This is the final sequal in the New Beginnings trilogy. It's dedicated to ToryCarmichael, NemiTheDragon, MoonlightSerenity and EMBER (I'm very sorry for never thanking you for reviewing when you did but I always reply personally and so forget to do it on my actual chapters:P) and to anyone else I've missed who wanted me to write this sequal! Ta guys:D
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade
Beginning Again
Sunlight streamed in through Kai's window. But that wasn't the thing that had woken him up. The door bell rang. He had found the culprit. He stretched and pulled on a pair of jeans before leaving his room to see who was calling at this hour. It couldn't be any later than nine o'clock. Nine o'clock during the summer holidays was sacrilegious, even for him. He had only just made it downstairs before Grampa Granger opened the door. The old man then enveloped the knocker in a tight hug.
"Hiro, my man!" He greeted the stranger with fondness.
The man called Hiro walked into the house and dropped his bags at his feet. He was just like Tyson, Kai thought. The same blue hair, the same facial structure. Hiro was noticeably leaner, though. Without being told, Kai had already made the connection that this was Tyson's elder brother, Hiro Granger.
He smiled at Kai and held out a hand. "You must be Kai. I'm Hiro. It's nice to finally meet you."
Kai shook it. "Likewise."
A mass of blue hair shot past him at a speed Kai didn't realise Tyson knew.
"Hiro!" Kai almost smiled at the brotherly love. "It's been so long."
"It must have been to get you out of your bed before noon." He ruffled Tyson's hair fondly.
"Let's get breakfast on," Grampa suggested. "Then we can catch up."
Kai felt a feeling of uncomfortableness as the Granger's sat down to eat. It was the feeling that he was intruding, that he shouldn't be there. This was supposed to be the first family meal the three of them had had in quite some time. He shouldn't be imposing in on it.
"Tyson tells me that you're one heck of a blader, Kai?" Hiro asked, but Kai sensed it was more out of politeness than genuine interest. "And also that you train hard. It must take some work to get this kid into shape." Kai grunted. "You'll need to show me your schedule. Hey, maybe we could even have a match after breakfast?"
He felt all eyes on him. Truth be told, he didn't feel like blading and certainly not with a stranger. Still, just to be courteous he replied, "Why not." He hoped this wouldn't take to long.
They both quickly cleaned up their plates so that they could get this over with as soon as possible. Kai had other plans today.
"Why don't you show me your training schedule first, Kai?" Hiro suggested. "That way you can get ready Tyson before you come down and watch us blade."
Kai felt a bit suspicious. Hiro was too helpful to be completely authentic. And why the interest in how he trains his team? What's it to him? Kai suddenly felt himself beginning to dislike Tyson's brother and considering they'd only met about half an hour ago, that was some feat. Nevertheless, he complied. He didn't have a schedule as such, but he did have a detailed plan of what each member's strong points and weak points were and also solutions on how to solve each flaw. He just dared Hiro to criticise it.
"Don't you have a fixed timetable?" Hiro asked. Kai could feel that he was going to get impatient pretty easily with him.
"I've tried and tested this method. It works."
Hiro nodded slowly. "Look, I'm just going to cut to the chase here. There's a new tournament coming up pretty soon. It's a tag team and I've been chosen to coach it." Kai raised an eyebrow. What did that mean for him? "I think it would be better for Tyson if you weren't on it."
Kai almost sniggered. He had to be joking. Either he was joking or he was insane. "Excuse me?"
"I'm sure you've heard from your friends but this team is splitting up. Ray called Mr. Dickenson earlier this week to announce he was going to join the White Tigers. Max is joining the Allstarz." Hiro frowned as Kai looked surprised. "They must have told you? At least about the tournament?"
Kai took an intake in breath to calm his voice so that it didn't rise up in anger. "Nothing."
Then he recalled a conversation he'd held with Tala only a few days ago. Tala was thinking on starting up the Demolition boys founded by Biovault, except giving them a new name, a new beginning. Something like the Blitzkrieg Boys. Kai had politely declined. He already had his loyalties somewhere else. Then Tala said something that had completely baffled him. He had said, "Why don't you see where their loyalties are lying." Tala had hung up the phone on hi without waiting for a reply.
"Well," Hiro continued cheerfully as if nothing was wrong, "anyway, I think it'd be more beneficial for Tyson if you weren't on the team. I mean, you'd be free to travel with them and mascot them" – Kai almost spluttered at these words – "but I don't want you taking part in any blading on behalf of the team." He put a hand on Kai's shoulder which he immediately wanted to shrug off. "I'd rather it was your decision than me having to tell you. As coach, I'll have the last word anyway."
"Fine." Kai forced a smile. "I quit."
He'd left the dojo before Hiro had a chance to stop him. Not that he was going to. Tyson ran out and looked at his brother in confusion. He sighed and raked a hand through his hair.
"I'm afraid I've got some bad news…" Hrio started with some genuine sympathy.
