Ryuga's Return

Chapter 3

Ryuga's POV

*Why am I doing this?* Ryuga wondered as he followed Kenta down the sidewalk. Kenta had somehow managed to talk Ryuga into going to meet his parents, mostly because Ryuga couldn't think of an excuse not to. He didn't want to but Kenta clearly wanted him to, for whatever reason. Ryuga couldn't stop his hands from shaking. The fiercest Beyblade battles and harshest environments had no effect on him yet the idea of talking to people, especially people he didn't know, made his stomach knot. It just wasn't something he was very used to.

Ryuga never really had anyone to talk to regularly until Kenta came along and Kenta was almost always the one to initiate the conversation. Meanwhile, Ryuga was content with silence and didn't get why Kenta talked so much. It was necessary sometimes, sure. However, other times Kenta would just talk at him for no reason about such random things. Ryuga always wondered why he did that. He had seemingly gotten his answer earlier that day, when Kenta mentioned wanting to "socialize" with his friends. Apparently, that was something friends did and Kenta was his friend now.

"Here we are!" Kenta's voice shook Ryuga from his thoughts.

He looked up. Kenta was pointing at a fairly nice looking house with a flat roof and pots of plants decorating the front porch. Ryuga froze. Kenta continued on, then stopped and looked back at him.

"Ryuga?" He gazed at him expectantly.

Ryuga took a deep breath. With some reluctance, he stepped up to stand beside Kenta. He gazed at the ground.

"Are you okay?" Kenta asked, looking up at Ryuga with concern in his eyes.

Ryuga met his gaze coldly. "I'm fine. What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Kenta sighed, looking away.

He stepped in front of the door and knocked. Moments later, a green-haired woman, who was noticeably shorter than Ryuga, answered the door.

"Hey, mom," Kenta greeted with a wave.

"Oh my goodness!" the woman exclaimed, her eyes wide as she stared at Kenta and Ryuga. "What happened to you two?!"

"Long battle," Kenta answered, shrugging.

"Against each other?!"

"Well..." Kenta looked up at Ryuga. "We battled too... before Nemesis."

"It didn't last long," Ryuga replied with a smirk.

"Hey!" Kenta glared up at Ryuga, pouting like a child.

"So this is Ryuga then?"

Ryuga stiffened when Kenta's mother said his name.

Kenta nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, nice to meet you," his mother replied, nodding to Ryuga. "How do you know Kenta?"

"We travelled together," Ryuga answered swiftly.

"Just the two of you?" The woman looked back at Kenta, raising an eyebrow.

"I er, it's a long story..." Kenta rubbed the back of his neck. "But-but I wasn't alone for long! Ryuga kept us both safe."

Kenta grabbed Ryuga's arm, gazing up at him with an almost desperate look in his eyes. Ryuga looked back at Kenta's mom.

"Yes... I did," he answered, hoping that was what Kenta had wanted him to do.

"Well, thank you." Kenta's mother smiled. She took a step back, pulling the door open and ushering them inside. "Here, come in, both of you. You two must be starving."