The Beast Within

Chapter 3

Tyson and Faye walked down the street together, laughing and enjoying each other's company. Even so, Tyson couldn't help noticing that Faye was a little on edge, like she was purposely trying not to have too much fun. He couldn't even begin to understand why.

"I'm really sorry about my friends," Faye apologized suddenly. "They can be really weird sometimes but they're actually really nice and I'm sorry if they kind of creeped you out." She blushed, still feeling a little embarrassed by the whole food court episode.

Tyson blinked in surprise. "They didn't creep me out. I mean, sure, they were weird but I thought they were really funny! And trust me," he added firmly, "You don't even know what weird is until you've met my Grandpa."

He reflexively rubbed the back of his head and laughed, remembering his last painful encounter with the insane old man. He hits pretty hard for such an old geezer. Too bad I'm the only one he bothers torturing.

Faye's face lit up as she smiled. "He sounds interesting. I think I'd like to meet him someday."

"No you wouldn't."

They laughed together as Tyson told Faye more about his over-zealous grandfather and all the head injuries he'd inflicted on his grandson over the years.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Luna sighed, leaning against a park bench. After lunch at the food court, the three girls had decided to split up for the afternoon. She and Tess had both agreed that Faye was entitled to some alone time with Tyson, but after the pair had left, she and Tess couldn't decide what to do with their free time. In the end, they had split up, too.

Luna listened absentmindedly to the multiple crashes as beyblades collided with each other in the practice dishes scattered throughout the park. She gave the beybladers a quick visual assessment, sizing them up. They were mostly amateurs, unfortunately. Why is it so hard to find decent competition these days? Isn't the sport supposed to be growing in popularity? She tried to stifle a yawn as she stretched, gazing at the various beybladers with indifference. Ugh, how boring, she thought to herself with frustration, raising her arms over her head to complete the stretch.

"What a waste of time," she muttered under her breath, lowering her arms.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The shadow perched quietly in a tree, gazing down at the purple-haired girl while organizing its thoughts. This girl didn't seem to be directly involved with the cause of the blue light, but there was no guarantee she was uninvolved either. The shadow had noticed the suspicious look passed between this purple-haired girl and her raven-haired friend in the food court. Was it completely unrelated?

Another factor had also influenced the shadow's suspicion – a few moments ago, its beyblade had briefly glowed blue again. So had this girl's. However, instead of looking confused about the abnormal occurrence, she had simply glanced at her beyblade in a guarded way and shoved it into her bag, hiding it from view. Even if she's not directly involved, she still seems to know something, the shadow reasoned to itself.

It decided to make its presence known. Stealthily, it leaped to the ground with no more noise than a breath of wind rustling the leaves.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Luna turned to pick up her bag, intending to search the entire park for an opponent if necessary. She had taken a few steps before she froze completely, unable to believe what she was seeing.

A very good looking guy was standing in front of her, leaning against the trunk of a tree. Where the hell did he come from? He was dressed all in black; a tight black shirt, black jeans, and a long black coat with red trim. His beautiful silver hair shifted slightly as a breeze caressed it. Determination flared deep within his violet eyes as he stared her down. Luna stared back, unblinking, until she felt her eyes beginning to water. Grudgingly, she mentally admitted defeat and allowed her eyes to close, instantly relieving the burning sensation.

"You lose," the guy smirked, blinking as well.

"Duh," Luna rolled her eyes sarcastically, smirking back at him. "Good call, genius."

"I have some questions for you. And I expect answers."

"You know, normally people introduce themselves, Kai." Luna teased, smirking more.

"Why bother? You obviously recognize me already," he shrugged apathetically.

"...what's your point?"

Kai rolled his eyes and stepped closer. "Fine. I'm Kai Hiwatari." There was a long pause. "Your turn," he prompted.

"Oh...right! I'm Luna," she replied quickly, snapping out of a daze. Stop staring at him, idiot!

"So now that the introductions are over, I expect some answers."

"Depends on the questions." Luna playfully stuck her tongue out, mentally cringing. Aw, hell.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Tess slammed open the coffee shop door, tossing her long, black hair in agitation. "Coffee! Now!" she demanded, grabbing the collar of the guy behind the counter.

He sighed, calmly loosening her fingers and freeing himself from her grip. "Honestly Tess, don't you even say hello anymore? You're lucky you're a regular or I'd call the cops on you."

"Don't start, Dan. You know my routine. I need my coffee! I haven't had any since this morning!" She gripped the edge of the counter tightly.

Dan smiled, shaking his head. "You should really think about cutting back," he advised, filling her cup. "How long have you and your friends been here, anyway?"

"We moved here..." she did a quick mental calculation. "Just about 3 weeks ago."

"Has it really been that long?" Dan wondered out loud. "It seems shorter than that to me...but that's probably your fault," he laughed, "You're here every day. The weeks have all kind of blurred together. Here," he handed Tess her cup, "Espresso."

