Tai: Okay general warnings; unexplained randomness, OOCness and the Tyson effect.
Now that those are out of the way, and for those of you curious; yes, I am still debating over whether or not chapter 7 will be the final chapter. I'm sort of tempted to keep going; in fact I might. Advance warning; it will be a while before chapter six appears; I'm moving cities for university this coming weekend, and the following week my courses start. My aim is got get at least a B+ in both courses, so I'll need to focus on them. Rest assured, I will still write.
Onto the chapter!
Kai couldn't help blinking at the request; Max wanted to stop and get ice cream on the way home, and for once he couldn't justify saying no. Generally Tyson was the one to ask after he'd spent the entire day complaining about training, so it was an easy denial. The remaining two Bladebreakers however were a different story; they didn't complain about training and they'd expected they'd be training today, only for their captain to cancel it. That and they hadn't once complained about the headaches he was almost certain they had.
Checking his pocket to ensure he had his wallet, the Russian sighed. "I suppose, on the way home." The blonde celebrated happily as he bounded across the road and disappeared out of sight, Ray and Kai chuckling at the movement. "You might as well go and catch up to him; I'll be along soon."
Ray nodded and sprinted after the blonde, glancing over his shoulder briefly to see the slate haired male disappear into the crowd behind him. Turning his attention back to following the blonde, he let out a sigh as he spotted the male settled on a bench, apparently having stopped to wait for the two.
"Where's Kai?"
"He said he'd catch up shortly." Ray responded, joining the blonde on the bench. He hesitated before voicing something that had been slowly gnawing at the back of his mind since he'd seen the youngest of the group embracing the captain. "Max…do you…have a thing for him?"
The aforementioned blonde blushed. "What makes you ask that?" he asked quickly, trying to brush it off.
"That wasn't really a no."
"It wasn't a yes either!" the blonde tried to defend, although it was quickly obvious the amber eyed teen wasn't buying it. Giving in somewhat, he checked down the street to see if Kai was approaching. "It's…complicated. I sort of like him, but there's someone else I sort of like as well…"
"I know that feeling." The dark haired male mumbled, standing and heading toward the slate haired male as he reappeared in view. "How's your head?" Max groaned at the question, earning a smile from the neko-jin. "'Bout the same as mine then."
Glancing between the pair, the Russian sighed. "The ice cream place is back two blocks; the shop we need to drop these off at is four blocks away."
"Well let's go!" Max exclaimed, almost heading off ahead of the pair before he stopped and turned to the oldest of the group. "That's not too heavy is it Kai?"
The ruby eyed male shook his head and continued on, both the blue and amber eyed males falling in to step beside him, resuming the random conversation they were having before the blonde had requested ice cream. It didn't take as long as they'd expected to reach the shop, and while Kai dropped the clothing off, Max found himself fascinated by Ray's hair.
"Have you ever braided your hair Ray?"
The question bewildered the neko-jin as he sat blinking at the male. "No…can't say I have…"
"Can I try when we get back to the dojo?" the cheerful blonde questioned, tilting his head to one side. "I watched Mystel braid his once and it looked like fun."
Ray sat blinking at the male for several moments, processing the request. "You just want an excuse to play with my hair don't you?"
Max avoided his gaze. "…maybe…."
"Play with your own!" Ray shot back.
"But yours is longer!"
Kai stopped dead as he walked over to his teammates, not entirely sure he'd just heard that argument. Finally convincing himself he had heard that phrasing, he glanced between the two, hoping there was some tamer context than what his mind was thinking. "What are you two arguing about?"
"Max wants to play with my hair." The neko-jin stated, moving so that Kai was between the pair. He pulled the long black strands forward over one shoulder, running a hand through them slowly.
The aforementioned blonde frowned as a relieved look passed over the captains face. "Why are you so….oh…" His bright blue eyes widening as a blush crept back onto his face, realising how dodgy the conversation must've seemed taken out of context.
"Come on you two, I'm treating you to ice cream, remember?" Kai sighed, heading back down the street. The blonde bounded along, sliding up to the slate haired male's left, while the neko-jin stayed on his right, stilling eying the blonde warily.
The cheerful blonde sped on ahead a short way, and turned to look at his teammates, finally appreciating how different the duo looked without some rather signature pieces of clothing. Ray's long black hair was completely loose and had been flicked back over his shoulder, seemingly less concerned the blonde would try and play with his hair as they walked.
The change to Kai was more substantial; his scarf was gone, as were the painted fins they'd been so accustomed to. The resulting effect revealed just how bright his eyes were, and how sharp some of his features were, the blonde walking backwards slowly as he took some time appreciating his fine features.
