Mr. Suzuki was systematically calling two tables at a time in order to give each table the opportunity to relish in the delicious banquet food.

[T59]

"You're salivating over the food, Takao." Hiromi told the bluenette as they observed the staff removed the lids off of the pans to reveal their choices.

The bluenette was wiping the saliva from around his lips with the sleeve of his shirt before hungrily opining, "I can't help it! It all looks so good."

"Typical Takao," Julia conveys as she scoops some brown rice on the side of her plate while she shakes her head at him.

Miguel quickly grabbed a plate and excitingly remarked, "He is right though. It does look pretty good."

"Ooh that have Dangos," Mao was happily piping up at the sight of the colorful sphere shape dessert that were on the Dessert table.

Spencer spares a glance in that direction and deliberately mentions to the pink haired girl, "You know I heard those things pack on the calories."

"Oh lighten up, they look delicious." Eddy easily brushed off the idea of calories for the enjoyment of food.

"Can y'all move it up there? We're starving back here!" Joseph was crankily yelling to his tablemates in front of him.

[T24]

"I believe we're up." Aaron presumed once an intern approached their table after they received the signal from the man behind the podium.

Lee's eyes track the movement of the brunette girl in front of him when he draws closer to his former teammate to whisper, "You're being awfully chummy with that chick from Yuan."

"Why not? You should learn not to be so cold to new people." Rei firmly advised with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

His golden eyes repeatedly glances from her and on to Rei before he needles, "So you don't find her a bit…how can I say it creepy?"

"Oh come on, Lee." He was hastily remarking about his perception of the girl at their table.

Wenling curiously glanced over in Mariam direction while she enquiringly asked, "Is that your natural hair color?"

A smirk stretches across her face along with a nod of her head and a verbal answer of, "Yeah, I get that a lot."

"And Spencer is just premature gray." Emily teasingly chimes in while she points her thumb to the left of her.

"You better watch your tongue, York." Spencer quickly snapped at the teen age girl with his arms across his chest.

The orange haired girl was raising her left hand to her ear and jokingly teasing, "Come again, gramps?"

[T68]

"They've really outdone themselves, eh Juliet?" Max directs his question to the dirty blonde girl that stands on the opposite side of the table.

Her green eyes rolled at the moniker he addressed her by when she annoyingly gripped, "Don't you ever get sick of yourself?"

"I'm pretty sick of it myself." Rick agrees with the girl as he reaches for a piece of baked Parmesan chicken in the metallic circular saucer.

"And just what gutter did you crawl yourself out of?" She was irritably snapping at the silver haired male that was one person behind the boy with red hair.

He cracked a smirk at her question before he easily retorted with, "Your mom's gutter,"

A brief silence settles among the two as nothing but glares were exchange when Audrey finally breaks the quietness, "That was a pretty good one buddy boy."

"Are you all always this rowdy?" Raul was curiously wondering about his tablemates while drizzling some Pesto over his Alfredo noodles.

"It seems pretty normal to me." Bryan shrugged off the idea of being "rowdy".

Kevin thoughtfully ponders over Raul's question, snaps his finger and offers up his opinion, "Like a dysfunctional tribe,"

"More like a tribe of hooligans." Ozuma boldly proclaimed as he grabbed a plate and waited for the others to move down the line.

Mathilda merely listens to the dialogue between her tablemates when she excitingly considers, 'I'm actually starting to like this table.'

[T17]

"It appears as if there is a rowdy table over there." Dunga suddenly mentions after he overhears what sounds like an argument on the other side of the serving hall.

Michael simply shook his head at the loud noise before he agreed with, "Tell me about it."

"Dunga" The burly teen was turning to greet the blonde, who was in turn revealing his name as "Michael".

Tala was observing the curly raven haired girl piling some pasty green stuff on her plate when deciding to intervene, "Unless you like your food extremely spicy, I would advise you not to pile on anymore."

"That's wasabi." Kai dutifully speaks up once he notices exactly what it is that Tala points out to her.

"Wa-sabi?" Archimedes confusingly repeated as she examined the dollop size she placed on the side of her plate.

An "hmph" emits from Claude's mouth at the girl's lack of food knowledge so he purposely belittles her, "Any truly cultured woman would already know that."

[T42]

"Well yes, I'm from Yunnan Province," Lin disclosed to the elderly man her place of birth since he asked her where she was born in China.

"Oh really, I haven't been there in years. The mountains are simply beautiful during the winter time." Master Tao relived a fond memory of being in Yunnan when he was much younger.

