As there is currently three British folk running amok around my house I haven't had much time to work on this. So this is shorter than other chapters, because I don't like not posting for a long time. It makes me irritable, and I can only hope the content is not affected by this.

Note Anything that seems rather odd (i.e. ghosts and such) can only be seen by Kai. So unless I state otherwise, nobody but Kai can see these spectres.

Part 06

Bryan slammed through the front door, muttering angrily to himself as he kicked off his snow-covered boots and turned to shut the door loudly behind him. His fingers were stiff as he prised the grocery bag from around his fingers and laid it on the hall table.

That had been, in his opinion, the most humiliating shopping trip. Bryan was not one to be embarrassed easily, but what had happened to him today had royally annoyed him. And the blame all came down to a certain flaming figure.

No, not Satan, but someone worse. Much worse.

Tala. The sick, twisted, forgetful spectre that flitted around and basically annoyed the hell out of most people. He was blissfully dense to the goings-on outside of his world, like war, famine, disease...and the appropriate amount of money required when purchasing groceries.

Tala had left him alone to do the food shopping while he brought Kai back to their house, but he had also neglected to give Bryan the money he needed. They'd had forty dollars between them, but Bryan had been left with a piffling sum of fifteen. What with the increased prices of food due to the fast-approaching holiday season, Bryan had not been able to get what he thought they would need for tonight's meal.

The result was an embarrassed, yet never showing it, Bryan who ended up with cans of sweet radishes and something that resembled meat. At first glance he'd assumed it was chicken, but upon seeing the purplish tinge to it, he wasn't so sure. And of course, he had gotten a bag of bread sticks that he personally had a secret fetish of.

Not that he would ever tell anyone, of course. It was not beneficial to one's manly image to admit to harbouring an obsession over a food item.

Back to the matter at hand...Bryan was mad. At Tala. So he would need to take his revenge on the oblivious redhead. Unless he was busy with Kai; Bryan had seen how out of it Kai had appeared before, and if Tala was somehow helping him, then Bryan might be inclined to hold off on punishment. Might be.

Entering the living room that stood just to the left of the front hall, Bryan was met with a rather surprising sight.

Side by side on the couch Tala and Kai were sitting, heads both bowed in a show of sleep, Tala tilting slightly to his side, closer to Kai than he usually held himself. What was more unusual was the fact that they were holding hands; more like Tala's was engulfing Kai's.

Bryan raised an eyebrow. Tala and Kai...together? This was the first he'd ever learned of it. No, that was clearly ridiculous; neither of those straight-laced pansies would actually be gay. Or with each other if they were.

This was just a position that was screaming at Bryan to reference it away for future blackmail opportunities, and not one to let chances like this pass him by, he retreated to the cabinet in the hall where Spencer's digital camera sat; turning it on and waiting for the light to flash green as a sign of readiness, he raised it and smirked proudly at the clear picture that was displayed on the screen. Save it, and return the camera to the hall table. Perfect.

Now, back to the matter at hand, namely punishing Tala for being such a floaty ass, leaving Bryan alone in an embarrassing situation. An eye for an eye, so goes the saying. Or, in this specific case, physical pain for mental trauma. Yes, Bryan had been tramuatized, and yes, Tala was going to pay for it. It was so much easier to find fault with the redhead than try to blame himself. After all, he could do no wrong. He was the great Bryan, and anyone who dared contradict him would end up with an inflamed derriere.

Bryan took himself from his murderous thoughts momentarily as he tried to figure out the best way to go about exacting revenge on Tala, while at the same time he didn't bother Kai; cold or not, even Bryan felt a small amount of pity–no, empathy– for him. He figured that old Mistkerl (1) had done something really damaging, and who was he to deny Kai some moments of rest?

No, he would settle on Tala for now, but what kind of retribution would be worthy enough of Bryan's wrathful mood? He tapped his fingers on his chin in a mock imagery of thinking, before he decided that he would save the real punishment for later, and do something minimal now. Like...

Oh, how those annoyed him to no end. The bangs that Tala had, just two thin strips of hair hanging over his eyes. They were more like the feelers that grasshoppers or lobsters or whatever creepy bugs/sea creatures possessed them, just dangling there and bouncing with every move, every twist of Tala's head.

But, Bryan realized to himself, rather proudly, they'll have a hard time moving all around if they're stuck together...

