The Birth of a Whole New Emotion

Kai turns to his side, his arm landing on something soft. He's well aware he's in a tent and not in his own bed. He's aware he's out in the woods and hadn't gone to bed with anyone last night.

But the warm comfortable bundle under his arm is an inviting contrast to the cold hard ground under his body. He's tempted to draw closer and bury his face in whatever that is.

But the more conscious part of him recalls the fact that Granger had said he'd sleep outside by the fire last night. It isn't a miracle he isn't waking to a blazing forest. It's more likely that Granger changed his mind and crawled in next to him.

Which means he's hugging someone who'll make him want to chop his own arm off for doing that.

He retracts his hand and opens his eyes to Granger's slumber softened features visible in the faint morning light filtering through the walls of the tent. Just a few inches away. He had slept next to him like this. All night.

Kai sits up and promptly makes his way out. Not wanting to be anywhere in the vicinity of Granger when he wakes. Though he can't completely remove himself from the area because it would be wrong to leave his partner behind in the fucking woods and he doesn't want to send anyone into panic, especially Julia who's been on his ass about Granger a little extra lately.

Don't bully him. Leave him alone.

I'm not fucking bullying him, thinks Kai viciously as he checks out the stomped out fire from last night and looks around for their things.

Granger's water bottle is empty. Kai has some left.

Well, he's not bullying him as much as he should. Kai refrains from draining the bottle, saving some for Granger.

He has a heart anyway and he's never unnecessarily cruel to anyone. Granger did save his mother after all. And while Granger told him he'd returned the favour by helping him out of the maggot-infested pond, Kai doesn't quite agree. His mind keeps bringing it up. Keeps throwing the fact in his face that Granger is the sole reason his mother is still breathing.

He could never repay him for that.

And that's driving Kai fucking insane.

Granger hates his guts but he still shows him acts of kindness despite how he feels about him. Helping him through the panic attack he had during the scavenger hunt. Fucking kissing him to drag him out of the dark paralysing place he'd gone to.

Kai could have explained it away as him simply being horny if he hadn't spoken to him. Gently, patiently, his intentions clearly to bring him out of the panic attack.

Slotting against his body and being the light at the end of the tunnel that Kai so desperately needed in that moment.

For no reason except because that's the kind of person he is.

Kai wishes he wasn't so upright, so noble. So…selfless, despite Kai constantly trying to prove it otherwise to himself because he refuses, refuses, to fully believe that Granger is acting entirely without ulterior motives.

This would have been way easier if Tyson wasn't…Tyson.

Is it about his ego?

Yes, a lot of it is all about his ego. No way he's letting a guy punch him and get away with it.

Has Kai been too nice to him lately? Is his cock distracting Kai from his mission to put Granger through hell and break his will?

He suspects that it might be. He's being very lenient with Granger because Kai has a weakness for people he's attracted to and has a natural inclination to treat them nicely unless he needs to be cruel for the greater good and also because Granger occasionally has the habit of doing things like saving his fucking mother's life.

Plus he's nice to talk to. Last night being a good example of it.

They could have been friends if Granger's ego wasn't constantly warring with Kai's.

Do all his friends defer to him? Yes. He's the de facto leader of his friend group. They all tend to listen to Kai. Everyone has a tendency to listen to Kai.

Something about the way he speaks. It makes people want to pay attention and take him seriously. He's aware of the effect he has on people.

…People who aren't Granger.

He's just cursed him and splashed some water from the stream on his face when he notices a figure walking out of the tent out of the corner of his eye. The princess has awoken.

"Do you have some water?" he asks Kai in his morning voice, all raspy and broken just in the perfect way to get on Kai's nerves. He also has a hand up his own shirt, rubbing his stomach absentmindedly.

Kai consciously keeps his gaze above Granger's chest as he watches him rake his eyes down Kai's form by the stream and notice the bottle in his hand.

Kai holds it out without extending his arm, just gripping it in his hand but towards Tyson who immediately shuffles over for the water.

"Thanks" he says as he gulps the last of it down and licks his lips.

