"That's sick."

"Oh, come on! It the only way to decide."

"Do you really think Kai will be okay with being treated as a prize? I'm telling you, I refuse to be a part of this."

"Kai will never know. No one will. Just the four of us."

Tala sighed. "Okay. I'll think about it. But just so you know, I don't like doing this."

"It'll be fun!" Tyson grinned. "Oh, Ray and Max will be here any minute. Did I mention they both thought it was a brilliant idea?"

"Yes, Tyson, you did," the redhead sighed again as he laid back on the couch in Tyson's bedroom. He hadn't liked being here from the very beginning, and much less now that he knew why the younger boy had asked him over. To turn his best friend into a prize in a stupid love game… How could the others possibly think it was a good idea?

"Hey!" Max said as the door burst open and he and Ray came running in. "So? Did he agree to it?"

"I said I'd think about it," Tala snapped. "But only because Tyson wouldn't back off. I think this is rather unfair to Kai."

"Oh, don't be so boring," Ray said as he sat down next to Tala, leaning his head on the redhead's shoulder, playing with the blood-coloured hair. "It's not like we'll force Kai into anything he doesn't want to. After all, he is the one to pick the winner."

"Yeah, without knowing it!" Tala stood up quickly when he heard the flirting tone in Ray's voice. He was sure that Ray didn't even like Kai, that he just wanted a boyfriend, no matter who it was. "You guys are talking about him as if he's a possession, not a human being."

Max tilted his head, looking innocently at the oldest of the four boys. "It's not like we're doing anything wrong. The one Kai falls in love with, gets him. It's that simple."

"Yeah," Tyson agreed. "Except that we have rules. You know, to make sure this doesn't ruin our friendship."

Tala sighed loudly. "Okay, so let's hear the rules of this sick game."

Tyson hesitated for a second. "Yeah, well… We'll all start off the way we are now. From Kai's point of view, a handful of highly annoying friends. So, this is kinda stage 1. We're allowed to pay him small compliments every once in a while, but that's it. No flirting, no physical contact. And if he responds positively to the compliments, instead of telling us to go to hell, as he usually does, we can move on to stage two…"

Tala became more doubtful the more Tyson talked, but he was well aware that the three younger boys would never leave him alone if he didn't agree to this stupid, stupid plan.

"Fine," he mumbled, as Tyson finished off with how kissing was not allowed, unless it was Kai who kissed one of them, in which case, the game would practically be won already. "I'll do it," he added when the three friends didn't seem to understand what he meant.

"Great," Tyson grinned. "And remember, none of us are allowed to be alone with him until we reach stage 5."

"Then how the hell are you expecting us to level up in this stupid game of yours?" Tala hissed.

"You'll have to do that around other people. Everyone's going to be at Hilary's place tonight. That's our first chance."

"Fine," Tala sighed. "But can you please stop talking about it as if we're doing this together? I may hate doing it, but if I have to play this game, I'm going to crush you."

---

"Why don't you just tell him you're not interested?"

Kai scowled at the girl who sat next to him. "I can't."

"Why?" Mariah demanded to know. "If you're not interested, you should tell him, so that he can move on."

"It's complicated, okay?" the boy mumbled. "Can you please leave me alone now?"

"The only reason you can possibly have for not telling him you're not interested, is because of the fact that you are." With that, the rose haired girl got up and left the room.

---

Hilary stared at Mariah when she was done talking.

"You have to be kidding me," she said tonelessly. How could that be true? Why would he of all people…

Mariah just shook her head.

"Oh my God," Hilary mumbled. "What's Kai going to do about it?"

"I don't know." Mariah sighed, shaking her head again. "I said that he should tell him he's not interested, but… he refused. I think he might feel the same way."

Hilary frowned. "Why do boys have to be so fucking complicated?"

