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"Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true"

 -  Ralph Waldo Emerson -

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Christina placed her chin on her palm, looking out from her office window. It had been a day since Free left and the BC Sol team had been going downhill since then. They had their match with BK Nord, a strong team. But right now, BC Sol is at its worst. They have no proper leader and their team spirit is scattered like broken glass. Free was like the backbone of the team. He made strategies, gave them a winning streak and even his presence gave them hope and strength. Christina sighed, remembering her last meeting with Free just a few hours ago. He told her that they would be better off without him and he needed to give the other space. Even though she tried to convince him that he is needed in the team he had already taken his decision. Out of everyone Christina knew Free would never budge when he takes a decision. That's how he had always been, since he was a young boy. Christina could never blame him, because in the end all the decision he takes is for the good of the BC Sol. She remembered his lopsided smile. At the last moment he looked over his shoulder, tilting his head like he always does.

"You all will be fine without me Christina. I can't outshine them forever. They need the chance to shine, to prove others that BC Sol is not all about me. You had been a good manager since the beginning, and this is just a piece of cake for you sis"

Christina shook her head. Her frosty pink lips curling into a fond smile. She stood up from the chair and walked out of her office. A new upsurge of hope swirling inside her mind, and she knew she could do it. Just like Free had said to her, BC Sol just needed some hope and she will give them it. The hope that they needed at the moment.

---

Wakiya walked to the busy lobby of the WBBA. Reporters filled inside, searching for a trace of a BC Sol blader, trying to find reasons. Reasons, everyone wanted reasons for this drastic change. Free De La Hoya transferred to Raging Bulls abandoning BC Sol, which was long reputed to be his home. Simple, Free De La Hoya had left his home. The battle today was a disaster, he saw. BK Nord simply swept the floor with the disoriented BC Sol members. Their team spirit and their optimism was crushed after they lost their leader. He stopped on his tracks spotting Daigo from the corner of his eyes. He took several steps and knocked on the training room door, taking the attention of the raven haired male whose eyes were trained on his tab. Daigo raised his eyes to see Wakiya. "Hi" He simply said.

Wakiya walked to him and stood beside him. Daigo was reading the news articles about the incident and nothing looked good for the BC Sol bladers at the moment. They needed a good leader and most importantly someone to reassure them that everything will be fine. Daigo knew he couldn't do that. He is the leader of AS Gallus and a competitor of the European league. That's why he called up Wakiya. Even Though it didn't seem like it, Wakiya did have a soft spot for everyone in the bey club. Daigo knew that the blonde kept track of everyone in the club and always looked up for their well being. "So" The blonde spoke, leaning against the pillar standing beside the bey dish. "Where are they?"

Daigo gestured toward the exit. "I think they're practicing in the outdoor stadiums. More like fighting with each other again as I heard"

Wakiya sighed, rubbing his temples tiredly. "If I meet Free, I'm gonna get him for all this"

Daigo just shrugged. He knew there should be a proper reason for the blonde to act this way but he couldn't quite place the reason. He watched Wakiya walking to the direction he gestured. Daigo turned back to his bey dish with one thought inside his mind: it would be good if he would be able to convince them to have some team spirit because the match between them and the BC Sol needed to be a good one. Not another moppy defeat without them trying their best.

Wakiya stepped out to the fairly warm afternoon sunlight. He could hear the sound of a bickering coming from a distance. Wakiya walked toward the direction without any much hope, it seemed to him that BC Sol was shattered toward tiny parts. Sisco was yelling as Honcho looked completely pissed. Valt was sitting on the grass, looking up at the duo with a crestfallen face. Now, Wakiya thought, narrowing his eyes. Valt Aoi with a crestfallen face did not match his usual image at all! No one realized his presence until the brown haired kid, as he remembered as Kitt Lopez noticed him. "Wakiya'' He said, grabbing their attention, bringing the quarrel to a halt.

"Wakiya" Valt echoed, looking at him. There was indeed a drastic change. There was no call for battle or the normal enthusiastic greeting with an invasion of his private space.

"What's wrong with you all?"

Sisco raised his brow, annoyed. "In case if you don't know you Blondie, that brat called Free left our team and all of them are mopping and mourning like he died or something"

Sasha clicked her tongue, "Just shut up! You're annoying all of us. You just want to battle and the leader title. You don't know how important Free is to our team!"

