Disclaimer: I do not own beyblade. :)

Chapter 7: 'Til Death Do Us Part

A/N: I apologize ahead of time for any excessive wordiness. I was trying to rush and slow down at the same time and some spots seemed to flow awkwardly. I did my best to edit it but have no idea if it worked the way I wanted it to. I always appreciate criticisms though. Enjoy!

"Did you get the stuff?" Tyson whispers as we all gather in our meeting spot in the woods. Max holds out a box full of mustard packets. "Okay good. Ray?" I hand him the jar I had been assigned to retrieve. "Great. Kai?" We all turn to an empty space. "Where's Kai?"

"Hmm, maybe he ran into trouble," I suggest. Max nods. It had been a full three hours since the Hunt had concluded and lunch had been made. We hadn't been in last place so we didn't have to do the preparing but we hadn't won either. Two of the other boy's cabins had actually come in first at the same time. They had met up with each other somewhere and all worked together to finish. How heartwarming…

Tyson was less itchy and his bites were less inflamed but it was still clear that he was uncomfortable. He was happy to be presented with something else to concentrate on for the time being.

"You did give him the hardest task after all. You should have given Ray that one. He's a better sweet talker," Max beams and I look at him quizzically.

"Do you really think so?" I muse. Sweet talking had never been something I had considered putting on my list of skills but maybe he was right in some sense. People DID find it hard to stay mad at me. I had always thought it was because I was so well liked. That must just be my pride speaking…

"Shh, I hear something." They duck behind a tree as something approaches.

"You guys are terrible at this," Kai says from behind us, a hint of amusement in his tone. At least I read it as amusement. He was one that found other's discomfort amusing. Which could be why he still hangs around all of us.

Tyson and Max jump at the sound of his voice and Max falls over almost as if being struck by something. Both boys laugh, embarrassed.

"Ah, there you are… We thought maybe you got caught," Tyson glomps the newcomer. I ignore the pang of jealousy that the action brings about and go to help Max back to his feet. Kai shakes Tyson off easily and hands him a bag of wrapped pancakes.

"I have no idea why I agreed to this. Do you even know what you are doing?" He eyes Tyson skeptically as Tyson gathers all the items together.

"Don't be such a wimp, Kai. Ray's plan is genius!" He pulls out a map. "I found this in the library. It shows all the main buildings and stuff."

"You stepped foot into a library?" I look at him unconvinced.

"Shut up!" Tyson punches my shoulder. "Listen. This is our side of camp and this is the girls." He indicates sections of the map as he explains. "I was watching earlier and there are people watching these two spots where the walking paths cross. There is also somebody watching the front of this building but there's nobody around the back." He points to a building that looks like the bathrooms. "We can easily get over there and into the woods on their side without anyone even noticing." When did he get so smart? Maybe without Kenny around, his tactical brain had to work twice as hard. I think I may have underestimated him in the past.

Well I suppose, technically, I had actually done most of the thinking. He had just implemented my thoughts into actual action. Which wasn't so strange for Tyson. As I have already mentioned, he was a surprisingly adaptable person.

Max looks over the map carefully.

"I think the best time would be before the last service. Everyone will be there and not in the cabins, even the councilors," he replies. "Which is like an hour from now."

"I will need some time to get the last thing so that's good. We can meet back here at that time. I think we should stay in teams though. Just in case we do get caught," Tyson goes on explaining.

"Okay. Since I know what to do with the mustard I think I should get to set it up," Max smiles. Hey, the kid really likes his condiments, who am I to judge?

"Then I'll go with you," Tyson agrees. "Kai can probably get into the cabins easier anyway. Ray, you can go with him and show him where to put them." Kai crosses his arms but makes no real objection. I actually start to get a little nervous but this might be the chance I was looking for. It wasn't ideal, but I had time to figure it out.

"Where do we keep this stuff until then? We can't just leave it out here…" Max looks over the items we have collected. Tyson scratches his head.

"Oh right… I didn't think about that…" I take back everything I previously said about him.

"Do I have to do everything?" Kai growls.

An insulated lunch box with a lock on it suddenly appears in front of us as he sets it down. Wait a minute, had he had that the entire time? Where had he been hiding it?

I look around the area near him for any indication that it had been there before. Any crushed leaves or indentations in the ground where it could have been sitting previously…

"What kind of lunchbox has a lock?" Max asks in confusion. I stop my search to catch Kai rolling his eyes. It had been a futile search anyway…the guy is slick.

"It's for fishing," he states, as if that explains it. To me it made sense but Max still looks confused. Kai looks…exasperated. "Do you want it or not?" He decides he is done with this pre-meeting meeting and starts to walk away.

