Chapter Ten: Care
"Sakura… you did it again." Blue eyes gazed down at her reproachfully. Her brother smiled at her sadly. Bruises littered Tala's face and chest, and a slight trickle of blood ran down from his left ear. Tala had a concussion, and from the pain in her head, at her temples, and behind her eyes, she did too. "Don't move, the room will spin."
"Tala. He hit you too? Why? Oh…" she gently touched a bruise on her brother's body, deep and black. It looked painful, but her twin was smiling. "I'm sorry. Ow!"
"That idiot made you sprain an ankle. Hold still."
"Ow, ow… jerk!"
"That was for being a baby." He ducked when she threw a book at him, laughing at her. Sometimes, her twin was a real jerk. She loved him anyway.
"Sakura, you're back!" Kenny exclaimed. She smiled, leaning against the wall. "We were so worried about you!" Kai snarled under his breath, "Damn right we were." Sakura looked totally surprised. Kenny continued, "We went looking for you and everything. Kai was positively frantic!" Kai punched the smaller boy in the arm. The genius fell against the wall, biting his lip against the pain. The skin where his fist had landed turned white, then an angry blood red. Sakura nearly slapped her boyfriend, but stopped at the furious, terrified look in his eyes.
"Shut up, Chief. I was not frantic. Where," he rounded on Sakura, furious, nearly insane with anger, "have you been?" He wanted to kill her! She'd stood him up, left him looking like an idiot at their place on the roof, worried him nearly sick, and now she just waltzed in here looking ever so casual, after three days, not caring how afraid he'd been for her. How afraid he'd been of losing her. He sensed he nearly had. But that didn't matter. He was justified in his rage. "Do you have any idea how long we were looking for you? Where the fuck were you, Sakura?"
"I got in a fight." She said softly. She winced. It hurt to talk, after nearly being strangled the day before yesterday. A silk scarf… how fucked up. "No big deal."
"Oh," Ray murmured from behind her, "is that how that happened?" Sakura jumped in surprise. Her shirt was being unruly, not covering everything she'd wanted it to, and so, her bruises were rather apparent. Ray was staring at her back with a mix of horror and sympathy. Max looked from one to the other, then at Mr. Dickinson as if for explanation. Tyson gawped, crying, "God, Sakura, what happened?" She shrugged. She felt heat flooding her cheeks, and she began trembling ever so slightly. She didn't want to answer their questions. Lies were hard to keep up with.
"Sakura?" Kai questioned. She looked away, murmuring, "Like I said, it was a fight. It um… didn't go as well as I expected. I was surprised after I got there. That's all. No big." Kai sighed. He knew she was lying. "So, what's up with the home team? What are we doing here, Chief?"
"I came up with an analysis on all five of you guys… er, people. Now, out of the six of us, Kai and Sakura are the two best bladers. I don't know which one's better, because every time they've fought, it's been a tie. Except those two matches at Regionals, and that was it. Tyson, you've tied with Kai and Sakura, but she and Kai are still the better bladers because they just have more power, what with two bit beasts. Ray, you're after Kai and the others, because you beat Kai once too. Max, you and Ray are evenly matched, Ray with a strong attack, and you with a strong defense. Basically, I wanted to tell you about how you stand with each other. Now… Sakura, tell the truth. Did you really get in a fight?" She limped over to the window, leaning against it for support. Kenny knew she was pondering his answer, trying to figure the best, most truthful answer. Finally, she spoke.
"Something like that, yeah."
"Something like that? What does that mean? Either you were or you weren't. Which is it?" Kai snapped. Why the hell was she being so vague?
"In a fight, each person has an equal chance. I didn't. Hence, it was something like a fight. Kai, where are you going?" The captain of the Blade Breakers began walking towards the door. "Kai?" He replied stiffly, "Come with me, Sakura. I want to talk to you. Alone."
"Why?" He snapped angrily, "Because I said so, goddamn it!" Sakura jumped slightly in surprise. "Come on." She followed him outside.
"Jeez." Tyson said after a long silence. "What was that about?
"Kai, what do you want?" He whirled on her, livid.
"What happened to you? Don't lie to me, Sakura, it's getting old."
"I told you-"
"That's twice I've found bruises on you! And those aren't from fighting, either! There's too many. What is going on, Sakura? Tell me." Kai wanted to shout, to throw things. She was getting hurt. Didn't she want to stop it? Didn't she want help? "Tell me, Sakura. Sakura? Sakura, why are you crying?" She pushed him away. "Tell me what's going on. I just want to help you."
"Why? So that I can be in your debt and give you free rein to use me as you see fit? So that you can use me as a punching bag without having to feel guilty? So I can be your whore? Why?"
"Because you're in trouble. Sakura… I… you're important to me. I'm not going to let some bastard hurt you just because he's in a bad mood, or why ever he does it. I want to help you because you're a member of this team." Sakura furiously dashed the tears in her eyes. Her wrist has the imprints of someone's fingers on them. "Oh, Sakura…"
"I hate this. I hate this stupid team, and this stupid relationship, it's made me go soft. I've never been this upset before… I should be able to handle this. I should. Why can't I? Kai… this is so hard…." Without thinking, he pulled her against him, and she didn't bother holding back her tears. He didn't hold her as hard as he wanted. If he did, he was afraid of hurting her. He rested his cheek against her soft, blue hair and whispered, "Shhh… I'll help you, Sakura, I promise. I won't let them hurt you again. I won't." He held her close, as if sheltering the most precious of treasures. Nothing was going to happen to her again. Not if he had anything to say about it.
