The sun had barely broken over the tops of the buildings and already Jonouchi could feel his sides aching. It was just habit, rising before the sun in order to begin his daily morning run. Each day he would push himself harder until he was ready to collapse onto the ground, until his muscles screamed in protest. This was his daily ritual, what he used to clear his head, and no one tried to take this away or risk being the victim of his wrath.
He took a few deep breaths, lips slightly parted as he tilted his head, back, relishing the feel of the slight breeze against his skin.
"You're not thinking of abandoning them again, are you?"
Brown eyes focused intently as Jonouchi turned his own meeting silver. Muscles tensed as he recognized the man that had been stalking him. Slade was what Adam had called him. "What do you want? Slade wasn't it?" Though there was no reaction on his face he could smell it in the air. He hadn't wanted his identity to be known.
"Yes, will you choose those… humans… over your team?"
At that the inu-jin narrowed his eyes, wondering deep in his mind how much Slade knew. With the Predatorials forming they weren't his team anymore. Matoko's threat didn't hold ground anymore, and why shouldn't he stay with Kai? Why shouldn't he have a real home for once in his lifetime?
"Why should it matter to you?"
"Don't you owe them your loyalty? They're your family, your only family, not these humans." The word 'humans' was practically spat. A part of himself was reminded of the way his team had always seen humans.
There was a scowl on Jonouchi's features before he grew annoyed. "Just butt out, would you!" he snapped, brown eyes locking on the other as Slade smirked.
"Well, don't say I didn't warn you," slowly Slade moved closer, whispering in Jonouchi's ear. "Where will he leave you next time, once you've been used? Will he turn you against everything you care about again and then take that last thing you have?"
Jonouchi reacted violently, grabbing the other by the shirt collar. "My… my choice," he managed through a growl. "It was my choice, no one else's." Slowly he released the shirt collar and eyes locked on Slade. He didn't know why this guy was attacking him with his words. The other was only slightly taller than him even though he may hold a head over the other Bladebreakers.
Once short as the rest of them Jonouchi had grown a great amount in the last few years, mentally as well as physically. "I'm entering this tournament. So be sure to have your A game on. I'd hate to knock you out of the dish at anything less than your best."
There was a smirk at that as Slade drew back. He was just getting warmed up and if the puppy was already showing his fangs things could only get good.
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A fist slammed hard into a punching bag, rocking it hard against its anchors. He had learned to deal with his teammate last tournament but he wasn't coming back. Rick was pissed off to say the least, pissed off at the little blond that had taught him about teamwork and then jumped ship.
And now he had heard from Judy that the loudmouthed redhead that he had a bone to pick with had left the team. Another punch hit the bag as he gave a slight growl of frustration.
"Hey big man, you're going to give yourself a stroke," with that Rick's gaze lifted up, focusing on the newcomer.
"Hey, stranger, this isn't an open gym," he snapped as he stopped and strode over to Slade, standing over him. The large teen from New York was not in any mood to play games right now, especially not since he was already in a foul mood. The dark-skinned teen narrowed his eyes, crossing over towards the other, arms crossed over his chest. "Did you hear me?" he asked, his volume growing louder.
At that Slade glanced towards him. "You're Rick Anderson, right?" There was a broad smile as the teen snorted, hands clenched in fists.
"So what if I am?" There was a grunt as Rick crossed over the room, standing over Slade with an unimpressed look. There was a slight smile from the blond as he glanced up at Rick.
"Such a pity, a big strong man like you needing to resort to picking on children. Does it make you feel strong? Do you get a kick out of it? Or maybe you just aren't sure of yourself."
"Who the hell are you?" Rick scowled at him, taking a step closer to Slade. "You've got a lot of guts to come in here, acting like you're king of the world."
"What's going on?" It was Emily that came in first, staring at the confrontation that seemed ready to take place. She blinked for a moment, looking from Rick to Slade. As she glanced between them already what was happening started to form in her mind. Knowing Rick there was only one thing that was really possible.
Waiting for a moment for an answer she saw Eddie, Steve, and Michael come up behind her. They were bickering about something and Emily glanced back towards the teammates. "Are we talking about Michael's man crush again?"
"I do not have a man crush!" Michael yelled at her before pausing for a moment and staring. "Slade?"
At that Slade glanced towards each of them, nodding towards them. "It's been quite some time, hasn't it?" He stepped towards the others, giving the others a smile. Stepping over towards them, he placed a hand on Emily's shoulder. "You've done quite some growing."
