Battle of the Masters
Chapter Twelveby Shadou-sama

The vision swirled around in her mind. What could it mean? It wasn't the past, she knew that much. This was different from any vision she had had before. She had moved and without anyone's help. That and the darkness were the biggest differences. Present visions happened while scrying, looking into liquid. That meant that she had full consciousness of the world around her. She could also see different times while looking into a time rip. Could it be the future? A symbolic vision to guide her? A—
"It's a guy, right?" Darcie's voice broke in.
"Eh?"
"You're really worried about your boyfriend."
"Sort of…" Shadra muttered. "But he's not my boyfriend. Not really."
"Sure," Darcie said, disbelieving and briefly. "Let me guess: you did something to make him mad and you're worried what he'll do. You're worried about whether he still likes you. And we all know the world will end if he doesn't like you."
Shadra raised an eyebrow at the sarcasm. But some of it did make sense. Maybe her imagination had kicked in overdrive because of her guilt. That tomboy was wiser than she looked.
"Can I use you as an example?" Darcie asked.
"A what?"
"An example, a case study. I have to write an essay for my psychology 20 class about problems that teens face," Darcie answered.
"But it's summer!"
"Summer school, you moron. My mom made me take it so I'd become more sensitive like my cousin, Ziya."
"It didn't work," Shadra muttered.
"So can I use you?"
"Fine, whatever."
"Thanks. Now there's two simple solutions," Darcie continued. "Go back crawling on your hands and knees for forgiveness and lower the glass roof for all of us, not to mention making me sick to my stomach. Or you can do what I do. Go asexual."
"I didn't know 'tomboy' could become such a technical word," Shadra commented.
Darcie gave her a withering look. "Buy a dictionary, girl. Asexual means not interested in anybody. If you don't 'love' anybody, you won't get into such situations."
"That's an interesting viewpoint."
"It works. Besides, having no boyfriend and just enjoying your teen years as you should always beats being a mother in high school and dying young from AIDS."
Shadra blushed. This conversation was taking a turn for the worse. "I wouldn't—"
"You and a million other girls." Darcie rolled her eyes. "You don't plan on it, but then—"
"Can we not talk about that?"
"Oh, you English are so stiff."
"Just because I don't want to talk about it with someone I just met doesn't mean I'm stiff!"
"Whatever. Just don't go talking to my cousin. She'll get you all turned around. I can't believe my parents made me drag her along. She doesn't even like beyblades! She just wants to check out guys."
"Poor you."
"And what a slut she is! I'm completely surprised she doesn't have a boatload of kids already."
The Tyson-Kai complex. Two opposites forced together. Darcie should have chosen that topic. "Uh-huh."

Kai was walking back to the Bladebreakers' cabin after the meeting with Holly. Revenge was now his. But it wasn't as sweet as he thought, and maybe it wasn't such a great idea.
Shadra would suffer, but at what cost? The whole team would suffer from her disqualification. The Bladebreakers would be weaker.
"What's with the sad face? A handsome guy like you shouldn't have any troubles."
Kai glanced over at the voice's owner, a pretty blonde in a lot of makeup and wearing a mini skirt. She wore a happy expression, and she looked very much like Max.
"Girl troubles?" she asked.
"Hn." Kai grunted. Then he added, "troubles involving a girl."
"Thought so. I'm Ziya, by the way." She extended a hand for Kai to shake. He ignored it.
"Kai."
"Of the Bladebreakers?" Ziya breathed, looking excited. "That's so cool! My cousin told me all about them—you, and you'll all so cute! Beybladers usually are. It makes me want to learn how to play, but I'd never be any good. Too busy guy hunting, that's my sport. Do you do anything besides beyblading?"
Ziya said this very quickly. Kai was having trouble deciphering it. So he decided to fall back on a classic answer. "Hn."
"Is that a yes? Or is it a no? I guess it doesn't matter. Anyway, back to your troubles. She hurt you, didn't she?"
"Why do you care?" he asked.
"Because that's just me, Miss Karen Love. And answer the question."
What could it hurt? He nodded.
"Another guy involved?"
He nodded again.
"So you didn't want to go to a dance and thought you both would spend a nice quiet evening home alone. Except she didn't follow that plan. She went with another guy, a really good friend of yours, and left you here by yourself. She blames you for not going with her to the dance, but it's totally not your fault. You decided to get back at her, but the first way you did so didn't really work out so you needed help. An enemy helped you get ultimate revenge. You followed their orders and are waiting for them to get back to find out what you did. But you're feeling like maybe you did the wrong thing because it doesn't just affect her, it affects nearly everybody."
Kai just stared at her.
Ziya smiled and tipped her head innocently. "Call it my talent. I can read eyes. And for the answer, what you did was right. She totally deserves it, hurting such a cutie. Everything will turn out better in the end."
He thought about it. What she had said was actually pretty smart. "How can you be so wise, yet so flaky?"
"Call it another talent of mine."

Holly and Yuki still stood in the Masters' cabin. Kai had left a while ago, leaving them to any unfinished business.
"I want you to tell no one that I am a party to this," Yuki said.
Holly nodded. It seemed a strange request, as it would be revealed naturally anyway. But if he wanted to play that little game for a while, let him.
"When will you come back for your reward?" she asked.
"Soon enough."
Holly frowned. If he was going to be vague, it could really mess up her plans. "An exact time?"
"When Kai falls."
Holly rolled her eyes. He really wasn't helping much.
"Don't worry, it'll be real soon."

To be continued...