Chapter 133 Elite Five Arrives (1/2)
That night, at the hotel, the Smith Twins were going through the day's event. They were in the 1-bedroom executive suite, which had a King Size Bed that they shared. Originally, Delilah had booked and paid for the 2-bedroom Junior Suite for them - but with a click of the keyboards and Kyle's credit card, they changed the booking and payment.
Both were on the bed and already in their pajamas. Well, for Kyle, that basically just meant a singlet and loose pants while Kay wore a T-shirt dress that reached up to her knee.
Kay was busy looking at her laptop while Kyle was peeling and cutting some apples into bite-size pieces. He would put them in a bowl that was inbetween them. Once in a while, Kay would reach out and take a piece of apple and pop it into her mouth.
”So we were right,” Kay said as she munched on the apple, ”Today was an auspicious day.”
”Yes, so it is confirmed,” Kay replied, throwing away the seeds and skin of the apple at the wastebasket beside the bed, ”It's Kazuya.”
The Feng Shui Master that they had hired identified three possible zodiac signs. There was just too little for him to go on. However, it was still enough. By comparing all the notes they had, the list then narrowed down to two. Out of these two, the 'auspicious' days were different.
If the attack happened today, it would be Kazuya. If in two days time, it would have been another.
”So how did you know anyway?” Kay asked.
”They're really underestimating us,” Kyle said, ”The moment they said that the security officers were checking the Wall, I knew it must have been in order to tamper with it. So when I studied the Wall, I noticed that one of the holds was slightly not in position. From there, I began checking all the holds.”
Kay laughed, ”I don't think it's because they underestimated us in this case - I mean, come on Kyle. Just how many people would have known that the hold was slightly skewered? Only you, who had a picture of the original positioning in your mind to make the comparison.”
”Plus,” she continued as she took another piece of apple, ”Who else but you could do that stupid move? I mean, really? An upside-down handstand?”
”Hey, it wasn't stupid. It was awesome!” Kyle said with a grin, comically raising his eyebrows up and down.
”And the buckle of the safety harness?” Kay asked.
”It only made sense, right? If I had used that hold as they expected, I would have fallen. The security harness would have caught me - so it means, that must have been tampered with as well. So it was very suspicious that the volunteer just took a tad too long to fix it,” Kyle explained.
”I know that,” Kay said, ”What I meant was, why didn't you just fix it back?”
”I couldn't actually,” Kyle replied, ”The guy had snapped the lock in some way so that the buckle could not be locked in position again.”
”Still, since you already knew of the danger, why didn't you just raise it to the organisers? Just because you had everything under control?” Kay asked, pointing her finger at him.
”If I did that, then they would know I knew. Then they would wonder how I knew. Then they would start being more careful around me. Then it would be more difficult,” Kyle explained.
”So many 'then's' that you're using,” Kyle said with a laugh.
”Then? Is there a problem??” Kyle replied, pretending to be indignant, ”Anyway, this way, they would think it was pure luck - or based on my basic skills - that I escaped. I want them to keep underestimating me. Gives me an edge.”
Kay came over and snuggled up to him, ”Still, that was so dangerous. I'm glad I wasn't there to see it.”
Kyle kissed her forehead and said, ”I know my limits. So what happened to the guy that sabotaged my buckle?”
”Dead, presumably,” Kay said, as she went back to her laptop, ”From the security cameras, he met with the guy you noticed earlier. The camera doesn't show much, other than them meeting and that they left together.”
Kyle shook his head, ”Poor guy. I don't think he knew what he was getting into.”
”He had no choice,” Kay whispered sadly, ”I hacked into his emails and phone. They had his daughter. I guess she's dead as well.”
Both of them became silent then, their hearts heavy.
”This Kazuya has got to go,” Kyle muttered.
”Agreed, but it won't be easy,” Kay said, typing on her laptop, ”He is well protected. He not only fitted the best security in his house and office, but he also is surrounded by lots of bodyguards. He knows he's a moving target.”
Kay turned the laptop towards Kyle, ”But out of all his people, it's these two that you need to keep an eye out for.”
Kyle leaned over and looked at the screen. Two pictures were shown side-by-side. One appeared of Asian descendent, dressed all in black and looked about 20 years old while the other was a Westerner, in his mid-twenties and had dark hair and hazel eyes. Both had dead-looking eyes.
”Drako and Nitrocris, huh?” Kyle mumbled as he looked through their information.
”Drako is Kazuya's #1 assassin,” Kay said, ”Never failed before and you're his first. Probably hates your guts more for that. The other is Kazuya's son and right-hand man. Rumour has it that he hates his father.”
”Is that so?” Kyle said, ”Power struggle?”
”No,” Kay replied, ”That's the strange thing. Nitocris is capable and highly efficient. He's one of, if not THE, main reason why Kazuya rose up the ranks quickly in the past few years. Why he would be working and helping his father rather than usurping him doesn't make any sense. More so if the rumours are to be believed.”
”Kazuya must have a hold on him then,” Kyle said, ”Find out what it is and we may have leverage.”
”Got it,” Kay replied then leaned on Kyle's back, ”So what now?”
”We wait. Observe,” Kyle said, ”Be extra careful during the auspicious days. Kazuya won't be doing anymore 'accidents' during the competition itself as there's too much heat now. After today, security doubled.”
Kay nodded then said sweetly, hugging him from behind, ”Kyle, I'm out of apples.”
”So is this hug your payment for my hard labour?” he grinned, ruffling her hair.
”No, it's MY payment for the work you're putting me through,” Kay replied cheekily, snuggling up to him more.
”What? The hug or the apples?” Kyle asked as he picked up his knife and another apple.
”Both!” Kay giggled and watched him as he expertly skinned the apple and proceeded to cut it.
.:*・°☆...:*・.:*・°☆...:*・
Kyle was right.
There were no more incidences during the competition itself and Kyle managed to breeze through the preliminary rounds. Thankfully, all of the others passed as well so their team qualified for the team competition.
All of them were gathered around after everyone had finished their preliminary rounds.
”How many teams are competing?” Kyle asked Cole as he took a chug out of his water bottle. He had just finished his round in the lead climbing.
”Not many,” Cole replied, ”Only three. So it's already set that we're the top three - it's now just competing for the top spot.”
”Who are the other teams?” Rxel asked.
”Let's see now ...” Cole said as he flipped through some papers, ”Team 288 and 793”
”Were there really THAT many teams participating?” Rylen wondered.
”No,” Cole replied, ”The numbers do not indicate the number of people participating. Rather, it's all in code. The first number is region, the second number is the number of people in the team and the last number is random.”
”Wow, the other teams have so many members. Look. That team has 8 members and the other one has 9,” Rxel said, then looked at the other team numbers before this. Although 5 was the minimum, only their team was the one that actually had the minimum number.
”We're the only ones with 5 ... AND we qualified for the team competition. How awesome are we?!” Rylen said smugly.