#beybladeocweek

It was a quiet afternoon. BC Sol was very quiet. The Beybladers were training or battling. The gardener in the yard was watering the plants that needed water after the midday heat. Everyone was going about their routine.

Of course, Angie was too. The BC Sol cafeteria was filled with the smell of spices and cooking meat. There was only the music playing on her phone and her own humming. No one else was there, no other sounds. The food cooking, the music she was listening to, and her…

She had initially been surprised when Christina assigned her to the this buildings cafeteria. She hadn't imagined she and her son would be here, but at the end of the day, they were both here. One in the arena, the other in the cafeteria. Maybe it was a good thing they came, Angie thought. She had seen new places. She had tried new things. She had cooked new dishes. She wouldn't have been able to do any of this if she hadn't come here. This change had been good for her.

As she prepared her meal, the entrance door to the dining hall gently opened. Then it quietly closed. After the closing sound, footsteps filled the air. Slow, silent footsteps. Although the music from her phone drowned out the sound of the footsteps, the approaching footsteps became more audible each time.

Finally, a few steps from the counter where the food was served, Angie heard the footsteps and looked up, glancing over her shoulder in the direction of the sound.

She saw the young girl with purple hair. As the girl approached the counter, her identity became clearer. Looking more closely, she recognized her. She knew the girl she saw. A sweet joy filled her when she realized it was her.

She quietly stopped the music. Then she turned her head completely and looked at the girl who had reached the counter. Smiling slightly, she began to speak. "Sieglinde. It's so nice to see you!"

She turned her whole body towards her and walked towards the counter. As she did so, she wiped her hands on the towel tucked into the front of her kitchen apron. When she reached the counter, she continued speaking cheerfully. "You've been missing for days. Everyone was asking about you."

While she was speaking, Sieglinde had already sat down on one of the chairs in front of the counter. She didn't react to anything the woman said. She had her hands on the counter and was staring at her bare fingers.

Angie, however, continued speaking without paying any attention to her. "You know that blonde friend of yours? The little one in the blue jacket. He keeps coming and asking about you. You've made him very worried. Go and check on him sometime. He's been waiting for you."

Sieglinde could only manage a "hmm." She continued watching her fingers with her head bowed.

Angie wasn't very pleased with her answer. She turned to her and opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again without saying anything. The girl opposite her didn't look very well.

Her hair was disheveled and loose. She hadn't tied it up in her usual four-strand ponytail. She hadn't redid the braid around her face either. She'd just let her hair down, giving her a neglected look.

Her clothes weren't as neat as usual. They looked like she'd carelessly thrown them on. In fact, they were. Her headband was missing. The ribbon on the neckline of her blouse wasn't tied. She looked like she'd just gotten out of bed and thrown on whatever she could find. While she wasn't usually very well-dressed, she did care about her appearance.

Her behavior was also strange. She was very expressionless. She looked tired. Normally, she would smile and say good morning to her every time she entered the cafeteria. She'd have a short chat with her while getting her food. Now, she just stared at the counter without speaking.

Angie knew her. She was different from the others. She had such energy that she brought calmness to any place she entered. Whenever she entered a place, it was clear she was there. There was a natural calmness in her steps. Seeing her was a comforting sight. No matter the situation, her presence always provided a breath of fresh air.

Now, however, she wasn't sure if the girl she saw was the Sieglinde she knew. She felt as if all her energy had vanished in an instant. Instead of the always smiling, lovely girl, she was now a dejected one.

She didn't know what had happened to her and couldn't understand her condition. She had last seen her a few days ago. How could someone deteriorate so much in just a few days? What had happened to her? She felt sorry for her.

With a slight hint of worry in her voice, she began to speak. "Sieglinde, is something wrong?" She didn't know if she would get an answer. Perhaps if the girl told her what was wrong, she could solve it.

Sieglinde looked up at her. Those eyes broke Angie's heart. She didn't realize it, but the weariness in her eyes was evident. It was a look born of so much hopelessness and exhaustion. It was empty. Those bright, lime-colored eyes were so empty. It was indescribable.

"No, nothing happened," she managed to say. "I was just tired. That's why I wasn't around."

Angie's first reaction to the answer was to grimace. She didn't believe a word. Okay, people could be tired, but not tired enough to lock themselves in their room for days. By that logic, Sieglinde should have been hibernating in her room, because she hadn't come to the mess hall unless she'd gone out. She might have gone to the dorm kitchen, that was unknown, but otherwise, what had this girl done instead of eating?

She couldn't have been asleep either. Had she slept for that long? If so, she'd be in the news with the headline "Girl who slept for days." At the end of the day, something was wrong.

