She looked incredible as always in a pair of black bike shorts, with an open short sleeve black silk top over a black lace halter top. I myself, at her request, had worn less clothes than usual, and I was wearing a light blue short sleeve shirt and loose black pants with matching shoes. We strolled through the mall for a couple hours, talking about all the stuff we would like to buy once we were both old enough to work and she spent some of her lunch money on some sweet smelling bath salts of jasmine and vanilla. Smelling them myself, I almost lost myself in thoughts of how good she would smell in class in the mornings in homeroom. After much debate, we stopped in a modest department store where she decided to buy her school clothes. She picked out several different outfits for herself and then proceeded to look for some clothes for me. I wasn't terribly comfortable with her spending her school money on me, but she insisted that I give her a chance to see if she could find something to suit me. I waited outside the dressing room while she tried on some clothes, thinking about Beyblade mindlessly. We had talked some about it while we had walked around, and she seemed to have a real passion for the game. She had been very impressed with my Beyblade, curious to see it in action, considering the heavy attack and defense rings I had equipped it with. To the surprise of the few people shopping nearby, I completely fell out of my chair when I saw Artesia walk out of the dressing room wearing a shimpy black bikini. I forced my hand over my mouth to hide my surprise as she twirled around slowly to show the whole outfit to me. "What do you think?" she said, not feeling a bit selfconscious. From the way she was standing before me, waiting for my answer with barely a blush on her face, it was obvious she was completely comfortable dressed as she was in front of me. I searched quickly for a suitable answer as I took her in, her outfit barely leaving anything to the imagination. "Um, it looks very nice...that would obviously be the one, I think?" I told her. She smiled. "Great! I'll be right back." she said. "Wow...is that your girlfriend?" the male dressing room attendent asked me. "No. We're just friends." I told him. The attendent didn't have time to respond as Artesia bounded out of the dressing room and insisted I change next. What she chose for me was a skintight black top and a pair of loose blue pants. The pants I didn't have a problem with, but I wasn't so sure about the top. Considering how open she had been about changing into that bathing suit, I decided to humor her. "Oh Kai...oh wow...you look amazing."she told me. She walked over to me to get a closer look, gingerly touching my chest to check to see if the top was too tight on me. I hadn't expected her to touch me in that way, and I felt goosebumps begin to creep all over me, her fingers lingering in the most sensitive places. No girl had ever touched me in such a way and I wasn't sure what to think of such intimate contact. "Artesia..." I whisper. Now it was her turn to blush. "Oh, I'm sorry. That looks great on you, Kai. What do you think?" she asked. "If you like it, I'll get it." I told her. "Great." she said. She seemed satisfied with mty response as I went back to change into my regular clothes. We walked back into the main area of the mall with our purchases, when we both turned to see a large crowd looming nearby. "I wonder what's going on." Artesia said. We soon had our answer as we joined the crowd nearby and saw that they were holding the regional Beyblade qualifiers at the mall this weekend. "How exciting!! Oh Kai, we should try out; just for a lark. What do you think?" she asked me. I looked up into her eyes and could see her eagerness to battle and also to see me battle as well. There was no way I could refuse her. "Okay, Artesia. Why not?" I told her. We chatted a little about Beyblading as we waited in line to sign up, and were quickly given numbers to use for the competition. "Kai, you should change into the new clothes I got you. It would make your opponent fear you a little and maybe even give you an edge in battle." Artesia said. I agreed, leaving her momentarily to change. When I returned, she was talking to an older man in glasses. "Oh you must be Kai. I am Mr. Dickenson, the sponsor of this Beyblade tournament. I've heard about you, young man. You're the grandson of the Beyblade world champion." he said. Artesia's eyes widened. "Kai, you never told me that!!" she said. Murmurs began to rise amonst those closest to us when they overheard the news. I sighed, knowing now that I would be the center of unwanted attention. "I never told you because I didn't want everybody to know. I've had to deal with way too much attention over the years because of that. You can't imagine what it's like to live in his shadow." I told her. "Well, I for one am honored to have such a knowledgeable Beyblader within the ranks of my competition. Good luck to both of you." he says. Soon after Mr. Dickenson walked away, mine and Artesia's turns were announced. Artesia went first, undressing to her bike shorts and the black bikini top she had just bought in hopes of distracting her opponent. It certainly worked on me, I thought, because I couldn't take my eyes off her. In the first round, she was quickly defeated, despite her enemy's persistant stare at her. The second round, however, was when she surprised me once again. "Batwyler, Bloodstrike now!" she exclaimed. She had not told me that she had owned her own bitbeast, the spirit of a large, vicious bloodsucking bat. I guessed that Bloodstrike was it's special attack, and I soon had my answer as her enemy's Beyblade quickly had the life drained right out of it. The third round was the big test, and this was when her enemy unleashed his bitbeast, the spirit of an enormous hairy legged spider called Lagathador. Lagathador used it's PoisonStrike attack to disable her bitbeast before it had a chance to attack and forced her out of the competition. She picked up her Beyblade, laughing through the tears that were burning her face. "It's no big deal that I lost. That was fun. What a rush!" she laughed. "It's your turn now, Kai." Mr. Dickenson told me. I was ready. I knew Artesia was disappointed in losing, desoite putting on a brave face. More than ever, I was determained to win for her more than for myself, just because I knew how it felt to fail at something you really wanted to achieve. Concentrating on the task at hand, I strode out to face my opponent, the same character that had defeated Artesia. Unlike him, I did not have my own bitbeast, but i did have anumber of strategies I was to use against him. He broke out into a fit of hysterics when we finally faced each other. "So you're who I have to beat to make it to the regionals? Kai, the grandson of Shodan, the Beyblade world champion. Well, if you think that intimidates me, you've got another thought coming. I defeated that little upstart of a girlfriend of yours and I'll take you down too, no problem." he proclaimed. I crossed my arms in front of me. "Why don't you stop talking already and let's get it on with it?" I told him. We got into our launching stances as we waited for the announcement to begin. "Ready Beybladers? Let it rip!!!" the announcer shouts.