Everything Changes Except Memories

A/N: Originally, I was thinking of making this into a chapter novel/story because of the lack of good high school or boarding school beyblade fanfic out there. But, then I kind of ran out of ideas (not to mention inspiration) for it so I decided to make it into a one-shot and see how this turns out (original name was "The Truth Behind Why High School Sucks"). If people like it, then I might make more chapters. If people don't oh well, at least I tried, eh? Okay, check it out.

One more thing. This is IMPORTANT so don't skip this paragraph. DO NOT stereotype any groups or culture mentioned in here. I'm am merely taking one concept that COULD possible happen or exists from one group so PLEASE DO NOT over generalize anything after reading this story. Thank you!

Note: Some names changed to Japanese:

Mariah- Mao

Kenny- Kyouju

Ray- Rei

Tyson-Takao

(Didn't change Demolition Boy's names because I like them.)

Everything Changes Except Memories

The wind howled lightly in the warm afternoon that signaled summer was ending sooner than anyone on campus wanted. It was only the first day of school but I was rather excited. Let's see, how should I describe it to you? Five large buildings with a large park like campus located in the middle…. At least they have trees. The uniforms looked pretty neat, too. Battle Creek Academy… interesting name. The best boarding school in America located in rural Pennsylvania. Could this get even more exciting? It looks like it's going to be enjoyable here. I hope.

I was given a choice between green and blue plaited skirts or pants. Pants of course. Why would I want to wear skirts? First of all, it's too much of a hassle for me. I can't run in them and I would have to wear these special black dress shoes that were three inches tall… na-uh, they'd had to kill me first. I don't do high heels. Besides, the skirts seem to be a little too short for me (please also note, anything above the knee is too short for me even though it's looks pretty cool).

Anyways, school doesn't really start until tomorrow. Everyone is pretty much just trying to finish moving in. Well in this case, I was already done so I was just relaxing now. I couldn't wait until school started, though. Supposedly, Battle Creek Academy is the best boarding school in America… but, the only thing I'm worried about is how the students will look at me if they find out that I'm here based on a full tuition scholarship. No, I'm not rich. I'm out of their leagues when it comes to money. But I believe our IQs should be on the same level, if not a little more or less.

My head shot up, hearing laughter ahead of me. "Hiromi get back here!" My eyes landed on a Japanese girl who just ran past by me as I continued walking straight ahead. My eyebrows shot up as the girl named Hiromi turned back and stuck out her tongue at someone in front of me. That was when I heard a loud knock in my head and landed on my butt, both my head and hands aching. "Watch it!"

"I'm sorry." I apologized quickly, looking up. She was pretty tall, beautiful, and pink haired with two amazing golden eyes. She glared at me and took off, calling after her friend. I turned back to my current state and looked at my hands that were starting to bleed. Skins were peeled off because I used them to break my fall. Not only that, my head still hurt. "Oww…" I moaned, getting up now, pounding my headache to numb it. I wiped the dirt off my pants and continued walking. It wasn't a big deal, my hands I mean. They were merely scratches. It'll heal, eventually. I should find out who she is so I could watch out for her next time. Even though I had a second to look at her, her golden eyes weren't bright with life. They were crying out for help –in a destructive kind of way I guess.

The school buildings weren't opened and I could feel the blood rush to my hands that were scrapped on the cement. I needed something to numb the pain but as far as I knew, there wasn't water available at the momentI also wasn't so keen on going back into my dorm since I might spread my germs to others. My immune system was different from everyone else.

So, I headed towards the river where people swam and canoed. If you haven't guessed already, I'm going to wash my hands there and I'm not afraid. It's pretty clean since it's protected by the government. And I'll say this only one more time. My immunize system is pretty strong… probably due to the fact that I've been a very sick child. So, I guess my body naturally learned to fight off most sickness before they started.

I heard boys laughing not far off and sure enough, they were swimming in the river. Man… I moaned mentally, of all the days they could've taken a swim why today? One, boys made me nervous. And two, too many boys made me even more nervous. I stopped moping all together and immediately took a turn to my right, heading for the bank of the river. There was no use whining and there was no point of walking in on them. I was new and knew they would start firing me questions I prefer not to answer.