She then gestures in the direction of the purple haired woman before she discloses, "The young lady over there, Lanying, is from the Hainan Province,"

His eyes grew wide at the announcement before he charmingly gushed, "I'm not just surrounded by one Chinese beauty but there are two at my table. Oh thank you great Buddha for this wonderful opportunity."

"I still think Madama Butterfly deserves a second review, I would never think to slice my throat in front of my blindfolded child." Judy was sternly proclaiming to the blonde on her right.

"Carmen is just so iconic. The beautiful main lady tragically slain by her own lover in a jealous rage, doesn't it just make you want to rip your heart out!" Romero dramatically declared with a rose in his mouth while the petals mysteriously rained down over them.

"We let you all have the second year, since we were just rebuilding our roster." Boris boldly declares to Hiro.

His comment was earning an "oh brother, not this conversation again" from the blue haired male.

"I see you caught the eye of F Dynasty's coach." Meifeng playfully informs the powdery white haired woman, who then directs her gaze at the blonde.

Romero felt a pair of eyes on him, briefly rotates his head in their direction and winks at Akane, which earns a "Told you" from the woman on her right.

[T59]

Hiromi leans over to the tap the shoulder of the bluenette in order to politely remind him, "Uh…Takao there are others that have to eat."

However, the interns were prepared for scenarios such as this and even managed to convince Takao Kinoyama to move it along or risk a fine.

It was a task that Hiromi would have deemed impossible if you did not know the young man personally but the intern stood firm and persuaded him to come back for seconds.

"Can you believe that told me to come back for seconds?" Takao irritably grumbles while he manages to balance to plates full of food in his hands, before he frustratingly adds, "Wait, till I tell Mr. D about this cruel and unusual punishment."

Julia was rolling her eyes at the teen's dramatic responds to food, which was leading her to regard, "He's such a glutton for punishment."

"Tell me about it." The brunette agreed along with a shake of her head at Takao's behavior.

[T68]

"So how long have you been blading?" Audrey inquisitively probes to the teen boy that was on the opposite side of her.

A smirk briefly surfaced to his face when he jokingly teased her with, "Now aren't you just as curious as a cat,"

Her green eyes lock onto the captain of Saint Shields before she boldly jaws, "I prefer an exotic mermaid or a hypnotizing siren. It's your pick."

"Pretty much most of our lives," Max was providing an answer to her question after scooping some freshly steamed Asparagus on his plate.

"It was just something that peaks your interest." Raul offered his own opinion about how he first felt when he started to beyblade.

"Like trying to find a hidden treasure without the treasure map," Kevin responds while he checks out his options from the buffet.

"Except you'll probably crash and burn a thousand times and still won't find it," Rick was sharply describing after placing the ladle for the gravy against the dip groove.

"But blading is still worth it whether good or bad." Mathilda hastily mentions with the plate press against her stomach.

"I see." Audrey ultimately muttered after she sensed everyone's genuine passion about the sport.

[T17]

"Thank you for the save back there with the wasabi." Archimedes politely thanked the red head once they returned back to their assign table.

Tala perks up at the sound of the rather mute girl's voice when he downplays, "It's no problem at all. I had a bad experience with that stuff."

"So you introduced someone by the wrong name before," He purposely diverted the topic of their conversation in order to maintain a dialogue with her.

The raven haired girl removes the napkin from in front of her so she can place her plate down when she opines, "Haven't we all? I mean I'm not really good with names."

"Yet, you cleverly made the comment about the mountain goat and the mountain." Tala reminded her of the words she said at the Press Conference.

Archimedes then settles the white object over the surface of her lap while she verbalizes, "Oh…well it was an old saying my grandfather used to tell me when I was younger."

"A very wise man indeed, I guess my team is so used to being told survival is best in a pack." The red head was solemnly remarking with a slight shake of his head.

"My name is Tala by the way," He formally introduced himself to the young lady to his right, who in turn told him her name is, "Archimedes".

Tala then points his head to the left side of the table and divulges, "And the dude over there staring a hole in me is my old teammate Hitawari, Kai,"

"A man of few words but don't be fool, he's pretty strong." He hastily followed up with before he consumed some of his food.

[T24]

Wenling feels a pair of eyes intensely stare in her direction, which prompts her to sense exactly who eyes was on her.

She rotated her head to the left only to eventually lock sights in on a pair of golden eyes that closely observed her every movement.

A smirk was surfacing on to her face before hearing the raven haired boy emitting an "ouch" and then hissing, "What was that for, Rei?"

"It's rude to stare at someone, especially a lady, while they are eating." He sternly reprimanded him with a wave of the spoon at him.

Lee instantly faces in her direction again only to see the same smile on her face from earlier, "I apologize".

