Requested by: Carly_Cake, fair warning, I have never written a Tsundere before, so please bear with me.

Again, I am so sorry for the wait, life is hectic at the moment and I'm doing the best that I can, and that's all I can really do.

It was actually done a while ago, and it was a bit longer, but I wasn't satisfied with it and changed a lot of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCLZi_ZQmcc

Listen to this while reading please.
😁😁😁😁

Enjoy!!

--xx Avanni Cinders

Your father's 'second job' was of no secret to you, and admittedly, that's what you were working towards. On the past occasion, you had accompanied your father to Mexico, to take look at the 'family business.' You had been able to witness first hand just how brutal the training regime for the Bladers at the Snake Pit truly was, and you had to admit that it had mesmerized you. The passionate dedication and hard work that went into each and every individual was a stunning feat, and to be able to meet some of the Bladers in charge, Gold Eye and Silver Eye in particular, had you in awe. You had barely stood inside the temple for more than twenty minutes, and you had already come to a firm decision, one that would shape you for a long time to come.

This was it for you, this is what you wanted. To be apart of something like this, something so huge, to don a mask and become a snake. This was what you yearned for.

And then you heard that Richard Yello had been initiated, and that's when you had lost it.

'Why?!' You exploded, throwing open the door to your father's office so hard that it slammed into the wall behind it.

'Can I help you Y/N?' Your father asked in that annoyingly arrogant drawl of his, not even bothering to look up from the paper work he was looking over.

'Yeah actually, you can,' you snarled, stalking across the room and slamming your hands down on his desk. 'Want to tell me why chose Yello of all people?'

'I am failing to see what the issue is here,' was his only response.

'I'm five times the Blader he will ever be, five times at least!' You sneered, curling your fingers into claws, white hot fury burning through your veins and arteries, your nails leaving grooves in the dark oaken wood of his heavy desk. 'I am the best damm Blader you have on this team, and you let him of all people wear a mask?!'

'You are acting like a child-'

'Exactly! A child!' You bellowed, not caring about the tone you were taking with the man who had sired you. 'I am your fucking child, I am your daughter, and I have had to spend hours and hours working my ass off just so I could feel like you were proud of me! All I have ever asked for is your love, to feel like I've meant something to you, and this is what I get?! Why can't you at least admit what a fucking disappointment I am so I can at move on from all of this?! Don't I deserve that much from you, dad?!'

'Are you quite done?' He asked softly, raising a brow in condescension, folding his hands in front of him.

'Yeah,' you panted, red faced, feeling better having finally gotten that off your chest. 'Yeah, I'm done.'

You turned and left the room, closing the door with a soft click behind you. You were able to make it to the elevator before your tears started fall.

There was no more 'Teddy,' or 'Daddy Dearest,' after that. And true to your word, you were done. Aside from throwing a water bottle at Richard Yello's head the next time you saw him in training, you had moved on from trying to please Theodore Glass. Sure, you continued to Blade for his team, but you were done with proving a point to him, you just couldn't anymore.

But that didn't mean that he was done with you. Shortly after having said what you had been holding bottled up inside of you for so long, someone new joined the team, that someone being Shu Kurenai. And what did that feel like?

A knife. An old and rusted knife slowly digging in and being twisted painfully in your heart. Because no matter what, he was your dad, and he could still hurt you. It was nothing big and flamboyant, but you fancied that you knew the man well enough to recognize his barbed little play when you saw it.

'You are nothing. You are replacable. There will always be someone better.'

And you knew full and well what he was up to by scouting Shu Kurenai to join the team. Someone who had lost, having put in so much hard work only to suffer such a painstaking defeat. Someone who had had their hopes and dreams well and truly crushed.

The Japanese Blader ticked all of the boxes as someone who could be moulded into the perfect little minion. And that's exactly what putting on the mask entailed. Training. Brainwashing. Manipulation. You had no delusions left to suffer. That's exactly what being a snake was in a nutshell, and Theodore knew all too well how choosing Shu Kurenai would make you feel. How choosing him over you, his very own daughter, would make you feel. And despite having your rose tinted glasses stripped of their illusions of grandeur, there was still a small and dark part of you that craved that form of acceptance. A part of you that you hated, but at the same time, you couldn't deny that it was still there. Still apart of you.

