A.N: Thank you for everyone who reviewed! Much appreciated!

Chapter Two

Hilary was having difficulty focusing in her first two classes. Her mind went back and forth, wondering if it was even worth it to ditch class to meet this stranger who had left her the urgent note.

Why during class? Why not afterschool? It must be some delinquent trying to get me in trouble. Hilary copied down the notes from the chalkboard like a zombie, not even processing what she was writing or what the teacher was talking about. She snapped out of her thoughts when her eraser dropped to the floor. As she picked it up, her sweeping gaze picked up something amiss in the classroom- the empty desk beside hers.

Wait a minute…..Kai usually sits next to me. Why isn't he here? We share all the same classes and I haven't seen him all day. Did he ditch class again? He'd better not…..

Suddenly the bell rang again. Hilary gasped. She didn't even know how she was going to get out of class without getting in trouble. With slightly sweaty palms, she packed up her things and walked down the hallway as slow as she could, racking her brain.

"Hilary, you're late. That's a surprise."

"S-sorry, Mr. Granger." Hilary bowed, albeit weakly.

Mr. Hiro Granger waved it off. "It's okay. I won't mark you off- so long as you keep doing well in my class," he said, smiling gently. A couple girls giggled and started whispering excitedly.

"Mr. Granger's so cute when he smiles!"

"I know right? He's so gorgeous. I'm so glad I got his class again this year!"

Hilary rolled her eyes. He's twenty five for heaven's sake, she thought irritably. And don't they already have crushes on Kai?

Hiro Granger was the newly hired English teacher at Bey City High. He was a recent college graduate and joined the Bey City High as the youngest teacher among the faculty. Mr. Granger was also Tyson's brother, and in most people's opinion, the more attractive brother. To Hilary, Mr. Granger was just an excellent English teacher who also regarded her as his best student. The 'best student he had ever taught' to be exact. Hilary took his praise with a grain of salt- Hiro Granger had only been teaching for two years, after all, and hadn't taught enough students to gain tenure.

A sweet, girly voice caught Hilary's ears. "Oh look, Little Miss Teacher's Pet isn't getting in trouble for being late. I'll bet if I were a slutty brunette, I wouldn't get in trouble either."

Several students snickered. Hilary turned her head to see Ming-Ming looking directly at her. She flushed a little, but pretended not to hear- she could chew out the turquoise-haired, pigtail wielding, singer some other time. However, Mr. Granger had not heard.

"Are you alright, Hilary? You don't seem like yourself. You look sick."

Hilary opened her mouth, when an idea crossed her mind. "No, I haven't been feeling well all day," she said, putting her hand to her temple. "I've been getting these headaches."

Mr. Granger looked concerned. "I think you should go to the Nurse's Office."

Hilary pretended to resist. She shook her head. "I don't want to miss class," she said in a reluctant voice.

Mr. Granger appeared to be touched. "Miss Tachibana, I strongly advise you to go. I will make sure you don't fall behind."

Hilary nodded and exited the classroom. Relief washed over her as she walked down the hallway- she couldn't believe that she had just lied to a teacher and got away with it. Hurriedly, she turned down a hallway and walked up the stairs until she reached the doors that gave access to the roof of the building. The brunette opened the door carefully before letting it close behind her.

Hilary blinked. Long, deep blue strands of hair in a ponytail caught her eye before the person even turned around to show her face. The brunette instantly knew who it was, and she folded her arms in displeasure.

"What's the meaning of this, Mariam? Did you come out all this way to get me in trouble?"

"Ugh, please Hilary, I'm not out to get you. I never have been, okay?"

Mariam leaned against the fence that lined the rooftop and had her arms folded as well. She seemed just as reluctant as Hilary to be there.

"Then what is this about? I mean the anonymous note, the fact that we're meeting here when we shouldn't be- why did you bring me here?" Hilary said, pointing at the concrete rooftop they were standing on for emphasis.

Mariam sighed before rubbing her temples. "Oi, this is going to be tough….uh, well, to answer your questions, I made the letter anonymous because if I had signed it with my name, you would've torn it up and thrown it away, like you do with all my proposals for school activities. Secondly, I made you meet me during class because I don't want the school or the student council to be aware that we've been talking. What I'm going to say isn't going to go over well with you."

"Hmph. So what is it?"

The cemetery grounds were as silent as the dead in their graves. Wind rippled through the verdant grass and flowering trees, skimming the water and ruffling the navy colored hair of a teenage boy standing in front of a large cross-shaped tombstone. In the boy's right hand was a bouquet of snow white lilies.

The placard at the bottom of the tombstone read "Here lies David Hiwatari, a man with a heart of gold. May he rest in eternal peace."

Kai bowed his head as he read the placard, a pained expression on his face. Memories from the past swirled around in his thoughts. A few tears fell from his eyes, catching the light as they fell on the fresh-cut lawn at his feet. Swallowing hard, he wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve and remembered the reason for his being there. Clenching the flowers in his hands, he bent over his father's grave.

"Hey dad," Kai said in a husky whisper, before setting the lilies at the base of the cross. "Happy birthday."

