Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Embrace ❯ Part One ( Chapter 1 )

Warnings: Yaoi, language, mild angst, lemon. NC-17!

Pairings: TyKa, ReMa, Kenny/Hilary (just for something different).

Dedication: To onlytykahotness & Anime Firefics members & mods, but a special thanks to BG for the help with my German presentation! ^-^

Authoress' Notes: Yay! Valentine's Day! Perfect romantic circumstances for a TyKa fic! Anyway, you all get to see how non-creative I am at poetry *scowls* and just so you know, everyone in this fic is 18 (for expediency). Enjoy!

Embrace

~ Part One ~

Max walked into the cafeteria on Monday and looked around until he spotted Tyson, Kenny, and Hilary at a table in the corner. Kenny looked up and saw him, waving him over, ignoring the arguments going on beside him between his girlfriend and his best friend (as usual).

"Hi, Chief!" Max greeted him, also ignoring the bickering teens. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good." Kenny winced as Hilary's voice rose a notch next to him as she yelled at Tyson for accidentally kicking her under the table. "How're you?"

Max sat next to Tyson and took out his lunch, shrugging. "Okay, I suppose."

Tyson, apparently sick of arguing with Hilary, turned to him and studied the blonde curiously. "What's up, Maxie? You're not your usual cheerful self today."

"Do you know what Saturday is?" Max inquired forlornly.

"February 14." Tyson said, slowly, not sure where this was going.

"Valentine's Day." Hilary provided, smiling at Kenny, who blushed slightly.

Max nodded, hanging his head. "And the dance."

Tyson laid a hand on his shoulder. "Aw…Max! No date, is that it?"

"Yeah." Max's gaze was drawn to the cafeteria entrance and he stared off in that direction.

Tyson followed Max's gaze and spotted the last two members of their team at the cafeteria doors.

Kenny smiled and Hilary giggled when both bladers heaved dual sighs and watched Kai and Rei thread their way through the crowded room toward their table.

"Well, you won't be the only bachelor at the dance, buddy." Tyson patted him sympathetically. "I don't think either of us will have the dates we want to go with."

Max nodded and began eating his lunch. Tyson, who'd already eaten, pulled out a comic book from his bag and opened it to start reading. Rei and Kai finally made it there and took a seat, Rei on Max's other side and Kai next to Tyson.

"Hey guys!" Rei flicked his ponytail over his shoulder. "Anything going on?"

"Just discussing Valentine's Day." Hilary told him.

Kai snorted indelicately and crossed his arms over his chest, eyes closing. "Useless waste of time."

He sweatdropped heavily and shrank back marginally at the five separate glares and withering looks he earned.

"Anyway, are you all going to the dance?" Kenny asked. "Hilary and I are going."

She smiled brightly and kissed him on the cheek, making him blush bright red.

Rei nodded. Max glanced at him and replied, "I guess so."

Tyson surreptitiously eyed Kai then shrugged, not saying anything.

Hilary, always ready to poke at Tyson or embarrass him at any opportunity, grinned evilly at the World Champion and asked the team's captain, "What about you, Kai? Got someone special you plan on asking to the dance?"

Tyson glared hotly at her for a moment then began putting his things in his bag. Kai didn't notice the sudden tension - or if he did, he ignored it.

"As a matter of fact, I do." He replied, refusing to meet everyone's suddenly curious gazes and blushing slightly, a small patch of red painting the bridge of his nose.

Tyson paused in the act of shoving his comic into his bag, freezing at Kai's statement.

"Who is it?" Max asked eagerly.

"None of your business! Besides, I want it to be a surprise!" Kai stared down at his arms. He heard Tyson make a strange noise and glanced up.

The bluenette grabbed his bag and his jacket, swallowing hard and trying really badly not to suddenly start crying. "I'll see you guys later." He croaked then fled.

They all stared after him, shocked. A moment of silence fell over the group.

"What's with him?" Rei finally broke the silence.

Max frowned and got up. "Stay here, guys. I'll go find him and talk to him." Max grabbed his stuff and ran after Tyson.

