Oh My God

He stumbles out into the street in a daze.

He had ran. Rushed up the steep flight of stairs fearing that Kai would follow him and make him talk to him. He doesn't want to talk to Kai at the moment, and he'd looked like he was going to chase Tyson. Just for a split second there before Tyson turned around.

His eyes had been simmering like dying out embers before they met Tyson's and transformed. From narrow to round. Kai's eyes can look like a deer's sometimes. They are big, but he never opens them wide. Not unless he sees something that truly surprises him. And they'd grown round at the sight of Tyson in the audience.

He wanders now. Aimlessly down the campus roads. The streetlights are on. The sky clouded and starless.

His heart cannot rest. Every time he blinks, he sees Kai's eyes at the backs of his lids. It's like visions. Vivid visions of the fight.

Tyson had always found Kai pretty. Beautiful. His eyes fascinating. That rare shade of red which stems from a pigmentation anomaly. Irises like that of a phoenix's.

He never knew they could look so menacing. Absolutely terrifying. And it occurs to Tyson that he'd never seen Kai in a real fight before.

The first few minutes he'd been fooled into thinking that it was a balanced match. An even match. Though the competitor on the other side of the ring was a literal titan, Kai made it look like a fair draw.

The difference in their sizes disappeared as soon as the clock started.

Kai had stood still. Choosing not to attack first. Letting Bull come to him.

Bull had barreled in, Kai moved at the last moment, ducking under his arms and breaching his space.

He'd wrapped his arms around his oily torso, throwing Bull off-balance. And lifted him. Over his head. All four hundred and fifty pounds of the giant. His arms straining. His neck straining. He could see his body quiver under the weight.

And then he'd dropped him.

Smacked down on the floor. The back of Bull's skull slamming hard on the ground.

The audience had been thrilled. They'd gasped and hooted. Betting had begun again. Tyson had stopped breathing.

Kai climbed on top of him. Straddling him and started punching his face. Quick powerful blows to disorient him in the little time he had.

Bull managed to connect a hook to the side of Kai's head and threw him off.

Kai had teetered but pulled himself back onto his feet again in time to catch Bull launch himself off the ropes, aiming straight toward Kai.

He dodged that attack. Bull went and crashed into the opposite set of ropes, at which point, Kai stepped onto the last rung - for added height advantage - and struck Bull with all he had.

One massive hit to the side of his jaw that burst stars across his vision.

Then the rest had been a nightmare. Kai had dragged Bull down to the floor, mounted him and delivered blow after blow to his already bleeding face.

Tyson remembered the words he'd said. The breathless pants of rage that he spit out with each punch.

"I...am...no...fucking...prince," he said, blood splattering on his cheek. His eyes. His nose. His red eyes flashing as he shouted. "I'm Kai." He stopped hitting then, leaning down to speak close to Bull's face. "And you will go home and tell all your little friends that I am not a forgiving man."

Tyson closes his eyes, shaking, sitting on a curb. His legs finally having grown tired. He falls asleep there. In front of some frat house. Knees drawn up. Head resting on his arms. Kai's words looping in his head.


"Don't go, don't go after him," Tala's nails dig into his bicep, holding him back as he watches Tyson turn around and walk away. "Let him go home and sleep it off. He'll forget most of the details by morning and then you can talk to him." There must be something on Kai's face because Tala looks at him and says, "You can't go out there like this. There's blood on you. You need to wash it off." He pulls him back.

Kai shuts his eyes and turns around, off to go shower.


"I am so glad you're not dead. Kai, I am so sorry."

"They sent him to kill me."

"The switch took place at the last minute. I don't know how he even got in. Sergei, how did a mammoth like that sneak in?"

"He must have fucking crawled or something, I don't know," Sergei says, having a mini freak-out in as calm a manner as possible, walking in circles around the room. "I don't know. I was not at the door for a minute, and then he was inside."

"Did you secure the place after?" asks Kai. He's in his house. On a couch. In a bathrobe. Toes out.

"Yes, yes, Bryan is on it," Tala assures him from the next couch. He runs his hand through his hair multiple times till it's a wild nest on his head. "We should have torn that fucking tattoo off his skull before sending him home. Don't you think?"

"Stop that. Can you please be normal for a second?" Sergei stops pacing to ask Tala. "Where is your humanity?" He looks at Kai too this time.

And Kai starts laughing. Chuckling. Little snorts and giggles and nose swipes.

"Why the fuck are you laughing?" Sergei demands, one hand on his hip. "Do you have a concussion?"

Kai massages his toes with the toes of his other foot. "You said 'humanity'," he replies, grinning, delighted. "What humanity?"

Tala watches him and joins in. They snicker like a couple of immature idiots in front of a dumbstruck Sergei.

