Thanks for all the great reviews! I seem to be making a lot of people cry. ^^;; Also, for you people still holding out for a Kai/Rei fic, um, sorry, it won't be happening. So, if you're reading this for Kai/Rei fluffiness, I suggest you stop and go read one of the many other wonderfully written fics with that pairing, because this is TyKa all the way. Enjoy.

Oh, yes, I know in the very first chapter, I stated that Kai's eyes were crimson, like they were in the first season of Beyblade. In VForce, they're grayish, so I'm switching to gray. I dunno, I seem to like gray eyes better than red. *shrugs*

Chapter Eight

* * * * *

Kai and Tyson had spent a good part of the night together, talking. When Kai had finally left, it was past midnight, and the halls were deathly quiet. Tyson had suggested Kai stay in his room for the night since there was an extra bed, but Kai had politely refused, wanting to go back and catch a few hours of rest before filling Wyatt in on what had happened. Besides, if Kai did stay, it was almost a sure bet neither boy would get much sleep, anyway.

Kai walked down the hall toward his dorm in an almost trance-like state. His body was tired from lack of sleep, but his mind was so filled with euphoria that he couldn't even imagine how he was going to get to sleep in the first place. He sighed contentedly. Everything was so perfect. And for the first time since that dreadful day when Rei had rejected him, Kai felt truly joyful. There was no ache in his heart, no burden on his shoulders, just sheer happiness. He held no hard feelings toward Rei, but he knew it would be quite a while until they could achieve the friendship that they had lost. Maybe it could never be replaced, Kai didn't know.

His ears perked up, and he thought he heard a sound in the darkened hallway. His eyes gazed around to no avail. It was so dark; he couldn't see a blasted thing. He brushed it off as slight paranoia on his part. He slipped his hands in his pockets and continued walking to his room, his mind preoccupied. All that had happened in such a small amount of time… his entire mindset about love had completely changed. Love was real. He was foolish to believe that such a wonderful emotion didn't exist.

That sound again.

Kai's fine eyebrows knitted together as he stopped. He had heard something this time, he was sure of it. He held his breath for a moment, not making a sound, his ears attentive. From somewhere in the darkness, he could hear a slight whirring noise… very slight, barely noticeable unless you were listening for it.

What is that? He thought to himself. There's someone else in this hallway… but who? At this hour, everyone should be asleep. His eyes flicked up and down the hall. The darkness was stifling, the only sound being Kai's breathing, which was going from normal to irregular very quickly. In the back of his mind, he knew he was being paranoid and irrational. When had he started being so afraid?

"Kai!"

"Holy shit!" Kai jumped at the sudden voice, his heart skipping a beat.

"Hey, it's me!" a familiar voice stage whispered.

"Tyson?"

"Yeah, who did you think it was?"

Kai sighed in relief, leaning his back against the wall, a hand over his eyes. "Tyson, you scared the hell out of me," he accused.

Tyson walked up to him and gave him a strange look. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he mused.

"What is your problem? Where do you get off sneaking up on me in a dark hallway in the middle of the night?" Kai whispered angrily. Tyson scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin on his face.

"So-o-rry," he said, dragging out the word. Kai sighed again and pushed his bangs out of his face, running a hand through his hair. Tyson came forward and stood in front of him, hands in pockets.

"Why aren't you asleep?" Kai asked.

Tyson shrugged. "I work night shift, and I'm off tonight. I can't sleep. Not tired."

"Well, some of us don't particularly like to be awake at this God-forsaken hour."

Tyson grinned again and shrugged apologetically. Kai shook his head with a sigh.

"One of the reasons I couldn't get to sleep was because I couldn't stop thinking about you," Tyson said softly, coming closer to Kai. He put his hands on the wall, on either side of Kai's head. Kai's slender hands tapped nervously against the white plaster, and he could feel a blush spreading across his cheeks. Tyson leaned down and kissed him gently. A strand of Tyson's long, silky hair fell into his face, brushing against Kai's nose ever-so-slightly.

