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

Chapter 52: Confession

TWO DAYS LATER...

The cool air of the forest whipped through Ferox's brown hair as the girl slipped through the grass. She could hear the crunching of branches and brush behind her as Silas trailed some distance behind; he did not realize that she was aware he was following her. To be fair, Silas was relatively quiet with each step, but Ferox's ears would perk up, her body hyper-aware of its surroundings, the whistling of the wind, the movements of small critters, and finally Silas.

"What am I doing, hiding in the shadows, like a spy?" Silas mumbled as he stepped on a twig, and it broke. He dipped behind a tree just as Ferox's sharp eyes surveyed the forest behind her. Pursing his lips, Silas cleared his throat, stepped into the clearing, and called, "Ferox!"

"What?"

Silas jumped a bit, his hair sticking on its end, as Ferox's voice echoed through the landscape, and the girl stared him right in the eyes. Ferox was not inherently scary, but rather beautiful. However, the calm manner she had detected and acknowledged his presence threw him off. It was eerie, considering how dark it was outside.

"Don't look at me like that," Ferox said pointedly as she inched toward him. "You've been following me for a while. Why is that?"

"You should have--" Silas paused, unsure about saying it like that. For most bladers, Silas would feel compelled to snark them, but he could not play that game with Ferox, at least not again. He remembered how she called him out in front of BC Sol; if he tried anything, Ferox would definitely hit back harder and would compel him to back down. Silas said, his tone less harsh, "I wanted to battle today, and you didn't put me out there."

"Why should I have?" Ferox said with a faint smile. Silas noticed how her brown eyes reflected the moonlight, and she cocked her head to the side.

"Because I would win!" Silas said, taking a step toward her. He clenched his fist and added, "And I have what it takes to beat you and Free!"

Ferox sighed, rubbed the side of her head, and crinkled her eyebrows. Silas was about to say something more, but hesitated due to her wistful look. The girl's eyes burrowed into his soul, and she said, "Silas, what do you think of this team?"

"It has the two best bladers in the world, and I want to be in the vicinity of the very best," Silas said, answering truthfully, even though it was probably not what she wanted to hear. "I'm not the kind of blader to get tied down to a team."

"Would you leave if Free and I weren't here?"

The question hung above Silas's head, and the boy wondered why Ferox would ever ask such a thing. Her voice had a grave note now, lowering to almost a whisper. Silas had no idea why she would ever ask such a thing unless...

"You are leaving the team?" Silas said, something inside him asphyxiating. Forget about Free. It was evident to Silas that Ferox was the glue holding this team together. Even though Free was objectively the stronger blader, he was no leader. Ferox had put Silas in his place in front of the team, whereas Free would have probably shrugged his shoulders and walked away. Losing Ferox was even worse for this team than losing Free. For some reason, it hurt more that Ferox was leaving than Free; she was more open about how much she cared and was ever-present at trainings and communicative with members. "This team will collapse if you leave."

Ferox's eyebrows raised slightly. There was something more personal and intentional about how he said that, and she found herself unable to look at Silas. "I would hope this team isn't that fragile," Ferox replied after a pregnant pause. It was not what she wanted to say, but here they were, with her confessing her utmost guilt. "They will do fine without me."