Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, if I did HBO would give me a contract because there would be so much sex, it would make the makers of Game of Thrones blush.

Beyblade; that was the name of the game. His passion. His obsession. He loved the feeling of being one with his trust-worthy and beloved phoenix, Dranzer. In a beybattle, nothing mattered but you and your opponent. Race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, status and wealth meant nothing; only skill and sometimes luck. He brought his best to the dish every time, which is why he had been the best…had been…until a blader came from out of the blue. Oh sure, Kai had trounced him the first time, but this kid hadn't given up like the others had. Their second battle had been a draw, and that battle was the first time he had witnessed the child's power and met the spirit of the ancient blue dragon that resided in the boy's blade. Then came their third battle and that child- Tyson, won.

They say you could learn a lot from losing and Kai discovered that he had a lot to learn from the teenager.

Tyson brought more to the dish than anyone could ever imagine. Learning from every match, the dual-haired teen watched in fascination in how the baseball-capped, loud-mouth, uncouth, obnoxious, over-confident rookie progressed into the world champion- three times over.

As Kai had stood there, frozen to that small slate of ice after betraying his teammates, stolen the bitbeasts from those that opposed him, certain that death would take him, that boy had reached out to him. Begged for Kai to let him save his life. He realized then what that boy brought to the dish that no one else had…heart. The sheer love of the game, deep-respect for his opponents and his faith in his own abilities set Tyson apart from the rest. His unrelenting will-power made him the best. Just like that Tyson had made Kai fall in love with the game all over again.

Immediately Kai's game improved significantly with this burning passion and his Dranzer's flames burned brighter than ever before. His newfound passion soon turned into obsession and nearly 2 full years later, he had found himself face to face with his rival once more. That time it was in a packed stadium, fighting for the title of world champion- but more importantly- after all the battles and painful losses and training, which of them was truly the best?

That battle had been absolutely wicked.

Their very souls had been pressed up against each other, they had somehow read each other's every move, coming up with the perfect counter for every attack. Their beasts arised and literally brought down the roof. Every impact of their blades sent shockwaves that shook their bodies to the very core. Then, when their final attacks collided, he and Tyson were transported to a place where the universe spread out before them, over a sparkling sea and they laid on a beach as shooting stars passed overhead. He had felt so alive then, that he was capable of anything.

Ever since then he and Tyson had been trying to reach that place, but every time they tried, there was always a fear of the battle getting out of hand and seriously hurting an innocent bystander or creature; as even the friendliest of matches now had explosive results.

What they needed was a beystadium- something they both felt right at home at, where they could unleash their full power, completely customized to withstand both Dranzer's and Dragoon's mightiest attacks. His eyes widened, but what if he was the one who could customize a beystadium? Make it have protective, energy absorbing walls?

When he had turned 18 he had inherited all of his grandfather's estates, finances and most importantly- Hiwatari Enterprises, a prestigious military company that specialized in small and ordnance weapons. Mr. Stanley Dickenson, the chief director of the Beyblade Association or BBA, and a long-time mentor and friend to him, Tyson and their teammates, offered his guidance to help him completely take over the company, legally. Their first order of business was dismissing anyone who was associated with Biovolt.

God, that day had been glorious! Nothing like seeing a bunch of old geezers' tremble at the sight of Dranzer, before hauling ass.

The perk of being the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company? Money was no longer an issue.

His mind traveled back to the beystadium. All he had to do was design the damn thing. He ran his fingers through his ash-tone bangs. His drawing skills made Tyson look like Davinci (despite how well he could paint his iconic blue triangles…that took an alarming amount of practice and some days, they really did look like shit.) He needed someone who he could trust, who knew exactly what their bitbeasts could do and could design the stadium down to the last detail.

He smirked when a certain nerdy brunette came to mind. Walking over to the phone, he was about to pick it up, when he remembered that the Chief really didn't do phones. He went over to the computer and sent off an email instead, hoping it wouldn't take too much coaxing for the young genius to agree to his plans.

He looked around his small one-bedroom flat. It was decored with memorabilia of his years of blading. Old team pictures and blades were placed safely in a glass case.

