"Ugh! My... leg... is starting to hurt!" Tyson whined, trying to keep up with Max's speed. Tyson slightly gripped his thigh, allowing his run to turn into a limped jog. The blonde merely turned around and started jogging backwards with a smile perched on his face.
"You brought that upon yourself," Max started, looking behind him as they made a quick turn. "If you spent as much time arguing with Kai as you did with stretching, you'd be as limber as a gymnast and wouldn't be getting a charley horse."
Tyson stared at the blonde, limping even more. "I... am NOT getting a charley horse. My thigh is just stiff, it'll warm up, no problem."
"Really?" Max raised an eyebrow, lower his eyes at Tyson's throbbing thigh. "The limps are telling me otherwise. You should try to speed up though, Kai will probably go crazy if he sees us slowing down." The blonde's eyes wandered at the benches where Kai stood, arms crossed with a whistle around his neck. "Did you notice how much more harsh he is today? Dragoon's accident yesterday can't be the only reason for his extra pushiness."
Tyson momentarily blushed when he thought back to yesterday. He remembered why the team was running so much in the first place. It was punishment for Tyson's mistake at yesterday's preliminary practice rounds. When he released his blade, his attack ring flew off the moment it fell off the launcher. The pieces of plastic and metal clanged against the stone bowl that seemed to echo forever in the arena. It was the most embarrassing moment that could happen to the team, but especially Tyson and Kai. Kai because he was team captain, so unofficially, he should have made sure everyone's blade was put together, and Tyson because it was just pathetic on his part.
The next day (aka today), Kai arranged to use the stadium as their training facility, most likely purposely to remind Tyson of his pitiful problem. He made a schedule that was simple enough to follow for Ray, Max, and Tyson.
"Run."
Ray cocked an eyebrow. "Just run?"
Kai sucked air through his teeth and spat, "Yes, Ray. Run. Just keeping running. None of you are stopping until three o'clock or your legs give out. If you don't make it until three, you're benched."
"Wait, why are we running?" Max questioned, oblivious to the rage in Kai's face.
"One person fucks up, the whole team gets fucked up. Had Tyson not launched his shoddy blade at practice, he would have launched it in a real battle and we would have lost the first round in less than two seconds. Tyson's fuck up would be our loss, so one person's failure is now our failure. And if I'm going to punish him, you're all going to get it. So, warm up and stretch out."
"But, it's 10 in the morning," Tyson squeaked, regretting it the moment it left his throat.
The Russian fingered the shiny, silver whistle around his neck, refusing eye contact at the smaller blunette. "So?"
"You expect us to run for five hours?" Tyson asked, shocked at the punishment. It was cruel, even for Kai's standards.
However, Kai seemed to have different thoughts. His eyes lifted from the whistle onto Tyson's, glowering in an evil way. "I don't expect you to... I demand you to. Do it or get benched. Take a pick."
Ray and Max cautiously placed themselves away from the Russian and blunette as they started doing jumping jacks and basic stretches. Of course, Tyson decided to sit there and complain, half-heartedly stretching, while Kai merely rolled his eyes or gave him the scariest death glares possible. Tyson had barely warmed up when Kai blew into his whistle, signalling the beginning of the smaller boy's doom. Ray took off with the speed of a healthy cat, blowing Max and Tyson away who decided to run at the same pace together. They figured as long as they went fast enough, Kai wouldn't snap at them. Of course, two hours past and Tyson's lack of stretching had already came back to torment him in the form of the "charley horse."
When Max mentioned the Dragoon accident, Tyson replayed the series of events that occurred when the blade fell apart:
FLASHBACK
The crowd and other bladers around him paused as a harsh, red color overtook Tyson's face. He froze up, holding his launcher in place, ogling the plastic and metal pieces that layed in the bowl, mocking his failure to secure his beyblade. His heart dropped in a way he didn't know was possible. His practice opponent stared at the pieces, then up at Tyson who held his form like a statue. His mouth opened silently, leading to a waterfall of laughter, pouring out with the volume of a raging river. The crowd followed suit one by one, until the laughter started bouncing from wall to wall at him. The rest of the team made sympathetic facials as watched their friend being ridiculed by the crowd. It was a rookie mistake, but it didn't mean they had to treat him the way he was being treated.
