Media: Kyoya Tategami vs Hyoma (in the survival battle)

"Shit!"

I cursed, flying away from Kyoya's bedside, and my back hit the wall, sparking a tingling feeling of pain. 

Kyoya's eyelids twitched, scrunching up and creating creases of his skin. 

I stared at him, the cold that had come off his hand finally seeping off my own. 

The pendant that he had curled into his hands clattered to the floor. 

"Get out of the way!" 

The door banged open, and Shaun danced back, narrowly avoiding some nurse with a large-looking needle in her hands. 

"I'm going to have to ask you two to leave."

A tall doctor gestured to the door, but I glanced one last time behind me, at my immobile rival on the bed. I could see glimpses of green, but the doctors and nurses covered my view of him.

Casting a look at me, Shaun took my hand and guided me out of the room. 

"You okay?" 

"Why wouldn't I be?" 

A breathless laugh escaped my lips, the question slipping past my teeth. Lies, lies, lies, the lurking lie was teasing both Shaun and I. 

"Emotional stress, mental pain, exhaustion," Shaun listed off as he kept dragging me down the hall. "Among other things as well." 

"Oh, be quiet, smartass." 

Emotional stress.

Kyoya, standing there as the dragon tore through his stomach.

Kyoya, laying motionless on his bed without any signs that he was alive.

Mental pain.

Screams of darkness in my mind. 

Memories, of dark, hazy fingers reaching out for me to grab me and drag me down in a abyss of pure blackness. 

Exhaustion.

As Shaun tugged me along, I stumbled a lot, more leaning into him for support so I could walk down the hallway. 

"I'm not okay, am I...?" I murmured. 

"Probably not," Shaun agreed, tugging us to a stop then crouching in front of me. "Get on my back."

"... huh?" 

"Get on my back," my brother repeated. "Piggy-back ride."

I attempted to smile, as the idea was hilarious seeing how Shaun refused to do anything that included contact with me. If the situation had not been so dire, I would've laughed, which would've also probably hurt my stomach. 

"All right," I agreed, hoping on his back. 

Shaun grunted, tittering slightly as he stood. "How many bricks do you have in your pockets again?"

"Oh, shut up," I commented, wrapping my arms around his neck. 

As Shaun carried me to the lobby and basically dumped me on the couch without warning, I spotted a flash of brown hair, almost a red color in certain lights at the counter.

The owner of the hair was leaning over the counter, and was fiddling with something, gloves covering good portion of their hands. 

"Is... that Madoka?" 

At their name, the person looked up, googles fitted over their eyes. Through the light glass, I could make out light blue eyes. 

"Oh, hey Tess," she greeted, turning back to the counter. 

I lifted my arms up to Shaun, who hooked his hands under my armpits and tugged me up. Hobbling over to the counter, I put all my weight on it, glancing over at the scattered piece in front of her.

My stomach dropped.

The pieces were divided into three groups- one was most silver and blue, the other was red, purple, and silver, while the last one was grey, flashes of yellow, and green.

"That's..." the words died on my tongue.

"I'm working on Aquario right now," Madoka nodded, jutting her thumb at the pile of blue. "The damage done to it was unbelievable, so I hope I'll have them repaired by at least the end of the week, for a few days."

"Don't push yourself too hard," I muttered. 

"I'll be fine," Madoka waved it off, a smile on her face. "What I'm looking forward to is the expressions on their faces once they see their beys again..."

As she trailed off, the smile slowly drained off her face, and after a moment, Madoka looked down, shame coloring her pale features. "Ah, sorry.." 

"Sorry for what?" 

"You're close to Kyoya, right?" 

I blinked, leaning my chin on my fist. "Er, I guess you could say so..."

Madoka focused on her hands again, the limbs flying to pick up the shattered bits of Aquario. There was small noises of bzzzt as she picked up the pen-shaped thing on her right, putting the piece in and running the tip of the pen over it. 

"That what makes it a lot happier when you see him, right? You follow?"

"I couldn't really call Kyoya and I close friends," I shrugged, but there was pain in my heart, of heartstrings being pulled taut. "It's a hate relationship. Like a love-hate, although there's a hell lot more hate then love." 

"Sure," Madoka said with a wink. At my bewildered expression, she waved it off, laughing. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." 

"You can change moods easily."

"I prefer keeping my mind on positive things," she murmured quietly. "It's great that Gingka won against Ryuga, yet..." 

Her words faded off in a train of slurred words said under her breath. I didn't bother asking her what she said, because it was probably something I already knew, but hadn't put into words yet. 

"I'll leave you to that, then," I said, pushing myself off the counter and staggering back to the couch. She didn't answer- probably actually focusing on her task (I wish I could do that, because my attention span was about as long as a fly). 

I didn't know how long I lay there, my mind flickering in and out as I listened to the buzz of Madoka's pen-thing, and the shifting of Shaun off in the chair whenever he got uncomfortable. 

That was when an irritated voice cut through the air. 

"I can walk down the hallway by myself, dammit!"

I stirred, the noise causing me to snap out of my self-induced sleep-daze-thing. A look at the clock that was behind the counter told me it was nearly three hours since Ryuga was beaten. Madoka was gone now. 

My gaze drifted towards where the voice came from. 

He's awake. 

A gloved hand braced against the wall, sapphire-colored irises narrowed with annoyance, teeth clenched together as he nearly tripped.

Kyoya Tategami met my gaze evenly. 

[I'm not happy with how this came out, but have a filler chapter with interactions with Madoka.]