I wanna thank everyone that read and reviewed chapter one :) y'all are awesome! like I said, this is 'technically' part three of my AATW series, but I might be getting rid of part two, not sure yet though. If you haven't read All Around the World yet, do that first! Hopefully you guys enjoy this chapter!
The Journey
Chapter Two
Disclaimer: I still don't own BeyBlade.
I laid on my bed, staring at the paper ticket in my hand. It was a great opportunity, I would give grandfather that. I definitely couldn't deny it. But to betray my team in such a manner...the team I've worked with for two years.. Sure we had our hard times, but we always got past them.
It was hard to imagine myself going on a world tournament adventure without the BladeBreakers by my side...without Ray there with me. I mean, what would he even think if he even knew...
There was a knock at my door and I sat up quickly, stuffing the tickets in the right hand nightstand by my bed. I looked up at the dark maroon walls that had pictures from my childhood and recent years scattered across. So many memories I held onto that seemed like they were all just yesterday. I stood up and walked to the door, peeking my head out and saw Ray standing there.
"Oh, what're you doing here?" I cocked my head to the side and he let himself in my room. I still wasn't exactly sure where we stood. Were we just friends, or were we Ray and Kira again? Beyblade's "most adored couple." No joke. It was a little ridiculous.
"I saw that look on your face before you ran away."
"I didn't...run away." I huffed as Ray chuckled, pulling me against him as he sat on my bed. I turned my head to look at him and bit the inside of my lip hesitantly.
"And I saw the looks you and Max gave each other... I can already feel what's coming."
"What is that exactly?"
"You're going to leave.. Go back to China again." There was a long pause, and I knew I was right. I knew even before I said it that I was right, but the fact that it was confirmed made my heart sink.
"I had no plans on going back to China. Sure, I'm worried about this new set up for the tournament, but I'm not about to run away and leave you here again. I love you, Kira. I don't know if I've made that clear, but I do." I pulled myself back from his grip and sighed heavily.
"This isn't about us, Ray! This is about the future of this team. This team that we've worked so hard to build for the past two year and now it's about to be ripped away from us. I know for damn sure that neither you nor Max wants to watch from the side lines as Tyson and Kai fight all of the battles for us." I looked down at the floor and reached out my hand from my hoodie. "And I don't either. That's why I know that this team is on the verge of being done, whether any of us want to admit it or not. Believe me, I love you too and I want you to do the best you can and I don't think any of us are going to do our best being here. If we're going to be the best bladers we can be, we have to fight the best. And... we are the best."
Ray stared at me, and grabbed me in a tight hug once again.
"Maybe for once I'll be able to test my strength against you."
"I don't think we've ever battled each other. Mmmm..for your sake, let's hope we don't have to battle." I laughed. He touched the side of my face with his hand.
"Promise if we do separate, things won't change between us again.. I love it when we're like this." I closed my eyes and thought back to the year before, when things weren't so perfect between us.
I was practicing late for an upcoming performance, everyone else had gone home early, and it was a surprisingly warm winter day for how it had been. After we had battled the Psykicks, Ray had met Salima and they had grown close. I had originally thought it was just a normal friendship but later that day I had found out otherwise.
After my practice, I was still feeling restless and something just felt off, so I decided to take the remaining energy I had in me and go for a run. The cold air had felt great on my sweat covered skin, refreshing me in a way. After about ten minutes of straight sprinting, I got to a bank with the river frozen and heard voices. My curiosity had gotten the best of me and I peeked over the edge and saw Ray and Salima sitting on the edge, at the time just talking.
"I'm just afraid of letting them make me into something I'm not. I'm afraid I'm losing control of everything."
"I'm not going to let that happen to you Salima, I care about you too much." And then it happened. He kissed her. I wasn't mad really, at the fact that he had kissed her, but that he hadn't talked to me about it at all. Sure, I had kissed Johnny after the first World Tournament, but things were different then. I thought that Ray hadn't wanted anything else to do with me.
And you know what was even worse, he decided to rub it in my face by bringing her to my eighteenth birthday party. He still hadn't told me about her, but they just showed up as a couple.
