The Little Things Give You Away

Chapter 2: Waiting for the End

Kai stepped on the pedal, and the car started moving. Hiromi was visible to him in the rear view mirror, standing on the driveway, waiting for him to turn the corner. The street lights were dim and her outline kept fading and fading till it disappeared.

The roads were pretty much empty as Kai sped his way towards the airport. He was running away again. It was becoming a habit of his; he wasn't even ashamed of himself anymore. This time though, it wasn't about winning, or being better, or proving anything to anyone; it was about getting away from it all.

Beyblading and everything associated with it. His grandfather had gotten upset with his father because of his love for blading, wanted to take over the world using the sport of beyblading, wanted to use him to take over the world because of his talent in beyblading.

Kai had been willing to risk anything to be the best at beyblading, because his father had left him for it, and because he had sacrificed so much already. He was willing to risk anything to save the damned sport because he couldn't deny the connection that he had developed with it. He was ready to leave anyone who cared about him for the sake of beyblading, had met everyone he cared about because of beyblading, people who he'd hurt and clearly end up hurting again because of beyblading. Everything in his life revolved around that one single game.

It had all started with that stupid game and he wanted to end it all; start fresh, to stop his past and present from haunting him.

The street light flashed red, and Kai stepped on the break pedal. He put his head on the steering wheel.

Everything –from the day his father left to that very night when he left Hiromi alone at the driveway – kept flashing through his mind. Most of them were bad times, tainted a bit with some good memories too. He knew that if wanted to forget everything, he had to let all the memories go; the good and the bad. Forget everything because it was all interconnected into one giant tarantula web that was giving him no space to breathe or move.

He was weary of his life being this one big joke, having a completely unexpected punch line blowing up in his face all the time. He wanted to be normal, without any interferences of anyone, to do things his own way and not get so deeply involved with anything or anyone that he would lose all he had in the process. Not that there was much left to lose anymore, he'd already lost or left whatever he had.

He was tired of trying to get things to work out; it wasn't anyone's fault, not his family, his friends, his opponents. He was just too big of a mess himself. It was best to start over, and this time, not get attached to anything or anyone.

Wyatt, Hiromi, Tyson, the rest of the Bladebreakers, they'd all been hurt by his actions, Even now, as Kai sat in his car, running away from them for one too many times, he knew he was hurting them again. Leaving was hard for him, too. That's why he was ending this once and for all, this dangling from a cliff thing, his coming and going, being friends and being enemies, was something that none of them could live with.

There was no point in staying with the Bladebreakers, anyways. He was too neurotic and a big jerk to provide any friendship, so the only reason he had returned to them was because they needed a blader, because they needed a captain. But now when he couldn't blade it was pointless to stay. Even Dranzer had given up on him and without it, Kai felt as if he'd lost a part of his own self. Dranzer's protection, it being his guardian, was the only thing that had kept him going. And now that it was gone, Kai didn't have the will to move on.

This was his decision; he had wanted to do something for himself, something that had no internal motive of helping anyone else that they'd never know. He had always identified with the right choice, intentionally did the opposite, then would realize it and spend his time trying to do the right thing, which would always benefit everyone but him. His life, his perspectives and his decisions were too big of a neurotic mess too involve anyone in them anymore. Because anyone who got stuck in the web, would end up being hurt by him, or take the first possible way out; and he couldn't take another person leaving him.

The light turned green, and Kai didn't notice till the cars at the back started honking. He picked up his head and stepped on the gas. It had started drizzling and the tipper tapper of the rain was annoying him.

This wasn't as easy as he'd imagined it to be, and he hadn't imagined for it to be easy at all. But he had decided that there was no more point on dwelling on his choice, though he still wished he'd one more conversation with Hiromi.

He stopped his train of thought at that very moment and turned them to planning about what he would do. Forcing himself not to thinks of her and others, was what he had to do, then well he'd do it.

The drive to the airport was one of the most loneliest he had ever had, and he had always been alone. Though for some reason the sudden emptiness in his life made him feel claustrophobic . It was that the safety of knowing that he had people to turn back to, which made the loneliness comfortable, but now that he was completely on his own, with one to go back to if he desired, he felt scared. He felt as if he was leaving a part of him behind but there was nothing else to do. It was about time he got used to it, was what he told himself, 'cause there sure was no turning back now.

First day back home, Kai was at a coffee shop near Hiwatari Household. When he had arrived there, no-one was there to greet him, and for that he was glad, he hadn't wanted to associate with anyone. No one was there also meant that Voltaire wasn't there, and he still hadn't seen the likes of him. If he was going to be living in the same house he's have to try and keep contact minimal. Voltaire did not mind his staying, but it was clear that he was no more fonder of his grandson then he was after the Russian world championships, and the feeling was mutual on Kai's side. Avoiding confrontation with people was the major aspiration of his self-imposed exile.

Kai picked up his coffee with both hands and took a sip. The liquid burnt his throat; the pain gave him a sense of reality. It'd only been a few hours since he'd landed in Russia, and he was finding it hard to get a hold on veracity. A lot had happened in the past month, it was hard to keep track of everything. He had to start planning what to do. First step would be to join high school, preferably one not co-Ed. The rest would be well, nothing. The tricky part of quitting the thing around which your life revolved and all things connected with it was that when you did, there was not much –practically nothing – left to do.

It made him laugh, the irony, Tyson had always said he would end up as a bitter old man alone with no one with him and nothing to do; he had been joking but apparently he was right. Just that Kai had ended in that stage fifty years earlier than what Tyson would have expected.

Kai sipped his coffee again, deciding to indulge a bit and think of what would be going on at the dojo. Hiromi must have already told the others about his leaving and the very thought made him flinch. He had to remind himself that this was better; this was one single dosage of pain for them, no continuous suffering like the one they'd have to endure if he'd have stayed. This time, Kai had even made sure that there was no door for him to go back through; he was adamant that he wouldn't return. Though he very much wanted to, after all it was painful for him to be away too, and he never would've left in the first place, but there were too many complications and staying away was the better –if not easier– thing to do.

