AN: Well here's chapter 3, still not getting many reviews… but we've decided not to give up cause we have fun writing it! waha

"Wahhhhhhhh… Where is he?  At this rate he's going to miss the plane!" Kenny whined worriedly.

"Don't worry Kenny," Max replied turning around in his seat, "Tyson prolly just slept in is all, he'll show up I just know it!"

"It's true that Tyson is always late, but then where is that girl – Liika I believe her name was?"  Kenny frowned.

"She's right here behind me Chief!  Sorry about being late and all, I slept in!" a voice behind them said cheerfully.

"It's about time.  Did mommy not wake you up on time?" Kai sneered from his seat.  His arms were crossed over his well-built chest and his eyes were closed.

Tyson growled, dropped his bag and prepared to launch himself at the taller boy.  The girl behind him winced then frowned and caught the irate young man around the waist.  "Calm down…" she crooned in a soothing voice.

"Take it back Kai!"

A shrug was his only answer, as Kai totally disregarded the fury in other boy's voice.

"TAKE IT BACK KAI!" Tyson screeched again, fighting desperately against the girl's hold.  Tears were now streaming from his eyes and his face was bright red.

What had been an innocent if not sarcastic comment had caused a totally unexpected reaction from the younger boy.  Kai looked startled and blinked owlishly at the out raged teen before turning around, forcing his eyes to concentrate on the seat in front of him.  "Fine, whatever."

At the admission Tyson calmed down a bit and went to sit beside Max, not paying attention to all the people that were now staring at him because of his outburst.  Only Kenny knew what the outburst was really about.

After letting Tyson go the girl stood in shock, not really sure what to do.  She was sure there was something behind that explosion, but what she didn't know.  She did however know what pain it brought up from her own past.  However, before she could lose herself in unpleasant memories a cold voice broke through her revery.  "Wench, sit down or leave the plane either way stop standing there looking like a complete airhead."

Blinking rapidly she turned her head and found herself staring into cold, indifferent chestnut eyes.  When what he said actually registered her blank face turned into an irritated frown and she glared at him in annoyance.  "I have a name you know."  Still not moving from where she was standing.

"And what makes you think I care?"

She opened her mouth to reply when a hand landed on her shoulder and a kind voice said, "I'm sorry miss, but I must ask you to take your seat, the plane will be taking off shortly."  With that the stewardess took off down the aisle to warn other passengers of their imminent departure. 

She blushed bright red and stuck her tongue out at the now snickering, smug looking Kai. "Shut up." 

"That was mature."

"Nobody asked you."  She finished stowing her bag while their little argument was going on then motioned for Kai to move over, he merely stared at her impassively not moving.  "Move."

"No."

"Move."

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the seat, totally ignoring her.  Huffing she kicked his calf inciting a growl out of him.  "Get lost wench."

"Not until you move!"

"Why should I?"

"'Cause I asked you nicely?"

"Well that would be pointless since you didn't."

"Well I am now, will you please move?"

He paused for a moment then smirked.  "No."

"What??  ARG!" she stomped her foot petulantly and jammed her fists on her hips. 

Shrugging he decided to tune out her childish temper tantrum, by catching a quick nap on the short flight to Hong Kong.  What he didn't count on was the slightly laughing voice of Mr. Dickenson.  "Kai, will you please just move.  I believe she would like to talk to Kenny and the rest of the boys."

Opening his eyes again Kai glanced at the old man then at the girl that was now nodding her blue haired head up and down.  Growling in aggravation, he unbuckled his seat belt and moved over one seat.  The girl's countenance changed immediately, her scowl turned to a bright grin and her aqua eyes lit up.  "Arigatou Kai-kun!"  She winked and bounded into his recently vacated.  "Wee, still warm!" she grinned cheekily at him.

Kai rolled his eyes and bit back a snarl that threatened at the back of his throat.  She had been in his vicinity for like 5 minutes and already he wanted to kill her.  Maybe agreeing to be on the team wasn't such a good idea.  Suddenly he felt a hand his hair and he looked up to glare at the offending appendage then over at the person that owned it.  She just grinned at him, and said.  "Calm down Mr. Happy!"

This time not biting back the snarl he slapped her hand away and snapped.  "Don't touch me.  Don't talk to me.  Leave. Me. Alone."

For a moment she looked hurt, then she shrugged, her chin held high in haughtyness.  "Whatever.  If you want to be anti-social that's your choice, just don't bring the rest of us down with your dourness."

"I should have never agreed to this." He muttered as the stewardess announced their taking off.

After the plane was safely in the air Liika turned to Kai again and grinned.  "Are you done being pissy now Mr. Happy?"

His right eyebrow twitched and he ground his teeth together.  She was chirping, chirping, no one should sound that happy.  Ever.  "Go away."

She stuck her tongue out at him and poked his temple.  "Apparently not.  You know if you keep grinding your teeth like that you'll have nothing left to chew with."

The twitching intensified as she continued to poke him until finally he exploded, slapping her hand away and standing.  Scowling at her he stomped away in the direction of the washrooms.  She cackled a bit then schooled her features into an innocent expression, turning to the others in their party.  Blinking innocuously, her eyes wide, she said, "Was it something I said?"

