A Sitch in Time

Adjusting... or Not!

"Life, as we know it, is over, people!" Hiromi moaned in a solemn voice; banging her head on the dojo table.

"Aren't you overreacting a wee bit?" Ray asked.

"Fine," Hiromi looked up, "mylife is over." Hiromi said emphasizing on 'my'. After all, she thought, it wouldn't make a difference if she left; it wasn't as if she beybladed or anything. The thing she was upset over was that she didn't know if she could survive without her best friends. Would they lose contact? What if they forgot about her? It wasn't as if they needed her or anything…

"The perfect school year just went down the tube," Hiromi groaned, leaning back against the chair she was sitting on. "And it took my job as the team's coach along with it."

Tyson made a sound like a toilet being flushed, and everyone glared at him. Except Hiromi, though, who was just so upset about leaving, that even Tyson's annoying antics seemed bearable to her. She knew that she'd even miss those normally-irritating actions.

"That sound expresses the situation quite well, Tyson." Hiromi admitted, visibly sulking. She had been leaning so much that she was almost to the floor now.

"What do you mean?" Max asked, ignoring Tyson. The annoyance he was feeling at Hiromi's behavior was evident in his tone.

"Tyson, he sounded just like something being flushed down a toilet," Hiromi stated monotonously, "My life's being flushed down the toilet, too."

"No," Kai _ who had been quite since they got back to the dojo _ finally snapping at Hiromi's words, spoke up, "He meant, what do you mean by this being the end of you being part of the team?"

Hiromi, who was sitting on the chair next to Kai, looked up at him from where she was hunched downwards.

"Well," she started, "how are we gonna make training and tournaments work from different continents?"

"Hiromi," Tyson began in a comforting tone, "It'll be tough but doable, definitely doable. You can watch the training sessions from your computer and as for the tournaments, you are gonna come to them with us just like you do now."

Hiromi sat up straight, puffing her cheeks in distress.

"We couldn't be beyblade or be world champions without you, 'Romi," Kai said softly; he couldn't believe she was thinking this way…again. Her leaving the team was tearing them all apart, why couldn't she see that? He sighed, placing a hand on Hiromi's. No one saw that little gesture, considering both their hands were under the table but he felt her relax a little at the warm touch.

"We have a week till you leave, right?" Daichi began, "So, we shouldn't be mourning, but making the best of it!"

"Right," Kenny chirped, happily, "We won't train this week—"

Tyson interrupted him and looked over to Kai, "If that's alright with you, oh snooty and almighty captain?"

Kai glared at him, but nodded.

"—Great, we'll spend this whole time with you, 'Romi," Kenny finished.

"You guys are the best, you know that?" Hiromi almost whimpered, smiling.


The next six days, the Bladebreakers spent the entire time visiting places with Hiromi and just enjoying each other's company. Now it was Sunday, and Hiromi was to leave for the airport in the evening. There was an air of edginess, an atmosphere of vacillation in the room where they sat for breakfast. None of them felt hungry, though; they just sat picking at their food. Hiromi eyed all of them nervously; mostly Kai, though. The past week, along with spending a lot of time with the whole team, Hiromi had spent a lot of time with Kai. They spent half the night outside the dojo just talking to each other.

"So," Hiromi began trying to break the awkward silence. Everyone looked at her with a penetrating gaze, as if silently asking her why she was talking. As if at a mournful day like it was, there was no need for the silence to be broken. When she looked at Kai who was sitting in front of her; she flinched at how intensely he was staring at her.

Ray noticing Hiromi's discomfort, and knowing that her leaving obviously wasn't her fault; he made an attempt to smooth things down a bit.

"So, 'Romi," Ray stated casually, "Do you want us to come with you to the airport?"

"I don't think so, Ray," Hiromi started in a small voice, "It'd be more awful for me if you guys were there, I think I'm gonna say goodbye right now."

With that reply, things grew quiet again. A few minutes later, Kai abruptly stood up from his chair; the sudden noise made Max drop his spoon. All of them looked up to see him walk his way out of the room, without so much as a single word of explanation before shutting the door loudly behind himself. They were all aware that he had not taken Hiromi's leaving lightly. She was the closest of the very few friends he had…And everyone was pretty much aware of the increasing chemistry between the both of them as well –no matter how much they tried to deny it – so it must've upset him to know that she was leaving.

Hiromi sighed and got up from the table.

"I think I'm gonna go and see if he's alright," Hiromi mumbled before walking off, without waiting for a reply. No one intended on saying anything anyways.

When Hiromi had walked out of the sliding dojo doors, she looked up to the sky; it made her want to smile, despite herself. She was going to miss the Japanese morning. Norway, in the midst of winter, barely had what you'd call an enjoyable sunshine.

