XV - Mission Tales

- TEMPUR-A Headquarters -

Kaizo and Nerissa accessed the control room full of people operating the system and the two power spheres. It is a large room so they can oversee everything. They use the small elevator in front of them to reach the base floor of the room.

They both saw Commander Koko Ci, Admiral Tarung, and Admiral Maskmana talking while staring at the monitor. The two approaches their seniors.

"Commander, Admiral," Kaizo called.

Maskmana and the others rotated the sound source and sighted Kaizo with Nerissa. They both saluted the three.

"Captain Kaizo, Vice-Captain Nerissa. I see you two have accomplished the mission. Where are the power spheres?" Koko Ci speaks.

"We just got these two." Nerissa responds, turning her body to the back, "Come on now. It's alright."

Realibot and Futurebot nervously expose themselves to Commander.

"Eh?! Realibot and Futurebot?! Cobra Guzik kept these two?!" Koko Ci questions.

"They have displayed for a long time. It turns out Guzik only wields intimidation against his clients. We guess he didn't use them very much." Kaizo explains.

"Hah! And Guzik? What about him?" Tarung asks.

"Kaizo eliminated him." Nerissa breathed and said, "For good."

Confused at her words, Tarung glances, "What's with you? Did you hold a grudge or something?"

"You could say that, Admiral." She commented.

"I think that's enough. What's important is that the power spheres are now safe in the right hands. Congratulations to both of you!" Koko Ci said.

"Thank you, Commander." She thanked him.

"Heh. You've done very well, Kaizo." Maskmana compliments.

"Thank you, Admiral." He thanked his mentor.

"Take them to the temporary power sphere room," Tarung commands.

"Understood." They saluted.

***

They stepped into the temporary power sphere room. There is a lot of them, even the huge ones. Most of them are currently deactivated. Kaizo looked around the whole room to find the empty spaces. Once he located it, he told the power spheres to take a rest.

"There. You two can catch some rest." Kaizo commands.

"Once again, we thank you for saving us," Futurebot says.

Realibot rushes to the empty slot and positions itself, "Ahh~ so comfy~."

Once they both leave the room, Nerissa let out a huge sigh. She did a slight stretch while Kaizo didn't.

"Not bad for the first mission, right?" Kaizo chats.

"Not bad, your ass." She comments.

He smirks and begins to stroll, "You'll get the hang of it. Besides, soon enough, you would get your solo mission."

Nerissa stretched her arms, "Yeah, yeah. I'll do my best, Captain.", She drawled.

"And don't call me that." He corrects her.

"Huh? Why?"

"First, we're about the same age. Second, we're-"

"Wait, how old are you now?" Nerissa cuts off his words and questions.

"I'm 24." Kaizo answers.

Nerissa's eyes widened when she heard his age and said, "Well, damn, you're old."

Kaizo felt very attacked when she said, "Why would you say that?!", He snarls.

"What? I just stated the facts. Nothing wrong with it anyways." She utters.

He points his finger at himself, "H-Hold on. Do I look that old to you?"

"No, I mean, you still look a proper people in their 20s, but, in age, you're still older than me," Nerissa replies.

Kaizo is relieved and exhales, "You should've told me that earlier! Anyways, that was the first one. Second of all, we're dating now. So, there's no need to call me that again.", He states.

Thinking that Kaizo did confess, that means their status is clear. Nerissa slightly blushes and says, "Oh, yeah, I'm your girlfriend."

"That's right."

Now, they walked towards their rooms. Nerissa halted when she arrived in front of their room door.

"Get some rest, Nerissa. You've been through much." Kaizo suggests.

"To you, as well, Kaizo. I'll see you later." Nerissa says.

When Nerissa was about to enter her room, Kaizo suddenly grabbed her left arm. She felt alerted by what he did.

"W-What?" She speaks.

She saw a light blush on Kaizo's cheek. He approaches her and gently strokes her left cheek with his hands. She senses his lips nudge her right cheek, leaving her stunned. He smirks, looking at her reaction. He moves his mouth closer to her right and whispers.

"I love you."

Nerissa quickly covered her ear, and he could see her face redden. He smirks. Flustered, she pinches his cheek. He begged her to stop as he felt the pain. She rushes into her room, and the door closes automatically.

He gently rubs his pinched cheek and stares at the locked door. He smirks again and now chuckles at her reaction.