He smiled sadly, the flat wasn't much different from the one he owned when he went to Whitney Prep School, where he met Wyatt. Still, nearly four years later, the boy's death shook him. He still blamed himself and wondered what things would be like if he had taken the eager blader under his wing. That battle he had with Gokei only proved how much Wyatt's death affected him. But Tyson was there, he was there to talk sense into him, to help him remember who exactly he was fighting and why he was fighting in the first place. In the end he had gotten his revenge, completely shattering the bitbeast responsible in the process.

Still…no one deserved Wyatt's fate.

He was forever grateful to Tyson, not once did he mention his complete lack of composure after the battle. Only patting him on the shoulder and telling him how brilliant his final move was. He needed that.

That was one of the Dragoon Wielder's more admirable qualities; he was a really good friend. As proven in their last epic battle, he really did understand Kai on levels that no one else ever will. His unwavering faith in him made Kai push himself to be better than what his grandfather had raised him to be. It made him want to be a better person all together.

Somewhere, deep in his heart Kai knew he would always be there for his teammates. His first instinct was to protect them, as their leader and as the physically strongest member on their team, he would take the most vicious and devastating attacks if it meant the others would be safe. He wasn't sure when or how it happened, at first it just seemed like it was his responsibility, now if someone so much as looked at them funny, he wanted to crack open their skull. On the other hand, if he was the one causing them pain, it was perfectly acceptable. Had he accidently adopted a big brother role?

…he was surprisingly okay with this realization…

A sudden 'ping' brought him back to reality. He went back to his laptop to find a reply from Kenny. /Wow Kai, I wasn't expecting to hear from you! It's a good thing though! I would be more than happy to help you with your project. What is it?/

The Russian decided to cut it straight to the point. /Thinking of building a stadium that can handle Dragoon and Dranzer without destroying the place. Do you think you could design this: yes or no? /
This way he could avoid a long-winded answer.

Seconds ticked by like centuries before Kenny replied./Can I ask Judy's team for help? /

/Yeah, just don't tell the entire world about it. /

The next reply was instantaneous. /Then yes. Give me a week and I'll come over with the initial specs. /

Kai's face broke into a grin, apparently there were more benefits to having friends than he had initially thought. /One more thing, / he typed / don't tell Tyson or the others. /

/Will do Kai. /

He relaxed in his leather director's chair and looked out the window. "Tyson, looks like we'll have our rematch after all."

True to his word, by week's end, the little genius showed up at his front door with several blueprints in hand. Kai let him in and over tea they discussed finances. "So explain to me how this energy-absorbing, basically nuclear explosion-proof glass will only cost me 50 grand?"

The boy sighed. "Because they're doing it for the challenge and not the money. If they succeed it will be revolutionary technology, they only wish they had thought of it sooner."

"Hn. Whatever."

"I'll take that as approval." He returned to the blueprints. "So overall, you're looking at around five million, and a total of ten months of construction."

"Make it six."

"Wha-?"

"Hire more men and get it done in six months." He gave a half-hearted glare so Kenny knew he was serious, as he sipped his tea.

"O-okay then."

"Is that everything then?"

"What about the tournament?"

"I'll announce it once the stadium is complete. Not a word about it until I say so, got it?"

Kenny nodded. "I got it Kai. Though I gotta say it's nice that you're finding other ways to battle Tyson other than just switching teams."

"Hn."

Taking that as a cue that he should leave, Kenny grabbed his things and headed for the door. As he was putting on his shoes he looked back and said "By the way, you should come visit the dojo soon. Tyson has been more than a little mopey and lost since everyone went their separate ways again. When it comes time to train again, I can only push him so far. It's always been you who has inspired Tyson to go as hard as he can. Keep that in mind." He then walked out, leaving the former team captain plenty to think about.

Kai sighed, feeling a little guilty. It had been a few months since he last spoke to any of his former teammates. Sorting out everything with Hiwatari Enterprises had kept him busy. He did do what he could. He made sure to send presents to Ray, Max and Kenny on their birthdays, and he actually made an appearance at Tyson's.

If he was being completely honest with himself though, work had nothing to do with it. During his last battle with Tyson, he realized that his feelings for the bluenette went far beyond friendship. They had this weird connection and understood each other better than they understood themselves. To put it bluntly, he was completely in love with the boy.

In the battle with Brooklyn, where he had laid his own life on the line, it wasn't just so he could get his revenge, nor to reclaim his pride and standing…it was to protect Tyson and to inspire him to win his following matches. He had asked himself why so many times, but when Tyson smiled at him, with that confident, happy-go-lucky grin, he had his answer.

