Kai: Well, hey there. Haven't seen you around for a while. Got any grey hairs yet?
Ereshkigali: Very funny. I was stuck on this chapter. This is, I think, the sixth draft of it…or it could be the fifth. I'm too traumatised by recent experiences in the dark and terrible realms of trigonometry to remember how to count properly. Numbers hate me – that's all there is to be said.
Kai: Uh…aren't you going to make some sort of grovelling apology to all the nice readers out there before they do something evil to you?
Ereshkigali: Yes! I am indeed! Thank you all SO MUCH for your wonderful reviews. It rocks to know that people actually read this. I'm really sorry for the delay. I'll try not to let it happen again.
Disclaimer
I'm too bored to think of an original way to say it this time, so I'll just let you know that I own none of the characters or brands mentioned in this fic, which, incidentally, contains shonen-ai, mild language, clichés, and a near-death experience. I put in the Truth or Dare game because my two friends and I were playing it the other day after school, and it was really fun. No anime characters were harmed in the making of this fic…well, not many, anyway…
Chapter Five
A Single Breath
OK, you know what?
It was nice house.
And when I say nice, I mean nice. There was this huge TV, and this amazing training hall that looked out over the ocean that they'd had built just so that Maxie could blade whenever he wanted, and a really cool kitchen, and…
Hey, you get the point. Plus, it was literally right by the beach.
Even though it was raining, I was still in a good mood. The sea was all rough and stormy-grey, and the air was cold, but kind of refreshing. After sitting stuffed in a little car for two hours, my grandpa dropped us off just outside the house. Kai gave me one poisonous look, then stomped off towards the beach. Guess he was going to go stare at some grains of sand and maybe traumatise a seagull or two. Yeah, well, good for him. We were ignoring each other again.
Why?
None of your business.
OK, fine. I'll spill. So first the guy almost kisses me, and then we end up asleep in each other's arms? And then he just kicks me off him at 5 AM and acts like nothing ever happened? Now maybe it's just me, but that has got to be a sign that the dude needs a serious attitude adjustment. So that morning after breakfast, as we were getting ready to leave, I'd cornered him. I was really nice and polite and cool and all, and I only yelled a bit…well, maybe more than a bit…and I started out by telling him that it was actually a pretty simple situation. I wanted to know
a) if he had suddenly gone crazy, and if he hadn't then
b) what his problem was,
c) when exactly he had been made ruler of the universe,
d) if he was ever going to start treating me like a human being, and also
e) just who the heck did he think he was anyway?
And the guy blows up in my face. How's that for nice? And, I mean, seeing as he started it, what could I do but do a lot of yelling of my own? So then he started saying how some things were just stupid and pointless, and I started saying how maybe some things did actually matter, and he told me to drop it, and I said that if he thought I was ever, ever going to drop him then he needed a brain transplant, and…
Yeah. Hey, what's the point in going through the whole horrible thing again, right? Basically, it just got worse and worse, until eventually he stormed off. I was actually feeling kind of bad about it as I stared after him, his scarf billowing out around him in the fresh morning air, but no way was I going to apologise first. Then again, Kai apologising is not something that happens often, so it looked like we wouldn't be talking for quite a while still.
Anyway, I grabbed his suitcases, grabbed my own, and hurried after the others, who had already rung the doorbell.
Rei answered it. I totally wasn't expecting to see him. I'd figured it'd be Maxie's dad meeting us, so it was a pretty nice surprise to see him standing there, grinning at us. "Well, hey there, guys," he said. "I was beginning to think you weren't…"
He didn't get much farther than that, seeing as Maxie pounced on him and hugged the living daylights out of him. Heh, no surprises there. Maxie is Maxie, after all.
"It's so good to see you!" he yelled into Rei's ear. "I thought you weren't going to arrive till tomorrow!"
"I had a change of plans," he shrugged, smiling, peering at us through a mass of blond hair. "Um, Maxie, I kind of need to breathe here…"
"Let the nice Rei go, Maxie," Kenny suggested, nervously.
Maxie obliged, still grinning madly. Dropping my bags, I tackled Rei in turn. "How's it going, Tyson?" he asked.
"Great!" I responded. "You ready to see if I can still beat you with my eyes closed?"
