Authors note: Yay! Another chapter, what do you think, should there be a lemon in the next one? And btw thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews, you guys are the best!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! You´ll seriously make my day!

Emzy2k11: Thank you so much for leaving a feedback, it really means a lot! :)

Izza-x23: Great that you liked the previous chapter, hope you´ll like this one as well! Thanks for reviewing!:)

09Sasha: Thank you so much for leaving a review! Good question, I still haven´t quite decided actually, so any suggestions are quite welcome. As for their relationship I don´t think Kai will ever be a hearts and flowers kind of guy, but we´ll see, you never know! :) Thanks again!

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Into the void

Chapter 11

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Kai´s POV

I ate my food slowly, not really feeling it. Despite our earlier dispute with Max´s mum things seemed to have settled, and we had been invited to stay for lunch. Max and Tyson were of course delighted, being busy stuffing their faces and complimenting the food.

"Man, this is so tasty!" Tyson exclaimed enthusiastically.

Max smiled, although it wasn´t his usual goofy grin. He was upset. I could tell, even if I am not exactly a peoples person. There was something about social situations that exhausted me, especially if I had to spend longer periods of time with other people. Like this whole team thing for example; it had been what, two weeks? I had long since had enough, and we hadn´t even started the second tournament yet.

I tapped my fingers impatiently against the edge of the table, eying the others with mild distaste. Tyson was complaining over grandpa Granger´s spicy food, and he in turn got very offended. I was seated in between Hillary and Rey, and effectively blocked out the rest of the conversation.

Emily was continuously sending me meaningful glances, which I made a point out of not returning, and I could feel Hillary shuffle her feet next to me, lips pursed. She and Emily didn´t like each other, and I felt pretty certain that I was the main reason. It amused me to a certain extent; had Emily been prettier I might have considered having a threesome, but somehow I got the impression Hillary wouldn´t be too keen on the idea.

Emily and Judy left shortly afterwards, leaving us alone at the table. Kenny and Tyson had already gone for seconds, while Max seemed to have lost his appetite. I couldn´t say I blamed him. Had I been so thoroughly beaten I wouldn´t have been pleased either. Then again sulking wasn´t going to help anything, and it certainly didn´t inspire any sympathy as far as I was concerned.

"Hey Max, what´s up, did someone die or anything?" Rey jokingly asked, clearly trying to cheer him up.

Max just shrugged.

"I just wish I could have beaten Emily".

"I mean, it was over in like….a second".

No one said anything for a while, before Tyson spoke up after swallowing a particularly large piece of cake.

"No worries Maxie, this match doesn´t count, it was just an exhibition match after all", he said, voice reassuring.

Just an exhibition match? My temper flared, and I gritted my teeth, jaw clenched. Sometimes they made me so unbelievably angry. Sure, I´d admit that my fuse might be a bit short after battling Emily, but if there was one thing I hated it was excuses, and that was most certainly an excuse, a large one. Why couldn´t they start taking things seriously for once, grow up a bit? What they never seemed to realize was that this was a sport, not a children´s game. At this level you have to prepared for anything any time, its as simple as that. Otherwise you´ll be crushed, much like Max had been earlier today.

"Grow up Tyson, that is a fucking excuse and you know it", I snapped, staring darkly at him from my side of the table.

"Hey! That is not fair Kai, it didn´t count, end of story!"

He was leaning forward, eyes narrowed. I glared at him, not for the first time wondering what it would feel like to kick his sorry ass.

"For someone who doesn´t like spicy food you can be a real hot head sometimes, fuck of Granger!"

At this point grandpa Granger decided to intervene, and I just let it go, sending them a disgusted look before I resumed picking at my food. Tyson´s grandpa had joined us this morning, intending to stay with us for the rest of the tournament. I still hadn´t decided what to make of this, especially seeing as he would live in the suite with us. So far no one knew about me and Hillary outside the team, and I was intent on keeping it that way.

It wasn´t that I was ashamed or anything, however there was a possibility that our room sharing might come to an end should he and Mr. D find out, and that was not even a possibility as far as I was concerned. No fucking way. This arrangement was far to comfortable for me to let it go, and besides I kind of liked her….didn´t I?

Hillary was different from other girls. I don´t know. There was just something about her that appealed to me, not just the sex, but just being in her company. I was genuinely fond of her I realized with some surprise. And let me assure you that this does not happen often. Normally I either find people tolerable and occasionally nice, like Rey, or I simply don´t like them at all, like Tyson. But yes, I was fond of Hillary, whatever that meant.

I noticed that she hadn´t left with the others. They had scurried off after our discussion, apparently trying to lose Tyson´s grandpa, who was currently entertaining the rest of the diners with his kendo tricks. She was sitting next to me, eating ice cream. I couldn´t help but register how she licked the spoon, and with a barely audible sigh I ran one hand through my already messed up hair. What to do, what to do?

"Did you mean what you said to Max?" She asked me, pausing again to lick ice cream off the spoon.

Hillary, you better stop that right now….

I stared at her lips, eyes darkening. Fuck! There was something about her that I just couldn´t get enough of.

"Kai?"

"Hn?"

"I asked you a question".

I raised a quizzical eyebrow at her, before giving her a slow, charming smile. She blushed crimson.

