Bittersweet Melody

Second Arc: Act Fifteen

"So that's what's been going on."

Rei placed his hands in his lap and gazed at the group of teens in front of him. The group of teens stared back at him with wide eyes and looked to one another for answers. Rai, Mao, Rick, Michael, Emily, Mihaeru, Mathilda and F Sangre sat on Takao's dojo floor, listening to Rei. So Cat Greco, pop star, had lost all her memory associated with Beyblading. They had been invited by Rei just days before their departure from Japan.

"What are we supposed to do?" Mao asked with concern lingering in her tone.

"Just remind her little by little of who she was." Rei answered, looking at each team.

"It's just so strange," Mihaeru lifted his curled finger to his lower lip. "We," He began looking at his teammates, "Didn't know her that well but we were going to be teammates once."

"Yes," Mathilda nodded to agree with her team captain. "It is a little weird…if she were placed on the Barthez Soldiers maybe this wouldn't have happened?"

"Hm," Max sighed. "Maybe not, but there isn't anything we can do about it now. We just have to deal with what we've been given."

"True." Kyoujyu agreed with the blond.

"So what are we all sitting around here for?" Rick snorted, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Cat and The Saint Shields are coming to pay a visit." Rei replied, managing to smile as he spoke. "Hopefully seeing some once familiar faces will bring her around."

"It seems pretty unlikely that she'll remember our faces if she saw them." Michael concluded with a grunt.

"We're looking for anything to help Cat remember." Rei let out a small sigh after he finished speaking aloud.

"Hey," Mao lifted her head and began to scan the room. "Where's Hiromi? It's unlike her to miss something like this."

"I'm not sure," Max cocked one of his blonde brows. "Rei? Kyoujyu?" He looked to the two boys. "Did she say she was sick or something?"

"Um!" A sweat droplet began to trickle down Kyoujyu's temple. "I don't know!" He said in a nervous voice. "She's just-just not here." He then presented him with an awkward smile.

Max tilted his head to the side, feeling confused. His eyes then landed on Rei. The black-haired boy had his eyes shut and shrugged his shoulders. He felt his lip pout, something was wrong here. His eyes darted over to a very silent Takao. The world champ was laying on the dojo floor, far too the left. He hand his arms behind his head, for support, and wore his hat frontward with lip tipped over his face. Was he sleeping?

"You're awfully quiet, Takao." Max spoke to the resting male in a calm voice.

"Hey!" Daichi squeaked before crawling on all fours over to his partner. "Are you sleepin'?" He then reached his right hand out to Takao and began to poke at his nose. "Wake up!" Daichi then proceeded to shout in the champion's face.

Takao's whole body twitched. He sat up and swatted at the smaller boy, causing Daichi to back away with a grin on his face. The redhead began to giggle and snort, probably feeling excited by the challenge his rival presented. Takao reached out to Daichi and grabbed him by the arm; he then pulled the smaller boy's arm behind his back. Daichi let out a yelp and his chest hit the dojo floor. The two wrestled around for a few moments while the other teens watched and rolled their eyes.

"Are we intruding?"

The group quickly turned to the sound of a strong female voice. Upon turning, the group saw Jam standing in the doorway with her hands to her hips. Behind her stood The Saint Shields with Cat in tow. Ryu stood behind Cat with a single hand placed on her shoulder. Seeing his Grandfather enter the room, Takao jumped off of Daichi and on to his feet.

"Grandpa!" He exclaimed.

Ryu looked down to Cat with a large smile on his face. "It was nice seeing you again, Cat." He then removed his hand from her shoulder. "Just give Takao a little time, he'll settle down eventually." He ended his sentence with a wink to the smaller female.

Upon hearing his name, Cat looked toward Takao. The couple stared at one another for a moment before she shut both her eyes and turned up her nose at the blue-haired male. She crossed her arms over her bust and turned to the side.

"Jam," Rei rose to his feet to greet the older female. "It's been too long." He said with a seductive smirk on his face.

Jam extended her delicate hand to Rei and smiled. Rei took her hand and gave it a gentle shake. He then guided her toward the group of teens seated in the center of the dojo. Mao puffed up both of her chubby cheeks and turned her nose at the sight of the couple, was she mad? Jam took her seat beside Rei and Kyoujyu and placed her hands in her lap.

