I don't care for AJ Topper. Not at all. - He's so fun to bash though.

Tears of Bloody Innocence- Chapter Two

"And now we're down to the last three Bladers folks, and let me tell you, these next two matches are gonna be close," chirped the overly enthusiastic commenter in the background. "Competing first, Rei Kon from China will face off with Tyson Kinamio of our own Tokyo, Japan! The winner will tangle with Kai Hiwitari of Russia, and I wish them luck with that! These three have been blowing through the tournament, folks, and I said it before, but I'll say it again, this is gonna be close!"

6308 leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were closed as he listened to the others approach the Bey dish. He heard a blade click into its launcher and opened his fiery eyes to watch for strategies and weaknesses to use to his advantage. Tyson Kinamio, the navy-haired boy whose photograph had so disgusted him, held his launcher in front of himself, ready. But the other, Rei Kon, stood on the other side of the dish, relaxed, arms at his sides.

"I have nothing to prove," he said to Tyson, and 6308 had no trouble hearing him clearly. "Good luck Tyson." Smiling across the dish, he bowed to the shocked boy and walked off the platform.

Silence reigned for only a moment. "I don't believe it people! It seems that Rei Kon has forfeited his match! Well, these tournaments are just full of surprises, aren't they? Alrighty then, let's move on. Tyson Kinamio against Kai Hiwitari to determine our winner!" shouted the positively giddy AJ Topper.

Uncrossing his arms, 6308 pushed off the wall and approached the platform. He walked unhurriedly up the steps to the dish, putting his hand in his left pocket, eyes fixed on the younger teen across from him who waited, face set in determination. Locking Dranzer into place, he gripped the ripcord, waiting for the signal.

"Okay folks, here it is! The moment you've all been waiting for . . ." AJ paused dramatically. "The final battle in the World Tournament. And I just hav'ta say I hope you're as excited as I am! Tyson Kinamio is ready, Kai Hiwitari has just fitted his blade and . . ." AJ trailed off. Down in the stadium, 6308 was sending his iciest drop-dead glare at the announcers' box and the unfortunate, overzealous AJ.

"Uh . . . well . . . ehem. Anyways, you folks can see it for yourselves . . . Three, two, one. Let it rip!"

6308 picked up his blade and turned away from the dish. He walked coolly out of the stadium for the next point on his agenda, not even acknowledging the people that paused in their cheering to stare as he passed by. The only sign that he gave of being aware of his surroundings was an imperceptible nod to a masked man who stood in shadow with a red-haired teen by his side.

"Excellent," the scientist whispered as the Blader strode past. Once the bluenette was gone from sight, the boy next to him spoke.

"Sir?" He received a nod, allowing him to continue. "Sir, he lost. I don't understand."

"That is why you follow orders 6294. He wasn't trying, he was supposed to lose. Use your brain, boy. It's not there for decoration."

Tala bowed his head apologetically, face carefully blank. But inside, he smoldered with rage.

Sitting on a plush couch in a spectator's box that had been turned into an office, 6308 studied the man in front of him. He was an old, grandfatherly sort of fellow, round and bald but for a bristle of white under his nose. He sat nervously in a chair facing 6308, dabbing at his brow with a white handkerchief.

"Ehem. Yes, well. Kai, what I believe I'm trying to say is, would you care to join my team? These two boys are already a part, but I do say, I need at least three more. Kenny here doesn't blade, you see," he said, gesturing to a boy with large glasses, clutching a laptop as he stood next to Tyson, who was leaning on the wall. "So, what do you say, my boy? Are you up to the challenge of captaincy? It is a rather large responsibility . . ."

Kai nodded curtly, but cut off Mr. Dickenson's exclamation of 'wonderful!' with, "I get to choose the other two."

The oldster hurried to assure him, saying things like 'of course' and 'most certainly, my boy.' 6308 wasn't listening, closing his eyes; he conjured up the images of the other photographs he had seen. The blonde, what was his name . . . Max. Max Tate was what that annoying announcer had called him. And the boy that had refused to battle Tyson. He wouldn't forget that one. "Max Tate and Rei Kon," he told the man shortly.

Mr. Dickenson waddled over to his desk and pressed a button on the intercom sitting there. "Yes, Francois, I'd like you to send up Misters Rei Kon and Max Tate, if it's not too much trouble."

A voice echoed mechanically back. "No trouble, Mr. D. I'll find them."

Mr. Dickenson fussed with some papers while the other two boys came and sat in different chairs. The brainiac began typing furiously, and Kai was left to ignore the other's attempts at small talk.

"Great tournament, huh Kai?"

"Mm."

"So, uh, I'm Tyson, and this is Kenny . . ."

"Oh, sure no one introduce me," came a feminine voice from Kenny's lap. "Thanks a bunch Chief."

"Sorry Dizzi!" the small boy hurried. "Kai, this is Dizzi," he turned the screen to face the Russian.

"A pleasure to meet you," quipped the computer. 6308 raised an eyebrow. "Hmph. Kids these days have no manners," Dizzi fumed.

"Is that thing a Bit Beast," he asked incredulously. The younger boy nodded a bit sheepishly. "Then how," he said slowly, "Did you manage to get it stuck in a computer?"

"Um, well, it's a long story," Kenny blushed.

"Hey! I can hear you, you know!" But her muttered protests were cut off as Kenny shut the laptop quickly. He didn't want Dizzi to offend Kai, who didn't look like he'd feel guilty about taking the cyber Bit Beast apart with a wrench.

