A/N: I'm back! Did ya miss me! Or at least the story? I would go into explaining why it took me so long to update but why bother. I won't want to waste your time so let's move on. R&R!

But first thanks to all my reviewers: Kelblossom1128, Setsuna-chan, Dashley, Hikari, Blackdranzergurl, -Dark Pheonix Angel Nami-, observaant- not mean, Shitza, Armith-Greenleaf, ZaniteZanx, Moonlit Sea, Wild-Roze, Mystic BlackPhoenix, emilyjade, Beyblade-gal, Blackraven-Ying, ShortStuff, Moonlight Kitten, myownworld and whoever else I missed.

Chapter 13

The sun was bright that Sunday morning. Kai strolled into the church, expecting to find Jade with Nicky as she always was every Sunday. To his surprise and worry, she wasn't there and neither was Nicky.

Did she take him outside? he wondered as he headed outside. His crimson gaze drifted over the garden and found the small figure of the little boy he had grown so fond of, leaning against a tree. Jade wasn't with him.

As Kai started making his way over to the kid, he noticed Nicky's head was bowed, his feet kicking at the ground. He was looking kinda down and Kai wondered whether Jade's absence was the cause.

"Hey." he said.

Nicky looked up at him and almost at once his face brightened. "Kai!"

"How have you been doing, kid?" Kai said, smiling warmly.

"I'm good." the boy shrugged. His eyes darted about expectantly and when what he expected never appeared, he looked back at the tall bluenette. "Kai, where's Jade?"

Kai shook his head. "No idea, kid. I was hoping you would know."

"Oh." Nicky's face fell in disappointment. "I don't know where she is. I thought you might know being her boyfriend and all."

Kai forced a smile on to his face for the sake of the little boy. "Maybe she has something important to do. I'm sure she'll be here soon." I hope…

Sunday morning passed and still no Jade. Kai found himself growing worried as he absently tossed a perfect hoop into the basketball net. His mind for some reason kept returning to the night of the game. She had been coughing usually a lot but he had assumed it was a mere flu. What if it was early signs of a fever? Or something more?

Is she alright?

"Kai?"

He looked down at Nicky as the kid tugged on his shirt. Wide coffee brown gazed up at him innocently. "Can I have ice-cream?"

Even the Ice Prince would not refuse a pleading tone as Nicky's.

There was an unusual sense of foreboding within him when he pulled up to the school compound the next morning. He wondered why. The sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky. Students were moving about, heading to classes or wherever it was they needed to be. Everyone was chatting happily among themselves. It all seemed so perfect. It didn't explain why he felt uneasy today.

Of all people, Kai trusted his instincts. Alert, he strolled into the building and headed to class, hoping to find Jade waiting for him in their first class together. To his surprise, she wasn't in her usual seat.

Then again, maybe she's late or has something important to do, he thought. He couldn't deny the last thought that came after. Yeah, like yesterday…

But Jade never turned up for any of their classes together through out the whole day. While the teacher taught, his mind wandered. His eyes gazed off into space. The class despite its many occupants, seemed to empty, lifeless without her. The way it was before she came into his life. She was always the cheerful one, the kindest one. She made him believe life was worth living for. Thanks to her, he actually found Hilary bearable but just barely.

Hilary…Maybe I should ask her. Maybe she knows where Jade if. Maybe.

Kai found Hilary and her friends in the cafeteria. Hilary as usual caught up in another fight with Tyson. Ray and Mariah looked as if they didn't know the bickering pair while Max and Mariam were watching them as if they were watching a sitcom. Jade wasn't among them.

"YOU'RE COMPLETELY HOPELESS, TYSON!" Hilary was shouting at Tyson over something when Kai approached them. "YOU SPILLED MILK OVER MY BEST SKIRT!"

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!" he replied. "IF YOU HADN'T COME UP TO ME AND SCARED THE HELL OUT ME LIKE THAT, I WOULDN'T HAVE SPILLED MILK ALL OVER YOUR 'BEST' SKIRT!"

And so it carried on until Kai decided he better step in before either one of them kills the other. He cleared his throat. "Hey."

At the sound of his voice, the yell came to a stop. Mariah and Ray let out a sigh of relief each while Max and Mariam groaned. "Just when things were starting to heat up…" Max pouted.

"Thank god you came, Kai." Mariah muttered. "I was starting to think I was going to go deaf."

"Hey, Kai. What can we do for you?" Hilary asked in unnaturally sweet voice. One which she'll never take with Tyson.

"I was just wondering if you've seen Jade." he said.

Hilary frowned. "No. We thought she might be with you."

"No, she isn't." Kai muttered almost to himself. Where the hell is she? "I haven't seen her since I dropped her off after the game. And she didn't turn up for church yesterday."

Ray shared his worry. "That's unusual. It's not like Jade to miss church."

Then Tyson broke in rather abruptly. "Did you two have a fight? Maybe that's why she's missing. What did you do to her, Kai Hiwatari? Because if you did anything to hurt her, I swear I'll-."

Kai glared at him, couldn't help but feel the tinge of annoyance towards the navy-haired boy. "No, we did not have a fight."

Hilary rolled her eyes at her yelling partner. "Jeez, you're so naïve and dumb."

"AM NOT!"

"ARE TO!"

"Oh, boy." Ray sighed. "Here they go again…"

Kai took the opportunity to escape, walking away from the table, now more worried than ever. Not about Hilary and Tyson of course. God knows how often those two are always trying to get at each other's throats. He was getting more and more worried about Jade as the day passed. She was not to be found in her classes and no one has seen her the whole day.

"You look like hell." was the first thing Tala said to him when he caught the bluenette as he was leaving the school building and heading to his car.

"Tell me something I don't know." Kai retorted.

