Chapter Thirty Four: Rising Anxiety
Last Time:
They looked up at me when I ran over to them, and smiled warmly at me. But, I lost control of my emotions again, and stopped to brush away my tears once more. I failed to notice my team coming up to me a few minutes later, and only noticed it when Tala had his arms wrapped around me. I broke down quickly after that, and burst into tears while being held by my team captain. I stopped crying around 15 minutes later, and suddenly felt very grateful to be on this team. 'This is why I stay...because they make me whole again. They're there when I need them the most, and they'll do anything in their power to protect me; I love them.'
Continued Story:
-The next Day-
I rubbed my eyes tiredly as the morning glow showered me immensely. Bright reds, oranges, and yellows were all I could see for a small portion of the time I spent lying on my bed. And then I remembered; I just cried into Tala's arms...all because of a picture. My eyes were accustomed to the brightness now, but all I could do was stare blankly up at the ceiling. 'I'm so pathetic...first I walked out to them...then I cried to Tala...then I feel asleep in his arms...his strong arms. They must think me as so pathetic and weak; I'm truly useless to this team.'
My thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the wall beside the curtain that divided my half of the room, from their half. I quickly sat up and did my best to quickly fix up my messy hair. 'Why do they want me?' "Um, come in," I said quietly. My eyes widened at the sound of my own voice reverberating against the pearled walls of the hotel room. My voice is so soft and feeble...why does it sound so dead and unfamiliar? My hands trembled slightly as my eyes, that weren't seeing, failed to notice the figure standing beside my bedside.
"Kiko chan...You're awake. How are you this morning?" I quickly snapped out of my train of thought, and focussed on the boy beside me. "Can you speak at all?" I nodded to him after a few more moments of complete silence.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Tala kun. I'm sorry for...last night; I had no intention of falling asleep on you, or crying to you," I replied softly. I just as quietly tore my frostic eyes away from him; it was bad enough that I cried on him, he truly doesn't need me to stare at him too. I felt a strong hand come down on my arm, and a sense of relaxation over came me. 'Maybe he doesn't think that I'm weak...or maybe he does and he's just trying to be nice about it,' I thought morbidly. 'Why did I think that they could love me and need me, as much as I loved and needed them?'
"It's fine...Kiko chan...Crying doesn't always have to be a weakness. If you have a good reason to cry; then do it. Whatever it was that upset you, must have been...harmful or something," he shuffled over more to me and whispered softly in my ear as I played with the folds of the blankets, "besides, you can always come and cry to me; my arms are always ready to hold you." I quickly looked at him, my pupils slightly wider then before. Did he just say that he would hug me...whenever I wanted him to?
My face flushed deeply as I quietly gazed at his handsome Russian face. "Th-thank you...I'll keep that in mind, Tala kun." We waited in silence for a while before we were interrupted by Spencer's head that just happened to pop into my room.
"Um, sorry...but we need to train. The tournament is tomorrow, and we haven't trained much here," his voice was so deep and heavily accented. His eyes were a deep grey mixed in with turquoise; he looked so sincere. Tala and I both nodded to him, and he got up from my bed.
"I'll leave you to get dressed, alright?" I nodded again, and he flashed me a quick, almost unnoticeable, smile. And then he left just as silently as he had crept in. I sat there on my bed for a while in silence, running the whole moment through my head again. 'Was he flirting with me or something? I'm not sure...I guess I have to get dressed now; I'll ponder on this later!' I quickly threw my legs over the bed side, and sauntered over to where my clothes were. 'What am I going to where today, anyways? I mean, a lot of my clothes are dirty. I guess it doesn't matter though, I mean, I'm going to smell either way.' I snatched up my black shirt with the symbol for love written in blood red at the back (the 'ai' symbol). It was tighter than normal clothes would be, but not skin tight at the same time. I rapidly threw on a random pair of black jeans. And then came all of my arm/neck/hand/leg jewellery. It consisted of leather, black netting, spikers, choker, chains, and death rings on each finger. I finished off my look with a single strand of fiery red fake hair on the right side of my face.
I let a sigh escape my lips as I gazed at myself in the mirror as I combed my black hair. 'I never change what I wear, it's always black...cool.' A small smirk creased my lips as I placed my hair up into a high pony tail. 'Could Tala kun...even like a girl who only wears one color?' I absentmindedly began to just gawk at the mirror amongst the thousands of thoughts swirling around my head.
