This was an idea that just would not go away. Whilst I was desperately trying to attend to the neglected children that are my other fics, this one kept distracting me. Please enjoy this interlude.

'The Nike Look' – Just Do It

"So, how'd it go?"

Tyson slumped in the chair opposite with an air of dejection. "Terrible, if you must know."

"Oh," replied Hilary, putting down her coffee cup. "I take it he said no?"

She'd been sitting in the bright, air café for some time, awaiting Tyson's return. She'd lost count of how many Danishes she'd eaten and lamented how many hours she'd have to spend in the gym to compensate for them, but unfortunately, more appeared to be needed. Tyson looked to be sinking into a deep depression.

He slumped onto the table and hit his forehead against it for good measure. "Why Kai?"

"Oh, Tyson, don't start that again," she scolded. "I thought we'd been over this."

"But why him? Why do I torture myself like this for him?"

Hilary sighed. They had indeed been over this. That very morning, in fact, in this very café. Tyson had clearly forgotten.

"Because he's tall, dark and handsome? Because he's a great leader and a good friend? Come on, Tyson, there's no shame in liking Kai! He's a very fine specimen of a man."

"Exactly," muttered Tyson.

"What happened? It can't have been that bad."

"It was awful," he replied, sitting up and looking mournful. "It couldn't have gone worse."

"Don't be such a drama queen. Start from the beginning."

"Okay," he took a deep breath. "I left here and went straight home. Kai was in the back yard, training. He asked me if I wanted to join in, but I said no, I had something to tell him. He looked at me real weird. I swear, Hilary, it was like he already knew what I was going to say!"

"Carry on," she urged, signalling a waitress for two more coffees.

"I thought I'd better just come straight out with it, so I said, 'I like you, Kai' and he looked at me like I'd just sprouted another arm. So, I thought, maybe I wasn't clear enough, so I said, 'As in, more than a friend'.

"He just stood there and didn't say anything. And all I could think was 'shitshitshitshitshit'. I must have looked like such a dork, waiting there. Eventually, he said, 'I'm sorry Tyson'."

"Oh, Tyson," said Hilary consolingly, but he cut her off.

"I'm not finished. So I said, 'It's 'cause you're not gay, isn't it?' but he answered, real quick, 'No. That's not it at all'. I was crapping myself, so I asked if he hated me 'cause I was gay, but he said no to that too.

"I asked him what was wrong, then, since he was acting so weird. He went so shifty, Hil, like Ray gets if you ask why he's not with Mariah, so I asked him again. I got all up in his face and said, 'So what is it then?'. I tried to get him angry so he'd let something slip, but he just looked at the ground, looking about as terrified as Kai ever gets."

"And?" Hilary was so absorbed that she let her coffee cool on the table. "What happened?"

"He said, real slowly, like he was thinking really hard about what he was saying, 'It's not that I'm totally straight, and I definitely don't hate you because you're gay, but-'"

The waitress interrupted briefly with the new coffees and a selection of pastries. Hilary waited until she was gone and then looked at Tyson expectantly.

"He said, 'I'm already with someone else'."

"What?!" cried Hilary, almost knocking over her cup.

"That's what I said," he replied, looking dejectedly out of the window and ignoring the Danish on his plate. Hilary noted this with concern. Tyson not eating was paramount to the apocalypse.

"But, who?" she asked.

"Dunno. He wouldn't say and I wasn't that keen on sticking around. I came straight here."

"Who, though?" she mused, sipping her coffee. "I had no idea Kai'd ever been involved with anyone."

"Hilary!" Tyson looked indignant. "You're supposed to be making me feel better!"

"I'm sorry, Tyson, but this isn't just about you. I'm interested in who Kai's going out with. At least one good thing's come out of this."

"What's that?"

"We know for sure that Kai's not straight, so it's most likely that he's got a boyfriend, not a girlfriend."

"Who would Kai go out with if he was straight? Every girl we know is taken, except Mariah, who's still trying to convince Ray, and Julia, who Michael's had his eye on for ages."

"I did see him talking to some girl at the last BBA party..." suggested Hilary, tapping her chin. "Pretty. Blonde. I think she's one of the tournament coordinators."

"She's a lesbian and has been going out with that radio DJ, Harriet Something, for the past year. Max tried to hit on her and got rejected."

"Well then, he must be going out with a guy then. Unfortunately, that leaves us with a lot of options."

It was true; Beyblading was a sport full of single, closet gays. Closet, because they didn't dare leak their status to the press; single, because they were so good at hiding it that even other gay guys didn't pick up on it.

