Another Word for Strength

Chapter 9: Love and Friendship

Friday morning Rei woke up and noticed most of his wounds had healed. The minor bruises were gone and those that were still there were small things. Just as he pushed back his covers Takao bounded in, as hyper as the night before. Rei had to do a double take and rub his eyes. He had never seen Takao up this early.

"Come on, Rei!" He cried, pulling him out of bed and pushing him towards the bathroom. "Hurry up! We've got to get ready soon. We're heading to the Beystadium early so you have to get dressed."

"Ok, Takao." Rei smiled at the boy's enthusiasm. He watched as Takao bounded back out the door and head to breakfast. Rei pulled on his clothes and went to the bathroom to splash his face with water a couple of times. 'This is going to be the most important day of my life.' He told himself, staring at himself in the mirror as beads of water trickled down his face. He almost didn't want to leave the hotel room. He sighed and walked out of the bathroom and headed for the door. Checking that he had everything he needed: Dranzer and Drigger, he left the room and headed to the buffet breakfast where he assumed Takao was eating like there was no tomorrow.

Once Takao had stopped eating (with a good reminder of the last time he ate too much) they walked slowly to the stadium to get ready for their match. They came to a halt at the front desk where a BBA official met up with them.

"Hello, boys." He greeted them. "Are you ready for your last match?"

"Yeah!" Takao cheered and pumped a fist into the air enthusiastically.

"So, who are we facing in this match?" Kenny asked.

"You will be facing Bryan, Spencer and Tala." He told them, looking over his checklist.

"What about Kai?" Max asked. "Why isn't he blading?"

"I'm not sure." The man looked at them with a perplexed look on his face. "It was really weird. They came in ten minutes ago and took him off the list. That Tala boy told me that they had other plans for him." He shook his head.

"I don't have a good feeling about this." Rei said quietly. The official offered them his best assuring smile.

"Thanks a lot." Kenny smiled back and they went to their locker room. They waited patiently for a few minutes while the announcer and the stadium executives completed getting the arena ready for their final match. Takao, who couldn't sit still, began to pace back and forth, holding his Beyblade behind his back, and Max sat on a bench staring at his pacing feet. Rei leaned up against a locker in the corner near the door with his head down and eyes closed, much like Kai would have done, had he been with them at that moment. Kenny, however, was sitting beside Max in his own little world doing who-knows-what with his little laptop.

"You'll wear a hole in the tiles." Rei said calmly, not bothering to look up and crossing his arms on his chest. Takao looked up at Rei for a second then returned his gaze to his feet.

"You can't tell me you're not nervous about being in the finals." He shot back.

"Oh, but I'm not." Rei replied, smooth as silk. He actually wasn't nervous at all. It was after the match he was worried about. There was too many things to do, too little time to do it all in. Takao snorted, but didn't say anything more. Ten minutes later the call came to have all team members enter the arena for the starting of the match.

The Bladebreakers walked through the door and entered the stadium to the sound of thunderous applause. They were the favourite to win even though the Russian team had the home advantage.

Rei looked across the stadium and noticed that the Demolition Boys were already seated and Tala was looking particularly smug, whilst Kai was looking as nervous as Takao was. He noticed that Kai kept making worried glances at Tala and that's when he noticed the two guards that sat beside Kai. He furrowed his brows at this and tried to attract Kai's attention, but the other boy refused to look across the arena at any of the Bladebreakers. Rei sat down beside Max and waited for Takao's match to begin. He was facing Spencer, the seemingly easiest of the group.

Takao, it seemed, had the advantage with speed and attack strength, but when Spencer put his hands in his pocket to fiddle with something, he began to loose his edge. The stadium began to rock with the force of an earthquake and Spencer's blade seemed to be able to anticipate each shock and bounce before the shaking could affect it. Takao called on his bit- beast, but not even the mighty Dragoon could handle the quaking and eventually his blade rolled to a stop.

"And the Demolition Boys take the first round!" the announcer cried and everyone was shocked to see Takao's bit-beast sucked up by Tala's blade. The Russian boy just laughed, watching Takao crumble to the stadium floor. The Bladebreakers knew how hard loosing Dragoon would be for him.

