Hi again…
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…
Now that I've put that up for…I don't know how many chapters…
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I appreciate it a lot!
Too bad they don't let us authors (or authoresses) reply to reviews in our stories anymore…oh well…:sigh:
Ha, enough stalling!
On with Chapter 8!
(oO;; I can't believe it's THAT long already…)
-x-x-x-x-
…a bunch of paparazzi!
Rei just kind of stood there, frozen, as a bunch of cameras flashed and reporters shouted questions.
A scowling Tyson marched over, hauled the shell-shocked boy back inside and slammed the door in the paparazzi's face.
"Has…has it been like that all morning," Rei asked when he finally got his bearings. Tyson's scowl deepened as it nodded. "How's Mariah gonna get here then?" Rei massaged his temples with his index fingers, mentally cursing the paparazzi into oblivion.
He was so stressed that he didn't even notice when a separate pair of hands took on the task of massaging his temples. (1)
Tyson smirking at him made him think for a moment, and then he realized there was a pair of hands protruding from behind the couch he had sank onto.
"Took you long enough to notice me," a familiar voice pouted as a familiar head of pink hair bounced into Rei's vision. (2)
-x-x-x-x-
Hilary slowly opened her eyes.
"Hiya," a voice chirped as she saw someone leaning over her.
"Ahh!" She cried as she fell of the couch she was on.
"We warned you not to do that, Ming Ming," a bored Garland commented from where he was practicing martial arts on a side of the room that had been cleared out.
Trying to calm her frantically beating heart, she looked around the room.
Mystel was sitting on another chair, and appeared to be calmly observing everyone else. Crusher was…somewhere…just not there. Brooklyn was sitting on a chair facing her and when he caught her gaze, he gave her a weak smile.
She gave him a weak smile and leaned her head back against the sofa, feeling faint again.
"Please don't faint again…" Ming Ming whispered. "It kinda freaked Brooklyn out…"
"Freaked him out," she murmured weakly. Ming Ming nodded, not catching that Hilary was freaked out herself.
Garland watched them and figured out what they were talking about almost immediately.
"Isn't it time for you three to start practice," he asked pointedly.
All three of them left, Brooklyn a little reluctantly. As soon as he was sure they were all out of earshot, Garland approached Hilary.
"Let me guess…you're afraid of Brooklyn…" She nodded hesitantly. "Yeah…he gets that a lot…" A bit of sadness crossed her face.
"It's just…"
"He was pretty scary?" Once again, she nodded hesitantly. "Well, I won't pretend all of us weren't nervous around him at first, because we were…but we got used to who he is pretty quickly…"
"Truth is, I'm kinda hiding from the Bladebreakers so…I was kinda shocked to be recognized on the first day of my "disappearance"…"
"You took off? Pardon me for saying this, but you don't seem the type…" Hilary smiled faintly.
"I don't…but I left just the same…"
"All I ask is that you don't hurt Brooklyn…it took us this long to get him to even come out of his self-imposed…"
"Torture?"
"In so few words…yes…" The look on Garland's face made Hilary glad Brooklyn had at last him to depend on.
"I'd stick around and try to help…but with other bladers all around the globe is the first place they'll look…with you guys would probably be the last place they would look because I don't exactly get along with girls like Ming Ming, no offence…but I've got to go…"
"Understood," Garland nodded. "Just leave a note so Brooklyn doesn't panic please…"
"No problem," Hilary smiled as the captain left so she could "mysteriously" disappear. After a few minutes of searching, she found her bag. Smiling faintly, she pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, and scribbled a quick note.
-x-x-x-x-
"How long have you been here," Rei mumbled.
"Hm…since about 5 AM this morning," Mariah answered. When she saw Rei's eyes widen, she knew he was about to start with the whole "why didn't you wake me up, I'm the host, etc." speech, so she placed a finger to his lips.
Rei, who was thrown completely off balance, stopped what he was saying immediately and a faint tinge of pink appeared on his cheeks.
"Good…now that I have your attention…first of all, relax…second of all, even you, yes you, the great Rei Kon, needs his sleep, so don't start with the "I'm the host" lecture…I'm too tired to deal with it…" She mumbled with a soft yawn.
"But Mariah," he began, but when she rested her head on his shoulder, he stopped instantly again.
"Too…tired…" She murmured sleepily and snuggled into the crook of his neck. Beet red, Rei picked her up and carried her to his room. He figured Hilary wouldn't want any of the guys in her room, even just him. The girl in his arms stirred a bit. "Smells…like…cinnamon apple…" She mumbled softly as she rested her forehead against the crook of his neck.
Said male neko-jin blushed immensely and fought with the door to make it open. A hand slid past him and his passenger to open the door. Rei shifted slightly to see Tyson standing next to him with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't think Hilary would want any of us in her room," he stated defensively.
"You smell like cinnamon apples?" The now-cherry red Rei ignored his friend's question and beat a retreat to his room. Sighing softly, he gently placed Mariah on his bed and carefully covered her with the sheet and blanket.
'Lee will kill me if his little sister gets sick while I'm supposed to be watching her,' he decided as he left his room, and was careful to shut the door behind him. He didn't want her waking up until she decided to.
/That's a lie and you know it…/ A familiar voice commented.
'Black Dranzer!'
/The one and only…my mistress is currently on her adventure, but she did ask me to check up on you guys every so often…/
He heard the semi-dark chuckle the phoenix produced because of the look on his face.
'Yeah…it's hilarious…'
/Relax, lightning kitty…/
Rei had to resist the urge to bare his fangs.
/I'm only kidding…sheesh, you're almost as testy as Dranzer…/
'And?'
/I just was sent to check up on you guys…Mariah there yet/
'How…'
/Allow me to say my mistress knows you quite well…/
'Yes…Mariah is here…'
/Thanks…enjoy your day/
Rei just paused and stood there blinking for a moment.
