Kai drove, Rei was in the passenger seat, and the others were
expected to squish onto the bench seat.
Tyson sat next to Hilary, who was next to Kenny, who was next to the window. Max was on Tyson's other side, and Rockie was against the other wall.
Max and Tyson got bored almost instantly. They climbed back into the back of the van, with all the luggage, and started pretending like they were in a jungle, complete with Tarzan yells, monkey noises, and machine gun sound effects. Ah, to be 15 again... ;o)
Hilary pulled a book out of a bag and opened to a page near the middle; Kenny, who ended up staying up too late the night before, immediately fell asleep leaning against Hilary's shoulder.
Rockie, who grew bored easily like Max, decided to lapse back into her old habit of people watching. Rei was first. She was curious about him. She remembered the first time she met him, Tyson had made a comment about Rei being part cat. She decided to find out about it.
"Hey, Rei?" she called in her sweet-little-girl voice.
"Hmm?" Rei answered, turning in his seat to look at her, polite as always.
"Is it true that you're part cat?"
"Yeah. It's called being a neko-jin."
"Oh. Cool! So that's why your teeth are pointy?" she asked, making sure she still sounded the same so he'd keep answering her questions. She'd noticed that as long as she sounded truly interested, people talked. What an amazing revelation!
"You think they're pointy-looking now, watch wha—"he stopped talking suddenly, startled, when Kai gunned it and started swerving purposely, smirking all the way.
When Rei was surprised, the cat qualities came out further. The pupils of his catlike eyes became thin slits, and his teeth seemed even pointier as he bared them, glaring at Kai.
"KAI!!" he yelled. Everyone but Kenny looked up, startled. Rei DIDN'T yell, like, as a rule, unless it was really important.
Kai just smirked, and started driving normally.
Rei sighed and turned back to Rockie. "It's a defense mechanism," he explained.
"Wow..." Rockie, without thinking, reached up and took his face in her hands, turning it slightly to watch his eyes glint in the light like a cat's.
Rei smiled. "You understand now?"
She nodded and let go of him. "You'd better be careful who sees that though. Have you ever been called a vampire?"
"Yes, actually," Rei laughed.
"Are there other... neko-peoples?"
"Neko-jins. Yes, there are others. I'll introduce you to some of them at the tournament." He smiled softly at the idea of seeing his childhood friends after so long.
"Are any of them girls?"
"There is one." His grin grew wider.
Rockie grinned too. "You like her, don't you?"
"Who, Mariah? Well, I love her as my best friend. I've known her practically from birth. She is a sister to me." (I hate Rei/Mariah, just so you know.)
"I see. I thought this neko-jin girl would be Salima."
Rei blushed at the name. "Salima is something else entirely..." he looked dreamy, and was going to continue but Kai let out a sort of snort that snapped Rei back to reality.
Rockie leaned against the side of the van and crossed her legs, which were stretched out on the seat. She let out a sigh and thought about the other Blade Breakers with her eyes closed.
Tyson, with his stubbornness, moodiness, and bad eating habits... and his love for Beyblading, especially his bit beast Dragoon...
Rei, who had all that gorgeous hair, his polite but quiet ways, and his really cool Driger...
Kenny, who's bit beast, Dizzi, was trapped in his laptop, making her able to communicate with everyone, and his little-boy-cute looks, that brain, and a passion for technology...
Hilary, who loved Beyblading even though she didn't blade, and who admitted to Rockie that she'd had a crush on Tyson for years, and who had become one of Rockie's best friends...
Max, the loving, caring, cute little guy, who acted immature, yet seemed so mature and smart that he didn't feel the need to act like it, with his awesome smile, love for everything, especially Draciel and his other friends...
Kai, who... was quiet, independent, and seemed sort of... superhuman... and he had Dranzer, but that seemed to be all he cared about...
That did it. If that was all she knew about Kai, (well, Kai himself, anyway. She knew his life's story and all, but she didn't know anything about HIM) then she would just have to get information from somebody. Best place: Kai himself.
