Chapter 9: Fantastic Dream

Kil stood in the midst of the unaware students, his fists bloodied, his clothes stained with blood, and blood splattered on his face.

The Principal arrived, accompanied by the guards and the school doctor. The Principal immediately called for an ambulance to attend to the injured.

Approaching Kil from behind, the Principal asked, "Are you satisfied with what you've done, Kil?"

Kil turned to face him.

"I think so."

"Come with me, let's talk in my office."

The guard grabbed Kil's wrist, escorted him to the Principal's Office. The guard opened the door, and Kil entered, followed by the Principal.

The guard exited and closed the door. The Principal's office fell into silence, with bookshelves lining one side of the room. In front of his desk, there was a sofa and a chair pulled up to the desk. The room was air-conditioned, and the only sound heard was the rustling of papers from the aircon.

The Principal sat in his chair, and Kil took a seat in front of the Principal's desk.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a woman entered, Charlotte. She walked towards the sofa.

"Great job, imagine that, you beat up the son from the Clinton family? You're something else, HAHAHAHA," she teased.

Kil looked at Charlotte seriously, "You're something, huh? Laughing like you're some kind of genius, Charlotte."

Charlotte stood up and placed her forehead against Kil's, "I told you, I'm really good."

"At what?"

"Let's stop that for now," the Principal intervened.

"Hmp," Charlotte crossed her arms and returned to the sofa.

The Principal looked at Kil, "It's good that you didn't continue to Kill him, Kil."

"I don't care whether I continued to Kill him or not, the important thing for me is that I beat him up like he did to my friends."

The Principal sighed, "Oh right, I forgot to tell you that they were also involved in Ken's beating yesterday."

"I wish you Kill him," Charlotte interjected.

"What's it to you?" Kil shifted his gaze to Charlotte, "You seem to know a lot, huh? How about you be the one to finish him off, since you're so insistent."

"Are you being sarcastic with me? I'm speaking here properly, and that's how you respond?"

"Wow, Charlotte, when did you start speaking properly?"

"YouTube!" Charlotte stood up, "let's find out now".

Kil also stood up, "Let's go, and I will beat you up like what I did to Ken ."

"Stop that for now," the Principal interjected, "What are you planning now, Kil?"

"It's up to you to decide, ma'am Principal, I can't do anything about it anyway."

"Okay, go ahead, but it's good that you let Ken taste it and let him know where he should stand, that kid is too arrogant so it's good that you shut him up."

"Maybe that idiot won't shut up yet, but if he still disrespects Ai—my friends, I make sure he won't go home breathing."

"That's intense, it's scary," Charlotte replied again.

Kil ignored Charlotte because he was getting extremely irritated with her, "Is that all you're going to say, ma'am Principal? Aren't you going to suspend me?"

"It's fine, all the students here are hoping that they find someone to match that Ken so I'm sure they will praise you and recognize you as their hero."

"Being a hero seems too much," Kil scratched his head, "I don't want to be the hero in their eyes, I don't want to be famous to other people."

"Oh, he's denying it even though he really likes it," Charlotte whispered, making sure Kil heard her.

Kil's veins bulged with anger and frustration, "What did you say?!" Kil stood up and faced Charlotte.

Charlotte also stood up and leaned her forehead against Kil's, "It's true, you're playing hard to get but you also like being a hero."

"What?! What are you sa—" Kil couldn't continue what he was saying as he carefully observed Charlotte's face, so cute and beautiful up close, as if he was looking at a royal and a princess.

Kil's eyes widened, his cheeks turned red, he remained still for a long time until ten seconds had passed.

"What? Can't you speak? Why don't you continue what you were saying?"

Kil just looked in another direction, feeling awkward in their close position, their faces almost touching as if they were about to kiss.

Kil just pushed Charlotte on the shoulders, looked at the Principal, "Can I leave now, Ma'am?"

"Yes, you can go back to your classroom."

Kil quickly walked towards the door, opened it, and hurriedly walked towards his classroom.

