Notes: FIRST RACE OF THE 2006 SEASON! XP The Bud Shoot-Out! It was supposed to be yesterday (2/11) but it was rained out. -sighs- Well…. I'm back! Obviously. I had forgotten how much watching races inspired me. :) It's so NICE now! I have cable in my bedroom so I can watch the race and type at the same time. -glances over- 13…? -can't read the ticker at the top of the screen- O.o; I THINK DJ's in 13th… -Shrugs- Now. My complaints about the race today… So far, it's a complaint about Kyle Bush and another about NASCAR. See, Kyle…He nearly wrecked Tony Stewart a few laps ago. He tried to move down and block Tony but there was no room between Tony and the car in front of him. What the hell did he think he was doing, moving down when there was clearly no room for him/ . 7 to go! The other complaint is about NASCAR. Carl Edwards went over the yellow line to avoid an accident. He passed the 42 and the 5 (who were going into the pits, so it didn't matter anyway) and then lost about 3 spots. What does Nascar do? Black flag him! They fucking black flagged him for going over the yellow line even though he did not pass cars for position! . It was stupid. Even the announcers were commenting on how that made no sense. Yeesh. So then Carl refuses to take his penalty (Good for him, as far as I'm concerned) then they go and say that Carl has go to the Nascar truck after the race. Wtf? So Carl goes into the pits anyway and they penalize him for supposedly speeding. -fumes- Yeah. It was lame. X.x Stupid Nascar. Pit road's open? WHO THE….Why are they pitting? There are only like…5 laps left…o.o; Ooookay….Whatever. Anyway! The first part of Ch. 15 was written a while ago…o.o Not today…. In fact…I think this will be the third separate time that I have written on this chapter…-rubs head- I think…? Well, Enjoy! I hope I have lost ALL of my regular readers…;.; I think I have though…
Chapter 15
"So...you two ready?" Max asked, breaking the silence that hung between them. They were sitting in the garage as they waited for a reason to speak. It appeared to Max and Tyson that either Rei and Kai had had an argument or they were both just really deep in thought.
"Not really." Rei responded.
Kai just shrugged. From where he was sitting on the roof of the Beyblade car, he could watched Kenny and Kyra going over how the race was played out. Rei was sitting against the right side of his Team Husar car, which was next to Kai's in the garage. (A/N: I don't really remember what the track garages look like .; )
Tyson and Max, both seated in chairs, continued to look from one driver to the other. "Okay, another question: Are you two mad or something?" Tyson asked.
Kai and Rei looked at each other, startled, before looking at Tyson. "No." They both responded. "Why would we be?" Rei asked.
"Well, it seemed like it. You're not going near each other and you're not talking." Max answered for Tyson.
"I'm just thinking." Kai answered, shrugging. "Besides, I think we both feel like we should be near our cars at the moment." Kai added, looking at Rei to see if he was correct. Rei nodded in agreement.
"Alright then. Change of subject. Am I the only one who forgot about this race?" Tyson asked.
Kai shook his head. "I'd forgotten as well. Up until Kenny asked me how much I wanted to win." Kai said.
"How much DO you want to win?" Max asked him.
Kai shrugged again. "As much as everyone else out there." Kai said, glancing at Rei. The rookie smiled.
"How about you, Rei?"
"Same." He lied, shrugging as well.
"Hey! You guys ready? They want the cars out there now!" Kyra called from outside. No one had even seen her leave the garage.
"Yeah, yeah." Rei sighed, standing up and looking over at his car. "Ready, Drigger?"
-Sure! Let's win this.-
"If you say so." Rei said, smiling. "Come on, Kai." Kai nodded as Kenny joined them with both of their crews.
"You two ready?"
"Yeah."
"Not really, but whatever." Kai said.
"My foot's asleep." Kai commented, yawning. The signal to start their engines hadn't come yet so they were sitting, waiting, in their cars.
"Wake it up before the race starts." Rei answered from his place behind Kai.
"It's getting there." Kai said, drumming his fingers against the wheel. "This always takes so long. Can't we just go?"
"No kidding."
Due to the fact that they were talking, the only caught the "your engines" part of "Gentlemen, start your engines"
"Now THAT'S better." Kai yawned again as he started the engine of the Beyblade car.
"I don't like the whole idea that we have to have a mandatory green flag pit. That's just evil." Rei said as he came into the pits for his mandatory stop during the first segment of the race.
"Yes, well, that's how it is." Kai answered, coming in behind Rei.
"How many times have you been in this race?" Rei asked him.
"Every year, I think." Kai said. "Never won it though. It'd be nice to have it today."
"Hey! Nice job! Gosh, they work fast." Rei said as he came out of the pits with a 12 second pit. "Later, Kai."
"Ass."
"Yeah."
"I'm going to kill you."
"Sure."