It bothered him a bit that had he stayed in Japan, there were people to comfort him through the pain, but here he had no-one. There was an empty feeling, an unexplainable desolation inside of him; something that had just started developing when he pulled out from the driveway of the Granger dojo. He didn't want to acknowledge the importance of the people he had left, he was –after all– still his narcissistic self, but it was hard to avoid the feeling of nothingness, hard to hide something that wasn't really there.

At times, he wished that somehow all the problems would disappear so that he could return with neither fear, nor guilt. But this was the better choice, for both – the team and himself.

Kai closed his eyes, involuntarily took a deep breath, and got up. The café had many windows; the view of each one of them was blocked by the hard rain coming down. It had been a complete storm here in Russia, even before his plane had landed –much unlike Japan—and he was completely wet in a few moments. Unlike the sound of the pitter pattering drizzle that he had left in Japan, the sound of a full fledged storm calmed him down immensely, suppressed all other noises of the world around him; even the disputes that were going on inside his mind were blocked by the sound of the tempest.

This was the only thing he had yet experienced that made him glad to be home; the extreme weather of Russia, the glaciers, snow storms and the heavy rain were the few things that appealed to him. Right now, he was enjoying the sound of infinite number of heavy droplets hitting the concrete, splashing against the puddles. They –combined with the roaring of the gale, the clapping thunder and the lack of sunshine – created the desolate atmosphere he longed for, an atmosphere that soothed his strained nerves and mind. Yes, thunderstorms never failed to draw him out from his problems and put him at peace for a while.

Kai stood against the wall of a building watching the rain fall, after a while he decided that it was time to leave. He wasn't going to let his past haunt him, it was time to start forcing himself to work on his new start.

Brooklyn had become world champion yet again, third time in a row. Kai switched off his television, the cheering of the crowd, the gibberish of DJ Jazzman, and the cocky expression on Brooklyn's face was more than he could take. He didn't know what he felt, anger, defeat, guilt, envy, regret; a mixture of all these emotions. He was just unsure of why.

He laid his head to rest on the back of the arm chair he was sitting on. He still cared, it was blatant; it was not possible to banish from the caverns of his mind, such a huge part of his life, particularly when that part was the only thing his life consisted of. Beyblading, and every friend and enemy he had earned from it, they still haunted his mind, but till his mind was where Kai intended for them to stay.

It had been four years since Kai left, and each day there in Russia was evident in his mind. He never could adjust; he was just living for the sake of living. It was all about getting it done with. With each morning that came, it was about getting to the end of the day so he could sleep. With every night that fell it was about curtain of darkness to be lifted so the morning sun could shine, and he could stop his futile attempts of trying to sleep without nightmares of the past haunting him.

Despite each day being evident in his mind, Kai was unsure exactly how these four years had passed. In his head, he was still stuck in that driveway with Hiromi trying to make the decision of leaving. He was caught in a time loop; the moment before leaving Japan kept going on and on in his mind, the last few hours he had there…. It was partially, if not completely his own fault... In fear of getting close to people again, and having gotten done with his passion of Beyblading, there was nothing left to do but suffer and choke on the remains of a past that no longer existed, and a future he wanted to happen.

"You know we came here to enjoy," said Hiromi in a cheeky voice, pulling up a chair on the table Kai was sitting on.

He narrowed his eyes at her

"No, I came here because I had to."

"You are here, even if it is against your will, what's the point of letting the time go to waste?" Hiromi took a casual sip of the drink in her hand.

"And what am I supposed to do?" asked Kai taking a look at his surroundings. It was a party for the celebration of the start of the world championships. Music was playing; bladers of the BBA were dancing and talking to each other. People associated or working for the BBA were there too, they were talking and dancing amongst themselves; their children, those of them who were beyblading fans, were stalking their favorite bladers.

"Tell her not to go, I ain't holding on no more. Tell her something in my mind freezes up from time to time. Tell her not to cry, I just got scared that's all. Tell her I'll be by her side, all she has to do is call."

"This isn't a funeral; I hear no funeral bells ringing. Get up, have fun. There are at least a few dozen fan girls who'd dance with you." she finished with a gentle laugh.

Kai narrowed his eyes. "Honestly, that's the best you can come up with? I'm fine here then, thanks."

"Tell her the chips are down, I drank too much and shouted it aloud. Tell her something in my heart needs her more than even clowns need the laughter of the crowd."

Hiromi got up from her seat and Kai thought she was going to leave; he couldn't help, but feel a pang in his heart, he thought that she might stay and talk for a little while. He wanted his company for the little time that he could.

But his assumption was wrong and instead of leaving, Hiromi walked over to his side of the table. She took both his hands into hers and made him stand up. "Fine, dance with me, then," she said in an uncharacteristic voice. "I think I'd be a bit better choic than a fan girl."

Kai gave her a weary look, but then let out a small chuckle. The songs kept changing, but the two of them kept dancing with each other. The rest of the night was quite enjoyable. Bladers and fan girls both alike, were shocked to see Kai dancing; Hiromi on the other hand was more shocked to see him enjoying it.

"Tell her what was wrong, I sometimes think too much, but say nothing at all. And tell her from this high terrain, I am ready now to fall."

The music kept playing, and they kept talking. Kai was enjoying being with Hiromi, she was one person he really enjoyed spending time with. Out of the blue he made her spin and she gave him a shocked look, but it vanished quickly and she began to laugh. It was nice to see her laugh because of something he did, instead of something that Tyson or Max did.

He knew this was one of the last nights they had; he had made his decision, he had to leave the team. He wanted to let her know, so she wouldn't be hurt when she found out when he disappeared.

"Tell her not to go, I ain't holding on no more. Tell her nothing if not this; all I want to do is kiss her. Tell her something in my mind, freezes up from time to time."

If not that his mind told him, he should at least tell her that he liked her, how much he liked her, so if he couldn't ever come back, she'd know how much he cared. He pulled her close to him, and Hiromi gave him a shocked look while he just gave one of his rare smiles and looked down.

He was a coward, he couldn't tell her. He never could and never would; all he could do was cherish that moment he had, because he knew that it would be the only one he'd have.

Kai was lost in his thoughts as the girl in front of him called out his name for the third time; he had been completely deaf to her previous callings and to this one, he was still zoned out.

