After Free's departure,things definitely took a large change. For one,Lily was now appointed captain of the team while both Valt and Rantaro made it to the top team.

"All the way to the top!"Rantaro exclaimed,high-fiving his good buddy Valt upon hearing the good news,congratulating Lily at the same time for her promotion.

"Thank you! I'll promise to do my best and never let you down!"Valt said to Kristina. "Ditto! We're all gotta up our game and prove that we don't need Free to win."Rantaro added on

Back in America,Theodore was showing Free around The Raging Bulls. "We've put together a state of the art facility. In an effort to keep our bladers in peak,physical and mental condition. We've acquired the best equipment and staff to answer to their every need." And somehow the conversation ended back to the Adachi family,Glass was definietely persistent to get the best bladers on his team. "Now that you're here,don't you believe that Adachi might become the next blader that BC Sol would heavily rely on next? Her skills are growing rapidly everyday and it is simply astounding."

Free stopped."Adachi has great intuition,I trust her to lead BC Sol to victory."

Theodore looked at the blonde before realising that the world champion was one that is not easy to understand.

"A burst finish! There you have it,BK Nord from Sweden has taken the third game! Safe to say they're dominating this match against the legendary BC Sol team. I'm afraid it's no surprise that the loss of their strongest blader,Free De La Hoya is having immediate effect!"

"Meanwhile their opponents are showing excellent teamwork! They're definitely ones to watch going forward." Hanami announced to the crowd.

After BC Sol's terrible lose,the entire team was called for a meeting in the evening. The air was tense and seeing Kristina's disappointed expression made things much worse.

"What happened?"Trad asked the team consisting of Lily,Valt,Rantaro,Silas and Stan. After their vigorous training,he did not expect such an outcome from today's match. "Mind explaining yourselves today?"

"How can you not see that those newbs are the problem?"Stan questioned,sending a dirty look towards Valt and Rantaro behind him,the insult directed towards the two yet he glared at Lily at the same time from the corner of his eye.

But of course he could no longer pin point her as Lily won her match today."They've brought nothing to the team. Our wins before were all cuz of Free,not them."

"Think so?" Valt asked

"Hang on,are you trying to tell me that we can't do anything without him around?!"Rantaro confronted him as he stood up.

"No duh,think about it! Even against Sunbat United,it was his advice! That's why you won!" Stan retaliated

"Well,sure yeah..."Valt's voice trailed off."It helped"

"It was the only reason."Stan concluded

"Your arguement would be a whole lot more convincing if you didn't just tank!"Rantaro argued but got cut off by Stan again."Putting these two in the top team was an epic mistake,boss! I'd pick Ivan and Rickson over them,anyday of the week."

"Let it go Stan,I don't think that we can blame Kris for getting lured in by their world rankings."

"There must be some kind of horrible mistake in the numbers! Don't tell me you didn't see that today!"

Everything suddenly went silent after a slam on the table was heard. Everyone turned to see Lily Xu Adachi,their captain,standing up with two hands on the table. However,something was amiss. She continuously had that smile yet she gave out an ominous feeling around her.

"What's your deal?!"Stan snapped

"It's hilarious really,we all are weak,simple as that."Lily boldly stated."And instead of supporting each other we only bring ourselves down. No teamwork,no corporation,a pathetic excuse of a team."

That seemed to silence Stan from his rant,after all who would expect their carefree,smiling captain to suddenly give out some harsh crictism about the team. "This is a team competition,get your priorities right! World rankings or not,learn to work with your teammates whether you like it or not."she ended before sitting back down.

After a few seconds of silence,Trad continued the briefing."The next opponents we face are BC Galleon from Portugal."

"Great just what we need,those guys're gonna mop the floor with us." Stan mumbled

"Journeys start with a single step...right?"Rickson asked,his voice trailing from uncertainty.

After the meeting,everyone went their seperate ways to prepare and call it a night. Yet Kristina,Trad and Lily were still in Kristina's office,discussing about the current situation the team was in.

"You should have refrained yourself from saying those harsh statements."Trad informed Lily who was standing beside him,having a smile which he never understood how it can always remained constant."I see no problem with what I said,it was the truth."Lily simply replied,having her arms by her side,not making proper eye contact with the male who was talking to her for her concern was directed to her best friend and the manager,Kristina.

"I didn't think that Free leaving would have such an effect on the team..."Kristina sighed,staring out of the window,questioning whether the choices she made as manager were truly best for her team.

"If there's nothing,I'll be leaving."Lily said.

Trad was about to intervene when Kristina gave her approval and Lily softly opened her door and exited the office as silent as possible. "How irresposible."Trad commented."Being captain yet showing no concern whatsoever-"

"Let her go Trad,she has her reasons for acting this way."Kristina defended the blader. "And how do you know?"he questioned back."Smiling continuously despite the predicament the team is in."

