Title: Boys Days 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 write with the sole intention to entertain.

"Just when I thought I couldn't hate you more…"

Kai had been immersed in dark thoughts since morning, but looking up he felt the clouds part and the sun shone through, briefly but satisfyingly. Quite contradictory to the dark smirk on his face.

"And here I was thinking that you were warming up to me."

"Hiwatari, this is all your fault," Bryan snarled, frozen in the open doorway.

"For once, I'm willing to take the blame," he chuckled, rising from the edge of his bed where he had been buckling the straps on his black boots. Giving the falcon a full look-over, he knew he was grinning like an idiot.

To be honest, Bryan didn't look half bad. In fact, he looked pretty good in the outfit that Ata had selected for him which consisted of mostly black and white, the only color being the purple stud in one ear and its matching fang-shaped pendant hanging from a silver chain. His pants were basically boot cut with zippers down both sides. Though they'd be wearing their jackets out in the cold, once inside the club Bryan was going to have to remove his to reveal his sleeveless white and black top that hugged his torso in all the right places. Throw in the accessories, the teasing glimpse of the teen's tattoo (right shoulder; a falcon) and the fact that Bryan had trained and molded his body into perfect shape (though not with the intention on getting that kind of attention); Kai was predicting that he and Ata were going to have an interesting time preventing Bryan from dismembering some clubbers' arms and hands before the night was over.

What amused Kai at the moment wasn't the fact that the falcon was wearing the last thing any of them would have ever expected, but the look of actual discomfort on the taller boy's face as he tried vainly not to look at his reflection in the floor mirror near Kai's closet, or rather, not to grab said mirror and smash it throw one of the many tall windows.

"Just be grateful that Ian isn't here," Kai reasoned, tugging down the bottom of his top which kept riding up. "He wouldn't let you live it down."

"Will you?" Bryan asked irritably, fiddling with the gleaming buckle of his belt as he leaned against the wall, having finally stepped into the room.

"Do I look like I'm the position to make fun of you?" Kai shot back, holding out his arms to give the falcon a good look of his own ensemble.

The top his could deal with; he wore tight tops most of the time, though none with strapped collars, but he'd get by for this one night. The fact that it was slightly see-through was also nothing compared to his pants which, while baggy and of durable material, revealed a lot more skin than he remembered in the shop. Had the waist been any lower he would have had to shave (which would have made Bryan's day much brighter). Ata had lamented that he, Kai, didn't have a navel piercing; Kai suspected another bet would be issued in the near future. Luckily, he had been spared accessories but he had also been forbidden to put on any face paint since the blue would clash with his outfit, according to Ata.

"Out of curiosity," Kai said, "Boris has finally given up on the tattoo?"

"Still threatening to use laser surgery to remove it, but only as a warning when I…misbehave."

In Bryan-term, 'misbehaving' meant slicing his trainers more than three inches deep; a definite no-no that would get any other kid in the Abbey a crippling beating, but the worse punishment Bryan had ever received so far was when Boris had confiscated all his daggers for a month. That had been the closest to tears any of them had ever seen the falcon and as amusing as it had been at first they all agreed that they never wanted to witness that again. Yeah, it had been that bad.

"Why did you even bother getting a tattoo?"

"Why do you even bother asking?"

"Big secret then?"

"You tell yourself that."

Sighing, Kai motioned to the other that it was time to go downstairs after consulting the alarm clock at his bed. Following the taller boy out, he smirked when Bryan tugged at the small ponytail at the back of his neck.

"Ata put you up to that too?"

An informal grunt was the only response he got and they descended in silence though Kai still couldn't fully wipe the grin off his face at the falcon's jittery attitude; grueling exercises and painful experiments drew no more than a twitched brow from the tall teen, but stick him in some tight clothes and Bryan looked downright scared.

"…You're kidding!...I wish I was there…"

A voice from the kitchen brought Kai, who had taken the lead, to a halt and he held up his hand, stopping and silencing Bryan who leaned over his shoulder, listening in. Ata was, presumably, talking on his cell phone and both teens didn't have to take many guesses as to who the person on the other end was.

