Author's Notes: Here's the continuation of where the last chapter left off. Hope you guys like it.
Chapter 7: Borages
Tyson and Hilary put a hand behind their heads in a twin action of embarrassment. Kai and the rest walked into the room, standing before the two late night talkers. Max and Rei shared a brief smirk that Tyson didn't understand, while Hilary saw Kenny's face turn from surprise to realization. Before she could say anything, Max spoke up in a slightly teasing voice, "Tyson, what are you doing in Hilary's room?" This prompted Kenny to voice out his own question, "Isn't it a little late to have a rendezvous?" The boys looked between the two, trying to get the answer. Tyson turned to look at Hilary, who looked back in fear. He realized she seemed reluctant to speak up. 'Is she embarrassed about her nightmare? Maybe she's afraid the guys will think she's weird if she talks about it.'
Hilary opened her mouth to speak, but Tyson beat her to the punch, "Well I woke up and was real hungry, so I went to get a midnight snack," he pointed to the cookies at his side, "and when I was walking back to my room I met up with Hilary. We just ended up eating and talking in her room." He looked into the faces of the others seeing that for the most part they believed what he was saying.
"With your stomach Tyson, it makes sense." Max said smiling. "Yeah, but did you guys have to talk so loud?" Rei said sleepily, as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Hilary gave a brief look of thanks to Tyson before replacing it with one of sincerity, "We're sorry, we didn't mean to wake you guys up." Tyson spoke up with the bag of cookies in his hands, "You guys want some?"
This made the other boys, except Kai, smile and shake their heads at Tyson's silly form of an apology. "I'll have one." Max said as he grabbed the bag and plopped down to eat a cookie. "Well it's not like we'll get to sleep anytime soon." Rei said as he sat down as well and reached into the bag to get one. Kenny sat down next to Hilary and opened up his laptop, "Hey Hilary, can you please hand me a cookie too?" he asked as he typed away starting up his laptop. Hilary just smiled and took the one Rei handed her and gave it to Kenny. The distracted boy munched thoughtfully until he looked to his left to see Kai had sat down as well.
Hilary stared a little at Kai in worry, when she noticed the other boy was looking out the window distractedly. She nudged Tyson with her elbow and gestured with her head towards Kai. Tyson looked at his fellow teammate, scrutinizing the other boy. He looked back at Hilary and just shrugged his shoulders. The actions of the two were not lost on Rei and Max, who also glanced at Kai, trying to see what the fuss was about.
Kai stared out the window seeing the moon's bright shape surrounded by stars above Tyson's dojo. As he looked at the moon, he started to wonder if there were lunariums around that had their petals open. Thinking of the lunariums made his mind stray to Wyatt and about what he had done this week.
A part of him still wondered what he was thinking when he wrote the letter to his friend. It had been a spontaneous notion to write to the other boy. Nights ago, when everyone else was asleep, he had stayed up and had written the letter in his notebook. In truth his first attempt had been unconsciously done, giving himself the luxury of telling exactly how he felt towards the other boy. He wrote things that he had never told anyone else and when he read through it, his surprise was great. As he read through his own words he was surprised to see that it had turned out to be a love letter. Nothing sappy or overly emotional, just a simple and honest letter saying exactly how he felt.
He spent the latter part of the hour feuding with himself if he should send it, the feud a clash between his mind and his heart. In the end his mind won out and he realized that logically it would not be the best thing to do at the moment. With a determined crumble of the letter, the symbolism not lost on Kai; he started anew, this time choosing what he said carefully. When he read over the second letter, he saw that some emotion towards the boy had still slipped into the letter, but not enough for it to matter. He sealed it into an envelope and sent it in the next morning.
This week had proven to be more stressful that usual. When training and the others were not around to distract him and keep him busy, his mind kept going toward the letter and whether it had been the wisest thing to do. 'No, I know what I did was right. I can't keep foolish notions about him around me. He doesn't deserve to wait around for someone...that can't give him what he needs. It's not like it would have worked out anyway. If nothing happens then it'll prove that I was right to end it when I did.'
In all his distraction he failed to notice the others staring at him. The odd silence finally caught his attention and with a suspicious gaze he looked from left to right. He saw Max and Rei's curiosity, Tyson looked expectant while Hilary appeared to be worried about him. He furrowed his eyebrows wondering why they were staring. The only one who wasn't was Kenny as he was typing on his laptop and finished the start up program for Dizzi.
"What are all of you gawking at?", he asked in a rougher tone than he'd meant. The others stopped their staring and looked away as they ate their cookies in peace. Tyson looked at the rest of his teammates before just shrugging his shoulders and speaking, "Hey Kai, are you alright?" This made the others look up. Hilary sighed at Tyson's lack of tact and briefly wondered if maybe the direct approach was the way to go with Kai.
"I'm fine, why?" Kai asked the other boy carefully. "Well Hilary and I were wondering if something was up? You look more bummed out and serious than usual." Tyson said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, we worried that something was bothering you." Hilary piped in, trying to clarify.
"You were the one worried, I was just curious." said Tyson accusingly.
"Oh come off it Tyson, you know you were worried too." Hilary said, giving Tyson a withering look.
"No I wasn't. I told you, that's just the way Kai is, but you have to go and make it into a big deal." Tyson said as he crossed his arms.
"I made it into a big deal? I did?! Are you kidding me? You're the one that asked and started it." she said, starting to get annoyed.
