By Tenshi Hikari
Disclaimer: I do not own BeyBlade in any way, shape or form and I do not own the songs "Listen To Your Heart" by DHT or "Where Are You Christmas?" by Faith Hill. Although I do own Tenshi, Mum, Dad, Tai, and The Jingle Bells : BeyBlade Mix. My friend MuraSakura owns Sakura Petala and my accomplice in crime, Kaze, owns Kaze Minakotsa.
Note: All events in this story are strictly fictional. I have based some events off of experiances, but for the most part it is a plot created and made up by yours truly.
Read on and be prepared to be reading for a long time.
The winter sun sat high in the mid-December sky, but it's heat never reached the Earth. The cold air was crisp and dry as two beys whirred and clashed. A white blade rammed a gray one as the wind picked up. The white blade's master shivered and groaned loudly. " ARGH! It's FREEZIN' out here! Why do we have to train when I could be inside, warm and eating!" Tyson ranted. The gray bey took its chance and knocked Dragoon into a nearby tree. A Chinese neko-jin stooped down and picked up his blade, Driger, then looked back up at Tyson.
" Pay attention Tyson. If you lose focus, you'll lose every time," Rei warned him. Tyson dug his Dragoon blade out of the tree, having to prop his foot against the tree trunk for extra support.
" Oh yeah! Well I'm not going to be freezing butt off every time either!" the navy-haired teen retorted. The wind blistered by again, causing the foolish "champ" to jump in shivers. Rei sweatdropped as he walked back to the bench to the rest of his team. Max shivered on the bench in the backyard of the dojo. He quivered in his orange jacket.
" It is kinda cold, Kai. Maybe we should stop practice early," the American blonde commented to his team captain. Kai glanced over at Tyson as he jumped again out of stupidity and coldness. Kai sighed in exasperation.
" Fine, but don't expect this often," the cold Russian submitted. Tyson let out a joyous shout, and then ran inside merrily. Max and Rei followed in suit, leaving a cold Russian outside in the crisp air. ' Wimps.' Kai thought. He stood up slowly and turned on his heel to walk in when he noticed a shadow out of the corner of his crimson eyes. The blue-haired Russian pulled out his launcher and aimed Dranzer at the unknown silhouette. Just as he was about to rip the cord, a familiar teenage girl stepped out of the shadows. She had mid-back length milk chocolate hair with two icy-blue bangs that framed her pale face. Her attire was a pair of jeans that widened slightly at the bottom with a navy-blue short sleeve shirt. The shirt had a frosty white dragon on it with the kanji for "dragon" in the corner. She stepped out of the shadows with her hands raised.
" Don't shoot, 'cause whatever it is, I DIDN'T do it!" the young female claimed. Kai put his launcher away and glared at his teammate, Tenshi. The mischievous girl had joined the team a few months back after making a mockery of Tyson in public. Those two still didn't get along at times and because of that, Tenshi and Hilary were like mortal enemies. But she was able to get rid of the annoying brunette half of the time, making training a lot quieter. Kai continued to glare as she walked to the dojo. Just as she reached the sliding wooden door, the team captain's bitter voice brought her to a halt.
" You missed practice, where were you?" he interrogated icily. Tenshi turned her head back to face her captain as she answered.
" Renewing my passport," she said simply, and then she continued into the dojo. The cold crimson-eyed teen lifted an eyebrow, but followed suit into the traditional building.
Tenshi slipped into the dojo with a smile plain on her face. She marched over to her bag and began to pack up her belongings. The rest of the BladeBreakers filed into the main room from the kitchen with mugs of hot cocoa in hand.
" Hey, Tenshi! Where've you been? You missed practice," Max remarked, then taking another sip of his cocoa. Rei nodded in agreement as Tyson sulks about her being "lucky".
" Yeah, and why are you packing your stuff? Are you leaving?" the wise neko-jin observed.
" Exactly what I was thinking, especially since I didn't say you could take a vacation," Kai declared, leaning against the wall as he stepped in and crossing his arms. Tenshi's grin grew wider as she stood and faced the bladers.
" Well, yes…but if the whole team goes on vacation, you HAVE to issue a break," Tenshi began slowly. The team stared at her as she continued. " You see, I'm going home for the holidays and my house-mates wrote to me that I can bring any friends back. So…anybody want to go to the U. S.?" the teenager finished, looking at the others hesitantly. The group of bladers exchanged glances, and then looked back to the brown-eyed girl.