"Honestly, I don't even know why Mr. Glass recruited him," you loudly remarked one day during training, making sure that Shu was well enough in earshot. "It's not like he won his Internationals, he didn't even come second. Why would a Blader like him be worth scouting?"

One of the other Bladers, Dylan Summers, sniggered at your observation, as did several others. The majority of your teammates had been thoroughly disenchanted with your newest Blader. So far, he hadn't done anything to gain your respect. Rather, he had just shown up, and suddenly all of your trainers seemed to be ready to ask how high should he ask them to jump. Not even you, the rich girl daughter of the team owner had behaved that way. You had made sure to commandeer their respect from the get go in a display of strength, and your little ououtburst towards Richard had only served to further cement your position at the top of the team's hierarchy, and there was no way you were about to lose all of that thanks to some upstart.

"You can start passing commentary like that, once you've won as many BeyBattles as he's had Y/N," your trainer chided, and you turned your narrowed gaze onto him.

"Oh I have as many victories under my belt as him," you sneered back, folding your arms and returning his stare unflinchingly. "And in case you've forgotten, I'm the one who keeps leading us to victory, not Kurenai, who's basically a rookie when it comes to the world stage."

The man glared down his nose at you, before huffing his indignation and turning away from you to critique Richard's launching technique, much to your petty delight. Smirking, you wiped away the light sheen of sweat that had formed on your brow as a result of your intense training, and sashayed over to where Shu was jogging on a treadmill.

"It's true you know," you said in a sing song voice. "You don't deserve all the five star treatment that you've been getting so far."

"Oh yeah?" Shu panted, his red eye's flickering over to where you slouched against the control board of his treadmill. "And what makes you say that?"

"You haven't earned it, Kurenai." You replied simply, shrugging a shoulder.

"And you have, Glass?" He put emphasis on your surname, making you grind your teeth in response.

"Hours, Kurenai, I put hours and hours, night after night and so much more just so I could even be worth a spot on this team, a spot I'm always working to keep." You glowered, standing up from your slouch and leaning in so no one else could potentially over here you. "You think I've got it easy because I'm related to the owner? You have no bloody clue about how wrong you are, and if you think for one second that I'm going to just sit down and let you walk here and take all of this away from me? Then you're going to be sorely mistaken."

"You are a very angry person," he casually observed.

"Knowing you've pissed me off and then saying I'm mad is like stabbing someone and realising that they're bleeding." Came your quick retort, one with only the slightest edge of hostility. "Do yourself a favour and keep in mind that Glass senior's favourites change as often as I change my clothes. Enjoy the special treatment while it lasts, because I guarantee you that it won't be around for long."

Much to your frustration, things around the skyscraper really did change, and not for the better. Your relationships with Shu and your father most certainly did not improve, and for seventeenth birthday, Shu was made team captain. Things only got worse from there, especially when Free De La Hoya was finally poached from BC Sol.

'How stupid can they get?' You thought angrily. 'Am literally the only one who can see what he is doing?'

With Shu and Free on the team, it was just the three of you that made up the face of the Raging Bulls, and with the rumours of Joshua Burns being your father's next target? It wasn't hard for you to hazard a guest as to which of you would get knocked down a spot. The tension between the two boys was palatable to say the least. It seemed like your harsh words had finally gotten through to Shu, and the white haired male had realised your father's true nature, now that a Blader who was by far more valuable had come along.

But everything changed when Shu challenged Free to a battle.

You watched on in silence, shrouded in the shadows of the balcony, not wanting your father to be aware of your close presence. It was inevitable really, the outcome of the battle. So why did you feel so damn bad when Shu lost? More importantly, why did you feel the urge to defend him, when your newest teammate only began to rub salt in the wound? But you had no time to ponder those unusual feelings, as your father approached the kneeling Shu once Free had walked away. A cold kind of horror began to work its way up your throat, when the silken tones of your father reached your ears and you realised just what he was offering him, and the feeling only worsened when you heard Shu's response.