Emily glanced down at that, slightly flustered at the touch before glancing away from Slade. "You know, you really shouldn't be coming by here. We're trying to train for a tournament."
There was a slight smirk at that. "Then I look forward to facing you," giving a nod towards Emily he turned away, leaving the room. There were a few moments of complete silence before Rick looked at Michael.
"What's this about a man crush?"
Michael shot him a look at that. "I don't have a man crush!"
"But you did go on that date with that one guy from the Bladebreakers," Emily pointed out as she grinned at him.
"So what!"
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As Adam caught Aster, having it hit back towards him he gave a slight smile. He was pleasantly surprised by how far Kai had come since his student had abandoned him, claiming him to be weak. He was proud of his student, knowing he had overcome so much in such a short time and had gained true friends that stood by him no matter what happened. He was showing respect for his opponents and losing was not always a sign of weakness.
Dranzer continued to spin in the dish before returning to her master's hand and Adam gave a nod of approval. "You've become strong Kai," he said as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Not strong enough," with that he looked over Dranzer for any fresh scratches, seeming to busy himself with that though Adam knew well enough that instead he was thinking about many things. There was a slight nod as he realized what Kai meant.
"You know, after that tournament I could never beat Hitoshi again, no matter how hard I tried. That didn't make me any weaker; it just meant that Hitoshi was stronger, and he kept getting stronger. It made me feel better because blading him made both of us stronger. I was happy for my friend. And I'm sure Takao values you as a friend and rival."
At that Kai shot his teacher a look, not needing a friendship/rivalry pep talk. "I don't need a pep talk Adam," he said, gripping his beyblade tightly. "I need to be my strongest."
Adam opened his mouth, about to say something before he was silenced by the door of the dojo slamming shut and Jonouchi stalked past him. Adam was reminded of his own inu-jin teammate and wondered briefly if they were anything alike. He had been forward, a flirt, but easily angered though given the look on Kai's face Adam figured this wasn't normal for the inu-jin. Kai's hand closed around something in his pocket. "I'll be right back Adam."
"Uh, take your time."
Kai gave a wave of his hand as he stepped through the door, glancing towards his lover who didn't seem to be in any mood to talk. "Did you have another attack?"
Jonouchi shook his head as he stared down at the ground, fingers curling around the sill as he stared outside. His tail hung low with his jacket slung over a chair, disheveled hair falling over his eyes. A gloved hand was held out in front of his face with two aspirin in the palm.
"Take them, Katsuya," he said, as he held the other close with his opposite arm. He could feel the teen tense in his arms.
"It wasn't an attack," he said before glancing away. "I just ran into someone, and he said some things."
"Have you been taking your medications?" There was a brief nod from the inu-jin as he huddled into Kai's arms before pulling away and giving a friendly smile.
"Don't worry about me, I'm alright. Adam's probably starting to worry. You should go back." Reaching over Jonouchi took the aspirin in order to ease Kai's mind. Swallowing them dry he glanced back, seeing his lover give a nod towards him though Jonouchi knew this wouldn't be the end of the questions.
Leaving the inu-jin Kai let a sigh escape from his lips. It had been quite some time since he had last truly worried for his lover, however the brooding was unusual.
"Everything okay?" Adam asked as he glanced at his student only to get a nod. "What's going on with him?"
"Nothing, he's probably not feeling well," Kai quickly said, not sure for himself what it was. He saw the frown that crossed his teacher's face and knew he had to explain.
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The arena held an air of silence, breaths held as they leaned forward. It was a match that would decide which team would go forward and face off against Neo Borg and the BBA Revolutions. On one hand were newcomers F-sangre, on the other were old faces from the Silver Wolves. Much like the other teams the Silver Wolves had been proving themselves in this tournament, but that was a given as one of the members was a former Bladebreaker. It seemed that the former members of the once legendary team were spread around and taking potshots at each other.
They had agreed to a tag battle but suddenly the Silver Wolves captain was not so sure. Glancing down Jonouchi resecured his attack ring, glancing down at Kuroiryu GT, or Gale Tremor. Like the others he had developed his own beyblade without Kyouju's help, one that had been new to this tournament and he was ready to show the world what he could do. But first he had to defeat F-sangre at their own game and that wasn't going to be the easiest thing to do.
He hadn't told any of the others about the pain he kept on feeling, the pain that radiated from his chest and to his left arm. Sometimes it was hard to even train when the pain became unbearable. He tried his best to ignore the exhaustion that seemed to creep up on him, the lack of energy and weakness that he had no explanation for. But still he kept on training.
