Chapter Text
One year had gone by since Tyson’s last victory against Brooklyn and the BEGA organization. International competition was non-existent, as there was no money, no facilities and no central body to run the sport anymore but, at the very least, bladers could be happy that it hadn’t fallen into the pockets of the power hungry Boris Balkov, who wanted to twist their beloved game into something cold and unrecognizable.
However, the situation changed when an anonymous millionaire, claiming to miss the fervor of the show, funded not only a new world championship to be held on his private island, but also all of the elimination tournaments that would handpick players to represent the sixteen countries where the game was more developed, including, of course, Japan.
Kenny was the first to learn of the story, but Hilary heard about it soon after. After everything that had happened to her regarding the game, she had finally made a decision to get good at it, and Kai agreed to train her the minute she asked him to, not requesting her to beg on her knees or even ask why she wanted to do it in secret. Scared of the mocking Tyson would hand her if he found out she was actually playing beyblade, she would have him know about it only when she could shove it down his throat. The reigning champion quickly started to suspect something was happening when Hilary started to show up less and later at his house to hang out, but other things were always going across Tyson’s mind and he didn’t bother to ask what was going on in hers.
It was only during the last day of school that Tyson got to class, late as always, but with the bruises and dark circles typical of a late night practice, and a smirk worthy of a World Champion who had just found an opportunity to defend his title. It had always been a matter of time before he found out about the tournament, but his enthusiasm reverberated quite differently on Hilary. While he bragged on and on about his deeds, how easy it would be for him to defend his spot at the Japanese team and take the title, Hilary quickly confirmed that he didn’t know that the tournament didn’t have enough funding for her to follow the Japanese team as a manager unless she paid for it with money she didn’t have.
Crestfallen from melancholy, when she announced she was back home her mother picked up on her mood, silently following her to her room.
“What’s the matter, dear?” She asked as Hilary put her stuff from school down on her desk.
Hilary sat on her bed and let herself talk about the training she had been having with Kai and how he had surprised her by saying she was doing better than most. Then she told her about her wish of going to the tournament to support her friends, either by paying, or by attending as a player and face judgement, shooting out a couple of nasty things about Tyson in-between.
“That is a complicated spot you’re in, Hilary, but I think that if you want to go to the tournament to be with Tyson and Kenny and everyone else you should just go,” her mother said once she had calmed down. “Maybe you’ll even be surprised.”
As her mother talked, Hilary remembered that she used to tell her a story whenever she came home crying from spraining her knee or being bullied when she was still in primary school, and how it always made her feel better.
“Mom, can you tell me a story? Like the ones you used to when I was little?” She asked. Smiling, she beckoned her to follow her to the living room and, while Hilary sat down on the couch, her mom quickly left to her bedroom and returned with an ornamented wooden box, so old it had crusts of dust on its indentations. She took the glint in Hilary’s eyes as a sign that she was thrilled to listen to what she had to say, which had not happened for a while, and it made her quite happy.
“This is a tale told only to the women of our family, that has been passed on from generations much older than our own.
“Long, long ago, Japan was ruled by noble lords, who took what the people owned for their own benefit and forced them to live in misery. At the time some people were born holding spirits with great power, but the lords kept them hidden by paying them or forcing them to be their soldiers, silencing them if they refused to do so.
“One day a spirit was born to a girl. She knew she had to keep it hidden from the world, but she came to meet another wielder of a spirit who had managed to elude the pursuit of a lord. With his help she rescued a dear friend, but all three of them were forced to fight the lord. However, they emerged victorious.
“They pushed forward and defeated more and more lords, and other fearsome warriors joined the priestess. She was called the Priestess of Light, healer of the people, and was escorted at all times by the Counselor of the People and the five Celestial Warriors, the Warrior of the White West, the Warrior of the Flaming South, the Warrior of the Dark North, the Warrior of the Golden Center, and the Warrior of the Blue East, the one she had saved and she was the closest to.
“Soon the Priestess’s deeds started bothering the most powerful Lords, and they decided to act against her. They ended up claiming another girl holding a spirit, and around her they gathered an army to silence the Priestess of Light once and for all. She was called the Priestess of Darkness, known for her melancholy and a looming shadow that fought the light.
“One night during the war, the Warrior of the Flaming South met a lonely young lady, and they fell deeply in love with each other, never revealing their feelings, but always knowing. However, in the middle of battle, the Priestess of Darkness revealed herself to be the woman he loved. Thinking that he been tricked by the sorceress, he killed her without a second thought.
“As they lost their biggest asset, the Lords and the Emperor agreed to sign peace with the Priestess, and life became a little bit better for the people of Japan. However, as the Priestess of Darkness had died, the Priestess of Light started to quickly wither away.
“Her five faithful Celestial Warriors begged for the knowledge to save her, but not even the wise spirit of the Counselor of the People could help them find a cure for her illness. Four of the five warriors left in search of something that could change her future, leaving only the Warrior of the Blue West to guard her.
“Before any of the other warriors could return, the Priestess of Light died in the arms of the man she loved.
“After they buried their friend, the warriors found their own path. The Warrior of the Blue West fought in many other battles to come, together with his spirit. The Counselor of the People and the Warrior of the Dark North decided to travel the world to gather knowledge and stop any other similar tragedy. The Warrior of the White West and the Warrior of the Golden Center returned to their homes, where they were welcomed as heroes and lived peacefully for many years. And the Warrior of the Flaming South disappeared in one of the boats that left the land after the war, never to be seen again.”
As she wrapped up her story, Hilary’s mother gave her some time to let it sink in, before opening the old box and removing a silver medallion from the blue velvet inside. It has held by a delicate chain and drawn in relief was an elegant plumed dragon.
