Disclaimers: I don't own Beyblade; I'm simply using the characters for my and my muse's entertainment.
Notes: I'm still not sure, but I think Tala's Japanese name is Yuri, but if I'm wrong, please correct me! And I just found out Kenny's Japanese name the other day, but I don't feel like going through and changing it, even though his name doesn't appear much anyway.
Kittens and Birds by Yaoi Girl
It had always been a fact that in Twin Pines (1) two groups called the White Tigers and the Phoenixes had always been at each other's throats for dominance since they were formed.
The White Tigers belonged to Twin Pines High School, whereas the Phoenixes belonged to the Star Dust Academy for Boys (2), both schools having been rivals anyway for several years in respect to their sports and bands. But these two particular groups had their own discords to settle.
Lee, the leader of the White Tigers, had been in charge since the group's third generation leader had graduated his freshman year, which had, to say the least, peeved the leader of the recently formed Phoenixes, who happened to be the richest and most respected boy in their town: Hiwatari Kai.
During his own freshman year, Kai had also attended Twin Pines High School and was part of this age-old group of teens, known for their skills in martial arts and other rare abilities but never for causing trouble until the past few years. He and Lee had even been friends two years ago, both being juniors now, and it was expected by the entire school back then that Kai would become leader of the White Tigers, but it wasn't to be. Somehow, Lee had gained the upper hand behind his back.
There had been a fight between the pair, and Kai's father wouldn't have it that his son would be in any kind of trouble, so he removed his son from Twin Pines High School and more or less forced him to attend the Star Dust Academy for Boys.
Since a majority of the White Tigers had out-classed Lee since he was deemed leader, they had since graduated and he was now left with only a few people. Mao, his best friend since childhood and the only female member of the group, Max, a young boy that had recently gained his trust and whom he had been acquainted with since middle school, and last, but definitely not least, the new boy, Rei, who had just moved in about a month ago and was currently Mao's greatest obsession, much to his dismay.
The Phoenixes on the other hand had more people, but few of them could be trusted, and were known mainly for their status in society. Among the trusted and most loyal were Takao, Kai's childhood friend who he can't tolerate half the time because of his personality, Yuri, another childhood friend and the son of the second richest family in town, and Kenny, the deemed 'nerd' and 'know it all' of the group, but respected all the same.
======
On this brilliantly sunny and all around perfect May afternoon, the groups had unintentionally met at the park and the friction was almost unbearable. Then again, the White Tigers and the Phoenixes hadn't crossed paths for any reason in several months, so it was natural for them to be overly hostile towards one another.
"Kai."
"Lee."
The two regarded each other with their interpretation of a greeting, or rather acknowledgement, Kai breaking eye contact with Lee's amber eyes to settle on another pair the same color.
His own crimson eyes studied the figure carefully, taking in the bound raven hair and wild bangs and the slightly unnerved and shy eyes studying himself as well as the rest of the Phoenixes. And had Kai been a girl, he would probably be fawning over the gorgeous boy before him. But he was Kai, the rather stoic and heartless leader of the Phoenixes, not some love-struck girl.
After his evaluation of the newest addition to the rival group, Kai's gaze lazily drifted over back to Lee, his lips parting for a smart remark about the new person, but closed and formed a smirk as he seen Lee restraining the pink-haired neko-jin from attacking.
"Don't get too attached to him; he won't last long," Kai had smirked, his dark gaze locked with the fuming Mao's as he began to walk off, his group following him, giving them all dirty looks.
Three pairs of amber eyes and the only pair of icy blue ones followed the Phoenixes until they were gone from view.
"What did he mean?" Rei asked somewhat timidly, as the tension hadn't dissolved much. He wasn't exactly sure who those people were or why Lee and Mao were glaring at them since it had been his first time meeting with the long-talked about rivals. Had he heard the leader's name when his own leader addressed the other boy, he'd have known who they were.
As Lee released the still fuming Mao, he replied simply, "He wants to challenge you."
======
"Are you really going to fight him," Yuri sighed in exasperation; really, is that all their leader thought about nowadays?
"Hn."
"How are you going to keep Lee from butting in?"
"It's not him I'm worried about, it's Mao. I'll just have to get the new guy out by himself or alone with Lee." He wasn't afraid of Mao, per say, it's just that she would jump Kai's ass the first chance she got and would be even more feisty with Kai fighting her obvious crush, but he could still easily take her.
"Kai's afraid of a girl!" Takao said in a teasing, sing-song voice before bursting into laughter, stopping instantly as their leader's hand had him by the collar of his shirt and about three inches off the ground.
