"Shu!! Shu!! Over here!"
You look up from your lunch to glance at Valt's elated figure waving down his best friend. You couldn't help but note that Shu stuck out like a sore thumb among the walking children in your class due to his striking appearance. White hair stood out among the various brown and black, red eyes glowing among the blue and brown, you let out a small chuckle. Before properly acknowledging Shu, you looked around to see the rest of the children occasionally give you excited looks before talking to their friends. The bustling atmosphere of hungry children along with the delicious aroma practically made you super grateful to share the experience despite the (positive) gossip and chatter about you roaming the class. Refocusing your attention on the meal in front of you, you munch appropriately on your lunch that the lunch ladies made graciously (you were basically mimicking Valt's actions) and only smile when Shu finally turns around.
"Oh, hey, you two," Shu says, walking over to sit on an empty desk across from you and Valt. He settles his lunch tray on top and scooted his chair in. "How are you?"
"Heyyy, no polite talk! We're all friends here," Valt waves him off before chowing down on the rice served today. "Oh, Shu! I was so excited about the Rush Shoot improvement yesterday, y'know? I couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited to do it again after school." He squeals, "Oh! And the fact that the club is official makes me so hyped for school to be over!"
Shu shook his head in disapproval, "Don't speak with your mouth full, Valt." Shu scoops up a spoonful of soup and blows on it, "Besides, the club is temporarily official. You still need to find a fifth member."
"Either way, it's exciting," you say, "I can say that Valt—" you begin, struggling on the sidelines to hold the chopsticks properly. "—He was tossing and turning—awe man. . ." you dropped the chopsticks on the desk after fumbling for the fifth time.
Shu looks at you before softening his eyes, "Hey, you're supposed to hold it like this—" he grabs your hands to help you hold them. "Cradle the bottom one between your thumb and index finger, like. . .this," he says while placing your fingers properly and letting go to hold his own to show you further. "Then, once you hold them correctly, you move the top stick up and down—almost like a lever to grab your food—like this," he picks up a good amount of rice and ate it flawlessly.
You stared at him as if he were a god.
"I thought you remembered how Mom told you to," Valt mentions with a confused stare.
"Eh, I faked it till I made it," you answered honestly before trying to mimic Shu's actions. "But thanks, Shu!" You smile and giggle excitedly upon finally picking up a reasonable amount of white rice to continue eating human food. "I have to say, I find it interesting that your school gives out lunch to every student."
"What do you mean?" Valt asked before reaching to the milk carton with a straw sticking out. He plops it in his mouth and began to sip out of it with an oblivious look on his face.
"She doesn't know much about human customs—" Shu briefly pauses and gave you a quick glance, "—Right?"
"Yeah," you nodded, confirming his suspicions. "I mostly assumed everyone brought homemade lunches at first but it's so interesting how you guys have like, team leaders, who take care of stuff. The teacher even told me I get to try being the lunch leader tomorrow!" You happily giggled and finished up your meal rather quickly. "Plus, I get to try lots of Japanese meals! I'd say it's a win-win."
"What!? Me too!" Valt was enthused, eyes basically twinkling in excitement. "Ohh, Shu, are you going to be one of the leaders, too?"
Shu took his time to answer, using his handkerchief to wipe away any stains, he swallows a mouthful and ponders a bit. "I do think it's my turn tomorrow." Valt's shine in his eyes shone brighter as he giggled.
"Right, let's do our best tomorrow!"
— — —
As soon as after-school activities had begun, Valt practically dragged you across the halls, up the stairs, and barged into the club meet-up place. The rooftop.
"Dang it! One more time! Flash Shoot!"
Initially, Valt had wanted to dedicate the gym as the initial club location, but the Principal had told you it had already been home to at least three other clubs. Adding another would just make it overcrowded for the already large groups. So, begrudgingly, Valt had decided the roof would be the second-best place.
You two had begun to work on it first thing today before school. The stadium for the club was tucked away in the storage closet within the gym, and having to pick it up and place it on the roof made Valt think it'd be an almost impossible task due to his small frame and weak arms. However, you picked it up without any trouble and asked Valt to take you to the roof with a big smile on your face. You were completely oblivious to Valt's bug-eyed stare before it turned into a huge smile.
So, here you all are training before the big tournament battle with Wakiya.
"Yeah right! Send her flying, Ragnaruk!" Rantaro commanded, extending an arm dramatically to the two clashing Beys. A smug smile practically glued onto his face after witnessing several attempts of Valt's new move he dubbed 'Flash Shoot'.
