Never Stop My Heart
By Mishi-chan
Disclaimer: I do not own BeyBlade in any way, shape, or form. I do own Tenshi, but MuraSakura owns Sakura, my partner in crime Twin Psychos owns Kaze, and Invisible Love owns Hiniku.
A/N: Hello, readers. I know must of you tend to skip this part and jump straight into the story, figure out if you really like this or not. But if you do read this, hear me out: this is an updated note and an updated, better edited version of the chappie I wrote half a decade ago. I can't completely re-write these chappies, but I can fix them. All I can say is even if you find flaws, keep reading. I can only hope my later words will grab you and keep you. Happy reading!
It was a beautiful day, the sun shining bright over the Japanese skies. Soft clouds hung gently in the crystal heavens. The day was tranquil and perfect to most, but to others, it had a rude awakening. In a small house on the outskirts of Kyoto, a young teenage girl lay fast asleep in her bed. The cocoa-skinned beauty had mid-back-length hair that was a dark coffee color. Crimson bangs framed her peaceful sleeping face as she inhaled and exhaled. The windows to the bedroom were completely covered by black curtains, revealing no light into the quiet room. All was silent except her soft breathing until…
"WAKE UP! WAKE UP! Hut to! Hut to!" a voice burst into the room with the sound and attitude of a drill sergeant. The once sleeping female abruptly sat up in alarm, eyes wide and looking around frantically. Finally her eyes narrowed into a glare as they rested upon the female who's voice awakened her. Her friend had long chestnut hair that had angelic white tips and two icy-blue bangs that framed her pale, peach face. The girl's attire consisted of baggy, blue camouflage cargo pants and a sleeveless tank top that was white and bore a sapphire phoenix on the back. She had her hands on her hips where a silver belt lay lopsided on her hip. "Come on, rise and shine!" she commanded again. The female in bed glared darkly at her friend and adopted twin sister.
"TENSHI!" she yelled furiously as she leapt out of bed and at her early-bird 'sister'. The other girl, Tenshi as she was named, ran out of the room and into the hallway with her angry African-American friend in hot pursuit. Tenshi began to sprint down the upstairs hallway when the fuming teenager tackled and pinned her to the hardwood.
"Okay, okay, you win. Now get off of me! It's almost time to go!" Tenshi demanded from under the pressure of her once sleeping teammate's arm lock behind her back.
"Tell me why you woke me up and you better have a good excuse, Tensh," the African-American responded in an irritated growl. Tenshi got back up to her feet after she was released from the arm lock. Regaining her composure, the chestnut-haired teen crossed her arms with a huff.
"Well," Tenshi began, "while you were snoozing off in La-La Land, Sakura, our 'all-mighty' captain called for us." Tenshi finished with a tone that just oozed sarcasm. Sakura's eyebrow rose from her lessening glare.
"Kaze called?"
"Yep and we're going on a flight to Russia that leaves in a half hour," the younger female answered before walking across the hall to her own room. Pausing outside her doorframe, she looked back with a smirk and said, "So you better pack up fast!" And with that Tenshi closed the door behind her as her foster sister and best friend, Sakura, absorbed the new information. After a moment it finally hit her like a ton of bricks.
"CRAP!"
Screaming nonsense all the way, Sakura raced back into her room in a frantic, insane rush against time. Ten minutes later the duo was packed up and on their way to the Kyoto airport, a frantic Sakura at the wheel of the car and a very terrified Tenshi in the passenger seat holding onto her dear life. Upon reaching the airport, the two female teenagers raced through the lobby and airport security to get their departing ride to Russia, knocking over several elderly couples in the process. Panting and out of breath, Sakura and Tenshi reached the tunnel to their flight. The attendant flashed the smile that she gives everyone, the one that clearly says 'I-don't-care-about-you-but-I-have-to-smile-in-order-to-keep-my-job'.
"You two just made it in time, the plane is just about to take off. Your tickets please?" she inquired. Exhaustingly, Tenshi took out the two tickets and handed them over tiredly. They took their seats on the aircraft and a moment later the plane took off high into the atmosphere. Slumping down into her seat, Tenshi groaned.
"Remind me to never let you drive ever again," Tenshi complained, her heart still thumping in her chest from Sakura's maniacal driving. Sakura, now fully dressed in her usual attire, crossed her arms across her chest.
She had on a purple shirt that covered three quarters of one arm and left the other arm bare, a violet flower pinned to the top of the sleeveless side. The shirt had a gold lining and the whole hem was that glittery shade. Her black jeans were slightly baggy with silver chains hanging 'innocently' at her side through two of the belt loops and a white tiger picture on her left pants leg. Her black and purple Etnies hardly contrasted to Tenshi's predominantly black and white DC Travelers with light ocean blue lining and insignia.
