Chapter 17

Tori lay on her back, staring at the ceiling for a while. Kai was in deep thought in the meantime so Tori decided to leave that to him till he decided to talk again. Kai turned onto his side to look at Tori properly, sadness was heavily filling his eyes while he did so and his voice came out shaking, "Tori…"

"Yeah?" Tori asked, turning her head to look at him.

"What you did last time…you aren't going to do that to me again are you?"

Tori smiled lightly, turning on her side. Kai watched cautiously as she lifted her hand from the covers her index finger brushed lightly against his cheek, picking something up at that. "It looks like I don't have to." She pointed out, feeling the warm tear drop that was on her finger and dripped lightly onto the covers.

Kai stared on at that, his hand subconsciously touching his cheek, feeling the hot drops stroll down from his eyes he quickly rubbed them out of his eyes while sitting up. "I can't have this keep happening to me." He whispered icily.

Tori sat up and sat beside him, keeping her eyes set on him the whole time. "Why not?"

"I just can't."

Tori shook her head, "You are human though and that'll happen when it has to."

Kai got up, suddenly frustrated and fed up with himself. He walked out of the room quickly and went to the bathroom, being sure to shut the door tightly behind him. Settling himself on the ground against the door he just drew his knees up to his chest and stayed like that, sometimes thinking about things in particular, sometimes just thinking about nothing at all, just staring at the cold white tilled floors he sat on.

Holding back any tears this time wasn't really a problem since none decided to come anymore so he just sat there quietly, sometimes not being aware of his own emotions, the ones he himself was feeling or the one's he was meant to be feeling at least. Meanwhile he kept note of the shuffling of feet outside the door. Tori had past by the room twice but thankfully didn't bother checking on Kai at the time, thinking he needed some time to be alone.

She really did think that he was already starting to feel different, who wouldn't? After all those years of carrying the burden of a horrible past, one not truly revealed yet, anyone would start feeling different after that, better in a sense but feeling better always comes with strange emotions attached to it due to past thoughts and character and this was Kai's.

Taking a deep breath, where Kai hoped so much that the horrible uneasiness in his stomach would subside after, he got off the ground and walked out of the bathroom he had kept himself locked in for the past hour or so. He walked into the kitchen, watching Tori put breakfast on a tray before she turned to him, no real emotion in her eyes but no hatred in them either.

Kai sighed, yet again, and turned away from her for a second before turning back to her, "I'm sorry." He whispered guiltily.

Tori smiled up at him, a smile that sort of was sympathetic towards the older boy, "I wasn't mad."

"Maybe you weren't but it's only been a couple of days and this is complicated and…"

In a hurry, Tori put a finger to his lips to silence him, "Kai…you're great and all but even you aren't great enough to explain all you're feeling, just yet at least." She informed quietly.

"Tori…" Kai started again.

"Be quiet for once would you?" Tori asked. Kai shifted uncomfortably and nodded just slightly at her orders, "Things in your mind are pretty messed up right about now."

And to that, Kai muttered a quiet, "That's for sure."

Though Tori continued anyway, she had heard his quiet words. "It's tough, I'll bet anything it is but you got to take some changes in and do it calmly."

"Tori, I can't handle this, especially around the others and your time is almost up so…"

"Kai…you're ranting again." Tori whispered with a smile. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it tightly, "I'm going to be around long enough to help you with this…I promise you that much."

Kai took in each of her words carefully and nodded in understanding.

"Go into the living room, relax a bit and I'll get you something to eat. Is that alright?" Tori asked carefully.

"Yeah." Kai said even quieter than there whole conversation had been, followed by him walking out the door and into the living room.

Tori remained in the kitchen for a few minutes, sometimes adding food and drinks to the tray and sometimes just standing there in thought or having a conversation with Denzelle about Kai. Either way, she was always busy with something and Kai being on her mind at the same time ended up in making her head begin to hurt. She calmed herself down as best she could and walked into the next room with the tray of food and coffee.

"How are you feeling?" Tori asked, jumping onto the sofa next to Kai.

"Fine, shaken up, but fine." Kai replied.

Tori smiled a bit at him, passing him his coffee. "Don't worry about it, alright?" she said with a comforting tone in her sweet voice.

