I never thought I'd be writing about the shipping I've decided on for Hikaru, but apparently I can surprise myself. This chapter is also setting everything up so there's not much to it, but next time the story will really start.
Thank you for your reviews, Tiger demon of light, A.B.D.Y.Z, Random queen 101, and DragonFang2011! And actually I've been trying to decide if this is AU or not and so far the best I can figure is there may be beyblade involved, but the story has nothing to do with the actual plot line of the show. I think. So it's an AU with beyblade, if that makes any sense. I'm sure I'll actually figure this out the farther into the story I go because I'm still working out the plot.
I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade.
Mei Mei was the first off the plane. The other girls had managed to calm down slightly, but she hadn't been quite as lucky. Her excitement had only made the plane ride seem longer. She was ready to go. They hadn't even seen their destination yet; the airport was on a completely different island. To get to the condo, they'd be taking a boat out to their island.
Quickly, the girls picked up their luggage and left the airport. The first thing that hit Mei Mei as they walked out the door was the blasting summer heat. The second was the people.
The island was crowded beyond belief. Every time she took a step, she ended up bumping into someone. Mei Mei sincerely hoped the island they'd be staying on would be less populated.
"There's five islands near this one," Madoka informed her, as though reading her mind. "This one is the only one with an airport, so naturally there'd be more people."
"Let's just go find the boat," Sophie said impatiently. "I'm ready to get to the condo."
"Relax, we'll be there in plenty of time," Hikaru said.
Without wasting any time on the island, they took a bus to the docks. The bus was also crammed and hot so the girls dealt with it as best as they could.
After much searching and having to deal with more people than they thought possible, they managed to find the boat. Luckily, theirs was significantly less crowded than some of the other boats going out to the different islands. The boat set off a few minutes later.
From what they had gathered, the girls figured the ride would be just over an hour. Normally it wouldn't be too bad, but after being on a plane for hours on end already, the anticipation was killing them.
Sophie had taken out a magazine and was flipping through it in an attempt to solve her boredom, but it wasn't working. Hikaru and Madoka were looking through the guidebook for at least the fifth time. They didn't exactly seemed absorbed in that either. Mei Mei simply stared out at the ocean ahead.
Sophie shut her magazine and put it away. She went to go look over the railing. "Guys, come over here!"
The others raced over to see what she was talking about. A pod of dolphins was swimming right by the boat. They jumped up through the waves.
"That's amazing," Madoka breathed. The others stayed riveted to their spots, entranced. Eventually, the pod moved off in a different direction.
"I officially can't wait to get there!" Mei Mei cheered.
"You said that already. Before we got to the airport, when we got on the plane, when we were landing, and right before we got on the boat," Hikaru reminded her, amused.
Then, they got their first glimpse of the island they'd be spending their days on.
At first glance, it wasn't much to look at. The water was a darker, cloudier blue than the crystalline waters they had seen at the other islands, much to their dismay. The murkiness made it that much less appealing. The docks themselves were old and rickety. Ferns sprouted out all around the docks and grew up through the old rotting wood. As they unloaded their luggage and walked off, Mei Mei watched the creaking boards beneath her feet warily, almost expecting them to crumble apart and send her plummeting down.
The island definitely wasn't appearing to be be all that exciting so far. The docks were located on a rocky beach, with nothing much nearby, save a few old fishing cottages that were likely abandoned considering the greenery growing up around them. They exchanged a look. Where were all those things they had read about in the guidebook?
The captain of the boat had instructed them to head up the beach, then there would be a path for them to follow. Farther up the beach, the terrain changed from the rocky shore to that of a jungle. They could see the path weaving through the thick foliage.
The dense tropical plants proved to be a problem, especially as they trekked through with their luggage. Even though the path wasn't all that grown up, someone's luggage was constantly getting snagged on a tree root or some type of shrub.
"Mei Mei, are you sure you didn't get ripped off?" Hikaru groaned.
"Hey, you guys entered the contest, too. It seemed real," Mei Mei reminded them.
