Annnnd I'm back! Thank you for all the lovely reviews! No, Kai isn't dead, because then he couldn't fall hopelessly in love with Tyson, could he? I was just Upping the Tension. It's perfectly legal in fanfiction.
Beyblade isn't mine. Wow. That's one for the records.
This chapter is dedicated to Triste, to say thanks, because you are an awesome writer and a really cool person. (grins madly and hands out fluffy kittens)
Two
I have a newspaper clipping in my room.
Well, actually, it's sort of stuffed into a drawer, folded up real tiny, so that I can look at it whenever I want to, but that's not important.
It's the one that got published the day after we finally put the lid on BEGA for good, and it took up the whole front page, as well as a lot of page three. Hey, maybe it's just me, but when some kid flattens a bunch of skyscrapers and creates a parallel universe with his freaky psychic powers, I'd say that's gonna be big news.
Right slap bang in the middle of the page is a photograph. It got to be pretty famous after they bounced it over to just about every news station in the world. I've got to admit, if you saw it, you'd probably say it doesn't look like much. Just your basic, average photo of two team-mates hugging after a win, right?
…and if you want to get fussy, it's not even a real a hug…I mean, it lasted, like, two seconds, and I was too freaked out to hug him back, so it does look a lot like he's actually trying to strangle me or something…
But I like to call it a hug.
OK, press pause for a sec. You guys still with me so far?
Cool. Now rewind a bit.
"Kai! Hey – hey, Kai!"
"Tyson, get back here!" I heard Kenny calling after me. "You're hurt!"
"Relax, Chief, I'm only – nah, he's gone again." I had caught only the briefest glimpse of a face before it had disappeared, swallowed up by the crowd. Feeling a little disappointed, I pulled a face and picked my way back to the boulder-sized block of reinforced concrete I'd been sitting on, wincing slightly as the pain in my chest flared up. Remind me never to pick a fight with Brooklyn again. The guy might want to look into a couple of anger management sessions. Sheesh.
"I'm sure Kai will be back," Kenny said, calmingly. "Come on, Tyson. You need to stay put."
"Aw, Kenny, I'm fine!" I protested, puffing loudly at the strands of hair dangling in my face. I'd lost my hat somewhere back in that Beybattle. No big deal, but I'd liked that hat. "Those paramedic dudes strapped me up good and tight. I am one hundred per cent A-OK and ready for action!"
"No, you're not," Kenny sighed. "Listen to me. You have to stay right here, or you're only going to make it worse."
"If you say so," I pouted, sticking my nose in the air and crossing my arms over my chest, which hurt. OK, I'll admit that it did sting a little, but I was not going to complain about that. Kai had been through way worse, and he had taken it in silence. "I still think you're making a big fuss about nothing."
"Oh, dear," Kenny groaned. "Can't you calm down and take it easy for once? You can't save the world all the time, you know."
His patience, and his tolerance…it made me feel kind of guilty. The same feeling had been nagging at me ever since the reporters had started clamouring to me – to me, and not to any of the others. Kenny…he's, like, my oldest friend, and he gets overlooked so much! A lot of people get overlooked. I guess that was why the guys left the Bladebreakers in the first place: they wanted a chance to prove themselves. Hey, it's not like I wanted all the fame or anything. Sharing the spotlight with your best friends…in my book, that's better than doing it alone any day.
So I looked over at Kenny, gratefully, and said in a quiet voice, "Hey, I wouldn't have saved the world at all if it hadn't been for your super cyber techno-skills of doom." I grinned wryly, and added, "Thanks, Chief – for everything. You know we couldn't have done it without you."
His mouth twisted up in that faint, shy little smile of his. "We did what we had to, Tyson. We stuck together and we set things right, and now it can all go back to normal."
"Yeah, I guess," I said, and grinned again, flashing Kenny a thumbs-up. "OK, enough of that. Sappy stuff chokes me up. What do you say? Think the guys'll be up for a movie tonight?"
"Tyson! We're all tired, and we all need rest – you most of all! If Hilary hears you talking like this she'll lock in your room and make you stay there for a month!"
"Well, I'm not going to let her hear me talking like this, am I?"
"You need to recuperate! If Dragoon's stats are worrying, just think of what yours must be like!"
"But, Kenny…"
"Kenny is absolutely right, Tyson!" Hilary said into my ear, making me jump about a metre high, pain poking at my ribs again.
"Hilary, don't do that!" I spluttered as soon as I could talk, twisting around to see her smirking smugly. "You could give a guy a heart attack, sneaking around like that!"
