Shu kept to himself after his outburst at the cafeteria. It didn't take long for the embarrassment to settle deep within his bones. Shu distracted himself with books, avoiding Kristian at every given moment. But while they were both inside BC Sol, it was inevitable that they would run into each other eventually. That fateful day, when Shu arrived at the cafeteria, he found himself facing the magenta-haired boy, who was standing in front of the counter, balancing his food tray on one palm.

"Shu!!" Valt called, waving his hand. It had been a while since he joined the rest of them in the cafeteria. It took him long enough to face everyone after his rather violent outburst. But it seemed as if he had chosen the worst possible time of day to show his face. He didn't avert his gaze. Despite the regret, he had his pride to secure. Besides, he meant every word he said, and he wanted Kristian to know that. But a deep voice inside his head kept asking him to apologize.

Now

Curse this conservative politeness planted by his parents.

Kristian raised his brow, stopping in front of him. Shu instinctively took a step back. The pin-drop silence in the cafeteria was a blow to his crippling anxiety. He gulped. "Listen," he started, aware of all the eyes searing his skin. "I'm sorry for the way I behaved that day. "It was really rude."

A ghost of a smile bloomed on Kristian's lips as Shu added. "The apology aside, I also want you to know I meant every word I said. And I still think you're an asshole and don't deserve a shred of this politeness. But I'm sorry anyway."

Sasha huffed out a laugh. Kristian sighed. "Either apologise or don't; pick a side."

Shu pressed his lips together, shrugging. "I'm trying. But I can't stand you, and I also don't want to be rude."

Kristian actually smiled. "The feeling is mutual, shortie."

Free chose that moment to walk in. He had frequented his visits to the cafeteria. Shu's presence was always an added bonus. (Deep inside, he knew the sole reason he decided to wake up and not choose the forest was Shu, but it was his secret.) He yawned rather loudly, puzzling over the standoff between the two males in front of him.

"Do you have any other apologies to make, Shu?"

Shu flushed, "Nope."

Kristian nodded, walking towards one of the empty tables. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, and decided maybe, yes, he did have other apologies to make. So, after grabbing his lunch tray, he shot a smile at Valt before marching straight towards Kristian. The latter watched, exasperated. And behind Shu, Free followed his suit and joined their table.

"Now that's a combination that is really rare," Sasha commented, pointing her fork towards the three males. "I wish I had a secret recorder just to hear what they're saying."

"Don't be nosy," Rickson advised. But betraying his words, he had his eyes fixed on the trio.

Honcho ruffled Valt's hair, "Don't look like you've lost your best friend, Valt. Let the man have some fun and explore new people."

Cuza shrugged, "I don't know. Perhaps having Free there is for the best. Shu might stab him with a fork." The cool and calm persona they had pasted on Shu's personality had changed after the incident. Their view has changed from a cinnamon roll to one that looks like a cinnamon roll but might kill you.

Rickson shivered. "That's graphic."

Across the cafeteria, Kristian put down his fork, crossing his arms. "What do you want, Shu?"

Shu looked over to Free, "Why are you only asking me? Ask Free?"

Kristian rolled his eyes. "He's here because you're here. Getting rid of you means getting rid of him."

Free quietly enjoyed his food, "That's true."

"Why are you following me?" Shu asked.

"Because you're interesting," Free answered before shoving another mouthful of Spaghetti.

Kristian snorted, picking his fork. "He? Interesting?"

Free shrugged, "Yeah."

"I think I can see what you mean. Didn't think your interests lie there, Free De La Hoya?"

Free narrowed his eyes, "What are you implying?"

"You know," he smirked, leaning back on his chair.

Shu watched the banter and wondered why those two weren't friends. They talked like friends and seemed to know each other well. It seemed as if the two had a history. A childhood where they might've been playmates. He wondered when it all went wrong. He pushed his food back and forth, his eyes darting between the two boys, who seemed to be teasing now. It would've been better if he had stayed behind, not come here. There was no way he's eating-

"Are you going to keep pushing your food around like that?"

Shu smiled at Kristian. "No?"

"If you want to grow taller, you should have your breakfast."

Shu scowled. "I'm not that short."

Beside him, Free chuckled. The traitor. "Shut up," he hissed, nudging the blonde. "I'm not short. You two are just taller."

Kristian pushed his empty plate tray away, folding his arms over the table. "So, Shu. How was Snakepit?"

Shu froze, his eyes flicking to the male and back to his food. "I'm not trying to get on your nerves," Kristian said before any of them could answer. "I'm just really curious. There are rumours that it's an illegal base for smugglers."

Shu placed his fork on the table and leaned back crossing his arms. "That's... interesting. But I don't do drugs."

Kristian smiled, a genuine smile to humour him. That must be the first time he'd seen him smile sincerely. Well, he didn't give him much time for introductions after all. "Don't you ,now?"

