Solid

Notes: Yo! Been a while, hasn't it? I finally got my Microsoft Word working again. Go me! Note: Updates are going to be slow after Spring Break (I get two weeks, ya lucky ducks), like, really slow. I am not such a big fan of Beyblade anymore, and have deleted many of my fics and stopped reading a lot of my favorites. I am still contemplating deleting others, but I am not going to delete Solid.

Hopefully.

Another Note: I might be changing my name soon. To what? I have no idea.

This chapter is more of a transition, if nothing else. Don't expect too much from it. I wrote this in January, just after Indoor Soccer started up again. Well, now the season's over and Outdoor is starting. Gods. That took way too long.

Some Jedi I am.

Chapter Eight

When Soccer started back up in January, everyone could tell that Tyson and Hitoshi had been fighting over the Holidays. Nobody could tell about what, though, only that practice was worse than usual because of their Coach's bad mood. It was the same thing with Tyson; the Brother's argument was taking a toll on his performance.

Which was frustrating for the team in more way than one.

"This sucks!" hissed Rei, panting as he ran a little bit behind Kai. "My legs feel like lead!"

"Save…" Kai groaned, shaking his head as they turned the corner of the long, indoor track. Hitoshi had a lot of influence, and had somehow managed to get a University Track, as well as the Gym area the track surrounded. It was huge! "Save your breath…"

Rei remained silent, speeding up slightly to run next to Kai. Tyson was running way ahead of them. Rei moved his eyes to focus on what was ahead of the Kinomiya, figuring that Kai was doing the same.

Kai wasn't. His eyes were focused directly on Tyson. The way he ran, the way he breathed… Kai wasn't that focused today; not because Hitoshi was intimidating when he was mad, or because Tyson was acting like a complete clown, but because of the events that had been taking place as of late.

Normally, Kai told Rei everything. Rei was his best friend, even his therapist at times and vice versa. There had always been a good, natural bond between them.

So why couldn't tell Rei about this? Well…

Over the holidays, Rei and Hilary had officially become an item.

Over the holidays, Kai and Tyson had not so officially become something like an item.

Tyson proclaimed it a first date. Kai called it pizza.

Tyson called Kai everyday. Kai didn't mind.

Kai called Tyson every second day. Tyson didn't mind.

Tyson called it a sign. Kai figured it was a mistake.

And both silently agreed to come to terms with their sexuality.

Only thing was, they kept everything secret. Kai had though that Tyson would want the whole world to know; or, at least, their close friends who would accept them. To his great surprise, Tyson had wanted it to be kept quiet, even more so than Kai.

"Don't even tell Rei?"

"Yeah. Don't tell the cat."

"But why? There's nothing going on."

"Uh huh. Just don't tell anyone about us."

"There is no 'us'…and why not?"

"Kitty'll just tell my brother."

"So? Is it really bad if Hitoshi knows?"

"…hey, want to catch a movie?"

Kai's heart pounded, and not only because they were doing incessant amounts of laps. He and Rei kept steady paces, but it was still tiring. Now and then Tyson would slow, and then speed up once he got more energy.

"What does running have to do with Indoor soccer?" Rei protested loudly as he and Kai trudged to the center of the large room, where Hitoshi was waiting impatiently.

"Everything." Kai replied grumpily, shaking his head.

"But it's Indoor!"

"Good."

"What do you mean, good?"

Kai and Rei plopped down on the ground with Max and Raul, Rei still ranting about running. Max and Rei joined him after a moment. Kai didn't feel comfortable with criticizing Hitoshi's ways of coaching, so he remained silent throughout the conversation.

No matter what had formed between himself and Tyson, Hitoshi was still an important factor in his life. And he felt horrible about it. Hitoshi was still special to him, still…

Kai looked over at Hitoshi, drowning out the complaints of his teammates and friends. Hitoshi had his whistle in his mouth, ready to blow, and a yellow soccer ball tucked under his right arm. His dark eyes were focused on the smaller group of guys walking to wards them, Tyson among them.

Challenge. That was what Kai saw in Hitoshi's eyes right then. An angry, fiery challenge.