"Kiko chan, are you ready yet?" Bryan called after me. I snapped out of my train of thought and quickly grabbed my rip cord, launcher, beyblade, and trench coat. I quickly walked out to where the rest of Neoborg was; they could have just left...guess they didn't want to or something. 'Or could it be that they're treating me as their friend, but have I really earned that yet? I mean, I know that they don't trust people easily, and I've only been in their lives for a few weeks (close to a month now, I think). However, I don't know them that well, so then, how could I have earned the right to be their friend?'
"There you are Kiko chan, are you okay this morning?" Bryan's strong voice asked me softly. I nodded to them and smiled reassuringly towards my treasured team members. "Okay, then, are you alright to go train?" I nodded again, and my smile grew into a big childish grin. My eyes were lighter and expressed a great deal of happiness. Tala opened the door that held us back from the rest of the world, and we slowly walked into it as if it were nothing at all.
After Training
We trudged home almost completely wet from head to toe. A small smirk tugged at the corners of my mouth as we passed people who gave us odd looks as we past by. 'Wow, I cannot believe that I convinced Tala kun to make everyone throw themselves into that murky pool; well except for me, that was Bryan's fault! Man that was so much fun; who knew that watching people getting thrown into water would be so much fun? It wasn't fun when Bryan kun threw me in though, but at least Tala kun caught me in the water, or I might've been very irritated at them.'
Our hair dripped and was completely flat against our heads. Ian's and Spencer's hair was no longer above their faces in such an odd way (It's hard to explain, okay? You know how their hair sticks up? Well, now it's down and hiding their faces). Our shoes made an odd squeaking noise against the grey pavement below our feet. "Well, that was unexpected of you to make us do that, Tala san," Bryan said cheerily. I glanced up at Tala with my tundra colored eyes, and saw the corners of his mouth lift upwards in an enormously miniature smile.
"Well, we did smell...it was better then having all of us wait for each other to finish in the shower," came his reply to Bryan's unasked question. A larger smile formed on my lips as I continued to smile up at him contentedly. No one else noticed this as we continued on our way back to the hotel quietly.
In a short while, we came back to where our hotel was and calmly made our way back to our hotel room. Once we were inside, Ian immediately hugged my legs tightly. His great maroon eyes seemed to smile up at me as he got hauled away by Spencer after a few awkward five minutes. 'Why did he hug me like that? People were right; they are really outlandish.' A small smile spread across my mouth pretty quickly after that; but after he left and I was still struck at that same spot with Tala kun beside me, it felt almost just as awkward.
"Well, I think I'm going to go get changed," I said brightly to him and I began walking towards my side of the room. But, I was suddenly stopped and drawn back to where I was before by a pair of strong arms that surrounded me. I heard the door open, and I was thrust outside of the room gently. I watched Tala calmly as he closed the door behind him softly.
"I'm sorry for having to throw you out here like that, but I wanted to talk to you alone, is that alright?" He asked me as he turned around and kept a still, steady, frosty gaze on me. I smiled and nodded gently up at him. 'Why did he want to talk with me?' He silently sauntered down the hallway opposite the stair way, and I quickly joined him at his side. We walked for a little while until he began to speak, even if his voice was almost inaudible, "the tournament is tomorrow, what are your thoughts of that?"
I gazed down at my feet for a little bit, and then exhaled melodiously. "I honestly...don't know what to expect. I'm pretty sure that it'll be worse then the Canadian tournaments." My eyes were placid and almost inhuman as we continued walking along the hallway. I glanced up at him and he seemed to feel my stare because he glanced over at me with a bemused light within his polar eyes.
"What do you mean worse?"
"I mean...more stressful and stuff. Like," I exhaled subtly, "And it was just...really stressful for me and such. I kind of relied on my team a lot to help me through all of my anxiety attacks..." my voice trailed off from there, and my eyes looked defeated as my past memories flooded me again.
"How...often did these attacks occur?" He asked almost in an understanding way.
