Rating: T+

Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.

Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.

Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. And tai takamaru for favoriting and following

Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin

Anime: I have returned, my lovelies! The official chapter of EDIH, this shows what our heroes are doing. Tyson, Kaori, Aya, Riku, Hikaru, Shun and Nami are back! Hurray!

Rin: Enjoy, everyone.

~~~EDIH~~~

1: ECHO

Bey City, Japan, Earth (Four days later)

Tyson was bored out of his mind in class, listening to the droning voice of his teacher. He glanced around, noticing other students – Hilary, for example – were writing notes like the good students they were. Other students like himself were bored out of their minds.

"Sensei, how does this apply to real life?" A voice asked suddenly. This caught Tyson's attention because he recognized the voice. It was none other than the blue-haired, red-eyed, loud-mouthed Hikaru Kuwashima. He was sitting three rows in front of him, next to a boy identical to him except Shun – his twin – had been paying attention like the good student he was.

"Kuwashima," The teacher said in disdain, looking at the seventeen year old boy in front of him, "you know that mathematics is one of the principles of life-."

"Basic math. They have calculators now, you know," Hikaru answered, looking out the window, "Why do we need to know anything about limits or derivatives or anything like that? Why are we getting our heads filled with all this useless junk?"

"Kuwashima, step out of the classroom now." The teacher said, obviously not happy with the twin boy. Hikaru grinned and did as he was told, waving goodbye at Shun who hid both his eyes with his long bangs.

Tyson didn't blame Hikaru for his outburst. He didn't understand why he needed to know this. Still, Hiro, his father and his grandfather wanted him to graduate from high school. The bright side to that was that he was already in third year so he was almost done with everything. That made him let out a sigh of relief.

"Orikasa," The teacher turned to the girl who had been looking out the window for a long time. The girl jumped, standing up before the teacher smiled, "would you mind solving this problem?"

"Sure, sensei," The girl answered before going up to the board. She used the proper equations and steps to answer the question, flawlessly showing her skills. Tyson, Shun, Hilary, Kenny and two others weren't impressed. Aya was intelligent, even if she hardly showed it.

Tyson was cut off from his observing upon seeing a note on his desk. He opened it then turned to the girl that sat next to him, "Kaori, what's with the secrecy? The witch won't hear us from the back."

"Just read the note." She whispered back, gesturing at the paper. She looked back at her notes, writing furiously. Tyson shrugged and did as she had told him. He read the note with some difficulty - he was rusty in Russian – but was able to after a minute or so:

I'm having trouble with someone in the BBA training halls. Can you help me and meet her? You'll be good for her. – K.

This worried Tyson slightly because Kaori didn't ask for help when she was mentoring in her new job in the BBA. Besides being rather stubborn, more so than he was, Kaori was a Beyblade prodigy in her own right, with her ability to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a blade during the heat of battle and also determining its type, what direction it was spinning in and the components that made it up. Kenny had labelled it the KK-Bey prodigy to not get them mixed up with the other two types.

The other types of prodigies – the TK-Bey prodigy and the B-Bey prodigy – were rarer to see, especially the B-Bey prodigy. Tyson wondered if the student Kaori was having trouble with was one of those prodigies and started thinking about it in depth, something that would've surprised anyone that knew him.

TK-Bey prodigies were prodigies of the game that seemed as if they were born to play the game. They possessed great power and were able to form strategies while battling. Prodigies like these included himself, Kai, Ray, Max and mostly everyone they knew. Still, it was hard to find TK-Bey prodigies these days.

The B-Bey prodigies were rarer to find than the other three types and were the naturals. The only prodigy they knew so far that fit under this list was Brooklyn. These prodigies didn't practice to get this good in the game; they were born with the ability. Those were harder to work with, as Hiro had inputted, as a natural-born talent would seem useless to hone to the prodigy. Not only that, they also tended to be . . . unstable.

Could this girl be a B-Bey prodigy? If so, then-.

"Granger!" Tyson jolted out of his seat when he saw that the wicked teacher was standing right in front of him and he'd been staring off into space while muttering to himself. Aya stifled a laugh while Hilary, Shun and Kaori looked disappointed.

"Uh, yes?" He asked, trying to find help among his friends.

"I asked if there is something more pressing than my class."

Well, a lot of things, he wanted to say but he knew that wouldn't be a good response to give to the witch. As he opened his mouth, there was a crash and they both turned to see Riku Mizushima on the ground, his wheelchair having crashed to the desk behind him.

"My pencil fell." Riku said, as if that would help the situation. He reached out and grabbed the simple green mechanical pencil and looked sadly at the wheelchair.

"Oh dear, you have to take care of yourself, Mizushima!" The witch said as she rushed to Riku's aid. Tyson was about to do the same when Riku smiled at him and winked. Tyson smiled at him, glad that at least Riku was on his side and was willing to play the "invalid" card to help him.

