Damovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.
Demian's P.O.V.
Once there, the group of four alighted from the vehicle, while Demian briefly examined the sign on the building that said 'Maximov's Driving School'. The building's style was in the image of the city's mainstream architectural style which was a blend of the Cold War era from the soviet side from his previous world and modern Western architecture, also from his previous world.
Indeed, similar to his previous world, after the Second World War, two blocks formed, one being the Western block with the USA heading it and constituted by most Western countries. The second block was governed by the USSR which changed its name to Russia in 1991. The similarities ended there, though.
The differences were plenty from his old Earth, the main one being the fact that in the Second World War, Supes were officially introduced and even fought against the others until the Axis capitulated thanks to their crushing defeat. During the following period, the Supes were used as a deterrent against the other block, leading to a few small-scale conflicts and thousands of deaths, whether soldiers or civilians.
The history of this world felt odd to Demian, though. After all, he had those memories from his previous life. 'Supes suddenly appearing during a World War? Two Blocks having a 'staring' contest for years without any big-scale conflicts? I know that in my old Earth, the Cold War was also a thing, but it didn't last that long and in the end, the USSR crumbled on itself. That's not what happened here... Forget it! I'd better focus on the things around me rather than asking questions I can't find answers to...'
The young man pondered as the group of four entered the building. He quickly noticed the female receptionist sitting behind a desk a few meters away and he was not the only one as the latter swiftly looked in their direction, before asking them about the purpose of their visit with a professional smile. “I'm Adeliya Mikhailov. We've got an appointment at 6.”
Nodding her head, the employee replied. “I've indeed been informed earlier. Mr. Savelievich will be your driving instructor today.” Pausing for a second, she added. “He's in the parking lot behind the school, so I'll inform him quickly.” As her explanation ended, she grabbed a landline phone on her desk to call the man. After a brief moment, she put the phone back and declared. “Mr. Savelievich will be with you shortly. You can wait for him in the waiting room if you prefer.”
“Thank you.” The mature redhead responded before moving toward the room on the side where all of them sat on the available chairs. 'I hope we won't have to wait for too long...' Demian thought absentmindedly. Thankfully, only a minute went by before they heard footsteps that originated from the corridor leading toward the back of the building.
Gazing over, the four people spotted a tall man with above-average features walking toward them. The man had light brown hair and eyes and a smile that seemed to be an exact copy of the receptionist's. When the instructor noticed them, he swiftly went toward them and despite his gaze lingering a split second longer on Brynhild, he stayed professional all the way.
'He probably recognized big sis.' He thought, amused. He however kept silent. “Did Mrs. Maximovna tell you about her arrangements?” The man asked. Adeliya nodded. “She did.” “That's perfect. We might as well start now if you all don't mind.” He replied looking toward Demian, before gesturing toward the corridor he came from and adding. “If you're ready Mr. Mikhailov.”
Nodding his head with a small smile, the young man retorted in a joking tone. “I can't wait.” Before following the other man toward the back of the building. The older man also did not forget to leave some words to the three women. “We should be done in around an hour.”
The two men followed the passage to a closed door and after going through it, a medium-sized parking lot appeared in the younger man's view, with a bit less than a dozen cars with the driving school's logo on them. Feeling surprised, Demian thought. “A private parking lot almost in the middle of the city... That school is definitely not ordinary. They can skip the whole driving lessons process, though, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised...'
The instructor did not notice the pensive look on his 'student' 's face and instead kept walking toward one of the cars parked on the right side. Once they reached the vehicle, the older man instructed Demian to sit in the driver's seat while he sat in the passenger one.
When the young man entered the car, he adjusted his seat, side view mirrors, etc. until he felt comfortable with the car's 'settings'. When he was done, he noticed the amused smile on the other man's face. Noting his gaze, the previously silent instructor claimed. “I see you're already familiar with a car's interior. It's a relief.”
Chuckling slightly at the more 'natural' expression on the man's face, Demian replied, intrigued. “Didn't Mrs. Maximovna tell you that I was already experienced in driving?” Nodding his head, Savelievich retorted. “She did. But whether it's true or not is another matter. We've had so many students come here and claiming the same thing, but in the end, they failed at the most basic things like adjusting the side mirrors.”
Shaking his head, baffled, the young man replied. “Why am I not surprised?” That made the other man chuckle before he responded. “Why don't we resume the 'lesson'?” “Sure.” Afterward, the instructor instructed him to do some simple maneuvers, which he succeeded easily, before directing him toward the parking lot's exit.