"Almost every time I found out that the team was to be battling; I'm really...shy...and kind of insecure..." If I told him that I felt even more insecure on this team because I thought that if I lost a battle I'd loose their respect, he might give me one of those 'how-could-you-think-that' looks. There was an eerie silence between us as we continued walking; the only sound between us was the pounding of our shoes on the ground. "I'm...just not sure if I'll disappoint you if I do end up loosing a battle." Tala's head quickly turned and he stopped walking almost as rapidly. He kept his stare fixated on me and waited for me to return the stare. Once I did, he spoke,
"Kiko chan...I'm sorry that you feel that way. However, it isn't true...we won't be disappointed in you if you end up loosing to someone. We have had our fair share of losses, too," his voice was so calming and reassuring that I felt as if I could battle anyone and win. A small smile lined my face now that I felt a little bit better about the whole ordeal.
"Thank you, Tala kun, um, is there anything else you wish to ask?" He nodded and remained in the same spot with the same fixed gaze on me.
"How old...are you?" The question was so simple, and yet so awkward at the same time. 'How did he not know my age all of this time? I can't believe he didn't ask sooner, though.' I shuffled slightly under his stare and snaked my arm to the other side of my body and grabbed my opposite arm with my left hand.
"Um, I'm 16, Tala kun, how old are you?"
He seemed to hesitate at that question, however he did answer it "I'm 18..." 'Why did he hesitate anyway? I mean, it doesn't make sense or does it? He always confuses me...I mean, one moment he's angry, cold and other heart wrenching emotions, and then he's nice, and sweet; men are worse then women I can assure you.' I cocked my head slightly, and he seemed to understand my confusion. "No, it's nothing to do with you, its okay," I smiled slightly and decided to drop the subject.
"Okay, Tala kun...is there anything else you wish to ask me?" My voice was soft and sincere; my eyes reflected the same light. He shuffled uneasily almost, and shook his head to say 'no'. I calmly smiled again, and turned back from where we came. 'Well, that was sure an awkward conversation.'
Tala's POV
I watched silently as she walked past me with no second thought as to why I had asked her those questions. I still had no idea what her attacks are, what she plans to do at the tournament, and if she has any plans at all. I'm not even sure if that nerd, Kenny san, would have anything on her; doubt it. I calmly closed my arctic eyes and turned to walk the opposite way that she went just moments before.
My sombre foot steps echoed throughout the hallway as more questions flooded my mind. 'Did I really have any business liking her if she's that young? But, I guess it doesn't matter much...it's only around two years difference...not that big of a gap right? But I honestly fear with her...anxiety attacks...and the other beybladers' around here, that it might be too hard to handle for her; why didn't I think of this before? This could mean the difference between our team winning or loosing. I know that she's powerful, she beat Bryan and Spencer before, but, that doesn't mean that her nerves will make it harder for her now. I should have prepared her better for this...wait...there might just be a way!'
The words from Boris filled my mind with uneasiness "You must win at all costs!" I shuddered as his raspy, dark words whispered within my memory. 'I'm not going to force her to win at all costs...but what I am going to do is show her what is expected. If I'm right there should be a beydish around here somewhere...and a lot of the teams should still be training in there. If I show her what the old champions can do...maybe it can help prepare her for tomorrow.' My steps quickened as I wandered down the hallway rapidly. My hair was still covering my face in a sloppy fashion. My running ceased as I halted in front of a large glass window. As I stood outside of it, glaring at the people below me; they were amateurs, barely worth while in this competition; however, if this helps...or might help...I'll do anything. I turned back and ran quickly to where I had left her so long ago. 'I hope she's still there...or around there at least.'
My eyes widened as I slammed into her on my way back. I stepped back because of the impact, but apparently I made her fall backwards. "Kiko chan, are you alright? I didn't know you were there..." She looked up at me with her shimmering crystal eyes. And, for a minute, I forgot why I had been running in the first place. Almost automatically, I bent down and reached my hand out to her, and surprisingly, she took it. I gently pulled her back up to stand beside me quietly.
"Uh...thank you, Tala kun, why were you running?" Her face was slightly flushed as her eyes darted around the hallway until they finally rested on me. A small shiver ran up my spine as she set her frosty eyes onto me. I wanted to suddenly wrap my arms around her and just tell her that I liked her...but no...That would be awkward and slightly frightening for the both of us if I did end up doing that.
"I was actually running in hopes to catch up to you...I want you to come with me...is that alright with you?" She nodded and I calmly turned back and led her to where the window was that I had been gazing through earlier. They 'bladers' were still there as we walked up inaudibly to the picture window. The frame was just as bleached as the rest of the ghastly resort. I smiled slightly as I watched her with keen tundra colored eyes; she seemed so awe struck at their performance. 'They're not that good...she should imagine what it'll look like to see all of the champions at their best from different countries, and from different years.' (As in the champions from the other years, it was kind of confusing to re-read, so I thought I'd stick it in.)