The younger Kinomiya did not look well. He was pale, tired and sweaty like the rest of them, but he was shaking all over, forcing himself to meet Hitoshi's glare with the same challenged glint in his eyes. Tyson seated himself next to Kai, his eyes never leaving Hitoshi and vice versa.

Rei, Raul and Max fell silent when the blunette arrived, staring at him. Rei nudged Kai with his elbow, nodding towards the Kinomiya. His look clearly said, "What the fuck?"

After of a moment of apathy from Kai, Rei voiced his question.

"What the fuck is he doing here?"

Kai shrugged, choosing to ignore Rei rather than get involved in yet another argument. Instead, he watched Tyson struggle to breathe more evenly.

"You should start taking deeper breathes," Max said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the five boys. "And put your arms up like this!" He raised his arms straight over his head, grinning at Tyson.

The blunette finally turned away from Hitoshi, giving Max a quizzical look. He hesitated, and then raised his arms over his head like Max was doing.

"That looks ridiculous!" Rei proclaimed, folding his arms across his chest and scowling at Tyson. "And, once again, what are you doing over here? Say something Kai!"

Raul, Max, Rei and Tyson all looked expectantly at Kai, who felt a little bit under pressure. He frowned, and then shrugged. He reached up and pulled down one of Tyson's arms – Tyson took this as a hint to lower both.

Kai looked back at Rei and said in a bored tone, "What do you want me to say?"

"What do you mean what do I want you to say !" Rei cried, waving his hands in the air. "This is Kinomiya we're talking about! Wait… to! Whatever!" he shot a glare Tyson's way. In return, Tyson gave him a triumphant smirk.

"Rei!"

Rei blinked and then let out a cry as the yellow soccer ball Hitoshi had been h olding flew towards him. He raised his hands and caught it, flinching slightly. Opening his eyes, he glared at Hitoshi, who was pulling another ball out of his mesh bag.

"What did you do that for?" Rei demanded, his anger now directed towards the other Kinomiya.

"Drills." Hitoshi replied simply, tossing a ball to both Rei and Max as he blew his whistle.

Kai caught his ball and muttered a small thank you. Hitoshi said nothing. He wouldn't even look at the Russian, and Kai felt a small, painful twang inside.


"Man oh man, that was a depressing practice!"

"I'm gonna be sore for weeks!"

"How does he expect us to play on Sunday?"

Duffel bag swung over one shoulder and a thoughtful frown gracing his lips, Kai trudged after Max, Raul and Rei through the snow covered street. The neko-jin stayed back slightly, making sure Kai stayed with the group. Kai had been acting more solemn than usual since Drills earlier that evening, and Rei couldn't even tell why. This was the most frustrating part of the evening for him.

"Hey! I know!" Max stopped abruptly, making Raul almost walk into him. The blond spun around, slamming one fist into his open palm triumphantly. "Pizza!"

"Pizza?" Raul and Rei echoed in unison, confused. Kai raised a slate eyebrow at his blond teammate.

"You mean go for pizza?" Kai questioned, his frown deepening. He was totally broke at the moment.

Max nodded excitedly. "Yeah! We can go to that restaurant Raul's sister works at!"

"Uh, uh," Raul cut in, shaking his head. "She'll kick us out!"

"Why? Because of what happened at the Christmas Party?"

"Obviously."

"Pfft." Max waved a hand dismissingly at his friend. "Nah. Just you. Besides, I think your sister is kind of cute," Max stated, winking at Raul who turned red from either embarrassment, or fury. "I might just ask her out tonight!"

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Raul retorted hotly, crossing his arms and scowling at Max.

"I wish!" exclaimed the blonde. "I almost asked Mariam Shield out, but I chickened out…"

"Well, ask her for a date, not Julia!"

"DATE!"

Everyone jumped as Rei suddenly shouted, scaring an old lady across the street. She shot them all dirty looks, and then continued trudging through the snow, hugging her small, fluffy white dog in her arms.

"What did you do that for?" Kai hissed, glaring at Rei furiously. "It's late! Someone's bound to call the police!"

"I have a date with Hilary!" moaned Rei, ignorning Kai.

"When?"

"Ten minutes ago."

"Smooooooooth."


Notes: Well, what did you think? Like I said, a transition chapter. I don't know when I'm going to update. Most likely when I get over my writer's block.

Review!

Zen-chan