Welcome to the second chapter. Alright, alright. Nobody liked the second chapter because both Tyson and Rei die in it, so I edited it, and now I'm sort of asking for everyone to reread it. I don't know how to end this so whatever comes into my head is what's going on this page. Hope everyone likes this better. Review replies will be posted after the final chapter. (There may be more)

"talking"

'thinking'

Chapter 2.

Pain, pain, and more pain. That was all Tyson had ever known and now he was in it again. Shuddering breaths escaped from his nearly colorless lips. The blood loss was tremendous and the doctors had only just managed to stitch his wrists up. Chances were he required a blood transfusion, but the hospital could not find a matching blood type. They needed O negative and no one in Tyson's remaining family had the same blood.

'Why do my wrists hurt so much? What happened to me? Am I still alive?' Tyson asked himself.

Rei picked his head up as a audible groan was heard from his lover. Tyson's face was cold and pale, and his navy blue hair clashed with the clean whiteness of the pillow and sheets.

"Tyson?" Rei asked and gently shook his pale frame. Sickly brown eyes opened, over-bright and glazed with pain.

"Hi, Rei. Long time, no see, huh?" he asked. He breathed in, felt dizzy, and closed his eyes until the spell had passed.

"You idiot! What were you thinking. Why did you try to kill yourself? Do you have any idea..." Rei stopped when he noticed his boyfriend had fallen back asleep.

"Tyson..." Rei's voice trailed off. There was a sound and Rei turned to a small, petite nurse standing at the doorway.

She entered quietly and asked if she could speak with him outside in the hallway.

"Are you Rei Kon?" she questioned.

"Yes. Why?" he replied.

"I don't know if you know this, but Tyson is going to need a blood transfusion. However, we have no one who matches his blood type. He will be able to survive without one, but he will have to remain here for a longer period of time. Also, we have a policy here at this hospital. If anyone is brought to this place because they attempted suicide, we are required to send them to a psychiatrist as soon as they are able to go." the woman handed him a recommendation form and walked off, leaving him to stand there confused in his thoughts.

'How am I going to get Tyson to go to a shrink? There is no way in hell that I'm going to be able to get him to go. And a blood transfusion? What type is his blood anyway?'

Rei went back into the room and sat down, watching Tyson's chest rise and fall. He felt as though he were a leaky boat caught in a tempest of emotions. Decisions, worries, and memories dragged him down, pulling him further and further inside his own head.

He was so lost in thought that it took him nearly two minutes to register that someone had placed a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he quickly turned to see two deep, bubble-gum pink eyes.

"Mariah!" he said loudly and jumped back a little.

"Oh, Rei. I'm so sorry about what happened to Tyson. Are you okay?" she asked, pulling him into a tight hug.

The tears escaped from Rei's eyes before he could stop them. The pink-haired teen patted his back soothingly for a few moments before letting go. He stared into her eyes, which were full of a seriousness uncharacteristic of the girl.

"Rei. I'm going to donate some of my blood to help Tyson. After that, it's up to you to make sure he gets better."

"What? You mean, you have O negative blood?" he asked.

"Yeah. O is considered the universal donor, but it can only receive from O. Since I have O blood, I can donate to Tyson. I've already had all the preliminary tests done, just to make sure I'm healthy and that I'm not infected with any diseases. It's a green light from here on out."

"Thank you..." was all Rei could manage before he felt a small prick on his arm. His eyelids drooped and he fell asleep almost instantly.

"Much appreciated. He sure could use some rest. Thank you for helping me Mariah." a nurse said as she carefully capped the needle.

"You are definitely right about that. How long will the sedation take to wear off?" the teen turned to look at the warm, cherub-like nurse.

"It'll last long enough to take the blood from you and give it to Tyson. He will probably wake up around 10:00pm if he's lucky." the woman said.

"Now, if you'll please come with me. We need to get that blood drawn. Tyson really need it." the plump nurse waved her hands towards the door.

Mariah nodded and followed quickly behind her. The nurse led her to a small cubicle not too far outside of the room they had just left. The plump woman gestured to a faded green patients bed while she readied the needle and blood bag.

