Thank you all for reading chapter one and still being interested in a chapter two! Let's start off with some replies to reviews. I don't expect to have many, so this should be easy to do.
dreamlily: Thank you very much ^^; I used to write back when I was 13, but those were all pretty bad. I only got into these lately because a friend at school.
I can see what you mean about the chapter things, a short chapter can still be well written, and a long chapter can be full of nothing. I think I'll try to keep a 3000 word minumum and 4500 max. Seem like a decent area to fit things into.
BloodyAngerl01: Thanks, I pride myself and being able to keep things canon seeming. I don't want anything to seem OOC so I try to get into the character's head and figure out how they work. Ha, maybe I should step back from analyzing cartoon characters.
I'm hoping to write a few little stories focusing around Hikaru after this one is done. I really need her and the other ladies of the Beyblade Metal Saga to get more attention.
phantom-san: You used a double negative. "Didn't not" therefore you admit to pushing me into this. I'm glad you like it though. Lucky you, you get inside info about my plans, but don't you go spoiling things for others!
Lunch had gone great, the group had enjoyed their food and the rest of the meal went smoothly. Hikaru pushed aside her thoughts and had fun with the few friends she had, she and Kyouya pushed aside the earlier fight and played nice for everyone. Sure the two were annoyed with one another, even if Hikaru was only doing it to keep him from getting close, Kyouya didn't know that and figured the girl was just being moody. Girls were moody sometimes, right? Madoka had her moments, so of course Hikaru would have some.
"You guys wanna head anywhere else?" Once again it was Madoka breaking the awkward silence that had erupted among the group. "Oh, oh, I know! I know! We should totally go and have a super battle! I need to prove to Kenchi and Ben Ben that I'm still a top blader." Oh jeez, Yu and his adorable little nicknames, wanting to battle again. Hikaru found herself smiling at him and the thought of watching everyone battle. "I don't really know... Maybe we shouldn't have battles just for fun against the competition." Tsubasa's even voice spoke against the idea. "Aww, come on! It'll be AWESOME!" Yu loved group battles for whatever reason, maybe he felt like he had the advantage because of Libra's special sand trap, the exact move that worked against her.
The boys got together to battle, it would be on flat ground because they didn't want to walk very far just to get a little stadium, they would be fine without one anyway. Madoka and Hikaru sat off to the side, neither of them used their bey to battle really, they just kind of waited for the others now. The two were watching as everyone readied themselves, then they noticed one of the boys was missing. "May I join you ladies?" "Uh, sure Tsubasa, I don't see why not." Madoka smiled up at the boy as he sat between the girls. "Why aren't you battling?" Hikaru questioned, knowing that Tsubasa still enjoyed battling even after the little issues he had gone through. A small part of her was scared of him actually, he didn't know, only the director knew because he had seen her breakdown over it. "I would rather not battle right now, it just doesn't seem to make any sense to me. I don't want to waste my time on a battle that will also waste my energy." He shrugged slightly.
Now the three sat as the others began to battle, all seeming to enjoy themselves. Watching her friends battle made Hikaru miss it, the thrill of a battle and fighting your hardest to win. A battle was only ever quick if she won quickly, other wise it would be a good fight. It had been that way since her mother died, she was using battling to avoid feeling hurt or lonely with her mom gone. Battles had become her safe haven. If she started to miss her mom, she could grab Aquario and find someone to battle, then she wouldn't feel as bad. That was years ago though, and the competition was getting harder again. Then Ryuuga happened. He even said he would finish her off quickly as a reward, because she stood her ground. That was a lesson learned. If you know you're about to battle someone that has never lost, don't try to fucking win. Back down, don't be a fool and risk your sanity. If you try to stand up against an unbeatable force, you're going to get pushed down quickly and painfully. Leave the standing to someone that isn't terrified on the inside, someone that can actually win.
