Heya, sorry if the update time has been a tad longer than usual, you can blame Harry Potter for that. Anyways some of you might have noticed that chapter 11 went for a wander earlier on this week, I'm not entirely sure what happened there but it seems to have fixed itself and that's what matters
Disclaimer: Don't own Beyblade, wish I did though. Accio Beyblade! Ok, despite my bad attempts at magic (once again blame Harry Potter) I still don't own it. Hmm…what other spells are there…
Ok Rei, deep breaths. Keep your head down. If they don't notice you then they can't kidnap, maim or maul you.
"Oh for heavens sake Rei! You're in disguise, no one's going to recognise you!" …Does anyone else get the feeling that Hilary is annoyed with me? Well that's alright because I'm annoyed with her, saying my name out loud like that! She's going to blow my cover!
"Shh Hil, don't say my name out loud!" I whisper fiercely, glancing about through my over-sized sunglasses to see if anyone overheard. There are girls everywhere, and since there are several very popular beyblade stores in this mall there's a very high chance that they're fangirls. I tremble at the mere thought.
Yes because Tyson failed in his love confession to Hilary, I am now stuck sneaking about the mall in the best disguise I could come up with and trying to help her shop for swimwear. So far it's been nothing but nerve-wracking.
"Rei don't you think you're being a bit paranoid? I know you haven't had the best experiences with fans of late but this is a bit over the top."
"You think so?" I ask glancing down at the giant coat hiding my Chinese-style outfit and hair which I've tucked down the back of it.
"Plus people are going to think you're a pervert or something if they see you hanging outside the women's clothes stores wearing that."
…and just like that the disguise is gone. Then just as quickly we begin to hear frantic whispers from the crowd surrounding us that start seemingly innocent and then steadily get worse.
"Hey isn't that…"
"Think he'd give me an autograph?"
"Hey Rei would you sign this for me?"
"Oh my god it's him!"
"Wow he's so much hotter in real life!"
"I wonder if he'd be interested in…"
"I want your baby Rei!"
That's all the prompting I need to grab Hilary's arm and flee for the hills.
Some time later Hilary and I are hiding in amongst a clothing wrack inside some random clothes store while I try to catch my breath.
"See…I wasn't being…paranoid…they were actually out…to get me." I manage to gasp out while I lean back on a cushiony wall of clothing while being careful to avoid getting my hair caught on any coat-hangers.
"Just because…they were doesn't mean that…you weren't being paranoid."
Well that's actually quite a good point, so I'll ignore it and promptly change the subject to avoid embarrassment.
"Come on, let's just hurry up and get this over with. Now exactly what are you looking for so we can find it and get out of here before any more fangirls spot us."
"Ugh you're such a guy Rei!" ...I think that was supposed to be an insult, the tone she used made it sound like one anyway. But it was just a statement of fact right? So because it's a statement of fact and I have no other reply other than 'duh' I decide to play it safe by smiling and nodding. Ah shit now she's frowning at me! Girls are confusing! She must notice my confused look because she explains further. "You don't look for what you want, you know what you want when you see it!"
Yup, very confusing. "…Ok so….where do we look for the thing you know you'll want when you see it?"
Hilary slaps her forehead. I guess I didn't grasp whatever concept she was trying to teach me. Instead she just grabs my arm and bursts out the clothes-wrack, dragging me with her and startling an old lady in the process. Oops. I'd apologise to the poor old lady but I'm already being dragged away. On the bright side if Hilary is in a bad mood then she should scare off any more fangirls. On the not so bright side, I now have to deal with an angry Hilary.
Sure enough Hilary drags me to a new store incident free. Yes I now have another large bruise on my arm from her insanely tight grip but compared to what the fangirls might have done to me it's nothing. However when I actually stop looking at my bruises and peer into the window of the store I don't know whether to blush profusely or go pale from fright, as a compromise my face manages to stay the same color.
"Hilary I can't go in there! It's a woman's…" I can't even say the word. I hadn't expected her to drag me into a store full of woman's lingerie! Oh crap, anywhere but here! I was expecting a sports shop or something!
"Oh come on Rei. It's not that bad. Are you a man or a mouse?"
"I'm a neko-jin!" I practically yell as she pulls me in despite my protests. I really try to get away, I mean really try, but this girl could probably wrestle a rhino and win. I never stood a chance. "Will they even have what you're looking for here?" She glares at me for questioning her and I drop the subject, seeing as she's carrying that evil handbag once again. I really need to get that thing away from her and burn it the first chance I get.
Then I'm in, and after a quick glance about the place I quickly decide that it's better to look at the floor as I follow after Hilary. I suppose I should just get this over with as quickly as possible. Then I can get back to the dojo and find out whatever plans Daichi has come up with for my revenge on Kai – I asked him before we left, he looked surprised but agreed on the condition Kai will never know that he was involved. And after that, maybe I can get to sleep and put this whole ordeal behind me. The fact I'm looking forward to getting back there just shows how much I hate being in here.
I follow the sound of Hilary's footsteps while still staring intently at the floor and trying to keep the heat from my face. Of course it doesn't help that some people don't bother to pick up any items they drop on the floor…Hilary's right, I am naïve.
Suddenly Hilary stops so I stop too as she browses. She must have found swimsuits then. "Come on Rei give me a hand, which do you think is best?"