So now, he was avoiding him. It's not like he feared Tyson ever ending their friendship if he found out, the kid was friends with a damn robot for Christ's sake. But, he knew the pain of rejection all too well. With his father walking away from his family for blading, and his mother basically ignoring his presence after that, and being raised in the abbey…he had enough rejection to last a lifetime. But deep-down his biggest fear was, that if Tyson didn't feel the same, they would lose that connection between them…forever.

But the thought of the boy being unhappy gnawed at his insides.

Cursing Kenny to all hell, he changed into his battle outfit, quite happily ditching the tie for his silky scarf, applied his face paint and grabbed his smartphone (in case the company decided to fall apart in the next few hours) and most importantly, Dranzer, and he headed out the door.

As he walked towards the dojo, he wondered when was the last time he went for a walk just for the hell of it. It felt like ages! Deciding that he had time, he stopped at one of his old haunts to see if his furry friend would be still lurking there. "Meko?" he called out hesitantly down the alley.

At the sound of his voice, a black feline poked its head out from one of the crates and came up to him, meowing a greeting before brushing up against his leg. He bent down and pet her and she started purring. Noticing the feline's bulging belly, he ever so gently touched her stomach, gasping when he felt movement. His cerise eyes suddenly filled with worry. "You on your own?" The soon-to-be-mother meowed over her shoulder. A strong-looking orange tabby appeared from behind one of the crates and cautiously approached Kai.

Kai sighed in relief. She really did need a mate like this. Getting an idea, he tore a piece of fabric from his scarf and held it in front of the male. "Listen, if she needs help, come and find me." As if understanding, the tabby nuzzled his hand and allowed the scarf to be tied around its neck.

Petting the cats one last time, he continued on his walk. Looking down at his hand where he felt the miracle of life, a small, soft smile graced his lips. There was a part of him that wondered if he will ever have that.

As he neared the dojo he could hear Tyson's grandfather doing his morning kendo practices. As he neared the archway, his heart began to race and for a split second he didn't know if he was more terrified to see Tyson, or to never see him again. Shaking it off, he braced himself, as Grandpa Kinomiya was more eccentric and lively than what he was used to.

"Hey K-man! Long-time no see, how's it hanging?" the elder greeted as soon as he saw his grandson's friend.

"Hn."

Unfazed by the man's reaction, the martial artist just laughed. "As talkative as ever I see. Well no need to say too much. Stanley has told me all about your excitement the last few months. Gotta say I'm proud of you little dude! To be honest we were a little worried that you would just burn down the place."

Warmth and happiness filled his being. How the old man could care so much was beyond him. All he knew was that he felt more at home here than anywhere else. "I won't lie, Gramps, the idea may have crossed my mind once or twice. Tyson still sleeping?"

"You bet your beyblade he is. I'm hoping that seeing you will break him out of the funk he's in, ya feel me?"

"Yeah." He looked to the sky, it was a beautiful Saturday morning, not a cloud in sight. "He's not going to like me today, I can tell you that much."

"Sometimes being a friend isn't about whether or not they like you. Sometimes it's about you giving them what they need."

Kai smiled, "Hn." and walked into the dojo, heading directly to Tyson's room. Outside the door he could hear the world champion's obnoxious snoring. He opened up the door to reveal the teenager on his back, wearing a yellow night-shirt, a pair of baby-blue boxers, and one hand at the side of his pillow and the other draped on his chest. Thinking back to how Hilary used to get him up, he slammed one hand on the floor. "TYSON!" he bellowed.

…nothing…

Ok, this was going to be harder than he thought. He grabbed a bucket of cold water and threw it on the sleeping boy.

…nope…

Left eye twitching in irritation, he grabbed one of the many kendo sticks that were around the house, and gave a mighty swing, smacking the headboard.

…Bloody hell. Could anything wake this kid up?! This was the entire reason why he left waking duty to the others. He was about to leave and find a firehose when he noticed the ends of his scarf were tickling the teen's nose and Tyson was actually stirring.

