Sorry it took so long to update! So, this chapter will be long! ^-~
I don't own Beyblade.
^^^^^
Twisted Fate
Chapter 3
Max had been looking at the star-less night sky for hours now. 7 hours to be exact; he had been counting. He was angry with himself for letting himself get carried away. Occasionally he slipped out of character, and ended up regretting it; like when he had lost Draciel to the cyber bit- beasts. now was one of those times.
He gave a loud sigh, and continued to stare at the sky. It was comforting, in an indescribable way. It was 4:00 AM now. It had been 7 hours since his teammates had decided to get some rest. It had been 12 hours since Kai had fallen into another fevered sleep. Max winced; it had been his fault. why had he been so insensitive? He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists out of frustration.
"Don't blame yourself," a cool, confident voice interrupted Max's harsh thoughts. The voice was a little softer, a bit weaker than usual.
"Kai!" Max turned around instantly to see Kai, sitting up. A bright grin appeared across Max's face. Kai gave a small smile, to reassure his words.
"Are you --" Max started, but stopped as Kai gave a nod. His eyes were closed and his arms folded across his chest. Max sighed and smiled; Kai was definitely the same.
"Get some sleep," he commanded. Max nodded, and lay down, quickly falling asleep. A relieved look shone on his face.
Kai looked around at his teammates. They were fast asleep. This was the place he had collapsed, he remembered, and it was now 4:00 AM. The last time he had opened his eyes was when it was bright out, in the afternoon. He smiled; his teammates really did care about him. He wearily closed his eyes, feeling exhausted.
^^^^^
Hilary woke up with a smile upon her face. 'First one up again!' she thought, giggling to herself. She looked at her friends, and her smile disappeared. 'Still sleeping,' she thought disappointedly.
"Oh?" she exclaimed out loud, as she saw a large package lying in the snow. She opened the parcel, and saw a small tent kit and some medicine. She examined it suspiciously, and after checking it over decided it was okay.
"Hey, what's that?" Rei asked, having just woken up. His eyes were focused on Hilary.
"Oh, I found this just lying here. strange, really," she replied. She had no idea where or from whom it came. "A tent and some medicine," she added, realizing she hadn't answered his question.
"Hm, that's strange. Let's get started on it, shall we?" Rei lept up from his spot over to Hilary, and the two began setting the tent up.
"What I want to know is why would someone leave us this stuff? I mean, why would they leave us here in the first place, but why would they just leave us supplies instead of rescuing us?" Hilary and Rei wondered, and discussed as they set up the tent.
"Not a clue, Hilary," Rei replied seriously. "I wish I knew, but it makes about as much sense as Tyson with his mouth full," he added with a smile. Hilary couldn't help but smirk; she knew how Tyson ate.
"Aargh!" Hilary and Rei looked over at Kenny. He had recently woken up and was attempting to fix Dizzi again, without luck. He was pulling his hair out like usual when stressed.
"Oh, hey chief," Rei said, walking over towards Kenny. "What's up?"
"Dizzi's still not working!" he cried, exasperated. He looked near tears.
"Hey, Kenny. Calm down," Hilary said reassuringly. "I'm sure we can fix your laptop."
"Yeah, my mom can help!" Max's happy voice was heard. He had woken from all the commotion.
"Oh, that's right! Judy's a computer expert!" Kenny exclaimed, hope evident in his voice.
"Yeah, I'm sure she'd be glad to help out," Max said with a comforting smile.
"So. hungry." Tyson had barely waken. He had his eyes closed tight, and moaned from hunger.
"Gotta agree with him," Rei said, with a sigh. Max and Hilary nodded. Another day had gone by without a trace of food.
Tyson sat up. "I'm starved!" he complained.
"We KNOW that, Tyson!" Hilary retorted, her voice raised. "We ALL are! Now if you would just stop complaining for once--"
"I don't have to listen to anyone, especially YOU, Hilary," Tyson said, folding his arms and turning away.
"Why you--" Hilary started with an angry look in her eyes.
"Hey, guys, stop fighting." Kenny said meekly. He always tried to stop his closest friends from fighting, but without success.
Tyson turned around, face to face with Hilary. Each had a menacing glare upon their faces. Max grabbed Hilary's arms, and Rei held back Tyson. Kenny sighed with relief.
"Hey! Kai!" Kenny cried out. Max and Rei let go and Tyson and Hilary stopped fighting and turned around, to see Kai sitting upright.
