A/N: The truth is, I hated Beyblade Metal Series that's why I've twisted the characters and haven't listed this as a crossover. Thankfully, Google can help. This chapter was completed in 2012, with about 12,000 words. Recovered it from an old PC. Need to splice.

Chapter 14: Day 4: Fly

Tala was one of the most organized people, second to Alphonse. The redhead liked the sterile, minimalist approach to storage from shelved pots and pans, in the kitchen to, in the first garage, a board of car keys bolted onto the wall. He wasn't there to enforce his design details but most guys were compliant to them. Bryan's hook was empty, which meant it was out in use but really out for repairs. He was easygoing so he kept one car. Spencer looked at the column for his vehicles and saw that one of the two keys was missing. Spencer probably put his key in the wrong spot, which was rare. He took a drag out of his cigarette. He scanned Kai's spot; the dude doesn't even drive but has two empty hooks. Then he looked at Tala's and one car key shone. Tala nearly broke his bank so he hardly used the car. Spencer's key wasn't there.

He registered that the second-hand Range Rover was still parked next to Bryan's empty spot. So that means...

He picked up the sound of the garage doors opening.

He bolted through the connecting door to the second garage, it was open. After a quick push on the button, he watched the doors come down. Then he heard a second set of garage doors shut. He ran to the third. Empty...then ahead was his truck pulling onto the private streets. The windows were tinted black but he knew who would have done it. Spencer ran back into the house, outraged.

He slammed the kitchen door close. The house steward looked up from his white cup and noticed the black hanging lights above him sway from the force. "You've returned."

Spencer walked to the kitchen island, kicked one of the white leather high stools aside with a clash on the floor and traced the gray and black veins on the alabaster marble with his fist, like a sullen child.

"Mister Spencer," Alphonse greeted. He had hoped that the floor was unscathed. Tala would not be happy otherwise.

"He took my truck! I oughta pummel that kid when he comes back," Spencer grounded his fist into his other palm, Alphonse swore he saw a bit of smoke. The former male emptied his palm of bits of tobacco and filter onto the table. "Where is my rifle? I'm hunting an eagle."

Alphonse signalled Spencer to calm down. There were other vehicles to drive in their service garage. "I will have one of the men track the boy down."

Then the butler's phone rang. He wondered what impossible task it was for that day. He took the call and nodded as if Kai were present. "Master Kai, you sound a bit strange. Is everything all right?"

"Don't worry about it, Alphonse. Just bring me what I've asked."

"Will do," he conceded.

Spencer raised an eyebrow after the call ended. "What was that?"

Alphonse walked over to the telephone mounted against the wall and pressed a button. "Shin, please come here at once."

Kai took out his mobile and scrolled through the call log. He made a call almost an hour ago to Alphonse. He did not remember the reason. He remembered being inside the girls' bathroom for the second time holding a bag. He couldn't ask Alphonse about the conversation or he would be suspicious about Kai's mental state. He couldn't admit it out loud but he was disturbed by the numerous blanks in his memory. He had hoped not to have hurt Hilary.

'Why do you care?'

I won't let you take over me again.

The stranger, who addressed himself as Tsubasa, offered his hand. She hesitantly shook it, "My name is...Hilary."

A small smile crept up on his face, "I consider myself lucky." Hilary noted his slight accent, somewhat similar to Julia's. His hand still on Hilary's, he spoke quietly, "I need to see him. Please help me find him."

Another creepy admirer of his. The brunette deduced as she withdrew her hand. She took a few steps back and smiled apologetically. "You're not that far. I should head to my Math teacher."

"Ah." He tilted his head and his silver mane shone. It triggered envy in Hilary as she combed her fingers through her messy mae. His golden irises gleamed at Hilary's features, "You're his lovely girlfriend. You're quite homely. I observe nothing extraordinary."

She crossed her arms and stomped her foot. "Who are you to him?" was her waspish reply before she bit her lip, holding back a snarl. CHA! This guy! Did Kai reject his advances!? If that's the case then he has no right to take it out on me!

