bad things happen," he murmured.
"Like what?" asked Tyson quietly.
"He tends to go hyper," replied Kai.
Tyson imagined what the already exuberant boy was like when he got hyper. The thought was more frightening than Kai having a bout of road rage.
He swallowed thickly, "Okay," he said loudly so Max could hear, "We'll pull over somewhere."
Max smirked at Kai, "So, how did you manage to convince him? Did you say you'd do something for him later?"
Kai scowled at him, "Watch it kid."
Max smirked, "Oh, I'm watching."
Tyson scanned the road in front of them, "Where can we stop? I can't see any hotels or motels or anything."
Max squinted, "I guess we can just pull over somewhere and make camp for the night! There's nothing around here except forests and trees."
Tyson looked horrified, "What? Camp outside in the middle of nowhere? No running water? No beds? No," he want slightly pale and shivered, "Food?"
Max sweatdropped, "What kind of hero are you?"
"One that enjoys the comforts of modern living," replied Tyson blandly, "And one who doesn't operate well on an empty stomach."
"There's a plastic bag with some food in the back," said Kai, "I bought it the last time we stopped."
"I suppose that makes things a little bit better," admitted Tyson slowly, "But I'm still not enamored with the proposed sleeping arrangements."
"Well I wasn't particularly enamored with having a contest to see who can marry me," snapped Kai, annoyed with all the complaining, "But in the end I didn't have a choice, just like you don't have a choice about where we sleep. If we could, we'd stay in a hotel. But we can't. So pull over somewhere. Now."
Tyson shot Kai a sour look, but complied.
They eventually pulled over, ate, and when it had began to get dark, Kai set up a campfire.
Tyson was sulking, and had successfully endeavored to give Kai the silent treatment.
Kai didn't appear to particularly care about being given the cold shoulder, though it seemed Max did, as he had given them both what could only be described as a tragic expression, usually worn by a kicked puppy, before making his way off to bed.
With the departure of the one person in the group who had been trying to lighten the mood, tension pulsed through the air.
Tyson stared gloomily into the firelight, mentally slapping himself when his subconscious reminded him that the glowing red was the same pretty color as Kai's eyes.
He stared down at his feet, only to let his gaze catch on the end of the sword that he'd been given. He looked at it thoughtfully, the question that had been nagging at him for a while now, once again rising in his mind. The need to ask, finally managed to conquer his will to sulk and before he could stop himself, the question pushed itself past his lips, "Why did you let me keep it?"
Kai, who up until that point had been casually staring up at the stars, blinked, "What?"
"Why did you let me keep it?"
Kai stared at him with an adorable expression of complete and utter incomprehension, "Keep what?"
"Your sword!" exclaimed Tyson like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh," replied Kai, having now shifted his gaze, studying the flickering flames of the fire intently.
There was a pause.
"You said it was a family heirloom," prompted Tyson, realizing that Kai probably wasn't going to answer him without encouragement.
"I said I though it might be," came the blunt reply.
"And you let me keep it because………?" Tyson let the sentence hang, and blinked when he saw what was definitely a blush grace his companion's cheeks.
"Because," came the gruff reply.
Tyson rose an eyebrow, "You let me keep it because because," he said dubiously.
Kai coughed uncomfortably, "Yeah well……….." he trailed off, and then suddenly snapped, "I though since you handled it so well I'd let you keep it, it just seemed right, okay?"
There was an uncomfortable silence in which they stared at one another.
Finally Tyson gave Kai a small smile, "Thanks."
Kai looked away, slightly embarrassed, "Yeah, whatever. You can just forget about it, alright?"
There was another small pause, but this time, the silence was almost companiable. Then Tyson stood, "I'm going to bed, g'night."
"Good night," Kai replied quietly.
Tyson started to walk away, and without turning back said, "And don't worry, I'll beat wolf boy."
Kai couldn't help but start and flush at the surprisingly overprotective manner in which the statement was said.
Tyson oblivious to Kai's expression, headed over to his makeshift bed, leaving Kai alone by the fire with pink tinged cheeks.
Max detected a distinct change in the atmosphere, as he munched on his semi-stale, almost rock hard, chocolate chip muffin. He hid his slightly lecherous grin behind it as his hormonally driven mind came up with some very interesting scenarios for the shift in moods.
He highly doubted that any of them were true of course, since he knew how Kai disliked people touching him, and it would probably take a bit longer than a night to convince him otherwise, but histheories still amused him none the less.
He stared at the way in which Kai was dutifully avoiding all forms of contact with his long haired companion, almost appearing to be embarrassed by him. Tyson didn't have any apparent change in attitude, however Max could see that something was…..off.
There was also the fact that Tyson had been up and about at dawn, waking himself and Kai up, and getting ready to leave.
Max was a fairly good judge of character, and he was sure that Tyson wasn't usually an early riser.
He was about to ponder more on this sudden swing in his friends behavioral patterns, when he heard something off to his side.
It sounded like something was moving in the bushes.
He glanced in the noises direction, not turning his head so that whoever, or whatever it was didn't know their presence had been detected.
He flicked his eyes back to the others, and his eyes met Tyson's.
Tyson nodded at Kai, who was currently over by the car, gesturing for Max to go and stay near him.
