Chapter 53------Her Hug and Her Hope
"C'mon Kai, you can't sleep forever…" Tyson threw popcorn at the slumbering captain.
"Quit it," Mai spat, "or I'll smash the whole box in your face." She picked up the strewn pieces of popcorn on Kai's bed and threw them into the bin. "Go away if you're gonna be a bother around here."
"Why so cranky?" Tyson leaned back in his chair, "you're the one that got him sick in the first place."
"Shut up!"
Max tugged on Tyson's shirt, "Let's go train."
"But I wanna—"
"Let's GO." The boy pulled harder, stressing on the last word. He knew that if Tyson stuck around any longer, things would get worse. Tyson reluctantly got up and Max led him out of the room.
Mai sighed, at least one of the idiotic things in her life was gone for now. She caught Rei looking at her, "What?"
"You didn't have to shout at him," the boy replied.
"Oh c'mon Rei, not you too," the girl rolled her eyes so far back you could hear them turning in their sockets. 'I don't need this. I. Do. Not. Need. This.'
"It's not your fault, you know." Rei looked elsewhere, trying to sound casual.
Mai let out a puff or air and turned away, "Usoutsuki (liar)" She looked at Kai, feeling sorry for him, feeling angry at herself for the way things turned out. "How can it not be my fault?" she spoke softly, "I dragged you two into the whole Norwing fiasco…and now he won't even wake up." Her deep-set eyes shown with sadness, what had she done? Was this what Levian had been warning her about? That one day she may put her friends in so deep a danger that none of them could ever get out? Had that time come?
'Why now? Why Kai?'
"Don't worry about it." A hand patted her head which disrupted her previous train of thought.
"Demo…" She met his gaze with crest-fallen eyes.
"You didn't ask for this to happen. No one did. Don't blame yourself for something you didn't do."
"Anata nani mo shiranai! Watashi wa…Moshi Eden wa—! (You don't understand! I…If Eden)" Mai argued. Why couldn't he understand? Why couldn't anyone understand? 'It's my fault! It's me and my stupid destiny's fault!'
Rei clasped her shoulders and looked at her straight in the eyes, "Listen to me. It's NOT your fault. You didn't ask for this life. It's just the way it is."
The girl shook her head, Rei would never understand the dilemma she was in, torn between protecting herself and her friends as well as fulfilling her destiny. She fled out of the room, she needed some time to think, to rearrange her life and perhaps, even grant her friends safety for awhile…
'Mai…'
"How long do you plan on standing there?"
"You're awake!" Rei rushed to Kai's bedside, "But when did you?"
Kai pulled out his arms from under the covers, "since a long time ago…"
Rei eyed his friend suspiciously, "That means you heard?"
His lack of response told Rei that he did. "She was really worried about you." He sat hunched, fingers crossed on his lap.
"Sou ka…" Kai sounded uninterested.
"Just thought you'd like to know…" Rei mumbled.
'What does he want me to do? Jump for joy because she was worried about me? Pffht…' Kai thought.
"Is she…" he looked at Kai, "Is she afraid that she might endanger us?"
Kai remembered what Mai had said before…
-flashback-
"Once I find Riya and the others, I'll return to them. That way you won't have to destroy yourself over caring about me."
-End of flashback-
"She's returning to Riya and the others."
"What?" Rei straightened up.
" "No more worrying, no more fighting or running away, no more risking you lives for me,"… That's what she said."
The neko-jin sat in silence, distressed at what he had heard. 'Why? It isn't your entire fault.' Knowing that Mai would leave them one day, he couldn't accept it. Her reason wasn't worth leaving! It was an invalid excuse! She was going back to what she used to do: running away.
"Do the rest know about this?"
"Only Max," Kai stared up at the ceiling, not liking this conversation one bit. Everything seemed to revolve around Mai nowadays…
"Then aren't you going to stop her?" Rei persisted.
The Russian frowned, why was it always his responsibility when it came to Mai? "Like you said, Mai's life is hers to live," He placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.