"It better be," Sophie remarked. "Otherwise we'll be stuck out here with nothing to do but spend time in this tropical jungle until its time to leave."
"It'd certainly be a summer to remember," Hikaru stifled a laugh.
"Joke all you want, that beach was definitely not one I want to spend my days on. Did you see all the seaweed? A little but is fine, but everywhere I stepped I was in a pile of it."
"True," Mei Mei said. "But maybe we just caught it at high tide or something."
"I wonder why this wasn't mentioned in the guidebook," Hikaru commented.
"Would you mention crawling though all these plants to get your beach house in a book that's supposed to help draw people to the island?" Sophie replied.
"Agh!" Madoka cried. She was a good five feet back. "You guys have to help me get this suitcase over the log!"
The other three rolled their eyes and smiled, but nonetheless went to help her.
After an exhausting twenty minutes, they reached the end of the path and the tropical jungle disappeared behind them. The girls couldn't tell, but they were all wearing identical faces of shock.
It was as though they were on a different island entirely.
They were surrounded by bustling streets and shops on every corner. People crowded the streets in an attempt to get where they were going. Palm trees were scattered around the area and the building structures differed greatly from what they were used to. Cars rolled past them and people were biking and walking all around. It was nothing like the part of the island they had experienced earlier.
It looked like they had reached the heart of the island.
Madoka looked around at the shops. "So that's where all these are." She waved the guidebook in the air.
"If we're in the town, then where's the condo?" Hikaru asked.
Mei Mei took out a list of directions from her bag. "According to what the contest organizers sent me, we should head down that street, then..."
They followed the directions, which led them past all the shops and towards the other end of the island. The shops became less and less the farther they got, but more houses began to appear. A little while later, they could hear waves up ahead. They were getting close.
"Is this beach going to be like the one we came in on?" Hikaru wondered aloud.
"Who cares? We're almost there, so it's not going to matter much what it looks like. Let's go!" Sophie shouted excitedly and took off ahead.
"Wait up!" The others yelled and chased after her.
Ahead of them were multiple different beach houses of varying sizes, shapes, and colors. Palm trees and other plant life surrounded them, but the atmosphere was completely different from the tropical jungle they had been in before. The plants were fewer in number by far. There were just enough to keep the beach slightly concealed and private from the rest of the world. Flowers decorated the area all around them.
Finally, the beach came into view. It was nothing like the rocky beach on which they had arrived earlier. Soft white sand stretched for miles around them. People lounged on towels all around them, but for the most part it wasn't very crowded. The sun shone brightly overhead. As for the ocean itself, it was a gorgeous turquoise color with varying shades of blues and greens. The waves crashed softly onto the beach. The girls stood in awe, disbelieving.
"We should probably head over to the condo now," Hikaru pointed out, snapping the others out of their stupor. "It's getting late."
"Really?" Mei Mei asked. Then she remembered. "Oh, right. I forgot about the time change." They had switched time zones while on their flight and were still adjusting. While it didn't feel all that late to them, it was really about 7pm. The sun may have still been up, but it would be descending in a few short hours.
They walked down the beach a ways until the beach houses began to look more and more similar. They had reached the condos.
"Which one is ours?" Madoka asked.
Mei Mei took a key out of her bag then looked at the set of directions she had been given. "It looks like we're in 17."
"Then it's just a little farther down," Hikaru noted.
After a short walking period, they reached the condo. The girls walked around it, examining the outside. The condo itself was somewhat large, about two stories, propped up on stilts high above the ground to help protect from any possible extreme weather. The back faced the ocean while the front looked toward the town. There was a large deck in the back that wrapped around to both sides that allowed for views from all different angles. For some reason, there were two sets of stairs to the left and right of the front of the house leading up to a small porch. Then they noticed the two doors.
"It's a duplex?" Sophie wrinkled her nose. "I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that, I just figured that for a contest it would be a little more... Exotic maybe? They advertised it as some huge thing, not as a duplex."
"It's really just a place to sleep and eat, anyway," Madoka reminded her.
