Disposition, a beyblade fanfic

Disposition
by: zulka

They met at the library. They had both been looking for the same book, though their research topic was completely different.

"I need this book." He told her. He had found the book first and was not going to let it go. No way.

She frowned. "Yes, well I need it too. I have a research paper to write."

He was not moved. "So do I." He made to leave then but she stopped him.

"What's your paper about? Are you sure you need the book? What class is this for? Can't you use another book?"

He rolled his eyes. He answered her, but didn't turn to face her. "It's about the Sandinista Revolution, yes, for LALS 20B and no."

"No way! I have that class too. I've never seen you there though. Look, I've looked at the inter library loan and it's either checked out or lost. Can't we share or something? My name is Hiromi by the way."

Kai finally turned to look at her; he hadn't seen her in his class either. "What are you writing about?"

"Oh, well I haven't really decided though I suppose it might have to do with women's role during the revolution, especially the mothers." She was biting her lip.

"Then you don't need this book." He raised an eyebrow.

"I guess fine. You can have it." And she left.

He just frowned. She was probably a first year.

Hiromi arrived at her apartment, looked at her roommate, and sighed. "I still don't know what to do my paper on. I met this really cute boy today though. He's in my class apparently."

Her roommate looked at her and laughed. "Oh? How cute was he?"

"Very. But he was kinda rude. So not what I am looking for."

The roommate laughed again.

"Mariam, I'm serious. I don't want clichés. This boy is already out because the way we met is so totally cliché. I mean library, same class? No. I want a real original love story."

Mariam stared at her, "Well how do you expect to actually meet someone. Everything is so cliché nowadays. You said no to Brooklyn. Girl, something is wrong with you. Brooklyn was a cutie."

"Brooklyn was cute, but he was not boyfriend material. I mean we met at a party. Do you realize things like that are just hook-ups? Nothing comes from them. Right now I am not down to get booty calls. Besides the: oh he was a player and she changed him is so cliché. Nothing comes from meeting boys at libraries either."

Mariam sighed, "Hiromi. You are so weird."

"Just go back to studying for your bio test Mar, I need to figure out what to write for my paper."

"Hiro, Shiro, tomato face-"

"Quit it Tyson! God you are so annoying." Hiromi commented as she returned to her reading.

"But I don't want to study. It's so boring." Tyson whined, as he played with his pen. Hiromi watched him and shook her head. Tyson was a hopeless case. She wondered how he passed his classes. She saw him waving wildly and turned to look. Who was he waving at?

Her eyes widened slightly, no way. She wanted to laugh.

"Yo! Kai, come sit with us." Approaching them was the two-toned boy from her class. If he was already crossed out, this gave him another strike. Friend with her Friend? That just screams possible love triangle.

He nodded to Tyson and raised a brow when he saw her. She smiled. "Hey there."

Tyson looked from her to Kai, "You guys know each other?"

Kai nodded as he sat down next to Tyson.

Hiromi laughed, "We almost got into a fight over a book."

Tyson looked at her strangely before turning to Kai, "No offense man, but there are better things to fight over."

Kai just scoffed. "How's your paper coming?"

She sighed as she closed her book, and stared at it. "Okay. It's getting there and no I didn't need the book."

He smirked.

She shook her head, opened her book again and started reading.

Tyson whined to Kai about their math assignment. She guessed they had math together.

Kai saw her at the coffee stand, buying a double shot mocha. When she turned, she saw him, drinking water from a stainless steel water bottle.

"Environmentally conscious?" She asked him. He shrugged.

"We are in a green campus." He answered.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. One of my housemates is an environmental studies major, she makes us compost and wanted to keep mold for a pet."

He shot her an incredulous look.

"My thoughts exactly." She answered. "We didn't let her. That was just too much."

He nodded.

Coming in late, he sat in the back row, a few moments later she arrived and sat next to him. It was the only empty seat on that side of the door. He gave her an acknowledging look.

