(Y/n) (L/n) ~

"Alright," Wakiya said in his annoyingly stupid and useless voice. "We're having a barbecue tonight and it's going to be fun!"

I rolled my eyes. How the hell does he not realize he's very uninteresting?

Just before the sun could set, Wakiya had invited all of us down at the back of the mansion to have some 'together time' since it's such a rare occasion we're all here at one place happily so we should enjoy each other's company while we can because grasshoppers can't go out in the snow since bonding happens with mutual involvement or else the future will become lonely like the flying cows who don't get enough grass to eat so we should be grateful for our friends and love them because it will increase teamwork and blah blah blah whatever was his logic. I didn't even hear the whole speech.

Overall, he meant to say absolutely nothing useful because why the hell do we need quality time?! It makes no sense.

"But fun only happens with choreographed teamwork," he continued. Once again, how does having a fun barbecue increase teamwork? Why does it even require teamwork in the first place?

"As your captain, I've drawn up a barbecue flowchart," he finished saying. "Questions?"

Only one; why are you like this all the time?!

"Right here," Rantaro spoke up. As much as I'm still annoyed with him for pushing me earlier, he's the only one who truly understands my disliking towards Wakiya. "Who even made you captain?"

Ha! Take that, you dumb Wakiya.

"...so, anyway," Wakiya continued his unnecessary speech, completely ignoring Rantaro's wise question.

"Hoji will bring in ingredients. Shu, Toko and Nika are in-charge of cooking. As for Daigo, Valt and Rantaro... that campfire isn't going to build itself!" he signalled towards an impossible pile of huge logs of wood stacked at a side.

Poor Daigo...

Honestly, I was quite okay with all that until he said, "(Y/n), you'll help set out tables and assist the cooking team with supplies from the mansion kitchen."

Bold enough to be his last words.

Tsujihara, who was standing beside Wakiya the whole time, had to take out his handkerchief and wipe his forehead. "Master Wakiya, uh... you can't really give her, eh, tasks."

"You heard your experienced butler," I told Wakiya calmly, however, he was only saved from my rage because Tsujihara spoke up for me. There's a reputed law between elite-class businessmen that hospitality and courtesy among dealers be of greatest importance. Poor old man must've already imagined mine and Wakiya's fathers having a war or something.

I don't care about all that and I don't really mind doing work either, BUT I HATE WAKIYA AND REFUSE TO DO ANYTHING SAID BY HIM.

"I'm your team leader! And according to my – "

"Listen here, you unwanted trash," I grabbed him by the collar and raised my fist. "Nobody here is really leader until everyone collectively comes to such conclusion, you understand?"

"N-Now don't fight, Miss – "

I raised my hand in front of Tsujihara and he shut himself up. As much as I like the old man, I can't let him try to save Wakiya from me today. I've had enough of him going around calling himself leader. This conflict must end right here, right now.

Wakiya gritted his teeth and used his hands to grip my wrist, unsuccessfully trying to stop me from tightening his collar. I couldn't see who, but somebody came up behind me to pull my body away from Wakiya.

I turned around to see Daigo, of course, nobody else here is brave enough to touch me without permission. Valt and Rantaro had stopped making campfire and were curiously staring in our direction. Shu was paused in the middle of cutting onion leaves. Toko and Nika had also stopped setting out plates. And Hoji just stood beside a box of veggies, not really knowing what to do.

"Easy, now," Daigo said in a soothing voice, trying to calm me down but it didn't exactly work. "Are you trying to kill him?"

Well, not right now, but if that remains my last option, I wouldn't hesitate!

"How can you people just be okay with this?!" I looked around at everyone and screamed in frustration. Except Shu and Daigo, all of them flinched at my voice. "Acting as if it's nothing serious, are we now? Do none of you care what happens to the team?!"

"No, 'cause nobody here listens to me anyway!" Rantaro shouted from where he was standing, and started to step forward. "I tried to make things right but there's no value! Even I've started to feel like it doesn't matter – "

"You really have NO idea how much it matters!" I screamed again. Rantaro stepped back whatever little distance he'd come forward. Daigo came close to me again and tried to give me some words of reason.

Anyone, even one person, speak up from my side or I won't let anyone live in peace today. I'm too furious to be outside right now.

Shu put down his knife and stepped out of the small makeshift kitchen, still wearing the apron. "(Y/n), I'm sure everyone can talk about this nicely. If you wanna be captain, then I don't have a proble – "

"Why would you say that?!" Wakiya cut him off.

"Because you definitely aren't fit for the role!" I snapped at him, serving a hard glare. My anger was overflowing so much that I could practically feel my eyes glowing with hate, although, I don't think it's really possible for it to be visible.

