The Thought Process of Shu Kurenai

My First Battle

It turns out I have mild OCD. Fortunately it's manageable, but I'm starting to wonder why I never got tested earlier.

Anyway, I am getting off topic. I want to talk about my first Beyblade battle. Valt had received Valtryek for Christmas and all he could talk about was Beyblade.

It was always Valtryek this and Beyblade that. He even told me to get a Beyblade myself as he said it would be more fun battling together.

At first, I wasn't interested, but Valt wore me down. He begged, cried, and even tempted me with his mother's bread. I must admit I did look at the bread for a long time (I really loved the bread). In the end, I gave in so Valt would stop pestering me.

It was actually one of the best decisions I have ever made. Out of all the things I regret, picking up Beyblade isn't one of them. So Valt, thanks for making me start blading.

I didn't have spare money for little luxuries. My parents deposited money into our shared account, but I only took out a certain amount for bills, groceries and to occasionally buy takeout when I didn't feel like cooking. If I needed some more money to buy a new frying pan or school supplies, I had to inform my parents. I didn't have a phone at the time (I was ten) so I used the house phone to call my parents and tell them. Nine times out of ten they didn't pick up.

I didn't dare take out money just to buy a Beyblade because I didn't think my parents would like it. Of course, when I got older I simply made my own Beyblades, but I didn't have the skill or materials to do so back then.

I tried getting a part-time job at restaurants, but the owners laughed at me when I said I could cook. I even offered to be a waiter, but they said I was too young and I should be focusing on school and having fun.

So I decided to try to be a babysitter instead. It worked. I was not allowed to look after infants and toddlers because of my young age, but I was allowed to look after 5 to 7 year olds. Chiharu even let me look after the twins for an afternoon, but I felt guilty about letting her pay me and gave her back the money a few months later.

Anyway, I was able to save up enough money to buy a Beyblade, which I called Storm Spryzen. I remember being ecstatic about telling Valt.

I called him one Saturday morning and telling him about my new Beyblade. We met up at the Beyblade park and started battling.

I soon found out it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. You had to launch properly or else your Beyblade would go haywire. I noticed my hands kept shaking which caused me to launch badly. Valt kept beating me every time.

Valt took a short break for lunch, but I was focused on trying to launch and Valt had to shove bread in my mouth because I didn't think of eating. Then we had to rest for an hour after that before going back to Beyblading.

Later, my launching still sucked, but I found out I was starting to enjoy the game and wanted to do it again. I understood why Valt seemed to enjoy Beyblade so much. We battled late into the evening. We only stopped because it started to rain.

It wasn't very heavy, but Valt and I couldn't get home and Valt didn't have a phone either, so we decided to wait it out. But then the thunder started.

I totally freaked out and Valt had to calm me down, saying it will be alright. I became so scared that I suddenly asked Valt if I could stay at his place, just like I had done years earlier back in kindergarten.

I just can't help being scared. Even now I still freak out at thunder. Valt and I had a little sleepover and we talked about Beyblade late into the night.