Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade!

Chapter 2: Touch and Go

"It's not what you think!" I blurt, rushing out to the hallway as I hear the front door open. I stand in a protective position, hoping that I can guard myself from any misinterpretations of the situation.

"Hello to you too!" Tyson walks in. I relax, a disappointed feeling washing over me as he pats me on the head. "You didn't have to meet me at the door though. What's that smell?"

"Tyson!" Max clamors out of the kitchen and they tackle each other happily in greeting. "It's dinner. I helped!" I watch as he leads Tyson off. The door closes behind me and I turn back around guiltily.

"It's not what you think…" I repeat, but without as much nerve. Initially, I had been ready to grovel and apologize and do just about anything to make sure he knew it wasn't my fault or my idea. I was willing to accept the consequences and explain the whole story until he understood. Anything as long as he wouldn't be angry with me. But Tyson had stolen my oomph and Kai's nonchalant attitude didn't warrant digging it out again.

Kai hangs up his coat, ignoring me completely, before he walks past me as if I'm not even there and goes straight to his room. I hear the door close.

Great, he's so angry he doesn't even have a snide remark to say. How do I even go about fixing THAT?!

"Ray! Hurry up! You're gonna miss out!" Tyson yells from the kitchen. I take a few steps forward and stop in the doorway to the kitchen, seriously pondering whether following Kai right now would make him angrier or if I had anything to offer him to calm him down. I couldn't use the same tactics as yesterday and there isn't really anything Kai needs or desires that would be adequate enough to sway his feelings. "Just leave him alone, he's been like that all day." Tyson seems to notice my concern. "He'll get over it with a little time. He always does!" I shift to face the two other boys as they are busily setting up the table with the food Max and I had prepared.

"But what about dinner?" I try to make up an excuse to go check on him anyway. Tyson might easily forget about others feelings but I didn't. Not to mention that it would be uncomfortable if I didn't deal with it before we settled in to sleep.

Tyson waves it off.

"I saved him a plate for when he's ready so you don't have to worry." He smiles.

"He likes it better by himself anyway," Max agrees with a happy wink.

I fold.

It might be better to let him just cool off a bit. If I had to guess he would probably find his way to the gym to work it out. He hadn't done that for some time now but it had been his go-to problem solver in the past. That was actually something that we shared. It helped with concentration and focus as well as kept us from taking our anger out in more destructive ways.

"So how was your first day as an adult?" I enter the kitchen and take my seat at the table. They finish setting everything up and settle in as well. Tyson grunts in disapproval as we all start helping ourselves to the food.

"So boring! All I did was watch videos about sexual harassment in the workplace and retirement policies. I think school would have been more exciting… I didn't even get to look around! Mr. Dickinson said everyone had to participate because there was a test at the end but all I wanted to do was sleep. What kind of job gives you a test?!"

"Sounds…rough." I say unsure. I didn't have the heart to tell him that that was pretty standard for most jobs. Max pats him on the back to comfort him.

"School isn't any better. I got kicked out of almost every single class for talking. College is so different than High School. I thought discussion was supposed to be a good thing," he shakes his head disapprovingly. "And Ray is only in ONE of my classes! I thought for sure we'd see each other more often…"

Thank heaven for small favors.

I look up at the ceiling as if saying a grateful prayer before I turn to Max and give him a small frown.

"Yeah, sorry I didn't see more of you. It's not my first semester so I've already taken most of the classes you are in now. If you need any help, I know the material though." I offer an exchange. One that I am halfway hoping he'll forget about if he ever DOES need help. "Why did you enroll there anyway? It's nowhere near home…" Max takes a big swallow of food and points his fork at me.

"Trying to get rid of me already, huh? I already told you not to worry, Ray! I have a place on campus to live. Tyson talked me in to going because it was close to where he was going to be and my Dad said it wasn't a bad choice. Even if it wasn't my original plan it still works out!" He goes back to digging into his food and Tyson nods. Before I can ask anything about his 'original plan', Tyson interrupts.

