Of Boys and Blades
Part Two
Chapter 27
AN: Slight note on timeline, though it doesn't really mean anything for this chapter. So when I started this I thought the school year started in April in Japan and I looked it up and wherever I looked it said September. So this whole story has been written with that in mind. I have since discovered that no, it is April after all. I'm not going to go back and fix this, just know that this will be fixed from this point on. We are currently in September 2003. Training started in June/July and the actual championship started in August. At this point in time Tyson, Hilary, Kenny and Max have all started their first year of high school. Kai is in his second and he goes to a different school.
xXx
Tyson
xXx
It was a whirlwind after the match. Reporters. Cameras. So. Many. People. I felt like I spent hours repeating answers to the same questions. With a forced smile and an awkward laugh I finally managed to escape and retreat back into the hotel. Daichi'd been with me at first but even he had disappeared at some point. I made a beeline for my room, lest anyone else stop me.
Hiro was waiting for me outside the door, propped against the wall. "Thought I was going to have to report you missing," he teased.
"Not my fault everyone loves me."
He arched an eyebrow. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. That was an excellent match against Max. You played really well."
That was strangely...brotherly. "Umm.. thanks."
"There's going to be a huge gala tonight, with the finalists the guests of honor. It starts in twenty minutes. You're going to have to get ready quick."
I closed my eyes with a groan. "I never get a break," I whined.
"The problems of a champ," Hiro taunted, pushing himself off the wall. "Seriously though, Tyson, is there anything you want to talk about? Get off your chest?"
Why was he being weird? "No," I said simply. "Everything's fine. I'm okay now. You don't have to worry." Though I really could've used that brotherly empathy back when I was losing my mind. But I couldn't say that out loud. Without waiting for a response I headed into the room.
xXx
It was a fancy event. Semi-formal, Hiro had told me. I'd worn my nicest pair of pants and a dark blue polo borrowed from Kenny (it was a size smaller than I would've picked, but it made me look muscular) and my sneakers. I had a severe lack of anything but casual clothing. Hilary had made me take off my hat. Apparently Kenny and Hilary had gone shopping while I was being held hostage by the reporters and were dressed to the nines and even gotten Daichi a pair of clothes that weren't torn. He wasn't happy to be wearing them.
"How do I look?" I spun around after brushing out my hair and pulling it back into its familiar low ponytail.
"Almost dateable. Almost." Hilary tugged on my hair.
The gala was extraordinary. The ballroom was lined with balconies looking over the beautiful beaches below. The chandeliers were ornate and lit up with a myriad of colors. The tables were organized around a large dance floor and were lavishly decorated with elaborate beyblade themed centerpieces and there was a very delicious looking buffet being prepared along the back of the room.
There was a long table longer than all the rest running along the side of the room closest to the balconies. We had assigned seats. It looked like all the final teams would be seated at that table. Twelve all together. I ended up sitting between Hilary and my brother. Tala sat on Hilary's other side. There was an empty chair between Spencer and Julia. Kai never showed.
They did their opening ceremonies, thanking everyone for their attendance, and congratulating us on our place in the finals, as well as thanking all the other players. I found myself exchanging smiles with both Max and Rei.
The food was delicious. I just couldn't help but wonder where the hell Kai was. Was he that exhausted? Or did he just hate parties that much?
Tala kept staring at me. It was unnerving. "What?" I finally asked over Hilary.
He smirked. "Oh, nothing."
Nothing my ass. I pouted. "So where is the traitor anyway? I notice your team is one short."
Tala laughed. "I have no idea. We had a little argument and he stormed off. He's such a brat. That boy will never change."
I decided I might as well try to have a good time. After the formalities and the meal, the dance floor was open, with DJ Jazzman as the actual DJ. It felt like I had been talked to by everyone in the room when I finally managed to catch up with Max, who was talking with Rei and Lee.
"Hey, guys! Awesome matches today. Every one of you is incredible."
Rei laughed. "Thanks, Tyson. Congratulations, by the way."
I smiled. "Thanks."
We talked for a bit, catching up. I saw Tao doing some crazy moves on the dance floor. Rei and Lee went to stop him before he hurt himself. Max and I laughed at the sight.
"That was a really good battle today, Max. You almost had me."
"Thank you." He shrugged. "It wasn't what I wanted, but I'm excited to see the finals. I'm sure it's going to come down to you and Kai. And that will be something."
I smirked. Yeah. Kai. It will be something. I just wasn't sure I could handle it yet. Our conversation turned to video games and manga, and how we hadn't had time to do anything but train since this whole tournament started. Max had met a couple girls but there hadn't been anything serious. I told him an abbreviated version of the night Kenny and I had gone to Emma and Sofia's hotel room.
