Here we are again with another update … yay! Thankies for the wonderful reviews and I hope you all enjoy.

Kai walked into the classroom at the Prep school and all conversation stopped. It was no surprise, he hadn't been there for a few weeks. Luckily Mr. Dickinson had smoothed over a few administrative details and all Kai had to do was catch up on a few assessments and a fair bit of class work. Not that he couldn't handle it.

            "Hey Kai."

            Kai looked over and smiled slightly seeing Wyatt calling him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered over to him, looking slightly dishevelled, but at the same time sexily untidy in his uniform as he always had.

            "Wyatt," he greeted. "Nice to see you up and about again."

            "It's great to be out of there. Let me tell you, hospitals are no fun."

            "No kidding," Kai murmured. He took his usual seat beside the window and behind Wyatt. "So how are you feeling?"

            "Sick and tired of people asking that question."

            "Well I was never any good at small talk anyway."

            Wyatt laughed. "Really? I never noticed."

            Kai looked at him sideways with a hint of a smile. "Now you're starting to sound like you know me rather well."

            "Don't I?"

            "Actually, you're probably one of the only people besides my team who does know me rather well." Kai thought about this with a look of surprise on his face. "And it only took you two hours."

            "I'm assuming that's a good achievement."

            Kai shrugged. "You could say that."

            It was strange, but he had such an easy manner around Wyatt. Kai never felt he had to put up his defensive walls when he was around the boy, he was completely relaxed and actually enjoying having a conversation with someone. This was indeed a very rare and extremely unusual occurrence.

            The teacher arrived and cut them off from saying anything. He merely welcomed the two of them back and began with the lesson.

*           *           *

A few days passed and Kai noticed a very sharp change in himself. It wasn't immediately obvious to anyone but himself, but he'd caught Rei looking at him curiously at their last practice, then Max. Even Tyson eventually noticed the slightly more eased manner to Kai's attitude and personality.

            Frankly it was starting to scare them, and him.

            There was a knock at the door to Kai's room and he called out, "Come in," from in his bathroom. He quickly wiped his face dry and set the slightly damp towel he'd been using over his shoulders and bare chest, walking out to see who had come to see him.

            Wyatt stood there, gaping slightly as he walked out. Kai looked at him curiously, wondering what he was staring at then his cheeks flushed slightly and he grabbed a shirt from his bed. Wyatt blushed bright red and turned away a bit. "Um, I was wondering if you'd like to come see me blade today."

            Kai did up one of the buttons on his shirt. "Sure," he answered. Then he stopped and stared at Wyatt. "Wait, do you think you're ready for this yet?"

            Wyatt shrugged. "One way to find out."

            "Then I should definitely come with you." Kai grabbed his blazer and keys and followed Wyatt out of his room, locking the door behind him.

            "Um, Kai?" Wyatt asked as they stared walking.

            "Yeah?"

            "Are you going to go outside like that?"

            Kai looked down to see what Wyatt was pointing at and saw that he hadn't finished buttoning up his shirt. He quickly did up all but the top two buttons. "Thanks."

            "Don't mention it."

            The two of them continued on to the beyblade dishes set up in one of the common rooms. It seemed that Larry had told quite a few people that he and Wyatt would be battling. There was already a small crowd gathered to watch, including the two guys that Kai had seen visiting Wyatt in the hospital.

            "Are you sure you're ready for this?" Kai asked.

            Wyatt hesitated then nodded frantically. Kai could see that he really wasn't ready, but was refusing to admit it.

            "You don't have to face up to it straight away, the best way of getting back into this is to ease into it slowly."

            Wyatt shook his head. "No, I have to see if I can still blade."

            Kai sighed. "Sure, what would I know? I'm just a world champion." Wyatt grinned at his sarcasm then stepped up to the dish. Kai sighed again. "You know I'm here," he told him quietly

            "Thanks Kai."

            Kai watched with some trepidation as Wyatt faced off against Larry, one of the slightly more skilled bladers at the school. He was the only one who noticed the slight hesitation and the tremor in Wyatt's arm as he set his blade in his launcher. The look in his eyes was not good. He stared at his blade for a while, to the confusion of the others then glanced once at Kai. Then he shook his head, dropped his launcher and quickly left the common room.

            "Whoa, what's up with Wyatt?"

            "Is he all right?"

            "That accident must have really messed him up or something."

            "I thought he was healthy enough to come back."

            Kai ignored all the comments and speculations he heard behind him and followed after Wyatt, who ran towards his room. He managed to get there just after Wyatt did and quickly jumped into the room before Wyatt could lock the door on him.

            "Go away Kai."

            "No. You told me you needed me to talk to about your problems, well here I am. So talk."

            Wyatt shook his head and sunk down onto his bed. "I couldn't do it Kai," he whispered. "I just kept remembering what happened before, how I lost control and …" he shuddered and Kai quickly moved over to him and sat down, a comforting presence to the other boy.

            "No one expects you to just get over it and move on like nothing happened."

            "But what if I'm never strong enough to blade again?"