"Yeah, and now you don't have to go so far to see us!" They both laugh and I instinctively look towards the hallway again, hoping that maybe a miracle would happen or the world would end. Wait, I don't want the world to end if I am in a fight with Kai. I take that back. I do wish he would come join us though. A nice, calm conversation like this might help show him how unnecessary being angry is. Max wasn't staying! He had a place…

"Can I stay in your room tonight? I think it'll be past curfew by the time I leave…"

"What?" I turn back sharply. "No, you can't." I panic. If Max stayed there was a good chance Kai would remain angry and that wasn't good for anyone. I didn't want him to get too comfortable.

"It's just one night, Ray. I'll take care of him. Kai won't even notice." Tyson replies happily. That doesn't make me feel any better. Since when does Kai 'not notice' anything? And since when does Tyson think it's his place to entertain people in OUR house? I suppose I could just chalk it up to him being used to being the host but it was still a bit disheartening. Tyson wasn't allowed to get comfortable either. I had to figure out a plan soon or this was only going to get harder to deal with later.

I look down and concentrate on my own food, my eating becoming slow and tired. I tune out the rest of their yammering and their cleaning up and silently roam my way to my room. Although technically we had separate bedrooms, I never actually used mine. Just standing in it made me feel lonely.

I notice the shower running in the bathroom that connects my room to Kai's. Needing to talk to him anyway, I knock on the door.

"I'm coming in!" I announce before entering. The bathroom door on his side is still open and his work clothes and a pair of sweats are spread out on the floor just inside of it. Instead of gloating over how well I was getting to know Kai, I walk over to the entrance to the shower and lean up against the wall right next to it. "I know you're angry but I…" I what? What was I supposed to be offering? Kai had been right about everything. Maybe I needed to just say that. Him being right didn't really change anything or make it better but it might make everything less tense. Just thinking that way made me feel stupid. Begging hadn't been my smartest idea either. If I did that now he would just think I was pathetic.

"I think I figured out what you can do to make this up to me." His voice surprises me. I tilt my head so my ear is leaning a bit closer, finding everything else harder to hear past the sound of the water.

"What's that?" I wait for whatever it is he wants to say.

"If we are going to talk in here you might as well get in," he returns. Or at least I think that's what he says. Without paying attention I take a step closer.

"What?" I lean in and put all my effort into hearing him repeat himself. I am so concentrated on this that I don't notice when he grabs me and pulls me clumsily into the shower with him. "H…hey! I'm still dressed!" I protest, gripping on to him for balance. He snorts.

"Then you should have waited."

I scowl.

Even the nakedness of his body and the smell of his shampoo isn't enough for me to forget that I am now a wet mess. I let go of him as I try to move to a place that is at least outside of the water stream, but that spot doesn't really exist in the now cramped stall, so I only manage to look sadder. He goes on about his shower naturally, without giving me much attention or acknowledging that the space he has is now limited because of my presence. I open the curtain and step halfway out of the shower but stay as close as I can to him as I try to figure out how to dry myself.

"What is it that you wanted to suggest?" I don't let the temporary distraction deter me from the conversation.

Even pre-occupied, I don't miss his mood as it shifts and gets a little darker. I stop to watch him carefully and my concentration on his demeanor makes me forget about my predicament. An uneasy feeling comes over me as he shakes out his hair and then fixates a heavy look on me.

"You're going to tell them why you're REALLY here." An order, not a suggestion or a question. "You do it or I will. And if I do it, you won't like how it happens." I shift on my feet, starting to feel how heavy my clothes are getting. Did he just THREATEN me? He shuts off the water and grabs a towel, stepping out and brushing me aside, once again making the area feel much smaller than it actually is.

"Why would you care about that now?" It was confusing that he would be so serious about it after letting it go for so long. He had never seemed to care either way before. He never really cared about anyone knowing anything about him before, much less something that personal. "Unless…" Unless he thinks telling them would make them leave.

I regard him as he dries his hair and then wraps the towel around his waist.

"You know it's true," he states. "Why else would you have waited so long to say anything?" My heart sinks.

