Shu came to in a white space. He put his head to his temple. It hurt. When he took his hand away and looked at it, he saw a little scar. A burn.

Surprised and shocked, Shu checked himself over; short hair, less scars, red glove and pink and blue clothing. He was himself again. He felt strangely relieved.

"Before I sent you home, little thing, there's someone I would like you to meet."

Requiem's voice was strangely reassuring in the unfamiliar place, but Shu still wondered. Who?

"Hi", a voice greeted him. A voice much more familiar than anything should be. Shu turned around and came face to face with himself. Or a version of himself anyway. Long hair, scars, and a tired and cold look on his face that could only come from time in the Snake Pit.

"Red Eye."

Red Eye smiled. He looked nervous, much more nervous than a Snake Pit Blader could afford to be.

"Yeah. It's nice to finally properly meet you, Shu."

Shu was at a loss for words. He had never expected to get to meet Red Eye. He had wanted to, of course he did, but he had never expected his wish to come true. And he had not expected Red Eye to be such a shy person.

"I honestly never thought I'd get to meet you", Shu admitted. He wasn't sure if he should step closer to the other teen, or if it was better to not startle him. They really were awkward.

"I saw you", Red Eye said. "Saw you leading, fighting for your Bladers. You were amazing."

"Amazing? What did you see?"

"We didn't switch souls, like you assumed. Or that's what Requiem told me", Red Eye smiled a little. "Your soul was in my body but my soul was floating freely through the different timelines. I saw our other selves. Some who did what I did, some who followed your path and some who were completely different all together. And, most of all, I watched you. Your leadership, your courage and your strength. You impressed me, Shu."

Shu wasn't sure what to make of this. He blushed under the praise, used to hearing the words, but unused to the sincerity and softness of the voice. Red Eye noticed this and seemed to shy away himself.

"Well, I was surprised about you, too", Shu admitted. "I didn't know there was a possibility to stay for prolonged time in the Snake Pit."

"When you have no place left to go home to, this sort of thing tends to happen."

Red Eye sounded bitter, sad and Shu cursed himself for mentioning this. Still, he stayed calm.

"I'm sorry. I'm just... well, a little nervous about the dark. I've been a little unsettled by the pitch-black darkness in the Snake Pit."

"Let me guess", Red Eye said, a voice laced with dark humor. "You're claustrophobic, too?"

"A little", Shu said.

Both of them sighed and then, as if they'd made out a signal, they both said.

"Requiem."

They looked at each other and then burst out laughing. Shu couldn't remember when he'd last laughed like that. Before the chaos with Lean, maybe?

Red Eye calmed down first. He looked at the sky, or the equivalent of it.

"I can't really remember the last time I laughed like that. Before all of this, maybe."

Shu's heart broke for the teen. Shu had been freed, freed from pain and darkness only shortly after falling into it. Seeing that it could have been different, that this teen had suffered, really hurt. Shu had always been too empathetic. He had learned early to ignore it.

"What even happened?", Shu found himself asking. "The Valt I know wouldn't have given up, would have tried forever to get his friend back."

Red Eye lowered his head. He looked so sad, broken. Shu wanted to hug him. He resembled Lean so much right now.

"Valt's will didn't last long. Honestly, Shu, your will is much, much stronger than you give yourself credit for. Valt gave up. About a year after I left, he gave up and never tried anything again. And I don't have to tell you about our parents."

Shu winced. His parents were a sore spot, especially once he realized they hadn't wanted him, only some kind of prodigy child they could show off. Too bad Shu lashed out at them. Hard. Honestly, he had been very, very close to punching his father in the face when he last saw him. When was that? Two years ago?

"I see. I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?", Red Eye smiled. It didn't reach his eyes.

"I'm not sure. Maybe I feel guilty, that I managed to get out and you didn't."

Red Eye looked at him in surprise. Shu avoided his gaze. He did feel guilty, and he felt sad, but Red Eye didn't have to know all of that.

"Ashram drove empathy out of me", Red Eye started. Shu looked at him. "At least I thought so. Now, I'm not so sure anymore. I saw you teach, you know."

"You did?"

"Yeah", Red Eye nodded. "And watching you I always had such a warm feeling in my chest. I saw you with Fubuki, Aiga, Lean and all the other kids. I saw you be comforting, kind and still authoritative. I wondered where it came from and concluded that it was your compassion, your empathy, that made you do all of this. I wished to be able to do the same."

"I think you can", Shu whispered. "You're doing it right now."

It was Red Eye's turn to be completely caught off guard. He stared at Shu, crimson meeting crimson, asking 'are you sure?'. He seemed so nervous. Shu stood straighter. If he really was that comforting and kind teacher Red Eye saw in him, he needed to act like it. Now.

"You've been nothing but kind and supportive of me right now. What makes you think you can't do it?"