"It's fine. I probably gave you the creeps when we first met." The brunette honestly rendered as she adjusted the napkin across her lap.

The raven haired male instantly speaks up with, "You sure did! Gave me the total creeps."

Another "ouch" was unexpectedly releasing from his mouth until realizing that he was on the end of another elbow jab to his side.

"Now what was that for?" Lee irritably snapped at his former teammate since he was on the end of a painful thrust to his ribs.

Forest green eyes repeatedly glance between teens when she quickly states, "It's okay. After all, first impressions are lasting impression."

"Maybe you're not as creepy as I thought," The raven haired teen genuinely concedes since she admits to being creepy herself.

Yet he was once again on the end of another painful thrust, which earned the angry hiss of, "Oh come on, she said it was okay."

"You know what they say, third's time the charm." Rei was explaining the reason behind the third attack.

[T42]

Meifeng casually peers over at the bluenette once she suddenly feels the need to ask him, "Did you tell your grandfather I asked about him?"

'No,' Hiro inwardly thought since he would incur his grandfather's wraith if he did not make a move on the woman.

"He was surprised that you were back in town." He hastily lies while he closes his eyes so he could avoid her ever observant eyes.

"I appreciate the fact that you didn't try to hurt my feelings but do please send my regards to him." She was deftly providing him with another message to pass on to his grandfather.

Hiro lifted an eyebrow at the silver haired woman while he astonishingly ruminated, 'How did she know I lied to her?'

"Oh and do tell him that I plan to drop by the dojo," Meifeng cheerfully adds in with her eyes close and a smile on her face.

"So Akane do you listen to Opera?" Romero was curiously querying about the powdery white haired woman's taste in music.

"I'm unfamiliar with popular Opera songs but I do listen to Gagaku, or court music. I personally prefer kigaku, or instrumental music whenever I practice." She colorlessly makes known what kind of music she listens to.

"I see. Care to recommend some…how you say it," The blonde stammers over the word until she fills in the blank. "kigaku?"

"Yes that, to me and I can recommend you some Operas to listen to." He snapped his finger at the correct word and eagerly displayed his interest.

Lanying constantly avoids an intense glare from the other purple haired individual at the table when she watches him flash a smile at her.

"Uhm, my name is Lanying," She nervously introduced herself to the man, who seemed to delight in her nervousness.

"I know. You help out the all-girls team Yuan." He boldly states that he is already familiar with her name and position in her team Yuan.

"That'll be me." The purple haired woman was fretfully responsing while inwardly weighing, 'Crap, I'm really bad at small talk.'

"You sparked my interest, Miss Lanying." Boris promptly proclaims to her, which earns the shock reaction of, "I did what?"

"You have this aura about you that is indescribable." He explained the reason why she caught his eyes.

'Is he flirting with me?' Lanying was silently contemplating to herself based on the direction of their conversation.

A smirk surfaces on to his face before he sincerely voices, "I hope this isn't the only time we'll get to converse with each other."

"Sure," She awkwardly confirmed before she speedily retreated to her inner thoughts.

[GEN POV]

"We hope the food is to your liken." Mr. Suzuki announces once he reappears behind the clear podium.

He then raises one of his index finger in the air in order to broadcast, "With that being said, we have one more surprise for the night."

"Let's give a warm welcome to the international pop star, Ming-Ming." The man revealed the identity of the guest.

"We just left her freaking concert!" Each of the PPB Allstars was frustratingly grumbling as they were watching the short light blue haired bubbly teen bouncing around the stage while serenading them.

After Ming-Ming performed a couple of her popular songs, the DJ eventually took over which was much to the pleasure of the bladers.

Barthez Battalion

"Did you have fun at your table, Mathilda?" Miguel anxiously wonders if the pink haired girl had a good time at the banquet.

"Actually, I did. We were a bunch of confidently impulsive and unpredictable teens." Mathilda proudly repeated the words that were used to describe her tablemates at table 68.

"Congratulations on the Emoji Mania win, Claude." Aaron was congratulating the taller man, who was simply standing with his arms across his chest.

"What can I say? We had the best approach to communication." Claude proudly boasts about his table before he follows up with, "I guess I can congratulate Miguel on his win for the BINGO game."

"Ah, it was nothing really." The blonde nonchalantly accepted his teammate praise while he scratched the nape of his neck.

Bladebreakers

"It's too bad that I didn't get Juliet number," Max was sadly moping at the fact that he did not get the girl at his table number

"Juliet?" Rei and Takao inquisitively probed their teammate about a girl name, Juliet.

"She's the blonde on Yuan's team. An arrow of love has pierced this lonely heart of mine." He dramatically exclaimed with his hands over his heart for extra emphasis.