"Truce is over," Kai points out just in case.

"I know," he replies. "Shall we go then?"

"Sure" says Kai, rising to his feet and that's when he notices. The faint dark splotches on the side of Granger's tawny neck. The makeup he was using to cover it up must have come off yesterday. Kai hasn't seen any marks on him in days. He's only seen it twice anyway.

Once on the bridge, then last Thursday when he left brand new ones on him.

"What?" asks Granger, blinking at him.

Kai turns away wordlessly and trudges towards the path of the obstacle race. Granger follows after, mumbling something under his breath.

He alerts him just as they're about to reach campus grounds.

"They're visible by the way," Kai says, briefly glancing over his shoulder at Tyson.

"What?" Granger looks at him cluelessly, coming to a halt behind him.

Kai pointedly looks down at the marks and then back at his eyes. They remain round and confused.

"The hickeys" Kai says softly and the reaction is immediate. He slaps a hand on his neck to hide it in an instant, eyes widening with mortification. He blushes too and Kai has a hard time looking at him.

"Right. Um, thanks for telling me. I'll uh…" He nods at Kai and then abruptly walks off toward campus. He watches him go with a hot feeling prickling under his collar.

Suddenly he thinks of the woman he slept with two days ago. Rhinestone tattoo at the club. And he thinks about how that barely scratched the itch in him. May be he should see Kristina tonight. Because this restless feeling in his skin needs an outlet.

She shows up right outside of Kai's lecture hall. Red-haired, bespectacled and comically short. Kai has a faint memory of seeing her with Granger in the cafeteria but he can't be sure it was her. He doesn't pay a lot of attention to Granger.

"Hiwatari, I'm well aware that you and your friends run this campus, but you have to stop messing with my friends," she says and glares up at Kai with her wide, piercing eyes. The intimidation attempt would have been more effective if she wasn't so damn short.

"I have no idea who you or your friends are," Kai says boredly, suppressing the smirk threatening to tip up the corner of his mouth. He moves around her and continues down the hall.

"My name is Emily Watson and my friends are Tyson Granger and Hilary Tachibana," she declares loudly behind him. A few students look over.

He had a hunch. To be honest, she looks very much like one of Granger's friends. The shabby careless dressing sense, the bravado. That's definitely his type of people. Kai carries on without missing a beat.

The girl scurries after him and jumps in front of his path. He has to stop then.

He fixes her with a cold stare.

Emily folds her arms and returns his look with a stern one of her own. "You're being extremely cruel to them. I'm sure the last few months have more than made up for whatever wrong you think they have done to you. It's time to let them go now."

"It's not up to you to decide whether they have appeased me or not."

Emily huffs. "He's struggling. He's falling behind on his course work. He's missing a lot of sleep. Are you aware that Tyson is the most valuable athlete to our track team? We need him healthy. For the sake of the school if nothing else, I'm begging you to let him go."

"Are you begging me?" asks Kai, lifting an amused brow.

The girl shutters, withdrawing into herself. Eyes taking on a colder quality. "No" she breathes. Then lifts her chin. Does Granger befriend people who are almost exactly like him? Or is it a result of them spending a lot of time together? The mannerisms are almost eerily similar though Granger would never withdraw into himself. No, the more you provoke him, the more he comes out of his shell. Kai doesn't think he even has a shell to begin with.

"No?" he prompts and when she doesn't say anything Kai gives her a nod and walks around her.

"You're a terrible person!" Emily yells at him.

"And so your friend tells me everyday," says Kai without looking back.

The long earring clinks as she tucks her hair behind her ear. "We should organize it. This weekend may be."

Kai has a fight arranged for the coming Sunday so he says, "Saturday"

Kristina agrees. "Mhm. That would give us enough time to make it grand. The fourth years would obviously feel bad about not being able to do it themselves, they would be grateful to us." An excited smile takes over her features at the prospect. Kai knows who she's thinking about.

There's a senior she likes. Kai's met him a few times.

He rests his elbows on his knees and watches the students in the courtyard. "He worked here for what? Thirty years?" Kai looks over his shoulder at her.

