"Let go! Let go of me!" the girl kicked and screamed as she struggled to break free of her captors' grip, to no avail. Twisting around, she threw out a hand to the young boy who was lying on the grass, battered and bruised. "Shun Yin! Shun Yin!"
Huang Shun Yin lay on the field, in too much pain to answer. Those bastard adults…they couldn't go easy on a kid, could they? Even though he was only a seven-year-old, they sure as hell didn't hold back at all.
…all because he talked to the daughter of the Porter family.
"Shun Yin!"
He could hear Angelica Porter's voice from far away, but his body hurt too much for him to get up. He could try saying something, but one of those damned adults had socked him in the jaw so hard he found it difficult to speak.
There were still a couple of adults lingering around to kick Shun Yin when he was down.
"Don't you ever approach the young mistress again!"
"You'll pay for your arrogance and audacity!"
"You're lucky we're letting you off with just a beating! Or you'll be dead!"
"Stop it! Stop hitting him! Shun Yin! Shun Yin!"
Angelica's cries were getting further away now. Shun Yin closed his eyes and waited for them to disappear.
It was all right. Angelica had her own circumstances. He understood that they belonged to two very different backgrounds. She would forget about him eventually and resume her duties as the daughter of the Porter family while he returned to his normal life.
"Did you not hear what Angelica told you?"
Shun Yin's eyes flew wide open when he saw an eruption of crimson flames sear through his eyelids. A couple of the adults who were kicking him were blasted off their feet, their suits scorched and their sunglasses incinerated. Coughing and screaming as they rolled on the grass, attempting futilely to extinguish the flames on their immolated bodies, the adults wailed in pain.
"B…Brother!"
Shun Yin forced open his swollen eyelids when he heard Angelica's surprised outburst, and caught sight of a young man, about fifteen years old, striding forward with an extended hand. Flames continued to dance in his palm as he glared at the surrounding men in suits.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Y…Young Master!"
The remaining men in suits immediately dropped to their knees, their heads lowered. The young man, Angelica's brother, stopped right in front of them. The leader hastily formulated an explanation.
"This peasant thought he could talk to our young mistress! He dared to approach her…"
"So?" the teenager cut him off. "You beat a seven-year-old kid up because he approached and talked to Angelica? Are you listening to yourself?"
"He's just a commoner of low birth, of…"
"And who are you to make that judgement? Did you investigate his background? Did you conduct a thorough check? Or did you make that assumption because you've never seen him before and he wears normal clothing?" the guy's lip curled in disgust. "And even if he is, so what? Are commoners not allowed to talk to Angelica?"
"You and the Young Mistress are of the noble Porter lineage, Young Master. Commoners should not be allowed to…"
"Fuck you. Our Porter family is one of the ten great families of the Global Federation. It is our duty to fight for the citizens of the Federation and protect them, no matter their status. We built our power and wealth upon the backs of normal citizens. It is our responsibility…our obligation to normal civilians. We should be protecting them…and yet here you are, beating them. You dare call yourselves the subordinates of the Porter family?"
The men in suits said nothing.
"And since when do you have the authority to decide who we can or cannot talk to? Aren't you overstepping your boundaries?" the young man closed in on the leader. "Are you the master? Or is Angelica the young mistress?"
"Young Mistress is the Young Mistress, sir."
"Then why are you acting as if you're the master and making decisions on her behalf? Why are you deciding who she can and cannot befriend?"
"But, Young Master, it is our responsibility…"
"It is your responsibility to protect us, not run our lives for us. Not to decide who we can or cannot socialize with." The young man kicked the leader. Flames exploded and wreathed the shrieking man in an angry red. The other men in suits glanced at him nervously, and then returned to lowering their heads, awaiting their turn. "You bring shame to my Porter family. You think that just because you serve one of the ten great families, you can go around beating up kids? Well? Do you feel good about yourself now? Do you feel strong now that you've kicked and punched a seven-year-old?"
The leader was in no condition to answer, and none of the other men in suits dared to speak up. The young man regarded them with disdain, and then turned toward the injured Shun Yin. He then gestured for one of the men in suits.
"You over there. Rendall, was it? Go get a healer and get this kid's wounds healed."
"Yes, Young Master!"
The guy didn't dare to disobey, and he immediately retrieved his smartphone and began dialing a private number.
"Thank you, Big Brother!"
Angelica managed to break free of their grip and ran over. She bowed gratefully, her expression a little nervous and timid.
The young man sighed and shook his head. "If people find out the Porter family is going around abusing small children, our image is going to be ruined."
"Thank you." Angelica then hurried to help the battered Shun Yin up. Remembering his manners, he tried to form word with his aching jaw.
"T…thank you, s…sir."