She sighed and looked away from the group. Madoka looked at her curiously. "Hikaru... You wanna go somewhere else while the guys battle? Maybe we should go shopping or something, Tsubasa could come along to carry anything for us!" "Wait, what?" Tsubasa was more confused than Hikaru was. "No, we should wait for them to finish, they'll probably get mad and think we ditched them." Hikaru looked over at the younger girl who pouted. "Come on, they won't care. They'll probably take a long time to get a winner, with how strong everyone has gotten and since none of them will just back down, it'll totally take forever! Please?" She tried to give Hikaru the cutest face she could until the older girl let out a puff of breath and stood. "Fine, we'll go somewhere else." "Do I still need to come along, really?" Madoka was in the middle of grabbing Hikaru's arm when they remembered the boy. "Yeah, you should totally come along! It'll be much more fun than sitting around here." He stood up and joined the girls, Madoka now clinging onto Hikaru's arm with a grin.
The trio left the battling boys silently, none of them even glanced in their direction. Now they were in the town again, it was still close by the others so when they finished it wouldn't be hard to find them. "How has working at the WBBA been?" The question was sudden, and Hikaru wasn't expecting it from Tsubasa. "Oh, nothing too knew really. It's kind of doing the same thing all the time. The Director will come up with something and I'll take care of the details and getting the word out. I don't want to say he's just a figure head, but that is kind of it. He comes up with the ideas, I do all the work to make them happen." He smiled. "I kind of expected something like that from a personality like his. Always a dreamer, it's clear where Gingka gets it's from." That much was clear, Gingka was pretty much a little copy of Ryosuke. Right down to the clothing! At least Ryo gave up the look for his son and put on some adult clothing, but honestly, Gingka was obsessed with his father. He probably had a lot of "daddy issues" actually.
"He's a great guy, really nice and fun, but he's not that mature. It's his best and worst tribute. Great because he's still a big kid that makes fun things happen for bladers, but terrible because he can't actually do anything without paper work. And he's not really a fan of paper work in the least." "It's a good thing you're their then, huh?" "Hey guys, can we go in here? It looks like I can find some extra parts I could probably spruce up!" Madoka had stopped in front of a little shop a few feet back, the two had been into their conversation to notice her pause to look through the windows. They turned around to join her and went into the store. "Then all the work has been able to keep your mind of things, right?" She looked up at him confused, her eyes narrowed slightly. "You know... Last year, how are you healing?" Oh, he did know about that then. It wasn't a well known thing, very few of them in the circle knew, clearly Kyouya and Benkei were clueless to it. Madoka, Kenta, Gingka, and Yu knew about it, so it wasn't too surprising that Tsubasa knew too, but he was in the hospital with her at the time, so she wasn't completely sure if he had heard from the others.
An awkward silence passed as Hikaru gathered her thoughts. "I... Things have been hard, but it's been a year. I should be over it already." A gentle hand was placed on her shoulder and it took everything she had not to pull away and run. "It's okay to still hurt over it. Take your time, no one is rushing you and it doesn't make you any less if it takes time. It's not like a cut, or even a physical scar, it's much deeper than that and it's okay to take a longer time to get better. Don't stress yourself." "You don't understand though... It isn't just like something I can take medicine for, nothing I do will make it better and it'll always be in my head. I can't even be around a boy without worrying that something will go wrong at any moment. Even with you guys, I still don't feel safe..." It was a bit hard to admit the last part, but Tsubasa took his hand away, and now her shoulder missed the warmth. "That's okay too. We all dealt with him, so we probably bring up the memories as well. It can't be helped." This was why she liked talking to Tsubasa, he made it seem like everything was alright, nothing in the world would stay bad forever and that everything would be better one day.
She nodded at the taller boy and looked over to Madoka. "Thanks for understanding. Lately, I can only be around the Director or Madoka... Well, Kenta and Yu seem harmless, I've actually gotten kind of attached to them, they just manage to cheer me up most the time. But every other guy makes me worry and my skin crawls." "I take it that means me as well?" How could his voice always stay so monotone? Even when she just told him that he made her skin crawl without flat out saying it! "Kind of... But it's something that can't be helped." He looked away from the girl and down at his feet. "Well, I'd like to change that. Maybe, we could hang out sometime and get to know each other better?" Hikaru's attention snapped to the boy. "Tsu... Tsubasa, are you asking me out? Like on a date?" She just looked at him, waiting for an answer. "Only if you're not too busy." He shrugged easily, as though the answer wouldn't really affect him. "Um, I'm sorry Tsubasa, but... I really can't deal with something like that right now. I guess we could still hang out like this, but nothing like a real date." Hikaru didn't want to hurt the boy's feelings, she was trying her best to not shoot him down like a hunter would a bird. "That's okay too. Even if we just stay friends, I'd like to help you." Tsubasa smiled all the same.