Valt just pouted, looking in between them. Honcho sat down beside him, joining him to stare at the others. Wakiya looked at them hopelessly. "You guys are being idiots" He stated, "Free left, so what? Does that mean the whole BC Sol club needs to crumble and disappear? Is BC Sol only about Free? Aren't you all capable bladers? I'm disappointed in this team. I thought BC Sol was worth more than this. Seriously guys"

There was a stunning silence following his speech. Honcho opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, deciding against it. Valt stood up. Wakiya's words give them an upsurge of hope. "Wakiya is right. We need to step up our game and show who we are and what we can do"

"About time" Wakiya mocked, but there was the hint of a smile to his voice. "Get your lazy ass into gear and fight back. That's what you can do to show Free that you all would be just fine. With or without him"

Honcho rubbed his nose. "Goldilocks here stealing the limelight, damn"

His mouth curled into a smile when a voice spoke. "I want to see my bladers rising to the top and standing with a trophy"

Everyone turned to the magenta haired female, walking to them with a small smile. Out of everyone she knew Free the best and all of them were sure that she felt his absence the most, but there she was, reassuring everyone that they would be fine. "BC Sol used to be the pride of Spain. We won match after match but the recent few years had been in chaos until Free won the title of the best blader and then after he left the team everyone had started to gape at us, looking forward to seeing us fall again. I don't think any of you want to please them by making their guesses a reality. BC Sol is not about one person, it's about team spirit and working as one. So, do you think we should fall back now?"

"Heck no!" Honcho cheered, "We're going to win this thing!"

Their doomed, hopeless faces turned into a more hopeful face. The scowls turned into smiles as they looked at each other. Passion burning inside their eyes, reflecting the determination burning deep inside their veins. Sasha turned to Valt, "I don't know about other's ideas, but I think you'll suit as our new leader Valt"

Valt looked surprised, and taken aback by the statement. "But-" He said, looking around to see everyone admiring and approving gazes. "Wait, for real?"

"Yeah" Christina said with a smile. "Why not?"

Sisco clicked his tongue, "I guess I'll agree with that too. Congrats"

"Yeah Valt! You can do this!" Honcho cheered, clapping his back gleefully.

Wakiya watched them, his arms crossed. It was good to see BC Sol back in their spirit again. He looked into the distance where the horizons gleamed, the trees rustled with the breeze flying past them. His sapphire eyes caught the sunlight sparkling them in a healthy gold. Wakiya wondered about Free's sudden transfer. He tried to call Shu to ask about Free, but the albino didn't answer his phone and it was switched off when he tried to contact him just a few hours ago. He hoped everything is going fine in the Raging Bulls. He knew that Shu often kept his phone switched off during training hours. He should try in the night, and he wanted to know what Free gained from joining the Raging Bulls. Theodore as far as he knew is a mysterious man, and no one ever knew his schemes and his mind was completely foreign to the outsiders.

---

The buzzing inside the training room got wilder by each second. All of them were curious about the arrival of the blonde haired blader. It had been a day since he arrived at Raging Bulls, and the only time Shu saw him was the brief eye contact they passed among each other at the training rooms. After Free's arrival everyone was buzzing with an unfound energy, mostly trying to impress the top class blader while Shu was trying to figure out the reasons. He never got the chance to talk with him. Even after his arrival they did not have the time to commence the team because one member was still missing from the team and only god knew what Theodore had in mind about the last member. As Shu guessed, it should be one from the big five. According to his calculations, Theodore only recruited the best and that was it.

He swiped his screen and switched on his phone after a day of practice. He forgot to charge his phone the other day that he woke up in the morning to see a dead battery. After plugging it in, he went for a shower and went through his normal daily routine and came back to see his device fully charged. With a sense of relief he sat down on the bed swiping through the missed calls and messages from his former teammates. A guilty look passed his face when he realized that there were eighteen missed calls from Wakiya. His message app was flooding with messages asking about him, concerned whether he's okay or not. He immediately tapped on the call button, ready to hear a long lecture from Wakiya after a day of inactivity.

There was a brief pause before the tune of the ringing tone filled his ear. After a few seconds, Wakiya picked up, immediately yelling at his ear. "Excuse you mister Kurenai! Where the hell have you been?"

