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

Chapter 54: Tenacity

ONE DAY LATER...

Ivan slipped out from behind a pillar and clutched his mouth and chest with his hands as he scurried around the building. Standing up too quickly, he momentarily saw white in his vision, but he did not slow down. He felt like his intestines were twisting around each other, squeezing and convulsing along with his stomach, that everything in his digestive tract was running backward and about to splurge out of his mouth.

Just yesterday, Ferox had inspired Ivan's long-time friend to get a new Bey and lose weight when he had thought it was a lost cause for multiple years. Around a week ago, Ferox had lead their team to victory. Some weeks ago, Ferox had stood up to Silas and told him off for insulting team members. And just some month or more ago, Ferox had stood up to Free and brought hope. Time and time again, Ferox had always succeeded in being there.

Now, she would be gone.

And Free was leaving with her. Free may not have hung around the team much, but he was a blading icon. Everyone admired him and looked up to him; he was the greatest blader in the world, and sometimes, he would smile fleetingly. Although rare, they were all the team needed to know that the tired, bored Free loved BC Sol.

Ivan was not the type to cry, but his eyes were already watering as he swung open the gym door. His voice cracked as he cried out, "Everyone, listen up. We've got trouble!"

"What's the matter?" Rickson asked, coming to Ivan's side. His eyes widened as he saw Ivan's tears. "...I've never seen you cry. What the heck happened, man?"

"A visitor! It's bad! Real bad!" Ivan said incoherently, trying to catch his breath. He felt light-headed, like everyone's faces were swirling around him.

Valt and Rantaro exchanged uncomfortable glances, while Sasha placed a hand on Ivan's back and said, "Never mind a visitor, Ivan. Are you okay?"

"It doesn't matter how I am," Ivan said with a sniff as he rubbed the sweat off his forehead. "You know the thing where you want to say something, but you don't know how to say it because it's that bad? That's how I'm feeling right now."

Trad slipped into the gym and announced, "What's all the fuss about? Get to work! Stop fooling around!" He sounded more blunt and glacial than usual yet seemed ghostly with the heavy, dark circles underneath his eyes. Trad also usually used coconut oil on his hair, but today, he had not, so his locks were frizzy and disheveled.

"How can you just stand there pretending that nothing happened?!" Ivan cried out. "We all deserve to know! Tell us the truth!"

"What are you talking about?" Valt asked, awkwardly smiling. Valt never did well with seeing people cry; he was not equipped to deal with it.

"Free and Ferox are moving to America!" Ivan yelled.

Valt's smile gradually faded. He did not really know what he was feeling as the other bladers gasped, and Rantaro grabbed his shoulder and yelled perturbed words that he did not process. Valt just stared at his friend with his eyebrows raised and jaw slackened, and he turned to gaze at Kitt, who was frantically searching American teams.

They're not leaving, right? Valt thought, his head spinning. Ferox would never leave me. She promised me that she would always be here.

When he received his invitation from BC Sol, he remembered how he was at the table in his mother's bakery, with the wafting smell of Beybread. Ferox slid her own invitation to the Spanish club in front of him. Valt asked if she would open her other invitations, and Ferox had told him that being with him was more important. The letters from other blading teams had been left unopened until their younger siblings had fished through them, and Valt sometimes looked at the stack of letters as light from the window swept across them day after day.