Beyblade Prequel
Nighttime always held something special in her soul, as if the simple sight of the shining silver moon surrounded by sparkling stars could invigorate her heart. It was a beautiful night in the faraway lands of Germany where atop a secluded hill surrounded by dense forests rest what looks like an old abandoned fortress.
The gentle traveling breeze caressed her face and sent locks of silky black hair flying against her cheeks as she stared up at the infinite sky. She could stay out there forever if the night lasted forever but unfortunately, just like every day, the moon would disappear in a few hours to leave her spot in the highest of the sky to the bright sun.
A knock then suddenly echoed in the big old room behind her and she jumped on her feet, leaving the comfort of a richly decorated velvet chair that sat on the balcony to graciously travel toward the door.
"Who is it?" She asked faintly with her soft voice
"Robert." Replied the strong yet calm voice of her current team leader
Satisfied, she opened the door, pulling on the heavy handle with both hands as the door creaked and allowed enough place for the visitor to step in. Robert Jürgen, heir to a noble German family and current leader of the Majestics entered her room and closed the door behind him. Even though he was just a teenager, he was already tall and dignified, with hair sleeked back on his head, a serious expression on his face and a straight posture.
"Would you like to join me in the library, Masami?"
She raised her head to look up at him. With her small 4'8" compared to his 5'6", she truly looked like a child standing beside him but then again, she probably was one by his standards but that didn't bothered her at all. As a smile appeared on her features, she nodded.
"I would love to."
It had been a year since she first arrived in Germany to be introduced as the fifth member of this top champion of Europe team. After winning the Great-Britain regionals, she had been offered a position and readily accepted, glad that she could move up and keep training with her beyblade but what she didn't expect was to come upon a group of close-minded rich boys who, even though they were a "team", never worked together at all and who preferred to spend their time each to his own rather than gather and behave like normal teenagers.
Robert escorted young Masami, 12 years old, around the castle, his castle and requested that tea and snacks be prepared for them and brought to the library room. It had become a habit in this past year though. Robert would disappear somewhere on his own, like the other guys, leaving Masami alone in her room and then he would show up late and invite her in his private study where they either played chess, talked strategy or just sat down and read books. Sometimes, Oliver, Enrique and Johnny would join with them and then it would get lively, bringing a genuine smile of happiness on Masami's face. She hated to be left alone. Back in her father's estate in Great-Britain, she always had live-in servants, a nanny and the household around and it made such a big place more fun to live in but this castle looked abandoned from both views: outside AND inside and this made her sad.
When finally they reached the study, Masami was surprised to be greeted by the trio Oliver, Enrique and Johnny, all three busy doing something each on their side of the room as if the others didn't exist at all but when she stepped in the room, they turned their attention to her.
The first to come greet her was Oliver.
"Bonsoir Mademoiselle. Vous êtes resplendissante. "He spoke in French, his mother tongue but since it wasn't the first time she heard him say that to her, she knew what it meant and giggled.
"Merci." She replied with a light blush, still uncomfortable speaking in another language and he took her hand to lead her toward the sofa where Enrique was seated.
"This dress looks so cute on you! You'll be the most beautiful once you're fully grown up! Tell me, would you date me when you are?"
Enrique teased her but at the same time she wondered if he truly meant what he said to her. After all, even at 14 years old, Enrique was a womanizer and a pervert though he hadn't hit on her even after a year of living together as a team because he preferred older girls but still, his words were to be taken lightly.
"I would prefer to stay your friend, Enrique." Masami replied with a smile as she took place beside him and she saw him feign an arrow piercing his heart, which made her laugh softly.
"Stop acting like a fool, Enrique. I received important news."
Robert suddenly interrupted their laughter as he took his usual seat at the big richly decorated desk that was placed in the center of the library. Immediately, Enrique regained his serious and the whole room went silent with only the usual sound of the wind cracking through the old wood of the walls. Just as expected from the leader, he could put anyone back to their place and obtain their attention in just a second but at the same time it was more that nobody dared to stand up against him, even Johnny, who was exceptionally calm and quiet this evening.
"In result to our defeat in the World championship, I have reviewed our training schedule and updated them. I will require better performance of each of you and if you can't keep up, you'll be out."
The tense atmosphere was heavy above their head as Masami looked down at her hands and realized she was holding the fabric of her dress in worry.
Their loss wasn't her fault, she kept telling herself. She had worked hard, trained hard and even tried to ask for advices and technique coaching to improve her skills from Robert and everyone else but this team lacked something fundamental to any team that ever wants to win. They lacked teamwork and as a result, they'd been unable to stand long in the championship, having been defeated early on in the competition.
