AN: Here's the next chapter, in by the end of the month, even. Thank you for reading. Enjoy!

Kong Siblings

Reiken Shing (better known as Rei)—16 going on 17, black hair to mid-thigh, gold cat eyes, oldest, older twin to Yuri.

Yuriko Ling (called Yuri)—16 going on 17, black hair to mid-thigh, gold cat eyes, second eldest, younger twin of Rei by three hours.

Natsuko Meiying (called Natsu)—13, crimson hair to waist, lavender cat eyes, third eldest, single child birth.

Kentarou Jin (called Ken)—10, brown hair to ears (tiny bit messy), marine-blue cat eyes, fourth eldest, oldest triplet.

Kiriko Lee (called Kiri)—10, light blue hair brushing the bottom of her shoulder blades, sapphire-blue cat eyes, fifth born/middle child, middle triplet, younger than Ken by two and a half hours.

Shinryuu Tien (called Shin)—10, brown hair to ears (fairly messy), crystal-blue cat eyes, sixth eldest, youngest triplet, younger than Kiri by thirty minutes.

Ryuuken Sying (called Ryuu)—9, deep violet hair in a traditional Japanese-style haircut, deep violet cat eyes, seventh Kong, single child birth

Aiko Xiang (called Ai)—five and a half, blonde hair brushing her shoulders, lilac cat eyes, eighth Kong, second youngest child, older twin.

Momoko Zhen (called Momo)—five and a half, light pink (think rose pink) hair brushing her shoulders, gold cat eyes, ninth/youngest Kong, younger twin, younger than Ai by one hour.

Delays of Destruction

Kai was woken up around three in the morning as he heard thumping from the adjoining room. Realizing what it probably was, he made a mental note to remind Rei to walk SOFTLY first thing in the morning when getting ready to practice. Then, Kai drifted back off, comfortable enough in the house to know everyone was safe. There was another temporary disturbance, much quieter, closer to five. Then, nothing until around 7:45, when Momo came running in to wake up her sleepy brother and Kai.

"Wake up! Wake up! I wanna eat and Chizuko-san said we can't until you two come down!" she cried. The sound of both her voice and the bouncing on the bed was enough to call Kai out of his own bed in the next room, even as Rei tried to grab her.

Eventually, Rei managed to snag her arm and drag her down. He started tickling her as revenge until she was shrieking and giggling so hard that she was having some trouble breathing.

"AHH! STOP! STOP! I'll be good…promise!" she gasped.

"I'll take the rugrat," Kai offered from their shared doorway, already dressed and ready to go. "You still have to get ready. C'mon Momo." Momo scampered over, and took Kai's hand before beginning to pull him out.

"You better come down soon, aniki, or Chizuko-san says she won't feed you at all!"

"Give me five minutes, Momo and I'll be down. Just behave. …And make sure the others behave too," Rei responded, mostly to Kai. Kai nodded as the door closed behind them. Rei ended up collapsing back onto the bed momentarily, worn out by his practice earlier that morning.

"Damn, didn't realize how bad it had gotten. Well, better get up," Rei said to no one in particular. He slowly made his way over to the bathroom and downed two of the slightly stronger pain meds before getting ready as quickly as possible despite the sore muscles. It took him several minutes of struggling to get his hair into a half-way decent ponytail.

When Rei first entered the dining room all six females giggled at his disheveled appearance. Eventually, Yuri took pity on her twin and stood behind him as she fixed his hair.

"Pain?" she asked softly, finger-combing out the few snarls Rei had been unable to reach.

"Mm. Took some meds, should be okay in a bit," he replied, equally as soft. As she moved past him and back to her seat, he reached out and trailed a couple fingers across her shoulder. "Thanks, Ling."

"Always, Shing. Now sit, before Momo and Ai throw a tantrum."

"Yes'm." Rei sat between Kai and Natsu with a smile on his face. While seating was not set in stone, most of the siblings had already claimed favorite seats and were often found in them. Rei studied the visual effects of his family all together in one room. He was surprised by what he saw. Many of the Kong family were stunningly beautiful, even the males, in that kind of 'careless' style that came from either not realizing or not caring. Staring at his twin long enough for her to look back curiously, he noticed that she had practically turned into their mother almost overnight. Her other-worldly beauty was only enhanced by her lack of make up or any other sort of beauty product. With a start, Rei realized that, looking almost like a male identical twin, he probably looked quite similar.

"Well, the others should be arriving shortly," Yuri commented casually, tearing a croissant to pieces with her fingers. The nervous gesture did not go unnoticed by the other bladers.

"Do we keep with the decision to wait until the finals to reveal Yuri's identity?" Rei asked casually.

"Yes," Kai replied. "It is perhaps the largest advantage we still have over Boris and Voltaire. Their precious 'Pride of Russia' is nastier than the Blitz Krieg Boys ever were…no offense Tala."

"None taken," was the reasonable reply. "We were trained to be militaristic in nature and most of what we did during the tournament was forced by Boris at Voltaire's request. With us out of their reach they would have less trained options."

"Meaning thugs," Yuri continued, catching on. "So they would have only been able to find unknowns and turn them into 'stars.' And the people most likely to be willing to do that would have few morals."

"Exactly," Kai replied. "We've seen that they have a complete disregard for anything but winning, often in as bloody a manner as possible. I've got the Chief focused on getting all possible information on their styles and Mr. Dickinson promised as much as he could find on their lives in general."

