Kai woke up early in the morning, at first not understanding where he was and why he was here. Having looked around, he realized that it was clearly a hospital ward, it was clear from its decoration: it was intended for the highest command personnel. He was alone in the ward.
He did not feel pain, only severe weakness, and fog in his head, which made it difficult to see the surrounding objects.
He recalled the events of yesterday.
Toyami, Kodji, how considerate and kind they were to him as if they had known him for a hundred years! And why were they like this? He even got confused, not understanding why they behave this way. Of course, many treated him well, but it was all purely formal. He did not remember at all that someone spoke to him so kindly. He remembered Kodji’s soothing words and Toyami’s soft whispers.
Well, he remembered everything the man had said quietly then, bending over him. He remembered the hand wiping sweat from his forehead with a tissue. Even the pain did not drown these sensations. He also remembered how easily the man lifted him into the arms, gently holding him, and carried him to the car.
These arms – the man hugged him all the way, and he felt good, warm, and calm. Never in his life had he felt so calm as in this embrace.
Kai flinched at his thoughts.
“Probably yesterday it was so overwhelmed by pain and loss of blood! This can explain everything. Anyone in such a state could be like that, you never know what you feel when a bullet is taken out of you without an anesthetic.”
After explaining his feelings and thoughts to himself, Kai fell asleep again.
The next time he woke up from sleep, the nurses and the doctor came. The doctor was pleasantly surprised by his knowledge of the Japanese language, although at first, he began to speak with him in English.
He examined the wound very carefully, looked at all the data on his analyzes that were brought to him, and stated in a friendly manner that he was very pleased with the results. Then Kai was bandaged and fed.
After dinner, when he was lying with his eyes half-closed, banishing all sorts of stupid thoughts from himself, they entered the room. They were Kodji and Toyami.
Kai even admired them. They were two tall, fit, athletic physiques of men. One was not thirty, the other was already over thirty, but their ideal figures spoke of their good physical condition. The military uniform emphasized their masculinity and suited them very much.
Kodji sat down on a chair next to Kai’s bed, and Toyami stood at the foot of the bed and kept staring at him with his cold gray eyes.
“How is our patient?” Kodji was in a great mood and was ready to spread his positivity to everyone.
“Thanks for the help.”
“Well, fancy that! And I thought that you only know how to be rude, but you can also thank,” Kodji said this in jest, remembering yesterday’s principled rebuff from Kai.
“I do not like to strain with requests of strangers to me.”
“Good explanation, logical. Well, now, I hope we got acquainted? Are you going to strain us with requests?”
“I hope I don’t have to do this,” Kai replied looking at Toyami.
“Yes, I really hope too, but if you need help, you will consider us your friends!”
Kai looked at Kodji, for some reason he aroused sympathy in him, it seemed that he had known him for a long time, probably inwardly Kodji was open and very kind to him.
Without waiting for an answer from Kai, Kodji continued.
“By the way, they drove your jeep. As I understand order is not peculiar to you?”
“Everything suits me.”
“I didn’t even doubt that answer, did I, Toyami?”
“Can I help you clean it up?” Toyami asked.
“Do what you want.”
“And this is the thanks we get! Kai, are you always so distrustful of people?”
“Am I a prisoner?” Kai was tormented by this question, he wanted to understand his status of staying here.
“No! We’ve contacted your management. They will send a car for you in two days; the doctor did not recommend picking you up before. Here is your phone, I charged it,” Kodji put Kai’s phone on the bedside table, “are you being so wary because you thought you were in captivity?”
“I didn’t think anything, I’ve just asked to know.”
“Tell me, can you speak normally?” Toyami was already beginning to infuriate this style of answers.
“I did not ask to talk to me. I have already thanked you for helping, what else do you need from me?”
“Why are you so wild? It seems that when we were in the hotel with Arshad, you were normal.”
“Toyami, not now! Kai has endured this, he needs time to come to his senses, to restore strength,” Kodji saw that Toyami was getting turned on, “isn’t it, Kai? Maybe you want us to bring you something to eat? What do you like?”
“Thanks. I do not need anything.”
“You probably wanted to say nothing is needed from us?” Toyami approached Kai from the other side of the bed and hung over him.
Then Kodji saw Kai’s eyes. Kai’s huge, unnaturally green eyes were frightened. That courageous hero whom they saw on the road and continued to behave with him the same way as with a brave war-burned officer who did not care about anything, now showed his true face, without a mask, and feigned heroism. The eyes of a frightened boy looked at Toyami, who did not know what to expect, being in their complete power.