Tyson, unable to bear the embarrassment, snatched the pieces of his beyblade and ran out of the stadium. He went down the hallways and hallways until he found the locker room. He shoved it open, continuing past aisles of lockers until he reached the furthest corner of room. He threw himself against the corner, kicking it as hard as he could in anger. He couldn't understand how he could make such a simple mistake when he's been practicing for weeks and weeks. Hell, they've won championships, yet he didn't even take the time to fortify Dragoon, a basic and almost every day task of Tyson's. He wanted to punch someone or something, but he had a feeling that'd the punches would be at him. Why? While Tyson saw the eyes of his sad friends running out, he also caught Kai's. He got that faint look of anger before he snapped his head away from the older boy.
He knew Kai would be bursting into the locker room, but he wasn't exactly ready when he heard the loud yell of "Granger!" The walls helped to amplify both the volume and spite that was drenched in his last name. Tyson wasn't prepared to argue with the older boy, so he tried to sneak into one of the tiny shower stalls. He listened to the loud foot stomps passing the locker aisles as he climbed into the suffocating stall and shut the curtain. He held his breath in as the footsteps grew softer, but closer to his position. The steps slowed down as if they stopped. Tyson felt his heart thump hard against his chest, keeping his ears perked. Suddenly the foot steps started again and slowly faded away. He wanted to get out of the shower, but Kai could have been waiting outside the curtain for him. Kai was actually clever, so Tyson kept his air in. It felt like ages before he heard the footsteps start again and fade. He smiled smugly to himself as he left out a huge breath of air in relief.
The moment he exhaled, the hairs on Tyson's neck hairs prickled, hearing the sharp, crinkle sound of the curtains being ripped back. Kai had been waiting out and knew Tyson would be dumb enough to think he'd actually leave. The Russian gripped the curtain, his fist almost turning white as his eyes shot daggers straight into the younger boy. He stepped into the small shower with Tyson and closed the curtain behind them. Tyson prayed that anything but imminent death would occur while they stood in the stall. He hoped for the shower to go off and spray them with cold water, making them have to jump out. Maybe Kai would be sympathetic to his plight. The moment that went through his head, he almost chuckled. Kai? Sympathetic? What's next, Kai making a move on him? At least Tyson would get something out of that.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when Kai stepped closer to him. Tyson pressed his back to the wall of the stall, quietly regretting his choice of picking a small space to hide. The Russian slammed his hands on either side of Tyson's head, causing a loud gasp to come out of his mouth. As Kai leant closer, eyes still piercing into Tyson's fearful ones, all he did was mentally beg that Kai kiss him instead of using his scarf to choke him. He was probably less than three inches to Tyson's face before he yelled,"What in the FUCK was that?" Even his voice had the tone that meant death. Tyson watched the older blunette angrily chomp on his lip, waiting for an answer. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
"What? You can't even give me a fucking answer? How about I try a new question? Do you LIKE to fucking embarrass me like that?" Kai snapped, grinding down on his teeth. Tyson couldn't believe the aggression spewing from Kai over something so ridiculous, but who was he to question him when he's trapped between a tiled wall and a human wall. "I'm the fucking captain. If that happens on my watch, that's my responsibility! I am not going to be made a fool of because of your inability to take care of your own damn blade!" Tyson's eyes grew larger in fear as he took each hateful word. They stung him worse than he thought they should, but it was probably more that he was forced to face Kai's anger than simply running away and arguing at the same time as they usually did. Seeing all the hatred face to face felt like someone was compressing his chest. It was hard breathe and Kai's proximity wasn't helping.
