Comrades
Prologue
Disclaimer:
I do not own Beyblade. They are the copyright of Aoki Takao and Takara. This story is the sequel to "Comatose"; therefore it is strongly advised that "Comatose" be read first. I only own this plot which means whatever that happens in this story. Do not flame if it does not go according to the anime – because majority of it won't. Although it states humor as the secondary genre, the humor may not always be obvious. Remember, this is mainly focused on Kai and Tala. Thank you.
Full Summary:
Sequel to "Comatose". After two astounding miracles, Kai and Tala finally see the light and acknowledge their friendship. However, it is still hard to change and thus, nobody knows about it. That is until, somehow, it leaks out to the BBA Revolutions. Tyson heads the group to devise a plot to get the two stoic teens to finally be the friends they used to be. What exactly lies in store for Kai and Tala?
From Comatose – Epilogue:
In the now empty ward where Kai Hiwatari lay, something miraculous was happening. The two drops of tears from Tala were reacting with the mark left by Dranzer's teardrop. A soft red glow spread from the hand until it covered every part of the teenager. The temperature increased by a few degrees. Then all was still…
One minute…
Two minutes…
His fingers twitched.
It was touted the second astonishing miracle case to happen in a single week and in the very same hospital no less. No doctor, regardless of rank, could figure out the cause of Kai Hiwatari's sudden regaining of consciousness. They had only found out that he had awaken when a nurse came to check on him and found the boy's un-bandaged eye open and looking around the hospital room in something close to panic. Nobody knew the exact time he started to respond to the outside and eventually awake. Which meant nobody knew that the same phenomenon had caused the slate-haired teenager to awake.
Still, it was a great relief for both medical personnel and the BBA Revolutions team that Kai was well and healing. And at an alarming rate no less. Nobody was complaining, least of all, the doctors and Kai himself.
Currently, the team was in the ward where Kai was sitting up on the bed, listening somewhat contently to his friends chatter on endlessly about everything he had missed out. Which wasn't a lot as he had been in a coma for a relatively short period of time. He had actually awoken yesterday, but the doctor said he needed his rest and did not allow his friends to visit. Now, Kai was more than happy to have some form of company again. He hadn't felt that alone since Dranzer…
"Hey Kai, do you know that Tala's awake too?" Tyson suddenly asked, cutting through the chatter. Then catching himself, the navy-haired teenager said with a sheepish laugh, "Oops. Forgot that you didn't know. But yeah, Tala's awake and from what I heard, fine too."
"I know that," Kai replied quietly, though regretting having said that almost at once. He hadn't told anyone that he actually heard Tala when the redhead had visited him just about an hour before he had fully regained consciousness. And he wasn't too sure if anyone would believe him even if he said that. This sort of thing usually happened only in sappy, melodramatic TV shows and he never ever believed that it'd actually work. Not until it happened to himself.
"Oh? Did Mr. Dickinson tell you when he came yesterday?" Tyson asked, not finding it the least bit unusual that Kai knew about Tala's condition.
Thankful that nobody else had picked up on his slight slip up, Kai covered up smoothly with a brusque nod to keep things seeming normal. The actual fact was that Mr. Dickinson had not told him anything about his red-haired friend. Not even a simple, "He's fine." Kai had no clue why Mr. Dickinson didn't say anything, but it wasn't his nature to press for more and so he left it as that.
"You know, I overheard the hospital staff saying about how miracles seem to be happening in this hospital," Max piped up with his usual cheery smile on his face. The past week hadn't been the easiest to go through with the final showdown between Tyson and Brooklyn coming up and the fact that Kai was in a coma. But now that the slate-haired youth was well, or at least better than before, Max was feeling more cheerful again. "First, it was Tala awakening from his coma and then your case. Interesting, huh?"
"Hn," Kai replied, his mind not quite focusing on what Max had said. Now that his other friends had brought up the subject of Tala, unintentionally of course, Kai couldn't help but think about the things Tala had told him during his coma. He had no doubt that it was because of Tala and, inexplicably, Dranzer, did he manage to wake from his coma after only four days or so.
