A/N: It's me again! Arigatou gozaimasu to all those who read and reviewed. Gomen I couldn't memorize your pennames. Anyway, you know who you are...;

Disclaimer: (I forgot to do this with the last two chapters...)I do not, in any way, own Bakuten Shoot Beyblade and/or its characters. They are the sole properties of Aoki Takao-sama, D-rights, and Takara...

On with the story!

Chapter 2 – Memories

The door opens slowly. Standing in front of us is a rather tall young lady with blonde hair and blue eyes. For a moment, I am reminded of Mother, but then realize that this lady's eyes are different. They radiated warmth and kindness, where Mother's were clouded with hate and malice.

Hideo is the first to speak. "Kai, I'd like you to meet Judy Mizuhara."

I am startled by her Japanese last name. "She doesn't look Japanese," I say, raising an eyebrow. Minoru coughs nervously, and Hideo looks embarrassed by my statement.

"Sorry about that, Mrs. Mizuhara," he says, trying to smile at the girl. "I guess we should have told him that-"

Judy cuts him off with a short, pleasing laugh. "Oh, that's all right. Children are naturally inquisitive, so it's perfectly fine for him to be confused about my last name." She bends down to look at me, eye to eye. "Hello, Kai."

I must have looked surprised, because she quickly added, "I've already been told you were coming; that's why I know your name."

I say nothing, and Judy takes my hand, leading the three of us inside at the same time.

"Anyway, I came from America; that's why I don't look Japanese. However, I married a Japanese, hence my surname."

"Oh, okay." She leads me over to a plump-looking armchair, motioning for me to sit down.

"Sit tight," she says, letting go of my hand. "I'll be right back."

As soon as she is gone, I take a good look at the inside of the house. The living room was tastefully decorated – powder blue armchairs and a sofa, with a beige coffee table with a lace doily in the middle of it all. On the wall were several picture frames. One of them catches my eye, and I walk over to it to see it better.

As soon as I see it in detail, my heart gives a lurch. The picture showed Judy standing next to a man who must have been her husband – he was Japanese – and, between them, a boy with blonde hair like his mother's, who didn't look much older than me. I was reminded of my younger days, when my mother was nice. I remember the day we went on one of the rare family vacations. We were in 'the tropics', as Father called it. That year, Mother taught me to float on my back. I was scared, but she didn't leave me and made sure I could handle myself. Soon, I was floating without her help, and all that afternoon, I showed off, showing her how good I was.

I almost cry at the memory. That's all I have left of the 'good times' – memories.

"Well, here we are." My thoughts were interrupted by Judy's cheerful voice. This time, she had a young boy with her – the boy from the photo. He was clutching a teddy bear. With her other hand, Judy took my hand once more and led me back to the armchair.

As soon as we were all seated – Judy, the boy, and I – Judy turned to me, smiling again.

"Kai, I'd like you to meet my son, Max." She turned to the boy. "Max, this is Kai. He'll be staying with us for a few weeks." Max waved, grinning widely. I grinned and waved back, though a little less enthusiastically.

"He'll-?" Hideo stood up and walked over to Judy. He was clearly as confused as I was.

"I thought he was supposed to stay at the Center." Hideo said.

"Well, I felt it would be better for Kai if he spent time with someone closer to his age. Also, Max gets rather lonely at times, so I'll be killing two birds with one stone if I have Kai stay here."

"But-"

"Don't worry, Hideo-san. I've already brought it up with the chairman, and he gave me the go-ahead."

"I…see."

There was silence for several minutes as Judy's words sunk in. The first to react was Max.

"Yippee! A playmate!" he shrieked, jumping up from where he sat – beside his mother – and heading straight for me.

"Come on!" he said, grabbing my wrist. "I'll show you my playroom!" I didn't have a choice since he fairly pulled me along, almost making me stumble.

"Well, look at that." Minoru said, staring after the two of us. "Looks like young Max has taken a liking to him already."

Takao looked up from the page he'd been reading. He couldn't believe it. Max had known Kai even before they met at the Regional Finals?

Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming down the hall; he quickly snapped the folder closed and shoved it under the bed.

The doorknob rattled. "Takao, open up! It's me, Max!"

Takao jumped up and quickly unlocked the door. "Hey, Max!" he greeted his best friend.

