Watching a crying girl run out of the room was not on Kai's to-do list, nor was making the said girl cry in the first place. But Kai was in no mood to feel guilty, not when her actions or rather the lack of actions led to a lot of events. Yet, he felt guilty for making her cry, when her reasons were quite justifiable.

You would have done the same thing... His mind taunted. And it was true, he wouldn't had shared his problems with the boys, even if his life depended on it. He trusted them, true... They might be one of the few people he trusted in his entire life. But sharing his problems was just not his style. He dealt with them alone, just the way he had been doing for as long as he could remember.

She saved your life!

My life wouldn't have needed the saving if she had been truthful in the first place!!

Come on... She was insecure. Feeling insecure isn't a crime now, is it? You would be serving a life sentence right now if that was the case.

That's besides the point! I gamble with my life only.

And yet, she was almost hurt that evening?!

It was an exception. I-

You should have not let the problem become this serious. It shouldn't have reached the team in the first place!! You put their lives at risk and she didn't even know what exactly she was gambling with... It wasn't right of you to blame her for all this.

I already have enough guilt to have made her cry just because she's Hillary! I don't need the logical part of my brain to take  her side too. I-

The door creaking open again was enough of a sound to rouse Kai from his internal dilemma. He looked  up to find a nurse coming in, followed by a rather tense looking Max.

"Your brother informed me that you were experiencing coughing fits and pain in the wounded region. Is it still there dear?"

Kai took a moment to process the sentence. Max and Kai, looked nothing alike. Sure, they had a fair complexion, but Max was a healthy shade of fair, with slightly pink cheeks and a slight tan, while he was albino white, deathly pale. Max had lemon blond hair while his was double-toned, platinum blond and navy blue. A glance at Ray showed him that he had heard the assumption too, though Kai was quite grateful that Max hadn't noticed the slip.

Kai touched the wounded area and  winced slightly, nodding at the nurse.

As the nurse continued to change the bandages and repraminded him for straining himself, he couldn't find it in himself to correct her, perhaps because he wanted it to be true. Wanted it to be so, so true. He wanted to feel what it felt like to be a part of a family again. But the momentary wish just became that, momentary.

It won't be safe for them. He reminded himself. You can't let them become another weakness in front of Voltaire.

It is for the best, he concluded, staying lonely was worth it if it could protect the life of the ones he cared for. The nurse left after giving him some painkillers and sleeping tablets, but for the life of him, he still could not find the voice to correct her.

******

Never in his life had Tyson appreciated the monotony of his life as he had done in the last few days.

Waking up at eight by getting screamed in the ear by grandpa, arriving at the hospital at nine, having breakfast with Max and Ray, talking and cracking jokes, often hearing Ray sigh in exasperation.

Kai didn't talk much, (surprise surprise!) so we weren't bothered by it, and it was quite fun seeing Kai look miserable, uncomfortable, angry and frustrated in a duration of three hours (one in the morning, two in the evening) wishing he could be anywhere else but here, listening to us talk about absurd things.

They reserved the serious talks when Kai was asleep, and by the end of the week, Tyson had told Max and Ray of his conversations with Hillary, and his conversation with Hillary's dad. After a lot of discussion, they had come to the conclusion that they would leave the decision to Hillary and would accept her decision without any objections. Tyson wasn't exactly happy with the decision but he did want to keep Hillary safe.

Max and Ray would stay for the night and leave at ten in the morning to freshen up and rest, leaving the two of them alone for majority of the day, which was very reckless of them.

But luck seems to be on their side now. The chest wound exhausted Kai way quicker than Tyson's had anticipated, leaving Kai in a slumber for a good deal of time. Tyson, who had for once thought of it beforehand (Hey! everything has a first time!!) had brought his summer homeworks to complete.

When Kai was awake, they strictly kept their conversations to necessities and basic plesentaries such as a good morning on arrival, Kai answering with a hmm, Kai asking for a juice, Tyson waking up Kai for his medicines, etc. There was a charged silence between them all the time. Tyson still was very much upset at how harshly Kai had behaved with Hillary and was further upset that he didn't give a damn about her feelings. He would have brought up the topic sooner, but as Max and Ray had advised him, he didn't want to upset Kai further. For an upset Kai meant an unpredictable Kai, and none of them wanted a repeat of the other day.

