Chapter 11: Sister

After the entire ordeal, Leon finally went home with his hundred-thousand-credit suit. Kate offered to have him dropped off, but he refused it and used a taxi.

When he arrived home, he headed up the stairs and went to his room, but before he entered, Sophia came out of her room, almost as if planned.

"Hey," she said with a bright smile.

"Hey," he responded. He turned to face her. "Nice to see you."

"Yeah, you too," she replied and then continued. "So, I’m not really up to anything this weekend, no hunting for me for a bit."

"Really? That’s great then, we can go out on Friday then," Leon replied. He noticed that she was trying to push for it, and so he decided to match her energy and ensure that she felt like he wanted it as bad as she evidently did.

’Never thought she would be this invested in going out with me. I don’t know her reasons why, but I’ll make the best with the chance that I have.’

"So where do you have in mind?" she asked.

"Well, I’m not really sure what you are into, but I know a great steakhouse in town." Leon replied. "It’s called Devil’s Grill and Steaks."

"Oh? I have been there before, but isn’t it kind of expensive?" she replied.

"Yeah, but you don’t have to worry about it, I have it covered," Leon said calmly, giving her a reassuring smile.

She wanted to say a lot about it and maybe try to stop him from spending that much, but she controlled herself. He was doing this for her, so she did not want to spoil his thunder, and if the day came and he could not cover it, she was sure that she could step up.

"Alright then." She gave him a smile. Her eye suddenly went down to the box, and she spotted the X-Force logo.

"Is that something from X-Force?" she asked. All hunters knew X-Force. They used their products to ensure they did not end up dead in the gates.

"Yeah, I got a bodysuit."

"Whoa, their cheapest one is over a thousand credits. I have been saving up to get a new one."

"Yeah," Leon replied and chuckled. He wanted to tell her the model and also promise to get her one, but it felt like that would be moving too fast.

"I needed one to ensure I was protected," he said, trying to steer the discussion away from anything that would make him have to tell her the version he bought.

"That’s really good. Alright then, I’ll see you the day after tomorrow." She gave him one last parting smile and walked past. He turned around and watched her leave. When she finally walked down the stairs, he opened the door and walked in.

"Now to try on this freaking suit." He tossed the suit onto the bed and stared at it. It was like a dream. Never in his life did he think he would ever be able to get his hands on this type of suit.

He put it on fast, and suddenly all the dark lines glowed red. The suit shrunk and fit to his body perfectly, and then the lines went back black.

"Whoa." He looked at his hands and everything. He could feel the power coursing through him already.

"So this is what it feels like to have a bodysuit? I could probably take on a low-level hunter in this."

While he was excited, his phone rang. He picked it from the bed.

[Lily]

His sister. He did not hesitate to pick the call. He placed it on speakerphone and dropped it on the bed.

"Hey bro," her calm, sweet voice came through the phone.

"Hey sis, what’s up?"

"I am coming to town," she said straight.

"Huh? You are coming here? Did father allow that?"

"No, he hated it. He refused to allow me to move after being done with high school. He wanted to send me over to a university in the United Nations, the Campbell Academy.

I refused, and it turned into a big fight. He kept saying I wanted to end up being trash like my brother, and so I had enough.

I left the house yesterday, and I am coming to meet you. I’ll arrive on Saturday."

Leon heard all of that and punched the bridge of his nose. Ever since his mother died when they were little, his father turned into something that he did not understand, a monster driven by a pure desire to push his children to the top like him.

Leon had been his star child, the one who was meant to take it all, but the pressure got so much for Leon that he had crashed. He refused to keep going, and he ran away with what little that he had.

Leon understood why his father was saying that to her, because to his father, Leon was trash, and Leon did not have an argument for that. He was indeed trash, and that was what it was.

"Sigh, I’ll be waiting for you then, sis. I’m sure he will call and threaten me, though."

"You’ll handle it, right? I trust you, bro," she said.

"You are one cunning little sister."

"But you still love me," she replied.

"Yes, I do, no matter how evil you are."

They spoke a bit about her plans and what she wanted to do, and after a few more minutes, they ended the call.

Leon fell onto his bed and stared at the ceiling.

Memories of his past rolled into his head, his mother and father playing with him and his sister in a garden.

The memories kept flowing in nonstop, and soon he slowly started drifting into sleep, until the dream changed from the happy moments to the moment when it all changed, when he saw his mother in the driver’s seat of a car in an accident. She was the only one that had died, bleeding as her entire half had been cut off.

Leon jerked awake, his entire body covered in cold sweat.