Chapter 10

Despite feeling conflicted between asking the others what was up and just leaving them to solve their problems on their own, Kenny's benevolence went further beyond what he could've expected and he soon approached a sulking Tyson who was trying to make a falling wreath stick back to the wall it was placed on.

"You know you're not helping with that frown of yours, right?" he said in a hushed voice, trying his best to sound as friendly as he could and avoid unnecessary attention from all the other attendees. "It's going to be tiring for you to keep this up without opening up."

With a sigh, his friend looked at him with an apologetic look Kenny knew too well by then. Whenever he was deeply conflicted the teen tended to just shut the world out and sink back into himself, something that had become a habit after leaving his childish ways behind. "I told her last night," was the only thing that came out of his mouth, and he stopped as if waiting for a response.

"Told her what exactly?"

"That I'd be leaving in two days." The news, while not entirely out of the ordinary for them, shook Kenny to the core. It was sudden and unexpected at that time of the year, and all he could do was stare at Tyson in disbelief. "The day after Christmas, to be exact; my father called to ask me to meet him outside of town for some… urgent business as he called it. I'm not sure what it is that he wants, but it sounded like a real emergency." He paused and looked at his feet for a second before glancing back up, now with a little smile playing on the corners of his mouth. "I just wanted to have some more time to spend with you guys, but I didn't want to worry nobody."

It's going to be okay, Kenny wanted to say, but as he was about to reply a voice drowned his own – one of Tyson's cousins then entered the dojo and shouted a collective greeting, making everybody turn to him to return it. Excusing himself, the raven-haired boy made his way towards him and Kenny could only watch as the two shared a brief hug before heading to one of the farthest corners of the room.

While some other attendees arrived and he gave the final touches to the projector, his gaze also drifted towards Hilary; she didn't notice it and Kenny could see the side glances she sent towards her boyfriend, which elicited a silent chuckle to come out of him. It had only been two years since they had started dating but so much seemed to change in so little time, with both of them maturing in many more ways than just romantically. True to the Christmas spirit and trying to cheer up even just a little bit, he started to reminisce about everything that led up to that point.

Ever since middle school, it was obvious to pretty much everyone around them that Hilary Tachibana had developed a small crush on the soon-to-be beyblade champion which eventually blossomed into her first love. The two had been friends since elementary school and almost inseparable throughout their childhood and teenage years, yet despite Tyson always trying his best to be around and keep up with his friends she couldn't help but feel left aside as his popularity started growing.

It was that uneasy sensation that caused the first fights to break out between them when he won his first tournament, girls from all the surrounding neighborhoods started to notice him more and more. It was as if she had taken that personally and Kenny suspected all those fights were just tactics to get Tyson to pay the same amount of attention to her as he did before. It was amusing to see the back and forth bickering and even more so to understand the obvious reason behind it, even when Tyson himself was oblivious to it all – but Kenny wouldn't be the one to expose their friend.

And just like that, as soon as the arguments and fights started they came to an end when one day the two arrived to school hand in hand. Curious eyes followed them closely as they arrived at their classroom, but no explanations were needed for something that was to be expected. With a smile, Kenny greeted them both that day, refusing to outright mention the evident blush on his friends' faces.

He came back to the present as a hand posed on his shoulder, and he almost jumped in surprise; he turned around to see familiar face looking at him with a gentle smile on their face. "Could you help me move that table over there, dear?"

"Oh my gosh, Max!" In a second Kenny was up, his arms wrapped around his old friend for a quick hug. "How have you been?"

"I've been fine, you know, just doing this and that – been mostly traveling with Emily to be honest." Memories of the last few times they saw each other flooded Kenny's mind as happiness washed over him, and he followed the blond – half-blond now – until they reached one of the many tables in the room. Emily was there already, and she greeted Kenny with a grin and her usual happy demeanor. "We would've loved to bring the rest of the team along but, you know… life happens."

With a nod, the man with glasses watched as the other dropped his scarf on the chair next to the girl's and said, "I see you even wanted a new haircut."

"I felt it was better, the blond started to darken anyways," Max explained as he shrugged and reached into his bag, pulling out a small box from it that he held between his index finger and thumb. "Now, since we have some free time until the food arrives," he added, "wanna blade? For old times' sake."

Looking up and down between the item and Max's eyes, the smile on Kenny's lips widened. "Just as long as you don't call me 'dear' anymore."

"Deal."

They walked up to Tyson who was now involved in an intense yet small kendo match with one of his cousins, his earlier sadness now seemingly forgotten or at least buried below a focused expression. They joined the others who were watching and Kenny absentmindedly looked around to see if he could spot Hilary around, yet she was nowhere to be seen. As Tyson won the little game, people clapped and the two friends made their way to him. "Did you guys see that? I beat him effortlessly!"

He was panting but appeared happy, his cheeks tinted pink and a single drop of sweat rolling down his temple. "We were wondering if you'd like to join us for a little blade match, on your backyard like we used to."

