(Y/n) (l/n) ~

Wyvron instantly took the centre with massive spin power, using Shield Launch while Sparyon kept circling around it in furious speed. For a few seconds, neither me nor Wakiya did anything. His Shield Crash requires the first hit to be done by the opponent. That's why Valt lost. He must've used Rush Launch against Shield Crash. A stupid strategy.

While Sparyon is circling around the stadium and is not hitting Wvyron, he wouldn't be able to use his special move and the battle could be stuck like this forever. A battle of endurance. We'd be waiting for either of the beys' stamina to end.

Fine, I need to risk a hit.

"If you want me to attack first, then be it," I announced. I could see Wakiya smirking and I had to resist the urge to kick him in the face.

"Okay, Sparyon! Claim the centre," I ordered.

"What?! How could you—" Rantaro said for the first time. "Wvyron is already there. This is insane! You'll lose."

I didn't reply. Hoji looked taken aback while Wakiya watched amusingly. He knew if my bey hits his, he'll be able to activate his so-called Shield Crash. Meh.

Sparyon did one more circle around the centre before changing its direction and moving towards Wyvron. The two beys collided with a flash, resulting in Wvyron being pushed towards the slope of the stadium while Sparyon claimed the centre without any intention to give it away.

"Wyvron, use Shield Crash!" Wakiya demanded.

Like a pendulum, Wyvron came back to hit with the same momentum as it was hit by. But like I said, Sparyon had no intention to give away the centre. As the two beys collided, Sparyon didn't even budge from its spot while Wyvron got pushed away like before. It was like my bey was pinned to there.

Wakiya looked surprised for a moment before recovering. "Again, Wyvron~! Shield Crash!"

"Quick! Counter it," I reacted.

Wyvron came at Sparyon again and when it hit, it went flying out of the stadium and landed with a clink. There was intense silence in the room. All of them look surprised and Wakiya, the most.

"I won," I reminded a wide-eyed Hoji. He hesitated for a moment but finally said, "Y-Yeahh. Stone Sparyon with a ringout finish. (Y/n) (l/n) gets one point!"

I teasingly smirked. The expression on Wakiya's face was priceless. If only you were there to see it.

"Shield Crash didn't work. How...?" He whispered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear.

"Aw was that too surprising? I already told you I'm better~!" I said sickeningly sweet.

"No!" He snapped. "There's one more battle if you're forgetting. This isn't over yet."

"I didn't even need any special move to push your Wyvron outta the stadium," I continued mocking him. "And you expect to win against me? How admirable!"

Before Wakiya could say anything, Hoji quickly announced, "Second battle!" We both took our stance again. Mine was the same, the Axe Counter one. Fine, fine. I've had my fans waiting long enough. This time, I'll definitely show my move.

Um, okay...probably. But hey, it's not my fault that my opponents are so weak that they can easily be beaten without special moves. And above that, I have to hide one of my moves for some fierce battles. I also need to have a secret trick for emergencies.

"Ready? Set!" Hoji announced.

"Three...Two...One...LET IT RIP!!"

Once again, Sparyon and Wyvron hit the stadium with incredible launches. Both beys hastily ran for the centre.

"Wh-Wha—" Wakiya stuttered. He certainly didn't expect me to do that.

"What's that?" Hoji asked but Wakiya had already recovered from the shock.

"Whatever!" Wakiya roared. "The centre still belongs to Wyvron."

With continuous flow of sparks, Wyvron and Sparyon fought for the centre but after a prolonged clash, Sparyon won in the end. Wyvron was pushed away and was now helplessly circling around, its speed getting slower by each second.

A defence type bey circling around the centre. It was just hilarious. Wakiya, on the other hand, was not really able to process what just happened. If his bey had been in the centre, he could've easily came up with some plan but with Wyvron's position off, he was definitely out of ideas.

The Beyclub was watching closely, not wanting to miss any of my move. Of course they had never seen Sparyon attacking from the centre before. Anyone must've guessed by now. Ye, Axe Counter is a move that works with Sparyon in the middle. As Shield Crash also follows the same trajectory, only one of us can be the victor.

Wakiya's forehead was beaded with sweat and he was obviously scared, nevertheless he didn't give up. Oh damn. "Wyvron! Attack!"

His last mistake.

Wyvron came towards Sparyon with not-so-fast speed and just as it was about to hit, I unfolded my last card. "Sparyon, destroy your enemy! Axe Counter!" My lines might not be as fancy as Valt's, but I try.

Before the attack, Rantaro only had enough time to say: "You heard that?"

Just as Wyvron was about to hit Sparyon, Sparyon charged towards Wyvron with great speed. With blinding light, both beys collided an inch away from the centre.

