Of Boys and Blades

Part Two

Chapter 14

xXx

Hiro

xXx

The sun was blaring, the humidity oppressing. It felt weird to be back in Bay City, a place I hadn't stepped foot in for five years. The last time I'd walked these streets I'd been an unruly teenager. Now I was twenty-one, considered an adult, though I didn't really feel like one. No, I was dressed up in a costume looking for those I'd battled with in my youth.

I was wandering the rooftops of the warehouses near the harbor. They and the back alleys beneath them had been favored by the underground circuit I'd been part of in my younger years before I'd run away.

I'd spent the last five years running. Running from what? The tragic melodrama that was our family or from my own shortcomings, I couldn't say. I'd been angry and bitter then. Angry at our father for leaving us while he went to live out his dreams, bitter because no matter how good of a blader I became, Dragoon stayed silent.

I was the best this town had ever seen then. I would skip school to train and play the underground circuit. I'd been cocky, sure of myself. It was just a mask. Underneath I couldn't understand why he wouldn't choose me. He'd been passed down in our family for hundreds of years. So what was I doing wrong?

When Dad had received the letter from Grandpa that Dragoon had chosen Tyson, I was floored. When the shock wore off, I was filled with rage. Why? Why him? Why wasn't I good enough? I was older, and in my wildest dreams I never thought Tyson would be better than me. I had tagged along with my Dad to Russia, but made myself scarce, and told him not to tell Tyson that I was there. Tyson was my brother, and I did love him, but I didn't know if I could hide my anger towards him, and I didn't want to do anything to distract him during his tournament.

I also just felt guilty. I'd told him when we were kids I'd always be there for him, that I'd never leave him. And, well, I did just that, didn't I? I'd left him for my own selfish reasons. I didn't really want to know what he must think of me now.

I'd watched him in the Russian tournament. I'd watched him take on every opponent and come out on top. I'd watched him take on unparalleled power with Dragoon and win. Finally, I understood why Dragoon chose him. Tyson was something I never was and never could be. Genuine. He wore his heart on his sleeve and put his all into everything he did. He hadn't changed since he was a child.

He also did something most bladers didn't. He learned from his losses. He learned the techniques that defeated him for himself and became stronger for it. He's better than I am. The thought had hit me hard. Maybe I could still beat him now, but I could see the potential in him to far surpass me. I wasn't nearly so skilled at his age.

That was why I'd agreed to come back. If I couldn't have Dragoon, I would make sure Tyson was worthy of him. I'd hesitated on letting him and Grandpa know I was coming home, and in the end I'd decided not to. I wanted to face Tyson one-on-one without him knowing who I was. I wanted to know the true extent of his abilities.

The old beydishes had either fallen into disrepair or had been removed. It seemed those I'd battled with years ago had moved on with their lives. And here I was so intrinsically stuck in it. I couldn't see myself moving on. I was too good and the game too much a part of me.

The preliminaries would be starting in a few hours. I needed to go check in with Mr. Dickenson. A familiar head of hair on the next building over caught my attention. I recognized him as Tyson's teammate Kai Hiwatari. I'd been wondering about him since the other two had left. Would he leave to take on Tyson as well? He'd already betrayed the team once before in Russia.

I made my way closer to him, silently climbing a pole to get a better look at him. I noticed him placing a bowl of milk before a scared cat and trying to coax her to him, surprisingly gentle. He wasn't what I imagined.

He reached his hand to pet the stray and she reacted violently, scratching his hand. "Looks like everyone's against me now," I heard him say to himself.

"You know, that's not necessarily true, Kai," I called down to him.

In a flash he was on his feet looking around for me. "Who said that?"

"I did."

His eyes finally found me. "And whom might you be?" he asked, unrattled.

"It doesn't matter, Kai," I told him. "I know what you're thinking. You have to put that all aside and stand behind Tyson. Now that Max and Rei have quit the team, he's all you've got left. Your only chance to win the championship. Like it or not." Having said my piece, I leapt down from the pole to the roof.

"The only person who will decide my path is me," I heard him call after me. "Nobody else!"

You've been given your choices, Kai. If you want to win the championship, you have to do it with Tyson. The two of them would be pretty unbeatable. Though, I still had my doubts that's what Kai wanted. He seemed like he had his own issues.

I'd killed enough time. I needed to meet with Mr. Dickenson. Like it or not, I'd have to face Tyson today. Would he be happy to see me again, to find out what role I'd be playing in his life for the next three months? Only one way to find out.

xXx

Kai

xXx

I was annoyed. I didn't know who that ass in the mask was, but he'd gotten under my skin. He knew what I was thinking? Like I was that predictable.

I hadn't talked to Tyson since I'd stood him up. I'd gotten angry texts about Max and Rei of which I hadn't responded to and he'd stopped sending them. But the last one had bothered me.

I can count on you, right?

Didn't he know better by now?

I headed down to the harbor to take out my frustrations on defenseless rocks.

