LV: Well, this is interesting – I get almost as many reviews on the prologue of a rewrite than I do on a so-far three-chapter story. Interesting.
Aya: Huzzah! See, you bully? People do like me!
LV: ...Stay outta my secret stash and can it.

I must admit as a side-note: Kai's part of this chapter stung to write. -shudders- I feel so dirty for writing those things...

Viper's Nest

Written by Lunare Valhart

Batuken Shoot Beyblade and all its original characters are © Aoki Takao

All unfamiliar original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission

Chapter 1: Just Another Day

The school bell rang clear, causing straggling students to scatter about and rush to their classrooms. Groups of friends waved their farewells to each other, couples made quick promises to meet again at lunch at "their" spot (which was also the spot of many of the school's other couples—not that they cared), the lazier students continued to revel in their tardiness until the gym teacher stormed over to drag them to class.

And, as usual, Tyson was late.

"Where is he?" Kenny groaned as the clock's face beamed innocently at him, ticking away the seconds his dark-haired friend had left before yet another after-school cleaning was added to his ever-growing list, "Always late, always cocky, always pig-headed…"

Hiromi, a few seats ahead of him, smiled impishly. "I could add plenty to that list, you know."

"Yeah, so can he to yours." She scowled at him. "Sorry, Tatibana-san, it's just that he's going to be late, again. If this keeps up, he won't have enough school hours to be allowed into the next set of tournaments, World Champion or not."

The girl simply rolled her eyes. "I don't see what's so great about that dumb game, anyways."

"I wouldn't let Tyson hear you say that," Kenny warned, glancing at the door. "Besides, beyblading is more complicated than you think." Hiromi scoffed.

"Oh, please: it's a top, it spins, first one to fall over loses." She yawned, "If that's supposed to be complicated, the world as we know it is doomed."

Kenny gave her an annoyed look.

The sudden rush of footfalls in the hallway alerted the waiting students, as the one closest to the door pulled out a stopwatch. Seconds later, a very disheveled Tyson darted through the classroom door, eyes wild and chest heaving.

The student with the stopwatch clicked it as the bell rang a second time, signaling the late bell. "Wow." He turned to the class. "Point five-three seconds!" He called out, an applause breaking out over the room. Other students groaned, handing over money and complaining about having no lunch for the rest of the week.

Kenny and Hiromi only stared incredulously at their classmates.

Kincaid-sensei, a gentle woman by nature and quite compassionate, looked at the weary bluenette youth with concern. "Kinomiya-san, are you all right?"

"Yeah, Tyson!" One of the other boys snickered, "What kept you this time? Your alarm clock went on strike, again?" A round of laughter sounded at the snide remark.

The exhausted boy gulped down precious oxygen and heaved a sigh, finally having caught his breath. "I'm okay, Kincaid-sensei," he answered his teacher first before turning to his classmates with a scowl. "And I was almost late because of the stinkin' press, not because of that defective alarm!"

Hiromi snorted. "The press, again?" She shook her head in exasperation. "Tyson, we know you're "world famous" now or whatever, but blaming the media for everything isn't going to work!"

"Um... Actually, Hiromi," a meek voice corrected as one of the quieter students pointed to the window, "I don't think he's kidding."

The students, eager to see what was going on, crowded around the window to see their gruff gym teacher pushing out a protesting reporter and his camera-crew towards a larger group congregating outside the school gates.

"But it's for the public!"

"His fans have a right to know!"

"You people've caused enough trouble around here these past few weeks! Out!"

"One little interview is all I'm asking!"

"No, now get out!"

Another television station's reporter tried to slip past. "Now, sir, we can think of some arrangement, hm? Any odd behavior from him? Anything at all?"

"I could care less about the love lives of my students, much less a famous one! Now get off school property before the front office calls the authorities!"

"But—"

"Out!"

The students stared blankly at the scene. Kenny gave Tyson a questioning look.

"It's that stupid article from the US!" He cried, throwing his hands in the air, "Somehow, they caught wind of it, liked it, and are now hounding me to get some real information!" Several of the girls perked up at the mention of the article, eyes bright.

"You mean the one about you and Hiwatari-sama?"

"Ooh, you two would be so cute together!"

"It's just like a fairytale-come-true!"

"Oh, yeah! The Blue Dragon and the Red Phoenix: one and forever, at last!"

"So romantic!"

They all sighed dreamily. Tyson, thoroughly disturbed, inched away slowly. He heard a small snicker escape from his bespectacled friend, and glowered at him with a look that said not to breathe a word. Wisely, Kenny kept his mouth shut.

