Twenty-Three

"What's with the smile?" Hilary's voice broke my concentration. I froze, my hand still gripping the comforter and sheets that I had been pulling back. I forced the corners of my mouth down before I turned around and looked at her. Her eyebrows were raised and she was looking right at me while pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

"What smile?" I questioned, pulling back the covers the rest of the way and sitting down. I pulled my hair out of my ponytail and gathered up the long strands in my hands. Then I separated them into three different strands and started braiding it. It made sleeping with long hair much easier if it were in a braid.

Hilary didn't answer my question as she climbed into bed. "So, everything's worked out now?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Guess so. It's like weight has been lifted off of my shoulders."

"I'm glad you're all friends again."

I smiled. "Me too. It'd be unbearable having to go aback if we weren't on good terms."

"Yeah." I looked up at her at the distracted tone in her voice. She played with some loose threads on her comforter; her eyes were crinkled in the corners as if she were deep in thought. "I was wondering," she started.

"Yes?" I prompted when her voice trailed off.

She let out a breath and then sucked another one in, as if nervous to ask the question that was on her mind. "If you know Kai…do you know the others too?" She asked.

"The others…? You mean the Blitzkrieg Boys?" I questioned, filling in the blank. She nodded. "No, I don't know them," I replied. "I never met them before, I just hear about them from time to time."

"But…you're worried about Tala. I assumed—"

"That I knew him as well," I interrupted her. She nodded again. "No." I did my best to shake my head without messing up my braiding. "I know of them. I've only met Kai, and that was in passing, really. With Tala…I'm more pissed about what Boris did to him to get back to where he was before. He'll knock anyone he deems weak out of his way and he almost killed Tala, indirectly of course. I'm not going to sit around and let him kill again. Not if I can stop it, or help stop it for that matter."

"That's what you're blading for?"

"Yes, it's what I'm blading for. He needs to pay for what he did and a public downfall is the best way to do it," I replied.

"Do you not like tournaments or anything?"

"Well, the only tournaments around were the ones held by the BBA and you'd need a team to be able to blade in them," I explained, finishing my braid and securing the bottom with a small rubber band. I moved my braid over my shoulder and felt a small tug at the back of my head from the weight of it. "And, seeing as I was never on a team when the tournaments rolled around, I never entered. It's just as well, I don't like the idea of tournaments anyway?"

"Why not? You get to travel all over the world and meet new people and can get immersed in different cultures," she explained.

"A tournament's just an excuse to be able to do those things," I pointed out. "You could easily get some money, hop on a plane, and just go. To me, tournaments are all about fame and popularity. You have to follow rules to blade in a tournament. I like to blade for fun, because it is fun. Blading is important to me but…I don't see myself doing it for the rest of my life. That's Tyson's thing, I could easily see him blading for a long time. I want to do something different, something that could take me around the world and learn everything that I can about the world that's being offered out there." I blinked. "Why the sudden interest?"

"Just asking," she replied.

"Uh huh," I muttered, not buying it at all. No one asks me these things because they were 'just asking'. Hell, I hardly gave out the information so I guess I trusted her to some extent.

"Anyway, I was thinking about your situation. With Kaoru, I mean, and it reminds me a lot of the boys' situation with the Saint Sheilds," Hilary continued.

"The who?" I asked, tilting my head in curiosity.

"The Saint Shields," she repeated. "They were this group of mysterious bladders that followed them around last year, battling them with invisible bit beasts to test if they were worthy of their bitbeasts or not. It turns out that they were really trying to make sure they were strong enough to keep their bitbeasts from anything they fought against. It sounds like Kaoru's doing the same thing to you. You said he was strong but he's never actually done anything to take your bitbeast away so he must be helping you."

"And here I thought you didn't know anything about beyblading," I commented with a slow grin. She flushed and turned her head away. "Or maybe if it comes out of Tyson's or Kai's mouths—mmmf!" I grunted when the pillow Hilary threw hit me right in the face. "Hey, this is payback," I said before throwing the pillow back at her.

She rolled her eyes and fluffed her pillow before lying back down. "Whatever. Do you want the light out"

"Not just yet, I'm going to read a bit but I want some water first," I replied, getting out of bed and turning on the lamp. I switched off the light switch on my way out of the room and walked down the dark halls, carefully. If you didn't have your guard up there was a really good chance that Grandpa Granger would attack you with his kendo stick because he'd think you were a burglar or something. The old man's memory was slipping, I swear.

