The Black Eye
The bathroom smells like black orchids and oud. And now his blood. A metallic tinge quickly coating the air. He tries not to focus on it. On how much of it he's losing.
"Did Julia sleep here last night?" he asks Tala. "Why didn't I see her in the morning?"
"Where the fuck were you?" Tala asks distractedly, bringing out the first aid box and cracking it open beside where Kai's sitting on the edge of the tub, the shirt he was wearing balled up and held to his eye. "She left early. You came in here like midday." He takes out the suturing kit and glances at him, gaze dark with something. "King called and said you forgot about the meeting. Where were you?"
With Tyson. Had fallen asleep right after. Kai drops his gaze and pulls the soaked shirt away from his wound. "Fuck" he curses as the edges of his vision blurs.
Tala springs into action. "Ok. Four stitches should do it. Hold on." He hands him a popped open bottle of alcohol and Kai chugs down a good amount, grimacing at the pain and the bitterness of straight vodka.
"I can't believe that fucker is on vacation." The fucker in question is the doctor who usually patches Kai up after particularly brutal fights. He is currently enjoying his time in the Bahamas while Kai and Tala are seconds away from being traumatised.
It's however not the first time. They've done his thigh once before (years ago) so they're both expecting this one to be easier. The gash is right above his left eye though.
So there's a good chance he could blind him.
"Ready?" asks Tala, in position.
Kai closes his eyes and grunts, bracing himself. When the needle pricks he questions all his life decisions for a moment. The blood in his face drying right up as he goes white as a sheet.
"Did that or did that feel like getting fucked in the face by a bull and hit by lightning afterwards?"
"Yes"
"Sorry. Just three more times."
"Oh fuck"
"Think happy thoughts. Think about clocking the shit out of that motherfucker the next time you see him. Think about tits. Think about pussy. Sliding into someone's wet tight cunt." Then he says, more to himself than to Kai, "That's what's getting me through this." Hears him swallowing thickly. Like he's trying to hold back from throwing up everywhere.
The needle punctures him again and he tries to distract himself, not concentrate on the agony zipping through his system. Think happy thoughts. Think of putting that son of a bitch on his back next time. Knocked out cold. Broken and bloody from Kai's fists. It helps some. He feels the alcohol's numbing effects taking over his body. Detaching him from the sharpness of the pain as his skin is pierced again.
He blames Tala for what happens next. For putting the images in his head. For making him think of wet tight heats around his dick. His brain finds images of Tyson for him to escape into.
The smattering of pink across the tops of his cheeks. Pupils enlarged as he looks at Kai. Trying to take in as much of him as possible. The heave of his golden chest. The smooth expanse of his waist. The arches of his strong thighs. The hard wet cock between his legs, throbbing, aching, pleading for Kai. His name on his tongue, uttered softly, under his breath, because he never wants to say it, never wants Kai to hear him say it. The sound of his voice as he'd beckoned him closer.
"What are you thinking about?" he hears Tala murmuring, chuckling softly. "Share with the class, Hiwatari. It looks good."
Kai opens his eyes to see a thoroughly amused smirk. The memories recede to the back of his mind. "We're done, by the way," says Yuriy. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Three" says Kai, the pain he's been ignoring coming back to him. The newly sewn up wound hurts like a bitch. He unlocks his jaw and loosens his fingers around the bath tub he's been gripping white-knuckled.
"Good" Tala straightens up with a big exhale of relief. "I didn't blind you then. Don't think I did much damage to your pretty face either. The cut should heal up quite nicely. Leave you a little sexy scar. The ladies should dig it."
Kai picks the bottle up from the floor and pours some alcohol over his face to disinfect the wound before drinking the rest of it. "They're not going to love the black eye," he says.
Tala winces, putting the kit away. "No, not that."
Kai doesn't lose a lot of fights but he does lose occasionally. Because he's not superhuman. That however doesn't mean that he doesn't take those defeats pretty hard.
