DISCLAIMER:
Me: I DO NOT OWN METAL FIGHT BEYBLADE OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.
Kenta lay in his bed at his house, staring blankly at the ceiling. Moonlight streamed through the curtains, illuminating his messy bedroom - on the scattered books, the bright screen of his computer, and several food wrappers. His mother never bothered to make him clean it; she knew that there was no persuading him.
He sighed through his nose and sat up, unable to sleep. He angled his head to stare at the clock - 2:34 a.m. Restless, he jumped off his mattress and onto a chair to study his computer screen. There were no tournaments coming yet... An e-mail popped up from Yu.
flamelibrat145es: kenchi u up?
Kenta sighed in exasperation, coming to the conclusion that his friend was insane. Okay, maybe Yu wasn't the only one who was up at two-thirty-five a.m. in the morning. He shook his head, half-relieved that he wasn't alone, typed a reply, and clicked SEND.
SGTO145: what r u doing up so late?
flamelibrat145es: what r U doing up so late? :) yeah thats right. i sassed u
Kenta rolled his eyes good-naturedly and grinned.
SGTO145: ur so smart
flamelibrat145es: thnk u. i am clever arent i?
SGTO145: eh. cant sleep
flamelibrat145es: me 2
wanna beybattle? :)
SGTO145: no thanks. my moms still up :(
He sighed in disappointment. He could still hear his mother humming from the kitchen below his bedroom, pots and pans clanging as she tossed them into the sink, probably. The occasional hiss of pain came, either because she cut herself, burned herself, or dropped something onto herself. She was clumsy.
flamelibrat145es: y
SGTO145: i dunno. she has this huge bake sale tom.
flamelibrat145es: :D is she gonna have ice-cream?
Is ice-cream all he could think about at this hour? he thought, snickering.
SGTO145: i think so... its a bake sale so i dont know
flamelibrat145es: thats good. can i come over tom? As if he ignored the "i dont know" part.
SGTO145: 'T_T u just want ice-cream dont u?
flamelibrat145es: that obvious? X3
SGTO145: yeah... u know i never understood y u named urself librat
flamelibrat145es: im not a brat
SGTO145: i never said that
but tsubasa does
flamelibrat145es: -.- tsubasas a kj
SGTO145: im telling on u
flamelibrat145es: goody2shoes
SGTO145: :P no im not
flamelibrat145es: are 2
SGTO145: are not
flamelibrat145es: are 2
SGTO145: are not
flamelibrat145es: are 2
SGTO145: are not
flamelibrat145es: are 2
SGTO145:are not
flamelibrat145es: are 2
SGTO145: are not
There was a long pause before Yu replied again.
flamelibrat145es: are 2
Kenta huffed, in both frustration and amusement.
SGTO145: THIS IS DOING NOTHING!
flamelibrat145es: i know XD
Suddenly, a familiar bright blue light pierced the sky, several blocks away from Kenta's house. He gasped.
SGTO145: bye
flamelibrat145es: y? :((
SGTO145: bcuz i just saw something
flamelibrat145es: what?
But Kenta was already getting dressed, struggling to put on his Beyblade equpiment and socks in the darkness. He slipped out of his bedroom door and crept quietly down the stairs, past the kitchen, and across the living room. He pulled on his shoes, opened the front door, and took off running, his keys jingling in his pocket.
"Kenta!" he heard his mother yell in panic.
But the green-haired boy tirelessly sprinted towards the column of light, which was beginning to thin. It's coming from Bey Park, he realized half-consciously. He sped up the pace, then almost tripped over a dark figure lying on the ground.
"Ryuga?" He recognized the messy white-and-red hair and the torn-up clothes he'd been wearing at the battle with Nemesis, before he had disappeared. The young man's eyes were closed tightly and he was shivering, muttering inaudible things underneath his breath as if he were experiencing horrible nightmares, which was probably true. Kenta knelt down over his friend, rubbing his scraped arms to bring warmth back into his body, as hurried footsteps rushed towards them.
"Kenta!" his mother hissed again, eyes wild with worry. "Don't ever do that-" Her eyes fell upon the person lying on the ground; she muttered, "What happened?" then gently slung Ryuga's arm around her shoulders. She gestured for Kenta to help, and he supported Ryuga's right side, wrapping an arm around his hips. Mother and son slowly hauled the injured teen back to their house and onto the couch.
Hotaru (A/N: I'm tired of calling her Kenta's mother) dressed and bandaged the wounds with shaky hands, her eyebrows bunched in concentration. "This is the guy from Battle Bladers, right?" she finally asked her son.
Kenta nodded, fetching the blankets from the hall closet, then remembered that she couldn't see him. "Yeah. He's the one who trained me and gave me the Star Fragment." Hotaru tucked a strand of blond hair that had come loose from her ponytail behind her ear. "I haven't forgotten that one," she murmured.
She pulled Ryuga's ruined shirt off him and ran her fingers over his evenly-muscled chest, prodding his ribs. She frowned in concern. "He not only has a lot of cuts and bruises, but he's got a couple of broken ribs, too," she observed, wrapping an ace bandage tightly around his torso.
"Broken ribs?" The two Yumiyas turned to the door. Yu and Tsubasa were standing in the open doorway, which Kenta had forgotten to close. Tsubasa looked like Yu had just dragged him out of bed, and knowing Yu, he'd probably even literally dragged him.
"Ryuga!" Yu yelped, running to the arm of the couch and examining the former blader's wounded face. Then, his dark green eyes lit up in excitement. "The light you told me aboutin your e-mail - did it come from him?" he asked Kenta. The Sagittario wielder nodded energetically. "I ran as fast as I could."
"I can't believe he's back," Tsubasa said. "But how?"
Yu glared at him. "What matters is that he's alive, and not dead, like we'd thought." Then, he turned to Kenta. "See, Kenta? If you don't give up, good things'll happen." He beamed and with Hotaru's nod, helped drape the blankets over Ryuga.
But Kenta's mind was racing with joy, confusion, and guilt. He pushed those thoughts aside. "How long could he stay?" he asked hopefully.
"As long as he wants," his mother decided, sending her son an affectionate gaze.
Sorry. This was kind of rushed, and I don't think I did a very good job...