Tala frowned at him, sensing his mood. "What's up?"

"It's Jade." Kai said. His pace picked up and Tala had to jog to keep up with him. "I can't seem to find her and no one has seen her the whole day."

"Have you asked her friends?"

He nodded. "First thing I did. It's not like her to miss school."

"It's not like you to worry so much over one girl." the red-haired pointed out.

"It's not like you to worry so much over me." Kai shot back mildly irritated.

Tala feign insulted. "Hey, I'm your bestfriend. Scratch that. I'm your only friend. Of course I worried about you. That's what friends do."

"Right." Kai deadpanned. "Now if you would excuse me, I'm going to do what a boyfriend should do."

Tala lifted an eyebrow. "Which is…?"

Kai pressed the remote control of his car and opened the door to the driver's seat when it beeped. "I'm going over to her place and check on her. It's better than hanging around here waiting for something to turn up."

"Hey." a hand rested on Kai's shoulder, halting him. He glanced back at his self-proclaimed bestfriend. All jest gone from his expression, Tala said. "Jade's my friend too. When you find her…"

Kai understood and nodded. "I'll let you know."

Tala nodded and stepped back as the bluenette teen climbed into his car and drove off.

Gold and brown leaves covered every tree in the neighborhood where Jade's house was situated. Lately the temperature had been dropping by the days, growing colder as it made way for winter. Because of the changing weather, less and less people left their cozy homes. Everyday there a chill breeze in the air that forced anyone who wanted to venture outside to wear a jacket. Some only went out for a purpose.

When Kai pulled up to the Summers residence, there was a car parked by the curb. He wondered whether it was one of her relatives who decided to drop by but when the door opened, he felt relieved to see Jade step out of the vehicle obviously in one piece. She looked tired and a little pale but he brushed it off as a result of a long drive. She saw him pulling up to the curb and said something briefly to her parents who were starting to lead her into the house. Although her father didn't look all too pleased, her mother must have said something to allow her to pull away from them and wait patiently for him on the front yard of her house while he parked the car. All though seemly reluctant, with a lot of urging from Ivy, Jade's father and mother entered the house, giving their daughter the privacy she wanted.

A soft smile graced Jade's lips as she watched him stride up to her. "Hey."

Now that he found her, he wasn't so sure what to say to her. So he said the only thing he could. "Hey." he said softly.

She bit her lips as if nervous by his presence. "So what brings you here?"

"You." he said. "I missed you."

Something flickered across her face, something that resembled….pain…and regret. "Kai…"

"You didn't turn up at church yesterday." he continued, missing the pained look on her face. "Nicky missed you too."

She tried to smile. "Yeah. I missed the little tyke too."

"We were all worried about you when you didn't turn at school today." he said.

"Kai…" she could feel her throat closing up. "There's something I have to tell you."

He must have sense the seriousness about her and he frowned slightly. "I'm listening."

She lifted her face to watch his face. "Kai, I'm sick."

An alarm in his head went off but he ignored it. "Oh, then we better get you into the house. You shouldn't be standing out here in the cold." he took her hand and started to pull her toward the house. She resisted him and he glanced back at her in surprise. Even more surprise when he saw the grieving look in her eyes "Jade?"

She looked away, unable to meet his penetrating gaze. Her unbounded hair fell from her sides, covering her face from his view. His hand touched her arm as he gazed intently at her. "Jade, what's wrong? You can tell me."

"I don't think we should see each other any more." she blunted out.

Kai was one who rarely showed emotions yet the stunned expression on his face was as transparent as the sorrow in her eyes. "Why?" he asked, struggling to keep his voice calm and control.

She stepped back, glancing anywhere but his eyes. "I just…" her shoulders lifted and fell hopelessly. "I don't know. Maybe I just…don't love you anymore."

Kai was staring at her, shock spreading its way through his soul, numbing him. He couldn't believe she was saying this. The words of his grandfather rang in his ears, mocking him, taunting him. '…They're all the same. Bunch of females after your money…They seduce you, they marry you then they divorce you. It's an endless circle…'

No!

Something in his mind broke through the cold numbness that surrounded his conscious.

No. Jade wasn't like that! It's not her!

He focused on her, catching her words of apology. This wasn't her and he knew it. Maybe it was the way she seemed so drawn or maybe it was the way her words didn't seem convincing enough. Whatever it was, something told him she still loved him as he loved her and things were not what they were.

"Liar."

She stopped in mid-sentence and stared at him with shock. It was the dismay in her eyes that convinced him something was very wrong. She wouldn't do this unless she didn't have a choice.

"If you don't love me anymore, if you don't want to see me anymore, look into my eyes and tell me that." he challenged, his voice tight and hard.

"I...I can't…"she whispered. Her eyes turned back to him. Fresh tears glittered within them, clear as crystal. "You won't understand…"

"How can I if you won't tell me?" he snapped.

She closed her eyes slowly as if in defeat. Two teardrops fell as she reopened them. Her body was trembling, seeming so fragile yet strong as she gazed at him.

"Kai…I'm dying."

A/N: There! It's out! You happy now? Guess not...but that's how the story goes!

Btw I need your opinion. I was thinking of doing a crossover story. BeybladexNaruto. Lately I've been caught up in the Naruto-craze (don't worry. I am still faithful to Beyblade and Kai and always will be) and I just thought it would be interesting to see what happens when Naruto meets Tyson and especially when Sasuke meets our dearly beloved Kai! Think gloomy meets gloomier. It'll be AU. I won't wanna start this story yet because updating it will take up a lot of my time as it is. So let me know whether my time is worth it and that I should do it or not. Ideas and OCs are welcome but I can't promise I'll use them so it's up to you. Thanks and before I go(and you won't see me for another month or so. Joking!) R&R!