Mitsu: Hi! So… this is my first story. I had to write a story for my lyrical class explaining my character in the dance. (The dance is about runaways.) I decided to see what other people think about it so… here it is!! Please review. Flames and compliments and creative criticism is allowed. Hell, anything is allowed for me. I don't care.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sergei or Ivan or Ichiraku's Ramen shop. Beyblade owns the first two and Naruto owns the second.

Prologue:

She was running down the street, feet pounding, arms pumping. The crowd was right behind her. They seemed to be getting faster, but maybe she was just getting slower. She looked back. They were gaining on her, getting closer and closer. A gunshot rang out, and something whizzed past her ear. They were almost on top of her. She was sure to die…

Chapter 1: Please?

"Fighting Dreamers" by The Flow started playing and Mitsu recognized it as her ring tone. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up. Whew. Just another nightmare. She thought as she looked at her phone. "New text message" the screen informed her. She flipped it open and in big letters saw "Good Morning!! Happy Birthday!! ". She groaned and looked at the clock: 2:17 am. Why did she have to be born so early?! She looked at the sender and saw that it was from Sergei Petrov, her boyfriend of two months. She made a mental note to get him back for that later and tried to get back to sleep. Unfortunately, downtown Kyoto isn't a very quiet place at night. You had the squeal of car tires, the shouting of angry couples, and the occasional gunshot to keep you awake. Mitsu turned onto her side and thought about how real that dream had felt. She remembered how she was dirty and her clothes were ripped. She remembered looking back and seeing Sergei in the aggressive crowd. She remembered… she remembered… no more than that. The blonde girl cleared her mind and eventually drifted off to sleep.

Mitsu was woken up later that morning by Kin, her little brother, singing "Happy Birthday". Her parents then walked in with a lit candle stuck in a doughnut. "You guys are dorks, ya know that?" she said smiling, and still trying to wake up. Today was going to be a good day.

at school about an hour later

"…and one last announcement: Happy 17th Birthday to Mitsu Ryu from Tempest Kilakov, Inari Uchiha, Nochesure Drake, and Ayame Elric." The said birthday girl slid low into her seat and turned a bright red after the announcement was broadcasted over the whole school. Why do they have to know when my birthday is, she thought. First streamers all over my locker and now an announcement too? Ugh. Why do my friends have to love me so much? She silently chuckled at this last thought and realized what a stupid, but interesting question it was. Why did they love her so much? Did she really have awesome qualities that they all wanted to be around, or did they see that she was lonely and are just friends with her out of pity? Mitsu used to think it was the former, but any more, the latter seemed to be becoming more imminent. C'mon Mitsu, you're just thinking too much. You're lucky to have friends at all. Just deal with the ones you've got. Plus, if they don't really care about you, you've always got Sergei, she told herself. The blonde teen sighed and thought about her boyfriend: his tall body, his strong but gentle arms, his messy brown hair, and even his foggy grey eyes. Eyes that looked blind but saw clearly. Mitsu knew that he would never abandon her. At least, she hoped he wouldn't. She thought back to when they met.

A friend of a friend was all they were at first. Mitsu's best friend Inari had a boyfriend named Ivan. Ivan's best friend was Sergei. They saw each other occasionally when Inari and Ivan were together, but that was it. They really got to know each other when Inari and Ivan got them to go on a double date to Ichiraku's Ramen Shop. They sat and talked for a while and realized they had a lot in common. About an hour into their meal, Inari insisted that she and Mitsu should go to the restroom. When they got inside, Mitsu made sure one thing was clear: "You know I don't have to go right?" "Neither do I. I just want to talk to you." Inari replied quickly. "Okay… shoot." Mitsu said, not sure what she was getting herself into. "So. You and Sergei are flirting like no other. You like him. Just admit it. It's completely obvious." Inari stated matter-of-factly. "Is it now?" Mitsu replied, not sure how to respond to that. "It is! You two should go out. Go ask him out, right now." Inari insisted. "Nari-chaaaann," Mitsu whined, "You know how I am with boys. I'm insanely intimidated by them!" "Well, I'll just have to get Ivan to get him to ask you out then." Inari concluded as she left the restroom. She just never gives up trying to get me with someone does she? Mitsu thought to herself as she sat back down at the table and saw Inari whispering in Ivan's ear. He got a big smile on his face and nodded. This can't be good.

Long story short, the next day Sergei asked Mitsu to go to the movie's with him. It was a comedy (something about a manga artist and her characters coming to life…) and they were still talking about it the next day in school. They had so much fun when they were around each other that they were hardly around anyone else any more. They both agreed that they needed more time with their friends and only saw each other at school and on weekends. This way, they could spend weeknights with their friends but spend the whole weekend together. Their friends liked this plan, and agreed to it so that everyone was happy.

