"Me?" I blinked, the words heavy on my shoulders. For a moment, confusion swam around my head, squawking and blaring.

Kato pinched the spot between his eyebrows, heaving a sigh. "Yes, you, do you not understand? That being said, that makes four of us."

It took a moment for the impact of the situation to land hard on my shoulders and I almost immediately recoiled, pulling myself away from the other blader.

"W-When did I agree to this?!"

"You didn't."

"I'm being forced?" The sharp tone of my voice was even surprising to my own ears- bristling with anger. In that moment, I could feel my limbs quiver because my goddamn choice was taken away from me.

"You're welcome to disagree," Kato tilted his head, eyes searching mine. At the sight of his eyes, dark colors that reminded me of polished green glass, my fist, by my side, tightened. Behind me, there was a noise that sounded a bit like the elevator opening, but I didn't pay attention to it."

"It's the World Wide Tournament, right?"

"Yeah. I hope you can join us, Tess Rixen."

The voice was new, coming from behind us. Kato, unfazed, merely tossed a look over his shoulder while I yelped, taking a step backwards and tripping over my own feet.

"Crap..." Rubbing my back, I squinted through my bangs at the new person who didn't introduce themselves. "Ow, dammit. That's your fault, you know."

The new guy was- I dunno, my new teammate? Or maybe I'm his new teammate.

His eyes gave me the same chill that Kato's did, but then he locked one of his arms behind his back and offered me a hand in greeting. "Cameron. I'm a childhood friend of Grayson's- you know him, right?"

"Uhhh... nice to meet you, I guess?"

"Tess! You're here!"

From behind Cameron, Grayson's beaming face appeared. The one thing new about him, however, was the black brace that circled his arm. I pointed at it, raising an eyebrow.

"Broke my arm, remember?"

"Oh," was all I said.

Cameron didn't say anything upon hearing Grayson arrive, instead casting his friend a rather warm look, the sharpness of his eyes melting.

"Hiya, Cameron," Grayson said, giving the other a casual wave with his un-braced (I guess?) had. "You've met Tess!"

"I have now, yeah," the other nodded. "The four of us make up the team that represents J.C.I- after a talk with the W.B.B.A, we're supposed to represent Greenland."

"There isn't an North America team?"

"The system is complicated," Grayson sighed. "Somethin' about Superpowers? There's, like, Brazil being represented and Japan, so countries, but then they have Africa being represented as a whole. Weird, huh?"

"That being said, we have to head to Greenland so they feel comfortable about our worth of their country," Cameron said.

I frowned. "Wouldn't they want a- I dunno, an actual Greenland-ian? Or whatever they're called?"

Cameron lifted his shoulders in a shrug, then pointed down to a dull, unlit corner of the room.

"That's yours. You're free to customize it, but I would hold that thought until we're confirmed for a team."

He offered me a feral grin, one that made chills go down my back. The light caught a strangle angle to his teeth, causing a dim glow of white tinged with blue.

"Uhhh... Yeah. And when's that, exactly?"

"We'll alert you. You have Kato's number, right?"

I felt around on my body and patted my phone, finding it in the pocket of my vest.

"Yeah, I think."

"Excellent. He'll call you when we get the information if we don't happen to be here."

With that, the blader turned on his heel and left the room, Kato following his suit.

I was left with the Virgo user.

Shuffling over to my side of the room, I pulled back the curtain to reveal a mattress- no sheets, no pillows.

Shaun probably wasn't in the city yet, so I could 'camp out' here. There was no... pillows or blankets though.

As if reading my mind, a pillow nailed me in the back.

"Hey!"

"You need one," Grayson commented. "'sides, Cameron's using my other one. The poor guy can't sleep without three pillows- hotels must be a nightmare when there's only two. You want a blanket too?"

My grip tightened on the pillow, avoiding his gaze. Instead of answering, I just sat down and fluffed it up.

There was footsteps, and even thought my gaze was downcast, I could feel Grayson's shadow over me. Something warm pressed to my hands, and I could even see a flash of a smile before he stepped away.

"Thanks?"

"I know this entire thing is really confusing," Grayson said, gesturing to the room. "I'll explain it all in detail tomorrow, kay? I pinky-promise on the curls of my head!"

"Does that mean you'll shave your hair if you forget?"

Grayson flinched, one hand flying to his head.

"Kidding, kidding. Chill out."

