Future Plans

While the Principal droned on the usual 'first speech of the year', Alex was hardly listening.

He was thinking hard about Isaura.

She often zoned out, but this was the first time she had fainted.

He noticed that she seemed to be in pain, for he had seen from his peripheral vision that her face scrunched up in pain, with her hand going to her head before her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

It was at this moment that Alex was really glad for his training. Otherwise, it was highly likely that she would have hit her head on the ground when she fell.

Alex had always felt that there was something about Isaura that was different from other people.

At one point, he had even thought she was a possible MIB trainee; but her condition seemed to say otherwise.

All MIB trainees weren't just exceptional in some sort of skill, they were also healthy and fit. It wasn't to say that there weren't any agents with disabilities, but the disabilities would not be detrimental to their job scope.

The MIB trainees that were around him would eventually be his core team members. There couldn't be anyone who would suddenly zone out in the middle of a mission, right?

Alex never considered the possibility that he would live a life just pushing papers on a desk. He would never be satisfied 'just' being a company man – this, he knew for a fact.

He was always restless and needed to vent, and just the mere thought of staying in meetings, meeting people and doing all that … stuff … just made him shiver. Perhaps he'll change his mind in the future, but he doubted it.

It had, admittedly, been slightly fun when he was following his father around the company before but it was not something he could do for a long time. It was the sense of power that he felt while walking in the company, with people looking at his father with respect and the way his father had everything under control.

That was something he liked, but he also knew that was only one part of the 'deal'.

The only time he truly felt alive, was when he was training with Max or out 'playing' as Cinder.

When he was truly enjoying every single moment and there was nothing in that which was boring or mind-numbing.

So naturally, his team members had to be those who would be equally active and skilled in that area.

Just like his father's old Diamond Team.

Whether he would have the cover of being a company man, though .. that was still something he had not quite figured out yet. All Alex knew was that he would not be satisfied if he was not Cinder.

Or doing something similar to what Cinder did.

Perhaps he should be a law enforcement officer?

Thinking of the police academy and its rules … Alex shuddered and quickly shelved that thought.

He stared at the Principal that was now wrapping up his speech, while making a mental note to go over to the infirmary later to check up on Isaura.

His future plans can be dealt with later. He had plenty of time to figure it out.

Right now, he had to survive school first.

✿ Author posts on WN and neovel ✿

Sam was standing patiently, his hand steadily holding the personalised pen his wife had given him over his trusty planner, while waiting for Kyle to finish complaining about the schedule that Sam had just told him.

After the slight rant, Kyle stared at his long-time friend and highly efficient PA, asking, "You're not buying this, are you?"

Sam didn't think that needed a response as he continued to wait patiently.

Kyle sighed and vigorously rubbed his hair, before finally settling down and replied, "Fine, fine. You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"You ruthlessly rejected Rie's plea to send her siblings to school," Sam stated without batting an eyelid, "So I should give you a proper reason for the rejection, right? So you can go back without guilt."

Kyle narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, "That was a low blow."

"Not as low as leaving Rie behind," Sam responded.

"Well, she has to learn that there are times that I can't say 'yes'," Kyle said, punching the table.

"If it's for a valid reason, yes, but you lied to her," Sam retorted with a snort.

Kyle made a face.

"And don't you start with the 'I am the father' speech," Sam said, quickly circumventing Kyle from making any excused, "That has never been your style."

"If you weren't my good friend, I would …" Kyle hissed through his teeth.

"It's because I'm your good friend, I can," Sam stated, cutting him off.

He then looked at Kyle seriously and asked, "But really, this isn't your style. Why?"

Kyle leaned back on his chair and pursed his lips before answering, "I can't quite explain it. It isn't a big deal, and it really is something like a tradition, right? But … somehow, I just felt … I had been spoiling her too much. There will definitely be times when I can't accommodate her, and this was something 'small', so to speak. Ease her into such disappointments."

"And the fact that Sayuri isn't around had nothing to do with it? Hmmm?" Sam asked with a smirk.

If Sayuri was in town, she would have given Kyle the evil eye for brushing Ariel off. She may not contradict him in front of the kids, but she had her ways to let him know whenever she didn't agree with his actions. If he couldn't give a good reason for what he did, he would have been punished later in her own unique way.

Sam knew very well just what those 'unique' ways were.

Kyle narrowed his eyes again and pointed his pen at Sam, "I repeat, if you weren't my good friend…"

Sam just pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose and ignored Kyle's 'evil' stare, saying, "Agent A reported that Isaura had fainted during assembly today."

Flipping some pages, Sam continued, "According to the medical reports, she does not have dehydration or low blood sugar levels, and her blood pressure was normal."

Kyle frowned. Sam just listed out the most common reasons that one would faint or pass out.

"Agent B reported that Isaura seemed to be in pain before passing out," Sam stated, "Her hands appeared to reach up towards her head, so Agent B concludes that it is most likely Isaura suffered a sudden severe headache."

"Isaura does not have a medical history of suffering from headaches nor has the Team found anything in her background which suggested any head injury before."

Like all of Alex's friends, they would have gone through comprehensive background checks. Isaura, naturally, had the highest level of scrutiny amongst Alex's friends due to her closeness to him - but there had been nothing suspicious so far.

Be it her, or her parents.

Sam looked up at Kyle and asked, "Do you want to increase the level of surveillance?"

Kyle thought about it and shook his head, replying, "The level is currently sufficient. We've already done the background check and all works out."

"Except for the fact that we couldn't verify her birth," Sam pointed out.

Kyle hummed, agreeing. The hospital that Isaura had been born in had been burned down and all records were destroyed.

"There's just too many gaps and loose ends," Sam, the perfectionist, complained.

"You know very well that the chances of us having a complete record of every single thing is not that high," Kyle told him, "Though we may not have the birth record, we do have the birth certificate and some sporadic maternity records of her mother."

Sam grumbled, still not satisfied.

"Shirley's records were perfect," Sam said, "From her, to her parents – all were there and in complete order. Shane as well. Even his condition is something under our control."

"That's by pure luck," Kyle pointed out, "Because it so happened his doctor was a MIB sleeper agent."

They didn't ask for Shane's medical records, of course – it was sufficient to get assurance from their sleeper agent of Shane's condition and whether it posed a threat. The agent would inform them should there be any danger.

However, it wasn't to say that if there wasn't Kyle wouldn't have breached all medical ethics to get Shane's records. If it involved his children's safety, morals and ethics were not in his books.

But if he didn't need to, he wouldn't.

Kyle knew very well there were good guys who did bad things, and bad guys who did good things. Kyle hadn't quite figured out whether he was the former, or the latter.

After all, so long as it involved his family and loved ones, the lines were pretty blurred.

But he liked to console himself to think he's one of the good guys.

"Okay, noted. No increase in surveillance," Sam grudgingly replied then smiled, "Your next appointment with all the Heads of Department is in 10 minutes."

Kyle groaned.