Chapter 10
'Sometimes I can't take this place, really, right now it's my life of all of them that I can taste.' Sakura thought to herself, burying her hands in her pockets and walking on. She walked into an alley, resting her back against the furthest wall inside the darkness, looking up at the stary sky, "Stop being a coward and come out, I've out run you twice, don't make me have to do it again." She bit out angrily into the dampness.
Out of the darkness materialized a young man, his arms folded across his strong chest as he stared at her blankly, "You're good." He admitted to her in his deep voice.
Sakura bit down on the tip of her tongue in her mouth, smirking, "I love your honesty." She praised him.
The two looked each other in the eye for a second longer before both stepped forward in unison, one quick movement and both where up against each other, each holding a gun to the other's chest. "I told Hana already…I'm not giving her Tala and that's it." Sakura told him.
"You really should change your mind." He told her with some humour in his voice.
Sakura snorted, "Right, like that happens often." She laughed quietly. "So now let's be serious, you drop your gun, you can go home to whatever family you have left and I can go on with my evening, how about that?" she loved to negotiate, it was fun for her, it was taking cheating death to a whole new level for her.
The man raised a dark eyebrow at her, pushing the gun a little deeper into her chest, "Is that really you being serious?" he asked her, his features turning blank again.
Saku brought her hand down to the man's waist and pushed him away from her, then turning and walking back down the alley, "Go home, enjoy your life." She advised him casually as she walked off.
"Yeah, right." The man lifted his gun again, aimed it after a shot twice.
The younger girl was much faster than him though, he was a professional but she had learnt from the best there was. By the time two shots had been fired from the gun three had been discharged from her own, the man taking all three in the chest and dropping to the ground with a sickening thud. Sakura walked over to him and knelt down on the ground, resting her arms on her legs as she sighed, "I warned you didn't I?" she asked him, looking on at him a little…sympathetically. She got back up and stood just beside him as he continued to look up at her, no change of emotion flickering in his eyes, "If by some sort of miracle from whatever God you believe in, you survive this, tell Hana she shouldn't come back after anyone else, not that our threats have made that much of an impact on her but its worth a shot."
A trickle of blood seeped out of the male's mouth, dripping down his cheek, "She already has." He told her through the blood in his mouth.
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked him calmly, although once his eyes rolled in the back of his head she knew it was a little late to be getting an answer from him, "I suppose I'll figure it out by myself." She whispered, running out of the alley in a hurry, slowing down slightly once she'd gotten back out onto the street. "They better not be hurt." She whispered to herself in some panic, running down the street suddenly, being unable to keep calm any longer. She couldn't say that she'd grown attached to them in that amount of time, but whether she did or she didn't never mattered to her, as long as the people she was initially trying to protect where safe.
She arrived at the alley she was meant to meet the other two in and slowly walked inside, drawing her gun at a point where no one could see it. She looked around bout found nothing, just the usual cold damp alley way she used to know. She exhaled heavily and turned to leave again, her head feeling heavy once she realized she didn't know where the two teenagers where. A close encounter between her face and the stone floor when she tripped over something answered one of her hopes, she'd tripped over the older Russian male that she was looking for. She turned over to sit down rather than lie on her stomach like the boy was, entirely unconscious…she hoped.
The girl placed her hands under him and gently turned him over, seeing him still breathing heavy but shallow breaths. Her grey-blue eyes scanned over his body, searching for any bullet wounds which she found none of. Another, unhelpful sigh was released from between her lips as she slowly lifted his head onto her lap, then placing her hand under his head, searching for any possible bumps, a small one being detected not far from his neck. She rested him back onto the ground and got up, looking around, a little more carefully around the alley, hoping so much that she'd missed something and Tala was around there somewhere, possibly even hiding, even that was better than him being gone.
