DISCLAIMER:
I don't own Beyblade: Metal Fight.
We were just heading back to the city that afternoon, when disaster struck.
Once again, Dad looked anxious, as if he wanted to just run home and lock the door behind him. That wasn't the disaster.
"I feel like I'm gonna throw up!" he groaned. That's not the disaster either.
I smirked. "I told you you shouldn't have eaten that hot dog before going on Final Adrenaline. But did you listen to me? No." He scowled at me. "Battling with my greatest rival makes me hungry," he grumbled, clutching his stomach. "And... I don't take orders from girls twenty-five years younger than me."
I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "You didn't need to tell me your age."
"Shut up."
"Is that any way to set an example for your daughter?" Mom asked him.
"Daddy runs so fast," Isamu said in amazement and admiration. Dad grinned, until Mom put in (with her baby voice), "Daddy does run fast, doesn't he?" She smiled slyly. "And that's only because he had to throw up in the potty real bad."
Isamu and I laughed.
My father made a face. "It wasn't pretty."
But Mom continued. "You should see him running after me when he gets horny."
"Oi!"
"What's horny?"
"You're too young!" I snapped.
Isamu looked confused. "Too young for what?"
"Nev-"
"Hello there!"
A couple of blond-haired men were standing in front of us. They looked so much like each other that they were probably brothers... twins. One in red, the other in blue. Like the Beyblade Gemios - fire and ice. "Wanna Beybattle us?" the red-clad one asked.
Dad narrowed his eyes. "Sorry; no thanks," he said. His voice was strained as if he was trying really hard to be polite. My mother glared at the strangers warily.
"It's Yumiko's birthday!" Isamu chirped, grinning cutely (or stupidly - whichever one you prefer). Mom immediately put her hands on my shoulders and drew me closer to her protectively. Are these bad people? I wanted to ask, but that would sound stupid and childish - like something Isamu would ask; and Isamu is stupid. It was pretty obvious that the two dudes were up to no good.
The twins examined us, smirking as they took in our features. Their gazes especially lingered on Isamu.
"These your kids, Ryuga?" The one in blue cocked his head to the side arrogantly. I decided that I didn't like them. Isamu seemed to agree with me for once, for now he was also glaring. His grip on Dad's shirt tightened.
"What of it?" my father snapped back coldly.
The blue one snorted. "Just wondering; geez, Ryuga, can't we get along?"
"No."
The twins' smiles disappeared. The man in red raised an eyebrow and turned to his brother. "Reiki, d'ya think that the new generation will be as horrible and power-hungry as their father?"
"Maybe," the blue one - Reiki - said.
A low growl rumbled in Dad's throat.
My mother stepped forward, a hand on her launcher. "They won't." She gazed back at us. "We raised them right. Now leave us alone!"
I frowned. "Horrible and power-hungry as their father?"
"Raised them right?" I flashed an uneasy glance at Dad, who looked like he wanted to jump on the twins and beat them up.
"So... you guys are together?" Dan smirked, but his eyes betrayed confusion, and his brow crinkled in thought. "Interesting. Didn't expect that to happen, since he almost..." Then, a soft smile split his face - almost sympathetic. The twins' gazes flickered from me to Isamu.
"Ya know what? Never mind; we'll let their parents deal with 'em, right Dan?"
"Yeah."
"Leave!" my mother hissed.
"We're just making sure that Battle Bladers won't happen again, Hikaru," Dan said. "Right, Reiki?" Reiki nodded. "'Cause we all know how great that turned out," he added.
Mom paled.
"Hold on!" I snarled. "What's this about?"
Dad carefully set Isamu on the sidewalk and pushed him behind me. He slowly reached for his Beyblade holder.
"Mom!" I hissed, unsure whether she would answer.
Guess what: she didn't.
"We don't want trouble," Dan said, holding up his hands. "But let me tell you this, kiddos," Reiki began, staring into my eyes. "Don't trust your daddy; he's bad news." He looked like he believed every single word he just uttered; and he probably did.