"Wait a second…" A voice growled, and everyone turned to see Hiromi with her arms folded across her chest with an infuriated look on her features. "You mean to say that we've just wasted a good ten minutes of class time making bets on Tyson's tardiness, Tyson explaining why he was late ("He was on time by point five-three seconds!" The stopwatch kid reiterated.), watching Coach Yamamoto force the press off school property—again—and listening to you blabbermouths go on about some stupid fated romance nonsense… all because of a stupid tabloid that some ignorant American journalist sprouted?"

The class winced, weak affirmatives coming from various students. The brunette's frustration peaked. "I can't believe you people! We're here to pave our paths into the world, and you're all just gossiping! Maybe I'm the only sane person here, but I'd like to come here to learn, okay? Or do none of you care about your futures? Do none of you care that with all this nonsense, you get closer and closer to a failing grade? And when your parents get upset, what'll you do? Blame the school! It isn't the school's fault you're all becoming failures; it's your own!"

"You're not helping much," Tyson muttered under his breath, dully noting another few minutes had passed while the class president was ranting. Her rage immediately turned on him.

"And you!" She jabbed a finger into the blue-haired boy's chest. "For reasons I don't have a clue, you seem to be connected to every single problem this school has!"

"Hey, I had nothing to do with the gelatin incident last week!" He protested, "I'd never waste good sweets like that!"

"That's not the point!" She shot back, throwing her arms into the air, "The point is that you are nothing but trouble! Kincaid-sensei can't handle you alone!"

The aforementioned teacher, who had taken the time to catch up on her reading, started at the mention of her name. "Huh?"

"Don't worry, ma'am!" Hiromi declared, rolling up her sleeves as she began to stomp towards the door, "I know just the teacher to control this wise guy!"

The class was silent when she left. Shrugging, most of the students started to chat amongst themselves, paying no heed to the foreboding glint the brunette girl's eyes had.

One of the girls cooing over the article earlier came back to Tyson, a wide grin on her face and a notepad in hand. "So, Tyson, what's this about you and the untouchable Hiwatari Kai?"

The bluenette groaned, falling into his seat. "No one's going to let this drop, are they?" The girl grinned impishly.

"Not on my watch!" Her grin turned feral. "You forget, dear Kinomiya-kun, that I happen to have a passion for things like this. You can evade the official press all you want, but getting rid of this school reporter is a completely different matter!"

Tyson paled at the implication. "You mean… You're a—?"

"Now talk and give me the juicy details, or I make them up! And trust me," she cackled, "my imagination isn't something you want to deal with…"

The boy groaned, letting his head drop onto his desk. Of all the unlucky coincidences, having a yaoi otaku as his school reporter had to be topping the list.

The door opened again, and the students looked lazily at the door. Upon seeing Hiromi's promised controller, many yelped and rushed into their seats, sitting ramrod straight and whimpering quietly.

"Here we are, Coach Yamamoto!" The brown-eyed girl chirped, the morbid amusement unhidden from her classmates, "I'm so glad you could help!"

"Not a problem, Tatibana-san," the gruff man answered off-handedly, eyeing any possible trouble-makers. "I shouldn't have too many problems with this bunch. Please take your seat, so we can begin." Obediently, the brunette sat down at her seat, ignoring the heated looks sent her way. "Now... Listen up! I will not tolerate speaking of any kind, unless I call on you, by name! Dion!"

Kenny squeaked, staring at the solidly-built man towering over the class fearfully. "Y-yes, sir...?"

"That's Yamamoto-sensei to you, Dion! Staring at that computer of yours all the time's frying your brain; I don't want to see it! Clear!"

"Yes, Yamamoto-sensei!" He yelped, sitting up straighter. The coach nodded sharply.

"As for the rest of you slackers...!"

Tyson groaned mentally, along with the rest of the class. 'Today is going to be one of those days...'

…

"One of those days, indeed!" Kenny fumed when he and Tyson were sitting at their usual spot for lunch, "I can't believe we had to deal with Coach Yamamoto today!"

Tyson sighed, picking at his rice, "I know. Man, I didn't know all of this was annoying Hiromi so much! She's only called the coach in once before, and that was when we came back from the Asian Tournament!"

"Well, I understood it, then," the short boy admitted with a faint blush of embarrassment. "The press was after you, the class kept coming up to us to ask how China was like, lunch became its own veritable beystadium because of all the kids trying to battle you…"

"It was chaotic," Tyson agreed, thoughtfully chewing at his food. He swallowed, then grinned. "But hey, I liked the attention!"

Kenny gave him a look. "When don't you?" The bright look on the slightly older boy's face faded as Tyson continued to poke at his food.