"I'm Michael," Angelica's brother informed him. He grinned. "And no need to thank me. It's our fault that you ended up like this."
Shun Yin merely stayed silent, but he continued to study Michael, a look of admiration in his eyes. He was different from the other adults…then again, he was only a teenager…
"We'll get you patched up, so hang in there," Michael told him. Shun Yin nodded quietly and closed his eyes, allowing Angelica to help him up. The older boy watched them, an amused smile quirking his lips. "How did you end up befriending him, Angelica?"
Angelica brightened up. "He's a hero like you, Big Brother!"
"I'm no hero…" Shun Yin began, but Angelica cut him off, too excited to pay any attention to him.
"I was playing on the field here when I got attacked by a dog. Shun Yin showed up and drove it off!"
"That's an exaggeration," Shun Yin muttered, feeing embarrassed.
A few minutes earlier, he was strolling across the field when he saw a young girl with her back pressed against a tree, cornered by a stray dog that was barking incessantly at her. She was so terrified that she was about to cry and Shun Yin felt sorry for her. Not to mention, he was getting annoyed by the racket that the barking dog was making.
So he picked up a few stones at threw them at the dog. The dog yipped and howled before turning tail and fleeing when it caught sight of Shun Yin picking up more rocks to throw at it. Making a complete 180, it fled the field.
Shun Yin then proceeded to check and Angelica. Apparently, she had run away from her guards because they were getting too oppressive and annoying. She wanted to have fun, but they were overly restrictive on what she could or could not do. Unable to endure their endless instructions, she had snuck out when they made a pit stop nearby for gas, and quickly ran off to this area. Her family's servants were out looking for her, but they didn't expect her to run right into such a muddy field. That was when Angelica ran into the dog, and was chased by it all the way to the tree.
After that, they had a long talk. Angelica turned out to be quite the sheltered girl from one of the ten great families, so she wasn't very familiar with how the outside world worked, or how normal people lived their lives outside the great walls of her family's manor. The outside world was a great revelation to her, and she was curious to know more. Furthermore, she rarely had the opportunity to speak to other kids her age, and was happy to interact with Shun Yin.
Unfortunately, before long Angelica's guards showed up, took her away and beat up Shun Yin for being audacious enough to approach and talk to the young mistress of the ten great families.
"I'm so very sorry." Michael shook his head before glancing at the guards in disdain. "I can't believe the family's servants are even more arrogant and high-handed than the Porter family ourselves. I'll be reporting this to Father, make no mistake. Beating up a young kid for nothing more than speaking to my sister…have they lost their minds?"
The men in suits shrank back timidly.
"But what are you doing here, Big Brother?" Angelica looked puzzled. "You weren't supposed to be following us…"
"Oh, well…" Michael looked a little sheepish. "When you went missing, everyone went into a panic. I heard the servants making a big fuss over the family's communications network, and I rushed over as quickly as I could. I got worried…if anything happened to you…"
"What could happen?" Angelica asked innocently. Michael sighed and bent to ruffle her long, crimson hair.
"There are many bad people in the outside world. A lot of them hold grudges against our Porter family. You don't want to be kidnapped by any bad men and brought to somewhere scary, do you? Remember what Dad said? Naughty children will get taken away by bad men and they will never be seen again."
Shun Yin raised an eyebrow, the effort earning him a grimace from the pain. He had heard a similar thing, but he didn't think Angelica was being naughty. Hence she didn't have anything to worry about, or so he thought.
"No." Angelica shook her head frantically, her emerald eyes wide. "I don't want to be taken away by bad men."
"Then listen to Uncle Sam and stay with the adults when you're outside. Don't run off on your own."
"…yes…" Angelica's shoulders drooped a little. "But I want to make friends."
"Ah, yeah…I know how you feel." Michael gazed at her sympathetically, a twinge of sadness in his eyes. He had probably been brought up in a similar fashion. "You will make friends eventually. You'll be going to elementary school this year, right? You'll make plenty of friends there."
"What about Shun Yin?"
"I'm sure he'll be happy to stay as friends with you." Michael gave him an apologetic glance, but Shun Yin merely nodded.
"That's right."
"See?" Michael looked grateful and relieved. He nodded his thanks to Shun Yin, and then straightened up. "For now, let's go home. Dad and Mom are worried."
"…yes…"
They were about to leave when there was a huge explosion a few yards away. Cursing, Michael beckoned for one of the men in suits to come over.
"Take care of the kids. Not just Angelica, but the boy as well. If either of them gets injured, I'll make sure your head rolls off your shoulders. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir." The newly appointed leader looked nervous. "What do you intend to do?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Michael cracked his knuckles before jogging toward the direction of the explosion. "I'm going to check that out."