She found nothing, naturally Kai didn't fall unconscious by himself and Tala would have helped him by now if he where hiding there somewhere. She set a hand on his shoulder and shook him gently, careful not to knock the bump with the ground, "Come on Kai, wake up, now's really not the time for a nap." She growled angrily to him. She began hitting his face gently, an action that probably hurt him quite a bit taking into account that he'd opened his eyes once she'd begun.
It seemed to have taken him a moment before he could really focus on the girl that was sitting beside him and staring down at him. He'd first started out with his eyes open rather wide, staring up at her with no clue as to what had happened to him while there before his whole expression relaxed slightly but sat up in a hurry again a second later. Obviously he'd remembered about Tala because that was the first word that tried to pass his lips when he'd sat up, the action taking so much out of him that the word took a while to come out with actual sound.
The dark-haired girl let go of him once he'd noticed she was even touching him and she stood up in a hurry, "I know, don't worry, we'll find him." She assured quietly, watching as he stood up.
Kai kept a hand to the back of his head, wincing slightly as he followed Sakura outside into the street. Sakura continued walking on but then finally took some sympathy and looked back at Kai, watching as he caught up to her, staring at the ground while he continued to touch the bump on his head. Sakura opened her jacket again, pulling out a black silk cloth from the inside pocket, handing it to him, an action that made him look up at her with the most confused look on his face. "I know where they took Tala, there's a bar next door, when we get there, I'll go inside and get him, you'll wait for us at the bar but make sure you get some cold water and put some ice on that bump." She told him, shoving the cloth into his hand, "For now put some light pressure on it." She advised him, turning and walking on without him.
The Russian placed the cloth to the back of his head, sighing and mumbling something about the team saying that he was the complicated one. Sakura really did have a bit of a complicated character, she was a terrible person in the beginning, terribly cold-hearted for leaving Kyoshi behind, even if she did know what she was doing but later she seemed to have cooled off and allowed her friendly side to be seen by the two that had lost hope in her and she surprised them with it but it was all sincere. He supposed that she was just a person that took some time to show people who she really was underneath her cold exterior. Now he assumed that when she was getting stressed out or had a job to do she turned completely serious again and put everything aside.
The evidence was in every time he saw her. She'd be really stressed after a performance but once she'd got home, relaxed and calmed down from the stresses of the day she'd be a caring and compassionate person. When she'd got back from that long day by herself she was stressed out and ignored them for a few minutes but when she left the room, took a calm minute by herself and went back out to talk to them she offered them something else to eat and even asked Kyoshi how his day went later. Although now was the point where Sakura was on a mission, saving his friend, someone she didn't even now and with great determination, something Kai couldn't complain to her about.
The girl held her arm out in front of Kai and due to his split concentration he hadn't realized it and walked right into it. He looked up at her as she turned round, grabbed his forearm and dragged him into a bar. She pushed him back to sit down onto a bar stool, slamming her hand down onto the surface to get the bartender's attention, "Sakura, your usual?" he asked her, walking up to her.
Saku smirked, "I wish." She answered. "Listen, I need to go run a quick errand, this is Kai, make sure he stays here and he's actually still here when I get back." She told him hurriedly.
The bartender shrugged slightly, "No problem, he'll be here." He assured her.
"Thanks." Sakura turned to leave but stopped for a second, looking back at him, "Oh and by the way, the only form of alcohol you're to serve him is surgical spirit on a silver platter if he prefers but that's only if he's got a cut on the back of his head, other than that you're not to serve him any form of alcohol." She informed him, waiting for him to nod curtly before she left in a hurry, of course giving Kai a small glare first. She ran down the street and around the corner before she came up to an old, naturally broken down clothes store. She walked to the side of the building and opened the back door that was hidden by boxes, clearly she'd been using that door too many times that it was hard to forget it was there, the sad part was that Hana still hadn't blocked it off, probably she hadn't realized it was even there.
