Chapter Two: Realization
"Inside my skin there is this space
It twists and turns
It bleeds and aches..."
I woke up from another one of my nightmares only to find that that was exactly what it was. A nightmare. I shiver as the perspiration slides off me in icy sweat; my silk pajama suit is damp from it. Everything seemed so real about that dream though. Right down to the way Kenny's eyes sparkled when he pulled me out of the water. I turned to my bedside clock to check the time. The bright red numbers flashed 4:30 a.m., Russian time and I groaned rather loudly. I reached for the telephone on the nightstand and sat back in bed as I dialed Tyson Granger's number. I prayed it wasn't too late in Japan seeing as that was where he lived. I think I'll surprise him tonight.
One. Two. Three. Three rings. I was about to hang up when his very loud grandfather answered laughing. "Hello, Granger residence." I sighed in relief.
"Hello, Sir. How are you? Is Tyson there by any chance?"
"Hang on a second, dude. I'll go call out to him." I still don't see how he's still as vibrant as he was when we won the World BBA Championships. Man the old geezer can move! "TYSON!" He could have at least given me fair warning instead of blowing out my left eardrum. A few moments passed before an out of breath Tyson answered the phone.
"Tyson speaking." It's so good to hear his voice. My eyes wielded up with unshed tears. Hadn't I cried enough tonight?
"Hey, Tyson. How's it going?"
"Kai! Good to hear from you, buddy. How's Russia these days?"
"Fine. How soon can you get in touch with the others, Ty? I really need to talk to you all." He laughed at something in the background before answering the question.
"There're here. All of us are here, Kai. What do you need?" I wish he hadn't of said that. The tears began their slow and steady flow down my face as they left the reddened marks of their passing. "Hilary! Hey, Hilary! Don't tease me like that!" I listened in silence as he spoke a few words with our cheerleader. "Kai? You still there, dude?"
"Yeah I'm here, tomadachi. I just need the rest of you here as well." Tyson handed the phone to someone else and the conversation resumed about Hilary's cute little ass. I smiled as the voice of Rei rang clear in my head.
"Hey. What did you say, Kai? Tyson's finally gone quiet." I would have loved to hear Ty's non-stop chatter now. I missed it so much. I missed it all, really.
"I need my friends, Rei. I'm so afraid. I just need you here- all of you. Please.... Please come to Russia?" It was more a question than a statement and I knew it. But I needed it that way. A deadly thought must have crossed his mind because he said to me:
"Don't try anything stupid, Kai. We're on our way." There was a short pause. "Hilary too?"
"Yes. Hilary too, Rei. Just hurry, please. I really need to see you guys." We said our goodbyes before hanging up and I just lay there, the phone set to one side, to cry myself back to sleep in the darkness of my room.
Rei replaced the receiver of the phone back in its cradle as he turned to us; cat-like eyes narrow with unspoken worry. I could have said something then. Something crazy, like Tyson would do, but I must have left my courage in my other coat. To tell the truth, I was listless the day that Kai left without warning and I felt like a piece of my heart had just been ripped out. A wary smile gave Rei's eyes a heated look of anticipation. "Guys, we just got invited to go to Russia to see Kai." There were rounds of 'Alright!' and 'Sweet' from the guys while I said nothing. Hilary poked her boyfriend- who so happened to be Tyson- in the ribs and asked in her pouty voice:
"Am I coming?"
"You know it, Hil. So how do you like that, Kenny?" I turned away before getting up to get my things from the porch. "Kenny? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Rei. I just feel kind of tired that's all. After all, I was up most of the night reprogramming Dizzy." They all nodded sympathetically and said their 'see you laters'. Before I left I saw Tyson kiss Hilary on the nose and Max playfully drag Rei down onto the blonds lap for a cuddle session. Will I always be alone? I thought to myself as I bolted down the street to my house.
Four hours later, I lay on my couch, phone in hand, while I waited for my ramen to cook- well heat up anyways. I remembered Ian's phone number and decided to give him a call. It had been a long time since the BBA World Championships but I still remembered a lot about that year that happened. I could still see the relief in Ian's dark eyes as Tala purposely lost to Tyson just for the satisfaction of seeing Boris and Voltaire's faces darken in pure anger. Sure, there were other tournaments, but that one would always be my favorite. Going to Russia meant having to see our old rival team again and not to mention a very distraught Kai. The phone rang and rang, it dawned on me that the time difference might be more than a few hours between the two countries. That's when Ian answered.
"S'up?"
"Do you always answer the phone like that or is it only when I call?" I let the sarcasm drip from every word as I spoke to him. He laughed.
