Hey all readers. I think it's obvious that the names of the Bladebreakers in this story are not mine. However, Sam Coredori and her bitbeast Drazema. Along with the team the Carnivora Catz and their bitbeasts are all mine so please don't take them without my position. Thanks bb4564
Chapter 19 – Back to basics!
Sam awoke early the net morning to the sound of her alarm going off. Groaning to herself, she somehow managed to pull herself out of bed and grabbing a change of clothes, she made her way to the bathroom. After having a quick shower, she changed into a pair of black tracksuit pants and a tight fitting red shirt. She then ran a quick brush through her wet hair, pulling back into a tight bun, before stepping out.
Kai was already making himself some toast and drinking a cup of tea when she emerged. Without saying anything to him, she grabbed herself a mug and made a cup of coffee for herself, adding two sugars to it. "On no…." Kai murmured, watching her closely. "What?" Sam asked sleepily. "I can't wait to see you on caffeine and sugar!" he said dryly. Sam stuck her tongue out at him as she took a sip of her coffee and felt some energy returning to her body. She couldn't believe how tired she was.
Kai obviously wasn't too impressed either. "I hope you aren't going to be too tired to practice," he said with mock concern. "There's only nine weeks before the Championships and we need to work on team battling." Sam made some non-committal comments as she continued to sip her coffee and let her mind wander. After a moment she realised Kai was calling her. "Sam?"
"Huh? Wha-?" She looked up at Kai but he just shook his head. "Were you even listening?" Sam didn't reply. Instead she stared into space, her mind for once empty of all thoughts.
That was until Kai interrupted her once more. "Come on!" he ordered, "Time for practice!" Sam didn't move, her whole body too relaxed to even think of doing anything. "Come on Sam!" Kai demanded, grabbing her arm. Sam blinked in surprise. "Huh? Oh right! Sorry." She quickly sculled the rest of her coffee and headed for the door. Suddenly she paused. "I'll be back in a sec," she called, running back into her room.
Reaching under her pillow she pulled out the medallion and placed it around her neck, hiding it under her shirt. Running back out, she saw Kai hadn't bothered to wait for her, but was heading towards the elevator, banging on his team mates doors as he went. Max poked his head out of his door and smiled at Sam as she walked past. "I take it Kai isn't in the best of moods?" Sam shook her head smiling back as she headed for the elevator.
Kai was already waiting beside it for the doors to open. Sam stood against the wall and closed her eyes. She couldn't wait to start blading. It felt like it had been an eternity since she had last bladed. Just as Max showed up, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Sam smiled a welcoming to him, walking into the elevator and hitting the 'B' button. The doors slid shut again and Max talked to Sam about a new move he'd been practicing and if she could help him. Sam readily agreed and as soon as they hit their floor, she and Max went over to the dish.
A couple of minutes later the rest of the team showed up, dragging a very unhappy Tyson. "Kai…" he whined as soon as he saw him, dragging the word out. "It's Sunday for heavens sake. Can't we have the day off?" Kai just ignored him, watching as Sam taught Max how to balance on the edge of the dish. Max's blade however kept missing the mark and he'd ever stop too early or topple over the edge.
After a while, Kai grew bored and went to practice with the cones, as Sam had down yesterday. As he bladed he could hear Sam talking to Max. "The trick is knowing when to slow down and speed up…" Sam said after a moment, "but you also need to have good balance," she added seeing Max's blade wobble slightly. Max recalled his blade and looked at Sam. "Can you show me?" Sam nodded and pulled out her blade. Launching it into the dish, she showed Max how it was done, circling the rim a couple of times before recalling it. Max watched in amazement. "You make it looks so easy!" He commented after a moment. "It's not!" Sam replied, "It takes a lot of practice and patience."
"Something Sam's renowned for!" Kai suddenly added, from his side of the room.
Sam glared at him, and then noticed his blade, which was taking on the course at top speed and without any difficulty. Sam smiled. "See how Kai's blade is able to swerve at just the right time…" Max nodded, watching Kai's blade, "that's what you need to work on. In fact you should try doing something like this." Taking out her blade, she launched it onto the course and watched it take the course, gaining speed. Once she was sure it had enough she headed straight towards a cone. Max waited for her to turn but instead she allowed her blade to run into it.