She quietly stepped inside, gripping her gun in her right hand as she kept walking through the dark empty hallways that led to the store room. The first thing that caught her eye was Tala's mess of red hair as he lay unconsciously on the ground, Hana still on her high hoarse apparently, was Sakura's view of things as Hana sat down behind a desk, her feet up onto the wooden surface as she filed down her nails. "She needs a life…so badly." Sakura mumbled to herself. She watched on from where she was, wincing ever so slightly as she witnessed Tala being kicked over onto his back by one of Hana's thugs, a total opposite to the man Sakura had killed in the alley. This one was skinny but much shorter than the other one, also much darker in skin complexion.
Sakura braced herself, looked down at her feet as she took a step forward, the sound of her heels against the marble floors, echoing through the practically empty store. She gained the attention of all those alert in the room, something she'd counted on, "You could do better than that. Distractions are for those who don't have the intelligence to think of a better plan." Sakura told Hana, walking calmly up to the desk.
"And you're one to talk." Hana commented, smiling up at the mortal.
Sakura rested the small of her back against the desk, pushing herself off slightly a moment later and kneeling down beside Tala, two fingers going to his neck in search for a pulse. She moved her hand away when a steady beating was felt beneath her fingers, then she stood up and looked back at Hana, "What is it exactly that you want with him?" she asked her, walking back to the desk.
Hana raised an eyebrow at her, "Isn't it obvious by now?" she asked her.
Sakura shrugged slightly and sat up on Hana's desk, looking at her with a passive look on her face, "Well his life and power was the first thing I thought of but deep down I really was hoping it was something different."
Hana chuckled quietly, putting down the nail file, "Sorry, sadly it isn't." she apologized, her facial expression really not matching up to her apology.
Sakura looked down, her black hair shadowing her whole face, her smirk being hidden well-enough but her voice as clear as crystal, "That's what I thought." She said with some humour in her voice, moving her gun to her side and shooting the male in the room down.
The water-demon looked to the side, pouting as she tilted her head to the side, "Hey, I liked him." She stated childishly, looking back at Sakura with a sharp glare.
"Awww, too bad." Sakura stated sarcastically, staring down at Hana with an amused look etched into her features.
"There's more where that one came from at least." Hana shrugged, standing up, resting her hands firmly on the desk as she leant closer to the other killer, "Leave, now, please before you get hurt badly." She said slowly and quietly.
Sakura smiled, her dark eyelashes fluttering as she leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I will, but I'm taking the boy with me, you know?" she asked for the confirmation.
Hana glared evilly, gritting her teeth heavily, "Over my dead body." She bit out.
Sakura laughed, resting her head back before looking back at her, "The funny part is…that can be arranged." She said confidently. A whole change went over in Hana's mind and balling her fists she back handed Sakura once. She stood back as her old friend placed a hand to her cheek, her face being covered by her long hair again, "Finally, you put some spine into it." She complimented, jumping off the desk and looking back at her.
Before she knew it Kyoshi's footsteps could be heard, the vampire walking up behind her, careful to step over Tala, "You could have told me we were having a meeting, then I wouldn't have been late." He told the two of them, looking from one angry being to the other.
"Yes well I would have but it wasn't planned." Sakura told him bitterly.
Kyoshi looked back down at Tala, whispering in Sakura's ear quietly, "Is he alright?" he asked her.
"I think so." Sakura replied, moving her head swiftly to brush her hair away from her face.
"Get Tala out of here." Kyoshi ordered her, glaring on at Hana as she smirked at him, a terrible form of confidence in her eyes.
Hana walked out from behind the desk, leaning against the front of her desk, "She won't make it that far." She told him.
Sakura rested her head back slightly, closing her eyes and sighing, 'Wow I can't stand this woman's cockiness, it's exhausting, rather it's exhaustingly irritating.' She lifted her head again and opened her grey eyes, "What makes you say that?" she asked her.
Hana raised her index finger and pointed at the store room's entrance, "They're the ones that validated my opinion of that." She answered.
Sakura and Kyoshi looked back at the entrance, watching as all the thugs in the building…about ten, made their way, taking their time up to Kyoshi and herself. The dark-haired girl just smiled over at Kyoshi, picking up her gun and drawing back trigger, "Won't this be a fun night." She observed happily.
