Warning : Strong language, eventual yaoi, violence

Disclaimer : I don't own Beyblade or any of the characters. The characters you do not recognise are mine and are not to be stolen/used in any story other than my own.

"………" - Speech

'………' - Thought

Italics - Something written (e.g. e-mails)

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Rei POV

I didn't mean to be that mean, trust me. I'm not a mean person and I didn't know that Red-eyes would get hurt by 'the school geek', and anyway, all I said was 'go away', it's not exactly threatening is it? Still, rumour has it that Red-eyes does like me in 'that' way so I suppose it's more for him to take in than it would have been coming from some random person. Though, I don't actually know if he does like me like that since I get all my information from Tyson who, incidentally, knows nothing about current school affairs, just loads of computery stuff, but can I trust his judgement I guess.

I still can't believe that Kai's one of us though, a faggot. It's weird, you know? The leader of some big-shot school gang and he's queer. And I honestly can't believe that I'm using such words. Faggot, queer… I'm practically insulting myself. But then again, those are the only words that you hear for our type round here, nobody likes us 'gays'. According to everyone at Shouchikubai Shit Hole, my kind of people should just die and be done with, just like that. No cares for the fact that we might actually be nice people or anything… I would be perfectly happy to make a bet that if Red-eyes told the school that he was gay that suddenly everyone would be fine and cool with it, just so that Infamous wouldn't gang up on them. But then again, didn't Red-eyes say that Falcon doesn't like it either? I guess that means that nobody actually knows about the leader's sexuality and the fact that he fancies the school geek, who totally has the hots for his best friend Ginge. It's all a bit crazy, huh.

I'm just walking to school at the moment; it's windy and my hair is going everywhere and I'm annoyed at that fact. It's also surprisingly cold today, cold enough that I am even wearing a jacket for once, but then again it is only seven in the morning, and it's winter. If you're wondering why I'm leaving for school this early, it's because I'm going to Tyson's first so I can use his computer to get some information for my art project. Sure, I don't tend to want to use computers, especially not by free will, but I do want the grades… Since it's art.

Being so early, it's still dark, the sun only just creeping out from beyond the horizon, tingeing the clouds with a warm orange glow. It's beautiful out this morning : The air is fresh, everywhere is quiet and peaceful, and I'm out here, enjoying it as the birds are waking up and singing, telling everybody that dawn has arrived. I almost want to sing along with them, but I think that people who're still curled up in bed and trying to sleep would hunt me down or something… Plus I still have a little bit of dignity left and I'd quite like to keep it.

Kami, it is freezing out here this morning. A gust of wind has just brushed past and I'm covered in goose bumps now. 'Goose bumps' is such a dumb phrase. I wonder if geese get 'people bumps' when they're cold? I'm actually starting to feel a bit sick too, maybe I'm coming down with something, or maybe it was that dodgy egg sandwich I had for breakfast. I don't know, but it feels weird. It doesn't feel like normal sickness… It feels like the kind of feeling I get when Red-eyes is around, but different. It feels worse. Maybe… Maybe I'm scared. What is there to be scared of though? Walking out in a dark street on my own maybe…

Normal POV

Despite his anxiety, Rei carried on walking, now clutching his aching stomach, absent-mindedly picking up his pace as a headache kicked in too. He didn't know what was going on, but he felt strangely anxious… As if somebody was watching him. He turned the corner, trying to shake off this strange feeling and found himself face to face with the leering smirk and glinting eyes of the Falcon himself.

"Uhhh…" Rei muttered incoherently as the lilac-haired teen stepped forward, making the younger boy take a large step back, only to find himself suddenly shoved roughly against a wall, scraping his back on a sharp bit of brick. He gasped and struggled, feeling a small trickle of blood release itself from his back where he had been slammed against the coarse stone. "Let me go!" Rei half shouted, half whimpered as the Falcon wrapped a strong hand around the boy's throat, squeezing lightly, bringing his other hand up, in a fist level with Rei's head. It was then that the neko-jin realised he was crying. "Please let me go…" He pleaded, eyes wide with fear, watching the elder teen grin sadistically.

Then it happened. And it felt like he had been run over by a herd of galloping horses. The pounding in his cheek was growing by the second, the tears that were staining it feeling like rivers of lava as they burned their way down and salted his aching lips. Then the Falcon struck again. This time it was in the jaw, a hard hit that left pain surging all the way through Rei's head, settling to thump in his temples. The neko felt his tooth come loose and straight away choked on the blood that began to fall like waterfalls from his nose and mouth, streaking down to stain his clothes.

"Please let me go!" He screamed loudly, the tears leaking from pleading eyes as he made a silent prayer that he would still be alive tomorrow, watching the Falcon's hand dive into a pocket inside of his jacket, only to pull out a knife. "No…" Rei whispered shakily, then screamed as loudly as he could. "Help! Somebody please help me!"

The younger teenager saw his life flash before him as the knife was raised. His childhood with his friends back in China and the good times they'd had, climbing trees and hiding from the elders. Then he moved to Japan and felt like he didn't have a friend in the world until his Chinese friend Lee moved to the same town with his sister Mariah, two of his closest childhood friends. That was when he'd first realised that he was gay, and he was only ten years old when he discovered it. He started Shouchikubai School when he was eleven and met Tyson. Tyson, a good friend of his… The best friend he had. Three years down the line and they were still so close, and they were doing so well in school, and now something Rei had always dreamed of had come true. Another boy had feelings for him. What would Kai say if he knew what was happening? Did he actually care, or did he just want to screw with the neko's head? Now he'd never know.

"Oi, you! What the hell is going on?"

And the knifed hand dropped. The Falcon's lilac covered head whipped to the side, taking in the stance of the middle-aged man that was running toward him. A man in a business suit who looked to be roughly in his early forties. A man that may have just saved a certain teenager's life.

"Get off of him! I'm calling the police kid!" The man shouted in a growling voice to the Falcon, who turned his attention back to the sobbing mess that he was roughly holding on to.

"You're going to die." He whispered tauntingly into the younger boy's ear, before leaning forward so that they were practically nose to nose. Rei couldn't believe what was happening. Only a few minutes ago he had been thinking about singing along with the birds to signify the breaking of dawn, and now he was crunched against a wall, a psycho leaning over him with breath that smelt of stale cigarette smoke. "Queer bastard." He muttered, making the amber eyes go wide with fear as the knife was once again raised, suddenly coming toward him with such force and speed that he found himself too scared to scream. Too scared to even move.

He felt a sharp pain to the side of his stomach, heat surging through his body… And that is the last thing he felt.

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