Chapter Four- On the First Day of Training My True Love Gave to Me
A slight tapping on the door roused Kai from his pleasant dream of kicking Tyson's ass in a beyblade match. Cursing the noise with his being since it had destroyed such an orgasmic dream, he slid out of his blankets onto the floor as he pulled a shirt on over his bare chest. No, he didn't sleep in the nude, only in sweatpants or boxers. If he slept like that… he shuddered to think what fans would do to him at night.
Holding Dranzer in his left hand, he pulled aside the sliding door to see a pajama clad Mai in the doorway, a book under her arm. She was in a blue camisole and black sweatpants; she almost looked normal despite the fact she now wore navy blue gloves. Then she spoke.
"Onee-san's made breakfast, you can come down when you want to, Kai-kun." her robotic voice made him scowl slightly.
"Sure, whatever." she was walking away before he got the ultimate pleasure of closing the door in her face. Inwardly he pouted at that.
Running a hand through his wild and sleep tousled hair, he sat back down on his bed. He couldn't help but think about how he was going to be able to survive through training with another group of annoying teenagers without going insane or committing suicide. Or both. The only one that didn't annoy him freaked him out.
Falling backwards, he sighed. Now he had to think of more training schedules again; ones that would suit both male AND female now. The only bright side was that at least Hilary, the female bane of this team's members, wasn't here. He could only pray she'd stay away.
Contemplating a few minutes, he then got up to answer the call of his stomach.
Downstairs… was hell…
Katsumi kept up to the fact that she was a good chef, from the smells he could detect. But the noise was bordering on deafening. He could distinctly hear one of the canines howl, he was guessing the jackal, and it seemed Ryuu and Katsumi were screaming at each other again. He could also guess that Tyson was loudly complaining.
Maiko appeared behind him, who was leading Ray down. Ray seemed to have a shocked expression at the noise as well. But Mai seemed to have a small smirk.
"Ray-kun, you are neko right?" she asked in her steady voice.
Said neko nodded, rubbing his pointed ears, "Yeah. They're really loud."
"Then I'll make them quiet." she lightly jumped the last seven steps, and walked forward, her ponytail swaying. Kai and Ray gave each other a look, and then followed her.
The kitchen was chaos, and that was putting it nicely. Max and Hitoshi were off to the side, watching the mess almost entertained. Katsumi was wielding a knife towards the chuckling Ryuu with Maggie around his neck, and was pointing at her. At her side Kin was barking, growling, and howling. And Tyson was whining while trying to steal food.
Maiko shook her head twice, and moved into the fray. Going into the fridge, she pulled out something.
Fighting tailed off when suddenly a cantaloupe flew through the air. Then somehow Maiko was there, her fan open and flaring even as she was several feet in the air. In two almost unseen swipes, the cantaloupe landed, and then slowly the fruit slid apart from itself in four perfect pieces.
"Next thing in the air…" was all the robotic teen had to say before she glided away. Her fan had already been closed and slid into the elastic band of her pants. Her book was flipped open and she was reading it.
"I guess that solves out problems," Hitoshi said with a grin, "Ryuu, come on and stop pulling Katsumi's pigtails."
"But it's so fun!" whined the rebel, and he gave one of the two long pigtails a tug before running out, cackling. Katsumi growled, and muttered swears in English, French, AND Japanese under her breath before turning back to where she was making pancakes.
Max laughed as he walked forward so he could lean on a counter, "Are all your mornings like this?"
"You mean torturous as I have to deal with coffee addicts? Yes! Plus, that asshole pulls my hair whenever they're in ponytails!" she groaned, pouring mix into the pan.
"But it seems like you're a good team, nevertheless," replied the American. Katsumi shrugged.
"You could say that. But please, I need to concentrate on the food. No offence I mean." she smiled warmly before turning so she could flip the pancake from before.
"No problem. Tyson, lets get out of here." Max said, watching the drooling teenager reach for the food.
"So… hungry…" he moaned.
"You just ate a bunch of food last night Tyson." Ray commented, and the American and the Chinese dragged the glutton away.
"Why!" whined Tyson, clutching his stomach, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"
"It's not even ready yet Ty!" Max said cheerily with a laughed.
"……. So?" the infamous needy pout was back.
The two laughed as they wandered around the vast mansion in awe. After getting into trouble like teenage boys did, they finally got to a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, ham, and fresh orange juice, just squeezed.
Watching in both awe and disgust as Tyson began gorging himself. Katsumi was resting her cheek in the palm of her hand with bored eyes.