"Good to hear from you too, Kenneth." I cringed at the name as if it was a bad tasting bit of fruit and I had bitten off too much. "You lonely or something? No one ever calls here for me like this. Especially during breakfast."
"What? What day is it there?"
"Sunday, the sixth of September. Why?"
"I just didn't realize that you were a whole day ahead of us that's all. It's nighttime here. September 5th to be exact." I paused.
"You didn't call to this early to talk about the time difference, did you now? C'mon, Shinoda, you need something and I have it. Is that it?"
"You know me too well. I'll have to send the Russian Mafia after you if you're not careful." I threatened playfully.
"No-o-o-o-o! Not the Mafia! Anything but the Mafia!" He joked back. This had been our routine for some time now and only the five of us knew about it.
"Kai's phone number." I said quickly which earned me a set of 'oh-h-h's' and 'ah-h-h's' from the other man. We were the same age so it would not be good to call him younger. "Ian!"
"Not nice to interrupt."
"You're not nice."
"Good point. Let's see, 1-232-934-8786. Did you get all that, Honey?" I growled. Yes, everyone's favorite computer wiz can and will growl at times when I see fit to do so. "YOW! HEY stop that Tala! Got to go, Kenny. Take care." The line went dead but not before I heard Tala crack a whip in the background and Ian scream in delight. Kinky. Real kinky if you ask me. I pushed down on the cradle button a moment before dialing up Kai's number. A gruff sounding man answered the phone.
"Hitwari residence. Richter speaking."
"Yes, can I speak to Kai please?"
"Sorry, he's busy at the current moment." Yeah, you sound like a sympathy card too. "Is there a message?"
"Just tell him that Kenny wants to talk to him. He'll want to talk then."
"Of course."
I grimaced as Richter walked into my office. "What?" I growled. He bowed respectively before answering my question.
"Someone named Kenny on line two, Sir. Would you like me to page him through?" I glared at him.
"That is what I pay you for, Richter." He bowed again and ran out of the room. "Idiot." The phone blinked red and I picked it up. "Hello?"
"Kai, how are you?"
"Fine." Damn it was good to hear his voice again. "Yourself?"
"I'm doing great. Shut up! Dizzy says to tell you 'hi' for her." I chuckled. So he still hadn't gotten her out of his computer? Interesting. Truly it was.
"What are you wearing?" Shit! Did I say that out loud?
"K-Kai? Tell me your joking." Mental slap.
"I'm not. Check your bank account in the morning and use the money to buy your ticket to Moscow." I was blushing like crazy and I did nothing to stop it. "You haven't answered my question."
"Sorry." I could hear the uneasiness in his voice as he spoke. "My one-size too small red muscle shirt and a pair of black boxers."
"Is that all?"
"Y-yes." I let out a soft chuckle.
"Are you blushing?"
"Yes."
"Me too. Don't tell the others alright?"
"Fine by me." He replied as we settled back into a not-so-normal conversation. "Max and Rei are together you know. As are Hilary and Tyson."
"And yourself? You must have a special someone you dream about."
"I do, but I don't know if he returns the feelings."
"Same here." For a brief moment, I could hear the exasperation in his voice. I turned the conversation to something more relevant to my own thoughts. "I'm scared, Kenny."
"Of what?" There was a beeping sound in the background that told me he'd obviously been cooking something to eat when he called. "I'm bored anyway, so tell me what's on your mind?" With my feet propped up on top of my desk and one hand behind my head you could really get a good picture of a patient talking to his therapist.
"I get all tingly when I talk to the person I have feelings for. My mouth dries up and I can't think straight. There are the little moments when I'm downtown and I just want to go to the animal shelter and take home a puppy. When I try to think about anything else the one I feel for just ends up being my center focus and I can't seem to shake the feeling that there's something amiss. Like I'm not complete. Is there something wrong with me?" I talked on some more about the events of the past week before I stopped myself. "Am I rambling?"
"Yeah. But I'm glad you are." Tears traced their paths down my cheeks as he spoke. "I'm glad you feel that you can trust me with this information, Kai."
"Love." I said suddenly. "That's what it is, isn't it."
"It sure is, Ko- uh Kai." He didn't want me to notice his mess up, but I did. "I have to go eat now, so I'll see you in a few days?"
"Sure. I'll be waiting for you, Kenny."
"I know." He said softly as I hung up the phone. It was all I could do to stop from saying 'I love you' to the brunette on the other line.
Shadow: Well. This was interesting.
Kai: I agree. Where's the delete button because you are so not posting my 'nice guy' side.
DarkMageQuisits: Watch me.