"Well, you're looking better," Max commented, his eyes sweeping the room. He noted the cleared space on the bed. "What have you been doing this whole time? I don't think you were sleeping, because that space doesn't seem too big."

"I…" Takao trailed off, looking at his sneaker.

"You faker!" Max suddenly said, swatting his friend playfully on the arm. "You pretended you were sick so you could be excused from training, didn't you?"

Takao nodded, grinning brightly. "Yup!"

Max punched him again, laughing "Good one! You got me there!"

"Thanks, man." Takao said, walking over to his bed and sitting down once more. "So, how was the training session? A killer, as usual?"

Unexpectedly, Max shook his head. "Uh-uh."

"Huh? Why?"

"Well, Kai didn't seem himself during the training," Max said, taking a seat on the floor.

"What do you mean?"

"It seemed that he had something weighing on his mind, like he was worried about something." Max looked up from playing with his shoestring. "You didn't answer my question."

"Huh?" Takao tried to look confused. "What question?"

Max rolled his eyes, but grinned. "What were you doing in here the whole time we were training?"

"Oh, that. Well…" Takao fixed his gaze on a tree branch that was just outside his window.

"C'mon, buddy! Spit it out!" Max urged, standing up and walking over to the opposite side of the bed. He sat down in a nearby chair, but not before brushing aside the soiled shirt that lay on it. "It can't be that bad – huh?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a corner of the cream-colored folder.

"What's that?"

Takao looked back at his friend. "What's what?"

Max pointed at the folder. "That…folder under your bed. What's it for?"

Takao's eyes widened momentarily, and his mind filled with panic. Oh, no! He thought frantically. He saw it! Outwardly, he grinned widely. "Oh, it's…nothing, Max, nothing at all!"

Max looked skeptical. "Oh? So why are you so intent on hiding it from me – or anyone else for that matter?"

Before Takao could stop him, Max stooped down and snatched it out from under the bed. He scanned the first page, much like Takao had done earlier.

Moments later, he looked up from the file. "You…swiped this from Kai's room?" he asked incredulously.

Takao sighed, knowing there was no hiding it. "Yeah, I did. It was inside the envelope that came for Kai this morning."

Max shook his head. "I can't believe you had the guts to 'borrow' this without permission. From Kai, of all people! I don't want to think of what will happen to you when he finds out." He bent his head again, reading the first part.

There was a silence for several minutes. Takao twiddled his thumbs, waiting for Max to finish the first page.

"Wow." Max said, his voice quiet and disbelieving. "Kai's…mother actually did that to him?"

Takao nodded, distracted. "By the way, Max," he said, wondering how to phrase his question. "I was wondering…" He glanced up at his friend, checking if he was listening. Max nodded to indicate he was. Takao sighed and went on. "Er…I was reading the second part when you knocked. In it, Kai was the one writing it, not the social worker, and the, um…the social worker was…your mom."

Max dropped the file.

"What did you say?" he said, bending down to pick up the folder. Clutching it in his fist, he straightened up. Inside, he was trying to convince himself that he'd heard wrong. He looked at Takao, grinning. "He, he…I thought you said that my mom was the social worker in charge of Kai's case. Good one, Takao, but you can't fool me a second time."

Takao said nothing. Max's smile faded.

"You weren't joking, huh?"

Takao nodded.

"B-but how?" Max was confused. "In here, it states that Kai is five years old in this account; that would put me at four years of age. How could Mom be his social worker when she's taking care of me at that time?"

Takao avoided answering, but asked a question of his own. "Where did you live when you were four?"

Max looked thoughtful. "I think it was somewhere in Wakayanagi." He grinned. "I guess what Mom said about my excellent memory is true."

Takao's face was serious. "Remember the account you read just now?" Max nodded. "Where did it say the social worker was living?"

"Somewhere in…" Max trailed off, his eyes wide as realization dawned. "Akihabara…"

Takao nodded, then suddenly, as though he'd just remembered something. "It said in the account that he stayed with you instead of at the foster care center place for a while." He leaned forward, his eyes glinting. "How did he act?"

"Kai? At my house?"

"Yeah! It says so in the file." Takao jumped up off the bed. "Can you remember anything at all?"

"I don't think so…"

"C'mon, Max! You can remember where you lived when you were four years old! Did you have a constant playmate who lived with you, but wasn't related to you?"