He let his eyes drift downward, feeling more ashamed than he had when he ran into the locker room. He was beyond red-faced, he turned full on pale thanks to Kai instilling a fear he never knew existed into Tyson's bloodstream. He stared at the captain's black boots and their lack of shine, yet it still somehow remained intimidating to him. It was silly to apply a trait to a pair of shoes, but everything about Kai demanded intimidation or those boots would end up on his skull. Kai ripped him from his thoughts when he grabbed his chin and forced Tyson to look him in the eyes. "Are you even fucking listening to me or am I just wasting my time?" His teeth found his lips again, tugging at them at the point where he could have swore skin broke. He quickly licked his lips and let go of Tyson's chin.
Tyson leant his head back against the tile as his bit his own lips too, trying to breathe deeply, but all that filled his lungs were shallow air bubbles. He couldn't take the yelling anymore, he really couldn't. It was too intense for him to listen to Kai's words. All he wanted to do was smash his chapped lips into Kai's bleeding ones if it meant avoiding this situation and making a whole new awkward one. He felt his eyes start to well up with salty water, but blinked them back as his head fell back to Kai's boots. "Fine, don't answer me. It's not like you could have said anything anyway," Kai muttered. Tyson refused to make the eye contact until he felt a hand come up behind his neck and grab a handful of his blue hair. He whimpered as he was forced to stare back into Kai's eyes. "At least hear this: If you fuck up again, I will bench your ass immediately. Got it!" Kai ended the sentence with a firm slap of the wall beside Tyson's head. It was so close to hitting him, he gasped out and felt the release of water from his eye.
Tyson took a large gulp, feeling the water trickle down his right cheek and off his chin. He averted his eyes over Kai's shoulder, feeling even more embarrassed to shed a single tear in front of his captain. Kai loosened his grip in Tyson's hair, suddenly growing quiet. All Tyson heard was each other's breathing in the silent locker room. He decided to take a chance and look at Kai as another tear fell, following the same path as the previous one. The Russian's face of anger mellowed into a face of confusion. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before he dropped the hand by the younger boy's head. "Are... you crying?" he queried. His voice had melted to soft and concerned tone Tyson has never heard before. For some reason, Tyson's heart seemed to pound a little faster when he heard the sound of caring, if not regret in his sentence.
"No," Tyson managed to choke out, breaking the eye contact as a third and fourth tear fell on opposite cheeks. He did a quick sniffle as he wiped his face with the back of his hand, making sure he had a dry face, however he felt Kai's eyes burning through him. The fifth and sixth tear fell as he glanced up at the older boy's face. His whole face crumbled into concern, only increasing Tyson's heart beating more. The older boy lifted his hand from his side to gently cusp his face, using his thumb to wipe away what he could. He was surprised to find the Russian had a soft hand despite his "bad boy" look and sadly smiled into Kai's palm. Then it one fluid moment, Tyson felt himself pulled into Kai's body for a... hug? Kai's arm was wrapped tightly around the younger boy's waist as his hand remained in his hair, only nudging him into Kai's shoulder. He slithered his arms around Kai and held him, feeling better already, if not, a bit giddy. Tyson frowned, wondering why he'd feel giddy about being held by the older boy, but he didn't have time to contemplate it when he felt him pulling away.
As Kai untangled his hand from Tyson's mane, his eyes wandered to the younger boy's. They were surprised, but nervous nonetheless, Tyson prepared for his captain to say something mean or rude to this situation. Instead, Kai mumbled something that sounded a bit like 'sorry' but he said it so fast and quiet, the younger boy wasn't able to grasp it. Before he knew it, the Russian turned back into the cold, calculating captain he was supposed to be. He straightened his posture and stared at Tyson with his icy eyes. "Get you and your blade together." The tone was back to a sharp monotone as he reached back for the curtain, pulling it open. "Five minutes." With that, he stepped out of the shower and closed the curtain on the younger blunette.
