It was a baseless worry on Kellen's part. He didn't see the Captain again that night. He didn't even hear a peep from him in the apartment next to him, allowing Kellen to calm down, change into something more comfortable, his slippers, and make himself some tea before calling his parents. His Dad answered right away, while Kellen finished making his tea.
"Hello? Kellen, is that you?" He chuckled at his Father's tone.
"It's me, Dad."
"Oh really? Because I would have thought if I had a son named Kellen he would have called me right away. He would have called me right after a public press conference while his new Guild so that I wouldn't get caught up in all of the drama surrounding said press conference." The older Guide was quite upset, which only made Kellen chuckle more. He had expected this kind of behaviour from his Mother, not his Father, so it was a little refreshing.
"I'm sorry. If it makes you feel better, I've been not keeping track of where my phone is. The Captain already has gotten made at me about it."
"It does not make me feel better to be compared to that S Class." His Father's voice was full of gloom, which only made Kellen chuckle more.
"He's not all bad." Kellen defended, even as he remembered his time in the cafeteria. "We're still just getting to know each other. I'm sure as time goes on he'll grow on you two. He seems...more stable compared to other S Classes? When I compare him to my Uncles, he seems to have his head on his shoulders." Kellen knew his Mother was listening in, which meant he wasn't surprised when he heard her sigh.
"Well, I put in a little bit of work to research his past. He spent some time in the D.E.C. Had a great track record there. Tom had nothing but nice things to say about him, even if he seemed a little edgy talking about him. The only thing that they had a complaint about was the fact he was hard to guide. He would go in at the last minute every time. It was like he hated guiding." Mom said, and Kellen took a sip of his tea. He wasn't one to sit down when he chatted on the phone, was more prone to wandering around the house as he spoke.
"Huh. That's interesting. I forgot that he had been in the D.E.C." Kellen muttered. He had no idea how he had. Now that his Mother said so, he remembered that the Captain had been quite popular back in the day. Kellen was also fairly certain he had a poster of his somewhere in among his belongings. Curious, Kellen put down his teacup and wandered upstairs where all his spare boxes were.
"He's also been voted the top rated Esper any Guide would want to be paired with. Or sleep with." His Father added dryly and Kellen almost slipped on the stairs.
"Oh? Really? I didn't know." Kellen choked out, and his Father laughed at him.
"I'll give the man one thing, he is good looking." Kellen heard his Mother whisper, but couldn't pick out the words exactly. His Dad snorted on the other line. "Ellie, he's our son's pair. What on earth are you worried about?" He scolded as Kellen reached the doorway to his bedroom. He flicked on the light, heading for his closet. "Besides that, Kellen, I'm fairly certain I remember buying you a few of those Esper magazines as a child. I think I remember seeing him in those." His Father commented and Kellen hummed.
"I'm going to put you on speaker." He stated before doing so. "You know Dad, I think I'm remembering that too. I'm wondering if I kept them after I went to the front lines. I don't have too many belongings from before, so I'm wondering what I would have kept it in." He muttered as he began shuffling through his things. His Dad laughed.
"Well, if I remember correctly, you were quite serious in packing away your things. You asked for several small boxes, but all I had available at the time were shoe boxes." Kellen's eyes lit up at the hint. He kept several secretive items in shoe boxes, but now it made sense why he had so many of them. Pushing aside the one that held more recent secrets, Kellen found four other shoe boxes. He hadn't looked inside of them when he'd unpacked, and found the first two held rather normal memorabilia. The third and fourth, however, held exactly what he had feared.
He stared in shock and awe at the poster he slowly unfolded. It was a full size, almost lifelike image of a younger Captain. His hair was a little longer and he was in the D.E.C. uniform. The uniform was flared, showing off his body while he ran his hand through his hair, his other hand shoved into his pocket. His yellow eyes stared at the camera and Kellen's voice caught in his throat. He'd gone silent in his shock, and it took him a few seconds to register he was still on the phone with his parents.
"Kellen? What's wrong? Is everything okay?" His Mom's concerned voice broke through. Kellen coughed, clearing his throat.
