"Can I be of help?" he said, with his face still out there.
As for Le-an, she knew he was only being concerned but couldn't possibly be serious. But Kilos was damn serious, showing maturity and clarity of thought.
"What do you want to do?" she demanded, still confused.
"I'll take you through this. Something within me assures me I'll make it," Kilos assured her.
Being emotional for a girl could be disastrous, but it's worth it, thought Le-an. Trusting a new student was a bigger risk too, considering she was the one who treated his shattered bones a few days back.
Kilos Barber's doubts disappeared as he faced the reality. With his hand holding tightly onto her wrist, he went against the window. The glass shattered as the metals gave way to the force of his body. It was a long journey cut short by the two. Kilos positioned himself to fall to the ground first.
"We're safe," Le-an opened her eyes.
"Are you alright?" his concern for her grew.
"I'm good, you should be concerned about yourself," she said.
The three roommates were already in deep sleep. Kilos was so tired that he went to bed straightaway.
The following morning, he had changed into new wear before they started waking up. Kilos checked his band to see if there was anything new. There was going to be an impromptu meeting with the students. He quickly looked for the venue. The venue was none other than where he'd visited during the night. He became uncomfortable with this development. He had to suspect maybe the authority wanted to fish out the culprits.
But first, he wanted to see Dr. Le-an before going for the meeting. Possibly, she had something to say about the whole thing. Kilos headed for the door to follow up on his plan, but Fred called out.
"Hey Kilos, you're back. Could you tell me how your night was?" Fred's words sounded more like a subtle accusation.
"You talk as if I didn't pass the night in this house. My night was fine, and as you can see, I have to be somewhere fast," Kilos replied hurriedly and then slammed the door shut.
"I said it, this guy has something wrong with him," Efron said, buttressing his former remark of the night.
After Efron's comment, sudden silence fell on them. They prepared to go out too.
That morning, the hospital was busy as usual with a new look. Kilos noticed that some of the new ones were old and stricken. He decided that this place was also for non-military personnel.
As he stepped in, two people were his targets. He wanted to see Manny and thereafter Dr. Le-an. Rumour had spread that Manny had been in serious condition because of the fight they had. He didn't think that was true because he didn't see anything serious happen.
He looked in the direction he thought he should be. But he wouldn't want someone like Tiffany to discover he was there.
His search yielded no result. He knew Le-an would know better. With this decision, he approached the doctor's office. He knocked and entered.
Dr. Le-an raised her head to see the visitor. She had been battling between two things: the display of Kilos and the broken bones. They were two contrasting matters which she needed an explanation for. Before he came in, she had already started to make findings.
"Good you are here, Kilos," she said with an expressionless appearance. "How did you jump from that place without breaking your bones?" she added, her question stern.
Kilos was short of words. He started to rack his brain for something. Le-an pushed a record before him to verify and back her claim.
"You can't be serious with this report. You lied to Baxter or blackmailed him to write this," Dr. Le-an accused Kilos of deception and falsification.
Kilos had not seen the report before. This was supposed to be between the school and the hospital or any doctor that had to take care of his treatment. With the record, the X-ray of his wrist clearly stated that he had shattered his bones.
"But, you did treat me," Kilos said to refresh Le-an's memory.
Le-an's confusion was visible. She needed no one to explain all of this, but if she was asking this, it meant something was amiss.
"I know you know the truth already," Kilos added his voice.
"I know, I know everything. We need to meet tonight," she was bent on knowing the truth.
Kilos had no words but only gestured by nodding.
All new students had gathered and were waiting for what the instruction of the day would look like. Side talks about the rooms and roommates were the talk of this time.
"My roommate is Monroo," one of them said, "but he made all of us a promise of help if we're loyal."
The other boy asked, "The Monroo I know is Lantern, isn't he?"
They had witnessed Lantern Monroo's contest the previous day. The fame for him was growing by the day because of his skills and strength. Even what happened in just a night had been going around.
"He's the one. I'll be loyal to him," the boy responded.
Each of them had something to say about their groups.
But for Kilos, he had no one as a friend yet, and his meeting was brief with Fred, Efron, and Brian.
"Leave the centre quickly!"
That was an announcement from one of the speakers. The students, though not seeing anyone, knew the instruction was clear. While they tried to determine the centre and make it available, some screens were descending from all over the hall. These were attached to some metals to keep them in space. In no time, they were in places set for them.
A room opened. This room was inside the same building. From there, a projector wheeled in and a focus was made to one of the screens. As soon as an image flickered forward, the lights in the room went dim.
"What's going on here?" Kilos's thought had its way through his mouth.
"I don't need to tell you to be panic-less, you should be prepared," the announcement from the speaker had spread through everyone else.
"New class, new leaders," was displayed.
The first figure was Lantern Monroo, and he was going to be the leader of this group.
"Lantern Monroo!" one of the boys was exhilarated.
Other names and photos popped up and scrolled away. To see one another's face was not possible, but once in a while, someone would express sadness or regret.
Followed by Lantern was that of Garet and his class members.
The third was Skule and his people. But before the introduction of his group members, there was a short hint about him.
This was how Skule was introduced: "Here's a water-man, Skule."
Though Skule had much water, the pronouncement from the screen was another angle to it. During their first time of meeting, Kilos had pointed out this defect—as he thought it was.
The next boy was Kilos Barber.
"Kilos, yeah!" Fred screamed when he saw Kilos's identity.
The members Kilos Barber would lead were displayed until the last number.
"What! Why's my name not on the list?" Fred was petrified. Fred had thought that he should be in the same group considering they lived in the same room. That way, the assistance he could need could be accessed.
"That's how it's supposed to be." Fred registered his disappointment with a hiss.
The rest of Kilos's roommates were scattered in other groups.
The film ended with Yaksa.
Having shown everyone to their leader, the screen went black and the new information was passed.
"Your leaders will receive the next instruction from their badges. That's where you will hold your class. Wish you all the best!"
Alert signals and sounds beeped from the badges. The leaders checked their hands to see where to go to.
Kilos's class was received.