A/N: Hey, my dear readers!!! I'm really sorry for the delay, but the news is, I GOT INTO MY DREAM UNIVERSITY LAST MONTH!! I had been working really hard for it for a long time! Feel free to congratulate, just kidding! Haha

And I don't need to switch my account anymore, I made some adjustments and its all settled!

Anyways, hope you all are also living happy and healthy. Thanks to all of you for reading my work!

Special thanks to Gabz (Did you receive my PM?) and the Guest (Your 'You're such a good writer' is one of the best compliments I've ever gotten) for reviewing!! 3

Hope you like!

Ch 20

What could only be described as sheer panic filled Vladimir's eyes as he crouched beside the boy, not daring to touch him.

He shouted at the cook who came to him hurriedly hearing the urgency in his voice, a gasp escaping her parted lips.

She screeched and ran away presumably to call a doctor.

Hearing the raised voices outside, Kai opened the door to his room, walking towards the stairs, eyes widening at the scene.

Heart almost jumping out of his throat, he rushed down the stairs, kneeling beside the redhead and shaking him softly, his eyes dreadfully flickering towards the blood.

Getting no response, his frown deepened, and he turned the redhead gently around to see his face, half of which was covered with blood.

Fear settling into his stomach, he stared down at the bloodied face, trying to make sense of the scene, but failing miserably to do so.

He hesitantly put a hand over the forehead covered with red locks, some of which was now matted to the skin.

He didn't seem to realize, but he was shivering badly, tremors running up his body at the mere sight in front of him. He hadn't seen something like this since…

His chest suddenly tightened up, knocking his breath out of him.

Dizziness crept over him, making him lose rationality of the situation.

Very vaguely he saw two people coming closer, before picking the redhead up and taking him away.

He tried to scream at them, wanted to know where they were taking Tala, to follow them, but his body didn't seem to be listening.

His head flowed in a state of hallucination, not processing what was happening even inches away from him.

A deep sense of fear settled into his mind, a picture settling in front of his dazed eyes.

Was he dying?

It had never felt like this before…

Tala, was he okay?!

He clutched his chest with the now bloodied hand, gasping for breath.

He felt spasms kicking up in his entire body, everything a blurred and clueless scene for him.

Vladimir, scared to the bone at witnessing them both in such states, huddled bashfully to think of what to do.

Right a minute after Kai had come downstairs, two maids had come up and taken the redhead away.

He had himself stood up to follow them, but a painful groan at his side had turned his attention towards the bluenette whose face was twisted in a painful frown.

"Master Kai!"

He quickly went over to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, shaking him lightly.

The younger tensed up even more at the touch, unfocused hands trying to push him off.

Vladimir tried to make him stand but the bluenette's knees wobbled and he fell back down on the floor.

The older's eyes filled with even more fear at the condition of the other, calling his name helplessly in attempts of making him come back to his senses.

He was baffled by Kai's such state; he hadn't seen him this scared and vulnerable for a really really long time.

"Master, listen to me!" He said desperately as his earlier words went completely unheard by Kai.

Kai was still shaking fearfully from the shock, and no matter what he tried, couldn't get himself out of that phase he was so cruelly trapped in.

He hated this, hated being so out of control, so afraid of the unknown, so clueless of everything…

"Master!"

Suddenly, he was able to hear a faint voice, breaking that trap, making it crack a little.

Vladimir heaved a big sigh of relief as Kai finally seemed to listen to him, his crimson eyes turning towards him, full of innocent fear.

"Master, take deep breaths, slowly… no, it's okay. Focus on your breathing," he ordered softly, watching the panic slowly fading away.

"Ta-la?" Kai chocked out, voice drained out.

"The doctor is here, master, I'm sure he's fine."

Kai let out a shuddering breath, trying to follow what Vladimir was instructing him to do, focus on his breaths.

As he seemed to finally calm down, Vladimir rushed to get a glass of water and handed it to him, which he held with shaky hands.

"Wh-ere?" He asked, clutching the glass with both hands fearing he would drop it down otherwise, "Where is Tala?"

He stood up languidly, head spinning a little, and held onto the wooden railing for support while Vladimir slipped an arm under his shoulder, guiding him towards the lounge area and sitting him down on a couch.

"Are you alright now, master Kai?" He asked, watching the younger worriedly.

"I'm fine," Kai let out, his head lowered, watching the floor.

"I didn't know you had…"

Kai turned to look up at him, "I said I'm fine!" He hissed out at him.