She looked around, but found Kai nowhere in sight. She turned around on her heels, and walked towards the backyard, where he saw him sitting on the grassy field, leaning against what was the only tree in the entire garden. She hesitated for a while, feeling remorseful, before she walked over and sat down right beside him.

He said nothing.

"Are you mad at me?" her voice was slow, almost muted. When Kai heard it, he immediately looked at her.

"No," He said, sighing. "Of course not, 'Romi."

Hiromi wanted to protest, but there was something in Kai's eyes that made her stop. He was…sad.

"Try not to walk off all the time, kay?" Hiromi said, her voice quivering towards the end, "I'm not gonna be here to run off and look for you."

Kai nodded, a smile on his face already.

"And make sure you don't do anything stupid." Hiromi finished, tears blinding her vision and she blinked them back. Kai didn't answer, and for a while, there was silence.

Then, Hiromi suddenly got up, and in a grim voice that matched her expression, she said,

"I think I'm gonna go check my bags Kai," she motioned towards the exit of the dojo with her thumb, "Mom and dad are gonna be here to pick me up after a while."

Kai, when he heard her say that, felt a blow of misery shoot through him. He stood up and moved closer to Hiromi, taking her by surprise. Then, with slow deliberation, he put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him.

He, then, said the words he had wanted to say to her all week, but had thought it hard to. It surprised him, the easiness with which they came.

"I'll miss you, 'Romi," he whispered, yet again, leaving Hiromi stunned. This would have seemed out of character to anyone who heard it, but Hiromi knew that Kai had meant every single word. She'd always seen through his mask of indifference, and he'd always been ready to show her what he felt. She knew he cared, but somehow, it was just making things so hard; both of them felt so miserable about leaving each other.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, pulling away and breaking the hug. Without waiting to contemplate on Kai's dumbfounded expression, she turned around and ran all the way back to the dojo, tears falling freely from her eyes.

She never knew that he'd felt so intensely, and somehow, seeing him expose himself like that–even though there were countless times he'd done so –broke her heart more than anything else.


"C'mon, Hiromi, let's move," Hiromi's dad, who was sitting in the front of a moving van, told his daughter, "Five hours early for international flights. C'mon boys, it's not like you're never gonna see her again."

He looked impatiently at the Blade Breakers, who had been lecturing and saying goodbye to Hiromi for the past half hour. But Hiromi was barely listening to them; she kept looking towards the side of the dojo to see if Kai would show up. She hadn't seen him since she'd run back to the dojo a few hours ago, and she wondered if he was doing okay.

"No going out or being friends with anyone, who is immature," Ray kept warning her about safety issues, "or too much mature or has piercings or has gotten detention. Stay away if that person has any jail records, has committed murder and especially if he has less than A+ average…"

"Ray, none of my current friends have A+ average," Hiromi interrupted him, "except a few, of course, and some of them are even flunking," she smirked, looking towards Tyson who was innocently grinning right back.

"If I remember correctly," Hiromi continued, "Max, Tyson and Daichi are more immature than a five year old. Not to mention Kai and the other Blitzkrieg boys know more about weapons than a normal person their age. Kai has his ear pierced, and even Kenny, you and I have gotten detention!"

Hiromi rolled her eyes, before continuing,

"And we all have had Jail records, though I'm sure I probably won't meet any one else with jail records, anyway."

"We didn't get into jail for anything wrong," Ray said, defensively, "Those cops assumed that we were working for Voltaire!"

"Well, they assumed because we do have breaking and entering records." Hiromi retorted musing about the many times she and the guys' had snuck into places. Especially high security places.

"'Romi, we are trust worthy, how can I trust you with people I haven't met?" Ray argued, "I just want you to be safe, alright,"

Then, he was serious again, before pulling her into a hug.

"Be careful, promise?" he whispered

"I promise." Hiromi murmured right back, before pulling away.

"Don't forget to brush and floss your teeth." Kenny reminded her, "Or do you homework."

Hiromi groaned.

"Don't forget not to try to cook either," Tyson added with a grin, "We don't want you burning all of Norway,"

"We're really gonna miss you, grandma," Daichi said, though, he was trying hard not to tear up.

Hiromi slapped him on the head, but then ruffled his hair.

"Don't forget to call us," Tyson reminded her, "And don't act like a big know-it-all over at your new school or you'll end up as the wicked witch there as well."

"I would have taken that personally but I'm in no mood to," Hiromi grinned, despite of the tears which had begun to leak from her eyes.

"That's no fun," Tyson grumbled, before pulling her into a comforting hug.

"Don't forget to take a daily 3 pound intake of sugar either, 'Romi, I'm not gonna be there to make sure you get an inappropriate intake of sugar every day." Max finished, and pulled 'Romi into a tight bear hug.