"I'm not a leader. Not sure if I ever can be."

Shu saw the fear, the pain in Red Eye when he said it. He didn't think he could keep people from following a dark path. He had no confidence at all. Shu stepped closer.

"You don't have to be. Not all teachers are leaders, Shu", he whispered. "I can call you Shu, right? It seems more appropriate."

Red Eye, Shu, laughed. "Yeah. I don't really want to be Red Eye anymore. Not sure if I even could, considering your little stunt."

That startled a laugh out of Shu. The young leader was happy to see that the other was feeling a little better. Both of them managed to calm down after a while and another voice joined them.

"Troublemaker? There you are. I was starting to worry."

"Spriggan!", Shu yelled and ran to jump into his partners arms. So they really were somewhere in between worlds if he could now touch his partner. Spriggan caught him and placed him carefully in its arms. The other teen seemed slightly confused but also happy.

"Your partner, huh? I should have known."

"You, little thing, are going to stay quiet. Honestly, my troublemaker didn't manage to give me half as many headaches as you did."

"Sorry about that."

Shu looked between them, wondering just what had happened in the time he was in the Snake Pit, but he decided not to mention it. It would probably cause something big to happen, and Shu was not ready to deal with that. Not when he was finally going home.

But first, there were other things to take care of. He gestured to Spriggan to be let down. His partner shrugged, what a human way of communication, and let him down. Shu went to hug his other self.

"W-What?"

Shu hugged him tighter. "I'm sorry for all that you went through. But I know you'll be able to realize your dreams. So, believe in yourself and become the man you wanted to be."

Shu felt the other teen shake in his arms. He hugged back, tears making their way onto Shu's shoulder. That was okay. Sometimes, a good cry is all you need.

Shu himself felt tears burning in his eyes. It was too much. Too much had happened, too much was still left to be done. Too many children had suffered for too long.

His other self was the first to separate them. His hands were still firmly on Shu's shoulders. He was smiling.

"Thank you. You've already done so much for me and for the others. We will make full use of the gift you've left, I promise."

Shu nodded. He felt proud. At least he'd helped someone. Even if back home there was still one who he had not managed to help even in the slightest...

"You're thinking of Lean, aren't you?", his other self asked. Shu nodded. "Don't worry. You've shown what you're capable of. Sooner or later, you'll get through to him."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because, as I said earlier, I saw you. I saw you train them, fight for them, give them all they needed. I know you're capable of so much. So, do me a favor and take your own advice; Believe in yourself."

Shu nodded again. His other self's eyes looked so much brighter now, hopeful and it made Shu smile.

"We'll probably never see each other again", he said, softly. "But, for what it's worth, I don't think I'll ever forget this."

"Neither will I", the other Shu promised and they hugged again. They were interrupted.

"While this is all very touching, little ones, you have to get home now. Otherwise, well..."

"Don't scare them, Requiem", Spriggan said. "But he is right, Troublemaker. We have to leave."

Shu nodded. With a last look at his other self, one last smile, he jumped into Spriggan's arms and they were off.

For a better future. Both of them believed in it.

Red Eye, or maybe he should start referring to himself as Shu now, woke up with a pounding headache. That itself made him want to smile. Being a bodyless, weightless being for a week was really, really weird.

"Hey. Can you hear me?", someone spoke. Gold Eye?

What have you done, Shu? He sounds actually worried about me.

Shu opened his eyes. The light was blinding and didn't help his headache. He saw everyone standing over him.

"He's coming to, huh?", Silver Eye said. "Wake up, sleeping beauty."

"Shut up", Shu muttered and sat up.

"Yeah, definitely our Red Eye", Black Eye commented, slightly amused.

Shu looked around the room. A battle had just ended, he was sure of it. Ashram was holding his bleeding nose. Shu's hand throbbed.

Shu stood up to stand over Ashram. Ashram flinched.

"I know that my dear other self has already given you a taste of his mind and therefore I will hold myself back. However, if you ever, ever dare to attack us or anyone under our care, you will feel my wrath. Are we clear?"

Ashram nodded, seemingly unable to form words. Shu had never noticed how easy it was to use words to intimidate people. Not until he had watched his other self, that is.

"I think that's enough intimidation for today, Red Eye", Gold Eye said, gently leading him away from Ashram. Shu breathed.

"Shu is fine, you know?", he whispered, shyly and quiet enough so that Ashram wouldn't hear. Gold Eye smiled.

"Of course. We were planning on taking the next flight to New York, do you wanna come with us?"

Shu nodded. "I'll go pack."

Gold Eye told him to meet back in an hour and Shu quickly made his way to his room. Or, what was left of it. He was under no illusion that his other self had gone easy on anything.

Everything was cleaned up. When did he have time to do that? And there was a suitcase on the ground, all of his clothing and other possessions had been put inside. Shu smiled.

