Chapter 14: Mountain climbing and The suspicous White Tigers
"What do you mean, 'landslide'?" Andi asked, finally returning from her bathroom break."The tunnel that we passed on the way here suddenly caved in!" Mr. Dickinson explained, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief."Caved in? How could that happen so abruptly, and today of all days?" Kai asked sharply, brown eyes narrowing.Kenny stared at him. "Do you think it was foul play...?" He asked."It's possible. Maybe someone wanted us to miss the tournament but got them instead." Kai answered, leaning his weight on one foot."I bet it was the Whit-" Dizzi began, before Kenny slammed the top down.Everyone went silent."You guys think the White Tigers did it?" Ray asked incredulously."Hey chill buddy, we didn't say that!" Max said quickly, raising his hands in a surrendering motion."I've never been one to dance around a subject and I'm not about to start now. Yes Ray, I think your old team mates had something to do with this." Kai interrupted, turning to face the Chinese teen calmly.Ray clenched his fists, biting his tongue at the anger that rose in his throat."Look, we're reading way to much into this dudes! So there was an iddy- biddy landslide, no big. And so what if it suddenly happened on the tournament day, no real big. And so what if I just saw Kevin walk by with dirt all over him and wearing a huge grin, still no big...?" Tyson said, faltering on his last line as his eyes trailed something on the landing above them.Everyone followed Tyson's gaze and saw Kevin walking past right above them. Dirt covered his clothes, giving them a coat of light brown. He looked perfectly unaffected by it as he walked along, a large grin covering his face. As if sensing eyes on him, he turned and looked down. Catching sight of them he gasped, his eyes darting back and forth between all of them, shocked. Stepping back from the railing, he turned and fled, racing across the floor."Well that didn't look suspicious at all..." Rayne murmured.
"Ok maybe we should've just stayed put..." Derek admitted, as he led the trio up the steep path."Well no DUH! What have I been saying for the past decade?" Rika snapped, struggling up the rocky slope with Sasha pushing on her back the whole way."Well who says we pay attention when you talk?" Sasha asked, feet sliding on loose dirt."Well I'm basking in the love over here..." Rika muttered sarcastically.The three had barely started up the mountain and already they were having trouble keeping their footing. Derek kept knocking rocks and clumps of dirt down when he walked, so the girls were now covered in a thick layer of dust and dry earth. Rika was sandwiched in between, complaining one second and nearly falling back onto Sasha's head the next. Sasha of course, was struggling behind them, one hand carefully clutching onto rocks, the other pressed on Rika's back, making sure she didn't fall on her."Will the sun please stop shining!" Derek moaned, trudging along."Will the idiot-kid in front of me please shut up?" Rika asked, starting to get very annoyed."Will the both of you can it and keep moving?" Sasha panted, flipping her ponytail back over her shoulder."He started it..." Rika mumbled, pouting."Did not." Derek stated, suddenly stumbling among a group of knee-high boulders.Rika held back her retort and glanced to the side in irritation. Catching a sudden flash of pink zoom past out of the corner or her eye, she stopped and stared."Hey, this isn't a rest stop ya know." Sasha complained, coming to a halt behind her."I saw something pink." Rika replied, pointing."Maybe it was a giant flamingo!" Derek grinned, stopping and turning around."Ok, how insane did that sound...but seriously, I saw something pink! It just moved out of the corner of my eye and was gone." Rika said.Sasha shrugged and sat down on a small boulder. "I dunno what you saw but knowing you, you were probably hallucinating." She said, deciding to take a break.Derek yawned and gazed out at where Rika had seen the 'giant flamingo'. Eyes falling on a scraggly bush, he saw a patch of lime green that was way off with the rest of the color. Staring for a while, the bright green spot moved, and then disappeared into the bush."Ok scared now." Rika said, also watching the green thing."No joke, that's definitely not normal." Sasha commented, standing up."All in favour of getting to the stadium and getting far, far away from here start running!" Derek cried.The trio took off down the path, not caring if the heat was going to kill them. Pushing and shoving each other as they fought their way side by side down the path made for single file, they tried to get away as fast as they could. Pink and green blotches that moved were so not normal. Even for China.Playing near-hysteric bumper cars, they continued to battle over who would be the first, and possibly only one, to get out alive before the giant flamingo ate them. Or the giant caterpillar."Me first!" Rika snapped, tired of listening to Derek babble about flamingos and caterpillars that were going to eat them.Elbowing everyone, she fought to the head of the pack and started speed walking backwards up the path, watching the other two continue to fight.Derek began to pull away when suddenly Sasha yelped and fell onto her knees. Stopping, Rika gasped as she saw a pink haired boy clutching her ankle and trying to tug her back down the mountain.The pink haired boy.From the Beyblade Store.
