"Strip." That was the first word she uttered after stepping into the house.

Kyle blinked in confusion. "What... but why?"

Amanda narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t looking at his face, only his body. "I need to make sure you aren’t hiding something serious under those clothes."

Kyle let out a tired sigh. "Amanda... I promise there’s nothing to worry abou, ah!"

The rest of his sentence vanished as she pushed him onto the couch with startling force and climbed over him before he could react.

Screech

His t-shirt split apart down the middle under her hands.

Amanda’s gaze swept across his body, clearly inspecting for any visible marks.

Kyle stayed silent, letting her assess him however she wanted.

Thankfully, he was still wearing shorts, sparing him from being stripped any further.

"Sit up," she ordered quietly.

He obeyed without complaint, not wanting to agitate her even more.

Amanda shifted behind him and began examining him carefully, fingers tracing across his skin, pressing lightly along bruises and tense muscles as if confirming what she was seeing with her own hands.

The room gradually fell silent.

Then, after nearly a minute, a soft breath escaped her lips.

Her shoulders loosened.

Slowly, she leaned against his back and closed her eyes, the tension finally draining from her body.

"Satisfied?" he asked softly. "Like I said, I’m completely fine."

"I know, but your refusal to see a medic always worries me," Amanda admitted quietly. "And this time you collapsed another building while fighting a dangerous Ghoul. How am I supposed not to worry?"

Kyle slowly turned toward her.

Without a word, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gently pulled her closer, allowing her to rest against him.

The warmth of his body was reassurance enough. Proof that he was still here, alive and safe.

In a low voice, he murmured, "Amanda... I’ve chosen the same path you’ve been walking for far longer than I have. You know better than anyone that if we start clinging too hard to our own safety, that hesitation can become the very thing that gets us killed."

Amanda pressed her lips together.

She couldn’t deny it.

This profession demanded conviction. The moment doubt seeped into your movements, death would find an opening.

Kyle’s gaze softened as he continued, "The truth is, I’m going to end up in even more dangerous situations from now on. And if you keep worrying like this every time... there might come a moment when I hesitate because of it."

Her fingers instinctively tightened around his hand.

Looking up at him, she asked quietly, "Am I becoming a burden to you, Kyle?"

He shook his head immediately.

"No, Amanda. Never." His voice carried a calm sincerity that left no room for doubt. "I don’t have a single complaint about you. If anything, I’m lucky." His thumb brushed lightly against her hand. "Not everyone gets someone who cares about them this much. Someone willing to throw everything aside just to stand beside them when things get hard."

He gently tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear before whispering, "It’s actually me. When you worry about me... when you cry for me... I can’t stop thinking about it afterward." His voice softened further. "I start feeling guilty. Like I’ve done something wrong. So it isn’t you, Amanda. I’m the one at fault."

Amanda pressed her lips together.

Truthfully, she felt the same way.

They affected each other far more deeply than either of them realized.

A quiet silence settled between them for a moment before Kyle spoke again.

"Look, it’s inevitable for us to worry about each other." He gave a faint smile. "What would really become a problem is if you started wanting me to stay away from the battlefield."

Amanda let out a soft hum. "I understand... and I promise I didn’t come here to tell you that you were wrong or to scold you for going overboard."

Kyle nodded slowly. "I know." His eyes lowered slightly. "And... I’m sorry if I hurt you."

Amanda shook her head gently. "No. I’m actually grateful we talked about it."

A small smile formed on his face.

Leaning closer, he rested his forehead against hers.

Amanda closed her eyes, allowing herself to sink into the warmth of his presence, into the rhythm of his quiet breathing beside her.

At that moment, nothing else mattered.

If her life were a story, then this would be the Chapter she’d want to stay in forever.

....

Soon, Amanda took it upon herself to prepare lunch since it was already half past one.

Kyle had offered to help, but in her eyes he was still a patient, so she firmly pushed him out of the kitchen and took over the cooking herself.

"And it’s also your first successful official mission," she added with a smile while dicing vegetables across the counter. "So we’re celebrating too."

Kyle let out a soft hum. "What are you making? Don’t overwork yourself."

Amanda chuckled lightly without pausing her hands. "Relax, Kyle. I know you’re starving, so I won’t take long."

Kyle gave a helpless smile.

She had seen right through him again.

He had eaten early in the morning, and after everything that had happened today, his stomach was practically crying for food.

Soon, Amanda became fully absorbed in cooking.

The quiet sound of simmering filled the kitchen as she stirred something inside a pot while preparing batter in a separate bowl beside it. Warm aromas slowly spread through the house, carrying a strange sense of comfort with them.

Kyle watched her silently for a moment before leaning back.

He decided not to guess what she was making.

For once, he wanted to leave himself with the simple pleasure of being surprised.

Suddenly, a thought crossed Kyle’s mind.

’Appraise her, System.’

He had already assessed Layena before, so he had a rough understanding of what an experienced Nightwalker around his age was capable of.

But Amanda was different.

Yes, she had completely overwhelmed the enemies during the resort incident, yet he had never truly seen her pushed into a battle intense enough to reveal the full extent of her abilities.

[Analyzing...]

[Stats:

Strength: 26

Speed: 28

Endurance: 23

Intelligence: 20]

Kyle’s brows lifted slightly in admiration.

Aside from endurance, she surpassed him in every category.

And that strength...

Damn.

He genuinely hadn’t expected Amanda to be that strong.

"That reminds me," Kyle spoke up, glancing toward her. "How does the grading system actually work? And when do people get officially assessed for ranks?"

Amanda continued stirring the pot as she answered, clearly used to multitasking.

"When you first enter the academy, you’re assigned a rank mainly to make practical classes and sparring sessions easier to organize." She paused briefly to add seasoning before continuing. "After graduation, once you start working under a recognized Nightwalker, the central authority arranges an official evaluation. Your performance there determines your actual grade."

Kyle let out a small sigh. "So at this rate, it’ll probably take me at least six months to get officially graded, huh?"

Amanda gave a small shrug. "But does that really matter? Personally, I already think you’re at least a first-grade warrior. And your magical ability is probably somewhere around semi special-grade."

She had witnessed it herself.

The sheer size of Kyle’s aether pool was absurd.

He had overwhelmed four Ghouls at once and shattered all of their gateways with a single attack.

Sure, he had lost control during the process, but that didn’t change the fact that his presence alone had swallowed the entire area. That kind of overwhelming pressure was something only those nearing special-grade could produce.

Kyle responded with a wry smile.

If anyone actually looked at his stats, he wasn’t even close to first-grade yet.

The only reason he could stand on equal footing with people far above his level was because of his utterly broken abilities and armaments.

Without them, things would look very different.

Shaking those thoughts away, Kyle pulled out his phone and decided to scroll through a few short videos while waiting for lunch.

But the moment the screen lit up, an incoming call appeared.

Blake.

°°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading. Please leave a review if you have been enjoying the story so far.