Smile For Me
- chapter 11 -

Kai was more than horrified when he saw a blur of blue, and despite his inability to see clearly, he knew that it could only be one person. NO! He saw how Tyson punched Boris and also saw how Boris fell on the floor with a thud, sputtering and tripping over his own words. And Kai panicked.

"Tyson, don't!"

He caught Tyson's arms and held tight and ignored the look of anger and confusion in Tyson's face, ignored the tears that were gathering in the corner of the boy's eyes, but hugged Tyson's shaking body against his own, holding on tightly because he knew what would happen if he let go. He took a step back, dragging Tyson with him, taking extra caution as Boris started to stand.

"My, my, what an excellent punch we have there..." Boris wiped his mouth and coughed, "And you are? Mr. Tyson Granger, perhaps?" He raised a foot.

"Don't you fucking touch him!"

Boris frowned, his lips settling in a thin line. "My, my... Kai, there is no need for such words." He sneered and took out a whip behind his cloak, "But for such impudence, Master Voltaire himself told me to take care of you for him."

At the sight of the whip, Tyson's eyes widened, but his eyes grew in horror when Kai turned both of them, still hugging him fiercely. He tried to scream but nothing came out, but he cried endlessly when the whip flew up and slashed through the air, landing on Kai's back with a sickening sound.

"KAI!"

Tyson clutched at Kai's shirt, noting with horror that Kai's grip on him kept on tightening and tightening after every slash. Kai... He very nearly screamed when blood sputtered out of Kai's mouth and landed on his clothes. "KAI!" The ruthless laugh of Boris deafened when Kai hugged him even tighter, whispering words to him through a cracked voice.

"Tyson..." Kai hissed through the pain, smiling sadly against Tyson's hair. "This is the least that I can do for you... I'm sorry. I wish we could have became friends... Just like what your mother wanted..."

Tyson cried, hugging Kai back but not circling his arms around Kai's waist for Kai's arms stopped him from moving so. He clutched at Kai's shirt almost desperately. "Kai, Kai, no, no, we are friends. That's right, Kai, we'll be friends forever. So, please... Please..." He looked through Kai's hair and gazed at Boris desperately, "PLEASE STOP! Can't you see Kai's in pain! This is too much! STOP IT!"

Boris laughed, "Pain! Pain! I'm surprised our dear Kai hasn't told you anything yet." He smirked, "But then again, this boy was taught not to." He stopped the whip, laughing at Kai's pathetic display, and looked directly at Tyson's eyes, "This boy had taken a lot more than just a mere simple whip! This is just normal for him! Wait until you see what real torture is for this boy!" And the whip once again flew up and flew down, repeating over and over again.

Kai clutched at Tyson's shaking body tightly, and whispered, his voice cracking, "Tyson, thank you... But for now, please don't do anything..." Kai's voice wavered, "You don't know what things they are capable of doing. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if they did something to you... That's what I promised your mother... I said that I'll protect you... I will..."

"I'll... I'll protect him, then! If I meet him, I'll protect him! Because that's what friends do, ne?"

A smile. A sincere, gentle smile. "That's right, Kai. I'm sure he'll protect you, too."

More blood and the whip didn't cease. Kai's whole body shook violently, coughing blood out, throat burning. Then with one last muffled scream, Kai slumped and fell into oblivion.

"KAI!"

Boris sneered, "Looks like it's only between the two of us now, Mr. Tyson Granger."

Tyson whimpered, closing his eyes tight, his arms now free to move so he wrapped them around Kai's waist, hugging Kai's slumped body against his, desperately trying to crawl away. He never felt more scared in his entire life. He wasn't scared for himself. He was scared for Kai.

Then when he finally thought that the whip was going to descend once again, Boris gave a curled scream and fell on the floor, unconscious, revealing a woman with her arms up high with a chair clutched in both hands, whole body shaking as she set the chair back down on the floor, heaving a relieved and shaky sigh as she pushed her glasses up her nose higher.

Tyson shook, grateful and relieved, "Fukiko-sensei..."

Two boys entered the room and both were horrified at the scene that greeted them, both rushing quickly to Tyson's side. "Tyson! Kai! What happened! What the -- What happened to Kai!"

"Ray... Max..." Tyson smiled, tears now falling freely of unsuppressed relief, "Thank heavens..." And he fainted from exhaustion.

"TYSON!"

When Tyson woke, he was greeted by two very relieved faces.

"Tyson, you gave us quite a scare back then!" Max sighed, letting out a deep breath as he leaned back in his chair beside Tyson's bed. "Man, fainting like that almost scared the hell outta me."

