"Stone Sparyon with a burst finish. (Y/n) (l/n) wins with a score of two to zero," the referee announced and the crowd cheered wild.

"And there you have it! Another impressive win from the Gold Blader (Y/n) (l/n) as she advances to the semi-finals!" Hanami said enthusiastically.

(Y/n) walked out of the arena and went to the bladers' waiting room. The semi-finals are up and she would be against Shu. She barely made it last time when they battled each other. Moreover, his shoulder is hurt so she was worried about it too.

It was easy to leave the decision on him the day he got hurt, but the way he battled against Orochi; it clearly showed that the problem was worse than anyone could've predicted.

This was a new feeling for (Y/n). She was worried about someone. She hadn't anticipated the situation properly before. Now that she's up against him and because she knows how severe his injury is, would she be able to go on her full power during the battle?

The battle wouldn't even be fair.

What should she do now? It'll be quite difficult to practice for the match when she doesn't even know what would be the condition of her opponent. It was easy to watch him battle against Orochi and struggle with his launch.

Not more than five minutes before when she was battling against Akiyoshi (Kuroshi, if you ask Y/n), she was all normal. But the moment she won against him and advanced to the semifinals, she became nervous. She knew her next battle would be against Shu.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Rantaro as him and the others barged into the waiting room. "That battle was epic!"

"Yup. It was awesome," Ken (Keru) appreciated her. "You totally won!"

"Congratulations for making it to the semifinals," Shu said with a smile.

"So, how're you feeling that your next battle is against Shu?" Toko smirked cutely. Shu smiled at him and looked at (Y/n) whose face was the same expressionless one, so the bladers couldn't quite interpret if she was feeling worried or something.

She returned each of their statements with a very friendly 'tch'.

All of them sweatdropped.

"Thanks," Rantaro pointed. "Is the word."

"Don't annoy me," she replied, bored.

Ken said with Keru, "I promise if you practice at the Beyclub with us for a week—"

"—we'll definitely teach you how to be nice," Besu finished.

"Yeah, just like the way we teach Valt how to not freak out when the spot lights are on him," Rantaro agreed.

"We can plan a one hour session just so you could act more human!" Ken (Besu) said.

"No, I don't think I need it," she said plainly. "I'm happy the way I am."

Toko pointed out, "But you look anything but happy."

"Do I look sad?"

"No?"

"Then of course I'm happy," she replied. "End of talking."

Rantaro looked at her suspiciously. "No. That's the problem. You look neither happy nor sad. You've gotta have some expression on your face! It will make us read you better. If we stay oblivious about you all the time, what kind of friends are we?"

She didn't reply. She just stared at Rantaro like a statue. Rantaro, on the other hand, didn't know what to do. Is that look of approval or disapproval?

So he just smiled and patted her back, to which her eyes widened and she snapped up her head to look at him.

"There goes a shocked expression," Rantaro grinned at his achievement.

"I just didn't expect you'd be suicidal enough to pat my back," (Y/n) said, eyes still wide.

Rantaro quickly retreated his hand. "Now no need to get so serious..!"

(Y/n) simply picked up her bag and after checking that it has all the important things, like Sparyon and her launcher, she walked away.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Toko screamed from behind.

Without turning, she waved her hand but didn't reply.

"If she replies nicely once or twice, it's not like it would kill her or something!" Rantaro kicked the nearest wall angrily.

"Now let her be like she wants to be," Shu tried to calm him. "We've known her for over two weeks now. Just get used to her behaviour already. If you call yourself her friend, then act like one."

Rantaro sighed. "Thanks, I needed that speech."

"Where's Valt?" Shu suddenly asked, looking around. His eyes landed on Toko, "And Nika?" He frowned and looked at Rantaro, "Daigo too?"

"They went home after your match," Ken (Keru) said.

Rantaro agreed. "Daigo had to meet Ryota. And Valt—Oh yeah! I wanted to tell you something about him."

Shu looked calm. "I'm listening."

"Actually, that day when he battled Wakiya..." Rantaro narrated the story about how Valt lost to Wakiya, how (Y/n) was angry about that, then Valt was acting all sad, "...she tried to convince him but he got motivated in an all new direction. He started acting all angry from sad. His launch isn't working properly. Bruv, only you can do anything. We just want our good ol' Valt back."

Shu nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

"Um, sure."

"Let's go home?" Toko asked. Rantaro and Ken muttered in agreement and walked out. Shu and Toko also followed. Suddenly, an idea popped in Shu's head. Acting weird, huh?

He turned to Toko. "Can you do me a favour?"

"Yeah!" Toko said enthusiastically.

"Ask your brother for me...how's Valtryek doing," he smiled. Toko looked at him in confusion, but agreed.

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

"HEY!!! SHUU!!!"

Guess who screamed that.

Valt ran towards him and stopped a feet close behind. Shu was about to enter the school building but turned around with this shocked expression on his face. "You're early today..?"

"I heard you met Toko yesterday."

"Yeah?"

Valt grinned. "Valtryek is doing awesome!"