I'd talked to Tala a couple of times and each time he repeated his offer. Every time he offered it became more tempting. If I wasn't afraid of how Tyson would react, if Tyson had a competent partner, if I could just press pause on this stupid relationship thing we had… If, If, If! I was giving myself excuse after excuse.

I couldn't deny that the chance to take on Tyson in a championship match wasn't appealing, that it wasn't something I longed for. Sure, we battled against each other often when we trained, but that was different. Tyson only put his all into a match when his title was on the line. Perhaps that's not fair to say. He always gave a good battle, but if the stakes weren't high, he wasn't desperate for the win and didn't pull out all the stops. And that's what I wanted. I wanted to beat him, but only at his best. If it wasn't that then it didn't count.

And Tala could give me that.

But what would Tyson do if I left? He'd be angry. He'd hate me. I told him I wouldn't leave him again. I meant it at the time, but that was before… Before what, exactly? Before I knew the truth about myself and put all this distance between us? Whatever the reason, things were different now. If I left, I didn't think Tyson would understand, and I think it goes without saying that things would be over between us. Maybe that would be for the best.

I pulverized a defenseless boulder into pieces. I paused to catch my breath. It was a pretty big one. I was surprised I broke it so easily. I'd gotten strong. How long had I been here? Time was getting away from me again. I never wore a watch. I pulled out my phone to see the time. Five minutes until the preliminaries started. Goddammit. I threw Dranzer into my pocket and started running.

As I got closer to the BBA building it became impossible to navigate through the streets. Traffic was stopped everywhere and the sidewalks were filled with people and news crews. It was crazy how this city shut down for Beyblading now. The preliminaries two years earlier hadn't even had a full audience. It would actually be easier to cut across rooftops and fire escapes.

I got to a smaller entrance of the BBA building and as I was about to jump to the sidewalk I saw Tyson dart of the building, looking for me, Daichi trailing behind him. That was quite the coincidence.

Turning around, Tyson caught sight of me and his face lit up. "Kai!" he called. "I knew you were gonna show! Well, kind of."

I jumped to the pavement. "Well I'm here, aren't I?"

"And I'm relieved," Tyson admitted.

Daichi wasn't as welcoming. "Well, you sure took your sweet time getting here."

"Just leave the guy alone, will ya, Daichi," Tyson said to him. "He's here now and that's all that really matters."

"I don't think you've ever talked about me that way. And I'm pretty sure I don't like it." I walked with them into the building.

xXx

Preliminaries began. Tyson did his little speech, getting the crowd riled up as only he can. Mr. Dickenson had deliberately placed Tyson and I in different blocks so we would end up the two victors. I had no worries. My first battle was against a boy who was—seriously—cosplaying Tyson. I took him out in two seconds.

Kenny was competing for the first time. He knew blades inside and out but had no experience in battle. I knew he would have a few tricks up his sleeves and he actually did surprisingly well for someone of such little actual practice in the arena, but he was not tournament quality, not yet at least.

I breezed through the competition, as I expected. I was getting bored. I looked forward to going up against Daichi. He'd shown promise in his match against Tyson. Maybe I would finally have some fun with this.

The kid was doing flips in excitement like a rabid monkey as they revealed the dish for our battle, the replica of an island complete with wild terrain.

"Pinch me, cause I'm in heaven," Daichi yelled. "It's beautiful! The volcano, the jungle and the river! All Right! This puppy's an exact copy of my home island. You're going down! You don't stand a chance! I know this place like the back of my hand and there's no place you can run or hide, Kai!"

We'll see about that. Just wait and see.

The battle began and I headed Dranzer directly to the top of the volcano. I wanted to see exactly what this kid was was made of. Daichi attacked relentlessly. He didn't do much damage but he also didn't seem to exert much energy.

I could hear Tyson screaming behind me. "Kai! Do something! Now! What are you waiting for Kai! Kai! Come on! Kai!"

I wished he would just shut up so I could concentrate. Daichi was good. He was really good. He could help Tyson get to the championship. I could end it here. I could throw the match, let the kid win. Then I'd be free. I could, but I knew I wouldn't. I couldn't just let myself lose.

"Kai! You've got to pull yourself together! Don't you get it! We've got a championship to win!"

Fuck, Tyson could be so annoying sometimes. Daichi finally made a serious move and I caught a glimpse of his real power. He was stronger than I thought. Once he had some real training he would be a worthy opponent. I ended it quickly and the crowd cheered as Mr. Dickenson proclaimed me and Tyson the victors.

Tyson joined me in the stadium and his entourage weren't far behind. Kenny and Hilary offered their congratulations.

"That was one awesome battle, Kai," Tyson said, his eyes filled with excitement. "And I knew you'd pull it off. Now it's just you and me, buddy. Off to the world championships!"

"Yeah. I know."

Mr. Dickenson joined us. "Good job, boys. Although, I must admit, the outcome is just as I expected it to be."

