Kai had not returned to the hotel. Instead, he had camped out under tree in a secluded area of Regents Park. It was extremely uncomfortable, the floor was uneven and there were rocks and sticks digging into him at odd angles. He slept badly and, as if the universe was conspiring against him, the entire experience was further unimproved when Kai found himself being kicked awake by Tyson the next morning.

"WHAT-IS-WRONG-WITH-YOU!" he shouted, emphasizing each word every time his foot made contact with Kai's side.

"Get off!" Kai groaned as he rolled over. "STOP KICKING ME!"

"I thought you were dead!"

"AND YOU THOUGHT KICKING ME WOULD HELP?"

"Idiot! Why're you sleeping out here? And why's there blood on your scarf? Jeez, Kai!"

"Eugh!" Kai deplored, ignoring the question in favour of getting to his feet and brushing off the dirt and small stones that had indented themselves into his face and palms.

"I'VE FOUND HIM!" Tyson yelled over his shoulder.

As it turned out, Max had stayed true to his word and when Kai hadn't turned up to breakfast that morning the entire team, minus Daichi, had all come out to search for him.

"I knew you'd be in the park!" exclaimed Tyson as they marched Kai back to the hotel. "Daichi thought you'd go to one of those 24 hour arcades! Clearly he doesn't know you as well as I do! I can't believe you slept out here, you have an entire hotel suite to go back to!" Tyson ranted. "Let me guess- you're feeling sorry for yourself for god knows what reason so you thought you'd go on a nice little outing and fall asleep in the most uncomfortable place you could find because you think you deserve it, huh? Is that why you're out here?"

"Tyson!" Hilary hissed.

Kai let out an aggravated noise, what an accurate assessment of his psyche. He had to admire Tyson for such an unsuspected use of his brain.

"Remember when you were our team captain because you were the most responsible of us all?" Tyson continued, deaf to Hilary's protests. "What happened to that, huh?"

"Oh don't start!" Kai huffed angrily, feeling exposed.

"Come on Tyson, lets just be glad we found him," said Rei in a calming voice.

"Well we would have found him sooner if you two hadn't got distracted by skimming rocks on the lake!"

"Oh boy," said Max. "I almost feel bad for raising the alarm." He gave Kai an apologetic shrug. "Also, Tyson, did you not consider that Daichi just really wanted to go to the arcade?"

Tyson froze, dawning realisation passing across his face. "Arrrrrgh! I am going to KILL HIM!"

The following days were difficult to say the least. Bryan, far from learning any valuable life lessons from his escapade with the bottles of vodka had now fully embraced the drunken lifestyle and was existing in a perpetual state of inebriated bliss. Tala, who must have been feeling guilty, was at least trying to make sure that all of them went to training each day, even if Bryan spent more time in the dish than his beyblade.

Kai spent many more hours stewing in the park, barely eating and dreaming fitfully of the abbey. If the Blitzkrieg Boys had noticed that he wasn't spending his nights in his room, they didn't say anything. Hotels, Kai had discovered, were strangely obsessed with reflective surfaces. Everywhere he turned, there he was: Kai, complete with his damned fins. Once a talisman of strength, they now filled him with a profound sense of self-loathing and disgust. He could not remain in the suite any longer than was absolutely necessary, lest he succumb to the itch of grabbing a kitchen knife and carving those stupid little blue triangles off with his own hand.

Kai's self-imposed exile could only be broken by one thing, his need to shower, which he did after traipsing back from whatever tree he had curled up underneath for the night. Tala must have clued Julia into Bryan's situation because every morning she could be found in the Blitzkrieg Boys kitchen, eagerly cooking up one of the best looking breakfast's Kai had ever seen. It was delicious too, and the only food that Kai could currently stomach. Every so often he would catch Julia swapping Bryan's vodka for water. Bryan didn't even notice.

"So," Tyson began irritatedly one morning after Kai had strode into the training room three hours late. "Are you even on our team anymore?"

"Actually," said Kai as he pulled out his launcher, "I was thinking of joining F-Dynasty.. Romero wants to retire and he thought I'd be the perfect person to step into his role."

At this, Hilary was overcome by a fit of giggles.

