Smile For Me
- chapter 6 -

The sun rose up and lit through the velvet curtains, seething through the soft fabric and creating rays of light through the room. One particular figure stirred upon the contact of heat against his skin, and sighed contentedly, shifting positions to a more comfortable one. Fifteen minutes passed and Kai was getting restless, so with a sigh, he pushed himself up and immediately went straight to the bathroom, intent on seeing Tyson's face again when the boy found out that Kai had spent up all of the hot water.

Relaxing his muscles, Kai took a deep breath and relished in the feeling of taking a hot bath in the coldest part of Hokkaido. He rubbed his scars clean, happy to see that some of them were already starting to disappear. He sighed, But the next batch would come soon, anyway. A small tinge of fear flashed across his eyes before he shook his head and fished out the strawberry-scented shampoo. Strawberries are good. No argument there.

Grabbing the soap, he cringed every time the soap brushed across his scars. Not because of physical pain. Definitely not.

Rinsing himself through, he sat up and grabbed the towel, letting the water drain from the tub. After putting on his clothes quickly, he sat down on the bathroom floor for moment, taking his time in gathering his breath. He never liked tending to his own wounds. Scowling at the small white box in his hands, he glared as hard as he could. Nothing happened.

With a dejected sigh, he took the ointments and bandages out of the box and began.

After half an hour of cursing the demented white box, Kai came out of the bathroom looking deeply annoyed and threw the box to his opened bag carelessly. He took his bandana and jacket from the nearby chair, and after fixing up his bed, and adjusting the alarm clock and it's volume to maximum to wake up Tyson for the next hour, he left the room to eat breakfast.

Now why did he have this nagging feeling that he was forgetting something?

"Hey, Kai, have you ever been to Hokkaido in your whole life?" Tyson crossed his arms beside his head as he looked at Kai through wet bangs. Snow and sweat definitely did not mix. Kai shook his head. "Yeah? Well, me, I went here once a few years ago, but it was only a few days and we stayed in the hotel at the city, so this is a new experience. I mean, we have our own onsen in the middle of the forest! How cool is that? But it's colder here than usual, though, but good thing that the place we're staying at has enough hot springs to hold all of us!"

Kai shrugged. Tyson blinked, "Oh yeah, I haven't seen Max and Ray ever since breakfast! I wonder what happened to those two, though. I don't even know if they're in front of us or behind us!"

Thrice a week, Kiresu, Fukiko and Mirato would take turns in taking the batch around the onsen for their daily exercise, though the students often wondered why the hell would there be that kind of exercise while they were in one of the coldest regions of Japan. Of course, the walk lasted about an hour and a half, and the students were complaining about it endlessly.

And of course, as Tyson had predicted, Kai didn't say anything at all about the loss of his bandana and jacket in his sleep. It's either that he was avoiding it or the boy just completely forgot. Either way, Tyson didn't speak of it either. It was their fifth day here in Hokkaido and Tyson mostly spent his time with Kai, and Ray and Max didn't mind.

Through the five days, Tyson found out three things about the usual stoic Kai Hiwatari. Kai loves sweets. Kai loves strawberries. Kai uses strawberry shampoo.

Not that Tyson minded though, since he usually found it comforting when the scent of the shampoo filled his nostrils. And Kai had at least two packs of sweet candy stuffed in his bag and Kai would always have a daily dose of strawberries from the onsen's small cafeteria from downstairs. Thank whoever was watching them that the cafeteria here did not follow the example of their cafeteria back at their school.

Strawberries, huh?

"Here, Kai." Tyson handed him a mug of hot chocolate and Kai took it gratefully, happy to hold something warm. Sitting in front of the other, Tyson faced the fireplace with small smile of contentment. The fire crackled and colors danced in front of them, as if in a sacred dance.

"Who were you with?" It was murmur, barely heard across the air but Tyson caught it in time, only that he didn't understand the meaning of it.

"Hm?"

"When you went to Hokkaido..." Kai trailed off, his lips barely touching the mug's rims.

"Oh..." Tyson grinned sheepishly, "I was 8, and I went here for a small trip with... my mother."

Unconsciously, Kai's lips clamped down immediately as he heard the last bit. Granger... Tyson Granger... Mrs. Granger... No... No... NO! It didn't happen. Nothing happened. It wasn't true. Not a coincidence. Not at all. This was simply everyday life. Simply... life... no... no... NO!

"KAI!"

Kai jumped, eyes widening as his trail of thoughts were abruptly cut off. He turned his head quickly to the side and took a glance at Tyson's worried face before his fingers gave way and the mug fell from his hands to the floor, spilling the rest of it's contents on Kai's shirt. The hot liquid seeped through the fabric of his clothes and it hurt.

Pain... It hurts. It hurts, damnit! Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP! Go away! Grandfather, I've been good... I've been good... Make the pain stop... It hurts...

In Tyson's eyes, he saw Kai's form stiffen before his eyes widened, staring into empty space with a look of fear and panic. He was shaking, his whole form trembling. Tyson felt his heart clench and he felt himself go into panic as well. "Kai? Kai! Kai, what's wrong!" He rushed to the boy's side, setting down his own cup on the floor before gripping Kai's shoulders tightly, "Kai? Kai! Kai!"

A whimper escaped Kai's mouth as the boy continued to shake, staring into the atmosphere as if it was something scary. Tyson bit his lip, shaking Kai's body slightly. He shoved Kai's body against his own, tightening his grip around Kai's form, feeling a few tears fall from his eyes, "Kai! What's wrong?"

I... I don't know... Ty... Tyson?

And Kai fell limp with the promise of sleep.

KK: I apologize for the long wait, but I'm in a serious case of writers block so would you mind if I rushed things up a bit? I actually had chapter 6 written up on April 24, but I didn't really like it so I didn't want to post it but then again, I had no more ideas. o.o so... here's the new chapter 6. ehh... I'll go hide now.