Warnings and Disclaimer are in the prologue.


Chapter 4

Ryou impressed everyone the next time he showed up at Takao's house, Drasonet's defenses a force to be reckoned with. It took the violet-eyed teen a full month of practicing to get used to his sudden boost in power, once doing so finding that the spider bit beast matched his beyblading style perfectly. Drasonet, when summoned in battle (and Ryou had only done so a few times, usually at Kyouju's request), hunched down in place, armor-plated legs deflected all but the most determined of assaults, lashing out with what Ryou discovered to be sharp pink quills at an enemy when it was zooming away after an attack. Even without the quills, though, the spider's long legs allowed for a multiple-hit attack, though this left him horribly unbalanced for a moment afterwards.

After getting used to his new friend, Ryou set himself to practicing. He fully planned on participating in the world championships if given the chance, but he soon found that it was an idea easier said than done.

"The Bladebreakers are usually Japan's representative team?" Ryou asked one day two weeks later, when the thread of conversation turned that way.

Takao nodded. "Yeap! Usually there's a preliminary tournament, but we usually win it. Mr. Daitenji changes things up every year, though, so who knows?"

With all four spots taken on the Bladebreakers, the amnesiac teen found himself in quite the problem. It was two weeks after that conversation when, during a training match at Takao's against Max, Zeo popped into the yard unannounced. He was a frequent visitor of late, training with them more often than not.

"Hey, Ryou, have you found a team for the preliminary tournaments yet?" the android chirped, skirting the usual patch of ground that served as the makeshift stadium. Ryou, distracted, caught Drasonet absently as it was sent flying by Draciel.

"Those aren't for another, what, two and half months, right?" Ryou mused. "I haven't thought about a team… I don't have the first clue about where to find one, honestly."

"Well, I'm in need of a team, too!" Zeo declared. "What do you say? If we can find a third person, want to enter the prelims?"

"You're going to enter this year, Zeo?" Rei asked. Takao, behind him, whooped.

"I'm glad! I was looking forward to a rematch!" Takao cheered.

"If we can find a third person we will," the green-haired boy reminded them. "If we can't…"

"I'd be happy to team up with you, Zeo," Ryou said, feeling strangely ecstatic about the idea, a cheer far deeper than simply knowing he had a teammate. It was a fleeting impression, however, dispersing as soon as it had come.

"Stop by my house later, then! We can get started with all that team registration stuff that the BBA likes." Zeo jogged off, waving over his shoulder. "See you then!"

Ryou waved back, then turned to Max again. "Want to try that battle again without the interruptions?" he asked, oddly cheerful.

. . . . . . .

Two weeks after that, after many days of meeting with Zeo and tossing ideas back and forth, he and Ryou finally settled on a team name. Mere days afterwards, Team Gravity was registered with the BBA, though they wouldn't be able to participate in tournaments as a team until they found a third member. With that in mind, they got help from the Bladebreakers in organizing tryouts for the vacant spot, but beyblader after beyblader failed to meet up to their expected level of skill, and it was mere days before the preliminary tournament that Ryou began to feel the pressure.

They were at their last tryouts, five beybladers lined up to perform the series of exercises Kyouju had designed to test the skills of the applicants, and Ryou found himself uncharacteristically fidgety from nerves and hating every minute of it. Determinedly he clenched his hands in his lap, forcing himself to be still.

Zeo led the tryouts, Ryou observing from the sidelines and making notes. He wasn't Kyouju by any means, but he'd grown enough in skill to recognize who had it and who didn't. As applicants were being run through the course, more were showing up, but as Ryou logged them in he noted one despairing fact: None of them had bit beasts. This meant that, however skilled the beybladers were, they simply wouldn't have the power to match the contenders in the world championships. By Zeo's frown as he coached the bladers, the green-haired teen knew it too.

With the last applicant finished and about to leave, Ryou glanced at the door to the public stadium they'd borrowed for the tryouts, willing one last person to come through. After all their preparation, it couldn't have gone to waste…

A familiar head of blonde hair poked through the door, Max surveying the empty room and correctly interpreting their frowns. "Bad tryouts again?" he asked, coming fully into the stadium.

Zeo nodded glumly. "A few of them had promise, but not enough to improve in just three days."

"It looks like we're not going to the tournament," Ryou sighed.

Max bounced on his heels, humming thoughtfully. "Well… are you up for one more applicant?"

"I hope you brought a miracle," Zeo replied skeptically.