Things between us were pretty terrible for a while after that, but we made up and at some point in time, things progressed to this.
"Kira?"
"Hm?"
"Sorry, you just seemed to fade out on me." Ray's eyes were concerned, and I gave him a smile.
"No worries, I was just thinking about some things. Are you staying over?"
"Sadly, no. I just wanted to come check up on you and make sure you were okay. I love you, Kira. See you tomorrow?"
"Of course." I gave him a half smile and a hug and kiss goodbye. I watched as he left, and sighed. What was I going to do? There were so many parts of me that told me to stay, but so many more that told me to go back to Europe.
The next morning, I woke to my phone blaring from a call. I groaned, rolling over, and took my phone off the charger.
"Moshi?"
"KIRA, GET TO THE TRAINING HALL RIGHT NOW I WANNA BATTLE YOU AND BEAT YOUR ASS!" Tyson was way too hyper and loud at... five in the morning, really?
"Tyson.."
"NO IFS ANDS OR BUTTS ABOUT IT KIRA, NOW!"
"Fine, but you're dead when I see you." I heard him start cackling.
"Now that's what I like to hear! See you there, Kira!" I sighed, sitting up and got dressed in some workout gear, and made my way to the training hall. It was a quick ten minute jog, so I decided to jog there. When I got to the BBA training hall, there was no one outside, but the doors were unlocked, so I figured that Tyson and Kenny were already inside. Once getting up the first level of stairs, I heard voices. All of them familiar.. Tyson, Kenny...Ray and Max..? What were they doing here? I ran up the remaining stairs quietly, and peeked my head around the corner to get a better look and hear at what was going on. Max was sitting on a suitcase, and Ray was facing away with Tyson, they both looked fairly melancholy.
"Can't it wait Ray, I wanna try out some new techniques before I forget them!"
"Tyson, I've decided to enter the preliminaries back home as a member of the White Tigers, I'm leaving in about two hours." I felt my breath halt in my chest... was he even planning on telling me? Or was he just going to leave again with no goodbye?
"White Tigers? Sounds good to me!" Tyson was busy playing with his blade until he heard what came out of his mouth. "Huh...? White Tigers? Are you crazy Ray?"
"Is there something wrong, Ray?" Kenny frowned, shifting his laptop from his right arm to his left.
"There's nothing wrong, just as a blader, I want to do the best I can in this tournament, and I think I can do my best on that team."
"What exactly does that mean? Isn't our team good enough for you anymore?" Tyson glared walking over to Ray. "It doesn't make any sense for you to leave right now, what's going on Ray? What's your problem?" Please Ray, don't say it... He was silent for a minute and then finally looked at Tyson.
"Alright fine, you wanna know what my problem is? It's you Tyson. I've had enough of you and your pompous attitude and I want to do this on my own.
"Wha...? What do you mean? Ray we can work through this, everything's gonna be alright!" Ray looked back at the ground and didn't say anything, and Tyson being the hot head he is, got pissed. "Alright fine, you can do whatever you want! C'mon Max, let's hit the stadium and get working. We only have a month to prepare!"
Max was silent as well, and the sullen look on his face increased. "Huh.. hey Max, what's with the suitcase? I don't believe it! Are you thinking of going off on your own too?" Max sighed and stood up, nodding.
"Yeah Ty, my mom wrote a letter saying that she wants me to come home and join their team."
"Hmm.." Kenny placed his hand on his chin. "I think I know why these two are so eager to move on."
"Huh?" Tyson turned to look at Kenny.
"If you think about it, this type of tournament isn't exactly the best type of tournament to enter as a member of the BladeBreakers when we're all such strong rivals. Bladers with Ray and Max's abilities might have a better chance if they're on another team. It really could be a better way for them to be representatives in the finals."
"No way! That'll never work!" Tyson grumbled.
"Don't get mad at me Tyson! I just figured that's what Max's mom was thinking and why she wants him to come home. If he has a better chance of representing the All Starz wouldn't it be better for him to compete for their team?"
"Is that the way it is then?" Tyson turned back and looked at Max who shrugged.
"I guess so..."
