The life of being a manager to one of the hottest team in the BBA is a dream job for many, since you are able to travel the world, battle against fierce competition and win every single last tournament that you have entered in ever since the formation of the team.
Yet there were times were Hiromi Tachibana longed to be more than just the Bladebreakers Workout Coordinator, Rule Enforcer, Team Cheerleader along with any other position that was required with her title. She wanted to personally know the feeling of training to be the best, to establish a bond with the spirit of a bey and to be known as a renowned champ, not just in Japan but the entire world.
Although it was a silly dream, there was much to her fantasy that she wanted it to become her reality.
However it would be no easy task to just up and leave the boys to their lonesome selves, she grown so attached to them that she called them her family. That is all except one, the lone exception to her previous thought, was none other than the World Champ himself, Takao Kinoyama.
Takao had medium length blue hair, which was always styled in a ponytail, and covered with his signature red, blue and yellow cap. He always wears a yellow quarter-length sleeve scoop shirt, his blue sleeveless bubble vest, blue denim jeans, red and white shoes and blue fingerless gloves. His Dragoon blade rests against his right arm poised and ready to be launch into a bey battle at any time.
He was stubborn, hot headed, immature and just down right annoying. Surprisingly, there were times where he showed compassion to his enemies, a protector of the weak and bullied, fiercely loyal to his friends, and her favorite, her personal and sole confidante.
Even though they would bicker a lot, they two were the closes of friends as they shared each other joys and woes in life and never uttered a word to others about their problems. Their bond was strong but she could never reveal to him one of her deepest secrets.
Nevertheless with all of that responsibility on her shoulders, Hiromi still felt the urge to become a force to help propel the team forward in future tournaments.
Yet what she was currently holding in her hands was making her hesitate on whether or not she was truly ready to walk the path she so desperately was wanting to take.
It was a rather simple stationary card with a traditional happy saying on the front, but the handwritten message inside was answering her deepest desire. "Do you want to find out your purpose in life?"
The question was etching itself in to her mind before a plane ticket was gently floating to the surface of her bedroom floor.
She bends forward in order to pick the rectangular shape paper up within her grasp and proceeds to read the details on the front. 'Beijing, China?'
Even though China was not too far away from Japan, it was enough distance for her to make the trip with little to no hassle. The only problem that she had was how in the world was she going to break the news to the boys.
'Wait a minute…why should I even tell them anything? I wanted this for far too long to easily give up this opportunity.'
'You at least owe some type of explanation to Takao. I mean you do share everything else but this goal of yours with him.' She was inwardly hearing her consciousness reasoning with her.
'You're probably right but do I have to do it in person?' Hiromi poses to her inner self as she attempts to play through various scenarios on how to break the news to Takao.
'Just tell him the truth.' Her consciousness responds in a stern and firm tone, which causes doubt to soon flood her thoughts.
'Don't doubt your abilities or your relationship with Takao. Just be honest enough with him.'
'But you're not the one who has to tell him though. You merely get to watch it play out from the back of my mind.'
Hiromi takes a seat at her personal desk area, when she casts her gaze over the contents that were on the surface of the desk.
There were various academic awards scattered about, pictures of her time with the guys, school supplies strummed every which a way, a picture of her family, and one of her most prized possession a picture reel of her and Takao from when they went to the carnival in town together.
'How can I tell him that I will be leaving in…' She briefly pauses in the middle of her thought as she reaches out for the ticket again and read the date.
The flight date was schedule for tomorrow afternoon during their normal practice hours.
'Oh just great,' She was thinking in a sarcastic tone while bringing both of her hands against her forehead.
The brunette physically drags both of her hands downward until her gaze locks in on a piece of paper and a pen that sits off in the far left side of her desk, 'I could write a letter. That way I can deliver it to their home before practice even starts.'
Hiromi quickly grabs a couple of sheets of paper as well as the pen and blankly stares at the blue line paper with red margins. 'Now what to write…'
'Just tell him the truth.'
'Don't doubt your abilities or your relationship with Takao. Just be honest enough with him.'
Hiromi presses the ballpoint tip against the paper and scribbles down, "Dear Takao," and pauses for a brief moment as if to think of the opening line to her letter.
After pondering for a couple of seconds, her thoughts were collaborating and starting to appear on the paper.
She jots down her feelings, the situation at hand, and a promise to come back home whenever she could.
Once the teen girl was satisfied with her work, Hiromi departed from her desk in order to pack and to locate an envelope for her to place the letter inside of.
'I just hope Takao understands it better than I imagine he will.' She inwardly thought to herself before she starts to prepare for the big day tomorrow.
88888
Morning rolled around pretty fast for a rather excited Hiromi as she continuously checked the time to see if it was anywhere near for her flight to depart.
She double checked her closet to make sure she did not miss any important article of clothing that she might need before she arrived in China.
"It's all clear, Hiromi." She eventually says to herself once she moves away from the inside of her closet.
As time inched closer to the Bladebreakers practice time, Hiromi left earlier than usually since she knew that Kai and Rei were the early risers of the group.
'Those two are seriously dedicated to perfecting their skills in the arena.' She inwardly ruminates about the two's determination and drive to be better than the next day and the day after that.
Hiromi silently knew she had to be careful because Grandpa would normally be in the front of the house/dojo at the time she planned to arrive.
'That man faithfully rises with the rooster and sleeps once the moon sets.' She mentally noted about Takao's grandpa daily routine.