Tess snatched the cup and took a gulp, promptly burning her tongue. "Ow!" She stuck her tongue out for a moment, blowing on it in an attempt to sooth the pain away. She turned away with a grin. "Thanks, Dan!" Dan shook his head as she left the shop, singing to herself as she went. "Dan, Dan, the coffee man!"

Tess took the lid off her cup to help the coffee cool faster, then took a long drink. "Ah, sweet coffee," she sighed happily, "What would I do without you?"

She headed in the direction of the park. She was sure Luna would be there, most likely near a beyblade dish. Luna was pretty competitive, after all. Tess felt herself already calming down, now that she had her precious drink. She hummed her magnificent "Coffee Man" song as she walked, and in no time she was navigating around the numerous practices dishes throughout the park. Every now and then she would pause to watch a match in progress, but moved on quickly since the beybladers were mostly inexperienced kids. A challenging opponent would be nice for a change...well, one OTHER than Luna or Faye. They're fun opponents but I battle them all the time! One beydish in particular attracted her attention as she made her way through the park. Rei, Max, and Kenny from the G-Revolutions were standing beside the dish, offering pointers and strategical advice to the younger beybladers. Tess moved closer to the group, curious. Rei glanced up as she passed, his gold eyes meeting her green ones. She gave him a sly smile.

"Hyuu hyuu, sexy," she winked before walking away.

Rei blinked, speechless. That's the weirdest thing anyone's ever said to me. He laughed quietly, turning his attention back on the beydish.

"Huh? Did you say something, Rei?" asked Max.

Rei shook his head. "No."

Tess continued walking until she was out of ear-shot, then ducked behind a large tree and burst into a giggle fit. "Wow," she exclaimed with glee, "He's even more gorgeous in person! Oooooh, those eyes!" She fought to gain control over her giggle fit, finally suppressing it enough to take a few gulps of air. "I've got to tell Luna about this. Where the hell is she?" Throwing her now-empty coffee cup in the trash, she began humming "5 Colours in her Hair" and resumed her search.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Kai and Luna were seated comfortably in the branches of a tall tree. The mass of leaves surrounding them shielded them completely from view, giving them some privacy. Kai had already asked his questions and was currently listening to Luna's murmured response. A frown steadily deepened on Kai's face as he heard the explanation. I knew something was wrong but this is just...I don't even know what to call it.

Luna sat quietly, patiently waiting for Kai's judgment. She felt horrible about telling him anything – she had been sworn to secrecy, after all – but she just couldn't help it! She had a nagging feeling that maybe...maybe... he could help find a way to fix the problem. Something about him made her want to tell the truth, even if she did have to break a promise. He seemed like someone she could trust. She couldn't even explain why!

"Alright," Kai stood up on his branch, easily maintaining his balance. "We obviously need to tell Kenny. If anyone can make sense of this and find a reasonable solution, he can. You'll have to tell him everything you know. After that, I'm sure he can-"

"No," Luna interrupted hastily, "I can't tell him that! It's bad enough I broke my promise by telling you. Please don't make me do it again!" she pleaded, guilt saturating her voice. Kai remained silent. "Besides," Luna continued, "I don't know the whole story. I only know the parts she was willing to talk about. And you," she pointed out, "should know more about keeping secrets from people than anyone."

Kai shot her a challenging glare.

Luna sighed, leaning against the solid tree trunk. "If you really want to find out anything, you'll have to talk to her personally. I hate talking about her behind her back like this."

Kai held back a sigh. He could tell from her tone that he wouldn't be able to change her mind. She was too loyal for that; it was a trait he found himself admiring.

"Fine. Whatever," he said, "but I think Kenny should know as soon as possible. If it's as bad as you think, then we can't waste any time with this. And I'm sure my teammates would appreciate some answers as well."

"That might be true," Luna agreed, "but it won't be me telling them. I don't even know what possessed me to tell you. It's like you have interrogation super powers or something."

Kai smirked. "It's a gift."

"Oh, shut up," Luna retorted with a smile, "Anyway, it would probably be easiest for you to talk to her at our apartment. It's less public, so you might be able to get her to open up there." She fished a piece of paper and a pen out of her bag, quickly scribbling the address. "Here," she handed Kai the note, "Come over around one o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Bring Kenny if you really think it's necessary but don't bring anyone else, ok? She hates being the center of attention and being in front of a large group will only make it worse. She'd panic for sure. We'd be lucky to get more than three words out of her then."

Kai examined the note briefly. "Thanks," he replied, his lips twitching into a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"No problem..."Luna hesitated. "So...I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then. Bye." She leaped gracefully from her branch, landing in a perfectly balanced crouch. "Don't be late!" she grinned up at Kai before walking away, leaving him alone in the dense leaves.

He looked again at the piece of paper in his hand. "So," he mused, "The answer was this close all along?"

The girls' apartment was only two floors below his own.