Riko's P.O.V:

"RIKO!"

"Go away," I mumbled, snuggling deeper into the thick comforter. My face was buried in the pillow. I didn't want to get up.

"Riko," Madoka said more gently. "The World Championships are today."

"I don't care – wait, what!?" I gasped, sitting straight up.

"Yeah. And we're deciding who's battling who, so you might want to get ready to join in."

I didn't need to be told twice. I finished brushing and showering quickly and stormed up to the team. Everyone flinched at my arrival. Tsubasa was the first to recover. "We're deciding –"

"Yeah, I know," I interrupted.

"Riko…" Yuu looked like he was about to burst into big fat baby tears. "I'm sorry!"

I softened slightly. "It's all right. I'm fine."

"I decided to let you battle in my place," he declared.

"Wow, that's really…" For a second, I forgot that he was involved in the graffiti incident. And anyway, he was just a kid. If anything, those two put him up to it. "Thanks."

"So, who do you –"

"Chao Xin." The words slipped out of my mouth so quickly I even surprised myself.

"What?" Masamune protested. "But I need to win to even out the score!"

"Well, on normal circumstances, I'd let you, but I need to battle him," I shot back. "I wouldn't even be in this situation if it weren't for you and Gingka!" Done with my outburst, I collapsed in a chair.

Masamune was quiet. Then he said, "Right. You battle him. But just so you know, it was Gingka's idea."

"Hey!" Gingka glared at Masamune, but I intervened.

"So it's settled. Gingka's obviously battling the leader, so yeah." Madoka looked concerned, but whatever she was going to say, I interrupted her, "When are the Championships?"

"In three hours," she replied.

Three hours. To tell the truth, I had no desire to see Chao Xin, let alone battle him. Whatever had possessed me to go against him, it was gone now and all I wanted to do was sulk in bed. But of course, I had no choice. Yuu had so graciously given me a chance to battle, and it probably not come for a long time again. Might as well enjoy it while I could.

Of course, it would be hard to enjoy anything now.

Angel's P.O.V:

Great, I thought as I combed HD Academy, not sure exactly where I was supposed to be going, or whether I was supposed to be going anywhere at all. I was frustrated with my barren room, so I decided to explore. But so far, my decision was merely annoying me further.

My heart was pounding with anxiety, but I didn't know why. My fists were clenched tightly, so hard that my knuckles were turning white. What was going on with me? I was rarely this agitated. I blamed almost being drowned for my attitude, but I knew that that wasn't the case. Irritation was building up inside me, threatening to burst. So when I ran into Zeo, I just couldn't take it.

"What do you want!?" I blurted out. He looked at me funny. I lowered my gaze, berating myself for the sudden reaction. "Sorry. I feel weird today."

"If this is about the towels…" he trailed off.

"You think this is about the towels?" I asked incredulously. "To be honest, I don't know what's gotten into me. I'm lost, and frankly irritated with everything."

"The Arrangement," he whispered.

"What?"

"Ziggurat did say that after the Arrangement you'd feel different, but I thought he meant, you know, power."

"Well, whatever happened to me, I don't like it," I stated. "When do you think the effects wear off?"

"I don't know," he confessed, "I don't even know if they're temporary."

I groaned. "Great."

Awkward silence.

Then,

"Well, have you had an Arrangement?" I questioned.

For a second, he was quiet. Then he sighed. "No, not yet. I know when Ziggurat directly tells me to have one, I won't be able to argue. But for now, I'm just trying to avoid it."

"So, how did you get on the team anyway?" This question had been bugging me all night and I couldn't hold it in.

He shrugged. When he realized I wouldn't let the topic drop, he sighed and said, "Well, it was a rainy evening. I was standing under a streetlamp when all of a sudden, I saw Ziggurat walk towards me. Somehow, he knew everything about me. My name, my problems – and most importantly, the solution."

"What was the problem?" I prodded.

"Well, see, I have this friend, Toby. He's really sick, and he's just getting worse. So when Ziggurat said he had the cure, well, it was too good to be true."

