Lee woke up in a jolt as he felt his phone's vibration underneath the bedsheet. He blinked a few times to adjust his vision to the darkness of the room, and noticed a faint light coming from the blinds. He glanced at the digital clock and saw that it was already eight in the morning.
'Crap, I've overslept again.' He thought to himself as he began removing his shirt, like what he always do every morning but suddenly stopped. That's when he remembered that he had a roommate.
He looked across the room and saw that Blue Poison was sleeping peacefully. Her face had a soft smile plastered on her lips. He gently covered her with a blanket and she shifted a little, hugging a pillow beside her. Quietly exiting the room, he went to the living room and exercised his body. A quick push-ups and sit-ups to start the day.
Afterwards, he went to the kitchen and thought about what to cook. He opened the fridge and glanced at the available ingredients. Ultimately, he decided to make pancakes. After adding milk and battering the eggs, he finally finished cooking their breakfast.
"This should do it." He clapped his hands as he prepared the food on the table. He added syrup and chocolates to make it sweeter.
Lee went to the bathroom and showered. Fortunately, he prepared his spare clothes on the bathroom before he slept. He put on a beige turtle neck and pants along with his combat boots. He went to the dining table and ate his breakfast. He sat on the couch and waited for his roommate to wake up when suddenly, he heard someone knocking on the door.
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||∆||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Blue Poison suddenly woke up when the smell of something sweet and delicious hit her nostrils. She groggily stood up from her bed and went to the kitchen.
"Hnnn~, Lee... Did you cook pancakes?" She stretched her back and robbed her eyes. There was a momentary silence when she opened her eyes. Her vision shifted to the two girls on the living room.
"Woah, you two really are close. There’s no mistaking that one." She heard Andreanna's voice saw her grinning. She stiffened and widened her eyes.
"Finally awake huh?" Lee said and wryly smiled at her. Andreanna and Magallan was sitting in the living room. "Oh yes, I cooked breakfast. You can eat right now if you want." He added and pointed at the pancakes.
"Uhh... Uhmm.." Blue Poison stammered and panicked, her face began heating up.
"Oh don't worry about that, Lee already explained the situation to us." Magallan said and gave her a reassuring smile. Blue Poison put a hand on her chest and sighed in relief. She sat down and started eating the pancakes. She stuffed a mouthful and chewed.
"Still though, roommates huh?" Andreanna grinned and glanced at Lee, who was reading the escorting schedule.
"Well, the building admin said it can't be helped so..." Lee trailed off and put the paper on the table, brushing off the topic. When he opened the door and saw Andreanna with Magallan in tow behind her, he avoided panicking and carefully explained their situation to them. After explaining everything, Andreanna just kept a smug look on her face the entire time. Fortunately though, Magallan didn’t tease him.
"So Magallan, when do we head out? The slums isn't the safest place in here though." He added and strapped a kevlar. Magallan turned his offer down when he presented her another kevlar.
"We'll head out right now, I don't wanna stay there for a long time because It's hot." Magallan said and grabbed her suitcase. Lee went to the kitchen and handed Blue Poison her schedule.
"Here, memorize this after you're done eating. I’m going to head out for now. And eat well okay?”
"Yes, thank you for cooking. And, uhmm, take care." Blue Poison said and waved at him. Lee smiled at her and waved back as he and Magallan exited the room. As for Andreanna, well, she just stood there with a wide smile on her face.
"What?"
"Nothing, don't mind me." Andreanna raised her arms in surrender and walked out of the room, leaving the baffled Blue Poison alone with her pancakes. Her fork hovered at the pancakes Lee made. She closed her eyes and stuffed another mouthful, savouring the taste. She pressed her hands on her cheeks.
"It's delicious." She smiled and kept eating.
∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆|∆
Downtown Lungmen: 9:38 AM
"So Lee," Magallan started to break the silence between them. "You're one of the quiet types huh?" She asked as they traversed the packed and busy streets of downtown Lungmen. Shops and stalls were lined up everywhere, and kids were running around without a care in the world. As they walked side by side, Lee gathered quite the attention due to his stature as passerby’s gave him curious stares.
"I don't hate talking, I just don't know what to talk about." He replied and shrugged his shoulders. Some people started taking pictures and was waving at him. Others stared and pointed at his blue horns from the distance and this irked him.
'I hate this.' he thought to himself as he sped up his pace, Magallan trying her best to keep up. He led her into a café, hopefully losing the crowd.
