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azikarue · 7 months

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Life in Color : Index

A collection for MayBlade 2023.

Like last year, this is mostly for personal reference or anybody who might want all the 'Life in Color' chapters wrapped up neatly in one post. This time around, I'm including each chapter's characters/ship, ratings, summary, beginning lines, and links (both tumblr and FFN).

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Day 1: The Past

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Characters: Saint Shields Rating: K Summary: In preparation for their Mission, the Saint Shields have each been assigned a member of the Bladebreakers to target. Mariam's doesn't come without consequence.

How it Starts: “Thinkin’ about Blondie?”

Mariam groaned, inwardly cursing her luck, and whipped around to glare at Dunga.

Something about him rubbed her the wrong way, and it wasn’t the smug tone in his voice when he’d asked about Max Tate just now. No, she’d pegged him for a pain in the neck from the first time the Saint Shields team had gathered. It had been almost a year now, and he’d yet to prove her wrong.

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Day 2: School

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Characters: Tyson/Hilary Rating: K+ Summary: Tyson helps Hilary decorate Miss Kincaid's classroom and realizes they've come a long way since eighth grade.

How it Starts: “I know you’re going with a spring theme, Hilary, but isn’t the canopy of cherry blossoms a bit much?”

Tyson realized his mistake as soon as the words left his mouth. He didn’t need to hear Hilary’s annoyed sigh or to see that he’d asked right as they crossed the halfway point of their time-consuming task. No, he’d known Hilary long enough to know he messed up without any physical evidence to prove it.

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Day 3: Pets

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Characters: Rick/Mariah Rating: M (for language) Summary: Mariah brings a cat in off the street. Rick tells her, in no uncertain terms, how he feels about it.

How it Starts: “No. Absolutely the fuck not.”

“Don’t be so heartless, Rick!” Mariah exclaimed. She had the nerve to sound affronted. Like it was downright blasphemy for Rick to refuse some critter she found in the gutter entry to his apartment. Her face screwed up into a glare that, somehow, came across as half pout, too. “It’s pouring down rain!”

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Day 4: Sci-Fi

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Characters: Kenny and Tyson Rating: K Summary: Tyson tries his best to dodge Kenny's movie invitation.

How it Starts: Tyson was trying not to let what he knew about Kenny’s taste in pop culture sway his decision. It wasn’t easy when the list included Ming-Ming and any piece of media with a talking robot or more than one species of alien.

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Day 5: Crane

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Characters: Claude Rating: K+ Summary: Claude makes it through his first World Championship Tournament with plenty of regrets and even more paper cranes.

How it Starts: Claude started it for something to do. Injured on purpose and forced to play it up for the foreseeable future, he needed something to focus on to keep his mind from racing down dangerous, self-destructive avenues – ones lined with guilt and regret.

He’d been feeling the pull on and off since they beat the Majestics. The desire to peel back the curtain and examine how he truly felt about the direction Barthez was leading the team.

The paper cranes helped.

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Day 6: Restrain

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Characters: Ray/Salima Rating: T Summary: Salima suffers the after-effects of dark memories and too much caffeine. Luckily, Ray is there to wake her.

How it Starts: Salima was running for her life through the jungle. Terror had hold of her insides, squeezing them tight as a vice, making every panted breath hurt like knives in her lungs. Her legs ached from running and jumping over the underbrush, but she couldn’t stop.

If she stopped, it would catch her.

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Day 7: Duty

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Characters: Hiro Rating: K Summary: Hiro has his reasons for siding with Tyson's enemies.

How it Starts: Regardless of what people might think, Hiro didn’t make the decision to join BEGA lightly.

From the outside, it looked like BEGA rose up to usurp the BBA overnight. In reality, it had been a long time coming.

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Day 8: Glitter

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Characters: Daichi/Ming-Ming Rating: K Summary: Daichi finds out there's more to Ming-Ming than glitter and frills.

