Beyblade Burst Oneshots

Aiger has Nightmares

He let out a resounding roar, allowing the pulse to rush throughout his body, and sweat to trinkle down his cheek from the heat of the battle. The person in front of him was blurred, switching blindly between the caricatures of legendary bladers. Whoever it was didn't make a difference though. Whether it was Valt Aoi or Free De La Hoya or anyone else who has climbed up the ranks, it would all bring the same outcome.

A crash echoed into the floors void, its pieces vanishing as Roktavor smashed through yet another opponent.

"That's how it's done!!" he yelled out, pushing his fists into the air while cheers erupted around him. The brightness of the stadium was blinding, every single spotlight shining in his eyes, so all he could see were the miniscule lights and blobs of his adoring fans, and the colored confetti shooting from cannons.

The announcer yelled out into the mic, "AND THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS, OUR BRAND-NEW WORLD CHAMPION. RANJIRO KIYAMA HAD BEATEN ALL ODDS, AND SECURED HIMSELF THE BELT. LET'S MAKE SOME NOISE FOR THE BATTLE OF A LIFETIME."

His cheeks were sore from smiling so widely, holding the gold belt above his head. He could hear the fans go wild, thundering roars and screams that encircled him, but what he cared more were the distinct yells from a certain area of the arena.

Turning over came with no surprise. They were ecstatic. And the noise couldn't have made him happier, the Wild Bey Gang, his friends, the elation that radiated, they couldn't have been any happier. And then he looked up.

His big brother, Rantaro was sitting isolated in just a few rows higher, staring back with his own look.

The older boy had a kind of shine in his eyes, prideful and content. A moment passed, then two, then smile broke out on his face. He gave Ranjiro a thumbs up. He approved.

No other words could describe the state of joy, the thrill, the happiness he felt, other than putting his fist up into the air, and yelling, "WE DID IT!!!!!" one final time. The crowd roared back at him. He did it. He finally made it.

That was, until the floor beneath him began to shake.

"What the-," Ranjiro glanced around, startled with quake. Where the hell that was coming from? No one else in the crowd seemed to notice. They were still cheering.

Maybe it was nothing?

Of course, he was immediately proven wrong. Suddently the floor swept below. Tossed around, the room shook violently, trapped in a hard game of tug and war. He was thrown back, hitting against the hard flooring and now in a full-blown panic. What was going on? Seemingly, he was the only person reacting to the disaster. Before he could ask ask any more questions, the earthquake stopped. Still tense, he held his ground. The relief didn't last for long. He slowly turned. And a huge wave of water stretching hundreds of feet tall that towered over, said hello. And it's coming straight for him

"WHAT THE FUCK- AHHHH,"

Ranjiro screamed and scrambled to run, rushed to get away from the sprinting wall, but it was no use. His steps didn't go anywhere. All he could do was look up hopelessly at the fast-approaching tsunami and scream into the void.

"AHHHHHH-"

~~

Ranjiro jolted awake, and panicked when he still had the smothered feeling on his face.

He quickly scurried to the end of the tent, pushing off whatever was on top of him to gasp for air. Oh, right, he was in the tent. He looked down and, unsurprisingly, what had suffocated him was the thick layers of blankets that were tossed over his sleeping bag. And of course the suspect was none other than the red-haired blader who slept right next to him, his leg pushed forward enough to crush the stillness of the other.

Ranjiro sighed at the antics of his best friend, cursing himself for even bothering to sleep out here when he knew he could barely get a peaceful night.

However, just as he began to lay his head down once again, he heard a peculiar noise coming from right next to him. Sitting back up, he looked over at the shorter boy.

Aiger was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily with a twisted pained expression on his face. He seemed to be clutching the blankets that now laid on his sides, trying to cradle himself.

Ah, it's another nightmare, Ranjiro thought.

He already knew that Aiger had nightmares often, most likely a result of what happened with Phi and his first bey. He didn't like it, but he knew that there was nothing he could do. However, before he would just hear the loud comedic shouts coming from the tent, and look inside to tell him to shut the fuck up.

That he could, and had, woken up a neighborhood with his screeching.

But those were all different. This time was different. He had never seen him like this. It had never been this bad before.

He bit his cheek, wondering what the hell he should do.

On the one hand, he knew that Aiger would wake up tomorrow and probably never think anything of it. He would complain a little, but never give anything more. In hindsight, this was nothing.

But sitting there in the tent at the dead of the night, it dawned on him that perhaps there was something deeper going on, that the other's mental state was more serious than he thought. It wasn't pretty seeing his best friend in so much pain. If this began happening every night, or had been happening without him knowing...

Ranjiro sighed and went over to Aiger, gently shaking him awake.

"Yo, wake up bud."

Aiger twisted for a moment, his pained expression tensing before becoming relaxed again as the young boy came to. His eyes slowly opened with a dazed look.

"Cap'n?" he whispered. His voice was soft, breathy, and small, shaking a little as his eyes peered around the confines of their sleeping arrangement.

"It's fine, you're in your tent," Ranjiro said. He hesitated for a moment. "You were having a nightmare."

"..Oh."

He sat up a bit and for a while, the two boys stayed in silence. Ranjiro peered out of the corner of his eye to Aiger, who still seemed to be breathing heavy and unsteadily. Only now, his body was less tense, more relaxed, and the fear and hurt from before had settled itself dormant. He was stuck, he didn't know what to do or what to say, what would be appropriate for this situation, to help his friend.

He tried looking around for his phone, fishing it out of his bag to look at the time. 6:21. The sun had barely began rising. Huh, morning came early than he thought. Ranjiro took a final glance at Aiger, who was looking at the ground with an unreadable expression.

Then, he went back to his bag for where he had his pack of lollipops. As he unwrapped one to put in his mouth, he reached for another and got up.

"Here," he mumbled, voice still thick with sleep, but with an effort to make it as gentle as possible. Aiger looked up, dazed, to see a lollipop handed out towards him.

He stared at it for a bit, the cherry flavored sweet, as the silence still hung the air. Eventually though, he lifted his hand to it, grazing the numb fingers of the other, to grasp and hold it out in front of him. Ranjiro looked at the shorter boy and just smiled, closing his eyes before heading out of the tent.

Right as he was doing so though, a quiet murmur stirred from behind him.

"..Thanks, Cap'n."

Ranjiro stopped for a second. His hands were still on the flap of the entrance, letting a bit of wind to flow in and sway the loose strands of their messy uncombed hair. For moment, he glanced at the red and yellow sky. He smiled.

"Anytime."