Beyblade Burst: Firework Red

           The morning sun shone through Mahiru's half-open blinds  and beat down on her face, waking her from her slumber. She clumsily  rolled out of bed, stumbled over to her door, and slid down the stairs.

        She was not ready for the day.

        "Konichiwa Mahiru-chan! Hope you are ready for breakfast~!" chimed Mahiru's mother from the kitchen.

           Her parents were so embarrassing compared to other Japanese parents,  and she didn't understand why. They weren't foreigners at all, so it  didn't make sense for them to be like this. She came to think nothing of  it however, some parents are just weirdos.

          "Yep,  I'm ready. Just need to wake up a little more..." Mahiru suddenly  snapped awake. Today was the day she was going to meet the two new  transfer students that she was so worried about yesterday.

          'Oh yes, and today is also the start of that new tournament. Wonder who will be battling today...'

           Mrs. Rojo placed a pile of egg sandwhiches in front of Mahiru and the  little girl began scarfing them down. She wanted to make sure she got to  school before the two new girls did to make a good impression, in case  they were a tougher crowd.

          She thanked her mother then  ran back upstairs, quickly got dressed then flew down the stairs with  her backpack and darted out the door. She bolted down the street,  ignored a street light, and quite literally leaped past the school gate.

          'This should be early enough.' Then Mahiru looked up.

           "You must be Mahiru Rojo," said a tall girl. She stared down at the  crouching Mahiru with a disappointed gaze, then crouched as well to get  on her level.

         "I'm Laura Rosales. I heard you were supposed to show me around Beigoma Academy today. Don't embarrass me."

           The girl got back up and turned and walked away. She held herself with  such high regard, like she owned the place and she only just got there.

          'Oh she's gonna be a pain in my you know what.' Mahiru stood and ran after Laura.

*          *          *

          "Class, this is Laura Rosales, our new student from America."

           The class oo'ed and ahh'ed at the foreign student, and Laura wallowed  in the praise. She cast a cocky glance straight at Mahiru, who pretended  to not know she was there.

        "Sadly, our other transfer  couldn't make it in today, but she should be present in class tomorrow.  Laura, your desk is right behind Mahiru there."

         Laura was  nothing but a pest to Mahiru, from morning to lunch. Whenever she had a  question, Mr. Sato expected her to answer it, and Laura made a point to  interrupt her. A lot. She also often needed to borrow her pencil  sharpener, her eraser, and even her calculator.

         'Much  thanks' was a phrase Mahiru was already tired of, and if she heard it  one more time she was about to lose it. No one got under her skin more  than this Laura kid. Thankfully, Mahiru wasn't obligated to be near her  at lunch, so at the first chance she got she bolted out of the classroom  and down to the gym. She caught ear of a rumor of another battle there  today.

          Sure enough, there was a crowd waiting around  the stadium. Mahiru made sure to keep her duffel bag by her side so her  pom-poms were ready to go. She met up with her cheer squad, and they  chattered over who could be battling today.

          Then Laura entered.

          'Oh great, now I have to include her in our routine, don't I.' Mahiru huffed and looked away from Laura, but her squadmates rushed over to greet her.

         "Is it true you're really from America?" asked one girl.

         "What's it like over there, do they have Beyblade schools over there, too?" asked another.

         Laura simply motioned them away and stated her actual buisness.

         "I'm supposed to battle someone here."

         Mahiru turned. Laura was battling today? Already?? Then who could her opponent possibly be-

         Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed Laura staring at her, smugly.

         'Oh no.'

         With a grandiose gesture, she made her everyone there heard her loud and clear.

         "I am Laura Rosales, and I want my first opponent ever in Japan to be  none other than my new and great friend, Mahiru Rojo."

        The  crowd went silent and all turned to look at Mahiru, who was  flabbergasted by her challenge. Mahiru wasn't a particularly good  blader, heck she was never even good enough to get invited to a single  tournament! That's why she stuck to cheerleading, though it looked like  that was about to change.

       She gulped before popping her  bey, Marvel Magician, out of her BeyCase and holding it up for Laura and  everyone else to see.

