A/N: Now that the exam season is over, I can update a little more frequently!
Now that I think of it, I have been torturing Kai a little too much. But hey, everything always comes to a good end. So we can hope for that in Kai's case too. Funny how the summary makes it clear that this story is centered around the Blitzkrieg boys but I am just mostly focusing on Kai. Well, the boy is too damn addicting to be ignored! Haha
Thank you to LuminaRose9044 for all the favorites. I can't believe you took the time to read all of that, and actually like it. You made me quite elated, dear! 3
Anndddd, thank you soo much to addie for such such kind words!!! I just read the review now, and I must say I feel quite high, like what one feels when on a roller coaster or something. I can barely keep my smile controlled. I am happy that you like my little story, and of course I'm gonna continue. I just, Oh my God Thank youuu, dearr!!! 3
What did I do to deserve ya' all?
I can't believe that there are people actually reading this. I thought it was just gonna be me myself who would come back to back to read my own work. I feel so grateful to all of you!
Hope you all keep reading!
/…Italic…/ - Flashback.
/.../ - Talking over phone.
Ch 15
(Cure?)
Tala's smile turned into an amused smirk – which he didn't try to hide – at the shocked expression on Kai's face.
He chuckled softly before covering the few steps and coming to stand in front of Kai and pulling him into a hug, which wasn't reciprocated of course, the other's body was rigid and tense.
He pulled away after a few seconds and smiled at him.
Kai was finally pulled out of his startled haze and gave him a curious look.
"What are you doing here?"
"That, my boy, is on me to explain to you," the old man, who Kai had almost forgotten was still there, spoke up, coming to stand next to them and putting a fatherly hand on each of their shoulders.
"What do you have to do with all this?"
"Calm down, my boy, and sit down. Let our newcomer have a seat too. Would you fancy some coffee, Tala, my dear?" he turned to the redhead in question, getting a polite shake of a head in return.
"Alright then, let's put everything down."
"You sure this is it?"
The others nodded, before handing him the little piece of paper.
"And what if it's not him?"
"God damn it, Tala. Why are you freaking out over a phone number?!!"
"Yeah, just call it."
He sighed before dialing the unfamiliar numbers, the dial tone resounding for a few seconds before the call was picked up.
/"Hello?"/
Tala looked at the others asking what he should say silently, to which he got three shrugs, before huffing and asking, "Hello, is this Mr. Dickenson?"
Bryan palmed his forehead, the person who had picked up the call was obviously a woman.
Couldn't the redhead distinguish between an old man's voice and a woman's voice?
Tala glared annoyedly at him before turning his attention back to the call as the woman spoke up.
/"Yes, you have called Mr. Dickenson's office. I am his secretary."/
"Oh, well, where is he?"
The woman cleared her throat before replying, /"Mr. Dickenson is attending a meeting which can't be interrupted. If there's anything important, you can leave the message with me. I'll give it to him as soon as the meeting ends."/
"No, there's no need. Just tell him that I called"
/"Sure, sir. What would be your name?"/
The redhead cringed at his stupidity before sputtering out, "Tala Ivanov"
/"Ok, Sir. Is there anything else I can help you with?"/
"No, just that," he hung up the phone right after, letting out a sigh of relief.
Bryan and Ian burst out laughing as soon as the call ended, while Spencer smirked at his captain.
Tala's face reddened before he hit the almost doubling with laughter Bryan on the head, throwing himself down at the couch between the two laughing at his expense.
"Talking to a woman is awful"
The dying laughter whirred up again, full force, and Bryan slapped his hand over Tala's shoulder, causing a fight to stir up between the two.
"Just admit it, you were scared of her," Bryan pointed out, poking his finger into Tala's chest.
"Oh, really? How many times have you talked to a woman in your life? At least I didn't just hang up, like you did when you had called the pizza service and a girl had picked up."
Bryan's face tinged with a redness due to embarrassment while Tala smirked, looking proud of himself.
Ian, who had yet to acknowledge that incident, fell down the couch, clutching his stomach, howling with laughter.