'Did she really just…no…' He shook his head. 'Evil phoenixes don't go around thanking people and telling them to enjoy their days…'
/Apparently this one does…/ Driger commented before resuming his reunion with Galax. (3) Rei scowled and sat back down on the couch.
'How would Mr. Granger have gotten rid of the paparazzi…' He thought and smirked. "Hey Tyson…" Said bluette popped his head in the room. "I've got a job for you…" Rei whispered his idea in Tyson's ear.
"I like the way you think, Rei Kon…" Tyson stated with a smirk. Rei's reply was a smirk of his own.
-x-x-x-x-
'Best of luck Brooklyn…I hope you come back out of your shell someday…' Hilary prayed mentally as she slipped out the bathroom window, the last place she expected to find Brooklyn.
Luck was with her, for once…or maybe I decided to make that easier than it should have been…ahem, either way…
She snuck out and was back on the road in a matter of a half an hour. Sighing softly, she moved to the shade of the trees.
'My hat will keep the ticks off…' The girl noted as she moved so was walking under the shade of the trees by the side of the road she was following. One of the bushed nearby rustled, causing her to tense up and put a hand on her blade.
A person, or a girl to be more exact, emerged from the shrubbery.
"Oh…" She said blankly as she saw Hilary, who had just sighed silently in relief. "Hi."
"Hi," Hilary returned wearily. 'Just what I need…another person around…'
"Mind if I walk with you," the girl asked.
'She seems harmless enough…' "Okay…" Both started walking, side by side, although there was a bit of distance in between them.
"Do you know Kai Hiwatari?" Hilary stopped dead, and so did her new companion.
"Yes…"
"Do you know where I can find him?"
"I know where he was…or should be, anyway…"
"I need to find him is all…"
"You and every other girl in the world," Hilary muttered bitterly.
"Not for the same reason you might think…I don't want to mob him or get his autograph, like some random rabid fan girl…guys are guys, not things to drool over…"
"Finally, someone who's a girl that I can agree with about boys!"
"Although Max Tate is kinda cute…"
"Yeah…wait, what!" Hilary's delayed reaction caused the girl to chuckle. "I like Kai! Not Max!" The girl's calm gaze was on Hilary, who was opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water.
"Okay…I'll take it you're not a fan girl though?"
"Fan girl!" Hilary seethed. "I loathe fan girls!"
"Okay, I'll take your word for it," the girl replied, holding her hands up in surrender.
"What's your name anyway…?"
"Just wondering?" A nod from Hilary signaled that she could safely answer. "My name's Kira…"
"Nice to meet you, Kira. I'm Hilary…Hilary Tachibana…"
"The girl from the Bladebreakers?"
A depressed nod was her answer.
"So…do you blade?"
"Sort of…"
An eyebrow was raised in her direction.
"What?"
"How do you sort of blade," Kira asked in a genuinely puzzled tone.
"Well…I have all the equipment, even a bitbeast, but I can't control my bitbeast…" Hilary's tone grew more bummed when she realized that Kai had probably seen her abysmal control. 'Wait, why do I care! He obviously doesn't!'
"Well, that makes two of us then…"
"Huh," Hilary mumbled, startled.
"I can't completely control my bitbeast either…then again, it is a powerful bitbeast…"
"…so powerful that not even one of the best bladers in the world could control it…" The brunette murmured softly.
"Hm…I don't know about that," her new friend replied. "None of them have ever had it…" A small sigh escaped her. "But after the way that Tyson guy handles Dragoon, I should think my bitbeast would be a piece of cake…"
"Cheesecake," Hilary suggested, causing both of them to giggle slightly.
"Mmm…sounds good," Kira agreed, causing a new round of giggles. It was then Hilary noticed something unusual about the girl's hair.
"How does your blonde hair have blue highlights, but they don't look green?"
"I honestly don't know…I was born with these," the girl shrugged.
"Really?" A nod. "That's kinda cool." Another nod. "Reminds me of someone else I know…" The girl cocked her head to the side in an inquisitive manner. "Kai." The girl nodded again. "Don't feel like talking?"
"Nah…" A soft yawn escaped the girl. "I didn't get much sleep last night…you?"
"I'm not quite used to riding on planes, but I did manage to catch some shut eye…"
"If you wanna work on your control, I know of a place around here…"
"Sounds cool, but I can't stick around too long…"
"Why not," it seemed the girl's inquisitiveness had returned.
"I'm…sort of on the run…" The girl's ears perked up on that one.
"Sounds like fun!"
-x-x-x-x-
(1)- NO NOT TYSON!
(2)- you have serious mental issues if you don't know who that is…
(3)- Galax is Mariah's bitbeast for anyone who didn't know that…
Note: Ming Ming wasn't doing anything…she was just leaning over her, like waiting for her to wake up…got it?
Anyone wanna step up and say what they think of my suspicious OC?
And, that, I'm afraid, is where I must end it…
What can I say? I had to deal with (and still do!) authors and authoresses who put EVIL cliffies at the end of each chapter…so I'm returning the favor…:smirks:
:laughs: Kidding, kidding…oh, and sorry for my pointless rambling at the end of each chapter…I'm just bored…insanely so…what can I say? (that I haven't already said anyway!)
Oh, and I'm starting a new "feature" at the end of each chapter…
If you can manage to suffer through my insane babbling, you get to read the next chapter title! (which is a hint about the plot of the next chapter in case you didn't pick up on that)
(Hiking is NOT For the Faint of Heart)
Emma
Ps: I don't know if that will all fit, so…we'll see…The next few chapters are going to focus on Hilary and my OC…and their adventures, as hinted by the next chappie's title…