Here's the fifth chapter. It's a bit short, but the next chapter is quite long, so it balances out somewhere along the way... As always, thanks to all who reviewed:
NinjaMatty: Sorry I didn't put this in the last chapter, but your review came up after I'd posted it- sorry!
Aries1391: Mwaha, yes, he's dead! I swear, while I was writing about him dying I was sitting here smiling...
Kaei kon: Yeah, everyone makes Kai hard and bad-ass (myself included). I decided to make him a REAL child in this one, not some kind of superhuman gunslinger...
Rejiita: Yeah, I did kind of feel sorry for Bryan... But now Boris is dead, so it'll end up being okay!
Darkangelintheshadows: Kai had to kill him because I'm making this a KaiBryan fic... And about the argument... Well, read on to find out!
I-Hate-Boris: I do too! I'm sorry to say Tala's dead and he's staying that way. Mwaha, if you're new to my fics, be warned- I kill off the characters in a lot of my stories...
Theatreofwar: Woah there, easy on the orange juice! Heheh, just kidding.
Just that good: I'll miss Tala too, until I bring him back to life in another fic and do something else horrible to him...I always do... he's been raped, committed suicide, been anorexic... not all in the same fic, though! I'm not that cruel...
Endoh Chiaki: No, sorry, no more Tala. Just some cute KaiBryan wuv!
Ellen: Boris the witch...it has possibilities, doesn't it? I can just see him with a hat and a broomstick...
Mistress-of-eternal-Darkness: I can just see Tala in heaven...it's from a fic I did a while ago, where Tala and Bryan end up going to heaven... Peachmelba drew me a little angel Tala with wings and a harp, and the image stuck... She said he looked like a crab, but I thought it was gorgeous!
Werewolf of Fire: Well, if you're looking for a dead Rei, I'll be posting one soon. Because I have exams on at the minute, I have a lot of fics going at the same time, so I'll have -something- to post to stop myself going insane from revision. After I've posted the KaiRei healthspa fic I've almost finished, there's one where Rei gets put to death for being gay. Sound good? I'll kill Tyson off sometime later...
Helen: Here's the update! Well, it's down the page a little bit, but meh.
Renanimeangel: I don't deny the claim...I do kill them off a lot... And no, Bryan isn't going to die. There's been enough death for one fic, what with Boris and Tala...
And now, on with the chapter!
"Bryan?" Bryan looked up sharply, then looked back down again.
"What...do you want?" Kai hovered in the doorway then came into the clean, white hospital room. He'd been made to wait while they cleaned Bryan up, but now Bryan was apparently able to speak to him. As far as Kai could gather, they were keeping him in in case he did something stupid to himself. A kindly nurse had explained that when people were raped they felt violated. Kai hadn't had the heart to tell her he was already studying at college level and had probably read the medical textbook she was evidently quoting from.
"I just wanted to know...if you were any better?" Bryan shrugged.
"I..." He swallowed, then started to cry before wiping his tears away angrily. "Leave me alone!"
"Bryan...um..." Kai had never really been one for tact, so he came right out and said it. "They...found Tala's body. When they were looking through Boris' rooms. My Grandfather...wants to know when you'd like the funeral to be."
"What are you asking me for?"
"Well...he was your friend, wasn't he?" Bryan sniffed and started to cry, wiping away the tears with the back of his hand and looking angry with himself. "It's alright to cry, Bryan...I'll...turn around." Kai turned, looking away. "He's dead, you know. He paid for what he did."
"Hn."
"Tala...didn't run away, did he? I know, because when they were looking in all Boris' stuff they found things about gene experiments that hadn't been authorised. Um...my Grandfather's...disbanding the abbey. He says that if he can't trust his manager and his scientists there's no point and he...doesn't want things to happen like the things that happened to you and Tala..."
"Whatever." Said Bryan, disbelievingly.
"...Bryan...I wanted to ask you...if..." Kai hesitated. "Would you like to come and live with me?"
"What?" Kai blushed.
"You don't...have to...but..."
"Live with you? Why?" Kai turned, biting his lip.