I stopped at the edge of the bank, held up by rocks. It was a pretty good distance away from the guys but I didn't pay any attention to them. I just wanted to wash my hands in the stream and go away into my own world. Bending down, I tuned out everything and let my hands into the cool waters, hissing at the pain. There was a bit of dirt in the waters but I eventually got them off as well. Well, the small dried bloods came off and it seemed to have stopped bleeding. Satisfied, I stood up and wiped my hands on my pants again and headed back towards school, or in this case, anywhere my curiosity takes me. I had already forgotten about the boys.

"Yo, Kai, check out that girl over there."

Kai turned eyes burning crimson eyes to an Asian girl who was squatting at the bank of the river, her hands in the waters. "So?" Kai asked his red haired friend. It was humid so they decided to take a swim in the river. He was basically drying in the sun now while Tala and Ian were in the cool waters. Bryan and Spencer told them they would catch up with them later.

"Pretty cute Asian girl if you ask me." Tala smirked. Then he cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, "HEY YOU ASIAN GIRL!" She didn't seem to hear him and continued washing her hands in the stream. "HELLO? I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Tala exchange quizzical looks with Kai and Ian. "HEY YOU! I'M –TALKING –TO –YOU!"

She stood up and left calmly without a glance in their direction. "Maybe she's death?" Ian speculated just before he dived underwater again.

"Guess so." Tala sighed almost disappointedly. "I've never seen her before. She must be new."

"Guess so." Kai muttered, bored.

Moments latter, both Ian and Tala rose out of the waters to dry off as well. Cool breezes swept their bodies, slightly bring chills to their spin. "When did it get so windy all of a sudden?" Ian asked, putting his shirt back on quickly.

"You're so weak, imp." Three heads on the bridge turned to their other two friends that were coming towards them. Bryan had a smirk on his face. " 'Sup?"

"Hey, what's up?" They all exchanged greetings with Spencer and Bryan before they stared into the river, watching quietly as summer was rushing by. Cool winds continued to be blowing their way, swaying their hair back and fourth. Their time was almost up.

"So you guys are here." Five heads turned to the voice, seeing Rei, Max, Takao, and Kyouju smirking at them. "Hey."

"Hey." Tala stood up and shook hands with Rei. "I thought you guys didn't want to come. I was beginning to get a little worried there." Tala smirked at the golden-eyed Chinese as he shook hands with others beside him.

"We keep our promises." Rei stated as all five of them shook hands with the five Russians in front of them.

"Yeah." Takao sneered, looking at each and one of them. "Didn't think you guys would show up."

"So what were you five Russians doing while you were waiting for us?" Max asked curiously. He and Ian were the last to shake their hands.

"Staring at the passing summer." Tala stated flatly. "Where are the girls?"

"They'll be here in a minute." Kyouju informed the redhead. "After all, we agreed about one final meeting before school started, right?"

Takao snickered and put his arms behind the back of his neck. "Yep. We're just going to enjoy your company before school starts. You know, because we can't really be 'friends' when school starts up again."

Kai gave them a cold look but sneered. "So very true." However, that sneer didn't last long. Out of the corner of Kai's eyes, he saw some of the girls run up to them. "Here they come." He sighed.

"Rei!" Mao jumped up behind Rei wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his cheek. "How's it going, darling?"

"H –hey, Mao." Rei greeted politely, taking her off his neck with a blush.

"Kai!" Hiromi would've literally hit Kai if he hadn't caught her fist that was aimed at his face. "Man, you're getting too good."

Kai smirked, thrusting her fist down. "That's because you're becoming too obvious." Hiromi returned the smirk.

"Where's Emily?" Max asked, not seeing her.

"Right here." Emily had taken her time to walk across the bridge and finally met Max halfway through, exchanging a kiss in between. They returned to the group again exchanged more greetings. "Beautiful day, huh?" She asked them, seeing that they all were quiet. Everyone nodded in return and turned to the sun that would be setting soon. "I'm going to miss summer. Especially this summer."

"There's always next summer, Emily." Takao reminded, chuckling devilishly.

"Although it's a long ways there." Max recapped, glancing at Takao. Takao chuckled again, but made no comment whatsoever.

"But you're right." Mao agreed with a sigh. "It's a beautiful day, and we had a wonderful summer together. I'm going to miss it."

Words couldn't describe how they all felt at that precise moment. Although they weren't the best of friends, but their lovely summer that was passing by them was going away all too quickly. The memories that they made during the three months together, was probably what they all will cherish for as long as the lived. But because of who they were, because of their social class, because of the color of their skins, because of their grades, and because of the pressures from school, their parents, and society, they couldn't take the friendship that was bonded over the summer any further. They couldn't change who they were. They couldn't change their birth. They couldn't change their blood. It had to end today. And some day, it will begin again… just like winter will go away and spring will bloom its way in.

