[Gen POV]
The day naturally progressed from early morning to mid-afternoon, which was evident from the sky's bright shade of blue that transitioned to a deep midnight blue.
Various size and shape automobiles were slowly motoring up in front of the brick BBA building where teams were casually emerging from the vehicles and out in the open.
A long plush red carpet directed them to the front of the building while security plus metallic fences easily held off the frenzied mass of media and avid fans of the sport.
After they passed the glass doors threshold, they were quickly ushered inside of the vast lobby area by the doormen. The teams were then eagerly greeted by staff and instructed to check in at the designated table draped with a navy blue suede fabric.
"Welcome bladers and coaches! If you will…once you have signed and received a number, please stop to see one of the individuals at the door…wave your hands if you will." The woman points and pauses until their sights land on people with headsets at the door.
"They will point you in the direction of your tables. Please do stick to your assigned table. We had people meticulously grueling over the seating arrangements for weeks! So to keep them happy, please oh please don't change your seats. Other than that, enjoy the rest of your night!"
[PPB Allstarz]
"Yo Ed, what's your table number?" Michael curiously wonders as he casually flips the paper in between his knuckles.
Eddie peered down at his card and read aloud the number in bold printed, "Number 59".
"Ems, you?" The blonde was questioning the orange haired teen while attempting to peer over her shoulder to see on his own.
She quickly concealed her paper out of his sights as she irritably grumbled, "Mind your own business."
Judy instinctively senses the tension between the two teenagers and promptly issues out an order, "Go on in, Michael."
[White Tiger X]
"Lee, Lee look at this!" Mao excitingly exclaimed once she peeked inside of the ballroom with wide eyes of curiosity.
Lee was causally dropping his hands inside of his pockets and coolly claiming, "I see."
"They really dressed the place up nicely." Master Tao sincerely admitted in shock after their team entered inside of the decorated room.
"Where's the chow?" Kiki anxiously questions, which earns an eager nod of agreement from Gaou.
[F Dynasty]
"Molto bella!" Julia was honestly expressing at the stunning sight before her very own eyes.
Raul's eyes leisurely wonder over the image in front of him when he spots something off in the corners, "Oh…they even got strobe lights."
[Saint Shields]
"Why are they splitting us up?!" Dunga was furiously shouting once realizing that none of his teammates will be at his table.
"To promote comradery." Ozuma calmly revealed after he was handed a piece of paper with a number on it.
"They're not all strangers." Mariam honestly admits since there were some familiar faces that stands out to her.
"Shut up!" He angrily retorted, which earned a shake of his head from Joseph at his teammate's childish nature.
[Barthez Battalion]
"This is…interesting." Miguel mutters while he stares at the various numbers on his teammates' slip of paper.
"Can't I just sit with any of you guys?" Malthilda was nervously suggesting as she was unintentionally crinkling her paper from anxiety.
Claude simply rolled his eyes at her nervous nature before he coldly asserted, "You'll completely throw the seating chart off. Weren't you paying attention to what the woman was saying earlier? Besides…you should know mostly everyone here."
"Still…" She tensely stammers with tears that form on the rim of her eyes and threaten to fall at any moment.
Two hands unexpectedly rested on her shoulders when she heard Aaron and Miguel declared, "You got this."
[Blitzkrieg Boys]
"Another social gathering?" Spencer was annoyingly stating after realizing that this event was mandatory for the bladers to attend or risk disqualification for the tournament.
"I thought that the press conference was a spectacle enough for the media." Bryan conveyed as he shrugged his shoulders along with movement from his hands.
Tala quietly observes the faces of the partygoers and ultimately renders, "Damage control, it's nothing but damage control."
[Bladebreakers]
"Don't say anything to the media." Kai promptly ordered to his group right before they graced the red carpet.
"There are some serious cuties here!" Max happily determines once they arrive at their destination.
"Oh…we get separate tables?" Rei was curiously questioning after noting the different numbers present on their slip of paper.
"Now that's interesting." Takao declared while he peered up from his sheet and caught sight of Yuan, who entered the building.
[Yuan]
"I can't believe I'm actually wearing a Japanese kimono!" Wenling was happily gushing while glancing down at her yellow kimono displaying orange, green, and red flowers that were falling toward the front hem with a dark orange Fukuro obi.
Hiromi merely chuckles at the brunette's excitement when she points out, "They're just like the ones shown on anime."
She was clad in a Floralwhite kimono that displayed a lone almost bare black Sakura branch with the petals faded to white instead of their normal pinkish hue with a gray and black Fukuro obi.
"Do you like it, Archimedes? The kimono that is?" The ruby eyed teen curiously questions after she peers over in the direction of their captain.
The raven haired teen was clad in a deep red kimono that displayed what appeared to be a garden of white, pink and orange flowers hung from a brown branch that was clustered at the bottom against green rocks in a lake depicted by white circle lines. She wore a dark yellow obi that resembled the others.
"It's new but…it's actually kind of fun." Archimedes was honestly admitting with a smile quickly surfacing onto her face instead of her usual frown.
A "good" along with a nod of her head was executed right before they were each given a sheet of paper after they checked in at the table.