He looked completely exhausted and sick. He looked worse than before, and despite his best efforts to hide it, it was very obvious. "Oh, man! What's up dude?" Tyson shouted, rushing to his friend's side.
Kai didn't say anything, just directed his view to Tyson. "You okay?" Rei asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Kai gave a small nod, but Tyson just rolled his eyes. "Of course not, Rei! Do you honestly think he's okay?"
"Well no, I--" Rei started, startled at the sudden outburst.
"If you think for one second that he's perfectly fine, you're sadly mistaken. You can't even recognize that Kai's in serious trouble. Some 'friend' you are!" Tyson snapped, in one of his rare serious moments.
"Now, look, Tyson." Rei started, warningly. His eyes were narrowed, his voice trying to hold back the anger building up.
"Tyson! Will you just be quiet?! Rei was only being polite! If anyone around here is dense it's you!" Hilary exclaimed.
"Yeah, Tyson. He was only being nice," Max said, a little apologetically. He felt like he should have taken his best friend's side, but he completely agreed with Rei and Hilary. Kenny just backed away, not wanting to get involved.
"Tyson, I said I was fine." Kai interrupted. He definitely did not sound fine; his voice was weak, although the cool tone remained.
"Oh, sure you are," Tyson said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Wait! We've got some medicine!" Hilary exclaimed, suddenly remembering. She brought out a little red and white bottle.
The Bladebreakers brought Kai into the small tent and forced the medicine down his throat, although he could hardly put up a struggle. He winced as the bitter medicine burned his throat.
"Aw, man, that stuff must taste awful," Tyson said, seeing Kai's expression.
"You bet," Kai managed to say, with a slight smirk that quickly disappeared as he narrowed his eyes in discomfort.
Hilary climbed out of the tent; it was too crowded. She took a deep breath of the cool crisp air. Her eyes suddenly spotted a parcel lying in the snow. She quickly looked around for a trace of who might have sent it, but there was nobody in sight. 'Strange,' she thought.
Hilary unwrapped the parcel, and found food and water. She quickly told the rest of the Bladebreakers, and they came quickly. They quickly managed to eat it all, and their stomachs were satisfied. Hilary ate her share, then decided to bring some food and water to Kai.
"Kai?" she asked cautiously, bringing his eyes open. They had been closed tightly in discomfort from the burning medicine. Hilary handed him the water, which he took gratefully.
"Thanks, Hilary," he said, gripping the water tightly.
"No problem," she replied politely, with a smile. She was relieved that he was okay. "You want something to eat?" she asked, attempting to break the silence. She knew he hadn't eaten in days. She waited, but got no reply, and started to head out of the tent.
"Let's go," he said suddenly, standing up.
"But--" she started, but he was already out of the tent.
^^^^^
"Let it rip!" the voices of the Bladebreakers were the only sound for miles. They had been walking for hours, and had to stop for a break. Kai had suggested they practice blading on the ice, to test their control.
"Aaaw man!" Tyson whined. He looked at the others. Kai's blade seemed to maneuver perfectly across the ice, with complete control. Rei's was sliding and had difficulty turning in time, but was still managing. Max had a little more trouble; occasionally his beyblade would go spinning out of control, and he would have to summon it back and re-launch it, but he was still having some success. Tyson's, however, was completely out of control, and skidded across the ice dangerously.
"Tyson. Concentrate," Kai said, ducking as Dragoon came flying towards his head. He sent a swift glare towards Dragoon's master.
"I AM," Tyson replied angrily.
"No, you're not. Concentrate harder," Kai said, calmly and confidently as ever.
"Well sor-ry I'm not perfect," Tyson retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm not some kind of icy freak. I'm not cold-hearted like you."
All the bladebreakers immediately stopped and stared wide-eyed in horror at what Tyson had just said.
"Tyson!" Max cried. Rei blinked in surprise, as if he couldn't get over the shock of what he had just heard. "You don't mean that! I know you don't!" Hilary shouted. "You're just jealous," she added a little smugly.
"Ha, me, jealous of Kai? Not on your life, why would I be? I can beat him in a beyblade match any day; he's a complete loner, he has no friends, or family that loves him." The rest of the bladebreakers had their eyes wide open in terror, their mouths hanging open stupidly. Tyson continued, "why would they? He would just reject them and push them away to become the loner he is."