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
So, Rockie had filled her plate up good with after-practice socializing. First she'd meet Rei's friends, probably tomorrow. Then she'd confront Kai... maybe, while she was alone with Rei anyway, she should ask him how he thinks she should do it.
She fell asleep thinking about it.
When she woke up, she was slouched with her arms around her knees and her head resting on top. She sat up straight and stretched her arms up, yawning, then looked around.
Rei was driving how, and Kai was in the passenger seat, sleeping. It was still daylight, so Rockie couldn't tell what time it was.
"How long..." yawn, "...was I sleeping?" Rockie asked quietly.
"About 2 hours. We stopped driving for a while, that's why we aren't there yet," Rei answered in the same tone.
"Why did you stop?"
"To switch drivers and get something to eat. There's food here for you, if you're hungry." He pointed at a bag, never taking his eyes off the road.
Rockie dug through the bag, pulled out some... French fries, and munched on them while she sat in silence.
Not long after that, they got to the airport. A half hour later, everyone was in a small BBA private plane, headed to Australia. The plane ride was rather uneventful, except when Tyson bugged Hilary just a bit too much and got himself slapped. ((A/N: lol love to beat Tyson up... ;o) ))
At the airport in Australia, they got off the plane and were immediately greeted with hugs and kisses and "hey man, I haven't seen you in almost a year!"-s.
Well, everyone but Kai and Rockie, anyway. Nobody ever touched Kai, and no one knew Rockie. They probably thought she was just another person who won some contest and got to spend a day with one of the teams, or something.
Max finally pried himself away from his friends on other teams, and ran over to Rockie, who was standing alone.
"Hey, come on, I'll introduce you to some people," he said sweetly, taking her hand.
"Well... okay..."
They went to where the All-Starz were gathered. "Hey, guys, I'd like you to meet the newest Blade Breaker, Rockie. Rockie, this is Emily, Michael, Steve, and Eddie."
"Hi..." she said shyly.
"Nice to meet you. I'm glad to see some new competition," Emily said. Secretly, she was thinking 'duh, Max, of course I knew who your new member is. I know everything about the teams.'
Eddie shook her hand, and the other two just sort of nodded and said hi.
"Want to meet anyone else?" Max asked, once they'd left the company of his mother's team.
"Not right now..." she sighed, leaning tiredly on his shoulder. "Too much happening for one day..."
Max yawned and leaned his head on his sister's. "I know how you feel."
"Let's go find our rooms, Maxie. I wanna go to bed early. Maybe have a snack first."
They ended up not getting to leave until about a half hour later, once all the greeting and catching up was done. Okay, now's about where you go "what the hell, most of the teams hate each other..." but it's also the part where I get to remind you that about 2 years have passed, and these people have grown up some (most of them anyway). They all sort of treated each other as a large group of casual friends, sort of like a class in a small school, how everyone knows everyone too well to just be acquaintances. Of course, the old rivalries still existed.
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
The next day—big surprise—the first thing that happened was breakfast. Then five hours of grueling training, and lunch. Finally, they got some time off. Rockie found herself walking down a hallway with Rei, on her way to the rooms the White Tigers shared.
Rei lifted his hand to knock, but Rockie caught his fist before it touched the door. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Rei?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Rei laughed at the worried look on his friend's face. "They'll like you, I know it. And besides, you're so interested in the neko-jin community... it would be a sin to waste that curiosity."
"Well... if you say so." She let his hand go and stood behind him while he knocked.
A boy who was shorter than Rei, but looked to be older answered the door. He was kind of cute, in a rugged sort of way. His hair was in a ponytail, and he wore his usual outfit.
"Rei!" the boy said loudly, embracing the taller boy with a grin. "Great to see you again."
"Hey, Lee!" Rei moved into the room, then as a second thought, leaned back out and grabbed Rockie by the sleeve, dragging her after him.
"Who's that, Tiger?" a short green-haired boy with a glint in his eye asked mischievously.
"This is Rockie. She's Max's sister, and my friend. I brought her to meet you guys, hope that's okay," Rei said, in a tone that suggested that he assumed it to be fine.