"You said that you got shy...and such at the beystadium, so I thought that it could help you a little to see what it might look like," I whispered softly to her. I didn't want to sound cold-blooded and I didn't want to give any type of clue to her of why I was so urgent on having her watch them. She could take it the opposite way of what I was intending, so, I thought it best to tell her this way. However, she did take it the wrong way.
"I thought you said that I didn't have that much to worry about? Are you saying that I'm weak?! I'm not weak, Tala Valkov!" She yelled quite angrily at me. My eyes narrowed exceedingly at the harsh way my last name parted from her lips; what nerve. Ire flashed in my eyes for a short while as we stared each other down.
"Hn," was my reply to her unneeded words as I turned my back once more and walked away. My intentions were good, but she always seems to turn things around to make me out to be the bad guy. I'm not in the mood to be told of how many faults I have.
I stormed down the hallway and marched across the floor of the lobby exceptionally brash. My black gloved hand threw open the door and from there I melted into the small crowd outside of the BBA resort. My ox blood colored hair continued to cover my pale Russian features, and it would stay that way till I fixed it later on. I didn't know where I was going or why I had left so hurriedly, I did know that I didn't want to be there right now. In the mix of all my confusion, I passed many as if they were just snowflakes falling on the surface of the snow.
By the time I realized where my legs had taken me; I was already looking over a forest green railing and gazing out at the calm sea. Its greens and blues made a very calming view as I allowed all of my stress and annoyance leave me. 'Well, that was an overall wasteful action on my part. I guess I might have just wanted to have an excuse to have her by my side; it seems that it's the only time when I can have her there, when I have some kind of job for her. It'll get worse for me emotion wise at the tournament, with guys all over the place just wandering aimlessly around. And with her being a girl and all, she'll be noticing all of them, and my chance to tell her will be gone. Everything that I've felt for the past while will be all for nothing. Because, some guy who doesn't even know her will sweep her off of her feet, and then I'll never see her again...Besides, how did I even come to the point where I thought that it would be acceptable to have me seen by her side; I am a monster after all, all monsters were born to be unloved, and were meant to die alone.' My polar eyes closed, and I waited for the breeze to circulate around my body to help with the now building up stress. 'I never thought about that circumstance before...' A great sigh escaped my anaemic lips as I leaned contently against the jade green railing.
'How did I mess that up? It was a simple task that anyone that survived the Abbey could do...am I forgetting my morals? I know that what Boris did was not suitable, but he was the one who raised me, and even if I want to forget about him and attempt to act normal, I know that I can't; he taught me my principles.' The stress from the previous day had rushed out at me again, and once again, I wasn't prepared for it...My body, and mind suddenly felt vulnerable and unsteady. My breathing quickened greatly, and small beads of sweat began forming on my forehead. An almost pathetic nature over whelmed me, which may be what the cause was for my actions; in the whole while that I was battling with my demons from the past; I hadn't realized that it started to rain, until it got harder. My body was pelted with rain drops, that soon became hard and needle like; also known as a rain barrage. My growing anger was surprisingly surpassing my common sense.
My hand that I was leaning against so heavily on the railing slipped without my noticing. My balanced was lost, and I came tumbling into the chilly, now rough, waters below. 'I can swim so then, why aren't my legs moving? Why am I allowing myself to drown?' Soon enough though, the waters allowed me to bring my head back up to the surface. I gasped for breath and greedily took it all in before I had to go back under. The current below my feet was strong, and the iciness of the water was beginning to freeze me as well. 'Why is it so cold? It shouldn't be...' I thought wearily as I breached the turquoise surface once more.
Kiko's POV
I watched in horror as my team captain fell below the waters surface, "Tala!" I managed to yell. In the brief time that I had been watching him from afar, the sky had changed immensely, it wasn't all pale blue and filled with bright, fluffy clouds, but now had turned black and was dotted with deep grey storm clouds that brought only more disaster. The rain was pelting the ground and me as I stood in shock at loosing sight of Tala. 'What should I do? The news had said that this sudden storm would hit Tokyo when I came back to the room. Bryan kun had said to return and bring Tala back, but I'm too late. I can't swim that well...but there must be some way to save him, to help him!'