"What he means is, he can't wait to lose to me again," Daichi informed the world smugly.
"Hey, that was one time, OK?" I protested, letting Rei go and preparing to do some serious Daichi-damage. "It's not like it counted!"
"You're just a sore loser," Daichi said.
"Oh, yeah? Well, you're just an overgrown bug with an attitude problem, Daichi – Daichi! Get back here!" The little numbskull had just brushed past Rei and trotted off down the hallway! One of these days I'm going to have to teach him some manners. What are you supposed to do with someone like that? Whatever happened to respecting one's elders or whatever? Figuring that if it worked in the movies, it should work anywhere, I shouted, "Hey! You! Yeah, I'm talking to you, punk!"
"Where's the food, Maxie?" he called over his shoulder, completely ignoring me. "I'm starving."
"Daichi!"
"Ignore them," Hilary said to Rei, sighing. "Tyson's just in a bad mood 'cause he and Kai aren't talking."
"Hang on," Rei said, frowning. "Kai and Tyson are fighting?"
"Yup," Maxie nodded.
"Um…again?"
"Yup!"
"It's a psychological complex that I'm quite interested in analysing, actually," Kenny piped up. "The closer they become, the more they argue. I've been meaning to…"
"Oh no," I broke in. "No shrinks for me. Yo! Daichi! Found the food yet?"
"It's nice to know some things always stay the same," Rei sighed. He was trying to sound annoyed, but he was totally smiling. I looked at the four of them, suddenly really glad to have them with me: the greatest friends I could ever have.
"The two great loves of Tyson's life are eating and annoying Kai," Maxie pointed out, sagely.
"Uhuh," Hilary agreed, a little tiredly. "That's the Tyson we know and, well…occasionally manage to put up with."
"Thank you, thank you very much," I drawled, bowing to them as though to an audience. "Yeah, yeah, I know you love me." Catching Rei's eye, I pouted and winked at him seductively. He dissolved into helpless laughter, clutching at Maxie for support.
"There is something very wrong with you, Tyson," he choked between laughs.
"I'll say," Maxie agreed, giggling crazily.
"Ice cream!" Daichi called from somewhere down the hall.
"Where? Where?" I asked, dashing off after him, leaving the others to look after the bags. Hey, ice cream is ice cream and therefore sacred. What can I say?
It was going to be a good vacation.
The first thing we did was turn on the TV. I can't even remember what we ended up watching. I think I'd seen it before, anyway, and everyone was talking, and there was a very large bowl of popcorn floating around, which of course was totally distracting. Kai still hadn't shown up. Big surprise there.
Stuffing a handful of popcorn in my mouth, I said, "So your dad's not here, then?"
"Yeah," Maxie said. "I was kind of hoping to see him, but it's only for the week, right? Plus, that means we get the house to ourselves!"
See, it turned out that Maxie's dad had let Rei in that morning and then dashed off on a business trip. He's been a pretty busy guy for the past year. He got a job at this major Beyblade manufacturing company just after the World Championships, and he got promoted pretty quickly. He's kind of an important guy at the moment. Last I heard, he was the Senior Executive of the company's Technological Research Department, or something.
"He said he'd call as soon as he got to Johannesburg," Rei said, poking Daichi with the remote and grabbing the popcorn bowl.
"Quiet! He's about to fall in love with her!" Hilary protested. I checked out the TV screen. Some chick was making out with the guy who'd been trying to save the world for the past hour. OK, now even I'd seen that coming.
"Ew! Gross!" Daichi complained. "When does he start blowing up that evil dude again?"
"Shut up!" Hilary insisted, just as the movie cut to a commercial break.
"Rei, pass the popcorn," Maxie whined.
"No. It's mine," Rei replied happily.
"Rei!"
"Ooh! Look! Wow! Look at that!" I yelled, pointing out the window. They actually looked, and I grabbed the popcorn bowl while they were at it. Suckers.
"That's not fair!" Maxie complained.
"Whatever happened to your sense of honour, Tyson?"
"Aha!" I mumbled, crunching contentedly. "Popcorn! My source of power!"
What did Maxie do on his high and valiant quest for junk food?
He jumped on me.
