Kotone had her eyebrows scrunched in concentration as she wrote something or other down on her — surprise — light pink diary. Her fiery red hair was tied into a braid and thrown over her shoulder; yet, it managed to reach her lap. The brunette watching her couldn't help but think of how Kotone could handle such long hair. Madoka kept her hair short for that particular reason, it was just impossible to brush through it when you had a dozen beys to fix.
That was the reason why Hikaru had forced her to take a break — apparently, she worked too hard. Hikaru didn't have to try a lot to convince her though. The World Championships were tiring to say the least, which was why Madoka couldn't help but sigh at the younger girl.
"Kotone, what are you doing?"
"Working on a training plan," Kotone said, not even looking up from her work. Her pen finally paused for a second, and she looked up to ask, "Hey, could you show me everyone's stats? That'll make this much easier."
"You know, I'm pretty sure that when Hikaru told us to take a break for a day, she meant take a break for a day."
Kotone rolled her eyes. "Look, we'll be in Japan for another week. We have to use this time to train."
Madoka raised an eyebrow. She couldn't help the smile that tugged on her lips. "Wow, Excalibur made that much of an expression on you, huh?"
Kotone looked at her, and Madoka was taken aback by the intensity in those ice blue eyes. Kotone looked like she was going to agree, but then she paused and huffed. "No."
That was what bothered Madoka about Kotone. She was thirteen, and yet, she thought like an adult. It was easy enough to see in her reactions to things. And then there was that childishness. It was genuine sometimes, like when she gushed about Hello Kitty or insisted on her every possession having something pink in it or wasted a lot of money on sweets of all things, but mostly, it seemed like Kotone was trying to trap herself in a bubble of forced callowness.
Despite all her attempts though, there was an air of experience around her. Her eyes lacked the innocence of a regular child, and even when she pulled some prank or tried to get a rise out of someone for no reason or picked a fight put of nowhere, there was a glint in her eyes — one of distaste. Well, perhaps not distaste, but it was just like... Like her heart wasn't in it or something.
But what caused it? Her job as an agent? Perhaps. But why was Kotone an agent in the first place? Or even working at all? Madoka had never seen her parents, and neither of the cousins had ever mentioned them. Sometimes, Madoka wanted to ask, but then she would stop herself. Gingka's story had taught her that not everything was as it seemed, and she didn't want to accidentally open an unhealed wound.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer."
Madoka jumped with a yelp and blinked. Kotone was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Something on my face, Brainiac?"
"I—It's nothing," Madoka replied, still shaken.
Kotone gave her a look, this time one Madoka had never seen on her. It was like Kotone was seeing through her, trying to analyze her and find the best possible way to break her down. That definitely came from her job.
Madoka was just about to look away when Kotone shrugged. "Whatever."
For someone who had nearly had a panic attack just a couple of days ago, Kotone was doing rather well. Sure, Madoka hadn't expected her to be jumpy or even nervous, but Kotone had bounced back like nothing had even happened. Madoka figured she had had enough practice with it, what with helping Tsubasa spy on the Dark Nebula and Ryuuga going on a rampage.
Madoka wondered what it was like, seeing someone who was once your friend lose it like that. With the added trauma of Doji attacking Koma Village and Ryo's "death" — whether Kotone admitted to being bothered by it or not was a different sto—
The door opened, and the bell jingled. Madoka jumped and turned around as fast as she could, and sighed in relief when Hikaru walked in. The blue haired girl raised an eyebrow at Madoka and then turned to Kotone. Hikaru sighed and grabbed the notebook, holding it out of Kotone's reach.
"What the hell, Hikaru?" Kotone said, trying to reach for her diary which Hikaru just held away even further.
"Kotone, I swear, if you don't take a break, I will throw this in the river," was Hikaru's response.
