11. Clubs

Placing a hand under my chin, I think through the offer I was given. After a few seconds of thinking, I made my decision.

"I'll accept your offer Nassir," I say to him.

"Great! Let me guide you to the dojo," Nassir says. Heading to the gymnasium, I saw students sprinting in the track and field court as they raced other runners. Others were kicking and sliding as they played soccer, and others were swimming and diving in the pool; I even managed to get a glimpse of Kayla wearing the school's swimsuit before gracefully diving into the water with perfect form. 

When we head inside the gym, multiple students are playing indoor sports inside the massive space like volleyball, basketball, badminton, etc.

Walking past them, we enter a separate room where the dojo is held. When I pass the doorway before Nassir, I hear someone shout. "Hyaaaaghhh!" 

Noticing movement with my peripheral vision, I quickly take a step forward, spin around, and lean my head back; avoiding a fist that passes by inches from my face. After successfully avoiding the attack, I grab the ambusher's wrist and pull it downwards before placing my arm under their stomach, lifting them off the ground.

With a loud thud, they hit the matted floor as I forcefully flip them on their backs. "Ow!" They yelp in pain.

After making sure there were no more surprises, I looked at the figure I just countered. A short girl with tan skin, bunned ginger hair, and light brown eyes is sprawled on the matted floor of the dojo; wearing a sports bra and jogging pants.

"What do you think, Mackenzie?" Nassir says to the girl.

Rubbing the back of her head, she stands up from the floor. "Jeez… how the hell did you dodge that!? Most of the new members barely have time to react! Much less counter-attack! Is this some kind of animal instinct that zulaith's have!?"

"I'm just used to this," I reply.

"You're used to this? What? Did you get mugged multiple times or something?" She asks sarcastically.

"I did survive a war." 

After hearing my answer, she uncomfortably scratches the back of her head. "Uh… sorry I asked."

"It's fine."

"So… names Jay! Jay Mackenzie! Vice President of the club!" She stretches out her hand.

Shaking her hand, I tell Jay my name. "Blaze Orlov."

"I know! Nassir and I were there and I'm glad you beat that asshole! That prick can't stop boasting how great a fighter he is even though I easily beat him in a few seconds."

"Brendan's a member?" I ask.

"Was a member. He sent us a message saying he's quitting the club. Honestly, if you got a broken nose from a challenge you started, that's going to hit your pride harder than you can imagine. Even if he doesn't quit, we would have kicked him out after seeing he pulled a fucking gun on you and that would be a huge incident knowing one of our members almost killed someone. Good thing you manage to survive!" She pats my back before slowly moving her hand to my tail. "I also can't believe a good fighter has such a fluffy tail!" She says as she pleasantly pets my tail.

Nassir loudly clears his throat. "That's enough, Mackenzie. You shouldn't be making our new member uncomfortable."

"Aw… I'm just curious about the tail," Jay says as she dejectedly removes her hands from my tail.

I'm ok with it, but I'm not going to voice it out

"We should first introduce him to the other members," Nassir says. 

"Right! Guys! Meet our new member!" She calls out to the others who were watching us. After introducing me to each member, Nassir starts the club activity with a friendly match. It's simple to say that I manage to beat everyone with throws and grapples.

"Damn… you took each one of them with only a single move," Jay says in amazement.

"It's a waste of energy trying to prolong the fight so you have to end it as quickly as possible," I say.

"Can you give us any advice then!?" One of the members asks as he wipes the sweat from his brow.

"In the first place don't look for a fight, but I'm sure that's not the answer you're looking for." Some of them laugh. After giving them advice for 10 minutes, the school chime starts playing.

"That's the end of the club for today, see you next session," Nassir says as he waves us out of the door. 

"Orlov!" Nassir calls out to me. 

"You can call me Blaze," I say.

"Sure. I have something to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"Can you join the tournament coming up next month?"

"A tournament?"

"Yes. With you as our teammate, we could easily win. How about it? Are you interested in winning the championship?"

"Sorry, but I have to decline for now. I have a job so I can't join the tournament."

Leaving Kayla alone for a tournament is risky and I had enough fights for now.

"Shame, but the offer still stands. Just ask me and I'll be happy to sign you up for it."

"I'll think about it," I say before leaving the dojo as I head to my car.

Driving up to the lobby, I stop in front of Kayla and Ivy. "Why are you late?" Kayla asks, irritated as she sits in the back seat. I check my watch to read it's 04:15 PM.

"Don't be so harsh, Kay. We should be thankful to Blaze for letting us ride his car." Ivy says as she hops into the passenger seat beside me.

"I was in the dojo," I say as I drove the car out of the school.

"The martial arts club? What business do you have there?" Kayla asks. 

"They ask me to join and I accept, so I'm their new member."

"The martial arts club is known to look for talented members to join, so I won't be surprised if they scouted you after the incident," Ivy says.

"They were there during the fight with Brendan," I say.

"Seriously?" She says, surprised. "But I didn't see them at all."

"There were a lot of people that time so they were probably hidden in the crowd," Kayla interjects.

"But why would they be there in the first place?" Ivy asks.

"Brendan was a member of the martial arts club so they were probably making sure he didn't do any stupid stuff," I say.

"But he did… so where were they when Brendan's gun was aimed at your head?"

"I can't blame them anyway, no one would act rashly when a gun is pointed at someone."

"Oh really? Ask her again when she tried to run towards you. If I hadn't grabbed her arms, Brendan might have shot her instead of the sky," Kayla says, annoyed.

"Hehehe," Ivy awkwardly giggles as I park the car in front of her house. "Here's my stop! See you two at school tomorrow!" She says as Ivy gets out of the car; waving her hands as I drive off. 

