Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.
Chapter Two
The plan was simple: they were to go back to the good ol' days with Kai as the leading jerk and Tyson as his usual, goofy, self—minus the guilt over losing his scholarship and unintentionally screwing over his family. They were going to see how long they could fool the others into thinking that nothing had changed. At the same time they were going to throw curveballs at them, confusing them with something like a sensible comment from Tyson that he would never have been able to pull off in the past, or Kai being sympathetic over something trivial—a matter that he wouldn't waste a second grunt over. It was the perfect plan, if only two people hadn't come and ruined it the instant they opened the door to the café.
Tyson noticed his trouble first. It was Chika Minamimoto of the college's journalism club. She was the lead scoop on everything related to on-campus events and word would have spread fast over the course of one day about Tyson getting kicked out. She wanted to get the scoop, the hottest and most controversial one she could find. And Tyson would give her that.
"Oh crap!" he yelled, throwing Kai off guard. Immediately Kai sensed that something was wrong when he heard Chika yelling, calling for Tyson to wait up, practically begging for an interview. He was about to ask what was wrong when he noticed his problem. Tyson didn't even see who it was that was targeting Kai but the immediate response was Kai shoving him into the café, grabbing the door and slamming it shut. He picked up a chair and wedged it under the knob, in addition to locking the door and pulling the window curtain down.
"We're closed for a private event—go away!" he shouted in his stern and stoic voice. It made no difference to the former members of the G-Revolution team, but since Tyson had witnessed Kai's transformation it was hard to swallow. It seems that expression of old habits dying hard was true. Kai still had it in him to be cruel and evasive.
"But I need to talk to Tyson!" cried Chika, which forced Tyson to start singing 'la la' at the top of his lungs, covering his ears as though to block out the sound of her voice. Kai noticed the red zone they just entered, but was frightened—yes, frightened—at the sound of an older woman's voice eclipsing both Chika's and Tyson's voices.
"Kai Suzumu Hiwatari!" she hissed. Kai winced.
"I hate it when she does that," he whimpered.
"Your meeting started a good ten minutes ago! What are you doing here? Taking a detour?" Her voice was stern and sounded like how most mothers sounded to Tyson. She reminded him of Hilary too, who was in the room with the others watching in shock and awe. Her open mouth made Tyson realize that this woman was way worse than Hilary was in her nagging-days, and true to fashion she hadn't fallen out of that habit either, according to hers and Kenny's scarce emails and text messages.
"Yes taking a detour—a long detour!" yelled Kai back. "Now go away! And take that annoying girl with you!" He was backing away from the door now, eyes darting frantically around the room.
"Kai, who is she?" asked Tyson. He didn't know why he was whispering, but the worry was prominent
"Etsuyo," he mumbled. There was actual fear in his voice and eyes now. Tyson was beyond awe. This… this was radical!
"Who is she?" asked Hilary, the first to speak up after their dynamic entry.
"One of your supervisors?" asked Tyson.
"Er, in a sense," started Kai.
"What do you mean?" pressed a now deep-voiced Kenny. It wasn't enough to throw off either Tyson or Kai, but Kai's comment did the trick.
"Voltaire foresaw my rather late departure from Beyblading, so he had Etsuyo prepped to be my very attentive and personal supervisor dating back all the way to my turning one-years-old."
In other words, she was his old nanny.
The others laughed while Tyson didn't. He would have laughed if the circumstances were different, but he saw that he needed Kai's help if they were both to get over their troubles.
However, they didn't get the chance. Etsuyo was strong and now Tyson could see why Kai was scared of her. She kicked down the door, breaking the locks and the chair holding it in place. Kai made to run and dive behind the counter but she grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and proceeded to haul him out, single-handedly, and drag him back to his meeting. Even with his frantic kicking in trying to pull free. The feat managed to silence even Chika, who may have decided to make her front-page cover story on Kai's embarrassing 'pick up'.
"How very disappointing!" Etsuyo began to lecture. A black car drove up to the curb, the door opening on its own. "You are a disgrace to the Hiwatari name! I doubt there's a being in the entire universe that would be as slack and irresponsible as you!"