"Hm, what's this?"

"It's yesterday's homework, Kai. Since we share the same classes, I collected all the assignments from all our teachers," Hilary said, shoving a half-inch stack of papers towards him.

Kai raised an eyebrow at the brunette. "This is awfully nice of you," he said, taking the papers from her.

Hilary scoffed. "Please. I just didn't want you to think you could get away with not doing homework just because you were absent."

"Thanks," Kai said sarcastically. He looked at Hilary, as if expecting her to leave. She still stood in front of his desk, looking at him with concern. "What?"

"You don't look too well, Kai. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kai said flatly.

"You look like you've been….crying."

"What the hell would give you that idea?" Kai snapped. Hilary looked at him with surprise. He mentally checked himself for being too severe. "Anyways, your eyes seem redder than mine."

"Oh." Hilary looked down. "It's allergies. I tend to get really bad allergies…..in the fall…"

A look of doubt crossed Kai's features, but he didn't say anything. "Is that all?"

Hilary nodded. "Yeah, sorry to bother you." She turned to leave. "By the way, those blue painted triangles on your face-"

"They're not coming off," Kai said coolly, as if he knew exactly what was on her mind. "And last time I checked, there is no rule against wearing face paint."

"What? There has to be!"

He watched Hilary with amusement as she conjured a 500 page hardbound book from her pink backpack and flipped through its contents with lightning speed. Her face fell when she realized that there wasn't a rule against face paint.

"Well, that's stupid- there should be a rule. I'll just have to make one, then," Hilary said with resolve before slamming the book shut. "Kai, your days of wearing ridiculous blue face paint are numbered."

Kai snorted. "If I don't get to wear face paint, then girls shouldn't be allowed to wear makeup."

"What? No way!" Hilary touched her face instinctively- the very thought of not wearing makeup in public made her feel insecure.

"Well, if girls get to smother crap all over their faces, why can't I put paint on mine?"

"Well…" Hilary thought for a moment. "Girls wear makeup to compliment their features, but you wear paint to represent your stupid gang."

Kai pointed at his face triangles before pointing to his hair. "See this? They're both blue. See? Complimentary. And for the record, my gang isn't stupid."

"You matched blue with blue- that is not complimentary, they're the same!"

"Please. My face paint is sky blue and my hair is navy blue. Get it right."

Hilary huffed. She had had enough with Kai's attitude. "You're….you're so immature!" she sputtered. "Anyways, I have more important matters to attend to, so if you'll just excuse me..." She brushed past Kai, half-stomping on her way out. She didn't catch the amused grin Kai sent her way as she left.

"A beyblade that hops? You've gotta be shitting me."

A teen with striking red hair turned a green and purple beyblade over in the palm of his hand, shaking his head. "Hey Kai, think you've got a use for his?"

Kai shook his head and watched calmly as Tala confronted a trembling Kenny as he struggled to get back up off the checkered floor of the empty school hallway. School had been out an hour ago, so there were no students around to witness what was going on.

"Hey, genius, where's your real beyblade?"

"I told you, that is my beyblade. Now give it back!" Kenny demanded, wincing from the blows the red head had just dealt him. He gasped as Tala shoved him back against the lockers.

"I don't think so," Tala sneered as Kenny sank to the floor again on his knees. He tossed Kenny's beyblade in the air before catching it. "Who knows? Maybe this beyblade of yours has special properties that we might be interested in. Of course, there's only one way to find out, right Kai?"

Bryan and Spencer snickered as they watched Tala torment the boy. They were standing next to Kai the entire time and were enjoying the display of ridicule before them. Kai, however, appeared to be neither amused nor displeased and he merely nodded at Tala's remark, at which Tala responded with a smirk.

"Let it rip!"

Tala had launched Kenny's purple and green beyblade, which immediately began bouncing around. Tala then withdrew his own beyblade, HMS Metal Snow, as did the others.

They all chanted. "3….2…1…let it rip!"

Four beyblades descended upon Kenny's beyblade with such force that the bouncing beyblade was crushed from the external pressure exerted on it and broke into metal fragments. Kenny watched in horror as his beloved beyblade was smashed to bits. He looked away, unable to bear seeing the end of it. Finally, the sound of clashing metal ceased and it was over.

"I guess it was a piece of junk after all. Shame. I was hoping to steal a powerful beyblade," Tala said, summoning his beyblade into his hand. Kenny glared at him.

"You guys are monsters! No wonder the Prez wants to get rid of beyblading…."

"What did you say?" Bryan said, eyeing Kenny icily, sending shivers up the brown-haired boy's spine.

"I think he said something about our stuck-up school president wanting to get rid of beyblading," Tala said before walking up to the still trembling boy. "Isn't that right?"

Kenny looked defiantly up at Tala, despite his apparent fear. "Yeah. She's going to ban beyblading. And you know what that means- you guys can't steal beyblades anymore."

"Tch. She can't do that."

"She will. Just you wait."

Tala looked over at Kai. "What do you think of this?"

"The president can do whatever she wants," Kai said. Tala looked at Kai suspiciously.