“The Priestess asked the Warrior of the Blue West give her medallion to the person he trusted most. That medallion has come down to our family, and now it’s yours,” she said, putting it down on her hands. Feeling the cool metal warm up in her hands, Hilary looked at it fascinated, feeling something familiar within it.
“It’s gorgeous…”
“It’s called Dawn. I’m glad you like it!”
“I love it, but… I don’t think I can take care of it.”
“Nonsense! You’ve already proven to be responsible enough to take care of it until you can hand it down to a girl of your own,” her mother said, taking the medallion and gently putting it around of her neck. As she did so, Hilary felt as if some missing piece of her had found its rightful place, as if the medallion had always belonged on her neck and it’d be an unfair penance to have separated herself from it.
Hilary hugged her mother hard, feeling grateful beyond words for her gift.
“You know, you should think of this tournament as training, instead of being so scared of what people will think of your performance,” her mother said, continuing before she could intrude. “If you don’t make it into the team just keep practicing, and when Tyson comes back he’ll have no excuse but to accept you. Maybe you can even beat him yourself.”
“I want to do that just to shut him up,” she answered.
“And about this thing that you keep worrying about him, even though he’s mean to you sometimes, well, if I tell you what I think you’ll refuse to believe me, so you’re going to be the one to find out what it is.”
“What? How bad is it?”
“Well, I’d like to know my grandchildren before I pass away,” her mother answered with a laugh.
“Right…”
“Oh dear, look at the time, I have dinner to attend to. Go upstairs and do your homework, I’ll call you in a bit.”
***
She found herself not as her, but not as someone else either. She had the same sharp eyes, but she was a bit older, her hair long and tamed in a ponytail, and her clothes were from a different time. She sat on a fallen log by a clearing, waiting, listening to the soothing sound of a nearby creek and the songs of small birds, tiptoeing on the branches above. Suddenly, a shadow crossed the brush and spooked the birds into flying away. She looked up and found Dragoon between the treetops, but she she didn’t look back down for Tyson or his beyblade. Instead, she kept eyeing the blue dragon as it swerved around the trees and landed before her, crouching to let a friend she knew well jump safely from his neck to the ground. Tyson was tanned and his hair was shorter, as if he had cut it himself instead of letting someone competent do the job, but he also wore something a warrior from a fairy-tale would maybe use.
“And I’m back!” he said, patting Dragoon’s neck as he faced her.
“Yes you are, Tai. Did you find anything?”
“It’s pretty messy. It’s making me nervous, I can’t get close without them noticing something’s strange, even if I wear my disguise. Whatever they’re planning, it’s big. I don’t like it.”
“You’re right, they usually prefer to show off their newest weapon and threaten us with it…”
“We should go back to camp and get ready for anything,” Tai said turning for Dragoon.
“Wait, I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” she said, and he looked back at her.
“Sure, what is it?”
“I’ve just been wondering, when the lords brought you in because of Dragoon, who did they use to threaten you? I know you wouldn’t take money, and you have no family that I know of but, whomever it is, it could be related to their plan. We should find them and get them to safety before it’s too late.”
“Oh, that,” Tai said, turning his head slightly away from her. “You don’t have to worry about that, she’s safe. It’s nothing special,” he said glancing at her.
“The way you’re reacting she sounds pretty special,” she said, managing to just barely hold a bitter note on her tongue, cursing herself for believing his heart had not yet been taken by someone else.
“She’s fine, that’s all that matters,” he answered, still refusing to make eye contact with her. “As fine as… well, you, I’d say,” he added.
She sighed, knowing she wouldn’t be able to get anything from him. It was something that worried her, but she trusted his word that this mystery woman could not be used by their foes.
“Have it your way. But if you do something reckless because of her, I…”
She could not finish her sentence. She knew that, as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t bring herself to harm the person she was unconditionally and madly in-
“No way!”
Sitting up on her bed, Hilary took a deep breath to calm down. Even though it had only been a dream and those people weren’t actually herself or Tyson, they looked too much alike to let that train of thought end. She shook the dream off as she rubbed her head, and realized that no one had come to check up on her after that shout. Her father usually left very early, but her mother should still be inside the house, if she wasn’t fifteen minutes late for her appointment in the first week of the holiday.
After she got dressed in a rush and grabbed the sandwich her mother left her for lunch, she ran to one of the abandoned warehouses by the docks where Max, Ray and Kai should be waiting for her.
Even Daichi was only mildly annoying, so, all things considered, Tyson’s reaction to her entering the tournament was really her only issue. But her mother could have a point when she said Hilary could be surprised, as Tyson could come around to cheering her on as a friend, if he felt the same kind of affection she had towards-
She made a point of shaking her head and forgetting about the dream that had kept her in bed for too long that morning.
Deep in thought, she crashed against someone on the street and fell to the ground. She was about to apologize, but the person who had helped her up was Tyson, and the feelings from her dream rushed up a storm that reddened her face like a ripe tomato.
“Morning, Hilary, what are you doing out here?” Tyson asked. She didn’t usually hang out near the docks, as far as he knew.
“N-nothing, what about you? Why are you up so soon?” she asked back. He raised an eyebrow and she felt her heart skip a beat.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s none of your business,” she answered passing by him, trying to sound as natural and she could.
“Hey, what’s gotten into you?”
“I have stuff to do, go away!”
Although she hurried her step, as she looked back she saw him following her in the corner of her eye.
“God, don’t you have something better to do than following me?”
“Not really.”
“Get a life, Tyson.”
“I have a life, otherwise I wouldn’t be rushing here trying to talk to you.”
“You know what I mean. Anyway, I’m still late, so goodbye.”
As she turned the corner Hilary started to run and turned another corner, effectively vanishing before Tyson could catch up. Her training had payed off in some way, as she could run a lot faster than Tyson would ever expect, so he quickly lost her trail and she managed to make into the warehouse alone.
