All That Glitters
A/N: I do not own Beyblade, of course.
Chapter One- Competitive Edge
"Oh crap, I just remembered that we have that math test today. I should have studied."
"I don't think it would've mattered. Sheridan is tough. You'd probably fail anyways."
"Hey!"
"Well, most other people would too. Only the top ten get decent grades, and even then, hardly anyone manages an A."
"Well, except for those two."
"Yeah. Hiwatari and Kobayashi are insane. Well, Kobayashi is, at least. Hiwatari's a genius."
These were just one of the many conversations that went on at Belmont Private School, a middle-ranking private high school with minimal prestige. Still, the school had a fairly rigorous academic department that spared no student any mercy. Any student who could take on all the honors classes available and stay alive was a remarkable one.
But there were only two students who even bothered to do this sickening mental self-torture.
It was morning at Belmont and the girls were "casually" hanging around the school entrance. In reality, they all just wanted a chance to glimpse at Kai Hiwatari, who they had not seen all summer, arriving in his red Ferrari.
He arrived just now, parking his car in the parking lot. He got out of his car and headed towards the school entrance, where girls looked at him from head to toe.
Any guy could pull the school uniform off to some degree. But on Kai, the navy slacks and blazer combo fitted him perfectly. The school initials were embossed in gold upon the front of his blazer and he wore a matching navy tie with a white collared t-shirt underneath. Auburn-colored eyes swept across the face of the familiar building in a cool manner. The effect: Rich, classy, and very, very polished. It was enough to make several freshman girls faint. And enough to make one girl, very, very annoyed.
"Oh, Kai, I haven't seen you for so long. Did you miss me?"
"Wow, Kai, have you been working out this summer?"
"Do you already have a date to the next school dance?"
Girls greeted Kai enthusiastically, squealing with excitement. Kai, who was used to this, greeted them back cordially, although in a reserved and cool manner.
"If you'll excuse me, I have to leave," Kai said politely as he turned to leave.
"Enjoying the attention, Hiwatari?"
Kai looked up. A girl of about 5'5" in height was glaring up at him. She had brown eyes and long, waist-length, black hair. She wore the female school uniform- a knee-length navy skirt (it was supposed to be shorter, thanks to the student council's vote to alter the school uniforms to 'fit the more modern tastes of the 21st century') with a navy blazer with gold buttons. She carried a heavy black backpack, which was stuffed with all sorts of school supplies and summer reading books. The bags under her eyes were apparent- it was likely that she had been studying all night long. A frown completed her overall miserable and tired appearance.
"It's been a while, Ryo. How has your summer been? Productive, I assume?" Kai said politely, although there was ever-so-slight a smile on his face.
"Don't mock me like that, Hiwatari," Ryo said, irked by Kai's coolness.
"I was only assuming that you've been working hard this summer. I meant, nothing by it."
"Hmph."
A ticked-off Ryo spun on her heel and tried to walk away with the same cool dignity Kai had displayed when he first arrived. However, her backpack was too heavy and she fell backwards, losing her balance and falling on top of Kai. And not in the very romantic kind of way, either.
"Oh my god, Kai are you okay?"
"He's not hurt, is he?"
Worried girls began crowding around Kai. Embarassed, Ryo attempted to hoist herself up again, but like a turtle on its back, she utterly failed to lift her backpack up.
Ugh, I knew I should've gotten one of those dumb backpacks with wheels, Ryo thought irritably.
Beneath her, Kai started laughing. The girls who had been flustering over Kai looked at him like he was insane. But Ryo only grew redder, and she slipped her arms out of the loops of her backpack and tried to lift it off Kai.
"Sheesh, what's in here? A dead body?"
Kai lifted Ryo's bulging backpack off of him effortlessly, carrying the heavy object in his arms. He looked at Ryo with humor.
