Chapter 5
Sakura lay exhaustedly on her bed, partly on her side with her arm stretched across the white linen streets, gripping the corner of the mattress, breathing at a slow and rhythmic pace. Soon enough a form crept up behind her, lying behind her and placing his hand around her waist. He lay there for a moment before sitting up slightly to look at Sakura, who was well aware of his presence. He kept an eye on her face, her eyes still not opening to look at him but he decided to speak anyway, "Thanks." He whispered shyly.
Sakura still didn't open her eyes, giving herself a few more quiet seconds of peace before replying, "For what?" she asked him, bored and rather uninterestedly.
Kyoshi pulled Sakura a little closer to him, speaking quietly to her again, "For the reassurance earlier."
Sakura smirked, turning onto her back to be able to look up at him properly, "You were meant to be asleep, I didn't think you could hear me talking."
"I've been a shallow sleeper these past few weeks." Kyoshi shrugged slightly, smiling down at her.
The dark-haired girl's expression went serious suddenly, looking up at him with some regret and sorrow in her eyes, "I didn't know that." With her words, something else could be seen in her eyes, the sight of something that showed him it was her way of telling him sorry for not knowing since she wouldn't say it herself.
Kyoshi smiled down at her but shook his head, "You weren't supposed to know."
"If I were around and listened to you more, then I would have known better."
"Maybe so but I don't mind, you know? Don't worry about any of it." Kyoshi shrugged again unresponsively, looking like nothing affected him.
Sakura huffed quietly and turned back onto her side, closing her eyes again quickly, "You know me…I don't worry much."
Kyoshi nodded slightly, sighing and lying down properly beside the girl, "I guess you're right." He whispered softly, different to the way he'd been speaking earlier, in a different tone at least.
"What is it?" Sakura asked, looking back at him again.
"What?"
Sakura turned over completely, sitting up slightly to loom over him, "Something changed. What's wrong?" she asked quietly.
Kyoshi sat up slightly on his side, a hand moving carefully to her face and stroking her cheek with his thumb, smiling caringly before giving her a quick kiss. "You're getting paranoid." He whispered, smirking at her with some satisfaction.
Sakura moved her head away quickly, pushing his hand off of her, "I am not."
"You sure?" Kyoshi asked, his smirk not ceasing and not being affected by the action.
Sakura huffed and turned away from him, getting off the bed, "Of course." She replied confidently.
Kyoshi crawled to that side of the bed and standing up just behind her, both his hands on her shoulders as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "Stubborn." He whispered in between another kiss.
Sakura pulled away from him slowly, turning and walking past him and calling to him as she reached the door, "Come on, we're going out."
---An Hour Later- On the Streets---
Sakura buried her hands in her jeans pockets, turning back to Kyoshi and looking up at him, "So we'll meet back here in about an hour, don't forget." She stated casually.
"I won't. See you later." Kyoshi turned quickly and attempted to walk away down the dark streets.
"Hey, wait a second; don't be so quick to leave." Sakura called after him, making him turn round and walk back to her.
"I need to enjoy the night." Kyoshi commented under his breath, standing right in front of the girl.
Sakura glared up at him before sliding something out of her back pocket, a paper with a photo of a young male Asian attached to it. "Here, you might need this." She handed the paper to him and walked off before he had the chance to look up from the paper and reply to her. She made her way down the crowded, dimly lit streets of Japan, her eyes continuously cast on the ground in front of her as she walked on, one place of meeting in mind. Little knows littered the streets, or that was as much as she could here. She tended to zone out completely when it suited her to and that made her block out any thing that was going on around her. People in the area where polite towards her, none took any regard towards her cold-hearted and tough stature and just walked past her without saying anything against her which she had grown to be used to.
She stepped in a small puddle of water on her way into an alley, the water probably coming from the water pipe that had been used to water some of the plants on the end of the street that had been seriously drying up because of the heat wave. She peeked inside the dark, looking around through with some of the illumination that fell off the walls. No one and nothing was in there worth looking for and she left it soon enough, walking on for longer till she found another alley, one looking worse off than the other one actually did. She walked inside quietly, being more sure something was there rather than in the other alley when she was unable to sense any living being. She walked to the back of the abandoned corner and knelt down in front of a few crumpled up blankets in a corner.
She slowly touched the top of one of the blankets; her thin fingers carefully curled along the hem and even slower pulled the covers down, not being surprised by the sight of the dirty and skinny child underneath it. Almost acting as though the sight wasn't one of anything that was new to her.