'They look good together.' He thought, somewhat sadly as he realised if the duo got together he wouldn't be able to have either of them, something that he found rather disheartening. He couldn't decide between the pair himself; if he had the option he'd happily take both, but if they got together he could live with it. Kai was right; he wasn't the jealous type.
Max soon found the pair had caught up, and dropped back to walk alongside the older teens, pondering his romantic dilemma. To his right walked two teens; the Bladebreaker captain who had previously been stoic and serious, and the Chinese blader who was always wise and easy to talk to. Both were attractive in their own ways, but neither could grab his attention more than the other.
As they crossed yet another street, Kai stopped suddenly, glancing between the pair. "Up for a race?" he smirked, something that looked slightly different without the blue paint.
"What kind of race?" Ray asked curiously, while Max was already happily bouncing up and down on the spot with excitement.
"Just a straight run; we have another three blocks to go back towards Tyson's, and then we need to turn off onto a side street to get to the ice cream parlour." The slate haired male explained, both males listening intently. "I propose we run the next three blocks, and count that as training for the day."
"Sound fair." Ray agreed, while Max nodded enthusiastically at the suggestion.
"Who gets to count down?" the blonde asked curiously, sharing a glance with the other two.
"All three?" Ray suggested, earning a nod from the captain.
"Three….two….one…go!"
The trio started racing down the street, each picking their own path through the foot traffic as they moved. Kai easily raced ahead of his teammates, making it across the street before both of the other two. Two blocks later, the oldest of the three teens stopped and turned to watch Ray and Max catch up with him.
The two had needed to stop a block back due to the traffic, and were jogging next to one another as they covered the last block. 'They look good together.' He mused, a small smile working its way onto his lips. 'I'd be lucky to end up with either one of them…hell they'd be a better match for each other than me.'
The pair came to a stop just in front of Kai, still grinning as widely as they had been when he suggested it. "Were you two even trying?"
"I was until I lost sight of the back of your head." The dark haired male stated, looking at the blonde. "Then Max caught up to me at the edge of the second block."
The blonde shrugged. "You're both faster than me; I had no shot at winning." Max grinned at the pair and headed off down the side street. "Now hurry up! We have ice cream to get."
Following the blonde's lead, Ray and Kai headed off down the street for their frozen treat, something they were all looking forward to given the heat of the day. Max was bouncing up and down in front of the ice cream shop as his slightly older teammates walked to catch up.
"He's almost like a hyperactive puppy." The dark haired male mused, earning a chuckle from his slate haired companion.
"If he was a puppy he wouldn't have gotten that far ahead of us due to leash laws." The ruby eyed male replied, earning a sharp feline grin from the male. "You'd probably still think him cute though."
Ray almost tripped over his own feet at the comment, amber eyes wide at the comment. "What makes you think I think he's cute?"
"Besides the very roundabout way you just tried to deny it? The way you look at him. What's holding you back from asking him out?" the ruby eyed male smirked, gaze turning to the sapphire eyed blonde.
"Ah..." the neko-jin hesitated in his answer, "there's someone else I sort of like as well, and I think Max has eyes for someone else."
The blonde was jumping up and down, waving the entire time, trying to get the attention of the two males. "Fair enough; we'd better hurry up before he decides he's in charge and we're not getting anything." The slate haired male laughed, jogging to reach the male.
"Wait, Kai aren't you paying?" the darker haired male frowned, none the less jogging after him to finish catching up to the blonde.
"Come on Ray! You'll miss out on ice cream if you don't hurry up!" Max called back to him, grinning happily as the oldest teen finally stopped beside him. The dark haired neko-jin sighed; seemed like the blonde was indeed in charge of them for the afternoon, as bizarre an idea as it was.
Stopping just in front of the duo, he looked between the blonde and slate haired males. "So when did you decide Max was in charge for the day?"
"About when I agreed to the idea of getting ice cream." The Russian shrugged, heading into the small shop. Max ceased his bouncing and followed, Ray bringing up the rear. Soon enough the trio were standing in front of a counter with a large array of ice cream flavours, and Max's bright blue eyes grew wide at the sight.
"Order what you want-"
"Really?" Max's excitement interrupted the slate haired male, prompting a small chuckle from Ray.
"Really."
If the blonde could've jumped on the counter, the neko-jin was fairly certain he would've as he darted from one end of the counter to the other. The rapid movements seemed to startle the gentleman behind the counter, although he managed to keep a smile in place.
As the blonde looked between his options for flavours and ice cream sizes, both Kai and Ray requested a two scoop ice cream cone. The dark black haired male opting for plain chocolate, while the slate haired teen opted for caramel and vanilla.
Glancing over at Max, the pair held in a laugh as the blonde finally made his decision, getting four scoops with chocolate, strawberry, caramel and hokey pokey. His grin widened as the frozen treat was handed over, and he was quickly led from the shop by Ray while their captain remained behind to pay.