"Yeah, they're getting ready now…I'm taking them to Moonshine…Believe me; you have nothing to worry about…Because I'm with them!" Ata laughed from beyond their line of sight. "Like they'll let me make out with someone in their presence!...Yes, you are…"

By now the redhead's voice had taken on a somewhat softer tone and both eavesdroppers resisted rolling their eyes though Bryan did mutter (rather loudly) something beneath his breath, earning a heal to his toe from Kai. Glaring at the bluenette, he wiped off the smudge on his otherwise spotless boots though kept quiet.

"Saturday? Sure…Sounds like fun…No, I've never been to that type of party before…"

"What type of party?" Bryan asked/growled, only aware of how suspicious he was acting when Kai shot him a raised brow over his shoulder. "Could be some cult thing," he mumbled in his defense.

"That's just sad, Kutnezsov," Kai sighed, turning his attention back to the conversation inside.

After much sweet-talking that both teens could have done without hearing, Ata hung up.

"Stop cluttering the hall, you two!"

Guiltily, they shuffled into the kitchen to find the redhead seated at the bar, legs crossed and lazily twirling his cell by the cord.

"You'd make lousy spies."

"We could just kill you and get away with it."

Ata merely laughed and stood, gathering his things.

The wolf liked to base his outfits off a theme. Tonight, he was dressed in all white, adding even more emphasis on the fiery hair and bright blue eyes. Like them, he was wearing a sleeveless top but his pants were tighter than they'd ever dare to wear, though honest to say Kai had seen him in worse. The studded belt didn't seem to be of any use other than decoration since the pants weren't going to slip down unless forcibly pulled. The only piece of jewelry on the redhead was a white choker pendant around his neck.

Kai sneaked a peak out of the corner of his eyes to gauge Bryan's reaction to their friend's choice of apparel. Having lived with the redhead for some time now, Kai was used to the often risky clothing the other wore, especially when going out to nightclubs. Bryan, however, usually saw his captain at the Abbey where Ata conformed to the appropriate (non-revealing) dress code.

'Wonder what Boris would say if he ever saw Ata like this…'

In any case, even Boris' horrified (and outraged) expression could never be as outrageously amusing as the conflicting stare the falcon was pinning on the redhead. Bryan seemed caught between throwing up and staring stupidly.

"So, you guys managed to get dressed without hurting yourselves?" Ata teased. "Let's see the damage."

Kai merely lowered his arms to give the other a clear view of him. Ata nodded, pleased with the result before turning to Bryan, who looked away quickly.

"Not bad, Bryan," Ata commended, walking a full circle around the falcon. "Told you your hair would look better in one."

"We're glad we meet your specifications," Kai said, plucking the keys from the lengthy rack on the wall. He kept several copies for every car he owned in his main office but the keys hanging in the kitchen belonged only to the cars he generally used on a daily basis.

"So what do you think?" Ata stepped back, eyes on Bryan. "Am I gonna turn heads? Not that I'd ever cheat on you or anything, honey…"

Bryan sneered at the remark, turning away with a disgusted scoff.

"Go shag someone, Tala."

"Wish I could. But I promised James that I'd keep my hands off tonight."

Though he had been amused at the interaction between his two friends, the mention of that name darkened Kai's world once more and he roughly stuffed the keys in his pocket.

"Let's get this over with," he muttered, passing the two. He saw Ata give Bryan a bewildered look but the falcon didn't comment, only following the bluenette, leaving their friend to catch up with them, walking besides the bluenette with a worried expression.

"Seriously, Kai, if you don't want to--"

"Don't bother."

"But…"

Damn to Hell his weak side. Catching glimpse of Ata's somewhat let-down eyes, he swallowed his pride.

"I guess I'm just a bit nervous."

"What for?"

"Probably because I can't dance."

"Which is going to be a bit inconvenience since that's part of the bet that you accepted," Bryan joined in.

"It's called blackmail," Kai justified his decision.

"It's called stupidity."

"Call it whatever you want," Ata intervened, "but we're going to have a fun night on the town, all courtesy of Kai."

"Thanks, Ata. Now Bryan really can blame me for anything that goes wrong."

"You're damn right I will."

"So what's the plan?" Kai turned to Ata who was walking between them.

