This chapter was originally omitted in the scheme of my posts. One of my reviewers pointed this out to me probably more than a year ago, and I have just realized that my stupidity had left my readers without some valuable Tala-action and a crucial chapter to the story. Now there will be two chapters added today, instead of one.
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. I only own my OCs, and the plot line.
Summary:The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?
To Turn The Tides
Chapter Six: And You Thought It Would Be Easy
Distant Storm
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"Omegacide is two parts, the orb, and the oath. You've gotten the oath down. Now, we do the orb part."
He nodded, determination flooding his features. "Alright."
"I'm going to do the oath for you, with Taidra. We need to work on mastering one at a time, then we'll put it together, okay?" She stood next to him, launcher held straight out. She needed no special launches here.
"Yeah."
"Taidra, I call upon the power of the oath!" She launched her beyblade, and suddenly, a bright red color flooded from it, surrounding the two of them in a shielding red coat of armor.
"Dranzer!" He launched his beyblade with as much speed as he could muster, in a rush. "Omegacide!"
From Kai's beyblade, a reddish color began to flow, though not as strong as that of Taidra. An orb of crimson formed, surrounding the beyblade. "Kai, you've got to take it easy, the attack will drain you if you aren't careful, okay?"
"I'm fine."
The orb grew in size, and Riley was beginning to get worried. She watched him, and noted that he began blinking a bit faster, as though he was tired and about to drift off.
"Kai, okay, that's enough."
"I'm fine," he pressed. She kept her eyes focused on him. The orb had begun to spiral out of control, and she could tell. "Ry-"
"Taidra, let's go!" She wasted no time in grabbing her trainee from around the waist and pulling him into herself. The second he had hit her body, he had passed out. Dranzer came flying toward her, and she extended a hand to catch the blade, which she pressed into one of Kai's limp hands. "Guess we're done for today."
She brought him down to the ground and waited for him to come around, which he did, moaning about the pain in his head.
"I told you to stop," she whispered, once his eyes had opened, darting around as if to question where he was. "You're fine, you just passed out." He sat up, a bit shaky, but was okay.
"I had it."
"Yeah," she said carefully. "You just have to take your time. You keep rushing around like you're Tyson or something."
He stood up, and locked his beyblade back into the launcher. "Again?"
She shook her head. "We're done for today. Though your perserverance is appreciated." She smiled at him. "Come on, ice cream. My treat."
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"Help me! Please!"
Riley laughed at her friend's stupidity. "Come on, Tyson, it's not that hard. Just ask her."
"I'm afraid."
"Chicken." Riley saw Kai's figure in the doorway, already passing through, from one doorway to another.
She smirked at him, once Tyson's teeny attention span had been diverted yet again. He rolled his eyes in response. Max nudged her.
"What was that about?"
"He's learning to tolerate me," She whispered back. "Don't tell anyone though." They giggled softly, gaining Tyson's attention.
"What the hell's so funny? She might kill me if I ask her."
"Kill who for what?"
Max, Kenny, and Ray gulped as Hilary and Daichi entered the room.
"Come on boys, let's get out of here." Tyson immediately got up off his bed, but Riley shoved him back down. "You stay."
"I love you too, Riley."
"Yeah, yeah. Some one's gotta, since I highly doubt Kai's going to." The captain 'humphed,' from outside the doorway.
Riley had to admit, they put on quite the act when they had to, considering that he was still picking her up each day after school. This was pretty much a little game for them. Until later, when they became friends, and it became much more serious.
"Come on, Tyson, would you just spit it out? I doubt Hilary's going to bite you for asking a question."
"You don't know her very well," Max and Ray said, hanging their heads. The then lifted them and smirked at the crimson eyed girl. "But you know, she'll act all snotty, and then she'll come out here where he can't see her and flip out."
"Ahh, stubborn love."
"Now there's honesty."
Daichi then found it as the perfect time to open his big yap. "IS TYSON GONNA-"
"SSH!"
