High School Soldier
Inner war: changed

The first day of a peaceful holiday, he said.

**

Earlier…

“Isn't he your brother, Mr Nio?”

On closer inspection, what Edera said was the truth.

It seemed that Arunika was unaware of Nio's existence which was being confused and shocked. However, the main problem is who is the man who is embracing Arunika's waist and talking with a happy smooth face.

Returning home after undergoing many physically and mentally exhausting battles, Nio sees Arunika with one of the most figures he ‘benci’ during his service to the country as a High School Warrior. Before approaching the two of them, all Nio did was stand pecking with a face like he was observing.

At least, what Nio wanted when he came home was Arunika's surprised face, then cried in her arms because she expected his return after hundreds of days apart. Just like the return of a contingent of peacekeepers or border guard troops who served in the risk of loss of life, such a full day event as Nio imagined when getting a vacation for one month.

After a while, Arunika finally looked towards Nio, although for a moment she did not recognize Nio. The man is quite recognizable through his messy hairstyle, or physical signs such as a sharp voice or eye gaze.

Of course Arunika did not run and hugged Nio just like that. He asked the permission of the man who embraced him. Of course, he would not do anything involving other men without his permission even if it made his feelings uncharacteristic.

“You look tired, Nio..”.

Seeing Arunika walking towards him and saying that, Nio also saw the face of the man who was with Arunika who showed a smile as if he knew her.

Although only a few months, Nio was in the unit led by a man dressed in a field uniform with the rank of major. On later memories, it was the man who gave Nio a lot of ‘experience’ in battle, especially in treating the enemy soldiers who had already surrendered. The man was known by Nio through his words, “The enemy must be made to lose by any means.”

“Even he can still smile like a sinless one,” Nio keeps remembering all the commands of men as long as he is under his lead.

The enemy had to be made defeated in any way, one of them killed all the enemy soldiers who had given up. It seemed like those words would never be forgiven by the current Nio. When he was a cowardly enlisted man, Nio could only obey all of the man's orders despite interfering with his mental health.

The man walked leisurely then stood beside Arunika and said, “It's nice to see you again, Nio Candranala.” the man from the TNI Army greeted Nio, but it does not make the TRIP first lieutenant happy.

“Ya,” Nio replied with a cold look and tone. In fact, the girls from the other world felt a dark aura coming out of Nio, so cold it might be able to make ordinary people faint.

“Oh dear,” the man re-embraced Arunika's waist, “He is not as friendly as you speak.”

Arunika replied without feeling uncomfortable with the embrace, “I also did not know she changed after months of not coming home.”

“Sial, didn't you change, Arunika?” nio said but in his heart. Nio made a complicated expression, and it seemed like he would soon cry.

Not the welcome of a hero like Nio got. His heart felt tight, empty, and angry as Arunika without a happy expression and haru greeted her.

“Nio, why are you bringing home other world women again?” ask Arunika.

“As of me.”

“Why are you cold like this?”

“As of me.”

Arunika really feels Nio's nature changed 180 degrees when her boyfriend greets her. From the happy setting when he saw her, Nio suddenly stood up straight with a flat expression like her. He did not know what kind of emotions Nio was showing due to his buff mask, but Nio's strange attitude made Arunika confused.

“I want to go home, you should also go home quickly after having fun with him. I am tired, and have to learn to be a good instructor,” Nio said.

Arunika nodded in response, but the man beside her smiled and said as if he wanted to see Nio suffer more. He took one step forward, and put on a mocking face that was perfectly hidden by his smile. A clean white face without acne scars, sharp object injuries, or burns from being roasted Wyvern flames really made Nio envious.

The man said, “Why are you hiding it? Didn't you want to have fun with Arunika after serving in another world? Oh yeah, I forgot, you didn't dare touch it because it's already mine, huh?”

“By opo koe?! (by the way what are you?!)”

“If jealousy should not be seen clearly, dong. I thought you would accept this situation sincerely. If you let our relationship go, I guarantee you won't regret.”

“Mayor, now I'm not like I used to be, know.”

“What? Why are you speaking in such a defiant tone with a person of rank above you? Supposedly, your behavior changed after coming home from the assignment, instead of bringing a lot of girls from there. If it's not your behavior like that, don't be jealous if Arunika prefers me. Honestly speaking, you in the other world are not doing the task but playing around with the women there, right? That's all your fault, Nio.”

Nio did not react the slightest, and it was precisely the otherworldly girls and Zefanya who seemed to want to gang up on the man who was clearly humiliating Nio.

Nio did not look towards the face of the man in front of him, but at Arunika. Unfortunately, there are no signs Arunika will try to stop the action ‘boyfriend’ or something that makes his patience gradually reduced. Nio could not read the expression of whether Arunika was angry or happy when the man was pumping on her. Yes, Arunika prefers to be a neutral party and tries not to get into trouble between the two of them.

The memory that the man in front of him had never fought on the front lines was back in his brain. However, all the man's remarks about all the victories achieved by his unit were mostly his efforts trusted by many, even the commander in chief at that time. Forcing subordinates to fight against monsters and enemy soldiers from another world, while he wrote a report that his subordinates did not take action according to orders at the safe headquarters making Nio want to vomit on the man's face right now. When the man gained the award and promotion after winning a number of battles, behind it was the sacrifice of subordinate soldiers and the unilateral killing of enemies who had been made to surrender.

“Error? If I make a mistake, it is when I do not speak to the military officials about your actions, Major Darsono,” Nio speaks in a soft tone, however his words were very clear thanks to his firm tone.

“You can talk like that out of envy of me being able to move up the ranks quickly, right? If you can take advantage of everything that can be used, why should you work too hard? Fortunately, I used to have subordinates like you, Nio.”

Nio looked at Darsono, and Darsono returned Nio's gaze. Nio did not know how long he had to endure the patience. Nio had been clenching his right hand for too long so that it might be able to bleed.

Darsono patted Nio on the shoulder with a smiling face, but Nio was disgusted by the man's smile.

“We'll meet again later, Nio. I don't want to keep my family waiting. You have to see reality, and start looking for a new one,” said Darsono, then pulled Arunika's hand and walked past Nio and the girls just like that.

When Darsono and Arunika had not been far from where they had previously met Nio, Tania appeared after exiting the minimarket after work. He calls Arunika, but is ignored and continues walking until a luxury car stops to pick them up.

Nio turned around, watching Darsono who was carrying away Arunika as if he was the only person who was worthy of the woman. He did not let his eyes go down. He managed to hold back, and avoid fights that would inflict casualties. After removing the fist that made a blister mark on her palm, Tania stopped walking and looked at her face for a bit.

Likewise with Nio, he saw the face of Tania who was standing beside him with an expression of being observed. Being still in an unstable state of heart, Nio had to calm down for a moment before greeting Tania properly.

Nio thought he was really going to cry.

“Home home, Brother Tania?” nio's words were somewhat trembling.

“Oh!” Tania showed a surprised expression to almost drop her groceries on the sidewalk, “So really Nio! Your mask makes me barely know you except your disheveled hairstyle.”

When Nio looked back at the luxury car Darsono and Arunika were riding, Tania understood why Nio was heard talking trembling. He could feel Nio's heart when he saw such a scene, although on the other hand he had little chance to compete for someone.

“Can I reclaim him?”

The burden of Darsono's last words to him before parting weighed on Nio's mind, he couldn't erase all the memories of the man and all his orders to him.

“Anu... Who are they, Nio?” tania asked as she looked at the new faces surrounding Nio like her bodyguards, although at the same time she felt suspicious of the beautiful girls near Nio.