"I'll do it," he spoke lowly. "I'll do whatever it takes to be the best."

You had to hold onto the wall for support when you saw an unnatural red glint in his crimson eyes. It wasn't jealousy you felt, nor was it hatred or bitter spite. Instead, it was dread and  sympathy at the thought of whatever it could be that your father had in store for your white haired teammate.

There was no way to accurately describe how you felt in that current moment. Scared. Conflict. Anxious. Fearful. And that was barely scratching the surface.

You knew perfectly well what your father was planning. Whether he had purposefully recruited Free to trigger Shu's darker side or not was still a mystery to you, but you could care less. No matter how planned out all of this was, it had worked, and your father had gotten his hooks firmly into Shu. It was painfully obvious that Shu was to be the next Snake Pit member initiate, and that your father wasn't about to let him go without a fight. The battle with Free had been the very last straw, the exact thing that was needed to push Shu over the edge, and into what could only be described as a dark downwards spiral wrought with pain and chaos. That is, if you failed to save him.

It would be easy enough to set him up, to use him as your own puppet in his current vulnerable state. All you would have to do is play your cards carefully and your father would play right into your hands, and then that mask would be as good as your's. It would be so simple, so hilariously simple, and with one fell swoop you would have won this long drawn out war between yourself and your father. But the mere notion of going through with the act caused hot feelings of shame to burn in your belly. You couldn't do it, you wouldn't do it. There was no way you would stoop down to his level.

There was one problem though. If you wanted to get Shu out from under his thumb, then you needed to move quickly, which left you with a very small time frame. Bringing you to where you currently were.

Knock knock knock.

"Y/N?" Shu's sleep laden voice greeted you as he opened the door to his room and stared at you bleary eyed. "What's wrong? What time is it?"

"Late," you replied hurriedly. "Very late. Look, you have no reason to trust me right now, but your going to have to if I'm getting you out of this mess."

"Wait, what's happening?"

"I don't have much time to explain," you urged him. "Please Shu, just listen to me and come with me, we need to go."

You weren't sure why he decided to listen to you. Maybe it was because you actually used his name for the very first time, but whatever it was, you were grateful.

"Okay, just let me get changed first and grab Spryzen."

"Fine, but hurry." You snapped without meaning to, growing more and more antsy by the minute.

"So what's wrong?" Shu pressed on once more, shrugging on his jacket and clicking his door closed behind him.

"To put it short, you're in danger," you explained briefly. "I need to get you out of here and I don't have much time."

"Then shouldn't we go to your dad?"

"He is not my dad," you bit out testily. "And he is the problem."

"How is he the problem?" Shu prodded, having move quickly in order to keep up with your brisk pace, even as you navigated the darkened nighttime version of your skyscraper home. "He's helping me-"

"No, he's not." You stressed, resisting the urge to stop and shake him until his teeth rattle in favour of continuing in your escape. "Theodore Glass is a cunning and manipulative asshole of a man who seeks only that which will benefit him in the long run. Trust me Shu, you can't believe a thing he says."

"And how do I know you're not lying to get rid of me?" Shu countered, and you had to admit that he made a good point. "Maybe you're as cunning an manipulative as you call your dad?"

"Again, he is not my dad," you repeated angrily, stopping abruptly and spinning to face him with hellfire burning fiercely in your eyes. "A dad is meant to love their child, to play with them and give them attention instead of pawning them off on a nanny to raise. They're meant to show them affection and what it means to be loved."

Shu took a step back, surprised by the vehemence in your tone and the hurt in your voice as you poured out to him what he strongly suspected was the truth about being brought up by Theodore Glass.

"That man you call my father," you continued after a long pause. Your earlier conviction was gone, and instead it was replaced by defeat and exhaustion. "Is a cold, heartless bastard who can't even remember my own birthday, and I'm done with trying to make him happy. Something I should've stopped trying to do a long time ago."

