Hello! Sorry I took so long updating. But I've been quite sidetracked for a while. My little puppy hasn't been well, we have to keep taking her to the vets, and we're all upset, and my friend came around for the week so I didn't have time to get on the computer then and I had coursework and….phew! Life has been hectic!

But anyway….

Thanks for the idea KaiJr91, I'll use it! And I give the credit to you.

Catgurl2004 -Yes, Kai was surprisingly nice to him. I might have a chance to slip something later in that explains that, but really they're just good friends, just that they don't really show it on the outside because they're not used to it. I'm going to have to make that visible. OK, I'll but burn in.

See, I can be surprisingly nice!

darksaphire, thank you for your review. You're right, looking back at it I can see what you mean about Ray. But I think I am going to go back and change a few of the chapters a little so I could tweak that then! I do know what you mean though. Thank you!

MalukuBeybladeGirl yeah, I know, Ray is OOC. -sigh- ah well, you can't have everything with my writing! I'll try from now on to keep him in character. And yes, Tyson can ruin a story quite a bit, can't he!

Disclaimer: I don't own the lyrics in this chapter. The first lyrics are from Usher - Burn. I picked bits and pieces out, I know I did, so don't sue. And once again, I do not own Beyblade

sigh-

It's gonna burn for me to say this
But it's comin from my heart
It's been a long time coming
But we done been fell apart
Really wanna work this out
But I don't think ya gonna change ya
I do but you don't
Think it's best we go our separate ways
Tell me why I should stay in this relationship
When I'm hurting baby, I ain't happy baby
Plus theres so many other things I gotta deal with
I think that you should let it burn

When your feeling ain't the same and your body don't want to
But you know gotta let it go cuz the party ain't jumpin' like it used to
Even though this might bruise you
Let it burn
Let it burn
Gotta let it burn

When your feeling ain't the same and your body don't want to
But you know gotta let it go cuz the party ain't jumpin' like it used to
Even though this might bruise you
Let it burn (let it burn, let it burn, you gonna learn)
Let it burn (gotta let it burn)
Gotta let it burn

I'm twisted cuz one side of me is tellin' me that I need to move on
On the other side I wanna break down and cry

I'm twisted cuz one side of me is tellin' me that I need to move on
On the other side I wanna break down and cry

Ray gaped.
"W-What?"
"We need to talk, Ray. When?"
"Erm…after school?"
"Fine,"

And then he was gone.

Ray shook his head, swiping away the thoughts that floated in his head, and headed towards school. Lee was going in the opposite direction, probably planning to bunk off. Ray remembered the days when he was always bunking off school.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. He really would have to stop going back to that. He had had a bad enough time as it was remembering all of that.

"Hey Ray,"

"Hi Maxy,"
Max gave a small smile, an almost sad one, "Kai told me, you know,"
"I know,"
"Good,"
Ray was glad that Max didn't behave any differently around him. Although Ray looked and felt half-dead, Max chatted on about his new guitar pieces, a letter from his Dad and Kai getting better.

"They've found something to control the illness," Max said, cheerily, as they entered history class.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Well, to prevent it from having the attacks when he's exhausted as often. Pills, I think,"
"Is Kai in school today, I haven't seen him?"
"He's here, but he's got art now,"
Ray sat down at the desk he and Max sat at.
Ray still hadn't mentioned how awkward he had felt about Max talking to Enrique and Oliver. He tried to ignore the feelings about too.

And that was pretty easy, as Enrique and Oliver weren't in their history class.

Just Bryan and Tala, and a couple of other people who still thought Max was a weirdo, and ignored Ray.

Bryan and Tala sat right at the back in the corner, which was lucky, because Max and Ray weren't in their throwing range as they sat by the window in the middle of the classroom.

Ray was just drifting off into an open-eyed dozy coma as the teacher went on about American history, when he felt something like paper being pushed against his elbow, which was rested on the windowsill.

He looked down. A piece of paper had been pushed against his elbow, through the open window. Ray startled, leaning over to the window to look down below to see who had put it there.

No-one.

Was this a prank?

Thankfully, no-one had noticed him, so he picked up the note and opened it.

The handwriting was neat, almost like printed writing, and written in biro.

It said:

Ray

I am sorry that I cannot tell you this in person, but I would rather write this out to you in letter:

Morgan is planning something. He's planning to find you, and when he finds you there will be trouble. He's going to try and find you on your way to your marital arts lesson tonight.

Now that I've warned you, for God's sake don't get injured, I do not like wasting my time.

Stay safe

RAY'S POV

I kept reading the note all day. Who was it from?

How did they know that I had a martial arts lesson tonight? How did they know that Morgan was planning to get me? How did he know me?

I spent the rest of the day in quiet contemplation, going over the note in my mind, which eventually I had learnt off by heart.

At lunch, Max seemed to be on a bit of a sugar high.

