Hey, lovelies! First of all, I'd like to give a big thank you for the kind comments, y'all are so nice 😭💓 Second, of course, the one time I manage to update early the queen has to die. Jk tho, this early update was inspired by…well, when my love life suffers I tend to look for things that will distract me soo yeah :') But FUCK, I hate hate hate writing beyblade battle scenes but what fanfic would it be without the beyblade? Other than that, Hikaru will continue her long journey of denial..and will be put in certain situations We also get some Yoyo-coaching time bc it's one of my fav tropes and I feel like it suits him so well?

Today's songs:

The Greeting Committee - Hands down

Coyote Theory - This Side of Paradise

Vintage - Znak Vodoleya (Aquarius appreciation y'all :)

Lana Del Rey - Queen of disaster

Selena Gomez - My dilemma 2.0

Chapter 9 - Don't Hold Back

23rd June

As much as Hikaru would have liked to simply idle and unwind on the branch at such an ungodly hour and pretend she didn't worry about her workplace being burnt to the ground because a certain absent-minded Immortal Phoenix set a microwave on fire again, or about the obscene amount of studying she had to yet to catch up on, the cruel truth was that she was doing exactly this. The fact that she could've been back in Metal Bey City first thing in the morning if only their staged accident had been successful especially made her want to tear her hair out.

Maybe there was a bright side to this encounter, though. Although the pair hadn't managed to get the employee card, they just might have another clue on their hands. Hikaru had nearly thrown the piece of paper away, assuming it was just a grocery list, but upon closer inspection had realized that wasn't the case. The writing was in English, resembling chicken scratches at that, but with a little effort she'd managed to decipher it: "spiritual pressure" and "Edwyn Crawford". Hikaru was second to none when it came to researching, yet no matter how much she browsed and ransacked the internet, nothing came up on the term and name. That didn't mean she was about to give up though. She requested that HQ dig a little deeper, since they had software that granted access to the dark web.

With nothing better to do or her over-active brain to ponder, the bluenette stretched her legs out lazily and massaged her fatigued muscles, a result from the rigorous and daily training they did. Which made her feel like a corpse, especially with these sleep-deprived nights. Oh, she was definitely going to take a good, long break once she got back home. Some pampering would be nice too. A day at the spa. She could also pay a visit to her nail technician, now that she took a better look at her manicure, the coral colour in stark contrast to the tan skin of her thin, delicate fingers. That's when she noticed the little scar on her palm from today's beyblade training.

Regardless of how incredibly stubborn Hikaru was, she couldn't deny that this afternoon's beyblade drill hadn't been as bad as the first one. Yes, the nausea and uneasiness were still present, but her skills had improved; Her aim was better, her attacks more precise and powerful. She could hardly believe she was improving at such speed, but maybe it was all because of her initial negative disposition toward this training. She certainly hadn't expected it.

…Which in turn led her to wonder, had Kyoya? Make no mistake, Hikaru hadn't forgotten that he lacked an expressive visage when it came to positive emotions, and that his standards put skyscrapers to shame with their height. Despite this…it bugged her. After their last battle six years ago, he'd complimented her. Why wouldn't he do it now? She felt like she was doing a pretty decent job considering the mental and physical toll it was taking on her. Would it kill him to give her a little praise?

Now, one half of Hikaru's pride would never allow her to beg for recognition from anyone, much less the King of Beasts who already had a supersized ego. But the other half, the one that got Hikaru into most of her fights with the jerk, was yelling at her to call him out and ditch this tip-toeing-around nonsense. Hikaru was a woman with self-respect, and she was gonna be damned if she let an arrogant prick dismiss the fact that she'd been working her guts out day in and day out in every aspect. God damn the consequences!

This was all very well and good in Hikaru's head until she whirled around to face him and was met with a pair of azure eyes staring back at her listlessly. For some scandalously stupid reason, her confidence wavered, and it took a deep heave of oxygen for it could slink back into place. " How did I do today? "

Whatever was previously occupying the lad's thoughts vanished, as he blinked sleepily, rumbling a low " Fine, I guess. "

" Fine? " Hikaru echoed, doing a really spectacular job of containing her disappointment. " Just fine? "

In response, Kyoya only gave a drowsy " Mhm. ", stretching his arms over his head.