"And no, Shu, I don't wanna be the leader myself," I told him with a lighter tone to my voice than how I was speaking to Wakiya. "I only wish that whoever be leader, it should come from mutual decision and proper reason."

"This WAS proper reason," Wakiya decided to give his irrelevant opinion once again. "A team leader needs to be consistent, sincere, disciplined and willing to help their team push forward – a perfect description of me."

I crossed my arms and stared at him for full eight seconds, giving him a judgemental look intense enough to question his whole existence. When his confidence had completely broken and his mental state had reached the line where hesitation began, I turned away to scan everyone else's faces one by one.

"Valt is consistent," I said slowly. Valt was standing silently but he lifted his head up and blinked at me. "Shu is sincere," Shu just stared like the Shu he is. "Rantaro can be the one most willing to push forward," Rantaro's eyes widened a bit, as if he wasn't expecting me to add his name. "And Daigo is disciplined," Daigo smiled a bit and nodded encouragingly. I looked around myself. "Any one of you can easily be the best option! Why settle for Wakiya? The club rightfully belongs to Valt, none of us should even argue against that! Then why Wakiya?"

"What's the problem with me?!" Wakiya asked for the millionth time, his voice still shaking from my previous glare. "I don't understand why can't I be the one. If anyone can, why can't it be me?"

"I can't believe someone can be so unaware!" I snapped my head towards him. A stroke of wind blew a few strands of my hair forward, hiding the side of my face. "You're arrogant, self-centered and short-sighted, Wakiya. You only want to be leader because you consider yourself better than us. You want to give us orders, be able to handle things your way, and take credit for the whole team. You don't wanna lead us to win or to get better; you wanna lead us just so you could feel superior. You're snatching Valt's place from him, and it's the worst you're doing!"

I was met with silence at the end of my explanation. I turned to look at Valt, but he was already holding eye contact with Shu. Rantaro was intently looking at me, waiting for my next move. Daigo lightly patted my back and muttered a low, 'Keep going, I'm with you,' as if I needed his approval to put Wakiya in his place.

My patience quickly gave in. I was trying so hard to make sure everything goes well with the team battles and these people out here don't even care? Even now, nobody's saying anything, not even a word in my favour. Do they all expect me to fight from their side as well? Do I look like a fool over here, trying my best to organise all of us better? Shu, Valt, Rantaro... everyone's basically silent. Probably too stupid to look at the bigger picture or they just hate me or something.

Fine.

I tried my best. Now I'll stop trying, and sit back and watch.

And if anything goes wrong, then let them deal with it on their own. I'm not going to provide any support to the team from now on.

I gritted my teeth, overwhelmed with anger but having nowhere left to spend it on. Without looking back, I walked away and headed straight for my room.

----------------

I was hungry. A LOT.

I hadn't had the barbecue (argument about Wakiya), and now I was regretting walking away from the backyard in anger. At least I should've had my dinner first!

Daigo even came to me afterwards, offering some of it but I wasn't much hungry at that time. Now that it's 12:30 a.m., the lack of food is starting to kick in and I don't think I'd be able to hold it together till morning.

Throwing away the covers on the floor, I got off the bed and adjusted my clothes. The glass door of the balcony was letting whitish blue moonlight spill beautifully inside the room. As far as my sight went, I saw nothing but shadowy trees in the forest patch and above it, glimmering stars in the dark sky.

For a moment, I remembered back to the time when I used to live in a mansion like this, much bigger than this, with my loving mother and father. My childhood was spent on such beautiful days, each one of it was a sweeter memory with my parents. Ugh, I suddenly miss them so much.

How would my life had been different if I hadn't decided to become a blader? The beyblade world wouldn't have their best competitor named (Y/n) (L/n) and I probably would've been a normal school-going child in Russia.

Sounds boring.

There's no point in rethinking it. I did make the right decision. My life is going my way, and I'm on a path of true success... except that snake Theodore in my way, but I think I'll make it. I believe in myself.

And, of course...

I opened the drawer on the side table and picked up Sparyon.

...you too, partner.

My stomach growled again and I remembered my original mission. Now let's just hope that I step out of the room, find the kitchen, get lots of food, come back safely, and don't have to cross paths with anyone in the process.

Nice plan, (Y/n)!

I stepped out of the room and closed the door behind me as silently as I could. Just as I turned around to begin my quest for food, I came face to face with a statue of Rantaro Kiyama placed in the middle of the corridor.

Hm though, why does it look suspiciously real?

