Managed to got a new chapter for ya. It's kind of slow and I did few time skips there to speed it along a little bit.

Enjoy :)

Chapter 5: Training, BBA And Tournament

-After Three Weeks With Bruce-

School had gone as well as Bruce had expected but he had managed to do the works in time while practising beyblading. It was Saturday today and at the moment he was launching his bey on the backyard, send it around the rock and back but he had no luck.

'Aah man. This sucks!' Bruce dropped down on the ground and laid down on his back. He watched the sky and white clouds. He hadn't seen Shin or anyone else for a while during free time, only in school. Well, expect for Susumu since he hadn't come school again after they had visited the BBA store.

'What are you doing boy?' Ruy, his father appeared out of nowhere.

'Dad! Don't scare me,' Bruce sat back up, 'And if you must know, bey isn't doing what I'm telling it.'

'Are you still playing with that toy?' Ruy asked frowning.

'It's not a toy. It's a sport. Didn't I tell you that Shin is professional in it,' Bruce stated back. Thankfully, Eva, his mother, walked out too while carrying laundry.

'Isn't good though that he has found something to do outside?' she said.

'He can practice martial arts too outside,' Ruy said.

'Not that again. I don't want to do that,' Bruce said sighing.

'If you have time to play, you have time to train. Up we go,' Ruy pulled Bruce up just as Bruce grabbed his blade. They headed towards the training room in the dojo. Eva chuckled lightly and continued with her chores.

After few minutes both father and son were in their martial arts clothes with wooden sword at hand.

'I have better things to do than this,' Bruce complained now more clearly but got hit by wooden sword.

'Clear your head. It's obvious you don't have the control of your toy,' Ruy said. Bruce looked at father and took his own stick and got ready to train.

'Try hit me,' Ruy instructed. But as Bruce tried his father dodged easily. This happened more than once and Bruce was panting on the floor.

'You don't even control your own feet,' Ruy sighed, 'Try again.' Bruce began to get annoyed and picked himself up. He tried hitting father again but missed.

'Concentrate and look where you are going,' Ruy said and began his own attacks. Bruce managed to dodge and block some of them. He backed away from father for a moment and took a deep breath. He gazed at the sword in his hand and then father. Bruce dashed forward again and this time he kept his eyes on father's movements. He surprisingly managed to his father's sword this time and more than once. They went like this for a while until Bruce was sitting on the ground again.

'Seems like you got the point. We can stop for the day,' Ruy said, bowed and left the big room. Bruce wiped his sweat and looked around. He glanced at the rusty sword on the main wall of the room. He didn't know why that old thing was there and father hadn't told him about it yet. Bruce stood up and took his blade again. Wondering the sword fight a moment ago he run outside again. Bruce aimed his blade again and narrowed his eyes.

'3… 2… 1… Let it rip!' he called out and launched. His blade moved fast forward, slight to the right and then left right around the rock and back to his hand.

'I did it!' Bruce smiled but it fell almost straight away.

'Did father… No way,' Bruce laughed nervously. Father clearly thinks beyblade is just a toy. He was deep in his thoughts when he heard familiar voice call out.

'Bruce! Long time no see,' Frank called out.

'Hey Frank… and Shin?!' Bruce was surprised.

'Just coincidence but glad to know where you live,' Shin said smiling, 'Looks like you solved a problem.'

'Maybe dad helped a bit but no idea,' Bruce said.

'I saw you launch it and I think the problem was in control of the blade. It was little off but looks like you know how to do it now better,' Frank said. Bruce looked at Frank who shrugged.

'I studied the books Taro lent me,' Frank cleared out.

'And he knows them better than me,' Shin complimented.

'Really? That's awesome,' Bruce said, 'But why are you here then?'

'I was wondering what you said at the store and I think I found my passion,' Frank said happily.

'Seriously?' Bruce said happily.

'And Shin here agreed to help as well,' Frank revealed.

'What? But you said just now…' Bruce pointed out.

'Maybe I lied there a little bit. I can see you want to learn beyblading and I can give you little tips. Rest is up to you,' Shin took his blade out.

'Thanks a lot!' Bruce grabbed Shin into a hug and hugged him hard.

'Okay, okay, let me breathe,' Shin laughed but he was out of breath.

'I do have one question though out of interest,' Shin said as he was able to breathe again, 'Do you want to play just for fun or no?'

Bruce stared at Shin, 'I did say just for fun but why do you ask?'

'No reason. I'm just curious since you seem very serious about it,' Shin said.

'I agree. You looked very serious with the practise just now,' Frank agreed, 'Even Judy got into it.'

'Judy?!' Bruce was shocked, 'She said last time that she wasn't. What changed her mind?'

'I think she got either excited three weeks ago after seeing Susumu's strength or she got interested in blading itself. Who knows,' Frank pondered.

'Is she…' Bruce began.

'Serious? Yes, she joined BBA and trains there even,' Shin said.