"Maybe we can get into both halves of it. It could just be two separate places for people who rent it so the owners can get more money or something. But since we won, maybe it's different for us," Mei Mei put in optimistically.
She walked up to the first door and put the key in the door. Or, at least tried to. The key wouldn't fit. "Maybe not." They moved over to the other door. This time, the key went in no problem. Mei Mei twisted the handle and opened the door.
They walked into a small dining room with a table and four chairs set off to the side. The walls were painted blue with white trim. The table and chairs were also white. Throughout the entire condo, the floors were hardwood, most likely made from some type of tropical tree. The dining room led straight to a kitchen, with stainless steel appliances. For the most part, the condo had an open floor plan with few walls. Next to the kitchen was a living room. There was a white couch in the middle in front of a tv. A wooden coffee table with flower accents sat on top of a white rug. A door connecting the two halves of the duplex was off to the side in the living room. Mei Mei attempted opening it, but it didn't work. Also on the first floor, there was a small half bathroom. From there, there was a set of stairs leading to the second floor.
While the downstairs had been painted a bright blue color, the upstairs was painted a peach color. There were three rooms upstairs. A bathroom with a both a glass door shower and bathtub and two bedrooms. The bedrooms consisted of two twin sized beds, two dressers, a wall mirror, and a closet. Hikaru and Sophie took one room while Mei Mei and Madoka took the other. They dumped their luggage in the rooms, then went back downstairs.
"Let's go check out the back deck," Sophie suggested.
The deck had an amazing view. It overlooked the ocean perfectly. Because the house was on a raised platform, there were no obstructions. They could see everything.
At each corner, there was a small table surrounded by chairs. They could only go to the side deck on their side of the duplex. There were two small gates that led to the side decks, each requiring a key. Mei Mei found their key on the kitchen counter. The side deck didn't offer as much of a view, but it was much more private. It was directly across from another condo, but because they couldn't see much on the deck of the other condo, they assumed they couldn't be seen very well either.
They went back in to unpack.
Mei Mei and Madoka were busy divvying up the closet space when Madoka thought she heard a knock at the door down below. They went to check it out, but nobody was there. They went out on the porch to look around, but they still didn't see anyway so they went back upstairs, assuming they were just hearing things after their long day. Mei Mei finished unpacking her things relatively quickly and helped Madoka with her things afterward. They went back downstairs when they were done and sat at the dining room table. Sophie and Hikaru were still busy unpacking.
"Any idea what we should do tomorrow?" Mei Mei asked.
"Not really," Madoka responded. "We definitely need to go grocery shopping but beyond that, we can do whatever we want."
"Cool," Mei Mei nodded happily. They continued talking for a few minutes when they were suddenly interrupted.
"Guys, you've got to check this out!" Hikaru's excited voice called. They turned and saw her and Sophie looking in from the glass door that led to the back deck.
"I thought they were upstairs...?" Madoka said. "Anyway, lets go see what it is."
As soon as they stepped out the door, Madoka and Mei Mei knew exactly what Hikaru was talking about.
The sun was setting.
The sky was illuminated with reds, oranges, yellows, pinks, and purples. The colors swirled in the sky, almost like a watercolor painting. Clouds floated lazily across while the sun burned a fiery red. The sun's rays spread out across the horizon, growing dimmer and dimmer as the moon began to appear, a faint glow in the distance. It was truly amazing.
The girls stayed out on the deck until the sun had completely vanished from sight and night took over. Stars twinkled directly above them.
"Wow," Madoka whispered.
"I could get used to this," Sophie nodded.
"I think I'm going to bed," Hikaru yawned. "This jet lag stuff is really weird. I'm all out of it."
"Me, too," Mei Mei agreed.
They walked back into the house, still chatting animatedly. Then they heard the crash, followed by a voice. The four froze instantly. Someone was in the condo with them.
A figure walked into the living room. They recognized it instantly.
"Gingka?" Madoka asked, surprise and shock both evident in her voice. "What are you doing here?"