Chapter Two- An Explanation
"What the hell!" cried Katsumi, crossing her arms over her chest and sinking so the water skimmed her lips, "Who the fuck are you people."
As the managed to see through the stream to try and indentify the three teenage men, the beginning blush that had pinked her cheeks darkened to a bright red that swept across her face down even her neck. The one in the lead had bluish hair and grey eyes, with darker skin than average. The one on his right had wild black hair held back by a red headband with a ying yang on the cloth, and she later on saw that some of his hair reached his ankles, and was wrapped in a white cloth so it looked almost like a tail with a black tuft. His eyes were bight gold, and they averted in embarrassment. The last teenager had unruly golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes. All three were dressed in the little towels that men wrapped around their waists in the baths. Katsumi thanked the heavens for that.
Her eyes darted to her yukata on the rock that was now too far away for her own comfort. But that didn't worry her, since her blood ran cold when a soft voice interrupted the shocked and uncomfortable silence.
"Onee-chan, what's wrong?" Maiko didn't notice the three boys until she literally ran into their back, and was struck dumb. Katsumi realized the danger as her younger siblings eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Sparks! Don't kill them!" she called quickly, even as the group could almost see flames erupt around the teenage girl. The three turned their heads to see the red-head with black bangs in her own yukata, and a towel in her fisted- and oddly enough, black gloved- hand.
"We're sorry!" burst the boy with bluish hair, "W-We didn't know there'd be girls! Mr. Dickenson didn't even tell us there would be others here!"
"Mr. Glory didn't tell us when the other team would be getting here!" wailed the embarrassed woman in the waters as she sank further in.
"Katsumi! Sparkie! Is everything alright in there?" Hitoshi's voice rang through the sliding door.
"We're fine Hitoshi-kun," Maiko replied in her normal, monotonous voice, the non existent flames now gone as she calmed down, "Three strange teenage boys just walked in on Onee-chan by accident in here."
"The fuck?" Ryuu's voice joined Hitoshi's, "What do you mean accidently?!"
"There's only one hot spring, Ryuu-kun, and it's for both sexes. Someone is going to forget to knock first. Onee-chan, I have a towel, take it." she lobbed the cloth to her submerged sibling, who eagerly caught it and wrapped it around herself before standing to get her robe, which was now in Kin's mouth. The jackal had jumped up before, but strangely hadn't attacked like she normally would have.
"Tyson, I thought Mr. Dickenson said it was just our team that was going to be here." the golden-eyed teen spoke up.
"Yeah, I don't get this, who are you people?" the blue-haired guy, apparently called Tyson. Katsumi secured her belt around her waist tightly before beginning to wring out her mid-back length hair. The sound of a sliding door made everyone turn to look at Ryuu and Hitoshi, who were just in their clothes from before; Ryuu's being baggy black pants with a studded belt and a tight purple tank top that went with his violet hair and dark eyes. He really fit the role of a rebel with the one earring in his ear, a python around his neck, and the scowl on his face.
"We," the rebel spoke, "Are the Flameblades. I'm Oshiro Ryuu, team leader. This is my team: Takashi Katsumi, Wakai Hitoshi, and Sparkie."
The blonde glanced at Mai when Ryuu pointed her out, "Sparkie? Cool name."
"Her real name is Takashi Maiko. She and Katsumi are sisters. Pleasure to meet you, Max, Tyson, Ray." Hitoshi said. Flameblades looked at him, surprised. Well, more like Ryuu and Katsumi did. Mai just crossed her arms as she leaned back against a wall, Konta pawing at her feet.
"Hitoshi, how do you know their names?" Katsumi burst.
"Onee-chan, we all know them. Granger Tyson, Tate Max, Kon Ray, Hiwatari Kai." Maiko droned, using the classic Japanese way of saying the last name before the first, like Hitoshi had. Katsumi's face was fascinating as she processed this information until it dawned on her. Mai just shook her head slightly, and hid behind her chin-length bangs.