"Yeah well, I only asked because you brought it up."
The other two continued to argue while the others just rolled their eyes. "Do you think they argued before we got here or did they wait till we were awake to start?" Max said with a sigh. "Geez, they act like a loud, stubborn married couple," Kenny said in exasperation. "Ah, young love." Dizzi said sardonically. Rei finally just got annoyed and reached into the bag for two cookies. He threw one each at Hilary and Tyson, instantly ending their argument.
"If you're going to help someone with a problem, make sure you don't have one yourself." said Rei, before he munched on another cookie. Kai shook his head and was about to stand up had Hilary's question not stopped him, "Is there something really wrong?" Kai looked at her seeing concern that he couldn't understand or figure out where it came from. "If I did, it's not like you could help me." he said cryptically and made another attempt to leave had Kenny not begun as well. "You don't know that Kai. If there is something wrong, which the case seems to be, then maybe we can help you." This prompted Max, "Yeah, is there anything we can do?"
"Is something about someone bothering you?" Tyson asked, his curiosity growing now that everyone else had joined in.
The question had been innocent enough. When Kai really thought about it, he knew that while being mildly annoying, his friends were only trying to help. In their own way, each one was worried about him. While to them Tyson's question was innocent, at this very moment to him it was the best button they could have pressed.
"It's none of your business." Kai said in annoyance. "Sounds to me like Tyson's question hit a cord." Dizzi piped in. "Is it one of us?" Max asked a little worried that it'd turn out to be him. "No, but your incessant questions are bothering me right now." "So then if it's not one of us, is it like an enemy or something?" Tyson said ignoring the previous comment. Kai stared hard at Tyson before just humoring him with an answer. "No, it's not an enemy." If he kept phrasing his answers correctly, they wouldn't get to the real question. "What about your family? Is there something up with them?"
Everyone except Kai and Hilary winced at her question. They'd realized long ago that when it came to family history, it was a subject best left alone with Kai. Kenny looked worriedly between Hilary and Kai. Hilary looked curious and apprehensive about why silence had fallen over the group. Kai had balled up his hands into loose fists, the only hint that Hilary's question had gotten to him. Rei seeing what was going to happen intervened, "Uh Hilary, when it comes to Kai's family,...it's something we don't really talk about. For now, that's not the problem."
"Oh. I'm sorry Kai, I didn't know-" Hilary stuttered out. "Just forget it, I'm done here." he said as he moved to stand up. Just as he walked away, he muttered, "It's not like you would have helped anyway."
Before anyone knew what was happening Tyson stood up and loudly exclaimed, "Yeah well, if you don't let us, then of course we can't do anything to help.", effectively causing Kai to stop. He didn't think they'd hear what he'd said. He slowly turned around, to see the other boy was going to continue with his rant, "Ok so maybe playing 20 questions was pretty stupid, but you gotta admit Kai you're a hard person to talk to sometimes."
Out of nowhere Hilary stood up as well, "That's why we asked you all those stupid questions. In our own, probably very nosy kinda way, we want to figure out what's up. For all we know you could be hiding the fact that you're sick with cancer, worried over the Saint Shields or, or, even be falling in love."
At this the other boys started to giggle over what she'd said, never noticing the look on Kai's face. Hilary just rolled her eyes as she stared at the giggling bunch in front of her. Shaking her head, she ignored it when the others commented on how love was far from the problem. She looked up just in time to see the barely concealed look of shock on Kai's face. She stared at him, mouth slightly open in surprise. Just as she was about to tell herself that she was just seeing things, she saw a very faint blush appear on his face. She would not have seen it had the moon's light not amplified it. As she simply stood there staring in surprise, one by one the others noticed her still silence. Each one stopped their chatter to look at him and what they saw made their eyes widen in surprise and unsure smiles come through because Kai Hiwatari, was blushing.
The silence that clung to the room was thick with shock, wonder and amusement. None of it was voiced however, as no one knew what to do. Kai thought he had kept good control of his face during the whole situation. He couldn't understand why he was blushing and how he'd let it show through. Now that he had the scrutinizing gaze of everyone in the room, he felt his blush grow across his cheeks.
Hilary snapped out of it and thought about how to make Kai relax. From his body language, she could tell he was caught between flight and fight mode. She walked around the others and towards Kai, but he took a step back before she got too close. Her brown eyes met his red ones, their gaze lasting for several seconds before a light of realization dawned in her eyes. She gave him a sincere smile before she spoke, "It's ok Kai. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. I know what you're feeling because I'm...going through it too."
Max's voice was heard from behind them, "Falling in love with someone isn't that big of a deal, it's just because it's you that we're a little thrown off. "
"Yeah, you actually liking a person isn't something that happens everyday." said Rei from his spot on the floor. Tyson surprised them all by appearing out of nowhere and standing next to Kai's side, before he grabbed the other boy in a one armed hug and dragged him back to where the others sat. As he pulled the other boy, he started to chatter away, "So who's the lucky person? Do we know them? How'd you two meet? Come on Kai, don't leave us hanging, give us the details."
"Tyson," Hilary exclaimed loudly behind them, "knock it off. Talking about stuff like this is uncomfortable ya know."
"Yeah, not everybody is comfortable talking about things like this. Kai is one of those people." Kenny said as he looked at Tyson.