The moment he heard footsteps, Tyson let his knees finally buckle as he collapsed onto the floor of the shower. He landed on his hips with an 'oomph.' He felt colder than he did before that hug and couldn't understand why. One tear fell as he stared at the curtain, whispering, "You should have kissed me..." He finished the sentence in his head, 'Then I wouldn't have to feel this awful right now.' Of course, in less than five minutes, he put together Dragoon again, fixed his hair and clothes and walked out of the stall and back out into the stadium, trying to act sheepish as people started running up to him, apologizing for taunting him. While the attention and apologies were nice, his eyes travelled to his captain, he merely took a two second glance before focusing on something else. He silently thanked Kai and hoped he'd get the message. He felt like he did when Kai looked back at Tyson and gave him the smallest smile possible and turning away once more.
END FLASHBACK
A loud whistle screeched for a full five seconds and was followed up by, "Granger, you better pick up the pace!" from Kai. Tyson looked over his shoulder to see the Russian glaring directly at him. He whipped his head back, trying to lift his leg a little faster, but the throbbing pain was really preventing it.
Max frowned and said,"Maybe you stop, you could really hurt your leg if you keep running. Haven't you heard of muscle tears from cramping?"
Tyson shook his head, hand clawing at his thigh. "No, I will not. Not if it means I get benched tomorrow. I know Kai doesn't want it because he needs us all playing. I just have to... pick up the pace?" He ended the last sentence on a question as he tried to lift his leg up normally to run. Instead he was met with a final muscle spasm that made him yell out loud and collapse face first onto the track.
Max gasped, "Dude, are you okay?" He stopped and jogged back to Tyson who was almost in fetal position hugging his thigh. He knelt down besides his friend to see his face was etched in pain as he rocked back and forth.
"Isn't it obvious I'm not? Fuuuuuuuck!" Another spasm shot through his leg, causing the muscles to quake in a painful manner. Tyson gritted his teeth as Max's eyes lifted from Tyson to a mysterious shadow, looming over the two.
"Why are you two not running?" the shadow asked.
"Tyson got a charley horse, I stopped to make sure he's okay," Max answered with a small frown.
Ray finally reached the three boys and asked,"What happened?"
"Charley horse," Max replied, eyes refocused onto Tyson.
The older blunette ran his hand through his hair and said,"I know I said run until three or until your legs give out, but I wasn't serious about the legs giving out. This better be a real injury or so help me-"
Tyson cut him off as he exclaimed,"No, I'm totally faking because I love the way my muscles stop working. It's always been a dream of mine to have dead legs." The sarcasm probably didn't help Tyson's situation, but he didn't want to lie on the ground anymore, gripping his thigh in agony. He expected another comment from Kai when he felt instead his arms swing under his armpits in an attempt to lift him off the floor.
"Ray, help me out," he commanded. Ray pulled his arms around Tyson's waist as they both lifted him onto his one good leg. Ray backed up, watching Kai put an arm around Tyson's waist and pull Tyson's arm on his shoulder. "You know, you can help me out here," he muttered to the younger boy. He blushed and stood tall on his good leg, adjusting his arm on Kai's shoulders. The Russian gripped Tyson's forearm as they started to move forward away from the track. "I trust you two to finish the run." Max and Ray nodded. "Good. I'm going to take Tyson to the locker room and see if I can find something to help his leg."
With that, the blonde and the cat began running around the track again while Tyson limped along with the direction Kai took him. "So, why the locker room?" He asked the older blunette.
"Most locker rooms have a first aid kits. If it has one, there should be some muscle cream. If it doesn't, I guess I have to take care of your charley horse myself." He simply answered, leading the younger boy down one of the dark hallways. Tyson wasn't sure what Kai meant by "taking care of it himself," but he dropped it. After that, they grew silent, letting their footsteps and breaths fill the air. Tyson didn't mind since he didn't know what to say to Kai anyway, especially after last night. He wasn't sure if he should even bring it up with the captain. It wasn't particularly awkward, just... strange.
