Disclaimer: see previous chapters. Nothing's changed. Sadly.

A/N: Hi guys!

Apologies (again) for the slow update. This time it wasn't writers block but just me bein a perfectionist about this chapter...

And let me just say one for thing: I'm blown away by the support guys! Thank you so, SO much. It helped me a lot - I went back to look at all your reviews and it gave me so much motivation that I wrote down a whole chapter in one go. So thank you, thank you, thank you to

laenna and kyuubi, Devi, CairoTh3Pho3nix, Little A Granger, Macibacsi, C.B. Magique and meetssahoo59563.

I really appreciate you taking the time to share you thoughts with me.

Okay, I'm done now - enjoy! :)

Chapter 8

Factory Settings

"Who are you?"

The words hung in the air, with neither Tala nor Tyson being able to say anything.

Tyson just started at Kai. Kai looked back at him, the crimson eyes full of confusion.

"Who are you?"

The three little words echoed through Tyson's head again and again.

"Who are you?"

Kai didn't know who he was. Kai, the boy he discovered he loved more than anything, the boy he visited in the hospital for weeks and weeks, did not recognize him.

"Who are you?"

At first he was too shocked to think or feel anything. His mind was blank and his heart seemed to stand still for a moment. Then a wave of emotions rolled over him. There was shock and worry – worry that the accident had caused some irreversible damages to Kai's brain after all. Worry, what other damages the accident might have caused. Worry, that Kai would never fully recover from the accident. Then there was sadness, as if those three little words had driven a stick through his heart. Through his heart that loved Kai with every fiber. There was also anger: at the driver for causing this horrible accident, at the doctor for not healing Kai properly, and, curiously, at Kai himself for not having fought hard enough. There was frustration, because he had put all his hope into this moment and he somehow felt cheated. And above all, there was the feeling of incredible helplessness. What now? Was all hope lost now? Or was this fight just going into the next round? What should he do? Was there even something he could do?

Tyson knew he was being irrational and insensible and it only added to his frustration. He wanted nothing more than to yell out all these emotions bottled up inside him before he would explode.

Then his eyes met Tala's. In Tala's ice blue eyes Tyson saw that the other was at least as gob smacked as he was… and about twice as angry. Tala abruptly stood, causing the chair to fall over, and stomped out the room - probably to do what Tyson had wanted to do: blow off some steam - leaving Tyson alone with Kai.

Kai, who still looked at him utterly confused.

Another wave of emotion rolled over Tyson. This time it was happiness, to be able to look into these crimson eyes again. It was love - so much love that Tyson thought for a moment his heart would leap out of his chest. There was also the wild determination to protect this boy at all costs, to help him in every way possible.

And then there was shame. Oh how ashamed Tyson suddenly felt. How selfish of him to only consider his feelings and not waste a single thought as to how Kai must be feeling. The boy who had exhausted himself in a Bey Battle to keep their team, to keep Tyson, in the Tournament. The boy who had barely survived a terrible car accident shortly after and had spent the past months fighting for nothing less than his life. The boy who opened his eyes to a place he didn't know, and to faces he did not recognize. Tyson's stomach clenched. How scared and confused Kai must feel!

How could he have only thought about himself and his feelings? How could he be so selfish? Yes, this had been unexpected. But he should be grateful Kai had finally woken. Also, now was not the time to pout. Right now he needed to be there for Kai. The least he could do for Kai was to shed some light onto things and give him some comfort in this strange environment. Because they were friends, because Kai would do the same for him and overall because he loved him and wanted nothing more than to see him well again.

Tyson nodded to himself. Yes. He would be there for Kai in every way possible, for every step of the, no matter how long it would take.

He focused on Kai, who was still looking up at him with confusion written all over his face.

"Hello Kai," he said softly, managing a cricket smile. "I'm Tyson. You don't seem to remember, but you and me, we are buddies. You have trouble remembering, because you have been in a car accident and you bumped your head pretty hard."