Sparyon kept pushing Wyvron up the slope of the stadium, against gravity, against the laws of physics, and against Wyvron's heavy assaults. With one final push, Wyvron hit the edge of the stadium with so much force that the stadium's edge cracked and Wyvron went flying towards Valt.

"Outta the way!" I think I screamed louder than Valt usually does.

Valt's eyes widened as he ducked. Wyvron bursted and the three pieces hit the wall behind Valt. Thankfully, they fell on the floor with no harm. What would I have explained to Valt if Wyvron got broken?

Everyone looked at Wyvron wide-eyed. Sparyon innocently circled around the centre of the stadium like it just didn't break the stadium's edge.

Hoji was quick. "Burst finish. (Y/n) wins. Game over."

Wakiya ran to pick up Wyvron with shaky hands. He was shivering so much that he was having trouble even assembling all the three pieces.

"Good luck recovering that," I hummed my last words as I picked up Sparyon and started making my way out.

"Wait!" Wakiya angrily called out after me.

I turned around, slightly annoyed. "What is it?"

"What is it? What is it?! Don't act like nothing happened here! Remember, this one is far from over. One day we'll battle again and when we do," he promised. "I will win."

"You sure as hell didn't learn your lesson," I sighed. "One day we'll battle again and when we do," I copied him. "You'll end up worse than you did today."

Along with Wakiya, Hoji and the Beyclub also looked shocked. For once, the all great, awesome, handsome, this-some, that-some Wakiya Murasaki seemed out of words.

"Valt," I demanded. "Go back home. I need to talk to you later."

Valt didn't need to be told twice. He looked like he wanted to stay more, but he obeyed anyway and walked out with me. The rest of the Beyclub followed like nice people.

But as it turned out, I didn't have time to talk to Valt. It was already almost 3 o'clock and I had to go training. When I returned at six, it was getting dark and I was also tired so I decided to meet Valt the next day.

And of course. Just my luck; the next day was even worse. Valt acted crazy. I didn't know what conversation him and Wakiya had together, but it seemed like it had a deep effect on Valt. For some reason, he was bent on believing that he would never be able to beat Wakiya.

His game was off. His temper was hot. And his mind was not acting Valt-like, meaning, he was thinking and we all know that Valt isn't able to think.

"Honcho, why do you look like Wakiya?" He asked him.

"No, I don't. Don't compare me to Goldilocks!"

And it went on with Ken and Daigo too. To Valt, for some reason, they all looked like Wakiya. Finally, I sighed.

"What is happening, Valt?" I said casually, sitting on the bench of the terrace of the school.

All four of them jumped in surprise and turned to look at me. Let me tell you, they all didn't even know I was sitting there. Such a bunch of unobservant people. I legit came there and sat on the bench in front of them! Though my stealth is a little too good, but I also didn't make an attempt to make them notice me. I was a little curious if they talked bad about me behind my back.

In between, if they turned, I simply hid behind the bench and when they returned to battle, I get out from my hiding place. It was quite fun to eavesdrop, by the way.

"FOR HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SITTING THERE?" Rantaro screamed.

"IS IT NECESSARY TO SNEAK UP FROM BEHIND AND SCARE LITTLE PUPPETS?" Ken (Besu) cried.

"I ALMOST DIED! FROM NEXT TIME, GIVE PRE-NOTICES!" Daigo yelled.

There screaming was perfectly normal, but what concerned me was that Valt didn't even flinch. He just kept staring at Valtryek. Such love.

I walked up to him and asked plainly, "Did you hear?"

Valt turned and seemed to notice me for the first time. "(Y/n)..." he whispered thoughtfully. "What did you say?"

I tried sounding calm. "I asked what's happening to you."

"I don't know..." He trailed off.

"Your semifinals are up. Shouldn't you be strategizing right now?" I didn't take Wakiya's name.

"I-I want to beat him so eagerly, but I don't think I'm as good as you. Last time, he took me easily." At that, I could practically feel my anger rising. But I wasn't sure at whom I was angry more, Valt or Wakiya.

"Watch your words, Valt Aoi!" I snapped. Rantaro, Ken and Daigo had this 'Don't you scream at the little kid' look on their faces. I could care less. "I didn't mean what you think! I battled Wakiya just to show you that if I can beat him, you can too. But noo, you're simply so stupid! You had to take it the other way. You thought you're not as good as me, so you can't defeat him."

"But that's the truth! Aren't you stronger than me?" He screamed. For the first time, I heard Valt yelling.

