"(Y/N) can you come down here?" Your mother's voice drifted up the stairs.

You groaned in defeat. Running around after two small boys was hard, fun, but hard.

Grasping for willpower, you pushed yourself up off your bed and staggered down the stairs, where your mother was already waiting for you.

"There's a video call for you." She explained.

You looked at your laptop, and saw an unfamiliar number on the screen.

Slightly confused, you picked up the device and took it back to your bedroom and sat at your desk.

Clicking on the icon, you sat up straight as the face of an elder looking man filled the screen.

His grey hair and beard were closely cut, and despite his age, his dark shone brightly.

"Good afternoon miss," he greeted pleasantly. "You wouldn't happen to be (Y/N) Aoi, would you?"

You nodded. "That's me."

The man smiled. "My name is Jinbei Kuroda, would you happen to be the young lady who won the Japanese Internationals?"

"That's me."

"How would you like for me to offer you an opportunity?"

You tilted your head curiously. "What kind of opportunity?"

"I'm the owner of BC Sol," he explained. "I've heard great things about you Miss Aoi."

"Thank you sir."

He chuckled slightly. "I'm looking for some new recruits to join my team. Normally, I'd just leave a notice, but I'd like to have a Blader like you on my team."

"What are you saying exactly, sir?" You asked, unsure.

"I want you to come to Spain to be on my team, no tryout needed."

Your eyes widened in excitement. You had heard so many great things about BC Sol, and here was the owner offering you a chance to join!

But then your heart fell slightly. "Thank you sir, and really, I'd love to."

Jinbei Kuroda frowned slightly. "Im sensing a but?"

You nodded regretfully. "I've just turned eleven and I'm the oldest of four. My dads a pilot, I'm usually the one who helps my mum." Your throat burned slightly. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, but you couldn't just leave your mum. "My brother is five and the twins have just turned one. I'm really sorry Mr. Kuroda, but I don't think this is something I can accept. "

Jinbei looked disappointed, but ultimately he understood why you were so reluctant.

"I can't say I'm pleased Miss. Aoi, but I respect your maturity." He smiled at you. "Please feel free to contact me if you change your mind, we'd love to have you here."

With that, he ended the call. This time, you didn't hold back your tears. You felt numb.

'That was my dream, and I just passed it over.'

You picked Astra Vortex from the side pouch, and put it and your launcher on your desk.

The hot tears tracked silently down your face, and you fell onto your bed, the pillows mufflung your sobs.

_______________________________________

Not five minutes later, a knock sounded, your door opened and two small heads poked through.

Valt's eyes widened at the sight of his normally exuberant sister crying on her bed and ran down stairs to find your parents.

In the mean time, Shu carefully approached you.

"(Y/N)?" He asked softly. "Are you okay?"

Your head whipped up upon hearing the quiet boy's voice.

You sat up and wiped the tears from your cheeks. "Yeah sweetheart, I'm fine. Are you okay?"

Shu didn't believe your lie for one second.  Tear stains were visible, your eyes were red and your hair was mussed.

He was only five, but Shu knew that sometimes people who were sad just needed someone to be there for them instead of talking.

The small boy sat on your bed beside you, and simply allowed you to hug him. He didn't comment when he felt something warm drop onto his hair. He just sat with you, hugging you, providing you with all the comfort a child old could.

"Remember how I won the Internationals?" You asked finally.

Shu nodded.

"Well, there are other teams out there that represent different countries, and compete on a National level." You explained to him. "Basically it's just like the Internationals but between countries instead. If you win there, you become one of the best Bladers in the world."

He wasn't sure what this had to do with you crying, but it was interesting, so he listened anyway.

"Well, to try out to be on one of those teams, you have to be a really good Blader." You continued. "And I just got a call from the owner of one of the best National teams, he wants me to me to be on his team, BC Sol."

"What did you say?" He inquired.

"I said no," you told him simply.

"Why?"

"I'd have to go to Spain, I'd be there for months at a time. I can't just leave."

Shu frowned and snuggled into your side.

He didn't want you to leave. Sure, Valt and Xander were his best friends, but more recently, you were his big sister and his family. You were there for him more than his own parents were.

Sure, he knew they loved him. But they were never around, always putting work first.

Even though you were Valt's big sister, you still made sure to look out for him, to make him feel loved and special.

He could remember about a month ago, when everyone in his class got to bring in a family member.

Xander had brought his gradfather and Valt had had his mum bring in the twins. But he himself had had no one.

Or so he'd thought.

It had been a huge suprise when you walked into the classroom, sneaking behind your mother, and making a beeline for him, not even saying hello to Valt.

You had crouched down so you were at the same level, and asked if you weren't too late.

Shu had been confused, and asked why you weren't with Valt.

You had then explained to him that you weren't there for your brother, you were there for him. If that was okay of course.

Obviously, it had been fine with him, and he stood up at the front of the room with you, holding your hand and introducing you to the class.

To Shu, you were like his family. The thought of you leaving the country upset him. But you being sad upset him even more, and if going was what made you happy, then you had his full support.