"I don't know about a miracle," Max said cheerfully, "but I'm sure me and Draciel can ace your tryouts no problem!"

The duo blinked at him for a few minutes, not quite processing what the blonde had said, before Zeo let loose a great cheer and tackled Max to the ground. Ryou's elation was confined to a grin on his face, his dark mood suddenly lifted.

"But I thought you were a Bladebreaker," the amnesiac teen pointed out. "Won't Takao, Rei, and Kai be disappointed?"

"They've got Kyouju as a backup," Max informed them, waving his hand dismissively. "Besides, it was Takao's idea. He really wants to face you in the tournament!"

. . . . . . .

With Team Gravity now complete and able to participate, the days leading into the tournament were a great deal easier to deal with now that there wasn't that constant worry nagging at Zeo and Ryou. They trained in earnest with Max, discussing strategies in between practice battles now that they had two primarily defensive players in their lineup. The veteran beyblader assured them that everything would be fine, and the day of the world championship preliminary tournament dawned bright.

This was only Ryou's second tournament, and his nerves were in full force once again as they entered the building and walked up to the registration desk. At least this time he wasn't alone, he mused, glancing around while Max handled their registration and got all of the information. From there it was a short walk to the locker rooms and away from the milling crowd of participants and spectators.

Ryou sank down on a bench against a wall and leaned back, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. After all this time his eye had slowly gotten better and grown stronger, ensuring that he could see color in the very blurry shapes that pervaded the left half of his vision, but as the days passed the blurs gained just a bit of clarity. His optometrist was optimistic about his rapid recovery, saying that within six months his eye should be back to its previous strength, and then they'd see if he needed glasses or not. Until then his eye was a lot less distracting than before, but the blur was just severe enough for him to retain the use of his eyepatch during matches. He didn't want the wrong blur to cost him a match.

He listened to Max and Zeo talking a short way off, something about their opposition and what to expect, and he found that listening to them was calming. With an effort he stilled his racing thoughts and just focused on the sounds of their voices.

It was like that he spent the time before the tournament's start, only opening his right eye briefly at the sound of Takao's voice. The remaining Bladebreakers had popped in to wish them luck, Rei giving them a fanged grin and Kai being his usual aloof self while Takao chatted up Max and Zeo.

After an eternity it was time for them to march out into the stadium, all of the teams lining up for the tournament's starting announcements and introductions. Ryou, Zeo, and Max had been shuffled to the front of the gathered teams and were subjected to the full impact of the announcer's amplified voice. It was a wonder that no one had gone deaf yet, Ryou mused.

"Welcome to another year, and another preliminary tournament!"DJ, the announcer, declared cheerfully. He was a handsome young man with brown hair that he kept tied back in a black bandana and keen, dark colored eyes, wearing black jeans and a leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up. "This year we've gone back to the traditional team format, which is a good thing for the Bladebreakers, eh?" He grinned cheekily at the team, then turned serious again. "The winners of this tournament will go on to represent the beybladers of Japan at the world championships! This year the Bladebreakers have their work cut out for them, with Max Mizuhara jumping ship to join the up and coming Team Gravity!"

The spotlights shone on Ryou, who stubbornly narrowed his eyes against the brightness and gave no other outward sign of pain. Next to him, Max was waving cheerily at the crowds above them and Zeo had reverted to his quietly reserved demeanor, only giving a slight, shy wave.

"There are plenty of other teams to worry about, so you'd better stay on your toes, Takao!" With a warning look in the other teen's direction, met with an illegible shout, DJ grew professional again. "For those of you who are new to the sport, the tournaments are done in a team format, a maximum of four members on each. Each match is done as best-of-three, with the teams battling three times and the winner of two moving on into the next match. This means that the team members are really counting on each other, while a loss may not necessarily mean the end of the match. So, good luck to all of our teams out there!"

From there, DJ moved onto general announcements, declaring the starting lineups and informing those unlucky in the crowds that they'd left their lights on in their vehicles. This didn't concern the beybladers so much, but the people in the crowds listened intently, just in case what the announcer said pertained to them.

In the back of the audience, Suguru Fujisaki fidgeted, glancing at the people next to him before returning his attention to the stadium floor below them. He couldn't believe his luck! Ryuichi had suggested that they take a day off from recording, and then followed Suguru to the stadium babbling about everything under the sun. Used to it by now, the keyboardist was able to tune it out for the most part, hardly able to contain his excitement as he waited for the tournament to start.

