Hillary had momentarily panicked when Ray had mentioned not seeing her on the day of finals. But she hoped she had convinced him. Truth to be told, she wasn't present with them for most of the day. She had been wished them all the best before climbing the cab. She had been with them for a few minutes at the stadium when she received the call. Seeing that all of them were so nervous about the upcoming battle that none of them had noticed her silently slip out of the waiting room.

She had no interest in remembering the reason, for it gave her goosebumps even today. She had only returned when the other situation was slightly under control, that too in the evening, for she couldn't help but feel guilty for not being with her friends on one of their most important days. She couldn't contain her constant worry for who won the championship, no matter how many times she tried reminding herself that Tyson and Maxy were in their top shape, they had prepared enough, they could win it, Tyson could never loose his dragoon. She had briefly wished Tyson and Max at the evening ceremony, had briefly talked with Ray, and left within ten minutes, for she couldn't make herself stay between so much music and talk, so much happiness and cheer.

She tried concentrating on what Kenny was doing, but her thoughts wandered. She still couldn't believe and marvel the drastic changes the spinnin, she meant, beyblading brought out in Tyson's personality... A week ago, he was so stressed and determined to save his and his friends' bit-beasts that he rarely slept or ate anything when he thought no one was observing him. Always a bundle of nerves when left alone... And now when everything is over, that seems to be the only things he does.

Everything seemed to be normal now. Everyone seemed to be relaxed now, without a worry in the world. Everyone except her, for her worries had just then escalated and they did not seem to end anyway soon.

She was was jolted from her train of thoughts as the land-line started ringing. She hurriedly got up. "I'll go and check it." she announced to no one in particular as she made her way to the hallway and picked the call.

"Hello, Granger residence."she started. "Ah, Hillary. Nice speaking to you... Could you tell the boys to meet me at the BBA Headquarters. It's a bit urgent." replied Mr Dickenson from the other side. 

 "Of course Mr Dikenson, but we don't know where Kai is..." she replied, remembering her earlier thoughts, 'Everything seemed to be Normal Now'. Mr Dickenson did not deter at this, he sounded just as excited as ever. "Oh! that's fine... It can be managed." She nodded, though he obviously didn't see it. "Oh.. OK then. Bye"

******

Hillary informed Tyson and the boys about the sudden meeting Mr D had called for. Tyson had no clue when Hillary had arrived here. Max looked just as confused as him. Knowing how much Hillary could chew them out for not even noticing that she was there, Tyson and Max unanimously decided to play as though they knew she was here all along.

They were ready to leave as they were, but after receiving a pointed look from Hillary, Max and Tyson freshened up and straightened their clothes, after removing the stray cotton of the pillows from their hair. Since the BBA headquarters wasn't too far from the dojo, just a twenty minute walk, they decided to walk there.

The only incident worthy of mentioning along the walk was Hillary once directly walked into a pole and hit her head, falling back. Tyson and Max had turned back just as she was rubbing her temple, a frown on her face.

An unsettling feeling aroused in Tyson as Ray, the one closest to her, lent her a hand. He teasingly said, "Someone's getting clumsy these days, aren't they?" but Hillary didn't retort back, like she usually does. She just patted herself to remove the dust from her skirt.

******

They had reached the BBA headquarters by mid-day. The BBA headquarters, though a two-storey building, was a modest one. The ground floor consisted of the Visitor's gallery, the Hall of Fame and a Press Conference or a Private Conference hall.

The second floor consisted of around fifty training battle dishes and other training equipments. Only the first two floors were open to the public.

The third floor consisted of the Beyblading tools storage room, from where tools were transported on order, to all parts of Japan, a private training room for the people specially handpicked by Mr D and Mr. D's office.

Just like the building, the office was a modest one, yet spacious. Two mahogany bookshelves stood in a L-form at the left most corner. A simple working desk sat in the middle of the room. A lounge, with binge sofas and a tea-pai occupied the other half of the room. A television was mounted to the wall facing the lounge.

The office was sparsely decorated with a few antique vases with flowers in them. Two sliding glass doors just beside the door lead to a balcony, overlooking a perfect mix of the nature and the city.

The main attention seeker of the room was the large picture of the Latest World Champions, taken just after the Final Battle.

Tyson and Max stood at the centre, the cup in their hand. Tyson was midway through his victory toot while Max was grinning so broadly that it hurt to just imagine the number of muscles that were being used for it. Both looked sweaty and exhausted, but were looking the happiest among all.

Kenny held her laptop, Dizzy in one hand and made a thumbs-up sign with the other. Ray stood next to Tyson, his hand around the latter's shoulder, just after patting him on the back. Kai stood slightly behind Max, his hands crossed, his eyes looking at the camera at an angle. A small smile, which could have been mistaken for a smirk, grazed his features. The picture was so natural and so perfect, Hillary couldn't keep her eyes of it the whole time.

******

They weren't alone when they entered office. They had interrupted a rather one-sided, intense argument between Kai and Mr D, the latter of which had just been saved from Kai by their arrival. They had stopped abruptly as the rest of the Blade Breakers entered the office.