Kai blinked a few times, a slight frown crossing his face. What did I say? Kai wondered to himself, confused and knowing somehow that it was something he'd said. Even if I am going to ask him to the dance and he doesn't know that, I would have though he'd have figured out by now how much I care about him! He's slow, but he's not that stupid.

Hilary looked down at her lap, feeling just a little bit guilty. Kenny shook his head and sighed. "Come on, everyone. We'd better get to class."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max searched all over the school and finally found his friend on the roof. The blonde dropped his bag next to Tyson's and slowly walked over, sitting next to Tyson on the floor.

"What's wrong, Tyson?" He asked, quietly, though he was sure he already knew.

Tyson sniffled, wiping away the tears on his cheeks though they continued to spill over. "Kai." Was all he said.

Max sighed and nodded. "Rei." He replied, dismally.

They sat together in silence for a while, staring out at Bay City. On this subject, no words were needed. The two bladers understood each other perfectly.

"What are we going to do about it?" Max finally asked.

"Do? What can we do?"

"I don't know." Max thought about it for a while. Then he had an idea. "I got it! We'll write them letters! You know…anonymous 'secret admirer' types of Valentines!"

Tyson stared at him. "Write Kai a love letter?! Oh yeah. I'm sure that'll go over real well."

"Come on, Tyson!" His blonde friend protested. "It's perfect! We write little letters and leave them for Kai and Rei to find for the next couple of days and then Friday we arrange for them to meet their 'secret admirers' at the dance. It'll be perfect!"

Tyson listened to that plan, a spark of interest and enthusiasm making him nod and sit up a little. "But…Kai said he was going to ask someone else to the dance!"

"Leave it to me!" Max flashed him a victory sign. "I'll make sure he doesn't ask anyone." He helped Tyson up and pushed him gently toward the roof door. "Let's go! We've got class."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the last class of the day, Max pulled something out of his bag and handed it to Tyson. Kenny and Hilary had already left, and they only had a few minutes before Rei and Kai got to their lockers (since they had their last class at the other end of the school, it took a little bit of time to get to their lockers).

"What's this?" Tyson asked, opening the folded paper and reading it. He turned a little pink. "Max!"

"Like it? I wrote it in third period when I was bored out of my tree. I wrote one for Rei, too!" Max flashed another paper. "See, now we stick them in their lockers, go down the hall a little way, hide and watch them find these!" He grinned and clapped Tyson on the shoulder. "Once Kai finds that, I'm pretty sure he'll be too curious to ask anyone to the dance until he finds out who's sending him love letters."

Tyson opened his mouth to say something but Max grabbed the paper, refolded it, and shoved it through the small slit between the lockers into Kai's locker, and his own into Rei's.

"Max, I can't write stuff like that! He's going to know it's not from the same person when I do leave him something!"

"So? The point of this one is to get his attention and make him curious. It's the next ones you'll have to do on your own." Max paused, then quickly closed his locker and picked up his bag. "Here they come! Let's get going!"

Tyson turned, saw Rei and Kai coming toward them, and grabbed his things.

"Hey! Leaving without us?" Rei asked as they passed each other.

"Uh…" Tyson thought quickly, but Max was faster.

"Yeah! I'm getting something for my mom for Valentine's Day and Tyson's helping me look. We've got to get going before all the stores close! See you tomorrow!" Max grinned cheerfully at them, grabbed Tyson and pulled him down the hall and out of sight.

They ducked into an empty classroom and peeked out around the door.

"Have they found them yet?" Max asked, trying to see around the people in the hall.

"I think…no, wait! Kai's opening his locker, and so is Rei!" Tyson reported.

Both teens blinked in surprise as the two folded papers fell out of their lockers.

Kai picked them up and handed them Rei's to him. "What's this supposed to be?"

"I don't know. Open it and find out." Rei opened his. "It's a poem."

"Uh huh. Mine, too. What's yours say?"

Rei read it, blushing just a little. "Oh boy…"

Roses are red

Violets are blue

You have a Valentine's Day secret admirer!

Can you guess who?

Max sighed dreamily from his hiding spot. "He's so beautiful! Look at that blush!"

Tyson rolled his eyes and shushed his blonde friend. "Be quiet! You want them to hear you?"

