After a week...

Styril felt disappointed with himself and it is not the first time during the week. Perhaps, it could be the 40th time, but he lost track in counting. Frustration crept into his mind as he forgot to do one of the important things a few days ago. 

He missed the day of a limited figurine sale. 

"The limited-edition mecha figurine..., " He mutters in sadness while looking at the poster of his favourite mecha on the wall. 

Even though he is known to be quite a calculative person among the people who employed him. What they did not is this side of him, the cute dork part. 

Maybe it seems absurd to others but to him along with mecha fans, these dazzling engineered metal suits are the joy of their life. Even though owning one of the mecha is an option, but not one mecha fan could resist from buying their favourite ones.

"I'll just wait for a few more years... to get one, " He slouches down on his bed while sighing a few times. 

His eyes scan around in his bedroom as his gaze fixed on one of the figurines he owned. A figurine of the pilot of his favourite mecha. A tall red-haired woman. She is not a heroine, instead, the opposite. An antagonist. Her name is Tiana, a greedy and determined woman. 

Unlike the main character of his favourite mecha show, Tiana has a more sophisticated tragic backstory and solid reasons to evolve into an antagonist even though she seems to be a bit of a hypocrite. A character which he can relate to, as a person who cannot fulfil his own childhood dream. He could see himself in her shoes. 

As time passes, Styril looks closer to the figurine before realising something. Her hair, face and body. 'Ember and Tiana look similar' he thought, except for the height. 

'I should call her to see what's she been up to' He said to himself and got up from his bed. Taking bits of his time to comb his hair and fixed his clothes before going downstairs with a phone in his hand. 

In a sudden, he could feel his heartthrob in his ears. Not painfully, but warmly. As if every action he took became lighter than the previous. The thought of calling someone out of business stuff made him felt ecstatic. In a good way. 

'It's been so long I haven't felt like this' He thought while taking a deep breath. 

A real relationship, a friend. A topic that he never thought of, is what he wished for so long besides mecha figurines. The gap in his heart which he needed to fill, this might possibly the answer to his happiness, just maybe. 

"There..., " He mutters after finish tying up his shoelace. 

Styril stood back up and went through his contacts in the phone. It did not take a few seconds for him to find Ember's phone number since he only has around 10 people in his contact list. 

He clicked on it and his phone rings softly. Waiting for the receiver, Ember, to pick up his call. 

"Took you long enough to call me, " She jokes with a small giggle, earning a chuckle from Styril. 

"I apologise for that, work never been so easy on me you know?" He explained while scratching the back of his head. 

"It's... fine. No work no money, right?" 

"Can't say more than the truth, " Styril commented while grabbing the doorknob of the entrance door. 

"So, what did you call for?"

'I want to know more about you' is what he was about to say but the words were stuck in his throat. He thought it was too flirtatious and felt slightly shy to tell her in that way. Whether he wants to or not, it is one way to develop a relationship. So, he decided the paraphrase the sentence. 

"I like to see you again, " He gulps silently as if the situation suddenly became tense as he tried to flirt lightly. 

"W-what a coincidence, me too, " Ember stuttered a bit trying to minimise her reaction. While on the other side of the call, she was fiddling with some of her hair strands. Rolling her eyes somewhere else to distract the fuzzy feeling in her heart caused by him. 

Styril could feel the edges of his mouth curled into a smile, as satisfaction waves over his mind. After confirming that he can flirt. Which means he does not have to use the 'top 100 pick up lines' from the internet.

Ember's reply also managed to do some numbers on his heart. The fact that she also wants to meet him cause Styril to mentally triumph. 

"So... where are you right now?" Styril said as he grabs the doorknob of the entrance door. 

The door flung opened as sunlight starts to pour in and cover his body, with a silhouette at the middle. Ember stood in front of the doorway who mentally startled him, but he did not show it externally and simply hold onto the doorknob. 

"In front of your house, " She closes the call and pocketed her phone. 

A smile grew on Ember's cold looks as her gaze locks with Styril's eyes. Her previous messy hair had changed to a long straight red hair, with most of her bangs covering parts of her right eye. 

Unlike her previous-self, she seems to have more vigour behind her eyes. Vibrant with more energy than ever before. As if she got a sudden upgrade for herself, or rather a large improvement of herself. 

She was wearing a red trench coat, with a black collar t-shirt underneath. Which went along well with her overall red theme colour. If people were to give Ember an impression, 'lady in red' would pop up in their mind. 

Styril closed his phone and pocket it before asking, "How did you know my address?"

As a licensed modern mercenary, Styril has an abundance of experience with people popping out of nowhere like it was some shounen show. In addition, he did not expect Ember to be one, which he cursed himself for letting his guard down. 

"Relax for a second, I got your home address from the business card you dropped last week, " She slightly tilted her head with a wry smile. Waving his business card in her hand casually to reassure Styril. 

"I dropped that?" He asked, some wariness still daunting him. 

"Yes, near the place where you parked your car. Maybe it dropped when you got out from your seat, " She explained and hand over the business card back to him. 

'That's careless of me, now she knows what I do for a living' He said to himself. 

Styril is one of the licensed modern mercenaries, they will do almost anything for money. That is the general definition for them from the public's views. Only some know that different mercenaries have different preferences in doing their jobs. 