Kotone glared at her and then crossed her arms and looked away, huffing. "Fine."
o-o-o-o
The next day, Kotone paced in front of the four Bladers in the B-Pit, no unlike Tsubasa's instructor in the training academy. The other three looked bemused as the Kotone talked — all unnecessary stuff, but Kotone really liked to talk — her ponytail swishing behind her.
"At first, I was going to add new tactics, but then I figured that we should get the hang of what we can do."
Yuu arched an eyebrow. "We?"
Kotone sighed. "Yeah, I'm training too. I mean, I'm not on the team or anything, but why waste an opportunity? Anyways, I figured that since we worked on basically everything in the boot camp—"
Masamune snorted. "It was just us who did the work."
Kotone rolled her eyes. "Whatever. The point is, we'll just work on our strengths for now."
Tsubasa crossed his arms. He could see where Kotone was going, but wouldn't it make more sense to work on their weaknesses? "Or we could sharpen our weak points so our enemies can't take advantage of that."
Kotone shot him a glare, one he'd long since become used to. It was the same one she gave him whenever they didn't agree on something during their only team mission — which happened more than Tsubasa would like to admit. It wasn't exactly practical to hate your partner's guts or for the feeling to be mutual.
"Or," Kotone said through gritted teeth, as she halted, "we could make sure they don't get that chance in the first place."
"That's reckless, Kotone," he said before he even realized he had said it. It had just become a habit by now — as it was becoming with Masamune too, apparently.
Her glare just deepened. Tsubasa mentally scoffed. Kotone wasn't nearly as scary as she seemed to be to the others. Sure, her temper was short, and she did stupid and violent things when she was ticked off, but her glare didn't hold a candle to some of the ones he'd seen, both in the training acadey and in field.
Before she could say something though, Gingka stepped between the two. "Guys, let's just get back to the training schedule."
Tsubasa sighed. "Fine." While it was impractical to ignore their weaknesses, he supposed working on their strengths would do for now.
"I though we were here to take a break," he heard Yuu mutter to himself.
"Perhaps, but Kotone has a point," Tsubasa replied. It was the one thing he could agree with his junior on right now. "You saw Team Excalibur. We can't get complacent. We've come too far to lose now."
Masamune pushed himself up from the chair and stretched. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's get started!"
o-o-o-o
Ten year old Masamune was in an inferno. All around him, flames danced like fireflies. His breath — ragged and too fast — was the only thing he could hear over their cackling. He tried to step forward, but the flames roared and he jumped back, only to meet the same situation behind him.
He was trapped, and he wasn't sure if he would survive the flames and smoke. The embers had him surrounded, as if they would pounce on him any second. It was the only thing separating him from the door, keeping him trapped in the strange, otherwise empty room.
"Well." Masamune jumped at the unfamiliar yet somehow recognizable voice. He looked around frantically, trying in vain to locate the source. "What will you do, Masamune? If you can't tame these flames, you will never be able to take control of the Dark Power."
A feeling of dread and foreboding washed over him. He could feel his breath pick the pace. He couldn't breathe even as he tried his best to inhale whatever meager amount of oxygen was left in the room.
"In the event that you fail, I will have no choice but to find a different pawn."
Masamune could feel himself freeze. The blood in his veins seemed to have turned into ice. Though he couldn't really see himself, he was sure that the only color left on his face was a reflected orange with which the flames had washed everything in the room.
In his mind, only one word echoed.
Reiko.
o-o-o-o
Masamune woke up with a yelp. He was panting, and it took him a moment to realize that he could breathe and that he wasn't going to suffocate to death. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he looked to the other bed in the room. Gingka mumbled something in his sleep and fell silent after that.
Deciding he wouldn't be able to get any sleep, Masamune decided to get up.
Gingka, his dad and Kotone had all insisted that he stay in their house instead of a hotel for the rest of the week. It was shocking to think that the apartment was under Kotone's name, but then again, Ryo had been "dead" for who knew how long and Gingka apparently used to travel around the entire country without sticking around any place for too long. Besides, the WBBA apparently gave it's employees a house of their choice free of charge.
