Warnings are the same as in the prologue, as is the disclaimer.


Chapter 2

Ryou soon found himself drawn into a sort of schedule. He'd wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, help out Mr. Mizuhara in the game shop for a few hours, then spend the afternoons at Takao's practicing beyblading. A few days after his release from the hospital he'd also been to the dentist, who replaced all of his broken teeth, leaving him with a full smile. He worked closely with Kyouju, following the shorter teen's training regimen as he slowly built up his skills and confidence with a beyblade. The computer expert helped him customize his beyblade, adding heavier defenses and moderate attack to suit Ryou's style of waiting for the right moment to strike. This left Ryou with a strongly defensive blade without much speed, but that suited the teen just fine.

Just like that a month passed, and Ryou continued what little healing there was left for him. By the end of the month his hair had grown out just a little longer and his remaining wounds vanished, leaving scarred but whole skin. Because of his scars, which made him so uncomfortable to see on himself, he took to wearing black cargo pants, a violet long-sleeved turtleneck, and a black vest with just a hint of violet in the cuffs and neck, along with black gloves that he tucked the sleeves of his shirt into. This ensured that the majority of his scars were hidden from casual view, making him feel just a little bit more normal.

It was during one training session, Ryou practicing maneuvering around obstacles with Rei's Driger beyblade serving as an additional challenge, that Kyouju ran in with flyers in one hand, laptop as ever tucked under the other. Everyone's attention was distracted from their tasks, Driger sending Ryou's blade flying into the wall along with Takao's Dragoon beyblade. Kai bent over and calmly retrieved his Dranzer beyblade, before turning to see what Kyouju had to say.

"What's up, Chief?" Takao asked, seemingly unbothered by his impromptu loss.

"You know that tournament coming up next week?" Kyouju panted. He'd evidently run from wherever it was that he'd come from.

"I heard about it," Takao confirmed. "I was wondering if we should enter."

"It's not a team tournament!" Kyouju grinned. "It's like the world championship qualifications way back when, you remember? When Mr. Daitenji first made you guys the Bladebreakers? It's one on one battles!"

Ryou, in the middle of prying his beyblade out of Takao's wall, turned to Kyouju interestedly. "That means that you couldn't enter as the Bladebreakers, right?"

"Nope!" Kyouju grinned. "I brought all of the information in case any of you wanted to enter."

As the other members of the team crowded around Kyouju to discuss the details of the tournament, Ryou accepted a flyer and perused it thoughtfully. It said basically what Kyouju had told them. In a week's time there would be a singles tournament at a local arena, and all participants were welcome. Sign up was the morning of the tournament starting early in the morning until a half an hour before the tournament started.

Decision made, he folded the flyer up, put it in one of his pockets, then yanked his beyblade out of the wall and pocketed it. There wasn't much point in trying to practice with everyone else occupied with talking about the tournament, so he bid them farewell and made his way back home.

"You're home early," Mr. Mizuhara greeted, handing a customer back his change at the same time. "Practice end early?"

"Max and everyone started talking about the coming tournament," the teen answered. "They were wondering whether or not to join since it's a singles tournament."

"They're the world champions," Mr. Mizuhara nodded. "But that's because they worked as a team, not individually. It may be a good experience for them." Lacking any other customers to help, he abandoned the counter and began straightening up in the store proper. "Are you thinking of joining?"

Ryou nodded, moving to help Mr. Mizuhara. "I haven't been beyblading very long, but it seems like a good opportunity to see how good I really am."

"You're right," Mr. Mizuhara agreed. "The tournament's going to be televised, you know. Are you okay with that?"

That caused the teen to stop and think. He was still uncomfortable around strangers, and it had taken him a moment to convince himself that battling in front of a whole stadium was a good idea and wouldn't backfire on him. But to put himself on national television…?

"I think," he said slowly, resuming his task of straightening the shelves, "that if Max were there, I could deal with it." The younger teen was a steady stream of support when Ryou found himself faltering, whether it was because of his decreased vision or his lack of memory, and he knew that Max would help him if he needed it.