"Okay? Of course it's okay. Any friend of yours is a friend of ours, except maybe the human garbage disposal," Lee laughed, answering for everyone.
"Hey there! It's nice to see another girl beyblader around," Mariah came over and linked arms with Rockie, smiling.
Rockie started warming up toward these new people once she'd learned all of their names and a bit about them. Kevin was good at making her laugh, Mariah seemed nice enough, though a bit girly, and Gary was sort of like Tyson, but bigger. Lee reminded Rockie a bit of Kai, but also of Rei.
"So, have you met the other teams yet?" Mariah asked.
"No, not really... I did meet the All-Starz though," Rockie answered. "Why?"
"Let's go then! Really, you can't be part of one of the teams if you don't know everyone!" without waiting for an answer, Mariah grabbed Rockie's hand and jogged out of the room.
The first person they ran into was Mariam. She was with Joseph, wandering around.
"Hey, Mariam!" Mariah said cheerfully.
"What?" Mariam sighed.
"I'd like you to meet my new friend, Rockie!"
'Oh great, another ditz...' Mariam thought, then she said, "Hi, Rockie... wait, you look like Max!!"
Rockie laughed. "I'm his sister!"
"Oh really? Hmmm... well, this is my brother, Joseph. Guess we're both stuck in the same boat." Joseph was looking impatient, so she added, "and now we've got to go, sorry. Maybe I'll talk to you some other time."
They left quickly before Rockie or Mariah could even say bye.
"That was Mariam and Joseph... they're on the Saint Shields team. Mariam has a crush on your brother, but she won't admit it for anything, and Joseph's an ugly little monkey, unlike Kevin, who's a very cute ugly little monkey."
"Oookay..." Rockie said. She was thinking, 'Did that make any sense at all?'
"C'mon, we've still got people to meet."
"Mariah, maybe I should do this with Max..."
"Nonsense! I don't mind at all!"
"That's not what I was getting at, but oh well," Rockie sighed in defeat and allowed Mariah to link arms with her again and drag her down the hall.
"Ooh, here's someone you should meet..."
"MARIAH!!" the name echoed from down the hall, in the direction they'd just come from. A few seconds later, Max came running at them, and he grabbed Rockie in his arms protectively, placing himself between the two girls.
"Rockie, are you okay? Did she hurt you? Are you in any way traumatized, cuz if you are, I'll make Kai sue her for every penny..." Max rambled on.
"Max, I'm fine..."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
Mariah glared at the blonde boy with her hands on her hips. "Max, what did you do that for? We were having a good time before you came along."
"Mariah, you know I don't like you. You're scary and... pink. I'm just being a good brother. Now, off you go back to your fellow kitty people, ok?"
Mariah huffed off the way they'd come, flipping her hair angrily.
"Thanks Maxie, I thought I'd be stuck with her all day!" Rockie sighed in relief, pulling away from Max.
"No problemo. Now, I have to go, but you can keep looking around if you want. I sort of left Tyson all alone with Kai, and I'm not sure if he'll still be alive when I get back." He kissed his sister's cheek, and sprinted back down the hallway.
Rockie turned to keep going, and walked straight into someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she blushed. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
The boy smiled down at her and straightened his vest. "No harm done. May I ask your name?"
"I'm Rockie... Rockie Tate. Or Rockie Lewis. Whichever."
His smile grew. "Hello, I am Enrique Giancarlo. You are beautiful."
Rockie grinned back. "Do you try that line on every girl, or am I special?"
"You are certainly special, but yes, sadly, I use that line on every beautiful girl. You caught me. I mist admit, however, you are the only one who has made me feel like this." He lifted her hand to his lips, and lowered his eyes as if to say "and here's the part where you either fall into my arms or break my poor heart, which shall it be?"
Rockie laughed, making him look up with a hopeful (yet somehow, teasing) grin. "Well, I must admit, you have a way with words, Enrique... but go try it on some girl who buys into that crap." She said it with a friendly tone to her voice.
"Alright. I tried. Friends?" he held his hand out.
