Split Souls (an OK K.O. fanfiction)

Chapter 7

The next morning, when T.K.O. woke up, he almost forgot where he was. He expected to wake up underneath the tree, but instead he was in a house with a blanket wrapped around him. When he woke up and looked around, he nearly leaped out of his skin. W-Where am I? Then he remembered—the past day, his fever had risen so high that he'd passed out. K.O. had helped him get to his house. Then he fell asleep again.

T.K.O. unwrapped himself from the covers since he felt hot. He sat up, expecting to fall over from the dizziness he'd felt the day before. But T.K.O. realized he felt fine. His head ached a little, sure, but he wasn't dizzy at all. T.K.O. yawned and stretched. He hadn't slept so well in...ever, really. The time K.O. found him sleeping under the tree was the first time he'd slept since K.O. let him out.

As T.K.O. finished stretching, K.O. walked into the room. "Oh, you're finally awake!" he said in his slightly annoying, cheerful tone. "How do you feel?"

"Uh, better," T.K.O. replied.

"Oh, thank goodness. I was worried about you," K.O. sighed, relieved. That was something T.K.O. was still puzzled about. Why was K.O. so worried about him? T.K.O. had been awful to his counterpart—taking control of his body, keeping him in a cage in their subconscious, almost killing his mother and best friends. Why was he being so kind to him?

T.K.O. was snapped out of his thoughts when K.O. asked, "You want something to eat?"

"No, I'm fine," T.K.O. replied stubbornly. However, as T.K.O. finished his sentence, his stomach growled, much to his dismay.

K.O. was clearly trying to hold in his laughter. "You sure?" he teased, cocking one eyebrow.

T.K.O. growled. "Ugh, fine! I'm starving!" he finally admitted. "I haven't eaten in forever!"

K.O. laughed. "Well, then come into the kitchen! Mom left us pancakes!"

T.K.O. stretched one more time, then stood up. He wobbled a little bit.

"Whoa, careful!" K.O. ran forward and grabbed T.K.O.'s arm to help him balance.

"I can take care of myself," T.K.O. complained, pulling his arm from K.O.'s grip.

"I know," K.O. assured him. "I was just making sure you're okay." T.K.O. stared at K.O., confused.

"You're a weird kid, K.O.," he remarked, leaving the room. K.O. stared after him, almost as confused as his counterpart.

T.K.O. walked into the kitchen, shortly followed by K.O. K.O. pushed his way out in front of T.K.O. and grabbed a plate, some pancakes, and sat down at the table. T.K.O. followed him. When he sat down, he hesitantly cut off a piece of the pancake with his fork and ate it. His eyes widened and his mouth watered as he suddenly realized how hungry he was. Smiling, T.K.O. gulped another piece down, then another, until he ran out of pancakes. He quickly got up, grabbed three more, then sat down and started eating again. K.O. stared at his counterpart in astonishment. "Wow, you were really hungry," he chuckled.

"Mm-hm," T.K.O. replied around his bites of pancake.

"How many of those are you gonna eat?" K.O. asked.

"I dunno," he grunted, still chewing.

"Well at least slow down. You don't want to get sick," K.O. warned him. T.K.O. only ate faster.

"Mm, it would be worth it," he said, swallowing.

"Did you eat at all before I found you?" K.O. asked.

T.K.O. paused his ravenous eating. "No, actually. I didn't even know I had to. I was just wandering around, honestly. I didn't even think about eating, even though my stomach was almost always growling. This is actually the first time I've eaten before," he admitted.