She took a deep breath and looked at the girl and her slumped state. She was determined to find out what was going on. A mother's heart, you know. "Are you really sure it's just tiredness? It doesn't seem that way to me."

Sieglinde couldn't answer. She just clasped her hands together and chose to remain silent.

Angie sighed, looking at her. It seemed like it was going to be difficult to get her to talk. The child, who normally chattered like a nightingale, was now completely silent.

"Are you hungry? You haven't been to the cafeteria for days. I believe you must be hungry." Yes, asking normally wouldn't get you anywhere. So she hoped the food would open her mouth. They say the way to a heart is through the stomach. Although, more accurately, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but ultimately everyone had a stomach and everyone loved to eat.

Sieglinde nodded slightly in agreement. Yes, she was hungry at the end of the day. That's why she had come to the cafeteria.

Angie felt a little relieved after receiving the answer. If she had said she wasn't hungry, Angie would have been even more worried. Thankfully, that hadn't happened.

She moved away from the counter and headed towards the refrigerator. She remembered there were some leftover potato eggs from breakfast. Dinner wasn't ready yet, and she had to make do with what she had for now.

"There are some leftovers from breakfast. Would those be enough for you? Sorry. You arrived right when I was cooking. We can manage with these. If it's not enough, you can have dinner in an hour or two."

"It's alright. I'll eat anything," her voice was low and strained, as if she were forcing herself to speak despite lacking the strength.

Angie still couldn't understand her behavior. She tried to find a logical explanation, but everything she came up with proved futile.

She put the potato egg from the cupboard into the pan and left it to heat on the stove. Then she looked at the teapot on the stove. She had boiled the water she would add to tenderize the meat in it. She checked to see if there was any water left in the teapot. There was just enough to fill a cup, maybe a little. She could make tea with that.

Even as she made the tea bag from the cupboard, she could feel the weight of the girl's presence. "Did you miss my cooking?" she tried to start a sweet conversation, but after the lack of response, she realized her efforts were futile.

Neither of them spoke until the egg were ready. They continued to stand in the awkward silence. Those minutes were so strange. Time seemed to stand still. Sieglinde was waiting for her meal, her stomach burning with hunger. Angie, meanwhile, planned to try and communicate again after giving her, her food. Their goals were different, but both were tied to a piece of potato egg warming on the cafeteria stove. That was the funny part actually.

When the egg was finally cooked, Angie placed it first on a plate and then in front of Sieglinde. She didn't forget to put the tea and cutlery she'd made next to it. Now there was something to eat on the counter.

Sieglindde didn't hesitate to start eating. Her movements were slow, but she was eating. Seeing her, Angie felt somewhat relieved.

She opened her mouth again and tried to speak. This time she would try something different and attempt to talk. She knew more or less what Sieglinde was generally interested in. "Is there a problem at the club? Is that why you're upset?" She hoped this opening would get him to talk. Ever since she'd known Sieglinde, she knew he was deeply involved with the club. Bringing up the subject of the club might get her to talk.

Sieglinde, whose only wish was to eat her meal in peace, froze for a few seconds at the question she was faced with. She knew that at the end of the day, she would be asked something about the club. It was God's work that everyone kept asking her about the club. Eating in peace was truly a dream. What was she expecting? That people would come and go like a walking dead person and not ask her anything? And that the club wouldn't be among the things they would ask? She could have expected that, but his expectations would remain a dream.

She took a deep breath. She had no choice but to explain the situation honestly, otherwise a misunderstanding might arise, and misunderstandings always caused problems. "There are no problems with the club, everything is fine," she replied, a touch of seriousness in her voice.

Angie was even more curious by the answer. "Then why are you like this? Normally, you'd be upset when the club was doing badly."

"It has nothing to do with the club. This is my own matter."

It was good for Angie that the conversation didn't end abruptly, but she still hadn't gotten the answer she wanted. She would continue trying to move on from other topics. "Are you unhappy because you lost in the tournament? Don't worry about it. You can try again next year." This time, she brought up defeat, which was generally one of the biggest sources of sadness for bladers. After all, she had seen many bladers collapse as a result of defeat. Sieglinde herself had recently suffered a defeat with her teammate. So there was a possibility that she was unhappy. She had to bring up the subject to see if her guess was correct. And so she did. She hadn't forgotten to smile even after saying her last sentence.

Angie's second question only irritated her further. She didn't seem able to eat her meal in peace. "No, I'm not unhappy about losing. Sports are a sport, after all, there's winning and losing." She continued speaking, angrily popping an egg into her mouth and chewing it. "Of course I feel sad about losing, but not to the point of giving up on life." Although her anger added a little energy to her movements, the situation remained the same.

