While I admit that Kai was my absolute favourite back then, the older I got, the more my appreciation for the other character grew – namely Max, because I simply adore the relationship he has with Kai. Just something cute and fluffy and general just a feel-good fic because I needed to lighten the heck up.

Warning for plenty of cursing ahead!

[Crossposted on AO3, and actually beta-d]

bright and vibrant with the sun in his smile

Kai felt his right eye twitch slightly.

With his arms crossed over his chest, he let go of a deep sigh – part annoyed, part tired, because really? A broken window? In his house? Disapproving lilac eyes stared down onto the two culprits behind the whole dilemma; Tyson, mimicking Kai's crossed arms, looking just as annoyed as he pointedly avoided the elder's stern gaze, and Max, who stood with hunched shoulders and hands behind his back, having the decency to actually look guilty.

Next to Kai, was the broken window in question with a bemused looking Spencer peering through the jagged gap from inside the house, slapping Tala's wandering hand away from the edges. The tall Russian huffed.

"I'll get the broom," he muttered before shuffling away to do just that, as Tala leaned against the wall, a faint haughty smirk tugging on his lips – obviously only sticking around long enough to witness Kai ripping his teammates a new one.

Tyson stuck his tongue out towards the redhead, who, childishly enough, copied him.

"Who broke it," Kai asked calmly but obviously tired. It made Max wince a little; Kai had another long night studying, having yet to catch up on sleep. Ever since the elder had started his classes at university, he'd been studying a lot in his free time, his perfectionist streak not stopping at academics. He'll be damned if he did not excel at school either then for Kai Hiwatari, whatever he did, he did it with excellence. Which also meant studying his ass off all night if he had to. He watched how Max heaved a small sigh as he meekly lifted his hand.

"I broke it…" he mumbled sheepishly. Tyson shifted to stare at his friend with a slightly worried look on his face. Kai sighed again.

"No, no you didn't. Tyson?"

The boy in question squawked indignantly and Max looked slightly appalled that Kai wouldn't believe him. Of course the youngest was involved in this mess somehow, but Kai doubted that he was directly responsible for the shattered window in his living room.

"It wasn't me!" Tyson claimed, making Tala snort behind Kai.

"So the window just shattered by itself?" the redhead questioned and Kai didn't even have to turn around to know that Tala was wearing that incredibly smug face of his whenever he knew he was winning at something. In this case, the upcoming argument.

Kai just wanted some goddamn peace and quiet in his own damn house.

"Who knows," Tyson said petulantly, levelling Tala with an overly suspicious glare. "Maybe it was you who broke it – after all, how do you know it's broken?"

Even Max gave Tyson a disbelieving side-eye, sweating a little at the audacity when Tala was clearly standing right in front of the obviously not whole window. It was a pathetic attempt to cover his ass and Kai actually mentally prayed to anyone up there to gift him unyielding patience. Not strength, patience. If he was gifted with anymore strength, he might've kicked Tyson well into next Sunday with how his temper was flaring right now.

"Are you fucking serious right now–" Oh, wonderful, now Tala's temper lit up, just what Kai needed. He was too sleep-deprived for this, he was tempted to call for Ian so the boy could fetch him some coffee; the strongest roast he could find, in a tall mug, no sugar, black just like Kai's soul at this moment.

"G-Guys, really," Max interjected with a small nervous smile, "I broke it, I'm sorry. I'll pitch in to replace it, it's no big deal–"

"No Max, you didn't break it," Kai once again interrupted him, rubbing his temples when he felt the familiar unwelcome throb of an oncoming migraine, "just tell me whose oh so brilliant, fantastic idea it was to have a Beybattle this close to the house."

At the false and sarcastic praise, Tyson puffed his chest up a little.

"That was me, of course!" he declared proudly before the words sunk in. "Wait–"

"Wonderful," Kai muttered darkly, not minding Tala's gleeful cackle, "you will clean up this mess and help replace the window, unless–" he levelled Tyson with a stern glare when the boy opened his mouth protest – "unless you want to pay for the window."

Tyson immediately clamped his mouth shut with an audible click!, clearly sulking now. He can sulk until the apocalypse ascended, Kai didn't care as he turned to Max, who watched him with his big blue eyes, entire frame wilted like some kicked puppy awaiting his punishment.

"Max, you'll help with clean up," was all Kai told him, before jerking his head towards the door of his house as if to say "now get going".

The boy blinked owlishly, before ducking his head with a small smile and dashing inside the house, Tyson hot on his heels already whining about how Max got off with a lighter sentence than he did.

As soon as their voices faded away, Tala hummed almost thoughtfully.

"Ya' know, Granger actually had a point,"

Kai gave him an unimpressed stare, "In breaking my window?"

The redhead gave him a sly smile, the kind that made Kai's fight or flight instincts kick in because while Tala was known for his rather standoffish behaviour, he also secretly had the personality of a vicious little gremlin – almost like Ian, just 68.04 percent worse. Bryan had given him an odd look for that, in his words, overly specific estimation.

"In giving little Maxie a lighter punishment,"

Tala's whole mischievous and gleeful demeanour rubbed Kai the wrong way, lord, he just wanted coffee. And some candied almonds, when he's already here making wishes that seem entirely impossible at the moment.