Kenny said those words loud enough for everyone to hear, to which people started cheering louder than before. "Huh," Tyson muttered while crossing his arms across his chest. "Alright then; I haven't done this seriously for a while now, I might be a bit rusty. Then again, Dragoon and I have been practicing still, so I don't think it will be a problem. You're just asking to get your ass kicked by me again." The small crowd laughed at the joke, and a single voice was heard amongst everyone.

"If it's going to be like that," Ray said as he appeared behind them, a spark of joy filling the three guys almost instantly, "let me have the pleasure to be the one to battle you first." His team cheered from behind him, all of them sporting competitive looks.

Tyson took a step towards him and reached out a hand, which Ray took almost instantly to give it a firm shake. His eyes had a glint of something Kenny knew very well – the desire to win and the passion and drive that would always fill the teen during his prior professional matches. "Let's see just how much you've learnt with the Tigers, then."

Kenny and Max stayed in place as the two made their way to the yard, but it wasn't long until the blond followed the pair's moves. It seemed as if the entire party shifted its focus onto the match and, with the attention placed somewhere else, Kenny took the chance to look for someone specific again – his eyes then posed upon Hilary, who was sitting on the opposite corner of the room with Mariah to her left and two other girls to her right. One of them had a hand on Hilary's back, patting it softly as they talked in hushed voices. For a moment he thought it would be better to just leave her to it, but curiosity and worry got the best of him.

Slowly, he walked up to them and his gaze locked on his friend's. "Hey, uh, can we talk for a moment?"

The other girls looked at him and then at her, a silent question hanging above them all. She only nodded in response. "We'll go serve the food now," Mariah said as the three got up. "Make sure to let us know in case anything happens." She gave Kenny a small sympathetic smile as she walked past him and he then took her place next to Hilary.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

She avoided his eyes, her own fixed on her hands resting over her knees; he just let her stay like that and take whatever time she needed to form a reply, but it came faster than he expected. "Did you know about it?"

If there was any point in playing dumb, Kenny just didn't see it. "I… I did not, he told me today," he answered, but he wondered if she'd believe him at once. "It surprised me, though I'm sure it surprised you even more. I'm also certain it'll be a short trip – he'll be back in no time. You just need to have a little bit more hope." And though he couldn't tell for sure if that would turn out to be true, he tried his best to offer her unspoken support.

It didn't seem to be enough for her however, as she raised her head and gave him the saddest expression he had ever seen on her face. "He doesn't really care, does he?" she asked, but Kenny knew that no matter what answer he gave she had already made up her mind. "All he did when I offered to go with him was brush me off and change the subject completely. I don't doubt it was truly his father calling him, but it does feel like he often forgets why we got together in the first place. I'm always behind something, and I'm not sure how to feel about that."

"You know that isn't true, Hil," he explained quickly. "He just isn't good when it comes to showing emotions – that is one of the reasons why you two go along together. Have you tried talking to him about these things you feel?"

"You think I should?"

"Of course! How else can everything be better if you leave stuff unsaid?" Kenny feared he was stepping into dangerous territory, but he couldn't help himself when giving advice. Hilary's eyes moved to the open door that led to the backyard, and he followed her gaze to an unaware Tyson. "It'll keep on bottling up if you don't let it out. You should just let him know what's on your mind, and then you can both decide what's the best path to take from there."

She fell silent for a minute and sighed, turning to Kenny one last time. "You really are a great friend, Ken. Thank you for the help." And with that, she got up and he watched her walk up to her boyfriend, who was celebrating one more victory against Ray. She placed her hand on his back and said something that caused Tyson to drop the smile and nod quickly, apologizing to Ray and the Tigers before grabbing her wrist and dragging her away gently.

That was the last time Kenny saw them together that night.

"It's funny," a thoughtful Seita said as he sipped on the glass of water he had gotten a few minutes earlier, sitting across Kenny on the couch and listening to his story more attentive than ever.

Tilting his head to the side with a curious look behind his glasses, his host asked, "What is?"

Leaving the half-empty glass on the coffee table and feeling his stomach begin to growl a little, the boy took a peek at the clock on the wall to see it was already well past evening; he wondered how much longer it would be until his sister arrived and what she'd make for dinner, but continuing the story was much more important at that moment. "It's funny that she was the one being unreasonable in that situation. Given what you told me so far, I would've guessed it was Tyson who let himself be overwhelmed."

He let out a small chuckle that was mimicked by Kenny, but the man's laugh was tinted with something that Seita couldn't quite figure out. "Let's continue," was all he said.

Seita only listened, unable to put his mind to rest as he processed everything being told to him.

It seemed to be a collective understanding between the teens that there was a veil of uncertainty tainting the whole reunion thanks to the couple, though no one mentioned anything about it as they kept on listening to music, dancing or just chatting with each other while eating. For the remaining of the party all Kenny could do was keep himself busy as he took it upon himself to be the host of the party along with Max, seeing as Tyson returned to the party alone and only to retreat himself to the back of the room, engaging in a conversation with one of his aunts.

