Chapter 27
---Two Days Later---
Tori ran out of the hospital entrance, her back pack over one shoulder and her leather case in her hand that held her laptop. She was smiling happily, you could never see a brighter smile on any one else's faces, this was Tori and the way she was, she was happy, more than anything to be happy to be finally free of the hospital. She had told the team she wasn't going to be back out for another two days, just so that she could go to the Dojo to surprise them. So, taking one nice look at the clear blue sky and shining sunlight, she smiled happily and ran down the streets to the Dojo.
---With The Team- At The Dojo---
The three teenagers sat by themselves in the Dojo with nothing to do. Kai had gone out for a walk and had given the others a few hours off while he was gone. The room was mostly silent, Max was reading a comic book, Ray was reading some other book that no one had any idea what it was about and Tyson was eating again, nothing really new about that scene.
"Mina!" A happy voice called in the distance. (Translation: "Everyone!") Everyone looked up from what they were doing, wondering if they'd heard clearly. "Mina!" the voice called again.
"It's Tori!" Max exclaimed, rushing to his feet and racing out the door, the other two in the room glancing at each other before chasing after him.
Tori had just stopped in front of the porch, dropped all her things and ran straight up to Max, him being the first person out there and she latched her arms around his neck. She'd been through an emotional rollercoaster for the past two weeks and now all she wanted to do was be with her best friends. Now that they were there in front of her, she couldn't be happier, especially seeing the smiles on their faces that almost outshined her own. They all pulled each other out of the hugs and settled on the porch, all happy that Tori was back while Tori was happy to see her friends again. You'd think that just because they were away from each other for two weeks that it was no big deal and that the whole thing shouldn't have been so emotional but it was, mainly because within those two weeks they could have lost their friend and Tori was having a rough time going through things alone. So the reunion stirred up some of the emotions that had been messing with them for those two weeks.
"What are you doing here? We thought you weren't going to be back for a few more days?" Ray asked her, once everyone's emotions returned to normal.
"I know but I just wanted to surprise you guys." Tori replied.
"You managed." Max laughed.
"Clearly." Tori smiled at him.
"So you're alright now?" Tyson asked her, almost worriedly at the time despite his happiness.
"Perfectly normal."
Ray raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "And that's the truth this time?"
Tori nodded, the smile never leaving her face, "The perfectly honest truth." She replied to him.
"That's good then."
"Yeah so where's the train wreck?" Tori asked.
"The pile of dishes in the sink or Kai?" Ray asked her.
"Kai, of course." Tori laughed.
"He went off for a walk a while ago, he hasn't come back yet but he should be here soon." Max answered her kindly.
"I hope so…I was really looking forward to seeing him again." Tori said. She said it almost disappointedly but the smile on her face never ceased, she had made a promise and she was about to break it unless she was told to by the one she made the promise to.
"We bet." Ray muttered with a smirk.
Tori looked up quickly upon hearing that, then seeing that glint in his eye that showed her that he knew what was going on between his captain and her before she turned to look at the ground, the creepy red blush appearing on her face.
Ray let the blush slide and didn't call her on it which Tori was very thankful for, considering she had realized that Tyson was the last to realize the relationship. The conversation went on for a while, till Ray realized that Tori wouldn't stop smiling, even they were having the most upsetting of conversations. "Hey Tori, come help me get some drinks from the kitchen." He told her, getting up.
"Sure." Tori got up and walked behind him to the kitchen.
"So what are you trying to pull?" Ray asked as he pulled four glasses out of the cupboard.
"Eh? What are you talking about?" Tori looked on at him a little confused but as always that hint of a smile was still there, in her eyes too.
"You've been smiling all day, even at the worst times, what's up with that?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"It's not…right. You're acting like Kai; you're pretending that things are perfectly fine."
"I am not." Tori told him.
"Yeah you are."
"I'm not and I'm not in the mood to argue either." Tori told him, walking out the room again.
Ray sighed, leaning back against the counter for a moment of thought. He pushed himself away from the kitchen counter and walked over to the phone, dialling Kai's number and patiently waiting for the Russian to pick up his phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, Kai. Where are you?" Ray asked him.
"Out for a walk, I'll be there soon."
"Good because Tori's here."
"What?! She wasn't meant to be out for at least two more days!"
"She wanted to surprise you."
"Well how is she?"
"She's smiling…only smiling Kai." Ray told him, his voice shaking slightly. "Like you made her promise." He added.
Kai sighed on the other end of the line; the way Ray had put things made Kai feel how bad things actually where and just answered quietly, "I'll be there within half an hour." Before he finally hung up the phone.