All people, except Kai, who was too cool, of course, jumped on top of the littler kid, so that the two people in Tyson's bedroom couldn't hear them. "God, this kid really needs less sugar."
"So does Max, but he's not twice as bad as Daichi," Kenny stated plainly.
"Hey!"
"What?"
A few moments later, Tyson came out, with a smirk that weirded out the group plastered across his face. "Well?"
Hilary paraded out of the room, and Riley made her way over to her, giving Kai a sideways glance that said all it had to. "Did you guys know Tyson was going to ask me to the Valentine's dance?"
Everyone nodded, and the young woman's face grew red. "THANKS FOR THE WARNING!" She screeched at them. Riley smiled at her.
"Come on, we need to set up a day to go dress shopping. God knows you're going to need to look your best."
"Why? It's only Tyson," She said simply.
"I'm hurt!" He yelled to their retreating figures.
"More like dumb love," Kai said, walking past Tyson and into his room.
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His eyes scanned the vehicle before him. "Better than what you said you had over the phone. I'll actually ride in this piece of shit."
"This 'piece of shit' costs a lot more than you're worth at retail value."
He rolled his eyes. "Not really. So, any good tramps in this town?"
"Don't you have enough of them in Moscow?"
"No. Bryan's quite the ladies man, mostly because he doesn't say much and gets whatever he wants. You get annoyed too fast, otherwise girls would be throwing themselves at you, Kai. You just don't really have it."
His counterpart shifted quickly, giving his passenger a jolt. "Well now, Tal-y, I wouldn't go there."
"Don't call me that," he said defensively, "And I'm pretty sure that the only girl you talk to is Hilary, and she's got Tyson's name pretty much stamped on every disirable part of her body."
"Tala, has anyone ever told you? You're a whore."
"Thank you for noticing." He ran a hand through his red hair. "It's something I'm good at."
"Well God knows you can't beyblade."
Tala growled. "This is coming from the guy who's lost to Tyson two years in a row."
"This year's different," Kai pressed. Tala rolled his eyes.
"You said that last year too."
"If you weren't my friend, I'd shove your ass out of the car."
"If I wasn't enjoying pissing you off, I'd jump out."
A brief silence had come between them. Their banter would come and go like this, but it was never uncomfortable. Both had been there to see the other's trials and tribulations, and their bond was anything but weak.
Kai glared at Tyson and Max, who were sitting on the stoop leading into the dojo. "From here on out, if they kill you, I refuse to be held responsible."
"That runt's here, isn't he?"
"Daichi?" Kai checked the clock on his car's radio. "You have two hours."
The red headed Russian sighed. "If you wake up tomorrow, and can't find your scarf, I used it to hang the twerp."
Kai nodded. "Many a time the thought has crossed my mind. Perhaps someone will finally do it."
The two unloaded Tala's two duffel bags and started back to the dojo, depositing his things in Kai's room, which they would share for the week. Afterwards, Kai and his friend stalked silently into the kitchen, where Hiro sat with Riley, whom Tala didn't know about.
Kai went to open the fridge. "Don't you think about touching my soda, Sourpuss."
Tala stared at the young woman in awe. Her back had been to them the entire time. Kai shrugged and went for the can, opening it and taking a drink.
"Pass it," Tala said, in his usual monotone. He took a swig and handed it back to Kai, who wordlessly downed the rest of it and set the empty can next to her.
"Good thing to do to someone who controls your training," Riley said, flicking the aluminum can toward the sink. It landed in the hot soapy water that was already there.
Kai still shrugged.
Tala looked at her for a moment, and she then turned around to face them. "Holy shit, your trainer's albino- and she's a girl!"
Within a nanosecond, his arms were pinned against his back rather forcefully, and he made a 'meep' in light of the sudden sharp pain that shot up his back. "The last person who called me albino-" she looked at Kai, "Didn't like the consequences."
Kai looked surprised. "Her eyes are red," he said simply. The two went out into the living room.
"Dude, she's got you brainwashed too? That girl has to be albino."