Although Kai asked why she was late he didn’t say anything else about it, and her training went by uneventfully. Her beyblade glided across an improvised beystadium against Max’s Draciel, and Ray and Kai advised her on how she should approach a prominently defensive foe.
It wasn’t until noon that she decided to tell them that she was thinking about participating on the upcoming event.
“You want to be a player for the Japanese team?” Ray said, completely caught off guard.
“That’s great news, Hilary, go for it!” Max said holding thumbs up towards her.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to do much, especially if I have to fight you guys on the way, but it’ll be good practice, right?” she said with a nervous laugh.
“Oh, Ray and I won’t be on the Japanese team,” Max said.
“I’ll be going for China, and Max’s going for the States,” Ray said. “So there’ll be two spots on the team, if Tyson, Daichi and Kai get in.”
“Yeah, if you could get into the team it’d be great.”
“Oh… Well, in that case, I have to be able to get in…”
“If you really want to, then you have nothing to lose for trying,” Kai said.
“Alright, you guys. Don’t go easy on me!” She asked with a confident nod. How could she not give her all and risk one of the spots to be given to a stranger instead of her, who had been on that team for so long?
***
When they returned to the Granger residence, in time for lunch, Tyson was at the entrance, peeking in as if he was scared of going inside for some reason, but he quickly turned and waved towards them as he heard their steps.
“Oh, hey guys!”
He shut his mouth just as fast, but the front door was burst open and Diachi jumped outside, clamping onto Tyson’s head.
“A-ha! So this is where you were hiding. I want a battle and I want it now!”
“Ok, ok, we’ll fight during practice, now get off of me!”
“Oh, hey guys, ready for some matches?” he said, jumping from Tyson’s back putting his confident fists on his hips.
“Anytime, Daichi,” Ray answered.
“Why did you have to run away from me if you were just going to meet with the guys, Hilary?” Tyson asked. “And when did you learn to run like…” As he took a better look at her, Tyson pointed at some minor bruises half-hidden by her sleeves and dirt spots on her clothes. “What happened to you?”
“I ran into you and fell, remember?” She said, blushing from embarrassment.
“Really?” Tyson smirked back at her. “I think you got a rough little boyfriend that you’re not willing to share.”
Hilary’s mind blocked, thinking that was a ridiculous assumption and she had to counter it somehow, but when she kept silent and blushed Tyson couldn’t help but take it a silent consent.
“Wait, what? That’s actually true? Who is he?”
No, that was fine. The enjoyment of watching Tyson squirm under such a false pretense was a potential gold mine, and it was also the perfect excuse to keep practicing in secret without him bothering her. Where to even begin?
“Oh, you don’t know him. I don’t even think you’re worthy of his name,” she said, regaining her composure, but avoiding direct eye contact so that she wouldn’t burst out laughing.
“You what?” Ray and Max thought aloud. Daichi stared at her, wondering how could someone like her trick any sane man to fall for her, and Kai watched Tyson’s face twist with a glint of amusement.
“So it’s true? What’s his name? Come on!” He demanded.
“Dawn,” she said, taking inspiration from the medallion hidden beneath her shirt. “Dawn Lightshield.”
“That sounds pretty foreign.”
“Because it is foreign, dumbass, and that’s as much as I’ll tell you.”
“Man, really? I knew something was going on with you, but I didn’t expect you to actually get a boyfriend all of sudden,” he said, thinking aloud. “Why you didn’t you tell us? When did it all start? Did you guys know about this?”
“Why do you care?” She answered while Ray, Max and Kai all shook their heads.
“Nothing, nothing,” he said holding his hands up. “I just think it’s important for us to know because you’re our friend, but if you don’t want to tell us anything that’s your problem. Hey, you guys know about this next big tournament to decide the team for Japan, right?” Tyson looked back to the boys from his former team, the spark of excitement back on his eyes.
“Yes, but Max and I were called back to our home countries, so we won’t be able to compete with you,” Ray answered, still coming to terms with the fact that Tyson had swallowed up Hilary’s lie so fast.
“Not again! Come on, man, you fought for your countries last time, we should be stick together this year.”
“Sorry, Tyson, but we all still owe you rematches and we just don’t want to lose,” Max said with a shrug. “No hard feelings, I hope.”
“A little hard feelings, but I can understand. I’ll be pretty psyched up for those matches. Reigning champion has to defend his title,” Tyson said with a grimace. “What about you Kai, you going for Russia?”
“No. I’m staying.”
For a moment, no one said another word. The one person who should want to face Tyson on a match the most wasn’t going to face him at all?
“Glad to have you back on the team, man,” Tyson ended up saying.
“Hey, what about me?” Daichi asked.
“What about you? If you manage to get past the elimination tournament you’ll be on the team too.”
“Alright, piece of cake!”
“When are you guys leaving?” Hilary asked Ray and Max.
“Pretty soon, unfortunately. I’m leaving later tonight and, Ray, you’re going tomorrow at noon right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we need to use this afternoon to put in as much practice as we can,” Tyson said, turning towards Kai. “You can stay in my place so we can practice more often.”
Without a word, he turned around and walked down the street.
“Hey, where are you going?” Shouted Tyson.
“Getting my stuff. Start without me.”
Away from the all the noise, Kai could almost sigh from relief. He had no reason to seek out any other team. Other than the fact that he had almost always regretted changing sides, Tala’s fight with Brooklyn had left him with a wrist injury that made him unable to play at the top level, and there was no one else in the Blitzkreig Boys he cared about. Besides, he and Tyson had often battled it out to their hearts’ content during that long downtime from competition. Making their fight official at a large stadium with people shouting at them would not change a thing. He wouldn’t be able to go all out against Tyson while tournament season was on but, if fortune smiled upon him, someone else would entertain him during the road.
