Yeah, you guys are right, I was definitely looking too deep into that fortune cookie. In other news... This story has cover art! It took forever but I managed to come up with something. At first I wrote on a mirror with lipstick but the picture wouldn't come out exactly right. But now the story has something better! Also, I have a week to finish my summer work so idk when my next update will be and I really have to work on my other story at some point.

As always, thanks to Random queen 101, Tiger demon of light, Kingdom's Oathkeeper, A.B.D.Y.Z, Angelfromheaven2012, DragonFang2011, and Guest(the pairings may not be exactly what you think) for reviewing!

I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade.

Sophie was glad the prank war had come to an end, for the most part anyway. It was her summer vacation and she wanted to relax as much as possible. She didn't want to spend anymore of her time cleaning up soap suds(she honestly couldn't believe they'd decided to flood the bathroom again). Not to mention they were done with falling into the holes beneath their towels. How the guys managed to dig so fast when the girls were only in the water for a few minutes remained a mystery. After the first few drops, they learned to lift up their towels and check before lying down.

Other than those few mishaps, their vacation was really going well. Even then, it wasn't that bad.

Actually, and Sophie couldn't believe she was honestly thinking this, it was kind of fun having the guys around. It made everything that much more exciting. Whenever things were starting to feel monotone, the guys always did something that changed that. Like the time Gingka and Masamune threw seaweed at Hikaru while she had been relaxing in a beach chair. She'd been pissed as all get out, and Kyoya, Ryuga, and Chao Xin had dunked them in the water and held them under the water for a few.

Needless to say, Hikaru had still been irritated, but she'd gotten over it quickly. Of course, sneaking back onto their side and filling the shampoo bottles with seaweed had helped. Sophie was still surprised the guys hadn't bothered to lock their door. They probably should have learned by now.

Or maybe they just didn't really care.

One thing, person, Sophie couldn't help but notice was Wales. He wasn't like the others. He sat out on the deck most of the time and wasn't involved with the majority of their antics. She wondered why he had even decided to go when Gingka invited him. Maybe he just wanted to go to the beach or wanted to get away from his normal life for a while.

It really didn't matter, though. Either way, she had to admit, she was drawn to him.

In school, they were sort of rivals, but close all the same. They were pretty friendly with one another and would work on projects together sometimes, but that was really as deep as their relationship went. More than once Sophie subconsciously found herself trying to compete against him for a higher grade. It wasn't just that she wanted to do her best, in a way... She wanted to get his attention. She wanted him to notice her the same way she noticed him.

Sophie shook her head, snapping back to reality. What was she thinking? She and Wales were acquaintances. That was all they would ever be.

"Gingka!" Madoka was yelling from across the beach. Sophie sat up on her towel and grinned. What had he done this time?

A pile of sand hit her smack in the face. Once she blinked it out of her eyes, she could see Ryuga and Masamune standing a few feet away from her. She looked at them pointedly. "Who did it this time?"

"Who do you think?" Ryuga said dryly. "It's pretty obvious."

"Hey!" Masamune shouted. "It really wasn't me this time! Ryuga did it!"

Sophie looked at him. "Am I honestly supposed to believe that? Considering you've done it the past two times, thrown seaweed at Hikaru, and dumped a bucket of water of Mei Mei's head, I don't think so."

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Right."

"Actually, he is," Kyoya told her, walking up the beach toward the condo. "I saw Ryuga throw it from here."

Ryuga glared at him. "Thanks, Kyoya. Way to spoil my fun."

Sophie didn't know how to respond to this. Instead, she got up and walked down to the water where her friends were.

Gingka had apparently splashed Madoka with the cold seawater before she had fully adjusted. Besides it being extremely cold, she was now completely soaked, despite the fact that she was only up to her waist in the water.

"I cannot believe he did that," she fumed.

Hikaru and Mei Mei were also out there with her, complaining about the cold water as well.

"We're in the tropics. Honestly, shouldn't it be warm? We should be complaining it's hot here, not freezing," Hikaru said through chattering teeth.

"Let's just go in," Mei Mei suggested.