"Let's go," Riley said, leaning in the doorway. "You're Tala, right?"
"And you think you're some gang banging bitch?"
Hiro slipped in the doorway behind her. "Squirt, don't bother with this one, he's not worth it."
"Don't care," she muttered.
Tala smirked at the pet name Hiro used for the girl, whose name he didn't know. She was very attractive, and his plans to snag attractive girls were as follows.
Step one, piss them off.
Step two, dazzle them with beyblading skills and sudden charm.
Step three, well, that's nothing we need to cover.
"Riley, don't bother with Tala," Kai said, in a bored tone.
"You're just afraid that I'm going to dismantle his beyblade piece by piece." She tapped the side of her face with a finger. "Now why would I do that?"
"I've seen you do that."
Hiro looked mildly confused. This was getting back to the point where that infinite battle had occurred a few months ago. More and more, he began to believe that Kai had definitely had somekind of involvement, from his attempt at omegacide, to his sudden interest in bringing Riley home each day. He had to calm a lot of beybladers when that happened.
"Like I said, Kai, she thinks she's some gang banging bitch." He stated it in Russian, only to watch as Kai's scowl turned to that of an amused smirk.
"She can speak Russian," Kai stated plainly.
"And I quit the gang." Her eyebrows rose in a way that said to Tala that she had taken the bait.
"Well then, let's beybattle."
"That was a mistake," Hiro said, exasperatedly. Tala's ass was going down.
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A smirk found its way to her face. "Try again, loser."
Attempt twenty three...
"God damn it."
He relaunched his beyblade, and once again didn't make a dent in her spin. "Kai, what the hell is this? I thought he was some of the tougher competition."
"Dude, what the hell are you? Infinite or something?" Kai looked directly at Riley, who's eyes seemed to drill holes in Tala's. The expression was dull, as if to say, 'thank you, captain obvious.'
"I don't make a point of telling people, so if you'd keep your mouth shut..."
She withdrew her beyblade and walked up the step leading to the sliding door opposite the kitchen.
Tala beckoned Kai closer. "Did she just admit to being an infinite?"
"Yes."
"And you knew this?"
"Yes."
"Do the others-"
"Don't tell them."
Tala smirked at Kai. "She's training you, isn't she? To beat Tyson."
"No shit."
"Can you get me a date?"
A quick look of unrecognizable Kai emotion passed over him, before an impassive look took over. Tala noted it. It was one of few times he had seen that look in his life. Bryan had looked just like that when he had been asked by Spencer about Lana, his current girlfriend.
Tala blinked once or twice. "You know what, forget it." Tala smirked again. Kai had just sighed, unaware, out of relief.
Tala's eyes narrowed. It's going to be a fun week.
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The red head waited on the roof of the Dojo around two, when Kai said he would be back. He saw the sleek black lamborgini- he told Kai he wouldn't ride in the Cobalt SS, as it just wasn't good enough for him- pull up in front of the Dojo, and the doors open.
This surprised Tala. Who the hell did he pick up?
"You're doing better, all I'm saying is if Tala slips, I'll kick his ass and then yours." A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. Riley... and she was wearing the perfect, low cut shirt. He could see right down it.
"Why mine?" He picked up her bag from the back seat and carried it around the front of the car to her. She took it gratefully.
He waited for her response. "Because, you're the one who can't control your friends."
"He asked me to set you up with him."
"Never."
Kai slung an arm around her waist, in a rather un-Kai-like moment. "I know." She smiled up at him.
"For once, you seem to be in a good mood."
"You said I was doing better."
"You're going to have the entire world think we're dating."
"That's not entirely a bad thing."
"If Tyson and Hiro were to hear about any rumor remotely close, Phoenix-boy, they'd fucking kill you." From as close as she was to him, his hand resting on her hip, she could hear him gulp.
Tala resisted the urge to laugh. "Phoenix-boy?"
"Tala!" Riley called. "Quit spying on us from the roof. I'm not blind, I saw you."
