Disclaimer: Suheil373 doesn't own Beyblade or its characters, but she does own Raul, Hitate and the plot of this fiction.

Author note: Hey guys and gals! Here's another chapter! It was a bit delayed since I planned everything for the story, and suddenly I remembered... "Hey, how am I going to get Kai and Hil to interact with each other?" and yeah... I had to think a lot and come up with a way to have them start to talk to each other. I hope it works out well and that you like it!

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

'How could she do that!' The thought passed through Ray's mind furiously, repeating itself over and over.

The other boys seemed to be mesmerized as well. Tyson's eyes were wide as they could be, as were Max's, and Kai looked like he had swallowed an especially spicy hot sauce. And Ray...

He looked as if someone had just punched him in the face. His usually pale cheeks were flushed, his eyes had a look of utter hatred... almost like a tiger ready to pounce in order to defend his meal.

Hilary pulled back from her kiss with Raul, looking like she accomplished a rather fun mission. She looked at Ray, who could have sworn that his palms were bleeding from clenching his fists so tight, her victorious expression being the last spark to ignite him.

The raven-haired teen inhaled deeply, turned around and walked off, ignoring the shouts of Max and Tyson, which began to fade away. He needed to be alone...

"Hey, you guys!" The brown-haired girl smiled as she entered the dojo and found the boys sitting and talking... all except for Ray and Kai.

Max looked up at Hilary and smiled nervously, "Hi, Hils! Oh! Is that your brother?"

She smiled and pushed a little boy who looked to be about nine years old in front of her, "Yeah. Hitate, you remember my friends, don't you?"

Hitate looked just like her, the same hair, but shorter, the same eyes and the same pale complexion. The blonde member of the Bladebreakers stood up and walked over to Hilary and her brother, he ruffled the boy's hair, but looked at Hilary with a worried expression on his face, "Hils, I have to tell you something..."

She nodded, "Hitate, go bother Tyson, I'm going to go talk to Max."

They turned towards the door and walked to the front of the Granger household. The blue-eyed teen sighed deeply and looked at the brunette, "Hilary, why did you kiss that guy? You know, Ray's pretty pissed off... well, in a worried sort of way."

"Serves him right... Look, Maxie, I really like Raul. He's cute, and fun, and interesting, and we've got so much in common! Whether Ray likes it or not, I'm going out with Raul and if he's got any complaints, he can come and tell me himself," she crossed her arms as she finished.

"Fine, I will!"

For a moment, Max looked like he had been threatened to die a painful death and as the Chinese boy appeared on the scene, the blonde disappeared through the door. Hilary stood her ground, ruby orbs glaring defyingly into golden pools.

Ray sighed upon reaching her, "Why are you doing this, Hilary?"

"I'll tell you what I told Max: I like Raul. I like him and whether you like it or not I'll keep going out with him. It's my life, so I'll tell you like I did before: butt out!" she yelled.

He scowled, and raised his voice as well, "I'm not trying to butt into your life, I just don't want to see you waste your time on that loser! You don't know anything about him--"

"Neither do you!"

"That's what you think!"

"You had never even seen him before that day!"

"You're assuming too much! You had never seen him before that day! But I have! I've seen him with women, I've seen him drinking, I've seen him all over the place and he's always up to no good!"

"What's going on out here!"

Ray and Hilary looked up, startled, to see who the third voice had belonged to.

Kai...

He looked down at both of them, a scowl on his face, his arms crossed over his chest. The brunette immediately lowered her gaze to the ground, tears beginning to form in her eyes, whilst the amber-eyed teen kept his gaze steadily on her.

"Ray... Go inside and get Hilary's brother."

The Chinese boy hesitated for a moment, but did as he was told: he left. She didn't dare raise her head... she knew Kai was still keeping his gaze steadily on her. As she heard his approaching footsteps, Hilary bit her lip, holding back from breaking down in front of the cold-hearted captain of the Bladebreakers.

He stopped in front of her, "He worries about you. I think you should listen to what he says... It may be true."

"Do... do you think he's right?" she asked, though she didn't care what the answer was... she wasn't even expecting one.

