Cold Storage

After lunch, Kay headed to the library. She found Ali waiting for her outside the classroom, leaning against the wall opposite the door. He stood up straight the moment she walked out and noticed how unhappy Kay appeared.

"What are you doing here?" Kay demanded.

"Guard duty," he replied, standing up straight and walking over.

Kay put up her hand to stop him, saying, "Didn't Kyle say that the school grounds were okay? It's only when walking back to the dorms and being outside."

Ali shook his head, explaining, "Change of plans. The school grounds would normally be fine, but we now have 15 strangers here."

Kay's frown got deeper. Did Kyle suspect? She shook her head, dispelling the thought. It couldn't be. It's probably just Kyle being stupidly overprotective again.

"Oh, come on," Kay protested, "They are all at Blossom Wing, aren't they?"

"We share a cafeteria, library, and field, don't we? Not to mention that their science labs are at the top floor here," Ali said patiently.

Kay rolled her eyes, "Fine. Whatever."

Ali took Kay's bag, and walked by her side. He looked at her slightly pouting face and smiled. Nudging her shoulder playfully. "Oh, come on Kay, lighten up. You have this handsome prince next to you. The girls would be SO jealous!"

For better effect, Ali started making those poses that men make to show off their muscles. A giggle escaped her lips when she saw how ridiculous Ali was being. He smiled, then patted her shoulder, saying, "We're just worried about you. You honestly do not know how you can attract these boys to you. Sakura boys are fine as they're ... well, they know better since there's us. The new kids though ..."

"Yeah, yeah," Kay said dismissively, "You guys just worry too much. I'll be fine!"

Ali shook his head and didn't say anything else. Honestly, he was on the fence about this one. He didn't think Kay would be any danger in school but it wasn't to say that the new boys weren't a threat. Kyle was, perhaps, being a tad too paranoid but it was his sister after all. Having them looking at her in a certain way rubbed him the wrong way as well, what more for Kyle. As his bro, he wouldn't argue with Kyle when he saw how worried Kyle was.

Changing the subject, he asked, "So how long is Kyle going to be in cold storage this time?"

"Humph," Kay replied, tossing her hair as she looked at him, "I haven't decided yet. Maybe forever?"

Ali gasped, putting a hand over his heart, "I'll get the resuscitation team ready! According to Xing Han, Kyle was like ... ants in his pants sort of thing during breakfast. And lunch? Hah. You can't believe how frantic Kyle was earlier during lunch time. His face was like this" and Ali gave this dark, frowning and worried look, "when he came to see me"

"Good," Kay answered, "Serves him right for being so stubborn."

Ali sighed. The Smith twins were both stubborn. Being caught in the middle wasn't easy. They walked to the library in silence after that. Kay sat down with some of her classmates, and started going through the subjects of the day and made notes. Ali simply sat at another table, as he was only there to accompany her and not jot down every single thing she said or did. It was his study period as well, so he started doing his homework.

At 2.45pm, Kay got up and stopped by Ali's table to tell him that she was going to the bathroom. He nodded, and left his bag in place and followed her. She glared at him, saying, "It's the bathroom, silly. What could happen?"

"You said the same thing at the food truck the other time," Ali replied, his face impassive.

Kay pressed her lips tightly together and couldn't refute his point, "Fine, but be warned. It's #2, okay? No comments."

Ali grinned and then took out his phone, "I'm well prepared!"

When Kay reached the girl's bathroom, Ali waited outside. He leaned on the wall and started playing PubG. Kay entered, and was relieved to see that Sophia and Sarah were already there. However, what surprised her was that Sophia looked rather nervous. Before Kay could say anything, Sophia suddenly bowed and apologized.

"I'm so sorry! So sorry!!" she kept saying while bowing.

Sarah quickly tried to shush her while Kay tried to stop her bowing in a panic. Ali was right outside. She stopped, listened and breathed a sigh of relief when there didn't seem to be any movement. "Please, keep it down! Ali is right outside! We wouldn't want him to start worrying or wondering now, would we?"

Sophia shook her head, eyes wide.

"And what are you apologizing for anyway?" Kay asked.

"You mean ... you didn't ask to see me about that?" Sophia asked.