Feeling mischievous and playful, he gently guided the scarf so it was under the teen's nose and wiggled it slightly. The heavy sleeper pushed the fabric away and rolled onto his right side. Kai waited a few seconds before resuming his tickling. Tyson batted the material away and changed positions. This was actually becoming quite fun, almost like teasing a cat, the Russian continued his actions until Tyson finally got smart and laid on his stomach. Kai was about to give up, when he noticed the small of Tyson's back exposed. He lightly tickled the area and Tyson shot up out of bed laughing. "Hey, hey! That's just playing dirty!"

Kai chuckled. "Well I tried nearly everything else."

Tyson froze, he knew that smoky voice anywhere. Slowly he turned around to see his rival, a confident smirk playing on his lips. "Kai! Long-time no see Bud!"

Seeing Tyson's welcoming smile, the Phoenix Master wondered why he had taken so long to come back. "Well, I do have a company to run." He said smugly.

"Doesn't mean you can't at least call!"

"Hn."

A playful grin appeared on Tyson's face. "If you need help installing a phone in your fancy new office, I'm sure the Chief would be willing to help."

"Y'know I was considering going easy on you Kinomiya, but you just earned yourself five laps."

Tyson blinked. "What? We're training today? Why?"

"So you don't go soft on me."

"Damn, I was hoping there was going to be another tournament or something so we could get the team back together!"

"Well after the damage that you did to the last stadium, people are hesitant to host any tournaments that include the G-revolutions, but…you never know."

Mahogany eyes stared at him inquisitively. "Okay, spill it."

"Hn?"

"You're acting like you know something, which usually means that you do. Also you don't really associate with me unless there is a tournament going on. And last I checked, it's not my birthday." He grinned.

Damn, just when he needs Tyson to be the clueless, happy-go-lucky teen, he decides to be observant for once…maybe some of his mental training did sink in after all… "Okay, so maybe I heard something up the grapevine and maybe I just need a break from work. You'll never know."

Tyson patted him on the shoulder. "Either way, it's good to see you Kai. You're welcome anytime."

"Admit it, you missed me."

Tyson brightened. "Did I ever! You training with me or am I running laps all by myself?" he said as he started throwing clothes on.

Kai smirked, noting the challenging tone in Tyson's voice. "Hn. Just try to keep up."

"After breakfast, or probably in your case, lunch. Do try to eat more than just a breadcrumb." He teased.

"At least I never had to miss a match because my eyes are bigger than my stomach."

"Hey! That was one time! I could have SO taken him." The Japanese teenager protested.

"Kenny blowing on you was enough for you to lose your balance. You may have had a chance if your opponent passed out due to the noxious fumes coming out of your ass."

Before the younger could make a comeback, Gramps called "Hey little dudes, are you going to stand there flapping your lips all day or are you actually going to be doing something productive?!" The pair were suddenly aware of the aroma of eggs, rice and bacon."

"Coming Gramps!" Tyson hollered. When the boys entered the kitchen, they were surprised to see Kenny there, sitting at the table. "Oh hey Chief!" Tyson greeted happily. Kai simply glared down the boy with a look that screamed shut-up or die. "Kai and I are going to do some training today because this is Kai's weird way of taking a break from work apparently." He started loading his plate with enough food to feed three people. "You sticking around?"

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. How about while you two are doing your exercises I upgrade your blades for you?" Kenny offered, pulling out his laptop.

"Yeah! That would be sweet Chief!" The world champions each pulled out their most precious possession and left it in their friend's care while they ate their breakfast. The bluenette smiled when he saw Kai with an actual decent-sized portion on his plate.

"So what's the regimen today, Kai?" asked Kenny.

The dual-haired bladed sipped his orange juice. "5 mile run, 500 push-ups, 250 squats, then launch practices and finally sparring." He waited for the Dragoon wielder to start complaining but was shocked when the teen only put on his trademark baseball cap.

"Alright let's get started!"

Y'know at first, Kenny was really excited for Kai and Tyson to be training together again, but soon as their 5 mile run started, it became apparent why they needed Max and Ray around, and holy beyblades did they ever need them! Tyson and Kai's competitive natures completely overthrew logic, reasoning and above all, SAFETY!

The 5 mile run had started as a light jog, but then they started fighting and now? Well those two maniacs were free-running all over the city and by free-running, he meant jumping from one rooftop to the other! They were trying to out-do the other in acrobatics and speed. The bladers had a habit of pushing each other beyond their limits, but this was utterly insane! They had been going hard for about 3 hours now! The mousey brunette had been desperately trying to follow them after their race had started, but after the second time they passed him, he had completely given up and just settled on focusing his attention on their blades. How much power the duo had was truly astounding and it inspired him to re-create their blades from scratch so that they could handle both theirs and their bitbeast's power. Luckily Judy had sent him a bunch of new beyparts with a mixture of new metals to experiment with.