They debated this for a minute. On one hand, they could stay out here and freeze, but it was unlikely they'd have to deal with the guys since they'd all gone in. On the other, they could go back to their half, but the guys would probably break in and annoy them or something. They really needed to get that extra key away from Gingka. More than once they'd run into someone snooping through the fridge. An entire pack of hamburgers had disappeared once.

They stayed outside, but now even the wind was cold. Dark clouds started to roll in and the waves began to grow larger. As if on cue, Gingka called to them from the deck. They could hear him, but just barely.

"Hey guys, there's a big storm coming so you probably wanna get in now!" They noticed he walked back in through their side. So much for privacy.

The girls went back up the beach and collected their towels and chairs then went up the stairs to the porch. They decided against leaving the towels out in case the wind got too strong and blew them off the railing. It probably wouldn't happen, but they wanted to be careful.

Just as they suspected, the guys were waiting for them in their living room.

"What are you doing here?" Mei Mei asked, somewhat oblivious.

"Mei Mei, they're in here every day; they just want to torture us," Madoka said. She was still wet for the most part. "I'm going upstairs to change and dry my hair because someone thought it'd be funny to drench me when the water's freezing." Gingka looked away guiltily. He didn't notice the smile on her face. The other girls went upstairs as well.

When they were done, they held a quick meeting in the upstairs hallway.

"What are we going to do about them?" Hikaru asked.

"No idea," Sophie shook her head. "There's gotta be a way to get rid of them, even if just for a while."

A loud clap of thunder startled them, causing all four to shriek simultaneously.

"Sounds like they're done changing," they could hear Chao Xin commenting downstairs. "Let's go up and see them."

"Hey!" Hikaru yelled down the stairs. "You don't know that! Stay down!"

"We can hear you talking about us from down here," Kyoya informed them. "Unless you're standing there while changing, you're done."

Defeated, the girls walked downstairs.

"Fine, we're done," Madoka sighed. "But can you guys please go? We want some time to ourselves."

"And our hamburgers back," Mei Mei added. Gingka's eyes widened. Masamune glanced at him with an "I told you so" look on his face.

"We gave you time earlier," Ryuga said. "A whole hour on the beach. We had to restrain Gingka and Masamune from running out there. As much as I wanted to let them go to torment the hell out of you, the others insisted they stay."

"And we appreciate that. Now go," Sophie ordered.

Chao Xin stood up. "Alright. If the ladies want us to go, then there's no point in staying. But you know where to find us." He disappeared behind he connecting door while the others followed suit.

Again, Sophie found herself wondering why Wales had decided to go with them as she stared at his retreating back.

"Thank god," she fell back into one of the seats. "I really thought they would never leave."

"They did not!" Mei Mei yelling from the bathroom caught her attention. "They filled our soap with maple syrup!"

"Real original, guys!" Madoka yelled at the connecting door. If the guys heard, they made no response.

The storm raged for a few hours, then began to calm down later on. The beach became utterly silent.

The next morning, the girls found a note on their dining room table.

"They were in here while we were sleeping," Hikaru's mouth hung wide open. Normally, she would have been furious, but today she was too shocked more than anything else.

Sophie read over the note. "They want to have dinner with us? This can only end well."

"We may as well go," Mei Mei pointed out.

"Yeah," Madoka agreed, sounding unconvinced more than anything.

"Well, we don't have any plans for tonight," Sophie mentioned. "Why not go?"

"Alright," Hikaru nodded. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Never ask that," Madoka advised.

They spent their day exploring the island. The soft sand gave way to the rocky shores they had arrived on after about three miles. The girls chose to head back at that point, not wanting to deal with climbing over any jagged rocks. After, they went to check out the town. The town seemed to be divided into three major sections: a small area where the people native to the island lived, an area with tiny shops, and the tourist hot spots. Hotels and other fancy restaurants decorated the streets, along with a few clubs in this particular part of town. It was definitely the most crowded section.

There was a large group of girls surrounding something that drew their attention. Upon closer inspection, they realized the "something" was Chao Xin. The girls rolled their eyes.

"Shocker," Mei Mei commented. "He can't go anywhere without drawing the attention of about fifty girls." The girls noted a sharp, almost bitter tone in her voice, completely uncharacteristic of their friend.

The remaining hours of the day passed quickly. The girls found their way to the restaurant.