Ray walked back to the kitchen and picked up the drinks from the counter before taking them outside to the others. That's when he noticed the girl was missing. "Where's Tori?" he asked the others, placing the glasses on the ground in front of his friends.
"She went to look for Kai." Tyson answered.
"And you just let her go?" Ray asked him angrily.
"Yeah. She really wanted to see him." Tyson blinked at Ray's attitude.
---With Tori---
Tori walked down a long street, staring at the ground, her hand gripping her backpacks strap tightly in her palm as the other hand gripped the handle of her laptop case. She really wanted to find Kai and talk to him and just when she thought about it again, there he was, slowly walking in her direction. Ask and you shall receive apparently.
Once Kai saw who it was that was three metres in front of him he stopped in his tracks, staring on at the girl before speaking quietly, "You're out."
"Yeah." Tori smiled and nodded.
"Look, I know you had a rough time in the hospital and taking it all alone…"
Tori nodded, she tried so hard, really hard to hold a smile on her face but it kept jerking back down but she held it in place as long as she could.
Kai looked on sadly at her, showing the first sign of emotion that he'd shown in the past four days towards anyone, his mouth opening slightly in a silent protest and at the same time trying to find something to say to her in a time when he didn't know what to do. "You…" he started. He walked forward quickly, Tori on seeing him move so close to her, she dropped her bags to the ground, and then he just wrapped his arms loosely around the girl, his right hand holding her head closer to his shoulder. "Don't be stupid now. You don't need to smile all the time around me, let go." He whispered to her in her ear. The finally he heard what he was aiming for; the girl broke down, snuggling into his chest and sobbing uncontrollably. She'd kept her promise and now she was told to break it, which she more than graciously did.
---8pm- On The Beach---
Tori and Kai sat comfortably on the cool shaded sand of the beach that they were always at. Kai sat just behind Tori with his arms wrapped around Tori's waste, occasionally letting his chin rest on her shoulder, careful not to pressure her too much as he didn't know if she was well or not. The two had been sitting like that in silence for over three quarters of an hour, Kai just giving her a peck on the cheek once in a while, having her make a sweet and honest smile while she sometimes just stroked his hand that was latched around her thin waist. "Together again." Tori whispered, staring out at the waves in the sea.
"Yeah."
"It feels great."
Kai tightened his hold on her just slightly, "You know…I really did miss having you around."
"And it felt horrible to wake up by myself." Tori whispered, turning her head to the side.
"So you're not going to leave again right?" Kai wanted to check, he didn't want her walking out on him anytime soon, he…loved her. He found it strange hearing himself say that in his own mind but he managed but now that he loved her he didn't want her to go.
"I see no need to." Tori told him sweetly, giving him a quick kiss at the corner of his mouth where he smiled.
Kai kept smiling at her and then stood up, placing a hand down for her to take. "Then let's go home, you need to rest."
"I do not." Tori pouted, taking his hand and standing up, picking up all her things and walking with Kai off the beach.
"Yeah, you do and I'm going to make sure you get it." Kai told her.
"Really? How?" Tori asked, more than anything trying to act stupid.
Kai realized what she was implying and how she managed to turn what he'd said into the dirty sense so he reacted by rolling his eyes and hitting her shoulder gently with the back of his hand. "Shut up." He whispered almost childishly.
"You can't blame me for joking around." Tori told him.
"I really can't but I'm sure I could find a way."
"I have no doubts." Tori laughed.
The two teenagers smiled and laughed the whole way back to the Dojo to get Kai's things, then to the apartment where they were finally there together again. When Kai came out of the bathroom and to his bedroom, it felt good to see Tori lying there again. He was so used to having her there at first, then for a while it was as though she disappeared from his life and every night he went to bed by himself and woke up with that same empty space beside him that he'd gone to bed with.
But Tori was back now and she wasn't about to leave him again just yet and both where thankful that the other wasn't about to disappear from the others life. Kai lay down under the covers of his bed, Tori opening her eyes and looking at him with a smile on her face, that didn't change at least. Tori pushed herself closer to him and willingly Kai wrapped his arm around her waist as he always did, just lying there as Tori continued smiling at him, although clearly she was thinking about something important.
"Kai…" Tori started, her voice just above a whisper, gently stroking his shoulder with her finger tips.
"Yeah?" Kai looked at her hand that stroked his arm, she usually did that when she was saying something he really didn't want to hear, or just wasn't in the mood of hearing.
"We worked out my problems…now that they're out of the way, let's take some time to sort out yours."