"Are you sure you don't want me to carry this back to class for-"
"No. Its fine," Ryo cut in abruptly, shooting down Kai's kind offer. She didn't want Kai to embarrass her anymore than he already had. So she took the bag from him and carried the load in her arms, like she was carrying a boulder. Ryo hurriedly left, trying to ignore some of the odd looks she was getting and at the same time trying to ignore the throbbing pain on her neck, shoulders, and back from carrying such a burdensome object on her back.
Kai stared after her as she walked away before shaking his head in pity. He excused himself from the crowd of girls, proclaiming that he had somewhere else to be. Ryo glanced behind her and saw as he walked through the hallway, almost not getting anywhere because everyone wanted his attention.
Stupid Hiwatari….he always has to make me look bad, doesn't he?
It seemed unfair to Ryo how easy Kai had it. He had the tendency to upstage many of the other students, and some teachers found him to be a little too aloof. Kai wasn't a know-it-all, but he corrected people without sensitivity to their feelings. Yet he was still Belmont's highest-ranking pupil and he was still popular, despite his shortcomings (of course, only Ryo took notice of these and picked on Kai in her head relentlessly for them).
It was lunch and Ryo sat with Naomi Landon, a short-haired, bubbly, and blue-eyed brunette. They sat outside in their usual spot at one of the picnic tables, where Ryo frequently studied as she ate and talked at the same time. In fact, she was doing this right now.
"This year's the year. I know it."
"Uh-huh."
"I'm going to show that guy that I can compete with him."
"Uh-huh."
"Besides, Hiwatari's such a jerk. He's mean, cold-hearted, and…well, stuff like that, you know?" Ryo continued, taking a huge bite out of the PB & J sandwich she had made that morning (unfortunately it got smooshed thanks to that morning's incident). "At least I'm nice. He on the other hand, is ruthless, pompous, and insensitive. Did you know that last year a girl confessed her heart out to him and he flat out rejected her? She cried for days, but he was able to take it all in stride. That guy is heartless."
Naomi rolled her eyes. This was the kind of thing that she heard every single school day. Ryo could go on Kai-bashing for hours. Literally.
"Don't you think all this studying is ruining your social life?" Naomi asked, changing the subject.
Ryo flipped through another page in her physics textbook.
"Well, I have to make sacrifices if I wanted to make it anywhere. Besides, I'm number two at Belmont. I'm so close to beating Hiwatari once and for all. I'm not going to slack off!"
Naomi smiled at her friend's zealous drive to succeed.
"Well, good luck with that. I sure can't stand doing all that but I know that if anyone can beat Kai, you can."
This seemed to perk Ryo up and she became all starry-eyed, clasping her hands together.
"Really? You think so?"
"Of course. But if you start crying over the fact that you've got A minuses and Kai's got A's, I'm going to have to stop being your friend, got that?"
"Well we certainly wouldn't want that now would we?"
Ryo didn't need to look up to see who had spoken in such a saccharine and sickly sweet voice. Instead she bowed her head, pretending to be absorbed in the textbook in front of her. Naomi frowned.
Ryo wouldn't even look, but Naomi did and her blue-eyes looked at Vanessa Siegel with bitterness. She had long, wavy blond hair and blue eyes. Glossed lips smiled in a false fashion and long tan limbs stuck out of the school's newly modified uniform- a shorter pleated skirt with a lower cut top.
She had one other companion with her, but she was really quite the opposite from Vanessa; her name was Katrina Delorme. In fact, Ryo was quite jealous of the red-head, although she never mentioned this to anyone, not even her best friend Naomi.
Katrina Delorme was actually the nicest person anyone could meet at Belmont. She had the figure of a model and the most gorgeous red hair that fell in soft waves around her shoulders and bright blue eyes. She was kind and as a result, very popular as well. It was the result of all the attention she got that made Ryo jealous, or as she put it, "only slightly jealous".
"Why won't you look at me, Ryo?" Vanessa taunted. Ryo looked up, although she didn't quite meet Vanessa's eyes.
