[Kinoyama Residence]

Hiro was finally arriving back home when unexpectedly overhearing repeating sounds of "whack" that were clearly resonating from within the dojo.

'Grandpa shouldn't have any students today.' He mentally envisioned his grandfather's kendo schedule for the week as he causally approached the room.

The bluenette gently grips the shoji door, loudly announces his presence with, "I'm coming in," slides the door open, steps inside and carefully glides it back close.

His eyes were beholding his grandfather directly standing in front of a slightly taller individual, who was fully clad from head to toe in the Kendo Bogu, or the standard Kendo equipment.

An expression of confusion was openly materializing on his face as he was now presently serving as the lone spectator of the spar between the two.

Naturally his grandfather would have the upper hand due to his years and diligence to the sport, yet his opponent remained steadfast in the execution of both their offense and defense.

'Not bad.' Hiro inwardly judged until his elder easily scored a decisive point, a strike to the top of the helmet, which brought the bout to an abrupt end.

He then was closely observing as his grandfather dutifully rendering his judgement on the match along with some helpful suggestions for the individual in the equipment.

'They weren't too bad. Then again...grandpa's does have years on them.' The young man mentally jawed about the rather intermediate performance compared to a professional.

The elderly Kinoyama sights soon discover that his grandson was presently in the dojo, which leads him to ask the following question, "Hiro, what are you doing here?"

"I didn't have anything planned after the BBA camp so I decided to come help you out." He leisurely shrugged his shoulders while he addressed the older man from a seated position on the floor.

The silver haired male soon tracks his sights on the person in the equipment when he bluntly discloses, "I didn't know you had a student scheduled for today."

His grandfather was merely smiling at him, temporarily facing and nodding his head at his opponent, who was reaching underneath and starting to gradually remove the mask from over her head.

"It was a last minute phone-in. But I'm sure you're pretty acquainted with…"

"Meifeng?!" He astonishingly registered the sight of the silver haired woman after she finally removed the helmet from around her head fully dressed in the Kinoyama Kendogi and Hakama.

"We meet again." She politely greeted him with a tilt of her head, eyes closed, a small smile on her face as her hands rested on both the helmet and the hilt of a Dobari Shinai.

The only noise to follow was the clear sound of the shoji door being forcibly shut close.

Gray eyes then divert from the door and onto the Kinoyama elder when she enquiringly poses to him, "Was it something I said?"

The older man physically shrugsged his shoulders since he did not provide a verbal response.

[BARTHEZ BATTALION]

"We'd managed to score the last few tickets left for today's show." Miguel was hastily divulging as he, along with Mathilda, was approaching the other members of their team with tickets in their hands.

Claude rolled his eyes at the pair's excitement when he cheerfully feigned, "Whoop de freaking do!"

"Ah, don't be like that Claude!" The blonde teasingly reprimands him during the hand off of the ticket before he adds, "We haven't had a fun off day in a while."

"What we need to be doing is training." The tallest of the group was sternly suggesting what the group should really be doing instead of attending a circus show.

The lone female on the team voice slightly squeaks as she firmly affirms, "Having fun is a part of training too!"

This prompted the ever silent Aaron to physically nod his head in agreement.

The sounds of trumpets piercingly blare over an intercom system, which prompt a flurry of people to head inside of the big top.

"I think it's about to start!" Their captain stated the obvious from the sight before their very own eyes.

A smile stretches across Mathilda's face when she secures both Claude and Aaron's hands within hers and eagerly urges, "Let's go!

Inside of the big top…

"For the opening, we're going out with the clowns but we perform after the aerial stunts as well as during Intermissions?" Julia inquisitively queries the person with the headset and clipboard in their grasp for clarification.

The stage hand speedily scanned the list in their hand and confirmed with a verbal response of, "Correct,".

"You heard all of that Romero?" She directs to her blonde coach/manager of their career in the circus arena.

Romero was gracefully pirouetting and aimlessly spreading rose petals across the floor with a goofy expression present on his face.

"He's really out of it." The teen girl ultimately concluded at the more than usual carefree composure of the older man in front of her.

A flash of red enters her line of vision only to enquiringly needle, "But have we ever seen him this bad before?"

The blonde was gently plucking the soft velvet scarlet petals while repeatedly muttering, "She loves me." to "She loves me not.".

"No way," His twin instantly regarded since Romero's odd behavior was even more peculiar for her own taste.

