The turnout at the latest Amity workshop exceeded expectations. It wasn't exactly what Hillary had hoped for, but considering they often operated at half capacity, reaching eighty-five percent attendance was a significant improvement.

As she stood before the group, Hillary could sense a mild tension lingering in the air. People still seemed to be upset with her over the letter fiasco. Raising her voice to capture everyone's attention, she addressed the crowded auditorium. "Well, well... Look at all the new faces we have here!" A few smiles broke out, easing some of the initial stiffness.

"Alright, for those of you who've been with us regularly, you know we've been working on setting up a food exhibition on the school grounds. I'm thrilled to announce that we got the green light from the principal just yesterday!" A wave of cheers rippled through the room, lifting the energy. "This is a school-wide event, so everyone is welcome to participate. But for you guys, participation is compulsory—whether it's by setting up stalls or helping us with the planning." She paused, letting that sink in. "Now, let's all get to work."

Over the next two days, the auditorium buzzed with activity after lunch. She divided everyone into groups to delegate tasks with care, but was mindful to ensure each team had at least one person she could trust to get the work done.

She kept simple tasks for the newcomers outside the auditorium, assigning them for recruiting more participants for the stalls and coming up with new ideas to draw a crowd while the rest of them did the more challenging works.

Despite her best efforts to distribute the workload, a considerable portion still landed squarely on her shoulders. She didn't really mind it, she knew they were important and had to be done as soon as possible, bit she did hate the fact that she could share this burden with no one.

It was late in the evening on Saturday when Hillary sat at her desk, surrounded by stacks of notes and schedules. She let out a weary sigh, the weight of her commitments pressing down on her. Balancing her studies, swim practices, prefect duties, Amity club responsibilities, and a looming chemistry project was proving more challenging than she had anticipated.

She needed to find a better way to manage all this, she thought. But for now, there was no time to dwell. The success of the event depended on her ability to keep everything running smoothly, and smoothly they will be.

*****
Kai knocked on the front door of Hillary's house. It was Sunday morning and Hillary had convinced him to build the chemical battery at her house. Given that he didn't want to reveal his apartment's location and they very well couldn't create a fuzz in any random cafe while they made their project, Kai had no choice but to agree.

It was Hillary's father who opened the door for him, "Hello Kai, nice to meet you. Hillary told me you would be dropping by today. Come on in." He said, raising his hand to give him a handshake.

Kai quietly shook his hand, walking in after him. He'd never met Hillary's father until then, and didn't know what to make of him. He was a tall guy, easily six feet. He was well-built and looked to be in his forties. He seemed laid back and easy going in his tussled hair, easy smiles and casual talk, but there was something Kai couldn't point his finger on that felt familiar with the guy. He wondered whether they had met before, but didn't ask.

"Hillary's room is to the right on the first floor." Hillary's father informed him before returning to the kitchen, where he was cooking something.

Kai shook his head as he walked upstairs. He was probably just sizing him, wondering if he was a good influence on his daughter or not.

Kai chuckled at the thought, Hillary mustn't have told him everything that took place in the hospital three months ago, because no father in his right mind would let him or any of the blade breakers near his daughter again after they'd risked her life so blatantly.

Hillary's door was opened wide when he got upstairs. She on a call with someone when he walked in. "Alright sir. We'll make sure of it before the exhibition starts. Thank you for your time." She said before ending the call.

"Morning Kai! " She next greeted him. Her eyes lit up when she saw that he'd brought supplies for the project as she freed up space on her study table. They got to work immediately.

Working with Hillary was a lot quieter than he'd expected it to be. They worked in sync as they assembled their project, talking only when necessary,

Ironically, it was him who broke the silence after sometime. "So...your mother, is she alright now?" He asked, not looking up as he cut the cardboard.

Hillary sounded surprised that he'd talked at all. "Yeah, she's good. Was back to work within a fortnight." She answered, smiling softly. "Hm" He replied, not knowing how to continue the conversation.