Kodji figured it out, that’s why there was such a tone, that’s why there were such answers, that’s why he was acting like that now. He was just afraid of them!
“Toyami, let’s go out!” Kodji took Toyami by the hand, who did not even have time to argue with him and led him out of the room.
“Let me go!” Toyami pulled out his hand, they walked along the hospital corridor to the exit.
“Take it easy! Listen to me! Listen to your wiser friend in such matters.”
Going out into the street, Toyami lit a cigarette and calmed down a bit. Kai’s behavior pissed him off. Instead of a normal, adequate person, he faced a wild, impudent youth who infuriated him with every answer.
“Toyami, calmly analyze the whole picture of your relationship with Kai. At first, you made a rather positive impression on him. You fought together – it is clear and close to him. Then he sees your other side, and you decided to get down to business right away. You pounce on him with kisses, then with a sophisticated method you achieve this kiss, and now he gets into your den. Have you seen his eyes? All this feigned bravado, just a protective wall. He is still a child, an inexperienced boy caught up in the heat of war. He went through a lot, and, as I understood, not the best in his life. And now he sees two grown guys in front of him, realizes that he is helpless. You’ve scared him! By the way, because of you, too, I look no better in his eyes. Just perverted monsters.”
” Aren’t we like that?”
“Do you want to be like that in relation to him? You keep silent. I saw your face when you were bending over it, there on the road. I have never seen you like this,” Kodji also lit a cigarette, “you feel much more for him than just the desire to possess,” he took another drag on his cigarette, “tomorrow I will go to him alone, we need to destroy this image in which he sees us.” Seeing Toyami’s objection, Koji added, “and then you’ll go. Do not worry, everything will be fine. He needs to believe us – you.”
***
Now Kai had a lot of time to think about everything.
After Kodji and Toyami left, he turned on the phone and called the colonel. Pyotr Ivanovich was glad to hear him, praised him for his good work in obtaining intelligence, and wished him recovery. The car for him really would be sent in two days, according to the words of the doctor.
“So he was not deceived.”
He didn’t want to believe that these two people could deceive him, but there were so many things in his life – it was stupid to believe strangers like that, especially this Toyami. He almost believed him, and then it turned out that he was so strange.
Kai remembered his words when the bullet was taken out of him, that quiet, soulful voice and then the warmth of his embrace when he was in such pain.
“Nonsense! I’m just in bad skin, so everything gets into my head.”
***
The next day, in the afternoon, Kodji came to see him. He was alone, without Toyami. Kai was surprised.
Now Kai was half-sitting on the bed, the headboard was raised and pillows were placed under his back – that was much more comfortable. In general, he felt fine, only a slight weakness and an unpleasant pulling pain in the area of the wound, drowned out by anesthetic, interfered. But he was used to enduring pain, so he did not even pay attention to it. He followed all the doctor’s recommendations, as he wanted to get better faster.
Kodji greeted him cordially and acted as if they had known each other for a hundred years. At first, Kai was restrained and wary, but Kodji’s charm and sincerity broke Kai’s protective wall.
They chatted about everything, Kodji asked Kai a lot about his hobbies and interests. Although Kai didn’t want to talk about it too much, Kodji still got him talking.
Only at lunchtime, when they came to Kai to do the dressing, he, pretending that he had much to do, left. Before leaving, he warned that Toyami would visit him in the evening. And he very much asked not to be angry with his friend for the trick with a kiss. Confessing that he also participated in this conspiracy – he fought with the British for two weeks to get to their headquarters and take these floppy disks. Kai was amazed at what he had heard. Kodji figured it out. He put his arms around Kai’s shoulders in a friendly way and quickly left.
Well, there was no time to think about what I had heard. First, it was a doctor’s examination, then a dressing. Then it was lunch. He ate, forced himself to eat, realizing that this was necessary for his recovery. Then all kinds of procedures began, injections, droppers, and then he fell asleep.
***
An oddly aroused Kodji rushed into Toyami’s luxurious tent at lunchtime, with the bag in hand. Approaching the table at which Toyami was sitting and writing something on a tablet, he emptied the entire contents of the bag.
“What is it?”
“Shut up and listen! He’s awesome! Unreal! It’s a diamond, a diamond! This is your gift of fate! I’m shocked!” Koji grabbed Toyami by the shoulders and began to shake him, “you know, there are no people like him! He is unique! I’m fascinated by him! Just don’t think anything like that! I will not touch this flower, but I will kill you too if you behave with him like a lustful brute!”