"Hey guys! Come check this out! has a whole box full of old bey parts, there's all kinds in here!" Madoka called for them excitedly as she rummaged through a shoebox full various parts. The pair dropped their conversation and walked over to her. They spent a while longer picking out parts that looked like they could be useful until Madoka decided the whole box would be useful and bought it. Tsubasa carried it for her as they walked back to the group, having spent a good deal of time wandering around. The trio was greeted by the boys all laying on grass, relaxing and getting their energy back.
Tsubasa smirked. "See, now you're gonna be too tired for our battle tomorrow. I guess only Gingka and I need to win, but it would be better if we had either of you to put up a fight." He teased the other members of Gan Gan Galaxy, earning a pout and raspberry from Yu. "Hey, it was actually really good to get a warm up battle in." He stayed pouting anyway, still laying back in the grass. "Yeah, and I almost won, but they had to cheat and team up against me." Masamune cut in, making a few of the others roll their eyes. "No one cheated, you got careless paying attention to fighting Yu and made an easy target." Kenta grinned and stuck his tongue out. He was the one to knock the boy's bey out of the battle, Masamune had been hellbent on defeating Yu to prove that he was better, but Kenta cut in and took Masamune out. He then proceeded to try and knock out Libra on his own, but the Benkei jumped in and Kyouya took them both out fairly easy from there. Yu and Kyouya were the final two, but Libra was already weak while Leon was fighting at his fullest. Once the smaller clashing was out, the battle ended quickly.
The trio was filled in about how the battle went, Benkei talking up Kyouya's attacks and making it sound much better than it was, even if he was taken out by the very boy he was talking about. "Where did you guys go anyway?" Kyouya looked over at Hikaru as he asked, wondering if she had gotten over her mood from before. "Oh, we were gonna go to the shopping center, but then I found this neat little shop. Check out what I bought!" She took the box from Tsubasa who gladly let her take it back, and pulled off the cover. "See? I got enough parts to mismatch for years!" She grinned proudly over the new additions to her group. "Wow! That's great Madoka, mind if we see a few and try to spruce up our beys?" "Kenta, come on, didn't you learn your lesson before? You and Benkei still owe me some of those peices you couldn't find in the water." At that Kenta and Benkei looked away from the girl, putting their hands in their lap, defeated.
"What'd you two do?" Again, Kyouya looked at Hikaru and then glanced over at Tsubasa. "We talked. Why, I can't talk to people now?" She glared at the boy who glared back. "Yes, when Madoka was talking to the shop owner, Hikaru and I spoke about how things are going at the WBBA." Even with Tsubasa's half lie, Kyouya and Hikaru glared daggers at each other. "Whatever, next time you should try to find somethin'. Instead of just standing around like body guards." He scoffed at the other boy and put his arms behind his head to relax. "Let's go Benkei, we gotta get back to Nile and Demure'." Benkei looked over at the other boy and sighed. "Alright, we'll see you guys later. Today was really fun." He grinned at the group and began following Kyouya. "... You two fighting' or somethin', Kyouya?" With the others out of earshot, he looked down at the boy. "No, she's just being real coy and shit. She got snippy with me before and now she's going around with Tsubasa? It's just stupid." He grumbled, his eyes closed carelessly. "Kyouya, that kinda sounds like you're jealous of Tsub-" "I'm NOT jealous of anyone!" Kyouya snapped, cutting the larger boy off. "Alright already, don't bite my head off. So defensive..." "Shut up Benkei!" Kyouya snapped, his hands balled into fists at his side now as he glared up at the boy. Benkei stayed quiet, knowing not to push the short boy further.