How it Starts: “Atta boy, Strata Dragoon!” Daichi cried as his beyblade landed one last powerful blow.

The force of the hit sent Ming-Ming’s blade flying into the forest, where it embedded in one of the trees with a sickening crunch. A flock of birds fled in a mass of flapping wings and fallen feathers, after which the clearing was strangely quiet.

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Day 9: Ice Cream

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Characters: Max-centric, featuring Ray and the All Starz Rating: K Summary: Max's third World Championship Tournament isn't the experience he was expecting. Bumping into someone who feels the same does wonders for his outlook.

How it Starts: “Wait, what’s the Italian word for gelato, then?”

“Michael, gelato is an Italian word,” Emily groaned, looking at him like she couldn’t believe anybody could be so stupid. “What’s wrong with you?”

Eddy burst into laughter, causing several pedestrians to turn and stare. If one or two of them snapped a picture, he didn’t notice, too busy slapping Michael on the back as his teammate sputtered out a defense for himself.

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Day 10: Maid

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Characters: Rick/Mariah Rating: M (for language + canoodling) Summary: Rick and Mariah have vastly different priorities when it comes to their days off. Rick does his best to persuade Mariah to his way of thinking.

How it Starts: It was one of those spring days that made most people want to get off of their ass and do something productive.

Rick could tell as soon as he woke up to sunlight streaming into his bedroom and the curtains dancing in the breeze. It wasn’t hot enough for the city air to smell like straight garbage yet, and it was pleasantly cool for what promised to be a sunny day.

But as far as he was concerned, it was the perfect day to have zero obligations and Mariah in his bed, if she was up for it.

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Day 11: Music

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Characters: Julia and Spencer, side of Tala/Julia Rating: K+ Summary: Julia wakes up early and goes looking for Tala. Instead, she finds Spencer and learns what it means to be a part of his family.

How it Starts: There was nothing worse than waking up because you had to pee. Nothing would convince Julia otherwise as she reluctantly slipped out from under Tala’s covers to tiptoe to the bathroom.

At least she didn’t have to worry about waking him. He was a notoriously light sleeper and she knew he woke up every time she so much as rolled over at night. But, since he wasn’t in bed and it was still pitch black outside, that meant it was probably between five and six and he was out training with Bryan.

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Day 12: Fall

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Characters: Max/Mariam Rating: K Summary: Mariam saves Max from falling flat on his face before the World Championship's exhibition match, but it's not enough to stop him from falling in a different way.

How it Starts: Max would never admit that seeing a familiar flash of blue out of the corner of his eye made him do a double-take and stumble up the stairs. He would have fallen right into the seats trying to catch himself, if someone hadn’t steadied him at the last second.

“Thank you! That was close!” he laughed, righting himself. When he turned to address the person who’d saved him, his mouth went dry at the sight of her.

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Day 13: Royalty

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Characters: Daichi and Tyson Rating: K Summary: Daichi feels tossed aside when news breaks of the Bladebreakers' return. Surprisingly, Tyson is the one to talk him through it.

How it Starts: “The Bladebreakers are back! In a recent statement, the BBA announced the return of the fan-favorite team for the upcoming World Championship Tournament. Tyson Granger, Kai Hiwatari, Ray Kon, and Max Tate are considered beyblading royalty by the millions of viewers that tune into the tournament, and it’s predicted that their reunion will make this year’s Championship a record-breaking success.”

Daichi growled and crumbled up the newspaper. His name wasn’t mentioned once in the whole lousy article. Even the picture, plastered in the center of the sports section’s front page, was of the original four Bladebreakers. It looked like it was taken after their very first World Championship win.

“So much for being World Champion,” he grumbled and threw the newspaper across the room with a grunt.

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Day 14: Sorcery

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Characters: Ryu Granger, Tyson, Bladebreakers Rating: T Summary: When Ryu learns from Tyson that Max is leaving practice early for the fourth time, he knows something's up. His attempt to prove it is slightly... unconventional.

