Rain pelted against my window as I woke up on the beginning of August. There weren't any clouds hanging over the roof, but still it rained lightly. I pushed the covers off my legs, being careful not to wake up Kai, my golden puppy, and slipped my feet into my slippers. I turned on my computer and checked my email. There was one from Tala, and apparently he was in Egypt or somewhere around there at the moment. Over the short period of time we knew each other, he became my brother figure, and I, his 'angry' sister.

Logging out of my email and slipping on a robe, I walked downstairs and found that Sarial had, surprisingly, made a decent breakfast of boiled eggs, oatmeal and hot chocolate. My sister herself, however, was nowhere in the house.

After breakfast, I changed into a brown skirt that was beaded at the hem and a white sleeveless shirt trimmed with ruffles on the neck. I left my hair unstyled for now. I seated myself at the counter and tried to finish the little bit of summer homework I had left when Sarial flung open the door, looking as if she could dance on air.

"What's got you so happy?" I teased. She didn't respond, only slapping a piece of paper on top of my History homework. At the top of the page was a fancy yet simple logo, its curly letters reading 'SONY RECORDS'. I picked up the letter and laughed. "Oh, are they asking you to back up sing for…" My voice faltered as I read the letter.

Dear Ms. Sarial Ryuusei,

Congratulations! The demo CD that you sent in a few weeks ago has won the hearts and ears of our Rising Youth Artist judges! Your voice is the perfect combination and balance of strength and sensitivity. Here at Sony Records, we have the recording equipment and supportive staff to help you make your debut a launch to a career as a singing sensation!

The letter continued on about some sort of fee, a phone number and a request to meet with Sarial. My jaw hung slightly open as I reread the letter again. And again. Someone slap me…

"Are you serious! You never told me about this!" I whispered, seriously shocked. My twin SISTER. The winner of some singing competition. The next one to record a song at Sony… God, this is incredible. I look up at Sarial, who was grinning from ear to ear. I jumped out of my seat, knocking over it in the progress as I hugged my sister. "You're going to do what you love! AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!"

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Sarial said, hugging me back. I shut my eyes tightly, squealing. "I met with them just now."

"Hell yeah, it was a surprise!" I cried. I pulled away and looked her in the eye. "What language did you sing in? What song?" Sarial picked up the chair I knocked over and sat down in it. I took a seat as well.

"I sang in two languages. Here, listen to the demo CD." Sarial popped the red demo CD into a radio that sat on the counter. She pressed the play button. The first song was in Japanese. If I remember correctly, the song was Motherland by Crystal Kay. Sis's powerful voice was filled with sadness; it almost broke my heart. The second song was in English. I knew this one for sure; it was one of my favorites: Two Beds and a Coffee Machine by Savage Garden. But this one sounded like a duet. I couldn't place the second voice…

"Who is that? The second voice, I mean," I asked. I could definitely place Sarial's voice. This time she sang in a determined manner, encouraging. Sis rested her chin in her palm.

"You," was all she said. I was shocked for the second time that morning. Was that really me? "Remember when we sang at our last school's talent show? We did this as a duet and won second place. I had Heather record it for me. We just sounded beautiful when we practiced, but you never heard it."

"But why this one? I thought that the contest was independent!" I protested. Sarial continued grinning.

"Duets are sometimes required in the music business, so I submitted the duet I had the most fun singing. Singing with the person who gives me strength when I'm scared, singing with a person whose voice balances with mine, it was mesmerizing. Even the judges said so." I was speechless. Did I have that big of an effect on her? But before I could say anything, she slapped down another piece of paper. I read it over before dropping my jaw again.

"Sydney? As in Sydney, Australia?" I said. Apparently, Sis was going to Sydney to shoot some pictures for her single cover. And it also said that she's leaving tomorrow!

"I can't believe it! You're already shooting pictures for your single!"

"Turn the page over," was all she said. I did as she said and found three long, rectangular tickets, stapled to the back. Three names were printed on there: Sarial Ryuusei, Katora Ryuusei and Kai Ryuusei. "You're coming with me, and so is Kai. We're leaving tomorrow!"

"What'll mom say?" I said to myself as Sarial pranced around the kitchen. I stared at her. "You did call her, right?" Sis stopped prancing and looked at me, a knowing grin crossing her face.