"Hn," was what Kai settled with, neutral and apathetic to signal the end of the conversation, but again; Tala was a vicious little gremlin.

"Maybe I'll should try that next time too," the Russian continued loftily, "just flash some sad baby-blues and I'm off the hook. Wasn't aware you play favourites, Kai."

The younger of the two gave him a withering glare.

"Max only got involved because of Tyson's extravagant ideas,"

"Hm-hmm, sure thing, we all knew that, the boy's too nice for his own good, but maybe that's why you're so protective of him," Tala teased with a self-assured grin on his face, looking way too smug for his own good. Kai didn't grace him with an answer, which made him laugh. "Face it Kai, you have a soft spot for the sunshine on two legs, nothing to be ashamed of…much, I guess."

Kai clicked with his tongue, a familiar sound whenever he felt aggravated.

"You don't see me commenting about your stance towards Ian, do you?" he shot back, irritated by the blatant hypocrisy in front of him – no matter what kinda prank Ian pulled, it seemed like Tala was the only one allowed to chew the boy out for it. As soon as anyone else dared to yell at the youngest, they had to face Tala's wrath. Said redhead only shrugged, apparently not bothered by the fact that it was true.

"Shortstack has seen a lot of fucked up shit that still scared me at the time, and he was a lot younger than us," he said almost flippantly but his eyes seemed far away, "some shit that kids like him should've had no business of seeing ever in their life."

Fucking fantastic, now Kai felt slightly like an asshole for bringing up their shit past. But it answered his question, so he didn't comment any further.

"You however, seeing as Max had none of our experience, are just naturally turning soft for his puppy personality," Tala then said, shit-eating grin on his face, "oh, how the mighty have fallen."

Screw whatever Kai thought before, Tala Valkov can go throw himself off a cliff for all he cares.

"Сука," he hissed at the redhead just as Spencer reentered the room with a long brush and dustpan in hand and disapproving frown on his face.

"Kai, don't call Tala a bitch,"

Kai Hiwatari lived on his own – not too far away from his university, which he travelled to by car, in a good neighbourhood and convenient location, mere walking distance from the nearest train station and convenience store if he ever felt the need to. Thanks to some old money in his family, Kai got himself a nice house, relatively modern and spacious, a place of his own, something that was entirely his.

So when Tala announced to him over Skype that the Blitzkrieg Boys planned to travel to Japan for a few months for tournaments, it might've slipped out of Kai that he had some space. And Tala, being the opportunistic fucker he was, immediately jumped on the offer and there was no way in hell Kai could take that back now, not when he knew that the redhead will fight him tooth and nail in order to avoid pricey hotel stays. Now, two months later, his before peaceful (quiet, lonely) house was filled with four more people, who were surprisingly louder than people expected.

Kai, sitting comfortably in his armchair in his living room with a book in his hands, suppressed a sigh when he heard quick footsteps thundering down the stairs. Tala, who sat on the couch not far off watching TV while drinking the tea Ray had brewed, didn't even bother to look up as he spoke.

"Ian, don't run in the house, one day you'll break your neck,"

Said boy, who was halfway past the couch, froze mid-run at the chastising tone. He shot the redhead a slightly disgruntled look over his shoulder.

"Alright, damn," he mumbled, slinking off into the kitchen, most likely to see if Hilary or Spencer are willing to let him have a snack while they cooked dinner. The five of them had gotten so disgustingly domestic about living under the same roof, it was almost alien to Kai and yet at the same time, this little part of him found joy in the fact that whenever he came home from classes, there was someone to greet him other than his one-eyed calico cat Paprika.

But hell might as well freeze solid if he ever said that out loud.

His lilac eyes fell back onto his book, picking up where he left off, listening to Hilary gently berating Ian for eating before a meal, accompanied by the sound of Spencer cutting up vegetables and the low buzz of the TV Tala was watching. Somewhere in the house, he could faintly hear Daichi screeching something, the ungodly sound drowned out by the loud laugh of both Tyson and Bryan and if he listened closely, there was even the soft clack-clack-clacking of Kenny typing away on his laptop seated at the dinner table. Despite the moderate size of his house, it seemed already pretty full.

Full of life.

Full of light.

Full of home.

It was…nice, Kai thought as he listened to his previously empty house being brought to life.

"Max, I don't think that's a good idea,"

The concerned tone in Ray's voice made Kai look up from his book. He watched how the young man walked towards the kitchen with Paprika, unsurprisingly, in his arms as Max trailed after him with a hopeful look on his face. The spark fell from the boy's eyes however after he registered Ray's words.

"Aw, but c'mon Ray! It's only a small trip," Max needled, bending down to pet Paprika after she jumped from Ray's arms to happily slink around the blonde's legs instead. "I'll be back before you can blink!"

Ray sighed, frown still set on his face as he put his hands on his hips.

"I know you want to help out, but I don't think I'm comfortable with you taking the car by yourself and driving in the dark," he tried to reason, expertly averting his gaze from Max' oncoming pout. The boy huffed, lifting Paprika up under her armpits as she meowed merrily.