"Yeah, and eating as much candy as you do and then getting sugar high every day is a very important thing, Max," Kenny muttered, sarcastically.

"It is," Max protested, he was still strangling Hiromi.

"Can't breathe," Hiromi barely spit out and Max let go of her.

"She's not going off to war you know," Hiromi's dad, who'd been watching the exchange with amusement, yelled from the van. He knew how much pain his daughter and her friends were, but he couldn't help laugh at how emotional they were being. For a second, he thought that maybe he didn't completely understand how much they cared for each other, that they were more of a family to each other than maybe he himself was to his daughter. But the way they were saying their goodbyes, it was like they were never gonna see her again. If he knew his daughter, then she'd probably be visiting Japan every other weekend, with the excuse of having to prepare them for the tournament.

He wanted to leave her with the Bladebreakers, she had been living with them for 5 years, but oddly, he and his wife's boss had strictly stated that the whole family would have to stay there. This was something which worried him, Hiromi's older sister would also be coming to stay with them; she wasn't too thrilled about moving either. She did not like the idea of switching college. Her dad did find their boss's request of the whole family being there as weird, but he had decided to shrug it off.

Hiromi hugged the boys one last time. She looked back towards the side of the dojo to make sure one last time that Kai wasn't coming. She knew he was upset but she didn't think that he wouldn't even show up to say goodbye. Apparently it looked as if he wouldn't.

Ray saw this and felt agitated towards Kai. Why did that sourpuss had to act so distant, anyway?

"I'm sure he's just upset, 'Romi," Ray whispered to Hiromi, "When he gets home I'll tell him to call, 'kay?"

"It's alright, Ray," Hiromi stated, "I already said goodbye to him, I was just a bit worried, just make sure he's okay,"

"Jeez, 'Romi, what are you, his mother?" Tyson joked, but when he saw the solemn look on his friends' face, he snapped his mouth shut.

"Bye guys," Hiromi said, walking backward towards the van. "I'll miss you."

Then with a quick movement she got inside the van. She didn't dare to look back. The boys kept waving till the van turned the corner of the street.


Hiromi was standing at the airport, tapping her foot impatiently. Her father was too paranoid about being on time, hence they had reached the airport much too early.

"Hiromi, I'm sure you'll make great friends in Norway," Mr. Tatibana said in an encouraging voice. "And soon you won't even miss the Bladebreakers."

Hiromi's mom slapped her forehead and as soon as Hiromi's Dad realized why she'd done so, he bit his tongue in reflex, knowing he was in trouble.

"Mom," Hiromi cried, "First he makes me leave my friends, and now he wants me to forget about them!"

Mrs. Tatibana glared at her husband who gave her a helpless look.

"Honey," he began, "What I meant to say was you can't spend your life thinking about the Bladebreakers and not make…"

"What?" Hiromi whined.

"What I meant to…" Hiromi's dad broke up in mid sentence, when his wife put a hand on his shoulder.

"What he's trying to say is that you're gonna be friends with the Bladebreakers forever, but while there not here with you, you should try to enjoy yourself with other people."

"I guess, you're right, mom," Hiromi sighed, "Why did you have to say it in such a mean way?" She glared at her father.

"What?" Mr. Tatibana went wide eyed. "I said the same thing, more or less…"

"Mom, you're so much more helpful than dad," Hiromi smiled.

Mrs. Tatibana smirked at her husband.

"It's not a competition, you know?" Mr. Tatibana muttered.

"If it was, she'd win!" Hiromi stuck her tongue out at her dad.

Her dad raised his hands in the air in defeat, and watched Hiromi as she walked off, heaving her bag behind her, to lean on a pillar.

"She's not gonna be happy when she finds out her sister is gonna be there, is she?" Mr. Tatibana asked himself out loud.

"Should we tell her now?" Mrs. Tatibana wondered.

"We'll let her find out herself, that way it'd be easier," Mr. Tatibana said with a nervous smile. He was still looking at his daughter who was visibly grieving over leaving her friends.

"For us," Mrs. Tatibana muttered, smirking.

"Is she waiting for someone?" Mr. Tatibana questioned his wife.

Mrs. Tatibana gave a knowing smirk before answering, "I'm guessing she's waiting for her friend, Kai."

"She didn't mention that he was gonna come, besides why didn't he say goodbye to her at Mr. Kinomiya's dojo?"

Mrs. Tatibana gave another smirk,

"I don't think he's told her that he's gonna come, but she wants him to show up. Maybe the two got into an argument? Who knows, maybe it'd be better if the two of them said goodbye or they'd both feel guilty about it."

"I don't know her friends but she can handle it!" Mr. Tatibana muttered, earning a meaningful laugh from his wife. "I don't like that boy, anyways."

"You don't like that boy or you don't like that your daughter likes that boy?"