Tyson couldn't help but be concerned when Kai would continue staring at a wall for too long, as though glaring at it would lead him to all the answers. Never in his life had Tyson seen Kai worrying. Even before the most important bey-battles, Kai never worried. He worked himself to exhaustion, with his team and mostly without the team, kept a practical outlook before heading for battle, and things just went his way.

Tyson did try prying out information from him, but as Ray had said, his glares were getting intense again and his stoic face was back in action. When he did not even receive an acknowledgement when he questioned Kai the third time, as though he had never spoken up in the first place, Tyson had given up.

******

Of course Tyson wouldn't know how serious the situation could have further gotten if Kai hadn't found out about Mrs Tachibana's accident when he did. If he hadn't sent word to the Grace when he did.

Kai had much more important things to think about other than just worry about Hillary's feelings. He still couldn't understand what went wrong. Why did the attack take place even after he had cautioned him. The lack of any further attacks was the only conformation he got that things were under control now.

It was never known of Jason, also known as Agent Grace, to have failed anyone in any way. He was the sole reason why his friends had been safe for the last two years. But there was always a first for everything. Could it mean that he had failed him? And this thought further dragged him to worry about Jason's and his team's safety.

This chain of thoughts kept circling Kai's mind whenever he was conscious. Lack of any news from anyone in any form was not helping matters either. As the second day of consciousness came to an end, he decided that worrying would get him nowhere. The only way he could find answers to his questions was when he was free to move around without anyone's aid.

As the days progressed, Kai let himself relax a little and even looked a little bored, though he never complained. He even took some sadistic pleasure by making Tyson climb three flight of stairs just to bring him a glass of lemonade, once for not adding sugar, next for adding too much sugar, and next declaring that he would rather have lemonade with salt in it.

******

That is when Tyson took it upon himself to keep Kai busy. The first idea was to bring him books. Max had discovered a few books lying in Kai's trunk a few months ago when they had been to USA. After returning to the dojo the second night, he did find a book on Kai's study, and knowing that Kai was a private man, did not snoop along for long.

When he gave Kai the book the next morning after the other two had left, the first thing he received was a furious glare, and before he knew, another glass had shattered, and unlike Hillary's, they were supposed to hit the target.  He had to duck out of the way just in time before hastily explaining how he had gotten it. Kai had left Tyson alone since then, occasionally asking him to even exchange the books from the public library. 

And from then on, the silence between them wasn't that charged, one could almost call the atmosphere they had created comfortable.

******

On the late Sunday evening, after dinner and some light conversation, Tyson was once again ready to leave home at eight. That was when Ray approached him looking a bit serious than usual. "Something's wrong Ray?" asked Tyson with a frown. He shook his head, flashing a smile, a tired one and said, "Grandpa isn't home, is he?" "Nope, he's gone to visit Hero. Why?" No one noticed Kai stiffen at the name, thought that's besides the point.

"Well I was just wondering if you could stay back with us. It isn't exactly safe enough for you to stay alone. "Tyson thought for a moment before dismissing the suggestion. "No offense to you guys, but I've had enough spending my whole time with this guy," he jabbed his thumb in Kai's direction.

Kai graced this comment with a jab of is own, "The feeling is highly mutual, Tyson." "See!," And still seeing the worried look not leaving Ray's face, he added, "I'll be alert, all right? I'll not wander on the streets, I'll go straight home, I'll lock all the gates and windows, I'll even keep the phone next to my bed, if In case I need to call someone. And I'll be back by nine as usual, all right?"

Ray still wasn't completely convinced, but he let the subject drop. He didn't want Tyson to think of him as an overreacting mama duck of the team. Tyson bid the two of them a cheerful goodbye, and after a slight nod from Kai, Tyson left.

No sooner had he left, Ray turned to Kai, and demanded harshly, "The one time you support him, it's for this?!" Not receiving a reply to this, he continued, "Was it wrong of me to wish that he should remain safe, considering the last time someone from our team was left alone?!!"

"He'll be fine, Ray."

******

A fortnight had passed since Kai woke up. As suggested by Tyson, Hillary did stay away from the team, though avoiding Kai's warth was not her only reason.

Her mother had gained consciences and was released two days after Kai completely gained consciousness. Hillary was quite busy taking care of her, though she had a lot of help from her father. He did frown down on her when she continued to wear closed neck and full sleeved shirts with jeans on hot summer days, but didn't press further.

Her parents still believed the accident to be just that, an accident, and nothing more. She desperately hoped that was the case too.

