Disclaimer: Sadly, Santa did not give me Beyblade for Christmas...
A/N: Hellooo~!
I said I'd update everything for Christmas and oh my god, I actually did! Boom. Christmas miracle!
Two things: first, I made an addition to chapter 16, but you don't have to go back, I put it in here as well. After my third time re-writing chapter 17 I figured this paragraph owuld make way more sense at the end of Chapter 16.
Second, I will do my very best to update within the week. Because Chapter 18 is going to be a Christmas chapter (unbelievable right? I thought about that in summer and was like: oh great, yeah, go upload a Christmas chapter in September, brilliant idea Bird. Well yeah, then life happened).
Actually three things! The third is my big thank you to all you good souls who commented, fav'ed and/or followed: thanks to FlamingIce94, Julia Fernandez Hiwatari, the Random fan and guest, , 0 Beautiful Passion 0 and d1bontemps. You're amazing!
Now this is almost as long as the chapter, well done me, and I will shut up and let you read.
Chapter 16 One Kai - Addition
Kai was easy to find. He was sitting in the lounge, going through a pile of books Tyson and Gramps had turned up. Admittedly, it was a pitiful attempt to keep Kai busy, as they didn't have much of a library. Tyson's grandfather had a thing for cheesy romance novels and Tyson himself didn't own a single book that didn't have pictures in it. Technically that meant Tyson didn't own a single book, only manga. It was a bit embarrassing, now that he thought about it.
"Yo."
Without looking up Kai replied, "Oh, did Dad and Daddy stop fighting?"
Feisty. Tala was right, there was just one Kai.
"Just for the record, you'd be Daddy," Tala said to Tyson.
Tyson glared at Tala. You red headed pest, Tyson thought and made sure his thoughts would be easy to read from his face. Tala's shrug told him he'd understood, but didn't give a damn. Well, whatever. Tyson rolled his eyes at him, then turned to Kai.
"Sorry about that, Kai," he said. "Um, about the Christmas party-..."
"Okay, what exactly are you up to Tyson?" Tala interrupted. And directed at Kai he added, "What the hell is he talking about?"
"I thought we could invite everyone for Christmas and Kai would have some people to talk to and-..."
"And stop right there!" Tala said and flicked his finger against Tyson's forehead.
Which hurt! A lot!
"Ouch! Hey! What was that for?"
Tyson rubbed his throbbing forehead. How could this hurt so much?
"Stupidity! So, so much of it!"
"What's wrong with a Christmas party?"
Tala flicked his finger against Tyson's forehead once more.
Ouch, dammit!
"Fucking everything. Way too many idiots who run their mouths off without thinking, all off them strangers to Kai, who are coming from all around the world and would have to stay here since hotels are likely to be booked out this time of year and would hence be fucking killing him because they'd stay for at least a week to make it worth the trip!"
"Oh," Tyson said. "I haden't thought of that."
"Of course you haven't."
Tyson glanced at Kai, who'd been silently watching the scene. He felt bad for putting this out there without having properly thought it through. Tala was right, this would have been too overwhelming for him. What had he been thinking?!
"What about the cook with the superior hearing?" Kai spoke up.
Tala shot him a glance that clearly asked what the hell he was talking about, but Tyson knew exactly what - or rather who!
"I'm sure Ray would love to come!" he said and smiled at Kai. "I'll ask him right away."
Tala shrugged.
"I guess cat-boy is fine," he said. "If you can reach him, that is. Doesn't he live in the wilderness? Are you gonna send smoke signals?"
Without another look at Tala he went into his room to give Ray a call. Because he did own a cellphone. A smartphone, even.
As Tyson had predicted, Ray was super excited to see Kai and promised to book a flight straight away. Tyson couldn't hide a smug grin when he told Tala, who genuinely seemed surprised that he'd actually reached Ray. Now who was the idiot.
The rest of the afternoon passed somewhat peaceful: they watched a movie, had dinner together with Gramps and then Tala returned home to check on his team and everyone else retired to their rooms.
