Warnings: Contains yaoi, rape and abuse. Yaoi means that two guys are in love. If this offends you in any way, don't continue to read this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade in any way or form. All the characters are borrowed from the anime, and those who isn't, I do own. This story may not be copied or published in some other way without my permission. I do not make any money from writing this and my interest is to entertain only.

Further: Once again, thank you Ladya-sama :) you're the best!


Chapter 3

"Come on, move your legs!"

"What do you think I'm doing!"

"Well, move them quicker! I really thought you were faster than this!"

I sighed with no small amount of exasperation at Tala's arrogant words. I was moving as fast as I could. Just because he's faster than me does not mean I'm slow. And besides, we would not be in such hurry if he hadn't –accidentally- pushed the 'stop' button in the elevator, making us stay stuck between the third and fourth floor for half an hour.

"You do know that Sheldon is going to kill us, don't you?" I murmured to him as we rounded a corner, successfully avoiding running a group of nurses down.

"Don't be so dramatic…"

"Okay, so maybe not, but--"

"He's going to kill you."

"…Thanks a bunch."

I had been summoned to a meeting to which I, obviously, was very late. Tala was on his way to a surgery, which, by the way, had started five minutes ago, so yeah, it was going to be a single homicide. Lucky me.

Unenthusiastically coming to a halt before the white door that had been my destination, I took a deep breath.

"Look at it this way: it's a good thing you work in a hospital."

And with that, my temporary-not-best-friend grinned and walked on, leaving me to glare at him as much as I could without giving myself a migraine.

Untidy bangs fell before my face as I tried to even out my breathing. It wasn't the best option ever, but I had no choice but to enter in the exhausted shape I was in. Enjoying the essence of silence, of which I knew I wasn't going to be hearing for the next few minutes, I turned the handle.

"You're late!"

The angered accusation hit me the moment I stuck my head in to the room and I had to control myself not to roll my eyes. Sheldon was positively fuming as he sat back in his large leather chair, arms crossed and mouth scowling in a very unappealing way.

The office was bigger than mine, with a huge wooden desk, a sofa group, a bookshelf filled with medical diplomas and trophies, though some of them looked more like baseball trophies, and too many books to be counted.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Sheldon. I was stuck in the e--"

"I don't want to hear your lame excuses, Dr. Kon. You're late, period!"

"I'm sorry, sir," I summed up.

I sat down at the empty chair in front of his desk, and I suddenly realized one major detail; I was the only one there.

"Excuse me, sir, but where are all the others?"

"What others?"

"I thought this was a meeting"

"It is, between you and me"

I blinked, not really understanding. That was the first time ever that Michael had wanted to speak to me in private. Crap, was he really planning on killing me?

"Okay," I said, dumbfounded.

He turned to the huge window and spoke coldly.

"In a nutshell, I command you to stop taking Valium pills."

"What?" I asked, trying to sound unknowing about it.

He turned from the window and stared venomously at me, causing me to look down at the carpet. How could he keep that up for so long? He must have been tripped out on aspirins.

"Don't play dumb with me. I know you take them. It's plainly obvious. Did you really think you could keep it a secret?"

"I'm sorry, Dr. Sheldon," I answered, purposefully not acknowledging his inquiry, "but I cannot obey that order."

"You are below me stature, meaning that you must do what I tell you. Without question."

"Maybe so, but you can't tell me what to do during my free time."

His fist slammed down on his desk.

"No, but I can tell you what to do during work, and I now tell you, if you ever take something like that here, or are affected by them in any way, I'll throw you out of here quicker than your heart is currently beating."

I swallowed and looked away. Despite how much I hated to admit it, I knew he was right. Taking the amount of Valium I did from time to time could put the patients lives in danger, although I tried not to get too complicated assignments during those periods.

"Am I clear, Kon?"

I nodded.

"Yes, Dr. Sheldon"

"Good. You are dismissed."

I stood up and walked with him to the office door. Opening the door, he stepped aside for me to pass though he grabbed me by an upper arm as I exited and issued his closing statement/threat.

"If you ever keep me waiting again I will personally ensure that you'll be mopping the floors for the rest of your career in this hospital, Kon."