Vladimir didn't say anything at that, instead, their attention was diverted by steps coming closer.

It was Kai's doctor.

Kai stood up and turned to him, asking hurriedly, "Is Tala okay?"

The latter smiled a little, nodding, "Yes, he's alright now. A few stitches, nothing serious. He'll be alright in no time."

Kai sighed, nodding to the doctor, before taking himself away in the direction of the room Vladimir mentioned the redhead was in.

Left on their own, Vladimir cleared his throat, bringing the other's attention towards him.

"Will he really be alright?"

"Yes, of course. Though…"

"Though what?"

"There is something I can't pinpoint. I may even be wrong, but, there's something…"

Vladimir's eyes widened, "You said he was going to be okay"

"He will be okay, that is, just like he was before the injury. Never mind," he said, "I'll take my leave, then."

Quietly opening the door, Kai slipped in, his gaze landing on the redhead lying limply on the bed, a bandage around his forehead which had turned completely red at one point near the temple.

This was his fault, everything was his fucking fault!

He sat down at the edge of the bed, watching the pale face with heavy eyes.

Tala should go back, he thought, I put him in danger.

The thought saddened him, though he knew it was for the best he kept a little distance from him, he tended to hurt everyone he got close to. Starting with his parents…

The fact that the redhead had read the letters behind his back was forgotten for now.

He ran a hand through his hair, an exhausted groan leaving him. Why did everything keep messing up?!

He still felt like crap from the attack, and seeing the redhead like this, knowing he was the cause of it, wasn't helping at all.

A vibrating sound pulled his attention towards the nightstand where the redhead's phone was lying.

He stood up and picked it up, taking himself out on the balcony.

"Tala WHAT?! I tell you, Hiwatari, if anything happens to him, you're as good as dead," Bryan yelled down the phone, eyes fuming with anger.

"Calm the fuck down, Bryan. I am as concerned for him as you are."

"I don't give a damn about your concerns, Hiwatari. But you ought to know one fucking thing. Tal has, since the start, treated you like some fucking God. I don't have a goddammed clue about what he sees in you, but for him, you're always the fucking first priority!! And this is what he gets in return??!!" Bryan snarled at him, his rage overpowering him.

"I didn't want him to get hurt, Bryan. It's not like I pushed him dow-

"Just fucking shut up, Kai. When Tala wakes up, tell him to call me, and stay away from him!!!" with that he hung up abruptly and threw the phone down forcefully over the couch, so that it bounced and fell down.

"What was it all about, Bryan? What happened now?" Spencer, who had been standing beside him up until now, spoke.

"The damned fucker!!," he muttered under his breath, before turning towards Spencer, "Tala fell down the stairs."

The blonde's eyes widened, "WHAT? Is he alright?!"

He didn't let Bryan answer though, knowing he was going to exaggerate a lot, and fished out his phone, calling the bluenette.

"Spencer?" The call was picked up after a few seconds.

"Kai, what happened to Tala?! Bryan said he fell down the stairs."

There was an exhausted sigh on the other end, the bluenette coming back into the room and sitting down on the bed, "Da, he's got an injury on the forehead, but the doctor says it's nothing serious."

"Is he awake?"

"Nyet"

Spencer glared at Bryan when the latter opened his mouth to interrupt, before taking himself to his room.

"How did it happen? Was Tal feeling unwell or something?"

There was a little silence before Kai spoke up, "Yesterday-

"Tala told us what happened," he interrupted, "He looked pretty down."

Kai let his eyes fall on Tala's face, a guilty frown aligning his forehead.

"I was being fucking overdramatic," he growled out slowly, tone bitter.

"It's not really true, Kai. But what's happened, has happened. I hope you forgive him," he said, before changing the topic, "Was Tala acting weird in the morning?"

"What?" Then after pondering a few seconds, "Well, he seemed to have a really fucked up headache."

Spencer's eyes widened, "A headache?"

"Yeah, why?"

Spencer pulled the phone away from his ear, muttering out an expletive before bringing it close again.

"Kai, don't you remember anything?"

The crimson darted towards the redhead's face again, with confusion, "What are you talking about?"

Spencer sighed, before speaking, "You know, before the world championships, Tala was experimented on."

"Yeah, so?"

"Goddamnit Kai! Don't you remember anything? He still has that fucking chip in his brain!"

Kai's eyes widened, "You mean that chip?!" He exclaimed, standing up.

"Yeah, that chip. It messes with his system."

"I thought it was deactivated?"

