This might sound crazy, but I think that Bryan and Mathilda make a really cute couple!
Disclaimer: No I do not own Beyblade (Sighs longingly)
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Mathilda sighed unhappily as she stared out of her bedroom window. The weather was at its best, all her friends were home, her favourite TV show was on, and yet this normally cheerful girl was unhappy. The reason? Bryan Kuznetsov. Out of all the people around her, she just had to fall for the most dangerous, aloof and unattainable guy. She didn't know how it had happened, but it had, and now it was making her life miserable because Bryan didn't seem to know she existed. What was worse that they were often in the same place, training, or attending a BBA meeting or something. So what was she to do to alleviate her suffering? She had to get him to notice her, and just waiting for it to happen itself was not an option. She picked up her cell-phone and dialed Mariah's number wanting advice.
"Mariaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!" she wailed, as soon as the call was received.
"Mathilda? What's wrong?" Mariah sounded concerned.
"I have a problem and no way to solve it!" Mathilda replied.
"What problem?"
"There's this guy I like and-,"
"And he doesn't know you exist, right?" Mariah completed her sentence for her.
"Uh…yeah, how did you know?"
Mariah snorted, "Like I don't know you. By the way, who is the lucky guy? Is he someone I know?"
Mathilda hesitated for a fraction of a second before replying, "Bryan Kuznetsov."
"What?!" Mariah yelled, "Mathilda that guy is-,"
"I know, I know!" Mathilda interrupted, "he's dangerous and there's that battle of his with Ray and all. But seriously Mariah, he's not that bad when you come to think of it."
"Mathilda you've lost it!" Mariah exclaimed.
"It's not my fault!" Mathilda said defensively, "I mean it's not like I wanted to fall in love with him! It just happened, and now I don't know what to do!"
"Hmmm, let's see then," Mariah thought about it for a moment, before an evil thought struck, "I got it!"
"What?'
"You want to get closer to him right?" Mariah asked.
"Yeah," Mathilda replied.
"So you follow him around for a few days to find out more about him, and then," dramatic pause, "you ambush him!"
"I don't wanna follow him around all the time!" Mathilda objected, "I mean okay I'd love to follow him around, but that's what stalkers do."
"You won't be stalking him," Mariah assured her friend, "you'll be giving it up after a few days won't you? Besides, I'll be with you."
"You will?" Mathilda felt a wave of gratitude wash over her.
"Of course I will," Mariah said, adding jokingly, "I mean what if he finds out you're following him. He might not like it."
Mathilda snorted, "He's not going to hurt me."
"Right," Mathilda could tell from Mariah's tone of voice that she was rolling her eyes, "I'll ask Ray to get his address from Kai, and then we'll begin 'Mission Bryan'!"
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"Mariah, this is so stupid!" Mathilda hissed, "I feel like a stalker!"
"Shhhh!" Mariah whispered back, "He's coming!"
Both girls ducked down behind a bush, and remained absolutely still until Bryan had walked past and turned the corner. The two friends had been following Bryan around as much as possible for the past twelve days, and had pretty much managed to get an idea of his daily routine. They were surprised to find out that he actually did stuff as normal as buying the groceries. But as Mathilda put it, "It's not like there's anyone else to go buy the milk for him if he runs out."
As soon as Bryan had vanished from sight, Mariah and Mathilda jumped up ran across the street and down a lane that would let them spy on him again. But just as they were both sprinting down the lane, a car hurtled around the corner towards them at full speed. The driver must have been drunk because the car suddenly swerved onto the sidewalk and then back on to the road. Mariah jumped back quickly, away from the car, her feline instincts serving her well. Mathilda, however, wasn't so lucky. She only narrowly avoided being killed because Mariah had pushed her away. But she ended up on the ground with a twisted ankle.
"Oh no!" Mariah's eyes widened in horror when she realized what had happened. She examined Mathilda's ankle then asked, "Can you walk?"