"This is hopeless." Kai muttered coldly.

Tori shot at him in a bit of a scolding tone but still kept her voice at a reasonable level. "It certainly is if you keep up with an attitude like that." She pointed out, a bit harsher than she had intended that to have sounded. "Think a bit positively for once." She advised.

"Wish me luck." Came Kai's cold and rather sarcastic sounding answer.

Tori sighed and when both of them usually felt this way she just cuddled up beside him on the sofa. "You'll be alright in the end Kai, don't worry."

"I'm not worrying."

"Yeah, you are. You're worrying and you're also making yourself sick over this."

"I'm not." Kai said stubbornly.

"You win." Tori rolled her eyes at that before picking up a mug of hot tea and sipping it quietly.

"Thank you." Kai answered her passively before drinking his own coffee.

"Yeah well I need to try salvage what's left of your pride, don't I?" Tori joked with a large smile on her face.

"Good luck with that."

"What's that mean?"

"Nothing."

Tori sat up a bit, moving away from him slightly while raising an eyebrow at him, "You want me to leave you alone?" she asked.

"Of course not." Kai answered quickly, giving her a strange and confused look.

"Good, 'cause I don't want to." Tori whispered, getting back to her past position, curling up close beside him.

"Then just go and come back."

"Eh?"

"The hospital, just go, get the surgery done and come back safely." Kai said. The way he put it, he just made it sound like it were that easy. Then again, was it?

"It's not that simple, Kai." Tori said quietly, sadness in her voice.

"Isn't it?"

"No, it isn't. I've got to go there, have a check up, plan the surgery, have the surgery and with one slip up I could lose the little bit that's left of my life and that's a risk I'm not willing to take."

"So I've noticed."

"Kai, stop worrying about what's going to happen and just let it go."

"I'll stick to the worrying, thanks." Kai said, frustrated.

Tori moved away from him a bit, picking up her mobile phone from the table while busying herself by sending a quick text to Ray. "Have something to eat." She told him sternly.

"I'm not in the mood." Kai retorted emotionlessly.

Tori sighed at that and gritted her teeth a bit, "And I'm not in the mood to argue with you but at this rate it looks like it's going to come to that."

Kai sighed and stood up, walking across the room to leave the living room but sadly that got cut short as he fell forward onto the ground. He lay with his head turned to the side, burning on the side of his face from hitting the ground. He slammed his fists onto the wooden floor and groaned in annoyance and impatience.

Tori sat forward a bit in her seat, hands resting against her knees as she watched him try to get up, "Are you alright?" Came her called out words, surprisingly with very little concern in her voice.

"I'm fine." Kai answered back, wincing as he finally got off the ground and rested against the doorframe.

"How long do you want to keep trying to convince yourself that?"

"I'm fine." The Stoic Russian repeated angrily. Said Russian walked out of the room after not hearing a word coming from the other girl in the room. He stepped into his bedroom, pulling off his white t-shirt he had slept with the night before, tossing it aside onto a chair that was in the corner of his room. He picked up his mp3 player from his bedside table, putting on the headphones and blasting the music off into his ears, and placing the player in his trousers pocket and picked up a black shirt from the bag of clothes he kept on the floor beside his bed.

Due to the loud music, Kai didn't hear Tori walk slowly up behind him to where he stood, trying to straighten out his shirt before he actually wore it. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and rested her chin against his back, looking over his shoulder to see him.

Kai stood there a bit startled, freezing in the position he was in while not making any attempt to push the girl away from him. He felt her hand move up his side and take off one of the headphones, quickly followed by the second one that both just ended up falling by his sides. "Kai…" Tori whispered quietly.

"What?"

"Be honest, how are you feeling?"

With her words, not being able to give an answer, he tried to pull out of her arms but she was stronger than expected and he wasn't about to hurt her to get away from her.

"Don't fight me, you should know better than to try that." Tori told him, "Just try to tell me, what you do know at least."

Kai took a deep breath, clearing his mind before thinking through to decipher each and every thought and emotion that overwhelmed him. After only a minute of thinking he slowly opened his mouth to speak, "Like I can't breath, I thought things will get easier but I can't take all these things going on around me now."

