Big Brother

Ariel gave a little sigh and then looked at her brother and sister, saying solemnly with great seriousness, "I go now, Brother Alex, Sister Rory. Bye-bye Brother Ziad, Sister Fleur. I will be with Daddy the whoooooooole day today!"

She was so happy about that, that she was practically bouncing on Kyle's arm.

Then she turned to her new friends and waved at them, smiling sweetly, "Bye-bye."

There was obvious reluctance on the faces of the four boys but they didn't dare say anything. The words that they wanted to utter was stuck in their throat and they could only wave back weakly.

They didn't even dare follow Ariel out, and merely stood there and watched her go.

The thing was, the reason they hadn't moved wasn't just because they were scared of Ariel's Daddy - they wanted nothing more than to follow Ariel out all the way to the school gates.

However, they also felt this pressure, seemingly targetted at their backs, as they were looking at Ariel leaving. That also made their feet stop from moving forward.

Ariel's Daddy was scary, but he wasn't looking at them so they had entertained the idea of carefully, and slowly, following them out.

But that uncomfortableness behind them gave them this blatant warning that if they dared to take one step forward, they were going to regret it.

The pressure was nothing like what they had experienced when Ariel's Daddy had looked at them, but it was still there.

Once Ariel was out of sight, they felt the pressure lessen so they quickly ran out. They were telling themselves that they were running because the bell just rang, meaning that they had to get to class.

It wasn't because they felt fear. No, no. There was nothing to fear. The parents were all heading out and there were only kids around.

With this thought, one actually dared to turn back to look and he regretted it immensely.

The same cold blue pair of eyes that had stared at them earlier was now replicated and staring at them. However, though the coldness seemed slightly less, the expression on his face wasn't exactly welcoming.

Whilst Ariel's Daddy just had this 'scariness' factor with a smiling face, this one was blatantly giving them the 'you dare?' sort of expression.

He gulped, his heart beating fast and the adrenaline (from fear) gave him that extra push that had him overtake the other three.

He wouldn't feel safe until he reached his classroom.

Whilst the four poor boys were running as if their lives depended on it, the protagonist that was responsible for the impromptu running exercise simply flung his bag onto the table and sat down.

He had already memorised their faces and he would be keeping an eye out for them. As Alex sat down on the chair and looked out the glass walls, he began some calculations. Ariel is three now, and would be entering Retsu Primary School in four years' time.

Perfect.

He would be in his final year. He had four years to make his mark in the school so that when Ariel came, he could protect her for a year. After that, it was just a matter of reinforcing the matter once in a while.

Alex grinned.

If anyone wanted to get to Ariel, they would have to get through him first.

Then, his father of course.

But Alex was the one that would be with Ariel the entire time while she's in school so he was the first wall they would need to climb over.

Just thinking of this made Alex's smile bigger.

Looks like he had another interesting project to do while being stuck in school.

He opened his bag, took out one exercise book and a pen, and proceeded to make some notes on the basic outline of his plans. He would have preferred to use his laptop but they weren't allowed to bring any electronic devices to school, so he had to make do.

Stupid rule, too.

Such a rule just shows what a dinosaur and backward thinking prevailed. Who doesn't use any electronic devices nowadays anyway? Such devices were like a part of their life and would make their lives so much easier.

Of course, he could always sneak and use his phone to make the short notes but even that was not allowed. He didn't want to be caught with his phone out, for that would mean that his phone would be confiscated for the week.

The second infraction meant a month and a third meant the entire school year.

Knowing his father, he'd probably even limit it at home and Alex would practically die if that happened.

Aurora, seeing that almost maniacal grin on her brother's face as he was furiously writing on his notebook, rolled her eyes. Alex had chosen the chair that was right at the end, and she was next to him. Fleur was beside her and Ziad next to her.

Fleur leaned over and whispered to Aurora, "Why does Alex have that look on his face?"

Aurora sighed, and turned her head towards the door to look out for the teacher while answering, "His inner siscon is coming out. Looks like it's full blast this time."

Alex just gave a side glance at his sister and glared at her, then muttered in twin speech as he continued, "You're just jealous."

"Oh please," Aurora scoffed, speaking in normal language, "I am very happy not to be the subject of your overly protective behaviour."

"That's because you don't need it," Alex replied, "Ariel, on the other hand, is our sweet, innocent sister that doesn't know the evils of the world."

Aurora rolled her eyes again, while shaking her head and putting the back of her hand on her forehead, saying dramatically, "Oh my. The wisdom of an eight-year-old about the evils of the world."

Alex ignored her, thinking of the things he had seen while out as Cinder.

Though his parents never allowed him to see the gorier side of the way they killed, and that he was never allowed to actually take a life, he had seen more than what a normal eight-year-old would have.

Some of those that were silently eliminated looked as innocent as a baby but the rap sheet could be a mile long - and it ranged from something as simple as just stealing (from Uncle Nitocris, no less) to destroying children as young as he was.

Alex knew that the things he was exposed to was what his parents deemed he could take, and he knew that what he saw was only a small part of it. Even then, when he had first known about it, he had been totally shocked.

Then, disgusted.

Followed by extreme anger that could only be appeased by him having Max take a huge chunk out of those scum.

Alex was partly looking forward to meeting the more 'evil' types and partly not.

Just knowing what human beings were capable of, and the cruelty they could actually dish out on another, was already mind-boggling - he didn't really want to know the extent of what that 'line' was.

Yet, he did.

These conflicted feelings pulled at him.

Right now, listening to his twin sister's words, he suddenly realised that his worldview has drastically changed. It only seemed the same on the surface but he could no longer see people - even the young ones - as purely innocent anymore.

Stupid, yes.

Naive, yes.

But each and every one of them had the potential to grow up to be just like those scums he faced each week as Cinder.

Well, maybe not these at Retsu Primary School as they all had good backgrounds.

Alex paused as he thought about this.

Maybe … that was naive of him to think so as well? Would a bad background necessarily be the only reason one turned into such scum?

Were there rich and powerful people like his father, who were actually only wearing human skin but a monster underneath?

His father was fighting against 'evil', so to speak but he didn't actually stop all crime, right? Did this mean that his father was also acquiescing to such things?

Alex found he was getting a headache thinking of this.

But it certainly made him think that things were not as simple as they seemed on the surface.

That was the ultimate point.

He turned to look at his twin sister again and noticed that both Fleur and Ziad were agreeing wholeheartedly with Rory.

Sure, he was being protective but not overly so.

People were not necessarily good, even if they appear so. People may seem good but can still do bad things.

As one who was aware of such things, Alex felt like he had more responsibilities now.

Seeing the laughing face of Fleur and the ever-loyal Ziad who just followed whatever Fleur said and did, Alex sighed.

Looks like Ariel wasn't the only one that needed the protection after all.