Me and my father made our way down the unpaved path that led to the school, not speaking as we walked along. Already I could see other children and their parents cueing up to go inside, final words were being exchanged between parents and children. As mothers gave quick pecks on the cheek, and fathers just went for a quick hug. My dad led me through the gate and gave me a hand a reassuring squeeze.

"You can wait a bit longer if you want to."

He said, I noted a small cadence of worry in his voice, I turned to face him and gave a quick smile. I had expected him to say something like this. I gave him a small hug, taking in his warmth and presence, and the reassurance that it brought. I broke away, and turned. Walking toward the school's large double doors.

"Good luck Matthew."

He called after me, I turned my head and grinned. Laughing as i yelled my response back to him

"Thanks dad! But I don't need luck!"

I was ushered into a small hall where there were a line of desks arrayed in a row, ladies with serious expressions and pursed lips sat behind them busily tapping away at holo-screens. While a long line of young children was passed beneath their eyes. We were each given a quick interview, some questions were asked, and our names were registered in the school's system. After that the teachers directed us to the auditorium, a large two tiered structure. The older children sat above jeering at the new arrivals below.

I took my seat in a relatively isolated spot. And took one of my many books out of my bag, the others fresh arrivals filed in, jostling and pushing as they took their seats. Eventually I watched as the teachers called for quiet, and a hush fell over the crowd of youngsters as she took the stage. Mrs Darcy waited as the last noise died down, before she finally spoke. Her voice carrying across the entire auditorium without the assistance of a microphone.

"I will say this only once, this school is only for those who wish to learn. If you do not take your learning seriously then you will not be allowed to stay here. For those of you who are just starting. I recommend you remember those words."

Her gaze flicked to the older children who sat above. And her next words were directly to them.

"You older children should remember that you are role models for the younger children, and I expect you to conduct yourself accordingly. Am I understood?"

There was a chorus of "Yes Mrs Darcy." from the older children.

"Good. And as for you lot-"

She turned towards us young'uns, and fixed as with a gaze the could stop a krogan in its tracks. And suddenly the entire bottom row was as silent as the grave. Not a single person dared speak, for fear of what retribution might befall them. Her next words were not simply spoken, they were intoned.

"You are not just here to learn, the reputation of this school and by extension this colony rides on your shoulders. And that means that I expect nothing but your absolute best. This generation will be the one that best represents our colony as a whole. Am I understood?"

The auditorium as a whole voiced its understanding. And then we were dismissed

We were filed into our respective classrooms, there was a small amount of hustle and bustle as we were herded in. Once the others had shut up enough, the teacher stepped forward. She was a short middle aged woman with graying red hair.

"Alright kids."

Her voice was sickeningly sweet, I swear it could make me diabetic.

"Were just going to introduce ourselves, m'kay? So when I point at you, just say who you are, what you like, and what you want to be when you grow up. M'kay?"

I honestly thought that the only time I would ever hear the word m'kay was on South park. Apparently though there was somebody who actually used it in real life.

As she went around the room, calling each of us in turn. I did my level best not to burst out laughing. One kid wanted to be a cowboy, another wanted to be kermit the frog. I kept reminding myself that these were just five year olds, but seriously what the hell? Kids at this age are sometimes so stupid it's funny. She finally called on me, and I was quick in my response. I just wanted to get it out of the way quickly.

"My name is Matthew Price, and I'm four and a half years old. I like reading things that interest me, and spending time with my dad. I don't know what i want to be when i grow up."

A few more kids spoke, and then finally we got to the final one. I felt a shock of recognition. It was the little girl I had seen with Melanie. She stood up to speak unlike everybody else, and she spoke in a loud clear voice that drowned everyone else out.

"My name is Jane Shepard! And I'm five years old, i like being with my big sister melanie! When I grow up I wanna go on adventures!"

She sat back down leaving me in a fair bit of confusion. When I first met her, I had been surprised by how shy and introverted she was. And now it seemed her personality had done a complete one-eighty. She seemed outgoing and extroverted, and completely at ease among so many new unfamiliar people. Was this even the same person?

Our teacher Mrs Wasik, was a peppy enthusiastic woman. Who seemed to love what she did. Within the first week we started learning the basic stuff. The alphabet and counting up to ten and all that. It provided little to no interest to me. And it wasn't as if it posed any great challenge. So I simply breezed my way through it and went back to whatever I was doing before.

Wasik was a bit surprised by my seemingly instant understanding of the subject matter. Though once she found out exactly who my father was she became a bit more understanding. I had apparently garnered a reputation among the adults for being "Howard Price's genius child" . I had learned this and quite a lot more, by listening to the teacher's idle recess gossip. It was amazing what they said when they thought no one could hear them.

Overall the teachers seemed to like me, I was quieter than everyone else. And rarely did I take up the teacher's time. My fellow students however…

I wasn't much liked, my eyes apparently creeped the other children out. Not that I really cared all that much, I couldn't make them like me. And I wasn't about to waste time trying. There were a few silver linings though. Not everyone avoided me, I became acquainted with a curly haired blond child. His name was Edward, and besides being a veritable ray of sunshine among the furtive and suspicious glares I received. He was also an absolute goldmine of valuable in the Know information.

He was higher up on the quickly forming social ladder than I was. And so was more privy to who followed around who. It was organized in a very tribal sort of setup. Different groups of kids clustered around and followed children with strong charismatic personalities, and they became the de-facto leaders of their newly formed cliques. Apparently I was most disliked by a group of children that I quickly identified as the popular section.