She nods, smiling. She looks great today, even better than usual, or may be Kai just missed her.

He missed her.

"He joined pretty young, thirty-five I think. And now he's retiring at sixty-seven. He's one of our greatest professors."

"Did you have any classes with him? I had one in freshman year," Kai tries to recall the lectures he shared with the man. He commanded the classroom with an ease and expertise that comes with teaching for decades.

"I did last year," says Kristina. "He was good."

"Oh definitely."

There's a lull of silence then Kristina asks out of nowhere, "Are you still tormenting that freshman?"

"Granger? He's a sophomore."

"Oh yeah" She giggles at the mistake. "Him. You still giving him hell?"

"Yeah" Kai nods, gazing at a group walking by, laughing loudly about something. "It's my favorite pastime."

He hears a sigh behind him. "How long?"

"What?" He looks at her.

"How long are you going to mess with Granger?"

"Till he gives me what I want."

"And what's that?"

Kai turns to face forward again. He can feel Kristina's impatience. She touches his back, her fingers trailing up to tug at the back of his collar. "Do you want to come over tonight?"

"You should come to mine."

"'Kay" she says softly.

He takes her for a drive because he got a new car and when they reach the house Kristina enters with Kai's jacket draped around her shoulders against the chill.

Kai drops the keys in the basket near the door foreseeing one of the boys asking him for a turn in the near future. When he raises his eyes to the hall he freezes. Kristina is still too beside him.

So is Granger. Who has a bucket and a mop. Forearms covered in cleaning gloves. Frozen next to the couches. Kai remembers putting him up to the task in the morning and then forgetting about it right away.

There's a loud and awkward silence among the three of them.

Then Granger defrosts, grabs the bucket, and flees the hall.

Kai wants to see where he's going. Has an urge to follow him.

Kristina swivels on her heel to give Kai a stunned look. She got a haircut before meeting him. The bangs and the smokey eye makeup are making her more expressive. "Seriously?" she hisses at him. "You're making him mop the floor?"

Kai doesn't answer, glancing away from her. He wonders what Granger is doing.

"Thanks for reminding me to never get on your bad side," she says walking into the hall.

"Do you mind waiting in my room for a minute?" asks Kai. "I'll be right there."

Kristina shrugs and heads to his room while Kai strides in the direction Tyson went.

When he finds him he has drained the bucket, discarded the gloves and is standing still with his back turned to Kai in the storage room, hands on his face.

"Embarrassment is a good look on you," says Kai.

"Oh fuck off," snaps Granger, dropping his hands and glancing at Kai. He sucks his lips into his mouth and looks heavenward. Like he's praying for strength or wondering why he's in the situation that he is.

Kai slides his fingers into his pocket and leans a shoulder against the doorjamb. "Are you…finished?" he asks, fighting the smile about to take over his face. Granger having a meltdown. It's his favorite sight. Nothing makes his day quite like seeing him going through it and cursing Kai's entire bloodline in his head.

"Yes" he half-whispers, half-hisses, because his teeth are clenched. Jaw tight. He moves to put the gloves away and washes his hands in the sink.

When he attempts to leave the room Kai blocks his way. Not done yet.

Tyson's eyes rise till his chest and stop there. Not lifting any further. As if if he looks Kai in the eye right now he might lose it.

"Did you get all the notes for the classes I missed yesterday?"

"Yes" he answers, in that neutral tone he uses when he's mad but not completely pissed at Kai.

"Where did you put them?"

"I had them sent to my mail and I forwarded them to yours. Your laptop is in your bedroom."

Kai takes in his eyes, or rather his dark sweeping lashes hiding his eyes from him. And he's so close Kai can see the slight blemishes on his skin, the freckle near his nose.

"Did you talk to Bryan?"

He nods. Mouth moving as he bites the inside of his bottom lip. "He said he took the car to the shop today and they said there's nothing seriously wrong with it."

"Do they know what's wrong with it?"

He shakes his head. "No"

"Your friend talked to me today."