Kai vaguely remembered Dranzer's teardrop landing on his hand before he lost consciousness in the dark stadium tunnel. He knew phoenixes could save people from death, which was why he commanded Dranzer to save Tala, and therefore, he now felt that the teardrop served another purpose other than expressing Dranzer's sorrow at leaving him. The phoenix was using her tear to somehow prevent him from dying for some time so he could hopefully receive professional help. That was probably why he was still alive. According to the paramedics who had brought him to the hospital, he had already stopped breathing when Miguel found him.
Besides that incident, he also remembered crying at Tala's words and had felt, in a detached manner (like he wasn't experiencing it, yet he was), two of Tala's tears landing on his hand. Which he now realized was the same hand where Dranzer's tear had landed on. Could that be why he wasn't still in a coma, fighting to breathe even with the help of a machine? He didn't know for soon afterwards, he had blacked out; unable to hear what was going on outside the confines of his mind.
Tala's words were now repeating in his mind, especially select parts of them, and memories of the Abbey were making trips into his head in between hearing Tala's words. And this set him thinking.
Tala wishes us to be friends again, Kai thought. Is it possible for us to do that? We're both so headstrong and stubborn about some things, will we be able to acknowledge our friendship publicly? Hn. What will Bryan say about this? After my temporary defection to BEGA, for my own stupid reasons, Bryan's impression of me will no doubt take a turn for the worst. Well, a plunge for the worst. I-
"KAI!"
A loud yell startled Kai enough to break him out of his thoughts and trance-like state. He blinked before his amethyst eyes regained focus on the real world outside his thoughts. "I'm not deaf," he answered shortly, aiming a one-eyed glare, though without much heat, at Daichi whom Kai had identified to be the person who had so kindly yelled in his ear.
The small, impish redhead returned the glare with a cheeky grin, knowing that Kai wasn't truly angry with him. "Oh yeah and that was why you weren't answering us, oh great Kai!"
"What were you thinking about, Kai?" Hilary asked, rather concerned. Being a girl, she was slightly more sensitive to the finer details (though when it came to Kai, she was usually as mystified as the guys). She could tell that Kai was thinking about something and was thinking deeply into the matter too. Hmm… Could it concern Tala?
"Nothing," came the short and curt reply.
"Oh…" Hilary replied vaguely, her mind working away. It was ample sign to tell her and the others that what Kai had been thinking of was personal. And the brusque reply further strengthened Hilary's belief that it had been about the Russian redhead. However, she knew that Kai liked his space and would protect his privacy and personal life fiercely. It would be virtually impossible to get anything out of Kai. From the relatively short time Hilary had known him, the youth had rarely ever slipped up in whatever he did and she was sure it'd apply to this situation too. Well, if Kai wouldn't say anything, she would respect that.
Kai heaved a sigh of relief in his mind. That had been close. He didn't know about the others, but he had a hunch that Hilary had this general outline that he had been thinking about something concerning Tala. Kai had decided that he wouldn't let any of his friends in onto the fact that Tala had visited him, which meant that if he were to talk to Tala privately, he had to be really discreet and he also had to make sure he wouldn't bump into either Bryan or Spencer on his way in or out. Which equated to lots of preparation… Or perhaps not. Hmm…
"Earth to Kai! Please return to Planet Earth! Over," Ray's half-joking voice cut into Kai's thoughts. It seemed that the team had been talking about something else while he was deep in his thoughts. Right. He had better not tune them out for now or they might suspect something. Which was not what he wanted.
"Reporting to Captain Kon. What's the matter?" Kai mocked with a smirk as he pretended to follow Ray's lead and to stop himself from scanning through a multitude of ideas he had for his plan to speak to Tala.
Everyone else in the ward laughed and Kai couldn't help but smile. Well, he supposed that he should relax for a while… mainly to prepare for his imminent talk with Tala. And he was sure it wouldn't be a walk in the park for him or Tala.
Tala Ivanov was currently sitting up on his hospital bed too. However, nobody was in his ward and he was staring impassively at his cold, yet almost untouched, breakfast in front of him. It was obvious that he wasn't very hungry. In truth, he had given up on making himself eat after taking two bites of buttered toast. The hospital food wasn't that bad as everyone seemed to think that the food served in the hospital was bland, tasteless and totally disgusting. Perhaps it was because he never had the chance to eat any special delicacies since young that he found the hospital food acceptable. It was because of another matter that was making him lose most of his appetite out of apprehension.
