Tyson finally realised the reason for why Emily and Alan were that touchy-feely when bidding good bye to Max. Ray said his good byes to his friends, though there still seemed to be some kind of tension between them. Max wouldn't meet Michael's eyes and Ray wouldn't look at Mariah. She proceeded to excuse herself angrily from further embarrassment. Kenny could barely stutter a sentence completely when Emily came forward to wish him luck. 

But none of that mattered to Tyson. He was over the moon with the recent happenings. So, so happy that he hardly considered to be angry with his friends for the prank. The charged atmosphere was slowly dispelled as they left the airport. Looking at Tyson half tap dancing on the street was more than enough to make the other Blade Breakers forget about their personal problems, even if for a little while, and laugh.  

"So, where to next?" Tyson asked, walking backwards on the footpath now, facing he friends. "The restaurant at the end of the street,  I hope that's the one he said..." Ray said. "Who?" Tyson asked, but Ray was already lost in his thoughts. Tyson sighed and turned front. The rest of the walk was a quiet affair, just listening to Max and Kenny talk. 

The biggest surprise for the day was yet to come. The hotel Ray led them to was a five star restaurant. The cool air from the air conditioners was a relief from the afternoon sun. The essence of various exotic dishes hung in the air. Ray asked the waiter to be led to the private reservations section. Max and Kenny looked just as lost as him. Tyson decided to take action. He fell in sync with Ray,  who had been walking ahead of them all, talking with the manager. "What are we doing here?" he hissed as soon as he got close to Ray. All he did was shrug half-heartedly. "I don't know about you, but I seriously don't have the money for this folly." He added in haste.

 That was not true at all. Mr Dickenson had designed a complicated way to reward the eight tag teams that made it into the quarter finals this year, based on the team's win as a whole,  the number of tag teams that took part from each team, Bladers who had lost their last tag team battles, and other criteria that made his head spin, though Max and Ray understood it just fine.

 When he had met the chairman after the reward distribution, he had angrily voiced out his concerns that this weakened the team spirit, creating superior-inferior complexes between members, increasing insecurities among the newer Bladers, and all that. And maybe he had overstepped himself, a bit more than a tad bit, for it had ended with Mr Dickenson coldly reminding him that he was the chairman here and he would do as he sees fit. He had not spoken to him since. When he had suggested that they divide it equally among themselves at least, all he had received was polite refusals, much to his chargin. 

 The Blade breakers had obviously come out as the richest among all other competitors, but what bothered him was that he had gotten claim over thirty percent of their rewards as a team. He was closely followed by Max, who had gotten himself a twenty five percent share. Kenny received a ten percent share as he was promised. Ray had drawn upon himself a twenty percent share while Kai had claim over the rest of it, which still lay untouched in their joint account. 

But even if he did have an account balance of seven digit numbers now, it didn't mean he could spend it like water. He could feel Ray's amused eyes on him as he controlled himself from pointing out the obvious, but Tyson ignored it.  

When the manager did show them their reserved table,  it was already occupied by someone. It took him a moment to recognize him first, but it was Max who called out his name first. 

******

"Kai! Is that you?" Max exclaimed as he took a seat opposite of him. He surely hadn't expected to meet him here. As usual, he didn't really reply, but that just gave him his answer. With a dark blue full sleeved hoodie over his usual clothes and his cheeks still bare of the usual red markings, it did take Tyson a moment before recognising him. He had a glass of some juice in his hand which he was stirring, not even acknowledging their presence. Unsure of what to do next, we just looked at each other. 

"Ugh, Kai..." Ray started, but was cut off. "For hell's sake Ray, can't you leave a guy to at the least enjoy his drink peacefully?" Kai dryly questioned, his voice monotonous, not angry at all. Quite taken aback by the question, Ray barely thought of a retort before Tyson sniggered. Ray's face flushed a little but he did shut up, crossing his arms and busying himself by looking out at the glassed wall next to him,  which offered a breath taking sight of the bustling city. 

Kenny bent over and whispered, "I hardly believed that a day would come when Kai would deliver a joke, with Ray of all people being the butt of it, and Tyson being the one laughing over it, did you?" He asked. Max just shook his head in disbelief, trying hard to control his laughter, not wanting to hurt Ray's ego any more than it already had been. He was spurred back into reality when Kai spoke again. "Well,  it's unbecoming of you guys to stare, but if you're done with it, help yourselves. Order anything you wish, how much ever you wish, the bill's on me.'' 