Kai looked on, just a bit upset at what she was saying but knowing that the worrying girl was right when she said that he had things to sort out, she hadn't said it directly but it's what she obviously implied by saying that he had to sort things out, there was a lot to try to sort out and now that one problem, one stress was out of the way, he could concentrate a bit more on himself. Kai nodded almost numbly, being unable to say anything else, finding that there was nothing else left to say because it was just something he had to agree with or risk arguing for days about.
Tori moved closer, obviously happy that he agreed with her, who knew that it took two weeks of them apart and a near death experience to get the boy to agree to getting help. "We can talk about it after tomorrow." She told him.
"What's happening tomorrow?"
Tori smirked, she loved teasing him so much. "You'll find out tomorrow, I've got a surprise." She whispered, closing his eyes to finally sleep.
"Hey, tell me." Kai told her, annoyed. But he didn't get an answer from her, her breathing was nice, calm and rhythmic and the girl was sleeping soundly. "Wow you make me want to hate you sometimes." Kai muttered, closing his eyes.
"I love you too." Tori whispered to him with a smirk.
Kai opened his eyes, smiling when he knew that she could still hear him. He leaned over, gave her temple a quick kiss and rested his head back down on the pillow, closing his eyes and letting himself get some sleep.
---6am- Next Morning---
Kai lay tiredly in bed, running his fingers along Tori's arm and side as he continued to watch the girl sleeping. He'd just woken up a few minutes before, he got used to waking up early every morning that now it was normal. He was always waking up early with worry about the girl, wondering if she was alright, even before she went into the hospital for the surgery. Now he just supposed he was having a hard time factoring in that he could get some rest because nothing bad was going to happen to her anymore.
Tori turned onto her side, pushing herself closer to Kai and snuggling close into to his chest, a small kiss being placed on his shoulder. "It's early, you can go back to sleep." She whispered sleepily.
"You too."
Tori smiled already, just after 6am and she was already smiling, how many teenage girls do you know that does that every morning? "I was in a hospital for the last two weeks and my heart stop beating during surgery, trust me, I've had enough sleep for a while." She opened her eyes and sat up slightly, her eyes happily smiling back at him along with the smile on her lips. "You're not still worrying about me, are you?" She asked quietly as she sat up on her side, gaining her support from her elbow that dug into her pillow.
Kai kept his hand on her waste but just stared down at the covers as he shrugged, "Maybe."
"You don't need to do that anymore though."
Kai pulled both arms around Tori, pulling her so that when he turned onto his back she rested her head on his shoulder, while he tried to put a small smile on his face. "It's a good thing for me to worry a little, shows you that I do care about you." Kai told her that, more as a last minute resort for an excuse to give her.
"But I already know."
"And I know that you care about me and you still worry."
"Yeah but I worry about a lot of things." Tori told him.
"I'll give you that." Kai nodded in agreement, a smirk on his face.
Tori was a bit more serious than him now though. She slowly lifted her head and sat up, looking down at Kai before moving over him, giving him a kiss on the cheek before looking into his eyes as she stroked his cheek sensitively, a soft smile on her face. "It's high time you stopped worrying and you look after yourself from now on and now that you've helped me, I can help you." She was quiet and careful with the boy, just watching him as he stared on at her with nothing more to say.
Tori rested her head on his chest, curling her arms by Kai's sides, stroking his arm as the two lay there in absolute silence till Tori fell asleep again, a sleep she needed and deserved.
After a few minutes Kai sighed, looking down at the girl before slowly moving her off of him and back onto her side of the bed. He got up, careful so as not to wake up the other teenager. He picked up his clothes and went to the bathroom, dumping them in there. Quietly he made his way to the kitchen, taking his time and making himself a cup of coffee, a little frustrated that there was no more fruit left for his breakfast so making a mental note of what Tori needed to buy after two weeks of being away from the apartment.
Kai rested forward against the counter, his elbows on the surface as he sipped his coffee quietly, taking his time with every action, thinking that Tori wasn't going to be waking up any time soon and he most definitely wasn't in any hurry to go to training with the others. Tori passed by the kitchen, walking back in reverse when her eye had caught sight of Kai in there, seeing the Russian boy standing there she smiled and quietly stepped up behind him. She leant against the counter to join him, looking at him before giving his forearm a quick poke of her index finger, gaining Kai's attention. "Are you okay?" she asked, a sweet, innocent looking pout on her face that pointed out her worry clearly.
Kai turned his head away from her again and nodded in reply.
"Alright. I'm going to go get ready." Tori reached over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before walking out of the room.
'By the time she's done she's going to have the patience of a saint.' Kai thought, upset.
'She's here now so why are you acting this way?' Dranzer asked him.
'I don't know.'