       Laura's smug gaze quickly shifted  into an intense smiling stare, pleased with Mahiru's choice to fight.  She did the same and the crowd stood, mouths agape, at the sight of her  Bey, Lure Lampeqin. It was a tough-looking Attack-type, much like  Magician. Mahiru suddenly felt nervous, as she hadn't battled in a long  time and would most likely be as much of an embarrassment as that Valt  kid supposedly was.

        Nonetheless, she accepted Laura's challenge, and both girls stood at the stadium, launchers ready.

         A boy named Ichiro began counting them down, and the crowd grew silent. Not even Mahiru's girls cheered.

         'I won't let you down girls!'

         "3... 2... 1... Let it rip!"

           Magician and Lampeqin flew into the stadium, and immediately collided  in the centre before bouncing away back up towards the rim. Lampeqin  began it's hot pursuit of Magician, and Mahiru struggled to think. Laura  simply stared with that same smug smile she's had since the morning,  confident she's already won.

          Finally, Lampeqin caught  up, and the two Beys clashed and bashed into each other. Magician  eventually broke free, but it had been almost drained of stamina.  Lampeqin came rushing in for the final blow, and Mahiru simply accepted  it.

          "Lure Lampeqin wins with a Ring-Out Finish, Laura Rosales gets one point!"

           The crowd roared for Laura's first ever victory in Japan. Laura was  showered in praise, both for her skills and her cool Bey. Mahiru simply  stared at the stadium, clutched her fists and hung her head.

           She suddenly snapped back to the present when she felt someone touch  her shoulder. Mahiru turned and was met with a face she had never seen  before. It was a tall girl with fluffy brown hair, deep red eyes and  delicate facial features. Definitely not someone from around here.  Before Mahiru could ask who she was, the mysterious girl spoke first.

           "Don't let this get you down, you still have at least one more round to  beat her. I saw your launch stance, and it was kind of weak, and that  may have had something to do with Magician's rate of stamina loss. I  suggest moving your steady hand forward as you pull back on the cord, it  might do something good."

          Mahiru had no idea how to  react to this girl suddenly giving her tips. But as soon as she  appeared, she left, she darted out the side door of the gym. Mahiru's  attention was drawn back to the stadium by Laura's obnoxious laughter,  the second round was about to begin.

         Both girls readied their Beys, and Mahiru focused on what the girl just told her.

         'Move my steady hand forward when I pull the cord...'

         "Round Two, ready!"

         "3... 2... 1... Let it rip!"

          The two Beys were once again clashing in the centre of the stadium,  however Magician had an extra boost of speed. Mahiru couldn't believe  it, that girl was onto something after all.

         The orange  girl got her spark back, and motioned for her girls to pass her her  pom-poms. As Magician took up the offensive against Lameqin, Mahiru and  her squad began to cheer.

         "8, 7, 6, 5, let the Beyblades come alive! 4, 3, 2, 1, let the Beyblades have some fun!"

          Laura rolled her eyes, Magician was running out of steam again and Lampeqin was still going strong. Or so she thought.

           Lampeqin took one last hit from Magician and it began slowing down,  unable to turn the tides at this point. Magician spun one last lap  around the stadium before finally catching a particularly weak point on  the Bey, and...

          "Marvel Magician wins with a Burst Finish! Mahiru Rojo wins the match!"

           The crowd erupted, their cheerleading captain managed to make a  comeback from her earlier loss and not only win, but win with a Burst  Finish.

          Laura picked up the pieces of Lampeqin,  disgusted by the fact she lost to someone with such a horrible battle  record, but she had to hold her composure.

         'Mahiru Rojo, celebrate while you can because I'm going to turn this victory against you tenfold!'

*        *        *

         For the rest of the day, Mahiru was like a celebrity. It was discovered  Laura was the top blader at her old school, and she managed to beat her  with a Burst finish. While Mahiru became rather big-headed, Laura  became more humble, and stayed quiet. Little did Mahiru know, Laura was  plotting against her. And she was going to make sure her revenge was  sweet.

         Once school got out, the kids all rushed to the BeyMall to watch the first round of the tournament.