Max shut his eyes tight as he tried to recall. Takao felt anticipation rise in him and struggled to control himself.

After a few more minutes, Max opened his eyes. He turned to Takao.

"Now I remember," he said, smiling slightly.

"What? You remember what?" Takao persisted, fairly jumping on his pal.

"I'd tell you if only you'd calm down!" Max said, trying to push the sapphire-eyed teen. Takao obliged, going back to sitting on the bed, and Max took a deep breath.

"I remember that, long ago, Mom had me meet someone. She said that he'd been taken away from his mommy because she'd treated him badly. She said that…" Max trailed off.

"That what?"

"That he was staying with us for a while, just until his dad could come take him home. She introduced him to me as Kai."

"See? I told you!" Takao interrupted, jumping up. "You did meet him before!"

"Takao!" Max shot him a look that clearly said 'Weren't you taught any manners?'

"Sorry." The brunette settled down again.

"Anyway. I remember that there were two policemen with him, but I found out that he wasn't in trouble. After being introduced to him, I think I showed him my playroom. But my bed was there, too, so it was also my bedroom." Max closed his eyes again, chuckling softly.

"What's so funny?"

"I just remembered that, well, the Kai we know right now is rather…stolid and serious…"

"Yeah, so?" Takao raised an eyebrow.

"Well, when I showed him my room, his eyes went really huge, and he had a shocked look on his face." Max smiled. "It was as if he'd never seen that many toys before."

"So…?" Takao was still confused.

"He stood there for a minute before rushing to this huge pile of stuffed toys I had in the corner. He grabbed one scarlet-colored bird stuffed toy – it looked something like a miniature Dranzer, now that I think about it. Anyway, he grabbed it and – get this – squealed with laughter."

"No way!"

"Yeah! But I think it reminded him of an old toy or something, 'cause he said something like 'I don't believe it! It's you, Tori-chan!'."

"Kai squealed?" Takao was incredulous. Max nodded. "So what happened after that?" Takao asked, indicated that he wanted Max to continue.

"Well, I remember just standing there, clutching my teddy bear. After what must have been five minutes, it seemed that Kai remembered something that startled him. He walked over to me and thrust the toy back into my arms, mumbling 'sorry'."

"Now why'd he do that?"

Max closed his eyes. "I'll never know, and I never asked him. Anyway, what else do you want to know?"

"Was he like any other kid?"

Max's brow furrowed as he thought. "I think so…he didn't hesitate when I wanted to play 'Jungle Safari', or something like that. Oh, that first day, Mom asked Dad to bring the extra bed into my room, so that Kai and I could share a room, but the next day, we found he'd slept on the floor." Max shivered.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, the mattress on that bed was a little heavy for little kids – I remember; I tried to lift it, but couldn't – and, well, I guess Kai lifted the mattress onto the floor by himself. I asked him why he didn't sleep on the bed; he said that he wasn't used to it. Now I know what he meant."

Takao nodded in solemn agreement. "Anything else?"

"Well, he wouldn't set one foot in the kitchen. The problem is that we eat in there; there wasn't any space for a separate dining room. But one day, Mom was able to coax him into the kitchen, saying that she wanted the both of us to help her with dinner preparations. Kai agreed to help, but when Mom turned on the stove, he practically went white, then whimpered and then backed into a corner."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Max said, shaking his head.

"Well, what's say we read the file again so we can find out?"

"Okay, but could you lock the door? I'd feel safer if I knew that Kai couldn't enter so easily."

"Sure, no problem."

Trust Takao to get a stomach illness precisely at the start of the afternoon training period, Kai thought, walking down the hall towards his room. I'll make sure that he makes up for it at tomorrow's training.

He swung open his bedroom door and casually glanced around. Everything seemed just as he'd left it earlier that afternoon. Nonetheless, he approached his desk, a feeling of dread clutching his heart in a vice-like grip.

He picked up the brown manila envelope that had come for him that morning. His desk seemed in order. Or was it? His brow furrowed, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

He slipped his hand into the envelope and brought out the letter that had come with the file. He saw that it was the blank side that faced him. He knew that he'd replaced the letter so that when he brought it out, the side on which the letter had been printed would face him.

His eyes narrowed in anger. Someone had been in his room…

A/N: R&R, onegaishimasu! Peace out!