A/N: And this is how it goes on...
And sorry, I forgot to use to add-rulers in the last chapter! Hope it didn't make it impossible to read! Sorry again, and on with the show.
The day after his less than warm meeting with Tyson's father, Ray decided that he'd no longer be a nice guy. According to what he'd heard from Max over the phone, Kai was growing weaker, fast. It'd mean pulling off a miracle, but Ray was determined to convince Ian Granger that Kai's life was well worth saving. No matter what measures he'd have to take.
Standing before the door he'd been searching for days, his amber orbs seemed to be on fire by determination. After a waiting that seemed unbearably long for him, Ian Granger finally opened up the door. A mixture of rage and fear flashed in the man's eyes and he tried to pull the door close with all his strength, but the Tiger was faster. Eyes flashing, Ray slipped his foot to keep the door from being closed.
" I came a long way to save my friend's life, and I'm not leaving before you've listened to me", he announced in a voice that showed no room for protest.
Sighing deeply in defeat, Mr. Granger allowed the boy inside. As if owning the place, Ray stormed into the living-room, taking a seat on the almost broken couch. Mr. Granger followed him, and stood leaning on the wall across the room, crossing his arms over his chest.
" Do you realise that this is trespassing, young man?" the man inquired, sounding deeply tense.
" To be honest, I don't even care". He looked directly into the man's eyes. " Mr. Granger, Kai is
dying, and Tyson is the only one who can pull him back. I refuse to believe that you could let someone die just because you're afraid of Tyson's emotions".
" I am not afraid of my son's emotions", Mr. Granger corrected in a strange, deep voice. " What I'm afraid of is what this… Kai will turn him into".
Ray had to fight against the urge to smack the man. He felt tears sting his eyes and had to blink to keep them away.
" Mr. Granger, Kai is the best thing Tyson has ever had. I've seen it with my own too eyes". Tears were no longer under his control. " You have no idea of how important Kai is to Tyson. They… They would die without each other! Whether it's friendship or love they have, it's stronger and purer than anything I've ever seen before".
For a while, he saw a hint of softness in Mr. Granger's eyes, but I disappeared as fast as it came.
" Why should I believe you?" the man snarled. " Who are you to say who deserves my son and who doesn't?".
" I think I'm the one to make that decision, not either one of you", a voice replied.
Turning their heads, they saw Tyson standing on the other door of the room. Tears were running down the pale boy's cheeks, but his eyes were burning with fire Ray had never seen in them before as the young Dragon gazed at his father.
" You can't lock me in here, father", Tyson announced. " There's no way you can keep me away from Kai, because we're always together". The boy let out a dry, bitter laughter. " It took me for all these years to realise and accept the truth. No matter where we go, no matter how far or fast we run, we'll never be apart. Nothing in this world can brake the bond between us, not after all we've been through". Tears run even harder to Tyson's cheeks now. " If… If you let Kai die, I'll die too".
Mr. Granger was wordless by his son's speech. He'd never seen Tyson so passionate about anything before, not even blading. It had taken him for far too long, it had made him go way too far, but at that moment, under his son's gaze that seemed to burn him, he was forced to face the truth. No matter how much he hated to admit it, he couldn't fight against Kai Hiwatari. His young Dragon had made his choice.
" What if he hurts you?" he asked.
Tyson laughed tearfully.
" He could never hurt me as much as I hurt him". His son looked at him with desperate eyes. " Let me go. Because if you won't, I'll leave anyway, and after that you'll never see me again".
As Ian saw the fire in Tyson's eyes, he understood that he had no choice. If he would hold on, he'd loose his son forever. He knew that Tyson would suffer, but there was nothing he could do to keep this disaster from happening. Sighing deeply, he gave a small, almost invisible nod. Tyson nodded back, in a sign of understanding, and with no words spoken walked out of the house, followed by the Chinese boy. As the door shut quietly, Ian let his tears fall and looked at the picture of his late wife, placed on the bookshelf across the room.
" I'm sorry, Miyeko", he whispered through tears. " I promised I'd protect Tyson from pain and sorrow, but he's beyond my help now". His eyes were sad as he looked at the picture intently, almost seeing the woman still in the room before him. " It's your turn to protect him now, my love".
Agonising minutes later, Tyson and Ray found themselves from the airport. Their flight wouldn't leave in two hours, so they couldn't do anything but sit and wait.
Tyson found himself being tightly on the edge as he sat beside Ray, who seemed to be deep in thought. A question, so scary that it was hard for him to even think about it, burned his mind. Eventually he could no longer take the uncertainty.
" Ray… The way you talked about Kai in my dad's house…". He swallowed hard. " Do you have… feelings for him?".
Ray's eyes widened, and the look of utter shock upon the neko-jin's face replied Tyson's question. It took for a long time before Ray could eventually look at him. His amber eyes were filled with sadness he'd held inside of him for such a long time.
" It doesn't matter", the Chinese murmured in a soft, miserable voice, turning his gaze away from Tyson and staring at his hands instead. " No matter how much I care about Kai, he would never feel the same way". Ray swallowed hard, it was obviously hard for him to say the words. " Tyson, I don't think you have any idea of how important you are to him, how much you mean to him". Ray sighed and smiled a little, looking at him again. " I would give just about anything to be as close to him as you are, but it's not under my power".
Tyson nodded, speechless by Ray's words, and the two drifted into their thoughts again, not looking at each other.
" Thanks", he finally managed to utter.
Ray didn't reply.
Still in the hospital, Hilary moved restlessly in her bed, cold sweat glittering on her forehead.
" Hilary, help me, please!" Kai's desperate voice begged inside her head, over and over again, growing a little bit weaker each time.
