A/N: I sincerely apologize for the delay in updates. I quite forgot that I had this story up, and kind of neglected it for the past week... ; Sorry everyone!
Disclaimer - Aki: Since Mei isn't here...Hikari doesn't own Bakuten Shoot Beyblade G-Revolution. It belongs to Aoki Takao, Shogakukan, d-Rights, and Takara Beyblade Project.
Me: You don't have to be so thorough...Yeesh...Anyway, minna, enjoy the chapter!
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Chapter 6: Mitsuketa
"Aika!"
The eleven-year-old girl turned to face whoever was calling her, and then smiled brightly and waved. "Fumiko-chan! Naoki-kun!"
The light brown-haired girl - Fumiko - waved too as she ran up to her friend; the black-haired boy - Naoki - just waved, but didn't seem to be in a hurry to join the two girls. Both of Aika's companions had green eyes, only Fumiko's seemed a darker shade.
"What are the two of you doing so early in school?" Aika asked as soon as Naoki had caught up with her and Fumiko.
The other girl pouted. "Well, my older sister set my alarm clock forward an hour, so when I got up, I thought I was going to be super late…"
"And then she woke me up, shrieking about being scolded by the principal or some other authority for being astoundingly tardy today…" Naoki finished. "Seriously, Aika, you're lucky to be an only child; living with two sisters can be hell sometimes…"
The slate-haired girl frowned slightly. "Don't be like that, Naoki-kun. After all, you never know just how precious something is until you lose it; only then will you wish it hadn't been taken from you."
The twins blinked in surprise. "That's…very mature for our age, don't you think, Aika?" Fumiko asked, looking worried. Their friend had never spoken in this way before. "Is something…wrong?"
Ruby eyes widened, and then Aika smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry; I just remembered something a friend of my mom's said before. Also, BEGA's tenth anniversary is coming up..."
Naoki nodded to show he understood. When he and his twin had first become friends with the slightly withdrawn Tachibana Aika, they had tried to get her interested in Beyblades - a hobby that was making a steady comeback. Unfortunately, the slate-haired girl had declined to join them in their afternoon play sessions. She said that it reminded her too much of her father, but gave no further explanation. That didn't bother Fumiko and Naoki, however; they still spent time with her doing things that had nothing to do with Beyblading.
All were silent for a while, not sure on how to break the silence without triggering an adverse reaction. Fumiko did it, finally. "Uh, guys? How about we go into the classroom now? It will probably be more comfortable if we chat there."
Aika grinned, and then grabbed both of her friends' wrists. "Why not? C'mon, let's go! Besides, it's getting warm out here!" With that, she started sprinting towards the school steps, dragging her companions with her.
"A-Aika, sl-slow down!"
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"Aika, I'm home!" 28-year-old Hiromi called as she dropped her slim briefcase on the couch in the living room. She waited for several moments, but there was no reply to her statement.
Strange…the auburn-haired woman thought. It was already half past four, and her child was usually home at around four, being only in elementary school.
"Where could she be?" Hiromi wondered as she wandered up the stairs. "Maybe she's listening to her Mp3 player and the volume's up high…or-" she stopped short when she passed her own room and did a double take. There, seated on the bed, was Aika, and she was surrounded by a mysterious red aura.
"A-Aika?" Hiromi called hesitantly, taking a small step forward into the room. The slate-haired girl didn't hear her mother's call, however; she seemed wrapped up in another conversation.
"Y-You're saying that I should continue what my father started?" the young girl asked. Hiromi took a step further into the room, and then gasped when she saw that no one else was there besides her and her daughter! Who was Aika talking to?
"Aika! What…what's going on?" The red brown-haired woman called frantically. She'd never seen this happen before, especially not to her own daughter! Aika, however, didn't seem to hear anything.
"But…I don't even know where to begin!" the ruby-eyed girl was saying. "I don't even know who my father was, except that he died in a Beybattle! How can I - what?" Aika's eyes flew open, and the red aura disappeared, vanished without a trace. Mother and daughter locked gazes.