            Kai hesitated. Wyatt had just stated one of the worst fears and insecurities that Kai had himself. He looked down to see this fear incarnate in someone dear to him. He couldn't leave it alone, he had to help Wyatt. He'd promised.

            "Strength isn't everything," Kai told him seriously, "but you still can't let this fear control you. Of course going in there straight away wasn't the smartest thing to do."

            "What should I have done?" Wyatt looked up at him.

            "Taken it slowly, like I said before. You really are just as bad as Tyson aren't you?" Despite the words and tone he used, Kai smiled at Wyatt.

            Wyatt suddenly looked away. "Hey Kai?"

            "Yeah?"

            "Do you think you could just stay here for a while with me?"

            Kai's breath caught suddenly and he panicked. He had no idea what to do in this type of situation. "Sure," he mumbled, wondering what exactly was expected of him.

            Wyatt smiled at him before leaning down on Kai's shoulder. "Thanks," he said quietly, not seeing the widened eyes or hearing the sharp intake of breath. Kai hesitated then placed his arm around Wyatt, pulling the boy closer to him. Wyatt leaned into the embrace and curled up slightly, taking comfort from Kai so close to him.

            "I still have nightmares," Wyatt whispered quietly to Kai.

            "Do you want to tell me about them?" He felt Wyatt shake his head. "Okay."

            There was a while before either of them spoke again.

            "Hey Kai?"

            "Yeah."

            "Thanks again for this. I really appreciate your help."

            Kai shrugged, getting a bit embarrassed. "You're a friend," he murmured. Wyatt seemed to accept this response and drew closer. But Kai sat pondering his answer to the boy. If this was Rei, or Max, or Tyson, or Kenny, would he really have done this much for them? And if Wyatt was just a friend, then why were his emotions concerning the boy so much stronger than the ones involving his other friends?

*           *           *

Kai winced as he shifted slightly and light shone down upon him. He opened his eyes groggily and had to blink a few times before he got control of his thoughts and managed to realise where he was.

            When he did his heart almost stopped.

            He'd fallen asleep with Wyatt in his room. He'd fallen asleep with his arms around Wyatt in Wyatt's locked room. Looking from an outsider's perspective, things did not look all that great for Kai.

            He quickly sat up and moved away a bit, causing Wyatt to stir beside him. The brunette slowly opened his eyes and yawned then looked up at Kai and looked startled for a moment before he smiled gratefully, remembering the night before.

            "Thanks Kai," Wyatt said quietly.

            Kai shook his head. "No problem." He looked a bit nervous and fidgety to Wyatt. Kai glanced over at him quickly then looked away with a slight blush to his cheeks. Wyatt nodded, understanding that Kai was a bit embarrassed by the whole unusual situation.

            "Don't worry," Wyatt told him, "I know that you're not usually like this, you don't get close to too many people, so I really appreciate that you would help me out like this."

            Kai shook his head again and a soft smile came to his face. "It's fine, like I said, you're a good friend."

            "Thanks."

            Kai struggled to stay in control of his thoughts as Wyatt suddenly smiled at him. Yeah, he commented dryly to himself, a good friend that I'm suddenly starting to get weird thoughts about. Kai couldn't take his eyes off the tousle-haired boy. Wyatt looked so innocent and happy, all because of him, his heart swelled and he wanted nothing more than to reach over and kiss him softly.

            Oh no.

            Kai moved back further, looking slightly unnerved. Wyatt looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

            "I uh, forgot to tell the guys I wasn't at practice yesterday. They'll be worried."

            "But didn't you practice in the morning with them? It was Saturday yesterday."

            "I was supposed to meet with them again in the afternoon." Kai looked apologetically at him. "I should go call them, I don't think I'll go to training today either."

            "Why not?"

            Kai flushed again and fumbled for words while Wyatt stared curiously at him. "Well, I, uh, I just thought that maybe you might, uh, maybe need me to be here, if you wanted."

            Wyatt grinned. "You don't have to do that Kai."

            "But I want to," Kai said quickly then he blushed slightly and cleared his throat. "I mean I … I want to make sure you're alright."

            "Thanks Kai. Well, I suppose if you're that insistent about it, you can stay. I'd really like the company, but I don't want you to go the whole weekend without seeing your team. Why don't you go over in the afternoon still? Like you were planning to yesterday?"

            "Do you want to come with me?"

            Wyatt laughed. "You know, I never would have picked you as the over-protective type. I can take care of myself for an afternoon."

            "But I want you to meet them," Kai quickly said, trying to cover up his real motives. "A proper introduction, you didn't get to before."

            Wyatt studied him closely. "All right," he said slowly. "I'd love to."

            Kai smiled at him. "Great." Then he suddenly realised how strange he had been acting and drew back a bit. "Uh well, I should go call or something," he muttered, moving away from Wyatt and towards the door. Wyatt nodded and continued to stare after him even as the door closed.

            "He gets more confusing with every day," Wyatt commented with a shake of his head and a smile.

*           *           *

AN: Oh fun, making Kai feel … feelings for Wyatt. I know he seems a bit soppy in this chapter, but hey, it's Wyatt. And we had an early morning wake-up scene, one of my faves.

Hope you all liked that, until next time.