"You don't seem to be so concerned, Kai. Kind of odd coming from the one of the best beybladers at this school."

"I don't really care much for rules," Kai said tersely.

"So you're just going to let it happen?"

"I'm not that concerned if it does. If we're going to let some rule keep us from being the best beybladers in Bey City, then we might as well give up beyblading altogether. But unless that's a problem with you guys," Kai said, giving Tala, Spencer, and Bryan a dangerously calm look. "Then there's nothing to be worried about."

Tala nodded.

Bryan grinned. "Fearless, as usual. I guess it was a good idea to make you leader of the Blade Sharks. Imagine all those beyblades we'll be able to get our hands on." (A.N.: And yes, I know that Tala, Spencer, and Bryan weren't originally in the Blade Sharks, but I thought I'd add them in anyways.)

"Hn." Kai seemed uninterested in Bryan's praise. He clenched his cobalt blue beyblade in his gloved hand, still warm from its recent use. When he relaxed his hand, he saw the image of a red and gold phoenix gleaming in the center of his beyblade. A rush of determination filled his body and ambition glinted in his auburn eyes. Kai didn't really care about stealing beyblades. What mattered to him above all else was beybattling and proving that he was the best at it- taking his opponent's beyblade was just a consolation prize.

"So what should we do with this kid?" Tala asked, picking up Kenny by the collar of his white button-up shirt.

"Do what you want," Kai said. He began walking away from them, not caring to see what punishment they had in store for the so-called beyblade genius.

"What did you say?"

"The Blade Sharks took my beyblade and, to sum things up, beat me up."

"Are you okay? Oh my gosh, you're probably really hurt. I should come over to your house right now-"

"No, Hilary that's not really necessary. Really….."

It was night and Hilary was at home in her pink pajamas, sitting on her bed. She had been trying to reach Kenny on her cell phone, worried that he didn't make it to the student council meeting after school. Half an hour later, he finally called her back and reluctantly told her what had happened.

"It's all my fault."

"What? Hilary, this isn't your fault at all!"

Hilary shook her head. "No, you see they probably picked on you because they found out that I was trying to ban beyblading. That's why people were giving me such weird looks today- Tyson the Loudmouth basically told everyone," she said, glowering at the thought of outspoken blue-haired teen.

"Actually, the Blade Sharks didn't know anything about it until I ran into them just today."

"Really? But Mariam was saying…." Hilary trailed off, reluctant to continue.

"Said what?"

Hilary sighed. "She said that….a lot of people hate me now because I'm trying to get rid of beyblading," she said with pain in her voice. "She said I should resign as student council president. And that you guys would probably agree. She said she would give me a couple days to think about it." Hilary tried not to sound upset, but tears began welling up in her eyes, which she had to violently blink back. She had already cried a little earlier this morning, and didn't want to shed another tear over the matter. She was so concerned with trying to calm herself down that she forgot that Kenny was still listening on the other line.

"Hilary? Are you still there?"

"Mmm hmm," Hilary said quickly, wiping the remaining tears on her sleeve. "Sorry, I should be used to people not liking me. I don't exactly have a lot of friends….." She gave a bitter laugh.

"Well I'm you friend, Hilary, and I say don't listen to whatever Mariam said. The student council would never think of replacing you, and I'm quite surprised that Mariam would ever come up with such a thing."

"Well, she does come up with good ideas. I admit, I've been jealous of her from time to time….it would make sense if I just stepped back and let her run things."

"Don't even think about it! Hilary, no one else at this school has the guts to improve Bey City High. You never back down, and that's a good thing. In fact, before, when you first said you wanted to ban beyblading, I admit I thought you were going crazy-"

"Gee, thanks."

"-But after getting bullied by the Blade Sharks, I realized that the school might be better off without beyblading after all. In other words, I think you were right, Hilary…..Hilary? Are you still listening?"

A smile passed Hilary's lips. "So I'm right, eh?"

"Well…..don't get too full of yourself…but yes. You were right-"

"Ha! I knew it! And Mariam thought it was a bad idea…..I'll show her!" Hilary was now standing triumphantly on her bed, fist clenched, and eyes shining brightly.

"Let's not get too ahead of-"

But Hilary was too fired up at the moment to heed Kenny's cautions. "We should start tomorrow. The sooner the better! No more stupid spinning tops! Can you meet me tomorrow at seven? Maybe we can work something out."

"Um…actually Hilary I fractured my wrist while the Blade Sharks were pushing me around so I can't go to school," Kenny said, glancing at the bandage on his wrist.

Hilary's tone went from ecstatic to concerned. "Oh no! I'm so sorry Kenny- you should definitely rest up. In the meantime, I'll take care of things at school myself. And don't worry, I'll make sure those Blade Sharks don't get away with what they did to you. Hope you get better! Good night!" She hung up the phone with a laugh that sent chills up Kenny's spine.

Kenny reluctantly hung up the receiver. "Why do I get the feeling that something is going to go wrong?"

A.N: Thanks for reading! I'll try to update A.S.A.P..