Raul then peers over at his sister in order to pick her brain, "So what can we do?"

Julia was coming out with, "Nothing, since the show's about to start," after recognizing the signal for them to join with the other clowns.

In the crowd…

'It's pretty packed in here.' Miguel and Mathilda shockingly surmise about the sheer size of the audience presently underneath the tent.

"Ugh, it is way too crowded for my taste!" Claude irritably complained once they finally located their assign seats amongst the rowdy crowd.

A random child accidently spills some popcorn across his lap, which prompts their mother to quickly issue him an apology, "I'm so sorry about that, sir."

"Stupid kid," He clearly huffed under his breath after he speedily dusted the snack from across his lap until he deemed it clean.

His pink haired teammate promptly "sshs" him prior to ringmaster arrival on a mobile multi-colored tiered platform and excitingly greeted the crowd.

"Come one! Come all! Here under this big top where your wildest dreams will spring to life before your very own eyes!"

"What you're about to witness are some seriously dangerous high wired and death defying tricks done by professionals. So please children, don't try any of these stunts at home." The ringmaster was dutifully issuing out the routine disclaimer for them to not mimic any of the performances.

"Now...let's welcome all of my friends to center stage!"

Various performers were emerging from a colorful opening in a timely manner since the acrobats were first by wowing the crowd with their amazing flexibility.

The clowns then goofily stumbled out on the floor along with a teeny tiny yellow clown car that recklessly drove around the entire length of the tent.

'Is that who I think it is?'

Mathilda gently nudges the blonde to her right, secures his attention and directly points to two extremely distinctive hair colors: red and orange.

"Oh...this is too good to pass up!" Miguel was making known while reaching for his cellular device and snapping pictures of the twins.

"Aren't you glad we came to the circus?" She asked her teammate after she observed him take a few pictures of the twin in their natural environment.

"Totally,"

[BLITZKREIG BOYS]

"We're done for the day." Tala eventually announces upon his entrance inside of their makeshift break room.

"Wait…you're serious?!" Spencer hastily questioned after he wiped the sweat that perspired across his forehead.

The red head was merely nodding his head before putting forth, "Boris said that was all for today's training menu."

"Man, something's really wrong." Ian immediately contested the idea of Boris being pretty lenient with them on their off day.

His sights swiftly exchange looks with his fellow teammates when he follows up with, "Are you really sure?!"

"I watched him say those exact words out of his mouth." Their captain adamantly defended the fact that it is a direct order from their coach, himself.

The shortest of the four was casually opining, "Maybe...he does have a hot date?"

"We already talked about this! He doesn't even love his own mother." The silver haired teen promptly reminded him about the conversation that took placed earlier.

"So why don't we capitalize on this golden opportunity to tour Japan." Tala suggests since it was extremely rare to earn a break from training.

He was planning to seize the day with or without his comrades.

"I think I'm in the Twilight Zone." Ian jokingly proclaimed with his hands on the side of his head until he dropped them and exasperated, "But I don't want to leave it any time soon."

"What are we waiting for then?"

[Kinoyama Residence]

'Why is she even here?' 'Who told her she could just waltz right in here and act all friendly?!' Hiro was inwardly groaning at the fact that Yuan's coach was being rudely intrusive while cleaning out the kettle pot and settling it on the stove.

He then reached out until his fingers wrapped around the box of tea bags and mentally asserted, 'What nerve?!'

"I see you're making tea for our guest." His grandfather's voice surfaces him from his inner debate about the woman's sudden presence.

"Why should I?!" The bluenette was unintentionally snapping at the older man while leisurely pouring a cup of water inside of the pot.

The gray haired male lifted an eyebrow at the young man before he strictly reminded him, "It's a sign of good hospitality, Hiro."

"Besides, it's traditional, duh!" He adds in after he occupies a seat in the kitchen and patiently waits for the tea.

"Fine," The bluenette was visibly huffing before pouring the powder inside of the opening, twisting the knob to turn on the stovetop and resting the kettle on the coil.

Meifeng eventually entered the kitchen with a white fluffy towel around her neck, dabbed her forehead and proclaimed, "That was a much needed workout."

"I must apologize for being so rusty in my practice." She sincerely offers an apology to the older man once she drops the edge of the towel onto her shirt.

"It's quite alright dear. Your fundamentals are still in pretty good shape." The elder Kinoyama acknowledged her skills with a repeated tense nod of his head.

