Tortured Soul

Chapter 1

Tyson was surprised to realise he had spoken out loud. The sound of his own voice had startled him out of his thoughts. He was suddenly glad that gramps was away on one of his trips.

“No, I can’t be, it can’t be true. I mean, its Kai. He of the few words. The guy who’s always yelling at me and telling me that I’m so childish and annoying”. Tyson stood up and walked around his room, absentmindedly passing his hand over his Beyblade trophies. “Although, since the Bega incident we do seem to get on better and he doesn’t shout at me as much. No, he doesn’t swing that way. I’m sure I’ve seen him flirt with girls before, haven’t I? Ahh, even if it is true and I do kinda, maybe love him, sorta, he’d never feel that way about me. Would he? No, what am I thinking?” Tyson shook his head to tried and dislodge the thoughts swirling around. There were too many variables, too much to think about. “I need to clear my head. I know, I’ll head down to the BBA and see if I can rustle up an opponent”. He grabbed his jacket from the bottom of his bed and headed to the front door where his shoes were waiting. He already had Dragoon and his launcher, now all he needed was a victim.


Kai sat on the roof of the building, just watching as the birds flew overhead. The cat that always came to say hello walked up and pushed its head into his hand, demanding to be stroked. When Kai didn’t move, it mewed its protest and pushed its head more forcefully into his hand. Kai jumped, he’d been so deep in thought that he hadn’t noticed. He looked down at the cat and smiled, a very rare occurrence for Kai but then this was different, this cat was his friend. He scratched the cat behind the ears and smiled even wider when it began to purr loudly.

“It’s ok for you”, he said to the content cat “all you have to think about is eating and sleeping, whereas I can’t seem to stop my thoughts from drifting to places they shouldn’t go”. Kai sighed, it had been an interesting year to say the least. At least Boris was gone now and Bega was finished, the BBA was getting back on its feet and the city was starting to look like a city again instead of a bombsite. Brooklyn, Garland and the other Bega bladers were helping as much as they could, they said they felt responsible for everything, because they hadn’t stood up to Boris. Tyson of course had told them it wasn’t their fault, and Rei and Max had agreed but Kai wasn’t as forgiving. Hillary had shouted at him for making them feel bad but Kai had just walked away, which of course had infuriated her more. Poor Daichi had come out on the receiving end of her wrath just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kai had almost felt bad for the boy, almost.

He’d been hiding away from the world a bit lately and he knew it. He’d been thanked and praised for his part in defeating Bega, but being thanked wasn’t his style. Something needed doing, he did it, end of story. Everyone had been so worried about him when he’d been injured, Rei and Max had been constantly asking how he was and he’d always answered them the same way ‘I’m fine’. Daichi had been saying how he would have beaten Brooklyn without getting so beaten up, Kai had just given him one of his trade marked stares and Daichi had shut up. Hillary had been lecturing him about how he should really take care of himself more and how she could be there to nurse him back to health if he needed her to be. Kai had scowled and walked away. Kenny had just smiled at him and said thank you, this had thrown Kai a little until Kenny had started talking about all the data he’d collected and how it would really help him to plan future battle strategies. That had sounded more like Kenny. But it was Tyson that had surprised him, he had expected him to be bouncy and hyperactive as he always was. He thought that he’d say something about a good match but not enough to beat the world champ. Instead Tyson had been quiet and subdued, he had smiled at Kai but in that smile had been pain and pity and regret. This had infuriated Kai. He didn’t want people to pity him, especially not Tyson, he wanted people to respect him, to fear him even. And if someone was to pity him, it could be anyone but Granger. The regret wasn’t needed either. He’d chosen his path and he had made Tyson promise to let him see it through to the end, Tyson should have no regrets for that.

Kai shook his head, trying to dislodge all the thoughts swirling around. The sudden movement startled the cat sat next to him and it mewed a protest as it disappeared around the corner of the building.

“Sorry cat”, said Kai to the retreating figure of the feline. “Too much going on in my head”. Kai stood up and peered down at the street below. There were people walking around, going in and out of the shops, just like any other normal day. So why did today feel so different? Why did Kai have this feeling that something bad was going to happen? Why had he been thinking so much about the events of two months ago? He sighed, the answers would show up sooner or later, he was sure of that. He just hoped that he was prepared for them when they did.


