A special thanks for the reviews! :)

Here's the next chapter. I've written it in hurry, so I'm not really that happy with it!

I hope it isn't disappointing!

Tyson's Place, 11:30AM.

"I'm extremely sorry Mr. Granger," Akira said bowing for the third time, "I'm extremely sorry!"

"Don't sweat it, young lady. They're finding nothing at my place. They should've known that!" Grandpa said, not even sounding upset, "Just take a chill pill."

"Are you sure?" she said and Grandpa nodded. "What were they searching for?" Akira continued.

"That is sure a secret they wouldn't tell." He paused for a moment and said, "Have you called your parents yet? They ought to know."

"Ummm… I've talked to them yesterday once. I'm not sure if I'd tell them about this. It would only me more trouble for me and unnecessary worry for them. But I guess I will talk to them," Akira explained.

After she had apologized one last time Akira left for the back yard where the match between Kai and Ray had already started.

"Hey! We've good news," Hillary said beaming at Akira, "The Police have given you a clean chit. You're free to participate in the championships!"

Hillary's excitement didn't really reflect on Akira's face, "Some good news," she said, "After all the inconvenience they'd caused."

"It's okay Akira. You should really forget that and prepare for the championships," Tyson said getting up from his place.

"Plus, you've got to work on a lot areas of beyblading. And we've got to decide something else," Kenny added.

"What is it?" Akira asked, her hands folded.

"With whom should we be pairing you?" Kenny answered adjusting his glasses.

"Pairing me… what?" Akira shot Kenny an are-you-crazy look.

Not only Akira but also the rest of the team had no idea of what Kenny was talking about and hence looked at him like he was nuts.

"What? What if she is needed to play the two on two matches? She has to be paired with someone right?" Kenny elaborated.

Akira rolled her eyes and Hillary said, "Oh, you're talking about that! How do we decide that?"

"Compatibility, obviously," Kai said, "Now that the Blitzkrieg boys have Raul and Julia, we know who would be their two on two team and they are not particularly easy to defeat. We need a team that can match up to them and do even better."

"Tyson and Daichi managed to defeat them, didn't they?" Hillary said.

"But, Daichi is not here with us, is he? If he had been here…" Tyson was interrupted by Akira, "Who's Daichi?" she asked.

"Daichi was a part of the team. He won the Tag team championship along with Tyson. He had to return to his village due to an emergency," Hillary explained.

"You mean that kid, with the red hair?" Akira asked, but not with any enthusiasm.

"Yes," Rei said, "That's him."

Akira went back to being quiet while Max came up with a useful suggestion, "Why don't we leave it for later and concentrate on Akira's training?"

No one could disagree, including Akira.

The Bladebreakers were busy the next three days training and Kenny worked day and night to make sure their blades were technically fit and upgraded in every way, which was not really possible without help from Dizzi!

How much ever moody Akira might be, the good part was that she wasn't difficult when it came to training. She was rather eager to learn, which came as a relief to the team. The initial reluctance on her part was slowly disappearing. However, emotionally, she remained distant from the team.

Dojo, 10:30PM. (36 hours to go for the Championship to kick off in Hong Kong)

"She is just like Kai, you see," Tyson commented, much to Kai's displeasure, "The first time we met, you all know what a grouch he was."

"She might be like Kai. But I hope the similarity is limited to just the grouchiness. And she sticks to one team," Hillary said, smiling at the team's captain in front of her, "No offense Kai."

"None taken," Kai said, turning the pages of the sports magazine in his hand.

"Aarghhh!" a horrifying scream ripped through the air, sending chills down their spine.

"Akira," Kai said and shot up from his place. He was first to rush out of the door towards Akira's room.

It was only a minute later that rest of them could figure out what was going on. No sooner had it dawned upon them that Akira must have been hurt or something than they hurried towards her room.

Kai slid the door open to see a terrified Akira, cowered in a corner, on the floor, near the full length mirror, sweating profusely and shivering.

"Are you alright?" Kai said rushing to her. He knelt down in front of her and repeated his question. Akira said nothing, but continued to cringe in fear. This began to worry Kai, "Are you alright? Answer me!" Kai yelled and shook her by her shoulders, which snapped her out of her fear, "I… I… saw it…in the mirror…" she managed to say. "It's happening again… Oh no it's happening again…" her words were being drowned by her sobs.

By now, Tyson and the rest of the team had reached her room, frowning at the state Akira was in, "I'll get some water," Hillary said and went to the kitchen. Grandpa had also joined them by now.

"You saw what?" Kai asked confused, still not letting go off her shoulders. She looked into his eyes and his eyes widened as the fear in her eyes told him exactly what she had seen.

"Impossible…" Kai said, "Are you sure?"

That was when the power went off and someone knocked the breath out of Kai's lungs. There was a sharp sound of a glass breaking in the kitchen; Hillary had probably dropped it, startled by the sudden power cut. Akira's scream and her present condition had disturbed her enough.