'I think that you're just being defensive and you're protecting yourself again.'
'I don't get it.'
'You're working in reverse now. You're protecting yourself from something you think will happen but won't.'
'That shouldn't happen.'
'But it can and it is so go and relax, look forward to Tori's surprise and spending the day with her and take things easy.'
'I guess you're right.'
Dranzer blinked for a second, actually wondering if he'd heard correctly which apparently he had, actually being surprised that his Master had given in so easily. 'Yes I am.' He agreed.
'Don't push it.'
'I just thought I'd take advantage.'
'You thought wrong.'
'Clearly.'
During the conversation Kai was making himself another cup of coffee, taking it to the living room. He sat back on the sofa, his fingers tightening around the hot mug as he stared out off the balcony from where he sat. "Kai…" Tori whispered, standing in the door way, her hand on the doorframe as she looked on at him worriedly.
Kai closed his eyes, taking a breath before muttering, "Can I get some peace?"
Tori walked over to him, sitting down exactly opposite him on the coffee table, hoping he'd look at her sometime soon. "What's this about?" she asked carefully.
"It's nothing." Kai was monotonous, there where times when he'd be like this again, no one could change him completely, not even Tori.
Tori sat there in silence; giving Kai a chance to maybe change his mind and tell her what was wrong with him. Obviously, he didn't say another word; the boy was stubborn, plain and simple. "Alright, don't tell me. I'll be in my room; we leave in about two hours." She got up and walked out of the living room, a sigh escaping her again. She shook her head as she entered her bedroom, throwing the door shut behind her, 'Back to the drawing board.' She thought.
'It appears so.'
'You think he's that scared about tackling his own problems now?'
'Probably. He wants everything to be over with but he's afraid of how that'll turn out.'
'I'll just leave him alone, he'll talk when he has to and by now he knows he can trust me.'
'Letting him handle it alone for a while sounds like the wisest choice.'
Tori nodded and sat down on her bed, her hands on her lap, tightening her grip on the material of her denim skirt. No matter how much she tried to deny it she really was worried about the boy, she was the main reason why she took the surgery and she was afraid that all the work she'd done before she took it was just going to disappear and he was going to change and get hurt. She didn't want him to get hurt, she couldn't imagine him getting hurt again, it would kill her to see that but there wasn't much that she could do.
A knock was heard on the door frame and Tori looked up in alarm, relaxing when the intruder was Kai. Tori raised an eyebrow at him, "Yes?"
Kai bit his lip and stepped into the room, "Are you mad?"
"No."
Kai nodded and sat down beside Tori, "I'm sorry."
Tori's face scrunched with a little bit of confusion, "For what?"
"I'm getting on your nerves."
"Not anymore than usual." Tori rested her head against his shoulder, laughing at her own comment.
"Which is still a lot." Kai reminded.
"Who cares?"
"I do maybe." Kai told her harshly, sounding harsher on himself than on her.
Tori smiled and looked up at him mischievously, "You don't count."
"That's a little unfair don't you think?"
Tori nodded, "Yeah, I admit it is but life isn't always fair and you got to realize I'm not doing this to be unfair on you, I'm just doing it because right now I know what's best." She whispered quietly, her clear brown eyes holding care and sympathy, that part didn't change at least.
Kai closed his eyes, sighing before opening them again and staring down at her. The boy put a hand under the girl's chin before gently setting his lips down on hers for only a few seconds before pulling away slowly. Tori smiled slightly, taking her time to wrap her arms around the boy's neck, kissing Kai softly and quickly. "You're adorable, you know that?" Tori whispered, kissing Kai's jaw line.
Kai tried to actually raise an eyebrow at that but that bit faltered when she hit a soft spot on his neck, "Adorable?" he asked her.
"Maybe 'adorable' is a little strong but I know you hate the word 'cute.""
"You mind teaching that to the rest of the team?"
"That might take a while, but if you demonstrate your reaction to that word it might take less time." Tori pulled away from him, a smile never leaving her face.
"Thanks."
"For?"
"Helping me." Kai answered quietly.
Tori smiled softly and placed a hand on Kai's forearm, tracing her fingers along the muscles of his arm. "Go get ready, we have somewhere to go." She told him.
"You aren't going to tell me where, are you?" Kai asked a bit frustrated.
"Nope, you'll wait and see just like the others." Tori giggled.
Kai sighed, shook his head with a smirk on his face before walking out of the room and to the bathroom to have a shower and change for the day ahead and Tori's surprise.