"Hey, Kai," the girl snapped her fingers in front of the dual headed boy, looking irate.

Kai shook his head to clear his mind.

"Sorry," he paused for a second. "I don't dance." His statement was cold and it was obvious there would be no further arguments from any sides.

The girl walked away without another word, and Tala raised his hands in protest. He couldn't believe that Kai would be this importunate. They were at a local club in the area where Tala lived. It was not often that they met, and they only did when Tala forced his way into Kai's house and dragged him out. Though, if the only thing Kai was going to do was drink with his eyes closed, then there was no point in coming; he could stay at his home and do that.

"What is wrong with you?" growled Tala in outrage. "Would it kill you to associate with someone other than your big ego?"

"Tala, I'm not interested in associating, or starting a relationship, as you want me to, with someone I don't know. And not even with anyone I do know; trust me, I don't even want to be here," answered Kai, his last sentence laced with a lot of contempt.

"I'm hurt," scoffed Tala in a mock hurt voice. "You need to stop this. You were introverted, I get it, and you didn't like company. But for four years, have you even had a single conversation with a single human being? You can't live like this, no one can."

"Wow Kai, I could have never expected you would be a good dancer," said Hiromi, laughing as they moved to the music.

"Tell her what was wrong, I sometimes think too much, but say nothing at all. Tell her not to go, I ain't holding on no more. Tell her nothing if not this; all I want to do is kiss her."

"What, you think I can't do anything other than Beyblade. Well, you are, mistaken," said Kai in a teasing voice and gave her another spin.

"Oh right, I forgot, 'I am Kai. I'm better than you. I show up where I want, when I want, for I am, king of the world. Hail to the king, baby!'" Hiromi finished her imitation and smirked.

"Right, so funny. I hope you find this funny." he chuckled, and gave her another twirl and dipped her a bit too much for her liking.

"Jerk," the girl in his arms panted when Kai pulled her up.

Kai just smirked and pulled Hiromi close again.

"I'm alive," stated Kai, taking a sip of his drink.

The red head shook his head; he knew well enough that his friend's mind was far away from where they were. He didn't know where.

Ever since that girl asked him to dance, Kai's mind wouldn't leave the BBA party before the third world championships, all he could think of was dancing, laughing and talking with Hiromi. Out of all the memories that plagued his mind, good ones and bad, the most dominating ones were those he had with her; he couldn't get her out of his mind, or stop worrying about how she was.

The memories were his curse, yet they were his solace. Kai closed his eyes, he enjoyed living in those little moments of joy he'd had with the Bladebreakers, Hiromi in particular.

"I don't dance." Kai repeated his previously said sentence. "What was wrong with that? I don't dance. I didn't want to dance with her. What was the point?"

"I saw you dancing with the girl in your team, Hiromi, right? Right, Hiromi. So, tell me, why her?"

"I told you, I don't dance, not that I can't when I want to," Kai frowned irritably.

"So you wanted to dance with someone?" Tala raised his eyebrows and laughed loudly.

"Yes, I did, I wanted to. I liked her, or like her, which ever way you would like to put it," Kai spoke all of a sudden.

Tala choked, "How could you say that with a straight face?"

"I wasn't joking," Kai's voice was still zoned out, he didn't know why he was telling this to Tala, but he just wanted to speak of the matter, he liked Hiromi, a lot, he wanted to admit it to someone….and well Tala was the only one there at that moment.

Tala's eyes widened.

"The Bladebreakers coach? You? Oh God! "

"Me! I know," said Kai, his voice sounding resigned, shaking his head. In those few words that Kai said Tala knew what the former phoenix wielder was thinking about ever since they got there.

Kai picked up his jacket from the back of his chair and got up to leave.

"Later," he bid his friend a goodbye and started moving.

"Later Kai," shrugged Tala, in an equally distracted voice, making no attempts to stop his dual headed friend, like he usually would have, as he made his way towards the exit.

Kai liked someone. Kai actually liked someone. He actually cared about someone. Tala thought back to all the times he'd seen Hiromi and Kai interact, and it clicked to him the feelings were mutual on Hiromi's part too. So, there were two variables in the equation, and both of them must be suffering. If Hiromi liked Kai back, then she must have felt terrible about him leaving.

Peachy. His best friend fell in love, and he had to force himself to leave her for good.

Suddenly, it started making sense to him, and he realized where Kai's thoughts were all this time, and what was going on. But, for the first time, Tala decided not to interfere. It wasn't his place to do so, and even if he tried to there was nothing he could do; the only thing that could help those two, was a miracle.

Tala got up, and starting making his way towards the exit, without finishing his drink; his heart wasn't in it. He thought of Kai sitting alone in his house, and of Hiromi in the dojo and his spirit sank lower and lower. Though he wasn't directly involved in this problem, but he couldn't bring himself to be not down-hearted as he walked his way home.

Kai helped himself from slamming the phone. He couldn't believe Tyson would call and ruin his not-exactly-peaceful but still livable self-imposed exile by telling him something like that. The first thing he did was head back to his own room, so he was in peace and away from prying eyes of the help and Voltaire.

There had been a call for him from Japan. Usually he would never come to the call, but when he had heard the butler say that the caller had mentioned someone named Hiromi, he couldn't not answer the call.

It was Tyson who had called him and asked him to come home; first time he asked something like this, ever since Kai left. It was expected that the problem must be life or death, and since Hiromi had been mentioned to get him to come to the phone, it must involve her. Kai's suspicions, it turned out were right, it was something about Hiromi, and it was life or death. Hiromi had made it to the world championships, she was going to be battling Brooklyn and Zeus, and she didn't even have a bit beast; this was certainly life and death.

Sure, he had told Tyson that it wasn't anything critical and that Hiromi could handle it, but that was only because he didn't have any composure of his thoughts and he didn't know what he was going to – what he could do- and saying that he wasn't going to interfere was the best thing to do at the then moment. Hiromi battling Brooklyn made him panic, but he wasn't going to let Tyson know that, particularly when he wasn't even sure what he was going to do to help her.