It didn’t take long for him to return home and, after quickly explaining the situation to the butler in charge of the house and denying a lift back to Tyson’s place, he grabbed a backpack and fit in a toolkit for his beyblade, toothbrush and a couple of changes.
As he searched the room for anything else he could need, he heard running steps outside and peeked through the curtains, spotting a man in black running on the wall of the private compound on the other side of the street, chasing after someone he couldn’t see because of the trees surrounding the Hiwatari mansion.
A blast of energy erupted from the road, as if something had suddenly become shrouded in a dark sort of wind, which would have knocked Kai back if he hadn’t held on to the window on time. Something hit him at high speed, he fell on the bed behind him, and soon after light returned to normal, revealing a girl laid on top of him. She pushed herself up and looked at him with deep ice-blue eyes that touched a memory within him, intangible, slipping away between his fingers.
“Kaito?” She asked, her voice very low and sharp.
That was also something familiar and intangible.
A sound outside brought them back to reality and the girl covered his mouth, as she rolled under the bed and dragged him to hide behind it, staying as immobile as she could, listening for any sign of her pursuer. The house’s phone rang but, as instructed, the butler dispatched the caller, claiming no one of importance to be home.
The summer wind rustled on the trees, a dog barked in the distance and cars drove by the road for a couple of minutes before the girl allowed herself to crawl from under the bed. As he stood up as well, Kai noticed a red, warm stain on his left hand.
“Blood?” he wondered aloud.
“It’s not yours,” the girl whispered back, peeking outside cautiously from the side of the window. Her long, lilac hair was unkempt and covered most of her face, making it very hard to take another look at her strange eyes. Her skin was pale white, but dirty and carved in scars and scratches, and her worn clothes could make Daichi’s look brand new. Not only had she probably been on the road for long, it seemed she had been the target of several attacks like the one he had just witnessed. Fresh blood was dripping from her inner thigh, from a wound hidden by her torn jeans, and for the first time in his life Kai felt a tingle of worry that he had probably touched someone somewhere he shouldn’t have, even if accidentally.
“What was that name you called me?” He asked as the girl took a deep breath, taking it as sign that she felt safe.
“Kaito,” she answered, turning towards him. He couldn’t see her eyes because of her hair, which felt both strange and somewhat comforting.
“Why?” He asked, looking outside the window for anything out of the ordinary she could have missed.
“You look like him,” she answered. “May I use your first aid kit and a lighter to fix this wound before I leave? It may be too much of me to ask for now, but I won’t bother you again.”
“Feel free to use the bed, sheets were about to be cleaned anyway,” he said before leaving for the master bathroom where they kept what she had requested. He expected people from the streets to be rude, but he could question her about her origins once her wound was fixed.
From the kit, the girl took a roll of blue and white bandages, iodine solution, a stitching needle and thread, scissors, a plastic tube and a plastic bag. She used the lighter to meld together one of the ends of the tube with the plastic bag, opened a couple of holes on the other end of the tube and poured iodine over it and over her hands. Then she opened the stitching needle and thread, put the small tube inside of her wound and started stitching her muscle with precise gestures. It was clearly not the first time she was performing such a thing.
Kai couldn’t help but look away from her work every now and again, when his stomach threatened to throw away his lunch. Instead he looked at the girl’s face, trying to remember why she was so familiar, as sweat dripped from her cheeks. There had to be a reason why she had not looked for a hospital, but there had to be someone else who knew her and could deal with her.
Her skin had gained an even paler tone, and her hands trembled as she started the final knot. With tape she tied the tube and the bag, which slowly filled with dark blood, to her leg and took the iodine from Kai’s hands to pour over the closed wound. Then she asked for the bandages, but as Kai started to open them she collapsed, letting her thin body drop on the mattress.
Feeling somewhat responsible for her fate, Kai knew he couldn’t just leave her there. Her pulse was strong, so she had probably collapsed from exhaustion and should come to her senses after some rest, but he also had an appointment with Tyson and the others that had been delayed for too long. Snorting out of frustration, he finished opening the bandages and tied them firmly around her leg. Then he threw the backpack over his shoulder and, picking her up, accepted the butler’s lift to Tyson’s place.
***
Tyson found himself to be surprisingly bored. Although he usually cheered on his friends as they battled each other for practice, he didn’t have the energy to do it that day. Max’s advice to Ray and Daichi, Dizzi’s daring commentary, Kenny’s analysis and even Hilary’s commands just refused to sink in his head, as something constantly blocked constructive thought. He panicked slightly when he realized it was exactly the same thing that happened when he was studying, but instead of drifting towards beyblading techniques and memorable matches, his brain was finding something it deemed even more important to think about.
The worse thing about all that was that it was the last day Max and Ray would hang around with them for months.
As Kenny and Hilary clapped when Strata Dragoon managed to barely hold itself on the edge of the stadium after a powerful counterattack from Ray’s Driger, Tyson found himself wondering what would happen to the team without its only female member ever. He had overheard a conversation between Hilary and a girl from their class, saying that even if she could go to the elimination rounds to cheer them on, she couldn’t afford the trip to the championship proper.
Although she wasn’t a player, she had always given her all as the Bladebreakers’s manager, a position that Tyson had grown to accept, even if it gave her an annoying sort authority over them. She was the one that kept them in line and forced them to train, she had managed to muster the willpower to see an invisible bit-beast when none of them could, and she had stuck with the Bladebreakers even after their status as the guardians of the Sacred Bit-Beasts and world champions put her in danger more than once before.
And Tyson would pay the trip for her if she asked him to. However, if he was the one to suggest it, he would have to admit having spied on her conversations, and it didn’t take a lot from his imagination to see where that would lead. Also, it seemed like she didn’t care too much about not being able to go, as she had her new boyfriend to worry about and hang with.
