Chapter 2: Lightning Strike
X X X
From the passenger's side, Hilary Tachibana stared out at the hustle and bustle of the New York City streets. Everything was so fast paced here, and it was one of the things that she both admired and hated about the city. She preferred her rental in Santa Monica, and the warm beach. Here, everyone was all business, and it was no wonder that she felt anxious. It was with a burst of homesickness that she realized that she had found herself a second home.
"Uh, hey Tala?"
The Russian man in question waited a moment to answer, being promptly cut off by a taxi. "Yeah?"
The young woman smiled as she watched him pretend like the ignorant driving style didn't effect him, though she figured he would have launched his Wolborg through at least half of the cars in front of him, just to send a message.
"Well, I was just wondering. Did the guys make any mention of me?"
"Hilary." He slammed on the brakes, glaring ruthlessly as he produced his middle finger to the driver that had nearly sideswiped him. "We've been over this. Kai called me right after he met with Dickenson, freaking out about the bird." Tala motioned to the beyblade in her lap. "Then the guys announced their coming out of retirement, we watched it on tv." Hilary nodded. "Then he called me two days ago to tell me to come to NYC for their celebration before the qualifying rounds tomorrow night. Dickenson had already got our tickets in order. All you got was a lousy generic invite, and after you got though being surprised and hurt about it, you got real fuckin' pissy. You can stop this nonsense at any time."
"Geez, I'm sure you'd be thrilled if the Blitzkrieg Boys just carried on without you."
Tala scoffed. "If it wasn't for me, I don't think they'd be able to communicate, much less handle the outside world. I'm the only one that actually does the talking."
"Look Mister, at least your team recognizes you as being a part of it, even if you don't compete together all the time." Her eyebrows furrowed, but she batted her eyelashes annoyingly to make sure he got the point.
Tala took a moment to sigh. "Women." Pausing while he flipped his left turn signal on and pulled into their destination, he glanced in her direction. "If it bothers you that much that no one personally bothered to see if you're still breathing, why don't you contact them yourself." Ice blue met ruby.
"Humph. I don't think I should have to."
"No?" The Russian beyblader sighed. "God forbid you should have to. I think you're just like Tyson sometimes."
"Hey!" Her eyes were practically red and smoke would be coming out of her ears at any moment.
"Are you going to continue to prove my point?" Noting her pouting face and protruding lip complete with quivering to make it appear that his words actually wounded her, Tala parked the vehicle in the lot and pushed open their door. "When you decide to be a big girl, you can come in and help me pick out our ride for tonight."
Sighing, Hilary giggled and draped her small cross body purse over her left shoulder, her sundress flaring out behind her as she exited Tala's rental car. "You can't take a joke."
"Please, Tachibana. Had you been joking, I would've at least pretended not to laugh." The smirk on Tala's face grew to one that she wished to smack off his pale skin, but she sighed dejectedly. Tala had her there.
X X X
When they emerged from the new new rental for the second time, evening was turning to dusk, though it was impossible to tell the difference with stormy skies turning everything an electric kind of dark. Though she had expected it, she was still taken aback by the flashes from multiple cameras all around her, like small bolts of lightning – much like the large ones that were flickering ominously over Manhattan and all around them.
Tala threw the keys to the valet and handed him a hundred dollar bill, all the while rounding the front of the car gracefully to pull her own door of the Porsche open fully and extend a hand to her. Tsking under her breath, Hilary allowed herself to be pulled to her feet as the media and paparazzi alike very obviously assessed her as his date, unaware of her identity. Meanwhile, Tala turned on the debonair charm his date had accused him of lacking three minutes prior.
"Tala, Tala!" Voices all around them screamed the Russian's name, looking for information regarding his date, his plans for the upcoming tournament, and where his team was. Not that he felt that any of that was their business, he smiled and greeted the reporters while linking arms with the woman at his side.
They ascended the stairs into the hotel where the gathering was to held before seeing Rei and Kai standing at the bar, with Tyson rapidly approaching. It was about this time that the chatter behind the duo turned from Tala to murmurs of disbelief and absolute joy at the discovery of what appeared to be an unlikely relationship. From somewhere to the duo's right, a reporter realized her identity, and things got crazy. Both of them rolled their eyes as the questions started coming in heavier, knowing that no matter how many times they expressed that they were merely accompanying each other and there was no "something" between them, there would at least be a column in most news papers and tabloids covering some fictitious highly confidential relationship that they just couldn't keep to themselves anymore.