The rest of the crew were still watching the trio. Rickson looked ready to leap out of his chair if Shu decided to legitimately attack Kristian guided by some unseen force. Sasha studied their expressions, trying to read their lips. Valt had long forgotten Shu's betrayal and was talking enthusiastically about Raul's brand-new addition to his bey.

"Do you think those three would end as friends?" Sasha asked, tilting her head.

"I'd be glad if they do," Cuza said, standing. "As much as an asshole Kristian is, it's pretty sad to see him alone in the halls all the time."

Others didn't say anything to contradict the statement because the feeling was mutual. Though Kristian was not approachable and held this deep frustration towards them, they had this unified sensation of guilt having to ignore him every occasion.

"That's basically what happened," Shu said. He was explaining to them the general setting of the Snake Pit and the brutal training schedules they had. He purposefully omitted the part where he was chucked into a giant cylinder to go through the Requiem Project. Because he thought maybe it was illegal after all.

"Wow," Kristian blinked. "That's ... intense."

Shu shrugged, "It was. But I liked it. The training and the focus."

"You have serious problems."

Shu smiled, "So I've been told."

Free watched the exchange with his lazy eyes striding across the two males in the table. The friendliness they shared, the hostility in the air vanished by the small talks and their newfound interest in each other. Free frowned, was Shu changing? Two weeks ago the male barely talked with his friends, much less strangers. He looked at Kristian, maybe those two were more alike than they knew. And Shu seemed to have no problems teasing Kristian with his sarcastic remarks. Free placed his fork on his plate, Shu wasn't like that with him, he thought. It took them a long time to even talk with each other.

Shu sighed, "I don't think I have an appetite."

Kristian shook his head, standing. "Well, it seems like you're never growing up, midget. See you never."

Shu gave him a half-hearted wave as he leaned back on his chair. He turned his head to look at Free. "Do you think he forgave me?"

Free shrugged, crossing his arms. "Does it matter?"

Shu didn't answer. Instead, he focused his attention on his untouched plate. Ange was going to have problems if he went to the counter with all that food. "It's just," Shu reasoned, much to himself than to Free. "It's just I'm not a rude person, I don't want others to feel like that about me," He smiled hesitantly. "And I'm really bad at convincing."

Free tilted his head, "You've convinced me."

"Even after all that Red Eye fiasco? You didn't even know me before that. You should really be careful with the people you trust."

Free leaned in, his face inches away from his pale face. "I only trust a number of people. That includes you."

Shu flushed, averting his gaze to the floor as Kristian passed them by, loudly clearing his throat. Shu stood, "I'm going to leave now. See you later."

Free smiled, amused as he watched Shu march over to the counter and placed his tray. Before Ange could turn to see him, he ducked out to the exit and was gone. Rickson, who walked over, raised a brow at him. "What did you say to him?"

Free shrugged, "Just that I trust him."

Rickson frowned, looking at the door with confusion. "Weird. That one."

---

Shu stared at the ceiling in the darkness listening to the soft snores of his best friend on the bed beside him. Honcho groaned, muttering something under his breath.

He had woken up from another nightmare, had to clamp his bed sheet against his mouth to keep his quiet sobs escaping. Now he was just exhausted. He rubbed his burning eyes, sniffing.

Shu turned to his side, reaching for his bedside table to find his glass of water empty. He sighed, dragging himself out of the bed, shivering as his feet touched the cold floor. He almost cursed as he walked out, the heater inside the dorm rooms kept them from freezing to death, but he couldn't say the same about the half frozen hallway, the cold winter wind catching him heedless. Clutching the glass in one hand, he glanced at the cold winter night outside, the snow glistening in a ghostly white. It was beautiful, he thought idly, walking towards the cafeteria. Flipping on the switch beside the counter he grabbed one of the thermos lined up over one of the shelves and gulped down the hot water.

"Boo." A flat voice interrupted.

Shu almost spit out the water. He spun on his heels to see a very unenthusiastic blonde staring at him in question. Shu coughed to his hand, "Jesus christ, Free!"

"Just Free, thank you."

"It's not funny," He grumbled, wiping his hand from the back of his mouth.

Free tilted his head to the side, looking at Shu in his grey jeans and oversized thin sweater that was no good against the cold. "What are you doing?"

Shu shrugged, "Came searching for water."

Free nodded, but his red rimmed eyes didn't go unnoticed by the perceptive blonde. Free tilted his head with a simple question. "Can't sleep?"

"Kind of," Shu admitted, rubbing his arms.

Free gestured at the door, "Wanna go on a walk?"