I narrowed my eyes at the thing and cautiously moved closer to it. Rantaro's face was frozen in a silly expression and his hands were up in the air. I examined the statue up and down, then blinked confusingly when a drop of sweat trickled down its forehead.

I closed my hand in a tight fist and swung at it.

The statue dodged.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Rantaro, who was very much real, demanded to know what the hell.

"Why are you being a statue in the middle of the corridor?" My face expressed true disinterest. "Do it inside your room. You were blocking the path here."

"I was going THERE," he said and pointed to the hallway. "But then YOU came out of your room," he pointed at my face. "And I had NO choice but to act like a statue so that you won't notice me and move on!"

I sighed out of boredom. As much as I'd like to murder him on the spot, I'm too hungry for it right now. My original mission is still food and I intend on obtaining it. I think I'll take revenge from him tomorrow.

I moved on to the hallway, and then navigated downstairs. According to my experience with places like this, the kitchen is usually in the southern part, at the ground floor.

Sure enough, I opened a door to find myself inside a dark, dusty room with old furniture stacked on top of each other.

I looked around and crossed my arms.

Hmm, this looks like some storage.

I moved out and shut the door, completely running out of ideas. Just then, I saw a strand of light coming from the end of a gallery leading to a glass door. I followed it curiously and found myself face to face with a huge kitchen place, almost empty, except that the fridge was open and someone was going through it. The thin light I saw was coming from the fridge.

Is it a ghost? Thief? Alien? A giant cockroach?!

I tiptoed towards the person that was rummaging through the fridge. After reaching close enough, I saw it was just Hoji, not any thief or alien or giant cockroach.

Knowing that I'm new to this place and Hoji must've came here a thousand times with Wakiya, I decided it was best to consult him about my problem. I'm truly lucky I've got him here. "Hey, where can I find food?"

Hoji screamed loudly and fell on his back. I stepped away in surprise, not sure why he reacted like that. He put a hand over his heart and snapped his head in my direction. His breathing was fast and loud, and there was absolute panic in his eyes.

"I THOUGHT IT WAS A GHOST OR SOMETHING – I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK, SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING POPPING UP FROM THE DARK?!"

I blinked confusingly. I? Scared him? How?

"Where's... food?" I redirected his attention to my original question. I really couldn't afford to waste my time having such useless conversations when my stomach was empty. I needed food to survive the people around me.

Hoji took a deep breath (maybe still scared) and nodded seriously. Then he leaned down and picked up two containers of instant noodles from the floor (he probably dropped them when he fell). He handed me one and pointed to the stove behind himself. I blinked at him and proceeded towards the kitchen counter.

A kettle wasn't difficult to find, since such things are usually kept in the open, not hidden inside cabinets. I filled it with water and turned on the stove.

Hoji followed with two more containers of instant noodles in his hand. One was probably for himself, but the other...? I frowned.

"For Honcho," he answered without asking. "Wakiya stole his barbecue earlier and he's been hungry since."

"Sounds like Wakiya," I nodded, involuntarily gritting my teeth. Just the mention of his name was enough to ruin my mood.

Hoji must've noticed my reaction and his voice suddenly turned soft. "Wakiya... he isn't like how you think he is."

I crossed my arms and focused on the kettle. I'd expected Hoji to bring up this topic and he didn't disappoint. It was pathetic how his whole personality was based in Wakiya's shadow and he didn't have a life for himself. "Your judgement is biased because you're his best friend."

"It's not like that!" He started to say desperately, but lowered his voice when he fell under my unkind gaze. "I mean... don't you guys need to be on good terms since you're a team now? You should at least try... to understand his perspective."

"Good terms and perspective?" I repeated his words. "Well, Wakiya can be on good terms with me after understanding my perspective. Sounds legit?"

Hoji opened his mouth a little, but couldn't form any words. There was silence for four seconds where I waited for him to reason with me, but he didn't meet my expectations.

"See? There's the problem," I leaned against the kitchen counter. "You were all in favour of understanding and compromises when it was about me. When I said the same about Wakiya, suddenly the same thing goes over your head? How partial do you need to be for this?"

"I... I've seen Wakiya struggle since childhood," he said slowly. "His parents didn't pay much attention to him and he was raised by his nannies. Always spoiled, of course... easily getting what he wanted. That's why it's hard for him to make friends and accept things around him... I just wish – "

"The water's done," I interrupted him. "I'll be going now. You should find Rantaro as well."

Hoji lowered his head and I could see the sadness on his face, particularly because I didn't listen to him properly and cut him off like he was saying something useless. In fact, I almost felt bad for him. Almost.

But that's not what I'm here for. Getting emotional and acting on feelings is neither my forte, nor does it ever have any good results.