"You're underestimating them." I think this way because I believe that they will always be my friends. Another part of me thinks that maybe…

"You're giving them too much credit." Once again he is two steps ahead of me and knows where my mind is. That accuracy makes me want to prove him wrong.

"Or maybe you don't think I can take care of it," I suddenly feel defiant. I'm not ready to give up on my friends so easily either. It was true that they had no borders or tact or anything resembling consideration, but they were still my friends. And they were supportive when I needed them.

He looks at me skeptically.

"Because you're making such great progress." I take a deep breath. It was true, I seemed to be running full speed in the exact opposite direction that I should be going. But I believed that I could work my way through anything if I had a chance to try. I wasn't going to let him take it away now.

"It's only been one day. And Max isn't staying. He has a place on campus. If I play my cards right I can work this out and get Tyson on his way too. Or…" I slump my shoulders and look away, my own idea feeling very 'last resort'. He crosses his arms but his anger moves slightly in the direction of curiosity.

"Or?" He drives me to finish. I smile playfully.

"Or we can move." He rolls his eyes, not really liking the joke.

"You should change before you catch a cold." He moves into his room and over to his dresser.

"It'll be your fault," I complain. I look at the mess at my feet and try to figure a way out. "Hey, can you grab me a clean towel?" I decide that the easiest way out is to shower now and clean it up after I've put on a fresh change of clothes. I hear Kai's door close and know that he has left the room. "Okay, so he's still mad." I sigh. "Great." This was probably punishment.

I contemplate how to approach Kai still being angry while I shower and dress and clean up the bathroom. I also wonder how serious he was about telling Tyson and Max about us. He looked pretty serious. I roll around with what he meant by 'If I do it, you won't like how it happens' in my mind. What would he do? It definitely sounded like a threat. Was he so angry that he felt he needed to threaten me for me to take action? And why did he think that THAT was something that was good enough to use as a threat?

And what do I do now that he's angry with me? Do I leave him alone? Do I go about everything like it's normal? Do I apologize and hope he accepts it? That sounds even stupider than begging him to hear me out. Apologizing for something just to get a positive reaction was not a real apology. I had already apologized once, apologizing over and over again for the same thing would just take away from what an apology was supposed to mean.

Tyson still being there may have been partially my fault but it wasn't something that I needed to constantly be reminded of like a grudge. If he wanted it taken care of that badly, he could do it himself. There was no need to keep blaming ME for it. And Max definitely shouldn't be held against me. It was like I had knocked over a domino and it was still spiraling down the stairs hitting every other domino it managed to touch. Everything was connected but it wasn't like every domino was directly my fault. Why was I letting him make me feel like it was? Just to avoid conflict between us?

I hang up my wet clothes in the shower to dry, then go about picking up Kai's dirty clothes and throwing them in the hamper. The rest of Kai's room looks so neat and empty that I start to feel out of place. He was only really in here to sleep and change and it held no personal characteristics at all. No decorations or pictures or anything that would make you look at it and say 'that's so Kai'. I couldn't say the same about my room.

My room was full of books and presents from my friends and boxes of things that my family had shipped after I had told them I was living somewhere on my own. The boxes were still packed and made my room look more like a storage unit but they held glimpses of me in them. You would know they were mine.

Maybe the difference between us was that Kai held nothing as sentimental or worth keeping around. Did that go for people too?

I wander my way across the bathroom and back into my room.

Should I sleep in my own room? Would he want that? Would that be the normal thing to do right now? I didn't want that. Even if we WERE fighting, I still wanted to be with him.

Mulling over the semantics made me think about whether I really knew Kai as much as I thought I did. In my heart I wanted to believe one thing but my mind was telling me something completely different. But maybe it wasn't MY mind that was talking that way. The voice sounded much more like Tyson's.

Was I letting Tyson get between us already? He'd only been there a few days and I was already starting to doubt myself again.

I shuffle some of the books off my bed and start going through them. Some of them were old and unnecessary and some of them I could still use. I start making piles inside my head as I sort them out. Anything was better than thinking about my troubles.

