New Life: A Second Chance

Sayuri saw this 'interesting' interaction her husband had with her son and she shook her head.

This sort 'friendly' competition or action had been going on for as long as she could remember. Alex not being happy with his father for some reason whenever Kyle was showing his love for her, and Kyle upping up the public display of affection even more just to spite him.

She didn't admonish Kyle too much for it, though, for even she could see that Alex was being a bit too stubborn at times. Also, who would complain when one was the happy recipient of Kyle's attention?

In fact, his care and love for her had not diminished over the years. If any, it was better as the feelings were more intense and deeper. His meticulous care for her made her feel the years she had spent waiting for him was more than worth it. 

Their s.e.x life hadn't gotten any less either even with kids around, even though she had often been told to be more patient as 'it was only natural' that it would be less as taking care of children would sap them of time and energy.

Kyle was just very careful about that.

The fact that she could still easily turn him on gave her a feeling that could not be described. She felt loved, and precious, because he was so open and sincere about his acceptance and love for her. 

Thus, even though she found it exasperating at times at the way the two boys in her life seemed to be at odds with each other, she chose not to interfere. It was something that they had to deal with - and after all, Kyle does not go overboard - even if some of the things he did were rather childish at times. 

In fact, thinking that the cool CEO and cold Ice could act like that made her laugh at times. 

"Mummy! Mummy!! Daddy was so cool up there!" Aurora shouted happily, breaking Sayuri out of her thoughts.

Sayuri smiled, rubbing the top of Aurora's head, "Yes, Rory, he is cool."

Alex pouted a bit, though he looked down in order not to show it.

Sayuri rubbed the top of Alex's head then, and said, "One day, you will be able to do that as well - and perhaps, even be better."

Kyle snorted softly, "He can try, at least."

Alex's head whipped up to stare at his father, his eyes narrowing, while he said in his heart, 'I will. Do, or do not. There is no try."

Kyle rolled his eyes, "You're not Yoda. Yoda was at least cute."

"Kyle!!" admonished Sayuri, hitting him on the shoulder, "That is your son!"

"I know," Kyle said, "He may have the genes to be good looking but a fact is a fact. He's always so grumpy around me. Not cute."

"I'm not grumpy," Alex denied it, "You're just cranky."

Sayuri rolled her eyes, took her kids by the hand, and said, "It's just about six now, so come on, it's dinnertime."

Alex held on to his mother's hand tightly and looked at his father smugly. With them holding onto each of their mother's hand, his father could not.

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In the distance, a lone girl was sitting at the bleachers, lost in her own world.

Her shoulder-length hair, barely touching her shoulders, was short at the back but she had long sides. It fell over her face like a curtain, as she was busy sketching. Her long eyelashes fluttered as she gazed about, her fingers dashing across the paper like a boat swaying on the surface of the water.

There were not many people around as it was after school, and those that were here, were practising for the sports day. There were various shouts, music blasting, and people talking on the field. The sounds were mixed yet harmonious at the same time.

Lianne looked up, seeing her brother barking orders at the bunch of first years. 

He was the march past captain this year, and when he was on the field, he was fierce. 

Despite that - and the fact that most people would rather die than participate in march past - they actually had to reject some who wanted to join. Lianne scoffed, knowing the reason for Red House's popularity.

Joseph shot up during the past two years, making him even taller than before. His wavy hair was cut short, but he had a hairstyle akin to 'James Dean' of old. In fact, when Lianne looked at him, he appeared to be somewhat similar to that actor.

Lianne sighed and continued drawing.

Joseph had done pretty well for his Year 3 exams, even though he did come in quite late. He wasn't the top but he wasn't the bottom either. Now, being in Year 5, it was his final year.

Hence, people flocked to be by his side. 

He was as popular as ever, and his TokTik was generating the views. He obtained sponsorship deals, and he advertised. Stephan handled all the money, of course, for Joseph was utterly clueless about it.

All he cared about, was having fun. 

The income he obtained from his activities with TokTik was handled directly by his father. Joseph still got pocket money and all, but his finances were strictly controlled. Joseph didn't care about that, really.

Because what Stephan didn't know was that Joseph had another source of income: his writings. It wasn't like he was a bestseller, but the amount he earned monthly was good enough for him to indulge himself once in a while.

He spent it mostly on food, though. The other would be electronics like a phone and camera. He felt he had the best of both worlds. His father handled his savings, and he could spend his earnings from Webnov to whatever his heart d.e.s.i.r.ed.

"YOU!" barked Joseph, "Just what do you think you're doing?!"

Someone had broken formation.

"It's left, right, right, left!!" Joseph said in a loud voice, "Don't you even know what is your left? Or right?!"

"I swear, such simple instructions.." Joseph mumbled under his breath.

While Joseph was mumbling, everyone was observing his face intently … and their hearts dropped. He wasn't going to let this go. They looked in horror as he took out that dreaded tissue box.

It didn't have tissues in it anymore but pieces of paper.

Paper that held various types of punishments.

"Since you're the one that went out of formation, you choose the punishment for the team," Joseph said.

He ruled the team through military style - that is, all for one, and one for all. 

If one person made a mistake, then the entire team would be punished. This way, there wouldn't be any that would slack. They would not dare to make a mistake as they would get double punishment. 

One, from Joseph and two, from the rest of the team. 

Some felt his methods were too strict but when you had first years that were generally playful, it was quite an effective method. The punishment wasn't severe - it was just the basic things like push-ups, sit-ups, and planking.

Enough to be painful but not enough to make them so tired that they couldn't continue.

Lianne watched this and shook her head.

"Zero again?" came a voice beside Lianne.

"He's a good subject, Anna," Lianne replied, nonplussed.

Contrary to what people believed, Lianne wasn't drawing the scene in front of her. She actually had her phone on the sketchpad, and it was a random picture of Zero. She was drawing him as human fox; that is, features and physique of a human but he had a fox tail and ears. 

She was currently drawing a familiar that looked like a hybrid between a fox and a dragon.

"If I didn't know you any better, I would think you're a stalker," Anne said, sitting down next to her, noting the picture in the phone.

"And if I didn't know you any better, I would think you're a normal high school student," Lianne countered.

"Oh come on," Anne said, waving her hand in front of her, "You caught on within two weeks."

Lianne frowned, "Yeah, two weeks. I was too careless."

"It was a bloody two weeks! I have been undercover for months for a mission and no one noticed!" Anne hissed, "I've always wondered. How did you know?"

"You were too good," Lianne said, not looking up.

"Huh?"

"You're supposed to be a normal 13-year-old student, newly transferred," Lianne explained, "Yet, you were too aware of your surroundings. You were especially vigilant around me and would assess each person that came close."

Anne blinked rapidly at Lianne.

"How the heck does one be able to tell when another is 'assessing others'?" Anne said in exasperation.

Lianne finally looked up from her sketch.

"Simple. You were looking at them as if you were in love with them, but you weren't."