The Qualifiers
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Supposed to be twice weekly fix...^^;; Anyway, thanks for supporting me ALL the way. I really appreciate it. Fluffychans, Bookie, and to those who gave their unwavering support for this fic, ARIGATOU! Now on with the show!
That morning was unusually bright and sunny. Takao had managed to gulp down his entire breakfast in less than 10 minutes then reached out for his glass of cold water. Grandfather Kinogu raised an eyebrow.
"Bey practice," Takao told him. Then he grabbed his coat and just as he was about to dash through the door~~~
"KAI?!" Takao blinked. "What THE~~~"
"Just heard about the Qualifiers," Kai said, his red brown eyes expressionless. "You're really gonna go for IT?"
"Uh...YEAH...that's the POINT..." Takao blinked again. "Kai...what...are those...CLOTHES?"
"What of it?"
"Uh..."
"Hey, TAKAO!" Max screeched to a halt right outside Takao's house, then his eyes widened upon seeing Takao's visitor. "KAI?! Is that YOU?!"
"..." Kai turned SD. "So I've NOTICED. I've been asked that same question by 5 people I passed by before coming here."
"Uh..."
"Never MIND." Kai frowned. "So you're all going to sign up for the Qualifiers?"
"Yeah." Takao scratched his chin. "Forget that for a while, though. When did YOU get BACK?"
"2 days ago. Russia was one complete bedlam, and I had to get some things straight first before heading back here." Kai stared at the 2 of them. "So you're going to the same school."
"Uh, yeah. Along with Lei and Mao and Rai." Max blinked. "You're going to THAT prep school in uptown Tokyo, RIGHT?"
"Yes." Kai looked at his watch. "I'm running late as it is. See you guys later."
"Hey...WAIT~~~!" Takao calls after him. "You've signed up for the Qualifiers too?"
"Never miss any Bey battle for the world," Kai said with a wave. "Later."
Max and Takao stared after Kai, then they looked at each other. Huge sweatdrops appeared over their heads.
"Definitely NOT Kai." The 2 of them turned SD and chased after their mysterious quiet teammate who by now has become even more mysterious. "Kai, WAIT~~~!!!"
"Kai's signed up TOO?" Lei asked, his amber yellow eyes wide.
"Yeah, he told us THAT," Takao said over a mouthful of mung bean sprouts. "He was just quiet about the whole frigging deal, he's not telling us anything YET. Just that he's signed up."
"..." Lei had his hand to his chin. "He's never acted so mysteriously like this before..."
"You're telling us! I mean, we know him to give us a couple of cryptic stuff about some things he knows we DON'T, but this time around, there's totally NOTHING." Max blinked as he stuck his straw inside his milk carton. "Gee, now I'm beginning to think that THIS is another one of the Borg's newest 'plays', so to speak. And we are its unsuspecting actors again."
"But they've been dissolved in the Russian Finals Tournament..." Takao mused. "I mean, we defeated them already...RIGHT?"
"It was a big 'maybe' then, Takao," Lei reminded him. "Kai's grandfather disappeared right after that last match between you and Yuri, right? Nobody knows where he is right now."
Complete silence reigned. The 3 BBA Team members were seated in the school's cafeteria that lunch time, musing over Kai's erstwhile very mysterious behavior and the "involvement" of the Borg, if it was possible, in the Qualifiers for the Bey Blade Pre-Finals match going to be held in Greece.
Rai went over to their table a little while later. "Hey, why the long faces? It's not as if it's the end of the world or something."
"It is. Kai's back from the dead," Max told him.
"So? You're ALL supposed to be HAPPY! I mean, it's been quite a while before you heard from that super duper quiet teammate of yours, right? Why are you all mournful?" Rai said.
"He's become even more mysterious," Takao told him. "He know something that he's NOT telling."
"He'd tell you guys about it, don't worry. He's been always like that, right?" Mao sat beside Lei. "And besides, if he didn't tell you, you could always kick him instead."
"We could do that, Mao, but he'd have Dranzer send us bolting for the hills before we could even move a millimeter towards him to kick him upside his ass," Takao replied. He sighed. "Whatever. This talk is going nowhere. We might as well give up on the subject matter and just head over to the center later."
"Yup. You are SO right." Max held up an open bag of Frito Lay's. "Anybody care for some sour cream and onion?"
The Bey Blade Registration and Arena Center was full of people when the 5 of them arrived that afternoon.
"Too bad Gao and Keiki are not around," Rai said. "This sounds like FUN."
"So many PEOPLE..." SD Takao was wide-eyed. "Are they all here to Bey, TOO?"
"Keep your eyeballs in, Kinogu, we wouldn't want them go popping and rolling all OVER the damn floor." Kai appeared, still dressed in his St. Magdalen uniform for boys: a dark gray coat and trousers with the school seal emblazoned on its left breast pocket, a crisp white polo shirt, and a maroon and gold under sleeveless sweater (^^;;) topped off by a maroon tie at his neck with the school seal on its hanging part that fell to Kai's diaphragm. Lei, Mao, and Rai all stared at him as though he'd suddenly sprouted horns and bat wings and a swirly pointy tail at the back.
