This is my first story and I'll be working on it in my downtime. More info at the end. I hope you enjoy reading, review and stuff I guess. :I

A year had passed already. A year since anything had happened and the cause of her stress was long gone. There was nothing to fear anymore right? Besides, she didn't use her bey for fun anymore, it was strictly for needed situations only. She didn't want to risk Aquario getting hurt too, even with Madoka to help fix it, she could never forgive herself for such a thing.

Upon looking up, the screen showed Gingka, happily waving to the crowd with his usual goofy smile. He could be so annoying sometimes, but that smile was the type that gave you hope. Without him, she would still be living in fear...

Even so, Gingka was still annoying and always so obsessed with beys and battling. They were in high school now and he still brought Pegasus to class. Did he really expect it to not be taken when he constantly insists on battling between classes? Aquario would stay safe in her pocket at all times, the little gift from her mother would remain precious forever, whether she used it or not. Gingka had Pegasus taken on almost a daily basis at school, lots of beys were taken for the day. The only time that a bey being taken ever stood out to her, was when Leone was taken. The look on Kyouya's face before he exploded with anger. That was a childish look, a look of sadness and fear. The image would never leave her mind, just seeing him slightly upset hurt her. Maybe she did like him, at least a little, but he was a real jerk sometimes, and that made her stay away.

Right now, she had a lot of options anyway. There was Hyoma, Tsubasa, hell, even Gingka or Benkei! But Kyouya? No, he wouldn't be all too interested anyway... Leone owned his heart, his best friend that he would cry over inside while on the outside he was ready to murder someone for. What was his story? His parents were alive, careless about him, but they were alive. It wasn't a gift from them that he cherished like her own Aquario. And those scars on his face... Did that have to do with it? She could remember a time when they turned in photos from their childhood to show how much they had changed, and she could remember how scar free his cheeks once were. Around 10, that's when he said he got them. How did she know? Asking. She felt awkward, and slightly like a bitch to ask, but her curiosity was driving her insane. He wouldn't give the whole story though, he just said something happened when he was 10, that's how he got them. In time they would heal to light, very light, pink scars on his face, barely noticeable. His face came to mind, how he looked without those scars on his cheeks, the smooth, undamaged skin...

"Hikaru? You feeling okay?" The voice was high pitched, coming from beneath her. She snapped from her thoughts to reality as she looked down to see a green haired boy looking up. "Yeah Kenta, I'm fine. I just have a lot of work to do okay? How'd you get back here anyway?" The boy seemed to light up at the question, his own question being answered and forgotten easily. "Ryo invited us back here! Gingka and him are gonna spend the day together and catch up, so he said we could all hang around the WBBA with you." He could be so cute... But he was a kid, all kids could be cute sometimes. Yu was much cuter all the time though. The nicknames were annoying, but she would never admit how much she adored him for it sometimes.

"Oh, it would have been nice for him to tell me..." Her voice sounded annoyed as she glared at the wall, not wanting Kenta to think she was mad at him. "He said that you would be expecting us... Are you sure you're okay Hikaru?" Kenta asked, looking up at the teenage girl, surprised for her to be so unfocused. "I told you, I'm fine. Go find the others, I have to do something. I'll see you later." With that she turned and started down the hall again, leaving Kenta with a rather confused look. "Well, alright Hikaru... See ya..." She had barely heard the young boy's words as she rushed down the hall. The day had just started for her and already she would be a hostess for Ryosuke while he went out and had a day of fun? There was work to be done still, how could he ignore that for his son? Wait, it was his son, how could he NOT ignore it? A small sigh escaped from her as she began to organize all the papers for her boss. It would be nice for when he got back to work.

"Knock knock?" The voice was different this time, more squeaky and overall annoying as hel-Madoka. Of course. "Come in, I'm just cleaning a bit." She answered, leaning up to fix her outfit again. "Kenta mentioned you zoning out, you feelin' alright?" My god, why couldn't people just shut up when you told them you were "okay"! Then again, talking about it with someone other than Ryosuke might help. Gingka's dad was cool and gave great advice, but there was always somethings she couldn't tell him. That was her boss, a much older man, and Gingka's DAD. It was just awkward. "There's just a lot on my mind, that's all." Madoka smiled and walked into the room, closing the door behind herself. "Well if you wanna talk about it, I'm all ears for ya." Her smile was warm too, just like Gingka's. Maybe it was a redhead thing? Well, Madoka was close enough to red for her to count it, right? Yeah, why not. "Well... It's guy trouble I gue-" "Ooooh! Who do you like?" The slightly younger girl was way too excited for this. That made sense though, it wasn't like there were many other girls to talk to. "W-we-well, no one really, not anyone in particular at leas-HEY! No! That has nothing to do with what I was gonna say. Alright maybe slightly, but no. Something happened before that still has me kind of shaken up, and I haven't been able to get passed it... I really want to move on, but I can't get by it. Just the thought of him drives me into insanity and I have flash backs... I really want to move on, just forget that it happened. All of it. But I can't and that's keeping me from even acting on any slight feelings I have."

