18. Return

09:00 PM

After landing at base, I change out my exosuit and place my gear at the locker. Saying goodbye to my team before heading to my parked car. Letting out a yawn, I drive out of the base and head to Nikolai's mansion. When I reach the mansion, I park at the garage and stretch when I get out of the car. 

Kaleem greets me when I head inside, "Welcome back, Blaze. Your room has been readied for you." 

"Thanks, Kaleem."

"You're welcome," he says before leaving.

I walk up the stairs and head to Nikolai's office. Now in front of his door, I rap on the door three times. With no answer after a few seconds, I knock on the door again, and still no answer.

"Hey!" Suddenly, a familiar voice calls out to me. I looked to my side and saw her standing there, her hand's placed on her hip, wearing shorts and a shirt.

"Hey, Kay," I greet. "Do you know where Nikolai is?"

"H-He's out for work! He'll be back tomorrow!" 

Why is she so nervous? Also, she didn't get mad calling her Kay like she usually would. 

"A-Also don't call me Kay!" 

Nevermind.

I let out another yawn. "Are you sleepy?" Kayla asks.

"Yeah, it's been a long day so I'm going to my room. Goodnight, Kay."

"Good night. Again don't call me Kay!"

Whoops, slip of the tongue.

"Sorry."

"F-Fine, just don't call me that with other people," she says while looking away from my eyes.

Oh? That's quite a change of attitude.

"If you say so," I say before heading to my room.

"A-Also!" She calls out. I stopped to listen to what Kayla– or what Kay would say before I went to my room.

"W-Welcome back! Glad you're back!" Kay says as she leans forward with her hands behind her back, smiling and slightly blushing. "O-Ok! Time to go! Goodnight!" She runs away.

I just stand there for a few seconds before chuckling. For someone that keeps on avoiding me, they're pretty shy and adorable when they're thanking someone. After that, I walk into my room, grab a change of clothes from the cabinet, crash into my bed, and wait for sleep to take me with a little smile on my face.

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[06:00 AM]

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Waking up from my phone's alarm clock, I changed into jogging pants and a shirt. When I was done changing, I headed out of the mansion and started jogging on my usual route. Other joggers that I met before said their greetings before I finished my jogging. When I went back to the mansion 30 minutes later, I noticed Kay standing in front of the door with Kaleem. 

What are they doing out there? Especially for Kay being this early.

With my curiosity peaked, I sneak past the gate and go around to avoid being seen while they're distracted talking to each other. When I reach the side of the mansion, I start eavesdropping on their conversation.

"—How come I don't see Blaze often here?" Kay asks Kaleem.

Well, that's new. I wonder why Kay is asking Kaleem questions about me.

Kaleem replies to her question, "blaze rarely comes home due to being busy with his work. And when he does come home for a break, he will stay for two or three days before going back."

That mostly sums it up.

"But that doesn't explain why I didn't see Blaze in the mansion before I got him as a bodyguard. I come here pretty often and I even recognize the staff here, but not Blaze." 

"He spends most of the day on the basement floor."

"What's in the basement? I remember that it's only storage space."

"There's another part of the basement that you haven't entered. But you're not allowed to enter it without permission from the Master. Only Master and Blaze have access to it."

"Blaze can enter it but I can't!? What's in that room anyway!?"

"Sorry young lady, but that's the only thing I'm allowed to say currently." Kay pouts at Kaleem's answer. 

"What's taking him so long!?" Kay asks, annoyed. "I thought he would be back by now!?"

That's my cue to go.

I quickly sneak back to the gate and jog back in, acting like I wasn't eavesdropping seconds ago. "Why are guys out here?" I ask, nonchalantly.

"Uhm, uh," Kay acts like a kid caught stealing with her hand in the cookie jar, "We… we're… just… enjoying the view! Yeah… right Kaleem!?"

I guess I caught her off guard with the timing of my appearance.

But Kaleem quickly gave me a knowing smile, "Young lady wants to spend time with you."

"Ka-Ka-Kaleem!? Why the heck did you tell him that!?" Kay bursts into a panic and starts yelling at Kaleem, but Kaleem just calmly stands there with his poker face. I look at Kay, confused. But the truth is that I'm trying to hold my laugh in by acting.

"Why didn't you say so? I'll be ready in ten minutes," I say.

"Wait what!? H-Hold on! I didn't agree to any of this!"

"But young lady, you aren't lying, no?" Kaleem says, calmly smiling at Kay that it's almost unnerving.

With no way to counter Kaleem's statement, Kay yielded and said, "No…" 

That Kaleem likes to use his skills even though it's not needed. Old habits die hard I guess. 

"I'll get ready then," I say as I head back in.

"I'm going to get dressed…" Kayla says with a defeated sigh.

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After ten minutes of taking a shower and changing into my clothes, I walk out of my room and head to my car. I drive the car out of the garage and park it in front of the driveway, waiting for Kay. While waiting, I tap the back of my pants, feeling my holster and the familiar shape of my pistol; even feeling the slight weight of my vest on my chest. 

