9

Heading Out

"The real question is, why a convoy and a helicopter?" She commented, turning back at them.

"Good point." Aki put his hand under his chin, tilting his head.

Knock! An impatient bundle of knocks came from their door, scattering the squad around the space, yet a bit symmetrical. 

"Okay, manners, everyone," Aki exclaimed, swallowing his nerves.

Almost hitting the wall with the door, a lady opened the door harshly, entering the house as if she owned it.

"Recently registered team on the paradigm network, I see." The lady looked at her large tablet before taking a glance at each of them. "Basically, baby birds, how interesting."

Another lady came in, politely placing her hands behind her back, standing beside her.

"Hello, squad 178. I'm Akira, and this is my lovely wife, Amari.” Akira smiled, placing her hand around her shoulders.

Amari looked away in embarrassment, avoiding eye contact. "What did I say about involving our personal life with work?"

"Our personal life is work, dear." She giggled, shaking her head in disagreement.

She brushed off her hand, exiting the house. "Never mind, I'll just go load the capsules."

Behind them were a few masked soldiers, hidden under black tactical wear that contrasted against their silver hair. In fact, all of them had the same shade, only varying in style and length.

"Be careful, dear, they might be heavy." She turned towards her momentarily, waving happily.

The soldiers continued with their tasks in an organized manner, swiftly moving the large cylinder capsules—a shade similar to the moon—out of the cases and into the helicopter’s back.

She raised her hand dismissively, approaching the helicopter’s pilot. "You have until I finish loading to wrap it up."

"So, squad 178, before I register you all for the mission. I'll ask that the squad reconfirm their leader, and by the looks of it," She cleared her throat and reached for her tablet, hooked with a handle on her shoulder. "Your guardian, too."

She glanced at Aki before returning to her hefty tablet, scrolling through their profiles.

"What mission? I thought you only came to retrieve the containers." Aki asked, frightened by such a request.

Kaito and Elena’s eyes lit up with joy as Souta stepped back in shock.

"We thought it'd be most effective if we were able to hit two birds with one stone, so we ask that you come with us." She pushed her dark green hair away, pressing a few more buttons on her tablet. "We can do all the paperwork once we get on our way. We’ll also reward you with unimaginable riches or anything within our power that you so desire afterwards.”

"Absolutely!" Kaito shouted in joy, raising his hands in celebration.

"Okay, hold on a second, we can't take a kingdom's request as our first official mission. For goodness' sake, we still struggle against plain ol humans." Aki waved his hands in rejection, stepping back.

"Oh, cmon, Aki, we might never get a chance like this again," Elena exclaimed, resting her hand on Kaito’s shoulder. “We could get out of this dump and finally buy a nice place with actual food.”

"You said so yourself that opportunities would shine on us," Kaito commented, smirking proudly.

Aki shook his head in disagreement, smiling nervously. "I didn't mean something so bright, we’ll go blind. It’s too much.”

"He's right, Akira," Amari returned, crossing her arms. "This squad is only E rank and has no official records."

Akira leaned in closer to her, showing her Kaito and Elena’s paradigm profiles.

"Look, not only are there Kijomi on their squad, but I'll bet if they had records or statistics, they'd already be at least B rank." She whispered to Amari’s ear, making sure none of the squad heard her.

Amari glanced at the profiles, noticing that Kaito and Elena were related to Kazai Kijomi, despite their different appearances.

"But that's hypothetical, not factual. I mean, they don’t even look related." She sighed, looking into her passionate eyes.

"Look, I'm ninety-nine percent sure he's the one Neoma asked for. Additionally, his husk is unusually vibrant, almost as much as Luna’s." She shrugged against her shoulders, winking flirtatiously.

"I'm sorry, but I think we'll stay here. We humbly apologize for any inconvenience." Aki interrupted, gently waving his hand.

"No, we're in!" Kaito blurted, scurrying towards the couple in excitement, with Elena right behind.

Souta followed not too far behind, making his way past Aki and beside them.

Aki looked at them with worry, reaching his hand out. "Wait, guys."

The siblings waved their hands at him to come over, slowly following Amari outside.

"Five against one, sir.” Akira turned her hands outward, hoping to convince him. “So please reconsider and come with us."

She bowed slightly before turning around and guiding the three past the door.