"Sure." Rockie accepted the hand, shaking it, but keeping hold. "Hey, introduce me to some people, huh?" she asked with a grin identical to Max's.
"Okay," He led her to the other Majestics, who were in a room off of the hallway. "This is Johnny, Oliver, and Robert. Guys, meet Rockie... um..."
"Tate. Hi!" she flashed her smile, and Oliver and Johnny smiled back. Robert muttered something about uncouth, outgoing girls and his teammates...
"It is an honor to meet such a lovely young lady as you," Oliver said as he bowed over Rockie's hands, which he'd taken in his own.
Rockie blushed. "What's with you guys? Enrique calls me beautiful; now you say I'm lovely... do you guys have vision impairments or something?" she pulled her hands away from Oliver and rolled her eyes.
"I apologize for them. They're major flirts, but too naïve to have any sense while doing it. You ARE cute though," Johnny said with a smirk.
"Eh... thanks..." just then, Rei knocked on the doorframe and walked in. she was so glad to see a familiar face that she immediately threw her arms around her friend's neck, startling him and the Majestics.
Rei sort of awkwardly patted her back, then gently pulled her off and led her out of the room, saying, "Bye, guys, see ya later..."
They went back to the Blade Breakers' suite, where Kai immediately pounced—in his own, Kai-like way.
"Where have you two been?" he asked lazily, not opening his eyes, from his seat on the couch.
"Visiting the White Tigers, Kai, that's all," Rei answered for both of them.
"Yeah, and I went to meet the Majestics, too, thanks to Mariah," Rockie added.
Tyson, from across the room, snorted and started laughing. "So, what did you think of Mr. Art and Mr. Flirt?"
"Uh..."
"He means Oliver and Enrique," Kenny explained, looking up from his video game match against Max for just a split second. It was enough for Max to gain an advantage, however, and the game was quickly won.
"Oh. Them. Well, Oliver seems like a sweet guy, and Enrique... well, he's okay, too. Johnny seems nice as well. I don't know about that Robert guy though." She took the controller from Kenny and set it up again so she could play against Max.
Hilary came in then, and started fighting with Tyson. A typical day.
Tyson sat next to Hilary, who was next to Kenny, who was next to the window. Max was on Tyson's other side, and Rockie was against the other wall.
Max and Tyson got bored almost instantly. They climbed back into the back of the van, with all the luggage, and started pretending like they were in a jungle, complete with Tarzan yells, monkey noises, and machine gun sound effects. Ah, to be 15 again... ;o)
Hilary pulled a book out of a bag and opened to a page near the middle; Kenny, who ended up staying up too late the night before, immediately fell asleep leaning against Hilary's shoulder.
Rockie, who grew bored easily like Max, decided to lapse back into her old habit of people watching. Rei was first. She was curious about him. She remembered the first time she met him, Tyson had made a comment about Rei being part cat. She decided to find out about it.
"Hey, Rei?" she called in her sweet-little-girl voice.
"Hmm?" Rei answered, turning in his seat to look at her, polite as always.
"Is it true that you're part cat?"
"Yeah. It's called being a neko-jin."
"Oh. Cool! So that's why your teeth are pointy?" she asked, making sure she still sounded the same so he'd keep answering her questions. She'd noticed that as long as she sounded truly interested, people talked. What an amazing revelation!
"You think they're pointy-looking now, watch wha—"he stopped talking suddenly, startled, when Kai gunned it and started swerving purposely, smirking all the way.
When Rei was surprised, the cat qualities came out further. The pupils of his catlike eyes became thin slits, and his teeth seemed even pointier as he bared them, glaring at Kai.
"KAI!!" he yelled. Everyone but Kenny looked up, startled. Rei DIDN'T yell, like, as a rule, unless it was really important.
Kai just smirked, and started driving normally.
Rei sighed and turned back to Rockie. "It's a defense mechanism," he explained.
"Wow..." Rockie, without thinking, reached up and took his face in her hands, turning it slightly to watch his eyes glint in the light like a cat's.
Rei smiled. "You understand now?"
She nodded and let go of him. "You'd better be careful who sees that though. Have you ever been called a vampire?"