Spencer sighed before helping him up, "Ok guys, that's enough. Why can't we ever discuss anything without getting into fights?"
He eyed the redhead and the falcon who, feeling their eyes on him, quietened down, leaving their pending bickering for another time.
Bryan gave Tala a dirty glare before crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back on the couch.
"What should we-"
Spencer's words were cut off by the phone ringing, which Tala hurried to pick up.
"It's him," he said before picking it up and putting it on speaker.
/"Hello?"/
"Mr. Dickenson?"
/"Ah, yes, my dear boy. How are you all doing?"/
"We're doing fine."
/"Oh, glad to hear that. But of course, Kai must have arranged everything already?"/
"Yeah, he did."
The old man chuckled, /"Of course, he cares a lot about you all."/
Tala nodded, a little smile appearing on his face, before asking, "Mr. Dickenson, have you seen Kai since he came back to Japan?"
There was a tired, almost sad sigh before the old voice said, /"Unfortunately, no Tala. I've been wanting to for the longest time, but haven't gotten enough time. And Kai himself is as busy as it is, I'm sure you already know."/
"Haven't you talked to him on the phone, either?"
/"Oh, that, I have done. Though just once. He has a habit of not picking up my calls."/
Tala sighed, this wouldn't help.
"Have you any news of him, then? About how he is doing?"
/"Tala, my boy, has something happened? You sound like you haven't been having contact with him? What's with such questions?" /the tone sounded worried.
"Well, he- uh. Wait-"
He muted the call before turning to the others, "Should I tell him?"
"Kai would hate that," Bryan stated.
"Yeah, he would. But maybe it's for the better. After all, I don't think the old man can do any harm. Instead, he may help us. Also remember when we met Kai after the World Championships? He seemed like he genuinely cared about him."
Tala nodded at Spencer before unmuting the call, "Mr. Dickenson, there is something I have to tell you, about Kai."
/"What is it, my boy? You are making me worried/" they could hear the panic laced with the words.
"Well…
He took his time explaining all of the situation to the old man, narrating all the incidents that had occurred up until now, stopping in between to hear the other's exclamations of shock and grief.
/"Oh no, dear"/
"And now he is not picking our calls anymore. So we thought you might check up on him."
/"Of course, of course, my boy, if only I had known sooner."/
"Kai didn't want it to be known to you"
Mr. Dickenson chuckled sadly, "That boy, he would take the pain of the world upon him, but when it comes to his own problems."
There was another worn out sigh.
/"I'll see him right after, Tala. Don't you worry."/
"But, what would you do? Kai wouldn't want to go to a psychologist."
/"But Tala, how else can he-"/
"No, there must be another way. If Kai knows I was the reason he has to go through that, he would never trust me again."
/"But Tala"/
"Please, Mr. Dickenson, you have to find another way."
Mr. Dickenson sighed on the other end, not knowing what else he could do. If Kai was having such problems, then surely the only help was to get therapy, wasn't it?
He admitted that the idea of Kai talking to a psychologist about something as fragile as his own mental health was quite ridiculous. He couldn't imagine the boy to talk to anyone at all in a way that left him completely vulnerable and exposed.
But then, what else was there to be done?
He knew he couldn't just ignore such a serious matter, and sooner or later, the school was going to know anyway. That surely would become a problem for Kai.
Sharing something that delicate with someone he knew and trusted was one thing, but opening up about it to a complete stranger, no matter the degree or the professionalism was another thing. Also was someone pestering and looking down onto him for things he couldn't control.
No, he would surely get to Kai about this whole matter before the school acknowledged it and itself forced him to go see someone. They would just pressure the boy and piss him off, making him do something stupid. And he didn't want that. Knowing what the boy had stored in him when it came to a sharp mind and an even sharper streak to be ruthless, he didn't want the police to be involved. Strong or not, the boy was destructive as hell.
In fact, such as this case was, he wanted no authoritative figure to know about it, rather it be the school, any professional or the police. He didn't want any rumors to spread and ruin Kai's image before the media. Such things were hard to handle.