"Yet that smile seems forced."Kristina replied,thinking about the image of Lily just before she left the room a few minutes ago."Lily is forcing herself to take the burdens of different people onto her shoulders. And that smile is just her way of forcefully hiding the sorrow she feels deep inside."

Being unable to fall asleep,Lily went back to the forest only to encounter Valt and Silas."One guy leaves and the house of cards come crashing down."Silas said before glancing to his right."Wouldn't you say the same thing,captain?"

Valt looked behind his back to see Lily emerging from the shadows."Captain?"

"Your still hiding things aren't you?"Silas inquired. She smiled before placing a finger at her curved up lip."Maybe yes or no,its up to you." She said,giving the usual vague-like answer. Silas scoffed before standing up to later walk away,leavi g Valt and Lily alone.

"Captain,about what you said earlier,how can we get better?"Valt asked,turning his attention towards the brunette. "Win."she replied

"At our current situation,the only way we can turn it around is by winning,but keep your principles with you."

Valt nodded before cracking up into a grin when he saw a tiny firefly fly by,a light trailing behind it as it flew."I didn't know there were fireflies here?!"he exclaimed in awe,lightening the mood immediately as Lily smiled at the younger blader.

"He gets excited over the simplest of things,how innocent."Lily thought,staring at Valt. To her,Valt resembled her father greatly,not appearance wise but personality.

The two were always excited over everything,they battle and enjoy the gist of it,always positive no matter what gets thrown their way. Maybe that was why Lily was constantly defending him whenever someone picks on him.

She smiled."Keep striving forward Valt,wih that mindset of yours,you definitely can make it to the top."

Valt raised an eyebrow."How do you know?"

"Someone I admire,his just like you and he ended up being one of the best bladers out there."Lily replied looking at the starry sky

"Who?!"

She went close to Valt and raised a hand close to the side of her mouth,her voice lowering down to a whisper."That's for me to know and for you to find out."

"Awe..."

Lily slightly giggled at his expression.

"Why do you always poke fun of us all?"Valt asked,slightly shocking the brunette with the question as she let her hand fall to her side,thinking about the most appropriate answer to give.

"I guess its because he used to tease me."Lily sighed in exasperation,reminiscing her past precious memories...

A rustling sound was suddenly heard,a young blonde haired male emerged,approaching the pair."Can we get to training now?" He questioned,his expression showed his urge to want to improve his blading skills by learning from the best.

Lily swiftly grabbed the blonde known as Free's arm and after a few minutes of observing,went into a hissy fit again."You over did it again didn't you?" The boy clearly not knowing what to say upon seeing her assertive behaviour."Keep doing this and you might actually break your arm one day!"

Shojou placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "He'll be fine,I'll watch him carefully."he assured but Lily butted in again."But his a fool! He'll just continue just to get better!" Shojou than let out a cheeky grin as he patted his daughter's head,bending down to her level."Why so concern? You like him?"he teased,earning the brunette a blush on her face as she retaliated with a "no!"

Back then,Lily never understood why her father or Free took blading seriously,she always assumed it was just an average spinning top game,why invest so much time in it? Yet soon she also got involved after her father gave her Kunoichi and told her to test it out.

Sometimes Lily always disliked how her father would simply tease her about irrelevant subjects such as her so called 'affection' for Free or calling her a steam train or even implying that she'll forever have a frowny face from all the frustrated looks she constantly had on her face.

"I guess,its a habit."Lily shrugged,replying to Valt's question."I could tell you the entire story but that'll take ages,for now let's focus on winning our next game."

"Right!"Valt exclaimed before watching his captain nod her head in approval,turn around and walk away. For some reason,he wanted to know more about Lily's past,his curiosity was definitely intensified.

Things changed,both Silas and Ivan left BC Sol,things still did not seem bright for the team after they lost against BC Galleon. Confidence was draining from Valt after losing despite the motivational pep talk with Ivan.

Although Stan lost,he held a grudge toward the captain of the team for their mishap. "Why did you let him take the match?!

"Valt needs more experience on the world stage,and I don't plan on becoming the next De La Hoya who carries the team."Lily replied,earning a frustrated growl from Stan who was about to retaliate when she sent an unexpected,stern glare towards him."You didn't win your match either. Admit that you had hopes that Valt would win so that he could cover your mishap."

Stan stared shock before glancing away,knowing he has been caught.

Lily stared at Valt's back,concerned.

"Don't worry,things may appear terrible but continue fighting..."

Hi sorry for not updating,I kinda really wanted to explore more on Lily's past. Sorry if its kinda repetitive but I'm trying to show why she acts in certain types of ways. :D Anyways,I hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always,crictisim is warmly welcomed!