"Uh…" I point in some random direction. "That one!" This is why I told her to bring Maxie. Let's face it, coming from a tiny secluded village where there's only a very limited amount of girls of which are very self-conscious and consider showing off their ankles as porn and then jumping to this!? It's like running before you can crawl or something!
"Rei you didn't even look!"
With great difficulty I bring my head up to see what she's pointing out. "Hilary those are…" Right, what word can I finish this sentence with that wont be the death of me? Several options come to mind; skimpy, revealing, sluttish, x-rated. "…small."
"Yup! Which one do you think will grab Tyson's attention the most?"
"Uh…" Jeez I'm not cut out for this sort of stuff, I take a quick glance around the store as if something there will help me out. Of course everything I see just makes me go redder in the face, so instead I look for someone that might help. I could get Hil to ask a store clerk or something, but decide not to because that would be even weirder.
Let's see who else there is, I look around at the browsing customers and am grateful to see one or two other guys in similar situations as me. And over there…wait a second!
"Hiro!?"
"Rei? Hilary? What are you guys doing here!?"
Well we have a legitimate excuse, Hilary's shopping and I'm helping – or at least trying to help – so a better question is why Hiro would be in a lingerie store? That's just…odd. Thankfully Hilary is about and will probably ask the question that my neko side demands to know the answer to.
"We're shopping, but why are you here?"
Maybe that psychic thing I told Tyson was true after all, I'm getting a bit too good at predicting what people are going to say.
"Wait a minute, Rei, if you're here then…"
Now most people would think that this was just a change of subject on Hiro's part, but I think I see what he's getting at. "I didn't know that you were going to be out too…"
We share horrified looks. Why? Well simple, the sanest of our team are all out of the dojo, and we've left the worst troublemakers alone and unsupervised. Basically with us out there will be chaos, and Kai doesn't have the patience to deal with them all properly. Basically, we're screwed.
"Hiro, help Hilary. I'll go."
I don't really care what I've just volunteered for, the fact is that I'm ditching Hilary and getting out of that shop. Hiro should be a lot more help, and I'll be able to find out the reason for him being there later. I just hope that I've made a good trade.
…Should have stuck with Hilary. Why oh why did I not stick with Hilary? I mean, I only had to choose between a few near-pornographic bathing suits and then I'd have been out of there, and Hiro would have taken care of whatever happened at the dojo – well sort of – and then I'd have a lot less to worry about.
Ok, so I don't actually know what's happened yet, I've just gotten in the door and the entrance is a complete mess. But I was expecting that. What I was not expecting was…silence. Yes, it's oddly silent, the people dwelling in this dojo are loud so things should not be this quiet. It's…eerie.
I kick of my shoes and open the door, proceeding to search through messy demolished rooms. There's no sign of them anywhere. Shit, maybe they were kidnapped by evil scientists again…as if once wasn't odd enough.
Just as I'm about to dare to enter Gramps' room, which is off-limits due to the fact that no one really wants to see what's in there, I hear footsteps approaching. I'm grateful that I have an excuse not to search Gramps' room now but the footsteps echoing in the silent dojo are pretty damn scary. I'm blaming Kai and that bloody movie again.
Well since I have no idea what's going on I decide to arm myself. I pick up a small lamp, yes I'm aware that there's plenty of bamboo swords close to hand, but the lamp could probably do more damage…that and it's really ugly and somehow no one's managed to break it yet. If it smashes while concussing a psycho scientist then at least I'll have some fond memories of it.
I creep towards the source of the footsteps, they've stopped but I'm pretty sure they were coming from the sitting room. I press my back up against the wall and slide along it ninja-style. Spy/ninja Rei is back…armed with a lamp. Well whatever, I'm sure it could be weirder if I really tried.
I slide along till I'm back to back with the doorway to the sitting room. Ok, deep breath…3…2…1.
"AHHH!" I throw myself around the doorway with a battle cry and the lamp raised above my head only to find myself face to face with a very familiar beyblade launcher, equipped with beyblade and all. "Kai?"
Kai still has Dranzer aimed at my head so I put my hands up slowly. Maybe I scared him or something. Or judging by the glare I'm receiving just made him really angry. I look at the lamp in my raised hand…hmm…I still need to get my revenge on Kai, who says I can't whack him with it? Actually no, he could probably launch Dranzer faster and I quite like my head attached to my shoulders. Oh well, at least I can still get rid of the lamp.
Kai watches as I loosen my grip on my 'weapon' and it smashes on the ground. I'm quite proud, not only did it smash into tiny little pieces but I made it look like I only done it because I was at beyblade-point.
"…That was unnecessary."
I shrug. "So…where's everyone else then?"
Kai sighs and motions for me to follow him. I give him a confused look as he leads me to the laundry cupboard, what the hell? However when he opens the door I can see why the dojo had been so quiet. Bound and gagged and crammed in the tiny laundry cupboard are the rest of my team mates. Well….I never saw that coming.
I sigh and reach down to untie them, but Kai surprises me by offering an explanation before I even ask. "They were annoying me."
Well that just explains everything. Wait no it doesn't. "…and the mess?"
"You think they let me tie them up willingly?"
Damn you Kai. Now I have a heck of a lot more housework to do and you're the one to blame. I will have my revenge, I swear it!
…But I'd better tidy up first. But after that, you're in for it Kai!
I really don't know what to think of this one, so R&R and tell me if you liked it or not. Oh, and wow I just realised I've reached the 100 review milestone! Thanks for all your support everyone, I'm really happy. Who would have thought my little fic could be so popular!? Oh well, till next time!