CHAPTER ONE: SILENCE

Bryan was being quieter than usual. Of course, Tala mused, he was always pretty silent…but still…

After knowing Bryan for a good ten years, Tala could tell when he was feeling anything aside from his usual indifference. He knew when he was annoyed, when he was angry, and when he was bloody furious, but this…

…this was different.

This was a different silence. The redhead glanced at Bryan as he completed his beyblade training in the basement of Valkov Abbey, trying to tread the most peculiar expression on his stony face. Bryan looked up and caught Tala's scrutinizing gaze.

"What?" he snapped.

Tala decided not to hide what he knew.

"You seem troubled." He said abruptly.

"I'm not." Bryan replied quickly; far too quickly, Tala thought. A teasing smirk appeared on his face.

"It wouldn't be anything to do with Annika, would it?" he laughed.

"It's not funny." Bryan growled.

Annika Yermalov was a girl at Sarov High, the local high school. She seemed to be stalking Bryan, appearing in the most random places in order to stare and giggle at him with her friends.

"You sure?"

"Yes, now shut up, Valkov." The older boy snapped, turning away, back to the dish. Tala smirked, determined to find out what it was.

"Not Annika? Is it Charlotte, Alexa? Or maybe it's Freya…no, it's Gina…" he counted Bryan's most bold fangirls off on his fingers.

"Drop it." Was the surly reply.

Tala shrugged nonchalantly, sitting down on the bench and folding his long legs in front of him.

"Come on, tell me then."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Tala paused; perhaps he should try a new tactic.

"You know Bryan," he said, his voice overly gentle, "if it's girl trouble, you can always come and tell me about it. But if it's boy trouble then I'm sure I-"

Suddenly stung into action by the remark, Bryan whirled around and almost yelled,

"It's nothing to do with you Valkov! And it is not boy trouble."

"Girl trouble then?"

He hesitated – just for a fraction of a second, but it was enough for Tala.

"Ah. So which one?"

"Go away."

"Go on. I dare you."

"No."

"Tell."

"No."

"Bryan, if you don't, then I'll go tell Boris that you're getting involved with girls behind his back…"

Bryan stiffened, rounding on Tala with a glare. This wasn't fair. Boris had drilled into each and every one of them that emotion shouldn't get in the way of beyblading. Bryan hadn't been blading too well these past days, and if Tala told then…

But Bryan remained in a resolute silence.

"Damn it Bryan, just say who the fangirl is!" Tala said exasperatedly.

Driven to his utter limits, Bryan roared,

"She isn't a fangirl, Valkov!"

"Who is she then!" Tala demanded.

The boy was silent for a moment.

"My sister." He said.

Tala was silent for a whole three minutes, staring at Bryan as though he hadn't heard what he had just said.

"Excuse me?" he said finally.

"My sister." Bryan repeated as patiently as he could. "She's coming here. Tomorrow."

"But why-"

"You've gone far enough Valkov." Bryan said sharply, and Tala withdrew, dazed and shocked, though not enough to want to challenge the boy's emotional status. He didn't know what was in Bryan's past, neither did Bryan want to know what was in his.

But a sister?

Bryan had a sister?

He couldn't get over it. He hadn't heard a mention of a father, mother, brother… and now Bryan's sister was turning up tomorrow?

Tala sighed, sinking onto his bed that evening, brushing his red bangs wearily out of his ocean blue eyes.

This was way too much.