She screamed as someone grabbed her arm from behind and swung her around, so she stumbled and nearly fell. Whirling in confusion, she saw the green haired boy in front of her.The other flunky from the store.'Please don't tell me that other freak show is here too!' Rika thought, remembering how these three had nearly caused them to drown.Derek on the other hand, had come face to face with the said freak show, torn between decking this guy or the other two. The dark, blue haired boy stood in front of him, arms crossed. He laughed and Derek raised an eyebrow, positive this guy was a lunatic or some teenage mass murderer."Like my entrance? The name's Keith." The boy said, staring at him with coal black eyes."Oh yeah, jumping out of bushes is the fad nowadays..." Derek answered sarcastically.The boy grinned and snapped his fingers, the other two boys coming and flanking his sides."Wow, just like trained monkeys!" Sasha snapped, favouring one of her ankles."What are you doing here? And what's with attacking us like that?" Rika hollered, furious but unable to come up with any of her usual, witty comments."Just giving you a heads up..." Keith answered, smiling slyly at her."BY TRYING TO KILL US AGAIN? YOU HAVE ISSUES!" Sasha exploded, anger flaring in her eyes.Keith ignored her and jerked a thumb at the green-headed boy. "This is Joey." He said.Pointing at the pink haired boy he said, " This is Jesse." He said."Like we care! Get lost before I go ballistic on you!" Rika said sharply, tired of this messed up game of theirs."No kidding, you're freaking me out dude." Derek said, stepping past the three of them and kneeling next to Sasha.Keith smirked. "Just testing your reflexes...for the tournament I mean. You'll have to be incredible to beat us." He said."We. Don't. Care." Rika spat, frustrated with these morons.He shrugged, smiling. "We saw you leave your bus so we decided to follow you." He said coolly, answering the question that had been repeated numerous times."And you're still here why...?" Rika asked.Keith smiled again before him and his groupies went back the way they had arrived. Doing nothing but leaving the three seriously disturbed and a bit unbelieving."They came here to do what exactly...?" Derek asked, concluding Sasha's ankle was sprained.
"Prove they're mental?" Sasha answered, rising with Derek's help."Freak us out?" Rika put in, joining the two."I'd say they did a good job of both." Derek muttered, hoisting Sasha onto his back. "She can't walk on that so it looks like I have to carry her the whole way." He explained.Sasha grinned atop his back. "A piggy back ride! The only good thing that's happened since we started climbing!" she said, giggling."Drop her. Drop her now." Rika mumbled."Ok guys, time to do some more hiking. And we'd better not run into anymore psychos on the way!" Derek said."Whatever...I just want to GET there and be done with this nightmare." Rika replied.
"The first matches are gonna start soon!" Andi hissed, whispering quietly to Rayne.After the weird run-in with Kevin, everyone had separated to either talk quietly with each other, go with Mr. Dickinson to be informed of what was happening or pace back and forth like Tyson was doing. Kai was sitting on the bench on the very end, eyes closed and his legs crossed, looking completely calm. Kenny had left with Mr. Dickinson, Max was sitting in the middle of the bench, trying to get Tyson to sit down and Ray was leaning against the wall, almost a perfect replica of Kai. Rayne and Andi were sitting far along the wall as well, figuring out what was going to happen if the rest of their team didn't arrive."No duh, I know it's going to start soon. The question is what are we going to do?" Rayne answered, hugging her knees."Well, we can hope we're not first." Andi replied."If we are, you can always take over the second match since you're the substitute. That should give them enough time to get here." Rayne said logically."And if it's not?" Andi asked."Then we'll be eliminated which is bad." Rayne said.Andi leaned her head back against the wall. "So tell me something while we wait...what were you and Ray talking about on the bus?" she asked.Rayne blinked and forced back the grin that threatened to pop up. "Nothing, just stuff." She answered."Just stuff? What kinda stuff?" Andi asked.
"Stuff! The not important kind of stuff!" Rayne said."Liar! I can tell there's something big going on that I don't know about!" Andi hissed.Rayne snorted and bit her lip. "If you only knew." She said."I would if you'd TELL me!" Andi pushed.Rayne sighed, flipping strands of blue and white over her shoulder. "Ok ok, but it's a SECRET so that means you can't tell Sasha." She said.Leaning toward Andi's ear, she began to tell her everything that Ray had.