Chapter 17
Habit
"I AM FREEEE!"
Arms spread wide Tyson took a deep breath.
He then spun around.
"Kenny, Hilary, I will see you at Christmas. Or sooner. We'll talk. Or text! Later!"
And he dashed through the gates towards home, towards free time and, most importantly, towards Kai.
Finally, free time! And not just a weekend that was over before one realized it had begun. No, two whole weeks. Two weeks with Kai. Tyson grinned and sped up.
The last days until Christmas break had passed in an odd combination of slow-motion and fast forward. The mornings would drag seemingly endless. The moment the last school bell rang, time would start to go faster and faster, until his alarm clock woke Tyson for another day of school, when time would almost come to a halt. He'd teeth-gnashingly suffer through his classes, looking forward to being able to go home and see Kai.
Kai. Tyson smiled.
Kai had made it a habit to wait for him after school to show him what he'd learnt that day. The first time he'd waited for him on the steps, dressed in his kendo attire and with the sword balanced across his knees he'd given Tyson quite a scare. He'd naturally assumed something had happened with Gramps. He really was becoming a mother hen... But Kai had just wanted to show him what he'd learnt.
Tyson had thought he had a pretty good idea what it was Kai had learnt that day and that it wasn't exactly the most exciting thing in the world, but Kai had been beaming so proudly that he could've never said that out loud.
"Of course. Lead the way!" he'd said and followed Kai to the dojo.
With a smile he had watched Kai show off his kendo abilities. It was really just the basic straight blow every student had to repeat over and over again, and then a thousand times more. To Tyson's surprise Ryuu had also shown Kai a left and a right blow and the block. Probably to make things more interesting. Not that he'd cared to do the same for Tyson. No, Tyson had been practicing straight blows for months before Gramps had shown him anything else. Before he could go on a mental rant about Gramps picking favorites, Tyson reminded himself that these were special circumstances after all.
"Pretty good for your first day, Kai!" he had said.
Kai had smiled proudly and put away the sword. Meanwhile Tyson's heart had fluttered in his chest, so much he'd wondered if love could be a life-threatening condition. That adorable smile... and now that he didn't have to worry about a possible incident in practice, he could also admire how fantastic Kai looked in his kendo attire! He could so pull off this look. Aw. Tyson bit his lower lip. To be a damsel in distress, being rescued by this brave warrior... Oh what the freaking hell!
Tyson jumped over a puddle and felt his cheeks heat up at the memory. It was a delight as well as a torture to come home to a sight like that every day. Actually, every aspect of living together with Kai was. Tyson would happily endure this kind of torture until the end of his life though. He avoided another puddle and fell back into thought.
They had gone back to the main house and while Kai changed out of his kendo clothes, Tyson went over his list of homework. One would think teachers would have mercy the last days before Christmas break, but it was quite the opposite. As if they feared this was their last chance ever to make them write an essay. With a noise halfway between growl and sigh he had pulled out his history homework.
He remembered being mid-way into his second crisis over his first essay when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," he had said and turned in his seat.
Kai had peaked in. He'd looked almost shy. Unnecessary to state what that did to Tyson's heart.
When he saw Tyson's homework he had mumbled, "Oh sorry, I didn't want to disturb you."
Tyson had immediately tossed his pen aside.
"Oh don't be silly, it's just homework," he'd said. "You can stay if you like. I'm just going to be boring company, because my teacher might actually kill me if I don't hand in my assignment... again."
A bit hesitantly Kai had stepped into his room. He had walked over and sat down on Tyson's bed.
"What subject is it?"
It had taken Tyson a moment to figure out what it was Kai was asking him. He'd been so distracted by his racing heart and the inappropriate thoughts the fact that Kai was sitting on his bed had sparked. He seriously needed help... But Kai was so darn cute and he was just there, on his bed, and the door was closed and...
Freakin' hormones!
"Err, um..." He had scratched his head. "Um, history. Something about the American independence, although I don't understand what a tea party has got to do with a revolution. You'd think the English of all people would understand the perks of a nice cup of tea."