Kai's thoughts weren't making sense; there were too many aspects of the situation. Hiromi was going to Beyblade, against Brooklyn; Brooklyn, the psychopath who destroyed Dranzer and almost gotten him killed. She made it to the finals, fine; must've trained and gotten really good to do so but there was no way she could face Brooklyn. He was not a person you could beat with your life. Kai would have ended up losing his life due to his win if Dranzer hadn't sacrificed itself for him.

It bothered him when he thought about the reasons as to why Hiromi would do something like that. Why had she decided to beyblade all of a sudden? And do it on a professional level, against Brooklyn Masefield? This involved him, be it directly or indirectly, this whole thing revolved around him. Hiromi, Hiromi Tachibana beybladed now. Oh God, this completely involved him. He might have left the Beyblading world, but he had left all the messes he had created behind and he had gotten his friends involved in them too much for them to let go when he left; apparently it had driven Hiromi to go to the root of one of his biggest mess and try to face it.

This was his fault; he had to be there to fix things if they got bad. She had gotten too deeply involved with him, him and his twisted life problems to just leave his problems and let them be after he ran away. It was his fault that he had let Hiromi get so close to him, that even after he left she wasn't able to break free of him. This whole thing was a part of him, he was still stuck in the web; even though he had physically left, there was a string which connected him to it; he had never been able to completely break free.

Kai knew it was not his place to stop her; even if it was, he knew that he couldn't and shouldn't do it, just like she knew she couldn't and shouldn't have stopped him when he'd left. Hiromi had to do what she had to do, just like he had to do what he had to do. And she must have trained relentlessly to get to this point, this must be important to her; he couldn't stop her from doing something she cared for. But at the same time, Kai also knew that he couldn't just sit there, an ocean across, helplessly watching what happened and waiting for something to go wrong, he would never be able to forgive himself.

Kai sighed feebly. The past five years he had been in peace. Sure the mental torture was there, the memories of the past haunted him; but it was a good sign. Time didn't heal wounds, it only created new ones much worse, which make you forget about the old ones. He was still suffering because of past mistakes, arguments and decisions; it was good because it meant that nothing new had happened that was bad enough to haunt his mind. And this was what he had wanted when he left; to leave the only thing that was close to him, the only thing that connected him to people he cared for, Beyblading, so that there would be nothing left in his life….if there was nothing there, he could not get hurt.

And now that he'd had to go back, Kai wasn't sure what that'd result into. Would he come back without another word the moment he was sure Hiromi was safe, hurting her and the others all over again in the attempt? Or would he stay, go back to everything he had wanted to leave and try to deal with all the complications that came with it? He really didn't know.

There was a part of him that wanted to be with his friends again, the part that was tired of being haunted by all the prospects of a happy future; one with him being with his friends, having Dranzer and being – if not the best – at least second best; one that he had wanted, but turned down in favor of believing it to be not possible. Yet, going back might mean that he would get hurt all over again. Even if the emptiness that he had been experiencing ever since he came to Russia –due to lack of activity and mortal contact in his life– would disappear, but with re-association with the world of beyblading and people involved with it, he would be making himself again a target of being hurt all over again.

But at the moments he also didn't care much of either of the cases, the main motive was only Hiromi's safety, if that was ensured; the former things didn't really matter. As long as she was alive and fine, him being with her or not didn't hold much of an importance. He'd been surviving like he was for so long; he could do it for the years to come, as long as Hiromi made it out of the battle alive.

Resigning himself to his thoughts, Kai gave up trying to make sense of them for the night. Making his way to the computer, he began to search for tournament details and news, and to book his flight tickets. He was going back, no matter what the reasons were or what the consequence might be.

Kai couldn't deny the slight happiness he felt in ages, a tiny spark of hope in his chest, despite knowing the graveness of the situation. He was scared, but he couldn't help but feel reassured that somehow everything would turn out to be fine, in some ways it always did.

Tala sat in the living room of his house, he was watching for the first time in a long while, the finals of the Beyblading Word Championships. He too had quit competing, even stopped watching tournaments on television. But get caught up with the news he still did; and when the news of Hiromi being the blader whom Brooklyn would be defending his title against came to his ears, there was no way he could not, not watch this battle.

He had called Kai to inform him of this news, but Voltaire- he was the one who had unfortunately picked up the phone- had informed him that his friend was in Japan and was not available to talk to him. Tala couldn't have hoped for anything better; Kai had gone back to Japan. Tala was sure, that with his best friend there, there was no reason to worry about something terrible happening. Kai would definitely handle it, and even if he couldn't, at least he wouldn't be spending the rest of his life beating himself up for it, thinking things would have gone different if he hadn't been an asshole and went to be there for Hiromi.

However, he couldn't deny that he was scared – for the sake of his friend and about the outcome of this battle. There were only three things that could happen; the battle would end terribly with something horribly going wrong with Hiromi – like all battles in which opponents made an effort to defeat Brooklyn did. Second being that she would make it out fine and alive and Kai would do the right thing and stay with her and his friends, be happy and, let them be happy. And the third, after she made it out of the dish alive, Kai would leave, hurting his own self and her, all over again.

Though the chances of the second possibility occurring were minimal, Tala was banking on it with all his heart for Kai's sake and Hiromi's and the Bladebreakers.

He stopped dwelling as the tournament broadcast started. Brooklyn was already in the stadium, lying on the bench, Hiromi had not yet arrived. AJ Topper and Brad Best were busy making unintelligible comments that started making his head hurt after the first ten minutes of listening to them.

Just as he was about to mute the television, the camera changed to showing Hiromi walking into the stadium, the crowd started cheering deafeningly as soon as they caught the first glimpse of her. The camera also zoomed into show all of BBA teams which used to blade when the Bladebreakers were world champions. Tala wasn't surprised not to see Kai in the stands; he knew he'd be trying to keep out of public eye.

When the cheering toned down a bit, Brooklyn got up and walked to the dish, a smirk plastered across his face.

"So, it is the Bladebreakers' cheerleader," said Brooklyn, loudly to the cheering crowd, "who I'm defending my title against? Might as well hand me the trophy right now!"

Hiromi didn't reply, but just made her way to the dish; the ten minutes between Brooklyn's first comment and the battle starting went filled with gibberish being spoken by the two commentators and whatever the two bladers were talking about in the dish was obviously completely unheard by the spectators and of course those who were viewing on different media as well.