Tyson walked along the bank of the river towards the small building that was the new BBA headquarters. As he drew nearer he could hear the sounds of metal hitting metal and the cheers of the people watching. A smile graced his lips, good there were beybladers here, that was perfect. As the small group of people finally came into view Tyson heard a loud cheer and saw a Beyblade rise into the air away from the dish. He’d missed the battle but that was alright, he was much more interested in the one he was going to be blading in as soon as he found someone willing to go up against the three time World Champ.

“TYSON”. Tyson spun round in time to see a short red haired boy bouncing towards him.

“TYSON, where have you been? I’ve been waiting here ages for you to show up”.

“Daichi?” Tyson asked in surprise, “Why have you been waiting for me?”

“To Beyblade of course” Daichi replied in a tone that suggested it should have been obvious. “I wanna prove that I’m the best not you! You keep avoiding me or saying no to a battle”.

“You wanna blade, let’s blade”. Said Tyson eagerly. He’d been hoping to find someone that would give him a real workout, Daichi was perfect. He could let loose and really let it rip.

They took their positions at one of the beydishes, launchers in hand, beyblades ready. One of the boys that had been practicing noticed what was about to happen and started shouting to everyone and soon there was a crowd gathered around waiting to see what the outcome of a match between two World-class beybladers would be.

“3…..2…..1…..Let It Rip!!” Shouted Tyson and Daichi together. They pulled the cords on their launchers and Strata-Dragoon and Dragoon were away. Neither of them wasted anytime in beginning their first attacks. Their blades collided head on and the force of the impact nearly threw them off their feet.

“You’ve been practicing Daichi”, said Tyson “but that’s not gonna help you against me”. Tyson screamed and a wind started to gather around him. “Go Dragoon, Galaxy Turbo Twister”. Tyson’s blade began to glow and all of a sudden a huge twister rose up from the dish on a direct course for Daichi’s blade. Daichi was caught off guard, he hadn’t been expecting Tyson to bring out the big guns quite so soon. It was over, Daichi’s blade had received a direct hit and the crowd watched in silence as it flew over Daichi’s head to land behind him on the floor.

“What just…? How…?” Daichi was lost for words. He knew he was better than that, so what had just happened? He was startled out of his thoughts when a huge cheer erupted as the outcome of the match had finally sunk in for the spectators. He looked at Tyson but Tyson was looking elsewhere. He followed Tyson’s eyes to see what he was looking at, and saw on the hill none other than Kai.

“Well done Tyson, but there’s no way you’d be able to beat me that quickly” stated Kai.

“Kai” Tyson breathed.

Kai walked down the hill towards Tyson and Daichi. Tyson’s thoughts were once again in turmoil as his gaze was drawn to Kai’s hips and the way they swayed when he walked. He wrenched his eyes back up when he realised he’d been staring. Kai was looking at him oddly and Tyson felt his face burn as his cheeks turned a lovely shade of red.

“You’re not battling him Kai, I haven’t finished yet. I was his partner at the World Championships, I get first dibs” Daichi stated hotly. Kai just ignored him and continued walking towards Tyson.

“Uh…I gotta go, I promised grampa I’d help him at the dojo” Tyson turned ready to run when someone caught his wrist. He turned to see who had grabbed him and realised it was Kai.

“Tyson, what’s wrong? You’ve never turned me down for a battle yet. What’s going on?” Kai asked with a hint of something in his voice that Tyson couldn’t place.

“Nothing’s going on, nothing’s wrong, I just have to go help grampa. Sorry”.

“You know, you’re not responsible for what happened to me. Me getting hurt was my own damn fault and not yours. I don’t want you feeling sorry for me Tyson. Is that clear?” Kai said in a clipped, angry tone.

“Crystal” replied Tyson. He yanked his arm free of Kai’s grip and ran.

“Tyson, where are you going? We haven’t finished yet!!” shouted Daichi after the retreating figure. “What’s his problem?” Daichi asked, turning to Kai but Kai wasn’t listening, he was watching Tyson as he ran away. Away from Daichi, away from the fans and away from him!