"Yeah, this is good!" Valt cheered after watching Rantaro's smug face quickly being wiped away as soon as you, in their eyes, had started to push and collide Ragnaruk out of the center. Meanwhile, within the battlefield, you were simply gathering enough blue particles from the edges of your heel sizzling against the rough ground. The sparks from the ground converted to power, and that same power turned into strength within the sword in your hands. Then again, and again as the shocked disheveled boy who remained stubbornly in the center abruptly got shoved out of it.
There's a strange satisfaction from completely taking in the sight of him struggling to defend against the sharp and precise swinging of your sword.
It ultimately ended with you successfully pushing Ragnaruk out of the stadium entirely. "Yes! That's how strong [First name] is!" Valt bragged and hopped slightly from the excitement of winning.
Rantaro visibly slumped and grumbled under his breath as he bent over to grab his own Bey. "Don't be a show-off," he scolded. "You've gotta land it more often." Rantaro huffed and shook his head. "It's too dangerous to use in a match."
"A new move?"
After putting you down on the ground for you to transform back, Valt perks up from the sound of a new voice entering the group. Curious yourself, you turned around in the middle of your stretching.
Your [e/c] eyes meet a figure you've never seen before. He was a boy—a little shorter than Rantaro, yet his stiff and broad figure made him appear a little more mature than him. His hair was black, yet fluffy and curly. His hardened, slightly bothered eyes, stared at you all with such determination. You took note that he had his fists curled and tensed.
Daina, surprised by the sudden appearance, took front and stepped forward with a curious look. "Konda Hoji?" He says, the name rolling off his tongue swiftly after hearing it come out of Wakiya's several times.
Hoji gave him a nod of acknowledgment before switching his attention to you and your owner. "Valt. . .Miss [First name], fight me here and now," Hoji demanded, pointing at the both of you.
You blinked repeatedly, "'Miss'. . .?"
"Means you're getting old." That stupid smirk on Rantaro made you want to punch it off. Although you may not know how old you are, you know that just being called 'old' was enough to tick you off. You inhaled before letting it out with an eyebrow twitch of annoyance.
"You're Valt's and [First name]'s next opponent, aren't you?" Beus continued, with Kensuke tilting his head curiously.
"Yeah," Hoji looked to the right awkwardly. Something about his body language made you wonder.
Valt, however, was completely oblivious to the uncomfortableness Hoji has expressed as his brown eye sparkles. "Don't tell me you wanna join the Beyblade Club?!" He smiled eagerly.
Hoji hesitated to reply but sighed. "Not really," Hoji declined before shaking his head. "I just wanna battle you!" Hoji stated and bowed respectfully, almost like he would to someone in a higher power. "Accept my challenge!"
Valt paused for a second before smiling. "A battle? Huh. . .okay!"
"I have a question though," you tore away from subtly glaring at Rantaro and now fixated on the pleading boy in front of you. He turns to you and tenses up more. You mentally questioned this before continuing, "Why not wait till the actual match? Don't get me wrong, though! I'd love to battle you with Valt," you motioned to a jittering Aoi, "I'm just a little confused."
"Well. . .I'll tell you after we fight. . .—"
Rantaro's big fan unfolded and blocked both you and Valt from seeing Hoji at all. You jumped from the sudden move while Valt squeaked. "Stop right there!" Rantaro exclaimed. "I think that reason is a little too suspicious! Maybe I was wrong about you being a blockhead like your owner, [First name]!"
"What?"
"Hey!" Valt shouted over you with an offended look pointed at Rantaro. "What do you mean by that?!"
"It means you're dumb," Kensuke extended Beus to speak while the boy himself quietly giggled. You couldn't help but snicker at the comment too while Valt whines at you seemingly agreeing with the rest.
"If you really have to know," Rantaro says while closing the comically huge fan shut. "He came here to spy on you two. Probably came here to judge [First name] because of her non-human roots." You gave Hoji an even more puzzled stare tinted and placed your hands on your hips. The rest of the club soon jumped in with outlandish accusations of manipulation, mind games (Daina apologized briefly for these two), and of the such against Hoji.
After being bombarded with statements, Hoji lets out a quiet hum, eyes looking dejected, and nods. "Right. Sorry for intruding then."
You watched him turn his heel to leave. However, just before he could take three steps, both Daina and Rantaro immediately stopped him. This made you narrow your eyes at the two boys, didn't they just insult him straight to his face while calling out for his name? You didn't know humans were this confusing.
"Wait right there! I'll battle with you!"