Still, it was a bit unnerving how easy it was for Riku to deceive others. He was spending too much time with Rin, Tyson decided as he remembered the half-Russian that was known to wear different masks to deceive those he wanted to deceive. The fact that Riku was doing that scared Tyson. Then again, if it had been anyone else, the witch wouldn't have cared. However, she adored Riku and also had a soft spot for Riku's legal guardian – Rin – so it was no wonder that Riku was able to effectively work this plan out.

After checking that Riku was fine and barking the order that if his pencil fell, the others should pick it up, the witch continued her lesson and forgot all about Tyson. He was in Riku's debt and all he had to do was buy new music sheets for Riku so he could continue his work.

Riku and Takao – wards of tycoon Rin Mizushima – had taken the world by storm when they appeared seven months ago in the artistic world as RIMI and TAKI, respectively.

Riku, or RIMI, was an accomplished pianist, violinist, flutist, composer and wrote songs for famous performers when the request was given to him. Since he could write in so many languages, it was easy to be a worldwide songwriter and often took weeks off to compose songs. He even had a position in the new BBA as part of the advertising campaign.

Takao, or TAKI, was a rising star as a painter and sculptor. Since before he was captured by the Forsaken Fallen, he'd had a gift and his time with them only influenced him to become greater in his craft. He painted the Forsaken Fallen in sceneries that felt realistic and was probably best known for his painting Devil's Tears, which captured the moment where Night had died in Chaos's arms. The painting captured the essence of the beasts to the point that some people cried while admiring the art.

With those two, the name of the Mizushima only got more popular. While the two created beautiful pieces of art and music, Ann – the third new Mizushima – went for the philanthropist route. She assisted charities and non-profit organization despite her blindness and raised money in auctions – where Takao sold some of his paintings, Riku performed and Rin had been forced to sell himself off, along with Tyson, Kai, Max and Ray – for good causes. She was sweet, despite everything that had happened to her.

As for the only living member of the prominent family, Rin was practically everywhere. He was working in the BBA as part of the Board of Directors, was slated to be a judge in the tournament (something Kai opposed since he said Rin knew nothing of the game. Kai had to sit through a five-hour lecture about Beyblade by Rin, who proved to be very knowledgeable in that regard), was CEO of his own company so he attended to those matters as well, had to visit all the orphanages he was the patron (such a saint, Hikaru had muttered once) of while also doing some project with Katsu Kurumada on the side (espionage, Nami insisted).

All in all, Rin had to be dragged to the hospital by Alexander and Akasuki for his monthly checkups. The last time they had forgotten, Rin had passed out in the dojo because he had pulled two all-nighters and Night had to lecture the boy on his health while Kai had threatened Rin's beloved fish Remus by dangling their pet cat Aiko close to the fish tank.

Tyson sighed, idly writing the notes the witch was droning on and on about while he noticed that Aya was half-asleep by the lecture before returning to his thoughts about a certain someone. He hadn't seen his boyfriend in person for almost three months and he had to say that it was a bit depressive. He knew the business Kai – along with Tala, Mariah, Miguel and Garland – was attending to was important but that didn't mean he couldn't miss him.

Kai and the others had been sent by Mr. Dickenson to the Australian branch of the BBA to check up on how well it was going, mentoring some of the bladers and just looking at the way Beyblade was progressing over there while secretly registering the bit-beasts in that area. Kai had written him a letter – who writes letters anymore, Tyson had thought as he had glanced at the phone Kai could use to contact him – to say there were good bladers in the facility. They had about five KK-Bey prodigies and only two that were categorized as TK-Bey prodigies.

Tyson had wanted to ask him how long it'd take him to finally come home but he knew that was selfish so he never asked. Aya, Nami, the twins, Kaori, Hilary, Takao, Riku, Kenny and Ann were great company but he sometimes wished to have the old gang around in the dojo.

Max and Ray were in the American and Chinese branch, respectively, cataloging bit-beasts and training more bladers. Daichi was in his village looking over the Forsaken Fallen with his cousin Saori as Tyson had instructed them to do since it would be dangerous if Erebus found them while they had Black Dranzer locked up in a shrine in the village.

Hiro and a couple of other bladers were in South America, having the same responsibility as Kai, Max and Ray had in the branches they were in. While he was also doing that, he was also researching more on the holy beasts and had found a cave where hundreds of them were sealed. He had moved all of them to Judy's research facility where the woman was registering all of them. Tyson would've liked it if Hiro had told him that but his older brother had said it to Aya instead. It wasn't that unexpected, as the two were dating.

The final bell chimed and Aya woke up from her half-asleep daze. She began to gather her things, the others doing the same. Riku wheeled himself to Tyson's desk and the blunette grinned, "Thanks for your help, Riku."

Riku waved his hand in a dismissive tone, "It was nothing, Ty-dragon. Rin-rabbit told me to protect everyone from other people, whether the situation is deadly or not. It is annoying to be considered a hopeless invalid, though."

"Don't worry. I'll buy you lots of music sheets. I know you need it." Tyson promised him as he put on his backpack. He grabbed the handles of Riku's wheelchair and the two began to leave, Riku humming to some song Tyson recognized as the Corrupted Flower.