"Why are you helping me?" Shu asked quietly after it became apparent that you had nothing more to say.

"Theodore Glass has another name," you told him finally, and it felt weird to actually voice the notion aloud. "Ashtem. He's the head of an illegal organization known as the Snake Pit, and for along time I wanted to be apart of it. Earlier when he asked if you were willing to do whatever it took to become the best?"

"He wants me to join him." Shu finished, a look of understanding washing over him.

"He would have had taken you from your bed, probably by Richard Yello, otherwise known as Yellow Eye." You continued nodding grimly. "He always says that you're there by choice, but I've seen it Shu, I've been there. He fills your head with silver tongued words and empty promises, and if he starts to lose his hold on you? He brain washes you."

"That's crazy," Shu muttered, looking like he might throw up. "You can't be serious?"

"I wish I wasn't," you frowned, sympathising with the shock that accompanied the dark revelation. "And I'm done Shu, I'm done with Theodore Glass. He can't have you, which is why we need to get you out of here."

He looked conflicted, before giving away to a hard acceptance. It was then that you realized that Shu Kurenai actually trusted you, and it was a cold realization when you came to comprehend the fact that no one had ever trusted you before, let alone with something as important as their safety. A new sort of determination began to course through you, and you swore to whatever deities that might be listening in, that you would do absolutely everything in your power to get this boy out of here and do your damnedest to endure that he got some place safe.

You grabbed him by the wrist, and started to run with him towards the elevator at the end of the hall.

"Isn't it locked at this time of night?" Shu asked, probably having assumed that the two of you would have been taking the stairs.

"Not if you have an all access pass," you informed him, slipping a small laminated piece of card out of your pocket. "It's quicker. I stole it from the reception desk this afternoon, the lady who normally works there is a friend of mine."

"Nice," Shu acknowledged, as the two of you skidded to a halt, and you waved the card across the scanner. It flashed green, and you and Shu slipped inside, and you hit the button for the basement floor.

"Why the basement?" Shu wondered as the elevator began to decend.

"The lobby has too many security cameras, and the front doors are locked. " You said, bouncing on the balls of your feet, unable to stay still for any long measure of time, not with all the adrenaline that was pumping through your system. "The basement is for underground parking, there's only one or two cameras that are easy enough to avoid, and a maintenance door you can slip out through."

Shu opened his mouth as if to say something, but the elevator doors dinged open before he got the chance. Pulling him along once again, you dragged him though the parking lot, which was almost barren with the exception of Theodore's limousines. Having scoped the place out earlier that afternoon, it was a simple enough task to avoid the probing eyes of the security cameras, and it wasn't long before you came to the aforementioned maintenance door that only cleaners used, that would serve as Shu's escape route.

"Hang on a second, would you?" Shu demanded as you approached the door.

"We don't have time to hang on for half a second," you bit back, fumbling for the pass. "At any moment now, Glass is going to realise that you're gone and he's going to start looking for you."

You had barely finished speaking when you scanned the security card, only for the light above the lock to flash a startling shade of vermilion, and for it to let out short beep of warning.

"Shit," you swore, flipping the pass around and desperately scanning it again.

"What's wrong?" Shu asked urgently when the light flashed again and you let out a stream of harsh expletives.

You ignored him, and pressed the button against the lock. "Security override G - V - H, oh- sixteen, beta class Y/N Glass."

There was a following beep, and the light flashed a much more pleasing shade of orange.

"Orange? What does than mean?" Shu probed, looking more and more freaked out by the second.

"I used my clearance to bypass the alarm and security measures," you  explained hurriedly, standing up from where you had knelt and backing away from the door. "It waves the alarm but it won't let me out of the building, it's so I can't get out."

"Why didn't the card work though?" Shu hissed, fingers tousling his snowy hair.

"He knows," you realised, a cold horror wrapping you up in its unforgiving embrace. "He knows you're gone and he's shut the place down."

"How do we get out then?"

But you were already working on a solution.

"What're you doing?"