Kai's eyes darted around the room.

"Am I...?" he croaked. "I'm …in the …hospital."

"Yes," Tyson said and nodded. "How-..."

Just as he was about to ask how Kai was feeling, the door flew open and the Doc rushed in, Tala at his heels.

"Mr. Hiwatari?" he asked.

Kai slowly turned his head. Tyson figured any movement whatsoever was incredibly straining after lying still for so long. He should probably be thankful Kai was able to move at all, and also that he didn't seem to have any trouble speaking apart from a hoarse voice.

"I guess you mean me?"

"Yes. I'm Dr. Hira. I have been your leading physician throughout your recovery," the Doc said. "Mr. Hiwatari, I am sorry to tell you, but you have suffered serious injuries in a car accident, some of which were so severe that we had to put you in an artificial coma in order to save your life. You have been unconscious for three months."

Tyson held his breath while he waited for Kai's reaction. He didn't know what he was expecting. He had no idea how people normally reacted when they were told they spent the past months in a coma. Also, Kai's reaction was usually not like normal people's... But... was this even Kai? The old sour-puss they all were waiting for to wake up? Or had everything that made Kai vanished alongside his memories? Tyson swallowed hard. He'd probably find out sooner or later.

Tyson watched Kai's face closely, searching for a sign that the old Kai was still in there somewhere. He saw how Kai slightly furrowed his brows and let out his breath, only now realizing he'd been holding until now. This was a very Kai thing to do - that boy he fell in love with still had to be in there, buried beneath all that nothingness and confusion. It was going to be fine eventually. Wasn't it?

"I see," Kai then said, very slowly, every syllable clearly taking a lot of effort. "Thank you, Doctor."

The Doc smiled at him.

"It's my pleasure. Now Mr. Hiwatari, if you feel well enough I would like to do a quick health check on you. Then I will let you go back to sleep. We will do more testing once you wake up again."

Kai slowly nodded.

"Great." The Doc gave Tala and Tyson each a look. "Now, the two of you will have to wait outside."

"Yeah, yeah," Tala said and waived his hand about. "We know the drill. We'll be right outside."

Reluctantly Tyson got out of his chair and together with Tala he left the room, taking one more glimpse at Kai over his shoulder. At those beautiful crimson eyes that had finally opened...

Once the door fell shut behind him Tyson let out a deep breath. He could do this. He had to. He needed to stay calm. For Kai!

…It was no use. The flood of emotions he'd felt earlier once more welled up inside him. This time, he gave into them.

"Aaargh," he yelled at the top of his lungs, letting out every bit of negative emotion. "I cannot believe he has lost his fucking memory!"

"I'm sorry," Tala apologized to a startled nurse that had just been passing them in the hall, "He doesn't usually swear."

Tyson dug his fingers in his hair and shook his head.

"Why, why, why?" he continued to rant. "Just when I thought this was over. This is so fucking unfair!"

Tala then gave him a smack to the back of the head.

"Ouch!"

Tyson rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head and grouchily looked at Tala.

"What was that for?"

"Watch your language."

"Excuse me?" Tyson huffed. "You curse all the time."

"Exactly! Gramps will think I'm a bad influence on you and I won't get any more dumplings. I cannot risk that, so cut it out Tyson."

Tyson folded his arms in front of his chest.

"How come you're so composed all of the sudden?"

Tala shrugged.

"Because I realized that today was actually a big step forward, even if it was not as big as we'd hoped."

"Was that before or after you stormed out of the room?"

"Okay fine, I may have punched a couple walls on my way to realization," Tala said. "But then I came through and saw that we need to be there for Kai, maybe now more than ever. So we have to get our shit together."

Tyson nodded.

"I guess you are right."

He took a deep breath and straightened his back. Yes, Tala was absolutely right - with everything. Today Kai hade made a huge step forward. They still had a bit to go, but they would get there. Together. He smiled at the red head.

