Hi again, I have another chapter (this is what happens when I get a day off work and have no coursework to do!) please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, sniff :(

Hilary had sat up for hours, she was supposed to be sleeping, tonight she lay in the same room as the guys for safety Kai had insisted, but she was unable to sleep at all. Ray had practically cried himself to sleep Max had closed himself off and slept immediately and Tyson had started snoring a few hours ago but he was very restless. At first Hilary wondered why Kai wasn't with them, but after being hit by Tyson as he rolled over she decided that Kai had done the sensible thing sleeping elsewhere. Hilary looked around, the sky outside was a light grey and she realised it would soon be morning she was exhausted and could really do with a drink, she couldn't see the point in going back to bed so she decided to have some coffee to help her stay awake during the day. Hilary walked into the kitchen and was startled to see a figure sitting in the dark.

"Kai?"

"Hilary, how come your already up?"

"I'm not sleeping well, have you been awake all night?"

"Yes!" Kai looked up he unbelievably felt guilty about what had happened in Mr Dickinson's office earlier, but then why should he feel guilty when he hadn't really done anything wrong. He watched as Hilary set about making coffee, OK so it was true Hilary had actually been right but that had never stopped him from getting angry before, then again why hadn't he been able to control his emotions? Recently he had been acting on his feelings, this was odd. He stared at Hilary then began to remember the feeling he had got in the pit of his stomach as he stared at her in Mr Dickenson's office, what had been up with that? Why was he acting so strange?

"Kai!" Hilary's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry?"

"Coffee,… do you want some?"

"Yeah thanks"

"No problem"

Kai began to think but that strange feeling had returned, he couldn't get rid of it, what the hell was this girl doing to him? He had had a couple of girlfriends before but he had always found them inconvenient and dull in next to no time, at the tender age of 20 he had given up on the idea of ever being in a happy stable relationship. Some people (Tyson especially) had joked that he should just come out of the closet and have done with it, but it wasn't that he hadn't found the girls attractive and he definitely did not find guys attractive. Things had just never felt right, he had come to the conclusion that he just wasn't up to the whole dating scene.

So why was it that Hilary, HILARY was making him feel so strange, sure she was pretty. More than pretty, Kai watched her slyly through half closed eyes, she was wearing a simple white nightdress and it was shortish just above her knees it was also quite tight and he could see every curve, stop it Kai remonstrated himself, stop staring at her she's like a little sister and that would just be wrong! But was she like a little sister, no she was a friend a good friend, next moment a steaming aromatic cup of coffee was placed in front of him,

"Enjoy!" Hilary turned to leave the kitchen

"Where are you going?"

"Erm outside"

"It's cold."

"I thought you would want to be alone"

"Sit down" Hilary frowned at the order, she raised an eyebrow, Kai noticed and with great effort he forced himself to say "Sit down please," He watched her smile as she sat across from him. "Look Hilary, I am sorry for what happened in the office, It's just that there's a lot you don't know about Boris," why was he explaining himself to her?

"I know"

"I can't tell you…"

"You don't need to if you don't want to"

"I thought you would want to know, after all I know everything about your past, all the bad things that happened"

"You don't know everything"

"You had things happen that were worse than the boat accident and losing your mom?"

"No, sort of," Hilary frowned "there was some pretty bad stuff as a result of it though"

"What could have been worse?"

"It doesn't matter" Hilary looked up at him and smiled "I'm over it "Kai was looking at her his eyes staring and annoyed

"Over it? How can you be over it if you won't talk about it!"

"Got me there" She shrugged off the pain that she felt and let the smile remain on her face, it widened as he grew more frustrated.

"How can you be so happy, if you've had it so tough, don't you want to just give up? Close yourself off from the world?"

"All the time!"

"Why don't you?"