"Good," Shu smiled back, amused.

"Wanna see? A battle?"

"No I—"

"That's great! At the Beyclub, after school," Valt said happily and ran inside the school.

Shu's expression turned serious. He lifted his right hand and looked at it. "If you say so..."

A battle with an injured shoulder?

'Why not?' Shu thought as his expression turned determined and he walked to the class.

As he entered, he saw (Y/n) already sitting in her place with Valt behind her, messing with her hair. Shu walked over to them and kept his bag on the table. He could now hear Valt speaking.

"Wow! Your hair are like cotton!"
"Are you sure they're real?"
"Why are they white?"
"Did you use hair colour?"
"How much time did it take to grow them so long?"
"Have you put long threads of cotton because you were bald?"
"Why do you tie them? Open it!"
"If I don't get my hair trimmed once in a while, will they also grow till my thighs?"
"How long does it take you to wash them?"
"It must take minimum one hour to brush them, but you still come to school early. What time do you wake up?"
"How many bottles of shampoo do you normally use?"
"I still think they're fake—"

"SHUT UP!" (Y/n) cut him off. "AT THIS POINT, YOU'RE PRACTICALLY ASKING ME TO KILL YOU 'CUZ WHY NOT?!"

Everyone in the class had to cover their ears. Shu was surprised as well. Her voice might as well be even louder than Valt when he screams.

"Hehe," Valt winced because of the loudness. Even he had to cover his ears. "Just asking but am I this loud while screaming?"

"Yeah," (Y/n) said, back to her normal expressionless mode.

"You still didn't answer my questions," Valt said, twirling strands of her hair in his fingers. She was facing the front of the class and Valt was sitting behind her so she didn't feel anything.

Valt's fingers kept trailing up on her hair until they reached the black band by which they were tied into a ponytail. Before Shu could stop him, Valt opened it and the next thing he knew was getting chased around by (Y/n).

"...aND THIS IS HOW YOU DIE, VALT AOI!" She screamed, successfully slaping him. Hard. They walked back to their seats silently. Valt's cheek was red and (Y/n) didn't look so happy either because Valt had lost her band in the process.

Her long hair had fallen on her back to their full length and as the wind blew from the window, they flew beautifully. (A/n: If y'all have seen anime, then ya know what I'm talkin' 'bout).

(A/n again: Don't try such stuff at home. It only, I repeat ONLY happens in anime. If you open your hair and they don't look beautiful like that, you will experience HUGE disappointment. Then don't come crying to me.)

Valt and Shu couldn't help but admire that beautiful look. Finally, when he couldn't hold it anymore, Valt spoke up. "(Y/n), you look less scary and more pretty like that."

"Shut it," she said, struggling to move her silky hair outta her face. "I'm taking your headband, Valt Aoi!"

"Nooooo," Valt whined and held onto his head. "You cannot take my band! My hair will fall down if you do that! And second, that band is the colour of my hair. It wouldn't match to your white ones!"

Shu would never admit it out loud, but he was quite grateful to not to possess a band, otherwise (Y/n) would be chasing him around too.

And (Y/n), too, would never admit it out loud that she had her eye on Daigo's bandana all day. Even Wakiya's tying band and Nika's scrunchies looked attractive.

After school, Valt and Shu went to the club for their promised battle. Everyone was already waiting there. Valt was fully back to normal (thanks to Shu) and his launch was good again but here the problem was Shu's injury.

Valt didn't know about it, so Shu's new stance amazed him. His left leg was ahead of the right one, which was fully stretched behind. Launching in this position would put less load on his shoulder, and Shu knew that.

"Wow. Is that a new launching position?!" Valt asked with an excited glint in his eyes.

"I'm trying something new," Shu replied, giving him a slight smile.

"I wonder how this battle will turn out," (Y/n) muttered, casually standing beside Rantaro, watching the stadium closely.

"WHEN DID YOU COME HERE??" Rantaro screamed.

"I ALMOST DROPPED MY iPAD!!" Toko let out a girly screech.

"IS IT NECESSARY TO POP UP LIKE THAT?!" Ken (Keru) yelled.

"I thought it was a vulture!" Nika said and hid behind Toko, as if that little kid will protect her.

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU TO AT LEAST GIVE PRE-NOTICES?!" Daigo said.

Shu just looked at (Y/n) wide-eyed.

"ASKAVJKYEVJEY," Valt screeched.

"Y'all are stupid," (Y/n) twitched her left eye. They all stared at her for three more minutes before blinking, absorbing her new look.

"You look different," Daigo said.

"More beautiful," Nika added.

"Thank me for that!" Valt said cockily.

Rantaro frowned. "You mean you again did something stupid?"

"Yeah," Shu said softly and looked at (Y/n), who was greedily looking at Daigo's bandana.

Daigo moved away from her. "Don't even think about it!"

She sighed. "Begin the battle."

"What happened?!" Ken (Besu) questioned.

"You normally don't watch battles!" Ken (Keru) finished.