His eyes finally lift to look at him. The light on the wall adjacent to them making his irises glow caramel and gold. "Hilary?" is his first question out of fear.

"No, the redhead," clarifies Kai.

"Oh" he slightly deflates in relief. "What did she want?" he asks Kai warily, still looking at him. Kai gets the same feeling he does when he's under a spotlight, with a thousand different eyes on him.

"Can't you guess?" asks Kai.

Tyson's lips purse at Kai's tone but his gaze falls away when he processes what he'd said.

"She said you're falling behind in your classes." Granger raises an eyebrow at him as if to say 'how's that your business?'. Kai shifts in the doorway, when he settles he's slightly closer to him than before. "Kristina will leave in about an hour. I have some homework and will be needing you for that so you can't leave yet but in the meantime, you can work on yours."

Granger stares at him in disbelief then says, "You're so kind," batting his lashes at him. He snorts, still not moving away. There's a moment of silence where they're just staring at each other. "Why don't you get back to your guest then so I can do my homework?"

Kai thinks about Kristina who's waiting for him in his bedroom, promising a good time, and feels close to zero pull to move from where he is right now.

He backs up anyway, (because it's been longer than a minute, much longer than that) holding Tyson's gaze for a few more seconds, before turning away.

It happens without thought. It happens so naturally, he doesn't even notice. He's buried to the hilt with fingers tangled in his hair and his mouth on another when it suddenly dawns on him. Catches up to the fact that behind his closed eyelids he's not seeing the person he's actually with, not Kristina, not a woman at all. He's seeing Granger.

The realization makes him freeze so bad his erection completely dies. She notices a few seconds later, looking up at him with confused eyes.

"What happened?"

He's horrified. One, he was fucking Granger in his head and he didn't even realize he was doing it. Two, his boner just died while he was with someone. That's never happened before.

He closes his eyes against the mortification, shakes his head and moves away. "Sorry" he manages to croak, a hand plastered over his face.

"It's okay, but did something happen? Did I-?

"No no no, you had nothing to do with it," he reassures her immediately, raising his head to look at her. She pulls the sheet up to her chest and looks at him with furrowed brows.

She's really so fucking beautiful. What the hell is wrong with him?

"Just…having a terrible day I guess," Kai offers as an explanation to ease her worry.

Kristina stares at him for a few more seconds and then nods. "It's okay. Shit happens sometimes. Don't worry about it." When he reaches for her, she stops him with a touch on his arm. "It's alright, Kai. I'm good. Get some sleep."

He nods grimly. Can't even muster a damn smile for her because he can't get over what the fuck just happened.

She gets off the bed and he falls back on the mattress.

"I don't want you to worry about it, Kai," Kristina tells him as she dresses. He hums in acknowledgment.

She grabs her bag and phone from the dresser and stoops to drop a kiss on his cheek. "See you tomorrow." She pats his shoulder twice and then straightens, heels clicking on her way out.

He's unable to get up from the bed for another twenty minutes.

When he comes out of his room after a while he finds that Granger is nowhere to be found. At least nowhere on the ground floor.

Kai runs up to the third floor and finds Granger there, outside, next to the pool, looking around for something.

He suppresses a groan and shoves the glass door aside, stepping out. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Granger startles, yelping, and loses balance, falling right into the pool.

Kai watches him, happy to see the sight of Granger toppling over, the water splashing up high in the air as it swallows him. He walks over with no intention of helping him out of this pool. He squats at the edge the dark blur in the water is heading towards. Tyson surfaces with a gasp, hair sticking to his forehead. His gaze locks on Kai's and he must see what he's planning in his head because he doesn't swim his way, heading in a different direction.

Kai gets up and follows him from outside. When Tyson's fingers finally make contact with the side of the pool Kai's feet is already there. Right next to it.

Tyson wipes water off his face, blinking up at Kai. "What do you want?"

"What were you looking for?" asks Kai.

He huffs, looks away then all of a sudden tries to climb out. Kai raises his leg, intending to kick him back in. His foot does meet Tyson's chest, but a hand grabs hold of the very end of his shirt and yanks him down at the same time. Kai slips.