Thus Bryan found himself, seconds later, kneeling in front of Tala, working in concentrated silence at tying his stupid little strands into the tightest knot that Bryan could make. Some hair broke in his hand as he pulled, and that only served to fuel his sense of justice. Leaning back and admiring his handiwork, Bryan had an urge. A strong one, that only escalated as he sat waiting.

Deciding to act on it, he leaned forward and gave a sharp tug on the messy knot that locked flaming hairs together. Tala's head was jerked forward and down, colliding with his knees rather hard. Bryan was pleased to hear the low grunt of surprise and obvious discomfort emit with the collision, and he rocked back on his heels then stood and stretched.

That was somewhat satisfying.

Tala sat up, using his free hand to rub his reddening nose and face and glaring around in sleepy anger at whatever had rudely awoken him. Bryan grinned down at him, full of self-accomplishment and sadistic pleasure.

Tala angrily stood, too late remembering who held his other hand; stopping himself before he pulled Kai with him, Tala gently removed his hand from Kai's before turning back to Bryan.

"You're an asshole." He rubbed his face to ease the slight pain felt, and waited impatiently for Bryan's answer.

"And you deserved it, so...bite me," Bryan responded. Tala grabbed Bryan's wrist and proceeded to lead him into the kitchen, mindful of the sleeping Kai.

"Stop randomly lapsing into German; I know the only words you know are insults, so grow up. Now, what the hell did you do that for?" Tala demanded, settling back against the counter top with arms folded.

"You're the irresponsible idiot who left me with no money to buy you your precious gourmet foods to feed yourself," Bryan said. Tala sighed and shook his head, about to respond when he noticed the knotted strands of hair that Bryan had so kindly tied together for him. He shook his head again, more vigourously and scowled deeply when it flapped and smacked either temple.

"Bryan...did you do this?" Tala asked him in a calm voice. Bryan shook his head.

"No. Kai must've."

"Try not to be so stupid, Bryan. This is your payback I take it?"

"For now." Tala cast him another dark glare, and began to set about the task of untangling his unique front bangs. Bryan knew he would be kept occupied for hours now; Tala was so vain, especially when it came to his hair. He believed it took something that was beautiful enough to top off his "wonderfully shaped head containing a beautiful mind."

His words, not Bryan's.

"So...you talk to Kai about, um, before?" Bryan began in a hesitant voice. At his words Tala momentarily stopped playing with his hair, a frown set on his face. Bryan saw his chew the inside of his cheek for a minute, then resume fixing his hair.

"Not really," Tala admitted finally. "I mean, I asked him what happened, and he just said it was his fault and he deserved everything. And...I don't know, but he was just really out of it, though he did say that was because of the medicine, and he kind of passed out."

"He fainted?"

"No. Just...fell asleep really quickly." Tala blew an angry breath and went cross-eyed to glare at his knotted hair, reaching behind him and pulling open the top drawer and taking out a fork, which he proceeded to drag through his hair, wincing as the tines caught on every bit they came in contact with.

"He'll stay the night then, yeah?" Bryan asked. He felt uneasy about sending Kai back to Voltaire so quickly. He knew that in his case, his anger needed days–sometimes weeks– to recede.

"Definitely. But...should we, I don't know, call his grandfather or something? Or maybe have him call, just so we don't get charged with Kai-napping?" Tala wondered, glancing over to Bryan for advice.

Bryan frowned as well, the handle on the oven digging into his back as he leaned back against it. Have Kai tell the man that had messed him up in the first place where he was thereby earning a prospective visit, which would do no good to anyone but Voltaire; on the other hand, they could keep him completely in the dark as he so obviously deserved to be, and allow Kai peace of mind, if only for one single night.

Decisions, decisions.

About to voice his opinion, Bryan stopped when he heard a thump to his right, and both he and Tala turned to the noise.

Kai stood in the doorway of the kitchen, glaring darkly at the other side of the doorway upon which he had undoubtedly banged against when he came in, and settled himself unsteadily against the wood trim, cursing reflexively under his breath. Keeping a hand levelled against the door frame, he raised his head to meet with Tala and Bryan's expectant looks.

"Just a bit...light-headed," he said with a shrug. He glanced at Tala with a raised eyebrow. "I've heard that combs work better for that sort of work."

Tala huffed in annoyance and dropped the fork on the counter behind him. "This is going to take some serious conditioning work. All thanks to that stupid hair-tying ass."

He seemed to remember then, what had transpired a matter of hours before, and he eyed Kai in what he hoped was a non-judgmental way. Both he and Bryan had waited for answers, and now appeared to be a prime time to ask, when Kai wasn't so guarded. So he thought.