But it came... "Who knows?"

Hilary looked up, but found nobody standing there... As she looked toward the door, she saw Kai's foot slipping inside.

Maybe Ray was right...

Ring... Ring... Ring... Ring...

Ruby eyes opened groggily at the shrill sound of the phone. Hilary bolted upright, and nearly jumped off the bed, running toward the noisy appliance. She picked it up, yawning at the same time. She hoped it was that person she had been expecting for the last three days...

"Hello?" she asked. Hopefully it was...

"Hils?"

It wasn't...

Hilary sighed, "Yes. Who is it?"

"It's Ray. Listen, I was just wondering why you haven't come over in such a long while? I mean, you usually don't take longer than a few days, so... yeah..."

Tears formed in her eyes, but she tried the hardest to hold them back, "He hasn't called me..."

She heard him sigh as well, "Oh... Hey, you want me to pick you up alone and we can go on a walk around the park or something?"

"Sure. But just you, okay?"

"I feel terrible... He hasn't called me in three days and last week he didn't call me at all. He keeps telling me about all these girls that he meets in bars, in parties, his neighbors introduce him to an awful lot of people... I... I don't know if I should trust him," finished the brunette, laying down on the grass, staring at the cheerful sky. She felt mocked, but simply closed her eyes.

Next to her, the amber-eyed teen gave her a sympathetic look, "I think you should just break up, Hils. I don't think that long-distance relationship is helping you accomplish anything. There's so many people in the world, you shouldn't waste all your time on one that you don't even see regularly."

"You're right... But it's all his mother's fault! If she didn't have to go with her stupid boyfriend he would still be here with me. Anyway, I'll ask him for a break until he comes back... and if I find someone else that I care for I'll break up!" Hilary smiled for the first time that day, and opened her eyes to look at the sky. Starting that moment, even if she hadn't talked to Raul yet, she was going to stop being the faithful, long-distance girlfriend.

Ray kept looking at her, worried. Why was she so keen on remaining that guy's girlfriend? Why just a break, when she so desperately needed to be out of that relationship completely? He didn't get it... It made him angry, yet, at the same time, he felt sad and frustrated that such a pretty and nice girl was wasting herself, throwing away her life and energy.

"What are you staring at, Ray?" she asked, blinking up at him.

He smiled in response, "Nothing... I'm just glad that you're finally smiling! It suits you... You better not stop, okay?"

"Alright," giggled Hilary. "Let's go down to Tyson's, I haven't seen the guys in ages!"

The brown-eyed girl smiled and talked with her friend all the way to Tyson's house. Upon arriving in front of the gates, she sighed joyfully. Hilary couldn't wait to see Max, Tyson, Kenny and... well, Kai, but he wouldn't pay any mind to her. She hadn't seen them in a few days and couldn't wait to go inside, which she demonstrated immediately as she scurried toward the door, took off her shoes, and ran inside, followed by the Chinese teen.

"Hey, Hilary," said the blue-eyed blonde as he saw Hilary. She figured that he looked freaked out by her sudden cheerful expression and the squeeze she gave his cheeks.

"Hi, Maxie! How are you? Where are the other guys?"

He blinked, surprised at the sudden change in her attitude. Max was already getting used to the moody, depressed Hilary that had replaced the cheerful one since Raul left, "Um... I'm fine. Tyson and Kenny are at Mr. Dickenson's and Kai is in the back. I'm glad that you're looking better!"

"Thanks. I'm gonna go see Kai, even though he'll ignore me, but I'll just say 'hi'. Be back in a second," she waved him off and walked toward the back door and out through it. There he was, sitting under the tree, seemingly asleep.

The brunette walked towards him, slowly, then kneeled next to him, smiling timidly. He opened one silver eye and looked at her, "So you came back..."

"Uh... Yeah. Just came to say 'hello.' How are you? I hadn't seen you in a few days, and seeing as I'm in a good mood today and I barely ever talk to you, I... well... here I am," she blushed as she finished.

The slate-haired teen closed his eye and shrugged, "Hi. I'm fine. Anything else?"