In truth Kai had just spent the morning enjoying a magnificent breakfast at the hands of Tala and his devoted girlfriend, or, whatever she was. Tala had made a point of telling Kai that he didn't know exactly what the relationship status was between him and Julia, just that they were something, and that Kai yelling down the phone that she was his girlfriend had been entirely unhelpful.

The repairs on the stadium were fast approaching and the anticipation helped Kai to do what he did best, channel every negative thought he had into his training. There was also an additional plus-side to the stadiums being repaired, which was that team Duality would no longer be sharing their training room. Their presence, particularly hers, was a constant annoyance to Kai, who felt an overwhelming sense of paranoia every time they were in the same room.

Of course, he and Isobel had not spoken since their misunderstanding. Despite her cheerful interactions with Max and the rest of the Bladebreakers, Kai remained aloof. There was no point dwelling on their fun little adventure- after the other night Kai was quite sure he would not be invited along again. It had not been her fault that she had got the wrong end of the stick but Kai didn't know how to do apologise and frankly, it was not worth the mental energy trying to set things right with someone that he barely knew. Unless he met Isobel across the dish during the finals (and even then, he knew it would probably be Tyson that would face her) Kai was doubtful that they would have any reason to speak to each other ever again. It was simply not worth the effort.

"You're blading in the second round!" said Tyson one evening as he shoveled food from the hotel buffet into his mouth. They had stayed at the stadium later than the rest of the team to finish their training match.

"Who's first?" Kai asked, poking at his food dispassionately. It was the first time he'd been to the hotel dining room in days.

"Rei, obviously. You two didn't get a chance last time."

"That's fair."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Tyson went up to buffet again and came back with an entire plate of cakes.

"Where's your scarf?" he asked suddenly.

Not this again. "You saw it, it looks gross."

After meticulously removing all the weights, Kai had put his scarf in the bath to soak a few days ago and then he had taken it down to the hotels laundry room to put it through the washing machine. It had removed the worst of the stains yet done nothing for the rest.

"Have you tried washing it?"

"Yes Tyson, I've tried washing it."

"Couldn't you take it to a dry cleaners?"

"You think I can afford to get my scarf dry cleaned?"

"I bet the hotel would do it for you. You're in a suite!"

"I'd still have to pay for it."

"I thought it was all on Voltaire's account?"

"I'm not taking anything else from Voltaire!"

"Oh come on, hes in jail. I think he's got worse things to worry about than you getting your scarf cleaned!"

Kai knew that Tyson wouldn't be saying this if he knew what Voltaire was truly like. The news that Kai had charged even as much as a packet of salt to his account would get back to his Grandfather. But hell, did it really matter anymore? Maybe he should get his scarf professionally cleaned, Voltaire be damned.

"Why'd you even give a shit?"

"You look sad without it!"

Kai groaned and leaned back in his chair so that it balanced on its two back legs.

"Whats going on with you?" Tyson asked quietly.

Kai stared up at the ceiling. "Nothing's going on with me."

"Don't lie! You almost collapsed last week at the party- yeah! I haven't forgotten! Then you had that fight with Brooklyn!" Kai had almost forgotten about that. "This whole abbey thing, I mean, weren't you at the police station the other day?" Tyson continued, putting his fork down. "You haven't said a word but I can tell its bothering you! Why else would you sleep in the park? And your scarf, how did that even happen? Did you get in another fight?"

"Tyson-"

"And Isobel? Whats the deal with her? Max is convinced that she likes you but you said you're not interested-"

"Why is Max even discussing that with you?"

"He was only trying to figure out if there was anything going on!"

"Ugh!" Kai flopped forwards and the front two chair legs connected harshly with the floor. "I don't want to talk about it, OK?"

Tyson looked disappointing. He picked up his fork again and began stabbing at his cakes again. "Why not?"

"Its bad enough having to find out about all this shit about the abbey let alone having to regale it all back to you!" Kai said, annoyed, although the look on Tyson's face made him relent. He exhaled angrily through his nose. "The other day we got a call for another evidence review. They made it sound urgent, like it'd be in the next few days yet here we are, almost an entire week later and nothing! Absolutely fucking bollocks-all! What if I get called in during a match? That'd be just my luck! Not to mention Bryan's a fucking mess, have you seen him?"

