Wow been what? Two and a half years? Oh well. I finally sat down and got to work lol.
The next day, as Kai had predicted, Kristen greeted him with a smile and a kiss. Korrine was smart enough not to say anything. The three of them got dressed for the actual reunion. Unlike Kai thought, there was loads of press for the retired bladers. Kristen on his arm, they made their way through the pressing reporters and questions.
"Damn vultures." Kai muttered once they were inside and the doors were closed. They were all glad they wouldn't be allowed inside. The guys were all in the main room.
And so were the other teams. Not just the White Tigers, but the Blitzkrieg Boys too and about a dozen other retired teams. Not even complete teams. Just one or two from each.
"What the hell are they doing here?" Kai asked Ray, who shrugged.
"The White Tigers are tomorrow."
"I'd like to discuss a matter with you." Came a voice from the side. Kai noticed Mr. Dickinson now. "The best of your time. Kai? Tyson? Stay here, please, the rest of you can go ahead to the gold room, as you have it reserved today." He opened a door and Kristen looked at Kai, who nodded and she followed Hilary, Ray, Max, Chief, and Korrine into the hall that lead to the room the party was being held in.
"Please. Sit." He said, indicating the long meeting table that always sat there. There were place cards and he instantly saw the one that said Tyson Granger and next to it was Kai Hiwatari. Tala sat on his other side. He asked how he'd been and received a strange look.
"Great. You?"
"Life was good until I got here to find this. What's he got to say?" Tala shrugged. Brooklyn was down on the opposite end of the table, arms crossed. Mr. Dickinson called their meeting to order.
"My, my, how long it's been since I've seen the faces. Kai, you look exceptionally better tempered."
"For the most part. I just don't like being shanghaied into things."
"I'm terribly sorry, Kai. We have a little idea we'd like to put into motion. A very special tournament."
"No." Came a surprisingly familiar voice. Kai leaned forward to see Hiro seated on the other side of Tyson. Tyson was cringing and Kai was surprised he hadn't noticed this before. Hiro had his arms crossed and was looking coldly at Mr. Dickinson. "Count me out."
"Noone absolutely has to participate, Hiro. You may leave, if you wish." He did just that.
"Now, as I was saying before the elder Mr. Granger interrupted, we are hoping that you will all participate in a, let's call it an alumni tournament. Only the best of your blading generation. Like I told Mr. Granger, you don't have to and I'll get to asking who will and will not in a moment, but I will promise you that this may be a one time event unless a number of you ask for another. I understand that you have lives and other jobs now, but we can work with schedules if we need to. The winning team of this tournament will have the choice of a match with the champions of the new generation's tournaments."
"Old school vs. new school, huh?" Mariah's mew-like voice chimed in from the other side of Brooklyn. "That's cool, I'm in." She said. Mr. Dickinson looked at Brooklyn, who nodded, as stoic as Kai used to be. The line worked its way down the table. The beautiful Ming Ming, all grown up now, nodded too, but with enthusiasm.
"Absolutely." Mystel said. Kai was glad to see he'd ditched the toga.
"Yeah!" Raul and Julia exclaimed at the same time.
"I don't think so." Said a female voice. Kai jumped. It was Salima. Next to her was Goki.
"Nah, me neither." Mr. Dickinson nodded.
"Cool." Joseph said. Miriam agreed with her brother. Ozuma was next.
"What the hell, if Dorothy and the Lion are in, I guess I am, what about you, scarecrow?"
"Why I scarecrow?" Dunga complained. "Sure I'm in."
"Nah, I'll pass. I got enough ladies to keep up with." Enrique said.
"Sure." Brian told him.
"I don't know…." Tala said sadly.
"C'mon, man, it'll be great!" Brian told him encouragingly.
"Well, I guess so…" Mr. Dickinson took that as a yes.
"I'm game." Tyson said, skipping over Kai. And suddenly all eyes were on him. Kai had absolutely no intention of going through with it until Tyson agreed. He sighed.
"I guess we'd better get training, Tyson. But you better believe you only thought I was a hard-ass before." Mr. Dickinson smiled.
"I think we'll give people their money's worth." He said. "Very well, I'll give you the information later on. Thank you all for coming." And with that, they were dismissed. Kai and Tyson stood to go to the party, but Goki approached him.
"Kai?"
"Yeah?"
"It's a good thing you came. I have something that… that Wyatt would have wanted you to have." Kai's breath caught. "Sorry."
"It's okay. It's just been a long time, you surprised me." Goki held out his hand, palm down. Kai raised his arm enough to catch it. An old and beaten beyblade fell into his palm.
"His…" He choked.
"He had it on him when team psychic brought him in. Then they gave him Cyber Dranzer. I found it when I was snooping around before I left them. I think he would've wanted you to have it."
"Thank you." He took a deep breath.
"Hey, Kai, the girls will be waiting." Tyson said, trying to save him. Kai nodded and thanked Goki again. But Mr. Dickinson tried to stop them. "Go ahead. I'll see what he wants." Tyson told him. Kai went through the door and sat against the wall, his breathing coming hard; hissing when he felt the corners of his eyes prick. Even this new easier-to-be-around Kai didn't intend to start bawling like a baby at the smallest of things. Tyson came through the door and kneeled next to him.
