Kai's emotions

"Kai, this is the last time. I will punch you in the face. Shut up. Please!"

"Zayd! Can you at least think about it? I'll stop asking if you think about it." Kai spoke loudly.

"Fine, I'll think about it," Zayd said as he finally relented.

"YES! FINALLY!" Kai shouted out loud in excitement.

"That doesn't mean I will agree," Zayd said, dampening Kai's happiness.

"Aww." Kai looked despondent.

"It does mean I can choose to agree or not agree," Zayd replied.

"Okay, I am fine with that," Kai responded as he finally calmed down.

"Over there, that's the library. There, the tour's finished. I'm going to eat now."

"I'll come too," Kai insisted on not leaving Zayd's side for now.

"I... never mind. Fine." Zayd sighed in reluctance at the new situation.

'Why did this have to happen?' Zayd mentally vented his frustration as he screamed in frustration mentally. Luckily, nothing showed on his face.

---

Zayd and Kai sat in quite a quiet area where there was nobody else.

"Zayd, can you stop treating me like a fly that's bothering you?" Kai asked.

"Kai, you are hovering around me and keep 'buzzing' every four seconds. You are a bother to me." Zayd wanted Kai to go. He wasn't feeling bad for his hurtful words as he felt they were the truth Kai needed to hear.

Kai stopped speaking as he frowned and put on a solemn expression.

"Do you know how much it hurt me?" Kai said without explaining any further. His tone was stern, which Zayd did not know was possible.

"How much what hurt you?" Zayd asked in confusion.

"For seven years, I wanted to be your friend... When we were younger, I was okay with you treating me this way- as a person you could not wait to be gone. How did you feel when I left Middle School? I want you to be honest." Kai spoke as he maintained eye contact.

"Honestly? I was so happy. You were a pain to me." Zayd replied as he stared back.

"Well, for me, I spent years suffering for no reason, all because of some selfish guy who felt he was too big to be making friends. That guy's problems were the biggest in the world, apparently anyway. I tried to get through to you. For so long, I wanted to break you out of that shell you were within. Not once did you ever show a sign that I was doing anything.

"When I left Middle School. I was happy too. For the fact that I could stop trying to make your stone-cold personality thaw. You never took into account how I felt, you selfish piece of trash!

"Argghhh! You make me so angry when I see you! There is a part of me that wants to smash you into pieces. The other? It wants to try to get through to you again, to make amends for the past. But I don't want to make amends, Zayd. It's too late for that." Kai vented all of his feeling for once. He made Zayd acknowledge how hurt he felt.

"I understand now. I'm sorry, Kai." Instantly, Zayd felt a concoction of feelings, guilt, anger, sadness, confusion. All of them left him feeling horrible inside. Kai stood up and walked away.

"Saying sorry is not enough." Laughing at Zayd, Kai walked away.

---

For the rest of the day, Kai ignored Zayd. It was strange for Zayd- he was used to being irritated with Kai's speech. It seemed things were different now after what happened at lunch.

Zayd let those thoughts out of his mind as he focused on the work.

Zayd and Kai had an invisible gap between them despite the relatively close distance they had.

Minoru looked back at Zayd and Kai, and she could see the gap.

They emitted an aura that spread and infected the whole class. The silence was the only thing coming from the students, and the teacher themselves felt strange. Usually, there would be some whispering between students, but not even that was occurring.

In the minuscule amount of time Zayd had as a break between the second to last period and the final period, Zayd managed to notify Mr Kaiju he had to attend to some other matters and could not go to the Kickboxing lesson.

---

Towards the end of the last lesson, Zayd spoke to Kai.

"Kai, I accept the challenge. Meet me at the field near our Elementary School in 30 minutes."

Not even replying, Kai merely nodded his head.

After a while, Kai spoke.

"I want to change the challenge a little. I don't want to be your friend if I win."

"And if I win?" Zayd inquired.

"You won't win."

The bell went, Zayd and Kai returned home with different intentions on their mind.

Zayd got changed and left as he saw the time ticking.

Aunt Naomi felt he was acting strange. Usually, he went to a club, so having him home at this time felt weird. Not only that, he left soon after coming back.

---

Waiting at the designated meeting place, Zayd sat on a bench. As they both lived near the Elementary School, Zayd knew this place would be fine.

As the time approached steadily, Zayd stretched his limbs in preparation for the challenge.

Finally, as the time came around, Kai appeared.

---

Standing opposite one another, they both lowered their stances.

From an outside view, Zayd looked less professional than Kai. It was as though Kai's body had grown used to this stance.

With their hands out, a timer went off on Kai's phone that was far away.

They began with their hands reaching out to one another, pulling the hands in different directions.

Zayd reached out towards Kai's head, but Kai grabbed Zayd's wrist and pulled it to the side to attempt to make Zayd off-balance.

It did not work as well as Kai thought it would, but the two carried on.

They tested one another's reactions as they slowly continued.