"I'm really glad that we're in this together."

"Don't go all sentimental on me, Granger."

Tyson rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious, you and the others-… Oh shit! The others! We have to tell them Kai has woken up!"

"If you ask me, now would be the time to create a group chat."

Tyson ripped his phone out of his pocket and frantically started typing a message in a new group chat, informing everyone that Kai was awake, but apparently had lost all his memories.

"Maybe tell them to leave him be for a bit, too. I can't imagine it would do Kai any good if they'd all come running right away," Tala suggested.

Tyson nodded while he kept typing. That was a good idea. They should let the Doc do a thorough health check first and determine whether there was any permanent damage before large numbers of visitors should be allowed…

Moments after his message had been sent Tyson's phone started ringing.

"Oh god, here we go," Tala murmured.

Tyson shot him a glare, then picked up.

"Hey Maxi – woah, slow down, slow down! …Yes he just woke up. …No, has no clue who we are – or who he is, for that matter. … I can't tell you more. The Doc's in there doing a first health check. …Well of course I'll let you know when I know more. …Yeah. …Yeah. …But hey, overall it's good news, Max. …Yeah talk to you soon buddy!"

He hung up and sighed when took another look at his phone.

"No way! How can there be 72 messages already?"

Tala shrugged.

"I'm guessing there's gonna be about seventeen "OMG"s and roughly thirty-one "WTF"s. None of which you really need to reply to now."

"You're probably right. I should call Gramps though and tell him we won't make dinner."

"Speak for yourself Granger! You might wanna stay here and wait for Kai's results, but who says I'm going to miss out on Grandpa Granger's home-made dumplings for that?"

Tyson chuckled.

"Oh right, for a moment it slipped my mind that it's dumplings tonight. In that case, maybe he'll keep them warm for us."

Tala theatrically threw his hands in the air and sighed dramatically.

"I guess it cannot be helped – what was Kai thinking, waking up on dumpling-night?" he said and grinned.

They exchanged glances and both started to chuckle. Soon the chuckle turned into full out laughter. Tyson didn't even know why they were laughing. Maybe it was just the huge weight of worrying about Kai being lifted off their shoulders. Maybe all that time in the hospital had caused them to go crazy. Or maybe a bit of both!

Then the door opened and the Doc stepped out into the hall.

He smiled at them.

"It's good to see the two of you in such a good mood," he said and then added, "And you have good reason, too."

"Does this mean you have good news for us?" Tala asked, suddenly very composed again.

Tala had started to open up more, but he still refused to show emotions in front of strangers.

The Doc nodded.

"Of course I only did a quick check and cannot say anything for sure until we have done further testing, but it seems that there will be no permanent physical damage. As for the amnesia, it is quite common for long term coma patients to suffer from memory loss. In most cases, the patients are able to recover their memory completely. Of course, I will have to do a thorough check on Mr. Hiwatari in the next few days, but it the fact that he is able to speak full sentences is a very good sign that there is no damage to the brain."

Tyson smiled widely.

"That's great news Doc! That is really, really great news!"

"Oh and he's asleep now, so why don't you two go home, get some sleep and come back tomorrow?"

Tyson laughed.

"Looks like you won't miss out on Gramps' home-made dumplings after all, Tala!"

They both wished the Doc a good night and made their way made. And for the first time, Tyson left the hospital without worrying. Kai was out of the coma. There was no physical damage. The memory loss was most likely temporary. Kai was going to live, and he was going to be fine. He was going to be Kai again, the old sour‑puss he knew and loved. Tyson smiled. Things would go back to normal.

"Hey yo Tyson, stop staring into the air with that silly grin on your face and get a move on! I'm starving."

Well, as far as 'normal' went anyways, with friends like that …

A/N: Who besides me is excited that Kai finally gets an active part in this? :D Can't wait to give his well deserved time in the spot light in the next chapters!

Have a lovely weekend and take care guys! ~Bird