"This boy asked me out and took me to this moonlit walk by the beach." She shook her head. "It was so cliché. I had to say no to the next date. What was it going to be? A candle light dinner?"

Kai just looked at her, wondering why she was telling him this. He honestly didn't care. "I don't see how this is relevant to me or the class." He told her.

"I guess it isn't. But I just had to tell someone. It was such a disappointment. I mean a walk on the beach by moonlight?"

Kai looked at her from the corner of his eye and ignored her. This girl was irritating and maybe crazy?

"But don't worry, it's not like I'll fall for you or anything. Since our meeting was cliché to begin with. So you're automatically out."

This time, Kai turned to fully look at her. "Are you insane?"

Hiromi twirled her pen in her fingers, "No but I am looking for a real love story and come on, meeting you at the library looking for the same book is up there with girl drops books and boy helps her and their eyes meet. Cliché."

Kai ignored her and turned to listen to the professor.

"Look Tyson, this is romance, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte not Emily's Wuthering Heights that was too depressing but it was a nice tragic love story. Not those Harlequin romances."

Tyson looked at Mariam who only shrugged.

"Alright, whatever. So you broke up with Johnny why?" Mar inquired as Tyson waved them off and left to the comic book section of the bookstore.

"Because, it was just not going anywhere. I mean I broke my own rule because we kissed in the rain and even after that I said yes to going out with him. So it was my own fault."

Mariam gave her an 'are you serious?' look. "You sweetheart, are looking too hard. Everything is cliché, in your eyes. There is no way you are going to find someone this way. I mean, even Max and I meet in a totally cliché way according to you."

Hiromi sighed, "Look Mariam I don't want a cliché beginning. I just don't. I mean, kissing in the rain is cliché, moonlit walks by the beach are cliché, and so are candle light dinners. I don't want all that stuff. Not anymore."

Mariam rolled her eyes. "Well good luck."

"Mar, I want someone to profess their love like Mr. Darcy did with Elizabeth. Now that was romance. It wasn't a confession like they do in the movies or in these sappy books. It wasn't sappy. It was like," at this she sighed and smiled, "so unpredictable, even he was surprised by it. There we go, I want something unpredictable. Kisses in the rain just tell you things are going to be predictable."

"But isn't this whole, dark past, stormy boy cliché too? I mean you have them in the harlequin novels too. The man with a past, running away, or just plain angsty or cold hearted." Mariam told her as they left the fiction aisle.

"Yeah. But I haven't met any taciturn boys. So that's good."

Mariam just sighed. "You are impossible."

Kai saw her first, as she entered the coffee shop. She didn't even notice him.

"You know her?" his friend asked.

"Not really." Kai shook his head. "She's in my class."

When she turned to find a seat she saw him and waved. He merely nodded. At that she shook her head and walked toward him.

"Hi I'm Hiromi." She told his red-headed friend who smirked in response.

"Tala."

She stared at him for a bit before turning to look at Kai. "He's a badass isn't he?"

Kai furrowed his brows in confusion.

"You know, bad boy? Heartbreaker?" Turning to Tala she smiled, "I'd totally be into you if you weren't tall dark and handsome. Kai has a tiny bit of that too. But you have bad boy written all over you. I don't want that kind of story. You know sweet girl, bad boy? No thanks. But you are hot, I'll give you that. If I wanted a fling, I'd totally choose you."

"Hiromi!"

"Well my order's done. See you in class Kai. Bye Tala."

As she left, Tala snorted in confusion, "What?"

"She's strange." Kai answered. "Don't bother with it."

"You mean crazy."

Kai shrugged.

Kai wasn't sure when it happened but she started sitting next to him in lecture.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

She'd talk to him about how cliché this or that date had been.

He'd answer sometimes but most of the time he'd just let her talk. There were times when he would laugh and ask if she was insane. He was convinced she was.

"I need a study buddy. Have you tried studying with Tyson? He's useless. Always distracting."

Kai nodded. "I just ignore him."

"Yeah well I get tired of ignoring him. He's unignorable."

