Requested by @0Dontmindmehere0. Hope that you like this story.

No one really understood Free De La Hoya. He always felt that everyone hated him. Ever since he was a child, people had always tormented and bullied him. No one had wanted to be friends with him.

He just didn't understand what he had done to deserve this treatment. People told him that he was a weak and useless blader. At first he had ignored them, but now he felt that maybe it was true.

But Free couldn't appear weak, or else his tormentors would become worse. So he would often save his mental breakdowns for when he was alone in his room or the bathroom. Sometimes he would scream, other times he would cut himself.

Some of Free's teammates had noticed that something was off with him, but no matter how many times he was asked if he was okay, Free would either snap or ignore them.

However, there was one person who Free could actually talk to without feeling judged. That person was Lui Shirosagi.

Lui and Free had met a few years ago when they had battled for the first time. Lui had taken interest in the blonde after that, so he started spending quite a bit of time with him.

At first, Free had ignored Lui, just like he did to everyone else. But it wasn't long before he started to trust him. Although Free wouldn't admit it, he enjoyed spending time with Lui.

However, as time went on, Free's mental health rapidly decreased. His mind was so messed up from all the hatred people had sent him that he was close to becoming insane.

Something else was happening at the same time. Free always had a layer of dark energy surrounding him, fueled from all the negativity he had received over the years. Free hated it. The dark energy made him act aggressive and feel unreasonably angry. But strangely, the stronger the dark energy became, the more powerful he became.

Free didn't understand how it was possible, but it seemed that this dark energy was fueling his power. He had become one of the strongest bladers, but that didn't seem to satisfy him.

Free was terrified of losing as he was afraid that it might make him look weak. So he started to train twice as hard and use more of his mysterious power. But that didn't help matters.

Free got more aggressive and started doing strange things. If he got close to losing in a battle, he would bite his arms in secret. People noticed the bite marks and questioned him about them, but Free would just snap at them. Sometimes he would try to convince others (and himself) that everything was fine, but deep down, he knew that it wasn't true.

Lui's POV

Something is up with Free. I heard that he had blocked everyone from his contacts. He hasn't spoken to anyone for a week, and nobody knew where he was. He seemed to have vanished into thin air.

But for some reason, he hasn't blocked me. I must admit, I was surprised. I have always considered Free my best friend, but he hasn't said the same for me. Not that I minded. I used to be pretty rude when I was younger, so I never minded putting up with Free's peculiar attitude.

Still, if I am the only person that Free hasn't blocked, that means that he trusts me enough to keep in touch with me. But why would he block anyone? I have to figure this out.

Three hours later, I found out something shocking. I had gone to BC Sol to ask about Free. The team owner, Kris, told me that Free had been ignoring everyone for a week, but it was his behaviour beforehand that was concerning.

Free had been acting strange and aggressive, and he had bite marks on his arms. I don't know why, but I had a feeling that those marks didn't come from a random wild animal.

I had to find Free and figure out what was wrong. I took out my phone and sent a text to him.

Where are you? We need to talk now.

I wasn't sure if Free would even reply, but to my surprise, he did.

I'm in the forest outside BC Sol. Meet me there.

I had never given the forest a thought. It felt strange walking through it. It wasn't long before I spotted Free by a bey stadium. He was looking down with a blank look on his face.

I went up to him. "What the heck is going on? Why have you blocked everyone except me? Are you nuts?"

Free just stared at me with dead-looking eyes. I started to feel scared. "Please, Free, I need to know what is wrong. I can't help you unless..."

"Lui, you have to help me," said Free. "I'm depressed, and you're the only one I trust."

I was stunned. I had always assumed that Free was just emo. I had no idea he felt this way.

"What happened? Why are you depressed?" I asked.

Free told me everything. I was shocked to hear about all the horrible things people would call him, the dark energy surrounding him, and the fact that he had been biting his own arms (it had never occurred to me that those bite marks were self-inflicted). "Oh Free," I said. "You should have told me earlier. I could have helped you."

Free started to cry. "I... I felt helpless. I know that I should have said something, but I didn't want to appear weak."

"Free, you're not weak," I said. "You need help. And it's a good thing you have told me, because I could help."

Free looked at me. "Can you really help me?"

I smiled. "Well, I'll try. But I'm sure that we can get through this together."