Me: Firstly, I apologise that this chapter is a little shorter than the last, only... inspiration for this chap kinda ran out

Tyson: But not for the whole fic, right?

Me: Nope! Still got inspiration for the entire thing, but it died for this chap

Kai: Read on I guess

Tyson groaned as he came to, raising a hand to rub the bump on his head. Rising to his knees, he looked up blearily at the other angels rushing around the track at fast speeds, knowing that if he sat there for much longer, he would miss his chance of getting a good finishing position.

Frowning in determination, the shouts and screams of the crowd drowning out into a quiet buzz, he shakily got to his feet and spread his wings. Waiting until the other racers were close-by, he began running before jumping and beating his wings to get back into the action, falling neatly into place beside the other competitors.

A few of the others angel gave him encouraging smiles before returning to their own race, all of them there glaring unhappily at the burly angel leading. They all knew he would be disqualified for his act, but that didn't stop the hostility running through them at his cheating act.

Tyson angled his body so he was streamline like the others, willing his wings to push past the raging winds and other flying bodies in order to inch forward. He was aware of the other angels slipping behind him and the muscles in his wings screaming out in protest at being worked so hard but he pressed on.

The leader turned his head, intrigued by the encouraging shouts of the crowd and excited cries, normally that meant something interesting was happening, and something that would jeopardise his finishing position. He growled in annoyance when he saw the youngest competitor neatly overtaking the angel in fifth place, his face tight with concentration. Switching his head sharply back to look forwards, he ignored the new development; there was no way the bluenet would be able to catch up to him now.

Tyson's breathing came out in harsh pants as he forced himself to continue the pace he was flying at, wincing as he felt short pains shooting from his shoulder blades from working his wing muscles too hard. He vaguely aware that they would probably be inflamed and sore for a few days after, but if he got a good finishing position, that would make up for it.

His heart lurched suddenly in fear as he wobbled slightly, brain registering sluggishly that he was tired and being tired while flying so fast and up so high was dangerous. If he fell, well… he didn't particularly want a repeat of the last time he crashed while holding Kai. Shaking his head dimly to banish the light headedness that was creeping upon him, he focused on an opening ahead of him and aimed for it.

Kai's brow was creased with a worried frown and he bit he lip as he watched his angel struggle in the air in order to keep up with the other angels. Either side of him, Tyson's and his families has similar expression, their hands clenched tightly together in tight fists in worry and hope.

Kai's gaze fell upon the leading angel and he glared angrily. "Surely he can't get away with that, can he?" He questioned, irritation lacing his voice. The question wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, but it was his father he stood up and placed a calming hand on his shoulder and answered.

"He won't." Susumu assured his son. "The judges will disqualify him and his finishing position. So even if he does finish first, he won't win, the angel will in second will, and the third will get second place and so on." He explained, watching the competing angels zip past them in their second to last lap.

"I don't get it…" Kai murmured, a thought suddenly occurring. "I though only good people were allowed the reward of being to live here in the afterlife?" He asked, frowning at the memory of Tyson telling that people with evil traits lived their afterlives as spirits, banned from Ai Clouds.

"It's a little more complicated than that, Kai." Susumu explained sadly. "Some people have little bits of evil in them, yet they're let it because they've never acted upon them. It's up to the angel elders to choose whether they deserve to be let in or not. Although, if someone breaks the rules often, they'll be stripped of their angel body and banned from Ai Clouds. I can't say if our little cheater there has broken a rule before, but he will most certainly get a warning."

Kai wasn't sure if he was meant to be comforted by that and trained his gaze on the pair of shiny wings beating at a speed he had never seen before, watching them strain to get the angel they belonged to to finish in a good place.

"I'll give Tyson this." Susumu murmured after a few seconds as he the crowd around him cheer as the angels entered the last lap of the race, "He certainly does have extraordinary determination. I'll be surprised if his wing muscles don't hurt for a while after this."

Kai frowned in concern at that, "do activities like this put a lot of strain on wings, then?" He questioned, craning his head back for a few moments to regard his father's own wings before turning his gaze back upon his angel.

"Well, not only are Tyson's wings holding his body weight so high above the ground, but they're propelling him forwards. It puts a lot of strain on his muscles and the tendons working them. Sometime, competitor's tendons or muscles tear or sprain, it's painful but easily put right." Susumu explained. "This is why it's a good idea to rest them after long flights and competitions."

Kai frowned, making a mental note to make sure that his angel did no strenuous flying after they got back. His index and middles fingers on both hands entwined together in hope that he would do well, even with his earlier disadvantage.