My arctic eyes quickly scanned the area in search of something; anything really that could help! But the only things behind me were trees swaying beneath the breeze, and threatening to break and fall to the ground below them. The wind howled above my head as my eyes caught sight of a long string flowing out from one of the tall trees. 'A string...could it be attached to a kite? Well, if it is then I can use that to tow him in!' A large gust of fierce wind scorched my face as I ran quickly up to the string whispering within the trees. I grasped it tightly, and fought to lift my head and look to see what it was attached on. 'It's attached...to a broken piece of wood? Why would anyone put a string, on a piece of wood, and then stick it up there? Perhaps it was made for some kind of tree fort?' In any case, I hurriedly climbed the tree; loosing my footing on several occasions, and pulled down the broken piece of wood. But, when I glanced down to find where to place my feet again in order to climb down, I stopped. 'What am I doing? I'm afraid of heights! Now how am I going to get down? What if I just jumped down; but that might hurt if I landed wrong. But, Tala's out there and I need to help him; he's saved me before...it's the least I can do.'
With closed eyes I clutched the block of wood tightly, and managed to slip off of the tree. I landed it perfectly, and managed to immediately run in the direction he was in after. I gasped when I couldn't find any trace of him in the choppy waters. 'Did he get out? Or he could have drowned, I'm too late!' All thoughts of saving him were dashed as no sign of him was found while I searched the sea water distraughtly with tear filled eyes. "I'm sorry...I was too late," I whispered softly through my falling tears. 'Why did he have to go? I liked him so much...I loved him...He kept me safe, he was my friend. He took me out of the dangerous streets of Moscow; he took me into his home. He was kind to me...he saved my life more than once...and this is how I repaid him, I yelled at him when he was only trying to be nice, and I was too late to save him,' I thought bitterly. 'I'm not giving up until the storm has passed...and then I'll know for sure...that he's gone.'
Minutes passed, or it felt that way, and still nothing to insinuate that he was alive. Tears stung my icy eyes as I continued to scrutinize the perilous water. Then, in the midst of one of my darkest nightmares, his hand flew up from the dark abyss, "Tala!" My eyes were wide with happiness and surprise; he was alive! I quickly grabbed the string with my left hand, and threw the wood onto the waters surface. The string I had found was very strong, it seemed to be made of many layers of tough, but fine, wood; rope. The block of wood landed perfectly on his hand, however that may have been a bad thing in another situation...
His arm wrapped around the floating object, and soon his other arm did the same. His fiery red head crashed onto the surface, sending spray all over the place. "Tala, I'm going to pull you in, just keep on holding onto that piece of wood, okay?" His eyes locked onto me, and I sensed that it meant 'okay'. I nodded, and began to haul him in like one would a very heavy fish. I gritted my teeth together as to help with the rope burn that I was receiving. 15 minutes had passed by, and I could now just grab his arms and pull him over the jade green railing. "Tala, you're almost on solid ground now," I called to him. I quickly ran up to him, not letting go of the rope at the same time, and grabbed onto his strong arms tightly. 'Wow, I never imagined him to be this heavy! I guess he's really just muscle, but wait, then how much would the rest weigh? I mean, Spencer and Bryan are both taller then Tala, they must weigh a lot!' I quickly had him over the edge, and onto solid ground. He was kneeling in front of me, shivering and coughing. His horse cough worried me greatly, but I managed to hide my fears of him getting pneumonia or something worse. I gently brought my hand up to his pale face and brushed away some of his hair that covered his face. "Tala, I'm so happy that your alive...I'm sorry for what I said to you...can you walk at all?" I definitely wasn't about to carry him home, besides, I doubt he'd let me. His tundra eyes quickly fixed themselves on me, and he quietly breathed slowly.
"I...Can walk...Why did you save me?" His voice was raspy and hard to hear. It hurt me greatly to see him in this much despair. I wanted to hold him tightly and never let him go, but alas, some things are not meant to be.
I shook my head gently, and helped him up slowly so as to not drain him completely. "I'll talk to you once you've rested, is that okay?" He nodded to me, and allowed me to help him get up from the wet ground. "Alright then...I'm going to help you back, okay?" He nodded again, but his eyes seemed forlorn. I helped him stand upright, and he let me aid him home.