"…Oh…" she said sheepishly, "Oops. Sorry."
Ryuu sneered at her, "Baka."
Katsumi face darkened as she spun on the rebel, "Oi! Watch what you're saying you hypocritical bastard! You didn't know them either!"
"Whatcha gonna do about it?"
"Prick!"
"Bitch."
"Man-whore!"
"Virgin Prude."
Tyson, Max, and Ray's heads were like a tennis game as the red-head and rebel swapped insults, moving back and forth between the teenagers. When it got too escalated, as in, when Katsumi and Kin alike looked ready to pounce, Hitoshi stepped up.
"Katsumi, Ryuu, calm down." he said soothingly, "We need to solve this little problem before sparring. We need to know why GRevolution is here."
"Because we're here to train each other."
No one was too surprised when a new voice joined the chaos. Mai looked up, and she blinked in recognition. Not that Kai Hiwatari was hard to recognize. The four triangles on his cheeks, two on each one larger than the one underneath, was a dead giveaway. But Kai also had the naturally spiky blue hair that was darker at the back of his head. He wore the same white scarf that the pictures showed, but we dressed in normal clothes of baggy jeans and a black t-shirt.
"Kai!" blurted Tyson in a very Tyson way, "What are you doing here?"
Kai, being Kai, ignored Tyson and turned to Ryuu, "Mr. Dickenson told me about you guys. We're going to train you better in blading apparently."
Ryuu snorted with laughter, "We knew old fart Glory was teaming us up with another group, but I wasn't expecting to get World Champs."
Tyson smirked at that.
"This might be an advantage for you guys, Ryuu-kun. These are some of the best beybladers around, and it might help you win more easily." Maiko said with her eyes shut, then opened the mismatched pair to meet Ryuu's.
Ryuu scowled, while Maggie hissed at his throat, "You say this like I'm the only one who needs training Sparkie, what are you sayin'?"
Maiko shrugged indifferently as Konta scratched at her feet to be lifted, "I'm just saying, Ryuu-kun, that the team needs work. Hiwatari-kun, Tate-kun, Kon-kun and Granger-kun can help us. I'm going to my room."
Wordlessly she lifted Konta, and slipped out of the room, ignoring the odd looks that followed her. Katsumi chuckled.
"Sorry, my little sister is an odd ball, and is very shy, so she doesn't like to talk much." she explained, "Anyways, I don't get it. Mr. Glory told us that we would be training each other? These are world champions! What could we teach them?"
Max grinned, "I'm sure we can all learn a lot from each other."
Ryuu elbowed Katsumi, "He seems just as perky as you Kat." She smacked him upside the head.
"I'm going to… well… get dressed, then we should meet up again to ask Mr. Glory and Mr. Dickenson some questions." Katsumi said, nervously pulling her robe more securely shut.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Ray piped in, "But I think Tyson still needs a bath."
"Hey! I don't smell!" Tyson objected.
Max laughed, and pinched his nose, "Says you Tyson. You didn't smell yourself the ride up!"
Kai, Ryuu, Hitoshi, Katsumi, and the respective animals of Flameblades left the three to their bath, and split up to head to their rooms. Hitoshi took in his best friend's posture, the crossed arms, the glaring almost violet eyes. All he needed was a pouty lip and he would be a child again.
"What are you thinking Ryuu?" he asked with a smile in his voice.
"I dunno," Ryuu shrugged, "I was just surprised that the GRevolutions are joining us to train. We've been seriously low-key this whole time, and now we're playin' big? I mean, no one has beat us in a game… and well Sparkie never loses anything, but we never seemed to be that eager to climb the ladder. Ol' Glory didn't want us to lose ourselves in fame and fortune- though I wouldn't mind the girls. Wonder what changed his mind."
"I don't know, but I thought you'd be happy." Hitoshi replied, adjusting his glasses.
