"No, it's not!" Hillary calmly answered.

Everyone was staring at her, shocked. It must have been the first time anyone had directly went against Kai, by looking at their faces.

Something none of them even dared to, and definitely none of them, not even Kai, were expecting this tradition to be broken today. But, she felt her anger justified. "Pardon?" Kai stared at me, his response barely audible in both anger and shock.

"Even if Tyson accepts it or not, YOU ARE THE MOST FAMOUS of The Blade Breakers, being a World Champion (before blade breakers were formed) yourself and Captaining the Winning Team for years. Of course, your presence will matter. It will matter A LOT.

It's not for publicity alone for us to accept your decision without questions. Can't you just sit and talk two lines about the sport of your life if it could bring a smile on a few extra hundreds of orphans???" Hillary said, jabbing her index finger at his chest.

If there was a gap of a foot between Tyson and Kai, then her case was hopeless. Her head barely reached his shoulder, but that didn't bother her today.

Narrowing her eyes as an answer to his death glare, she demanded "Or has your ego grown bigger than Tyson's??!!!" for one thing she had picked up after observing Kai for months is, he hates being commented about his ego.

Kai likes to be all action and no words. Hillary was too emotionally drained to think of the consequences this might arise later.

******

Considering how uncomfortably close they were, Kai took a step back, the gentleman side of his momentarily surfacing, but without breaking their eye contact he said.

"FINE! Do as you want! But, I have my conditions. First, we will be there for the show, no rehearsals. Second, I should not be shown with any special interest in any of the advertisements. Third, we will not be there even a second after the shooting is over, no Press distractions. Last, everyone should be checked before entering the studio, Am I making myself clear?" his voice was strained, while trying to keep his anger in check. His eyes had not strayed away from Hillary all the while, and she hadn't broken the eye contact either.

This must have been the first time someone of his team had dared to oppose him so boldly. Even when he was under Boris, his team, The Demolition Boys hadn't strayed away from his instructions. The Shark Bladers were too scared of him to even try any such thing. Even among the Blade Breakers, Tyson had raised some issues here and there, but even they had never opposed him outright. Not because...

Mr Dickenson broke his chain of thought. "That can be managed Kai... I'll talk to The Talk Show managers right away!!" he said hurrying outside to make the call.

*******

Mr D left the room that held pin drop silence. If the atmosphere wasn't so charged, Tyson was ready to experiment whether the saying was practically true.

Kai glared intently towards Hillary who did not even flinch. He had never seen either Hillary nor Kai this angry before. Then, he didn't think even he had ever said something to get them so pissed off before either. He had never marveled of how stubborn Hillary could be, how she could stand up for herself.

Kai suddenly left the room, banging the doors loudly as he left. Hillary released a breath she never knew she was holding. He and Maxy exchanged a high-five.

"Thank you so much for convincing Kai." he exclaimed, hugging Hillary and pecking her on the cheek.

Tyson, as usual, realised his mistake too late. He suddenly lowered his hands from her shoulders, staring intently at his shoes. How did I even think of doing something like that? He cursed himself. Damn it, why did he have to spoil things when they were going on the right track for once.

The room became just as silent as it was before Kai's departure. Now, instead of Kai, everyone were staring at either Tyson or Hillary. Hillary's whole body had stiffened at the unexpected... She could not even find the word! Her face had turned a lovely shade of scarlet, while Tyson was as red as a tomato.

Better late than never, Tyson had the mind to apologize, but he couldn't form a coherent sentence."Sorry!!didn't mee-an to..." he stuttered, his hands pointing at his cheek.

"I-I understand" Hillary said, blushing, but her eyes were swelling with unshed tears. "Meet you soon. .. I need to go now." she said, already moving towards the door.

Tyson was really scared that he had finally crossed the limit. A mistake that couldn't be forgiven. He still didn't understand what had gotten into him when he did that. They had worked on building their old friendship for so long now, he was scared to lose her from his life again, that too, just after gaining her back.