So the only option left was to help on his own, or get some other trusted person to do that. As Kai himself wasn't going to deal with all this any good. He needed some help, what mattered if it was not professional? Help was always help.
But what kind of help would even work for the boy? From what Tala had just told him, he needed someone keeping an eye on him 24/7 and make sure he was sleeping and eating properly, and much more importantly, someone to talk to.
Kai wasn't one to talk, but even the coldest hearts needed a heart-to-heart talk once in a while.
But who was going to be that person? He himself wasn't fit for the responsibility, because even if he would be more than happy to help Kai in any way he could, he just wasn't that young or energetic anymore to take care of Kai. Also, he doubted Kai would really like to just idly chat with him.
But the Blitzkrieg boys were in Russia, and he doubted any member of the bladebreakers would be fit for the job, so there was only way to solve this-
/"Tala, my dear, what if, what if you come here?"/
"Me?"
/"Of course, is there someone else he would trust more than you? I don't think so."/
"But how could I help him?"
Mr. Dickenson chuckled lightly.
/"Tala, my dear, you just told me that getting professional help is out of the question, so we can't just leave the matters as they are, can we? All you have to do is keep him company, which I'm sure he wouldn't mind. We'll give it some time, if he gets better, even if just slightly, then, well, that's a good thing, if not, then sadly, Tala, I'd have to find some other way, and you know what I mean by that."/
Tala bit his lip, mind huddled in confusion. He didn't dare raise his head lest he might witness his teammates giving him betrayed looks, even though he hadn't said anything yet.
On one side, he wanted to go and meet Kai, see how he was doing, and in Mr. Dickenson's words, help Kai. But the other part also knew that he couldn't just leave his teammates like that.
/"You don't have to think too much, Tala. If you don't want to come, then just say so. Some other way must surely be there. But I had hoped that you might be able to help him through his problems Also, he would much rather the company of someone his age and nature than an old slow man like me. His loneliness would be cured, at least. God knows how much the boy has struggled with that over the past years."/
Tala seemed hesitant to answer, before Bryan spoke up, abruptly, "He'll come."
Tala looked at him with widened eyes, getting a slight nod in return, the pale eyes giving him a stern yet understanding look.
"Well, then. There, it's settled. I'll arrange for your tickets and you may come to Japan by Monday morning. Now, rest assured, my boy, no one else will be told about this. And you shouldn't worry anymore. I'll get Kai to meet me as soon as I can," with that, he hung up.
Silence fell over the four of them for a while before Tala looked up at them, "You wouldn't mind that, would you?"
"Of course not, Tala. Kai's a part of our gang, ain't he?"
He nodded at the blonde's words before letting a small smile slip onto his lips.
As Mr. Dickenson narrated all the incidents that had taken place leading to the redhead's arrival, Tala himself kept looking at Kai, worried that Kai might be hurt and even feel betrayed to know that Tala had gone and told something so vulnerable about him to another peron.
He hoped Kai would understand that sometimes hiding problems made them worse, that wounds kept untreated lead to deaths, and that small pains too, could lead to unbearable miseries.
Kai though, on his part, didn't return his stare, simply staring ahead of him and taking in all of the information, which he was surely finding quite interesting, for the fact that he himself hadn't the slightest clue about it.
Mr. Dickenson looked at Tala, and sensing that there were things unsettled between the two, decided to end his talk.
"Now, my boy," he said, giving Kai a firm squeeze on his shoulder, "Don't get offended by Tala, as all he did was for good intentions."
He stood up, smoothening down his coat and grabbing a hold of his cane.
"Now, I have some urgent work to look upon, I'll join you two at dinner."
With that he took himself out of the room.
For a while, the room was filled with silence, neither knew whether it was pleasurable or torturing.
Finally, Kai looked up at the redhead.
"I'm sorry."
He looked down again.
A frown creased onto the pale unblemished forehead, "What for?"
He had expected a punch or something, honestly.
Kai didn't say anything.
"Kai?"
The crimson eyes did look up now, focusing on him.
"For worrying you all, not picking your calls…"
Tala smiled, albeit a little dimly before grabbing both his shoulders and making him look straight at him, relieved that Kai didn't seem to be angry with him.