FLASHBACK
"Aw yeah! Pay up, Ray!" Max cheered. The boys were playing Poker in the other room while Tyson listened from the room over at the hotel. He heard Ray's faint grumbles and the small sound of chips being pushed on the floor.
"How do I know you didn't cheat?" Ray questioned.
There was a brief pause before Max replied with, "How do you know if I did cheat?" He imagined the blonde with an evil, cocky smile when he said it. Max was prone to being an little sneak when it comes to things he wants aka winning everyone's money. He could have cheated and sometimes the team did catch him, however, there weren't anymore proclaimations about it, so they couldn't find the proof. He briefly smiled to himself before taking a deep breath and shutting his eyes.
Tyson had left the guys an hour ago after feeling a bit tired. He tried to fall asleep, but he couldn't slip away into sleep mode. Instead, he opted to sitting against the headboard and listening to the guys in the other room. He kicked the sheets to the foot of the bed, feeling too hot to actually use them. He opened his eyes when he heard Chief ask,"Do you think Tyson is okay?"
Silence.
"He said he was tired, don't think too much into it," Max voice spoke.
Ray retorted,"I think he's still embarrassed about today."
"What makes you think that?"
"When does he ever leave so early to 'sleep'? "
"That's true... I still think he's fine."
Chief butted in, "Maybe someone should check."
He heard Ray say, "I'll check." Then he heard shuffling and then a muffled 'wait.' Tyson couldn't tell who it was, but that person walked across the room. After that, Tyson lied down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, waiting for his mystery guest to play babysitter with him. He rolled his eyes briefly before shutting them again, even though he knew nothing would happen.
Tyson heard the door and opened his eyes. He turned his heard towards it and asked,"Haven't you heard of the rule 'Knock before entering?' "
The door shut as the younger boy realized it was Kai who stood at the door. "You're supposed to be sleeping, so I thought it didn't matter," he retorted, stepping forward. "Besides, you're usually not the 'private' type."
"What do you mean?" the younger boy asked.
Kai walked over to Tyson's bed and sat on the edge, eyes looking into his. "You're usually open about everything. I couldn't imagine you needing privacy for anything but your bathroom needs and changing your clothes."
Tyson lowered his brows. "Maybe I just wanted to be alone," he mumbled before flipping himself over and putting his face into his pillow. He hoped that the older boy would just get up in leave, respecting his wishes.
He heard a soft chuckle, "You're starting to sound like me." Tyson took his face out of the pillow and lied on his side, eyes leering towards Kai's shadow, unsure what to say back. He heard a quick click as bright light illuminated the room, causing Tyson to squint. What he could make out was the older boy who merely focused on the lamp on the side desk. He watched Kai twist the switch a few times until the bright fluroescent fell into a yellow haze. He reopened his eyes and saw Kai staring at him. "So, care to explain?" The Russian asked, twisting himself to face Tyson.
The younger boy swallowed, ignoring his question. "I thought you'd enjoy another you. One less person to have to interact with."
The older boy gave him a small smile. "As nice as that sounds, you're not you. Even in the locker room before, that wasn't the Tyson I've grown to tolerate."
Tyson interrupted with a sad smile, "I'm glad after five years, your hate has blossomed into tolerance."
"Ignoring that, the others are worried. I assume you heard it through the wall?" It was more of a statement than a question, but Tyson answered nonetheless.
"Yeah, I did. But don't worry," he placed a large, fake grin onto his face. "I'm perfectly fine." Of course, he was lying and he knew it was obvious to Kai who just held an ice cold stare for a longer time than necessary. Tyson swallowed once more, shifting his eyes away from Kai, feeling his smile slowly fade into an awkward frown.
Kai shook his head, taking a deep breath. "I can't believe you tried to convince me with that pitiful performance."
The younger blunette frowned. "You going to yell at me for it?" he snapped.