Angie had run out of topics to discuss. None of her predictions had been correct. She could push a little harder, but she knew Sieglinde would leave without her learning anything. She was even more worried because she had no idea what was wrong with her, nor any topic she could get her to talk about. Moreover, her mood hadn't changed. If she locked herself in her room again, it was uncertain when she would come out. She worried about her. Whether it was a compassionate mother's heart or something else, it broke her heart to see her like this, and she didn't want it to continue.

Finally, she decided to ask her the natural way. Since there was nothing more to do before making this decision, she just had to say what came to mind. And that's what she was doing. "So what's making you stay in your room?" Her voice betrayed her concern. She spoke like a mother, not like a cafeteria lady.

"I was just tired," Sieglinde brushed it off while eating her meal. She really didn't want to talk about it. She was barely holding her tongue.

"It's normal to be tired, but not so tired that you haven't left your room for days. You haven't come to the cafeteria. God knows if you've even gone down to the dorm kitchen?"

"I've worked so hard since the start of the season. So I was tired and wanted to rest. That's all."

"Okay, I understand you're tired, but isn't it strange that you aren't in a state to talk to anyone? If you have a health problem, you can talk to Christina."

"I don't have a prob—" she was interrupted by Angie.

"If you're worried about things going wrong, you can ask the others for help. They're your friends, after all." Her face lit up when she said the word "friend".

Friend… Friend…? Sieglinde froze at the sound of that word. She opened her mouth to answer, but couldn't say anything and closed it again. She was trying to form a meaningful sentence from the jumble of words swirling in her head. She opened her mouth again, but still couldn't say anything and just swallowed painfully. She didn't know what to say. She felt isolated from the outside world. She couldn't hear Angie. Only that word repeating in her head filled her ears: "Friend."

She didn't know what to say. What could she say anyway? She could just blurt out, "Yes, they are my friends, and I can get help from them when needed," and get away with it, but that would be a lie. She could tell the truth, but that would only lead to misunderstandings. Angie was a bit of a chatterbox. Who knew she wouldn't go and tell someone? Should she lie, or should he shout the truth?

She desperately wanted to shout the truth. She wanted to yell, "They never felt like friends. I'm tired of hiding myself around them. I've always supported them and solved their problems. That's it! They're not my friends. None of them really love me!" and feel relieved, but doing so would only create more problems. She didn't want to deal with misunderstandings and nonsense. She was too tired of it. She would keep her mouth shut forever.

While she was lost in her thoughts, Angie was trying to get her attention. Bringing the girl back to reality was harder than she had imagined. Even when she repeatedly said her name and snapped her fingers in front of her eyes, the girl remained lost in thought. Angie didn't understand why she reacted like that. Suddenly, she stopped answering. She just stared at the plate in front of her. She was like a statue. Finally, she decided to shake her to bring her back to reality.

She reached out and placed her hand on her shoulder. The moment she put her hand on her shoulder, Sieglinde jumped and came to her senses. She looked first at the hand on her shoulder, then at Angie, surprised. "Huh...?" The slight shock was starting to wear off, but it left behind confusion.

"You zoned out for a moment. No matter what I did, you wouldn't come back. There's something wrong with you." Angie was absolutely certain there was something wrong with Sieglinde. Either physical or psychological. There definitely was something wrong. Could she be suffering from dementia? She was too young for that, but it was something that could happen in young people.

"I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me," she blurted out abruptly. She removed her hand from her shoulder. She didn't want Angie gossiping about her having a problem. The team was already ready to make a mountain out of a molehill. She couldn't deal with this too.

Angie was slightly annoyed. In her eyes, Sieglinde's insistence was pointless. What was she so afraid of? A doctor? At most, a doctor would give her medicine. Was it about disrupting club operations? Christina and the others could fill her shoes while she was gone. Okay, going to a doctor in another country might be difficult. There was a language barrier, and procedures were required to treat beybladers, but these weren't things to worry about too much. "Look, Sieglinde. You might be hesitant to go to a doctor because you're in another country, but this is for your own good."

"I don't have a reason to go to a doctor," she tried to defend herself, but Angie wasn't listening.

Angie had officially switched to motherly mode and was only speaking her own mind. "If you're worried about the club business, there's nothing to worry about."

"That's not the problem."

Angie continued speaking without listening. "Christina and the others will handle the club business while you're gone. I understand you're concerned about that, but you should think about yourself before the club."