"See, Pappy agrees with me," Max said seriously and Ray couldn't help but chuckle. Kai decided then to speak up.

"What exactly do you need to get a car for?" he asked languidly, causing Paprika to wiggle out of the boy's grip in order to scuttle up to her owner, promptly jumping into his lap and almost planting herself onto his book, had he not moved it out of habit.

"We're missing a few ingredients for dinner," Ray explained, "I thought about making a quick run to the store."

"It was Bryan's turn for a grocery run," Tala remarked from the couch, eyes still on the TV, "I'll chew him out later."

Max tugged on Ray's apron again, determined look on his face.

"Please Ray, I really wanna practise, why not take the opportunity to do so?" he reasoned and Ray sighed again. Before he could say anything, Kai reached into a bowl on the small table next to him and called out to Max.

"Catch," he said and a confused Max reached forward to clasp his hands around the small object flying towards him. Upon taking a closer look on what Kai had actually thrown at him, a big smile took over his freckled face as he held up Kai's car keys. Shining blue eyes zeroed in on Kai.

"Can I really?" Max asked excitedly – not only was he allowed to drive a car, but also specifically Kai's car, Kai's uber cool expensive looking shiny sports car.

"Don't crash," was the flat warning he received and Max let out a whoop together with a small spin as he pumped his fist into the air, "and take Hilary with you."

"Will do, Captain!" the boy cheered, zipping off into the kitchen where they could hear Hilary delightfully agreeing to Max' request. Ray raised his eyebrows, looking at Kai as if to ask if that was a good idea.

"Hilary's with him," he said offhandedly and honestly, it explained everything; Hilary was a responsible driver and good at keeping the younger in check. Kai went back to his book, just as Ray gave him a small, knowing smile before heading into the kitchen to take over for the girl, who announced that they will be back soon.

"If you're not back in half an hour, I will call the police!" Ray called after as Max and Hilary left the kitchen, Ian close behind, having decided to accompany the small trip too.

"Make sure Ian doesn't smuggle too many sweets into the cart," Spencer added as he leaned out the door, making a 'I'm watching you' motion towards the youngest.

"Sheesh, get off my back, will ya?" the boy complained as Max laughed, halfway through the front door.

"Thanks Kai!" was the last thing they heard, before the door closed again. The house fell into the comfortable lull like before and Kai scratched Paprika behind her ear as she lounged on his lap. Feeling the distinctive prickle of eyes on him, he looked up, meeting Tala's icy blue eyes.

He gave him a Look over the rim of his green mug. Then, he slightly lowered the ceramic to reveal a smug grin, mouthing a silent 'Soft' at Kai.

Paired with a severely unimpressed gaze, Kai lifted his book to discreetly give Tala the finger.

The world knew Kai as the Cool & Collected undisputed official leader of the Bladebreakers – maybe the title was from a long time ago, but ever since his first appearance as such, the words just stuck with him. So he liked to think that he was indeed a rather calm, cool and in control person, someone who wasn't surprised easily. But honestly, how could anyone be ever prepared for someone like Max Tate.

It was a quiet Friday evening at the Granger Dojo, which had the Bladebreakers hanging out like good old times with Max and Tyson having a heated competition during a rather intense Mariokart session on the oh so loved and hated Rainbowroad. All in all it was good fun, watching them holler and cheer – that was until Max got his Princess Daisy shoved off the shimmering road just meters before the finish line.

"Блядь!" Max belted out harshly when he saw his character fall into the void, placing him on a much lower rank than he planned. The unfamiliar tongue and general angry tone made Tyson jerk away from his buddy in flabbergasted surprise, controller almost protectively raised in front go him. Kenny accidentally keysmashed when he heard Max' outburst, while Ray nearly dropped the book in his hand and Hilary, completely stunned, didn't even register how the tea she poured into a cup started to overflow. Kai, however, very much well versed in the language Max had just used, promptly choked on his drink, coughing slightly as the liquid ended up in the wrong pipe when he startled.

There was a resounding smack when Max slapped a hand over his mouth in surprise at his own outburst, wide eyes blinking. Ray was the first to recover and levelled a rather appalled stare at the blonde.

"I really don't know what you just said, but I'm pretty sure that it was something rather unpleasant,"

There wasn't exactly a no swear rule within the group, but since they were surrounded by young fans and eager to learn kids on a regular basis, it was basically common courtesy amongst them to not swear. Away from the crowds, they were able to relax mostly, but still kept it pretty low-key especially with Daichi around – the only ones who are known to swear on a regular basis were Ray, Kai and, surprisingly, Kenny and they all usually did it discreetly under their breath.

Max, however? The worst thing the kid ever brought over his lips was a frustrated "Damnit!" and that was when he was severely sleep-deprived and under anxious stress over his oncoming exams at school.

Daichi, the only one who didn't seem affected at all, only quirked an eyebrow before pointing at Max with thoughtful expression on is face.

"Hey, isn't that something that Bryan always says?" he wondered aloud, making Ray and Hilary cringe at the range of words Bryan could've inadvertently taught the younger ones. The girl carefully looked over to Kai, who set his phone facedown onto the table after fiddling with it a few seconds ago.

