"You want to do what?" Norman asked Ashram. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

"I want to visit New York City and the Bulls. Is that such a strange thing, Gold Eye?"

Norman shook his head. "No, of course not. It's just... you haven't been there for a while. You've mostly let Red Eye handle everything. So I'm just wondering..."

Ashram was just putting on his necktie. Norman sat in the back of the room, watching. Ashram trusted him, so Norman was the only one who really knew about his plans. For now. It seemed as if Ashram had a lot of trust in Brown Eye as well, though.

"You know how teenagers are, Gold Eye." Ashram chuckled. "They are stubborn and always want to do their own thing. Red Eye is no exception. And he is in a position of power. Reminding him of authority might help in the long run."

If only you knew, Norman thought, wanting to shake his head. He's been abusing his power for a while. Abusing of it to get rid of you.

Norman didn't say a word as Ashram walked away from the mirror to take his jacket from the chair. Ashram didn't put it on immediately.

"Then again, Red Eye has always had a stubborn streak, hasn't he?"

Norman didn't say anything. It was true. Anyone who knew Red Eye could attest that. He was stubborn, powerful, manipulative and smart. A dangerous combination. Norman still wondered what Ashram had been thinking, giving someone as unpredictable as Red Eye the reins of one of the most powerful Beyblade teams in the world.

It was like asking to be betrayed.

"How long will you be gone?" Norman asked.

"It depends," Ashram said, smirk ever present on his face. He was so sure of himself. Always. "It's really up to Red Eye. I'm just going to be observing him for a while. Seeing how he leads the team, how his Bladers act with him. You must have noticed how he is in interviews, right?"

"What do you mean?"

Ashram looked in the mirror again, watching Norman only from the corner of his eyes. He trusted Norman, but Ashram was a prudent man, nonetheless. It was why the WBBA had never noticed anything amiss with the charismatic and involved man, even though he had given up his team. It was why Ashram had taken care to build up his empire before carefully trapping every important WBBA official in his web.

"He smiles often, don't you think? He praises his Bladers, he shows engagement and a leadership ability that makes people often forget how he got his position in the first place. It's almost... deliberate."

Norman gulped. Ashram didn't pay much attention.

"Then there's also the issue with his training methods. You must have noticed how he speaks about training. He is open, experimentative. You'd almost think he was openly denouncing the Snake Pit's way of doing things."

"Surely he has just been trying to keep his cover?" Norman tried to reason.

"Perhaps." Ashram shrugged. It was a strange movement to see on him. "But there is also the possibility that he has been getting... ideas."

Norman felt a chill run down his spine. The pause Ashram had made, the way he was trying to talk around the topic. He wanted Red Eye gone. Or, at the very least, not at the top of the New York Bulls anymore.

"What if he doesn't do as you want?" Norman dared to ask. Ashram's smirk seemed to get impossibly wide.

"Well, then he'll have to learn his lesson, won't he?"

Norman didn't bother asking anymore. He didn't want to know what could happened to Red Eye. He didn't want to know what Ashram would do to a traitor. He'd warned Red Eye. Now, the kid was on his own.

Norman stood up and grabbed the suitcase that was next to the desk. 

"Who will take care of the Snake Pit while you're gone?" Norman asked while handing Ashram his suitcase. The man took it and didn't seem to think even for a second.

"You, of course, Gold Eye. I trust you. Don't disappoint me."

"Of course, sir."

Ashram left, with a last wide smirk. As soon as he was gone, Norman all but collapsed onto the bed. This was bad. Really, really bad.

And for some reason, Norman had a feeling that nothing would be as it was before.

---

Shu had been greeted quite happily by all of his Bladers. They had laughed, and had thrown themselves at him, and he'd almost fallen under the weight of eight six-year-olds. Shu only laughed.

He was really, really happy.

Now, though, Fubuki and Cathy, the two in charge of the first team, led him up to his office. Shu wasn't allowed to look, so he let himself be dragged blindly through the training centre of his team. The blindfold was disorienting.

Fleetingly, he thought he would never let anyone in the Snake Pit do that to him. He would never trust any of the Bladers down there to lead him without hurting him or trying to get rid of him. It was sad how little trust he had in them. His Bulls were luckily much different.

"What are we even doing?" he asked them. They seemed to giggle.

"It's a surprise," Cathy teased. He sighed playfully. That made them laugh.

He knew they would soon arrive. He knew this building like the back of his hand. He'd spent a lot of time here, after all.