In the many times Tyson had competed in flight competitions, he had never got such an encouraging response from the audience before. Just as he and the other angels entered the last lap of the race (and he found himself being extremely grateful for that), a chant started up on one side of the stadium, inching its way around until the whole stadium was shouting the same thing, "Tyson! Tyson!"

Honoured and happy at the same time, Tyson couldn't stop the silly grin from spreading over his face. He knew he was in fourth place providing the leading angel got disqualified (which he would most likely be) and if he wanted to be in a position for a medal, he needed to try harder. Using the cheering from crowd and the hopeful emotions searing through his system from his charge that were shining with the sheer belief that he would pull it off, he firmly ignored the ripping pain in shoulder blades and pushed harder.

It was a different feeling all together when he saw the finishing line inching closer, being neck and neck with the angel currently claiming third place. His whole face scrunched up, cutting off his vision and his hearing as he forced himself to fly faster, relief soaring through him at the crowd's excited cheer at the race ending, and seeing the angel he had just overtaken falling back into the distance.

It felt so good to fly at a slower speed as he eased himself gently to the ground, pitching forwards as soon as his shaky legs hit the ground, hands on knees. He stayed that way for a while; hunched over as he tried to regain his breath and his wings sagged wearily to lay limply along the ground either side him. He wiped the sweat from his brow, dimly aware of the family members of the competitors getting out of their seats to meet the tired angels.

A hand fell on his shoulder and he looked up wearily into his charge's concerned, proud face. He managed a shaky smile at him and straightened slowly, grateful for the assistance Kai offered him. Folding his wings slowly and wincing at the movements, he turned his head to give his charge a wobbly grin.

Kai just managed to return a smile before it vanished in favour of a more worried one when his angel swayed slightly, wrapping an arm around the older teen's waist to steady him. "Are you okay?" He questioned, noting that the others were coming up to join them, happy grins on their faces.

"Yeah, I'm okay chibi, I'm just… woah, I'm just tired." Tyson replied quietly, regaining his breath slowly and waiting for the world to spinning enough so he could focus on his mother reaching him first and grabbing his elbow, making motherly worried noises. "I'm okay…" he repeated to her.

"You're not." Yoshie scolded, frowning at her son before her scowl faded away into a proud, soft smile. "But I can't be mad at you when you've done so well, can I?" She murmured, reaching up to press a kiss on his cheek, "Well done, sweetheart."

Tyson smiled at her and he felt Kai shift slightly beside him, recognising that his charge felt a little out of place. He wriggled slightly until the dual haired teen got the message and released his hold around his waist, and he stood up a little straighter, feeling strong enough to stand on his own now.

Kai's uncomfortable feelings were soon gone and replaced by amusement when Tyson's grandfather jumped (literally) onto the scene and patted his grandson's shoulder in a gentle manner, unlike a good hard smack like normal. "Way cool, little dude!" He enthused, dragging the bluenet into a headlock and giving him a noogie. "Now that's the way to fly!"

"Gramps… get off." Tyson mumbled off, his voice muffled. He squirmed unhappily until the old man relinquished his hold and he rubbed his head in distaste. "Why do you have to do that? He complained. His grandfather was just about to answer when he chattering crowd hushed as the judges stood up from their seats.

Tyson, Kai and their families looked up in unison with the other angels up at the judging panel, wondering what their final decision would be. The angel in the middle, dressed in a long pale green robe with greying hair read the runner ups from a list, causing the said angels to drop the heads slightly in disappointment.

The elder paused for a few moments before clearing his throat, setting down his list, "due to the display of cheating in the race earlier, the final places have been altered slightly." He cast a disproving look over the angel that had unfairly won the race, "Matt Smith, who held first place, will be disqualified for cheating and putting another angel in danger…"

The winning angel, apparently named Matt, cried in outrage. "No fair!" He shouted.

"It is fair." The elder warned, frowning at him, "and I suggest you calm yourself down and accept your punishment with dignity before you find yourself in bigger trouble than you're already in."

Matt snarled in anger before turning heel and stomping out of the stadium.

The elder shook his head ruefully before turning back to his list to read out the medal winners. "Could the following competitors please fly up here to accept their medals?"

Tyson's heart gave a funny little lurch as his name was read for third place and gave his family and charge a sheepish grin before flying up along with the other two angels winning second and first to collect his medal.

His muscles ached, but he hovered in the air long enough to bow his head as the elder slipped his medal around his neck and to shake hands with the medal winners in congratulations before swooping back down to join his loved ones.

Tyson's knees shuddered in tiredness as he slumped down onto Kai's desk chair, his whole body slumping. He had just managed to change into his normal clothes before he had and Kai had to return back to the Earth, and he couldn't remember a time before when he wanted to just go limp and not do anything as much as now.

