Chapter 8: Manipulation

Well...yeah, that's the story. Throughout the time I took to recover, the rest of the villagers spent every waking hour looking for my parents. However, they were never found, and it was concluded that they probably wouldn't be until the ice melted the next year. So by that time they would be dead. My heart ached with remorse and regret at this news, blaming myself. I didn't talk to anyone through my pain, but my thoughts weren't private anymore. Drachia constantly belittled me, saying my parents weren't what I was supposed to focus on right now. Back then it seemed pretty heartless, but it was the only way he knew for cheering me up. But eventually I gave in to his demands.

So I left my home village for Moscow a few weeks later, because I had relatives and friends there from when we went to sell wares. It was the only place I could think of to start looking, as Drachia couldn't be bothered to try remembering anything. In that city, I managed to get this theory: that comparing the firebird with Drachia, it might be in a Beyblade too. So whoever owned it and controlled its power must be strong. But to find strong Beybladers, I had to enter tournaments and travel around in order to find it, and I had to be strong in the first place. And that's where my grandmother came in.

Yup, so after gathering information on her in Moscow, I moved to Japan to get stronger under my grandmother. I told her my story and after she displayed the power of her Bit-Beast to be similar to mine, I stayed. Yet, the moment I told her she seemed obsessed with me getting stronger all of a sudden, where before she was almost unenthusiastic. Speaking the local language was just part of the training. Without her sudden obsession, I probably would have been a foreign shut-in the rest of my life.

But I did get stronger.

Shortly after I could speak said language, I met Mr. Dickinson and quickly learnt his quirks and through him, Kai. Yes, Kai. And I know you're all thinking, "Hey his Dranzer has to be the fire bird right?" I thought that too. But after three years of getting to know him, nothing he said or did had ever hinted that he might know anything about the legend. I did ask him once where he got Dranzer, but he coldly shrugged off the question. That's the thing really. His cold attitude to everyone was an invisible wall which protected the information I needed. But when I first beat him in a Beyblade match that kinda settled out relationship: eternal rivals. Which sort of helped with me getting to know him, but on the other hand, it didn't help in the slightest.

So here we are. Oh, the family matters? Er...erm, I think I'll explain that later.


Back in the Seaside Dome once more, I eagerly and gracefully jumped on the backs of the seats towards my own between Ray and my uncle. Beyblading skills weren't the only thing my grandmother taught me that's for sure, as acrobatics were also on the to-do list. Let me just say this though: the hours of hell I went through to get this ability were NOT worth it. Seriously.

"What did I miss?" I cried as I landed my butt straight on the seat from above. Neither Ray nor my uncle was surprised at the nature of my arrival, but Ray was surprised at the state I arrived in.

"Whoa Yuffie, what the hell happened to you?" he cried, gesturing to my recent injuries from thirteen boken whacks.

"What? Oh, this?" I muttered innocently, gingerly pulling back a sleeve a little to show the purple.

"Yes, that!"

"This is nothing Ray; I get it all the time. You just get used to it." I shrugged it off. Ray blinked at me as if I was insane. I cleared my throat.

"Well, can you tell me what's happened so far, Ray?" I asked, clumsily changing the subject.

Although he was clearly annoyed at my easy going attitude to severe injuries, he simply sighed and told me that both Kai and Tyson were tied at one a piece.

"But right now, I wonder whether Tyson can still battle anymore..." he muttered. Looking over too, I saw Tyson on his knees and he did seem pretty shaken up. Well, the only person I know to have beaten Kai so far in his life is me, and that wasn't likely to change. So I wasn't exactly expecting Tyson to win. No matter who won though, they would both be my teammates in this new team, and we would be travelling together for a while...

But then Tyson pushed himself to his feet, declaring his will not to give up in order to lift his spirit. I gave him a sceptical look as I crossed my arms, my cynicism making me think that that was just too cliché to work.

But looking at Tyson's expression made me think differently. He's so focused... What is it that makes him try so hard? Looking over to Kai as well, I saw his eyes were burning with equal emotion. I could feel how much they wanted to win.

"I think both those boys deserve to win," said my uncle. I looked to him curiously, wondering at such idealism. There had to be a winner and a loser in every match. Ray then said my thoughts out loud to which I silently thanked him for being the voice of reason. Strangely, my uncle just smiled. As if saying, "Well let's just wait and see then." I gave him a curious look at that.