All the boys turned towards him with a baffled expression. All he managed to say was, "I-I don't know!"

******

Hillary was surprised by Tyson's sudden affection. But by his after reactions, it seemed that he himself did not have the slightest idea of what or why he did what he did. His tomato red blush, his eyes not daring to look into mine, half in embarrassment, half in fright, was committed into her memory forever. And so was his stuttering.

But still, she was happy. He had reciprocated her feeling, even if it was unintentional... Then why was she crying? She questioned herself. Maybe because you received real affection from a loved one after facing a lot of emotionally challenging situations ALONE.

She had reached the main reception of the BBA Headquarters. She wiped her cheeks, leaving no remainder of the tears shed, though her eyes were tinged red, and walked out of the visitor's gallery, aiming to attract as less attention to herself as possible. She headed towards the hospital, completely clueless of the person following her.

******

Kai left the office soon after Mr Dickenson. He just couldn't accept the opposition. For opposition meant the presence of a tyrant. For he wasn't naturally a tyrant, he did not want to be anything his gr-Voltaire was.

But Kai had been adapting to his surroundings for as long as he could remember. The students, or more like the prisoners, of the Abbey had needed a rebel for sometime. He had been one.

When they finally realised that there was no way out, they needed someone who would let them suffer the small tortures, in exchange of saving them from the bigger ones. He had taken up the role then too, even if he had started losing control of himself as a consequence.

'The Demolition Boys', had needed someone who would become the mediator, someone who had some say over the latter's decisions, between themselves and Boris. Someone cunning enough to manipulate a skilled manipulator like Boris, in the presence of another skilled manipulator like Voltaire. He had taken up the role, with small sacrifices of will at the beginning to complete loss of control over himself as the years went by.

The Shark Bladers were petty criminals and local thugs, and he did not have an ounce of regret for being a despotic tyrant among them.

But he did not want to be a tyrant now. Not between people like the Blade Breakers. He just wanted to keep the captaining to the almost minimum, and mind his own business. But since his arrival in Japan, the reunion of the Blade Breakers, it hasn't been easy for him to do just that.

Along with the threat of losing their bit-beasts, his own battle of will between himself and Tyson and winning the World Championships once again this year, threats to his team's safety has been increasing consecutively.

Of course he had taken measures himself, both legal and illegal, for a crime not caught is a crime not done. The end motive was more important to him than than the means taken. But his measures were proved incomplete when they all had been kidnapped to the island anyway.

Though unwillingly, he had then arranged a meeting with Mr Dickenson for discussing about the same. Mr Dickerson had been utmost helpful in that respect and from then on, they hadn't faced any serious threats of safety.

But the beginning of the preliminaries tensed up the situation. With all of them busy in practicing, a good number of threats had crept behind their backs. Kai had grown so paranoid in the last month alone that he couldn't dismiss a single disturbance in his vicinity as that of a stalker.

But he hadn't informed the others about any of these. He hadn't found the need to. Max and Tyson were naive enough to believe the world that be made of roses alone. He felt it would just distract them from focussing on improving their skills.

What frustrates him the most was, all activity of suspicion had suddenly ceased since their winning the world championship. To an amateur, this might seem to be obvious. That they had lost the game. But Kai was no amateur, he couldn't dismiss the feeling that things weren't as they seem to be. That this was just the peace before a storm...

That was what he was trying to tell Mr Dickenson. That this was not the time... But he wouldn't budge at all. Who knew that Mr. Dickenson, the over-enthusiastic blubbering head of the BBA could be so stubborn. For making the guest list of the Japan's Talk Show was no ordinary achievement.

And the boys had interrupted them too soon. He now felt stupid for accepting to attend. It wasn't because he felt threatened. But because he didn't want to put any bystander in danger. He was quite used to fighting alone, it was what he was best at.

