The Light and Darkness Chronicles

Chapter two - Eagle

Hikaru gave a sigh of relief, running a hand through her aqua-blue hair. Her small heels clacked softly against the pavement as she walked down the street beside the shops. She was relieved for Sunday, after six days stuck with Ryo in an office, anyone would want to break free. She liked her job as a sectary for the WBBA, but no matter what she tried, she was a blader at heart. She was surprised her small battles with Tsubasa had gone unnoticed.

Hikaru smiled. Tsubasa. The silver-haired blader had been unspeakably kind to her since returning from his journey as a member of Gan Gan Galaxy. She'd been a little scared of him at first. Who wouldn't be after the chaos he'd caused? But over the past few months, she'd grown to like him. Not as a boyfriend or anything like that, but as a friend. He'd got her interested in beyblading again. He'd done something she thought was near impossible. And it wasn't like it had been strenuous or anything, just the odd battle as close to daily as possible. She enjoyed battling with her silver-haired colleague, and he said she was improving her skills. Not like that took much, when she'd picked up her bey for the first time in a while the battle was so short it lasted for barely a few seconds. But now their battles lasted long, that was becoming a problem. It meant sneaking into the training room and sneaking out again without anyone (*cough* Ryo *cough*) noticing was getting harder. But to Hikaru, it didn't matter. She could keep Ryo off her back when it came to her battles...now she just needed to convince her boss that she and Tsubasa weren't a couple.

"Hey! Hikaru!" She turned around and saw someone walking towards her. Ah, speak of the devil...

"Hello Tsubasa" she smiled as he walked alongside her "Where's Yu?" She watched Tsubasa's shoulders noticeably droop at the mention of the name. After the disbanding of the Dark Nebula, Yu had nowhere to go. The WBBA had looked for someone from him to stay with, but their hands had been tied. Madoka's place was already full with her and Ginga, Kyouya and Benkei had flatly refused for another flat-mate, Kenta was apparently too young to be a legal guardian and there was no room at Hikaru's place. That had left Tsubasa. At first neither boy had been in any way interested in the deal, but since there nowhere for Yu to go they'd eventually, and rather reluctantly, agreed to it. Hikaru wasn't sure how, but somehow by Big Bang Bladers become good friends. She could only suppose that if you lived with someone in a confined space for several months you have to grow to like them.

"I dumped him at Kenta's place for the day" Tsubasa explained "Hopefully he'll stay overnight too. Sora's visiting as well so probably." Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

"Sora?" she asked "You mean Kenta's friend who's on the corner of mad and just plain weird?" Tsubasa nodded "Those three together for a day. Somebody call emergency services." Tsubasa laughed.

"Why do you think I was running?" he asked "I was attempting to escape the 'Great Fire Of Metal City' when I bumped into you." Hikaru smiled. She had never seen Tsubasa as the humorous type, but she guessed he could pull off the odd joke if he wanted to, which he usually didn't want to.

"So, what were you doing?" she asked "I'm sure you didn't ditch Yu so you could walk around aimlessly all day."

"Well...what are you doing?" asked Tsubasa. Hikaru shrugged "Then, if that's the case, I want you to see something." Hikaru paused. If anyone else, even her boss Ryo...scratch that especially Ryo!, had asked her that she'd probably get nervous and refuse. But this was Tsubasa, and for reasons she didn't understand, she trusted him.

"Sure" she smiled "Why not?"

The place they were heading to was apparently out of town, because that was where the bus took them. It stopped a few miles out of town at a bus stop that was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. They didn't stop there though; Tsubasa then let her up a path to the top of a hill. Hikaru then decided the journey had been worth it though. The view was magnificent. Metal City lived up to its name by shining silver in the sunlight with the aqua sea stretching out beyond.

"It's beautiful" she breathed. Tsubasa nodded.

"I like to come up here to be by myself" he explained "Get away from work and stuff...and Yu."

"Yeah, I can understand that" Hikaru giggled. She knew Yu could be a pain in the neck if he wasn't acting sweet. There stood there like that for a second before Hikaru suddenly realised they were holding hands. Tsubasa must have realised it at the same moment, because he immediately drew back and went beet root. Hikaru felt herself do the same.