"Just be careful for yourself, and for Tala…I'll be watching." Kyoshi smiled, brushing his hand along her shoulder once before disappearing to the side of the room, levitating high up onto a large window to watch from there.
Hana stepped closer to Saku, her old friend, as the two of them looked up at Kyoshi, "He's not serious about this is he? You two have been doing the same pattern ever since you two met, about time you changed it." The brown haired girl commented, staring on strangely at their calm vampire.
"Why fix something that isn't broken?" Sakura spun towards Hana just after she spoke, giving the demon one clear shot to the stomach.
"Saku, right." Kyoshi called out the order to her upon seeing men attempt firing, strangely saying it in the calmest of tones.
Sakura turned round, her raven-like hair sweeping behind her, glaring to her right she shot twice and took down the two that had been approaching her. She looked around the room, seeing every other person had hidden behind numerous crates and objects, an action which tended to frustrate Saku greatly, "Come on, don't be such children, you're the ones that started this, let's finish it once one of us is dead." She shouted out.
"Sakura…death bad, life good." Kyoshi taught her, speaking slowly and calmly.
"Oh please, these guys can't even aim appropriately." Sakura noted, "See? And Hana's been reduced to a puddle of water." She added, stepping in the water that Hana had left behind when she'd disappeared after the blow to her stomach.
"Right." Kyoshi called out again.
Sakura shot in the direction of each and every order that Kyoshi gave her, sighing once she assumed they were all dead. Sakura sighed and sat down on the desk, fitting her gun back inside her jacket, "You can come out now, Kai." She shouted.
Her suspicions where confirmed and Kai stepped out of the shadows, the dark side of the room that came from the back entrance where the other two had come in from earlier. "How'd you know I was here?" he asked her, stepping walking closer, slowly as he watched out for any more shooters just in case.
"How'd you get away from the bartender?" Sakura asked him, instead of greeting him with an answer.
"You'd be surprised at what I can do." Kai replied, walking faster up to Tala once Sakura waved her hand at him, signalling him that it was safe to be there. Sakura joined him by kneeling beside him and Tala as Kai slowly began to try and wake his friend up gently. Kyoshi walked up beside them and stood above all of them, staring down as Tala began to come to.
Tala's eyes slowly opened, closing again quickly as the strong light shone from the light bulb he was lying just under, "I'll fix that." He heard Sakura say before a shot was heard and shattering glass began falling to his sides, none on him. Once he opened his eyes again he saw Kyoshi's body shielding both Kai's and his with his own before he stood up straight and moved back a little. Sakura knelt back down on the ground and took the red-heads hand in her own, "Come on sleepy head, time to go home and sleep in an actual bed." She said humorously as she attempted to help lift him off the ground.
All Tala could do was allow himself to be helped off the ground, his body weak from the surgery that had been done only a month ago, his body now numb from being on the cold marble ground unconscious for so long. His only reaction was groaning as he wavered on his feet slightly but once Sakura had let go of his hand he grabbed hold tightly onto Kai's shoulders to keep himself from falling backwards, which he did so almost anyway, pulling Kai with him.
Kyoshi moved to stand behind Tala as his hands slipped off Kai's shoulders and he almost crashed back down onto the ground. The vampire caught him from under his arms and gently set him sitting on the ground, then looking down at the painfully red liquid that his hand was now tainted with. He choked on his breath suddenly, making a disgusted face with water in his eyes as he walked away with heat burning in his face, "Saku…" he called out quietly, turning to the wall and resting his heated forehead heavily against it.
Sakura walked up to him and took his hand, looking down at what he'd seen that made him so sick, "Relax," She whispered in his ear before turning and walking away to the others. She walked up to Tala and looked at the same slice in the jacket and flesh that Kyoshi had felt the blood come from. "Let's get him home and get this sorted out." She whispered to Kai, helping to lift Tala.