"Shui lan lan… Feng, feng de, wo xiang qi lai."

"Who's singing that?" Tala wondered. Who could be so rude to interrupt their tranquility like this? They didn't have much time left, god damn it!

"Xia tien chu… Dong tien lai… Peng you men ye bu zai, wo de ai ren zai chang chang de."

"Ironic, isn't Rei?" Mao asked, smirking at him.

"Yeah." Rei agreed, nodding to the song that was aching his heart more than make it happier. But… it was a happy-sad kind of song.

"Huh?" Takao looked at the two Chinese with them, "What's ironic?"

"The song says that 'The waters are so blue, and the winds so windy that I want to remember everything.'" Mao translated. "It continued to say, 'The summer is leaving and winter is coming, but my friends still aren't here, the one I love is far away.' "

"Huh." Takao slowly smiled and turned his eyes back to the river that was sparkling like the stars because of the sun's rays. "You're right. It is ironic."

Takao's mind slowly faded as he stared into the sparking river ahead of him. When the summer ends, so will most of his ties with these people. When spring comes, only then can he began to be excited because it signaled the beginning of new friendships and retying the knots of the old ones. The winter, it was ever so cold. Without the one he loved, his heart might as well be frozen by ice in the silence of the night. Because the one he loved, did not love him back. And the one he loved, cannot loved and be with the person she wanted to be with. Their lives were tied by fate and destiny of unrequited love.

"Yeah." Ian silently uttered, looking at the lake sadly. "It kind of pertains to us, huh?" Ian knew that the song had different effects on his current friends, but to him, it was something totally different. There has been only one person who Ian ever cared about. But she was gone with the snow. Vanished into thin air. Never to return. Her smile, the tranquil face, the one who always kept his life warm… God took her away.

"Yeah." Bryan muttered. Damn, now even he was feeling sappy because of them! Bryan, too, didn't like the winter. He never did like winter. He never did, he never will. Thinking about it makes him angry. The cold winter puts everyone to sleep, destroying all life on earth. Everything will be under its icy sleep. Why did winter had to exist?

"What else does it say?" Tala asked the only two Chinese students with them at the moment, hearing more foreign verses.

"She says," Rei listened closely to the verses since it seems to be so far away. " 'My friends, why are we so different?' "

When Rei translated that verse, it was like a knife going through each and one of their hearts. However, at that moment, it probably didn't have more affect on anyone but a pair of burning red eyes and duo haired teenager. The thoughts of his grandfather and father's words boomed into his head.

"You're dating that worthless piece of trash? I will NOT stand for such foul acts!" His grandfather bellowed over him after he brought Hiromi to meet them.

"You're grandfather is correct, son." His father seconded, but a little calmer. "You are a Hiwatari after all." Screw that. But because of that, it nearly cost Hiromi and her parent's lives. Kai hated to be a Hiwatari. No, he didn't hate. He loathed, he despised, andhe detested itThat was how much hate ran through his blood.

Rei continued quickly, hearing more verses, " 'We're all human yet we're worlds apart.' "

Kyouju turned his eyes to Emily and Max's back and a sad little smile appeared on his lips. 'I loved her so much… but dad wouldn't hear of it' He remember it all every well. It was in the middle of his sophomore year when he and Emily started dating and their parents finding out about it. It was like living in the burning flames of Hell.

"You're dating a white girl?" Kyouju's father bellowed to him in Japanese. "Why do you always date white girls? What about Japanese girls or even Asian girls? What's wrong with them?"

"There's nothing wrong with Asian girls, dad!" Kyouju shouted hotly, standing up from the dinner table. "They're just-!" He found no answer and let his sentence hang on air like that.

"What?" His mother was also angry as hell. She too, has been wondering why Kyouju never dated an Asian girl. "I do not like white girls! They can't speak Japanese. I can't communicate with them in Japanese! What am I suppose to do?"

"If you date another girl who isn't at the least Asian, I'm transferring you!"

Kyouju was utterly speechless by his father's threat. Well, it wasn't that he didn't like Japanese girls because there were hardly any Japanese girls where he was going. And even if there was one (like the ones his mother keeps getting numbers from her friends so she could hook them up) they didn't suit him. He wanted someone he could share his intelligence with.

