13. Abduction

Eating lunch at the food court. Kayla, Ivy, and I start talking about the game we played at the arcade.

"Jeez, I barely can catch up with you two! I couldn't even help at the co-op games much less competitive fights!" Kayla complains as she sips her soda with a straw. 

"Honestly, you're not that bad either. You were a good healer when we were playing that dungeon game which kept us alive until the final boss. Also, when playing that space game, you were tactically using the asteroids for cover for your ship which was smart. You just need more practice to get better like most hobbies," I say while munching a slice of pizza.

"Hear that Kay? Blaze just complimented you!" Ivy comments. 

Kayla looks away from me with a "hmph," noticing a tinge of red on her cheeks before saying, "So what?"

"Nothing~," Ivy said in a playful tone.

After we finish eating, we start to walk around the mall.

"What's next?" I ask.

"We finished buying clothes, went to the arcade, and ate lunch. Should we go home?" Kayla says.

"If you don't have anything left to do in the mall, I could get the car ready," I say. "How about you Kayla? Should we go home or do you have some business left?"

"No, I don't have anything left to do Blaze," She answers.

"Oh? I never knew that you two were calling each other by name," Ivy says with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Grrrr…" Kayla groans as she looks at me. "Idiot."

We left the mall and headed home.

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[The Next Day]

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In the school dojo doing club activities. Everyone is taking showers and changing clothes after training. After taking a quick shower and changing into my casual clothes, I head out of the changing room when Jay, the Vice President of the club calls out to me. "Hey, Blaze. Do you have a moment?"

"What is it?" I ask, carrying a backpack of my gym clothes and school uniform.

"Was that you playing in the arcade yesterday?"

"That was me," I answered.

"I knew it! I could recognize that fluffy tail of yours! So what were you doing with the black and white queens of your class?"

"Black and white queens?"

"Right, you don't know yet. Ivy and Kayla are well known at school as the black and white queens for their contrasting hair color and personality. Ivy: the cute black-haired girl with a bright personality and best friend with Kayla: the white-haired beauty with an unapproachable personality," Jay explains. "So back to the question! What were you doing with them?"

"They've asked me if I can drive them to the mall and I agreed, so they let me go with them in exchange," I answered half a lie.

"I see. Also, can I get your number?" Jay asks as she takes out her phone.

"Why?" 

"The club has a group chat so I'm asking for your number so that I can add you," Jay says.

"Sure," I tell her my number.

"And... you're invited to the group!" Jay says as she finishes typing on her phone. 

My phone dings in my pocket, so I pull it out to show me an invitation to a group chat, which I tap accept. A few seconds later, I see someone named VP typing in the chat.

'Welcome, Blaze!' A cute emoji is waving at the chat.

"That's me by the way!" Jay shows me her phone to show her reply.

After inviting me into the group chat, I head home with Kayla. 

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[08:00 PM]

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Sitting on the couch inside my room, I start field stripping my gun, placing each part on the coffee table. After field stripping, I grab the cleaning tools I took out from the cabinet beforehand and start doing maintenance on the components. After scrubbing, lubricating, and wiping the parts; I reassembled it and finished the maintenance in under half an hour. With the maintenance done, I grab the pistol, rack the slide back, and aim at the wall in my room before pulling the trigger. With a faint click, the striker pin releases in the empty chamber. 

I insert the magazine with live rounds into the pistol, chamber a bullet, and check the safety is on before placing it on the table. Leaning my back on the couch, I look at the ceiling as I think about what I should do today. Suddenly, my phone starts ringing. 

`Contact name: Jay Mackenzie "VP"`

Getting off the couch, I walk over to the balcony and answer the video call.

"Hey, Blaze!" Jay waves in the call. "How are you doing tonight!"

"Not much," I answer as I lean my back on the balcony railings. The cityscape towering behind me.

"Whoa, you're so high up! Where the heck are you living!?"

"It's a secret."

"Come on! Why can't you tell me where you live?" Jay pleads.