"I-I'm fine. Nothing's wrong I just..." He trailed off, staring at the two boxes jammed full with memories he'd pushed from his mind as he'd gotten older. Holy hell. "I just found the shoe boxes. I uh, I totally forgot about them while on the front lines." He admitted and his Dad chuckled.
"Of course you would. You were busy working. No one would remember a childhood crush." His voice was filled with humour. "So? When's the wedding?" He teased and Kellen nearly choked.
"D-Dad! We're still getting to know each other! And I don't-" Kellen cut off, staring at the handsome, younger photo of the Captain. He swallowed. "I don't like the Captain like that." He added and his Mom sighed.
"It's too soon for him to get married. They barely know each other. I can tell, since the Captain is insistent on doing everything out in the open. If he really knew Kellen, he'd know that Kellen hates that kind of thing." Kellen could feel his face turning red as he remembered the words he'd spoken to him before they had...before they had kissed on the bed. The Captain knew Kellen quite well, and only did it to get a rise out of Kellen. It didn't matter that Kellen knew that, he still would rise to the occasion every time. The fact that the Captain was doing it so that Kellen would think of him in a romantic way, or associate romance with the Captain truly proved that the man had been observing Kellen for a while. Kellen wasn't sure what to make of that knowledge.
"Oh hush, Ellie. You're just upset that Kellen found an Esper who is head over heels for him. You saw what he was like at the press conference. Tell me that you didn't look at me like that at our first press conference and I'll eat your cooking." Kellen snorted his laughter while he could tell his Mother was sputtering on the other end.
"It's too soon for me to get married Dad. It's also not the time. Especially with the Guild about to get the new gate. I haven't been paying attention to the news since. Is it an A Class gate? What are the scientists saying about it?" Kellen asked, smiling as he listened to his parents bicker. He had missed this on the front lines, and enjoyed hearing it now. It was a comforting feeling, even as he stared down at childhood memories he'd repressed. Only briefly did he wonder why, before shoving it back.
"Oh? You're that confident that the Guild is going to get it? Well, to answer your question, it's stablised to B Class instead of A Class. It's still a giant gate given that classification, but it's met the criteria for the usual stabilization tests. The D.E.C. was also able to send in their first scout mission, and all seems to be well. Through your Mother's connections it seems that if the predictions are correct, it should turn into a stable Gate, which would explain why they are fighting so hard over it." Kellen hummed in response to his Father's words. It would make sense is that was the case, especially given what he'd heard from Pamela.
"It seems like the Nemesis Guild and the Saturn Guild are going to come to a deal so that the D.E.C. doesn't step in. At least that's what I overheard." Mom's whistle could be heard over the phone.
"That's a big deal. Two S Classes coming to a deal?" She seemed impressed while Kellen laughed.
"You already know that we have an unusual amount of S Classes living close together Mom. Plus, Captain Sergei is a good one, if not a little manipulative." Kellen made a face. "Scratch that, the two idiots got into a fight earlier, so I'll need to have words with him the next time I see him." He added and his Mom snorted.
"You aren't on the front lines anymore Kellen, you can't just casually speak to other Guild Captains anymore. And there are several people who would twist whatever you said to him to either be hostile, or a challenge to your new pair." Kellen wanted to roll his eyes. Sure, he liked Captain Sergei, but they had one of the worst scores he'd ever felt. He'd only guided him once, and it had left both of them ill. That rarely happened, but for Kellen, anything was possible.
"Do not worry. They wouldn't be speaking about it for long. I would gladly leak how shitty our compatibility is if it got people off of my back. Plus, Captain Sergei only looks unapproachable. He's actually a very nice guy. Always took care of us when we were working together on the front lines."
"We?" Kellen's Dad asked. Kellen nodded.
"Yup. I told you about the partner I had on the front lines, right? The other Field Guide?"
"Yeah." His Mom said.
"Well, Brent and I often worked together with Captain Sergei. Mostly Brent since Captain Sergei, outside of his own gate, liked to raid fluctuating Gates, and Brent was the best at that. Well, more like fearless, or foolish, but Captain Sergei took good care of us. Unlike others, he made sure we had whatever equipment we needed, and never asked for it back. Like the Saturn Guild, we gave them a discount because they treated us so well." Humour filled Dad's voice as he asked.
