Why don't you run, little birdie? Don't be scared...

My hands slammed into the corner of the sink. Cold water dripped off my fingers, and the tap still ran to muffle my crying.

I brought my hands to my eye level, watching them quiver and tremble.

At one point, I would have called these hands proud, calloused and nimble from the years of fast movements with my hands.

Now they looked pathetic.

I turned off the tap, running my sleeve over my face again in attempt to clean the tears.

Stabilizing myself by placing a hand on the wall, I guided myself out of the room.

The world tweeted around me, a sing-a-song that spoke of happiness.

My hand strayed down to the side out of comfort, and I pulled out Eagle.

... Only to see the facebolt of Aries facing me.

Rocking the beyblade in my hand, I let the soft words echo.

"... You're the only one I have now, and you're not even mine. You're my brother's- you're Shaun's. I... Left Eagle behind, didn't I?"

"In turn, anger fuels your motive. When the time comes between peace and bloodshed, you will be throughly stubborn in choosing the bloodshed to get revenge."

I smiled bitterly at the memory, my heart hurting in where it pounded in my chest. Aries caught light of the sun, splaying a warm gleam off her facebolt.

Tucking her away in my pocket again, I stood, my knees still shaky.

"... I... I should contact them," murmuring to myself, I guided myself towards the building I was oh-so familiar with.

The J.C.I building.

The J.C.I building, as some knew it, was a place for people too smart for their own age and loved pissing other people off by proving that they were right.

The truth was, they weren't all that bad. Sure, my boss was creepy as hell, but there were genuinely good people there.

I inhaled deeply as I came to a stop in front of the building, lifting one hand to press against the window. The glass fogged up due to the warmth of my hand, and I caught myself looking at my reflection in a hazy 'mirror' rather than peering inside the glass.

The person looking back at me looked pained- a tight jaw, deep set eyes drowsy with exhaustion and a wavering mental stability.

I immediately wiped the fog away and went upon entering the building.

Leaning against the wall was someone I recognized- brown curls, flattened on one side, bobbled to the beat and was barely restrained by the headphones the person wore.

"Grayson?"

He didn't answer at first, but when I snapped my fingers in front of his face, his eyes pried open.

Grayson looked at me for a moment, confused, until his face split out into a smile.

"Tess!" He yelped. "You're back!"

I winced at the loud noise- his voice was booming, probably because he couldn't hear how loud he was through the music. When I made a motion of 'tone it down', Grayson's expression softened.

Removing his headphones, the the brown-haired teenager offered me his hand, his smile blinding.

"Uh...?"

Confused, I clasped Grayson's hand, only to be yanked into a hug.

"Missed ya," He whispered, tapping his knuckles against my shoulder.

My heart trembled in it's chest, quaking.

Over his shoulder, the poster was evident.

MISSING! DAN & REIKI SODO.

There was a picture below that, of people I knew.

Dan. Reiki.

My friends.

In my ears, I could hear the words of Tobio and Ryutaro echo.

With that, I shoved him away from me. Something caught my wrist.

"Tess, wait!"

"Do you think I can wait?!" I snapped, trying to pull away from Grayson. His grip kept locked firmly around my arm, no matter how hard I tried to break his hold. "They're out there!"

"Would you just slow down and listen with your mind for once without your heart onboard?!"

Letting my tongue click against the back of my teeth, I ripped my wrist away from him, about to turn to run until a calm voice floated through the room.

"Tess Rixen," he said in greeting.

"Timon Rehn," I said in response, my voice flat and mimicking his first-name last-name wording.

My boss eyed me distastefully.

"You shalln't go recklessly to go 'save' your friends. We know how that went last time, didn't we?"

Both Grayson and I froze.

My eyes flicked to the poster with Dan and Reiki on it. Cold wrapped snugly around my mind, my body going numb beside the stupid organ that pounded in my chest- my heart.

"Am I clear?" Timon asked, tilting his head. "The higher-ups are investigating it, not you. Translation? You two numbskulls stay out. I have another task of you."

He didn't wait for my answer, but the furrowing of my brow must had been enough, for he continued, ice in his voice.

"I'm sure both of you, by now, have heard of the World-Wide Beyblade tournament going on. As both of you- all of you, actually, who I requested gain points to enter, failed miserably in Battle Bladers, perhaps you'll have something to prove this time alongside completing this task."

"Okay? Stop blabbering and give us the answer, then." Grayson said.

Timon clasped his hands behind his back. "All in due time will I give you the full answer- but as of now, gain as much attention as possible."

Oh yeah, like I should put on a show where I blubber like some goddamn baby when I lose or when my beyblade is in a tough battles

As if he read my mind, my boss aimed a harsh look in my direction, lips curving downward and eyebrows coming together.

"There's certain... Organizations and companies we do need to throw off balance- most of them are supporting some type of team in the tournament."

"And if I refuse?"

"There's no refusing," fixing his gaze on me, Timon's entire expression hardened. "You do it and I'll make finding your friends one of the priorities in comparison to where it's just a mess alongside with several other cases right now."

With that, he printed a cold smile onto his lips. "Take part in tournaments to qualify for teams. Make a ruckus that will draw attention to you, and only your group, not the J.C.I itself. Create connections, battle people as if there's no tomorrow."

"Yes, sir!" Grayson snapped attention, tapping his hand in a salute against his temple.

I wasn't as happy, instead returning Timon's look with a sharp look of my own.

"Fine. I'm only doing this for my friends, okay? Not because I like this place," I snapped, throwing the insult in his face.

"That's still doing the work," he replied, then turned and walked away from us.

When he left, Grayson let out a sigh, averting his attention to me.

"So, you wanna go grab a team tournament together, or what?"

I was silent, the growing cold of Aries in my pocket and the absence of Eagle started to root.

Returning his bright-eyed gaze, I rolled my shoulders in a shrug. "I... Rather not. Might go down in the square and street-battle."

You can't know about Eagle.

"Oh," he looked disappointed. "Well, catch you later~!"

With that, Grayson pulled his headphones back up onto his curly hair and jogged out of the room.

I stared after him, before heaving a sigh.

"Why is it so far to go and say 'sure'?"

[ I apologize for the lack of updates! I'm gonna start making this my priority again, but I have to get the plot going. I dislike my writing here as it sounds awkward, but I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!

~ Rio ]