"Wait! How do we open it?" Tyson tries to stop him. Kai flicks a key at him and continues on his way. Tyson scrambles to catch it, managing to grab it right before it hits the ground. He grabs the lunch box excitedly. "This is awesome! We should bury it somewhere! Like a treasure!"

"Yeah!" Max agrees as they stuff the pancakes and mustard packets inside. Tyson keeps the jar, tucking it in his jacket. He was planning on using it still.

"Why don't we just hide it somewhere in plain sight, like by the docks? I don't think anyone will look there or think it's out of place," I suggest. Tyson jumps up with a burst of energy.

"Great idea, Ray! This is totally why we are friends!" Ha. And here I thought it was because we had so much in common… Silly me.

"I've been meaning to ask you anyway. How did you know about that car before?" I ask, as we start our way towards the lake.

"Car?" Max is confused again.

"Oh! It's a big ghost story here! I heard some of the boys talking about it during lunch one day. There's some weird rumor that it's haunted. Nobody knows how it got there and they say if anyone tries to remove it or go look inside they disappear for a few days then wake up in a strange place with no memory! A few of the boys even said they could hear it crying sometimes."

"Oh wow! Neat story! I wonder if it's true!" Max joins in on the excitement.

It sounded kind of suspicious to me. Especially since there wasn't any roads near there. So how did it even get there? Every camp had its ghost stories. I wouldn't be surprised if it was made just for that purpose. Although I hadn't heard the story before I had seen it so maybe it was less scary to me.

"If it does all that why don't we just lure the girls out there? If they disappear for a few days we won't have to see them before we leave," I laugh at my own idea. Ghost stories were fun. "It's probably not real." I shrug it off anyway.

"Yeah, Ray touched it so it can't be THAT real," Tyson agrees with my look of unconcern. He laughs and Max joins in.

"Yeah I suppose you're right," Max agrees.

After we have successfully hidden the box and Tyson has given Max the key, we separate until the time we have decided on meeting. Tyson had to finish up his last task and Max is left in charge of retrieving the box when the time comes. I announce that I will see them both later and go off on my own little quest. Having one plan in motion, it is time I focus on the real problem.

I find a quiet spot outside to think everything over.

Aside from deciding that I would just tell Kai everything (impressive huh?), I had been going over how to approach it.

My first option was the direct approach. This, in my opinion, would be the option that Kai would most appreciate. However, it was also the most forward and exposing so it was most likely to leave me vulnerable and more likely to get hurt. So even if it was probably the best option to get results (good or bad ones), it wasn't my first choice.

A different approach was one using the backdoor. Not a real door, but a hypothetical backdoor. This involved me being cunning and somehow convincing him that it was his idea to explain himself instead of my wanting him to. This…would be tricky. Considering how smart and intuitive Kai was, it also wasn't my first choice.

The last I had considered was using Max and Tyson as a distraction or annoyance so that I could look more appealing to spend time with away from them. This, of course, left the option of Kai going off on his own and not spending time with any of us.

Weighing options like this is so productive, isn't it?

Approach aside, I was still puzzled on exactly what I would say to him if I was given the chance. I had thought about that for quite some time already and had gotten nowhere. As I saw it, there was really two main issues on the table. The rest kind of fell somewhere in between or would fade as the others were figured out. Those two issues were my feelings and his intentions.

We already know about the issues with my feelings and telling him seemed the most logical before I let it get more out of hand than it already was. How he would react was something that I had to assume would be better than bottling everything up and ignoring it. If I left things how they were, I would never get my life back to normal. His response would just have to a bridge I would cross when I got to it.

As for second matter, I had already figured out that he had some sort of intentions. I may have been blinded in the past to them because I was too focused on myself to pay attention, but after that challenge, it was clear that he wanted something from me. And I don't think that it had anything to do with truly hitting him. Even if it did, that wasn't all it was. I had actually pondered a scenario in which I had no questions or considerations and had just decided to hit him and get it over with, but all of those seemed to end pretty badly. Under no circumstances would it be appropriate to hit Kai. Even with permission he had to know I wouldn't agree, so what else could he possibly want?

Kai didn't play games he couldn't win. But was he playing with me or was there something else going on?

I sigh.

This wasn't really getting me anywhere. I had way too many questions and only one way to get answers. Telling him how I felt seemed like a simple task when thinking about how I could get HIM to explain things more clearly was on the list of things to do. I guess going with the flow would just have to keep working. I had gotten better at it these past few days. Hopefully this little 'group project' would get me in a position I could run with.