"It'll get easier and painless, don't worry too much about any of it, just take it a bit a time and you'll manage and you're not alone."

"Aren't I? You're going to die in just over a month and from then on I'm back to being by myself."

"What about your friends?"

"What about them?! Talking to them about these things isn't the same as…"

"Talking to me?" Tori asked, a bit of disbelief in her voice, wetness glazing her eyes a bit as she continued to look at him from over his shoulder.

"It's nothing like talking to you." Kai whispered, eyes set in front of him, rather than looking at the girl who had her hold on him, physically and emotionally. At his words Tori's arms fell from around him and Kai moved away, pulling his shirt on before turning to her. He placed a quick kiss on her cheek as she stood there a bit startled, "I'm going out for a while, I'll see you later." He told her before leaving the room.

Tori sat on the ground, sitting back against the side of the bed, drawing her knees up to her chest, resting her thin arms on her knees. "Maybe…" she whispered hoarsely.

"Mistress…" Denzelle called from by the door, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." A small smile suddenly gracing Tori's lips. Tori stood up and walked past Denzelle and into her bedroom. She locked the door of her bedroom and stayed in the large, almost empty room by herself, taking in the whole sorry sight of her room which made it looked like she never existed, no justice at all.

---Two Hours Later---

Tori was ready dressed to go meet the others, only now she was waiting for Kai. She paced by the door, with high hopes that Kai would be home soon. After a few more minutes of waiting, Kai walked through the door, looking down at her a bit confused. "Hey, are you alright?" Tori asked quietly.

"Yeah." Kai was quick to answer and walked past her to his bedroom so she wouldn't see the water in his eyes.

By her calls though, it seemed like she had seen it all anyway and walked behind him to his room. "Hey honey, what's wrong?" she asked.

Kai quickly turned to her, eyes blazing with anger through the moisture in the crimson pools, "If I fall over just one more time, I'm going to kill myself." He whispered, his voice sounding broken as it was.

Tori smiled a bit, almost sympathetically. She pulled her arms around him in a light hug, "Your body is running low on food, that's why it's happening and the stress isn't helping. We'll get some food in you when we get to Tyson's place, just enough to keep you standing during training, alright?"

"Sure." Kai pulled away from her after that, while Tori kept one arm wrapped around his waist as they walked out of the apartment.

The walk to the Dojo was silent, only Tori's occasional question of 'are you ok?' and Kai's quiet answers or groans. When there, Kai sat outside on the porch, saying he couldn't handle being inside just yet and needed some space before training. Tori was able to understand that and just went inside without him to greet the others in the kitchen. She had met with everyone who was already awake, surprisingly even Tyson.

She stayed with them for a quiet conversation, only staying for a few minutes before taking some food, her last words being that they had to be out there in fifteen minutes for training. She walked outside, settling down beside Kai, handing the plate to him. "Eat a little." She told him.

Kai placed the plate by his side and took a muffin off the plate, apparently Tori had chosen the stuff that had the most sugar in it, most likely the stuff that could help him run longer. He finished all the food one the plate in little time, obviously being hungry but taking his time in hopes of not feeling sick after.

Tori pulled an arm around him carefully, a gentle hand resting on his side where Kai tensed up the most. "Are you up for training?" she asked him.

"Yes."

"Are you sure of that?" Tori tightened her hold on him a bit, putting a little pressure on him.

Kai's eyes widened a bit in pain before screwing shut and gripping her hand, "Yes, I'm sure."

Troi sighed and let go of him, "I'll take your word for it. Just tell me if you need to stop or leave."

Kai nodded before resting forward with his head against his arms. He heard Tori get up and walk back inside, then heard footsteps on the porch again before he felt Tori sit close to him again. The others joined her out there after a few minutes, apparently all waiting for her orders. The whole team had stared at Kai with different thoughts running through their minds, never in their lives seeing their team captain look so drained so they were beyond confused when Tori offered Kai the chance to train the team and he accepted.

Tori sat with Max during training, keeping an eye on the whole team while trying to hold an interesting conversation with Max. "How long do you think he can hold this up?" Max asked after a few minutes of hearing Tori correct some things during training.

Tori sat back down next to him, eyes focused on Kai, "I'm not too sure, he's really strong and he's handling a lot right now and he's managing quite well I suppose."

