Chapter 9: Complaints
It was 8:28am.
Stretching slightly, I leaned back against the warming plastic of the seats at the airport lobby, bored out of my mind. It was my own fault. But maybe I should have at least brought a book or something. If only to stop myself from having this inactive state of mind since I had no one to talk to because the rest of the Bladebreakers wanted to be on time instead of early. Coming here three hours early though was definitely a mistake, even if I didn't really have a choice because of a cat and a grandmother altering my circumstances slightly. But I was now booooo-red.
Looking around at the other people at the airport though was like suddenly going from black to white on a canvas. They sure didn't seem in the slightest bit bored, as they were either excited about going somewhere foreign, or angry at delayed flights. I was neither, mainly because all excitement about going to foreign places was destroyed the moment I set foot in Japan. It made me appreciate Russia a lot more that's for sure, especially when I was hit by nearly every symptom of jet lag. As well as that I was also hit by the effects of not acclimatizing properly. I guess you could say it was why I wore winter clothes all the time, but then again it may just be because I liked wearing them.
Yawning widely, I looked at the giant clock hanging over the info desk.
"8:30am..." I muttered, cursing it the bizillionth time for going slowly. Resuming my stare down with the ceiling, I thought about what I could do for a couple of hours. Many things popped into my head, like reading a magazine, try thinking of a few new Beyblading strategies, and even checking out how outrageously expensive the food is around here.
"No thanks..." I sighed to myself.
"No what?" suddenly said an annoyed voice behind me. An electric shock spiralled up my spine as I let out a small squeal between my teeth. My hands shot to grip the seat.
The guy behind me let out a 'tch' of disapproval. My fear instantly dissipated. I knew that 'tch'. Breathing out an exasperated sigh, my expression turned hard before I looked behind my shoulder, letting go of the seat.
Kai had his arms crossed and his usual stone face set in place as he looked to me. Just as I had predicted. I glared at him. Being frightened was NOT something I appreciated.
"If you want to leave the team, you're very welcome to," Kai continued, staring right back. I gave him a pissed off look at this. That morning sure was a lovely one isn't it?
"Oh, good morning Captain! Why are you so early?" I asked cheerily in sarcasm mode, ignoring his previous comment. Mornings were never meant to be conflicting hours. They should be to meditate on the day to come, and to eat breakfast. Kai was unmoved.
"Felt like it. Anyone else here?"
"Nope!"
"Hmph."
Without another word, he settled himself down a couple of seats away from me, evidently thinking things that were far too important to be voiced. The 'I'm too cool to talk' disease strikes yet again...
Distracting myself before I got annoyed, I pulled Drachia out of my pocket. "It's pretty awesome we're not being hit every other minute isn't it Drachia?" I said.
Well of course. But even if we aren't facing people with Ray's calibre all the time, don't slack off.
"Don't worry; we'll get stronger along the way! Gran's role will be filled!"
Ah yes, my fight with Ray. That had definitely made me stronger. It was a three round, two wins takes it match. I lost the first, Ray lost the second, and then I narrowly, and I mean narrowly, lost the last one.
That means my score with Ray stood at one win and two losses to me. I sighed and my head sank. If that was a tournament match I would have lost. I planned to fight Tyson and Max in a bit of friendly competition sometime in the future as well, but that would have to be for a time when I was in a better mood. But for now, I was still bored.
Leaning back on the chair again, I enviously eyed all the children who got those comfy leather seats and got absorbed by my thoughts once more. But by the end of the two and a half hours, I had done all I had suggested to myself in my head, slightly against my will.
"Man, where is he?" I muttered impatiently, tapping my foot as I kept clenching and re-clenching my fist in an effort to burn off steam.
Tyson was late, to put it simply, and I was burning with anxiety. Just how could anyone in hell miss an 11:00am plane? Even if he gave it, I wouldn't take the fact that he was at a funeral as an excuse because if he doesn't show up, I would be organizing his!
Flexing my fist again, I glanced apprehensively at the clock on board the plane, cursing in Russian. According to that clock, there were precisely 47, no; 46 seconds left till take off. Tyson-kun...!
"Whoa...Too close!"
WHACK. Using a fist that was ready to go, I made Tyson hit the deck of the plane the moment he stepped on it. I just knew it was him.
"'Don't and I say DON'T be late again, you hear me? You almost gave me a heart attack like that!" I yelled at the swelling on Tyson's head that almost blocked my view of him. Sitting up, Tyson rubbed at his wound while he sat up and almost instantly cowered under my towering figure. Although I was marginally shorter than him.