"It probably is," I said sourly. "So he agreed to cure Toby if you joined. That's the story?" Zeo nodded. "And did he cure him?"

He looked away. "He said he'd cure him if I showed results. Ziggurat believes that the only way to do so is through Arrangements. So I stopped asking him."

"But it doesn't make any sense," I realized.

"What? It makes perfect sense. I show results, Toby gets cured."

"But why would he care about your friend? Why would he want you on the team anyway?" The words came out harsher than I had intended, but I let that slide by.

"Maybe because I'm a lot stronger than I was before," he said indignantly.

I took a step back, slightly alarmed by the intensity of his words. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean –"

"Of course you did. Why else would you ask that?"

"I was just wondering," I chose my words carefully, "why he'd choose you among everyone else. I mean, yeah, you're pretty strong, but there are millions of bladers in the US."

"I don't know," he said. The offence in his eyes dissipated. Now just confusion remained. "I don't get it either. Are you done with your questions?"

"Yes."

"Good, because I have one. How did you manage to get yourself completely soaked?" he asked.

I saw no reason to tell him I'd been trying out for all the teams. "I drowned," I said flatly.

"You can't be serious," he said, bemused.

"It's true. I fell into a sewer – er, water main – and got washed up in the Pacific Ocean." I shuddered as the thought of the shaking sewer came into mind. Someday, I was going to murder Marcus.

"Wow," is all he said.

"Where are we going?" For the first time, I realized we had been walking.

"To Ziggurat and the rest of the team."

"What are they like?" I questioned, curious.

"Aliens," he answered, "you won't like them, especially if you're still annoyed with everything."

I shrugged – I felt slightly better now, but it was only partly because I could blame the Arrangement for my actions.

Yes, something was definitely fishy about Ziggurat.

Riko's P.O.V:

I could see him.

He looked handsome as usual, with his perfect brown hair and perfect tan and perfect everything else. But he was avoiding my gaze. Because he feels guilty too, I thought. Then I shook my head. You wish, I told myself harshly. It was all my fault. I could have apologized, but no. I had to fight fire with fire, and I now had to face the consequence; I was getting burned.

His hundred screaming fans looked like they wanted to run out of the stands, into the stadium, and glomp him. Which led me to believe that what had happened yesterday was a good thing – better than being heartbroken later on. But now that I thought about, I was heartbroken anyway. It couldn't have been much worse if he'd indirectly broken up with me.

I sighed. Time for my moment. As the Chinese DJ announced my name, I slowly walked up to the stadium. Though a majority of the spectators' eyes were glued on Chao Xin, I saw some boys swooning over me. I rolled my eyes in disgust; I've had enough romance for a lifetime. Or was that what I wanted to think?

He looked slightly shocked that I had chosen to battle him, but he shook it off quickly, readying his bey.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let it rip!" we both said. Or more like whispered.

For a long while, our beys just circled the stadium. Even the fans seemed to be getting bored. So was I; but we both knew our minds were not on the battle. I didn't know what he was thinking about, but I was mentally conjuring up a long rant about yesterday. Part of it was an apology, but the rest was just things I didn't really mean.

So of course, when he spoke up, I was taken by surprise. I couldn't hear exactly what he said, but I think it was something along the lines of, I'm sorry. But that was probably what I wanted to hear – my feelings were getting in the way of my senses, something that has happened before.

"What?" I asked softly. I had no desire to talk to him.

"Look, just forget it," he snapped. "Besides, after this, you're going to leave China anyway, so just focus on the battle."

Something inside me was taking over, and I found myself rolling my eyes. "Like you are." That did wonders to shut him up. "First of all, it wasn't me who played that stupid prank on your temple. I'm not the only person on the team. And second, this was bound to happen anyway, so just –"

"What do you mean, 'this was bound to happen anyway'?" he interrupted.