"Furthermore."
The strong voice of Robert echoed in her mind, bringing her back to earth where she realized all eyes were turned toward her.
"Excuse me?" She asked, confused and embarrassed to have been spacing out on such an important meeting.
"Your grand-father personally requested that you go back to Japan."
"What?" Oliver and Enrique both asked in surprise.
"Meh."
The arrogant voice that ringed around the room called out from the back as Johnny rolled back on his feet, leaving the comfort of the sofa he had been laying on to stare straight at everyone.
"Girls aren't strong enough to be top beybladers anyway. "
"What did you say?!" Enrique replied angrily to Johnny but the targeted one couldn't care less.
"I understand. How soon?" Masami replied, ignoring Johnny's mockeries.
"First thing in the morning, I have your plane ticket here. I will arrange for transportation to take you to the airport."
"Thank you, is this all?" She asked while trying to keep as much of a serious expression as she could.
Robert nodded coldly to her and she bowed herself out of the room. She had closed the door for only a few seconds that the loud voices of Johnny and Enrique caught up with her as she heard them argue over and over, she could hear her name as Enrique defended her against a stubborn Johnny who believed her to be a weakness to the team and the prime reason for their loss.
Whatever, he had never been really kind to her to begin with but she was actually sad and hurt to be leaving Oliver, Enrique and Robert behind.
With a sigh, she returned to her room and started packing under the watchful eye of the moon.
2 years later
It was a beautiful sunny day in Japan with festivals running day and night, children running out of school as they were excited to finally be able to play with their friends at their favorite game. It was summer but like many others, Masami had classes to attend to and as the lady of a top of the notch family, she had them from morning to evening.
"Are you listening, young lady?" Her private teacher slapped a rolled up newspaper in front of her, which snapped her back to reality.
"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
The teacher sighed, running a hand under her tiny glasses in exasperation.
"How do you wish to become a full lady if you don't pay attention to my lessons?"
Masami pondered over the question for a moment.
"Becoming a lady is not on the top of my list for the moment. I want to be-"
"Ah! Not this again! You want to be a World Beyblade Champion you've said so MANY too many a time."
The teacher made it clear that the discussion was closed after that and Masami had no choice but to keep it together as she looked out the window. Today was such an important day too...
Hours later, fireworks were sent out in the sky over the Beyblade Dome, announcing the end of the Regionals. Inside, the crowd was in fire as they applauded and cheered for the newly formed team that would represent Japan to the World Championship. Apparently, it had been a very interesting battle between the last two opponents and Masami sighed when she entered the arena to see that everything was already over.
"I missed everything…"
She felt a pang in her heart with sadness and deception at her own failure. If only she'd been able to run off during her lessons but sometimes she was just too soft.
"Ah, there you are my child!"
Mr. Dickenson, current president of the Beyblade Battle Association, BBA in short, walked up to her with his cheery smile and she smiled back, happy to see him.
"Grandpa! I'm so sorry I couldn't make it in time."
"Oh don't worry my dear. Would you like to accompany me? It's about time I greet the winners and make my announcement."
"Is that okay? I mean, I wasn't even part of the tournament …"
Mr. Dickenson laughed and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Have more confidence in yourself! Now, will you do me the honor?"
On that, he offered her his arms like a gentleman does when he's about to escort a lady and she giggled. Her grandfather was always so courtly, sometimes she dreamed that one day she would marry a man like him.
The crowd quickly erupted in cheers when Mister Dickenson and Masami walked together in the arena and quickly, DJ Jazzman began his excited announcement.
"And now, we have the pleasure to announce Mister Dickenson, president of the BBA, who will personally congratulate the winners and… Woah! We have a special guest, friends! We have the beautiful and talented Masami Nakajima, who went to the World Championship two years ago as a member of the European's Majestics! Heeeeeey!"
Surprised at the mention of her name, Masami looked up at the crowd and smiled happily at the people waving at her and cheering for her. Beside her, Mr. Dickenson waved toward the crowd with a smile on his face as the two of them walked toward the winners who were still celebrating their victory.
"Congratulations to all of you. This was a very interesting tournament and I'm proud of what you all have shown today. Especially you, young Tyson, have a lot of potential."
The said Tyson, a hyperactive, super excited guy literally jumped in the air as he happily screamed his happiness to the whole wide world. Behind him, blonde Max, waved toward Masami and stepped up to her with a huge smile.