"Kevin, what happened to you?" Mariah asked, watching Kevin sit down in the seat next to her in the stands."Nothing." Kevin muttered."Yeah right! Then explain why you're covered in dirt!" Mariah questioned."It's none of your business!" Kevin cried."You were doing something awful to Ray weren't you?" Mariah snapped."I said it doesn't concern you!" Kevin yelled, jumping up and disappearing in the span of 5 seconds.Mariah sighed, glancing down the rows to the ebony haired boy who was leaning against the wall."Oh Ray..." She whispered.
The crowd was starting to get impatient as the teams actually present continued to lounge around. Mr. Dickinson still hadn't come back and Tyson was starting to get even more restless. If that was possible."What's up? Why don't they start the tournament already?" Tyson cried, tugging at his hair."They can't start the tournament if there aren't any competitors here to compete in it." Kai answered calmly, opening his eyes."Kai's right, we have to wait until they get everything cleared up." Max said."Cleared up? How long is that gonna take, it was a LANDSLIDE!" Tyson cried, panting."Calm down, acting like a 2-year-old isn't going to help." Ray said, stepping away from the wall."Who side are you all on?" Tyson inquired."Our own sides, stupid!" Rayne said sharply, shoving Tyson out of her way as she came to stand with the Breakers."So, is everyone ready to duke it out?" Andi asked, extending her arms in two thumbs up."I wouldn't be so happy if I were you, you're more than likely to get disqualified." Kai said.Andi stuck her chin up defiantly. "Oh be quiet, I never asked for your opinion! And if I miraculously got a concussion and actually decided to ask you for advice, it'd probably be some sexist comment, am I right or am I right?" Andi replied, staring down her nose at him.Everybody else snickered loudly, earning a sharp glare from Kai."I see everyone's been getting along..." Kenny said exasperatedly, coming up alongside Mr. Dickinson."Hey Mr. D! Any word?" Tyson asked."Actually yes! No one was actually caught in the landslide but the Tournament Officials have all agreed that the Tournament will be post-poned for exactly two days to clear the road for everyone." Mr. Dickinson said."Cancelled?" Tyson squeaked."Not cancelled, post-poned!" Max laughed, watching Tyson deflate."I knew that..." Tyson muttered.
"I'M VERY SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, BUT THE TOURNAMENT IS BEING POST- PONED FOR TWO DAYS, CONSIDERING THAT WE CAN'T START THE TOURNAMENT WITH SO FEW TEAMS HERE!" Jazzman yelled, hearing the crowd let out a series of groans."Wow, be blunt then kick us out..." Rayne murmured, summing up what was going on."WHAAAAAAAAAT? AFTER ALL OF THAT?" a very angry voice screamed from the entrance.Everyone turned to the source of the migraine-inducing scream, catching sight of a very familiar black haired girl."Rika! What're you doing here?" Max asked, surprised to see her when all the buses had been backed-up."Apparently wasting my time!" she snapped, stomping towards them, almost instantly pinning her 'I'm gonna kill you' glare on Ray."Now now, toots. You don't wanna blow out our eardrums!" an unfamiliar male voice called after her.Rika twirled around on her heel, looking all the while like an innocent little girl. "You're safe, I'd never do that to you..." She said sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes as a boy walked out."But you'd do it to the rest of us, eh?" Sasha queried, perched on the guy's back."DEREK!" synchronized screams called, as Rayne and Andi ran toward him."Hey watch it! Injured girl on my back!" Derek teased, forcing them to stop."Not anymore!" Rika said in a singsong voice as Sasha promptly slipped off, balancing herself on her uninjured foot.Everyone else watched this exchange in confusion, suspecting the girls knew this boy."Am I missing something?" Tyson whispered to Kai, who was closest."Yeah, a brain." Kai muttered grouchily, tuning out the happy shrieks and banter.
Tyson shrugged and left, deciding to introduce himself. Max and Kenny did too, shaking the guy's hand and starting up a conversation in about 20 seconds.
While Max, Kenny and Tyson talked with Derek, Rayne and Andi continued to hug him, joining in the discussion once and a while.