He hears Granger's gleeful laughter even through the loud splashing of the water. Kai swims up, digging his phone out of his pocket so it doesn't get damaged. But then he spots Granger gliding away and promptly sacrifices his phone in favour of catching him.

A wrist. Slips away. He tries again. His waist this time. He stops. Turning around in Kai's arm, hands smoothing the water out of his face. "What were you looking for?" Kai asks again.

"Nothing" he answers, meeting his eyes.

"You're a terrible liar."

"I'm quite good actually."

"So you just suck at lying to me?" Kai lets a smirk curl over his lips. Pulling Granger toward himself again because he feels him drifting away. Legs working under him.

"You'll never be special, Kai," Tyson says with a laugh.

"I'm already quite special to you though, aren't I?" he shoots back. "Being your worst enemy and all. Hate is a strong emotion, babe."

He snorts. "You're inconsequential to me." He's fully struggling in his grip now. Fighting to get away. Pushing at Kai's arm. Legs moving in the water. "You're nothing to me," he says, looking straight into his eyes.

It's the most boring set of his eyes and yet the most infuriating pair he's ever seen. "Who are you calling?" asks Granger, noticing the phone next to Kai's ear.

"Security. Let's find out what you were up to."

Granger mouth opens and closes, panic in his gaze. Suddenly, he reaches out and smacks the phone out of Kai's hand. It drops into the water.

"Fuck" Kai curses, trying to grab it before it sinks further. It's fruitless.

Tyson uses the distraction to break free and swim off.

He's dripping all over the floor when Kai finally fishes his phone from the pool and climbs back out.

"How far are you going to run?" he asks him as he dials his security again.

"It has nothing to do with you," says Tyson. Clothes sticking to him everywhere.

The security guy picks up and Kai makes his inquiries. When he tells him what Tyson was searching for Kai frowns at him, confused.

"I told you," says Granger, shuffling his feet to a drier spot.

"You're so weird," says Kai after hanging up.

"Look who's talking."

"Why couldn't you just say that you were looking for your chain?"

"You don't need to know everything that I do."

"You're in my house."

"So?"

"What were you doing on this floor?"

"I wanted to see the pool."

"I don't believe you."

"Don't then. I'm not asking you to."

"It's under the chair."

He gasps and crouches immediately, exclaiming to himself under his breath when he finds it.

"Before you ask, I'm not lending you my clothes," Kai says as he starts down the staircase.

"I wasn't going to, big head," retorts Granger, taking offense. "I'm going home."

Kai makes a dismissive sound. "Can't let you do that."

"What do you mean?" he demands, halting in his tracks. Kai can feel his eyes boring holes into his back.

"I have assignments."

Tyson calls him something absolutely filthy. Kai's eyebrows meet his hairline but he files that insult away to use later. "I'll catch a cold. Carr will murder you."

"Will he?" Kai turns to look at him.

"Yes, he doesn't care who you are," Tyson bounds down the steps and pokes a finger toward Kai's chest. "If you mess with the team he will come for you. It doesn't matter if you're a Hiwatari or a Valkov he will come for you."

"Stand under a fan or something," he says because he has no desire to deal with annoying middle-aged coaches.

Tyson's drying himself in front of the heater in the hall when Kai strolls in there after changing his clothes. He catches sight of him and immediately averts his eyes, pulse spiking.

He has his shirt in his hand, held before the fan. His pants draped on top of it. He's standing in nothing but his underwear. Kai had caught a glimpse of his toned legs and thighs before he wrenched his gaze away to something more bearable.

"Do you have no shame, Granger?" Kai asks, massaging his eyelids and rounding the couches to reach the textbook on the coffee table.

He hears a thud and a curse followed by the rustle of clothes. Tyson scrambling to put his pants on.

"I thought you'd take more time," he hears him mutter. "And I locked the door after Kristina left. Speaking of, she left earlier than she said she would. What's with that?"

Kai's turning around to say "it's none of your business" when Tyson suddenly teases, wearing only pants and a half-way buttoned shirt, "Are we losing our edge?"