"Yeah so just forcing him to answer all your questions like that isn't a good idea Tyson." said Rei as he moved some strands of hair from his eyes.
Kai felt his emotions grow from embarrassment and humiliation to annoyance and anger. The way they were all talking about him as if he wasn't there was starting to irritate him to no end. This was all happening so fast and he couldn't get a handle on the situation. He felt the urge to hit something and was struggling to not hit Tyson, the other boy being the unfortunate thing closest to his reach.
When he couldn't stand it anymore, he finally just smacked Tyson's arm off him. The other boy moved back in surprise. Kai took a deep breath before he loudly exclaimed, "Look, if I hear the words love or like with my name one more time, whoever says it is going to regret it. I'm not in love with anybody and I don't want to get all touchy-feely with you morons, so just leave me alone, understand?"
"The only thing we understand buddy, is that you're gaga over someone and all you want to do is go down the river called as denial." Tyson boldly exclaimed. He gave Kai a teasing smirk and received a scowl in return. Despite Kai's threat, he didn't feel scared in the least, fully knowing that deep down they'd hit a weak spot that needed to be hit.
"I. Am. Not. In. Denial." Kai said, stressing each word. "Then why'd you blush when Hilary brought it up?" Max asked with a hint of skepticism entering his voice. He was starting to believe that maybe Kai was lying to them.
"Must be someone really special to get Kai blushing." came the comment from Dizzi who was still in Kenny's lap. Dizzi's simple comment made Kai's eyes narrow even more and before anyone knew what was happening, he pushed his way through the others and flung the door open to run out of room. Hilary was about to go after him, but Rei's hand shot out to grab hers, "Just leave it alone Hilary. I think everything we said overwhelmed him. He'll come around when he wants to, or he won't at all." Hilary looked back to the door, a concerned look placed on her face before she just sighed and nodded.
"Ya know Hil, there is a good chance that maybe he was telling the truth." Max said as he stood up. "Yeah, about a 17% chance." answered Kenny as he typed away into his laptop. "What do you mean Chief?" Tyson asked, as he and the others gathered around the other boy. Kenny pulled up a data table that had been made in Dizzi's statistics program. "While you guys were giving Kai a courtroom style interrogation," he said slightly scolding them, "I had Dizzi analyze his vital signs to check for variations in his body."
"Like a lie detector test." Hilary said in realization. "Exactly." Kenny said as he ran the program to display all the data. "Whoa, good thinking Chief," Tyson said smiling broadly. "Thanks." the younger boy replied. "So what did Dizzi find out about Kai?" Rei asked.
"Well based on pupil dilation, skin temperature and motor functions, the verdict is that there was an 81% percent probability that Kai was lying." said Dizzi. Kenny pulled up a graph with points all connected. "Here," he said pointing to the highest dot in the whole graph, "was when Dizzi detected that his vital signs changed the most." "So when was that?" Hilary asked him. Dizzi pulled up a video screen which fast-forwarded through everything that happened until it abruptly stopped and played normally.
Kai appeared a on the screen just as he exclaimed loudly, "I'm not in love with anybody and I don't want to get all touchy-feely with you morons, so just leave me alone, understand?"
Dizzi replayed the scene again, this time showing on another display box Kai's voice patterns and body temperature changes. Dizzi pulled up its main display before it spoke, "Need anymore proof? I think it's safe to say that Kai likes someone, but doesn't want to say who." "So that big faker really is in love." Tyson said smiling in amusement. "That or he's starting to anyway." said Hilary knowingly.
"So what do we do now? Kai likes someone, but it's obvious that something's still wrong about the whole thing." said Max. His fellow teammates all looked back at him, the same unsure faces reflecting his own. "Wonder what it could be?" Tyson voiced out loud. "Maybe he tried to be with that person, but in the end it didn't really work out." Rei said, thinking of his own love experiences during the last couple of months. Hilary looked at him as she spoke, "Or maybe he likes this person so much, but doesn't want to say it because he thinks the other person won't return his feelings."
"Whatever the reason you guys," said Max as he got up and stretched his arms, "it's pretty late and we're gonna have to wait until tomorrow to find out." He trudged out the door sleepily and muttered out a good night. "Yeah, there's no big hurry. Kai's probably out thinking about what we said and maybe tomorrow we can get some answers." Rei said as he started to walk to the door as well. Just before he left he threw a "Good night you guys." over his shoulder. Both he and Max could be heard walking down the hallway.
Kenny shut down Dizzi and closed his laptop. As he stood up he finally said what he was thinking. "I don't know about you guys, but to be honest, I think a lot of things are starting to make sense now." "Like what Kenny?" Kenny looked at Hilary, "I'll tell ya tomorrow, but right now," he paused to yawn, "I'm pretty sleepy." He started to walk away, but paused when he reached the door, "Aren't you coming Tyson?"
Tyson was about to follow after the other boy, but changed his mind instead. "I'll catch up Chief." Kenny nodded and said goodnight, and as he walked down the hallway a knowing smile was on his face.
Tyson gave Hilary a small glance before he walked back to where the whole group had sat in. He picked up the now empty bag of cookies and threw it into the wastebasket. Hilary walked back to her futon and climbed in, but was surprised when Tyson sat down at her side.