Kai placed his hands on Tyson's shoulders and broke off the kiss quickly. He sneezed suddenly, and Tyson laughed.

"Shut up," Kai muttered, rubbing his nose. Tyson smiled widely, putting his arms around Kai and hugging him smoothly. Kai fell into the embrace contentedly. He leaned against Tyson, remembering how sleepy he was. Then he remembered something else. He was quiet for a moment, listening for that strange whirring sound he had heard earlier. All was still, and then he heard it, very softly.

He pushed away from Tyson quickly and strained to see down the hall.

"What's wrong?" Tyson asked, following his eyes.

"Shh. Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That sound." Kai demonstrated with his mouth and motioned for him to be quiet. They both stood in silence again, and slowly, Tyson heard the small whirring sound.

"Yeah… what is that?"

"I don't know…"

Tyson looked over at Kai and took in his worried expression.

"Hey, Kai, are you all right? You look a little upset," Tyson said. Kai shook his head faintly.

"I'm fine. I'm just overreacting, I guess."

Tyson squeezed Kai's hand and dropped it. "I'll go see what it is, if it's bothering you."

"I don't know… I just get the feeling that there's someone else here. Watching us."

Tyson gazed down the hall again. "I don't see anyone." He turned back to Kai and put a protective arm around his shoulders. "Come on, let's go back to my room."

Kai allowed himself to be led away by Tyson, anxiety lodging itself deep in his chest. He didn't know why he was so fearful, and it was driving him insane.

Tyson opened the door and both went in. As Tyson locked it again, Kai sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes.

"Tired?" Tyson asked as he crossed the room and opened his closet. Kai yawned in reply. Tyson rummaged through his clothes, and threw Kai a pair of pajama bottoms and a random shirt. Kai caught the pants; the shirt went flying past him.

"I noticed that you don't sleep naked," Tyson commented. Kai raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he padded over to pick up the shirt.

"So, you can go change in the bathroom," Tyson continued, his head still in the closet. Kai was at the bathroom door when he turned to look at Tyson.

"Do you sleep naked?" he asked. He heard Tyson chuckle.

"Nah, I sleep in boxers."

Tyson smiled as he heard the bathroom door click shut. He undressed quickly, throwing his clothes in his closet and shutting the door. He took off his baseball cap and untied his hair, running his hands though his long mass of silky, soft tresses.

The bathroom door opened again, and Kai stepped out. He paused momentarily when he saw Tyson clad in nothing except his boxers. Kai noticed that his hair was loose, the soft blue strands shining. He cleared his throat and felt a smile twitching at his lips, despite the unease he felt in his mind.

"I hope you know that nothing is going to happen tonight, Tyson," Kai said firmly as he put his clothes down on the table beside the extra bed. ""I don't want you in my bed, or down my pants."

I may love you… but I am not ready to go that far just yet, Kai thought to himself.

Tyson pouted. "No?" he asked in a playful tone. Kai couldn't help but smile.

"No."

"Ah, damn."

Kai shook his head and pulled the covers back. "Do you have a roommate?"

"I do. He's just never here."

Kai yawned again as he nestled down in the soft bed, fatigue taking over his body. Tyson walked over to him, standing beside his bed. Kai eyes fluttered open.

"What?" he mumbled. Tyson smiled and leaned down, kissing him tenderly on the forehead.

"Good night, Kai."

Kai closed his eyes again. "Good night," he said softly. Tyson turned around and climbed into his own bed. A contented smile played on his lips as he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

* * * * *

A meadow full of flowers. A soft breeze wafted through the air, gently ruffling Kai's soft hair. Gray eyes swept over the field. For as far as they could see, green grass and various assortments of flowers decorated the ground. The sweet fragrance of grass tickled at his nose, and birds were chirping from afar. The vast, blue sky held fluffy clouds, and the sun shone brightly overhead.

It was picture perfect. Such serenity radiated from the beautiful meadow. Kai looked down, his face content. No fear, no worry, no pain…

He felt a rustle by his foot, and dismissed it as a breeze or something of that sort. He closed his eyes, and savored the moment of ignorant bliss. It wasn't going to last.