"Captain Kaizo?"

Kaizo tilts his head to the right and sees a boy wearing an orange dino cap.

"Boboiboy?"

"What are you doing in front of Nerissa's door?" Boboiboy asks.

Kaizo suddenly act like he's clearing his throat and says, "Nothing important, Boboiboy. Now, return to your room.", He demands.

"Yes, Captain."

Boboiboy saluted and then rushed to his room. The same goes for Kaizo, who walks to his room next to hers.

Back to Nerissa, she is still stunned by what Kaizo did to her and needs time for her brain to process it. The red blush is still on her face. Slowly walking to her bed, the girl slumped onto it and stuffed her face with the pillow. She took a deep breath, and suddenly she squealed happily and loudly. The pillows muffled the sound so no one else could eavesdrop on her. The happy girl rolls to the right and the left, laughing.

"Congratulations on getting into a relationship, my lady," Grandia said to her.

"Grandia." Nerissa calls her assistant, "Is this what love feels like?"

"You may think like that. But, my lady, you've kissed him multiple times before. Why are you acting all flustered?" Grandia questions.

She laughs and speaks, "You just don't know, Grandia. I did play around with him. But once we became a thing, everything becomes different."

Grandia smiles, "If my lady is happy, then I am happy."

"Oh, Grandia. I need to send a message to my brother." Nerissa requests Grandia.

"As you wish, my lady." Her assistant prepares a voice recorder, "Your voice will be recording in 3... 2... 1..."

The recorder has turned on. Nerissa took a deep breath before she spoke.

"Hey, brother. I heard that you'd won the war over there. I was so proud of you; I'm sure Papa is too. I expected you to reunite with Lady Freya. I have left home for over a year since Papa told me to. Now, if you wanted to search for me on the other side, I just wanted to let you know that I'm not on Earth right now, probably for a few months. It might sound crazy, but I will explain this to you when I return. So many things I wanted to tell you. I can't wait to go back home. I'll wait for your reply, Neil. Send my gratitude to His Majesty."

***

Nerissa, whose eyes were closed, slowly opened as she heard a couple of knocks on her door. She groans because she doesn't want to get up from her bed. The knock is getting louder and louder.

"Nerissa? Its us, Yaya and Ying.

Hearing their names, Nerissa opens the door from her bed using her magic. The door automatically opened, and they both entered the room. Yaya and Ying saw Nerissa lying on her bed, blankly staring at the ceiling.

"Nerissa? Did something happen to you? You looked lazy." Ying questions.

She inhales before answering, "Nerissa's not being lazy, Ying. She is just resting her body."

"Um... Have you eaten anything?" Yaya asks.

She still stares at the ceiling, "Now that you've asked that. I haven't consumed anything."

Yaya smiles hearing that, "Perfect timing! The rest of us are about to have dinner. How about you join us?"

"Alright." She gets up, "Give me a minute."

***

"Yaya! Ying! Oh? Hi, Nerissa!" Boboiboy greets.

"Hi, hi!" Ying greets back.

"Hello, Nerissa." Fang greeted.

The moment Nerissa sees Fang's face, there's a possibility he hasn't known that she and his brother are dating now. The fact that Fang is his family makes her nervous and anxious.

"H-Hi, Fang." She replies nervously.

Then she notices Kaizo sitting beside Fang. He signals her to sit beside him because the seat is empty for the time being. So, the girls went to grab their food and then returned to the table. She didn't have any other option than to sit beside him. And she did it.

"Nerissa." He greets her.

She exhales and greets him back, "Kaizo."

"So, Nerissa. How was your first mission?" Boboiboy asks.

She gulps her food and then answers, "It was not so bad. Well, even though Kaizo and I went into a misleads." Nerissa takes a spoon of her food, "How's yours, Boboiboy?"

"Boboiboy got a new fusion!" Gopal exclaims.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. So, we went to this planet, whose name I nearly forgot." Gopal tells her.

"Planet Kadruax, lah." Ying corrects him.

"Ah, yes! Planet Kadruax! We got attacked by lots of scary Tumbosaurs. Then everyone got separated. Well, not all of us. Fang got lucky because he didn't join us on Earth to upgrade the hideout since Adu Du secretly infiltrated there." Gopal explains.

Kaizo then glances at his little brother beside him, "Is that true, Fang?"