He had been informed late last night by a nurse that Kai had awakened. Informed wasn't exactly the correct word, the nurse had more or less blurted it out to him. And he hadn't even asked anything about the slate-haired teenager when she had entered. He supposed that the nurse was happy and relieved at the news and thought that he would be too. It was the same nurse that had heard him speak to Kai that day. Well, Tala had admitted to himself that he was very glad about the good news.
It turned out that Kai's case was the second 'miracle' case after his own. But somehow Tala didn't think it was sheer luck. Anyway, the real thing that was bothering Tala was whether Kai would remember what he had told him during his coma. And if Kai did… what would his reaction be, now that he had awaken and had time to think about it.
Tala felt like paying Kai a visit, but he didn't want to meet the BBA Revolutions team. He was very sure that they would be in Kai's ward. After all, he had seen through Kai's perspective once and knew that the BBA Revolutions cared a great lot about Kai and vice versa too. They were probably yakking away to Kai, filling him on the things he had missed… Tala let out a sigh. If only his life had been so simple and carefree…
He leaned back against the pillows before jerking away as something sharp poked him in his back. Rubbing his still tender skin, he turned slightly to see a shiny metallic object lying in front of the pillows. Recognition dawned on Tala's face as he took in the top-like shape and the sleekness of the components that made up the object. It was his new Beyblade, aptly named Wolborg Metal Survive. Tala picked up his blade and leaned back on to the pillows once more, sure that he wouldn't get any nasty jabs.
Tala studied his blade slowly, running his fingers gently over the sleek, sharp edges of the attack ring. From the side table, he took Wolborg's bit-chip and fitted it on the blade, on top of the default emblem. The bit flashed blue once and Tala smiled, knowing that the wolf felt completely at home with the new blade and was eager to get down to training. It was a Heavy Metal System blade, the latest and by far the best Beyblades made statistically. Tala thought back to Kai and Brooklyn's last battle, where he learnt that Dranzer MS had shattered into useless metal fragments afterwards. Feeling a blade of similar quality on his hands made him realize the true power that had been released during Kai's battle. Watching the replay on Mr. Dickinson's video hadn't been enough to make him experience the battle after actually touching a HMS blade… Tala still couldn't quite imagine how Dranzer actually shattered.
He knew through Tyson and Daichi that Kenny and Emily had worked on the Beyblade for him, customizing it so that it fit his style – endurance. He waited out his opponents most of the time although Wolborg's attacking power was superb too. The duo had even dropped the blade off in his ward when he was supposedly asleep last night (which could explain why Wolborg had landed up on his bed). He would've to thank both of them. Which gave him little reason not to visit Kai when the BBA Revolutions was there.
But he wanted a private conversation with Kai. Something he was highly unlikely to get with other people around. It wouldn't be polite to ask them all to leave too. They had every right to spend time with Kai. They had nearly lost their friend and leader, although Kai did not officially wear the title anymore. Tala felt that they had more right to visit Kai than he did… considering what had happened during the past few days. Guilt, of causing Kai's brush with death, had been nagging at him throughout his wakefulness, sometimes even during his dreams. It had been lessened by Kai's awakening, but it was still present.
The door opened and Bryan and Spencer strode in. The two youths frowned as they noticed their flame-haired captain looking lost in thought as his fingers fiddled with Wolborg while the breakfast looked like it had been just brought in. The only difference was that the breakfast had been long cold. The news of Kai's awakening must have reached Tala somehow. It was the only reason why Tala was acting this way. Which led them to wonder what exactly did Tala do when he visited Kai two days ago.
"Tala," Bryan said quietly.
Tala jerked out of his reverie, physically and mentally. His eyes refocused on reality and he acknowledged Bryan and Spencer's presence with a mere nod. His mind was still far off on a certain slate-haired young man.
"What's with your breakfast? You haven't touched it," Spencer stated. Tala had to eat regardless of what his mental state was in.
"Not hungry."
"You still have to eat," Spencer persisted, taking on an act that was like a mother trying to sweet talk her child into eating vegetables for dinner.
Tala shook his head, not giving in. "I'm not hungry, Spence."
Knowing that Tala could be really stubborn when he wanted to, Bryan picked up the partially eaten toast and shoved it in front of Tala. Force would work better sometimes. "Eat," he commanded, not caring that Tala was usually the leader amongst them. This was the time when the roles had to be changed.
