First Day of School

Sure enough, as Sayuri reached the doorway, Kyle was still waiting while the kids had already gone inside the car. Though they had a driver, Kyle preferred to drive his children himself, as it was the first day of school for them.

It's a momentous occasion after all.

"Daddy Daddy Daddy!" Ariel shouted, struggling in her mother's arms as she tried to reach out to Kyle.

Kyle took her in his arms and smothered her face with kisses, then handed her back to Sayuri. Ariel didn't want to let go, however, and she clung to her father's neck.

"Rie," Kyle said gently, looking at her, "I have to go now."

"Follow!" Ariel insisted, hanging on to her father for dear life.

Kyle looked at Sayuri, the question in his eyes and she pressed her lips together as one side of her lips went up.

Then she saw the puppy-eyes both were giving her and Sayuri rolled her eyes.

"Just today," she said, "Since it is the first day. But no more, okay Ariel?"

Ariel nodded vigorously, her face breaking up into a huge smile, "I love you Mummy!"

With that permission, the maid that was nearby quickly going to place the car seat inside the car. Aurora got out and went to sit in front so that Alex could sit at the back with Ariel.

Ariel, in the meantime, was busy giving her mother lots of kisses on the face. Kyle, who was holding her, smiled at the sight and then he leaned over to kiss his wife one last time before leaving.

"You spoil her too much," Sayuri admonished him gently as his lips left hers.

"I spoil all my women shamelessly," Kyle replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

Ariel clapped her hands, then waved at her mother as they headed towards the car. Kyle placed her onto the car seat and strapped her in securely before going into the car. As they headed to the school, Ariel's chirpy voice was heard throughout the entire journey.

"Daddy, I go school like brother?" Ariel asked excitedly.

"No, Rie," Kyle replied, "You're only sending him to school. You can visit his class today but will be going home right after."

"Rie big now," Ariel declared solemnly, "Can go school."

"When you can sit in the car with a seat like us, you can go to school," Alex told her, holding her hand.

Alex and Aurora were sitting on backless booster seats, as they were already 125cm tall while Ariel was in a child seat that was akin to a simplified baby car seat. It had its own safety belt and harness, but the back was straight rather than tilted (for a baby).

Ariel looked at her brother, then at herself in the car seat. She then tried to open the buckle of the car seatbelt, but Alex stopped her with the other hand.

"I mean, when you are big enough to be able to sit in the car and look out the window with the booster seat that I use, it means you can go to school," Alex explained to her.

"Yes, Rie," Kyle said, "It's the school rules."

"You should not lie to Rie like that, Father," Alex told him with a serious face.

Kyle raised an eyebrow but did not scold him for making such a statement. It was akin to challenging his authority while putting him down at the same time.

"I did not lie, Alex," Kyle told him, "You can only enter school when you are seven years old. By the time Ariel can sit in the car and look out the window, she would be about seven years old."

"You do not know that," Alex said, "It is misleading."

"According to the World Health Organisation growth chart, Rie's growth is in the average percentile. Using that as a base and applying it to the CDC's growth chart for girls from the age of two years old, Rie will be about 120cm tall at 7 years old. Which happens to be the height suitable for a car booster seat and the age when one enters Year 1 in Primary School."

Alex pressed his lips together in displeasure and Aurora laughed a bit from the front. She turned to look at him and said, "You should know better than to try to win Father in an argument."

"It wasn't an argument," Alex stated.

"Yeah, because for it to be an argument, the other party should at least be able to counter the argument or have strong points for his," Kyle replied, making Alex's displeasure increase.

"But," Kyle continued with a smirk upon his lips as he deftly drove into Retsu Primary School, "His effort is commendable."

Kyle gave a brief glance at Alex's expression in the rearview mirror and he could practically see the dark storm clouds above his head with lightning coming out of his eyes.

Seems like the two years of training have not curbed his quickness to anger, but Kyle was patient. Though it may seem like there had been no improvement, Kyle knew better.

For example, right now, Alex was hopping mad but he did not continue to argue with him. He was rational enough to know that simply mouthing off wouldn't achieve anything and he could, at least, control that bit.

The emotions, however, would take longer.

Kyle had the advantage when he was younger simply because he had one huge secret that only a select few knew.

He was actually a person who not only had reincarnated but retained all the memories of his previous life.

Which was a woman who had two children before 'he/she' died.

While Alex's secret was that he and Aurora had regained consciousness and awareness just before birth, Kyle's secret was that he was conscious and aware as a fetus.

He had spent months in the womb, completely aware of his surroundings, and would have gone crazy if it wasn't for the fact that he found he had perfect retention of memories of his previous life, which he could use to 'see' like a movie playing.

He also discovered he had a photographic memory - or, an eidetic memory as it is more commonly referred to now. With that, as he watched the movie of his previous life, he also learned all the things he did - such as languages, when watching foreign films.

As a 40+-year-old woman in mind, he had been an abnormal baby that was absurdly mature and quiet. Hence, the infamous Smith Anger was not a problem for him. He knew how to handle it and how to control it.

Unfortunately, Alex did not have this advantage.

He had the advantage of learning faster, but his handle on his emotions were still weak. He was a child, after all.

This was also one of the reasons Kyle was taking his kids to school for their first day. He wanted to see, for himself, how well Alex would handle being in public.

Perhaps angering him at this point was not a good idea, but on the other hand, it was a good opportunity to see Alex handling it.

Plus, he had his friends with him.

Kyle parked the car and went over to take Ariel out of the car seat. Aurora jumped down nimbly and waited for Alex excitedly.

Ariel, too, was excited and the enthusiasm of the two girls was obvious.

Alex stood rigidly as his eyes scanned the area, looking for his friends Ziad and Fleur.

Ziad was the son of Uncle Ali, while Fleur was the daughter of Uncle Sam.

His father had three 'blood' brothers (Ali, Sam, and Xing Han), that is, those he regarded as his brothers even though they were not related in any way. Together with his Aunt Kayla, the five of them were known as the 'Elite Five'.

Coincidentally, Uncle Ali and Uncle Sam had children in the same year that they were born, so the four of them grew up together. Childhood friends that were also going to the same school.

"Alex! Alex! Look! There they are!!" Aurora said in excitement and she immediately dashed off.

Kyle wasn't worried about it as they were already within the safe zone of the school area and he was more than capable of catching up to her to prevent anything. He had already scanned the area and noted that there was no immediate danger (such as vehicles driving fast or not in their lanes).

Plus, Aurora was skilled in martial arts.

She may not have been chosen to learn the Kato way, but her mother was keeping an eye on her to see if she was suitable for her Clan's arts.

Not something Kyle was looking forward to, to be honest.

After all, his wife's Clan's Art was the Art of Seduction.

Being the recipient of those arts all these years by his extremely skilled wife made him slightly uncomfortable thinking of his daughter going through such training.

Not that he was going to stop it.

It just made him uncomfortable.

He pushed that out of his mind for now, as he walked over to greet Ali and Sam with a smile.