Mariah sat down and extended her arm as the nurse approached her with the needle in her hand. She breathed in a little as the small needle punctured her vein. Red liquid swirled through the tubing and began to fill up the bag. The pink-haired girl yawned as the sudden removal of blood took its toll.

The woman gently removed the needle from the now-sleeping girl and immediately took the blood to Tyson's room. She was surprised to find both Rei and Tyson awake.

"Nurse." said Rei. His voice was a whisper, still hindered by the sedative. Rei pointed to Tyson's heart-beat monitor, which was emitting erratic pulses. Tyson twisted and turned in his bed, flailing his limbs wildly before an eerie stillness stole across the room. A sharp steady sound penetrated through the white cubicle.

"He's flat-lined! We need a doctor in here NOW!" she yelled into the hallway.

Rei watched as four doctors in pristine white lab coats rushed into the room. Two of them were pushing a large machine while one held two metal things attached by a cord to the machine. The rolled the machine over to Tyson's bed. One smeared a clear gel onto the metal packs and the rubbed them together.

"Clear!" they said and pressed the two packs against Tyson's bare chest. The boy's body contracted into the air and then landed with a thump on the bed.

A sigh of relief filled the room as the heartbeat monitor flared back up. The four doctors left the room and the atmosphere of desperation dissipated.

Rei watched in horror, although he could barely keep his eyes open. Everything he saw seemed to be going in flashes. It was making him light-headed and he closed his eyes, wishing it would stop. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes. Everything in his vision tunneled before he saw darkness.

He woke up two hours later, just as the sun was beginning to set. He yawned and opened his eyes slowly. He was surprised when he did not see Tyson in his bed. Panic flared through him, heart pumping quickly as he began to consider what might have happened to him.

A nurse walked in, the same one that had attended to Tyson.

"Where is he?" Rei asked, standing up quickly.

The nurse was silent, but it spoke volumes to Rei, and realization hit him forcefully.

"You mean..." Rei whispered.

"We were able to stabilize him the first time he went into cardiac arrest. You fainted then, and a few minutes later his condition changed again. I'm afraid there just wasn't enough oxygen going through his body and his heart gave up. I'm so sorry." she said and moved to hug him.

His mouth went dry and his entire body trembled with a sorrow that threatened to consume him. Instead of letting himself be hugged, he swerved around the nurse and began to run.

"Rei!" he heard a female's voice shout, but he ignored it. He rushed down the hallway and into a bathroom.

His fingers fumbled with the razorblade, but he managed to get it out of his pocket without slicing his hands. He tugged the sleeve of his right arm hastily and put the blade to his skin.

Instead of piercing his flesh with the metal and pulling it diagonally across, he turned his arm over and stared at the flawless sin before him. He placed the razor at a point and dragged it vertically down five inches before stopping.

Blood poured out of the incision, dripping onto the tiles. He felt it burn, but the pain inside him did not diminish. He cut again, making a similar mark on the opposite side of his vein.

'Stupid. Why can't I just die and get it over with. There is no reason for me to be here anymore...unless.' Rei hesitated.

He flung the wickedly sharp blade in the tiny plastic trash can next to the toilet. The cold water went on in the faucet, and his blood tainted the pure water crimson. Holding the wound above his heart, he wrapped nearly the entire toilet paper roll, which was almost new, around his arm.

Rei darted out of the bathroom and saw what he was looking for. A cart of medical supplies had been left temporarily abandoned as the R.N. pushing them stopped to check on a patient.

Using his speed, he dashed to the cart and pulled out a box of butterfly strips and gauze, and then retreated once again to the bathroom.

He removed the toilet paper, which was starting to turn the very last layer of the bandage red. He washed his arm to remove the sticky substance and used the butterfly strips to hold the two cuts closed. He wrapped some gauze around the wound to absorb any blood that might seep out.

Carefully Rei pulled down his sleeve, making sure not to disturb the wrapping. He started to walk forward, but instead collapsed, light-headed, on the floor.

The lights blurred in front of his eyes. He gripped his arm lightly, grimaced, and stood back up. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breathes to calm his shaken nerves.

