What I Wouldn't Give

Strange Things

"I'm gonna win!"

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am!"

Valt and Aiga race through the street, down the sidewalk, toward the WBBA building. Pedestrians dive out of their way and slam against walls trying to avoid the chaos running past them. Two young boys, screaming their heads off, sprinting as fast as they can with little to no regard for their safety or anyone else's definitely is a call for alarm.

At last they reach the doors to the building and sprint inside, Aiga nearly running someone right over. He slams into the person's chest, falling backwards right onto his butt. The loud thud he heard in front of him leads him to believe that he knocked the other person over, too.

"HEY, KID! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"

"Who're you calling a kid!?" Aiga demands, jumping to his feet again. It's only then that he sees the full-grown man on the ground beside an older teenager, who is looking at Aiga like he's a smudge on the bottom of his shoe. "Hey, I saw you! You were at the... the... the orientation thing!"

The guy refuses to let his glare fade. "It's not an orientation. It's a basic rule briefing." He glances sideways at the man on the ground. "Are you alright, Alexander?"

"I'm fine. No need to worry." Alexander stands up, and the moment he meets Aiga's eyes, the young boy recognizes him.

"Hey! I saw you there, too!"

Valt walks over. "Aiga, this is Alexander G... Gil... Gil... Uh..." Valt scratches his head. "Uh... Gil... Gilded? No... Gluten? No, no, no... uh... uh...."

Instead of just telling him, Alexander watches Valt amusedly for a minute before he quietly says, "Gilten?"

"GILTEN!" Valt screeches like he remembered it himself. "This is Alexander Gilten. He used to be the owner of the New York team, before Shu took it over."

"Yes, and now I'm a supervisor for the WBBA." Alexander smiles down at Aiga. "Which means I'll be the one keeping track of the tournament scores and disqualifying Bladers that I catch misbehaving, so you better be careful around me."

"Is that a threat, old man!?"

"Old man?" Alexander chuckles. "I'm 29, not exactly what most would consider 'old'."

"YOU'RE ALMOST THIRTY! THAT'S OLD!"

"It really isn't."

During this whole conversation, Norman is standing there, silently glaring at the annoying little boy. Valt catches him, and for a brief moment they lock eyes. Valt expects some kind of disgusted or annoyed expression, but instead, Norman's gaze slightly softens, and he gives Valt the faintest hint of a nod. Valt quickly returns it, and Norman resumes glaring at Aiga.

For a second, Valt wonders why Norman did that. Then, all of the events from the previous year's tournament return to him in a flash of images and screams. Norman should have been dead, but apparently, according to Wakiya, someone had Bey revived him...

Wakiya. Valt barely remembers him, thanks to Wakiya deciding that Blading was a bit too much for him. He's been spending a lot more time at his family's country estate, and less time hanging out with his former Bey Club. It's an amicable split: they still talk and hang out at school, but that's the extent of their interactions.

"Could you disqualify him for being obnoxious?" Norman asks.

"I don't think so," Alexander glances sideways at his disciple. "Unfortunately." His focus returns to Aiga and Valt, though this time, his eyes are more so on Valt than the other boy. "I have a question for you. Have you seen Shu Kurenai around? I wish to speak with him."