Hikaru pursed her lips in frustration, but since the rational side of her brain had long ceased activity due to the lack of sleep, there was nothing to warn her that she might be pressing her luck now. " Ya know, you have to consider that I haven't trained at all for like five years. " the bluenette drawled as indifferently as she could, because Kyoya's lack of approval on her progress certainly didn't matter all that much to her. Not at all, in fact. She just wasn't the type to let her accomplishments go unnoticed. " If it were someone else, I doubt they'd do as good as me. "

" Doubt they'd fish for compliments, either. " Kyoya scoffed, head hanging lazily to the side and looking surprisingly contended. But not nearly as surprising as the fact that he was actually teasing her. The peculiarity struck his partner like a wave, briefly overwhelming the better part of her faculty to respond.

" I'm not fishing for compliments! " Hikaru rebutted a bit more defensively than she wanted to, so she crossed her arms and raised her chin in an attempt to save face, mumbling " I just think I deserve recognition. "

Kyoya's eyebrow quirked slightly." Is that so? " he challenged, then with an arrogant twist of his mouth that could sort of be called a smile, declared, " Tell you what, battle me tomorrow, and maybe you'll get it. "

Hikaru's brows knit together in a frown at his proposal. " Battle you? " Is that all it really takes?

" Yeah," the greenhead raised his shoulders in a casual shrug, like he wasn't just baiting her to fight a powerhouse like him, " unless you're scared. "

Hikaru couldn't contain her scoff of derision. It was such a childish taunt, that for a second she considered maybe she wasn't the only one who was trying to break a cool facade at this point. " Me? Scared of you? Don't hold your breath. "

Kyoya's eyes went heavy-lidded as he looked at her, a gravely smug smirk flashing on his face that had become a more frequent occurrence, much to Hikaru's dismay. It's almost as if he was having fun with the possibility of knocking Hikaru on her ass, as he would've phrased it, if she wasn't reluctant to apply such concepts to him. " So you're up for it? "

The bluenette sighed warily and took a moment to gather her thoughts. She absolutely loathed how nothing was ever easy with him. You either play by his rules, or you can kiss whatever you want goodbye and that was the end of it. No negotiations, no nothing. If you want x, you first have to do y. Like one of those mathematic equations that overwhelmed her brain during the tutoring sessions.

Even so, the thought of performing so splendidly that Kyoya's self-righteous smirk gets swiped right off his face made Hikaru's dopamine levels skyrocket. How exactly she was going to do that…well, she had a whole night to figure out. So without stopping to ponder why she was so set on impressing him in the first place, Hikaru gave a confident " Yes. "

24th June

At the beginning of this training session, Hikaru and Kyoya had agreed to a specific sequence of events, and while it was obvious that they both knew what was coming next, it was still a little strange when Kyoya's first comment on the matter was, " This won't take long, you know. "

Hikaru wasn't entirely sure how to interpret this simple statement of fact. Was Kyoya saying he didn't find her strong enough to put up a decent fight, or that it wouldn't take any more than the thirty minutes that he'd promised to adhere to? Somehow, the conclusion of her sinuous journey was to answer, " Then we'll see how long I can last. "

And because Kyoya's main principle was to get right to ass-kicking and not waste time with idle words, he went over to one of the many pits he'd created during his training and got into a ready stance. " You ready? " Kyoya checked at least that much, though his aimed launcher was still an open invitation.

Hikaru's throat felt tight as she tried to swallow, stifling the inevitable fear and apprehension of having to battle someone— Kyoya Tategami on top of that— for the first time in years, but she squared up to him and nodded.

Here goes nothing.

" 3! "

" 2! "

" 1! "

" Let it rip! "

The two beys spun into battle and started vehemently colliding right away. Aquario, being the attack-type here, didn't hesitate to land a good offensive blow, but Leone was defence personified. That's why it didn't surprise Hikaru at all that Kyoya didn't make Leone dodge any of the following hits, just made it take the impact without Leone even flinching, eating Aquario's full strength like a sea monster that ate fish like her for breakfast.

Kyoya remained silent with a thoughtful look on his face as Leone blocked every devastating blow Aquario could dish out, letting Aquario push it back, because if he unleashed his whole power, the match would be over in a second. But that wasn't the goal of this battle. Defeating Kyoya or giving him a hard time like a real pro was obviously impossible, considering the long period of time she hadn't beybladed at all. The aim now was to determine if Hikaru could hold her ground in a standard battle, without having a panic attack, and that she was willing to prove.

During this all-out onslaught, Aquario succeeded in edging Leone back a little. Yet the fact that Kyoya was simply standing there taking it like a punching bag contradicted the pretence of this being any kind of normal battle – Kyoya was coaching her, insistent as he'd be to deny it.

Given that today's sparring was all about measuring power, and that her basic attacks weren't doing much of a good job in fazing him, Hikaru figured it'd be the best to test her strongest move before she ran out of stamina.