Either way, their battle began with both sides wasting no time in calling out their Bit-Beasts. Colliding with each other at their maximum power created the brightest light I had ever seen in a stadium, and for a few moments the Beyblades couldn't be seen. Reappearing above the players' heads and falling back down to the dish, the match was suddenly decided. Dragoon had managed to stay inside the dish, but Dranzer had fallen off the lip and out of it.

For a moment I couldn't believe it. Kai lost? To someone other than me?

Drawn to Tyson out of rabid curiosity once again, I jumped over the barrier and ran over to the cage, waiting patiently for it to come down. The moment I could vault onto the top I did, and with that I jumped a second time, landing squarely between the boys. Recovering from my jump, I smiled at them both.

"You sure know how to please a crowd, you two!" I greeted. Tyson immediately gasped, and pointed a shaky finger at me. I looked behind me, but seeing there wasn't anyone, I idiotically pointed at myself.

"You want something Granger-kun?" I asked, although I could guess what.

"Y-You need a doctor quick! What the hell happened, Yuffie-chan? You look awful! And how the hell did you jump from above like that?"

I sighed and scratched the back of my head, looking to the side.

"I'm fine, alright? I don't need a doctor. And acrobats shouldn't be that amazing," I muttered irritably. Looking over to Kai though, I saw him surprisingly looking to me, his expression a mixture of shock and wonder. What was puzzling to me though, was that because he knew about my acrobats, why was he so surprised?

"Did you get those injuries..." he began, looking slightly uneasy at the fact he was swallowing his pride to ask me a question. "...because we drew?"

I wondered on his intentions with those words, and my cautiousness working against me. I simply thought that he was being a jerk, happy to make me injured even if I drew with him. I then put my hands behind my head to tighten my bun.

"None of your business," I said coldly, glaring at Kai. Internally though, I wondered why he kept looking at me with such an unreadable look, as if he cared. I decided though that Kai was drinking up his "victory" and just applying insult to injury by staring at my failures to protect myself.

Yet no matter what I thought, Kai didn't avert his gaze until my uncle and Ray came over and began talking. It was then that Kai commented that he was now unneeded. My cue to laugh, in unison with uncle.

"You've got to be kidding Kai, we're gonna need you as our team captain you know!" I said cheerily.

"A what?"

With a heard flick on the breakers, a blaring spotlight then suddenly showed down on Tyson and Kai.

"Give it up for the two best Beybladers in the country everybody, Tyson and Kai!" cried the commentator, with the audience doing as they were told. Technically however Kai and I were tied for second since I drew with him, so it should be the three best Beybladers. Yeah yeah, even though it was only an observational match.

"Now though, it's time to unveil our representing team in the world championships! Going along with Tyson and Kai are semi-finalists Max and Ray, as well as our host's grand-niece, Yuffie!"

At this news the boys were dumbstruck, and even Kai was still staring up at the ceiling. He was showing genuine surprise! Damn, I wish I brought a camera.

So laughing at the hilarity of it, I let Kai insult me for laughing. Rudely I might add.

"If you saw your faces, you might laugh too! But surely the best comedy here is the fact that we are all going to be part of a team, which could really go all the way? Oh, the irony!" I dramatically put a hand on my heart as if the sombre tune of this sad, tragic, story had pulled at my heartstrings.

Ray and my uncle chuckled lightly at my words, and Tyson whooped at the prospect of being on a team. Kai meanwhile just crossed his arms and turned away. Sometimes I wonder whether that guy could laugh at all.

"Man, this is awesome!" cried Tyson, bounding next to me and making me jump. "Hey Yuffie-chan, how about we call ourselves the Bladebreakers then?"

"That does have a ring to it!" said Ray, and without even a team agreement, it was decided. Ah well, my suggestion of "Revolvement" probably wouldn't be liked anyway.

"Cool! Put her there!" said Tyson, holding up his hand, prompting Ray to grasp it. I just smiled a little.

"Hey!" some new voices added, coming onto this memorable scene. Turning around, I saw that Max and Kenny were running up to us. But they just as easily halted to a stop once they saw me.

