Once all of the matters were settled, Davis thanked Delilah and Patrick then Skype was disconnected.
"I'm so sorry that you got injured," Mary said with sadness in her eyes.
"No, no! It's not your fault," Kyle said, waving his hands in front of him, "I knew the risks and this is something I get quite often when I do my climbs. Please don't mind my Mum too much."
"It's only natural that she'd be worried and upset," Mary said as she took Dahlia.
"Erm, well, actually, it's my fault that she's over-reacting like that," Kyle said, "You see, I never told her I started rock climbing. So the whole thing was a total shock for her. She wouldn't have been so upset otherwise."
"It's not you, or the fact that I saved Dahlia," Kyle explained further, "She's upset that I've been doing this dangerous sport behind her back. She knows I didn't tell her because she would have stopped me. She'll be fine after the dust settles, so to speak."
Kyle grinned at that, for it was partly the truth and partly a lie. If Delilah ever found out about what he was truly learning from Master Shifu, she'd probably have a heart attack.
"He was the problem child, you see," Kay supplied helpfully, "Never listened to them. Always did his own things. Always made our parents tear their hair out. I was the Angel while he was the Devil. So troublesome!"
Kyle scratched his head sheepishly. It was true that he never listened to his parents when he was growing up. They were so overprotective and he knew himself best as to what he could, and could not, do. So he would always ignore their warnings and did it - then they couldn't say much because he succeeded.
The most they would do is tell him that it may have worked out fine then, but it doesn't mean it would be okay the next time. Problem was, there never was a 'not okay' next time. It got his parents really frustrated as it was as if their parenting skills were zero.
With Kay, it was different. She actually was a rather normal child. Kyle even suspected that if there wasn't Kay to balance it out, he'd probably be put into some laboratory to be studied or experimented on. Still, the way Kay said it, it made it seem like he was 'Dennis the Menace'* or something.
Kay just grinned at him.
After that, Davis offered to send them back.
"Actually, Sir, would it be possible if ... " Kyle said and told him. Davis smiled and nodded.
"Yes, it can be done," he agreed with a smile.
☆...:*・°☆...:*・°☆...:*・°☆...:*・°☆
The reporters were crowded at all the exits of the Mall. They did NOT want to miss catching the boy, Kyle, coming out. They couldn't interview him but at least, they could take pictures of him, right? And follow him to where he would go. There were already people at Sakura Academy gates but they wanted to cover all possibilities.
Just then, from Exit D, a flurry of excitement happened. Bodyguards were surrounding one woman carrying a baby and a couple of teenagers. The baby was wearing one-piece outfit with a hood that was pulled up and her face was covered on the Mother's chest.
The two teenagers were wearing caps that was pulled low over their faces. The girl's hair partially covered her features while the guy was also pulling up his denim shirt collar up and covering half of his face.
They were quickly ushered into a waiting car with dark tinted windows. As the car sped off, every reporter hurriedly texted their counterparts and gave chase.
Ten minutes later, a couple of teenagers blended in the crowd and left the Mall.
☆...:*・°☆...:*・°☆...:*・°☆...:*・°☆
Kyle and Kay exited the taxi in front of Master Shifu's house. Kyle was now wearing a baggy purple T-shirt while Kay had on a black blouse. Kay's long locks were tied in a ponytail and the both of them were wearing sunglasses. It wasn't much of a disguise and it wasn't meant to be. They only needed to make sure that they weren't wearing the same things as before and would not stand out.
Then again, with THAT face of theirs, could Kyle honestly say that they wouldn't stand out?
Which was why they didn't look up and had tried to avoid scrutinty as much as possible. They banked on the fact that everyone who was interested to look for Kyle, had already left with the decoy. It had taken a bit of time to find two people of similar build at the office, but once they had changed - the resemblance was good enough to pass.
Mary stayed in a secured residential area, so there was no worry that any of the reporters would be able to breach the security and enter. Once Mary and Dahia were dropped off at their residence, 'Kay and Kyle' would return back to work - after changing back to their normal gear in the car. It was only when the reporters followed them back to the Mall that they realised that they had been tricked.
Now, as they entered Master Shifu's house, the only thing left was to weather the storm. The Smith Storm.