"And you too Ray.. oh.. I had no idea that was the way you two felt..." Tyson started laughing to himself aloud. "Oh well, I guess I should have seen this coming a long long time ago. So you two will do whatever you can to win the championship title, won't you?" Ray and Max gasped, and I shook my head.
"Oh Tyson.." I whispered.
"That's what this is about, isn't it Ray? I won the championship twice in a row and now you want your turn." Tyson smirked and grabbed Ray's shirt. "But let's not kid ourselves, the real reason you're running away is because you're a coward and you're jealous of me. You're no friend, you never have been. You've always ran away when the going gets tough."
"Hey Tyson, that's enough!" I came from around the corner and walked into the room. I wasn't going to let this go any further. There were way too much testosterone in one room for it to be safe.
"But Kira-"
"Believe me, I heard everything." My eyes centered on Ray. "So you were going to leave without saying anything, again? After everything?" I sighed, shaking my head and ran back down the stairs.
"Kira, wait!" I heard Ray's voice from behind me, and as I was about the exit the training center, I felt his hand grasp my wrist.
"How could you do this to me, again? I know we weren't official or anything but I thought I at least deserved that." I felt tears forming at my eyes again and looked up at him. He had gotten so much taller than me over these past two years. He and Kai were about equal in height now, reaching about 5'9" or 5'10".
"I was going to ask you to join me with the White Tigers. Think about it! No one would be able to stop us with my defense and your offense skills."
"You're forgetting one thing, Ray. They all hate me. They would never accept me as a White Tiger..." I shrugged. "Besides... the White Tigers are your thing... not mine. If you leave... we're no longer teammates anymore." He nodded.
"I really am terrible with goodbyes." And gave a half laugh.
"I've figured that out... believe me." I grabbed him in a hug and felt his arms tighten around me. "I'll see you soon, White Tiger."
"See you." He pulled back with a smile on his face, he lifted my chin with his finger and our lips met one last time. The tears finally fell down my face, and he pulled back. "Don't hold back when we do battle. I don't want to win out of pity."
"Believe me, Ray. The last thing I would give you is a pity win."
A few hours later, he and Max were gone. I didn't go to the airport, just because I felt like I would ask them not to go...and they needed to. I felt unsatisfied with the way thing ended with Ray and myself, but I knew I would see him again, and it's not like this was the end of things. But that all left me with a decision to make... stay with Tyson and Kai in the BladeBreakers, or go home and convince my old friends to join me in winning the World Championship. I knew we could do it with enough dedication and practice, the only hard part was going to be to get them to train. That in and of itself would be the real championship. I sighed sitting against the frame of my bed, staring at that damned paper ticket again. To be in Europe, or to not be in Europe.. that was the question. "This is such bullshit." I reached over to my nightstand and grabbed the remote, turning on the BBN news, of course their main story had to be of Ray and Max leaving.
"Ray Kon and Max Tate were seen leaving Japan on flights scheduled back to their respective countries, right after the announcement Mr. Albert Dickenson made yesterday. Could this mean the end of the BladeBreakers? Can they function without their two highest means of defense? As far as we know, Kira Dickenson, Kai Hiwatari, and Tyson Granger are all still staying in Japan, though we could not get any comment from the aforementioned. We'll bring you updates into this new, exciting tournament as we get them." I rolled my eyes at the reporter, and my phone started buzzing again. I sighed with discomfort. It was Tyson, again. This had to have been the fiftieth call that I missed from him and Kenny since Ray and Max left. I didn't know what I was doing, or where I was going so I didn't feel comfortable talking to him in any way.
What was it going to be like when we all saw each other again? Would it be awkward? Of course it would be.
Tyson cared more about loyalty in our team than I think anything else. I mean, two years ago when we ran into the Majestics I can't even count the amount of times he called me a traitor. I sighed. This was going to be a huge mess.
I can understand in the aspect of the BBA why they chose to do this, but my grandfather approving it after everything..just threw me for a loop. I didn't really know how to process it. I looked over at my dresser where I had many sets of pictures. But the two I couldn't help staring at were the BladeBreakers and the Majestics...of course.