Akira was already too shaken by her recent encounter with her worst nightmare that the sudden darkness made her lose whatever sanity remained in her. She tried to run out of there in utter fear and in the process threw herself at Kai, thus knocking his breath off. Kai knew better than letting her run and locked her in his arms. She was being extremely difficult to restrain, but he did all he could do to stop her, "Akira! Stop! It is alright! Every… everything is fine." Kai managed to steady himself, and subsequently managed to calm her down, "Shhh! Stop fidgeting… No one's here Akira… No one is going to harm you. It's just us," Kai whispered in her ear. One of his hands had a tight grip on her hands while the other was wrapped around her waist. Akira seemed to have stopped moving, and her breathing became even.

"Kai? Are you both alright? We heard something hit the floor," Max finally found his voice.

"Yes Max. We're fine," was Kai's answer. He sighed in relief as light flickered at a distance.

Tyson had gone back to the kitchen to see if Hillary was fine. They brought back a bottle of water and candles.

Hillary entered the room with the light followed by Tyson. Akira sat peacefully, wrapped in Kai's arms, her head resting on Kai's shoulder and eyes closed. Kai leaned against the wall, letting go off her hands, which fell, like they were lifeless.

"Is she unconscious?" Kenny asked worried.

"Wake her up," Grandpa said, "That is not a good sign. Is she cold?" Kai nodded in affirmative. "Then I'd better go make something to warm her up," Grandpa said and left the room.

"Akira?" Kai tried to wake her up, "Akira? Get up…"

Akira slowly opened her eyes, shifting in his arms. She regained her consciousness, and moved a little away from him, one of her hands taking the support of his strong arms. Some of her hair got tangled with his shirt buttons, "Ouch…" she muttered in a weak voice.

"Wait," Kai said and helped untangle her hair.

While Hillary and Kenny were busy fretting over Akira's present state, Tyson, Max and Rei were pretty much enjoying the 'sweet' exchanges between their team captain and the new girl on their team. They looked at each other with raised eyebrows and amused looks. Well, how often do you get to see a girl wrapped in Kai's arms and also helping her untangle her hair? They had seen the former once… but that was when they were… Ummm… not sober. So no one had the damn idea what was going on. But this? This was different! And amusing! Tyson was trying real hard to suppress his urge to burst out laughing. Instead he said, "Maybe someone should help her get up, unless, of course, Kai is very comfortable with having her all over him."

Rei and Max gaped at Tyson in utter disbelief. They couldn't believe that Tyson had the guts to actually say that. Hillary choked and Kenny almost dropped Dizzi. Akira was too shaken to comprehend anything. Kai… well what else would you expect?

"Excuse me," he said gently pushing Akira away so that he could get up, "I've got to deal with something."

Kai got up cracking his knuckles, "You were saying something Tyson?" A devilish grin appeared on his lips and an evil glint in his eyes. And Tyson regretted every word he had said!

Kai had almost broken Tyson's nose before Max and Rei finally managed to subdue him, "He was just kidding Kai! Cut it out!" Rei said pushing Kai away from Tyson.

"Well, no more jokes, moron," Kai said before turning his attention towards Akira, only the word wasn't moron and something worse.

"And I thought he's starting to appreciate humour," Tyson continued not realizing how lucky he had been, thanks to Rei and Max's quick reflexes. Max smacked Tyson on his head, "Enough!"

"Fine! Whatever!" Tyson said rolling his eyes.

An hour later…

The power was back on and Akira had recovered from the horrifying experience she had just been through. Hillary and Kenny had asked some straight forward and pretty serious questions. Akira felt they deserved to know the answers. Moreover, considering what had just happened and it was more likely to happen again, she knew she had to reveal at least a part of her past, if not all of it. Like omitting the part about the man who stole the blade and how he was the same guy that ended up dead in Yokohama.

"Because you spent a bulk of your childhood years in an asylum and you are likely to hallucinate again, you should drop out from the team and give up?" Hillary asked standing in front of Akira, her hands folded. She seemed to be very angry at Akira's latest decision.

"Apparently," Akira said staring at the floor.

"Of course not!" Hillary said, "You're not giving up now! This team needs a fifth member and that is you! This is your chance at turning a new leaf, get rid of your dark past once and for all. You said you've wanted to beyblade, right? That is what you have to do!"

"That is what you think Hillary. I've already caused so much trouble…" Akira remained unconvinced.

"Nonsense! You must take my words seriously Akira. You're seeing things because the Detective made you remember everything again… You must forget that past and start over. And we'll help you do that! Won't we guys?" Hillary said turning towards the Bladebreakers expectantly.

They looked as if they would go against her and Akira sighed in despair.

"Of course we will," Tyson said smiling and so did Max, Rei and Kenny.

"Told you so," Hillary said smiling at her, which now reflected on her lips.

"So you don't mind having me on your team?" Akira said as a smile crept onto her lips, and into her eyes. Hillary shook her head and Akira's smile widened.

A soft smile appeared on Kai's lips seeing Akira's eyes spring back to life. Those eyes spoke that night. They were filled with gratitude towards them, though she was still too adamant to say it out loud and accept it.

Yet, an important question lingered at the back of Kai's mind, Was she hallucinating or had she really seen the vicious serpent?

Please do leave your reviews! :)