When the battle started, things started to look bad for Hiromi almost instantly. Two hours into the battle, and Brooklyn was completely fine; he didn't even have a single scratch on him. Hiromi, however, was badly injured and bruised. Her clothes were torn and her body was cut and bleeding from some parts; she kept swaying on her feet continuously. Brooklyn was not holding Zeus back, and the dark bit beast's power was over-powering hers…

Tala didn't how she was surviving till now, it seemed impossible; without a bit beast her body was supposed to be taking all the damage from Zeus's attack. How was it that she was still standing on her feet? How was it that she was still alive?

The whole crowd was cheering as loudly as before; they hadn't witnessed such an exciting battle since BEGA. This was all a game to them, but Hiromi's friends – from the looks on their faces –wanted to put an end to this battle at once. And like Tala they were extremely worried about their friend's safety and were almost on the edge of their seats in fear and anticipation. However, as much as they wanted to, they couldn't stop this battle, from raging…

A few more hours into the battle led to Brooklyn standing on his side of the dish completely unscathed, a serene smile on his lips; the calmness he must have felt was evident on his face. Hiromi on the other hand had completely disappeared in the whirlpool of darkness without leaving a single trace behind her, there was no clue of the spinning of her blade or the pulsing of her heart beat.

The only thing Tala could hope for at that moment –the one thing that he'd hoped for when he found out Kai was in the love with the girl whose survival chances seemed minimal now– a miracle. Just like the one that saved Kai; that was the only thing that could help her….

Kai shot up in bed, all covered in sweat and panting hard. He could feel his heart beat as he tried to think over the dream he'd just had. Fear engulfed him, but for the first time in many years, it was not for his own self. He knew what was going on and what will happen if it didn't stop, and that was what scared him. Hiromi was going to end up like him….even worse. And he didn't know what he could do about it.

Kai quickly grabbed the remote and switched on the television. Glancing at the screen, he saw Brooklyn giving his signature smirk, as smoke and a cycle of darkness covered the entire beydish. His eyes widened, as he heard AJ Topper's comment.

"Things look bad for Hiromi, people," he shouted in a tense voice, "She might not make it through this battle."

The words echoed through Kai's minds for a few seconds, before he could actually comprehend the criticalness behind them. Hiromi was in deep water, she was probably going to die from how much she must be getting physically and mentally injured by Zeus's attack's particularly when she had no bit beast to take the damage.

He immediately threw of the covers that were sprawled over him, and got up from the bed. Grabbing his scarf, which was hanging on the back of a chair, he quickly made his way out of his suite. He had decided to stay in a hotel, very close- ten minutes run close - to the BBA stadium.

Instead of taking the elevator, the former blader took the staircase, skipping two steps at a time, and quickly making his way to ground level of the hotel. He hadn't been able to look at the time before, but now that he stepped out of the hotel, he could tell from the sky that it was early evening, the sun was near setting; he found it hard to believe it, the battle had started in the afternoon, how could it have been going on for so long.

Taking a car would be useless, the traffic would only slow him down; instead Kai began running towards the stadium building. Cutting through shortcuts and skidding around corners, he finally reached the stadium in much less than ten minutes. He dashed his way through the gates and sprinted across the ground. An awful feeling pressed against his chest as he finally entered the building and made his way through the numerous corridors to the open air stadium.

He entered the open ground through the corridor to see the cheering of the crowd had nearly died out; gasps and low whispering could be more prominently heard. The former Bladebreakers were near the beydish, scared and anxious for the safety of their friend who was hurling somewhere in the whirlpool of darkness.

Kai's hands trembled as he made his way forward; the dark energy being radiated by Zeus was reminding him of his battle with Brooklyn, the excruciating pain he had felt as darkness had enveloped his mind and all he could wish was for death to provide release. He tried to calm his nerves, reminding himself that he had survived. His mind came back to the situation at hand; Hiromi was there stuck in the vortex of darkness, Zeus's attack wreaking havoc in her mind.

Kai dashed his way over to the closest point near the dish where the Bladebreakers were standing. He made his way to the main battle area which was barricaded by a silver fence to stop people from interfering from the battle; the harsh wind lashed against his face as he gripped the metal rod tightly and looked – panicked eyed – at the pandemonium unfolding in front of him.

The Bladebreakers were shocked to see Kai there; they could hardly believe their eyes. They didn't think that anything would be able to convince their former captain to leave Russia.

"Kai?" The name slipped out unintentionally from Max's mouth.

The addressed man turned his head to see his old blond-haired friend looking at him with shocked eyes.

"Tyson informed me, there was no way I could stay back there," was all he could say – all he had to say- to explain his sudden appearance to his former friends.

Even in the dire situation, seeing Kai there couldn't help but make Tyson feel glad. He'd been disappointed, beyond all believes, by his captain's indifference towards Hiromi being in so much danger…Hiromi, someone whom he had cared about so much at one time. It pleased him to realize that all that he had heard on the phone was just another one of Kai's well played façades and that Hiromi's well being did concern him.

"How long has it been since she disappeared?" said Kai in splintered voice.

Ray was the one to speak up. "It's been at least half an hour."

Kai nodded and his face grew more solemn, his eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes were blood shot and his hands were gripping the railing so tightly that his veins were noticeable.

The wind whipped against each face and darkness blocked the view of the entire beydish. It seemed as if there was nothing, anyone – not even Kai – could do. The last battle like this was when Kai had fought against Brooklyn; it had been Kai's will. And – like Tala – he hoped for a miracle, a miracle called Dranzer, one that had saved him, to save Hiromi as well. Kai had not mourned for Dranzer, sure the lost of his guardian phoenix had caused him immense pain, it had been what kept him going for so long, and when it was destroyed Kai had gotten completely vulnerable and defenseless. For the first time since he lost Dranzer, he actually wish he hadn't, he wished that the phoenix was there so that it could protect Hiromi.

Several minutes passed with the entire team standing helplessly watching the battle rage, with no signs of either Hiromi or her blade. Then abruptly the sound of a loud crack was heard and Hiromi's platform –on which she was supposed to be standing– cracked and fell into the dish with a deafening loud noise, the broken shards and dust was the only thing that could be seen that identified the wreckage that had happened, it was only the sounds which identified the demolition that had taken place.