The young woman was closing her eyes, slightly leaning her head and sincerely admitting, "Well...I did have a pretty decent sensei that was rather quite relentless on me."

"With a few more classes, you'll quickly advance up to Hiro's level. Now that's something to be proud of." He genuinely asserts with a visible smile on his face before he includes, "Actually, I'm quite relieved to see that you still have that spunk about yourself."

Grey eyes behold the elderly man in front of her, along with his warm aura, when she agrees, "It's one of my more redeeming qualities."

'Yeah, right.' Hiro was swiftly disproving as he was aimlessly staring at the black kettle gracing the surface of the stove.

"Do tell me...what you've been up to lately?" The older man enquiringly wondered exactly what the young woman has been up to in the few years since they last saw each other.

The pot loudly steams to signal that it was ready to pour so the tall male then procures three tea cups and places them on the table.

"I've recently been appointed as Head Coach of Yuan, an all-girls beyblading team." She revealed about her new position.

"Ah, so that would explain how you reunited with Hiro again." The elderly male was putting two and two together before rendering, "That's good."

'It was all because of that little squirt.' The older of his two grandchildren inwardly muses while he carefully pours the liquid in their cups.

"Thank you," The young woman cordially accepted the hot drink before she stared at the center of the cup.

"It was truly bound to happen since Tachibana Hiromi is a part of our team." Meifeng was disclosing the real connection between the two prior to her sipping some of the tea.

"It's good." Her face remained unchanged even as she addressed him.

"So that's where Hiromi-chan ran off to...another beyblading team…" His voice was unknowingly trailing off about the brunette teen sudden disappearance without so much of a word to her future location.

"She's in pretty capable hands then." Ryu honestly avowed about the woman, across the table, personality.

Both Hiro and his grandfather sip on the tea but instantly regurgitate it back out. 'It's...disgusting!'

"It's good." He then recalled her exactly words once she drank from her cup.

"Uhm dear, is there anything wrong with your cup?" The male was overhearing his grandfather posing to the silver haired girl.

Meifeng shakes her head and confidently asserts, "Nope, it's perfectly fine."

"Are you sure?" He pried further as he frequently exchanged glances at his cup and then hers to see if there was any noticeable differences.

Once again, the lady simply nods her head in a "no" fashion.

"May I?" Ryu was posing while waiting to receive her confirmation.

Grandpa then pours her tea in his mouth, via a waterfall method, only to spew the green liquid back out.

"How about I help you with the next pot, hm?" She kindly offers herself as a volunteer to brew the next batch.

Hiro curiously watched as she ambled about the kitchen until she secured all of the necessary supplies to brew the tea.

"It's perfectly fine."

'That tea tasted like unmixed bog water.' The bluenette was instantly describing about his nasty concoction.

'Was she trying to be nice?'

A few minutes passed by, the kettle promptly steamed as a signal that it was completely boiled and ready for consumption.

"All done." Meifeng perfectly pours the green liquid in the three cups, places the kettle on the stove and settles back in to her seat.

"It's…delicious!" Hiro declared as he delighted in the slightly bitter taste yet aromatic scent to the Herbal Green Tea.

"This tea warms the mind, body and soul." His grandfather was boldly conceding about the mixture.

'So she was trying to be nice.'

"I see no ring on your finger." The elderly Kinoyama suddenly pointed out after he noted that there was no Engagement ring on her left ring finger.

"That's right," She says under her breath while her bangs cover her gray eyes as she adds, "It has been a minute since you last saw me."

'This tea is good.' His mind was occasionally reminding its owner on the rather sweet tasting tea instead of the conversation at hand.

"I was initially betrothed to an affluent young man and was set to wed when I was in high school." The young woman disclosed about her pending relationship status when she was younger.

'Probably cheated on her,' The bluenette immediately assumes with an inward shrug of his shoulders.

The woman unknowingly twisted a phantom band around her ring finger as her eyes peeked down at her hand. "He called off the wedding once he realized that we weren't in love with each other."

'Typical,'

"Instead, he married his girlfriend from his college years. She even bore him two beautiful and healthy children." The silver haired woman spieled about her former fiancé current life.

He was popping one eye open in order to examine her face and mentally ruminating, 'I'm surprised she doesn't sound too hurt about it.'