"It's okay, Kai. I'm not mad at you for that."
"Well, you must be," the bluenette muttered, "I've been such a fucking mess Tala. And I just had to go and ruin everything for you all too."
The redhead frowned, an action which he had been repeating almost too frequently, "What do you mean?"
Kai looked at him with hints of guilt, "You know, it's been so long since you all had been in that hellhole, and now that you are finally free from all that, I drag you all into this shit"
Tala landed a solid blow on the back of his head, making him wince.
"Don't you ever fucking say that again. That makes me rethink whether you even think us important enough or not."
"No, I-"
"Oh shut up, none of what happened, or what is happening is because of you. And you're not ruining anything for us. Got it?" he scolded, voice stern.
Kai nodded slightly before meeting his gaze again, expecting a glare but meeting an understanding smile.
He relaxed a little at that, a small smile making its way on his lips too.
He couldn't believe the redhead was actually there, sitting a few inches from him, the thought alone made his tension lower a little.
But he was sure that if Tala hadn't been mad at him for being ignored, then definitely would be when he got to know of the state he had been in for the past few weeks.
When Mr. Dickenson had asked him about his weight; he had been outright panicked, fearing he may be sent to the hospital, or worse, cut out from Beyblading.
He wasn't too comfortable with the man knowing about his weakness, but was thankful that he hadn't suggested to him to go to a psychologist.
He lifted an eyebrow as Tala stood up, pulling him along with him.
"What?"
"You look half dead."
"Huh?"
"I said you look half dead, you dumbass, how about I make you something to eat and then you can sleep?" he stated, not waiting for an answer and dragging him into the kitchen.
"What the-"
"The maid told me where everything is, and I'm hungry too, so tell me quick."
Kai stood bewildered as the redhead searched through the fridge, listing out potential dishes that he could prepare from the available ingredients.
"Damn it, I forgot where she put the knives," the redhead moved towards the drawers to search for the needed object but Kai's hand took hold of his arm and hauled him up.
"What the fuck, Tala?!"
Tala gave him an incredulous look, as if whatever he was doing was perfectly normal and Kai himself was the odd one here.
"What?"
"What are you even doing, Tala? Since when do you know how to cook? And isn't the maid still here? Why don't you tell her to make something? And how long have you been here that you've gotten so comfortable here?!" he spewed out the questions at him, curiosity mixing with annoyance, making him feel agitated.
Tala shrugged before replying, "I learnt a bit from Spencer, you know, Bry and Ian are prohibited from doing anything, so it's me who has to help him, and besides, I don't enjoy ordering people around when I am perfectly capable of doing something myself. And for your last question, I got here yesterday morning, around nine. Mr. Dickenson gave me one of the guest rooms."
Kai sighed before taking a seat at one of the chairs on the old looking but yet impact dining table.
"Why are you even here?" his irritated tone let out.
Tala's eyes suddenly hardened at the words, "You want me to go back? After I worried myself fucking sick thinking worst scenerios when your stubborn ass decided to ignore us completely, and came here just to check if you're even alive or not? What had you said back then, the last time we talked over phone, you didn't want me to bother talking to you, that my care and worry is just reckless and meaningless. Ain't it, really?"
Kai's eyes filled with panic, how did Tala's mood change so drastically? A second ago, he was asking him about what he wanted to eat, and now he was being glared down with a look filled with enough coldness he felt uneasy being at the receiving end of it.
He stood up, taking a hold of the pale arm once again, "No Tal, I didn't mean it like that. Of course I appreciate you being here. I just don't understand why you had to bother."
The redhead's glare dulled a little at the words.
"Of course I do, wouldn't you do the same if I were in your place?"
Kai nodded.
"Good, now tell me what you want to eat. I know you haven't had a proper meal for days."
Kai's eyes narrowed at the sudden change in the other for the second time. The redhead was having some serious mood swings by the look of it. Or maybe something else was the matter.
"You gonna just stand there or what?"
He rolled his eyes before rummaging through the fridge, and then noticing the stuff Tala had already taken out.