In a couple of years all of them would graduate from school and find someone they liked, just like Ray and Mariah, who started dating during that past year and that Tyson fully supported. But Mariah was a beyblade player, just like Ray. If Hilary wasn’t a player, and her boyfriend wasn’t one either, it was likely he would break her apart from their world. But not before he settled a score with Tyson Granger, and told him exactly what he found so special about Hilary that he chose to date her instead of just being friends, like any sensible person would. That boyfriend would definitely get bored of her ability to get on his nerves… even though she didn’t seem to get on anyone else’s nerves.
As Tyson was musing about whatever flaws Hilary had that would push the boyfriend away, she turned her head towards him and claimed it was his turn to practice.
“Huh, yeah sure, but…” he started, feeling his cheeks warm up and looking around to hide it. “Where’s Kai? Shouldn’t he be here already?”
“You’re right, he shouldn’t take this long,” Kenny said checking the time with Dizzi as Max and Ray looked about for him too.
“I think Tyson’s finally starting to make an impression on him,” Dizzi said. “But I can’t imagine him reading manga and eating chips on the floor.”
“Oh, please no,” Hilary thought aloud.
“Hey!”
“Tyson, come here!” Kai’s voice shouted from the front gate. The group traded glances and all of them got up to see what was going on.
“Hey, Kai… Who’s that?” Tyson asked pointing at the pale ragged girl with lilac hair and hardly any trace of life that he was carrying.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did you bring her here?”
“Elivah!”
From Kenny’s hands, Dizzi’s robotic voice silenced any fight that could have started right there.
“You know her, Dizzi?” Asked Max.
“Yes, she helped me get back inside this laptop and I helped her escape from-”
Dizzi suddenly silenced herself, as if she had said too much.
“She’s the one who helped you come back?” Kenny asked.
“No, wait a minute, you helped her escape from where?” Asked Tyson, but Dizzi didn’t reply. “I don’t think you should bring her in, Kai-”
“Let her stay!” Kenny said in an unusual determined tone.
“Why?” Daichi asked. “She sounds like trouble, Chief.”
“It’s thanks to her that I have Dizzi back, and I’m not letting her out on the street,” he quickly answered. “If you don’t want her here, I’ll take her back to my place and stay with her until she wakes up.”
The previous year, just before they had all met Daichi, Dizzi had suddenly disappeared from Kenny’s laptop. He had said so to Tyson keeping a fair bit of composure, as if it had always meant to happen. Then, as suddenly as she had disappeared, Dizzi returned to the laptop during the beginning of the school term, claiming that she had been pulled by the Internet and got lost trying to find her way back to that specific computer. However, when they asked her about how she had managed to return, she kept her answers vague enough that they had to give up trying to connect the dots.
Tyson could guess how big a blow losing Dizzi made on Kenny because he could easily image himself being pretty upset with somehow losing Dragoon. Besides, what could possibly happen with that Elivah girl that they hadn’t already gone through?
“Alright, Kenny, she can stay here,” he said. “She can stay in my room as long we’re using the dojo.”
“Are you nuts? You’re letting a total stranger crash in your room?” Daichi asked in a bit of shock.
“Hey, you stayed there too when you came out of nowhere!” Tyson answered, while Kenny led Kai inside the house and Hilary, Max and Ray followed.
“Yeah, but you owed me a match!”
“That wasn’t the problem!”
As the rest climbed up the stairs, the shouts from the two of them fighting outside eventually died out, and Kai laid down the girl on Tyson’s bed.
“What’s that thing on her leg?” Hilary asked, pointing at the bag sticking out of the bandages around her thigh.
“It’s a drain,” Dizzi said. “It’s for draining blood from deep cuts and surgical wounds. She did that herself, didn’t she?”
“Yes,” Kai answered. “She stitched the wound by herself too.”
“Some things don’t change,” she answered.
“You sound like you know her pretty well, Dizzi,” Ray said.
Something like a small bell echoed when the girl muttered something on her sleep, straining her eyes.
“… Dad, come back…”
Her hand slightly moved up as if looking for something, but quickly fell back down as her face relaxed again.
“Dad? What happened to him?” Max asked the computer.
“… They were separated,” Dizzi answered, choosing her words carefully.
“Why?”
“I’m not the one you should ask that to. Ask her when she wakes up. We should go back to training, we’ve wasted too much time already.”
As they went out into the back garden they quickly realized Tyson and Daichi had already started their fight to determine the victor of their argument, so Kai and Max started their own game and Kenny and Ray took turns watching the two of them, while Hilary pondered about what should they do about the girl.
After the group said goodbye to Max at the airport, just before he had to embark for his flight to New York, Hilary decided to stay in Tyson’s place as well to look after the girl during the night, since Dizzi forbade them from calling a doctor or telling the police about her. They let the girls stay in Tyson’s room and he brought a sleeping bag to the dojo to sleep with Daichi, Kai, Ray and Kenny, once they exhausted themselves over training and data processing.
The boys’ shouting could barely be heard with windows and the door shut, and after making sure the stranger was sleeping fine, Hilary laid down on the extra mattress Grampa had dug out for her. Everything that had happened that day had left her exhausted, and she wondered if she could keep it up with official matches on the mix, and how did Tyson managed to pull it all off so effortlessly.
She was on the battlefield, surrounded by her most trusted friends, riding their spirits and prepared for anything that was to come.
“Since you refuse to give in to our modest demands, you leave us with no choice,” claimed one of the lords, riding one of his subordinates’ spirits. “Edonisu will be you opponent, Priestess Hina. Prepare to fall.”
The spirit turned and flew back towards the massive army that had gathered under the lords, led by a turtle-like creature with a throne on his back, where a woman in dark, heavy gowns and chains on her wrists and her ankles sat. When the spirit was safely behind the army’s lines, dark smoke enveloped the woman, shaping into a massive monster, whose snarling teeth made themselves visible in the darkness, and roared in anger.