Now the subject was clear. These guy problems weren't just trouble with boys, no, this was talking about what really happened between Hikaru and Ryuuga. First the tournament had scared her, but right before L Drago was released from his body, that evil in him still lived, and he did something unspeakable. That evil having taken something too precious from her that she would never get back. "Hikaru..." The hand on her shoulder was unexpected, she jumped from the touch. "Sorry!" Madoka was never sure of what she could and couldn't do with the other girl. Instead she grabbed a tissue box from Ryosuke's desk, pulled it open, handing one to the other girl. She motioned towards her eyes, trying to give a hint. Hikaru didn't even realize the tears that had slipped from her eyes. "Thanks..." She wiped away at her eyes, glad to not be wearing make up. "No problem... So, I guess that's why you don't like us getting too close, huh?" The question seemed unexpected from Madoka of all people. The girl was smart when it came to beys and computers, but she never seemed to pick up on emotion most the time. A simple nod was all she needed for the other girl to understand. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you don't hate me." "We're friends, I could never hate you. Sure you bug me sometimes, but you're like an annoying little sister that gets better grades than me." The two girls managed to smile and laugh a bit, lightening the mood. "Come on, we should get you cleaned up and changed, then we can all hang out!" Damn. Happy, smiley, Madoka was back. The serious one was better. "Yeah, just give me like 10 minutes." She still smiled back at the other girl as she left the room.

It took 15 minutes for Hikaru to change her clothes and clean her face off enough that no one would be able to tell she had cried. "Madoka! It's great to see you again!" This time the voice was loud and booming, Benkai. He gave her a giant goofy grin that she shook her head at. Madoka and Kenta waved at her while Yu, Masamune and Kyouya stood around doing nothing. "Momo, Hippity-hop! What's up?" Yu finally acknowledged the older girls with that impish smile of his and Masamune looked up now. She didn't like him, he was a Gingka fanboy that wanted to surpass his master. Such a childish goal. And then Mr. Dark and Depressing himself... Kyouya. Not even a hello! This is the exact jerk attitude that kept her from liking him. The nickname from Yu paled in comparison to the embarrassment she felt from not having Kyouya greet her. As she thought of all the times they had practiced and battled together, she noticed him look over from the corner of his eye and smile, a slight nod of the head. Alright, a shitty greeting, but a greeting none the less.

The group moved on, having argued over where to go for a while. They met up with Tsubasa who Yu practically stole the whole evening, not that anyone seemed to mind. They had broken into little groups of sorts. Benkei on Kyouya's arm, bugging him about this and that, Benkei being a proper little fanboy. Gan Gan Galaxy was all in a conversation about new opponents. And finally, Kenta and Madoka were talking about beys too. Was everything just beys with these people? Were their lives so perfect that beyblade was the only thing they had to worry about? No... She knew at least one person in that group that loved his bey lived to worry about more than just that. He loved Leone, probably with all his heart, but that didn't mean he wanted to talk about the creature 24/7. Benkei was going on and on while Kyouya just looked anywhere and everywhere. Those scars. How the hell did he end up with them?

Hikaru was silent and it only took a few minutes for Madoka to drag her into the conversation about beys with Kenta. It was actually nice to know that she could count on the younger girl to keep her from being left out. Even if she would have rather been working. Being around Kyouya was weird, being around all of them was weird to be honest. With high school added to the mix, beys, boys, and class seemed to be what most girls were talking about now. Hikaru was getting annoyed by it. Being friends with guys was fine, just because you went into a higher grade, suddenly it was forbidden to be friends? She would find someone when she wanted them, but guys didn't matter in a romantic sense right now. Besides, the only way any guy would be worthy of anything romantic would be if he could hold his own in a battle! Oh damn, beys were more important to her than she had realized. With a shake of her head she snapped back to reality again. "Don't ya think so Hikaru?" Wait, what did Kenta just ask about? "Huh?" "See, it doesn't make any sense!" What were these two talking about? "No, no, I zoned out, what did you say first?" She cut off Kenta before he could argue back, which was good, arguing was bad among friends. "I was saying, if a defense type bey had the attack disk of an attack type, would it still count as a defense type bey?" Hikaru stayed silent a moment thinking about it. "I think I agree with Madoka. That doesn't make any." Kenta went to defending his point and trying to explain, but the girls had tuned him out and he gave up, choosing to just pout instead.

