From the moment he woke up, Kai knew it would be a tough day. He'd slept in almost an hour, and today was the day they would be training for the tournament in England. Getting off to a good start was important to Kai, so sleeping in almost never fit the bill.
"KAI!" Tyson shouted as he barged into Kai's room. Kenny, Max, and Ray toppled in after him. "You missed breakfast! It was the best! Turns out British food isn't as bad as you thought."
Kai rubbed his temples. Why must Tyson always be so loud? He thought. "What are you doing in here?"
"We were just coming to get you. You know, to train?" he interjected sarcastically. "Well, I guess someone isn't much of a morning person."
"Ugh, just go," Kai said before adding, "I'll be out there in a second. Start jogging your laps."
After they left (and ever so slowly, too), he went into the bathroom to take his shower. Upon glancing in the mirror at his less-than-desirable complexion, he noticed just how sore his muscles were. It felt like he'd just run a marathon, and then some. Only his head was hurting, too. He popped an aspirin before slipping into the shower. In his pajamas.
Huh? Oh, crud. Where's my brain today? He scolded himself, peeling off the soaked garments and throwing them into the sink. That could be dealt with later. Meanwhile, he had about ten minutes before Tyson and the rest of his team came bounding into his room again. Well, technically it was all of their room, but that wouldn't be for long. Kai made a mental note to ask for a separate room to share with maybe Ray, or even the Chief, at their next destination in the World Championships. They could be quiet. Meanwhile, he was down to seven minutes
He dumped a liter of dandruff shampoo in his duo-colored hair, kneading it in with his fists. Before washing it out, he squirted a stream of conditioner into the mess. It smelled so good, and made his hair so soft, which was especially useful when they went for days without showering. His secret? It was women's conditioner. He hid it in a bottle of Nivea Men, and diluted the smell down with Axe when he finished showering. And luckily, no one's asked to borrow his toiletries. Yet. One advantage to being the quiet one.
Done. He knew he took too long in there, almost five minutes, but he couldn't make himself go any faster. His headache hadn't gone away much, just delivered most of the pain to the rest of his body. It hurt to walk very far, and worse yet, he was starting to sniffle. But it was probably just allergies he'd acquired being away from Japan. If anything, it could just be a cold.
He stuck a toothbrush in his mouth and scrubbed it back and forth with one hand while pulling on his clothes with the other. Two minutes left. He was freezing; clearly the hotel had no sense in what room temperature was, especially for guests who just got out of the shower. Funny, he thought when we went to adjust the thermostat. It said in big digital letters, 23 C. In spite of himself, he grabbed a hoodie on the way out, not realizing it was Tyson's.
Once he was out the door, he was forced to put it on, the hall being five degrees colder than the room. He reluctantly pulled it over his head, being careful not to smoosh his meticulously arranged masterpiece he called bangs.
Now, one thing about Kai. He will never, never show weakness, whether it's losing a bey battle or a skirmish with his shoelaces. He didn't lose, he didn't talk much, and he definitely didn't get sick. Because sick equals weakness. And Kai was not weak. Kai was strong. And if he had to use a jacket to cover up the evidence of his infirmity, then so be it.