A few minutes later…

"Did Ozuma seal the deal with a victory for Saint Shields?" Blader Ken ponders aloud while his platform swiftly moves closer to the now smoky bey-dish.

"What's this ladies and gentlemen?" He was momentarily pausing before declaring a winner. The fans were anxiously waiting for the black smoke to clear to see who was still spinning.

On the jumbotron, fans saw a split-screen of the two captains, whose faces remain stoic until someone points out, "No way…both of their blades are out of the dish!"

Tala was smirking at the results before inwardly thinking, 'She doesn't look too satisfied with the tie. I wonder if she'll take my offer to train?'

The duo collected their respective property and headed toward their team's bench with a similar concern about Audrey's wellbeing.

"I can't believe we tied with them." Miriam frustratingly grumbles aloud with a scoff while she folds her arms across her chest.

Her younger brother rolled his eyes at his sister's bratty behavior and annoyingly retorted, "Give it a break, their squad is good."

Gary was silently nodding his head in agreement before overhearing a "Whatever,"

Archimedes made it back in time to see Audrey being carted away by the Medic Team with Laying not too far behind them.

She takes note that the other coaches were in the midst of a conversation while her teammates stand off to the side.

"Good match, Archimedes," Wenling breaks her silence first while Hiromi comes out with, "To draw with Ozuma is amazing."

The curly raven-haired female was furrowing her brows and clenching her fists from frustration before honestly remarking, "I wanted to win that match. I need to become stronger than I am now."

Hiromi and Wenling heard the sincerity in her tone, which earned a surprising revelation about their captain, 'She really likes the sport.'

"You already started with the first step so I'm sure you will become stronger." Wenling positively encourages her as a smile graces her face

The lighter brunette simply exhales a breath before she advises, "You have to learn from others…that's one way to grow stronger." Her advice prompted an immediate recollection from last night about training.

"There's a slight possibility Audrey may be severely injured so we should move her back to spot one." Lin was suggesting while writing on her small notepad.

Scarlet eyes briefly cut over to the girls before mentioning, "Both Audrey and Archimedes have shown tremendous growth in strength during their matches,"

"Wenling hasn't found her groove yet but we still have time." Meifeng was highlighting a positive about the other brunette.

"I guess that settles that for now." Lin declares as she closes the pad with her thumb when she reminds them, "But we still have dinner with the president's son tonight,"

"Please don't remind me," The silver-haired woman pleads with a visible expression of distress on her face.

'What's going on over there?" Hiro was wondering after closely observing Meifeng for a while before noticing distress on her face.

"I truly dislike that we even have to have this dinner," The white-haired woman sincerely complains as she rolls her eyes out of annoyance.

'Did I just see her roll her eyes?' Romero amusingly quips as he diverts his attention from the twin's debate about the last match.

"Well we can't stay here too long…there's another team and match after ours." Meifeng was reminding them before seeing an intern signaling them to depart.

"Let's go, ladies," She calls over to the teens, who pause their conversation and follow behind the older women.

"We made it to the captain's battle between Tala and Michael… let's see how these two forces face off against each other." Blader Ken announced with his upper body dangerously tilted over the platform's rail.

During the match…

Archimedes was silently taking notes of the ginger's style of blading, 'He slowly baits his opponent in and strikes with precision.'

'Michael looks like a powerhouse blader so he's making him use most of his attack power.' She adds on once she closely observes the PPB Allstars captain.

Wenling repeatedly glanced over at the scrolling banner to check on Arena B's score, 'I wonder how Lee and his team are doing?'

'This is a great matchup…' Hiromi was noting before the ominous aura from earlier was washing over her again.

A pair of ruby eyes peer over at her teacher, who appears unaffected, 'Am I the only one that sensed it?'

[Arena's Infirmary]

Audrey quietly cooperated with the medics as her action caused her teacher to think, 'She's been awfully quiet today.'

"Everything checks out except your sugar is extremely low. Once we get that stabilize, you'll be good to go." The doctor reveals his prognosis on her fainting spell.

The American teen was slowly nodding her head before they left the two females alone in the room.

Charcoal gray eyes closely watch as her student rests the palm of her hand against her cheek and exhales deeply.

"This is the first time I've ever fainted." Audrey describes her experience as she closes her eyes, "All I remember is wanting to win but I couldn't tap into it at first."