"You're here again…Obviously you haven't found a better place to stay yet." She whispered quietly to the girl's unconscious form. She wasn't expecting any answer from the girl of course, speaking more rhetorically than anything else. She slowly slid the cover down lower, putting her two fingers in the girl's jeans pocket, feeling it to be empty. "At least you've bought yourself something to eat, you've managed well." She continued to whisper. She put her hand on the girl's head, running her fingers through the girl's knotty and dirty blonde hair, "It'll be ok, don't worry." She pulled her wallet out of her back pocket, rummaging through it before pulling out quite a large sum of money and slotting it in the girl's pocket.
Sakura tried to force a small smile on her face, even though the orphaned girl wasn't much of a smiling matter. She picked the girl up just slightly from the ground to be able to fix the number of blankets she was wrapped in. She was careful and gentle…more than she was with herself or Kyoshi as when here she was actually scared of harming the girl more, what with weak bones and fragile skin and all. She covered the girl up again completely, wished her a silent good night and left the alley in hopes of not being seen by anyone.
Her shabbily cut black hair swayed slightly in front of her face with the light summer breeze that brushed past her constantly as she leisurely made her way back to her meeting place with Kyoshi to wait for him there even if she was still about half an hour early. She arrived at the spot in half the time it took her to get to the girl but her ears twitched slightly at a sound that seemed familiar to her, making her raise her eyes from staring at the ground and look around. She pushed herself off the dirty stone walls and walked hurriedly in the opposite direction from where she'd came from, the direction Kyoshi had gone. She arrived in front of a small building, a grocery store on the outside but most definitely something else on the inside.
She sighed shaking her head, her eyes almost rolling at the same time as she walked calmly to the side of the building. She looked up to the top at the roof where she could have sworn Kyoshi was. Looking around the corner she saw a bunch of boxes pilled up over an old, clearly unused trashcan and decided to use that to give herself a boost up onto the building. She stood on it with great agility and balance but not taking things lightly as she'd decided to hold onto the stone wall before slowly climbing her way up to the top. It wasn't before long that she arrived there as clearly already been said, it was a small building, not one very high. She sighed quietly once she reached to the top, sitting down on the ledge, facing Kyoshi's direction.
Two dead body's lay sprawled on the ground, one of which was currently in Kyoshi's arms while he tended to the tanned neck of the man that was on the picture Sakura had given him. She continued to sit there with some interest on her features, watching as Kyoshi enjoyed his first meal in ages. His feeding time wasn't of anything new to her either, just about now you could say she'd seen it all really but still, watching him feeding was still something she didn't see often as he'd been starving himself constantly and rarely had she been quick enough to catch up to him in time to watch it. On the other hand, she really wasn't about to interrupt feeding time. Disturbing a vampires feeding time was…unheard of to say the least as no one would like to be on the other end of a vampires deadly bite, including Sakura.
It wasn't too long till Kyoshi had finished draining the blood of one victim, then slowly moving on to the other one. Kyoshi's large appetite almost disgusting Sakura completely, still making her turn her head away from him and stare off the ledge to the streets below them. She was getting a little impatient but refused to say anything at the time since in actual fact, she had given him just over an hour before they were meant to meet again and so she was early and didn't have the right to stop anything. Soon enough she turned back to Kyoshi, watching him stand up and kick the body over so that the corpse would lie on its stomach.
Some blonde hair fell in front of Kyoshi's face from keeping his head lowered for so long so it tended to remain that way till he brushed it away, revealing the slight coldness on his face along with the crimson liquid dripping from the corners of his mouth. Sakura stood up as he walked up to her, her arms still crossed as she looked on at him passively while speaking, "Satisfied?" she asked.
Kyoshi nodded curtly, tugging his shirt's sleeve down and wiping at his mouth, "Very." He replied.
"Excellent. Now let's get out of here before we get into some sort of trouble." Sakura turned back to the ledge, stood on it and peered over at the ground beneath her.
Kyoshi smirked and stood beside her on the ledge, "Right, like we could get into trouble." He muttered.
Sakura turned to him sharply, glaring coldly, "Just shut up and get me down from here, okay?"
The blonde smirked slightly, stepping carefully behind her and placing both hands on her shoulders to keep her from falling off such a narrow edge of stone. "Stop being so grumpy." He whispered in her ear, a constant smirk playing at his lips.
"Just get me down." Sakura barked, turning her head to the side in furiousness.
The older male shook his head discreetly and tightened his grip on one of her shoulders and letting go of the other, moving her forward slightly so she peered over the edge more, leaning over with her only form of safety being his grip on her. "What should you say?" he asked.