"I even babysat them a couple of times. I mean, he did spare me from a lifetime of misery...so it was the least I could do." Meifeng expressed how grateful she was for the decision that he chose for the sake of their happiness.

A scoff audibly emits from the young man at the end of the table when he concludes, 'Ain't no way in hell would I do that!'

'But then again...maybe she is human after all.' The younger Kinoyama hesitantly considered as he proceeded to observe her facial expression for the duration of the conversation.

Her gray eyes were speedily gazing over to the older man before discernably whispering, "By the way, I received your invitation from such a cute messenger."

"If it makes you smile, Hiro hasn't wed yet either." Ryu casually put forth about his grandson's relationship status, which earned her sights in his direction.

"My love life is none of your concern." The male was sharply defending his personal business while the cup was resting against his lower lips.

His grandfather crossed his arms in front of his chest when he bluntly wished, "I would love to have some great grandkids so I can train them in kendo."

"Grandpa!" Hiro stammers after he nearly chokes on the green liquid while Meifeng lightheartedly laughs at his comment and the reaction.

"As would anyone who would want from their child but not their grandchild." The silver haired woman lightheartedly jests at the idea.

"What can I say? I'm a pretty awesome grandpa." The elderly male was proudly announcing about his awesomeness which was only earning a, "I see."

The other Kinoyama then sensed a pair of eyes on him accompanied by a feminine voice that proposed, "So Hiro-kun, would you like to give your awesome grandpa some grandkids?"

'I can't tell if she's serious or not.' He nervously weighed about not being able to read the woman in front of him.

"Or how about we start from square one…let's go out on a date." Meifeng was recommending that they start from square one.

[WHITE TIGER X]

"Man… that felt really good!" Rei calmly exclaimed after he executed a few cool down stretches in order to prevent muscle spasms.

"Tell me about it." Master Tao wholeheartedly agrees with his former pupil as his hands naturally rest behind his back.

The raven haired teen was bowing at the waist and kindly commenting, "Thanks for allowing me to participate Master Tao."

"Once a tiger, always a tiger," The older male recite again along with a few gentle pats across his arm before he steps down off of the platform.

"So you really did come alone," Lee broke his silence once he approached the young man at the edge of the stage.

Golden eyes were narrowing in on matching golden eyes before sharply retorting, "I'm not permanently attached to the Bladebreakers, you know."

"It seems like you're pretty comfortable with your flip flopping." The current captain boldly alleges about the raven haired teen's recent behavior toward his former team.

"Lee," A feminine voice snapped at her brother after she processed his allegation of Rei being a flip flopper.

Rei was promptly lifting one of his hands as a gesture to show he has the conversation under control and reassuring her with, "Its fine Mao."

"It's true that I use WTX for my own selfish reason." He honestly admits after he drops his hand to his side with his eyes close.

"Rei…" The pink haired teen softly muttered his name.

"There are time were I want to battle against strong opponents and there are times were I want to hone my skills." The taller of the two sincerely confesses about why he frequently changes teams.

Lee pointed a tapped finger at his former friend and harshly jawed, "Well we no longer tolerate you using us as scapegoats. You're either a Bladebreaker or a White Tiger X."

The other members were merely watching as their captain was angrily storming off the platform with a visible irate expression on his face.

"I'm sorry about that Rei." His sibling abruptly apologized for her brother's irrational behavior toward him.

"No…Lee does have a point though." The young man was genuinely agreeing with his friend's logic once facing them to remark, "I have been pretty selfish with you all time."

"Thanks for having me though." He offers up a cheerfully thanks for the invite to participate in their event.

The raven haired male then motioned to step down the stairs when he overheard the teen girl asked, "At least, you can join us for a team dinner, right?"

"Can I think about it?" Rei was verbalizing after briefly halting in his stride then directing his gaze over to his friends.

Mao glanced at the two behind her when they nodded their heads forward with a smile on their faces.

"I can't let you do that. It's the majority of WTX members that selfishly request your presence for dinner." The pink haired teen was coyly demanding of the young man.

Their former captain visibly smirks and ultimately folds to their demands of a team dinner.

[YUAN + BLADEBREAKERS]

"So where are we off to now?" Hiromi was directing to the two boys as she was splitting some takoyaki with a rather hungry Audrey.

"This is really good!" She cheerfully claimed with her mouth open that visibly showed her food to the others.

