"Whew…I've finished." Takao was breathlessly proclaiming out of breath while bending forward with both of his hands on his knees.
Rei simply places one of his hands on the bluenette's shoulders as a signal for him to complete his morning run. "You managed to do better than your other times."
Dragoon's owner merely straightened back to his original height and released yet another heavy deep sigh once he was able to catch his breath. 'Never again…'
It was then did brown eyes cast his gaze at the entrance of his residence as if he expected for someone to enter on his family's property.
"Yeah, we just finished our morning exercise. What about you and Max?" Rei addresses their fellow teammate, which causes Takao's sights to remain affix on the gate.
"No, we haven't even started yet but we were just about to be on our way out." A voice was replying when the sound of footsteps were coming closer to their location.
Brown eyes returns his gaze in front of him and mentally registers that the other members of their beyblade team, known as the Bladebreakers, chats about today's routine.
However there was one other person, who was currently missing from the bunch, causing him to think about their welfare.
'Usually Hiromi is here by now. Where could she be?'
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Hiromi was covering her nose with her left arm when feeling a sneeze about to happen, "Sorry about that…it seems as if someone's talking about me."
The dirty blonde girl raises one of her eyebrows at the brunette and asks her, "So just because you sneeze someone's talking about you?"
"It's just a famous Japanese superstitious saying which often times prove to be true." Hiromi was mumbling the latter part of her sentence to herself.
Her green eyes widen in astonishment and response with an "Oh" facial expression, "That's interesting."
Hiromi simply nods her head in agreement when she realizes that she did not know the girl's name. "Ano…I mean excuse me."
The blonde then turns to face the brunette again, who continues to speak to her, "I never got around to introducing myself to you,"
She brought the palm of hand against her forehead and returned it to her side, "Same here. My name is Audrey Steele. And you are?"
"Hiromi Tachibana and it's a pleasure to meet you Audrey." Hiromi properly greets the girl name Audrey with a warm smile.
"Hiromi Tachibana?! As in the manager for the Bladebreakers for the current World Champs in the BBA?!" Audrey poses with her green eyes wide clearly in shock at the revelation.
A feeling of guilt briefly hit her once her companion mentioned the team she just left behind in order to discover her purpose in life.
"Yeah…that's me." Hiromi was confirming her identity in a sullen tone as she was casting her eyes to the airport's floor.
'I wonder if they received the letter yet.' She ponders to herself as she silently wishes she could see their expressions once they find her handwritten letter in the mailbox.
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"Hey Rei," Takao's voice calls out to the raven-haired male, who currently sets up the backyard of his home for their training regime.
Golden pupils were now glancing in his teammate's direction when pausing in cleaning out the dish and posing, "What is it?"
Brown eyes quickly cuts left then right as if he prays that no one else could hear their conversation. "Have you heard from Hiromi at all?"
This caused Drigger's owner to straighten back to his original height, "Now that you mention it, it is rather strange that she hasn't showed up yet."
'At least I'm not the only one who's concerned about her…' The bluenette happily considered as he recalled when Hiromi confided in him that she thought that the guys were really not concerned for her.
'I wish she was here to see that she was wrong about that.' "It's rather strange that she hasn't at least called by now." Takao was interjecting before hearing the sound of footsteps approaching them.
He was turning his head in the direction of the noise while silently hoping that Hiromi would turn the corner, apologizing about her being late, starting to prepare their training schedule before Kai was arriving and implementing the importance of each skill set.
Instead he was greeted by the sights of his grandfather, who was on a fast track to where he currently rested.
Takao never saw his Grandpa ran that fast let only out of breath, which meant that whatever it was that he was holding in his hand was something valuable.
"A letter…from…Hiromi…leaving for China…right now." He was managing to huff out in between his ragged breathing with a piece of paper in his hands.
It took a couple of seconds for what his grandpa was telling him to register in his brain as he was instantly reacting by hopping to his feet and immediately taking off running.
"Takao," Rei called out to the bluenette, who seemed to be on warp speed toward the entrance and exit of his home.
"You should follow him Rei so he won't run off if he misses her at the airport." Grandpa advises the raven haired boy with a flip of his hand.
Rei nods his head at the elder man, "Please inform Kai and Max of where we are when they arrive back from their run."
"Will do…" The elderly man manages to utter as Rei begins pursuit of Takao to the airport.
'I just hope he gets there in time to stop her.' Grandpa wished as he decides to take a seat where Takao previously occupied.
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"So how old are you Hiromi?" Audrey inquires about Hiromi's age as a means to strike up a conversation with the friendly brunette.
"I'm seventeen years old. What about you?" She answered with a small smile apparent on her face.
"No way, you're older than I am!" The teen girl was suddenly exclaiming with a playful pout evident on her face, which was causing Hiromi to giggle at her new friend's reaction.
