After about an hour of hiding from everyone, even though he'd say he wasn't actually hiding since he was outside in an open space, Ray got up off the box he was sitting on and started to walk along the river. It was still nice and sunny out, and he would have liked to stay out longer, but it was around lunch time now and he was getting hungry. He headed up the small hill beside the river's edge and started to walk along the road. He would have to go back to the dojo for lunch if he wanted anything to eat. He didn't have money for food, and he was going to have to go back to everyone eventually, since he was bound to run out of excuses to shadow the fact that he really had been avoiding everyone and should have lost already.
Ray got all the way to the dojo front without running into anyone. He was glad for this too. He wanted to postpone talking for as long as he could. But in thinking this he'd felt he ended up jinxing himself, because as he entered into the dojo yard he heard voices in the back. There were only two though, and Ray could make them out as Tyson and his grandpa. He let out a sigh of relief, and headed into the back following Tyson's shouts. "But I don't want to train!" Tyson yelled at his grandpa. "I hate it, and you've never managed to get a hit on me yet so it's not like I need it!"
"Dodging isn't the whole point of your training, little man! Yes you have to be quick on your feet, but you have to be able to stand your ground and hit hard too!" Grandpa G yelled back.
"Well maybe if your training exorcises weren't so boring than me, and even some other people, would actually want to come learn from you!" Tyson told him.
"Training isn't meant to be fun and games. It's meant to make you better at what you already know how to do, you dig?" he asked.
"But the only think I want to get better at is Beyblading, and I do train for that!" Tyson retorted as Ray stood around the corner watching them. He didn't think it would be cheating to not join in the fight if they didn't know he was there.
"How are you supposed to take over my gig when I finally hit the dirt if you don't know what you're supposed to be doing?" Grandpa G asked Tyson.
"But I do know what I'm doing, grandpa, and I'll make training more fun for everyone when I do take over. And please stop talking like that. You're not 'hitting the dirt' yet, or anytime soon, so we don't need to be talking about it," he told him in a slightly pleading tone.
Ray chose this time to finally step around the corner and walk over to them. He didn't want to listen to Tyson and his grandpa fighting like this because of the bet they made. He never knew Tyson to go on with his grandpa like this. He usually ended the arguments quickly with some kind of excuse. Ray tapped Tyson on the shoulder, and the boy turned around.
"Oh it's just you, Mr. 'I'm a real jerk on the inside', you had me scared there for a second," Tyson told him giving a nervous chuckle.
"Why would you be scared of seeing someone else?" Ray asked him raising an eyebrow.
"Because I'm not really in the mood to talk to Max yet, but I should have realized it couldn't be him. He's still with his dad after all," he told him.
"Why are you scared to see Max, Tyson?" Ray asked smirking slightly.
"Never mind," Tyson said quickly turning to hide the red in his face. Ray cursed.
"Stupid loophole," he said in an angry mumble crossing his arms.
Tyson's grandpa looked from Tyson to Ray and back again rubbing his chin. But he didn't say anything about the fact that he thought they were acting a little unusual though. Instead he changed the subject again. "So I suppose you're both hungry," he said. "Are rice balls and dumplings ok with you boys?"
"Yes defiantly!" Tyson yelled happily as he grinned.
"Not really," Ray answered. On any other occasion he'd have just said sure and only eaten a little, but he wouldn't be able to do that for the rest of the week.
"What do you mean not really? What do you want instead," Grandpa G asked him.
"Sushi," Ray told him with a little chuckle.
"Of course you would want that," Tyson said crossing his arms and turning to look at him again.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ray asked him a little bitterly.
"Well you'd obviously want raw fish, you're pretty much a cat after all," he said faking a laugh to try and lighten the mood, but it didn't work very well.
"Well at least it's better than being a pig!" Ray told him yelling for the first time in a while. Tyson opened his mouth to answer, but his grandpa cut him off.
"Hey, there's no reason for my homies to be fighting over food! I have all three of those thing, and I'll bring them all. That ok with you, little dudes?" he asked them. The two of them nodded. "Alright, I'll be back! Try not to kill each other's ego while I'm gone!" He yelled as he left to go get food.
Tyson and Ray spent the rest of their lunch in silence only talking when Tyson's grandpa said something, or asked them something, which lead to a few mini fights between them without intension. Most of them were Ray's fault because he always seemed to have a comment for Tyson whenever he said something, and he started to wonder if the only reason they were friends was because he always kept his mouth shut about the things he was now saying to Tyson. Tyson's grandpa didn't seem to think much of the fighting though. He just kept telling Tyson to cool down and that Ray was probably having an off day. This made Tyson almost slip and bring up the bet a few times for argument sake, but he always managed to think of something else to say quickly. Ray was starting to feel better about this bet now. So far it was obvious he was having an easier time with it than Tyson, but he knew it wouldn't last long once Kai chose to come back.
When Ray was finished eating he said thanks to Grandpa G, and headed out of the yard yelling a sarcastic thanks to Tyson when he asked where his was. Then Ray headed up the street at a run. He needed to get away from Tyson as fast as he could. He was getting sick of all the fighting. Ray began to pick up his pace running along the walls around the other homes in the neighbourhood. He rounded a corner, and ran into something making him fall back, not being able to catch his balance in his current state. He hit the ground hard with a thud, and groaned a little closing his eyes. "I'm so sorry Ray!" said a shocked voice. "Are you hurt?"
