Reincarnated in Beyblade Burst

He's Missing?

"Let me get this straight," said Kairi. "Free De La Hoya transferred from BC Sol and won't say why. He saved you from Shu's unpleasant roommate and then complimented you, which made Shu jealous. And now he won't talk to Free at all."

"Yeah," I said. "I wish we didn't have to talk through a screen. It's so much easier when we interacted face-to-face."

It felt like I was in quarantine for the COVID-19 pandemic, which isn't a thing yet here.

"Do you think Free's interested in you?" asked Kairi.

"I don't think so," I said. "He doesn't seem like the kind of person who would be interested in people. Unless they were good in Beyblade."

"I would like to see Shu getting all jealous," said Kairi.

"Kairi!" I said. "It's not as flattering as you think it is. Imagine if Wakiya got jealous every time you talk to another boy."

"You're right," said Kairi. "I wouldn't like it at all. But I'm sure when Shu sees that Free isn't romantically interested in you, he will stop being so jealous."

However, Shu's jealousy of Free didn't seem to die down at all. It seemed to get worse.

Whenever I came around to the Raging Bulls, Free would always be hanging around. He never spoke to me much, usually saying, "Oh, hi Rose." But I would feel Shu glaring every time he spoke to me.

It was extremely uncomfortable. I even dragged Shu into a corner and asked him to tone down his hostile attitude towards Free.

"Shu, I'm not interested in Free at all. You know that I only want you."

"Alright, I'll try," said Shu. But it seemed to be practically impossible, and soon he would find excuses to leave the room whenever he saw Free nearby.

I didn't like it at all, so I once again started avoiding the Raging Bulls. Shu was disappointed, but I told him that we could still talk on the phone.

According to the news, BC Sol was starting to make a comeback after a slump. They have defeated AS Gallus. I knew that it would happen, but there was something so thrilling about reading the news about it myself.

One day, I had a surprise. Stella came back! She showed up unexpectedly one day when I was reading my Land of Stories book. She was holding a sack in her hands.

"Hi," she said. "Can we talk?"

"What do you want?" I asked coldly. "I told you that I don't want to see you again."

"I know," said Stella. "I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry. Oh, and here are all your things back."

And she gave me quite a lot of stuff back, including weird things I can't imagine her asking for, let alone me giving to her, like a stuffed pink elephant, a pair of mismatched socks, and an Elsa doll. How much stuff had I given her?

"I thought about what you had said, and honestly, you were right," said Stella. "I was being selfish. My parents had told me not to take advantage of your kindness, but I didn't listen. Then your friend Kairi called me and told me that I was a horrible person for taking things from you and never returning them."

I was surprised. So she had been listening to what I was telling her. "And do you expect me to forgive you just like that?" I asked.

"No," said Stella. "I know that it might take time, but I'm willing to do what it takes to earn your trust back. I missed you when you moved to Japan. And since we have limited time together, I want to be friends with you again."

I noticed that Stella sounded genuinely sincere. Perhaps I could let her hang out with me again.

"Alright," I said.

Well, we actually started chatting with each other. She told me about going to the amusement park a few weeks ago with her cousins. "You should come too," she said. "And you can bring your boyfriend along if you want."

I told her about how my mother was expecting a baby, and she was excited for me. She begged me to be invited to the baby shower.

"I think that I will be back in Japan by that time," I said. "But I will film a video and send it to you."

A couple of hours later, I decided to invite Shu to go with me to the amusement park. Shu picked up on the second ring. "Hello?" he asked.

He sounded really sad. Perhaps he was missing me since I had stopped coming over. "Shu, you won't believe it but Stella came over and apologized for taking my stuff. She returned everything she took and asked me if I would like to come over to the amusement park with her. She said that you could come along too."

"Thanks, but I'm not coming," said Shu.

"Why?" I asked.

"Something... Came up."

"What?" I asked.

"I can't say."

"You're scaring me. What happened? Are you sick? You don't sound so good."

"Don't call me again."

"You're not breaking up with me, aren't you?"

"I'm not. It's... Too dangerous for you to know."

"What?"

"Goodbye, Rose."

I got frightened. "Shu? Shu!"

I tried to call him again, but no answer. Something was wrong. I put on my coat and ran out.

I went all the way to the Raging Bulls and entered the dormitory.

I banged on Shu's door. "Shu Shu Shu! Answer me!"

Howard opened the door. He looked furious. "Are you trying to destroy the door, Ariel?"

I was so hysterical that he could have called me Mickey Mouse and I wouldn't have noticed. "Where's Shu?" I asked.

"I don't know, dummy," he said. "Your boyfriend vanished this afternoon. No one knows where he went. He's not picking up any calls."

I wanted to faint. I knew where he was, but if he was missing for a few hours, why did he still pick up my call?