One Life One Love
Chapter 10: Fun and Feuds
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade
'We really need to find something productive to do,' Shaorin thought to herself. They were stuck in that awkward time of day again when no one wanted to do anything, but there was still an air of unrest in the room. She was sprawled over the couch common area of the Blade Breakers' suite, their designated lounging area now. Reaching over for the remote, she flicked through channels.
"Hey! Hey! I'm getting dizzy over here!" Tyson protested, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh whoops, sorry Ty," she had completely forgotten that he was there. She continued to switch channels but at a slower speed.
"Ugh…I'm BOR-ED!" groaning in frustration, she rolled off the couch.
"Oi Shao! You up for some basketball?" Sandy asked, holding up the orange ball.
"Meh…beats sitting around," Shaorin shrugged, striding to her room to change.
"Come on, boys versus girls!" Naomi declared when they reached the outdoor courts. They had managed to round the boys and convince them to come.
"No thanks for me. I prefer to work on my laptop. But I'll keep score for you guys," Kenny shook his head, taking a seat on the grass. They were at a basketball court behind the hotel.
"Lady's first," Rei grinned, passing the ball at Sandy.
"You sure about that?" Shaorin winked. She didn't excel at the game herself, but she knew for a fact that Naomi and Sandy loved it.
The ball was passed to Naomi who dribbled it expertly, keeping it away from Max. Without hesitance, she passed it to Celina, careful to keep it out of Tyson's reach. Then it was given to Shaorin who caught it reflexively. She was open a second ago but when she looked again she was blocked by Kai.
"Excuse me!" she exclaimed with mock politeness and ducked out of his reach, throwing the ball into the net.
"Not bad," Max chuckled retrieving the ball.
"Our turn!" Tyson smirked. He received the ball and threw it over Sandy and Celina's head to Rei.
"Oh no you don't!" Rei chuckled when Celina tried to steal it from him. Sandy received it from her and dribbled over to the BladeBreaker's net, scoring a 2 pointer. Shaking his head, Rei took the ball. This was going to be a long match…
Half an hour into the game and they were soon tiring. The score was close 34 to 36 for the BladeBreakers. And the sun was beating down on them mercilessly.
Reluctantly, the boys took off their shirts because of the immense heat. Sandy whistled jokingly. Shaorin blushed.
"Let's go people," Naomi ordered. And once again they began their game of basketball. Rei was a great player with his feline reflexes. Max had played numerous of times during his stays in America with the All-Stars. Tyson was pretty good too; his training with his grandpa had really paid off. Kai…well being Kai he excelled at the game though he had only played a few times. He managed to block most of the passes given to the other team and scored many points too.
"I'm exhausted…" Shaorin muttered tiredly. She collapsed onto the grass beside Celina fanning herself off. Eyes half lidded, she glanced over to the boys who poured bottles of water over their heads in attempt to cool down. In Shaorin's opinion, they all looked goofy with their hair half plastered to their faces. Their shirts were on again so that was drenched too.
Kai caught her gaze and gave her a small suggestive smirk, and she smiled weakly at him in return. It sent butterflies into her stomach, and she felt herself blush again. Seriously, she had no clue how the guy's mind worked. He didn't say much at times which didn't help give a clue about what he wanted.
"Aaaah," Shaorin sighed, staring up into the dark night sky. She gazed at the stars almost wanting to reach up and touch one. She lay on her back on the roof of the hotel.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" a voice came from behind her. Shaorin propped up on her elbows and turned to see Rei. He strode over and sat down.
"Mm…yah," she agreed. They sat in silence just admiring the view.
"You know…"Shaorin broke the silence, "Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to try to catch a star and hold it in my hands. That's why I always loved to nag you to bring me camping on the mountains during my visit to the village."
Rei laughed, "Right, and then you sang that song about catching a star and putting it in your pocket or something like that."
"Oh that…" She quietly hummed the tune of her childhood song.
"Hn," she laughed, "I was such a weird kid…actually I still am."