He obsesses over the whys, the hows. Spends a few days - sometimes weeks - hung up on it. Replaying the fight about an unhealthy amount of times in his head. The following day after the loss he goes to uni with a swollen, busted eye and a hoodie that swallows half his face to hide it.
"Oh wow" Wyatt says peaking under the hood and making a sympathetic face as they stand in the hall. "I hope the other guy looks worse."
"He doesn't," Tala supplies gleefully, earning a kick to his shin from Kai. "Ow, what a sore loser."
Wyatt watches with wide eyes, his fingers ready to speed dial Julia as Kai goes after Tala for that comment.
"His alter ego's gonna be punishing us all for the next few days," Sergei says to Wyatt.
"Few days?" he echoes worriedly.
"I hope" Sergei grimaces, sounding like he doesn't have much hope. "Could be weeks."
Tala starts running down the hall when Kai doesn't let up, screaming: "Fuck! Kai, back up, you psychopath! You're fucking scary and the black eye doesn't help!"
Kai finds Tyson staring at him from down the hallway sometime around noon. He has a thoughtful look on his face as he leans with one shoulder against his locker.
The look immediately unsettles Kai, giving him an antsy feeling, reminding him of the week before Tyson snuck into the care home behind him. It never ends well for Kai when Tyson puts on his thinking cap and starts thoughtfully considering him like that.
It's the black eye. He's curious about it. Probably wondering how he got it.
He needs to come up with a believable story because Granger's going to act like a dog with a bone over it. The student body thinks he's in a gang and regularly gets into scuffles with opposing forces or whatever and since Tala and Bryan actually do get into random fights often this is a popular assumption. The dean had called him into her office once when he'd shown up extremely battered (because Kai can't rest for shit and hates missing classes. He also goes crazy if he doesn't have something to constantly occupy himself with.) The rumours had run wild that day and the dean called him the very next morning. And he'd told her that he takes kickboxing lessons and that the instructor has a very hands-on approach.
He can't use that excuse on Granger however. He's too familiar with his day to day activities. He wonders if he'd buy the gang story like everyone else. But Granger already seems like he has a good guess where Kai gets his cuts and bruises from.
He wonders how long it'll be before Granger shows up at one of his fights. Because he's a nosy menace determined to cause him trouble.
Kai's stomach and his heart are however in another universe and they are doing weird things at the sight of Tyson. Noticing that he looks good enough to eat today. Noticing the tilt of his hips, the length of his legs. Basically thrilled to see him and have his attention.
Hello
You look so good.
Will you let me run my hands and mouth all over your perfect body?
But Kai ignores his depraved urges and turns away from Tyson's questioning stare. Tempting as he might be it's just not worth putting up with all his nosiness and prying right now.
He gets good news from Dr Haruhi about his mother's condition while he's on the treadmill, training. Her responsiveness has improved as of late. This puts him in better spirits as he amps up the speed of the machine and runs faster.
King calls him a couple minutes later. "How're we feeling today?" his haughty voice comes through the speaker. "Better?"
"Much better," answers Kai, not bothering to slow down for him.
"That's great news. I have another fight set up for October 1st. So that's a week from now."
"Can I go against the same guy again?" Kai asks abruptly.
There's a slight pause then a huff of laughter. "I knew you'd ask that."
"Right," says Kai, brushing his irritation aside. "So, can I?"
He takes a long breath through his teeth. It whistles. "Let me talk to his guys first, hear what they have to say."
"Mhm" Kai's mind wanders to Garland, his last opponent. The people he'd had in his corner. None of them looked like they should be in this business, especially Garland who seemed more suited to professional martial arts rather than the dirty underground scene. The type of person to adhere to strict rules, not defy them. He brought a coach to the fight for fuck's sake. And his moves were all clean and precise, but lethal, packing more power than he exuded. Inner strength.
"Kai, I need you to keep your eye on the prize, alright? Don't get hung up on a single fight. Or a fight you feel you could have done better-"
"I don't need a pep talk," says Kai irritably. Why couldn't King just mind his business? He hates it when people talk like they know him.
