“Master Shifu?” Delilah read out the name. Seeing the address, they noted that it wasn’t in their district. Heck, it wasn’t even in their country.

Kyle knew that this step would be hard, but it was crucial. There were a few forms of ninjutsu, but there was only one pure from that is passed within the family of the original ninjas. The art is not taught openly to outsiders, but is passed from Father to Son. Ninjutsu wasn’t just martial arts. It was tactics, espionage, camouflage … and assassinations. They were the spies from ancient times, the shadow behind the samurais.

Master Shifu was one such descendant, but he had no living son. Master Shifu used to teach the ‘normal’ ninjutsu, but had stopped after the death of his only son several years ago. Kyle knew it would not be easy, but Kay and himself had started several things in motion just for this day. If all goes well, he would have Master Shifu in the next month.

“Why?” Patrick asked his son seriously.

“Because I believe he’s the best,” Kyle responded, and gave them another piece of paper. This time, it listed Master Shifu’s achievements and personal history.

By now, Delilah and Patrick were quite used to Kyle’s abnormal intelligence, and took the list without question. They nodded in satisfaction. With their family background, and Mother’s temperament, getting the best is the only thing that they would be satisfied with.

“Fine,” they said.

Kyle and Kay smiled. Phase One up and running.

*** — *** —

Later that night, after dinner, Kyle and Kay were on their bunk beds in the bedroom. They had been sharing a room since their birth, and the only difference being their furniture being changed as they grew.

The reason they had bunk beds instead of two single beds was actually due to their Mother. She felt it was ‘safer’ if it wasn’t so easy to access each other’s bed. Like, seriously? It’s not like the bunk beds couldn’t accommodate two people if they really wanted to.

There were many occasions that they still slept together on one bed, as Kay would feel much more relaxed and happy to be hugging her brother like a bolster as she slept. Kyle, too, felt more at peace to be able to have her near him.

Still, they kept up appearances. Wouldn’t want Mother to get a heart attack now, would they? So, Kyle would normally get down from the bunk in the middle of the night to sleep with Kay, then return to his own bed before their nannies came to wake them up.

Right now, Kay was sitting on her bed while Kyle was at the desk, surfing the Net. She looked at his side profile, his face illuminated by the computer screen. Kay tilted her head, as she observed him going through the sites quickly for information. She can’t believe such an amazing individual was her twin. She’s rather fortunate, for she felt without him, her life would have been pretty dull.

Kyle had exposed her to so many wonderous things and information that everyday passed by quickly and full of excitement. However, all this would end soon. Once they started school the following year, there would be another dimension to the plans that they had been preparing since birth. Okay, so it was Kyle who had been preparing it since birth. Kay simply followed happily.

She knew that Kyle had a past life, and things to settle from it. Kay lay down on her pillow, thinking of the future as her eyes slowly fluttered close. She sent a telepathic ‘good night’ message to Kyle before succumbing to Dreamland.

**** —- **** —-

Kyle stopped his research for a while upon hearing the goodnight, and turned to look at the sleeping Kay. He smiled, though he was a bit sad in his heart. Was it fair of him to subject her to the path that he was taking? She never complained, and followed everything he said and did without question.

He knew that he couldn’t stop wanting to solve the issue of his past life, and everything he did now was in preparation of that. He did, at first, wanted to shield Kay from it. He didn’t want Kay to be caught up in this like he was. She has her own life, which was THIS life.

Kay wouldn’t have it. When she found out about it, she actually threw a tantrum and stopped speaking to him. Getting the silent treatment is bad, but getting it from your twin was worse. It wasn’t just the “not speaking” part, but it was the fact that you suddenly had no one to connect with. When you have that intense connection since birth (well, okay, even before birth), and then it’s gone – it’s actually painful.

Worse, Kyle knew that Kay was suffering as well. Yet, no matter how much he tried to persuade her, cajole her and butter her up, nothing worked. Until he finally relented and said yes. He could handle it if it was only him in pain, but it was intensified with seeing her struggling as well. He couldn’t do it.

Kyle turned back to the computer screen, reading the latest information about Rex Industries that his informant sent him. His informant didn’t know he was a 6 year old, of course, and he never will – despite the fact that the informant was a formidable hacker. Kyle wasn’t a hacker … but Kay was. She had the sort of mind that could grasp those codings so well. Kyle could do some basic hacking, but nothing in the realm of Kay. So even though the information that he was reading is something Kay could have obtained as well, Kay didn’t have the time to do so. Outsourcing was the best.

Kyle remembered the first time he started making plans.

***— ***

Flashback, 5 years ago

Kyle was frustrated. Extremely. He looked at his tiny hands, and tiny legs and mentally cursed their weakness. He still couldn’t walk yet. His leg muscles hadn’t developed fully yet. He hated crawling. The carpet burns! Urgh. Being a one-year old sucks. Big time.

Kyle looked up at the calender on the wall again. The first thing that made him shocked when he had been born, was the date. He had assumed he was reborn right after he died. He was wrong. So wrong. It wasn’t even the future. He had actually gone back in time, and was in a completely different continent. Literally halfway across “her” past life’s location.

Was this part of the whole Master Plan? To enable him to do what must be done? But he’s a baby right now! No matter what, there was nothing he could do to warn “her”. Even if ‘she’ had such a warning, why would ‘she’ take it seriously?

Today is actually ‘her’ graduation day. A year after that, ‘she’ met the man who would be her husband. They got married three years later. Then, their first child in the 2nd year of marriage, and the second one two years later. Ten years after that … she dies. So he actually has 19 years to build a solid foundation, find out what truly happened, create connections and then … then… pick up the pieces of ‘her’ life.

Well, considering he can do jack squat while a toddler, essentially he only has 16 years? Kyle figured he could start doing something by the time he is 3 years old. The earlier, the better. Right now though, nothing. He glared at his useless feet. Can’t even get up from this stupid position, and I want to get revenge? Hah.

Not once did Kyle think of ‘saving’ herself from her fate. That would be like killing himself right now. Then where would Kay be? He already viewed his past life as just that. The past. It was already set in stone and he did not want to change anything. The butterfly effect would be too horrible and unpredictable.

Kyle and Kay spent nearly one year just talking about it with each other. That was the real reason why they only didn’t speak until they were two. Once they were two, they started meticulously planning their steps, one at a time. The plan had gone through a lot of changes before they were finally satisfied with it. That took another year.

Truth be told, Kyle was flabbergasted to discover that his twin’s mind was sharp, and that she was highly intelligent. He had his past life as a reason, but Kay? Could it be due to the fact that he stimulated it when they were in the womb? Was it possible that she was accessing more than 10% of the brain?

It was only conjecture, but it appeared to be the most plausible explanation right now. Especially when one considered the fact that their Mother wasn’t a genius (research shows that intelligence comes from the mother, you see).

Whatever it was, it was truly a boon for them. Kay had the more analytical mind, and had a knack for numbers and figures. Hence, coding was the natural progression. Kyle, on the other hand, was more skilled in management and things related to it. It was perfect, as the family’s fortune was based on business. Marketing, share prices and the like were things which he could comprehend easily.

The plans that were made had these skills used to the max. With such a foundation, Kyle was confident. With Kay by his side, he had everything he could need for success.