" Well, we could all use a break, it is the holiday season after all," Rei reported cheerfully. Max then stepped up.
" And it would be nice to spend it away from the dojo for once," the blonde added on. Tyson pumped his fist into the air ecstatically.
" U. S. A., here we come!" he exclaimed. Tenshi's face then broke out in a smile again. She turned back to her captain, a desperate expression shown clearly on her face.
" So, what do you say? Maybe a vacation can be issued?" Tenshi asked pleadingly. Kai's crimson eyes swept across the room to every face, finally resting on the icy-blue banged teen. He let out a harsh sigh before giving his verdict.
" Fine, but-"
" YES!" Tyson interrupts annoyingly. An ear-splitting smack was heard over by the navy-haired baka. Tenshi twirled her kendo stick menacingly as Tyson rubbed his head in agony. She glowered at him, resting her kendo stick on her shoulder and her other hand on her hip.
" Quiet baka! I heard a "but" in there…" she stated. The group turned back to their captain as he cleared his throat.
" I said "Fine", but that means on one condition," he finished. The four teens swapped glances, and then nodded for him to continue. "You all have to do at least some kind of physical training while we're away." And with that, he closed his eyes and awaited the group's decision. Tenshi's face broke back into smiles and pumped her fist in the air and pulled back into an elbow thrust.
" ALRIGHT! U.S.A., here we come!"
The next few days were hectic while trying to pack for the sudden trip. Although much to Tenshi's dismay, Hilary found out and decided to tag along. As much of an annoyance this was, they continued to pack…whenever the group wasn't helping Tyson find his socks. Then the time finally came, after threes hours of waiting at the airport lobby (Tyson had lost his luggage at the airport café), the large group of six was on the plane and on their way. Tyson was snoring in his window seat next to Hilary, Rei and Max were having a discussion about "Chinese fortune cookies" from their seat behind them, and Tenshi was staring out the window as the clouds rolled by. Kai just quietly sat in his seat next to her, arms crossed and eyes closed in a not-caring way. Max turned around in his seat to face the female zoning out behind him.
" Hey Tenshi," he called, grabbing her attention. She nodded for him to go on. " You mentioned, "house-mates", who are they exactly?" Tenshi's eyes widened, then she started to snicker quietly. Kai opened one eye and stared at her out of his crimson eyes. The American blonde raised an eyebrow quizzically at Tenshi's chuckles and the blue-haired Russian turned his head to face the laughing teen.
" Is there something you know, but we don't? If so, speak now," he said warningly. He did NOT like to be in the dark in regards to anything. Tenshi took a breath and tried to settle her giggles before she spoke.
" MAYBE…don't worry, it's nothing. It's not like their ex-criminals or anything like that. They're close friends of mine, and there is only two of them," the cheerful brunette replied, with a small chuckle at the end. Max looked back at Kai and shrugged his shoulders, but then flipped back around into his own seat. Kai continued to stare at her as she dug out her mp3 player, still laughing quietly under her breath. She noticed his gaze, and offered him a set of headphones.
" You wanna listen to it?" she questioned the captain. Tenshi glanced up to look him in the eye. His mysterious crimson eyes bore into her coffee bean pupils for a moment, then Kai turned his head away as he shook his head "no". Tenshi hesitated then shrugged her shoulders. The young teen then leaned back in her seat and positioned her headphones on her head. As soon as she pushed "play", the rock music of "Shining Collection" began to fill her ears. She began to nod her head slightly to the beat of the music. But her eyes drifted once more to the Russian next to her. 'Who knew that Kai had such striking eyes?' she mentally questioned herself then she tore her eyes away quickly. 'Don't even go there Tensh. You can't think of your team captain like that.' She continued to listen to her music, eventually playing the drums really fast to match the beat. Kai glanced over at her with annoyance clear in his eyes.