A gentle knock at her bedroom door made Sakura jump. She wondered who would be calling on her at her hotel room at ten at night. It couldn't be her father, Mr. Dickinson had posted guards. She'd thought that was kind of stupid, but she was glad her father couldn't get to her now that her team had gotten to China. Her mind withdrew itself from listing the possibilities and opened the door. She stepped back to let him in.
"I wanted to see how you were holding up." She cursed herself for her foolishness. Her clothes, her most common form of pajamas, were very skimpy. All she wore was a pair of black silk boxers and a loose, Greek style shirt that matched her eyes. Kai could see every bruise, every scrape and cut and lash and bite mark. Everything he hadn't seen before. Well, almost everything.
"I'm fine, Kai, thank you." She was still limping, he noticed, and her bruises were still deep and dark. She looked so fragile, like a porcelain doll. Kai tried to unclench his clenched fingers. He was furious, at himself and at the bastards who had done this. How dare they touch her? And how dare he himself be unable to help her when she needed it, to make her pain disappear when he wanted to? He wanted to ease her pain, but he wasn't sure how. "Was there something else, Kai?" He was so sweet to be checking up on her, she thought, then smiled at him. She turned away when his eyes suddenly changed from a sweet brown to a sharp, feral amber. There was affection, and possessiveness in his eyes then. She couldn't face him at the moment, not with that affection in his eyes. She wasn't worthy of it. He gave it to her anyway. He pulled her close, her back to his hard, muscular chest. His warm breath on the side of her neck made her shiver. "Kai…"
"You're so beautiful, Sakura." He nuzzled her cheek, his lips brushing against it ever so gently. "You are a marvel." He whispered in her ear, his lips barely moving against her skin. "Why won't you tell me what's going on?" She sighed. She'd known where the sweetness was going. It had spiraled rather quickly into the bitter ugliness that was her life. "Sakura, is there anything, anything at all, that I can do to help you? To-"
"To save me? Kai, you're here. You're with me, holding me. That's enough for me." His hold tightened fractionally. "It makes me feel safe." But would she ever feel safe outside the world of Kai's embrace? And, what scared her the most was, would there come a time when even then, she wouldn't be safe? "I enjoy spending time with you."
"With me? I'm a total jerk to you, Sakura. How could you like me?"
"Sometimes, I wonder." She shifted slightly, winced. "Mmm…" Kai ran a gentle fingertip down the middle of her spine, making her shiver. "Kai-"
"Take off your shirt."
"Kai!"
"I swear, Sakura, I won't try anything. But I can get rid of most of the pain, if you want. Your shirt will get in the way, though. Take off your shirt." Sakura, feeling heat flood her cheeks, bit her lip and complied. Don't let this be a trick, not from him, please don't let this be a trick…ooh… oh, wow… His fingertips began a gentle massage on her lower back. Warmth spread through her body, making the pain diminish. His fingers rambled upward to her back and shoulders, the heat spreading even farther. "Kai…"
"Shush." He murmured. She gasped when his lips went to one dark smudge on her shoulder, bathing it with his tongue. The gentle touch of rough velvet made her moan in delight. The feel of his lips on her skin, the tenderness of his touch, rocked her to her soul. Kai sucked on her shoulder for a brief moment, then his mouth trailed little, wet kisses across to her other shoulder. The whimpers she was making were soaked with pleasure. He was making her forget her pain. Sakura shuddered at the sweetness of Kai's very erotic touch, the tenderness, the care… Heat flowed like electricity between them, filling them both with want, with hunger.
"Kai, please…" She expected the harsh kiss that he gave, submitted to it. She turned to him fully, put her arms around his neck. He held her tight, kissing her with everything he had, even some stuff he didn't. His tongue glided into the warmth of Sakura's mouth, tasting and exploring, savoring the kiss as if it were the sweetest thing he'd ever known. He lowered her gently to her bed, the kiss deepening even as his hands went to her waist, tugging her shorts. He'd sworn he wouldn't try anything, but he needed her so much… Sakura knew she should stop Kai, but did she want to? Three months was a long time in a relationship, even if their first kiss had been only a few weeks ago. She was worried about whether she should allow this… until Kai's fingers, unaware of the extent of the damage, pressed down hard on the deep, midnight black finger marks at her hips. She broke the kiss, wincing. "Kai, stop."
"Sakura," he whispered, shoving himself back, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean… I know I promised… did I hurt you?" She didn't answer, but put a protective hand to where her hip met her thigh. "I did."
"You didn't know… I mean… it's not your fault." Without thinking (that seemed to be how she did things around Kai) she pulled her hand away, and Kai saw the dark bruises that implied so much. He looked into her eyes, about to speak. "Shush. Don't say anything, okay? It'll just screw everything up. Okay?"
"Sakura-"
"Kai, don't. Just… just kiss me."
"Sakura, you know I care about you."
"I know." His lips met hers again, and he closed his eyes, trying to forget, to live in the moment. He had Sakura in his arms. Wasn't that enough? He didn't see the single tear stroll down her cheek. She knew he cared. She prayed it wouldn't get him killed.