"Tyson! What are you doing?" she asked freaked out. "I figured that if I told you about this one time we met up with these funny looking beybladers, you'd forget all about your bad dream. Is that ok?" Hilary just sat there dumbfounded at what he said before she just nodded her head. "Alright, well get comfortable, this one's really funny. So we were walking through this forest, because our bus broke down and we needed to get to a phone. I was the one leading the way and after about an hour Kai was angry at me, as usual. He said that my 'moronic shortcut' was a waste of time and wasn't worth the trouble. I thought it was sure worth it to watch him trip and land on some poison ivy plants..."
Hilary laid down, looking up at Tyson as he animatedly said his story. She spent the rest of the hour laughing at the ridiculous story Tyson was saying from one of his experiences with the BladeBreakers. She couldn't help but smile at the antics and gestures he did as he was talking. Slowly but surely she felt herself falling back to sleep towards the end of the story. Eventually Tyson noticed her deep and even breathing and realized she'd fallen asleep. He pulled the covers over her body more and absently flicked some strands of hair off her face. Making sure the rest of the room was tidy and secure he walked out of the door and shut the door behind him. As he started off down the hallway, he never sensed Kai's presence in the shadows. The other boy had come back to witness the whole scene and was left with a tugging feeling he couldn't understand. He skulked around the dojo, lost in thought until an hour later he slipped inside his futon to at last get some sleep.
End of Chapter 7
Author's notes: Don't mean to sound like a dork...but dudes was this bad the first time around. When I first wrote it and posted it, I read it over and thought I was nuts to post it. It was the CRAP de la creme, hence I took it down immediately and decided to work on it a little more. I know it still could use some tuning up, but I thought that it's better to post this revised version and then fix the rest later.
I hope you guys like the Tyson and Hilary moment I put in. I think with a little bit of time they'll become good friends and not argue and try to kill each other all the time. I also hope you guys liked that weird little Kumbaya-interrogation-cookie eating-group-circle thing. Thought a little unity scene would be nice. Sort of, a calm before the storm known as Wyatt comes into the picture, which will be the next chapter.
So now that all that, is said and done, will you people review? Could be long, short, funny, serious, dorky review. Could be a confused calling. Could be a flame. I don't really mind that much what you pick, but if you made this far, hope you like what's been put up thus far. Alrighty gotta start my AP Spanish hw, so toodles.
but not before....
SPIDER'S SHOUT OUTS!
(because life would less cluttered without them)
saphie: Thanks for what you said in your reviews, it sure was nice ta hear from ya again. Hope you like these two new additions should you ever get to read them. :)
Mizu_Tenshi: You wrote exactly what I was hoping someone would say. After these two chapters Wyatt comes into the picture. And hint hint, I plan to make Kai get a clue and Wyatt learn that to get the person you want, you better not be half-@$$ed about it. Thanks a bunch for the review.
Toki Kasurmari: Thanks for the review. Sorry I was such a lamebrain and didn't update sooner, hope you liked these two new additions. Short, sweet and to the point was exactly what I needed to hear the day I got your review. :-)
I luv Kai: Thanks for your review. I'm glad to hear ya stuck it this far and still like the pairing. lol, a lot of people hug Kai while reviewing my story.
Leina: Yup I definitely saw the eps. And let's just say that after Ghost in the Machine I started to write this much faster. Tell me what ya thought of these two new additions.
Destati's Prophecy: Man your review made me smile a whole lot. Not only was it a long review, where ya told me exactly what you feel, but you ticked off the reasons why I've kept this thing going. I definitely agree with your reasoning, Kai is just so much more emotional this time around, it's cool. Thanks for the review.
Shade 25: Thanks homey. You reviewed practically every chapter, it's nice and says a lot about you. I really liked reading all of your reviews and they sure made me crack a smile. Tell me what ya think about these two new additions.
Boys-On-Boysenberry: Thanks for reviewing and about your comments toward the fic and the pairing. I think you said it best when you said "the more the v force series progresses, the more potential they seem to have". The few that actually don't hate this fic think like what you said. :-)
Saiyan-Chang: hey, glad to hear you like the fic. Yeah there are very few Kai/Wyatt fics, but slowly that's starting to change. As far as the pairing goes, yeah I didn't want to rush it because I figure there's time and besides what I have planned for the characters goes beyond what's already been said. Hope you like these small interludes.
Summing up the Stars: Thanks for the review. (BTW: I like your pen name, sticks out nicely) Anyway, I'm happy to hear that as soon as you found this fic that you liked it. Here's the update, I hope I didn't disappoint. :)
Cort-A-Ney: hey Dotz*N*Necco or should I just call you Cort-A-Ney? Well thanks for the love, hehehe, I'm glad my fic "rocked your socks". Your review was one of the coolest things people have said. Lol, I'd have to agree with your little sister's funny report. Thanks also for adding me to your favorites, that was like a nice slap in the face. ^_^.
vikki_bloom: lol, yeah I guess Wyatt's friends should be the gay group. Thanks for all the nice thing you said about my little fic. I was very glad to hear that you like it and don't think my fic is non-realistic. I hope by updating this, the disappointment leaves and you have a couple of small smiles and laughs at how I portray the BladeBreakers and Hilary. BTW: I took the fact that I got you to say a bad word as good news. hehehe.
###
Oh yeah and before I forget I just want to give a big shout out and a high five to Chibi Linky and Vialana, two dope writers who are also writing something that discusses Kai and Wyatt in either friendship or yaoi. HAHA! Success, let the goofy Kai/Wyatt revolution begin! Muahahahaha.