"Getting you out of here," you replied shortly, thankful you had chosen to bring along your partner. "Stand back."

Shu did as you instructed without hesitation, watching on in curiosity as you took out your own red Bey and clicked into your launcher.

"What Bey is that?" He wondered.

"Shadow Bull," you told him, getting ready to launch. "Modelled it after the club's original founder's Bey."

"Isn't that-"

"Let it rip," you grunted, tearing out your ripcord and launching your Beyblade mid air. "B-b-b-b-b-b-bull!"

Shu was taken aback as Bull shot through the air like a bullet and shot for the door. You grabbed him roughly by the collar of his jacket and pulled him to the ground alongside you, holding up your other arm to protect your head. There was an impact, followed closely by a splintering as the door gave way. Once it was silent, you cautiously raised your head and twisted around to glance at the wood, which now had the perfect shape of a large bull's head punched through the wood.

"Let's go," you said, jumping up and pulling Shu to his feet. You pushed him through his newly formed escape route, and held up your hand to catch Bull as it returned to you.

"What about you?" Shu asked from the opposite side of the Bull's head.

"What about me?" You frowned.

Shu rolled his eyes and huffed. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to run back up to my room and pretend I was there the whole time," you informed him seriously, and took another card from your pocket, and pressed it into his hands alongside the passport you had stolen from Shu's bedroom earlier that same day. "This is my platinum card, it's linked directly to my bank accounts. Take it and get out of the country. Go to Spain and meet with Kris Kuroda, you're friend Valt Aoi is there. Or go back to Japan, anywhere but here or Mexico."

"Won't you get into trouble?" He pressed.

"I'll say you stole it," you waved away his concerns. "I can get a new one, but you need to go, and you need to go now."

"Come with me?" Shu demanded suddenly.

"What?"

"Come with me," he repeated forcefully, looking seriously into your eyes. "You'll only get hurt staying here, Glass will know it was you who helped me, so run away with me."

"I can't," your face fell.

"Why not?"

"I- I don't know how to do anything else." You admitted, face falling.

"You don't know how to do anything but stay with someone who's emotionally abusive?" Shu threw at you, making you start with the truth of his words. "My parents are the same. They wouldn't even notice if I went missing, so I know where you're coming from. I know what it's like Y/N."

"I- how?"

"By saying yes." Shu beseeched imploringly, taking your hands in his own and giving you a begging look. "Please Y/N, please."

"I..." You trailed off, honestly scared of the possibility of what would happen if you were to say yes, and actually agree with what he was saying. You were terrified, but at the same time, you were excited. Excited with the prospect of running away with the mysterious Shu Kurenai, and beginning a brand new life. And with the tantalizing opportunity being dangled right in front of you, you couldn't bring yourself to say no, and give up what could be the start of something great. "Yes, okay, yes. Let's do this."

"Then let's go."

Shu helped you climb through the door, and for the very first time in your life, you genuinely felt free of your father and the prison he had kept you in for so long. You barrelled down the street, and the air biting at your cheeks had never felt cleaner, and the stars above you had never looked clearer. And when you looked over at the red eyed man beside you, it was as if you were seeing him for the very first time.

He made your heart beat faster, he made you feel alive. And never did you think you could thank him, for bringing you back to life.

Idk, what did you guys think of this one? Like I said, I know what a Tsundere is, but I don't exactly know how to write one. 😅

I basically just used a checklist I found online:

A Legitimate Reason for the Character's Abrasive Nature

The reader's desperation for their father's approval, which they never get. They finally talk about how they feel, only to receive a not so subtle 'get fucked.'

Archetype

Transition from the abrasive nature to one that was more loving and caring.

In this case, the reason for this was the possibility of the person the reader 'hated' getting put into very real danger. (And we all saw what Shu went through as Red Eye.)

Relapse

The relationship didn't constantly reset the process of abrasive to loving. There was potential for a reset when the reader could have turned Shu over to their father, or not gone with him. But ultimately they didn't and all was good in the end.

Sorry if this wasn't what you wanted.
😅