I wondered how much of what the twins said was true. Already, I was starting to doubt that they were bad people; they were just trying to... warn us? Protect us? Give us advice? They don't even know us! I thought, growling. But they probably care.
The twins started to walk away. "Happy birthday, Yumiko."
When they were out of sight, Mom and Dad started arguing.
"You didn't tell them yet?" It seemed like my father was trying to yank all of his hair off.
"I didn't want them to get mad at you! And I lost track of time because I was worried about how they'd react!"
"I was afraid this was going to happen! Now what do we do?"
They started to panic. Badly. And when my mom panicks, well... I would suggest stepping away from her.
"What is going on?" I yelled. The surrounding people turned their attention to us, making me blush in embarrassment, but Dad didn't seem fazed. "What're you looking at?" he screamed, and our audience scattered, staring at him in fear, others in irritation.
I was confused. "What's going on?" I repeated, more softly, more sadly. I wanted information quickly, so I was willing to play the Act-Like-Isamu Card. "Who were those guys? What did they want? Were they trying to tell us something?" Then, I glared at my father. "Who are you? Tell us the truth!"
Even Isamu seemed to have quieted down, and looked like he was on the verge of tears.
Our parents sighed. "Come on; we need to talk," Mom said. Dad was glaring into space.
"Ya think?" I grumbled.
"M-Mommy, Daddy, what's wrong? Why are they mad at you?" Isamu started crying. Dad carried him and let him cry into his shoulder.
And so, we went home.
I scowled at my parents from my seat on the couch. "What the heck is going on here?"
Dad rubbed Isamu's back, trying to get him to stop crying.
"Stop crying," he instructed.
It did nothing to help, of course. You can't comfort a kid by being bossy and telling them to quit. I rolled my eyes. He knows next-to-nothing about being a parent...
As soon as my little brother calmed down, Mom settled herself on the recliner and Dad made himself comfortable on the carpet, golden eyes staring up at us guiltily; kind of like a little kid being scolded by his parents. I think that he deliberately sat on the floor to make himself look smaller. Oh, look at that; he positioned himself next to the door, probably so he'd be able to bolt if he needed to.
"I've told you about how your father and I met," Mom began. She was telling the story; I guessed that Dad was too ashamed to do it.
Isamu and I nodded. "He was trying to smuggle food from your dad's shop," I recalled dryly.
"You make it sound like it's a bad thing!" Dad protested, hugging Isamu closer to him like he would a stuffed animal. I just love how my mind works; I could just about see rivers of anime tears running from his eyes. It was amusing, given our current situation; I needed to be cheered up. Isamu snuggled into our father's chest, seeking comfort and reassurance, as always.
"It is a bad thing. Stealing is wrong." I shifted my voice so I sounded like I was talking to a three-year-old.
"Why does everyone say that?" he muttered. "I was trying not to die!"
Mom sighed. "Anyway," she began. All three of us turned our attentions to her. "We became really good friends, and a couple of years later, he disappeared off the face of the earth. Turns out that he was recruited-"
"Kidnapped," Dad mumbled.
"-into the Dark Nebula - an organization with ambitions to pretty much take over the world." My mother went on. She paused to give Isamu time to gape at her, unblinking. "Ryuga went with this guy named Doji to a secret village in the mountains. They stole Lightning L-Drago - a dark Beyblade with an evil power - from Mount Hagane. Ryo - Gingka's dad - tried to stop them, but he was nearly killed under all the rubble that L-Drago had dislodged in its battle with Storm Pegasus. Gingka then inherited Storm Pegasus from his father."
"So let me get this straight," I said. "L-Drago's an evil Beyblade?"
"Was," my mother corrected. "But not anymore."
"How did that happen?"
Dad scoffed. "Just let her finish!"
"Okay, okay; geez!" I crossed my arms and huffed.
"In stealing L-Drago, your father fell into a coma that lasted for at least a year." (A/N: At least, that's how long I imagine it is.)