"Oh, hey Vanessa."
"You know that school uniform you're wearing is outdated," Vanessa added, eyeing Ryo's outfit. "Didn't you get the memo? Or is it that you can't afford it?"
"Back off," Naomi said crossly. "Go bug someone else. No one wants you here."
Vanessa snorted at Naomi's not-so-threatening words. She turned to Ryo, flashing another sweet smile.
"It's okay, Ryo. With that figure I can imagine it must be difficult to wear anything decent, let alone afford it," Vanessa said sharply, indicating towards Ryo's flat figure. Ryo bit her lip but did not say anything.
"Vanessa, you shouldn't say things like that," Katrina cut in. "We should go like Naomi asked us to. Besides, I heard Kai's in the cafeteria with Tala."
Vanessa shrugged, but not before giving Ryo and Naomi another sickening smile and a short wave goodbye. Naomi, disgusted, turned her attention towards her friend.
"That bitch. Don't let her get to you."
Ryo nodded, although weakly. She wiped several budding tears from her eyes that would've fallen if she hadn't tried to hold them back.
"Y-yeah. I know."
Naomi looked upon Ryo with sympathy.
"Listen, the next time she comes around, I'll give her a piece of my mind. How's that?"
Ryo shook her head.
"That'd only make things worse."
Naomi, however, was still bothered. She speared her salad with her fork.
"Just because her father is your father's employer doesn't mean she gets to poke fun at you all she wants. You can't keep letting her embarrass you like that. If I were you, I'd beat the crap out of her."
"You want to beat the crap out of a lot of people."
Naomi pouted. "Hey, that isn't true. Some people just really piss me off, that's all."
Ryo gave a small laugh. "Whatever you say. As long as it's not me you're mad at, swing away."
The bell rang and the students flowed out of the classrooms, into the hallways, through the courtyard, and then the parking lot. Ryo wriggled her way through slow-paced students, apologizing every five seconds for smacking students with her voluminous backpack. She eventually made it out onto the school's front lawn and walked across the parking lot to the sidewalk. Engines roared about her- expensive engines at that, but Ryo took no notice of them- every student with a license had an outrageously priced car. With the exception of her, of course. She walked about a mile's trek home, thanks to the fact that there wasn't a bus stop anywhere near the school.
On the bright side, it's like getting some exercise, Ryo thought as she entered a crosswalk. It's really not that-
Screech.
"Watch where the hell you're going!"
Ryo's heart raced as she was nearly run over by a blue Porche, owned by none other than Tala Valkov, who stuck his head out the window to yell at her.
Tala Valkov was the most popular student at Belmont. Like Kai, he also had charm and good looks, but where Kai tended to be cool and reserved at times, Tala was more friendly and outgoing. Tala was also more involved in school activities and was the school's star athlete and student body president. He was talked about as much as Kai was.
But despite what everyone said about Tala Valkov, Ryo only believed one thing. The guy was a jerk. An aggressive one at that.
The red head honked his horn impatiently as Ryo shuffled along the crosswalk. In the distance, a familiar voice growled into a cellphone.
"He's home? What about his business trip? Very well, I'll be there. Yes, I know immediately. I know it's not your fault- I'll make sure to be there soon before he gets even angrier. I'll deal with him."
Ryo blinked as Kai ended his call with an abrupt goodbye. He was leaning against his Ferrari, muttering something under his breath and clenching his fists. He turned around to open the car door, casting a brief glance at Ryo who immediately averted her gaze away from him, acting as if she hadn't heard anything he had said, and continued walking.
Strange, Ryo thought. Come to think of it, I've never seen Kai even remotely annoyed. I wonder what that was all about.
….But it wasn't until later that Ryo was going to discover more about Kai that she had ever imagined.
A/N: Yay! I finished a chapter. Review if you want me to continue. Positive feedback is always nice. =)