"He does smell kinda weird these past few days."

"Yeah, because he's pickled in vodka. I came back the other night and found- well. Never mind. Tala's barely holding it together, thank fuck for Julia! And Spencer's developed a new special interest in English confectionery."

"And that's bad because?"

"It's not," Kai said, annoyed. "And then there was-" Kai began again, before halting abruptly and narrowing his eyes. Fuck, he hated it when Tyson did this; got him alone and got him talking. He was probably the only person on earth who could worm his way in and get Kai to start ranting about his problems. Kai absolutely hated him for it.

"There was what?" Tyson pressed.

"Nothing! It doesn't matter," Kai snapped. He had been about to tell Tyson about his adventure with Isobel and their subsequent argument, But of course that would mean he would also have to tell Tyson about his shark fins… "I'm not telling you!" Kai snapped stubbornly. "Eat your cake!"

Tyson grumbled but obeyed, shoving a mini blueberry cheesecake into his mouth before giving Kai a pensive look. "Look, it's gonna be alright. We'll wake up tomorrow, you'll blade in the second match, you'll win- obviously! Then we can come back to the hotel or go for a walk or go do more training- I know how much you love training. Hell, I'll even leave you alone for the rest of the day, whatever you want! And I could have a word with Mr D about this whole evidence review thing, surely they can't make you miss matches, thats the whole point of you being here! Actually," Tyson added in an undertone. "Could I tell Hilary about all this? She'd put a stop to it, you know what she's like! And it might give me an excuse to talk to her, we've been kinda awkward since laser tag…"

"Sure, whatever," Kai agreed dispassionately. "Use my problems as leverage for your own romantic game."

"Thanks, I will," said Tyson cheerfully. "Can we get second dessert?"

The next morning Kai found himself- via the means of sheer determination- well rested in his own bed and ready for his first match of the season. He thanked Julia for another delightful breakfast and then met Rei and Max in the hallway outside Tyson and Daichi's room.

"Hellooo?" Rei called, his voice echoing down the corridor. "Tyson? Daichi?" He turned back to Kai and Max. "I don't believe this, they're still asleep!"

Max frowned, "but Tyson's been on such a good streak! Up every morning on time.. even before Kai," he added warily.

"Yeah well, not today," said Rei as he leaned against the door. "I can hear snoring. Typical. How many desserts did he have last night?" he glanced at Kai. "I've noticed a direct correlation between his ability to sleep through his alarm and the amount of cake he's consumed."

Kai, who did not fancy mulling over the many reasons as to why Tyson may have reverted back to his old self approached the door, banged his fist against it and roared, "WAKE THE FUCK UP!"

"Straight to the point I guess," Max chortled.

Rei grabbed Max's wrist and looked at his watch. "We've only got 45 minutes before we need to be there!"

"Where's Kenny?" Kai demanded.

"He's awake, just finishing up something on his laptop."

Kai moved three steps to the left and banged on Kenny's door instead. It opened immediately.

"I'm almost done!" said the small boy who paled under Kai's stare.

Rei, ever the pragmatist, pushed past and headed straight for the phone. "Hi," he said pleasantly into the receiver. "Would it be possible to give room 243 a wake up call? Thanks!"

"Are we even at the right room?" mused Max. "Didn't they move after the jam incident?"

"Max, you've been here since the jam incident! We were here last night!"

"Right. Yeah. Then where's Hilary? Maybe she'll be able to wake them up."

As if on queue, the door behind them opened and Hilary stepped out.

"Oh!" she said in shock, as if she had not expected any of them to be there.

"There you are!" said Max, "can you wake Tyson and Daichi up? They're still asleep!"

"Oh my go-" Hilary whispered, turning back to her room and hurriedly yanking the door shut behind her. There was a muffled thump.

"Owh! My nose! HIL-"

"Heh heh heh. Morning!" she added in a cheerful, awkward voice. Hand still clutching the handle.

"You door sounds as if its in pain," Max observed as it was swiftly yanked open again.

"HILARY!"