Tsubasa remained light. "I am his mirror. You could consider me his sibling." He planted one hand on his hip and dismissively waved the other, "If he likes you then I like you as well. I won't disagree with the relationship."

Hilary's heart dropped and her breathing hitched. He's not...Kai! He sounds just like him! The voice haunted her dreams and distracted her whenever she kept still. She itched for something to do and clawing at her forearms seemed to be the perfect distraction. If this was Kai's way of drawing out her confession while he was awake then Hilary was succumbing to it.

"Tala hadn't mentioned a brother."

The boy gave a laugh, an all-too-familiar sound of Kai in Hilary's ears, "Tala is right. Kai has no real brother. He was the only non-orphan in his grandfather's abbey."

Abbey? Kai lived with monks and orphans? "Take the wig off, Kai! You're freaking me out! As if anything you've said is true!" There were moments when Kai would be a darker enigma and this boy gave her the same vibes. "If you're not Kai then why are you assuming his identity?"

Tsubasa sighed and approached the brunette. "I'll prove to you that I'm not Kai yet. How about we leave this school for now?" He raised a key to Hilary's eye level.

"I'm not stupid! You have no idea how many times I've been abducted and assaulted by my own schoolmates! I'm not coming!"

"Approximately twelve in this month alone," Tsubasa shot back.

"That's not funny!" She gasped, "H-how did you know if you claim to not have been here?!"

"You want information about Kai. I can give you that."

He really is obsessed! Exasperated, she shook her head and raised her arms out to keep him away. "Get away! I'm calling for security! They'll detain you since you're not a student!" She turned to run and lurched forward, but before she could take another step, Tsubasa grabbed her arm and swiftly landed a sharp blow to her neck, just below her jaw. She had made sure to keep that pressure point out of his reach but it happened too quick. As she fell into a heap and her eyes rolled to the back of her head, Tsubasa's voice buzzed.

"Sorry."

He definitely wasn't Kai.

Tala was first to limp out of his seat, subtly clasping his chest. Kai snapped out of his trance. Still slightly chilled from the water fight, Kai rose up and grabbed his satchel. He caught up to the redhead at the threshold.

"Hey," Kai started in a low voice. "Where are your cru-"

"I don't need them," Tala turned to glare at the shorter male. He was almost inaudible since Julia was still in the room. Tala felt his phone vibrate and turned back at Kai. "See you back at the house." He sauntered off with the mobile planted against his ear.

The little person in his mind crossed his arms, 'Tin-Man acts stranger than usual.'

He's probably planning my next dinner with Hilary.

Chibi smirked, his eyes, smug.'You're awfully complacent...for someone who claims to be "asexual."'

I'm not the one calling it a date.

'Tala always did...but he hasn't mentioned anything about it today.'

Chibi Kai wasn't wrong.

Tala routinely spilled to Kai about his schemes and sometimes, the latter was unwilling to know - and - wanted no part in them. Tala's silence reminded Kai of their days in Voltaire's "Diplomatic Academy." Voltaire had frequently pitted the two males against each other as children. Tala had attaché observation. He was grounded in the humanities department from foreign affairs, history, philosophy to languages, and he had been Voltaire's successor after Kai had bolted. Kai, at that age, could barely utter complete English and Japanese phrases. His language acquisition was deemed slow, however, Kai had high emotional intelligence and high pain threshold. Voltaire had admired Tala to the point when he attempted to eliminate Tala's only flaw: his humanity.

"What has Tala been up to?" Kai crossed his arms in thought, staring at nothing but sensed Bryan was waiting for him.

In the end, Voltaire preferred his own flesh and blood, much to everyone's chagrin. Especially Tala's.

Smoothing his silver side burns, Bryan grunted. "I don't frickin' know." Bryan knew about their slip-up and preferred that Tala either take the blame or resolve the issue...as usual.