"I know- I know," he backs off. "But I'm just saying." Another annoying presumptive huff of laughter. Kai sighs internally. "I know how you are."
"You don't," he says. "And I don't need you getting involved in what doesn't concern you."
He's silent for a second. "I mean it does concern me a little bit-"
"You take care of your side of things and I take care of mine," says Kai in a tone that brooks no argument. Boundaries. They're important to him. It's why he hates Tyson so much. He's always pushing his boundaries with Kai.
And even worse, Kai lets him.
"Alright," he says, backing down, no doubt painfully. "I'll talk to his team, and don't forget about October 1st."
"I won't" Kai ends the call.
Three minutes later his phone rings again.
That's the third call since he started to train. He can't concentrate. He considers putting the device on DND. But in the end he decides to just answer one more call. A nasally voice greets him. "Good evening, dear."
Kai lets out a sigh and decreases the speed of the treadmill all the way down to a stroll. "Evening"
"A little bird told me you got a student from second year suspended for a week. The same student you've had running around campus the last few months…doing chores for you. Very interesting. Very juvenile. Childish."
Kai listens to him and rolls his eyes. "Little bird?" he asks.
"Not telling you," he sing-songs, voice pitching up.
"Hm" Kai picks up his phone from the holder and texts Tyson, asking if he'd talked to Boris.
07:09 p.m. Granger: I didn't
07:09 p.m. Kai: I think you did
Bubbles jump at the bottom of the screen for a while but nothing follows. He refocuses on what Boris is saying.
"…I told them."
He freezes, staring at his phone. The treadmill continues to move and he has to reach over and press the stop button on the console. "What?"
"I had to."
He told them. He told him. Fuck. Embarrassment washes over him from head to toe. He closes his eyes, gripping the handles. "Fuck"
What Boris is is a spy. He's a fucking spy. He works for the Hiwatari family like his parents and his grandparents had. Boris was assigned to Kai at birth and made sure Kai grew up well when his parents could not. Seeing to it that he attended all his lessons (he was home schooled till high school because as a kid he had a habit of getting kicked out of every school they put him in, as revenge for sending him away and spending even less time with him). Boris also made sure Kai did his chores, and kept himself clean.
He started working at Toho university after Kai joined so he could regularly check in (spy) on him and report back when he felt the need to. Kai cut his family off but they never cut him off because they need him to inherit the family business and fully expect Kai to come around in the future.
Boris however is genuinely concerned about Kai's well being. He wants what he believes is best for Kai. So while he spies on him for the Hiwataris he's not their puppet. He acts on his own. The idea to find employment in Toho was Boris' and he'd pitched it to Kai's family and they'd helped make it happen. Kai doesn't cut him off because Boris is helpful. He has helped Kai since he was a child. Kept his secrets from his parents, spied on his family for him (he's a double agent), and most importantly, he'd helped him obtain all the documents and paperwork he needed to have the legal responsibilities for his mother to be transferred to him.
"Disgusting language. Mind your tone. If only you acted like a mature adult I wouldn't have to go to your parents but your behaviour lately has been very disappointing."
Not that they would ever do anything but the act of telling them alone is enough to make Kai regret everything.
"They're not my parents," he hisses.
He doesn't get reprimanded for his tone this time. Because Boris knows and sympathises.
But he still says, "They are."
His phone screen lights up with a text.
07:10 Granger: Ok I did.
07:10 Granger: sorry?
Kai feels something in his chest and glances away from the screen. "That's all you told them?"
"Yes, dear," he says, saccharine sweet. Kai resists the urge to gag. "How did you get the black eye?"
He blinks. Boris can't know about the fights. Ever. He'll go to the Hiwataris. He'll go to the fucking police and make sure he never gets within ten feet of anything illegal again. "Yuriy and I got into an argument and it…escalated," he says in a carefully neutral tone.