"Damn it." Tala jumped down and entered the Dojo with them. "Where the hell did everyone go, and why the hell is your hand that close to her ass?"
Kai removed his hand from her and she shrugged as if to say she didn't care. "It doesn't mean anything Tala. Don't go getting jealous or anything because you know I'll never be turned on by you. There's plenty of tramps downtown." Tala began to turn a bit pinky. "You're such a whore. Seriously."
"I'll pick your ass up from the corner."
She rolled her eyes. "I assume you were listening in on my conversation with Kai, so let me rephrase. "If you decide to tell anyone about me, I will make sure you never have children."
His face twisted up into one of horror.
"Did I ever tell you how serious she can be?" Kai said, with his amused smirk still in place.
"If you guys get out of here in twenty minutes," Riley said, walking down the hall, "I'll say I never saw you. Either of you."
She shut the door to her room and that was the end of it.
"What the hell does that mean?" Tala asked.
"When the guys come home, she makes us practice. She's cutting me slack because she probably doesn't want to deal with you. Now let's go before we have to put up with the idiotic munchkin from hell."
"I really hate that kid."
"He's good with Tyson. I don't have to terrorize him that much anymore. I can just watch."
Both nodded. "What the hell is the deal with you two?"
"You weren't supposed to see that," Kai responded, suddenly serious.
"What? You acting like a normal human?" The amusement on Tala's face was beginning to tick Kai off.
"I didn't see you there."
"I figured, since you were all over her." Tala smiled cheekily. "Have you ever kissed the girl?"
"No, and I don't plan on it."
"You should, since you're still fucking prude and I can tell."
Kai shrugged, growing annoyed. "Whatever."
"Do I seriously need to put this in perspective for you?" Tala shook his head. Kai was a strong beyblader, and a reliable friend. Still, he seriously needed more involvement with the opposite sex.
"We need to get out of here before they come back." Kai started for the door, Tala following.
"I'll take that as a yes."
He waited for Kai to start the car up and speed off, before talking again.
"You like her, do you not?"
"What the hell are you doing?"
"You're obviously confused Kai, I'm not stupid." Kai went to say something back, but stopped.
"Yes, Tala, if I didn't like her, I wouldn't be spending most of my extra time training with her."
He shifted again, whipping around a corner. "I don't mean like that. I mean like, like."
"You sound like Hilary having a conversation with the girls she goes to school with."
"My God Kai, just loosen up. Nothing leaves this conversation." Tala looked at Kai for a moment to make sure he was paying attention. "Like before, with the dating comment."
Kai rolled his eyes. "It's just messing around, Tala."
"So you don't even feel, just a little, like it would be a good thing?"
"I don't know."
"Then tell me this. Do you ever think about her in ways you shouldn't?"
"I'm not like you, Tala, I don't imagine every attractive woman I've ever seen in nothing underneath me as you do."
"And you've never seen her come out of the shower dripping and ever think about how amazing she looks with her hair like that and the water everywhere?"
"Have you been reading romance novels again? I thought Bryan burned them."
Tala shook his head. "It's the God damned soap operas. They're addicting, I swear."
Kai smiled at that. Poor Tala, the romance whore. He took the scenic route outside the city and into the mountainside.
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere where we don't have to go the speed limit."
"Why don't we just wait until about one am and go street racing?"
"I don't feel like waiting."
"Seriously, back to the main topic of dicussion Kai, you've never even thought about what it would be like to have a girl like that? She's strong, she's sexy, she's a bitch, she's completely your type."
"And I've almost killed her."
"And that makes her even more your type." Tala deadpanned. "Come on, doesn't something about her catch your interest? Her smile, her laugh..."
"That."
"You like her laugh."
"Kind of." Tala smirked.
"You like making her laugh, don't you?" Kai looked at him, as if to say yes without actually admitting it. "You've got it then."
"How does me liking to make her laugh make me like her?"
"I can just tell. Have you taken her to lunch ever, when you picked her up?"
"No, occasionally ice cream," he said, in his own defense.