"What…exactly did Max say?" she asked cautiously as everyone resumed to their previous tasks, apparently now over the fact that Max might've said his first real swearword – in russian. Kai huffed a little.

"Nothing nice," he said flatly, bringing his teacup back up to his lips.

Tala was in the middle of washing off his facemask, when the door to the bathroom was unceremoniously kicked open by an irritated Bryan wearing his black headphones around his neck and holding his phone in one hand.

"Oi, Tala– stop screaming, it's just me, jesus fuck–" he held up his phone for the redhead to see, suddenly looking a little uneasy, "do you have any idea on why the hell is Kai telling me to, I quote, 'get out of my fucking house'?"

Grocery Day in the Hiwatari-Blitzkrieg household was always one of those days, where you woke up ready for anything and end up being totally unprepared for whatever came up anyway. One time they got home only to find that they've forgotten one item on the list, the other time they came home with Bryan sporting a black eye after having fought over the last pack of toilet paper – listen, it was on sale, and if there was something Tala didn't do, it was not taking advantage of opportunities. So yeah, he did sic Bryan onto the last pack of TP and Kai decided that both of them weren't allowed to go grocery shopping anymore without 'adult supervision'. He also pointedly ignored Bryan's grumble about Kai having bought a jumbo bag of dry cat food on impulse after having seen a stray cat close to his house.

Anyway, it was grocery day and it had Kai standing in front of the baking section, weighing two different packs of flour in each hand. Spencer hadn't specified which brand of flour he wanted on the list, so the choice fell onto Kai as he scrutinised the brands upon price and quality. As he inspected the goods, faint crinkling reached his ears.

"Put that back, Max," he said without looking up, finally deciding on one pack before turning around to see the boy with his blue eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights, posture frozen on the spot and arm still extended towards the cart in which he had tried to sneak the bag of sour gummies in his hand. Max deflated immediately.

"But I like these…" he half-whined, watching how Kai placed the flour into the cart and then fishing out the bag of juicy berry gummies he had allowed Max to take a few minutes ago.

"You already got your candy of choice," Kai said sternly, giving the boy the bag, "you can't have both without risking you going bonkers on a sugar high."

He decidedly studied the list again in order to escape Max' pout; he was not about to lose against the puppy dog eyes of a teenager with the personality of an overexcited golden retriever. He heard him sigh.

"Fine, I'll get the sour ones instead," Max decided, smiling again as he exchanged the sweets, "I had the juicy berries last week, let's change it up a bit!"

Dropping the candy bag into the cart, the boy then scampered off to put the other one back into its proper shelf, Kai slowly trailing after him as he languidly pushed the cart into the next section. There, he found Tala walking towards him, arms full with various shampoo bottles and face creams. Unimpressed, he watched how the redhead dropped everything into the cart. Reaching in, he pulled out a face mask packet – cucumber with green tea for a nourishing and re-vitalising finish. Kai quirked an eyebrow.

"Really?" he asked dully as Tala snatched the face mask out of his hand.

"Yes, really," he sniffed, slightly peeved, "this is why I don't let you heathens buy my shit or your own. You always end up with shit like 12-in-1 bottles or something, I can't stand it."

Kai had long since learned that arguing with Tala over skincare or similar was absolutely pointless, it usually ended in a screaming match and at least someone crying, no one wins. Then again, Kai wasn't particularly vocal about the topic either, maybe because he consciously knew how the elder enjoyed such simple things due to the fact that back then, in their darker days, those things were seen as pointless luxuries that they never got to try.

And now, with no one to tell what they could and could not do, they were all free to do and try what they wanted and for Tala, it seemed to be taking care of himself and his skin. In hindsight, the fact was actually kinda endearing.

Max joined them a few seconds later, immediately jumping onto the front of the cart to hoist himself up as Kai steered the cart. Tala promptly berated him for it, not wanting the boy to fall forward onto the groceries and accidentally crushing them in the process, so Max hopped off.

Half an hour later and they strolled out the store with their cart full of their paid groceries, ready to navigate through the parking lot to get to the car, when Max suddenly looked up and veered off to the side. Kai was about to catch the boy by the back of his collar, when he saw him walk up to a woman nearby – she was visibly pregnant with a fussing baby strapped to her back, as she struggled with her own full shopping cart.

"Hi!" Kai heard Max greet her brightly, "You seem like you could use a hand, Miss, everything okay?"

The woman chuckled breathlessly at the sweet offer as she patted her fussy baby on her back.

"I could use some help, not going to lie," she sighed, looking a little exhausted, "would you mind helping me to my car? It's just down this side, the blue one at the end."

Max didn't hesitate as he took hold of the woman's cart, smiling brightly at her.

"No problemo, I'm just happy to help!" he declared happily, pushing the cart as Tala offered to carry the bag in her hand, which she couldn't fit into the cart. Gratefully, the woman walked between them with Max skipping ahead as he joyfully jumped onto the cart for a small slide.

"Max!" Kai barked in immediate warning at the action and the boy came to a screeching halt, pushing the cart once again in an innocent manner as if he just hadn't tried to replicate some grand theft auto stunt with a shopping cart in a parking lot. Tala snorted in amusement at Max' act of having been caught red-handed. The woman laughed.