"Let's just hope Max decides to compete," Mr. Mizuhara grinned. Ryou returned the smile hesitantly.

. . . . . . .

The week before the tournament passed far too quickly for Ryou's peace of mind. He spent as much time as he could practicing with Max, as well as the other Bladebreakers, though they were training as well. Out of the four of them, only Takao and Max were going to enter the tournament, Rei and Kai deciding that it'd be better for them to continue training as they normally did. Ryou learned that they'd had a fifth teammate, Daichi Sumeragi, but after the last world championship tournament he'd returned to his hometown to help his father.

Before Ryou was ready the day of the tournament arrived. He rode with Max on his bike to the stadium, perched precariously behind the blonde, and tried to soothe the knot in his stomach. Max was talking to him, but he wasn't focusing on the words. Perhaps this tournament wasn't such a good idea… His mind kept bringing up scenarios, everything that could go wrong with this. It wasn't until Max stopped in front of the arena and shook him slightly that he realized that he was trembling from nerves.

"Are you okay?" the blonde asked, placing a hand on the black-haired teen's shoulder. Ryou flinched at the unaccustomed touch and Max snatched his hand back with a murmured apology.

"I don't know if I can do this," Ryou admitted. "I don't like the idea of so many people seeing me."

"Don't worry about them!" Max said confidently. "Once you get into a battle all you need to focus on is your beyblade and your opponent. Pretend you're back in Takao's yard, just me and Takao and the others watching you. It won't seem so bad then!"

Ryou took a deep breath, then released it slowly. "I hope so."

Max grinned. "Then let's go!"

Ryou spent the whole of the registration process trying to calm his nerves. He reminded himself that it was just a tournament, that he wasn't going to make a fool out of himself, and every other thing that was going through his mind. He was following Max around without really paying attention, nearly running over Max when the blonde stopped in the hallway leading to the locker room.

"Is that…?" Max murmured, peering through the crowd of excited children, teens, and even adults. Ryou craned his neck to see around the other teen and was unable to discern a single face from the crowd. "It can't be!"

"Who is it?" Ryou asked, but he nearly lost Max to the crowd when the blonde dashed forward, weaving through people like it was second nature. It took every effort that the raven-haired teen had to keep Max in sight and not run into anyone. He felt his nerves returning in full force as he thought of being left alone in a sea of strangers, but it was to his relief when he caught back up with his adopted brother. Max had come to a stop firmly attached to a green-haired teen, pleased laughter echoing across the halls and drawing the attention of passers-by in the hallway.

"Zeo!" Max exclaimed gleefully, clinging to his victim. "We haven't seen you in ages! How've you been? I was worried about you after your battle with Takao."

"Breathe," Zeo gasped, tugging feebly at Max's arm around his neck. The blonde hopped away immediately, looking sheepish.

"Sorry. But how are you?" Max grinned. "Your hair's shorter!"

The other teen rubbed his shoulder-length hair self consciously, green eyes sparkling oddly in the light. "I'm fine. Dad repaired me after the battle, but I felt guilty for putting you guys through so much crap."

"Repaired?" Ryou echoed, studying the newcomer anew.

"Yeah." Zeo looked away. "I'm an android."

That caused Ryou to blink a few times. "Oh."

"Where were you last tournament, though?" Max asked. "I was wondering."

"Dad was trying to figure out how to make me more human," Zeo answered. "He figured out some pretty nifty stuff too. I can eat and breathe and everything! He just haven't figured out how to make me age yet." He shrugged. "It's no big deal. It's been a while since I've beybladed, so I decided to join this tournament!"

Ryou, still stuck on the android revelation, could only ask, "You're beyblading today?"

"Yup! Of course the officials know about me being an android, it's kind of hard to hide when your arm gets a big hole with wires popping out during a match," and Zeo winced in memory, "but they figured that as long as I don't have an unfair advantage like remote control of my beyblade or anything, I could compete." He shrugged.

Max caught Ryou's dumbfounded stare and grinned. "Hey, Ryou, you okay? You look like something's bothering you."