Kai could feel his anger boiling up inside of him. Why hadn't they mentioned anything to him? Why did Tala know and he didn't? Mariah must have told him but why hadn't he been told? And Tyson. He was as in the dark as he was. He felt like hitting something hard. His first instincts of Hiro were right. The guy was a prick. It didn't matter that he was obviously thinking of Tyson first. It didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that he needed to find somewhere else to go. If Tyson was going to tour the world in this new competition then Grampa was going to be going with him and that'd leave Kai homeless. Then he realised Hiro was probably relying on Kai finding another team. Or perhaps he already knew he'd had offers…
Regardless of this, Kai knew what he had to do. He took out a couple of dollars from his pocket and found the nearest payphone. He knew Tala's number by heart anyway.
"Tala." He greeted his friend with all the friendliness of a hungry alligator.
"Kai." The favour was returned. "I can tell that you've found out about Max and Ray. So are you in?"
Kai sighed. There was no other choice. "Yeah, I'm in. I'll take the first flight over there tomorrow. I'll need to stay with you."
"Sure. I'd contact Mr. Dickenson if I were you. He'd organising Garnet's ticket so he'll probably do the same for you so you can travel together."
"Garnet's ticket?"
"Yeah." Tala laughed slightly. "She's going to tour with us as an unofficial cheerleader. She's really excited about it."
"I'm glad some one is…"
"You're thinking about Hilary." Trust Tala to know how he was feeling.
"She'll be touring with Tyson, I'm sure."
"What are you going to do?"
The phone began to bleep. "Look I'm out of money. I'll see you soon."
He hung up and leaned against the door of the phone box. What was he going to do indeed. He didn't have it in him to break up with her. He needed her to much. He loved her too much to let her go. He clenched his fists. This summer was supposed to be about him and her sharing time together, getting to know each other better. Now, courtesy of Hiro, he was discovering that this would be a problem. How could they be together if they were on other sides of the world? Also, he seriously believed that Hiro wasn't exactly going to tell Tyson that he'd asked Kai to leave. Tyson would hate Hiro for it. He'd probably told Tyson that it was Kai who had willingly resigned. 'Damn that man', Kai wanted to scream out loud. He was frustrated to no end.
It was ironic, he thought. As soon as it looks as if things are going to be alright something always happens. He silently wondering if he would ever live a satisfied life or was he just doomed to bad news and sorry situations. Slowly, he trudged back to the dojo with most of the hot air evaporated from his head. He would need to pack all his belongings. He would also need to break the news to Hilary. He could see that he was going to Mr. Popular.
The dojo was unusually quite when he came back early that afternoon. Hiro was sitting with Grampa and neither of them noticed him at all. Kai went up to his room to pack up with a feeling of resentment. He wasn't gone yet but already Hiro had reclaimed his room by lying his suitcase on the bed. Begrudginly, he neatly folded all his clothes and put them into his bag. There was a lot less here than he thought. The rest of his things like his school books and such he decided to leave. He could get them when he returned to Tokyo when the new semester of school started.
He left his bag propped up against the door where it would be ready to lift in the morning. His room seemed unusually empty, like the way it had been when he'd first arrived at the Granger's some months ago. It was hauntingly empty. Before leaving to find Hilary, Kai knocked at Tyson's room door.
"Can I come in?" He asked.
Tyson didn't reply at first. "No," he said eventually.
"I didn't want to quit, Tyson."
"Then why did you?"
Kai could either tell him the truth and put Hiro in the doghouse or he could lie and keep their relationship secure. He chose the latter. "It's time we went our separate ways. It's the only way either of us can progress. If there were any other way, believe me, I'd take it."
Tyson didn't say another word. Kai would have to leave it at that.
He carried on down the stairs, knowing that this would be one of the last times he ever would. He was stopped at the bottom by Hiro.
"That was a pretty noble thing you just did there Kai." He said. Kai didn't reply. Why should he? The bitterness was petty and immature he knew but he couldn't help it. "I'll take care of your flights and everything. I'll get in touch with Mr. Dickenson."
"That's thoughtful of you," he remarked sarcastically and walked away out of the house.
Outside the wind began to pick up. Kai looked at the skies. All he needed to complete this perfect day was rain. There was no sign of that yet, though. He rubbed his arms and wished he'd brought something more substantial to wear other than a t-shirt. This was supposed to be summer, one of the greatest ever. Now he was thrown out of his home – again, the sun had mysteriously vanished from the sky and God knows what's going to happen with Hilary. He shook his head at his utter misfortune. The stars obviously weren't too fond of him today.
He could feel Hiro's eyes burning into his back as he walked away from the dojo for the second time that day. There was nothing more he cared less about. He rounded the corner and was out of sight of the dojo. He suddenly felt the tiniest bit warmer. But when he though of Hilary he turned colder than before. She wasn't going to take this well. Not well at all. In fact, she would be very pissed at him. And that was something he did care about. Cursing his luck for the umpteenth time that day, he walked the well known route to Hilary's house dreading every little step. He would take her to The Spot, he decided. Maybe that would save them, the place that started it all. Surely it couldn't end it too?