Max's eyes went wide. "Kenny!"
"Apparently they got to second base."
Max laughed. "Good for him."
Speaking of, Kenny, along with Hilary, made their way to us. Hilary gave Max a quick hug. "It's good to see you."
The four of us talked for a while as the party went on around us. It was kind of like old times. I'd really, really missed this. Just hanging out with my friends.
"Kenny!" a girls voice called. "There you are!" A pretty blond ran over with two other girls. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"
Kenny giggled nervously. "Oh, hi, Ashleigh. Um... this is Ashleigh Bissett. Her dad owns this hotel. We met earlier in the week and she's been really helpful."
"I'm a huge fan. These are my friends, Jessica and Renee."
Kenny introduced us all and the girls hung out with us. Jessica seemed to take a liking to Kenny and Renee to Max. Ashleigh found her way next to me and did not leave my side. Eventually Ashleigh was tugging at my shirt. "Dance with me," she told me with a smile. It wasn't a request.
I let her lead me to the dance floor. I'd danced with girls before at a couple of parties I'd been invited to back in middle school. I liked to dance, though I didn't consider myself great at it. She pulled my arms around her waist and we swayed to the music.
"You're amazing," she told me.
"Thanks," I said nervously. "I don't know you, but I'm sure you're amazing, too."
She laughed. "Well, you can get to know me better tonight. This is your last night here, right?"
"Yeah."
"Let's make it something to remember," she whispered in my ear, then gave it a little flick with her tongue.
Her mouth moved discreetly to my neck as we danced, and I looked over the ball room, wondering if Kai had showed up. I didn't seem him anywhere. I saw that Max was now dancing with Renee, and Jessica had Kenny sitting with her at a table. Hilary stood awkwardly by herself near the refreshments. Feeling bad, I was trying to think of a way to get out of dancing with Ashleigh when I noticed Tala walk over to her and strike up a conversation. They'd been talking at the table, too. That was good. I was hoping she'd have a good time.
Ashleigh kissed me on the lips as the music stopped. "I have my own suite. Top floor. 1601. Come up after the gala. Bring your friends."
xXx
The gala concluded and Max and Kenny were more than happy to go up to Ashleigh's room. I invited Hilary.
"She had her hands all over you."
I shrugged.
"What about Kai?"
"Shut up," I hissed. "Look, that doesn't matter right now. He doesn't want what I want. Anyway, do you want to come?"
She sighed. "I think I'll skip. I don't really want to watch those girls hang all over you guys. Thanks, but I can think of funner ways to pass the time." She brushed passed me.
Kenny grabbed my arm. "Come on, Tyson!"
The three of us went up to room 1601. Jessica let us in. It was practically an apartment. Not even practically! It was just like a full sized apartment. There was a kitchen and dining room, a living room with a huge balcony overlooking the ocean. There were two bedrooms. Ashleigh informed me hers was the larger and it had it's own walk-in shower. Did she really plan on having sex with me?
It was already eleven at night. After the days events I was getting pretty tired. She had lots of alcohol and Renee poured us all shots. Combined with the exhaustion, I felt like I was floating after just two drinks.
We sat around talking. Jessica put on some music and she and Kenny started dancing. At some point I needed to use the bathroom and Ashleigh led me to the one in her ensuite. I finished my business and as I headed out I saw her laying suggestively on the bed. "Come join me."
The bed looked soft and comfy so I did. Her mouth found mine and we fell back into the pillows.
Kai didn't want to be my boyfriend. He'd made that perfectly clear. He had way more fun stringing me along. That seemed to be his favorite past time lately. Well, except blading. Yeah, he'd kissed me in Egypt, but then he didn't say anything about it at the Gap. We'd been alone briefly after Rei and Max left, and he hadn't said a word.
"You're not into this, are you?" Ashleigh asked. I noticed her hand was down my pants.
"Umm... I just have a lot on my mind. And I'm really tired."
"Let's do something to wake you up then." She licked my lips with a squeeze of my dick.
We headed back to the living room. Several shots later someone had the great idea of sneaking into the pool for a swim. It was way past midnight.
Ashleigh had a key, and she would turn off the surveillance footage.
"But we don't have bathing suits," Max said as we entered into the pool room.
"We don't need them," Renee said with a laugh as she started stripping out of her dress. The girls were soon completely naked and Kenny was the first of us to join them in the pool. Max met my eyes. He shrugged and started pulling his clothes off. Ever modest, he left his boxers on.
I sat down by the side of the pool. The world was tilting and I didn't think getting into the water would be the smartest decision I could make. How many had I drank? Five? Six? Fuck, what had she given me?
