Kil and his friends made their way toward their classroom, while the principal headed to the cafeteria to quell the disturbance caused by the rowdy seniors from the fourth year.
The principal arrived at the cafeteria, inquiring with a tone heavy with exasperation, "What chaos unfolds here now?"
He discovered a scene of grim disarray: a man lay sprawled across the floor, severely beaten. Blood trickled from his nose, and his lips were split open in a brutal grimace. This man was Conrad. Nearby, Aika and a group of her female classmates, who had been sharing a snack with him, stood glaring fiercely at a muscular man who loomed over the scene. Aika was holding Conrad's hand, a silent testament to the violence that had just transpired.
Emma stood up and approached the principal. "Ma'am, that muscular man there," she pointed at the burly figure, "he suddenly insulted Aika, insisting she go with him. When Conrad tried to stop this muscular man, he just punched Conrad and then his companions joined in beating him," Emma explained.
"Come with me," the principal said as she walked over to the muscular man, grabbed his hand, and dragged him towards the principal's office.
The man's three companions followed, while a medic arrived to tend to Conrad's injuries before he was taken to the hospital. Aika and Emma also headed to the hospital.
In the principal's office:
"And why did you go down to the canteen and insult Aika? Do you realize that you've brought shame upon your parents' names? Huh? Ken Clinton?"
"Who reported me?" Ken asked as he and his three companions took their seats with an air of indifference.
"I'm going to suspend you for three days for what you've done—"
"Will this be enough?" Ken laid a stack of cash on the table.
The principal glanced around and locked the door, "How much is that?" she inquired.
"Seven thousand dollars," Ken replied.
"Fine, but you really need to curb your arrogance these coming days. Remember, no other school will take you if you keep this up. You've only been here a month and already caused so much trouble."
Ken and his group stood up; Ken idly cleaned his ear with his index finger. "Okay, okay, I get it, ma'am. Can we go now?" he asked.
"Yes, you may leave," the principal answered as she returned to her desk and chair. Ken and his group then exited the office.
The principal rested her elbows on the desk, her fingers interlaced and pressed against her nose.
"Arrogant, haughty, acting as if he owns the place. He should be thankful that the times have changed, otherwise someone would have put him in his place by now. But I suspect it won't be long before those two collide," she mused with a devilish smile. "The boy who has been feared by his seniors since his freshman year," she thought to herself.
Ken punched the wall, "Tsk! Who's the damn snitch?" he demanded of his companions.
"I dunno, Ken, but it seems like it was those who passed by us earlier without a word," one of his companions replied.
"Tell me? Which section are they from and what are their names?" Ken asked coldly, his anger unmistakable.
"We'll find out as soon as we can, Ken," another companion responded.
Kil and his friends arrived at their classroom, finding it empty as their teacher was attending a seminar.
"Wait, Kil? Are you just going to let Aika be disrespected like that?" Miggy slung an arm around Kil's shoulder.
Kil smiled, "It's okay, I trust our principal; she's quite formidable," he replied.
George grinned, "It's good to see how much you've changed, Kil. I know we were the reason for your transformation. Back in your freshman year, you were feared by our seniors; that's why I befriended you. You beat up all those seniors, and that's how our own gang started," George reflected silently.
"When we were sophomores, at 13, they killed your mother, ambushed by some wealthy people, and I don't know why. But when you learned that she had been ambushed, after her funeral, your connections grew even stronger. I also helped you track down those responsible for her death."
"George, keep me updated if you get any information," Kil had said to George when they were 13.
It only took a few days before George had some information, "The day after tomorrow, those who killed your mother will gather," he told Kil.
The day arrived, and Kil went to the large house where the murderers of his mother were partying.
Kil pulled out his gun, which had been hidden behind his back. His eyes were dull, utterly lifeless.
George was shocked to see the raging fury in Kil, but even so, he remained calm.
Kil locked his gun and leapt up to reach the top of the wall, then climbed over it. "Wait here for me, George," he said, glancing at George before vaulting over the wall and entering the house.
Kil moved silently inside and went unnoticed as he penetrated deeper into the building.
Walking quietly, he suddenly spotted a man with a gun tucked into his waistband. Kil had already fitted his gun with a silencer. He emerged stealthily and shot the man without hesitation.
He dragged the man's body to a storeroom to hide it, but a guard spotted him.
"Hey, what are you doing, kid?" As the guard reached for his gun, Kil quickly threw a flower vase, striking the guard's face.
Kil ran towards the guard, kicked him upwards, and punched him in the face, then pointed his gun at the guard's chest and fired.
After that, Kil swiftly headed to the house's power source and shut it off, plunging everything into darkness.
"What's going on?" a man exclaimed as panic engulfed everyone present.
One by one, all were neutralized until Kil restored the lights. Only three of his mother's killers remained.
Kil revealed himself, startling the trio who saw the 13-year-old boy covered in blood, an unnaturally seasoned killer.
"It's time to settle scores," Kil declared, aiming his gun at one of the men.
"Hey kid, put that down. Guns aren't toys for children," one man scoffed.
"Do you think I'm playing?" Kil replied with an icy voice.