"If it gets you to listen to me, then good!" she said, sternly. "My concern right now is making sure that you don't get yourself killed!"
"But – "
"I am under strict orders from Mr Dickinson to take you home and make sure you get some rest!"
"Aw, man!"
"Oh, and your grandpa said that if your room isn't cleaned up by the time he gets back then you're in trouble."
"What? I thought I was supposed to be the invalid over here!"
"That's the thing you've got to watch about Hilary," Kenny said knowingly, sounding just a little too pleased about it all. "She's a lot tougher than she looks."
"Hey, whose side are you on?" I asked him, indignantly.
"Tyson! At least pay attention when I'm yelling at you!"
"Yes, ma'am," I mumbled, sullenly. I didn't want to leave. The wind was all dry and dusty, and the hot sunlight was giving me a headache, and my chest was stinging, but I hadn't found Kai yet.
See, I knew Kai was still nearby: our old, unspoken understanding let me know, with unshakeable certainty, that he was close, watching me. I couldn't bear to leave without having spoken to him just one last time. I mean, even the thought of it made my throat burn with sadness, a small, clear lump of heavy unhappiness tightening in my chest. It wasn't fair.
"…Tyson?" Hilary was asking, squinting at me. "Hey – you sure alright? What's up?"
"Wha – oh, nothing!" I said, hastily. "Just…I don't know, thinking and stuff."
"About?" Hilary prompted, her hands on her hips.
"…stuff! Yeah, just like I said, stuff!"
"I don't know about anyone else, but I'd be willing bet a lot of money that by saying 'stuff' he's in fact referring to Kai," Kenny remarked, wisely.
"Aha!" Hilary exclaimed, smiling happily. "So it's Kai you're zoning out over?"
"No, it's not! Geez, you guys, what does he have to do with anything?" I burst out, hotly, shooting a very dirty at look at Kenny, who merely adjusted his glasses demurely. Typical Chief.
"Well, if it's not him, then what's wrong?" Hilary persisted.
"Hey, hey, what is this, Everyone-Gang-Up-On-Tyson Day?"
"Oh, trust me, you don't want Kenny and I to gang up on you," she warned, narrowing her eyes and shoving her face in mine.
"Aw, you're not so tough," I scoffed, feeling kind of relieved that the conversation had moved away from Kai. Weird how saying one little name can hurt so much, huh? "I could take on a whole bunch of thugs, never mind you two losers! Pow!" I waved an imaginary kendo stick around in the air, screwing up one eye, my tongue sticking out slightly in concentration. "You take 'em down like this, see, bam! And one, and two, left, right, bang! And they're out for the count! Yeah! Tyson is king of the world, baby!"
"Tyson!" Kenny interrupted, horrified. "We do not do anything of the sort! Violence is never the answer!"
"Yes, it is!" Hilary and me shouted as one.
"No, it's not! It only ends in tears!" He considered this, and gulped. "My tears!"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, Chief," I said, calming down a little as the dizziness came back. I rubbed my chest gingerly to try and knead out the pain. 'Course, Hilary spotted it. That girl is going drive me crazy one of these days.
"You," she said, eyeing me, "are going to take it easy. We've been playing around way too much. It's time to get you home."
"Do we have to?"
"Yes," Kenny sighed in exasperation.
"But…couldn't we…I don't know, hang around here for a bit longer?"
"Now why would you want to do a boring thing like that?" Hilary asked suspiciously.
I flapped a hand lamely, shifting uncomfortably. "Didn't we just do the whole interrogation thing already? 'Sides, since when is everything I do your business?"
"Stop avoiding the question!" Hilary snapped.
"Relax, Hilary," Kenny said, that small, understanding smile of his deepening. "We know it's about Kai, Tyson. It's alright. We'll wait for a bit more if you want to. He's sure to be around here somewhere, and we'd also like to say goodbye, you know."
I hesitated for the littlest bit of time, and then bit my lip and shook my head. I said, as breezily as possible, "Nah, it's alright, Chief. I'll…we'll…see him around sometime, and…and I'm kind of hungry, anyway. Guess we should bounce."
Without waiting for a reply, I leapt up, and then regretted it. My vision went all blurry for a sec, and I guess I must have swayed on the spot a bit, 'cause Hilary clicked her tongue crossly and caught at my elbow, and Kenny hopped down quickly, tucking his laptop away safely under one arm, and slipping the other around my back.
