"Unbelievable!" Sen slowly opened his eyes. Was it morning already? And that voice. He knew the voice. So when he looked up and found Kai standing over him, it wasn't much of a surprise. Kai wasn't wearing his green hoodie today, rather, a dark suit, dress shirt and tie. Why would anyone wear anything so formal on a day like this? There wasn't a celebration going on that Sen was aware of.
"What do you want?" It had been one day since Sen last saw Kai. That, however, did not mean that he wanted to see the grinning, 'son-of-a-politician' any more than he had to. The last time they saw each other, Sen had stormed off the roof of the building leaving Kai alone. By the time he returned, Kai was gone and Sen was once again in peace. And now here they were, on the roof like the other day.
Kai reached over ruffled Sen's hair, and grinned, "Let's go to school." Well that explained Kai's formal attire.
Kai knocked the hand off of his head. "No." Hadn't they already discussed this? Sen had no use for school. Kai offered his hand to him. "Come on!" He whined. "I found out that we're in the same class, but I've never even heard your name called for attendance."
Sen sat up against the fence, his neck sore. Maybe he shouldn't have fallen asleep against the metal wire. As he looked down into the streets below, he muttered, "The teachers probably gave up." And with good reason. In all honesty, Sen lost track of the days that he had cut school. And he didn't think that he would even remember any of his classmates or teachers.
Kai sat next to him. "Seriously you're unbelievable!" He complained. Sen almost cracked a smile. Mr. 'Son-of-a-politician' was probably used to always getting his way. "Come to school just this once!" Unimpressed, Sen once again answered, "No." Kai scowled. This discussion was obviously not going as he planned.
Then suddenly, Kai was once again giving him a grin, "Aw, but today is such a bright day. Don't waste it sleeping." Sen blinked. What did Kai take him for, some kind of a slug? He didn't just sleep all day. Normally he spent his mornings...
"Are you worried about your bad attendance record?" Did Kai ever shut up? Obviously Sen didn't care about what other people thought of his attendance. "As the son of a politician, I can change that," Sen rolled his eyes. Here he goes again. "And I'll buy you ice cream!" Sen's body twitched. Kai was so irritating! "For the last time, NO!"
In a hushed tone, Kai said, "You know, your father is still paying for the school tuition." Sen's eyes widened. That was news to him. Why in the world would he still be paying after all this time. As if he were reading Sen's mind, Kai continued, "He has hope in you." Sen looked down, unsure of how to respond. His dad still had...hope?
Kai gave him a small, consoling smile. "Let's go before we're late." Kai swung a bag from his shoulders and opened it. Inside was a spare suit, tie, and pants. Whistling, Kai walked through the door leading downstairs. Sighing, Sen started to get changed on the rooftop, folding his Knite uniform and leaving it in a neat pile.

Downstairs, on the street, Kai was waiting with two ice creams. Handing one to Sen, he started to walk off, happily talking about the school. Sen followed him, barely paying attention. He was actually going back to school after all this time. And even more than that, Kai's comment about his father stuck in his mind. He has hope in you. Even after all this time, his father still believed in him? Even after all the nights when he didn't go home? Even after all that Sen put him through? Did he...did he still have hope in mom?
Sen shook the thoughts from his head. No. He wasn't going to start thinking of mom now. The last time he did, that night on the roof with Kai, he became too emotional. He wasn't just going to let someone like Kai know how much he actually cared.
Eventually the school came into view, though it seemed to be empty. Before walking through the door, Kai sushed him and gestured him inside. Kai led him to the right classroom and opened the door. Inside, Sen saw a very familiar person. Ling? He almost said her name aloud before he caught himself. They would have to talk later.
Kai laughed, "Sorry we're late!" They walked into the class and found seats near the back. Throughout the entire lecture, Sen found himself staring at Ling. He knew her quite well. She was a loyal Knite who never failed to fly her kites every night. It couldn't be a coincidence that Kai was able to find him, while Ling was in Kai's class. They must have spoken. But why would she give away his location?
The school bell rang, startling Sen. "Class dismissed!" The teacher opened the door and a flood of students stood from their desks, rushing to the door. Sen stayed seated looking back and forth between Ling and Kai. He definitely wanted to know exactly what was going on.