" Could you possibly stop that?" he asked with irritation in his tone. When she continued to play her "air drums", he realized that she couldn't hear him at all. He released a heavy sigh then turned away, trying to ignore the teen next to him. And so the day continued just like that: Kai trying to ignore Tenshi's loud music and air drums, Rei and Max talking about Chinese sweets, and whenever Tyson was awake, him and Hilary fighting loudly. Eventually night swept over the now quiet plane. Everyone on the aircraft had fallen into a deep sleep, everyone but Kai that is. Even Tenshi had finally put away her air drums to get some rest although the headphones were still playing music into the unconscious teen. Only the songs had slowed down and were a lot quieter. Kai relaxed to some extent now that all was calm and silent. A thunderous snore was let out from a certain baka two rows in front the sleepless Russian. He internally sighed as it stillness fell across the plane again. He settled deeper into his plane seat when the icy captain heard a faint sound from the seat next to him. Kai looked over to see a sleeping Tenshi who was subconsciously singing the lyrics to her music under her breath. Her head rested on the edge of the window with her legs curled up beneath her and her hair falling around her face. Although the sound level was faint the words were as clear as day.
" Listen to your heart…when he's calling for you…listen to your heart…there's nothing else you can do…I don't know where you're going…and I don't know why…so listen to your heart…before…you tell him good-bye…" she sang softly in her sleep. The scarf-wearing boy shook his head.
' What a pointless song, Has she nothing better to listen to?' he thought while shooting her a disapproving look that she would never see. But as "annoying" the lyrics were, he still calmed by the singing. It wasn't the best singing he's ever heard, but it wasn't half bad. Kai looked back in front of him and closed his eyelids, drifting into a peaceful slumber as the plane flew over the Pacific.
The sun was high in the U.S. skies as the Japanese Air Line flew over the U.S. of A. There was bunch of hustle as people tried to grab their luggage as the plane began it's descent. But of course, Hilary and Tyson were already at it.
" WHY'D YOU DUMP COLD WATER ON ME! WHAT I EVER DO TO YOU?"
" Well MAYBE if you woke up on time for once, we wouldn't have this problem!"
WHACK! WHACK!
Tenshi slammed her kendo stick loudly on both of their heads, settling the argument. The group grabbed their luggage as the plane door opened, releasing the crowd of civilians. The group trudged out into the lobby. The place was highly decorated with Christmas wreaths and reindeer. The group gazed around the lobby, then stopped and gathered around Tenshi.
" So now what? We have no idea where we are," Hilary asked in agitation. The group looked at Tenshi, who had a toothless smile plastered to her face.
" We grab a cab, take it to my place, then scare the crud out my friends when we get there!" she chirped merrily. And with that, Tenshi rotated on her heel and started to walk out of the building. The rest of the team followed their joyful teammate out into the snowy air. She looked out into the street, and then waved wildly for a taxi. As a bright yellow vehicle pulled up, she waved over another. The merry teen spoke quickly with both drivers, and then faced the group of beyblading teens happily. " Okay guys, the cabs are taking us to my place after we load up. Since there's six of us, three of us will go in one taxi and the other three will follow in the other. So MARCH!" And with that, she began to load her luggage into the first car. The others followed in suit and soon they were on their way. Since Hilary could not stand to be with Tenshi and had to be with Tyson, she sat in the other cab with Tyson and Max. And that left Rei and Kai with Tenshi in the first car. The whole ride there, Kai just gazed out the window lazily as Tenshi and Rei conversed next to him. About a half an hour or so later, the two yellow cars pulled up to a fairly large mansion with a massive yard to match. The house looked like two floors and the outside was decked with Christmas lights. The cabs pull up to the "house" and stop, allowing their passengers to get out of the vehicle and retrieve their things. The cars pulled away as the teens stood outside the oak front door. Tyson's mouth gaped widely at the place.
" Tenshi…you never said you were RICH!" he yelled loudly into her ear. The chocolate-haired teen stepped back and unclogged her ear.
" I'm not you baka. My friends and I have enough to get by and the house was from my… inheritance," she said looking slightly downcast, then she made a shushing sound as she crept into the house. Kai noticed the sadness sweep across her face, but followed the team and Hilary as they stepped into a high-class foyer. The stairs kinda swirled upwards and the railings were a polished redwood. The whole place seemed over the top, but it also had a homey-feeling rather than a stuck-up rich aura. Tenshi sat down her stuff quietly, then swirled around stupidly while muttering, "Home, sweet home". The group also sat down their belongings and looked around at the massive house. Suddenly, Tenshi froze and put a finger to her lips, motioning them to stay silent. She tiptoed to the corner of the room where the entrance to another room stood. She peeked around silently, then snickered. Tyson and the others crept over quietly.