They didn't have long to wait.
Within an hour, they arrived. The first thing Delilah did was to hug Kyle tightly then inspect his hands. After that, Kyle had to sit down and listen to her nag for an hour while Kay helped Master Shifu in the kitchen. Patrick simply sat at the sofa and listen to his wife berate him, get worried, scold then cry a bit, get angry again and then hugged Kyle again.
The constant circle of anger-to-crying-to-anger was quite taxing, really.
Finally, Kay came and invited them to the dining table for a late dinner. Just as Delilah was going to start again, Patrick quietly said, "Now, that's enough, my dear. I'm sure Kyle has understood the gravity of what he had done."
Delilah looked a bit unhappy about that but accepted it.
"So how long have you been doing this?" Patrick asked as they began eating.
"A couple of years now," Kyle replied slowly, "Though I only began seriously when I transferred here."
"You mean you started last year?!" Delilah almost screamed it. She couldn't imagine Kyle doing this by himself outside. What was he thinking??
"Yes, but it wasn't like what you saw today, Mum," Kyle said placatingly, "It was more of climbing trees and scaling up the walls using ropes. It was more to exercise than anything else, but I really found it fun. It was only after I found Rock5 Gym here that I started the sport seriously."
"So tell me about this Rock5 Gym," Delilah demanded.
The rest of the night was spent with Kyle giving up his made-up story about the gym and Cole, plus the competition that was going to be held at the end of the month. It took a lot of sweet talk from Kyle and puppy dog faces from Kyle before Delilah finally agreed to let him compete, after securing the promise that if they did not qualify, he would drop the sport. At least, not to do it without equipment.
Master Shifu simply smiled, nodding his head while he listened to everything. He had been shocked at first when he saw Kyle scaling the wall but he was quick to see the Rock5 Gym harness. He knew Kyle would have a back-up story, so he didn't need to ask. As for the scolding ... Delilah was doing more than enough of that.
☆...:*・° THE NEXT DAY ☆...:*・°
Everyone was ready and was heading out of Master Shifu's place at 7am. It was a 30mins drive to Mall T and everyone bundled into the car. Delilah made sure that Kyle had changed the dressing on his hands and he was okay before she finally was satisfied enough to let them go.
"Hi Mack!" Kyle greeted as he went in the front seat.
"Good morning, Master Kyle," Mack, the driver, greeted him.
Patrick and Delilah sat at the back while Kay didn't join them. After all, she had not been involved in the rescue. Kyle was glad that she wasn't going to be there - he didn't want her face to be shown to all the hungry wolves out there. Even though the newspapers already got some pictures of her, none of them had a clear shot at her face.
Right now, Kyle had been forced to wear a suit by Delilah and he kept tugging at the collar. It wasn't buttoned up all the way, but he still felt like it was choking him.
"Mum, I feel like a penguin. Is this really necessary?" Kyle asked for the umpteenth time.
"Yes, unless you don't want to continue your rock climbing," Delilah replied calmly.
Kyle sighed and leaned back on the chair.
He was wearing a dark Giorgio Armani suit and a white shirt with small thin blue pinstripes that only served to make him look more distinguished and added another layer of gorgeousness to his already outstanding features. His lean, muscular physique was moulded by the suit and further accentuated. Added to that, Delilah had styled his hair to complement his sharp features.
In short, Kyle hardly looked like a young student - but a very young businessman.
The suit was comfortable but he still didn't like wearing it. Even if it was a Giorgio Armani suit! He liked jeans and if it was up to him, he'd even go to work wearing jeans! Kyle knew what his mother was trying to do but it didn't mean that he liked being decked up like that. Even if he did look good in it.
What Delilah aimed to do was essentially, portray Kyle as the very capable heir of the Smith Industries. The rescue merely added another depth of his character; Kyle wasn't just someone good looking. He was a strong and person, someone capable of being a good leader. Patrick approved and felt that they would use this interview session to slowly introduce Kyle to the public.
Kyle sighed. Perhaps his parents' intentions were for the best. Then his lips curled upwards to a small smile as he thought of what he's going to do during the interview.
She wanted an heir to the Smith Industries, right?
Who said one couldn't have fun doing it? Right?