Tala though, insisted that he'd be fine and shrugged Sakura off of him which she didn't really mind, just made sure that Kai could handle taking Tala to the exit by himself while she made her way back to her fiancé. She placed one of her hands gently on his right shoulder, pressing down slightly into the tense muscles, "It's getting late, let's go home." She said softly and carefully.
Kyoshi pushed himself off the wall in a hurry and turned around and followed the others out as he stared down at the ground, being followed by his fiancé and her slightly worried gaze. The four of them walked out onto the streets, each of them exhausted in their own ways as they walked back to their shared home. After a while though the girl noticed that the vampire had gone missing in a number of minutes and after a moment of contemplating she realized why. On the other end of Japan the sun had already begun rising, despite it being only three in the morning at the time but just supposed that she'd see Kyoshi at home once she got there with the other two.
True that, Kyoshi was lying on the sofa uncomfortably when she got home with the others but got up again the second he saw them. Kai got Tala to settle down at a table in the living room and Kyoshi walking up to sit just behind the red-head, the first aid kit being on the table from the second he'd gotten home. Sakura watched for a second that with some determination Kyo picked up the anticeptic onto a piece of wool but she took it upon herself to interrupt, kneel down by the chair and whisper quietly in Kyo's ear, "You sure you can do this? I can handle the blood more than you can right now." She stated to him, watching him for a reaction to her words.
She barely got one though, he just grit his teeth slightly and watched as Tala threw off his jacket and t-shirt, "I'm fine, I can handle cleaning and stitching a cut, I'm not completely hopeless." He replied in a hurry. He patiently waited for the girl to leave his side and go into the kitchen, calling Kai with her before he began running the spirit along the slash a knife had drawn onto the back of Tala's shoulder. "You're alright apart from this?" Kyoshi asked quietly, attempting conversation with the boy to keep him awake.
"Yeah, nothing an hour's sleep can't fix." Tala replied, exhaustion which was more evident once he yawned.
The blonde behind him smiled slightly as he pulled out an arched needle and thread from the box beside him, "I really think it'll take a little more than an hour." He informed, placing the needle to the skin and slowly beginning the stitching to close the wound safely.
Tala just winced mildly when he felt the needle and the stitches being started and pulling at his skin but ignored it and passed it off with some more conversation, "Probably but I have nothing to do in the morning so sleeping in a couple of times in a week wouldn't kill me."
Kyoshi nodded slightly, not averting his gaze from his work, "In this house, sleeping in is like a rule. Sakura and I spend our whole mornings asleep, we spend all our nights in fights or at bars so the morning is the only time we have to get enough sleep." He explained casually.
"Sleeping in as a rule? Teach that one to Kai, please for my sake and the sake of his team." The youngest tried his hand at a little humour and really, it worked because it was a comment that really made Kyoshi chuckle a little at.
"Hopefully by the time this thing with Hana is all over we'll send you home with a new and improved Kai but I'm not promising anything, that guy is too stubborn for my patience."
Tala smirked lightly and stared at the ground, "Right, because I have the patience of a saint." He quipped sarcastically.
"No comment." Kyoshi told him, a rather amused look on his face as he said that and Tala laughed at it. He tugged slightly at the boy's sleeve, "You're done." He informed once finished, standing up exhaustedly as he walked across the room and sat back comfortably on the sofa.
Tala stood up and looked over at him, trying a small smile on his tired face, "Thanks." He showed his gratitude quietly.
The vampire across from him allowed a redness to come into his eyes, nodding quickly before resting his head back and closing his eyes, "Good night." He wished. He heard Tala wish him a goodnight too, then go to the kitchen and leave to go to the bedroom with Kai to get some well-earned sleep for the following day. It wasn't over yet though, more footsteps were heard approaching him and Sakura sat down on the coffee table, sitting just across from him and close to him.
"You're worrying me a bit." He heard her state quietly, placing a hand on his knee.
"I just panicked at touching blood like that…I got over it." He heard himself speak calmly again, it really wasn't a mirror as to what was going on inside him though.
