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"Sometimes new bonds are made while making memories. Many unforgettable moments are made while living the life. Don't find a replacement for such memories and such people, they are priceless."

- Harsh Singhal -

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I

t had been a full week since his recovery. Full week since he had started taking meals in the massive dining area. A full week since he started practicing with Norman and there he was with his lunch tray looking for a lone table at the darkest corner where he could hide away and enjoy his time peacefully. The past few days had been hard for him. After the incident with Leo, the albino barely made any contact with him. For a moment, he thought he was an illusion but then again he remembered the words of Norman and Theodore, the third against working for the FBI which made Shu believe Leo is somewhere inside this massive underground construction. Ethan always kept a close eye on him and made him work extra hard but by now, his body was used to the fatigue and it was almost a habit to message the sore muscles on his legs. Simply put to words, Shu knew he was improving.

He shifted from leg to leg seeing his usual table was occupied by two of the trainees from the same course as him, the Requiem Project. He hesitated for a while until Lavender, the guy who spoke up for him and Shu never had the chance to thank, slightly put up his hands and waved at him. Shu looked behind him to confirm whether he was calling someone else and after realizing there's no one behind him Shu quietly inched toward the table and sat down, facing the Lavender Eyed guy and the Melon eyed one. It was funny how they were all working to skin and bones all these days but none of them knew their real names. There were only five of them left in the Project. The rest were terminated, Ethan said for which Shu exactly didn't know how to respond.

"Hi," Lavender said, a small rare smile playing on his lips as he looked at him.

Shu nodded, "..Hi"

Melon looked in between both of them for a moment and snorted, "This is awkward"

The truth was the other four males were older than him, and they were already friends. Lavender and Melon always hang out as a pair while the other two, Slate and Amber, hang out with each other which leaves Shu all alone by himself. But he liked it, besides he wasn't sure how to make friends with people who gave up on the outside world to put their own lives in danger. "I'm Lavender" The male said, stating the obvious, "And this is lemon"

The other scowled, "Mind you, it's Melon." He groaned picking on his food. "My name sounds so stupid"

Lavender snorted, "Mine sounds like a girl's, which is worst"

"At least the other guys don't call you a watermelon!" He countered, shoving a piece of meat to his mouth.

Lavender opened his mouth, as if to argue with the other but at last said, "Fair enough" He turned his eyes back to Shu who was frozen on his seat. "And You're little Red Riding Hood"

"Then Ethan is the Wolf," Melon grinned, drawing out a smile from Shu.

"I guess?"

"You don't have to be scared, we're not going to eat you" Lavender offered, leaning back against his wooden chair. "I mean, you're always alone. Try to hang out with us more"

Shu gripped on his fork. "I hate socializing" He muttered under his breath.

Melon nodded, "I agree, Kid. I agree. Human world" he stopped for the dramatic effect as he finished. "Is a mess"

"It is." Lavender said, sighing.

Shu watched back and forth as the conversation flowed down among the two. In spite of everything going on, Shu forgot that there is a reason for them to be here. Inside this place, betting their own life to some inhuman project. Inside these walls were people, kids, who were done with the injustice of the human world. Who had lost the faith of humanity but amidst all that they were still teenagers stuck inside these emotional bubbles which they call a life. Shu quietly finished the food and the other two had their own conversation trying to make Shu join them here and there. They all walked to put down their trays and walked outside to the training rooms knowing Ethan would be waiting for them inside the training rooms. The past few weeks, they have been practicing launches non-stop.