"Now," He grumbled, idly picking up a stray rice grain, "I don't mind the spotlight at all, really. I just don't want people poking their noses into my private life."

"That's the price of fame, Tyson," Kenny said quietly as the bluenette continued to stab his food. "Every star deals with tabloids, at some point of their career. …Some more than others."

"Hey, what's that supposed to—?"

Tyson's indignant remark was cut off when something fell from the tree they were sitting under, startling both boys to scrambling away. That something was holding a notepad and a tape recorder.

Tyson groaned, slapping his forehead. "You really aren't going to leave me alone, are you?"

The school reporter, apparently unfazed by her fall, sprung up on her feet and into a surprised Kenny's face. "So, Kenny, how much do you know about Tyson's secret affair with your team captain, hm? Does Tyson's feminine masculinity make him bear the brunt of Kai's needs, or does the tough and icy leader need warm lovin' from his light in the darkness?"

Both boys flushed heavily at the basic question being asked: Who's on top?

"No comment!" Kenny squeaked, inching away from the ecstatic reporter, "I know nothing!"

"And I'm not feminine!" Tyson huffed, "Yeesh, no one calls Rei feminine, and he's got that long rope of his to care for! Why is it always me!"

"People call Rei girly," the reporter shrugged nonchalantly. "Most of them just happen to be in the West, and people there aren't used to seeing a guy with hair that long."

"That doesn't explain why people call me girly!"

Kenny and the girl looked at each other cluelessly. Sheepishly, she answered, "Got me. Feminine was one of the first words I could think of, at the moment. Hee!"

Tyson glared at her. "I hate you."

As he attempted to stalk away, the reporter became panicked and chased after him. "Wait, Kinomiya-kun! Wait up, I need the info! I need my shounen-ai, dangit!"

"Gah! Leave me alone, already!"

Kenny stared after them with a faint twitch under his eye and a large bead of sweat on the back of his head.

…

On the other side of town, Kai was going through his usual day. Classes took their time, his math teacher lectured him again over not writing out the problems, the majority of his classmates gave him respectable space in the hallways and at lunch...

"Oh, it's Hiwatari-sempai!"

"He's so handsome…"

"Kami-sama, I wonder who the lucky girl will be?"

"I hope it's me!"

"Yeah, right! Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Hiwatari-sempai's much better than my insensitive boyfriend!"

...and, of course, his least favorite part of his routine day: the crooning fangirls.

Several young males were glowering at him, he could tell. It happened every day; he'd walk by, their girlfriends would start swooning over him, they'd get sulky for a while. He didn't care, though. No one here was interesting enough.

Then again, the only person who had ever interested him went to another school.

He thought back to that morning, where their news-loving Social Sciences teacher had the in-class television set to his favorite station. To the class's—and especially his—astonishment, the retreating figure of the Beyblading World Champion was seen, ducking into side streets and alleyways to evade the news cameras. The winded reporter was attempting to explain the predicament.

"World Champion Tyson Kinomiya is rumored to have a secret. Perhaps he is hiding something the world and his fans should know? We are trying to find out, but apparently, being weighed down by cameras and microphones to his lighter backpack makes this task somewhat difficu—Hey, watch the head, you lummox! I can't interview the kid with a concussion!"

Half the class had dissolved into fits of laughter, while others who were eager to hear more of the story groaned in disappointment when the gruff teacher started shoving the cameramen and reporters off the public school property. Others, still, scoffed at the nosiness of the media, only watching the broadcast to avoid getting in trouble.

Kai, however, had been worried. 'What could make them suspect Tyson's hiding something? What if... they know?'

Then, the answer came when the reporter, however reluctantly, returned attention back to the studio. The anchors pulled up an American magazine, where the front cover had a picture of Tyson, laughing and slightly winded, holding someone's hand.

His hand.

He recognized what had been going on in the photo. At the time, the team was trying to meet the adults at a quaint little restaurant in Moscow, which could be faintly seen in the background. Tyson was eager to spend time with his father, and Kai was the only one in the group who could understand Russian. The rest of the team had been a few paces behind them. Of course, the press didn't need to tell the public that last part...

Damn the media.

"Hey, ladies!" One of the sulking boys suddenly called out. Kai recognized him from his morning class, and suddenly had a sense of foreboding. "Didn't you hear? Apparently, Hiwatari's gay!"

Oh yeah, bad news.

Some of the girls stared at him for a moment and walked off in a huff, but to his surprise, a good fraction of them still stared at him adoringly. Some, even more adoringly.

"Hiwatari-sempai… gay? I've died and gone to heaven!"

"Yes! Maybe I can convince my boyfriend to go out with him!"

"Not if I can get my brother to do it, first!"

