On the day Visuveus Vincent found employment, elsewhere in Might City, Evan Christopher, known to the majority of the populace as SkyyStar, was busy putting out fires in Star Academy – the school named after him. As the Superhero who defeated the Soul Reaper in an amazing battle that lasted three days and three nights, he was hailed as the Saviour and the second coming of Mighty Man. Little did everybody know that not only was the fight staged, but that he was not best friends with the Soul Reaper, also known as Visuveus Vincent, but he was also currently the legal guardian to Visuveus' only child, a ten-year-old girl named Kukhanya 'KK' Vincent.
He had a rather volatile situation on his hands on his hands, because he was dealing with a situation that was all too familiar, and that he had dealt with on numerous occasions. He was currently in the principal's office, along with defiant and dismissive looking KK, another young girl with a puffy and swollen face, and a very angry looking woman. The woman was going off, delivering an incredibly long and vitriolic rant and nobody was spared the venom – not the principal, KK or SkyyStar.
"…this keeps happening because you are too lenient on your niece!" She said as she looked at Evan, who was dressed in normal clothes, save for an eye mask.
His eyes glowed with a bright, pulsing blue light and he just looked at her sheepishly as she ranted. Every now and then, he would move his head ever so slightly to the side to avoid the occasional bit of spittle that would shoot out of the angry mouth. His eyes would glance over towards the principal every now and then, and could tell that she was struggling hard to maintain her composure.
"Excuse me, Ma'am." SkyyStar said after finally reaching his breaking point. "I have a question, if you don't mind."
"Not at all." The lady snorted as she crossed her arms.
"This is a place in which the Heroes and Superheroes of tomorrow are groomed and nurtured. Fighting as something that we Heroes are expected to do, especially when civilian lives – such as yours – are at stake. As much as it wasn't a sanctioned bout or a sparring match, two young Heroes in Training were involved in a scuffle. It happens. Do you take exception with the fact that they fought, or that they fought but your daughter was outmatched?"
"How dare you?!" The mother practically spat out. "My child was assaulted and beaten to this point because you all give that child preferential treatment, just because you're her adopted father!"
Before SkyyStar could say anything, the principal slammed both hands on her desk and stood up slowly. She was a tall woman, wearing a pantsuit that did little to hide just how muscular she was. Her hands had being slammed down onto the table so hard, that it caused the ground to shake, and Evan sighed a little, before closing his eyes.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, if you would be so kind as to look at this screen, I would like to show you something." The principal said with barely maintained smile and twitching eyebrow.
She then swiveled her desktop monitor around so that everybody on the opposite side could see what was playing. It was actually a surprisingly clear video showing KK being accosted by the girl in the office as well as two other girls her age. The group was clearly a few years older than KK, with the puffy faced girl behaving as though she was the ring leader. There was a lot of aggression not only in her body language, but also in her body language.
"Aren't you three embarrassed?" Kukhanya asked with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Three preteens picking on a ten year old?"
"We're not picking on you." The main girl said with some snark in her voice. "We're just trying to give you some advice – as your seniors."
"Look." KK said with a rather pronounced sigh. "That boy named after my Uncle isn't going to suddenly like you, just because you beat me or something. I don't even—"
"Shut your mouth!" The girl screeched, no longer willing to maintain the façade.
"I really don't want to fight you, because it'll mean my Uncle will have to come down to the school for no reason – AGAIN – and that'll give criminals time to break the law – AGAIN – and then somehow, this will all be my fault – AGAIN. So let's just say you beat me up and I learned my lesson. Lunch time is almost over, and I'm really hungry."
KK hadn't even finished speaking when the three girls leapt at her. What followed was a rather embarrassing sight for the lady and daughter, as Kukhanya systematically beat the three girls down like it was nothing, looking disinterested as she did. The beating was mild at best until the bell rang signaling the end of lunch, which sent KK off the rails and turned the light beating into an ass whooping.
"STOP THE VIDEO!" The woman screamed as reached for the screen, trying to swivel it back around.
"So, are we done here?" Kukhanya asked, finally speaking for the first time since the meeting started.
