Chapter 21------ China Woes
"Woohoo! Hey guys! You should try this!"
"Get down Maxie!" Hilary tugged at the boy's shirt. 'Oh god…people are staring!'
"HEEELLLOOO CHINA!" Max yelled from the open roof of the limousine. (You know, those kinds where the roof can roll open so you can stick yr head out?)
"Ugh." Hilary smacked her forehead. "It's all your fault!" She thwacked Tyson's arm. "You shouldn't have given him that candy bar! See what you've done?"
"Hahaha, you're no fun Hilary." Mai stuck her head in from the opening. "Pass me a MARS bar will ya?"
Mai grabbed it and disappeared through the roof. "Look Max, more candy!"
"WOOO!"
-Hotel-
"Room number 57 in the right wing. I hope you'll enjoy your stay, sir." The lady at the check-in counter smiled warmly at the group as she handed Kai the keys.
"Thanks" Mai replied, she knew Kai wouldn't say it anyway…
"You're welcome." The lady smiled wider, pleased that her manners were returned.
Mai, Kai and Tyson rejoined the group waiting in the lobby.
"Room 57 guys." Tyson announced.
"Ours is room 65…I guess that's near to you guys right? Rei?" Mariah looked hopefully at the Chinese boy. She didn't want to be so far away from her boyfriend, not when there were so many other girls around. Especially during the tournament… There was always that problem with fangirls…
"I guess…" Rei shrugged.
The group packed into the lift. The Bladebreakers got off at the 15th floor.
"Come visit me ok Rei?" Mariah bid her boyfriend adieu as the doors closed.
"Sheesh…it's only 1 floor difference…" Mai muttered under her breath.
"Mariah's uhh…a little paranoid during this time. Fangirls you see." Hilary informed.
"Ahh, I understand." The Zeelan chuckled.
Kai opened the door to room 57. It was spacious, no, HUGE! It had a living room, three bedrooms, a bathroom equipped with a shower and a bath tub, a mini kitchenette and all the necessary electronics.
"Sweet!" Max examined the place and bounced himself on the comfy sofa. "Hey! They have cable!" He grabbed the remote and began browsing the channels.
-Ding Dong-
Hilary opened the door.
"Your luggage, miss." The bell boy rolled in a (what do you call those things? Gah, I dunno! –sobs- how abt platform on wheels? No tht's not right…) trolley piled with baggage and unloaded them at one side of the living room.
"Thank you." The brunette tipped the boy nicely and closed the door behind her.
"Okay, time to settle the rooms." Hil was back to her leader-ly self again. "We have three rooms and uhh… -starts finger counting the number of people- seven people! Decide whom you want to bunk with."
"I pick Tyson!" Max grabbed Tyson's arm to show their partnership.
Everyone else was secretly relieved. 'Thank goodness!'
Rei paired up with Kai as usual, Kenny went with Max and Tyson while the girls shared a room.
-Girl's room-
Mai pulled back the curtains to let the light in. She stared at the city below and sighed contently 'It's nice to be back home huh Levian?'
Levian: I agree. But – no…I shouldn't say it.
'Say what? Tell me!'
Levian: …Your grandfather… If he finds out your back…he'll come looking for you…I'm sorry to bring this up…but I feel that it's important you take precaution.
'I'd like it better if you hadn't reminded me…'
Levian: I'm sorry…
'But you're right, I have to be careful. The Asian tournament is a big event. I won't be surprised if he finds out…' Mai frowned… 'This isn't good.'
-Somewhere in the hotel-
"She's here. I've hacked into the hotel's network and it says she checked in an hour ago. She's registered under 'Bladebreakers'." Britten's fingers raced on the keyboard.
"Bladebreakers huh? That world class beyblading team? How'd she get to know them?" Chace leaned in for a closer look at the lap top's screen.
"Beats me." The hacker shrugged.
Liz sat on one of the lounge chairs, contemplating their situation. "Brit, can you hack into the BBA's system and register us for the tournament?"
"I can try, but why would you want to do that?"
"If we register as a participating team, we'll be able to get closer to her and it'll give us an excuse to remain in this hotel longer to observe her whereabouts." The raven-haired girl took a sip of her soda.
"I see. Gimme a sec." Brit's fingers tapped on the keys. "Ok! I'm in."
"Not bad, we're gonna have some competition." Chace's eyes ran through the list of participants.
"Fake everything; we can't give them our real particulars." Liz reminded.
"I know. –typing typing- Team name?"
"AnnihilaXion!"
Britten turned to Liz to see if she approved.
"Ah whatever…" The girl waved her hand, dismissing the idea of a team name. There were far more important things to think about now…
"Done. You may collect our keys now, Liz-sama." Brit gave her a cheery smile.
The girl raised an eye brow but hurried away quickly. No way did she want to find out what he was thinking…
-Room 57-
"So what's the plan?" Tyson asked the group as they lounged on the sofas.
"Shopping! Have to get something formal for the opening ceremony on Friday night no?" Mariah squealed at the thought of a pink off-shoulder dress with pink beads lacing the neck line. (blu: -rolls eyes- you and your pink….)
"There's a welcoming ceremony on Friday night? How come no one told me?" Mai looked around at her friends.
"I didn't know about it." Max said and popped a potato chip in his mouth.
"So whaddya say? Shopping at Tang Lin Bay?"
"NO!" The guys and Mai objected.
"Umm… well we could always get something to eat first…" Mariah innocently drew circles on the coffee table.
"LET'S GO!" The guys' yells erupted throughout the room, Tyson being the loudest.
"No! Can't you guys see? She's deceiving you using FOOD! Get it through your thick skulls!" Mai flung herself in front of the doorway.