Sakura placed a gentle hand under his chin and he relaxed slightly, releasing a breath of air, all he needed to do was remind himself to relax a little more and he would be perfectly fine. He opened his eyes and stared back at her, keeping an eye on her as she got up and sat next to him, as she leant forward slightly he hesitated and moved his head back a bit, why did she want to be next to him when he felt this way?
She stood up again but kept a hand on his cheek as she caressed it gently and comfortingly, "Lie down a little." She spoke softly to him.
Kyoshi shifted his body weight slightly, grimacing at the exhaustion that his mind suddenly underwent just from that shifting but in the end found it in himself to do as she asked of him and lay down on the sofa, adjusting a pillow under his head for a comfortable support. Through some slowly blurring vision he saw her sit on his waist gently, brushing his blonde and brown hair away from his face and off his hot forehead. She took both his hands that currently where resting on his stomach and lifted his hands to remain above his head, stretching the muscles of his arms uncomfortably. She used one hand to hold his own over there and used her other hand to stroke his arms and forearms on the inner part, the more sensitive skin which sent chills down his spine, along with a rather uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, the gentle move on his sensitive skin being too much on a stressed stomach.
His face contorted to one of disgust again and he turned it away to look down the hall prior to closing his eyes to avoid any more sights of anything. Although now her hand stopped the movements on his arms and touched his chin again softly, turning it so he could look up at her once he opened her eyes. The stare he was faced with once he did open his dark blue orbs was one of uneasiness and sadness, "You're not relaxing like you used to, you need to calm down otherwise you'll keep panicking." She murmured to him.
Kyo shook his head quickly, his hair being messed up by the friction of his head with the pillow beneath him, "I can't calm down right now, I'm sorry." He apologized, arching his back slightly with some physical frustration.
Saku shook her head, compassion in her eyes, leaning forward for her chest to be lightly pressed against his own as she brushed away his hair with her long nails covered in black varnish. She smiled soothingly at him and let it shine in her eyes, "Stop apologizing to me. You haven't done anything wrong, you shouldn't say sorry for feeling human emotions, I've told you that already." Still resting both hands on either side of his face she watched as he made no attempt at a reply of any kind and she allowed her lips to fall on his own pierced one, giving him an innocent but tender and loving kiss.
Once she pulled her face away from his, her hands remained where they were but Kyo turned his head again to look down the hall, closing his eyes as he savoured the warmth as his cheek nuzzled comfortably in her left palm before she set her lips down on the side of his neck this time, leaving him a few passionate and loving feelings as his body only tensed up to the idea of being loved by a mortal. He opened his eyes momentarily, moving his arms down again, one to wrap around her waist while the other subconsciously went to run his fingers through her dark hair.
The younger girl smiled softly and closed her eyes, carefully resting her head on his chest as she heard his heart beating heavily against his ribcage and his breathing was still laboured. She looked up at him again, seeing his eyes still focused on staring down the hall, she brushed the back of her fingers under his eye, getting his attention again. She sat up but continued to look down at him, placing both her hands by his sides so she could lean forward slightly to speak to him, "I don't want to be told that I don't treat you right but I can't help you much more than I already do if you don't listen to me when it really matters." She sounded just a little frustrated but overall her tone sounded loving and caring, a reminder that she really did care about him and his opinions, no matter how many times he had to protest to her orders.
Kyo's eyes saddened slightly and he closed them so that his fiancé wouldn't notice it and comment on the emotion he held tightly onto. He opened his mouth to speak but it took a while before any sound actually came out, his voice tired and drained, "I really am sorry for brining you down. Just try not to think about me and my problems so much and eventually this will all pass and it won't matter anymore."
"Didn't I just tell you not to apologize anymore?" Sakura asked him, a little angrily, "But still, I'm not about to forget anything, you've protected me ever since I was a child and not once did you ever ignore me if something was wrong, I'm not about to do that to you and by now you should understand that and stop telling me that I need to ignore your feelings."