He wrestled me off the sofa and onto the floor. We landed on the carpet, which skidded away across the tiled floor with our momentum. Naturally, the popcorn went flying all over the place. Slipping and sliding on the spinning carpet, laughing maniacally and fighting for breath, we banged into something - hard. The something fell on top of us, making a slight "Oompf!" of protest, knocking my elbow hard against the floor. The end result? One good, old-fashioned pile-up! Hurray for insanity. I got a foot in my face. Painful, but fun.
Maxie said from somewhere on top of me, "Are we dead yet?"
Kenny was squeaking something like, "Butter! Salt and butter on my laptop! This can't be happening!"
"What would the world do without popcorn?" Rei asked, chuckling. "Guess you just walked in at the wrong time, hey, Kai?
Hilary said, "Shush! This is the best part!"
I could hear Daichi laughing like a lunatic, and made a mental note to kill him as soon as possible.
I sat up, which was difficult, seeing as Maxie was kind of sitting on top of me, and looked down at Kai, who was lying tumbled on his back, his arms crossed, scowling up at the two of us murderously. Maxie, wriggling around until he could drape his arms heavily across my shoulders, said, "Kai! Buddy!"
"What?" Kai snapped, his face a little flushed, his hair in a complete mess. I was halfway between wanting to laugh insanely, and to get up and ignore him, just to teach him a lesson for being so evil that morning. "Got any more circus tricks?"
"Neah, not right now," I said, brightly, suddenly realising that the desire to laugh had won hands down. He actually looked kind of funny, his hair ruffled up and spread across my knees, his scarf tangled around Maxie's foot, his eyes squinting a little in an effort to focus on us. I nudged his head with my knee very, very gently, and kind of tilted my head as I looked down at him, like I was asking a question, giving him a huge I-want-world-peace smile. What I was trying to say was, Hey, sorry, dude. Forgive me?
"Oh, and I was so looking forward to a disappearing act," he muttered, snorting softly, letting his eyes slide scornfully away from my own as the lids drifted lightly closed. I knew what that meant. It meant, As if I could be bothered to waste my time on forgiving you.
For a moment, it made me mad – and then I decided that there was no way I could stay cross with him. He was too stubborn and proud and obnoxious for me to hate him – and, right then, he was too…I don't know…is 'cute' the right word? He was sprawled untidily on the floor, with Maxie and me beaming down at him, and he was still trying to pull the whole loner act. Is that cute? Gah, I sound like some weirdo chick with a crush. Kai isn't cute. It's just that, even if he is mean and cold-hearted and all the rest of that stuff, he's still really likeable, in some seriously twisted way. "You know you look funny when you're upside-down and covered in popcorn?" I asked him.
"Neah, he just looks funny all the time," Maxie said, comfortably, poking my neck.
"I am not funny," Kai said, stiffly.
Maxie and me? We looked at each other, tried not to laugh, looked at each other again, and cracked up. Hey, I think we were hyper, OK? He buried his face in my shoulder, giggling hysterically. I just grinned down at Kai, who opened an eye, closed it, and shook his head slightly, as though he had given up on our sanity. Nope, I was definitely not mad at him anymore.
"OK, that's enough," Rei said, getting off the sofa, stomping across the room and firmly pulling Maxie and me to our feet. "There's popcorn everywhere."
"There is?" Maxie asked, still smiling rather scarily.
"Oh, dear," Rei sighed, towing him back to the sofa. I looked down at Kai, who was still lying in the rumpled carpet, littered with popcorn, his scarf twisting around in loops. He could have been asleep. It was like we weren't there at all. I knelt down next to him, grains of popcorn digging into my knees. The others were back to watching the movie; they weren't even looking at us anymore, and we were also pretty much out of their line of sight, seeing as Maxie's little joy-ride on the carpet had pushed us behind the big armchair that Kenny had bagged for himself. Also, they all seemed kind of preoccupied. The guy in the movie had finally gotten around to blasting the rest of the aliens. Sounded fun. I looked back at Kai. I suddenly didn't want to touch him, not after how he'd reacted that morning, so I just said, kind of quietly, "Dude?" and then waited. People tell me I'm impatient, but for Kai, I could have waited a lifetime just to get a one-word answer. Look, he's the closest friend I've ever had. He means a lot to me.