Stanley finally appeared to pull them into the party and silence the raging hounds at the doors, threatening to kick them out if they continued to badger the guests.
"My," The millionaire businessman breathed, his cheeks pink from the gin and tonic in his hand, "You look stunning, my dear." He extended a hand to the brunette and spun her before pulling her in for a hug and kiss on the cheek. He whispered something in her ear that made her cheeks redden before nodding and extending a hand to Tala. They shook briskly. "You look sharp as well, Tala. I trust things have been well with you."
Tala nodded and Hilary rushed from his side, being engulfed by a giant hug from Tyson's grandfather, Stanley's best friend. "You know how it goes," he smarted. "Things are really beginning to get down to the wire." Stanley hummed his agreement, and both men cast Hilary a glance. "I hear the first qualifying match is going to be quite the battle."
A laugh was the redhead's reply. "Oh, of course," The founder smirked, revealing a smile that surprised the younger man by being just as smart as the one he typically wore himself, "That's why I hand selected the participants." Leaning in, Mr. Dickenson looked over to Kenny and Max, who were just joining their other three teammates. "I might be old, but that doesn't mean I don't have a few tricks up my sleeve."
Tala received a toothy grin, reshook hands with the older gentleman, and watched as the chairman of the board managed to gush once more about his date's appearance before moving on.
Hilary managed to lead him in a wide circle away from the guests of honor and to a secondary bar in the main gathering room. Tala ordered himself a rum and coke while Hilary went straight for the brandy, much to his surprise. She shrugged as she was handed the dark liquid, and the two clinked glasses before taking a sip. It was at this point that more people started coming into the room, bladers and coaches of many of the teams both of them had found themselves facing years previous. Tala made eyes at Julia of F-Dynasty as she entered the room and headed towards them, and Hilary found herself smiling, touching Tala's arm gently, and taking her leave with a smirk as the more established female blader approached him with a brilliant smile that spoke of the flirting that was about to begin.
The brunette managed to stay out of sight for the most part, at least she thought so, stopping briefly to chat with Judy Tate, Max's mother, who seemed surprised to see her, much less see her alone – of course, she cast a strange glance at her when she said that she had lost Tala somewhere around the first pretty girl that approached him – and the two discussed how exciting it was that the boys were getting together. Thankfully, Judy never mentioned the fact that Hilary wasn't exactly included in the boys' plans, and the two parted ways amicably, the blonde woman going to join her husband.
Lee from White Tiger X recognized her and nodded, while Meriah approached her, hugging her gently and asking the exact question Judy had been tasteful enough to avoid. Smiling, Hilary chalked it up to distance and diverted conversation to how the pink haired woman was doing, if she and Rei had finally got it on – Lee's eyes narrowed, but Meriah's cheeks matched her hair well enough to give it away – and how their village was doing. All in all, Hilary marked that conversation as a success, and was grateful when Stanley and the boys approached the small stage and podium at the front of the room.
As the founder of the BBA spoke, Hilary scanned the room for Tala, finding him at a table with Julia and surprisingly enough, Brian, who must have come in when she was talking with one of the women. The redheaded Russian hadn't mentioned the man would be coming, but Hilary had learned that their lack of communication was so seamless that they could coexist almost perfectly if given enough space, thus no warning was needed.
Waiters and waitresses began handing out glasses of champagne, and she watched as Julia nearly downed hers before Dickenson made any motion to toast anything. Her cheeks were pink, and she felt Tala's gaze on her as she assessed her replacement, not that she was upset by it. Quirking an eyebrow, she watched as he shot her a quick grin, which caught Brian's attention and directed it toward her. She nodded, he nodded, and the three returned to watching the man at the podium with slightly less than complete attention.
The ruby eyed brunette turned her eyes toward the team standing beside Mr D at the podium. They looked, good, if she said so herself, the years had definitely been their friend. Max and Tyson were unable to keep the grins of their faces, and she couldn't help but smile at Kenny's slight blush at the chairman's compliments and near over-exaggerations of all the team's feats from years before. Rei and Kai stood off to the very far end, Rei's hands in his pockets, slouched slightly, exuding a completely calm aura and lack of care. Kai's eyes drifted across the room as Stanley carried on, and she knew from experience that his posture said he was almost – but not completely – relaxed. She knew the slate haired champion wasn't in love with the spotlight, but it almost always did him well.