Kai shuddered, which surprised him. How could Bryan not sense that? The cold snap rippled against his skin as the sinister aura seemed to engulf him. Tala never had that effect on him. On the other hand, a preoccupied Tala meant Kai could retrieve Dranzer from his locker.

Kai watched the redhead disappear into the sea of students, calculating the distance between where he stood and Tala's locker and sensing Dranzer -

"Kai."

He spared a blank stare at the girl. "Julia." He had almost forgotten about her.

She coyly smiled at him while he withered. At once, she sensed his impatience grow. "Thank you for giving me these." She gently flailed the crutches under her arms then she jerked her eyes to the bags at her feet. "And for bringing these."

"Crutches," Kai registered.

Julia limped closer to Kai and felt the eyes in the hallway become fixated on them. With a triumphant smile, the brunette gushed in a hushed voice to keep Bryan out. "You're too kind and really shy that you made Tala give the crutches to me. They helped lessen the pain."

Kai swore he had heard rapid beeping noises go off in his head.

'Could she be-'

-you're shitting me.

'DING! DING! DING! Tin Man visited the Wizard of Oz and got what he wanted.'

THAT'S the reason he fucking ditched this morning. He's worse than ME.

'Going for two points: ME! YOU ACKNOWLEDGED YOUR FEELINGS.'

After taking in Julia's condition, Kai remembered their incident from earlier and mutely sighed. "I was late for class." He couldn't leave her bandaged and sprained self alone. In spite of her being the president of his fan club, he needed to care since Tala was definitely infatuated with her at this moment. She was also Hilary's friend.

"I want to apologize," Julia hesitated. She shifted her weight as she held the crutches. "I shouldn't have behaved that way this morning."

'At least the robot doesn't treat her badly unlike someone I know.'

He crouched down to reach for Julia's bag. "Bryan. Take the other one."

'Hilary won't be happy about this!'

Hilary strikes me as more of a detached type.

'That was a terrible pun, you masochist.'

Kai's hand gently directed Julia's shoulder as she took a slow step next to him. "Tell me when you need to rest. Bryan and I will be here."

The crowd around them grew quiet and Kai tried not to acknowledge the simmering curiosity in the air.

Bryan dismissed the offer, "You can catch her."

At him seemingly ignoring her apology, Julia fought the urge to cast the crutches aside and jump into Kai's arms. How unfortunate, she had not sprayed on her favorite perfume.

"Tsubasa is in your campus, boss." Alex's deadpanned voice angered Tala. Kai was at least not next to him.

"I figured after I saw Bryan," Tala scoffed, dodging a purple cap and broken sunglasses littered on the floor. He sent a wilted glare at the small group of girls who scanned him from head to toe then he glowered at the males who dared to block his straight path.

"I assumed he would meet with you first," Alex confessed.

Tala jogged, turned towards the stairwell and jumped down and over the first set of stairs. A few students dodged and some girls screamed. After a slightly shaky landing, Tala was unharmed but grew angrier. He was only half a floor down until he could run out to the parking lot. "He'd want to see Kai first."

"Spencer is furious that Tsubasa had taken his truck."He almost failed his second landing.

Tsubasa knew how to drive. Great. "Let Spencer know that I'll find him myself." How had a jet-lagged Tsubasa slipped past Bryan and Spencer had confused Tala. He sped down the next flight of stairs. Pausing, Tala looked at the bay window and scanned the parking lot below.

Whatever he's up to now, he will eventually find Kai. "Tell everyone else that Hilary will be over tonight for dinner. That way, we keep Kai indoors."

"Yes, Boss."

"GET HERE SOON." Cutting the call, the redhead scowled at a familiar vehicle rolling out of the parkway. Un-fucking-believable!

It was strange not to have females invade his personal bubble around this hour. They did not completely disappear. They admired him from a distance with the same longing looks but now, tinged with hurt.

"Do you think if I got hurt...he'd help me too?"

"Isn't she friends with the school Prez?"

"I hope Hilary knows about this. She'll be jealous."