When they arrived at the room, it was already filled with Slate and Amber talking with Ethan and Shu knew something was up. Slate and Amber had been the best recruits of the course so far. No matter how much they trained or how much torture they went through, then next day the both walked into the room like nothing happened while the rest of them had sunken eyes, dark eyes bags and pale skin. Ethan gathered them all in a circle in the middle of the room, lowering his eyes. "Beyblade" He said, walking around them. "Everyone thinks it is a fun game, right? Like Yo! I'm here to have some fun, let's blade with each other, it's so super fun!" He stopped rubbing his arms together. "Let me tell you, THAT ALL IS JUST BULLSHIT"

They looked at him as he stood in the corner in front of the five identical doors which he never opened. "Beyblade is a fight. You have to go through many things to win one battle. This is not your day to day hometown tournament. This is the Beyblade National Cup we're talking about. Bladers from various countries come in and various things happen and I'm not going to explain it but dirty stuff does happen. Cheating" he talked walking back to them. "Cheating is not something uncommon. Technology strives and people find many methods to break their way to the top and sometimes all these wicked ways go undetected because those ways are hidden beneath layers and layers of secrets and technology." He stopped in front of Melon and pressed his fingers against his cheek. "In here, we don't let any of you use that pathetic excuse, the other guy cheated. That's why" He stepped away from them and pointed at the door. "We're practicing you to go through every different conditions to shape yourself as the ultimate blader" he grinned, "If you fall here, you will meet the same fate as the others"

There was a deafening silence as Ethan gestured at the doors. Shu felt an unsettling uneasiness settling inside his stomach as he walked through the door into a complete white room. The launchers provided to them and to the bey disk, everything was a blinding white. He picked up the launcher and his bey and stood in front of the bey dish, facing the long strip of clear class in front of him which worked as a window. Theodore, Norman and more high ranked masked bladers stood in front of a platform watching them. He saw Theodore's eyes flicker into him for a moment before darting back to another layer. That's when he realized they were mere subjects, experimenting like animals to go through some experiment.

There was another few seconds of silence before the room filled with sounds. Shu almost yelled at the sudden music overwhelming him. It was not the day to day calming music that would heal anyone's inner souls, it was blasting off the speakers, ear splitting music that would straight up ruin our mentality. Shu pressed one of his hands against his ears, squinting at the speakers around the room. The sound was too loud and it seemed to fill the whole room invading all the space. The metallic bursting sounds of the music raked through his skull as he realized, this was their training, more like psychological torture Shu thought bitterly walking to the beystadium. He tried to focus on something other than the blinding whiteness and the emptiness and the ear splitting drum beats echoing inside the room. He tried closing his eyes as the whiteness in the room started to make him uneasy. Almost as if shadows and hideous things revolving around him like the loud beats slowly invading his mindset settling inside his brain as a painful echo. But the blackness behind his eyelids sharpened the sound of the music which seemed to blast louder than before.

Shu snapped open his eyes and took a deep breath, positioning himself in front of the stadium. His eyes ran to the whiteboard hanging with 100 launches written neatly across its surface. He trained his eyes on the bey stadium and took a deep breath, everything seemed to be fine, he was ready to launch, a perfect launch. He had launched several thousand times in the past few weeks, 100 launches shouldn't mean much to him but the horrifying sound which changed into different beats at each second seem to be messing with his focus, slowly driving him insane. Shu stood up and turned around, his back facing the glass where the others observed them. He could already imagine Ethan's grin at his suffering, waiting for him to be a prey, a failure. He walked to the opposite wall and pressed his forehead against the surprisingly cold surface, counting to ten. His face contorted into a painful expression as he tried to regain his focus. He had faced the sound of the crowd, the ear splitting cries of his best friend, this shouldn't be a big deal for him, he said talking to himself. He clenched his fists and walked back to the stadium and imagined he was in a stadium, the audience was screaming their lungs out and compared it to the drumming music which was evoking a headache. He took his stance, and this time, he launched.

Spryzen flew into the stadium and circled around the stadium, Shu watched, trying to focus on anything but the deafening sound which was pounding inside his head. Audience, it was just an audience, he talked to himself picking up his bey as he took his stance to launch again.