"Melodramatic as always, Tate," Kai genuinely describes the blonde's action before he dutifully reminds them, "I hope you all are ready for tomorrow."

"But it's our day off!" Max, Rei and Takao defiantly remind the slate haired teen about what tomorrow mean to them.

Blitzkrieg Boys

"Boy, am I glad to get away from my table." Spencer was hastily lipping after finally assembling with his other teammates.

"You didn't like your table?" Ian curiously needled as he tilted his head to the side to show his curiosity.

"The orange haired girl from PPB Allstarz was extremely annoying but other than that, there was some pretty cool people at my table." He honestly admits with a nod of his head.

"I sat next to Yuan's captain at my table." Tala confessed after he adjusted the zipper on his coat to reveal his mouth.

"Really?!" Bryan shockingly exclaiming only to watch his captain nodding his head forward when saying, "She's a really interesting character if I do say so myself."

F Dynasty

"I hope you didn't stir up too much trouble." Raul declared once he located his sister amongst the crowd of bladers.

"How could I when we had the latest trending topic at my table." She was excitingly acknowledging about one of her tablemates.

He quirked a brow at his twin only to follow up in awe, "Wait…you had Hiromi at your table?"

"Her and Takao, can you believe my luck?" Julia gleefully gushes at her golden opportunity to acquire all the gossip from the two.

"I was at a pretty awesome table if I do say so myself." He proudly stated once he recalled Ozuma's words about their table.

'It seems as if his confidence has boosted a little.' She inwardly notes with a thin smile on her face.

PPB Allstarz

"Man, am I glad to see you all again!" Michael gratefully shrieks at the sight of his teammates in front of him.

"You make it sound as if we were gone for an eternity." Emily was grilling him while cleaning her glasses off with a wipe from her jacket pocket.

"Yeah, are you thinking clearly or did your head inflate because of your table's win?" Rick jaws toward the blonde, who throws himself at their feet.

"Are you sure you alright, man?" Eddy nervously questioned his friend once he quickly leapt to his feet and hastily cheered, "Finally, an actual conversation amongst sociable people!"

Rick was exchanging looks with everyone, except Michael, to proclaim, "I think our leader has gone kooky for Coco Puffs, if you know what I mean."

The other members silently nodded their heads simultaneously in agreement at their captain's odd behavior.

Saint Shields

"You seem to have enjoyed yourself?" Mariam coyly assumed from the jovial expression that was presently on the boy's face.

"It's not often that I get a break from my overbearing older sister." Joesph was merrily shouting while leaping in the air and clicking the back of his heels together.

"The same can be said about an annoying little brother." She instantly lipped while she faced away from him with a "humph".

"Uhm guys," Dunga's nervous tone suddenly speaks up at the peculiar sight in front of him.

The siblings eventually break their intense eye contact with each other in order to direct their focus on to their other teammate, "What Dunga?"

"Ozuma has this smile that's giving me the creeps." He was honestly confessing while visibly shaking from a brief glimpse of his captain's face.

"Yeesh, you're not lying Dunga." Joesph was in agreeance with the burly fellow as his sister easily connected the dots, 'I think I just might know who did that to him.'

White Tiger X

"Are you okay Lee?" Mao was fretfully questioning her brother upon the sight of him tightly clutching his ribs while wincing from excoriating pain.

"Yeah, did something happen to you at your table?" Kevin apprehensively needled as he focused on the raven haired teen facial expression that visibly showed hurt.

"Just a little horseplay amongst friends...that's all." Lee breathlessly remarked as he applied more pressure in order to soothe the intense pain.

Gary silently tilts his head to the side and uses his index finger to scratch his noggin in order to convey confusion.

Yuan

"What's with the toothy grin, Audrey?" Wenling nosily asked once she noticed the dirty blonde's wide smile has yet to fade away in to her more stubborn facial expression.

She was tightly clenching her fist until they were visibly shaking before melodramatically shrieking, "I've been inspired to train even harder so I can hone my skills and master the art of beyblading!"

"Someone sounds pretty excited." Hiromi ultimately surmises from her point of view as her friend's excitement starts to emit from her body.

"I am and I think I found my first rival." Audrey unexpectedly proclaimed with her focus still honed on her shaken fist.

Archimedes was simply rolling her eyes at the dirty blonde girl right before claiming with, "Oh goodie, you found another ticking time bomb such as yourself."

"I rather be a ticking time bomb than a glacier." She speedily counters back at the curly raven haired girl while she drops her fist to the side.

'There she goes with the ice jokes again.' Hiromi and Wenling mentally pointed out while they shook their heads at their other two teammates.

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06.12.18 Major editing edits