Sunny: Okay, it might be the Beta-Reader's fault the update came so slowly… okay, 'tis all my fault. Don't blame Mei, I'm the Evil person.
Mei: -.-;; That's not true. Hehe, here's the third chappie. Methinks this isn't going to be a very fluffy story… Methinks this is going to be a very retarded story. Ah well, what can you do? It was written because of a scene I planned near the end.
Sunny: With my help.
Mei: Yes, of course n.n;; Anywho – Lee and Mariah are cousins, for this fic. I have another one where they're siblings, and another one where they're cousins again -.-;; I can't seem to make up my mind. But I know they're related! Yes, that's all I do know… This chapter is boring, methinks it's called a filler… (Sunny: It is,) but I'm not sure. (Sunny: I said it is, I'm the Beta-reader) I'm not very good at writing action out, but the action will come, I promise you guys! n.n;; Just not in this chapter…
Warning – Yaoi (shounen ai)
Disclaimer – Don't own beyblade. Never did.
Thanks for all the reviews so far! You guys are really great :)
When the Snow Falls:
Chapter Two:
Tyson woke up to bright, blinding sunlight in his eyes. The world champion squinted as he sat up, looking around the room dazedly. The other bed was empty, big surprise there. The fourteen-year-old sighed, but paused when he noticed a note beside his bag, written in Kai's small, spiky handwriting.
Training is at 10:30. Don't be late.
Tyson sighed, but a small grin spread across his features. Typical Kai, blunt and straight to the point… Which reminded him of the decision he had made the previous night. He was going to tell Kai, today. Preferably before training. He was going to tell Kai that he loved him…
He wasn't sure why he'd decided to do it. The only conclusion Dragoon's blader could come to was that he'd lost his mind. He picked up his bag and hurriedly got dressed, grinning goofily due to how nervous he was. After spending ten minutes in search of his beyblade, he bounded out of the hotel, taking out his map of Moscow to try and find his way to the gym; he figured his captain would be there, bright and early, as usual.
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Tyson peeked into the gym. Sure enough, across the other side sitting on one of the benches, was his captain. The elder boy was sorting through a stack of papers that looked suspiciously like math homework. A very familiar looking binder lay open beside him, along with some equally familiar looking math textbooks.
The younger boy gulped, Kai had sure picked a great day to go through Tyson's homework. Ever since Hilary had complained that Tyson's grades were dropping because he spent too much time beyblading (and the ever-so-loyal Kenny had backed her up), the rest of his teammates had offered to help him keep track of his schoolwork. They took turns every week, going through his books and his notes and making sure he hadn't forgotten anything. While Tyson wasn't at all pleased, it had satisfied Miss I'm-the-class-president-and-what-I-say-goes immensely.
He must have made a noise, because Kai looked up suddenly from his inspection of Tyson's math. He gestured calmly for the younger boy to come in, but not before holding up a blank worksheet on fractions and pointing at it questioningly.
The stormy-eyed blader coughed, "That's not due for another week," he mumbled lamely. Last week, he thought guiltily to himself. He walked over to the bench and felt his stomach lurch as he realized that his Chemistry, Physics and History were also sprawled across Kai's lap – along with his unfinished assignments in each subject. He suddenly became supremely grateful that Ray and Max had offered to check his biology for him, knowing that that was where he scribbled all his little love notes and doodles: "Tyson loves Kai" surrounded in little hearts. They'd spared him the humiliation of having his captain find them.
"Is it?" asked Kai calmly, "Do you get an extra two weeks on all your assignments or something?" he held up another copy of the worksheet, filled out in Hilary's neat printing, and marked in red with an "A" at the top.
"Um… Well, you see… I… uh…" Tyson stumbled, looking for an excuse so that he wouldn't make himself look like a total ass in front of his crush. Not that he hadn't already done that a gazillion times before, but back then he hadn't had a crush on Kai.
Kai shut the text book, organizing the rest of the papers inside it so that they would fit without falling out. The one by one he stacked Tyson's schoolbooks neatly on his lap, laying his arms across the books lazily and resting his chin on them when he was finished. He looked up at the word champion patiently, "You "uh" what?"
He looks really cute like that… Tyson thought absent-mindedly, I should take picture of him, and hang it on my ceiling, and look at it every night before I go to bed…
"Earth to Tyson."
The younger boy's head snapped up, "Oh, um…"
Kai sighed, and stood up, handing the stack of books to Tyson, who nearly fell over from the sudden weight. Quickly, the world champion placed them back on the bench.
"Do your homework Tyson. We don't need you disqualified from the tournament," said Kai, walking away.
"Um, yeah sure, I-"
"And training starts in five minutes," Kai added coolly.
"Wait!" called Tyson, "I need to tell you something!"