"Take it easy, you," Hilary ordered, tucking my arm around her shoulder as Kenny slung the other over his. "We're going take this nice and slow, one little baby step at a…"
"It's OK, Hil, I can walk," I muttered, but not really crossly. I blinked rapidly while I waited for the world to stand still again. It was going round and round…kind of like this huge Beyblade, actually…whoa. Get a grip, Tyson. It was a lot harder to walk than I'd thought it would be. I wasn't too badly hurt, but I was pretty wiped, I guess. Hey, it had been a tough battle. Brooklyn sure is one awesome blader. "Come on, you guys. Let's go home."
So there we were: me leaning on Hilary's shoulder, Kenny helping me walk, picking our way through the debris. I tried to act casual about it, but I couldn't help glancing around every now and then. I kept feeling so certain I was just about to see Kai. I'd see something out of the corner of my eye, and whip my head around, small explosions of nervousness going off in my chest, only to find that I'd totally imagined it. Knowing that Kai was so close was freaking me out, and I mean that. I knew he was around somewhere. I knew it, and I was getting close to tears because of it. After everything he'd done – after so long – I needed to talk to him again. I needed to see him just one last time. I was aching for him, for his voice, for his eyes.
All I wanted was to see him again.
What was I doing, walking away like this? What was I, crazy? There was still time…we could still find him…I could still tell him…that…
Who was I kidding? The guy was nowhere to be seen.
I think I was more disappointed than anything else. The whole time I was preparing for that last battle – I guess I was thinking of him. Kai, I mean. I'd had this little hope – this little wish, almost – that after it was all over, after I'd won, he'd hug me, and say something like, "Well done, pal! I'm proud of you!"
Yeah, that was going to happen, seeing as Kai just loves hugging people so much. Big ol' ball of sunshine, he is.
I wanted to look up at him and see him smiling down at me, his face happy and content, his eyes filled with pride. Is that strange or what? I wanted to see him again, just one last time. I wanted…I really wanted to fight him again, maybe when we were both feeling a bit better. Beyblading – it's my favourite thing in the whole word, you know? And Kai is the most amazing rival I could ever have hoped for. I'm lucky to have him as an opponent.
I stumbled over a rock, practically falling flat on my face, and making Hilary glare at me. I said, more to stop myself thinking about Kai than for any other reason, "Hey, Hil, you haven't seen my grandpa around, have you?"
"Hmm," she said, laying a finger to her lips, like she was thinking really hard. "Last I saw, he was talking to some reporters. He looked like he was enjoying himself."
"What? Oh, now I know you're trying to give me a heart attack," I wailed. "Please tell me you're making that up."
"Come to think of it, I'm quite sure I saw him with a news crew earlier," Kenny agreed, thoughtfully, a small grin flickering on his face.
"Ah, not good, dude!" I yelped. "I knew this was going to happen! Oh, man, I just know he's going to say something really embarrassing, or…"
And that's when it happened.
I stopped dead in the middle of the sentence. I stopped walking, too. My pulse skyrocketed. Kai was behind me – I knew he was. I just knew it. It was almost like something had brushed the back of my neck, like this powerful surge of loneliness and longing had stretched out and clutched at me. He was calling me. I turned around, gently shrugging Hilary's arm off my shoulder, and saw him.
The idiot looked like someone from this really bad slasher flick or something, all covered in bandages. His face was bandaged up so much you could barely even see his one eye! And…the expression on his face…oh, man…
You know, it's not every day you see Kai looking sad.
When you do - it breaks your heart.
His eyes found mine, and for a second, I couldn't breathe. My heart was too full for me to think. I'd never seen him look so desolate: standing all alone, hurt and sad, while his gaze, pained and tired, clung to mine. My throat suddenly feeling very full, I broke away from Kenny and started to run. I couldn't help it. It was like something was pulling me to him: Kai, my friend, needed me.
With every step, my head got lighter, and it was starting to get difficult to see. The world was kind of pulling a little merry-go-round number on me…and wow, I'd never known that breathing could be so difficult…I felt myself go limp, and I suddenly couldn't stand up any more. My legs just buckled underneath me, and I was spilling over to the side, slumping down towards the ground.
"Tyson, no!"
A hand gripped my elbow, and the world righted itself. Slowly, my vision cleared, and I looked up at Kai, who was staring down into my face, one heavily-bandaged hand fastened around my arm, the other wrapped securely around my waist, pulling me close. My stomach gave a weird little lurch, half happy, half totally nervous. My hands were kind of squashed up against his chest, draped over his shoulders.
For a moment we stared at each other, completely forgetting about the rest of the world. I was frantically scrutinising his face to see if he was in pain, to see if he was alright – but the only expression in his visible eye was worry. Wordlessly, he looked down at me, his lips parted, so that he seemed almost frightened.
