A Beyblade Tale: Book 1

Chapter 3: Shu Kurenai

Okay, here's the first chapter for Shu. I know he's really popular but I honestly hate him. He's one of my least favourite characters, but I'll do my best here and please don't kill me!

Fable spent the morning of the next day unpacking her things and hanging out with Matt and Emma. They played a few board games and Fae showed off Guardian Phantom. Appearance wise, it was mostly grey, but one half was darker than the other. On the top layer were four scythe-like blades, mirrored by four more on the next. Beneath the cross the ones on the top formed was the light purple figure of a hunched over skeleton: bey bey’s spirit. So far, Fable had discovered two of its moves: the first was one she called Ghost Crash. When her bey hit the wall of the stadium in just the right way, the eight blades would be hit into alignment as the Phantom was thrown up into the air. Then, it would come down and strike her unsuspecting opponent from above.

The second move was Guard Launch. The scythes on the top layer were all weighted differently, but this was usually balanced out by the rest of the bey. By tilting her launcher and launching her bey with enough force, she could get Phantom to land with enough force at the perfect angle to make the scythes slide out about half a centimetre further. This put the bey off balance, but at the same time made it move really quickly with an unpredictable zig-zagging pattern. It gave her a lot of extra power, as well as the element of surprise. However, the one disadvantage was that she had to keep up frequent attacks or Phantom would run out of stamina really quickly.

Fable had also taken time to personalise her style of blading. When she battled, she became less friendly and open, instead quite cold and completely unreadable. She gave nothing away and separated herself from all emotional attachments except her bond with Guardian Phantom. She had lots of fun in every battle, but she allowed nothing to distract her from her bey and her opponent. Her most effective strategy was how she talked. She never got excited and yelled out her commands, or outwardly smiled when she got an idea. A whisper was the only notification her bey got, unheard by all others, and then it struck. It was a little creepy how quickly her personality could flick between two polar opposites, but that was just her thing and it really worked.

After lunch, Fable decided to go and meet Principal Shinoda. The task turned out to be easier said than done but she made it there eventually and only had to stop to ask directions once or twice. She arrived at the gates of Beigoma Academy about fifty minutes after leaving the apartment the trio was staying in. The walk should only have taken twenty minutes. Now all she had to do was figure out where in the school the principal’s office was. Not wanting to disturb any of the lessons going on, Fable quietly searched the building for a door labelled as the principal’s office, instead of one of the numerous classroom names.

At last she found the room she was searching for. She knocked and waited politely to be invited to enter. Standing in front of the principal’s desk a few moments later, she introduced herself.
“Good afternoon, Principal Shinoda. I’m Fable Row– erm, Fable Little,” she began, remembering to use Emma’s surname at the last second. She was Emma’s cousin, not Matt’s sister. She had to remember that around the staff of Beigoma Academy.
“Ah, yes! Someone working for a Mr Rowley called a couple of weeks ago to move you here for a couple of months. You’re here to watch the Beyblade tournaments with his son and his partner… she's your cousin, if I remember correctly?” Their conversation continued for maybe half an hour. During it Fable received her timetable, learned about the rules and expectations of the school, and sat through some other things which she may have possibly daydreamed her way through. At the end, Principal Shinoda gave her a tour of the school.

Fable saw all the classrooms, the roof, the hall, and a few other rooms before the tour concluded in what appeared to be a sports hall. Just as they entered the large room, a bey was thrown out of the stadium on the other side of the room. A blue-haired boy with far too much energy charged through the crowd trying to catch it. He was successful in his mission, but there wasn’t one thing left in the cupboard he had dived into that was still where it was supposed to be. It was a complete mess! Fable looked up at Principal Shinoda and immediately saw that he was far from impressed. Striding over to the two bladers from the battle, he told them to tidy it up immediately. The second blader – a blonde with a seemingly infinite supply of lollipops – protested because it wasn’t his fault. Nevertheless, he was ordered to help anyway. Fable felt bad for them so, once sent on her way by the principal, she went over and offered to help. When she got there, they were already bickering and making the mess bigger than it was before. She interrupted before it could have a chance to get even worse still.
“Hi there! My name’s Fable Rowley and I’ve just moved here for a few months. I was wondering if you’d like a hand tidying this up.”
“Sure that would be great!” the boy who had caused the mess replied. “I’m Valt Aoi and this is Rantaro Kiyama. Everyone calls him Honcho”
“A pleasure to meet you both!” Fable said. She was about to ask where they’d like her to start, but then Honcho spoke up before she could say anything.
“Yes, it’s nice to meet you too, Fable. Now, less talking, more tidying. You can start over there gathering up the hoops.”