Tyson readjusted his hat resolutely, opening his overly-large mouth to speak again. 6308 gave a mental sigh of relief when the door opened. A large, black man stood with two teens in the doorway. The besuited giant pushed the boys inside the room gently. "Mr. Tate and Mr. Kon, Mr. D."

Mr. Dickenson looked up from his papers. "Ah, thank you Francois, that was all." The door shut behind the big man as the head of the BBA smiled at the newcomers. He told them of his proposition with much pomp and bravado, introducing the new captain and the other two boys, looking at them expectantly when he was through.

The blonde gave a sweet smile, blue eyes sparkling happily. "Sure! Sounds like fun!"

All eyes in the room turned to watch the Chinese boy. His head was tilted down so that his wild black bangs obscured his face. He stood quietly for a small eternity, studying the floor. Rei looked up, his amber eyes apologetic. "I finished what I came here to do, and I was going back to my village." He turned slightly, making as though to reach for the doorknob. "Thanks for the offer Mr. Dickenson, but I want to go home."

There was a moment of silence, before the old man dabbed at his shining forehead, but nodded all the same. "Of course young man, no harm done. Oh my goodness . . ." Rei dropped his gaze back to the floor, then looked from Mr. Dickenson to Kai, and back at the ground.

Kai's mind was in turmoil. He couldn't say no, that boy had to join the team if this was ever going to work. His mission depended on Rei being a part of this. The other two had a knack for blading, but a knack wasn't talent, or skill, they would need to learn those things. He could not train that level of excellence into more than two people. Boris had had trouble training four of them, and he had an entire team to back him. Kai was only one person, elite, yes, but only one nonetheless. He wouldn't have to teach Rei. He needed this one, not just needed, wanted. Like he had never wanted anything else before.

6308 stared in shock as the dark boy gave a small, hesitant bow and walked out. "Do whatever you need to do. Just get it done." Exploding from his seat, he strode after the other teen, catching up and grabbing him by the elbow.

"Uh, Kai?"

He glanced over to see Max, Tyson and Kenny standing in the doorway, gawping at him with surprise. Wine red melded with polished gold as Rei gave the slate-haired boy a questioning look. 6308's eyes darted to a door in the hallway, and hearing no heartbeat coming from inside, pulled the door open and shoved Rei in before following.

The two teens were pressed close together, neither moving for a moment. It was dark enough that Kai could just barely see the outline of the other's face mere centimeters from his own. They disentangled themselves carefully and Rei reached up, groping blindly until he found a thin string, giving it a tug.

Click! A single, uncovered bulb illuminated the tiny, closet-like space, allowing the boys to see mops, buckets, brooms and various cleaning supplies. "Scenic," the Chinese teen muttered under his breath. "Kai? Why are we in a janitor's closet?"

"You can't say no, Rei," he blurted, cringing at the sound of his own voice. It was pathetic. This wasn't going to be fun; he had never asked a favor from anyone before. "I need you on this team if it's ever going to go anywhere. The others can't win without serious training, and I need at least on person who knows what they're doing."

Rei didn't think that now would be the time to point out that Kai had just lost to Tyson. Instead he told the Russian, "I'm sorry dude, but I have a team who're expecting me back in China. And I might not even join them; I don't have to win to prove myself to anyone. I just wanna go home and . . . what's the matter?"

Kai's brow was furrowed in a look of complete concentration, his eyes closed as he gathered himself. "Give me a second," he muttered. "I've never done this before." " . . . Just get it done . . ." Then he opened his brilliant red orbs and Rei found himself drowning in their fiery, sub-zero depths. "Rei?" he asked quietly. "Please."

The Chinese boy blinked, breaking the spell. "It matters that much to you?" The other didn't answer, but looked at him with eyes filled with anticipation.

Inside, 6308 froze, hardly able to breathe. Did it matter that much? Why?

Rei sighed reluctantly, but nodded anyway. "Alright. But you owe me one." His head cocked to the side after a minute of consideration. "You've never said 'please' before?" He watched incredulously as Kai shook his head. "Well, it wasn't too hard, was it?"

"Trust me Kon, you have no idea."

Their eyes locked again, neither blinking, neither looking away. A hint of tension rose between them, one that neither Kai nor Rei could have explained, but both knew had to be broken. Fast.

"So, uh, are we gonna stay in the broom closet all day?"

Wordlessly the stoic 6308 reached behind himself to open the door and led the way back to Mr. Dickenson's office. Rei told the man that he had changed his mind, calling down another barrage of forehead 'wonderful' s, 'very good my boy' s and forehead dabbing. Max smiled at the dark haired boy and Kenny began typing in statistics. Tyson shook Rei's hand, but glared hard at Kai, who merely raised an eyebrow.

Mr. Dickenson gathered them together and led them to the back parking lot, where there was a limo waiting to take them to their penthouse. The old man explained that they could work out living arrangements on their own, and oh my goodness, he was just so pleased, dear boys.

Walking behind Kai, Tyson whispered fiercely at him. "What did you do to him? I know you did something Kai! Rei better be okay, or I'll come after you, man."

6308 smirked to himself. Obviously the feeling of dislike between himself and the younger teen was mutual. And the though of the Japanese boy 'coming after him' was possibly the most hilarious thing he had ever heard.

The five boys climbed into the limo, four of them talking amongst themselves. The darkened window that separated them from the driver rolled down, and Francois' dark chocolate eyes smiled at them over his sunglasses. "Welcome to the BBA Bladebreakers, gentlemen. Glad to have you." With that, he started the engine and began to take them to their new home.