At the Hotel
We were both dripping wet and completely exhausted by the time we came back. Nothing was said between us as we stopped at the door to knock on it. Tala had leaned against me heavily all the way back, and even now he leaned against me; how come he doesn't seem as heavy now? I hesitantly reached up and knocked on the wooden door. In a few moments of silent waiting, Bryan kun came to the door. "Tala fell into the river, please help me get him inside," he glanced at Tala cautiously, and exhaled softly. He gently moved me to the side, and just as gently, picked up Tala.
I followed them into the room, and stared at Bryan kun as he laid Tala onto the black, leather couch. "He just needs some rest; you don't have to worry about him, okay Kiko chan?" I looked away softly as he said this; I wish I couldn't worry, but I always end up doing it, no matter how much people tell me not to, and sometimes I worry even more when they say that. "But, I guess you can sit beside him and watch him or something creepy like that if you're going to be that worried," he said this in a very exasperated tone that I took into account.
"I'm sorry, Bryan kun, but I'm not going to leave him...not after what I yelled at him," He raised an eyebrow at this, but decided to drop it after a hard look from Spencer, "but, what about the tournament tomorrow?" I asked uncertainly. An eerie silence enveloped us all as we stood around the couch together.
"It might actually be cancelled for tomorrow because of this flash storm, it depends if the dome gets damaged or not, and how many other bladers' got lost in the storm," Spencer replied half heartedly. I nodded, knowing full well that I might have to beybattle tomorrow even if I did want to stay by Tala's side. I also knew just as well that what Spencer kun had said was a very sad attempt at trying to cheer me up. 'Wait, since when have I begun calling Tala by his first name with no honorific? Will he be angry about that? Will anyone else notice this, too?' worry encased my mind as I sat down on the chair across from him that Spencer so helpfully brought in.
We all gathered around as we waited for news on tomorrow's tournament. Finally, after a few minutes went by, the BBA news came on. "We just got news from Mr. Dickenson, that the tournament tomorrow will not be postponed," the news lady told us. Bryan kun angrily turned off the TV, and wandered back over to his bed.
"He's just angry about having to not rely on Tala san this time, but we do have you, so that is an up side. But Kiko chan," Spencer started calmly as he sat down across from me, "if we're up against your friends, we're not going easy on them, and neither should you. They're our enemies on the beydish; they're your friends on the side lines, alright?" I nodded tranquilly as he continued, "so, you will be okay if we face off on their team right off the bat, right?" I nodded again to him; did he really have to worry of such things? "Alright, try to not stay up too late, good night, Kiko chan," I smiled and said my good night to him softly, and then I was alone, sitting in the dark beside Tala kun. 'I hope we'll do alright tomorrow...I hope Tala will be alright...' I thought serenely as the night closed in on me from all sides.
In the Morning
My eyes flickered open as the light filtered into our room melodiously. I glanced over towards Tala's sleeping form and waited anxiously for the rest of my team to wake up. 'Will he be alright to battle today? Did he wake up during the night?' I thought ominously. I gingerly got up from where my sitting position was and walked lightly over to where my side of the room was located. I pulled back the sheet quietly and stepped into my room. The sun was shinning brighter this morning then it did the previous day; as if it was promising a good tournament. A small smile creased my lips as I stood there watching it peacefully. 'Oh, I need to get changed!'
I rapidly dug through all of my clothes, and finally came upon my 'blading 'uniform'. It consisted of a black leather tank top, with chains crossing a lot of it. My right arm was covered with spikers that only went up to my elbow; the rest of my arm was covered with a chain that connected itself to the other chains on my shoulder. My other arm mirrored the other except, instead of chains at my elbow; I had black, tight netting that stretched to my shoulder as well. A black, spiked choker wrapped itself around my thin neck. My nails had black nail polish on, and my hand had black, leather, fingerless gloves that had small studs on the knuckles.
My pants were black leather with chains covering my thighs. My black leather, studded belt hung around my waist loosely; my pants honestly didn't need a belt, it just added to it nicely. My hair was tied back in a high pony tail that had a spiked covering over where my hair tie was. My bangs covered my forehead neatly, and they were long enough to cover up my icicle like eyes. My ears were completely covered in looped earrings, and had a bridge going across the top of my right ear. A single strand of fake red hair hung down at the side of my face, the tip of it ended at my chin. And lastly, I finished my look with thin black eye liner, black eye shadow, and faint black lipstick.
