Mizu_Tenshi: The last chapter was too short and I'm late in updating but
hopefully this will make up for it. Oh and there will be no Hilary.
"..." Speech '...' Thought *...* Implied words
Disclaimer: I own nothing and gain no money by writing this.
*************
Chapter 3 - Strawberries
(Tyson's POV)
My fingers twisted and entwined themselves around each other in anticipation.
To my right, Ray and Max were pacing up and down, stopping and then pacing up and down again while to my left, the chief just sat with his legs swinging back and forth.
It was only two days since Kai had been admitted to hospital and already he was coming out.
"There's nothing more we can do for your friend. Physically, he wasn't that badly hurt but mentally..." the doctor trailed off.
True, Kai's body had not been damaged in any serious way but it tore me up just thinking about it. I knew all they wanted was for him to get out so they had more hospital beds.
"A psychiatrist will come round everyday for the next week in case we can coax Kai into responding,"
The doctor had said that as well. I'm not that hopeful, though.
Seeing Kai like that was enough to tear me apart.
I had to excuse myself several times when visiting him. I just could not bear seeing him so...so blank and lifeless.
Sure, Kai's not exactly the up-beat type but even so it was painful.
My ears pricked at the sound of a car driving along the deserted streets.
The others heard it too because we all jumped up as one and ran outside the dojo grounds.
I felt my heart leap the moment I saw Kai emerging from the black Sedan. His hair waving in the bitter winter wind, eyes shining like rubies under the sun. He was still as perfect as the day I met him.
The car drove off in a hurry. I got the impression whoever was driving had better things to do than drop off a mute teenager.
"Hiya Kai!" Max waved cheerfully.
Kai walked past, his head bowed, staring at the floor as he walked past the arch that led to the dojo.
The wind swept past the group as they step aside for the crimson-eyed boy. The chill made them all shiver.
"Hey now, it wouldn't hurt to wave back, would it?" Max asked, in a slightly hurt tone.
I watched him pass, watched him walk like a puppet on a string with no life, no soul, just moving like an empty shell.
The others raced after him, trying to get him to at least look at us but he just kept walking.
"Hey, come on, I know loosing your voice is hard but you could always learn sign language," Kenny said optimistically.
"Yeah, it isn't that bad, we'll always stick by you and be your friends; remember that," Ray added encouragingly.
None of their words were working. They were just bouncing off the shell Kai had wrapped around himself.
I remember the time when he looked at me, that time I thought I had reached him so I tried again.
"Hey Kai, if you don't shake your head then that means we get a whole day off of training!"
Kai just walked on as if nothing ever happened. As if he was the only one left in the entire world.
"Kai?"
"Wow, he didn't respond," I murmured in awe.
We followed him inside, Kai had placed himself in the darkest corner, his crimson eyes staring at us as if we were all wild animals.
My stomach suddenly rumbled as I walked in. I patted it slightly, remembering that I had not eaten yet.
"Oh man, I'm starving!" I complained.
"You're always hungry," Max pulled a face.
"Let's order out pizza," I suggested. "The meat feast"
This time Ray pulled a face. "How can you eat so much meat?" he asked.
"I want anchovies on mine!" Max piped in.
"Ugh!"
Kenny, who had been silent for most of the time murmured. "I'll just go with the Hawaiian."
I'm very partial when it comes to pizza and when I heard Kenny say Hawaiian I spun round. "No way!" I cried. "Fruit does not belong on a pizza!"
"What about you, Kai? What do you want?" Ray turned and asked Kai, who was still in his little corner.
Naturally, he didn't answer to the question.
"You have to eat something, Kai."
I turned away from the sight of Ray beckoning a response out of Kai when I decided to make the order.
Grabbing the phone from off the wall I began silently dialling the pizza place.
"Yeah, I'll have the meat feast with stuffed crust, garlic bread - "
"Oh no you don't!" Max yelled and lunged at me before I could finish my sentence.