Shu winced at the sound, and held his phone away from his ear waiting for Wakiya to finish his yelling. "Oi! Are you still here?" Wakiya finally asked, realizing the lack of sound from the other end.

"Yeah" Shu simply said, muttering an apology.

He heard Wakiya clicking his tongue. "Never mind. Are you keeping up with the battles?"

Shu hummed, leaning against the headboard. "I saw. Are they OK now? They have their match against AS Gallus tomorrow right? Daigo's team I think..."

"Yeah" Wakiya said, heaving a sigh. "Their defeat against BK Nord is humiliating but they are back up on their feet. The next match is not going to be easy to AS Gallus."

Shu smiled, "That's a relief"

"How's there? I mean with all Free De La Hoya visiting Raging Bulls and randomly becoming a member and all?"

Shu folded his knees against his chest, placing his chin on them. "It's hard to wrap my mind around everything. He just suddenly popped in and now is a superstar in the club. I don't see him much. He usually hangs out in his private dorm room or just goes out in the morning"

"You didn't even battle with him?" Wakiya asked, a hint of surprise in his tone.

"Nah" Shu replied, "Still didn't even properly talk with him. He's a weird guy."

Wakiya snorted. "Tell me about it"

"Wakiya" Shu quietly said, his mind debating over the fact whether he should talk about it or not.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think, or even get the feeling that something is happening? Like why would Free suddenly join this team? The battles of the European league suddenly changed as I heard. The old traditions are now changing so suddenly."

"I thought so too" Wakiya talked, after a moment of silence. "Don't beat yourself up to it though. I'm sure they are just trying some new stuff. Everything is changing after all"

Shu hummed, "Yeah, I guess"

After that, the duo just exchanged their opinions about the battles and after a friendly goodnight hung up the call. He was about to place his phone on the nightstand and go to sleep when Ethan entered the room. Quite surprisingly he was late than usual. "You," He said, turning to Shu. Shu just blinked stupidly trying to figure out for whom he was talking to.

"Me?" Shu asked, pointing at himself.

Ethan nodded, turning back to the door, "Theodore wants you. Come on"

Shu didn't reply. He just silently followed the older male toward the private area of Theodore Glass. He had never been to this part of the building where Theodore's private quarters were. It was strictly forbidden to all of the members to enter that place. Shu felt a chill running down his spine as they stepped out of the elevator to the red velvet carpeted corridor. Grand Chandeliers hung from the ceiling in certain intervals among them. He followed Ethan, looking around. Artworks hung from the white coloured walls. The room was dimly lit with a pleasant yellowy light. They took a few turns and stopped in front of a wooden carved door with a gold ancient type doorknob. Ethan knocked on the door twice as a muffled sound of come in echoed. Ethan opened the grand mahogany door and entered, Shu following closely behind. They walked into a large room. The scent of Vanilla caught Shu's nose mixing with a hint of cinnamon. The room was fairly lit and was coloured with a light ash. In the middle of the room stood a bey dish. Glistening against the white light of the room, standing out above all the other ornaments and decorations.

It is after that Shu focused on the occupants of the room. There stood Free De La Hoya with Theodore Glass, right beside the grand polished coffee table. Theodore walked to them upon their arrival. He thanked Ethan and informed him that he can take his departure. Shu silently watched Ethan leaving the room, closing the door behind him with a silent thud. Shu turned back to Theodore, who beckoned him to Free who looked bored as usual. Shu felt his palms sweating and wanted to rub them together so badly but decided against it because of the company. What did Theodore exactly want with him? And in the middle of the night after everything? As if reading his mind, Theodore spoke. "I brought you here to have a battle between you and Free."

Free was already standing beside the bey dish. His expression was clear: he wanted to get this over with. Shu fished out his bey from his pocket. Ethan surely did not inform him about any battle, but after the incident with Dylan he always carried his bey with him which was a good thing under the given circumstances. Shu stood on the opposite side of the stadium facing Free. He never underestimated his opponents and he was sure as hell not going to underestimate Free De La Hoya, the top blader of the world.