"What do you think you're doing, you moron?" he asked at last, his voice faint, the words barely making their way out of his mouth. "You need to take it easy, unless you've got some kind of death wish."
"Death wish? Me? Oh, well, look who's talking! Geez, Kai, you're the one who looks like he just flew in direct from Ancient Egypt!" I retorted, snapping back into reality. Note to self: next time, don't run. I tried to pull away, but he tightened his arm around me, holding me closely against him.
"Don't try and act smart, Tyson," he warned, staring down at me sternly. So much for being concerned. Seemed like he was back to his mean old self.
"Kai! I mean it! You look like…like that old Cenotaph dude or something!" I almost yelled. "You should be in hospital!"
"There's no point," he said, smoothly, as Hilary and Kenny came running up. Discreetly, he let go of me, and pushed me back a little. "I just came to see if you were alright. Obviously you are, so I've wasted my time."
"No! Hold up, man!" I grabbed his arm as he turned away, blinking away light-headedness as I did so. Another note to self: no sudden movements. He looked back over his shoulder archly, moving as powerfully and gracefully as ever, showing no sign of any injury. Hah. Nice try. I'd seen him wince. I said, firmly, "C'mon, Kai. Can't you hang around for a little bit?"
"Yeah, Kai," Hilary piped up. "Where else are you going to go, anyway?"
He shrugged sullenly, and swung himself round to face us again, keeping his eyes downcast. OK, so he wasn't going to surprise us all by suddenly turning into Mr Talkative. What else is new?
"How's Tala?" Kenny asked, mostly to break the silence, I guess.
"Mr Dickinson sent him back to the hospital," Kai answered, tonelessly.
"Is he going to be alright?" Hilary asked, sounding pretty worried.
"Of course he is," he snapped.
"Touchy," Hilary remarked, blinking. "You want to calm down there, Kai? We're just trying to be nice." To me, she said, in a loud stage whisper, "Well, I certainly don't know what you see in this guy, Tyson."
"Excuse me?" Kai enquired, acidly, raising his visible eyebrow.
I could feel myself starting to go red, my face flushing. "Hilary!" I muttered, out of the corner of my mouth. "That's not funny!" To Kai, I said, loudly, "Heh, you know girls…sure can say crazy stuff, don't you – ouch! Hilary, get off! What's that for?"
"For being sexist!"
"Who said I was sexist?"
"Me! Because you are!"
I eventually managed to yank my ear out of Hilary's grip. Kenny was giggling uncontrollably. I looked over to Kai, and caught his eye. Feeling myself starting to blush all over again, I shrugged, helplessly, rubbing the back of my neck. He rolled his eyes and gave a little snort of disdain, but I could have sworn there was the faintest hint of a laugh playing around his lips. Something in my stomach gave a little wriggle.
A large hand clapped itself down on my shoulder, and Mr D was booming into my ear, "Well done, well done, my boy! Most impressive – but we all knew you could do it, of course."
"Hey, Mr Dickinson!" I said, turning round, and taking it slowly this time. No point in fainting. "Nice to see you, sir – hey, d'you know if old Tala's going to be OK?"
"Oh, yes, yes, he should be fine, provided he gets some proper rest and a few more days' observation. Now, Hilary, Kenny, there are some reporters over there who are very anxious to interview the technical advisors behind all this…would you mind having a word?"
"Oh, sure, Mr D!" Hilary said, grabbing Kenny and towing him away in the direction Mr D had pointed out. "We'll see you in a bit, Tyson! And don't you do anything dumb!"
"Kids these days," Mr Dickinson muttered, chuckling. "So enthusiastic…oh, but what am I saying – you're kids too, isn't that right, young Kai?"
"I'm not a kid," Kai informed him, shortly.
"I suppose you already had your turn with the press, didn't you?" Mr Dickinson asked. "Ah, that explains the frown! Never been much of a talker, have you?"
"No."
"Ah, that's nothing we don't all know by now," Mr D said, cheerfully. "Well, you two, I should probably be off. The BBA's going to be back in business any day now, you know!"
And off he went. "Bye, Mr D!" I yelled after him, before turning around to catch Kai watching me, almost longingly. I swear, that's what it looked like. Our gazes locked for one second, and I could tell that he was upset, but then his face closed up again, and he looked away smoothly, unhurriedly.
"Uh…so…what did you tell the reporters?" I asked him, fidgeting a bit. I don't like uncomfortable silences.
He raised an eyebrow – well, actually the only eyebrow he could raise, seeing as the rest of his face was all covered over. Ouch. "If you think I would waste my time talking to clueless loudmouths like them, then…"
"Hey, dude, they're just trying to make a living," I said, sighing. "I'm betting you said 'no comment' and walked off."