Hilary span around in mock surprise. "T-Tyson! What are you doing in there?"

Tyson, who was sporting yesterdays clothes and looked like he hadn't brushed his hair, looked dumbfounded. It was clear from Hilary's expression that Tyson had indeed leveraged Kai's woes- or perhaps he had finally plucked up the courage to apologise and confess his undying love. Whatever he had done, it had clearly worked as he'd evidently spent the night cozied up in Hilary's room.

"What'd you mean, what am I doing in here?" Tyson rallied immediately, "I've been here this whole time! You shut the door on me!" He rubbed his nose and added, "it hurts!" with a pout.

The rest of the team exchanged a look.

"Well, well, well! Good morning!" said Rei, grinning from ear to ear.

Tyson, who had been trying to get Hilary to examine his nose by pushing it upwards to expose his nostrils to her like a pig, jumped out of his skin.

"Oh yes, how nice of you two to join us!" said Max, trying to contain his amusement. "Busy, were you?"

Tyson let go of his nose and blinked wearily. "Uhhhh, morning," he mumbled.

Kai smirked.

"We were just um… going over strategies last night and we, uh- fell asleep!" Hilary stammered, waving her hands about as if that might deflect suspicion.

"Yeah!" agreed Tyson, whose hat was on sideways. "Strategies!"

Max and Rei exchanged another glance. "Oh, sure. Strategies!"

"You know," said Rei with a smirk. "I think Salima and I might have gone over a few strategies last night too."

They all tittered, Hilary looked extremely embarrassed.

Kai sighed. They were going to be late. "Right." He said, cutting through the awkwardness. "Now that we've established that Tyson and Hilary are potentially fucking, can we leave?"

It took until they were halfway to the stadium before they realised that they had left Daichi behind. Hilary volunteered go to retrieve him. As soon as she had left the bus, Max turned eagerly to Tyson.

"So, did you?"

"Did I what?" Tyson asked, grinning, his initial annoyance at them all for mocking him appeared to have evaporated.

"He means did you have sex?" hissed Rei so that the rest of the bus could not hear.

"Wha- no!" Tyson sputtered and shot an angry look at Kai, as if it were his fault for putting the suggestion out into the world. "No! We just… I dunno."

"Did you.. Y'know.. Do anything?"

Tyson pulled a face. "Like what?"

"You know…" Max wiggled his eyebrows.

"Ugh- no! Max! It was nothing like that! Why would you even-"

"Sorry!" said Max, holding up his hands. "But you come out of Hilary's room looking like you've stayed the night and expect us to ask you nothing?"

"Yes!" Tyson snapped. "We just- we just- kissed, once! And.. Held hands." At this, he blushed furiously and stared down at his shoes.

Kai could tell that Max was trying not to burst out laughing at Tyson's surprisingly wholesome tale. The sheer innocence of it was almost touching.

Rei reclined in his seat, folding his arms seriously. "Y'know what. This is great, I mean its about time!" He nodded with a smile, all prior mockery absent from his voice. "And you don't have to rush it," he added at the look of worry on Tyson's face. "So I assume this means you two are officially…"

Tyson looked clueless.

"Together?"

Tyson frowned. "I dunno."

"You did ask her, didn't you?" said Rei.

"Ask her what?"

Kai stared out of the window, wondering how his life had devolved into a discussion about Tyson's lack of romantic prowess.

"You have to ask her out!" said Kenny, "even I know that!"

Tyson looked horrified. "Bu- but I thought it was like some unspoken thing!"

Max apparently could not contain himself and snorted with mirth. "Yeah, no. Somehow Tyson, I don't think thats gonna cut it!"

"Aw man!" Tyson wailed, throwing his head into his hands.

"Hey, don't worry," Max continued reassuringly. "Maybe we can get Mr D to flash it up on the screens. Y'know, after you win the match!" He raised his hands up. "Imagine! We could include a photo of your face and then maybe add some pink word art saying HILARY, WILL YOU BE MY GIRLFRIEND? I'm sure Kenny could find some really great clip art to make a powerpoint presentation-"

"Oh shut up!" whined Tyson, his face going red.