"Just because."

"Because of what!?"

"I won't say." 

Jay clicks her tongue, "Tsk, stingy."

I lightly chuckle as she puffs her tan cheeks. "So what's the call for?"

"Just trying to call you for the first time," Jay says

"I see, so what are we going to talk about?"

"Anything I guess?"

For 20 minutes, both of us start talking about school and other random topics before I end the call. "I should go to bed. I'll see you at the club."

Before I could end the call, Jay suddenly calls out. "Wait! Before you go, can you show me your room? You look like you're living in such a fancy place that I'm curious what your room looks like. I'll show mine in return so can you let me see yours?"

"Alright then, so can you wait for a second? I have to sort some stuff." I look at my cleaning kit and gun on the coffee table.

"Sure! Take your time! I'm going to do some bit of tidying up then." Jay says as she places her phone on something and goes off-screen.

I shut off the camera for a moment and placed my phone on the nightstand beside my bed. Grabbing the cleaning kit from the table, I place it in the cabinet of my room before taking my gun and placing it under the pillow of my bed. With that done, I grab my phone and enable the camera again.

"You there, Jay?"

"Yeah, I'm here!" After calling her out, she comes back to view and picks up the phone. 

With Jay here, I switch the front camera to the back to give her a better view of my room. "So this is my room."

"Dang, I never knew you were rich!? Your room looks like a fancy hotel!"

With someone who earns a living by being a scientist for a technologically advanced alien race, no wonder Nikolai has no problem affording this while having a personal mansion of his own.

"I guess you could say that," I say with a shrug.

"Right! Well, this is my room; it can't compare with yours but it's enough for me!" Jay says as she gives me a good view of her modest room with a bed, a desk, a closet, and some exercise weights on a rack with a pair of fingerless boxing gloves hanging on it.

Honestly, that looks better than my private officer's room at the base.

"I should go to sleep now." 

"Oh, then good night Blaze! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Good night," I say before ending the call.

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[Kayla's Room]

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Sitting in front of her digital desk, Kayla is talking to Ivy via video call.

"So how are you and Blaze doing?" Ivy asks as she playfully smiles, placing both her arms under her chin as she leans toward the camera of her digital desk.

Surprised by the sudden question, Kayla quickly responds. "Wha-What the heck do you mean by that!?"

"You know what I meant~," Ivy says in a mischievous tone. "I just found out that you two were living together, so I'm just curious how you two are doing."

"I'm doing fine! Thank you very much!" Kayla sarcastically yells before spinning on her swivel chair and facing her back on the screen.

"Not even gonna tell me how your bodyguard is doing?" 

Kayla quickly turns on her chair to face Ivy on the screen. "No! Why would I care!" 

"Well… Blaze is there to protect you and he's even cooking meals for you which should be enough of a reason to care for his well-being. Am I right?"

"He's in his room doing whatever zulaiths do ok!"

Ivy chuckles at Kayla's reaction. "God, you're so fun to tease.

"Ivy!"

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[The Next Day]

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Following my daily routine of exercising after waking up, cooking breakfast, going to school, and finishing my club activities. As I was about to head out of the dojo, I noticed Jay carrying a stack of plastic containers that was covering her face and was about to walk into me, so I called out to her. "Careful where you're going," I say as I step out of her way.

"Whoa!" Startled by my call, the stack of containers that Ivy was carrying starts to tilt sideways. Immediately grabbing it, I manage to catch it before it starts crashing on the floor. With a huff, I grab a few containers from Jay's hand.

"S-Sorry about! Didn't see you there," Jay apologized. "And also thanks for taking some of it from my hand, they were a bit heavy.

"It's alright, I should be the one who's sorry. Didn't mean to surprise you." I say while feeling the weight of the containers in my hand. "What are you carrying by the way?"

"Ah, this?" Jay looks at the container she's carrying and the ones that I took from her hands. "These are old sports equipment that we haven't used for a while so Nassir decided to donate them to another dojo who needed it more."