Ashleigh emerged from the water and pulled at my hair. "Come one, let's go somewhere a little more private."
Helping me to my feet, she led me into the girls changing room that was right off the pool room. I'd never seen a naked girl up close before, especially not one this pretty. It definitely confirmed my suspicions that I liked both. But I still wanted something else. Someone else.
She pushed me against a wall, her body rubbing against mine, her hand doing things that I liked.
I should just let this happen. How many opportunities did I really get like this? Fuck Kai. I should do what my body wanted. But I couldn't get him out of my head! Dammit! Fuck fuck fuck!
I just wanted that annoyingly gorgeous asshole that drove me crazy.
I pulled away from her. "Sorry," I muttered, stumbling away. Without looking behind me, I practically ran out of the room. There was an exterior exit directly outside the pool room and I made a beeline for that door.
I stumbled out of the hotel, hoping she wouldn't come after me. I was such a fricken lightweight. I darted down the first alley I saw, not sure where to go from there. The world was starting to spin, the ground coming towards me. I coughed and tried my best to keep myself from throwing up. I fell into the wall, allowing the brick to cool my head.
"What are you doing?" a familiar voice asked from above. I looked up. Kai. He was on the roof of the next building over. Because why wouldn't he be on the fucking roof? I wondered if he could fly.
"Hiding. What are you doing?"
He smirked down at me. "The same." He jumped to the ground. I would never get used to him doing that.
"That's really bad for your knees, you know." I suddenly became very aware that he was less than two feet away. "Who are you hiding from?"
"Tala."
"Why?"
"It's not important. Are you drunk?"
I pouted. "I only had five shots." I held onto the wall. "Okay, maybe six. Or seven. I lost count. Why didn't you come to the gala?"
"I told you, I'm avoiding Tala."
"You two... You're not... like... you know..." Did I really just say that out loud?
He stared at me blankly for a moment. "No. Fuck, no. Not ever."
I fell back against the brick wall with a grin, allowing myself to enjoy the view. And by view, I meant Kai. The alcohol was hitting me hard. What had been in those drinks? I started to giggle.
Kai's hand was on my arm, helping to hold me upright. His fingers burned against my skin. I wanted those fingers to burn me in other places.
"Are you going to be sick?"
I shook my head, letting it fall forward against his chest. It felt good there. Warm and strong. Kai was always warm. I wondered if he would try anything. If he did, I would let him. Inhaling his scent, I was reminded how badly I wanted him.
"Come on. I'll get you back to your room. Which one are you in?"
"611."
"Okay."
He was watching me intently as we walked around the hotel. He let go once he trusted me to walk on my own. "You have lipstick on your neck," I heard him say after we entered the lobby.
"Yeah, well, it's not like I have a boyfriend or anything." That came out a bit more bitchy than I'd intended.
He didn't have a clever retort for that one.
We didn't touch, we didn't speak. It was just nice to be with him again. "How do you think they'll deal with the tie?" I finally broke the silence in the elevator. Change the subject. Very mature. The feeling of going up was making my stomach hurt.
"You'll probably have to battle F Dynasty for it," he said softly.
"You're probably right."
"Don't do anything stupid. You don't need to prove yourself to anyone. You know that, right?"
I did now. Still, it was nice to hear it from him. "Yeah, I have a plan. And then it's you and me." I grinned at him.
I saw the faintest ghost of a smile touch his lips.
The elevator doors opened to my floor. He started out first and I followed him.
All too quickly we were in front of my room. "Kai, umm..." I tripped. My face was set to meet the carpet but Kai caught me. My heart caught in my throat, my skin tingling in the places he touched me. Did I have half the effect on him as he had on me? He was so hard to read.
"Hey—"
"Tyson—"
We both went to speak then stopped.
The door opened.
Kai let go of me at the sight of my brother. Why did Hiro have to ruin everything?
His eyes narrowed at Kai and Kai glared back.
"Night, Tyson." Kai disappeared down the hall.
"What were you two up to?" Hiro asked me.
"Nothing," I muttered, stumbling into the room.
"You're completely wasted!" My brother, Captain Obvious. "Did he get you drunk?"
"No. He didn't." I fell back on the bed, kicking my shoes off.
"Wrong bed," a voice said next to me. I opened my eyes to Hilary giving me a knowing smile. I was on the pull-out.
"I don't think I can move even if I tried."
"It's okay. I trust you'll behave."
I could feel Hiro's scowl on me. "What's your problem?"
"It's three in the morning. Where have you been? Where's Kenny?"
Skinny dipping? "Kenny met some girls. I'm sure he's fine."
