Chapter 8

Roadrunner

"I saw that Kinomiya, that's twenty more."

Tyson fell face first into the dirt, his arms spread out eagle

style. He was exhausted. Kai had woken him up at five in the morning and dragged him outside for training. So far he had run twelve laps, done fifty sit ups, and had just done thirty seven out of the fifty push ups he was supposed to do when Kai announced his added twenty.

Breathing heavily, Tyson glared up at Kai. "What did I do to deserve another twenty push ups?"

Kai shrugged.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tyson cried helplessly.

"It means, that I saw you pause in your push ups."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Pushing himself into a sitting position, Tyson gave Kai a nasty look. He was tired and sweaty, and Kai had the nerve to complain about him faltering in his pushups. "You're making a big deal out of nothing! I'm only human! I can't keep going like a machine!"

"Hn."

"Argh!" Having had enough, Tyson stood up abruptly,

and stomped off yelling over his shoulder, "You can be such a jerk, Kai! If you learn to act at least some what decent, maybe I'll come back to finish this lovely workout."

The bluenette left in such a fury he didn't noticed the satisfied look on Kai's face.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Max peeked out of the room he had been sleeping in the night before. Nervously, he glanced down the hallway to make sure no one was coming. When there was no sign of anyone, he tip-toed out of the room, mentally cheering himself on.

He was so close to making it to the sliding panel that would lead out of the Kinomiya residence –he only needed to reach out and pull it open –but just as his fingers brushed against the door he heard the one person he feared most (at the moment) call his name.

"Max?"

Rei.

He threw the door open and made a mad dash for… anywhere! Anywhere away from Rei!

X.X.X.X.X.X.

"Jerk," Tyson mumbled as he rubbed his sore arms. He'd had worse workouts, but it had been a while since he had done one. He should have known better than to make that deal with Kai. A movie was not worth the training Kai had in store. And with Tyson's luck, Kai probably would continue to put Tyson through hell once he finds him.

There was a set of running footsteps coming towards Tyson, causing him to look up from massaging his arms to see Max heading towards him. Seeing as it was his best friend and not Kai coming to drag him back to training, he let himself relax a bit. "Hey Max."

"Yes Tyson?" Max asked, sliding to a halt in front of the bluenette, kicking up a dust cloud in the process.

Tyson winced as a bit of dust got in his eye. Would it have killed Max to stop like a normal person instead of skidding? "Why are you running?"

"I don't really want to say."

That was strange, Max was usually so open. Max's new behavior added fuel to Tyson's curiosity. "Are you running from someone?"

Max's cheeks tinted a light pink, giving Tyson the answer he wanted.

"Aww, Max, that's so cute," Tyson said in a high pitch girly voice that made the pink tint on Max's cheeks become red. "Who is the lucky girl?"

"Max! Why are you running away?"

Tyson's eyes widened. That had been Rei's voice. Max was running from Rei, but Max was running from a crush, if the blonde's blush had anything to say about it. So if Max was running from a crush, and running from Rei that meant…

…

…

…Kami, he had never been good at math.

Rei chasing Max, plus, Max running from a crush, equals…

If someone were to take an X-ray to Tyson's brain at this moment, they would see a peanut shriveling up and dying. That's what it felt like for Tyson. The feeling of his brain shriveling up and dying was what kept him from liking school.

"Bye Tyson!" Max shouted, taking off again at speed that would make the roadrunner envious.

Come on, Tyson! The bluenette berated himself, ignoring Max's departure. What does Rei chasing Max, plus, Max running from a crush, equal?

…

…

…

… I'm going to be really ticked if I find out this is an obvious answer.

"Hi Tyson!" Rei jogged up to the bluenette. His pace was strong and he didn't appear to be struggling with his run. No, he seemed like a perfectly happy person. Maybe Neko Jins are just better runners?

"Bye Tyson!" And he ran past Tyson. Go Rei! Go!

Being the determined individual that he was, Tyson did not look up, or take notice of Rei. He was the world champ! He had to solve this equation, or else bring shame to the title of world champ, which would really suck, because if he brought shame to the title for being stupid then it would be embarrassing. He could see the headlines now: The idiot who brought shame to the Champion title for being what he was: an idiot. A little wordy, but it would do.

"Tyson…"

He had to solve it.

"Tyson…"

He was an idiot, but he didn't want everyone else to know!

"Tyson…"

He knew he should have replaced his peanut brain for a hamster brain!

"Tyson!"

"Ow! The mentioned teen rubbed his abused ear. Who had yelled in his ear? What had his ear ever done to deserving yelling at?

"Tyson," Kai growled, arms crossed over his chest. "It's training time."

"Just wait, Kai. I have to solve this equation."

"No!" And with that he grabbed Tyson by the collar and hauled Tyson back to the training grounds. All the while smiling like a crazed sadist as Tyson choked and gasped for air.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

I had planned on updating a day sooner, but I had two birthday parties to attend to. I hope no one minded the wait, and tell me what you think of this chapter. Was there anything you hated? Was there anything you liked? Let me know.