---

Valt wandered through the halls, looking for the rest of his teammates. He broke off from them a few minutes ago for a restroom break and now, they are nowhere to be found. The Hazel Eyed boy wandered around the crowded hallways in the WBBA shouting out their names occasionally. He pouted, huffing an annoyed sigh. "Where are they?"

Valt had not been in a good mood the past week. It had all started when they realized Shu had resigned from his spot in the Raging Bulls team. And after that, Shu never called even one of them. Never answered in their group chat, it was like Shu just disappeared into thin air without any trace. Valt always tried to convince himself that Shu is alright. He might be busy with his training. Out of everyone Valt knew how hard the albino wanted to beat Lui and get stronger. Maybe, he's practicing with himself using his time. He turned around from another corner when he spotted a familiar guy from Raging Bulls. He didn't really remember his name, but no harm trying to ask about Shu. "Hiya!" He cheered, walking to the sapphire eyed boy with his usual grin.

The guy gave him a look, "BC Sol?"

"Yeah! Name's Valt Aoi!" He grinned, "You are Di? Duk? Dyran? Or something like that?"

The guy scowled, "Dylan. Dylan Summers."

Valt snapped his fingers, "Right! Anyway, you know Shu?"

Dylan snorted, "Of course, why?"

"How's he?" Valt asked eagerly, trying to get any information about Shu. If he doesn't talk to him, at least he can ask some information whether his friend is fine or not.

Dylan gave him a longed look. The brunette debated whether to speak of the truth of Shu's disappearance or just to ignore the boy. He didn't really see why he had to be an information provider to some loser who kept asking about another loser. So, naturally, he chose the latter option. He glared at Valt one last time before walking away without a word. Valt tilted his head, giving him a confused look. "Did I do something wrong?" He asked from himself, not quite sure about his action.

"Oi Valt!" Honcho's voice rang out, snapping him away from his thoughts.

Valt turned around with a slight pout on his lips, completely disappointed by his attempt to talk with the Raging Bulls member. "What's up with the long look? We were looking for you everywhere!"

Valt just shrugged, "I found that Raging Bulls member. I thought he would tell something about Shu"

Honcho sighed, reaching to pat his locks. "I know buddy. We're all worried, but Shu has always been the quiet type. He's probably training to the big thing" Honcho tried to add some cheer to his voice but he winced at his own desperate sound. The words he was saying sounded like a lie to his own ears, Shu has to be okay, or is he?

Valt hummed half heartedly before smiling again. "Well! Let's go and train too, we can't fall behind"

Honcho nodded as he watched the boy running down the hallway to meet up with the rest of the BC Sol members. The blonde paced around the hallway for a few minutes before following Valt to the training rooms, letting out a soft sigh, shoving his hands inside his pockets.

---

"Hundred" Shu said, launching one last time. Sweat rolled down his pale, almost ash white skin. His ears were numb and the constant beats were pounding harshly inside his head like a never ending roller coaster. He bent down and picked up his bey when the sound stopped at last. The doors behind him opened with a small hiss, Shu closed his eyes for a second, welcoming the silence inside the room. Welcoming the heavenly silence around him. He stumbled his way out when two arms caught him by the shoulder. He forced his eyes up when he saw a pair of Lavender eyes staring back at him in concern. He opened his mouth to speak but Shu cut him off, placing his finger over his lips. He wanted to savour this silence, enjoy it while he has the chance.

Lav gave him a small smile as the both sat down on the floor, leaning against the cold wall side by side. Shu was glad to have some company with him. The others were nowhere to find. Even Ethan has left the training rooms, probably pissed to see him succeed. Finally, after the pouding slowly ceased, the world seemed to be focused around him, Shu spoke. "I'd never be able to listen to music again"

Lav laughed at his statement, "Their song choices were horrible. I barely made it"

"What about the others?"

"Everyone succeeded. Mel said he's going to rest and the other two obviously came out way before us."