"Where did you and Tala go yesterday?" the Russian inquired, not sparing a glance at her. Kai had never been the one start up a conversation and she jumped at this.

"Tala and I aren't-" she flushed. Fool, why am I blushing and embarrassed at the thought of dating Tala!

From her periphery, she caught more looks. Julia couldn't escape the bubbling resentment in the air; these girls weren't so discreet in their contempt. Gripping harder onto the clutches, she willed to move faster through the hallway. She was grateful that Kai was with her but the entire scene was disconcerting. It felt like she had broken some hidden code shared among these girls. She lagged her pace and maintained a foot distance from him.

Kai turned to her, "I know." He was unnaturally choosing to be talkative. "You and Tala were injured."

Bryan scrunched his nose in confusion.

She whispered. "You know about the beystadium?"

Judging by Kai's surprised glance, Tala hadn't told a soul. What does Kai know? Knowing Kai's overexertion and his penchant to damage his surroundings, Julia was hesitant. "Remember Radiant Rose? We dealt with it."

Kai scowled, recalling that day at the pier with Romero. He examined her and she didn't flinch. Bryan lagged behind them, scrolling through his phone with his free hand.

"It was different from its original form. Typically there are rose petals and thorn vines during a bey battle," Julia continued with a slow lurch of her crutches. "The bit beast controlled living flora. It doesn't need a bey medium."

The mere thought of Dranzer not needing a wielder devastated him. "An infinitely continuous blade spin is impossible. And a bit beast acting on its own isn't plausible unless the host is present."

"True," Julia agreed. "But Romero wasn't present. No beys were spinning."

He was incredulous. "What?" That didn't sound...sound. Well nothing had been sane lately.

"Radiant Rose is embedded in the facility. It is simulated by the preferred "vehicle" to maintain its dormant state, which was the school's greenhouse." Julia knew she was in deeper trouble. "A blader's ki activates the bit beast, which then triggers the model."

"What had exactly happened with you and Tala?"

"He snuck me into the building and the greenhouse plants started attacking. The plants themselves were mutated, it's as if the bitbeast upgraded it. One of the venus flytraps swallowed Tala," Kai noted the worry in her voice. "But he destroyed it...shredded it into bits like some beast. It was pretty awesome," she exhaled a soft laugh then caught herself. I sound like a fan girl.

'She seems impressed by him.'

At least that's one person.

It was almost too easy to extract information from fan girls these days. "I see," he wiggled the strap of his satchel in thought. He hadn't bought into the concept of ki but with bit beasts as reoccurring spirits and his past beybattles as proof, his curiosity was piqued.

As they descended the stairs, Kai kept his arm around her back and guided every step while Bryan held the crutches.

No, this felt right. Julia surmised.

"How," Kai began, staring at the steps, "...are you and Hilary?"

She tried not to look surprised as he gripped onto her shoulder and pressed closer to her. Could he smell her perfume? Was she sweaty? She slightly leaned her head to him.

"We're the same. We fight then make up."

"I see," he breathed. "I need to learn more about her."

She stopped, "Of all people? She doesn't even beyblade."

"You're friends with her for a reason," Kai stopped as well.

"She's with you."

Then he mustered, "She's my girlfriend."

Julia was taken aback. Bryan twitched at Kai's sudden verbosity. Her green eyes studied his countenance for any traces of half-truth. Kai steeled himself, his eyes ablaze in conviction. He sent her a message only between them; and the sudden dread in her eyes was enough confirmation as she looked away and pulled her leg to move another step.

Adjusting the launcher on his arm, Brooklyn nodded to the aqua-haired girl.

The scheming duo stood and stared at the hall of single-tier black lockers before them. The Academy boasted locker dimensions of seven-feet tall and two-feet deep for students over Year 10. Ming Ming huffed at the perilous height of the locks; at least seven inches above her eye level. It was a bitch to open her locker. She personally hated storage units. They made her insecure of her height and claustrophobic. It made her tours unbearable when she sat next to her luggage.

"Let's cut all of them open," She urged.