Tyson could only stare onwards, helpless. Kai was struggling against the unbelievable strength of a middle-aged woman… until he tore open the front of his coat.
Kai slipped out and back-kicked Etsuyo, a grimace flashing across his face. Tyson had the feeling that Kai didn't want to hurt her, but had no choice. The kick sent Etsuyo into the car, and with a definitive slam of the door, Kai looked to Tyson and the others and saluted them. Tyson could see a faint grin on Kai's face. Was he enjoying this as much as he hated it? Before he could register anything else, Kai ran off, Etsuyo's voice ringing through the car, telling the driver to turn around and follow after Kai. The runaway company heir had chosen the opposite direction the car was facing, forcing the driver to move in the opposite direction to find a suitable area to make a u-turn. It soon donned on Tyson. Kai's done this before. This wasn't the first time Kai's evasive behaviour produced a wacky hi-jink involving chases and escape. It took Tyson several seconds afterwards to realise that he'd received a text message during the chaos.
Hey, remember that time I kidnapped Kenny to lure you out? Meet me at the same place in ten minutes.
Kai
For the first time since he got to Kenny's café Tyson got a good look at who was there, staring in fixated shock at what just happened. The door was on the floor, the hinges shattered and the chair had gone careening to the back of the room, the legs having broken off upon impact with the wall. There was a dent on one of the cupboards from where the chair hit. Tyson hoped the collateral damage wasn't too much. His eyes swept to the bewildered faces in the room. It was Hilary, Kenny, and a much taller and broader built Max. Ray and Daichi weren't even there yet.
"What just happened?" gasped Kenny, looking from the broken door to the back of the room, and out the front door. Tyson had noticed that Chika had taken her leave. She must be really intent in covering the flight of the company heir to have vanished as quickly as she appeared.
"Tyson, please! Start explaining now!" demanded Hilary. Her voice was much more clear-cut and precise in volume, probably from the vocal training she endured for her job.
"Yeah, can we do that on the way to meeting Kai?" suggested Tyson, ready to head out of the door.
"Meet him where exactly?" asked Max. Tyson couldn't hold back his surprise at Max's deep voice. Still he smiled and looked at Kenny.
"Remember the 'quality time' you got to spend with Kai the first time we met him?" reminded Tyson. Kenny frowned, the memory of his kidnapping distasteful, regardless of the good things it brought afterward.
"Well, we better be careful. Some new generation of Blade Sharks are hanging around that old warehouse," he said seriously with a nudge of his glasses. Kenny quickly wrote up a note and the boys propped the door up to its standing position, even with the broken hinges. Kenny left the note on the other side for his parents to read. Before they left he locked the cashier, but not before transferring any cash left inside into a hiding place somewhere in his room. Afterwards they were set.
Running through town many fingers were pointed at them. It was Tyson running alongside Kenny and Max—it would be an interesting sight to see part of the team assembled again.
"This feels like the good old days," said Max. "Except my belt feels light without Draciel and the rest of my gear strapped down to it."
"Yeah, it does," said Tyson. He long dropped the habit of hauling Dragoon everywhere he went, and quite justifiably at one point a student at the college tried to follow Tyson home and was quickly caught trying to find a way to steal Dragoon without Tyson's knowledge. Unfortunately for the student, Hiro was home taking care of Gramps. And he wasn't happy.
"Daichi keeps his in a small vault in his room," said Hilary. "My mom says that he always checks the vault before he leaves for school and when he comes back home. If he were late he'd have my mom check for him, just in case." She was laughing a bit, finding the obsessive protection over Strata Dragoon a bit extreme.
"I've checked the internet. You have no idea how much your beyblades would cost if you decided to sell it!" noted Kenny. A knot settled itself in Tyson's throat. Just how much money was Kenny talking here? He blinked hard—that was stupid! The last thing he would do was part from Dragoon! That was insane! An idea so insane he nearly missed a turn that brought them into an alleyway leading to the back entrance of the Blade Sharks headquarters.