"Hey, Yuffie-chan it's cool. I made it, didn't I?" he moaned
"This time maybe but your opponents sure won't wait as leniently as this plane did!"
My uncle then cleared his throat to get our attention. "Settle down now, what matters is that Tyson-kun managed to make it in time," he said, forever being the peacemaker. I was about to argue back, but someone unexpected did it for me.
"The girl's right for once Mr. Dickinson, Tyson needs to be more serious," said Kai. I sagely nodded as I crossed my arms, agreeing with Kai completely.
"Absolutely right Ca-" I stopped short. Slowly, the vein on my head became more projected over two or three seconds. I kept my back to Kai. "Kai...I have a name."
No audible response. I whipped around, unable to hold it back.
"It's Yuffie Volynski! Okay?" I fumed as I flexed the fist I didn't use on Tyson. Kai raised an eyebrow at the fist I was exercising but then he simply closed his eyes and ignored me. ...The jerk!
"Hey Yuffie-chan, what nationality are you with that surname? Sure I noticed the accent and all but..." Tyson then piped in innocently. I let out a loud 'tch' and rolled my eyes. But then I sighed. I quickly decided that I would deal with Kai some other time.
I smiled down on Tyson. "Well if you like, I'll tell you all sorts of things about Russia when we sit down okay?"
~Max's P.O.V.~
I really did look forward to this journey. Travelling around the world, seeing all the different kinds of Beybladers out there, spending time with my friends... But it didn't get off to the best start once we had landed in Hong Kong. Hanging around waiting for Mr. Dickinson in the lobby, we soon learnt that Tyson seemed to need the bathroom, our next flight was delayed, and the atmosphere was slowly getting tenser and tenser.
Kai, the source of it, was ignoring my attempts to keep the place lively and unfortunately, it made Yuffie want to object. Before this point, I had noticed her reserve of patience can really be thin sometimes. But then again, she was travelling only with boys, so I couldn't really blame her. I just thought everything wouldn't fall apart this quickly...
"Will you quit radiating your annoyance, Kai? You're making me annoyed too now!" Yuffie cried, snapping her eyes over to Kai by the wall as she stood near the rest of us. Kai though, gave no response.
There was a pause.
"Are you listening?" yelled Yuffie, losing her temper more and more. My face had a worried yet sceptical look. Kai could have just been contemplating what answer to give her, you never know! If this kept up, not only would there be a lack of teamwork, their rivalry wouldn't only get deeper.
"Yeah, I was listening," replied Kai suddenly, raising his head to look directly to Yuffie. Does this mean he has an answer? I had to admit, I was curious to know. "But I didn't really want to reply to such an unintelligent piece of information."
"Why yo-"
Almost without thinking, I held Yuffie's further insults back with a hand on her shoulder. Stopping as she felt the touch, she looked back. For the shortest of moments that seemed like ten whole seconds to me, I didn't know what to say. I just looked at Yuffie's surprised, blue eyes for a moment, all awareness suddenly gone. Then however, she cocked her head slightly in wonder. That tiny movement caught my eyes and pulled me back down to Earth. I looked to Kai.
"Yuffie-san is right, Kai. But let's also act more like a team okay? I think your rivalry is splitting this even further apart," I commented lightly with a smile at both of them. Yuffie immediately apologized, but Kai didn't.
"She shouldn't even be here. It's not my fault," he stated bluntly. Yuffie fumed at him almost instantly, crying the question of why she shouldn't be here. But even if Kai didn't want her here, I did and I'm pretty sure Tyson and Kenny didn't mind her presence. I just wondered why Kai didn't like her being here. She was a great Beyblader and I could tell she was a good person, even though I haven't really known her all that long, with it being three days and counting.
As I broke up another potential fight between them though, I just wondered why Yuffie and Kai seemed to have such an odd relationship. I won't say friendship, but there seemed to be something that influenced their, no it's not hate, more like rivalry. But it was continuing to grow in size with each argument they had, and soon enough, something would have to give.
Looking at Yuffie's smiling face though, it made me almost forget that we were in China for a tournament, and I laughed along with her the moment she began acting her more lively again after that tense moment. I couldn't even get the smile off my face as went into the suite we got, or when we went out to eat at an all-you-can-eat restaurant.
~Author's Note~
I'm just saying this for now: "Darkened-Storm thank you ever so much!"