There were howls of screams from the Bladebreakers, they gazed wide eye at the beydish; still no sign of Hiromi. They didn't know what was going on inside that vortex but Kai knew what Hiromi must be experiencing and fear for her sake was clutching at his heart. What if she was on, or under that platform when it fell? There would be no chance of survival, she' be crushed under the piles of debris.

The hair of Kai's hands and neck was standing up on its edges; fear and despair gripped at his heart and his eyes were beginning to burn with tears. He felt just as helpless as he did when he was in that vortex, four years ago.

The crowd was deathly silent, there was no more cheering going on; people were watching with alarmed eyes waiting for an outcome. Mr. Dickenson watched in revulsion from the glass walls of his office, knowing there was nothing he could do.

"Maybe we should get Mr. Dickenson to get Brooklyn to pull back…?" Daichi trailed off, his voice sounding devastated.

A sharp pain rose in Kai's throat as he said, "No," in a cracked yet fierce voice. "She would not want us to."

No one bothered to argue with the captain's words. Regret vexed Kai's thoughts as he stood there, helpless in each way; if he had stayed and not left, maybe – most certainly – Hiromi would never have felt the need to battle Brooklyn.

A little more while into the battle, the darkness seemed to vanish, hope swelled in Kai's chest, but it deflated just as quick as Brooklyn, in fear that Hiromi might come back, still able to battle, yelled, "King of Darkness!" once more.

The crowd howled and Hiromi's friends screamed in fear.

"No!" roared Kai as he tried to get over the barrier, someone held him by the back of his jacket and pulled him, but he didn't care enough to notice who; if he couldn't save Hiromi, at least he would make Brooklyn pay for his vindictiveness. After a few moments of struggle on Kai's part to escape from the grasp of whoever held him back, he came back to some of his senses.

It was like he was living the nightmare of his battle with Brooklyn and Zeus all over again, like the first few days after he had gotten out of the hospital after his battle, when he stayed at the dojo, but this time there was no Hiromi to wake him up and whisper words of comfort to calm him down, on the contrary she was suffering the reality which caused his nightmares.

The knuckles of his hands whitened as his grip on the railing tightened, his face was screwed up as he closed his eyes and focused on the inside of the vortex, the place where he was when he was the one being attacked. Maybe it was his imagination, but he could see Hiromi spinning, like a rag doll in the heart of the tornado, blinded by the darkness, the harsh wind chocking her lungs, mentally being haunted by her greatest fears, letting out a helpless hand, that clearly no one would be able to reach, in futile hope of someone pulling her out of the abyss. Tears were leaking from Hiromi's eyes, her eyes shut in pain, concentrating all her remaining energy to extend her hand forward, to somehow find a way to get out of the void of darkness and haunting fears; her mouth slightly parted showing that she was trying hard to keep her ragged breaths going.

Kai's face was contorted with pain as the images of Hilary whipped through his mind; he could sense that she was alive, that whatever he was seeing in his mind was going on in reality to the girl hurtling through the vortex, and that she was bearing more than he had because she had no bit beast to take the blows for her.

Kai gripped the railing tighter, eyes still closed hoping that some how he he'd be able to reach her, knowing very much that it was impossible. Even though he could sense what was going on with her, he was still physically present outside the beydish, Hiromi far out of his mortal reach.

A few minutes into helplessly watching Hiromi being plunge through the empty void of her deepest fears with eyes blindingly closed due to the superseding darkness.

In a moment that might take someone to blink, Kai saw the darkness being illuminated by the bright red color of her eyes: she had opened her eyes, she began looking around at her surroundings wide eyed, terror tearing through her wild face, her body started growing as bright as her eyes…. Kai suppressed a scream at the back of his throat as he saw Hiromi's body being completely engulfed with flames leaving no trace of her being, the blazes of the fire that enveloped her lighting the dark vortex and sucking the darkness that surrounded Hiromi.

The flames had completely obscured her body, growing faster and faster illuminating the vortex sculpted with darkness and its victim's fears. They grew so brilliantly intense that they hurt Kai's eyes, and involuntarily his eyes snapped open. He was back into his own surrounding, he blinked, but before he could register what was going on, their was an eruption of flames like a volcano exploding and he – along with the other Bladebreakers – was thrown back a few feet. He landed on the on the floor against his elbows, the other Bladebreakers on the ground beside him.

Kai's face fell from shock when he saw that Brooklyn – across the enormous beydish – too had been knocked from his feet. He lay on the floor, watched wide-eyed as his bit beast completely disappeared in the vortex of fire. Getting back on his feet, he called out for Zeus but there was no response. The whipping flames grew more and more, scorching his skin and tearing his clothes, and he had to move backwards because every time that he tried to get close, the flames got unbearable.

The entire beydish, which was previously engulfed with the tornado of darkness, was covered with untamed flames that seemed to be rising higher and higher up into the sky. There was still no trace of Hiromi, though but Kai could feel the warmth of the fire enveloping him; the pain, anxiety and fear being drained away from his heart; it seemed to give him courage, resolve, hope…. Dranzer…. He recognized this sensation, it was one he had longed for, but hadn't felt in a long time, and at that moment all he could wish for was this to be the miracle he hoped for it to be….not for his sake, but Hiromi's, because Dranzer was what had saved him, and Dranzer was the only one who could save Hiromi….

Kai – still on the floor – could feel the warmth enveloping him grow stronger and stronger, then all of a sudden there was an eagle-like cry which made the whole stadium gasp out loud; Kai stared open-mouthed as the flames spun three-sixty degrees, faster and faster until it rose from the bey dish – which due to brightness of the flame still didn't become visible – higher and higher until it was quite high in the sky, another loud cry and the flames slowly took the form of a phoenix that Kai, despite his eyes burning from the flames, immediately recognized to be none other than….

"Dranzer!" Kai whispered in a low voice.

The rest of the Bladebreakers didn't turn to look at Kai, but they too had realized that it was the same holy beast that they'd seen all those years ago, dominating Brooklyn and winning the battle with Kai. But instead of hovering in the air above Kai and waiting for his command, the mighty phoenix was drifting above Hiromi, who – as the flames molded into the shape of Dranzer, and ceased engulfing the beydish – finally had became visible to the eyes of the apprehensive crowd.