Something curled around his ankle. Kai looked down and let out a small gasp as he saw a thorny rose stem rising from the ground, wrapping around his ankle. His eyes widened in fear, and he felt small prickles of pain as the thorns bit into his soft skin. Tiny droplets of blood tricked down.

"No!" He tried to pull away, and suddenly dozens of huge rose stems exploded from the ground all around him. Their thorns glinted maliciously in the sunlight. Kai took a step back and felt a barbed stem dive down, wrapping itself around his arm. He cried out in pain as the huge thorns penetrated deeply through his flesh, drawing blood.

He fell to his knees as he felt more stems against his skin. One wrapped around his other arm and leg, holding fast. They kept coming, and the pain was endless and excruciating. He couldn't pull away; the thorns were embedded too deeply. The meadow was gone, replaced by darkness and despair. Kai looked up desperately and saw another prickly stem coming down. It wrapped around his neck and pulled him toward the ground. The thorns ripped through his skin as he was pulled into the darkness, into the suffocating, overpowering obscurity. His agonizing scream rang in his ears, yet no one could hear him at all.

He couldn't breathe…

One of the scariest things in the world is not being able to take in life preserving, precious oxygen. Kai couldn't bring his hands up to his throat for the thorny stems held them tightly. He was drifting, sinking, falling forever into eternal darkness. His eyes squeezed shut, and adrenaline raced through his system, filling his chest with a dread so much deeper than anything he had ever experienced. He stopped struggling as he saw a red mist cover his eyes. His body went limp, suspended in the darkness, hanging by the thick thorns that bound him. Blood leaked from his wounds, staining his clothes and running down his skin. Everything was beyond him. His eyes were dull and the red haze was replaced by darkness.

He opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground on his back on a small confined space. He moved his fingers and felt sticky wetness near them. With a groan, he pushed himself up and saw that his clothes were in tatters from the thorns, and that his wounds were still bleeding freely. Yet the pain wasn't there, and that petrified him beyond reason. He brought his knees up, ignoring the crimson liquid dripping from his skin, and hugged himself. He closed him eyes momentarily, and when he opened them again, he was in a different place.

A cold wind blasted through and dead leaves scattered about the barren land. The moon shone in the sky, giving Kai light to see by. He whimpered and, stood, looking up. What he saw caused his eyes to dilate in shock.

There was a dirty wall some fifty feet away, with a body hanging from it. The moonlight glinted cruelly off of the metal of the knives that had been driven through the arms, legs, and chest. The blood was the color of rust, and it had dried over. Kai forced his eyes to move up to the face, his breath coming in shallow gasps. The body was a body that he knew. His heart lodged itself in his throat.

Limp strands of longish dark hair half covered the face, but there was no mistaking it. Kai's pupils contracted in terror, and he felt as if someone had just thrust a sword through his chest.

"Oh… God, no…" Kai voice cracked as the full realization that his lover's dead corpse was hanging on a wall not fifty feet away from him hit him like a pound of bricks.

"Tyson!" he screamed, falling to hard on his knees. "Tyson! Oh, God, no! Please, God, I'm begging you, bring him back to me!" His cries fell on deaf ears, and another wicked breeze ravaged his body and his surroundings. Tyson's hair blew away from his lifeless face. Kai felt an indescribable pain shatter his mended heart, and suddenly the rose stems were back, wrapping around his limbs and torso. Tears fell from his eyes, tears of grief, fear, and pain. There was blood everywhere. The crimson liquid seemed to be falling from the skies. It covered Tyson's body until Kai couldn't see it anymore. Raining down in thick sheets, the world was soon stained in blood. Kai looked up and saw the moon was a deep red color. The thorns had bit deep into his body, marring his skin even more.

Kai collapsed on the ground, weak from pain and sorrow. Sobs racked his body. Tyson was gone, and now he didn't see any reason for him to continue living.

He looked up with jaded eyes, and saw a figure coming toward him. Cloaked in black. With a scythe in his hand.