Shu fidgeted with the hem of his coat, "Those two are weird. They are like those superhuman fellows in movies"

Lav smiled, standing up. He reached one of his hands for Shu to take and helped him to stand up. "At this point, our whole life is a never ending movie"

"Fair point" Shu muttered, following him to the dorms.

He was not sure how to respond to Theodore when he reached the secret training rooms that night. Norman was there, tossing a gun casually from hand to hand. Shu was at first pissed with Theodore for not stopping that brutal training and then again the albino realized he literally signed up for all this before he came inside, and blaming Theodore for everything didn't seem to be the right thing to do. "How are you?" Theodore asked, as soon as he stepped in and closed the door behind.

"Feeling great" Shu mumbled under his breath.

Norman took another gun from the shelf and examined it closely, "Torture using music. Pretty fantastic way the boss has to train them" He said, walking to Shu with two guns.

Shu glanced at Theodore, who looked beaten and exhausted. A pang of sympathy ran through his mind. Theodore was also trying hard to save all these children from the danger, there is no use blaming something that he cannot control. Shu turned back to Norman as his eyes rested on the guns. A mixture of feelings ran through his body as a shiver ran down his spine. Something inside him stilled seeing the black thing resting on Norman's hand. He had seen guns before, and there was times he had been held under gunpoint but nothing could be compared to the feeling of holding one to the first time, it's coldness creeping through hs skin, the heaviness weighing his bones and amidst all this the familiar feeling of despair overtaking his mind. Shu gulped, "G-Gun?"

Norman raised his brow, "Pretty sure you had seen one before"

"It was plastic," Theodore added from the corner of the room.

Norman clicked his tongue, walking to stand beside Shu. Shu watched as the man stood in a perfect stance, aiming the gun toward the board in the front. His finger moved the trigger and there was a swift moment as he pulled it back. The bullet whizzed past him and stuck on the target in front of them, right in the middle. Shu let out a breath he didn't know he was holding onto. His limbs were slightly trembling as Norman looked at him, "Wanna try?"

Shu just nodded, not giving a verbal answer. He stood in front of the target and raised his gun. He felt Norman walking over and adjusting his posture giving him advice here and there. But his mind wasn't there, his mind was somewhere far away in the past. His tiny hands gripping a gun just like this, the world around him filled with echoing screams and angry shouts. Quite suddenly, he was not standing inside the training room with Norman and Theodore. He was inside his younger body, staring at that hideous thing in front of him. The buried memory replayed inside his mind. Something that should be forgotten, but triggered by the simple thing in his hands, the gun. "..hu?" Someone's voice came, distant.

"Shu?" The voice came again, snapping him out of his trance. Shu blinked realizing that he was clutching to the weapon helplessly. The barrel digging into his flesh, his fingers wrapped tightly against it. "You in there?" Norman talked again.

Shu put down the gun and nodded, "I can't do this. I can't fire this" He blurted out, looking up to Norman.

He wrinkled his brows, looking past his shoulder to Theodore. Footsteps grew closer to him and the man put a hand on his shoulder, "It's fine you don't use it, but make sure you understand the basic things about a gun. It can be useful"

Shu just nodded, immediately handing it to Norman who still looked confused at his exaggerated reaction against firing a gun. Shu didn't want to talk about it either, it was something in the past, something that should be hidden underneath the deep layers inside his heart. "Are you sure?" Norman asked again, "A gun is far more useful than using a dagger or your fists. We don't know what will happen in the future"

Shu looked at the weapon again, feeling the trauma hitting against his mind. "No. Not right now" Shu knew he was just being childish, pathetic. He knew that it was idiotic of him to ignore a powerful weapon like that, but there were some things in life that can't be forgotten. There were some fears in life that can't be ignored. It was just how life worked. It was the way of human mind and soul. Norman gave one of those long looks to Theodore and put away the weapons. Shu knew about that look, it was the look questioning about his capabilities. He looked down at his feet, realizing he's just too far away from proving himself, and right now, he was not quite sure whether he would achieve that goal.