"It sounds like you connected with your bit-beast spirit," Laying surmises, which earns eyes on her.

"We're both learning more about Beyblade but when it comes to communicating with spirits then that's up my alley." The goldenrod with green tips genuinely reassured her with a nod of her head.

Her reaction was earning a smile before laughing at her teacher.

"It sounds like you're doing alright," Another voice interrupts their moment only to have two pairs of eyes land on none other than the captain of Saint Shields.

Lanying smiles at her pupil before she says, "I'll be outside."

Ozuma patiently waited until they were alone to approach the dirty blonde teen. Audrey suddenly felt a dry lump form in her throat as her cheeks burn with heat.

The silence between the two was shattered once the raven-haired teen apologized on Miriam's behalf.

She chuckled at how the bluenette tried to trash-talk her during their match. "Ha, her poor excuse of trash-talking? It didn't faze me but thank you anyway."

He reaches his hand upward to tuck a stray strand of blonde tress behind her ear. Her face flushes a scarlet red when she realizes that his hand steadily lingers so she boldly leans into his touch.

"I don't think I got a chance to tell you that you look pretty today." Ozuma sincerely remarked as he stared at her.

'What?!' Her inner voice was piercingly shrieking and clasping her cheeks at the moment between her and Ozuma.

She audibly clears her throat before she annoyingly grumbles, "Thank you but I wish I got to battle you instead of the popsicle stick."

A smirk stretched across his face when he stated, "There's the Aud I know."

"You should probably leave before your team catches us in the act." Audrey conveys caution until she realizes, 'Whoa, did I just say us?! How is he going to react?'

The next move would have warranted another faint spell when he said, "It's probably too late for a good luck charm so I'll say congratulations."

His lips gently pressed against the surface of her forehead when he disclosed, "See you later, Aud,"

[Arena]

"Will all of the bey-teams join us for a quick debrief in the Players Room." The head intern broadcasts at the end of the PPB Allstars vs Blitzkrieg Boys battle, which earned an audible groan from some players.

A few minutes later…

"That was quick," Max surprisingly states since they spent fifteen minutes going over their day off and the next leg of the tour.

"We only have two legs left…European and American." Rei knowledgeably points out as their team heads out of the stadium.

Takao was nodding his head before verbalizing, "Time sure is flying,"

Kai silently hung back from the group as usual with a blade of grass between his teeth. His thoughts, however, would betray his outward stoic behavior, 'To think she would tie with Ozuma…I wonder how she would battle against me?'

Hiro was peering at the group of ladies and girls presently standing and chatting amongst each other.

"We have roughly an hour to shower, dressed, and get ready for dinner. Wenling, can you make sure everyone is ready?" Meifeng ran down their schedule briefly before hearing a unanimous, "Yes ma'am,"

[Hotel]

Hiro and the boys were one of the first teams to arrive back at the host hotel.

They suddenly turned toward the older man, who simply shooed them away as a sign to go enjoy their evening.

"Are you Kinoyama, Hiro?" A feminine voice curiously questions, which earns an immediate response, "I've already had my fair share…"

"If you are free then can I borrow some of your time?" The woman spoke without breaking eye contact.

[Blitzkrieg Boys]

"So what's on our to-do list tomorrow?" Ian thinks aloud as he rests his head against his interlock hands.

Tala was visibly rolling his eyes at his teammate since this was a routine every off day, "Boris has us training as usual,"

The purple-haired teen visibly grimaced before he uttered, "And here I thought I could flirt and spend some quality time with Yuan's captain."

Now that was news to him as he felt the urge to punch him in the face.

"She wouldn't even give you the time of day." Spencer calmly claimed with his eyes closed and arms crossed in front of his chest.

The red-head was biting his lip to stop laughter from escaping but the icing on the cake came when Bryan was nodding his head in agreement.

[Saint Shields]

"You seem distracted," Miriam was saying after closely observing her captain while trekking the hilly terrain toward their village.

Ozuma simply blinks at the blue-haired female before he responds, "Now I see why bulls are stubborn."

The confusion was evident on her face when she confusingly repeated, "Bull? Who are you calling a bull?"

A smirk simply stretches across his face as the image of the dirty blonde teen vividly flashes in his thought.

[Yuan]

"Inoue-san," Akane was the one to greet the curly auburn-haired women, who smile and return with, "It's been a while,"

"There are some gifts for each of you upstairs for this evening." She added with a gesture up to the elevators.

