AN: Ffnet.. is soooo ghey.. stupid thing wont let me upload chapter… anyway if you want to see pictures of this look on my profile for the link ^^
Friday morning –after pretty much ignoring Liika and the glares she threw him for the rest of the day before, Kai walked into Bakuten high school a happy man. Their teacher for Family Management was going to be away on personal business and so gave them a spare that period –and that meant no Mrs. Hiwatari. Also after school was his teams first match. Sure it didn't count or anything, but he wanted to see the look on the spitfires face when they wiped the floor with her team. Of course, they probably would be fairly even. Kai was arrogant, but he wasn't stupid. He knew very well what kind of talent Bakuten B possessed, he had seen most of them blade. The only ones he wasn't sure of was Wakeman and the witch herself, the rest he had an idea.
As he approached his locker he was pushed from the side into the group of lockers he had been walking by. However, before he could gain his bearings, someone grabbed the front of his uniform and slammed his back into a locker door.
"Touch her again, Hiwatari, and I swear to god you will wish you had stayed at your bloody private school." A voice growled, full of malice.
Kai raised his throbbing head –it had smacked the locker door when he was slammed into it, and stared at his assailant. Angry crimson eyes narrowed at him from under scrunched purple eyebrows. Before he could say anything thought running footsteps approached him, accompanied by another voice. "What the hell Jagen?!"
Robert turned his head to see Bryan and Tala approaching. With another withering glare at Kai, he let him go and took a step back. As he passed the two he paused beside Bryan and said, "If you're going to warn someone about hurting Liika, warn that bastard."
The boys watched him disappear down the hall, confused frowns on their faces. They turned to Kai who had a deep scowl on his face. He straightened out his uniform and continued on to his locker, pushing by Tala and Bryan.
"Yo man, are you ok? What was that all about?" Tala asked, following Kai to his locker.
Kai shrugged, opening his lock with a flick of his wrist. "I'm fine. He's just pissed that his girlfriend jumped all over me yesterday and not him."
Tala and Bryan blinked in surprise, Bryan's eyes narrowing in suspicion. If Robert thought Kai was a threat to his Liika –oh yes she was still his, whether she saw it or not- perhaps the blue haired boy was. He would just have to keep an eye on both of them.
"Oh! You mean the incident in the Caff. everyone was talking about?" Tala asked, leaning up against the locker beside Kai's.
"The very same."
Tala snorted. "I heard she tripped, typical Tomoda fashion, and fell on top of you." He said.
Kai tossed his new best friend an amused glance. "Trip, jump… same difference."
The red head chuckled, shrugging. "Whatever you say man, but seriously are you ok? You head his the locker pretty hard."
"I've had worse." Kai replied, reaching up and touching the small lump that had formed on the back of his head. "Though I'll admit I have the strong urge to beat the crap out of Jagen right about now… not to mention the blue witch. But alas, I don't beat up girls."
Bryan, who had been silent up until now let out a small growl and glared at Kai before turning and stalking in the direction Robert had gone. Kai raised an eyebrow, watching the boy leave then turned to Tala questioningly. "What the hell?"
Tala waved his hand dismissively, straightening up. "Don't mind him, he's been in love with Icki since sixth grade." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Kai slammed his locker door shut and picked up his bag. "You can't be serious? Why?"
The utter distaste and confusion in Kai's voice made Tala burst out laughing. He clutched his sides, as the blue haired boy stared at him incredulously. "Who knows, my friend. But I'll tell you this, he gets overly possessive of what's not his." Tala stated, sobering up a bit, his wide grin not leaving his face. The blue haired captain made a face, causing Tala's grin to grow. "Anyway, enough about Icki."
"I couldn't agree more."
Tala sighed dramatically. "On to my problems… dude I think this girl is stalking me."
It was Kai's turn to laugh.
After school came quickly enough, Kai and Liika's interaction stayed at a minimum… or in other words was non-existent. Liika's hair was pulled up in a normal ponytail, which made Kai snicker. She was probably too poor to cough up another two dollars to buy new hair sticks to replace the ones that were now separated. One sitting in his locker, the other on his desk at home. Why he had kept them he didn't know, but it was probably because he knew that if she knew he had them, and didn't throw them out, it would piss her off more.