He noticed that there were some things his other self had left out and Shu was left to the decision what to take with him and what to leave. It didn't take very long. As he was done, he sat as his desk and noticed that next to his phone, there was a piece of paper. He opened it. It was a letter.

Hello Red Eye or Shu or my other self. Not sure how to address you honestly. I think I'll stick to Red Eye for now, okay?

So, hi.

I'm sure you have questions for me. I also have a lot of questions for you but you won't be able to answer, so I'll content myself with this.

So, I will first introduce myself I guess. My name is Kurenai Shu, and I am the owner of the New York Bulls. I am a coach and a leader, and have been for over three years. Weird, isn't it? Considering where you've spent your time...

I don't mean to sound condescending or anything. I am genuinely confused. I don't think I would have made it for as long as you have. I still wake up in cold sweat when I dream of the Snake Pit. I guess you're a pretty strong person and I admire you for it. Sometimes I feel rather weak.

Shu clicked his tongue as he read that paragraph. Weak? His other self was anything but weak. He was strong, determined, and just great all in all. Shu wished he could have told him.

You're a Snake Pit Blader even now. I wonder why. Has no one told you to quit? Has no one tried to show you light? Have you never felt that what you're doing is useless and painful? Because I did. When I was Red Eye, I knew that what I was doing wasn't helping. But I didn't know where else to go. I needed revenge or so I told myself. I ended up realizing it after Valt beat me. It also helped that I finally found out how to beat Spriggan's possession. I'm not quite sure what you did, but I'm told that I can be quite scary when I get serious like that.

Anyway, I told you I was a teacher, right? Well, most of my students are great. All sweet and strong and my heart is full of pride for every single one of them. You wouldn't believe how it feels. My protégé, especially, is amazing. He was so shy and unsure at first and now he's just as much a leader of the team as I am. Sometimes, he feels more like family than my blood-family ever did. I hope you have someone like that. Or maybe, you'll find people you can call family. I sure hope so.

Shu smiled. I will, he promised. That would be his new goal for now. Happiness. That might be harder to achieve than anything else he'd ever tried to reach. Shu wasn't a quitter, though. And hearing his other self so full of pride and happiness at the mention of his students. Well, Shu couldn't remember when he'd last felt such a soft warmth in his chest.

I don't have too much time, so I'm sorry the letter will end up pretty short. I know that nothing I could ever write would even come close to answering all your questions but well. I had to try. As a last thing, I wanted to write this down even though you might never be able to answer me.

One of my students, a young one, barely twelve, is on a dark path. His raw power is unimaginable and I have not managed to rein it in. I feel like a failure. He reminds me so much of how I was before and how you must be now. I don't know what to do anymore. Anything I do seems to backfire spectacularly. He even broke Free's Bey and as Free and I have become good friends over the years this distressed me. (I know it must be weird to read this. That I became friends with such a rival of ours. He and I have a lot in common. Maybe in your timeline, it could be similar.)

Maybe you would know what to do. Or maybe I am just hoping that my quest to help him isn't hopeless. People have told me I don't know when to quit. I guess that's true. Don't know if it's a good thing right now.

Shu frowned upon reading this. He was so desperate, so distraught. Why had no one, none of his friends tried to help him? It seemed as if this wasn't a new issue. Shu vowed to never let a friend, especially if that friend happened to be a teacher or mentor, suffer in such a way. And he prayed that his other self would keep fighting for a while longer. With all the change he'd brought to the Snake Pit, Shu would be surprised if one little kid was too much for him.

This would now conclude my letter. I have to prepare for my little rebellion tomorrow. Or is it today already? I lose track of time a lot. I hope that whenever you get to read this, you'll feel happy and safe. Or at least a little bit. You might have nightmares or doubt yourself but, trust me, it is worth it. You have to keep fighting and you'll end up finding yourself being a person that you can be immensely proud of. I know you can do it. And, I am proud of you.

Best wishes from your other self!

Kurenai Shu

Owner of the New York Bulls Beyblading Team, second ranking Blader in the world, and known as the Crimson Flame.

Shu held the letter close to his chest as a tear fell down his cheek. Someone was proud of him. And he knew that his other self wasn't lying. They both had that in common; they didn't lie to spare others' feelings. They lied to protect from true harm. And even then, they mostly used the truth. The truth was more of a weapon than people realized.

When Gold Eye came to get him and they left together for New York City, Shu was more hopeful than he'd been in years. He knew, deep down, that everything would be fine.

He was home. It was not a place, not a person either. It was his feeling to be himself. To finally have freed himself from the chains.

Thank you, Shu, he thought, looking out the window of the airplane. For everything you've done for me and for the others. I hope you'll succeed, too. You're amazing, you just have to realize it for yourself.