"WHAT?"

The whole room erupted into chaos. Everyone started to talk over each other. Daichi had started screaming and jumping around the room. The sophisticated environment a minute before had transformed in a midway warzone.

Katyusha's mind buzzed through a string of probability. The Championship League had discontinued six years ago. It didn't make sense to restart this League again. Jake seemed to be on the same boat. His eyes showed his skeptical thinking.

"Kenny", Katyusha directed her question. "Who is behind the organization of this League?"

"Dunno. Mr.D told that it isn't under BBA. It's a foreign company."

"This is the League-" Tyson said, swinging his hands towards her and Jake, "-you guys won, right?"

"It is a team event." Katyusha corrected him. "Yeah, we won."

"What do you mean by team event?" Hilary inquired.

"It means that a group participates together in the event. It is not like the individual competition we have been a part of yet." Ray replied. " The village I grew up in had few unofficial matches where people fought in groups rather than individually."

Jake confirmed, "That's right. But in this competition, the number of participants increases by two every year."

"Meaning a duo adds every year?" Hilary urged.

"Precisely. It will be the fourth year if it takes place."

"Eight people this time?" Tyson asked. Katyusha gave him a nod to confirm.

"Wait...what? It isn't eight people but six since this is the fourth year, right?" Kenny interrupted. "The first year had one on one. So, the fourth year will have six, right?"

"AH! Right sorry," she apologizes.

"We have a group of dimwitted fools", Kai state.

"The first thing you had to mutter in the last five-minute discussion has nothing to do with the scenario. Who is the fool, Hiwatari?" Katyusha snapped.

"It's not the first tournament we are playing, Katyusha. What are you getting so worked up about it?"

"Kai, this tournament wasn't even deemed to be arranged. During the third tournament, the opponent team which was supposed to battle against us stole bit beats of the participants they fought against."

The group stood petrified. Not even a person moved. Kai's blank face had developed a sneer. The dark past was recoiling inside everyone's head. It was as clear as yesterday for her. She could still recall the cold Russian days when Black Dranzer had taken over the Dranzer. Till date, she had dwelled on the 'what ifs', but more than that she had dwelled on Kai's departure.

She glanced up to see the group staring at her. Among all the members, she had been the most affected by Kia's departure during their first Asian tournament. Kai and her history had brought them coincidentally but not close enough. Kai didn't treat me or anyone, in general, as a friend during the first Asian tournament. His personality changed for good.

She caught Kai's eyes on her. Her body instantly heated under his gaze. His eyes always expressed more than he wished. His gaze darkened with every moment. His memories of the Russian Tournament went far deeper compared to anyone in the team. The trauma and struggle to overcome his defaults. If it had been hard for the group, it was feeling was much fiercer for Kai, who stumbled through it hard time alone.

Jake interrupted the awkward silence which had started to suffocate the members. Even though Jake hadn't been present during the past few years, his understanding of the environment was exceptional.

"Due to the abrupt situation, we were declared the winners of the tournament. But even I thought they would start it."

"Well, the same thing occurred to us during our first competition, but the tournament wasn't dropped even after the situation. It may start again with necessary lookouts." Kenny stated.

"That's right. We faced something similar. Honestly, we faced things far worse during the last tournament." Tyson agreed, "Remember, what happened to Brooklyn during the last competition."

Her mind was still not ready to accept it easily. She continued to press forward. "If it was such a case, why after six-year? It's a wholesome time to decide between."

Ray spoke out, " you are still not comfortable with this idea, right?"

"It's not that I am not fine with it." She took her head in her hand and thoroughly scratched her head before responding, "I must be overthinking things. It's been two years since we have participated in any competition. I don't wanna stand in the path." She took turns looking everyone in their eyes and received positive outcomes. She smiled at her members. If something takes place which might hinder their performance, she knows well enough that they will stand together and face it with unearthly enthusiasm and courage. She shouldn't worry about something this trivial.

She held her blade over her head. The blade breakers followed her lead.

"LET IT RIP!"

XxX

"By the way which all teams are going to participate in this tournament?" Max asked.

"According to Mr Dickenson, your mom's and White Tigers will be joining us. BEGA League members and Majestics will be joining us too. If not wrong, The Psykick members will be there too. But since most of them don't have enough members to suffice, we will be playing in different categories."

"Wow! Now, this is an upgrade. It used to be strictly according to the needed number of members. They had to add players if they would like to participate." Katyusha described. They have gathered around the living room. According to Mr.D, the tournament will be of one week where the different departments will play against each other. Unlike usual, the person behind the main championship is unknown. Even Mr.D couldn't dig in enough to know the hands behind such an upgraded event.

Katyusha's mind remains restless. She tries her best to swallow the alarming intuition. She wished to enjoy her time with her people. And she couldn't afford to lose this chance by wasting time overthinking.

The evening blended into a starry night as hours passed in the room. They had started to prepare the necessary strategies and statistics for the game ahead. They have half-consciously eaten all the cookies while Jake took the responsibility to serve the food required. Jake wasn't participating. When asked why he had merely replied with 'Team members?'. At that, we concluded the discussion altogether.