Kai -really- wanted to hit him, but Yuri placed a gentle hand on his raised fist and slowly forced it down.
"Save it for the new kitten."
As he lowered and released Takao, he snorted in annoyance and stalked off towards his mansion, the rest of the group going their separate way for the afternoon.
'There's no point in fighting him. He looks weak, so all I have to do is scare him. Pull his hair, push him around…'
"You're late for lunch, young man! How many times much I tell you…" his mother screeched as soon as he was in the front door.
"I had a run-in with the kittens," he said as he rolled his eyes and walked towards the dining room, his mother fuming for her son interrupting her.
======
Lee had to escort Mao home before she hauled ass after Kai to beat him to a bloody pulp; truth be told, he wanted to see what Rei could do against that 'stuck up bastard' or himself for that matter. He knew he was a good fighter; Rei had the awards to prove it.
Max decided to follow Lee and Mao since he lived a block over from them, leaving Rei to himself.
He didn't feel like going home, seeing as his parents would just make him train some more, so he took a walk around the park, only to run into Yuri.
"You don't look so tough, kitten," he smiled wickedly at him. "Especially when you're alone."
"Nor do you," he nonchalantly stated, making to walk around the red-head.
"Don't get me wrong," Yuri said as he put an arm out to stop Rei. "I don't fight, but seeing as you belong with the likes of them, you must be able to fight. Or are you a freak like that blonde kid?"
"Max is not a freak," Rei said, glaring at the still smiling boy.
"Oh, so you don't call people who can shape-shift into another human a freak?" he asked in mock confusion. "So what do you call him?"
Usually, Rei was one to keep his cool, not to mention keep to himself, but he was enraged at the moment to say the least. No one talked about his friends like that.
As the raven-haired boy walked off, Yuri glared after him as he brought his hand up to his now swollen and bleeding lip. "You'll pay for that, kitten. You'll pay dearly."
======
"He really did. He punched me!" Yuri said as he talked to Kai later that night on the phone. "I look like a freak with these stitches in my lip!"
"You looked like a freak before," Kai said sarcastically, though he was tired and rather peeved at his mother at the moment. "I'll put in a few good punches for you when we fight."
"Aw, you'd do that for me?" he mock squealed like a girl.
Already in a fouler mood that usual, Kai simply hung up on him, tossing his cell phone over to his backpack on the other side of the room before he fell backwards into his mattress, folding his hands behind his head.
"He's got some nerve, messing with my guys…" he mused aloud, his mind wandering to the raven haired beauty he had studied earlier that day. "He doesn't seem like the rest of them, not that that Max kid has anything against me like Lee and Mao. There's just something altogether different about him."
"Talking to yourself again?" came a overly cheery voice from his window, causing Kai to sigh in annoyance.
"What the hell do you want, Takao?"
"You seem to be thinking about that new guy quite a bit, at least I think so from what I've heard."
"Yeah, so?" he snorted, not removing his eyes from the ceiling that he had been staring up at since he had laid down, not even shifting his gaze when the other bluenette sat on his bed, as it was an almost nightly occurrence that Takao sneak over and visit him.
"Well, if you say he doesn't have anything against you yet, why don't you trying taking advantage of that aspect?"
"You've been talking to Kenny again and taking his ideas."
"So what if I have? Think about it though; you get the new guy to like you and talk Lee and the other kittens into breaking up or else you'd do something to him."
"Do something like what?" Kai asked, his interest in this matter slightly peaked. He'd give anything to have Lee announce to the all the high school teens in their town that Kai was the victor of the group war. To have Lee groveling at his feet after he backstabbed him two years ago.
"Like…you'll run his family out of town?" Takao shrugged, obviously stuck for ideas.
Kai sighed at his friend's lack of ideas for as creative as he usually was, with burping phrases and the like in public, any thing he could think of to embarrass Kai in public for that matter.
"Go talk to Kenny and have him come up with a full plan," he simply said before rolling onto his side, away from Takao. "I'm going to sleep."
"Aye aye Captain!" Takao mock saluted as he stood, heading to the window shortly afterward and back down the vine's wooden supports.
Kai merely rolled his eyes and again sighed in irritation. That Takao…
TBC
1) Twin Pines: couldn't think of anything at first, then I looked at my new Naruto wall scroll and the first thing I saw, besides the obvious characters, were trees. O.o
2) Star Dust Academy: again, I couldn't think of anything to name the other school and the first thing I looked at was my Newtype magazine and Gundam SEED was on the front…anything usually having to do with Gundams = space, so yeah...
Review onegai?