Aight y'all, looking at the chapter name I know what some of you might be thinking. Well, psychic powers :)

Anyway.

"Free and Joshua? Doesn't Free hate him?"

Ah, not really, Free is not the type to have strong feelings of hatred towards someone just because they slighted him-

"Joshua? Really? Free deserves better!"

But that's for Free to decide???

"Joshua is a creepy stalker!"

Not really. He's obsessed, sure, but it isn't creepy. I'd say it's akin to a teenage girl's crush on a pop idol *cough* Taehyung *cough* It's immature, sure, but it's cute.

"Joshua is too selfish and arrogant!"

Everyone has faults, and Joshua's faults are selfishness and arrogance. Wouldn't it be more interesting to see him overcome these faults of his? Besides, it's not like his faults are the only thing that define him as a character. He's quite nice, overdramatic, rather funny and I mean, he's kinda cool too tbh.

"Joshua is too ugly for Free!"

ALRIGHT, NO APPEARANCE SHAMING HERE. APPEARANCE DOES NOT MATTER AND JUDGING PEOPLE ON THE BASIS OF THEIR APPEARANCE IS SHALLOW AF.

"Free belongs to me!"

Wait WHAT-

"Free is mine!"

B-But-

"Free is too good for him!"

"Free is my kawaii husband!"

"Free is-"

Lemon has turned off the comment section.

I mean jkjk now that the hatred for Joshua has simmered down a little (.....I hope...?) I guess people will like this ship more?

Because it's much more than what it seems like on the surface, I assure you.

For one, the way Joshua admires Free and yet he's the complete opposite of him is so fascinating.

Opposite how? I don't mean in terms of appearance or skills or personality, I mean it in terms of moral values.

Joshua is selfish, there's no denying it. He's willing to risk the chances of his team victory so that he can get the glory of winning the final match. He's so full of himself that he doesn't even consider the chance of him losing and putting his team down.

Free is selfless. He likes battling opponents and stuff, but he always thinks about others before himself. For such a chill guy like him, I doubt he was happy to leave behind his home for a completely unknown place with a shady leader, but he did it anyway because he wanted his teammates to improve. He wanted them to win on their own and stop depending on him. He never once thought about himself.

But the thing is, both Joshua and Free are extremes, on the opposite side of the spectrum.

Joshua's selfishness ends up disappointing his teammates and letting them down.

Free's selflessness also ends up hurting his teammates and especially Kris. It's true that he had the purest of intentions, but the thing is- too much of anything is always harmful. Too much selflessness is bound to bite him in the ass later.

It's not like being selfless is bad but, you need to find a balance between being self-destructive and actually helpful (because if you sacrifice yourself so much, wouldn't you be hurting those who care about you, even if you ultimately had good intentions in mind?)

Umm that was kinda deep bye–

Anyway, doesn't it seem pretty obvious that Free and Joshua balance each other out pretty well? :D

If you stay around a person for quite some time, it's inevitable that you would rub off on each other.

Joshua can learn not to be as self-centred as he is. I don't think he'd lose his tendency to focus on himself, but he'd definitely be way more considerate of people and willing to do the right thing, even at the expense of himself.

Free can let go of those self-destructive tendencies, because my boy Joshua– once he sees beneath Free's tough asshole character and knows about Free the sweetheart– you know he's gonna be all for showering Free with affection and building up Free's lack of self worth.

To be honest, it's a personal preference of mine to ship Free with characters who are likely to make Free understand that no, your self worth does not extend to your champion status, you don't have to sacrifice yourself to matter to people, so I just really love this ship.

Joshua also needs to be put in his place tho 👀 like he's nice and all but he's kinda shallow and rude. And Free is the most perfect character to make him get rid of his shallowness.

Free is just someone who does not value self image; he isn't interested in looking good, he isn't interested in appearing as a nice person. He isn't a complete douche but he doesn't mince his words and he says what needs to be said. He's also a tough love kind of guy.

In short, the perfect role model for Joshua, unbelievable as it is.

Joshua, once he gets to know Free, would realise that appearances aren't everything, fame isn't everything, status isn't everything, you know, all the stuff that would allow him to mature. And I'm pretty sure Free would guide him to be a better version of himself (not that there is anything inherently wrong with shallowness... But too much shallowness is also not good.)

