Ray had suggested the change of destination to the Granger's dojo, and for once, the officer and Ray agreed. They had brought Max home after a medical examination conformed that he had no serious injuries. All of them straightaway went to bed at one in the morning.

Ray felt very furious at the moment. I did say that Max needed rest yesterday. I did say, but the Officer wouldn't listen to me! Well, blaming him is of no use as Max himself refused to listen to me! Ray was very glad that grandpa wasn't in station, silently contemplating how he would react to the news.

No matter how many times Ray tossed and turned, sleep wouldn't claim him. He was worried about Kai. Tyson was surely an idiot, how come he hadn't called them yet! He couldn't blame Hillary, as she probably would have slept as soon as she got a chance.

The girl always found a way to help them.

It's a shame she didn't know how to blade.... Otherwise, ray was sure that she would have been an official member of Blade Breakers long ago now. But we shouldn't underestimate a to-be-National Swimming Champion either! Which she had not revealed to the Blade breakers until recently. She had become the Regional Champion just a few days before the Blade Breakers reunited. She had been avoiding public places ever since. It perfectly explained why she didn't want to go to the swimming pool in the first place. The first time Tyson won the argument, for she didn't want to reveal the reason, only to be upset by not being the center of attraction.

He still couldn't understand how Hillary, a reserved girl, who doesn't show off her achievements and practically has no ego, just a bit of temper, especially with Tyson, could fall for Tyson, who has an ego bigger than Mt Everest, was quite oblivious to simple things, could work harder than a bull when needed, and could mingle and make friends with practically anyone.

Maybe it's true when people say opposites attract.....

.
.
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Ring! Ring!

Ray jolted awake at the sudden noise. I must have fallen asleep accidentally, he muses, sniffling a yawn. Who would call at this time? Oh, of course, Tyson! That's what I was thinking about yesterday!

"Tyson! Thank goodness you called, How's Kai?"

"Hey Ray, how did you know it was me?"

"It isn't everyday that you expect a call at bloody 3:30 am!"

"Yeah, you're right....he's fine, like he is stable for now, thanks to Hil."

"That's great! But why do you still sound dull? "

"He will be operated tomorrow and.... "

"And?"

"We need 55,000 yen by then Ray..."

"What?" Ray wasn't that good at managing Japanese currency, but he surely understood it was a large sum. "That's a huge amount to pay with a notice of twelve hours Tyson." he said. "I know. And don't worry, I have 25,000. How much could you contribute?"

"I-I don't have much ty, somewhere around 8000 as the rest was used for the development in my village. Max used his money to bail out his friend Alan. We could somehow make it up to 15,000 but after that......"

"That's awesome Ray, thank you so much!"

"But what will you do for the rest?"

"I thought of calling Mr. D, for you know, settling at least half of the prize..... "

"Yeah! How come I never thought about it!"

"Because you are not as smart as I am!" Tyson laughed.

"Whatever Tyson. Where is Hillary? Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she slept as soon as she heard Kai was stable."

"And you? "

"Um-I... "

"So, let me get this straight, you haven't slept the whole night?!''

"Hey!! Don't make it sound accusing!! Kai's life is way more important at the moment. I was rounding up my savings, prizes from the local tournaments, previous Championship prize, emergency money in grandpa's account..... I just couldn't-"

Ray felt guilty for his tone. He apologized,"I didn't mean it that way, Tyson. You are no robot. You need rest. Promise me you'll go to sleep after calling Mr D. We'll be there by ten tomorrow."

"Thanks Ray... For everything." Ray was taken aback! What's wrong with him? We're his friends, why is he thanking him. Maybe the sleepless night had something to contribute for this development. He decided not to point it out for now. Instead, he ordered, "Hey, Kai is our friend too. You don't have to thank us. Just go to bed, soon!"

"It would mean a chair in my case."

"Whatever..."

"You used the word 'whatever' twice." Tyson pointed out.

Ray sarcastically answered, "Living with you guys surely has its 'side effects'."

Tyson continued, "I think you meant 'benefits'?" Ray had no much of a comeback. He resigned, "Man, I still need some practice with this sarcasm... "

"You are doing wonderfully well for a beginner." Tyson encouraged. Ray laughed at this.

Tyson changed the topic soon afterwards, "How's Max taking it?"

"He's scared out of his mind, though he is good at hiding it... He had a Panic Attack at the studio and passed out there because of his head hurting badly. Though Everything's fine now;."

"I seriously can't believe that he was the target of the attack. You wouldn't find a single mean bone in his body. He's... too good for such things. What happened at the investigation? Did you guys find out something."

Ray told him all of what happened after Tyson left. "They think it might have a link to Max's mom and something about a collaboration. They think they will have more information once they talk with Kai, as he didn't want to go to the show in the first place..."

"Kai couldn't have known something like this would happen, would he? I mean... He would have informed us if it was this serious.."Tyson asked, uncertainly laced in his voice. Ray truthfully answered, "I don't know Tyson." both of them were silent for a few moments, waiting for the other person to say something.

Finally Tyson answered, "Fine then. See you tomorrow,... I mean today."

"Bye Tyson."

Ray goes to Tyson's room to sleep for the night, since he was absent. Usually, he didn't like the soft mattresses at Tyson's house, most probably due to being brought up in the White Tiger Woods, but today was different. Within moments, Ray was asleep again.

