short lived 💔

SUPRISE

Several weeks had passed since Gingka had defeated Ryuga. To spend time with my family, I returned to my home country. Because they were residing in the United States, it had been months since I had seen them.

I wanted to avoid my childhood pals and be as discrete as possible, as we had all parted ways. I was not yet strong enough to confront them. Unfortunately, my most obnoxious childhood friend managed to track me down. He was so irritating that I almost forgot he existed.

"Why didn't you tell me you returned to America, Celia?"

"It has nothing to do with you."

"Are you not concerned about Toby or Zeo?"

"I have no right to stand in front of them or you. I haven't gained any strength yet."

"Gingka Hagane is one of your friends?! Is he that good? Isn't it true that you've seen him fight?" I found myself becoming increasingly enraged as he hammered me with questions.

"When will you quit pestering her, Masamune? She seemed to be in a bad mood." My older brother comes to grab him. Masamune refused to budge and clung to me.

"Please, could you bring me along with you to Japan? I can get stronger if I fight Gingka!" I sighed as he pleaded.

"No, no way in hell!"

"Why not? I intend to defeat Gingka! I want to be the world's number one blader!"

"Keep telling yourself that," she says.

"Please, come on. I'm willing to do anything! For Toby's sake, please!"

"Ugh, fine! But if you do anything to humiliate me, I will kill you. We're in it for Toby's sake."

"All right, thanks!" I mentally regret what I said as he embraces me. The entire flight to Japan was agonizing. For being so obnoxious, I wanted to throw Masamune off the plane. I generally drowned him out by listening to music and looking at pictures of my friends.

After we landed, he became agitated. I snatched up my luggage as he vanished.  "Seriously, where has he disappeared to now?" I groan and decide to ignore it. I finally give up and head for the bey pit. I pass by the bus stop and see Gingka, Madoka, and Kenta.

"Hey there, fellas!" I give them a friendly wave, and they seem pleased to see me.

"Hey, Celia!" I approach them and greet them with a hug.

"You've come back! How was your trip to the United States?" Kenta declares.

"It was wonderful! And where exactly are you guys headed?"

"We're heading to Koma Village. So, how about you?" Madoka enquires.

"Really? I was planning on going to Bey Pit in the hopes of seeing you guys."

"No worries at all! You're welcome to my set of keys, but please take precautions." She hands me a couple of keys, which I take.

"Thank you, and I'll see you all shortly. See you later, everyone!" I say my goodbyes and head to the bey pit. When I arrived, I put up my belongings and switched on the television. A tournament was taking place, and Yuu and Tsubasa were pitted against one other.

I stood there watching the two until their match was interrupted. Masamune himself was the perpetrator.

"Of course." With a sigh, I walk over to WBBA.

~~~~~~~~

Tsubasa and Yuu's duel had been stopped by Masamune. Tsubasa retracts his bey and decides against fighting him due to his lack of etiquette. Yuu, on the other hand, resolves to fight him, and the two engage in a bey battle. Masamune defeats Yuu in the end.

He scoffs and gloats while grabbing Striker. "Now, where has Gingka gone? I'll defeat him and become the world's number one blader - ouch!"  Celia arrived just in time and grabbed his ear.

"What do you think you're doing? Do you remember what you said? You are under my command. Stop humiliating yourself in front of all of these people, you moron!" He's on the ground in pain after she smacks his head.

"Ouch! Why'd you go and do that for?" He whines and rises back up.

"You get what you deserve for not listening to me!" She shouts at him and turns her gaze to the others.

"I apologize for the inconvenience. We'll be on our way, and you can finish your match."

"What?! No way."

"Celia!" Yuu approaches her and gives her a hug, which she reciprocates.

"Wonderful to see you!"

"Do you know this person?"

"Regrettably, yes. He's a childhood friend of mine. He followed me here in the hopes of fighting Gingka."

"You got it!"

"Ignore him if he claims to be the world's number one blader; that's been his thing for a long time." Yuu and her both laugh heartily.

"That's not true!" Masamune exclaims.

"Don't you think you've forgotten someone?" Tsubasa's arms are wrapped around her waist.

"Of course, I didn't forget about you." She drapes an arm around his shoulder as she turns around.

"It's great to have you back."  He cracked a grin.

"I've been missing you." She leans forward and kisses him on the lips.

"Bleh!" exclaims Masamune, and Yuu chuckles.

"They're adorable."

"Anyway, the bey pit is deserted, as the others have gone on a trip, and I have the keys. Are you up for a little get-together?"

"No way! You've got to be kidding me!"  Tsubasa became aware of Masamune's absence as Celia laughed.

"Hey, Celia, your pal has gone missing."

"Whatever, I'm done caring for him. Rather than babysit him, I made the trip back to see you guys again. Let's go, fellas."  They all relaxed and caught up after they arrived in the bey pit.

"Oh, Gingka is supposedly going to acquire his new bey,"

"Yeah, he was a little disappointed that he wasn't able to compete in this tournament."

"That's Gingka for you," she says. Yuu laughed and walked out of the bey-pit to do his own thing. Tsubasa and Celia stayed together for the rest of the day.

"You do realize how much I missed you, don't you?" Tsubasa grinned as Celia leaned in closer.

"I did, too." They kissed incessantly until Tsubasa separated them.

"That reminds me, Ryuga mentioned he had a "taste of you" throughout our match. What did he do to you, exactly?"

Celia became immobile all of a sudden. She never told Tsubasa about what happened. She exhaled deeply.

"It took place after you had left Dark Nebula. Doji had me follow Ryuga's every command, and if I didn't, he threatened to harm you and our other friends." Tsubasa wished he hadn't asked that question, as tears slowly drained from her eyes.

"Please come here, I'm sorry I asked that." He grabs her in his arms and gives her a firm hug.

"It wasn't your fault," she says.

"No one was to blame. Ryuga is also blameless. The dark power corrupted him no matter what he did."

"You say that after all he's done to you?"

"I've seen flashes of his true self, and he's not that horrible after all. I'm curious how he's doing."

"All right, now stop talking about him and pay attention to me." Tsubasa laughs and pouts.

"Alright, sweetheart,"  She kissed him, and the two enjoyed a fantastic night together after such a long time.

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