Disclaimer: Nothing's mine but the plot.

A/N: Hey everyone - well isn't this one of the quickest updates ever! ;)

Huge shout-out to Guest11, Tyka's Flower, Tyka lover 4ever, Little A Granger, Random Fan, abbydobbie, Asia the Jester and R.A. Tschida for being so awesome and supportive.

And now I won't say anymore because I am super excited about this chapter, so here it goes:

Chapter 28

With a Bang

Tyson considered mission impossible a full success. Things didn't go back to normal overnight, which put Tyson's patience, or lack thereof, to yet another test. But that morning after Kai's latest nightmare, even though Kai was still brooding and keeping to himself a lot, Tyson still felt like they were them again. In this together. He felt it when Kai was with him. The emotional distance was gone. Kai was still battling his demons, and Tyson's still didn't know what they were, but they both knew that and knew where they were standing... and that was enough for now.

As the snow melted and the days turned brighter and longer, Kai's mood improved as well. Tyson thought much of Kai's progress was thanks to Tala. Tala came by almost every day and they spent hours talking. It seemed Tala had given Kai the framework he needed to place his memories, and with that framework, Kai could now begin to cope with his past. Tyson would have been jealous of Tala because of all the Kai-time he was hogging, but Tala usually swung by around noon when Tyson was still at school. Maybe because he knew Tyson well, or maybe simply because Gramps never failed to feed him lunch. Gramps had also done his best to support Kai, in his very own Gramps-way: Sake and kendo. Kai hadn't been too fond of "dessert", so that had been a one‑time thing, but he joined Gramps every day in the dojo for an early morning kendo session and meditation.

That's probably how he's regaining his muscles, the voice in the back of Tyson's head had nagged.

He'd ignored that voice. Tyson thought that with the kendo and meditation, the deep talks and the late‑night emotional support (extensive late-night cuddling and smooching) between the three of them they'd come up with a pretty good safety net. Kai's improving mood seemed to prove him right.

Kai was quieter than he'd been. He was also more serious and spent more time by himself than he had before the last memory-flash. Still, Tyson didn't feel like Kai was slipping away from him anymore. Quite the contrary, Kai's behavior had something very familiar about it, as if the old Kai was slowly resurfacing. Tyson was still torn about that thought. Of course he loved Kai as the old sourpuss he'd always been. The strong and silent type... slightly hostile... A bit rude... Gee, this sounded like he'd fallen in love with a total ass. Luckily, Tyson had learned to see past this façade. He would still miss the pillow talks with new Kai, the joking and the laughing... Would Kai still play wii with him once he'd regained his memory? Tyson hoped that Kai wouldn't completely rebuild his wall, or at least leave a door for him that Tyson could occasionally slip through.

So Tyson decided to make the most of the time he still had with the open, gentle version of Kai. He convinced him to go to all sorts of things Tyson was dying to go to, but he could not be too sure old Kai would join him for: the comic book shop, a bowling alley (Tala actually crashed that date - so rude!) and he even got Kai to go to an amusement park with him. The latter had turned out to be a bad idea. Kai's car sickness extended to roller coasters. Tyson had fought hard not laugh - had Kai worn his blue shark fins that day, he'd have looked like a merman, as green as he was in the face. He hadn't laughed, but he had taken a photo. Maybe Kenny would photoshop the blue triangles in for him - once exams were over. Like he'd predicted, Kenny and Hillary were spinning in circles with their preparations for college entrance exams. Which was why they hadn't seen them outside of school since Christmas break. Tyson on the other hand was taking it easy. Gramps had convinced him the other day to take the exam for at least two schools. 'Convinced' being Gramps had chased Tyson about the house swinging a kendo sword until Tyson had agreed. But Tyson saw no shame in failing them – a lot of people did despite studying. Kai was siding with Gramps on this one. Of course he was, the bookworm. The Kinomiya family library had grown considerably since Kai had moved in. And so Kai would occasionally drop some information when they were curled together on either one of their beds late at night, or get him to watch documentaries with him, or get him to play quiz games. Tyson felt tricked, obviously, but it was exam preparation he could handle and Kai always made up for it.