"It was amazing!"
I laughed, "Max you're amused or amazed by anything,"
"Well it really was amazing! He knocked right the way through five wood blocks! It was awesome!"

I couldn't help but smile.

"Yes Max, I'm sure it was, but swallow your food! It's like looking into a swirling vortex of terror,"

Max said something through his meal, but I haven't the faintest idea what. I covered my face with my hands as if trying to protect myself from a nearby bomb explosion.

"Max! That's disgusting,"
I felt someone sit down beside me. It was Kai.

He didn't have any lunch.

He threw his bag down onto the floor under the table.

"I thought you were at basketball practise?" Max asked, frowning.

Kai muttered something and grabbed an apple of Max's tray. Max cried out in protest but before he could snatch it back Kai bit into it, and leaned back in his chair so that Max couldn't reach.
"Why aren't you at basketball practise?"
"Never mind," Kai said, curtly. I knew Max was fishing in dangerous waters when he persisted with Kai not going to basketball practise.

"Max," I said, in a warning tone.
Max flickered his gaze briefly over me, but ignored me, and went back to having a go at Kai.
"Max, stop it!" I cried, after a while. The pair of them were arguing, and Max still insisted on prying.

Kai looked surprised at me yelling at Max.

Max stared at me for a minute then turned away from Kai.
"Fine," he said, "But I don't see why you can't tell me," Max grumbled.

Before Kai could put satisfied smirk on his face after winning over Max, Max's hand had snatched out at the apple Kai had taken from him, ramming the entire thing in his mouth at once.

I burst out laughing as Max said, through a huge apple rammed in his jaw, "Ha, ha, look who has the apple now,"

It kind of came out like:

Ha, ha, ug hufs, ot, er apple wow.

"I think my jaws broken,"

"No wonder," I laughed.

Max was rubbing his jaw, as if putting a load of friction on it might make it feel better. We were at the lockers. The bell had gone a few moments ago, and everyone was piling out of their classrooms to get to their lockers. Max had already zipped past his, got his stuff, and met me and Kai at our lockers.

He moves like lightning that kid.

I was beginning to get nervous. I expected Lee to turn up any minute. I kept scrunching the note up in my hand, wringing it round and round my fingers.

The ink had nearly worn off the torn and ragged paper when I last looked at twenty minutes ago in the middle of biology.

Whilst Max moaned about his jaw to Oliver, who was walking past, Kai gave me a sideways glance from where he was pushing a history book into his locker.
"Ray?"
"Yes?"

"About last night…"
"What about it? I was pretty amazed you were so nice to me," I joked, laughing to cover up the awkwardness about talking about me blubbering in front of Kai. I bet he thought I was a weed, but then again he was so nice to me about it. I honestly thought he'd back out of my room and run a mile.

Instead he held me, and made me feel at least slightly better.
I never really knew we were that good friends, but I suppose now I think about it I have always had a good time around Kai and Max, I've always talked to them. Never fallen out, got through Johnny and Tala and Bryan and Lee's teasing together.

That might explain it.

And…I haven't had that many friends before. That bastard Morgan made sure of that, and I doubt Lee is going to tell everybody what a wonderful guy I am.

He's too busy parading around with his chest thrust out himself.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when it's happened to you to,"

I was snapped out of my thoughts by Kai's voice as he answered my question.

By the time I had realised, and reacted, to what he had said, he had gone.

Max was dithering around, still rubbing his jaw.

"Are you coming Rei?"
"No, I've got to see a teacher," I lied.

"Alright then. I'll call you tonight," Max said, as he ran off after his brother, nearly tripping over his bag.

I always told him he had the strap too long.

I shut my locker door, remembering Max stuffing the apple in his mouth and smiling.

So I jumped like a salmon when Lee came up behind me and said, "Ray?"
"Whoa!" I cried, whipping around, "Hi Lee," I said, breathing heavily from my shock.

"You look tired," he said, eyeing me up and down like he'd never really seen me before. I gave him a look too.

"You look like a bat out of hell," I said, sort of forgetting this was my arch nemesis every since he ditched me.

He gave me a glare but said nothing.
Probably because it was true.

He looked terrible.

His black hair was messy and stuck out everywhere. He could barely keep his eyes open, and they were slightly red.

"Ray, you do realise why I want to talk to you, don't you?"
"Not really. No,"
"I..." he leant against Kai's locker next to mine. "I met Morgan, a few days ago,"
"Yeah, you mentioned," I mumbled, remembering when Lee had kicked me down, yelling blue murder about me sending Morgan after him.
"He told me that you had sent him. So naturally I assumed you had been friends with him all along, this really wasn't just a peer pressure type thing. But I don't believe him now,"
"What made you change your mind?"
He looked up at me, and our eyes met in the first friendly confrontation we had had in a long time, "Firstly, your reaction when I said it to you. Secondly, when I actually had time to think about it. I can't really imagine you doing that Ray. You're not an idiot. And then, thirdly…Kai,"
"Kai?"