The two teams quickly made their way to the outdoor court where the match was to be held. Everyone was squirming with excitement, eager to show off their skills. Both teams had something to prove.
Liika was last to arrive, showing up about two minutes after everyone else on her team did. She trotted up to the bench where the team's things were laid out, and where her team was now warming up. "Hey, sorry I'm late!" She said, plopping herself down on the bench so she faced the outer fence. She glanced over her shoulder to see Bakuten A warming up as well. Kai stood in the middle of the group with his arm's crossed, barking out orders. What a jerk. She thought glaring.
He chose that time to turn his head so that his eyes met directly with hers. A smirk immediately replaced his serious frown. "Hey Tomoda, ready to get stomped into the ground?" Kai called.
Liika seethed, she sooo wanted to march over there and punch his smirking, over sized head, a feeling that was not uncommon when she was in his presence.
"Ignore him, Iki." Enrique muttered from beside her. "He's not worth it."
"Enrique's right." Jade added, stretching her arms over her head, "He knows if you get all upset then your game will go down. And that's exactly what he wants."
Liika sighed, knowing her friends were right. "You're right. But it's just so hard! He's such and asshole! Arrrgh!" She exclaimed, starting warm ups of her own.
"That will be enough of that language Liika." Judy scolded. She had just entered the court and was now surveying the team with calculating violet eyes. "Alright guys gather round."
The nine teenagers gathered around her as was commanded. Riley stood to Judy's left, her purple notebook clutched to her chest. Enrique moaned, flexing his right arm. "Geez Riley, I really wish we didn't do that weight training yesterday. My arms ache…" He whined.
Riley rolled her eyes and sighed. "You weren't supposed to over do it Enrique." She scolded softly, taking his arm in her hands and gently massaging it.
Enrique grinned, blushing a bit. Score!
"Yeah Enrique, if you weren't so busy trying to show off for Riley, you wouldn't be hurting today!" Emily teased, winking at Enrique whose face flared up.
Liika, Mariah and Jade giggled, winking also at Enrique. Riley was so wrapped up in her task that she didn't notice anything they were saying. Which Enrique thanked his lucky stars for. The boys smirked, shaking their heads.
"Ahem, back to the point at hand." Judy said, drawing their attention back to her. "Maxy says good luck, and that he'll be rooting for you. Now, Liika, have you decided on the line up?"
The blue haired girl frowned. "Sort of… I want singles one." She stated, crossing her arms over chest.
"But that's where Kai will be blading…"
"Exactly."
"No."
They all turned to Robert, who had his eyes closed, and his arms crossed. Liika scowled. "Why not?" She demanded, dropping her hands to her sides.
Robert's eyes snapped open, and met hers determinedly. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to battle Kai today." He stated sternly.
"But-"
"I think Robert's right." Judy said. "You get far too emotional around him. He knows exactly how to play you. And until you learn to get a cap on your reactions to him, you shouldn't blade him. If you are going to blade I think you should blade somewhere where we're sure that he wont be blading. After all, we don't know they're order."
"Doubles."
All eyes turned to Bryan. His eyes were centered on Liika.
Riley snapped her fingers. "That's it! Kai doesn't suit doubles battles well, so that's where he is least likely to be!" She exclaimed.
Liika frowned. She didn't mind doubles battles, but she far preferred singles. "But who's going to be my partner?"
"Me."
Once again all eyes turned to Bryan. "We'll battle doubles one." He stated, a tone of finality in his voice.
Liika shrugged, looking to Judy for permission. The older woman nodded. "That's fine, now for the rest, you said you had them worked out?"
"I want to sit." Emily spoke up. "Me and Riley are going to collect data on them."
"Ok." Liika nodded. "That means… hmm…" She thought for a moment, while the team watched her. After a minute she nodded again and grinned. "Here it is: our golden pair, Lee and Mariah will be in Doubles two, as you know me and Bryan in Doubles one, Jade will battle in Singles three, Enrique in Singles two and Robert in Singles one. Everyone agree?"
