Reincarnated in Beyblade Burst

Do I Like Him?

Kairi kept pestering me about having a crush on Shu for the rest of the weekend. How many times did I have to be clear that Shu and I are friends. I so do not have a crush on Shu.

Or do I? After all, Kairi wasn't the first person to ship me with Shu. But she's shipping Rose with Shu while my brother shipped me with Shu. So technically two different people were shipped with Shu.

How was I supposed to face Shu on Monday? I wasn't sure if I liked him or not.

It wasn't until I checked my timetable for Monday when I noticed that the first class would be English. Great, now I have to see Shu first thing in the morning?

If that wasn't bad enough, my new Mom is getting suspicious of me. I overheard her telling Mrs Ogawa about my changed behaviour. According to her, my appetite has decreased, I'm nowhere as moody as I used to be, and I have adjusted to my new environment too quickly. She said that I had tried to run away from my old house to avoid moving here.

However, there was no escaping Monday. I had to go to school. And sure enough, the first thing Kairi asked me is, 'So, are you going to admit that you like Shu?'

'For the last time, I don't have feelings for Shu.'

'If you're so certain, why don't you talk to Shu yourself?'

I rolled my eyes. 'I don't...'

'JOIN THE BEYCLUB!'

Valt's super loud voice rang in my ears. He's recruiting the Beyclub now?

'Valt, I'm not a blader,' said Kairi. 'Wouldn't it be better to ask people who are actually beybladers?'

'Oh,' said Valt. 'I didn't think. I have been trying to recruit members all day, but everyone said that they were too busy.'

'Have you asked Rantaro yet?' I asked. I knew that Valt would ask Rantaro eventually, so I might just as well speed up the process.

Valt's face lit up immediately. 'Good idea. I'll ask him right now.'

'Oh, Valt,' said Kairi. 'If you see Shu, tell him that Rose wants to talk to him.'

Oh why did Kairi have to say such a thing? I would never live it down.

However, my day was going to get a lot worse. As I went to my locker to get my books for the day, I found someone already waiting for me. But it wasn't someone I recognized from the show. It was a tall girl with pink hair with purple tips and silvery blue eyes. She would have looked really pretty if it wasn't for the scowl on her face.

'Er... This is my locker,' I told the girl.

'I want a word with you,' said the girl.

I sighed. 'Fine,' I said.

'Fine? Fine? Do you not know who I am?'

I shook my head. 'No,' I said. However, my reply made her mad and she grabbed my wrist.

'Ow, that hurt,' I complained.

'For your information, I'm Tamiko Katsumi.'

I suddenly remembered what Kairi had told me about her. 'Well, this is only my second day in this school, so excuse me for not knowing who you are. And why are you so mad anyway?'

Tamiko slammed my body against the locker door. 'Don't you dare speak like that to me,' she said. 'I heard rumours. Rumours that you and Shu Kurenai are a thing.'

'We're not a thing,' I said.

'Well, stay away from him. If I see you even look at him, I will make your life a living hell.'

'You think that you can scare me with empty threats? I have read stories about school bullies your entire life. Anyway, with that attitude you have, no boy is ever going to want to date you.'

Tamiko looked so mad that I could have sworn that I saw steam come out of her ears. She prepared to punch me when someone pulled her away from me.

I gasped when I saw who had saved me. It was none other than Shu himself.

'What do you think you're doing?' Shu asked Tamiko. 'You could have hurt her!'

Tamiko scowled. 'She deserved it,' she said.

'Well, Rose is my friend,' said Shu. 'I won't let you hurt her.'

Tamiko looked like she wanted to say a lot of things, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. She just rolled her eyes and walked away.

'Are you okay?' asked Shu.

I nodded. I realized that I was suddenly feeling uncomfortably shy. 'Er... We should be getting to class now.'

Shu nodded. 'Yeah,' he said.

English class was quite a simple class. I guess that it was because it is a second language class. The teacher, Miss Fujita, looked too young to be a teacher. She had brown curly hair, bright green eyes, and a cheerful demeanour. She asked me to introduce myself again and this time I was more prepared and made a smooth introduction before going to my seat.

We all had to read a book called King Lear. In the story, King Lear tells his three daughters that whoever best shows their affection towards him will get the biggest portion of the kingdom. The first two daughters give flattering speeches, but the youngest, Cordelia, tells the truth and gets banished. The ending was so gruesome that I felt sick reading it. 

To make things worse, Miss Fujita told us that we had to write an essay about an important theme in the story. Like why would I want to write about a tragedy? I can't even watch horror movies. What I didn't notice was Shu watching me with interest.

'I guess that you don't enjoy Shakespeare plays,' said Shu.

I sighed. 'No, that's not it. I just don't like sad stories in general. The whole conflict could have been avoided if the king hadn't banished Cordelia. I prefer happy stories.'

Shu nodded. 'I don't blame you. The first time Valt heard of Romeo and Juliet, he was upset when he heard of their ending. Ever since then, I have tried to make sure that he doesn't read or see anything traumatic.'

I nodded, but I hardly heard a word Shu said. There was something about him that made me a little confused.

'Oh, I wanted to ask you something,' said Shu.

'What?' I asked.

'Well, Valt's family has invited me to watch a movie in the cinema with them,' said Shu. 'I wonder if you would like to see it with us too.'

My heartbeat returned to normal. For a moment, I thought that Shu was asking me out. This was both a relief and a disappointment at the same time.

Wait, a disappointment? Suddenly, a thought came to me. Oh no, it couldn't be... Could it?

'What movie is it?' I asked.

'Moana,' said Shu.

Moana? I already knew the whole movie by heart! For a moment, I considered accepting. It would be fun to see it in the cinema again. But I remembered that I was in Japan now, so the whole movie would be in Japanese.

'Sorry, but I don't want to watch a movie in Japanese,' I said. 'I'll wait for the English version.'

'Oh,' said Shu. Was he disappointed? I couldn't tell.

As soon as I saw Kairi in Gym, I quickly ran up to her. 'Kairi, you're right,' I told her.

'About what?' asked Kairi.

After making sure that we couldn't be overheard, I whispered, 'I do have a crush on Shu.'