"Audrey, don't talk with food in your mouth." Wenling reprimands the dirty blonde for her un-lady like behavior.

"So what do you think?" Lin asked the purple haired woman as she chewed on the roll object.

"They're pretty sweet but it's still good." Lanying renders her opinion about the treat along with a nod of her head.

"We got pretty lucky since there was no line." Takao was saying to his blonde companion while stabbing the snack with the sharp toothpick.

"Which is pretty strange, don't you think?" Max claims while he gnaws on the piece currently inside of his mouth.

The duo casually watched as the females savored the sugary confectionary treat from a famous vendor stationed by the park.

"So…your bro really likes their head coach, huh?" The blonde was bringing up his older brother after downing the fried ball.

Takao merely shrugged his shoulders and put forward, "All I know is what my grandfather told me about them."

His blue eyes then cut over to his teammate when he decides to probe, "True. So how are you and Hiromi?"

"What about her?" He was questioning his line of thought once popping a takoyaki inside of his mouth.

"You didn't confess to her when you met up with each other?" The blonde confusingly queried once he faced his captain.

The bluenette nearly chokes on the dough ball after he listens to his teammate's accusation until he forcibly swallows the object whole.

"Whoa, are you okay man?" Max nervously asked once Takao managed to catch his breath from the hits he took to his chest.

Ruby red eyes then peer over at him to inquiry, "Are you alright Takao?"

The blonde was jokingly teasing "You know he's a glutton for punishment," along with some rough patting to his back.

"Yeah, you're right about that." The young woman agreed to the accurate description of their friend as a smile surfaced on her face.

"So where else do you think we should take them?" The brunette repeats her question from earlier during her approach of the duo.

"It's getting a bit late, don't you think?" Draciel's owner was pointing out that the day was about to eventually transition to nighttime.

Takao exchanged glances between the two in front of him while he clutched his stomach and admitted, "Plus, my stomach wants some real food."

"I think I know the perfect place to go!" Hiromi was abruptly speaking up once the idea was popping to the forefront of her mind.

The blonde eagerly encourages her to, "Do spill."

"There's this new Korean BBQ place that recently opened up." The young girl eventually revealed her thought about a new restaurant nearby.

"Barbequed meat?" Takao was cheerfully pipping up while visibly salivating at the image of the meat on a hot grill.

"I take that as a yes then?" Hiromi jokingly confirms before she makes known, "Let me go gather up the troops."

[F DYNASTY]

"Julia, your phone lit up again." The sound of her twin's voice surfaces her out of thoughts about their coach's strange behavior.

"I thought I put it on Do Not Disturb?" His twin checked her messages only to make out an image of her and her brother from today's performance.

She was about to call her brother until reading the next text, "Who knew you'd make a pretty hot clown".

'Not too many people have my personal cell number.' The teenager inwardly recalled that she did not randomly hand out her phone number to just anyone.

"Wanna play a game?" The text underneath her image was popping up before even responsing to the first message.

She types "Uhm, no" before she receives the response of "Why not?"

Julia visibly rolled her eyes at the question while she T9 her answer, "B/c you could be a homicidal killer"

"Ever so serious," The teenager's eyes were scanning the content, which was sounding as if the person was sarcastically quipping about her personality.

"It's rather simple…" The next message bings in before another one quickly follows it, "I'll leave clues. You just find them and you're one step closer to me."

"And for good measure, bring your twin along too." It suggested for her to bring her twin if she did not trust the source.

"After all two heads are better than one." It recited the classic cliché about having more than one person to help with a problem.

"So are you ready?"

The orange top haired teen eventually confirms her participation for the game with, 'Sure,'

"In order to enter, you must acquire one. What am I?"

"It's a ticket." Raul's voice was breaking her out of her concentration on the text after realizing she was verbally reading the text aloud.

She then peeked up at her sibling with an expression of confusion before she repeated, "A ticket?"

"How else can you enter in a place like this?" He chides his sister about her thought process until she discloses, "Maybe a key,"

"Good point. But let's just go to the ticket booth and see what we get." Raul was proposing after dressing in his normal street clothes.

They headed to the ticket both where she was then given a strip of paper that read: "To and fro I go, it's a pretty fare exchange."

"Let me see," The red top head teen urges once he notices his sister receives a piece of paper from the booth.

"To and fro I go, it's a pretty fare exchange." His eyes were frequently diverting back to the word "fare" on the paper. 'Fair is used incorrectly.'