Sakura grit her teeth, turning away from looking below, "I should say that if you don't get me safely on the ground you'll regret your immortality." She bit out angrily.
"And?"
Sakura turned her head to look straight again, looking down, "I hate you." She muttered angrily, savagely and quickly lifting her hand and brushing off Kyoshi's hold on her to let her fall. Even though the fall was a short distance, for someone who was afraid of heights it was too long a distance but the fright of it only gave her more determination and she landed perfectly on her knees, one hand in front of her to hold herself up. She sensed Kyoshi arrive on the ground beside her, floating down like a regular vampire with stealth. He stood, walking slowly in front of her as she rose. "Did you know that mother birds threw their young out of the nest to teach them how to fly?" he asked her.
Sakura gave some sort of a smirk as a reply before lunging forward and kneeing him hard at his centre, standing back and watching as he dubbed over in utmost pain. "Did you know that when a guy get's on a girl's nerves that's usually the first place she aims for?" she asked rhetorically.
"That was uncalled for."
"That's just a taste of what will happen if you dare try a stunt like that again." Sakura growled, turning and walking off in a hurry.
Kyoshi stood up straight, wincing slightly before dubbing over again, "Man that hurt." He muttered, breathing deeply. He gave himself one more minute before he knew most of the pain had disintegrated and decided to run after her in hopes of catching up.
---At The House- 00:00---
Sakura was just about to enter her bedroom when from the room beside her out came Kyoshi, reaching out to her and wrapping one arm around her waist to keep her from moving away further. The pale-skinned girl slowly turned round, looking up at him with a blankness but a bit of questioning in her eyes at the same time. Kyoshi's face was inches away from hers as he slowly intended to close the gap but all he was met with was her hand against his face, her fingers parted enough so he could look through them.
A small smirk was suddenly put on Sakura's face as she stared up into his confused eyes and began to reply, "If you think that you're going to kiss me with a mouth that has just sucked up the blood of two men, you're sorely mistaken my friend."
Kyoshi backed off, stepping away and looking at her a little disappointedly as he watched her walk off into her bedroom.
---With Kai and Tala---
Kai sat back on the sofa, watching as Tala walked from one side of the room to the other constantly to look out of the window. A cup of strong coffee was gripped tightly in his hands as he paced, on the occasion of taking sips while staring outside into the dark. "Is this how you're going to spend your whole night?" Kai asked him, raising an eyebrow as he watched the red-head intently.
Tala walked up to the window yet again, drawing back the curtain lightly with his hand to look out. He exhaled quietly, letting go of the curtain and turning back to Kai, "Maybe." He answered.
Kai sighed and looked up at his friend, "That wasn't the answer I was hoping for." He told him.
"Well we can't all have what we want now can we?" Tala asked him, glaring coldly at the older blader with some spitefulness in his voice.
Kai shrugged, sitting forward and pushing himself up off the sofa, "I don't know what you plan on doing all night but I'm going to sleep." He said, walking past Tala and to his bedroom, "Good night." He shut the door quietly behind him, leaving the red head alone in the lightly-illuminated living room. The boy was quite…puzzled being the right word to call it. Things were moving slowly, slower than expected. One thing he was taught to do as a child was to analyze everything that went on. Now he was being chased by something he didn't even have time to analyze, something dangerous that could attack at any moment.
At the time he wasn't in any immediate danger though, Sakura had left a note on their door while they were out that Hana was going to be somewhat distracted for a while and shouldn't even attempting to hurt him. She was right though, Tala gave her that much as he hadn't seen a glimpse of the water demon for hours which he was not complaining about. All he needed now was just something to take his mind off of things that could and probably were going to happen sometime in the near future. He set his mug down on the desk, glancing over at the window one more time before sitting down at the computer in hopes of distracting himself.
One subject had entered his mind to look up; some random feeling he got that drew him closer to the idea. So still being bored, he rested his elbow on the desk, placing his head in his hand as his other hand moved the mouse so the curser did the same on the screen.
---Next Morning---
6:00am and Kai quietly stepped out of his bedroom, staring at the ground up until he closed his bedroom door behind him, then looked up at Tala at the computer, "Have you been there all night?" Kai asked quickly, astonishment in his voice.
Tala almost jumped as he hadn't heard Kai creep in through the door at the back of the room. He slowly turned to be able to look at his friend, no sign of fright evident on his face, "Of course not." He replied monotonously.
"Good." Kai commented, walking into the kitchen.