Max stepped up to the dish, seeking revenge for his friend, and met with Bryan. The other boy smirked at the blond and readied his launcher. Max followed suit and soon their blades were in the dish.

Draciel immediately went on the offensive, trying to force Bryan's blade out of the dish, but without any warning the other blade began to leak a foul smelling liquid. Max began to panic as Draciel began to melt at the touch of this stuff.

"Kenny, what is it?!" he asked frantically, trying to think of a way to get his blade safely out of this mess. Kenny frantically typed at his computer, trying to find a way out, but was horrified to find out what the stuff was.

"It's acid, Max!" he cried out. "It's a highly corrosive and toxic form that's going to eat right through your blade." He warned Max, but there was nothing anyone could do. Max's blade had already melted far beyond help and sizzled to a melted heap of metal in the dish. The match was over and it seemed that the Demolition Boys had won the championship. Rei only had to play the last round as a formality. Tala again held up his blade and in an instant the turtle bit-beast was gone.

Max crumpled to the floor and Takao rushed out to comfort his friend, knowing exactly what the boy was going through.

"Another tough loss for the Bladebreakers, costing them the finals." The announcer's voice sounded. "Let's see if Rei can save face by claiming the final round victory." Tala and Rei stepped up to the new dish that had been brought out, since the previous one had been partially melted.

"Rei!" Tala called out when both bladers stepped up to the dish. Rei looked up at him and noticed out of the corner of his eye that Kai was looking even more frantic than before. "How about we bet everything on this match?" Tala asked.

"What do you mean?" Rei didn't understand what Tala meant.

"I mean," he started, nodding to the guards at Kai's side. "If you win, I'll forfeit the championship to you, and free every single bit-beast the Demolition Boys have ever stolen." He offered. It sounded like a good deal to Rei, but he knew there had to be a catch.

"And if I lose?" Rei asked.

"You lose everything." Tala exclaimed, waving a hand. The guards stood up and dragged Kai towards the dish. Kai struggled for a moment, but stopped realising he wasn't strong enough to fight the burly men. "You lose your love, your bit-beast, your life."

"My life?"

"Aa. If you lose, you will return with us to the abbey, and never leave."

"That's not a fair trade!" Kenny cried, listening to Tala's offer. In fact, everyone in the stadium had heard his deal.

"Oh, but it is." Tala argued. "You'd give up everything for your friends, to save their bit-beasts, to save the world from Biovolt unleashing its bit- beasts on the world." Rei thought about his proposal. "I'm making you the deal you can't refuse. Wouldn't you give up your freedom so that your loved ones were safe?" Tala asked, nodding to the guards who immediately began to barrage Kai with fists and kicks.

"Kai!" Rei cried out. "No, let him go!"

"Kai did."

"Kai did what?" Rei asked, looking back to Tala.

"He gave up his freedom so that the boy he loved would be safe." With another nod, the men stopped hitting Kai. He fell to the floor in a limp pile. "I'm making you the same offer Kai was given. It's an offer you can't afford to say no to." Rei let out a sob, realising that he had no other way out.

"Fine." He whispered, loud enough for Tala to hear. "If I win, every bit- beast is returned, and I win the championships. If I lose, then I'll go back with you, but only if Kai is released from the abbey."

"Deal." Tala smirked and readied his launcher. Rei held up his blade and closed his eyes. 'I have never needed a win more, Drigger. Please, do your best.' He thought to the tiger.

"Three."

"Two."

"One. Let it RIP!"

Both blades erupted from their launchers with amazing speed and began their attack almost immediately. Sparks began to fly everywhere from the metal on metal and from out of no where Kai was sent another few punches, knocking Rei out of his concentration.

"Stop it!" he yelled at the guards, losing focus on the battle for a moment, allowing Tala to gain the upper hand. "Leave him alone!"

"Shouldn't you do something about this?!" Kenny called up to the referee but the ref just shrugged and shook his head.

"I'm afraid we can't do a thing about how teams treat, handle and otherwise train their members. If they were doing it to one of you, we could intervene, but for now we can only let the law handle it outside of the stadium."

"But what if he's killed?" Takao yelled defiantly back.

"I'm really sorry, but it's not our problem." The man shrugged again and returned his attention to the match. Tala was laughing, head tilted back, hands clutching his sides, laughing.