I guess being a bit prepared (paranoid) can save your life. Well, it is part of my job to carry this so I'm fine with it.

A few minutes later, Kay walks out of the door wearing black pants and a fancy purple blouse with a handbag. I hop off the hood and open the back passenger door like a chauffeur. But instead, she closes the back door and opens the front. "I'll ride shotgun," she says with a bold smile.

"Sure," I say, shrugging my shoulders and getting inside the driver's seat. "So where do you want to go?" I ask while putting on my seatbelt.

"Ivy told me that her parents want to meet you," Kay says as she puts on her seatbelt.

"Why?" I press the start button and the hydrogen engine hums to life. I release the handbrake and slowly drive to the gate.

"They want to thank you for saving their daughter." When the gate opens, I drive out of  the property and on the asphalt, heading towards Ivy's home

"You mean the time I went alone to save her and Jay from the kidnapping? Did Ivy tell them about that?"

"Her father is the director of internal affairs of Aurora, so he already read the reports even without asking Ivy."

"So the guy who came to get Ivy at the station was him huh?

"Yes. His name is Greg Frey, Internal Affairs Secretary. He works for the United Terran after being assigned here after the war."

"How come you know this stuff?" I ask as I focus on the road.

"You notice that our school has only humans enrolled there, the exception being you, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Everyone enrolled in that school, including me, are children or relatives to influential people being sent here by the United Terran."

"But why bring their family with them? Can't they stay on Earth for that matter?"

"They can, but the position they receive here is permanent so they can only visit their families once in a while. And even if they want to visit, FTL travel is pretty expensive and takes a lot of power. It also takes about an hour to reach a light year and Earth is 18 light-years away. There is a warp drive being built at the outer edge of the system that'll shorten it to half it usually would, but it'll still take five years to complete it so it's much more convenient to bring your family along."

"Do they know we're coming?"

"I already messaged them that we're coming so they know."

"So what're we doing afterward?"

"Ivy is coming along. That's why we're going to visit her parents too while we're at it."

After a few minutes of driving, I stop in front of Ivy's house. For someone working under United Terran, the house is pretty modest, but still upper class nonetheless. When we get out of the car, a man and a woman walk out of their house, the same ones who came to the station. 

"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Frey," Kay politely greets them. 

Kay can be surprisingly polite when she wants to. Not like how she acts around me usually.

"Good morning to you too, Kay," Mrs. Frey says with a lovely smile. She has brown eyes and long black hair tied to a ponytail.

"Welcome, Kay! How was your day?" Greg asks. He has deep green eyes and short brown hair while wearing smart glasses; noticing the tiny projected images on the lens.

"It's fine Mr. Frey, how about yours?"

"It's been going great for me! Thanks for asking." He says with a happy smile.

"Also this is—" before Kay could finish her sentence, Greg cut her off.

Greg's demeanor suddenly shifted to someone who can be found at command ops relaying precise intel and data. "First Lieutenant Blaze Orlov of the First Special Reaction Force working for the Private Military Company: Hidden Forest." He says as he methodically recites my profile.

His wife quickly scolds him, "Honey! Don't bring someone's records up while we're at home!" 

"Sorry! Force of habit!" Greg says as he returns to being a friendly-looking guy. "I sometimes do this when I'm not at work so my wife keeps scolding me for it."

"Uh, yeah, it's alright," Kay says, a bit surprised by that.

That's a sudden snap from friendly to methodically analytic in seconds then back. I can't say I don't understand the feeling of being in the zone when working, but that was too sudden, even for me. I guess this is a first for Kay, cause she's pretty confused and surprised even though she knows him longer.

"So! My name's Greg! Sorry about that, this only happens when I meet someone interesting," He says as he rubs the back of his head before stretching his hand out to me.

Me? Interesting?

"As you already know, I'm Blaze Orlov. Nice to meet you," I say, grabbing his hand and shaking it.

"And I'm Amanda," Mrs. Frey says as she reaches her hand.

I return the handshake, replying, "Nice to meet you too."

"Likewise. Let's go inside shall we?" Amanda says. When we entered the house, I saw Ivy carrying a tray with drinks from the kitchen before placing it on the table in front of the couch.

Ivy greeted us when we entered, "Hey, Kay! Hey, Blaze! Sit down on the couch!"

As Ivy suggested, Kay and I sat down on the couch. "I heard you've gone for work, First Lieutenant from the First Special Reaction Force," Ivy says as she smiles mischievously. 

"Ivy!" Amanda scolds.

"Sorry! Got a bit curious," Ivy says before sitting in the middle between me and Kay.

"Seriously, you're the same as your dad," Amanda murmurs as she sits down on another couch with Greg.

"Reason why you took a liking to me," Greg says as he chuckles.

"Quiet, you," Amanda says with a loving tone.

Ivy clears her throat, "We have guests here."

"Sorry about that," Greg says. "Alright, let's talk about the reason why we invited you here."