"Wait up, Ty, Ri!" Aya said, heading towards them with a grin. Hikaru waved at them and they waited as Shun came with his backpack and Hikaru's, looking at his older brother with a disapproving look. Hikaru only grinned at him before grabbing Kaori's hand and walking away with her, Shun muttering as he followed the love birds.

"Are you going to the BBA building?" Riku asked. As Tyson looked down at him, slightly wondering how he knew, Riku shrugged, "Intuition is a powerful thing. Are you going to talk to Rin-rabbit?"

"Eh, no. Kaori wants me to help one of the bladers she's training, you see." Tyson answered as he pushed Riku's chair. At the staircase, Hikaru quickly carried Riku bridal-style while Tyson dragged the wheelchair along. The school didn't have ramps to go downstairs so this is how they dealt with Riku's paralysis without the boy feeling bad about himself.

"Who is it, Kao-monkey?" Riku asked.

Kaori put a finger to her lips and grinned, "It's a secret until you meet her." Hikaru let out a sigh as they reached the end of the staircase and placed Riku gently on the wheelchair. Riku muttered his thanks before he began to wheel himself forward. A girl was waiting for them in that floor and she grinned when she saw them, waving.

"Nami-chan!" Shun grinned and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend. Nami blushed, being a rather shy girl, before saying a soft hello to everyone.

"So, we're all going to the BBA building?" Aya asked as they headed to the staircase, Tyson carrying Riku down this time. She smiled and nodded, "A good excuse to see Kenny and Rin!"

"Hey, I am a trainer, Aya," Kaori reminded the blonde, "I don't drop in for no reason. Unlike other people, who are skipping their training." Aya looked away, whistling, and the brunette sighed because there was no way she'd get Aya to continue blading.

"I am following Ty-dragon around so I'll be with you in the training area." Riku inputted. He looked at the others, "Hikaru-dog and Shun-fish are trainers, Hilary and Nami are trainees so everyone but Aya-doll are accounted for."

Aya sighed, "Fine, fine, I'll train. You make me sound like a slacker."

"And you aren't?" Hilary whispered, prompting Nami and Kaori to snicker. Aya rolled her eyes as they finally reached the first floor, Riku being set down on his wheelchair again as they wheeled out of the building.

"I am not! I'll have you know, Rin told me to order the beasts in alphabetical order once and I finished a day later."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow, "Aya, how did that take you two days to do?" He had seen the archive of holy beasts they had found and it wasn't too big. He sighed, realizing that Aya must have procrastinated the work.

"Lots of names!" She answered with a grin.

"Riiight." They all said, not believing her. She huffed, walking faster than them to reach the BBA building before they could. The streets were bustling with high schoolers that had just gotten out of school. They walked in the sidewalk – occupying most of it – in comfortable silence.

Today was a pleasant day, with the wind blowing softly and the sky was clear of any clouds. The sun wasn't bearing down on them and they all appreciated the coolness of autumn as they were heading to their destination.

It didn't take them too long to reach the new BBA building. It was at least twenty stories high, the logo of the company reigning supreme over it all. The last three stories were for the board of directors of the BBA – such as Mr. Dickenson and Rin – while ten of the stories were of the agents in charge of marketing, developing and advertising for Beyblade. The first story was just the lobby and waiting room, a place where bladers could sign in and become members of the BBA.

The second and fifth stories were for training. Here, some professional bladers – such as Kaori, Hikaru, Shun and Brooklyn – taught the basics, strategies for the game, customization of a blade and a class Kaori called Bit-Beast 101. The final floors were meant for those people that were in charge of cataloging the beasts and monitoring them, which had proved to be helpful as they had stopped a battle that could've been catastrophic, as the blader was not used to the bit-beast's power.

They entered the lobby and Aya waved at the green-haired grey eyed boy attending the reception desk, "Hiiiii, Ritsu! Did you miss me?" Ritsu the receptionist gave out a weak smile before waving at them. Everyone knew that Aya hounded the poor male, constantly teasing him because he had a not-so hidden crush on Rin.

"I can't say I have." He muttered before turning Kaori, looking a bit distressed, "Hey, can you do something about Rikku? She's holed herself up on the third floor and won't let anyone go in. Two kids have fallen down the stairs trying and the elevators refuse to open in the second floor."

"Again?" She sighed before nodding, "I'll try but you know how she is." She walked towards the stairs, "Good luck with trying to win over Rin." Ritsu flushed bright red and Tyson felt sympathy for the older male. He put up with a lot of their teasing but at least Aya hadn't volunteered to help him yet. They all knew her matchmaking plans were pretty bad.

They all headed towards the stairs – except Riku who went to the elevator – and began their journey to the third floor where Kaori's mysterious trainee dwelled.

~~~EDIH~~~

Anime: That was a lot of information, huh? In my defense, two years have passed since the battle against the Forsaken Fallen. Besides, the list of people First Elder mentioned are going to come out soon. I'm a bit excited to write about them. This chapter is mostly to show where all the characters are at this time.

Night: Reviews are appreciated.

Chaos: Say, where is Erebus? What about the Elders? What happened to Susumu-.

Anime: That's all, folks! See you in chapter 2.

~~~EDIH~~~

Next chapter: Resonance

Song: Resonance by T.M. Revolution