Shu blinked, huffing out a breath. The temperature was in minus numbers, and this guy wants to go on a walk. On the other hand, this sounded like the self destructive behaviour he should be engaging in. "Sure," He shrugged. "Let's go," He said, thinking Free was joking. He had to be, right? The blonde led him towards the small closet right beside the massive doors opening to the garden. Shu watched flabbergasted as he pulled out a pair of knee high snow boots, squinting at it. The yellowish light of the hallway throwing shadows over them.

"These will do," He said, leading him towards the bench beside it. "Sit."

Shu did, running on autopilot as he slid the boots into his feet. He had been walking around in sandals while wearing socks. Not the best combination but he came out to get a glass of water. He secured the laces and walked back to the closet, pulling out a light pink long coat and a black wool muffler. "There you go."

"Whose clothes are these?"

"Boots are mine, I used them a couple of years ago. The coat and muffler is Kristina's. Emergency clothes."

Shu dutifully pulled on the clothes and waited. Free nodded, "Looks good. Let's go."

"What about you?"

Free looked down at himself. He was wearing a black long coat over a dark green turtleneck sweater. His jeans reached his calf but he was wearing a pair of thin sneakers. "I'm used to this cold," He grinned. "I live inside that forest."

Shu wasn't surprised. That was not exactly news to him. Everyone knew Free practically lived inside that forest. "If you say so," He muttered, following Free as he stepped outside. Shu choked. Fuck, it was cold. He pulled the muffler up, covering his ears as he stood shell-shocked on a fresh pile of snow.

Free looked over his shoulder, "You're not coming?"

Shu let out a shuddering breath, why was he doing this again? He crossed over to Free as they walked to the edge of the forest. The snow-piled trees looked mysterious and threatening. Free took his hand and pushed both theirs into the pocket of his coat. He was comforted by the warmth. "Don't want you getting lost, now do we?"

Shu nodded, glad he had the icy wind to blame for the flush on his cheeks. They walked in comfortable silence for a moment.

"It's a shame," Free eventually said. "You should come here in the Spring or Summer. The whole forest swarms with fireflies at night. It's a sight to see."

Shu tried to imagine it, the yellowish green blinking lights throwing colours to the swallowing darkness around them. Somehow, Free knew exactly where to go, he manoeuvred them expertly through the cluster of trees, snow crunching loudly underfoot. They reached a clearing, the ground was almost devoid of snow there, the thick cluster of trees around the pond saving the dead grass from taking the weight. But the pond was frozen over, Shu could see the glisten of the stars filtering through the cluster of trees throwing a halo of silver around them. The sky was strangely clear.

Free cleared them a spot and sat down, patting the ground beside him. Shu wasn't ready for the coldness to numb his back as soon as he sat down. He yelped, "That's cold."

"News flash: It's winter."

Shu scowled, "Shut up." He shivered, tugging his coat to himself tighter. He sunk into his wool muffler, staring at the glisten on the pond. "It's weirdly pretty."

"It is. I come here to clear my mind all the time."

"Even in the winter?"

"All the time," Free emphasised.

Shu drew his knees to his chest, squeezing into himself. "What were you doing up, anyway?"

Free shrugged, "Couldn't sleep, I mean all I do is pass out any given moment of the day, so."

Shu chuckled, a shiver running down his spine. It would take him a while to get used to the cold. Beside him, Free wordlessly slipped off his coat and draped it over him like a blanket, he opened one half and gestured to him to lean closer. "C'mon."

Shu hesitated but compiled. He slipped into the warmth of the other and Free draped the coat over both of them, wrapping around the pair like a warm cocoon. "Better?"

Shu nodded, hiding his smile behind his muffler. "So, how did you get into the habit of just passing out all the time?"

Free was silent. Shu figured he wouldn't answer when he talked. "My parents used to travel a lot. They were Wildlife biologists." He glanced at him, "I used to travel with them. Stare at the thermal cameras at night and sleep during the day. It was a messed up sleep schedule but it was fun," A soft smile grazed his lips. "I had a lot of fun. So, even after I ended up here, I kept falling asleep during the day. Now it's better than before though."

That has to be the most Shu had heard him talked. "They're dead by the way," Free added, waving his hand over his face. "It's been a long time."

Shu's jaw dropped open, did people just claim their people dead by the end of a conversation like this? He pressed his lips together. "But Sasha-"

"She's referring to my aunt, Kristina's mom. Sasha always tells me not to drop the parent dead bomb in a normal conversation, but it's been a long long time." He shrugged. "I'm used to it now, I guess."

"Oh..." Shu averted his gaze to the dirt floor. But Shu could see in the slight strain of his eyes he was not used to it. How could he? No child ever gets used to their parents being just... dead. "My mom is a Scientist too," He murmured, drawing patterns on his jeans. "She works in a lab though. Pharmaceutical scientist." Free tilted his head, looking at him, interested. Shu didn't know how they ended up in a forest in the dead of the night, sitting against each other spilling about their families as if it's the most natural thing in the world. "My dad's a professor. He teaches biomedical engineering."