Once the young man left the place, he drove the car through the busy road of Damovotsk, all the while following the other man's assignments. Probably because he noticed the ease with which the young man followed his instructions, the older man started to relax slightly, and the two began to chat more naturally than previously.
“Do you guys often do that?” “Do what?” “Letting people who didn't go through the mandatory number of lessons go to the driving test.” Cocking his eyebrow, the man retorted in a joking tone. “Are you a cop?” That question made the two of them laugh for a bit before Savelievich added in a more serious tone.
“It's an open secret anyway, so I don't mind telling you. We do have a few people like you who come to us to skip those mandatory lessons, but most people go through the normal process.” Feeling intrigued, the young man asked. “Why would they do that if they could skip it?” Looking at Demian with a look that screamed 'Are you serious?', the older man replied. “Money, obviously. Aren't you aware of how much we charge for that service?”
Scratching his chin in embarrassment, the young man retorted hesitantly. “I... I'm afraid not. My Aunt is the one who took care of everything...” Shaking his head at that statement, the instructor replied. “Being born in money is really good, isn't it?” The young man chose to keep silent since he knew that the other man was right.
In his previous life, he had to slave away to earn money to live a decent life, making it tough for him to really enjoy anything, even when he was off work. In this life, however, with the inheritance from his grandparents, and the money of both his Aunt and older Cousin, he objectively did not have to get another soulless job to live decently.
Of course, in his current life, it was his safety and his loved ones that were threatened. It automatically 'forced' him to work hard to grow in power to be able to protect them and himself. Now that he thought about it, he was in a similar situation as in his previous life. Forced to react to a world that seemed to be hostile to him...
'No! In the past, I hated the whole thing. But now, I'm enjoying the process of working toward that goal. That changes everything!' He pondered in silence, still absentmindedly following the middle-aged man's instructions. As 7 p.m. came closer and closer, the instructor directed Demian to go back to the driving school, prompting the two to reach the parking lot almost on the dot.
Once the ignition was turned off, Savelievich declared. “From what I observed, your skills are at the level of a veteran driver. So, passing the test will be a breeze for you.” Nodding his head, the young man responded with a question. “When will I be able to take the test?” Pausing for a second for a brief moment to think, the instructor replied.
“It usually takes 3 or 4 days. At most a week, but I doubt it would take that long. In any case, we'll notify you when we get more information. The only thing we're sure of is that you'll have to come here and I'll drive you and the two others who're taking the test at the same time.”
“Got it!” Demian replied as the two exited the car. As he was following the older man, the young man could not help but gently move his left shoulder while a thought briefly appeared in his mind. 'Damn seat belts!' Pushing the slight pain aside, he chose to endure and kept silent until he reached the group of three women waiting for him.
Once they reached them, the group bid the two employees goodbye while the latter reminded them about what the instructor told Demian earlier. Afterward, they left the building and sat in the Toyota before Bryn started driving toward the City Center, startling the young man slightly.
“We're not going home?” Shaking her head, his Aunt replied. “We need to go to my office before that.” Cocking his eyebrow, the young man asked. “Do you need something there?” Chuckling slightly, the older woman turned her face toward him and responded. “Yes and no. I need my surgical instruments to take out the bullet from your side without you bleeding to death.”
Freezing for a second, the young man retorted. “Thank you Aunty, but do you have to constantly mention the 'bleeding to death' part? It's getting a bit scary.” Turning back to face the road, the mature woman retorted while shrugging nonchalantly. “Occupational hazard. You should get used to it. Especially if you want to have a chance to deal with Petrovich and his kind.”
In a slightly more somber mood, Demian nodded with a sigh. “You're right.” Before the group fell silent until they reached their destination a minute later. To be fair, the time it took to arrive was mostly due to the heavier traffic than the great distance between the two places since they were objectively quite close.
The four then exited the vehicle right after the tall redhead parked it in the garage on the left side of the two-story building. The garage was exclusive to Adeliya, while her patients were only allowed to use the parking lot behind the building. The group then went through the door connecting the garage to the first floor, while the young man looked around at the familiar sight.
Facing the entrance was a standard front desk usually manned by his Aunt's employee, Magdalina. On the right side was a waiting room for patients, a consultation room slightly deeper into the building, but still on the right. And the last room was a standard office room where Adeliya and Magdalina took care of the usual paperwork.
In the deepest part of the building was a staircase leading upstairs. In the past, the young man was never allowed up there, and he thus had no idea what could be found on the second floor. Until the previous day, that was. “Let's go up.” The mature redhead declared to the three following her.
With his lover's hand in his, Demian could not help but feel curious about the 'mysterious' floor as his feet started to climb the stairs, one step at a time.