"What are you doing?" I tense and glance up, trying my best not to show any discomfort as I acknowledge Kai's presence in the doorway.

"Sorting," I reply nonchalantly. The feeling that this action stimulates in me is familiar. It reminds me of how I was when I was still trying to figure out my feelings for Kai. That time when I wouldn't admit that I was in love with him. I couldn't admit it. I needed to ignore the way he made my heart hurt when he was so close and I couldn't yell my feelings out to the world.

"Are you coming to bed?" he asks, and I can tell he's not buying my detachment. He always did see right through my defenses.

I smile and throw everything that I am holding back down on the bed.

"I guess…" I let my words die off. He takes that as an invitation to invade my space and walks over to me.

"Why do you keep so many things that you don't need?" he says as he leafs through the pile of old textbooks I had made. I shrug.

"Never know if I'll need them again. I like being prepared," I assert myself, hoping that I sound believable.

"And this?" He uncovers a drawing I made in Math class last semester while I was struggling over the difference between factoring a polynomial and solving an equation. It was a stick figure, but my feelings about Math were clearly displayed as it was cast across a train track screaming 'order of operations, ahh!' while crying pathetically.

I snatch it from him and crumple it up, not missing his smug smile as I throw it away.

"Well maybe I don't need to keep EVERYTHING…" I turn away from him embarrassed and he lets out a short laugh before going for a similarly terrible drawing buried in my science notebook. I throw my hands over his and lead them away. "How are YOUR studies going anyway?" I hope the shift to his progress will deter any more inquiries into mine. He seems to take the hint as he squeezes my hand and pulls me into motion.

"Come on," he orders lightly, dropping the subject completely. He shuts off the lights as we cross into the bathroom.

"Wait." I pull back but don't drop his hand. He turns around and waits for me to explain the sudden change in my behavior. I fidget. "If we are still…fighting…" I lower my voice when I say the word, as if saying it too loudly will bring about bad luck. After it's out, I regain some of my confidence and go back to a normal tone. "Is it better to leave you alone or is it okay to be around?" I ask because I want to know not because I think I need permission to approach him.

I WAS letting Tyson get into my head again but I didn't want to mess things up if I could prevent it by knowing these things. I shouldn't trust Tyson's choices and I wanted to trust my own but I had somehow ended up on a fence in between both.

I just wanted a clear idea.

I knew Kai HAD boundaries. And I knew that the reason we got along so well was because I didn't cross them. But I didn't know how close I could get and I didn't want to keep testing them to find out. Today had felt like I had blindly walked through one of them and the dejected feeling it created was one I didn't want to repeat.

He seems to think about it. The hesitation is something that I don't like. But he smoothly takes a step closer, dropping my hand to brush his across my neck.

"You're the only one I want around," he says before he kisses me softly. I lean into him, putting my hand down on the sink as it grazes my hip when I brush near it. He pulls away to look at me sternly. "But I'm serious about Tyson. Either you take care of it, or I will."

"I will." I promise.

A few days pass by and I am even more far behind at figuring out how to get rid of Tyson than I was the day he had arrived. I wanted to keep my promise and take care of it but maybe Kai was right…again. Maybe I couldn't do it at all. Then again, maybe he was also right in that all I had to do was tell Tyson the truth. It sounded simple enough. So why was it every time I was faced with him directly that I closed up like a lunch box? It was like trying to explain something serious to a child. You want to do it in a way they understand but aren't scared. It wasn't that complicated to understand. So what was I REALLY afraid of?

The longer I thought about it, the less progress I made. Kai, however, didn't go back on HIS word at all.

"Stop standing so close, I can't concentrate," I hear Tyson say before I enter the kitchen and watch him shove Kai aside, his face fully flushed with embarrassment. A twinge of anger washes through me and for a moment I am taken aback.

"G…good morning," I smile as best I can to cover up my uncertainty of what just happened. Maybe it's just my imagination. It's still early.

