Crystal: Hey you guys! Here's that TxB fic that I was mentioning to you guys, and I hope you guys like it! =)
Disclaimer: Hah! Me? Own Beyblade? You've got to be kidding me, right?
To Ladyfiction: This is my early birthday present for you, Ladyfiction-sama! Enjoy! --smiles--
Stuck – Chapter One
Needless to say, I'm a complete idiot. Why? Let me tell you these reasons:
First: I just had to get a stupid apartment that has an elevator that literally breaks down every week.
Second: I just had to get a roommate that acts all motherly around me and the 'thing' that we live in (Hey don't get me wrong here. My roommate's also my best friend… but he's being a neat freak!)
And third: I hate my apartment building. Why? Because there's this really cute guy that's living on the same floor like my roommate and me, only he lives down the hall.
How did I know that?
I have absolutely no idea and no, I don't stalk him, but I wish I did.
Why am I telling you that I'm an idiot and all of this nonsense?
I have absolutely no idea either.
I really need to talk to a psychiatrist.
Anyway, I just left my work right now, and I'm heading back to my place. It was a really nice, sunny day today, so I figured that I could walk down to my work, since it's only a few blocks away… but no, the gods just had to hate me right now and decided to change the weather. So now, it's pouring rain out, and me not having my car here, had to walk. I could've just asked one of my colleagues for a ride, but my pride and ego were too big (They know me as: Tala 'Ego-maniac' Ivanov).
Just as I was about to walk by the crosswalk, a car just suddenly swerved around the curb by where I was standing, and guess what? There was a large puddle sitting oh so innocently there, and when that stupid car had drove over there, the water splashed all on my work clothes and on my precious red hair. The driver didn't even stop and say sorry! That stupid jackass… I glared at the people who were staring and pointing at me, and walked on ahead, ignoring a couple of people asking if I'm okay and all that crap.
I honestly didn't care at all… well, actually I did. Right now, I'm soaking head to toe, and my work clothes are all wet and yucky. How am I supposed to explain this to my roommate? Again, I have absolutely no idea…
Okay Tala, just suck it up like a man, oh god, now I'm talking to myself too?
I saw the apartment building and every now and then my left eye just started twitching. I could just picture what my roommate's look would be: shock, surprise, and furious. Oh darn… I seemed to have forgotten to make a will… note to the sarcasm there. Anyway, I took a deep breath and entered the building, cursing and muttering in my native tongue.
To my annoyance, the people at the lobby were staring at me like I'm some kind of weirdo as I walked passed by the hall and towards the elevator. To tell you the truth, I hated that piece of machine, but seeing as I'm really soaked right now, and I'm in need of a warm shower, warm clothes, and warm coffee, I decided to give the elevator a chance I pressed the up button, waiting impatiently by tapping my right foot every now and then. Waiting for a few more seconds, my left eye was still twitching and decided to take the stairs. I gave a death glare towards the piece of crap that they call useful machinery and walked towards the stairs.
My anger and annoyance towards the elevator had dispersed; though now both of these emotions are focusing on me. By being mad at the elevator, I forgot that the floor that I'm living on was on the 16th floor. I looked at the closed door when I took a short rest and noticed that I'm only on the 7th floor. Me being a selfish idiot smacked myself for being one and continued climbing up the stairs. Man… you do NOT know how tired I am.
Finally, from what it seemed like an eternity (it's only about 10 minutes, but right now whatever), I finished climbing up the staircase of doom and entered a familiar hall, and to my delight and my misery, that cute guy that I was mentioning earlier, was going towards his door suite (the door of his suite is by the exit stairs). I slapped my forehead inwardly and cursed in Russian under my breath. The gods really and truly hate me.