"What about Oliver?"

"Tyson, you can't just spout the names of obviously gay guys. You know he only has eyes for Enrique and there's the fact that Kai hates him. Thinks he'll catch cooties off him or something. Anyway, if Kai were going out with an openly gay guy, the paparazzi would probably have picked up on it by now."

"So, do you know any closet gays, apart from me?"

"Well, actually, I know quite a few."

"Who?"

"Tala, for starters."

"Tala's gay?" Tyson sputtered, looking scandalised.

"Of course. And going out with Bryan."

"Bryan's gay?!"

"Yes, but neither of them are going out with Kai," replied Hilary smoothly, ignoring Tyson's look of shock. "Let's see... Who else? Miguel..."

"Miguel?!"

"Yes, Tyson, don't you know anything?" she asked exasperatedly. "You're gay! Shouldn't you pick up on these things?"

"My gay-dar is broken. It always has been. I've always thought that only women have it. You clearly do, so you tell me!"

"I think that our best bets are Miguel, Garland and Johnny. Kai wouldn't touch Brooklyn with a bargepole and everyone else is wallowing in unrequited love."

"Johnny?"

"Are you blind? They flirt with each other constantly!"

"But I thought they hated each other!"

"As I suspected. Blind as a bat."

"Hey!"

Tyson's retort was cut short, however, as Ray entered the café.

"Uh, hi guys. Everything okay?" he asked as he approached them.

"Yeah, everything's just fine," grumbled Tyson, slumping in his seat again.

"Oh?" said Ray, briefly distracted as he got to the counter. "Hi, can I have one white chocolate mocha and a double espresso with a shot of vanilla to go please?" He paid and pulled up a chair to wait until his order was ready.

"What's up?"

As Tyson was unresponsive, Hilary supplied, "Tyson told Kai he liked him."

"Oh?" Ray looked quickly at Tyson and Hilary could have sworn he looked more than concerned. Wary, perhaps? "What happened?"

"Rejected," Tyson sighed. "I'm destined to be single and lonely forever."

"That's not true, Tyson!" Ray now had a look on his face that Hilary could only describe as relieved. "You just need to eat some ice-cream and watch Pride and Prejudice. A few hours of mooning over Colin Firth will make you feel much better. Oh, gotta go. My order's ready. See you guys later!"

Ray left, leaving a depressed Tyson and a thoughtful Hilary in his wake.

"What's got you thinking so hard?" Tyson grumbled. "I can hear the cogs in your brain whirring. It's making me feel stupid just looking at you."

"I think I'm on to something," she said quietly.

"Hmm?"

"I think it's Ray."

"What about Ray?"

"I think that Ray's going out with Kai."

"Ray?! Why?" Tyson lurched out of his stupor.

"Think about it. He's Kai's best friend, he's always turned Mariah away and won't say exactly why, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights when I said you liked Kai, he's never wallowed in unrequited love and he's just come in and bought a double espresso with vanilla, which I know for a fact is Kai's favourite drink."

Tyson looked as if it was taking a few moments to sink in. When it did, he took on a look of resolve that took Hilary by surprise.

"Let's grab him," he said, before sprinting out of the café.

Hilary only stopped to throw money at the waitress before tearing after him. She caught up with him just as Ray came into view, waiting at a set of lights.

"Ray!" Tyson called. Ray turned around, looking surprised.

"What's going on, guys? Is something the matter?"

"We know, Ray," Tyson gasped, trying to catch his breath.

"Know what?"

"About you and Kai!" said Hilary, skidding to a halt.

"What about me and Kai?"

"Don't play the innocent act, Ray! You're as camp as a row of tents!"

Ray sighed and sat down heavily on the kerb. "Crap."

Hilary and Tyson sat next to him, ignoring the car horns that blared in their direction.

"How long?" asked Hilary tentatively.

"Three years," replied Ray, staring at the tarmac. "Since the beginning."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Don't know. Never seemed the right time." He sighed heavily. "Kai's gonna kill me."

"I'm sure he won't," soothed Hilary. "It could be worse. The press could have gotten wind of it and then you'd be hounded by paparazzi everyday."

She ate her words a week later when an article in a popular magazine bore the headline: "Kai Hiwatari and Ray Kon – Clandestine Love Affair!". She supposed that their conversation must have been overheard by a journalist and wondered if she could destroy every copy of said magazine before Ray or Kai found out. Either that or book herself and Tyson tickets to the bahamas to live in hiding until the resulting media storm blew over.