Title: Boys Day In or Out?
Authoress: Ladya C. Maxine
Rating: PG-13
Summary: see chapter one
Warnings: see chapter one
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or any of its characters. Any and all unrecognizable characters belong solely to me and are not to be touched. I am not making any money off of this and I write with the sole intention to entertain.
"Kai?"
He looked up from where he had been pouring over the papers on his desk. He knew the redhead well enough to see the layer of discomfort beneath the collected façade. Seeing as he had his friend's attention, Ata smiled slightly, stepping fully into the office to close the door behind him.
It would appear that Ata had had a last-minute change of mind since he was now wearing long khakis with a black top. It was rather simple, by Ata-standards, but it suited him well, as usual.
"I'm leaving in a while," he said, walking over. "My ride will be here in fifteen minutes."
It was obvious that Ata was avoiding saying James' name but Kai's eyes narrowed all the same. Still, he didn't comment. Instead he returned to his work. A few moments passed by in silence.
"I said I wanted you to meet him. Do you want to--"
"I'm busy."
"It won't take long--"
"I said no."
"So that's it then?" Ata asked, growing irritated by his best friend's cold shoulder. "You're just going to cut me off because of one date?"
"Did I say that?"
"I'm not going to let you ruin this night for me, Kai."
"Ruin?" he repeated, putting down his pen hard and sitting back in his seat. "You're one to talk about ruining things, Ata."
"Oh please," the blue eyes rolled. "Look, I only came in here to tell you that I am leaving and that I'll be back around one a.m. Alright?"
"Midnight."
"I'm not going to bargain with you."
"This is my house and no one is allowed in here after midnight."
"Since when?"
"Since now."
"That's unfair, Kai."
"I don't care, Ata."
The blue eyes closed as the redhead took a deep breath to calm himself. Opening them with rebellious resolve, he dug his hand into his pocket to produce his keys and tossed it uncaringly onto the desk's surface, hoping to scratch the polished surface and succeeding fairly well.
Not commenting on the damaged finish, Kai stared at the keys before looking up with a quizzical gaze.
"Fine then. I'll see you in the morning."
"Where will you sleep?" the bluenette asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll go whore myself around. I'm bound to end up in someone's bed eventually. That's what you're thinking, isn't it?" Ata retorted with feign innocence.
"Stop being ridiculous."
"Then what do you want me to do, Kai? Sleep outside in the hall and wait for you to let me in?"
"I…"
A sudden fit cut him off. Coughing, Kai winced as the force tore at his already sore throat, stinging the tender flesh. He tried rubbing it but it had no effect. Bracing himself on the heavy arm of his chair, he covered his mouth to stop himself from throwing up as the seizure lasted. It wasn't until a cool glass of water was placed in his hand that he noticed Ata kneeling beside him.
"Small sips," the redhead advised, guiding the rim to his friend's lips and steadying the shaking hand as he drank slowly.
The water helped. Putting down the glass, Kai fixed his gaze on his papers.
"Thank you."
He only nodded before opening a drawer, knowing it to contain a couple bottles of medication. Effortlessly finding what he needed, the redhead tapped out two pills and handed them to him.
"I told you to take two every four hours," he said softly. "And to get some rest."
When the hand that handed him the tablets started to pull back he reached out, wrapping his fingers around the slender wrist. His eyes never left the desk but he could feel Ata's on him.
"One o'clock at the latest?"
The hand in his hold readjusted itself to entwine their fingers, giving his a reassuring squeeze.
"I promise."
Kai considered it for a moment.
"…Have a good time."
He could smell the cologne he had bought for the redhead's 14th birthday as Ata raised himself to embrace him.
"I will. Thanks," he whispered into an ear before placing a kiss on the unpainted cheek. He started to pull back but Kai's hand on the back of his neck stopped him as warm lips touched his. He didn't resist, kneeling back down when Kai applied a bit more pressure.
Could he really do this? Could he step back and watch as Ata went out with someone who could possibly replace him in the redhead's heart? This kind of love was unfamiliar to them all. Friendship-based love was a known concept, but romance was…alien. And he would have given anything to understand it.
But there was one thing he did understand; if he cared as much for Ata as he said, then he'd go along with this. His opinion on the situation hadn't changed one bit and no tears would be shed on his behalf if the relationship ended as quickly as it had started, but until then the most important thing is that he still had his best friend. Ata needed him now more than he needed the redhead; he could never deny him that.
"Kai?" Ata gasped between kisses, gently squeezing the hand on his shoulder.
"Hm?" he answered, still caught up in the other's touches.
"Why don't we just admit it, become a couple and make out?"
He paused for second before giving the grinning redhead a pinch.
"Where's the fun in that?" he countered with a wink.