Masamune wondered what t was like to have a sibling. Even though Gingka and Kotone were cousins, they had been raised as siblings — and what was the deal with that? Where the heck were Kotone's parents? — which probably contributed to how close they were.
Whenever Masamune thought of siblings, he had always felt a peculiar melancholy and tried, even back in America before this whole mess with Do— Don't think about that! — before this whole mess had begun. Why, he didn't know. He had never had a sibling befo—
Or had he? What was the name in his dream? Reiko. Was that person really a sibling? But who was that? He'd never known a person with that name before, not as far as he remembered.
And that was the problem, wasn't it? He didn't know the first ten years of his life. Granted, not many people remembered that time period, but it was almost like someone needs had taken away those memories. He had never seen his family, not even in photos. It had never bothered him before — the woman he called his aunt was good enough for him — but now that he thought about it, maybe that had something to do with—
Something in front of him clattered, and Masamune jumped. He blinked dumbly at the box of tea bag. What was he doing in the kitchen? And why the heck was there a kettle in his hand?
...Shit, he was turning into Toby!
Making tea was something Toby always did when someone was upset. Masamune had never understood it, but Toby always said that tea helped calm everyone down.
Masamune kind of missed his friends in America. Sure, he'd met some great people in his time away, and his teammates were actually not that bad when Tsubasa wasn't being overly critical, or Gingka wasn't trying to be a freaking saint, or Madoka wasn't being bossy, or Yuu wasn't being loud, or Kotone wasn't getting on his nerves — what was the deal with that? Kotone's personality was always doing one-eighties like—
"What are you doing?"
Masamune jumped and turned around, nearly dropping the kettle. Speak of the devil. Kotone stood in front of him, arms akimbo, in all her pink and Hello Kitty-fied glory.
"Making tea?" Mentally, Masamune smacked himself for that response. He would never know what possessed him to say that.
Kotone arched an eyebrow. "Who makes tea at a time like this? It's around—" She glanced at the clock. "—three in the morning."
Masamune set the kettle on the stove. "Whatever, just—just go to sleep or something."
"No."
Masamune glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Kotone had her arms crossed into a stubborn posture. For once, she actually looked like a thirteen year old.
He sighed. "Don't you love sleep more than life? Just leave me alone."
Kotone marched forward, a mixture of stubbornness and annoyance in her eyes. For a second, Masamune had a feeling he would get hit — Kotone was always irrational when she was sleepy, but then again, being awake never exactly made her think if she didn't want to — but Kotone just walked past him and dumped some more water into the kettle.
"Make some tea for me too," she said. Her face melted into a sheepish smile. "I'd help, but..."
"No problem," Masamune said hurriedly. "I got this." Knowing Kotone, she would probably find a way to burn the water.
The redhead sighed and leaned against the counter. "Man, I suck at cooking. At least, with all these city appliances."
Masamune raised an eyebrow at that.
The question must have been obvious on his face, because she elaborated, "It's just... I can't really use the stoves and kettles and stuff." Kotone averted his eyes, clearly embarrassed. "It's easier without all those buttons and knobs."
"Huh," was all Masamune could bring himself to say as he set two cups on the counter.
"Guess I just never learned. When I first came to the city, I just ate fruits and vegetables instead of actually cooking something. It... kind of reminded me of home. After that, I started ordering out, and then Madoka was always there to do the cooking, and then Uncle came back... so, I never really had a reason to learn, I guess."
Masamune shrugged. He honestly hadn't ever tried to actually cook something — tea aside, but even then it was mostly watching Toby make it so much. "Must have been hard, moving away so suddenly. Why'd you do it?"
As he added some milk to the cups containing water and tea bags, Masamune saw Kotone tense from the corner of his eye. He handed her a cup, which she took without a word, glaring at it as if it had offended her. Masamune went to the living room, and he could hear Kotone follow.