Free whistled, "Now wonder why you're a genius. It's the genes."

Shu gave him a resigned smile. "So they say."

Free must've felt the hesitancy in his voice, he didn't pursue the topic anymore but asked another question. The one Shu's been dreading. "Don't answer if you don't want to, but have you been having nightmares?"

Shu turned to meet his eyes. Free raised his brow as Shu turned his attention back to the pond, dropping his head against Free's shoulder. If they were sitting here making small talks, he might just as well get comfortable. Shu snuggled against the warmth, feeling a stab of sleep against his eyes and yawned. Free stiffened, surprised for a moment until he let himself relax, wrapping one of his arms around Shu. "It's the Snakepit," Shu admitted, closing his eyes. "I keep dreaming of all the things that happened." Shu huffed out a laugh. "It doesn't make sense you know? Valt wasn't supposed to forgive me. Everyone's supposed to hate me. I'm not supposed to cuddle in a snowy bank with a hot blonde."

Free snorted, "You think I'm hot?"

Shu felt his words melting into each other. Maybe he was just sleepy, he knew he'd never gain the courage to admit about his nightmares otherwise and of course the fact he thought Free is kind of hot. He could feel the sleep tugging at his eyelids. God, he's going to regret talking in the morning. But he felt safe, comfortable. Safe is the four letter word that he found quite hard to achieve. "Nightmares like you know? I'm strapped to a table, and people are driving nails to my skin, tearing off my skin and muscles, and keeping me awake through all the pain," he was drawling. "It's terrifying. I can't wake myself up all the time. Sometimes, I swear I could feel them peeling off my nails even when I'm awake. So I stopped sleeping, I tried to stop sleeping. But it doesn't alway work..." His voice droned out.

Free winced, running his hands over his white tangled locks. Shu had put his full weight on the side of his body. "I think you need help," Free muttered to himself, staring at the white face of the albino, sleeping with his brows knitted together, his lips parted making clouds of air against the cold. He felt the urge to lean down and press a soft kiss on his forehead. 

"I hope it gets better..." He said to no-one in particular. What are you supposed to tell someone having gruesome nightmares anyway? He never experienced it, even after his parents death. Nightmares? Sure, a couple once in a while but this graphic? He was pretty sure it's not normal.

Free untangled himself from the albino and picked him up in his arms. The temperature was dropping, even Free could feel the pinprick coldness attacking his skin now. Shu was heavily asleep, his cheek mushed against his sweater. He carried him through the forest into the room Shu was staying in. Valt's snoring penetrated the still air. To his surprise, Honcho was wide awake when he walked in carrying Shu in his arms.

"What-" Honcho started as Free walked over to the crumpled sheets and placed Shu on them. He pulled out his boots and tucked him in. Shu whined, turning to his side, still fast asleep.

"Okay," Honcho stood beside Shu's bed. "I was actually about to go start looking for him."

Free tilted his head. "Why?"

"What do you mean why? He was missing for over an hour!" He whispered harshly. I was worried."

"Oh," He said, longing to hold Shu. Something was clearly happening to him. "I took him on a walk because he couldn't sleep and he passed out."

Honcho squinted at him, "A walk? In this climate?"

Free shrugged. Honcho mussed his hair shaking his head. "He's always wide awake at night and falls asleep in the morning, I've noticed. Did he tell you why?"

Free wondered whether he should tell but thought better of it. It was not his story to tell, if Shu trusted him enough to reveal about the demons lurking in his mind, he wasn't going to go around breaking it. But instead he chose a different route. "He's not okay," Free said, frowning. He was not good with words.

Honcho raised his brow waiting for him to continue but when he didn't take a step forward with a quiet chuckle clapping his shoulder. "Thanks," He said. "Shu's private, it's good to see him interacting with people other than me and Valt. Thanks for taking care of him."

"You sound like you're his father," Free stated.

"I might as well be," Honcho said with an exaggerated sigh as Free put his hand up in farewell.

"I'm leaving," Free said, walking out of the room, glancing at Shu's face from the corner of his eye with a smile, at least he looked peaceful now.

"Good night," Honcho called out, turning to Shu. He pressed his lips in a grimace tugging the blanket closer to Shu, patting his hair. "I wish you would talk to someone, anyone." The blonde muttered under his breath. "I really wish you would."

Free sat on his bed, Shu's words playing up in his mind. He wasn't the one to try so hard when it came to people. Either they stayed or they left. But this time, he vowed to try a little harder. Shu deserved it. Shu deserved a push in the right direction, deserved someone who listened. God knows he needed that. He wasn't the best option, but he could be an option. And at this moment, Free knew that's what mattered the most.