"You are licking the spoon", I told her matter of factly, still eying her intensely.

She looked around, swallowing.

"Oh"

"Oh", I mirrored, amused.

After due consideration I went to get some ice cream myself, and we ate in a comfortable silence. She looked good today, in jeans shorts and a sleeveless shirt. I liked her in shorts, a lot. Almost as much as when she was wearing those short skirts….almost. It was kind of nice being alone with her as well; outside the bedroom I mean. I was relaxed in her presence, and I didn´t get snappy or irritated like I did with the others. Now that I was thinking about it, where had they gone? They had left what, an hour ago? I looked around, scanning the room, where were they?

"I am going to look for the brat pack", I announced, standing up.

Hillary stood up as well, but I stopped her with a brief headshake.

"You are not coming".

"Yes I am"

"No you are not"

We looked at each other, and even when my glare intensified she refused to back down. I almost admired her courage. With a sigh I gave in, turning and leaving the cafeteria. It was strange; had she been someone else I would never in a million years have been this lenient. Perhaps it was the sex. Even as I thought about it I knew that wasn´t the reason, but still, it was strangely pleasant being around her.

"See, that wasn´t so difficult", she said, sounding very pleased with herself.

Annoyingly so. I flashed her a meaningful look, and another scarlet blush crept up her cheeks.

"You´ll have to make it up to me later", I breezed, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at her.

I had no idea which way they had gone, but an educated guess would be somewhere they were not allowed. Hillary seemed vaguely alarmed when I slipped silently through a door marked with a "No access" sign, but followed without complaining. I strolled purposefully through a set of corridors, still not exactly sure where we were going. It was that uncanny ability of mine, an instinct maybe, that told me they had gone in this direction.

"Wow, everything looks so…..clinical", Hillary commented, following closely behind me.

"Intimidated?" I automatically asked, still busy scanning the walls and ceiling.

"No no, it is just so different from home you know. I mean, compared to the dish at Tyson´s this is like taken out of some sci-fi movie".

I glanced briefly at her. She was…..interesting I decided. Despite myself finding that I was enjoying conversing with her. No, this was definitely about more than sex. It was merely a question of how much more.

"Which is why Max and Tyson have to start taking it seriously".

She nodded quietly.

"I feel a bit sorry for Max though, his mum is not very nice".

"She is a bitch", I deadpanned.

"Kai! They probably have cameras here! What if they heard you?"

I smirked.

"Whatever".

Ah, finally! I came to a halt in the middle of the corridor, closely studying the ceiling.

"Just follow the corridor, I want to check out what is in these others rooms. I´ll find you".

Before Hillary had the time to protest I had jumped up, pushing aside the flap in the ceiling. She looked slightly shocked, and I crept into the air-condition system, leaving her standing in the middle of the hallway. It was dark and humid inside the shaft, and I had to slide forward on my stomach in order to fit.

The rooms I had been curious about contained various sports arenas, and when I spotted a tennis court a sneaking suspicion made itself known. Of course, Emily´s tennis racked launcher. Perhaps the rest of Judy´s team operated in a similar manner.

Quite a few bladers were trying to combine other sports with blading, adapting their launchers and their style of blading to football or softball or whatever. It was about utilizing all your skills, but I couldn´t say that I saw the point. Sure, I was good at most sports, but I didn´t use a football to launch my blade. In other words; it was a ridiculous idea.

I was just about to start looking for a way out when I heard a scream from below.

"Max! Max what are you doing?"

It was Tyson. Not a good sign. About a millisecond later a screeching alarm broke out, and I grimaced, looking around wildly. What the fuck had they done now? Jaw clenched and teeth gritted I kicked away the bottom of the shaft in front of me, the metal casing thundering to the floor below with a deafening bang. It almost drowned out the alarm. Through the hole I got a quick glimpse of Emily and Judy, and then….Max….shit! He was running towards his mum, oblivious to the sliding wall that was coming down from the ceiling. It was made of some transparent, red material, and it reminded me about a guillotine.

I did the only thing I could do. Cursing under my breath I jumped, grabbing a hold of Max while I was still in the air and pulling him with me. The glass plate or whatever it was connected with the floor about two seconds after the two of us slid underneath, and I rolled forward, landing on my feet with cat-like grace.

"Kai!" Tyson exclaimed, looking at me with awe.

Hillary was nowhere to be seen, but a couple of guys our age were standing a few feet away, looking like they were trouble. They wore dark brown cloaks, but they looked big. Judy and Emily shook their heads on the other side of the glass wall, before turning to leave.

"Which one of you is Kai?" One of the strangers asked, his eyes locking with mine.

The others stared at me, and I tilted my head to the side, eying him in my usual unfriendly manner. His built was large and bulky, and I caught a glint of unease in his eyes when I stepped forward. Ha, I could take them both, easily. The other was tall, looking like a basketball player but also rather lanky. I considered challenging them both, but then again perhaps it was about time the others learned another lesson. Tyson looked at me, but when I made no move to speak up he stepped forward, hands resolutely placed on his hips. Rey shook his head.

"This one is mine".

Good, he would lose, but hopefully he would learn from it.

Off to more pressing matters; where was Hillary?...