Zhaila didn't remember much from her life before the streets. She remembered her farther, and how he had adored her. Until his death. And then everything became this blur. Moving so quickly, like a ride you aren't enjoying, but they can't hear you yelling to get out. And now she was here.
'Wherever here is,' she sighed to herself.
Brushing down her woollen sleeves, and wrapping her coat around herself a little more, she continued down the alleyway. She had slept here for the last week. Her winnings from the small tourney in Birmingham all but gone, she saved what she had left for her food.
Sometimes she wondered weather the anonymity was worth the struggle. She could have won every single one of the tournaments she had entered. They were all small scale, designed for scouting new talent. And she didn't want to be scouted. She would coast through to the final, then throw the match. Subtly, of course. The runner-up prise money was enough to get her by, and she didn't want the attention of winning.
Now she was in London. Struggling again. And there were no small scale tourneys held in London.
She pulled the flyer from her pocket, and scanned over it again.
Registration was today. She would have to do and exhibition match, seeing as she wasn't represented by an agency, but she would win.
'I always win, when I want to.'
**********
Tyson was stoaked! He had been in England a whole week, and what a week it'd been!
He hadn't been dragged on a single sight seeing tour, or been lectured by Rei about taking in the culture. Kenny had been busy upgrading Max's Draciel, and today the pair of them had gone out to test the new model.
Tyson had just been left in the hotel to eat and sleep as he saw fit. And he was loving every moment!
He checked his watch. 12.30. Hmm. Maybe it's time to get some lunch, he thought, as he dragged himself out of his bed. Not even bothering to get dressed, he wandered into the lounge in his pyjamas. He walked past the second bedroom, and spotted Kai sat on his bed.
Not the most talkative of people on a good day, Kai had been almost silent the entire week. It struck Tyson as a little odd, as he made his way to the fridge and grabbed the first thing in sight. To be honest, today was the first time he had seen Kai in the hotel room. Normally, he would have left before anyone else woke up, and didn't return until late at night.
Strange, even for a loner like Kai.
With that thought, Tyson nearly jumped out of his skin, having walked right into the subject of his thought. He couldn't help but shout out in surprise, and he dropped his food on the floor. Kai just blinked at him, and then walked around him.
' Where are you going?' asked Tyson, regaining his composure a little.
' None of your business.'
' That doesn't mean I'm not interested! C'mon, buddy, wouldn't hurt to have some company y'know!' he said, putting his hand on Kai's shoulder.
Actually, that might have been a mistake, he thought, grimacing slightly at what was to come. But to his surprise, Kai merely shrugged.
' The wildcard entry exhibitions are this afternoon. You might want to check out the competition.'
' Nah, I'll just stay in bed. See ya.'
And he did. At least, he tried. Now that he thought about it, maybe he was getting a little bored. And he should, really, check out the wildcard. After all, that could be his opponent, and it always helped to have a little info to go on before the match.
Having convinced himself, he dressed and made his way down to the hotel lobby. He was about to ask the receptionist for directions, when a poster caught his eye.
BBA supported BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS! Registration, this way.
On second thought, how'd I miss it? He wondered as he followed the arrow. A series of the flyers had been strung up all down the street, leading to a huge city hall. Hundreds of hopeful looking people crowded around the door. He started making his way towards them, when someone grabbed his arm.
'Whoa! What the hell…?!'
'You need to chill out a bit,' came the playful voice of Max Tate, 'We get to use the back door, seeing as we're only spectating.'
Tyson followed him to a smaller door at the side of the hall, and through onto a balcony looking over the huge space. Twenty or so small beyblade battle dishes had been placed around the room, allowing more eliminations to take place at once. He watched as a redheaded boy won his match easily and punched the air. Absently he wondered how all these people would be narrowed down to one.
'They get it down to sixteen today, then they battle it out in the proper arena tomorrow,' Kenny piped up, as though reading his mind. 'It would help if I could narrow it down a bit, Dizzy can't hold data on all off them.'
'The redhead down to the left is doing pretty well,' Tyson said.
'Yeah, but so is the guy with the nose ring,' Max added, pointing to a tall blonde.
'Dark haired girl, far right.'
Tyson jumped. He hadn't heard anyone approach them, but Kai stood leaning against the wall behind them, arms crossed and with a look of mild interest on his face.
'Oh, yeah? What makes you so sure?' Tyson said, a little more confrontationally than he had intended.
'Call it champion's intuition,' Kai sneered back, before stalking away.
'Do you two always have to fight?' Kenny sighed.
'Well, he shouldn't be such a smartass!'