As one assailant grabbed his gun and aimed, Kil shot him in the head, killing him instantly.
The remaining man, shocked and fearful, stammered, "What kind of creature are you?" Kil approached the two men and shot one in the heart.
Only one was left. "Stop this, you're just a kid. Why? Why do you kill? Don't you feel any remorse?" The last man, overwhelmed by fear, collapsed to the ground.
The man scooted back, fear driving him until his back hit the wall with nowhere left to go.
"Remorse? Did you feel any when you killed my mother?" Kil posed the question, then aimed his gun at the seated man leaning against the wall.
Kil glared at the man before firing the shot. After that, George entered and doused the entire house with gasoline.
"End this, Kil," George urged.
Kil ignited his lighter and threw it into the house, setting it ablaze.
Kil and his companion left the burning house and made their way to his mother's grave.
Tears began to fall slowly from Kil's eyes as he wept like a typical 13-year-old boy might.
"George, tomorrow, I'll return to school and continue my studies as an ordinary student," Kil said, smiling through the tears streaming down his cheeks.
George smiled back and simply replied, "Yes."
Kil stood up and placed his hand on George's shoulder. "Gather the members of our gang; I have something important to propose," Kil stated.
George nodded and proceeded to gather all their gang members at the cemetery.
In just a short time, all the members of Kil's gang had gathered; Kil was seated while George stood by.
Miggy and Napoleon arrived as well. "What's happened, Kil?" Napoleon asked.
Approaching Kil, Miggy remarked, "It looks like you've finished."
Kil sighed deeply and stood up. "Settle down, Kil has something important to tell you," George suggested, prompting the members to organize themselves.
"In the two years we've been together, we've toppled many of the country's formidable gangs. While our gang may not be well-known, it is filled with people eager to defend each other. We became a family, protecting our oppressed members," Kil smiled. "Our gang is now disbanded."
Kil bowed to his gang members. "From now on, I want to be a normal student, thank you all," he said to his gang members.
The members erupted into cheers, delighted by Kil's decision.
[Back to The Present Time]
George thought to himself, "I would never have guessed that a 13-year-old could kill so easily and then change, simply forgetting his past."
"Hey George, what are you grinning about there, huh?" Kil teased, playfully punching George hard, which was part of their banter.
"What the heck?! Why did you hit me, huh?! Kil?! And why can't I smile?" He punched back at Kil.
"Ouch, that hurt, huh?" And with that, the three of them started play-fighting, just their way of joking around.
By afternoon, Kil had dozed off again, leaving only him and George in their room.
"Hey, wake up, Kil. You're such a jokester," George said, shaking Kil to rouse him.
"What's up? Is it time to go home?" Kil mumbled, still half asleep.
George grew even more annoyed and gave Kil a shove. "It's already afternoon!!!" George shouted.
Kil got up, grabbed his bag, and they left to go home. The next day, Kil returned to school as an ordinary student.
Entering his classroom, Kil soon found himself back in their corridor, where George and Miggy were checking out girls.
"Oh, Kil, you're here," Miggy greeted.
Kil joined them and spotted Aika walking towards their classroom.
"There's Aika, what's up, Kil?" George teased.
"Nothing, our boy here is still weak. I bet he hasn't even scored since you left them alone last time, George," Miggy joked.
Little did they know that Emma was behind them. She had handed a note to their adviser and was waiting for it to be returned, overhearing their entire conversation.
"I've been telling you, Kil, you should start courting Aika. You might get beat by Conrad, her classmate who saved her yesterday and got beaten up by the muscular guy," George suggested.
"It's fine, there's a right time for me to confess my feelings to Aika, I won't rush it," Kil replied with a smile.
"You're still weak, and if you get beaten to it, you might end up crying again HAHAHA," George teased, and the three friends laughed together.
Unbeknownst to them, Emma heard everything. "Here, Miss Velouria, please return this to your adviser," she said to Kil's adviser.
"Yes, ma'am," Emma replied and walked back to their classroom.
They didn't notice that Emma had overheard everything. "Hey, George, let's go inside; class is about to start," their adviser called them in.
Kil slept again until noon. Meanwhile, Aika and Emma went to a restaurant and had lunch together.
While they were eating, Emma suddenly spoke up. "Aika, do you remember the guy from Class-2? The one you were with last time? The one you said found your book?" Emma asked.
"Who? Kil Whitlock," Aika replied between bites, "What about him?" she asked.
Emma took a sip of water. "I didn't mean to overhear their conversation earlier with his friends, but Kil said he likes you," Emma said.
Aika was so surprised she choked on her food and quickly took a drink of water. "Come on, maybe you heard wrong. That's impossible, right?" Aika responded.
"No, Aika, I'm serious. I really heard them. Kil said that now isn't the right time to confess his feelings for you. What if he does confess? What will you say to him?" Emma asked.
"You know I like guys who can defend me from harassers and predators, right? What I've heard about Kil is that he's just an ordinary 4th year high school student. He's nice, but what I don't like about him is that he tries to act tough even though he's not. I've also heard that he's afraid of getting into fights and is always being bullied. His friends are just defending him... So if he ever confesses to me, I'll reject him," Aika replied.
After that, they left and went back to their school.