"Hiromi doesn't…" Before he could finish Mrs. Tatibana walked off towards the confectionery stand, laughing at her husband's naïveté.

Hiromi was leaning on pillar, in a very Kai like position, her bag on her side. She felt upset that she hadn't gotten to say goodbye to Kai, she was also really mad at him for not showing up. He shouldn't have been so inconsiderate. Hadn't he realized how terrible she must have been feeling having to leave? And instead of trying to console her, he hadn't even shown up to say goodbye. She felt worried that her friends would forget about her. How long would they keep up the long distance thing, anyway? She felt tears coming already.

"I'm sorry," She heard someone say. For a moment she thought that she had imagined it, but soon, she felt a presence next to her and she snapped open her eyes.

"Well," he urged, raising an eyebrow and smirking slightly. He was leaning right next to her, on the same pillar, their shoulders touching.

"What?" Hiromi snapped, closing her eyes again. She felt relieved that he was here, but it did not mean that she wasn't mad at him anymore for disappearing like that. She had been going crazy for the last three hours, thinking that she'd have to leave without even seeing him one last time.

Kai chuckled a bit. "You know, you should be grateful that I said that."

"Said what?"

"You know what I meant," Kai's voice showed embarrassment and hint of agitation.

"Afraid to admit that you apologized?" Hiromi let out a snicker.

Kai growled, "Fine, I'm sorry,"

"I never told you to apologize again," Hiromi said in a low voice and when Kai saw her teasing expression turn serious, he frowned.

"I shouldn't have disappeared like that," Kai spoke, putting a hand on Hiromi's arm and turning her slightly towards him, "I want to say goodbye properly, now."

"That's okay," Hiromi looked up at him, "What do you want to say, Kai?"

"That I'll miss you," He said the words, and even though they were equally as easy to admit as they had been before, but he was still glad that no-one was there to hear them; part of the plan, being alone to say goodbye, was just this.

Hiromi smiled, before looking over Kai's shoulders to see her parents waving towards her. She sighed, and pulled Kai into a big hug. She whispered the words he'd said to her back at him and Kai could only nod as she did. He stared at her back, as she reached her parents. He could almost hear Mr. Tatibana ranting to his wife, having a classic over-protective father moment when he had watched his daughter hug Kai. Her father didn't know that Kai and the other Bladebreakers were more over-protective towards her then he would ever be. He hadn't seen what they had done to her poor last date. The boy had to transfer schools, so the Bladebreakers wouldn't hurt him for being in the same class as Hiromi.

But jokes aside, he watched as Hiromi waved over to him one last time. He couldn't help but realize that, right then, for the first time ever; Hiromi had been the one walking off from Kai, instead of the other way around.

He stood there, as the doors closed in on Hiromi's face, and for a second, he thought they'd open up again, and maybe she'd come back.

But that never happened….


The next day, the second Monday of the new school year, the Bladebreakers – minus their coach – were having their breakfast, though they were pretty much sulking and moping more than eating. It was a very different scene from the previous Monday, when they were all excited and exultant. So, much had changed in the last seven days….

At that moment Hiro Granger burst through the door. After the defeat of BEGA, the traitor had started working for the BBA. The whole team had been against Mr. Dickenson for hiring Hiro, but he still believed that Hiro had a lot of potential. Hiro lived in his own apartment instead of the dojo. If he'd live there, he'd probably have ended up with a few broken bones probably by his own brother or maybe even Kai. Besides, the Bladebreakers and Hiro both had enough of their own messes and didn't want the constant bickering.

"Hey guys," Hiro said, happily. A bright smile was plastered on his face. He walked over to his brother and ruffled his hair. Tyson visible recoiled at this; he still hadn't forgiven his brother for his betrayal at the time of BEGA.

"I know you guys don't like me, but seriously, there's no reason to be this glum," Hiro sighed, his voice showing fake sadness.

"Hey little dudes," Grandpa Grander said walking into the room, with his mug of coffee. When he saw Hiro he hugged him, though it was a one sided one since Hiro was trying to wriggle out of his grandfather's grasp, but then saw the glum faces of the Bladebreakers and felt sorry for them. He knew how much the guys were missing Hiromi because he missed her too. So, he released Hiro from his death grip and walked over to the table.

"You really miss, home girl, don't you?" Grandpa asked concern for the boys evident in his voice.

"Miss who?" Hiro prompted curiously, moving closer to the table.

"Yeah," Tyson muttered, "I mean all the times I yelled at her to leave, and when she does leave I feel like crap."

"Who leaves?" Hiro asked again, sounding like a kid.

"Though how can you miss her? She calls every five minutes…" Grandpa smirked.

"You know what, I'm not even gonna ask this time!" Hiro muttered.