"Y-Yuffie-san what-" began Kenny.

"I'm fine, really! It's just a few scratches!" I said exasperatedly, sighing once more. My irritation noted, an awkward pause followed. Max broke it.

"But isn't this the best Yuffie-san, we get to go round the world!" he said excitedly, smartly changing the subject. I blinked at this new information. But it did make sense, since we were going to enter national tournaments. I soon realized what this meant.

No cat, no grandmother, and what I want from the Beyblade store! my thoughts finished, my fists clenched in complete victory. Oh, it's good to be alive!

"Yup, it's the absolute best, Max-kun!" I heartily agreed, my happiness knowing no bounds. With this joyful revelation, I turned to Kai.

"Come on Captain! Let's do our best alright?" I grinned. Instantly Kai gave me widened eyes and a slightly agape mouth as if he had just been slapped.

"Cap...tain...?" he repeated disbelievingly. (W-Whoa, he liked the name?) I nodded slowly to confirm my words. He would be the Captain after all, and a rather good one despite everything so I had every right to call him that. Well, when I was in a good mood that is.

Quickly and somewhat awkwardly, Kai crossed his arms and looked away.

"I'd rather work alone."

Kai was such a killjoy back then. My uncle stepped forward.

"But Kai-kun, you have other responsibilities as well you know!" he commented, waiting for the chance to pressurize Kai into going.

"Like?' Kai prompted, inadvertently falling into a trap.

"Like accepting your talent as a world class Beyblader instead of rejecting it-"

"-and training these guys who look to you as a leader instead of shutting out everybody like blinds on a sunny day!" I finished with hands on hips, smile on face. I had felt a peculiar kind of satisfaction messing with his head.

Kai simply cast his eyes over to me, unfeeling.

"Why are you even going? You don't need training."

Ah hah, a chance to exploit! With a sly grin, I put a gloved hand against my chin, resting my elbow slightly against my other hand, completing a pose of superiority.

"I thank you Captain, for complimenting my skill like that. I feel so special," I gloated sarcastically, enjoying this immensely. Kai I saw immediately looked pissed off, justifiably so. "But alas, that is also an insult."

I ended the act right there and pointed to my most notable injury, a throbbing, stinging graze taking up all the space on my left cheekbone.

"After all, it looks like I still need training, doesn't it?" I rhetorically asked. He said nothing, although I saw notable irritableness. Knowing Kai, he wasn't annoyed at my address or tone of voice, but rather at the fact that I'm arguing about going. That just infuriated me even more.

"I am going Captain, whether you like it or not. So you better be a Captain, alright?" I stated, leaving no room for argument. With those words I had essentially just taken a more direct approach to what my uncle would have done, but I cast the notion aside.

Kai however, instead of turning around and walking coldly away in defeat like I expected him to, just twitched slightly the moment the new name I've given him was spoken.

"Alright, I'll do it," he said. Here I wondered. Did that 'Captain' thing really have that much of an effect on him? If it did, that would be really vain of him. And people call me advantageous...

"Right on, looks like we'll be teammates Kai!" bounded in Tyson without a second's warning, making me jump again. "Put her there!' he cried, holding up his hand. Way to spoil the mood...

This time however, Kai did turn away.

"I may lead this team now, but we're not going to be the best of chums because of it. I'm just here to lead this team to victory in the World Championship, that's all."

And he began walking away. I didn't press him to stay. Kai will be Kai, and there wasn't much out there that can change someone's entire personality.

"Well, see you then Captain. When's training?" I called after him.

"First thing tomorrow. You better be ready."

"Of course I'll be ready to kick your ass," I muttered matter-of-factly. Kai said nothing, and simply walked on. I shook my head lightly with sarcastic disbelief, a lofty smile on my face. He knows he can't win against me, he knows it!


"You will win you know Yuffie. Failure is not an option."

"I know, Voltaire-sama. I will not fail."

"Your grandmother I presume, will help you?"

"She will gather background information for me, and I will continue to Beyblade."

"Good. Help to make your teammates strong as well. You need to ripen the fruit before you pick it you know."

"I will Voltaire-sama. Thank you."


~Author's Note~

This may be a KaixYuffie story, but it's more on the friendship side, rather than romance. This is Beyblade after all. Just saying.