But what bothered him the most was the way Hillary had reacted. He hadn't interacted with the girl much until the day before the finals, but he could see there was something wrong going on. The way her eyes shone, devoid of all emotions, was completely against her character. It wasn't because she was trying to imitate a stare of indifference, but because she looked like something had abruptly emptied her entire bottle of emotions.

Even if something like that had happened, it's none of your business. She wasn't really part of the team either, his mind reminded him. Yet his conscience wouldn't let the matter drop. Yet, she was the one who came up with the idea to master controlling their upgraded bey-blades, she was the one who diffused the high tension that was running among them by arranging recreational activities. And most importantly, she was the one who made him see sense when he thought of quiting beyblading.

And he hated to agree with his conscience. The girl had stubbornly made them her business, not backing away even after being kidnapped twice. Hillary had been with them through high and low and if that didn't qualify for a teammate, he didn't know what did.

******

He didn't really mean it you know.." said a soft voice in an unusually soothing tone. Kai didn't have to turn back to guess who it was. He would have usually told anyone who dared disturbed him in his secret place to sod off, not that any of them had actually discovered the place, a small secluded area on the hill behind the school Tyson went to.

But he didn't seem to have the energy to do so. To be honest, he didn't seem to have the energy to do anything since yesterday evening, as though he had lost a part of himself, because he had. Beyblading was more than just a sport for him, it was his life. Dranzer was more than just his bit-beast, she was his only anchor to sanity. Only after losing Dranzer did he realise how vulnerable he still was, even after years together since... everything, without the loyal phoenix at his side.

With the mental walls he usually has in place being dangerously low, he replied "Tyson doesn't mean half the things he says, but the other half... he's usually right."

"None of them ever imagined that you would lose your Dranzer, Kai." He snorted before replying, "Well, tell them that he was sorry for not living up to their bloody expectations."

Kai could almost hear the defensive retort that Hillary was trying so hard not to use. Kai could somehow begrudgingly relate to why Tyson liked to get a rise out of her.

She tried again. "Tyson really looks up to you. Though I have no know idea why he turns into an overconfident jerk sometimes, but your loss has rattled his entire confidence. He's barely keeping it together for now, and that too only for Max's sake."

"Not my problem, girl." he dryly replied.

When Hilary spoke the next time, there was a steely edge in her rather shrill voice. She was obviously trying hard not to give him the satisfaction of making her cry, oblivious to the fact that it made him both uncomfortable and guilty, for no reason at all.

"What I'm trying to tell you is, the team is falling apart in its most crucial moment. And it needs it's bloody captain to hold it together for them. You are mourning over losing Dranzer, but one should mourn only when all hope is lost, which isn't the case, Kai. Both Tyson and Max have a chance to bring it-

"-her" he off-handedly corrected her.

"-Her back. So, for once, stop being selfish. Stop minding your own business. Come back to the dojo. Help them practice, train them with your experience fighting Cerberus. Do your part in. Keeping. The. Team. To-gether."

He hadn't replied for the longest time. Because he didn't know how to. He had felt highly frustrated at the girl for lighting that small candle of hope which had extinguished, which had finally extinguished for the first time in his life.

Then, he had felt ashamed of letting it extinguish, letting it extinguish when it had survived with him, been his only company during much terrible hardships.

"Why do you care?" he had asked. When he received no response, he had turned around, only to find nobody standing there. Once again, Hillary had sensed when she had pushed her luck, her authority over the team, too much. When she had sensed that her presence was no longer needed. She had silently, without drawing anyone's notice, left.

******

Words : 2411

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A/N: I wasn't kidding when I said I'll be doing some thorough editing. IDK if this is a happy note or a sad one,  but not all changes will be this elaborate or... Something,  dramatic,  maybe. 

Hope you liked the 'new' first three chapters. Keep voting and commenting!! Stay safe and happy reading!! 

PS: I'll leave the chapter numbers as it is for the time being. If you want to know if a particular chapter is edited, check out the chapter name.  The edited ones start like ' CH 6 -...' while the older ones start as 'Chapter 6 - ...'

So, at present, the first seven chapters are already edited!!