"Did you read this?" The teen boy insisted, which earned the irate response of, "Like ten times already!"

"You know it's supposed to be f-a-i-r not f-a-r-e as in a cab's fare." Her brother was contesting the manner of the spelling and the misusage of a homophone.

"Not to mention, to and fro kinda sounds like two and four." He assumed while he pointed to the words as he spoke.

"So taxi cab #24?" Julia was surmising after putting the two numbers together as she was glancing up at the boy.

A smirk stretches across her face before she shockingly claims, "You just might be a genius."

"Thanks,"

The twins then searched for a taxi cab in the lot with the number 24 on the side of the vehicles.

Once they located it, the driver politely handed them another piece of a paper that read: "If empty, it'll growl until full."

"So what growls whenever it's empty?" She verbally reads the next clue so that they both could figure out the answer.

It was at the moment did, Raul's stomach was hungrily growling at its owner for not properly feeding it.

"That's it!" He overheard his twin exclaimed once realization dawned on her before she dashed toward the same driver and said, "Excuse me sir, the answer is food."

The boy was merely observing his sister interacting with the driver while he mouthing off, "And what's telling the driver's going to do?"

"Hop on in." The driver instructed the young woman, who nodded her head in agreement once he unlocked the door for them.

"You were saying?" His sibling causally counterclaims with a smirk on her face as she holds the door open for him.

"Just get in already, genius."

A local ramen stand

"I have a confession." Meifeng was abruptly speaking up while easily separating the chopsticks from each other.

"A what?!" He anxiously queried at the mention of a confession from his "date".

She was gently blowing the steam from the hot noodles, dipping her wooden utensils in, twirling noodles around it and appericating the taste of Japanese cuisine.

"Before I tutored you, I saw how you were badly beaten up by some of your classmates because you always stood up to them." The silver haired woman verbalizes as she spins her wrist to scoop up more pasta.

'She saw even that?!' The young man somberly contemplated at the fact one of his well kept secrets was discovered by none other than the Silver Oni, herself.

'Talk about embarrassing,' He mentally deems with an inward shake of his head but outwardly he simply stares at his food.

The woman was gently chewing on a Naruto, swallowing it and coming clean, "I secretly beat them up for you."

"I even threatened them not to bother you anymore or I would do way worse than what I did the first time."

His sights widen in disbelief as it all started to come together about why the bullies no longer terrorized him.

'That would explain why they were so scared to even approach me after that day.'

"You didn't have to do that. I had the situation handled." The bluenette falsely claims that he was in complete control of the problem.

'Pft! As if you're going to treat me like I'm some damsel in distress.' His inner voice begrudgingly denied the notion of being rescued, especially not by someone of her nature.

His "date" was temporarily closing her eyes, dropping her hand to the side of the bowl and stating, "I thought you were pretty cool because you never let them see you sweat or cry even after being beaten to a pulp."

'That's because I was cool! But then again...no one really paid any attention to me.' His consciousness ultimately rendered about his owner being cool.

Meifeng was chuckling at the memory until cutting her eyes over at her date to emphasize, "I was like this dude is crazier than me! There's no doubt about it."

'Uhm no, you still take the cake dear.' His inner voice quickly refuted the claim of being crazier than the woman in front of him.

"At that moment, I was like I have to be this person's friend. Luckily, the opportunity of being your tutor presented itself."

'Not that ill-fated day again.' He was inwardly groaning because that particular memory was tending to have a bad knack of springing back to the forefront of his mind.

"Thus was the start of a beautiful friendship." She surmises about their time while being teenagers in high school.

'More like a dictatorship,'

A pregnant silence developed between them since she decided to finish up her bowl of ramen to the point she even tipped it back to drink the broth.

An "ah" along with a wipe from the side of her forearm plus a un-lady like burp signals that his date finishes up with her meal.

"Over time, I eventually grew to have feelings for you No Good Slacker Kinoyama." The silver haired woman was straightforwardly decreeing as she was directly staring him in the face.

At a nearby eatery…

"Man! That was really good!" Joseph merrily huffs before he stifles a burp with one of his hands.

Dunga loudly belched and happily patted his full stomach while he proclaimed, "Being in the BBA has its perks."

"Luckily, you two gluttons didn't eat through most of our allowance for this leg." Miriam sasses at the two boys.