"You hush!" Evan said as he glared at her, before looking at the principal. "Principal?"
Hero SkyyStar, could you please take Miss Vincent outside while I have a word with Mrs. Lee and her daughter?"
Evan stood up and nodded, before looking at KK and gesturing for her to follow him out, which she did. They exited and saw the other two girls and their parents sitting in the lobby, and walked down the hall in silence. When they were far away enough from any ears that could listen in, Evan sighed deeply and looked at his niece. Her facial expression was an amusing mixture of disregarding and apologetic, prompting SkyyStarr to place his hand atop the mop of frilly brown curls that was her hair and smile.
"Thank you for trying to hold back for my sake. I know it's not easy being a target just because of me, and I'm sorry that this is your daily school life."
"It's okay." KK said bullishly while trying to maintain her composure.
"Good call on the video by the way – very smart."
The girl just smiled and giggled a little bit, prompting the Hero to smile back. They were interrupted by his phone going off, and after answering, he nodded along a few times before his eyes grew wide and a massive smile appeared on his face. Once the call ended, Evan fist pumped the air repeatedly with such gusto that it created wind torrents that blew KK's hair about.
"What happened?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I just got some fantastic news! I need to go!"
With a sudden flash of light, SkyyStar disappeared, causing KK to shrug her shoulders and walk off. She made her way back to class, where everybody was seemingly waiting for her to come back to see what kind of punishment, she received this time. When they saw that Kukhanya wasn't angry like she usually was after visits to the Principal's office, they knew it wasn't that severe. A lot of her classmates voiced their greetings and joy at her return. And KK just gave cursory nods and the like before going to the back of the class to where two other girls were seated.
"So, you made it out alive." One of them said.
"And it doesn't look like she had to fight a parent this time." The other said.
"Shut it." KK said as she beamed at the two girls. "Thanks guys. Also, it was a really good idea to record it, Shannon."
"I keep telling you two that I'm a genius!" Shannon boasted proudly.
"And your grades keep telling us that you aren't." The other girl retorted.
"Priya!" Shannon boomed.
Kukhanya just laughed, before sitting down and attending the final few classes as per normal. Once class was done, the trio of friends quickly left so as not to provoke any other groups of insecure fledgling Heroes into starting something – much to the disappointment of the boy named Evan, who tried to get the attention of KK, but was ignored. Once the girls were far enough from Evan, Kukhanya breathed a sigh of relief and even started walking slower.
"Do you hate him?" Priya asked.
"Who?" KK replied, playing dumb.
"Oh come on, Evan."
"I don't hate him. I just… don't want to talk to him."
"It's cuz he was named after your Uncle, huh?" Shannon asked, at which point KK rolled her eyes.
"I don't care about any of that, but he thinks that means we have to friends."
"He doesn't want to be friends. He wants to be—"
Priya could finish what she was saying because KK covered her mouth with her palm.
"Don't say it!" The flustered girl said as she tried not to look embarrassed. "He's so weird! He keeps calling him my Dad, and he's not! It's so irritating!"
The girls suddenly noticed somebody a little further down the way, leaning against a light pole. He was wrapped in a massive trench coat, and was wearing a hat with a fake moustache, nose and glasses. As the trio of girls walked past him, he stiffly raised an open hand.
"Greetings, young ladies!" He greeted with a strange gravitas.
"Go on you guys, I know this person." KK said with a heavy eye roll.
"What? Really? Who is it?"
"I'll explain it later. If I told you now, you wouldn't believe who this weirdo is."
Priya nodded and pushed Shannon along, who was still looking incredibly confused. Kukhanya then sighed and her brown cheeks flushed HARD.
"What are you wearing?!" She shrieked. "Are you trying to kill me with embarrassment?!"
"Wai- what? How did you- I mean what do you mean?"
Evan, who had been flustered by KK seeing through his disguise so easily, broke character for a second and then tried to salvage it, but it was all too little too late. The girl in front of him looked like she was about to die from embarrassment, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out how she recognised him.
"How did you—"
"Why are you here?!" KK shrieked again, her head darting around as she looked to see if any of her classmates were around.
"I just wanted to ask you something."