"So you're you mad at me now?! We both are at the same level. We both took part in the Districts side by side. We both are fighting in the tournament with equally powerful bladers. Then why would you think I'm better?"

"I don't know! Wakiya easily took me down. My launch isn't working properly since yesterday. Wakiya defeated my moves without breaking a sweat. His Shield Crash was perfect. My Rush Launch failed!" Valt screamed back.

"Look." I said in a calm but still angry voice, keeping both of my hands on the sides of his face. For the first time in my life, I was comforting someone. Normally I'd love to hear from someone that I'm better than them but for some reason, it just didn't feel right coming from Valt.

"I don't know why you're thinking like that, but I want you to know one thing. There's so much ahead of you. You once told me that you and Shu have had this promise to battle in the finals. If he reaches there, you get to battle him."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" He asked innocently.

I sighed. "I know you'll not understand much about what I'm saying, but let's just say that beating Wakiya Murasaki is worth it."

I put my hands away from his face, proud of my little speech. Wow. I never really thought I would motivate someone in this way. This day should go down in history.

"Ask your bey." I pointed towards his hand. If Valt understands any language, it's Valtryek-talk. Hopefully Valtryek will be able to stuff some sense in his mind. His eyes looked from me to Valtryek, then back to me and he smiled. I tried to return his smile, but eventually settled for an awkward smirk. God, how terrible would that be looking. Give me a basket to hide.

I mentally made a note to practice smiling in front of the mirror once I get home. Only if smiling was as easy as getting angry. But it's like raising my temper is less difficult than to raise than my happiness to that level.

I sighed.

Valt was staring at Valtryek very seriously. I wondered if Valt takes only Valtryek seriously and all else is a joke for him. I turned my attention to a very grumpy Rantaro.

I approached him and muttered, "You need to talk to Shu about this. I don't think my motivation worked. Only Shu can make him understand."

He nodded confusingly, I turned back and started walking down the stairs like a normal person. I'm sure if I wasn't angry right now, then the very first emotion I'd be feeling, would be pity. It would have broken my heart to see Valt like this.

The second emotion would be guilt. The way I defeated Wakiya before made Valt think that I'm better than him. Yeah, under other circumstances if someone had said that I'm better than them, I'd be feeling very good. But this time, it was all my fault. If I was capable of being too worried about someone else, I'd be broken right now. But alas, I feel fully unaffected by all these events.

There is no pity. No guilt. And no regret for what I did to Wakiya. Just like that, I was peacefully walking towards my home.

But aw naw. The moment I say the word peace, something happens. I turned a corner to see Toko and Nika walking a few yards in front of me. I recognised the pathway towards the Beypark. Apparently, Toko and Nika are on their way towards their home.

Suddenly, they stopped in front of the entrance of the park, peeking in. They muttered something to each other and happily rushed inside. I also stopped near the entrance. The wall surrounding the park nicely covered me from their sight.

I know that's called stalking, nevertheless I looked in. There I saw Shu practicing in the stadium. So that was what made the twins so happy. Everything could have been just fine, except Nika tripped on the last step just as Shu was about to launch. I had one second to calculate what was going to happen.

As quickly as I could, I ran out of my hiding spot and screamed, "WATCH OUT, BASTARDS!"

Shu turned just in time only to have Nika bump into him. He tried his best to get out to the way but in the process, his elbow hit Nika's forehead. Shu's eyes widened for a good moment and he jerked his hand away.

There was silence as he looked from me to the twins confusingly. He finally eyed Nika and asked, "Are you fine?"

"S-Sorry!" Nika said sheepishly, "Are you hurt?"

"No," Shu said through gritted teeth and clenched fists. He may deny but I saw it with my own eyes. I was staring at him, shocked. He must have realised that I clearly saw what happened, right? I'm standing right there and he's lying. The nerve!

Shu shook his head at me, gesturing that I stay silent. I still stared in awe. He turned back his attention to the twins. "Hey, what are you both doing here?" He forced a smile.

"We came to see you," Nika said and then turned back to look at me. "Hi, (Y/n)! What are you—"

"Justtrespassing," I blurted out without missing a beat. What else could I've said? Stalking you?

"Then we'll leave you both alone! Right, Toko?" She looked at him.

"Right!" He replied enthusiastically. Both of them had some silent conversation and after giggling a lot, they walked away. With the sudden suspicion, I realised what they meant when they said 'We'll leave you both alone'.

I sighed. Both of them are so little and they feed on such gossips. On the other hand is a whole lot other story, their brother, Valt Aoi. But at that time, my only concern was a red-eyed blader standing in front of me with a pretty broken right hand.

And he has a battle tomorrow.

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

In 2797 words.

Vote. Comment. Share.