Mathilda shook her head, gritting her teeth in pain. Mariah bit her lip worriedly. Neither of them brought their cell-phones along when following Bryan, and the nearest phone booth was two streets away. To top it up the lane was completely deserted except for the two of them.
"Okay," Mariah took a deep breath to calm herself down, "you wait here, and I'll go call-,"
"Miguel," Mathilda said, "he'll probably be home right now."
"Alright," Mariah said, "don't worry. I'll be right back."
Mathilda nodded, "Go. I'll be fine."
Mariah sped off as fast as she could to find a phone, leaving Mathilda to silently curse the car driver. A few minutes passed before a shadow loomed over her. Mathilda looked up to see Bryan standing there. A wild blush sprang to her cheeks, along with the thought, "So much for a good impression."
"And you are on the ground, because?" Bryan asked, raising an eyebrow smoothly.
"I…I twisted my ankle," Mathilda stammered.
"What were you doing here all alone?" Bryan frowned as he knelt beside her and took a closer look at her ankle.
"Um…" Mathilda hesitated, unable to think up a plausible lie with him in such close proximity. Why was he even stopping anyway? She wouldn't have been surprised if he'd just walked on nonchalantly. She didn't know it, but the same thought was going through Bryan's mind.
"This'll need bandaging," the Russian looked at her, "I could take you to my apartment since it's close by, and you could call your friends from there."
"Okay, s-sure," Mathilda agreed, thinking, "That's the most I've ever heard him talk."
Bryan stood up and held out his hand to help her up. As she clambered slowly to her feet, biting back an involuntary yelp of pain, she suddenly thought of Mariah, "She'll be worried if she comes back and finds me gone." But that problem solved itself when Mariah suddenly appeared at the corner of the lane from behind Bryan, saw them together and quickly backed off after seeing them together, a broad grin on her face.
"Can you even walk?" Bryan asked, when after standing up, Mathilda swayed slightly and grabbed hold of his arm for support.
Mathilda shook her head, feeling slightly embarrassed at her own weakness, a sentiment that was made worse when Bryan muttered, "You gotta be kidding me!"
"I guess I can try," she ventured.
"Forget about it," Bryan said. He slipped an arm around her waist and lifted her smoothly into his arms. As he did a thought crossed his mind, "Why am I going out of my way to help her?! I've never done this before! I should just leave her here and go!" But that thought was wiped away completely when Mathilda slung her arms around his neck for more support, leaving behind the fact that it felt undeniably good not to mention disturbingly right to have her so close. Their faces were so close that they could've kissed. Irritated, Bryan chased the thought away, and started walking towards his apartment, ignoring the stares of the few passersby. Mathilda was aware of nothing but Bryan, the feel of his strong arms around her, and the smell of him, and his jacket rough beneath her arms, and…
Abruptly, she realized that Bryan had stopped in front of a door in a block of flats and was telling her to get the key out of his pocket. She retrieved it, unlocked the door and turned the handle. Bryan kicked the door closed after entering and going to the living room, set her down gently on the couch. While Bryan went to get bandages for her, she called Miguel. After assuring him that she would be fine while he got to Bryan's place, she hung up and looked up to see said Russian leaning casually against the door-frame watching her closely.
"He doesn't really trust me, does he?" Bryan asked, coming over to her. Apparently, he'd heard her telling Miguel not to worry.
"No! No! Nothing like that!" Mathilda said hastily, "It's just that he's over-protective of me."
Bryan looked as though he didn't believe her at all, but then again it was hard to tell with a stoic like him. He rubbed some ointment onto her ankle ("Why am I doing this for her?! She's not worth my time!") and bandaged it.
"Thanks," Mathilda said gratefully once he was done, knowing that if before she had merely liked him, now she absolutely loved him for being so nice to her.
Bryan didn't seem to hear her, as he sat before her turning the remaining role of bandage over and over in his fingers.
"What about you?" he suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Mathilda looked up at him, her heartbeat accelerating at the look he was giving her.
"Do you trust me?" Bryan asked, leaning forwards slightly.