The younger Biovolt blader turned back to the computer, busying himself as he spoke loudly to the other, "What are you doing up so early?"
Kai called back from the kitchen while making himself a cup of coffee, "I'm always up at this time, remember?"
"You were like that in the Abbey…why didn't you ever change once you were out?"
Kai paused for a moment, staring down at the coffee mug on the counter, a slightly surprised look on his features, "I guess I didn't feel the need to. Why?" he asked curiously, returning to pouring out the water into the mug.
Tala shrugged unconcernedly from his place at the computer, answering calmly, "Just asking that's all."
The older blader in the kitchen wished he could shrug it off but something in him disallowed him to, although his will helping him enough for him to remain silent about it. He picked up his coffee and walked back out into the living room, having a much better view of his friend as he sat down on the sofa, sipping the coffee while raising his eyes to keep an eye on the boy. Tala confused him a lot these days; it seemed as though he was always doing something that Kai couldn't quite understand. Despite his curiosity, he had refused to ask about most of it, just expecting it to be a way of which Tala dealt with the outcome of his life. "What have you been doing over there?" he asked casually, pretending he wasn't too interested.
"I got bored and did some research." Tala replied, returning to holding his head in his hand.
"On?"
"These two are musicians aren't they?"
"Yeah, so you looked up musicians?" Kai asked, his eyebrows furrowing, giving him a more confused expression.
"Yeah, surprisingly there were these two that really looked like Kyoshi and Sakura…obviously they weren't though because the two singers are dead apparently."
Kai smirked, continuing to look at his friend with some amusement on his face, "We need to get you a life." He told him.
Tala couldn't help but smile a little at the other's comment, almost expecting Kai to have said that to him, "Probably." He stated.
The older blunette placed his empty mug on the coffee table, shifting on the sofa to lie down, looking in Tala's direction, "Maybe…we should go after those two again today." He told Tala quietly, calmly and casually as always.
Tala turned his chair so he could look at Kai, looking at him blankly, "They don't have to look after me." He said coldly.
Kai shrugged a little, locking eyes with Tala in a blank stare, "They see it as their job though." He reminded.
The red head ran a hand through his blood red hair, turning away from Kai again, facing the computer again but staring at it with blank interest in his eyes, "It's no ones job to look after me. There is no such job."
Kai put his hands by his sides carefully and pushed himself up slightly to sit, "That doesn't seem to be what they think at the moment." He commented coldly.
"Since when have you cared about what other people think?!" Tala shot at him angrily.
"I care a lot when it's a friend's life at stake here."
Tala calmly continued staring into the lights of the computer, not taking in anything that was on the screen through his blurred vision. He slowly factored in all that Kai had said but in his mind he didn't have any of it, he felt like he couldn't believe it, "You said you didn't have friends." He told him, his body not moving an inch from its place.
"Tal…" Kai said, a rather annoyed hint to his features and voice.
Tala turned in his chair again to look over at Kai, exhaling into the heat of the room before getting up and walking over to his ex-team mate, sitting beside him on the sofa. He gripped his friends shoulders in his hands, not realizing the pressure he was putting, but still clearly Kai hadn't been hurt by it, "Stop being overprotective." He whispered in a scowl.
Kai abruptly waved off Tala's hands off of him, looking down at him with some anger in his eyes, "It's a flaw but if you ask me there's a lot to worry about." He glared angrily at the boy.
---Later That Day---
"I thought I'd told you two to run." Kyoshi whispered, pulling Kai and Tala behind some iron transporting storage crates. The little bit of anger he was feeling emitted through his voice, not enough to try to intimidate the two younger teenagers.
Kai glared over at Kyoshi out of the corner of his eye, retaining his own anger at Kyoshi's tone while speaking, "We don't run, ever and even if we did, we were a little tied up." He growled in a whisper.
Tala stood up slightly from his crouched position and peered over the crate before kneeling back down beside Kyoshi, "You still haven't told us what's going on. And why did we leave her back there alone? She can't hold up for much longer." He whispered. The blonde sat back against the crate, he exhaled and pulled his gun back out of his back pocket, setting up and gripping it tightly into his hand before looking round to see if anyone was coming.
"We have more luck talking to a brick wall." Kai muttered angrily to his red-headed friend.
Kyoshi turned and sat on his heels, still adjusting a part of his almost broken gun, "I heard you." He said through gritted teeth.
"Doesn't mean you gave us an answer." Kai shot at him coldly.
Kyoshi looked over at the two beside him, glaring coldly with a fierceness in his eyes, looking over at Tala, "Shut your complaining friend up."