I smirked at myself in the bathroom mirror as I finished the rest of my morning routine. 'Well, nobody should talk to me now, good.' I walked out of the washroom silently and watched intently as the rest of my team got ready for the tournament. I nodded slightly as I walked into my side of the room again. I heard the rustling of clothes clearly against the silence that filled the room entirely. I coolly picked up my 'blade', and began to stroke it in small circles. 'It's just me and you, Edragore, please don't let me down,' a transient glow emitted from the iron beyblade in my hand, which seemed to say, 'alright'. I smiled again and waited for my team to yell out to me that Tala was okay, or that it was okay to start heading out. A thought suddenly hit me: what happens if I get so sick, that I end up puking? I'd better bring some kind of stomach medicine.
I got up from my mahogany bed and wandered back over to the bathroom. When I was walking through their room, I noticed that Tala hadn't moved since we placed him on the couch last night...Once inside the washroom, I unobtrusively looked through the medicine cabinet in search for stomach medicine. Surprisingly, there was a lot of it in the boys' cabinet. I took a small bottle of it, and unnoticeably placed it into my pocket. 'Well, at least I won't puke on my opponent, though that might help me win.' I quietly left the washroom, and watched with great interest as the rest of the boys stood over our team leader. 'Is he up already?' I thought in disbelief as I wandered over towards them inaudibly.
"Hey...Kiko chan, he's starting to get up! Um, why are you dressed like that?" Ian's small impish voice inquired. I looked at him in complete disgust, and made an 'hn' sound at him, which clearly pissed him off. "You don't have to be such a-"But a strong smack in the back of his head made him halt his, probably, unnecessary sentence. What made our eyes widen was the fact that is had been Tala's hand that had stopped him.
"Ian, you know better then to...call women things such as that!" Ian's auburn eyes widened immensely at the booming sound of his leader's voice.
"Tala san, I'm so...relieved that you're up! Do you think that you can-"However, once again, he was stopped by another blow to the head, this time by my hand. He turned around and gave weary glances at us all as we glared down upon him.
"Ian kun...Tala just woke up...give it a rest!" My scoffing voice retorted. An inquiring Tala raised his crimson eyebrows at me, in which I smiled slightly and shuffled back, only to land on my back because Ian left his rifle behind me and I slipped and fell on it. "Urgh...Ian! I'm going to strangle you, and then I'm going to feed you to the dogs!" A small, eerie smile spread across Bryan's face as I yelled at the midget. Ian kun just backed up and wandered off grumbling all the way.
"Alright...Tala san, if you want, you can come to the tournament, but then you need to get ready," Spencer's voice of reason said loudly. I nodded, and got up from the floor quickly. Tala was sitting up on the couch, and nodded up towards Spencer approvingly.
"Yeah, I do want to come," he slowly got up, and brushed past me soundlessly. But, while he did this, his hand brushed against my own in an almost accidental way. I looked down shyly, and stood there silently. A light blush flashed over my face in which I hid by ducking my head down as if I was looking for something. 'Wow...his hand touched my own! Strange...it was probably an accident...nothing more,' I quickly brushed off all thoughts of him liking me in any way besides being his friend.
In around 20 minutes, the team was ready to head out of the stinky place known as a hotel room, and outside towards the tournament. However, before we left I got my black leather trench coat out from my suit case, which now flowed out pleasantly around me. My rip cord was in my hair, and everything else was in place. My black and silver iron toed boots clanged against the cement below our feet. 'Does he remember last night? It doesn't seem as if he does...So then, there isn't anything for me to apologize for, right? But, I guess I should even if he doesn't remember my words.'
I continued to walk in the same comatose state while thinking fiercely about what I'll do in the tournament, and when I'd say sorry to my didactic team leader. I didn't comprehend the fact that we might not even be battling that day. 'What'll happen if I somehow mess up in front of the whole world?' I felt a sudden rush of anxiety over whelm me, and soon it was hard to walk in a straight line. 'I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail,' I kept on repeating that in my mind until we got to the big, white doors that held us back from the inside of the BBA arena. The doors had large glass windows that made it possible for us to grasp a look at what we'd be in for before we actually set foot inside the building. 'So, this is it eh? It's actually not as ugly as their hotel...hopefully they actually have some kind of color inside; wow, who would have thought that I'd be the one to say that?' I thought casually while reading the banners at the top of the building flap within the slight wind.