If you hadn't guessed earlier, we had come up with a plan to get back at the girls. Even Kai had agreed that Tyson's new pink skin should not go without retaliation. I, being the pure genius that I am, had concocted the perfect plan. Well, I guess it was more of a collaborated effort. Tyson wanted to put spiders in their beds and Max wanted to mix mustard with their toothpaste. Kai just wanted a different set of friends. Me? I had requested pancakes. Not to eat. Although at the time I may have been thinking with my stomach more than my brain. But anyway, they were meant to be bait.

When I was a child I used to play prank on Lee and Mariah all the time. Since our houses are pretty open, it isn't strange for wild animals to happen through every now and then. I used to stuff leftover food under Lee's mattress so after dark animals would be attracted and seem to 'attack' him. It was a pretty priceless scenario when he came screaming out of his house in the middle of the night. He played some pretty gross tricks on me too. It's not really significant to what is happening now though.

The biggest problem here was setting it up. I had convinced Tyson that putting spiders in a place where they could bite and not just scare would be sinking to their dangerous level so we had compromised and he agreed that sneaking them in between the paper towels in the bathroom dispenser was a better idea. But he had to make sure to get some big ones. He swore he knew where to find them, so I just let him go with it.

Max's mustard had a few options. I had suggested sneaking some open packets into their shoes. Mustard is the worst for staining things. And it would be squishy so even if it was harmless it could SEEM like something else. Slugs would probably have the same effect. Maybe I should have suggested slugs.

I shake the idea from my mind.

Now for the pancakes. I had planned on hiding them outside of the cabins to attract the attention of those wild animals. Raccoons in particular. They made enough noise to cause trouble. Tyson had taken it a step further and wanted to put them inside the cabins but it wasn't ALL the girls that were causing trouble and I didn't want some innocent bystanders to get hurt by accident if it went to an extreme. I was happy he left me with the task because I could tell him I did as he suggested and he would never know otherwise.

I suppose it's time to go meet up again.

I sure spent a lot of time thinking and not really accomplishing anything. Sounds like my life in a nutshell… I'm happy I can at least share it with you so it isn't a complete waste. I hope.

I start making my way back to the meeting place.

Kai had been recruited by default. More so as a supervisor, and hopefully, my protector. Dreamy sigh. Yeah right. But I had to venture the furthest into enemy territory since the bathrooms were on the dividing line between the sides and the cabins were deeper in the woods. This adventure would take much more cunning than anything Tyson or Max was capable of without being caught, so I was sort of relying on Kai to carry it out. I think on some level he must have known that too or he wouldn't still be going. He can be such a sweetheart.

I reach the spot and find Kai already there, sitting under a tree, meditating. He looks up as I get near him.

"Hey," I smile at him. He nods. "I'm surprised you showed." No use hiding that speculation.

"I couldn't let you guys have all the fun," he replies coolly. His words always seem to flow so smoothly.

"Guys!" Max rushes over to us, announcing his arrival as well.

"Hey Max. Where's the box?" I ask, noticing that he is empty handed.

"Oh no! I was distracted! I totally forgot! Be right back!" He runs off again. I laugh and lean up against Kai's tree.

"You just came to see this go terrible wrong, huh?" I shake my head at the thought.

I contemplate sitting down next to him but somehow looming above him helps me maintain my confidence a little. It was taking all my willpower not to freak out. He remains noncommittal but since it's quiet for the time being I decide to just get it over with. We might be too concentrated on the tasks later on.

"Hey, Kai?" I start a bit hesitantly. He seems to sense what I am about to say already.

"Don't worry about it," he brushes it off. I look down at him and frown. Which part am I not supposed to be worrying about? The challenge or his mixed signals? If I didn't know him any better I would think he was having some internal battle himself. But that wasn't possible at all. Kai always knew exactly what he wanted.

"Look, I know this is a bit awkward but maybe if I understood it better, I can decide what to do." I hope he gets my meaning. He was smart. He should.

He looks up at me and I fight the urge to fold. His power to do that would be hard to overcome.

I take a deep breath as if to prepare myself for what he might say but that's when Tyson decides to finally make his appearance.

"Look how many I found!" He jumps into the space in front of us and holds out the jar. It is filled with so many spiders that it almost looks like grape jelly. I shudder at the sight feeling slightly icky being so close to them, even if they ARE in a jar.

"Don't you think that's a bit overboard?" I wince imaging all the screaming that was bound to result from this. I pity any guys that happen to be in the area when they are discovered.

"Well it has to be a lot just in case they run away! This way at least ONE of them will still be around!" He laughs as if his scheme is the smartest thing he has ever thought of. It might actually BE the smartest thing he has ever thought of. I'm being mean again... I wonder how we have remained friends for so long.

"If you say so…" I let it drop. Kai stands up and straightens himself. "Wait, Max is…"

As if on cue, Max comes bursting through the tree again, this time carrying the box.