This caused Tyson to roar in laughter and Max and Kenny to chuckle.  Mr. Dickenson shook his head, but never the less smiled.  "My dear, I think it would be best if we switched seats don't you agree?  We can't have Kai getting all upset now can we?"

Liika pouted a bit, "Why not?  Mr. Personality needs someone to break through that 'tough guy' mask he's got going on."

Mr. Dickenson just continued to smile while standing.  "Come now, switch seats with me, I'm sure you would like to get to know the rest of the boys anyway."

"Bleh." She unbuckled herself and made her way across the aisle, sliding past the brown haired boy and plunking herself in the seat beside him. 

Tyson and Max soon had their seatbelts unbuckled and were leaning over the backs of their seats, grinning from ear to ear.  After settling herself in her new seat, Liika grinned back at them.  "Now," she started, "I suppose we haven't been properly introduced, as we all had to leave so suddenly yesterday."  She clapped her hands together then held one of them out to Tyson and Max.  "Liika Tomoda, pleased to meet ya!"

Tyson reached out and clasped her smaller gloved hand in his own, "Tyson Kinomiya!"

When Tyson released her hand Max grasped it and gave it a good shake.  "Max Mizuhara!"

Kenny meanwhile was in a state of semi-shock.  He just sat there staring at her with his mouth slightly open and didn't even notice when she turned to him to shake his hand.  Tyson looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow.  "Er… Chief?  You alright buddy?"

Kenny looked at Liika, who was looking mighty confused and stammered.  "Yo-you!  Your that Liika!"

"Eh?"  She tilted her head to the right and studied him curiously.

Getting over his astonishment, he started to glow with excitement.  "Liika Tomoda!  Your that Liika!  The same Liika that won the Tokyo regional tournament two weeks ago!  Wow!  I heard you won the whole thing with out losing one match!  How did you do it?  Can I see your beyblade?  Do you have a particular style?  Is the competition in Tokyo harder than in Bey City?  Or is it less?"  His eyes sparkled with exhilaration as he practically danced in his seat.

All three blinked at the suddenly hyper computer boy, Tyson was the first to recover.  He snapped his eyes toward the girl that was now blushing slightly and laughing nervously, scratching the back of her head.  "Is that true??  Are you really the Tokyo champ??"

"Ye-Yeah…"

"Oh wow!  That's like soooooooo cool!  Congradulations!" Max exclaimed grinning at her.

Liika's blush intensified, but she still smiled back.  "Tha-thank you!  You blade pretty good yourselves."

At this Tyson smirked and rubbed his nose.  "I am pretty good aren't I?"

She giggled a bit and winked.  "For a rookie."

"Rookie!"

Max laughed, Kenny, however, was still too caught up in his own questions to notice their conversation.  "Well??" he demanded.

The three turned their attention to the smaller boy who was squirming with excitement.  "Ok ok, slow down a bit.  What do you want to know again?  I couldn't understand you, you were talking so fast!"  Liika held her hands up in front of her in a placating fashion.

Kenny came to the realization that he was rambling and turned bright red.  Coughing in a dignified way he calmed himself down.  Opening Dizzi he spoke in a very calm, stately voice.  "May Dizzi and I see your beyblade please?"

Laughing, she reached into her shorts pocket and pulled out the white blade, handing it to the eager boy.  "There ya go."

Kenny turned the medium sized blade over in his hands trying to study every detail at once – this was after all a tournament winning blade.  It was clear the blade was neither a defensive specialist nor was it an attack specialist.  The attack and defence rings were perfectly balanced.  This and the one battle he had witnessed gave him some clues as to her style of blading.  Turning it over once again in his hand, he was drawn to the tiny picture on the bit.  Rather than the picture of a mythical bit beast he had been expecting, a blue star with angel wings in flight position greeted him instead.  He recognized the symbol from somewhere and rose his head to study the girl, catching sight to the pin in her shirt, realizing that they were the same thing.  Frowning in puzzlement he asked, "You don't have a bit beast?"

The girls grin faded into a small secretive smile.  "I do, her names Akala."

Kenny's frown intensified.  "But usually there's a picture of the bit beast on the bit, but on your bit there's only this symbol, which I might add is the same as your broach.  May I ask why?"

Liika fidgeted nervously, explaining her bit beast meant explaining her past… and she'd rather not do that at the moment – it brought up to many painful memories.  Instead she snatched her blade away from Kenny and changed the subject.  "Erm… So Tyson… why'd you get so mad at Kai earlier?"

Kenny's question was instantaneously forgotten.  Whatever cheerful atmosphere had built around the four of them was also killed in that instant.  Tyson's smiling blue eyes lost their shine and smile.  His whole aura changed in that second, depression oozed off of him.  Max looked at his friend in concern, not knowing what caused the sudden change.  Kenny looked on in sympathy, not really sure if Tyson would tell the other two what was wrong.  But he did.  When he finally spoke his voice was quiet and raspy with emotion.  "I-I… I don't have a mom to wake me up anymore."