Tala turned to Kai to attempt what he had been asked to do but the killer glare that Kai set onto his features was one that made Tala just turn away from him again. Kyoshi looked over at Tala strangely, "I see you value your life." He whispered to him, regarding Tala's sudden fear of Kai. The red-head had clearly shrugged off the insult and just slowly stood up to peer over for any more gun men that had just been aiming at the three of them, Sakura included even though she was off somewhere in the warehouse still fighting them off.
"Since when do the henchmen of water demons use guns?" Kai asked quietly.
Kyoshi would have objected to answering that question but instead changed his mind and just answered him anyway but in a questioning answer, "Why should she waste her powers creating more demon minions when there are mortals who are ready to kill?"
Kai put a hand on Tala's shoulder and pulled him back a bit, "He has a point." He mumbled to him.
Kyoshi looked around, placing one hand on the ground to keep himself steady and to be able to push himself off the ground when ready. First he turned to Kai and Tala though, the two younger teenagers, he looked at them with a sense of fear in his eyes, a little bit of guilt for having to leave them alone, "Wait here, alright?" he whispered quietly in a warning tone, a stronger one than his features implied.
"We aren't just going to sit here." Tala whispered in a quick protest to the older boy.
Kyoshi stood up, being unable to sense an presences in the area, seeing it as safe to show himself for the time being, "They'll have you killed." He whispered down at them, glaring at them with a final warning, "Stay here." He ran off before the two teenagers had another moment to protest, the only way Kyoshi could get away without him being forced to yell at the two to get them to stay there.
Kai crept passed Tala and attempted leaving the safety of the hidden area until Tala grabbed his arm and shoulder and savagely pulled him back, "You heard him, we have to stay here." He growled coldly at his the ex-team mate, putting aside his kindness towards his stubborn friend.
"We can't just sit here till they get back, we'll die faster." To say the least Kai didn't actually like the thought of his friend standing up to him, Tala was one of the few people that didn't always seem to be intimidated by what he thought and ordered like the rest of his team, Tala tended to be a little more defiant than the others which anyone could say was a good thing, Kai needing to be put in his place once in a while.
"I don't think he would have left us here alone if he didn't think it were safe." Tala began to speak quietly through his gritted teeth, silently hoping to avoid an argument, something he still hated handling.
"Since when do you have so much faith in them?" Kai asked him, not exactly expecting an answer.
Tala glared at him before standing up quickly, looking down angrily at his friend before turning and running off, Kai following close behind. Just before the two left the room they had been in, Tala placed an arm out in Kai's way, gaining Kai's attention t his friend, "What is it?" he asked him.
Tala looked on at the ground for a moment, then slowly turning his head to look at Kai with a sharp glare on his face, "If we got shot, or ruin things, it'll be your fault." He reminded him bluntly. The ex-Biovolt experiment walked off by himself, out of the store room and into the middle of a shoot out, ducking behind some shelves when he heard a gunshot through the air in his direction. Kai in the meantime had stayed behind, thinking about what Tala had said before taking a good look at the whole scene that unfolded in front of him. In the front room, to his right, Tala was behind a shelf, constantly moving to be able to avoid the gunshots that passed through all the objects on the shelves. To his left there were the constant offenders, obviously all working for Hana who was sitting on a windowsill that was about six metres off the ground, dipping her hand in and playing with water from the bucket beside her.
Sakura and Kyoshi where on the far end of the room, the very end being surrounded as far as they could see, being locked in by the constant sounds of firing which was a dangerous and fearful distraction, not knowing from which direction the shots where coming from exactly. Kai returned to the present, blocking out the sound of guns for a moment to catch sight of Tala, running up to him and joining him to hide behind the tall shelves. "What is it exactly you're trying to prove?" Kai asked Tala quietly, the two dodging another on coming bullet.
Tala knelt down on the ground, arching his neck slightly to release the tension that had been brought up, "Nothing." He answered normally, sounding truthful.
It seemed as though Kyoshi had finally caught sight of the two boys, looking alarmed and angered more. His calm stature had disappeared and before he knew it he was shooting past the gunmen and stalked up to Kai and Tala, "Had I not been clear?" he asked, forgetting to lower his voice which got the attention of the remaining two fighters who had been shooting at bladers.
A tall tanned man with feary dark eyes, ran to the side of the shelf, seeing the three men there and shooting unmercifully at them. The red head being closest to Kyoshi, the older blonde was able to grab Tala's arm and pull him behind him but Kai wasn't as lucky and only missed two shots by a couple of inches. Kyoshi sighed and just pushed the two off, killing the last two offenders he showed himself to Hana, who only once noticing him looking up at her did she turn her eyes from her nails to look at him. She looked around, a sad and disappointed look on her face, turning back to Kyoshi when Sakura walked beside him, "You killed them." She pouted.