"But he's running on nothing out there, is it even wise to let him beybattle?"

"Max…you got to understand that when I want to help him I don't plan on destroying the person he is. He's got his pride and he's got his independence, as a person, I have absolutely no right to destroy that for him and besides, training this team was his job in the first place, I can't just come in here and change things for him and I'm not going to do that."

Max looked out at Kai and followed the beybattle he had with the other two team mates. "I still think he should be more careful though."

"Yes, so do I but this is who he is and I'm not going to change that, I'll leave this much up to him then when a great risk arises then I'll take this into my own hands."

"I guess that sounds fair, I just hope he doesn't push himself too far."

"I'm starting to think that he can't possibly push himself any further." Tori thought aloud.

"That's what we all thought but Kai managed."

"He's a real fighter isn't he?"

"Yeah. He's lucky though, he can stay strong when he needs to."

"The downside to that is that he doesn't know when he can give in."

"I don't think he knew how to."

"Just look after him when I'm gone, I'm sure with time he'll trust all of you…more than he trusts me." Tori told Max, smiling caringly at the young blonde teenager.

Max sighed a bit, and looked on disappointedly, "I wish you didn't have to leave."

"But I do. The thing is that you guys all did fine without me before you met me, you'll do fine without me after too."

"Kai isn't the same though."

"I softened him up, now its time for his true, real friends to finish the job I started." Tori said supportively.

Max was about to speak again when a shadow loomed over him for a second before Kai ran past them and into the Dojo. "Guys, what happened?" Max asked hurriedly.

"Well he won the battle." Ray pointed out, holding out Dranzer to Tori, "But if he were mad about something I don't think he would've left this behind."

Tori picked up the blade from his hand and took a close look at it, no real reason for that though, "Maybe he wasn't feeling well, just give him a few minutes and in the mean time you guys can have a break too." She tried to sound hopeful as best she could, trying to hide her own fear for the other boy. "I'm going to get a drink from the kitchen." She quickly got up and went into the kitchen, leaving the rest of the team to sit there in confusion and exchange questions with no answers to each other.

She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and dialed Kai's number in just under a second. The phone rang over and over again and was a bit startled when she heard the ringing so close and the vibrating against something. She walked into the hall, moving closer to the sound of the rings, hearing the vibrating by the door, sounded more like Kai had dropped his phone on the way in.

Tori ended the call once she noticed Kai wasn't going to pick up his phone. She patiently waited outside the bathroom for a while, occasionally walking out onto the porch to keep an eye on the others.

---With Kai---

Kai's eyes were squeezed tightly shut and he was trembling violently as he gave yet another dry heave into the toilet after emptying what he had eaten for breakfast, feeling like his entire stomach had been turned upside down. He had no idea for how long he'd been throwing up, before the attack of nausea finally ceased, and he slowly got up onto his weak legs, giving a shuttering sigh whilst flushing the toilet. He walked over to the sink, resting against it before switching on the tap and rinsing his mouth.

After cleaning himself up, he sat down on the side of the bath to bring his heart rate down to a decent level. Worry ran through his mind that the others may have seen him feel unwell and would probably ask him about it. He stopped thinking of all such things the second the sickly feeling grew in his stomach again and he felt he was going to be sick again. Letting go of the thoughts he realized things got a bit easier, if he just forgot about things for a minute then he found he could breathe a bit better. So with that thought in mind, he decided to take things easy with the team and just deal with whatever happened.

He got up and walked over to the door, picking up his phone and putting it back in his pocket. Taking a deep breath he unlocked the door and opened it slowly. He bumped straight into Tori, who had apparently heard him disengage the lock on the bathroom door.

"Hey, I was starting to think you died in there." Tori joked quietly, smiling happily that he was okay.

"No, don't worry, it was nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing though."

"I just felt a bit sick, that's all it was." Kai tried to walk past her but Tori cut him off as always.

"Before you get back to training get something to eat to make up for what you lost, otherwise you'll pass out."

"I know. I know." Kai walked past again and went into the kitchen, hearing Tori follow him in there and sit at the table. "Go continue training with the others." He ordered, pouring himself a glass of water.

Tori shook her head a bit, "No. You're my main concern right now."

