Chapter 1

Crimson irises opened to the world around them, a light-skinned youth rubbing them groggily. Shirou sat up in his bed, the adolescent letting out a tired yawn as he stretched out his stiff arms. All about his room stood towers of boxes waiting to be unpacked. Standing to his feet, he groggily made his way to the dresser that sat at the foot of his bed. With slow movements, he opened the dresser and picked out his outfit for the day. He jumped in fright, a loud banging resonating from outside the hallway. "Shirou, hurry up. We're going to be late for school." His little sister called out to him.

Sighing, the White-haired male stumbled towards his bedroom door, barely able to open it as he fiddled with the doorknob. Looking down the hall, he hears the loud patter of someone running down the stairs. "Hey, no running in the house." He called out to her, only to sigh when he received no response. Stepping into the hall bath, he smiled, ready to start a brand-new day.

A cold morning shower was just what he needed to wake up. No amount of coffee would ever replace a cold shower. As he slipped on his leather jacket, he felt alive. The pure adrenaline running through his veins as his body reacted to the cold water reminded him vaguely of Bakugan Brawls. A pure rush of excitement. Tie the last knot of his bike tactical boots, a gift for his last birthday. Shirou stood proud and tall, ready to take on the world.

Breakfast for the Kamiya family was always the same. Early in the Shirou's older brother would head to the office. Meanwhile, the maid would prepare breakfast and lunch. Ichiro assures them that Hana is a wonderful, hard-working woman. If she's willing to make food for strangers, she's okay in the teen's book. Arriving at the dining room table, Shirou was quickly assaulted by angry green eyes. "I thought we agreed to wake up thirty minutes early." His sister pouted. Shirou couldn't help but smile at the girl fondly; despite her being angry at him, the way she glared at him was adorable.

"I'm sorry, Sora." The male apologized, sitting down at the kitchen table digging into his breakfast; out of the corner of his eye, he noticed sora nod before sitting down at her side of the table. The rest of the morning was met with silence, the two siblings enjoying their respective meals.

When finished, Sora was the first to the door, practically sprinting to it. "Let's go!" She said excitedly.

Shirou laughed, pushing his chair out, slinging his bag over his shoulder, and taking their plates to the kitchen sink. "Just one second." He responded, placing the dishes into the sink and walking past her.

Sora promptly shut and locked the door behind him, the two siblings leaving their home and off to school

-o-

The walk to school was met with silence; neither sibling wishing to break it less the awkwardness of their recent move returned in full burst. With very little understanding of their new home, the siblings kept constant vigilance regarding cars, street signs, and traffic stops. What they hadn't looked at before was pedestrians riding bicycles.

Turning the corner, Shriou's red eyes met another pair of red eyes. At the same time, a brunette and his bike came crashing into him. "Ahhh!" they both shouted, falling to the ground.

"Shirou!" Sora shouted, running over to the two males. "Hey, what's the big idea?" She screamed, helping her brother up.

"Thanks, Sora." The white-haired male groaned, standing to his feet and dusting himself off.

"No problem." The elementary school student beamed.

"Ugh, my head, why did you run out in front of me like that?" The brunette asked, standing to his feet with a groan.

"Excuse me? Why did you run into my brother?" Sora barked back.

"Woah, chill out. It was just a question." Dan defended.

"My point still stands. Why did you run into my brother?" Sora asked.

"What point? I didn't mean to run into your stupid brother." Dan argued.

"My brother is not stupid." Sora countered.

"Sora, enough. We need to head to school." Shirou spoke, standing between the two.

"You're right. Let's go!" The girl exclaimed, grabbing her older brother's hand and dragging him off.

"Woah!" The male shouts, being man-handled. "See you later." He waves the brunette goodbye. "And sorry about the bike."

"Hey, don't sweat it. Catch you later!" He shouted

Shirou laughed at the odd saying while his sister continued dragging him away.

-o-

For the most part, school had been uneventful, the walk home even more so. Stepping through the doorway of his brother's house, the scent of dinner invaded his senses and made his mouth water. "Yum, that smells good." Sora beamed, taking off her shoes by the front door. Shirou had forgotten that was customary in Japan. Sighing, he took off his dark-colored tactical Nike's.

"Good evening, Sora. How was school?" Hana asked, her magenta eyes looking softly at Sora.

"Oh, it was the best. My teacher is completely new to the school, and she was surprised by how good my Japanese is," Sora said, sitting at the kitchen table.

"That's great, sweetie. Now, why don't you wash up for dinner? Okay?" Hana asked, her eyes meeting Shirou's emotionless expression.

"Okay!" the young girl shouted, running up the stairs.

Silence descended upon the two-remaining people, neither daring to break it or make the situation even more awkward for themselves. Scarlet eyes met Magenta, neither once breaking eye contact. After nearly a minute of silence, Shirou was the first to speak. "I should get washed up." He stated, walking as the kitchen ascends the stairs. Instead of immediately going to the hall bath, he took a hard right turn into his room.

Starring at the boxes he still needed to unpack, he sighed, not wishing to unpack the boxes, but at this point, it would be better than unpacking his feelings at the dinner table. "Alright, you are first." He spoke to no one in particular, staring at the box located on his desk.

-o-

The white-haired male wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead with a sigh of contentment. No longer did his room have boxes of unpacked valuables, but it was now orderly and in tip-top shape. Walking towards the doorway, he looked into the room, inspecting his hard work. The room was medium-sized and rectangular-shaped. The far-right wall was parallel to the door. Where his desk and dresser stood perpendicular at the corner of the room. His bed was smack dab in the middle of the room, situated perpendicular to the wall leading out the room. The area he stood served as a walking place; to his left, a wall separated the closet from the rest of the room. He was surprised his brother could afford this house, much less a maid to boot.

Before he could do anything else, a yawn escaped Shirou's lips. The young teenager, tired after a long day of work. "Okay, once more thing before bed." He told himself, approaching his desk and his father's old computer. Sitting down at his desk, he pulled up the Bakugan Website. He scrolled through the many channels, seeing recorded battles, podcasts, and other Bakugan-related sections. He came across the ranking tab, and with a click, he was able to see the top 9999 brawlers. Shirou smiled, having secured himself a solid 300 in the ranking. Not bad, but he could surely do better. Scrolling up the rankings, he saw Shun Kazami, still secured in the number 1 position, with some new faces securing the second and third place.

Nodding to himself, the white-haired youth shut down the window and placed his computer in sleep mode. Opening his desk drawer, he came face to face with his collection of cards and Bakugan. There weren't many, but he treasured every single one of them nonetheless. Closing his desk drawer, Shirou stood to his feet, stretching his tired arms.

Later that night, as he slipped into bed, invading thoughts plagued his mind. Who was that kid he ran into? Why were they familiar?