Both of them took their stances. One of the butlers of the quarters entered the room to work as a referee. Shu raised one of his brows seeing the launcher at Free's hand. As he heard, Free rarely used his launcher but when he does he's ruthless. After the countdown the two launched their beys. Spryzen and Fafnir glided across the stadium gracefully as Spryzen immediately snatched the center, circling around it. That's when the ruthless attacks of Fanfir started. As he suspected, the gold and black coloured bey gained more stamina with each clean hit while Spryzen was drained out to it's core and finally ended up dead on the stadium.

"Survivor finish" The referee called, "One point to Drain Fafnir"

Shu picked up Spryzen, calculating the time inside his mind, already coming up with a strategy. He had to attack fast and hard just like he did with Wakiya in the nationals. Aside from that, Shu knew that Fafnir was invincible. It's strongest element was that the power grew with time. Shu positioned himself for a Crux Boost and the countdown began again. Just when the two beys were launched, Spryzen attacked, not sparing a minute for Free to calculate or realize what's going on. Spryzen's blow was clean and clear and soon Fafnir was out of the ring.

"Ring out finish, one point to Legend Spryzen"

Shu looked up to see Free's burning gaze forced upon his skin. His deep mysterious eyes seemed to have a hint of admiration which was there for only a mere second before it disappeared into thin air. Theodore was just watching: his face was blank as a white paper. The third match was longer than Shu liked. Free had already figured out his quick attack that the former dodged them skillfully, waiting for an opening. And the next thing Shu knew was that Spryzen was in three pieces, lying in front of him like the broken pieces of a shattered glass. Free looked straight at him, "Your skill as a blader is admirable. But you're still an amateur in this field"

Shu just stood there for a few seconds, speechless. His mind processes the words of the world top in front of him. He didn't reply to any of that, instead he bent down to pick up his bey waiting for Theodore to make a comment about the battle.

Theodore was silent for a long time, and when he finally spoke it felt like hours had passed. "The battle was quite impressive," He said, looking at Shu and Free. "You two are dismissed"

Shu blinked, raising his brow in a questioning manner. He knew Theodore was a man of few words but he never expected him to just summon him to his private quarters just to have a humiliating defeat against Free and dismiss him like some thrown away trash. But Shu said no more, he followed the man's advice and walked out of the door. He didn't register Free's silent footsteps until he turned around to press the buttons of the elevator. He watched silently as the blonde walked in, an unnerving eerie silence settling among them. "You're from Japan?"

Shu flinched at his sudden question. He did not expect the blonde to talk to him at all. Shu wordlessly nodded, glancing at Free for a brief second before turning his head back to the grey metal doors of the elevator. Free just hummed, falling silent. There were no other conversations as they walked along the dimly lit corridors to reach the doom room. Funny enough Free was in the dorm room beside his own which he shared with Ethan. Free was supposed to share his with the anonymous last member of the team. Free stopped in front of his door and pulled out the keys. Just before he walked in, he looked over his shoulder. His dark eyes held a flash of admiration. "About your skill" He said, stopping Shu dead on his track, readying himself to hear another criticism. "It's admirable and you're a blader with potential. You have so much space to grow. Don't let yourself stop in the middle of the journey. Reach toward your destination because it's always the best"

Shu just stood there, uncertain of what to make of his comment. The cold ice between them seemed to shatter a little as Shu found the courage to ask, "Why did you leave BC Sol? Valt and the others were there, and they would certainly make a better understanding team rather than ours. I mean, it's your home right?"

Free seemed to consider his question a moment. Shu instantly regretted asking the question when Free turned to him, his expression unreadable. "BC Sol is my home, yes. But the opportunities for me to grow have lessened with time. I'm a blader, and it's natural for me to seek more challenges in life. I wanted to try out some new things, battle with new competitive bladers." He merely shrugged, "That's all"

Shu hummed, giving him an understanding nod. "Thanks, for the advises I mean"

Free nodded, walking into his room. "Go to your room and sleep. It's probably past your bedtime kid"

Shu huffed watching Free's lips curling into a soft hint of a smile. He walked past him with a simple goodnight, and opened the door. Ethan was sleeping, his blankets thrown over his head that only his flock of dark hair was visible. Shu climbed onto his own bed thinking about Free's statement. Shu was not going to let himself stop in the middle of his journey, he wanted to see the end, see himself standing there in the world stage, and he certainly wanted to achieve that dream.