"Of course I did. That was the whole point of the meeting this morning. I called Mom from the building, and she was totally 'Go for it!' You should've heard her," Sarial said, starting her trip up the stairs. "Start packing! We leave tomorrow!" she cried happily, stressing the word tomorrow. I laughed and walked back up to my own room. Kai was just waking up.

"Hey Kai," I said, scratching his ear. He yawned and rested his head on my lap. "We're going to Australia tomorrow. Isn't that awesome?" My only response was soft snoring. I shook my head, gently getting off the bed. I pulled out a decent sized suitcase and began packing.

Next day, At the Airport

I handed my boarding pass to the woman at the front of the aircraft, then took my seat at 12D. A moment later Sarial plopped down next to me, grinning like a mad cat. I can't say how happy she must be right now, but she's happy. Australia. We've never been there before.

During the ride, Sarial and I started composing a song. We were about two-thirds done when the pilot landed the aircraft and announced that we had landed in Sydney, Australia. Sarial squealed so loudly that she received quite a few stares from the others on the flight. Once we retrieved our luggage, got back Kai and passed customs, we walked into the pick up area to find a man holding up a sign with 'RYUUSEI' written on it.

"The Ryuusei twins?" asked the man. We handed him our passports. He looked at our picture, nodded, and then returned them to us. "My name is Akio Tanaka. I'm a representative from Sony, and I'll take you around and have you set up for the photo shoots." A driver came up and took our bags for us, putting them in the trunk.

"Did you fly in earlier today?" Sarial asked. I was going to ask that, too; Tanaka sounded Japanese.

"No, I actually flew in a week ago to discuss something with someone who is crucial to Sony's new project. I'm Sony's Head of Communications. And since I was here, I might as well take you around, correct?" Tanaka opened the door for us. Sarial got in first, and then I followed. Our rep sat in the front with the driver. "First off, congratulations to you, Sarial, for winning the R.Y.A. I think the judges at Sony did an excellent job to pick out a winner."

"Thank you, Mr. Tanaka," Sarial said. Then she began to play around with her hands nervously. "Um… when do we start the photo shoot?"

"Tomorrow, after your breakfast, we'll be going to the market. You and your sister will be shopping, and the photographer will take pictures of you. Just act natural, it's what the boss wants," he responded. The driver slowed down, and we were in front of a nice hotel: Novotel Sydney on Darling Harbor. Tanaka had checked us in and given us our card keys when I felt something heavy attach itself to my back. Tanaka smiled and left.

"Oh. My. GOD! You guys came!" screamed a female voice. One I hadn't heard since the beginning of July, because she and so many others were called away suddenly to Rome for that stupid, stupid, tops-tournament. "I can't believe it! I thought you guys wouldn't even know that we would be here to end the tournament!"

"We didn't. And get off of me, Hilary," I growled, her weight pulling me down slowly. I was wearing comfortable brown leather boots, but with Hilary's weight, my feet still hurt. I heard her pout and slowly get off. I leaned back, cracking a bone here and there, and stretched my arms. "Much better," I sighed.

I turned around to find Tyson, Kenny, some small kid with red-brown hair, and a really tall guy with dust blue hair. Sarial stepped out of the way as the tall guy checked in. "So Tyson, how's it going?"

"Not bad. We've got second place, and we're going to beat F-Dynasty!" he said, pumping his fist into the air. The kid next to him began jumping, chanting 'we're going to win!' over and over until my ears buzzed in annoyance.

"Who's the kid?" I asked rudely, massaging my temples. The kid stopped jumping and came at me, fists raised. I pressed my palm against his forehead, stopping him a meter away from me. "What? Born short? Or you haven't had your growth spurt?"

"Don't call me a kid! I'm only a year younger than Tyson!" Kid Face cried, waving his fists around. I looked to Kenny.

"Is this kid seriously a fifteen year old?" I asked. Kenny nodded nervously. "When you said you found a new Beyblading partner for Tyson, I thought you meant him," I confessed, jerking my thumb at Tall Boy behind Sarial and I.

"That's our coach. And Tyson's brother, Hiro," Kenny explained. "It's a long story, so maybe I can explain it to you over dinner?"

"Sure."

"Tyson has an older brother?" I exclaimed. Tall Boy turned around and waved. Sarial punched me lightly. "Screw being ladylike for a second."

