It was finally the Day of the Competition.
Since Kyle had been admitted to hospital, Kyle could only join them for training a couple of days before the competition itself. However, just those two days was enough to satisfy Cole and the team that Kyle's skills were still sharp and he wasn't behind.
Cole found it amazing that despite being in bed for nearly two weeks, Kyle was still agile and quick. His ankle did not pose any problems either for Kyle to execute complicated moves. The nervousness that Cole didn't realise he had dissipated when he saw Kyle practicing.
During those two days of practice, however, Kyle spent most of it chasing the twins.
.:*・°☆...:*・ TWO DAYS PRIOR .:*・°☆...:*
Kay was standing at the Wall, looking up and then at Kyle. He was busy strapping the gear on, and adjusting the chalk belt. Kay came over and helped buckle him up.
Seeing him chalk his hands, she asked, "What does that feel like?"
"Try it and see," Kyle said twisting around so she could put her dainty hands into the chalk bag.
"It feels like coarse powder," Kay said with a smile, her eyes twinkling at him.
Kyle had a premonition but was a tad bit too late. Actually, whenever it came to Kay, he was always 'late' in his reactions.
Kay pinched his cheeks, effectively chalking his face and he quickly grabbed her by the waist, tickling her. She screamed in laughter, trying to break free but was unsuccessful. When he finally let her go, her face was full of chalk as well.
"KYLE!" Kay shouted at him, as he practically jumped up onto the wall and quickly scaled up.
Just then, she felt a tap on her shoulder and saw the two twins grinning at her. Both of them had a handkerchief held out to her and she smiled, taking it.
"No, no," Rylen said.
"You missed a few spots," Rxel commented.
Before Kay could ask where, the twins took another pair of handkerchief and started wiping her face gently.
"Hey, Kay," Rxel began.
"Yes?" Kay replied, standing still and letting them wipe her face.
"How do you feel about dating twins?" Rylen asked.
"Er, nothing, why?" Kay asked back in puzzlement, "I'm a twin myself, so why should I feel anything different about dating a twin?"
"No, not a twin," Rylen said.
"Twins," Rxel clarified.
Kay's eyes widened at the implication of what they were asking. "You mean ..."
Rxel and Rylen grinned, put their hands on each other's shoulders and nodded, "Yes. Us. We can assure you," Rxel said.
"Being pampered by two guys at the same time is truly special," Rylen continued.
"You get two for the price of one!" Rxel finished with a flourish.
Kay found the whole thing funny and the twins rather cute. However, before she could answer, the twins suddenly dashed off. A blast of wind passed her and she saw Kyle chasing after them. Kay started laughing as she saw how the two boys ran like Mister Bean, with exaggerated hand and leg movements while Kyle was quickly catching up.
They split up, forcing Kyle to choose to chase one - and he chose Rxel.
Rxel ran off towards the exit, with Kyle close behind. At that moment, Rylen came up to Kay again, out of breath as he asked, "So? Two guys pampering you - whadda ya say?"
"RYLEN!!" roared Kyle as he turned to head back, instinctively knowing that Rylen was there.
"Think about it!!" Rylen shouted as he ran off for safety.
Kyle reached Kay in a huff, while Kay was busy laughing.
"They're cute," Kay commented with a smile.
Kyle snorted.
So it began.
Each time Kyle started his climb, those two would start crowding around Kay. Flirting, flattering and overall being charming. Kay never took them seriously, always refusing them but they never gave up. They would time it accurately, too, for the moment Kyle finished his climb, they'd run away like crazy.
It was all in good fun, of course. Kyle wasn't really upset or angry at them but he DID feel he had to make a point each time. So it became a normal routine that everyone in the Gym would see. Kay laughing, Rxel and Rylen running away with a grin and Kyle chasing after them for a few minutes before he returned back to Kay.
He didn't chase them for long since they'd just split up and whoever it was that Kyle was not chasing, would run back to Kay.
Well, at least it was a workout.
.:*・°☆...:*・.:*・°☆...:*・
The first day of the competition was the qualifying rounds.
There were two categories to the competition: individual and team.* The unique thing about this competition was that every single member for the team competition category must have passed the individual rounds.
Thus, the first level of competition was the qualifying rounds which would reduce the number of participants to 80. After that, there were the tougher qualifying rounds which would further reduce the number of participants to 50.