"You think there's any chance we can get Tyson kicked off the team?" Max asked curiously, starting to devour some of his ice cream. "I like this new Kai."
"I'm sure we could convince Mr D that the world champ should have his own new team. Or Kai could justify kicking him from the team because he's been missing training." Ray agreed with a grin, earning a chuckle from the captain as he joined the pair.
"You two are getting far used to me relaxing with Tyson gone." He smirked, earning a grin from the pair as they continued back toward the Granger dojo. "I can almost hear Bryan and Tala telling me I've gone soft."
"Aww Kai, you know you love us!" Max grinned, earning a chuckle from Ray.
Kai seemed to ponder the statement before grinning. "True." Remembering both had had headaches upon waking up, he glanced between the pair. "I take it your heads are feeling better?" he questioned, receiving nods from both males which he counted as a good sign. "Good; I was thinking your hangovers might still be causing issues."
"Nope!" All three were still devouring their ice creams as they reached the Granger dojo, a familiar voice drifting over the outer wall.
"They should be here training!"
"And cue the Tyson effect…" Max grinned, Ray stifling a laugh as their captain returned to his more stoic attitude, which really didn't fit with the menacing shark fins missing and the male holding an ice cream.
Heading in the gate, the cheerful blonde struck up a conversation with Ray, their slate haired captain moving back slightly to walk behind the pair. The world champion clearly heard the pair talking and raced around the yard to greet them. "Max! Ray! Where were you guys?"
Max's grin widened as he held up his frozen snack. "We went to get ice cream!"
The stunned silence from Tyson spoke volumes, the male struggling to accept the facts quite clearly in front of him. "Kai took you to get ice cream?" he confirmed, earning nods from both Ray and Max. "What about training?"
"Cancelled for today." Kai stated, starting to move around toward the back yard. "While you've spent the last week with your girlfriend, we've spent the last week training."
The blue haired male stood gaping like a fish, his gaze jumping between the stoic captain, the black haired neko-jin and back again, clearly struggling with something. Hilary soon appeared at his side, her gaze flicking over the same pair briefly before she glanced at Tyson. "Tyson snap out of it!"
"But…Kai's not wearing his face paint...or his scarf...and Ray left his hair down…" he stated slowly, still unsure of which one he needed to focus his gaze on.
I know!" The blonde stated happily, "Don't they look hot!"
Hilary's jaw dropped at the comment, while both of the aforementioned males turned to their blonde teammate, each raising an eyebrow.
Max blinked back at them for several moments, still grinning happily despite the questioning looks he was receiving. "What? You do." Deciding he was done with the matter, the blonde carried on to the back of the house, returning his focus to his ice cream cone.
The remaining four watched him leave, though Tyson soon followed his bubbly blonde friend out into the backyard, leaving Hilary with the two slightly older teens. The trio stood in relative silence; Ray and Kai finishing their ice cream cones while Hilary got over what she'd just heard. "Did Max just say you two look hot?"
"Yup." Ray stated, looking at the brown haired girl.
"And you're not surprised by that?"
Kai glanced at the girl for a moment. "Nope."
"When did you find out that he was…you know?"
"Gay?" the slate haired male finished for her, receiving a small nod.
"Last night, he told us." The black haired male answered, grinning.
"When?"
"After I told him and Ray, but before Ray told us." Kai replied, smirking somewhat.
She stood stunned for a moment, mouth dropped open. "All three of you are gay?" Hilary asked, regaining her composure and looking between the pair, who nodded. "I can honestly say I did not see that coming. I just thought you three were pickier with girls. Does Tyson know?"
"Nope; I don't even think he really understood what Max said before he wandered off." The black haired male admitted, earning a grin from Kai. "You should work on that denseness."
The trio started heading around the back, Kai still smirking. Reaching the final corner they had to turn, the oldest of the group suddenly stopped and turned to the brunette. "Before we forget; Tyson's wardrobe has had a brief makeover. Try not to act surprised."
The comment was seemingly cryptic and neither male gave further explanation as they headed around the corner, finding Max settled happily settled in the shade of a tree finishing the remains of his ice cream cone. Tyson had seemingly disappeared, although considering the blue haired male's room was on this side of the house it seemed rather obvious where he likely was.
Sure enough the blue eyed male had his attention turned toward the world champion's room clearly anticipating something entertaining. The slate haired male walked over and settled himself against the trunk of the same tree. "How long's he been in there?"
"He just headed in a couple of minutes ago." Max informed them, finally done with his ice cream. He turned his gaze on the amber eyed male, who let out a sigh and seated himself in front of the blonde. "I think he's looking for one of his yellow t-shirts."
