ok so here's my first fic and i honestly have no idea what to name it. =s

i've got a lot of plans for this story and if all goes well i think it'll turn out great. please go easy on me and no flames. =/ and though it says its tyhil, im going to put that in gradually. not lyk they just wake up one day and realise they're meant for eachother.=P so tyhil supporters: please be patient and stick with the story. im also going to try to make this interesting for non tyhil supporters! so dont be discouraged to read it just cause it says tyhil. =)

i dont own beyblade.

"Here you are my dear," the portly old man said, while placing a leather-bound box on the counter between us. "Six top-of-the-line custom-made launchers designed exactly as you requested."

I waited as he undid the clasp to the box…to reveal the six best beyblade launchers I had ever seen. Soon to be used, of course, by the six best beybladers I had ever seen.

"Well…?" the man smiled, stroking his great handle-bar mustache. Then added teasingly "Do they meet your friends' standards?"

I blushed, remembering how much I had stressed to the old man that the launchers had to be just right. Then smiled up at him and said, "They're perfect Monsieur Alphonse! Thanks so much!"

"Oh it was nothing my dear. Not many customers come in here with designs lyk yours I must say," Mr. Alphonse said kindly, in his strong French accent. "Why one has but to glance at these launchers to see they have been customized to fit the individuals requirements. Unlike those standard beyblade launchers you see children playing around with these days." His face clouded over as he muttered unintelligibly for a few seconds, apparently forgetting I was there. I cleared my throat just loudly enough to bring him back to the present.

"Hmm…? Oh yes! Uh…yes. Let me just pack them up for you and you can be on your merry way," he said regaining his composure.

"Thanks Monsieur Alphonse. So how much do I owe you?" I asked, pulling out my wallet.

Monsieur Alphonse peered at me through the wire-rimmed glasses perched on the end of his nose, a smile playing on his lips. "If it was any other customer I would take no less than 50 franks apiece. But for you my dear, I cannot take more than 40."(A/N:ok look…I have no idea what I'm doing here but lets just say 50 franks is a lot of money for a launcher and cutting it down to 40 is a good discount….ok? =P)

My eyes widened a bit. "I can't let you do that Monsieur Alphonse-". But he was already shaking his head at me, the broad smile never leaving his face.

"Now, now my dear, I beg you not to argue. I think I've already said what a great enjoyment it was to make those launchers." When I tried to argue again he held up his hand and said, "No, no, no. If you argue anymore I will have to cut it down to 30 apiece," he chuckled at my pouting face.

"Oh alright," I gave in and handed him the bills. If Tyson were here he'd complain that this kind of stuff only happened to me. As he handed me the box I said "Thanks again Monsieur Alphonse," with a parting wave and smile.

"It was my pleasure, my dear, my pleasure. Au revoir," and bowed me out of his shop.

As I walked away from 'ALPHONSE'S. Makers of beyblade launchers since 1965', I noticed a man in a trench coat and sunglasses leaning against the wall of the shop watching me. I kept my eyes lowered and made my way briskly down the crowded sidewalk. I couldn't help but feel just a bit lonely. Which was kind of weird considering just how packed this side of the street was. But I was so used to having a group of loud beybladers around me all the time it felt odd to suddenly be surrounded instead by total strangers speaking a language I could only partially understand.

'Of course, I'm not always alone when I'm in France,' I thought, annoyed. 'Usually Leah is with me everywhere I go. But no. Not today. Today she had to go, with her family, to her sister's in-laws' house for lunch.' I swerved to avoid colliding with a man too busy talking on his cell phone to notice where he was going. 'But I guess I shouldn't be angry with her. It's not like she wanted to go. And she has promised to take me out to dinner tonight to make up for it.' I smiled remembering the next part of the promise. 'Just the two of us.' Ever since I had gotten off the plane, Leah and I'd barely had any time just for fun. It was all 'Wedding this' and 'Wedding that'.

"Hmph," I blamed Cloe, Leah's sister, for wanting such a fussy wedding in the first place. Seriously. She practically forced the decorators to whip out their measuring tapes and find the exact diameter of each table before placing the centerpieces. And their had to be lace everywhere. I'm serious. Everywhere. Ugh.

And now that the wedding was over it was all lunches, brunches and dinners. For the couples' most immediate family only of course. Since the rest of my extended family had left the day after the wedding (not unwisely), this left me stuck all alone in my room at my uncle's hotel. Which all things considered isn't really all that bad since Uncle Delmont does own one of the largest hotel chains in western Europe (The Delmont….yea I no…original) and whenever my mom and I came to stay he always got us the penthouse suite free of charge. Yup. It pays to have an uncle in the hotel business.

But still. It can get pretty boring sitting in a hotel room all day. Even one with en-suite bathroom, a Jacuzzi, 3 plasma screen televisions, a flat-screen computer with wireless internet, fully stocked minibar and pantry, a king-size bed and the comfiest leather couches ever. My mom wasn't even there to keep me company this time. She'd been planning on coming of course but work got in the way. I sighed. 'As her work always did.'