"You okay, man?" Kai nodded.
"I'll…be fine." He was slowing down. A minute later, he was pretty much normal, just every other breath was a little abnormal. Tyson helped him off the floor and by the time they were at the room, he was fine. The entire room looked at them and Tyson went over to the rest as Kristen came to him. She hadn't rested her head against his chest for more than a few seconds before she looked at him strangely.
"Kai, your heart rate's haywire. What happened?" She asked, knowing about his little substitute.
"I'll explain later."
"Yeah!" Max said suddenly.
"What?" Kai asked Tyson.
"Mr. Dickinson said that with Salima and Goki dropping out, it made room for Ray and Max. He told me he only cut them out because he tried to take the top two from each team unless there wasn't any other halfway decent members."
"Dropping out? Cuts? What's going on, Kai?" Kristen asked him.
"We've been asked to participate in a tournament. Comprised entirely of the best beybladers of our generation." He told her modestly.
"Wow, that's great, Kai!" There was a ring and she pulled out her phone. "And as she speaks the words, the only person in the world that would disagree with them calls her."
"Huh?"
"My mother."
"Oh. I'm not here. I'm on a business trip & you're missing me terribly." She giggled and flipped open the phone, walking out of the room.
"I'm lost, why aren't you here?" (Surprise, surprise the lost one was Tyson.)
"Her mom hates me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's the ex-blader thing, actually."
"How does she know about that?"
"Apparently even before we'd met I was still all she'd talk about." Tyson still looked puzzled. (I swear he has this condition where his brain comes and goes.) "She was a fan of ours way back when."
"Oh! Wow, what are the chances of that?"
"Well, it wasn't really that much of a secret that I took over the company, Tyson." Tyson reddened a little.
"Oh. Yeah. Right." But then Kristen backed into the room.
"I can't make it mom, okay? Because I do have a job, remember that, mom?" She gasped in shock and hissed. "Look." She said quietly, her tone full of venom. "I won't have you talking like that about him and I love that you think so much of me mother." She half-screamed and slammed the phone shut, staring at it for a long time with her mouth hanging open in horror.
"Kris?" He started to go to her but stopped when she glared at him.
"Well, Kai, it doesn't look like your going to have to put up with my family this Christmas." He cocked his head.
"Baby, what do you mean by that?" He asked, sounding anxious.
"I wouldn't go near my mother with a fifty kilometer pole!" He sighed in relief.
"Oh ok."
"What did you think I meant?"
"I thought she'd finally talked you into breaking up with me." He laughed.
"You honestly think I'm going to lose that fight? Isn't my stubborn disposition part of why I'm working for you?"
"Part, yes."
"And the other part?"
"Well, you see, there are other people in the room but I'd be glad to inform you later." He kissed her forehead.
"I'm still not totally used to this new side to your brother." Max said to Korrine in the corner.
"Trust me, noone truly is. Not even me, even though I saw it from the beginning."
"Please tell me we're talking Kai changes over here." Chief said.
"Yeah."
"Good, so I'm not the only one who it's freaking out?"
"Well I wouldn't say freaking out but it's going to take some getting used to."
"Amen."
The first hour was spent on catching up and other conversation. The last 2 and a half were spent on business and talk of training.
"Well, I, for one, am glad that you guys are going to put Tyson through the shredder. He's putting on a little weight." Hilary said. "Don't go easy on him, Kai."
"Hey, I might be less intense but that doesn't mean I like losing any more than I used to. He's not half-assing it now. Blading is a whole new sport. We're going to have to know what we're up against if we win this and go up against the new generation. I say we start keeping up with the kids and us old dogs learn new tricks. And not just learn them, but use them. Along with our old stuff, of course but we'd be stupid to think that the other teams aren't going to study all of their opponents old matches and learn everything we have up our sleeves. We need to be able to put something new on the table."
"Well, at least we know that Kai's still the captain." Ray commented with a grin.
"Of course he is. He's the one running his own company these days." Max said. Kai did his best to ignore them.
"Chief, you work for the BBA, can you get us tapes of major matches that have already happened? We'll watch future ones for ourselves but if there are any show-stopping moves that you don't see every match that have already happened, we might want to know about it."
"Sure, Kai. I can even pull up profiles on all the biggest teams if you want. Except for mine, for obvious reasons, but I really don't think you need theirs." He grimaced.
"That'd be great, buddy, thanks." Mr. Dickinson stuck his head into the room.
"Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt but the next group needs to get in." Kai nodded.
"Meeting in my suite tonight. 8:30, Tyson. Hilary, make sure he's not late. Chief, get those profiles in order. Korrine, don't make Max late or I'll put you on a plane back home."
"You can't make me go home, Kai, I'm not a child."
"Korrine…"
"I won't make him late, Kai, I promise."
"Thank you, that's all I'm asking."
"Can we go now? I want Chinese." Tyson complained.
"As long as it has no fat in it, sure, Tyson. Your training includes a diet and it starts now."
"Aww man!"
"Thank you, Kai." Hilary said in relief. They all left in sets: Tyson and Hilary off to feed Tyson, Chief went with Ray to somewhere or another, Max and Korrine were going sight seeing, and Kai and Kristen were going back to the hotel for the afternoon.