Things sometimes got pretty hot between them, but they'd never gone further than they had that other night in Kai's room. It was like both of them silently agreed that this was a step to take for the old Kai upon his return. Tyson was fine with it. As long as he had some of Kai. Sometimes they gotten very close to breaking their silent agreement though. Like earlier, when Tyson had gone to the dojo to convince Kai to finish up his kendo practice and watch a movie with him instead. That had begun with Tyson barging in yelling Kai's name and ended with them kissing in that familiar little dark chamber off the main room, with Tyson's shirt up to his armpits and Kai's kendo entire more or less undone. And once more, Gramps had shown up looking for Tyson. So they'd waited until he was gone, re-adjusted their clothing and Tyson had gone to find out what had ruined his make‑out session/ saved them.

It had been grocery shopping.

So now they were strolling down the street, each of them carrying a bag of groceries. It was a sunny, almost warm day that told them spring was just around the corner. The sun was already setting - Tyson had caused a delay when he had insisted on getting ice cream before going home, for his all his troubles. Now compensated and content, Tyson was secretly admiring the fiery glow the evening sun gave Kai's eyes.

"What is it?" Kai asked.

Okay, not so secretly.

"Just admiring the sunset."

"The sunset is that way," Kai observed, pointing ahead.

"It's reflected in your eyes. There, I said it. Man, it sounds even more cheesy out loud," Tyson moaned. "Quick, distract me."

Kai grinned, but he obliged.

"So, graduation is coming up," he said.

Tyson could swear the grin had just gotten bigger. If he didn't know better he'd say Kai was mocking him.

"Oh c'mon, of all the topics!"

"I thought you were looking forward to it?"

"I'm looking forward to not having homework anymore, and boring lessons, and the tests..."

"School, in summary."

"No one likes a smart-ass, Kai," Tyson said, but he, too, had to grin.

"I believe I've heard that before," Kai said and in overly thoughtful manner tapped his index finger against his temple.

"Oh look at that, your recent memory's absolutely fine," Tyson teased.

Kai gave him a wink. A simple wink and Tyson's heart fluttered in his chest. It was amazing, how the simplest gestures and motions could do that to him if only they were by Kai.

Before Tyson's could continue his train of thought, Kai said, "If you can't wait to get out of school why aren't you looking forward to graduation then?"

Tyson shrugged.

"Dunno. Never done anything but school, so it'll be weird, won't it. Never to go back."

Kai lifted a brow.

"Okay, fine, it won't be weird, because I can't wait for the moment I won't have to set foot in that place again," Tyson admitted.

"But?"

Tyson sighed. This was uncomfortable. How had the conversation turned out this way?

"But I don't really know what I should do then. Happy?"

Kai nodded.

"You still have a couple weeks to figure it out. I'm sure you'll know by the time you graduate. And if not, we'll spend our days sitting by the pond and you will try to figure out what to do next and I will try to figure out what I've done up to now. We're quite the pair, aren't we?"

Tyson reached out and gave Kai's hand a comforting squeeze. He didn't dare hold his hand longer. With his luck, half the tabloid press would walk around the corner with their cameras ready if he did. But this was somehow unsatisfying. Maybe... if he was quick...? Tyson's glanced left, then right, then another quick left and right and then he placed a quick kiss on Kai's cheek. They exchanged looks and smiled at each other.

"I say we change the topic to something more fun!" Tyson said and look back ahead.

"For instance?"

"Let's go to the movies this weekend. Popcorn, couple-seats..."

"What if someone sees?"

Tyson was going to suggest they skip town, when -

BANG!

Tyson head jerked around. Two cars on the intersection they were approaching had crashed into each other. Pedestrians were screaming, other drivers were jumping on their brakes or swerving to avoid a collision with the crash, tires were screeching. In all the chaos Tyson saw the drivers involved in the crash get out of their cars. They both seemed fine. One couldn't really say the same about their cars though. Still, Tyson had seen enough. Whatever was going to happen now didn't matter to him. The only thing that mattered to him now was Kai.

Kai had gone white as a sheet of paper. The shopping bag had slipped through his fingers and spilled its content across the sidewalk, but Kai didn't seem to have noticed. He stared wide eyed at the scene in front of them. His mouth opened, then closed again without uttering a single sound.