They were nearly done with the project by the time her father called her downstairs for lunch. "If you could wait for ten minutes, we could be done with this." He said, looking up. "No, it won't be. We still have to fit them all together and test it. And anyway, I don't see how this will be a problem when you're coming down with me for lunch.", she said, cutting wires. " 

"No, I'm not." "Yes, you are. I already told dad that you were staying for lunch. Think how rude it would be to come to someone's house and not eat with them." She smiled victoriously, knowing he was cornered.

Kai rolled his eyes in annoyance, but went down with her for lunch anyway.

The first thing Kai noticed about the kitchen was that the dining table was quite small, and given that their family consisted of three people, it made sense.

Hillary's father had already started serving lunch when they made it downstairs. "So, Hillary tells me you're new to school too!" He started after everyone settled down. "Yes sir." He nodded politely. "And what do you think of it?" "It's a good school sir." 

"And the students?" "They're fine too, a few a bit spoiled, but that's expected in an elite school." Kai added. "Yeah, I guess it is. Too much money seems to spoil kids faster than milk left open. Good thing Hillary has friends like you, self-made young achievers." He said, eating his food.

Kai didn't know how to answer that. Hillary must have sensed the same thing, because she started. "Dad, you do know who Kai is don't you? Hiwatari enterprises-"

"Oh, I know who Kai is dear. But you can't deny that he's made a name for himself in beyblading all by himself the last few years, isn't it Kai?"

Kai smiled politely, not knowing if the 'last few years' bit was meant to have an inner meaning or not. He could hardly take credit for his time using black dranzer, since he barely had any control on his own mind, but it was a well kept secret.

Or maybe he was just being paranoid and Hillary's father was talking about his entire time in beyblading as a whole. Eight years might be a 'few years' for someone who's lived for more than forty, right?

"And I don't think anyone who's spoiled would spend half a day cutting cardboard and joining wires." He added. "Fair." Hillary echoed before continuing.

"Do you remember that conversation we were having about high-achievers few days ago? The one where we thought there were no drawbacks of getting where a person is by his or her own capabilities? I found a drawback from it." She said, slightly bouncing in her seat.

Mr Tachinbana smiled at her excitement. "Oh, is it? Do tell you about your observation." He motioned her to continue.

"They get too high an opinion on themselves. And after sometime, it starts to show. It could manifest as arrogance or lack of discipline or stubbornness. And when there's no one near you who's at whatever level you are, no one that person could trust to keep his or her head straight." Hillary concluded.

"That's a good observation love. And not just among teens, it's true for a lot of settings. Most people forget that no matter how talented or capable they are, there's always room for improvement and learning from others." Her father acknowledged, looking thoughtful.

Kai stole a quick glance at Hillary, trying to make sure she wasn't trying to point him out in particular. She wasn't. Maybe it was just a continuation of the discussion they'd had before. Did normal families do that? Start a conversation one day and continue it another time? He wouldn't know much about it.

Kai interjected quietly, " Bit that's not always the case. According to psychology, one could either grow too lax or too rigid after achieving peak performance. It's like standing in the middle of a see-saw. That's peak performance. After that, one could either lean to the left and lose focus, discipline and all. Or one could lean to the right, become more rigid, more of a perfectionist and try to take on a lot of things and try to excel in them all together. That may not look bad from the outside, but such people tend to burn out soon." He said, trying hard to not look at Hillary.

Hillary and her father looked at him with surprise. "Are you interested in psychology, Kai?" He asked, looking curious.

Kai just shrugged. "A bit. I've read a few books here and there." "Interesting... What else do you know about such things." He asked.

"It's easier to achieve peak form than maintaining it. For example, it's easy to lose weight than keep than stay in our ideal weight range. It's easier to come first in anything once than to come first in it consistently."

Mr. Tachibana nodded thoughtfully. "That's a valid point, Kai. Sustaining success often requires a different set of skills and mindset compared to achieving it in the first place. The pressure to maintain that level can indeed be overwhelming."

Kai gave a small nod. "Exactly. It requires constant adjustments, awareness of one's limits, and the ability to adapt. It's not just about pushing harder; sometimes, it's about knowing when to step back and recalibrate."

Mr. Tachibana smiled, clearly impressed. "That's a very mature perspective. I think we often underestimate the importance of balance and adaptability in our lives."