---

It was a cold night in mid-January, but the small apartment was unbearably hot from all the teenagers gathered there. Tala looked around in the room. They were all gathered like this just a few times every year, before returning to their own countries, families and friends, and every time, Tala wondered why there were so few girls among them. There was Mariah, former White Tiger X, from a small village in China. Salima, Ming-Ming, Julia, Mathilda, Emily, Queen and Mariam were all former beybladers as well. And then, of course, there was Hilary, who had stuck by Tyson's team for years… until beyblading suddenly wasn't that big anymore. It was weird thinking about how it had only been two years since the BBA closed, and it suddenly wasn't possible to get new parts anymore. It had been a hard hit to take. Beyblading was the only thing that had kept them coming together, even though they lived in completely different countries. Somehow, though, they managed to all come to Japan once a year, and just hang out for a few days, like nothing had ever happened.

Now, here they were, more than forty teenagers, and Tala wondered again why only nine of them were girls. Had the beyblading environment really been that masochistic?

Then his eyes found what they had been searching for, and all other thoughts vanished as he walked over to the only other teen who wasn't talking to anyone.

"Leave me alone, Tala," Kai groaned, without even opening his closed eyes. Tala should probably be freaked out about how Kai knew it was him, but he had gotten used to the creepiness of the younger teen.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" he replied. "After all, we're friends."

Kai opened one auburn eye to examine the redhead. "Whatever," he finally mumbled, and Tala sat down on the couch next to him, knowing Kai well enough to know that a "whatever" meant a lot more than whatever.

"You look good tonight."

Kai gave him an unimpressed glance. "Max said the same thing a while ago."

Tala knew perfectly well that with that sentence, Kai meant to end the conversation. But he couldn't just leave it like this. For once, when he said something, Kai hadn't told him to fuck off or go to hell. This was a huge improvement, and it was not going to be for nothing. He had to take it a little longer. He had to get to stage 2 in the game.

"Did you dye your hair?"

A short smile played on Kai's lips. "You can tell?" When Tala nodded, the younger boy's smile widened slightly. "It's a little darker than before. It's not too much, is it?"

"Not at all," Tala replied, shaking his head to illustrate his words. "I think it's perfect. Suits your personality." Kai laughed slightly at the joke.

Suddenly Tala noticed that his arm was almost touching Kai's, and he hurried to move a little further away. Damn it. How the hell was he supposed to avoid physical contact, when the room was so small that there was barely enough room for all of them?

In the middle of the crowd, he could see Ray flirting with Mystel, and shook his head forcefully. He didn't understand why the neko-jin absolutely wanted Kai, when he could have any other guy.

"What are you guys up to?" Kai suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" Tala replied, giving Kai a confused glance.

"Firstly; You never give anyone compliments. Never. Secondly; Max always seems to be too scared to even talk to me, much less give me a compliment. Thirdly; Tyson has been sending me weird glances all night. And fourthly; I happen to know that both you and Max were at Tyson's place earlier today. So I want to know exactly what it is you're up to."

Tala stayed silent for a few seconds, not knowing what to say.

"Well, then," the dual-haired teen continued. "If you're not going to tell me the truth, then I don't see any point in even talking to you." He got up, walking towards the door, leaving Tala confused in the corner of the room. It didn't take long before he decided to follow the other boy, though, and he hastily made his way through the crowded room, heading towards the door.

He caught up with Kai so fast that he didn't even have to open the door. He just walked out, right after the slightly taller boy.

"Kai," he said quietly, and the other teen turned around.

"What?" he said tonelessly. Tala took a deep breath. It was going to take everything he had to lie to Kai.

"I don't know about Tyson or Max, but I, myself, am not up to anything. You're my best friend, Kai. I'd never hide anything from you."

Kai gazed emptily at him. "Whatever."

"Wanna go and get drunk?" Kai didn't even have to answer. It would just be another "whatever", which in this case, Tala knew would mean something like "absolutely".

As they walked out of the apartment building, Tala thought about how it hadn't even been one day, and he was already breaking the rules. Then he smelled the sweet scent of his crush, and everything was forgotten.

Another beyblade fanfic! And Kai is in it! Well, that's no surprise, is it? So, who is Kai going to get paired up with in the end? Tyson, Max, Ray or Tala? Or maybe an outsider, someone who's not part of the game? If you want to know, you'll have to read.

I'll update after five reviews. So please, please, please review. With sugar and candy on top. Or else, I'm not updating. -Evil laugh-