"So Kai..." Tala began in a hesitant voice after glancing over at Bryan. "Are you doing better now, from what happened before? I mean...what exactly did happen?"

Kai sighed to himself and found himself feeling comfortable as he took up his familiar pose of folding his arms in front of him. Averting Tala's look, he became avidly interested in the tiles on the kitchen floor as he devised clever ways to avoid the subject completely.

Hmm. This was a rather awkward situation he found himself in. How could he just come out and say "I killed my parents years ago, ahahaha so Voltaire has every right to hate me"? That would lead to sustained silences at the very least. And looks...

Oh god, how Kai hated looks. When people just stare for prolonged moments, because they've seen something interesting or scary or shiny, then proceed to stand like slack-jawed idiots until the object of their attention moves or dulls. Kai was commonly on the receiving end of stares, usually because his damn hair caught their eye, or his own eyes reflected every light that shone upon them. Which annoyed him to no end and had him often considering wearing sunglasses permanently. Maybe one day.

Until then, Kai had to deal with the demanding stares of Bryan and Tala, and think up a suitable answer. He decided that the only way to answer was to fudge the truth somewhat. A lot, actually. He'd have to talk a lot more than he was used to, and if they had questions...God forbid.

No time to start like the present, Kai thought to himself with a mental sigh.

"Voltaire and I had a slight...disagreement, which led to me leaving," Kai said finally. "Temporarily." Or so he hoped. As mich as he didn't like his grandfather –which he knew now was an unjustified feeling– he was his only family, not to mention benefactor. Kai didn't much fancy having to live with a foster family, or in the care of Japan.

"And bleeding, "Bryan added, giving the healed cut on Kai's head a pointed look. Kai shrugged the remark off.

"He has violent tendencies. Plus I think he had a–" Kai cut himself off quickly, realizing a tad too late that he had nearly told them that his grandfather had a reason. Oh right, his medication was still in effect. Reflecting sadly on the fact that he was a bit slower on the uptake when he was doped up, he figured it wise to keep his mouth shut.

"Bit too much to drink?" Tala supplied, forcing his tangled bangs behind his right ear. If nothing else, this would give Kai an easy escape, which Tala was only too glad to give him; Kai was looking trapped and frustrated at the fact.

"...Not quite, but..."Kai sighed again and looked up at them both. "I think I should go."

Bryan spoke up then. "If Voltaire is acting like he was last time, then I suggest you hang out here for a bit. Mad old men tend to die of rage–induced heart attacks, and if that happens while you're around, you'll be blamed."

"Bryan! Don't be so stupid," Tala glared at Bryan. What an insensitive remark. Making Kai think of Voltaire dying. Heart attack. Probably would need a triple bypass to deal with the black in his heart plugging up his valves and whatnot. That was actually a nice thought, now that Tala dwelled on it.

Not so good for his physical appearance it seemed, for when he snapped back to reality he had to hastily wipe up the collected pool of spit at the side of his mouth and give a quick sheepish grin at the disgusted looks on Bryan and Kai's faces.

I had a tough image once, Tala reminded himself wistfully.

"What about if you were to spend the night here? Just to let this blow over a bit," he suggested in an attempt to divert the other two teens' attention. There hadn't been that much spit.

"Mmm I'd better not. I don't know what he's thinking anymore," Kai said with a thoughtful frown. "Usually I know exactly what he's thinking and how to deal with it, but this time he's just being real different. Not so much anger as...complete hate. Hmm. I suppose rage and grief don't mix so well."

That seemed like an overload of talking...Kai mused to himself. Ah yes, slow mind and quick mouth. What he wouldn't give for a cotton ball that he could wad up nicely and shove down his throat to prevent any more words.

"I don't think you'd be able to breathe through that," a voice spoke up, very close to him.

Kai wondered to himself if he had answered himself, until he felt a tight grip on his upper arm and focused on Tala standing quite near to him, and definitely in his personal space.

"...Through what now?"

"Cotton ball. In your throat. I don't think that makes for easy breathing," Tala clarified. He turned Kai around and pushed him back into the sitting room.

"You're not going to be going home until you stop thinking out loud," Kai heard him say as he was propelled into the room he had recently staggered from. His mind felt heavy again, like when he had spoken with Voltaire. It rose and fell on the swells of his fevered thinking, and he cursed the lapses of his pills. Sometimes they bothered him, other times he was fine.