A slight tingling spread through both arms, all the way up to his shoulders. He pulled up his baggy sweatshirt sleeves and saw that all of his scars were returning. The ones that his sister had healed and removed came back, appearing slowly back in their places.

'I'm sorry, Reyna. I failed you.' he thought with a pang of guilt.

"I overdid it this time." Rei muttered hatefully, fixing his sleeves. He stalked out of tiny room.

His neko jin abilities allowed him to function normally and speedily reproduced red blood cells to replace the many he had lost. Within a few minutes, the disorientation had subsided and it was like nothing had happened to him.

Once outside of the building, he broke into a run. He continued to run along the sidewalk, sneakers pounding over and over into the cement in rhythm with his heartbeat.

'He can't be gone. Tyson...he can't be gone. He promised he wouldn't leave me..he promised!' thought Rei. 'This is all a lie. Tyson was never at the hospital. He's probably home right now with Hilary or Kai.'

He nodded, believing himself, even though in the back of his mind he knew that it was a lie. He started to walk, but then picked up speed and ran.

Houses flashed by him in star-bursts, blurred not only by movement but by the tears he refused to let out. Tyson's house wasn't that far from here.

'He's probably waiting for me right now.' the black-haired teen thought. 'Tyson, I'm going to seriously hurt you for playing around with me like that.'

Rei stopped for a break, resting his hands on his knees. Sweat covered his face and plastered his hair to his forehead.

He pealed off his sweatshirt, revealing a plain black muscle shirt, and used it to wipe his face dry. As he did, he caught a glimpse of his arms and winced.

Deep, transparent pink scars covered most of the skin on his left arm. His right arm was currently occupied by a bandage from the cuts he had made in the hospital, but underneath the bandage were similar scars. Rounded circles of dark flesh marred the undersides of both limbs; burn marks from a car's cigarette lighter. On his wrists, raised scars slashed back and forth enough to tell anyone that he'd tried several times to take his own life.

'None of which were successful.' Rei thought bitterly. 'Only because I hesitated...only because I held back...only because of my love for Tyson did I stop.'

Shivering despite the humid warmth of the coming night, he rubbed his hands up and down his shoulders. He shrank inwardly. Feeling his arms reminded him of a lizard's skin, rough and uneven.

"Dammit!" he swore loudly and angrily threw his sweatshirt on the ground. He looked both ways several times, amber eyes scanning for witnesses. There were none. He kicked the black sweatshirt a few times, left the dirty thing on the ground, and then dashed across the street and ran to Tyson's house.

He stood for several moments to gather his thoughts together, but all hope was lost when the door opened.

Hilary stared, eyes bloodshot and puffy from crying.

"Rei?" she whispered in a small voice, a voice that Rei had trouble recognizing as Hilary's.

Kai appeared next and uncharacteristically wrapped a careful arm around her to sooth the emotional girl. She turned and sobbed into his shoulder.

Max came then, and grabbed Rei's hand to pull him in. He pushed the hand aside but did not move to enter. Max's hand fell limply to his side.

"So you've heard?" asked Kai. His voice was strangely distant and it sounded hollow to Rei.

"Where is Tyson?" he demanded, pushing past them into the dojo.

At the mention of the recently deceased friend's name, Hilary burst freely into tears and hugged Kai so hard that he winced slightly, but said nothing to her.

"Rei. Come inside. We all need to sit down and talk." Kai said calmly, though his eyes betrayed the mask on his face.

"Where is Tyson? I know he is here, isn't he? Where is he!" Rei shouted.

A loud snap, like a firecracker exploding, sounded and then everything went deadly quiet.

Rei stood, stunned, and brought up a trembling hand to his stinging cheek. Hilary had slapped him. She glared at him hatefully with tear-filled eyes.

"He's gone, Rei! He...isn't here anymore. The hospital called. We all know you were there. We all know he...he...t-took his own life!" she finished ranting and broke off into sobs again.

"Come inside, Rei." Kai said and narrowed his eyes.

Numbly, he nodded, and the door closed behind him. All three sat on couches in the living room. Kai sat down with Hilary, who refused to leave his side. Max sank into a worn grey recliner while Rei slowly lowered himself onto a love seat.

