Alright, here's my first Beyblade fic! Please go easy on me. Sorry this is late. I had to go to a camp with the sole purpose being to look after the younger campers. Anyway, this is set about a week after the end of Season One.

I don't know the other seasons all that well.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Beyblade. At all. I do own Lillie, Elizabeth, and Carl. We don't see Lillie at all, but Kai's gotta live somewhere.

WORD COUNT: 1148

Another day of training, another day of Tyson's whining. I didn't care if there weren't any big tournaments coming up soon; it didn't mean he could slack off practicing. Of course, he'd probably complain even more if he saw that I was on break. I'd already completed my daily training hours. He would've, too, but unlike me, he'd spent most of the day so far complaining. At least he's actually getting something done now that Ray's back from seeing the White Tigers to the airport.

I don't know if I'd ever be put in this position, but if I ever had to leave the Bladebreakers, Ray would be the one I'd put in charge. He's the only one mature enough. Kenny's okay, but he's more of a follower than a leader. Max definitely has the enthusiasm, but he's a total softie when it comes to leading a team, and he isn't all that interested in the position anyway. And Tyson. Yes, he is one of the best bladers I've ever seen, and sure, people seem naturally drawn to him, but he isn't one for thinking ahead. All that makes Ray the obvious choice. He's already my unofficial second-in-command.

So it was just another regular, albeit boring, Sunday. I sat outside my cousin Lillie's house, leaning against the wall, my arms folded behind my head and my legs stretched out in front of me. I'd been staying with Lillie since we returned from defeating the Demolition Boys in the World Tournament a week ago. She's ten years older than me, and since she's always busy with work – she's an actress teaching kids at a local theatre – Ray and I usually have the place to ourselves. Our team meets here every day to practice. Ray's only boarding with me until other things can be arranged. He says that even though he's reconnected with his old friends, he's not really ready to go back home. Mariah in particular wasn't all too happy when she found out he wasn't coming with them. If he wants her to stay interested in him, he sure has a funny way of showing it.

It was the sound of a motor that drew my attention to the rental car pulling into the driveway. I stood up as a man and woman climbed out.

"Is this the home of Lillie Hiwatari?" the woman asked.

"Yeah," I replied, "She's not here, but if there's anything I can help you with..."

"Actually, we heard that Ray Kon was staying here. We need to see him." Shrugging, I led them through the house. All the while, the man kept muttering under his breath. What was his problem? We came to the training room just in time to see Draciel knocking Dragoon out of the dish. Kenny sat in the corner, open computer on his lap, as usual. Ray was leaning against the wall, an amused smile playing on his face. He didn't notice us coming in – until the woman let out a shriek, ran over, and nearly strangled him in a tight hug. Ray's eyes widened in shock.

"Mom?" he gasped, "What are you doing here?" Max and Tyson, Beyblading match completely forgotten, stared while Kenny's fingers froze in mid-type as he looked up in interest.

Mrs. Kon pulled away and looked her son over. "Your friends the White Tigers sent us a letter and told us where you were, so your father and I hopped on a plane and flew right over. Oh, look at you. You've gotten taller since the last time I saw you. You're starting to catch up with your father. Right, Carl?" Mr. Kon grunted, glaring at his son. Ray silently walked over, his face hard. For a second, I thought I saw him giving his dad 'The Look'. 'The Look' is where his pupils appear to turn to slits. It freaks a lot of people out, because it seems almost inhuman. What bugged me about it now was that Ray was giving it to his own father. 'The Look' is reserved for when he's seriously pissed, which is a pretty rare event. What did Mr. Kon do to deserve that?

"Hey, Dad," Ray mumbled, avoiding his father's own eyes. After receiving another grunt in response, he turned back to his mother, smiling a little. "I'm glad to see you," he told her, giving her another warm hug. He was definitely being sincere there. "We could make some room for you if you want to stay awhile. That's cool, right, Kai?" I shrugged. It was technically up to Lillie, but I doubted she'd begrudge Ray's parents a room.

Mrs. Kon's smile vanished. "You're not coming home with us?"

"There's a week-long day camp at the Beydome teaching local kids how to Beyblade, and we've volunteered to help out."

"We have?" Tyson interrupted.

"Yeah, I signed us up this morning."

"Ra-ay!"

"Oh, come on. It'll be fine. It's only for a week. We're starting tomorrow. Think about it. There aren't any tournaments coming up, and there'll be tons of kids wanting to learn from the World Champions."

"'World Champions?'" Mr. Kon finally spoke up from the doorway. I looked over and saw that he had a bitter scowl on his face. "Don't tell me you're still wasting time on that stupid game?" Ray glared back. I was starting to understand their animosity. Ray is passionate about the sport.

"I'm not wasting my time. We're a professional team. We've come out on top at every tournament we've been to. And no, I don't regret it." The Kon men glared at each other for a couple seconds, until Mrs. Kon came between them.

"We can talk about that later," she said hurriedly, "I'm afraid we've interrupted you boys during practice." Mr. Kon grunted and left, muttering something about getting the luggage. Ray gave his mother another smile before turning back to the rest of us.

"Well, Tyson," he said, "How about you and I go for a round?" He pulled out his blade and faced the dish, but Tyson grabbed his arm before he could do anything else.

"You sure that's a good idea?" he asked, "You don't want to strain yourself."

"I'm fine," Ray argued.

"No, you're not," I stated, "You still haven't fully recovered from your match against Bryan. Like I said before the last round, low-blow body shots take time to heal."

"It's been a whole week, Kai."

"Doesn't matter. The doctors said two weeks before you start pushing yourself." Ray sighed and crossed his arms. I knew it was killing him, not being able to Beyblade, but none of us wanted him collapsing like he did a couple days ago. It only came out when he was under stress, but Ray's health was still damaged, thanks to Bryan. We'd all gladly teach that guy a lesson, but he'd probably do the same to us.