Laughing, Ata gave him a final peck on his lips and stood, straightening his clothes and hair.
"Your loss," he shrugged, stretching exaggeratingly, exposing his flat abs.
"Right back at you," Kai said, getting up, much to his friend's puzzlement.
"So you do want to meet him?"
"Not unless you want him paranoid for the rest of the night. I'm just walking you to the front door."
"What a gentleman."
"Hn."
"So, do you have any advise/warnings/laws I must follow tonight?" Ata asked, allowing his friend to hold the door open for him as they left the room. "I'm guessing no hickies, right?"
"No hickies, no bite marks."
"Alcohol intake?"
"You must be able to open the front door on your own when you get back."
"Only four shots of vodka then, and five beers tops," Ata calculated. "Drugs?"
"None."
"Potential piercings?"
"Anywhere but on private parts."
"Clothes?"
"Decently intact."
"Virginity?"
"Completely intact."
"There goes my evening," he mourned.
Reaching the entrance hall, Kai turned to study his friend, afraid that this could quite possibly be the last time he would see the Ata he knew. Could this night change his friend in any way?
"I've put the medications you need on the kitchen counter. Make sure to take them. And sleep on two pillows instead of one; extra leverage will prevent congestion. Sleep with a water bottle on your nightstand for the coughs. I'll check up on you the moment I get back," Ata said as he pulled on his long coat.
The phone rang from within the living room before he could respond.
"I'll get that," Kai said. "It's probably one of the board members."
"Regret turning down my earlier suggestion?"
"Terribly." Grabbing the smirking redhead for a final kiss, he whispered, "I'm sorry for being such a jerk lately. You know I love you, right?"
"I do." Pulling out of the bluenette's embrace, he playfully turned him around and shoved him in the direction of the phone. "And stop using me as an excuse to not answer that."
Damn it.
"See you later," Ata waved as he opened the door. Throwing a wink over his shoulder, he added, "I'll bring you back a little treat."
The door closed, its soundproof texture preventing him from hearing the fading footsteps on the other side. The ringing persisted and with a half-hearted growl he decided to answer it.
"Who in their right mind calls at this time of night?" he asked himself as he read the time on the wall-mounted clock in the hall. Something after eight p.m. Okay, so it wasn't that late, but office hours were till six and he had explicitly told those who worked for the family not to call after seven o'clock.
What if it was Natasia? What if something had happened to Saskia?
He quickened his pace at the thought. It was bad enough he had to deal with not having Ata with him tonight; if anything had happened to his baby sister he'd really lose it.
'Your being paranoid,' he berated himself. 'Maybe it is Saskia calling me to tell me what she did today. She's done that before.'
Finally reaching the ringing phone, he picked it up, fearing the worse.
"Hello?"
"Are you freaking deaf or just crippled? What took you so long?"
Bryan's greetings left a lot to be desired.
"Good evening to you too," he said dryly, leaning his back against the wall.
"Tala said you were sick."
Tala…He never understood why the Falborg blader called their friend by his alias but then again, understanding Bryan was like getting your stomach pumped; painful and more than a bit disturbing.
"What the hell do you want, Kutnezsov?"
It was quiet on the other end of the line before a small chuckle made Kai scowl.
"Let me guess; you couldn't convince him to stay put."
It was amazing how much he wanted to strangle this person sometimes, who he considered a close friend. Bryan could best be compared to an older brother; dependable and not a bad guy to have around but he could be downright unbearable at times. Having just had his 17th birthday behind him he was the eldest of their group, five months older than Spencer and two years older than the other three, and he was sadistic enough to use that against them when needed.
"Did you escape your straight jacket just to annoy me?"
"I'm just calling to say that I'll be there Friday."
Gods, the only thing worse than talking to Bryan over the phone was talking to him face-to-face. Bryan's sarcastic wit was a lot like Ata's except it was usually a lot coarser and less joking; Bryan said it as it was and wasn't one who considered other people's feelings when he expressed his opinion on something. Throw in his dual-temper, knack for never sleeping, unexplainable obsession with bloody (literally speaking) video games and that teeth-grating smirk he generously gifted those he pissed of with and it was clearly going to be a very trying week-end for him.
And Ata wanted him to actually recover? Talk about wishful thinking.
"The bet was that we'd go when the cold blows over."
"Aw, is the wittle birdie not getting any better?"
"Not now I'm not. I'm really not in the mood for this, Bryan."
"Don't really care."
"You'd actually surprise me if you did," he rolled his eyes. "Where are the others?"
"Midget's right here--"
Indeed, he heard Ian's indignant curse in the background.
"--and Spencer's training a couple of rookies in the towers."
"Anything new going on down there?"