Hilary was impatient. She looked at her phone again to check that, in the past thirty seconds, Kai hadn't called. He hadn't. Her face was a mass of frown lines. Last night, he'd called her telling her to be ready for one o'clock or thereabouts and that's he'd phone her today to tell her when he'd go in for her. It was now almost three o'clock and she was getting more and more restless as time went on. She looked out her window and spied him walking down the street. Angrily, she left her house, slamming and locking the door behind her, to meet him halfway.
"Where have you been?" She demanded. Her brows were knitted together dangerously. "You were supposed to call two hours ago!"
Kai looked at her and she could see there was something on his mind. Something big. He looked…sad was the only word to describe it. Plain and simple old sad. It didn't suit him at all.
"Things…happened. Let's go for a walk. We need to talk."
Something was definitely wrong. They didn't walk together as they normally do. Instead, Kai kept a few steps ahead no matter how hard Hilary tried to keep up. Once or twice she'd asked him to slow down but either he didn't hear her or just plain ignored her. He didn't take her hand as they normally do either. Something was definitely wrong. It had better be for his attitude, anyway.
"Kai, if you don't stop being all moody and stuff I'm just going to go home." She said after passing another few streets with complete silence on his part. "Not only were you late by hours by now you're acting like I'm not even here. Seriously, though, I get PMT but what's your excuse?"
Kai turned and looked at her stonily but he couldn't hold that look for long. Her face was pouty like a little girl's who'd just had her doll taken off of her. There was no way he could stay mad at her for any length of time without falling head over heels again for her.
"It just wouldn't be appropriate right now…"
Hilary looked at him and sighed. "So where are we going?" He didn't reply at first. He didn't need to too. Hilary looked around her and realised that they were on the secluded path to the Spot. And they were nearly there. "I see. I'm going to guess this is so we can get privacy…"
"Kind of."
They reached the ledge that overlooked the ocean and the beach. There were still some people there though there wasn't anyone sunbathing or swimming. It was too cold. From where they sat, Hilary could make out people playing with their dogs and some were flying kites. She was glad some people were having fun since she certainly wasn't.
"I'm going away." Kai said suddenly. Hilary took a sharp intake of breath. "There's a new tournament coming and I've joined Tala's team for it. I leave tomorrow."
"Why?" She couldn't hide the betrayal in her voice. Why would he quit the Bladebreakers and why would he desert her like this? And why so soon?
"It's time to go our separate ways."
"Is that the team you're talking about or me and you." Her voice was spiteful. Good.
Kai rubbed the back of his head like he was about to undergo the most difficult thing known to humanity. He had all the weariness of an old man.
"Look," he looked her straight in the eye, "I'm leaving the team and I'm going to this tournament. That's final." He took her hand and she had to fight the temptation to snatch it away. "I don't want to lose you too."
"Lose me too? What do you mean?"
Kai visibly flinched. "I…can't really tell you that. I know that you'd tell some one else and that would cause a lot of grief and hassle that the person doesn't particularly need."
"Is it your choice to leave?" She could feel her heart rate quicken. If this was because he was forced to, she may just forgive him this once.
"Yes…and no. Yes because I decided to join another team and enter the tournament and no because I didn't actually intend on quitting my current one until this morning." He laughed. "God, this all happened this morning. Isn't it incredible how things just go so wrong all at once?"
"Absolutely," she said with all the sarcasm she could muster.
"I'll see you during the tournament and everything, won't I? You'll be going with Tyson, won't you?"
Hilary made a grunting noise that Kai took to be a 'yes'. "So you want us to stay together? How can I do that without letting Tyson down. I'm assuming he thinks that this is entirely your decision."
"I don't know," he answered truthfully. He thought for a few seconds than an idea hit him harder than a ten ton bowling ball. The chain his father had given him was still around his neck and he unclasped it and gave it to Hilary. "This is kind of important and I need it back. Therefore I'll need to see you again. Think of it as a deposit."
Hilary fingered the cool metal gently. "Okay, I guess this will do."
Kai kissed her softly and Hilary felt warm again, if only briefly. He then stood up to leave.
"Don't you have anything else to say or are you just going to go?" She didn't bother to turn around. If he was gone, he was gone. Even if it did break her heart inside.
"I love you."
Hilary fought the urge to stand up and fling herself onto him like the heroine of an old black and white movie in a mixture of sorrow and lust. She, however, would not stoop to that level, no matter how much her heart ached for it.
"I'll wait for you Kai." She sighed. "But I won't wait forever."
He didn't say another word to her and left. Hilary felt oddly bitter. He didn't even say goodbye to her. Gently she looked at the necklace again. She was tempted to fling it over the cliff and see how far it would go but she knew inside of her that she just couldn't do that. Despising herself, she clipped the necklace over the back of her short brown bangs and hid it within her t-shirt. No one need know.
Okay, so the beginning is a little bit on the sucky side of things but I promise it will improve as the story moves on!
Please review!
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