"Tsk. While boyish tumbles are all well and good please be mindful to keep your face out of the way. Those cuts and bruises make you look like a delinquent." Oh how awful. We wouldn't want that now would we?
Kai bites back a long suffering sigh, running his tongue over his teeth. "Sure" he says at last.
"What were you doing when I called?"
"Working out."
"Then I don't want to keep you long. You better get back to that. I'll talk to you again soon. Buh-bye."
"Bye" Kai hangs up and pinches the bridge of his nose. He feels absolutely exhausted. Boris drains his energy like no one else. His sugary voice is still haunting his ears when he sees his phone lighting up with a notification. He sees the ones for Tyson's texts right under the latest one.
07:10 p.m. Granger: sorry?
And the weariness in his body disappears just like that. Kai reaches for the device and opens the chat with him with a small smile.
07:15 p.m. Kai: kiss my ass
07:17 p.m. Granger: *vomit emoji*
All the moping he's been doing leads to the Blitzkriegs carting him off to the nearest club putting on their best impression of a circus to cheer him up.
"Go Bryan! Go Bryan!" His friends chant in encouragement to spur on Bryan who's currently doing a handstand on one of the tables in their private section attempting to back tuck into a dismount. Tala pours a shot glass of alcohol into his mouth, laughing wickedly.
Bryan keeps the alcohol in his cheeks and the table creaks under his weight as he pushes off into an incredible dismount, cheeks still full. He gulps the liquid down exaggeratedly.
"Wow" exclaims Julia, clapping with the others. Kai stays out of it but his eyebrows go up, impressed.
His expression drops and he rears back when he sees Julia, who's seated right next to him, leaning over to prod at his eye.
"I won't do anything," she says, pulling him back by his arm. "Calm down, you big baby."
He clicks his tongue disapprovingly at her comment as he reluctantly allows her to gently examine his bandages for a few seconds.
"Yuriy did the stitches?" she asks.
"Hn" he says, drawing away once more. Not the biggest fan of casual touching at the moment. He isn't most of the time.
"And he didn't cripple you?" says Julia. "That's impressive. Batshit insane and extremely dangerous, but impressive."
"Woo!" Bryan takes off his shirt and spins it over his head. Him and Tala celebrate the drunken gymnastic stunts like they won the Olympics.
Julia watches them. "Promise me you guys won't do crazy reckless shit like that again."
"Can't" replies Kai.
She gives him an inquisitive look. "Oh. We're still in a mood I see."
Kai tilts his head in response, taking a sip of his drink, letting his eyes scan the length of the floor for anyone worth his time tonight.
He sees a group of girls nearby but they all seem too loud and chatty, and he's already developing a small headache. He glances to another dancing pair to his right, wearing tight, sparkling dresses. One of them – a blonde - twirls the other one around, long dark hair spinning with her, strands of them winking with purple when they catch the light. He's considering going over to them when two people near the bar, just a little to the left of the dancing girls catch his attention.
Granger's here with someone. Some guy.
Kai stares at him for all of two seconds before tuning into the conversation Julia is having with Sergei.
"You won't believe it. This man was drunk out of his fucking mind."
"Are you sure that was his coach?"
"One hundred percent. Dude was asking him for pointers and shit during time out."
They're talking about Garland, Kai realizes.
"But wasn't he drunk?" asks Julia.
"That's what makes it so insane."
"Garland was listening to him like he was spitting gems of wisdom," says Kai. "As if his drunk ass could tell his left foot from his right."
"May be he's like a genius," offers Julia.
Kai scoffs at the same time Sergei does.
"No way" says Sergei.
"Why not?" asks Julia.
"I doubt he's ever thrown a punch in his life," says Kai.
Julia narrows her eyes, looking between them. "Why do you say that? What did he look like?"
"Skinny," says Kai.
"Superfluous" adds Sergei.
"Drunk" appends Kai.
Julia rolls her eyes. "Not very helpful."
