Hey everyone! Thanks for reading this far haha. I actually got this chapter to be a tad longer. Shocker! Now I utterly hate having extra characters but she was neccessary. On the bright side shes not like there trying to get one or the other. She isn't close to either or anything. Hope you guys like it!

Falling Deeper

The days that followed that night with Kai were anything but okay. The tournament grew closer, we trained harder and I watched as Kai got sicker and sicker. It began with that retched cough, he was quick to learn how to cover it up. Then came the shaking. I noticed it when he was blading once against Tyson. As the battle went on his hands began to shake more and more. Kai just barely won that fight and left as soon as he could.

I knew he was getting bad when he slept in. Kai was normally the first or second up. A few days had past since I first saw him coughing. I woke up to find him in the death of all sleeps. At first when I found him sleeping so sound I sat and watched him for a while, hoping he'd wake up soon. He didn't stir at all. He was looking paler, almost sickly pale. I knew he was keeping secrets and what ever they could be I had no clue. All I knew for sure is that it was hurting him and it made me sick to my stomach to think about it. No matter how much I questioned him he never would tell me anything. He was avoiding me as much as he possible I could tell. Even in his sleep he seemed to pull so far from me.

I had drifted off to sleep after a while and woke to find him still in the same deep slumber. No one dared to wake him and it was decided to let him sleep as long as he wanted. Tyson was the first to suggest it. We all knew he just used it as an excuse to take some time off but no one objected.

Since I had nothing better to do, or rather anything I wanted to do more I sat with Kai. He laid in his bed and I laid in mine. Watching him brought he feelings that I was so accustomed to return. All the confidence of the nights before had washed away. I laid there in absolute silence wishing I could hold him while he slept. The cruelty of this world turned it into just one more of the things I would never have.

My eyes were locked on his sleeping form. The rhythm of his breathing was so unusual. I knew he wasn't having a peaceful sleep. No. He was in pain. But would waking him up really help him? What would he even think if I woke him up. Me of all people.

He started coughing. A deep hard cough. He rolled over on his side and started coughing like he was choking. Screw what ever he thought. I ran to him in a flash. I was on my knees beside him and I was panicing. I didn't know what to do. He was coughin to the point of choking. What could I do? What if he chocked to death?

I was scared but I did the first thing that came to mind I pulled him up from the ground with one arm wrapped around his shoulders and the other holding the two of us from the ground. He was bigger than me by enough that it made the act hard but manageable. Kai kept coughing and I saw blood specks on the floor. Kai finally seemed to be waking up because he put his arms out in front of him to hold him up. Even with him doing that I still had to use a lot of my strength to hold him up. The coughing didn't stop just yet. Actually more blood kept coming with worse coughs that shook his whole body. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to cry and make it all stop. I wanted Kai to just be okay or for me to be able to do something. . This kind of thing never happened to me, I had no clue how to handle it. The more paniced I got the tighter I held onto Kai. One of his hands somehow found its way to the hand that I had wrapped around his chest. Kai's cold fingers gripped my hand, the action took my by surprise. It was more of a reflex than anything but I twisted my fingers so that our fingers intertwinded. He gripped my hand hard as he coughed. They began to become less fierce over time and the blood stopped coming. Eventually the coughing had stopped all together and he panted hard for a long bit.

"It's alright Kai." I didn't even know I had spoken. I felt almost embarrassed at doing so. But I didn't care and Kai didn't seem to either. He was more focused on controlling his own body. The panic had finally passed only to be replaced by something much more disturbing. My body was leaned over Kai's back with our hands intertwined. I could feel my face turning red. When Kai finally stopped gasping for air he seemed to become more aware of what was going on. I didn't trust him to have his own strengthjust yet so I pulled him back and plopped him back to a laying down position. He stared up at me through half shut eyes. I don't know if at that moment he was really aware of who I was or what was happening. He had stopped physically dying and thats what was enough for the moment.

