The morning sun crept through the tufts of clouds in the sky, the fragile winter sun rays hit the ground as the snow sparkled giving the garden of BC Sol an ominous glow in the dawn of the day. Inside the building, alarm clocks rang and bladers began to wake up. Their soft voices echoing through the empty halls. Some of them were still huddled under their blankets looking longingly out of their dorm windows at the snow, despite the faint sunlight, the air was cold.

Honcho buttoned up his coat, looking at his two friends — Valt and Shu, getting ready. The hazel-eyed male was pocketing Valtryek, the weather didn't matter for the male, if someone asked him for a battle, he would say yes even in the midst of a blizzard. "I'm starving" He announced, dashing to the door. Honcho watched after him fondly.

"That guy never changes, does he?"

Shu smiled, "That's Valt for you" He said, shoving his hands to his pockets walking towards the door. There was no trace of Valt in the hallway. The two didn't mind, this was the normal routine, and the pair knew they'd meet Valt in the cafeteria when they arrived.

Sure enough, he was there. Talking with Ange by the counter, his breakfast tray — the omelette still steaming was there in front of him as the male talked. Kitt was beside him, yawning as he half-heartedly listened looking through the tables where the other members were already having breakfast. Honcho and Shu took off their coats and hung it by the entrance before walking in. The heater kept the temperature inside durable and comfortable. Maybe it was because of the season and the cold, these few days Free often visited the cafeteria. One could see him sitting by his usual seat near the window looking out and tuning out the rest of the world.

Or maybe, just randomly interfering in the conversations too, Shu thought huffing to himself walking to his best friend by the counter. Ange greeted him with a cheerful good morning and then someone screamed.

Everyone felt silent as they stared at Sasha, her eyes wide on the ground beside her. She was still holding onto her tray, her face turning into disgust as she jumped away. "Damn it" She cursed, slamming the tray on the table and backing away. Shu couldn't see what elicited the reaction, but she looked disgusted rather than scared.

"What is it?" Ange asked, tilting her head to see the cause.

"A spider," She muttered. Free was leisurely watching the creature as it crawled across the floor in oblivious pleasure. He didn't see the reason why she was making a big fuss about it.

Beside the counter, Shu froze. "What?" He whispered to Honcho beside him. The blonde grinned, unaware of the albino's terrified tone.

"That happens" He said, "The forest is just beside this place, so Spider lurk in quite often"

Shu grimaced, watching Free stand up. To his absolute horror, he picked up the spider from his bare hands and placed it carefully on the window sill. "I'm going to wash my hands" He then said as he had done the most normal thing in the world and walked towards them, then ducked into the kitchen.

Shu didn't know whether to be impressed or appalled by this action. But the good thing is the Spider was not on the floor and if he sat away from the window, there was a good chance he wouldn't be meeting that spider anymore. Bless Valt's hypercrative personality that everyone soon forgot the incident. He sat himself in the cornerst chair, far away from the said window to enjoy his breakfast when Free came back in and flopped into his chair, his eyes briefly brushing over his crimson.

Shu offered him a smile for which the blonde nodded. He had rarely seen the male smile though he did see it quite often yesterday when they were alone. The breakfast was uneventful. Shu excused himself and placed the tray on the counter to make his way back. He didn't have any plans for the rest of the day, he would make up some along as he went. At least that's what he thought, but when he turned to walk toward the door, he stopped dead. All the colour drained off his face.

A black spider, the size of his palm was right on the floor in front of him. "Shit"

Kitt was the next one to notice it, the younger didn't seem to be concerned about the insect. He rounded the creature and walked up to where Shu was standing. "It's not poisonous" Kitt said, taking his attention, "If you're wondering"

Shu didn't move but flicked his gaze to the kid, pursing his lips. He shifted it back to the spider now moving forward. The screams died in his throat, that happened a lot. When he was simply petrified, Shu finds himself shutting down, his mind going blank that the only thing he could do was to stand and stare.

"Shu?" It was Valt calling to him from where he was sitting, making Shu suddenly aware of all the looks he must be attracting, reminding him he was still inside the cafeteria, and everyone one still in there and now probably interested in this frozen guy right in the middle of it staring down a spider. Someone tapped on his shoulder, Shu turned to see Free, his dark gaze on the spider, then on Shu. For a long second, the albino just gaped at him. In the next panicked second, he stepped sideways and stood right behind Free, his hands grabbing the older's strong arm.

Free blinked, "You're-" he stopped realising the simple truth behind those wide eyes, taut brows and pale face. "You're scared of spiders?"

Shu tightened his grip in reply. Free smirked, leaning down on him with a teasing smile. "You are, aren't you?"