"I...I want to sort of...help to make up for what happened. If I can... I..." He trailed off, looking ashamed. "I know it sounds selfish, but...apart from that...I...I'm lonely. He gave me a mansion and servants, but he never gives me his time. He's not a bad person...well...not as bad as some...but he's cold. He makes -me- cold." Bryan looked down at himself and shook his head.
"I...don't think...that would work." Kai made no attempt to hide the look of rejection and disappoinment that crossed his face.
"Tala asked me to look after you..." Bryan flinched as he remembered Tala, fading away...leaving him...
"Leave me alone!" He spat. Kai looked surprised at his sudden outburst of temper.
"Well...if you don't want me here...is there anything I can get you?"
"What, you think buying me things will make it better?" Bryan yelled. Kai backed away slightly.
"It wasn't...I'm not trying to buy you happiness! But if you don't want me around then let me look after you some other way!" It was frustrating; Tala had charged him with Bryan's care, but Bryan didn't seem to want or need anything from him.
"Look after me by leaving me alone! I don't need a spoiled little brat to understand me!"
"Is that why you won't let me help you? If I was a spoiled brat I would have left you to be raped!" Kai yelled. Bryan paled at the mention of the word 'rape' and started to shiver, making Kai feel instantly guilty. "I-I didn't mean..."
"GET OUT!" Kai obliged, shutting the door quietly behind him.
"Bryan?"
"Go away." Kai sat down in the visitor's chair, regardless of Bryan's hissed order. It was the next morning, and after sleeping on it, Kai had decided that even if Bryan didn't want his help, he was going to get it. Bryan glared at him for a few seconds then rolled onto his side, his back to Kai. The younger boy waited for a few seconds before reaching out and stroking Bryan's hair. Bryan didn't react as badly as he'd thought he would. He just snorted. "I'm not a cat."
"I'm not a spoilt brat but you're treating me like one."
"Go away."
"No."
"Go -away-."
"He told me to look after you and I'm going to whether you like it or not!"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"Why, do you like being alone? Being alone is awful! But then I wouldn't expect someone like -you- to understand!"
"Sod you! Life isn't a psychology textbook!" Bryan turned his head, glowering. Kai growled.
"Why won't you let me help you?"
"Why do you want to?"
Kai reached out and grabbed Bryan's arm. "Bryan, I killed him! You were there! You know what happened! I killed him Bryan! And maybe it's because I'm spoilt or whatever, but I can't deal with that on my own and who the hell else do I have to tell?"
"I don't want you reminding me about him!"
"Well then why don't you help me forget?"
"I thought you wanted to help -me-!"
Kai burst into tears and flung himself over Bryan, who shoved him away as if he was on fire. Kai stood there tears rampaging down his cheeks. "Did it make it better, Bryan? Was it good...that I killed him?" He raised his hand, finger curled around an imaginary trigger. He moved his finger and then dropped his arm. "Did he hurt you enough to deserve that?"
"Yes..." Bryan looked up at Kai, his feelings all mixed around and upside down. "He...he killed Tala..." He dropped his head, starting to cry himself. "He made me tell him I loved him...he made me kiss him...he made me...made me..." He trailed off. "...Thank you."
"Bryan..." A long, awkward silence stretched between the two of them. "Will you be...better?"
"...I don't know."
"Why didn't you tell me when I asked you about it?"
"I...was scared. I wasn't thinking straight..."
"I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"Because...I didn't shoot him straight away. I couldn't...but then when I realised how much he was hurting you...b-but I still killed him...I took away his life...I-I'm a murderer..." Bryan reached out and took hold of Kai's hand tentatively.
"You're...a thousand times better than him. It wasn't murder...it was rescue..." Slowly, Bryan was realising how badly the whole thing had affected Kai. Even if he still didn't want anyone to be in any kind of contact with him, he felt that he owed it to Kai...after all, he'd rescued him when he'd thought he was surely going to die. When he really thought about it...Kai had killed a man for him. "If...if you promise no one'll hurt me...I'd like to...come and live with you."
Next (and last) chapter: Kai blushes, Voltaire is uncharacteristically generous, and Bryan thinks Kai is making fun of him.