Tala moved in front of me steadily and pulled the door open for the rest of the team. As I walked past him, I silently nodded a 'thanks' to him, unnoticed by the rest of Neoborg. Tala returned it by giving me a moment's eye contact before he led the way into the rest of the giant building. Our footsteps ricocheted against the metallic walls that we walked between, our heartless facades were glued onto our faces, and unless they brought some sort of knife with them to pry off our fascias, they wouldn't be coming off. 'It's like it was built only for this sport...I'm so injudicious sometimes. I wonder if Tala will put me in the ring if we do get to 'blade? I'm slightly hoping for that to happen, but at the same time, I'm against it with my whole heart.'
We calmly took our seats in the deep blue bleachers that the fans would normally sit in. 'Are we waiting for the rest of the teams to get here? It seems as though we're the first...I wonder what other teams will show up.' My arms are crossed over my chest as I sat there, with my back straight next to Tala, 'will it be too hard for me? What will happen to my relationship with Tala; it might falter depending on how badly I loose or win.'
In half an hour, the place had a quarter of it filled with all of the beybladers that were to compete. I watched with cold, unfeeling, subzero eyes as they all sat down and waited for the man named 'Mr. Dickenson' to speak. I could distinguish every 'blader and their team from where I sat so high up in the deep blue seats. 'Kyoko is across from us with the G-Revolutions, White tiger X is a few rows below them, and Bega is far away from any of us; I wonder why….' I decided to ignore the fact that maybe they had done something wrong in the past, I mean, Tala did call them trespassers to the game, but what did he mean by that? "Hn…"
A skinny man wearing a black, short sleeved, jump suit type of thing, that had bright red and dirty white shoulders, and his shins were covered in greyish white. He had a black, cordless mic in his hands, and a red and black head band covering his head; even though we could still tell that he had chocolate brown hair. His breast pocket had the symbols BBA written clearly in pearl white. "Okay, beybladers, it's time for the new tournament to get on with it! We have teams from the past here with us today, and for some it's their first time! My name is DJ Jazzman, and I'm going to tell you what you're going to do before we actually start the tournament." All of our attentions were caught as we listened intently on what he'd say next, "we want you to all 'register'. We know that you'll be competing, but we need your beyblade statistics and other various things that we can only obtain by getting you to 'register'; you only have to fill out the answers to a diverse amount of questions, and then we'll see you tomorrow for the official matches! The papers are on the desk in the lobby, so if you please, go to the lobby now, and then once you're done with the paper, hand it back in to the secretaries, have a good day!" He quickly departed from the middle of the area, leaving us all in perfect surprise; we went down here for nothing?
Tala quickly got up from where he sat, and made his way back down to the floor where the other 'bladers were leaving. "Well, we'd better go and fill out that registration form…or whatever it may be," he said in a deep, husky voice. We all nodded in agreement to him, and followed him without any hesitation. 'What am I going to put in this registration form? Do I need to lie or anything? And suddenly…I'm really looking forward to this 'tournament'.'
AN: Well, this chapter came out rather quickly, eh? And, it wasn't quite as slow as it usually is. I know that this chapter is longer then usual…exactly three more paragraphs more. Um, wow, for once there's not that much to say. O.o o.O um, well, the next chapter will definitely have the tournament in it. I mean, it was more mentioned in this one, not really the tournament. However, I only placed the 'registration' thing in it, because I remembered that before any battle in the anime, they had the opponents' picture, and statistics, well, relatively speaking. So, I thought 'they're not going to have any of the pictures…better make them.' When I placed 'why is the water so cold…it's not supposed to be,' or something like that in Tala's POV, I was insinuating that because of his mutation, and his odd connection to Wolborg, Wolborg was affected by Tala's weariness and was slowly freezing the water. Alright, well, that's really all I have to say concerning the chapters, oh, and the only reason why I cut off this chapter in such a way, is because I thought that you wouldn't read all of it if it got any longer, so it's kind of like a two part chapter. Hopefully, the next chapter will come quickly, and will be good enough for all of you dedicated readers. I'm only going to re-post again if I get at least 4-5 reviews. So, please review me! REVIEW ME, PEOPLE! pleads Um, well, I'll write more quickly! Bye!