"Get over it. Until you actually get your own license, you're stuck with my driving, little sis," Sakura prompted with a grin. It was now Tenshi's turn to cross her arms with an irritated glare.
"A) I'm only slightly shorter than you, B) You're only a few months older, we were born in the same year, Idiot, and C) Shut-up," Tenshi spat back to her 'sister'. Sakura laughed and looked out the window of her seat across from Tenshi.
Suddenly, a light bulb seemed to have gone off in Sakura's brain as she whirled quickly to face the chestnut-haired teen. "Tenshi?" She questioned. The before-mentioned teen looked back at her in acknowledgment, "Why are we going to Russia?" Tenshi just pulled out her IPod and smirked, her eyes dancing with excitement.
"Because we are going to the Beyblading World Championships."
N E V E R
Several hours later in the Moscow airport, a certain Russian Beyblader was waiting in the airport lobby. Tala was standing up, facing the crowd of arrivals, searching for a certain blue-haired teammate. His wait was quickly over when Kai came sauntering coldly out of the sea of people, his black duffel bag hung over his shoulder lazily. Tala approached the stoic male. For a moment they stood there before shaking hands as a sign of a greeting, Tala thinking about the irony of it all, a smirk apparent on his features.
At his first World Championship four years ago, it was him who didn't want Kai on the team and now he was the one who wanted him back on the team, let alone was friends with Kai. Ironic, no?
"Ready to blade?" Tala asked simply, smirk still evident. Kai nodded his head with a grunt, still with his usual cold exterior. Tala turned to leave, then turned back at Kai to see if he was coming when his eyes widened in a very rare emotion for him: fear. Confused and with an eyebrow raised, Kai looked behind him to see two teenage girls, one with chestnut hair and the other with cocoa skin, waving, smiling, yelling, and running happily in their direction. Right towards them. Only one word could escape Tala's lips as his he watched the girl's get closer and closer. "Fan girls!" he whispered in a shaky voice. The two teenagers got closer and closer, Tala braced himself, covering his head with his hands. Just as they were right in front of him, he felt a brush of wind go by him and then silence. Warily, Tala opened his eyes to see that they had run right past him towards another girl. Kai smirked at his friend and teammates' stupidity and as he walked by the redhead, the stoic male clamped a hand on Tala's shoulder.
"I think it's safe to say you've been dumped," Kai said, a hint of amusement in his voice. Then Kai continued on walking out of the lobby, a sour redheaded blader trailing behind him.
S T O P
Tenshi and Sakura stepped off the plane and into the lobby, their duffel bags in hand. As soon as they got past security, Tenshi dropped her bag and scanned the crowd, scratching her temple as she searched. "Okay, where is Kaze?"
"Isn't that the question on everyone's mind?" Sakura retorted to Tenshi's rhetorical question, earning a glare from her sister. Brushing the comment aside, Tenshi continued to look through the sea of people for their team captain. Suddenly, a large jolt shook her from her thoughts and search abruptly. "There she is!" Sakura screamed into her ear as she waved to their friend in the distance. Picking up her bag and a wide smile on her face, Tenshi followed Sakura as the crimson banged teen ran yelling happily through the immense (and now utterly disturbed) crowd. Tenshi followed her teammate, almost bumping into a vaguely familiar redhead.
Upon reaching Kaze, she was out of breath, but very excited. Before her stood their friend and team captain, Kaze Minakotsa. She was also taller than Tenshi but about the same size as Sakura. Long black hair with moonlit silver streaks cascaded down her back, her eyes matching with the same moonlit color. Kaze bore a black jacket over a red shirt, her jacket bearing a winged white tiger similar to the one on Sakura's pants leg. Her dark blue jeans covered her long, muscular legs. It wasn't long before Sakura, and her overzealous attitude of the moment, tackled Kaze with a monstrous hug. "KAZE!"
Kaze let out a strangled yell as they almost fell to the floor. Squirming out of her friends grasp, Kaze stepped away from her friend, only to be hugged again by Tenshi, just less ferociously. After being released from her two friends and teammates, Kaze looked back at them with a small smile. " Nice to see you too. How long has it been since I've seen you again?"
"Um…let's see… 5 months!" Tenshi blurted out with a friendly irritation in voice. Kaze sweatdropped and rubbed her hand against the back of head hesitantly.