"He's a sweet one," she chuckled, "but I guess he also seems like a handful, not?"

"You have no idea…" Kai muttered under his breath, glaring at the back of the boy's head, ready to rip him a new one if he tried something funny again.

"Don't mind him, ma'am," Tala mused, "despite his grumpy exterior he's got a soft spot for the kid."

Kai wished for a car to drive by so he could push Tala in front of it.

"Oh my, I know that feeling," the woman said, smiling gently, "I have a little brother too, you know."

He could almost hear Tala's shit-eating grin widening and honestly, at this rate Kai might as well push himself into active traffic.

"He's not my–"

"Made it!" Max interrupted him with a cheer, waving his arms around as he stood next to the woman's car. The baby on her back gurgled happily, making her chuckle as she walked up to Max to unlock the booth of the car in order to load the groceries. Kai could feel Tala inching up next to him.

"Don't," he simply said.

"I haven't said anything," Tala half singsonged before leaning down a little with a smirk, "…yet."

Lord, give him patience.

Honestly, at this point of his life, Kai should've seen it coming. He was a fool to think he could leave them for a few minutes. An even bigger fool to think he could leave specifically Tyson, Max, Ian and Daichi unsupervised for five minutes.

Five fucking minutes.

That's how long he didn't pay attention to them as he helped the other set up the whole picnic near a cheerful creek close to the peaceful woods.

And somehow, he didn't know how and frankly he doesn't want to actually find out, but by some fucked up miracle bestowed by some chaotic trickster god who apparently had it out for Kai and had a kiss ready for his shitty karma, in that short time, the boys had suggested and talked Max into climbing one of the tall trees of the forest.

Sounded innocent enough, but those were pine trees who barely had any low hanging branches to hang on to, yet somehow Max had managed to climb high enough to reach the bottom of the first few branches and in turn, got himself stuck. Now the boy sat on one of the stronger branches, hugging the trunk for dear life, face all void from the previous mischievous fun as genuine fear shined in his big blue eyes.

"You'll be okay, Max!" Ray called up to him reassuringly from the bottom of the trunk, "Just, uh, stay there, alright? We'll figure something out, okay?"

Not far from him, both Hilary and Tala stood menacingly over the three other boys, all of them meekly sitting in a row, mentally preparing themselves to be ripped into tiny shreds in mere seconds and honestly, if Kai wasn't so controlled, he would've tossed the lot into the creek without hesitation. Instead, he headed towards Ray, who was joined by Bryan and Spencer. As soon as he was close, Ray turned around, sweating, with a nervous smile on his face.

"Please tell me any of you got a plan," he asked in a rather high-pitched voice, obviously just as distressed as the boy in the tree, who just stared down at them with sad puppy eyes.

"I'm sorry I got myself stuck, guys," Max called down, guilty frown on his freckled face and Ray just waved his hands around.

"It's fine! I mean, it's not fine, you know, the fact that you're stuck and all," the elder said awkwardly and Kai sighed. Next to him, Bryan shielded his eyes as he squinted up at the boy in the tree.

"How the hell did Freckles even get that far, I thought we already established the monkey here," he muttered, sparing a frightful Daichi a small glance as Hilary berated the boy. Spencer gave his teammate a disapproving side eye.

"Don't be rude,"

"Hey, why am I getting scolded too?" Bryan asked, clearly appalled and Spencer pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Uh…guys?"

"C'mon, now's not the time to fight," Ray interjected, looking rather tired.

"We're not fighting, we're simply having a disagreement,"

"Bryan,"

"…guys?"

"Yes, Kai?"

"Bryan, cut it out,"

"Guys,"

"I'm being serious here,"

"So am I! Why are you all ganging up on me?"

"We're not–"

"Yes you are,"

"Заткнись,"

"Don't tell me to shut up–"

"Guys!"

Their squabble was interrupted by a resounding crack! which had them immediately looking up in alarm. Max stared down at them, looking absolutely terrified when the branch shifted under him.

"Guys, I don't think this is gonna hold me any long– AUGH!"

With a last crack, the branch snapped close to its base, right under Max who lost his hold from the trunk, gravity making quick work in pulling him down.

"MAX!" was the collective chorus from the group, all in varying levels of horror.

The world became a blur to Kai as he immediately surged forward, pushing past Ray and Bryan and nearly ran headfirst into the trunk; he lunged a rather impressive distance, arms held out out in front of him to catch the boy.

Fortunately, he caught Max before he could harshly collide with the ground below.

Unfortunately, he took the brunt of the Max-shaped force, falling into the dirt with a pointy elbow ramming itself into his stomach, which seemed to have the brutal intention of rearranging all of his insides as the wind was knocked out of him.

"Oh my god, are you guys okay?"

"Christ, that looked painful,"

"Not your best, Hiwatari, 4 out of 10 I suppose,"

If Kai were able to breathe properly right now, he would've told Bryan in exact detail on how much he wanted to murder him right now. But since he can barely even wheeze, he settled for the good old bird pointed into the vague direction of where Bryan was standing. Above him, Max coughed weakly, boyish face littered with a few scratches and patches of dirt, blue eyes blinking blearily.