How it Starts: It put a smile on Ryu’s face to hear his grandson outside jiving with his friends. It had been too long since he’d stood in the kitchen and listened to the whole team bicker and battle and bond.

Ever since the gang had touched down in Japan, they’d been training morning, noon, and night in preparation for the upcoming World Championships. They barely even stopped for meals – Tyson and Daichi were remarkably chill about it.

That, and the fact that every single one of them were way taller than he remembered, made it feel like they were growing up right before his eyes.

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Day 15: Battle

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Characters: Tyson/Hilary (Ray/Salima and Max/Mariam implied) Rating: K+ Summary: While their friends battle it out, Hilary fights to make sure Tyson behaves.

How it Starts: “Draciel!”

At Max’s shout, Draciel rose from his beyblade to block the oncoming attack from Ray and Salima’s blades. It was a magnificent sight, swimming in the hazy summer air, but standing firm against the tandem attack. When its opponents ricocheted back, Sharkrash came out from behind Draciel, moving so fast that it was skimming along the top of the sand, to deliver another blow while they were vulnerable.

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Day 16: Bouquet

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Characters: Eddy, Michael, Emily Rating: K+ Summary: To pass the time until Steve is discharged from the hospital, Eddy and Michael debate who ordered flowers for Emily.

How it Starts: “Since when does Emily have a secret admirer?” Michael asked, eyeing the bouquet on Judy’s desk that had their teammate’s name pinned on it. He was slouched in a chair in the Director’s office, lazily tossing a baseball into the air and catching it. He looked every inch as bored as Eddy felt.

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Day 17: Hero

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Characters: Moses (Crusher) and Monica Rating: K Summary: When packing Monica's school bag, Moses finds something that brings him to tears.

How it Starts: “Monica, hurry up! You don’t want to be late.”

“I’ll be down in a minute!”

Moses smiled to himself. Hearing his sister’s voice ring strong and true through the house was something he hoped he never took for granted ever again. With one last glance up the stairs, he returned to the kitchen to finish preparing her lunch.

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Day 18: Unpopular Character

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Characters: Alan and Max Rating: T Summary: Alan hasn't seen Max in years when he comes walking into the coffee shop. Fortunately, Alan's break gives them plenty of time to catch up.

How it Starts: Alan recognized his voice as soon as he ordered. It didn’t matter that he was the whole way in the back, hanging up his apron so no customers would bug him on his break, or that it had been years since they’d spoken – he’d know Max’s voice anywhere.

Somehow, it was still a shock to round the corner behind the counter and see him standing on the other side.

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Day 19: Tree

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Characters: Tyson/Hilary Rating: K+ Summary: When a storm causes damage to an old tree in Tyson's yard, one with a particularly sentimental value, Hilary steps in to act as his support.

How it Starts: Hilary knew something was off from the moment she set foot in Tyson’s front yard. The normally uplifting atmosphere had an undercurrent of tension that made everything feel way too quiet for a sunny, spring afternoon. And, when it came to Tyson, quiet wasn’t usually a good sign.

With a deep breath, Hilary followed the path to the front door, glancing surreptitiously around on her way. Nothing was visibly amiss, and she was beginning to think that maybe her intuition was wrong for once, until she walked into the dojo and Hiro said:

“Oh, good, Hilary’s here. Maybe she can talk some sense into him.”

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Day 20: Scars

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Characters: Salima and Goki Rating: K+ Summary: Salima struggles to find solace after the cyber bitbeast incident.

How it Starts: Sometimes Salima spent her nights awake.

It was easier explaining it to Goki when they were somewhere new and exciting. Those times, he’d buy that she was thrown off by the timezone or the different constellations swimming in the sky above their heads. He’d lay awake with her on occasion, sketching the scenery and planning their travels, always tactful enough not to mention her clipped, one-word responses.

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Day 21: Rest

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Characters: Tyson, Bladebreakers Rating: K+ Summary: Tyson leans on his friends in the aftermath of his battle against Brooklyn.