"Uh oh," mumbled Max. The sounds of feet firmly planting themselves onto metal and concrete bounced along the walls and ground. They've been surrounded.
"Too bad you guys don't have them this time around!" whispered Hilary. She fell in, standing behind Tyson, and grabbed onto his arms. A chill went up every nerve Hilary came into contact with; Tyson felt his heart beat racing from her mere touch.
"Well, look at this, guys! Wouldn't the boss find it interesting to see that the old veterans have come to pay him a visit?" called one of the Blade Sharks. There were snickers and a cold sweat trickled down Tyson's temple. He heard ripcords being wound into the launchers, the beyblades being loaded. He never noticed the damage a beyblade could make if it spun at a human body before. Perhaps it was because of this instance of being unarmed that really got Tyson's senses wound up.
"Why don't we welcome them, Nagi?" asked one of his fellow Sharks. Oh no…
They didn't even count it, but then again this wasn't a battle. This was playing dirty, using beyblades to directly harm people! Hilary screamed and Tyson felt his body instinctively pull her into a protective embrace. Being the two largest he and Max were intent in keeping Kenny and Hilary unharmed. They're efforts, however, would go up in vain—a beyblade swept in, taking down each assaulting bey in one fell swoop. The Sharks, save Nagi—who clearly outranked the lot—couldn't stand a chance against the spinning purple frenzy. Purple…
"Daichi!" yelled both Tyson and Hilary in recognition. Daichi dove in, much like he made his grand entrance the first time Tyson met him, but under the silent cover of stealth. And before Tyson stood no short, hyperactive monkey-boy: before him stood an equally tall teenager with the shoulders held with a sense responsibility and determination. A finger swept up and pointed accusingly at Nagi.
"You don't know who you're dealin' with here, chump," said Daichi darkly. A deep voice—Tyson expected as much. It was rough and scratchy and had the makings of a classic delinquent's vocals.
"What the—Oh shit!" cursed Nagi. The Shark ran towards whatever entrance he used to get the higher ground before Daichi could send Strata Dragoon at him. Tyson pumped his fists in victory, whooping. He and Max pounded Daichi's shoulders while Kenny applauded and Hilary showered him with kisses on his cheeks.
"Hey, cut that out, Sis!" said Daichi, waving her away. "So you guys going to explain to me what the heck is going on? I thought this was a 'stay clear away from' zone!"
"It was, until Kai needed a place to hide from his company hounds," cheeked Tyson. His remarked reminded the others of why they were even there in the first place. They found the entrance that Tyson had used the last time he had been there and, despite the shouts of displeasure of the residing Sharks, the group ran in.
"Nagi, you were supposed to keep intruders out!" yelled a female's voice. She sounded a slight bit younger than Daichi and as soon as Tyson saw her he pegged her as a third year middle schooler. Yet with the tattoos, the rough clothes, and the pierced eyebrows and multi-studded ears she looked like the most frightening thin-framed middle school girl in the whole world. Her hair was the radical shade of stark pink with streaks of black around a shaved down portion along the back of her head. Nagi looked similar to her, but was of a thick build and of cleaner clothing choices. In fact, for a fourteen-year-old, the girl was very revealing… and she was sitting down. Tyson didn't know what to make of that.
"I'm sorry, Nami, but that guy from Koma High showed up! And if you look closely you'll see that it's them—the vets!"
Before Nami could make heads or tails of the situation there was a loud thud from the ceiling. A door leading to the escape ladder to the roof opened and down fell Kai, who grasped at the ladder and beams as he swung his way down with an echoing thud on the concrete floor of the warehouse. The whole area was silenced in the wake of his presence. His footfalls bounced off against the wall as he strode over to a metal container and kicked it. The lid flipped open and from it he pulled out a shirt and a coat similar to the one Tyson saw him wear earlier. After dressing himself he pulled out a scarf made of a shorter length than the trademark scarf the world saw him wear. This scarf was more fitting for the December weather, which was logical. However, Tyson's logic hit a wall when he realized that for a good ten minutes or more Kai was running around town with only a wrapping of bandages covering his lower abdomen.