"I am!" Ryuu burst with an eager grin, "I'm fucking thrilled. Just… as much as a bastard I can be, I do give a shit about my team." He gave Hitoshi a look.
The snow haired man nodded, "You're worried about Sparkie."
"Yeah, that chick barely talks to us. And we know she's not what she seems. I won't like it if those dumbass reporters get to her. Sparks is one twisted chit." Ryuu explained, sighing and rolling his eyes skyward at the end. Hitoshi smirked.
"You have a soft side for your team." he teased lightly, stroked Mari's head who was curled in his arms.
"Bullshit."
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"Kai!" Ray called out to the stony blue-haired teen, "Got a question!"
A single eye opened in recognition, signaling a 'go ahead'.
"Why didn't you tell us about these Flameblade guys we're training with?" the neko asked, finally in front of Kai.
His eyes fully opened as he crossed his arms, "You guys didn't need to know yet. I was going to when you dragged the idiot to the baths. Thank god for that." Tyson really did stink sometimes. Literally.
Ray smiled in humor, "Yeah, but you could have told us beforehand."
"I wasn't expecting you three to stumble in on a naked girl." Kai said this with a straight face, so Ray blushed for him.
"If you had warned us, we wouldn't have gone in without knocking…" muttered the neko. He could hear the sounds of Max and Tyson returning when it hit him, "Hey Kai. When is Kenny getting back from looking for those parts he was talking about?"
"Dunno. Probably when he gets them all. What do I care?" replied the stony man, who then turned, and disappeared into his room. Ray's golden eyes followed him until he just shrugged, and went to meet up with Max and Tyson.
"Hey guys." he greeted cheerily enough.
"Hey Ray, what's up?" Max replied, letting Tyson lead them to the kitchen to help his gluttonous belly.
"Just thinking. It's weird that Kai knew we were going to be training four other people and never told us. And the Flameblades didn't even know WHEN we were coming. I wonder if Kenny knew." Ray said in a wondering tone as all three dug around for food.
"There are leftovers in the fridge from lunch." the calm voice made them spin to see Hitoshi leaning casually in the doorway. Now that the commotion was over, they got the chance to take in the odd looking teen. With his white hair that matched his shirt, he certainly stood out from other. He definitely had the appearance as the brains of the group Flameblades…
…besides the fact his name itself meant even-tempered…
"Katsumi is an amazing cook. I think you'll find it satisfactory." added Hitoshi, noticing that they were just staring. Tyson snapped out of it first, and dove for the fridge to pull out the plastic containers of food and began to heat them up. During this he was munching on a riceball. Ray and Max took a riceball as well, and bit in. Max grinned.
"They are good!" he complimented after swallowing. Hitoshi chuckled.
"Just wait until you have the real thing. Katsumi loves to cook. If it wasn't for Sparkie and herself getting into beyblading, she'd be in college to be a professional." Hitoshi replied. While he was talking, he walked forward, and Mari the tiny sand cat appeared from his person and jumped down lightly on the table. Hitoshi grabbed an apple and bit down while hopping onto a counter while the sand cat inspected Max's face by jumping onto the blonde's shoulder and purring as she sniffed his cheek. Max laughed at this as the golden cat jumped onto his head as she investigated. Tyson barely noticed as the food finished heating up and he went for it, jogging to the counter chairs to eat in the kitchen instead of going to the dining room. Hitoshi finally voiced something that had been nagging at him.
"By the way. I thought that Grevolution consisted of seven members, but I've only seen and heard four of you being here. What about Kenny, Tachibana Hilary, and Sumeragi Daichi?" he asked.
"Well," Tyson said, his voice muffled by the massive amounts of food he'd stuffed in it, "Kenny went out to buy us more supplies to help rebuild our beyblades even better than before. Hilary and Daichi are out visiting family, and taking a break from blading. They should be coming later on."
