First Day: P3 (III)

Shane watched silently as Isaura entered the bus and greeted him. As usual, he greeted her back … silently. The most he could do was nod.

Even after a year of having the chatty and bubbly Shirley beside him, and having lunch with the seemingly equal chatty and bubbly Isaura, Shane found that he could not be as open to her as he was to Shirley.

His parents said he had improved, but he didn't think so.

If he had, why was he so resistant to Isaura?

She was a nice girl, right?

Yet, each time he tried, the words would get stuck in his throat.

He was fine with his teachers and his classmates.

Well, he was the quietest in class but at least he could answer them whenever they approached him and asked him things.

He never was the one to initiate a conversation but he was not one who would ignore them either.

It wasn't that he ignored Isaura, but …

Shane shook his head as he peeked at her staring out the window.

He took several deep breaths and made a resolution that this year, would be different. This year, he will be able to open his mouth and talk to Isaura.

Not like he would with Shirley because … well, let's face it. She was the only one that he actually felt comfortable with and warmed up to. The rest of the classmates were at the 'lukewarm' level.

Unlike Isaura, which seemed to be in the 'dungeon freezer' level.

Shane scrunched up his face as he thought deeply about it.

He couldn't figure out why he had this sort of reaction to Isaura, but he was determined to overcome it.

He felt like she was Mount Everest – the huge mountain that he had to conquer in order to be 'normal'.

Feeling his shoulder being tapped, Shane got out of his deep thoughts to see Shirley's concerned eyes on him.

She had been chatting to him almost non-stop but he seemed to be in a different world. Well, Shirley found that he often did that, but he would have snapped out of it in a minute or two.

So Shirley never did bother much about it and simply prattled on until he 'came back'.

This time, however, he didn't seem to and Shirley became worried.

She gave a breath of relief when Shane smiled at her, patted the back of her hand and replied, "I'm okay."

Shirley quickly dispelled her worry and started prattling on again, feeling happy that Shane appeared calm. The fact that he actually touched her indicated this, for she knew how much he would shy away from any physical contact.

Her heart was warm and she was relieved.

✿ Author posts on WN and neovel ✿

All of this was captured in the eyes of an inconspicuous little boy sitting right at the back. From his position, he had an unobstructed view of the three children that he had labelled 'Amigos'.

Although, strictly speaking, they weren't really. Not to him, anyway.

He sighed internally, his eyes and body language not betraying his actions in any way. Not that any of the kids would have noticed – unless they were like him, MIB-in-training.

He leaned back on the seat leisurely, sweeping his eyes over the other children in the bus and wondered if there was any other trainee like him.

He knew he was not the only one.

How many, he was not sure.

He was just one of the potential candidates to be the part of the team that would accompany the Smith twins – though it was uncertain whether it would be one team for both, or there would be two teams for each.

All he knew was that only the best of the best would be selected and he wanted to be amongst that group. The ones who didn't make it would become 'normal' MIB agents and though that was still quite good … he didn't want that.

It was that concept: the best of the best.

Like, the Diamond Team.

They were his idols.

THE first team.

THE team that was the backbone of the MIB Head.

The Smith Heir.

The ones who were so well hidden that to the general public, they were just 'minions'.

It just appealed to his little boy's heart and he wanted to be the one that continued the legacy.

Whether or not the children of the Smith Heir would become the next Heir was not important.

Just being part of the team that was the child of the legendary Smith Heir and MIB Head was more than enough.

Though, if he was brutally honest with himself, he wasn't impressed with the eldest children yet.

Alex was a bit of a pain while Aurora seemed too playful.

Both of them didn't seem to have even a slight hint of the greatness their father is.

He tapped his knees and berated himself.

They were still young kids after all.

Perhaps their potential hadn't been stimulated yet.

Still, the fact that Alex had not even managed to find any of them yet made him a little bit disappointed.

They had been given strict instructions.

Low-key.

Do not stand out.

Hone your skills.

Be friends if approached but do not admit being a trainee.

Unless it could not be refuted, of course.

As the bus rolled into the school area, he took a deep breath and got ready to get up to exit the bus.

As much as he was disappointed with Alex for not being able to find him, he was also a bit happy for it meant his disguise was good.

Then, he frowned a bit as he walked in a line to leave the bus.

They were told not to try and find the other trainees but naturally, he didn't believe no one would try.

They would look and have their suspicions; but would never 'pierce the illusion', so to speak until it was revealed. They were to be good students and only after they had graduated from primary school would they be informed if they 'passed' or not.

Irrespective of whether Alex found them out.

As he got down from the bus, he saw Isaura running towards one direction and he knew it meant Alex had already arrived in school. She would only run when she did, and walk dejectedly when he didn't arrive yet.

He quickly looked around to see if anyone else was paying any attention to her and was slightly upset that he couldn't spot anyone.

He pretended to be looking for someone and greeted his classmate that just happened to be one of those people that Isaura ran past.

Alex may not have found him, or any of the others – but he, who had been in training for longer than Alex and perhaps, was one of those that had been placed earlier than anyone else … well, he should have found some already by now, right?

Or at least, have some suspicions about who some might be.

It wasn't good that he didn't.

Well, nothing substantive at least.

He clutched the straps of his back pack tighter, thinking that he would become more serious this time.

All of the MIB trainees were skilled in their own way, and he knew that each of them would have qualified to join the Accelerated Class. He chose not to, and kept his skill low key – but perhaps …

His eyes landed on Isaura again.

Could she be?

He stared as Isaura squeeled happily, dashing over with her arms wide open to literally jump onto Alex.

He couldn't help but rub the space between his eyebrows.

Such behaviour.

Such … unbridled emotions and … being so overly unashamed over it …

If she was a trainee, she was either really good for such actions – though seemingly a direct opposite act of their instructions, the result may be exactly what was needed: to avoid suspicion.

Even he was unsure if she really was a trainee, what more others.

He almost laughed out loud when he saw how Aurora and Ziad acted in harmony, causing Alex who had deftly avoided Isaura initially, was now standing there helplessly while a human monkey was literally clinging on to him.

Aurora and Ziad had their hand on his left and right shoulder respectively. Aurora had a huge smile on her face while Ziad was indifferent – but from their positions, it did not allow Alex to peel Isaura's hands that were wrapped around his neck, or her legs that were around his waist.

The expression on Alex's face was priceless.

He turned and gave a high five to his classmate, a good friend, who was laughing as he jerked his head towards the little show.

"That never gets old, does it?" his friend said as he bumped shoulders with him.

He smiled, shaking his head, "Nope."

"Ah, I'm going to miss all of this when we graduate," his friend lamented.

He punched the guy on the shoulder, putting an arm around it afterwards and said, "We still have some years left. Who knows? Maybe they'll actually grow out of it."

His friend turned his head around to witness Alex rolling his eyes while Isaura was rubbing her cheek on his.

Somehow, he doubted it.