Hola peoplezzz! I know, I know, another one?? Lol. I wrote this the other day, but I couldn't decide if I liked it or not, and therefore whether or not I should post it. Anyhow, after encouragement from Megan – Distant Storm –, I decided to post. It's a TalaHil oneshot. Watch out for OOCness, I've never really seen an episode with Tala in it, just a couple clips I've managed to catch, so I can only hope, although, Hilary ended up pretty out of character, too – darn. Lol. Nevertheless, I really hope you enjoy!!

Ray: Moonlight Serenity does not own beyblade, or the quotes (i.e. "kissing is like…" blah, blah, or "You can kiss a fool, fool kiss you…blah blah."). She does, however, co-own the Redneck Hockey Team

Daichi: Who still don't know why it's a redneck hockey team-

Tala: We're Russian, dammit, not rednecks!!

Ian: and we don't like cheerleading in the off seasons!!!

Mariah: For anyone who is lost, the Redneck Hockey Team consists of the Demolition Boys (including Kai). They have also been forced into cheerleading in the off season.

Everyone but Demolition Boys and Kai: -snicker-

Kai: -growls-

Moonlight Serenity: lol.

Kai: on with the freakin' fic!!!

-----------------------------

Foolish Kissing

-----------------------------

"Kissing is like drinking salted water: you drink and your thirst increases."

When the sun finally peeked out from behind a tuft of dark clouds loitering in the sky, the rays that beamed through the window caused her stir, and soon enough, her eyes to blink open sleepily. After quickly recalling how late she'd stayed up the night before whilst working on a summer assignment for the college course she would be taking the following semester, her first order of business was to roll over and bury her head beneath the fluff of material that was her pillow. Her team wouldn't care too much, if she was a little late, right? She hoped not, but if they did, it really didn't make much of a difference. The scent of the freshly bloomed sakura trees was carried on the wind through her open window, ruffling her bed sheets and chocolate brown hair, bidding the beauty to open her awe-inspiring ruby eyes. She sighed, trying to venture deeper within the blankets, the draft being too cold for her liking.

Twenty minutes of fading in and out of the conscious world, Hilary Tatibana found herself incessantly trying to recollect what the blunette world-champion had told her the day before. It had been something important, she recalled as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. The instant her feet touched the cold, hardwood ground, she cringed, suddenly wishing to return to the dream world. Nonetheless, she forced herself out of bed and toward the large mirror on her armoire. The Tatibana girl's hand graced over the handle of a nearby hairbrush before bringing it up to her brown tresses, half-heartedly brushing away the knots with each stroke.

Hilary Tatibana's routine slowly sped up throughout the morning as she became more and more awake, well aware of the fact she was running at least forty-five minutes behind. She continued to wonder what on Earth Tyson had spoken to her about, too. She finished tying a pink ribbon to the end of each braid, then looked over herself in the mirror: nothing special, a pink halter and jean shorts. She yawned before heading out of her room and down the stairs, nonchalantly grabbing a piece of fruit and making her way out the front door and onto the sidewalks, hardly paying mind to anything and anyone around her.

A grand total of one hour late for practice, Hilary lackadaisically strolled up the walk to the Granger Dojo. Breezily opening the door as if it were any other morning, the inquiry that had been plaguing her mind since she'd woken was abruptly answered. 'Oh, God, here we go.' Said query was answered in the form of a Russian redhead standing at the other end of the hall, busying himself by zoning out while staring at a framed picture of the sunset. Tala Valkov. Hilary instantly felt herself scowl, ruby orbs darkening. She was ready to beat herself – or someone else – to a bloody pulp, now getting a full visual of Tyson's brisk – as well as grim – news; a nervous, sheepish laugh accompanied with an "Oh, um, Hilary, well, I kinda forgot to previously mention…um…Tala…is going to be…er…staying here a couple of days for the usual Dickenson report….um…." She also remembered knocking a picture frame off the wall – causing the blunette to tremble in fear – and then promptly storming off, slamming the front door with all the force she could muster.

'Damn,' She mused, 'it's as if someone is out to get me.' Hilary Tatibana's eyes narrowed on the redhead, 'Damn, Tala. Damn him. Damn him.' Tala Valkov would have to be the one working as the lead trainer in the recently established Russian branch of the Beyblade Battle Association, and Dickenson would be the one to make Tala come to Japan to report to him every so often, and he would tell the wolf to stay in the Granger Dojo, despite Hilary's best wishes.

The very first time Tala had been on the other side of the front door and let in, Hilary had made one of the biggest blunders of her entire life. The gaffe that she had made was simple enough, a typical thing that came from having teenage hormones – which she hated -, being when she saw the white wolf up close, the thought in her mind had been none other than 'He's cute,' and then elaborated upon. Now, looking back, she wondered how she hadn't learned. The first time she had called a beyblader cute, she had soon realized it wasn't one of her more rational decisions – sure, said beyblader, Kai Hiwatari, was cute, but now he was more along the lines of her brother…her stoic and emotionless brother, but still. The second time she called a beyblader cute, had been a fatal mistake. Calling Tala cute had been a fatal mistake.

The word – the feeling – had given him leverage over her.

However, it didn't take long before she came face to face with Tala's jackass of a personality, and those feelings were tossed out the nearest window, replaced by a distinct, burning abhorrence.

…Okay, so maybe there was a tinge of desire still there.