But, to be honest with myself, it probably wouldn't have been any more fun even if my mom had come. Being stuck in a hotel room alone was one thing. Being stuck in a hotel room with my mom was another. Which is not to say that I don't love my mother. We just have our…disagreements. Disagreements normally centered around me. Like how much I should eat, how I should wear my hair, and ,of course, how I should dress. Personally I think I eat enough since I always eat when I get hungry. And its not like I'm going to some fashion show or anything that I should worry about how my hair looks and what clothes I'm wearing. Besides, I like my hair AND my clothes. So what if they're a little on the simple side?

But no. My mom says I should grow my hair out and get it cut stylishly "like all the other girls your age". My mom says I should wear trendier outfits "like all the other girls your age". My mom says I should eat more to make my almost non-existent curves actually show up a little more "like all the other girls your age."

Lets just say I hate all the other girls my age and leave it at that.

She's probably expecting me to come home with a bunch of designer outfits and shoes and handbags and perfumes and jewelry and whatever else I'm apparently supposed to be interested in. Uh huh. Right. So not what I've been shopping for. Why doesn't my mom get that I'm just not into that kind of stuff. I'd much rather buy a good book than a pair of stiletto heels or something. Of course there are plenty of good bookstores at home so I didn't buy any of those either. Basically the only shopping I did was three pairs of really nice shoes and a handbag, all for my mom. And the beyblade launchers of course.

And once I came home and she found out that I hadn't bought anything of "real value" for myself she'd get all angry and say something along the lines of "How could you go to Paris and not get anything nice for yourself? It's not as if you had any silly beyblade practices to attend there did you? I'm sure you had plenty of time to buy a nice sundress or a purse or even a simple pair of earrings". And I would reply with the usual "But Mom I don't want any of that stuff.". And she would just roll her eyes and walk away muttering something about how she can't believe I'm her daughter. Because apparently my mother was "very ladylike" at my age and didn't "run around with a bunch of young men" chasing away "lunatics trying to take over your silly beyblade world". Honestly. Sometimes I wonder how my mom ended up with a daughter like me.

I've always wanted to ask her, you know, if I get it from my dad. But I can't. My dad is a topic of discussion not allowed in my house. Not because he got my mom knocked up and left her to raise me all on her own or anything. Because he didn't.

He died. About nine years ago. When I was six. And since then my mom has been holed up in her work and I've been learning to live with basically no real parental guidance in my life. Because my dad's dead and my mom is too busy with work to say more than five words a day, usually "Change your clothes" and "Good night".

So basically I have no way of knowing just what kind of person Leon Tatibana was. Though I'm pretty sure he was one of those always-happy types, like me, since in my handful of memories of him he's always smiling.

Even in the last memory I have of him he was smiling. Right before the crash he'd been smiling down at me sitting next to him. And then he'd looked up, yelled, and swerved the car into a tree to avoid the truck….

"Oof!" I walked right into an old man walking his dog and smoking a wooden pipe. "Oh I'm sor-"

"Watch wear you're going young lady or I'll set Jaws on you," he snarled while glaring down at me, his dog growling beside him. Then he walked away, the dog trotting along at his heels.

"Jeez, what a grouch," I muttered, staring after him before turning around and continuing my solitary way back to the hotel. That's what I get for thinking about my broken family.

Not that no one had tried to fix our broken family. My grandmother thought she had the perfect idea to solve all our problems. Her solution: Getting my mom to remarry about a month after my seventh birthday. To a guy called Richard Adams. He was the perfect gentleman in grandma's eyes. He worked in a multinational corporation, made a truckload of money every month and always wanted a family of his own but hadn't met 'the right woman' yet. Well she introduced him to my mom and they were engaged within two days. And married within two months.

For a while, things were pretty normal. Or as normal as they could get for me and my mom after Dad died. Richard went to work at 6 a.m. everyday and came back at 10p.m. every night. Which meant Mom and I barely got to see him at all. In fact the only time Richard and I were ever in the same room together was on Sundays at mealtimes. The rest of Sunday he'd be shut up in his study working on projects for the company.

Until he started drinking. That's when things changed. His study, which used to be shrouded in files and documents, became full of half empty whiskey bottles. Instead of coming home tired from work every night, he would come back drunk and dizzy from pubs. And if his mood was even the slightest bit off he would beat me and my mom. Actually beat us.

My fist clenched as I remembered one particular memory. Richard had come home drunk again and demanded dinner. When he saw it wasn't on the table waiting for him he roared at my mom for being lazy. She tried to calm him down and told him she was just heating it up for him but he grabbed an empty whiskey bottle and smashed it over her head. I'd been watching the scene from the hall, having been woken up by his shout for dinner. I'd cried myself silly seeing the blood pouring from my mother's head. She'd had to get stitches.

But of course Richard's work suffered along with me and my mom. He obviously wasn't performing up to his usual standards and his boss was getting fed up with him. Eventually Richard was fired. I shuddered as I remembered that night.

**Flashback**

I woke up to the sound of the front door banging open and loud footsteps crossing the threshold.

'He's home,' I thought, trembling with fright. Nevertheless, I leapt out of bed and scurried to the top of the steps looking down on the scene below.