"Morning Ray!" Tyson is clueless but Kai knows better. He smirks at me from behind Tyson, telling me something with his eyes, then pushes the other boy out of the way again, taking over the task he was trying to start.

"It would be faster if you just let me show you," Kai replies coolly, which really just makes that twinge of anger grow into something more. He had become quite good at using that tone on me when he was trying to gain control when he wanted it but hearing him use it on somebody else just wasn't right.

"I can do it myself!" Tyson insists, pushing Kai away more fervently, more annoyed than embarrassed this time. "Stop being so weird."

"Yeah, Kai…" I don't hide my discomfort from him at all as I address him with clenched teeth.

"Does he do this to you too, Ray? Who knew he was this hard to live with huh? You see a whole other side of him when he's in your space." Tyson grumbles, trying to make sure Kai doesn't try to help him again. He's just making a pot of coffee, how much help does he really need?

Kai doesn't like this retort and clearly feels like he needs to show just how irritating invading someone's 'space' is but waits before doing anything too obvious. Instead he just hovers like a bird waiting for Tyson to miss a step so he can dive in and steal the prize.

"Yeah…" I can't stop myself from sending them both a glare.

I realized what he was doing because he had done it to me. He was pushing Tyson. He was overwhelming him so that he would feel trapped and want to escape. It had backfired when he had done it to me but would it work on Tyson? I really hoped it would so things could go back to normal but then there was a tiny part of me that wanted the opposite. I wanted Tyson to fight it the way I had and to push back. But then there was a completely different part of me that knew how pushing me that way had ended.

I study Kai as he goes on tormenting Tyson into submission. When I catch a glimmer in his eyes, the jealous part of me realizes something else. Something that Kai would probably never admit.

He was having fun.

Had he had the same expression when it had been me? Was it because he was challenged? He did seem a lot livelier in the past ten minutes than he had the whole past year combined together. Was the reason why I didn't see that look too often now because I wasn't a challenge anymore?

Tyson blushes and the twinge in my chest grows deeper. I scrape away from the table loudly and don't even hide the angry flare in my eyes when both boys stop what they are doing to look back at me.

"I'll be leaving now." I get up, fixating one last disapproving look on Kai before turning away. Could I be any more obvious? Even a blind person could read the jealousy right off my face.

Kai knows, showing me in the way he meets my eyes when he puts the pieces together. He takes a step away from Tyson to show me some respect but he narrows his eyes, offering the challenge to me. It was like taunting me by saying 'Hey, you know what I want. You know how far I can go. Can you handle that?' It was a subtle gesture, one that would be unnoticed by anyone else, but I did catch it before I had turned my back. But it starts something inside of me. Something strong and fierce.

I smirk.

I wanted the competition too.

I just had to figure out how to reach the goal before he did. He wasn't going to win. Not like this anyway.

Tyson, is still clueless to the exchange or Kai's master plan.

"Ray, wait!" He stops me at the door, abandoning the coffee making. "Can I walk out with you? Hiro wants me there a bit early and Kai…" he sends a wary look to Kai as if indicating that he didn't want to be near him for a while. The same way a child would to an overbearing parent. Kai smiles victoriously and I shake my head, still a bit angry.

"Sure, but I am leaving now," I answer flatly before he goes on to explain.

"Awesome! I'm ready!" he cheers excitedly and throws his arm over my shoulders, leading me down the hallway. "So, can I ask you something?" he goes on after a short silence.

"Sure," I repeat in the same flat tone.

"Do you sleep?" The question sounds innocent enough but I sense there is something different that he was really trying to ask.

"Yeah, why?" I try not to let on that I know where this is probably leading.

"Just wondering why you're never in your room at night…" I tense. You mean somebody actually noticed? Maybe this was good. Maybe it was an opportunity to tell him the truth. Maybe it was my way of getting everything out in the open. Maybe…

"You check?" Kai asks, letting us know that he isn't that far behind us in our travels to leave and halting any thoughts of opening up about us. Well played, Kai. Well played. We stop walking and I glance back at him as Tyson drops his arm from my shoulders and turns around.