Max slapped a hand over his own mouth.

Kai smiled faintly at Rei's blush and read his note.

Greetings to you, Kai,

For Valentine's Day,

I know you are puzzled

To learn of my feelings this way.

'Do you know me?' You ask.

'Yes you do.' I reply.

In fact, you know me quite well…

Better than anyone - and that's no lie.

Have I peaked your curiosity yet?

I truly do hope so.

Rest assured…

This is not the first clue that you'll get.

He stared down at the paper in mild shock. "I…I have an…admirer?"

Rei plucked the note from Kai's loose grip and studied it. "Interesting. It's so mysterious, too! Any idea who could have left it for you?"

Kai shook himself out of his shock and slammed his locker closed, grabbing the note and shoving it in his pocket with a glower at Rei. "How the hell would I know?"

Rei raised his hands defensively. "Well, if you don't know yet, I think you'll get another chance. The note said it wasn't the first clue, right?"

Kai nodded reluctantly and started walking, Rei following close behind. "I guess."

"Are you still going to ask someone to the dance?" Rei asked him.

Max and Tyson meeped and quickly scrambled into the classroom as they walked past.

"I don't know. I want to find out who this note was from." Kai replied.

"Yeah." Rei looked down at his own note. "Me too."

Once they'd gone, Max and Tyson came out hiding.

"Woo hoo!" They high-fived each other. "It's working!"

"Okay! We'd better get going, Max." Tyson gave him a quick hug. "Thanks, Maxie."

Max gave him a 1000 Watt smile and shrugged. "Anytime!"

"I'll see you tomorrow, buddy!"

"You bet! Good luck with your next note!"

"Oh yeah! You too!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kai tossed his bag into the corner of his room and flopped down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. His apartment was quiet, and he liked it that way. For the first time in his life he wasn't surrounded by people all of the time, which he had been for the last 17 years of his life.

He sighed and closed his eyes, smiling to himself. He'd moved out of his grandfather's mansion - now Kai's - the day he turned 18 and put the mansion up for sale.

His team had insisted on helping him move into the apartment and he couldn't really stop them when they just showed up at the mansion and started picking up boxes and loading them into Kai's car and Tyson's truck.

When they'd brought everything into Kai's new apartment, they had stood around yakking and generally getting on Kai's nerves for about half an hour - until Tyson did something that totally surprised their captain and made Kai finally admit to himself that he'd fallen for the bluenette…hard. Tyson had ushered everyone out the door, saying, "Come on guys! Let's let Kai enjoy his space!" Kai didn't know how he'd known, but Tyson somehow knew Kai so well that he'd understood Kai's need for privacy and quiet. It was just another pang in Kai's heart that endeared the World Champ to his captain.

It had only been a few months since then, but Kai was finding it harder and harder to keep his emotions to himself. But he couldn't really tell if Tyson felt anything more for him than friendship.

Kai rolled over onto his stomach and pulled out a silver chain from his shirt. On the chain hung a small silver medallion with the image of a phoenix imprinted on it. The medallion, however, was irregularly shaped and looked as if it had been broken off of something larger. In a way, it had. His teammates each wore a similar medallion of their own. They had been a gift from Mr. Dickenson - for the Bladebreakers fifth anniversary as a team.

Kai would never admit it to anyone, but he'd been beyond touched by the gift - and very honored. He remembered that ever since then, though they had been a solid team for a long time already, the Bladebreakers had become inseparable and closer than family, even with the addition of Hilary to their group.

Hilary and Kenny had only just started going out at the beginning of the school year, but it was obvious to everyone that they were the sort of couple that was forever.

That thought brought Kai's mind circling back round to the object of his affection - Tyson.

{Dranzer? What do you think I should do?} He silently inquired of his bit-beast.

The ancient firebird chuckled softly in his mind. {I think you should wait a few days. Tyson is going to the dance, right?}

{I guess so.}

{So why not tell him how you feel then? It's a romantic setting, after all.}

Kai nodded, slowly, taking the mysterious note from his pocket. {What do you think about this?} He asked. {I don't quite know what to do about this either.}

{For that, may I suggest that you wait and see? You never know…}

{If you think so.} Kai got up and walked over to his desk, dropping the note onto the writing surface and heading to the kitchen to find himself something to eat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tyson went straight home and quickly did his homework, went through his grandfather's daily training session, ate supper, and dashed to his room to work on the next note.