"Yeah. What do you know about Kai?
"Well…actually, not that much. I know he's ill, I know he was adopted by Judy two years ago. And…that's about it,"
"Well then you have a lot to learn. But just to show you what change my mind, I'll say that Kai has been in a pretty similar situation. We were friends back then. It was just when he arrived at Max's, and started here. The five of us were friends instantly. And he told us all about it, eventually. And I thought that this kind of what Ray's found himself in. And if Kai didn't lie to everyone around him about being hurt about it, and scheming behind people's backs with the guy who hurt him when everyone thought he was scarred by it, then I knew you wouldn't. Kai can be a scheming bastard when he wants to be, and even he didn't do it. So I knew you wouldn't Ray,"
There was a pause.

He rubbed his face.

"OK, that made no sense, but I know what I mean. Kai didn't lie in a similar pretty similar to yours, so I knew you wouldn't. That's it…kind of simplified,"
I let him keep talking.

"So when I realised you couldn't of sent Morgan, I tried to find him. I was angry, I wanted to screw up his pretty-boy face. But when I got the address someone gave me, I just found a note there. The place looked like it had been used not long ago, but it was empty,"
I tightened my hold on my note in my pocket.

"It said…" Lee dug around in his memory to remember, "It said that I mustn't go looking for Morgan, that you, Ray, were to sort it out for yourself. And to warn you not to confront Morgan when he is in control of things. Don't meet up with him when he informs you, or find yourself alone with him. It also said that you hadn't sent Morgan, that Mariah was safe, that you didn't bribe her here and then abandon her with Morgan,"
At that Lee let out a huge defeated sigh.

"So I'm sorry Ray. I should of known this was Morgan trying to screw me up. I should of known you wouldn't do that. Even though we've drifted apart over the years,"

His eyes looked back into mine.
During the dumbfounding explanation he had been looking at his feet, a pained expression drawn across his face.

Now he looked me in the eye, his expression sincere.
"Well, that's hardly my fault," I said, bitterly. I couldn't help it.

"I know. I'm sorry,"
"Lee, why did you abandon me like that? You ignored me when I first came over, you ignored me when things were going wrong with Morgan…you ignored me when my brother died!-"
"Ray, I'm sorry!"
"I know! But it's a little late! I really needed you Lee. I needed you to help me like you always did when things went wrong. And you turned your back on me!"
"I know! But…but I had a new life, and I didn't want to be reminded of what I had left behind! You were a painful reminder,"
"Well, I'm sorry for that," I said, snidely, slamming my locker door shut which had been hanging open, "But I didn't ask to come over here. I wish I hadn't. If I hadn't, I wouldn't of had to find out why I shouldn't trust you the hard way,"
"Ray, I said I was sorry! I know that can't make up for much! But I want to sort this out, doesn't that make it better in itself!"
"Lee," I said, shaking my head, "Nothing can make what you did better. But it can make what's going to happen better. If you're going to be my cousin again, the boy I knew in China, then make it happen…I'd like that. But don't think it's going to change my thoughts of you in the past,"
I turned away and left him.

And even though my last words to my cousin weren't exactly loving, I was smiling as I walked away. And I could hear Lee laughing, and feel the cheer radiating from him as he grinned.

Maybe when he becomes my cousin and friend again, he can't change the past and what he did. But I can predict he'll sure as hell make my future better.

I began to run down the corridor whooping.

Finally, I was beginning to get my old life back!

My cousin! My friend! We were going to be friends again!
I cart wheeled.

People say you can't fix relationships that have fallen in a matter of seconds, but I don't think it ever really failed to the point of distinction!

Even the fact I had to think of an excuse not to get out of martial arts that night could dampen my mood.

I HAVE MY COUSIN BACK! WOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming.

Back to the rules and I hit the ground running.

Didn't make sense not to live for fun

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb,

So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You never know if you don't go

You'll never shine if you don't glow…

Hey now, you're a all star,

Get your game on, go play

Hey now, you're a rock start,

Get the show on, get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mould

It's a cool place, and they say it gets colder

You're bundled up now, wait 'til you get older!

But the media men beg to differ,

Judging by the hole in the satellite picture

The ice we skate, is getting pretty thin

The water's getting warm so you might as well swim

My world's on fire, how 'bout yours?

That's the way I'll like it and I'll never get bored!

Hey now, you're a all star,

Get your game on, go play

Hey now, you're a rock start,

Get the show on, get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mould

Somebody once asked

Could I spare some change for gas

"I need to get myself away from this place,"

I said "Yep, what a concept!

I could use a little fuel myself,

And we could all use a little change!"

Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming.

Back to the rules and I hit the ground running.

Didn't make sense not to live for fun

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb,

So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You never know if you don't go

You'll never shine if you don't glow…

Those lyrics might not have much to do with the plot, but they're cheery and optimistic and I love that song to bits!

Anyway, review please!

And tell me what you think!

Apple Senorita-