As if waiting for the cue, Tyson grabbed onto a menu immediately and was eagerly going through it. Max politely ordered himself a bowl of lasagna, a plate of pancakes and an apple mojito. He hadn't bothered himself with a breakfast that morning.  Only after having picked his choice of dishes and ordering them did Tyson start talking about matters of importance. 

"You knew of today's plan, didn't you! Yet you let me suffer a week's indecision. I should have realized that you wouldn't have bothered with seeing my face so early in the morning and waking me up if it wasn't something important." he accused, looking a lot like a sulking kid of age five, than a teenager. He looked around muttering. ''I hardly know what's going on with the team these days, until they wish to reveal something to me. I surely couldn't be that gullible, could I?'' he looked around hopefully for some sort of reassurance,  which he received none. 

Max couldn't bring himself to meet Tyson's eyes, for he was harshly reminded of the letter that lay in his drawer, hidden below a stack of books. He did not having it in himself to throw it away dismissively the way he had been thrown. .

Thankfully, Kai drew their attention. "The Blade Breakers won the World Championships for the second time in the consecutive years. Though not that the feat hadn't been achieved by other teams before, but an achievement nonetheless. But being trustworthy, loyal and reliable during times of distress needs... acknowledgement. Wherever our paths may lead us in the future, hope we remember this day. Finally, a gesture of... gratitude to our comradery. To the Blade Breakers" he raised his glass in cheers, which was followed a chorus of uncertain cheers for they were all very surprised by their Captain's show of emotion and of all things, pride. Kai was a difficult man to please, and if harsh words could make you work as per his expectations, he wouldn't stop ridiculing you at any extent.

Tyson was the first one to break to breathtaking moment. "Awe Kai, only could have made a victory speech so formal and boring. But at least you did try, and a round of applause for it." he clapped energetically, followed by the other uncertain ones. Max could clearly see how much it had taken of him to make that speech, however short it was.

Tyson quickly wiped his hands with a tissue before starting, "And to make this day even more memorable, let us all go to the mall in the next road, we could also watch a movie if we can. And you mister, are not excused. " he said, grabbing Kai's wrist firmly as he attempted to desert them all unnoticed. "In the name of all the things you appreciated us for just a moment ago, declare this one day of yours to us Kai. I promise you won't regret it. Please, please, please, please..." he pleaded with his huge puppy like eyes. Kenny and Max joined Tyson in his 'please' song.

"Come on Kai, one day, or rather, just half a day couldn't hurt you.'' Ray gently goaded. He had been watching the unfolding scene with amusement flickering in his eyes, already enjoying his payback. Kai, feeling cornered by his childish team mates, had no choice but to succumb to their wants and however unwilling he may look, there was no denying that there was a spark of laughter twinkling in his eyes as he was led out.  

******

They boarded the metro as the twilight hours made way for the night. A quite gloom had descended on the city, though it was just as busy and much, much beautiful with thousands of lights illuminating the city. But all Ray could really think about was the ultimate feeling of happiness and contentment he was currently experiencing. He was sure he would remember each and every detail of this day as long as he lived. 

The first thing they did when they arrived at the mall was to go bowling. Each of them had given it a shot and after going through many sets, it had come to a showdown between Max and Kai. Max had been unstoppable, not loosing a single point since the very beginning and Kai had only lost two points. 

He himself had been fairly good at it for a first timer, getting a hang of it after a few mishaps. Tyson was quite poor at the sport and had stopped embarrassing himself after an hour or so, openly supporting Max instead as he found it wasn't fair of Kai to be bloody good at everything. 

Then they had gone to a fast food restaurant where they kept on challenging one another, placing bets about who could eat the fastest or something along the same lines. Unsurprisingly, Tyson won all the bets he placed on himself, coming out of the restaurant with a full belly and much fuller pockets. 

After Tyson and Max had thoroughly debated about the pros and cons of watching Spiderman and Home alone, they had finally agreed to watch Spider Man, which he must agree had been a perfect blend of action, comedy and drama, suiting both Tyson and Max's taste. Kai also had been forced to watch the film due to their insistence, but even he hadn't bothered grumbling over it. To be honest, Kai had been unusually quite about the whole affair. 

"Hey Maxy, will you join me tomorrow? We could go to school together." Tyson called out for Max, bringing Ray back to the present. 

"Sure Ty, I'll be there by eight." Max replied. He looked tired, but that didn't dampen the energy in his tone. 

