DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BEYBLADE OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Kasumi tore up the street, panting and almost sweating. What if her hunch was right? What if Tsukino really was Kai's girlfriend? If that was so, then she had to do everything in her power to find out about Kai, and fast!

Poor Zaku, I hate to be doing this to him, but I have no other choice! She thought rather guiltily.

Half way up the current street she was in, the sounds of sobs reached her ears.

"Tsukino!" she yelled out, looking around her.

"Who's there?" a choked voice called out.

Noticing the direction of the voice, Kasumi ran towards it and found Tsukino crouched on the ground, her hair falling over her wet face, tears still flowing from her eyes.

"K-Kasumi?" she said.

"Tsukino, are you okay?" Kasumi asked worriedly, bending down towards her.

"N-no...I will never be okay...never...I was so damn stupid to think that I would ever be!" Tsukino resumed her crying and clutched her knees to her chin.

"Listen Tsukino, Zaku informed me of what you said earlier, what you called him," said Kasumi: "You called him Kai didn't you?"

"He was everything to me! I can't live without him, I just can't!" Tsukino moaned between sobs.

"Is he Kai Hiwatari?" Kasumi asked.

At this, Tsukino stopped crying abruptly and stared back at Kasumi.

"H-how did y-you-?"

"Listen Tsukino, there's a good chance that Kai might still be alive!" Kasumi blurted out. She was aware of the fact that she hadn't even found it out herself, but she had to let her know, she had to.

Tsukino flinched, and her face paled almost immediately. Had she heard correctly?

"Alive? Alive? Seriously? How?" Tsukino asked quickly, desperate for an answer.

"What happened is that his older cousin, Mitsuhide Hiwatari, kidnapped him and staged his death. He and his partner in crime are probably using Kai to take over the world. Now I'm not 100% sure of this, and I'm not actually supposed to even be telling you this, but it's the best explanation. You see, I'm currently working on it," Kasumi explained.

Tsukino fell into shocked silence, her heart was hammering madly, so much that she thought she would faint, and she felt shaken. Kai, alive, after the worst two years of her life...

"So, so Kai is...is...alive?" she asked.

"I cannot promise, but he probably is. Tomorrow, I'll try my best to come across him, and I'll let you know as soon as I find out, I promise," said Kasumi, pulling a lock of Tsukino's black hair behind her ear.

"Kai...I can't believe that he could be alive. I spent two years mourning him, tried to kill myself even, for nothing, because he was alive!" Tsukino exclaimed, shaking her head with disbelief.

"I'm sorry you had to suffer so much. Please, allow me to escort you home, your family must be worried about you," said Kasumi.

Tsukino nodded, and gingerly stood up. Together with Kasumi, she made her way home, thinking all the while of Kai.