"Who's that?" Ryuichi chirped, clutching his pink bunny to his chest as he peered at another part of the line. Suguru followed his gaze.

"That's a new team this year. Zeo Zagart, Max Mizuhara, and Ryou Mizuhara," the teen explained.

"Siblings?" Ryuichi asked, cocking his head.

"Adopted siblings," Suguru recalled.

"Kumagoro wants to meet them!" the singer bounced, the pink bunny in his arms seeming to nod in agreement. "Want to come with, Suguru?" Pleading eyes were turned in his direction, and somehow Kumagoro was in his lap, mirroring the deep purple gaze fixed on him.

Suguru sighed and stood. "Let's go, then!" He'd been trying to figure out how to ask Ryuichi to come with him in search of Takao anyway. Maybe he'd get lucky and they'd find Takao before Ryou.

. . . . . .

After the opening announcements the teams retreated back to the locker rooms while the organizers got the stadium set up for the upcoming battles. The Bladebreakers and Team Gravity secured a locker room to themselves, Kyouju working overtime to maintenance both teams' beyblades in the short time before the teams would be called to battle. They were on opposite sides of the draw, making an encounter in the finals all that more likely, and Ryou was fine with that.

Sitting in the locker room alone while the rest of the beybladers went to find a concession stand, Ryou took out Drasonet and stared at the spider pictured on the top of the beyblade. "Are you ready for this, Drasonet?" the teen murmured, turning the blade over in his hands and scrutinizing it carefully, checking for any minor damages that might make him fail. So engrossed was he, he didn't notice the locker room door opening and closing, nor the near-silent footfalls that padded over to him.

It was to be expected, then, that the sight of a pink stuffed bunny appearing at the table with him nearly gave him a panic attack, though he restrained the yelp that tried to force itself out of his mouth. Scowling and trying to control his suddenly racing heart, he took a few deep breaths and stared at the offending stuffed animal.

To his surprise, it looked around, then leaned closer to Ryou, as if it were peering at him. "Kumagoro thinks you look familiar," a high-pitched but decidedly male voice declared.

"I was on TV once," Ryou informed it. "Maybe Kumagoro saw me there?"

The bunny shook its head. "I've never seen you on TV!"

Ryou shrugged. "I don't know what you mean, then."

"You've got a scar on your cheek!" Kumagoro chirped, bouncing in place and letting its ears flop around its head. "Where'd you get it? It looks like it hurt a lot…"

Wondering if Takao was playing a joke on him, Ryou humored the bunny, explaining about how he was caught in the train accident and lost his memory because of it. Kumagoro, bouncing all throughout his explanation and making dismayed noises, stilled and tilted its head curiously at the mention of his amnesia.

"So you don't know who you were seven months ago? That must be so sad! I'll bet your mother is tearing out her hair looking for you, or your boyfriend. Did you have a boyfriend? Or was it a girlfriend? Do you have one now?" Kumagoro bounced a few times more before a hand reached down and snatched the bunny from its seat.

Looking up, Ryou finally registered the presence of a green-haired boy, looking to be about his age with brown eyes and a long-suffering expression. "Ryuichi, you know that's hardly appropriate to ask someone you haven't even introduced yourself to yet."

"But Kumagoro wanted to know!" the voice complained, but another figure rose from a crouch, revealing himself to be a kind-faced man with shaggy brown hair and dancing dark purple eyes. "His eyes look similar, don't they? And he said he doesn't remember!"

The green-haired teen shot the man, Ryuichi, a hard look. "Don't go around putting random facts together. Even if Ryou was an accident victim, they would have identified him in the hospital."

The person in question was just sitting there looking lost, beyblade forgotten in his hand.

"But what if they couldn't? It was hectic you know, and we all looked and couldn't find Shuichi in the hospital, but if we couldn't recognize him, why would the doctors?" Ryuichi reached for Kumagoro, which the still-unnamed boy relinquished control of, and pressed it to his chest, eyes shining.

The other boy looked down, a vein in his forehead throbbing, and took a deep breath before turning to Ryou. "My apologies, Ryou. We lost a good friend in the same wreck you were victim to, and some of us just can't seem to accept that."

"I'm sorry for your loss," the violet-eyed teen murmured, at a loss for words.

"But Suguru!" Ryuichi protested, then turned to Ryou again. "Pika pika?"

Shiny shiny? The teen shot Ryuichi an odd look, before deadpanning, "Chu?"