"No way," Tyson was awestruck as he stared at Hiromi's torn and tattered, but very much living, figure.

As more and more people began catching sight of Hiromi, the roars of the crowd returned and started growing louder and louder until the whole stadium was in the same uproar at the start of the battle. Brooklyn, no longer unscathed glared at Hiromi, who was trying to adjust to her surroundings – and being back on her own two feet, though she was inside the dish instead of on the platform – which was scattered around in pieces near her.

Brooklyn was beginning to lose his calm for the first time since his match with Kai. He muttered to Zeus to launch at Hiromi one attack after another. Hiromi –being there fine and unaffected– was more than his mind could take and he was back on his knees, even when there were no violent flames pushing him down.

The two blades were still spinning and violently clashing against each other inside the completely demolished stadium, after all the hits it took Hiromi's blade, now after Zeus's encounter with the flames, seemed to be in worse conditions than hers. The two bit beasts were two battling in the firmaments above, the eyes of most of the spectators directed towards them.

Hiromi had finally gotten accustomed to her surroundings; she had realized what had happened even before she saw Dranzer floating above her blade. She had been going crazy inside the vortex, the darkness seemed to be clawing at her very insides and the emptiness in her mind, filled with only memories that ripped through her heart, made her wish for an end, she was helplessly reaching out for someone – anyone to grab onto. For a second she thought she had seen Kai's figure at the eye of the vortex looking down at her, reaching for her, but before her mind could dwell on it, flames engulfed her entire being and the second she realized that they weren't burning her–but providing warmth– she knew she was safe, she knew that this could only be… Dranzer…

The second Hiromi recalled the events that had gone on when she was inside Zeus's vortex, her mind drifted to Kai; and her head whipped so fast that she almost got whiplash. There he stood, as close to the dish as was possible, looking exactly as he had the day he left her at the driveway of the dojo, four years ago – except that this time, his eyes were wild with fear for her safety.

His sight brought back Hiromi's resolve; this was for every individual who had been hurt by Brooklyn, this was for her friends, this was for Kai, to prove to Brooklyn that the spirit of friendship and blading was more powerful than his vicious use of his natural talent, this was the only chance she had to set things right, there was no way she could lose!

This is not just a game to me! Kai's words echoed once more through the caverns of her mind as she called out to Dranzer, "Blazing Gig Tempest! Dranzer, finish him off!" for the first time in her life.

The phoenix didn't waste a second in obeying the command of a human who clearly was not its master, and giving a mighty cry, it launched itself at Zeus and a psychotic Brooklyn who was on the brink of losing his mind with how the battle had suddenly got out of his control. Hiromi's body – like when Kai saw her in his mind – became enveloped with flames again– though this time her figure was visible as the flames only bordered the edges of her body– as Dranzer attacked Zeus the entire beydish erupted in flames, resulting in both Hiromi and Brooklyn disappearing from view.

Kai watched in awe at the burning beydish echoing with Dranzer's cries; he could sense that Hiromi and Dranzer were both alive, he had known the flames of Dranzer since he was a child, he knew the cry of the phoenix; these were not the flames of cremation or the cry of lament….Hiromi would be just fine.

He watched as the flames died out with a final cry from Dranzer. The bit beast made it's way inside the blade; the smoke and the remnant flames died out to reveal Brooklyn on his knees on his platform, badly injured, head in his hands and Hiromi standing on her feet inside the dish, her blade spinning around the Zeus blade which had splintered into just as many pieces as Kai's Dranzer had after his battle.

The crowd and the former Bladebreakers stared open-mouthed and wide eyed at the spectacle in front of them. There was a deathly silence which was broken by none other than DJ Jazzman's voice:

"The winner of this match and your new world champion is Hiromi Tachibana, from the Bladebreakers!"

The silence went on for a few seconds as the everyone registered what happened; the crowd then erupted into the loudest cheers yet as AJ Topper and Brad Best started doing commentary again, which they had – in the heat and criticalness of the battle – had forgotten to do.

The Bladebreakers – all, but Kai – were cheering too, they had gotten up from their feet and were rushing towards the beydish to meet up with Hiromi; Kai was still rooted to the spot, the weight of the events of the evening finally clashing down on them, a grin was spread across his face; Hiromi was fine, that was one thing that was crystal clear in his mind and wasn't going to leave his mind anytime soon.

Hiromi picked up her blade from the centre of the stadium, pocketed it and, grinning, she started getting out of the rubble that surrounded her. Kai came back to reality when he saw Hiromi make her way out of the beydish and immediately sprinted forward to make his way towards her, being the first person to greet her. Like the time she asked him to dance with her, she took his hand in her own. He was the person she'd wanted to see for the past four years, the person for whom she did all this.

Kai stared at her, trying to feed it in his mind the fact that she was fine; Hiromi was looking down, not willing to meet his eyes. Before either of them could say anything, Hiromi withdrew a hand and took out her blade from het pocket.

"Dranzer V2, your old blade." These were the words that came out of her mouth as she put the blade in Kai's hands. "You gave it to me to practice with before you left the team, after you found me using Dranzer. I tried to use new blades, but I never could work with them right."

The two of them were oblivious to the cheering crowd, which was now cheering more on the two of them instead of her victory.

"Hiromi," Kai began, looking straight into her eyes, damn, he missed those eyes. "Keep it, Dranzer came back to you, you deserve it."

Hiromi smiled. "Dranzer came back because you really wanted it to, I'm glad you did, otherwise I'd probably have died out there."

Kai hissed when he heard Hiromi's harsh, but realistic words. Kai's arms had slipped out of her hands and around her waist and he was holding her not quite as much close as he did when they danced, but still at quite proximity.

"You'll be going back now?" Hiromi demanded drawing in a sharp breath.

The thoughts that had been plaguing his mind before he left Russia came to his mind once more, but as soon as he looked at Hiromi's face all the doubts became clear.
"I'm not leaving, never!" Kai's voice stern and his eyes gave away the earnestness behind them. "You have no idea, how much I missed you."