"What's happened to you, Rei? You aren't..." Kai stopped, at a loss of words. "You aren't the same person we used to know. You've changed." he finished after a few seconds.

It was as Kai stated it. The Chinese beyblader had changed, and only now, as Kai said it, did he realize how much he hand changed.

"I'm not..." he began hopelessly.

"When did you start that?" Kai asked, noticing the many thick-lined scars that covered Rei's arms all the way up to his shoulders.

"Start...what." Rei spoke slowly. He sounded as lost as he felt.

"Those scars didn't get there by themselves, Rei Kon." Kai said coldly and Rei winced at the use of his full name.

"It's been four years since I started. I cut today." he said, not caring the effect his words roused from the others.

"What!" came Max's soft exclamation. He looked at Rei, at the aforementioned scars, at the bandage on his arm, and then finally looked at Rei again.

His face was pale and drawn, with huge, dark purple bags beneath his eyes. At a closer look, you could see that his eyes were also slightly red with tiredness. Max noticed how thin his friend was; saw how fragile he seemed despite his young age. Although only sixteen, Rei radiated the sad aura of a man broken down and worn by age.

"You have changed, Rei." Max said, his voice a few decibels above a whisper. The exhausted teen stood up.

The mousy-haired teen scooted closer to Kai, if that was even possible. She watched Rei fearfully, afraid he would suddenly erupt in anger.

Instead, his shoulders slumped in a pitiful image of defeat. A sigh escaped his lips, and without a word, he slipped out the door, and closed it behind him, his back turned eternally against his friends.

He retraced his footsteps slowly, not sure if someone would come out of the dojo and stop him. No one came. He walked blindly onward, letting his feet take him wherever they wanted. When he stopped, he blinked and looked down, staring at a previously abused and disowned sweatshirt. He picked it up and brushed the dust and dirt off of it.

Slipping it on over his shirt brought him a rush of superficial relief. It did nothing to help the feeling of overwhelming grief inside his heart and mind.

"What the hell is wrong with me!" he shouted furiously at himself. "Tyson's gone forever and he's not coming back! Just get it through my head already!"

The streets were empty and deserted. A slow breeze blew a few pieces of dirty newspaper around in a circle, buffeting them against a trash can. He stood, in the yellow-orange gaze of the sunset, feeling more alone than he had ever felt before.

The tears came then, small at first, but they turned into a stream of clear, salty, liquid that stained his cheeks.

He wiped them with one dark sweatshirt sleeve, and then looked at himself in disgust. "I'm pathetic. Crying won't bring him back. Nothing can." He spoke out loud. Walking onward, though he had no idea where, it began to sink into him that his boyfriend really and truly was gone.

The first thing Rei decided that night was that he was going to commit suicide. As he thought about it, he seemed to like the idea more and more.

'It will be the end to my problems. No one will care. I can slip off the face of this world forever, and I can be with Tyson. Kai and Max and Hilary will miss me, but they will move on. They will forget about me. They don't need me. I...I can't live without Tyson. He loved me. He accepted me. He understood me. Without him...I am worth nothing. He made me worth something.'

He realized that he had broken once again into a sprint, although why he hadn't noticed it immediately, he wasn't sure. As he stopped, he looked around and discovered he was near the flower place where it had been raining the day before.

"The Dying Roses Cemetery. I wonder...I wonder if they will bury Tyson next to his brother." a slanted smile crossed his face.

"It would suit him." he murmured and more tears cascaded down his cheeks.

As if the heavens felt his pain, clouds gathered overhead and rain began to fall. Raindrops pit-patted on the leaves and rolled off onto the ground. The night grew colder, damper, darker, like the emotions that engulfed his body.

Rei was broken, inside and out. Hollow through-and-through. Devastated by the loss of the only person he cared about, he felt crushed by sadness and pain.

"It's...all going to be over soon. Maybe...I should visit their graves one last time." he spoke to himself.

Wind bowed the trees, dipping their branches lower and lower until they swept the ground. Even with the rain, Rei's sensitive nose could smell the salt of the ocean.

A burdened soul heavy with guilt, sorrow, and tremendous depression made his way sluggishly up through the winding path to his sister's burial site.