"I just need to drink and eat and I'll be fine so just go." Kai sat down at table with his drink, taking small sips in between glaring at her to go.

After very little time Tori gave in, slammed her hand down on the table while getting up, "Alright but call if you need anything." She left with her words, not giving Kai a chance to even answer her.

---That Night---

Tori knocked on Kai's bedroom door in hopes that he'd answer her. They had gotten back from Tyson's Dojo at about 11pm and since then Kai ate, disappeared into the bathroom for about an hour and a half and then disappeared in his room and she hadn't heard a word from him since. Since she didn't get an answer, nor a protest against her entrance so she opened the door and stepped inside.

Kai sat on the floor in his room by the bed, eyes closed and face looking calmer than anything she'd ever seen. More than anything it looked like he was meditating, then again she didn't think he did that. She sat opposite him and stared at him for a few minutes, Kai not even flinching at her, most likely not even realizing she was there. (A/N: This is something I've noticed when someone is meditating. When my friend does it its like he can't hear me at all, I'm pretty sure he knows I'm there but he doesn't even acknowledge my existence. Ray-Tiger-Cat, you know who I'm talking about.)

"You amaze the hell out of me, you know that right?" Tori asked after minutes of sitting there.

"Yes." Kai answered calmly.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to remain sane, you mind?"

"Well can you try to remain sane in your sleep?"

"No." Kai's voice came out cold again.

"That doesn't matter. Get up now." Tori stood up and pulled on Kai's hand a bit.

Kai pulled his hand out of hers, "I'll go to bed later."

"You know, I'm not as strong as I used to be but I could always get Denzelle to make you get up and go to bed." Tori pointed out, getting into her side of the bed.

"Later."

Tori got under the covers, turning on her stomach and support herself on her forearms, her mobile in hand as she looked through some old messages before playing a game. She lay there, bored and tired, failing miserably at the game. She placed her phone under her pillow in defeat and glanced towards Kai, seeing him still on the floor. Tori sighed, she gave up for the night. "Good night." She called out to the only other person in the room. She remained lying on her stomach but rested her head on her arm. She heard the light switch go off and then felt a light weight on the bed. A gentle hand fell on the small of her back and fingers traced up her spine which sent chills all over her skin. "Stop that, Kai." She whispered.

"I need to ask you something."

"Then ask." Tori said, sound a bit cold hearted through her tiredness.

"How much had you found out about me?"

"Not much."

"But how much?"

Tori exhaustedly sat up a bit, sighing, seemed like she wasn't going to be getting much sleep. "There were four files on you, I skimmed through one of the files that had reports and articles and your medical file." She answered him.

"You never looked through the others?"

"No. All I wanted was a bit of information on what was going on, the rest is for you to decide when to tell me."

"Well thanks." Kai whispered to her.

"Feel better?" Tori asked him.

"Yeah."

"Good." Tori got back to lying down in bed, lying on her side this time instead. Tori moved closer to Kai, a hand being placed on his side till she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and fell back on the pillow. "Good night, Kai." She whispered.

"Night."

---Next Morning---

Tori's eyes opened slowly, clear vision falling on the boy that was sitting up in bed. She slowly and lazily took in his whole form at the time, eyes a bit widened, his breathing heavy, his form shivering slightly, a tight gripped hand holding tightly onto his side that was closest to her. Taking that last thing into account she sat up hurriedly, "Kai?" she asked, gentle trying to move his hand off his side. Kai's stubborn though and only tightened his hold, eyes shutting tightly too, "Kai, let me see."

Kai moved his hand off the clothed-side, suddenly staring down at his blood-covered hand in some shock. "It's been almost two years now…how'd this happen?"

"It can be a matter of a force." Tori lifted the hem of the black shirt a bit, wincing at the bloody sight.

"What?!"

"Calm down, Kai." Tori whispered softly. "You got stressed out, this was fragile, there was a great strain or force put on you and it opened up again, this kind of stuff happens all the time." (1)

Kai muttered something furiously, eyes burning with a mixture of pain and anger, "It's not meant to happen to me."

"But it did." Tori reminded. Kai didn't say a word and Tori shook her head a bit and ran out of the room, coming back with a white cloth in her hand. "Sit back." She ordered carefully. Kai glanced at her, seeing her look worried and a bit supportive towards her orders. "Trust me."