"I have two clubs in mind; Moonshine and Connection. Always good music and drinks and security is good. I was planning on going to Moonshine first…but I think we should hit Connection before midnight; they rented a new DJ for the early hours. Besides, Moonshine usually reserves the best drinks for early morning hours."

"I could do with a couple of those drinks first," he muttered, fiddling with the car keys.

"What about you, Bryan? Are you just going to stand in the corner and laugh at Kai or are you up to something else?"

Bryan, leaning against the elevator wall, shrugged.

"I don't care as long as I get something decent to drink."

"Gods, you're both alcoholics. In that case, will you give me the honor of a dance?" Ata asked, smirking a come-hither smirk that made Bryan squirm.

"Stop that!"

"Alright…for now. Time for a quick course in 'Clubbing 101'."

Ata went on to brief them all the way to the garage, giving them tips on what they could and couldn't do while in the clubs. Kai was mainly warned not to threaten, ignore or scare away fellow patrons while Bryan was given the same advise, plus Ata had made him swear that he wasn't carrying any weapons on him. Just to tease the falcon, Kai had suggested that Ata pat him down for any concealed daggers. That had earned him a very nasty glare from the falcon but Ata had mercifully declined, though not without a few sly comments of his own. It was amazing really, how much Bryan was willing to put up with when around them; anyone else would have been a decomposing pile of flesh right about now.

'Lucky us,' Kai thought half-heartedly. Even having a laugh at Bryan's expense wasn't enough to distract him from the boiling resentment in the pit of his stomach, compliments of one James from America. 'Damn that man to Hell…but only after I'm done with him!'

The massive underground garage was well lit and divided into two sections. Guests parked closer to the entrance, personnel closer to the offices. However, the section closer to the main elevators, directly beneath the lobby, was reserved for his cars. Needless to say, it was off-limits to everyone but those belonging to the Hiwatari household, though Kai and Jeremei were the most frequent drivers with Ata and Ivan sometimes joining ranks.

While he was still a couple of months below the legal driving age, Kai had been doing so for quite some time now. Being a Hiwatari, especially in Russia and Japan, had its influential benefits. One of the (very) few things he appreciated concerning his grandfather was when the man had gotten him his license. In the beginning he had been stopped a few times by officers but every station in the city knew by now that Lord Voltaire's 15-year-old grandson drove. Besides, his was a clean record without one single rule-breaking or accident.

Ata, a 'legal aged' driver, was also clean but he usually preferred to be the passenger. Still, when behind the steering wheel the redhead had given his friends a couple of nasty scares with the stunts he sometimes pulled, somehow managing to just stay within the law despite several near misses.

Natasia had never picked up driving after her career-ending crash many years ago and Ivan only used the cars for business, such as delivering important packages or files from the hotel into the city and back. Sometimes he and Natasia would go to the large furniture or home outlets to buy things for the penthouse, especially after a visit from Bryan or (when on his worst of days) Ian, since neither seemed capable of leaving their friend's home without breaking or damaging at least three valuable items.

And speaking of which, unless given signed permission from Kai, Bryan was not allowed to even enter the premises of the bluenette's cars, thanks to a little incident involving Bryan being mad at him, one of the falcon's many sharp daggers and a Ferrari whose new paint job had cost Kai a good 4000 dollars. Again, expensive things (especially those belonging to Kai) were never safe when the falcon was circling about. Damn buzzard.

"You don't mind leaving your baby alone at the club?" Ata asked as they neared the sleek Chevrolet that was to be their ride for the night.

Kai froze, key in the driver's door.

"Don't they have valet parking?"

Ata smiled at him from over the car roof,

"You're so cute."

And then stepped in, leaving Kai to stare worriedly at Bryan who grinned evilly.

"Hope you got insurance, Hiwatari."

"So where do you expect me to park the car?" Kai asked when he got in, turning to Ata who was putting on his seatbelt while Bryan took backseat.

"Side street. I know a good spot within meters of the club."

"And…what guarantee can you give me that I will find my car intact when we are ready to leave?"

"None whatsoever!" Ata beamed, earning a glare from his friend. "Look, these aren't some sleazy, run down places, alright? They are located uptown in very respected areas. No tight security, but enough to keep riffraff out. Good enough for you?"