They arrived at the stadium to general applause, paparazzi buffeted them this way and that as fans screamed over the barriers, trying to catch their notice. Kai headed straight for the stadium doors as Tyson, Max and Rei held back to shake a few hands and exchange peasantries. Rei appeared to regret this when he stomped into the stadium a few minutes after Kai, clutching an impressive fan-made crochet doll that looked suspiciously like Mariah.

Once Daichi had finally arrived, out of breath and with his t-shirt on backwards, they could begin the match. The Bladebreakers lurked on the bench waiting for Jazzman to call out the team they'd be facing.

"ALL RIGHT EVERYBODYYYYY!" His voice boomed out over the stadium speakers. "WELCOME, FINALLY, TO THE SECOND BLOCK A MATCH OF THE SEASON! THE BLADEBREAKERS VERSUS…." The entire stadium held its breath as everyone turned in unison stare at the screen as it flicked through the montage of teams until finally, it landed on The Majestics.

"Ooof," breathed Max, a hint of concern in his voice.

Kai watched as Oliver, Enrique, Johnny and Robert rose from their bench and stood opposite them, a picture of aristocratic arrogance. Enrique and Oliver waved to the crowd while Johnny and Robert looked formidable, all of them clad in their battle armour.

Kai inhaled sharply. This would not be like the previous battle against the Spinsnakes. The Majestic's were powerful, and undoubtedly hungry for victory after being wrongly outed from the last world championship. He knew exactly how this would go; They would play their best three players, especially against the Bladebreakers. Oliver or Enrique were likely to take the first battle, but Johnny and Robert were a certain bet for the second and third match, which meant that Kai felt fairly certain he would end up facing Johnny. Fine. Kai had defeated him before. He could do it again.

"C'mon Rei, you can do this!" Tyson yelled, slapping Rei on the shoulder with enough force to almost dislocate it as the rest of the team chimed in with their encouragement. Kai folded his arms and nodded.

"ALRIGHT, FIRST MATCH IS REI VS…. OLIVER! YOU BOYS READY? LETS GO THEN! THREE- TWO- ONE- LET IT RIP!"

The two beyblades launched into the air, making contact before they even hit the dish.

"UNICOLYON!" Olivers blade bounced back, hit the dish and then launched into the air again.

Rei let out a battle cry and yelled, "C'MON DRIGGER!" as a flash of claws scored through the air.

"WOAH- WHAT A START!" bellowed Jazzman.

Kai watched with rapt attention. Finally, a decent battle. And what was this? A fleeting sense of happiness filling his chest? Will wonders never cease? His delight however was unfortunately short lived as just then a familiar voice called out his name. Initially- still immersed in the battle- Kai assumed that it had been Tyson or Max, or even Daichi, eager to share some groundbreaking insight about the battle that Kai had already noticed. Kai ignored them.

"Kai?"

Kai frowned and turned. Mr Dickinson was stood beside him looking grave.

"Kai, I need you to come with me," he said solemnly, trying not to catch the eye of the rest of the team who were entirely focused on the battle.

Kai felt any small semblance of happiness drain out of him. "Now?" he protested. What kind of sick joke was this? "I am not going to the police station, not now!" He almost shouted it, so filled with sudden rage and desperation that it was difficult to control. "I'm blading in the next match!" He had known this would happen! This was just his luck!

Mr Dickinson sighed, the sound heavy with the weight of unwanted responsibility as he leaned closer. "Your Grandfather is on the phone."

Kai froze. Well, that was not what he had been expecting. Voltaire was on the phone? Why? It had been a whole two weeks since he had been arrested and only now he had decided to call? Kai quickly rifled through all the reasons as to why his Grandfather might want to suddenly speak to him, coming quickly to the conclusion that Voltaire must want something. Yes, that was it. Voltaire, master manipulator, wanted something from Kai. That was the only possible reason that Kai could come up with for his deciding to call now, of all times. Perhaps Voltaire knew there was a match on, perhaps he was watching it live. Perhaps, even now, he could see Kai speaking with Mr Dickinson on some stupid flat screen TV in whatever holding cell he was in. Hell, he was Voltaire- one of the richest men in the world- of course he would be in some fancy hotel suite that doubled as a jail cell! Maybe he was only calling just so that he could get under Kai's skin, kick his composure to the curb, sew yet another seed of doubt in his chest so that Kai might flunk the match.

