Right guys, my second fic is now up! This has taken ages to churn out, a good 6 months because of lack of time to write! But now the holidays are here, and I have plenty of hours to spare!
This was originally a one-shot, but it got too long, so I'm splitting it up, for easier reading! Be warned, Ray, might be a bit OOC!
A couple of notes from before:
'blah' thinking
"blah" talking
"blah" connection with bit-beast
Disclaimer: Beyblade© and all it characters, merchandise etc belong to Takao Aoki, not me! I would have thought that's a bit obvious though, seeing as though: 1) I'm not a manga artist and 2) I'm not rolling around in money: (
Just like a sister
The sun was shining, the air was sweet, Boris was locked up behind bars and the BEGA justice 5 tournament was finally over. Life couldn't get much better for our favourite roseate neko-jin. White tiger X had stayed for a while, enjoying the summer at the Kinomiya household. It was mostly for Ray to be able to spend some time with his old team, but Mariah was happy, enjoying the sunshine with her newfound friends Julia, Mathilda, Hilary and of course Emily. However, her relations with the bubblegum princess of the Bega team were still…uncertain to say the least.
She watched the beybattle taking place a few yards away with mild interest. Predictably, everyday so far had been spent beyblading 'till the sun went down. She sighed softly, sure, she was a lover of the sport and found it loads of fun, but it had been too long since she had spent some time doing anything which wasn't related to 'blading in some way. At times like these, she really missed the old life they used to lead – before all the fame and glory, just lazing in a shadowy glade after a day full of playing or swimming in the sparkling waters of the river that flowed past her village.
"Whatcha thinking about 'Riah?" Mathilda's perky voice roused her from her reverie. "Oh nothing much," she smiled, "just watching the Beyblade match". The younger pinkette peered over her shoulder with interest, a naughty glint entering her eye. "Really! Is that so? I had no idea that just one of his Beyblade matches would get you so interested that you forgot to talk to us?" she teased. 'His match?' she thought wondering who she was talking about, 'it couldn't be…' the giggled whispers behind her confirmed her suspicions "oh, Mariah and Ray, they'd make such a cute couple! And the whole childhood sweethearts thing is just too sweet!"
Mariah turned around, frowning slightly at the whispers. "You do realise I'm just in front of you?" she queried with a grin. The two girls grinned a little sheepishly, before coming to join her sitting on the step. "You should totally go for it! I mean it's obvious he likes you! He never pays attention to any other girls" Julia said excitedly. Mariah looked amused and shook her head. "You know it's true kitten," came the voice of Emily from her other side, "and what better time – Summer-loving and all that!" With that, Mariah promptly burst into laughter. "It's not funny!" she retorted tartly. "She's right you know." agreed Mathilda "Yeah, and besides Mariah, there are the summer nights… think of all the possibilities!" winked Julia. She stopped snickering and looked up with a blush "What…?" she asked confused. "Oh come on, Mariah," continued the brunette, "I'm sure both you and I can see the two of you in some very compromising situations! "
"No! Of course not! I-I, d-don't see Ray like that…in th-that way!" she stammered out, blushing furiously at the thoughts Julia's comment provoked. After all, they had been friends since they were tiny! It would be impossible to see him in that way.
"See me in what way?" inquired the said Tiger. "Oh ho! Talk of the devil!" smirked Emily, "We were just discussing how ….close you and Mariah are!" If the look in her eye was anything to go by, they were not talking about the close bond of friendship the two neko-jins shared. "Mm-hm, you two sure are real close!" echoed the bold twin from F-Dynasty. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the shy pinkette giggle at the situation and his own dear friend flush a darker shade, similar to that of her hair.
Ray's brows furrowed a little; this had been going on for a while now and the rumours of him being romantically connected with his pretty female team mate were totally baseless. For one, how could he think of her like that, after seeing her grow up? They were just friends, that was the end of the matter and the sooner these girls understood that, the better! He coughed slightly before starting with a frown, "I don't know what rumours you ladies have heard; but I think it would be wiser not to pay attention to them. I think I understand what way you were talking about, but honestly give me a break! Mariah's like a little sister to me!"