Fubuki let go of his wrist. Shu heard the door open. Cathy gently guided him inside.

Fubuki was behind him, hands on the blindfold. He carefully took it off.

"You can open your eyes now," he whispered softly. Shu took a breath, and opened his eyes.

"SURPRISE, SHU!"

Shu was startled by the joyous yells of his Bladers. Everywhere were his Bladers, all throughout the room. The surprise wasn't just his Bladers, though.

There were presents of all sizes scattered all over the place. Packages of all colours, with shiny ribbons and sometimes even little cards on them. They were on his desk, his chair, the couch, the shelves, the ground. The places without presents were those where his Bladers had decided to stand. They had thrown confetti all across the room. They had the brightest smiles on their faces.

Shu looked up, only to see a banner hanging there reading: "HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY, SHU!"

Shu was speechless. All of this, for him? He didn't know what to do.

"You weren't home for your birthday," Fubuki explained shyly. "So we decided to leave all the presents here and to wait for you to come home."

"You guys...? All of this... ?" Shu asked, almost breathless.

"It's the least we could do," Daniel, the first Blader who had accepted Shu as the leader when he'd first taken over, said. "With all you've done for us."

Loud agreements went through the room.

Suddenly, Cathy walked in front of him. She stared at him.

"Are you crying?" she asked. "Guys! I think he's crying!"

Shu was crowded by his team, all asking if he was okay. Shu felt the tears on his cheeks, but instead of sad, he felt so, so incredibly happy. He wiped his tears away with his right sleeve.

"I'm okay," he muttered. "I'm really okay."

They all looked at him, bright-eyed and caring. Shu felt like crying again.

"What did I do to deserve you guys?"

"That should be our question!" Fubuki blurted out. "You made the Bulls a team! We wouldn't be standing here without you!"

"Hear, hear!" the team replied. Shu shook his head.

"I didn't do anything. That was all you guys."

Daniel smiled, exasperated. "No, Shu. That was you. You made this a team, a home. So, now we welcome you home."

"Home?"

"Our home," Fubuki affirmed. The others nodded in agreement. This time, Shu couldn't stop his tears.

His team went all around him and hugged him tight. In the middle of this group hug, Shu felt safe. He never wanted to leave. Never again.

They separated after a moment. Now, it seemed as if they had other things on their agenda.

"You need to open your presents!" Leon exclaimed. Cathy nodded in agreement.

"Definitely. We've waited long enough."

Shu laughed.

They ended up sitting on the floor, barely fitting in the room, and the presents were handed to Shu one by one.

He got a new launcher that was red and black. He got a new pair of gloves, red and sturdy. He got thousands of cards, all wishing him well and written sometimes in messy handwriting of his youngest Bladers.

He got lots and lots of drawings, often featuring him and the team, or Spriggan and him, or even him teaching. He was already mentally making a note of hanging all of them in his office, where everyone could see them. Where everyone could see how caring his team was.

Shu also got lots of books, as word had gotten out that when he wasn't cooking or running, he actually read a lot. He had gotten books of every genre, often with some message of the Blader that had given the present. He thanked each and every one of them one by one.

It took hours to get all of the presents unpacked. He smiled at all of his Bladers. Brightly, for the all the kindness they had shown him.

"There is one last present you need to see," Fubuki said. He took out a box. It had the symbol of the Bulls on top. The box was a deep red.

Shu took it hesitantly. He noticed that everyone was watching intently, so he assumed they all knew what was in the box. He assumed they had done something together. That was the only thing that made sense.

He carefully opened the box. Inside was a golden necklace with a pendant. The pendant was in the shape of the logo of the New York Bulls. The motive was coloured, though it also seemed as if it had been engraved in the metal.

Shu looked at it, ready to cry. A symbol from his team. Something to carry around with him day after day.

Then, he noticed something else. Carefully, gently, Shu opened the pendant. It was very small, but there were names engraved on it. Shu gasped.

He looked up, meeting the excited eyes of his Bladers.

"This is...?"

"Yeah," Fubuki said. He blushed. "We- Well, I guess I – thought you might want to have something to remember us by, since you're gone so often. The names of the team you won the World League with and the names of the team you've personally trained are there. The other names are engraved on a silver tablet that I've put in your office at home. The one at home is big enough so that we can add names when we recruit new Bladers for the team."

"Fubuki..."

"We hoped you'd like it," Cathy said. "We wanted to give you something you would cherish for a long time. Fubuki's idea was perfect for that."