Can you tell I'm happy? :)
Chapter 7: Borages
Tyson and Hilary put a hand behind their heads in a twin action of embarrassment. Kai and the rest walked into the room, standing before the two late night talkers. Max and Rei shared a brief smirk that Tyson didn't understand, while Hilary saw Kenny's face turn from surprise to realization. Before she could say anything, Max spoke up in a slightly teasing voice, "Tyson, what are you doing in Hilary's room?" This prompted Kenny to voice out his own question, "Isn't it a little late to have a rendezvous?" The boys looked between the two, trying to get the answer. Tyson turned to look at Hilary, who looked back in fear. He realized she seemed reluctant to speak up. 'Is she embarrassed about her nightmare? Maybe she's afraid the guys will think she's weird if she talks about it.'
Hilary opened her mouth to speak, but Tyson beat her to the punch, "Well I woke up and was real hungry, so I went to get a midnight snack," he pointed to the cookies at his side, "and when I was walking back to my room I met up with Hilary. We just ended up eating and talking in her room." He looked into the faces of the others seeing that for the most part they believed what he was saying.
"With your stomach Tyson, it makes sense." Max said smiling. "Yeah, but did you guys have to talk so loud?" Rei said sleepily, as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Hilary gave a brief look of thanks to Tyson before replacing it with one of sincerity, "We're sorry, we didn't mean to wake you guys up." Tyson spoke up with the bag of cookies in his hands, "You guys want some?"
This made the other boys, except Kai, smile and shake their heads at Tyson's silly form of an apology. "I'll have one." Max said as he grabbed the bag and plopped down to eat a cookie. "Well it's not like we'll get to sleep anytime soon." Rei said as he sat down as well and reached into the bag to get one. Kenny sat down next to Hilary and opened up his laptop, "Hey Hilary, can you please hand me a cookie too?" he asked as he typed away starting up his laptop. Hilary just smiled and took the one Rei handed her and gave it to Kenny. The distracted boy munched thoughtfully until he looked to his left to see Kai had sat down as well.
Hilary stared a little at Kai in worry, when she noticed the other boy was looking out the window distractedly. She nudged Tyson with her elbow and gestured with her head towards Kai. Tyson looked at his fellow teammate, scrutinizing the other boy. He looked back at Hilary and just shrugged his shoulders. The actions of the two were not lost on Rei and Max, who also glanced at Kai, trying to see what the fuss was about.
Kai stared out the window seeing the moon's bright shape surrounded by stars above Tyson's dojo. As he looked at the moon, he started to wonder if there were lunariums around that had their petals open. Thinking of the lunariums made his mind stray to Wyatt and about what he had done this week.
A part of him still wondered what he was thinking when he wrote the letter to his friend. It had been a spontaneous notion to write to the other boy. Nights ago, when everyone else was asleep, he had stayed up and had written the letter in his notebook. In truth his first attempt had been unconsciously done, giving himself the luxury of telling exactly how he felt towards the other boy. He wrote things that he had never told anyone else and when he read through it, his surprise was great. As he read through his own words he was surprised to see that it had turned out to be a love letter. Nothing sappy or overly emotional, just a simple and honest letter saying exactly how he felt.
He spent the latter part of the hour feuding with himself if he should send it, the feud a clash between his mind and his heart. In the end his mind won out and he realized that logically it would not be the best thing to do at the moment. With a determined crumble of the letter, the symbolism not lost on Kai; he started anew, this time choosing what he said carefully. When he read over the second letter, he saw that some emotion towards the boy had still slipped into the letter, but not enough for it to matter. He sealed it into an envelope and sent it in the next morning.
This week had proven to be more stressful that usual. When training and the others were not around to distract him and keep him busy, his mind kept going toward the letter and whether it had been the wisest thing to do. 'No, I know what I did was right. I can't keep foolish notions about him around me. He doesn't deserve to wait around for someone...that can't give him what he needs. It's not like it would have worked out anyway. If nothing happens then it'll prove that I was right to end it when I did.'
In all his distraction he failed to notice the others staring at him. The odd silence finally caught his attention and with a suspicious gaze he looked from left to right. He saw Max and Rei's curiosity, Tyson looked expectant while Hilary appeared to be worried about him. He furrowed his eyebrows wondering why they were staring. The only one who wasn't was Kenny as he was typing on his laptop and finished the start up program for Dizzi.
"What are all of you gawking at?", he asked in a rougher tone than he'd meant. The others stopped their staring and looked away as they ate their cookies in peace. Tyson looked at the rest of his teammates before just shrugging his shoulders and speaking, "Hey Kai, are you alright?" This made the others look up. Hilary sighed at Tyson's lack of tact and briefly wondered if maybe the direct approach was the way to go with Kai.
"I'm fine, why?" Kai asked the other boy carefully. "Well Hilary and I were wondering if something was up? You look more bummed out and serious than usual." Tyson said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, we worried that something was bothering you." Hilary piped in, trying to clarify.
"You were the one worried, I was just curious." said Tyson accusingly.
"Oh come off it Tyson, you know you were worried too." Hilary said, giving Tyson a withering look.
"No I wasn't. I told you, that's just the way Kai is, but you have to go and make it into a big deal." Tyson said as he crossed his arms.
"I made it into a big deal? I did?! Are you kidding me? You're the one that asked and started it." she said, starting to get annoyed.