"Hey! Thanks, Mr. Dickenson!" Tyson was basking in all the attention.

"And now that we've finally found out who the BBA teammates for this year are, I have a very special announcement I would like to make," Mr. Dickenson went on, addressing the arena. "Good afternoon, everyone. I would like to make a brief announcement concerning the upcoming world championships. As you all know, this year it's a tag-team tournament. And we at the BBA have decided to make it a round robin event."

"I thought it was going to be a straight ahead tag team tournament," Tyson said. My thoughts exactly.

"From our previous experiences with the best teams in the world, we found that it can be a...well, a highly spirited event. To relieve the pressure on individual members, we've decided that each team may have two alternates who can join in battle at anytime during the competition."

So... we could've entered it as a team after all? The BBA was so confusing sometimes.

"I've invited someone to announce Kai and Tyson's alternates."

The masked freak from the roof showed up.

"Jin? No way!" Tyson yelled. "But why'd you—why'd you pick him, huh?"

Jin, huh? I wondered how they knew each other. Tyson continued to argue with Mr. Dickenson until Jin intervened, announcing Daichi and Kenny as the alternates.

Tyson signaled to the cheering crowd. "Thanks you, guys! And I promise all four of us will give it our best shot to bring you back the world championship!"

As the crowd was going nuts he turned to Mr. Dickenson. "There's still something that bugs me. I've just got one question for you, Mr. Dickenson. How come you're putting an unknown like Jin in charge of our team? I mean, I don't even know the guy. So how am I supposed to trust him? Could you explain that one to me?"

Mr. Dickenson watched him carefully. "Well, actually I thought you just might be able to figure that one out yourself, Tyson. Listen to me, Tyson. Jin coached a team I put together last year and now he's going to coach our new team, which, by the way, I've renamed BBA Revolution. That's because he's more than just a talented blader. Jin is—"

"Yeah, what is it?" Tyson was getting impatient. So was I. I didn't really like the idea of that asshat in charge of our team.

"He is also—"

"You still don't recognize me, do you, Tyson?" Jin interrupted. "I thought for sure you would've figured it out by now. My voice, my mannerisms, but you don't have a clue, do you? Well, do you?"

"I don't! I don't know who you are!" After a moment, I saw the wave of recognition come over his face. "Hiro!"

Hiro? He'd said that name before.

Jin—or Hiro, whoever he was—went on, "When Mr. Dickenson first asked me to come here and help out, I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. That's why I hid my identity. I wanted to convince myself that I had made the right decision. From what I've seen so far, there's no question in my mind I have."

For once Tyson was utterly speechless.

Mr. Dickenson stepped forward. "Well, I suppose no introductions are necessary, Tyson. I'm just glad you two are back together."

Who was this fucking guy?

He removed his mask, smiling at Tyson. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

I could see tears in Tyson's eyes. "I can't believe it's you!" he yelled. "It's been so long and now you show up! Here!? I've missed you!" The tears spilling over, he ran to Hiro, embracing him.

"I've missed you, too!" Hiro told him. "I can't believe how much you've grown. You've turned into quite the little man, Tyson."

I looked around as they continued to talk. Was I missing something? Hillary looked as confused as I felt but Kenny was fucking crying, too? I leaned over to whisper, "Chief, who is that?"

"That's his older brother. They haven't seen each other in five years."

Brother? Tyson never told me he had a brother. I wondered why.

xXx

AN: Holy Shit! I did not mean to take a *looks at date of last chapter* six year break from this story? Umm… so… what happened? Well, went back to school, had another baby, bought a house, graduated, covid. Yeah, um, life. Life happened. But I'm still alive!

So... yeah. I've had a huge chunk of this story written for a while but could never get past this chapter. I'm so rusty now! So there was supposed to be a flashback in here, but I had huge writer's block with it, so I ended up cutting it and shortening this. If I'd just done that sooner this chapter would've been up years ago... A few weeks ago I actually dreamed about this story and felt inspired. I really want to finish this thing. I'm still not happy with this chapter but I've decided to let it be and move on to funner things. I pinky swear that it won't take me another five years to write the next chapter. (I've got the next seven already written) :p

I just want to say thanks to all those who have reviewed and faved this story. I hope you're still there and you still continue to enjoy it. I have every intention of finishing this. It's a story that's never that far from my mind. It just may take me a lot longer than I wanted to. There's so many stories out there I want to catch up on. Very excited to see that. Hopefully I'll get the chance to catch up on reading soon. ^_^

Fun bonus story: My daughters are now eight and five. Kylah, eight-year-old told me she wanted to get some beyblades. I told her if she wanted me to buy them she had to watch all of G-Revolution with me. She was slow to get into it but now her and the little one are having fun with it. They're like pretending they're on White Tiger X. Kylah's favorite characters are Kai and Max and Quinn likes Max, because he has a kitty mouth, in her words. XD