"About what?" Kay asked again

"Um, er ..." Sophia stumbled with her words. She had been so sure that Kay had found out about her involvement and was now here to confront her. She had thought of personally apologizing before but somehow, never quite got round to it. Ali never brought it up again either. It seems that she had been thinking about it too much but the guilt she had been carrying was still there.

So, after thinking about it and taking a deep breath, Sophia explained, "I was responsible for that incident in primary school."

Kay blinked, surprised, "You?" Actually, she had already known since it was MIB that handled the matter, but pretended not to.

"What incident?" asked Sarah curiously.

"Oh, nothing much, Sarah," replied Kay before Sophia could, "Just some misunderstanding, and it was so long ago." Turning to face Sophia, Kay said, "Everything is all good now, isn't it?"

"Still, I am sorry," Sophia replied and bowed again.

"Okay, okay, I got it," Kay said, "How about this. I need your help and we'll call it even. Would that help ease your guilt?"

Sophia's eyes went wide and she nodded. She always felt that just by saying 'I'm sorry' wasn't enough. She had hurt Kay and her brother, and in the end, she had benefited from the lesson given. She had always carried that guilt in her heart and her actions were more like atonement for her past sins. Still, it didn't feel right since it wasn't directed at the people she had hurt.

Kay then explained to Sophia about her 'crush' on a LaSelle boy, how overprotective the Elite Five boys were, about Ali being her bodyguard and her plans on getting to know the LaSelle boy better. After about ten minutes, Sophia nodded, "No problem. I'll think of something to distract Ali, but what about the other Elite Five members?"

"It's not going to be every day," Kay said, "But on those times when I need a decoy or a diversion, I'll contact you a few days in advance."

"Sounds good, but I'm not sure how to go about this," Sophia replied, thinking hard, "I mean, we've just met and all that so it might seem strange if I suddenly do something or I may do things wrongly."

"Yes, so why don't we have a study group each week?" Sarah suggested, "I could be the one who brings you into the group and we can use that time to plan stuff together."

After discussing a bit longer, everything was finalised. Kay was happy. "Remember, no one is to know about this. Just us three. I can't have someone spilling the beans to Kyle later on - just to get on his good side."

Both Sarah and Sophia did a zipping motion on their lips and smiled. Kay returned the smile and said, "I'll go first. It should be safe for you guys to go out after 3 minutes or so."

They gave her an OK sign and Kay went to wash her hands. She took some toilet paper to wipe them and walked out.

"Done?" Ali looked up as Kay walked out.

"Duh," Kay replied, her palms up and then she patted his cheeks.

"Dang, Kay. That's cold!" Ali shouted.

"So warm them up for me then!" Kay said with a smile. Ali took her hands off his cheeks and held them in his, blowing hot air into them while rubbing them at the same time.

"Better?" he asked, as he looked at her tenderly.

"Much," she replied, taking back her hands and they walked back to the library.

Sophia waited another minute before walking out and caught a glimpse of Kay walking side-by-side with Ali. Although she couldn't see the earlier interactions between Kay and Ali, she could imagine it. Though she knew that Ali and Kay were part of the Elite Five and how they treated Kay like their princess ... knowing it, and hearing it were two different things.

For some reason, her heart clutched a bit listening to it. She was wise enough to know that it was jealousy but she had absolutely no idea whey she should be feeling that way. Ali was a good friend and nothing more. Perhaps it's because she never really had that sort of friendship with anyone. That closeness. Sophia sighed.

**--**--**--

That night, Kyle was scratching his head and trying to figure out what to do next. Kay wasn't responding to his mental calls and there was nothing he could do about it. This was the longest time he was put in cold storage. He wasn't going to back down, though, since he felt that he was in the right. He sighed, then got up from the bed as he looked at the time. He hadn't had any sleep and it was already time to head over to Master Shifu's place.

He groaned silently to himself and slipped out the window after donning his dark outfit. His mind was on Kay so much, though, that he made a few mistakes and slipped several times. Cursing in his mind, he tried to concentrate again but failed. Finally, giving up, he went into Zen Mode. It was the only way he could reach Master Shifu's place in one piece.

Being in cold storage wasn't fun.