"Well done," he said, sarcastically, crossing his arms. "Got any other cute questions to ask, or am I allowed to leave?"
"Leave?" I stammered. "Leave where? Where're you going to go?"
"You don't need to know."
I almost panicked as a frightening thought hit me. "Dude…you're not going back to Russia, are you?" I checked, quickly.
"I told you, you don't need to know."
"Yes, I do!" I said, suddenly starting to get really scared. "Kai, please, just tell me where you're going to be! C'mon, man, don't leave me hanging again!"
For a moment he almost looked apologetic. "Don't worry," he said, quietly, as he turned to go. "I'll be around, Tyson. I promise I will."
"No!" I burst out, and lurched forward to grab his arm again, this time with both hands. I felt his arm jerk and heard his breathing catch as I swung him round to face me. His face was tensed up, and he was breathing in and out through his nose very steadily and quickly. So he was hurt. I said, accusingly, almost shaking with anger, "You don't have anywhere to go, do you?"
"I'll manage," he said, looking down.
"Let me get this straight," I continued, tugging him closer to me so that I could peer up into his face – but gently. Hey, the guy had taken a serious amount of damage, even if he wasn't showing it. "You were just going to walk off into the blue like that when you know you've got nowhere to go?"
Trying to wrench his arm away from my grip, he snapped, "Yes, Tyson, I was."
"Well, we can't have that, now, can we?" I asked, brightly. "Hey, I know! Tell you what, Kai – you come over to my place for tonight. You can hang around till we've fixed you up somewhere else to go."
"I don't think that's a good idea," he said, slowly, still avoiding my eyes.
"Sure it is! Daichi's going over to Max's place for a while, so we've got plenty of room! C'mon, it'll be fun!" I let go of his arm and clasped my hands together, pushing my lower lip out as far as it would go. "Pretty please? For me?"
For a long, long time he was quiet. I let my hands fall down to my sides, stuffing them in my pockets, and waited. Finally, without looking at me, he said, in this dry little whisper, "Fine."
"Alright!" I cheered. "Wasn't so hard, was it? C'mon, man, let's get out of here. I'm starving."
He nodded, swallowing, and then looked up, his hair falling in his face. His arm almost shaking, he reached out for my hand, his cold, rough fingers, half-covered in bandages, closing around mine. Suddenly sounding exhausted, he said, "Tyson…" and then stopped. He stared at me, mutely, his mouth all twisted up, like he was trying to say something, but couldn't find the words. He shook his head helplessly and looked down again, squeezing my hand so tightly it hurt.
You know how people always pinch themselves to see if they're dreaming or not?
Yeah, well, I considered trying it then.
"Kai…are you…hey, man, what's up?" I asked, hoping my voice wouldn't squeak too badly.
He looked up, slowly, and our eyes met. He whispered, "Nothing."
I said, "Are you…?"
And then his arms were around me, and I was squashed up against his chest, my hands trapped against his shoulders. I could hear his breathing, harsh and shaky and almost whimpering as he rested his cheek on the top of my head. My face buried in the hollow of his neck, I nuzzled at his cold skin for a moment, hearing myself give a little sigh halfway between contentment and surprise. I could hear his heartbeat thrumming through his whole body, racing just as fast as mine.
It was nice. I felt like my whole body was going to flutter apart, I was trembling so hard. I relaxed into him, closing my eyes, and sighed again, my hands curving around his neck.
I could have stayed like that forever.
He let go of me slowly, and stood staring down at me as though he couldn't believe he was actually looking at me. Wordlessly, I took his hand, and gently slung his arm over my neck. He leaned heavily against me with a clipped, pain-filled sigh, burying his face in my shoulder.
"OK, take it easy, pal," I whispered. "We're going to get you out of here."
"Where?" he asked, hoarsely.
"Home," I said, firmly.
OK, so here's the deal with me popping up all random and deciding to write this: I am currently on summer vacation. I am also currently very bored, mostly because a) I have no social life, b) I have no decent TV shows to watch, c) I have nothing to read because I am broke, and d) I am in severe withdrawal from lack of TyKa and guy/guy mushiness in general.
Plus, you know the voice-over at the end of Tyson's battle against Brooklyn, just after they cut to the ending scene? It says something about BEGA's defeat having been several months ago. I always thought, "Well, what exactly happened during those months? What could have led to Kai and Tyson lying on a warm, sunny hillside gazing into each other's eyes all happy and cutesy-like?"
This fic is my answer to that question.
Review?