Not the Only One

By Ruriko L. Minamino

Disclaimer: Beyblade is not my original creation and rightfully belongs to the brilliant animator who came up with the serial. This story has been created for non-profit reasons.

Warnings: This story contains open homosexuality, as well as some reference to sexual activities. There will also be light swearing and some vulgarity as the story progresses.

27. Epilogue

"Out of bed, walking food disposal system," a snarky voice called out as Tyson was unceremoniously rolled out of bed.

The cerulean-eyed boy immediately back-flipped into an upright position. "Bryan! Who let you in here!"

The Russian falcon smirked and rolled his eyes as Tala came into the room with a glass of water in hand. "We live here, remember, food-for-brains?"

"Oh, yeah…"

"Make yourself decent and get downstairs. Max is coming over today, remember? He'll be staying for the week," Tala reminded the sleepy brunet. "The twins are up and Katia's watching them with Kai and Ray. And no – breakfast isn't going to be served for another hour."

Tyson glared. "You take all the fun out of life!" He blinked. "Max? Why didn't you say so!" He ran past the couple and disappeared into the bathroom. He emerged half an hour later freshly showered and dressed for the day and practically sprinted down the stairs towards the living room of Kai's new mansion just a few miles outside the city of Tokyo.

Max had just walked in through the opposite door and Lilias and Evans were rushing up to greet him. The two children still continued to take the medications and Nana had made certain of that as soon as she'd gotten out of the hospital. Kai and Ray had told them about their real parentage as soon as Kai had been released by the doctor. The twins were more than overjoyed at having not just one brother, but two. The phoenix and tiger were now sitting comfortably on an armchair, Ray in Kai's lap. Tala was playing a game of cards with Katia while Bryan was lounging on the sofa with his head in his lover's lap. Kai and Ray had been adamant about having the three other bladers live with them. Tala was like family, and Bryan was too, by extension. As for Katia, she was, technically, Kai and Tala's daughter – though she acted more like their sister.

"Ty! Long time no see, pal!" Max bounded across the room after disentangling himself from the twins and slapped high fives with his friend.

Tyson laughed and jabbed Max playfully in the rib. "I saw you last Friday, Maxie, right before Dad dropped me off here!"

"How's Kenny doing in the States," Ray asked from his seat. "I just e-mailed him the other day to say hi."

The blond boy smiled brightly. "He's really busy these days. Mom called yesterday and said he's amazing her staff – and getting lots of attention from Emily now," he added with a snicker.

Kai, Tala, and Katia exchanged a knowing smirk. Bryan rolled his eyes and snorted.

"TYSON!" The brunet blader suddenly found himself tackled to the floor. It was the twins. "Let's play!"

It was a long morning and by the time lunch was over and the twins had taken their afternoon nap, Bryan had declared that he wanted to swim. Immediately, Tala offered to accompany him. Katia had gone off to read in the library, but had come back out an hour later and followed them to the pool. Kai and Ray wanted to spend some time alone in one of the parlors. Max and Tyson were left to amuse themselves. And so it was, the two friends came to be wandering aimlessly around the second floor of Kai's manor.

"It's real quiet here when everyone's busy," Max, whose first time it was to be spending the night there, mused aloud. He stifled a yawn.

Tyson just nodded. "Yeah… It'll be fun again when Bryan gets back. All it really takes to get him mad enough for a battle is a crack about his eyes. Till then, we can do just about anything. With Kai, Tala, Kat, and Bryan, this place is just bursting with cash!" Kai and Katia had inherited quite a lot from Voltaire, who'd committed suicide just before his trial the month before. Tala was finally free to tap into the huge accounts his parents had left him, and Bryan had unfrozen his family's accounts – now that his brothers were long dead and there was no one else to soil his family's name.

"You spend a lot of time here," the blond said, looking out the window.

"You would too, if your dad and gramps were out of the country for the rest of the year." The brunet blader backpedaled into one of the lounges and flopped onto one of the cushioned seats. "Dragoon woke me up last night and told me some stuff."

"What?" Max tilted his head to one side and sat cross-legged on the seat beside his friend.

"He won't be able to talk to me anymore," Tyson explained. "Something about it not being allowed anymore – oh, and about finding a mate or something. He was talking weird again. Oh, and Drigger and Dranzer were there too… asking me to say thanks to Kai and Ray for finally giving them the opportunity to mate. That was unreal!"

"Uh-huh," Max just nodded.

Tyson blinked and looked at Max. "You look funny, ya know. You've got that look on your face Ray and Bryan get every time they say they're thinking about Kai and Tala." He clasped his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "Being in love's a funny thing. The last time I hugged Tala, Bryan pushed me halfway across the room. Lucky for me I braced myself against a table."

"I forgot about the cyborg thing." Max shuddered, looking at Tyson's wrist. "When do you think Ian and Spencer will call about that?"

"Dunno," Tyson shrugged. "Must be creepy. They volunteered to figure it out with your mom's staff, so it shouldn't take too long. But, you know, I don't think we're gonna get operations after all – me, Kat, and the guys. I don't know about the twins."

Max blinked. "Why not? Doncha want to be normal again?"

"There's nothing really wrong with any of us," Tyson said, shaking his head, "except maybe for the entire multi-lingual encyclopedia and wall-breaking strength thing. Besides, this way, Tala can't tease me without me understanding it anymore." He grinned devilishly. "At least when he's not too busy making those funny eyes at Bryan. That's what I don't really get."

"What?"

"The whole love bug thing. Almost everyone in this house has it! Did you know that Johnny's flooding Kat's e-mail? And Enrique too?"

"How'd you know all that!" For some reason unknown to Tyson, there was a blush creeping up Max's cheeks.

"She told me. She talks about just about anything when I'm not battling her. She's real cool – when you get over the entire female-version-of-Kai-and-Tala thing."

Max was quiet for a while. "Hey Tyson…"

"What's up, Maxie?"

"Do you… like her? I mean – that is – you know… 'Like her' like her." Tyson was bewildered to see that Max's skin had turned bright pink.

"N-no, I don't. Katia's just a good friend," Tyson defended himself, blinking at the strange thing Max said. "What – "

Before he knew what was happening, Max was kissing him full on the lips. After hesitating only a second, Tyson hesitantly kissed back. After a few seconds, Max pushed away and started out of the room.

"Max! What was that for? Hey, where're you goin'?"

Max's still-pink face turned back to give Tyson a shy smile. "I was just checking… if I actually had a chance…"

The turtle's patience having given way, he walked out of the room, leaving Tyson to realize that maybe… there was something to what Dragoon had told him after all.