Kai had grinned.
"You mean the Boston Tea Party."
"Yeah, something like that."
"That wasn't about drinking tea," Kai had said. "The Americans tossed large amounts of freight from the ships into the Boston Harbor to protest against British taxation. It happened to be shipments of tea, and that's why this act of revolution is today known as the Boston Tea Party."
"Damn, you sure know a lot about this ancient stuff."
"It was 1773. That's not that ancient."
"Everything that happened before I can remember is ancient, dude."
Kai had chuckled. The most adorable sound to have ever reached Tyson's ears. ...ugh, the hormones.
"How do you know all this stuff anyways?"
Kai had scratched his head.
"I think I read some books on that period of time."
"Aw man and I let you have a look at our crappy books. We need to get you some real books," Tyson had laughed. "I don't think Gramps and I have anything that's educational enough for you."
"One of them is on Egyptian pharaohs! It's quite interesting."
"Oh that's my brother's. There's no way Gramps would read something that doesn't involve a sappy romance."
"And you?"
"I wouldn't even touch that thing."
"You don't like Egyptian history then?"
"It's more archeology in general."
"Why?"
"I ... I just think one shouldn't value the dead more than the living."
Kai had nodded thoughtfully.
"There's truth in that," he had said. "I'd still like to read it, if that's okay."
"Oh sure, sure," Tyson had said. "Now, about this tea party..."
Tyson chuckled. Yes, the boy with amnesia knew more about Tyson's schoolwork than he did himself. Was Tyson embarrassed? ... Not really, no. This was Kai, after all.
That had been Tuesday. On Wednesday, Kai had knocked and (again, almost shyly) asked if he could join him. What a question. So Kai had sat down on Tyson's bed and read, while Tyson did his homework - or tried to, at least. At times he got too distracted by Kai's presence, other times he simply was too dumb to answer the questions. He'd then turned around with "Hey Kaaaaiii?" and more often than not this greatly helped with his homework.
Tyson enjoyed these afternoons together immensely. He was so glad for every minute he could spent in Kai's company. And now that he was on Christmas break he would, hopefully, get to spend the entire day with Kai.
He grinned and broke into a run for the last bit of the way.
When he stepped through the gate Kai was already waiting for him on the steps. He was not dressed in kendo attire though. Curious that this already seemed odd to Tyson, after all Kai had only started kendo practice a few days ago.
Kai smiled when he saw Tyson and got up.
"Welcome home," he said.
Tyson smiled back.
"Home and free!"
He gestured up and down Kai.
"So, what's up with that? Did you take a break from practice?"
Kai shook his head.
"No. But nothing new to show you. Ryuu said I have to practice the basic moves until I repeat them in my sleep."
"Yeah, that's why I was never that excited about kendo. I got bored."
"I find it quite meditative."
Tyson laughed.
"Well, good for you, man. Do you wanna celebrate my freedom with me by eating a bag chips and doing absolutely nothing?"
"Yes, I'd like that."
Kai smiled. Before Tyson's body could go into crazy-mode because of that, Tyson turned and opened the front door. He stepped inside, kicked off his shoes and tossed his bag into a dark corner - he had a feeling he'd be hating himself for it in two weeks time when he'd desperately try to remember the whereabouts of his bag, but right now he couldn't care less. Kai followed him, but unlike Tyson placed his shoes neatly in front of the step.
A bag of chips was quickly found and with a happy sigh Tyson sank onto the couch. He shimmied down and placed his feet on the couch table.
Now it really was Christmas break.
Kai set down at the other end of the couch. Tyson saw him look at his feet, then the couch table, then Tyson's feet. He laughed. So well-mannered.
"Around here it's totally ok to put your feet on the couch table - as long as you don't put them in a bowl of guacamole or something."
Hesitantly Kai lifted his feet. For a moment they hung in the air, while Kai seemed to consider one more time whether or not he should put his feet on the table. Then he put them next to Tyson's.
Tyson chuckled. He held the bag of chips under Kai's nose.
