It was past midnight. Kai twisted in his bed, unable to sleep. He was a lot more prepared this time around, cocooned in his blanket, yet he shivered.

His palms were sticky with sweat. He knew he shouldn't have thought about his parents, about his time under Black Dranzer's influence, but it was rather inevitable the moment he saw Mr. Ivanov.

The flashback showed him his father's death this time. The feeling was surreal, like unearthing something deep in his mind. The moment it was out, he remembered it vividly.

It was an autumn afternoon. He was in the garden with his family, enjoying a picnic. The warm glow of the setting sun made everything feel perfect—until the black SUV rolled into the driveway.

Kai stood behind his father as his grandfather stepped out of the car, dressed impeccably as always. Even before that day, Kai never liked his grandfather. There was something about his eyes, cold and calculating, that made the air feel heavier whenever he was near.

"I need to speak with you both," his grandfather said, his voice curt. His parents exchanged uneasy glances before ushering Kai and his sister into the living room. They told him to look after her and stay put.

He tried. He really did. But the muffled voices from the study room only grew louder and Kai's curiosity was relentless. Quietly, he tiptoed into the hallway and peered through the small gap between the door and the wall.

No one looked at ease. His father's face was tight with frustration, his mother's eyes sharp and defiant. His grandfather sat at the study table, calm but seething beneath the surface. The voices grew louder at once, overlapping one another until his grandfather's voice cut through, sharp and final.

"I've had enough. I will not have you poisoning my own son against me," he warned his mother.

That was when Kai saw it—the glint of metal in his grandfather's hand.

The room seemed to freeze as his grandfather raised the gun, pointing it at his mother. Kai's breath caught in his throat. He didn't even blink when he pulled the trigger.

The gunshot was deafening. Somewhere between the trigger being pulled and the bullet hitting its intended target, his father intervened.

Kai didn't think—he ran into the room. Blood spilled quickly from his chest, pooling beneath him. "Dad!" he cried, falling to his knees beside him. He didn't remember the blood soaking into his clothes as he held him.

His father gasped, choking on his own blood. His eyes met Kai's, looking desperate. Then he went still, as though all the fight left him.

His father's glassy eyes stared at him, unseeing.

The room erupted into chaos. Two guards grabbed his mother, pinning her arms behind her back as she fought, screaming. Another seized Kai, wrenching him away from his father's lifeless body.

His grandfather stood in the middle of the chaos, his expression unreadable. For the first time in Kai's life, the man looked pale. Regret flickered in his eyes—but only for a moment.

"One of you, get the girl," he ordered, his voice rigid. "The rest of you, open the cylinders and light the house up."

"No! Please, no!" his mother begged, her voice breaking. "Gag her," his grandfather said flatly. The guards obeyed, silencing her with a rough cloth. Her muffled cries filled the room, haunting and desperate.

His grandfather then knelt before Kai, his cold eyes locking onto his. It took him a moment more to tear his eyes off his father's body.

"Repeat after me," his grandfather said, his tone low and dangerous. "There was a gas leak. The house caught on fire. My father died in the fire."

Kai froze, the words catching in his throat. "Repeat it now!" his grandfather commanded, his voice like ice. "Tell anyone anything else, and you'll pay with your mother and sister's life. Do you understand?"

Kai's hands trembled, but he nodded. His voice was barely a whisper as he repeated, "There was a gas leak. The house caught on fire. My father... died in the fire."

His grandfather stood, satisfied, and walked away.

Kai didn't remember much after that. Flames engulfed the house, the acrid smell of smoke filling the air as his world burned down around him.

*****

"What's going on?" Ray asked his friends as he set his lunch tray on the table, noticing the angry buzz in the cafeteria.

"This." Tyson muttered, handing him an envelope. It was from The Amity Club.

Mr Granger,
This letter is to inform you that you've missed eight consecutive club sessions in this academic year.

As per the club's latest regulations, active participation is mandatory to maintain eligibility for the course credits associated with your membership. Missing one more session without prior notice or a valid reason will result in the suspension of your eligibility for these credits. Continuing to do so will result in the termination of the course.

Regards,
President

"Eight sessions!" Ray exclaimed, raising an eye brow.

Tyson shrugged, "More, but the rules were only updated last month. It wasn't mandatory before then. That's the reason why half the people in our year and yours chose that club anyway." He explained.