Kai's eyes widened at Tyson's remark. While it was usual for the boy to throw sharp comments, he seemed overly emotional with his reply. "No, but I would like an explanation of your sudden change of attitude."
Tyson scratched his wrist, glancing up at Kai. He really didn't want to explain how he was feeling because even he couldn't comprehend it himself. Instead he tried to distract himself by staring at the older boy. He noticed some things he never noticed, like the bare cheekbones that lied underneath the face paint or the strong neck he had when it wasn't covered by his signature white cashmere scarf. When those observations appeared in his head, he really noticed how alone they were in the room. It was a tiny, cheap hotel room with dark walls, making the room appear even smaller and the foggy, yellow light felt more intimate than it should have. It was only him lying on the bed trying to shrink away from Kai's questions and Kai who seemed only determined to find out the cause of his odd behavior. Tyson gulped, feeling a bit nauseous about the questioning. He turned over towards the window, giving his back to Kai. "Just leave me alone," he said, feeling it was probably an immature reply, but it was exactly the feeling in his gut.
He heard a deep sigh come from the older boy's mouth, then a quick dip in the bed. Tyson curled his legs up a bit, trying to concentrate on the dark sky through the glass panes, but was pulled away when a hand touched his hip and pushed it flat against the bed. Now he stared at the ceiling, seeing from the corner of his eye that Kai was lying on the other side of the bed, resting his head on one hand. "You don't expect to give up that easily, do you?"
"I wish you would." It was barely audible, but Kai caught it.
"But I'm not going to, Tyson." He felt his heart skip a beat when he heard his name said in a low tone. "So talk. What's wrong?"
Tyson bite on his tongue, not wanting to discuss the billions of feelings bubbling in his body, yet he felt compelled to do so. He tried to put it in the simplest, but vaguest term he could.
"Pressure." There. It was out in the open, ready to be chewed up by the Russian who most likely thought it was a pathetic reason to act out. He rolled his eyes over to window, waiting for the older boy's response. All he heard was:
"Go on." Tyson turned over to face Kai, confused on his statement. The boy ran his free hand through his hair and repeated himself, "Go on." The older boy's hair flopped back in place, covering his forehead and framing his red eyes. Tyson admired the way the bangs seemed to dampen the stare and almost looked attractive. When that went through his head, he felt a blush grow on his face. He let his eyes dip down to Kai's stomach, clearing that thought out. "Care to share?" He asked once more, sounding curious.
"I..." the younger blunette started, biting his lip. "... just been over worked I think. I mean, we've been doing so many competitions lately, training hard, hardly ever having a break. And then we have Mr. Dickenson who adds even more pressure when he allows so much press for when we compete, and the fact that the media stalks us like hounds, we don't ever get a moment to ourselves. And we have the fans who look up so much to us that I couldn't do something bad without it making some mark that would tarnish my status to those kids and all I've been doing is eating, drinking, breathing Beyblade and as much as I do love it, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed with everything going on. I don't understand how you guys cope with this, I feel like it's eating me from the inside out, I spend more time having panic attacks than smiling about blading. I just..." Tyson paused, needing to catch his breath after spewing out his personal thoughts at five hundred miles per hour. "... I just need a break." He finished with a long, heavy sigh. He snapped shut his eyes, feeling the tears developing. He cried once in front of Kai, he wasn't going to do it again.
"I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but YOU were the one who offered to do this competition," Kai stated.
Tyson felt the first tear slip from the corner of his eye. "Shut up... I know. I was hoping to see if I could get some form of fun out of it this time, but the second Dragoon... and you, yelling at me..." He pressed his eyes even harder together, letting his breath-y confession try not to get the best of him.
