Ryuga x King

The Start of the Tournament

Ryuga's POV

Ryuga fluffed out his white jacket as he and Kenta walked side by side through the city. King followed several paces behind them. He was eating an apple as he walked at the pace of a turtle. Ryuga didn't bother hurrying him on. He'd tried that multiple times now, it wasn't worth it. As they approached the stadium, Ryuga spotted several familiar figures standing outside.

"King!" Masamune charged out of the fray.

"Hi, King!" Toby and Zeo called, trailing after him.

Ryuga glanced at King. He had perked up at the sight of his friends, though he still seemed a little slow.

"Hey guys," King greeted with a wave. "You excited?"

"Yeah!" Masamune nodded vigorously. "I can't wait to crush you in the finals!"

"I think you're a little confused as to who will be doing the crushing," King replied, smirking competitively.

"Kenta!" Gingka's voice called from the crowd.

"Hey, Gingka!" Kenta rushed over to him, smiling excitedly. "There you are!"

"Ready to win this tournament?" Gingka asked, holding out his hand for a high five.

"I hope we do!" Kenta answered, high fiving him.

Ryuga looked around the crowd.

Near Kenta and Gingka, Ryuga spotted Tsubasa, Yu, and Reiji clustered together in a sea of mostly strangers. Kyoya stood further away from the crowd, staring off into the distance. Only Benkei stood at his side.

"Looks like everyone's here..." King mused aloud, making Ryuga look back at him. "So many strong opponents..." He smiled. "This is gonna be awesome!"

"Yes!" Toby smiled and nodded. He and Zeo held their fists out to King. "Meet you in the finals?"

King accepted the fist bump. "I hope so!" he exclaimed.

"Hey!" Masamune cut in, his eyes narrowed. "You two won't be battling King in the finals because I will!"

"Right..." A look of annoyance graced Zeo's features. "You and your... teammate."

"Where is that guy anyways?" Toby asked, looking around.

"I don't know," Masamune replied with a shrug.

"Come to think of it..." King looked around the crowd again. "I don't see either of his two buddies either. They must be running late."

"His two buddies?" Toby tilted his head to the side.

"Tobio and Ryutaro. I met them yesterday. They must be running late."

Toby shrugged. "Probably."

In front of them, the doors of the stadium were suddenly opened. Above it, the display screen turned on.

"Welcome all bladers to the Metal Bey City tag team tournament!" Blader DJ was announcing as the bladers made their way into the stadium. "We've got twelve teams here ready to battle, with some having travelled here from overseas. The first of these being Chao Xin and Chi-Yun, participants in the World Tournament. They'll be the first team to battle and their opponent will be... The Gingka Kenta team! Two of the legendary bladers who helped defeat Nemesis!"

Gingka turned to his teammate with a smile. "Looks like we've got the first battle, Kenta!"

Kenta smiled as well. "Let's go kick some bey!"

The two of them rushed toward the bey stadium, across from their opponents: a purple-haired boy who could've very well been shorter than Kenta and a brunet boy who looked like an attention hog. Ryuga didn't have a reason for thinking that, it was just a feeling.