"Please. Anyone could see that you were just using me. Just playing with me. Because of my looks. You never really liked me, not now, not then, and not ever." He tried to say something, but I didn't let him. "Those fangirls always trail you. If you really liked me, you'd tell them to get the hell lost." No one in the stands could hear our conversation, but both our teams could. And they looked surprised.

"Riko," he said, stunned, "you seriously misunderstand me. Those fans have nothing to do with –"

"You're playing with them, too," I retorted. "Just getting their hopes up, so you become more popular. Don't tell me I'm wrong!" I was shouting now, but still the spectators couldn't hear my words. "And you were planning to do the same with me."

"I'm telling you, that wasn't my intention," he insisted. "Yes, I overreacted to the prank, but then again, you did too."

"Yeah. Of course. So this all was my fault." Tears were threatening to spill down my cheeks, but I wouldn't let them. "I didn't do it. Gingka, Masamune and Yuu did."

"I believe you," he said in a more composed tone.

"If only you'd said those words yesterday, I wouldn't be in this mess," I said angrily. "But I suppose I should thank you."

"F-For what?" he asked, taken aback.

"For making me realize the truth. Help save time. The moment I left, you'd have another girl in your arms, wouldn't you?"

"I'm telling you, I really liked you." Up until now, our beys were still circling around the stadium, and the people watching were getting increasingly irritated.

"Yeah, so did I. My mistake." Sarcasm rendered my voice sharp.

"I'm serious."

"Of course. Because of my looks. But you're keeping an eye out for another girl. Just in case you get bored with me."

He shook his head. "I never liked you because of your looks. I mean, yes, they were a factor, but that's not it."

"Then what is?" I asked, exasperated.

"Do you really want to know?"

"YES!" I furiously swiped at my eyes, which were wet.

He took a deep breath. "You're funny. Practical. Down to earth." I gaped at him as he continued, "You're not clingy, and you're not afraid to express your opinions even if they'll annoy me. You're not a crazy stalker. It's easy to talk to you, and yes, you're beautiful." Now I was stunned, hanging on to his every word. "You seem nice. You…you're just amazing in every way." He smiled ruefully. "It would help if you weren't so stubborn, though."

I couldn't speak. I could barely breathe. The tears were streaming down the sides of my face now, but I made no move to wipe them away. I just stood there, staring at him. Obviously, I had no idea how he felt about me. When he'd asked me out on the first day, I had concluded it was because of my looks. When really it was just that he had understood so much about me in so less time.

"I…" My voice came back to me. "I…you mean it?" He nodded, somewhat desperately. "I-I'm sorry," I whispered. "I just thought…with all the other girls…that you'd eventually forget about me."

He sighed. "Riko, we could have parted without this conversation, still mad at each other, and I could never forget you. Besides, I should be the one apologizing; it wasn't me yesterday. It just wasn't."

"I'm the one who started the fight."

"If I was blamed for something I didn't do, I would have done the same thing."

Twenty minutes later…

I'd won the battle. But it didn't seem to matter anyway. Actually, I was just relieved it was over, because all I wanted to do now was hug Chao Xin.

The spectators seemed relieved, too. They had no idea about the value of that battle.

When I walked back, all the team said was, "Cool. You won." Madoka gave me a knowing smile, but I just replied with a quiet, "Oh, shut up."

The truth was, my heart was dancing inside.

A/N: Well, here it is! Nice, long chapter to make up for the kind of-long wait. And I have something to say now. *Clears throat* My school starts tomorrow, so now I can only get a hold of the computer for three hours every Saturday. I know, unfair, but there's nothing I can do. I'll try to update every weekend, but even that's going to be slightly hard. Hope you don't mind the week-long wait, though.

Shantel: Of course they mind! They want MORE!

Me: Well, like I said, there's nothing I can do. Anyway, I sincerely hope this wasn't boring. I have to go now, so yeah. Read and review, like always!

Angel: This time you get Zeo clones too, because Moon finally gave in. And remember!

Shantel: Don't put anything metal in microwaves!

Riko: And cats have nine lives!

Leslie: Which is sad for Zeo.