Tyson turned to him now. "Meet you... and Mariah at school tomorrow." he said, his eyes still twinkling with mirth. Ray smiled, he was glad that Tyson was able to remember and refer to Mariah without getting too flustered. "Don't be late Tyson. It would be embarrassing to be late to your very first day of highschool. " he jovially chided. "Of course I won't be late." he indignantly replied back as both he and Max got out of the train. 

Max would be boarding another train to take him to his father's place. After bidding each other goodbye, Ray started towards his new home at the floral studio, which was just a ten minute walk from the station. Though he was yet to solve one more problem waiting for him at home, he didn't want to bother about it and spoil his day. 

He found himself to be holding onto the hope that things could go right if one acted accordingly. He decided that he was quite angry with Mariah at the moment and instead of turning it into a battle of bitter words, she could suffer his cold wordless fury for at least a few days to teach her a lesson about practical jokes. 

******

Tyson kicked a small pebble in his path to a side as he walked the quite streets of his neighbourhood. Kai walked a few steps ahead of him and Tyson hadn't dared catching up with him until then. He did have a lot of questions for his captain. "Hey Kai? How long will you be staying?" he asked tactlessly. 

Kai stopped, a frown on his face, looking looking slightly taken aback. "I'm supposed to be taking things slow but I've already been making arrangements for moving out. I didn't realize it was bothering you. I could speed it up." He formally replied. 

Tyson cringed at the sudden guard and underneath iciness in his tone. He shook his head in disapproval. "No, I didn't mean it like that. Sorry, that came out all wrong. I just wanted to know how long are you allowed to stay, like in the country. Like isn't your visa only for three months?"

"Oh," he said, his face once again blank of all emotions. He worded his thoughts slowly and carefully. "Though the doctors barred me from flying for only a month, Mr Dickenson is seeing to that that I could get an extension of two months."

"Why two months?" was his immediate question. "None of your damn business." was his curt reply. 

"Hey," he called ahead again. "So, will you be attending high school with us?" He gave a humorless laugh at this. "I was the one who handled their admission process besides my own, Tyson. Their plan of staying back has been brewing for quite some time now." he said. 

"But not yours? Was yours just a last minute addition?" He asked, a bit of bite in his words. He didn't like being reminded to how oblivious he had been the whole time to the brewing situation. Kai just shrugged off the accusation.

After a few silent minutes, he continued in a gentler tone. "I don't mind you staying at the dojo at all. I always welcome a sight of a friendly face," Kai snorted at this. "Even if it is just slightly better than grandpa's face." Tyson hurriedly added. "Anyway,  as though I even have a say in it. Grandpa has declared it to be your home as long as you wish to call it so. He would kill me straight away before you even leave the house in this state."

Kai didn't bother answering. Tyson sighed. "One last question. Who were you with before meeting us?" 

He stopped just for a microsecond before resuming his walk. Tyson had at last acquired Kai's complete attention. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said in a dismissive way, but Tyson pressed on. "You can't expect me to believe that you had come out of that new den of yours that was once my room only to throw us a party and get dragged into all our petty wishes. And, just so you know, I did see an empty wine glass at the other end of the table. "

By that time they had reached their destination. They stood at the front steps of the dojo. Kai's hand was on the knob, having already unlocked the door with his set of keys. He quirked at him with a look of disbelief in his face. "You're not as oblivious as I thought you were, Tyson. You notice an empty glass of wine on a table but not your friends talking in hushed whispers around you for weeks?" he shook his head. "Goodnight Tyson, you've got an important day ahead of you." Kai said as he gracefully slipped inside the house, leaving Tyson with more questions than the answers he had received. 

******

Words: 2909

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Hey guys... Do you like the chapter? I hope the long wait was worth it. I really don't have much to say🤐🤐 ... I realise I'm nearly a month late since I last promised to update. Hopefully this won't repeat again. 

Thank you guys, especially @Shakshi8d , @rip9ff , @Pingu2105 and many more who had constantly being asking for an update or at least the status of the chapter in progress,  which I hadn't been answering clearly. 

Finally,  vote and comment (I wouldn't mind either positive or negative) I hope the wide gap of time between a major chapter update doesn't impact the story negatively. I hope my fears of feeling like a complete stranger to my own story doesn't come true. You are free to point out if some detail doesn't match up with the previous chapters. I really could do a lot more if you guys show some support now.