I walked passed by him, seeing his lovely eyes that I could get mesmerized on… that cute, sexy lips… and I could also see that he's very well toned and muscled chest (he's wearing a black muscle shirt). I managed to stop sta---I mean looking at him when I noticed that he was giving me a look. Oh my god! I think he's checking me out! Okay… that sounded too girly, but what the heck. When he looked at me, he gave me a small smile… or was it a smirk? Anyway, much to my disappointed, I was in front of my door to where I live. I took a deep breath and took my keys out, hoping that my roommate's sleeping so I could sneak in my room, grab my clothes and lock myself in the bathroom…
"Tala, what the hell are you doing out there?"
And to my unfortunate luck, a pair of golden eyes was looking at me, and I could clearly tell that look that they were giving me was pissed by the looks of it… Great, it turns out that he's not asleep after all. He dragged me inside, then leaving me by the hall so he could get some towels for me. Even though he's pissed off that I soaked the carpet, he still got me towels, bless him.
When I walked into the kitchen, I noticed that pots and pans were out of their usual shelves and raw foods and vegetables were neatly arranged near the sink, ready to be chopped up. By the stove were a wok and a big pot with boiling water; I raised my eyebrow in confusion at the sight in front of me. What's going on?
"Umm… Rei… why is your wok by the stove?"
Rei came out of the bathroom, gave me an 'Are you stupid' look, and handed me the towels. "To cook of course! You should know that by now!"
"I know that! But you never you use that thing except when we have guests and stuff," I replied, while drying my hair using the towel Rei had given me.
He let out an exasperated sigh and started to chop garlic. "Well maybe that's because we're going to have guests. Kai-koi's coming over for dinner and---Tala, I know you're faking your gagging so stop it."
I stopped making any gagging sounds and sulked slightly.
Kai-koi is Rei's arrogant, jackass of a boyfriend. His real name is Kai Hiwatari and he's the grandson of this billionaire; how Rei had snagged him that I do not know. But when I found out that they were going out, I sort of… uhh… Okay! I got furious, all right? As you can see, I'm overprotective of my best friend (like what a brother does for his siblings). Hiwatari and I don't exactly get along but just for Rei, I would just ignore that by the fact that he exists. Though I can't help but be happy for the both of them; every time they look into each others' eyes, they always have that loving look in them and I sometimes can't help but squeal in delight that my best friend is in love, despite the fact that I don't know a lot about Rei's lover.
"Why is he coming?" I practically whined, making Rei snort and dumping the chopped garlic in the wok.
Rei gave me a death glare, clutching a butcher knife on his right hand. I eyed that object, fearing for my life since I know how pissed and annoyed Rei is right now. I backed away from that crazy, knife-handler, but I realized that I was sitting on the chair and now I'm trapped. I gulped slightly and gave Rei a nervous laugh.
"Umm… R-Rei… you haven't answered my question yet…"
"We're out of ginger root, could you please go down to the supermarket to get some?" asked Rei, suddenly calming down.
I frowned a little. Ginger root? What in the---oh yeah, he's cooking right now. "Why me? Can't you do it yourself?" Oh yeah, that's real nice Ivanov, just whine, and you'll be out of the situation in no time.
"No, someone has to cook here. Besides, you're already wet---"
"Yeah, so I don't need to get wet even more---"
"But you don't know how to cook!"
I paused for a moment, and I realized---more like I can't believe---that he was right. As much as I hate to admit it, I can't cook to save my own life. So begrudgingly, I stood up from the comforts of my chair, placing my soaked towel on the seat. I walked towards the hall and placed my soak shoes in my feet and opened the door again. Just as I was about to open the door, Rei stopped me, and gave me money.
Money? Oh right… to buy the Ginger Root… stupid me.
And with that, I left the suite and went out into the pouring rain. It was when I was a block away from the building that I realized that I could've used my precious car and just drive all the way to the supermarket or just take a stupid umbrella, but no… I just had to rush didn't I? Anyway, I crossed the street and walked a little more until I saw a little shop with vegetable and fruits stand outside.
I walked inside the shop and I greeted an old man who was behind the cashier. "Hey, Mr. Kinomiya."