"It didn't have any course credits before, but now it does. Making attendance compulsory is the bare minimum. You guys can't be getting free credits while we work hard for the same thing!" Max pitched in.

"It won't be the most popular move for Hillary though, especially since it's her first move as president. A lot of people would be regretting their decision now, voting her as president." Cassie added, looking slightly smug at the prospect.

It made sense, Cassie talking ill of Hillary, since she was also a contender for that position, before losing it to Hillary. But what was wrong with Tyson? Most days, he couldn't stop making doe-eyes at her when he thought no one was looking. He certainly had stopped speaking so brashly of her months ago. What had changed now? Did they get into a fight sometime? Did something come up during the party?

Ray had so many questions, but knew it was not the right time to ask them, since Cassie was there with them. So instead, he tried concentrating on the debate at hand.

"That's just classic Hillary for you," Tyson continued, "Always ruining everything. She couldn't wait to flex her authority I bet."

Ray intervened. "It's not that unreasonable. Clubs with course credits need some accountability. All the clubs had it before, except this it seems." He said, trying to speak neutrally.

Tyson rolled his eyes. "Of course you'd defend her. You trust authority too much. Trust me for a change, Hillary's out for blood, and she's starting with me."

Ray blinked uncertainly. He wasn't sure whether he was supposed to get offended by the authority jab or not. It wasn't a crime to trust the authority, was it? Especially when the people voted for them into power in the first place.

Max snorted at this, "It's not like she's doing this just to spite you, Ty. Look at the date. These letters were printed last week. And more than fifty people have received this letter, not just you." Ah... So something did happen during the party. Ray had spent most of his time with Mariam after the thank you speech, so he wasn't sure when this happened.

Tyson didn't bother replying Max. He turned to Cassie instead, "Did you also receive the letter?" He asked, looking slightly hopeful. Cassie shook her head. "I did a lot of extra sessions during the summer holidays. They've held up for now, though I'm not sure how long that will last." She admitted, before continuing. "The reason we didn't have mandatory attendance before was because we didn't want to force charity. It's something that has to come to people from within." Cassie explained, munching on her salad.

"Why join a charity club in the first place if you have no interest in it?" Kai asked quietly.

Everyone turned to Kai, stunned, since he rarely took part in their everyday discussions. He preferred the quiet company of books when compared to Tyson's obnoxious voice, he'd openly admitted once.

"Whose side are you on?" Cassie exclaimed playfully, jabbing her elbow to his side. Kai merely shrugged, a small smile tugging on his lips. Cassie's attention shifted to Kai then, her earlier arguments forgotten as they started talking quietly with each other. A small duration of quiet descended on the table, but only for a few minutes.

Ray's gaze shifted to the far corner of the cafeteria, where Hillary sat with her group of friends. She was laughing, but her posture was stiff, her shoulders slightly tense. It was the kind of laugh that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Look at her," Tyson whispered, following Ray's line of sight. "Laughing like she's got nothing to worry about. She knows exactly what she's doing.

"Maybe she's just trying to do her job," Max cut in evenly. What had gotten Max so riled up today, Ray wondered. He was usually the one making peace, the one trying to soothe Tyson's wildest impulses. Today, it seemed like he was the one egging him on.

Tyson snorted. "If 'her job' is making half the club hate her, then she's doing a fantastic job."

"Not everyone sees her the way you do," Max replied, exasperated. "She's actually trying to make the club better. But I guess it's easier to criticize than to contribute." Ray agreed with Max.

If one couldn't contribute positively to a community, the least they could do was not bring it down.

"Contribute to what? Her little empire?" Tyson scoffed.

Ray shook his head, irritated now. " Stop this. You guys are being impossible. Can't you at least try to see things from her perspective?" Ray asked angrily.

"No," Tyson replied, being stubborn as usual. "Then have your food in silence. You too Max!" Ray ordered.

Tyson stuck his tongue out at him but stopped talking, while Max looked shocked to talk again for some time. Ray wondered if Max'd ever been scolded for something he wasn't a part of, since he was a single child. Probably not, he realised, if his reaction was any indication.

*****

Tyson was unprepared for his first special training session on Monday. It started late into the night, after dinner.

"Dranzer, now." Kai commanded cooly as Dranzer crashed into his beyblade. Dragoon roared at the sudden impact. "Cut it out, Kai! What are you doing?" Tyson yelled, sweat dripping down his brow as he pushed Dragoon into the center of the bey-dish again.