"Come on, Cat!" She called out to her younger sister. "Come take a seat."

XoXoX

Cat watched as her former team passed her by and sat down beside the large group of bladers. She lifted her hand to her mouth and looked at each blader. She turned and glanced over her shoulder to see that Ryu had gone. She ducked her head into her shoulders and began to slowly approach the group. Once close enough to take a seat, Cat looked about to see who she would sit between. Fear consumed her body and she could feel her legs start to become weak. How was she supposed to act normally around so many strange faces? Faces that claimed to once know her.

Max lifted himself from the floor and jerked his head at Cat, beckoning her to come his way. Without a second to pass her by, Cat skipped her way over to Max. She sat down with her legs crossed and a girlish smile on her face. This left Takao with a grunt and pout.

"So where's Yumi and Rumi?" Kyoujyu turned to Jam in question.

"At home of course," She replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "They said they had better things to do then play with spinning tops."

"Not to mention Cat already remembers them." Dunga interrupted the female, "There's no point in bringing them along." He lifted his hand to his head and groaned. "Thank God."

"So you're staying here in Japan?" Rei smiled at her sister.

"Yes," Jam nodded before shutting her eyes and smiling. "Ralf as decided to stay here for a while. So Team Euro is staying in the same apartment complex as Cat." She jerked her thumb over in her sister's direction.

"Wow," Takao's mouth dropped open in shock. "Ralf is really staying in a tiny apartment? That's amazing."

"Hehe," The oldest female lifted her finger to her mouth as she giggled. "I know. He's slowly growing accustom to a 'commoner' lifestyle."

The boy with the light brown hair that spread out in each direction closed his eyes and a droplet of sweat moved down his forehead. "He can be quite difficult to get along with," He then opened his eyes to look at Jam. "Are you sure you can live with him?"

"Oh yes," Jam lifted a solo finger into the air. "I've been doing it for two years now. I'm very used to his…attitude."

"But what about the rest of them?" The small pink-haired female with goggles asked with wide eyes. "Isn't living with four boys difficult?"

"I could ask you the same question." Jam replied with a sharp tongue and wink in her direction.

The asked female's face light up a bright shade of pink before hiding her face with her right hand and countering, "I mean with boys like that."

"You mean rich?" Jam tilted her head to one side.

"Yeah," The tanned male with the white ponytail cut in with a chuckle. "What is it like, living with snobby rich idiots?"

Cat flinched. She sat up straight and her eyes snapped open. She shifted her head to the left to look at the boy who just spoke. Her mouth dropped open as a flash of memories and muffled voices filled her head.

"No thanks, I hate rich crap like you."

"Ricky!" Cat blurted out and stood up on her two feet.

The group of teens watched as she stood on her feet with her hands covering her mouth. A bright red blush spread across her cheeks showcasing her embarrassment. Her eyebrows began to quiver as she looked around the room at the shocked faces staring back at her. She felt her knees being to buckle and she began to stutter.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" She whispered just loud enough for the others to hear her. "I don't know what came over me," Her hands began to tremble. "I…"

A warmth wrapped around her arm. Cat jerked to the side to see Max standing beside her. He hand his hand on her arm and a smile on his face. He watched as she slowly removed her hands from her mouth. His hand dropped down from her arm to her hand. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and guided her back into her sitting position.

"It's all right," Max spoke in a gentle voice.

"Yes," The four-eyed female with orange hair spoke up as her finger pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "It's very common to get pieces of your memory back a little at a time. So it's not unusual to have outbursts."

"Back to my question!" Jam announced with her arm lifted into the air. "Living with rich, snobby people can be hard but it's easy to kick them back into shape." She let out a giggle as she lowered her arm and placed her hand back in her lap.

"The world's at ease knowing you can do that." The tanned boy grunted before rolling his eyes.

The group of teens began to chatter amongst each other. Jam smart-mouthing the boy she assumed was called 'Ricky', the girls gossiping and so on. The dojo quickly began filled with the sound of voices both high and low. Giggles echoed through empty space and floated out into the backyard. Cat sat in silence.