There was another knock at my door and I felt my body tense up. Although, if it were Tyson, he wouldn't have even knocked.
"Kira, it's Lucy." I sighed a breath of relief, and she opened the door. "Hey are you okay? Everyone's worried about you."
"I don't know what to do Luce... I feel I should be loyal to the BladeBreakers because they've been there for me...but giving up a chance to go against Kai and Tyson.. I feel like I would be cheating myself." I sighed, and Lucy smiled walking over to me. Her light brown hair was down and she had on ripped jeans with loose belts around her waist and a colorful tanktop.
"Well whatever you do, I'll support you one hundred. And you know the others will too...it might just be hard for them at first."
"I'm surprised you didn't go with Max." I tilted my head, and smiled and her face lit up with a blush. "I'm not oblivious, Lucy."
"Yeah well, it wasn't my place to ask him to go."
"He would have said yes, you know he would have."
"I don't though. He needs to focus on his blading if he wants to win." Lucy sighed.
"And who better to help him than the best beyblade mechanic on the planet!" I punched her shoulder softly and laughed. "That just gives me an advantage, so I'm not complaining... So... you would come with me if I went back to Europe?"
"Of course! I miss the guys as much as you do."
"Thank God, I'm gonna need all the help I can get whipping their asses into shape." I fell back onto my bed and sighed. "It's settled then.. get your bags packed and I'll get your ticket bought."
"Yes ma'am." Lucy said in a sarcastic tone, laughing as she left my room. I reached over and grabbed my phone, sighing. Should I tell Luna? I knew she would tell Kai and he would convince me not to leave... and I had made up my mind. I needed to do this tournament on my own with my own team so I could win this, knowing I could do it without Kai or Ray or Tyson or Max helping me.
I had to do this on my own.
It was raining, and I jumped out of the black SUV that was taking us to the airport. Just a few seconds out and I was soaked. I ran up to the front door, and inside I heard Tyson, Hilary, and Kenny all yelling. Luna yelled something in retort to them, and I sighed. I reached into my purse and grabbed a paper out and stared at it. Reaching in my bag, I also grabbed two pieces of tape and taped the paper to the front of the door.
'Sorry... -KD' There was a heart drawn around the KD. I took one last look at the Granger house and ran back out through the blistering rain to the car that was waiting for me.
"You ready?" Lucy asked me as I buckled myself in.
"Well, there's no going back now. I need to do this for myself. So, yes. I am ready." I smiled wiping the water from my face as we sped off to the airport.
"Kira..Kira! God, you sleep like a rock, wake up!" I felt Lucy shaking me and sat up quickly.
"What's going on?" I looked around, blinking my eyes as the sun was shining through a plane window.
"Uhhh we landed about twenty minutes ago. Those are some strong ass sleeping pills, girl. I need some of those myself." I rubbed my temples as I stood up and stretched.
"We're in Glasgow already?"
"Yep! Oliver emailed me saying he was waiting to pick us up! Gosh, everyone's gonna be so surprised to see us!"
"You're telling me.. I haven't seen Johnny in a year.. he's gonna freak." I stepped back and grabbed my bag from the overhead bin. "Geez, I'm sure all the other people on this plane thought I was overdosed on some drugs. Great, just what I need."
"Well, they already have you leaving the country on the BBN website. I wonder who tipped them off."
"Anyone at the airport really. You yelling random names while we were waiting isn't really being incognito, Lucy."
"Well I'm sorry I'm not a secret agent! I wasn't trained for something like this." I giggled as we walked through the airport. Everyone was speaking English, which was weird but refreshing. Soon a sign for "Dickenson" came into view and I sighed. The rich could never do anything for themselves. But.. much to my surprise, a short green head came into view soon after.
"Olivier, mon ami! You came!"
"You didn't think I was going to just let Rufus show up at the McGregor household with Johnny's most prized possession, did you?"
"'Most prized possession, HA." I rolled my eyes.
"Alright alright alright, can we get going? I'm starved!" Lucy hopped on her heels impatiently. I smiled. This was my life now, and I couldn't be more excited.
Thanks for reading, don't forget to review! I hope you all have a great weekend :)