"Whats going on?" Tyson had wrenched his concentration away from Rei and was staring from Mr Dickinson to Kai with a furrowed brow.

"Its nothing you need to worry about, Tyson!" said Mr Dickinson. "Theres something important Kai needs to attend to right now."

"But he's up next!" Tyson protested, looking confused.

Kai, meanwhile, was wrestling with a maelstrom of emotions. He really, really didn't want to speak to his grandfather. What the hell would he say? Sorry you're locked up Grandfather, guess you finally got whats coming to you!

"C'mon Mr D! This is ridiculous, Kai can't be missing matches-"

"I suggest" said Mr Dickinson calmly but firmly, "you select another blader for the next match. Kai, I'm afraid you might not be back in time."

"I don't want to!" Kai blurted out. He knew it sounded childish. "I can't- I wont! I have to blade in the next match!"

The distant clang of Rei and Oliver's beyblades echoed in the recesses of Kai's mind as Tyson argued Kai's case with Mr Dickinson to no avail. Even Max, Hilary, Kenny and Daichi had come to see what all the fuss was about.

"Believe me Kai, I am so very sorry to have to drag you away from this match," said Mr Dickinson in a sympathetic voice. "Your Grandfather said he doesn't have very much phone allowance left and that he has some very important news for you. He refused to tell me what it is, he wants to tell you… directly."

Kai did not know what to do, although a slither of morbid curiosity gnawed at him. He turned to his team. "If I leave now I might be able to get back in time." He said, making up his mind on the spot. "But if I'm not…"

"I'll do it!" said Max stoically.

"What about me?" argued Daichi.

Kai did not have time to care which one of them took his spot. He nodded to both of them and sped off with Mr Dickinson.

"I'M COMING WITH YOU!" Tyson yelled after him. Kai could barely hear him over the crowd.

"No!" he shouted back as he rushed off. "You have to blade in the final match!"

"Daichi can do it!" snapped Tyson, falling into step with him as they followed Mr Dickinson up a set of stairs and down a long corridor.

Kai shot Tyson a look of derision, anger momentarily eclipsing his anxiety. "You think Daichi can beat Robert?"

"I- Yes!" Then, seeing the look on Kai's face Tyson added, "what? You don't think he can?"

"I wouldn't risk it!"

"Daichi could take Robert with his eyes closed!" Tyson snapped angrily. "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not! I mean, as long as… thats OK…" Tyson trailed off, glancing nervously at Mr Dickinson.

"It's up to Kai," said Mr Dickinson neutrally.

Kai stomped onwards, his fists clenched at his sides. He hated to admit it, but he recognised this as an act of solidarity from Tyson.

"Fine."

Mr Dickinson led them both to his office, a large sweeping room that overlooked the stadium. They quickly filed in and took one glance down at Rei and Oliver and then turned to the phone which was laying on its side off the hook.

"Would you prefer if we both wait outside?" Mr Dickinson asked.

"I-" Kai stared at Tyson, and, surprising even himself, uttered, "Tyson can stay."

Mr Dickinson nodded understandingly. "All you need to do is pick up the receiver," and he went back out of the door, leaving them alone. They could see him standing guard through the frosted glass.

Kai went behind Mr Dickinson's desk. Tyson stood awkwardly on the opposite side, seemingly shocked into silence over Kai allowing him to stay.

Kai stared down at the receiver, his heart pounding against his ribs, his hand hovering shakily over the phone.

Tyson raised his eyebrows as if to say, well go on then!

Kai picked up the phone and lifted it to his ear.

"Hello?"

Ok I'm sorry its a cliffhanger I just wanted to get it PUBLISHED! I feel like this is kinda a filler chapter but it also has lots of fun snippets of interaction with Kai and Tyson n stuff! Also idk if anyone noticed but I've moved The Majestics into block A purely for the sake of these chapters (sorry I'm very much pantsing the small details of this story haha)

Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter, much appreciated! I hope to get the next chapter out ASAP!