She looked down on the wooden floor and stared back up at her own reflection. Was it always like this? Were these guys always this chatty? And if so, was she chatting right along with them? Was she the silent type or the outgoing type? Cat eyes bounced from the floor over to her sister. Was she like Jam, talkative and flirtatious? She then glanced over at the four strange girls in the corner.

One with bright pink-colored hair, one with a pair of goggles, the third with orange hair, and the last with the most beautiful two-toned hair Cat had ever seen. Was she part of their group at one time? Was she a feminine girl or a tomboy? Where did she fit in?

"Is there something wrong?"

Cat twitched. She looked over her shoulder to see Ozuma looming above her. He knelt down on his knees beside her and looked her straight in the eye. She turned away from the shorter male and sighed. She looked again at the floor and at her reflection. Who was she?

"Having trouble remembering everyone's names?" He asked her.

It was true, she was having some trouble but she couldn't let on that was a problem. Cat lifted her head and looked around at the people beside her. She could remember Max's name without a doubt.

She then looked at the small boy with a pair of glasses set high on his face; that was Kyoujyu. Rei was the male with the black-hair that Jam couldn't keep quiet about. Cat looked to the far right to see the boy, Kai, who was rude to her earlier in the week. Then there was Takao. The blue-haired menace who confessed his love for her then kissed her unexpectedly, there was no way she could forget him now.

"It's all right," Ozuma's voice broke her out of her thoughts. "Everyone should have introduced themselves to you."

"It's fine." She lifted her head to turn around and face Ozuma. "I know who you are." She moved her head to look at remaining members of The Saint Shields. "And I know Dunga, Mariam and Yusuf. So that's all that matters."

"No it's not." Ozuma said bluntly. "The rest of these people," He moved his eyes from her to the rest of the group in front of him. "These people were your friends."

"Then how am I supposed to act?" She hissed.

Ozuma paused for a moment. He then moved his chin toward the group in front of him."Ask them."

Cat followed Ozuma's movements and looked at the group of bladers in front of her. She muscles began to tense and tighten.

Ask them.

It was such a simple answer so why was she hesitating? She felt her lower lip begin to tremble. How could she even begin to ask? What would they answer? What if they shrugged her off? What would she do then? She began to chew on the inside of her cheek. All that she had become had disappeared from her in a single incident and now she was left wondering what she once was. How could she regain herself when she didn't know who she was?

She no longer knew what to do with herself, what to laugh at. Fearing that she would become something that she once wasn't. But she had to ask. She had to know. She had to regain herself and continue her life the way it was.

Cat pushed back her shoulders and lifted her head. She inhaled a deep breath and shut her eyes. The words she would say repeated in her head, over and over. She had to ask, she had to know what she once was. She would ask quickly, get it off her chest as soon as she could.

"What was I like?!"

She shouted loud enough to cause the others to look her way with cocked brows. After waiting for a moment she began to slowly open her right eye. She could see the strange faces staring back at her. Giving her that look. Cat let her left eye open and she slouched her shoulders and ducked her head back into her neck. Did she just make a mistake?

"What were you like?"

Cat flinched to the sound of her sister's voice. She looked her way with a wide set of eyes. She watched as her sibling ran her delicate fingers through her long brown hair. Jam then tilted her head down and allowed her glasses to fall down her nose.

"You were just you." She finally broke her silence and smiled at her sister.

"That doesn't help!" She pouted.

"That's it." The dark skinned with white locks, lifted his hand and pointed his index finger at Cat. "Just like that."

"Just like what?" Cat narrowed her eyes at him.

"A loudmouth." He dropped his hand and shrugged his large shoulders. "You always haft have the last word."

"Rick!" A large party of the group snapped at the older boy at once.

"I mean," Cat said just above a whisper. "Was I…"

"You were a tomboy." The girl with the two-toned hair spoke up and interrupted Cat. "You were always hanging around the boys. If I didn't know any better, you were a boy."

"Julia!" Her twin, she assumed, was quick to bark in response.

"I can't help but agree," The cute pink haired girl with the bow added with a giggle. "It was always you with Takao and team BBA."