"I know why this hurts you so much Rei." He cackled and pulled a cassette player from his pocket. "Cause I know just exactly how you feel for Kai." He laughed again. Turning up the volume so everyone could hear it, he pushed play.

"What exactly is it you feel for Kai?"

"Um, well- you see..."

"Are you in love with him?"

"Hn."

"That's a typical Kai response... Does he know how you feel?"

"Hell no! I could never tell him."

Tala stopped the tape, seeing Rei's eyes widen in shock and surprise. Rei felt like he was the one receiving each blow instead of Kai. He began to wobble on his feet, much like his blade and his gaze faltered to the ground.

"And you know what the best part is?" Tala sneered, causing Rei to look up in horror. "He's not going to pass out until the pain stops. The world of medicine is wonderful these days. The things they can create. I knew it wouldn't be long before they came up with an anti-sleeping pill. Kai's been gracious to be our first test subject." Kai lifted his head and stared in horror at what Tala said. "Yes, that was what was in that glass this morning. Did you really think I was trying to make amends?" he laughed at Kai's foolishness. Kai was hit again.

Rei was being torn up inside. Between listening to Tala and trying to concentrate on the most important battle of his life, he began to lose his mind.

"STOP IT!" he screamed and fell to his knees, holding his head in his hands. He could still see Kai taking punch after punch. Kai looked up at Rei's scream and tried to reassure him everything would be okay. He tried to smile, but his face felt numb. One of the guards saw their exchange and cuffed him in the side of the head making Kai scream out in pain for the first time. This pushed Rei over the edge. He screamed like there was no tomorrow, only this time it was neither pain nor anguish in his eyes. It was pure unadulterated rage.

Hearing his master's call, Drigger was released from his blade and towered over the stadium, three times larger than anyone had ever seen him. Tala looked up at the beast and gasped. The tiger roared, feeling the anger Rei was feeding to him, while Rei began to glow. It wasn't an ethereal glow, the light was radiating from his chest a bright red. With a flash of light, Dranzer emerged from her bit and soared over to Kai, protecting him from anymore blows. Rei had been able to control and summon her from his need to protect Kai. She sent a burst of energy at the two guards that sent them flying backwards, then encased her master in a protective dome to shield him from anymore harm. Kai smiled when he felt her warmth surround him and he struggled to stand up and watch the rest of the match.

Drigger was still standing with his head held high above the crowd. He looked back to his master and then to Tala and began to growl, sending shivers up and down Tala's spine. He stalked back to the dish, his lip curled revealing a set of eerily sharp teeth, then began to gallop towards the inevitable fate that was Tala's blade. Taking a final leap, Drigger jumped straight at the blade, causing the entire dish to explode in a brilliant flash of light and a shower of dust. Before the powder could clear numerous bright lights shot out of the debris, returning to their rightful homes.

"Dragoon!" Takao cheered when his vision followed a bright blue light that disappeared into his blade. Max was speechless as he watched Draciel return to his bit-chip as well. Even the bit-beasts that were taken by Black Dranzer returned to their owners as Dranzer forced her way back into her own blade, kicking Black Dranzer out. With a cry of defeat the black fire bird emerged from his former blade and flew out of the stadium to search for a new home.

When the smoke cleared the only thing that was left was the shattered bit- chip that once was Tala's bit-beast and Rei's Drigger spinning strong. Tala couldn't speak, and even when he tried, all he got was a squeak. He couldn't believe he lost. His master plan to force Rei to give up had back- fired severely into his own face and his ego had cost him the World Championship. He looked up from the dish to Rei and his eyes widened even more. Though the blast didn't affect him in any way, something was obviously wrong with Rei.

Rei was still on his knees, but his hands were no longer covering his face, they stayed by his side. His eyes were half-lidded and his torso began to rock back and forth. Just as his eyes rolled back into his head his head tilted forward, he lost his balance and fell face first to the stadium floor. Luckily Kai was also watching Rei and saw what was about to happen. He jumped forward, escaping Dranzer's protective shield, and caught Rei before he hit the ground.

Seeing Kai leave his shell, and having lost the only thing Tala had left, he ordered the guards to attack Kai again.