Ray hung back, confused by how defensive he had become when Derek had shown up. Rika was hanging around too, not wanting to get trampled but not wanting to start her own conversation with Ray.Kai observed all of this until someone bounced down beside him."Hi hi Kai!" a cheerful voice greeted.Kai frowned and tuned out Sasha's voice as well. She giggled and began to poke the middle of one of his blue triangle's, trying to get a reaction out of him.Derek saw this over the top of Tyson's head, grinning to himself. 'Baby sister has a boyfriend!' he sang in his head, deciding to interfere a little.Kai finally snapped his head to face her. "Do you mind?" he growled.Sasha shook her head, the grin still spread across her face."Get lost you pest!" Kai finally barked, fed up with her.She froze, her finger halfway ready for another poke. Looking a bit hurt she wobbled to her feet, forcing a smile on her face."Fine, be that way." She pouted, pretending to be hurt but screwing up in the whole 'pretending' department.Stepping backwards to leave, she forgot which foot she was using and stepped heavily on her sprained ankle, causing her to windmill her arms. She yelped as she fell forward, Kai instinctively leaning forward to catch her. But before he did, someone swooped in and caught her easily, pulling Sasha back onto her feet.Kai raised his eyes, meeting a pair of bright blue ones.'Uh-oh, Mr. Triangle Face probably thinks I'm competition or something.' Derek thought, staring straight into the boy's hostile eyes."You have to be quicker than that if you want to save any damsels in distress!" Derek finally said, not knowing Kai was probably planning his death."Hn" was all the boy said as he rose and stalked off, white scarf swaying back and forth behind him."He's not very social..." Sasha commented, watching him go."It'd be hard to miss THAT character flaw." Derek said sarcastically, sitting her down on the bench.Kenny came up behind him and started bandaging her ankle properly; noticing Derek didn't have a clue of what he was doing.Mr. Dickinson chuckled before deciding to leave. Ah, the young romances of teens, so much like soap operas.Ray risked his zillionth glance at Rika as they both just stood outside of the conversations going on."See something you like?" she finally asked, turning to scowl at him.Caught in the act. How embarrassing.Ray blushed a light red, staring wide eyed at her. 'She's going to hit me, I just know it.' He thought to himself, cursing himself for acting like such a child.What happened to his calm, cool attitude?Out the window, that's where.Rika rolled her eyes as she embarrassed him into silence. 'Moron...' She thought to herself."Eeeeh!" she shrieked/coughed, choking on the insult she was about to shoot him before she noticed him standing right beside her.He lightly touched one of her arms, running a thumb gently over an angry scrape that stood out on her pale skin.'It's touching me! Back evil beast!' she yelled in her head, her mouth not working at the moment.Ray watched as she leaned in the opposite direction, stretching her arm as she slid to the side."Invading your personal space, am I?" Ray asked, examining her arm for infection."Funny you know the term!" she snorted, finally succeeding in mastering her vocal cords."You don't sound mad." He said suddenly, hinting around that he was a little unsure.'Nooooooooo! I wasn't yelling! Why wasn't I yelling? I'm supposed to be MAD!' Rika thought, panicking as she discovered she really didn't feel angry anymore.
"I'm not." She blurted, saying aloud what she had just admitted in her head."Ok, I'm confused." Ray said simply, raising his eyes to her face.'Me too.' Rika said to herself, not trusting her brain to say anything out loud.Ray stared at her as she stared back.He wasn't fluent in Girl-speak so whatever Rayne had meant was still unknown.Their eyes were still frozen together.A thousand panicked thoughts were racing around in Rika's head.One thought was planted in Ray's.'Too close too close too close too close!' Rika's mind started to scream as he started to lean forward.Four seconds and the world was going to blow.
Rika was continuing to scream in her head.Three.Ray was still getting closer.Two.A kiss was immanent. Houston we so have a problem.One."What're you doing?" Derek asked childishly.Mission failed."Absolutely nothing." Ray answered calmly, dropping Rika's arm."Cool." Derek said, grinning."Yeah...fun." Rika said, discovering how to place two words together.Ray stared at the guy, bristling defensively again with his pupils thinning out in his golden eyes. The kid was a lot shorter than he was, practically the same height as Rika, making it easy to glare a threat into his blue eyes.'Oh man, not another one!' Derek whined in his head, deciding now was not the time to literally face the tiger.'Wow, frigid.' Rika thought, still looking like a deer in headlights."Let's go back to the hotel!" she said aloud, louder than needed.Anything so Derek wouldn't leave her alone with Wonder-boy.Nightmares tonight, for sure."Good idea, toots!" Derek said, using his 'let's all embarrass Rika' name, slinging an arm around her shoulders.Ray involuntarily winced at the pet name.Rika turned her attention to Ray for a split second before she left with Derek.Hurt flashed in his eyes."Well what'd you expect?" she mumbled under her breath, not realizing Ray had heard her.
