Revamped!

[If I haven't mentioned ages earlier, they're all in the equivalent of Grade 11 (third-year high school, 17 years old)] [2020: The start of season 3 of this story will be senior year!]

Act of Kai-ndness: Part Nine

Moments later, Cinder walks into her house with Kai following her. Still keeping her hand in his, he closes the door with his free once. They enter the main dining room and, as expected, they see Torin and Levana. The two adults didn't expect to see Kai with a willing desire to be here. However, they (including Cinder and Kai), didn't expect to see Thorne here. He sits at the head of the table with a chilled bottle of soda on a coaster in front with him, waving at his friends with a bright smile.

"Thank the stars that you two are finally here!" Levana exclaims.

Cinder pauses for a second because Levana is never happy to see her. However, she probably knows why her aunt has a sudden glee in her words towards her.

"What did he do?" Cinder asks, pointing directly at Thorne.

"Kept on babbling on and on about women and testosterone," Torin responds.

Cinder and Kai roll their eyes in sync. Thorne looks at them innocently.

"I thought you had a biological awakening," Kai says.

"Started having doubts in myself," Thorne responds. "I needed some expert opinions."

Levana sighs. "Why are you friends with him?"

"He needs guidance," Kai responds.

"He's more like a charity case," Cinder says.

The couple looks at each other with bright smiles that hold back their laughter. Thorne, however, isn't amused to be considered as a lost soul. He prefers to call himself confused.

Torin clears his throat. "So, Kai, we were thinking. You could give a small speech of sorts that Thorne said he would post and spread."

Thorne raises a hand. "I have a big following."

Kai nods at Torin, not Thorne. Cinder told him the plan on their way here, or at least the parts she knew since she was confused. He's supposed to be inspirational yet interesting enough for people their ages to want to listen. Then, all his friends and hopefully others will repost and share it. Their goal is to make an internet sensation to get the people of Commonwealth talking. It could be good, it could be bad, but they'll find out. At least they tried.

"Don't fret, it shouldn't be long," Torin tells Kai.

"It's not like people your age have attention spans," Levana states.

To prove her point, she gestures a hand towards Cinder and Thorne. They look over and see the two of them already on their phones despite the conversation only going on for barely a minute so far. And in sync, Cinder and Thorne look up at the two adults and Kai, wondering why they were being stared at when there was a strategy to be put into action immediately.

"We could quickly write up a script or something if you'd like," Torin suggests.

"No," Kai replies, taking a seat and starting to get comfortable. "I'll wing it."

Torin pats his shoulder supportively and proudly. "Your father winged most of his speeches. They were most genuine that way. Nobody could ever say he was scripted."

"Everyone knows you have a bias and you could play to that if you like," Levana suggests.

Kai scoffs. "My name is a bias."

The three of them laugh. Cinder and Thorne come back to the moment, looking up from their screens and still having no idea what they missed. All they know is that their plan will be in progress. Thorne takes Kai's phone to start recording on his profile. He would start a live stream but there was no point in doing one if nobody would watch. At least in the online video, it's set in stone.

"You ready?" Thorne asks.

"No, but press record anyways," Kai responds.

"You got this," Cinder says, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before scurrying beside Levana and Torin who stand behind Thorne.

Throne gives Kai a thumbs up when he starts recording and Kai's breath instantly escapes his lungs. For a second, he almost forgot what he was doing and what he would say (as if he knew).

"I know that a lot of people in Commonwealth have been wanting to know how I feel about this," Kai starts, "and to be honest, I'm not sure. Everything is changing and my life isn't what I knew it was anymore but that's the point. Change is like everything else - the more you do something, the better you get at it. None of us are ready for such a drastic change yet, especially me. A lot of people believe that I'm a continuation of my father and I only think I am in a biological sense. We all miss my father and I'm not saying I miss him the most because I just miss him. It's as simple as that. That is why it's important to keep my father's legacy alive whether or not Konn Torin wins the election. My father ran and lived on kindness so all we need to remember him is to do a simple act of kindness. Everyone dies alone but if you meant something to someone, if you helped someone or loved someone, if even a single person remembers you, then maybe you never died at all."

Kai looks up at Thorne and feels the blood rushing to his cheeks. Thorne lowers his phone and types a little message before posting it. He slides Kai's phone across the table to have him look at it. Kai ignores the playback and looks up at what Torin and Levana think. They nod proudly which makes Kai relax, thinking he didn't say anything stupid.

At the moment, he forgets everything he said.

When he looks up at Cinder, she's already making her way over. She takes a seat on his lap and wraps her arms over his shoulders in a hug.

"#ActOfKaindness…" Kai mutters as he reads the caption on his video. He has to admit that it's a catchy hashtag.

A small smile crawls on his face as a small tear falls down his face. Cinder kisses it away as she reposts his speech before spamming her story with pictures of them. (Even Thorne does the same, taking live photos of them for his story.) Eventually, Kai pulls her into a deep and meaningful kiss, pretending they were the only two people in the room.

"I'll step out of this," Torin mutters, excusing himself. Levana follows.

Thorne stares at Kai and Cinder's moment before going online to repost Kai's live stream.

-o-

Group Chat - #ActOfKaindness
Members: Captain Thorne, Cinder, Cress, Jacin, Kai, Scarlet, Winter, Wolf

Captain Thorne: Kai, my boy, you're more famous now! I'm so proud *crying emojis*

Winter: I can't even open any of my apps. They all keep crashing.

Jacin: Same and I'm not even in the same time zone. HOW IS IT TRENDING IN ARTEMISIA?!

Scarlet: I'm at work and not only is Kai's speech being played on the television, but many customers are talking about it. I feel famous just for knowing him *hair-flipping emoji*

Wolf: Same here at the gym.

Wolf: Are the press hunting you down now more than ever?

Kai: Torin wanted me at his place but I'm hiding in my basement.

Kai: I also hate half of the pictures you guys posted with me in them.

Kai: Totally not an #ActofKaindness.

Winter: Totally is.

Cress: People are saying you should run for mayor.

[Cress sends some links and blog posts about Kai possibly running and his likelihood of winning in the present and the future, given that the majority of voters will be present and eligible voters by then]

Cinder: Emperor Kai Rikan of the Commonwealth. I'd vote for him.

-o-

That video and hashtag spread like wildfire, quicker than any of them anticipated. Not only did the group chat repost it onto their stories and feeds (even Jacin and he isn't in Commonwealth), but their neighbours, schoolmates, and random people in Commonwealth were doing the same. They added links to their posts and bios, telling everyone to vote, where to register, and where to vote with whatever time is left. They brought up the late Mayor Rikan's past campaign on kindness, and how wonderful Kai grew up in the limelight. Selfies with quotes from his speech were being uploaded.

The internet around Commonwealth had this trending. The opposition couldn't think of a rebuttal let alone anything to say about this because it got to the point where the mainstream media was talking about it.

Polls were being recalculated, registration sites were loading, Commonwealth was buzzing.

This was the tensest pressure this election has faced in decades.

Even if Kai's speech doesn't help Torin win the election, their campaign was the most shared and spoken about to date.

[If you remember Kai's eulogy from his father's funeral (if you didn't, neither did I), then his speech here is similar.]