"Mom?"
Hiromi rushed forward, grabbing the girl by the shoulders. "Aika, what happened? Who were you speaking with? Are you all right?" The questions poured out of the young woman, one flowing into the next like a stream, that the slate-haired girl only blinked, forcing herself to comprehend her mother's words.
Finally, understanding dawned on her, and she smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine, Mama. And as for what happened, I'm not really sure. I was on my way to my room earlier when a red light flashed from this one. I went in because I was curious, and then I saw that the light was coming from the drawer where you keep Dad's Beyblade. I opened the drawer and then suddenly I found myself floating in some kind of parallel dimension. There were flames everywhere, leaping and blazing all around, but I wasn't getting burned. And then someone started talking to me, so I answered her. I couldn't see her, but I could tell it was a girl, and for some reason I thought I could recognize the voice.
"The voice said that I had to 'continue' what Dad started - his legacy, she said. To be more specific, a legacy in Beyblading. And then she ended by saying that I would know who my dad was - at the same time, discover this 'thing' that he'd left for me - if I visited Uncle Max's hobby shop tomorrow after school."
Hiromi frowned, trying to digest this 'information', and then she laid a hand on Aika's forehead. "Are you sure you didn't eat anything bad today? You might be getting indigestion or a fever, and as a result you may be having hallucinations…"
"Mom!" Aika protested laughingly. "You know I know better than to eat expired food or experiment with eating and stuff! And I was serious about what I said earlier; I'm not making up anything in it." Here she gestured towards the small side-table next to Hiromi's bed. "See? Your table drawer is open."
"I can see that…" Hiromi answered. She heaved a sigh. "Well, I guess we'll know that you weren't seeing or hearing things when you go to Max's shop tomorrow. Tell me what happens, okay?"
"Okay, Mom." Aika smiled, and then made her way over to the door and out into the hallway. "I'll go do my homework now!"
"Make sure you finish early!" Hiromi called after her daughter. "We're going to the movies tonight, remember?"
"Yeah, I know!" Aika called back, just before she shut the door to her room.
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"Aika, wait up!" Fumiko called, nearly tripping over her own shoes and crashing down onto the pavement.
"Yeah! What is is with you?" Naoki called, huffing and puffing as he fought to keep up. "I mean, what's with your-"
"-Sudden interest-"
"-In a Beyblade hobby shop?" The twins looked at each other and chuckled when they realized they had just completed each other's sentences, something they hadn't done for a long time now.
Aika stopped at the ginko tree a few feet ahead, turned, and waved at her friends. "C'mon, guys, pick up the pace!" She rested against the tree trunk, panting quietly, as she waited for her friends to catch up.
C'mon...hurry up! she thought irritably, replaying the events from the day before. I want - I need to know...
Presently, Fumiko and Naoki came to a stop in front of Aika, within seconds from each other. "Aika...couldn't you have...slowed down...a bit?" The brown-haired girl asked in between gasps. Her brother ran the back of his hand over his forehead as he straightened up. He, too, was gasping, but not as much as Fumiko.
"Yeah. And why do you want to go to a hobby shop so badly?" he added.
"Well, I..." The slate-haired teen trailed off, groping for words. She couldn't tell her friends exactly what had happened the night before; chances are, they wouldn't believe her. She took a deep breath and started over. "Something happened last night that had to do with my mom's friend's hobby shop, so I want to go check it out."
"Which one?" Fumiko asked. She'd gotten her breath back now, and stood straight like her brother. "There are dozens of hobby shops here in Tokyo, and if you don't know the name-"
"Don't worry, I already know what it's called; I just want you guys to show me the way there."
"But if he's your mom's friend, then...don't you already know where it is?" Naoki scratched the back of his ear, one dark eyebrow up in confusion.
"I've been to his house, but it's rather far from his shop." Aika answered. She leaned over, picked up her backpack, and slung it over her shoulders. "The hobby shop carries his famiily name: Mizuhara."
