Mechanical Bruising
Chapter 11
Epilogue
Well neither of them knew what was happening, Tala was weirdly frightened being around Kai even though all the other times he'd felt as safe as safe can be, and Kai felt a horrible anger swell inside his chest and he thought….well he thought maybe if he could find something to take it out on then Tala wouldn't have to suffer his harsh words he knew would hurt the soft brained boy.
Getting out of The Fake's temporary base was easy enough but when the sun kissed their faces Kai felt a sudden anger boom again, tugging Tala along and then stopping to shove him to the ground in front of him.
Tala cried out and turned in his tumble, licking up the dirt, stopping and groaning in pain, the back of his legs starting to sting and he felt a small metallic- sounding click as the world was suddenly displaced in his eyes again, he didn't really like it when this happened, maybe one day he would be able to control it- but for now it gave him motion sickness to keep switching back and forth between the many different views he could have.
The world was in heat right now, he could see Kai move ever so softly in the shades of blue and red and some yellow, the image moved almost like science fiction or a flame… it was enchanting so Tala could ignore the deep white of anger surrounding Kai for reasons he did not know. He was happy to admit he was clueless sometimes- but it wasn't nearly as bad as he had been 2 years ago- not even able to walk, not Boris' had been teaching him different kinds of attacks, martial arts and kendo, anything violent really.
Kai hissed at him and raised his hand and Tala whimpered and hid his head under his arms, closing his eyes and he felt the click this time. So when he looked back up he could see plainly the displeasure upon Kai's delicate features.
Tala watched in absolute horror as Kai curved his hand into his trouser pocket, unbuttoning it ever so slowly that Tala's breath hitched and when he brought it back out again, there was a silver glint and a heavy hand gun rested in his hands.
Tala didn't know what made him think it- but he honestly thought Kai was going to shoot him, unhappy tears started pouring down his face and he felt younger than he had ever acted before.
Bu Kai just raised the gun to his face, Tala noticed the trigger was not pulled nor was Kai's finger anywhere near it, and with that he sniffed and pushed his tears away as Kai began to speak- a certain odd look about him as if he was using sensibility instead of anger.
"I used to be in love you know…" Tala listened carefully, Kai…in love? With who, "With a really great person, he taught me many things and saved me many times in the streets, keeping me safe when there were street wars and stealing food for the both of us. I lived and breathed for him, for…Cain. But you know something Tala?"
Kai paused and looked Tala's way, the gun smirking at them both without Kai knowing and Tala licked his lips of dirt, "What?" he asked.
He realised his voice was much stronger and older sounding and with the brief flash in his eyes Kai seemed to have noticed it as well.
"Not many people in the back streets care about another, so what Cain and I had was lucky, lucky and beautiful. But we were running away one day- back to our home and people with guns were chasing us," Kai brought the gun to his chest and clutched it so tightly Tala thought it might break, "and they shot at us- Cain ran with me in his arms because I used to be slow and useless. We ran up onto the roofs and Cain, how nice a person he was, let me climb down first, and before he could get down they shot him. The 7 people chasing us shot him 3 times."
Kai turned around and his feet scuffed up the dirt onto his shoes, Tala's eyes staring at his ankles before rising to Kai's back- the chequered shirt covered in blood that still seemed to drip and a horrible rip in the back.
"I've gotten rid of 5 of those who shot him, only 2 more eh Tala?" he chuckled, "I bet you think I'm going to use this gun, I might…but it won't be on you" he walked over and bent next to Tala, lifting him up and pressing his lips to the shocked Tala chastely for only 2 seconds, but 2 wonderful seconds.
"I don't want you to suffer Tala- ever since I ran away from my grandfather I may not have been raped, beaten or hurt physically but the memory of Cain weighs tightly onto my chest. I couldn't live with loving you if I might die to leave you in a place like this."
Tala suddenly felt like kissing Kai back, a thick blush on his cheek and a wonderful, butterfly feeling in hi stomach making him want to giggle. The kiss had certainly been better and softer than that other boy's.
Then the gun was set to go off, not pulled yet, just off the safety…and it was pressed to the back of Tala's skull. Held in a deadly embrace where if he upset Kai he could die. His lungs sucked in a breath and he felt like crying- the metal at the base of his skull was taunting him and it made him feel so indescribably frightened.
"I don't want you to ever become like me, I want you to leave- go back to wherever you came from. Believe me- if you are hurt or beaten it is better than feeling emotional break down from the inside. I.Want.You.To.Go.Back" he stated firmly and Tala could see such determination and sincerity within those eyes, but he was distracted by the metal at the base of his skull.
It was dug in deeper, "Do you understand!"
Tala whimpered and nodded, and he did. He knew he would have to go back to Boris, back because Kai has asked, back because Kai thought it was better. Because Kai didn't want him to become like him. Because Kai didn't want to loose Tala, so instead he was never going to have him.
Tala sniffed, "Can I ask for a kiss?" he mumbled.
Kai shoved the metal closer to Tala's skull and the boy fretted he had asked the wrong question but then his raised head was allowed the gentle taste of a certain Russian and everything melted away, standing naked and in darkness with each other.
Then it was over, Kai kicked him to the ground, fired two shot on either side of him which made him cry out and jump to either side, starting to sob and when he'd stopped and looked up Kai was gone… gone forever? And all that was left was a broken handgun, one Tala was sure his love…his love… had broken in half with his bare hands.
And he knew he would remember that kiss forever, touching his lips gently and finding that as he began to walk back in the direction he had come from Kai began to take form as a ghost, just a memory, and how much he hated that he knew Kai would kill him if he got back.
And killing someone you loved was worst than watching them die before your eyes.
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Kai stood on the bridge over the river, the fast flowing current lapping up at the sides seemed so tempting to his eyes yet he was here for a reason.
He was here…to let go.
Not of his life, but something maybe even more important than the air in his lungs.
He torn the skin of the person next to him and dipped the fabric of a silky white scarf in the flowing, yet frozen pool of life. Wrapping the scarf around his neck he painted blue triangles on his cheek with the blue liquid that was that certain colour because of the air it had so long be denied of.
It felt cracked on his cheeks, but he felt more honoured to the person beside him.
Wrapping the body up in the chequered shirt he had worn for so long he replaced it with the scarf, just as important because of the blood it had been tainted with. His face felt like steal and he knew that if he were ever going to move on he needed to let go of everything hold him back.
He would never forget the memory though- he would treasure it for all eternity. This body had given him so many things he could only give back in fulfilling the dream of being the best.
But how could he do it when his thoughts always lingered on the body beside him. He couldn't take it with him when he wanted to travel to be the best, that's why he was here…to let go.
Taking the beyblade which glowed red in pleasure and warmth he cut some pink hair from the body and turned it into a hair add on- clipping it to his own head of blue hair and feeling the smell of filth rising.
He brought up the beyblade again and cut a shape he had loved into his cheek, his red blood mixing with the blue blood on his face. The swastika was carved now and only one thing was left to do.
He picked up Cain's body and cradled it close to his own. Humming a short lullaby and a Russian prayer he had learnt many years ago.
And he stood again- his ritual of keeping the memories complete. Holding the limp body in front of his eyes, tilting over the bridge, he planted a frozen kiss upon the dead lips.
Then he slowly unclasped his fingers tips and the body got quickly swallowed by the current and taken to a place Kai would never reach him.
Now he could be the best- for the body he had dropped he would become the best in the world. No matter who stood in his way.
Blowing one last kiss to the body he could no longer see, he brushed the scar on his cheek to remember and then turned…
And he let go.