As I was driving us back home, Kayla suddenly gave me an order. "I want you to stop over there." Kayla points at a fast-food restaurant. Turning the blinker on, I make a turn and park at the restaurant parking lot before entering the establishment. The glass door slides open for us as we pass through the doorway. Taking a seat beside a glass window, a view of the street bathed in the afternoon sunlight begins to darken, street lights switch on as the city begins its transition to the nightlife.

With a list of food displayed on the digital menu, I ask Kayla what she wants as I swipe through the menu. "So what do you want to order?" 

"Just a cheeseburger with fries and a soda," She says.

"Alright, I'll order the same." I pick the orders on the menu and swipe my E-band on the scanner. A second later and a ding notifies that the transaction was successful and the order will be served in 7 minutes. As we wait for the food, I ask Kayla a question. "So what's with the sudden craving for fast food?"

"Is there a problem with me eating here?" Kayla says with an irritated tone.

"Ok, why are you so angry at me?" I ask.

"You know why!" She points a finger at my face.

"Is this about me being Nikolai's son?" 

"That's a part of it but no!" 

"Then what is it? I'm not a psychic who could read minds." 

"It's about you being my bodyguard! You're disturbing my life!"

I sigh. "I'm following orders. If you want to complain, go yell at Nikolai, not me. I didn't choose to babysit you."

"Grrrr…" She growls at me.

While Kayla is acting like an angry little kid, an android carrying a tray of our food walks toward us. "Thank you for waiting! Here's your food!" The android cheerfully says as it places the plate of steaming cheeseburger, crispy salted fries, and a glass of soda; the ice clinks on the glass cup. 

"Are you going to eat or do you want to keep sulking?" I say. 

Ticked off by what I said, Kayla grabs the still steaming burger and angrily bit on it, which she immediately regrets. "Ow! Hot! Hot! Hot!" She quickly grabs the glass of soda and tries to chug it down, which she chokes on instead. Covering her mouth, she coughs on her hand to muffle her coughing. Watching how ridiculous Kayla was broke my composure and made me burst out laughing. "Pfffttt… bwahaha!"

When her coughing starts dying down, she starts berating me. "You idiot! Is this how you treat a lady!?"

Lady? A few seconds ago she was acting like a clown from a comedy routine, I thought to myself as I tried to stifle my chuckles.

"S-Sorry, I can't help it," I say as I grab a piece of napkin and gently wipe her mouth. 

"S-Stop it! I'm not some little child!" She says as she tries to push my hand away from her face, which her cheeks are red.

"Aw? Is the little lady mad?" I say, teasing her.

"Damn you! Wait until I get back at you!" She angrily says at me.

I chuckle, "Yeah, yeah."

"Grrrr…" She growls again.

After that scene, we ate our burger (which Kayla now carefully makes sure it's not too hot) and enjoyed our meal. Noticing something suspicious, I scan a group of 4 human males wearing school uniforms from another school. They got up from their table and walked towards us, my hand slowly drifting to the back of my pants where my holstered gun is hidden. 

"What do we have here?" One of the students with a piercing from his nose and ears walks up to our table, likely the leader. "A zulaith and a human couple? How disgusting," He says with disdain.

"What do you want?" Kayla asks him, irritated.

He creepily grins. "How about you and I have some little fun. You should leave this pet dog here," He says as he leans his face closer to Kayla.

"Please leave or I'll have to call for security." I nod at the security bot posted beside the entrance of the restaurant.

"Sure, but I have to warn you, the bot won't help you outside the restaurant. And you don't want to mess with me when you're outside." He pulls up his shirt to show a pistol tucked under the front of his pants.

How the hell did a student get a gun? There must be some hidden arms dealer distributing illegal weapons in the city. AI, investigate the net for any illegal arms dealers.

<Affirmative, searching the net— search complete. A spike of unregistered firearms was found after it correlates to a new business that opened up 2 months ago. Officially, it's just a regular furniture shop on the surface but blueprints on the building indicate a basement floor that might house illegal activity. City intelligence indicates that no contraband has managed to pass through any checkpoint due to rigorous scanning.>

Checking the map of the building, I found out that it's near the city border. Excellent for a tunnel to be built. Using the info I uncovered, I passed the data through my TBCI and sent it to Chief Eileth.

AI, activate the security bot and subdue him with a taser.

<Affirmative, hacking into the bots system— hacking completed. Sending commands.> 

Now then, I'm going to enjoy the show.

The bot that was on standby mode activates. Disconnecting from the security port, it walks towards the group before it raises its metallic arm.

"What the fu—" Before he could even react, two thin wire shoots out of the bot's arm; barbs on the wires pierce his clothes and attach to his skin, before delivering 50 thousand volts for five seconds, shocking him as his muscles freeze from the electrical current. He drops to the floor like a log, screaming in pain as he convulses from the current. The bot walks up to him and places the handcuffs on his wrist, binding him as the taser ends its electrical onslaught. Kayla, His friends, and other customers watch in surprise at the sudden attack from the security bot. 

"DANGEROUS INDIVIDUAL SUBDUED. DO NOT RESIST. CONTACTING THE POLICE." The bot says with an intimidating electronic voice.

"T-The hell!? Let's get the fuck outta here! I'm not getting arrested!" His friends ran away as they abandoned him.

"You assholes! Don't leave me here!" He shouts, still subdued by the bot.

"Come on, let's go," I whisper to Kayla and she nods. We exit the restaurant, head to my car, get in, and I drive us to the condo; passing a police cruiser with sirens blaring and lights flashing as it speeds to the direction we left from.