"So now, please join me in celebrating the return of one of our sport's most loved teams. To the Bladebreakers!"
People, including Max, Tyson, and Kenny cheered, everyone holding up their glasses, waiting for the chairman to take a drink. The waiter passed by her at this moment, offering her a skinny glass of the pale liquid from his platter and she politely declined.
When the cheering had calmed down, and the five teammates had clinked their glasses together, then toasting their audience, Hilary inclined her half glass of brandy toward the stage, making eye contact for the first time in seven years with Kai Hiwatari.
Smirking, she finished the glass in two swallows before turning to leave the room.
X X X
It was just after seven pm when Kai strode up to Rei Kon at the bar. Glancing around at the proceedings, he flagged down the bartender and ordered two fingers of bourbon. Rei acknowledged his teammate with a tight smile before they touched glasses in a silent cheers.
"You ready for this, Kai?"
"Hn," Came the stoic reply, and Rei couldn't help but take another sip of his gin and ginger. "You think you still got it, Kon?"
Rei's pointed canines gleamed as he gave the captain a smirk. "If we weren't supposed to behave tonight, I'd say we should settle things with a beybattle." The Chinese man straightened his white button up shirt, and moved his long braided hair over his shoulder, furthering his well put together image.
"Afraid you'd lose?" Both men felt smiles tug at the corner of their faces and they turned their backs to the bar, leaning against the dark cherry wood.
Around them the hotel was completely out of control. The media had been given a designated area that was thankfully far far away from the bar and anywhere the Bladebreakers would be. Instead, Stanley Dickenson had been extremely strong willed about the media, giving them a small timeslot for a press conference in the days before, and explaining that things could be further discussed when time permitted around the championships. Rei and Kai stood in silence, watching previous allies and enemies come together to celebrate them. Just by the look on both men's faces, it was clear that they were assessing their competition, knowing that it wouldn't be long before they weren't celebrating, but fighting for their honor as undisputed champions against many of the people in the room.
"So, how many people do you think showed up just to see if we're still a threat?" Tyson appeared at Rei's side, and motioned for a drink from the bar.
"You'd probably be better off counting the people who didn't," Kai murmured in response, lifting his drink to his lips, his wine colored eyes moving back to the main entrance fifty feet and an elegant flight of stairs away. He could see the white Porshe 911 Carerra that was undoubtedly Tala's – his fellow Russian just had to travel extravagantly, though he had to admit the vehicle was chosen in good taste – and watched as the redhead rounded his car to assist his date.
"So, who do you think Tala's brought to his one?" Rei nudged Kai, who turned his attention away from the door, completely uncaring.
"Who cares?" Tyson looked mournfully around the bar, unhappy that it was too upscale to have any pretzels or snack mix for him to munch on while he waited for dinner.
Rei's golden eyes stayed trained on the Blitzkrieg boy, and his breath caught in his throat as he watched the blue eyed man pull a striking woman out of the passenger's side of the car. "Uh, you guys?"
Both Kai and Tyson looked to Rei, then followed his line of vision to the door.
She was stunning. Black heels and a plain black dress that dipped low in front to reveal the curvature of her breasts, long straight chocolate hair that went down to the middle of her back, and bangs that framed her face, the woman smiled bashfully at Tala, before accepting his arm and training her eyes straight ahead. Her ruby eyes danced in the camera flashes and -
"I'm surprised she came," Was the only thing Rei could find to say before looking to his left and right at his two friends. Tyson stared unashamed, his jaw slightly hanging. Meanwhile, Kai's drink had only made it halfway to his mouth, and his eyes were surprisingly wide for just a millisecond too long.
Tyson seemed to find the words first. "Are we sure that's her?" Was all he could manage, tugging uncomfortably at his blue and navy striped tie. The three men did their best not to make it obvious as they watched Tala and his date approach Mr Dickenson, who immediately embraced and obviously complimented the girl before acknowledging Tala.
"She grew up," Was all Max could say, coming from the large banquet room the festivities would actually be held in. The blonde whistled in surprise. "But what's with Tala?" Kenny peered over the American's shoulder to see what all the fuss was about, seeing the woman in question nearly get the life hugged out of her by Tyson's grandpa.