Ryou noticed the green-haired teen's wince and shook himself out of his shock. "Sorry, Zeo. It's just a bit of a shock, meeting a real android. I hadn't realized there were any."

"That's okay, I'm actually sort of used to that reaction. Usually people insist on proof, and don't seem to understand that I can feel pain too." Zeo grinned. "I don't think we were properly introduced. I'm Zeo Zagart." He offered his hand.

"Ryou Mizuhara." It was only with a bit of hesitation that he took Zeo's hand, noting it felt no different than anyone else's. "I'm Max's adopted brother."

Zeo's eyebrows shot up. "Really? I expect I'm in for a tale!"

"Let's find the locker rooms and settle in," Max suggested, looking around. The crowds had thinned out a bit, an announcement reminding everyone that there was just a half an hour until registration ended. "We still have an hour before they announce the first round, so we have time to get caught up."

. . . . . . .

Takao joined them bare minutes before the registration limit, greeting Zeo warmly despite the teen's misgivings. Ryou found himself listening to their conversation more than participating, his nerves returning without anything to distract them. It seemed only minutes later when the screens in the locker room lit up with the tournament standings, stopping all conversation. This meant that the announcement a minute later echoed clearly through the rooms.

"All beybladers in Block A, please report to the beystadium at this time. All beybladers in Block A…"

Ryou glanced up at the screens, suppressing a shudder as he saw his name among those listed under Block A. "I guess I'd better go," he murmured, not trusting his voice any louder than that. He wondered if it was possible to throw up from nerves…

"You'll be fine!" Max assured him. "Remember what I said. Pretend this is Takao's yard, and you're just beyblading in front of us!"

Ryou managed a weak smile. "Thanks."

Beyblade clenched in his hand, he took a deep breath and resolutely followed the group of people laughing their way into the large stadium. There, tournament officials were calling out names and directing the crowd into pairs around the large number of beystadiums peppered around the massive area. Ryou followed the sound of his name to a stadium almost in the center of the floor, reminding himself that it was just a beybattle, and it wasn't a matter of life or death. He came face to face with a teen without realizing it, a boy with dark brown hair and cocky brown eyes, dressed casually in tattered jeans and a worn t-shirt. Next to him was a harried-looking man in a tournament t-shirt.

"Ryou Mizuhara? This is your opponent, Nick Kurosaki. You both will be in the first round. Take your positions on opposite sides of the beystadium and wait for the countdown. It shouldn't be more than a few minutes until you can battle." The official looked between them, waiting for some sort of protest, then rushed off to find the next pair. Ryou and Nick traded glances before doing as they were instructed, both of them checking their beyblades over one last time before setting up their launchers and waiting for the signal.

"Welcome to the first round of today's tournament!" the announced declared, sending the crowd into applause and cheers. Ryou glanced up at the sudden source of the noise and wished he hadn't. There were so many people up there! All eyes were on the stadium floor, where the pairs had finally finished gathering around the stadiums and were waiting for the call to start. "All of the participants have arrived to test their skills against competition of all kinds, including two world-champion beybladers! The winner today will receive a gift certificate for the best beyblading store in the city!"

There was another cheer this time, from the stadium floor. Ryou didn't join in since that wasn't why he'd joined, instead watching the crowd. The sight of all those people made him just a bit sick to his stomach. Why had he joined anyway?"

"Without further ado, let's get this tournament underway! Block A participants, are you ready?"

Another cheer from the floor, and this time Ryou joined in. The sooner the battles started, the sooner they'd be over with and he could go back to the safety of the locker rooms.

"Get set then! Three, two, one, let it rip!"

Ryou launched his blade, aiming for a spot close to the edge of the dish. Nick landed solidly in the center, his grey and black blade seeming to tremble in place. Ryou recognized the signs of a weak launch and cautiously edged his blade closer, waiting for Nick to make a move. The other teen eyed Ryou for a moment, seemingly waiting to see what Ryou would do, and they sat like that for a moment, focused solely on each other. For Ryou, he forgot about the other bladers, the crowd cheering like mad for no particular reason. The world shrunk down to him, Nick, and the two blades spinning in place, and he felt a calm settle upon him like he hadn't felt before.