"Does she thank you?"
"How?"
Kai rolled his eyes. "By saying it."
"Does she have any secrets that you know that the others don't know?"
"Her infinite secret, and a few others, why?"
"She trusts you, doesn't she?"
"I think so."
"I'm going to ask her."
"Don't," Kai responded, rather quickly.
"Nervous?"
"No."
"I bet you couldn't even say 'Happy Valentine's Day' to her."
"I could, I don't choose to though," Kai responded.
"It's tomorrow," Tala said, thoughtfully. "I'll tell you what: I bet you that you couldn't kiss her, and I mean actually kiss her, before the day is over."
"I could," Kai pressed, "But as I've said before, I choose not to."
"And like you wouldn't like to know what it would be like to kiss someone." He sent Kai a sideways glance. "Who are you kidding?"
Kai grumbled something Tala could barely decipher.
It sounded like, "Apparently no one."
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Valentine's Day was quite a day for the odd group. Out of general compassion- and a promise from both Tyson and Hilary to tell her everything that happened, Riley had cancelled practice for the group. She had even decided to cancel her little 'session' with Kai, to help Hilary get ready for the dance. She had decided to treat the girl to lunch using a fake note to get the girl out of class.
"So, I have a question," Hilary said, between sips of her pepsi.
"Yeah?" Riley asked, her crimson eyes meeting her friend's ruby ones.
Hilary took a deep breath. "I heard Hiro say to Grandpa that Kai's been taking you home everyday since that one time you blew us off. Do you like him?"
"Excuse me?"
"Come on, I just want to know if you like Kai or not, he's never actually joked around with a girl before, and I heard about the soda incident with Tala."
Her eyes narrowed. "How much of that did you hear?"
"Just that Kai drank your soda on purpose."
"Oh."
"Is there more to that?"
"No, but Tala's been giving me these looks, and I know he was a bit jealous before because I wanted nothing to do with him. He thought he was going to win me over."
"That's a good one," Hilary said, with a laugh. Riley nodded.
"I will admit that Kai is definitely not bad to look at."
"Hell, I think any woman would admit that."
They both began laughing again. "He's been nicer to me, though," Riley said, thinking. "Especially when we're alone."
Hilary nearly choked on the air she was breathing.
"When are you two alone?"
Riley stopped, any more slip ups and she'd have an angry Hilary on her hands. "Like when he's driving me home. He insists that it's on his way, and I think he's a liar. We always pass his school on the way back."
"Do you think that he might like you?"
"Hah." Both girls shook their heads. "Like Kai would show interest in a girl, come on. It's not like he's gay, but seriously, a girl would take up a little too much time in his book."
Hilary laughed with her. "Yeah, good point."
Riley's mind was sent into overdrive. Right back at ya sister, she thought.
"So, you ready for tonight?" Hilary turned a bit pale. "I don't know what I'm going to do if he doesn't like the dress."
"I'm sure someone, probably one of your friends will pay him to lie through his teeth if he doesn't." When Hilary looked just about depressed enough, Riley smiled at her. "I'm sure he'll love it, I asked him about color choices before he even asked you to the dance."
Hilary sighed. "Riley, you're my hero."
"I've got to be someone's."
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Once the group, save the older members, Kai, Tala, Riley, Hiro, and Grandpa, had left, things generally relaxed around the dojo. Riley had resolved to playing video games with Hiro, who was losing badly. She was good. She'd always been good.
"I hate you, Riley."
"Hate is close to love, Happy Valentine's Day," She chimed back. He laughed at her.
"It's good to have you here Rylily," Grandpa said from behind her. "We need a little more female influence around this joint."
Riley nodded and paused the game. "Hilary only goes so far, I know what you mean."
"Well yeah."
"How are the boys coming on their beyblading?" Hiro asked. "I haven't seen one of their training sessions in a while."
Riley smiled at him. "They've all improved considerably, even 'Mr. I am the Champ of the free world.'" They laughed. "Honestly, I think Tyson's going to definitely have to step up his game this year, and I'm not just talking about against the other teams."