Mr. Kinomiya is the grandfather of one of my colleagues: Tyson Kinomiya. When I first came in here, the old man just greeted me out of nowhere and started to freak out, until I saw that colleague of mine came down to see what's going on. Man… I thought that his grandfather was stalking me or something, since Rei and I have been grocery shopping here since the first time we got that suite.
"What's up, mah homie?" Mr. Kinomiya had asked me. Despite the fact that he's a very nice old man---even though I thought he was a stalker at first---everytime he talks, it's always slang. I asked Tyson about that once, though he never really answered my question.
"Nothing much, sir. Just buying some Ginger Root," I replied, while my eyes were darting everywhere to see those annoying little objects that made me walk out in the rain… again.
He didn't reply after that, since he had a customer waiting by the cashier. Anyway, I was about to take a dozen of those Ginger Root, when I realized that I don't know how many Rei needed. Does he need at least a dozen? Nevertheless, I just took a whole dozen and walked up into the cashier.
Mr. Kinomiya gave a small cough, which I translated to a small chuckle and put the Ginger Roots in a plastic bag. "Wat are ya goin' to be doin' wit those, sonny?"
"Oh, my friend's going to cook but he ran out of Ginger Roots," I replied, as I handed out the money to him. When I got the change, I gave a small goodbye to Mr. Kinomiya and headed straight for home.
The rain had slowed down a little, much to my relief, and I guess it made my day a little better. Though, I did vow to myself that if I ever come go somewhere, and if it's only a couple of blocks away, I'm driving my car. Surprisingly, I was already in front of the apartment building, much to my relief again. I climbed up the exit staircase (I still don't trust that dim-witted elevator), and silently gawk at the hot guy's door.
He really is cute… I just wish I knew his name and his phone number… Anyway, I stopped gawking at it and walked back to my apartment suite.
When I came in the door, and opened the closet door, I saw two pairs of shoes, neatly placed underneath the coat racket. And in the coat racket hang two coats. Probably one from the Hiwatari and the other is this other person who I don't know… though, it looks slightly familiar… and the other shoes too. In any case, I took of my coat and my shoes and came into the kitchen to find Rei still cooking.
"Here are you Ginger Roots," I replied, as I place them by the table, not noticing Rei's pretty china plates lying there oh so innocently. I walked by the fridge and got me out some Sprite™.
Rei looked around for the Ginger Roots, and when he had found out that I put them by the neat table, he smacked me a little too hard, making me spit out the Sprite all over the floor. "Why did you put the plastic bag on the table?!"
"Sorry," I mumbled, while getting the wiping the Sprite off the floor using a mop. Rei forgave me and pushed me into the bathroom so I could wash up.
And that's what I did. I took a long, warm shower, and I took my time in the bathroom brushing my hair. When I had come out of the bathroom, Rei told me---more like threatened me---to go and entertain the guests while he was cooking. Since Rei was acting like a woman with PMS, I decided that entertaining those "guests" was good for my health at the moment, so headed towards the living room.
Just as I expected, Kai "the idiot" Hiwatari was sitting in one of the armchairs, watching sports on T.V. I didn't saw the other person though; I pretended that I didn't know he was here. But just as I was about to sit down on the other armchair, I saw a glimpse of the other person. I was just standing there, looking very surprised. My eyes widened in the size of teacup plates and my mouth was open really wide as well.
Hiwatari was probably looking at me because he said, "What's wrong, Ivanov, did your brain just lost brain cells or something?" He gave that infamous smirk of his, and crossed his arms over his chest.
I gave him a glare and excused myself from him and his "friend" and went straight back into the kitchen. Rei saw me dashed inside and gave a curious look. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"H-he… wh-who w-was… I-It's…" I stammered, while leaning at a wall, and before you know it… I fainted.
Crystal: Well, there's the first chapter! =) As you can see, the whole chapter is in Tala's POV, and it'll probably be like that for the rest of the other chapters.
And for the people who are waiting for the next chapter of 'Take my breath away', I'm working on it right now. Though, I'm having a wee bit of a writer's block on it… -.-;
Anyway, this is me, Crystal saying see you later!