"Not much. Boris has given us our training schedules for the next championship battle; he's more focused on that than anything..." A pause. "Got to go.Boris just brought in another jackass for me to practice with. I swear I'm getting sick of all these new trainers."
"They'd last longer if you'd stop sending them to the E.R."
"That's the only thing that makes training interesting. Watching them moan and bleed keeps me from dozing off."
The scary thing was that Bryan seriously meant it.
"You're satanic, do you know that?"
"One man's trash is another man's treasure."
Well, that made absolutely no sense. Then again, this was Bryan. Go figure.
"See you Friday. And try to get better, even if you're worried sick about Tala's date with some millionaire big-shot in some dark posh restaurant on the other side of town."
"Screw you, Kutnezsov."
The older boy merely laughed it off.
Hanging up, actually slamming the phone back on the hook, Kai had to refrain from running down to the abbey and beating the living daylights out of Bryan; partially because he had his dignity, partially because he didn't feel like it and mostly because he wasn't in the mood to be sporting a cast any time soon. He may have several kickboxing trophies but it was hard to concentrate on technique and moves when Bryan got that insane gleam in his eyes as he moved in for the kill.
Being abandoned by his best friend was bad enough; having another friend reorganize his skeletal structure in the same night was not something he dreamed about, thank you very much.
He plopped down onto the couch, flicking on the television though he wasn't the type who watched regularly. The news was the only thing that actually interested him so flipping through the rest until he found the right channel he settled down to pay half-attention.
A train accident in Mexico…Political tax-fraud in Berlin…Something about an elephant and a tree in India…Cars, no wait, planes being banned in…somewhere…
This distraction was clearly not working.
"Bryan, I'm going to kill you!" he swore out loud, tossing back his head with a growl as unwanted thoughts ran through it. "Bet you wouldn't be laughing if you were here."
No doubt Bryan cared for their friend, but being the emotionally-stunted wacko that he was it usually took some more…physical evidence before he allowed himself to soften up a bit and show some compassion. Like Ata in tears, or sporting a black eye, or other bruises, or...
Debating on how to get back at the Falborg blader with as little bodily contact as possible, (perhaps he could just deny him food while he was here and starve him…), Kai had zoned out most of the background noise until a certain word got through to him. Straightening, he frowned at the television, unsure if he had heard correctly.
"…Beyblade regional championships will begin in one month in Japan."
At least his hearing wasn't failing him.
"You've got to be kidding me," he groaned, calculating if the dates matched. He could have sworn that the regional championships wouldn't begin for another four months.
"Mr. Dickenson, chairman of the BBA, has announced that due to confidential circumstances the championships will take place a couple of months earlier than usual. This has put a crunch on bladers in Japan who are racing against the clock to be ready for the regional championships. Also, Mr. Dickenson has confirmed that the top four bladers in the tournament will go on to represent the BBA in future championships, which includes the World Championships, scheduled to take place in Russia."
Confidential circumstances? Top four bladers? Represent the BBA?
He hated this year's regional championships already, and he hadn't even met his opponents yet.
"Reigning Japanese regional champion Kai Hiwatari is believed to most likely be amongst the top four. Who the other three will be is anyone's guess."
Most likely? Did people honestly think he was going to lose to some upstart? Hell, the only reason he participated in the regional championship in the first place was due to (another) bet he had lost. Three guesses who had put him up to it. Ever since then he had to suffer the boredom that was flying to Japan to battle some kid whose head had gotten too big in their fifteen minutes of fame.
Coming to think of it, why had he ever forgiven Ata for that?
Great, now he was thinking about the redhead again.
"Does the Russian team have to look out for the upcoming BBA team? Could the Demolition Boys be forced to hand their title as World Champions over to another team? All of Russia is holding their breath as the grand tournament draws near."
Oh yeah, it was drawing near. There was only like…fourteen months left.
Giving up, he turned off the large screen television, surprised to find himself yawning.
'Might as well take a bath and go to bed,' he thought, stretching languidly before turning off all the lights and checking the security system. Giving the living room one final look over, he made his way up the stairs, brooding over the news.
Duh, he was going to be amongst the top four. Wait, scratch that, he was going to be the top. But…a new team? Him, Japans regional champion and over all World Champion of four years, was going to have to join up with three total strangers, who no doubt were C-level bladers, and compete? What was Mr. Dickenson up to? The old man must be doing this for a reason. Team BBA? Ridiculous.
There was one amusing factor in all this, though. Amusing to his vengeful mind, that is.