"I hope it's not the genes from my side of the family," Rei mused.
"Right…anyways, I think I'm going to turn in for the night now," Shaorin stifled a yawn.
"Sure, I'll go too then," Rei nodded following her back down the stairs.
A figure stood in the shadows hidden from the pair's views. His lips curled into a malicious smile.
"Ugh…I can't remember the last time I was worked so hard…" Celina moaned, collapsing onto the green grass at the back of the hotel.
"I agree…" Max joined her.
"Kai and Sandy have gone crazy with this training schedule," commented Rei.
"If they keep this out, even the bit beasts will be too tired for the real tournament!" Kenny shook his head.
They all complained about the harsh and strict training they were going through except Shaorin and obviously Kai and Sandy. Shaorin sat to the side not saying a word. Her lips were set in a grim line, glaring up at the two team captains who were continuing planning for the tournament in two days.
"Whoa…what's up with her?" Tyson pointed towards the fuming girl.
"Eh…Kai pulled her out of bed at 6 this morning; she's probably still pissed about it." Celina shook her head.
"Knowing Shaorin, she's going to bore a hole in the back of Kai's head by the end of the day," Naomi sighed.
"Poor guy," Celina sympathized.
"Why can't I do that when he takes away my food?" Tyson wondered.
Kai looked up from his planning to the teams sitting on the lawn.
"Get up you bunch of whiners, there's more to come," he smirked. They groaned in protest except for Shaorin, who got up and headed towards the door to the building.
"Where do you think you're going, Rin?" he stopped her.
She turned to face him, "Taking a piss, do you need to accompany me or something?" she answered sarcastically. Without waiting for a response, she continued on her way. Kai arched an eyebrow at her sudden attitude.
"Ouch…I'd hate to be you at the moment," Tyson winced.
"Whatever, forget about her and continue with your training," he ordered.
"Control-freak," Naomi muttered under her breath. Kai ignored the comment.
An hour passed, and still Shaorin didn't return.
'Where is that girl?' Kai thought to himself.
"Hey, hasn't Shao been gone for a while now?" Max asked.
"Yah…did she fall into the toilet?" Tyson joked. Naomi smacked him on the head, "Hey, hey, I was just kidding!"
"Maybe we should go check on her," Kenny suggested.
"I'll go," Celina volunteered.
"No, you guys stay and train, I'll go look for her." Kai said, and walked to the door.
He walked through the swimming pool area, across the gym, up the stairs and down the hall to where their rooms were.
"Shaorin, you in there?" he knocked on her bedroom door. There was no answer. He pushed open the door, and saw her sprawled across her bed, reading a tattered copy of her favourite novel. He growled in anger and stood crossly in front of the bed. She made no move to acknowledge his presence, and kept reading.
"Hn…" Kai grunted, "Ignoring me won't work, Shaorin."
Letting out a sigh, she got put down the book and got up. But did not even glance at the pissed off boy in her room. Instead of walking up to Kai, she walked pass him and sat down on the couch where the TV was and turned it on. Kai let slip another growl and took the remote from her, turning the thing off.
"What is your problem, woman?" he eyed her heatedly. She turned away from his gaze and only muttered a small 'You.' Kai ran a hand through his slate hair in frustration; he knew how temperamental Shaorin was at times.
"What is it this time?" he muttered.
Her hazel eyes looked at him coolly, "I'm tired, cranky and I'm pissed off. Unlike you, I actually need to sleep. What's the use of waking us all up at the crack of dawn? Without rest, we'll only tire easily. Anyways, you have the whole today AND tomorrow to work our butts off!" She fumed slightly at the end of her outburst.
"Maybe we wouldn't have needed to wake that early if you guys weren't always slacking off! You're just like Tyson; all play and don't even think about the tournaments." Shaorin was shocked.
"Like I care what you even say anymore!" she shouted childishly, "And even if Tyson slacks off sometimes, at he has a heart unlike some cold bastards I know!" With a huff, she stormed out off the room.