"Reyna." he whispered, but through the steady deluge of rain, nothing was heard.

His black hair pasted itself to the back of his shirt. He wanted to cry, no, he wanted to scream, but this time the tears did not come. There was only silence and the monotonous sound of water hitting the earth.

Rei turned his back and walked farther up to where Takao's grave sat up on the hill.

"You've finally gotten to see your brother again, after all these years. Maybe...when I find Tyson again, I can meet you too." he said.

With his only task before death completed, he turned and left. He knew where he was going in his heart. He knew as he retraced his footsteps back through to the street, where he would be going.

It was approaching midnight when Rei arrived at his destination. Before him stood the entire ocean, and behind him stood all of his troubles. He stepped forward onto the beach.

"I like to walk on the ocean at night and feel the sand between my toes."

Rei whipped around, hearing Tyson's voice, but saw nothing.

"It sounded like he was right behind me." Rei spoke lowly in awe. Shaking his head, he kicked off his shoes and socks and began trudging through the loose sand. He didn't mind the shells that occasionally pricked his feet, nor did he mind the slippery wetness of the seaweed that he trod upon.

A rocky ledge came into Rei's vision despite the rain. He neared it and rested a hand on the rough rock to catch his breath.

A minute or so later, he climbed up the rock. It wasn't difficult. There were many deep crevices that made perfect handholds for pulling himself up.

Reaching the top, Rei could see that he was easily twenty feet above the ground. He gazed solemnly at the choppy ocean waters in front of him. Rain pelted the vast body of water ahead of him, causing huge black waves to rise and crash on the surface of the sand.

The sky was dark and thick with storm clouds. Lightning flashed within them, creating an eerie effect. A moonbeam struck Rei's face, and he looked up to see the moon through a hole in the clouds.

It startled him for a moment as he stared at his beauty. It was only a quarter moon, but you could see the rest of the darkened moon if you looked closely enough, or if you had vision like Rei's.

"It's like my soul." he whispered.

"Its all there, but not all of it is seen, and not all of it is light."

The moon disappeared behind more clouds and Rei was left in the dark. His heartbeat had quickened during his observation of the celestial body, and it raced in his chest now.

He took one step forward, and then another, until he was standing on the very edge of the cliff.

"Tyson. I'm coming!" he shouted.

He raised his arms shoulder high and started to lean forward. Suddenly an arm grabbed his shoulder and he was yanked backwards roughly. Rei stumbled back, falling onto the rock and cutting his knees on the sharp tiny rocks embedded in the larger one he was on.

"What the hell do you think your doing Rei!" two crimson eyes flashed at him.

"K-k-kai?" Rei asked, fear and grief making his voice come out small and high-pitched.

"We all lost Tyson, but I refuse to let you leave us too. Come back with me, Rei. I can get you help."

"I don't want to live anymore! Tyson's gone. He's the only person who cared about me. He loved me!" Rei shouted. Tears cascaded down his cheeks, though you couldn't tell with the rain crashing down overhead.

"That isn't true. I care about you, and so does Hilary, and Max, and Kenny. We're all here to support you. And I...I am not about to lose another friend!" Kai said determinedly. He grasped Rei's hand and pulled him up.

"Kai..." Rei spoke slowly. The heavy weight that had been tortuously sitting on his back lifted. His head nodded in thanks and he fell limp against the other teen.

A smile stained Kai's face before being washed away by concern. Carefully, he bent down and hoisted Rei onto his back. Arms dangling lifelessly over his shoulders, he cautiously scaled down the miniature mountain and began the long, wet, walk home.

Okay everyone. Now what did you think of that? I decided that since only one person reviewed, I ought to change it and then ask for everyone's opinion. This won't be the end. There will be another chapter. I don't know why, but I like the idea of this story and wanted to toy with it some more. Only thing is, I've got no idea where it's headed. I've got no direction, but I do have a slightly vague plan for later on. I don't know when the next update will be because I've got other stories to update and each chapter for this fanfic is a very long ten pages. Not to mention the fact that I go back to school tomorrow. Thanks for reading (again). Yours truly, Bottlecaps.