"Yeah well, I only asked because you brought it up."
The other two continued to argue while the others just rolled their eyes. "Do you think they argued before we got here or did they wait till we were awake to start?" Max said with a sigh. "Geez, they act like a loud, stubborn married couple," Kenny said in exasperation. "Ah, young love." Dizzi said sardonically. Rei finally just got annoyed and reached into the bag for two cookies. He threw one each at Hilary and Tyson, instantly ending their argument.
"If you're going to help someone with a problem, make sure you don't have one yourself." said Rei, before he munched on another cookie. Kai shook his head and was about to stand up had Hilary's question not stopped him, "Is there something really wrong?" Kai looked at her seeing concern that he couldn't understand or figure out where it came from. "If I did, it's not like you could help me." he said cryptically and made another attempt to leave had Kenny not begun as well. "You don't know that Kai. If there is something wrong, which the case seems to be, then maybe we can help you." This prompted Max, "Yeah, is there anything we can do?"
"Is something about someone bothering you?" Tyson asked, his curiosity growing now that everyone else had joined in.
The question had been innocent enough. When Kai really thought about it, he knew that while being mildly annoying, his friends were only trying to help. In their own way, each one was worried about him. While to them Tyson's question was innocent, at this very moment to him it was the best button they could have pressed.
"It's none of your business." Kai said in annoyance. "Sounds to me like Tyson's question hit a cord." Dizzi piped in. "Is it one of us?" Max asked a little worried that it'd turn out to be him. "No, but your incessant questions are bothering me right now." "So then if it's not one of us, is it like an enemy or something?" Tyson said ignoring the previous comment. Kai stared hard at Tyson before just humoring him with an answer. "No, it's not an enemy." If he kept phrasing his answers correctly, they wouldn't get to the real question. "What about your family? Is there something up with them?"
Everyone except Kai and Hilary winced at her question. They'd realized long ago that when it came to family history, it was a subject best left alone with Kai. Kenny looked worriedly between Hilary and Kai. Hilary looked curious and apprehensive about why silence had fallen over the group. Kai had balled up his hands into loose fists, the only hint that Hilary's question had gotten to him. Rei seeing what was going to happen intervened, "Uh Hilary, when it comes to Kai's family,...it's something we don't really talk about. For now, that's not the problem."
"Oh. I'm sorry Kai, I didn't know-" Hilary stuttered out. "Just forget it, I'm done here." he said as he moved to stand up. Just as he walked away, he muttered, "It's not like you would have helped anyway."
Before anyone knew what was happening Tyson stood up and loudly exclaimed, "Yeah well, if you don't let us, then of course we can't do anything to help.", effectively causing Kai to stop. He didn't think they'd hear what he'd said. He slowly turned around, to see the other boy was going to continue with his rant, "Ok so maybe playing 20 questions was pretty stupid, but you gotta admit Kai you're a hard person to talk to sometimes."
Out of nowhere Hilary stood up as well, "That's why we asked you all those stupid questions. In our own, probably very nosy kinda way, we want to figure out what's up. For all we know you could be hiding the fact that you're sick with cancer, worried over the Saint Shields or, or, even be falling in love."
At this the other boys started to giggle over what she'd said, never noticing the look on Kai's face. Hilary just rolled her eyes as she stared at the giggling bunch in front of her. Shaking her head, she ignored it when the others commented on how love was far from the problem. She looked up just in time to see the barely concealed look of shock on Kai's face. She stared at him, mouth slightly open in surprise. Just as she was about to tell herself that she was just seeing things, she saw a very faint blush appear on his face. She would not have seen it had the moon's light not amplified it. As she simply stood there staring in surprise, one by one the others noticed her still silence. Each one stopped their chatter to look at him and what they saw made their eyes widen in surprise and unsure smiles come through because Kai Hiwatari, was blushing.
The silence that clung to the room was thick with shock, wonder and amusement. None of it was voiced however, as no one knew what to do. Kai thought he had kept good control of his face during the whole situation. He couldn't understand why he was blushing and how he'd let it show through. Now that he had the scrutinizing gaze of everyone in the room, he felt his blush grow across his cheeks.
Hilary snapped out of it and thought about how to make Kai relax. From his body language, she could tell he was caught between flight and fight mode. She walked around the others and towards Kai, but he took a step back before she got too close. Her brown eyes met his red ones, their gaze lasting for several seconds before a light of realization dawned in her eyes. She gave him a sincere smile before she spoke, "It's ok Kai. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. I know what you're feeling because I'm...going through it too."
Max's voice was heard from behind them, "Falling in love with someone isn't that big of a deal, it's just because it's you that we're a little thrown off. "
"Yeah, you actually liking a person isn't something that happens everyday." said Rei from his spot on the floor. Tyson surprised them all by appearing out of nowhere and standing next to Kai's side, before he grabbed the other boy in a one armed hug and dragged him back to where the others sat. As he pulled the other boy, he started to chatter away, "So who's the lucky person? Do we know them? How'd you two meet? Come on Kai, don't leave us hanging, give us the details."
"Tyson," Hilary exclaimed loudly behind them, "knock it off. Talking about stuff like this is uncomfortable ya know."
"Yeah, not everybody is comfortable talking about things like this. Kai is one of those people." Kenny said as he looked at Tyson.
"Yeah so just forcing him to answer all your questions like that isn't a good idea Tyson." said Rei as he moved some strands of hair from his eyes.