"Look! There it is! Let's go you guys, you're taking forever!" She hadn't even noticed how far ahead the others had gotten. Maybe Kenta and Madoka just walked slow and she had matched her pace to theirs? "Calm down will ya! It's not like the food is going anywhere! Jeez." Kenta and Benkei went back and forth so often it didn't even count as arguing anymore. Gan Gan Galaxy, Kyouya and Benkei waited for them up ahead. "Come on, let's go eat already, I'm starving!" Benkei practically ran into the shop, grabbing a table that would be big enough for everyone.

"Hey Benkei, you can tone it down. It isn't like this place is gonna be leaving anytime soon, especially with how much time and money you spend here." "Aw, but Kyouya..." "I don't wanna hear it. You're starting to annoy me with how loud you're being." Kyouya's voice was neutral, but he was speaking for the rest of the group. They wouldn't speak up about it, but sometimes that bull-boy was just too loud for them, too loud and slightly obnoxious. Silently, the group thanked Kyouya for taming the bull enough for them to look around where they would be seated. The table was round, Benkei taking the seat closest to the door, Kyouya had sat first and Benkai moved to be at his right. Next to him sat Yu, Tsubasa, Masamune, Kenta, Hikaru, and Madoka kept her from being directly beside Kyouya. Having the younger girl looking out for her seemed to just get better. Even if she hadn't flat out said what was on her mind, the other girl was able to understand that Kyouya was part of the problem.

They sat quietly for a moment, no one really knew what to say once Kyouya shut Benkai up. "Soo... What are you guys thinking of having?" Alright, maybe Madoka really wasn't so bad. She seemed more dependable to get over awkward situations. Those damn happy attitudes. Hikaru wouldn't be surprised if she and Gingka ended up together, they made a good match personality wise. She was fairly grounded and smart about everything, while Gingka was a dreamer that was strong and they were both positive almost always and trying to resolve things. They just seemed to compliment one another. Hikaru on the other hand... She felt strong enough to stand on her own and not worry about anything, she could focus on work most of the time and just stay away from beyblading, just work behind the scenes and her life would be happy. She didn't really need a guy in her life. But if she did have one, just to have one... He couldn't be a super happy person like many of her friends. They were just too cheery all the time and she needed a nice moment of quiet sometimes. She would also want someone strong like Gingka was, his level of confidence was his single attractive trait to her. But no one was like that. Quiet, calm, strong, but able to control it and completely confident in their abilities? No guy would meet her expectations.

The whole time Hikaru was thinking, zoned out looking at her menu, the rest of the group spoke about what they would have. "-na get Hikaru?" Once again the small voice broke her free from her thoughts and she looked at Kenta. What did he ask? Man, this kid and his half understood questions. Okay, what would make sense in the moment? "Oh, um, just a sandwich. I'm not really all that hungry. I'd be fine with a simple turkey and cheese club." She shrugged, shaking away her thoughts. "That actually sounds good too... Man! Why are there so many things to eat in this place! I can't decide if I love it or hate it!" "Benkei! Quiet down!" Kyouya snapped, making the larger boy scratch at his neck nervously.

Huh... Calm... Strong... Confident... Maybe Kyouya was more fitting for her than she had thought? It was always just a small crush, but every girl and their cousin had a crush on Kyouya. I mean, just look at him! Well toned, tough guy, mean but nice when you get to know him, strong, a top notch blader, just... What wasn't to like? His hair? Okay, maybe that could be fixed a bit, but that was very small compared to the rest of him. Even his eyes were amazing, deep forest green that would catch the light nicel-wait is he staring at her?

In a moment Hikaru could feel her face flush red as she turned away from him and looked back down at her menu. How could she let that happen? Was he still looking? She dared and glance up and noticed that smirk of his, and, oh god, and his little fangs. She swore he had to have filed or capped them, no way those were his natural canines. "See anything you like Hikaru?" He teased slightly, leaning forward to look around Madoka. "I've already got an idea of what I want. Just not too sure about it in the long run..." She grumbled back, making the boy shake his head. Wait... Was he just flirting? Damn, he was totally flirting. Did that response give away too much, too little? Why did this even matter now!