The pain was returning once again but Jonouchi just ignored it for the time being. Closing his hand around the launcher he took a deep breath, glancing over towards Matoko as he nodded. He was ready for this game to begin. As Jonouchi glanced up he watched the twins as they regarded him. The boy, Raul, looked almost scared to be facing them though he wasn't shocked given the size of his partner and his own reputation as a member of the Bladebreakers. If they won this one they would make it into the finals alongside Neo Borg and BBA Revolution however if they lost it would be game over.
"For this match we'll be using the labyrinth dish, making our bladers weave their way through this treacherous maze," Blader DJ began as he revealed the maze that appeared from beneath the dish, causing Raul to fidget a little more. "The winner of this two on two battle will continue on to the finals. Best luck to all!"
Jonouchi was focused completely on the dish before him, gaze wandering it, trying to track out the best way through though glancing over to his partner he knew what route Matoko would take, straight through without a moment to pause. Though maneuverability would be difficult and the sharp turns would mean he couldn't break his focus.
Suddenly a wave of dizziness hit him, slamming him like a truck as he tried to focus. His head felt like it was spinning and all Jonouchi could think was 'not now'.
"3… 2… 1… Go Shoot!"
With those words he yanked the launch cord but no sooner did he see Matoko's Sirius crash through the first wall the pain doubled and the dizziness increased. The sounds around him were muddy and all Jonouchi could focus on was the feeling in his chest, a hard pinching and he swore someone was trying to rip out his heart. That was his last thought before everything went black, not even noticing as he hit the ground.
At the collective gasp Matoko turned his focus switching and causing Sirius to deflect against a wall and roll to its side. F-Sangre had won as Matoko leaned down, placing his hand on Jonouchi's shoulder.
"Captain?"
Everything erupted into pandemonium, their opponents rushing to the side of the unconscious blader, Raul kneeling before him with a horrified look as Julia looked around. "Someone call for help!"
With that worried cry several bladers had emerged, having fought to get out of the stands, Max first, having been the closest, with Takao and Rei on his heels. Sliding onto the ground Takao grabbed Jonouchi's shoulders, trying to shake him.
"Jonouchi? Jonouchi? Jonouchi!"
"Takao, that isn't helping!" Rei placed a hand on his lover's shoulder as Max knelt next to him, staring in disbelief at his unconscious teammate before turning around.
"Someone get a doctor!" He turned just in time to see Hiromi and Kyouju hurry to Jonouchi's side as Takao held the inu-jin in his arms and Matoko watched in dismay. They all noticed it but none of them were going to mention the lack of one teammate that they had all thought would beat them there. It seemed to them that Kai was 'too good' to even care about his once lover anymore.
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"What was wrong?" Adam leaned over, looking at his student as he listened to the story of what had happened during that battle. He had seen articles about the incident of course, news of the sudden collapse spread like wildfire but he never bothered to get many details. Whether or not the newspapers had ever mentioned what was wrong he didn't know, usually only paying attention to the battles of Takao and Kai.
Kai looked up at that, his crimson eyes boring into his teacher as he crossed his arms. "A heart attack. According to the doctors he had been getting progressively worse through the tournament and it wouldn't have gotten that bad if he had told anyone."
Adam nodded as if he understood but then stopped for a minute. "A heart attack? At that age?"
There was a nod in response. "It was brought on by a combination of high blood pressure and both emotional and physical stress as well as his body being not quite human, putting him at risk for heart failure," Kai pushed himself off the wall, glancing over at Adam. He hadn't told his mentor the rest of the story, how he had been greeted upon finally getting to the waiting room, the cold stares from his once teammates. Or the fact that Yuriy had placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him to stay until everything had calmed down even as he ached to run down with the others.
Though Kai would be loathe to admit it he knew Yuriy had done the right thing. The last thing the paramedics needed was another panicking teen. After all, Takao had more than covered enough to fluster them and Raul hadn't been much better, pleading with Blader DJ for a rematch. It had been noble of him but Kai had known then that he wouldn't get his wish.
"Is he suffering from a relapse?" There was a slight frown on Adam's features, studying the other intently as Kai shook his head.
"He said he wasn't, so it must have been something else that upset him."
Glancing at his student Adam had a feeling there was more to the story than what had actually happened though if Kai wasn't ready to tell it he knew better than to push him. It may have been quite some time but the Russian teen was as secretive as ever.
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Note: This chapter is typed by Jonouchi-Kaiba-Mokie. We're doing each chapter with the selected Beyblade teams to be invited to Jin's Tournament