"Oh." Hitoshi's eyes drifted to Ray, "Mari, cut that out!"
While Tyson had been speaking, the sand cat had moved to exploring Ray, and Mari was going mad. Her eyes were wide as she batted at Ray's ponytail, mewing joyfully. The neko was looking a bit nervous, not wanting to yell at the cat. But at Hitoshi's voice the cat jumped, then lowered her ears in apparent shame. Crawling up Ray's clothes, she jumped on the counter run to Hitoshi's lap, curling up. Her purring resumed as the white haired teenager began to pet her.
"I didn't ask before, what kind of cat is Mari? And what's with all of the other animals?" the neko asked with a sheepish grin as he and Max reached out a hand to stroke the small cat, who meowed loudly under the attention.
"Oh, these are our friends. I guess you could say it's our theme for our team. Each animal represents something about us. Mari is a sand cat, which live natively in the Sahara, the Arabian Desert, or the deserts of Iran and Pakistan. She's not a… common pet, but I took her in as a kitten. Mr. Glory pulled some strings to let me keep her.
"The others have equally strange pet as you know. Katsumi's Kin is a golden jackal, which isn't nearly as threatened like Mari's species. Kin is just like a dog, so don't worry unless you're Katsumi's enemy. Then Kin is very fierce. Ryuu has Maggie, the python. Don't worry about Mags, she's also very gentle, she just likes to wrap around your neck. Be careful of that. She needs the heat, especially when it's cold out, so she'll often also hide in shirts. Mainly Ryuu's, but you never know. Sparkie obviously has a red fox kit. He's Konta, and is the most like a puppy if you want to describe him personality-wise. But he and Sparkie are very close, so although he'll be friendly, he and Sparkie often stick very close together." Mari ended Hitoshi's little speech with a loud yowl, biting gently on his hand. The snowy-haired man sighed, and lifted her to his shoulder, "I'd continue talking, but I need to go take Mari outside. Katsumi should be down in a few minutes, dragging Sparkie with her, so I'll see you guys later."
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Hitoshi walked out, leaving the three to eat to their heart's content. And indeed, it was only about ten minutes later when Katsumi skipped in, wearing a pink scoop neck tank top and jeans. And just as Hitoshi had predicted, she was dragging Mai, who was just dressed in loose jeans and a loose white t-shirt. The differences in the siblings were evident.
"Hey y'all!" she said, put on an American southern accent, "What's shaking?"
Mai rolled her eyes at the odd looks the three boys gave her older sibling, and turned to leave. Katsumi sensed this, and like lightning had her sister's plain ponytail in one hand and she tugged.
"Sparkie, at least be polite! You never even said hello!" scolded the eighteen-year-old with a devilish grin. Mai gave Katsumi a look, and pulled her long hair out of her sister's hand.
"Onee-chan. I have other things to do." she said softly, and disappeared. Katsumi threw up her arms in a groan as Kin came running in.
"Seriously, sometimes I wonder how I can stand that girl." she said in a teasing tone as she turned to the others, "Sorry bout that…. again. Sparks is just too shy for her own good."
"She seemed almost terrified of meeting us." Ray commented, and Katsumi laughed.
"That's my sister for you. Trust me, she's really nice. But she just doesn't like to talk a lot. I'm her sister and I've never heard her say more needed in my whole life." replied the woman, and sat in one of the chairs, "So, I have to ask like all the other annoying fans. What's it like being world champs?"
The three found Katsumi to be very sociable, able to talk about practically everything. And Kin, just as Hitoshi had told them, was very friendly. Tyson was only mad when the jackal tipped his plate and stole all of the food. Of course, Ray and Max couldn't help but laugh at him for it.
"Oi, Katsumi." said woman turned to see Ryuu standing in the doorway, Maggie wrapped around his arm, "Get Sparkie, Hitoshi's trying to get a hold of the old fart. Sparkie's in the training room."