And for Hoji? I don't even know him. I barely care what happens in his life, much less waste my time hearing him blabber about Wakiya and his inexcusible past.

So, what if Wakiya's had it hard? Isn't life hard for all of us? He can't expect everyone to spoon-feed him all the time. If he's never known to not have his way with things, he better start learning today. If he keeps up the attitude, I have a pretty good idea what his future's going to look like.

"(Y/n)," I heard Hoji call my name all the way to the kitchen exit. I stopped walking and turned my head a bit to the side, looking from the corner of my eyes, giving him barely enough attention; yet at the same time, not completely turning around, showing that I'm not fully interested in what he has to say.

"Give Wakiya a chance," he made up. His voice was sure, full and confident. Maybe because he was determined to stand up for his best friend, or maybe because we weren't in direct eye contact. I didn't know which one, but he managed to fairly surprise me with his tone.

"He may be difficult to understand sometimes, but I'm sure he doesn't mean any harm. He wants the best for the team, as much as you do. You guys might not be so different in purpose, afterall! He might prove to be a good leader as well."

At that point, there wasn't any denying it. Hoji had finally lost whatever sense was left in his brain, and I wasn't even surprised with it.

"Hoji Konda," I said and turned around to look him in the eyes. Whatever confidence he had just now, crumbled to ashes right there in front of me. The unbothered expression on my face was enough to put him in his place, but I decided to add a few words of advice as well.

"You aren't a part of the team. Your opinion is as useless for me, as is for anyone else in the club. Don't be delusional that I'll even consider your irrelevant justifications about Wakiya. In fact, I believe you weren't even asked to join the team battles, were you?" I gave him a small smile, enjoying every moment of it. "For obvious reasons, nobody thought of you as someone worthy enough, so, know your place, okay?"

Hoji faced away and shut his eyes, as if it physically hurt him to hear those words.

I made sure to let out a light laugh before leaving the kitchen.

-------------

"What are you doing here, (Y/n)?" Daigo questioned with disbelief.

Naturally, I'd lost my way back to the room and after unsuccessfully trying to find even one familiar corridor in this stupid mansion without any mappings, I ended up meeting Shu and Daigo in a dimly lit gallery. Both of them were leaning against the wall and it suspiciously looked like they were in the middle of a long conversation.

Ugh, just my luck. First Rantaro, then Hoji, and now Shu and Daigo?

To think that I wanted to peacefully find food without crossing paths with anyone...

Seriously, why? WHY DO THESE PEOPLE NEED TO BE WALKING AROUND THE MANSION AFTER MIDNIGHT? Is there some sort of ghost-hunting competition I don't know about?

Hmm... now that I think about it, I'm walking around the mansion after midnight too.

NO, I SHOULDN'T COUNT MYSELF.

I stopped in front of them, but didn't answer Daigo's question. It didn't take him more than a second to notice the cup of instant noodles in my hand.

"And when I came to offer you dinner, you had stupidly refused," he didn't miss the chance to remind me about it.

"Honestly, why do you think you're so special?" I rolled my eyes. "I just wasn't hungry at that time."

"Gimme some," he reached out to my chopsticks without warning. As a reflex, I kicked his thigh and he fell to his knees.

"Aww," I said, faking cuteness. "Did that hurt, Daigo?"

"I HATE YOU SO MUCH, (Y/N). WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL SHARING A BIT OF FOOD?!"

"No, thanks."

Shu was basically invisible till now, but our bickering managed to make him chuckle. Daigo repositioned himself against the wall and his expression turned more absolute.

A millisecond before he actually spoke, I had guessed what was coming for me.

"So, (Y/n)... care to explain what Tsujihara mentioned today?"

"Not really," I replied without hesitation.

I noticed Shu's body language change. His eyes were now staring straight ahead, his hands were crossed and the muscles on his arms were clearly tensed.

Oh no. Shu may be a school heartthrob, but I still shouldn't be looking at his biceps.

Well technically, it's his fault for not wearing a full shirt.

"You know, (Y/n), you have a really, really severe problem of not knowing when to spill the beans," Daigo pointed his finger at me. "What's the big deal? I'm just asking about your parents, not demanding you a million yen!"

"I can give you a million ye – "

"SHUT UP AND ANSWER ME."

"Fine, jeez, you don't have to be so loud, you know that?"

Daigo gave me an unimpressed look. I half-expected him to drop the topic there, but the intense expression on his face told me he wasn't going to listen to me this time.

I calculated Shu's chances of going around spreading rumours about my family background, and the percentage was zero. Even those two things don't match in the same sentence, so I figured he was safe as well.