"Kenny? Really?"
Daichi snored from the next bed over. And I pulled a pillow over my head as I passed out, still fully dressed, my skin still tingling from Kai's touch..
xXx
Kai
xXx
I was seething as I headed back to my room. The mere existence of Hiro Kinomiya just fucking pissed me off. I wanted to know what Tyson was going to say to me.
Maybe it was a good thing we'd been interrupted. I needed to keep my focus on the tournament. Still, I wouldn't have minded kissing him. Even if he did have lipstick on his neck. I wondered who he'd been kissing. But he wasn't my boyfriend, as he'd so annoyingly reminded me. I had no reason to be mad. But it still pissed me off. Jealous? Yeah, I was fucking jealous. The thought of him in someone else's arms, his mouth on someone else's lips, it drove me insane. I guess I really did consider him mine, as if a person could ever really belong to someone else.
I didn't hear any noises coming from the room. I hoped everyone was still out. I could really do without walking in on Bryan fucking someone again.
The door had barely closed when Tala was in my face. "Where the hell have you been? Do you know how many parties I skipped looking for your sorry ass?"
"You shouldn't have bothered."I brushed passed him, intent on getting ready for bed.
Tala was not letting it go. "You're not walking away from me this time. You know, I'm getting really fucking sick of you!"
I pointed toward the door. "Then get out."
"No." He came up behind me and shoved me. Hard. My knee went into the desk. "What is your fucking problem? I'm not judging you. Anytime I try to talk to you about anything, you blow me off. I'm tired of it! We're not nothing to each other, Kai!"
Turning around, I punched him in the stomach on instinct. I wasn't in the mood to be messed with.
"You fucker!" he growled as he hurled himself at my midsection.
It happened so fast. Weeks of antagonizing each other erupted in a series of pushes and punches. We fell into the desk chair, breaking it. We wrestled on the floor, knocking over a lamp as we hit an end table. Getting to my feet I shoved him into the wall. His head left a small dent and a picture frame came down. And then just as suddenly, as it started, we both just stood there staring at each other, catching our breath. I'd come out of it slightly less injured.
"Are you done?!" I screamed at him. "Can you stop acting like a child now?"
"At least I don't hide behind memory loss!" he yelled back. "I think you remember way more than you've said and you just don't want to talk about it!"
"You want to talk about it, fine! Why don't you tell me why you didn't tell the others I blew up the lab? Were you trying to protect me or something? I don't need you to protect me anymore!"
He didn't want to answer that one. "It was an accident," he said evenly. "You were gone. I didn't think they needed to know."
"But it wasn't, Tala! It wasn't an accident! I knew what I was doing. I wanted to destroy the Abbey and kill everyone in it. Including you! I wanted you dead more than anyone!"
Tala stopped, staring at me with wide eyes. "You can't be serious."
But I was. Something that horrified me so much I hadn't even wanted to admit it to myself. And I'd just screamed it at Tala. I was shaking. "You're right," I admitted. "I do remember more. I just don't want to admit it. I remember Boris killed the cats I fed because you told him about them. I remember Vadim raping you for Boris. Are you happy now? You got that out of me?"
Tala sat down on one of the beds. "No."
I leaned my back against the wall near the makeshift bar, allowing my battered body to slide to the floor. I was exhausted. Memories. I'd had a grasp of them before but things had become clearer the more I'd been around Tala, Bryan and Spencer. I had memories but lacked context for some of them. But the Black Dranzer incident was now ingrained in me. I remembered everything about that now. And no, it wasn't exactly an accident.
"Look, I know we were close when we were kids, but we are not the same people anymore, neither of us are."
"I know that." He sighed. "Just processing the fact my best friend once tried to kill me."
"Best friend? You have some shitty friends, Tala."
Tala snickered, breaking the tension. "I think our definition of friendship has definitely been skewed by the Abbey. But you've been my best friend since I was five. That hasn't changed."
"But everything's changed. We've changed.."
"No. I mean, of course we've changed, but at our cores, we're still the same. You're still the same spoiled brat out to prove himself." Standing, he came towards me, stopping at the bar and scooping up a handful of the mini liquor bottles. "I didn't realize Spencer got so many of these. They're adorable." He fell down on the floor beside me, dropping them between us. "Here," he handed us each a vodka. "Fuck the past, alright. Fuck it all to hell. It can suck my dick and die."
Leaning my head against the wall I drank the bottle. Funny how just a couple months ago straight vodka made me want to gag, now I was drinking it like water.
"Are you angry?" I asked.