Kai had been fine when he first showed up. He'd asked him to follow him to the park nearby, so that they'd have more space and not disturb grandpa during their practice.

But the moment they reached the park, Kai had launched his beyblade at him, not even giving him a moment to prepare.

Tyson grit his teeth as Dragoon barely dodged another powerful blow from Dranzer. Kai's beyblade moved with ruthless precision, slamming into Dragoon again and again. No matter how Tyson tried to counter, Kai was relentless. The sound of clashing metal echoed through the empty park.

Tyson felt pretty stupid for calling out on Kai the other day, assuming that he wasn't training with them because he was out of practice. If this was Kai being out of shape, Tyson wasn't sure he wanted to meet the Kai who was in top shape, let alone battle him.

Kai's piercing gaze remained locked on the battle, his commands to Dranzer sharp. Dragoon faltered for a moment under another hit, and Tyson instinctively took a step forward, shielding Dragoon.

Suddenly, Kai stopped. His beyblade spun back to his hand as he straightened up, abruptly ending the match.

"Why did you stop?" Tyson panted, trying to catch his breath. The battle was just getting intense!

Kai didn't speak. Instead, he merely pointed at Tyson's arm. Tyson followed his gaze and realized his left sleeve was soaked red. He quickly shrugged off the jacket to find a cut on his left bicep, blood trickling down slowly. "What the—?!" Tyson exclaimed, clutching his arm.

Kai sighed, his expression unreadable. "This is worse than I expected," he said. "You hardly let Dragoon take any hits before stepping in. This can't continue Tyson." Kai said.

"What do you mean? This isn't too bad, it's just a scratch! I mean, we all get cut during intense battles all the time. This is quite normal!" Tyson protested.

Kai's eyes narrowed. "It isn't just a scratch, it's deep enough to be mistaken for a knife wound." He corrected him, trying to make him realize the severity of the wound.

"And it could have been avoided if you trusted Dragoon's endurance. You're holding him back because you don't trust him enough." He continued, crossing his arms.

"That's not true! I trust Dragoon with my life!" Tyson exclaimed.

"Then start trusting him to take the hits in the battle. He's the one battling. We can only guide our bit-beasts and join our energies, but we are not the ones physically battling, Tyson. It has to be Dragoon alone!" Kai concluded, his voice firm and unyielding.

Tyson wanted to argue, but Kai's tone was final, leaving no room for arguments. Besides, the throbbing in his arm reminded him he wasn't in great shape to fight back—verbally or otherwise. He needed to get the wound bandaged first, or he was afraid he might pass or something due to the blood loss.

Kai must know something about mind-reading, because he started walking towards the exit soon after. "Come on. I'll walk you to the dojo." he called out.

"I can get there by myself just fine!" Tyson called out in spite, but Kai paid him no mind. Tyson had no option but to follow him back home like a sulky child.

When they reached the dojo, Kai retrieved the first-aid kit with practiced ease. He sat Tyson down, cleaned the cut, and wrapped it tightly. His movements were precise and oddly gentle, contrasting with his earlier aggression.

"You're reckless, Tyson. If I don't push you now, someone else will—and they won't stop at a scratch." Kai sighed, getting up to leave.

Tyson frowned, but couldn't find the words to counter. As much as he hated to admit it, Kai had a point.

Kai paused at the wondow, glancing back over his shoulder. "Be ready tomorrow. Same time, same place. Every session will go on until you get cut—or until you stop me from cutting you. Whichever comes first." With that, he climbed out, leaving Tyson alone in his room.

Tyson leaned back against the wall, staring at the bandage on his arm with a soft smile. For someone who acts like he doesn't care, Kai sure puts a lot of effort into helping. Tyson only hoped he'd be able to return the favor in some capacity in the future.

*****

Words: 2472

*****

A/N: There you go! A bonus chapter I hadn't promised you guys of! Thought I'll give my readers a small gift as we wrap up 2024! What do you think about it? Vote and comment guys! It means a lot to me!

Where do you think this story is moving towards now? What are your thoughts on the latest developments? How do you think Kai should proceed now? What about Hillary? Tyson? 

And about those weekly updates, I think I'll give it a go for the new year, on every Tuesday like old times. Tell me what you think about it, do you want it? Or are you happy with this frequent updates? 

So, all in all, I hope you had a wonderful year! Happy New Year in Advance!