The walk to the Kinoyama's residence felt awfully shorter than usual, which caused Hiromi to wonder if it was because of her excitement to travel to China on a slight mere whim.
'Here's the drop off box.' She thought to herself as she reached out for the lid of the silver rectangular prism shaped mailbox.
The brunette was hearing whistling and sweeping around the corner of the entrance as she was automatically registering it as none other than Grandpa completing his morning chores.
After dropping the envelope inside of the mailbox, Hiromi was politely bowing at the waist and mouthing "Thank you" to the unsuspecting senior.
"It sure is a lovely day out here today, eh Rei?" The older man posed to the young man, who appeared from in front of the front door.
"Sure is and it's going to be filled with nothing but kids out their blading to their heart's content." Rei answers with a nod of his head.
'I think I've said all of my goodbyes.' She was thinking to herself as she was walking toward the urban area of Tokyo in order to flag a cab down.
'See you guys later.'
88888
A couple of minutes later, the eldest Kinoyama was pushing the front door open with his left foot while tediously balancing a box full of mail in both of his hands.
"Whew…it seems as if the mailman had a lot to deliver today." Grandpa states as he places the bottom of the box on the surface of the dining room.
"Grandpa…is there any mail for me?" A young man, with blue hair in a ponytail, groggily inquires to the older man while he sleepily rubs his eyes with the side of one of his hands.
"You have to give me a couple of seconds to separate the bills from the fan letters first." He was explaining as the young man was stifling a yawn with his right hand.
"If there's anything important in there for me just place it in my room. I'm going back to bed." The teen informs him once he turns to exit from the kitchen.
"Just where do you think you're going, Takao?" Rei inquiringly posed to the young man in front of the kitchen door as he brought in the other box full of mail.
The boy, name Takao, glances over his right shoulder and responds with, "My futon is calling me to return within its covers."
"Now you know we have to do our 1k morning run every day." He reminds the young man, who stifles another yawn with his right hand.
"I'm in the best shape of my life Rei. So no running this morning if Max isn't up either." Takao comments with a sleepy facial expression.
Rei then placed another box beside the box Grandpa toted in, rounded the kitchen table, walked up to Takao and placed his hand on his shoulders. "Oh trust me, he has no other choice but to wake up since Kai has to wake Max up this morning."
Takao nervously shakes his head left and right because he was all too familiar with Kai's various methods in order to wake the 'living dead' as Kai and Rei would call him and Max. 'Poor Max…he's in for one rude awakening this morning.'
'Thank Kami-sama that I had Rei today and not Kai.' He silently prayed for his good fortune on that particular morning.
"So you're ready to run this 1K?" The raven haired male purposely poses to Takao with one of his hands still against his shoulders.
'It could be Kai instead of Rei…' "Let me get my hat and shoes then we can go." Takao agrees to Rei's question.
'This is going to be one long day.' Takao instantly deemed as he made his way to his personal bedroom in order to retrieve two items: his hat and his shoes.
88888
'It's a good thing the airport isn't too busy today or it would've been a hassle to locate my gate.' Hiromi gladly considered as security checked her bag and wanded her down for any possible weapons.
"Have a nice flight ma'am." The security officer tells her when he hands her personal belongings.
She knew that was code for, 'You're free to go because you're not carrying anything illegal or that can inflict harm upon others.'
"Layover flight from Los Angeles, California to Beijing, China, now arriving at Terminal C." A voice over the intercom announced, which caused Hiromi to glance down at her ticket and sure enough there was "Terminal C" printed on her ticket.
'Looks like I have good timing then.' She silently pats herself on the back for a job well done before she continues to make her way over to her respective terminal.
On her way to her terminal, she spotted a girl with medium length blonde hair, which was styled into a ponytail with a swoop bang over her right eyebrow. Her outfit consists of a black bomber style jacket with a dark purple half-shirt underneath, which reveals her tone stomach with a belly piercing, khaki shorts and calf length black military combat boots. She wore a silver charm bracelet around her right wrist and black Raybans sunglasses covered her eyes. She stood in the middle of the walkway with a rather large black backpack on her back in attempt to read the signs around her.
For some reason, Hiromi felt as if she should help the poor girl out with her Japanese so she would not miss her flight.
"Hello," She politely greets her in native tongue, which causes the girl to glance at her in a weird fashion.
"I don't understand Japanese." The girl responds in English.
'So that's why she was having a hard time reading the signs...she's from America.' Hiromi inwardly thought before she cleared her throat.
"Is there anything that I can help you with?" Hiromi poses to the girl with concern evident in her tone.
"Oh good, you can speak English! What luck am I having today." The girl says more to herself with a smile present on her face.
The brunette was nodding her head to show the girl in front of her that she was understanding what she was saying. 'Good thing I paid attention in English class or it would've been difficult to help her out.'
"Can you tell me how to get to the gate that'll take me to…" She pauses in the middle of her sentence to glance at her plane ticket and adds in "Beijing, China?"
Ruby red eyes slightly widens at the question as she merely stares at the girl, who stands in front of her. "That's my flight too. I was just heading in that direction."
The teen girl was releasing a sigh of relief before gratefully proclaiming, "Oh thank God!"
Hiromi simply smiles at the blonde girl's' over the top reaction.
"Layover flight from Gate C will be boarding in twenty minutes." A voice over the intercom was announcing to the flyers.
8888
Author's Note:
04.26.17 Major editing revisions