They sat in complete silence for a while, until she finally said, "It's a long story. Doji—" Masamune tried not to flinch. "— attacked the village, and Ryuuga..." Her voice cracked, and she fell silent.
"Ryuuga, as in Battle Bladers Ryuuga?"
Kotone gave him a look. "Do you know any other Ryuuga?" But her voice sounded normal now. She sighed. "You still haven't told me anything. About why you were making tea."
Masamune couldn't bring himself to tell her it was nothing, not after their previous conversation. So, he told her about the nightmare. It felt oddly comforting, talking to her about his nightmare. Kotone didn't interrupt and she didn't ask questions. She just listened and let him get it off his chest.
"And you don't know who this Reiko is?"
Masamune shook his head.
"The constant headache thing is probably a memory issue. Honestly, it could be anything from amnesia to suppressed memories. But what made them come out so suddenly?"
Masamune winced. He wondered if Kotone could read people like Tsubasa could. He hadn't told her about Doji or the Dark Power, and—
Wait! Tsubasa!
"What about him?" Kotone was looking at him, confusion filling her ice blue eyes.
Masamune jumped. He'd said it out loud?! For a moment, his mind went blank. Then, after what he hoped didn't seem like a suspicious silence, he said, "Any idea what's going on with him? I mean, his breakdown in the first round battle obviously wasn't normal."
Kotone kept her stare on him for a moment, and Masamune fidgeted. He looked suspicious, didn't he? It was almost like she was trying to tear him down. But then, Kotone sighed. "Yeah, Gingka and I are already on it. You know about the Dark Power, right?"
Masamune nodded. "Kind of. I thought it was just a thing with L-Drago."
Kotone sighed. "Yeah, I don't get it either. But it matches perfectly. The WBBA is looking into it, so until they find something, we're in the dark."
"Oh." They fell into silence again. "What about you?"
Kotone raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"
"Are you okay? I mean, after what happened with Excalibur..."
What had happened, anyways? Kotone had freaked out about Destroyer being a left rotating bey— Oh. Reverse rotation. Like L-Drago.
Kotone sighed. She had a weird look on her face, like she was feeling too many things at once. "Yeah, I... I just don't like reverse rotating beys."
"Because of L-Drago?" Masamune blurted out.
Kotone's face darkened, and her grip on her cup tightened. She got up without a word. "We should get some sleep; we've got a lot of training to do tomorrow."
o-o-o-o
Ever since Madoka had spelled out the problem in his training, Yuu was determined to get better. Not just better, but the best. He refused to lag behind anymore. He had gotten overconfident before, and he had paid the price.
That was the reason why he dragged out Madoka after training, all the way to the not being used stadium. As the national team, Gan Gan Galaxy had been granted access to it.
"So, what do you have in mind for Libra's new special move anyways?" Madoka asked as she turned her laptop on.
Yuu shrugged, watching Libra spin in the center of the dish. "I tried to change the frequency from offensive to defensive, and instead of having the vibrations straight, I had Libra bend them slightly so they'd cover more ground and act more like a barrier."
"I'm ready to analyze it," Madoka said.
Yuu grinned. "Alright, here we go! Libra!" He made a mental note to think of a name for it.
A glowing green dome surrounded Libra, covering a huge part of the stadium. Libra blended into the bright green light, hidden from sight as the dome became brighter and brighter. But then, the green glow turned white and it shattered into several tiny fragments. Libra remained in the center, wobbling slightly.
"Ugh! Not again!"
As Libra returned to his hand, Madoka was typing in her computer. Yuu went over to her and glanced at the screen, taking note of the frequency pattern.
"There doesn't seem to be any technical issue with it," Madoka finally said. "Your move is a combination of Inferno Blast and Sonic Shield, right?" Yuu nodded. "Libra is a stamina type. The power you're using is way beyond any stamina type bey, or even some basic attack types."
Yuu frowned. "So, it's a no go?"
Madoka smiled placatingly. "Apparently. But I'm sure you'll figure out something else."