"So where are you going to be dropping these?" I ask.

"I'm going to be dropping this off at the front gate where Nassir will pick it up."

"How about I call Nassir and tell him that I'll be delivering it instead."

"R-Really? Well, thanks!" 

Placing the containers on the ground, I grab my phone and call Nassir using the group chat.

"Hello?" Nassir answers.

"This is Blaze."

"Oh hello, Blaze! So what do you need?"

"I managed to meet with Jay carrying some containers and I'm asking if I can help deliver it in my car."

"That would be great! I was about to ask someone for help, so thank you. I'll wait for you outside, just ask Mackenzie for directions."

"Alright," I say before ending the call. Before I pick the container up, I call Kayla's number that I received from Nikolai.

When the line connects, Kayla answers. "Who is this?"

"It's me, Blaze."

"How the hell did you get this number!?"

"Nikolai sent it to me."

"Grrrr… what do you want?" Kayla asks, annoyed.

"Can you head over to my car at the parking lot?"

"Why? Can't you pick us up from the lobby like you usually would?"

"I can't right now. I'm carrying stuff with a club member and we have to load it into the trunk of my car."

"If that's the case, Ivy and I will grab a taxi– hey!" Suddenly, Kayla was cut off and another familiar voice answered her phone.

"Hey, Blaze! So you want us to go to the parking lot?" Ivy asks, which I hear Kayla on the other end yelling, "Give me my phone back!"

"Yeah, I'm helping someone right now so I can't pick you two at the lobby."

"Sure! Both of us will be there." Ivy says before ending the call.

"Who was that?" Jay asks as I pocket my phone and lift the containers.

"Kayla," I answer. "Follow me; I'll guide you to the car."

"Ok!"

After a few minutes of carrying the containers in our hands, we arrive at the parking lot where Kayla and Ivy are standing beside my car.

With a click of her tongue, Kayla voiced her annoyance. "Took you long enough. And who's the girl with you?" She looks at Jay who is carrying a stack of containers.

"Like I said on the phone, another member of my club," I answer.

Suddenly, Ivy strongly strikes Kayla's back with her open hand. "O-Ow! What was that for!?" Kayla yells.

"Sorry about my friend; she can be a bit aggressive sometimes. My name's Ivy, and this here is Kay." Ivy points at Kayla with her thumb, grumbling, "What?"

"Oh, I'm Jay, Jay Mackenzie! Vice President of the martial arts club! Sorry that I couldn't greet you properly, I'm a bit occupied for a moment."

"That's fine," Ivy says as she looks at the containers were carrying. "You should place them in the car then."

"Open trunk," I ordered. The voice command acknowledges and automatically opens the trunk with a hydraulic hiss. Jay and I place the containers in the trunk before closing the lid with a thud. "Ok, we're done loading. Jay, can you send me the address of the dojo?"

"Sure, let me send it on yo—" Before Jay could finish her sentence, a sound of rubber screeching on asphalt can be heard. With my ears perked up, I pinpoint the sound from a van that's speeding towards us. On instinct, I immediately grab Kayla's arm. "What are you—!?" Before Kayla could finish her complaint, I wrapped my arms around her shoulders in a bear hug and dived towards the ground; landing on my side as I took the brunt of the fall.

In the next second, a much louder screeching sound can be heard as I notice the van breaking besides Ivy and Jay. The door of the van slides open and people wearing masks grabs Ivy. 

"Stay down!" I yell at Kayla, removing my arms around her as I try to stand up.

"Let go of me!" As Ivy struggles from being hauled into the van by two people, Jay punches one of them in the face, knocking them to the ground.

"Let her go!" Jay screams. Before she could make another move, someone went behind her and jabs a taser on her neck, paralyzing Jay. As they carry the paralyzed Jay and the struggling Ivy into the van, I hop to my feet and sprint towards them. As I quickly close in on them, I notice someone in the van pointing a pistol at me. With no time to react, I brace for the worse.