"Like Tsujihara said... my father, he's a decently famous businessman around here," I started telling. "During one of his business trips to America, he met my mother. They fell in love and got married. She moved in with him and for the first three years of my life, the three of us lived here in Japan."

Now both of them were practically staring into my soul and paid attention to every word I said. It was kind of a new feeling for me, to properly talk about myself, but surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I always imagined it to be. Daigo and Shu were, no doubt, the best options possible if I had to share such things.

The best part was, they didn't give any sort of unnecessary reactions that could possibly repel me. Such kind of silent listening was comfortable and inviting.

"After that, situations changed, my father's ambitions grew, and we moved to New York and created a new life there. I was only, like, three or something at that time? Don't remember much of the events, but I sure know that I was happy. We were a nice family and I loved my pretty little life."

There was silence.

I looked at Daigo, he looked back. I looked at Shu, he looked back too. The three of us blinked at each other and remained frozen in our places.

"What?" I asked.

"What?" Daigo frowned. "Continue."

"Continue what? That's all the story."

"WHA – SERIOUSLY, (Y/N)? THAT WASN'T EVEN ANYTHING SPECIAL!" He raised his hands in disbelief. "Tell us something actually useful, like, why did you return here? Why didn't you move with your parents to Russia? Or like, why are you, you know, like... this?"

"Choose your words carefully," I raised my eyebrows. "You think I'm weird?"

"No! Of course not!" Daigo defended himself. "I just meant, as in... you know, you're kind of, er, d-difficult?"

I squinted my eyes suspiciously. Difficult, he says? I'm difficult...? What's that supposed to mean?

He better not be making up things to cover up his earlier statement about me being 'like this'. At least he should've clarified 'like what?'

Like difficult? Difficult to please? Difficult to get along with? Difficult to uhh?

"Well, I... How do I put it? I don't know the exact word but, living with my famous parents didn't leave space for my individuality, if you know what I mean?" I asked unsurely.

Shu nodded encouragingly. "Makes sense."

"Yeah," Daigo sympathized. "Totally reasonable."

"I don't mean to say I don't love my parents. They're the best in the world," I quickly added before there could be a misunderstanding. "But everywhere I went, whatever I did, the unintentional tag 'daughter of (L/n)' came before my actual name (Y/n)."

"In the beginning of years, it wasn't anything bad. But slowly... especially after I became a blader; I worked hard for it, I genuinely did, but my parent's fame didn't let my hardwork be recognised. It wasn't their fault, but I knew I had to do something about it. Now that I'm putting it in my own words... I think maybe if I hadn't decided to become a blader, I wouldn't have cared about my individual identity this much."

"That makes sense as well," Shu nodded.

"I'll have to admit, (Y/n), you aren't fully stupi – "

"You dare finish that, Daigo," I grabbed him in a chokehold and forced him to his knees. Daigo struggled and tried to free himself, but I didn't move my hand from this throat and continued to press harder until he couldn't breathe properly.

Shu stepped back and chuckled nervously. "Hey, let's not fight..."

I released Daigo and took my previous spot. He did the same after catching his breath. I glared at him from the corner of my eyes and he rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, (Y/n), you finally decided to share something actually useful. I'm truly surprised, but not disappointed. Your reason was absolute, and I'm with you on that one. You made the right decision by separating!"

"I didn't need your approval, but okay."

"Hey, if you want people to recognize you for who you are, you must get rid of that last name (L/n) first. How does (Y/n) Kurogami sound to you?" Daigo smirked and even dared to wink in my direction.

Oh, how suicidal.

"Thanks for the offer, but if I really had to change my last name, I think I'd go with Kurenai," I smirked back at Daigo and threw a quick glance in Shu's direction as well.

Shu shut his eyes tightly to avoid eye contact and pressed himself further into the wall, although he was already leaning against it. I could also see a faint red on his cheeks, which was obviously out of his control.

I figured he was embarrassed, or shy, or just wanted to disappear inside the wall in general.

Daigo, on the other hand, looked ready to start another argument with me, like always. "I was being nice to you, so of course you'd say that! Just to get on my nerves, huh?"

"No, I was absolutely serious," I said.

"Er... I think we should go sleep," Shu interrupted before Daigo and I could continue any longer. "We've already been out for an hour or so."

Yes! This was the moment I'd been waiting for. I might've forgotten the way back to my room, but there's no way I'll ever admit it! It was always in my plan since I saw Shu and Daigo, to go back together with them and take their help without asking for it.

Shu moved forward and both of us started to follow after him. One last time, Daigo angrily nudged me with his elbow about our little argument Shu interrupted just now. Grumpy kitten behaviour, hmm...

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In 4870 words.

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