"It's ok, I only hurt my butt," Ray said taking a few deep breaths before opening his eyes to an out stretched had attached to a worried looking Max. Ray grabbed his hand to help himself up. "So how are you Maxie?" he asked. He would have normally said sorry for running into Max by now, but a sorry was never the first thing that came to him. Something else always forced itself to come up first.
"I'm fine, I was just on my way to go see Tyson," he said with a little laugh. "Where were you going in such a hurry?"
"I actually don't know," Ray told him laughing. "I was just running away from Tyson's place."
"Oh, why's that?" Max asked raising an eyebrow.
"I was getting sick of all the fighting we were doing," Ray told him shrugging.
"Is Tyson in a bad mood or something?" he asked.
"I guess you could say that," Ray told him and then laughed. "He was actually a little scared that I was you when I first got there." He blurted out trying to move the subject slowly away from Tyson's mood.
"Why would he be scared to see me? What did he do? He didn't break something of mine did he? Maybe I should hurry over there and check on him," Max said sounding a little panicked as his eyes went wide.
"I don't think he broke something, or did anything to your things. But I don't know why he would be either," Ray told him with a shrug.
"Well maybe I should go check on him, just to make sure. I was going to go over there anyways, but I think I better hurry now," he said trying to push past Ray.
"It's ok Maxie, calm down. I mean you're kind of cute when you're all panicked and worried and stuff, but there's no need to be. Everything's fine with Tyson," Ray told him, pinching himself as he spoke.
Max stopped walking, and looked at Ray for a few seconds. Blinking and turning a light shade of pink as he wondered if he'd heard him properly. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before finding the words he wanted to say. "Did you just...call me cute?"
"Kind of cute," Ray corrected him as he pinched himself harder.
"Well I guess that's kind of nice to hear, I just never thought that you would..." Max trailed off. "Never mind, I need to go see Tyson before my lunch break is over." And he headed in the opposite direction Ray was going. "I'll see you later!" he yelled back to him as he turned a corner at the end of the road. Ray let out a frustrated sigh as he turned to the wall beside him and hit his head against it a few times. He then leaned against it taking a few deep breaths before starting back into a run down the street.
Tyson jumped when he heard the familiar voice calling his name. He really didn't want to talk to Max right now. He was actually hopping Max would spend the whole week at his dads so he'd never have to talk to him, and couldn't be told he was avoiding him. "Tyson, where are you? I have a lunch break right now and I wanted to talk to you!" Max yelled as he came around to the back where Tyson was sitting by the pond. "There you are! Why didn't you answer when I was calling you?" he asked the boy.
"I was hoping you'd think I wasn't home, and you'd leave," Tyson told him without looking up at him as he bit his lip. It hurt him to have to tell Max this truth.
"Why?" Max asked. "Ray told me you were scared to see me, but I didn't really think it was the truth. But then again, Ray always tells everyone the truth."
"Yeah, right, of course he does," Tyson said a little coldly. Max walked the rest of the way over to Tyson and sat down beside him.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Max asked him. "Are you in a bad mood because you and Ray have been fighting?"
"Yeah," Tyson told him with a deep sigh.
"Well I'm sure things will get better, won't they? Ray can't stay mad at you forever," he laughed. Tyson glanced over at him.
"You said that like it was my fault we were fighting," he told him.
"Well I just assumed..." Max said trailing off.
"Well it wasn't me, it was all him, him and his nasty comments!" Tyson yelled at the blond haired boy. Max blinked.
"Well I'm sure he's just in an off mood about something. I mean, he did call me cute when I was talking to him before I got here," Max told him weakly.
"He called you what?" Tyson asked through clenched teeth, standing up and clenching his fists.
"It's ok Tyson, it's not like that's a bad thing..." Max told him trying to calm the boy down. But it wasn't working.
"I can't believe he did that when he knows! I'm sure he knows, and he called you cute anyways! Not that I can blame him, you are cute, but he shouldn't have done that if he knows!" Tyson yelled as he walked angrily over to one of his trees and punched it hard.
"Knows what...Tyson did you just call me...What's going on with you guys?!" Max yelled standing up now too. He was completely confused. Neither Ray nor Tyson had showed any interest in him except as friends since he met them, and now out of nowhere they were confessing that they thought he was cute. Of course they could mean anything by cute, and it wasn't like Max wasn't flattered to hear them say it. But he didn't understand why it was so sudden and why Tyson was getting so worked up about it.
Tyson looked over at Max from where he was now standing with his fist still against the tree. "I think I better go, you don't seem like you're in the mood to talk," Max said backing away. Tyson frowned.
"But I want you to stay," he told him.
"Why? So you can freak me out by getting angry while calling me cute some more?" Max asked him laughing nervously.
"But it's true, you are," Tyson told him clenching his fist tighter and pushing it against the tree harder. Max laughed nervously again.
"Well ok, thanks Tyson, but I really need to get back to help my dad. He only gave me a short lunch break after all," he said putting his hands up in front of him and backing away a little faster.
"Fine, just go than," Tyson said, and Max turned walking quickly away as Tyson let out a sigh. It looked like he'd screwed things up with Max already and it was only the first day. Tyson wanted revenge on Ray now. He wasn't going to let Max be freaked out by him without giving Kai the chance to be freaked out by Ray. He removed his hand from the tree, and let his fist go. His knuckles were a little scratched up, but he didn't care. All he cared about was his new, almost impossible, objective, finding Kai.