'Really?' Bruce pondered why she wanted to do that. Bruce looked at his own blade and wondered himself. If it was really for just for fun, why did he got frustrated when he seemed stuck with it? It was just for, wasn't it?

'Unless…' Bruce whispered to himself as Shin and Frank gazed at him frowning. Bruce himself recalled the moment Susumu beat him so quickly and he remember the thrill he got from it too.

'How can I become professional?' Bruce asked Shin quickly.

'By training seriously, taking part of tournaments and so on,' Shin answered, 'What changed your mind so quickly?'

'I want to feel the thrill again and I can have fun at the same time. No one says I can't do both,' Bruce smiled widely.

'You're right about that,' Shin agreed with that.

'Do you want to join BBA too?' Frank asked.

'No, thanks. Shin can help me here right?' Bruce replied.

'I will give you tips,' Shin poked Bruce on the head.

'Why not train me? Doesn't that help me get better quicker?' Bruce wondered dumfounded.

'For that you can join BBA to get training or continue blading on your around town for few years. Both options take few years since to get better at any sport takes time,' Shin explained.

Frank stepped forward, 'It wasn't mentioned but I joined BBA too but in same field as Taro though.'

'You did? Are you Shin part of them too?' Bruce asked and Shin simply nodded.

'Sounds like a cult to me,' Bruce smirked but it didn't look sarcastic or anything like that.

'It's nothing like that. You will just have like a membership to get in the training apartment. You won't work for them or anything. Taro and Frank here are different in that manner,' Shin cleared some things out.

'You should have said so in the first place. That's fine,' Bruce said. He happily took his launcher again and aimed towards the rock. This time going around it worked right away.

-After Another Few Weeks With Bruce-

It's been almost a month since Bruce had begun blading and trained with Shin and Judy at the BBA. They had friendly battles, they gave tips and so on. Bruce did not like the parts where he had to run around a course, lift weights and so on, but it seems to be required for some reason. According to Frank it helps with concentration and it gives more stamina while battling against someone.

'You get better and better every day,' Shin said and caught his own blade in mid-air. He had won they practice battle against Bruce, again.

'I know you said that it's going to take time but I wish there would be easier way,' Bruce said tiredly.

'Sorry, there's none,' Judy stated. Even she had one against Bruce many times but so did Bruce against her. Shin had gotten training too and Frank had come up with new beyblade parts. Everyone's beyblade had gotten improvements in technical parts as well.

'You boys seem little down,' Mr. Dickenson appeared at the door.

'Bruce here is getting bored of training none stop. Fun part is kind of missing,' Frank answered behind the desk where he was taking notes from their battles.

'In that case, I have something that might cheer you up,' Mr. Dickenson stepped forward and gave them a poster.

'What is it?' Bruce shot up and took the poster. His eyes widened and got excited.

'Look at this!' Bruce turned the poster around. It was an announcement of upcoming beyblade tournament.

'Oh right. It's that time again,' Shin snapped his fingers.

'I thought these happened during summers only,' Frank noted.

'What kind of tournament it is?' Shin walked closer and checked the title, 'Aah, it's just inside Japan. Those happens any time of the year,' Shin said.

'BBA is hosting it this year,' Mr. Dickenson said with a smile.

'I thought you were always the host?' Bruce was so clueless sometimes.

'Many different organizers has hosted them over the years but mostly the same people. BBA is at the top on that,' Mr. Dickenson explained.

'Can we take part in it?!' Bruce asked quickly with big smile and stars in his eyes.

'Dude, you have played just for a month. Do you think you're ready?' Frank asked worryingly as Shin looked at the poster again.

'If he trains a lot more, then he might be. Look,' Shin stated and pointed at the date on it. The tournament was going to be held at then end of next autumn and not this year.

'Isn't there a tournament this year anymore?' Bruce asked disappointed.

'It was but before summer. This might get your motives up, so I decided to show it to you,' Mr. Dickenson said.

'In other words, we have about half a year to practice for it,' Judy calculated.

'That's too long,' Bruce crashed to the ground and looked already tired.

'You do need to train more though. Don't forget what might happen if Shin takes part in it too,' Judy kneeled down close to Bruce's head.

'I totally forgot!' Bruce sat up, 'I will totally lose against you if I don't train more before it.'

'I hope I'll get to see how much progress you get before it though,' Shin said with hope.

'Are you going to train Bruce now? Isn't ironic to train someone who wants to beat you?' Judy asked.

'Maybe a little but who cares among friends. Right?' Shin answered calmly.

'Seriously? What are we waiting for? Let's go!' Bruce jumped up and down for a few times.

'I still don't understand, how can Bruce have so much energy and then none?' Judy laughed too.

'You said it,' Frank tapped his own chin in amusement, 'But we have to remember we have to study for the school too. It's going to be hard.'

'For Bruce you mean,' Judy clarified.

'Judy…' Shin rolled his eyes and followed Bruce. Frank shrugged his shoulders and followed others too with his papers and other stuff.