"Too late to back out now," he said, starting the engine. "Just not looking forward to losing both my self-esteem and my car in one night, you know?"

"If it is any assurance, Hiwatari, you lost your self-esteem long ago."

"Says the guy who freaks out because one little kiss."

Well, that certainly did shut Bryan up; all was suddenly silent in the backseat. Kai had to remember to keep that little fact in mind.

"So then," Ata smiled excitedly. "Ready?"

Sighing, Kai gripped the steering wheel, looking straight ahead.

"Never."

Ata grinned, settling in his seat.

"Just what I wanted to hear."

As promised, the first club was in an area of town that Kai was familiar with, which put him a bit at ease. It had been no more than a twenty minute drive from the hotel. The streets were crowded with party-goers enjoying the start of the weekend, cajoling and laughing loudly as they went about. However, they soon left the rowdy streets, entering the more upper-class part of town.

The club, Connection, was a lot bigger than Kai had expected, though he had never really paid much attention to night clubs and so he could have been mistaken. Situated on the corner of a block, its spotlights waved high into the night sky, outlining the clouds with swirling patterns. He could already hear the muted boom of the music that spilled out of the glass doors onto the long line of people eagerly waiting to gain access though several security guards blocked the entrance, turning those they found unworthy away while letting other's pass without hesitation.

"Down here," Ata pointed out the side street he had mentioned and Kai was relieved to see that it was indeed within view of the club. Besides, the neighborhood was decent enough; no drunkards stumbling about and no suspicious gangs loitering around streetlamps.

Parking behind a dark red Eclipse, Kai ran a hand over his face.

"God, give me strength."

"Once you're inside things will go a lot smoother," Ata assured, patting his knee.

The air was cool though not so much that they had to zip up their jackets. Stepping out, Kai locked and activated the car alarm.

"What can possibly be so amusing about that?" Bryan asked, leaning on the hood beside him, looking with disdain at the long line of clubbers. "Standing around in hopes of getting into some blaring space with hundreds of people all too drunk off their asses to even walk straight."

"Exciting, isn't it?" Ata beamed, walking around to join them in their observation.

"That's a one man's opinion."

"Come on. The night isn't getting any younger."

Sighing simultaneously, the two blader followed their friend, crossing the street and coming up behind the line though Ata surprisingly kept on walking instead of joining it, moving towards the front. Those waiting watched on, their chattering abating as they studied the three teens passing by. From somewhere in the crowd there came a loud whistle.

"Ignore it," Ata told them when both boys tensed, their eyes narrowing dangerously. "They're just goofing around."

"I hate jokers," Bryan snarled but didn't pursue the topic, settling instead on glaring back, making many turn away nervously.

So much for the 'No glaring/scaring' rule.

"Oi, Red!"

Ata smiled a greeting as they reached the front where a mountain of a man stood, sunglasses on despite it being night. Kai, standing to the wolf's right, raised a brow.

"Red?"

"They stuck me with after my first couple of nights here. Come back more often and you'll get one too."

"Not likely."

Grabbing Bryan by the wrist as he had taken a step in the direction of a now cowering man, Ata slung his arms over his friends' shoulder, well aware of the sudden tension in Bryan's body at the contact. Bryan broke the 'No scaring/glaring' rule, Ata broke the 'No touching' rule; all-in-all, a fair trade, though Bryan didn't see it that way, muttering something that sounded a lot like 'horny wolf' under his breath.

"Don't need to introduce my friends to you, do I?" Ata, ignoring his friend's sulking, asked the bouncer who was unclipping the red cord that prevented the rest from entering unwanted.

The man gave both teens a glance.

"No self-respecting beyblade fan wouldn't know them. Kai Hiwatari and Bryan Kutnezsov, right? Thanks to you I won over eight thousand dollars last year during the championships. I knew our team wouldn't lose to those foreigners."

"No problem," Kai said after getting a nudge from Ata in his side.

"So, you boys celebrating or something? Gotta warn you, Red here is a wild cat once inside. You're gonna have a hell of a time keeping up with him."

"It's their first time out on the town so I'm taking it easy tonight," Ata assured, ushering them through. "Do me a favor tonight? There's a Chevrolet parked just around the corner; have someone keep an eye on it. My friend's a bit protective of his cars."

