Beyblade Burst: Firework Red

           "Come on, there's a battle happening right now! In the gym!"

           "Really? We can't miss it!"

           An orange haired girl watched as two kids from her class darted  out of the classroom. She wanted to watch the battle so badly and cheer  them on with her cheer squad, but she had to stay behind at lunch to  finish her test.

          'Grrrrr, I can't stand it any longer, I want to know who's battling!'

           The  girl anxiously fiddled with her pencil. She only had one question left,  but it involved her ultimate weakness - long division. As she stared  harshly down at the blank answer space, she had a thought.

           "Mr. Sato, may I go to the bathroom, I'll come back to finish my test I promise!"

           The tired teacher looked up from his desk and nodded to Mahiru,  and she sprung up from her seat and darted down the hall.

           'If I'm fast enough, I can run to my locker and grab my pom-poms before the battle finishes!'

           "Hold it right there Ms. Mahiru."

           She froze in place. It was Principal Shinoda, the head of  Beigoma Academy. He was a nice guy, but he didn't tolerate disorder in  the school.

           "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

           "I really need to go to the bathroom, like really need to."  Mahiru put extra emphasis on the second really, and held her stomach to  sell the act.

           "Very well, just don't run in the halls."

           Principal Shinoda turned and continued his patrol of the  halls, and Mahiru waited for him to be out of earshot then bolted faster  than she ever had before. She leaped down the stairs and slid around  corners, before finally reaching her locker. With her pom-poms in hand,  she made a beeline straight for the gym.

*          *          *

           "Where's Mahiru? It's not like her to miss a battle."

           "I never would have thought she'd even be late to a battle, but here we are and no Captain!"

           Mahiru's squadmates stood awkwardly by the stadium, waving their pom-poms. The pitiful battle they had just witnessed ended horribly. It was newbie challenger Valt Aoi vs the skilled Rantaro Kiyama, and it went just about how you thought it would.

          Valt lost twice in a row to a Ring-Out finish, both of which were pretty much immediate, and made a mess out of the gym closet while he was at it.

          Principal Shinoda had just finished scolding both boys for their behavior, and the rest of the crowd had already left.

         Suddenly, a loud voice rang throughout the gymnasium.

         "I made it girls! What did I miss--"

          "You missed all of it Mahiru," said one girl, "Don't worry though, it's not like it was all that great anyways," said another.

          "Oh."

         Mahiru looked over at the two boys now bickering in the storage closet, making even more of a mess than they started with. Her squadmates began leaving the gym, and so she followed. She had a test to get back to anyways.

*     *     *

         "Gaaaahhhh, I didn't do so well on that test..."

         Mahiru sprawled over her desk, clutching the paper with a giant red C on the front of it. The kids around her began filing out of the classroom to head home, and Mahiru figured she'd better do the same.

         "Ms Rojo, could you wait a moment please?"

         Mahiru froze, and slowly turned to see her teacher staring right at her. When she didn't move for a few seconds, he motioned for her to come closer.

         "Hey, I know it wasn't the bathroom you were going to. It was pretty obvious you wanted to follow the other kids to go see that battle. You lied to me Mahiru."

         Mahiru looked at her feet and fidgeted with her hands behind her back. Her cheeks started flaring up and she thought hard on what to say next.

         "Mr Sato, I'm really sorry. I-I'm sorry I lied."

          "Apology accepted. Now, that's not the only thing I wanted to see you about."

          The girl's cheeks returned to normal and her eyes became attentive. What else could he have to say? Then it dawned on her, she didn't get a great mark on her test on top of lying to get out of doing it.

         "Mr Sato, I- um, the test-"

          "Oh no, no it's not actually about the test. Though I wish you would stay in to study more often, as it would greatly help your grades, this is another matter altogether."

         Mahiru relaxed once again. What could it possibly be then??

          "There's going to be two new girls transferring here tomorrow. Laura Rosales and Nellie Morkroda. You're an outgoing and friendly girl and I've never seen you turn down the opportunity to make a new friend. So please, do you think you could stick around them tomorrow? Show them the school and help them settle in?"

         Mahiru was flabbergasted. Two new transfers? And Mr Sato was personally asking her to show them around?? She had no idea what to say other than nod.

         "Great, I knew I could count on you for this Mahiru."

         Mahiru stiffly walked out of the classroom and towards her locker. She has never been asked to do anything like this before, and these were two transfer students from who knows where!

         These two mystery students were still on her mind as she walked home. What if they didn't get along at all? Perhaps one of them would turn against her and create a rival cheer squad? Or maybe they'd be so shy, that Mahiru would have to do ALL the talking for them. Whatever they may be like, Mahiru braced herself for every scenario, and somehow managed to fall into a deep, uninterrupted sleep.

*     *     *

         "So this Mahiru girl is gonna be the one showing me around Beigoma Academy tomorrow? Heh, she looks like such a chump, bet that tans not even real."

        The girl sat and stared at her tablet. She opened Mahiru's battle information and laughed.

        "She's not even a super strong blader, look at that loss-to-win ratio! Her Bey looks like it's got potential, but sadly I guess the same can't be said about the owner."