" Go, Aquario! " Hikaru shouted, and her bey increased speed as it multiplied tenfold and charged for Leone, with a huge rogue wave in tow. " Infinite Assault! "

" Like that old move would work, " Kyoya groused, immediately compelling his bey to counter-attack. " Leone! "

Just as Aquario's wave was about to crash into its target, Leone generated a wild twister that broke through the massive body of water and flooded the surrounding area, the only proof of its strength being that Leone was knocked back, but without significant damage.

At that moment Kyoya decided to change strategies and go on the offence. " I'll show you some real moves! Go, Leone! "

His bey charged for Hikaru's like a missile, but hers veered to the right just in time, deflecting the blow by an absolute whisker.

Hikaru was correct about her ability versus his—it didn't compare offensively by a long shot. However, her natural quick reflexes aided her rudimentary defensive abilities, and no further hits were landed on her bey. She refused to let such an iffy thing like experience prevent her from putting up a good fight.

So her safest bet was on her old M.O - make Aquario vanish just before Leone slammed into it, then reappear out of nowhere and rain a continual series of quick-fire hits on Leone and dominate the fight.

" Are those the real moves, Sunshine? " Hikaru had no idea where she got the guts to taunt the mighty King of Beasts during a beyblade battle, especially since she was fighting the ever-present rush of nausea that was in the pit of her stomach, too.

Maybe it'll make him snap, the last rational voice in Hikaru's head told her, just when Kyoya really went off " Oh, now you're gonna get it. " he growled dangerously, making it good and clear that he was done playing around. " Lion Gale Force Wall! "

Leone created a furiously rotating wind tunnel big enough to catch the invisible Aquario in its current and send it flying in the air like a cork popping out of a champagne bottle.

Hikaru's footing faltered at the strong winds blowing sharply against her and sent her sprawling to the ground as Aquario was thrown back right at her feet with a sickening crunch.

All of Hikaru's bravado, and a good majority of her vital organs, plummeted to the ground, a feeling of disappointment washing over her like a tidal wave.

No, no, no! I wasn't supposed to lose so fast!

And she knew she should've just glared and called it a day so her vortex of woe would end, but Hikaru was a girl of dignity, and pride, with a hefty dose of stubbornness thrown in for good measure, and clearly this was not one of those occasions when she was going to exercise the rational side of her brain. Because she hadn't won so many tournaments and entered Battle Bladers by giving up; she got there by persisting; they'd knock her down ten times, she'd get up eleven. That's the only way you can grow more powerful.

Hikaru rose right back on her feet with a hardened expression and put Aquario into the launcher, motivated to show him what she was really made of. " Again. "

Kyoya initially looked shocked by her resolution, like he was expecting anything else before his mouth curled into an enthusiastic smirk. Hikaru immediately scratched her first assumption, that Kyoya was far too fretful to entertain the childish concept of 'having fun', because she spotted a dangerous glint in his eyes, as if he really was about to have some fun – and fun for Kyoya wasn't always fun for anyone else.

" That's more like it. " the lad said and in following fashion, called his bey back and faced her off once more.

The teens yelled the same opening lines any blader knew by heart, and their beys slammed into each other head-on.

A good five or ten minutes passed with nothing but Hikaru's frantic and futile attempts to knock Leone back. Every attack she made was almost immediately rebutted by Kyoya and his bey, and even when she got close enough to inflict serious damage, she could tell he was giving her a little scope for initiative on purpose, just to keep things exciting.

I can't beat him.

It was meaningless to argue the point. She could get close in the best of circumstances, but she was no match for his hitting power. With one special move, the battle would go from being a real fight to a slow and painful death spiral on her part. Her only chance of victory would be a surprise uppercut, assuming she could sneak and execute the move quickly enough. It was a mercenary strategy with little honour, but she was at peace with that.

If either of them had paid any attention to the terrain of the area, they might have noticed that…well, the forest wasn't quite as saturated as it used to be. The bluenette attributed her carelessness to the exhaustion slowly starting to wear on her from all the skirmishing, and certainly wasn't because she might actually be enjoying this.

Hikaru, beginning to feel drained from all the battling—how long had she been going, anyway?—along with having to wrestle a brand-new wave of sickness on top of her prior nausea, summoned up all the energy she had left as she drove Aquario at Leone like a cutting wheel.

The anger must've shown in her expression, because Kyoya gave a snort and shifted his weight. " With weak-ass attacks like these, maybe it's good you chose the white-collar life. " He was baiting her, quite blatantly and childishly, smirking like a cat that had caught something it wanted to toss around more than it actually wanted to eat, but it worked.