Just then, Valt popped into the bedroom, followed closely by your parents.

"(Y/N) what's wrong?" Your mum fussed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine mum," you assured her.

"Are you sure? Valt just came downstairs and told us you were crying." Your dad probed. "People don't just cry when nothing is wrong."

You were about to speak, when Shu piped up from beside you.

"BC Sol asked her to try out, but she doesn't want to go."

"Traitor," you muttered as Shu ran to sit next to Valt, far from your grasp.

"Oh sweetie," your mum murmered, pulling you into a warm hug. "Why don't you want to go? This is a great opportunity for you."

You shrugged listlessly in her grasp. "You have the bakery, plus Valt and the twins to run around after, I don’t want to leave you with no one to help out."

Your parents shared a concerned look over your head.

"What's a BC Sol?" Valt piped up.

"They're a National Beyblading team," your dad explained to your brother. "They compete against other countries in the World Legues."

"So why don't you wanna go (Y/N)?" Valt asked, a confused look upon his adorable face.

"I'd have to go to Spain," you told him quietly. "It's an entirely different country."

Valt's lip trembled ever so slightly at the thought of his big sister leaving him.

"But if you want to go, you should do it." He told you, putting on a brave face.

You held out your arms and immediately the two boys snuggled into your sides.

"He's right (Y/N)," your mum said gently. "This is a great opportunity for you, besides, I can take care of things myself."

"And I can take you," your father added. "My next drop off is in Spain, I can make sure you get there safely."

You hugged Shu and Valt tightly. You didn't want to leave them, you could scarcely imagine a day without either of them or Xander causing trouble. But at the same time, BC Sol was an amzing opportunity, one of which you wanted to chase after and grab by the horns.

Silently, you mulled over the decision.

You looked down at a teary Valt and Shu. "What do you guys think, should I go for it?"

Valt nodded, his lower lip quivering. Shu agreed, shaking ever so slightly.

Taking a deep breath, you nodded. "Okay, I'll do it."

After ironing out the details with your parents, they left you to call back Mr. Kuroda.

Opening your laptop, you opened Messenger and went into your recent calls.

With a promise from Valt and Shu to be quiet, you clicked on the contact and waited with baited breath as it dialled.

This was it. The next big step to becoming the best Blader in the world.

Sacrifices would be made, namely in the form of leaving behind your family for an unknown period of time. So you swore silently that if you made it into BC Sol, you would make the most out of it.

Just as you feared it would ring out, the screen popped up with the smiling face of Jinbei Kuroda.

"Back so soon Ms. Aoi?" He asked knowingly.

You nodded at him. "I've spoken things over with my family. They've agreed for me to try out for your team, my dad has offered to drop me off this coming Tuesday."

"That's great news," Kinbei grinned. "I can't wait to see you here Ms."

"I can't wait to get there sir, I just hope I don't disappoint." You grinned nervously. "Oh and please, call me (Y/N)."

"In that case, please call me Jinbei." He offered. "I'll send you the details  (Y/N), we'll be seeing you shortly."

"She can come back right?" Valt demanded, scrambling to get a view of the screen, and subsequently breaking his promise to you.

You scowled internally, scolding yourself for trusting the word of a five year old.

"Oh, and who's this?" Jinbei asked, barely able to see the mop of spikey hair.

Rolling your eyes, you hefted him onto your lap. "I'm sorry about him, he promised to be quiet. This is my little brother Valt." Feeling a pulling at the hem of your shirt, you realised Shu also wanted up, and so you picked him up also. "And this is Shu. My other brother."

"Hi," Shu mumbled quietly. It amazed you that this five year old could go from being more mature than an eight year old to acting his proper age in less than ten seconds.

"Hello there you two," Jinbei chuckled. "Yes, your sister can go and visit you, thank you very much for letting us borow her."

Now mollified, Valt changed into his usual friendly self.

"Hey mister, look who I got. This is Valtryek, and we're best buddies!" Valt thrust his new Bey toward the screen for Jinbei to see.

"Sorry about that," you apologized sheepishly. "I brought them their first Beys today, and they're pretty excited."

"As they should be," Jinbei smiled kindly. "It's not every day you get yor first Beyblade. What about you Shu?"

Shu grinned widely and took Spryzen from his pocket to showcase. "This is Storm Spryzen," he introduced.

You were so proud of the two of them, already they were taking their Beys everywhere with them.

Smiling fondly at the two, you spoke to Jinbei. "Thank you for your offer Jinbei, I'll let you get back to your work."

Jinbei bid you farewell and ended the call. The screen went black, and the reality of the situation sunk in.

This was it.

The first big step toward achieving your dreams.

Yeah so you're kind of leaving the country. Sorry this took a little longer to get out than the others. The first few chapters are pre written, and I actually wrote this one before I'd seen Kris' flashback where her grandfather was revealed, so I kinda had to change some stuff.

Concerning the pre written chapters, there are only a couple of them left. After they're released updates will likely become a bit more sporadic, due to school, life and the editing process I use.

~xx Avanni Cinders