"Shit…" Kai could only mutter. Somehow he always managed to rub her the wrong way and get her pissed off. Their arguments were as bad as his and Tyson's. That wasn't a good thing.
Shaorin had always been somewhat of a rebellious person. She hated rules…well especially the ones that she thought were ridiculous, which was about a good half. She didn't agree of a life without freedom, you could say that she was a freedom fighter in a way. But it's scary when she gets ticked off. Though she may be small in size, she had the ability to do many painful things.
He broke out of his thoughts and glanced outside the window, it was pouring rain. 'Not again…' he groaned inwardly, and remembered his abandoned team outside. Feeling a migraine coming on, he reluctantly headed down to find them.
When he arrived back at the gym, he found them all there except for Shaorin.
"Rei, where's Shaorin?" Kai asked.
"Shao? But I thought she was with you…" Rei trailed off. Kai grimaced at that.
"I'm going outside to look for her," he said, and pushed open the door.
"Wait, Kai! It's pouring out!" Max called after him. His words were unheard in the winds.
Shaorin stood quietly on the balcony of the common room. Yelling at Kai had helped her blow off the steam she'd cooped up. Now the patter of the rainfall comforted her as she wondered how exactly she'd go about apologizing to the captain. Looking out onto the still busy streets, she saw a familiar figure run through the puddle-filled road.
"Eh…Kai?" she frowned. In worry, she rushed to find the others.
"Hey," she panted, "What's Kai…" she took a breath, "Doing in the rain?"
"Shaorin!" Tyson exclaimed.
"Answer my question please!" she said.
"He was looking for you," Sandy shrugged.
"Me?"
"Yeah, he was asking us about where you were," Kenny nodded.
"Ergh, Kai…" she moaned under her breath and grabbed an umbrella before dashing out the door like Kai did.
"Hm…at least she's smart enough to bring an umbrella," Naomi grinned.
'Kai…where are you?' Shaorin thought to herself worriedly. She searched place after place looking for him to no luck. Finally she went back to the park she had been to with him a while earlier. And to her joy, there he was standing by the playground with his back to her.
Curiously, she watched two girls approach him.
"Hey, it's raining hard here. Do you want to share an umbrella?" one asked him sweetly.
"No, leave me alone!" he growled. Shaorin frowned at his harshness.
"Kai Hiwatari," she called his name, holding the umbrella so that it shielded them both.
"Where the hell were you, Shaorin?" he shouted at her.
"No need to be so loud," she mumbled, a grim look on her face, but felt guilty for releasing all her anger on him earlier.
"Whatever," Kai crossed his arms, "Come on." He began to leave the park, leading Shaorin to God knows where.
"Eh, not so fast."
"Just shut up and catch up, slowpoke." Shaorin rolled her hazel eyes. They ended up in front of a five-star restaurant.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" she said to herself but followed him inside.
"Nice place…" she commented. Kai didn't say anything and kept drinking his coffee.
"Ohmigosh! I can't believe it's actually her! Look guys, it's Shaorin Kimoto!" someone suddenly burst out. Shaorin's eyes widened at that and immediately stood up.
"Come on Kai, we have to leave. NOW" she panicked. Sure she didn't mind her fans, but this was one of those times that she wanted to be a normal girl rather than a celebrity. Shaorin pulled Kai out of his seat and burst through the backdoor and to the back stairwell. She let out a sigh when she heard thunderous footsteps rush pass them.
"I think we're okay for now," she breathed. There was no answer from Kai.
"Uh…Kai?" she turned around and saw him lying on the floor. She crept over and shook him gently.
"Kai…" she whispered, pulling him closer to her. He moaned something inaudible, "Are you alright?" Crimson eyes opened slightly to stare up at her before closing again.
"Kai…" Shaorin squeaked, he'd collapsed into her arms.
"Now what?" she muttered to herself.
End chapter 10
Revised: May 30, 2011