Now determined to give him a proper whipping, Hikaru made a low sound of frustration and sent Aquario slashing at the opposing bey, but her skills weren't good enough to give the fine-haired cuts his bey had inflicted on her.

Following precedent, Kyoya didn't hesitate to land a few offensive hits on her either, which Aquario actually withstood while glimmering in the sunlight.

Wearing him down was instantly ruled out as a tactic, but amid her jumbled thoughts, an idea came up.

Hikaru, defiant as ever, said with a raised chin and a mocking smile, " Is that all you've got? Maybe you should consider the white-collar life too, Kyoya. "

Kyoya's fragile ego got scratched without a doubt, because he scoffed sharply and gave an even more arrogant answer, as if this was a contest of measuring egos rather than bey strength. " You pull off some moves, and now you think you're hot shit, huh? " As though she did well simply to spite him. Although there was a grain of truth. The cherry on top was that it brought the reaction Hikaru wanted from Kyoya. Jeering, his voice rose to a yell " You asked for this, Dollface! Lion Gale Force Wall! "

Leone shot another devastating column of air, that instantly sucked its target into the raging whirlwind with the aim to send it flying into oblivion.

Little did Kyoya know though that Hikaru had anticipated this all along, and with the little strength she had left commanded " Now, Aquario! "

The bey regained stability mid-air and instead of following the flow of current, fought the wind resistance and shot directly at Leone, hitting it from above like a fan blade.

Even though the attack did push Leone back, it was nowhere strong enough to stop it from spinning. But there was a degree of comfort, in the knowledge that she was holding her own, putting up a good fight.

A brief suspension in movement and speech occurred. In place of fear, the sole rush Hikaru felt was excitement at pulling the manoeuvre off, so two words were formed on her lips. " Your move. "

Kyoya, probably because he'd already witnessed how nerve-wracking beyblading was for her, shot her a sceptical look. Like he was actually afraid of hurting her. " You sure about that? "

She was responding well so far, so Hikaru decided it was gonna be all or nothing. " You can be rough. I can take it. " Hikaru's blood pressure dropped as soon as she realized how weird the decontextualized statement sounded. Worse yet - judging by the way Kyoya's eyes widened, he might've been aware, too.

Despite this, Kyoya swiftly put the back-to-business face on, sent Leone charging for Aquario once again and hollered " Fine then. Leone, King Lion Crushing Fang! "

Of all the tornados Leone had created so far, this was by far the tallest and widest one, lifting nearby trees off the ground along with the roots.

But the whole situation started looking familiar. The hollering wind, the shaking ground, the intense energy that was palpable in the air, and damn it, Hikaru swore she heard the distant cackle of a possessed lunatic somewhere in the back of her mind. It was like…

Battle Bladers.

Hikaru's heart, which had been filled with hope and tenacity up until that point, fizzled down to the ground like a feather in a thunderstorm. In a blink of an eye, the contents of her stomach started bubbling up at the base of her throat. Clasping a hand over her mouth, she dashed toward the treeline and ungraciously barfed onto the ground.

Alright, maybe she couldn't take all of it.

It was over fast, like it always was, but Hikaru felt bashful and embarrassed to have almost thrown up right in front of Kyoya in such a blatant display of her limits. Despite her best efforts to be better than this, her gut had let her down.

Hikaru straightened and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, chest heaving with hectic breath and turned to look at her partner, who'd already called Leone back and was making his way towards her.

Even though he probably didn't care or just to the point of thinking less of her for needing to declare it, Hikaru still said " I'm alright. I just need to take a breather. "

But the accidental return of her meal had left Hikaru so out of it, that Kyoya's first gruff reply " You sure do. " didn't resonate that much. At least the next curt " C'mon. Let's get you some water. " and pat on the back did a great job as shock therapy. Their match was officially over, yet the jerk continued to rain blows on her mind, making her feel all warm and dizzy. As if her stomach hadn't taken enough damage already.

Hikaru grimaced, trying to calm the violent thundering in her chest.

Jerk. That's not playing fair.

Yield into temptation, they say.

Did they have chocolate in mind, Hikaru pondered.

She'd spent at least a good five minutes staring at the shelves with sweets. An unlimited choice, really - plain milk chocolate, dark chocolate, with strawberry crème, with raisins and nuts, with hazelnut, with caramel, with Oreo and so on. But since Hikaru's cerebellum couldn't seem to coordinate a simple "pick-a-chocolate" function, the secretary heaved a sigh and started dragging her tired limbs off the shop floor towards the check-out. Sweets were no good for her irritated stomach anyway.

" Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. " a teasing voice uttered just behind her ear.