"Get him!" he cried, driven by a different kind of rage then Rei had been.

"I don't think there will be anymore attacking by anyone." Mr. Dickenson's voice rang clear over all the commotion. Everybody looked up at the old man curiously.

"Biovolt has been shut down." He explained. "You, young man, are going to youth prison for as long as I can get them to hold you. Boris will be heading to court and Voltaire," he paused looking directly at Kai. "Voltaire is going to a prison where he can never get parole. Alcatraz is lovely at this time of year and I'm sure they have a nice padded room for him. He's being arrested right this moment." Kai gasped.

"How..." he whispered audibly. "What for?"

"He's being held for about a couple dozen charges of child abuse, attempted rape, assault, first degree murder on two counts, your parents I believe, and a few more I can't remember." Mr. Dickenson explained. Everyone was shocked.

"How did you find all this out?" Takao asked.

"Rei did a wonderful thing for you, vowing not to tell the Bladebreakers about your grandfather's abuse, and coming to me instead. I just called in a few favours and dialled a few numbers and found quite a lot of evidence to put them all away for a good many lifetimes." He told Kai. Kai smiled and nodded. "I'm sorry for not keeping the same promise, but you understand that it had to come out if you were ever to be able to be free of that man. Don't blame Rei, he was only doing what he thought was right."

"It's okay." Kai replied, fully understanding just what Rei did for him. "I couldn't be mad at him. He's done more for me than I could ever hope to do for him in return." Mr. Dickenson smiled and nodded up to the stands. They all looked up to see Voltaire being carried away by several police. Kai smiled again and held Rei closer to him. He only then realised the old man was holding Takao, Max and Kenny back from running up to him and Rei. He closed his eyes and nuzzled Rei's neck tightly. He had heard everything from the cassette and vowed himself he'd never leave Rei's side again.

"K-Kai?" Rei whispered hoarsely. He had begun to wake up and started to sob into Kai's shoulder. "I'm so sorry! I tried to win the match, but all the stuff he was saying and those guards were doing-" Kai pulled back and brought a hand to his lips to quiet his unnecessary ramblings.

"You won." Kai whispered back to him. "Voltaire is in jail, as is Boris and Tala. You freed everyone's bit-beasts and won the championship all by yourself."

"I did?" he looked into Kai's eyes to make sure there was no mistake. Kai smiled, had been doing that a lot lately, and nodded.

"Thank you, Rei, for telling Mr. Dickenson about what my grandfather was doing to me." He thanked the Chinese boy and helped him stand. Rei gave a small smile and accepted his help. They hadn't yet noticed that they were gathering an audience. A man and a woman were climbing down the aisles towards their little group.

"Rei, I heard you're 'confession' on the cassette." Kai started, turning to look at Rei again. He was determined to get this out in the open before he lost his chance. Rei winced and looked down to his feet. He was afraid of what Kai was going to say next.

"Oh, you did?" he exclaimed, trying to hide the turmoil of emotions he was going through at the moment.

"Aa, and I want you to know that I feel the same way." Rei opened his eyes and snapped his head towards Kai to check if he was only making fun.

"Y-you do?" he stammered, dumbstruck as Kai leaned closer.

"Aa, I do." He whispered and pressed his lips to Rei's. For a moment Rei stood there with his eyes open, unmoving, until his brain finally kicked in and he realised what was happening. He slowly closed his eyes and pressed back, opening his lips just enough to run his tongue across Kai's lips. Kai opened his lips in response and they began a tongue war. It would have lasted longer had it not been for an unwanted clearing of the throat.

"He has your eyes, Hun." A woman cooed, staring at the new couple. "Though we'll have to find him a more suitable girlfriend." The man beside her nodded in agreement.

"Hai, we can't have this sort of thing going on." He looked Kai up and down in disgust. "I'm sure we can find a nice rich girl for him."

Rei turned to the two people who were bad talking Kai and glared at them.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he snarled, narrowing his eyes at the couple.

"Your parents, young boy. And if you'll just disentangle your limbs from that, we can be on our way." The woman explained, motioning to Kai with enough disgust to match her husbands. Kai narrowed his eyes as well and stepped in front of Rei.