Kai's eyes widened slightly, as he listened to everything coming from Tyson's mouth. He knew Tyson hardly ever said things like this; only when he was angry and out of control did he speak in such a manner. But, he knew it was true, this was what Tyson thought about him. What the others probably thought as well. Kai felt his heart sink. He wanted to run away, shout, hit Tyson. Anything to escape the emotions building up inside of him.
All Kai said was, "if that's really what you think, Tyson." He then summoned Dranzer back to his hand, and slowly walked away.
The bladebreakers all stared as they watched Kai steadily fade into the distance, then suddenly started to yell at Tyson. "What was that for?!" Hilary shouted in Tyson's face.
"That was mean," Max stated; he would have cried if Tyson had said that to him.
"You went too far, Tyson," Rei said bitterly. Kenny nodded in agreement.
"Oh, that's right; take his side," Tyson said angrily, his arms folded across his chest in a childish manner.
"Look, Tyson. Kai was only trying to help you become a better blader!" Rei tried to reason with Tyson. Eventually, he figured, they would get through that thick skull of his.
"Sure," he said sarcastically. "Since when was he sarcastic," Kenny muttered.
"Tyson! Kai was right, you weren't focusing," Max tried to help Rei out.
"That's it. I don't need you!" Tyson shouted, taking Max by surprise. He stomped off in the snow.
"Haven't we gone through this before?" Hilary asked, rolling her eyes.
"Many. Too many," Max said.
"I thought last time would be the last." Rei sighed.
"Which one? The time when he blew it big time with Hilary and we had to beg for forgiveness?" Max questioned.
"I think he means the time where he caused a big fight, and I had to get the bladebreakers together again with my barbecue," Hilary said.
"No, I think Rei's talking about the time I modified his blade and Ozuma had to beat him for him to listen to us," Kenny chimed in.
Rei blinked a few times, realizing just how many times Tyson's temper had caused break-ups. "I was thinking of when he ditched us before the finals, and Kai had to help him out," he said, frowning. "But it doesn't matter. we have a problem now; we've got to help him out, because he won't snap out of it on his own."
"You're right, Rei." Max said, nodding slowly in agreement. "But. what about Kai?" There was a long pause.
"Aw, man," Rei said after thinking about it. Kai was hurt, he could tell. He had seen Kai's eyes flash with an overwhelming sadness, before blinking it away. Tyson had hurt him deeply.
^^^^^
Kai sat in the snow, his eyes fixed upon the scenery. However, his mind was elsewhere. 'Why did I even think I belonged with them,' he thought to himself. 'I don't deserve friends. Or family, for that matter, as Tyson pointed out. Maybe that's why I never got to meet my parents; maybe they died because I am unworthy of them.'
"Kai!" His deep, sad thoughts were interrupted by Hilary's surprisingly soft voice.
He didn't even move to look at her face. "Go away," he said softly. She detected the slightest amount of sorrow in his voice.
"I-I just wanted to say that Tyson didn't mean anything he said. You know that. We really care about you, Kai. You are our friend," she said, looking away. Kai remained silent. "We need you," she almost whispered, and with that she left.
Kai buried his head in his arms. He didn't believe her. How was he supposed to, after all Tyson had said? All of it was true; he had no real friends. He had thought he had friends. but his supposed "friends" had just told him that they were not. They had never been.
^^^^^
"Hilary?" Rei said as he saw Hilary walking in the opposite direction he was headed.
"Hey. I guess we had the same idea, huh," she said, now walking with Rei.
Rei stopped, and looked into Hilary's eyes. "So, did he-"
"No," she said before he could finish. Rei just nodded his head. "He didn't even look at me," she continued.
"As I thought. but you got through to him last time, though," he said a little hopefully. "You encouraged him to keep beyblading; never to give up."
Hilary smiled as the flashback occurred in her memory. Kai was sitting there, deep in thought, alone, with only his empty beyblade; Dranzer had been taken from him. He was about to give up beyblading for good. Hilary had come, and encouraged him. She had brought him back to the team, which was the reason Tyson had won the World Championships.
'I helped Tyson win!' she realized suddenly. 'I AM a part of the team. I really do belong,' she thought with a determined smile. "Thanks, Rei," she whispered. She gave him a quick hug and walked away with a smile on her face.
^^^^^
"Rei, I want to be alone," Kai said as Rei approached him. He hadn't turned around, let alone make eye contact.