Kai frowned. "WHAT?"
"Errh...NOTHING." Lei blinked. "Gosh, Kai..."
"Before you all decide to go 'eyeball popping' on ME, I have to say something very important to you."
"Uh...OK, we're listening."
"We're going to have a new teammate."
"HEY! Since WHEN did you have the RIGHT to say who's IN our TEAM?! I'm supposed to be the TEAM CAPTAIN~~~!!!" SD Takao yells, his teeth jagged fangs.
"..." A black leather shoe shod foot came into view right behind Kai. "You're still as exuberant and as noisy as always, Takao Kinogu."
Max, Lei, Rai, Mao, and Takao all turned to look. Takao's hair stood on end.
"Y...YURI~~~?!"
"What, is there a PROBLEM?" Yuri Ivanov frowned. "It's not like I wanted to. So don't you forget it."
"But...but..." SD Max's eyes turned to little beads. "How..."
"Taking care of a little 'business'." Kai nodded. "Yuri's going to be our new teammate. Chairman Daitenji wants us to become good to him, and treat him as part of the BBA Team from this point on. Any more questions?"
Takao raised his hand. "You're not going to do that freaky iceberg thing to me again?"
"ABSOLUTELY." Kai looked around. "Any more sensible questions aside from that no-brainer question from Kinogu?"
"HEY!"
"How about...what the HELL are you lowlifes doing HERE?" Medain frowned. "Geez, talk about a major bummer. Is this the pathetic low quality this country has to offer in terms of 'quality' Bey Bladers?!"
The BBA Team and the 2 White Tigers turned to look. Medain, Shizue, and a little girl they still didn't know was standing right behind them, Medain giving them the "look". Max blinked. "Uh...Tsukigata-san...?"
"She may not look like it, but YEAH, she's definitely a BEY BLADER." Medain blinked. "So when are you going to answer my QUESTION?"
"Summer..." Yuri said, his frown deepening. Shizue blinked, and the little girl's face lit up.
"YURI~~~!!!" The girl turned SD, her eyes becoming sparkly. "WOW wow WOW when did you come BACK~~~?!"
Medain raised an eyebrow.
"Did the Borg actually become SO desperate as to have the likes of you join this sorry, ragtag TEAM? Whoo, where is this world coming TO?"
"..."
"If you're looking for Cerridwen, sorry, she's still stuck back at England, trying to make sense of our recap stats," Medain told him. "Don't worry, though, we'll have a grand reunion in Greece. Provided the Abbey's Concorde hasn't broken down AGAIN."
"HEY~~~!!!" Takao waved his arms right in front of Medain. "Who are you calling LOWLIFES?!?"
"..." Medain looked at the entire BBA Team and the 2 members of the White Tiger Team (sans Yuri). "I'm looking right at THEM. Sheesh, don't you guys even come with a frigging BRAIN?!"
"What the~~~" Rai began.
"This is SO boring. Let's go, Shizue, Kikka. We wouldn't want to be seen with them, they might give us lowlife disease." Medain waved. "See you around, wussies."
"~~~~" SD Mao turned into a full-blown ogre by the time the 3 of them were out of earshot. "WHO does she think she IS~~~?! I'LL SCALP HER EVEN IF THAT'S THE LAST THING I WOULD DO~~~!!!"
The little girl came running back to them again, turning SD with an apologetic look on her face.
"Please forgive the 2 Ogre Sisters, Medain's just on a particularly vile mood today," the girl said. "And by the way, I'm Kikka Reinholt. It's SO nice to meet you! I'm looking forward to seeing you all in GREECE!" Kikka grinned. Then she ran after Medain and Shizue again.
"..." SD Lei's eyes turned into little beads.
"Just what we NEED. The Wing Blades." Yuri shook his head.
"Uh...you KNOW them, Yuri?" Max asked.
"They're only a group of very powerful Bladers from the St. Ingrid Abbey in England," Yuri explained. "They're the only other team who managed to defeat us before we even met you."
"???" SD Takao blinked. "Wait a minute, I thought you guys were still undefeated..."
"By way of 'normal' Bey battling, yeah," Yuri replied. "But in terms of 'serious' Bey battling...they defeated us. Whom did you get to fight among the 3 of them?"
"That noisy one," Rai answered.
"Medain's really tough, as with the other 2, but the real terror of the Wing Blades are the 2 other missing members you still haven't met yet. Those 2 are the most vicious and most frightening Bladers I had ever encountered. I'd stay away from them if I were you, but now that we're in here already, there's no other choice left but to fight."
"Uh...OK." Takao blinked. "So who's Cerridwen?"
"..." Yuri just headed straight for the main entrance. "Let's get going or we'll all be late."
"..." Mao blinked as Yuri left, then looked at them.
"Did Yuri Ivanov just BLUSH right NOW?" she asked in amazement.
Kai blinked.
"Let's just all head on in," Lei said. "This day's weird enough as it is already."
