Smile For Me
- chapter 8 -

It's been a week ever since Kai had blurted out that little statement, and ever since, Kai hadn't left the room, not speaking to anyone at all, not caring when Kiresu tried to yell at him, not budging even when some of his classmates tried to push him out of the room. For a week, Kai didn't see Tyson, didn't want to see Tyson.

Tyson had stayed with Ray and Max, simply bringing in an extra futon. He refused to sleep in the same room as a murderer but he never once answered any question sent to him from his two friends. Ray and Max didn't mind the company, but was still rather confused at the turn of events, but they had the right mind not to butt in.

After Kai had woken up after losing consciousness a week ago, he wasn't surprised to see that he was alone in the room. He spent hours brooding and sleeping, and if he was getting restless, he'd take a long bath to somehow ease his system. The only time he ever spoke to anyone was when he muttered a token of gratitude to whoever brought up his meal to the room. Mostly it was girls who tried to talk to him, asking him what was wrong and stuff like that. Other times it was boys who tried to act all tough and make Kai at least crack up some emotion or something, even it was anger.

When he was alone, and started thinking about everything and nothing, that was the only thing making Kai smile.

Clutching his head, Kai let out a scowl as another headache got to him once again. He walked out of the bathroom and dressed for bed, not even caring that he just slept 17 hours away. Sleeping was his only escape, not even minding the nightmares that came to him about Voltaire, because Tyson hating him was even worse. And truth be told, Kai didn't know why he felt that way.

The lamp flickered off and on, off and on before stopping.

Sighing, Kai walked around the bed to roll the light bulb off. Burning pain seared through his body as his fingers touched the overheating bulb, and Kai felt his body go numb. No... It's happening again. Letting out a muffled cry, he fell back, clutching his head as images of Voltaire flashed through the back of his eyes, images of torture, of blood, of pain. Of everything he went through, just to live. Why...? Every time I get hurt, every little pain I get, I remember him.

"Vol...taire..."

The last image he saw was Tyson by the doorway, but the last thought was of his grandfather.

Then it was oblivion.

Tyson watched as Kai fell, simply stood there as Kai lost consciousness. Not even blinking, he closed the door and stepped in, standing in front of the body. He bit his lip and wiped a stray tear, trying to bring himself to kick the person who killed his mother. Of all people. He couldn't believe that he just befriended a murderer. But he couldn't... He didn't know why, but he couldn't even kick the person in front of him. Biting his lip to bite back a sob, he stepped over the body, then preceded to get his things.

He didn't get it because of the rush to get away. He couldn't take it to even just see Kai's face. Now that he gathered his wits, he was thankful that Kai had fainted. Grabbing his bags, he took one look back at the room before closing the door and walking away, leaving Kai to lie on the floor with nightmares to haunt him for years.

Kai... I know I should hate you... but... why is hating you so hard for me?

Sighing, Mirato balanced the tray on one hand as she rubbed her temples, feeling another headache come up. All week, she's been worried about Kai, trying to sort out what happened to make him so emotionless. For him to act so shallow... Like he was nothing but a simple vessel, so void of life... Damn her and her love for poetry.

She finally reached Kai's door and knocked lightly, just in case the boy was sleeping. "Kai? Are you awake?" Hearing no response, she opened the door, knowing full well that the boy didn't lock, except when he was dressing. What greeted her was a sight that almost had her faint.

"KAI!"

Putting the tray of food on the bed as quickly as possible, she felt her whole self panic. She rushed to Kai's side, heaving a sigh of relief to find that the boy was sleeping properly. She patted Kai's cheek lightly, so as to wake the boy up, scrunching her eyebrows a bit to find powder on her palms. She didn't have the chance to ponder on that longer though, for Kai stirred, eyes opening to reveal crimson eyes.

Mirato watched as the boy sat up, rubbing his eyes like a child and a small smile tugged at the woman's lips at the picture. She sighed, sending the boy a worried look, "Kai, are you alright now?"

A confused look passed through Kai's features, before it finally dawned on him and he blinked back at Mirato, before nodding hesitantly.

"Oh, good." Mirato felt herself breath properly then, heaving out a big sigh of relief. "You had me worried there. Are you sure there's nothing wrong with you?"

Kai's lips tightened before he shook his head, standing up in the process, then his eyes landed on the tray. "Thanks for the food." He mumbled under his breath before walking to his bed, sitting down and taking the tray on his lap, starting to eat, ignoring Mirato like he always did to everyone, as if he wasn't found on the floor sleeping at all.

Sure, Mirato could take a hint, she could probably read minds when it came to things like this but there was something really wrong here. Standing up from her position on the floor, she walked to the door and Kai almost thought that she would finally leave, but looked up when Mirato closed the door, but stayed in the room.

Sighing, Mirato took a nearby chair and seated herself beside Kai's bed. "Kai, do you want to talk about it?"

Shrugging, Kai continued eating. When Mirato repeated the question two more times, Kai picked up that the woman wasn't going anywhere without an answer. "I can't."1

Pleased with herself to have finally taken an answer out of the boy, she asked again, "Why?"

"Just because."

"I'm only trying to help. You're really worrying me... I mean, I've never had a student like you before, and I'm not pretty sure how to handle this, but I want to help you not as my student, but as a person. Can you at least give me the opportunity to help you?"

Putting his spoon back on the tray, he looked at Mirato with an emotionless expression, "You won't be able to do anything, anyway."

Furrowing her eyebrows, she tried again, "Then would telling me everything help? I'm not trying to be nosy or anything... I just thought that maybe it would lighten your mood up a bit..."

"Thank you..." Kai smiled a bit, happy to know that at least someone cared for him, even just a little bit. "But this is serious. I'm sorry."

Mirato sighed, before giving Kai a small smile of her own, "Very well, but if you need someone to talk to, remember that I'm not just your teacher, I can be your friend too." She smiled wider, before leaning in to give Kai a kiss on the forehead, before leaving the room with a wave.

Kai sat in the same position, stunned, before he touched his forehead as tears made their way to the front of his eyes once again. Putting away the food to avoid from getting soaked, he curled up in bed and cried himself to sleep.

Why does it have to be this way? Tyson...

Notes: Alright, please forgive me that Mirato had a big part in this chapter, but I needed something to get Kai burst. So yeah, the plot thickens from here on out. :3