"I'll say," Tyson replied, "It's totally weird." Suddenly realizing the chairman's gaze resting on them, he continued. "We should probably stop staring though, Dickenson's giving us weird looks."
Kai said nothing, instead passing by his teammates and entering the main hall.
"What's with him?"
"Oh, you know, Chief," Max supplied with a smile as he turned to follow the captain, "Typical Kai."
As the group moved to the main room, Rei looked back at the young woman who smiled and laughed as she exchanged pleasantries and put his hands in his pockets, sighing simultaneously. "Ya look good, Hil," He whispered to no one. "Ya look good."
The group lost track of her after that, with the help of all their long time rivals coming out of the woodwork worldwide to come and see what their deal was, and to reminisce about old times. It wasn't much later that the gang found themselves on the stage beside Stanley as he made a small speech and re-initiated them into the world of Beyblade.
Kai could practically feel the force of Tyson's ego as it sucked up all the extra space on the stage. It was ridiculous, the man was beaming like he was twelve again, about to rush headfirst into a match he shouldn't have been able to win. He clenched his fists tightly, then allowed himself a small smirk as he relaxed. Tyson had an uncanny knack for winning against people who should have beaten him in seconds. The Russian figured he was just lucky in that way.
As he gazed around the room, he noticed that Tala was with Julia, and they were definitely too close to each other for it to be a purely platonic endeavor on his friend's part. The redhead looked semi distracted, looking away from both Dickenson and his new lady friend to gaze toward the door. Kai didn't get the chance to follow the man's line of vision before it turned back to the chairman's short and stout figure. Judging solely on the timbre of the American man's voice as he carried on, Kai figured he was almost done.
A waiter came by, handing all of them champagne, to which Kai scoffed at, if only inside his head. So what? They were back. It didn't mean that things were going to get easier. If anything, his teammates were more than rusty, even if they had been training. Also, they weren't as young as they were before, they actually had – and knew – their limits and were wearier about pushing them. At least Rei was, though he was surprisingly more built and physically powerful than Kai could ever remember. It took a lot of coaxing for them to return to training together, and things were still dicey at times in practice. Black Dranzer gave them a legitimate reason, a cause for which to stay together, but after that matter was taken care of – and Kai planned on taking care of it first thing once this tournament bit began – what then? Would they win this tournament and then break it off? Sure, all of them had enough money to get by for the rest of their lives, but would this be it?
He shook his head slightly, forcing such spiraling thoughts out of his head and trying to focus on the speech that was wrapping up. As soon as Dickenson was done, Kai figured he'd go get a real drink, not this sparkling nonsense that looked as potent as ginger ale. Glancing back to Tala, the thought that his once teammate had lost his initial date re-entered his mind. If Tala was attempting to get with Julia – and succeeding, if that twinkle in her eyes was any indication – where was Hilary?
"...please join me in celebrating the return of one of our sport's most loved teams. To the Bladebreakers!"
He followed the protocol for champagne, nonchalantly touching glasses with his teammates, acknowledging the crowd and willing the sorry excuse for liquor down his throat. He knew this specific kind of champagne cost well over a hundred dollars a bottle, but it didn't taste any better than the cheap kind his roommates had smuggled into their dorm at boarding school.
Halfway through ridding himself of his drink he found her in the audience, all the way in the back, no champagne in hand. That was odd, he supposed, watching her shoo away a waiter with slim glasses of the bubbly. He made it through the rest of his drink by drinking up her image, surprisingly longer hair fanned out more now that she had been moving around, her dress hugging her tight enough that he could tell she wasn't the same girl he remembered. The thing that got him was the playful glint in her eyes.
They met his.
She gave him a smile to match, and he didn't seem to notice the rest of the room go back to cheering. She raised her eyebrows in a question, almost challenging his looking her way. Raising her glass in a casual salute to her once teammates, she inclined it his direction before draining the dark amber liquid in two swallows.
When she turned to leave Kai found himself unwilling to do anything except find her.
X X X
Author's Notes: I just wanted to take a quick second to thank everyone who read this so far. Your support really encourages me. The chapter after this was incredibly difficult to write, which is why this one is so delayed. As always, please drop me a line, and thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. It means a lot to me. Also, rating starts to go up from here, just for a few small details in the following chapters. Nothing too terrible, but rating will be changed as a precaution.