"Because I have happy memories! Whenever I feel down I sit and remember Jordan." She smiled to herself "I think of the time I was in a school performance and right before it I got terrible nerves, I was so sure I would forget the words. Jordan came backstage and hugged me, he took me over to the stage and said "Do it for me alone" and I did I sang just to him completely ignoring everyone else until the end" Hilary looked directly into Kais eyes "It's all in my head that is why I never give up, part of me is still doing things just for him"

"Why don't you sing then?"

"I was never that good!" Hilary grinned "I do still sing and play the piano sometimes but in private, I like to be alone when I do it, surely you understand that! Besides there's a part of me that's afraid that if I were to sing and write and learn new music it would mean that I forget the memories I have of him, without those memories I would probably just give up," once more shrugging off the pain that she felt welling up inside her chest she smiled at him, "but then I guess I do have you guys as well, you're not family but your close enough."

Kai stared at her this was a side of her he had never seen before, a gentler and lost Hilary even after her mothers death she hadn't shown any emotion she had walked away from them hiding her tears, he felt a protective feeling wash over him. Before he knew what he was saying he blurted out.

"I don't have any happy memories"

"None?"

"Not of my childhood, I was unhappy for most of it treated badly for the rest of it" Now it was Hilary's turn to be surprised, not that Kai was confiding in her, but that he was talking about his past. She waited he said nothing more so she tentatively questioned him.

"Because of Boris?"

"Yes him and my grandfather, they worked together."

"What about your parents?"

"They abandoned me on purpose, They left me with my grandfather knowing exactly who he was and what he would probably do to me" His fists were clenched tightly, "Last I heard they had died" He looked up expecting to see the pity he usually got but Hilary merely smiled briefly.

"Both orphans then!"

"Yeah"

"I'm sorry you don't have any memories of them"

"Well who knows, they might have been worse than my grandfather, if that's even possible"

"Kai…" Hilary hesitated "Your Grandfather was cruel but that doesn't mean they were anything like him, You're not"

"I used to be"

"Well your not now, concentrate on that, Surely you have some good memories of your time with the team. We aren't all bad are we?" He looked into her eyes, she had a sly smile on her face and her eyes were glittering with mischief

"Not all bad" Kai admitted putting emphasis on the all. He was about to say something more when Ray came into the Kitchen yawning and stretching.

"Is that coffee I smell?" He was too sleepy to notice the death glare Kai sent his way.

Hilary knew that as far as Kai was concerned this was the end of their conversation and watched as he dropped his head forward so that his hair covered his eyes. Recognising this as a signal to stop talking to him Hilary stood and went over to Ray, taking one look in his face she put her hand on his arm and pulled him into a hug. Kai was aware of a deep feeling of anger rising in his chest as from under his slate blue hair he watched the two of them.

"Want some of the coffee?" Hilary asked Ray her arms still around him.

"Only if you made it. Kai hasn't got the skills to handle the coffee machine"

"I know he's a demon in the dish, but useless in the Kitchen" They pulled away from each other and laughed as Kai growled.

The boys were battling again, the dish looked as though a bomb had hit it, Hilary was sitting in her usual position next to Kenny in the cool shade of the trees, she had a large book open on her knees and an apple in her hand. She was trying to concentrate on the new report she was supposed to be proofreading for Mr Dickinson but like the guys she was wound up, tense and unable to concentrate. Unable to stand it any longer she decided that she needed to do something more practical.

"I'm going to get lunch" she stood and looked down at Kenny. "any requests?"

"Something with a lot of calories, these guys are burning far to many"

In the kitchen Hilary set about making a pasta dish, while she was chopping tomatoes she heard a sound behind her turning she was in time to see a strange small object fall to the floor. Walking over and picking it up she saw that it was metal and covered in holes, she had just turned to call the others when a strange hissing came from the pellet and a strong smelling gas emerged. Unable to call out or move she felt her body getting weak and the world around her went black.

Bit of a cliffhanger, not a brilliant one but I hope you enjoyed it,

R&R