"Oh, yeah. That would be because since the last tournament, I've been in China," Kaze responded nervously, afraid slightly of the wrath of Sakura and Tenshi. Tenshi set down her bag and put her hands on her petite hips.
"Um, yeah! Honestly, didn't you have e-mail out there in the middle of nowhere?" Sakura added, picking from Tenshi's rant. The icy-blue banged teen nodded in agreement. Kaze looked uncertainly at the two. One yelling was bad, but things could get ugly if both of them ganging up together. Before Kaze even had the time to think of a response, another familiar voice suddenly appeared, a petite figure popping up behind her.
"HELLO? Don't I get any greetings?" the figure said. Kaze turned around to face her, averting Sakura and Tenshi's eyes as well to the new arrival. She was a thin female of obvious Korean ethnicity. Her raven black hair reached down shortly after her shoulders, thin blonde highlights lightening the hair color slightly. Her attire consisted of baggy black pants, plain white tank top that bore a yin-yang symbol in the center, black arm warmers and a white headband. Although she was the second eldest of the three, she was about the same size of Tenshi.
Sakura smiled at their last teammate, throwing herself with another hug at the teen. "Of course you do, Hiniku!" the cocoa-skinned beauty yelled, once again arousing stares from the passerby. Tenshi looked around nervously at the stares.
"Um…don't mind her. She has ADHD. Just continue on your way, please," Tenshi said to the onlookers, putting her hands in protest and a sweat drop seemingly permanently stuck to her head. Little did she know, the certain before mentioned female had come behind Tenshi, glaring holes into the back of her sister's head.
"Excuse me? ADHD? TENSHI!" Sakura screamed again, just as she was about to lunge for the younger girl, a voice cried out and stopped her.
"Quit it you two. If I remember correctly, we have a Championship to win," Kaze said with a small smile, knowing that would get them back on track. Exactly as she had hoped, Tenshi turned her attention back to her captain in a flash and Sakura stopped her assault. Tenshi pumped her fist into the air as Hiniku, Kaze, Sakura, and she walked out of the airport and into the streets.
"Yes! World Championship, watch out! The Winged Guardians are gonna take this tournament by storm!"
M Y
After wandering the Russian streets for while, the group of girls finally found their way to the designated hotel that Mr. Dickinson reserved rooms for all the teams at. Tiredly, the girl's trudged into the hotel lobby and dropped their bags. "It's freezing out here!" the Korean named Hiniku yelled, rubbing her hands against her bare arms. Tenshi turned to glare at her.
"Hey, why are you complaining? You have arm-warmers on, remember? I've got nothing! ZIP! ZAP! ZADA!" the chestnut-haired girl retorted to her Asian friend.
"So? I don't have as much body fat to keep me warm!"
"Are you calling me fat?"
"Yes, I'm calling you fat!"
Tenshi let out a gasp of shock. "You're a meanie butt!" Hiniku just dismissed it with a wave, looking the other direction.
"Whatever," Hiniku said nonchalantly. Tenshi turned the other direction and crossed her arms, a pout evident on her face. Sakura and Kaze just stared at the two with embarrassment, a sweatdrop on each of their heads. And they probably would've stayed that way if a masculine voice hadn't interrupted the little scene.
"Seriously? They're arguing about who's colder. What a bunch of losers," the voice laughed, causing Sakura's blood to boil. She whipped around to see a young male, about the same age, maybe a year older. He had black raven hair that was pulled back into a bushy ponytail; his attire consisting of baggy pants a jacket that revealed his six-pack. Sakura's eyes narrowed into a glare.
"Excuse me? Whom do you think you are to talk about my friends like that?" the tiger-like female scolded, her fists clenched in anger. By this time, Kaze had turned around and Hiniku and Tenshi had stopped their little dispute to stare at the scene unfolding before them. The black-haired teen just scoffed with a smirk on his face.
"I'm just speaking the truth. No need to get so riled up," he retorted, still showing no remorse. Sakura began to stomp her way over to the male until a new face appeared beside him.
"Lee, what are you doing?" Rei asked his friend, stepping up next to him and scanning the sight before him, noticing a very angry female who looked ready to pound Lee into dust. Rei looked at Lee again, his face sterner. "Lee, are you trying to cause trouble with our competitors?" A shocked face flashed over Lee's expressions before he chocked out a laugh.
"Are you serious Rei? These GIRLS are one of the teams in the tournament?" Lee asked bemusedly, a baffled expression devouring his face. Sakura's face grimaced in anger as she took another threatening step towards the Chinese blader before being held back by Tenshi, Hiniku at her side watching the whole situation, and Kaze stepping up beside the rest of her team on the other side of Sakura. Rei suppressed the groan that surfaced within his throat.