"So let's finish up here, get the kids set up for the morning, and get outside to practice," Rei stated, ignoring the groans from the younger kids and an indignant sound from Natsu at being called a kid. Yuri, however, glared briefly at all of them to silence them. It was a simple reminder to Kai and Tala that the eldest Kongs ruled their family completely, but gently. Chizuko, who had been watching the spectacle and listening in on the conversation, had merely smiled. It was good to see Yuri and Rei quickly and efficiently handle most disciplinary matters despite their age.

Rei carefully pulled the ripcord and Drigger's blade landed dead center in the middle of the dish. The blade spun there for a while before it started tracing intricate patterns in the dish. Yuri was, on Kai's 'orders' standing next to him and observing how Rei controlled his blade.

"It's basically all mental control," Rei started, bringing Yuri out of the daze she was in. Even though the weather was warmer today, she still wore her caftan, head shawl, and sunglasses to disguise her appearance. She looked at her twin in confusion.

"Think of it like the bond we share. You can slip in and grab whatever information you need at any time, but you can also catch a kind of running commentary of my thoughts all the time if you pay attention."

"So the blades are the same way?" she asked, confused.

"Not quite. That's what makes Bit Beasts so important. The blade itself follows simple commands and intentions of its user, but only those with a Bit Beast are capable of the kind of control necessary for professional tournament levels. The Bit Beasts are tied so closely to their wielder that they are often a reflection of that person's true self," was Rei's reply.

"Huh. So I should basically do the same thing with Lrigger and Drigger that I would do if I wanted to tell you something?" came the question. At Rei's nod, she made a gesture towards the dish. Drigger's blade shot out of the dish and Rei deftly grabbed it out of thin air. He made a sweeping gesture towards the dish as he stepped back.

Yuri placed Lrigger's blade in the launcher and focused on the blade. Finally, after several seconds, she felt a warm connection with the blade. It was almost like a heartbeat. Mentally reaching for it, she launched her blade.

Lrigger's blade landed on the very edge of the dish, spinning across the entire edge perfectly balanced. At Yuri's further command, the blade began to spin in an intricate lace pattern. The movements of the blade were much sharper, much tighter, and much more accurate than they had ever been before. By recognizing and working with her link to the blade, Yuri had upped her control to a full one hundred percent rather than the eighty-five percent she had been working with before. She felt the difference keenly: it felt very similar to getting a form right for the first time and knowing each movement was absolutely perfect.

"Thanks Rei," Yuri whispered when Lrigger's blade returned. He gave her a one-armed hug in reply, turning to watch Kai terrorize Tyson.

The following day, Rei was quietly thankful for the absence of the other Kongs as the newest opponent fell to the Pride of Russia. Her wounds would eventually heal, though she would be in the hospital for at least several days. The dish had been torn nearly in two from the brutality of the attacks.

"Ladies and gentlemen," DJ Topper began after a quiet conversation with BBA representatives including Mr. Dickinson, "as a result of the matches so far today, the dish needs to be replaced. The remaining matches for this morning are postponed until tomorrow. Compensation will be available for all of those unable to return tomorrow."

Boos and shouts of dismay rocked the stadium. Considering that the Bladebreakers were supposed to be facing off against their second-round opponents—the Light Masters—only four days later, it was obvious to Rei and Kai that at least some of that dismay came from the worry that it would affect their match as well. At that point, the Bladebreakers left the stadium, heading for food at Tyson's insistence.

They ended up at a small pizzeria and everyone ordered their own things. Tyson munched happily away at the fourth slice from his second whole pizza just as everyone else was starting. As usual, in order to survive, most of the team was refusing to watch Tyson, focusing on their own food. Despite the dim light in the pizzeria, Yuri kept her sunglasses on, causing stares from other customers and the wait-staff. She had a single slice of pizza and a small side salad, which she ate meticulously. She was very careful to not get any pizza on her caftan as well, though she did not resort to using a fork to eat it.

In all, they drew a lot of attention from passersby as they walked around for a while, not willing to go back to training just yet. Several people stopped Tyson, Kai, Rei, and/or Max to take pictures with them or have something autographed. It was an interesting phenomenon for Tala and Yuri to watch from the sidelines. Even when Rei glared at the pair for laughing out loud during a stream of particularly insistent female fans, the pair simply pointed out that neither of them was famous and it certainly wasn't their fault that girls seemed to like long hair on their man or that the girls were attracted to injured bladers.

Even Kai smiled at the sight of Rei surrounded by that gaggle of girls, which scared the hell out of Tyson when he managed to see it. As a result, Tyson ran screaming about the apocalypse beginning. Max and Kenny chased after him in an attempt to stop him before a police officer intervened. Rei sat next to Yuri and reached around her to whap Tala on the back of the head.

"Ow!" Tala stated calmly, obviously faking. "What was that for?"

"Not helping me out," Rei replied. "And pretending you're fine. Bet it's time for your meds now."

"Is it?" asked Yuri, looking at Tala. At his sheepish nod, she growled and began to dig through her pockets for the small pillbox she was carrying around. She started lecturing him as she handed him the pills he needed to take. Rei smirked in revenge before a cup of water and two pills were thrust in his face by Kai.

"Since the children have run off," Kai began, "let's head home. I'm sure we all have some things to do. It will take a while before the others can even catch Tyson." His suggestion was accepted readily enough and the four members of the Kong family went home.

AN: Not much happening in this chapter…Kiri is more interested in other things. I apologize for the shortness but this was a good place to stop. Constructive criticism and reviews are welcome. Thank you.