The air outside started to get chilled, the sky bleeding black at this point of the night. Before anyone knew, it was already past midnight. It wasn't something out of the ordinary since they had pulled full nighters even before tournaments. But it wasn't necessary. Moreover, she wasn't eager to drag lousy, half-dead members to their room.

Tyson had passed out on Hilary's shoulder. Due to that, Hilary hadn't able to move for around two hours straight. The other girl's hand involuntarily stroked Tyson's hair.

Katyusha couldn't even contain her fawning towards the young couple. The people who were always at each other's back with blades in hand are now backing each other. Sensing Katyusha's gaze on them, Hilary looked up and met her eyes. Both the girls shared a smile before Katyusha stepped in the middle of the room, diverting the attention to her.

"Guys, sleep now. You all have travelled for hours today. You don't want to drop dead."

"Just a minute, Kat. Just finishing it off."

She frowned, before coming up with an exceptional plan to send these kids to bed.

" We will need to be fresh to go swimming tomorrow."

That received loads of enthusiasm. They might be significantly old enough to look out for themselves, but that didn't change their attitude towards a ride of joy.

"Did you just-" Max started.

"-yes we will be visiting the ocean you guys saw on the way over here. The superb stretch of deep blue which meets the clouds and all that you were going to say." she grinned at her bewitched face.

"We can't stay for long, though. We need to gather more information about the opponents."

"Chill, Kenny. We won't break bones if we take some days off. And knowing our experience with most of the beybladers, I'm pretty sure that we will end up a meeting before the tournament." Ray calmed Kenny who was still hesitant about the trip.

"I swear we will be back before sunset. Better?" Katyusha asked. Kenny, even though halfway reluctant, gave them approval.

"IT IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!" Daichi screamed at the top of his voice and ended with Hilary snapping at him to disturb someone who was sleeping.

Tyson had woken up, still sleepy and rubbing his eyes. He looked around before Hilary helped him to the bed (*ahem). The other members followed the couple giggling about the adventure to be unleashed tomorrow. Max and Ray strode down the hallway whereas Hilary, Tyson and Daichi followed Jake up the stairs to the spare rooms. Kai will be sharing a room with Jake while Hilary is with Katyusha.

That's when Kai's presence had hit her. She looked around the room. The group had turned off the lights. Still, she could sight his silhouette at the right corner near the floor-length window just well. He was resting against the window sill. His body partially turned towards the open lawn which covered more than half of the house's plot land.

Even in the dark, the bladder shone amid the darkness. His flawless skin marked with the blue sharp fin-shaped trademark. His two-toned bangs cover his pale face. His jacket skirted around his toned body. He had changed out of his scarf and had kept only his tank top and baggy bottoms of jet black and royal blue respectively. He had taken over more body-hugging pants which gave out his built up. His beauty had left her awestruck a lot of times. He always had an unearthly vibe around him which made her flutter further.

She made her way towards him. He looked up and caught her looking at him. Katyusha took place next to him, leaving enough gap for her to snuggle her leg into a cross.

The room had started to turn brisk. The September air brought the awaited winter with it.

Bumps appeared on her body. Beside her, Kai looked more statue-like than human.

"Aren't you cold?" she asked. What she received was the faintest "no". At times she couldn't believe this guy. How thick was his skin? Out of curiosity, she left her hand to graze his arms. To her utter disbelief, he was freezing. His arms pricked her skin like lighting shots.

"YOU ARE SPUTTERING NONSENSE, AGAIN. You might as well freeze to death if you stay out longer."

That's when he looked at her. It wasn't the half-lidded look he habitually gave. This look had so much ferocity, Katyusha felt drawn into him. His magenta eyes bore into hers as if looking for an opening. For all she knew, she might be giving him one. Until then, she didn't realize her hand was still resting on his arms. Before she could pry her hands away, Kai caught it. The warmth in his palm spread through the body.

She pulled her hand away from his grip and turned around before Kai could see the red patches racing up her neck.

"It's called feeling pleasant," his eyes were still on her, unmoving.

"It might be pleasant. But if you stay in this weather for this long, you might fall sick, at least."

She still wasn't looking at him. Her gaze fell on the pool situated in the middle of the yard. It was light like a flame under the moonlight.

"I stayed for this." he broke the silence. Katyusha looked at him, startled. That's when he saw the little packet of snacks they had bought on their way here. She blinked a couple of times, knowing she was hallucinating.

"You didn't eat anything while serving, did you?" he said before putting the packet in her lap. She kept looking at the pack in her hand, then at him, then again at the container. It took her several minutes to calm her surprise before turning to him. Before she could utter a word, he stood up and pursued to walk away. She couldn't help but scream at him.

"You seriously need to mind your own business," she called out. She hesitated before whispering, "Thanks anyway."

"Sometimes I debate if I am the captain or caretaker of the group," his tone was bitter, but she could see the smile even in the dark. She felt her face relax into a smile. She had given herself to one of the most dangerous people. And for some reason, she didn't come to regret it.