He heard Kai say, "Tyson, if you don't open your eyes, you're going to pop a blood vessel." He shook his head, refusing to expose the tears. "Don't make me have to open them for you." He threatened. Tyson continued to shake his head, but heard the sigh fall from Kai's mouth. "I can't believe I'm going to do this..." All of a sudden, Tyson felt fingers softly tickling his sides. Immediately the younger boy started to giggle, trying to push Kai's hands away blindly, but he didn't let up. Tyson's eyes sprung open, unable to take the tickling and grabbed the older boy's hands harshly. The tears poured out in a mixture of laughter and sadness.
Kai, who apparently had sat up to tickle Tyson, pinched the boy's side once more. Tyson squealed before he retracted his hands. "Better, but answer me this: Am I a part of this 'pressure' you're feeling?" Luckily, he had avoided the trickling tears in the younger boy's eyes. Tyson smeared them off before answering.
"A little. I know how much you want to win."
"Don't you?"
"Yeah, but you put a lot of force towards having to win, it kind of kills the fun," Tyson admitted, turning onto his back.
"I find winning fun..." Kai started. Tyson felt the bed re-shift, so he assumed Kai was lying down again. "...but not at the expense of my team mate's stability." The Russian paused, waiting for a response from Tyson who merely allowed the silence to continue. He swallowed and started counting the dots on the ceiling, feeling uncomfortable about the proximity of Kai on the bed. Why was it feeling extra hot out of nowhere? "Look at me." The older boy insisted. The younger blunette's eyes drifted onto Kai who looked back at him with a tired expression.
"First and fore most, I'm not going to stop the training for this competition just because of you... but maybe we can take a break from battling after this one... maybe." Kai said it in a way that seemed to understand the grief Tyson had been dealing with, even if he personally didn't want to stop battling. Tyson felt a slight smile tug onto his face. Even if his captain couldn't gurandtee a vaca from battling, the idea of him considering a break made him want to hug him. And he did. Tyson buried his face into Kai's shoulder, smiling, slipping his arms around his torso. He felt Kai tense up, but he returned it. That giddy feeling bubbled in Tyson's stomach, yet he ignored it as he pulled away. The older boy pulled his mouth into a tight line before sitting up and saying,"I'm going to assume you're better now...?"
Tyson smiled and nodded, quietly thanking him. "Thanks for listening."
"Don't take it personally, it's for the team," Kai quickly said, turning his head away from Tyson. The younger boy chuckled slightly, knowing the captain didn't want to seem too caring, but it was the thought that counted. Tyson turned onto his back and closed his eyes, feeling some weight being lifted off of him. He felt the dip in the bed change for a moment, then it stopped. "Before I go... I wanted to ask you something." He heard Kai state with a hint of hesitation. What could ever throw the ever so calm Kai Hitawari off?
"Yeah, sure. What is it?" Tyson replied, keeping his curiousity to himself.
"Earlier today, when I left the locker room... did you say 'I should have kissed you?' " Tyson's eyes popped open. Well, that would throw anyone off... the younger blunette turned his head slowly at his captain who didn't make eye contact, but Tyson could see there was the smallest of small blushes sitting on his face. Probably because he's never been one for affection. It distracted him from realizing that he had overheard his weakness.
He avoided the question by asking,"You stayed in the locker room?"
"I was making sure you were okay," Kai reassured, "- that's all."
Tyson swallowed and turned his head away, guessing he had to face the music one way or another. "Yes, I did," he admitted, feeling the giddiness rumble in his stomach at the thought of it occurring for real. Then he realized that he admitted something personal and rather awkward that was said in a moment of weakness, so he started sputtering,"But, I didn't mean it in the way you're thinking, I was jus-"
He had no idea what happened from the time he said 'yes' to the cut off of his idiotic rambling, but he felt a warm body lie on him and found dry lips being softly pressed against his. Tyson blinked, trying to comprehend what was happening, although it was obvious: Kai was kissing him. Instinctively, the older boy's hands rested on Tyson's hips, eyes closed as he pressed a bit more. The younger boy surpressed his gasp, but allowed the action to continue. He was rather surprised by this sudden action since Kai seemed to be the most anti-affectionate guy he's ever met, yet this wasn't affection. It felt more like...a yearning of some sort. Tyson felt a warm finger rub over his hip bone, making him let out a quiet moan. He'd never admit that his hips were a weak spot. In reaction to the touch, he met Kai's lips with the same gentle pressure, moving at his same slow pace. He allowed his eyes to shut, experiencing the weirdest concoction of pleasure, awkwardness, and happiness brewing in his stomach. His hands seem to slip subconciously onto Kai's lower back, pressing him closer to Tyson's body. He was clueless about what was occurring. He didn't care. All there was was him and Kai and curious mouths connecting to one another.