The two teens started sharing memories they had with the Breakers (both good and embarrassing) and then everybody was witness to a little speech Ray made about his time with the team and what he had learned from them. Had they not been minors, Kenny was sure everybody would've thought he was drunk given how he couldn't stop laughing at certain parts of his story.

His girlfriend also stopped by at his request, and he thanked her profusely as he knew she wasn't very keen on spending holidays away from her family. The two along with Ray watched as the clock hit 11pm and one more person entered the dojo – it was no other than Kai Hiwatari. "Better late than never I guess," was his excuse though he later explained that his plane had gotten postponed and then run into some troubles at the airport during the arrival thanks to a lady that kept claiming the airline had lost her luggage. "Where are Tyson or Hilary? Haven't seen them yet."

"Tyson's over there," Ray replied, pointing at said teen at the back of the room with his index finger. "As for Hilary, haven't seen her in a while now. Should we… be worried?"

The four looked at each other and only then did Kenny's girlfriend step up to speak. "I, uh, I saw her leaving about one hour ago."

"And no one noticed?" exclaimed Kai, a smidge of anger taking over his earlier peaceful expression. His tone, although furious, was low enough so no one outside of the circle could hear. "I can't believe you guys managed to lose the teams manager just like that. And you, why didn't you say anything!?"

"Hey, don't talk to her like that," Kenny interceded as Kai took a step forward with his fists clenched to his sides, "we don't know what happened." He was set on not letting his emotions get a hold of him, trying to stay calm despite the many scenarios that could be forming in his mind. Turning to his partner, he gently asked, "Did she tell you anything that could help us not to lose our minds so close to Christmas?"

She only sighed, looking around before finally looking back at the other teens. "She said she was going for a walk before going home – she… she dumped Tyson." Much like when he heard the news that his friend was leaving in two days, Kenny couldn't help but feel defeated. It felt like everything they had worked on for the past months had suddenly been covered with a dark curtain, buried below the sadness and anger that he was sure would taint the memories of that day for everyone included. "I promised not to say anything, but I'm worried as well."

With a swift shake of his head, Kai said, "Max, would you care to come with me for a sec?" The blond followed him closely until they reached Tyson's side; from afar, Kenny could see the way the three talked and gestured as if having a small argument in the middle of the party while everyone around pretended not to hear. It was something he would've preferred to handle privately, but they needed at least some information to confirm she was okay. They came back shortly after with stern looks on their faces, and before anyone could ask Kai announced, "I'll go looking for her. You guys stay here and keep this alive, at least until midnight – I'll see if she wants to come back to celebrate for a while before going home. I think we could try and make it better for her if anything."

And before anyone could say something to stop him he had turned around and gone through the main doors, only a cold breeze left behind. "Don't worry now, Aya" Kenny said while wrapping his arms around his girlfriend, allowing her to rest her head on his chest as she sighed. "I'm sure everything will be alright now. Kai's a trusty guy."

"I can only begin to imagine how she must be feeling," Max added while putting a hand on Ray's shoulder; golden eyes locked on blue ones as he took a step to the side, abruptly rejecting the guy's touch. "There's so much happening and he's not really doing much, you know?"

The emphasis on the pronoun wasn't truly necessary to know who Max was talking about, Kenny thought with sadness bubbling inside him. There was nothing much he could think to tell Tyson at that moment, and his gaze fell on his friend. He didn't think there was much more that could go wrong or ruin the night, and he was set on making the best out of it all to avoid any more misunderstandings.

"It surprised me that, even with lack of knowledge about what had happened, he was determined to help as much as he could," Kenny said, both hands resting on his thighs. "He didn't know Tyson would leave nor that it was the reason behind the breakup, but it didn't matter to him."

"Tyson behaved like a little child there, and I should know about that." The sole thought of his sister sad and alone at night sent a shudder down his back, and though he knew she could've defended herself he had never felt a bigger need to punch somebody. He'd have to add those events to the list of things they should have a chat about, but he didn't know just how truthful or complete the info she would give him would be.

Another silent laugh left Kenny's lips and he fixed his glasses on top of his nose. "Means a lot coming from you, I guess. At the time, we just didn't know how to handle things. Like I said before, we should've seen something like this happening given how much they tended to clash with one another."

"Did that Kai guy find her quickly?"

"He did," the man answered with a small smile that seemed more genuine than before. "Kai is very observant, and though we had no clue about where to start looking he followed a hunch that night. You remember the park with the bridge that's close to your house?" Seita nodded a few times. "He followed that path and was able to spot her close to that place, sitting on a bench below a big oak tree with her knees to her chest and her face buried between them. We felt lucky when he later told us there were lots of people around, despite it being so late."

Seita thought it was weird to feel grateful towards someone he had never met before, but hearing that Kai had managed to help her one way or the other made him feel in debt with him. "He brought her back to the dojo then?" It was a question which seemed to touch a sensitive nerve in Kenny's mind by the way his breath hitched yet he remained calm, although the smile disappeared from his lips.

"Not exactly."