The group bows to show their appreciation and break off into two groups: coaches and players. "Be back in thirty minutes,"

Thirty minutes later…

Inoue busied herself with reading magazines provided by the hotel as she waited for the coaches and players.

A "ding" of the elevators coupled with mild conversation captured her attention as she directed her sights toward the source of the sound.

Audrey was clad in a red silk ankle-length cheongsam with a golden dragon head and claws on the flap that wraps around the lower back. A cluster of red petunias was pinned in her dirty blonde tresses.

Wenling wore a blue suede thigh-length with yellow celestial bodies on the cheongsam, a mandarin collar, half-sleeve, with a slit at front. A yellow snapdragon was pinned in her dark brown tresses.

Hiromi's cheongsam was jade green tussah silk short cap sleeve ankle-length cheongsam trimmed in yellow with clusters of golden flowers on the front from the stomach to the calf.

Archimedes cheongsam was a purple velvet short cap sleeve above the knee with an allover black lace floral print of light pink, light purple, light blue, and white with zipper closure.

Lin wore a dark green silk sleeveless cheongsam shin-length with pops of yellow, red, and orange embroidery of goldfish and lotus flowers on a pond. There were slits on both sides, a mandarin collar, a side zipper, and side pankou knots. There was a white pearl hairpin set with two large, small pearl hairpins decorated with emerald and ruby jewels along with a matching pearl comb hairpiece.

Lanying was clad in a full sleeve blue silk, cap sleeves, ankle-length cheongsam with a mandarin collar, and zipper back. There were slits on both sides with hand-embroidered floral and butterfly patterns of purple, light purple, green, white, and gold. Her hairpiece was a cluster of red pomegranates and floral embellishments.

Meifeng donned a shin-length red mesh and matte satin sleeveless cheongsam with a sweetheart neckline, mandarin collar, a sheer mesh back, and a front slit. Golden floral embroidery was on her shoulders with a sheer zipper back. Her hairpin was adorned with gold, red, pink, and white butterfly and floral embellishments with gold-plated chains.

Akane wore a floor-length black, hip-hugging sheath, sleeveless, and sheer back polyester cheongsam. Golden floral embroidery lined the sides where it met with her 3.5cm mandarin collar and a side slit. Her hairpins were adorned with white and pink floral embellishments and gold-plated chains.

"Don't you all clean so nicely," She genuinely compliments the group of females in front of her with a smile on her face before she promptly guides them to their transportation

[Bladebreakers]

"Now isn't this a surprise," Max breaks his silence when he watches Takao enters their team's suite.

The bluenette tossed the room key onto the side table and approached the sofa and plopped down on it.

"Hiromi must've been busy?" Rei was assuming after emerging from inside of the bathroom and taking the nearby love seat.

Takao nods his head before he speaks, "Said her team had some fancy-schmancy dinner to go to,"

This prompted the blonde to sit up with a curious expression on his face, "Wait, so they had to dress up for dinner?"

"Yeah, said it was with the President's son," He tacked on before he reached for the remote on the table.

Now Max's face contorted to a thoughtful expression, "When did Dickerson ever have the time to start a family?"

"If that was the case then don't you think we would've been at the dinner?" Rei pointed out why it could not have been the BBA President to invite Yuan to dinner.

Takao shakes his head no before he clarifies, "Turns out the Chinese President invited them to a dinner because they are China's reps."

This time it was Rei's turn to make a face when he remarked, "If that's the case then White Tiger X never got an invitation to a dinner with the President."

A "what" was emitting from Max's lips before ruffling his hair and grumbling, "Now I'm even more confused!"

"This definitely sounds fishy," The raven-haired male mutters while he folds his arms in front of his chest.

'I hope nothing bad happens…' Takao worriedly prays since this dinner did not sit well with him.

The trio was so caught up in their discussion that they missed the soft sound of a door closed.

[F Dynasty]

"Anyone there?" Romero was finally taking notice of a hand repeatedly waving in front of his face.

"We were talking about putting on a Cirque performance for the European leg." Julia relays the plans over to their distracted coach once he surfaced from his thoughts.

"I think that would be nice," He offhandedly mentioned with a dazed expression on his face.

"So we can leave you in charge of that, right manager?" Raul coyly tacked on with a smile on his face.