I dodged the attack, sending him sprawling on the dojo floor.
Pulling down one eyelid and sticking my tongue at him I ran into the kitchen with the phone still in my hand.
"Come back here!" I heard Max shout.
I ran away with Max on my tail, in a sudden leap he lunged at me again and this time caught me by the ankles.
With a crash we ended up in a huge pile on the floor.
Max grabbed the phone of me and practically shouted down the other end, "we'll call you back later!"
"Mercy!" I cried, holding my hands up innocently but Max was heartless.
"Oh, I'll show you mercy!" he yelled with an unnerving glint in his eye.
I gulped, wondering what he would do when Max suddenly began tickling me to death.
"Okay, okay, we'll order what you want!" I cried in between tears of laughter.
At that Max got off me and hoisted me to my feet.
"Hey, I'm not having any anchovies," Ray said. He was standing in the doorway, a subtle but unmistakable smile across his felling features.
"I don't want any mushrooms either," Kenny added
"You guys are so picky. I bet Kai..." I suddenly stopped and thought for a minute. "I bet Kai would just order one pizza and make us eat it."
"You're worried about him, aren't you?" Max asked.
"Of course I'm worried. Kai's always been a silent guy but this time..." I trailed off.
"We know," Ray sighed, shaking his head sadly. "We're all worried about him."
"Why won't he respond?" I asked. "Even if he just points to something or writes something down would be enough."
"There's nothing we can do about it," Kenny shrugged, "maybe the psychiatrist will help," he added, seeing the disappointed looks on all of our faces.
We were all silent. Each one of us was thinking along the same lines but there was no need to voice it, it was just too hard to say.
Finally, Ray broke the silence. In a soft, almost inaudible voice he said, "you know, I don't feel like pizza."
"Me neither, let's just go to bed, yeah?" Max agreed and we all walked back to where Kai was sitting.
~
(Normal POV)
"Okay, can you point to the blue object?"
The psychiatrist sat outside in the morning sun with Kai and a range of coloured 2D shapes placed on the floor in between them.
Kai stared at the shapes the way he stared at everything else; looking but never really seeing.
"The blue one," she repeated.
Again, Kai stared but gave no indication of ever hearing a single thing from the woman's mouth.
"Alright, why don't you point to the circle instead?"
No response.
The woman sighed, running a hand through her long black hair. It seemed to be another one of those days.
However, she did not give up just yet. She continued to ask Kai a range of simple questions, hoping against hope for him to change his gaze or move a finger.
"I hear you beyblade, could you show me your blade?"
"Could you draw your bitbeast for me?"
"Do you understand what I'm saying, just nod if you do."
From behind the two a pair of sky blue eyes watched intently.
"Okay," the woman sighed. "Close your eyes...or not," she added once she realised Kai was not going to do a single thing she said.
Tyson sniffed and continued to observe Kai's first lesson with the psychiatrist.
It seemed to be a waste of everyone's time. Kai just was not doing anything but staring at the ground, only occasionally getting up to walk somewhere.
Tyson sighed and watched. There was always hope.
"Imagine you're somewhere else," the psychiatrist continued. "You can be anywhere you want to be. The birds are singing and the flowers are dancing. You're laughing and the sound of your laughter sounds beautiful, now.."
Finally, Tyson could not take more of the lesson. The very sight made him sick to the stomach.
As soon as he turned round and walked inside he was immediately confronted by a grim-faced Ray.
"How is he?"
"Bad," Tyson mumbled.
"He's not eating," Ray commented.
"Yeah, I know that."
"Tyson, it's gonna be okay, he'll be okay."
"Yeah, I know that too," Tyson sighed, allowing his shoulder to sag as if he had not had sleep for a thousand years. "It's just...I hate it," he muttered bitterly.
"Tyson," Ray soothed the stressed out boy.
"I hate seeing Kai like this, you know? He's not deaf so why won't he respond when we talk to him? Did we do something wrong? Is this some kind of sick form of silent treatment?" Tyson yelled.