Nick suddenly made a move, his blade darting towards Ryou's own black and violet one with a mad speed that reminded the amnesiac teen of Rei's Driger. The other blade wobbled dangerously, Ryou knowing that with a weak launch all he had to do was wait the other out, but he decided that he didn't want to wait for that to happen.

The two blades met head on, Nick's attack bouncing off of Ryou's defenses. Ryou retaliated, his heavy blade slow to pick up speed but when he connected, it was with a solid hit to the other boy's blade. The already unstable blade wobbled, dangerously close to coming to a stop, and Ryou came around again. Nick's mad attempt to move out of the way was thwarted by the blade's weakened spin.

The sound of Nick's blade thunking to the ground a few feet away was among the most satisfying things Ryou had heard. Calling his blade back to his hand, he was shocked back into normal awareness by the announcer calling his name and declaring his decisive victory. Glancing around, he saw only two of the original twenty pairs still battling, and Nick reclaiming his blade with an awed look at him.

"Nice battle," the other teen complimented. "I've never been beaten so fast!"

"That was my first real beybattle," Ryou admitted. "I've only been training for the past few weeks."

"Really?" Nick's eyes were wide. "You're kidding!"

"I'm not."

"Wow. I hope you do well in this tournament!" Nick grinned. He waved and jogged off, Ryou leaving the arena in the opposite direction. Max, Takao, and Zeo were waiting for him by the exit.

"That was cool!" Takao grinned, bouncing in place. "I didn't know you were that good!"

Ryou shrugged, turning away in embarrassment. "I didn't think I was very good. I expected to get knocked out in the first round."

"Nah. I expect you to last to the finals!" Takao grinned. "I'm in Block B, so it's my turn next. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!" Max and Zeo chorused. Ryou spoke a bit too late, but Takao grinned anyway and jogged onto the floor.

"You didn't seem that nervous once the battle started," Max grinned at the raven-haired teen, leading the way into the stands. Zeo nodded his agreement, finding them seats near the railing so they could see Takao clearly.

"I wasn't," Ryou admitted. "Your advice helped. I didn't think about the crowds, just the battle. That's how I saw that the other guy's launch wasn't that strong."

"We saw that too," Zeo noted. "It was an easy battle. You have an interesting style, though. You didn't seem to have much speed."

"He doesn't," Max put in. "He focuses on defending and counterattacking."

"I did find that once I did build up speed I had one heck of an attack," Ryou mused. "But I don't think I'll count on that. It's too risky to use with a skilled opponent."

"I agree," Max nodded.

Their conversation was cut short by the announcer's voice, declaring the winners from Block A and the start of Block B. They soon picked Takao out of the crowd, his opponent seeming to realize that she didn't have a chance against the reigning world champion. As the announcer signaled the start of the next round the anonymous girl grit her teeth determinedly and launched, apparently set on giving it her all anyway. Ryou felt sorry for the girl when, seconds into the battle, Takao caught her blade and offered it back to her good-naturedly. She grinned as she accepted it, the announcer declaring Takao's victory for the stadium to hear.

"I'm next!" Max said, bouncing up excitedly and dashing for the stairs. This left Ryou alone with Zeo, who, sitting on Ryou's left, was trying not to stare at the scar along the amnesiac teen's cheek. Ryou glanced over at the green-haired boy, having to turn his head around completely due to his eye, who flushed guiltily and looked away.

"What is it?" Ryou sighed. He hated having people looking at him like that.

"Um… your scar. How'd you get it?" Zeo asked.

"In that train wreck three months ago," the other teen replied shortly, looking off to the stairs in the hopes that Takao would show up soon. The android winced.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's fine. It's the one scar I can't hide, so it's natural for people to be curious," Ryou murmured. "Max suggested that I use makeup, but that's just too…"

"Girly?" Zeo offered. He grinned. "I know what you mean. I cut my hair partly because Dad said I looked too much like a girl."

