When Shu woke up, he was once again a little disoriented. He remembered battling the masked Bladers, then... huh.

He put his left hand over his eyes and almost recoiled, not finding the burn scar he had given himself while cooking a few years beforehand. He then remembered his situation and sighed deeply.

"You're awake?", a voice asked him. Shu turned towards the voice, only to find Black Eye sitting at his bedside. Shu slowly pushed himself up, noting Black Eye seeming a little distressed.

"Woah, easy there", he said, helping Shu sit up properly and putting a pillow on the headboard for Shu to lean against. Shu muttered a small 'thank you'.

"What happened?", Shu asked.

"You fainted", Black Eye responded. "Giving all of us quite the scare, might I add. You've been sleeping for a couple of hours, Shu."

Shu tilted his head and looked Black Eye in the eyes. He noticed the other teen tense under his stare.

"This is the second time you've used my name. Why?"

"You're not Red Eye", Black Eye said. "You look like him and you have similar mannerisms, but you're not him. The only logical conclusion is that you're Shu Kurenai instead."

Shu couldn't help but be impressed. He hadn't expected anyone to come to that conclusion, but he welcomed it nonetheless. He did like being addressed by his name more than an alias he'd shed years ago.

"I'm surprised. Well, it doesn't matter much anyway. I only have one favor to ask of you", Shu said, noting that Black Eye seemed nervous about Shu's next words. "I want you to continue to address me like this, also in front of the others."

Black Eye seemed very surprised, but nodded. "Of course, Shu, no problem."

Shu smiled. Then he noticed how his head hurt and put a hand on his temple. Black Eye noticed.

"You have a bit of a fever", he explained. "You should take it easy for a little while. Ashram authorized it."

Shu nodded. He took a deep breath and then went to lie back down. He was still really tired, and not all of that came from the battle. Just what had Red Eye been doing to himself all this time? Shu couldn't remember when he'd last felt so terrible.

Black Eye suddenly took off his mask. Shu's eyes widened but he kept quiet. Black Eye smiled at him, gently, kinder than Shu had expected.

"I guess you didn't remember how I look like, huh? Surprised?"

Shu nodded. Dark eyes that seemed kind and warm, freckles on pale skin. Pale not naturally, but from not getting enough sunlight. Red Eye's skin looked the same. Shu wondered how much of this was by choice and how many of the Bladers were here because they had nothing else left. Black Eye seemed like that type of person.

"I don't know what you're thinking, Shu, but you don't have to worry about me or anyone else. Only about yourself, okay?"

Shu nodded, though he had already decided to not do that. Shu wasn't going to let the masked Bladers wither away like this. Though, it might take a bit more work than Shu expected. No matter. Shu was a coach, a coach who'd dealt with difficult cases before, Aiga, Lean, and many others. He wouldn't back down, not now.

Once Shu decided something, no one could convince him otherwise, after all.

Silver Eye was still in shock. Red Eye had beaten him, using a Bey whose raw power did not even begin to match his new Sparking Bey, and had still had enough energy to beat Gold Eye, too. And while Silver Eye liked to think that he was the better Blader of the two of them, Gold Eye was really, really powerful. As exhausted as Red Eye had been, he could not have beaten Gold Eye unless he was much, much more powerful than everyone thought.

The thought scared Silver Eye more than he cared to admit.

After carrying Red Eye to his room, because of course the kid had passed out, Silver Eye had returned to train. Maybe he hadn't mastered the Sparking Bey yet. He was the first of the masked Bladers to have one and his contact with the outside was limited. It wasn't a surprise then, that it had taken much longer than usual to create that Bey.

He launched over and over again, the new launcher still feeling slightly awkward in his hands, until he had to take a break to replace the fluids he'd lost by sweating so much. Gross.

Silver Eye didn't know what time it was but suddenly the door to his training room was opened. Red Eye stepped inside.

The kid looked bad, actually. He was pale, a little flushed in the face, and this time he hadn't bothered to tie his hair up either. Somehow, even though he usually wore it that way, it made him look more disheveled than Silver Eye liked. The kid had also changed clothes, was now wearing black sweatpants and a grey sleeveless top, and on his arms were bandages. Silver Eye didn't know when he'd gotten hurt, but no one ever knew with the kid.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?", he told Red Eye and the kid ignored him and sat down next to him on the bench. He took a long look at the Bey.

"You built it yourself?", he asked. Silver Eye nodded.

"Yeah. Though, I think I made some errors. I had to improvise since I didn't have all the info I needed."

Red Eye hummed softly. "Can I see it?"

Silver Eye hesitantly gave his Bey, his prized possession, over to Red Eye, who, with a surprisingly professional eye, looked at the Bey in detail.

"1S chassis, Orbit performance tip, interesting choice by the way, and what is that layer and chip?"

Silver Eye was shocked. Not only did the kid know all the parts, well not the exact ones, but their functions and names, but he could tell with one glance? He was supposed to never have lied eyes on a Sparking Bey before!

Red Eye seemed to notice his surprise and smiled. "Ashram used me for his experiment, remember? I might not remember much, but I know things I probably shouldn't. Though, don't tell that to everyone, I like to see the surprise on their faces."