Brooklyn held the bolt cutter away from her reach. "I'm not up for wasting my energy. I can see the numbers. We'll find his locker."

"The office didn't give us the exact number, just a range. I wish we had some guys sign up for this. It would take a fraction of our time."

He raked his wild tangerine hair, "You know we have to abide by the school's rules. It's bad enough that I stole a bolt cutter. We can't let other people get expelled for our dirty work."

Ming Ming scoffed out a smile; Brooklyn and her were so above expulsion. He was compassionate, Ming Ming credited him that.

Brooklyn smirked and rested his palm against one of the lockers. The silver launcher around his arm gleamed. "Zeus did a number on him awhile back. Dranzer won't be hard to track down."

"Dranzer beat Zeus," Ming Ming had to point out.

"Yes, please remind me." His ego was slightly bruised. The redhead carefully read the numbers as he moved along the full-sized lockers. "I thought you wanted me to help."

Ming Ming giggled out of his ear shot, "Isn't it this one?" The genius glanced back at Ming Ming's direction. At the end of her tiny finger was a locker filled with pastel colored papers. She gave a quick sniff at the locker and gagged. It smelled of different perfumes from the love letters. "I kinda don't want you to open it."

Brooklyn walked over and moved his hand over the door. "It's not in there."

"A dupe locker makes sense," Ming Ming nodded to herself.

The redhead walked further down the corridor and stopped at the third-last locker. Prickles of warmth filtered through the black metal and into his skin while bright-red and purple embers melded together against the metal. He chuckled and positioned the cutter neatly under the lock. With a swift push and yank, the lock snapped open and fell, broken, onto the polished marble.

Breathless, Tala stood at the entrance foyer and waved at his driver. Alex climbed out of the graphite Bentley to assist Tala.

"He's gone!" Tala allowed Alex to support him as Shaydes opened the passenger door. "He took Spencer's Hummer. He didn't take Kai with him!"

"We know," Alex bit her lip and helped the redhead climb into the black leather seats.

Tala stopped, "You lost him!?"

"Who else is Tsubasa interested in? Wherever he went, we'll find out later. As long as Master Kai and you are safe, Tsubasa is better off to wander around the city."

"I'll sit in the front!" Alex shoved the boy into the vehicle's front passenger seat and closed the door. He climbed into the back with Shaydes, who left his mouth open in shock

As Tala's town car exited the school's parklands, he fumbled with the audio controls, satellite radio and mused at the WiFi. He stopped at the station that played "The Girl From Ipanema." He felt he had forgotten an important detail that involved Tsubasa.

Yes, I would give my heart gladly
But each day, when she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead, not at me

After dropping the cutter against the marble with a thud, Brooklyn opened the locker and he was surprised at its orderliness. A duffel sports bag hung at the back of the locker. Two wooden locker inserts were lined with textbooks for Physics, Philosophy, Canadian History and International Law; neither of which Brooklyn struck as Kai's academic style. Allowing Zeus to temporarily possess his senses, Brooklyn reached his left arm into the dark abyss.

He snaked his hand past the sledgehammer and the dangling cleats then stuck his hand in one of the duffel bag's pockets.

As a fellow athlete, Brooklyn cringed at the possible gross, stinky hell he was maneuvering through. He felt the MS chip and for a moment, he was confused because there were two bit beasts going off. Mentally begging Zeus to hasten the search, the familiar ki pulsated stronger. Quickly, he wrapped his hand around it and fished his arm out the locker, his breath held.

Ming Ming swallowed a disgusted scream and jerked back as Brooklyn produced the blue, silver and red beyblade in his palm at her eye level.

His eyes were dark as he pushed his hand toward her. "Take it."

"B-but it was covered in sweat! Kai's germs!" Ming Ming protested.

Brooklyn arched his eyebrow, "Here I thought that tidbit excites you."

Pink high in her tanned cheeks, Ming Ming snatched the bey out of Brooklyn's hand. "Gross out, Brooklyn. This conversation never happened."