"Er...well...t-that's not all I wanted to show you" he stuttered. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. Then he placed two fingers in his mouth and cupped them with his other hand. He gave a loud whistle. For a few seconds nothing happened. Hikaru then noticed a dot on the horizon, slowly getting larger and larger. Before she knew what was happening it was circling above them, literally.

"Is that your eagle?" Hikaru asked. Tsubasa nodded before giving a second different whistle. The eagle circled down and perched on Tsubasa's arm. Hikaru stared at it in wonder as it turned its head and looked at her with golden-white eyes.

"Go ahead" Tsubasa smiled "Touch him. He won't bite." Apprehensively, Hikaru stretched out her hand. Shaking slightly, she laid it on the eagle's brown feathers. When the eagle didn't move, she began to stroke it from the back of its head to its tail feathers. She studied the fine details of the chocolate brown feathers that decorated the bird's elaborate wings and it's snow white head and tail feathers.

"You never told how you came across this one" said Hikaru.

"Not much to tell really" Tsubasa shrugged "I found him when he was a baby fallen out of his nest. I didn't exactly have a lot of friends and very little family. My mother died in childbirth to a brother who also died. All I had was my father and he was at work most of the time. I guess I saw this guy as the little brother I never had."

"Really?" Hikaru asked "My mother died when I was young too. She was the one who encouraged me to become a blader in the first place. And then I gave it up and..." She trailed off "I guess, if your eagle was your little brother who kept you going, I guess that sort of makes you my big brother. I wouldn't be beyblading if it wasn't for you." Tsubasa smiled at her as she stroked the eagle's head and it rubbed itself against her hand affectionately.

"It's so sweet!" she smiled.

"You two have a lot in common" Tsubasa commented.

"What, so I'm a big scary prey-hunter?" Hikaru asked teasingly. Tsubasa shook his head.

"You're both sweet and kind" he corrected "And you were both there when I needed you most."

"Was I?" Hikaru asked, then smiled "As were you, Tsubasa."

Hikaru smiled as she walked up the stairs towards her apartment. She had enjoyed herself today. She and Tsubasa had gone their own paths after lunch, but since Ryo had been visiting Ginga or something, they had made use of the battle room before leaving. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Hikaru had won although Tsubasa had spent most of the battle looking out of the window overlooking the city, probably looking out for the great fire or massive explosion that Kenta, Sora and Yu were going to make. She had always wondered what those three would be like together, I mean they were similar in a lot of ways, especially when it came to rash-ness.

Hikaru sighed as she reached her door and turned the keys in the lock. She had enjoyed today, but she had a feeling something was...missing. She had felt that since Battle Bladers, a part of her heart missing. She had always assumed it had been because of her lack of beyblading, but today had proved otherwise. She wasn't sure where this part of her heart was, or why it was even there, but she did know one thing. She would find it, someday.

She walked into her apartment and placed her bag on the table though. As she did though, her phone vibrated at the sound of a message coming in. She sat on the small sofa to read it.

K, S + Y blew up K's room.

Tsubasa.

Hikaru laughed. That apparently knocked Tsubasa's 'getting rid of Yu for the night' scheme off the list. She replied.

Don't surprise me.

There was about a minute's pause before Tsubasa replied back.

Want to come over tomorrow? Please don't leave me with Yu!

Hikaru smiled as she sent a reply. Tsubasa had made it quite clear today that despite the fact he adored the little ginger, he would accept any chance to dump Yu at Kenta's or Madoka's, or at least suffer alongside someone.

What are you planning on doing?

She didn't have to wait long for a reply.

Surprise. You'll see.

Hikaru wondered if Yu had gotten a hold of Tsubasa's phone and sent that. Those two and surprises. The last time they'd come up with a surprise it had been a surprise birthday party for Kenta, which ended well.

Then, for reasons she wasn't sure of, Hikaru sent a reply.

What time should I come over?

But as she lay down on the sofa and waited for details, she shuddered. She had the feeling you got when you used the expression 'someone just walked over my grave'. She had a feeling she didn't understand, almost like telepathy. Someone, maybe far away or in the flat next-door, more likely the former, had just cried out in pain and terror.