"They attacked us first." Sakura said coldly.
"Keep them away from us and things won't be like this again." Kyoshi added, just as cold hearted as Sakura had sounded.
Hana got rid of the pathetic disappointment from her face, glaring with her fierce dark lined eyes, "It isn't over." She disintegrated into water, a splash of the liquid hitting the window as she disappeared completely.
Sakura finished watching that before sharply turning round, aiming her gun straight out in front of her, aimed at Kai's chest, "You were given strict orders." She bit out, the clicking sound of her gun echoed in everyone's ears just before the bullet was fired out of the barrel. In time, Kyoshi had pulled slightly at Sakura's shooting arm, hindering her aim which made the bullet go straight through a box that was on one of the shelves instead of hitting Kai.
Kyoshi took the gun out of her hand, gripping the barrel in his hand as he looked over once from Sakura to Kai, "We should get going." He said.
Tala put a hand on Kai's shoulder, tightening the hold slightly before tugging at him, "We'll see you two later." He told them. The bladers walked away from them, ready to exit the room.
"Wait." Sakura's voice echoed through the room of dead bodies, "You should have stayed away before, now that you've gotten into this you should come with us, you can't possibly cause any more trouble for now." She spoke.
Kyoshi sighed, the girl clearly wasn't the most sensitive in the world now was she? He shook his head, the other two turning to look at him when he exhaled heavily, "What she means is that you're safer if you spend the night at our place."
Tala glanced over at Kai, seeing the bit of uncertainty in his eyes, "What do you think?" the red-head whispered.
"It's more of an order than a suggestion." Sakura told them, walking past them with a look of frustration on her scratched face, one of the enemies bullets which had grazed her cheek. She left the room, leaving the three intolerable men by themselves for a moment.
Kyoshi shook his head, sighing as he walked over to them while staring at the ground. Once stepping in front of them and thinking for a moment he looked up at them, "Excuse her, just come with us, you'll be in much less danger if you do. But, either way, it's your choice." He shrugged, just giving them a choice, walking past them ready to fend off the anger that was Sakura.
The younger blader turned from watching Kyoshi walk off, back to look at Kai with a bit of seriousness on his face, "I don't know about you, but I don't have a death wish anymore." He gave Kai a small smile, then turned and followed Kyoshi.
Kai thought for a moment, trying to ignore the stinging pain in his side. He looked at the empty doorway, taking a quick look around the room of blood and bodies before exiting the room in a hurry despite the searing pain.
---At Sakura and Kyoshi's House---
Sakura currently sat on a chair, Kyoshi's chair in front of her, his legs slightly parted so she rest her foot on the chair while he tended to the cut on her ankle, something she'd got when she'd fallen onto some broken glass from a window at the warehouse. She barely flinched, only resting her head back with a cigarette caught between her lips, although being sure that Kai and Tala where watching her from the sofa. She felt the dabbing of antiseptic on her foot stop and she lifted her head to look at her foot, Kyoshi nodding that she was done before she slid off the chair and walked out of the room, putting the usual amount of pressure on her foot without flinching.
"I'll check on you now." Kyoshi called, looking over at Kai.
Kai hadn't realized that Kyoshi was talking to him at first, suddenly looking up with some confusion, "I'm not hurt." He protested arrogantly.
"Yes you are." Tala whispered, looking over at the boy beside him.
Kyoshi smirked at Kai's cold attitude and Tala's bravery against his older friend and apparently guardian, "I can smell the blood from over here." He called out to him.
Tala hit Kai in the shoulder, whispering for him to go and let Kyoshi help him. Kai had been protesting for an extra two minutes before Tala's complaining was getting on his nerves and he got off the sofa, moving over to Kyoshi and sitting on the chair Sakura had been using. The tear in the side of his black jacket was evident once you got close enough, since the shirt underneath blended right in and blood couldn't be seen on such a dark colour. The cut wasn't too deep, it had been a really close call when the gun had been fired so at least Kai was lucky.
---Flashback---
The gunman had just turned past the shelf, shots being fired suddenly, Kai being closest but his concern was still on Tala. The red-head was safe, just behind the oldest male who had pulled him behind him. Too many bullets were being set off for anyone to be able to tell where they were coming from, Kyoshi shooting from behind him and one of the crazy Hana minions shooting from in front of him. He'd dodged most of the bullets thus far, one though clipping the side of his stomach.