"That's so like you to spaz at little things, Katora," said a familiar and slightly annoying voice. I looked up from Kenny to the door. A huge mass of red hair just came through the door with a mass of blue hair. Behind them were two boys. A tall guy (in a bulky way) and an average-height boy with lavender hair. "I can't believe you didn't notice me, though. I'm much more important than everyone else here," he joked.

"Important my ass, Tala Valkov," I said in a mocking tone. He smirked and walked up to me, wrapping Sarial and I in a bear hug. "I can't believe I'm stuck in the same hotel as you!"

"You should feel honored to be," Tala stated, smirking. "You two want to join my team and I for dinner tonight?"

"Can't. We're having dinner with the Bladebreakers tonight," Sarial explained. "How 'bout tomorrow night?"

"Oh, drop dinner with the BBA Revolution, please?" Tala pleaded. Kai rolled his eyes and checked in after Hiro. "Or maybe tomorrow for lunch?"

"BBA Revolution?" I asked. Wasn't it Bladebreakers? "Don't tell me they changed their name…" Tala nodded. I groaned. "Great, and I just got the hang of not calling them Topsy." He laughed.

"So lunch tomorrow?" he asked. Sarial shook her head. "Then it's dinner. But why not?"

"We have a photo shoot tomorrow. It'll be way past your lunch by the time we're let go for ours," Sarial said. Tala raised an eyebrow. She leaned in and whispered, "I got a record deal."

I could see the surprise pass over Tala's face for a second, and then disappear. "Congrat-!" I slapped my hand over his mouth.

"Don't tell anyone," I mumbled as more familiar faces came through the door. "RAY! MAX! What a surprise!"

With that mess over…

The rest of the morning was spent catching up with Ray and Max and meeting their team members. Each team had a new name from what Sarial and I heard, and it was plenty of fun hanging around with Mariah (from the White Tiger X) and Hilary by the shops that afternoon. I bought a pair of jeans and a black halter top, the strap crossing at the neck before looping around.

When dinner came around, Sarial and I quickly changed into evening clothes. I wore a short-sleeved blouse with embroidered leaves at the hem and a pair of black jeans. We went down to the dimly lit restaurant and found the BBA Revolution seated by the window.

Dinner was great, and we learned a lot about Hiro and Daichi (Kid Face). Hiro was away studying Beyblading in the mountains (he must have no life), and Daichi came from someplace, which I already forgot, and wanted to challenge Tyson.

"We're going up against the PPB All Starz tomorrow. Do you guys want to come and watch?" Hiro asked me during dessert. Sarial was talking with Hilary, and Tyson and Daichi were arguing over something stupid. "We could get you and your sister good seats for the match."

"Sorry, my sister and I are already busy tomorrow. Maybe another time?" I said, slowly cutting a piece of cake off with my fork. Hiro tilted his head to the side and looked at me.

"What are you busy with?" he asked, sipping his coffee. I finished my cake and dabbed my mouth with a napkin. I held up a finger to my lips, smiling.

"Secret. Can't tell you," was all I said. Hiro smiled, shaking his head and muttering 'women' before finishing his coffee

The next day, Sarial and I met in the front lobby with Tanaka, the photographer and Sarial's manager and producer, Toki Ayayoshi and Keitaro Necor. There was a change of plans, and instead, they brought us to Darling Harbor for pictures. I had Kai on a leash, so he wouldn't go jumping in the water and causing a commotion.

They dressed Sarial in a red t-shirt that had a deep v-neck, with a thin silk ribbon to lace up the front to however tight you wanted it. Along with the shirt was a pair of beige capris and a large sunhat.

The photographer went wild with the camera, taking pictures of Sarial at every angle. Sis was so natural in front of a camera, taking of her hat off in ways that made her look like a super model; kicking her feet at the water when she sat down on the dock.

Around 10 o'clock, they changed Sarial into a red tankini and I changed into a red one piece, and she ran into the water with me, and we splashed water at each other while the photographer took more pictures. Later on, some 4-6 year olds ran into the water to play with us, and the photographer shot pictures of me walking out the water with one kid on each of my legs and one on my back.

We finished for the day around 3:28 p.m. Sarial and I gave her manager, Ayayoshi, the finished song we wrote –I Love Your Lies- about a girl breaking up with her boyfriend, sarcastically saying that she absolutely loves it when he lies to her. We wrote it in English, since they wanted an English song on the CD single. Now Ayayoshi wanted us to write another song in Japanese.