It's a fairly common joke. And usually Kai wouldn't have reacted in the way that he does now but since the wound is still fresh and it's the person who caused it asking the question, there's a reaction. There's a pretty pronounced reaction.

Tyson's eyes widen in response to it and then his jaw drops open. The laughter that follows is explosive. Even he can't contain it despite his best efforts.

Kai feels like his skin is on fire. This has to be the most embarrassing moment of his life. He's never felt like this before. Mortified, angry, frustrated, all simultaneously, all to a hundred. It's a whole new emotion that Tyson's unlocked in him.

Spotlights. A thousand eyes. Yet it's just one other person in the room with him.

Kai doesn't even know what to do to save the situation but thankfully there's the sound of keys in the lock and Tala walks in.

"Spyder's fine," he announces. "I took her for a spin-" he pauses when Granger doubles over again. His eyebrow twitches in response but he chooses to ignore him and comes to talk to Kai instead.

Kai pushes past Tala murmuring an excuse and grabs Granger by his arm and drags him out of there. He has no idea where he's going but he needs to shut Granger up and get the fuck out of the house.

He ends up taking him to the garage and tearing the protective cover off a motorbike. Tyson falls quiet behind him as soon as the beast comes into sight.

"Get on" says Kai, placing a helmet in his hands.

He doesn't hold onto him at first. Choosing to grip the handle behind and along the seat, but as the speed heightens to a level he doesn't feel safe relying on those anymore he fists a hand into the back of Kai's shirt, then tugs himself closer against the pull of the wind as they're flying past cars and wraps his arms around Kai's waist. Thighs pressing in and bracketing him.

Kai doesn't ease up on the accelerator till the feeling he was hit with in the hall earlier goes away, till every other thought in his head dissipates and it's just him, the roar of the engine, the road, the wind, and the arms holding tightly onto him.

When he finally slows to a point where he's just smoothly coasting down the road, Granger's grip on him loosens, chest peeling away from where it had been plastered to Kai's back.

The engine comes to a full stop a few minutes later and when Kai looks over his shoulder, Tyson's fiddling with the visor of the helmet. He reaches over and slides it up, revealing his face. Kai's expecting tears. But he gets impossibly bright, twinkling eyes instead.

Fuck

He's never seen Granger so happy.

He's fighting against the biggest grin of his life and losing. "What?" he asks.

"Thought you'd be scared," his mouth says before he can stop himself. Adrenaline.

Tyson bites his lips attempting to smother his smile. "I like things that go fast," he says, his voice soft as though he's speaking only to a Kai who wants to hear things like that about him. To a person inside of him who is kinder than the one he knows well. He glances past Kai at the bike and says, full of wonder, "I don't think I've ever gone that fast before."

He has a feeling he just gave Tyson Granger one of the best experiences of his life when he'd set out to do the exact opposite.

"But you weren't driving," he says. "I was." Why weren't you scared?

"Well your ego's too big for you to kill yourself," says Tyson, with chocolate brown eyes big enough to swallow him whole. "I guess I trust your driving skills."

That answer makes him feel a type of way that he doesn't stop to examine too closely.

"Why?" The word just tumbles out of him. Turns out, Tyson's talking to a Kai who wants to hear things about him after all. To the one who lent him a helping hand.

He shrugs. With his shoulders and with his mouth. He looks down at Kai's shoulder, the one nearest to him. Then at his neck, then at the bike and then back at his eyes. "Can I..?"

He's asking for the bike. Kai blinks.

"Not a chance," he says, turning around. He knew that was coming from the moment he started buttering him up. He doesn't trust anyone except Tala and Bryan with the bike. Granger's the last person he would ever let ride it.

He revs the engine back to life and Tyson quickly fixes his helmet back into place. He puts his arms back into place too. Kai does a few more loops around the area, at a speed not fast enough to endanger their lives, but still fast enough to have them breathless. As he's riding, he notes, with a smile hidden behind the helmet, that he doesn't feel the restlessness he felt that morning anymore.