"I don't think he's punishing us," Ray assured the navy haired teen.
"Then why won't he even respond?"
Ray did a Kai and did not say anything.
"I'm going to get something to eat," Tyson muttered, not noticing the worried glance Ray gave him as he walked away.
~
The fridge door slammed shut. As he stood up with a bowl of fruit he could sense eyes watching him, crimson eyes.
"Kai," Tyson murmured softly.
Kai stared at Tyson. Their eyes met, one set blank, the other filled with sorrow.
"Why are you doing this?" Tyson demanded. "Why can't you just nod or shake your head or something?!"
Kai did not give Tyson an answer; he just looked down at the floor as if he was ashamed of something.
"Kai, please," he pleaded. "I wish there was some way of getting your voice back," he murmured until he noticed Kai staring at the bowl in his hands.
"Do you want some?" Tyson asked, holding the bowl up to Kai's face.
Kai stared at the fruit for a long time. Tyson even dared to think Kai would suddenly speak but just when his hopes reached their highest peak Kai turned and walked away leaving a deflated and very upset Tyson.
~
Silence was strong in the dojo. Scenes like this were becoming uncomfortably common.
Kenny just sat typing away on Dizzi while Kai was a silent as ever and Tyson, who was next to him, was dittoing Kai.
The only noise was the sound of Ray biting in a bowl of strawberries and Maxi's quiet whining.
"Give me some," Max pleaded but Ray was very possessive when it came to strawberries.
"Mine," he shook his head firmly
"You're so selfish!" Max pouted.
"There are more in the fridge but these are mine," Ray said, hugging the bowl of strawberries closer to him.
Maxi's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, right!" he grinned and dived for the bowl.
"Hey!" Ray yelled as the bowl flew out of his arms and, miraculously landed safely by Kenny's foot.
"Watch it!" Kenny cried indignantly, annoyed that he was interrupted in the middle of something important with Dizzi.
"Sorry chief," the two teens apologised.
Kenny muttered something under his breath and plucked a strawberry from the bowl. "These are good," he murmured.
"What about me?" Max pleaded but Kenny ignored him and offered some to Tyson instead.
"I'm not hungry," Tyson shook his head.
Ray took the bowl off of Kenny, popping another strawberry into his mouth he pushed the bowl towards Tyson. "Try some!" he insisted.
"I'm not hungry!" Tyson lashed out, causing Ray to step back in surprise.
"Hey, don't snap at him!" Max defended Ray.
Tyson turned his nose up on his blonde friend. "I'll do what I want," he muttered.
"That's not fair!" Kenny cried, decided to join in on the argument.
"Yeah, just because you're upset about Kai is no reason to take it out on us!" Max continued. "We're upset too but we're dealing with it."
"How?" Tyson demanded angrily. "By pretending that everything's okay? Well news flash, things *aren't* okay and a bowl of strawberries won't make it better," he yelled, turning away from the hurt looks of his team mates.
Kai began looking around, his eyes switching from each of his angry team mates to the bowl on the floor and he briefly recalled being offered one before.
Slowly, a gloved hand reached out for the ruby fruit.
"Hey guys!" Kenny whispered, nodding in Kai's direction.
All of them turned to watch like explorers observing a wild animal.
Different coloured eyes watched the strawberry move in slow motion until it disappeared into Kai's mouth.
Mouths dropped open in awe and silence once again reigned over them until Ray dared to speak.
"Um..you were saying?"
*************
Mizu_Tenshi: Um, okay so that was strange but it was meant to show Kai beginning to respond after Tyson pleads with him. A little pointless but the next chapter is when it all begins.
Thanks to: Tenma Koneko, Nancy's-little-Obsession, D. G., Syaoran-lover, Vialana, Timberwolf220, FlyinGshadoW1314, xXxBeccaxXx, B Girl, Child of the stars, dragona15, JadesRose, SilveryKitsune, Immortal Sadness, Mariana1, Techno Ranma, DragonBlade, and Skittles the Sugar Fairy.
