Bayblade Fanfiction

P1; Chapter Seven; Rin

RIN

"So. Why did Shu have to leave?" I asked Aneka. She sat down.

"I figured you would answer a question more truthfully if it was just us." She said, her eyes on Valt and Nika and Toko still running around. My heart sank.

"Oh."

"What happened? When you're around Valt, you're a completely different person than what you were when we first met. So which person are you? The one that you are around Valt, or around me?" She finally turned to look at me. I didn't say anything. I guess I hadn't noticed it. After a few minutes of quiet, I spoke.

"You remember my little brother?" I asked, my voice breaking on the word 'brother'. She nodded wordlessly. "Right after you moved, he gave me these." I gestured to my headphones. "He died a few hours later, in a car crash." Aneka sucked in a breath. "When I listen to my music, I can hear him talking to me. And I reply to him. I guess... I guess Valt reminds me of Conner, in a way. he's like a little brother to me."

"Me too. I've known Valt for a while, and I got to see him grow up, bit by bit."

"That must have been an interesting experience," I said, looking at her out of the corner of my eye.

"It was. There were some moments when I was so mad that I could explode. Or I was so worried that I couldn't think about anything else. Like when Valt broke his arm, I was the one that called the ambulance and brought him to the hospital. He was at our house at the time." We didn't say anything for a little bit. "My parents died in a car crash too, when I was really young. I've been living with Shu's family for a long time, so Shu is like my big brother." She stopped talking. We looked out over the field where Valt, Toko, and Nika had collapsed.

"I know the answer to your question," I said after several minutes of silence.

"Oh?"

"The version of me that you see around Valt... that's the real me. I guess the version of me that you see... is just a mask. Its a kind of... armor, I guess. I learned to act like that so that I wouldn't be picked on, and so that Conner wouldn't either."

"I get that. I've worn so many masks that I lose track. But you don't have to do that around me. We won't pick on you. "

"Yeah. I'm sorry if I sounded like a spoiled brat."

"Yeah, you kind of did. But we all do at some point." She said and smiled at me. She put a hand on my shoulder. Tears filled my eyes.

"Thanks. That got a lot off of my chest." I hugged her. "But we're still rivals," I said, grinning.

"Definitely. You know, I feel like we had made better friends than enemies. Honestly, my heart was never into it. Don't get me wrong, you still definitely got under my skin, but not 24/7."

"Exactly." I agreed. "But, now that we're not enemies, we can talk normally. Like, maybe go to the mall or something."

"Ha! I know that you could use it."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You need to come out of your shell. You're always wearing that hoodie and those gloves. "

"Ok, so the hoodie I can live without, but not my gloves."

"Why?" She asked, looking at me curiously. I pulled off one of my gloves. Aneka sucked in a gasp. My palm had several scars, some of them x's, and some of them just scratches. There was one that was bigger than the other ones. It was star-shaped in the middle of my palm. "What happened?"