Sayuri climbed the tree and hid amongst the foliage. This gave her a better view and she felt safer there. Getting into a comfortable position, she continued to watch silently.

"Come on, Xing Han," Kyle said, taking his arm and trying to pull him up.

Not successful.

Xing Han used his entire weight to just lie there, which only caused Kyle to drag Xing Han around rather than get him up.

"You have to cool down after exercising," Kyle reminded him.

"Too ... tired ... dead ..." Xing Han panted, breathing heavily.

Kyle rolled his eyes and proceeded to help Xing Han with some basic stretching exercises. He lifted both legs up and held them up, timing it.

"You're the one that wanted to get fit, remember," Kyle said as he looked down at the heaving BFF.

"It's only the first day!!" he wailed in response, stretching his arms open wide beside him.

"I just had you run one lap," Kyle pointed out, changing positions.

"One? Really? It wasn't a hundred?? Felt like a hundred," Xing Han complained.

Kyle just laughed and continued the low stretches.

"Done," Kyle said, offering his hand, "Come on. A slow walk back to the dorm, okay? Can you handle that?"

Xing Han took Kyle's hand and sat up.

"I can handle that, I think ..." Xing Han answered, "I want pork chops."

"Not for breakfast. Take oats," Kyle replied, pulling Xing Han up completely.

"I'm not a goat!"

Kyle laughed, "You have a lot of common with a wild goat since they'd eat almost anything. And combination of oats and alfalfa is a very balanced diet for a goat. "

"Meat. I need meat!!" Xing Han wailed, flailing his arms in the air and then glomped on Kyle, hanging on his shoulders, "Meeeeaaaattttt!!"

Kyle staggered a bit under the sudden weight but he adjusted easily. Half carrying, half dragging Xing Han, he endured the sweaty, wailing baby demanding meat all the way back to the dorm.

Sayuri's mouth twitched at the scene, but at the same time, there was envy.

She had read the reports about how close the Elite Five were but was nothing compared to actually seeing it. It was real. It didn't appear anything fleeting, especially if you looked at how Kyle treated Xing Han and vice versa.

That genuine smile on his face while he cared for his best friend while exercising, the way Xing Han would stand up for Kyle unhesitatingly with righteous anger ... that was a real bond.

Sayuri sighed and jumped down from the tree, pulling up her hood. She did some slight stretching before running off at full speed. She felt agitated in her heart, thinking of her own lonely existence.

She had shut herself out from everyone and everything, save her Grandfather and Uncle, just so that she could focus on improving herself. She had put her all into that, and that had most likely warped her personality as the only time she met with people, were those that constantly put her down.

She needed to be able to stand up against them and she would shoot them down with her words and her skills.

Unfortunately, she had been too blind to see others who didn't deserve such treatment from her.

Just thinking about Kyle and the Elite Five made her re-evaluate her life as well.

Kyle could reach such a high position yet still have close friends. People he could trust. What had she been doing?

She ran faster to get rid of this frustration in her heart. The wind in her face felt good.

✿ Kyle's Dorm ✿

Kyle sat at his desk while Xing Han showered. Sounds of him belting out 'It's my Life' by Bon Jovi could be heard through the closed door. Xing Han has a very good voice though he only sang in the shower, so only Kyle was privy to it (and those close to his dorm). The choice of songs would be what he was feeling that morning.

Obviously, the morning run triggered this intense feeling of frustration as even the sounds of water splashing about could be heard.

Someone would need to clean up that mess later, and it certainly wasn't going to be him!

[So what's the status with Sayuri?] asked Kay Kyle was busy thinking and tapping the pen on the table.

[Same-o, same-o] Kyle replied [She's just observing silently]

[What do you think her mission is?]

[Don't know, don't care] Kyle replied lazily.

[You're so bad]

[So long as it doesn't interfere with what I'm doing, it doesn't really matter to me. Father said to give her some slack, so I am.]

Kay sighed. Kyle could so easily call Master Shifu 'Father', but hardly called Patrick, 'Dad'. Would that be a problem in the future, she wondered.

She hoped not.