"Hold on a sec! I'll fight you"
Daina turned to glare at Rantaro the moment Rantaro had waved him off dismissively. You watched, baffled at their actions, as they urgently call out for Hoji again.
"I'll take you on!"
"Hoji, fight me!"
You crossed your arms, "And they called us the idiots." You let out a dry chuckle, "Look at these two buffoons."
Valt giggles childishly while both boys in front of you turned around to glare at you. They both huffed and redirected their attention to a surprised Hoji.
"Which one?"
"You pick!"
Rantaro and Daina rushed in front of Hoji. A little too close and personal for Hoji's tastes as the boy himself took several steps back. You couldn't see it due to both Daina and Rantaro blocking your view, but Hoji seemed to nod and agree to take one of them on.
"Okay, let's go."
— — —
Daina sighs after defeatedly picking up his own Bey from the stadium. "You're strong," he comments upon gripping and piecing together his own Bey.
Hoji places a hand on his hip, a gentle smile gracing his lips. "Your Deathscyther is, too,"
"Next time, I won't lose," Daina stated with a confident stare pointing at the taller boy.
In the end, Hoji picked Daina to become his opponent and left soon after. You pondered the question of 'why?' the entire battle. Why would Hoji pick out Daina to be his opponent when Rantaro was so excited to fight him? Was there an external reason for why?
You didn't bother analyzing the fight, your mind was too filled with trying to come up with reasons and answers. Though, you weren't so sure why you were so bothered by his reason to come here. It's almost like. . .Hoji picked Daina because Deathscyther was an attack-type like you were. You wanted to fight, the urge to fight him was there. But this feeling of. . .suspicion was a little too much for you to bear.
It's still strange that Hoji came here just for one single battle. His body language earlier was off too. Was it because of someone? He seemed tensed and worried. A fight between friends, perhaps? Looking back at where Hoji once stood, you lifted a hand up to your chin, your thumb tapping against your bottom lip, "Why did he seem so troubled. . .?"
Daina perks up at the sound of your voice. Curious, he turns to you to question you, "Did you say something, [First name]?"
You jumped a little, definitely not expecting that he'd actually heard you. Who knew that he was so observant? "Oh, uh, nope! Sorry, just talking to myself."
Daina's eyes remained on your person for a little while longer before facing forward again, "It's rare to see him without Wakiya. I suppose that he has a day off today."
You tilt your head, "Who?"
You didn't get an answer to your question due to the loud voices of the Aoi twins rushing around the corner with panicked faces. "Big bro!"
"Big sis!" Nika almost tripped getting to you and Valt before completely stopping in her tracks, pausing to breathe along with Tokonatsu, and pointing where they came from. "Come quick!"
"This is bad!" Tokonatsu quickly follows up.
"What's wrong?" A concerned Valt asked, rushing to be by their side.
"It's about Hoji!"
— — —
Tokonatsu and Nika quickly ushered you, Valt, and Daina to someplace you do not know nor recognize. They kept telling a story regarding why they were so panicked but due to their young minds, their story didn't make too much sense. They both only kept saying that someone named Wakiya had 'pressured' Hoji to quit the match at the regional tournament.
When asked how they knew this, they both wanted to thank Hoji for saving Tokonatsu stuck on a tree trying to save a cat and followed him to Wakiya's house.
Basically, they stalked him.
Daina was the only one who knew Wakiya and knew where his house was. So, he was the one to volunteer to lead you and the Aoi siblings back to the building. Following the boy, you ignored the mini-conversation between the siblings and hustled to Daina's side.
"Hey, so, um," you begin, watching Daina turn to you. "Who's Wakiya? Is Hoji friends with him?"
Daina pursed his lips, "I suppose you can call him that." You visibly questioned his statement, and he noticed. "I only knew Wakiya for about two months before I met you and Valt," Daina explained, "and Wakiya invited me to train with him at his house to prepare for the tournament. I accepted and I visited quite often." He turned the corner of the path. "Most of the time I was there, Hoji never left his side. Wakiya told me he was just a training buddy his father gave him."
"So. . .they're sort of like partners. . .?" You asked. "Like Valt and I?"
"You could say that," Daina says. "Though, I just think Wakiya doesn't wanna admit he's made a friend." The boy sighs, shoulders slumping over slightly. "I gotta warn you, though. Wakiya's. . .he can basically come off as really full of himself."
You lifted an eyebrow, "What do you mean? 'Full of himself'?"
"Stuck up," Daina clarified before humming softly, seemingly in thought. Daina pauses for a brief moment. He then turns to you, "Basically, he's like how Kumicho acts towards you, but instead of it being playful, he actually means everything he says."