Kai eyed him in a mixture of concern and amusement. "You should lie down." He suggested, gesturing over the bed, "it'll be comfier than that chair." His lips twitched in amusement as his angel heaved himself up and trudged over to his bed, mumbling thanks as he went. Following, Kai sat himself down beside where Tyson had flopped on the mattress on his stomach.

"Urgh… do you mind if I sleep chibi?" Tyson mumbled out, voice muffled from where he had his face pressed into the pillow. He had one wing folded because there was a wall in the way, while the other one was stretched out to drape across the carpet. His muscles still throbbed, but he was willing to forget about them in order to just drop off like a rock.

"Not at all." Kai replied, casting a look over Tyson's shoulder blades. "Take your shirt off."

Tyson snickered, recognising the command from earlier that year, "you're just trying to see me naked, aren't you?" He teased lightly, grinning at Kai's embarrassed expression before raising himself up to pull off his white shirt lazily and drop it beside the bed. Folding his arms under his head, he waited for Kai to start massaging.

Crawling up to sit on the backs of Tyson's thighs, Kai pressed the bottoms of his palms to the swollen, red skin covering Tyson's aching wing muscles. Rubbing his hands in small circles, he got a small, content sigh from his angel in return and he smiled, in the back of his mind enjoying massaging his angel.

He found himself being lost in the feeling of running his hands over Tyson's tanned skin, working to ease the tension and soreness from the bluenet's muscles. He sometimes let his fingers brush against the small, downy feathers that surrounded the place where Tyson's were connected, floating in the feeling of touch.

Tyson silently admitted that his charge was very talented with his hands when it came to massaging and he let his eyes shut slowly as he relaxed under the younger teen's touch, the movement of the fingertips and palms hypnotic and calming, soothing away the pain in his shoulder with gentle, caressing movements.

Kai stopped massaging slowly when he noticed his angel's breathing deepening and evening. Peering down to look into face he noticed that the bluenet had drifted off into a deep slumber and he smiled in an affectionate way. Reaching out unconsciously, Kai brushed the dark, navy blue hair off of his shoulder before lifting himself off of him slowly.

Rummaging around underneath his bed, Kai took out a fairly large blanket and draped it across Tyson neatly. Carefully, he folded Tyson's outstretched wing and tucked it under the blanket, marvelling at how powerful it was to allow Tyson such impressive flight. Sitting cross legged by the bed, he watched his angel's sleeping for a good ten minutes.

Snapping out of his reverie sharply, Kai reached over to where Tyson's medal was sitting on his bedside table. He turned it over in his hands, the shiny brown metal catching in the orange lamp light on his desk and making it sparkle. On one side was a large three and on the other, an engraving of Tyson's name and a picture of flying angels. Setting down beside him, Kai's gaze lingered on it for a few more moments before switching to look at his angel.

Leaning forwards, Kai rested his arms on his bed beside him, finding him oddly interest to watch sleeping. He looked peaceful, with no frown to send creases along his forehead and his mouth parted slightly, his breathing deep and even, making the long, dark blue bangs that were falling into his handsome face ruffle slightly.

Kai smiled unconsciously, finding himself so grateful that he angel was there and he reached out to brush the stray hairs out of Tyson's face, letting his fingers trail down the side of his face before pulling away slowly. His hand inched down slowly to clasp Tyson's limp from beneath the blanket in his own.

Resting his head on the bed so it was facing Tyson's sleeping expression, Kai's thumb moved up and down slowly, stroking Tyson's tanned hand slowly. The dual haired teen's eyelids felt heavy and he let them shut slowly, his own breathing matching the bluenet's breathing pattern before he succumbed to sleep.

Outside through the open curtains and the window, clouds moved away from a large, round silver moon, small, shining stars surrounding it, sparkling like little dots of lights in the sky. Streams of silver light shone through the window, illuminating the angel and his charge on the bed.

Tyson's eyes flickered open and he lifted his head and blinked blearily around the room, noting from the amount of the light that it was morning. Raising himself up a little higher, he blinked as the blanket covering him slipped off and travelled down his body. As his gaze fell upon the sleeping form of his charge, he smiled affectionately and ruffled his hair before getting up on his knees to look for his shirt.

Upon spotting it, he grabbed it and slipped it over his head, pushing his arms through the sleeves and his wings through the holes in the back, dimly noting that he muscles felt a lot better and weren't throbbing as much as they were yesterday. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he reached down to place a hand on Kai's shoulder and shook him gently, calling his name softly, "Kai?"