He had to admit that Max's idea had been rather good. Even if it was taking a lot of effort to come up with another poem something like what Max had written.

The World Champion was up quite late working on it, and the pile of crumpled paper in his wastebasket was soon overflowing. But when he'd finally finished, he grinned to himself, extremely pleased with the results of his labour.

Carefully and neatly re-writing it onto a clean white sheet of paper, he tucked it into an envelope and wrote Kai's name on the flap, sealing it and tucking it into his backpack to take to school the next day.

Tyson yawned widely and began stripping off his clothes. As he was leaning down to pull off his socks and jeans, his medallion - silver with the image of a dragon imprinted on it - dangled from around his neck and glinted in the low light of his bedside lamp.

{What were you working on so hard earlier, Tyson?} A voice in his mind inquired curiously.

{Just a little poem. For Kai.} Tyson told Dragoon, blushing a little. He got an image of the ancient Storm Dragon raising one regal eyebrow at him.

{Poetry? I didn't know you could write poems, Tyson.}

{I can't!} Tyson replied, cheerfully. {But this time…I don't know…it just sort of came to me.}

{When will you give your poem to Kai?} Dragoon wanted to know.

Tyson shrugged and crawled into bed, turning off his lamp. {I'm not giving it directly to him, Dragoon. It's a Valentine - sort of. I guess you could call it a kind of game.}

{I see. Good night, Tyson.}

{Good night, Dragoon.}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day after classes, Tyson and Max once again shoved their notes into Kai and Rei's lockers and ran off before the two older teens appeared. They watched from another empty classroom once more in anticipation.

"Those two left without us again!" Rei complained, sounding just a little jealous, swinging open his locker with a clang.

"Max told me at noon he hadn't found his gift for his mom yesterday so he and Tyson were going again today after school." Kai shrugged, hiding his own disappointment, opening his locker simultaneously with Rei.

The two notes dropped to the floor and they picked them up.

"What do you know? Another note." Rei opened his and read.

Roses are red

Violets are blue

My favorite colour

Is a combo of these two! ~ Hey Rei! Guess who?!

Kai grunted. "That's a fairly straight forward clue."

"I guess. I'm still not sure who it could be, though." Rei looked at the envelope in Kai's hand. "Aren't you going to open yours?"

Frowning, Kai opened it up. He read through it silently, then handed it to Rei, who read it aloud quietly.

Greetings again, Kai!

I told you you'd get another chance

To learn who I am

Before the Valentine's dance.

Phoenixes are red,

Dragons are blue,

I haven't the words

To explain how much I love you.

At this point, Rei had to pause, raising wide golden eyes to stare at Kai. His captain was blushing furiously, which was quite odd for Kai - and amusing as hell for Rei. He snickered and continued to read.

You're always so near,

And yet so far away.

Although I have to admit,

At your side is where I want always to stay.

Good luck to you

With this your second guess.

One final clue:

I do not where a dress!

Kai flushed deeper, if it was possible. Thank the gods. He thought. I don't think I could stand a girl.

"Um…it's sounding like the person who sent this is not a girl." Rei observed, handing the note back to Kai, who snatched it and crammed it into his bag, thoroughly embarrassed. "On the bright side, at least you know it's not one of your insane fangirls!"

"Gee. Thanks, Rei. That makes me feel so much better." Kai scowled darkly and the two headed off down the hall.

Max and Tyson came out of hiding.

"Wow, Ty! You wrote that? It was better than what I came up with! Max congratulated him.

Tyson blushed and nodded. "I worked really hard on it. Do you think it's working?"

"Well, I'd say you've definitely got his attention."

"I'd say you've got Rei's, Maxie."

"I hope so, Tyson. I hope so."

*************************************

Authoress' Notes: There ya go! Part one! I forgot to mention at the top: A special thanks to you, too, Ranma! *superglomps* She helped me with the title! ^-^ Part two coming soon!