"Watch it." (A/N: Stops to go finish reading HP 5 for the third time)
(a million months later- Hello! It's me! Yes it is! I was reading Hp 5? Haha. Anyway...Just finished watching Darlington race...Damn Tony Stewart wrecked Rusty and Kevin...-fumes- It's okay...I think they passed the finish line before it happened, so It's okay...sorta...-sighs- I don't know where my driver finished...DJ...-mutters-)
"Hey...They're getting kinda rough out here! I think they need to calm down a bit," Rei said, passing Tony Stewart for twelfth. "This is fun!"
Kai growled, "Shut the hell up..."
"What? Just because you're in 30th and I'm not, you're mad at me?" Rei asked, pouting. "I feel so unloved."
Kai snorted, "Whatever..."
Rei sighed, "Come on, Kai. Lighten up! I'm just teasing...Are you okay?"
"I'm fine...It doesn't matter, anyway..."
"You said you're fine. So why would I think "it" mattered. What is "it"?"
"Just forget it, okay?" Kai snapped, barely managing to avoid spinning Ryan Newman out. "I'm turning off my radio." (Can they do that?)
"Kai! Wait! What's wrong?" Rei asked. He recieved no answer...Kai had shut off his radio...
"Rei? What's wrong with Kai?" Kenny asked, concerned.
"If I knew I'd still be talking to him!" Rei said. He sounded distressed.
"Did you guys get in an argument before the race or something?" Kenny asked.
Rei sighed, "No...But I think I might know what's bothering him..." Rei, seeing as he became quite distracted thinking about why Kai was upset, began to fall back until he was in 23rd and running behind Michael Waltrip. "Oops...Sorry Kyra..."
"It's okay. Just get back up there," Kyra replied.
"Will do!" Rei sped up a little, ready to pass Waltrip...Only to be blocked by him. "Oh, no...Not this...I HATE it when he does this..."
Kyra sighed in exasperation, "Be careful, Rei."
"I am...He's not..." Rei tried to pass him a couple more time along with two or three other drivers racing with Rei but Waltrip continued to block them.
"What the HELL is he doing?" Kai hissed, startling Rei.
"I don't know! He wont stop blocking! And I'm stuck in the middle of this mess."
"I know that. I'm not blind, you know," Kai replied.
"Kai...What's wrong?"
"Nothing! Just pay attention to your driving, Kon!" Kai snarled, bumping Kasey Kahne out of the way and coming up behind Rei and the other drivers in the knot.
"What the hell is your problem, Kai?" Kyra snapped.
"It's not important! Leave me alone," Kai replied. "Damnit! What he hell is that idiot doing? He's going to wreck!"
Sure enough, Ryan Newman went to pass Waltrip only to have the other driver move down to block him. But Ryan was already partly beside Waltrip and the other driver ended up clipping Ryan's nose and spinning him around to hit another car. Rei managed to speed up and avoid the whole mess but Kai was caught in the middle of it.
-He's not going to be a very happy person when he gets out of that car…- Drigger commented…
"I know…I hope he's okay," Rei murmured, biting his lip. "As if he wasn't having a bad enough day as it is…"
Kai left the car without saying anything and removed his helmet, his crimson eyes instantly searching for Michael. –Uhm…Kai? Are you okay?-
Kai didn't answer.
-Kai? You shouldn't do anything…You don't want to get in trouble…-
Still no response.
-Kai! Come on! Don't be stupid!- Dranzer pleaded.
"SHUT UP!" Kai snarled, throwing his helmet at the car. Dranzer yelped when it hit, leaving a large dent in the side. She fell silent.
Kai caught sight of Michael walking towards the Ambulance and he started after him, "Hey, Waltrip!" Kai called. The other driver stopped and turned to face him. To Kai's satisfaction, a hint of worry flashed in his eyes. (How ironic...Michael Waltrip commercial. By the way. Everything thing from 'Kai caught' and on is after the All-Star race .; And I'm going to have to do some Joe Nemechek bashing, too...Bastard...How will I fit that in? O.o; Should I really be talking about drivers this way? Ah, whatever...For the most part, I don't hate anyone .; I don't even remember...why was I mad at Michael? .; Heh-heh...Now...JOE...-hisses- Talking bad about Kevin...FOR NO REASON...As if Kevin caused the accident or something...)
"What?" Michael replied, taking a slight step back.
"What the hell do you think you were doing, you idiot?" Kai snarled, shoving Michael back a couple more steps. "You can't block like that with so many cars trying to race behind you!" (A/N: O.O; Yup. This is the third time I've written on this chapter. . But my inspiration's back! XP And we have new people coming in this chapter! Can you guess who?)
"I was just blocking a little, Hiwatari. It was Newman's fault for coming up beside me when I was coming down," Michael said, starting to turn away and head for the ambulance again.