Sieglinde tried repeatedly to explain that it wasn't the problem, but Angie wouldn't listen and insisted on continuing the conversation. Sieglinde was now practically begging. She raised her voice and rejected everything. It wasn't like that. That's what she meant. That wasn't the problem. Angie was fixating on the wrong things.

"You know they'll be happy to help you. After all, they're your friends."

That's when she snapped. That's when Sieglinde's mind snapped. For a moment, she completely lost touch with reality. Friends? Friends? They weren't her friends. They weren't her friends. THEY WEREN'T HER FRIENDS. "THEY AREN'T MY FRIENDS!" she screamed with all her might. After a complete lost touch, she had regained her composure and screamed. His throat ached. She couldn't breathe. She was struggling to breathe again. She looked at Angie's frightened and shocked face. She had made a mistake. A mistake... It needed to be corrected immediately. She had to apologize quickly. She opened her mouth, but all he could do was continue breathing. Cold sweat was running down her face. She waited for the woman's reaction.

Angie jumped at the shouting in the middle of her conversation. She was truly flustered. It wasn't the reaction she'd expected at all. In fact, she hadn't even considered such a reaction.

They both remained silent for a few seconds. That awkward silence was so unsettling. They both waited for the other to react. Angie didn't make much noise, but Sieglinde was breathing heavily because her throat hurt from the shouting. They both looked at each other for a while... not knowing what to do or say. Especially Angie. The poor woman was experiencing something like this for the first time in her life. Her entire experience of raising children hadn't prepared her for such a situation.

In the silence, Sieglinde tried to compose herself as quickly as possible. She had to correct her mistake. She had to. She couldn't let herself get carried away for a moment. She quickly coughed and cleared her throat. Then she began to speak. "I'm sorry."

Angie still couldn't make sense of what was happening. What exactly was she in? All she knew was that as an adult, she needed to pull herself together and calm the child. She composed herself and looked at Sieglinde. "You don't have to apologize... You didn't do anything wrong."

Sieglinde didn't believe her words. She didn't understand. She had made a mistake. She had overreacted. She shouldn't have done that. She never overreacted. She felt like she had lost control. She immediately tried to explain and smooth things over. "I was just very tired and that's why I lost control. It's nothing important. It was a momentary lapse of judgment."

Angie looked at her, feeling sorry for her. As she walked out of the kitchen towards her, the girl didn't even look at her.

She was just desperately trying to explain herself. It was a lapse of judgment. It was a momentary thing. She shouldn't have raised her voice... it was just a mistake. She kept repeating these things.

When Angie reached her, she placed her hand on her shoulder. When Sieglinde suddenly stopped talking and turned to her, she looked at her, smiled, and said, "It's alright. Everyone makes mistakes."

At that moment, Sieglinde's eyes filled with tears. Was it really not important that she had yelled? Was it not a problem that she had done something that went against the personality she had strived to maintain all this time?

Tears continued to stream from her eyes. Then came a sniffle, and she began to cry where she stood. She hated crying. Crying had always been a ridiculous reaction for her, but right now, it was the only reaction that reflected her feelings.

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't hold it in anymore." She was crying like a little child. She was truly exhausted. Tired of constantly suppressing herself and not being able to express anything. Tired of thinking about people's reactions and the problems she would face. All she wanted was to cry until she felt relieved. Was she asking for too much? Hadn't she suffered enough to deserve this?

All Angie could do was stand there and listen. If she were her own son, she would give him a big hug. With everything he said, her heart ached even more. Poor girl, she thought to herself. What have you been through...?

"I'm tired of lying. I don't see them as my friends. None of them feel like friends. They're all so close to me, yet so distant. None of them truly love me." She was trying to speak, sniffling and sobbing. She would probably regret it terribly later, but she wasn't thinking about that right now. She just wanted to vent.

"They only love me because I work for the club. Nobody loves me. Not Valt, who helps everyone, nor Christina, the club president. Nobody... Nobody cares about me. I'm only loved when I help the club. Only my case is loved, not me."

Angie wanted to argue back. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. What did she mean nobody loved or cared about her? There were so many people who would rush to her aid if something happened. She was a hardworking person who dedicated herself to the club. It was impossible for people not to love her. She opened her mouth to respond. She didn't even know what to say. She was going to comfort her, that was certain, but she didn't know if she would do it by offering counter-arguments or by calming her down. Just as she was about to say something, she heard what she said.

"He was the only one I could call a friend."

That sentence, uttered in mid-sentence, surprised Angie. What? Someone? Someone outside of all those people? Who was he? She needed to find out, but it wouldn't be right to interrogate the crying girl. Perhaps she should wait for her to tell her.

Her expectations seemed to have been reflected in the girl, because the moment she mentioned that person, the conversation shifted to that individual.