"Hey, I didn't know you were back in the country, Masami!"
Finally deciding to let go of formalities, Masami released her grand-father's arm and hugged Max when he feigned being mad at her for not telling him she was back from an overseas trip.
"I'm sorry! As soon as I got back, my tutor wouldn't let go of me, she even made me miss the whole tournament."
"That's too bad! " Max replied with a laugh and just then, Tyson let out a surprised gasp that turned everyone's attention to him.
"You're Masami Nakajima! The real one!"
Embarrassed, Masami looked over her friend Max for help but all he did was pat her back with a big smile on his face.
"You're making me shy I'm not that great…"
"I think it's impressive for a 12-years old to get to the World Championship."
A Chinese young man named Ray stepped forward and smiled gently to her as if to show her that she deserved this bit of recognition. In return, she smiled back and nodded, accepting his remark.
"I suppose so. Thank you."
"Well now, I don't know about you but this whole tournament has made me hungry. Who wants to eat?"
Mister Dickenson offered to pay for lunch as the new team, called the Bladebreakers, headed together out to a restaurant but as everyone happily gathered toward the exit, where the president's luxurious car waited for them, Masami realized that one of the guys seemed rather off.
"Um, are you feeling sick?" She asked tentatively but it was true that he did look like he was feeling bad.
The tall guy simply looked down at her, his light-coloured eyes feeling cold on her.
"It's none of your business."
His voice was deep and strict, something that could easily send anyone running away but Masami shrugged, telling herself he probably needed some time to regain his composure before he would talk.
Mr. Dickenson's car drove the little team to a fancy restaurant Masami was well accustomed to. It was a traditional Japanese gourmet restaurant with private rooms and waitresses wearing kimonos. It was really clean, intimate and the food there was absolutely delicious.
As could prove Tyson's rage as he eagerly picked food from every dishes available and stuffed it all in his mouth. Without swallowing the previous bite.
"So, I have gathered you here so that we could talk business." Mr. Dickenson started after everyone had gathered around a table.
"Are you planning on making money out of us?" Ray asked in a defensive manner and immediately, Masami stepped in.
"No, he's not like that. My grand-father is trustworthy." She said with confidence shining in her eyes.
Her grand-father chuckled, looking amused and he held a hand to his mustache.
"Well, saying that I don't get money out of this would be a lie, sweet child. But no, I don't plan on making any profit out of you young people."
With an apologetic look, Ray nodded to Masami who replied with a smile before she returned to her seat calmly.
"By the way grandpa, why was I brought along? I mean, I didn't participate in the tournament so I shouldn't be here."
"Ah! I was waiting for someone to ask me that question but it seems everyone here is glad to have you here."
Mr. Dickenson chuckled again, bringing a light pink color to Masami's cheeks as she looked around at the room filled with guys her age, one of whom was a childhood friend and another who appeared as red as a tomato as he forced the food down his throat.
"Hey Tyson, you're bright red, are you okay?" Kenny asked when he noticed his friend was awfully quiet but quickly, Tyson replied all the while stuffing yet another chopstick of food in his mouth.
"I'm awright!"
"Here you should drink something." Masami gently poured tea in his empty cup with a smile on and the only effect was to bring yet another flash of red on Tyson's face.
The president then cleared his throat as if to excuse himself for disturbing a private exchange and continued with his explanation.
"So, first of all, all of you reunited in this room will now be a team. I have decided from what I have seen at the tournament that Kai would be the captain of the Bladebreakers."
"Eh." A confident smile appeared on Kai's face like it was the obvious choice.
"Why should he be the captain? He wouldn't even be able to talk with his teammates!" Tyson suddenly exclaimed angrily.
"Tyson, you should really sit down." Kenny suggested in a soft voice but it was not enough to calm angry Tyson.
"The reason is that I think Kai is mature enough to hold the place of leader. All together you have your differences and if you all work together, you can bring the best of everything but also, help strengthen weaknesses. This, my sweet child, is the primary reason I asked you to come here."
Dickenson turned toward his grand-daughter with a smile.
"Masami, you didn't participate in this year's regionals but you have great potential. Your participation in the World Championship two years ago grants you the chance to retry this year as a Japanese representative. You're a good girl with a goal that you share with these young gentlemen and I believe now is the best chance for you to achieve it. All of you together."
He said as he turned to everyone and met their gaze as if he wanted to send his wishes to them.
"As of now, everyone here in this room is a member of the Bladebreakers!"
Next in Chapter 2….