A Month Of Kaider

Eighteen: Imperfect Attendance

A/N: Warning: Implied Bullying

Cinder frowns when the teacher walks in but Kai doesn't.

And it's not just her that has that reaction, it's the whole class.

Even the teacher herself looks shocked as Kai's seat remains empty, and awkwardly clears her throat, "Anybody seen Kai?"

A couple of students at the back chuckle to themselves and Cinder immediately knows that something's wrong.

Kai's never missed a single class, no matter what.

What's worse is that they're the same students who'd locked Cress in the dark room and unfairly ganged up on Kai before the weekend. Clearly they hadn't forgotten about it with time.

"I'll mark him in for now..." the teacher continues, bewildered.

Cinder knows where she'd headed even before her feet are moving towards the door. She coughs to let the teacher know she's leaving, "I'm going to find Kai."

The teacher nods before taking the register and Cinder's suddenly thankful of Kai's reputation; she'd never get away with something like that if it wasn't for his perfect stature. But that doesn't stop the dread settling in her stomach like cement, making her sick.

She checks the bathrooms first, not stopping to think about the 'male' sign on the door. Coming up empty, she looks in all the empty classrooms, groaning as she doesn't find Kai. She'd hoped he'd be in this part of the school; there's five other sections she hasn't looked in and she doesn't know where to start.

Deciding that this counts as an emergency, she calls Thorne. Like the rebel he is, he picks up immediately, "What do you need?"

"Kai didn't come to class," she blurts.

Thorne whistles, "Where in school are you?"

"The English site."

"Kai missed English?" Throne sounds even more shocked than she feels.

"Aces, this calls for an emergency meeting," Thorne mutters. "What's the closest room to you?"

"Uh, literature room two," she tells him.

"Cinder. Stay. There." Thorne hangs up before she can complain.

No more than three and a half seconds later, her phone buzzes with an emergency alert.

They'd made a separate one for each of them so they'd know who was in trouble and how serious it was. She'd scoffed at Kai when he and Cress had suggested it but now she couldn't be more thankful, it may just save Kai from serious harm.

"Cinder, hey!" Scarlet is the first to appear, giving her a quick but strong bear hug.

Winter and Cress arrive together, both of them coming from textiles. Thorne and Jacin join them a few minutes later, explaining that they'd checked in their sections' bathrooms. Wolf arrives a minute later, slightly breathless, having checked the bathrooms in the other sections. Cinder smiles at them, loving that they can come together.

"Where do we think he is?" Cress asks.

"I don't know. But it was the older students from before the weekend," Cinder admits.

Wolf winces on behalf of everyone, "Kai doesn't stand a chance against a group of them, especially not the second time round, when they'll have back-up."

"Aces, Wolf barely stands a chance, never mind any of us," Thorne adds, all of them knowing he's not being unkind, but truthful – they're all thinking the same.

"Split up?" Wolf suggests.

"I'm going on my own." Cinder holds up a hand as the others start to protest, "Call me if you find him."

"And avoid getting detention before we find him, there's plenty of time to get caught later," Jacin instructs, he and Winter turning left.

Scarlet grabs Wolf's hand and the two of them go through the double doors to the other site. Cinder walks with Thorne and Cress until they reach the road where they split, going to a different site. Cinder practically runs through the corridors, groaning as she finds nothing in every room.

A couple of students catch her eye as she peers into their room but none of them say anything. If there's one thing the students are united on, it's helping each other avoid detention.

She ignores her phone at first, then swears, realising someone might have found Kai.

They have.

It's Wolf and Scarlet who've found him.

A part of her is relieved as, between the two of them, they're more than equipped for everything. Scarlet knows first aid and Wolf acts as personal army to all of them. Without wasting a second, she runs to the photography department, nearly crashing into Jacin as he slides to a halt beside her.

Cinder sucks in a breath as her heart skips a beat.

Kai's lying on the floor, his head propped up against Wolf as Scarlet presses her fingers to his wrist. Cinder could swear her vision turns grey but Winter's there, holding her steady. The brunette wraps an arm around her shoulders and keeps her upright.

"Cinder, he's alive, it's okay," Cress is saying as she manages to focus again.

"What... Who would... Why would they..." she fizzles out as Wolf picks Kai up.

In any other instance, it would have been funny.

But Wolf, being six foot tall, putting one arm around Kai's shoulders and another under his knees so he can pick him up bridal style is serious.

Because Kai hasn't reacted at all. Because his pallor skin is ashen, almost ghost-like. Because his lips are blue and his nails are purple. Because there's a bleeding gash on his forehead that wasn't there a few hours ago. Because they don't even know what other injuries he might have. Because they all know Kai is way too much of a pacifist for his own good.

Wolf sprints ahead of them all, running to the parking lot instead of the school nurse. Wolf starts the engine as Scarlet rides shotgun, Cinder and Cress sliding into the back and carefully laying Kai across their laps. Thorne, Winter and Jacin follow behind as Cress tells Wolf how to get to her Dad's hospital.

Wolf's the one to carry the limp Kai inside, Cress calling for her Dad and Cinder worrying so much she feels like she'll drown inside her own heart. Dr Erland gasps as he sees Kai, immediately calling over a couple of nurses. As Kai's getting moved to another room, Winter pushes her into a seat and she lets her head drop into her hands.

Why does she have to love Kai so much?

So, someone on FFN asked if I could do a monthly fic for wolflet / jacinter / cresswell ... would you guys perhaps like to see any of those, or maybe a continuation of this kaider one? Also, thanks for almost 300 reads :) See you tomorrow!