They were led (dragged is probably a more suitable term) by Anthony Parker, he was tall for his age. And he attracted people to him by dint of apparently belonging to one of the richest families in the colony. And from the first moment I spoke to him I loathed the little shit.

He was in the same boat as me, smarter than everyone else. And he used that to manipulate others. And damn was he good at it, he was cruel to those that he could get away with picking on. And he and his little group of cronies took great pleasure in it. I could see men like Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin being like this little bastard when they were children.

Though, I suppose I have one thing to thank him for, if not for him I would never have met my best friend.

They timed their little ambush on me rather well, they made especially sure that the teachers on duty during recess didn't see anything. It began as these things often do, with an instigation. Anthony and three of his cronies approached me, I hoped they were going to walk past me. But i had no such luck, they stopped in front of me.

"Hey freak."

Anthony said, his face seemed to be permanently fixed in an insufferable little smirk. I got up to move but one of his gang pushed me back down. Ah so that's how it was going to be…

"You know what I heard freak?"

I leaned against the tree I had been pushed into. As if I was totally unbothered by his presence.

"What did you hear Anthony?"

"I heard that nobody likes your daddy, I heard that he lives so far from everybody because he's a freak, Just like you."

I was a bit amazed by the thoughtless cruelty of what he had just said. How on earth did a five year old become like this? But anyway i didn't really care, i had honestly tried to be nice to the little ass. And apparently he still chose to be a mean little shit, I also had some particularly cruel things to say about him. The only difference was that it was all true, the teachers really needed to learn when to shut up. My response was filled with as much contempt and loathing as I could muster.

"At least my dad pays attention to me, I heard that your dad doesn't even want to be around you."

Okay so that wasn't technically true, the way i had heard was that his father was always so busy that he couldn't pay much attention to Anthony. But it hardly mattered anyway, i could tell i had struck a nerve.

He gave a scream of outrage before taking a swing at me, now don't get me wrong. With the rinnegan, following his movements was pathetically easy. My eyes had evolved to the point that if I focused enough I could count the individual pores in a person's skin, and see things at a near microscopic level. Not to mention the insane reflexes it granted me. But just because my eyes could keep up didn't mean my body could, which meant that I got to see myself get punched in the face, in extra detailed slow motion. I barely avoided his next blow, and soon his cronies decided to join in. I dodged at times, but more often than not I was being knocked around like a ragdoll. One of them grabbed me from behind, grabbing me in a headlock. Anthony didn't seem to waste any time with his advantage and soon he was pounding me in the stomach with ferocious vigor. I was being beaten to within an inch of my regretfully short life, perhaps if I was lucky fate would favor me and the next blow might knock me unconscious.

And as I slumped down becoming numb to the intense pain I thought I heard what sounded like a high pitched battle cry. And then suddenly Anthony's legs were swept out from under him. I saw a fierce rageful expression and a shock of dark red hair, and I looked up into the face of my savior, it was Shepard.

The kid who had been holding dropped me unceremoniously. And I crumpled to the ground, moaning like I was dying.

Anthony stood up, a little dazed as he and his two goons surrounded her. she simply stood there glaring at them, Her fists clenched at her sides. I never thought a five year old girl could look so terrifying

"What do you think you're doing?!"

She yelled angrily.

"He never did anything to any of you!"

Anthony glared at her while wiping some dirt from the side of his face, evidently he didn't enjoy having his fun spoiled. Especially by a little girl who stood a good five inches shorter than him.

"We're just giving the freak what he deserves, and if you don't go away you're next!"

Jane just went right on glaring and said nothing. Casually blowing a small strand of hair out her face.

"GET HER!"

Anthony screamed. And then it was on.

I would call it a fight, but to call it a fight would suggest that both sides had an equal chance of winning.

This was not in fact the case.

She absolutely dominated them. She fought like a hurricane. Using everything she had, from fists and feet to nails and even teeth. She could probably have been deified, if war goddesses could be three feet tall and wearing overalls, But I digress.

Anthony and his goons certainly tried, but they might as well have tried and fought a tornado. After they had gotten their collective asses handed to them enough. Anthony finally yelled;

"This twerp is crazy! RUN!"

They picked themselves up and ran in the opposite direction. trying to put as much distance between her and them as could possibly be achieved. Still fuming she turned to the apparent audience our little tussle had accumulated. She took a step forward, and everybody in the crowd took an unconscious step backwards.

"Anybody who has a problem with him-!"

She turned and pointed at me.

"-Has a problem with me! GOT IT!?"

Everybody nodded dumbly, and began to disperse as she walked back over to me. And helped me up, I stood up shakily and dusted myself off.

"Are you okay?"

She asked, giving me a quick once-over. I croaked out an affirmative, I held my stomach and grimaced. I lifted my shirt, and took a quick look. What I saw was something that could best be described as one big bruise, interrupted by occasional areas of skin.

"You should probably get that looked at."

I nodded in agreement, and took a quick look at the school building.

"Where is the nurse's office anyway?"

I began as we began walking back toward the school, Shepard dragging me behind her. She stopped part way back to the school building, and turned to me smiling.

"My name's Jane. And from now on we're going to be best friends!"

It wasn't so much asked, as simply declared, as if she was simply stating a fact. I simply nodded quickly and hoped and prayed to whomsoever might hear me that such an ass beating never befell me.