Isamu's jaw dropped. "That's a long time."
"When he woke up, L-Drago was restored to full power. They battled Gingka - who was trying to stop him at the time - and won. Lightning L-Drago was a Beyblade made to drain its opponents' energy. They made preparations for Yu Tendo - a member of the Dark Nebula - to participate in the yearly Survival Battle."
"Winner gets any wish?"
"Yes. So even against Kyoya - who forfeited because his Leone was damaged - and Gingka, Yu won. He wished for Battle Bladers - a tournament that decides the strongest blader in the country. But in real life, it was made to make sure that Ryuga and L-Drago would be able to sap the stronger bladers of their strength. Qualification required fifty-thousand points."
"Wow!"
Mom grinned proudly. "I was able to enter, along with Ryuga, Gingka, Kyoya, Yu, Benkei, Kenta, Tsubasa, Tetsuya, Tobio, Ryutaro, Teru, Kamasuke, Hyoma, and Reiji. And before you say anything, no - I will not tell you about the people you don't know 'cause that would be a waste of time."
Isamu put his hand down, looking disappointed.
"I lost in the first round..."
"Who did you lose to?" I asked. I froze at the troubled look in my mother's eyes. Her gaze wavered, and she started shaking. "It... It was a horrible battle. I was knocked unconscious before I even got a chance to use my Special Move... The battle didn't even last for thirty seconds."
She burst into tears, and the truth dawned on me. Why she seemed so conflicted... the short battle... Dan and Reiki's words echoed in my mind: "Don't trust your daddy; he's bad news."
"Interesting. Didn't expect that to happen, since he almost..."
Gingka and Madoka's confusion: "What? He can't be...!"
"But... your mom's Hikaru!"
I sent my father a shocked, furious glance and stood up. "It was you?" Anger and misery tumbled inside me - my face burned with rage. And he had the nerve to get her pregnant? They didn't bother to tell us about it? "Are you insane?" I shrieked. No wonder everyone else was so surprised; these two were supposed to hate each other!
He looked away, unable to meet my gaze. Suddenly, I felt like my birth was all just a big mistake - like I wasn't meant to be born. Isamu backed away from our parents - both of them - and into a corner of the room, shaking in fear and the gold flecks in his eyes becoming blurry as fresh tears welled up in his eyes. His frightened, multicolored gaze slid from our father, to our mother, and to me, as if unsure who to trust anymore.
He's just a kid, I remembered. He's too young, and already... His eyes were in a wild frenzy as he tried to process the horrible, painful truth - that one of our parents had almost murdered the other... and yet... they were still together. I could almost imagine him screaming, WHY?
I felt like screaming too.
That fact was supposed to be amazing - that they still love each other - but our father... he nearly killed her...
"And that's why everyone was so shocked that we're together," Dad said, his voice a whisper. But the words seemed to echo loudly in the eerie silence of the room. I half-expected something to grab us and pull us into a dark abyss... it's amazing - what Truth can do.
I did the only thing I could - I yanked open the front door and emerged into the fresh air of outside; free from the tension in the house and my family. I heard my parents call out my name in frantic worry, but I stumbled down the steps to the best of my ability and ran as quickly as my legs could carry me.
I sprinted across the dimly-lit street as the large form of a truck approached; I was running too quickly - too blindly- to stop. My foot caught on a crack in the asphalt and I dropped to my knees on top of tiny pebbles. Dark red liquid seeped out of my knees, which had shards of rock sticking out of them. I stared at my blood in horror as I stood up.
"Yumiko, run!" From the corner of my eye, I spotted my father taking one step onto the street, and Mom desperately hugging Isamu to her chest, trying to cover his eyes. I was suddenly aware of my mortality, and how easily my life could be taken away... I froze, realizing that this might be the end. Isamu's scream jarred me out of my thoughts and I moved my foot to get out of the way.
Too late.
I felt my body strike metal.
The last thing I heard was my mother's shrill scream and the deafening screech of brakes.