"So? What about the Sakura Guild then? Did they get a discount?" Kellen frowned, even if they couldn't see it.
"No. They rarely asked for us, and when they did it was always the most insane deals I'd ever heard. I'm not sure if Sakura was doing it just to get a rise out of me or not, but the hazard pay was insane. The woman is crazy." Kellen muttered. "I know she's an S Class, but the other three that I know and interact with all the time aren't like her." Kellen added quietly and he could hear the smile in her voice as his mother spoke.
"Kellen Sweetheart, did you ever think it's because Sakura has to prove herself more?" Kellen wasn't sure what his Mom meant.
"Why would she need to do that? She's powerful in her own right. She's no slouch when it comes to her powers or the power of her Guild. No one holds a candle to her Guild when it comes to research on poisons." Kellen genuinely seemed confused about this, much to the humour of his parents. Kellen was a wonderfully smart boy, but sometimes, he didn't see things the way others would. One of them was Captain Sakura, an old rival from his high school days. Who in high school, came out as a girl, and unlike most, Kellen just accepted that at face value. From that point on, he had never considered her as anything else. It never crossed his mind that her transitioning would have anything to do with why she would have to try harder to prove herself. To him, she was just another woman, another strong woman who he knew.
"Well, that is true. I can't argue if she was doing that. But you still took them?" HIs Dad prodded and Kellen sighed.
"When I could. Sometimes they overlapped with deals Brent and I had already taken. Then I would offer up a couple of other Field Guide's the contracts. She's quite stingy when it comes to others." His Mom snorted, but kept her comments to herself. Kellen's father laughed.
"I think, Kellen, the more I speak to you about the other Captains, the more I understand just how much power you held out there. We shouldn't have worried as much as we did for you since all of the Guilds were looking out for you. Who is this Brent your speaking about so casually? Will we ever meet him?" He asked, interested and Kellen sighed.
"Maybe? He showed up on the front lines about three years ago. He only comes into two when he has to. I had a fight with him several times over it. But, now might be the perfect time. I did ask Hill if she could contact him to see if he wanted to work with me at the Guild for a little bit. Captain wants me to train some of his Guides into Field Guides since we have the new gate in our hands. If we get a lot of Guides who want to do that, I'll need help, and he was the first one to pop into my mind." Kellen told them, and he could hear the interest in his Dad's voice.
"What is he running from?" He asked out loud, before chuckling. "Well, it isn't as if I can't understand. Being on the front lines is a way to redevelop yourself. What Class is he?" He asked and Kellen shrugged.
"He's A Class. It's super rare on the front lines for someone to be a freelance Field Class at that level, but that was just how Brent was." He hummed. "I don't know if you'd like him Dad. Brent's a little...rough around the edges. A good guy though, always had my back. But-" A loud ringing sound on the other side of the phone cut Kellen off. His Mom swore, answering her phone on the other side.
"Hello? Oh, of course you didn't catch me at a bad time! What can I do for you?" She'd gone into full work mode and Kellen chuckled.
"I should let you two go then. It was nice talking to you. I'm thinking maybe I'll have something at my apartment this weekend? But I'll text you if that changes." Kellen added and his Dad sighed.
"Absolutely. It was great hearing from you Kellen. Your Mom and I love you very much." Kellen smiled softly into the phone.
"I love you guys too." They hung up and Kellen once again, had to come face to face with memories from his past.
He opened the two shoe boxes after putting the irrelevant ones away. Staring at the piles of magazines, clippings, printed pieces of paper and cut outs, he was stunned at the clear truth before him.
He'd been attracted, or at least idolized the Captain for far longer than he expected. The oldest magazine dated back to when Kellen was in his teens, and the more he read them, the more he came to realise that he remembered all of these facts. These were all things about the Captain, with the last one being the announcement that he was starting his own Guild. The Captain had been clearing out the first place spot in many different magazines, but most of them were about the top Esper in looks and powers. It also seemed that the Captain had never revealed what exactly his powers were. Even after displays in public over the almost 2 decades that he'd been active, people still had no idea what exactly he could do. After looking through all of the old magazines, Kellen found himself curled up in his bed, phone in hand, scrolling through articles about the man until he fell asleep.