Shu looked at them all. They all looked happy, if a little embarrassed. He smiled brightly at them all. He felt tears burning in his eyes for the second time that day. For the second time those tears were happy.

"Thank you," Shu said. His voice cracked a little. "Thank you for this. This... This is wonderful. I can't even..."

Shu trailed off. He couldn't keep going. He cried. The team cried with him.

"You're so amazing," Shu ended up sobbing.

"Stop it!" Daniel complained. "You're making me cry too!"

Everyone agreed.

It took a moment, and then Fubuki took the necklace and helped Shu put it on. The pendant fell exactly at the height of his heart. Shu smiled brightly, again.

"Thank you."

His team only smiled back.

Shu decided then. This was ending. His little game was ending here and now. He had a place to truly fight for. The Snake Pit was going down before the end of the week.

And this was a promise.

---

Brown Eye hadn't expected Ashram to take him to New York. This was Sh- Red Eye's territory after all. No one went there without reason. But Ashram wanted Brown Eye to come, so he would. It was as simple as that.

"One more thing, Brown Eye," Ashram said in the car to the airport. "In public, you will call me Alexander."

"Yes, sir."

Ashr- Alexander smiled.

"Now, I heard that you and Red Eye were good friends in your childhood years?"

"Yes," Brown Eye replied. "We've known each other since we were about two."

"That long? You must know each other well."

"I'm afraid that he has changed quite a bit since I called him my best friend."

"Of course." Alexander gave a sympathetic smile. "I'm not saying anything different. But can you tell me a bit about Red Eye's teaching abilities? I heard he has always had a talent for it."

"That's true," Brown Eye said. He remembered how when they were kids, Shu had always been the first one to help when someone didn't understand something. In Blading, too, he was quickly known for his ability to explain a difficult technique easily. Valt had been proud to call himself Shu's best friend then.

Now, though, too much had happened. Red Eye was different. Brown Eye was different. Valt and Shu might have been friends. Red Eye and Brown Eye could never be.

Red Eye was cold, manipulative, dangerous. Brown Eye was distant, rude, and sometimes even downright cruel. They couldn't get along. No matter how much it saddened Valt, he was Brown Eye now. That was more important. Power was everything. Nothing else ever seemed to hold forever.

"I've wondered for a while now," Alexander said suddenly, "do you believe Red Eye capable of playing a double-game?"

Brown Eye looked up in shook, staring at Alexander. Was he serious?

"What do you mean?"

Alexander sighed. He leaned back into the car-seat, seemingly in thought.

"I've suspected it for a while, of course," Alexander mused, sounding a little saddened, "that Red Eye is a double-edged sword, if you will. He is powerful, yes, and most certainly a wonderful asset. But he is so stubborn, so intelligent. He knows what he wants and how to get it. That's both useful and incredibly bothersome."

Brown Eye gulped. This didn't sound good. This sounded as if Alexander wanted... No. This couldn't be.

"What do you intend to do, sir?"

"Well, he can't stay in his position if he is so unpredictable. I haven't got a replacement yet, but we'll see. The question is what Red Eye will choose. If all goes well, he'll just renounce his position and come back permanently to the Snake Pit. If he rebels... Well, we'll deal with it accordingly."

Alexander didn't seem bothered at all by the thought of dealing with Red Eye's possible betrayal. Brown Eye shouldn't care either. He couldn't care.

Yet, Valt's chest felt heavy as he realized that his best friend might be in terrible, terrible danger. He hoped Shu knew what he was doing. He really, really hoped that it was going to be okay.

That night, on the airplane, Brown Eye remembered. He remembered how Ashram punished people. How he had punished Red Eye once, enough to make him pass out in the middle of the room.

Brown Eye was playing cards with some of the other masked Bladers. They were trying to teach him how to play poker, though they were failing miserably. Brown Eye still didn't get the rules. Not in the slightest.

Every word they used flew right over his head. Brown Eye was getting a little frustrated.

"C'mon!" Yellow Eye threw his hands up in the air. "We've explained it three times now!"

"And I recall you didn't get it until your fifth time either," Gold Eye shot back. That made Yellow Eye pout. Like this, in the cafeteria without Ashram to watch them, the masked Bladers were different.

They were playful, friendly, a group that was tight-knight and almost happy. Brown Eye was glad to know that, to see that. It meant that he hadn't been completely wrong. Power was meant to be cultivated through harsh and merciless conditions. But in their free time, in the time they weren't Bladers, they could be friends too.