"Okay, I'll go get her." replied Katsumi as she stood up.
Ryuu grabbed her arm as she passed by, "Be careful, she's training. Be prepared for her."
"Oh I will! She probably just doesn't want to do dishes tonight!" the woman smiled widely, and ran out of the room. Ryuu turned to the others.
"If you're done eating, you can come with. Maybe you can get some answers too. Considering how I know our manager, you never know what might happen."
Ray, Max, and Tyson all looked at each other a moment before nodding. After cleaning up their mess they followed the rebel to one of the entertainment rooms, where Hitoshi was hooking up his laptop to a television. After fiddling with the computer a moment his screen came up on the televisions, and he set a webcam on top. Katsumi, once again dragged Maiko, arrived just as Hitoshi connected. Tapping the keys for a few minutes, he grinned.
"Success. Grevolutions, I'm pleased to introduce our manager, Mr. Glory." he pressed a button, and on both laptop and television the webcam connection activated.
Mr. Glory wasn't the youngest of the young, but he wasn't very old either. Though his face was youthful, his black hair was streaked with grey, and his warm brown eyes seemed filed with age. He smiled as he too saw his team.
"Hitoshi! Ryuu! Katsumi! And look at that, even Maiko! Or should I say Sparkie?" his voice was deep and strong, even through the audio changes through the laptop.
"Sparkie works, Glory-san." the odd child said timidly, taking a seat next to Hitoshi.
"Okay old man, we have some questions. Mainly why Grevolution is here to train with us." Ryuu said with a scowl as he took Hitoshi's other side and propped his feet up on the table.
Mr. Glory turned his head to look at Ryuu after taking in the three Grevolution members there.
"That's a good question Ryuu. But I figured the answer would be obvious. Although all three of you are highly skilled, I figured you were bored staying in the backround. Working with the famed Grevolution team might do you guys some good. Plus, it'll help you as you enter the tournament." the manager said cheerily. Maiko's eyes narrowed dangerously, though no one noticed.
"But Mr. Glory, you didn't want us going into the big times!" Katsumi piped in. She was leaning over the couch to rest her chin on her arms.
"I didn't think you kids were ready! Of course, you'll be coming from a different section than the GRevolutions, so if everything goes well, you'll meet them in the finals. But, I guess we'll have to wait." replied Mr. Glory.
"So you're just saying now you want the Flameblades to become great." Katsumi turned in shock to see the fuming form of her sister, "Glory-san, I told you. I will not do this. I refuse to take part in a high class sport that only cares about their looks."
The red-head stood up, Konta on her shoulder, and swept out of the room. Katsumi straightened in shock, one hand reaching out to her little sister. Then she groaned, and turned to Mister Glory who was smiling meekly.
"Well, I can't say I'm surprised Sparkie said that." commented the manager, "Katsumi, could you please talk to her?"
"I'm on it. Sorry Mr. Glory. I'm just surprised she actually spoke up. I've never seen her so angry." Katsumi said.
"Maybe she's just PMSing." Ryuu piped in with a grin, but that vanished at Katsumi's glare, "…Or not…"
"Anyways," Katsumi said tiredly, "I'll talk to her later. Right now we have to ask you Mr. Glory…"
"…Is there a way to contact Mr. Dickenson? GRevolution has questions they would like answers to." Hitoshi finished, pushing up his glasses with a single finger.
Mister Glory brightened, "Of course! He's right here!"
"What?!" the three GRevolutions finally got their say in. Not that it was much of one.
Mister Glory moved from his spot, and it was soon filled by the portly image of Mister Dickenson.
"Hello boys how are you?" the man said in his high voice.
"Mr. Dickenson what are you doing with the Flameblades manager?" Tyson asked.
"Well, since you and the Flameblades were going to be working together, I had to speak with Mr. Glory about the future! Besides, Mr. Glory and I have been friends for a long time!" replied Mister Dickenson.
