Kyle stood at the corner of the classroom, darkened by the absence of sunlight thanks to the dark cloud above. In front of the class was him—Dennis—standing with his hands clenched together and his head lowered. He waited patiently as his seatmate, Alison, read his confession letter, anxious.
Of all the girls in the class, Alison was the only one who didn't call him a fat pig or curse him out at any given chance. She treated him like a human being, and he had grown to love her because of that.
After bottling up his feelings for so long, Dennis had mustered the courage to share his thoughts through this letter.
Pa!
Kyle trembled at the sound of the slap, shutting his eyes tight as he placed a palm over his cheek. Even though he wasn't the one getting hit this time, he still felt the pain in his heart.
He watched her rebuke him with a look of contempt and disgust while the entire class laughed and recorded the event on their phones. This was a side of her Kyle never knew existed.
He watched as the old him shamefully ran out of the class, locked himself in the bathroom for the entire day, and cried.
Watching everything play out from a third-person perspective was different for Kyle. Before, he always felt wronged and pitied himself. However, viewing it from a different lens now, he felt nothing but disgust for himself.
This was the seventeenth scene he had witnessed, and they all followed similar patterns. A loser who always felt bad for himself and his situation but was never willing to do what was necessary to fix it till his dying day. He was even too much of a coward to share these problems.
At least as a kobold, he made consistent efforts to improve his strength. Even his final moments were spectacular. He fought till the end, even against overwhelming odds. It sure beat slumping over your computer mid Fort-day match. (Fort-day is a battle royale shooter game in his world. Don't judge, we can't always be creative.)
Kyle's eyes fluttered open, revealing the full moon sitting above the canopy of leaves and staring back at him. He felt like he had just woken up from a quick nap. If it wasn't for his sore joints and aching bones, he would have sworn his battle with those goblins was only a dream.
'I didn't die?' Kyle was surprised.
He looked toward the source of warmth and saw Lu'k and Ma'ya grilling some meat over the fire and laughing. Kyle didn't speak; he just watched them converse and laugh, registering every emotion they displayed. Only now did he realize these people were more human than all those he had to put up with in his past life. If it were in the past, he would have been too distracted by the shock of seeing kobolds grilling meat with fire to notice these minor yet important details.
His deep gaze soon drew Lu'k and Ma'ya's attention. The two looked at him and shot him a warm smile.
"First brother is awake," Ma'ya said to Lu'k, who nodded while rubbing his beard.
This reminded Kyle of the martial arts movies he always watched back on Earth. He always found their long beards, hairstyles, and clothes appealing. He used to daydream of single-handedly beating up all the school bullies in front of Alison, which would make her fall in love with him.
With all these memories resurfacing, Kyle couldn't help but chuckle a bit before exploding into full-blown laughter, leaving Ma'ya and Lu'k stunned. Kyle had always been reserved and a loner. He never fraternized with his siblings and always seemed annoyed being around them.
He was laughing now?
"I see your defeat didn't break your spirit," Lu'k said, speaking directly to Kyle for the first time since he was a baby kobold.
At this point, Kyle was too mentally and physically exhausted to make a big fuss over this. So he just nodded and said, "Thank you."
Silence fell again as Kyle shut his eyes, while Lu'k kept staring at him with thoughtful eyes. Caught in between this odd moment, Ma'ya said nothing and began munching on her meat.
"When I was much younger, I had great dreams for the future. A future I shared with my sworn brothers and sisters…" Lu'k began, catching Ma'ya and Kyle off guard.
Both shifted their attention to him, not bothering to hide their shock.
"We were all from different clans but met each other while exploring the vast Evergreen Forest. Together, we decided to build the strongest colony and set the stage for the rise of the kobold race, and so we started by looking for a place to call home. In our first year, we traveled to all the regions of the forest and decided on the southern region, where a great wyvern lived. We built our home under its hill and secured the entire northern region of Wyvern's Reach, driving away the Ashmark and beasts…"
"Honestly, we all knew we wouldn't be able to reach our goals in our lifetime, so we decided to risk our lives and gather treasures for our offspring. Treasures that would give them an edge over others from the very beginning. Initially, it went well, and at our peak, the other regions feared a possible territorial expansion from us. It was great until it stopped working. We underestimated humanity, and it led to the slaughter of my siblings, all within the span of a year. The light of our Dan'tai colony was snuffed out just as fast as it was lit."
Kyle was silent, unsure of how to react to this. Initially, he believed kobolds simply gathered treasures for the sake of gathering. If what Lu'k said was true, then he couldn't fault them for thinking about the younger generation. At best, he could only fault them for not covering their tracks properly. However, this reminded him of his own failure in the same task against much weaker foes, leaving him embarrassed.
'I'm really not in a place to judge,' he sighed.
What a leader he turned out to be.
"Amongst all our offspring, you stood out from the moment you were born. Your eyes possessed intelligence and awareness I had only seen in adult kobolds. Instantly, we all knew you would be special, so we brought you before the dragon altar. But the greater kobold didn't choose you as its next dragon speaker. Initially, we were disappointed. Then we watched you take interest in the activities of the clan at a young age—observing the building, repairs, and maintenance of traps. You would have been chosen if it wasn't for the fact that you never tried to be a part of the colony. You just existed amongst your siblings. It was almost like you didn't want to belong to us, and this was confirmed by how eager you were to leave the cave on your very first day as a teenager. This alone disqualified you from ever leading the colony…"
At this point, Lu'k faced Kyle, staring deep into his eyes.
"However, even with all your flaws, you are not selfish. You are also not too shortsighted to notice your mistakes, and when you do notice them, you are courageous enough to face them head-on. So yes, I believe there is still hope for you."
Buzz!
Kyle was shocked by what he had just heard. It never crossed his mind that Lu'k had been paying such close attention to him. The old kobold always stayed quiet and distant. Now he understood why.
A whole lot had been going on around him, but he never noticed because he was always distracted instead of living in the moment.
"Will you let me teach you what it means to be a leader?" Lu'k ended his speech with a question.