AFTER KAIRO, the other four trainees were put into the simulation machine to test their current capability in racing. The results were flashed on the screen after.
"Most of you are performing well," their coach commented, "but I know there's more to your current condition. For the next few days, I am going to train you until you're ready to race on a real track."
Kairo glanced at his track. He managed to have a speed of 190 km/hr. The STRYKER GT could blaze with 300 km/hr. He must get faster than that number.
Still, impressive. A faint smile formed on his lips. It was a pretty good record for a beginner like him. Street racing must give him training and experience.
Coach Winston clapped his hand. "Alright, racers. That's it for today! Have your well-deserving rest!" He said, dismissing today's training.
Olivia rolled her eyes. "I hate it when he says that. He knows we need to deal with our academic subjects after this, right?" She complained. It had been their routine here in the academy— they must find their way to juggle and balance their academic performance and training performance.
After all, Raceworth Academy was both an academic institution and a training facility for racers.
Samantha groaned at her realization. "God! We need to finish our essay in literature! Damn, I haven't finished reading the text!" She almost forgot it was due tomorrow. "I'm doomed!"
Her gaze slipped through Kairo, who was being pestered by Cooper and Paul. When their eyes locked for a moment, her blood instantly boiled. She wasn't over about how Kairo ruined her jogging.
That new guy must be boasting his impressive record, she thought.
Kairo slowly made his lip into a lop-sided grin when he saw Samantha staring at him. He wouldn't mind doing this such a thing to annoy the woman. He didn't even understand Sam's absurd irritation at him, but it was entertaining him. Kairo knew he succeeded when Sam grabbed Olivia and grabbed her outside the room.
"Come on, 'Liv," she said. "Before I claw out someone's eyes."
Kairo chuckled. She was unknowingly entertaining him.
THE COLD drops of water touched Kairo's naked body as soon as he opened the faucet of the shower inside his cubicle.
"You're unbelievable, Kairo! You're only here in the academy for days, and you're already impressive!" Cooper said from the other cubicle while scrubbing his arms with soap.
"Yeah!" Paul cheered from the other cubicle. "Tell us, how'd you do that?"
Kairo's forehead creased in annoyance. These two wouldn't leave him even when he was taking a bath. He didn't respond, he just made his body be soaked in water.
"Come on, share your secret!"
Damn, he cursed in his head. Why can't they just leave me in peace?
"Well, what should we expect? He's the son of the Legendary racer Kiro Rosales," Paul mentioned, it made Kairo still for a moment. The bathroom area became silent, only the noise of the falling drops of water.
"He was the racer of his time! No one can top his skills..." As the bubble trailed off his skin, a smile crept out of Kairo's lips while they spoke the greatness of his late father.
His legacy remained over the years.
"Yeah! Kiro Rosales," it was Cooper. "He's my idol! I still have his video racing on my laptop. He's my favorite racer in his team!"
Kairo turned off his faucet. He grabbed his towel to dry his body. Cooper and Paul kept on talking about Kiro Rosales— he and his team's story toward the championship years ago. How they wiped out different seasons with their powers.
"Though, I think Coach Winston is great too, as well as the other drivers, but really, Kiro just stood out!"
"I agree. Right, Kairo?" Paul asked. He waited for a moment, but he received no response. "Kairo?" He couldn't hear the shower from Kairo's cubicle. He went out of his cubicle to check Kairo— his cubicle was already empty.
Where did he go?
"Did he leave already?" Cooper asked, he just finished his bath with a towel hung on his shoulder. Paul could only shrug off his shoulder.
Cooper went to the sink to brush off his teeth. "Bro, do you think we're succeeding with our mission?"
"What do you mean?" Paul asked.
"Duh!" the former jeered. He pulled out his toothbrush, "Don't you remember what Coach Winston told us before Kairo entered the academy?" He did a quote unquote gesture, "Become his friends?"
"Oh!" Paul finally remembered. "That one!" He smacked his lips. "I think we are doing good. He's probably just an introvert or something."
But I admit, we can't get a grasp of his attitude. "What do you think of him?"
Cooper spat out the bubble foam in his mouth and washed his toothbrush. "Sam's probably right," he said. "He's sometimes arrogant, ill-tempered, too!"
Paul chuckled, "Sam just found someone with the same impudence as hers."
KAIRO bit his lower lip to suppress his smile while walking in the hallway. Water drips from his wet hair. My father's story hasn't faded, it remains in everyone's heart. Like a permanent tire mark on an asphalt road— Kiro Rosales and his team's legacy became a long-lived story.
He took pride in what his father had done before he left the world. He would bring this in his chest as he blazed on his own race sooner.
Kairo closed his fist. Soon.
He stopped in front of his room. He was about to swipe his card to unlock the door when he heard a noise coming inside the room. His eyebrows creased. Someone's inside my room. He immediately twisted the knob and swung the door open.
"What the—" he paused, jaw slightly dropped. In front of him was a seemingly homeless man dancing to loud music.
"Nova! Can't stop hyperstellar~!" The boy sang heartily, moving his limbs as if he was having the performance of his life. A robotic dog swirled around him, too.
This is madness...
Kairo looked for the source of the noise. There he found a small bluetooth speaker on his bed. He grabbed the door and turned it off.
"Huh!" The boy stopped dancing. "What happened? Is the speaker low batt? I just charged—" When he turned his back, he saw the annoyed look of Kairo Rosales— arms crossed, feet tapping.
"Done?" Kairo asked.
The boy awkwardly smiled. "Uh... hi! Hehe!"
"Who the hell are you?"
The robot dog barked at him. "Arf! Arf!"
"Byte, stop!" The boy was about to grab the robotic dog, but it flew to his shoulder. "Be a good girl!"
"Arf!"
Kairo was only looking at them. His glance never left the boy's annoying face as he scratched the dog's head.
He probably entered the wrong room, he thought. It happens. He could only blow a sigh. He had enough of this nuisance.
"Leave the room now," he said.
The boy laughed at what he had said. "Did I say something funny?" He asked, trying to contain his growing irritation.
The boy laughed so hard that he was holding his stomach. "Oh, no!" He wiped the tears on his eyelid. "You're so funny! You must be Kairo!" He was almost choking at his own laughter. "Byte, I didn't know my dormmate's a comedian!"
Dormmate? Is he...?
Finally, the boy composed himself. He stood properly with the dog still on his shoulder.
"Before I forget— oh no, I'm still laughing—" he cleared his throat and extended his hand.
"I'm Theodore Madrigal! Nice meeting you, roomie!"
Kairo didn't respond. He only glared at his roommate, Theodore. He almost thought that Theodore was only a myth, or Coach Winston and his crew members were only joking with him about his roommate. But it was true, he was here in front of him.
"Uh... my hand's getting numb now," Theodore whispered, pertaining to his hands. When he realized what Kairo meant he slowly pulled back his hand. "So..." he awkwardly said, "how's your stay in our dorm?"
God, I'm so done, he groaned. He threw his body into his bed. I'm surrounded by these obnoxious beings.
"Are you going to sleep? It's too early! Right, Byte?"
The robotic dog barked.
He forced eyes shut to make himself asleep— to forget the existence of his newly met roommate. He wished Theodore wasn't true.