"..." Speech '...' Thought *...* Implied words
Disclaimer: I own nothing and gain no money by writing this.
*************
Chapter 3 - Strawberries
(Tyson's POV)
My fingers twisted and entwined themselves around each other in anticipation.
To my right, Ray and Max were pacing up and down, stopping and then pacing up and down again while to my left, the chief just sat with his legs swinging back and forth.
It was only two days since Kai had been admitted to hospital and already he was coming out.
"There's nothing more we can do for your friend. Physically, he wasn't that badly hurt but mentally..." the doctor trailed off.
True, Kai's body had not been damaged in any serious way but it tore me up just thinking about it. I knew all they wanted was for him to get out so they had more hospital beds.
"A psychiatrist will come round everyday for the next week in case we can coax Kai into responding,"
The doctor had said that as well. I'm not that hopeful, though.
Seeing Kai like that was enough to tear me apart.
I had to excuse myself several times when visiting him. I just could not bear seeing him so...so blank and lifeless.
Sure, Kai's not exactly the up-beat type but even so it was painful.
My ears pricked at the sound of a car driving along the deserted streets.
The others heard it too because we all jumped up as one and ran outside the dojo grounds.
I felt my heart leap the moment I saw Kai emerging from the black Sedan. His hair waving in the bitter winter wind, eyes shining like rubies under the sun. He was still as perfect as the day I met him.
The car drove off in a hurry. I got the impression whoever was driving had better things to do than drop off a mute teenager.
"Hiya Kai!" Max waved cheerfully.
Kai walked past, his head bowed, staring at the floor as he walked past the arch that led to the dojo.
The wind swept past the group as they step aside for the crimson-eyed boy. The chill made them all shiver.
"Hey now, it wouldn't hurt to wave back, would it?" Max asked, in a slightly hurt tone.
I watched him pass, watched him walk like a puppet on a string with no life, no soul, just moving like an empty shell.
The others raced after him, trying to get him to at least look at us but he just kept walking.
"Hey, come on, I know loosing your voice is hard but you could always learn sign language," Kenny said optimistically.
"Yeah, it isn't that bad, we'll always stick by you and be your friends; remember that," Ray added encouragingly.
None of their words were working. They were just bouncing off the shell Kai had wrapped around himself.
I remember the time when he looked at me, that time I thought I had reached him so I tried again.
"Hey Kai, if you don't shake your head then that means we get a whole day off of training!"
Kai just walked on as if nothing ever happened. As if he was the only one left in the entire world.
"Kai?"
"Wow, he didn't respond," I murmured in awe.
We followed him inside, Kai had placed himself in the darkest corner, his crimson eyes staring at us as if we were all wild animals.
My stomach suddenly rumbled as I walked in. I patted it slightly, remembering that I had not eaten yet.
"Oh man, I'm starving!" I complained.
"You're always hungry," Max pulled a face.
"Let's order out pizza," I suggested. "The meat feast"
This time Ray pulled a face. "How can you eat so much meat?" he asked.
"I want anchovies on mine!" Max piped in.
"Ugh!"
Kenny, who had been silent for most of the time murmured. "I'll just go with the Hawaiian."
I'm very partial when it comes to pizza and when I heard Kenny say Hawaiian I spun round. "No way!" I cried. "Fruit does not belong on a pizza!"
"What about you, Kai? What do you want?" Ray turned and asked Kai, who was still in his little corner.
Naturally, he didn't answer to the question.
"You have to eat something, Kai."
I turned away from the sight of Ray beckoning a response out of Kai when I decided to make the order.
Grabbing the phone from off the wall I began silently dialling the pizza place.
"Yeah, I'll have the meat feast with stuffed crust, garlic bread - "
"Oh no you don't!" Max yelled and lunged at me before I could finish my sentence.
I dodged the attack, sending him sprawling on the dojo floor.