---Two Hours Later---
Tori walked along the streets, holding tightly on Kai's hand as the three other teenagers followed close behind. "So where exactly are we going?" Max asked. That was probably the fifteenth time that one of the outer trio had asked where they were going and Max only tried his luck again in hopes that Tori would have forgotten that she was keeping it a secret or something of the sort.
Tori smiled, they just where never going to quite asking her. "We're going to the coffee shop where I used to work." She answered him.
"You're going to buy us lunch?!" Tyson asked, running up to her with some pleading in his eyes.
"That among other things."
Max, Tyson and Ray all glanced at each other in thought, just shrugging it off after a while as they figured that they'd figure it out sooner or later.
Kai pulled an arm around Tori's waist, not caring that the others saw him do that because he knew that now all of them knew about their relationship, even Tyson. He moved closer to her and whispered quietly in her ear, "You're going to sing, aren't you?" he smirked, finally figuring it out.
Tori nodded curtly, "I need to prove to myself I can still sing."
"So you're singing in front of them too?"
"Yeah, why not?"
"I never said anything against it." Kai shrugged, letting go of her.
They all arrived at the café in little timing and Tori told the curious teenagers to go to sit a table upfront and to order what they wanted as all was on her for the day. Tori disappeared behind the counter talking to a friend of hers and a past co-worker. Ten minutes past much faster than expected and Tori walked up onto the stage, a bit shy but happy that there weren't too many people in the café at the time. She waited patiently for a second for the music to start up and all the team looked at each other before looking up at Tori enthusiastically when Tori began to sing, happily and wonderfully as always.
""gomen" ne nante
Kao shite minaide
Kanashimi de
Aruki-kata sae wasureru hodo yo
Aenai yoru wa
Dare ga issho na no?
Kiss! kiss! ai no sei ne
Bang! bang!
Heart ana ga aita
Namida wa misetari shinai
Jibun no naka no tatakai dakara
All right
Egao dake ja nai koi wo
Itami wo koete-mamori-nuku no
Anata no koto omou to
Attakaku naru no
('cause anytime)
Sore dake wo
(rainbow in my soul)
Shinjiteru i'll be here
Itsuka wa dareka ga
Kizutsukisoo demo
(if you want me)
Kokoro (i'll just be here)
Tomaranai (every night)
I can cry if i want to
(cry if i want to)
I can cry like a heavy rain
(cry like a heavy rain)
Soba ni itai dakedo
Egao dake ja nai koi wo
Itami wo koete-mamori-nuku no
Anata no koto omou to
Attakaku naru no
('cause anytime)
Sore dake wo
(rainbow in my soul)
Shinjiteru i'll be there
All right
Woo!"
It was more than clear that Tori had sung that song for Kai and the teenage boy was caught between nudges in the ribs and shoulder by both Tyson and Max who sat by his side. Kai supressed the furious blush that was creaping onto his face from the attention he was getting. Tori was smiling all the way through, happy that she got a bit of a reaction from him and her music. Once done with that song she moved on to a second one, one that was going out to her best friends, the friends that got her to change her mind about the surgery, her first best group of friends.
"dear my friend
Hashiritsuzukete kita
with my dream
Sagashitsuzukete kita
Furikaeru HIMA mo nai everyday
Kono deai wa guuzen ja nai
Oshiete ano namida no wake wo
Hajimete kimi ga tsuita uso wo
Kakikeshita amaoto no melody
Mawaritsuzukeru merry-go-round
ARUBAMU ni tojikometa
SEPIA iro no awai kimochi
Yomigaeru
Meguriau kiseki to
(miracle power)
Kakegae no nai toki wo
(special time forever)
Zenbu taisetsu ni shite
Ikite yukeru
Ikusen no omoi
(thousand words)
Yozora ni kiete yuku
(twinkle star forever)
Ima shika dekinai koto
Yaritogetai
I wanna be with you.
My best friend
for myself
Ichido kiri no jinsei
go my way
Bouken datte shitai
Kurikaesu
Deai to wakare ni
Hitoribotchi no yo ga akeru
Yawaraka na kaze no naka
Itumo onaji kimi no egao
Mabushikute
Betsubetsu no michi wo
(winding road)
Arukihajimete mo
(special time forever)
Kokoro no oku no dokoka
Tsunagatteru
Mahou no kotoba ga
(miracle words)
Yozora wo kakete yuku
(twinkle star forever)
Hoshi yori hikaru fantasy
Todoketai yo
I wanna get back here.
My best friend
Yuujou tte mono ni
Terete waratte ita
Arigato kimi ga kureta
Subarashii dream
Meguriau kiseki to
(miracle power)
Kakegae no nai toki wo
(special time forever)
Zenbu taisetsu ni shite
Ikite yukeru
Ikusen no omoi
(thousand words)
Yozora ni kiete yuku
(twinkle star forever)
Ima shika dekinai koto
Yaritogetai
I wanna be with you.