Max expected it to rebound and stop spinning but it didn't. Instead at the last moment Sam got her blade to tilt back and go straight up, stopping at the very top and spinning in one place. Max whistled appreciatively. "Now that's hard!" Sam shook her head. "No, it's basic." She replied. "Once you can get your blade to control its speed and balance, you can do just about any trick without too much difficulty. It's all about going back to basics." Just the Kai's blade shot past the cone Sam's blade was balancing on, causing it to rock slightly from the speed of Kai's blade going past. Sam's blade bent with the cone, managing to stay on top.
Sam watched Kai's blade for a moment in thought. "Kai for example," she said suddenly, turning to Max, "would have no difficulty pulling off this kind of a trick," she glanced at Kai, "with the proper training." Kai rolled his eyes. "What?" Sam demanded, "It's true." But Kai just recalled his blade and glared at her. "Of course Dranzer can do it!" he snapped, "Its not that hard!" Sam pointed to the course. "Then show me what you can do." Kai shrugged, launched his blade and waited for it to gain speed.
He then directed it to the cone opposite Sam's and commanded it to go up. It obeyed his command, tilting back slightly as it started to climb the cone. "It's not going to make it," Sam remarked, as Dranzer began the ascent. Kai glanced at her, wondering how she knew hat, then back at his blade, which to his surprise was starting to wobble. He recalled his blade and glared at Sam, whose blade was still spinning on top of the cone.
Sam smiled cheekily. "Oh come on Kai. It's not that hard!" Kai narrowed his eyes, reloading his blade. Launching it, he tried the same manoeuvre, but again Dranzer didn't make the rise without wobbling and sliding down again. Sam watched Kai's expression and saw he was getting frustrated. Recalling her blade she launched it, and let it climb another cone, and allowed it to spin on top before recalling it. Kai watched it but couldn't see a difference between that and what he had done.
Sam glanced at him. "Want a hand?" Kai crossed his arms over his chest. "When I want help from a girl I'll ask for it!" Sam shrugged and turned to Max. "You see Max," she said, making sure Kai could hear her, "the difference between Kai and I, is that I know what I'm doing." She didn't look at Kai as she spoke, but knew he was listening. "You see Kai doesn't gain enough speed and doesn't get his blade to tilt enough to take the cone. He doesn't have enough faith in his blade." With that she headed over to the dish, not looking back at Kai.
Tyson and Ray were battling each other and Sam pretended to be interested in their battle, but she watched Kai out of the corner of her eye. As she watched she saw him examine his blade before launching it. He didn't say anything, but after a moment she saw it heading up a cone and balancing on the top. Kai recalled it and launched it again. The same thing happened. Recalling his blade he suddenly glanced up and caught Sam's eyes. Sam smiled at him in way of congratulations but Kai just ignored her and continued practicing. "You're welcome," she muttered sarcastically under her breath as she watched Tyson win the battle and stepped up to have a go against him.
At the end of the day Sam was feeling more tired then ever. Kai hadn't said a word to her since training but she had caught his eyes on her a couple of times and wondered what his problem was. Just because she was a girl, didn't mean she was lower then he was. Still, she didn't say anything to him, wanting to be the more mature one for once.
At the end of practice Kai called everyone's attention. "Tomorrow we shall be having a different kind of training." They looked at him in interest. Except Sam, who leant against a wall in boredom, wondering what lecture he was going to give now. What he said next however, took her by surprise. "I think Sam's right when she says we need to get back to basics, so tomorrow, she will be teaching us some manoeuvres to help us with our speed and balance." With that he turned away, not looking at anyone as he headed for the elevator.
Everyone's eyes flickered between Sam and Kai's as she stared at him. 'Did he just say I was right?' she thought, unable to believe her ears. The boys had to be thinking the same thing as a moment later Tyson spoke up. "Did Kai just say someone else was right? As in other then him? And about a girl?" He looked about his team mates in shock, before looking at Sam and smiling warmly. "So coach…" he said after a moment, hope showing in his eyes. "How about a sleep in tomorrow?"
Sam drew her eyes away from Kai and smiled at Tyson. "Not a chance!" she said as she walked towards the elevator. Without looking back she suddenly heard a groan and a thump and shook her head. This day had indeed been interesting.