02—accusation
When they parted ways on the day Gaillard returned to France, both of them had agreed to accept that what's done is done. Yet late at night, Kai lay on his bed and willfully reminded himself of the sins that Gaillard had previously accused him of comitting: putting the world in danger and destroying everyone's happiness. This had become part of his bedtime routine, not only to remind himself not to make the same mistakes again, but also to try to remember the exact conditions in which he had made them.
If only Kai could better recall the doing behind what was done. He tried to overcome the imperfections of his memory, to sharpen the details of the places that he went and the people he had hurt, often to the point of incurring a migraine.
Then he reached a breakthrough. Sometimes it happened that he could immerse himself in a past experience, as long as it involved Vanguard. While deigning to take note of the identities of his opponents, Kai still managed to remember the course of his every cardfight.
This time, he had managed to dredge up the old memory of his missed meeting with Olivier Gaillard. When he stepped into the compound of the French orphanage, the first person he encountered was not the distinguished player, but a kid. A smiling kid waving a Vanguard deck at him.
Kai said 'yes' to the game. Later, when he roamed around town to find the actual Gaillard, he abruptly couldn't take another step upon realizing that he was far from the vicinity of any Vanguard tables. It had taken hold of him, the need to crush other people, crush whomever. He went back to Japan afterwards, where he could pick an endless number of fights.
He left the bed to tell all this to Gaillard over the phone. "I'm telling you this so you'll know. In case I won't remember, when my memory needs to be erased again." Kai said.
"I won't do that. I prefer you to be like this, thinking deeply about how wrong you are." Gaillard replied. "Do you know what I'm doing right now?"
"Drinking coffee?" Kai guessed.
"Wine, actually," Gaillard said. "Hey, go grab a paper and a pencil. I'm going to tell you the good times to call me and teach you about time zones."
Kai did just that. Soon, he had brought out his school calculator as well. Gaillard had moved on to informing him about which necessities he could buy in France and omitt from his packing if he decided to train in France. Kai was in the midst of converting the price of a spaghetti strainer from Yen to Euro, when he remembered that he had actual math problems to complete.
"Sorry, I have to stop." Kai said, cutting Gaillard's torrent of information short. "I have homework to do."
"You're such an irresponsible brat," Gaillard scoffed.
The admonishment was the last of Gaillard that Kai heard before the dial tone echoed in Kai's ear. 'At least he makes a good distraction,' Kai thought. He put down the phone, went to fetch his schoolwork and spent most of the rest of the night wondering if he would come to like eating disgusting French food.
A/N: In most cases, the only way in which I can see Gaillard taking care of Kai is by indirectly making Kai take care of himself. On a semi-related note, escargot is delicious.