Suguru gave a slight cough, though he looked slightly amused at Ryuichi's befuddled look. "Pika… chu?"

"It's called Pokemon," Ryou sighed. "Pikachu, you know? The yellow mouse?"

"But it's not Pikachu," Ryuichi complained. "It's pika pika!"

"And I think that's our cue to leave." Suguru grabbed Ryuichi's arm and forcibly tugged the other man away. "I'm sorry for bothering you. Good luck in your match!"

"Nice to meet you both!" Ryou called back, slightly weirded out but still cheerful. Max and Zeo returned, passing the departing two on their way, and shot their teammate a questioning look as they unloaded their goodies from the tray. The Bladebreakers, he remembered, were supposed to be in a match right now.

"Wasn't that Suguru Fujisaki and Ryuichi Sakuma?" Max asked, offering Ryou a rice ball.

"They didn't tell me their last names, but yeah, I guess," Ryou mused, accepting the treat and biting deeply into it.

Zeo looked at Ryou oddly. "But what would the members of Bad Luck be doing here?"

"Bad Luck?" Ryou repeated. "Am I supposed to know who that is?"

"They're a rock group, but they had another member seven months ago. Unfortunately, Shuichi Shindou was a victim of the train wreck, though they never found his body," Max relayed. "It was a tragedy. It was after that that Ryuichi joined the group as a replacement singer."

"What did they want with you?" Zeo asked.

Ryou shrugged. "Ryuichi thought I was someone else. Suguru played interference. It was… strange."

Max nearly choked on his nachos, pounding on his chest to clear his airway before gaping at Ryou. "They did?"

Ryou nodded. "But Suguru didn't agree and dragged Ryuichi out."

"Interesting," Max mused. "You did tell them about your memory loss, right?"

The amnesiac rolled his eyes. "The odds of me actually being a singer aren't very good. I don't even like beyblading because of the crowds, and only a quarter of the focus is on me then! Can you imagine me on stage as a singer?"

"I imagine you freezing up more solid than a chunk of ice," Zeo admitted. "You don't like attracting attention."

Ryou nodded. "So we're agreed. Nutty singers aside, I'm not one myself!"

. . . . . . .

They finished their snacks just in time to be called for their match, and they filed into the stadium amidst DJ's overly-embellished introductions, taking their places across from their opponents. Ryou paid the theatrical announcer no mind, instead sizing up their opponents. It was a full team of four, three boys and one girl, all dressed in what looked like cheerleading uniforms. The girl smirked at his gaze, flipping her high brown ponytail over her shoulder, then turned back to her team.

It was a swift match. Zeo only spent bare seconds in battle, calling Cerberus back after one decisive hit to one of the boy's beyblades. The outcome of Max's battle was the same, and when Ryou climbed the stairs to the beystadium, he found himself confronted by the girl. Her glare was intense, but her beyblade was unbalanced, and it was with an internal sigh that he launched. His beyblade hardly even touched the floor of the dish before he was calling it back to his hand.

"And the winners are Team Gravity! They'll be moving onto the second round, one step closer to facing the world champions, the Bladebreakers!" DJ cheered.

As the tournament continued, Ryou saw the singer Ryuichi slinking around, but for the most part he was left in peace. The only sign that the singer had been around was the bunny Kumagoro, which mysteriously showed up in the locker room sometime during the semifinal match. The Bladebreakers and Team Gravity were at a loss as to what it meant, but Kumagoro was secured safely in Kyouju's laptop case and the finals were upon them.

As everyone had predicted, the tournament had come down to the Bladebreakers and Ryou's team. Kyouju settled into the stands, safely staying out of the way, but the two teams had practiced together for so long they knew what the other could do.

Ryou stared across the dish at Takao, Drasonet loaded onto the launcher and ready to go. The other beyblader grinned, waving cheerily.

"I won't go easy on you because you're new, okay?"

"I'd be disappointed if you did," the amnesiac returned, a small grin spreading on his face as well.

"Are you two ready?" DJ asked, looking between the two of them. "All right then! Three, two, one, let it rip!"

Drasonet thunked to the dish, making small circles before settling into his usual defensive position in the center of the dish. Dragoon landed close by, spinning in place for only a moment before darting forward. Ryou, knowing the attack was coming, was able to dodge, resuming his position without breaking a sweat. Dragoon circled around predatorily, and Takao grinned.

"I see you're not going to make it easy for me!"