"Trust me," Hiromi choked out. "I probably had it worse than you did; I was the one who was left behind."

"Hiromi," Kai pressed on her name, "I am so sorry."

"I understand, I told you when you left that I was fine with it. I am just glad you're back."

And with those last words Hiromi tackled Kai with a hug that caught Kai, so off-guard that he probably would have landed on the floor, if he hadn't steadied himself and Hiromi on time. Hiromi, smiling, looked up to face Kai who had a mischievous smirk on his face. They stayed like that like that for some time.

The crowd's cheers got louder than before and it seemed as if the whole stadium was screaming at the very tops of its lungs. Wolf whistles could be heard from Tyson and Ray standing near by, Enrique and Eddy in the stadium and Brad Best in the commentators stands.

Kai pulled back after a few minutes a blush tainting his face to look down to see an equally flushed Hiromi.

"I love you," he panted, looking her straight in the eyes.

"I can tell, and don't worry, I love you too," Hiromi grinned, the tiredness from the battle had no way caught up with her, she was too ecstatic to care for her injuries.

Kai smiled and drew forward to kiss her. "You have no idea how worried you got Tyson."

Hiromi rolled her eyes and then smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

The two of them turned their faces at the sound of a protesting, "Hello!" from Tyson.

"We're alive too, you know!" Daichi said waving at the new couple.

Hiromi turned back to face Kai, they shared a smile and then Kai let got of Hilary. She made her way towards their old team, who congratulated her, cheered for her, and –in Tyson's case– made crude comments towards her and Kai.

There was a part of Kai that wanted to run away, to save these people by leaving, but he recalled something that the girl –who had just turned around from the Bladebreakers to give him a significant smile, which he earnestly returned – had said to him many years ago, 'Stop acting like your own judge and jury, let fate handle things, you'll get what you deserve good, or bad, stop trying to punish yourself for everything you think you've done, be it right or wrong.'

He was glad that he had finally realized that she was right; the years of distances had given him more sense, more time to think about things. He had his reasons to stay, Hiromi, his other friends were the reason to stay, their memories were what had kept him going, and he didn't want to survive on memories anymore.

Kai broke off from his thoughts when he heard Tyson yelp. From the way Tyson was pleading, apparently, he had made some snide, playful comment that had made Hiromi's good mood to go down the tanks. She looked ready to explode.

"Let me at 'im! Let me at 'im!" Hiromi growled, about to lunge at Tyson, but Kai gripped her from behind. She squirmed, and snarled, "Let me go, Kai, no jury in the world would convict me."

If this was all Tyson had to say to her after everything she had been through, she was going to hurt him so bad he wasn't going to live to tell the tale.

The Bladebreakers and the other teams snickered at Hiromi's predictable behavior.

Just like old times… Everyone thought.

Tyson just stuck his tongue out at her and smirked. Kai too, let out a chuckle, but didn't loosen his grip on Hiromi. He wouldn't want her to get into trouble with the BBA authorities for trying to murder Tyson_ again!

Kai didn't think he had ever been this happy; he had Dranzer back, he was back with his friends, with Hiromi, and most of all he finally knew that she was safe…. The anguish and monotony of the past four years all of a sudden seemed like some distant, hazy dream, quickly slipping out of his mind as he made no attempts to hold on to it.

Life was finally going on easy on him and things couldn't go better than this…

Sitting in an empty room trying to forget the past... this was never meant to last,I wish it wasn't so... Oh! I know what it takes to move on,I know how it feels to lie,All I wanna doIs trade this life for something new, holding on to what I haven't got! O_o

*unimpressed cricket chirping* Hehe, eh, 1 week, I said one week, hehe, and it's been, uh, ten months and one week, since that one week passed. Oh boy. See, what happened was that, that week passed with me writing Final Thoughts and Chapter 6 of Runaway Hiromi: the week after that my laptop got busted; and then school started *hangs head*and we all know what then happened, I didn't have much time to breathe much less write this. In winter break, I had too much going on to write this chapter, since it required too much time, concentration andinspiration and peace of mind, so I stuck to one shots and drabbles. Now after summer vacation started, April I wanted to try something new. Wrote a bit of this in May's start, then got busy with college admissions, then wrote more than half of it in the past two days. ^_^

Disclaimer: Like I said beforeI do not own 'Beyblade', if I did, I wouldn't have killed my fingers typing this more than10,000 word chapter. I would have a staff working for me which would be hanging on my every word and then would be publishing into manga editions. I don't own Linkin Park either who's song 'The Little Things Give You Away' this entire fic has been inspired by, and also named after, and who's song 'Shadow of the Day' the last chapter had been inspired by and named after and who's song 'Waiting for the End' this chapter has been named after and inspired by. Neither do I own Tell her This by Del Amitri, which was used in the dance scene.

Dead-bY-n0w tyhiltwilover Kiray Himawari Arisa Kamashiro sky d, cOOlzanimeaDDict, SeleneAtar, Someone2003, Moonlight Serenity andMiss. Iqbal/ Inspired-by-Iqbal for reviewing. Thank you to all those who read, faved and alerte-d this fic. Soooooooooo sorry to everyone for the long wait. :(

Please review. :)

I wrote the first scene listening to Breathe by Taylor Swift, switched to Tell her this by Del Amitri while writing the dance scene. ^^ Listened to I'm Not Afraid by Eminem and Planetary (Go), for a while, these were the songs I listened to while writing the first chapter, but this time after a while, I started getting a head ache, probably cause I wrote this in 3 days, wrote the 1st chapter in 3 weeks. O_o
The rest of it I wrote listening to a thunder storm on rainymood. com, lol, that's what inspired the raining outside the coffee shop. :P ^^

Well, I hope this was well worth the wait. I worked really hard on this, so I hope everyone enjoyed it. :P Thank you to Dead-by-n0w for beta-ing this on such short - 2 day - notice and on the 1st weekend after papers. *sheepish grin* She deleted 1000 words of extra crap. O_o Sorry for getting on your nerves so much. :P I hope my mela of, ahem, nouns and pronouns, wasn't as bad as the other junk you had to beta.

R and R, please...

11:00 p.m. 29th May, 2012.