How it Starts: Tyson’s legs felt like jelly as he hobbled down the hall. With every step his surroundings winked in and out of focus, sometimes changing inexplicably, like he’d blacked out for chunks of the journey. It was possible; he didn’t remember any of the car ride home. If Max and Ray hadn’t been holding him up, he probably would have pitched forward onto the ground before he even made it past the dojo’s gates.

Turns out that nothing brought out the bone-deep exhaustion in a guy like a beybattle that somehow transcended space and time, against an opponent with the power to annihilate entire cities.

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Day 22: Cover Art

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Characters: Ming-Ming Rating: T Summary: Ming-Ming's first days with BEGA aren't at all what she was expecting. Turns out, not even pro beybladers can avoid the necessary evils of show business.

How it Starts: Ming-Ming thought that everyone must feel this way in the beginning.

When your life changed so much in a short period of time, it was natural to feel some discomfort alongside the excitement. After all, stylists and photoshoots and glitz were about as far as you could get from biking half an hour to a rinky-dink restaurant job. Of course it felt like her stomach was curling in on itself. That was normal. This was all normal.

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Day 23: Glass

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Characters: Max/Mariam Rating: K+ Summary: Max and Mariam explore some tide pools and find something unexpected.

How it Starts: “There’s no one else out here, Mariam.”

Mariam tensed. Somebody else might not have noticed, but Max could see the sudden stiffness in her shoulders and the way her fingertips pressed white into her crossed arms. He’d become an expert in dissecting her every movement over the course of the tournament. It was how he was able to beat her in the semifinals and also the reason why his stomach became a sea of butterflies every time she looked his way.

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Day 24: Memories

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Characters: Zeo and Gordo Rating: T Summary: Zeo's used to Gordo's visits. What he's not used to, is living life as the sentient shadow of someone who's long gone. Or: if Gordo helped invent Zeo, it's only fitting that he help him reinvent himself, too.

How it Starts: It was a Saturday afternoon and Zeo could hear a motorcycle rumbling up his driveway.

“Just like clockwork,” he muttered to himself. He closed the book on his lap with a heavy thud and carried it to the edge of the balcony to wait.

The gates at the outskirts of the property were barely visible through the lush trees lining the drive, but he could see the metal move through the foliage as they swung shut. Only a handful of people knew the code to those gates. And only one of them had become a regular weekend visitor, even though he had to have better people to spend his time with. Real people, made out of flesh and blood instead of nuts and bolts.

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Day 25: Flame

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Characters: Ray/Salima Rating: T Summary: Ray holds Salima close by a bonfire.

How it Starts: Ray watched as Steve and Goki teamed up to launch what appeared to be half of a fallen tree into the already massive bonfire. Behind them, Michael and Eddy whooped as a spray of sparks erupted into the air when it connected, making several bladers from other teams leap back for their own safety.

Snuggled up with Salima’s legs in his lap on a low, flat rock, a safe distance from the flames, Ray couldn’t bring himself to care. He was much too distracted by the way her laughter reverberated through both of their bodies and warmed him from the inside out. Not for the first time that night, he wanted to cup her cheek, pull her in, and see how it tasted straight from her lips.

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Day 26: Pirate

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Characters: King and Queen Rating: K+ Summary: King and Queen raid their parts stash for the first time in a long time. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

How it Starts: “It’s a shame you have a moral compass now; we could be making a killing off of these parts.”

King rolled his eyes at his sister’s rueful remark. He shot a look her way, but she wasn’t paying attention, too busy running her fingers along a tray of attack rings like they were precious jewels. King recognized them at once as her personal collection of favorites from their parts-hunting days, all carefully packed in a custom case. They were one of the last things they’d placed in the storage unit before closing it up. King hadn’t thought he’d see them again so soon.

Though, he hadn’t thought a company like BEGA would come along and lock away all beyblading parts and components behind a membership, either.