"No! I'll get a sex-change operation, and I'll have him to myself!"

"Hey, I saw him first!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

The boys, Kai included, looked at the congregated group of girls with disbelieving expressions.

"Hey, quit arguing!" One of the girls suddenly snapped, "It's obvious Hiwatari-sempai doesn't want you, your boyfriends, or your relatives!"

Another girl pouted, "Then what else could he possibly want?"

"One of his acquaintances, of course!" The declaration was followed by several bursts of agreement.

"Of course! His beloved kitten from China is his comforting thought as he sleeps at night!"

"No way; that guy has a girlfriend! The bright smile of that half-American cutie is what warms him!"

"That kid? He flirts with girls too much! It's that icy redhead in Moscow that ignites him!"

"No, Hiwatari-sempai's icy exterior is melted by the wild nature of that redheaded Scot!" At that particular one, Kai felt a twitch below his eye flare up.

"I can't believe you people." One of the quieter girls grumbled, "Isn't it obvious? It's the ever-forgiving dragon that he admires." The other girls stared at her. "What, none of you ever pay attention to symbolism? Besides, if anybody's been paying attention to the world, you'd notice this—" She waved a printed copy of the infamous tabloid about. "—has been circling around."

The other girls were silent for a moment, then promptly returned to their bickering.

"No, I'm right!"

"No, me!"

"You're all stupid! I'm the only ones with brains, here!"

"How dare you!"

Eventually, the bickering escalated into pulling hair, scratching each other's faces, and all sorts of painful things. The lone girl not fighting over it rolled her eyes and stalked off, grumbling about the idiocy of lovesick teenagers.

And while Kai was glad they weren't hounding him for the answers, he couldn't help but wonder…

Just how badly was Tyson taking it?

…

Tyson darted through his front gate, immediately grabbing a shinai and holding it defensively in front of him.

"For the hundredth time," he growled at the wary news reporter and the equally nervous cameraman behind him, "I am not going to give you an interview! Now get off my property!"

"But, Kinomiya-san…"

"Get out, or I'm calling my gym teacher!"

That threat made both newscasters pale and run off, whimpering at the thought of the steely glower of Coach Yamamoto.

Sighing in relief, Tyson stepped into the house. "Gramps! I'm home!"

A faint rustle to his right caused him to glance briefly in that direction. Too bad for him, the blow came from the left.

"Ya need ta keep all eyes open, T-man!" The elder scolded as he pulled back the bamboo training sword, placing the tip on the ground and leaning against it like a cane as his grandson rubbed his aching head, "Ya'd think that with all this hubbub over you and that cap'n of yours, you'd figure that out, by now!"

Tyson, despite his headache, flushed hotly. "Gramps... Where did you hear that?"

The elderly man threw his head back in a loud guffaw, "Li'l dude, it's all over the place! So, when were ya gonna tell old Grandpa 'bout it, hm?"

Dark blue eyes narrowed in indignant embarrassment. "Grandpa, there's nothing to tell! Kai and I aren't an item!"

"Ya ain't foolin' this one, kiddo!" The Kinomiya elder tutted, "Ever since you two came back from Russia, something's changed. It's subtle, but there. Even if you two aren't an item yet, you'll soon be. So, don't fight the love, little man!"

Tyson groaned, "Everywhere I go, someone's telling me how to handle my love life…" He walked off towards his room, grumbling about needing to clean up before practice.

The old man's cheery voice called out after him, "That's 'cause your happiness is all we ask of you!"

Tyson froze in the doorway, giving his grandfather a disturbed look over his shoulder. "That's it. Next time Dad asks if we want to help him analyze weird ghost stories that get turned into musicals, you don't get involved!"

Stalking off towards his shower, he heard the hearty laughter of his grandfather follow him.

…

The steam hissed as the shower door opened, clouding up the bathroom. Grabbing his bathrobe and slipping on the fresh set of underwear, he walked with an odd spring in his step.

Not too surprisingly, the hot shower had done plenty to ease Tyson's weariness from the day's activities. He was even humming some tune he didn't even know the words to, just to set his mind back into the cheerful pace it normally was in.

The second Tyson entered his room, however, he felt something was off.

Narrowing his eyes, he lifted his damp hair out of the way to get a better scope of the room. The bookshelf was in place, his bed wasn't rumpled, his closet door was still open… But his desk chair was pushed out.

He knew he hadn't pulled it out yet.

Ducking down to look under the desk, he was greeted by the sight of a sheepish-looking girl holding his open journal in one hand and a small camera in the other.

"You!"

