Your POV

"Welcome!"

The Aoi Pan, also known as Aoi's family bakery and Valt's home, is a quaint two story-building, the colors and atmosphere inviting with the scent of sweet treats and fresh dough wafting around. 

Chiharu, Valt's mum, is just as welcoming as everything else, heaping my arms with plenty of pastries before showing us (me, Shu and Valt) to a table.

Biting on beybread, we engage actively in conversations about the most random and trivial things, Valt and I talking as if we had been best friends for as long as he and Shu has. 

We're talking about how dogs are better than cats (only Shu doesn't seem to think so) and on our fifth beybread, third custard tart and second chocolate croissant when the door opens to the bakery and instead of customers arriving, it's Nika with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes.

Her eyes land on me and her smile widens before she profusely introduces herself and apologizes that she and Toko were too busy with school to come to the tournament and provide explanations about the battles. 

"How is Earth? Is it different from here? Is everyone really as mean as shown in IREL?" Nika launches into full-blown interviewer mode, slinging question after question at me before I can even reply. "When did you find out you were being filmed? Did nobody in your world know that you were being filmed until Shu and the others came over? Oh, and Toko wonders if we're famous in Earth like you are in Shinwa?"

I laugh and slowly begin to answer her onslaught of questions and admitting on the last one that Beyblade Burst isn't exactly the most popular show among Earth's citizens. 

Before I can ask her where her brother is (because surely they are as inseparable as shown on the show), Toko barges in to the bakery and scolds his sister for leaving him behind at school and asking me so many questions. 

"Sorry about that," Toko says solemnly, politely bowing his head. 

"Please!" Nika rolls her eyes. "Don't act so mature, Toko! I'm not the one who laughs at words like 'poop'."

"I do not!" Toko exclaims indignantly, acting as if he hadn't let slip a small giggle. His face is squished by Nika's hand as she reaches closer to me.

She giggles, "Just one more question! Are you and Shu dating?"

I blink and before I can say anything, Toko elbows his sister. "Nika, you can't just ask people you've met about their love life."

"No, it's alright," I stifle my laughter before sharing a smile with Shu. "Yes. We are dating."

Shock settles into Nika's face and, remembering about her crush on Shu in the series, I panic and wonder if I should've just lied or even better, avoided the question.

But then shock turns into happiness as the corners of her mouth lift up to stretch into a wide smile, the corners of her eyes wrinkling and her eyes brightly shimmering. "I knew it! OMG, you guys are such a cute couple. Toko, can you believe that my two idols are dating? It's like a dream come true!"

"Right?" Valt excitedly jumps in and Toko enthusiastically nods his head. 

All three of the Aoi siblings have such a good relationship compared to me and Blair. I doubt that they would ever go through a falling out or get into a major argument like when Jordan kissed me and we pretended to date to make Blair jealous or just a few days ago when I was the reason she got in trouble with her fans.

Part of me knows that Blair hasn't spared a thought about me since I left. Hell, everything is probably easier for her now with me gone. But part of me still wishes and hopes on a tiny sliver that she regrets her words and she's missing me...even if I don't miss her. 

It hits me that in the environment of school and different classes and business clashing, I was never as perfect as I thought. Everyone was toxic at least in some way, and I was no exception to that rule.

"(y/n)?" Shu waves his hand in front of my vision, banishing my thoughts. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I smile reassuringly, brushing it off to change the subject. "Anyways, I should go shop for a bey now."

"Ooh!" Nika jumps up and down excitedly. "Toko and I will take you! See you two later at the rooftop!"

Without hesitating, she grabs my hand to quickly skip of the front door, her brother on our heels as we weave our way through Beigoma until we reach a shop in the local shopping center.

Pushing open the glass door, the first thing I see are the hundreds of different kinds of beyblades, lined up on the shelves and glinting proudly. The second thing I see is an eccentric elderly woman who pops out behind a counter. "Hello! How may I help you today?"

"Mrs. Yashimoto," Toko and Nika wave in unison. "(y/n)'s here to buy a beyblade!"

I smile and nod politely. "Is there some sort of choosing custom? Like, does the bey glows when I find the right one?"

