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Chapter 6:
Ryou sat on Mio's bed upstairs, his legs crossed and his eyes fixed stubbornly on the floor in front of him. He was seething slighlty, his whole body shaking as he fought the urge to scream. These people, they didn't deserve what was coming. They didn't deserve to have to suffer like Arias planned to make them suffer. They…
He shut his eyes tight, his fingers fisting in the blankets at his sides. He knew however, that if he even let on the slightest bit as to what was happening, Youa would be in danger. He didn't care about his own life, but he couldn't risk harming the best thing to happen to him since he got locked away in that damned Abby.
"Ryou?" A small timid voice drew the older boy from his thoughts as he looked up, spotting his timid lover in the door frame.
Ryou tried a smile, motioning for Youa to sit next to him. His lover wasn't fooled by his facede, a frown still creasing his smooth features, before he reluctantly plopped next to the older boy. "Sorry that I didn't come down to breakfast."
"It's okay." Youa leaned on Ryou's shoulder, closing his eyes a bit. "Was it Arias?" He whispered, his gaze moving down as he gently reached to grasp the other's hand.
Ryou nodded slightly, his own gaze fixed off to the side. "I guess I'm just feeling a little guilty about everything." He muttered, before sighing. "I feel like we're the bad guys in this."
Youa gently squeezed his lover's hand, before closing his eyes. "Even if you were a bad guy Ryou, I'd still love you." He leaned up, gently pressing his lips to Ryou's. "You're the world to me."
Ryou felt his heart skip a beat, before he lunged at the younger, enveloping him in a long hug. "Thank you Youa."
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"Oh wow, looks like I've beaten you…again. Whoopie." Kai rolled his eyes, calling back his blade and catching it with a practiced ease.
Tyson stood twitching, his fists clenched at his side. "NO FAIR! YOU CHEATED!"
"Uh huh, you keep thinking that." Kai waved lazily, before looking over at Kai as he entered the training ring. "Hey Kon, where's the wolf?" He asked, referring to the fact that Tala seemed to be missing from their lovely group gathering.
"Oh, he's taking a shower." Rei stated, shrugging slightly. "He'll be down once he's done."
Bryan paused, a scowl slowly drawing his brows down as he looked up at the house. "You sure he's okay?"
Rei started, looking over at the lavender haired boy with a small confused look. "Yeah, why wouldn't he be? I just left him up there a few minutes ago."
Bryan shrugged, rubbing his arms a little bit. It was weird, but something was causing the usually stoic man to become uneasy. "I dunno, something just doesn't seem right."
Max walked over, patting Bryan on the back before grinning. "Aw, you're probably just imagining things. Come on, I wanna have a go with ya."
"Okay." Bryan couldn't quite place it, but something was just…off. He tried to put it behind him, focussing instead on battling the fiery blonde in front of him, but he just couldn't stop worrying.
Mio stood on the side lines, her bangs falling down over her eyes. She knew what had happened all too well, and was a little unnerved about just how connected Bryan and Tala were. She felt guilt knot in her stomach, as she knew that at that very moment, Arias was sending the red headed blader off to a place of torture and pain, a place that no person should ever have to endure. She was upset, but she didn't show it. Instead, she focussed on keeping the boys sharp, trying to tune their skills as the day wore on.
However, soon lunch time came, with no sign of Tala.
"I'm really not feeling too good about this Kon." Bryan murmured as the group moved in for lunch. "It isn't like Tala to miss a training opportunity like this."
"It is kind of weird." Kai added, leaning against the kitchen counter as Rei once again began to put together a lunch for the crowd of bladers. "He's usually pretty apt about spending as MUCH time with Rei as physically possible."
"I'm gonna go look for him." Bryan hunched his shoulders, moving towards the staircase. He stalked his way up to Rei's room, peering inside with a scowl. "Tala?"
No answer.
"Yo, Wolfy."
Still no answer.
Slowly moving into the room, Bryan took a quick mental check of his surroundings. The outfit Rei had chosen for the red headed blader was still on the bed, untouched. The unnerving feeling in his gut almost tripled, his gaze wide as he noticed the bathroom door open, the light still on. He moved towards the shower, throwing the curtain back, before sighing. Tala wasn't there either. Where had the hyper idiot gone to?
Bryan was about to leave, when he noticed something…A sticky note, attached to the bathroom mirror. He blinked, fingers brushing the note as he read the scribbled Russian handwriting.
'I think I need some time to myself. Something major's just come up. I'll call all of you later, Tala.'
Bryan frowned, peeling off the sticky note and marching down the stairs. "Guys!" He exclaimed, moving into the kitchen. "I think we have a problem…Tala's gone AWOL."
------TBC-------