"To you maybe."

"Whatever, let's just go to the library. Meet me there at 5?"

Kai nodded.

"Nice. See you then."

"I can't believe it got this cold. I mean, it was sunny just this morning!" She was standing outside the bookstore. He just looked at her before offering his jacket.

"Are you serious?" She looked at him like he had grown another head.

"No. I can't. Do you realize how many women have accepted jackets in movies and in books?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "You're cold. Don't think about the implications, there are none."

But she held her ground. "No. I'd rather freeze. I will not be caught up in this."

When he arrived at their library table, Tyson was already sitting there with Hiromi. "I'm telling you Tyson. It's the same thing over and over, boy meets girl, they fall in love, they separate, they meet again and they have a happy ever after. It's the same thing for all of them."

Kai was sure he didn't want to know what she was talking about. So he kept silent.

"So you're not going to fall for Kai?" Kai shot Tyson a dirty look for even mentioning his name.

Hiromi sighed, exasperated. "No. Of course not. He's like your friend and you're my friend. I don't want that epic love triangle. I've seen it countless times. It's so dramatic and cliché. Plus Kai is already scratched off my list."

Tyson just frowned. "You have weird ideas."

"Midterms. You know, I really do wonder how Tyson passes his classes. I never see the guy study."

Kai snorted. The music was blaring.

"And he always has parties the weekend before midterms." She looked around the room and caught sight of Tala dancing with a pink haired girl. "Someone should tell your friend that pink and red don't mix."

Kai laughed. "I don't think he cares."

Hiromi shook her head, "look at the girl, she's drunk. They're probably going to hook up and wake up the next morning with each other. So unoriginal."

"He's drunk too." Kai mentioned.

Hiromi nodded.

Kai turned to look at her, her hair was pulled up and she was wearing tight black skinny jeans with a loose sheer white top. He averted his eyes to the wall across from them. "So this is something you wouldn't do?"

"No. I mean, I said no to Brooklyn because I didn't want to be part of that story. What? Are you afraid I'll get drunk off my ass and get into a situation where I'm going to need you to save me?" She gave him a smirk.

"I wouldn't save you to begin with. That would be cliché. You'd probably spit at me."

She smiled, "Good, because I'm no damsel in distress."

"Kai, you and I are good friends, so I feel the need to say this. You can't fall in love with me. You just can't."

Kai simply scoffed. "Good friends? In your delusional mind obviously, not in mine."

Hiromi laughed. "I suppose you're right. In any case, last week this boy took me stargazing, can you believe it? Star gazing. I was like…no way…how cliché is this?"

"Is there something that isn't cliché with you?" Kai asked her out of curiosity.

"Yes. But all the things these boys do, is like so scripted. For example, if you fall in love with me we'll be joining all the other scripts of friends turned lovers. Not something I'm looking for. That is so not my love story."

Kai shook his head. "But you're against being swept off your feet."

"Duh. So yeah. Don't fall in love. Especially since you're that type."

Kai frowned, "What type?"

"You know, the kind that is often in denial about his feelings? Hiding them behind actions, that are meant to scream 'I don't like you' but totally mean, 'I love you.'"

"Keep dreaming, Tachibana."

"So I see you hanging out with Kai a lot. Are you sure he's scratched off your list?" Mariam asked Hiromi one night.

"Yeah. He's just a friend and I don't do those storylines either."

Mariam just looked at her and then turned to Tyson who just shrugged. "She said he's my friend and doesn't want a love triangle of epicness."

Mariam laughed. "Hiromi you are hopeless."

Once she left, Mariam turned to Tyson, "Watch, she's gonna fall for him."

Tyson laughed and nodded. "So how much you wanna bet?"

During winter break, she took to calling him, to let him know how the other boys failed. How one of them gave her red roses and a poem, how another took her ice skating. Another tried to kiss her during new year's. There was one that planned a midnight picnic.

He listened mostly and added a few comments here and there. He wasn't entirely sure why he even bothered sometimes.