My best friend
(I'm proud of you)
Zutto issho ni
(feel my heart)
(please, please, please)
(my best friend)"
That was it. Tori was close to a break down, a good one. She'd passed her own test of going through the surgery alone, she managed to prove to herself she could still sing like she used to, she was sure that her personality remained the same, her friends where happy with her around, they knew that she cared about them and thing seemed so perfect at the last minute. She jumped off the stage and stood in front of her team, her hands behind her back as she bit down on her lip lightly. "So? How was I?" she asked them, looking for an honest opinion.
"Amazing!" Max lunged forward happily, grabbing the girl in a tight hug.
"Excellent." Tyson told her, hugging her too.
Tori had tears in her eyes and once she pulled herself away from the other two she worked on wiping away the tears from her cheeks, a sweet smile on her face. "Are you okay?" Ray asked, almost laughing at Tori's sudden display of emotion.
"Fine." Tori smiled up at him. Taking a look around at her friends, her heart was beating fast, she was happy to be there with them and she loved the feeling of being around them, all they were was a positive energy one that a lot of people needed in their lives.
Tori sat down at the table as did the others and Kai leaned next to her so that she could hear him whisper to her, "Are you happy now?" he asked her.
Tori smiled at his words and turned to him, "Very." She answered.
---That Night- 10pm---
Four teenagers stood in the sea water under the moonlight, splashing and ducking each other in the water. Of the five, one remained dry, sitting on the brick wall on the sand, staring on at the humourous and enjoyable scene. A part of him wanted to just get up and leave them alone, thinking that that wasn't his place to be at the time. Another part wished he could join them there to relax for a while, take things easy for once but to him he thought that time of doing 'childish' things was up and that it wasn't something he could do. So he just sat there on the beach, watching his friends have the time of their lives, something he really didn't mind doing.
It was a fair fight, two against two, Ray and Tyson against Tori and Max. Tori was laughing so hard her sides where aching but she couldn't stop messing about and splashing water at the others, she just enjoyed being a kid sometimes and it couldn't be helped, having fun was just something she did. They'd all been going on with the water fight for almost two hours, sometimes roatating team players and sometimes just pretending to have a break to sneak up on each other so the game never really ended. Tori laughed while trying to gasp for air, walking up onto the beach and turned to face the water, falling back on her behind while coughing up the salted water. "Break, please." She told them, laughing.
The others all fell onto the sand beside her in exhaustion, "We look crazy." Ray whispered.
"Not any more crazy than usual." Tori told him.
"She can't even breathe properly and she's still making fun of us." Max laughed, falling back to lie down on the sand.
"Nothing's changed, guys." Tori told them, she kept her eyes on the dark sky above her, all the white stars sparkling in the distance, a sight she always enjoyed seeing but someone was missing and she couldn't enjoy it fully unless he was there with her.
"That's always good." Ray told her.
"We wouldn't change you for the world. Although we wish you'd stop being so hard on us in training."
"Keep dreaming, my dear." Tori patted him on the shoulder as she stood up, "I'll be back in a minute." She turned and ran over to the wall at the back of the beach, well as fast as she possibly could while wearing drenched clothing. "Hey, Kai." She greeted.
"Having fun?" Kai asked.
Tori took her cold hands and gently taking Kai's in hers, she nodded and kept her eyes locked with his, "It would be more fun if you were there with us."
"I'm fine here, thanks." Kai took his hands away from Tori's and continued to stare on at her in a dull way.
Tori moved over to the wall, turned her back against it and placed her hands onto the wall, jumping once and pulling herself up onto the wall. "Come join us." She told him, then seeing that it didn't affect him at all and decided to add something else, "Or I'll drag you there."
Kai looked to his right, raising an eyebrow at the girl, "You don't have the strength to do that." He informed her.
Tori shrugged slightly and replied, "I don't have the tumour anymore so I've got nothing stopping me from trying."
Kai just grunted and turned back to staring ahead where the others where by the water, not saying another word to Tori for a few minutes. Tori in the meantime just kept glancing at him, then finally taking in that he wasn't going to get up to go next to the others anytime soon. She stood on the wall and jumped on the other side of it, then standing up behind Kai before raising her leg and kicking him off it and pushing him to stand on the sand.