"Yes, they are," Rei answered patiently to his life-long friend. Lee looked back and forth between his team captain and the girls with a bewildered expression before a smirk snaked its way back onto his smug face.
"Oh well, it doesn't matter. Being the first all-girl team in the BBA doesn't mean they're not losers. Sorry ladies, but girls just aren't cut out for this sport. Go try out for cheerleading instead." And with that, Lee strode away from the group and out of the lobby towards the elevator. As soon as he was out of sight, Sakura let out a loud, exasperated groan of irritation.
"Who does he think he is? CHEERLEADING? I'll die before that happens!" Sakura ranted, pulling strands of her own hair out in frustration. Hiniku began to laugh at her insane, yet ever-common reaction to his comment. Tenshi just seemed to be trying to glare holes through the elevator in which Lee disappeared through while Kaze just sighed and smiled weakly at her friends' very different responses. Rei shook his head slightly in disapproval before returning back to the girls.
"I'm sorry about Lee, he can get a little… too confident sometimes. I'm sure he meant no harm through his words," apologized the Chinese blader, embarrassed of his friend's behavior. At the sound of his voice, Sakura stopped her rant and just stared at him. He was definitely cute by her standards, with his long raven black hair and Chinese ethnicity. Rei looked at Sakura ruefully. " I hope you'll forgive him, he's just excited about another tournament." Seeing that his 'totally hot' voice directed at her, a small blush crept its way to Sakura's cheeks… that is, until his gaze became directed at Kaze. "You're Kaze, right? We met at the Team Captain's Meeting last week if I recall correctly," Rei asked kindly. Kaze's eye brightened as he spoke to her.
"Yeah, that's right. And you are Rei, I remember that much. That's probably all I remember from the meeting," Kaze confessed truthfully, rubbing her hand against the back of her head. Rei let out a soft laugh that just rang happily through Sakura's ears. Little did she know, it also rang happily in Kaze's ears.
"Yeah, well, I better be getting back to the team. I hope to see you all during the tournament, and good luck!" Rei bid goodbye. He smiled one more time at them before trailing off towards the elevator. Once Rei had left, Kaze and Sakura turned to each other furiously.
"Back off, he's mine!"
The two yelled at once, both realizing that the other liked him. As they began to argue back and forth, Tenshi and Hiniku walked over to the front desk. "Hello, ma'am. We called ahead for a reservation for four, The 'Winged Guardians'," Tenshi said politely, her upbringing shining through. The blonde at the front desk turned to her computer and smiled, obviously looking up the reservation. A moment later, her face changed to a frown as she looked back at the girls.
"I'm sorry, but there is no such reservation."
Tenshi's mouth hung open with a confused look on her face as Hiniku's face just screamed in disbelief
"What? Are you sure? Please check again? Pwetty pwetty pwease!" Hiniku screamed at the receptionist, not believing what she was hearing. The blonde just merely shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but I've already checked twice. There is, or was, no such reservation at this hotel."
Tenshi's mouth still hung wide open in shock when a light bulb suddenly went off inside her head. Her eyes narrowed into a glare as she pivoted on her heel to turn back to her arguing friend. "Kaze!" The summoned teen looked up to see a fuming Tenshi coming towards her. "Kaze, did you make the reservations when I told you to this morning?" she asked in false patience, her clenched fist shaking in irritation. Kaze's face lit up.
"Of course I did! I got off the phone with you, then I packed my bag, grabbed the phone to call…" Kaze's eyes lit with realization, "…and then called the dry-cleaner's for my jacket." The forgetful teen confessed with a sweat drop. There was a pause after that, a moment of silence amongst the group before…
"You idiot!"
Kaze screamed as Tenshi lunged viciously at her. She continued to yelp as Tenshi chased her out of the hotel, a vein popping as if to show her annoyance. Hiniku looked at Sakura with a wide smile on her face.
"Wow! It's good to be back together, isn't it Sakura?"
Sakura smiled at the Korean happily. "Yeah Hiniku." She looked back at Tenshi chasing their team captain up and down the Russian street. "It sure is!"
H E A R T
A/N: And there's the first chappie! It's not much folks, but it'll have to do. I had fun writing this, it's been a loooooong time since I've written anything, and I'm happy to be back. I'm sorry if Lee seemed a little off to you hard-core fans, but that's how he was a little in the manga and he is like that in the original anime too, so, yeah. So you've read, hopefully enjoyed, and now… review! :]