Say that this team BBA actually worked out, and that they made it to the World Championships, and that they'd have to battle the Demolition Boys…He personally hoped that he would have the honors of taking on Bryan. The falcon's strength was his invisible wind attacks but Kai knew the other's moves like the back of his hand. Ata's too for that matter. Actually, it would be more exciting to take on the redhead. That would be a battle worthy of the world title; the Abbey's two strongest bladers going one-on-one in the Moscow dome.
'Which means that Bryan would just have to battle someone else,' he concluded as he stepped into his room. 'It's too bad that humans don't have nine lives; whoever will fight him will need more than one, in any case.'
He stewed over the possibilities as he undressed and stepped into the shower, turning on the shower head and stepping under the spraying stream.
'If I do join a team then that means that I'm going to have to travel with them. I'll be gone for some time, though. Saskia's going to be on her own then. Maybe Natasia can take her to a relative away from the city. And Ata...I would have preferred if he came with me to Japan, but Boris will not allow him to leave seeing as he's the team captain and they'll need to start training.'
By now the steam had fogged the air around him but he wasn't staring at anything in particular.
'Competition leading up to the World Championships take up to a year. I won't be able to see any of them until the championships. I've never been away for so long. I could take Saskia with me…'
He quickly shot that idea down. Saskia was an easy target; he would not expose her to the world. Besides, all the traveling they'd be doing could prove too much for her. No, she had to stay put.
Shutting off the valve, he stepped out of the crystal stall and swiftly dried off to prevent himself from catching something else and got dressed. Dropping the towel on the counter, he leaned heavily on his arms as he stared at his reflection in the misty mirror.
'I'll go alone. I don't know what Mr. Dickenson is up to but that riffraff team won't last past the Asian tournaments. Once that's over I can just ditch them, return to Russia and get back to more serious business.'
His actions planned, he exited the bathroom and made his way to his large bed that was looking far too tempting for his usual liking; did Bryan really make him more sick? At what point in time had including the falcon to the bet seemed like a good idea?
James.
The true reason behind all this. Wonder James, from the U.S.
'Bloody Americans. They think they own everything.'
That had come from the heart, no medication attached.
Crawling between the sheets, he sighed deeply as his weary body relaxed into the soft texture. No wonder women were so slender; all that walking in the malls equaled an entire day of training at that moment.
He stared straight above him, trailing the ceiling half-heartedly. Where was it…?
There. Ata's prize-winning bird.
Sighing, he turned onto his side, finding little encouragement from the discovery since the other wasn't there to enjoy it with him. The empty space he faced only accentuated that and he gently ran an hand over the mattress where the redhead had slept last night.
'I'm being an idiot. It's not like he's dead or anything. He'll come back. He always will...Why wouldn't he?'
He fell asleep with no answer except a developing headache.
Something brushed his cheek and he shifted in his sleep, leaning into the contact. He finally found the strength to open his eyes to blearily look up, blinking against the lights that he had forgotten to turn off.
"What time is it?" he mumbled, getting to his elbows though a hand gently made him stay put.
"11.45 p.m."
"You're early."
"Bryan said that you didn't sound so good."
"He called you?" he asked in confusion, caressing a thigh as the redhead sat on the edge of the bed.
"Yeah. He told me that he was coming on Friday and that he had called you," Ata explained, placing a palm on his forehead to check his temperature. "He said you were even more short-tempered than usual. I figured that meant that you weren't feeling a hundred percent."
He remained silent as the other finished his simple but effective check-up. By then his eyesight had adjusted and he studied the older teen.
Nothing had changed. Ata's clothes were in the same condition as when he had left and the ivory skin was unblemished. Aside from a bit sleepy, the redhead was in good condition.
"How…was it?"
"Pleasant. I met some of his colleagues and we had a nice dinner. They were going to go clubbing but I asked him to bring me home instead, which he did."
A knowing smile crossed his face when the bluenette said nothing.
"One kiss, Kai. A decent goodbye kiss in the car."
That wasn't so bad, he guess.
"Good," was all he could say though he didn't sound so thrilled.
"Don't worry," Ata patted his rear reassuringly, "You still rank number 1 on my favorite kisser list. It's going to take him some time to change my mind."
"I'm honored."
"I'm going to bathe."
"Now?"
"Unless you want me to sleep next to you smelling like James' cologne."
This time he did rise.
"I thought you said you only had one kiss."
"I did. But I didn't say that we didn't…cuddle."
Giving the dumbfounded teen a peck on the lips, he got to his feet and entered the bathroom, locking the door behind him.
First Bryan, now Ata. With friends like them he was going to be on medication for the rest of his life. Or take up smoking, though he doubted that.
Tbc…
A/N: I have nothing against America or its people. Hell, I consider America as my second-home (Fort Lauderdale and Maryland rule!). It's all just part of the storyline, people. Also, Finding Nemo inspired that part :P
Read & Review, please.