At last, he heaved this annoyed sort of sigh and opened his eyes, slowly. "What?" he asked. His voice was all quiet, but his teeth were clenched, and he was so looking daggers at me. Kai looking daggers at you is a scary, scary thing, people, believe me. Nevertheless, I held out a hand.
"Come on," I said, softly. He took my hand, sitting up, his eyes level with mine, his hair falling wildly across his face. I squeezed his fingers, warmly, smiling cheerfully, and asked, "Friends?"
He glowered at me from behind his bangs, but said, grudgingly, "I guess."
"Good," I proclaimed, getting to my feet, pulling him with me. "Want to watch the movie?"
"No," he said, pulling his hand away from mine, brushing popcorn from his hair, straightening his jacket self-consciously.
But he came and squeezed onto the sofa next to me with the rest of us, and together we watched the good guy defeat the dictators, get the girl, and end up living happily ever after with a couple best friends and a whole lot of cash. Clichéd? Yeah, I guess, but so what? I like happy endings.
I said before it was raining, right? Now, normally, you don't get changed into your swim shorts and go running around on the beach when it's raining. Normally, you stay inside like a normal person. But after the movie ended, Maxie said, "I want to go swimming!"
I said, "But it's freezing out there!"
Rei said, "So?"
Daichi said, "You guys are crazy!"
Hilary said, "Hey, why not? Walking along the beach in the rain. Could be fun."
Kenny said nothing until Maxie pried the laptop out of his hands. Then he mumbled something about weather patterns and hypothermia and meteorology…or something…
Kai said, "Whatever."
So, by majority vote, we ended up shivering on the wet sand, getting totally soaked, playing Truth or Dare.
OK, so it wasn't actually raining. It was more like this really soft, really fine drizzle. The droplets floated down, all silvery and iridescent, and the sky was kind of fuzzy and grey. We made a sort of tent out of the three picnic blankets and huddled together underneath them a little way down the beach – which, of course, was totally deserted. Duh. Not like anyone else was going to show up and have fun freezing to death. It was actually pretty peaceful, just sitting in the cold sand with the soft, salty breeze blowing through my hair, listening to the endless murmuring sounds of the waves, and enjoying the very happy sight of Maxiestammering out thedeep, dark answers to Rei's slightly disturbing questions.
"You know, when Rei's in charge, picking Truth is not the easy way out," he was saying mournfully.
"Are you sure that's all you two did?" Rei grinned. "Not holding anything back, are you? You have to tell the truth, you know."
"That's it, I swear!" Maxie yelled. "Geez, Rei, why are you so interested in my love life, anyway?"
Daichi asked, sounding kind of awe-struck, "You really did all that, Max?"
"Yes! OK? I did! It's not that big a deal."
"Whoa. Was she hot?"
"Can we just get over this?" Maxie burst out.
"I think someone's blushing," I sang. "Heh, Maxie, bet the chicks back in America love you. I bet you've got, like, a million fans."
"OK, that's enough!" he snapped. "It's my turn, anyway, Tyson. Truth or Dare?"
"Dare for me, please!" I chirped. "Go on, Maxie. Do your worst. I can handle it."
"Hah! Ah, you're going to regret this one, Tyson." He pointed down across the grey waves to a rock in the water maybe twenty metres from the shore. "See that? I dare you to swim there and back – naked."
I practically fell over. "Naked?" I yelled.
"Naked?" Hilary gasped. "Max! I'd never survive the sight!"
"Gee, thanks," I pouted.
Maxie considered this. "OK," he relented. "Not naked."
"You mean I still have to do it?"
"'Course!"
"Heh, you know, that water looks awfully cold…"
"I think someone's chicken."
"Hey!"
"Tyson, we don't have all day here."
"But…"
"No buts."
"But, guys!"
"Tell you what – do it, and the rest of the marshmallows are yours."
I stopped in the middle of trying to escape Maxie's death-grip. "Is that a promise?" I asked, suspiciously.
"Yep," Rei nodded.
"Well, in that case…" I pulled off my jacket and began walking down towards the waves, shivering in my little swim shorts. Hey, that's bribery for you.