The others still ignored him. Hiro's eyes suddenly drifted to a book on the table next to Tyson's cereal bowl.

"You're studying Latin, why?" Hiro asked, incredulously.

"She said the same thing when she found out," Max sighed, he had almost brought a spoon full of cereal near his mouth but he kept waving it in air."It was Tyson's stupid idea, he thought we'd be studying Latin dances, Latin cooking and doing projects on Jennifer Lopez."

"Who said it? Who left? Will you people please tell me?" Hiro complained.

"I wish she was here to suffer with me," Tyson griped on.

"Who was here?" Hiro yelled, really getting exasperated here. "You know what? Forget it! I'll ask Hiromi."

He looked around for a while,

"Where is she, anyways?"

"Are you really this dense that you still haven't figured it out?" Kai grumbled, glaring at Hiro.

Hiro just glared back at him in response.

"Hiromi left, Hiro," Ray said in a low voice, "Her parents moved to Norway and she had to go too."

"She left?" Hiro said, his voice showing honest concern. "I'm sorry for you guys."

"I still don't get how they miss her when she calls every five minutes," Grandpa repeated to his elder grandson, laughing and shaking his head.

The moment he finished his sentence, there was a beep on a cell phone which was on the table.

"Right on time," Grandpa Granger chortled.

"Hey 'Romi," Everyone around the table chorused as they saw Hiromi's picture, she was still on the plane. Kai smiled.

"I can't live like this!" Hiromi shouted, in the mouth piece of her cell phone.

"Uh, 'Romi, you're not gonna be living in that plane," Tyson snickered, sarcastically.

"I can't live anywhere without you guys!" Hiromi screamed, getting weird looks from people around her. "Excuse me!" she yelled, looking at everyone who was staring at her. The Bladebreakers and Hiro flinched at the shrillness of her voice. Then she turned back to her phone. "I don't care if I have to live in the plane as long as you people are with me!" she cried, "Please, get me out of here…"

"I'm sure once you'll actually reach Norway, you'll adjust," Ray suggested focusing on the bright side of things.

"I don't wanna!" Hiromi groaned, banging her head on her cell phone screen, making it impossible for the Bladebreakers to see her distraught face.

"'Romi," Hiro said, coming into view. "I can't believe you left without saying goodbye to me!"

She leaned in on her chair, "Trust me Hiro; I barely had time to convince myself that I'm leaving!"

Hiro didn't get a chance to reply, the milk and cereal in the spoon which Max was waving around fell to the floor with a splash. All eyes were diverted towards the stain on the floor.

"Really, Max?" Kai asked, sarcastically.

"Let me guess, he spilt something," Hiromi said in an intentional tone.

"What did you expect?" Kai asked her.

Hiromi let out a fake sigh. "I was hoping that maybe it was something else, when will I learn?"

Kai smiled in response.

"Tyson," Hiromi said suddenly in a very serious tone, "Don't lick it of the floor, K?" she said the last few words between fits of giggles.

Tyson hmphed and muttered something about not beingthat desperate to eat. Hiromi rolled her eyes. The others sweat dropped at Hiromi's sudden outburst, they had, from her tone, expected her to say something very imperative and foremost, not for her to tease Tyson.

There was silence for a second, and then Hiromi suddenly shrieked,

"Eww!"

From the tiny screen of the cell phone they saw her got off of her seat in shock. As she disappeared from view they saw that a 4 year old kid who was sitting next to her had spilt his milk all over her seat.

Tyson and Daichi laughed at this while the others stiffed their chuckles. Kai couldn't help the bemused laugh that escaped his lips…How ironic…

"Ahh," Hiromi whined, coming back into view. "Please, get me out of here!"

At that moment Kenny glanced at the clock and cried in astonishment, "Oh my God, we're late!" He turned towards Hiromi, "'Romi, we're really late! We'll talk to you later! Focus on the movie, K?"

"Fine," Hiromi mumbled. She then switched off her cell, and ebbed from view.

As the Bladebreakers began scattering around the room, gathering their stuff, Kai's cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and as soon as the picture appeared on the screen, Kai drew back a little; her face was much too close.

"The movie's in Norwegian," she cried, "or French, I don't know!"

Kai sighed, "'Romi, I have to go to school, just try to cope, alright?"

Hiromi heaved a sigh. "Fine," she whimpered and then vanished from view.

Kai sighed. It had been one day and he already missed her like hell. He didn't know how he was going to take this.


Kai was sitting in class, pretty much completely bored since First Period Physics was the only class in which none of the others were with him. Hiromi was supposed to be in that class, but she wasn't even in the same country anymore.