He found the girls staring up at him in disbelief… and he could well understand it. 'She is a pretty girl after all!' he thought to himself, 'And she's certainly grown up from the little fraidy-cat!' he smiled recollecting their childhood adventures. 'No matter how much I try not to become aware of it, I can't help but notice what a strong, beautiful woman she's become' He then took the time to peruse her form at leisure: the rich, heady, curves; the softly falling pink locks, she looked nice like this – he'd have to ask her to wear it down more often; not to mention the sparkling amber eyes; warm, kindly, and mischievous all at the same time; and then her mouth: soft and cushiony, just waiting for him to ki- wait! This was Mariah here! He had just said she was like a sister! Then what were these treacherous thoughts running through his head???
Mariah watched the young man stare at her, no emotion apparent in his eyes. 'I wish I could see what goes on in that head of his.' She thought, 'Not that it would be of any use… what could he possibly want in me when he has hundreds of fangirls throwing themselves at him… hundreds of good looking girls.' She sighed, imperceptibly before looking away; a difficult task because he was just so good to look at. He was built well, but not to the point where his skin looked too small to fit his muscles, he was lean, without seeming scrawny; and his long dark hair would have made a lesser man seem effete – but he just pulled it off carelessly. Then there was his style – she just loved the way he dressed so traditionally! She was certainly proud that even though he travelled world over, he wasn't prepared to give up his own culture or his own tastes to fit in. But this train of thought was useless. She had long since given up on any half-baked fantasies with the two of them together. 'Besides there are plenty more fish in the sea!' She thought, cheering herself up. 'I'm not going to mope over Ray leaving me – and the team that is - or ignoring me any longer!'
hr /hr
She started to get up, having had enough of sitting idly listening to her friends' banter; when a blur of black and white swept past and around her. The next thing she knew was that she was a good few feet above the ground in strong arms. She looked up to see her captor's face and broke into a smile. "Xiao-chan!" she cried, delighted, "It's so good to see you!" the handsome young man holding her chuckled with merriment, the bright blue eyes almost hidden by the thick floppy blonde hair falling into them. "Ah! But you see; that's where you're wrong, hime! You didn't see me!" he laughed out. Mariah giggled too; it was nice to have someone as nice and carefree as Xiao around. "Yeah, I guess you're still pretty fast for a city boy! But that's still not enough to beat me!" she teased. He pretended to look insulted before grinning again – it seemed nothing would make it leave!
"Well, I intend to rectify the situation - you still owe me that game of tag! And I'm going to make sure I win!" the two finally seemed to notice that they were surrounded by others, many of whom were looking on with interest. "Oh! I'm sorry I forgot to introduce you!" said Mariah, "Guy's this is Xiao, and Xiao this is Mathilda, Julia, Emily and Ra - why are you wearing a suit?" she realised suddenly, breaking off confused. He smiled back sheepishly, "Umm, well I was in town for a conference, you know for business reasons, because I have to now I'm 18; family obligations and all;" he made a face, "but when I found out you were here too, I didn't want to waste any time in getting changed and I came straight here!" He smiled down adorably at her, to a chorus of "Aww!" from her now smitten friends.
"Hmph! I don't believe a word of that garbage, Chen Xiao! You just couldn't be bothered to change, could you?" she scolded, jokingly. "Guilty as charged, Ma'am!" he grinned back, "But I shall make it up to you, how does Italian sound, Princess?" She looked up at him in confusion, "Italian? Well, I guess the language sounds quite… romantic?" He chuckled before shaking his head, "No you silly kitty, Italian food! Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?"
Ray watched the conversation between them soundlessly, who did this guy think he was, coming up out of no where and then asking his Mari- Wait, did she just accept?! How on earth could she be going for… dinner with a guy who was so slimy he called her princess?
The pink neko-jin was suddenly very aware of a pair of wrathful eyes upon her. She turned to see Ray glaring, a cold hard look to his usually friendly eyes. 'Oh no!' she thought, 'I see that as my "big brother" he's going to be super protective… I should introduce the two, or else I'll have no peace!' She cleared her throat nervously, "Ray, meet Xiao, he's my very good friend of a long time; we met when we were… oh I must have been about…" she looked up in askance at the blonde who crinkled his eyes and replied for her. "You were about 5 and I was 8, we had fun on the beach that summer, ne?" By now the older teen had an arm wrapped around her quite firmly, while Ray was incensed. "Yeah!" replied Mariah enthusiastically, "Even Lee joined in to make sandcastles!" she laughed in happy remembrance.