Was this it? Was this the moment Kai's memories came flooding back? Had the car crash cracked the amnesia? There was only one way to find out.

"Kai?" Tyson asked, his voice as gentle as he could manage. "Kai, are you alright?"

Kai didn't respond. Tyson wasn't even sure Kai had heard him. He didn't react in any way. Maybe the crash had simply triggered the trauma from Kai's own accident. Tyson felt a twist in his gut as a horrible thought crossed his mind: What if Kai had forgotten everything again? Back to factory setting - was that even possible? Why hadn't the Doc told him? Or maybe he had, but he, Tyson had not listed. Why hadn't he listened?!

If only Kai would say something!

"Kai?" he asked again.

Tyson sat his own bag down. Slowly, almost hesitantly, Tyson raised his arms and cupped Kai's face in his hands. At Tyson's touch Kai finally snapped from his frozen state.

"I… I… Yeah." Kai took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm alright."

"Did it trigger something about the accident?" he asked.

The words had slipped out before he'd had the chance to stop them. Ugh, why did his mouth always have to be faster than his mind. He searched Kai's face for any signs of serious annoyance. But Kai didn't seem to mind his question.

Kai shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

"No, I don't think it did."

He let out a deep sigh and examined the state of their shopping. The tomatoes had rolled in every direction possible and the rest of their shoppings lay in a continuously growing puddle of milk.

"Damn," Kai muttered.

"Don't sweat it," Tyson said. "I'll just go back and get another milk and-... Oh, well hello there!"

A small white cat had appeared from amongst the bushes. It focused its green eyes on Kai for a second, then went straight for the milk. Tyson chuckled.

"Well look at that Kai. You gave this little fellow dinner. That's-… Kai?!"

Kai had stumbled a couple steps back and grabbed a lamppost for support. His face had gone even paler. He had squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the palm of his other hand against his forehead. A couple long moments passed when the world around them seemed to move in slow-motion. Then Kai opened his eyes and met Tyson's eyes.

And Tyson knew.

Kai remembered.

Tyson had imagined this moment over and over again, but never like this. He'd always pictured Kai to be overjoyed at his returned memory. But Kai didn't seem happy. He looked almost grim, and… very Kai. Tyson didn't dare run over and hug, let alone kiss him. What if Kai-… no, now was not the time. But what-… well, he knew what he'd be getting himself into when he kissed back that day in the dojo. And now, he really needed to focus on something else first.

"Should I call the Doc for you? An ambulance? Should we get a cab?"

Kai didn't reply. He massaged his forehead with his palm and shut his eyes again.

Tyson was starting to worry. Was regaining once memory dangerous in any way? Did Kai need a doctor? Well, obviously he'd need to see the Doc at some point, but did he need urgent medical care? How was he not prepared for this?! How did he not ask himself this question in advance? He'd had months! Freaking forever! How-...No, it was no use beating himself up about it now. There were more important things. He'd get back to it later. Maybe Tala would join in. It might be an actual beating then...

Ugh, will you focus, his inner voice yelled.

Tyson took a step towards Kai. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the cat give him a disapproving look before it continued to drink from the puddle of milk. Unlike the cat Kai didn't react at all; he still had his eyes squeezed shut.

"Kai?" Tyson asked carefully.

Crimson eyes opened and met hazel ones. Tyson saw a whirlwind of emotions in those eyes, from confusion over fear to anger, and if Tyson was not completely mistaken, a hint of happiness. Or was that his wishful thinking?

He had no way of checking, because Kai abruptly averted his eyes.

"I-…" Kai said. "I-…"

And he spun around and darted down the street, away from the Dojo, and away from Tyson.

A/N: Dun-dun-duuun... you didn't think you'd get through this without a cliffhanger right? ;) So, bang, memory back. The idea with the cat came to me months ago - I think when I wrote their first kiss and they had to come up with an excuse for gramps and this whole awkward Beyblade accident/cat thing came to be. I thought it would be a nice unexpected twist. Did it work? Aw I think this chapter was the moment I was looking most forward to write in this entire story - so happy I got this far. Thanks for still being with me on this guys! You loyal souls made it happen! Now, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and stay safe out there. ~Bird