"What about some sandwich?"
Tala gave him a weird look, "Sandwich?"
"Look, you were the one who kept asking me."
"Fine," with that he started his search for the knives before finding one and taking a hold of the cutting board.
Tala got to cutting some tomatoes and other vegetables, while Kai fried some eggs and bacon. Unlike what most would think, he was actually able to cook a few things that always came in handy when he was all alone and had no one to cook for him, even though he wouldn't want that fact known to many. And it wasn't like he could make many fancy meals. He knew just enough not to die with hunger, but that was it.
Soon, two pieces of sandwich were made and Tala put them on two identical plain plates.
Kai felt nauseous just at the sight of them.
It wasn't that they were burnt or smelt weird, the smell that came out of them was actually nice, but given the fact that he wasn't in the habit of eating more than a few bites a time, might he say, a day, he didn't know if he would be able to eat it all without puking out his guts.
"Coffee?"
He looked up at Tala, before registering the question and nodding, picking the plates and making his way towards the living room.
A few minutes later, Tala came back with two mugs of piping hot coffee, setting them down and taking a seat beside Kai.
He lifted his own sandwich and took a bite, urging Kai to do the same.
The bluenette hesitantly brought the bread close to his mouth and took a small bite, before chewing at it more than necessary.
By the time Tala had finished his, Kai had taken about five tiny bites only, and the sandwich wasn't even half done.
Taking the sixth bite, Kai put the plate back on the table, picking up his coffee.
"You done?"
Kai looked at him, a little startled, before nodding, "Y-yeah."
"But, you didn't even eat half of it, Kai. At least have a little more."
Kai shook his head, he already felt like throwing up.
Tala looked worriedly at him, if this was how Kai had been eating all along, then there was no doubt that he would be dangerously underweight. He wondered how the school hadn't noticed that.
"Are you okay?"
"Just a little… nauseous."
He took away the mug from Kai's hands, coffee was not gonna do any good anyways.
"Do you wanna go to the bathroom?" he asked, rubbing his back gently.
Kai shook his head, shrugging him off before taking a large breathe.
"Does this happen every time you eat?"
Kai nodded, closing his eyes and leaning back against the soft couch.
He wondered where all his strength had gone, a few bites of food had reduced him to such a state…
"This is why you don't eat much?"
He opened his eyes, blinking up at Tala, nodding slightly.
"I once did throw up. A kid saw me and told a teacher. I was sent to the infirmary. Since then, I avoided it as much as I could."
Tala got even more worried at the information.
Was there a part of life where Kai wasn't facing hell? He couldn't sleep much due to fear of nightmares, fret over going about his day in case an attack may appear out of nowhere, and now he couldn't even eat without trouble?
He had already not been the one to a healthy amount, and was almost consistently underweight even with the muscles – which he now noticed were barely there – and now he had a perfect excuse to screw that up even further.
"Kai?"
"Just leave it, Tala, I can't deal with it right now."
Kai covered his eyes with his arm, his breathing becoming troubled.
"Kai?!"
"I'm fine, Tal," he murmured slowly.
"Kai, hey, get up. Let's get you to my bedroom. Then you can sleep there as much as you want."
Hearing the words, Kai stood up shakily.
"I don't have time to sleep, Tala. I have assignments I need to work on. I have to get back."
"Don't worry about that. Mr. Dickenson already talked to your school principal about that, you can submit them next week."
"He did?" he asked, shocked.
"Da, you need to rest, Kai. Just forget about that for the moment."
Tala took his hand and brought him to his room.
"Wait, Tal, my phone's back there."
"I'll get it, you wait here."
Kai sighed heavily before sitting down on the bed, his eyes drooping down with sleep.
When Tala came back after a few minutes, Kai was already deep in sleep, lying almost uncomfortably on the edge of the bed, his breathing still erratic but not as much as before.
Tala gently shifted him so that he was lying properly on the bed before draping the blanket over him.
He sat down beside him, watching the sleeping face with concerned eyes.
Kai's state seemed much worse than what he had imagined whilst they just connected through the phone.