Hilary jumped from her bed and looked around, but found no such teeth in Tyson’s room. Up on the bed, the girl from the previous day was still sleeping, her breath barely audible in the midst of the rustle of leaves from the garden outside. Rubbing her eyes, Hilary felt the adrenaline rush from her nightmare fade out and, after checking the time, she got up and headed for the kitchen to make some eggs, rice and toast for the guys, grampa Granger and the girl. She ate her share and, after covering the rest with a napkin to stop the flies from getting frisky with their food, took another share to Tyson’s bedroom.
Dawn had already gone by and, while Hilary checked her phone for news, waiting, the sun’s rays managed to sneak in through the curtains and gently light the room. Foggy from sleepiness, the lilac haired girl’s eyes opened, and she slowly looked around the new place she found herself in, alerting Hilary that she was finally awake.
“Good morning,” she said, drawing the girl’s attention towards her. The fogginess of her eyes disappeared, as she seemed to recognize her.
“Hina?”
As she realized she had thought aloud, the girl’s face quickly hardened, keeping but a glint of caution on her eyes.
But wasn’t that the name Hilary had dreamed with that day?
“Hina?” she asked.
“I apologize, it was a mistake,” the girl answered, shaking her head. “You look very much like someone with that name. Where am I?”
“This is Tyson Granger’s place. You probably know him, he’s Beyblade’s world champion,” Hilary said, and the girl nodded back. “His team member, Kai, brought you here, but he didn’t say what happened to you. One of our friends knows you, though.”
“Who?” Asked the girl, slightly raising an eyebrow.
“It’s a little complicated to explain, but our tech guy, Kenny, has a bit-beast inside his laptop, and…”
“Dizzi?” The girl asked, looking slightly surprised again.
“Yes, that’s right,” Hilary said letting out a nervous laugh. “Oh, I made breakfast for everyone, and I’ve got some here for you, if you want,” she said, remembering the plate she had left in Tyson’s desk.
“If it’s not too much to ask…” the girl answered, sitting on the bed.
“Not at all! I’m Hilary Tachibana. You are?”
“Ellivah Kurotenshi, but I prefer going by Ells, if that’s alright,” she answered, taking the plate that Hilary handed her.
When she brought the fork to her mouth her face froze for a second, as if she was in shock.
“This is delicious! I’ve never had anything so tasty!”
The words surprised Hilary almost as much as the sudden change in character. She had never been praised for her food, even though she had been trying to improve as a cook with her mother’s help.
“O-oh, it’s nothing, really,” she struggled to say as the girl kept eating with gusto. More than truly enjoying the food, her thin, weak body all but told Hilary that she must have been starving for quite some time.
“Thank you for the meal,” the girl said putting down the fork as she finished, her expression back to normal.
“Did you really like it?” Hilary asked.
“Yes, it was very good.”
“Thank you! Do you want some more?” She asked jumping from joy.
“You’re very kind, Hilary, but I don’t want to impose on you.”
“Oh, it’s fine. I’ll be right back!”
As she climbed down the stairs Hilary saw that grampa Granger had already eaten, put his things away and was probably in the middle of morning practice at the dojo. Daichi was dragging a half-asleep Tyson inside the room, Ray and Kai had just finished their breakfast, and Kenny was almost done with his.
“Morning, everyone.”
“Did you make this?” Tyson asked, frowning at the few scrambled eggs that remained on the frying pan.
“Yeah, why? You have something to complain about?” Hilary answered.
“As a matter of fact-”
“In that case don’t waste your precious taste eating my bad, sloppy food. I’ll give it to someone who appreciates it,” she cut him off, swiping the rest of the eggs and some rice from the cooker.
“Hey, who said you could-”
“You just said you didn’t like it, and I don’t want to be responsible for the world champion’s stomach-ache.”
“I’ll eat it, give it back!” Tyson said taking the plate from her hands.
“Whatever,” she said, turning to grab another plate to give Ells the last of the rice and a warm toast with milk.
“Are you going to give that to the girl upstairs?” Ray asked.
“Yes. She just woke up and she was starving. I’ve already brought her some food, but I think she should have more to regain her strength.”
“If you’re taking that upstairs what is she doing here?” Daichi asked.
Hilary turned around and saw Elivah leaning on the handrail of the staircase, turning towards the kitchen.
“You didn’t need to come down, you need to rest,” Hilary said rushing to help her. The girl shook her head, stood straight and bowed slightly towards Kai.
“Thank you for everything.”
He simply nodded back and then left the kitchen with Ray to warm up for another day of practice.
“Since you’re here, have a seat,” Hilary said. After she set out the plate she had prepared for Elivah she bowed slightly and ate, keeping her composure but still tasting her food. Seeing she had been telling the truth, Tyson could barely believe someone was actually enjoying Hilary’s breakfast.
“Oh, by the way Hilary, since you’ve finished, could you go get the brochure for the tournament?” He asked chowing down some bread. “I wanna see the rules and the format.”
“Really? How do you know I don’t have any plans for today?”
“Oh, so you’re meeting your little boyfriend and just ignoring your friends?” Tyson answered back letting the rage build up. However, she took a glance at Ells and thought that was not the time or the place to get mad at Tyson’s morning attitude.
“This time I’ll do what you’re asking me to, but answer like that to me again and I won’t.”
She stormed out of the house putting on her coat, but the morning breeze and the blue, endless sky eventually calmed her down. There was no point in getting mad on a beautiful day where so much could still happen.
Turning the corner towards the stationary, she felt something grab hold of her. A piece of cloth smelling sweet covered her mouth and stopped her from screaming, as she was dragged towards a white van, losing conscience and the strength to fight back.
***
Two hours had gone by since Hilary had left, and Tyson was growing impatient. Elivah was sleeping on his bed again and the four of them had had more than enough morning practice. That goddamn girl was going to make him lose his sanity.