"Hey!" The two males were shouting at the teenage girl until their leader was arriving after paying their bill.

"It sure is pretty rowdy in here." Ian bluntly stated the obvious with his hands in his pockets.

Spencer was merely twisting his pinkie finger inside of his ear canal while annoyingly reproaching, "No wonder,".

There was an intense stare down between the two teams before Ozuma cordially suggests, "You should try their special for tonight. It's pretty good."

"Who were those apes anyway?" One of them asks as the raven haired captain leads his team toward the exit.

"Ozuma. He's the captain of the Saint Shields." Bryan broke his silence about the identity of the young man with the red streak in his hair.

The silver haired teen diverts his sights from the door and back on to his team when he recollects, "No wonder that chick looked familiar. She sat right next to me at the dinner."

"Saint Shields…huh?"

A barbeque restaurant…

"Whoa! You can pick any meat you want?!" Audrey cheerfully exclaimed while she scanned the list of various meat that can be ordered.

A smile materialized on Hiromi face when she explained, "Pretty much and you get to cook it anyway you like."

"I've never been to a Korean BBQ spot before." Wenling murmurs in awe at the sight of the restaurant with the circular grill in the middle of the table.

Lin was nodding her head in agreement before she verbalizing, "There's always a first for everything."

As they placed their orders, the White Tiger X squad entered inside of the building.

"Yo Rei!" Max casually greets his raven haired teammate once he discerns him from the other raven haired golden eyes teen in the bunch.

"What are y'all doing here?" Takao was curiously prying as to why his former squad was in the exact same restaurant they were in.

The lone female in the Chinese group eventually mentions, "A lady from our event told us about this place."

Golden eyes got a load of the girls that presently occupied the table along with his comrades, which prompted him to teasingly lip, "So I see you two met up with Yuan."

"Don't speak as if we're complete strangers now, Rei Kon." Hiromi sternly advises him once she leans from the side of Takao with a wide smile on her face.

The teen boy was mimicing her expression while cordially greeting the young woman, "Well hello to you too, Hiromi."

"I think introductions are in order, no?" Master Tao suggested once he made it to the forefront of the group.

"Lee, it is your team." Rei hastily affirms after he steps from within the center of the so the captain could properly introduce them to the group.

"Kiki," A short boy with green hair was audibly chuckling with a small smile on his face.

"My sister, Mao," A girl with pink hair waves her hand at the group as she saya a "Hi," with a wide toothy smile on her face.

"Gary," A tall burly teen silently nodded his head forward with a similar smile like the girl's face.

"Master Tao," The elderly man lifts a shaky hand at the group.

"Rei," The taller of the raven haired teens with golden eyes was glancing upward at the sound of his name when the other raven haired boy was introducing himself, "And I'm Lee."

It was now Hiromi's turn to take over the introductions once he wrapped up with his team.

"Archimedes," The curly raven haired teen quietly acknowledged the group with a spared glance in their direction.

"Audrey," The dirty blonde teen was raising her hand since it was an excuse to gain some space between her and Max.

"Wenling," The darker brunette with green eyes visibly wink at one of their members in specific and smirks as she stares at them.

"Lin," The goldenrod blonde with green tips dropped the menu from in front of her face when she exclaimed, "We meet again Master Tao."

"Lanying," The purple haired woman nervously peers in their direction and offers a tense nod of her head.

"And my name is Hiromi," The brunette ended off with her as the last person before she took a seat next to the bluenette.

Master Tao was repeatedly exchanging glances at the seating group to the ones that were standing until proposing, "You don't mind if we join you lovely ladies and gents?"

"Why not? There's fun in numbers, right?" Lin chimes in with a smile on her face at the older man as they start to rearrange their seats.

{A/N: Seating arrangement: L) Rei, Wenling, Lanying, Takao, Hiromi, Kevin, Archimedes R) Mao, Lee, Lin, Master Tao, Audrey, Max, Gary}

"So you practice Kung Fu?" Wenling was inquisitively probing to the young man that was now sitting to her right.

Rei nodded his head before he divulged, "I've been at it ever since I was a tiny tot. I used to train at this dojo before I ventured out on my own."

"Have you heard of seifu Guotin?" He curiously queries as he slightly faces the girl.

"They owned a dojo in my providence," She revealed her connection to the young man when she somberly included, "…but I wasn't allowed to take up the martial arts."

