Media: Kenta Yumiya

It was three hours since the blackout.

I examined my hands, the red marks from where Kyoya's fingernails dug into my skin (they were long, holy hell- longer then mine). He had left some time ago, to do some tests or some crap like that. 

When asked about it, he had shrugged and turned away from me, not uttering a word.

(Do you think he plays the guitar? I think he plays the guitar.)

"Gingka, you were great!"

At the words, I glanced up.

At the doorway was three people- Madoka, a redhead, and a small green-haired boy.

Gingka... the blader who defeated Ryuga...

He seemed pretty carefree, offering his blue-gloved hand up to the small boy for a high five, offering him a wide smile.

The small boy I recognized as well- Through my haze of panic when I first met him, I didn't register his name to my mind- not permanently, anyway.

Madoka fussed at him, but Gingka waved it off, his brown eyes shining as he spotted a bar in the lobby and disappeared to sit at it.

"Gingka!"

I smiled to myself as Gingka completely ignored Madoka, chattering excitedly to the waitress.

"You'd be surprised that he's the strongest blader in the country, huh?"

The voice came from beside me, and I glanced up, spotting the same kid.

"I really wish I was about as strong as him, maybe I would've lasted longer in Battle Bladers..."

"You were in Battle Bladers?" I asked, surprised, then realized how rude my question sounded. "Erm, I mean-"

"Yeah, I was. Did you watch the Kenta vs Reiji match...?"

"I wasn't here for a good deal of Battle Bladers," I said awkwardly. "Like, I wanted to get in, but I was... um..."

I didn't want to say the name of the evil organization.

"Oh! Okay! I remember seeing you before, when I was with Hyoma..."

Hyoma.

It clicked. I had seen him with Hyoma before, when I was searching for Shaun once I found the shattered Aries on Riyui's doorstep.

"Yeah, Kenta, was it?" I said.

Kenta nodded, pleased I remembered him. "And...?"

"Tess," I replied with a gesture to myself.

His eyes widened and blinked, the emotions raging up inside his eyes- disbelief, fear. "You're- the Da-"

I winced. "Please don't... don't say..."

He shut up. "Well.... I'm sorry you had to go through that..."

I stared at the ground, my eyes drilling holes into the tiles.

Shifting awkwardly, Kenta attempted to break the silence. "Do you know who Reiji is?"

I seized up. "R-Reiji..."

Shaking. My entire world started shaking.

"H-Huh?! Um- um- Madoka!"

Despair.

Cold metal was pressed against my palm, and my fingers involuntarily wrapped around it.

The shape of the fusion felt familiar.

Through the portions that had gaps between my curtain of hair, I could make out hues of blue and green.

Eagle...?

I raised my head a bit, ignoring the expectant states from Kenta and Madoka, and cupped my other hand around my own, around the piece of metal and plastic that had a soul that I held in my hand.

My companion was okay.

Against my will, I lifted my head fully, pulling out of my withdrawn shell to cradle Eagle close to my chest. Cold rested within his fusion wheel, but as I ran my fingers alongside the metal edges, I could feel a spark of warmth bubble underneath my fingertips. 

A shuddering breath, my heart strings being yanked, and my grip tightened. 

"Um... I think she's okay...?"

"I can hear you," I snapped, wincing at the quiver in my voice. "It's not like I'm deaf or something. I have ears."

With a shaking finger, I gestured to my right ear.

Kenta sweatdropped. "Uh... right."

Madoka sighed, settling her hands on her hips and blue eyes trained on me. "Don't worry us like that!" 

"It's not my fault..." I muttered. 

It didn't seem to reach her ears, because she puffed out her cheeks. "Kenta, if you're okay with staying with her, I'm gonna go back to try and repairing some beyblades, ya follow?" 

"Sure...?" 

Just like that, Madoka was gone, hustling out the door. 

Fiddling awkwardly with the yellow collar of his T-Shirt, Kenta shifted from one foot to the other. "Which beyblade do you have?" He asked at last, pointing at my curled hand. 

"Thunder Eagle," I replied, the glimpses of a smile on my face. "I've had him ever since I was eight. You?"

I didn't miss the sudden flare of happiness in his eyes, the burst of joy at being able to talk about his beyblade, which he was clearly fond of. 

"Flame Sagittario!"

With a proud gleam in his brown eyes, Kenta fumbled around before bringing out an orange-and-yellow beyblade. The facebolt was something I had never seen before- eyes that were narrow, with an arrow shot through their left eye. 

"I'm not that strong to be honest," Kenta said sheepishly, rubbing his neck. "Not as strong as people like Gingka and Kyoya, but I'm getting there!"

His statement made me smile. "Keep working to it, kiddo." 

Kenta beamed as I reached out to ruffle his hair, an action Shaun always did whenever he wanted me to keep doing what I was doing. 

"Excuse me, is Tess Rixen here?" 

Both him and I looked towards the voice at the the doorway, who held a clipboard tightly in their hands, waving it about. 

"Um, yeah...?" I said a little too loudly, and everyone who was currently present in the lobby whipped around to look at me. Shifting uncomfortably under the gaze of everyone else, I pulled myself off the couch and started to walk towards him. 

"Tess Rixen, owner of Thunder Eag-"

"That's me." 

He nodded rapidly. "A-Ah, could you please come this way?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, and that was when he started to move, scurrying out of the room in a hurried manner. I followed after him more casually, hands slid into my pockets and sometimes bumping into the wall when my balance went too off to a certain side (it was mostly the left side). 

"There's someone here to see you," he said, tapping the clipboard with a finger. "U-Um, I d-don't know their name, but I-I believe you know them...?" 

"That's not much to go off of," I sighed. "I might live under a rock, but I at least know more then a dozen of people." 

"A-Ah! If you live under a rock, that's quite un-"

"I was kidding. Chill." 

He started to sweat, but I only puffed out my cheeks, deciding to look away from this poor guy as he lead me down the hall. One hand, I found, was now braced against the wall, so I didn't teeter much. 

After what seemed like a minute, the guy stopped at a door and, resting one hand on the handle, pushed it open.