I looked down at our hands, fingers still intertwined as if lovers. Silly of me. Yet for a moment I let my mind to pretend that. I let the feel of Kai's hand form to mine in a memory. One I would hold close when there were times when I wanted him so badly but knew I couldn't touch.

"Kai are you okay? Can you hear me?"

His eyes shot open as if waking up from a trance. "Maxie?" His voice was utterly shocked to be staring up at me. I smiled in relief he was finally okay again after all that chaos and yet he didnt seem to be aware that anyting had happened at all. I reluctantly pulled my hand from his. He sat up slowly, hesitantly. I followed his eyes to the large splatters of blood on the floor next to us. They didn't seem to surprise him but more anger him.

"What happened?" Kai's voice was back to his cold tone. Not once did he look at me.

I hesitated. "Your coughing woke me up. I came over and helped you sit up while you hacked up all that. Thats it. Now why don't you tell me why that happened in the first place?"

"I see." He stood up disregarding my question. Just like all the other times the past few days I questioned him. I watched him go over the cabinet in the far side of the room praying to god he didn't just fall over. He opened the doors and pulled out a small white cloth that was spotted with dirt. One of the rags I'd seen Granpa use to clean about the Dojo. Kai walked over to the blood and wiped it up with out an acknowledgement to me at all. He took the cloth with him as he went to exit the room. I jumped to my feet meaning to go after him.

"Max don't." His words stopped me dead in my tracks. "I'm fine now. Don't concern yourself this isn't your problem. I appreciate the help but don't."

Something in my gut told me that he was wrong and we both knew it. He was gone before I could protest. I was on my feet, dressed and out the door long before I realized that I was in a full rage or that I wasn't anywhere near the dojo. Kai was being a bastard. All I wanted was to help him because I cared about him. Was that really so hard for him to deal with? That another human being cared him? Gasp, worse yet I'd seen him weak. Hell he'd clung to me in pain for a while.

I found myself walking by the park. I knew if there was one thing that would make me feel better at a time like this it was a good beybattle. And I was in luck because a bunch of neighborhood kids were there with blades spinning. The few hours I spent with them. Just watching at first had been enough to calm my nerves a bit. When I finally got into a match I started to forget all about the incident.

Hours passed still. It was far into the after noon and I hadn't had a single thought about anything but the beyblades and bladers in front of me. But people were starting to leave and without them as a distraction my mind wandered back to Kai. I hoped he was okay. A deep ache in my chest made me want to run back to the house and find him. I knew it would be a waste of my effort. And in the end it would only hurt my heart more. I couldn't face that right now.

"Hey Max want to go for some ice cream?"

I turned around and found that everyone had left except for one of the girls. She was older than me but we stood at eye level. She had only battled a few times against the others and her skill was clearly beyond theirs so she stopped battling early on. Her eyes were sharp but something drew me to them. And for that moment in time I knew she was a good enough distraction that I could forget my problems atleast for a little while longer.

I smiled."Yeah sure we might that'd be great."

"You seem like you need it." I looked over at her as we walked up the hill towards town. Was it really that obvious? Was I in such a state of distress that someone I never met before could tell? I must really be falling apart at this point.

"Yeah I guess I do. Had a long week." If only you knew. First I decide to give up on my ungodly crush on my captain, fall a sleep in the woods only to wake up with him freaking out. Mysteriously blacking out in the middle in the middle of it all only to wake up in my bed completely unable to move with Him watching over me. Then the next day I have a complete break down in the shower and later find Kai physically falling to pieces. And to top it all off today he seems like hes even worse but won't tell me anything. So many things happened and I have no idea about why anything happened. It was enough to make me want to rip my hair out. Kai had all my answers I knew and he wouldn't tell me anything. Why was it so important for him to keep these secrets?

The girl and I reached the ice cream shop after a short while. I tried to start several conversations to fill the gaps. I felt so out of my shoes with everything that was happening. Eventually she turned to me grinning and told me I didn't have to try and make small talk. And with that I was oddly thankful for the silence. My eyes were on my feet the whole time, counting the cracks in the road pretending I was okay like everyone else. When we got to the ice cream place she bought us both a cone and we sat on a bench outside. The breeze welcomed underneath the warm sun. The air around us was almost serene. I sighed knowing that this moment of peace would end soon like the ice cream melting in my hands. Nothing good can last if it is ever allowed to begin.

