Beyblade Burst Weirdness

Handing Out Tragic Backstories

If you've already read the Sexualities and Gender Identity series, you know that I love to give characters unnecessary angst based on their appearance and gimmicks given by the writers. This is me taking it a step further to really make these characters come to life and make them more relatable to their audience. Now, I give you backstories nobody asked for.

Shu Kurani

Shu lived with his parents in an expensive condo overlooking a city that never slept. His parents were white-collar workers for a big name company, making well over $100,000 a year. Due to their busy lifestyle, their son was always put into the hands of babysitters and nannies. Shu would often experiment in the kitchen after his caregivers left, cooking different types of pastas and soups, hoping one day to share it with his parents.

On his tenth birthday, Shu didn't ask for new gaming systems, toys, or a new launcher for the new hobby he was getting into. All he asked from his parents was for them to have a nice dinner all together in their lovely home. Mr and Mrs Kurani promised to grant their only son's request, despite the due date of their company's latest project coming up.

Since they still had to be at work until five in the evening, Shu decided to begin cooking ahead of time that way, they could eat together once his parents arrived home. Five-thirty, six, six-thirty, seven, seven-thirty, no sound of the keys jingling in the lock. The food had gone cold. Shu knew his parents weren't in the least bit reliable, but Shu had really hoped they would pull through this time. He sprayed himself out of the couch, tears wetting the fabric underneath him. At nine o'clock, his phone lights up and rings, displaying an unknown number, but his gut told him to answer it anyway.

"Hello. This is Mia from General Hospital, and I'm calling about an accident involving Shun and Teru Kurani. Is this their son, Shu Kurani?"

The woman on the phone sent an officer to his house to escort Shu to the hospital. He ran through the revolving doors, nearly pushing over a kid as he did so. Nurses attempted to comfort him while they delivered the news that his parents had been killed in a car accident. He couldn't believe it. He had forced his parents to leave work early, which resulted in them being T-boned by a truck. It was all his fault.

Years later, Shu is resting comfortably on a private plane, which he had inherited from his parents while traveling to visit Fubuki, who had requested Shu come watch his upcoming match in person. His crimson eyes followed the passing clouds as he toned with one of the corners of a manilla folder in his lap labeled: Kurani. He had obtained a copy of his parent's files regarding the accident from the hospital through connections. Now that he had matured and declared himself mentally and emotionally stable enough to finally read about the night he lost his parents, he thought the loneliness of the sky was the best place to get some answers.

When he first flipped open the folder, the first things to catch his eye were two IDs. The little pictures showing familiar foreign faces seemed so surreal. He had known them, but did he really? They were never around, always leaving before Shu's eyes opened in the morning and coming home hours after the sun went down. Could they have even been called parents?

He set the IDs to the side, deciding to pocket them later. He started reading through the records. They died at age twenty-seven and twenty-six, meaning they had Shu young; he didn't need to remember that. Their crash site was two blocks down from where they worked, their car pushed into the turning lane. The truck must have been speeding for it to have pushed the car that far. As Shu flipped farther into the case report, his nail got caught on a fold in the back. Huh. There were pictures. Of the crash scene.

Breathe.

He pulled out one at a time, thumb scraping the top. The first one was a close-up of the empty passenger seat, crushed in, and lit up from the camera flash. The dashboard was painted red with broken glass on every surface. The next one was of the front of the car, the license plate being an unsettling reminder that this was indeed his parents' car. He flipped to the last picture, which was of the car from a distance, getting the full scene. Shu took in the surrounding area, the street, the bushes, and the buildings.

From where the camera had taken the picture, the car was facing right on the street if the recognizable buildings were anything to go by. The car hadn't been flipped or turned, only pushed and crushed in, Shu knew this. If his parents had been driving home when they were struck, they would have been facing the opposite direction on the opposing street. Instead, the car was headed in the direction of their work. Like they had turned back. As if they...

Weren't planning on going home.

They had planned to go home to be with their son on his birthday and actually be decent parents but changed their mind, choosing to pick their career over Shu, like every other day. How naive of him. Stupid child, thinking mommy and daddy would actually show up. What a little, pathetic-

"SHUUU!!" Valt yelled for the fifth time.

Shu took in his surroundings again. Right, he was on a plane traveling to meet Fubuki. Valt held up his phone with a small grin. The albino sighs, bringing himself back to reality. "What is it, Valt?" The other leans against Shu's chair. "My phone's dead, and I was gonna ask if I could borrow your phone so I could make a call, but are you alright, buddy? You seemed out of it."

Shu turns to look over at his childhood friend as he lets out another sigh, digging through his coat pocket and handing over his phone. "I got my hands on my parents' accident file. Turns out the full story is a lot more upsetting than I originally thought. It's a lot to take in right now." Valt wordlessly listened as he typed in Shu's password, nodding along.

"Wanna talk?" The latter shakes his head. "Maybe later, but thanks." Shu smiles. Valt types away on his companion's phone while Shu folds up the documents and places them neatly into his suitcase. Turns out this wasn't the ideal time for Shu to read his parents' files. All he could do now is focus on supporting Fubuki.

(Definitely not my best writing, but it wasn't my intention to write a full detailed story. Kind of an outline or frame, I guess. Let me know if you got questions.)