Rei still came closer, and sat down beside him. 'No you don't,' he thought.
Kai made no further effort to make him go away. He found himself wishing Rei would stay, but also wishing he would leave.
"Kai. We're your friends. I'm really sorry about what Tyson said; it's totally not true. He didn't mean it; I know it," Rei wasn't sure just what to say to Kai. He did not want to bring up the part about Kai's family. If Kai was living with Voltaire, something must have happened to his parents. Rei didn't know what had happened when Kai was with Voltaire, but he did know that Voltaire was cruel and didn't care for him.
Kai didn't look at Rei. He acted as if he hadn't heard him. Rei continued as if he hadn't noticed the silence. "We're more than a team, Kai. We're friends. best friends." With that, Rei walked away, figuring he was better off leaving now before he said something even more hurtful.
^^^^^
"Hey Ty," Max shouted, running after his best friend. He was panting heavily; he had been running for a while to catch up to Tyson.
"Yeah, what do you want," Tyson muttered stubbornly.
"Why'd you walk off like that?" Max asked, confronting his friend.
"I just needed some time to cool off, you know?" Tyson said, sounding like himself again. Max noticed this and smiled.
"Good. Ready to apologize?" He asked, optimistically.
"Apologize?" Tyson asked blankly.
"Yeah, Tyson. You have to," Max said, frowning a bit.
"For what?" Tyson still seemed clue less. Max sighed.
"You hurt him deeply, man," Max explained to his puzzled friend. "He hasn't come back yet, and probably won't until you do. Do you even remember what you said to him?!"
Tyson stared blankly, then flash-backed to a few hours ago. 'He has no friends, no family that loves him.' Tyson saw himself continue to yell, out of control. He caught a glimpse of a painfully deep sadness within his grey eyes that he had quickly blinked back.
Max watched as Tyson's eyes widened in shock. Max knew that Tyson was just realising what he had said. He saw Tyson fall to his knees in a helpless manner, overcome with a feeling of self-hatred and guilt.
Max was silent as he saw Tyson in his helpless state, and the silence remained for what seemed like eternity. "I'm sorry," Tyson finally managed to whisper.
^^^^^
That's the end of chapter 3! R&R! ^-^
~ Penguin Pop
I don't own Beyblade.
^^^^^
Twisted Fate
Chapter 3
Max had been looking at the star-less night sky for hours now. 7 hours to be exact; he had been counting. He was angry with himself for letting himself get carried away. Occasionally he slipped out of character, and ended up regretting it; like when he had lost Draciel to the cyber bit- beasts. now was one of those times.
He gave a loud sigh, and continued to stare at the sky. It was comforting, in an indescribable way. It was 4:00 AM now. It had been 7 hours since his teammates had decided to get some rest. It had been 12 hours since Kai had fallen into another fevered sleep. Max winced; it had been his fault. why had he been so insensitive? He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists out of frustration.
"Don't blame yourself," a cool, confident voice interrupted Max's harsh thoughts. The voice was a little softer, a bit weaker than usual.
"Kai!" Max turned around instantly to see Kai, sitting up. A bright grin appeared across Max's face. Kai gave a small smile, to reassure his words.
"Are you --" Max started, but stopped as Kai gave a nod. His eyes were closed and his arms folded across his chest. Max sighed and smiled; Kai was definitely the same.
"Get some sleep," he commanded. Max nodded, and lay down, quickly falling asleep. A relieved look shone on his face.
Kai looked around at his teammates. They were fast asleep. This was the place he had collapsed, he remembered, and it was now 4:00 AM. The last time he had opened his eyes was when it was bright out, in the afternoon. He smiled; his teammates really did care about him. He wearily closed his eyes, feeling exhausted.
^^^^^
Hilary woke up with a smile upon her face. 'First one up again!' she thought, giggling to herself. She looked at her friends, and her smile disappeared. 'Still sleeping,' she thought disappointedly.
"Oh?" she exclaimed out loud, as she saw a large package lying in the snow. She opened the parcel, and saw a small tent kit and some medicine. She examined it suspiciously, and after checking it over decided it was okay.
"Hey, what's that?" Rei asked, having just woken up. His eyes were focused on Hilary.
"Oh, I found this just lying here. strange, really," she replied. She had no idea where or from whom it came. "A tent and some medicine," she added, realizing she hadn't answered his question.