---End Flashback---
The blonde vampire soaked some cotton wool in surgical spirit, raising his eyes to keep an eye on Kai as he dabbed at the ripped skin. To Kyoshi's surprise Kai didn't seem phased by the stinging medicine against his skin. He'd been used to this kind of reaction, or rather no reaction, from Sakura but that was because of her little ability to shrug off those minor kind of wounds, the same kind of feeling coming from Kai was a little surprising to him, making him wonder more about the teenagers.
Kyoshi continued to tend to the cut, thankfully having no urges of any kind upon seeing the blood on the skin which felt good to him, it made him feel as though he'd overcome the sudden urges he had on seeing blood. He got a little distracted upon seeing his girlfriend walk back into the room, carrying a tray of coffee for all of them, setting it down on the table, passing one to Tala, one to Kai who instantly put it on the table to keep himself from dropping it because of his slightly shaking hand, and one to Kyoshi who took a quick sip and put it on the ground beside the foot of the chair.
To say the least Kai was getting fed up with just sitting there and allowing a stranger to tend to a wound that he didn't care about but the glare coming from Tala every few minutes was what kept him sitting there. If he could avoid stressing his friend out any more than he was going to do that, even if it took a lot out of him. The piece of wool kept digging deeper at the wound, sending slightly strong shocks through his nerves, making him wince occasionally with Kyoshi noticing clearly. The blonde let the sound slide, ignoring it for a while, thinking that Kai probably wouldn't appreciate him saying anything. He was sure the cut was cleaned properly when he picked up his mug and got off the chair, walking past the sofa while giving Sakura a slide of his hand over her shoulder, "Saku, take over for me, would you?" he didn't wait for an answer and walked into the kitchen.
The raven-haired girl got off the sofa, placing her mug down on the coffee table then walking over to Kyoshi's old place. She first picked up a small cream, a small tube, squeezing out some of it onto her index finger before lining it along the edges and surrounding area of the cut. Surprising Kai a little it had turned out to be a numbing cream that she'd been applying as he slowly felt the cold substance take affect on his skin. Sakura continued to apply the cream for a little while longer, applying it gently and quietly, not uttering a word ever since they'd left the warehouse. Sakura covered up the slashed space of skin with some gauze, tapping it down and getting up to walk away while giving him a tap on the shoulder, implying he was done.
Right on time, the blonde of the group walked into the room with his cup of coffee, sitting down on the sofa beside Sakura. He turned to glance at Kai who sat down on the sofa beside his friend Tala, taking sips of his coffee and not making eye contact with anyone else. Kyoshi looked over at Sakura next to him out of the corner of his eye, watching as she shrugged at him and turned back to her coffee. The blonde raised an eyebrow at the two across the room, "So are you two okay?" he asked, more randomly than anything else.
Tala looked up quickly at the speaker, he wasn't sure what to do or to say, not entirely sure how to act around these people. The past few weeks he'd had a lot of trouble with trying to make his mind up about things, partially because back when he had those implants in his brain he'd react to something always in the same way, he wasn't used to changing and making things up for himself anymore. He almost tried a small smile, just slightly, "I'm fine." He replied.
The friendly older male nodded with a smile on his face, quite enjoying Tala's character, "And your friend?" he asked, regarding the bluenette that sat beside the redhead in deep thought.
Tala looked over at Kai, watching him as he stared down at his mug that was gripped in his hand. Tala hit Kai in the shoulder gently to get his attention, startling him vaguely, making him look up quickly around him, "Ah, me too." He replied once he realized what the question was.
The vampire sighed and shook his head, Kai clearly was the most difficult to deal with out of all of them, he even found Sakura more pleasant to be around. He looked up at them again, taking note that Kai had gone back to staring at the mug, "You two are going to stay the night?" he asked, particularly aiming the question at Tala who was the only one who was really paying any attention. Again the youngest in the room looked like he wasn't sure of what to say so Kyoshi continued, "We don't mind if that's what you're wondering and you're safer here for a while."
"You're probably right." Tala muttered to himself, Kyoshi's vampiric senses hearing him.
He nodded and smiled, "Alright then, you and your friend could take my room, Saku will have hers and I'll sleep on the sofa." He sorted out.
"No…you won't." Sakura spoke for the first time since leaving the warehouse the shooting had taken place in, she looked over suddenly, fiercely at Kyoshi, "You haven't been sleeping well, you should be sleeping comfortably and in your own bed. The boys will take my room, you keep your room and I'll stay in the living room." She corrected, her specific and identifiable voice never changing its rough and cold tone.
