Sitting on the jungle gym, a being who had created many worlds and many gods looked at a girl who was nothing more than a speck of dust in his celestial wake. A being so incomprehensibly powerful that physics itself was a suggestion, but Ren-Shai looked at the young girl beside him with the first pangs of regret he had ever felt. Because of his actions and interfering with Fate, her Fate had changed for his own selfish desires. Ren-Shai and his three brothers understood the concept of a debt owed, but they had never directly wronged another creature. With Anna, that was two debts owed - both to her and Tyler.

  “Tell me, Anna,” he said, leaning back on one of the bars as he looked over at the small girl. “What did you want to be when you grew up?” he asked.

  “... Uh, my new mom is a doctor,” Anna replied. “I want to help people like her.”

  “Then I will help you. When your leg was injured, I took away your fated future. I will help you forge a new one,” Ren-Shai swore.

  “You still talk weird, but if you want to help, that’s fine,” Anna said. “What do you want to be?” she asked.

  “Honestly? I am going to try a little of everything to try and understand why humans defy me and my brothers. What inspires them to try and fight to live in spite of Death and Fate themselves,” he replied. “Perhaps one day a superhero, perhaps one day an office worker. I think I will give two years of my life per endeavor to come to my conclusions… humans do not live too long, after all.”

  “... I told you I don’t understand what you say, but I did say I’ll try,” Anna said, looking like someone had bonked her on top of the head with a mallet as her young mind tried to comprehend it.

  “I thank you for the effort, but, so far, there’s only one person who can understand what I’m saying - if even a little,” Ren-Shai replied.

  “Then I’ll be the second,” Anna swore, rubbing her head. “... What does spite mean?” she asked.

  “To annoy or offend, but most people use it to mean to hate or fight against,” he answered.

  “O…kay?” she asked. The bell to go back to class rang. Thank you, god. She thought.

  “Climb on,” Ren-Shai replied as he showed his back to her. Anna wrapped her arms around his neck and Ren-Shai scaled down the jungle gym.

  “Thanks,” she murmured against his back. Once they were on the ground, Ren gave her her crutch back and walked with her toward the lunch room.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Lunch, itself, was just typical of what was in a public school. Slice of pizza, milk, bread roll, and some vegetables. Of course, Tyler’s friends invited Ren-Shai and, by proxy, Anna to the table they were sitting at. Despite them being Tyler’s friends, they no longer felt a connection to the being they once called a friend, but they did talk to Anna, giving Ren-Shai some much needed peace and quiet. When the bell rang and they split into different classes, Ren-Shai’s day went much more smoothly. Math, basic Science, and so on. It was going well until his last class of the day - Physical Education.

  “... And I just had to use Cultivation… this is going to stand out,” Ren-Shai said, facepalming as he walked into the gymnasium. While he could hold back, he couldn’t disguise a lack of sweat, muscle coordination, or things someone his age shouldn’t have had. With all his bone training, muscle strengthening, and so on - the body of a five year old was now stronger than fully grown adults. The students changed into their gym outfits - shorts and a t-shirt. At the very least, if I perform at the top of athleticism, that opens up some potential life paths later on for me to try. Humans do idolize sports for some reason. He thought to himself.

  “Alright, class, gather up. Ten jump and jacks, five push ups, and one lap around the basketball court,” the teacher said, pointing out the pieces of tape with the students' names on the floor - since children couldn’t be expected to organize themselves. Ren-Shai wandered to his and waited for the order to go. Once it was given, the gym became so quiet someone could hear if a needle was dropped. Tyler’s body was a small blur, both of speed and perfection of form. While it was only warm-ups, the coach was even astonished - it looked straight from instruction manuals he had seen in the military. Just a few seconds later, the coach was even more stunned.

  “Did… he just make a lap around the court in… seven seconds?” the coach asked out loud. The students seemed just as confused. “... I should tell his parents to keep up whatever he’s doing… if he gets to high school, then he’d be able to run on a national level,” the coach said under his breath as he headed to the office, leaving the students a bit of free time.

“Heard you think you’re some kind of god since you hit your head,” a black-haired boy said, smirking at Tyler once the coach had left.

  “I am one, just inhabiting this body,” Ren-Shai said, looking at the smirking boy boredly.

  “There’s only one God and you’re not him,” the boy mocked.

  “Jared, I don’t recommend doing what you’re about to do,” Ren-Shai said, sighing in annoyance as he looked at the basketball in the boy’s hand.

  “Or what?” Jared asked as he drew his hand back and threw the ball right for Tyler’s face as hard as he could.

  “Or this,” Ren-Shai said. It wasn’t a matter of annoyance, but pride - an ant was dumb enough to step up to a roaring lion. Even if the ant was a child, it should have known not to bite a lion. Ren-Shai lifted his hand and did a backhanded slap that would have looked funny for anyone watching as it looked straight from a T.V. sketch. What wasn’t funny was when the ball went back to the sender hard enough to lay him on his back before he could react, leaving an imprint of the ball on the boy’s cheek as it began to swell.

  “Alright, Tyl-what?” the coach said as he walked back into the building. It was going to be the start of growing pains, it seemed. It was going to be a long school year.