'What's his problem? Why did he suddenly become speechless and quickly leave... could it be?...' Charlotte thought to herself.

And suddenly, Charlotte remembered that their foreheads touched twice and their faces were close, and Charlotte's eyes widened and her face turned red. She covered her mouth out of embarrassment and slumped on the sofa, hitting and kicking it.

"No!!! No!!! No, this can't be, why did I do that?!!!" She shouted, and the Principal just smiled.

As Kil walked towards his classroom, the students in all three buildings were cheering for his victory, just as the Principal had predicted.

Kil smiled, feeling embarrassed, as he scratched his head and gave a nonchalant smile while looking down.

Keiran quickly ran down the stairs to where Kil was walking. Kil raised his head and saw Keiran standing in front of him, smiling warmly.

"Welcome back, Kil," Keiran greeted him with a friendly smile.

Kil returned the smile to Keiran, "Oh! HAHAHA," he scratched his head again and looked down in embarrassment, "I'm Kil, no one is coming back, Keiran."

"So, it was your final decision after all, huh?" Keiran inquired.

"Yes, the old Kil is gone. What you see now is the Kil who cares for his friends," Kil said, giving a warm smile to Keiran.

Then, a student shouted, "THE UNPARALLELED ONE HAS RETURNED!!!!"

"Unparalleled one!!, Unparalleled one!!, Unparalleled one!!" echoed the other students' shouts.

Kil looked at Keiran with a serious expression, frowning, "Hey, tell me. Did you tell them who I was in the past?"

Keiran trembled, his whole body shaking as he widened his eyes, "N-no, I'm not the one who said that."

"Then who?" Kil inquired.

"It was one of the guys from Class-3, one of the gang members."

"So Aika knows that I'm not weak and cowardly anymore?"

"Yeah, she definitely knows."

Kil bowed his head, let out a deep sigh, placed his left palm over his eyes, and shook his head while the other students cheered for Kil using his old name.

"Jeez! Well, I have no choice though."

Kil began to walk forward, ascending the stairs until he reached the 3rd floor where his classroom was located.

There were many students on the 3rd floor, some from the lower floors had followed him up to the third floor.

All eyes were on him as if he were someone important. He continued walking until he reached the corridor of Class-1.

In a brief moment, all his former gang members bowed their heads and greeted, "Welcome back, Sir!"

Kil scratched his head again, took a deep breath, and responded to them with a warm smile. As Kil opened his eyes and saw all the students around him, he noticed Aika staring at him.

Aika's cheeks were blushing as they locked eyes for about 5 seconds. During those five seconds, it felt like their world had come to a standstill, and everything around them seemed frozen. Kil's cheeks also turned red, and after those five seconds, they both felt awkward and shifted their gaze away.

Kil scratched his cheek with his index finger and continued walking. Upon reaching his classroom, he instructed his classmates to close and lock the door.

All students not belonging to Class-2 were asked to leave as per Kil's orders.

"Close all curtains and windows, and do not open the door until they have left, understood?" Kil directed.

"Yes," his classmates responded. After that, Kil went to his desk.

He sat down, rested his arms on the desk, and buried his head in his arms, "I'm tired, I need some sleep."

His classmates were surprised but also relieved, no longer fearing Kil like they did when he was in first and second year.

The students gathered around the tired Kil, hugging him. "It's a good thing you didn't turn into a monster like you used to in our first and second years," his classmates remarked.

"Hey, clear off from my desk, I can't sleep. Come on, I need some air, you know," Kil insisted.

After an hour, all the other students returned to their respective classrooms in Class-1 and the other classes across the three buildings.

The students who were injured by Kil were taken to the hospital to heal their wounds. Most of the injuries were not severe, except for five of them. Two students on the 3rd floor insisted that Emma and Aika go with them, and one student who confronted Kil ended up with an unrecognizable face after the encounter in Class-1.

Ken was completely beaten up, along with his two colleagues who were hit with a pipe, and they had not yet regained consciousness.