"Yes, actually," Rei laughed.
"Are there other... neko-peoples?"
"Neko-jins. Yes, there are others. I'll introduce you to some of them at the tournament." He smiled softly at the idea of seeing his childhood friends after so long.
"Are any of them girls?"
"There is one." His grin grew wider.
Rockie grinned too. "You like her, don't you?"
"Who, Mariah? Well, I love her as my best friend. I've known her practically from birth. She is a sister to me." (I hate Rei/Mariah, just so you know.)
"I see. I thought this neko-jin girl would be Salima."
Rei blushed at the name. "Salima is something else entirely..." he looked dreamy, and was going to continue but Kai let out a sort of snort that snapped Rei back to reality.
Rockie leaned against the side of the van and crossed her legs, which were stretched out on the seat. She let out a sigh and thought about the other Blade Breakers with her eyes closed.
Tyson, with his stubbornness, moodiness, and bad eating habits... and his love for Beyblading, especially his bit beast Dragoon...
Rei, who had all that gorgeous hair, his polite but quiet ways, and his really cool Driger...
Kenny, who's bit beast, Dizzi, was trapped in his laptop, making her able to communicate with everyone, and his little-boy-cute looks, that brain, and a passion for technology...
Hilary, who loved Beyblading even though she didn't blade, and who admitted to Rockie that she'd had a crush on Tyson for years, and who had become one of Rockie's best friends...
Max, the loving, caring, cute little guy, who acted immature, yet seemed so mature and smart that he didn't feel the need to act like it, with his awesome smile, love for everything, especially Draciel and his other friends...
Kai, who... was quiet, independent, and seemed sort of... superhuman... and he had Dranzer, but that seemed to be all he cared about...
That did it. If that was all she knew about Kai, (well, Kai himself, anyway. She knew his life's story and all, but she didn't know anything about HIM) then she would just have to get information from somebody. Best place: Kai himself.
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
So, Rockie had filled her plate up good with after-practice socializing. First she'd meet Rei's friends, probably tomorrow. Then she'd confront Kai... maybe, while she was alone with Rei anyway, she should ask him how he thinks she should do it.
She fell asleep thinking about it.
When she woke up, she was slouched with her arms around her knees and her head resting on top. She sat up straight and stretched her arms up, yawning, then looked around.
Rei was driving how, and Kai was in the passenger seat, sleeping. It was still daylight, so Rockie couldn't tell what time it was.
"How long..." yawn, "...was I sleeping?" Rockie asked quietly.
"About 2 hours. We stopped driving for a while, that's why we aren't there yet," Rei answered in the same tone.
"Why did you stop?"
"To switch drivers and get something to eat. There's food here for you, if you're hungry." He pointed at a bag, never taking his eyes off the road.
Rockie dug through the bag, pulled out some... French fries, and munched on them while she sat in silence.
Not long after that, they got to the airport. A half hour later, everyone was in a small BBA private plane, headed to Australia. The plane ride was rather uneventful, except when Tyson bugged Hilary just a bit too much and got himself slapped. ((A/N: lol love to beat Tyson up... ;o) ))
At the airport in Australia, they got off the plane and were immediately greeted with hugs and kisses and "hey man, I haven't seen you in almost a year!"-s.
Well, everyone but Kai and Rockie, anyway. Nobody ever touched Kai, and no one knew Rockie. They probably thought she was just another person who won some contest and got to spend a day with one of the teams, or something.
Max finally pried himself away from his friends on other teams, and ran over to Rockie, who was standing alone.
"Hey, come on, I'll introduce you to some people," he said sweetly, taking her hand.
"Well... okay..."
They went to where the All-Starz were gathered. "Hey, guys, I'd like you to meet the newest Blade Breaker, Rockie. Rockie, this is Emily, Michael, Steve, and Eddie."
"Hi..." she said shyly.
"Nice to meet you. I'm glad to see some new competition," Emily said. Secretly, she was thinking 'duh, Max, of course I knew who your new member is. I know everything about the teams.'