"We got...different tables…" Audrey shockingly shrieks as she closely stares at the different numbers on their sheets.
Her kimono was a dark blue with bright red and orange butterfly koi fishes along with a scene of fireworks. She had a scarlet obi just like the rest of the team.
The teen then jokingly follows up with, "Good or I would've been frozen to an ice cube."
"Audrey!" Wenling immediately addressed her because of her rude comment toward the raven haired teen.
The dirty blonde annoyingly dismisses the brunette as she dramatically tosses her hand up at her and faces away from the group.
"Best behavior ladies." Meifeng's voice was instantly breaking through their potential argument and reminding them of where they were.
[GEN POV]
The bladers finally dispersed to their respective assigned tables albeit some felt anxious, nervous or excited.
BBA officials dutifully maneuver throughout the room to guide the guests to their respective seats, lay out programs on the tables, check audio system or make sure everything runs smoothly.
They even quelled rowdy arguments with stubborn bladers, who were displeased at their seating arrangements and even cleared off tables for them.
"Good afternoon, everyone." A person was cordially greeting them from behind a crystal clear podium, "We will start in a few minutes. So please bear with us just a little while longer."
[Table 68]
'Talk about being the only girl in the boys' locker room.' Audrey inwardly grumbles at her misfortune while her eyes leisurely scan the faces of the boys at Table 68.
"Is that my Juliet?" Max merrily alleged at the sight of the dirty blonde female, who currently sat at his assign table.
She was visibly rolling her eyes and openly declaring, "I thought I stabbed myself to death."
"Yeesh! You need any aloe for that burn, Tate?" Rick loudly teased with his eyes closed and arms folded across his chest.
"I'll chalk it up to spurn love." Raul finally surmises with a shake of his head at the blonde's misinterpretation of the classic Shakespearian tragedy, "Romeo and Juliet".
"Haven't you read the ending at all?" Bryan curiously posed to the blue eyed member of the Bladebreakers.
Kiki was quirking an eyebrow at the scene occurring before inquisitively whispering, "Is love really worth dying for?"
"Oh brother…" Ozuma wearily muttered after he diverted his sights away from the two blondes at the table.
[Table 24]
'Maybe...this table isn't so bad.' Malthilda was silently surmising with a hidden smile of hopefulness on her face.
"Hello…my name is Wenling. It's a pleasure to meet you all." Wenling cordially introduced herself to the people that sat at Table 24.
"Emily York," A girl with short orange hair, brown eyes and glasses confidently addresses the crowd of bladers with a placid expression on her face.
"Rei Kon," Rei politely disclosed his name next since he sat next to Emily.
"Aaron," A boy with dark eyes and black locks with a light color beanie on top of his head apprehensively greets those around him.
"Spencer," A tall burly muscular teen with dark blonde hair that resembled a turnip since he wore an odd fuzzy winter hat around his forehead quietly introduced himself.
"Mariam," A girl with dark blue with light blue eyes was nonchalantly greeting them by flicking of her long ponytail.
"Lee Wong," The boy from the locker room, who caught her, was the last one to introduce himself at the table.
The brunette was patiently waiting until the last person was disclosing their names before enquiringly questioning, "Is everyone here?"
"Mr. D always tries to outdo himself every year." Emily reveals while she removes her glasses in order to clean them with her shirt.
Her forest green eyes excitingly digested what occurred around her when she claimed, "This is indeed lovely. We don't do this often in China."
"You're from China?!" Rei and Lee shockingly quipped at the revelation of her origins being from China.
She was simply nodding her head forward and disclosing, "Yes, do you know where Qidong is?"
"Really?!"
[Table 17]
'Talk about an awkward silence. You could even hear a pin drop.' Michael inwardly yet anxiously thought at the stoic expressions on Table 17.
"Hiromi," A teen age girl with long brunette and a dark golden color puff was greeting her with a smile on her face.
She then peers upward, registers the face, hugs her and cordially poses, "Julia, how are you?"
"Good. You caused quite a stir ma'am." Julia amusingly teased her friend before she occupied the empty seat next to her.
She casually tilts her head to the side on to the palm of her hand, closes her eyes and honestly acknowledges, "But I am glad you are finally following your dream,"
"Hello ladies,"
"Miguel, hi," The brunette cordially greeted the blonde leader from the Barthez Battalion with a small smile on her face.
"Am I interrupting?" He fretfully questions the two teenage girls as he scratches the nape of his neck.
Hiromi was swiftly speaking up, signaling for him to have a seat and proclaiming, "Oh no, come on! We're all friends, right?"
[GEN POV]
The same man from earlier graces the stage again and broadcasts, "Good afternoon, my name is Mr. Suzuki, the Chair of the Public Relations."
"This is a closed event so you can let your hair down and no one will even judge you." He earned a bit of laughter from the older crowd.
"We put this together to kick off the tournament with a bang although I do believe Hiromi from Yuan stole our limelight...but enough of that, we have provided a dinner with some entertainment. Look for Mrs. Claude, who will direct you when it's your table's turn."
2222
06.11.18 Major editing edits
