More Short Stories!- Kai Ships Only

🍑TXT- Winter- Part Two

January.

Lea looked at her watch while sitting on the branch of a dead maple tree. "Where are you?"

Yeonjun almost skidded on ice running through the snow covered path. "I'm here! I'm here! I'm sorry I'm late!" He stopped just below the branch Lea was on with his letter firmly in his glove. He held it up as high as he could for her to take. "How is he?"

"Not for me to say."

"Lea..."

"Bad. Dad has been working him hard. He hides it well but I know my brother."

Yeonjun quickly switched the topic. He couldn't stand the thought of his love suffering. "How have you and Hiyyih been holding up?"

"As good as we can. My mom stopped caring more than usual. The divorce has been hard on all of us."

"Yeah, I've felt the record windchill this past week."

"We're trying to fix it. We have to. The plants are choking in their slumber." Lea pointed downwards. In that moment, the branch she was sitting on gently placed her onto the ground. She took the letter then exchanged it for the one in her jacket. "Spring might be late this year. I'm sorry."

"But I'll see him again?"

"I hope you do." Lea sniffled then crossed her arms. "At least you get letters. My brother couldn't celebrate my birthday with me. He's never missed my birthday..."

"I'm sure he wanted to be with you."

"That's the thing. I know he did but dad... dad won't let him out of his sight. You mean a lot to him Yeonjun. He risks his life to write to you."

Yeonjun watched her walk away. Each step into the thick blanket of snow crunched with depression. When she was out of his sight, he tore the envelope open. Inside contained another short poem.

I'm trapped in a loop
Time rewinds until I learn
Spring promises you

"What is he doing to you baby?"

Kai was in a completely black room, trying to be his own light. The room he was placed in was not only pitch black but also as cold as his dad could possibly make it. All of that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was him being naked.

His dad's idea was to force him into survival mode so Kai would learn to produce his own energy instead of drawing from a source. Of course, he wouldn't kill his son. If he died, David rewound time to make his test start over. Kai's mind however, would continue moving forward. He would remember everything. It was a curse and a blessing of being a titan. If he was human, his brain would've unraveled to ribbons. That he wouldn't have been able to come back from. At least not with an intact memory.

This was his 30th try. His bare feet were frozen to the floor. He stopped feeling them ten minutes ago but not before feeling his own blood refreeze into the cracks of his heels. A single spark was all he managed on try 29. Thinking of Yeonjun didn't help because all he could focus on was the pain of his body.

Shivering became torturous. His teeth chattered so harshly that one of them chipped. Dried blood acted like a glue on his lips. Breathing out forcefully ripped that glue and reopened the cuts. It was an endless stinging cycle. Each time he swallowed, it tasted of crimson iron.

When he tried to stand up, he screamed in pain from his skin stripping off of the metal ground. "D-d-dad. I c-can't do this..."

"You think I enjoy doing this to you?! I'm only doing this to help you! You could be the greatest titan to ever live but you're not trying Kai! You'll thank me for this one day."