"Kai, right?"
"I think he's going to win, he's got the heart."
"And my T-dawg doesn't?" Grandpa's fist was shaking a bit. Riley had to be careful, Grandpa could be a bit scary at times when Tyson's skills were being questioned. Hiro nodded thoughtfully.
"You've been pushing him a lot harder than the others."
"He needs it," She responded. "Tyson will respond with his whining and do better. You have to push Kai twice as hard or the results definitely lack substance."
Tyson's grandfather looked at her quizzically. "I hope T-Dawg realizes that before the finals start."
"I can't tell him, either. I was thinking about letting them go against each other, for fun, I haven't done that since Kai nearly killed the lot of us, but I think it's time we try it again."
"I'll bet that the little dude will win," Grandpa said to her, determination flooding his features.
"I wouldn't bet anything. I have a lot of confidence in Kai. The tides might be turning."
"It's not going to be easy for either of them, with the infinites and all," Hiro said, carefully. "I think they need to work on making it to the finals first."
"I second that."
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She raised her arms over her head, launcher gripped tightly in her hands, her left crossed over her right. Her right palm was up, holding the base of the launcher upside down, while her left gripped the rip cord. she brought it down in a clockwise rotation, then flipped her hands, and sent the rip cord flying back with her left hand, which was now palm up, but wrapped around the cord. She then laid her left arm straight out, her palm flipped down again, as if to call an attack. It was an elegant maneuver, one she didn't usually use in front of the boys. An infinite had an intricate launch, one that balanced them.
"Let it rip!"
Another beyblade joined her black one, sending it sideways a bit. She laughed.
"Come out Kai," She called.
She heard him snicker a bit and the bushes behind her move a bit. He recalled his beyblade and placed both hands on her shoulders. It wasn't dark yet, but it was getting pretty hard to see. Once the moon was visible, they'd be much better off.
"You should keep your guard up more on your launch," He said, in a teacher-like tone. She pressed a hand against his rock hard stomach and shoved him back.
"You should learn not to sneak up on people like that. You're lucky I knew it was you."
"Well who else would ambush you on Valentine's Day?"
"Well..."
"Don't answer that then." She smiled at him and beconed for him to join her.
"You want to train, don't you?"
He nodded. "I need my daily fix."
"I know just what you mean." She thought for a moment on what to do with him. "Let's take it kinda easy today. We'll work out the kinks in the orb in a few days. We've been working on it for the past week anyway. Variety wins today. Show me your launch."
"You see it all the time," He retorted.
"Just do it."
"Yeah, yeah." He held his launcher up over his head and brought it down directly in front of him, yanking on the rip cord and launching Dranzer in a flurry of sparks.
She nodded, and recalled her beyblade, repeating the crescent moon shaped launch that she had previously used. He noted that Taidra flew to the ground with much more grace and speed than he had seen before. "Want to learn how to that?"
He nodded dumbly. Who would say no to learning how to launch like that? It was like a talent in itself.
She approached him and took his launcher from him, and handed him hers. It was lighter, and made of something different. "You'll have to use mine, okay?"
"Yeah." The rip cord was longer than what he was used to, but it seemed like it would come pretty much naturally once he got started.
"You're a lefty, right?"
"Yeah."
"Good, this won't be too weird then." Riley held out her hands, crossed over, her left one on top of her right. He copied her as she went through the motion. He tried it a few times, with depressing results. "It's a little awkward, at first," she told him, gently. "Here," she said, handing him Taidra, and taking out her bit chip, replacing it with Dranzer's. "Just for now, we'll make you a different beyblade later. The second you get it right, it'll be much faster than you anticipate. Trust me, I shattered my blade the first time I launched like this. And that was experimental. This one's got a diamond core, it isn't going to get messed up too easy."
She got behind him, as he locked the beyblade into place and got back into position. "I can't seem to get it steady enough-" She placed her hands over his.