"A-Ah... Yes, Captain." Fang answers.

"Well, I'm sure the hideout would be very much secured now, thanks to you," Nerissa comments to Fang.

"That's right, Fang. Thanks a lot for upgrading the hideout." Boboiboy added.

What is Kaizo's reaction? He pats Fang on his back. From her point of view, she adores their relationship as siblings.

"Looks like he's quite proud of him." She thought and smiled.

"Ahem... Anyways, guess what? Adu Du got way ahead of us! When they got kidnapped by the citizen there, they somehow worshipped Adu Du! He even buried us alive!"

"Adu Du, huh? I think I've heard that name somewhere on Earth." She thought.

After she finished her food, she put her left hand on the bench below the table. She listens to the kids telling their stories. All of a sudden, she senses a warm touch on her skin. She looks down below. It turns out Kaizo secretly held her hand.

She didn't mind it at all. It's just she's not used to it. When she looked at her boyfriend's face, she saw Kaizo's poker face as if he was trying to keep listening to their stories.

"Would you look at that face?" She thought.

"Once Boboiboy captured Pasubot, that giant monster suddenly bound him, along with Adu Du and Probe! He divided into Solar and Thorn! Then, boom! Elemental Fusion!" Gopal excitedly explains.

"So, what's this fusion called?" Kaizo asks.

"Hehe... Introducing! Boboiboy Sori!" Gopal says as he gripped Boboiboy's shoulder.

"Huh? Sori? What are you sorry for?" Fang jokes.

Nerissa suddenly choked on her drink the moment she heard that pun. She coughs multiple times, and Kaizo gently pats her back.

"I'm so sorry," She said, then laughed, "That caught me off guard!"

They all watch her laughing her heart out. It took her a minute to calm down.

"But, Boboiboy, It is great that you got a new power, seriously," She compliments him.

"And that's the end of the story. Thank you very much for coming to my TAPOPS Talk." Gopal ends his explanation.

"Now, Nerissa. Can you tell us about your mission?" Fang asks.

"Alright, then." She finishes her drink, "So, Kaizo and I disguised as the servants at the club. The target was an older man. Looking like a sugar daddy, in my view." She tells them.

"Pfft... A sugar daddy." Kaizo chuckles.

"No, seriously, Kaizo. He looks definitely like a sugar daddy. You saw how he dressed and that he was in his 40s." She comments.

"Umm... What's a sugar daddy?" Yaya curiously asks.

"What's a sugar daddy, you said? A rich older man. It's slang." She answers her question. Then she points at the two girls, "You two, don't ever search for one."

"Eh? Why?" Ying asks.

"Why? Because some girls want to get rich, without even trying to get rich on their own, they search for a sugar daddy to get some easy money. However, they had to throw their dignity, that's my view. So, they are called the sugar baby." She explains, "That's why I told you two, do not search for it. Understand?"

"A-Alright, we won't." They both said.

"Perfect. Now, back to the topic, we are both trying to get the target's attention." She continues telling them.

"She's the one who got his attention." Kaizo corrects her.

Nerissa pauses and stares at him when he said that, "Yeah, what he said. Oh, and you know what? When he entered that club, girls were all over him. Like, Fang, did your brother always that popular?!" She asks Fang.

"From what I heard, he was popular amongst the girls in school." He snickers.

She felt awestruck, "Damn, Kaizo. No wonder." Then she asks. "How about you, Fang? Are you popular here?"

"Oh, of course, I am. Even more popular than this tangerine cap." He snickers.

"Hmph... What a popularity-maniac." Boboiboy and his gang said.

"So, how did you manage to get his attention?" Boboiboy asks.

Kaizo and Nerissa stare at each other about whether they will tell them how or not because the method they used back then wasn't family-friendly.

"Let's just say I did some tricks. Yes." She answers in a nervous tone, "And then, once I tricked him, Kaizo interrogated him. Then, all of a sudden, he escaped. We tried to catch him, but somehow he already got away, don't know how."

"Because she thought the target was in the front car, like every action movie," Kaizo added.

"Kaizo!" She calls his name in disbelief.

She could hear Gopal trying to laugh behind her.

"Hold on! Hold the hell on! Boys, when you all watch some action movie, there's a chase scene. Target is always on the very front vehicle, right?!" Nerissa questions them.