I put a toe in the water, and considered faking a fainting fit. My teeth chattering, hugging myself tightly, I shuffled around to face the others, gleefully watching from a little way up the beach. "It's cold!" I called.
"We know, that Tyson!" Rei called back. "Quit stalling!"
I glared at them. Daichi was gloating, the little runt. How dare he? Hilary and Rei and Maxie were all laughing their stupid heads off. I was going to get them for this, I really was. Kai…heh, he was sitting a little way away from the others, totally ignoring what was going on, as usual. Shooting one last look at Maxie, and making it as evil as I possibly could, I waded out into the water.
OK, so once you get after the first bit of cold, it's really not too bad…alright, I'm lying. It was freezing. It felt like the water was burning me – that's how cold it was. But my legs started to get numb after a bit, and although that probably wasn't a good thing, it did mean that it wasn't so cold anymore. I was up to my chest by that time, and just more than a quarter of the way out towards the rock. Maxie had said that it didn't get too deep there, and the whole stretch of water was sheltered from any dangerous currents, so there wasn't really anything that could go wrong, right?
I guess I'm OK at swimming and whatever. Hiro taught me when I was a kid. Not like I'm super fast or anything, but I know what I'm doing. So I kicked off against the hard-packed sand, ducked my head under, and began swimming. Kicking steadily, I took three strokes, slow and regular, then turned my head to breathe with the fourth. Three more strokes…breathe…three more strokes…breathe…Nothing to worry about…just keep counting, and ignore the cold, and you'll be there in no time…damn it, Kinomiya, you sound like Kai. All rational and calm. Scary.
Three strokes…breathe…
I stopped to take a rest, treading water, looking around. Turned out I was only a few metres away from the rock. I paddled over to it and hauled myself up the shiny, slippery sides, grazing my knee a little, the wind whipping around me and making me shiver even more. Balancing carefully, I turned around, bruising my feet on the tiny limpets clinging to the seaweed-covered stone, and shouted back to the small figures on the beach, "Alright! Eat that, Maxie!"
I heard a whoop from Rei. Hilary appeared to be clapping her hands. Maxie shouted, "Yeah, yeah, your head's already too big. Come back!"
"Look out below!" I crowed, and jumped off into the water, prepared to swim back. I was used to the cold by then, so I didn't bother hurrying, but instead ducked down, under the waves. The water wasn't deep at all – barely three metres, and it was pretty clear, despite the rough weather. I couldn't keep my eyes open for too long at a time, seeing as the salt hurt. It didn't really matter, seeing as staring at sand gets boring pretty quickly. I closed my eyes and just kept swimming forwards, letting the water hold me up, swirling around me like magic, soft and brutal at the same time. It was relaxing, I guess.
Until I got cramp.
At first I just tried shaking my leg around, hoping that that would make it go away, but it didn't. The pain, tight and cold, spread, clawing at my muscles, until my entire foot was filled with it, poisonous and icy. I've felt worse, but it did make it totally impossible to move my foot. It just hurt way too much. I began kicking up through the water using my other leg, scrabbling furiously around with my arms, but it wasn't working. I couldn't reach the surface. The cold and the pain and the lack of air were all joining together to pull me down, a bit like some evil conspiracy thingy or whatever. I just kept sinking, further and further down, floundering around. I think I started to panic when I realised that my air was running out. My body was instinctively fighting to breathe, my throat tight with fear and pain, but I knew that I mustn't, because I would only suck in a lungful of water, and then things would seriously start to get bad…my head was ringing, and my chest was bursting, adrenaline roaring through me. There was this sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach, and I was beginning to get seriously frightened. No longer relaxing and gentle, the water was pressing in all around me, weighing me down like a shroud. It felt like I had absolutely no air left in my body, and my head was spinning now with dizziness and panic. I was battling furiously to fight my way up, but my arms were weakening, and I could hardly feel my legs…actually, I couldn't feel anything…there was nothing left at all…nothing…
"Tyson?"
"Oh, Tyson, please…"
"I think he's breathing…he's breathing! It's OK!"
I jolted awake, my lungs coughing up water onto already wet sand, drawing in deep, tearing gulps of air. My throat felt bruised and raw, and I knew that sooner or later I was going to end up with a serious headache…
Hang on.