Kai stopped walking, and there was a long, slightly ominous pause before he finally turned around, "I'm listening," he answered quietly.
The navy-haired teen could feel his heart beating erratically against his chest, Now… I'm gonna tell him now. Suddenly finding himself unable to meet the elder boy's eyes, he focused on the roof of the gym instead, "Um… Kai, well you see… the thing is… I… Uh… I really like you…" he stole a quick glance down at Kai's face, which remained as calm and unfazed as ever. Maybe he doesn't get it, thought Tyson, panicking, "I mean I really really like you… Like, like like… um, you."
Kai frowned, "Like like like?" he repeated, his burgundy eyes filled with confusion.
He. Doesn't. Get it. Tyson forced himself to take a deep breath and try again, "What I'm trying to say, I guess is that… I… uh… I think I… I love you… you know?" The dragon blader felt like shrinking down to a microscopic size. He sounded like such an idiot. He looked at Kai again; almost afraid of what he would see there. Anger… rejection… hate…
To his surprise, the other boy didn't seem angry, just confused. There was a flash of what looked like hope, deep inside those pretty eyes, but it vanished when Kai angled his head so that his slate gray bangs hung in his face, "Nice try, Tyson."
"What?" asked the world champion disbelievingly. What was Kai talking about? Was he rejecting him? The younger boy cringed at the thought.
Kai shook his head, "I'm not stupid. This is by far your lamest attempt to get out of training. Ever."
Tyson's mouth hung open in shock. Kai thought he was joking?
"But-" before Tyson could try and explain to his captain that he actually meant what he had said; Ray, Max, Kenny and Hilary came barging into the gym, followed by a very distraught set of White Tigers.
"Guys!" cried Max, "You won't believe what happened!"
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Ray couldn't believe that anyone would be as low as to steal his old teammates' bit-beasts while they were asleep. He could see that the White Tigers were having trouble believing it too. Lee's fists were clenching and unclenching unconsciously, his eyes narrowed furiously. Kevin sulked, throwing dark looks at some invisible person occasionally, muttering to himself about how he would "get them" and make them pay. Even Gary, calm, gentle Gary, was angry.
But what really worried Ray was Mariah. She hadn't said a word all morning, not even to greet him and the others, Max, Kenny and Hilary, when they'd come to say "hi". She'd let the boys do all the explaining about how the bit-beasts had gone missing, but she hadn't said anything.
Tyson's mouth dropped open in shock as Max and Kenny rushed to explain what had happened, "You're not serious!" he said, his eyes widening, looking over at the Chinese team, "What kind of creep would do something like that?"
"I don't know," growled Lee, "But just wait until I get my hands on them!"
"Until we get our hands on them," snapped Kevin, "There's no way that I'm sitting back on the action this time – that freak is gonna feel my wrath!"
If the situation hadn't been so serious, Ray might have punched Kevin's shoulder playfully and asked, 'What wrath?' but he kept silent, eyeing Mariah anxiously from the corner of his eye. It wasn't like her to be so quiet.
"But I don't get it," said Hilary, "How can anyone steal the bit-beasts without a battle?"
Kenny hurriedly explained to her, "They're in a bit chip, in the center of the blade – remember how I explained the parts to you before?"
Hilary listened intently as he continued to explain, and finally she asked "But if it's that easy to take the bit-beast chip thingy out, then why battle the person for it?"
"Because it is honorable," replied a cool accented voice, although the accent was so slight that it was impossible to tell what ethnicity it came from.
"Robert?" asked Tyson as they turned to look at the doorway, "What are you guys doing here?"
"We were informed by Monsieur Dickenson that we might find you here," said Oliver. There was a sad look about the normally cheerful French blader.
Ray didn't like the sound of this, "Why?" he asked.
"Why?" shouted Johnny, "Why? I'll tell you why! Because some no good, stinking, rotten-"
"Johnny!" said Robert, "Calm yourself."
"Calm myself? Calm myself!" the Scottish boy looked at his captain incredulously, "Somebody's taken my bit-beast, taken it! Without even a fair fight and you want me to 'calm myself'?"
"He's right, John," said Enrique wearily, "Panicking won't get us anywhere."
"I am not panicking!" said Johnny heatedly.
Ray frowned, "Wait, you mean-"
"Your bit-beasts were stolen too?" Lee finished for him. The others looked to the European team expectantly for an answer.
"Yes-" began Robert, but he was cut off by an angry Johnny.
"While we were sleeping! Sleeping! Can you believe the nerve? Probably a stinking little coward too scared to face us in a real fight!"
Kevin scowled, "Yeah, well just wait until we find out who did it! We'll make them wish they'd never crossed paths with the White Tigers! … Or the Magestics," he added as an afterthought.