"Don't blame it on a driver who was doing what he's supposed to do," Kai snapped, grabbing Waltrip's arm and jerking him around. "You're the stupid bastard who was racing dirty!"
A pair of officials pulled Kai away from Michael while the other driver was escorted to the still-waiting ambulance. Growling, Kai pulled his arm out of an official's grasp and stalked off towards the pits.
When the green flag came out again, Rei did his best to keep his focus on the race and what he had to do but the fact that Kai was so clearly upset was getting to him. In the end, Rei ended up finishing 15th, unable to keep his mind on his racing and off of Kai's poor mood.
When Rei returned to the garage, the first thing he did was look for Kai. When he could not find him in the garage, he stepped out, scanning the crowds for him. When he found him wading through the people, he was surprised to see two strangers with him, one with an arm slung around his shoulders. Despite the busy crowd, Rei could hear the three men as they came towards the garage.
"At least you didn't hit him," said the light-haired man on Kai's left, elbowing Kai in the side. "You wouldn't have gotten just a warning, had you gone further than pushing."
"He deserved to be hit, though," the red-head, pulling Kai closer with the arm that he had around his neck. "You should have hit him, Kai!"
"Shut up, Tala," Kai replied, glaring at him. "I'd rather not be suspended right now."
The red-head, Tala, shook his head, looking over at the third man. "You hear that? Our Kai has gone soft!"
The other smirked, patting Kai's shoulder. "It must be his new friend."
Kai shoved both of them away, leering at the third man. "It has nothing to do with that. I'm doing better than I did last year, I don't want to fuck that up."
"Bryan, I think Kai's in a bad mood. Maybe we should cheer him up?" Tala said, dancing away from Kai as the driver tried to hit him. "What do you think, Bry?"
Bryan nodded, mock-thoughtful. "I agree. But how will we ever cheer up someone as grumpy as Kai?"
"Why, the same way as always, of course!" Tala said, smiling slyly at Kai. Rei, still watching, was slightly amused to see Kai's eyes widen in what could have been fear.
"Oh, hell, no," Kai said, backing away from them, one arm clutching his waist as if protecting himself. "Don't even think about it, damnit!" (er…Chapter 7…I made Rusty a bad guy…what the hell? I LIKE Rusty O.o) (A/N: Er…The fourth time I've written on this chapter! -is watching the Daytona 500- Jeff Green's a retard! -.- He blamed Dale Jarrett for an accident that wasn't DJ's fault. mutters What an ass.)
Bryan lunged forward, grabbing Kai around the waist beneath his arm and beginning to attack his side with his free hand. "Smile for us, Kai!" Bryan said as Tala slung his arm around Kai's shoulders and joined the assault.
"Come on, Kai!" Tala urged, laughing as Kai tried to shy away from Bryan and towards Tala, who was still tickling him. Kai ducked his head, biting his lip and trying not to laugh. It had been a long time since he had seen the couple and, as they always had, they easily made his poor mood ease up a little.
"Hah! He smiled!" Bryan said, releasing Kai and crossing his arms. Tala stopped his attack as well, ruffling Kai's hair.
"So, now that you're feeling a little better, why don't you introduce us to your new friend?" Tala said, looking up at Rei for the first time and smiling. "Or do we have to introduce ourselves?"
Kai huffed, shrugging Tala's arm away and entering the garage without looking at Rei. "Tala, Bryan, this is Rei. Rei, Tala and Bryan," Kai snapped, approaching his car and running his fingers over the dent that he had made with his helmet. "Dranzer."
-…Yes, Kai…?-
"I'm sorry," Kai muttered, sighing. "I shouldn't have gotten made at you."
-It's okay, Kai. But I think you need to talk to Rei…-
"I know…"
-What's wrong Kai? What's on your mind?-
Kai shook his head, glancing over his shoulder at Rei who was being interrogated by Tala and Bryan. "I…I'll tell you later…"
-After you talk to Rei?-
"Yes."
-Okay, then.-
Kai patted the hood of the car before going to stand beside Rei. He was about to speak when a pink-clad little girl hurtled into the garage and launched herself at the Husar car's driver. "Daddy!"
"Cherise!"
O.O Yes. We'll stop it there. Just for the sake of having the chapter finished. . No more typing on this chapter! I've put it off long enough. Yeesh! 3 Well, thanks for reading! For anyone who's read the rest of HoW and is glad to see me finally update it…HERE YOU GO! XD And thanks for coming back to read it! I'll do my very best to have Ch. 16 up next weekend .- We will meet Rei's sisters, his other daughter and…perhaps learn more about where these little girls came from? .- Hope you'll come back for Chapter 16! Tfr & Pr! (Er…Thanks for reading and please review!) OVER-ACTIVE ADRENALINE DISORDER! Sorry. The commercial came on…Later! 3 3 3