"So…the three of you gave my boyfriend's wardrobe a makeover…what did you do with the clothes you decided he wasn't keeping?" the brunette asked, dropping to sit on the grass.
"Went and donated it; that's where we were going initially when I asked Kai if we could get ice cream." Max grinned, slowly separating the long black strands of Ray's hair into three bunches.
Hilary nodded at the news, clearly pleased. "And what did you get rid of?"
"All his yellow t-shirts, some weirdly coloured clothes that wouldn't be very flattering on him, any of his pants that weren't black or blue…just largely things he shouldn't have had in his wardrobe in the first place." Ray informed her, earning several nods from the woman.
"Well he was always the worst dressed out of the team, with any luck it'll tidy him up a bit." The brunette admitted, glancing over at the neko-jin. "Why is Max braiding your hair?"
"He thought it'd be fun."
"Ah."
All four sat quietly waiting for some sort of noise from Tyson's room. The blue haired world champion stomped out of his room and headed into the rest of the dojo, clearly becoming frustrated about something. Sure enough an irritated yell sounded from the dojo, and Tyson reappeared, looking at the four.
"Have you guys seen any of my yellow t-shirts? I can't find a clean one anywhere!" he admitted, clearly annoyed by the development.
"Nope." Ray replied, trying not to laugh or move, not wanting to interrupt Max's plaiting.
"Haven't seen them." Max chirped, clearly pleased with how well his task was progressing despite having never braided hair before.
The ruby eyed teen didn't bother looking up. "Hn."
"Why don't you wear something else Tyson? I'm sure you have plenty of other things to wear." The brunette reasoned, holding back a laugh as the world champion tried to pout.
"But I can't find any of my yellow t-shirts!" he argued, clearly distressed by the issue. "I had six in my wardrobe and now I can't find any."
Hilary stood and headed over to her boyfriend, smiling gently. "Maybe you should give up on the yellow t-shirts? I mean you've been wearing them for the last what, three years? I think it's time for a bit of variety."
The world champion looked ready to argue when the girl kissed him, silencing any protest. "Okay, I'll go change."
As the male disappeared from sight once more, Max, Ray and Kai all let out a laugh, clearly amused by the situation. "I think that went rather well." Ray stated, earning agreement from the rest of the yard's occupants. "Are you almost done, Max?"
"Done now!" the blonde chimed, letting the thick band of hair drop back against the male's back.
Hilary moved to settle back under the shade of the tree, letting out a relieved sigh. "I'm kind of glad you warned me about that before he started freaking out."
"Ray, stand up and let us have a look." Kai commented, his ruby eyes trained on the amber and blue eyed males. The neko-jin complied, allowing the trio to look over the braid for several moments before turning around. "It suits you."
"It does." Max agreed, Hilary nodding alongside the blonde.
Ray blushed at the comment, piquing the brunette's interest. "Is there something going on between you three?"
Identical blushes worked their ways onto both Max and Kai's faces, the pale pink tinge no longer hidden by blue paint as it normally was on the stoic teen's face. It seemed like all three had similar thoughts racing through their minds as the two seated males refused to look at her, while Ray stood there silently.
"Well?"
It seemed Tyson had almost perfect timing as the world champion came darting out of his bedroom, glaring at the brunette. He'd managed to find a dark blue t-shirt, had kept his red jacket on and was sporting black pants. "Did you get these three to go through my wardrobe? Everything's been rearranged!"
The blushes of all three disappeared, and the ruby eyed male glared at the woman in silent warning, giving the brunette very few options. "Yes; you're the worst dressed on the team Tyson and I gave Ray, Max and Kai a list of things to remove from your closet." The girl lied, the blonde and black haired males thankfully not letting out sighs of relief. "They got rid of everything last night."
"But the yellow looked good under my red jacket!" the blue haired male whined, earning slight cringes from the other four.
"No, it didn't." Hilary stated firmly. "It looked horrible, and that last yellow t-shirt will be going missing while we're gone." She glanced at Kai, who nodded his agreement at the statement. "Now we need to go and meet up with Kenny and Ming Ming for our double date."
The brunette's firm tone left no room for argument, the blue haired male surrendering from his complaints. "Right…I'll see you guys later."
As the couple disappeared from sight, Ray let out a sigh clearly relieved they'd somewhat dodged a bullet with Hilary. The neko-jin however wasn't as easily distracted, as he looked between the pair, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Why did you two blush when Hilary asked if there was something between the three of us?"
Tai: I hesitated on uploading this chapter as it really is the 'point of no return' for me. Well okay, maybe it's not in everyone's opinion, but for me it really is, so if I wanted to change some major things in the story, I had to hold this chapter. However I couldn't think of a better way that was less...sappy, so I'm happy with it. Review and let me know :P