I'd been drowning. Yeah. Got that. So how I did get from under three metres of water back to land? Good question. Everything was all blurry and silvery, so it was kind of hard to see; my eyes were stinging, probably still sore from the salt water. I leaned forward on my hands, weakly coughing up the last of the water. Something gripped my arms, steadying me: a pair of hands. I wondered vaguely whose they were, then gave up. I felt sick. I could feel tiny drops of rain drifting down and settling on my damp skin. Great. I shivered, forcing my tired eyes to focus on my hand, which was pressed into the sand. The effort made my head hurt even more, and I felt very dizzy, suddenly. I swayed, and flopped over. The pair of arms that had been holding me steady caught me, and I collapsed against someone solid and wet. I squeezed my eyes shut. The grey-white glow of the rainy sky was too bright to look at. The person holding me carefully shifted me from my side to my back, an arm supporting my head. I guess the dude was trying to make sure I could breathe OK. Someone draped something warm and fuzzy over my chest and legs – a blanket. Good. Now I could breathe, and I was warm. Much better. Nice of whoever this was to be considerate.
With my eyes closed, I could focus on the sounds coming from all around me. Voices, I decided – those were definitely voices. In fact, that one sounded a lot like Maxie's…
"You sure he's going to be OK?"
"It's alright." That was…Rei? "He'll be fine, I promise. He's breathing easily now."
"Then why isn't he waking up?"
There was a pause. Then Rei's voice said again, quietly, "Look at me, Maxie. Look at me.I promise you he'll be alright."
Something touched my cheek, lightly. It felt like…a hand. Puzzled, I touched it. Its fingers curled around mine, and something warm and wet fell to my forehead. "He's awake!" Maxie yelled. I cracked open an eye to see him bending over me, blue eyes swimming with tears, his mouth quivering with sobs. I gave his hand a squeeze.
"Dude," I protested. "Dude, quit yelling. You're giving me a headache."
Another drop of warmth spattered onto my face, and he sniffed. "We thought you were dead," he whispered.
"Do I look that bad?" I asked.
He laughed, weakly, and Rei appeared next to him, putting an arm round him. "How're you feeling?" he asked me.
"Not bad," I muttered, letting my eyes drift close again. Talking was making my throat hurt. "Um.Tired. Can I sleep for a bit?"
"Uh, maybe you should try to stay awake till we've got you warmed up a little more…"
I wasn't taking in what he was saying. "The others?" I asked, drowsily, my eyes still closed. I still hadn't figured out who was holding me. I didn't expect it mattered too much. It was one of my friends, and that was all that was important. I wriggled against whoever it was for extra warmth, getting comfortable, gripping Maxie's hand one last time before curling up underneath the thin blanket. "Where're…the others…?"
"Kenny and Hilary and Daichi went up to the other houses to see if anyone was around…to get help…"
"Mmm." I was busy counting. Kenny, Hilary, Daichi…who else? Oh, Kai, of course…so if Maxie and Rei were here, then… "Where's Kai?"
The person I was lying on shifted slightly. As I drifted back into the soft, sleepy darkness, I heard him saying, softly, "I'm here, Tyson. I'm right here."
YES! FINALLY! I FINALLY THREW IN A CLIFF-HANGER! FEAR THE SADISTIC FICWRITER! FEAR HER!
Erm…
…yeah, so, any questions? Oh, Johannesburg? That's one of South Africa's capital cities. Anyone on a business trip would probably end up either there or in Tshwane. I kind of wanted to have something South African in this story, so I chucked it in.
Um, I used rain and a picnic again…anyone recognise that from Tomorrow? (grins sheepishly) Hey, do I look like care? Rain is fun to write about. The beach, incidentally, is based on the one near to where my grandmother lives.
No idea when the next update will be, although I'll try to avoid more two-week delays. The next chapter is officially another flashback, simply because I want to draw the plot out! Hee!
What else? Oh, right! REVIEW! Wait, sorry, I have to be politically correct… (clears throat)…please provide constructive criticism. Your comments will be greatly appreciated, and will be rewarded with…I don't know, what's creative? Aha! All reviewers will get their very own PINK ELEPHANTS to love, cuddle and cherish! W00t!
I think I'm on caffeine again x.X