" Gah! " Hikaru freaked, jumping a mile high and flinging her shopping bag in the air, almost stumbling into the nearby shelves. Familiar hazel eyes met her amethyst ones. The shiny blonde hair and warm, good-natured smile were the next things she noticed.

The secretary exhaled deeply in relief. It was hardly the greatest opening line in the world, but Hikaru appeared sheepish and ducked her head as she greeted her recently made acquaintance. " Makoto. "

The boy retreated timidly, fumbling his fingers and drawing inward. " Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. "

" No, no. Don't worry. " the bluenette wove a dismissive hand and smiled stiffly. " You just…caught me off guard. " Then Hikaru remembered what she looked like. Instead of a nice, well-coordinated outfit, she still had her gym shorts and tank top on - the same clothes she'd worn during training, which were undoubtedly soaked with sweat. On top of that, her hair was in some off-killer disordered state, resembling a bird's nest in repair. She really looked like something a cat had dragged in. Or in this case, a lion. So much for cutting a dash.

Thank the heavens, though, Makoto wasn't too preoccupied with her attire and kindly offered up " Let me make it up by attending to you, then. "

At first, Hikaru blinked in surprise, probably because she had forgotten what it was like being around actual gentlemen and not permanently peeved off hooligans, but then gave a bright smile and followed him dutifully over to the checkout. Once there, she started piling the products from her basket onto the belt. God, they weren't even eating that much yet stopped by the supermarket almost every day.

" Someone's a big fan of blueberry yoghurt. " Makoto pointed out jokingly as he scanned the three cups.

The bluenette was just about to say how much she was addicted to it when a brisk " Oi. " came from right behind her. She turned around to catch sight of Kyoya, who as per usual, was fogged with that air of unfriendliness, fixing them with a sharp look, and Hikaru saw Makoto shrinking back from the corner of her eye. " Stop wandering away like that. I looked everywhere for you. "

Hikaru merely rolled her eyes and listened to her first instinct which was telling her to look at him like she was completely fed up. Which, in fact, she has had enough Yoyo for a lifetime; after ten days of constant temper tantrums, navy-seal level training programs, practically no time for herself and severe sleep deficit, Hikaru felt like she was on the brink of committing a homicide. So she really wasn't in the mood for Kyoya's petty animosity, which she could feel in the air like a warm breeze, and she seriously didn't want him to embarrass her in front of Makoto. Every social exchange with him was doomed to be a faux pas.

Noticing Makoto's look of confusion as to who this fine fellow was and how he was related to her, Hikaru realized it was up to her to bring politeness to the situation, so he didn't get the wrong idea.

" Makoto, this is Kyoya. He's a… " Hikaru trailed off, straining her brain to come up with an appropriate explanation as to why she would be on vacation with a guy, just the two of them together, and be on strictly friendly terms with him, even though they were anything but friendly. No one would believe it. Telling the truth, that they were just coworkers on a business trip, would immediately bring the question: What kind of business trip are you having in some desolate mountain village? Of course, the anxious secretary couldn't think of an excuse, so she settled for a harmless lie. " He's my cousin! "

Kyoya's initial bored expression shifted to a shocked one, which she could easily translate meant: Are you for fucking real? But for whatever reason, he didn't object, instead settling for the typical grimace and just rolling with her narrative.

" Oh, I see." Makoto's voice was a touch high, nervous. " Pleased to meet you. "

In a true Yoyo-fashion, Kyoya only made a grunt as a way of reply, preferring to glare fiercely at his partner. This cat's claws were showing, and he undoubtedly wanted to use her face as a scratch post. What his problem was this time was beyond Hikaru, though.

In order to make her story more believable and deflect the attention from her bad-mannered partner, Hikaru added " Yeah, it's my first time hiking, so I figured it'd be good to bring someone more experienced with me. "

Luckily for her, Makoto didn't pay too much mind to the ever-intimidating Yoyo-aura, as Yu called it, and offered up, " Good call. "

Hikaru chose to focus on the blonde as he continued to scan their products, because she'd much rather look at Makoto's charming smile than Kyoya's murderous scowl. Makoto looked like a prince taken out of a fairytale; ash blonde hair, symmetrical face, small nose and…earrings?

" Woah, " Hikaru blurted out in a pleasantly surprised manner. She'd always fancied men who weren't afraid to wear jewellery. " I love your piercings. "

A deep blush married the boy's pale complexion, causing him to look away and rub the back of his neck shyly, " Thanks. You're so sweet. "

" Hardly. " Kyoya snorted mockingly, because even when he wasn't the centre of attention, he would surely make himself known.