"You were very hesitant about being a girl," The orange haired woman gave her a warm smile. "You never seemed to fit in with us."

"But that was okay," The girl with goggles chimed in. "You were always doing your own thing and if anyone wanted to join, they could."

Cat lifted her hand to her head. A tomboy? Did that mean she had no female qualities about her? Was she all rough and tumble? Or did she share emotions like a woman? She lowered her head and sighed. Was that the type of person she wanted to be?

"A bit naïve."

Cat turned to see the Chinese boy Rei was friends with addressing her. Cat let her eyes fall back to the ground. A naïve tomboy? The two didn't seem to flow well together. Her eyebrows fell over her eyes as she let the thought sink into her mind. She let her fingers grip her jeans before shutting her eyes. A naïve tomboy, a naïve tomboy…it didn't seem like she'd be that type.

"Childish." The American born male with the baseball lifted his finger into the air and grinned.

"A childish, naïve, tomboy?" Cat asked with a twitch of her eyebrow. "Thanks for the positive input guys!" She growled under her breath.

Chuckles from a selected few entered the room. Cat opened her eyes to see the group smiling at her. What was with the smiles? She felt a red glow appear on her face. What was so great about a childish, naïve individual?

The boy who accompanied the girl with the goggles cleared his throat before speaking, "If you ask me you're a lot like Takao."

Cat let her cheek twitch. "I'm nothing like Takao, you got that!" She hissed.

"Hey, it's the truth." Daichi shrugged is tiny shoulders while chuckling.

"You're one to talk." Kai spoke from across the room, one eye open and locked on Daichi.

The redhead sprung up from his seat with both fists balled. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Takao sat in his dojo, no doubt, his temper raising. His thick brow twitched on his forehead as he watched Daichi shout back at Kai. After a moment of trying to mute out Daichi's voice, Takao opened his eyes and focused his attention on her as she sat across from him. She had her legs tucked under her body and her arms crossed over her chest. Why did he insist on looking at her like that?

"You've got it all wrong," Takao spoke up.

The group of teens turned to Takao to see him with his legs crossed and his right arm extended in her direction. He pointed his index finger right at her face and wore a smirk on his face. She felt her stomach flip upside down. What did he want now? Didn't he have enough to say to her when he kissed her by force?

"The way you're sitting. It's not like the real Cat at all." He said the devilish smirk still lingering on her face.

"I am the real Cat." She growled and shot a glare in his direction.

"Really?" Takao rose a single eyebrow and snickered under his breath.

"Yes really!" She snapped, slamming her arms down to her sides. "Are you blind?!"

"Then why can't you remember anyone here?"

Cat paused before puffing up both cheeks. She bit down on her lip, crossed her arms over her chest and turned her nose up at Takao. She shut her eyes and let her eyebrows lower on her face to create a glare.

"That's what I thought." He concluded.

"Takao!" Kyoujyu turned. "You're being mean!"

"Is that right?" H returned the glare. "The real Cat wouldn't think so. We always talked to each other like this!"

"Well, maybe I'm blocking out my memory on purpose!" She combated the boy's comment by shouting at him. "Maybe I don't wanna remember you!"

Takao slammed his fist down on the dojo floor, causing the other teens in the room to flinch. "Good!" He barked, "Maybe, I wish it was me who forgot instead of you! That way I could forget all of the stupid things you did to me!"

Cat jumped up from her seat. "Maybe I did stupid things to you because you were mean to me! You're just a big jerk! That's why I wanted to forget!"

"I'm glad you forgot!"

She froze. She let the anger wash through her and make way for the upset. The burning sensation of anger vanished from her body and the cold chill of sadness filled her soul. Her clenched hands relaxed and her head tilted downward. She allowed the shadows from her hair to cover and conceal her face from view.

Her eyes shimmered and shined with tears. Before a single tear could fall from her eyes, Cat bolted forward. She passed by Max then crossed through the circle of bladers to bypass Takao. The blue-haired male shut his eyes as she passed him. She fled through the dojo and out of his home. Her footsteps faded away as the seconds passed, leaving the group to themselves.

Act End.