"Sure thing, Red. Enjoy yourselves."

"We plan to," Ata smiled endearingly, nodding at the other bouncers as they climbed up the dozen or so steps towards the doors beyond which multi colored lights flashed at dizzying speed.

"Thanks. About the car," Kai said as Ata took them both by the arms and started to guide them towards the neon lit entrance.

"Now you don't have any excuse to not focus on the bet. We'll go to the bar first and get something to drink. You can get a good view from the club from there. And Bryan," he turned to the falcon who was eyeing the entrance with baleful eyes, "they aren't as lenient about dislocated joints in there as they are at the Abbey. No injuries unless in physical self-defense, got it?"

"Crystal," the teen growled, leaning back slightly when the door man situated on either sides opened the doors for them, wishing them a pleasant time though the words were barely discernable above the music.

Kai muttered a final prayer before bravely stepping forward without Ata's assistance while the redhead followed, still holding onto to Bryan to prevent the teen from making a sudden run for it.

"Welcome to Connection!" a young woman greeted loudly, wearing a skin-tight mini-dress that barely concealed her…assets. "Oh, Red! Haven't seen you in a while."

"Looking good as always, Heidi. Smart move on getting that DJ!" Ata shouted back over the music.

"We're filled to capacity!" she boasted, taking Ata's jacket before turning to the silent pair. "Your friends, I presume?"

"Just here to show them the ropes," he answered. Turning to the two, he tilted his head towards the woman, Heidi. "She'll take your jackets. Keep your wallets."

Shrugging off his black jacket, Kai saw the woman's eyes trail down his torso to the waist of his pants, and he didn't like how her eyes lingered down there for several seconds, before coming up again, a saucy smile on her face as she met his eyes. She then eagerly turned to Bryan, awaiting his own unveiling. The falcon, having already removed his outer layer, held it out to her, almost daring her with a look to make just one sly comment. She pouted at that.

"No need to look so serious, honey," she told him. "There are people in there that are going to do a lot more than just stare."

Bryan looked towards the main dance floor as if trying to find said people in order to hurt them in advance.

"It's their first night out," Ata explained. "I'll have them loosened up before we leave."

"Looking forward to it," Heidi grinned. "Don't forget ya coats on the way out, cutes!"

"Alright, that was the creepiest thing I have ever suffered through," Kai said as they walked away, keeping close to Ata in case Heidi might change her mind and jump him right then and there.

"Then you'd better hope we don't come across her sister," Ata smirked. "She's one of the public dancers."

The immense space had been wisely built. On the first floor was the dance floor, the tiles light from within with blue and green light to give the moving bodies a surreal glow as they moved to the beat that pounded their eardrums. In the center of the floor was a large, circular podium in which the DJ supervised five to six plates at one go, switching records with graceful ease, large headphones over his ears to help separate the music from the excited chatter from the crowd. Several twirling light fixtures spun wildly to the beat, automatically adjusting with every change.

The dance floor was but the center piece. Purposefully curved pillars surrounded it like an abstract cage, separating it from the lounges. Whereas some were well lit, others were dark.

"Partial privacy," Ata said when Kai asked. "People basically use them to make out."

They, or rather Ata, walked through the crowd of conversing people to their left, aiming for something that soon came into view.

The bar.

It seemed to go on forever, wrapping around the corners and beyond their line of sight. Hundreds of seats lined the polished blue bar top, most occupied though many people had taken to the dance floor by now. From his point of view Kai could see at least fifty bartenders, men and women alike, attending to the clubbers, expertly flipping bottles and mixing drinks before sliding them over to their waiting customers, laughing and singing to the music as they bustled past one another behind the bar.

One of the bartenders, a man in his early twenties, spied the approaching trio and slung the towel he had been using to dry his hands over a muscled shoulder.

"You finally got them to come, Red?" he asked Ata with a grin, motioning to the six empty seats. "Grab them while they're free; a group just left to dance floor."

They complied, hoisting themselves up onto the high stools.

"I told you that I'd bring them one day," Ata smiled back, earning twin glowers from his friends who had been taking in the impressive interior. "But I need some help loosening them up."