Hilary's orbs went wide. 'Where the hell did that come from!?' She chided herself, ready to scream. All the memories that ended in disaster should've been more than enough to diminish her minor crush on Tala Valkov. How many times did they have to topple into the koi pond with their limbs entangled; how many times did they have to simultaneously take a bite into a sandwich, staring each other down and waiting for their ploy to take affect, and both end up tasting hot sauce rather than peanut butter; how many times did they have to break vases, chairs, and picture frames, before she got rid of that insignificant flame?

While Hilary Tatibana ventured off to the Land of Angered Reflection and Developing Murder Schemes, Tala Valkov returned from the World of Utter Tedium. For the last hour or so, he'd been curious as to where the lone female of the G-Revolutions team was – she was delaying his latest act of conniving mayhem: dying her hair green. The plan was one of his more ingenious, and was concocted whilst on the ennui flight to Japan:

Step One – While in the Granger Dojo guest bathroom, exchange the fragrant, cleansing product in the colorful shampoo bottle with green hair dye.

Step Two – Get the girl dirty – have fun doing so –, thus initiating Step Three.

Step Three – Hilary irately thunders off to the bathroom to shower.

Step Four – Final Product – When Hilary screams, the process has been completed. Congratulations.

A misfortune though suddenly graced him when he looked up – an even greater mishap than leaving out his escape route after his stratagem –, in the form of female puberty. And now, he found himself staring at her entire figure, assured that she did not have those curves when he had last visited. His icy blue eyes lingered on her upper body. 'Shit,' he cursed mentally, trying to unglue his orbs. He grimaced, 'I've had girls that make her look like a toad, God,' he thought, hoping to sober up. Looking at her expression, he could tell she was off in La-La-Land, and he hadn't been caught. 'Good, we're keeping it that way.'

"Well, well, well, it looks as if the Princess decided to bless us with her presence," Hilary Tatibana awoke from her daydream – and Tala's nightmare – only to lay eyes on that despicable bastard. A vein began to keenly pulsate on her forehead: if that jackass wanted to die, so be it. "God, aren't you supposed to be the coach? You're an hour late. What kind of coach are you?" Tala feigned perplexity, bringing his hand to his chin in mock-reflection. "Oh, wait, I forgot. You say you're a 'coach' just to cover up that you're nothing more than a fangirl."

That. Russian. Would. Die.

Hilary had never been one to hold her temper well, as everyone was aware. She had never been filled to the brim with hugs and fuzzy bunnies. Sure, she was a damn smart girl, but she would readily admit she was no angel. There was one line – okay, so there were many lines, but this line was truly the most upfront and important – that you just didn't cross, and a certain redheaded Russian, one that she'd only been in contact with for less than five minutes, had just crossed it.

Rule Number One: If you value your life, don't call Hilary Tatibana a fangirl.

It didn't matter if you were her crush or not, you didn't step over that boundary. With her fists clenched tightly at her sides, and the vein on her forehead going into over time, Hilary caught Tala off guard by abruptly lunging at him, kicking her shoes off and charging forward. Tala quirked an eyebrow as Hilary clutched his shoulders, pushing him against the nearest wall. The redhead easily turned the tides, flipping her around so she was pinned to the wall rather than he. He hadn't even realized how quickly he had swapped their positions, or how they had ended up. He had a strong hand around each of her wrists, fixed on either side of her skull, a few inches higher than her head. He had himself angled toward the right, his right hip and entire right side pushed against the wall while his left knee was next to her left side, also forced against the wall. Their faces were inches apart, their bodies…not so much.

It had been a standard move, engraved in his mind, a typical defense procedure to render your opponent motionless if they were weaker than you.

Ruby eyes analyzed this position, mildly in shock, before peering into icy blue. Her cheeks heated up, coloring like two ripened tomatoes.

"T-T-Tala…" he, on the other hand was frozen. Years and years of Abbey training landed him in this position. Literally. And also taught him nothing about getting out of that position. 'It's Hilary. It's the ultimate annoying hag. It's just Hilary.' No matter what poised through his mind, he couldn't ignore the heat. At all. He didn't even know how long he'd had her pressed against that wall, but oddly enough she wasn't struggling. To his own misfortune, he returned from his own universe to see why she had stopped. 'Damn.' Too close for comfort. Too close for rational thinking. Their mouths barely an inch apart.

He stared at her.

Not knowing at all what was running through the boy's mind, Hilary and he made eye-contact, holding the other's gaze. For the moment, his intentions seemed to be as lost as her own, and she knew later, that this whole thing would backfire on her. Everything would crumble because of this moment. Here, her last bit of logical thinking took flight, relaying a well-known quote through her mind.

"You can kiss a fool."

His lips grew closer, his eyes still burning into hers. That since of pride glowing, but something soft lingering, some form of his detestation for her warped into some sort of twisted affection. Reading his eyes like an open novel, she knew this would end up in disaster…but she couldn't stop this, she couldn't even think. She'd wanted this for quite sometime, but now… now she wasn't so sure. There would be hell to pay for this one action.

"You can let a fool kiss you."

His mouth closed over her own, his eyes finally fluttering shut. Bliss overtook her form and ruby closed in delight. His rough yet silk-like lips molded like clay over hers before his tongue sought entrance into her cavern.

"But never let a kiss fool you."

----------------------------------------

Oh, shit, Hilary, don't kiss the player!!! (lol. I do know enough to know that Tala is generally a hugee player. Lol.). Anyways. Sorry for all the OOCness and grammatical mistakes – my brain isn't functioning again. Lol. I hope you could enjoy. Please review: all opinions, input, and so on are greatly appreciated, and advanced critique is encouraged. Thanks for reading!!

Lovee ya,

Moonlight Serenity

Aka Jess