He glared, his eyes narrowing down on the blonde. Despite his headstrong personality, Shu didn't let go of Free's arm, nor did he stepped out from his position behind him. "It's a spider!" Valt suddenly interfere, centering the attention to himself. He looked at his best friend, holding onto Free and now staring at him. "Don't worry, Shu" He said, "I'll get rid of it" They had been friends long enough for him to no Shu's absolute fear about this creatures.

His idea was pure — he only wanted to save his friend, but his method was flawed. Valt — trying to follow Free's method of catching the spider, took a swan dive towards it. The creature, fearing for his life, crawled forward and Shu shrieked, dragging both himself and Free another couple of steps backward, his back colliding with the counter and Free stumbling back with him.

Free felt like he had become Shu's personal shield at this point.

But he wasn't complaining.

Ange was not impressed. She sighed, "Kids, calm down." She said, "The spider will go on it's own way if you decided not to bother it"

Shu didn't seem to believe her. Heck, he didn't even seem to calm down. Free felt a hand on his waist and looked down to see Shu's pale snowy fingers curled on his shirt, grabbing a handful of the fabric in process. Honcho held Valt back from launching another reckless attack.

"Let me go, I'll go and take it away," Free said, genuinely worried, feeling Shu trembling. He was looking alarmingly pale, at this point he was concerned Shu might actually pass out.

Shu shook his head, pressing himself to Free. "No"

Free sighed, "Then come with me we can take it off"

"No"

Sasha was standing on her chair, amused as she watched everything unfold with a safe distance. Honey had climbed up Rickson and looked terrified as Shu. Free didn't know whether to be amused or exasperated. But when he looked at the male clinging to him, his eyes wide like a surprised kitten who was ready to dash, he didn't have the heart to say anything.

"On a count of one to ten how sure are you all that this one's not poisonous?" Honcho asked, extending his fan and patting the ground beside it, no movements.

"I don't know," Kitt said, "Nine? Eight?"

"I ain't taking chances" Honcho said, "I'm still young, I don't wanna die"

"Wait" Valt looked alarmed, "This thing can kill you?"

"Maybe," Kitt said, shrugging. Little did they know the conversation was draining the life out of the albino standing. He was generally scared of spiders, but hearing that this one might be even more dangerous was chilling.

"It's not poisonous," Free confirmed. He turned to Shu again who was staring at him. "Are you going to let me go or-"

Shu was already shaking his head. Free turned to the others, "Pick it up and throw it away" Valt was the only one willing to go for the battle. He closed in on the spider. The whole cafeteria was silent as their brave warrior readied himself for maybe the most challenging assignment he had participated in his life.

His noble cause was to save his friend.

But alas, the spider was faster than his clumsy fingers. Everyone watched in pindrop silence as it hurried towards Free and started crawling up his leg, the blonde didn't even flinch as it reached his shoulder and unfortunately skipped its way onto Shu's shoulder. The albino didn't scream, he didn't even dare to move. His grip on Free slackened as he felt the tiny arms reaching to his bare neck.

"Shit" Valt said in Japanese. Everyone liked to convey their deepest feelings in their native language, and Valt was not an exception.

Free spun on his heel and stopped noticing Shu's expression. That was beyond terrified. His skin was rivalling the snow outside, even his rose pink lips had lost their colours. His crimson eyes were on him, glistening under the warm lights in the cafeteria, widened by the pure shock and fear. To make the matters worse, he was openly trembling. Free didn't waste another second, he reached to his neck and picked up the insect. Rickson jumped to open a window as the blonde flicked it out for good. It had caused enough chaos for a day.

"There" Free said, but he didn't have the time to say anything else. Shu's body slumped forward, Free caught him by the elbows by pure reflex balancing him with his strong grip. "Are you okay?"

Shu was blinking rapidly to chase away the tears collected in his eyes. "I can't feel my fucking legs" He murmured, sniffing.

Free blinked, he didn't understand what Shu just said because he was not well-versed in Japanese but by the looks Valt and Honcho gave Shu, he might've cursed. The spider-created silence was there for a couple of moments before someone burst out laughing. They all turned to see Sasha, losing her balance and toppling to the ground still laughing.

Valt snorted, not bothering to stop the laughter bubbling through his throat. The whole situation had been too hilarious for him to stop. Shu let his hands drop by his side and balanced himself pulling away from the blonde muttering a thanks under his breath. By now, the whole cafeteria was a laughing mess. It was not mocking or teasing, but rather friendly. They all were laughing at how ridiculous the whole situation was, especially the spider who just crawled his way towards Shu.

Free stared at everyone tearing themselves over laughter when someone chuckled beside him. He turned to see Shu, joining in with the others. The initial fear disappeared as the colour returned to his face. Free was pretty sure he had rarely seen him smiling, much less laughing which he never did.