"Hm, that's strange. Let's get started on it, shall we?" Rei lept up from his spot over to Hilary, and the two began setting the tent up.
"What I want to know is why would someone leave us this stuff? I mean, why would they leave us here in the first place, but why would they just leave us supplies instead of rescuing us?" Hilary and Rei wondered, and discussed as they set up the tent.
"Not a clue, Hilary," Rei replied seriously. "I wish I knew, but it makes about as much sense as Tyson with his mouth full," he added with a smile. Hilary couldn't help but smirk; she knew how Tyson ate.
"Aargh!" Hilary and Rei looked over at Kenny. He had recently woken up and was attempting to fix Dizzi again, without luck. He was pulling his hair out like usual when stressed.
"Oh, hey chief," Rei said, walking over towards Kenny. "What's up?"
"Dizzi's still not working!" he cried, exasperated. He looked near tears.
"Hey, Kenny. Calm down," Hilary said reassuringly. "I'm sure we can fix your laptop."
"Yeah, my mom can help!" Max's happy voice was heard. He had woken from all the commotion.
"Oh, that's right! Judy's a computer expert!" Kenny exclaimed, hope evident in his voice.
"Yeah, I'm sure she'd be glad to help out," Max said with a comforting smile.
"So. hungry." Tyson had barely waken. He had his eyes closed tight, and moaned from hunger.
"Gotta agree with him," Rei said, with a sigh. Max and Hilary nodded. Another day had gone by without a trace of food.
Tyson sat up. "I'm starved!" he complained.
"We KNOW that, Tyson!" Hilary retorted, her voice raised. "We ALL are! Now if you would just stop complaining for once--"
"I don't have to listen to anyone, especially YOU, Hilary," Tyson said, folding his arms and turning away.
"Why you--" Hilary started with an angry look in her eyes.
"Hey, guys, stop fighting." Kenny said meekly. He always tried to stop his closest friends from fighting, but without success.
Tyson turned around, face to face with Hilary. Each had a menacing glare upon their faces. Max grabbed Hilary's arms, and Rei held back Tyson. Kenny sighed with relief.
"Hey! Kai!" Kenny cried out. Max and Rei let go and Tyson and Hilary stopped fighting and turned around, to see Kai sitting upright.
He looked completely exhausted and sick. He looked worse than before, and despite his best efforts to hide it, it was very obvious. "Oh, man! What's up dude?" Tyson shouted, rushing to his friend's side.
Kai didn't say anything, just directed his view to Tyson. "You okay?" Rei asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Kai gave a small nod, but Tyson just rolled his eyes. "Of course not, Rei! Do you honestly think he's okay?"
"Well no, I--" Rei started, startled at the sudden outburst.
"If you think for one second that he's perfectly fine, you're sadly mistaken. You can't even recognize that Kai's in serious trouble. Some 'friend' you are!" Tyson snapped, in one of his rare serious moments.
"Now, look, Tyson." Rei started, warningly. His eyes were narrowed, his voice trying to hold back the anger building up.
"Tyson! Will you just be quiet?! Rei was only being polite! If anyone around here is dense it's you!" Hilary exclaimed.
"Yeah, Tyson. He was only being nice," Max said, a little apologetically. He felt like he should have taken his best friend's side, but he completely agreed with Rei and Hilary. Kenny just backed away, not wanting to get involved.
"Tyson, I said I was fine." Kai interrupted. He definitely did not sound fine; his voice was weak, although the cool tone remained.
"Oh, sure you are," Tyson said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Wait! We've got some medicine!" Hilary exclaimed, suddenly remembering. She brought out a little red and white bottle.
The Bladebreakers brought Kai into the small tent and forced the medicine down his throat, although he could hardly put up a struggle. He winced as the bitter medicine burned his throat.
"Aw, man, that stuff must taste awful," Tyson said, seeing Kai's expression.
"You bet," Kai managed to say, with a slight smirk that quickly disappeared as he narrowed his eyes in discomfort.
Hilary climbed out of the tent; it was too crowded. She took a deep breath of the cool crisp air. Her eyes suddenly spotted a parcel lying in the snow. She quickly looked around for a trace of who might have sent it, but there was nobody in sight. 'Strange,' she thought.
Hilary unwrapped the parcel, and found food and water. She quickly told the rest of the Bladebreakers, and they came quickly. They quickly managed to eat it all, and their stomachs were satisfied. Hilary ate her share, then decided to bring some food and water to Kai.