"Tyson…" she said warningly.
"Moo?" translated, Tyson's words were 'Yeah?'
"You do realize we're going to be training. You'll be sick to your stomach if you continue eating like that for too long." she stroked Kin's head, who was sitting next to her, eying the ham on her plate. Katsumi looked down with her peripheral vision, and smiled before tossing a piece of ham into the corner for her. The golden jackal dashed to wolf down the morsel. Tyson shook his head.
"I've eaten more than this whole table, and I've never gotten sick!" the blader boasted, and accentuated the point by taking another huge bite of a fluffy pancake slathered in maple syrup.
"I warned you…" she said trailing off, and rolled her eyes. Max, Kenny, and Ray shared a look as well, and then laughed.
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"Alright." Ryuu said firmly, his arms crossed, "Kai. I dunno how you train your team, so I figure for the first day treat it like we're not here."
"That won't be too hard for Kai," Tyson nagged with a grin, "I gotta say I want to face you again, Ryuu! Your Serponi is amazing!"
Ryuu looked at the violet, pristine blade in his hand, "Yeah, she's a beauty! But anyway! We're getting to training now. Katsumi, Hitoshi, face off. I'll do some weights for now. Sparks… Whatever…"
Maiko grinned infinitesimally, and turned around to head to a chin-ups bar was. She reached out a grabbed onto it. Pumping her legs a few times, she got into a good swing and ended up in a handstand on top. Her legs curved, and then she was comfortably sitting on the bar. She flipped out her book as she lay on the chin-up bar, and began to read.
"I guess that's that." Ray commented.
"Anyway, let's go!" Ryuu said, scowling in Maiko's direction, and went off to the weights. Katsumi laughed, wrapped an arm around Hitoshi, and the two went off to a stadium to battle. For a moment, the boys couldn't help but watch the two.
Katsumi revealed her blade at being electric blue, with lightning yellow and bright gold designs on it. There also seemed to be a bit beast in the bit piece, but from a distance they couldn't make it out. And before they could focus on it, she had it hooked to her matching launcher, one with a handle and not just an original block type one. She held it at the ready.
Hitoshi's blade was a much more plain color, being light and sandy in color. But around the bit piece were black swirls, giving it a flashy show. It too had a bit beast in the bit piece but again, he had it set in his matching launcher before they could tell what it was. But considering how Ryuu's bit best had turned out, they could only guess. Kin was standing next to Katsumi, the fur along her spine erect and puffed. Mari was also standing, but at Hitoshi's side. Her small fangs were bared, her claws also out. Her tail was puffed as Hitoshi readied himself for launch.
"Ready Hitoshi?" Katsumi asked with a smile in her eyes.
"Of course my dear," Hitoshi replied, using English and putting on a posh butler accent.
"One…"
"Two…"
"LET IT RIP!" both bladers pulled their launch cords, sending the two magnificent blades into a fast spin, and sent them ricocheting into the bowl, quickly the two blades launched at each other. Sparks literally flew as they crashed together, both bladers completely absorbed in their battle as they pushed their blades forward.
"Alright, pay attention guys." Kai drawled. Kind of hypocritically since he was watching as well as the blades crashed together, twirled, and moved around each other. These people really were experts, they weren't lying.
"Tyson, you still need to work on stamina, or Kenny says. Run laps around the mansion. Ray, join Ryuu at weights." the Russian commanded.
"What! Laps again! Aw man!" Tyson moaned all the way out of the room after a small protest.
Max moved forward, "What about me Kai?" he asked.
"Work on your launching some more. Keep going until it's perfect." Kai replied, and the blonde nodded.
"'Kay!" and he moved to another bowl where he could practice launching more.
Kai turned his attention back to Katsumi and Hitoshi, taking in their movements carefully.
Sparks still flew as the two tops smashed into each other over and over again in a brutal dual. But Kai could tell that though they clashed a lot, Hitoshi was doing less attacking, and finding more ways to loop around Katsumi's electric blue blade and catch behind her. She nodded every time he did, even as she flinched slightly.
"Good dodge, Hitoshi." she said, "But now I think it's time."
"I don't think so." Hitoshi replied, pushing up his glasses with one hand. Mari hissed and spat loudly.
"Oh I do." replied the female.
"That's too bad. Margoni, attack now!" Hitoshi called powerfully, and Mari meowed loudly, almost like a tiger's roar.