Kai's made a noise in his sleep and batted Tyson's hand away impatiently, burying his face further into the duvet.

Tyson snickered in amusement before reaching down to poke the younger teen sharply in side, causing him to jerk and wake up instantly, looking around in confusion before settling on a grumpy look in his direction. Tyson grinned at him, "don't look at me like that chibi." He told him before getting off his bed and stretching.

Kai stifled a yawn and followed his angel's example by standing and working the kinks out of his muscles from sleeping in an awkward position. "How do you wing muscles feel?" He questioned, casting his gaze over Tyson's shoulderblades.

"Better. Your massage definitely helped, thanks." Tyson replied, sending a charming grin his way.

Kai smiled faintly in return before he dimly noted that he was hungry, a quick glance at the clock on his wall and he realised he hadn't for a while. And wafting up through his open door was the tempting aroma of the cooks cooking breakfast. He took a deep breath and sighed, heading for the door.

Tyson followed, having already guessed that the younger teen was hungry; haven just smelt freshly baked pancakes from the floors below and remembered wistfully what it had been like to eat. As he and Kai made their way down the stairs towards the kitchen, he found himself missing the simple things in life that made him regret his status as a dead person.

As Kai entered the dinning room, he found his breakfast all set out for him neatly, with no butlers or maids there for him to thank. Shrugging, he took his place at the table, feeling his angel take the seat next to him.

Rather than talk to Kai animatedly like he normally would have done in the mornings, Tyson had his head resting on his palm as he stared out into space. When he was alive, he used to really enjoy food, remembering with humour his friend's disbelieving faces when they saw how much he could consume without ever gaining too much weight.

Of course, after he'd taken ill, the doctor had cut out the foods he used to enjoy eating with his friends on days out or during sleepovers and replaced them with cardboard tasting food that would be easier on his heart. He lost his appetite after the menu came about and stopped eating as much as he used to. This caused to get tired easily and less active, both of which dampened his mood considerably.

Tyson shut his eyes tightly to stop the flow of memories that were threatening to come back; it wasn't nice to think about how he'd died and what he was missing now. He loved being Kai's angel and his friend and just being with him but there were some things he missed terribly from when he was alive and he found himself feeling torn for the first time about whether he enjoyed this life better of his previous one.

Kai frowned as he swallowed a mouthful of pancakes and syrup, noting his angel's unusual quietness and unhappy expression. The events from yesterday should have left him with a lasting euphoria that should have made the angel happy and all smiles for a few days at least. Setting down his fork, he reached out and touched Tyson's arm, "is something wrong?" He questioned softly.

Tyson snapped out of memories to give his charge a small reassuring smile, "no nothing! Just thinking, that's all."

Kai frowned, not quite believing him from the trouble he could see in the bluenet's eyes, "you said that it's better to talk about what's troubling you, not keep in, remember?" He told him with a frown.

The older teen sighed but complied. "Oh, ok then." He muttered. "I was thinking about when I alive, ok?" His voice had a touch of irritation that Kai had never heard directed to him before and it showed that the subject was touchy for him. Tyson hadn't meant to be snappy and gave his charge an apologetic look and apologised.

Kai waved it off. "Don't worry about it." He told him, but he was still worried. "What is it?"

Tyson sighed and a sad, glazed look came over his eyes, "I just miss the simple things in life, you know? Like eating and drinking, going to bed at night after having a shower. I used to take it all for granted before I got ill and I'm, I dunno… regretting it I suppose." He told Kai quietly. "I mean, I love being here with you but I still miss the feeling of being alive."

Kai sat there for a few moments and he could see why Tyson missed the feeling of doing natural things needed for survival, the thought of not doing it anymore was very odd indeed. "Are you happy?" He questioned quietly.

The angel thought that over. Yes he was happy being there with Kai and being able to spend time with his mother and grandfather and flying in competitions, but he still missed other things he would never get back. Then it hit him, he was missing silly little things that he would never be able to get back so there was no point wishing for them. And, he supposed, if he was alive, his heart would probably still be sick and that wouldn't be much fun at all. Thinking back to how unhappy he had been at times when he alive and unwell and comparing it to what he had now… it didn't seem all that bad. "Yeah, I am happy." He replied with a smile that looked more at home on his face.

Kai returned the smile with relief that his angel appeared to be fine. "I'm glad."

Tyson regarded him for a moment before grinning. He wouldn't give this up for the world.

Me: That felt nice

Tyson: To write about angsty me?

Me: No, you twit, fluffy moments!

Kai: Why am I so immature in this fic?

Me: Well, you're still a kid. You'll mature later XP

Tyson: Review?