"Tala lied, it's still working. But no source is controlling it, which is one really relieving thing. But it's working, on its own, and gives no trouble in normal conditions, otherwise, it acts up, like it did this time around."

"And you didn't think it was important enough to tell me this?" Kai yelled, hand tightening into a fist, an urge to punch something creeping up over him.

"I am telling you now. Listen Kai, calm yourself down. This has happened to Tala before too, a couple of times. There's no permanent damage. He'll be fine in an hour or so."

"But-

"Kai look, I understand why you were mad at him, but please, don't say anything to him when he wakes up. He gets pretty sensitive in such situations."

"I wasn't going to," Kai sighed.

"I hoped so, call us when he wakes up," Spencer let out, getting a soft "Hn" in reply.

"And try to get him to come back to Russia soon, Bryan's pretty mad, and I'm also worried."

He got another, reluctant, "Hn" before the phone was hung up.

Spencer stared at the now black screen, feeling guilty at saying the last few words.

It was well into the evening by the time the redhead broke out of his daze and woke up. Instantly, a dizzying sensation seized him, making the images in front of his eyes go unsteady and blurry.

A few minutes lapsed before he recollected the happenings, a hand gingerly reaching upto his forehead and a groan leaving him at touching the gauze.

He took a look at the clock, eyebrows rising at witnessing the time. He had slept almost the entire day?!

And why was no one here? Where was Ka- Oh, he thought, gloom deflating his curiosity, the events of the earlier day appearing in his mind.

He tested his stability by standing up, feeling relieved at acknowledging that his limbs hadn't gone numb.

His eyes searched for the door, before making his way towards it.

Whatever may happen, his first priority was to see the bluenette and apologize to him. And thank him, for not just letting him lay where he had fallen and bleeding himself to death, not himself considering that the small cut would have stopped bleeding by itself in a while.

Reaching the door, he turned around again, watching the unfamiliar room, for reasons he didn't know himself.

A minute later, he was just about to open the door when his eyes landed on something blue, and gray, and black.

At the railing of the balcony, on the corner a little hidden from the room, the bluenette sat, body seeming effortlessly balanced.

"Kai," he murmured, opening the large glass doors and stepping out.

Said bluenette, focused on something deeply, shook out of his reverie at the noise, jerking his head towards the direction where the redhead stood.

Ruby eyes widened, worry flickering in them, he stood himself up from the railing and almost ran towards Tala.

"Are you okay?!" The eyes boring into his own were a mixture of guilt, worry and also, relief.

"I- I'm okay," he let out, trying to give him a small smile, but failing a little.

Kai though paid no heed to that, instead, huffing and cursing at himself, before grabbing his shoulders.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me about the chip?!"

Tala's eyebrows rose in shock, "Who told you?"

"Does it even matter? Answer my fucking question!!"

Tala looked away, murmuring, "I didn't want to worry you."

"And you're not worrying me now?! What else have you been hiding?" The crimson eyes were now filled with anger.

"It's not like I was the only one hiding!"

"What the fuck do you mean?" Though, the bluenette seemed to have caught the meaning.

Tala stared at him fixedly for a few seconds, before the bluenette broke the gaze and landed his eyes on the floor.

"I was very wrong to do what I did earlier, Kai, and I'm very sorry for that. I never intended to hurt you."

The redhead stepped towards the railing, leaning against it, watching the setting sun with saddened eyes.

"You were already in so much pain and I made it worse."

"No Tal, it's alright," he stepped towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I'm not mad at you, not anymore."

The redhead jerked his head towards him, "You aren't?" He asked, voice jumpy. "You really aren't?" When Kai shook his head slightly to that, a smile broke out on his face, and he pulled the other into him, wrapping his arms around his tense frame.

"I was so worried Kai!" And he squeezed his arms, tightening his clutch, to which Kai rolled his eyes.

A minute later, which seemed like an eternity to Kai as he was the one being squeezed out of breath, the redhead pulled away, a relieved smile on his lips, and dragged him towards the room.

Kai raised an eyebrow, that was it? All he needed was a hug?

Wait, he hadn't yet told him about the chip, or the fact that he had fallen-

"Wait, Tala! I asked you a question before! Give me a fucking answer!"

The redhead was already at the door, almost skipping as if he were completely fine.

"Tala!"

Kai sighed out almost frustrated, why was the redhead suddenly behaving like a child? Was it the anesthetics?

He ran behind him, rolling his eyes in the process, "I swear…"

Thanks for reading!