His sandy blade suddenly swooped in for an attack, and electric shocks flew everywhere. Kin was snarling, at fangs bared. Katsumi's eyes were hard.
Both blades now were giving harsh direct attacks, making bother bladers and animals pant. But both now held grins as their blades danced and crashed together.
"Not to bad Katsumi, you're attack had gotten stronger." Hitoshi commented, impressed.
The woman wiped off a small drop of sweat from her forehead, "Yeah, and your endurance had increased even more! You're getting good!"
The two blades collided again, and then circled around one more time before going for the killing blow.
"Margoni, finish her off now!" Hitoshi boomed.
The name of Katsumi's bit beast was then known, "Aureusoni! Time to end this!"
Kin howled loudly, grabbed everyone's attention. The two blades collided, and there was a bright light that crackled with energy and made everyone shield their eyes. Then it faded, and both bladers were holding their own respective blades. A tie.
Katsumi panted a moment before squealing and throwing herself into Hitoshi's arms, "I did it! I finally improved my attack!"
Hitoshi laughed, and swung her slightly, "You did good. But it's still easy to evade your attacks."
"Yeah well cause you've known me since we were seven. Erm… I was eight." she replied good-naturedly, "I'm gonna get a drink then run laps, 'kay? Laters!"
Katsumi vanished, and Hitoshi turned to see the others back to work, except Kai who was still watching him with slight, though hidden interest. Hitoshi grinned, waved, and went to practice launching again.
Ryuu grunted lightly as he lifted the weights. Since he was so manly, of course he was bench pressing about one hundred and twenty pounds, and wasn't showing it on his face. The noise was just to keep him breathing. Ray worked beside him, although he wasn't bench pressing, he was just doing arm curls to warm-up.
"Hitoshi's such a show off." the rebel commented as he set the weight in the stand to relax his muscles a moment and to take a swig from his water bottle, "Katsumi too. But I guess we've never had the pleasure in an audience." he wiped his lips, cracked his neck, and returned to working his arm muscles. He thought they were pretty sweet looking and sexy, but what the hell, he could get buffer.
"You guys seem close though. You say you've been together since you were seven?" Ray asked.
"Actually, Sparks was seven. She's the youngest here, along with the fucking freakiest. The rest of us are seventeen, and were eight when we met. I'm telling you, don't bother trying to open up Sparkie. Chit doesn't even trust me, and c'mon, I'm a likable guy!" he grinned mischievously.
Ray chuckled, "Yeah, she seems like a strange person."
"She is. By the way, no, you will never see her without gloves." Ryuu commented, and then turned the conversation, "So I hear you're from somewhere in China? Whereabouts?"
Ray shrugged, "Actually I lived in village in the middle of no where. We were pretty isolated, and we definitely got into beyblading much later than most people. But then I got Driger, and I left. Next thing I knew I had decided to join up with Tyson, Max, and Kai. Best friends since. My old team the White Tigers were kind of mad that I left, but in the end I guess they forgave me."
"Shit, they were mad at you for leaving weren't they?" Ryuu asked.
"Yes, but they got over it eventually. Guess it's good they did. I would hate it if Mariah, Lee, Gary, and Kevin- my old teammates- hated me still." Ray replied. Ryuu smirked devilishly.
"Oh, I know Mariah! Damn, she's cute in all those pictures. Maybe I could meet her and ask her on a date…" he trailed off with a smirk when the neko glared at him.
"Hey, she's like my little sister okay? Don't even think about it." he warned, and Ryuu chuckled.
"Nah, nah, I get it. Just pulling your leg. Trust me, Hitoshi is my non-blood bro. No one believes it, considering I'm a sexy rebel bastard and he's the intelligent sexy type." he said, then rested the weight down again to get another drink, "I think I'm done the weights…"
Ray moved from curls to where Ryuu had been before, but before starting on the weights, he looked around. Max was still launching Draciel, the green blade skating along the ground and various objects.
Draciel flew back into his palm, and Max smiled at it for a moment. He and Draciel had come a long way.
"Now," he reloaded his launcher, "Let's do this again! Let it riiiiiip!"
The beyblade flew from the launcher, and landed perfectly, spinning in one place for a moment before it shot off. Dodging around weight and training machines, he watched Ray's eyes as the blade zoomed around the bar of his weights. The neko's expression was pretty funny.
"Sorry Ray!" he called before moving so he could catch his blade again, "Perfect!"
Ray scowled, have wiped away the shocked expression of wide eyes, open mouth, and a small squeak.