Free would also realise that Joshua is not so bad once he mellows out and I guess Free would have a soft spot for him because y'know, Joshua never fails to let Free know how much he idolizes him and how great he is, even without his blading skills. And Free is kind of a sweetheart in general.

Fluffy and sweet character development, there you go~ <3

(Although, there is definitely going to be friction in the early stages of their relationship because of Free's dislike of Joshua's shallowness and Joshua slowly coming to realise that there is more to Free than being amazing at beyblade.)

Also–

Can we please talk about Joshua's freaking wall???????? He has posters upon posters upon posters upon posters of Free like ????????

He also proceeds to S T A L K Free through the zoo (btw I'm still confused over how exactly he managed to fit all that hair under a cap???)

Also remembering them jumping off a building together be like ✨✨✨ like damn Free is Free and Joshua is also half crazy so I wouldn't be surprised if they did some freaky shit together–

Freaky shit as in visiting scary places and doing Random Dangerous Stuff, not.... Whatever you thought freaky shit was. Get yo mind outta the gutter, kids. ❤️

Reader-chans: THAT'S RICH COMING FROM YOU THOUGH????!!!!!!

Me: I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Free: No.

Me: Free–

Joshua: YES!

Me: I mean, I'm not surprised.

Free: I don't know, he kinda annoys me. I'm not very fond of overdramatic people.

Me: Ah, he's not that bad–

Joshua: *falls to his knees in utter despair* NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!11!!11!1!!!!!!1!1!

Free: *sarcastic voice* Of course he's not.

Me: *pouts* You're so stingy. I think his overdramatic bouts are really funny.

Lui: That's because you're a clown yourself, Lemon.

Me: That's rich coming from the guy who has literal flaming hair and shark teeth, Lui.

Lui: *eye twitches in annoyance* At least I'm–

Shu: –disrupting the atmosphere, Lui, so if you would please quiet down? :)

Lui: You're–

Shu: –Moving on. Anyway, Free x Joshua is my OTP. :)

Everyone:....

Free: Wait, what? Did I hear that right?

Rantaro: I- I did not see that coming 💀

Kris: Me neither...

Rantaro: I agree, though, 'cause I like this ship.

Joshua: *flustered* I mean, if I think about this seriously... Lemon's right, I can see us getting close!~ Even if I don't really get what about me is so shallow *rolls eyes* But since Lemon's in favour of our ship, I'll ignore it for now. *tries to laugh good naturedly but ends up giggling like a crackhead*

Lui: That. Is absolute bullshit. I don't even know how Free with Joshua of all people is supposed to work out?!

Sisco: I know right?! I don't see Free dating someone he doesn't even want to be in the presence of. That's kinda out of character.

Me: Wow, you two are actually agreeing on something.

Shu: I mean, according to Lemon, they can help each other have a more balanced point of view. And Free might not bother with him but Joshua's not gonna be deterred so easily. Right, Joshua?

Joshua: You're absolutely right! I'm not going to give up easily, Free!

Free: Sure, sure, good luck. *waves offhandedly*

Kris: I don't know, Joshua, I'm pretty sure it's gonna be quite difficult trying to find Free when he's decided to avoid someone...

Joshua: Well, thanks for the heads up, but... *poses dramatically* difficult is not in my dictionary!

Free:...

Free: I still say no to this.

Shu: Oh no, that's a shame. You two look nice together. :)

Free: *narrows eyes suspiciously* You seem to like this ship quite a lot.

Shu: *smiles icily* Thanks for stating the obvious.

Rantaro: Am I the only one who feels like Shu's purposely annoying Free...?

Me: Believe me, you're not. Shu's just getting on his nerves because he pissed Shu off a few chapters ago.

Valt: *grins* That's right. Shu's kind of a tit for tat kinda guy.

Lui: *remembering Red Eye breaking Longinus* .....Yeah.

Kris: Even so, this ship is really wholesome once they're past the "getting to know each other" stages! I totally understand why Shu might have it as his OTP.

Free: You're kidding me, right Kris?

Valt: Glad you agree, Kris!

Free: *facepalms* Not you too, Valt.

Valt: *smiles apologetically* Sorry, Free!

Me: Sayonara, reader-chans~ See y'all next chapter~

I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW PEOPLE HATE JOSHUA LIKE??? LOOK AT THIS, THE POOR GUY LOOKS SO FLUSTERED WITH HIS SISTER TEASING HIM AND IT'S SO. DAMN. CUTE.