"I suppose so, but it wasn't as funny when I was buried under the sand! I still have to pay you back for that Xiao!" came the voice of her older brother. "I hope you don't intend to do that by not letting me take out your imotou-chan tonight!" Lee looked up in surprise while Mariah turned on him with big dewy eyes, "Please Onii-chan! Can I go? Please can I? Pretty please with a cherry on top?!" He blinked before smiling, "Sure, there's no-one I would trust you with, more than Xiao here." She gave a whoop of delight before turning to hug her friend.
"Hold up, hold up!" came the voice of the resident loud-mouth, Tyson. "Surely you're not going to leave your little Ray-kun all on his lonesome tonight?" he joked with a knowing grin. "I'm sure he won't be alone," replied Xiao; "Of course he won't, he does have his darling Salima after all! And besides, I'm his little sister, what could I do?" finished Mariah with a feline smirk. "Oh yeah! Salima!" remembered Tyson, "She's the girl you really liked from the Psychics, isn't she!" he cried out. "Yep, she sure is Tyson!" giggled the pinkette, "Aww, don't you think they look so cute together! I nearly got toothache it's that sweet!"
Ray now turned his glare on to Mariah. How could she possibly say such a thing, nothing had ever conspired between himself and the girl in question. Could it really be that after all these years she didn't feel even a single thing towards him? Not that it should matter to him or anything – they were just friends. Yet seeing that slimy bastard place his arms around her, made him absolutely furious!
But it shouldn't have, and it was unfair to want her to care about him in that way as they were practically like unrelated siblings. That still didn't mean this Xiao or whatever, had the right to hold her like that! If anything it should be his arm around her or– his arm? Where had that come from! Surely he wasn't …..jealous?!
"You care for her, cub. I can see it within you. Don't let her get away so easily, are you one to give up without a fight?" asked his bitbeast.
'Fight? Care for her? Of course I do, Driger, I've known her since we were tiny! I just don't want her to go around with someone like blondie-boy – he is obviously manipulating her, just look at him! I don't know what Lee is thinking, but I have to stop this…hmm, if I get her attentions myself, she won't go with him! Yes, that's it! I'll get her to like me, so I can protect her – as a brotherly figure it's my duty!' thought Ray.
"If you say so, cub, I'm sure your need to protect her, as a brother is the reason why!" He watched the blonde leave amidst hugs and kisses, promising to come back later that evening. That gave him plenty of time to bring Mariah round.
hr /hr
He walked up to his long-time friend determined to put his plan into action by asking her on a date – one that meant cancelling her appointment with her 'very close friend' Xiao. 'Ha! That will foil his plans! Okay, have to be calm, he breathed deeply confused by the sudden attack of nerves. 'C'mon Ray,' he thought to himself, 'you can do this; you've asked plenty of girls out before!' He firmly squared up to her, meeting her face, upturned with curiosity. She looked up at him with adorably big, dewy, eyes and her soft pink lips parted slightly, god but he'd like to – he quickly shook himself out of is thoughts – It wasn't right to think that way! - and blurted out his question, "do you want to go see a movie or something tonight?" She frowned slightly, he was definitely there when she had agreed to Italian with Xiao that night 'Does he care that little that he doesn't even notice I already have a date tonight?' she inwardly seethed. She spoke rather sharply, "Ray, have you forgotten already, I have plans with Xiao tonight!" her tone softened when she saw how his face fell, "But I'm sure we could go some other time. Ooh! I have an idea; we can bring all our other friends too and have a group gathering of friends!" She looked ecstatic about her plan and the way her eyes sparkled made him go along with the idea, "Umm, yeah I guess so…. sounds….great."
His first plan was officially a failure as she was excitedly making plans with all the beybladers for a group movie outing, hardly what you would call an intimate date! 'Wait! Since when did I want an intimate date?!' he thought, 'This is just so the doesn't get involved with that sleazeball! Although, It would be nice alone together, cuddled up…. No! I must stay focused! I need another idea!' So then what? How was he supposed to get her to leave Xiao and come to him – only for the night of course though! A wagon of flowers which went around the town caught his eyes. Purrfect! Mariah was sure to think it was a sweet gesture and agree to plans with him rather than that…Xiao. That was guaranteed to work, right? He quickly rushed out and bough an armful of pink tuberoses. Their sweet, seductive scent reminded him of his little kitten. He unceremoniously gave them to her, mind devoid of what to say with the mere sight of her,"Here."