"No. Can't say I'm surprised, either. You always did things without thinking. I'm a little betrayed, but it's in the past and fuck the past. The past can go rot in hell, with Boris, Vadim, and Voltaire. Look, shit happens, and yeah, the shit that happened to us did things to us, did permanent things to us, but we don't have to let it control us, you know. We both made mistakes. A lot of mistakes. But I came out of it stronger and smarter. I'll never make those same mistakes again. What about you?"
"I make the same mistakes repeatedly." I took another bottle.
"I don't think that's true."
We sat in silence for a couple of minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable. Just the two of us lost in our own thoughts.
"So are you gay?" he finally asked.
Interesting question. "I haven't really figured that part out, Tala." I hadn't really thought about it, either. I liked Tyson. Why did it have to be any more complicated than that? I stared at the damage we'd created in the room, refusing to meet his eyes.
"So... Tyson. Why Tyson?"
I shrugged.
"You're an amazing conversationalist, you know that? Have you been with anyone besides him?"
"No."
"Gotcha. I wondered if I was gay. You know, Vadim wasn't the only one at the Abbey. So I tried it. With Bryan. It was so not my thing."
I couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Bryan?"
"Well, Bryan was whoring around with everyone. Figured he'd be willing, and he was. We didn't have sex." Tala laughed with me. "Look, I told you my embarrassing secret. Now tell me about Tyson. I will not tell anybody. I swear to God."
"God?"
"I swear on Bryan's life, then."
I snorted, grabbing another bottle. We had about ten all together. "There's not much to tell. We weren't dating. We were just... together. Kept it a secret. It lasted for a little over a year. Until I left."
"And you didn't tell him you were leaving and joining our team?"
"No."
"But you are in love with him."
"No, I'm not."
"Umm... you should probably think long and hard about that one." He smirked at me. "I think someone's in denial. What about him? Is he in love with you?"
"I think he was." Something I'd tried not to dwell on.
"So... you betrayed his trust and ditched him to play against him in the biggest tournament of his life. Way to go, Kai. I hate to say it, but that's not really the way to get laid."
"I don't need tips from you."
"I'd say the virgin is in need of a few tips."
I flicked him off.
"So why is this so important to you?" Tala asked me.
"What?"
"Battling Tyson. You destroyed your relationship for it. Why's it so important?"
It was another something I hadn't thought much about. Not really. The reason behind it.
I'd wanted to battle him again since the first time I'd lost to him, back at the regional tournament. I remembered back at the world Championship in 2001 when I'd betrayed them for Black Dranzer. How much I'd been looking forward to battling him in the finals. Then again last year when I'd purposely teamed up with Rei to have a chance at battling Tyson. It had become something I merely wanted to something I desperately needed. For what? Validation? To whom? Myself? Or Tyson?
"Kai?" Tala's voice cut through my thoughts.
"I guess... it's to prove something to myself."
"What?"
I chewed my lip. I thought I understood now. "Everything in my life was decided by my grandfather. Blading was chosen for me because I was good at it. But I made myself as good as I am. He has nothing to do with that. Tyson has a lot of flaws and I wouldn't call him the best, but he is an incredible blader. And he knows me. We know each others moves as well as we know our own. He's the biggest challenge I can give myself. I guess if I beat him it will prove to myself that I am not what my grandfather tried to make me. That I'm worthy."
Tala was watching me carefully. "Worthy of what? Of Tyson?"
"Maybe."
Tala was speechless for a second. "Going back to that thing about you not being in love with him. Really, really think about that." He patted my arm.
We sat there for a while, talking about nothing, reminiscing about the parts of our childhood that it didn't hurt to talk about. It was nice. It reminded me of when we were children and all we had was each other.
It was nearly dawn when the door opened. Bryan and Spencer walked in and immediately stopped, taking in the ruined hotel room. We'd knocked over lamps, and a picture off the wall, a bottle of vodka was smashed. And there was me and Tala, crouched in the corner by the bar, drinking our consciousness away.
"What the hell happened?" Bryan screamed as he eyed the scene.
"Earthquake?" Tala shrugged.
"A robbery, perhaps?" I suggested.
"What did you two do?" Spencer asked, annoyed.
Tala burst out laughing and I laughed, too.
xXx
AN: I had a fever when I wrote most of this, so sorry if it's a little off. I went through it to fix it but I kind of like it. So we're finally done with Australia, now it's off to Japan! The World Championship is almost at an end! We're so close to finishing Part 2, guys! SO! CLOSE!
So we are caught up to where I'm actually writing. I usually like to keep a buffer of a couple of chapters in case I need to go back and change things. So I will probably wait until I have at least most of the finals arc done before I start posting anything from it. I anticipate it being 3-4 chapters. Next time: The finals begin!