Tala glared at Bryan over the toast that was practically in his face. Bryan held his gaze steadily, unflinchingly. He had been on the receiving end of it before anyway. Tala narrowed his azure eyes and conveyed simply but clearly to his gray-haired friend that he was not going to budge on his stand about his own dietary affairs.
Gray eyes narrowed too. It's time for drastic measures, Bryan decided as he lowered the hand that was holding the toast. "Fine. I'll tell the doctors that you refuse to eat and ask them to insert a glucose IV tube into you."
The decision would've suited Tala just fine if not for the fact that it would mean the nurses to check in on him more frequently than usual to change the bag of glucose… Or to make sure the IV was in place… to basically irritate him even more. Tala scowled openly at both his friends, whom he noticed that Spencer was trying not to smile. He gave a defeated sigh and said to Bryan somewhat rudely (though without anger), "I can eat by myself."
"Good. I was afraid I'd have to feed you."
Spencer chuckled at the second glare Bryan received from their dear team captain who was grudgingly biting on the toast.
It was amusing to see Tala quite helpless in this context.
To visit or not to visit? That is the question… Kai thought to himself as he lay on the bed with his arms flexed behind his head. That was the general question that had been flitting through his mind throughout the day and most of the night. He hadn't been able to really pay attention to what his friends had been saying most of the time although, for once, he actually tried.
It was late at night, past visiting hours. And so he knew that if he were to sneak out of his ward and into Tala's it would be possible. He just had to avoid the staff. Which, considering his Abbey trainings, would be an easy task even when he wasn't in tiptop shape. But should he? He wanted to, but did he, would he know what to say to Tala? How would Tala react? Would…? A million questions zipped through his mind, not giving him time to think through them before another replaced it. He finally stemmed the flow of questions and decided that he might as well pay a late night visit to Tala. After all, he thought cynically, this isn't the first time.
He sat up and slid quietly out of bed, putting on the pair of soft slippers the hospital provided. He slowly pushed open the door, careful not to make a sound. When the opening was just right for him to slip through without aggravating any of his injuries, Kai exited his ward and closed the door gently.
Now, where was Tala's ward?
Tala was lost in thought again. It was around 11pm and yet he couldn't sleep. He had been listless half the time when Bryan and Spencer had been around. He was sure his two friends had noticed it. He had been 'forced' to eat lunch and dinner by both young men too. Well, he supposed it was a good thing considering the other option Bryan so handily threw in whenever Tala seemed unwilling to eat. He knew that the gray-haired young man would readily put that option into place if he didn't eat. Ah well…
Now that Bryan and Spencer were absent and the nurses thought he was asleep, he had the whole night and perhaps the early morning to think about everything that had happened so far.
Or so he thought.
Tala barely suppressed a growl of irritation as the door to his ward was pushed open gently. Wait a minute… It was pushed open far too gently. Like the person on the other end didn't want anybody to notice him. It definitely wasn't a nurse or a doctor. Tala tensed, before reprimanding himself that he was being paranoid once again. Not that he could actually blame himself.
The redhead sat up and eyed the door, still cautious though. The last time he had a late night visitor, it had been…
"Kai!"
The young man at the doorway froze for a split second.
"In the flesh."
carzla: There. For all who wanted another chapter, here's a whole sequel for you! Yay! Heh. Cliffhanger ending! Well, updates may be slow as I'm going away during June and my computer has been quite funny lately. I'll try getting the next chapter up as soon as possible. Thank you to all of you who reviewed the epilogue of "Comatose"! Love 'em!
Chibi-Lothlen: Hope you'll like this fanfic! Yes, I love Kai and Tala friendship fics too!
AngeLhearteD: Is this better? A whole sequel? Heehee. I had it in mind when I ended "Comatose" Thanks for the great comments! This is my personal fave too!
Star-Serious-Laser: Thank you for both the comments and letting me know what video editing software you use! Hope you'll like this too.
twincharm: Hey, I watched that episode too! In Japanese nonetheless... I only understood certain phrases. It's cause of that episode did I want to write "Comatose". Hey, if I can manage to get it translated (somehow), I'll send the transcript to you, okay?