Grunting out that he was going to look for her, Tyson stood up and stormed out of the backyard. She was the one who said she had no plans for the morning, so she had no right to complain if he caught her and the boyfriend red-handed in some lovey-dovey puking hand-holding.
Just as he turned past the gate, a boy he had never seen before blocked his path, moving in his way when he tried to walk past him.
“Hey, what’s your problem?”
Without a word, the boy handed him a note with a mischievous smile and dashed away.
“Hey, wait!” But Tyson didn’t bother to follow him, choosing to just look down at whatever his note said. “What was that all about?”
We have the girl. Come to the cooling unit at the docks, alone or you won’t see her again.
Crumbling the paper and cursing himself for not thinking about that possibility sooner or even chasing after the kid, Tyson ran towards the docks.
***
Darkness.
Cold.
They numbed her, but she regained her senses.
Suddenly the memory of being kidnapped lit a spark on her and Hilary sat up to see where she was, finding massive hooks on the ceiling, some of them holding up whole carcasses of pigs and cows. If not for the beystadium in the center of the warehouse, it was just like what she imagined from the back of a butcher’s shop.
The low temperature made her shiver, and she grabbed the blanket that been left next to her. It was also cold, but it was better than nothing. She couldn’t even move, but looking at the heavy doors on the other side of the warehouse she didn’t think they were unlocked to begin with.
As she checked if she was truly unharmed and not just incredibly numbed by the cold, one of the doors opened and a boy she had never seen in the neighborhood entered, closing the door behind him.
“Oh, you’re awake,” he said as he noticed Hilary tighten the blanket around her. “Good. It’s better if you’re up and begging.”
As she was too cold and weak to fight back, he approached her and forced her to get up, dragging her towards the stadium. He sat her back down next to him and waited, arms crossed, staring at the massive doors for someone to come forth.
It didn’t take as long as Hilary believed it would. The doors opened and Tyson crossed through, quickly noticing Hilary and biting his lip. She tried to call him, but it came out as a whisper and a deep shiver.
“Challenge!” The boy claimed. “Beat me and you can have her.”
“And what’s in it for you, psycho?” Tyson asked back.
“I’ll take her for myself, for starters,” he said with the same smile he had left him with. Done with the questions, Tyson took out his launcher and the boy followed him, as his smile disappeared to make place to a focused stare towards the stadium.
“3, 2, 1, Let it rip!"
Both beyblades spinned over the stadium, but Dragoon was off-balance while his opponent slid perfectly over the metal.
“What’s going on here?” Tyson thought aloud and the boy’s purple beyblade massacred his.
“I-It’s the ice,” Hilary said as loudly as she could. Tyson took a closer look at the stadium and realized it was covered in a thin layer of ice. How come that boy’s beyblade was impervious to it?
“Impressive, isn’t it?” The boy asked as his beyblade chased Dragoon around like a toy.
“What do you want with all this? Why did you have to kidnap Hilary just to challenge me to this freak show?” Tyson asked.
Without a word, the purple beyblade crashed hard into Dragoon, and Tyson struggled to see it stay inside the beystadium. He needed to hurry and end that fight. Hilary was freezing, her face getting pale and her lips turning as purple as that stranger’s beyblade. There was no time to fool around, and he called out his bit-beast’s name.
The blue dragon rose from the beyblade, majestic and unharmed by the cold.
“That boy needs to be reminded of how soft his flesh is.”
“Let’s try not to-”
The mischievous smile returned to the stranger’s face.
“Mihira!”
The purple beyblade sent out shockwaves strong enough to crack the ice on the path it had taken. It’s bit-beast rose, terrible, monstrous, shaped like a polar bear that dwarfed Dragoon, dyed in a dark aura like mist all around.
“I do not know what that is…”
“Any more than you do.”
With a roar it threw a paw at the dragon that easily dodged out of the way, but the shockwave of its movement broke a piece of the pipeline on the roof. Cold air gushed out from it like artic wind and the temperature dropped even more.
The boy laughed and turned back to Tyson, his smile grown evil.
“Looks like you have to hurry up and lose, otherwise we’ll all freeze to death. And your little girlfriend will go first.”
Although she wanted to fight back, Hilary felt the chill caressing her bones like a sharp blade, but she knew that if Tyson rushed for her sake he’d probably lose. He was far from being in control of the fight.
The massive bear threw another paw at Dragoon who got away again, hitting the stadium and destroying it. The strength of the wind threw Hilary back, but she managed to slowly look back up and see what had happened. Both beyblades were still spinning and crashing into each other as if nothing had happened, even without a stadium to fight in.
That raw power was unlike anything Tyson had ever seen, and they couldn’t risk a Tornado in such a confined space. As they struggled to find a way to defeat that monster, the extraordinary energy that flowed from Mihira suddenly expanded. Unable to contain it, the bit-beast fragmented as if it was made of cracking glass, and dark smoke gushed out of the cracks, vanishing rapidly. It was a golden opportunity, so Tyson sent out all of Dragoon’s might against it. The bit-beast offered no resistance and broke into pieces. The smoke that emerged from it exploded into a powerful storm and, seeking to set itself free, burst open the doors of the warehouse.
When the wind faded out, Tyson stood up, grabbed Dragoon on the way and rushed to check up on Hilary, finding her fainted by the opposite wall. As he put an arm around her to get out of that place, a man dressed much like a black ninja from a manga stepped forward inside the building. Without a word, he grabbed the purple beyblade and the unconscious boy by the doors, glanced at Tyson and left, closing the doors behind him before he could even let go of Hilary to stop him.
He banged on the door and yelled out to let them go, but the door was firmly locked and no one came to their aid. Not even Dragoon made a dent on the door, as Tyson’s strength waned away with the growing cold.