"That's it?" The neko-jin's voice rose, "You're going to let her walk out on us just like that? Don't you—"
"Why are you –cough- cough- blaming ME?" Kai's voice went raspy. "What do you want me to do? Be her Knight in shining armour? She doesn't belong to us, Rei!" He broke into a round of coughing.
Rei's eyes softened, he didn't want to make Kai's condition worse. He knew the boy was trying, he had been trying all this time to look out for Mai but in all honesty, they really had no say in what Mai wanted to do. They weren't her guardians, nor were they her family. Come to think of it, if Mai was planning to leave them all along, then what had they been to her all this while?
"Sorry, I shouldn't have—"
But Kai interrupted him, "Save it."
Rei looked down at his feet, not knowing what to do, feeling a little ashamed to be in Kai's presence after that short argument.
"Go after her," the boy said in a tone that released a little bit of the tension, "who knows what that girl could have gotten herself into by now…"
Rei didn't laugh like how he usually responded to Kai's comments. Instead, he kept a straight face and walked out of the room leaving Kai with a message before he left:
"Stop acting like it's all a big joke... because it isn't."
'Rei…'
"Matte!" He scrambled out of bed.
-Wherever Mai is…-
Mai stretched her legs, 'They'd never find me here.' She looked out into the open, letting the gentle breeze comfort her while she rested under the shadow of the building. A few metres front, the sweltering sun marked patches of its territory all over the balcony.
She shifted her position so that she was now sitting cross-legged; her gaze fell on her wrist band. She tugged on it a little so that a bit of her birthmark peeked through the sides, and then she slid the whole thing off. The birthmark stared back at her, the birthmark that had determined her future from the very moment she was born, the mark of her cursed life.
'Levian, tell me what should I do.'
Levian: That's up to you to decide.
'But I don't know what to do. I feel like, like I'm shouldering this all on my own. They can't help me and now you, no one can help me…'
Levian: But they're there for you. No matter how many times you runaway, you can always return to them and they'll welcome you with open arms.
'But that's not the problem! The problem is I don't want them to get hurt! Why should they bear the burden of my troubles when it's my fault? I should've been the one to fall sick, not Kai. Why does everything happen to them and not me?' She bit her lip in anguish. 'I've already lost my family…am I not even allowed to have friends?'
Levian: Mai…You—
"Mitsuketa. (I found you)
She lifted her head, "Rei."
The neko-jin's warm eyes turned sombre when he saw the girl's face, "Nakanai de. (Don't cry)"
'Huh?' She touched her cheek, sure enough, it was slightly wet. She hurriedly wiped them with the back of her hand, "I wasn't crying," she replied defensively and got up.
"Guess who's here."
Mai watched him emerge from behind Rei, living, breathing and wide awake. Her eyes lit up, she couldn't describe the feeling, it was a mixture of joy and guilt, something bitter-sweet, like watching your best friend get married off to the person you love. A voice in the back of her mind was telling her, 'Run! Go to him!'
Impulsively, Mai ran up to Kai and threw her arms around him, "Yokatta! Anata buji de yokatta! (Thank goodness you're all right)" She buried her head in his chest; not caring if her tears dampened his shirt, not caring what people would think. He was all right and that was all that mattered, she hadn't lost him after all. "Gomenasai. Honto ni gomenasai." Her fingers gripped the back of his shirt, never wanting to let go, never wanting to almost-lose Kai again.
Kai didn't know how to react. When she hugged him, it was as if all the air had been knocked out of his lungs. He could feel the fabric against his skin getting wet, she was crying. He raised his hand but hesitated, this wasn't like him, he had never done this before and it felt awkward to do what he thought was appropriate in a situation like this.
And so he wasn't going to do it…
Instead, he carefully freed himself from her embrace, not wanting to make it seem like he wasn't happy about it. (blu: that's because you WERE happy about it. Kai: Says who? blu: I control the story. Kai: I demand my rights! blu: you don't have rights. Kai: I demand my right to have rights! blu: gah!) "Don't apologise."
