Beyblade: Restraints

Reach for the stars.

My name is Mei.

I am 16 years old.

I think I have light brown hair.

I think I have dull green eyes.

I remind myself again.

      The child who reminded me soon was swept away, I was swarmed by people. They surrounded me, I pushed through the crowd.

"Mei?! I thought she was a man!"

"7 years of training? She must be a real pro now!"

"I bet she could vaporize any blader now!"

"Hah! I could beat her!"

"What type of training did she undergo in that drab place?"

       I turn, more people were behind me, I looked at the building I slept in. It was a huge spear, it was coloured in a metal grey. The heavy doors were the only other colour on the exterior. Then I realize the people were moving closer, I turned again and pushed through. I looked passed the people, there were a lot of trees and grass, I looked at the blue sky, it was refreshing. I breathed the fresh air, but I could still hear the noisy crowd around me. The temperature wasn't cold like inside the building, it was warm. I looked to the sun, I wondered if it felt warm too.

        As I walked, the people got louder, and noisier, more and more gathered around me. I then saw an odd small building, I slipped into the door with the pink sign of a person with a skirt. I watch the crowd pass, walking into a walled-off box, I realize I am in a bathroom. I sat on the cover of the toilet seat.

"Mass.io"

I called out to my wrist, then the cat came out again.

       It span as it came out of my wrist, "Yes?" asked me, "Do I have anywhere to go?" I ask it, Mass.io brings out an odd green hologram, it had a lot of words on it and multiple circles next to it followed by numbers. "This is a list of tasks for you to complete!" I read the list a bit, "I don't want to do it," I say bluntly.

"As of now, you are not human," Mass.io tells me.

"Oh," I react, I look at my wrist.

"We have installed a chip in your brain, If you fail to participate in this experiment," Mass.io tells me.

"You will be executed," The cat swirls up to the top corner of the list of tasks.

        It's a circle next to the number 0, "Every time you finish a task you gain that amount of coins," Mass.io explains to me, "The coins can be used in the shop," The screen changes to another similar page, but with different text, it lists off things that I assume are food and drinks, and a lot of living essentials. Mass.io scrolls to the bottom, where the text reads.

"ULTIMATE TRUE FREEDOM."

        I stare, I reach out to it, the text makes a sound, turning red before it reads, "YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH COINS TO PURCHASE THIS ITEM," the amount next to it reads, 1000000000 coins. "In order to buy this item, you have to get 1 billion coins," Mass.io says to me, I want the freedom, I want to be "human."

"What do I need to do first?" I ask Mass.io quietly.

         Mass.io returns to my wrist and changes the screen back to the task page. The first item on the list, "Enter BC Sol and defeat Free De La Hoya in a beyblade battle, reward: 100000 coins," I finish reading and get up.

         I leave the tiny bathroom, the people are gone, I can see the outside clearly, the birds chirp melodiously, sitting down onto the red brick walls around the grassy area. The red bricks have an archway as an entrance. I enjoy the scenery. Then an annoying voice interrupts me, "No! We just missed her!" I look over to the noise, I see a boy with odd blue hair and a weirder hairstyle, he had brown eyes, I stare. "Of course you did, you stopped to get snacks and to battle with some random kid," A blonde boy with a red streak responds, his shirt looks very loose, his pants were odd.

         Then the blue one spots me, "Hey, you!" He sprints towards me, I step back, "Have you seen the 0th blader anywhere!" He yells in my face, I feel like running away. I move away from him, I make my way towards the exit, "Wait..Mei?" I hear my name, I turn, the blonde one was close towards me, "Ah," I stop. The blonde boy turns to the blue one, "This is the 0th blader," he tells him, suddenly the blue one runs even faster to me, "My name is Valt Aoi, I'm 16, and right now I'm the number 1 blader in the whole wide world!" he rambles out, shaking my hand at lightning speed.

          I see a taller blonde man with more normal hair, "Valt! You're scaring her!" He nudges his elbow at Valt, I'm not scared, they are weird. "The name's Rantaro Kiyama!" He then introduces himself, I really do not care. "Uh," I speak up for the first time, "I really don't care," I say honestly, Rantaro and Valt give me a surprised expression, "I want to go to BC Sol, so I don't care about you two," I let go of Valt's hand, I turn towards the brick archway.

"Wait!" Valt calls out to me, he's annoying.

"I know where BC Sol is!" He yells.

 Immediately, I turn.

             I ran back, "Show me," I look at him, he smiles. He marches out of the park with his friends, I follow behind them. I get led into the city, there are many people, they stare at us, I stare at them. I see animated billboards, I see new cars, I see adverts with faces of a handsome man with red eyes, I see a news report with my face. I stop, "The blader with rank 0 has arisen from her long retirement in the building we call, 'The metal arena,' what does this mean for bladers all around the world? More challenging world leagues? Well, we'll just have to see!"

I'm on tv?

I look over to the three friends, the temporary excitement fades, they're gone.

I look at my surroundings, a lot of regular people surround me.

Office workers, Shop keepers, Couples, Children.

High schoolers.

I stare at them, before I realize again.

I'm lost.