At present though, that is, a chilly early Monday morning, Hillary was not at all happy with her father. No, scratch that, she was furious at both of her parents.

Mr Tachibana, whom she knew loved his family beyond anything in the world, was dressed in casuals with a deep blue blazer, a trolley in hand, ready to leave back to Nara again. She had thrown tantrums the whole weekend trying to persuade her father to stay, trying to make him understand that mother was more important, but all he would say was "It is an important business trip, sweety. I cannot miss it." And much to her added shock, her mother, the most rational person she had ever known, accepted it without questions!

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" She asked flabbergasted. Instead of answering her questions, they had expressed amusement at the usage of the curse word and had advised her to get  back to her usual routine and enjoy the last few days of summer vacation she still had. Her mum also planned on going back to work from today as the wound had completely healed, though she had been advised to take things slow. The continuous eye conversations they had been having, completely disregarding Hillary only curled her frustration.

Her father slightly bent to plant a kiss on her forehead as she stubbornly stood with her arms crossed, her face puffed, refusing to meet his eyes. Her father whispered, "Keep updating me on the proceedings of the case, will you?" They had kept the story of her friends a secret from her mother so as to not cause her any more stress. Hillary slightly nodded but still didn't look up to see her father's eyes. He father sighed and without whispering a goodbye, turned to my mother, kissed her and left.

Hillary rushed back home and started with the household chores before her mother took over, not before shooing her off to get ready. She has gotten ready and had just then started another sketchwork, sitting on the dining table and thinking of an inspiration. Her hand involuntarily went to the diamond shaped necklace and slipped, drawing her mother's attention.

"What is it with you and full sleeved dresses these days? Even your dad observed it." Hillary cursed inwardly. She had to come up with something, and fast. "It was just so cold in the morning so..."

But her mother cut her off. "Then change them now at least! Its like living in a pressure cooker for me, I can't even imagine what it must be for you."

 "But maa-" Hillary tried countering, but it was all in vain. "No it's and buts Hillary. We don't want you to get a heat stroke now do we?" She added, a small smile tugging on her lips. Her mother wasn't really taking these things seriously here, she realised, and found herself slightly relaxing. Yet, she wasn't ready to oblige when her mother further questioned, "And where is that necklace of yours, Hillary? You look very different without it." She commented.

"Yea-yeah ... I just um well thought of leaving it for some days. Don't you think I look better without it?" She asked, hoping her mother didn't notice her nervous stammering. With god's grace, she hadn't. "The stone really brought out your eyes, all sparkling and rich red. You looked very pretty according to me, and weren't you the one swirling around on Christmas day last year, telling me that it was the best necklace you ever had?" She further enquired.

Hillary was badly caught this time. Only a miracle could have saved her from telling  the truth today, and she honestly didn't want to bother her mother with any more worries or truths for the day. Fidgeting with her collar due to the lack of her necklace this time, she started "Well, people do change and so does their opin-" RING, RING... RING, RING... went off the telephone. "I'll get it." Hillary shouted, a little louder than that was strictly necessary, for she was beyond happy for the distraction.

"Hello, Tachiba-" she started, but was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Hil, it's me."

When he requested her to come to the police station immediately, Hillary was confused but on hearing his tone, she didn't question him further. She sternly told him to stay calm, promising him that things would work out at the end, even though she herself couldn't hide the anxiety seeping into her voice.

Hillary quickly grabbed her purse, and after hastily telling her mother that she would be back by evening and would be at Tyson's place, which was a straight-out lie, and dashed for the front door, wondering for a split second whether the unexpected distraction, the miracle that saved her a few minutes ago, was worth a life after all.

******

Words: 2913

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A / N : Hello Guys! I know I am a week late (again)... But I do have some exciting news. I will be returning back to updating weekly from now on.

Don't worry. I have the story in my mind until the very end, and as I already told in the beginning, just got a bit stuck, that's it.

The board exams were cancelled last week, removing a huge burden from my shoulders and hence, I have started writing again!!!

Coming to the second part, I'm very happy to see more than a hundred readers following this story. I feel highly blessed. But I have noticed that most of them are silent readers, so I have thought of dedicating all the upcoming chapters to the people who have been active readers, you guys have truly made a huge difference!!

If you want a chapter to be dedicated to you, all you have to do is vote and comment!!

Stay safe and stay happy!! Happy ramzan to all my Islamic readers!!