Pulling down one eyelid and sticking my tongue at him I ran into the kitchen with the phone still in my hand.
"Come back here!" I heard Max shout.
I ran away with Max on my tail, in a sudden leap he lunged at me again and this time caught me by the ankles.
With a crash we ended up in a huge pile on the floor.
Max grabbed the phone of me and practically shouted down the other end, "we'll call you back later!"
"Mercy!" I cried, holding my hands up innocently but Max was heartless.
"Oh, I'll show you mercy!" he yelled with an unnerving glint in his eye.
I gulped, wondering what he would do when Max suddenly began tickling me to death.
"Okay, okay, we'll order what you want!" I cried in between tears of laughter.
At that Max got off me and hoisted me to my feet.
"Hey, I'm not having any anchovies," Ray said. He was standing in the doorway, a subtle but unmistakable smile across his felling features.
"I don't want any mushrooms either," Kenny added
"You guys are so picky. I bet Kai..." I suddenly stopped and thought for a minute. "I bet Kai would just order one pizza and make us eat it."
"You're worried about him, aren't you?" Max asked.
"Of course I'm worried. Kai's always been a silent guy but this time..." I trailed off.
"We know," Ray sighed, shaking his head sadly. "We're all worried about him."
"Why won't he respond?" I asked. "Even if he just points to something or writes something down would be enough."
"There's nothing we can do about it," Kenny shrugged, "maybe the psychiatrist will help," he added, seeing the disappointed looks on all of our faces.
We were all silent. Each one of us was thinking along the same lines but there was no need to voice it, it was just too hard to say.
Finally, Ray broke the silence. In a soft, almost inaudible voice he said, "you know, I don't feel like pizza."
"Me neither, let's just go to bed, yeah?" Max agreed and we all walked back to where Kai was sitting.
~
(Normal POV)
"Okay, can you point to the blue object?"
The psychiatrist sat outside in the morning sun with Kai and a range of coloured 2D shapes placed on the floor in between them.
Kai stared at the shapes the way he stared at everything else; looking but never really seeing.
"The blue one," she repeated.
Again, Kai stared but gave no indication of ever hearing a single thing from the woman's mouth.
"Alright, why don't you point to the circle instead?"
No response.
The woman sighed, running a hand through her long black hair. It seemed to be another one of those days.
However, she did not give up just yet. She continued to ask Kai a range of simple questions, hoping against hope for him to change his gaze or move a finger.
"I hear you beyblade, could you show me your blade?"
"Could you draw your bitbeast for me?"
"Do you understand what I'm saying, just nod if you do."
From behind the two a pair of sky blue eyes watched intently.
"Okay," the woman sighed. "Close your eyes...or not," she added once she realised Kai was not going to do a single thing she said.
Tyson sniffed and continued to observe Kai's first lesson with the psychiatrist.
It seemed to be a waste of everyone's time. Kai just was not doing anything but staring at the ground, only occasionally getting up to walk somewhere.
Tyson sighed and watched. There was always hope.
"Imagine you're somewhere else," the psychiatrist continued. "You can be anywhere you want to be. The birds are singing and the flowers are dancing. You're laughing and the sound of your laughter sounds beautiful, now.."
Finally, Tyson could not take more of the lesson. The very sight made him sick to the stomach.
As soon as he turned round and walked inside he was immediately confronted by a grim-faced Ray.
"How is he?"
"Bad," Tyson mumbled.
"He's not eating," Ray commented.
"Yeah, I know that."
"Tyson, it's gonna be okay, he'll be okay."
"Yeah, I know that too," Tyson sighed, allowing his shoulder to sag as if he had not had sleep for a thousand years. "It's just...I hate it," he muttered bitterly.
"Tyson," Ray soothed the stressed out boy.
"I hate seeing Kai like this, you know? He's not deaf so why won't he respond when we talk to him? Did we do something wrong? Is this some kind of sick form of silent treatment?" Tyson yelled.
"I don't think he's punishing us," Ray assured the navy haired teen.