"But I—"
Kai raised a finger to her lips, "Don't. If you want to apologise then stop crying," he avoided her gaze. He never liked girls who cried a lot.
Mai sniffed and nodded her head. She dropped her gaze; puffy red eyes weren't a nice sight…
Kai studied her from under his fringe, a cheerless Mai made him feel empty. He wanted to see her smile. No, he wanted to make her smile. "Mataku, I got out of bed to look for you and this is the welcoming I get? Smile a bit, will ya?"
A small laugh escaped her lips. The high fever did nothing for his attitude.
Rei placed a hand on her shoulder, "Let's go back."
She hummed a reply and the three of them walked the path back to their room.
"-cough- -cough-"
Kai felt a hand slid onto his back. "Take it easy," she advised, and the two carried on walking, not once removing her hand from its position…
-A few days later, the Bladebreakers find themselves back in Japan…-
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world
Forget what we're told
"Mai."
…Get too old
Show me a garden that's—
"MAI!"
"WHAT?" Tyson had removed the headphones and shouted in her ear.
"Wake up, we've landed."
"Oh…" 'Okay, that was rather stupid…' Mai removed the headphones and quickly stuffed them into the seat pocket. She undid her seatbelt and stood up; almost everyone had already left the plane. "Sorry."
"Never mind, hurry up." But from the tone of his voice, Mai knew he minded.
The group, together with Kenny emerged into the immigration area. Through the glass panels, Mai could see the swarms of fans awaiting their arrival. Correction, a particular captain's arrival…
Max sighed, "Prepare to put on your shades guys."
"Why?"
The boy pointed to the reporters and the paparazzi outside, "Cameras…"
The rest nodded their heads understandingly and threw on their sunglasses.
"Here we go again…"
"Good luck, Kai."
"3, 2, 1."
They walked into the arrival hall and were immediately bombarded by reporters firing questions at them and shoving microphones in their faces.
"How did you feel about winning the American tournament?"
Tyson: "It was great. Definitely—"
"KAI-SAMMAAA!"
"Was it tough losing to Michael of the All Starz? Where does his put you now, Mr Hiwatari?"
Kai: … -pushes his way through crowd, trying to save his ears from the high-pitched screams-
"Why didn't you battle, Ms Takuya?"
"Is she really an asset to the team or just a trophy girl?"
Mai: "TROPHY GIRL? I'M NOT A—!"
"Just keep moving. Just keep moving." Max pushed her, dragging poor Kenny along behind him.
"BOYS!"
'Mr Dickenson! We're saved!' They all thought.
The men in suits rushed them into the black car waiting outside, shut the door, tapped twice on the boot and the car was off…
"Sorry for arriving a little late, got caught up in traffic." The plump man wiped his brow with a handkerchief. "So, another tournament settled."
"Yup. Europe, here we come!" Max and Kenny cheered along with Tyson.
Mr Dickenson pulled out his organiser, "Yes well, that's still along way more to go. Oh by the way, I've agreed to let you boys go on a TV show."
"TV SHOW?"
-Outside, car swerves-
It was as if all reality had shattered before them…
"Which one?" Max questioned, still boggle-eyed like the rest of them.
"Nippon CHECKU!"
"NIPPON CHECKU?"
-car swerves again-
"Sonotoori! (That's right)" Mr D raised a finger.
-funny jingle plays in the background signalling end of chapter-
blu: Sorry I took too long to update this, had a major writer's block. Anyway, the angst is over (for now) and time for some RnR! WOOO! I can't wait to do the TV show chapter. WAHAHAHA!
Mai: I'm soo gonna get back at you, Tyson.
Tyson: In your dreams, cry baby.
Mai: What about you huh? Tubby!
Tyson: Freak!
Mai: Dimwit!
-Starts fighting and rolls away in a ball of dust...-
blu: okaayy...PLEASE REVIEW!