A/N: Here's chapter 6! Thank you, whyamidoingthis01, for your brutally honest review! I really appreciated it! Maybe you'll feel different about my pairings as the story progresses, eh? and By the way, i don't mind bad reviews as long as they're not rude. and i DID plan ahead. i thought i'd let you know. i'm not writing this in a haphazard way. that's the only part of your review that really stung. apart from that, thank you for taking the time to give your opinion; it'll help me out a lot. i hope you keep reading. thanks to Jessica Broward for the review too.
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Hilary tiptoed to deck. It was late at night and she was dead sleepy but she had caught a glimpse of a certain navy-haired boy with a baseball cap sitting alone on deck, beside the pool (AN: Yes, there are pools on cruises!) Wondering why he was sitting so silently and still (which was very uncharacteristic of the spirited beyblader), she decided to sit with him or a while.
"What're you thinking about?" said Hilary, sitting beside him, her legs dangling over the edge of the pool.
Tyson seemed to snap out of a reverie, looking up. The thoughtful expression on his face made him look very intelligent. "Oh, hi Hil," he said in a low voice. "Nothing really, just thinking about the times when we were the Bladebreakers."
"Oh?" asked Hilary in surprise. "Anything specific?"
"Yeah, we used to be such great friends, all of us," said Tyson, with a small smile. "And then the team split up." His face darkened. "All because they all wanted to beat me. Sometimes I think that maybe I should have let them win; maybe then they wouldn't be against me."
"Aw," said Hilary, squeezing his arm. "It doesn't matter if they felt like that once, Tyson. Now they don't. Now you're best of friends, right?"
"Yeah," said Tyson, looking marginally happier. "We are." He looked up at the stars. Beside him, Hilary yawned. "You should go to bed," he said, turning towards her.
"No, no," she replied, stifling another yawn. "I'll sit with you."
With a shrug, Tyson turned back again, gazing at the night sky. "You know, Hil," he said softly. "We've been through a lot of tight spots together and you've stuck with me through thick and thin. I want to thank you for that." He felt a weight on his shoulder, and saw that Hilary was resting her head there and had gone to sleep.
He was about to wake up when the thought suddenly occurred to him that she wouldn't like being woken. So he lifted her up gently, so as to let her sleep, and walked to the cabin she shared with Julia, Matilda and Mariah. He knocked and walked in. All three girls were awake and they looked startled to see him. Matilda was about to say something when he put a finger to his lips, gently lowering Hilary onto one of the bunks.
"Sh," he whispered, "I don't want to wake her up." Saying this, he left the room, leaving the three girls to stare at the door.
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Ray rested his chin on the railing, smiling a little. He had seen the whole thing and had been extremely surprised about how thoughtful and considerate Tyson could be. It was strange; sometimes he could be the most tactless person on earth, caring about nothing but himself, going about things in the most headstrong way. Then, suddenly, he would undergo a complete transformation and turn into a totally sensitive, caring guy.
As for Hilary, it was obvious that she cared a lot about Tyson, much more than any other team mates, but Tyson seemed completely oblivious to that. Ray started thinking about ways to let Tyson know indirectly.
Looking to his right, he noticed for the first time that Salima was standing a little way off. Maybe she could help. He walked over to her.
"You saw the whole thing?" asked Ray.
"Yes," replied Salima, nodding. "I never saw that side of Tyson before…"
"Yeah, sometimes I think he doesn't even know it's there," said Ray. They both laughed. "So we have to tell him somehow."
"I see what you're getting at," said Salima thoughtfully. "Maybe we could…
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Next day:
Tyson wasn't waking up and it was already lunchtime. Even the mention of food didn't wake him up. It was because he had stayed up till pretty late last night, not being able to go to sleep. Kai, Ray and Max (who shared the cabin with him) had tried every method possible to wake him up but it just wasn't working.
Finally, in desperation, they turned to Hiro. "Don't worry," he said grimly. "I know exactly what to do. It takes a combination of events to get him up, not just one glass of water on his face or a yell in his ear."
He strode into the room, snatched Tyson's blanket, whacked him on the back, threw a jug of icy water at him, and then yelled, "GET UP! NOW!"
"Alright, alright," mumbled Tyson, sitting up. "I'm up already." Grumbling, he walked past Hiro, living a trail of water behind him (Hiro hadn't been the only one throwing water at him!)
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At the ship's small restaurant, everyone was sitting at different tables and eating. The Barthezes and F-Dynasty were at one table. Raul was sitting beside Matilda, deep in conversation with her. Julia was discussing beyblading with Miguel, and Aaron and Claude were discussing nothing in particular.
As Miguel fell quiet, preoccupied with his food, Julia looked at Raul and Matilda. Raul seemed to be telling Matilda a joke. Matilda was giggling. Julia smiled in amusement, looking at the two of them. They were incredibly cute together. Just at that moment he looked up, noticing Julia's smile. He flushed and muttered, "Be right back", getting up to fetch something to drink. "Anyone want anything to drink?" he asked. No one did. He left the table.
Julia got up and sat next to Matilda. "So," she said with a smirk.
"So what?" asked the younger teen, going red.
"You and Raul," grinned Julia.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," replied Matilda.
"Right," replied Julia, in a voice which clearly showed she didn't believe her. "Well, I'll be going now," she said, wiping her hands on a napkin. "And just so you know, he likes you too." She walked off, leaving Matilda staring after her, bright red.
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Max walked down the hallway, when suddenly he heard banging. "What was that?" he wondered, looking around. Then, he saw Tyson and Michael (from the All stars) standing outside a small closet, sniggering. The banging was apparently coming from inside.
"Hey guys!" said Max brightly. "What's going on?"
"Kai's in there." said Tyson, pointing at the closet. "We locked him in."
Kai's voice came from inside the closet, "Let me out! Now!" He started ramming his shoulder against the door. "I'll break the door down… and when I do!"
"ARGH! RUN!" said Tyson, bolting. Michael and Max followed suit. They had no doubt in their minds that if Kai wanted to break down the door, he would break down the door. And they didn't want to around when he did.
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A/N: Right, i'm sorry about this chapter, because it was very short and very lame. well, i wrote it despite the fact i have writer's block so forgive me for the lapse :P and this update took longer than usual too, did it not? Well, sorry again. keep reading. it'll get better, i promise!
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