Dress Up Time!!!

(Ray's POV)

Several years have passed since the BladeBreakers and I bladed together. Ah, the memories. One still haunts me.

Our second Beyblading Championship. The worst time of all, or so I had discovered.

We were extremely popular back then, and were surrounded by the media everywhere we went. I had to admit that the attention was nice once in a while, but when there were reporters everywhere asking different questions at the exact same time, it became suffocating.

Fan letters were delivered to our hotel room, which made Tyson's head swell up like a balloon. It looked to me that Tyson's ego was getting bigger by the second, with everyone complimenting him left and right. Max loved the attention, getting called "cute" and "energetic" all the time, by both girls and boys. Getting called "cute" just made me uncomfortable.

Kai and I didn't really like the attention. Sure, I liked it at first, but then it just became too overwhelming. Kai never liked the media period. The fact that we were getting more attention every day just made him more isolated, and me more edgy.

Kenny took all the attention the hardest, since he had to deal with coming up with strategies for us and disproving scandals the media came up with. I doubt he got any decent amount of sleep during that tournament.

Sure, the media was stressful and all the fangirls/boys were annoying, but sometimes I thought about an annoying situation and reminded myself that I could laugh about it in the future. One of my most embarrassing situations happened during that very tournament.

We were going to go against the Demolition Boyz (AN: I don't know how to spell their other name.) and the tension was going through the roof. I was getting annoyed since Max and Tyson were busy going through their fanmail while Kenny was trying to get their attention about a new strategy. Worse, Kai was nowhere to be found. I was afraid he'd turn on us again, but my thoughts of worry were swept away by Max's announcement.

"Ray! There's a letter for you!" he chimed, waving the letter high above his head.

I got up off the couch, took the letter and tore it open.

Dear my dearest Ray,

It began, already making me sick, but I kept reading.

My name is Kali, and I have a challenge for you.

Now she caught my attention.

Since you have such a pretty face, I dare you to choose a dress of your choice and wear it during the tournament.

I nearly had a heart attack. I reread the letter three more times to be sure I didn't misunderstand. I had read what I thought I had read. What was worse was the end of the letter.

I can't wait to see you!

Love, Kali.

(P.S.-- As an even bigger challenge, announce this challenge on live television and DON'T take off your outfit after you're done blading. YOU'RE AWESOME!!!)

I crumpled up the letter and threw it out. The last thing I would want to do was embarrass myself on live television and while blading. Little did I know was that that was just what I was going to end up doing.

"Hey Ray!" Max called. "Come in here!"

I followed his voice to the room I shared with Kai.

"Guys, you know Kai nor I like you both in there without our--" I started saying, but when I walked into the room, all I saw were Max, Tyson and a mountain load of dresses.

"C'mon Ray!" Max chimed. "Try some of these on!"

"Why the heck do you guys have all those dresses?" I asked.

"Cause we happened to find that fan letter you got today Ray." Tyson smirked.

"Oh god." I muttered and tried to make a break for it, but Max blocked my way.

"C'mon Ray!" Max whined. "Just try a couple!"

"And just how many is 'a couple'?" I asked.

"Y'know, just two," Tyson said, grabbing my arm. "or twenty."

"WHA?!!" I practically screamed as Max and Tyson tossed me into the walk-in closet to pick out a dress to try on. I knew that day was going to be a long one.

I was on my fifteenth dress when the worst thing happened. Kai walked right in. And I was wearing a girl's school uniform.

Kai took one look at me and turned to leave when Max stopped him.

"Aww, c'mon Kai, don't pretend you don't think Ray doesn't look good." Max teased.

Kai stopped in his tracks and turned to face me and Tyson, who was handing me another dress.

"You got any suggestions?" Max asked. "Anything you want Ray to wear?"

Kai didn't answer but went straight to the closet. He came out after a few minutes.

"Out." he said to Max and Tyson.

"But-" the two started, but Kai pushed them out.

"I SAID OUT!!" he exclaimed as he did so, slamming the door behind them.

Kai went back into the closet and pulled out a red and blue Chinese dress. The length was perfect and I liked the style, since I was Chinese. (AN: at least I think.) Kai tossed it to me and told me to put it on.

I went back into the closet to change and came out to Kai waiting with a brush.

"Uhm... is it ok?" I asked.

Kai didn't say anything but sat me down in front of the mirror. He took out my hair and started brushing. After a while, I felt a few tugs on my hair and saw in the mirror that Kai was braiding my hair. When the braids were completed, Kai wrapped the top sections of them into little buns and secured them with long light blue pieces of cloth. I had to admit, I did look nice. Not that I liked dressing like a girl only for the purpose of one fan's amusement.

"So that's it." Kai said.

"What's it?" I asked.

"You were saying what you were thinking again." he replied.

"What?!" I squeaked. "Again?!"

Kai chuckled as he put the finishing touches on my hairstyle. Then he did something really unexpected.

A peck on the cheek. That was all he had to do for me to turn bright red and get all flustered.

"You look lovely my dear." Kai whispered in my ear, causing my heart to skip a beat.

"K-Kai?!" I squeaked, getting ready to freak out completely. Kai chuckled again and gave me a little bonk on the head.

"Just teasing." Kai smiled, patting my head. "Now let's see..."

He started mumbling to himself, rummaging through the closet again. He came out with a pair of blue flats and a red and blue handbag. He tossed them to me. I put on the shoes and draped the handbag over my shoulder. Then Kai called Max and Tyson in.

"....O.M.G." was all Tyson could say, while Max couldn't stop talking, saying things like "You look like a real girl!" and "You look so pretty!".

"I can't wait to show you off at the next press conference!" Max chimed before I hit him on the head with my bag.

"This is only for the championship." I said. "Once it's over, I will never dress like this again."

Now came the hard part. Talking to the media and the fans, and blading in a dress.