"Well,they're not here yet," Madoka noted.

"You're surprised?" Hikaru arched an eyebrow.

"Hey!" A shout alerted them. The guys had arrived. Masamune and Gingka ran up to meet them, while the rest lingered behind. Chao Xin appeared to have shaken off his crowd of girls.

They walked into the restaurant.

"What do you mean we need a reservation?" Masamune whined. "This is totally unfair!"

The hostess explained to them that the restaurant was full, and they needed to call in advance. Masamune, Gingka, and even Kyoya started arguing. Ryuga looked slightly irritated while Chao Xin and Wales just looked bored.

"Fine," Kyoya glared. "Let's go, guys."

"There's probably a burger place or somewhere else we can go," Chao Xin led the way.

They did manage to find one and sat down at an outside table.

Things were going well for awhile until Gingka and Masamune got into a fight over the ketchup and Mei Mei got squirted in the face with it. They apologized profusely, but Mei Mei was not appeased. Madoka tried to intervene, but she too ended up covered in ketchup. Sophie and Hikaru suppressed laughs.

As Sophie watched everyone fooling around, she couldn't help but feel jealous of the relationship Gingka and Madoka seemed to have.

"So can we have the key?" Sophie interrupted.

"What key?" Gingka stared blankly at her.

"You know which one I'm talking about. The one that connects the two halves of the duplex."

"Oh right. I don't have it anymore."

"What?" Hikaru turned her attention to the conversation. "Where is it then?"

"Somebody took it."

Everyone turned to faced Masamune.

"What?" He put his hands up in protest. "I don't have it! Why does everyone blame me?"

Each of the boys vehemently denied having the key, no matter how much the girls prodded. It looked like the girls weren't going to be keeping their half of the condo as private as they wanted.

"Besides," Chao Xin put in, " We leave our half open on the back deck. You can get into our side whenever you want."

"Yeah, but first, we don't go on your side whenever we want. Second, we aren't leaving our door unlocked so obviously, we don't want visitors. By leaving yours open, it suggests you do," Hikaru pointed out.

"Okay-" Kyoya started to say but was interrupted as the entire group launched into a lighthearted argument about the whole situation.

When they were almost back, the blue color of the sky was slowly fading into purples, oranges, reds, and yellows.

"Sunset!" Gingka cheered.

He and the others raced up toward their condo, but Sophie noticed something weird. Wales was walking away from the duplex.

"Hey, where are you going?" she asked.

"To see the sunset," he responded, not looking back.

"But everyone's going to the deck."

"I know a better place," he paused. "You want to come?"

Sophie looked back at her friends, who were disappearing behind the door. They could do without her. "Sure."

Sophie followed Wales through the tropical foliage. They climbed over rocks(she really wished she'd worn better shoes) and up a steep path. Where were they going? Sunset would be any minute. The sky was already glowing with different shades. If they had to go much farther, they would definitely miss it. Were they just going to watch it along the path?

Then suddenly the path stopped. She pushed back some thick plants that threatened to whack her in the face if she didn't, then saw their destination.

It was a cliff, poised high above the rest of the island. She could see the waves crashing onto the beach far below them. It was so much better than the view from the deck.

"It's amazing," she breathed.

Wales nodded. "I found it the first day we got here."

The two sat on the edge of the cliff, watching the sun sink down.

Sophie felt something brush past her hand. At first, she thought it was a weird bug or something. Then she realized it was Wales's hand. She looked up at him. He seemed intent on the horizon.

Then she really saw him.

He was still the same guy she had known for years, but he was different. He had grown up. And she had never noticed. Or maybe she had, but it didn't fully hit her until that moment. She was falling for him. She'd been falling for him all along, but had pushed her feelings aside, never noticing them.

But here, so far from home and away from their friends, everything else melted away. The emotions she had buried deep inside were coming out in full swing. She could deny it all she wanted, but they were still there.

"Sophie?"

Wales looked at her, then moved in closer. Their faces were inches apart.

The sun finally vanished and stars began to illuminate the sky.

"Let's head back," Wales said suddenly. "We don't want to have to walk back down in the dark."

Sophie followed him, wishing desperately that he had kissed her.