"Let's do this!" Tyson greets him.

We collect our 'tools' from the box, leaving it, and moving on to our mission. At the edge of the building we were using to sneak over, we separate. Kai leads me off into the woods on the girl's side and Tyson and Max attempt to sneak their way into the girl's bathroom. I had a feeling that Tyson was going to play a distraction as Max snuck in and did his business. Not his bathroom business, but his…well, you understand.

We come to a break in the trees to where the cabins come into view and he nods towards the one occupied by Sarah and her friends. How he knew which one was theirs…I'll just not think about. We rush to the back, avoiding any spaces where we might be seen and slipping into a space between some bushes and the cabin's wall. He motions for me to stay as he checks ahead for anyone who may be left behind. He gives me an okay and I join him.

"Here." I whisper as I open the bag of pancakes and hand him a few. "Try to hide them so they won't be seen but will still be reachable. These are log cabins so they have plenty of cracks." He gives me an 'are you really explaining this to me?' look. "Yeah, okay… Meet me back here when you are done. We go back together." He nods and disappears around the other side of the cabin, headed towards the front.

I hadn't been made aware of his ideas on the matter so he might have decided to take that extra initiative and put them inside the cabin after all. I choose not to think about that either, as I take the remaining pancakes and break them up into pieces.

I bury them lightly near the cabin's base and near the windows.

I really hope a moose finds them. Those things can scare even the toughest person. I mean, their sheer size is threatening! Imagine hearing a noise and going to look out your window and BAM! Moose. Absolutely horrific I tell ya…

Kai comes back after a few minutes.

"You done?" he asks.

"I have a few more…" I take the last few pieces and look for good places for them. He waits patiently, folding his arms and leaning against the wall. Having him all to myself once more, I try again. "You know, you're probably right. Maybe it doesn't really matter," I say absently, continuing our conversation from before. "But… I have something I want to say." I finish with the last bits and turn to him. "About wanting me to hit you. I… Well I can't." I set a stern look on him as if to carry my point across. He stands up straight and I interpret it as him giving me his attention. "I can't because…" I stumble to find the right words that I want to say. "Well, because…"

My interpretation of his attention is found to be wrong as he makes a sudden movement forward, tripping me and lowering me down. I am guided gently but swiftly to the ground where he covers my mouth with his hand and hovers over me, making sure we are well hidden by the bushes and that I can't make any movements that might make noise.

My heart is already racing from the contact and from our sudden close proximity. I knew this could be seen as a result from the way he had jumped me without warning but it doesn't slow down with the initial shock dissipated.

Now that I am not filling the air with my nonsense babble I hear what he had heard and I catch a group of girls out of the corner of my eye through the bushes. They are giggling as they discuss the latest news they read in their teen magazines and cross the ground near us, continuing on towards the main meeting hall.

Kai moves his hand from my mouth but stays in his position of keeping me pinned down until he knows that there aren't any more of them. He's concentrated on listening but I am watching him closely, not even able to hide my blush this time around. Hiding anything at this distance was near impossible. He's just so close. My mind is racing, my body is heating up. I feel completely defenseless under the pressure. My breathing becomes unsteady and I pray he doesn't notice.

I start fidgeting in attempts to free myself from his body heat before something more embarrassing than my blush or my breathing happens. My thoughts are becoming concentrated on how I can get a grip on myself. However, my fidgeting attracts his attention and he looks down at me. Meeting my eyes and having only a few inches separating us, the eye contact causes me to stop moving, frozen in that look. The moment seemed to last quite a bit longer than it really was, time seeming to no longer have meaning here.

I don't have control over my body's want to gravitate towards him. I had imagined a moment like this so many times in my dreams that it seemed almost natural now. With those thoughts in mind, I close my eyes as the space between us seems to be disappearing slowly. For a second I imagine our lips brushing softly together, but he pulls away, releasing me, and snapping me back to reality with a jolt.

"They're gone. We should see if the others are okay." My eyes snap open and pulls me to my feet. He starts to head back towards the way we came from, keeping hold of my hand and forcing me to follow quickly.

I blush considerably more than I had before and try to think of any thoughts that would get rid of the fluttering feeling that wouldn't leave this time.

Leave it to my mind to make up those kinds of delusions at such an inconvenient time. I hope I didn't just erase all the progress I had made so far. I could see this becoming a worse problem than it already had been.

Especially since he hasn't let go of my hand yet and we are approaching where we had meant to meet back up with the guys. How would I explain my condition to them, or to Kai? He hadn't seemed to notice before but there was no telling if that was true.

So, I do what anyone in my position should do.

I break contact with him, and run.

Before I let anyone see me, I have to get myself together.