Feeling powerless to get them out of that situation, Tyson only managed to sit down next to Hilary and barely keep himself awake.
***
Since Daichi was too exhausted and Tyson and Hilary were still missing, Kai took Ray to the airport by himself. However, just as easily as Daichi was drained from his energy, he was ready to fight again. After he was done helping grampa Granger clean the dojo, he came out to the backyard ready for another round of training, but all he found was Kenny analyzing data and the strange girl sitting down at the porch, gazing at the mesmerizing sky.
“Where’s Tyson and Kai?” He asked Kenny.
“I don’t know, they didn’t come back yet,” he answered without taking his eyes from the monitor.
“Argh, that’s it! I’ll go out and drag Tyson back home myself!”
As he spoke, a feeling of oppressed and uncontrolled power filled the air around the Granger’s dojo, and Daichi trembled.
“What was what?” Kenny asked with a scared voice.
“I don’t know, I can’t analyze it. It’s too powerful,” Dizzi said.
“Oh, no.”
They turned back to see a horrified expression on Elivah face, if only for a moment before it vanished behind a neutral stare.
“I’m going out,” she said, pulling the drain from her leg and throwing it into the dirt.
“I’m going too!” Daichi said. No way he would let that strange girl do as she pleased while Tyson and Hilary were away.
“Good, I’ll need your help.”
“Stay here chief, we’ll be right back.”
Led by Elivah, he dashed out into the streets.
***
When she woke up and saw Tyson next to her, passed out, Hilary grabbed the blanket that had found its way over her shoulders again and covered them both with it, holding him with her arms to make sure she could cover them both as best as possible.
As he felt the rummaging, Tyson’s eyes suddenly opened and turned to her.
“H-Hilary? What are you doing?”
“Keeping you warm, of course,” she answered. It felt a little embarrassing being so close to him, but it was the best chance they had of holding on until help came along.
“Won’t your boyfriend be jealous?” He asked, but doing nothing to stop her. At first Hilary didn’t remember any boyfriend, then the lie from the previous day came to her and she shook her head.
“Don’t worry about it. Even if he did… it doesn’t matter. I’m not letting you freeze in here.”
“Really? You’d risk that for me?”
“Of course. If I care about him more than our current… circumstances, I wouldn’t deserve youy friendship. And if he doesn’t understand what happened… he doesn’t deserve to be my boyfriend.”
Something like gratitude filled him without him even noticing, and he pulled her closer towards him, surprising her and making her blush against her will.
“Thanks,” he said.
“Y-you’re welcome,” she managed to say. His warmth felt nicer than she would like to admit, but every single one of their breaths rose towards the broken pipes and cold air still poured out into the warehouse. Even the carcasses started to become covered in a layer of ice. If only there was a way to warm the air around them…
As she conjured the thought, Hilary felt slightly warmer, but she believed her racing heart to be the reason for it. Even if he wasn’t looking at her, Tyson’s stare towards the doors was so loaded with divergent feelings that she felt tiny in comparison, like a small pray in the presence of its predator, immobile with fear. However, what filled her heart was definitely nor fear, but something that she had never truly experienced before.
Just like her, Tyson didn’t move, feeling a bit surprised for allowing himself to be so close to Hilary, and praying for someone to come and get them out of that place, as he was powerless to do so.
***
“Well, this is it,” Ray said as he and Kai approached the luggage and ticket check at the airport. “Make sure you find Tyson and Hilary and scold them good for me.”
“I will.”
“Take care, Kai. I hope to see you on the tournament,” Ray said as they shook hands.
“Likewise.” He answered. “Say hi to the guys at the White Tigers.”
“Will do.”
After he blended in the rest of the crowd, Kai didn’t wait any longer and left. Tyson had probably lost track of time fighting kids somewhere, but Hilary shouldn’t be absent without letting them know where she was somehow.
As he reached the exit, a mass of shadowy energy flooded the airport, as if something had exploded nearby. In his pocket, Dranzer trembled and Kai looked around for anything telling him what had just happened, but everyone else there was acting normally, as if they hadn’t noticed anything.
Suddenly the cellphone Kenny had handed him rumbled and, after checking who it was, he answered.
“What happened?”
“Did you feel that too?”
“Yes. What was it?”
“We don’t know. Ells and Daichi left running somewhere, I don’t know where they’ve gone to.”
“Where are Tyson and Hilary?”
“They’re not back yet, I don’t like this…”
“Stay where you are, I’ll find them.”
“Thanks, Kai. Please don’t vanish too.”
He hung up and, after pondering about the source of that energy, he caught a taxi for the docks.
***
“Where are we going?” Daichi asked, growing tired of running after the girl. They had ran all the way from Tyson’s place to the docks, and the fact she hadn’t flinched once from the wound on her leg made him even more convinced she was a witch of some sort.
“To the source of that power,” she answered, taking one final corner towards a cooling warehouse. “It came from there.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yes, I am.”
Ellivah tried opening the door but it didn’t budge, not even when Daichi joined in to push with her.
Inside, Tyson and Hilary woke from their state of trance when someone smashed against the door. They traded glances full of hope and shouted out.
“Help!”
“We’re stuck in here!”
“Tyson? Hilary? What are you two doing there?” Daichi asked, recognizing their voices.
“Get us out of here, Daichi!”
“You got it! Step back!”
In a flash Strata Dragoon was dashing through the air and smashed into the top of the door, cutting it in a single downward motion. The doors burst open and the freezing air escaped under the guise of white mist.
Thankful for the heat of the sun, Hilary tried stepping outside, but lost her senses and collapsed on the floor. While Tyson kneeled next to her to try and wake her up, Ellivah entered the warehouse with Daichi and said they should leave the place and get them both warmed up. As Tyson and Ellivah carried Hilary outside the warehouse, the shade of a person in a white scarf blocked some of sun’s rays.
“What happened here?”