This is where it gets interesting for team competitions. It was a rule that ALL of its team members would have to pass the preliminary rounds. The team without enough members would automatically be disqualified. That's why most teams would have a lot of members in order to reduce the risk of not qualifying.
This was why the competition was so highly regarded.
The individual category recognised individual talents. So even if their group was weak, their individual strength and skills were still acknowledged. The team competition category was of another level. Every single member was strong, and this sort of set-up was very difficult to get. The God Level - which no one has ever achieved yet - was to have the same team top both categories.
Just imagine.
The team competition category had two sub-divisions: junior and senior. What are the odds that someone who was the best individually, was also in a group that could dominate all paths? Thus, it was often referred to as the 'God Level' : it was unattainable. That didn't mean people didn't want or hope for it!
Cole went to register their team at the desk, and Ken followed him.
At the registration desk, there was a bit of a commotion when Cole went to hand in the completed form, the official frowned a bit.
"Is there something wrong?" Cole asked politely, noticing the frown and hesitation.
The official pointed at a name, "Are you sure about this?"
It was Kyle's name, and it was listed for two events: bouldering and lead climbing.
"Yes, of course. It isn't against the rules, right? And he meets the minimum age requirement," Cole stated confidently.
"Yes, but just barely," argued the official.
"Your point?" Cole asked directly, "Barely or not, he's not barred from entering the competition."
"Yes, but he's also registered for the senior category for bouldering? Is that right? Not the junior category?" the official asked, his face all scrunched up.
"Yes, that is correct," Cole confirmed, "The rules do not stipulate any minimum age for the senior category."
The official just stared at him, shocked.
"Suit yourself," grumbled the official. He was just trying to be helpful and since the ungrateful person in front of him refused to acknowledge what a mistake it was to sign up a complete rookie to this competition, so be it. It wasn't his team that would be embarrassed.
The official then pondered that perhaps that was the point? Maybe the kid kept pestering him to let him join so this was the only way to get the kid to realise how high the mountain was? The official shrugged to himself. Whatever. Not his business anyway.
The official then said, "Your team number is 652. Make sure each member wear their corresponding tags."
There were 5 tags, which had the numbers 652A - 652E. The official wrote down a name on each tag and recorded those names and their numbers on the registration form. Once everything was complete, he placed that paper onto a tray behind him.
As he turned back to face Cole, no one noticed someone picking it up the paper he just put there. The person looked at the registration form, taking note of the Team number, one name and his tag number. He then quickly returned the paper back to the pile, walked away and made a phone call.
Cole went back to the team and distributed the tags. Kyle looked at the tag that Cole gave and saw that his number was 652C. Kay helped him put it on both of his sleeves.
"As there is a huge number of participants, the qualifying rounds will take a few days," Cole announced, "Make sure you jot down when your turn is. Especially you, Kyle, since you have to attend two of these qualifying rounds."
Kyle nodded and made an 'OK' sign with his fingers.
The qualifying rounds went by without a hitch. As expected, all of them got through.
Ken was commenting, "Don't get too complacent, Kyle. This was only the qualifying rounds yet your timing was not good. You were at the bottom tier of the listing."
Rxel and Rylen looked at Ken like his head was not screwed on straight.
"What?" Ken said to them, noticing their glare.
"Are you really that dense for not noticing?" Rxel asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"Have you not been watching Kyle's practice the last two days?" Rylen asked instead.
"As if you had," Ken retorted back, not wanting to admit to anything, "You were always using that time to hit on Kay."
"That didn't mean we weren't observing Kyle," Rylen and Rxel said.
"How else do you think we knew when to run just as he finished?" Rylen pointed out.
"We even know how long he takes to scale up the wall," Rxel nodded. After all, if they didn't, they wouldn't have survived.
"And the time he took during practice is way faster than what he did here," Rylen said.
Cole nodded in agreement. As the Leader, naturally he would have observed the training in great detail. He looked at Ken in disappointment.
"Don't let your jealousy of Kyle's awesomeness cloud your judgment," Rxel said with a smug look.
"Yeah, my brother is just TOO awesome!" Kay retorted, clinging on Kyle's arm.
Kyle rolled his eyes and glared at the twins who simply looked at him with stars in their eyes.
"Don't think your honeyed words would soften me up to allow you to hit on my sister!" Kyle said sternly.
The twins shook their heads.
"Of course it's not just to hit on your sister!" they chorused together, "We're hitting on you, too!"
Kyle rolled his eyes at that bold statement, not taking them seriously. Kay just giggled.