Bryan walks in then, Ian hot on his tail.

"Kai!" Bryan greets when he arrives. "Kai! You were a fucking beast out there today," he says, holding a fist out for Kai to bump. "You have my respect, man."

Kai leans forward in his seat to meet Bryan's fist bump.

"Anything broken?" Ian asks Kai. "Ribs? Head?"

Kai simply shakes his head, patting the robe flat against his ribs.

"Nah, he's fine, look at him," Bryan ventures further into the room and lights up a cigarette. "Oh!" he says when he suddenly remembers something. "Your boyfriend was there."

"Yes, yes, we all saw him," says Tala.

"Do you think he's going to blab?" asks Ian, sinking into one of the many plush leather couches scattered around. He reaches for the decanter on the end table.

"No" Tala grins. "Granger will want to talk to his boyfriend first. He's noble like that."

"Bet he's all scared and shit right now," says Bryan, making fun of him. "Oh woe is me! My boyfriend is a monster! Waaaaa-"

"Bryan, do you want me to show you what Bull saw today?" asks Kai, cutting in, gaze smoldering.

Bryan shuts up but his eyes dance with mirth as he pulls on his cigarette.

"Bryan, shut up," says Sergei, tired.

"I am quiet! Jesus, damn, a man can't live?" He opens the balcony and steps out, closing it behind him.

Kai stares after him, a finger on his lips.

"Who did he come here with?" Tala asks Sergei and Ian. "Who was that orange with him?"

Kai suddenly remembers something. "Sergei, call Julia."

"You didn't recognize Brooklyn?" Sergei asks Tala, taking his phone out to call Julia. "The sophomore?"

Tala gasps. "Fuck! That son of a bitch! I can't believe the balls on him. Kai, you remember Brooklyn, that fairy-looking thing that lives right across Granger's?"

Kai frowns. "The one with the...the funny hair?"

"Yeah. The funny hair. That motherfucker. He brought Granger here. I wonder how much he told him," he mutters to himself. "Son of a...I'm going to kill that little bitch," he tells them.

"I'm here," Julia struts into the room in a red gown. Ian whistles. Tala swallows his own tongue. "Who died? Kai?" she cooes when she finds him to her right. "What happened?" she asks, approaching him, voice like honey.

"Stop kicking up a fuss, woman," Ian schools. Tala throws a wadded up tissue at him. Sergei watches the exchange and rolls his eyes at them.

"Where were you?" asks Kai.

"I was at a party. It's Saturday, you guys." She winces, turning his face this way and that, even though there's no damage except for one little cut on his temple. "Your cousin is giving me a headache," she tells Kai. "I'm done babysitting him."

"You can stop touching him now," Tala says to her in a low voice.

Julia directs a chiseling gaze in Tala's direction.

"The man's taken," says Tala. "At least till tomorrow. You don't have to have everyone, do you?"

Julia narrows her eyes and asks Kai. "What did you call me here for?" Shooting daggers out of her eyes at Tala.

Kai gets up. "Come with me. How's Wyatt?"

"Ooh, secret business," comments Ian. Tala watches them both as they leave the room.

"Ian, shut up," says Sergei.

"Sergei, I get that you have a migraine, but you don't need to be so fucking rude. Play Candy Crush on your phone or something."

"I don't play Candy Crush."

"Did you see that fucking gown?" Tala hisses when Julia is out of hearing range. "I swear to god that woman is going to drive me nuts!"


Tyson wakes to the sound of a motorcycle engine revving.

He raises his head and looks around groggily. The sun is barely rising. He's on a fucking curb and his fingers are about to fall off in the cold.

"Hey, kid, you alright?" Tyson looks up and finds a man wearing a leather jacket climbing off his motorcycle. His keys jingle in his hand as he comes close to Tyson.

"Uh...uhm...I think I fell asleep," Tyson says intelligently. His body is stiff.

"Rough night?" the guy asks, gesturing to the frat house behind him. He has a nice round face. Closely cropped black hair, brown eyes and a dimple on his chin.

"Yeah" replies Tyson, not really sure what he means, but he goes along with it.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride back to the dorm," the guy says, lending him a hand.

Tyson takes it and hauls himself up. He climbs on the back of his motorcycle and holds on tight. Cold morning wind whips past his face as they drive through campus.

The streets are empty. He sees lights on in some of the buildings. Hard working students.

"I didn't catch your name," Tyson says when he climbs off at the dorm.

"Megumi" he says, smiling lopsidedly. His eyebrows are oddly bushy.

"Tyson" They shake hands. "Are you a fourth year?"

"Yep"

Tyson nods. "Thanks for the ride, man."

"Happy to help," Megumi shrugs. He waits till Tyson waves and turns away then drives off.