" Kyoya. " Hikaru maintained a perfectly calm demeanour, only hitting him with a baseball bat degree of subtlety to her voice by way of warning. Last thing she wanted was for Makoto to witness her temper and get scared off.

Detecting the underlying threat in her tone, the greenhead made a disgruntled "tch", while Makoto, bless his heart, remained upbeat even as the atmosphere at the spot deteriorated.

Out of nowhere, a song rang out, one which turned out to be from Makoto's phone. Being the diligent and reliable employee he was, Makoto took out his phone to stop the call.

Hikaru would've complimented him on his work ethic had she not recognized the familiar melody of his phone. " You listen to Black Stones? "

" Yeah," the blonde perked up, " You've heard of them? "

The bluenette nodded eagerly, an alluring smile lighting up her face. " I'm such a big fan, especially of Nana. She's so cool! "

" I know, right!? " Makoto beamed, chock-full of puppyish happiness. Gone were the shyness and reservedness at the mention of his favourite band, and he began to babble like a true fanboy, " She's really on another level. Her range is so wide and God, don't let me get started on her stage presence. I went to their concert last summer, and they absolutely smashed it. They got everyone dancing and— "

" We don't have all day for your stories, Goldie locks. " Kyoya shamelessly interrupted with an irritated scowl, because he wouldn't be Kyoya if he could sit out social interaction with Hikaru without it being some chronically unstable chemical about to blow any second. " How about you hurry up." It was an outright order, not a question.

Hikaru bristled and picked up her brand-new sports shoe, pressing it down on Kyoya's foot hard enough to draw his attention. What this meant was that the next second Hikaru had him snarling right in her face " What the hell was that for?! "

" For being fucking rude. " Hikaru hissed through gritted teeth, her blood near boiling. First, the looks, then diligence, then the good taste in music; Makoto was proving to be more and more her type, and she wasn't going to let Kyoya frighten him away with his antics.

Hikaru's felony cat made another sound of exasperation, definitely premeditating first-degree murder at this point, but stayed put in a surprising turn of events, and went back to working up a decent sulk.

" It's okay, Hikaru, " Makoto intervened timidly, positively mortified by this whole exchange. " I really shouldn't have gabbled like that. "

" No, please don't apologize! You've done nothing wrong. " Hikaru rushed with a reassuring smile, desperate to get the conversation back on track. " Tell me, which album is your favourite? "

Makoto's head tipped in thought. " I don't really have a favourite album, to be honest, " then he chirped, " But Rose is definitely my favourite song. "

The bluenette offered another coy smile, tucking a strand of cerulean hair behind her ear. " I like Rose too, but Kuroi namida is my all-time favourite. "

Alas, the King of Beasts was at the limit of his already small patience and finally groused " Let's just go. " He brushed past Hikaru's arm and stalked off, looking nothing like the confident, magnetic blader-celebrity as he hunched and exited the shop.

Hikaru shot her partner one last angry, cursory look, while Makoto helped her put the products in a bag.

" Your cousin, " the lanky boy started uncertainly, " he's an odd fella. "

" I know," Hikaru sighed as she started fumbling for her wallet, " He can be a little… " rude, grumpy, demanding were, unfortunately, the first definitions that came to her mind, but in the end she chose " difficult, but he's really not a bad person. "

Makoto nodded in understanding, then tapped on the touchscreen of the machine. " That'll be two thousand yen, please. "

Hikaru took out the company card and inserted it into the atm. Once done, she grabbed the bag and prepared to leave. " It was lovely seeing you, Makoto. "

The blonde cracked yet another dazzling smile. God, was he cute. " Likewise. See you again, yeah? "

" Definitely. " And with a final warm smile, Hikaru headed out the door, waving goodbye to him as she went. After Kyoya had stormed away, she'd thought the next time she saw him would be at their agreed base of operations, but when she exited the supermarket he was actually standing by the gate, rubbing the bridge of his nose like he'd undergone a very stressful event. It was, obviously, not what she had expected.

Upon noticing her though, he started walking, encouraging her to fall into step with him. Hikaru was expecting total silence, because if she were with her friends – non-Yoyo friends – they would've tried to get her to spill the beans about her new acquaintance, wouldn't even embarrass her in front of him, to begin with. But she wasn't with anyone else. She was with Kyoya, who didn't go prying into shit he didn't want to deal with in the first place.

That being said, Hikaru should've known better than to let her guard down when Kyoya's recently discovered hobby was to completely blindside her.

" Why'd you lie to him? " It was slightly intrusive at best, rudely presented at worst. It didn't really matter since it brought the desired result, namely Hikaru bolting to attention, almost stopping her dead in her tracks.

