Zeo Abyss had flown out to Japan for a few days to compete for an upcoming tournament. After finally arriving he was already on his way to his scheduled hotel room, but then came across what looked to be an abandoned stadium. He made his way inside the old sight and only got more energized for the upcoming battles…

"I guess a little exercise never hurts" he said while smiling down at his bey, Spiral Fox.

Zeo then proceeded to launch his bey towards some rocks, which all immediately shattered on impact. Little did he know that there was something watching him from the shadows, something with a massive dark green aura surrounding it. Once Zeo finally took notice, however, it was already too late. The unknown blader had already launched their bey towards Fox, causing Zeo himself to get blown back towards the old stadium wall. The last thing he saw was his bey no longer spinning and the unknown assailant glowing in dark aura before going unconscious…

After finally waking up, Zeo found himself in some kind of med-bay. "What… happened…" he said in a somewhat tired tone. "Wait. How long was I out…"

A couple of people suddenly walked in the room. One of them was Ryo Hagane, director of the WBBA headquarters, and the other was his assistant, Hikaru Hasama. "Ah, welcome to the land of the living!" said the director in a joking tone. "How are you holding up, Mr. Abyss?"

"I uh… think I'm doing ok…" says the injured blader before being interrupted by Blader DJ's loudspeakers outside…

"TURN UP THE NOISE PEOPLE, BECAUSE THIS YEAR'S WINNER IS KING!"

"AH NO! I MISSED THE WHOLE THING!" Zeo yelled while pulling his own in frustration.

"I'm sorry Zeo. Your injuries were too severe" Ryo tried to explain. "We don't know how or why, but you went unconscious and were in clear need of serious attention."

Zeo sighed in disappointment. "Well… thank you, sir. I'm just glad to be in one piece."

"Of course, but I can't take ALL the credit. Hikaru here was the one who found you." Ryo said while putting his assistant on the spot.

"It's no big deal…" she said a little embarrassed. "Just let one of the staff know when you're ready to leave."

"Ok. Thank you too, Hikaru" said the boy while smiling sweetly.

Hikaru couldn't help but smile back before leaving the room. Once Ryo left the room too, Zeo looked at the mini-TV and saw a re-run of an old battle years ago. To his surprise, Hikaru was the one battling. The more he watched, the more amazed he was at what she was capable of…

"Disappearing AND cloning?!" he thought to himself. "Hikaru's blading style is super unique! I wonder why she stopped…"

One hour later Zeo checked out of the building and was finally heading toward that hotel, just to get ready for the flight home tomorrow. He would pass by multiple places on the way, still in disappointment…

"Man… why the heck did I of all people have to miss out?" he muttered to himself. "Well good for King I guess…"

He then finally looked up while still walking and suddenly saw Hikaru through a coffee shop window. All she did was sip her coffee and glance through her work pad with a sort of bored expression on her face, paying no attention to her surroundings. Not even the person who was currently looking at her from outside the shop.

"Wow" Zeo thought. "Hikaru is… beautiful."

From her light blue hair, to her violet eyes, to her clothing choices, Hikaru was indeed stylish to the eye. At first, he wanted to speak with her after seeing that footage of her battling, but then the girl finally looked up and saw who was gazing at her from outside. Zeo couldn't help but blush and just got out of view from the window, covering his face from embarrassment.

"Gosh what is wrong with me?!" Zeo sighed and decided to walk away before he heard…

"Zeo! Wait!"

He turned around and saw Hikaru walking toward him.

"Hikaru! Look I'm sorry if I creeped you out in any way! I was just on my way back and saw-"

"It's fine!" she interrupted. "I'm just… glad to see you doing better." She smiled at him for reassurance and he in turn smiled back. "Did you wanna come inside? Coffee's on me."

"Oh no it's ok! I can pay for my own" he responded. "But yeah, I've got some time to kill."

They both went back into the shop, with Zeo getting his cup while Hikaru's saving his table spot.

"So, how's working at WBBA been for you?" the boy started while sipping.

"It's ok. Though it could be better if Ryo took his job more seriously" Hikaru responded. "For the most part he's in charge of the building's finances while I'm in charge of everything else. Research data, taking up clients, you name it."

"So, you're pretty much running the show then, huh?" Zeo smirked.

"Yeah… pretty much" she chuckled.

They eventually went from small talk to full conversations, even outside of Beyblade. Mainly just about one's life here in Japan and the other's up in America.

Once they were finished, the two stepped outside and saw the moon was already in place of the sun. Hikaru was gazing up at how many stars were out that night while Zeo just simply gazed at how cute her smile was and how gorgeous her eyes were from the sparkling reflection of the stars. She once again caught him looking at her and, once again, Zeo got flustered…

"I… uh…" he stuttered.

Hikaru chuckled. "Please, admire me all you want" she said in an almost playful attitude.

Zeo smiled in relief before remembering what he wanted to ask her. "Hey uh, Hikaru?"

He was almost hesitant to ask since it seemed like they'd gotten along just fine, and he didn't want to ruin the moment, or the friendship they've started. But time was already running out. He just blurted out…

"Earlier today I saw you in an old battle on tv. You were amazing! I mean disappearing and duplication, while also taking on several opponents in a single round…" It almost sounded like he was fanboying. "Just… You're amazing!"

"Thanks" she responded with a smirk. "Though if you're looking to battle me, it's a little too late for that."

"Well actually, I um…"

"You want to know why I stopped?" Hikaru can't remember how many times she got asked that. "It's not something I talk about to many…"

Zeo saw she was glancing away, almost like she felt pressured. "That's fine. Just forget I asked... I'm sorry…" There was a moment of quiet before she finally spoke up.

"Don't say this to anyone, but I'll sometimes go to the abandoned stadium to practice. In fact, that's how I found you." She started looking back at him again as she continued. "I know it's pointless now that I'm working, but I just keep thinking maybe… I'll have a way to do it again one day."

She hesitated to bring up that incident with Ryuga that led to her quitting, but the moment she thought about it, she almost wanted to tear up a bit. But then felt Zeo's hands wrap around hers as he looked into her eyes…

"Hey… If this is something you love, I say go for it. I don't know what happened before and it's ok if you want to keep it that way, but don't let something or someone keep you from doing what you love. I meant what I said about you Hikaru. You ARE amazing. Not just as a blader, but as a person too. And I'm glad I got to speak with you."

As Zeo said every word his heart told him too at that point, the girl then wiped the slight tears from her eyes and embraced him. He was surprised at first but hugged her back after hearing a little whisper in his ear that just said, "Thank you Zeo."

Hikaru was already back at her apartment, lying in bed and thinking about what Zeo told her. She then pulled out her own bey, Storm Aquario, and remembered what her mother said years ago that she should never abandon her determination. All she could do now was ponder in deep thought on what her decision would be before turning off the lights and getting ready for bed.