Kai glanced at Hillary, hoping that she was listening to what he was trying to tell her indirectly. Maybe she was, because she'd grown quiet suddenly. "It's not just about being the best, but also about staying grounded and not losing sight of what really matters. It's about finding that middle ground and being okay with not always being perfect." He concluded.

There was a comfortable silence as they all reflected on the conversation. Then, Mr. Tachibana broke it with a warm smile. "You know, these kinds of discussions are what make family time so enriching. Sharing ideas, learning from each other—it's what keeps us growing."

Hillary nodded in agreement. "It's nice to have these talks."

No one pointed out that he was not family, that he actually met one of the people at that table only a few hours ago. Instead, he just agreed with a "Hmm."

The conversation lightened as they continued their meal. Kai found himself unexpectedly enjoying the warmth of the family setting, even if it was a bit unfamiliar to him.

*****

After lunch, Hillary and Kai returned to her room to finish the project, the conversation they both tried having were supposed to have indirectly on hold. By evening, their model was ready to be presented.

"Our project is nearly done. Once we complete the writing part, we can submit it." She said as they packed up. "You know... I could easily do the rest of the paperwork on my own, it's not much." Kai said, indirectly offering to do her share of the work too.

Hillary hesitated, "That's very nice of you Kai, but it's fine really. I only have a few pages left, I'll complete it by tomorrow." She assured him.

Kai brought his eyebrows together, "I wasn't just telling a theory out there, you know. You are juggling too many things at the same time. You're bound to trip sooner rather than than later." He warned.

"Thanks for the confidence." She muttered, unimpressed by his choice of words.

Kai rolled his eyes at this "Oh, come on, Hillary. You run the Amity club which is hosting a food exhibition next Saturday, manage prefect duties, ace your studies, and are currently preparing for the national diving and swimming champion which is in a month from now. You don't even share responsibilities with anyone. That sounds like a lot."

"Look who's speaking about a lot." Hillary shot out irritated.

"Oh, believe me, I known I'm talking about. I have a lot of experience doing a lot of things, and I'm warning you, this is too much." Kai ended.

Hillary just rolled her eyes, "I just know how to manage my time Kai. I can do it really, I'm fine..." And on realising he didn't gave any plans of giving up on the conversation, she changed the subject instead.

"Anything else to say?" She asked instead. "Actually, I have something to give you." Kai said, bringing out something from his pocket.

It was a bracelet, Hillary realised as Kai untangled it. The word 'Resilient' was engraved on a strip of metal. It was studded with red, orange and yellow stones, giving it the illusion of flames. "It's beautiful." She breathed out.

Kai chuckled at this, "I want you to have it." He said, walking closed to her. "What? Why?" She asked, confused.

"I found it in a fan-mail yesterday. You know how bracelets are not really my thing. But I couldn't just throw it away, it was such a pretty thing. Moreover, I couldn't think of anyone better who's personality would suit this bracelet more than you." He said, dropping the bracelet in her hand.

"I- thank you Kai, it's lovely!" She said as she walked him to the door. Kai nodded, "I just want you to remember what Resilience means. Being resilient doesn't mean that you brace the storm all the time all alone and win everytime. It's also about realising when you can't brave the storm all alone and decide to accept all the help you can get." He said, staring at her intently.

Hillary doesn't meet his eye. He steps closer and lifts her chin to his level. "Everyone needs support. You made me realise that." Hillary's eyes widened at that. She'd said it such a long time ago, just before everything happened, that she was surprised Kai remembered it. "Now it's your turn to walk your talk." He concluded, stepping out into the cool evening air.

 
*****

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A/N: Hello guys! Hope you're all doing good! Happy Sankranthi/Pongal to all thode whi are celebrating it today and tomorrow!  I informed last wek, I won't be updating until this month end, I have my exams. 

Keep voting and commenting guys! It really makes my day. What do you think of Kai gifting the samr kind of bracelet to both Cassie and Hillary? Do you think it will create problems in the future? What kind of problems? Why did he tell both of them a different origin story for the bracelet? What do you think Kai is hiding? 

So see you next week. 

Happy reading!