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The white-haired male exhales heavily, a small frown pulling at his lips as he glances at his bey. It had barely been a fortnight since Spryzen had become a Turbo bey, but Shu is still having trouble getting his bey to reach its full potential.
Out of instinct, the male runs a hand through his white locks. Maybe he could ask some of his friends for help?
'No,' he shook the thought out defiantly. It would be fruitless to ask for assistance--well, in this case at least.
It's not that he doesn't believe in his friends capabilities, but since he's the first blader to upgrade his bey to this point, he can't really ask anyone for help--besides, his pride won't let him either.
He reaches down and gazes at Spryzen, gently running his thumb over the cool metal. It's his bey, no matter how many upgrades it goes through, it'll always be Spryzen.
Shu Kurenai's partner.
So, he will not give up--not that easily. He can't expect to master this new power so quickly. He'll have to be patient and just keep on training. He, of all people, should know strength comes from perseverance; his best friend is Valt Aoi for bey's sake.
A vibration from his phone, left on a nearby bench as to not distract him, snaps him back to the present. With a short huff, he pockets Spryzen and walks over to the bench.
Snatching his phone, he looks at the caller. 'Valt'
'Speak of the blader...'
A smile appears on the albino's face in an instant, the tension in his body seemingly evaporated. Tapping on accept and then tilting his phone, a familiar blue-haired blader comes into view.
"...gonna--oh, hey Shu!" A bright smile appears on the female's lips. "See? I told you it wasn't that late!"
A pause. The girl turns back to her friend, in a soft tentative voice asks, "It's not that late, right?"
The tall male glances at his watch then back at the female.
"Not really," the albino assures simply, shruging. Valt sighs in relief before turning to whoever it is by her side, a triumphant smirk on her face.
"Yeah, yeah," a lightly irritated voice concedes, no real anger in their voice.
Ah, Shu recongnises that voice; Rantaro.
The camera then moves, and the albino male now can clearly see the blond Kiyama. A lolipop in mouth as usual but his signature 'cape' was gone, replaced with a towel--actually, his shirt was gone too. A light coat of sweat on his skin.
'Ah, they must've been training,' the Spryzen-blader concludes. Noticing his scrunity, Honcho explains,
"Ya see, we went out to do some laps, then a certain someone--" the blond shoots his companion a light glare, followed by nervous giggles from said companion, "--got lost! Seriously, how the heck did she even got lost? I have no clue and honestly I don't wanna." Honcho groans, shaking his head while Shu simply lets out a short chuckle.
Realising this wasn't going to be a short talk, the albino gracefully takes a seat. Patiently waiting for the blond to continue the story.
"Anyways, it took us, like an hour--" an indignant huff comes from the side, "--okay, almost an hour, to find her. But by the time we did, it started rainin'! And not like tiny drops or somethin'; it was pouring!"
A tired sigh leaves the eldest Kiyama's lips. "So, when we came back, we were soaked. Me and Valty here just finished a shower though--per Kris' orders."
Shu raises a brow at that. Does that mean that if Kris hadn't ordered them to bathe, they would just leave their clothes all drenched?
Considering who they are, yeah, Shu can picture it happening.
With a short huff that may pass off as laughter, Shu shakes his head. "You two never change," he mutters. Not really a bad thing, to be completely honest.
"Aye," Honcho replies simply, shrugging. That's when the camera shifts once more. This time, the albino comes face-to-face (or rather, screen-to-screen) with a certain redheaded giant.
"Well, well! Look who it is, the famous Shu himself!" A flamboyantly loud voice proclaims. The giant in question grins, sharp teeth on full display. "Thanks for making time for us common folk, yeah?"
"Hmm, of course," the albino replies dryly, schooling his expression. The redhead merely snorts, a knowing glint in his eyes. Suddenly, a thought occured to the albino. "Did you get caught in the rain too?"
"Nah." The male in question shakes his head, before adding, "But I'm trapped here 'till the rain stops." The tall blader sighs, pursing his lips. He doesn't seem too happy about the arrangement.
"Aww, don't worry Xander!" A cheerful voice chirps. The camera moves and Shu can barely make out Valt's head in the back, a bright grin on her lips. "The storm's gonna let up soon; in the mean time, we can beyblade together. What do you think?" The blue-haired girl tilts her head, a gesture influenced by a certain blond.
"Heh, sure Valt. I've been itching for a re-match, oh Miss Champion~" Shakadera coos, a toothy grin back on his face. The female pouts at the name, a light flush on her face. She starts mumbling something, but the albino couldn't hear it; whatever it was though, it caused Xander to practically bark with laughter.
Shu smiles, watching his friends. He misses them all--some more than most. Being the new head of the Raging Bulls has been quite draining.
Don't get him wrong; he loves it and tales pride in what he does. But even someone as hardworking as he is can admit that it is rather tiring.