"Wow, really? Then how come we never heard of the Flameblades?" Max piped in.
"Mr. Glory didn't want to go public until he was sure his team was up to today's standards! So he asked me not to mention the team around anyone. Of course I acquiesced his request." explained the rounded man, his white mustache moving while he spoke.
"I guess we have to thank you Mr. Dickenson." Hitoshi said kindly, Mari mewing in his lap.
"No problem Hitoshi!" laughed Dickenson.
"How do you know their names Mr. Dickenson?" Max asked curiously.
"How can I not? Akio and I have been friend for many years! He brags about his players all the time, just like I do about you." said Dickenson, adjusting his little round glasses.
"Wow, you embarrass us Mr. Dickenson!" replied Max, rubbing the top of his head.
"Yeah, I hope you brag about the good things Mr. Dickenson." Tyson added with a chuckle.
The conversation went on a bit longer, and by then, the Flameblades had disappeared, leaving Max, Ray, and Tyson alone together.
"Well, I guess that answers some questions." Tyson commented. Ray nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Well, at least his should be interesting. We've never had to actually live with another team." he said.
"You're right, Ray, "Max agreed, "This group seems really nice."
Katsumi suddenly appeared in the doorway, "Listen, I'm about to start on dinner, but first me and Sparkie are gonna decide over who does dishes afterwards. You might want to watch." she said with a mischievous smile in her eyes.
"Huh? Why would we want to go see that?" Ray asked.
Katsumi giggled, "You really don't know anything about us." she winked at them, "Trust me, if you want to see a show, come on. I just gotta go to my room and change. Meet us out in the courtyard in ten minutes, ne?"
Max grinned, "Sure! We'll be there!"
"Okay!" replied the red-head, and with Kin at her heels she ran away.
"Do you really think a decision over dishes is going to be interesting Max?" Tyson asked the blonde, who nodded.
"You never know. We really don't know this team, we might as well learn what we can!" he explained.
"He has a point Tyson," agreed the neko.
"Okay, I guess. Well, let's go to the courtyard!" Tyson said cheerily.
The three ran towards the courtyard, truly not expecting what was about to happen. Boy, were they in for an awakening…
A/N: Well, here's my second chapter, which sadly enough I'm still editing and adding to, even though I'm now working on chapter five. This is a veeeery delayed Author's Note, so that's why I say chapter, yes, FIVE! It's already… -gasps- 16 freaking, bleeping pages! But, another note, I completely forgot about Hiro, considering I already read up on him, but forgot to say that he's not going to be in this fic. At least, not until I meet the bloody kid. A funny thing I found out though is that in the Japanese version, Hiro's name is Hitoshi! I must say I NEVER knew that! I just thought Hitoshi was a good name for my character! So, now that I got that over and done with, time to work on Playing With Fire. Please review!
Warning- This is an author with low self esteem. Getting reviews makes her feel better about her poor pathetic life. She also feel better when her friend TalaTati19 gets reviews cause she gets hyperly happy and puts out chapters faster. So read and review both of them!! It's simple, just that little purple button at the bottom that says to sumbit a review!
Review Comments and Thanks!
TalaTati19: Thanks for your comment... complete stranger! :P It's all your fault you got me hooked, so I expect a review for each chapter! Just so that it'll remind me to review your stuffs! Which, by the way, I have to do. ANd Yes, I personally love Katsumi's and Ryuu's spats. Considering you're my sorta BETA for this story, you know just how far they go!
Fade to Blue: Thanks for the review, and AI already told you in a message the deal about Mai and Katsumi. Don't worry, all will be explained! :)
BlueChic: I think I sent you a message too... But who cares! All of my reviewers deserve acknowledgement! Cause they rock! But you're intuition is clever. Whether it's right or wrong I shall not reveal. :)
K.I.M.: OKAY OKAY! :P Hope you review again, cause I luuuurv them!