'Oh right. Here,' Mr. Dickenson gave Judy a small bag.

'What is it?' Judy asked and opened the bag, 'Oh.'

'Here are new launchers for all of you. I believe you can determine who gets which one. I'll let you train now,' Mr. Dickenson said before leaving.

'This should be interesting,' Judy smiled and jogged after others who were already at hard at work among other kids too, who were also training by themselves.

-About Half A Year Later-

Ruy and Eva were surprised how their son was able to train the new sport and study at the same time at first, until they learned that his friends helped him. All four of them were in the backyard blading again. Apparently, there was a tournament coming up and were practicing more and more.

'Yes!' Bruce celebrated after winning against Judy.

'I would say you're ready to take on everyone now,' Frank said. He had made very detailed notes on everyone's progress and everyone were a lot better. Well, against Shin there was a lot more to go but maybe Bruce or Judy would end up at third place.

'I'm going to win that thing!' Bruce instead stated firmly and got hit on the head by Judy.

'Don't forget that Shin here has years of experience. You will be lucky to be at top five,' Judy said.

'I'm going to try anyway,' Bruce added with very serious look on his face.

'I hope everyone will have fun too,' Frank said, 'Are everyone registered in it?'

'I did that for everyone yesterday,' Shin nodded as others turned towards him.

'Do you know… Does Susumu take part?' Bruce asked.

'I don't know. Why? Want to increase of your change of losing even more?' Shin joked at the end.

'No dude. But since he was so good, I think he should take the title back to himself… if he wins,' Bruce replied and others looked at him dumbfounded.

'If he wins?' Frank broke the silence and Bruce shrugged smirking.

'I can try contacting him but we haven't seen him at school during entire year,' Shin said and sat down on the rock.

'Susumu needs to repeat a year again,' Bruce said.

'Where did you hear that?' Shin asked.

'If he wasn't in school, isn't it obvious in that case?' Bruce wondered and looked at Shin, 'Do you know something?'

'Well, I actually asked the school what he was up to. Since I helped Susumu at one time, I thought I could help him again. And apparently, he started home school,' Shin said.

'He did?' others asked.

'Yeah and he has already actually graduated and is on the same class as me,' Shin said and he sounded shocked more than usual.

'Same as you? Is he Einstein or something?' Frank asked.

'He is smart. Susumu's problem seems to be somewhere else. But he's apparently been at home the entire half a year,' Shin continued.

'Why didn't you say anything?' Judy questioned. Bruce had couple of times mentioned Susumu during the school year but not much. Everyone had almost completely forgotten him, expect Shin apparently.

'It was something I didn't feel that needed to be mentioned,' Shin answered, 'I can text him and ask him if he's going to enter this year, but I won't guarantee that he will answer. Let's hope he hasn't changed his number.' Shin took his phone out and wrote a short message about the tournament and kind of asked him directly to join the battles. They continued practicing until late in the evening and Bruce's parents asked them to go home for the day. Everyone agreed to meet the next day again though.

-With Susumu The Same Evening-

Susumu was staring out of the window from his bed and listened to his surroundings. He could only here birds from outside and staff inside. Thanks to the message from school him skipping it basically forced him to study. He couldn't be held back a year again but thankfully school agreed for home-schooling. It basically meant that he studied on his own and sent everything to school through email and so on. He managed to finish everything in a year and was basically in same class as Shin now. Like he was supposed to be too.

While in his thoughts what ever they were at the moment Susumu heard his phone beep.

'Hi. It's Shin. I hope this is your number. I was just going to ask you something. There is the beyblade tournament in Japan coming up in few days. I was wondering if you were going to take part in. We are anyway… If you ask me, I think you should since it would bring Bruce back to his senses here.' Susumu read the first part and knew Shin was joking at the end.

'I also think that it would do good for you. You're so good at it and it's kind of sad that you don't seem to beyblade anymore. Anyway… Hope to see you there. Shin.' Susumu closed his phone and through it on the night table. He had heard about the tournament a few weeks ago but he wasn't interested, at first anyway. He was really bored and had nothing to do but lay on the bed. It was not like he could do anything else. Voltaire didn't like anything Susumu wanted to do himself. Susumu sat up and looked at the door.

'Whatever,' Susumu sighed and took his phone. Texting BBA, Mr. Dickenson, he said he would like to take part in it too. It's not like he had not disobeyed orders before. In no time, he got the answer that his name was registered in and Mr. Dickenson was even thankful of it for some reason too. Luckily, his room door was not locked but who knows if it stays that way.

Susumu stood up and walked to his desk. After opening the small door, he found some lock pickers. He had learned to pick up locks long time ago but didn't usually open his own door if it was locked since it caused trouble for not just him. Susumu put the pickers into his own pocket for safe keeping in advance and laid back on the bed. Susumu closed his eyes and recalled his previous matches against different people and mentally trained for the future.

It was kind of slow but let's see where this takes us :)

Do review and thank you