With that, he slammed shut the door behind me.

I clenched my fists to the point my knuckles turned white. It wasn't just because of Michael. Well, maybe it was, but I was also angry because of the painful truth he had pointed out. It's bad enough that that jerk had seen right through me but I was indeed addicted to Valium. I had been that for a few years. Initially, the calming antidepressant pills were my last resort. Sadly, due to my lifestyle, they've become my only resort.

I sighed and rubbed my temples as I closed my eyes. This was really not my lucky day.

"Oh, dude, that didn't sound too good."

I opened my eyes when my thoughts were interrupted. I repeat: This was really not my lucky day.

"Good morning Tyson"

"In my case yes, it's a good morning. But serious shit, dude, what did you do to piss him off that much?"

May I present Tyson Granger, nineteen years of age and currently in practice to become a doctor. Oh yeah; and a real pain in the ass. He was even worse than Tala. I have never understood how he got accepted in the first place. I smiled and patted his head.

"Don't worry your little head, I was just a bit late, that's all."

"Late? Oh, man that sucks! What was it? Some jackass kept you at one spot for too long?"

He took the words right out of my mouth.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Too bad. But hey, it's alright now, right? Have you had lunch yet?"

I blinked at the rapid words.

"No I have not."

"Great, then I can have some company! I'm starving!"

Actually, I hadn't eaten at all yet. After leaving Kai earlier this morning, I was supposed to go and eat, but as always, something got in the way. Namely a jackass who got us trapped on an elevator and an even bigger jackass who only contributed to my already wonderful day. Note sarcasm.

I followed the midnight-haired teen down the corridor, but as we got to the elevator, I persuaded him to taking the stairs. I'm not dumb enough to be doing the same mistake twice. Besides, Tala was smart, despite is immaturity, but I didn't trust my luck enough to get into something with Tyson, who almost killed a little old lady a few weeks back when he tripped over and pulled out her breathing tube.

"Oh, crappy crap, this sucks--"

Crappy crap?

"--Had I know you would have been in such sadistic state of mind, I would had run for my life!"

"Quit whining. A little exercise never killed anyone." I rolled my eyes.

"Duh! It's six pairs of stairs, and I haven't eaten since breakfast!"

"Tyson, you eat five breakfast's a day."

No answer. It had just been a guess but it looked like I was right. Wow, where did he put all that food? Tyson wasn't at all overweight, though not as slender as Tala or myself (This is not vanity speaking, people). Still, his long term commitment to food and disdain for exercise was telling on him, especially his face, which was round around the cheeks, giving him a younger appearance than his 19 years of age.

We reached the top of the stairs and went on to the cafeteria, where we were allowed to have lunch. I hadn't planned to eat at first but I changed my mind and walked over to see what the specials were. Turns out nothing of my interest so I decided to just have a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Tyson, however, loaded his tray with several dishes before asking if I could carry some on my rather empty one.

Once seated, I quickly handed him back his food, the sight of so much making me a bit disgusted. I took a sip of my coffee.

"So, Ray, what have you been doing?"

It didn't really bother me that he called me by my first name…okay, so it did, but being the clueless idiot he was, he was easily forgiven.

"Not much. Saving a couple of lives and so on."

He burst out laughing at the information, but soon settled. Still grinning widely, he decided to tell me about his day so far, though I hadn't asked him. Again, he really was a nice guy and unless I wanted to feel like the biggest jerk in the world (excluding Michael and Tala, on his irritating days) I had no choice but to listen.

"We had to watch when they operated this girl who had punctured a lung. Man, it was gross! There was blood splattered everywhere and you could see the flesh and organs and shit. And then they had to remove a bullet from a guy's chest so they cut him open and we watched it all on the monitors. Yuck is all I have to say! All the blood and the smocking sound when an air bubble was released, dude! How can you put up with that everyday?"

I pulled a face and pushed the sandwich away. That was that. The little I had that could been taken as appetite was gone. I didn't mind it when I actually were sewing someone's inner organs back together, but having someone talking about it could only be described in one way– eeww!

"Hey?"