"I'm sixteen but I'll be seventeen in a couple of weeks though." The dirty blonde quickly interjects as her index finger points upward.
"It's nothing wrong with being young." The Bladebreakers' manager mentioned before she asked, "So is this your first time flying?"
Audrey casually nods her head and says, "Well it is my first flight out of the country, but I've flown a couple of times in the borders of the States before. That's why I'm kinda of glad that I ran in to you when I did."
"I see. International flights are quite tricky especially if you're doing a layover in a foreign country. We used to have that trouble all the time." The brunette was chiming in while recalling her first experience with flights to other countries whenever traveling with the Bladebreakers.
The American teen avidly listened to her describe a couple of her experiences on flights. "I didn't understand a single one of these signs."
"Now bordering flight from Tokyo, Japan to Beijing, China." A voice was announcing their flight along with a list of bordering flights that were arriving as well.
"That's our flight. Are you ready to go?" Hiromi excitingly poses to her new companion after she stands to her feet and grabs her duffle bag from the side of the comfortable seat.
Audrey instantly leapt to her feet with her backpack still on her back and followed Hiromi, who currently served as her personal travel guide.
"Do you mind if I ask you, why are you going to China?" The teen girl was suddenly inquiring once she was matching the brunette girl's stride from stride.
"To discover what my purpose is." She confidently replies as she faces the blonde before she asks her, "Same question to you, why are you going to China?"
Her smile widens while she adjusts the strap of her backpack so her bag would not fall off her shoulder. "To travel on a quest."
This cause Hiromi to slightly pause in the middle of her stride as she inwardly thinks to herself, 'Did she receive an envelope the same way that I receive mine?'
"Is everything alright, Hiromi?" Her voice held concern once she noticed that the brunette suddenly stopped in her stride.
Ruby red eyes were hesitantly casting her gaze at the teenage girl in front of her before realizing what she was doing, "Oh sorry about that…I zoned out for a minute."
"That's fine. I totally understand." Audrey offered supportive reassurance to the girl in front of her with a small smile.
"Let's go before we miss our flight." Hiromi quickly comments before the pair heads off to their respective terminal.
'So long Tokyo, Bladebreakers and especially Takao. It's time that I leave and figure out my purpose in the world.'
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"Takao, slow down will you!" Rei was breathlessly shouting at the bluenette, who was currently jogging in place and waiting for the traffic light to turn red.
"If I don't hurry then she will leave." Takao was loudly yelling over his shoulder while trying to formulate another route to the airport.
"Who is she Takao?" The raven haired male confusingly enquired in a confused manner when he observed the light flashed from red to yellow and finally green.
Dragoon's owner was completely ignoring the question and quickly dashing across the crosswalk without even checking left or right for any oncoming traffic.
"Watch out, Takao!" Rei was promptly shouting out a warning as Takao was dodging a moving car by sliding across the roof of the hood and continuing to run until reaching the opposite sidewalk.
Grandpa's advice continously repeats itself in his mind as he tries to make sure that the bluenette, name Takao, remains within his sights.
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"Uh…" Max managed to huff out once he arrived with his hands against his knees and bent over.
Kai was casually glancing around to his left and right expecting to see Rei and Takao on their way out to the front of the gate. Instead, Takao's grandfather appeared in front of them with a worried expression on his face.
"Where's Takao and Rei?" He inquires about the exact location of the other members of the Bladebreakers.
"They both went to the airport." Grandpa was replying while glancing up toward the vast blue sky as if he was searching for something.
"Why would they be going to the airport?" Max confusingly needled while hunched over before he slowly straightened back to his original height. "We're not due to leave until a couple of weeks from now."
The elderly man breaks his concentration away from the sky as his sights land back on the two young boys that stands in front of him.
"It's not that…" He eventually spoke up before the sound of an airplane could be heard. A frown suddenly appeared across his face and exasperated, "He's too late!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" The slate haired teen asks the older man, who merely shakes his head in disbelief, "Whose too late?"
"Takao…" Grandpa softly muttered his grandson name in a sadden tone under his breath.
"Hey Kai, what's going on?" Max wonders after he slightly nudges the slate haired male with one of his elbows in order to get her attention.
Kai leisurely shrugged his shoulders up and down as he too was at a lost at the eldest Kinoyama's sudden strange behavior.
'This isn't going to be easy...' He was inwardly noting to himself as his eyes were tracking the airplane's movement as it was gliding through the sky.
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"Yay, I got the window seat!" Audrey happily declares with excitement once she places her bag inside of the compartment holder.
'Good, because I don't think I can bare looking at us leaving Japan.' The brunette inwardly thought yet it was verbalized as, "Ah Hiromi...you have got to see this beautiful view when we leave."
"It's the best part of the trip." The blonde cheerfully admitted after she took her seat next to the window followed by Hiromi who took her seat next to her.
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Author's Note:
04.26.17 Major editing revisions
10.14.18 Major editing revisions