"Try it now," she said, gripping his hands tightly, guiding him through the motions again a few times. "Better?"
"Much," he said, a bit more relaxed. He couldn't believe she was so close to him. No one had ever gotten this close to him before. Both literally and not.
"For some reason, when you do it, it seems to make you a bit more aware of everything. Like an unknown advantage." Her words were merely a whisper in his ear, accompanied by her warm breath in the February night. "What do you feel?"
He said nothing, taking in a few calm, concentrated breaths.
"Don't feel stupid about telling me, just say it."
"You," he said, his voice about as soft as hers.
She smiled as he tilted his head to the side to see hers. "That's what you're supposed to feel." She tightened her grip on him again. "Ready?"
"Yeah." He raised the blade over his head and went through the motions with exact precision, ripping the rip cord out of its place at the exact moment and watching the beyblade go flying faster than ever before. She released his hands and stood next to him.
She nodded. "Now that, my friend, is a launch."
Kai recalled the beyblade, which shot back at him with a burst of energy. "Wow," he said, breathlessly.
"Yeah." She smirked at him sideways. "Again?"
He was about to do it when he noted that she was asking, not commanding. "Yes."
She nodded in approval. "Go for it."
x x x
"Can I ask a question?"
"No." She rolled her eyes and tilted her head in his direction. "Of course, Kai, since you ask so many questions."
He shrugged in response. "Why did you teach me your launch?"
"We're more alike than you think." She pulled out her bit, and squeezed it tightly in the palm of her hand. "If you come to me, and catch me off guard-" She looked at him with a smirk, "I think you're ready for something new."
"I haven't even mastered Omegacide-"
"You need to stop worrying about that. You'll learn it, but we have to take it a step at a time." She paused, thinking. "You have the oath down perfectly, and the orb part is getting better. We'll put it together soon, but that will have to wait for a time when I can get you away from the group for a few hours. You'll pass out a few times, I'm sure."
"I can't wait." She slung an arm around his shoulders.
"Did you mean what you said before?" He realized that he had kind of blurted it out, but he couldn't wait another moment without asking.
"What do you mean?" Her eyes were on him, and she waited for him to answer.
"What you said to Tyson's grandfather and Hiro."
"About you?"
He nodded. "Yeah," he said, quietly.
"I have faith in you." Wordlessly, he leaned across the sidewalk and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
"I told Tala."
"About this?"
"Yeah."
"Is he jealous?"
"He bet me that I wouldn't have the guts to kiss you by the end of tonight."
"The whore just wants someone to get some action." They both laughed at it. After all, it was Tala, and it was true. At this point, Kai didn't really, nor had he ever cared about Tala's dare. After all, he was Kai Hiwatari, and he'd do as he pleased, not as anyone else wished.
They continued the rest of the way in silence. Kai slid open the door and they noted that there were no shoes anywhere, so no one was home except the two older Grangers, and possibly Tala, if he wasn't out clubbing.
She heard a scowl from the kitchen and the sound of footsteps drawing nearer. "Asshole, is that you?"
"Kai," Riley called, just barely loud enough for him to hear.
"Hn?"
She turned around toward him and smiled lazily. She reached a hand up and stroked the side of his face. "As your captain, I should make it my job to make sure that you have experience in all areas..." She trailed off, and kissed him on the lips, slow and tenderly, and he immediately tilted his head back to allow her entrance into his mouth. He kissed her right back, becoming more rough, but tender all the same. She followed his arms down to his hands and they became intertwined. A moment later, she broke it, pressing a simple kiss to his right temple. She whispered the next thing she said into his ear. "Tell Tala whatever you want. I'm cool with it."
With that, she turned away from him, to see Tala gawking from the doorway. "And I'm the whore?"
She shrugged. "Yeah, you still are." She gave them both a final glance. "Happy Valentine's Day, boys."
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This is the second time I've written this chapter, and this way was much, much better than the first. And it's longer! Tell me what you think in a review, I promise I won't bite!
x3 Distant Storm