"Age?" the man asked, looking between Kai and Bryan.

"Seventeen. And give me a vodka martini. No lemon," the latter ordered, eyeing the rows upon rows of bottles containing different alcohols on the shelves behind the bartender.

The man nodded, turning to Kai.

"Fifteen," he replied, mind more on the bet than on drinking right now.

"He's only a month younger than me," Ata intervened when the bartender looked doubtful. "Besides, should club rules apply to the heir of the Hiwatari corporation?"

The bartender's eyes widened and his frown lifted immediately into a smile as he thought it over.

"No, I suppose not. Besides, he should be able to enjoy all the benefits of his own club."

Yes, it was his club. Actually, practically every major nightclub in town belonged fully or partially to the Hiwatari corporations and seeing as his grandfather saw it fit he had signed everything over onto Kai's name; something about being too old for all these new-age establishments. This is also why Ata had taken such a liking to going out; as close friend of Kai he was granted free entrance (and free everything else) to all of them. It was pretty ironic that he, Kai, had never been in any himself. Heck, he only made sure that the costs and finances were covered; the actual management of the clubs were left entirely up to the managers, all of whom were very loyal and trustworthy towards the Hiwatari family.

"It's 11.50," Ata said, glancing at the neon-lit clock on the wall behind the bar. "We hit the dance floor at twelve sharp."

"We?" Kai echoed, turning to the redhead who tossed a wink at an interested passerby before replying.

"Well, I'm not that heartless. I'm not going to let you go out onto the floor by your little old self. Besides, it's always…safer…to go with a partner."

Two more men passed, one of them whistling at the redhead who raised a brow in casual flirting. Damn, Ata was a bit too used to this. Maybe it was time he started curfewing his friend's outings.

"Here we go, gentlemen," the bartender returned, putting down a metal tray with three cocktails. "Specialty, on the house, needless to say."

Bryan grabbed his, almost finishing it with one gulp. The falcon was definitely looking edgy.

"Do you think it'll be a good idea to leave him alone?" Kai whispered (which was hard to do over the loud music), nodding in Bryan's direction. "Maybe we should stay put for a while until he calms down."

"No excuses," Ata waved off but he did turn to their tall friend. "Bryan?"

"Hn?"

"Will you be joining us?"

"No."

"It'll be fun."

"Forget it."

Some things have been terribly clichéd in life, yet despite it all they always guarantee a response. Kai himself knew this from personal experience and so, chuckling as he took a sip of his drink, he said aloud,

"Save your breath, Ata. The falcon turned chicken, that's all."

Long live reliability.

"What did you say, Hiwatari?"

Murderous eyes that had previously been trying to incinerate the beer tap before them now turned on him. Kai merely leaned over the counter on his elbow, using the decorative straw to lazily mix his beverage.

"Don't give me that crap. I may not like it, but at least I'm man enough to put up a good beybattle and to dance. You're just pissed because you know that you could never get onto that dance floor even if you wanted to."

And then, to add emphasis, he leaned over, looking past an amused Ata at his friend.

"Because, Bryan Kutnezsov, you're too scared to even try."

The glass came down hard, almost shattering on the bar top, causing those around them to jump though the two teens didn't flinch as they stared daringly at the pale blader who rose to his feet, still a good few inches taller despite the fact that they were seated on high bar stools.

"I am not afraid of anything," Bryan sneered.

Also getting to his feet, though in doing so losing an inch in height, Kai glared up, face stone-serious.

"Prove it."

They glared at each other for another minute or so before both turned simultaneously to Ata who was grinning a grin that would put the Cheshire Cat out of a job. Finally sliding off his seat after finishing his drink, he looped his arms through his friends.

"Shall we?" he smiled, still not believing his luck. It had been a miracle that he had gotten Kai to agree to this; to have Bryan join in…Honestly, his planets must be perfectly aligned!

Tbc…

A/N: School is bogging me down so instead of leaving you guys waiting for eternity I just decided to post what I had managed to write so far. The second half is underway. I decided to add Bryan to the mix, just to make it up to you guys!

SO, next chapter Kai and Bryan will get down (forgive me an insane cackle) on the dance floor. But will Kai be able to do so while he still has James on his mind...?

Read & Review, please.