Tyson groaned as he felt a headache coming on. Then realization hit him like a brick and he sat up quickly, head darting from side to side frantically, "Where's Kai!"

"Relax." Ray chuckled at Tyson's reaction, pointing to the other bed in the room. "He's still asleep. Don't worry, he's fine. We fixed up his wounds on his back, and now, all he needs is rest."

"That's..." Tyson frowned, suddenly feeling like crying again as he looked at Kai's sleeping form. "Good, then. Where's Fukiko-sensei? I... have to thank her."

"You're welcome, Tyson." Fukiko entered the room with a nervous smile on her face, tray in hand. "I thought you might wake up soon so I bought breakfast."

"Huh? What time is it?" Tyson blinked.

"8 AM, Ty." Ray answered, looking at the wall clock.

Tyson nodded dumbly and mumbled a word of thanks when Fukiko gave him the tray. Suddenly, he didn't feel like eating now. Max sighed, "Not hungry, Ty? That's new." He grinned weakly, "But I'd be like that, too if I were in your shoes, I guess."

Fukiko sighed, pushing her glasses up once again, still shaking from the earlier events as she grabbed a chair and sat down. "I'm sorry, Tyson that we didn't manage to get in early." She rubbed her temples slowly, beads of sweat trickling down her face despite the cold temperature. "We were all asleep then... I was assigned on night patrol and caught Ray and Max trying to sneak out of their room. Said that they were hearing some funny noises, so we went to check it out..."

Tyson's eyes widened, "Where's --!"

"That man?" Max finished for him,

"Max and I used Fukiko-sensei's room and some rope we found at the storage room. Tied him nice and easy and locked him in the closet. He still hasn't woken up yet, I think..." Ray sighed,

"Have you guys slept yet?"

Fukiko smiled a bit, "How can we? You all got us worried..." She sighed, "No one's awake yet, and we thought that we should wait until Mirato-sensei and Kiresu-sensei woke up... Besides, I think I hit that man harder than I intended..." She stood up, "I'll go get some more ointments and buy some herbal medicine for Kai's back. We have to get his back treated immediately." She smiled, "Take care of yourselves by then. If not, wake up Kiresu-sensei or Mirato-sensei quickly."

The three of them nodded dumbly.

Max sighed when the door closed with a click, "Go back to sleep, Ty. It must be pretty tiring, huh?"

"Yeah..." He mumbled thank you when Ray took the tray from his lap and settled back in the covers, immediately rolling to his side. His last image before sleep overtook him was Kai's sleeping figure.

When Tyson woke up again, the clock read five thirty. He sat up, still feeling dizzy and instinctively looked at the side at Kai's bed. His eyes grew wide in panic when he saw that the bed was empty. He scrambled from bed and called out pathetically, "Kai?"

The bathroom door opened, and Tyson heaved a sigh of relief when a person emerged from the bathroom. Kai stepped out wearing nothing but pajama pants with a towel brushing through his hair. He raised his head, blinked when Tyson walked to him and was simply speechless when Tyson reached out and hugged him, "T-Tyson?"

Tyson hugged him even closer, a few tears falling and Tyson cursed himself for his tears. "Kai... Don't ever do that again to me..." He ran a hand through Kai's back, emitting a small hiss from the taller boy. Tyson cried even harder, "Kai... you didn't... you didn't have to... I never asked you to..."

Kai smiled a bit, hugging Tyson back. "It was the least I could do for you... After... everything."

Tyson hiccupped, pulling back and blushing a bit, "I'm sorry, Kai..."

Kai shook his head slowly to show that it was nothing, before his eyes darted to the table next to the television and he blinked when he saw a basket of tubes of medicinal stuff. Tyson followed his gaze and smiled a bit, "Fukiko-sensei must have put it there while we were sleeping." He looked back at Kai and at the scars on his body, "Want me to put it for you?"

Kai colored but nodded reluctantly, "Yeah, sure, thanks."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Huh -- ah!" Kai arched with a hiss when Tyson applied ointment on one of his scars on his back, "Nothing much... I was just wondering about Boris. Ray and Max told me what they did to him when I first woke up."

"Oh..." Tyson frowned at the mere thought of the man, "I can't believe he could do that to you! That was so harsh! Are you sure you're alright now, Kai?" Kai nodded. Tyson applied more ointment and Kai hissed. Tyson grinned a bit, "You don't sound alright."

Kai smiled a bit, "I guess." Then he paused, "You want to know everything?"

Tyson was taken aback. He blinked, before putting a hand on Kai's shoulder comfortingly. "Sure."