Chapter Four

The time it took to get to the tournament was a long one and filled with many chores. I don't remember ever working so hard in my life, not even when it came to manipulating others when the timing arose. Needless to say I really pulled my weight around the village, and then some. I cooked, I cleaned, I went out for fire wood, I looked after the little kids, and I trained to be the best beyblader that I could and to make the village people proud. It was only right, after they let me back in. My parents would want me to do it.

But that wasn't enough for them. Most of the women didn't trust me to look after their children. Since I was the only girl the village willing to look after them without getting paid, they agreed. But, judging by the looks they gave me as they dropped their kids off, they weren't happy nonetheless.

It came to me as no surprise as the tournament got closer that the villagers would be happy once I left. I could hear them whispering to each other whenever I passed by with Mei when we were either working or just spending our rare moments of free time exploring. It was beginning to get exhausting trying to ignore them all.

"I can't wait until the tournament. I can't wait to leave this place," I muttered as I kicked at a rock that was on the path.

"Just give them some time to get used to your presence," Mei said as she pulled a flower off of a nearby tree and stuck it in her hair.

"No matter what I do they won't get used to me being around. They all can't wait until I leave this place and never come back," I stated as I rolled my eyes.

"You're lucky you get to leave. If I liked to beyblade I would want to go out to travel the world and see what it has to offer. But I'm stuck here because of my mom and my arranged marriage and–"

"Hold the phone!" I said as I stopped her. She gave me a questioning look. Did she not hear a word she just said? "You're arranged to get married!?"

"Yes," she responded calmly.

"What kind of village does that!?"

"Ours," she laughed. I blinked and the smile dropped from her face, her lips parting slightly. "If you were born in the White Tiger Village then you're arranged to be married once you are born," she explained, her words coming out slow. Then she began tapping her chin. "You know what, you're probably still arranged to be married to someone." She must've seen my face because she started laughing. "Don't worry, the guys here are really nice and they know that the girls in the village and work as hard as they can."

"That's just messed up," I said as I shook my head and we continued down the path. We stayed silent until Mei asked, "So what do you think of your team?"

I waited until we reached the waterfall before I answered. I sat on a rock and leaned back so I was looking up at the sky and watching the puffy clouds gently fly by as I said, "They're good, I guess, they're obviously better than we were kids. I usually blade on my own so I don't rely on anyone else to back me up in a battle. Lee is a good blader if he doesn't let what anyone else say get to his head. Ray is the best out of all of them. He has skill that I haven't seen before. Even when we were younger he was a natural. Mariah is good I guess. She is one fierce competitor and guys have a reason to fear her. Kevin blades in his own crazy way that's unpredictable and could be very useful. And Gary is a good competitor if he has his mind set on the battle at hand and not food."

"It really doesn't surprise me that you think Ray is the best," Mei said. I sat up and saw a smile on her face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes.

"It means that almost every girl our age or below likes Ray," she responded as if it were obvious. "Why do you think that Mariah girl is around him all of the time? She likes him the most, as if it weren't obvious. You know, that could be why she hates you. Because he let you join their team. She could think you're taking away her spotlight or her attention or you're trespassing on her 'territory'."

"As opposed to the other reasons why she hates me?" I asked sarcastically as I rolled my eyes. I stopped the motion halfway. It seemed that I did that a lot.

"You mean that banned thing?"

"Yeah…" I fell silent as I pushed away those evil thoughts once more. It was ok to talk about, but I didn't want to explain everything about how it happened. The memories still haunted my dreams and caused me to wake up in a cold sweat. Once I left I knew I could finally relax and not have to deal with the threatening stares and the constant questions.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"Nah, you didn't," I said as I shook my head. "No worries. It doesn't really upset me that much. I just don't like talking about it because I have to go through–"

"The past pain? I hear ya," Mei said with an understanding smile. "Where were you before you came here?"

"I was up in Canada visiting some friends," I told her as I threw a rock into the water and watched the ripples take over the surface. "It's funny, they blade a lot different then people do down here. Sure, they're competitive, but not nearly as competitive as people are down here. It's a sport up there but down here…it's like a whole new game."

"I wish I could understand the difference," Mei said with a laugh as she stood and brushed off the seat of her pants. "I have to head back. It's my turn to help sew with the Elders. You want to come back?"

"Nah, I'll stay here for a while," I responded as I shook my head and leaned back on the rock once more. I closed my eyes and let out a breath as I heard her footsteps fade away. I shot up when I felt a presence near me and I looked over to see none other than Ray. "Are you still stalking?"

"I'm not stalking you," he said as he shook his head and joined me on the rock. "It's not my fault you always show up somewhere where I'm going. That's merely coincidence."

"Riiight," I responded as I rolled my eyes. "How'd you know I was here?"

"You always came here when we were younger," he said with a shrug. "I knew you'd come back here."

"Oh yeah, you're not a stalker; you just know everything about me."

"Just about."

"So, what'd you want?"

"Here." I looked down at the envelope that was in his hand before I took it from him. As I grabbed it I felt something inside it slide. Curious, I opened the envelope and my eyes widened when I pulled out the object. I haven't seen it in so long. It was half of a yin-yang pendant. It was the yin half. It sparkled in the sun as I held it up; to make sure it was the same one. "It's the same," Ray said, as if he could read my mind.

"You kept this?" I questioned as I lowered my head and put it around my neck. I smiled as the familiar weight rested on my chest.

"Yeah. I found it after…the incident. I knew how much you liked it and I knew that you would come back one day so…I kept it."

"You knew that I was going to come back?" I repeated as I raised an eyebrow.

"Mhm. I just had this feeling after you left that you would come back. Actually, I hoped that you would come back."

"And why's that, Kon?"

"I can't really explain it," he said slowly as he shook his head. "It may be because I haven't met an opponent as…skilled as you are in beyblading."

"Thanks," I muttered as I looked back at the waterfall. I stayed silent before asking, "Do you still have your half?"

He reached through the neck space of his shirt and lifted up the chain, smiling a little as the yang half of the pendant. "I've always kept it. I may not have always worn it, but I always kept it near by. Keeping this gave me hope that you would come back."

"You amaze me, Kon," I said as I shook my head.

"How?"

"Cuz at first you didn't trust me and now, about two days later, you're acting like my friend."

"People change over time, Crystal."

"I'm not that type of person."

There was a silence between us before Ray said, "I'm glad."

A/N: Please R&R. Constructive criticism is welcome. Suggestions are welcome also.