I flinched at Tyson's voice. It held a more serious tone than earlier and I didn't like it. When people changed attitude towards me, they always wanted to ask me how I was, something I did not appreciate.

"Yeah?" I replied him.

"Don't you want your sandwich?"

I raised an eyebrow, then started giggling. It sure was Tyson after all.

I stood up and passed him the sandwich.

"Be my guest, Ty. And do your best today, okay?"

"Got it!"

With that, I left him behind and went to see if they needed me anywhere.

The hospital I was working in wasn't that big, but necessary for the environment. At the top of the team I belonged to was, unfortunately, Michael, and Judy. She always helped anyone who needed it and never saw a job as insignificant. Robert and Eddy were my seniors and really good at what they were doing, although Robert was as rigid as Michael. Then there was me, youngest and less experienced of them all. Pitiful, huh?

As the one lowest in rank, I was often assigned things the others didn't want to do. Michael bossed me around as much as he could and Robert wasn't any better. The jerk –Sheldon- held me in depth for saving my life a few years ago. Bet he regretted doing that now. Eddy tried his best to not treat me any different, but often, he just failed to pay me any attention.

There were always more doctors around but the five of us had been put together in a team so that there would never be any confusions about who was working when and where one would complain and report what had been done.

Judy was the only one trying to understand me and because she held as high grade as Michael, I was never forgotten. She was nice and understanding, and one of the very few people I trusted. While I was recovering years ago she would often take the time to come by to visit me, but it was Tala that made me want to become a doctor. Weird story, I know. I'll tell you about it some other time.

"Excuse me, doctor?"

I turned at the request, realizing I was on the first floor. I did not know how I got there, although it didn't really matter.

"Yes?"

I was looking at a boy, in his later teens I had to assume, around two inches shorter than myself, with pineapple-blond hair and warm blue eyes. He was breathing heavily, seemingly exhausted.

"Could you help me with something?"

"I'll try," I informed him.

"I'm looking for a person. A patient," he panted.

"Yeah? What's the name you're searching for? I can check the papers" I walked over to the reception.

"Hiwatari, Kai"

It took me all my feline grace and poise not to trip over my own two feet or drop the map I held.

"What's the matter? He's not here? Did he already leave!"

I shook my head, composing myself admirably.

"It's not that. I know where he is."

"You do? Can I see him, because I really want to!"

"Sure you can. What's your name, kid?"

"Max Tate."

I eyed him more closely. The resemblance to a certain blond doctor was indeed very similar. That meant that he was Judy's son, and as far as I knew, Kai's friend.

Without any further discussion, I took him to the room. By now I had memorized Kai's room number (and don't read anything into that). I knocked on the door to see if I could get him to respond. Of course he didn't. Slowly, I opened it.

"Now what?" an aggravated voice demanded from within the room.

Kai's accusing words always made me annoyed yet amused. He was so stubborn it was funny.

"KAI!" Max suddenly shouted and ran past me towards the crimson-eyed teen. He jumped and landed on him, leaving me to stand there with a very surprised expression and ringing ears.

Kai wasn't prepared at all and coughed at the impact. For a mere second, he had failed to hide his surprise, then rolled his eyes when the blonde hugged him closer.

"Alright, let go already" he murmured half-heartedly.

"Nu-huh! Not a chance in hell, Kai! What the hell were you thinking! Or not thinking you piece of shit!"

With that, he slapped the slate-marine haired teen, tears clearly visible in his eyes. Kai blinked at the treatment, then slowly rose his hand and touched his own cheek, sighing.

As for me, I just stood there stunned. So yeah.

"Calm down, moron. dammit, I'm still here," Kai grumbled and looked out through the window.

"You could have died! Don't you understand it? You could have died, jerk!" the blonde growled, choking on a sob.

"That was the whole point, brainiac. It has nothing to do with you, so you can stop lecturing me!" Kai was getting harsher in tone, causing Max's eyes to dim.

"You ass! It's got everything to do with me! Does being best friends mean zero to you?"

To this, he did not reply.

They stared at each other for several seconds, before the movement I made when I shifted position caught Kai's attention.