"Kai?" she asked cautiously, bringing his eyes open. They had been closed tightly in discomfort from the burning medicine. Hilary handed him the water, which he took gratefully.
"Thanks, Hilary," he said, gripping the water tightly.
"No problem," she replied politely, with a smile. She was relieved that he was okay. "You want something to eat?" she asked, attempting to break the silence. She knew he hadn't eaten in days. She waited, but got no reply, and started to head out of the tent.
"Let's go," he said suddenly, standing up.
"But--" she started, but he was already out of the tent.
^^^^^
"Let it rip!" the voices of the Bladebreakers were the only sound for miles. They had been walking for hours, and had to stop for a break. Kai had suggested they practice blading on the ice, to test their control.
"Aaaw man!" Tyson whined. He looked at the others. Kai's blade seemed to maneuver perfectly across the ice, with complete control. Rei's was sliding and had difficulty turning in time, but was still managing. Max had a little more trouble; occasionally his beyblade would go spinning out of control, and he would have to summon it back and re-launch it, but he was still having some success. Tyson's, however, was completely out of control, and skidded across the ice dangerously.
"Tyson. Concentrate," Kai said, ducking as Dragoon came flying towards his head. He sent a swift glare towards Dragoon's master.
"I AM," Tyson replied angrily.
"No, you're not. Concentrate harder," Kai said, calmly and confidently as ever.
"Well sor-ry I'm not perfect," Tyson retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm not some kind of icy freak. I'm not cold-hearted like you."
All the bladebreakers immediately stopped and stared wide-eyed in horror at what Tyson had just said.
"Tyson!" Max cried. Rei blinked in surprise, as if he couldn't get over the shock of what he had just heard. "You don't mean that! I know you don't!" Hilary shouted. "You're just jealous," she added a little smugly.
"Ha, me, jealous of Kai? Not on your life, why would I be? I can beat him in a beyblade match any day; he's a complete loner, he has no friends, or family that loves him." The rest of the bladebreakers had their eyes wide open in terror, their mouths hanging open stupidly. Tyson continued, "why would they? He would just reject them and push them away to become the loner he is."
Kai's eyes widened slightly, as he listened to everything coming from Tyson's mouth. He knew Tyson hardly ever said things like this; only when he was angry and out of control did he speak in such a manner. But, he knew it was true, this was what Tyson thought about him. What the others probably thought as well. Kai felt his heart sink. He wanted to run away, shout, hit Tyson. Anything to escape the emotions building up inside of him.
All Kai said was, "if that's really what you think, Tyson." He then summoned Dranzer back to his hand, and slowly walked away.
The bladebreakers all stared as they watched Kai steadily fade into the distance, then suddenly started to yell at Tyson. "What was that for?!" Hilary shouted in Tyson's face.
"That was mean," Max stated; he would have cried if Tyson had said that to him.
"You went too far, Tyson," Rei said bitterly. Kenny nodded in agreement.
"Oh, that's right; take his side," Tyson said angrily, his arms folded across his chest in a childish manner.
"Look, Tyson. Kai was only trying to help you become a better blader!" Rei tried to reason with Tyson. Eventually, he figured, they would get through that thick skull of his.
"Sure," he said sarcastically. "Since when was he sarcastic," Kenny muttered.
"Tyson! Kai was right, you weren't focusing," Max tried to help Rei out.
"That's it. I don't need you!" Tyson shouted, taking Max by surprise. He stomped off in the snow.
"Haven't we gone through this before?" Hilary asked, rolling her eyes.
"Many. Too many," Max said.
"I thought last time would be the last." Rei sighed.
"Which one? The time when he blew it big time with Hilary and we had to beg for forgiveness?" Max questioned.
"I think he means the time where he caused a big fight, and I had to get the bladebreakers together again with my barbecue," Hilary said.
"No, I think Rei's talking about the time I modified his blade and Ozuma had to beat him for him to listen to us," Kenny chimed in.
Rei blinked a few times, realizing just how many times Tyson's temper had caused break-ups. "I was thinking of when he ditched us before the finals, and Kai had to help him out," he said, frowning. "But it doesn't matter. we have a problem now; we've got to help him out, because he won't snap out of it on his own."
"You're right, Rei." Max said, nodding slowly in agreement. "But. what about Kai?" There was a long pause.