Glancing at the other teen, Ryou pictured what he'd looked like with longer green hair and saw his point. "If you don't mind me asking… Do you get a lot of grief for being an android?"

Zeo shrugged. "Outside of beyblading, not many people can tell. Usually people just think there's something wrong with my eyes, but they think that it's because of contacts or something."

"Your eyes are a bit odd," Ryou allowed, turning back to the stairs. "But that's not a bad thing."

Takao bounded up just then, looking pleased with himself. "That was easy! I passed Max on the stairs, so we should be seeing some action soon. You're in D block, right, Zeo?"

Zeo nodded. "I hope I get the chance to face you!"

Takao grinned cheekily. "Same here. I think that last match of ours was just too dramatic!"

"I promise to try not to steal Dragoon," Zeo swore solemnly. Ryou looked at him askance.

"You tried to steal Dragoon?"

The android laughed sheepishly. "Well, that's a bit of a tale…"

. . . . . . .

C and D blocks' battles went by without a hitch, and less than an hour after Ryou's first battle he was again called to the stadium floor. Twenty beystadiums were still on the floor, Ryou taking his place opposite a pretty young woman who would have looked more in place at some mall in her stylish skirt, blouse, and high-heeled shoes. The other ten beystadiums were occupied by the remaining half of block B, the tournament officials apparently deciding that the best way to deal with the sheer number of participants was to weed them out as quickly as possible so that the tournament would finish on the same day. Ryou, glancing up at the cameras he could see from his new vantage point on the floor, was somewhat grateful for that. The second battle wasn't nearly as daunting as the first, but he'd rather get this over with quickly.

Unbeknownst to him, across the city, one Suguru Fujisaki was holed up in a recording room at NG studios, portable TV hooked up and dutifully displaying the Beyblading tournament to the room's occupant. His teammates didn't know it, but Suguru was a big beyblading fan, and he didn't miss any chances to see his favorite player in action.

Not that he could see Takao Kinomiya at the moment. The tournament announcer was instead focusing on the other competition, picking a few players out of the crowd to give in-depth analyses of and anticipating their progress in the tournament. It wasn't very exciting to him, because he knew Takao would win, but one player in particular caught his eye, and he dared to turn up the TV just a little bit louder.

"And there's Ryou Mizuhara! This unknown has emerged from the woodwork as the adopted brother of Bladebreaker Max Mizuhara, and his decisive victory in the first round has made him one of the players to watch out for this tournament." On the TV, Ryou glanced up at the camera, as if he knew that the announcer was talking about him, but the TV announcer was different from the one currently blasting out directions into the stadium. "Not much is known about this mysterious figure, but we'll be sure to keep an eye on him as the tournament progresses!"

Suguru studied Ryou contemplatively in the brief moment before the camera switched to focus on another player. In the last second before the switch, Ryou glanced up at the camera again, light reflecting off violet eyes…

Blinking, Suguru wished he'd thought to record it. Those eyes seemed hauntingly familiar…

"Shuichi," he sighed, looking for a glimpse of the teen in the crowd. "He has Shuichi's eyes."

He missed his bandmate terribly, it was true, but three months after the fact even Hiroshi had admitted that it was unlikely for Shuichi to have survived the train and gone unnoticed for so long. As much as any of them hated to do so, Shuichi's family had begun to arrange for a funeral.

Seeing Ryou, with Shuichi's same unusual eye color, Suguru convinced himself that his mind was making up tricks to try and ease his grief. Shuichi was…

A knock on the door surprised him, his hand darting out to shut off the TV. Flushing guiltily, he stood as K entered the room, the tall, blonde ex-something (Suguru couldn't figure out if K was really former military or just plain crazy) casually not pointing his rifle in the teen's direction.

"Found you! Now, shouldn't you be with Hiro setting up for your next song? Ryuichi will be awfully disappointed if he finds out you've been hiding from him."

"I'm glad Ryuichi is singing for us," Suguru said hastily, abandoning his TV and rushing into the hallway. K was scary!