I punch the pillow again, then fold it in half before crawling into the mattress, pulling the blanket to my chin.

"You're really chill sometimes, you know that, Tess? Except around Tategami or whatever his name is. Kinda weird, you know? You just get all fiery around him."

I rolled over, tucking my own body inwards as if to avoid the conversation. Despite that, I still responded, voice muffled by the blanket.

"Something about him just... sets me off. He's so... I dunno, passionate? It changes something in me too."

Grayson didn't respond.

"Can you wake me up at six?"

I had the practice with Kyoya, didn't I?

"I've got you on that."

A smile tugged at my lips- Grayson, with his easy-going smile and style of music. I closed my eyes, curling up again as darkness threatened to consume me.

It took more than fifteen minutes for me to fall asleep, just for me to overhear Grayson leaving the room after playing on some kind of device.

Beyblade World Championships, huh?

Sleep pulled me under.

My entire mind seemed to still as I found myself floating above an abyss of black. In front of me, I could see- Me?

Clone-front-me was also floating, hands clamped anxiously behind her back. Her eyes roamed the area, looking for any movement. When they glanced over me, it looked like she didn't even see me.

A dream?

The entire area turned searing- the air hung thick with heat, my hair starting to stick to my forehead and the back of my neck.

The sound of beating wings echoed. I took a glance at the direction it was coming from, spotting something familiar.

The clone-person seemed to recognize the bird too, mouth parting in an 'o', eyes fueled bright with fire.

Eagle.

The sight of someone who hasn't acknowledged me truly for months send a flame through me- a burning, harsh flame that set my heart on fire because he had hurt me. He had ignored me. Ignored me.

The bird landed, beautiful feathers ruffling. A hazy aura of aqua ghosted around the animal- slivers of different tones of aqua creeped across the area.

In a sharp, distinct flash, Eagle stood in his human form. He was just as handsome as he was previously when I met him. Bronze skin that shone, with jewelry draped across his body.

In comparison to earlier, he was bare-chested, the outlines of muscle visible on his stomach. Gold clinked together in discs across his collarbone, delicate jewelry wrapped around his forearms.

"Eagle!" My clone said, clasping her hands over her mouth. "You-"

The air turned hot again.

"Where have you been? You haven't responded at all! What's wrong with you? What has been wrong with you?!"

A chill escaped down my back when I took notice of his eyes. Eagle's eyes.

Instead of a warm gold like I was used to, there was a pit of black. Darkness swirled in his eyes, not even the flicker of light in his eyes from highlights.

He drew one hand back, then punched my clone straight in the stomach, through her body. A black hole swirled around his hand, cutting my clone in half.

Everything went dark again. I couldn't see anything.

My back hurt. My fingers were clenched around something, pulling myself up.

The room was dim, with no lights, but I pulled myself up, sitting on the bed.

"What was that?" I nursed my forehead, using my sense of touch to register everything. "Eagle... he..."

The memory of the dream was fleeting. But I couldn't forget the coldness of Eagle's eyes.

I didn't know what time it was, but I stood up, pulling the pillow and blanket with me, then dumped it on the machine in the middle. As I touched the screen, it lit up.

4:57.

"Are you joking?" I mumbled, letting my finger ghost over the screen. As a 'lockscreen', a picture of them together- Kato, Cameron, and Grayson.

Grayson had his arm slung around Cameron, hugging him close while Kato had a practiced business smile on his face. All three stood  within a particular distance from one another, a small distance.

I bit my lip, then folded the blanket. It was nearly five in the morning- an hour before I was supposed to meet with Kyoya.

My movements bleary, I walked out towards the elevator, stabbing a button with my thumb.

I was tired, good god.

Scrubbing one of my eyes with my hand, I exited the lobby without another look at all those morning people.

I was supposed to meet Kyoya at a bench outside of the hospital. So I started walking.

I recognized him before he recognize me.

"Didn't take you for a morning person," Kyoya said, glancing up at the darkened sky.

"That a problem?"

He shrugged. "You're not late. That's all I care about. C'mon, we'll get started earlier."

With that, he grabbed my wrist, yanking sharply in a direction. "You still look like an idiotic monkey. I'm not gonna pick your crap."

"Thanks," I mumbled as I went along with his sharp tug. "Thanks a lot."

Kyoya flashed a smirk over his shoulders.