It was Drasonet's turn for attacking this time, the black beyblade zooming away from Takao and circling back around to strike from behind. It picked up speed as it moved, and it was a solid hit that Ryou was able to deal before Takao called Dragoon back and Drasonet resumed his former position.

They went back and forth like that for a while, the two of them trading attacks but always retreating to their own corners of the dish. Ryou was prepared for such a long battle, his beyblade made especially for waiting out his opponents until the right moment for a counterattack, but he could tell that Takao was beginning to struggle. With such a strong opponent, though, he knew he had to wait a little longer before he could end the battle.

Almost desperately Takao went on the attack, battering away at Ryou's blade with a frenzy that could only mean that he was at the end of his stamina. Drasonet weathered the assault without too much of a problem, only needing to dodge one or two strikes, but towards the end he could see that even the spider bit beast's stamina was about to wear out. It was time to end this.

With Dragoon staggering from his failed assaults, Ryou went on the attack. It was almost a simple matter to drive Takao to the edge of the dish, and despite Takao's frantic defenses, it didn't take too long for Drasonet to give Dragoon one last nudge. It wasn't a spectacular win by any means, but Dragoon teetered on the edge of the dish for all of two seconds before toppling over, landing solidly on the floor outside of the dish.

The crowd exploded, cheers and shouts and whistles all mingling together and blasting the two beybladers with sound. Takao reached down and gathered his beyblade, staring numbly down at the dragon pictured there. Ryou called Drasonet back, not quite believing the outcome.

"In a surprising upset, Takao has been defeated by newcomer Ryou!" DJ declared, gesturing broadly to the black-haired teen. "This puts them one step closer to a win and representing Japan!"

"That was a good battle!" Takao enthused, shaking himself from his reverie and grinning at the other teen. "I didn't realize you were quite that good! Have you been practicing without us knowing it?"

"It was tough," Ryou admitted. "You almost got me with those last strikes."

"Didn't seem like it to me," the blue-haired teen noted. "I hope we can battle again!"

Ryou shook hands with Takao and retreated to the bench set aside for the waiting team members, withstanding the double glomp without much more than a resigned sigh. Zeo and Max were chattering excitedly about his unexpected win, congratulating him on using strategy to triumph. The other two battles were equally fierce, Zeo taking on Rei and Max battling Kai. Unfortunately for them, Rei was faster than Zeo, while Kai's sheer power overwhelmed Max's defenses. This meant that, despite Ryou's initial win, Team Gravity had lost the preliminaries.

Ryou held his silver trophy, not as disappointed as he'd expected. On the platform with the dish, Takao, Rei, and Kai accepted gold trophies, while DJ chattered on about the Bladebreakers once again representing Japan.

"And here's Mr. Daitenji with one final announcement!" the announcer grinned, handing a microphone over to the short and plump elderly man that had appeared at his elbow. Mr. Daitenji coughed once before speaking.

"Many congratulations to the Bladebreakers for their victory in this tournament!" This was met with cheers, Takao grinning behind him and waving his trophy. "However, the team representing Japan in this year's tournament shall be Team Gravity!"

Ryou, Max, and Zeo all shared puzzled looks. "What's he planning now, I wonder?" the blonde murmured.

"What's up, Mr. Daitenji!" Takao yelled. "We won!" He was waving his trophy still, but in anger, not victory.

Mr. Daitenji grinned. "Now hold on, Takao. As the world champions, it's been decided that the Bladebreakers will automatically be entered into the World Championships. That means you young fellows are the team to beat! As the runners up, Team Gravity is naturally the next choice to represent Japan."

Max ran up to the edge of the platform. "You mean we're going on?" he asked earnestly, wide blue eyes shining with hope.

"Yes, Max. You, Zeo, and Ryou will be going on to the world championships." The older man grinned at Max and winked. "You'd better start training."

Zeo whooped, punching a fist into the air. Ryou's elation was confined to a wide grin on his face, his hand pumped by so many different faces he could hardly keep track of them all, and his uncovered eye turned everything into a giant blur.

It wasn't until they were retreating to the locker rooms to retrieve their belongings that things seemed to become real. Daitenji was waiting for them there, two envelopes in his hands. The two teams came to a stop upon seeing him, gathering behind their unofficial team leaders.

"Here are your travel plans," the BBA president informed them, handing one envelope each to Max and Takao. "Good luck to all of you! This looks like the most exciting tournament yet!"

Takao groaned. "Don't say that. With our luck, we'll have a repeat of last year."

Ryou glanced curiously at him. "Do I want to know?"