Most of the mercenaries would do 'goodie two shoes' jobs and only some willing to do the dirty ones including Styril. That is one of the reasons they prefer to hide their job info and even their identity with a mask from the public's eyes.

By becoming a mercenary, one has to endure the risks he or she took. Higher risks mean higher payment from their employers. It is also quite the norm for a mercenary to find themselves kidnap or dead in the next few days, due to rivalry of the employers and privacy exposure. So, it is to 'do or die' type of job and it is even stated in the license contract 'licensed individuals take full responsibility for their own life'.  

"I'm not a woman of justice, but I know when to return the favour of a benefactor. I'll shut my mouth about your secret, " She said while motioning a closing zip with her mouth. 

Ember has some fair share of experience in the underworld of society. Mainly due to her family jobs. Not her parents, but her uncle. So, she understood some of the reasons Styril want to keep his job as a secret. 

"Most of the time I only gave this card to certain individuals who want to do some 'business'... Individuals who are different from the norm. It seems like, you're not so normal either?" He asked while frowning, with a smirk. He was not quite sure whether to trust her or not about his secret and hope that she would keep her words. 

"Neither do you, " She smirks back as lifts a black plastic bag in her hand, intending to show to Styril. 

He saw one of her fingers moved pointing into his house. Suggesting that they both should continue the conversation inside instead of outside. 

There is a mix of joy and wariness in Styril's heart due to knowing that she is still a mystery to him. The emotions are conflicting with one another to become the final decision for him. To reject or to accept Ember's suggestion. If he rejects, he might find himself in trouble after a few days. If he accepts, he might get to know more about her but that will risk his privacy. 

"Alright, let's chat some more inside, " He said and entered back inside. Handing the business card back over to her as a friendly gesture. 

"You don't have to, it's more meaningful to keep ourselves more than just business partners, " She rejected the card, earning a rather subtle amused expression from Styril. 

'Adorable' She thought after seeing Styril's reaction. It was worth it for her to say some suggestive lines to him. Otherwise, that expression would not appear. 

If they were more than just friends, she would have taken a step closer look to his face before making another embarrassing comment. But for now, she plans to reel him in first and avoid making him feel uncomfortable. 

"Jeez, keep your flirting tone down a bit, " He said while turning his gaze away with cheeks that was slightly turning red. 

Ember caught a glimpse of the red texture as her smile slightly twitched. She stepped inside his house and saw Styril already sitting on one of his couch. 

"I'll try to keep it in moderation, " She closed the door before placing her shoes somewhere near the entrance. 

Ember sat in the opposite direction of Styril on a small armchair. She tried to keep her gaze settled, but to no avail, she kept scanning around the living room from left to right. One fact caught her mind, which is Styril does not have any family photos. Except for a few that displays a younger version of him with an elderly man. 

"That picture caught your eye? That's my grandfather, a strong and reliable man with a soulful voice. He never gave me rest when he trained me but still took care of me well, " Styril gave out a small summary of his memories. 

"He sounds like a leader to me. Though, where is he now?" She asked, eager to know. As if she had a notepad ready in her hand with a pen but, mentally. 

"Bingo, he is the leader of a squad... Do you know the 'Pandemonium Tragedy'?" He replied with a question, which surely leads to an answer as it is a famous event in history. Even the survivors were still traumatised from the experience.

"The great war between ability users from 15 years ago?" 

"Correct, and my grandfather didn't come back home, " He said with a heavy tone. 

"My condolences, " She silently tightens her fist as she did not expect to touch upon a sensitive topic from Styril earlier than expected. She thought that maybe he trusted her to a considerable degree, which makes her feel giddy. 

"Don't be, I bet that old man is having a blast in the afterlife, " His back-arc forwards as he quickly wipes the corner of his eyes with his sleeves after remembering back some good memories. 

It took a few seconds before he straightens his back and locks his gaze again at Ember with a smile. Turning himself back to his composed self. 

To be honest, Ember wanted to know more of his past as much as she wants him to know more about hers. But it seems like this would be the furthest reach she could grasp for now. Pushing her own past on him might make herself look too pushy. 

"Enough about me, this isn't a solo but a duo. Let's talk about you now, " He said to change the topic. Talking about himself seems boring to him, as he is more curious about Ember. 

"Recently..., " She trailed off with her voice becoming smaller. 

"I became the head of my own family business, a few days after I tried to.... you know, jump, until you came, " She traces one of her strands while smiling quite wider than usual due to the sudden good change happened in her life. 

"You see there? Something unexpectedly nice happened to you, that's why life is kind of fascinating. Thankfully, you didn't do that 'jump', " One of his hands motion a nice flow to her, something similar to thumps up but different. 

"I guess you're right and thank you. "

"Give me thanks by employing me next time, " He chuckles at himself for being a workaholic. A part of it is a joke but Ember took his words seriously. 

"There is an event tomorrow... Some kind of a tradition for me to ascend as the head of the family, " She leans forward, with her chin on one of her palms and her elbow on her thighs. Trying to catch full Styril's attention. 

"Yes? Go on, " He coughs a few sleeves and made eye contact with Ember again. 

"I need an escort, someone who I could trust and I want to employ you like one, " Ember said with a determined gaze.