Max shook his head, and suddenly smiled somewhat evilly.
Tyson looked at him questioningly, but he received an answer when Max, almost leisurely, threw his half eaten muffin over his shoulder, and straight into the shifting foliage.
There was a thump, a yelp, and a spectacularly nasty curse word, all in that sequence.
By this stage, Kai had noticed the almost transfixed way Tyson and Max had been observing a bush without directly looking at it, and had wandered over to investigate just in time to hear the aforementioned profanity.
A few seconds after the nasty word, a exceptionally unhappy neko-jin tumbled out of the undergrowth.
"What were you doing spying on us!" demanded Tyson, glaring at the raven haired boy, who was currently sitting muttering darkly about evil muffins and rubbing his head.
The neko jin glared at them, ignoring the question and jumped up pointing at Kai, "You!"
Kai sweatdropped as he recognized him, "Oh no……."
Recognition also flittered across Max's face, and he also sweatdropped, "Oh dear…..."
"You're the one who did this to me!" growled the boy.
Kai smirked, "Well…….. Technically he did that to you, " he pointed at Max (who cringed) "And to be frank you're lucky that I didn't do anything to you, because I can assure you it would have been a lot more painful."
The neko jin glared at him, "Well now I'm going to do something painful to you!"
Max suddenly stood in front of Kai, "As the princess's trainee apprentice mage, sans master, I will protect him from the likes of you!"
The neko snorted, "Yeah, sure you will blondie." And in a blink of an eye he jumped over them, knocking Max to the ground, and grabbed Kai from behind.
"Great," growled Kai, "Not only did you not turn him into a rabbit, but you gave him special abilities as well!"
Max blushed, "Sorry!" he called brightly, as he stood brushing dirt form his clothes.
Tyson sighed and slowly drew his sword, "Sorry dude," he said to the neko jin, "Nothing personal, but I can't let you hurt the princess. You know how it is. It's part of the job description of the hero/prince."
Tyson moved to attack him, but the neko jumped again, still holding Kai, and kicked the sword out of Tyson's hands.
He smirked at Kai, "Fine lot of protectors you have, but no matter. Now I can get my revenge."
Kai scowled at Tyson and Max, "Is everyone around here but me completely incompetent!" he growled, and firmly planted his elbow into the neko jin's stomach.
The neko gritted his teeth, removed one of his arms from Kai's waist and then valiantly held on to the vicious princess's arm to prevent further attack. "I won't let you go!"
Kai smirked, "Do you want to the best thing about elbows?" He slammed into his captors stomach again, "There's two of them."
The neko gasped, winded and sank to his knees letting go of Kai in the process. "T-this can't be! You're a princess! You're supposed to be defenseless!" he choked out, "You're meant to scream for help in a high pitched squeaky voice."
"What can I say," said Kai, smirking down at him, "I'm a revolutionary princess."
"Who's also a guy," muttered Tyson moodily, annoyed at being beaten so easily.
The neko jin stared up at Kai starry eyed, and pink bubbles appeared in the background, "I think I'm in love…………"
Kai blushed, "Oh don't start this garbage again Rei!" he snapped, "This is why I had Max try to turn you into a rabbit."
The neko jin now known to all as Rei ignored him and proceeded to glomp him, "But Kai-kun!"
"Hang on a sec," said Tyson looking confused, "You know each other?"
Kai nodded and his blush darkened, "Rei! Get your hand off of my arse! In fact, get off me period!"
"How do you know each other?" demanded Tyson, outraged (for reasons he wasn't sure of, but one might say it was the way Rei was grabbing Kai's derriere).
Kai scowled, "We used to be childhood friends."
"And then we fell in love!" exclaimed Rei.
"And the he fell in love and tried to get me to marry him."
Tyson glowered (for reasons he wasn't sure of, but one might say it was the way Rei was nuzzling Kai's neck and purring), "Well you can't. Because I'm going to win his hand!"
Max blinked, "You are?" he then grinned, "Yay! I'm so happy, before you kept saying you didn't want to I was so worried but now-"
Tyson cut him off, "I am! I'm going find the golden egg first and beat Tala!" he exclaimed (for reasons he wasn't sure of, but one might say it was jealousy).
Rei let go of Kai and glared at Tyson, "Is that so?"
"Yeah, that's so."
The scene behind them turned into a traditional standoff set (complete with lightening), while in the background Max and Kai had dots for eyes and sweatdropped.
"A day ago one wanted revenge and the other wanted to be rid of me," muttered Kai darkly as he watched the two growl at each other.
"They say love's a fickle thing," said Max shrugging.
Kai rolled his eyes, "They don't love me. And they're both slowing us down," and with that said, Kai turned and began to walk back to the car.
Max grinned at the two oblivious boys before following him, "Aww, how cute! Kai's embarrassed."
It took several minutes of glaring, growling and clashing noises in the background before Tyson and Rei realized that the object of their affections had left with the over excitable mage and had already finished tidying up and started the car in his impatience.
And when they did there was a lot of pushing and squabbling to be the first one to catch up to them.
TBC…………..
And there you have it! Rei's entered this fiasco! I hope it was worth the wait!