Sarial and I went to the Sky Restaurant on the roof of the hotel for lunch, and together we started on her second song. Since the first one had a depressed mood, we decided on an encouraging song. Kai sat at my feet, eating then sleeping. We finished lunch, but didn't finish the song, and went shopping again. We met up Hilary later, and we tried on some really nice formal dresses. I had Tyson, who had decided to come along for some reason, look after my puppy while we tried on dresses.

My sister and I retreated to our rooms around 5 p.m. and found a message from Tala on the phone, telling us to dress formally. Lucky for us, we bought 2 dresses each this afternoon. I changed into a strapless dark green dress with a slit down the left side, and Sarial wore a thin spaghetti strap dress. It was black and had a short skirt that ended below the knees, showing off her legs. I watched with a tinsy bit of envy as Sis put on some makeup to accent her eyes and lips.

6 o'clock sharp Sarial and I went downstairs to find Tala and Kai dressed up and ready to go. Tala offered me his arm, and I took it. We walked to the car with Kai and Sarial behind us, the both of us laughing at something random. Redhead Boy held the door open for us, and I got in, pretending to be a high classed lady as I thanked him.

The restaurant was really nice, supposedly one of the best around the Harbor. We sat on the second floor on a balcony, overlooking the water. The setting sun gave everything a romantic touch. However, this wasn't a date.

I let my braid hang over my right shoulder when the food came, and the four of us talked as we ate and sipped virgin martinis. Well, it was more like Tala, Sarial and I talked, with Kai commenting every now and then.

"By the way, what happened to those other guys?" I asked, sipping my martini as we waited for dessert. Tala twirled his glass around slowly, raising and eyebrow.

"The other two boys we saw you with yesterday," Sarial asked. "One was really tall and the other had purple-ish hair." Tala made an O with his lips, suddenly understanding whom we were talking about.

"You mean Bryan and Spencer?" Kai offered. "The cyborg's an idiot."

"You sure you're not the idiot? After all, Russia's been searching for the idiot that ran off to Japan," Tala sneered back. Sarial and I laughed. Kai said nothing; his eyes remained closed, twirling a knife between his fingers. "Yeah, anyways, those two decided not to come. Talk about rude, eh?"

"Well, I'm sure they had a reason," Sarial said happily, curling a lock of brown hair around her left index finger. I fixed the hair covering my left eye. The string quartet inside started to play a slow, soft tune. Tala got out of his seat and offered his hand to me, bowing slightly.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, sounding all high and mighty. I laughed and placed my hand on top of his, which resulted in me getting pulled from my chair. I followed him to the small but large enough dance floor and rested my head against his chest, my right hand in his. A few seconds later, I saw that Sarial had somehow gotten Kai out of his seat and onto the dance floor with her.

We danced through two songs, and then I switched partners with Sarial. Kai's chest was pretty warm, and his hand held mine gently, but his hand on my waist held me close to him. Another two songs later, we switched partners again for our last dance before heading back to the hotel. And that's when it happened.

Tala and I were swing-dancing to an upbeat song from a CD; the quartet had left already. He spun me out, then back into his arms. We crossed our arms and brought them over our heads, pulling ourselves away from each other while letting one hand slide free. I held my free hand at my side, my other hand grabbing onto his wrist.

Redhead Boy, however, decided to be dramatic with his free hand, and stuck it out in front of a waiter carrying a tray loaded with dirty dishes. The waiter, totally unaware of Tala's arm, walked straight into it, sending his tray flying. Some unlucky table got hit with leftover fish and steak. Miraculously, only two plates and a glass were broken, out of what seemed like ten plates and fifteen glasses.

Before anyone could really recover from the accident, Kai slipped a $20 American dollar bill into the waiter's breast pocket and led us and out of the restaurant. We already paid for the meal, and came with no coat, so the staff gladly let us out of the place before the woman who was hit with salmon bones started screaming.

In the car, Sarial and I were laughing at Tala, who was bright red (it matched his hair quite nicely) from embarrassment. Kai smirked at his team mate. "Who's the idiot missing from Russia now?" he said, mocking Redhead's voice from before. Sis and I laughed more, watching as Tala's face became the exact same shade as his hair.