"You!" yelled Nami. She pulled out her beyblade-loaded launcher and pointed it at Kai. He just smiled at her and walked by without a worry.
"Sorry about that," said Kai to Tyson and the others. His eyes widened at Max and Daichi. "Well, I feel short."
"Max is the tallest and Daichi's only as tall as me! You're not that short," retorted Tyson.
"Yes, but last time I checked Daichi was only four-feet tall. Has it really been five years?" Kai paused and he grimaced. "Now I feel old." Tyson had to think about it before answering, but there was no helping that fact.
"You are the oldest," he pointed out. "Can't help you out there, buddy."
"Hold up!" called Daichi, arms raised in defiance. "When have you two been so 'buddy-buddy' with each other?" Tyson and Kai looked at each other, both unsure how to answer it.
"About an hour ago," they both said in unison. They shared a glance and laughed. That was unnatural yet amusing.
"Hey!" cried Nami. She stormed up to them, teeth gritted and her footsteps loud and heavy. "This is Blade Sharks territory! You guys have no authorization to be here!"
"Yes, but if I hadn't paid your brother for that one time to get these clothes," he pulled on the collar of his jacket, "you wouldn't have known of the secret entrance into the warehouse, therefore not knowing how to strategize a seize to claim the gang as your own." Kai was polite and calm the whole time he spoke, whereas Tyson and the others at least expected one critical remark from him, especially to a person like Nami.
"Oh shut up! Whatever it is you guys are doing here, I suggest you get it over with and leave very soon! The hero of Koma here wouldn't be able to save you all from us." She was right. There were at least fifty members that Tyson could see with plenty more hiding in the shadows and waiting outside to jump them if they stepped out of line. Looking back on Kai's days as the leaders of the Blade Sharks, his gang looked like a school club compared to Nami's. Sure Kai had ordered the capture of Kenny and had him bound and placed at a dangerous height until Tyson beat Kai, but the fact that Nami so willingly allowed her crew to launch beyblades at people without a second thought was frightening in comparison.
"I promise, once the situation has died down we'll be on our way and out of your hair," said Kai calmly, arms up in surrender. Nami spat at the floor by his feet before walking away. From her 'throne' she watched them, and it seemed the Sharks surrounding them doubled in the time it took her to stride over to her throne.
"So you're Koma High's hero?" asked Tyson, intrigued. Daichi was blushing but Hilary was ready to spill everything about it.
"Daichi's the most popular guy in his whole school! He's a hero to them!" said Hilary.
"Hey, all I did was stand up to these jerks surrounding us and that's that," mumbled Daichi, embarrassed. "It's not my fault that those idiots decided to worship me for one act of valour."
"To be honest, Dai, I've had my fair share with these guys and they've got a frightening reputation, even in my absence," said Kai.
"Which says something, 'cuz Kai founded the gang," added Kenny. Kai looked at him, Kenny grinning sheepishly.
"I won't bite," said Kai. Max laughed.
"I'm more curious about you, Kai! You've changed! For one thing you've been a lot more talkative than usual!" he chirped, clasping Kai's shoulders.
"Yeah, you didn't even grunt your 'hello' like you always do! In fact you apologized for something without a moment's hesitation!" mewed Hilary.
"Well for one thing you guy's are handling this a lot better than Tyson did—he freaked out," mused Kai. Tyson was not entirely pleased, but he laughed with them anyway.
"Ooh, we should go soon! Ray won't know where we are!" exclaimed Hilary.
"He does, don't worry," said Kai. "Bumped into him while I was AWOL. Told him to wait at the park at our usual spot."
"The park?" stammered Kenny, confused. "Wouldn't Etsuyo know to look for you there?"
"I feigned surrender and crashed their car," said Kai. "Obviously not enough to kill myself, but I stole the key." He pulled out the car key from his pants pocket, drawing gasps of amazement from the others.
"Wow, how many times have you done this?" asked Tyson, knowing more than the others on the matter. It seems Kai understated what he meant by 'getting away' from his duties with the company.