Simultaneously he was adding information on what kind of beydishes the new stadium should have. Watching them train was definitely a wake-up call on how big the stadium needed to be. He would have to talk to Kai about that later.

An hour later both champion bladers collapsed in front of him, both were breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. Kenny sighed and put away his equipment and ran over to them with a case of water bottles, carefully placing them into the exhausted blader's hands. It was a full 5 minutes before they registered their gift, before finally putting the life-giving fluid to their lips. Each gave a grateful smile.

"I. Think. We. Can. Call it. A. Draw." Panted Tyson, his blue bangs sticking to his face.

"Yeah." Kai agreed, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his own slate bangs soaked with sweat. "How many miles chief?"

"Let's just say you both just broke a bunch of world records. You have been running for 4 hours and 27 minutes, at a speed so fast, I'm surprised the X-men haven't found us yet."

"Hn. One team is enough for me, thanks." The Russian scowled, making Tyson chuckle.

"Oh come on! You could be like Wolverine!" teased Tyson.

Kai smirked. "He wishes he could be half the badass I am."

Kenny just looked at the pair incredulously. By all means they should be dead or at the very least laying in a hospital somewhere! Instead they were laughing and joking like they hadn't just been running all afternoon.

"You know, Kinomiya, I think we can skip the main course and go straight for dessert. Chief our blades?"

Yup, these two were defiantly crazy. Kenny gave them each shiny new versions of Dranzer and Dragoon. "They still have the same cores, so no need to learn how to control them, but everything else has been changed to a lighter and sturdier metal that will increase your spin velocity and withstand more powerful attacks. Though there is a new core I'm designing myself, that you might have to learn in a few months or so."

"So what you're saying is that we can battle but not go all out." Confirmed Kai.

"Exactly."

"Fine. Ready your blade Kinomiya."

The boys prepared their blades over a large dish that they had set-up at the beach years ago. "3…2…1…LET IT RIP!" cried Kenny.

Blue and white blurs whizzed out of their launchers.

OH GOD they needed Max and Ray back.

The beydish, several trees and power lines were all destroyed and both bladers were on their knees, clothes torn, with cuts littering their bodies.

"Hey Chief. Good work on our blades." Tyson said weakly, holding up his Dragoon. "Not a scratch." His Dragoon glistened in the setting sun.

"Thank goodness for small miracles." Breathed the 16-year old, frowning slightly. "You guys okay?" Both Tyson and Kai seemed a little out of it.

"Yeah…just fine Chief." Said Tyson, as both he and his rival struggled to their feet. "Hey Kai, think we have might have overdone it?"

"No such thing." Kai stood up at last and walked up to Tyson. He watched the bluenette stand up, before swaying slightly. Kai's instincts took over and he caught Tyson before he fell.

"Help get me home?" whispered Tyson.

Without saying a word, Kai put an arm around Tyson and Tyson put an arm around him as they supported each other back to the dojo.

Seeing that sweet sight made Kenny remember why he had asked Kai to come back in the first place. Those two needed each other so much, even if they would never admit it. Silently following, to make sure they didn't pass out, he made sure they got safely to the dojo, before heading home to input all of his data.

Grandpa Kinomiya was just warmed by the sight of Tyson and Kai supporting each other. After witnessing firsthand what those boys could do, he had expected this to happen and had beds already laid out in the dojo for the both of them, which they unceremoniously passed out in. Tomorrow was Sunday, so he would be sure to be up early, in case Kai got up and decided to leave, in which case he would insist on breakfast.

Even though Kai was now an adult and perfectly capable of looking after himself, the old man knew he would never stop looking out for Tyson and his friends until he finally kicked the bucket. Especially Kai needed to know that he was always welcome in their home, no matter what.

So how was that? I watched Beyblade again and rediscovered my love, especially with the Kai and Tyson pairing. This is my first Beyblade story that I have been writing over the last few months and it has over 35 chapters so far. I will be updating weekly.

Also who should Ray be with; Max or Mariah? Write me a review with your vote!