In Class-1:

"See, I told you, Aika. He's the one we saw last night. Are you convinced now? I told you," Emma teased Aika.

But Aika was lost in her thoughts, pondering something.

'So he really is a true monster? Like what others say is true, "Don't judge a book by its cover." But the other day, he promised to protect me from rude and perverted guys. So it was true after all? Kil is my hero, the hero I've been dreaming of. Oh, Kil, you're my hero,' she thought.

"...own your pride, then there's a small chance you could be his girlfriend, at least. That's what I thought," Emma said, but Aika only caught the last words.

"What? What are you talking about again, Emma?"

"Huh?! You, girl, learn to listen when people are talking, understand?"

"I'm sorry, Emma, I was lost in thought and didn't hear you at all," Aika apologized.

"Whaaat?!"

4 days later:

"Hey, Kil, is it true that you beat up Ken? What's the deal?" George sat on a chair and faced Kil.

"So, you care about us that much, huh? HAHAHAHA," Miggy joked.

"Not really, I only did it because he was too rude to Aika, and I couldn't control my anger," Kil explained.

"Speaking of Aika, did you confess your feelings to her?" Napoleon chimed in.

"Yeah, did you spill your heart out while we were away at the hospital?" Miggy teased.

Kil bowed his head, then raised it again after a few seconds, with a warm smile and confidence, "O-of course I did."

The three friends looked at each other and burst into laughter, "HAHAHAHAHA, LIAR!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Hey, do you value your life? If not, come here and I will end it," Kil said with a serious and cold voice.

"We were just teasing you, you know," George replied, and Kil gave them a warm smile.

"Then go tease other students, not me."

The teacher entered the classroom for the third period and began the lesson. After 40 minutes, the teacher announced, "Prepare for a long quiz tomorrow, covering topics from the Law of Motion to Vector Analysis. That's all for today, goodbye, class."

"Hey, Migs, review that and let us copy from you tomorrow," Kil suggested.

"I feel lazy, but I'll allow you to copy if you confess your feelings to Aika first," Migs challenged.

"Yeah, that's the condition, bro! HAHAHAHA," George added.

"I don't care."

As the afternoon came to an end, all the students went home. Aika walked until she reached her house.

She opened her door, locked it, and went to her room. Exhausted, she jumped onto her bed and soon drifted off to sleep.

"Help me! Someone, please help!" A girl's voice echoed, towards Aika. She rushed to the hallway of the building.

Alone and terrified, she gazed up at the dark sky and saw the buildings ablaze. It dawned on her that it was their school, Clenmark School.

Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by monstrous goblins. She tried to flee in one direction, only to encounter more goblins blocking her path.

As the goblins advanced towards her, Aika stepped back, stumbled, and fell to the ground.

"Help me, please, someone help me, heeelllppp!" she cried out in desperation.

A mysterious man wielding a pipe swiftly dispatched one of the goblins, sending it flying.

"Step back, Aika," the man instructed, casting a side glance at her. It was Kil, the man who came to Aika's aid.

"Kil?" Aika managed to utter just one word.

Kil sprang into action, attacking the goblins surrounding Aika. One goblin sneaked up behind Aika, but Kil bravely shielded her, fending off the threat.

Aika suddenly noticed the goblin behind her, poised to attack, while Kil was occupied fighting the goblins in front of her.

"Kiiiiilllll!!!!" Aika screamed, catching Kil's attention as she was about to be attacked from behind.

As the goblin's hand was on the verge of piercing Aika's stomach, Kil shouted, "AAAIIIIIKKKKKAAAAA!"

Aika jolted awake from her bed, shocked by the vivid dream. She covered her eyes with her palm and shook her head.

'Yes, it was just a dream. But why did I dream like that? Kil has been on my mind a lot lately. Is this what they call "love?" He's been occupying my thoughts so much that I even dreamt about him. But it's the first time I've had such a dream. The school burning, the dark sky, it felt like a fantasy world with live monsters like goblins. Oh well, I'll just go to the kitchen and have something to eat.'

(INVASION ARC)