" Tenshi?" Rei called softly behind her, she nodded her head as she peeked around again. " Why are we whispering in your own house?" he questioned, slightly confused. The mischievous girl looked back at him with a smirk plastered onto her face.
" Because the fun has now begun." And with that, she slinked silently around the corner. It was deadly silent, then…
" AHHHHHH! CAVE TROLL!" a female voice cried out. Tenshi bolted around the corner as another girl, African-American, chased after her in a fury. The teen wore a purple shirt, one side was sleeveless and the other was a three-quarter sleeve. She was clad in dark-blue jeans with silver chains that hung to her belt loops. She had long oak hair and two braids as bangs that were crimson red. " TENSHI!" the new teen yelled menacingly, then stopped dead in her tracks. She stood and thought for a moment. " Wait a second…Tenshi? TENSHI! KAZE! TENSHI'S HOME!" the African-American hollered to the upstairs, then glomped Tenshi who had stopped for a breather. The Beyblading boys and Hilary stood wide-eyed at the scene before them. Another teen came down the stairwell. She had medium-length black hair with silver streaks through it and was wearing a black jacket over a seemingly blue t-shirt. She had a tan skin, not as pale as Tenshi, but not as dark as the other odd teen. The three teens grouped together in reunion. Then Tenshi looked over and lead the two new girls to her international friends. (A/N: What? I would say Japanese, but one's Chinese, one's Russian, and another's American…Sorry. Continue!) She looked at the group cheerfully.
" Everyone, these are my friends Sakura Petela-," she points to the crimson-banged ranter,"-and Kaze Minakotsa," she introduces the other, sleepy looking teen. The group stared wide-eyed at the trio. Then Tenshi turned to her housemates. " And guys, these are my friends from Japan: Rei, Max, and Kai. Oh, and the couple over there is Hilary and Tyson," she commented as she introduced each one.
" WE'RE NOT DATING!" Hilary and Tyson shouted at the same moment. They shot each other a look, and then turned away as they crossed their arms. Tenshi leaned over to Sakura and Kaze and whispered quietly.
" See what I mean?" the two teens nodded giving the "couple" an odd look, but then turned to the rest of the bladers.
" Well, we're welcomed to have you here at our home," the one called Kaze started, but was rudely interrupted by the other temperamental one.
" Yeah, who knew Tenshi would actually bring someone back with her?" Sakura butted in, leaning on Tenshi and Kaze's shoulders. Tenshi pushed her away playfully, then turned back to the group.
" Come on guys, I'll lead you to your rooms and away from these two psychos so you can unpack," Tenshi said as she picked up her stuff and ran up the stairs, waiting at the top for the others. The boys exchanged looks, then headed up the stairwell after their new teammate. She led them down a hallway to the right of the steps. She pointed out various rooms to each individual until they all stood in front of their own rooms. " Now the bathroom is right down the hall there and my room is down the hallway, first door on the right if you need anything. And for now, I bid you adoo." And with that, she turned and went down the hallway to her own room. The team went into their separate rooms to unpack for what seemed to become, a very long and insane vacation.
Rei walked down the stairwell a little while later. Max had gone to town with Tyson, Hilary, and Kaze, who seemed to be more patient than her other friend, Sakura. And Kai just stayed in his room. As he reached the bottom of the stairs as began to wander about, looking for something to eat. As he meandered aimlessly down the halls, a loud argument reached his ears. " NO SAKURA! YOU CAN'T COOK WORTH BEANS!"
" OH YEAH! WELL FOR INFORMATION, I'VE GOTTON BETTER SINCE YOU LEFT!"
" OH REEEAALLY! WELL I'M NOT STUPID ENOUGH TO TRY OUT THAT THEORY!"
" CAVE TROLL!"
" IDIOT!"
Rei walked toward the sound to finally find the kitchen…and find Tenshi and Sakura ageing persistently. He sweatdropped slightly before walking into the room. He gulped quietly, hoping that interfering with the yelling wouldn't kill him. " Um, what's going on Tenshi?" he inquired as he eyed the now-dangerous looking kendo stick in her hand. She turned to him, her gaze diffused from before.
" Sakura was about to burn the house down trying to cook dinner," she smiled as she spoke. Sakura opened her mouth and raised her own " Daddy Frying Pan", only to be stopped by Rei.