"So Max if you don't mind me asking why are you so down today?"

Her question I had felt coming for a while. I had wondered about how to answer it. I could tell her everything down to the last detail. What would it really matter? I didn't even know this girls name. I'd never seen her before. What was the worst she could do? I didn't think she would do anything. I didn't get a bad feeling about her, but then I was no fool to my naiivity.

"I don't even know your name."

She smiled with her unusual half grin. "All the more reason to share."

I laughed at her. What kind of response was that? In a way she was right though. I wanted to tell someone. But I couldn't lead her to anything that could hurt Kai. For so long I'd wanted to share my secrets. To tell someone who it wouldn't affect my life about my sins. My love for another guy. For my captain. And what a terrible love it was. I wanted to tell just one soul how much I longed for him to hold me in his arms and kiss me. I wanted someone to know of my tears that I would die for him to wipe away. To wake up in the morning with his arms around me with those beautiful eyes that I felt deep into the depths of my soul. I wanted freedom of my burden.

"I love some one. Someone I have no right to love at all. And they're hurting right now," I threw my head back looking up at the clouds that danced in the sky. "I want to help them so much. They just won't let me. No matter what I say or do they just won't let me near them. I'm fine with out them ever loving me back the way I love them." I swallowed hard." They don't know about it... but they still won't let me help them. I'm scared for him."

When I finished she was silent. The silence was filled with a calmness. And I couldn't let it go away yet. So I kept talking.

"They are sick to the point of being physcially ill. I've tried to help them when it happens... but they just push me away. They never let anyone see them when they're vulnerable. Until the first time I saw them with panic in their eyes did I even know that he could be vulnerable. Kai was so scared-"

My hand shot to cover my mouth dropping my ice cream to the ground. I let it out. I let his name fall from my lips like that ice cream. Smashing on the ground in a disaster. His name was out there. And with his name all my secrets were opened like a raw wound.

I turned to her trying to think of something to say. Her eyes were on me and somehow that only kept the calmness in the air around us. "I won't share your secrets Max. You can relax." She laughed. And somehow I was laughing too. The words were out and the world wasn't coming to an end. My world didn't feel like it would fall to pieces at any moment. Above all I felt relief.

"You know if you love him so much. Telling him might be worth a shot. I've seen this kind of thing before. Honesty is the best policy."

Who was this crazy girl?

"You should just tell him. It sounds like he really needs you right now."

The wind was whipping her hair out behind her. I'd seen it before.

"Even if he doesn't return your feelings you'll never know."

That dark hair, and those dark eyes seemed to call to me. They brought an odd feeling to my chest.

"Better to live and die than not at all ya know?"

I knew Kai needed me. At that exact moment a hard pain gripped my chest. I knew it wasn't mine. The girl. She was right. He needed me.

She turned and placed a hand on mine. An image flashed into my head. Dark woods with nothing in view but those eyes. She was there that night in the wood with Kai. I jumped up from the seat staring down at her.

"Who are you?" My voice showed my panic.

The girl just smiled at me. "I hope you help him before it's too late."

I turned and ran. I knew what she meant. Kai was in trouble. I could feel his pain gripping my chest. I was right to think I could help him. And it scared me to think he might not ever let me help him. What would happen if I didn't succeed? What if I never even got another shot to try?

I raced on towards the dojo praying I made it in time.

I know you guys hate that I STILL haven't really answered any questions about Max and really only posed more questions. BUT in the next chapter I will infact provide the answers you have all been waiting for. What really happened to Max and why Kai is basically dying. And perhaps there shall be some Yaoi. Hehe but you'll just have to wait.

Thanks for reading! I'd love comments cause they motivate me to write more ( and remind me that I'm actually writing a story, I tend to forget).