Kyoshi pushed himself into a sitting position, pulling Sakura closer to wrap her legs around his waist while he stared tiredly into her eyes before he smiled softly. He stroked her neck with his fingers before leaning in slowly and giving her a light kiss on the lips, waiting for her to pull herself closer to him before he continued, both of them with very vague smiles on both their faces. The dark haired girl allowed her hands to move up onto his chest and after a moment he pushed Kyoshi onto his back to lie back down.
Sakura got off of him but gripped his hand slightly as she pulled at it, "Let's go to bed." She whispered, smiling casually as she did.
The vampire chuckled silently, turning to sit down properly before hauling himself off the sofa with Sakura's help. He paused in the middle of the living room, pulling Sakura back to stand in front of him as he slid his arms around her waist again. She seemed to smile up at him honestly, honest smiles from her where just so comforting to see. He couldn't help but smile back and the watched for a second as Saku reached upwards slightly and kissed him again, gripping both his hands tightly in her own by her sides.
---Next Morning---
Kai walked quietly into the bedroom that he shared with Tala, carefully closing the door behind him as he entered the room, quiet so as not to wake up his exhausted friend. It was getting late, almost 11am but Kai had chosen to leave his friend to relax and get some sleep after the long day he'd had the day before. It was a lonely morning though, having no one to talk to aside from Dranzer and he wasn't much of a speaker either.
The older Russian just crept into the room, sitting down at the foot of the bed but being startled when the bed creaked slightly from Tala turning over and sitting up, "Morning." Kai greeted him, looking back for a second before turning away again.
"Morning." Tala returned, stretching his arms out in front of him a bit.
Kai stared down at the ground, "Slept well?" he asked.
"Yeah, great, you?" The red-head answered, getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom.
"Fine." Kai said, loud enough for him to hear him from the bathroom.
Tala switched on the tap water, running his hands under the water before rinsing his face to wake himself up a little more, "Well the sleep really did your mood some good." He commented sarcastically, walking out of the bathroom to look at Kai as he wiped the water off with a towel. Usually he would have got another sarcastic comment from his team mate but this time it seemed as though something really was bugging Kai and Tala took a step closer, "Something bugging you?" he asked him.
Kai looked up at him, staring into his worried eyes for a minute, "Are you alright after yesterday?" he asked his younger friend.
Tala smirked suddenly, he really couldn't believe Kai was still thinking by all of that, even though he'd reassured him that he was fine, "Yeah, don't worry, I feel fine." He assured him.
Kai shrugged, "Then nothing's bugging me." He replied to the slightly earlier question.
Tala sighed and nodded, "Good." He turned, picked up the rest of his clothes from the chair by the bathroom door and went to have a cold shower.
Kai exhaled heavily, and slumped forward with some frustration on his face, so many changes to deal with lately. He really felt bad for even having to complain about any changes, Tala was the one who had the most changes to deal with so he felt bad that he was there complaining about it. Having Tala living with him, in a whole new country brought to him some very heavy concerns to his attention. When they were younger they always looked after each other no matter what happened and who they had to fight against to protect each other. Then came the time where they didn't need to do that, because they knew that the other was stronger and could now take care of themselves a little better but now the time of looking after each other resurfaced and the alien feelings scared Kai to the extreme.
True, he'd always worried about his friends on the Bladebreakers team but that was because they tended to be rather hopeless if they didn't have help or think clearly like he did but worrying about Tala…just felt amazingly different to him. The two had been friends since they were kids, they knew a lot about each other back then but now with Tala's lack of knowledge about himself Kai didn't know what to do anymore.
Back then, Kai would have trusted Tala to do what he liked, and to look after himself but back then Tala also had enhancements in his body that now he didn't have anymore. Not to mention, that to get rid of those enhancements Tala went through an amount of surgery, which didn't help the cause at all. Obviously, Kai wasn't thinking that the younger boy was frail or anything, far from it really because the change in the boy made him more determined and determination is always good, especially if things in your life aren't always that great but Kai still couldn't help but worry about him, he was older than him and he was trying to care for him as best he could but silently in his mind he cursed that because he felt like he lost a part of himself in caring for the Russian ex-captain.