Everyone stared at her. 'A new side of Mai? I sure didn't see that coming…' They all thought.
"C'mon Mai, we've gotta eat something. After that, Mariah and Hilary can go shopping themselves and the rest of us can come back here." Tyson offered.
"Rei!" The pinkette shot a look at the boy, obviously unhappy with the plan.
An anime-vein throbbed in Mai's head, 'How frustrating!'
"Dammit! Just take the guy with you! Take him far far away! In fact, go elope together!" The girl pushed the neko-jin and Mariah all the way outside and slammed the door.
She grumpily dusted off her hands. "What!" She snapped at the rest who were staring wide-eyed, their jaws hanging open.
"Nn— Nothing!" They managed to splutter and turned away.
-Outside-
Mariah and Rei stared at the door, digesting what had just happened…3 seconds…17 seconds…45 seconds… (blu: man you guys are slow…)
"Well that was rude." Mariah huffed and folded her arms.
Suddenly the door swung open and out walked Mai and the rest.
"You guys still here?" She peeked at them through her shades. She was wearing her black ¾ cargo pants, a wrist band and a red t-shirt. And of course, her trusty black hoody which was tied around her waist.
She passed them and walked towards the lift.
Mariah pointed at Mai's outfit and looked at Rei.
"She has her reasons." He wasn't going to fill Mariah in on Mai's situation; he didn't want to risk endangering Mariah or anyone else.
Mariah nodded and tailed along behind the group.
-Ding-
The lift doors opened and the group filed out. Little did they know that they had just passed a certain trio that would be potential danger to their dear Mai.
LIZ'S POV
The lift opened and bunch of people came out, that's when I spotted her! She looked alright. I watched as she and her friends exited the hotel, chatting and laughing.
"Hey, you coming?" Chace's voice sounded in my ears.
"Huh? Yeah…" I stepped into the lift.
"Something wrong?" Britten must've noticed my off-mindedness.
"That was her…"
END OF POV
Brit nodded and turned his attention to the buttons which blinked with every floor they passed.
blu: Hmm…chapter's pretty long today, shall I end it here?
Nah! Let's continue!
-Tang Lin Bay-
Tyson stared at the spread before him: siu mai, char siew pao (a.ka. pork bun), dumplings, sweet and sour pork, glutinous rice, stewed vegetables, cold mango and pomelo desert, STEAMED PROMFRET, HONEY COCONUT, BEANCURD!
'I'm in heaven!' Tyson's mouth watered.
"Eww! Stop salivating all over the food!" Hilary whacked Tyson on the head.
"Hey!" The kid rubbed his head and scowled at Hilary.
"Haha, dig in everyone." Maxie armed with his chopsticks, plunged into the plate of sweet and sour pork. "Umaii! (Delicious)" His face was flushed, it was that good.
Mai placed a char siew pao on her plate and started 'dismantling' it with her chopsticks, taking out the meat piece by piece and placing them into her mouth.
She glanced at Tyson's plate. 'That's a lot.' She watched as the boy piled every single dish onto his plate while stuffing his face. 'Haha! The food's slipping!'
-Fast forward-
"Ahh, I'm stuffed." Tyson patted his stomach as he walked through the room door.
" –yawn- You're always stuffed…" Mai collapsed on the sofa. She grabbed a cushion and closed her eyes.
"Training first thing in the morning guys!"
"Whhhhyyy?" The sleepy girl whined and lifted her head to look at Hilary, "Can't we sleep in? I'm dead beat."
"We can't afford to slack! You may not know how it feels because it's your first time taking part in such a competition but it's hard work.You need to prepare yourself."
"She's right, Mai. It's not easy." Tyson nodded his head in agreement.
"And that's coming from Mr Lazy." Max pointed out, receiving a glare from Tyson.
"Ok ok…" The girl accepted defeat.
"Good!" Hilary smiled and walked into the room, leaving Mai by herself with the guys.
The bladebreakers were doing their own thing for a while when someone called for their attention.
"Ne…(Hey)" Mai's voice sounded from under the cushion.
"Yeah?"
"Is the Asian tournament a big event?"
"Of course." Mai felt the other side of the sofa sink with someone's weight.
She took the cushion off her head and sat up. "No, I mean…will it be broadcasted? Like shown on TV?"
"Well that's what they usually do. Why?" A look of concern washed overRei's face.
Mai stared at the carpeted flooring, her toes digging into the fibres. "What if my grandfather sees… he'll come after me…then what? I can't run away, not when the tournament is still on-going…"
-Silence…-
Max, Tyson and Kai sat around on the remaining sofas, all thinking of a solution to solve the problem. If Mai was caught, she'd be dead…
"Argh, I really don't know what to do!" The Chinese boy ran a hand through his hair. "This is so complicated."
"I warned you… but it's a mistake all of us made... and now you guys are sucked into this messed up life of mine…sorry…"
Max shook his head, "Can't you disguise yourself?"
A look of hope shown on Mai's face until—
"Oh shit! But we registered her real name in the competition! He's sure to know it's her."
Everyone emitted sounds of "Tsk!" and "Damn!"
"But we can't prevent Mai from being discovered; everyone will find out sooner or later… All we can do now is be careful and protect her as much as we can." Kai finished.
"Protect who?" Hilary emerged from her room.
'Uh oh…' The five of them thought simultaneously…
Yay! I'm done! Won't say so much coz I'm sleepy so...THANK YOU TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Max: This message was proudly brought to you by the people of bluglow productions. -smiles at camera- And now for the weather report.
blu: CUT! ahaha, tht'll do Maxie. Here, have a candy bar.
Max: Woo!