"Aw, man," Rei said after thinking about it. Kai was hurt, he could tell. He had seen Kai's eyes flash with an overwhelming sadness, before blinking it away. Tyson had hurt him deeply.
^^^^^
Kai sat in the snow, his eyes fixed upon the scenery. However, his mind was elsewhere. 'Why did I even think I belonged with them,' he thought to himself. 'I don't deserve friends. Or family, for that matter, as Tyson pointed out. Maybe that's why I never got to meet my parents; maybe they died because I am unworthy of them.'
"Kai!" His deep, sad thoughts were interrupted by Hilary's surprisingly soft voice.
He didn't even move to look at her face. "Go away," he said softly. She detected the slightest amount of sorrow in his voice.
"I-I just wanted to say that Tyson didn't mean anything he said. You know that. We really care about you, Kai. You are our friend," she said, looking away. Kai remained silent. "We need you," she almost whispered, and with that she left.
Kai buried his head in his arms. He didn't believe her. How was he supposed to, after all Tyson had said? All of it was true; he had no real friends. He had thought he had friends. but his supposed "friends" had just told him that they were not. They had never been.
^^^^^
"Hilary?" Rei said as he saw Hilary walking in the opposite direction he was headed.
"Hey. I guess we had the same idea, huh," she said, now walking with Rei.
Rei stopped, and looked into Hilary's eyes. "So, did he-"
"No," she said before he could finish. Rei just nodded his head. "He didn't even look at me," she continued.
"As I thought. but you got through to him last time, though," he said a little hopefully. "You encouraged him to keep beyblading; never to give up."
Hilary smiled as the flashback occurred in her memory. Kai was sitting there, deep in thought, alone, with only his empty beyblade; Dranzer had been taken from him. He was about to give up beyblading for good. Hilary had come, and encouraged him. She had brought him back to the team, which was the reason Tyson had won the World Championships.
'I helped Tyson win!' she realized suddenly. 'I AM a part of the team. I really do belong,' she thought with a determined smile. "Thanks, Rei," she whispered. She gave him a quick hug and walked away with a smile on her face.
^^^^^
"Rei, I want to be alone," Kai said as Rei approached him. He hadn't turned around, let alone make eye contact.
Rei still came closer, and sat down beside him. 'No you don't,' he thought.
Kai made no further effort to make him go away. He found himself wishing Rei would stay, but also wishing he would leave.
"Kai. We're your friends. I'm really sorry about what Tyson said; it's totally not true. He didn't mean it; I know it," Rei wasn't sure just what to say to Kai. He did not want to bring up the part about Kai's family. If Kai was living with Voltaire, something must have happened to his parents. Rei didn't know what had happened when Kai was with Voltaire, but he did know that Voltaire was cruel and didn't care for him.
Kai didn't look at Rei. He acted as if he hadn't heard him. Rei continued as if he hadn't noticed the silence. "We're more than a team, Kai. We're friends. best friends." With that, Rei walked away, figuring he was better off leaving now before he said something even more hurtful.
^^^^^
"Hey Ty," Max shouted, running after his best friend. He was panting heavily; he had been running for a while to catch up to Tyson.
"Yeah, what do you want," Tyson muttered stubbornly.
"Why'd you walk off like that?" Max asked, confronting his friend.
"I just needed some time to cool off, you know?" Tyson said, sounding like himself again. Max noticed this and smiled.
"Good. Ready to apologize?" He asked, optimistically.
"Apologize?" Tyson asked blankly.
"Yeah, Tyson. You have to," Max said, frowning a bit.
"For what?" Tyson still seemed clue less. Max sighed.
"You hurt him deeply, man," Max explained to his puzzled friend. "He hasn't come back yet, and probably won't until you do. Do you even remember what you said to him?!"
Tyson stared blankly, then flash-backed to a few hours ago. 'He has no friends, no family that loves him.' Tyson saw himself continue to yell, out of control. He caught a glimpse of a painfully deep sadness within his grey eyes that he had quickly blinked back.
Max watched as Tyson's eyes widened in shock. Max knew that Tyson was just realising what he had said. He saw Tyson fall to his knees in a helpless manner, overcome with a feeling of self-hatred and guilt.
Max was silent as he saw Tyson in his helpless state, and the silence remained for what seemed like eternity. "I'm sorry," Tyson finally managed to whisper.
^^^^^
That's the end of chapter 3! R&R! ^-^
~ Penguin Pop