"Are you two hookers?" he hears Tala asking someone and looks over to see the two girls who had caught his eye on the dance floor earlier. They're now standing in their section.
"Why? Do you have money?" The girl with the long black hair teases with a laugh.
"Lots of it," grins Tala. "Would you like to see some?"
"Yeah!"
The girls' presence makes Kai's attention drift towards the bar again. Granger looks happy. He's wearing his prettiest smile and obviously making eyes at the dude. The guy he's wooing looks like a golden retriever. Wearing a shirt that bunches around his toned biceps like he's trying to show off.
"You're not the only guy I'm seeing".
Is this the other guy? Tyson seems like he has a crush on him. The dude looks like he wants him too. But their interactions seem friendly with only a subtle undertone of want that neither of them look brave enough to bring up yet.
Something ugly settles like heavy mortar in his stomach.
Tyson's flirting.
Kai pulls his eyes away and drinks from his glass.
"Can you give us a show?" Tala's asking. "See that handsome man over there? He's my friend and he's in a terrible mood. It would be so great if you could go cheer him up. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah" The girls nod. "Sure, but if the club manager catches us…"
"He won't do anything. I know the guy. He's also a friend."
"Well, okay." The brunette brushes her hair over her shoulder and looks at Kai.
He's sitting stonily in the booth, a hand near his mouth. His body feels too hot. He wants to leave and stay at the same time. The girl is still looking at him so he flashes her a smile he hopes comes off as a polite rejection. She however returns him a dazzling one.
He can hear Tyson laughing. The music isn't loud enough. It's something slow and sensual. Since it's a Wednesday night there aren't a lot of people around. To smother and stop him from being able to pick out distinct voices from the bar.
He can hear Tyson laughing.
The alcohol in his veins is doing nothing for him anymore.
"Yeah I'm gong to go get us more drinks," says Julia, getting up. "Trust you to find hookers everywhere, Valkov."
"What's your name?" he asks each of the girls in turn, ignoring Julia.
"Katya" says the dark haired one. She catches Kai's gaze again. "Would you like a dance?" she offers to him. "I can give you one for free."
The guys wolf whistle.
"Forever the heartthrob."
"Wait, for him it's free but not for me? I need to pay 100,000 yen? How is this fair?"
"Don't you know the world isn't fair? How old are you?"
"Twenty one."
"Twenty. No hair on his balls yet."
"That's a lie! That's a lie."
"I can vouch."
"You know what? I can just show you."
"No, please, keep it in your pants."
"If the girls want to give him a free dance then that's great. We're here to cheer him up. Remember that, Valkov? Remember why we came here?"
"Uh it does ring a bell."
"The boobs are making you selfish."
"Whose? Hers or mine?"
"Both"
The girls scream in laughter.
His friends' voices blur in the background. Kai stares at the drink in his hand. He can hear whenever someone talks at a louder volume at the bar and he can't help but listen.
"I had like three of those," Granger's voice floats over. "You're very persuasive."
He can't hear the one resembling an overzealous dog.
"Sure, why not?" Another laugh. The laughter's doing something to Kai. Making his thoughts take a dark turn (enough to earn him an express ticket to hell).
"Hold on, I'm going to go to the bathroom for a minute," says Tyson. "Be right back."
Kai empties his glass and sets it down on the table with a thunk.
Tyson doesn't know how he ends up in Kai's arms but he does.
A few barbed words exchanged between them and then he's against the sinks, the counter digging into his lower back, Kai's fingers slipping past the waistband of his jeans.
Tyson feels like he should care that they're in a public bathroom, that he has someone waiting for him, but he can't bring himself to.
Can't think of anything past the heat of Kai's entire front pressed against his back, the feel of his hot erection pushing against his ass. Tyson's shirt is hiked up to his armpits baring his skin from chest to hips, Kai's strong and calloused fist moving over his dick. "Look at you" says Kai, half his face hidden in the crook of Tyson's neck as he admires their reflection in the mirror before them.