"Hiya, Kinomiya-kun!" The school reporter chirped, taking another picture of the page's entry. Tyson fumed, though baffled as to how the girl got into his room in the first place. "Oh, and your grandpa let me in. He's a pretty nice guy, you know that?"

Mentally, Tyson made a note to rant at the old man later. Right now, he had more important things to worry about.

"Who gave you permission to go through my stuff?"

The reporter waved him off casually. "Tyson, the first rule of successful journalism is to forget little things like that. It's too much red tape, going through formalities; I could lose the story!"

"You're going to lose more than that if you don't leave my house, ASAP!" The bluenette growled. The girl didn't respond, only looking at the boy with vague interest.

"Nice underpants, by the way," she commented offhandedly, noting Tyson's face went from angry red to a darker shade of embarrassment. "I have to ask; did your lover boy get 'em for you?"

"How I get my underwear is none of your business!" He barked indignantly, tightening the robe around his body, "Now get out of my house!"

She grinned cheerily, closing the journal and crawling out from underneath the desk. "Only if you give me that interview!" Grudgingly, Tyson nodded. She cheered, "Yes! I got an interview, I got an interview!"

"Now, give me that—" He snatched his journal from the young reporter. "—and get out of my room so I can change!"

She saluted smartly. "Yes sir, Kinomiya-sama!" With that, she bounced out of the bluenette's room, eager to begin.

Quickly pulling on a clean shirt and jeans, then grabbing his lucky cap, Tyson snickered at the girl's gullibility. "Heh, sucker." He slipped out the window, ducking out of the yard and onto the street.

Unfortunately, she caught sight of his cap as she waited on the porch. "What? Oh, that little—! Get back here, you!"

…

"Hi, Mrs. Dion!" Tyson called out as he darted into the noodle shop his brunette friend lived, "I'm just going to Kenny's room! Don't mind me!"

The woman blinked in surprise. So did several customers.

"Chief, you gotta help me!" Tyson cried as he shut the door, startling the young boy, "It won't leave me alone!"

Kenny glanced over at his bluenette friend and sighed, "And you call yourself the World Champion?" Tyson scowled.

"Beyblades and that—that thing are two different things! She snuck into my room to see if I had written anything about Kai in my journal!" Kenny sweatdropped.

"Are you serious?" Tyson nodded vigorously. "Hm. So she is as stubborn as they say…"

"Kenny, you're not helping!" Tyson whined, "I don't know what to do!"

Kenny shrugged, "You could ask Kai to glare at her? It normally works."

Tyson gave him a flat look. "Chief, Kai's all the way across town. If I go to the guy, then either the real press will find out and have a field day, or she finds out and goes even crazier!" Kenny stared at him for a moment before answering.

"For once, I'm glad to be in the background, and not your shoes."

"Hey!"

A small beep from the computer saved the short brunette. "Oh, look! An e-mail from Max!" Tyson gave him a dark look.

"If he says anything about that dumb tabloid, I'm committing hara-kiri."

Kenny rolled his eyes at the taller boy. "Oh, relax, Tyson; it's just gossip!"

"Just read the stupid e-mail, already."

"Okay, okay… Sheesh." He opened the digital mailbox, both of them looking at the computer screen to see what their half-American friend overseas had to say.

-
"Hey, guys! Hope you two are doing all right back in Japan. New York's fun, but Mom's a bit paranoid. (Read: Try "very"—she got me pepper spray!) I got to meet up with an old friend who moved here a few years back, and we're getting along fine. I'd ask if you guys are training, but since I know Kai's in Japan, I don't think I need to. I'm busy building up my skills with the AllStarz, so you can tell Kai not to worry about me. Mom says I can fly over on my Spring break, so I guess I'll see you then!

P.S.: Sorry 'bout that tabloid going around, Tyson! It'll blow over soon enough!"
-

Tyson threw his hands into the air. "He said it! See you on the other side, Kenny; I'm going home to say bye to Gramps."

Kenny growled and grabbed the back of Tyson's shirt, preventing him from leaving. "Now, you're just being overdramatic! Would you just calm down for a minute and listen!"

The navy-eyed boy gave him a look. "I'm listening."

"Tyson, I know this is getting ridiculous, considering we only just saw the article yesterday, but it'll pass! Once the media gets tired of picking at your love life, they'll leave you and Kai alone. Then, you scaredy-cats can wait until both of you feel comfortable enough to tell everyone else about the two of you."

With wide, watery eyes, Tyson smiled weakly at his old friend. "Aw… Chief…"

Without missing a beat, the short ginger-brunette added dryly, "Besides, how am I going to explain to Kai you gutted yourself over a gossip column?"

The sentiment of the moment lost, Tyson fell over in disbelief.