"Huh? Hey, Shu, did Spryzen evolve again?" A curious voice inquires, snapping the boy back to reality. Blinking out of his daze, he looks back at his phone.
Only to see Valt watching him expectantly, Rantaro and Xander observing from behind.
'Darn it...' the albino grumbles, clenching his teeth. He hadn't thought Spryzen would be that noticeable, so he simply kept it in his other hand. Should've known that Valt would've noticed the change.
She may not be the most interspective person, but when it comes to beys, she's second to none.
Tucking his bey away--and praying that it looked as casual as he hoped--he replies, "More or less..." He shrugs. Not technically a lie.
The blond and the redhead narrow their eyes, incredulous and suspicious. The answer seems to satisfy the Valtryek blader though.
"Ah, cool! Hey, did you learn any new moves? Launches maybe?" The girl starts shooting question after question, her brown eyes literally glittering with excitement. Anything regarding beyblade has always fascinated the female; nothing brings her more joy than blading afterall.
Well, she may love beybread just as much.
Shu tries his best to answer the barrage of inquiries, making sure to not reveal too much. Valt doesn't look like she minds his vagueness--as soon as she gets a reply, she moves on to the next question.
"Woah there. Slow down, girl," Xander speaks up, a chuckle nevertheless escaping his mouth. It seems to work, as the short blader abruptly comes to a stop. She flushes, but a worried frown pulls at her lips.
"S-sorry, Shu! I didn't mean to overwhelm you! I was just so excited; you know how I get when it comes to beys. But--" Valt continues to ramble apologies. Shu didn't think it was possible, but they were more frantic than the questions.
"It's okay, it's okay," the albino gently sooths, gesturing for the blue-haired girl to calm down. Which she thankfully did. (A concerned pout still stays her lips though)
"I'm still trying to figure it out," Kurenai explains. "It's been..." the albino purses his lips, searching for the right words, before settling with, "...a trial."
"Woah, The Shu Kurenai is stumped? Man, I wouldn't want to be in your place," Honcho mutters, almost disbelievingly. A chuckle escapes the Raging Bulls blader before he could stop it.
"Don't worry about it, Shu. I know you're gonna get it!" Valt cheers, grinning.
"Yep, just keen on trainin'," Xander interjects.
"What do you think I've been doing?" Shu retorts wryly. But there was no bite to his words, a simple joke as it were.
The tallest male snickers, the other two chuckling.
"Oh, by the way!" Valt snaps her fingers, remembering something. "I'll be coming to Japan soon! Maybe we can meet up? You can show me Spryzen's new upgrades; I'm sure Valtryek would be so excited!"
Heh, Valtryek's obviously not the only one.
"Sure, when?" The albino inquires, getting to his feet. It was time to go home, he decided, but that didn't mean the chat had to end just yet.
"This weekend!" Comes the enthusiastic reply, causing the red-eyed male to pause.
This weekend...
That means he had not even close to a week to get ready.
And by ready, I mean, master the new power of a Turbo bey.
"Oh," Kurenai says, his mouth feeling dry. He's not sure why, but a part of him wants to learn to cultivate the potential in Spryzen before Valt arrives; a part of him wants to impress Valt by showing how powerful he and his bey has become; a part of him wants to hear Valt praise him again, with that gleam of excitement and awe in her eyes that only a beybattle can induce.
Another part of him--a part where only his deepest secrets lie--wants Valt to look staright at him, and say how much she admires him.
If the Valtryek blader had noticed the lack of a proper response, she doesn't comment. Simply smilling brightly and saying, "Great! It's been so long since we've blade; so don't you dare hold back, 'kay?" The shine in those brown eyes turn competetive--excited still, but challenging too. A friendly one, mind.
Suddenly, there was a shout in the background. The three bladers turn their heads, Honcho muttering something under his breath.
"Sorry, Shu. We gotta go. But we'll see each other soon, yeah?" Valt looks at the albino earnestly, eyes now tender but still bright.
"Yeah," the taller male replies, then cheekily adds, "Just so you know, I'm not gonna lose." A smirk makes its way to the albino's lips, as he waited for a reaction.
Honcho rolls his eyes but the smirk he tries to (unsuccessfully) hide gives him away; Xander of course laughs good-naturedly; Valt on the hand, stares at her friend for a while, before doing the mature response of sticking out her toungue.
"Well, guess that's all we gotta say," Honcho shrugs, signalling that they should be doing whatever they actually are supposed to. Valt playfully pouts before it dissolves into a smile, nodding.
All three gave their farewells and the line cuts soon after.
Shu takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. Looking at the darkening sky, it only reminded the albino of his crush on a certain oblivious blader. With a resigned sigh, he shakes his head.
'Just you wait,' the male feels his lips twitching into a smile.
'Me and Spryzen... we're definitely going to impress you.'