Kai placed wiped the blood on his hand on his trousers, placed both hands behind his back to keep himself up, refusing to lie back. "What are you going to do?" he asked, watching her lift the blooded area of his shirt.

"Check how deep this actually is." Tori placed the cloth on the wound, pressuring the cloth into the wound, seeing the wound wasn't deep enough for any real damage. "It's not too deep." She pointed out to him.

"Thank goodness for that."

"Yeah, I'll get Denzelle to come clean this up."

Kai sat up and tried to get out of bed, being pushed back again by the worrying girl beside him, "She doesn't need to do that, I can do it myself."

"Doesn't matter, I'll have her do it."

"You don't trust me to clean it up myself do you?" Kai asked, a smirk on his face and a bit of disbelief in his voice.

"Not a damn." Tori smiled, replying honestly.

"Glad to know you trust me so much with my life." Kai said sarcastically, sitting back as he was before.

"I do trust you, just not to do something like clean something like that up." Tori continued truthfully. "Denzelle." She called out.

Denzelle walked through the door, "Already on it, Mistress." She smiled.

Tori smirked lightly, narrowing her eyes just a bit as walked past her to sit by Kai on the other side of the bed. "Been eavesdropping have you?"

Denzelle laughed, "Maybe I have been." She answered.

"Great, now I'm really worried." Kai muttered to himself.

Denzelle had brought in with her the first aid kit and now set it out beside her on the bed, placing a cold, antiseptic-covered cloth onto the wound the had been cut through Kai's skin. "Is that alright?" Her voice came out cautious towards Kai, being careful not to hurt him after what he had been through.

"It's fine." Kai answered her.

Tori had been sitting just beside Kai and sat close to him and only watched as Denzelle tried to tend to the cut, "You're lucky, you're so brave." She whispered.

Kai pulled an arm around Tori's waist but she didn't move her gaze off of the blood on his side, "And you aren't?" he asked her.

Tori didn't answer, just shrugged slightly.

Kai lifted Tori's chin so she'd look at him, she did for a second but she broke the gaze a second later when she turned her head away from him again. Kai didn't argue with her about it, instead just kissed her on the cheek and turned back to keeping an eye on Denzelle's work.

Denzelle, in the meantime, had actually been taking note of the couple's actions as they did them while she wiped up all the blood and disposed of the blood cloths, but she quickly got back to focusing more on her work when Kai turned his own attention back to her. "Hurry up would you?"

Denzelle smirked and looked up at Kai a bit, "Come on Kai, its 8am and you have two girls on your bed, you should be happy not grumpy." She joked.

Kai glared coldly at her for that, letting it falter when he heard Tori laughing from beside him.

"She was only joking, Kai."

"Yeah, I know." Kai muttered, annoyance shining through.

"So are you done yet, before Kai loses his patience?" Tori asked Denzelle.

"Just about." Denzelle finished up. She taped a thick piece of cloth over the wound and wiped her hands clean of any blood. "Done. Feeling any better?" She cleaned up anything she had used to clean, dry and wrap up the cut.

"Yeah, I guess." Kai pushed himself up properly, Tori giving him some space.

"Do any of you need anything?" Denzelle asked politely after putting the first aid kit back in the bathroom.

"I'm fine." Tori nodded.

"Same with me."

"Thanks though." Tori smiled gratefully.

"No problem, Mistress." Denzelle smiled back before leaving the couple alone again.

A/N: This chapter is being put up a day early, basically because I have Monday and Tuesday off from school so I want to work on a one shot or two and maybe another chapter.

(1) In the chapter there was this marker, instead of putting another author's note in the middle of the chapter I thought I'd just mark it and put it here at the end. So basically this is true and it is humanly possible. Once when a this man was a kid he had a cut on his hand that left a scar there for the rest of his life since it had needed many stitches. One day, as an adult, he punched a wall and a few minutes later he found that his hand was bleeding from that same wound he had when he was younger. Why? Because he had been wearing gloves with steel plating on the inside, the force of the hit to the wall, with the added pressure of steel, rips an old cut open.

So…please review and I'll update as soon as I can.