Her first reaction was to look at him as if he was crazy, but his tensions melted away when she smiled and said, "Aww! That's so sweet!" he smiled back, thankful she finally understood and hoping she would cancel her plans for the evening. "You know that's exactly the sort of thing I expect from a nice guy like you Ray!" She grinned up at him. The action created a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he felt a grin come unbidden to his face due to the compliment. "Tyson's Gramps said he missed the smell of flowers in the house; so you go and get them! I'll go and give them to him!" She merrily skipped off, while Ray face vaulted.
Strike two. So now what? How could he convince his blissfully oblivious, and startlingly pretty team-mate to cancel plans and not to that stupid Italian place, but go somewhere with him instead? Short of explaining out how he felt, which was out of the question, she would be furious with him for treating her like a child, and most likely refuse to speak to him for a week at least. But really, was he the only one who cared about how the sweet and lovely Mariah was being played into the hands of this smarmy guy? And the nerve of him, placing an arm around her…so possessively too! 'No-one except me has the right to do that!' growled an angry little Tiger, 'After all, I'm a good friend too, and besides; I knew her first!' With such thoughts, he left to plot again.
hr hr
He had thought and thought (AN: And I'm being too lazy to think up more ideas to woo her!), yet had not come up with a single plan to stop the rendezvous with Xiao, or to set up one with him! He sat sulking on the veranda; it seemed he had no choice other than to reveal exactly how he felt about that creep, he couldn't allow the date to take place!
He made his way indoors where she was excitedly talking with the rest of the gang – well it might upset her, but it would be better in the long-run! He softly asked her if he could have a word, drawing her away from the noise of the packed room, out into the cool air of the evening. She looked up expectantly with clear amber eyes. He was almost tempted not to say anything, he would hate for sadness to enter those beautiful orbs – but no, she should be warned about Xiao, he had to!
"Listen Mariah," he began, "I'm not sure how to say this, but it's about Xiao…" She nodded vigorously, her locks waving frantically about her face. "Yes, I know, isn't he just lovely, always so happy…he makes me happy too, I guess" She confessed with a little blush. It caused a sharp burst of anger in Ray, causing him to reply harshly, "If you really think he cares for you like that, then you're a fool! He's 18 for goodness sakes, what do you think he possibly wants with you?! It's obvious he's an absolute loser and wants to take advantage of your young age – how could you even think of accepting?!" he demanded.
Angry tears filled her eyes during this speech, how could Ray-kun be so cruel? Well, she was not about to take that lying down! If he was going to ruin her night, then she would not let it happen without ripping a good piece of him! She was not known for her claws, merely because of Galux's attack!
"Want with me Ray? Just because you see me as an annoyance on your team does not mean that everybody does! I happen to know that Xiao does care for me – usually when one does, they stay in contact, talk, and ask about what you are up to! Even though Xiao lives in Hong Kong, not our little village, he still made the effort to keep in touch, which is hell of a lot more than what some others have done! And who do you think you are? Making a judgement on him after 5 minutes! I've known him for 10 years now! Are you calling me stupid, to be friends with a nasty "jerk"? Just listen up Ray, you may have known me longer but Xiao knows me far better! He actually made an effort to understand me, while I know you couldn't care less! And as for what he wants with me, he happens to like having the good company of an old friend; and yes that is me – as strange as it may sound to you! Oh yes, Ray, I've heard how you were moaning to Max about how you had to spend time with her and how boring it was going to be! Well, don't you worry! I don't intend to bore you any longer!"
A crystal drop glided down her cheek, as she said the last part before turning and storming off, away from him, her soft sobs and receding footfalls, the only sounds made in the balmy evening.
hr /hr
The next chapter should be a lot happier…I felt quite bad ending on a down note! But do not worry readers, Ray will be back to his lovely self soon enough!
Please review! You have no idea how much they encourage budding fanfiction-ists. Seeing as though, I got a grand total of 1 review for my last fic, please be generous with your donations this time around! There are cookies up for grabs for the funniest/cutest reviews!