It was such a beautiful sound, the blonde thought. He thought it was beautiful the way the edges of his eyes crinkled, the way a tiny dimple appeared in the corner of his left cheek, the way his eyes almost closed as he laughed, his cheeks and the tips of his ears flushed red. It was refreshing to see him happy. Seeing him smiling when all he had seen of him was how Shu hid himself in a random corner and read. As if he wouldn't belong here with the others.

"Jesus" Sasha sat on the floor, wiping the tears from the corner of his eyes. "That was hilarious"

Valt was panting, "I'm sorry, Shu" He said turning to his friend, "I really tried"

Honcho finished chugging a jug of water, "Can't blame a man for trying"

Everyone had stopped laughing by now. Deciding it was the time to go and train, many of the bladers started walking out. "Didn't you stay in Mexico?" Silas, who had been quietly watching everything unfold asked, looking at Shu. "Weren't there plenty of spiders there?"

Shu shrugged, "Never seen them there. I was inside the Snake Pit building, rarely outside" It had been a while since he had been able to mention that place without flinching in a casual topic like this. But the subtle dread it brought over every time he did mention it never left.

"Right" Valt said, standing up and dusting his pants. "But next time, I will rescue you"

Shu smiled, "Thank you" He found it weird no one was making fun of him in the situation. It was a common fear, but the teasing was inevitable —most of the time anyway.

Shu finally turned to Free who had been staring at him for the last five minutes. "What?"

"You really are beautiful, you know?"

Shu pursed his lips and this time without flushing and looking away spoke with him, "I'm pretty sure I didn't look like Britney Spears when I was cowering behind you"

"I'd say that was kind of adorable"

Shu scowled, "You're weird"

"I don't know," Free shrugged, "Is that the way to talk to the person who saved your life?"

"You didn't save-" He stopped, "It wasn't poisonous" he tried again, "So, how-" He stopped again, wrinkling his brows.

"Give up" Silas said, "You can't argue with that person and win"

Free gave him a blank stare, "Maybe you're just not witty"

Silas slammed his palm on the table and stood pointing an accusing finger at him. "What the hell did you say?"

"You heard me"

"Here we go again" Sasha mumbled, sitting back on a chair with exhaustion.

Silas opened his mouth to speak again but Free had moved on from that conversation and now was occupied with talking to Shu. "You owe me"

"What do you want?"

Free thought for a moment and turned to him with a suggestive smirk. Oh no, Shu thought, Oh fucking no. "Let's go out tomorrow"

Shu blinked, tilting his head, "Are you-" He looked at the others helplessly, "Is he-"

"Are you asking him on a date?" Sasha yelled across the room, surprised by the blonde's boldness.

Free tilted his head thoughtfully as if it was a new idea. Sasha decided maybe he was not bold, but blunt. "Oh, do you want to make it a date?" He asked, looking at Shu who was turning crimson at an alarmingly fast pace.

"Why are you asking me!?"

"Oh my god" Rickson said, ruffling Honey's hair. She was still clinging to his leg, her eyes darting across the walls looking for danger.

"I know I know" Sasha said, "Boys are so ugh"

"Don't quote songs" Rickson advised, guiding Honey out of the door. "We're leaving"

"Imma stay back and watch the drama unfold" Sasha waved them off and turned back to the situation. Free was staring at Shu and Shu was staring back at him but he was doing a bad job of it. From the tip of his ears to his cheeks his skin had turned to a deep shade of red. The last time she checked his skin was white, not red.

Valt broke the silence, "You should go, Shu! You didn't get the chance to look around the city yet"

"Yeah, and you're leaving next month, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah I guess," Shu said, uncertain.

"You're not staying for the award ceremony?" Free asked, puzzled. It was the custom of the WBBA to organise the awarding ceremony in the place where the champion stayed which meant this time it would be here in Spain like the last time and the time before when Free won the international championship over and over.

Shu shook his head, "Not planning to"

"I said for him to stay" Valt bemoaned, "But he wouldn't listen"

"It's his choice" Honcho ruffled his hair.

"Then let's go tomorrow?" Free asked, changing the topic. The blonde didn't have anything planned for the next few days and it had been boring in here, especially when he was not allowed to battle for more than a couple of hours because of the injury he suffered. He would rather go out and visit some of his favourite places. It had been a while since he went out to the city at all.

"Okay" Shu said, "Let's go"

Valt cheered loudly, "You'll love it!" He said, "There are so many things to see"

"I sure will," Shu said, humouring him when Cuza entered with Carl. His face painted with worry. The boy seemed to be mad, specifically with his bird.

"What's wrong?" Sasha asked, observing his crestfallen face.

"There was a Spider climbing through the window of the hallway and he just went up and gulped it down. The poor thing"

They all stared for a dead second and Free went, "Let his soul rest in peace"

And just like that, everyone lost it again. 

I just wanted to write a oneshot now I'm writing a whole damn fanfiction of this ship. WHY