“Enough!” Toyami lost his temper at Kodji’s words, “I might be offended!”
“Listen to what I’m going to tell you about him,” Kodji seemed so fascinated by Kai that he didn’t notice anything right now. He, not paying attention to the stern face of Toyami, began to tell him in detail about his visit to Kai today and what he had learned about him.
Kodji learned a lot about Kai in such a short amount of time.
Indeed, at first, Kai was silent and answered in short phrases, but then the wall of mistrust collapsed, and Kodji learned what he did not intend to discover in this strange young man.
“Kai was born in Moscow, yes, in Moscow itself! His parents are educated and wealthy people, they instilled in Kai a desire for knowledge from childhood. He never went to school, his parents hired teachers at home, and therefore he was far ahead of his peers in education. That’s why he has textbooks in the car, he is studying. He is constantly studying, and now he is receiving correspondence education at Oxford and Cambridge Universities on some specific conditions. He submits coursework on the Internet and flies to sessions in Europe.”
Kodji could tell from Toyami’s face that he was very surprised.
“That’s not all,” Kodji continued, “do you know why he knows Japanese so well? It turns out that a family friend, a Japanese, lives in his parents’ house, and from early childhood, he taught Kai everything: the Japanese language, swordsmanship, combat techniques, culture, and traditions of Japan.”
“So Kai has a sensei – a teacher.”
“Yes, a real sensei. Now, imagine a little boy listening to stories about samurai and dreaming of becoming one himself,” Kodji squinted slyly, looking at Toyami, “and here you appear – a real samurai, the hero of his childhood dreams!”
“So what? He owns a sword better than I do,” Toyami answered skeptically.
“You don’t want to fight him, do you?”
They laughed.
Kodji continued:
“You will go to him, dress appropriately, he must see the hero of his dreams! But that’s not all. He is very talented, this is the perfect pronunciation in languages due to his ear for music. And yet – he has a wonderful memory. Therefore, the study of languages and teaching is easy for him. I realized that in his family, knowledge of English was considered as natural as knowledge of his native language. But he studied Arabic, teachers were hired for him. He is still studying the language; it turns out that he likes to read ancient Arabic books in the original – can you imagine?!”
“Not really. Okay, what else?” Toyami listened to all this with interest.
“He also, being here, studied Afghan with local dialects, but he said that they are similar to Arabic – there is a lot in common – and then, with his memory, it was not difficult for him, communicating here, to memorize local languages at the everyday level.”
“Why is he here?” it became a mystery for Toyami.
“I do not know, he bypasses this topic. You shouldn’t ask him about it now. One thing is clear: he doesn’t want to be here, but something makes him, in general, I do not understand. But don’t bring this up. And do not ask him about his parents yet, there is also something wrong. He reacts very painfully to this,” Kodji remembered Kai’s haunted look when he began to ask about his family, “in Moscow, he has a friend, with whom he has been friends since childhood. His name is Prokhor. As I understand it, he is one of the bad guys, something like a bandit. The parents were against their friendship. Kai misses his friend. Just don’t think, this is only a friend, a real one. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand you. In general, I realized that Kai does not belong to those who date men,” Toyami said thoughtfully.
“Will you retreat?”
“No,” Toyami paused, “I can’t. I can see his eyes even at night. It’s like some kind of obsession.”
There was silence. After a moment’s silence, Kodji continued his story about Kai. It turned out that Kai was well versed in medicine, in particular – surgery. It was very interesting to him. Being doctors, they perfectly understood each other and talked for a long time on such a specific topic. In general, Kodji had no one to talk to about this, but here there was some kind of Russian – and with such knowledge in this area that he listened to him with an open mouth.
Then Kodji found out that Kai of all sciences loved chemistry and physics.
Here, Toyami made a strange expression that amused Kodji.
“Yes, my friend! He loves chemistry! By the way, that’s why he visits Gor. They have state-of-the-art equipment in a closed laboratory. You see, there he can do what he likes – to be a scientist.”
Gradually, Toyami’s face changed at the end of Kodji’s story, Toyami was sitting on his armchair at the table and looked in front of him with a detached, confused look.
Seeing this, Kodji waved a box of chocolates in front of Toyami with a sly smile.
“Look, you’ll go to him now. I put in the bag everything you should bring him: textbooks, his notebooks, pens. He said he would study while there was time. Most importantly, these are chocolates! Here!” Kodji handed Toyami a package, “This is the most that I could do for you, my dear friend! And most importantly, remember that he is scared – by you, by your behavior. He needs a friend, he is lonely, completely alone. He has to believe you.”
