Chapter 102 - 102 – Ash And Dale

"Excellent," Ren said with a smile. "So now, we need to introduce Ash to Professor Klaus."

Fang nodded. "Would you have a few minutes after class? We'll make arrangements for you to see Professor Klaus then," he said.

Ash nodded and then bit her lip again. "I have about an hour after class before I need to go and pick up my little brother from school," she murmured. "Would that be enough?"

Ren and Fang looked at each other – Professor Klaus, from what they had seen of the man so far, tended to be a little long winded. Also, he was a bit careless about time and punctuality in general – it may be a bit difficult for Ash if the time was overshot.

"I'll help," the member of the Blue Wolves who had been sitting at their table silently until now spoke up suddenly. "I'll take you to Professor Klaus, and if it looks like it won't get done on time, you can continue your discussion with Professor Klaus, and I can pick up your little brother and bring him here, if that's all right?" he offered.

Ash stared at him in shock. "You – you are Dale, right?" she murmured.

Dale, who was one of the new members of the Blue Wolves, and one of the first people to volunteer when Wolf had made the suggestion that some of them should follow Ren and Fang into medical school, beamed at her.  "I am," he said.

"You are familiar with Professor Klaus?" she asked incredulously.

"I had a chance to meet him once, thanks to Ren and Fang," Dale said modestly. He had to almost bite his tongue not to say Chairman Ren and Young Master Fang like most of the Blue Wolves did – they had all gotten used to it. But now Ren and Fang insisted on being called by their names without any honorifics. It was taking some time to get used to the change, to be honest. But then again, Dale was not complaining. In fact, his goodwill towards Ren and Fang had gone up even more after they had declared this.

Dale had actually been a part of the group that had accompanied Ren and Fang to meet Professor Klaus the first time, and he had been very impressed with Professor Klaus as well. While Dale himself was simply interested in the world of medicine in general and had not really thought about research projects or specialisations yet, he had been quite touched by Ash's story and her concern for her brother – and if possible, he wanted to help in any way that he could. This girl in front of him was so cool and decisive, he thought to himself, and since it looked like Ren and Fang wanted to help her achieve her goals, Dale was all for it!

Ash, on the other hand, was quite impressed that all three young men on the table with her right now were familiar with the famous Professor Klaus!

"Wow," Ash murmured. "That's so cool…"

Dale grinned at her, and Ash felt her heart skip a beat – for the first time in her life, in all probability. She had never had any time for anything other looking after her little brother ever since her father's unfortunate demise.

"So – that's good, right? I'll take you to meet Professor Klaus after class, and then, if it looks like you need to continue speaking with him, then I'll just hop over to your little brother's school and pick him up and bring him here – all right?" Dale said cheerfully.

Ash nodded gratefully. "Fortunately, his school is not too far from here," she murmured.

"Oh, great," Dale said. "That definitely makes things easier."

"But the public transport is not very regular since it's not a busy route…" Ash said, biting her lip nervously again.

Dale smiled. "I have my own car, so don't worry about transportation," he assured her. "I can drop you and your brother home later, too, if you want."

"No, no, I couldn't possibly ask you to do that," Ash said quickly. "It is good enough already that you are going out of your way to do so much for a stranger like me."

"What strangers?" Dale demanded. "Aren't we classmates? Aren't we going to be studying medicine together for several years now? Aren't we going to be friends?"

Ash flushed a little and then smiled and nodded at the smiling young man in front of her.

Ren and Fang exchanged a meaningful look. It is said that couples in love would automatically start match making people around them they were fond of, and they were more sensitive to the budding seeds of love than most other people. This seemed to be especially true for Ren and Fang. Of course, these two people wouldn't interfere with anyone else's relationships – they would simply let nature take its own course – and if any of them wanted any help from either Ren or Fang, they would be there to help, for sure.

"That actually sounds good," Ren said. "Then Professor Klaus can take a look at your little brother right away as well and the transfer process would be smoother."

Ash smiled, her eyes filled with gratitude. "Thank you so much, Ren ang Fang and Dale. Thank you so much for all the help that you are giving me…" Her eyes brimmed with tears again. It had been a long time since someone had shown her true kindness, and she was very, very grateful for the whole thing.

So, after class, Dale took Ash to meet Professor Klaus. Ren and Fang, who had originally intended to go along until Dale volunteered for the task to make introductions, happily went home instead to cuddle with their babies, much to everyone's satisfaction.

As it turned out, the babies were on the verge of throwing a tantrum when Ren and Fang entered the house, because Smoke had a tummy ache (no doubt caused by over eating) and Chef Jules had made a light rice porridge for him to eat and soothe his stomach. However, being the true carnivore that he was, Smoke refused to eat the porridge unless meat was added to it, and then he put forth the condition that he would only eat the porridge if all his siblings did the same. Shadow, who had been looking forward to a steak tonight, refused immediately, and Snow, who had been promised a salmon, turned up her nose the rice porridge. And poor Sylvia, who in her human baby form, could only eat mashed up baby food until Ren and Fang came home and gave her something "proper" to eat in secret – would definitely rebel at the thought of having rice porridge for dinner! And thus, there was a stalemate at home, with the two puppies Smoke and Shadow barking and howling, the little kitten Snow hissing and mewling angrily, and the human baby Sylvia throwing a proper wobbly in the way only a human baby could!

Ren and Fang felt an incoming headache immediately as soon as they saw the situation at home, and it took them over an hour of cuddling and cajoling the babies to calm them down – and then Shadow got his steak, Snow got her Salmon, and Smoke and Sylvia ate the rice porridge in front of Chef Jules and Steward Paul to appease them, and then later, secretly, with a bit of magic, Fang cured Smoke's tummy ache and then Ren and Fang fed Smoke and Sylvia exquisite delicacies in secret to keep the two babies from throwing another tantrum.

Parenthood really wasn't easy, Ren and Fang looked at each other and thought to themselves. But then, looking at the four babies sleeping peacefully now and looking utterly adorable, they also felt that it was very rewarding.

Meanwhile, at SIMS, Dale had taken Ash to meet Professor Klaus after class, and as expected, Professor Klaus was very enthusiastic about the research proposal put forward by Ren and Fang, and he was extremely impressed with it as well. He had also heard about Ash's father, Dr. Kevin, and was more than happy to take Ash into his research team – and somehow, Dale got inducted into the research team as well. Soon enough, Professor Klaus and Ash were engaged in a detailed discussion on Thalassemia and Dale took the chance to step out and pick up Ash's little brother from his school, and brought him back to SIMS. Professor Klaus examined the young boy – he was about twelve – and immediately agreed to put him under his care.

And thus, Ren and Fang had gained themselves a new friend and a new follower. While Ren and Fang liked to think that Ash was their friend – and she would indeed prove herself to be a loyal friend in the future, for now, Ash was so grateful that she was perfectly happy to call herself the minion of Chairman Ren and Fang.. The very next day, Ash's little brother was transferred to SIMS under the care of Professor Klaus.