Here's my update! I can't believe I passed 100 reviews! :D

This is sadly a fairly short chapter…(Aren't they all?) Eh, well.

I have nothing else to say except THANKS FOR CONTINUING TO READ YOU GUYSSSS!:D

Enjoy~!

Chapter Seventeen: Loyalty

"I can't believe Kyoya would…argh! It's just so frustrating! Ba-ba-ba-bull!"

"So you say he has Hikaru, right? Don't you think it's possible they only ran off together?"

Ginga dropped his gaze to his lap, where both of his bandaged hands were clasped together. He furrowed his eyebrows for a moment in though before he looked back to the two friends who eyed him curiously. The stench of blood and earth still wafted from his body even though he'd been cleaned and had gotten a new change of clothes. His head throbbed, not only from his injuries, but also from his traumatizing memories.

Kenta had a good point, he knew that. But Hikaru had been legitimately terrified. The moment Kyoya snapped into some kind of dark, cruel beast, she had known things weren't going to end well. Ginga could see that merely from the look in her eyes. From her body language. From the way she screamed in fear. The ice-blue haired girl hadn't gone with Kyoya willingly, especially not after Ginga had been thrown over.

He voiced his thoughts to Kenta, and the little green-haired kid puffed out his lip in thought.

"I understand, Ginga," Kenta said at last. It was clear he had no idea what else he could offer as encouragement.

Ginga heaved a deep sigh. "Listen. We can't just ignore the situation," he pointed out, fixing Kenta with a stern look and then turning to Benkei. "We have to go back and do something about it."

Madoka spoke up for the first time in a couple of hours, but she didn't look away from her work on Ginga's bey. "That's not wise for someone in your condition, Ginga," she said pointedly in a whisper, her voice barely audible over the sound of her maintenance tools scraping on the metal of Pegasus.

"Once you fix Pegasus, I'll be fine to battle again," he insisted stubbornly, turning to look at the brunette girl, who had her back to him. She shook her head slightly and sighed but didn't say anything more. "Anyways," he went on. "How much longer will it take you to repair Pegasus? I thought you said earlier that you were almost done."

"It takes a lot of time to fix something this broken, Ginga," she stated simply. The quiet sounds of the pieces of the beyblade being fitted back together echoed in the room.

Benkei stood up. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to kick some Dark Nebula butt! Ba-ba-ba-bull!" he shouted enthusiastically.

"Yea!" Kenta leaped to his feet, clenching his hand into a fist and punching the air. "I'm with you too, Ginga. If you need help, we'll be at your side forever and for always!"

Madoka spun around in her chair and used the back on her hand to push her yellow goggles up onto her forehead, causing her smooth hair to stick out at odd angles. A gentle smile lit her face, and her aquamarine eyes glowed with some emotion that Ginga had yet to find a name for. "I'm with you, too, Ginga."

He found himself smiling like a dork, but he didn't stand up and jump with excitement as he normally would have. His body and muscles all still ached. But he did nod his thanks to each of his friends in turn. "You guys are the greatest!" Ginga glanced down again, feeling the nerves twist in his stomach. "We'll leave the moment Pegasus is ready." He glanced over to Madoka, his eyes shining. Normally, she would be left behind as she wasn't a blader and it would be far too dangerous. This time, however, he added, "All of us."

More reviews mean quicker updates! Next chapter will be longer, but I'm not sure by how much. We'll get to see what happens with Hikaru and the others then. ;)

(:Mizune