"Kai?" he slurred a little, before his vision cleared, "Kai?! Oh man, are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't–"

"Get…off…" Kai interrupted him tonelessly and the boy immediately scrambled away. Air came rushing back and Kai coughed a little, pushing himself up into a sitting position, pointedly ignoring the ache on, well, all over. There was a warm hand on his shoulder and he blinked up to see Ray smiling down at him.

"C'mon, better get yourself checked out by the medic," he said, offering the same hand to help Kai up – he decided that taking the hand was the better option, considering that everything hurt like a bitch and he'd rather not crumple before everyone if he tried to get up onto his feet on his own. Tyson rushed past him, nearly barrelling Max over with an almost tearful bear hug and at least hundreds of apologies falling from his mouth. Max let out a laugh, a wheezy little thing, but it served to brighten up the panicky mood a little as both him and Kai were brought over to the medic, which really was just Kenny with a first-aid-kit looking like it could fit the entire inventory of an ambulance inside.

As they were getting treated, the last of the picnic was being set up, previous cheer settling back in again. Max let Kenny rub some stinging antiseptic onto his scratches, scrunching up his nose at the prickling sensation, but smiling through it anyway as he looked at Kai.

"Thank you for catching me," Max said sincerely, laughing cheerfully despite the previous scare as he scratched the back of his head, "you really saved me out there!"

Kai stared at him – watching the dimples forming as Max smiled, how his blue eyes glittered joyfully like the open sea on a summer's day, how his smile was just as kind and bright and vibrant as the one he wore the first time him and Kai met a long time ago.

Suddenly, Kai found himself being 14 all over again, cold and angry at the world, suspicious of anything that showed him even one ounce of kindness, until the boy with the sun in his smile and its rays in his hair skipped up to him, hand out for a shake as he smiled at him, so warm and kind and for once in his life, Kai felt the genuine spark of fear in his heart – what if it was a trap?

It wasn't until much later that Kai learned, that this was just how Max was; kindhearted, open, friendly, brave and encouraging, soft yet determined with this spark of innocent mischievousness, with which he endeared himself into anyone's heart, no matter how far one locked it away.

Kai sighed, his gaze softening as Max continued to smile at him.

"Someone's gotta get you out of trouble somehow, Maxie," he muttered and the boy positively beamed at him, animatedly chattering away on how great the picnic's going be and how he can't wait to get a waterfight started but not before eating one of Ray's infamous tuna sandwiches first.

Tala walked past behind Max, effectively catching Kai's eyes as he grinned, once more mouthing 'Soft' at Kai.

This time, he only huffed silently.

When Kai woke up, it was with a small gasp as he stared wide-eyed up at the ceiling of his room, trying to will his wild heartbeat down. His breaths sent tremors through his chest and as he tried to swallow, it felt like he had eaten a mouthful of sand. Silently, he sat up, taking his time to take calm breaths, trying not to think too hard about the cold, dark stone corridors in his dreams and the deep, malicious laughter echoing through them, sounding too much like his own than he was comfortable with. He shook his head – he was nothing like that man.

He clicked with his tongue, irritated, and decided to get rid of the dry feeling in his mouth. Quietly, he slipped out of his bed and his room, gently padding down the hallway. At the first door to his right, he hesitated as he stared at the small chalkboard attached to the wood, reminders scrawled onto the black surface with colourful chalk. He brought his hand onto the handle, before softly opening the door to peer inside carefully.

On the lower bunkbed, shoved into the very left corner of the room, Kai could immediately spot Spencer peacefully sleeping on his side. Overhead of him slept Ian, curled up into a ball like a cat, his reading lamp still on – he must've fallen asleep while reading again. With practised stealth, Kai turned off the lamp and headed back out of their room.

He walked past the bathroom to the next door, this one covered with a variety of drawings, all by Bryan, most of them featuring Paprika sleeping or sitting, some even featuring the people inhabiting the house. Again, Kai quietly entered the room, finding Bryan asleep on his lower bed, left leg strewn over the edge, while Tala had his back to Kai, crimson hair spilling over his shoulders onto his pillow beneath. Another breath later, and Kai was back in the hallway, sighing softly, tired – relieved.

The last room, closest to the descending stairs, wasn't completely shut, causing Tyson's rattling snores to escape into the quiet hallway. With slightly furrowed brows, Kai peered into the guest room, where his team usually slept in a pile of futons on the floor; Ray slept farthest away from the pile, close to the door, turned onto his side with his loose ponytail draped halfway across him. Daichi and Tyson seemingly had decided to collectively take up as much space as possible by sprawling themselves over their futons, posing like starfish. Kai quietly huffed at that, until he noted how a certain boy was missing from the rowdy bunch. Leaning out of the room, he checked the bathroom door – still wide open, no light, in other words; unoccupied.

Where was Max?