Sinking down onto the couch once again that had appeared before him, he felt the pressure on his arm release as he heard the front door bang open at the same time. It rang in his ears, and Kai shut his eyes and shook his head in an attempt to get the resounding bang from his head.

His stomach roiled then, and he automatically clenched his jaw as he felt them. Again, they were both drawn to him, like before in his washroom. As he balled his hands into fists he could feel the nervous sweat that had formed on his palms and between his fingers.

If I don't open my eyes, then their not there. Ignorance is bliss. I think I stopped breathing. Kai abruptly snapped open his eyes and took a deep breath. There were voices to his left, but there was weight to his right. He knew he would prefer the view on his left, but it seemed as though his gaze was drawn to the negative force on his right.

So he looked, thinking maybe he could get it over with and just be done. Maybe he thought he could face up to his fears. Or that what he'd seen before hadn't been all that disturbing. He could get over it. Ghosts weren't real. He had known that since... well he had believed that since he started seeing them.

When Kai saw something he did not like, such as ghosts, he denied denied denied until he could convince himself otherwise or what he was denying had faded. Like ghosts. If he decided they weren't there, then maybe they wouldn't be. It was the classic case of 'If I can't see it, it can't see me.'

It was a nice thought, while it lasted.

Kai did look beside him, and he did see them just as clearly as before, and they were just as gruesome as always, and they still had the empty stare that seemed to bore right through him, until the cold feeling in his chest constricted so that he could not breathe properly.

So the three of them looked at each other, for long moments, not one of them turning away, or blinking; if any of them besides Kai was able to, that is. As horrid as they were to look at, Kai could not turn away, because he was searching for some semblance of familiarity that may still be present. He wanted to see that they still looked like they had when they were alive.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Kai.

I'm staring at my dead parents...the ones I killed...oh right, obviously them, I don't have another set tucked away somewhere...I don't want to see them anymore.

He turned from them and sat bolt upright, breathing as though he had just run a mile. He bit his bottom lip to prevent any sounds from escaping, and distantly felt the sharp sting as his lip cut, and the sharp tang of blood filled his mouth. They were still there, watching in silence, and a cold chill settled over Kai, and he wondered if it was their breath.

He shuddered, because they were still very much there, only now his head pounded, with an odd rhythm that matched the one in his chest. They were still staring without seeing, and he was annoyed and unnerved at the same time.

Kai didn't want them so close, so close to him that he could feel their sightless gaze bore down on him, and if he were to turn to them they would most definitely still be there, still waiting for something. Maybe they wanted him to say or do something...?

Well he wouldn't. He was scared and he was mad that he was scared, but he was feeling guilty that he couldn't do anything, whatever they wanted him to do, because he wasn't brave enough. He just knew that he could not do what they wanted him to do.

He shot out of his seat when the coldness around him became too much, and even when he was standing away from the couch he could still feel them. They had infected this whole room, this whole house, and he had a restless feeling in his chest that was urging him to go, to move, to do something.

Anything.

So he did.

Kai ran.

To say that they were taken by surprise by Kai's sudden burst from their house would be an understatement. One minute he was siting on the couch, seeming a bit antsy and leaning slightly to his left. Then with no indication of why he leaped from the couch and dashed past Tala, Bryan, and Spencer, who had just banged his way into the house.

For a moment the three of them stood, watching in silent surprise as Kai torn down their snow-covered walkway and left into the street, heading for the busy intersection that lay a few houses away.

"Kai? What's he doing here?" Spencer asked finally. He turned to Tala and Bryan, to see Tala impatiently pulling his boots on and quickly straightening up.

"Bryan, explain. We'll be back," Tala said as he went out the door after Kai. He too went left and sped up in pursuit of Kai.

Spencer looked at Bryan again, confused now. Bryan sighed and shut the front door, then leaned against it and sighed again. Glanced at Spencer and gave him a tired smirk.

"Why can't we know anybody normal?"

Still lost, Spencer grinned back and dropped the bag carrying his work uniform on the floor.

"'Cause we're not."

1) Mistkerl–German for "bastard", and thank you to reviewer"Moi" for correcting that mistake on my part.

My apologies for any grammar or spelling mistakes, but I can't stand the thought of reading over this again. Perhaps I should invest in a beta...?

This chapter is shorter than the others, but I think this is as good a stopping point as any. I don't like this chapter very much. I started it about three weeks ago and wrote sporadically, so it feels a bit broken up and choppy.

Hopefully the next chapter won't take too long, as I know how to go about writing it now.

So please review, and let me know what you thought of this one.