It was dark by the time they made it back to their hotel, after spending most of their time looking for Kai at the stadium. Sasha was still pouting and made a point to jab her lip out the first second they found him.That wasn't the worst of it.The horrendous ride back was enough to drive anyone insane.Mr. Dickinson had somehow got his hands on a rented van to get them back. Tyson, Max and Kenny were sitting in the very back, arguing and giving everyone headaches. Andi, Rayne and Sasha were in the next row, Sasha flicking the light on the roof on and off. Ray, Rika and Derek were in the row ahead of them, Rika stuck in between them. Ray was ignoring her pointed stares as he glared at Derek. Of course Derek being the genius that he was, kept sticking his tongue out and crossing his eyes at the black haired teen. Kai had fought off the competition for the front seat and was sitting next to Mr. Dickinson who was driving.Needless to say, it wasn't a joyride.Surprising, he hadn't purposely run them off the road.After that nightmare, they had filed into the hotel, wanting to go to bed. Everyone said goodnight and disappeared as soon as they got inside, Mr. Dickinson forced to pay for a hotel room for Derek. It was dead silent as very one slipped into their beds, falling asleep almost instantly.Except for four of them.In this particular hotel, they had a room almost like a living room with big, soft chairs, a few couches and loveseats and a huge TV. Connected to it was the dining room, perfect for watching late night movies and having midnight snacks.Ray was hanging out in there, chin propped up on one knee as he watched TV. Kai had come down a while before and had slipped into the dining room, not coming out since. At the moment, all Ray was doing was channel surfing.Chick Flick"No way..."The Late Night Show"Boring..."Documentary on Food From Different Cultures."Big negative."He sighed. Tyson might like this stuff but Ray was wondering how it got on the air in the first place.The door suddenly opened and Ray raised his head. Sasha came through with her blanket wrapped around her like a cocoon."Hungry..." She summarized, as she walked toward the dining room, looking more or less like a zombie."That's nice..." Another voice said, the owner not quite through the door.Rika stepped in after her, doing a double glance as she saw Ray sitting there in the dark."You're gonna go blind watching TV in the dark." She commented, checking her nails as she leaned on the doorframe."Good to know." He answered, not taking his eyes off the screen.She hesitated, not sure it was safe to go in there alone."I don't bite, you know." Ray said, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye."Yeah but you're known to do more embarrassing things." Rika replied, staring at him pointedly.He shrugged. "Other girls don't mind." He lied."Well that makes you look so much better in my eyes." Rika said sarcastically.
"Did you get that arm bandaged?" Ray asked, changing the subject."Yeah but I kinda pulled it off..." She answered, gesturing to the long strand of white material flowing from her hand."And you came down here to get someone to fix it?" Ray asked, raising an eyebrow."Maybe." Rika said, thrusting the bandage into his hand as she sat on the opposite end of the couch."And I'm supposed to do this so far away, how...?" Ray asked.Luminous lavender eyes stared at him through the dark.Alone in a room with Ray.In the dark.Knowing he didn't take no for an answer.Oh joy."Don't do anything Ray-ish and I won't have a problem." Rika finally said, crossing her arms."That's what I expected..." He answered.'Uh-oh, he HHHEEEAAARRRDDD me.' Rika thought in her head.Blowing bangs out of her face, she slid across the couch, stopping far enough away so she could extend her arm toward him. Quickly, he started to wrap the bandage back around her arm."I have a question..." Rika finally said."Shoot.""Why don't you like Derek?"Pause."I don't know." Ray said."That's not a reason." Rika replied, narrowing her eyes."I don't have a reason, I just don't." Ray said, starting to wind the bandage again."Sure...""There, all done." Ray said, tying the bandage securely.Turning back to the TV, he expected her to leave but she stayed put, hunkered down next to him. After a couple of minutes of staring into space, she yawned and leaned forward and touched her toes."I hate long car rides, I feel like an old granny!" she groaned, stretching her back.
Ray stared at her for a long moment, surprised that she was willing to stay in the same country as him. After another few seconds of stretching, he distinctly heard a crack."That didn't sound good...nor does it feel pleasant." He heard from down below.Leaning forward, he saw that Rika had her eyes closed and was making no effort to move. Hesitating for a minute, he slowly reached forward until he was touching her shoulders."What did I tell you? No touchies!" Rika said, stretching away from him."Stop that, you'll only make it worse." Ray chided, beginning to knead her shoulders.Massaging her muscles, he gently worked along her back, undoing knots and making her body relax whether she liked it or not.Rika could feel it, her guard was dropping.Evil, evil Ray."Better?" he asked."I s'pose."Ray pulled back but she still didn't rise. Staring at her back, he slowly ran a finger down the back of her neck, sending a wave of goose bumps shooting up along her skin."You're doing it again!" Rika shrieked jumping up."Doing what again?" Ray asked, showing his fangs as he smiled."Making me-" she started, but was interrupted by the dining room door open.Kai walked out with Sasha trailing behind him.Both had bowls of ice cream.
Rika spread her arms wide, ignoring what had just happened. "Hello best buddies!" she said, giving a lopsided grin.
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