Kai figured the blonde might be downstairs, descending the steps when he left the door back in its original half open position. He wandered into the kitchen, soft-footed and silent as ever, a trait he may never get rid of completely and gently pried the fridge open. He liked to keep a few bottles of water in it to always be able to get a cool drink whenever he needed it, which this case was a blessing when the cool water touched his dry throat. Screwing the bottle shut again, Kai picked up the faint sound of someone softly murmuring. It looked like he found the missing Bladebreaker as he carefully followed the sound to the half-open sliding glass door, which led into his garden.

Moonlight shone brightly onto the yard when Kai stepped outside, bare feet soundlessly hitting the slightly cool wooden deck. He looked to the front of the deck, finding Max sitting on the edge, quietly talking into his phone.

"…thanks for calling, Mom…have a good day, I love you…you take care too, bye," the boy said and Kai could hear the smile in his voice. Max moved the phone from his ear to hang up, only to sigh heavily as his shoulders sagged.

Well, that was new.

Usually the boy was always peppy after talking to his mother – unless they had a disagreement, which always put Max into a rather afflicted mood. Kai deliberately stepped onto a loose board, making it creak, a sound to which the blonde almost jumped a foot into the air. He whirled around.

"Kai?" he half-yelled before wincing when he remembered what time it was. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a much more hushed tone as Kai moved to sit down next to him.

"Fresh air," Kai answered briefly, offering no details. He could feel inquisitive blue eyes on him, but Max didn't push it – he knew better.

Silence reigned for a few moments.

"What about you?"

Max, who had been worrying a loose thread at the bottom of his light yellow shirt, swivelled his head around at the sound of Kai's voice. He smiled a little, wiggling the phone in his hands.

"Got a call from my mom," he explained as the black screen lit up to show a wallpaper picturing the sea life of an ocean, "so I went outside to not wake anyone."

"Hn,"

They fell silent again, listening to the night around them. Trees rustled in the light wind, crickets chirped and somewhere, Kai could hear the faint shriek of a bat flying by. Next to him, Max heaved out a small sigh again, before speaking again.

"Say, Kai," the boy started meekly, "how– I mean, why did you pick Business to study at university?"

The leader let the question sink in before answering.

"It's required," he said bluntly, "someday I am to take over my family's business, so knowing what I have to do is basically top priority."

"So you're studying Business because you have to?"

At Max bewildered tone, Kai turned to face him with one brow slightly quirked.

"If I don't want to crash and burn, then yeah, I have to. What else is there to it?"

The younger pursed his lips a little.

"I don't know, maybe studying something because you want to?" he said almost petulantly, it made Kai raise both of his eyebrows. "It's university Kai! A higher school for like, another 3 years or something! Shouldn't you be doing something that you enjoy? Or find at least interesting? Doesn't feel like you're wasting time in something you don't even wanna do?"

The elder blinked a little at the rant before narrowing his eyes.

"Are you lecturing me about my life choices right now?"

"Yes– wait, No! No, nohohooo–" Max promptly back-pedalled, looking sheepish,"I mean, yeah kinda, it's just–"

He groaned, roughly rubbing his face with both of his hands, clearly frustrated. He sighed again, this time a lot heavier. Removing his hands, Kai saw the conflicted look on his freckled face.

"I'm about to become a senior at high school, so both of my parents have started to ask me about possible career choices and such," Max told him in a small voice, "it wasn't bad or anything, they're just genuinely curious if I already had a plan – so Mom suggested I'd study at her place to follow her footsteps, ya' know? And then Dad asked if I wanted to take over his shop if I don't stay with Mom after studying–"

"And you don't want to do either of those things," Kai said to which Max inclined his head slightly, grimacing.

"It's not like I hate the ideas, they are definitely something I can fall back to but…" he trailed off.

"But it's not something you can see yourself doing," the leader finished for him, nodding slightly. Max shoulders sagged again as he brought his knees up to his chest.

"Exactly," he mumbled into his knees, "it's…just not me, ya' know? Beyblades are great, I love them and I love having good battles with them, but they're not my entire life…I want to do more than just beyblading, I want to be part of more."

Kai mulled the words over – being part of more than just Beyblade? Frankly, Kai had thought of it too, being part of more, not just his beyblading skills and his family name. He looked at Max again.

"So, what do you want to do?"

He watched how blue eyes went wide as they turned back towards him. An excited sparkle lit up in them and Max grinned.

"Marine Biology," the boy said quietly, reverently, as if he just told Kai the biggest secret of the universe. "I wanna study marine life, swim with dolphins and sharks and whales and maybe even find new fish!"

Kai's mind did a quick flashback to the time where he once visited Max, walking into his room whose walls were covered in posters of beyblades, music bands and sea life – pictures of dolphins and sea turtles, articles about sharks and whales and even his shelves were full with marine life books and magazines and on his desk sat a small miniature whale skeleton. There was even a poster of an artfully painted mermaid hanging over the boy's bed and honestly, Kai should've seen it coming. How Max' parents could miss their son's obvious interests was beyond him.

"Hoping to find a mermaid too?" the elder then teased the boy with a small smirk on his face. Max blushed.

"…maybe?"

Kai snorted.

"Hey!" Max pouted, "If I ever do find one, I'll expect a heartfelt apology from you!"