You grimaced. "Ugh, ew," you run a hand through your [h/c] hair. "Okay, I already feel I might not like this person."
Daina couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, he rolls his eyes right after. "I mean, he's okay towards me. So he does have a heart. . .sorta." That did not make you feel better.
The conversation died down after that comment and the group walked with occasional chatter here and there. Until, finally, you all reached the Komurasaki residence and gasped. The place was absolutely massive. Healthy green grass lay on the ground, they appeared to be recently cut. The tall, fancy-looking fences spread far and wide with the gates appearing to be made out of gold (they most likely were, you thought).
"You didn't mention he was rich!" Valt exclaimed, eyes wide as plates.
"I thought you knew the last name Komurasaki. . ." Daina trails, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face. "They quite literally manage and own lots of companies. It's obvious that they would've been rich off that. Plus," he points at you and Valt. "He's going to be your opponent if you two win your match against Hoji."
"I get a pass from being called an idiot this time!" You shouted, raising your hand almost immediately. A very serious face took over you.
"Wha—!? I'm an idiot?!" Valt gasps with his siblings quietly giggling. "Daina, how dare you! I thought we were friends!"
Daina snorts, hiding his laughter by placing his hand over his mouth.
Afterward, Daina leads you all to where he thinks Hoji might be. Upon being asked by a few maids what the group was doing, Daina was thankfully the one to represent the group due to his current friendship with Wakiya. Once that was taken care of, you and the rest of the group finally made it to the gym.
Walking inside, you started to hear two differing voices. One sounded to belong to Hoji, and the other, was completely unfamiliar to you but you were willing to assume it was Wakiya. Inching near the creaked opened doors, you all decided against going in to confront the two (for now).
The quick glance you gave this Wakiya guy confirmed that he even looked full of himself. He has blonde spiky hair, similar to Valt's but with a low ponytail, it seems. He has blue eyes, yet, his gaze didn't hold the same gentleness as Valt's, but instead, a harsh and scrutinizing robotic stare. His hand curled around a water bottle he took one long sip of before sparing Hoji a glance.
". . .I'll forfeit the match," you hear Hoji say. "And. . .I'll quit Beyblade."
You grunt softly after feeling Valt and his siblings rush by you and Daina as they bolt toward the sulking figure. As Valt began making his case against Hoji forfeiting the match and with Wakiya explaining his side of the story, there was still one more question in your mind.
"Humans are strange, aren't they?" You whispered, watching as Hoji couldn't reply to Valt after he asks to clarify himself.
"Hm?" Daina hums, looking up at you questionably. "What do you mean?"
"It's just," you continue, "Why hide away feelings when you can just outright say them? I've noticed them. . .take things the wrong way without asking the other first about it." You look away from the scene and leaned your back against the wall. "All that does is create more conflict, misunderstandings, and feelings getting hurt." You crossed your arms. "It's strange, that's all."
Daina stares for a bit before sighing, "Right. I sort of forget you don't understand human feelings as much." He shrugs, "I suppose I got numb to it after seeing you often."
"Heyyy," you whine, "that's a little mean, dontcha think? I'm trying my best."
"I do think you have a point though," Daina continues, choosing to ignore your reply. "However, human feelings are fragile. We get hurt easily if we take things wrong—and some of us decide to let it hurt for a while before moving on. Others just ignore it." He uncrossed his arms and stuffs his hands in his pockets. "I agree with you when you say we should be more upfront with each other. Lots of stuff can be at risk if there's interpretation."
You hum. "That's dumb. I don't understand it."
Daina chuckles, "But I suppose that's the beauty of people." He turns back to you, "Don't worry, though. You'll understand the more you spend time with someone like Valt."
". . .What about you?" You asked, a gross feeling growing within your chest. "Would you ever act like that? Doing stuff based on emotion instead of logic?"
Daina pauses briefly, slightly taken aback by your comment before slowly turning his lips into a smile.
"Well, I am human."
The feeling gets stronger.
— — —
DAINAAAAA I MISS U PLS COME BACKKKK
i genuinely miss daina idc if he hasn't appeared since s2 PLS BRING HIM BACK IM THROWING UPPPPP
the newest season of beyburst brought back kensuke and I'm so glad cause he came back with drip but WHERES DAINA???? DID THEY LEAVE HIM IN FRANCE?!?!?!?
btw so much stuff happens in this episode so i rlly did my best into trying to make it consistent without jumping all over the place lmao
didn't expect it to be somewhat of a daina chapter