[In the restaurant]

Yuan was escorted by the maître de to a more private section of the two-storied restaurant.

"This is a really nice place," Lanying genuinely compliments as she scopes out the meticulous décor.

"Whoa…this place is gigantic!" Audrey squeaked once they were led to a large circular table with empty porcelain plates and a closed black menu on top of them.

Archimedes merely took in her surroundings as there were large circular wooden tables with ornately carved designs, filled with plates and bowls of food, an octagon hollow centerpiece, and space big enough for twenty people to sit at the table.

"It's been a while since I was at a traditional Chinese restaurant." Wenling excitedly gushed as she speedily removed her seat from underneath the table and settled in her seat. She peers over to see obvious confusion on her dirty blonde teammate's face.

"Wen, can you help me out here?" Audrey whined with a pout as she dropped the menu. The brunette amusingly chuckles at her reaction before she helps her friend.

A pair of ruby eyes were scanning the vicinity as that sinking yet ominous feeling was starting to magnify after noticing a burly man clad in a black suit approaching their table.

"It's been a while since we've had authentic Chinese food, right Mei…" she paused in the middle of her speech as she watched a burly man clad in a suit drew closer to their party.

Inoue politely acknowledges his presence with a "Good evening" before she physically signals for the silver-haired woman to follow behind the man.

Meifeng bowed slightly at the waist with an unreadable expression on her face.

Akane was breaking her silence by calling the woman's name, "Inoue-san, are you going to let her go?"

Before she could respond to the question, Lin stood to her feet and directed her focus to the woman.

"We should go up there and give him a…" The goldenrod with green tips woman abruptly paused at the sight of a raised hand from the curly orange-haired woman.

"Don't worry, she's in good hands." She mysteriously hints with a neutral expression on her face before she opens to read the rest of the menu.

"I still think he's a creep." The dirty blonde expresses as she picks up the white porcelain soup spoon after the waiter delivers soup to their table.

Hiromi nodded in agreement since that ominous sensation steadily intensified upon their arrival.

[Upstairs]

"I'm so glad that you accepted my invitation to dinner," Cheng speaks as a smile stretches across his face.

She forcibly mimicked his smile before she stated, "I'm positive that the team will show our gratitude for your generous offer."

He arches a brow after he listens to her comment when he presumes, "Are you always group-oriented?"

"It was an invite for Yuan…" The silver-haired woman promptly reminds him as she feels a throb in her temple.

An expression of thought briefly materialized on his face before he admitted, "I did have a slight underhanded purpose but I guess fortune turned in my favor."

As if on cue, their waiter arrived at the lone occupied table with a pad and pen in hand to take their order.

"Good evening my name is Jin and I'll be serving you tonight."

'Wait for a few more minutes…' Her eyes divert from the menu only to see a familiar slate blue hair tied in a low ponytail, black rectangular glasses, and a faux goatee.

Once Cheng peered down at the menu when they made eye contact, Hiro winked at her and mouthed, "Be patient."

Relief overcomes her since she was no longer stuck alone with this pretension prick.

"You have a beautiful smile." The raven-haired male honestly compliments, which diverts her focus back to reality.

Hiro took their drinks and appetizers before he promptly excuses himself while he inwardly thinks, 'So how am I supposed to get her out of this date?'

"It's about Meifeng…" A curly orange-haired woman said after she called out to him.

"I apologize…I didn't introduce myself first. My name is Matsumoto Inoue." She properly introduces herself with a slight bow at the waist.

"She was invited to a dinner with the President of China's son or rather my nephew. There's no way that he'll let any Yuan member near them." The older woman was explaining Meifeng's predicament.

He narrowed his sights on the strange yet polite women when he connected the dots, "So you plan on using me as a mole?"

"She finds comfort in you so why not you?" Inoue honestly stated with a stoic expression on her face.

"Oh…"

"Drinks and appetizers," Another waiter announces as Hiro holds the door open for them to pass through with the tray in their hands.

He caught sight of two burly guys dressed in dark suits quietly whispers to each other in a corner.

"You think she'll say yes?" "He's affluent, has connections, and is known for his good looks."

Right as he was about to pass it as aimless gossip, the next statement instantly rooted him to the spot. "Except she'll be his fifth, right?"

"I thought she would be the seventh." The other one corrected his companion as he counted the number of alleged wives their boss has on his hands.