"You're the fan girl," Brooklyn dismissively waved. "You're welcome by the way."

Ming Ming's small hands cupped Dranzer MS. It miraculously didn't smell of anything but metal. She smiled. She held the trump card to win Kai's heart.

Brooklyn briefly scanned the door: only a small picture of a clown was plastered. Then he shut it.

Her orange bangs were wispy in the sexy-cat-walk-Pantene-commercial way if only Kai had noticed. They walked along the school promenade with different cars lined up, waiting.

"I hope they're here." Julia remarked to no one. Kai was silent for the rest of their trek while Bryan was dead set on ignoring her. She glanced at her wet tan UGG boots and shivered from her ankle brace.

Kai squinted at the path ahead and noticed a stoic bystander dressed in black. As the trio approached closer, another man joined him.

"Recognized that orange mess of yours, Julia." The stoic old man commented and absorbed her companions in close detail, particularly a barefaced Kai.

"You're here!" A cheesy smile spread across her face. The crows' feet near the old man's bottle-green eyes crinkled into a pleasant glance. He tapped his mahogany walking cane, which kept him upright, and the golden horse handle glistened under his aged fingers. Although elderly, the man had traces of broad shoulders and muscle bulk; he had to keep up appearances like Voltaire.

The Fernandez patriarch was the one of the first creators of the beyblade. A business frenemy of Voltaire. Kai steeled himself and briefly fixed his white scarf. With Voltaire missing, he needed to put on a brave face.

The driver gathered Julia's things from the boys. Julia carefully took the man's hand, "Tato came for little old me?"

Kai's eyes followed the driver as he opened the trunk of her grandfather's black Bentley.

He chuckled, "Raul is working on a project with Oliver. I guess that leaves us two." He nodded to her companions. "You've grown up, Kai Hiwatari. Bryan, you too. Thank you boys for helping my granddaughter."

"Thank you," the girl mimicked and glanced at the boys. Julia was ushered into the car.

Looking over to his granddaughter, he sighed. "I need more responsible men like you in Julia's life." His face was grave. "She is too adventurous like her mother."

'The psycho-bitch or the traveling circus performer slash social outcast?'

Kai chose his words wisely, "Sir, you seem to be a great influence."

"I am?" The senior looked back at Kai. "It seems too good to be true, Kai. Say, you and I need to meet sometime." He handed Kai a business card. "Please send my best regards to your grandfather."

Don Torcuato approached the vehicle and climbed in. Julia waved a slow goodbye. He nodded. The Bentley came into life and pulled out of the promenade.

Don Torcuato Fernandez-Miranda. He fiddled with the card before dropping it into his satchel. He wasn't even slightly interested at anything to do with company.

The scalding coffee worsened Tala's nerves. He was addicted to caffeine like Spencer was to his cigarettes. He had no way of tracking Tsubasa down and a day needed to pass before Spencer could report his vehicle as stolen since Tsubasa, according the law, was a resident and acquaintance of his. Tsubasa could be halfway into Manitoba by the time the police flagged the Hummer.

Spencer couldn't blame Tala. No one knew the guy would visit the campus, let alone find it. Albeit, it was an internationally known academy and they have GPS on all vehicles...

He turned his mobile on and opened the photo gallery. He stopped on a photo of Tsubasa. Tala pushed the cup away and strained to focus on his readings. Alex sat on the spare chair in Tala's study with a book on hand. He learned for free since he quizzed Tala on the material.

"Tsubasa still looks the same," Tala slammed his book shut as his hands trembled. "I'd expect him to be a perfect replica of Kai by now."

Alex didn't look up, "It doesn't happen overnight."

"It's taking too long," He growled. "Nothing has changed."

Boris's son interjected, "You felt it. There's been progress."

Tala recalled the chill. He judged it as below his own contempt.

"Do you think he's here to claim Kai's property?" Alex flipped the pages on the textbook, "Some sort of toy? Dranzer?"

The redhead froze.

Oh no.

A/N: Thank you for reading!