"Yeah! Sometimes I wanna talk!" Tyson smiles.

"With me?" I ask curiously. Not that it is a strange thing, it just seemed strange when he was almost always with Max and didn't seem to care about where the rest of us were or what we were doing.

"Yeah of course!"

"About what?" Kai interrupts again and I try not to be intrigued. Now who's starting to sound jealous? I have to admit I probably would be too if Tyson was insinuating that he looks for Kai after dark in his room. I'm sure Tyson's intentions were innocent enough, but it didn't cover up the fact that looking for anyone after they were supposedly in bed was a little…suspicious.

"Life! I hardly ever see him anymore. I see Max every day when he visits me for lunch and talk to you at work but I don't see Ray much at all. Even when he is home he is hard to find." He turns back to me. "What have you been up to? How's school? You should join us for lunch some time! I get an hour right when you break…"

"I…"

"He's not interested," Kai answers for me.

"Are you Ray's keeper now?" He pushes Kai in a playful way, forgetting his earlier discomfort, then starts walking backwards in front of him as Kai seems to be done with this conversation and wants to move on ahead of us. "You're very controlling ya know?" I start walking with them again as Tyson continues to taunt him. "Just because he lived with you first doesn't mean he belongs to you. You can even come too if you like! Then we can all catch up with Ray!" Tyson misses a step and stumbles and I move quickly to catch him and put him back on his feet.

"Walk or talk, don't attempt both," Kai replies, getting bored. He reaches past both of us rather suddenly (and a little too close to Tyson) to grab his work things, causing Tyson to lose his footing again and fall to the floor before I can catch him a second time. I send Kai another wary look before I help Tyson up again.

"Hey! Maybe we should all leave together since we all seem to be ready!" Tyson suggests as Kai opens the door to leave.

"I have to stop somewhere before work," Kai shuts him down.

"Where?" Tyson and I ask together. Kai studies us both briefly before wordlessly walking out the door and closing it.

"Good-bye to you too!" Tyson yells scornfully. I laugh and gather my school bag and coat, making sure Tyson grabs his too.

"Come on, let's just go." I usher him out the door as well. "We can talk about 'life' on the way." He bounces back like nothing had happened previously and excitedly jumps on board with that idea.

"Awesome!" He waits until we are on the bus and on our way before going on with what he really wanted to discuss with me. "I wanted to talk to you about Max…"

"Max? Is he okay?" I am not sure if it something I should feel concerned about or something I should roll my eyes for. With Max it could go either way.

"Yeah he's fine! He was thinking of running for one of those election thingies at school and asked for some help so I told him to ask you! Since you go to the same school and all and kinda know how that stuff works better. But since I saw you first I thought I would help him out by asking instead. If that's okay…" He suddenly seems nervous and I instantly try to make him more comfortable.

"Yeah that's fine. Whatever he needs help with." I smile for added effect and he seems to soften.

"You're the best! I'll let him know! Thanks!"

"No problem…" I pause, wondering how much trouble I could get myself into if I continued the way my nature wanted me to. I take the chance anyway, because...well…it's hard to fight nature. "You know you guys can ask me for anything."

"I'll be sure to remember that later!" he gives me his gratitude and then goes on with his 'catching up' questions. All of which I give short, non-descriptive answers to. It wasn't that I wanted to keep avoiding telling him, it was more like I would rather tell him and Max when they were together. Having THE conversation seemed much easier to do once and just be done with it. But now I had a reason to be around the other two, which just left me with coming up with a plan. And having Kai as a witness wouldn't be too bad either. I wanted to see the look on his face when I accomplished what he thought I wouldn't. So I needed a time, place, and a manner in which to deliver. I would have to find Max too, so I could organize a meeting where all of us were together.

I am also curious as to why Max suddenly wanted to run for an office position at school. It seemed really ambitious and very un-Max. Not that Max wasn't ambitious. He just wasn't ambitious in that way. Hopefully if I saw him later I could find out.