******

Hillary was woken up by hushed whispers in the quite lobby of the hospital. She glanced at the clock. It was four in the morning. Where did Tyson go? Until then, she hadn't realised how hungry she felt. She was so exhausted the day before, that she had barely thought of finding herself a snack. Rubbing the sleep off her eyes, she picked up a water bottle on the couch. Damn! It was empty. She sighs and gets up to find a water filter to fill her water bottle.

As she made her way out of the lobby, she saw Tyson talking with the receptionist. She decided to find out what the problem was...

"Could you not reduce it a bit, Please? You surely would have heard about the 'Hiwatari Military Enterprises'. His grandfather owns the company. His own bank account has a hefty amount. Just wait till he's conscious at least. Making the payment by nine is almost impossible!"

"Forgive me sir, but that is the protocol. At least seventy percent of the payment should be done before the treatment."

Hillary interrupted them. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Hey Hil, Shouldn't you be asleep?"

She raised her eyebrow at him, giving him a skeptical look. "We had run out of water." she said tossing him the empty bottle. Thanks to his reflexes, he gracefully caught it.

"Oh"

"You didn't answer my question yet." she says, crossing her arms.

"That...... It's nothing , come let's.. " he said, trying to divert Hillary from the topic. The tactic didn't work. It just got her more suspicious. "You used the word 'Please' and 'Impossible' in one sentence, Ty! This must be serious." she narrowed her eyes at him.

He muttered something about observant brunettes, but didn't elaborate. Hillary had guessed the issue by then. "It's about the hospital bill, isn't it?" her voice was barely audible. She knew all about how difficult hospital bills could get.

"On the mark while guessing....Yeah, that's right." he sighed, resigned. "How much is it?" she enquired.

The receptionist answered her this time. "It's around 80,000 yen ma'am. But this can be paid in installments. You'll have to pay atleast 60,000 yen by tomorrow. The rest can be paid after a week from now."

"How much can you manage Tyson?"

"I have 25,000. The others don't have much savings to offer but we can arrange upto 40,000 yen. The rest is a problem!" he informed her.

"Did you call Mr. D? He had to settle your prize right?"

"Yeah, I did but the BBA has some sponcer issues so he's bankrupt for the time being."

Hillary pressed her lips into a line, thinking of a solution. Her hand wandered to the small diamond-shaped pendant necklace in her neck. This action had always brought her luck. It didn't let her down today either. Whiting moments, she had an idea. An idea, if it worked correctly, could solve all her problems.

"I could arrange the rest..." she said hesitantly.

"What? If my math is correct Hil, we still need 20,000 yen."

"I can arrange 20,000 yen, Tyson." she said firmly, a bit offended with the hint of doubt in his voice.

"But-how... Where will you get the money from?" He asked, still skeptical about it.

She tried sounding confident and prideful "Though I don't like to remind you again and again, I won the State Swimming Championship (under-16) a month ago and have been selected for this year's 'National Championship'. Most of the prizes I have won are monetary.."

"Okay-okay, I'll don't want to keep a track on the new words you just started using now..."

"Seriously Tyson!"

"I di-didn't mean it that way... I was just surprised, maybe a bit stressed, and... Please don't cry!!" He though hesitant, wiped her tears with slightly trembling hands.

Hillary laughed at this. "I'm not gonna kick your butt for consoling me."

He laughed with her and gave her a side hug, in a slightly more relaxed manner.

He turns towards the receptionist, smiling. "So it's decided, we'll pay 60,000 yen tomorrow by nine."

The receptionist nodded.

"Sunce this issue is sought-out, let's get 'The Best Witch Of Class VIII' some water." Tyson said, some humour returning to his tone now. He even bowed in a gentlemanly fashion, asking for her hand. Hillary followed his lead, placing her hand in his.

******

How could he have been so stupid!! He chided himself. Tyson stilled couldn't wrap the fact that he had completely forgotten about Hillary. That as he got up to call Ray, the solution for his problems was sitting right next to him. As Tyson filled the bottle for Hillary, he said, "You didn't have to do this. Your hard earned money.. I-I don't know what to say... Thank you so much Hillary.", each word laced with genuinity.

Hillary wasn't feeling that good at the moment. She was immersed in her own worries, moreover, she was furious with Tyson. Apparently, she hadn't taken the act of forgetting that casually, because this wasn't the first time either. She was fed up with this. And the gratitude for the help only provoked her bottled up anger. "So this proves I'm still not a part of the team, huh? You didn't even think about asking me! I won't blame you either. You still think I don't fit in with your lot even after the last five months? Though disappointed, so do I. But I surely believe Kai is as much as a friend of mine, as much as he is yours. All of you are, in that perspective and I would forever be ready to help you guys.

But it isn't the case anymore. Even in times like these, if you couldn't ask me for help, I having the money or not is a completely different issue, you didn't even think of informing me. It feels as though there is no point calling you my friends anymore..."

"But it isn't like that..." Tyson was completely dumbfounded by the sudden development. He had said that only casually, and as he had been practicing to show gratitude to people, he thought he should do the same here too. It had just felt right at that moment. He wasn't even sure whether she was just joking or not.

"It's fine, Tyson. I have made my decision. I'll leave you all at peace once Kai recovers." she said, turned her heel and walked back to the lobby, leaving Tyson speechless, a forgotten water bottle in his hand.

******

Words : 2121

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A/N : Nothing new here guys, just me splitting up a really long chapter. Though you should surely check out the newly posted interval. You'll find all the recent updates on the changes in the plot there. Vote and comment guys, love you.