(Y/n) didn't answer, which wasn't unusual, but Shu knew better. Only she knew about his injury and had come to see if Shu could battle properly. Great. Another reason for Shu to win this match, which means more pressure on him.

Since his battle against Orochi, (Y/n)'s been thinking about it. Spryzen's Counter Break almost failed against Odax's Blast Beat. Shu may have found a way to use his injury as his power but it was still bad. He had this suspicion that if he lost this battle now, it would have effects on his and (Y/n)'s official battle.

(A/n: Skipping the battle 'cuz y'all have seen it in the anime)

Shu won against Valt with a burst finish, like the awesome blader he is. After the battle, (Y/n) started home with only one thing in her mind. Two days later. Battle against Shu. What to do?

On the way when she was walking through the main market in deep thought, she had almost forgotten about her surroundings and punched the wall of a shop in frustration. The shopkeeper looked at her awkwardly and blinked his eyes several times, trying to figure out if she's an alien from Saturn or not. A nearby kid got scared and hugged his mother, frightened.

So much for a normal life.

The next day was even worse for her. Around noon, Valt had his official battle against Wakiya, which he won by a score of three to one. Everything was going just fine. (Y/n) didn't know how and what happened between three to six during her training time, but whatever it was, it was pretty disturbing.

It was seven in the evening when Valt came to her home with combined emotions.

"What is it?" (Y/n) said as soon as she opened the door.

Valt frowned. "Are you always angry?"

"No?"

"I don't think so, but never mind," he said and his expression suddenly turned serious. And everyone knows there's trouble when Valt is serious.

"You knew what happened to Shu?" Apparently, during the time when she was training, Valt somehow got to know about Shu's injury.

"What..." She tried to say something but trailed off. Valt never thought that (Y/n) (l/n) would ever be at a loss for words. Then again, today's been a strange day.

"You knew!" Valt yelled.

(Y/n) jumped in surprise. Valt was mad? The Lord of Cuteness was really mad. His yelling was completely different from his usual one. Anger was dripping from his voice.

"I..."

"You what?!"

"Valt, listen—"

"You didn't tell such an important thing to me. If it wasn't for Nika, I would've never known! Shu was hurt and she's blaming herself. You knew but didn't say anything. He battled today. He battled Orochi that day. He—"

"Who the hell said I knew?!" (Y/n) countered with the same amount of anger.

"When he got hurt, you were right there. Nika also told me that you screamed at Shu to watch out for something. I know nothing is hidden from you. It was quite obvious that you knew!" he said, almost crying now.

Since when did Valt become so smart?

(Y/n) figured that when it comes to friends, the asleep and sane part of Valt's mind awakens and starts working.

But still. She was (Y/n) (l/n). Her emotionlessness defined her. It's not like Valt's anger would affect her and she'd start apologizing and realise her oh so mistake. For her, nger against anger was the only way out.

"You think I care?" She took a step towards him.

"No. I just wanted to hear it from you," and with that, Valt turned around and ran away, leaving (Y/n) shocked yet again. She half-expected him to continue the argument.

She slammed the door shut loudly on purpose, so that Valt would hear and know she was angry too. He wasn't the only one.

If Valt knows (Y/n) well, he'd also know that she isn't the kind of person who would come to him running to sort out the problem. If he wants their relationship to be cool after this argument, then he should confront (Y/n). Not the other way around. Never the other way around.

She had had enough friends who had betrayed her and with that experience, she'd learnt to not to get too much attached to people anymore.

The next day in school was pretty abnormal. Valt wasn't bugging (Y/n) from behind and was being awkwardly protective of Shu. He arranged Shu's table for him. At one point, when Shu's pencil fell from his hand, Valt ran at the speed of light to catch it and in the process, slammed his head into the table. Shu just blinked and stared at him weirdly.

At the end of school, Shu finally snapped at Valt for acting crazy when he tried to pick up his bag for him. This resulted in Shu battling at the Beyclub just to prove Valt that he's fine. A battle (Y/n) didn't join.

(Y/n) was quiet all day. She didn't talk to anyone—which was perfectly normal, so no one suspected that something has happened. She didn't care about it. Instead, she was pretty grateful. An advantage of that usual expressionless behaviour. No one questioned.

(Y/n) knew she couldn't afford to think about Valt. For now, she had bigger problems to deal with. Namely, finding a strategy for her battle with Shu, which was tomorrow.

On the day of the battle, (Y/n) was pretty nervous. Shu was a good blader and Spryzen was, well, scary. Like, have you seen its face? And those wicked blades in its bey?

The arena was filled with more spectators than normal. Afterall, this battle will decide the second finalist; the one who will battle Valt in the finals.

The others were already in the spectators' area, so it was just (Y/n) and Shu in the waiting room.

"I'm sure I'm fine," he said, though (Y/n) never asked anything. He must have seen it through her eyes.

She tilted her head questioningly.

Shu cleared his throat and added, "Valt and I have promised to battle in the finals and I will make it there, which means I would have to beat you."

(Y/n) smiled back. "Good." And with that, they went to their corners and stood behind the door.

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

In 2996 words.

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