Tyson opens his eyes and can't believe them. They look like that? So fucking hot.
Tyson can't help but moan, feeling it take him over further. Kai's thumb circles around his tip maddeningly. His lips haven't left his neck since they practically walked in the bathroom. Bruising, bruising and branding him. He pushes back against his cock, his hand in Kai's hair, seeking for more.
"Why'd you lie to me?" he'd asked, crowding him against the sink.
"I don't know. Why do you care so much about my dating life?" He'd crossed his arms, trying to ignore the distance between them and the heat in his eyes. "Are you jealous?"
His voice had dropped. Growing silky."Do you want me to be?" he'd asked, his gaze promising him everything. "Because I could be. I could be anything for you."
Tyson had crumbled.
"Fuck" Kai curses in his ear now, "You're so…"
So what? he wonders, his thoughts a mess, goosebumps on his skin.
Please continue
Please continue
He does and it nearly makes his knees give out.
"So fucking pretty," says Kai, his crimson gaze burning into his soul. The gravel in his voice unmistakable, telling him that he means every word.
Tyson stupidly lets go, his name stupidly falling from his lips, unable to fight it. Kai greedily strokes him to completion, murmuring more praises into his ear, praises that he can't understand, sounding pleased, so very pleased as he wrings his cock dry, till he's got nothing left to give.
When Kai finally pulls his mouth away from his neck, his lips are red and swollen, eyes coal black and molten with lust. A possessive, satisfied glint in them. He's gorgeous. Even the purpled skin works in his favour because of the way the light hits him.
Tyson braces himself against the counter as Kai steps away, cleaning up around them. He can't move. His head is reeling. His arms are trembling when he looks down. What the fuck.
Trent. It hits him suddenly. Like a cold bucket of water. He'd left him at the bar. How long ago was that? He scrambles for his phone, breathing embarrassingly loud and hard.
Ten minutes, he guesses. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes.
He looks up at the mirror and gets a glimpse of Kai stepping out after unlocking the door.
"Wait" He turns around. "What about-"
He's already gone.
Tyson's first instinct is to go after him but he can't do that. There's evidence of what he's done all over him. He quickly washes his face and fixes his clothes, arranging his hair into something decent again. When he's done he takes a moment to look at himself in the mirror. His body still hums with Kai's touches, remembering the feel of him.
Shit
He goes back out and sweeps the floor for Kai. The Blitzkriegs are easy enough to spot. They're a big group. When he finds Kai he's already sitting between two girls Tyson's never seen before, kissing one of them, the other's hand moving in an obvious way in his lap.
He frowns. He had them? Then why did he go out of his way to seek Tyson out? (And he had sought him out. He'd been waiting for him when he stepped out of the stall. No one washes their hands for that long.) He'd said all the right things to get him going, let him put his hands on him (in a public fucking bathroom of all places). Only to go and look for pleasure in two other people who were not him?
It baffles him.
Tyson shakes his head to clear the last of the fogginess in his mind and walks over to Trent.
"Did you-" Trent asks with an awkward surprised laugh when he gets back to him, eyes jumping around his upper half. "Did you hook up with someone in the bathroom or something?" he says it like he finds it incredulous, like even he thinks it isn't possible.
Tyson makes a face. "No?" God, he's a certified liar now. Kai's thoroughly corrupted him.
Another short disbelieving laugh. "Cause I'm pretty sure that wasn't there before," he says, looking at Tyson's neck.
Fucking bastard. He'd left it high enough that he couldn't even hide it properly with his jacket. It's peeking over.
Tyson decides to deflect it with humour and flirtation. "So you've been keeping track of my hickeys huh?"
Trent snorts and shakes his head with a smile. "Nevermind. I said nothing."
That's what he thought. He's been learning from the master of lies and manipulation after all. "Another round?" he offers, gesturing towards the bartender.
"Sure" He gets an enthusiastic dimpled smile. All is well.