The pieces of Storm Spriggan clattered against the dirt.
Valt Aoi stood completely frozen, his arms still raised in his triumphant 'I found it!' pose. His eyes darted from the red plastic shards at his feet, to Rantaro's dropped jaw, to Daigo's wide eyes, and finally to Shu.
Shu was staring blankly at the empty stadium. His breathing was heavy, his right arm still suspended in the follow-through of his launch.
"Uh," Valt started, his voice cracking slightly. He slowly lowered his arms. "Did... did you guys start without me?"
In the center of the stadium, Eclipse Nidhogg hummed a quiet, uninterrupted tune. Ryu reached forward, his hand hovering over the plastic slope. The dark Bey hopped neatly into his palm. He slipped it into his jacket pocket and seamlessly detached his launcher from his belt.
He didn't gloat. He didn't even look out of breath. He just looked at Shu.
"We will meet in the tournament," Ryu said, his voice quiet but carrying clearly across the clearing.
He turned around and walked away, his hands buried in his pockets, disappearing into the tree line without looking back.
Rantaro was the first to break the silence. He let out a long, shaky breath, running a hand over his face. "Tell me I'm dreaming. Daigo, tell me I just hallucinated."
Daigo adjusted his bandana, his usually calm demeanor completely rattled. "You didn't. He didn't even move. He just stood there and took every single one of Shu's attacks."
"What are you guys talking about?!" Valt practically screamed, running over to Shu and dropping to his knees. He started frantically scooping up the pieces of Spriggan. "Shu, what happened? Was that guy a monster? Did his Bey have spikes? Why did Spriggan burst?!"
Shu didn't answer right away. He slowly lowered his arm, his fingers trembling slightly. He knelt down beside Valt and gently took the three pieces of his Beyblade. With practiced, mechanical movements, he locked the forge disc and performance tip back into the energy layer.
*Click. Click. Click.*
The locking mechanism was fine. Spriggan wasn't damaged. It had just been completely, overwhelmingly overpowered.
"His name is Ryu O'Hara," Shu said softly, his deep red eyes staring at the crimson Bey in his hands.
Valt tilted his head. "You know him?"
"I saw his profile on the WBBA registry ten minutes ago," Shu said, standing up. He gripped Spriggan so tightly his knuckles turned white. "He has a hundred percent win rate. Over three hundred matches. I thought it was a registry error."
Rantaro grabbed his fan with both hands, his eyes wide. "Three hundred?! Without losing once? Who is this guy? Where did he even come from?"
"I don't know," Shu admitted, his voice hardening. The shock was starting to fade, replaced by a deep, burning frustration. He had poured everything into that launch. He had read the angles perfectly. But the moment Nidhogg had counter-attacked, it felt like hitting a concrete wall moving at highway speeds.
Shu looked toward the trees where the silver-haired boy had vanished. "But he's in Block C. Just like us."
Valt looked down at his own Bey, Valkyrie, sitting safely in his pocket. He had completely missed the battle, but seeing Shu—the calmest, strongest blader he knew—this shaken sent a jolt of nervous energy straight to his core.
"Well," Valt suddenly yelled, slapping his cheeks with both hands to snap himself out of it. "If he's in our block, we just have to beat him! Right, Shu? We'll just train twice as hard tonight!"
Shu looked at his best friend. Valt's endless, blinding optimism was usually contagious, but right now, Shu couldn't force a smile. He just nodded slowly.
"Yeah. We'll have to."
---
A few miles away, the neon signs of the Akihabara district were already starting to flicker to life as the late afternoon bled into evening. The streets were packed with commuters, tourists, and students.
Ryu navigated through the dense crowd with effortless precision, sidestepping people without breaking his stride. The flashing lights and overlapping music pouring from the storefronts washed over him.
He found himself standing inside a massive, multi-level arcade. The noise in here was deafening—the clatter of tokens, the digital explosions of fighting games, and the flashing sirens of jackpot machines.
Ryu walked past the fighting game cabinets and stopped in front of a brightly lit claw machine. It was filled with oversized, round plushies that vaguely resembled aggressively angry birds.
He didn't particularly want a plush bird. But he needed a momentary distraction. He stepped up to the machine, slipped a hundred-yen coin into the slot, and grabbed the joystick.
His mind was still replaying the battle in the park.
He manipulated the joystick with tiny, precise twitches. *Shu Kurenai. He was different from the usual blades.* Ryu hit the drop button. The metal claw descended smoothly.
*When Spriggan hit Nidhogg, it wasn't just a attack . There was intent behind it. A sharp, focused pressure that actually forced Nidhogg's locking mechanism to click.*
The claw gripped a large, bright blue plushie perfectly around its center of gravity. It lifted the bird up, carried it over to the chute, and dropped it.
Ryu reached down and pulled the plushie out. It was ridiculously soft, and its embroidered angry eyes looked strangely familiar. It looked a bit like the blue-haired kid who had ruined his ice cream.
Ryu stared at it. "You owe me a Black Sesame cone," he muttered to the stuffed bird.
He turned around. A little girl, maybe five years old, was standing a few feet away, clutching her mother's hand. She was staring wide-eyed at the blue plushie in Ryu's hands.
Ryu looked at the girl. He looked at the bird. He didn't want to carry it around.
He walked over, his expression completely blank, and held the plushie out. The little girl blinked, looking up at her mother, who gave a hesitant, surprised nod. The girl took the bird, a massive smile breaking across her face.
"Thank you!" she beamed.
Ryu gave a small, polite nod and walked away, heading toward the arcade exit.
Stepping back out into the cool evening air, he pulled Nidhogg from his pocket. The streetlights reflected off the dark violet polycarbonate.
For years, battles had felt like reading a book he had already memorized. He knew the ending before the first launch even happened. But Shu had managed to surprise him. Shu had managed to force a clash .
And if Shu was just one of the local bladers... what else was waiting in the District Qualifiers?
Ryu tossed Nidhogg lightly into the air and caught it, feeling the solid, reassuring weight of the metal. For the first time in a very, very long time, he felt a genuine flicker of anticipation.
Tomorrow, the tournament would begin. And for the first time, Ryu O'Hara was actually looking forward to it.
***