Kai, who had been silent throughout the whole conversation, suddenly spoke up, "I wouldn't get too worked up. Even if you did catch the person, the chances of you getting your bit-beasts back wouldn't be very high."
"How do you know?" snapped Johnny, "They were too scared to battle us, right? So that means that they probably suck! Even without our bit-beasts, we could beat them easy!"
"There was a battle…" said Mariah softly. Ray jumped; they were the first words she'd said all day.
"What are you talking about, Mariah?" asked Kevin, "There was no battle! We were asleep!"
"There was!" argued the pink-haired girl, seeming to regain her spark, "We were all there, the Magestics lost to them, then you and Gary… and then me… We all lost to them," she finished quietly.
"We didn't lose to anyone!" snapped Johnny, "We never fought anyone!" Robert gave him a look and he fell silent.
"Perhaps she remembers something that we don't," said the European blader calmly.
"Who?" asked Lee curiously, "Who did we lose to?"
"Tala…" she said quietly, "And Bryan and… I don't remember all their names."
Ray knelt beside her, "The Demolition Boys?" he asked gently.
Mariah nodded a vague far-off look in her eyes.
"This is stupid," muttered Johnny, "If I'd had a battle against those guys – or anyone, for that matter – and lost, I sure would've remembered it!"
Max shrugged, "Maybe it was just a bad dream?" he asked tentatively.
"That would make sense," said Lee slowly, eyeing his cousin cautiously, "Mariah's been spooked about returning to Russia because of what happened last time with those Demolition Boys. Haven't you, Mariah?"
The pink-haired girl snapped out of her trance, "No! It wasn't a dream, I'm sure that they did it," she looked around at the group earnestly, looking for some support, "Kevin? Gary? Lee?" her teammates shrugged apologetically, "…Ray?" the former White Tiger found he had to look away to avoid seeing her disappointed look.
"Face it," snapped Johnny, "The whole thing was a dream. Why would the Russian team pull a stunt like that anyway? Voltaire and Boris Balkov are supposed to be in jail, aren't they?"
"They did do it!" shouted Mariah, "I know they did!" her fists clenched angrily as she turned around and stalked out of the gym, "I know they were the ones who did it, and I'm going to make them pay!
"Mariah, wait!" Ray called after her.
No one noticed Kai's sudden interest with the silver chain of the pocketknife inside his pocket, or how he twisted it tightly around one or two of his long fingers, not even Tyson.
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"So. You got the boy to agree?"
"Yes sir. However, I still have my concerns regarding his… reliability."
Voltaire looked up disinterestedly from his desk, sipping his tea calmly, "How so?"
"Well sir…" the man paused, choosing his words carefully. He did not want to make it seem as if he resented Mr. Voltaire's decision. No, that would not be good at all, "The boy has proven disloyal many times in the past. He has no sense of duty, sir."
"He has agreed, has he not?" asked the old man coolly, placing his teacup down on his desk and reaching into his drawer for a slender beige envelope. He opened the unsealed flap and carefully emptied the contents onto the surface of his methodically neat desk. A slow, wicked smile spread across his wrinkled lips as he counted the small, metallic chips, "The boy already has their trust… all he needs to do is wait for the perfect time to exploit it. And while he waits, he can bide his time by delivering to us some valuable information."
"Yes, but sir," replied the younger man, the irritation now evident in his voice, "How do you know that the information he gives us will be authentic? The child can be very deceitful; he may lie to us…"
"Elementary, my dear Balkov," said Voltaire, mimicking the renowned, fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, with a sly smile, "Who better to keep an eye on a teenager, than four other teenagers?"
"You mean Tala…?"
"Yes. Have him and the others keep a strict watch on my grandson – if he does anything suspicious, they will inform us… and Kai will be punished."
A slow smile of understanding crossed Balkov's thin lips, "Of course, sir. I shall send them out right away."
The older man nodded, returning to the drinking of his tea as his right-hand man departed. He frowned slightly, recalling his disappointing failure two years earlier at the Russian world championships. You will not disobey me again, Kai.
Mei: And, um, that's it! Really corny, I know. Probably cliché too… but hopefully it'll get more original as the story progresses… I can always hope…
Sunny: ::In the middle of being cornered by angry Readers:: Mei? Uh, MEI!!! LITTLE HELP HERE PLEASE!!??
Mei: -.-;; It wasn't her fault! I take forever to update my stories anyway. What's an extra few days? ::also gets cornered by angry readers:: Um… uh oh… uh… Well, I guess some groveling is in order? n.n;; Please don't hurt me n.n… you do realize that… O.O ::runs::
Tyson: -.-;; ::watches angry readers chasing Sunny and Mei:: Oh well. As long as they review, she'll be happy.
Kai: If she'd rather get lots of reviews than survive an angry mob of readers, then she really needs reconsider her priorities.
Tyson: n-n Hehe…