He had been quite astonished to see him at first, what with the fact that Kai had lost almost all the muscles around his arms, making his skinny shoulders and collarbones create prominent lines over the baggy T-shirt that he was wearing. And his eating habits had just proved how it all had even occurred.
His face also seemed sharper, not like his own, which was its natural way, but caused due to the loss of fat. His jawbone seemed more refined, which would have been a good thing, as it gives one better looks, but the cause of it wasn't entirely healthy.
He wondered if Kai even worked out anymore. He honestly looked like he would pass out after one push up.
The thought was sad, they hadn't thought things would turn so severe, had just decided that Kai was just taking his time overcoming everything in his own way, but nothing seemed as they had thought.
Being in situations requiring them to long for the most basic things in life, they would have laughed at the thought of someone making such a big issue over something as ridiculous as mental issues.
Words like 'depression' and 'anxiety' seemed like excuses.
Who could be weak enough not to even control their mind?
But looking at Kai, he realized they weren't really excuses.
They themselves had also suffered from nightmares, still did, it was a never ending cycle, but somehow, Kai's situation seemed much foreign.
They couldn't exactly understand what it was that the bluenette was going through, but his state made it sure that it was a really serious matter.
Serious enough that something surely would have to be done to cure it, if they didn't want Kai to be engulfed by it entirely and meet his end much sooner than was justifiable.
He looked down as he felt his phone vibrating, picking it up and exiting the room so as not to rouse Kai from his sleep.
/"Met him yet?"/ the question came as soon as he closed the door behind him.
"Da," he replied, taking himself back to the living room and plopping down onto the couch.
/"How's he?"/
Tala shook his head, "Not so great, Bry, he is much worse in a condition than we thought."
Bryan cursed under his breath.
"He looked like he was gonna pass out anytime and be hospitalized. I can only guess how he was even keeping himself upright."
/"Fuck's sake, where is he now?"/
"He is sleeping in my room. Guess he hasn't had much sleep for a while."
/"It's all because of that motherfucking piece of shit. The fucking-/
"Leave it, Bryan. Is that gonna help? Kai himself said so. When I told him it wasn't his fault, he said it didn't matter, he was still the one suffering. He's right. It doesn't matter that the motherfucker is dead. His actions can't be undone. And Kai has to take the full brunt of it all."
They both fell silent for a while, thinking probably the same thing.
They could never have thought that they'd have to deal with such problems after Boris' death. They had simply felt the idea too euphoric to consider anything else.
Tala sighed, before speaking, "Well, I'll call you later, Bryan, after he wakes up."
Bryan hmmed before ending the call.
Tala stared at the screen before huffing and going back to his room.
Kai was still dead to the world, though it seemed, he was trapped in another nightmare.
Tala laid down next to him and raked a hand through the silver hair, the action calming the other.
He kept brushing his fingers through the hair before realizing how it wasn't as smooth and silky as before. It had knots and seemed like it was hurriedly combed, in a way that still left it quite tangled. It was also looking a little dirty.
It seemed Kai was also not giving much attention to his hygiene. Or maybe he just forgot to wash it. Not everyone showered their hair everyday anyway. And he knew Kai himself did it mostly around once every week when he was staying with them. He just had just perfect and naturally beautiful hair that it never really seemed in need of a wash.
Not anymore, it was not just in need of a wash or a good untangling, it was also rougher, unhealthy.
But what else was expected when Kai wasn't even eating anything properly to have his nutrients. His body had no choice but to decay slowly.
Then he could also notice the dark circles on the previously unblemished skin, which was now paler that it was supposed to be. Almost a sign of fever.
Tala let out a frustrated groan. It seemed, the more he observed Kai, the more flaws he could see. Not in the boy himself, but the ones that his fucked mind had created so mercilessly.
It was going to be so fucking hard to get Kai better. He knew that it was going to take months before Kai started eating normally. And then again, where was the promise that he wouldn't get another attack and feel even more stressed that he'd go straight to square one?
He needed real deep care, or else he was going to keep fucking up more and more.
But was the redhead really capable of doing that? He had no idea.
Thanks for reading!