Last Ditch Attempt
By: cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's respective characters. *breaks down crying and after a while, composes herself* Yeah, life's tough, deal with it.
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Chapter 5:
The next day, Kai seemed to be in better condition than he was on the previous night. Kenny, Rei, and Max knew well enough to leave Kai alone about his absence, but Tyson didn't.
"Hey Kai," Tyson greeted him. "Where were you last night. You missed lunch and dinner."
"Mind your own business Tyson," Kai said, closing his eyes and crossing his arms.
"Fine then Mr. Sourpuss," Tyson shot back, fuming at his team captain.
"Calm down Tyson, have a snack," offered Alida, motioning to some freshly baked cookies.
"Huh? Cookies!" he yelled, forgetting all about Kai.
"Save some for the rest of us Tyson!" shouted Max, saving as many cookies as he could, which turned out to be half of them.
So, as Tyson set to eating the half of sugar cookies that Max didn't get, Max passed out the remaining ones to everyone evenly
In the following days, Kai was healthy enough to go on with his daily routine. He even set up a schedule of two days practice followed by one day off for his team. Things went well, and Kenny was trying to find a solution to Black Dranzer.
Everything was going well and Alida broke up and prevented many fights.
One morning, Alida woke up early to make breakfast, as usual. By the time she finished, everyone was up except for Kai.
She set the food on the table, and told the others to eat while she went to check up on Kai. She took off the apron she usually wore for cooking and walked to Kai's bedroom.
"Kai?" she asked, knocking softly on the door.
"Come in," Kai said faintly from inside the room.
She opened the door and lightly stepped inside. Kai was in bed, paler than he was last night and upon walking up to him beside the bed, Alida saw that he was shivering.
He lay there, blinking up at her. "Sorry, did I wake you up?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Do you need more blankets or something?" she offered.
"Yes," Kai said, his teeth chattering. Alida turned to go and Kai quietly added, "Please."
She smiled and got some from the closet at the end of the hall. She padded into the room with two extra blankets and piled both of them on Kai.
"I'll bring you something to eat. How's that sound? Is there anything specific you want to eat?" she asked.
"Whatever is fine," Kai mumbled.
She put a cool hand on his forehead and said, "You're burning up. Let's take your temperature."
Kai opened his mouth, and she put the thermometer under his tongue. Afterwards Alida left the room. She came back ten minutes later carrying a sort of tray with legs, so that it stood up like a table.
She set the tray on his bedside table and took out the thermometer. Alida held it up to the light that she turned on next to Kai's bed. "One hundred five," she murmured.
She down next to Kai on the bed and helped him get up. He put most of his weight on Alida while she moved his pillows so that he could sit back on them.
She rearranged the blankets, so that they came up to his waist, leaving Kai to sit only in his tank top. When Alida set the tray across his lap, Rei knocked before coming in.
"Good morning Kai," he greeted. "Alida said you were sick and I thought you might need some more clothes, since you don't seem to have anything besides what you normally wear."
Rei held up a black cotton jacket, to see if Kai would approve. When he didn't say anything, Rei supported Kai's weight, while Alida helped Kai to put on the article of clothing.
Once they finished, Alida asked Rei if he minded going out to buy some medicine for Kai.
"Sure thing," Rei replied.
He left, shutting the door behind him.
Alida watched him go when Kai muttered something. "Excuse me?" she asked.
"I feel so worthless…relying on others like this," he repeated. "But, that's how we won each tournament, trusting each other and letting things play out."
"Eat your food before it gets cold," she advised, making sure that he could eat without any help.
She pulled a chair up next to Kai's bed and sat with him until he finished his breakfast of chicken soup. Just then, Rei came back from the pharmacy. He walked into Kai's room with a glass of water and two tablets of fever medicine.
"Thanks Rei," said Alida, taking both things from him and gave them to Kai.
"No problem," replied Rei as they helped Kai back into his original lying position. Meanwhile, Kai was quietly observing their friendly exchange until Alida tucked him in.
Alida took a look at the medicine box and murmured, "You'll need to take this again in six hours, unless your fever has gone down, okay?" Kai nodded. "Let's leave him alone to sleep now."
And with that she pushed the curious Rei out the door with both hands to his back. Right before leaving she asked, "Is there anything else you need?"
But Kai had already fallen asleep. Apparently, Rei had gotten the drowsy kind. Alida smiled and closed the door behind her. "Sweet dreams Kai," she said softly.
Rei turned around and grabbed Alida's left wrist. "Come on," he said. "I wanna show you something I found on the way to the pharmacy."
Alida agreed and gently pulled her behind him. They went into a forest that was behind the house. The trees were so close, Rei had to slow down so Alida would not run into any of them. The two carefully threaded their way in between the trees until Rei stopped them right before a row of flowering bushes.
Alida took a good look around. "Don't worry," Rei said "We're not there yet. It's just beyond these bushes."
As she headed for them, Rei pulled her back. She looked at him questioningly. "Close your eyes first," he explained.
Alida gave him a weird look. "What's the matter? Don't trust me?" Rei asked jokingly.
"Of course not!" she joked back, but followed Rei's directions. He led her carefully through the bushes, using his body to make a path for Alida.
"Just a little more…" said Rei. "Okay, open your eyes." Alida did so and gasped. Rei had led her into a clearing where there was a mini waterfall tumbling over some rocks, leading to a large pool in the center.
Alida walked up to the pool and looked in it, the water was crystal clear and had brightly colored fish swimming in it. On one side of the pool, there was a gigantic boulder with a moderately flat top. The whole area was surrounded by bushes with various colored flowers including, white, red, pink, and blue. Some of the bushes farthest away from them were covered in fruit such as strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.
"Wow Rei," she whispered, awestruck. "It's beautiful." Alida immediately set to picking flowers, while Rei climbed on top of the rock next to the water.
"What are you doing Rei?" Alida asked a bit more out of curiosity than out of worry.
"Trying to see what's feeding the waterfall," he replied.
"Be careful," warned Alida, looking up at him.
"Don't worry," reassured Rei. "There's no way I can fall off unless I jump off myself, but if you're really worried, I'll come down."
Rei jumped down and Alida stared at him in disbelief. "It's a Chinese thing," he explained. Alida felt her knees buckle underneath her and she collapsed onto the ground.
"I can't believe you Rei," she accused, not even trying to get up.
"I'm sorry. Really, I am," he apologized. He ran over to a nearest bush and picked a white flower. "Are you okay?"
Alida didn't answer him and just looked away, until she felt Rei's hands doing something with her hair. She immediately turned her gaze toward his golden eyes.
Alida waited patiently until Rei finished and reached up to try and see if she could tell what it was by touch.
"Leave it there," Rei urged.
"What is it?" Alida asked, her anger forgotten.
"It's just a flower. Leave it in, it looks good," said Rei. "Take a look for yourself." He pulled Alida gently to her feet and guided her to the edge of the pool.
She looked at her reflection and almost fell into the water had it not been for Rei, who grabbed one of her arms just in time.
"Thanks," she said breathlessly. "I might have also gotten sick if it weren't for you."
Rei smiled, and helped her pick some more flowers for Kai before returning home in time for lunch.
To be continued…
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Well? Tell me what you think by reviewing, thanks for your time.
~cHiBi MidNiGhT aSsAsSiN