Emily apparently heard it and eventually, they broke up.For a moment, both Emily and Kyouju's eyes stared at each other, sadness in their eyes but said nothing. It was something they couldn't do. It was already over before it even started. Her parents weren't too thrilled about it either. They had fights nights on ends for hours.

Max knows about Emily's and Kyouju's deep relationship and he also knows that they broke up a long time ago. They were each other's first love. But he also knew that first loves that ran as deep as that, isn't forgotten as easy as one, two, three. He should know better. But there's nothing he could do numb their pain, or his pain either. After all… His and Spencer's eyes met and the incident that occurred years ago flashed in their eyes, will ever be forgotten for as long as they lived. Max knew that Spencer could never forgive him. But what was more… Max could never forgive himself.

Both Kyouju, Emily, Max, and Spencer weren't the only ones moved by that verse. Tala's cool cerulean, icy eyes turned soft, sad, and it finally pained. If he had not been Russian, if he had been Hispanic or if he had been born into the working class, things wouldn't have had been so complicated. But because of his status and his stupid father's threats, he had to give her up. Besides, he knew it wasn't going to be possible from the beginning. She was an illegal alien that crossed the American border to find a job. His mother didn't like her either. And when she got wind of that, she told the authorities and he never saw her again. For that matter, he had been in so much trouble in the last few years, just to spite his folks. He enjoyed it but the pain never creased.

" 'But I've found you my friends, my lover, but I can't be with them, can't be with him…' " Mao continued for Rei, seeing that he wasn't able to continue. They both perfectly knew why.

Even though Rei and Mao were both Chinese, they were given separate arranged marriages and they couldn't defy their parents. They'd be disowned not just by their parents but relatives as well. It would be like they never existed. And even if they didn't care and would be willing to go through all of that, they hardly knew how to survive in the real world. They were too sheltered to know how too. Mao didn't know how to cook or clean. It has always been her mother because they spoiled her. Rei had always let his parents take care of the bills and what not. It would be suicidal to leave.

Of course Rei could end the arrange marriage if he wanted to. After all, he was a guy. But that would mean dishonoring the girl's family. Even if Rei didn't care, there was no point. Mao was a girl living in a traditional Chinese family who also happened to be in an arranged marriage like he was. She didn't have the same kinds of privileges like a Chinese boy would have. So, to make things less complicated for them and their families, they decided to remain as friends… but it still hurts… ever so deeply. And it never stops.

" 'But the season continues, and waters remains ever blue, the winds, always windy.' " Mao stopped translating as well because she didn't think she could continue without breaking down.

Luckily, the song stopped and a canoe came into view. A girl about a couple of years younger than them with long black hair was rowing a canoe alone. "Hey!" Mao cried, recognizing who she was. "It's that girl who ran into me!" Everyone looked at Mao partly surprised. Tala, Kai, and Ian recognized her as well. She was the one who had been washing her hands in the steam earlier. Strange though. She took her ponytail down and her hair was flowing wildly in the wind that just hit them madly again.

The river wasn't that wide, about ten to twelve meters across maybe, so they all could see her mysterious violet eyes stare up at them when they all took notice of each other's presence. Locked in that time and space, a hint of violent storm and confidence entered her eyes and engulfed her in the setting sun, the lights reflecting off of her deep colors within her eyes, making it look as though they were laughing at them, yet it pitied them. Moments later, her eyes slowly narrowed at them, angry almost, and turned away, looking ahead of her instead of them. She quickened her pace, paddling a little faster now.

No words were exchanged. Nothing changed. Nothing. Everything remained the same. The seasons will pass, the waters remained blue, and the wind ever so breezy. Everything changes… but memories will remain. The pains and regrets, slowly drowning in their hearts of darkness.

"That was weird." Tala remarked when the girl paddling the waters passed the bridge silently. "I felt as though…"

"All she had to do was stare at us and we felt…" Emily couldn't describe it either. It was a strange feeling, something that she hadn't felt like that in years.

"Renewed…" Kai spoke ever so soft that they almost couldn't hear him.

"Yeah." Even Bryan was agreeing. "I never felt… so sure of myself in my life." It was as though, she was some kind of saint that took away all their fears. Of course nothing changed. But everything seemed to have bloomed again, even though spring was still far away.

"And all she did, was give us that look of hers…" Takao thought out loud almost sadly, watching her canoe go up to the second cabin down stream that usually signaled the end of the ride.

Who was she?

A/N: Well, what did you think? I hope you all enjoyed this one-shot! If there is any mistakes, feel free to point it out. Thanks!