Eddie shook her hand, and the other two just sort of nodded and said hi.
"Want to meet anyone else?" Max asked, once they'd left the company of his mother's team.
"Not right now..." she sighed, leaning tiredly on his shoulder. "Too much happening for one day..."
Max yawned and leaned his head on his sister's. "I know how you feel."
"Let's go find our rooms, Maxie. I wanna go to bed early. Maybe have a snack first."
They ended up not getting to leave until about a half hour later, once all the greeting and catching up was done. Okay, now's about where you go "what the hell, most of the teams hate each other..." but it's also the part where I get to remind you that about 2 years have passed, and these people have grown up some (most of them anyway). They all sort of treated each other as a large group of casual friends, sort of like a class in a small school, how everyone knows everyone too well to just be acquaintances. Of course, the old rivalries still existed.
-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
The next day—big surprise—the first thing that happened was breakfast. Then five hours of grueling training, and lunch. Finally, they got some time off. Rockie found herself walking down a hallway with Rei, on her way to the rooms the White Tigers shared.
Rei lifted his hand to knock, but Rockie caught his fist before it touched the door. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Rei?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Rei laughed at the worried look on his friend's face. "They'll like you, I know it. And besides, you're so interested in the neko-jin community... it would be a sin to waste that curiosity."
"Well... if you say so." She let his hand go and stood behind him while he knocked.
A boy who was shorter than Rei, but looked to be older answered the door. He was kind of cute, in a rugged sort of way. His hair was in a ponytail, and he wore his usual outfit.
"Rei!" the boy said loudly, embracing the taller boy with a grin. "Great to see you again."
"Hey, Lee!" Rei moved into the room, then as a second thought, leaned back out and grabbed Rockie by the sleeve, dragging her after him.
"Who's that, Tiger?" a short green-haired boy with a glint in his eye asked mischievously.
"This is Rockie. She's Max's sister, and my friend. I brought her to meet you guys, hope that's okay," Rei said, in a tone that suggested that he assumed it to be fine.
"Okay? Of course it's okay. Any friend of yours is a friend of ours, except maybe the human garbage disposal," Lee laughed, answering for everyone.
"Hey there! It's nice to see another girl beyblader around," Mariah came over and linked arms with Rockie, smiling.
Rockie started warming up toward these new people once she'd learned all of their names and a bit about them. Kevin was good at making her laugh, Mariah seemed nice enough, though a bit girly, and Gary was sort of like Tyson, but bigger. Lee reminded Rockie a bit of Kai, but also of Rei.
"So, have you met the other teams yet?" Mariah asked.
"No, not really... I did meet the All-Starz though," Rockie answered. "Why?"
"Let's go then! Really, you can't be part of one of the teams if you don't know everyone!" without waiting for an answer, Mariah grabbed Rockie's hand and jogged out of the room.
The first person they ran into was Mariam. She was with Joseph, wandering around.
"Hey, Mariam!" Mariah said cheerfully.
"What?" Mariam sighed.
"I'd like you to meet my new friend, Rockie!"
'Oh great, another ditz...' Mariam thought, then she said, "Hi, Rockie... wait, you look like Max!!"
Rockie laughed. "I'm his sister!"
"Oh really? Hmmm... well, this is my brother, Joseph. Guess we're both stuck in the same boat." Joseph was looking impatient, so she added, "and now we've got to go, sorry. Maybe I'll talk to you some other time."
They left quickly before Rockie or Mariah could even say bye.
"That was Mariam and Joseph... they're on the Saint Shields team. Mariam has a crush on your brother, but she won't admit it for anything, and Joseph's an ugly little monkey, unlike Kevin, who's a very cute ugly little monkey."
"Oookay..." Rockie said. She was thinking, 'Did that make any sense at all?'
"C'mon, we've still got people to meet."
"Mariah, maybe I should do this with Max..."
"Nonsense! I don't mind at all!"
"That's not what I was getting at, but oh well," Rockie sighed in defeat and allowed Mariah to link arms with her again and drag her down the hall.
"Ooh, here's someone you should meet..."