Once he landed, Kai turned back to look at Tori, raising an eyebrow at her when she smiled and batted her eyelashes inoccently when it was clear the girl was anything but innocent. He watched as Tori jumped over the wall again and then grabbed his hand, "Come on." She tried to drag him but Kai wouldn't move again. Tori let go, turned to him pouting as she put her hands together as though she were praying, "Please." She begged.
"Can't you just leave me out of it for once?" Kai leaned back against the wall as he spoke.
Tori heard how serious Kai was about that, something in him really didn't want him to be near the team or maybe he just didn't allow himself. "You were alone since you were a kid and now that you can be with people that care about you I don't want to leave you by yourself, you deserve better than that."
"No I don't." Kai whispered, almost choking.
"Why are you going back to self-loathing all of a sudden?" Tori stepped closer, a worried but confused and afraid look on her features. Kai didn't give her any answer, didn't even acknowledge her for a second longer, he just jumped back onto the wall and sat there, staring off to his left where he could avoid Tori's gaze. That was, until she stepped in the way and placed a hand on his cheek to keep him from turning his head, "Can't you talk to me about it?" she asked him quietly. Again, Kai ignored her again and just stared more at her stomach because he couldn't look at her face and she was standing in his way.
Tori sighed and let go of him slowly, taking a step back, "I'll be near the others if you want to join us." She told him, no answer, she turned and left the boy alone again.
---Midnight---
Tori walked into her bedroom, jumping onto her bed swiftly while laughing, lying down on her stomach sprawled across the bed. Kai walked into the bedroom, dumping his jacket on the chair by the door, looking on strangely at Tori's form. "You're still hyper?" He asked her.
Tori turned onto her back and smiled, "Kinda." She laughed.
Kai sighed, walking into Tori's bathroom and coming back to the bedroom with a towel and her nightgown and dumped them on her stomach. "Get dressed before you end up ill." He told her.
"Yes, captain." Tori saluted, sitting up. She got up and left the clothes and towel on her bed, then began undressing slowly. Her black shirt was the first thing off, leaving her with only her bra to cover her top half as she dried off her stomach, shoulders and back. Kai had seen her undress and turned away from her, a creepy red blush sneaking its way onto his cheeks to go with the boiling hot blood. Tori pulled on her nightgown, then sat on the bed and pulled off her jeans from underneath, dumping the soaking clothing on the ground before dabbing the towel at her soaked skin.
Tori looked up, seeing Kai turned away from her, fidgeting with his beyblade that was on the dressing table. She laughed quietly and turned back to wiping the water off, "You didn't have to turn away." She informed him.
Kai shifted uncomfortably and turned round again to look at her. She was dressed again, thankfully so he went back to sitting next to her. Tori dumped the towel onto the pile of clothes, then she reached over to Kai, pulling him closer to her so that their faces where just inches apart and they liked it that way because it felt comforting to be so close to someone.
Tori smiled and moved closer to him, kissing his lips softly, the both feeling like they were kissing rose petals as to how soft the kiss was. The kiss was sweet and tender, loving and caring, short but breath-taking, a kiss that made both teenagers turn bright red since despite their trust with each other, shyness was shyness and sometimes there was nothing you could do about it. Once the two had moved away from each other, Tori rested her head against Kai's shoulder while the older boy had his arms wrapped around the thin girl's waist. "Are you better now?" Tori whispered quietly.
"There was nothing wrong with me in the first place."
"Wow you're a good liar."
"A couple of years of practice and you get good at it."
"I see that."
"But it's fine, you know? It's nothing…" Kai started quietly.
"New?" Tori asked, looking up at him with sweet eyes, "It's not good that you're so used to feeling that way…because then it means that it's been happening for a long time."
"But it has happened for a long time, we both know it and we're not denying it either."
"I'm not denying it but it's not right that you've gotten so used to all of this…it's a horrible thing to get used to."
"It makes no difference." Kai muttered.
Tori slowly let go of Kai and turned to lie back against the pillows, staring down at her hands that lay in her lap. "You did nothing wrong, you suffered and the whole world went on like you weren't there suffering when it was as clear as day, it's not fair." She whispered sadly.
"Well life isn't always fair, is it?"
"Clearly it isn't."
Kai took a deep breathe and moved a hand out in front of him, gently caressing Tori's cheek, "You're tired, get some sleep." Kai left the room, leaving Tori alone with her own thoughts, suddenly drained of her hyperness by the more seriousness preying on her mind. The auburn-haired girl got under the covers, warming up to the soft material that sheilded her frail body from the summer breeze that circled the bedroom. She heard Kai walk back into the room, in the dark not seeing him but feeling him slide into the space beside her in the bed. Tori scooted closer to him and kept a hand on his shoulder as she almost always did, stroking the skin softly with the back of her fingers. "Back when I was in hospital…"She started quietly, "I spoke to a doctor, I was looking for the right doctor who could help with all this stress and the things you're going through and…I found one."