Kai felt his emotions grow from embarrassment and humiliation to annoyance and anger. The way they were all talking about him as if he wasn't there was starting to irritate him to no end. This was all happening so fast and he couldn't get a handle on the situation. He felt the urge to hit something and was struggling to not hit Tyson, the other boy being the unfortunate thing closest to his reach.
When he couldn't stand it anymore, he finally just smacked Tyson's arm off him. The other boy moved back in surprise. Kai took a deep breath before he loudly exclaimed, "Look, if I hear the words love or like with my name one more time, whoever says it is going to regret it. I'm not in love with anybody and I don't want to get all touchy-feely with you morons, so just leave me alone, understand?"
"The only thing we understand buddy, is that you're gaga over someone and all you want to do is go down the river called as denial." Tyson boldly exclaimed. He gave Kai a teasing smirk and received a scowl in return. Despite Kai's threat, he didn't feel scared in the least, fully knowing that deep down they'd hit a weak spot that needed to be hit.
"I. Am. Not. In. Denial." Kai said, stressing each word. "Then why'd you blush when Hilary brought it up?" Max asked with a hint of skepticism entering his voice. He was starting to believe that maybe Kai was lying to them.
"Must be someone really special to get Kai blushing." came the comment from Dizzi who was still in Kenny's lap. Dizzi's simple comment made Kai's eyes narrow even more and before anyone knew what was happening, he pushed his way through the others and flung the door open to run out of room. Hilary was about to go after him, but Rei's hand shot out to grab hers, "Just leave it alone Hilary. I think everything we said overwhelmed him. He'll come around when he wants to, or he won't at all." Hilary looked back to the door, a concerned look placed on her face before she just sighed and nodded.
"Ya know Hil, there is a good chance that maybe he was telling the truth." Max said as he stood up. "Yeah, about a 17% chance." answered Kenny as he typed away into his laptop. "What do you mean Chief?" Tyson asked, as he and the others gathered around the other boy. Kenny pulled up a data table that had been made in Dizzi's statistics program. "While you guys were giving Kai a courtroom style interrogation," he said slightly scolding them, "I had Dizzi analyze his vital signs to check for variations in his body."
"Like a lie detector test." Hilary said in realization. "Exactly." Kenny said as he ran the program to display all the data. "Whoa, good thinking Chief," Tyson said smiling broadly. "Thanks." the younger boy replied. "So what did Dizzi find out about Kai?" Rei asked.
"Well based on pupil dilation, skin temperature and motor functions, the verdict is that there was an 81% percent probability that Kai was lying." said Dizzi. Kenny pulled up a graph with points all connected. "Here," he said pointing to the highest dot in the whole graph, "was when Dizzi detected that his vital signs changed the most." "So when was that?" Hilary asked him. Dizzi pulled up a video screen which fast-forwarded through everything that happened until it abruptly stopped and played normally.
Kai appeared a on the screen just as he exclaimed loudly, "I'm not in love with anybody and I don't want to get all touchy-feely with you morons, so just leave me alone, understand?"
Dizzi replayed the scene again, this time showing on another display box Kai's voice patterns and body temperature changes. Dizzi pulled up its main display before it spoke, "Need anymore proof? I think it's safe to say that Kai likes someone, but doesn't want to say who." "So that big faker really is in love." Tyson said smiling in amusement. "That or he's starting to anyway." said Hilary knowingly.
"So what do we do now? Kai likes someone, but it's obvious that something's still wrong about the whole thing." said Max. His fellow teammates all looked back at him, the same unsure faces reflecting his own. "Wonder what it could be?" Tyson voiced out loud. "Maybe he tried to be with that person, but in the end it didn't really work out." Rei said, thinking of his own love experiences during the last couple of months. Hilary looked at him as she spoke, "Or maybe he likes this person so much, but doesn't want to say it because he thinks the other person won't return his feelings."
"Whatever the reason you guys," said Max as he got up and stretched his arms, "it's pretty late and we're gonna have to wait until tomorrow to find out." He trudged out the door sleepily and muttered out a good night. "Yeah, there's no big hurry. Kai's probably out thinking about what we said and maybe tomorrow we can get some answers." Rei said as he started to walk to the door as well. Just before he left he threw a "Good night you guys." over his shoulder. Both he and Max could be heard walking down the hallway.
Kenny shut down Dizzi and closed his laptop. As he stood up he finally said what he was thinking. "I don't know about you guys, but to be honest, I think a lot of things are starting to make sense now." "Like what Kenny?" Kenny looked at Hilary, "I'll tell ya tomorrow, but right now," he paused to yawn, "I'm pretty sleepy." He started to walk away, but paused when he reached the door, "Aren't you coming Tyson?"
Tyson was about to follow after the other boy, but changed his mind instead. "I'll catch up Chief." Kenny nodded and said goodnight, and as he walked down the hallway a knowing smile was on his face.
Tyson gave Hilary a small glance before he walked back to where the whole group had sat in. He picked up the now empty bag of cookies and threw it into the wastebasket. Hilary walked back to her futon and climbed in, but was surprised when Tyson sat down at her side.