"I dunno," shrugged Kai. "Lost count after Berlin about half a year into my travels." Tyson did a double take—Kai toured China first! If he lost count by the time he got to Berlin after six months who knows how much times Kai made a getaway from the business life in China, of all places. With so many places to go, not to mention the historical significance of many locations, Kai would have had a field day there.
"You're beginning to scare me, dude," mumbled Tyson. The comment made Kai laugh and, finally, Tyson thought, the others responded accordingly.
"Huh?" stammered Hilary, her jaw dropping and eyes bulging.
"When do you laugh?" asked Daichi critically.
"Are you sure this is Kai, Tyson?" nudged Max. He pointed out Kai's longer hair and bemused expression, but it didn't deny the truth before them.
"It's like you're a completely different person!" sputtered Kenny, giving Kai a closer look. Kai backed away without moving his feet from their spot, but he smiled and chuckled instead of glaring and growling.
"Let's head to the park," said Kai. "And I suggest we take the bus." He nodded to Nami who just grumbled 'get the fuck out' and pointing her hand at the front exit. Kai shrugged and led the others to the bright outdoors.
When they arrived at the park Ray sat nearby the old beystadium they battled at. He looked slightly irritated at the last minute change of location, but was pleased that his long wait was finally over at the sight of them. Upon learning of Kai's completely new self he was at a loss for words, the shock broken when Hilary asked about Mariah.
As Tyson observed them as he joined in on the conversations they had no problem accepting Kai's new behaviour. At times Kai would hesitate when he spoke, unable to find the right words. Tyson wondered if it was because he wasn't used to talking so much or if Kai was actually pondering on being honest or a bit wary. It became more obvious when he would do so whenever someone asked a 'yes or no' question.
When the sun began to creep closely to the horizon they all made their way back to Kenny's café. His parents didn't seem to happy about the door, but after Kai offered to pay for all damages they were all smiles and even cooked a delicious meal for all of them. At the end of the day they all said their good byes and it was just Tyson and Kai again, walking back to the dojo.
"So you'll be staying for the night?" asked Tyson.
"Can I impose a bit longer than that?" Kai smiled with his eyebrows raised. The intonation of his voice was hesitant and polite.
"I thought you were only here for a day?"
"Actually we're here for as long as this business deal takes," explained Kai. "Since I flaked on the first meeting it'll be back and forwards until my team gets a good deal and I give my say so. In the meantime I got a text from Etsuyo. She's banned me from my old house because I refused to cooperate today. Which means, I don't have any place to stay."
"I'm okay with you staying for as long as you like," said Tyson. "Though I'd figure you'd have enough money to get yourself a room at a hotel."
"True, except Etsuyo guards my bank account like a hawk. I get an allowance when we travel since they can't have the only company heir going missing and starving to death. The money I get from that goes into a new account that I made, and it's for paying off my own personal hires."
"You hire people outside of your company? To do what exactly?"
"See this coat and shirt?" asked Kai, holding up his coat's collar. "I paid off Nagi to put it in that bin. If I wanted to I'll call on him again. I only pay when I need a specific task done, but most of that has been done overseas."
"You've been up to a lot of funky business since you've been gone," noted Tyson, impressed. "I take it your supervisors don' t know?"
"Not a single bit." Kai smiled. Tyson could see a glint of mischief in it.
"Then I hope you enjoy your stay at the Kinomiya household! I have to warn you, during the night Gramps gets into a really bad fit of coughs. I hope you don't mind being startled awake."
"I've slept through worse… if I could call that time 'sleeping'."
Tyson wanted to ask what he meant, but he felt that there was a time and place for storytelling with Kai. He felt that this was going to be an interesting change in his life and he wondered just how soon Kai would help reopen the dojo. Tyson had to admit that he was excited and worry free. For once everything felt right in life. Well, if he'd mustered up the courage to ask Hilary out it would be, but he had to do with what he had… for now.
I'm finally back. Check my profile for additional information and full summaries of all stories that I've uploaded. Note: some of my stories have been removed. I'm keeping it short and simple, and if I finish my remaining series off, I'll most likely leave indefinitely.
Hope you enjoyed the read.