The waiter came over to their table and the group placed their orders, the slight tension between the WBBA secretary and the leader of Team Outback seemed to fizzle out as the group began to discuss what they had been up to. The teams were going well it seemed, Africa was doing great according to Kyouya and the secret Masked Bull. Honestly, if they thought for even a moment that they didn't know that was Benkei they would have to be complete morons. "We're still totally gonna kick your butts and I'll prove that I'm the best blader alive!" Masamune. Hikaru couldn't help the glare she shot in his direction. Even if she never said it, it was clear that she disliked the young-Gingka wannabe. He was even more annoying than Gingka himself, what had he been doing the whole time anyway? Was he living under a rock to have not heard any of what was happening? Where was he that word about the best bladers took so long to reach him? He was just some numbskull idiot that got lucky with beys. That's all, he probably didn't even work at it like the others, just some jerk that landed a sweet bey like Ryuu-... The color drained from her face and she stood, ready to walk away from the table.

Finally she understood why she didn't like the boy. He reminded her of Ryuuga. That bit of red in his hair, that cocky attitude, the way he wanted to defeat Gingka and be the best, that undeserved sense of self. Maybe those were small, but in her terrified mind, that was enough. She planned to just leave the table without a word, but her suddenly standing caused some of the group to worry. "Hey Hikar-" "I'm just gonna get some air." She cut off the loud bull before another word could be spoken and went to the doors. Deep, calming breaths keep her from having a break down, emotional or nervous. After sitting alone against the building for a moment, the doors opened and she heard footsteps coming near her. "I appreciate the concern but I'm fine, Madoka." "Well she sure was concerned, but I had a feeling you were tired of talking to her. She's been clinging to you a bit more lately. Ever since you started working for Gingka's dad." The voice caught her off guard and she stood quickly. "What are you doing out here Kyouya?" "Isn't it obvious?" "The fact that I had to ask should answer your question." She shot back, slightly annoyed. "Alright, relax, you're not mad at me, you're mad at something else. Or are ya mad at me?" He had lifted his hands to show that he meant no harm and raised his brow on the last part of his sentence.

"... No. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad about what happened last year, at the finals... You know, the whole hospital thing." It was actually easier to speak to him about the feeling of being defeated. He experienced it as well, she even spoke to Tsubasa about it. "Oh. I get it. The whole Ryuuga thing, yeah, it sucked, but we have to move on. He's out of the picture now and we've got nothing to worry about." He shrugged, uncaring. This made the girl stare at him which quickly switched to a glare. "How can you be so relaxed about it? No way that whole ordeal was nothing to you!" "HEY! I can hold my own no matter what's thrown at me and you're pretty tough, so I know you can handle it too!" He snapped. Voices had been raised, tempers flared. Hikaru just stayed glaring at the boy for another minute, silence between them and making the air thick with tension. "You know what... I don't need to deal with this. I have things I could be doing than dealing with YOU." In another moment she was walking away from him, still angry, upset, her anger and fear being much easier to let out misguided at the green haired boy.

As she passed though, Kyouya grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "You're not going anywhere. Our friends are really worried about you and if you leave, you're gonna ruin everyone's good feeling. Do you really wanna do that?" He returned the glare, still holding onto her wrist. Once again they stood in silence. Finally she pulled her wrist free and began to walk towards the doors. "I'm doing this for them. So don't get any ideas. Stay out of my way Kyouya, I don't need to deal with your attitude problems too." As the girl walked into the building, Kyouya bared his teeth, a low growl. How dare she, how DARE she? He waited a minute to relax himself, even his breathing, before following after her.

So yeah... To people that don't know, I was pretty much pressured into this by Phantom-San. If you're hear then you may have read some of her work already. I normally stick to doing artsy stuff for her stories and to make her happy, but I decided to show her how I do fanfic and slash pairings.

This story is pretty much gonna be Hikaru going through some emotional trauma do to something pretty obvious in the subtext of... Well everything, I tried to make the past issue with Ryuuga fairly obvious. :I If you don't get it then I will just spell it out for you eventually, but for a long time. I really want to focus on Hikaru since she's my love and I feel like she deserves more attention as being a STRONG female character rather than a weak one as I've seen many of you write in already. She's going to have some love interests, I'm going to have each of the boys she's normally paired with show up, but a majority of it will just be her dealing with her mind until the big step that shows the pairing for this story. I mean, I already start out with Kyouya, but I"m gonna tease all the pairings and have Hikaru push them away to clear her mind. She's dealing with a lot bros, she can't have a boy mucking up her mind as well! I have reasons for what I do.

Also, my writing style overall. I kind of jump around from me writing to hearing the character's thoughts as well, hopefully this is easy to follow, but if not I will go back in and edit things so that ya know, thoughts or in italics for clarification. Each of the stories are fairly long. I'm not sure if that's enjoyed or hated on here? I've seen a lot of short, multi-chaptered stories, and some longer, fewer chaptered stories. Not sure which is better. I'm actually doing both. I have a lot going into this and as such, it's going to be long entries, and a good deal of chapters. I plan on having it be a between-episodes-and-after-the-end-sort of things.