Anastasia made the executive decision for them all to leave the day after the memorial service. She had tried to help her aunt as much as she could, she had attended meetings with her family's lawyers at her uncle's behest, and now she was ready to put it all behind her again. More importantly than that, it had happened again. Alice had sent her another magazine article that had come out about Kai and Anastasia, thinking it would be funny.
It wasn't.
But she was going to ignore that for as long as possible. Mind made up, she debated on how to tell the boys that their vacation was at an end before she wandered into the room Kai and Tala were sharing. They were in the middle of a heated debate about the last time they had battled each other when she walked in without knocking.
"We could have been naked," pointed out Tala as soon as he spotted her leaning against the open door.
Anastasia snorted. "I could hear you arguing from my room. I didn't think you fought naked."
"How do you know?"
Kai grunted. "Tala, shut up."
Anastasia raised her eyebrows. "Do you really want to continue this conversation, Tala?"
Grumpily, Tala bit his tongue and lay back down on the large bed, tossing his beyblade up into the air and catching it just before it hit him in the face. "What do you want, anyway? You've been out since morning."
"Missed me?" teased Anastasia.
Tala snorted. "Kai did."
Both Anastasia and Kai rolled their eyes at his statement. "I went out to get us tickets," said Anastasia, choosing to ignore his statement. She entered the room and made a beeline for the bed, jumping up onto it gleefully. Her sudden movement made Tala lose his concentration and his beyblade hit him on the forehead, hard. He yelped. Anastasia ignored him. "I want to leave. The only flight I could get is for tomorrow morning."
"Leave?" Tala sat up, rubbing his forehead and throwing Kai a cautious look. "Like, back to Japan?"
"Yup."
"All three of us?"
"No, you're staying here," Anastasia deadpanned. Tala grimaced. "I just want to get out of here. You guys came and got me through yesterday, which I really appreciate, but you've missed enough practices and I really need to finish Kai's beyblade."
"Well, I…" Tala trailed off, looking at Kai for help. He didn't know what the conditions were for them to be here – Kai had offered to take him along and he had agreed, just as he had gone along with most of Kai's plans since they were children. He had also seen how Anastasia had been on the fence about going to the memorial, until Kai had talked to her. And even though the day had been hard on her, she was smiling and playfully teasing them both again, which meant whatever had happened had been good for her.
Kai didn't answer in words. Instead, he stood up and picked up the empty duffel bag at the foot of the bed, throwing it in Tala's direction. Still concerned about his aching forehead, he didn't catch it and the bag hit the redhead in the face. "Pack," was all Kai said. "We'll need to get to the airport early."
!
The first thing Kai noticed was that Anastasia was nervous.
At first glance, he had dismissed it. She was probably a panicky flyer, an anxious traveler. And then he had started noticing that she seemed to be nervous around him. Considering the way they had spent the last few days, he was completely at a loss as to why. Unwilling to show it, however, he experimented.
As they walked into the airport, Anastasia's grip on her shoulder-bag was tight, so Kai tapped her hand once pointedly, causing her to flinch and then turn bright red. He grabbed her elbow to tug her towards the correct queue, and she grimaced. She also hadn't spoken to him directly since she'd announced they would be leaving – all her remarks were directed at both Kai and Tala, but she seemed to be avoiding eye-contact with him particularly. When they entered the departure lounge and saw that they still had an hour before their flight, Tala muttered something about coffee and left, leaving Kai with Anastasia.
He grabbed her arm and halted her movements, raising his eyebrows when she looked at him blankly. "What is it?"
Anastasia didn't have to ask what he meant. Her shoulders slumped with defeat and she sighed, holding out her phone to him. Wordlessly, Kai took it and unlocked it, glancing at the screen. There was a magazine article open, accompanied by a large picture of Anastasia and Kai seated opposite each other in a restaurant, obviously taken through the window. Anastasia's fork was halfway to his plate and she was grinning at him, her head tilted to the side so there was no mistaking who it was. Kai was leaning back in his seat, arms folded across his chest, but he was also smiling. Tala was nowhere in sight.
"This is from the day of the memorial," said Kai. He didn't know what else to say.
Anastasia smiled a little. "Yeah, that is the last time we let Tala pick where to go."
Kai rolled his eyes. "You freaked out because of a magazine article again? I told you, Anna, it doesn't mean anything."
"How does it not bug you?" she demanded. "They keep writing like we're a couple!"
"Why does it matter what they say?"
Anastasia's eyes flashed. "We don't all have a name to fall back on, Kai."
"What does that mean?"
"It means whatever gets printed about you sells t-shirts, whatever gets printed about me shows up when someone Googles me if I apply for a job," snapped Anastasia. "There's a reason I'm a pro-hacker with no social media presence and a phone that has no personality, Kai. The less people know about me, the better jobs I get. Dickinson hired me because all you could find out about me from a search was the work I'd done, now if you search for me in any sporting database, your name comes up!"
Kai blinked. "I didn't know that," he said slowly. Anastasia rolled her eyes and made to walk away, but he grabbed her arm before she could. "Hey," he forced his voice to be gentle. "Look, I'll call the BBA office when we get home and get them to release a statement telling them to leave you alone, okay? And we won't go anywhere that Tala suggests ever again," he added, and Anastasia cracked a smile. He felt his lips pull upwards as well. "Better?"
"A little," Anastasia sighed and punched his arm half-heartedly – it didn't hurt, but every time she touched him his chest constricted, making it hard to breathe. "I'm sorry I snapped," she said bashfully. "It just bugs me."
"Dating me bugs you?" he didn't know what had made him ask that.
Anastasia's eyes widened fractionally, before she looked away. "People knowing my business bugs me," she said. Kai frowned. Anastasia hitched her bag higher on her shoulder and led him towards the table where Tala was slumped over, an untouched cup of coffee in front of him. "I could be dating you or hate you, Kai, that doesn't mean I want magazines to write about it."
Kai merely grunted in response. Mentally kicking himself over even getting involved in the conversation in the first place, he sat down and pointedly smacked Tala's head, making the redhead groan and Anastasia giggle. He offered her a half-smile before returning to the phone that was still in his hand. Anastasia didn't notice and merely pulled out a book to wile away the time, so Kai glanced at the article again.
Beyblade's Newest Couple
Kai Hiwatari, best known as team captain of the BladeBreakers and frenemy of World Champion Tyson Granger, has been spotted on more than one occasion with Anastasia Nikol, most recently in sunny New York. Nikol is a small-time techy who hit it big when she was signed on to work as a part of the technical team for the American representatives at the Beyblading World Championships, the All-Starz. Little else is known about her, though BBA sources say Nikol is working with Hiwatari and the rest of the BladeBreakers on upgrading their beyblades in preparation for the upcoming World Championships, but anyone who has seen the couple can confidently say that work seems to be the last thing on their minds.
Unused to being in the spotlight, this is now the second time Nikol has been spotted with Hiwatari, first in Japan and now halfway across the world (though those smiles don't speak much of jetlag – who knew Kai Hiwatari could grin?!). Sources at the Japanese BBA office say that one is rarely seen without the other, and while it was nice of Hiwatari to help out the new girl in the beginning of her assignment, it's gotten clear now that help isn't the only thing on his mind. Whether or not they make a cute couple isn't the question anymore. The question is, when will they own up to it? Representatives have been contacted for further information.