"You didn't have to do that."
"No. I wanted to, to help."
"Still."
"You think you could give it a shot?"
"I'm not going to know what's going to happen unless I try, right?"
"Right."
"So I'll give it a shot."
Tori smiled in the darkness and Kai could tell that she was happy about his answer, "Thanks, Kai." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and rested her head back on her pillow.
Kai smirked slightly, "I just don't want to have to burn in hell for the rest of my life." He extended his arm over Tori's stomach and began to let tiredness take him over, "Now get some sleep." He whispered finally to her.
"Good idea." Tori whispered, closing her eyes and dozing off to sleep only minutes later.
A/N: That's another chapter done. So what did you think? Sorry if it was a little boring but I'm coming close to the end of the fic, I have the right to make it a little boring //laughs// Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and tell me what you think and I'll get working on next chapter soon enough.
Also, this chapter had two songs that Tori had sung at the café. The first song was called 'Kiss!Kiss!Bang!Bang!' by Komatsu Ayaka. Here's the translation to it, sadly this song is one I had to translate without the help of a translator and did it by myself and one verse was one that I couldn't translate well so I left it out of this chapter but to the point it was merely a repition of an earlier verse and you'll see that if you just listen to the song:
I'm sorry for hiding my face in my sadness,
I even forgot the way to walk.
The night is lonely, who will be there with me?
Kiss! Kiss! Because of love!
Bang!Bang! There's a hole in my heart.
Tears…I'm not going to show them.
Because inside me…there's a battle…alright.
A love that's not all about smiles
Surpass the pain. Protect to the very end.
When I think about you…
(Cause anytime)
I feel more warm now…just that
(Rainbow in my soul)
I want to keep believing…I'll be here.
Sometimes people
Seem like their hurt hearts will never heal
(If you want me to…I'll just be here…every night)
I can cry if I want to
(Cry if I want to)
I can cry like a heavy rain
(Cry like a heavy rain)
I just want you by my side.
A love that's not all about smiles
Surpass the pain. Protect to the very end.
When I think about you
(cause anytime)
I'm filled with a warmth…I just want to believe in that
(Cause anytime)
I'll be here!
Alright!
Woo!
Nice song, right? I heard it and thought that it really fit Tori and Kai well so I thought I'd include it in the chapter. On with the next song, the second song was called, 'Friend' by the female actresses of PGSM; Sawai Miyuu, Kitagawa Keiko, Hama Chisaki, Azama Myuu(Mew) and Komatsu Ayaka. Here's the translation to that song:
Dear my friend
I kept running here
With my dream
I kept searching for here
With no time to look back every day
Our meeting isn't by chance
Tell me the reason for those tears
The first lie you told
Erased by the melody of the falling rain
The merry-go-round keeps turning
The fleeting sepia feelings
Sealed up in a photo album
Come back to me
The miracle of our meeting and
(miracle power)
That irreplaceable time
(special time forever)
I treasure them all
I can go on with life
Thousands of emotions
(thousand words)
Vanish into the night sky
(twinkle star forever)
I want to complete the things
We can only do now
I wanna be with you.
My best friend
For myself
We only get one life
Go my way
I want to have adventures, too
Doing it over again
With meetings and partings
The nights of solitude end
Inside the gentle winds
Your smiling face is always the same
Radiant
Even if we start to walk down
(winding road)
Separate roads
(special time forever)
Somewhere deep inside
We're connected
The magic words
(miracle words)
Race across the night sky
(twinkle star forever)
I want to send a fantasy
Shining from the stars
I wanna get back here.
My best friend
I was smiling, shy of
This thing called friendship
Thanks for giving me
A wonderful dream
The miracle of our meeting and
(miracle power)
That irreplaceable time
(special time forever)
I treasure them all
I can go on with life
Thousands of emotions
(thousand words)
Vanish into the night sky
(twinkle star forever)
I want to complete the things
We can only do now
I wanna be with you.
My best friend
(I'm proud of you)
Together forever
(feel my heart)
(please, please, please)
(my best friend)
So that's pretty much all I have to say for this chapter. I'm still sorting out some kinks of the sequel I have planned so its not definate yet that there'll be a sequel, have patience but I'm trying to work on this fic and plan the sequel so have patience. Thanks for reading and please review, I only got 2 reviews last chapter which was a bit disappointing considering I usually get about 8 so I hoped to do better on this chapter. So please review and I'll work on next chapter tomorrow evening!
//Waves//