"If you don't mind Dr. Kon…" His eyes glowed with anger, and he had his teeth clenched together. Unwillingly, I felt the familiar shiver down my spine.

"Uh…I'll come back later to check on you. But before I go," I walked over to where Max was sitting on the taller boy and held out the card.

"What's that?" Max murmured, wiping a tear away with the back of his hand.

"My ID card," Kai sighed and took it. "Thanks"

"No problem. Sorry for taking it."

I walked outside fully aware of the gazes on my back. I was a bit disappointed. After all, I was curious by nature, and I wanted to hear the conversation.

Somehow, seeing the blonde being so close to the teen had lighten a strange feeling in me, and I really wanted to stay with them. Then, I had one of my oh-so-bright ideas that was bound to get me into trouble. Oh well, one only lived once.

I didn't really close the door behind me, just enough so it looked closed. That way, I could listen to them, without they knowing. Yes, I was going to eavesdrop on them. I knew it was wrong, but giving the day I was having I really wasn't in the mood to play the Good Samaritan. Besides, I was curious, and I'm part feline. Do the math.

I leaned against the outer doorframe, holding my ear close to the gap, praying no one would see me standing there. Considering that I was in bright lit hall, in plain view, it was no small amount of wishful thinking.

'Here goes nothing,' I thought as I sharpened my hearing.

"…phoned me one hour ago, telling me you were here."

"So you decided to come and visit"

"Of course! Why Kai? Why did you do it?"

"It's really none of your business what I do or not."

"I CARE ABOUT YOU, HIWATARI!"

Dammit! That kid was going to deaf me! Now my ears were ringing even worse, leaving me to wonder if this was all really worth my precious hearing and wondering once again why I was doing this.

"Don't yell at me, Max. I have not slept for five days."

It was silent for a moment before a sigh could be heard.

"I'm sorry. It's just…I was so scared…so scared. Kai, please, try to understand how I feel"

It was silent again, and I wondered what they were doing. But I couldn't bring myself to find that out. Why hadn't he slept for five days? That was abnormal, and he certainly needed his sleep if he was to recover. Maybe I should give him some sleeping pills before I left that afternoon.

I looked down at my watch, 1.30 am. Time really did pass by quickly. I only had to work for another three and a half hour, and because it was Friday, I had the next day off. I had worked so much overtime I could take a day off, and that was something I really needed. It was most welcome…until now that was. If I wasn't on duty, I would not be able to see to Kai.

"I'm sorry, but I won't apologize for this."

I immediately turned my attention back to the conversation at Kai's voice.

"You will never stop being so icy towards me, will you?" Max voice was bitter and tired, like it was a really sincerely asked question.

"Stop acting so damn caring!"

"I'm not acting! You stubborn asshole, don't you think about anyone but yourself!"

"Max, now I'm serious! Just zip it and get the hell out of here!"

I pulled back a bit, startled by the anger the words held.

"You're the one acting! I know you well enough to know that you're keeping something from me!"

"Just get out!"

"I never thought you would be so damn stupid to do this again! Don't you care how much people in your surrounding suffer? I'm scared to death every time you get home after school, and I think your dad is too!"

"He's not my dad!"

"Whatever! I don't know what's wrong with you! Why are you constantly hurting yourself? This is the sixth time you end up at a hospital. The SIXTH and God only knows how many scars you have! What the heck are you trying to do? Get someone's attention or something?"

"Get out!"

"You're not even listening, why…"

"I SAID GET THE HELL OUT!"

"But…"

"NOW!"

The door was slammed open, not giving me time to pull back. With a hard impact at my chin, I fell backwards down at the floor. The blonde didn't pay me any attention, just ran past me, water flowing freely from his ocean eyes.

I stared at him as he ran away, wondering if it was true that they were just friends. He seemed so upset. I made a mental note of keeping my ears and eyes open.

I got to my feet and walked inside. Kai was sitting on the edge of the bed, face buried in his hands. At the sound of my footsteps, he looked up.

"Hi," I smiled weakly and he glared at me with hatred, especially when he saw me rubbing my still hurting chin and guilty expression.

"You eavesdropped."