Eventually, her eyes snapped open and she sat up, gasping for air. She couldn't understand the calling she'd heard. Kai was gone. How could he…?
" Oh my God…", she whispered, eyes widening, as a sudden realisation washed over her.
And at that moment, she felt it with all her heart: Kai was still alive. And he needed her.
Filled with new-found determination, she took a quick glance at her mother, who'd fallen asleep in her chair, and carefully, as silently as possible, slipped out of her bed and slowly walked into the hallway, her legs just barely carrying her. Suddenly she felt the call from her dream again, this time even stronger, and forgetting all carefulness sprinted forward, as if some force was guiding her. She had to hurry, Kai's time was running out.
And suddenly she was stood behind the huge window that separated Kai's hospital-room from the hallway, frozen by shock. At first she saw Max, who'd fallen asleep in his chair beside Kai, his bag at the window, but then… Her eyes watered as she saw Kai's sleeping form. He was so very pale, so very fragile, that it broke her heart.
She started to shiver as she remembered the time she'd last seen her beloved Phoenix like that. Back
then, she'd lacked the power to open up the door and go in…
" Hilary Tatibana?" a stern voice suddenly asked, frightening her. Turning her head, she saw a male-doctor, who looked at her with harsh eyes. " You should be in your room, young lady".
She swallowed. Who the heck was this man!
" It's… It's my friend… I need to be with him", she tried to explain, voice just a thin whisper. " He needs me".
" What you need is rest". The doctor walked closer. " You're recovering from a severe case of shock. It's understandable that your mind is a bit hazy".
She shook her head vigorously, her eyes glittering from tears.
" No, NO! I am thinking straight!" she screamed, hoping that the voice would push the man away, but it didn't. " He's dying! I have to see him! Please, let me see him!".
But her begs seemed to be nothing but air to the man approaching her. Face expressionless, he took a strong hold of her with other hand, and pulled up a needle with another. Hilary's eyes widened.
" Put that away!" she yelled. " I'm not crazy! Put that away!".
Her words went unheard, and no matter how bravely she struggled, the needle eventually punctured the skin of her arm.
" You'll feel much better soon", the doctor muttered.
For a longest time she fought against the sleepy, dizzy feeling the drug gave her, but eventually her eyes slipped shut and she fell limp to the man's arms. A single tear rolled to her cheek.
Sighing heavily, Dr. Nichols looked sadly at the girl in his arms.
" I'm sorry", he whispered.
In the room, Max woke up, having a sudden feeling of being watched. As he quickly turned his
head and looked at the hallway through the window, however, no-one was there. He frowned.
" Am I going crazy?" he muttered.
Not too far away, in the room he'd occupied for days, Voltaire glared at the man before him, hands crossed over his chest.
" You are the only one I can thrust", he announced. " Do you think you can do it?".
The other man's eyes flashed in the dark.
" Graphing two kids is not a hard task, Mr. Voltaire".
" Good". Voltaire turned around, staring out the window. " They shall arrive shortly. Don't be late". His eyes squinted. " And don't fail".
" I never do, Mr. Voltaire".
And with that the man was gone, swiftly as a shadow.
Tyson had no idea of for how long he'd been sitting in the plane, but no matter how short the time was, he feared that it was too long. According to what Ray had told him, Kai's time was running out, fast. But that wasn't the only thing that worried the Dragon. He couldn't quite explain it, but by each passing second, he could feel the bond he and Kai always had fade. He didn't dare to think what it would mean if the connection was to break completely.
Hold on, Kai, you hear me? Just for a little while longer. He sighed, closing his eyes. I love you.
" Tyson?". Ray's voice shook him awake from his thoughts. " We're landing".
" Finally!" he blurted out, meaning it from the bottom of his heart.
Without saying another word, the boys waited as the flight landed.
At the airport, icy, watchful eyes of a man who'd hidden himself into the shadows observed the crowd walking by. He stood still patiently, like a predator waiting for it's prey. Finally the eyes spotted the two boys rushing across the hall, towards the door. Freezing smile revealed the perfect row of flawlessly white teeth.
And so the chase begins, he mused, slowly starting to follow the unsuspecting boys.
Haling for a taxi, Ray's cat's senses suddenly detected that something wasn't quite in place.
Furrowing his eyebrows, he looked at Tyson, who was jumping and flapping his arms like a baby-bird trying to fly for a first time as the Dragon tried to catch a taxi as well, seeming to be oblivious to the sense of threat.
" Tyson", he hissed through clenched teeth. " Something's wrong".
Tyson stopped his ridiculous flapping and looked at him, seeming confused.
" What are you talking about?".
" Someone's coming", he replied tensely.
" You have no idea of how right you are, boy", a silky Russian accent noted dangerously from behind them.
Slowly turning around, they both gasped as they saw the all-too-familiar purple hared man, who had an icy smirk on his face.
" Boris", Ray hissed.
" How very nice of you to remember". The Russian moved his black jacket just a little, revealing the gun he'd hidden beneath it. " I suggest you two to co-operate. I would hate to waste the bullets".
The two gulped, coming to the realisation that they didn't exactly have a choice. Few seconds later a long, black limousine stopped before them.
" Would you boys like to take a little ride with me?" Boris suggested, opening the car's door.
Without a word, the two slipped in. Both surprised as they saw Tala sitting in the car with his cold mask on his face, arms folded over his chest and legs crossed. Tyson opened his mouth to say something, but the read-head silenced him with a quick shake of head. Still smirking dangerously, Boris sat between Tyson and Ray, and with that the journey begun.
TBC.
A/N: Oh man, Boris has Ray and Tyson! What's Tala up to?