Silver Eye nodded. Then he gulped. He'd have to swallow his pride but maybe...

"Do you think you could help me? With my Bey, I mean."

Red Eye's smile was bright and happy. He nodded. "Sure."

A few hours later, Silver Eye had finally learned how to launch properly with a sparking launcher. And boy, Shu, because he insisted on being called by his name, was a strict teacher. He wasn't like Ashram, no, he was encouraging but did not accept useless or careless training and was usually right on point with his timing for short breaks.

And he did all that without once resorting to threats or raising his voice. Sharper tones when Silver Eye questioned his training methods too many times in a row, which was fair, at least to Silver Eye, and glares when Silver Eye questioned his authority.

Still, now Silver Eye thought it was enough. Shu was sick, anyone could see it, but he had still insisted on teaching Silver Eye the Sparking Launch. He had shown it once, at the beginning of their session, and that had been impressive, but now he should go and lie down and not give Silver Eye a heart attack every time he looked like he was going to faint, again.

Shu did not agree.

"You only manage the launch seven times out of ten", he argued. "That's not good enough. I know you can do better."

Silver Eye was surprised at the faith that Shu had in him, because really, Ashram would have made it a threat 'you manage it or you get punished' but from Shu it sounded genuine. He really thought that Silver Eye had the potential to do it and would not rest until it was done. While touching, it was really, really unnecessary.

"You're exhausted, feverish and should not have been here in the first place. Honestly, Shu, just go to sleep."

Shu glared but he had lost the earlier power behind it. He was too tired for it now, or he had recognized that Silver Eye was right and just didn't want to admit it. Either option was possible at this point.

"Go. To. Sleep."

Shu finally sighed. "Alright", he said. "Under one condition."

"I'm listening", Silver answered.

"I want you to find me a Slack Line or something similar. As soon as you can."

Silver Eye raised an eyebrow under the mask. He wanted a what now? But, Silver Eye could do it. Probably.

"Fine. Go to sleep."

Shu nodded, pleased, and slowly left the room. Before leaving, he turned to Silver Eye again.

"That was really great, today, I mean it. You're improving quickly. I'm sure you'll get it down in no time at all."

Silver Eye was a little flustered. Still, he said: "Thanks, Shu."

Shu smiled, warmly, kindly, and left without another word.

Silver Eye sat down on the bench. This was weird. Really, really weird. Not only was Shu weird, because that had been established since he'd arrived at the meeting that morning, but Silver Eye also felt weird. When had someone last helped him out without insulting him, threatening him or pressuring him? When had he last truly felt happy like this at being praised for his efforts?

Why did he not want it to end?

"Come in, Gold Eye", Ashram called. Gold Eye stepped inside, seeming as impassive as he could manage.

"Sir?", he asked. Ashram was still smirking, as always.

"I've been watching Red Eye", Ashram said and Gold Eye stepped closer to see the monitor. Indeed, the camera showed Red Eye's room, and the kid was asleep. Gold Eye found it a little creepy and looked away. "He only fell asleep about five minutes ago. The interesting thing is what he's done beforehand."

Ashram showed a video of Red Eye sitting on a bench while Silver Eye was launching. After every launch, Silver Eye would turn to Red Eye and the kid seemed to be giving some advice. Each launch was better than the last until, at last, Silver Eye's launcher produced sparks. Both Bladers smiled at each other, and Red Eye stood up and they talked a while longer. Ashram paused the video there.

"He's been giving a lot of advice to Silver Eye, who is supposed to be the only one of you to have ever seen a sparking bey. Do you understand what this means, Gold Eye?"

Gold Eye wanted to say something along the lines of 'Yeah, it means that you're still insane' but he bit his tongue. No use disrespecting Ashram unless you had a death wish.

"I'm not sure, sir", he said. Ashram didn't seem to mind. He laughed.

"It means that it worked! Red Eye has knowledge that he isn't supposed to have, intimate knowledge even, if what he's done is any indication. My experiment was a success!"

Gold Eye stayed unmoving. Maybe Ashram had gotten what he wanted but the kid wasn't okay. Not only was he uncomfortable, that much had been obvious, but he didn't remember a thing about the last four years.

Black Eye had said that he remembered mostly what happened before he joined the Snake Pit, but that was it. That was a long period of time the kid couldn't remember. Gold Eye did not know how he would feel in that situation.

For Ashram to say that this had been a success... He really seemed to be going crazy and it scared Gold Eye. He hoped he was wrong, in all honesty, but he knew that he wasn't.

"I need to test him further. Tomorrow, I want you to train with him."

"Of course, sir", Gold Eye answered. "Though, if I may. Red Eye, according to Black Eye's report, is ill. He has a fever and I would recommend at least waiting until he is better before testing him further."

"That would be wise", Ashram said. "Hopefully he recovers quickly. Tell him that from me, would you?"

"Yes, sir", Gold Eye said, knowing full well, that in Ashram terms this meant 'he will soon get back to training and he'd better be ready or else...'.

Gold Eye hoped Red Eye would be okay soon. For both their sakes.