The group nodded, no one raising objections. "Alright then, let's get this party started, Lee and Mariah you're up first, good luck!" Liika smiled, giving the two teens thumbs up.
Mariah grinned and winked as her and her partner stepped out onto the platform to wait for their opponents.
"Ok listen up cause I'm only going to say this once." Kai said, eyes shifting around his assembled team.
They looked ready to win, and that's what he hoped they did. It wouldn't do at all if he lost to the witch this early in the season… before the season even started.
"I've made up the line up. I will be sitting. Singles one: MacGregor, Singles two: Parker, Singles three: Du Bois, Doubles one: Valkov and Mitchell, Doubles two: Kon and Tomoda. I trust there are no objections, because even if there are I don't want to here them."
Rei and Tyson glanced at each other and shrugged, they had bladed together before. Tala and Ian smirked, giving each other high fives. Johnny looked pleased to be blading in the one slot. Michael and Oliver just smiled.
The team quieted as someone cleared their throat. They all looked toward the dish to see Liika standing a few feet away, a piece of paper in her hand. Kai pushed Tyson –who was standing in his way- out of the way and came to stand in front of her, pulling himself up to his full height. Looking down at her, he sneered, "What do you want?"
No emotion crossed her face or flashed in her eyes as she stared back up at him. "In accordance to BBA rules each team must submit a line up to the other team before the start of the first match." She said, handing him the piece of paper.
Kai didn't even look back. "Johnson." He called, holding his hand out expectantly.
Quickly Kenny came pushing through the group and handed his captain a piece of paper. Kai traded the paper for Liika's. Liika bowed her head in acceptance and made her way back to her bench. He was slightly disappointed. He didn't even get a frown from her! Just a blank look. It irritated him. Fine, if you want to play that way.
He turned back to his team, finally looking at the paper in his hand. "Well, what's it say?" Johnny asked brazenly.
Kai shrugged and read it out loud,"
Singles one: Robert Jagen
Singles two: Enrique Sattiay
Singles three: Jade Maxwell" He paused as he got to the doubles. What the hell… she was blading doubles? A frown crossed his face.
"Doubles one: Bryan Wakeman and Liika Tomoda
Doubles two: Lee Laan and Mariah Low
What the hell? She spins doubles?" He demanded, looking straight at Tala. He felt really disappointed then. If she bladed nothing but doubles, how the hell was he going to kick her ass during the season?
Tala shook his head. "Not usually… neither does Bryan for that matter. Che, works better for us. We'll be spinning with amateurs to doubles." Tala replied smirking.
The blue haired captain snorted, Good.
"Awww damn. This like… totally bites!" Tyson groaned, tossing a look at Rei, who also looked less than enthused.
"Is there something wrong Tomoda?" Kai asked flatly.
Tyson hung his head, and Rei patted the poor boy on the shoulder. "He's just less than enthused about blading the pair we have to blade against. Can't say I'm all that thrilled either." Rei responded, looking Kai in the eye.
Kai snickered. "Why, because the chick is your girlfriend?" He taunted, smirking.
Rei scowled for a moment and shook his head adamantly. "Hardly. I don't work like that Hiwatari. We aren't thrilled about spinning with them, because they are the Golden Pair."
Kai's face screwed up in confusion. "Golden Pair?" He demanded.
"Yeah, they've been blading together since Elementary school. They're practically unbeatable together." Johnny spoke up.
Rei nodded. "And with their bit beasts being so similar they're amazing. They know each other's attacks and can execute them perfectly, making them unpredictable." He finished, a frown on his face.
Interesting, Kai thought, his eyes narrowing in contemplation. "This is exactly why we need to blade them now. I don't know enough about they're skills and from what I know about the rest of the teams in our county, they will be our toughest challenge. Now, Kon and Tomoda get out there. Just blade the best you can, and don't go down with out a fight. That's all I can ask." He said, sending Rei and Tyson a nod of good luck.
The two boys sucked in breaths and headed to the dish, launchers and blades in hand.