He kept sighing and glancing at the empty seat next to him, trying to avoid the giggling and pointing he kept hearing. He tried to ignore the notes all the girls were throwing at him. Whenever, one landed on his desk, he'd just crumble it and throw it on the floor, feeling satisfied. This is how he was coping, throwing love notes onto the floor. He wondered why he had left his all boys' school.

'Hiromi', his mind concluded. He sighed internally, wishing that she was here with him, to make his experience a little less horrible. Her being there with his would make ita lotless horrible, his mind corrected

Ten minutes later, when the teacher had entered the class and started the lectures, he heard his cell phone start ringing. The ring started at a mellow tone but was increasing with every passing second till it began to echo all around the class. All eyes diverted towards Kai, who did not like all the attention on himself, and he silently prayed for her to stop. He couldn't answer the phone and he couldn't cancel her call either; she wouldn't be happy about that.

Kai knew that he was in a lot of trouble, but he smiled mentally at the thought of Voltaire getting another phone call in prison about his attitude in school. Voltaire's imprisonment wasn't in some small rotting cell, it was more like all of his office had been shifted from the main building of Hiwatari Enterprises to the confinements of the Moscow Prison, and he had to work from there. Voltaire had gotten enough calls from Whitney Preparatory regarding Kai's behavior. When Voltaire had found out that Kai was switching school he had, had his secretary call up Kai and inform him that if Voltaire got another complain from his new school, there'd be dire consequences. Kai knew what Voltaire meant by that; he'd get disinherited…blah… blah… blah… He'd been hearing that since he was 6. Voltaire didn't have any other heir so he couldn't possibly disinherit Kai.

"Mr. Hiwatari," The professor began in a venomous voice, "Do you intend on letting it ring or are you waiting for my permission for you to leave the room and have your conversation?"

Kai gave the professor a nod, who turned back to writing on the board, before taking out his cell phone from his pocket. He answered the call but before Hiromi's face came into view or before she could even utter a single word, he muttered a "Call you later, Hiromi!" into the mouth piece of the phone and immediately cancelled the call. He wanted to switch off the phone but he was worried that if there was an emergency, no one would be able to reach him. Knowing the Bladebreakers, Hiromi, Blitzkrieg Boys, Wyatt, Mr. Dickenson, Voltaire or others he knew, they could end up in a life threatening situation anytime and anyplace. And in situations like that, his presence or at least awareness was crucial.

Ten minutes later the phone started ringing in Kai's pocket again, this time he intended on cancelling the call, but before he could hit the little red button the professor growled, "Mr. Hiwatari, detention in lunch break, one week!"

Kai didn't respond, he just glared at his teacher and gave a slight nod before cancelling Hiromi's call.

In another part of school, the rest of the Bladebreakers were caught in the same mess; the room kept echoing with the ringing of five cell phones. Towards the end of the period, Tyson even resorted to sitting on his cell phone to drown the sound. Hiromi kept calling and calling, even after they cancelled her calls. The rest of the day pretty much went the same with Hiromi calling every five minutes. Even during detention, she kept calling them. The day ended with the Bladebreakers having 6 months worth of lunch break and free period detention. And by the end of the last period, a few minutes before the last school bell rang, all the Bladebreakers' cell phones rang simultaneously. On hearing the sound, the whole class groaned, the teacher broke her chalk in half and the Bladebreakers—minus Kai—slapped their foreheads.

The second everyone cancelled the calls, the teacher practically snarled,

"Mr. Hiwatari, Mr. Kinomiya, Mr. Tate, Mr. Kon, Mr. Sumeragi, Mr. Yamashi, (AN: I know that's not Kenny's surname, but since it hasn't been mentioned in the show, I'm making it Yamashi. :P)four more weeks of detention!"

Tyson banged his forehead on the desk.

The teacher was almost out the door when Kai's phone rang, yet again but she just left the class, groaning.

"Hiromi," Kai yelled into the mouth piece of his phone.

"Jeez, 'Romi, what was wrong?" Tyson asked, sounding frustrated. "You kept calling and calling—"

"Yeah, thanks to you we have 7 months of detention!" Daichi huffed.

They were all looking at Hiromi in the screen; she was wearing at least five layers of sweaters and was standing inside what apparently seemed like her new bedroom.

"You were in school?" Hiromi inquired nervously, giving everyone a sheepish smile.

Everyone sweat dropped, including Kai.


The Blade Breakers, for the rest of the day, heard Hiromi complain about how her life sucked, and how much she was missing them, and how she was about to start school from the next Monday, and how awful it would be. Everyone just heard her drone on and on, occasionally, they'd get a word in now and then, but they just spent the entire day talking to her; they trained while talking to her, they prepared for tests while talking to her, they did their homework while talking to her, they even ate while talking to her. Hiromi spent the entire day walking around the streets of Norway while talking to the boys, glaring at her parents while talking to them, unpacking her stuff while talking to the boys, even going to take an orientation at her new school while talking to the boys, she barely listened to what the boy who was showing her around school had to say.

