New Life : A Second Chance

As expected, the effect of the Insta account was explosive. Kyle had to endure it and ride the waves as best as he could without complaint, as that was one of the reasons why Kay created the account in the first place.

It was to give him, Kyle, exposure.

The Smith Twins felt that the best way to tackle the hidden enemy was to be out in the open. The more exposure Kyle got, the more eyes were on Kyle and thus, the more difficult it would be for anyone to try anything.

Just take Dahlia as an example. How could anyone not see a young child walking alone? She was practically ignored that it allowed the perpetrator to grab her and place her in that dangerous position.

Kyle may have drawn attention due to his looks but it didn't mean that eyes were on him all the time. Most people would only look for a while but then, look away. However, if Kyle was more recognizable, people would be more observant and pay more attention to him.

Of course, it did have its downside as well.

The increase in screaming girls, the sudden influx of girls hanging about outside Sakura Academy simply to catch a glimpse of Kyle, the increase of Kyle's pictures being taken ... the little things like that. Kyle took it all with a heavy heart but his face could not show it. He had to keep on giving a smile and pretend like it didn't bother him at all.

Still, it did take a toll on him.

"You look like you're under a lot of pain," Beatrice commented one day to Kyle in class.

Kyle was busy typing at the keyboards, his attention completely focused on the screen when he heard her say that.

"Hmmm?" he mumbled distractedly.

His mind was a bit off at the moment as he studied the data MIB gave him on the subsidiary company Kyle had to monitor. He had MIB gather all the data and information that he needed that were related to the company, both that were public and even those that were not.

The financial reports, the accounts it had, the delivery and orders made, its employees and their work performance were but some of the information he had to sift through. On top of that, he had Kay's team of elite hackers go through all of the employees to find out if there had been any suspicious activities.

It was a lot of data to go through, and he also had to look at the market and economic status of the business. He felt like his brain was about to explode. Worse, this was just the tip of the iceberg with regards to the work that he would be doing once he graduated and officially started work.

"You okay, Kyle?" Beatrice asked again, after noticing his furrowed eyebrows. It was not like the usual, playful Kyle that she was used to. This ... serious Kyle was rather weird.

Kyle finally heard the concern in her voice and snapped out of his intense concentration.

"Sorry," he said as he looked away from the screen, then stretched out like a cat, getting the kinks out of his shoulders, neck, and back.

"I hate doing reports," he complained as he plopped his head down on the table while facing her. "I'm fine, just tired."

Beatrice took a look at Kyle's screen and saw some complicated graphs, data and pie charts. She couldn't understand a single thing about it.

Going over to his table, Beatrice put a bunch of chocolate drops on it, saying, "Here, to give you some energy."

"Thanks," Kyle said.

Then he looked up at her, without lifting his head, making puppy-dog eyes and a small pout as he asked, "Feed me?"

Beatrice's eye twitched. Looks like it didn't take long for him to get back to normal.

She didn't deem that he deserved an answer so she just glared at him and walked back to her table.

Kyle continued to look at Beatrice with a smile on his face. The concern she had shown made him feel all warm inside. It was also a welcome distraction from all of the work he had been doing the past few weeks. It was a timely reminder for him to start being crazy again.

Hence, the teasing. He kind of missed that eye twitch.

Kyle laughed at himself. He was turning out to be such a bully.

[You seem to enjoy teasing Beatrice a lot, dear brother.]

Kyle cricked his neck as he got up from the lying position on his desk.

[Well, I needed a break]

[Good news then. It might be safe now to actually go out] Kay commented.

The hype from the Insta account seemed to have settled down now. That is not to mean that people were no longer interested. On the contrary, the number of followers never stopped increasing. What did 'settle down' was that Kyle wasn't mobbed anymore.

People became more disciplined and felt it was much better to simply ogle him from afar and buy the pictures that the Sakura Academy students were selling of him. They didn't want to disturb him and felt that it was best that they let him do what he wants. Gave them more pictures, anyway.

Kay found out that the main reason that the situation had settled down to give Kyle some semblance of peace was due to Kyle's Fan Club. Rather, KYle Love Everyday aka KY.L.E Club. To love Kyle meant to let him be. Also meant no girl should approach him as he is the 'property' of everyone.

Since it gave Kyle some peace, Kay didn't do anything to stop it. So long as they didn't go overboard, that is.

[That's good to know] Kyle commented [But not tonight. Maybe tomorrow, since it's the weekend]

After class that day, Kyle and Beatrice went to the Student Council room. As they walked in, they saw that the rest of the current Student Council members were already there: Hank (President), Claude (Vice-President), Francis (Secretary), Denise (Treasurer), and Liam (PRO/Marketing). They were all sitting at the meeting table.

What made Kyle raise his eyebrows in surprise however, was the fact that the meeting table had a spread of food on it. As if a mini banquet was going on. Hank was at the top of the meeting table and he motioned for Kyle to come over and indicated for him to sit on his left. Beatrice sat next to Claude, who was to the right of Hank.

"Well, Kyle," said Hank as Kyle sat down, "Even though we started off on the wrong foot, I believe we're all good now."

Kyle smiled, a genuine smile, as he took Hank's hand and shook it. The past few months clearly showed that Hank was relieved at having the whole Dobbins issue out of the way. With a breath of renewed life, Hank did his work seriously and above board. Who knows what would have happened if Dobbins had continued blackmailing him?

Claude coughed embarrassingly and cleared his throat. Kyle knew that beneath that rough exterior, was actually a good man. Too quick to anger and retaliating, but also very loyal to his family. Which was the reason why he had been manipulated to help his relative at that time. Too proud to say he had been wrong, Claude continued down that path.

Even now, Claude was still gruff and would never admit his mistakes but at least, he was more willing to listen now. At least, towards Hank. Kyle hoped Claude would continue to grow and not fall off the path. He had done what he could: giving them a second chance. What and how they used it, would be in their hands after this.

"You'll do well as President," Claude said, then added, "You're cocky enough for it."

Kyle laughed and shook his hand as well.

Although there were another two weeks before school ended, the Student Council didn't have anything to do anymore. This was something Hank discussed with everyone, and they agreed unanimously to the suggestion that Hank made.

"Kyle," began Hank as they were sitting down at the meeting table, "I've talked to Principal Godric and he's already agreed."

"Agreed to what?" Kyle asked.

"Well, our job here is basically done and it's time for the new blood to take over," Hank explained. "So today will be our last day. You and your team can take over from tomorrow so that the transition would be much smoother. At least you'll have about two weeks to acclimatize with your new team before the new year begins."

Kyle nodded and was agreeable, despite the suddenness of it all.

"It was truly great working with all of you the past month or so. I learned a lot," Kyle said humbly.

Beatrice's eye twitched a BIT at that.

Everyone else just gave a smile, accepting the humble words even though all of them knew how untrue the 'learning a lot' part was. There was not a single person sitting in that room that did not learn something from Kyle. It wasn't that he learned from them, but it was that they learned from him.

At first, they had thought Kyle did nothing as everything appeared to be the initiative of the other Elite Five members but slowly, it dawned on them that it wasn't the case. The moment they realised that, they began to notice all the little things Kyle did in the background which had helped them and smoothen things out.

Since Kyle was always doing it quietly, they never mentioned it.

"So let's celebrate! The end of one era and the beginning of a new one," declared Hank.

The rest of the day was spent just laughing, joking and getting along with everyone. Even the stoic Beatrice gave a small smile.

She could start getting used to this.

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