**Okay bear with me through this. This idea got me excited. No warnings. This is gonna be set in the Roshan x Kento time period. Enjoy!**

     "Have you been writing those letters to yourself?" Kento asked. It was a new morning in Team Andromeda's dorm, and he had invited his boyfriend to spend the night with him. Now they were cuddled close in Kento's bed, just chatting as they usually did.

     Kento brushed a dark curl from his boyfriend's forehead. "'Dear Roshan Ahmadi, this is gonna be a good day and here's why,'" he  recited. He had been helping Roshan develop a stronger sense of self-confidence. After Roshan's other boyfriend left him, the Shield for the Phoenix Riders remained as nothing but a shell of what he was. Scared, lonely, all topped off by insanely low self-esteem.

     "Uhm...I-I started one," the young boy mumbled, his eyes meeting Kento's.

The older blond kissed Roshan's forehead. "Those letters are important, honey," he said. "They're gonna help you build your confidence!"

"I guess..." Roshan murmured, his eyes lowering.

Kento's hand came to rest under Roshan's chin, drawing it up gently until Roshan met his gaze. "Can we try to have an optimistic outlook, huh? Can we buck up just enough to see the world won't fall apart?"

     Roshan shrugged, his eyes averting away again.

     "Maybe this year, we decide we're not giving up before we've tried," Kento said. "This year, we make a new start. Hey I know!" he exclaimed in a sudden outburst of inspiration. "You can go around today and ask the other Riders to go through trial runs with you. How about that?"

The younger met his lover's eyes. What choice did he have? "Perfect​." he mumbled.

     Kento smiled brightly. "I'm proud of you already​."

     "Oh," Roshan droned, faking a small smile. "Good." His smile disappearing, he rolled out of bed and stood up, leaving Kento alone. Kento sighed and stared at the ceiling. Was he not trying hard enough?

'Another stellar conversation for the scrapbook,' he thought to himself.
'Another stumble as I'm reaching for the right thing to say
I'm kinda coming up empty
Can't find my way to you...'

He watched his boyfriend as he tousled his hair in the mirror. Kento loved him too much to not at least try to help him. But it was so damn hard.

'Does anybody have a map?
Anybody maybe happen to know how the hell to do this?
I don't know if you can tell
But this is me just pretending to know
So where's the map?
I need a clue
'Cause the scary truth is
I'm flying blind
And I'm making this up as I go...'

"It's your first year in the tournaments, Tremaine!" Asher Wing was saying hysterically in the Phoenix Riders' dorm. "You are not missing the first day​!"

The pale Wildcard huffed. He stood his ground across from Asher to fight for his side of the argument, his arms crossed tightly. "I already said I'd go tomorrow​."

"He doesn't listen," Renoir Thomas mumbled from under his headphones, tapping at a beat mixer on his phone. His eyes darted up to Tremaine. "Look at him, he's probably high​."

Hammie was sitting next to DJ Ren on the couch. "He's definitely high​," she mumbled.

Ash swept a hand through his hair. "I don't want you going to a Warcross game high, Tremaine!" he strained, huffing when his opposition flashed a fake smile.

"Perfect, so then I won't go! Thanks, Ash!" Tremaine stuffed his earbuds back into his ears and stalked off to his room before Asher could fight back.

Ash sighed. He swept his eyes across the rest of his team before they got up to start their day. Asher was left alone.

'Another masterful attempt ends with disaster,' he thought hopelessly.

Renoir slipped on his Warcross goggles. He eyes darted left and right before he let out an exasperated sigh. "Server's already jammed​," he grumbled.

'Pour another cup of coffee, watch it all crash and burn,'  Ash said to himself as he watched the others go about their day like everything was fine.

"Tremaine finished the milk!" Hammie whined from the kitchen.

 'It's a puzzle, it's a maze,
I tried to steer through it a million ways.
But each day's another wrong turn'

     "I better head out,​" Ren sighed, his headphones now hanging around his neck as he left to go to the recording studio.

     "If Tremaine's not ready, I'm leaving without him​," Hammie called, a thermos of coffee in her hand as she lingered in the doorway.

     Asher sighed. Was he all alone in this struggle? Was everyone else really that oblivious?
'Does anybody have a map?
Anybody maybe to know how the hell to do this?
I don't know if you can tell But this is me just pretending to know
So where's the map?
I need a clue
'Cause the scary truth is
I'm flying blind
I'm flying blind
And I'm making this up as I go...'

'As I go...'