"MARIAH!!" the name echoed from down the hall, in the direction they'd just come from. A few seconds later, Max came running at them, and he grabbed Rockie in his arms protectively, placing himself between the two girls.
"Rockie, are you okay? Did she hurt you? Are you in any way traumatized, cuz if you are, I'll make Kai sue her for every penny..." Max rambled on.
"Max, I'm fine..."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
Mariah glared at the blonde boy with her hands on her hips. "Max, what did you do that for? We were having a good time before you came along."
"Mariah, you know I don't like you. You're scary and... pink. I'm just being a good brother. Now, off you go back to your fellow kitty people, ok?"
Mariah huffed off the way they'd come, flipping her hair angrily.
"Thanks Maxie, I thought I'd be stuck with her all day!" Rockie sighed in relief, pulling away from Max.
"No problemo. Now, I have to go, but you can keep looking around if you want. I sort of left Tyson all alone with Kai, and I'm not sure if he'll still be alive when I get back." He kissed his sister's cheek, and sprinted back down the hallway.
Rockie turned to keep going, and walked straight into someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she blushed. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
The boy smiled down at her and straightened his vest. "No harm done. May I ask your name?"
"I'm Rockie... Rockie Tate. Or Rockie Lewis. Whichever."
His smile grew. "Hello, I am Enrique Giancarlo. You are beautiful."
Rockie grinned back. "Do you try that line on every girl, or am I special?"
"You are certainly special, but yes, sadly, I use that line on every beautiful girl. You caught me. I mist admit, however, you are the only one who has made me feel like this." He lifted her hand to his lips, and lowered his eyes as if to say "and here's the part where you either fall into my arms or break my poor heart, which shall it be?"
Rockie laughed, making him look up with a hopeful (yet somehow, teasing) grin. "Well, I must admit, you have a way with words, Enrique... but go try it on some girl who buys into that crap." She said it with a friendly tone to her voice.
"Alright. I tried. Friends?" he held his hand out.
"Sure." Rockie accepted the hand, shaking it, but keeping hold. "Hey, introduce me to some people, huh?" she asked with a grin identical to Max's.
"Okay," He led her to the other Majestics, who were in a room off of the hallway. "This is Johnny, Oliver, and Robert. Guys, meet Rockie... um..."
"Tate. Hi!" she flashed her smile, and Oliver and Johnny smiled back. Robert muttered something about uncouth, outgoing girls and his teammates...
"It is an honor to meet such a lovely young lady as you," Oliver said as he bowed over Rockie's hands, which he'd taken in his own.
Rockie blushed. "What's with you guys? Enrique calls me beautiful; now you say I'm lovely... do you guys have vision impairments or something?" she pulled her hands away from Oliver and rolled her eyes.
"I apologize for them. They're major flirts, but too naïve to have any sense while doing it. You ARE cute though," Johnny said with a smirk.
"Eh... thanks..." just then, Rei knocked on the doorframe and walked in. she was so glad to see a familiar face that she immediately threw her arms around her friend's neck, startling him and the Majestics.
Rei sort of awkwardly patted her back, then gently pulled her off and led her out of the room, saying, "Bye, guys, see ya later..."
They went back to the Blade Breakers' suite, where Kai immediately pounced—in his own, Kai-like way.
"Where have you two been?" he asked lazily, not opening his eyes, from his seat on the couch.
"Visiting the White Tigers, Kai, that's all," Rei answered for both of them.
"Yeah, and I went to meet the Majestics, too, thanks to Mariah," Rockie added.
Tyson, from across the room, snorted and started laughing. "So, what did you think of Mr. Art and Mr. Flirt?"
"Uh..."
"He means Oliver and Enrique," Kenny explained, looking up from his video game match against Max for just a split second. It was enough for Max to gain an advantage, however, and the game was quickly won.
"Oh. Them. Well, Oliver seems like a sweet guy, and Enrique... well, he's okay, too. Johnny seems nice as well. I don't know about that Robert guy though." She took the controller from Kenny and set it up again so she could play against Max.
Hilary came in then, and started fighting with Tyson. A typical day.