"I thought I finally had a friend. I thought I finally had someone who would understand me. I thought I had someone who would understand me without judging me. I had hoped so much. I had prayed so much, but he lied to me. I hate him. I hate myself for trusting him." The crying intensified because Sieglinde was now pouring out everything inside her. She had even forgotten that Angie was there. She was just spewing out everything in her mind. All her sadness, disappointment, and anger.

"He was really like a friend. He was like my friend. I really thought I could open up to him. I thought he was someone who would listen and understand me. Everything that happened until today was a lie. He was a liar. And I was stupid enough to believe his lies."

Angie placed her other hand on the girl's empty shoulder. Who was he? She was desperate to find out. Sieglinde kept talking about someone. He kept saying "him," but who was he? She looked at Sieglinde and asked, "Who is he, Sieglinde? Who are you talking about? Who lied to you?"

Sieglinde looked at her and sniffled. Tears were still streaming down her face. She was breathing through her mouth because her nose was blocked. She didn't hesitate for a second to say his name. She'd already said everything. Even if she kept it to herself, it wouldn't make much sense.

She sniffled again. Then she took a breath. She opened her mouth to speak, but thinking about him made her emotional again. Just when she thought her crying had stopped, it returned to its previous state. Amidst sniffles and sobs, words came out of her mouth. "Lui... that scoundrel Lui Shirosagi. He lied to me."

"Lui?" Angie said in surprise. She hadn't expected to hear that name. Wasn't he the beyblader, everyone in the club talked about so much? She had seen him very little in his life, but she had heard a lot about him. When her son participated in the Japan tournament, he talked a lot about that boy. She thought she had watched one of his matches, but she couldn't remember what the boy looked like. If she saw him, she would recognize him, but she couldn't figure out who he was just by his name.

"He lied to my face!" Angie snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Sieglinde, who was crying.

"He told me he would come. He said he would come on the day of the game. And you know what? I believed him. I believed he would come. I thought, 'He's not the type to lie. He's the type to keep his word.' I was so stupid. He's the complete opposite. A lying scoundrel."

Amidst her sobs, she began to laugh in anger. Her sadness fueled her rage born of disappointment.

"He promised me. He would come on the day of the game. It didn't matter if we won or lost. He would come that day, and I would finally be able to see him. I really believed it. I really believed he would come. I even thought about opening up to him that day. Can you believe it?"

Her sadness, anger, and deep disappointment were all mixed together, pouring out of her body. She was crying and shouting angrily at the same time. They must have meant exactly this when they said "to vomit," because she was throwing up everything inside.

"I waited for him. I waited for him to come. I waited to see him again, but what did he do? He didn't come. On top of that, he didn't answer any of my calls. I thought maybe there was a problem. I've been waiting for days. No sign of him, no news. He literally lied to me. While I waited for him so long, he didn't even bother to come. He didn't even call. I hate him, and I hate myself for believing him."

Her nose was so blocked she couldn't breathe through it. She was trying to breathe through her mouth while also trying to speak.

"I despise him. I despise the fact that I ever thought we could be friends. I despise every conversation we had. I despise his face. I despise his laugh. I despise the smile that forms on his face when he sees me. I despise every time he pretended to care about me. I despise the day he asked me for help. I despise every time I defended him. I despise every minute I waited for him to come. I despise all the hope I had that he would come. I despise every time I called him. I despise his name. I despise his personality. Most of all, I despise myself because I believed him. Because I thought he could be my friend. I thought he was someone who would do what he said. Because I wanted every moment we talked to never end. Because I thought I could open up to him. Because I thought he was like me. Actually, he is like me. I'm a liar, and so is he. Just like people believed my lies. I believed his. Maybe his existence is God's punishment for me, who knows?"

Angie was speechless in the face of Sieglinde's outburst of emotions. What was she talking about? She never expected to hear such things from her. She was speechless. She even forgot about the food cooking on the stove. She watched the girl, her hands on her shoulders, cry.

The girl's cries and everything she had been holding inside seemed to cling to the cauldron in the cafeteria, burning and mixing with the smell of the meat.

She knew she would regret everything she had done in the cafeteria. She would torment herself for days. She wouldn't forget her stupidity for years. She was stupid. Stupid enough to cry and scream in front of the cafeteria lady, but she didn't care at that moment. At that moment, she was just uncontrollably releasing everything inside her. Maybe she needed to, who knows.

That day, the cafeteria was louder than ever because all the girl's suppressed emotions were being heard there. It was a first in this cafeteria. And it was a first for Sieglinde as well. It was clear what consequences breaking a promise could lead to…