When at the end of the tour the boy asked her what he thought of the school she answered him by a "Don't talk with your mouthful, you pig!". She had said that to Tyson, but the boy had thought she had said to him and gave her a very weird look, before walking off, wishing Hiromi luck for the new school year.

When the boy disappeared out of sight, Hiromi began walking towards the school exit. She groaned into the mouth piece and heard sniggering on the other side.

"Trouble in paradise, princess?" Tyson asked sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up!" Hiromi muttered, sharply. "The boy thought I called hima pig!"

"Ooh, so it was a boy who gave you the tour?" Tyson asked beaming.

Ray and Kai, both of whom had their noses buried in their books, immediately looked up.

"Hiromi," Ray began but she immediately cut him off.

"He qualified, Ray," Hiromi droned, nonchalantly, "He hasn't done anything mildly unacceptable in life."

Ray smiled satisfied, knowing that Hiromi was not associating with inappropriate people. Kai, on the other hand, pursed his lips in dissatisfaction.

"Just be careful in school, kay 'Romi?" Kais stated, imperturbably, though he was sweltering on the inside. "You can never trust people…"

"I'll be fine, Kai, don't worry," Hiromi reassured him, smiling. She had a fairly good idea what Kai had meant when he said that.

Night time eventually came, and the Bladebreakers said goodbye to Hiromi, who had completely refused to hang up. She kept droning on about how she regretted getting mad at the Bladebreakers when she lived with them.


At about 1 o' clock at night when everyone was in their futons, Kai kept tossing, turning and looking at the empty futon sprawled onto the floor just next to his. It had been the same the whole day, he kept looking at Hiromi's empty school seats, her seat at the dinner table, her seat on the bench next to Kenny from where she'd watch the Bladebreakers and now her empty futon; he still kept missing her.

When he finally drifted off into a deep slumber, he immediately woke with a start the very next second, from the vibration of his cell phone. Kai groaned in his sleep. He pulled his cover over his face and then answered the call.

"Hiromi?" Kai asked, drowsily, his eyes still hadn't opened completely to register the picture on the screen. "It's the middle of the night…"

"Aaaan, sorry Kai," Hiromi said, sheepishly, "But…"

Kai broke in, "Why could you have not called Tyson?"

"I was in no mood to talk to that idiot," Hiromi hmphed, "Besides he wouldn't know the answer of what I want to ask you."

"What do you wanna ask?" Kai asked anxiously, the sleepiness disappearing from his eyes.

"Well, it's really important," Hiromi started, Kai was staring at her, his crimson eyes not blinking once. "Am I seven hours ahead of you or behind you?"

Kai groaned, "I'll tell you when I am conscious, Hiromi,"

"Fine," she mumbled. "Sleep tight," she added, brightly.

Kai pulled his covers off his face and was almost back to sleep when the cell started vibrating again. He got under the covers again and answered the phone for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

"Hiromi," Kai complained.

He was drawn back when he saw that the screen of his phone was divided and Mr. Dickenson was on the other side.

"Hello, Hiromi," Mr. Dickenson said, cheerfully.

"Hey, Mr. D," Hiromi smiled back.

"How's Norway?" Mr. Dickenson asked her.

"Icy," Hiromi replied, shivering.

"Mr. Dickenson," Kai said austerely.

"Oh, right," Mr. Dickenson said, sounding as if her remembered what he called for. "I'm glad you're online too, Hiromi, it's necessary that I talk to the both of you."

"Why?" Kai and Hiromi both chorused.

"Since you two are the captain and coach of the team, your opinion on issues like these matters." said Mr. Dickenson, his voice a bit grim and less cheerful than before.

"What issues, sir?" Kai asked in a stern voice, "And why can't they wait until morning?"

"Definitely not, kids. I'm gonna have to ask you, well, not ask since it's not much of your choice, but you have to. You kids have to participate in a two day tournament for rookies being held in Tokyo."

"What?" Kai spat, feeling something hit his pride, "Why?"

"Jeez Kai, chill," Hiromi wheezed.

Kai gave her a glare.

"Well, I've got reports from the BBA spies there that some very odd characters are lurking around and they are suspicious that Boris or some of your other, ahem, rivals might be involved. Since, it's useless to involve the police –them being clueless to handle matters which involve these demented scientists—you kids have to stop whatever those people are planning."
"Mr. Dickenson," Hiromi began, skeptically, "What's the worst that they can do in a rookie tournament?"

Kai thought that Hiromi was right, what harm could they possibly do to Bladers who could barely launch their blades?

"That tournament is being held at the museum of Beyblading and you both know how many ancient artifacts involving bit beasts are there. If they get into the hands of Boris or anyone else, it would be to say the least horrible, especially for, you kids!"