Kai's breath caught in his throat. His eyes widened in fear. He saw no reason to keep on living, but only when he looked Death straight in the eye did he realize that he didn't want to die.

"Oh, Lord… God, what the hell is going on?"

He blinked, and in the twinkling of an eye, the cloaked figure was right in front of him, eyes glowing dark red in the depths of darkness. Kai couldn't even scream before the scythe was held to his neck. The thorns still held him down. There was no place to run. No place to hide.

"You shall leave now," Death said in a voice that filled the world, yet was nowhere at all.

"No… I don't want to die!"

"It is time."

"No! You took Tyson, but you can't have me!"

"Don't be foolish. Now you go."

"Let me go!" Kai struggled again, only to feel the pain of the thorns as they went deeper. He had lost so much blood, and his vision was hazy. The scythe pressed against his neck, and suddenly, he couldn't see.

Darkness surrounded him, and Kai felt his body fall backwards. Then the pain set in.

He had never felt such agonizing pain in his entire life. It was indescribable, unbearable. Kai wanted to die; he wanted someone to come over and mercifully slit his throat, letting him float off into blissful ignorance. No such luck. His screams were drowned out in the suffocating darkness.

He was completely alone.

* * * * *

"Kai, wake up!"

Kai moaned, and turned around in his bed. His eyes were tightly shut, and a look of pain creased his brows. Tyson growled.

"You are having a nightmare! Wake up!" He reached over and grasped Kai's shoulder, pulling him back to face him.

"No… I don't want to die…" Kai moaned. His pale hands clutched the sheets tightly.

"You're not going to die. Just wake up already!" Tyson said, shaking him. Kai whimpered and suddenly cried out as if in great pain. Tyson was taken back for a moment.

"God… just kill me now!" Kai cried. Tyson swore under his breath.

"Forgive me, love," he muttered, before slapping Kai full on the face. Kai let out a shaky breath and opened his eyes. Tyson pulled him up into a sitting position. Kai was shivering and panting slightly.

"Kai? It's okay, it was only a nightmare."

Kai's gray eyes looked up at Tyson. "T-Tyson?"

Tyson blinked. "Yeah?"

"Oh, my God, Tyson!" Kai suddenly lunged forward, throwing his arms around Tyson's neck. His sudden burst of affection caused the longhaired blader to fall backwards on his rump. Kai tumbled out of bed, on top of Tyson.

"Whoa, Kai!"

Tears were leaking out of his eyes. "Tyson… thank God it's you…"

Tyson was extremely confused. "Yeah, Kai. It's me. I didn't go anywhere. Everything was just a nightmare." He reached up and put his hands on Kai's back. Kai was trembling in fear.

"It felt so real," Kai whispered, closing his eyes. Tyson felt Kai's fingers against his neck and realized they were freezing cold. He hugged him tighter.

"Kai." Tyson pulled back slightly so he could see his face. He gently pushed Kai's bangs out of his eyes, which were damp with sweat. "What did you see?"

Kai took a shaky breath. "They killed you."

"Who?" Tyson asked.

"I don't know! Someone had hung you with knives…" Kai shuddered, and tightened his grip around Tyson, clinging to him as if any minute he would disappear forever. Tyson stroked his back soothingly.

"I can't imagine life without you," Kai said, his voice barely audible. Tyson was touched by Kai's words.

"I can't either, Kai," he said. His hands ran up his back onto his neck, rubbing Kai's soft skin.

"You're really tense," Tyson noted as he massaged Kai's muscles. "Is something wrong? I mean, besides that nightmare you just had?"

Kai sighed and pulled away from Tyson's embrace, sitting on the floor. He rubbed his eyes with one hand. "It's just this feeling that I can't shake away…"

"What feeling?"

Kai hesitated. "It's the same one I had… right before our plane crashed all those years ago. I don't know, I'm just so apprehensive right now. Like something bad is going to happen," he said uneasily. "And I can't ignore it because the last time I felt it, something bad did happen."

"Yeah," Tyson said distantly, remembering his day as a prisoner locked up somewhere in Biovolt.

