"It was nothing," Kai said quickly to brush off any more speculation. "I just got really busy, and my parents wanted me to stay home a lot anyway with the craziness at school." The savory smell of pork slices assaulted his nose, and his stomach did a flip. "...And I got a little sick, too." Rambling was usually a comfort for him, but every word that fell off of his tongue was rushed and heavy, like he was using them to build a wall between them both.
Kai-sama's a good guy. He wanted to be touched at Kouki's belief in him, but it only made him feel lower. Kouki had no idea what Kai had just come from, what he'd let survival instinct turn him into. He wouldn't say the same thing if he'd been there.
Kai placed his elbow on the counter and leaned on it, looking in Kouki's general direction but not at him. "I heard about the idol contest. Is Mara-chan too bummed out that she didn't win? I don't get it, she was better-dressed than Goto-kun, and did more for the school, too." Frankly, Kai had put much more effort into one outfit than the other, for obvious (even if he didn't realize them at the time) reasons. Beneath the gloom of his current situation, he could always find room to be annoyed that his best work didn't receive proper recognition.