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Day 27: Beyblade

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Characters: Emily, Mariah, Rick, and Michael Rating: T Summary: Emily knows that they're finished if they don't win the next battle against BEGA. She also knows that the odds of Kai coming back are dismal, which means they're going to need somebody else to master the Hard Metal System.

How it Starts: The melodic trill of crickets was more grating than relaxing tonight, Emily realized with a frown. She had too many other things fighting for purchase in her mind, making tension run icy hot from her temples down into the set of her shoulders. She took a deep breath, forced herself to loosen the hold her fingers had on the case she was carrying, and soldiered on toward the river.

The footsteps behind her sped up to match her pace.

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Day 28: Sunset

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Characters: Mariah and Lee Rating: K Summary: After running into Ray and his new team, Lee disappears. Mariah takes it upon herself to track him down.

How it Starts: “Where’s Lee? His dinner’s getting cold.”

Mariah glanced back and forth between Gary and Kevin, waiting for one of them to answer her. Gary shrugged, more concerned with finishing his own meal, and Kevin scowled. He was still pouting about Bruce ratting him out for wandering off to terrorize their competition earlier. Mariah’s grip on Lee’s plate tightened.

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Day 29: Double

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Characters: Johnny, Enrique, and Emily Rating: T Summary: Enrique challenges Johnny to a doubles tennis match which, naturally, requires him to find a partner. Emily just wanted to practice in peace.

How it Starts: “What’s the matter, Johnny? Scared you’ll lose?”

Johnny sneered. If there was one way to get his blood boiling, it was to insult his honor and claim he was afraid. Especially when your name was Enrique and you had a giggling blonde – wearing a hotel tennis uniform with her polo unbuttoned all the way – hanging off of your arm.

“Yeah, right,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes at the way her arms tightened around one of Enrique’s, brushing her cleavage against his elbow. “You’ve never beaten me at tennis. What makes you think that’ll change now?”

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Day 30: The Future

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Characters: Max/Mariam Rating: T Summary: Sometimes the future holds things even better than you can imagine. Mariam wouldn't have guessed that hers held a fixer-upper in Japan or Max Tate.

How it Starts: “Thinkin’ about Blondie?”

The disgust was obvious in Dunga’s voice even before Mariam turned around and saw the scowl on his face. He looked grumpier than usual, which might have had something to do with the fact that he’d been conscripted to help her and Max move. Never mind that she’d been making sure he got the heaviest boxes all day, waiting to see how long it took him to notice.

Mariam smirked. “We’re married now – I can think about him all I want,” she said, drawing out her words as Dunga’s face screwed up even more.

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Day 31: Free Day

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Part 1 Characters: Max/Mariam Rating: M (for implications) Summary: Max and Mariam meet in secret. He has something pressing on his mind and wants to clear the air. Mariam has other ideas. How it Starts: “You know, Max, asking me to meet you in front of my teammates makes me think you’re missing the point of keeping this a secret.”

Part 2 Characters: Rick/Mariah Rating: M (for language and implications) Summary: Rick's not scared of heights; he's scared of a Ferris wheel that went up overnight that more than likely has a few bolts missing. Mariah helps him relax. How it Starts: Rick didn’t make a lot of decisions in life that he regretted. It was entirely on principle. Regret was a waste of perfectly good time – he preferred to shrug shit off and move on with his life instead of agonizing over every imperfection. He’d do it this time, too, if he ever got off this fucking Ferris wheel alive.

Part 3 Characters: Max/Mariam Rating: M (for implications and undressing) Summary: Max struggles to settle into the hotel room with Mariam doing everything in her power to be a distraction. How it Starts: Max didn’t know the suite had a see-through bathroom when he booked it.

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THE END

#tbh one reason I love having these all in one post is to reblog them onto my main bc I'm proud of them #my own biggest fan #I appreciate the handful of people who tossed these last few chapters a like - I enjoyed bringing them to life even if they're posted late #beyblade #mayblade 2023 #azikarue #azikarue394 #azrfic

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