"What're you still doing up?" Ray asked as soon as I stepped foot in the kitchen. He was standing by the sink, scrubbing some of the leftover cookie remains that were stuck on a pan.

"What're you still doing up?" I replied. "I'm sure the dishes could've waited until morning."

"I couldn't sleep," he replied, shifting his attention back to the dishes in the sink. "So, what brings you here?"

"I just want some water, and then I'll hit the sack," I replied. "Hilary said something about a team called the Saint Shields…" I stopped at the loud clanging sound that reached my ears when Ray dropped the pan he had been holding and looked at me. "Whoa, what'd I say?"

"The Saint Shields?" he repeated. I nodded. "What about them?"

"Just that she said that Kaoru reminded her of the people from the Saint Shields team and how they attacked you to get you ready for some big challenge that was to come your way or something," I replied.

"Huh…" Ray muttered, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. Wordlessly he held it out to me. I took the glass with a nod and ignored the tiny monster that jumped in my chest when our fingers touched. "She might have something there, I never thought of it that way."

"So was that the team with the girl on it that you liked?" I asked, feeling a wicked smile form on my face. I can't help it, I love messing with him. He makes it too easy.

"No, that was team Psykick," he replied in a distracted tone.

"Oh, so you admit it," I laughed gleefully. "Raymond, Raymond, Raymond, what would your fiancé think?"

He rolled his eyes. "You have your water; you can go to bed now."

I shook my head. "Don't think you can change the subject. I still want to know who I'm engaged to. No one will tell me so it must be big if it's that much of a secret." I tapped my chin while I tried to think of who it could be when a horrifying thought occurred to me. No…I couldn't be… "I'm not engaged to…you, am I?" I asked slowly.

"Why? Are you preparing to leave me already?" He asked dryly.

"Oh dear Lord, I am!" I cried out in horror.

Oops, he looked offended. Probably should've tried to keep the fear out of my voice with that little outburst. "Relax, we're not engaged." He crossed his arms over his chest and studied me. I made a face and tugged on my bangs. "Do you really want to know?"

"No, I've been hounding you about it because it's fun," I replied. I paused and added, "Well, it is fun bugging you but, yes, I really want to know."

"Ok," he sighed and then looked me in the eye. "You're engaged to Lee."

"I'm engaged to L-L-L…to…to…" I couldn't even get his name out. Lee. Lee! Him of all freaking' people! "You're bluffing."

"I have no reason to," he replied. "I'm being honest, you're engaged to Lee."

"B-b-but…it could be null and void. Because of my banishment," I tried. There was no way in this world I could be engaged to him. I did not want to be related to that…that pink haired ball of everlasting happiness.

"That you'd have to take up with Elder." I flinched out of instinct when he reached out his hand. With a smirk he rested it on my head and ruffled my hair as I glared at him under his arm. "But don't worry; chances are you won't have to go through with it. As soon as you came back to town Lee came to his senses about the whole thing."

Did he just… "Aw, shuddup!" I made a face at my weak attempt at a comeback. My mind was still reeling from everything; that was the best I could do on such short notice. I shoved his hand away while he laughed and grabbed my glass. Stomping out of the room I spat over my shoulder, "Thanks for the water" and left the kitchen.

Geeze, that guy thinks he's so damn funny… I fumed while walking back to my room. I didn't have enough time to react when I slammed into a wall of muscle. The water in the glass sloshed over my arm as I tried to catch my balance and see who I had crashed into. "Kai! God, why don't you watch where you're going," I grumbled. I moved to walk past him but he flung and arm out, blocking my path. "Do you mind?" I asked.

"Why are you still here?" he demanded, his voice gruff. His eyes hardened under the glow of the moonlight. "You've done your job. I'm not using that…that thing. You can go now. Your job is done," he hissed.

I ducked under his arm and glared at him. "My job is far from over, Kai. Far from it." I felt my lip curl while turning the corner. As long as Boris isn't stopped I'm not done with my job.

A short chapter but an important one nonetheless nd now you finally know who she's engaged to. I had you guys waiting a while for that, huh? Please read and review.

~C.M.