"H-h-ello Richard," my mother stammered. Fear was evident in her eyes but I could see she was trying to act like she didn't notice the look on Richard's face. This was difficult as he looked absolutely murderous, with his bloodshot eyes staring straight ahead of him and his lips pulled back in a snarl. "How was work?"

At this, his eyes focused on her and he held her frightened gaze in his for a few seconds before tonelessly saying, "I got fired."

My mother's expression became, if possible, even more fearful. "O-oh really? Well th-that's-" she broke off suddenly as his hand smacked against her cheek. I screamed as she fell to the floor and screamed again as he pulled out a broom from the closet next too him and began beating her with it. I ran towards them wanting to defend my mother, but she yelled out to me to run-

**End Flashback**

I shook my head vigorously trying to rid myself of the memory. That had been the night Richard finally left us. He beat us until we lost consciousness and then packed his suitcase and left. We never heard from him after that. And we preferred it that way.

A sudden feeling of being watched drew me out of my reverie. I looked to both sides, but everyone around the busy outdoor market was shopping and minding their own business. I shook the feeling out of me and continued on my way only to stop moments later and look around again. Then as I turned to my right I saw, out of the corner of my eye, the same man who had been watching me as I walked out of Alphonse's shop standing about ten feet behind me. I continued walking forward, trying to look as if I hadn't noticed when really my heart was drumming against my ribs. I quickened my pace and turned my head slightly. He was still following me.

'Okay Hilary. Calm down. There's no reason to panic,' I tried to compose myself. 'He's probably just on his way to the hotel district too. Just a coincidence.' I thought for a second longer before deciding.

"Only one way to find out," I muttered before taking a sharp turn into a deserted alley that went in the opposite direction to the hotel district. Seconds later I heard a second pair of footsteps enter the alleyway right behind me. I turned my head slightly again. It was him. I quickened my pace again so I was jogging and heard the second footsteps get faster too.

'Oh why didn't I just take a taxi back!' I thought frantically as I sped up to a run. Now the man was running after me. I turned into another alley and heard him puffing after me. I kept turning into different alleys hoping to lose him in the maze when I turned a corner and found I'd hit a dead end. I clenched my fists and whirled around quickly, readying myself for a fight-

But the alley was empty. I listened closely, but couldn't here the sound of approaching footsteps. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as I hugged the box with the launchers in it closer to my chest.

"Done running yet?" a voice called from above me. I gasped and stepped back as a tall figure fell from the air and landed two feet in front of me. "Or do you wanna go again?"

I responded with what I tried to make sound like anger. "Y-you better let me go!" The tremor in my voice didn't help. Neither did my taking an involuntary step back.

The man chuckled sinisterly as he advanced on me. I held my ground this time so that in two short steps he was right in front of me. Up close I saw he wasn't a man after all. He was a boy and looked to be around my age though one or two inches taller. I kept the fierce expression on my face while praying he couldn't hear my heart beating at three times its normal rate.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," he smirked. "I'm only to give you a warning."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "And what's that?" I asked.

"You're little Bladebreaker buddies better watch there backs. If they want to keep their bitbeasts that is," his smirk widened at the stunned look on my face. He turned and started to walk back down the alley.

I stood there, stock-still. After the initial shock wore off I yelled after him, "Whose after their bit beasts? Who are you? Who do you work for?"

He stopped walking abruptly and turned back to face me. The smirk had been wiped off and replaced with a look of dead seriousness. He paused before answering. "I cannot answer those questions."

"Why not?" I asked, annoyed at the lack of answers he was giving me.

He turned back around and made it to the end of the alley before I called out to him again.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked genuinely confused. He turned to look at me. I couldn't see the expression on his face due to the overly large sunglasses he had on. But I took his silence as incomprehension. "I mean why are you giving a warning? Wouldn't it be easier for you to take the bitbeasts if you caught the Bladebreakers off guard?" I asked, giving him a suspicious look.

He remained silent for a few seconds as if pondering whether to answer the question. Then his sneer returned as he answered. "Yes you're right. It would be easier to take the bitbeasts if you're friends hadn't been warned."

I stared at him, trying not to let my bewilderment show on my face. Judging by the mocking smile on his face I wasn't very successful.

"Anymore questions?" he asked in slight annoyance.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Just one." He was silent so I continued. "Why are you telling me to pass the message on to them instead of telling them yourself?". The question sounded even less important out loud than it did in my head but I needed an answer.

He hesitated before the smirk reappeared and he said, "Well I thought it was obvious." His tone suggested that he was making fun of me for my foolishness. I just stared crossly at him. He turned and walked to the end of the alley but I could still hear his voice as he said to me, "Why go all the way to the other side of the world to warn the Bladebreakers when you could just tell the one that happens to be in your country?". I smiled slightly. He'd just told me all I needed to know.

so how was it? boring? interesting? i need feedback people so PLEASE REVIEW! =P i'll try to keep the writer's block at bay and update as soon as possible. the problem is that i have a basic outline for this story but i still have to work on the details....so everybody hope i can get that done really soon! =P

until next time!