"Then why won't he even respond?"
Ray did a Kai and did not say anything.
"I'm going to get something to eat," Tyson muttered, not noticing the worried glance Ray gave him as he walked away.
~
The fridge door slammed shut. As he stood up with a bowl of fruit he could sense eyes watching him, crimson eyes.
"Kai," Tyson murmured softly.
Kai stared at Tyson. Their eyes met, one set blank, the other filled with sorrow.
"Why are you doing this?" Tyson demanded. "Why can't you just nod or shake your head or something?!"
Kai did not give Tyson an answer; he just looked down at the floor as if he was ashamed of something.
"Kai, please," he pleaded. "I wish there was some way of getting your voice back," he murmured until he noticed Kai staring at the bowl in his hands.
"Do you want some?" Tyson asked, holding the bowl up to Kai's face.
Kai stared at the fruit for a long time. Tyson even dared to think Kai would suddenly speak but just when his hopes reached their highest peak Kai turned and walked away leaving a deflated and very upset Tyson.
~
Silence was strong in the dojo. Scenes like this were becoming uncomfortably common.
Kenny just sat typing away on Dizzi while Kai was a silent as ever and Tyson, who was next to him, was dittoing Kai.
The only noise was the sound of Ray biting in a bowl of strawberries and Maxi's quiet whining.
"Give me some," Max pleaded but Ray was very possessive when it came to strawberries.
"Mine," he shook his head firmly
"You're so selfish!" Max pouted.
"There are more in the fridge but these are mine," Ray said, hugging the bowl of strawberries closer to him.
Maxi's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, right!" he grinned and dived for the bowl.
"Hey!" Ray yelled as the bowl flew out of his arms and, miraculously landed safely by Kenny's foot.
"Watch it!" Kenny cried indignantly, annoyed that he was interrupted in the middle of something important with Dizzi.
"Sorry chief," the two teens apologised.
Kenny muttered something under his breath and plucked a strawberry from the bowl. "These are good," he murmured.
"What about me?" Max pleaded but Kenny ignored him and offered some to Tyson instead.
"I'm not hungry," Tyson shook his head.
Ray took the bowl off of Kenny, popping another strawberry into his mouth he pushed the bowl towards Tyson. "Try some!" he insisted.
"I'm not hungry!" Tyson lashed out, causing Ray to step back in surprise.
"Hey, don't snap at him!" Max defended Ray.
Tyson turned his nose up on his blonde friend. "I'll do what I want," he muttered.
"That's not fair!" Kenny cried, decided to join in on the argument.
"Yeah, just because you're upset about Kai is no reason to take it out on us!" Max continued. "We're upset too but we're dealing with it."
"How?" Tyson demanded angrily. "By pretending that everything's okay? Well news flash, things *aren't* okay and a bowl of strawberries won't make it better," he yelled, turning away from the hurt looks of his team mates.
Kai began looking around, his eyes switching from each of his angry team mates to the bowl on the floor and he briefly recalled being offered one before.
Slowly, a gloved hand reached out for the ruby fruit.
"Hey guys!" Kenny whispered, nodding in Kai's direction.
All of them turned to watch like explorers observing a wild animal.
Different coloured eyes watched the strawberry move in slow motion until it disappeared into Kai's mouth.
Mouths dropped open in awe and silence once again reigned over them until Ray dared to speak.
"Um..you were saying?"
*************
Mizu_Tenshi: Um, okay so that was strange but it was meant to show Kai beginning to respond after Tyson pleads with him. A little pointless but the next chapter is when it all begins.
Thanks to: Tenma Koneko, Nancy's-little-Obsession, D. G., Syaoran-lover, Vialana, Timberwolf220, FlyinGshadoW1314, xXxBeccaxXx, B Girl, Child of the stars, dragona15, JadesRose, SilveryKitsune, Immortal Sadness, Mariana1, Techno Ranma, DragonBlade, and Skittles the Sugar Fairy.