"Special moves, huh?"
Yuu turned around to find Kotone staring at the stadium contemplatively. "What are you thinking?" he asked.
Kotone didn't reply for a while. Yuu huffed and was about to repeat his question when she suddenly grinned. "I've got an idea."
o-o-o-o
Meanwhile, Tsubasa was working on Eagle's attack power. Agility was fine and all, but Eagle's main weakness was that it lacked the power to make a sufficient attack without relying on it's special move. That was why Eagle hadn't been able to put so much as a dent on Lacerta.
Tsubasa could still feel his ears ringing from that unearthly voice, and he could still see that person who had looked just like him but not quite. The demonic figure made him feel uneasy like nothing had ever before. It was almost... inhuman.
But what was it?
"Hey."
Tsubasa tensed. He twisted around and threw a punch. His eyes darted around quickly. There was just one person, unarmed, and—
"Gingka?" Tsubasa felt like hitting himself.
Fortunately, the redhead had dodged in time, and Tsubasa's fist hovered next to his head. Tsubasa retracted it, feeling a little self-conscious from the outburst.
Gingka let out a surprised chuckle. "Talk about fast reflexes, huh?"
"Sorry."
"It's cool." Gingka's expression morphed into a serious one. "But... Are you okay?" Tsubasa raised an eyebrow, and Gingka hurried to explain. "It's just that... In your battle with Chi Yun, what happened, exactly?"
It was only through practice that Tsubasa was able to keep a calm demeanor. It was his own problem. There was no need to involve anyone else. "It's nothing you need to worry about."
Gingka crossed his arms, looking very much like Kotone when she was being stubborn. "Tsubasa, it clearly wasn't nothing. If something's wrong, it does concern the entire team because—"
"Just drop it, okay?!"
Gingka reared back, eye widening. "Uh..."
Tsubasa wasn't sure what came over him all of a sudden. There was that bone-chilling feeling again, like his nerves had just been doused with ice cold water. Tsubasa shook his head. "Sorry. I just... Don't want to talk about it."
Gingka watched him for a moment, as though looking for any signs of an explosion. "Sure..."
o-o-o-o
Days passed in a blur of events, and before they knew it, it was time for Gan Gan Galaxy to leave again. The B-Pit was like a circus. Tsubasa simply watched Madoka and Yuu scramble around as they packed their belongings at the very least moment. Gingka tried to be helpful, and complied whenever Madoka told him to fetch something.
Next to Tsubasa, Masamune said, "Suddenly, I'm kind of glad Kotone threatened me into packing early."
Tsubasa gave him a side-glance.
Masamune folded his hands behind his head. "I faced last minute packing when I left America. Never again."
From the other side of the room, Kotone snickered at the three, and Madoka shouted at her to help. The young agent caught Tsubasa's eyes and sent a few hand signs his way — thankfully no one else saw it. Tsubasa was able to decipher them with ease.
A video of the American team's first round? He'd have to see it later.
o-o-o-o
Tsubasa had hit the nail on the head when he figured that Kotone would lean over his seat to watch his reaction. Subtlety really wasn't her thing. It was why he had decided to wait until the rest were asleep to watch the video she had sent. There was no need to involve them, especially not Masamune.
Even though one could say a lot of negative things about him, he was clearly loyal to a fault. He wouldn't take kindly to them being suspicious of his old friends.
Still, the fact was that Star Breaker's stats — especially Zeo's if the WBBA records were anything to go by — had improved by miles. The graph was too steep for it to be a result of just training. Tsubasa didn't want to suspect Masamune's friend, but he also didn't want to take a chance. The Battle Bladers hadn't been that long ago.
"Well," Tsubasa said as he watched Zeo take out his opponent with relative ease, "something's up."
Kotone snorted in his ear. "No kidding, Sherlock," she said before she straightened in the seat next to him.
Tsubasa made a mental note to keep an eye of Hades Inc.