"That's alright too." Kyoshi whispered to her.
"Good. It's settled then." Saku said, standing up and leaving the room a moment later.
---Later---
Saku sat outside on the fire escape, leaning back against the wall beside the window with a cigarette in her mouth, an ashtray on the iron barred floor of the landing of the escape. She stared off at the empty streets that surrounded the house, constantly moving the cigarette back and forth from her mouth. Finally she just left it caught between her lips, resting her head back against the wall and looking up into the darkening sky.
Kyo popped his head out of the window, seeing her there he opened the window more and climbed outside onto the escape, sitting down beside her. Saku turned her head slightly to look over at him, her head still touching the wall, she pulled the cigarette out of her mouth again and put it in the ash tray and putting it out. "So how are they?" she asked quietly.
Kyo nodded normally, replying just as quietly as she had spoken, "They're alright. They've eaten, gone to get some sleep, I guess they're just a little shaken up."
"They should be. They got into a huge fight today, I don't expect them to be brave about it, I just expect them to listen to our orders."
Kyoshi slowly pulled Sakura close to him, making her rest against him so he could put his arms around her, "We're still strangers to them remember? They aren't going to just trust us with their lives." He reminded her.
"I know." Sakura muttered angrily. She slowly but steadily calmed down after a few moments though, feeling the boy beside her tracing her fingers through a series of steps till their fingers were entwined together. Kyoshi hadn't been watching where his hands where moving exactly, then feeling something on her hand he looked down in a bit of surprise. On her right hand was her engagement ring, shining outside in the moon light.
He smiled happily, although feeling sure he had a tear stinging his eye but wished he could have passed it off as dust, "You wore it again?" he asked her.
Saku allowed a small smile to appear on her face for the first time in the whole day. She opened her hand more and looked at the sparkling engagement ring, "Of course." She replied.
"I thought you said you weren't going to where it…because you didn't want to lose it in a fight."
Sakura resisted the urge to laugh and managed to reply, "That's true but I wear it everyday before bed, just for a little while." The girl reached forward, picking up her pack of cigarettes again and slipping one out, passing it through each of her fingers before lighting it.
"You really think that once Hana is gone things will be better?" Kyoshi asked after a few minutes of silence.
Saku held the cigarette between her two fingers while her forearm rested on her knee, biting down on her tongue in her mouth for a moment before speaking, "Whether or not you think it will, I promise things will be better than they are now."
Kyoshi felt a small pang of fear in his heart, maybe even some sadness, "But what if…"
Saku just sighed, turned slightly and put the cigarette between Kyo's lips. "Take it easy and stop worrying about the future so much." She whispered, lying back against his chest again.
The blonde male smirked slightly, opting to pull the cigarette out of his mouth to speak, "Maybe you're right." He shrugged. After a quiet moment between the two he gently moved her forward and pushed himself up, leaving the cigarette in his mouth while he opened the window again and wished her a quiet good night. Saku picked up her box of cigarettes again, opening it up but sighing with utter frustration once she realized she'd just given her last one to Kyoshi. She tossed the box into the ashtray and looked out at the lit city, sighing again before getting up and going back inside to get some sleep from the long day.
She stepped back into the living room, going to the bathroom and changing for bed, wearing black shorts and a black t-shirt. She walked out running her fingers through her long black hair, then standing in the doorway to Kyo's bedroom. She watched him lying there on the leather bed, staring at the ceiling with the cigarette still fixed in his mouth. He suddenly noticed her standing there and lifted his head slightly, then sitting up a bit with his hands behind his back for support, "What is it?" he asked her.
Saku took the opportunity to walk over to him, sitting in front of him on the bed, "Just wondering if you're really okay." She said.
Her vampire smiled at her lightly, sweetly all the same before moving forward and giving her a kiss on the cheek, "I am." He assured her.
A/N: Alright so that's another chapter there for you. Now, a few notices. Sadly I am not getting that much feedback for this story, I've got to constant reviewers(they know who they are) and that's it but I need a bit more if I want to keep writing. This story is on the favourites list of about five or six people, most of which who have never reviewed so I'd like their opinions. So, unless I get at least four reviews, this story isn't going to be updated so it's really up to you whether or not you get another chapter.
Now in my profile I have put up the profiles of Sakura and Kyoshi, there are some spoilers but not too much. My reason for putting them up is so that I could be a bit more informative, particularly if this story is being stopped or put on hold. Please leave a review.
Bye!