The caring side of Kai was clearly one that people didn't mind seeing him portraying, naturally because Kai caring is a great step forward for the captain but to Kai it was a great change to worry this much about one person, no matter how much that one person meant to him. Then meeting Sakura and Kyoshi, Kai was put into a difficult position, having to choose between instinct and his knowledge of the past. He'd started out with his knowledge but that didn't get him anywhere and for the sake of his friend he changed his mind and began slowly trusting Kyoshi and Sakura, allowing the vampire to stitch up his friend's cut without any protests.
A hand was waved in front of his face and with a surprised look on his face he looked up at the owner, the Russian that was preying on his mind standing there. Said Russian knelt down in front of him, looking at him as though he were trying to figure out if he was ill or something, "What?" Kai asked him coldly, too cold, something he didn't mean to do.
"Nothing, you went blank and I got worried something was wrong." Tala replied, standing up straight again. Kai followed him with his eyes as the red-head walked to the door and put his hand on the doorknob to open it, "Let's go get something for breakfast." He said.
Kai shook his head quickly, "Let's just stay in here for a little while longer." He said.
Tala jerked his head back a bit with confusion on his pale features, "Sure but how come?" he asked him, walking back to him.
"Let's just stay here." Kai insisted, staring back at the ground.
The younger boy groaned loudly and sat down profoundly beside Kai at the foot of the bed, "But why?" he asked.
Kai sighed and rested his head in both his hands, "Because Kyoshi and Sakura are in bed with no clothes on, awake and very well-aware of each other and got extremely close in the five minutes it took me to go get a glass of water and need I remind you that we're the ones in the only bedroom that has a lock on it?" he explained then asked rhetorically.
Tala winced just slightly, smirking once he realized what Kai was implying and why he didn't want him to go out there, "Thanks for warning me." He said with some humour in his voice.
"You're welcome, now next time don't ask so many questions." Kai said, lying backwards with his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling, "I really didn't want to describe what was going on in there." He added with a smirk.
"Too bad I couldn't catch on any faster." Tala said stupidly, staring down at the ground in thought of Kai's odd ways of saying things.
"Yeah, well now you know not to ask too many questions." Kai told him, glancing over at him.
Tala nodded quickly and joined his friend lying back down, following Kai's example and staring at the ceiling, "I think I still need to learn to shut up, that hasn't changed from the abbey days."
"Don't change, Tal." Kai whispered softly, closing his eyes.
Tala turned his head to the side, looking at his friend with a sudden relaxation to his face, sitting up slightly on his side, "Kai?" he asked, looking for some more into what Kai said.
"Just don't force a change on yourself because you think you don't have a personality…it'll sort itself out eventually." Kai exhaled noisily, he hated deep meaningful conversations, it made him sound smarter and easier to understand but he hated the sudden attention and care that came with it but continued anyway to get a point across, "There was nothing wrong with you in the past, when we were younger, and if that's the personality that comes out now then it wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Whichever happens, then you'll still be a close friend of mine but don't force things on yourself in a hurry, you'll regret the impact it could have on you later." He added wisely.
Tala smiled softly, understand his friends words clear enough, an understanding they had as he nodded and turned over to lay back down, "Thanks…I needed to hear that." He thanked in a low voice.
"I…I'm not saying you're wrong about those two though, you may have been right about them the whole time."
"They seemed like honest people…despite what they do as a side bar for what they do for a living."
"Yeah…maybe you were right all along." Kai whispered quietly.
Tala smiled, "But if we die you'll still be blaming it all on me." He pointed out.
"Of course." Kai laughed, glancing over at the calm look on his friends face.
A/N: Another long chapter. Hope you liked it, please leave a review and tell me what you think! Bye byes everyone!