After two more classes of absolute boredom, Sen and Kai finally got a break from work. Sen and Kai sat on a bench together. "Lunch time!" Kai yawned. Sen felt his stomach growl. Now that Kai mentioned it, he was pretty hungry. But... he didn't have any food. He groaned. Now what? Kai chuckled as if sensing Sen's thoughts. He pulled a metal tin from his bag and handed it to Sen. "Here, I brought you a lunchbox." Was Kai always this prepared? Sen shrugged and opened it...

And found it full to the brim with cookies and candy. He frowned. Is this what Kai ate everyday? Sen didn't mind sugar but this much would give him a stomachache. Kai started laughing. "Min-Min made it with ~love~" He wrapped his arm around Sen's shoulder, grabbing a star-shaped cookie. "So you better eat it!"

As Kai bit into the cookie, a shout came. "Sen!" He looked up to see Ling standing in front of them. "I can't believe you came to school!" Kai waved at her. "Hey Class Rep! Thanks again for helping me find Sen." Sen's face darkened. So she was the one who gave him away. "Ling, so you're the traitor."

"What? It's not like that!" She protested. "I just..."
Kai gave her a wink and his most dashing grin yet. "Fell for my politician's charisma!" Sen could swear that he saw her face redden as much as his Knite uniform. "What? No!" Kai started laughing hysterically. Once he calmed down, Ling asked, "May I join you two?" Kai wiped the tears from his eyes, still recovering from his laughing fit. "Of course!"
As they all shared Sen's sweets, Kai asked, "Hey Ling, Sen won't tell me, but how did this antisocial little swallow form the Knites?" Sen felt like tossing the rest of his cookies on Kai but resisted the urge just long enough for Ling to reply, "Haha, well, it was almost two years ago..."

"Ling, what are you staring at?" asked Fei. Ling turned to her friend and then pointed up into the night sky. "Look Fei, stars!" Fei shifted her red glasses and then squinted at the sky. Sure enough, small specks of light dotted the sky. But they were so close together. Fei shook her head, "They can't be. No stars have been seen for over two decades." And that was the sad truth. The sky was so polluted nowadays that it blotted out the light that should have been produced by the stars."
But Ling looked skeptical. "Then... what are they?" Fei grinned at her. "They must be the works of..." She looked back at the sky. "a dreamer." Ling kept staring at the lights in the sky. "Even if that's the case, they're still beautiful." She frowned. "But they look so lonely. I wish more stars could join them..."
Before she could finish, Fei grabbed her by the arm and quickly started walking towards the lights. "Alright!" She said, determined. "Let's track down this dreamer and ask how it's done!" And so they searched until dawn, when they could no longer see the lights in the sky. And they searched the next night. And the next. They looked high and low until...

Fei swung the door to the rooftop open. She and Ling stepped onto the roof and noticed a boy in a red shirt standing by the metal fence at the edge of the rooftop. He turned towards them. He was good-looking enough; black haired and piercing brown eyes. Behind him, on the fence were ten long wires with, each attached to swallow-shaped kites in the sky. The wires had dozens of shining bulbs on them. They must be the lights that they saw before! The boy cooly looked at them and asked, "What do you want?"
Fei stepped towards the boy and gestured towards Ling, "I'm Fei and this is Ling." Ling put her hands behind her back and said, "We came to thank you, and we were wondering..." She smiled, "if you'd like any help." The wind picked up, tossing the boy's hair in front of his eyes. "Is that all?" He asked. "Then you're welcome. Now leave."
Fei put her hand on Ling's shoulder and angrily exclaimed, "Now look short stuff," She pointed at him. "We've been searching for three days so we could thank you and offer our help! At least show us some respect!"
The boy's expression barely changed. "I don't need any thanks or help."He closed his eyes and continued, "I'm doing this for myself and I already have everything I need," He turned around and nodded at the kites, "Right here."
Fei walked up to him. "Is that so." It was more of a statement than a question. She spun him around and pushed him against the metal fence. She looked him right in the eyes and said, "Listen up, boy. I know what you're trying to do, and I can tell you now it's a fool's errand." He avoided Fei's gaze. "Do you really think that you alone can put enough lights in the sky to resemble stars?" She snorted, "That's right, you can't." He eventually looked back up at her. "I don't care. Now leave."
Fei shook her head. "Just watch. I will make you regret your words."