I nodded at the conclusion and sat down at the chair. He chuckled dryly.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Aren't you going to try to talk to me? Ask me what is wrong, how I feel, why I tried to take my life and so on?"

He sounded so tired. His outburst must have taken what little energy he had managed to gain during his stay here.

"No" I shook my head. "That's none of my business. If you want to tell me, you can do that yourself, without me trying to drag it out of you. I only have to do that when inhumane treatment has been revealed."

"…Inhumane treatment?"

"Abuse" I explained simply, to which he nodded.

"What would happen?"

"We would send the police to investigate the case, then, if it was proven correct, the person would be sent to another family if he was underage."

He nodded again and locked his eyes with mine.

"I see," he lay back down and pulled the cover over himself.

"I heard you've had some trouble sleeping"

"So? What's it to you?"

"You have to rest, it's important for your recovery"

"I am resting" he mumbled, clearly annoyed.

"Anyhow, I will give you something for that"

"Don't you dare using morphine or something like that!"

His eyes were apprehensive yet determined and I couldn't help smiling at the overall appearance.

"Don't worry, I wont," I assured.

"Dr. Kon?"

"Yeah?"

"Why couldn't you just let me die?"

I was taken aback by the question. To that, I had no answer. I could just say it was my job, but that was not the case. Scratching my head I sat back down.

"I don't know."

"You mean to tell me I'm alive because of an 'I don't know'?" This time, he sounded almost amused.

"I can't say more than I'm sorry."

Now, he sat up and looked at me curiously. He eyed me from head to toe, and then locked his blood colored eyes with my amber ones. They seemed to pierce through my very soul, reading my thoughts like an open book, and I felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Why? That's the second time you indicate that. Why are you sorry?"

I inhaled to calm myself. The proximity of the teen was making me quiver, and the sweat traveled down my back. I took a deep breath and spoke words without really thinking.

"Because if that really was your one true wish, I was the one smashing it to pieces. Then, I'm sorry that you seem to be in so much physical pain that you can not see a way out of it."

He raised his eyebrows, gazing at me in disbelief. However, the anger had disappeared from the crimson depth, and been replaced by something else. Was it…interest?

"Why are you sad?"

His question surprised me a lot. I wasn't sad…not at the moment anyway. I tilted my head to the side and looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Your eyes glow with sadness only one deeply wounded could show!"

"Should I take that as a compliment?" I snorted and pushed the chair away, standing up.

"Your call. But tell me, why did you want me to live when you yourself do not?"

"Don't claim things you don't know anything about, Mr. Hiwatari," I growled, pupils slitting.

"Am I wrong then?" he asked, body tensing at my action.

I did not reply him. Instead, I turned to leave the room. At the door, I looked back at him. He was still underneath the covers, hands on top of it. His slate silvery bangs fell in front of his deep bourbon eyes. I smiled slightly.

"I was lucky enough to be stopped."

His eyes dimmed and he frowned, looking away. At that very moment, he looked so young. So very young, yet so very grown.

"…I don't understand you. How can you say that knowing you might never be happy?" he murmured with a thing of sarcasm but also with such calm, I didn't know what he really meant.

I sighed and looked at his form on the bed. I wanted to help him, but as it was, I couldn't even fully take care of myself. I searched my mind for a suitable answer when I suddenly remembered something. Something Bryan had told me an evening three years ago.

"Never being happy is not the same as being unhappy," I said sadly, causing him to look back at me with questioning eyes.

I had been extremely down at the time Bryan stated that. And the words I used had not been that much different from those of Kai –'I don't understand it. Why should I bother to live knowing I might never be happy?'

I smiled at him.

"I'll send someone with those sleeping pills."

Without receiving a reply, I closed the door behind me, walking away well aware of the fact that that had been too close to tearing my scars open once again. Far too close. Thoughts somewhere else, I picked a small white can from my pocket, taking two pills in my palm. Without waiting for an opportunity to use water, I swallowed them.

'Three hours to go. Just pull yourself together for three more hours' I commanded myself, pushing every personal feeling away, intending to keep my mind focused at my job…as a doctor.

Tbc