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"Aw, c'mon! Why do I have to be the only one to run laps?" Tyson panted, taking off his hat to wipe away the thick sheen of sweat on his forehead with said cap.
"You're not the only one now!" a feminine voice echoed behind him, and he abruptly spun, launcher already in hand.
"Who's there?" he called, setting Dragoon in his launcher.
There was a rustle before Katsumi dropped from above, and landed in a crouch with one hand on the ground. She flipped her ponytails back, and popped up with a grin.
"Heya Ty!" she said, "Figured you needed a partner. I got water too."
She held out a bottle for him, and he eagerly snatched it. Trust Tyson to forget to grab a water bottle before he started running around a mansion that was only two floors high. The building itself was about fifteen thousand feet by the area of the first floor. That would be a little less than three MILES in area…
"Thanks, I needed that." Tyson panted, wiping his mouth, "How big is this place?"
"Well, it IS a mansion. The owner of this house is loaded, I mean, I have a television in my kitchen! That's pretty awesome." she stretched out her legs muscles quickly before stretching her back once. She looked over to Tyson, "Shall we?"
Tyson groaned, "Fine. Still dunno why I have to do laps…" he grumbled under his breath as the two started running.
"Think about it, at least you get to run with a girl!" Katsumi replied with a chuckle, jumping onto a random stump and getting a few feet again by leaping off.
"Yeah, great." replied the teenager sarcastically.
Katsumi gave him a look, "You're seventeen right? Are you sure you've gone through puberty? You're seriously not interested in girls? Unless…. Men?"
"What?!" Tyson gasped, and promptly tripped over his own feet and fell flat on the ground. Moaning in pain, he mentally rolled his eyes when he realized Katsumi was laughing hysterically.
"Sorry, sorry! I didn't realize you were gay!" she gasped in laughter.
"No! I'm not gay!" he protested, looking up from the ground, and reaching up to wipe off the dirt.
Katsumi's head tilted to the side, "You're not?" then she perked her head, "Wow, she's already caught me- OOF!"
She rolled onto the ground as suddenly a golden jackal barreled into her, barking enthusiastically. While Tyson got back onto his feet the female and jackal wrestled around. When she noticed him up, and quickly flipped the jackal off and bouncing to her feet.
"Sorry. Kin can't jump around on ceilings, so she took the long way round" she explained, "Shall we?"
The two resumed chatting, this time Kin trotting at their side. The two chatted the whole time, and Tyson found that although she was odd, she wasn't that bad of a person. She definitely wasn't Hilary, she could at least go twenty minutes without getting into a screaming fest with him. And Kin was also very friendly, since Katsumi didn't seem upset or angry.
"Hey, what's your grandfather like?" she asked at one point, and he groaned.
"Oh my goodness, he's insane! He's always trying to get me to be serious about kendo, and will attack at random times." he burst, running a hand over his face. He grimaced at the sticky feel from perspiration.
"Sounds like he loves you." Katsumi replied with a devilish grin, turning so she was running backwards and facing him, "But seriously, will we be able to meet him?
"I hope not." replied the teenager, and the two continued to silence for the rest of jogging, until Kenny came out and met them at the front of the mansion. Katsumi smiled, and snatched the towel from Kenny's hands that was aimed for Tyson.
"Thanks Chief! Just what I needed!" she grinned over her shoulder at Tyson, then stuck out her tongue. Kenny rolled his unseen eyes as Tyson imitated her, and the two stood there like children with their tongues out until in a flash, Katsumi had grabbed Tyson's and pulled. The boy cried out in surprise.
"What the hell??" he sputtered, his tongue hanging out of his mouth like an idiot.
"Gotcha!" she laughed, and she and Kin escaped inside, "I'm taking a cold shower!"
"She had to announce that…" Tyson muttered, and then turned to Kenny, "Anything new Chief?"
"Not really. Just making sure you were actually keeping to the exercise Kai assigned you to." replied the petite teenager, clutching his sacred laptop containing Dizzi.
"You think I wouldn't?" the blue-haired teenager pouted, and crossed his arms, "You got another towel?"
"Nope! You'll have to get one yourself!" the Chief's grin was wide, and Tyson nearly cried.
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Maiko watched Kai and the others from her small perch on the chin-up bar. The book she was reading, Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer, was good, but having all of the distracting noises made her curious to watch them. Kai had actually gotten to training, and was currently launching Dranzer to do a series of complex maneuvers involving hitting cans, going along bars and walls and tree branches, and other fancy show-off moves.