Mathilda's breath hitched in her throat. He looked like he was about to…no, wait…that was impossible. Why would Bryan Kuznetsov want to kiss her?
"I…" suddenly emboldened, she said, "Yes, I do!"
And it was true. If she hadn't trusted him, she wouldn't have agreed to come to his apartment with him all alone.
"Why?" Bryan's next question astounded her.
"Because…" she hesitated, then in a sudden flash of inspiration, "I know you're not going to hurt me."
Bryan smiled slightly and leaning forwards even more, so that their faces were mere centimeters apart, murmured, "That simplifies matters."
Mathilda's eyes widened, what did that mean? As if in answer to her mental query, Bryan suddenly pressed his lips to hers in a kiss, pinning her to the couch so she couldn't move. It wasn't until her lungs started burning that Mathilda realized that she wasn't breathing. Letting out a shaky breath, she slowly entangled her fingers in the Russian's hair, kissing back. Bryan wrapped one arm securely around her slender frame, pulling her as close as physically possible, while caressing her face gently with the other hand. Mathilda felt her breath stopping again, when she felt Bryan force his tongue past her lips and into her mouth. She was nervous yet she felt incredibly secure. Let people say what they want to about him, she trusted him more than she'd trusted anyone. For Bryan only one thought was clear in the haze his mind had clouded with: he never wanted to let go of her, he wanted to stay this close to her forever, their breaths mingling, their minds echoing with the same thoughts, their very souls seeming to entwine with each other's at the intimacy and passion of their kiss. Neither of them bothered to think how much time they spent wrapped in their little romantic bubble, totally drunk on each other's presence. Suddenly the door-bell rang, making them both jump and dragging them back to reality.
"Um, that might be Miguel," Mathilda said, blushing furiously, not knowing what to say, but ecstatically happy all the same.
"Damn," Bryan muttered under his breath. The kiss had left him looking slightly flushed, which made him look more human and less like a stoic. Or so thought Mathilda.
Reluctantly, Bryan got up from beside her and went to open the door. Mathilda heard raised voices, and then Miguel hurtled into the room looking frantic.
"Mathilda!" he exclaimed, "What happened? Are you okay? Why do you look so flushed? Does your ankle hurt you too much? Do you feel like you need to go to the doctor? Oh man, this sucks!" The distressed teen was followed by a very amused Bryan, and an excited Mariah.
Mathilda barely managed to suppress a laugh at the barrage of questions, "I'm fine, Miguel. Quit worrying." She grinned at Bryan over Miguel's shoulder and he smiled slightly in response. Not a strained or sarcastic smile, but a warm genuine smile. Mariah looked absolutely delighted at the exchange.
"Can you walk?" Miguel asked, while shooting Miguel a slightly suspicious look as though accusing him of hurting Mathilda.
"No," Mathilda shook her head.
"How am I supposed to get you home? Can't you at least walk to the car?" Miguel's voice was layered with concern.
"Why don't you just let her stay here a little longer?" Bryan interjected.
"What! No way!" Miguel looked horrified at the very idea.
"And why not?" Bryan sent an icy glare his way.
"You know, I think that's an excellent idea!" Mariah said suddenly, bounding forwards between them, "Miguel you can come pick her up in a few hours! See you Mathilda!"
And before he knew what was happening, Miguel found himself being shoved out of the room by Mariah.
"But, Mathilda-," he stuttered, throwing another mistrusting look at Bryan.
"Don't you understand?!" Mariah hissed in his ear, "She wants to stay!"
Comprehension dawned across his face as he muttered, "I still don't like it. He's too violent."
Bryan closed the door and came back to Mathilda, a smirk on his face.
"What?" Mathilda asked.
"Next time you want to know something about me, ask me directly instead of following me around for twelve days," Bryan answered, sitting down beside her.
Mathilda's mouth fell open, "You knew?!"
"Not very good at stalking are you?" Was Bryan's tone slightly teasing? Life with him was going to be interesting.
Mathilda merely laughed in response as she pulled him on top of her for another mind-numbingly passionate kiss.