Both Naoki and Fumiko looked aghast. "Your mom knows Mizuhara Max of Team BBA?"
Aika nodded. "They've been friends for as long as I can remember, along with Uncle Kyouju, Uncle Rei, and Uncle Takao; I practically grew up with them." The ruby-eyed girl smiled, shrugged, and then took a step forward, only to be blocked by her male companion. Naoki held up both hands like stop signs.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hang on." he said, slightly waving his hands for emphasis. "You're saying you spent your whole life with the members of Team BBA?"
"Yeah."
In unison, the twins exclaimed "That is so COOL!"
"Those guys were the World Champion team for three years running!" Fumiko added.
"It's just too bad, though, that their captain, Hiwatari Kai, died soon after his match..." Naoki muttered. "He was one of the best, I heard."
"Yeah, too bad..." his twin agreed. "His Dranzer disappeared that day, too."
"No, she didn't." Aika cut in.
"Huh? How do you know that?" the dark-haired boy asked. "Our uncle was one of the medics who brought him to the hospital, and according to him no one found any trace of Hiwatari-shi's Beyblade or bit chip."
"And that usually means the bit beast is gone, as well," the emerald-eyed girl added.
"But Dranzer isn't gone," Aika insisted. She took a deep breath. "My mom has the blade at home, in her nighttable drawer, and-"
"Did you just say your mom has Team BBA's captain's blade?" Fumiko blurted, emerald eyes wide. Aika nodded, and her friend's eyes grew wider, if that was at all possible. "But that's impossible!"
"How come?" Aika wanted to know. For reasons unknown, her heart had started thudding in her chest, so loud and fast that she almost wondered why no one could hear it.
"Well, we've heard rumors that the only one Hiwatari-shi would allow to touch his blade - aside from Kyouju-shi and Kinomiya-shi, of course - was the girl who started going with them since their second year together as a team."
"Wait..." Aiki interrupted. "Did this girl have eyes that looked something like mine, and dark brown hair past her shoulders that turned up at the ends?" She said this all slowly, trying to prolong the answer she somehow knew would come.
"Yes!" Naoki exclaimed. "That's her exactly! But how could you know? I thought you didn't like Beyblading, so how did-"
Aika shook the question away with a wave of her hand. She was close now, and she felt an unknown emotion bubbling up in her chest. "Was her name ever mentioned?"
"Yeah." The jade-eyed child nodded, hands in his trouser pockets. "Her name was-"
"Tachibana Hiromi." Aika finished. Even before he had opened his mouth to speak, she knew. She could feel it, feel the knowledge coursing from the unknown recesses of her mind and down into her heart, lodging there firmly until all uncertainty was gone.
Once more, her friends were agape with astonishment. "You...you..." Fumiko fumbled for words, but Aika put a finger to her friend's lips, quieting her immediately. The slate-haired girl gave a small, gentle smile.
"Thanks, guys. For helping me find what I was looking for."
"Um...you're welcome, Aika," Fumiko began, rather awkwardly. "But...but what..."
"You helped me find my dad, and in the process, who I was and who I can be." With that, the ruby-eyed girl turned and ran off, heading for the familiar surroundings of home.
For a time, Fumiko and Naoki just stood there, in the comforting shade of the ginko, stunned speechless at the words their friend had uttered.
Slowly, comprehension dawned, but each could scarce believe. They glanced towards each other, seeking - and finding - confirmation in the other's eyes. And it was then that the full force of their realization hit them hardest, causing them to gasp loudly.
"NO WAY!"
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A/N: Er, yeah, just to clear up things a bit. The suffix '-shi' is used in Japan as an honorific for someone higher than the speaker, but who is not among those spoken to.At least, that's what I learned from reading 'Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch'...
I think that's all I have to clear up for you guys...Tell me if there's something else that's confusing you, okay? I'll try to reply as soon as I can.
Aki: Just don't go into a long-winded explanation...
Me: Shut up. Okay, minna, dewa mata! Peace out and God bless!