" Because he would've thought there was something going on between us. " Hikaru explained more sensibly than such an inherent fact deserved, and more than she wanted to in all honesty. Because now it would become transparently clear, if it hadn't already, that Hikaru had some interest in the blonde, therefore laying herself open to criticism and ridicule from Mr. Grumpy pants.

As usual, though, Kyoya had another thing set out in mind, and dropped a third bomb in a roll.

" So what? " Kyoya gave Hikaru such a perplexed look that she felt a blush fan out across her cheeks. It was a K.O. attack that promptly caused her brain to malfunction. The idea that Kyoya was okay with, even mistakenly, people thinking they were dating felt strange in several difficult-to-place ways.

Hikaru took a quick breath, wondering why her heart was so determined to swap places with her stomach, but worked up the nerve to ask in irregular, jagged tones, as if the words were stuck in her throat. " You don't mind people thinking we're going out? "

In the midst of potentially awkward silence, Kyoya eventually shrugged semi-predictably and put to her, " The fuck do I care what he thinks? "

Now that was a very predictable response from the lad, although it was still slightly ambiguous and boggled the bluenette's mind. Hikaru huffed and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes, unintentionally rolling them in the process. " You don't but I do. "

Kyoya scoffed unkindly, hands shoved defiantly in his pockets, and muttered bitterly " Of-fucking-course, you do. "

Hikaru raised an eyebrow and spat with cold frustration " What's that supposed to mean? "

" You're trying to win everyone over all the time with that plastic smile " He muttered, giving her a narrow, sideways look and sounding like he'd had enough with this talk, even though it was happening at his demand. " Don't fool yourself into thinking it doesn't show. "

Hikaru couldn't help herself and snorted derisively. For someone so observant and smart, he was the one who was fooling himself. If WBBA's employees ever heard that about Ryo Hagane's assistant, who didn't hold her tongue in front of her seniors and superiors and wouldn't stay in her place, they'd strongly disagree. Not that they'd ever say it, because they were an entire congregation of obedient fools and sissy yes-men.

" Please," Hikaru started with a steadfast forthrightness that was usually reserved only for people from her close circle. Not that she realized it at the moment. " If I really wanted to be liked by everyone, they wouldn't be calling me HBIC back at the office. "

Perhaps driven by curiosity, cats were known to be curious creatures after all, he asked " Which stands for? "

" Head bitch in charge. "

Kyoya actually chuckled, a tiny breath of genuine laughter. Such a rare sight left Hikaru with an expression of absolute wonder and her heartbeat picked up a notch yet again. " Very fitting. " Perhaps Kyoya, and only Kyoya, could deliver his approval on such a nickname so shamelessly and openly.

Yet, Hikaru couldn't bring herself to take offence and be upset. In fact, she found his honesty extremely refreshing when compared to her previous working environment.

Looking back now, Hikaru realised she didn't really miss her workplace that much. Obviously, there were a few pleasant faces in the crowd, but most of the staff, especially the older ones, weren't fond of Hikaru. Not that she had any grand ambitions of winning a popularity contest. There were always going to be people who don't like you, she knew that, and it didn't bother her.

What bothered her was their hypocrisy and two-faced attitude. Sometimes she wondered whether they thought of her as deaf or dumb; of course, she noticed their fake smiles; of course, she overheard the mean-spitted comments every time she passed them in the hall; of course, she'd figure out they'd been talking about her when she entered the room and their conversation died on the spot.

Spineless mice, that's what they were. If they had so much to say about her, why didn't they say it to her face? Who were they putting up this show for? How is she supposed to go out with them after work, sit at a table and raise a glass with people who'd trash-talked behind her back?

Dishonesty made Hikaru as sick as beyblade training these days, so she'd much rather have someone openly dislike her than have to second-guess everything they told her.

It struck Hikaru with an even odder turn that Kyoya could actually be nicer to her – at least sometimes – than her other colleagues. A mean prick, yes, but at least had the guts to be open about it. And although his bluntness could be a little too much sometimes, in this case it was a downright magical power.

Maybe he isn't all that bad…

An hour or so later, the pair was back at the spot where they usually trained, except they had another task on their hands. One of the gadgets they'd received was a zip line - a pulley with a handle attached to a steel cable, and it was arguably the most important one since it would grant them access to the laboratory. Figuring it would be best to get the knack of it beforehand so there were no mishaps during the operation, the two had climbed the highest slope they could find and mounted each end of the cable on a tree, one of them being on lower ground.

