Chapter 20 *Flashback* (1/2)

Kyle can never forget the day. The day that changed their lives forever, and created a bond that could never be broken. It happened in their Third Year of School. It was the School Festival, and everyone was busy with the activities and setting up the classrooms.

Each class was re-arranged and set up to showcase their work. Their tables and desks were taken out to create space, leaving only a few chairs lined up against the wall. The left of the wall contained a small bio-data of the students in the class, which comprised of their names and list of achievements. It ranged from their academic achievements, to their extra curricular activities.

Yes, it was that competitive even at such a young age. Every student in the school were not the average person, and such competitiveness was expected and honed from young. Otherwise, how would they survive once they were 'let loose to the world'?

Several tables were set up in the middle of the classrooms as well, showcasing their various school projects. One contained a 3D structure of the school, one had posters detailing research conducted (in Kyle's case, it was on Shakespeare) and so forth. Parents were going around ooo-hing and aaahiing over everything, though there were a few that frowned - obviously displeased at their own child's achievements. Rather, lack of it.

Kyle's bio was normally the one that they would be compared with, and Kyle tsked at that. Each child is different. It's fine if you use it as motivation, but not as a means to degrade another and scold them for failing to meet expectations.

It was during this hectic moment, when the school was full of people, that a group of people managed to enter without notice. Actually, one couldn't really blame the security of the school as the said people were well dressed and blended in quite well. They mingled with the crowd, hardly being noticed as being out of place as they split up and was often seen talking to a child or two.

Kyle was the Class Monitor, and was responsible to oversee everything. The class teacher was there, of course, but essentially Kyle was to help explain the projects and showcased items to the parents who came. If they were parents of his classmates, he wouldn't bother, but there were parents of students from other classes as well.

It was during one explanation that Kyle's face suddenly went white. The parent noticed, and before he could ask, Kyle dashed out of the classroom. Xing Han saw this and quickly ran after Kyle as well.

Xing Han found that he couldn't keep up with Kyle and was in disbelief. Although he had ran out when Kyle did, he couldn't see Kyle anywhere. He ran around the corridors frantically, looking for Kyle in each class. In his desperate search, he came across Sam and Ali, who then joined him in the search.

It took them some time to finally find him, and when they did, they were shocked. In one of the quieter areas of the school as it wasn't part of the School Festival, Kyle was fighting some adults around a dark tinted car. He was obviously wounded, but did not stop as he deftly threw some quick punches and skilled kicks towards the three people that surrounded him.

There were already three adults on the floor, unconscious. They could also see the back door of the car was slightly ajar, and they could just see a fair leg wearing their school's shoes, not moving on the back seat.

It took them half a minute to figure out what was going on. The one in the car must be Kay, and Kyle was trying to stop them. Although he managed to subdue three villains, it could be seen that Kyle was having trouble with the final three. In the end, no matter how skillful Kyle was, he was still only 9 years old. The adults were bigger and could hit harder. It was perhaps a matter of time before Kyle would be overcome.

Without hesitation, all three started shouting and running at full speed towards them. The sound shocked the people in front, distracting them, and in that moment, it allowed Kyle to kick one guy's knee caps, smash the head and stomp on his back before leaping back. He wasn't fast enough, as he felt his head being hit hard.

His vision blurred, but he gritted his teeth and ignored the pain. He was about to give a side kick when suddenly the target moved unexpectedly. Kyle managed to make out Xing Han's round figure latched onto the guy's legs. This caused the person to lose his balance a bit. The guy smashed his fist down at the side of Xing Han's head, but other than a grunt, Xing Han didn't let go. In fact, he opened his mouth wide and took a big bite of the guy's leg.

The guy roared in pain, and grabbed onto Xing Han's hair, pulling it up. Xing Han couldn't hold on and let go due to the pain. The guy then threw Xing Han hard onto the ground. Just as he was about to kick him, he felt his stomach being hit, then as he doubled over in instinctive pain, his neck was kicked. He fell back, clutching his throat before his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

Although worried about Xing Han, Kyle still had to deal with the last man standing that were being attacked by Sam and Ali. Kyle felt a lump at the back of his throat when he saw the guy taking out a knife to slash at his friends. Kyle ran as best as he could, despite the sharp pain that accompanied each breath that he took.

As Sam and Ali were in the way, Kyle couldn't get a good enough position to be able to help quickly. He watched helplessly as his friends were slashed. By the time he managed to grab the wrist that held the knife, Ali had been stabbed once in the thigh, and he was writhing on the floor, clutching his bloodied thigh in pain.