The bell rang signaling the end of class and Mitsu snapped out of her reverie to hear the teacher call out: "This will be on your test tomorrow!" Crap. I'm going to have to get the notes from Tempest later. Mitsu thought as she hurried out of the room to her next class. Sergei stopped her in the hall. "Hey, hey, hey! Where you goin' so fast birthday girl? Last time I checked, you didn't like History class that much." He joked. "I'm just a bit preoccupied right now. Sorry Sergei." Mitsu apologized looking down. "What? Mits, you didn't do anything wrong. There's nothing to apologize for. I just wanted to ask if I could stop by your house tonight." Sergei said quickly. "Wha? O-oh sure! I'm not doing anything tonight except for celebrating my birthday with my family. That'll be over around 5:00 though." His girlfriend replied. "Alright! I'll be over around 7 then! See you later!" Sergei chirped happily as he ran off to class.

After school, Mitsu went straight home and started setting up for her party. Her parents were out getting the cake and the balloons while she had to put up streamers and go buy the soda and hamburgers. Her little brother was upstairs working on some "secret project" that he wouldn't tell anyone about. He was always such a strange little boy. Anyway, after the party, around 7:15, Sergei walked up to Mitsu's front door. He had two duffle bags over his shoulders. One seemed to be pretty full, while the other was completely empty. He knocked on the door after hesitating a moment and waited for someone to answer. Fortunately, Mitsu was expecting him and opened the door almost immediately. "Hi Sergei! What's up? Come on in," she said, pulling him inside. "Hey Mitsu-ai, ummm, I was just, you know, I wanted to talk to you about something," Sergei stuttered. Is he breaking up with me? On my birthday?! I knew it was too good to be true. Mitsu thought frantically as Sergei tried to decide on what he was going to say. "You see, my dad and I, we haven't been getting along too well this past month, and I, well, I just can't take it anymore. All we do is yell at each other. And I–" "What Sergei? Just spit it out." Mitsu insisted, she needed to know what was going on. "I want to run away." Sergei finished and looked at her nervously. "I, no, I, what's going on? I don't understand. What? No. You can't run away. I know this sounds selfish, but… no!" Mitsu stuttered as she tried to comprehend what was happening. Her boyfriend wanted to run away. No. That just wasn't right. "No. You're just confused. Just go home and go to sleep and your mind will clear up. You'll be fine in the morning." Mitsu was in utter denial about what was happening and Sergei looked more and more desperate with every word she said. "No. Mitsu-ai, this is something I have to do, and… well… I want you to come with me." Sergei said quickly. "What?! But, I can't—" Sergei cut her protesting off. "Please. Just hear me out before you talk. I love you so much and I can't imagine my life without you, but I can't live at my house anymore. It's come to the point where my dad is coming home drunk most nights. Usually then he just yells at my mom, but sometimes, sometimes, he…" The teenage boy trailed off as he started tearing up. "I can't live there anymore! I can't do it! I just can't! But my life means nothing anymore without you Mitsu-ai. I need you to be able to go on with my life. Please. Come with me?" Sergei finished and looked at her, searching her face for a reply. "Sergei-ai, I love you. You know I do. But, I just need a little bit of time to think about this." Mitsu was overwhelmed by what just happened and wasn't sure if she really could just drop everything and go with him. He looked at her pleadingly, "Mitsu. I can't go back. Not now, not ever!" "Then stay here for tonight and I'll decide tomorrow. Alright?" Mitsu tried to bargain with the desperate boy. "Alright." he agreed and hugged the girl he loved. "You'll have to sleep on the couch though. There's no way my dad will let you in my room after 10:00." she warned him. "That's fine!" he laughed.

It took Mitsu forever to get to sleep that night. She was trying to decide whether or not she would go with him when she heard glass breaking in the street. The streets really are a harsh place to live, she thought sullenly. After debating with herself for a few hours, she decided that she would go with him. She would just have to be tough, but Sergei had been tough with his dad. She was willing to be tough for him.

The next morning was Saturday. Mitsu woke up and saw Sergei sitting on the couch staring into space. "We do own a television you know. It's not illegal to use it." Mitsu said, tossing Sergei the remote. "I know. I just needed some quiet to think. It's nice at your house. I like it." the boy stated quietly. "Did you decide whether you want to go with me?" he asked suddenly as he looked up at her. "Ummm… yeah. I decided that," she looked him square in his dull grey eyes, "I want to go with you." "Oh Mitsu-ai! That's great!" he exclaimed happily as he hugged her, not realizing what a dire mistake he had made.