They all thought, "Well, whenever I watch scenes like that, it is true." Boboiboy said.

Nerissa suddenly tapped the table hard and then pointed at Kaizo, "Haha! I told you, Kaizo! It's common sense!"

"Whatever, Nerissa," Kaizo commented.

"Then, what happened next?" Ying asks.

"So, the target somehow already got into the HQ. We used the back door. Kaizo finished the target. And we got the power spheres. End of story." She explains

"Then, congratulations on completing your first mission, Nerissa," Yaya said.

"My lady," Grandia called her out loud.

"Who's that?" Gopal asks.

"Sorry. That's my assistant." Nerissa apologized.

"You just got a voice recording as a reply to your recent message," Grandia reports.

She pauses, "That is sooner than I expected."

"Who was it?" Kaizo asks.

"Probably my brother."

"Oh, I would look at the time. It's already late. We should go back to our rooms." Yaya said.

"Good night, everyone!"

"Have a good night, Nerissa," Kaizo said.

"You, too."

***

"Nerissa?"

Nerissa rotates her head to the other side and turns that voice belongs to Yaya. Along with the girl in a yellow suit and the girl in green armor. She wonders what's up.

"Oh, you three." She notices, "Anything up?"

Ying speaks, "You know, we've been curious about something you had with."

They all could hear her hesitating. Nerissa felt a little bit nervous about it.

The green armored friend nudged her friend's shoulder, "Come on, Ying, say it."

Ying still hesitated, "I-I still can't, Shielda."

"Cat got your tongue, Ying?" Nerissa raises her eyebrow.

"We've been wondering about working with Captain Kaizo!" Yaya lets out a nervous smile.

Shielda asks, "What's it like working with Captain Kaizo?"

"Working with him?" The tall girl ponders, "It's fine, I think."

"And by meaning fine, you mean?" Ying asks.

"He and I worked just fine. Probably because he's about the same age as I am. And I've known him for a while now. And, uh" Her face slowly reddens.

"And what?"

Yaya, Ying, and Shielda wonders whats up with her. They all saw that red face of hers and were surprised.

"He is just so cool." Nerissa covers her face in embarrassment.

"Seeing your reaction like this, Nerissa, are you in a relationship with the Captain?"

Shielda boldly questions that. It made her jaw drop to the ground. Was her reaction recognizable?

"How did you know?"

"Well, a few days ago, we accidentally saw you secretly peeked at Captain Kaizo in the gym," Yaya speaks.

"When did I."

Nerissa knew precisely when that happened. One day, she strolled across the vast window displaying the fitness hall. It was very packed that day. Full of men lifting weights, exercising, running on the treadmill, and so on. Yet there's something that catches her eyes. Her "crush" of that time was there, exercising with his little brother. At first, she didn't bother. But once she sighted those sweats dripping down his neck, veins showing on his biceps, and chest slowly moving up and down as he lifted the weights, her eyes just couldn't resist peeking at him.

She also witnessed Kaizo place back the weight and roses to his feet. Unexpectedly, he tucks his shirt and wipes his sweat, revealing his built body. Nerissa, silently screaming when he did that, unwarned. Her face reddens, and her hands cover her mouth.

"Fuck" She curses herself.

Nerissa pleads to them, "Please don't tell anyone."

"Really?!" Yaya excites, "You and Captain Kaizo are in a relationship?!"

Nerissa quickly covers her mouth, "Lower your voice, Yaya."

"Sorry."

"Wo-Wow, Nerissa. We don't know what to say..." Ying left her speechless.

"You're dating the cold-blooded Captain. That is something." Shielda is also speechless.

"But, it's alright, Nerissa. We won't say anything about this. Right?" Yaya promises.

Yaya and Ying nods in agreement. Nerissa rubs her chest in relief. Hopefully, Nerissa can trust these three. Like what people said, girls support girls.

***

"Nerissa, my dearest sister. It's been four years since I haven't listened to your voice. I'm sure you've changed a lot when I'm gone. Things are getting better here after the war. Papa said he was proud of you and me. You know, I found her again, after all these years of separation. The guys miss you, you know. Especially Renn, he didn't stop asking about you the whole journey. Look, Nerry. Wherever you may be, I wanted you to stay safe. I'll hear everything you will tell me. You've grown up, Nerry. I'm so proud of you."

"End of message."