"Ask! Quickly!"
"Do you want to see your father?"
Those seven words stopped KK's brain in its tracks, and her embarrassment faded away into obscurity. She had no idea how to answer that question, because even though her Uncle was always forthcoming with information about her father, and always answered whatever questions she had about him, the thought of meeting the man had never crossed her mind because the prospect of meeting him had never seemed viable.
"…do I… want to meet him?" KK stammered.
"I didn't say anything about meeting him, only seeing him."
"…but… why now?"
"I have been keeping my eye on him since he was released, and it appears that he's finally made a move that makes it possible for me to go and meet with him. While I don't plan on going and speaking to him, if him and I do end up talking, I might be able to arrange for you to see him.
"How?"
"Before I tell you, do you want to see him or not?"
"…I do." KK squeaked.
"Alright. Tonight, go to the park and wait at the sitting area near the East Bank. I'd say be there an hour before curfew just to give me time, because your father is very perceptive when it comes to me. If he sees me send a text or something, he'll immediately het suspicious and think that I organised some kind of surprise party or something."
"Okay, so I go and wait there. Then?"
"Just wait. If you hear from me, go back to your dorm room. But if you hear nothing, wait patiently. I will eventually do something to draw attention, but all you need to do is look at the spot I appeared from. I'll give off as much light as possible so you can see."
"…okay."
"Alright. I'll see you later then." Evan then cleared his throat and stiffly waved again. "See you around, young lady!"
He then walked off and disappeared, while KK was practically on autopilot the rest of the day, barely participating in conversations and clearly being distracted. When night time arrived, and the hour before curfew got closer, Kukhanya was visibly anxious, but had already claimed that she was going to sleep and ran to her dorm room. When the time came, she hopped out of the window and jumped from wall to tree to balcony until she was on the ground. Much to her surprise, Priya and Shannon were down there waiting for her.
"Why are you two here?" KK asked, genuinely caught off guard.
"You've been acting weird since you and that weird man talked." Priya stated matter-of-factly. "We were gonna follow you, but you always find us when we sneak."
"Yeah, so we're gonna go with you. If that weird man does anything to you, we'll beat him up."
KK was about to tell her friends that it was unnecessary, but when she saw just how determined they were, she just smiled and nodded.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome." Priya said as she smiled back. "Where are we going?"
"The park. East Bank,"
"The East Bank??" Shannon asked suddenly sounding worried. "Do we really have to go? It's scary at night."
KK and Priya just walked off, and Shannon knew that following after them was the only choice. They got to the park and waited by the benches. Some other girls who were already there came and joined them, and soon enough, a sizeable little group had formed. They were all talking, laughing and just making noise in general, with KK doing her best not to glance up at the hill. Suddenly, it happened. SkyyStar practically exploded with light, glitter and stars, and Kukhanya's eyes immediately shot up to the hill. She stared at the hill so hard, it felt like her eyes were going to explode. Thanks to the residual light, she saw a tall, dark, built man staring at SkyyStar with mouth agape, looking embarrassed and screaming something. The man didn't even notice that a star hit him on the head and bounced into the darkness behind him. Then it happened – they made eye contact. She looked into his eyes, and she just knew who it was she was looking at – she could just feel it. Her eyes began to get dry and sting, however the prospect of her closing her eyes, and him disappearing when she opened them made her so anxious, it almost gave her heart palpitations. Her eyes gave way unfortunately, and they blinked, however upon opening them and seeing that he was still there, the relief she felt was almost physical in nature.
He then mouthed something to her that she couldn't quite make out, and that was subsequently followed by tears streaming down her face. Her father left, she left, and then SkyyStar was finally relieved of his duties as a light source.Later that night, sleep did not come to Kukhanya, who was starting out of the window. Her phone vibrating snapped her out of her thoughts, and when she saw it was her Uncle calling she answered but said nothing.
"So… you saw him?"
"I did. Thank you, Uncle Evan."
"You're welcome baby girl." Evan said, clearly beaming with happiness. "So, what did you think? How was he?"
"…he's tall."
"He sure is." Evan said as he chuckled. "Sweet dreams."
"Night night."