Burst Finish My Heart: Free de la Hoya x OC | A Beyblade Fanfiction

Chapter 22: Right

Free observed Ferox with empty eyes before looking away. Maybe he felt a sense of guilt, but Ferox could not pick up a read on him. As disheartened as she was, at least she knew that she had maintained honesty and composure; she was confident and not messing about. What mattered most right now was having fun with Beyblade.

Valt cut in, saying, "Wow! Nice you all!"

"All right! I'll call it the Stamina Launch!" Rantaro said thoughtfully.

"Try it before you name it!" Valt protested.

"That's not how I roll, little buddy!" Rantaro said, holding his Beyblade close to his face. "They're right. I've got to get more out of Roktavor; otherwise, I won't stand a chance on this team."

You can do it, Rantaro, Roktavor replied. I have faith in you!

"You finished? Done chatting yet?" Free sighed as he sat back on the bench.

Ferox wanted to butt heads with Free again, yet she simultaneously felt amused by how tired he was of everything. It was the antithesis of everything she stood for, and she wondered again why she had become attracted to him in the first place. Life was strange.

Rantaro said, "What's up with you? You give people advice, and then you--"

Free interrupted Rantaro and said, "Whatever. You go up next." He pointed past Rantaro to Valt.

"What, me?" Valt squealed.

Ferox quietly watched the exchange and considered what she should do next. She was upset and disappointed, but she did not know anymore if she was actually angry. Maybe "hurt" was a more accurate word to describe her current feelings. Something terrible was going on with Free, but it did not excuse him from treating her poorly.

Rantaro was not so pleased, and he said, "You cut me off!"

"Guess what? Wakiya is going down!" Valt said.

"Count on it," Ferox said, exiting her pensive thoughts. "You've got this, Valt!"

"Let's do this!" Valt agreed.

Trad sighed, "Theodore Glass is here."

"Good afternoon, Chris. It's been far too long. I hope you'll excuse me for visiting unannounced," Theodore said snidely and tilted up his chin.

"Hello again, Theodore," Christina said brightly, but her hands gripped her chair tightly. "If I had known you would come, I would have sent someone to greet you."

"It seems that you're in a tough predicament after losing that game," Theodore said, testing the waters.

"It's still early in the match," Christina said firmly.

"You don't want your team to appear weak in front of your fans. Test their patience, and you might give them a reason to start cheering for their opponents."

"Our roster has my full confidence."

"Well, we'll see soon enough." Theodore glanced at the slumped form of Free, who sat on the bench next to Ferox. "You used to gather a lot of respect. Perhaps, not enough effort is going into your training program. I have an idea. Rather than keeping Free in an unstimulating environment, wouldn't it be better to let him spread his wings in America? My Raging Bulls have welcomed two promising, young Japanese bladers, and they're absolutely thriving. In fact, they're creating quite the stir. I guarantee that Free would excel, too, if he were on my team."

"How many times are you going to keep asking?!"

"Let me make this as clear as possible. If you approve the move, I'll allow you to push for better conditions."