"Well... come in boys and girls. We just started discussing..." stared Mr D, after an awkward pause. "About what?" Tyson asked, always the blunt one.

"Well, our city is launching a Talk Show with various celebrities of Japan to to raise money for charity... What would be better for a show than the Two Times World Champions of Japan, The Blade Breakers themselves for The Grand Finale the day after tomorrow?"

"That would be..." Kai started answering, but Tyson bet to him first. "Awesome!!" He exclaimed, earning himself a glare from Kai.

Ray agreed too, but he did present a valid point. "Yes, It would be nice...but I and Kai aren't aren't Japan-born so won't it be..." Ray enquired hesitantly.

"Don't worry about that Ray. Firstly, Kai is half Japanese and second, you all represent The Japan Team. Hence, bring name to Japan for the time being." Mr D explained. He recognised his slip too late as the team had always been keenly hunting for more information about Kai.

But the detail, which was as clear as day, was even seen by Tyson. "What? Kai has Japan origin? But he's from Russia!!!! Ouch!, What was that for, Hil?" Tyson exclaimed, earning himself another smack on the head from Hillary.

"Manners idiot!! Have you even heard of the word 'subtility'? " Hillary hissed, so that only Tyson heard it. Yet somehow, Kai always heard what everyone said. His death glare softened a bit for her remark, but the small show of emotion disappeared in a second.

And Tyson of course didn't catch the need for talking softly. He genuinely appeared puzzled, and a lot more annoyed, "What does that mean now? I swear, you continue using new words everytime I see you, I'll be able to write a dictionary within a year or two." he replied sourly.

None of them could help but sigh at his remark. None of them could even avoid a twitch in their lips at his obliviousness and innocence. Max had to cover his mouth the stop himself from laughing loudly. Mr D smiled awkwardly at this. Even Kai couldn't keep up his resolve to continue his death glare. He inwardly sighed, a small twitch of a smile appeared on his face before becoming expressionless again.

Fighting hard to not smile, Hillary whispered, "Whatever it means, its the opposite of everything you represent, alright? Now shut up!!" Tyson was obviously unhappy with the answer, but he nonetheless obeyed the command, if only for the time being. She continued, "So what would this talk be about Mr D?"

Kai's glare once again found its target on Mr D, as he wiped his forehead and answered. "Oh! mostly the general stuff. Like...what keeps you motivated, what would you tell your fans, a bit of comedy and love life, maybe about a few rivalries you have sparked in your journey, that's it. Nothing too serious."

"I think we could go... I mean, I don't have any problem with it." Max clarified, taking a quick look at Kai, to make sure that he hadn't angered him. "Me neither." Ray said. Hillary and Kenny shook their heads in favour of going.

"Then, let's go...!!" Tyson announced, exited. "I think you are missing someone, Tyson." Max hinted.

"Who?!! We all said.. Oh, If it was not for the 'Mr Problem With Everything' himself." Tyson mocked, his eyes narrowed at Kai. Kai stood up, glaring harder than ever, their faces inches apart. Though Kai was at least a foot taller than him, his Perfect Death glare did not intimidate Tyson this time. To be honest, it hadn't been intimidating him for quite some time now.

He boldly asked, "What is the problem now, Kai? I know you don't like the press much, but you don't have to come if you don't want to. Just... Let. Us. Go." Tyson spelled out the last line with such emphasis, Hillary was impressed.

This was that one character that astonished Hillary all the time. Not a minute ago, he was being naive, oblivious and innocent. Now his words pointed at a completely different person. A direct-to-the-point, bold rebel.

Though he appeared to be a plumpy, excited and sometimes eccentric, and a bundle of nerves to the young beybladers, Mr Dickenson commanded a sense of authority like no one else, making him one of the most influential people in the world. He just didn't like exerting his authority over youngsters like them.

In an attempt to break out the glaring contest, he hastened to explain. "That's not it, Tyson... They want 'All' of The Blade Breakers to be present, which will boost their TRP as you all are from all the four corners of the world and hence, it would draw much more money for charity..."

"Oh no..." Tyson stepped back breaking the eye contact without much thought. Kai looked a bit surprised as this abrupt end, but as soon as it appeared, it was once again hidden behind a mask of indifference.

All the people in the room were looking at Tyson questioningly, as he continued rubbing his temples and muttering under their breath, thinking.

He had finally come to a conclusion. "Come on Kai... Just once. You don't have to talk anything more than three sentences there. I myself will talk to the anchor about this." Tyson pleaded.

Kai snapped back, looking angry and frustrated and maybe a bit desperate. Did I just say desperate? There's no way for Kai to be even remotely desperate, I must be seeing things, Hillary decides. Due to stress. Yes, definitely due to stress. "Its not just about that!! it's too dangerous..." ( his voice fades away at the word and is remained unheard by the rest)

But he didn't complete the sentence. Straightening himself, he told Tyson with a note of finality. "Forget it Tyson. You all can go if you want. I'm not coming and that's final."

******

Words: 2076

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