"Want some?"
Kai took exactly two chips from the bag. Tyson could never muster that kind of self restraint. No, he took two hands full, at the very least.
"Thanks."
"Sure."
They kept silent for a bit.
"So, Christmas break," Kai then said. "What are you going to do with all that free time?"
"Eat and sleep," Tyson replied promptly.
Kai grinned.
"That is a very busy schedule, are you sure you don't want to use the time to relax a bit?"
Tyson grinned back. Kai Hiwatari really did have a sense of humor. He'd done a great job at keeping that hidden so far. The question of how Kai was going to be once he regained his memories crossed Tyson's mind. It had quite often recently, but Tyson shoved it aside once more. Now was not the time.
"Maybe I can squeeze some relaxation in between breakfast and my afternoon nap."
He popped a couple chips into his mouth. Tyson then lowered the bag.
"Hey Kai."
"Hn?"
New Kai's 'hn' sounded so much nicer than the old Kai's.
"Do you wanna go Christmas shopping tomorrow? Get some stuff for the party?"
"Sure." Kai paused, then asked, "I'm curious, what's 'some stuff' to you?"
"Ummm ... Well, definitely a tree. And a Christmas cake. Oh, and we should get some drinks... A lot of drinks! Maybe some party hats?" With a look at Kai's face Tyson quickly added, "Wearing of party hats totally optional of course. ...Ummm..."
"Okay!"
Tyson nodded and shoved some more chips into his mouth. The taste of freedom. ...Sorta. He knew it was a figure of speech, and that freedom didn't really have a taste, but if it did, it certainly wouldn't be sour cream and onion.
"Ray is gonna be here the day after tomorrow. Are you nervous about meeting him?"
Kai shook his head.
"No. He sounds like someone you should look forward to meeting."
"You know, I truly admire your way of thinking sometimes."
"Um, thank you."
"Wanna watch TV?"
"Sure."
Tyson switched on the television. A documentary was on.
"Oh well that looks-..." he interrupted himself when he saw Kai sit up from the corner of his eye. Kai had never looked more interested in something than he did right now.
"... interesting," he finished.
For you, he added in his mind.
Something about European history. Super boring in Tyson's opinion. Exactly the stuff his history teacher lulled him to sleep with. But he'd rather bite his tongue off than tell Kai, whose eyes were practically glued to the screen.
So Tyson made himself comfortable on the couch, kept munching on his potato chips and tried his best to pay attention. The commentators voice was really very pleasant to listen to as he went on and on and-...
When Tyson next opened his eyes the room was somewhat cricket. Tyson blinked. Still cricket. Also, his neck was a bit stiff and his cheek pressed against-...
Oh god.
In a split second Tyson was sitting upright. The heat he felt creeping up his neck told him he was in for the worst blush in history. He'd fallen asleep on Kai's shoulder. And Kai had simply let him sleep.
Oh gosh, I hope I didn't drool on him, he thought. And do I talk in my sleep?
Tyson's head was spinning from all the thoughts racing back and forth, and the fact he was close enough to feel Kai's body-warmth did not make this any better.
"Did you have a nice nap?"
Tyson slowly turned his head. His eyes widened with surprise.
A smile. There was a genuine, warm smile on Kai's face. No frown, no sly grin.
His heart did a summersault backwards.
I love him, he thought. I so do.
But of course he didn't say that out loud.
He cleared his voice and said, "I, err,... Yeah, thanks for, um, letting me."
He jumped up.
"I think I'll, err, freshen up a bit. Be right back."
Then Tyson dashed down the hallway, torn between the need to cheer and giggle and that to bang his head against the nearest wall. In front of the bathroom door he stopped and a smile crept onto his lips. Kai's shoulder head been so warm and he'd smelled so good... Tyson wouldn't mind making this a habit too...
A/N: Sooo... Christmas break! Lots of time to get cozy ;) But of course with the Blitzkrieg Boys around there will be some chaos too.
Hope you liked this and look forward to hearing from you. Merry Christmas everyone. ~Bird