Max and Liika were silent, however, they both noticed the tears that were now making their way down his cheeks.  Before anyone could utter a word in sympathy Tyson continued.  "She-she died five years ago, while away in South America with my father."  Tyson sniffled a bit the pasted a smile on his face and hastily wiped the tears from his eyes.  "But hey that's the past now right?  Kai just pissed me off –again."

The others didn't comment right away.  They were all so shocked at the confession and their hearts went out to the obviously still grieving boy.  Kenny was silent, he had already known.  Max was the first two recover, he smiled in compassion and patted his friend's shoulder.  "I'm sorry Tyson."

"Hey now, its not your fault buddy, so enough with the sadness now!  On to Liika's awesome blade!"  Tyson's now dry, yet slightly red eyes turned back to the girl.

She sat with her hands clenched around her blade in her lap.  Her head was bent, her blue bangs obscuring her large eyes.

"Liika?" Max's questioning voice brought no response out of the now silent girl.

Finally after a few more moments of silence her small voice whispered.  "I know how you feel."

"Huh?"  Tyson blinked in confusion.

"About your mother.  I know how you feel." Her voice was still quiet but she was no long whispering.  "You asked me about my blade?  Well my blade is all I have left of my mother."

Tyson, Max and Kenny reeled back in shock.  This seemingly never endingly happy girl had lost her mother too?  "Uh… er… its ok if you don't want to continue…" Tyson said quietly, even though he wanted to shake her into continuing.

She looked up then, a small smile touching her lips.  "N-no.  It's alright, you are my team, you have a right to know where my bit came from – even if it also includes explaining some more painful things from my past.

I received my bit beast about two years ago, you see Akala is passed down through the women in my family.  I come from a long line of female bladers – although none of them were ever champion material, all were very average.  While possessing a bit beast, Akala, none of them knew how to harness her power or how to use her.  For them blading was just a hobby, a game they did when they were young.

My mom was the last carrier of Akala, even though she despised blading.  Her mother had tried to get her interested in beyblading at a young age, but my mother was of a practical mind and saw blading as a waste of time.  She did, however, recognize Akala's importance.

To the women of my family, or I should say my mothers side, Akala was not just mythical spirit in a child's toy, she was a guardian and she guarded the different generations of girls in my mothers line.  That's how she came to me… she was passed to me after my mothers death.

I grew up as a gypsy, my parents traveling merchants, I guess you could say I've seen the world.  Two years ago while I was at a beyblade tournament in America my parents were in an accident.  They were at a party or something, I refused to go because of the tournament.  Dad had fallen asleep in the back of the car, he never liked parties, and Mom had too much to drink.  He wasn't awake to stop her from driving… they…she… drove into the side of a brick building two blocks from our hotel.  Both were announced dead on arrival." She sighed at the end, willing the tears not to come as they burned at the back of her eyes.  "I suppose though it wasn't really necessary to tell you the whole story.  But to be honest, it feels better getting it off my chest. We're a team, and I'd rather not keep things like my past from my team."

The boys were absolutely soundless.  Not one uttered a word or a sound, none of them really sure what to say.  What do you say to a girl that just poured her heart out to you when you barely knew her?

"I-I'm sorry."  Tyson was the first to speak after a very long, uncomfortable minute of silence.

A smile lit up her face once more, her eyes yet filled with sadness were also filled with gratitude.  "It's alright thank you for listening but it's just like you said –it's in the past now right?  It just means you and me have something in common ne Tyson?"

He smiled back at her awkwardly.  Kenny sighed and mumbled a quiet, "My condolences."

Because Max was still silent they turned their attention to the blond boy.  He looked shattered.  His normally bright blue eyes were glossy with unshed tears and filled with pain.  Before any of them could react he latched himself onto Tyson, giving him a tight hug.  Tyson startled, didn't move. Max released him suddenly and bound over the back of his seat, falling into the surprised girl's lap, his head pressed firmly against her chest, her knees logged firmly in his stomach, winding him.  He paid no head, throwing his arms around her and squeezing her forcefully.

Liika sat rooted in shock.  A boy, one she barely knew, was hugging her extremely tight in attempt to comfort her and himself.  The blond boy's empathy touched her deeply.  He was willing to cry for someone he hardly knew?

As he lifted his head from her chest he found himself staring into wide turquoise eyes, they're noses almost touching.  Blushing he immediately stumbled to his feet and laughed nervously.  "So-sorry about that.  I just got carried away."

After sitting in shock for a moment she smiled and said softly.  "Thank you.  That… meant a lot to me."

Max turned an even brighter red and scratched his head while Tyson and Kenny eyed him suspiciously.  When Max finally made his way back to his seat Tyson elbowed him in the side.  "When did you become such the ladies man Maxy?"  His eyes narrowed, and his lips twisted into a smirk.

"Ty-son!" Max hissed in replied, obviously dying of embarrassment.

Tyson, Liika and Kenny laughed at his embarrassment.  Liika's laugh died down to a chuckle as she decided that she should save the boy from his turmoil.  "Now that that unpleasantness is over, why don't you guys tell me how you met?"

Kenny perked up at this, "Well let me tell you, Tyson…"