"Look, I know all about you. Rei's not going with leeches like you." He snorted, throwing the woman a glare that would stop a deer in its tracks.

"Leeches?!" The woman exclaimed, thoroughly offended. "Do you know who you are talking to?"

"Hai." Kai snorted again and crossed his arms stubbornly across his chest. "You're nothing but greedy, back-stabbers who don't give a shit about Rei, only the money he can make you."

"How dare you." The man stood up for his wife and himself. Takao ran forward and grabbed the man's coat.

"If Rei doesn't want to go with you, then he's not going." He looked sternly at the two. He didn't know the exact reason for Rei not wanting to go with these people, but if he didn't want to go, Takao and the other Bladebreakers weren't going to let him. The woman shot him a quick glare for butting his nose in and turned back to her son.

"Oh, Rei darling, how could you do this to your parents?" she whined, giving him a pleading look.

"How could I do this to you?!" Rei screamed. "You abandoned me when I was little. Kai's right. You ditched me when you thought I would use up your money and now that I'm part of the team that won the championships, all you can think about is how much money you might be able to gain from this." He spat at them. They looked to each other, aware that they were losing this argument.

"You heard him, now leave." Kai added, stepping forward. They weren't as angry as before, but now they were worried that their scheme wouldn't work out so well.

"But we're family." Rei's mother pointed out, trying to get some sympathy out of her only child. Rei only looked away.

"I already have a family and you're not part of it." He said. Mr. Dickenson decided this was where he should end it.

"You know, this is being taped and broadcasted by the BBA." He pointed out. "You're already going to have to spend quite a bit to redeem your reputation. Leave before it costs you a lot more." He growled. They looked frantically from face to face but none of them were on the Kons' side.

"Fine. This is more trouble than it's worth." And with that they turned on their heels and left the stadium without a backwards glance.

Rei's smile returned to his face and he looked at everyone.

"Thanks you guys." He exclaimed. "I don't think I could have turned them down without your support." He grinned. Takao cheered and everyone embraced Rei in a group hug.

Everyone, that is, except Kai. When Rei looked at him questioningly, all he got was a withering stare and a snort. Kai would never change. Rei began to laugh and soon he had everyone laughing, including Kai who gave an encouraging chuckle. Nobody expected him to be able to change overnight.

Rei freed himself from everyone's hug and ran over to Kai's open arms. They held each other for a long while before Rei kissed Kai briefly on the lips.

"Thanks to you especially." He smiled. Kai narrowed his eyes at Rei and hissed.

"Don't think that gets you out of trouble. I know how you bent my promise so you could tell Mr. Dickenson." He glared long and hard at him. Rei sweat dropped and tried again. He planted a smouldering kiss on Kai's lips and smirked when he felt Kai move with him. When they parted for air, Kai sighed.

"Ok, so maybe it does get you out of trouble." He whispered. "So long as you keep doing it." He grinned slyly. Rei laughed and pulled Kai towards the locker room, following the rest of their team. Kai was back for good. With Rei and with the Bladebreakers.

Two days later, while on the plane back to Japan, Rei rolled over in his seat and faced Kai who had his chair leaning all the way back so he could stare at the ceiling. He didn't bother to turn, he knew Rei was awake.

"What?" he asked after getting fed up with having Rei stare at him for a while.

"You're very strong." Rei announced. "Did you know that?" Kai turned to look at Rei and gave him a funny look.

"No, you've seen me at my weakest. How could you say that that person is strong?"

"That's the precise reason that you are strong." Rei retorted. "You let me see you when you weren't strong at all. Allowing yourself to get over your pride is true strength." Rei grinned. "So is love and friendship." Kai nodded and smiled.

"And now that I have both, I'm the strongest man alive? Is that right?" he asked.

"Pretty much." Rei replied.

"And you're going to take responsibility for it all, ne?" he continued.

"Pretty much." Rei grinned. Kai turned to look at him and gave him a genuinely happy smile. He leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"And you know you're so full of shit, ne?"

"Pretty much."

Owari

[EDIT] Like the edit on Immortal Blood, this story will not have a sequel. Maybe in the future someone will return me to it, but as of now Beyblade doesn't even make the top twenty list of my favourites.