"My dear, I'm afraid it's not as magical as wand picking from Harry Potter," Mrs. Yashimoto chuckle and my face reddens. "When you're holding the right bey, you'll get a feeling."

"What kind of feeling?"

"You'll know when you feel it."

She then turns to help polish Nika's bey, so Toko and I start exploring the shop. There's so many colors and so many unique styles and so many types to choose from.

I reach out to touch a marvelous blue one, the same shade of the ocean from home, a scarlet one, the same shade as Shu's eyes and a dark green one, the same shade as the grass in front of my house after it rains.

But despite matching up to the exact shades, none of them evoke any feeling. They just feel still and cold in my palm. 

"Toko! (y/n)!" Nika emerges as the two of us round the corner. We bump into each other, and I fall to the ground.

I groan, barely hearing the shrieks of Toko and Nika's repeated apologies. But then my eyes land on a bey lying forgotten beneath the shelves, one that I hadn't even noticed and the headache stops. 

Grabbing the bey, I sit upright and stare at it in awe. It's purple. Not a deep royal purple, but rather a light shade of lilac. The exact shade of Claritate's colour. I should be repulsed, after all, this colour represents the school that had been so toxic, but instead warmth spreads throughout my body.

It's the one.

So I buy the beyblade, which I later find out to be called Despoina, named after the Greek godess of mystery. 

I part ways with Toko and Nika, the twins going back to the Aoi house to have lunch while I head to the rooftop of Beigoma Academy. We had agreed to meet with the rest of the Beyblade Burst bey club and the twins here, but Shu and I decided to meet each other earlier. 

Shu bursts into an explanation of how Despoina works, dumping a truckload of information despite only having seen it for a few minutes. I don't pay much attention to any of that though, it's much more nicer to see his eyes light up. 

And then he reaches out to my hands, gently touching my arms as he moves them into a basic launching position. At this point I'm not concentrating at all, so it's no surprise that we have to repeat this for half an hour. 

Though it doesn't feel like half an hour. We collapse into laughter and blushing messes majority of the time and time flies as happiness sets in. 

And although it was on my bucket list, I'm slightly disappointed when the bey club arrives because I want some more time Shu. Just the two of us, together. 

But even if I get to spend less time with Shu, I still will cherish the memories I'm making on the rooftop with the bey club and the twins, all of them cheering each other on during bey battles and chatting animatedly about anything and laughing so hard that their stomach hurts. 

And nobody bothers to laugh at me or point out my weaknesses (except for Wakiya at times, who only gets whacked by Honcho) as I try blading for the first time, even though I know how obvious my skill gap between the others is. 

Everything is perfect. 

Is everyday for them like this?

If that is so, then Shinwa must be heaven and Earth must be hell. 

"Hey, (y/n)?"

Now the sun is setting, changing the colors of the sky to show me one of the beautiful Beigoma sunsets I had only ever seen through the screen. Only the Aois, Shu and me are left on the rooftop, Shu and Valt battling each other while Toko and Nika take turns playing games on the iPad.

"Yeah?" I turn to look at Nika.

She hesitates, "Can I ask you another question?"

"Another one Nika?" Toko groans. "Leave poor (y/n) alone."

I laugh. "It's alright, Toko. Shoot for it, Nika."

"Okay!" she giggles. "I was wondering after this one month is over, where are you going to stay? I mean, would you go back to Earth? Or would you just stay here in Beigoma to be with Shu? Because I heard from Valt who heard from Shu that the reasons you're here is to be with Shu and also to escape from your problems in Earth."

"So..." Toko adds on. "Would you continue to stay in Beigoma?"

"Please do!" Nika jumps in, clasping her hands together. "You're already one of my closest friends!"

Toko sighs, "Nika, you can't just tell (y/n) to move here. In case you didn't know, (y/n) actually has a family and friends too."

I laugh softly. "I'm not quite sure, if I'm being honest. But hey, I still have twenty five or so more days to think about it."

Content with the answer, Nika resumes playing on the iPad with Toko. However, I am not content with it. 

It all comes down to whether I'm willing to leave behind everything for Beigoma. Permanently. 

And right now, the answer is yes. 

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