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The white beyblade spinning in the center captivated Hiromi's attention. As Kyoujyo typed furiously on his laptop, she wondered about it. She watched it as it clashed and clashed with the blue one. She watched as it ran the length of the beydish, as it circled its opponent, as it attacked again and sparks flew. It was a stalemate, both beyblades spinning furiously against each other, neither moving an inch.
She wanted so desperately to know what it felt like. She craved that energy, the adrenaline; she wanted to feel it so badly. The silly game of spinning tops—wasn't so silly anymore. She wasn't sure when the shift happened, but it did. It went from simply being dumb to amazing. But she kept quiet and simply stared at the white and blue beyblades. They clashed again, they flew and attacked, and they countered and dodged. Kyoujyo continued to type as the webcam recorded the battle. Hiromi thought back to the little kids that the boys were helping train. She thought about the kids at the park. All of them beyblading.
What about her? While she didn't mind helping Kyoujyo with finding spare parts and making snacks, she also wished they would just ask her. The beyblades clashed again before flying back to their respective owners.
She could hear Kyoujyo speaking, Daichi yelling, Takao boasting, but all she could focus on was the beydish. It was empty now. It was quiet. No more clashing. She looked at Takao then, smiling broadly. Any other time his smile would be contagious and she'd find herself smiling despite herself. But today, all she could think about was how he loved beyblade more than his life, and her heart lurched painfully.
She could brush off her thoughts during the training camp, as she kept busy making sure there were enough spare parts and snacks for the children. She didn't mind doing this, left to their own devices everyone would pass out from exhaustion, dehydration, or heatstroke! The guys were so involved they forgot about rest and sustenance. Those idiots.
But in those quiet moments, when she let her guard down, all those feelings would rush in and suffocate her. She'd remember the way Takao would help a kid correct his stance, or the encouragement he gave to the younger girls trying out the sport, and the bitterness she felt would then be washed away with shame. The bitterness was a small thorn in her side, it stung when she saw the guys helping out, but if she was honest, it hurt more when it came to Takao. She thought that after her complete failure in the bus, that maybe he'd come and tell her that he'd help her. She understood that the battle was important, she knew that. But there was always after, right?
She hadn't meant for that whole spectacle to happen. All she had wanted was to help the team and to prove that she could do it. Though no one said anything, she felt like she had been placed in the circle again for getting in the way.
If you leave that circle, then you can't join us for practice.
She twirled a lock of hair around her finger and sighed. She hadn't gotten the nerve to ask them after that. She could imagine them chuckling nervously. She knew she tackled problems with a certain level of intensity that made them nervous at times. But weren't they the same in their beyblading? She'd seen the scars littering Kai's arms. They all had scars from their rigorous training and dangerous battles. She's dressed those wounds many times before. Truth be told, she didn't want to ask them. She wanted them to ask her. More specifically, she wanted Takao to ask her. After all, Takao ate, lived, and breathed blading. He was always amazed when he learned someone was trying to take beyblading into the unknown parts of the world. He wanted people to understand it and to love it just like he did.
I'm right here! She wanted to scream. She loved beyblading. Didn't they see that? Didn't he see that?
She bit her lip. Her hands turned into fists. She wasn't the type to just sit back, if she wanted something she went out there and got it. That was how the bus incident happened. No fifth blader? No problem! I'm right here! Her failure had been so embarrassing that even now she felt heat rush to her cheeks.
Hiromi you're such an idiot.
Again, beyblades were launched and she watched as they danced around each other before clashing.
"You okay?"
Startled she looked up from the beydish to meet Rei's golden eyes, which were peering curiously at her. She felt more than saw Byakko's glow, and she smiled, her mood lifting a bit.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Rei narrowed his eyes. "The last time you said that you ended up passing out from exhaustion. So, I don't know if I believe you."
Hiromi rolled her eyes and waved him away, "I passed out once," and leaning into him to whisper conspiratorially continued, "compared to Kai, that's really good."
"Yeah, I don't think Kai should be the benchmark for anything health related." Rei whispered back as they both turned their gazes toward their teammate and burst into laughter when Kai turned to look at them with a raised brow.
"But Hiromi," Rei began after their laughter died down, "are you really ok?"
Hiromi nodded. "I'm just thinking too hard about nonsense."
Her gaze strayed to the beydish again and the grinding blades. She gave Rei a bright smile and though she could tell he didn't believe her, she knew he would leave it alone. They had learned that if she didn't want to talk about something, no one was going to get it out of her, and no one was going to get this out of her.
As the beyblades continued to chase each other in the dish, she knew she would have to ask. The question had been on the tip of her tongue so many times. But if she was honest, she didn't want to ask. She wanted Takao to figure it out, to think about her for once and ask Hiromi, wanna learn how to beyblade?
Even if he teased her about the bus and Einstein, she wanted him to ask.