Her mismatched eyes then shifted to Max, who had actually gone to help Ray by now. Katsumi had returned, Kin trotting as her side with her tongue lolling out. Tyson followed shortly after, his face bright red from his run. It was funny that Katsumi had already cooled off, her hair now sopping wet and back in two neat ponytails, while Tyson was still panting and drinking water, trying to cool down.
Ryuu was lounging around, his iPod blasting some random metal band. Probably Dragonforce, which was his latest fad. Mai couldn't help but admit that the band wasn't bad.
Hitoshi had disappeared, claiming that there was something he had to do. Maiko knew that he was probably just trying to get in contact with his parents, who were moderately wealthy, and very busy. He still hadn't gotten in contact with them.
Her head tipped slightly, her long ponytail swinging as she listened to Konta's whines. The fox kit had been sitting beneath her the whole time, vying for attention. With a sigh, she shifted so she was suddenly upside down and hanging by her legs. A quick swing and she flipped down onto her feet. She didn't go far from her crouched position as she was promptly pushed to the ground by an over affectionate fox kit, who proceeded to rain kisses on her face.
Ryuu glance over to see the silent redhead grinning while trying to lessen the amount of love she received from the fox. It made him laugh as he pressed pause on his music.
"See how it feels Sparks? You and your puppy love attack?" he called, and Maiko sent him a deadly glare as she pulled out her fan. His eyes widened, then calmed as he flipped her off and turned on his music again. The fan snapped shut the mere inch it had been opened and she slid it back into the two straps around her pant legs to hold her weapon in one spot.
"Konta." she said firmly, "Enough."
The tiny red fox backed off to sit on her belly, his puffy and white tipped tail wagging. She ruffled the fur between his pointed ears before scooping him up so she herself could sit up. It was then she noticed everyone was looked at her oddly. Red washed over her face, and she jumped to her feet to storm out.
'Is it wrong to be affectionate?!' she thought to herself with a sigh, 'I guess it is with me… Oh well.'
Flipping her book open to the page she'd been on previously, Konta easily nestled on top of her head as she continued through her day, ignoring the stares she received that day. Maybe being with new people wouldn't drive her insane.
She really didn't want to go back to her old therapist. That room always smelled like cabbage, and the old hag wouldn't let Konta in.
Other than the looks, the rest of the day was normal. She didn't have to do the dishes as usual, and no one had inspired her wrath.
"SPARKS! GET KONTA OUT OF HERE! GAH FUCK!"
Well, except for Ryuu. For flipping her off, she let Konta be his affectionate self and glomp the rebel.
That made the day a good day.
A/N: As a reward for me finally finishing the last TWO paragraphs of chapter seven that I have been working on for a ridiculous amount of time (and trust me, when you read them they are not impressive), I am posting chapter four! I think I got enough reviews to make me happy so I'm putting it up! And since I forgot the reply to my reviews, I'll do all of the ones I forgot. But I will be in a bit of a slum. My friend and favorite pet, my bearded dragon Smaug, just died this morning, and I just buried him an hour or two ago. I hate death, so even his has really hurt me. So if anything, I might write something angsty T.T But don't worry, I hope to be back to normal soon. I just hope your reviews will bring a smile to my face again.
Review Replies
Red On The Head: Awwww, thank you! I hate ending my chapters, I never know how to do it! But your review has made me confidant! :) And I love using vivid words, I think it describes the scenery and words so much better!
BlueChic: Was this soon enough for you? :)
TalaTati19: RAINBOWS AND BUNNIES!! Teehee. And yes, I KNOW I took forever to update. BUT! I want your next chapter, or I might kidnap a certain little poodle called Bibi! -evil cackle-
FairyDyris: Don't worry, I do not intend to make the Flameblades too powerful. But I'm also following how the show often worked, making it seem like they're all too powerful for the team. But they do have their weakness's, and they come in during the tournament. But there are three months till them! If no one knew that yet... oops... And yes, I love to write about food, but them it makes me wish I could cook... T.T
Fade To Blue: :) It should be soon, if not in this chapter. If not, I'll edit the next chapter to have it!
marishka91: You're review made my heart run in happy little circles! Wth you and several other reviewers, if you review each chapter, it will keep me typing! Thank you so much! -huggles-
Rene Miashi: Another reviewer joins the troop! Thanks for the review and I hope you can help me along with this story! The more reviews I get, the longer this story goes without me losing my writing gas permanently!!