A loud knock struck the door, pulling Tyson out of his reverie. Kai's eyes sprung open and pulled away from Tyson, head turning towards the door.
"Hey, you guys okay in there?" It was Ray, checking up on them. Tyson had no idea how long they had been talking or kissing for that matter, but apparently it was long enough to worry the guys in the other room. The younger boy rubbed a small circle in Kai's lower back while the rest of his body froze in place.
"We're fine. I'll be out in a minute," Kai stated. He heard a muffled 'okay' from Ray and footsteps leaving the doorway. Kai's hands still rested on Tyson's hips, head focused on the sounds.
Once the sounds were gone, the younger blunette let out a deep breath, heart pounding from the thrill of being caught. "That was close."
Kai slowly turned his head back at Tyson who laid underneath him. His eyes widened as his face grew pink. Before Tyson could even say anything, Kai climbed off him and started getting off the bed. "I should go."
Tyson was surprised, not wanting the other boy to leave on such a confusing note. "But-"
He was cut off by Kai, flicking off the light of the desk lamp and standing up. He didn't look back at Tyson as he said, "Practice at 10 tomorrow." And he was gone. Tyson listened to the door shut behind him. It was cold. Wasn't it just moments ago that he felt like he was hot? He shook his head rapidly, not wanting to think about this now. He reached for the squished sheets at the foot of the bed and drew them upon his body, cocooning himself. He laid on his side and looked out the window, watching the stars develop in the dark sky. He wasn't sure how long he stared at them thoughtlessly before he drifted off into his own slumber.
END FLASHBACK
A quick smack to the back of Tyson's head awoke him from his recall. Tyson looked around and saw that he was sitting on one of the benches in the locker room. Beside him, Kai stared down at the younger boy with a confused, but stern face.
"I know your mind is a fathomless hole of empty space, but I didn't think it was possible for you to get lost in yourself." Kai muttered with a cocked eyebrow. Tyson gritted his teeth but remained silent as the captain sat beside the boy on the bench. In his left hand was a large white plastic case with the red cross emblem on it. "While you were comatose, I found three first aid cases in here. I checked the first two, but they had nothing for muscle pain. The first one was all medicinal material, the second was bandages, gauze, etc. And this is the last one. Better hope there's a muscle relaxant or IcyHot."
Kai placed the kit on his lap and opened it. Tyson leaned towards it to also view it's contents. There were leg and arm bands for injuries, more gauze, and various little bottles, but nothing that looked like it could help his pain. He frowned as Kai placed the case on the bench.
"So, I'm screwed basically," Tyson said, rolling his eyes. A shock of pain zipped through his thigh when he pushed onto his bad leg. He bit his lip and groaned in his own little world of agony. While Tyson continued to mess with his leg, Kai had been going through the various bottles. He pulled out three different bottles before shutting the case and placing it onto the floor.
Kai looked at him and disagreed, "You're not screwed. Had you not been lost in your own world, you would have heard me when I said that I could take care of it."
"How?" Tyson asked, bewildered about the solution to his pain. The captain ignored his questioning as he opened one of the tiny bottles. Instead, he only said one command.
"Take off your pants."
"...wait, what?"
Whoa, wait, what? But no seriously, keep your eyes out for Part Two. This is a three-part fiction.