The group all stood around, watching the two off when they left and hearing Kyouya's faint shouts in the distance. "So, now what?" Kenta asked, looking at everyone. "I guess we all go back, it's starting to get dark out now. Gingka's probably waiting for us now." Madoka shrugged. "If they're done then The Director is probably waiting for me back at the office." Hikaru smiled at the group. "Benkei's right, today was pretty fun." Madoka smiled at the other girl, glad to see she did have fun with the group. Tsubasa smirked to himself slightly until Hikaru looked over at him and his expression returned to the small smile. "I guess I'll head back now." "We'll walk with you Hippity-Hop! It'll be fun! I barely got to talk to you all day anyway." Yu walked over and grabbed her hand, leading her along. "A-alright I guess." She laughed slightly as the younger boy pulled her forward. Yu and Kenta were still her favorites of the group, they were the least harmful and she had a soft spot for kids.
Now Yu dominated the conversation with Madoka, asking all about working at the WBBA and Gingka's dad. She told him the same things she had Tsubasa, it wasn't anything new. Yu just wanted more specific details about how much paperwork she had to do and then got bored after a few minutes of explaining the process. Instead she asked him how he was liking the tournaments. "It's great! Even if I don't get to battle all the time, I still get to see everyone else and it's so awesome!" "Yeah, he's just a sub on the team, didn't even earn a full spot." Masumune began to speak but Hikaru glared over at him. "Did I ask how you were enjoying things? No. Stay out of my conversations if you aren't brought into them." Her tone was short and cold, but effective as Masumune lowered his head and looked off to the side, not wanting to embarrass himself further. Hikaru looked back to Yu with a smile.
The rest of the group looked at her surprised. They all knew Hikaru could be mean, but she had mellowed out a lot since she stopped battling. Still, when people got on her nerves, she made it a point to let them know. Maybe Masamune couldn't help the things he had in common with Ryuuga, but even that aside, he was still the biggest douche bag she'd ever met. "Uh... So yeah, I've been able to go around with the team still and everything... Wow Hikaru..." Yu was still holding onto her hand, looking up at her surprised. She giggled a bit and pat his head with her free hand. "At least you're having some fun with everyone." The group walked along in silence after that, not even Madoka was sure what could be said to ease the tension in the air. Eventually they arrived at the WBBA and she let go of Yu's hand. "Bye guys, it was nice catching up, I gotta go check on the Director now." The group said their goodbyes and left, but Tsubasa hung back for a moment.
"Here. Send me a message and we can set up a time to hang out." He handed Hikaru a paper and she looked down at it before slipping it into her pocket. "You know it's not a date, right?" She raised a brow at him. "I know, just two friends, hanging out and getting to know each other. Just a friend making sure the other is alright." He smiled and nodded. "Bye Hikaru." With that he ran off to join the others and she could see Yu grab onto his hand now. Those two had gotten closer and closer since the Dark Nebula was out of the picture.
Hikaru went inside the building and found Ryosuke asleep at his desk, pen in his hand. She sighed and woke the man up, telling him to go home and rest. He began to protest but when another yawn escaped, he nodded and began to walk out the office. "Oh, Gingka wanted me to tell you something... I'll remember tomorrow. Have a good night Hikaru." "You too, good night Director..." She watched him leave and then began to lock up the office, a routine she was used to. Working with Ryosuke, she felt more like the adult most the time.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. I know, I know, already sailing two ships in the background. The S.S. HiKyouya and the S.S. Hikasa (I totally just made those up, sorry, sorry.) I like setting multiple ships sailing to see which ones will float and which will sink! So expect a lot of shipping to happen in between getting into Hikaru's mind as she works through problems.
I need to plan more in depth for chapter three since I'm not too sure how it will all play out. She's got Tsubasa hitting on her, Kyouya jealous, and Yu and Momoka acting like younger siblings. Chapter 3 will focus on introducing another character that people may just go "wut?" to, but hey. I wear my shipping goggles every minute of every day.
Will update within the week and be sure to review! When I get those they make me happy and want to work more, since I know someone is actually reading my story and enjoys it.