DISCLAIMER:

Me: I DO NOT OWN METAL FIGHT BEYBLADE OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.

Kenta opened his eyes and felt a figure next to him. He turned his head. Yu? he thought in confusion. Oh... Now I remember. He wriggled out from under the blankets and stood up from the carpeted floor of the living room. Ryuga was still lying down on the couch, peacefully unconscious.

He looked out of the window and spotted his mother setting up tables for the bake sale, aided by the other mothers of the neighborhood. As he wandered into the kitchen, he noticed Tsubasa at the table, sipping a steaming cup of coffee.

"'Morning, Tsubasa," Kenta said with a yawn. The Eagle-wielder dipped his head at the shorter blader. "'Morning, Kenta. Is Yu still asleep?" Kenta nodded. "Yeah. He must've gotten tired, staying up all night and then running all the way here to see me."

Tsubasa shrugged. "He's a pretty hyper kid, remember that. He'll be up and running in no time."

Before Kenta could respond, Yu bolted into the kitchen as if on signal, sparkling emerald eyes wide and very much awake. He leaped onto a chair, and grabbed a slice of toast from the platter. "Good morning!" he yelled through a mouthful of bread. Tsubasa wiped a tiny bit of wet toast off his cheek in disgust. "Don't be so loud, little boy. Ryuga's still resting."

Yu made a face at him. "Don't call me little boy, Eagle-Man!" (A/N: I heard the nickname being tossed around the website, and it kind of stuck.)

"Eagle-Man" rolled his eyes nonchalantly. Kenta hid a smile and started nibbling on some toast as well.

"I called Madoka and told her about Ryuga," Hotaru said from the doorway. Kenta and Yu froze in mid-chew and Tsubasa just indifferently gulped down another mouthful of coffee. "Aw! I wanted to call them!" Yu blurted out, standing up. "That's so stinky!"

Tsubasa grabbed Yu's hair and yanked him back into his seat. "Show some respect, little boy." Yu glared at him, looking like he was about to throw a tantrum. Hotaru sighed, but her brown eyes were sparkling in amusement at the young boy's behavior. "They should be here by now." She opened the side door that led outside and left to help the others with the sale.

Kenta grinned. "Alright!" Somehow, having Gingka and the others over made him feel better about finding Ryuga.

Yu snatched Tsubasa's wallet away from the silver-haired teen. "I wanna buy something from the bake sale!" he announced, before making his way quickly out of the kitchen. Tsubasa followed him, golden eyes burning in fury. "Give me back my wallet, brat!"

"Why don't you make me?" Yu's voice echoed from down the hall. Then, "GINGKIE! BEN-BEN! YO-YO! And... Madoka!"

"Hey, Yu!"

"What's up?"

Kenta followed Tsubasa as the older male made his way to the living room. Gingka, Benkei, Kyoya, and Madoka were standing in the doorway. "Come in, you guys," Kenta said. The four stepped into the house a little hesitantly, as if the ground were booby-trapped. "BU-BU-BU-BU-BULL! Ryuga's really here? He's alive?" Benkei yelled.

Be quiet, Kenta wanted to snap at him. Sometimes, Benkei's hyper attitude annoyed him; he was always so loud. He had a feeling that Benkei would never become a spy.

"Of course!" Yu scoffed. "You think Kenta's mom would kid about that?" He gestured to the couch. "He's right here."

"He's badly hurt, huh?" Madoka knelt down to stroke the cuts on Ryuga's face. Tsubasa nodded. "Kenta said that he saw a bright light around two o'clock. He found Ryuga on the street; he was the one who was emitting that light. I saw it too; it was the same color as the one that showed up when he was giving his Legend Blader power to Kenta."

"Huh," Kyoya grunted.

"I can't wait 'til he wakes up!" Gingka said. "I wanna challenge him to a battle!"

Kenta frowned at him, knowing that Gingka had forgotten something. "He doesn't have a Bey."

The Pegasus-wielder gasped. "No Bey? But... how will he be able to battle? What's he gonna do once he realizes that he doesn't have a Beyblade? Does he even know that L-Drago's not here? NO, NO, NOOOOO! THIS IS PROBABLY THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN TO A BLADER!" He started crying quite loudly.

"Shut up!" Kyoya snapped.

"When you lost Storm Pegasus, you didn't throw a tantrum," Madoka pointed out.

"But he adjusted; he found Galaxy Pegasus," Kenta argued. "I don't think there's another L-Drago." Everyone in the room stared at Ryuga, knowing that there was truth in what Kenta had said. "This is terrible!" Benkei sputtered. "BU-BU-BULL!"

"However he's gonna take the news," Gingka said. "I do not wanna be the one who tells him." It was probably his attempt at humor, but no one really took the comment to heart. Instead, they took it quite seriously. They transferred their gazes to Kenta. "W-WHAT?" he yelped. "WHY ME?"

"Because you're Ryuga's BFF," Tsubasa scoffed. "We're not BFFs!" Kenta said indignantly. "We're not BFs, and I don't think we're even Fs!" (A/N: I got the base of this quote from Kevin of Fred: The Show, which doesn't belong to me.)

"You're the person closest to him," Yu said.

"He's... He's gonna... punch me!" Kenta wailed, trying to get out of his sticky situation - he failed. Madoka raised an eyebrow. "Not to sound like a horrible person," she began uncertainly. "But hasn't he inflicted wounds onto you a lot?"

"You sound like a horrible person," Benkei said bluntly. She glared at him.

"And the answer is yes," Kenta admitted. Then, he looked at his feet, feeling somehow guilty. "But... I don't want to be the one to hurt him. Losing a Beyblade... that's a touchy and delicate subject. How do I know that he's gonna remain sane?"

"He wasn't completely sane to begin with," Kyoya said.

"That's not nice!" Gingka said. His rival snorted. "I'm not a very nice person. Problem?"

"BU-BU-BU-BU-BULL!" Benkei shouted. "You are a nice person, Kyoya!"

"Keep it down!" a raspy voice snapped. "I'm trying to sleep!" Everyone turned to the couch, where Ryuga was propping himself up with his elbow. He winced as his tender ribs hindered his movements. Kenta didn't expect his mentor to wake up so soon; then again, Ryuga wasn't one to sleep for too long.

"You're awake!" Madoka said, surprise in her voice.

That was quick, huh? Well, I was feeling lazy. "Problem?" - Kyoya, Hopeless Pursuit Chapter 3, just now