Golden eyes were widening at that fact they may have somehow crossed paths with each other without even knowing it. "Oh really?!"

"So that means you know Jianjun then?" The teen boy immediately assumes since she was familiar with the name Guotin.

Forest green eyes were roaming over in his direction, nodding her heads and remarking, "Mhm, his son ran that particular dojo."

"Then you're pretty familiar with his family. I haven't seen them in ages!" Rei astonishingly shrieks before he now examines the menu.

"Who is she to get all comfortable with Rei?!" Mao irately grumbled underneath her breath while she openly emitted an ominous aura around her.

Wenling then diverted her sights from the boy and onto the other raven haired male, "So do you practice Kung Fu as well Lee?"

He visibly rolls his eyes and crosses his arms in front of his chest as a signal that he ignores the brunette's question.

"I never thought I would leave China, especially not for some spinning tops." Lin joked about her current position in life while she stared at the menu.

Master Tao cracks a smile at the phrase "spinning tops" when he genuinely regards, "I was also naïve about it at first until I saw how it affects the youth not just in China but around the world."

"It truly is a wonderful opportunity." Lanying was insisting after deciding what meats to grill for her meal.

"I don't see why we had to bring him along." Audrey annoyingly bemoaned at the girl across the table since she frequently elbowed the other blonde for more personal space.

"You should cheer up sour puss! I'm not all that bad." Max opines that there were positives about his personality that she has yet to seen.

Her green eyes were rolling at the young man while irritably declaring a "Whatever,".

"Those two are so similar that it's actually kinda of scary." Takao genuinely pronounced about the two blondes that sat in front of him.

Hiromi was shaking her head in agreement while rendering, "They just don't see if for themselves."

"Hey," The brunette speaks up and waits until she secures his attention, which he confirms with, "Hm?"

"Thanks for today." The teen girl kindly thanked him for his help today with her eyes closed and a smile on her face.

His face was brightly burning red at the sight while fretfully scratching the nape of his neck and stammering out a reply.

"I'm glad that my girls were able to meet most of you guys." Hiromi gratefully madd known with her eyes now on the menu.

Ruby red eyes were scoping out the partygoers at the table until realizing that someone was missing from the group, "By the way, where's Kai?"

"Probably somewhere training alone,"

Elsewhere…

"Here's your stop." The taxi driver abruptly broadcasted to the twins in the backseat that they finally reached their destination.

"Thank you," She cordially thanks the driver as she reaches inside of her pockets until the cabbie speaks up, "The fare's already been paid for."

"Oh really?!" Julia was expressing in shock while returning her wallet back in her pocket. "Have a nice night then."

"This looks pretty interesting." The older twin opined once she beheld a restaurant with a rather homey feel to it.

Raul observes the same sight in front of him when he questions, "Did you get another clue yet?"

"Nope," The teen girl was answering with one of her hands against the side of her hip before gesturing toward him, "Shall we?"

He closely watched as his sister approached the hostess, who cordially chatted her up before she signaled for her to follow her.

"Oh just great…who invited the diabolical twins?" A masculine voice nauseatingly growls at the sight of the twin members of the F Dynasty squad.

Miguel and Mathilda briefly glance at each other, peer over at the twins and chime in "These homicidal killers,"

An expression of realization dawned on Julia face when she ultimately reckoned, "You two are really sick you know that."

"Playing such a nasty trick on us," Raul was interjecting while pointing at both the smiling blonde male and pink haired female.

Miguel was speedily lifting his hands, palms out, in defense when jokingly disputing with, "It was all in good fun, no?"

"Come join us." Mathilda eagerly encouraged as she gestured for them to have a seat at their table.

The male twin crosses his arm in front of his chest when he openly lectures, "You know, if you were to have asked like a normal person then we would've happily obliged."

"As if! You two are by no means normal." The light blue haired teen was blantantly claiming about the fact that the twins were far from normal.

"Watch it pasty!" Julia threatened as she pointed her index finger at the slender male in the far end of the booth.

"Let's just eat!"

On the other side of the restaurant…

"Next time, I'll pick where we eat." Emily was irritably demanding with a visible expression of ire on her face while rubbing her forehead.

Rick then drops the menu only to counterclaim, "A little noise amps up the atmosphere."

"Never knew you knew the word atmosphere." Michael retorted at the silver haired male along with a chuckle.

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06.12.18 Major editing edits