"Did you hear, though?" a newer masked Blader said. He was known as Green Eye. Brown Eye still remembered the masked Bladers that he and his friends had beaten and who had consequently been thrown out. Without them, the higher ranks of the masked Bladers were pretty empty. Even if it had been over two years.

"Hear what?" Brown Eye asked.

"Red Eye apparently upset Ashram."

"Yeah," Yellow Eye said, "I heard Ashram in the hallway. He was like 'Red Eye what were you thinking?' and he sounded really pissed off."

"Watch your language," Gold Eye scolded. "Ashram will have your head."

"But aren't you curious, too, Gold Eye?"

Gold Eye sighed. "No, not really. What Red Eye does is his problem; not mine."

"Maybe not for long," Silver Eye suddenly said. Brown Eye hadn't heard him enter the room. The door was still open. "I heard Red Eye scream earlier."

For some reason, this seemed to put Gold Eye and Yellow Eye on edge immediately. Even Brown Eye, who knew Red Eye better than anyone, wasn't sure why.

"What does that mean?" Green Eye asked.

"Red Eye never screams," Silver Eye said solemnly. "Never."

Brown Eye gulped. Was Red Eye okay? Maybe Silver Eye had just imagined something, right? There was no way that he could really have heard Red Eye scream, right?

Please, please, let that not be true, Brown Eye thought.

There was a sound at the door. They all jumped up and turned around. In the doorway was Red Eye. Brown Eye gasped and put his hands on his mouth.

Red Eye leaned heavily onto the doorframe. His white uniform was tainted with blood, and he had bruises all over his arms. There was also a fairly deep cut on his right arm and a smaller cut on his forehead. His eyes seemed slightly unfocused, far away.

Red Eye pushed himself away from the doorframe, only to suddenly collapse in a heap on the floor. Sprawled out on his side, hair fallen into his face. For a moment, nobody moved. They were frozen in shock. Then, Silver Eye hurried forward.

He kneeled on the ground, pushing Red Eye's hair a little out of the way and checked for a pulse.

"He's alive," he called, "but in pretty bad shape. Damn, just what did he do to make Ashram this angry?"

Gold Eye agreed and so did Yellow Eye. Brown Eye was too shocked to do anything. His best friend had just collapsed in front of him! Well, former best friend.

"What do we do?" Green Eye asked in a slight panic. Silver Eye wordlessly picked up Red Eye as if he didn't weigh a thing. As if Red Eye was six instead of thirteen.

"I'll take him to the infirmary. I don't think Ashram has any interest in his death. At least, I hope so."

Red Eye was hanging limply in Silver Eye's arms. Fully unconscious, unaware of the discussions happening, of Brown Eye's pain at seeing him that way.

"I'm surprised you can carry him so easily," Gold Eye commented. Brown Eye found this discussion to be highly unnecessary.

"He's so damn light, Gold Eye."

"Red Eye has the bad habit to not eat when he's stressed," Brown Eye found himself saying. "It hasn't been much of an issue before, since it was usually just before finals or something and it would only last a day or two."

Silver Eye looked at him. "That sounds like him. He can be so damn self-destructive."

"Tone down your curses." Gold Eye sighed. "Do you want to be next?"

Silver Eye sighed as well. He adjusted his hold on Red Eye. "Of course not. I'm just saying. Anyway, I'm going now."

"Can I come with you?"

Brown Eye's question had thrown everyone for a loop. They all stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. Finally, Yellow Eye took pity on him.

"Brown Eye... Look, I know you guys used to be friends, but Red Eye isn't someone you should look out for. He's in a dangerous position. And he could drag you down, too."

"But..."

"Listen to Yellow Eye," Gold Eye said. "Worry about yourself first, got it?"

Hesitantly, Brown Eye nodded. He watched as Silver Eye carried Red Eye out of the room, and wondered all the while if that had been the right decision to make.

Why did his chest feel so heavy, then?

Red Eye had a concussion and moderate blood loss that day. Brown Eye remembered how Ashram had let him recover for a few days and then sent him off to New York. Brown Eye didn't know what happened there, but it couldn't have been pretty with how pale Red Eye had looked upon leaving.

The thought that Ashram might do worse if he thought that Red Eye was being disobedient, made Brown Eye want to throw up. This was impossible. This was painful, and terrifying.

Brown Eye hoped that his worries were for nothing. That he was just blowing things out of proportion. Yet, the nagging feeling in his head remained.

Be safe, Shu.