He could imagine her, her hands motioning here and there as she explained her story, one of them would pull a lock of hair behind her ear, she would frown, pout and halfway through her talking he froze.

He didn't see her that much for winter quarter. They didn't have class together anymore. He found that he somewhat missed her crazy talk about cliché's and boys that did all the wrong things. As soon as he thought this he shook his head and thought himself insane.

"So party this weekend?" Tala called to him from the kitchen.

"I guess." He answered.

"Everyone is back, might as well. Tyson'll come and so will that crazy chick. She called me a badass I like her."

Kai wasn't sure how Tala's thought process worked. "Whatever." He answered.

Friday night arrived and with it so many people. Some of them he didn't even know. Friends of friends of friends, he was sure.

"Kai!" At the sound of his name he turned to find Tyson walking towards him. "You won't believe this but crazy cliché girl aka Hiromi is actually dating this guy."

He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I know. I was shocked too. I don't think he'll last. Her last boyfriend was only with her for like four months."

"She had a boyfriend?"

"I know shocking right? Even I was surprised because with the crazy way she is…well anyway yeah." Tyson shrugged and continued drinking his can of beer.

"His name is Mystel. I told her that was cliché but she didn't pay attention."

When he saw her again, she was at the coffee shop reading a Harlequin romance novel.

"Isn't that like totally not romance?" he asked her, using her own wording.

Looking up she smiled when she saw him. "I was bored. So I picked this up from one of my friends."

He stared at the cover, with tall dark and handsome bare-chested, and a scantily clad woman hanging from his arms.

"This is always so cheesy, you know." And she motioned for him to sit down. "Anyways Mystel and I are over. He had to go back to Greece. He was an exchange student."

He nodded, "So no love story."

"No, not that I was hoping for one with him. He wasn't cliché but long distance relationships are."

He chuckled then and scoffed. "You won't find anyone."

"Well it's not like I'm giving up."

Kai played with his drink, before looking up at her. She had gone back to her book.

It happened on a rainy day as they walked to one of the café's on campus after leaving the library.

"I can't believe this rain. No we can't share an umbrella. I'm sorry." She told him.

"I wasn't planning to."

She smiled. "I'm glad you get it."

"But you'll get wet and I'm not sorry." He told her before walking ahead of her. "Not my fault you're unprepared, loser."

She flailed but walked after him chuckling.

It's at a party, around one in the morning, that he decides that he likes her, while she's dancing with some random boy, who is whispering in her ear. He can see the scene unfold: she'll laugh and walk away.

A few minutes later she's standing next to him. "I'm so not down to hook up."

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I am." He tells her.

She looked at him and shrugged. "Poor unfortunate girl, whoever she is."

He scowled at her and she laughed.

It's at seven, in the night, when he knocks on her door on a Thursday night. The moment she opened the door he blurted out, "I like you. You're the unfortunate girl I'm interested in. I'm not hiding my feelings."

She dropped the bowl she was holding and stared at him in shock. "But—But…you and I…its cliché. It can't happen."

He rolled his eyes at her. "I'm not going to tell you how pretty you look. I'm not going to buy you roses or flowers. I'll get you weeds. I won't kiss you during those moments like right now because that would be cliché. I won't hold your hand or catch you if you fall. I'll let you fall and get drenched in the rain."

She stared at him for a few moments before looking down. "But I met you at the library." Looking up at him she frowned, "I told you not to fall in love with me!"

Kai scoffed, "You know that never works. Its cliché to tell someone that. You of all people should know that."

She sighed before looking up at him. "So you're not going to kiss me?"

"No."

He smirked at her disappointment, before pulling her in and kissing her breathless.

"Did you have to do that?" She asked as she looked at him, with a small smile.

"Yeah, and I'm going to do it again."

Notes: hmm. Met up with my friend the other day and we were talking and I remember how she is such a romantic and I'm not. LOL. In any case, hope you all liked. This was dedicated to smos and .hilariberri.