" We'll do a few of these, " Kyoya said with a hint of tension in his voice and grabbed the handles, preparing for take-off. " Then I'll knock you around some more. " His gaze darted on and off Hikaru as quickly as bouncing off a springboard, and she had this insane thought that maybe he was uncomfortable. It's just that she had no idea why he would be.

However, Hikaru was too preoccupied trying to hide her own nervousness since this slope was really steep, and there were no brakes on the pulley. Once gravity gets you going, there's no stopping. So she deflected the energy by giving him a snippy response. " Don't count on it. "

Kyoya made a huffy amused sound, but didn't offer further comment. Gripping the handles tightly, he started walking and gradually sped up, then right before his feet met the slope's edge, he lifted them up and launched himself into the open air. Kyoya zoomed fast enough for Hikaru to be inescapably worried, like a descending comet, and she could tell he was also taken aback by the high speed that was making him cover at least seventy meters in a matter of seconds. The handle eventually slammed against the branch, and Kyoya landed heavily on the ground, briefly stumbling but most surely on his feet.

" How was it? " Hikaru called out, choosing it over the more intrusive 'are you okay?' that was on the tip of her tongue. She'd seen enough to know that Kyoya's interpretation of such queries was rarely in sync with the asker's intent.

" Fine, " he shouted across the open space, giving himself a canine shake and dusting his clothes off " Just watch your knees when you land. "

The bluenette took a deep breath and steeled her nerves before inserting her own pulley and handle. She held onto it with a vice grip and walked over to the edge, determined not to give herself such a powerful start like her partner did.

Alright, easy now.

Stepping right on the edge, the girl pushed herself with her feet just hard enough to get her going.

That, unfortunately, didn't go as planned.

Hikaru flew through the air like a newly-fuelled rocket and with a great deal of embarrassment, screamed blue murder. Because of the high speed and height, her first instinct was to lift her legs up, which only worsened her case since the shift in balance made her whirl from one side to another.

Everything that happened after that was similar to the experience a t-shirt gets inside a washing machine while on the spinning part. Hikaru felt herself whirl completely around her axis again and again, swinging around in a pin-wheeling roller coaster ride experience that did nothing to alleviate her nausea.

Her vision was as blurry as one could get, so she wasn't even able to see what she'd clashed into when the handle finally hit the branch, sending her rolling end over end until collapsing into an indecent heap.

Hikaru had been going for a soft landing, really. And that, she got…just not in the form she expected. Certainly not so…cushioned.

The world was still spinning viciously even with her eyes closed, but it didn't take long for Hikaru to figure out that Kyoya had absorbed the impact of the fall and that he was very much laying flat on his back right underneath her. With a groan, she slowly lifted herself up and creaked her eyes open, her stomach churning unpleasantly at the motion and her knees tingling from the position of the fall, which was essentially - straddling her partner.

Hikaru's foremost thought at the moment was that she really didn't want to puke on Kyoya - an aim they could both support, whether he knew it or not. So for the time being, she chose to stay right where she was, taking deep, steady breaths.

But Kyoya, like every other time, managed to make the situation worse for Hikaru by looking up at her in a manner that made her feel instinctively aware she was on top of him, cocked his head to the side and asked " So, you ready for round two? "

No, Kyoya certainly couldn't read the situation.

Just to be clear, in case some of you are left wondering after this last scene, the rating for this fic is T and will remain so. No sex or underpants-area activities. This story was never intended to feature mature content, and for personal reasons, I wouldn't feel comfortable writing it. That being said, this doesn't mean that there won't be satisfying teen-appropriate content, and I have a whole truck of innuendos that I'll hopefully execute well. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Btw, I didn't think of the HBIC abbreviation, only the OGs know who came up with it 😤

Hikaru also doesn't seem like the type of employee that would 'know her place' and refrain from speaking her mind, seeing how she openly opposed Ryo in that one episode in Metal Masters, which considering he's her superior is extremely inappropriate for Japanese standards. She's outspoken and an introvert, and if I know one thing about working in an office setting, it's that Susie will hate your fucking guts if you don't ask how her weekend was For fucking real, if you skip small talk, ppl will automatically assume you hate them for literally not speaking.

Also, since Hikaru and Makoto had to have sth in common in order for her to be at least a little attracted to him, I thought - what better than the same taste in music? And here's where I included a reference to another anime :D But Nana is more than just an anime - it's a lifestyle, it's a personality, it's a BLUEPRINT FOR SLAYING. If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend you go check it out, especially if you're in your early twenties.

But those are just some music headcannons of mine. I don't want to unnecessarily ramble in the notes, so I have them written on a separate post if you want to check it out :)

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this long-ass chapter! :')

Cheers!