"Uhh... I don't know--"

"If you're just gonna waste my time, I suggest you leave me alone," he cut her off.

Hilary frowned and crossed her arms, "Well, actually, I have something to ask you."

"Well?" he raised an eyebrow, not even bothering to look at her.

She placed her hands on her knees, nervously biting at the corner of her lower lip. Then, hesitantly, she asked, "Do you think... I should break up with my boyfriend? I know it's pathetic to be asking you this, but I just want your opinion..."

"Yes. You should have done it a long time ago. If he cared about you he wouldn't have left," Kai sighed. "Is that it?"

The brown-haired girl's eyes watered. She felt hurt by Kai's words, but they somehow felt like they should have. She sniffed, catching his attention, "Oh... Kai... What do I do? What if he comes back? I don't want to lose him... What if I break up with him and I don't find anyone? What if... after I break up he comes and finds himself a new girlfriend? What am I going to do then?"

The blunette blinked. He wasn't expecting her to break down in front of him. He didn't know what to do, and he strangely found himself at a loss for words. What could he say to her? He had never been in a situation like this before and wondered why he had to provoke it. "Hilary..." What now? She was sobbing, tears seeping from her ruby orbs. What else could he say? ... "Uh... Don't. Don't cry." Kai reached out to pat her shoulder, and as he did so, she clung to his shirt, crying into his chest. Now, this was the most uncomfortable moment of his life.

Hilary didn't care whether this was Kai, Tyson or whoever. She felt comforted anyway; even though he didn't embrace her, even though he barely said anything, it was nice enough that he didn't push her away. She cried her worries out. All her sorrow was pouring out in the form of her tears... it felt so much better to let it out. The brunette had only talked to Ray about her problems, but it was never good enough... she always left out a lot of things so he wouldn't get angry or worried. Now, she was letting all of those things out, not in words, but it was all coming out all the same.

"Hilary... stop. Do you want me to call the others?" asked the silver-eyed teen, gently nudging her shoulder.

She shook her head, "No... Please, don't. I... can't tell them. They... they won't... they won't understand."

'I wouldn't expect them to...' Kai sighed. He didn't really understand either, but it was better that he listened and didn't say anything than them listening and scolding the poor girl. "Would you tell me if I asked you to? Do you think I would understand?"

The brunette sniffed and gulped, trying to hold back her tears, "I... don't know. Would you listen? Without judging him or me?"

He sighed again, "Sure... Go ahead."

Max giggled as he looked out the window toward the tree, "What a miracle! That's not a sight you see every day."

Next to him, Ray smiled, "Yeah. Now that I see them like that, I got a great idea..."

"Oh?" the blonde looked toward his friend. "What's that?"

"Hilary's having problems with her boyfriend... I think she needs a new one, or at least someone to talk to that's not you, me or Tyson. No offense, but I don't think you or Tyson understand her well enough, and me... well, I know she never tells me the whole truth because I'm protective of her, to say it like that. Anyway, that's where Kai comes in... What if they became girlfriend and boyfriend... or at least good friends?" asked the amber-eyed teen, smirking.

The blonde smiled widely, "I see! ...But I don't think Kai's the type to have a girlfriend... much less a good friend that's a girl... or a good friend, period, hehehe."

Ray stared out the window at Hilary and Kai. She was talking to him, and he seemed to be listening, a thoughtful expression upon his face. "Why not? They get along okay. And he treats her better than he treats the rest of us all put together!"

"But what about her? She's hooked on that other guy... 'Saul' or whatever his name is," he bit his lip.

"I got it! We can just brainwash her... and him. It will be easier with her, but he's another deal. I'll leave her to you, and you leave him to me."

Max blinked, "What do I say to her?"

"Um... say good things about Kai. Like... how attractive he is, and... that he's a good listener... or... I don't know, just make something up," Ray closed the window's blinds and leaned on the counter. "It's easier to make her like him, but him like her... unlikely."

"Maybe he'll like her on his own..." said the blonde, thoughtfully. He then laughed, "Yeah, right!"

To be continued...

Well? What do you think? It's not as long as I hoped, but at least it's something, eh? Please review!