NEW LIFE : A SECOND CHANCE

Kyle's thought came back to the present. Every time he thought of that day, his heart would still beat rapidly in fear. The people responsible for the attempted kidnapping had long been dealt with by MIB, but the fear still lingered. It emphasized yet again how weak he was. No matter how good the preparations, no matter how hard he worked, one thing could not be changed. He was still a kid. He was severely limited by the young body. Having the skills but not the strength was useless.

Kyle couldn't wait to grow up and be stronger. At this moment, he was even more glad to have been reborn as a guy. With a male body, he had the opportunity to develop muscles, and be strong physically. He had hated the fact that he couldn't fight back in his previous life. True, if he was skilled in martial arts then, he would have been able to handle the men. That is, if he was skilled enough.

Still, that sense of helplessness and weakness was something he hated and was one of the main reasons why he could push himself so much in this life. Furthermore, as a guy, there were more opportunities open to him. Well, not so much as "more" but rather "much easier".

As a former woman, he was well aware that women can be as good as men and in some cases, even be better. However, an undeniable fact is that for women, they are constantly fighting against the flow to reach the top, whereas for a man, they'd just go with the flow. So women had to fight harder, and longer, to reach the same level as a man. Kyle wasn't stupid and not use whatever opportunities or advantage that he had as a man.

Just then, the Principal announced, "Now, I invite Kyle Smith, the TOP Student of Retsu Primary School, will say a few words."

Loud clapping sounded as Kyle stood up, straightened his jacket and walked up to the stage. He stood at the podium, looked at everyone in the Hall, and gave a dazzling smile. Audible sighs could be heard, especially from the students at the far back. The seating arrangements were as such that the top scorers were in the first row, followed by the Y6 students and their guests, Y5 students and so forth.

"Thank you, Principal Troy," began Kyle. "My parents chose Retsu Primary School as it was reputed to be the best in the Nation." Loud claps and whoops whoops were heard from this, and Kyle stopped for a while for the noise to stop before continuing.

"And for good reason. I have learned, and experienced many, many things in these past 6 years. However, my most invaluable lesson wasn't what was taught in class, or by the experienced and dedicated teachers."

Kyle looked at the crowd, turning his head left and right as his eyes swept the whole Hall, "But what I gained from all of you. My friends. My juniors. The parents of my friends. My parents."

Kyle's eyes softened as he settled on the front row, "My sister and brothers."

He looked up again, "You have made me what I am today. Your support, your love, your comradeship. I would not be here if I didn't have you. We push each other, we go up together and we go down together. Each and every one of us are the backbones of Retsu Primary School.

I have heard some grumblings that when this batch leaves, Retsu will fail. Those naysayers are foolish. BLIND!! This batch isn't Retsu. ALL of us are Retsu, and Retsu is all of us. As each batch leaves, a new batch comes and further strengthens Retsu. The spirit of Retsu lives on strong!!

"I LOVE YOU ALL!!"

Cheers erupted, several girls crying. Some cherished their delusional moment of having Kyle saying "I love you" ... the "all" part was conveniently deleted from their memories, of course. Dreams are dreams, after all.

Kyle walked out to the middle of the stage, made a formal bow to his the Principal and Vice Principals, the teachers on both sides before bowing to the crowd. Then, flashing a dazzling smile, he moonwalked off the stage.

His friends were waiting for him at the bottom, tackling him. His hair was messed up, and in front of the whole crowd, they began stripping him. Xing Han and Ali held him while Sam took off his jacket, waving it above his head. Then Ali locked Kyle's arms behind him while Xing Han unbuckled his belt and slid it off easily. When Xing Han then reached for the buttons on Kyle's shirt, Kyle kicked out, almost hitting Xing Han in the stomach.

Everyone was flabbergasted, watching the whole scene unfold in shock. No one moved, for some reason, probably because no one thought the "Elite Five" (minus the girl) could act so rowdy. Before anyone could react, however, Kyle leaned forward a bit, released an arm and flipped Ali over his head. He then turned around and ran, but not before Xing Han managed to grab his shirt.

The sound of a shirt tearing and buttons flying snapped everyone out of their stupor. The lucky ones could catch a glimpse of Kyle's abs, peeking through the open shirt. Kyle dashed out of the hall, right out the nearest door while Sam shouted at the top of his voice, "AFTER HIM!! TRADITION MUST BE FULFILLED!!"

Chaos erupted. Parents were bewildered, and remained in their seats while the students rushed out in a frenzied manner. Though it may appear like a stampede, the crowd was actually still quite civilised. No one pushed and forced their way through. Instead, they ran out like a start of a structured marathon. A whole crowd just pushing forward but no jostling or crazed people fighting to be ahead.

The tradition that Sam was talking about was the dunking of the Top Student in the Fountain at the center of Retsu's Main Building. No one thought that it would be done this year, for no one dared to touch Kyle. No one, except for the members of the Elite Five, of course.

Kyle ran quickly, getting a head start as no one expected him to suddenly dash out. He shook his head. He's going to get back at those three soon enough. Glancing back briefly, Kyle saw the whole crowd rushing at him and he picked up his pace. It's bad enough that they had planned to dunk him, it's worse that they had partially stripped him. Tradition was to be dunked fully clothed!!

Just as he rounded a corner of a building, he took the opportunity to be away from prying eyes to suddenly scale up from the edge of the building. He jumped onto a window sill, using the momentum to reach the window sill above. He pulled himself up easily, opened the window and slipped in. He just barely managed to close the window when thundering feet stampeded below.

Kyle turned, to see one bespectacled girl gaping at him, her mouth wide open. Of all days, it was THIS day that she had been late to school. She couldn't get into the Assembly Hall to watch the graduation, earning her intense regret and she was wallowing in sadness in her classroom. Who would have thought, that the vision of loveliness would tumble into the room at that moment, hiding under the window.

When he turned, she could see his usually immaculate hair all messed up but yet, he still looked so dashing. His shirt was wide open, revealing the tight, taught abdominal muscles that was always hidden underneath his clothes. She was already 11, still young to be innocent but old enough to appreciate the opposite gender's body. She gulped.

Kyle gave a smile, and put a finger on his lips.

She nodded, wide eyed and felt that being late today was the best thing ever.

Of course, Kyle still got caught in the end. No matter how good he was at hiding, he couldn't do it indefinitely when the whole school was looking for him. That, and the fact that Kay told the others where he was hiding.

So while Kyle was being led towards the Fountain, Kyle glared at Kay who looked at him with innocent eyes. Kyle's hands and legs were then grabbed by Sam and Xing Han, who then started swinging him towards the fountain.

With a "heeave-ho!!", Kyle was thrown into the fountain and everyone cheered.

Kyle sat up, brushing the wet hair away from his eyes. Flashes from camera phones were going like crazy, as they couldn't get enough of him. It was so ... perfectly picturesque. As he sat there, his hair wet and droplets of water falling down that perfectly sculptured face, his shirt sticking to his body ... At that moment, he didn't look like a 12 year old.

With a sudden grin, Kyle then began splashing the water towards the three stooges, who protested loudly. Kyle even stood up and started kicking water all around, effectively wetting anyone within range. Someone then had the bright idea of taking a hose from a nearby building and started retaliating. People started screaming, and laughing and jumping into the fountain.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was how the Greatest Water Fight began, the stories of it being passed down into Retsu's Primary School as being one of the greatest event that graced the normally rigid school.