"Tyson?" Kai asked softly.

Tyson looked up. "Yeah?"

Kai was staring at the ground, his slender fingers tracing nervous patterns onto the carpet. "I… I got a letter yesterday. From my grandfather."

Tyson's interest was caught. "What did it say?" he asked. His voice had a slightly venomous edge to it. Kai understood how much Tyson disliked Voltaire, and he didn't blame him.

"He told me to come see him. He wants to discuss business matters with me."

Tyson paused. "Are you going to go?"

"I'll have to, eventually," Kai said resignedly. "I mean, he is my grandfather…"

Tyson nodded. He knew that no matter what Voltaire did, Kai upheld family honor, and Tyson respected him for that.

"Can I ask you for a favor?" Kai asked. Tyson smiled.

"Anything."

"Can you… will you come with me when I go?"

Tyson gazed at Kai adoringly. "Of course I will. Whatever you want," he said softly.

"Thanks, Tyson." Gratitude reflected in his eyes. Tyson laughed lightly as he pushed himself to his feet. He walked over and extended his hand for Kai, pulling him up as well.

"We should get back to sleep," Tyson said. Kai sighed.

"I don't want to."

Tyson grinned mischievously. "Or we could do something else…?"

Kai caught the hint and sent him a death glare. "What did I say?"

Tyson sighed. "You don't want me in your bed or down your pants," he said in a singsong voice.

Kai suddenly looked melancholic. "Tyson, I don't think I can get to sleep."

Tyson grew somber. "Because of that nightmare?" he asked. Kai nodded.

"It's okay. It wasn't real," he said soothingly.

"I know, but it felt so real." Kai rubbed his wrists and arms where he had felt the thorns bite into him. He didn't really want to come out and say he was scared shitless. Tyson walked over and stroked Kai's hair.

"It's okay," he repeated assuredly. Kai stared moodily at the ground, and Tyson laughed lightly, hugging him and giving him a gentle shove in the direction of his bed.

"That dream was nothing, Kai."

"But—"

"It was just a nightmare, and nightmares aren't real." Tyson looked directly in his eyes as he said this. Kai broke eye contact first, and turned around.

"Good night, Tyson," he said flatly, getting into his bed. Tyson was caught slightly off guard at Kai's sudden dismissal.

"Night." Tyson climbed into his own bed, reaching over to turn off the lamp on the table beside him.

Kai's sight adjusted to the darkness. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment, his mind wandering far. Every time he closed his eyes, he would see Tyson's corpse hanging on that wall, the knives crusted with dried blood. The image shook him inside, leaving him unsettled and ill at ease. He blew out his breath loudly and curled up on his side. Anxiety swarmed in his mind, and he was sure he was going to give himself an ulcer.

A rustling from Tyson's bed caught his attention. When fear flooded his mind, he cursed himself harshly for being so paranoid. He was wondering what had happened to him when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Kai turned and looked up to see Tyson's compassionate face.

"Move over," he told Kai softly. Kai didn't even think twice before he obeyed, making room for Tyson. The longhaired blader slid under the covers next to him. Getting comfortable, he slipped his arms around Kai.

"I know you told me that you didn't want me in your bed, but I promise I won't do anything. You're just so scared, and I think this can be an exception."

Kai was silent for a moment, touched by Tyson's kind act. His eyes smiled up at Tyson, reflecting gratifying acceptance.

"Thank you," he whispered, closing his eyes and nestling against Tyson's chest. Tyson kissed his hair.

"Anytime, love. Anytime."

* * *

TBC

* * *

Goodness gracious, what's happening to me?! Two sappy endings in a row! . *dies* Bleuch… well, enjoy it while you can (and those of you who despise these sappy endings, please hold the flames to a minimum). I promise, the next chapter will get more interesting! ^^;; I actually don't like this chapter very much. It's kind of… pointless. XD

Well, except for the whirring noise thingie. So, what do you guys think it was? An electric wheelchair, perhaps? ^^ Please review, dahlings!