"Thank for making us feel so much better, Mr. D," Hiromi smiled, sarcastically.

"Usually before entering a tournament, the whole team has a conference with you," Kai reminded Mr. Dickenson.

"We did have a conference right now," Mr. Dickenson said matter-of-factly, "I was there—the owner of the team—and I discussed with you two –the captain and the coach—decision made!"

"Great," Kai muttered, "Bladebreakers meetings have been reduced to conference calls on cell phones, made from under covers, in the middle of the night, between just you, me and Hiromi!"

"Well, desperate times call for desperate measures," Mr. Dickenson said, simply. "And I'm pretty sure you two won't mind if they'll end up being between just the two of you." Mr. Dickenson finished in a serious tone though he was smirking. "Though, I'd never allow that..."

Kai and Hiromi both blushed scarlet and mumbled some incoherent and inaudible denials.

"Well, I better go, it's getting stuffy under these covers," Mr. Dickenson huffed.

"Why are you under the covers, Mr. D?" Hiromi asked, inquisitively.

"My wife wouldn't be happy if I disturbed her with the light and noise, now would she?"

Hiromi gave a light laugh, while Kai's face remained impassive.

"I'd better go wake the others," Kai stated.

"I'm coming too," Hiromi prompted, "Mr. Dickenson, I'm taking the BBA jet back home."

"Of course, dear," Mr. Dickenson said. "Boris won't be happy to see you after you broke his goggles the last time you saw him."

"Five pairs," Hiromi smirked proudly, and Kai rolled his eyes at her.

"Good luck, kids," Mr. Dickenson said, solemnly and cancelled the call.

"Hiromi, you are half way around the world!" Kai reminded her.

"You said we'd still be a team!" Hiromi reminded him, her voice sounded hurt.

Kai blinked at her.

"You're right," he smiled, "The team won't be complete without you being there."

"I'll be there no matter what it takes!" Hiromi said, determinedly. "Now go, start waking the others, it'll take anhour for you to get Tyson off his lazy ass."

Kai smirked.

"See you in Tokyo, Kai," Hiromi said, and cancelled the call.

"Hiromi," Kai breathed, gripping his phone tightly. He pulled off his covers and got up to wake the others. He just hoped Hiromi would make it in time and they'd handle this situation as successfully as they'd handled the previous ones.


July 6th, 2011, 04:46 a.m.

Finally, chapter 2 is over! X( This thing that you people read, writing it almost killed me, literally! It took me 10 days to write this. I intended on getting it done by the end of June. What happened was that, first, I got the most horrible block, I could barely right anything half decent. Anyone who doesn't believe me can ask Dead-by-n0w, she knows how horrible it was and I wrote half of this in midst of this block. Second, when my block started, my sister who moved out 5 years ago, due to certain reasons had to stay at her house, which she is still doing and she's gonna be living with us till *shudders* Sunday. Sunday, shall be the day of my independence. I'm use to being an only child for the last 5 years and she has to be the world's most *beep* sister, ever! She doesn't let me sit on the computer much, wanting to spend time with me, and trust me she does nothing but criticize me when we do spend time together. And when I was sitting on the computer these days, instead of completing this chappy, I had been writing emails to my friends telling them how miserable she'd been making my life! I feel sorry for them, especially Dead-by-n0w, who had to read to my humongous emails, in which I kept blabbing about how horrible my sister is, I just sent another one out 10 mins ago too! ^^

Thank you to Dead-by-n0w, like always, for beta reading, the crap I wrote, I don't bag on myself usually, but before she fixed it this was seriously crap. Trust me people, you wouldn't have understood anything if she hadn't fixed this chapter, I wrote barely coherent sentences. And a special thank you to you for helping me with my sister dilemma. 4 days to go... :D 4 more days of suffering and you're gonna suffer along with me! :)

PS: The OC, I've mentioned, Hilary's sister, she's gonna be there for only 2 scenes. I needed someone to play Monique's part. I'm not fond of OC's very much so she'll barely have a part at all.

Thank you to those who read, faved and reviewed this story also those who added this to their alert list. Thank you to Dead-by-n0w, tyhiltwilover (I started my homework today! ^^), natasha 13, COOlz AnimeaDDict, Kawaai-Chibi-Kai, Honeygirl (Since you left an anonymous review here's the reply: I'm glad you like my stories and also that you were excited to read this chappy. =) I'll try to update as fast as possible.) Ms. Controversy (Since you left an anonymous review, here's the reply: I'm really happy you liked the story. ^^ I'll try to update as fast as I can. :D ) for reviewing.

I hope everyone liked this. ^^ Please, people it'd be great if you review, I worked really hard on this.

R and R...