" How about I cook dinner? I used to do it all the time back home," he said while gently stealing each of their "weapons". And with that, he washed his hands in the sink, took out some vegetables and began to slice away. Sakura stared wide-eyed at the neko-jin. Then she turned to her best friend.
" Where'd you pick him up at? He's almost like another Kaze-chan," she whispered. Tenshi just shook her head and laughed.
" You just say that because you think he's hot," Tenshi retorted, and left laughing all the way. Sakura blushed a deep red that almost matched her braided bangs.
" HEY! And where do you think YOU'RE going! I'm not done with you yet!" the embarrassed teen shouted after her friend. Tenshi kept walking, but turned to face Sakura as she did.
" My room. I've got some serious jet lag!" and with that, she turned back around and proceeded to up the stairs and to the left hallway. The tired teen advanced into her, then flopping down on her bed in exhaustion. Tenshi curled up on the bed, clutching a silver pillow with blue feathers in each corner and shifted her gaze to look at her night table. A small photograph of four people stared back at her, all of them smiling. In the photo was a man who barely had any hair on his head, just little black stubs, standing next to a woman who had long blonde hair that was brown at the roots. Right in front of the couple was a young boy with short blonde hair and a big cheesy smile that little kids make and next to him was a younger version of Tenshi, though the odd bangs were still shown. Tenshi's face broke out into a sad smile, then she turned away. Her eyes closed softly as she hugged the pillow closer to her and sighed softly. Mum, Dad, Tai…I'm home.
The sun had set over the horizon as Kai sat quietly in his room, looking out his window into a dark abyss of the forest. The sun had set only a while ago, but the afternoon had droned slowly. He could hear the faint sounds of Hilary and Tyson yelling downstairs and could smell the sweet aroma of egg rolls. There was another yell from downstairs and immediately the two squabbling teens were quiet. Kai sighed at his misfortune, being stuck here with a group of unpredictable teens. Why did I even go along with this? He thought while staring at the shadows, but his train of thought was interrupted by another shout from below.
" TENSHI! KAI! DINNER'S READY!" he heard a temperamental teen yell. He sighed as he left his room and headed for the stairs. Tenshi's calmer friend, Kaze stood at the bottom of the stairwell.
" Hey Kai, can wake Tenshi up? I think she's dead asleep in her room," the levelheaded female asked gently as she looked up to him. Kai grunted a reply, and then headed to the left corridor where her room was. There was a door curtain made of stars and moons with a sign above the doorway that stated "Elf Crossing". The unemotional Russian sweatdropped slightly at the stupidity of it all and entered the room mutely. He looked over at the sleeping teen and then shook her shoulder a little. Her eyes then burst open as she bolted upright and lashed out at the figure that woke her up, punching the air of where he was just standing. Her eyes widened as she realized whom she just attempted to punch.
" KAI! I'm so sorry! Are you ok? I didn't hit you did I?" She interrogated as she climbed out of bed. The Russian just glanced at her as he walked out of the room, pausing outside the doorframe.
" Dinner's ready."
Tenshi nodded as he left. She followed him down the flight of steps and into the dining room where the others had already sat down. " Well there's Mr. Grumpy-pants and Ms Sleepy-head. Glad you all decided to join us," Sakura commented as they walked in. Tenshi hit her in the back of the head as she took a place next to her and Kaze. The teen yawned a "shut it" as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. The group quieted down, bowed their heads, and prayed quietly for their food. After that the noise level went back up as each of the large group tried to get a piece of everything set on the table. Max and Tyson each had their chopsticks on the same piece of General Tso's chicken and were quarreling over it. Although their shouts were ignored, Tenshi used her own chopsticks to steal the delicious meat prepared by Rei. She gulped it down in a heartbeat as the rest of them continued their meal. As the pack of eight concluded their meal, Kaze stood up as Sakura yelled for everyone's attention. It became silent as Kaze spoke happily.
" Okay, now that everyone is here, fed, and probably stuffed, it is time to go out and get…"
" OUR CHRISTMAS TREE!" Sakura and Tenshi exclaimed/interrupted merrily. The two teens grabbed the rest of the teens and marched out of the house and towards the woods outback. Kaze sighed happily as she started after them. Maybe she'll be all right this year after all.
This is continued on the next page…