I WILL FIND YOU.

Chapter 108: Guilt (NSFW)

"What happened!" Minda shouted when Kai returned to the hut. After fighting with Mao, Kai's clothes were covered in mud, dirt, and even torn in a few places. The longer Minda stared at him the more anxious he became.

Minda hadn't completely recovered but in his panic he nearly jumped out of bed to reach Kai and check his body. The most obvious was his eye that had already begun to swell and change colours. Worried, Minda gently caressed his face with his soft cool hand.

"It's not serious." Kai explained as Minda held his face.

"How is this not serious?!! Are the enemies from across the border attacking? Or is it another assassination attempt? Are you okay?"

"This... I got in a bit of a scuffle with Mao." Kai admitted with a light blush.

Originally, he didn't want Minda to know about their fight. He thought Minda would be asleep and planned to quietly clean himself up so as not to worry Minda. As for the black eye he could blame it on General Lei. Unfortunately, Minda was awake and had seen his disheveled appearance.

"With Mao... is it because of me?" Minda asked after some thought. Even the naive Minda could tell Mao didn't like him.

"It's not your fault. He was being an ass and deserved a beating."

Minda's mood immediately darkened. Kai rubbed his aggrieved little head in an attempt to comfort him but it had little impact. Realizing his current appearance wasn't helping Kai pulled away and quickly moved to change his clothes and wash up.

"I... I should apologize to him."

"Why do you need to apologize?" Kai grumbled as he washed the dirt from his face.

"I must have done something to upset him so I should apologize." Minda thought. Having grown up ostracized simply because of his hair Minda was quick to blame and take responsibility for any ill will.

"You did absolutely nothing wrong. If anyone should apologize it's him." Kai stubbornly stated. He understood to some extent Mao's feelings, but he couldn't bring himself to forgive him for taking his frustrations out on Minda.

"The two of you were so close. I don't want to be the reason you can't get along." Minda said. A heavy feeling of guilt weighing on his chest. Kai had quickly finished washing up and changed into a freshly washed robe and pulled Minda back under the blankets.

"MinMin, he and I are like brothers. Our relationship won't end because of something like this. We fought, we talked, and now he needs to reflect on his shitty behaviour. Once he realizes how much of an ass he was he'll come to apologize and we'll be able to hang out again." Kai confidently stated.

"Still..."

"MinMin, trust me. Everything will work out." Kai said as he hugged Minda tight. Anxious and weighed down by guilt Minda curled up against Kai's chest.

"Is there anything I can do?" Minda asked. He gave up on trying to apologize because Kai wouldn't let him but he still hoped to do something.

"Don't worry about him. Just focus on getting some rest." Kai said. His hand gently rubbed Minda's back to soothe him to sleep. Minda could tell Kai was coaxing him to sleep to avoid talking about the fight itself. Even so he didn't fight it and closed his eyes.

"Maybe I can find Mao tomorrow while Kai's busy training and talk to him privately." Minda quietly mused as he drifted off to sleep.

Kai was a little surprised at how easy it was to coax Minda to sleep. Worried maybe his fever had returned. He gently placed his hand on Minda's forehead to check.