'The hell?!' The bluenette abruptly thought after he eavesdropped into their conversation about Meifeng being a part of a harem.

"The waiter should be delivering the ring." The first voice presumes after he glances down at his wristwatch for the time.

An expression of disbelief was surfacing to his face while inwardly ruminating, 'Another waiter took the ring out already?'

His sudden movement toward the doors instantly caught the burly guy's attention as one of them shouted, "And just where are you going?"

"I need to remove the dirty dishes," Hiro fell back into his role as a waiter when he felt one of the guys eyed his nametag.

"You remember seeing a Jin on the private kitchen staff list?" The one who was close to him questions his companion with a confused expression on his face.

Luckily for the bluenette, the kitchen erupts into an uproar, which he seized as a moment to distract the two men, "Would you look at that…a goose on the loose,"

Hiro easily slips by the men and weasels his way out of the kitchen while he mutters, "Suckers," under his breath.

As he inches closer to their table, he notices the sudden change in their position from when he left the duo. 'He's kneeling,'

A fruit bowl catches his sight, reaches out for a bright color fruit, and aims an orange at the back of his head.

"Bullseye," slips through his lips once it connects with the target and creates a moment of confusion between the two.

"Hold up Mei…" Meifeng's voice immediately cuts him off when she speaks, "I appreciate the gesture but I can't accept your offer, Xi Cheng."

"But…but I was going to make you my seventh wife," he unintentionally stammered once he realized that she rejected his proposal.

'Way to insert foot in mouth,' Hiro automatically deems while he mentally slaps himself from the sheer stupidity that radiates off the man.

"Seventh?! What's freaking wrong with you? Women aren't just trophies you can collect! They should be loved and cared for!" The silver-haired woman was angrily snapping after quickly deeming the guy in front of her a jerk.

The blunette thanked all of the gods that he was merely a spectator and not on the receiving end of the severe tongue lashing.

A deaf silence hung between the two as Cheng stood to his feet and bluntly declared, "If I can't have you…no one else will. Guards!"

"Mei…this way!" Hiro speedily chucks another fruit as she roughly yanks her hand from his grasp only to hear gunshots suddenly ring out.

"This has officially gotten out of hand!" The bluenette exasperatedly utters as he intentionally guides them over to an emergency fire escape, where a vehicle awaits them.

The pair was carefully yet rapidly scaling down the fire escape while bullets were ricocheting over their heads or dangerously close to their bodies.

Hiro slung the door open as one of Cheng's guards made it to the ledge of the fire escape just as Mei ducked into the automobile.

"Gotcha," They confidently utter as they tediously aim and fire right as Hiro slides along the backseat of the black vehicle.

The gunman simply watched as the limo speedily speeds down the tight alley and veered left.

At the same time…

'Was that gunshots?' Hiromi nervously thought she heard what sounded like fireworks from upstairs while they carefully bagged the rest of their food.

"Alright ladies, I know we had to cut our dining experience a little short but I assure you, your safety is my number 1 priority." Inoue cryptically claims as she ushers the group of teens out the door after she spots a familiar face run towards a limo.

'I just hope Meifeng is okay,' The brunette was genuinely worried about her teacher since she was upstairs alone with that creepy guy from earlier.

In the limo…

Meifeng quickly sits up after she haphazardly dove against the leather black backseat of a limousine. There was a strong smell of iron that grazes against her nose as she turns her attention toward the bluenette.

"Hiro…" The gray-haired woman calls his name once he grimaces and grips his arm gingerly.

"It's just a graze." He sharply hissed once he felt slight pressure from her gentle touch.

"Let me at least stop the bleeding so it won't become an infection," Meifeng says as she deliberately rips the hem of her red cheongsam and tightly wraps the torn cloth around the wound.

Her hands lingered before she offered her sincerest gratitude, "I'm sorry you were hurt but I'm glad you were there."

The blue-haired male used his good arm to lift her chin, cradles her cheek, and gently rubs his thumb across the soft flesh. "As long as your happy then I'm happy too." A blush visibly surfaces on her face after his words and gentle touch.

"We have to call her to tell them your safe." He explains before he removes his hand and withdraws his cell phone.

She simply watches as he dials a number on his keypad and confirms, "The beautiful wind freely blows."

Meifeng's cheeks burn a bright red after she hears their exchange, "We'll see you soon."