Sen spoke up. "That woman was..." He hung his head into his hands, "So terrifying..." Kai and Ling started to laugh. He lifted his head. "However, before I knew it, before I even set out the first kite, the sky was already filled with lights..."

Sen finished attaching the lights to the string of his swallow kite. It was time to brighten the sky. He looked up into the night, expecting to find the same black abyss that he saw every night. Only it wasn't.

Sen's eyes widened in awe. The sky was blanketed with stars. All around him, lights filled the night. Sen felt tears starting to form. But how could this be?

Behind him, a voice shouted, "No need to thank me!" Sen turned to find that girl from the other night, Fei, standing behind him with a triumphant grin and a kite in her hand. He looked it the string of the kite. It had glowing red lights attached to it. Sen's mouth formed a little 'o'. So she is the one who... but how did she get so many lights into the sky? "I only did it to prove you wrong!"

"All these lights... How?" Fei grinned at him. "Unlike you," She gestured at the lights. "I have friends." She stepped towards him. For the first time, Sen clearly saw her shirt. It was the same design, and the same bright red as his own. She stuck her hand out in offering. "So what do you say? My offer still stands." She gave Sen a wink.

Sen couldn't help himself from smiling. "Heh, you win." He said, shaking her hand.

Ling interrupted him, "Then Fei and I came up with the title 'Knites'." Kai shook Sen by the shoulder. "So Sen didn't do much at all!" That urge to throw the cookies at Kai still didn't go away. Kai turned towards him. "And you're still such a loner. You need to make more friends!" Sen brushed the hand from his shoulder. "More friends?" He jested, "I can barely stand the one's I have now."

At the end of the day, the rest of the students had gone home, but Sen insisted that Kai stay with him to chat. "Kai, spill the truth. Ling has never told anyone about my whereabouts." Kai, sitting in the desk in front of him, leaned his head back on Sen's desk. "So what did you bribe her with?"
Kai chuckled. "Bribe?" He asked innocently. "Oh no, I just used my poli..."
Sen stopped him, "And none of that politician's charm crap!" Kai scratched his head and shrugged. "Well, it's no secret that the Knites were led by someone named Sen, but no one knew where to find you. One day while I was asking around, the Class Rep overheard me." So that's how he met Ling. "So I explained to her why I was looking for you, and she agreed to help me," He blinked. "If I promised to bring you back to school."

Sen sat there for a few minutes, just thinking. Even Ling wanted him to come back to school. People did care about his him... But still... "Hey Kai, I've been wondering..." He draped his notebook over Kai's face. "Yeah?"

"When we first met on the rooftop, you asked me if I went to school, yet you already knew from Ling that I didn't. What's with the inconsistency?" Kai lifted the notebook from his face and stuck his tongue out at Sen. "Silly Sen, you should know by now." He winked. "Politicians are liars."

While he started to giggle, Sen snatched back the notebook from Kai's hand. "DON'T YOU DARE," Sen smashed the book into Kai's face, sending him toppling off the desk. "LIE TO ME AGAIN!" Sen stood from his desk and walked out the room. He actually felt a bit better now.