"Of course, Maxie, I'll even cry if I have to," the leader offered, letting his teasing sarcasm shine through. The blonde tried to glare at him, but it was more playful than anything. Good, sadness wasn't a great look on the boy who had the sun in his smile. Suddenly, Max' expression turned excited.

"Kai, let's make a pact!"

"I was joking,"

"No, not the mermaid thing," Max snorted, "I mean about the uni thing; I'm gonna tell my parents about my own plan of becoming a Marine Biologist and in turn, you'll study something that you want to study!"

Kai sighed, "I'm already studying–"

"You're really gonna tell me to my face that you willingly wanted to study Business?" Kai wasn't sure what to make of Max' sceptic tone and amused face as he regarded the leader with a quirked eyebrow, as if to say that he wasn't buying it. When did he get this cheeky again? Apparently the bugged resignation showed on his face, because Max snickered before offering his pinky to Kai.

No way.

"Max, how old are you again?"

"16, turning 17 soon! And my mom still makes pinky promises with me, and she's in her forties now!" Max declared before scratching the back of his head, "Just…don't tell her that, okay?"

Clearly unimpressed, Kai just stared at the offending appendage in front of him, then back up at Max, who gave him a hopeful look, bringing out the full force of the infamous puppy eyes and Kai walked right into it. Goddammit, not much fazes him but even he felt slightly like a monster whenever he refused Max something when he wore an expression like that. It's not like he's asking for a contract written in blood – the worst what could happen was the slight chip Kai's dignity will carry away afterwards. He sighed, reluctantly lifting his own pinky.

With a small cheer, Max immediately hooked his pinky around Kai's and the elder could barely suppress a small smile at the boy's enthusiasm. Said boy closed his eyes, holding their interlinked pinkies up.

"I hereby swear, under the rules of the infamous Pinky Promise, which can never and should never be broken, that we will pursue our happiness and do what we want to do, so we can be part of something bigger than we ever imagined!" Max finished his rousing speech by nodding determinedly and Kai couldn't hold back the small amused huff escaping his lips. They shook their connected hands.

"I swear." both promised, Max a lot more enthusiastic than Kai's quiet tone. Then, the blonde snatched his hand away as he lifted the other one into the air, crossing his heart in quick succession.

"And cross my heart for good measure," the boy said, eyeing Kai expectantly.

"I don't think–" he started, but he was interrupted as Max showed his five fingers, counting them down.

"Oh no! If you don't cross your heart in five seconds, the deal will be doomed to fail and curse us all with bad luck for the next 13 years!" he said in mock-panic, "Quick, Kai! 1-2-3–"

Rolling with his eyes, Kai crossed his heart before Max could reach 5, causing the boy to giggle at the small triumph.

Later, when Kai had finally convinced the boy to go back to bed, he was just about to enter his own bedroom, when he heard the bathroom door open behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Tala with his hair down and a knowing smirk on his lips.

"Soft," he said almost haughtily.

"Hn,"

The redhead chuckled before pinning the other with an earnest stare.

"He has a point, you know," Tala murmured quietly, "doing what you want to do. Don't lie to me, I saw those History course pamphlets you have lying around."

Kai didn't answer, but averted his eyes. Tala huffed, amused.

"Think about it," was all he said, before moving back to his room, when Kai noticed something.

"Those pamphlets were on my desk–"

"Good night, Kai,"

The door closed softly behind Tala and Kai glared half-heartedly at the spot.

Nosy fucker.

The stadium blared with the loud cheer of the audience, chanting contestants names and holding up various merch or self-made signs, hollering with all their might. Camera lights went off and Blader DJ went ham on his announcements, as extravagant as ever.

Kai listened to the crowd, feeling Tyson getting restless next to him as all of the Bladebreakers stood in the hallway, waiting for them to be announced into the arena. On the other side of him, Ray exhaled slowly, mentally preparing himself and right next to him was Max, tugging his gloves into place. They heard Blader DJ cheer into his mic.

"Alright, now give it up for the Blitzkrieg Boys!"

The volume rose within the arena, no doubt cheering on the russian team as they walked into the stadium to await the arrival of their opponents. Tyson bobbed up and down on his toes, clearly amped up and Ray cracked his knuckles.

"This is it, guys," Tyson spoke up, "Tala will be leaving soon, so we better make them go out with a bang!"

Kai snorted as the rest chuckled. Max braced himself on his knees, determination on his face.

"You got it Tyson, let's give it our all!"

Ray tightened his headband.

"Way ahead of you,"

Kai crossed his arms.

"Hn,"

Then, Blader DJ spoke up again; "And now, please welcome the B-Boys opponents – the Bladebreakers!"

Tyson whooped loudly, immediately striding forward just in time with Ray and Max trailed along next to Kai. The boy turned to smile at him – bright, vibrant, excited.

"Let's make 'em work for it,"

And this time, Kai couldn't hold the small smile back. They closed in on the entrance, but before they stepped into the lights, into the cheer, he gave the blonde a small hair ruffle – gentle, trusting, affectionate.

"Knock 'em dead, Maxie."

So, maybe Kai did have a soft spot for Max after all.

I have absolutely no excuse for this tooth rotting fluff, but thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it – let me know in the comments!

– Bluengineer