"Tyson! What are you doing?" she asked freaked out. "I figured that if I told you about this one time we met up with these funny looking beybladers, you'd forget all about your bad dream. Is that ok?" Hilary just sat there dumbfounded at what he said before she just nodded her head. "Alright, well get comfortable, this one's really funny. So we were walking through this forest, because our bus broke down and we needed to get to a phone. I was the one leading the way and after about an hour Kai was angry at me, as usual. He said that my 'moronic shortcut' was a waste of time and wasn't worth the trouble. I thought it was sure worth it to watch him trip and land on some poison ivy plants..."
Hilary laid down, looking up at Tyson as he animatedly said his story. She spent the rest of the hour laughing at the ridiculous story Tyson was saying from one of his experiences with the BladeBreakers. She couldn't help but smile at the antics and gestures he did as he was talking. Slowly but surely she felt herself falling back to sleep towards the end of the story. Eventually Tyson noticed her deep and even breathing and realized she'd fallen asleep. He pulled the covers over her body more and absently flicked some strands of hair off her face. Making sure the rest of the room was tidy and secure he walked out of the door and shut the door behind him. As he started off down the hallway, he never sensed Kai's presence in the shadows. The other boy had come back to witness the whole scene and was left with a tugging feeling he couldn't understand. He skulked around the dojo, lost in thought until an hour later he slipped inside his futon to at last get some sleep.
End of Chapter 7
Author's notes: Don't mean to sound like a dork...but dudes was this bad the first time around. When I first wrote it and posted it, I read it over and thought I was nuts to post it. It was the CRAP de la creme, hence I took it down immediately and decided to work on it a little more. I know it still could use some tuning up, but I thought that it's better to post this revised version and then fix the rest later.
I hope you guys like the Tyson and Hilary moment I put in. I think with a little bit of time they'll become good friends and not argue and try to kill each other all the time. I also hope you guys liked that weird little Kumbaya-interrogation-cookie eating-group-circle thing. Thought a little unity scene would be nice. Sort of, a calm before the storm known as Wyatt comes into the picture, which will be the next chapter.
So now that all that, is said and done, will you people review? Could be long, short, funny, serious, dorky review. Could be a confused calling. Could be a flame. I don't really mind that much what you pick, but if you made this far, hope you like what's been put up thus far. Alrighty gotta start my AP Spanish hw, so toodles.
but not before....
SPIDER'S SHOUT OUTS!
(because life would less cluttered without them)
saphie: Thanks for what you said in your reviews, it sure was nice ta hear from ya again. Hope you like these two new additions should you ever get to read them. :)
Mizu_Tenshi: You wrote exactly what I was hoping someone would say. After these two chapters Wyatt comes into the picture. And hint hint, I plan to make Kai get a clue and Wyatt learn that to get the person you want, you better not be half-@$$ed about it. Thanks a bunch for the review.
Toki Kasurmari: Thanks for the review. Sorry I was such a lamebrain and didn't update sooner, hope you liked these two new additions. Short, sweet and to the point was exactly what I needed to hear the day I got your review. :-)
I luv Kai: Thanks for your review. I'm glad to hear ya stuck it this far and still like the pairing. lol, a lot of people hug Kai while reviewing my story.
Leina: Yup I definitely saw the eps. And let's just say that after Ghost in the Machine I started to write this much faster. Tell me what ya thought of these two new additions.
Destati's Prophecy: Man your review made me smile a whole lot. Not only was it a long review, where ya told me exactly what you feel, but you ticked off the reasons why I've kept this thing going. I definitely agree with your reasoning, Kai is just so much more emotional this time around, it's cool. Thanks for the review.
Shade 25: Thanks homey. You reviewed practically every chapter, it's nice and says a lot about you. I really liked reading all of your reviews and they sure made me crack a smile. Tell me what ya think about these two new additions.
Boys-On-Boysenberry: Thanks for reviewing and about your comments toward the fic and the pairing. I think you said it best when you said "the more the v force series progresses, the more potential they seem to have". The few that actually don't hate this fic think like what you said. :-)
Saiyan-Chang: hey, glad to hear you like the fic. Yeah there are very few Kai/Wyatt fics, but slowly that's starting to change. As far as the pairing goes, yeah I didn't want to rush it because I figure there's time and besides what I have planned for the characters goes beyond what's already been said. Hope you like these small interludes.
Summing up the Stars: Thanks for the review. (BTW: I like your pen name, sticks out nicely) Anyway, I'm happy to hear that as soon as you found this fic that you liked it. Here's the update, I hope I didn't disappoint. :)
Cort-A-Ney: hey Dotz*N*Necco or should I just call you Cort-A-Ney? Well thanks for the love, hehehe, I'm glad my fic "rocked your socks". Your review was one of the coolest things people have said. Lol, I'd have to agree with your little sister's funny report. Thanks also for adding me to your favorites, that was like a nice slap in the face. ^_^.
vikki_bloom: lol, yeah I guess Wyatt's friends should be the gay group. Thanks for all the nice thing you said about my little fic. I was very glad to hear that you like it and don't think my fic is non-realistic. I hope by updating this, the disappointment leaves and you have a couple of small smiles and laughs at how I portray the BladeBreakers and Hilary. BTW: I took the fact that I got you to say a bad word as good news. hehehe.
###
Oh yeah and before I forget I just want to give a big shout out and a high five to Chibi Linky and Vialana, two dope writers who are also writing something that discusses Kai and Wyatt in either friendship or yaoi. HAHA! Success, let the goofy Kai/Wyatt revolution begin! Muahahahaha.
Can you tell I'm happy? :)