"You're quite the celebrity." Magallan giggled and sat on the chair. She set down her suitcase beside her.
"Let's just stay here for a bit." He said and gestured to the waiter, handing him the payment. "Two milk tea’s please, less sugar and ice." The waiter nodded and took off.
“Hey, don’t you get hot while wearing that?” Lee asked Magallan, who was wearing her thick coat.
“Oh this? I’m not sweating yet so I’ll keep it on me.” She replied and sheepishly smiled at him.
"*Sigh*, sometimes I wish I wasn't this tall." They both chuckled and stared outside. After a few minutes of waiting and talking about various topics, their orders arrived and they were back at the streets.
"So, how will you conduct those tests and surveys?" Lee asked as he sipped on his drink. He wants to learn more on how these former scientists from a controversial lab operate. Magallan seems innocent though.
"Oh, just taking samples and handing out survey slips. Well, we won't be testing everybody. That'll take a lot of work, and Silence will be more sleep deprived than she already is." She chuckled and pointed at a sign across the street. Lee followed her gaze and almost snorted on what he saw.
It lamely read 'Welcome to the slums'.
"I guess we're here."
"I guess we are. So, I'll just make sure no one suspicious gets close to you right?" Lee asked and unclipped the safety of his pistol.
"Don't worry, even though we're in the slums, I doubt someone would make a move on us in the middle of the day." Magallan gave him an apologetic smile and started talking to the residents. Little did she know, they were being tailed since they exited that café.
Lee silently observed their surroundings as Magallan continued on her work. He was surprised that her drones were actually helping out by spreading survey slips to the residents. She was happily doing her job, which changed Lee's view on her. It's not that he hates Silence or her, it's the fact that they were from Rhine lab, and they were in Lungmen. Combine those two ingredients and you'll have a very suspicious outcome. He took note on their pursuers, which were tailing them for a while now.
'Two guys on the roof, one to the right and one behind us.' He thought to himself. They were armed, unfortunately for them though, Lee had already seen through them. He formed a contingency plan in his head incase their numbers doubled.
Magallan continued the survey while testing people, interacting and befriending them. They were surprisingly cooperative, except for the few glares she received from the rugged looking ones. No one dared to get mad or even shout at her, since they were wary of Lee’s presence. Maybe it’s because of his tall frame and aloof expression that no one made a move on them yet.
The fact that Magallan wasn't an infected and was surrounded by infected people really says a lot about her personality. She really is just a kind and easy-going person, even though she looks like a loner. She radiated a warm vibe around her which made her a trustworthy person.
It was already past noon when Magallan finished her work. She waved goodbye to a little kid and walked up to Lee, who was sitting on a bench holding her stuff. Her thick coat was with him, and she only wore a white turtle neck and jeans. The heat in the slums were far worse than it was in downtown Lungmen.
She clapped her hands together and suddenly bowed her head in front oh him. "Sorry! I'm really sorry! It took longer than I expected."
"What the-, Why are you apologizing? A job's a job. Besides, I don't really care if you let me hog all your stuff." Lee said and gestured her to sit down on the bench. He was about to tell her that they were being tailed when he heard Magallan's stomach grumbled. Lee glanced at her and saw her embarrassed reaction. She wryly smiled at him and he chuckled.
"Alright, hungry are we? Stay here, I'll buy you something to eat." Lee said and went to a nearby ramen stall. The vendor eyed him sharply for a moment then asked his order.
"One ramen for my colleague please, just a little spicy." He said and handed him the payment. He glanced at Magallan, and saw her staring at him.
Then suddenly, he heard a shifting of movement in front of him. The vendor was now holding a revolver and was aiming at him, his eyes had the look of a killer.
'Shit, I let my guard down.'
*BANG*
"Lee!" He heard Magallan's voice behind him. The civilians around them began screaming as soon as they heard the gunshot and panic ensued. He put a hand on his abdomen and grunted as he felt a searing pain, blood staining his fingers. He immediately drew one of his pistols and shot the man on his chest. He staggered backwards and fell to the ground, dying shortly after convulsing.
'He wasn’t even a Sankta, how the hell did he got a gun?!’
He turned around and bolted to Magallan's position, a thug was running up behind her with a knife on his hand.
"Duck Magallan!" Lee shouted and she complied. He shot the thug between the eyes and his dead body fell limp on the street. He crouched beside Magallan, who was visibly shaking and was staring at the dead man with her eyes wide.
"Magallan? Hey, look at me." He held her shoulders and shook her out of her thoughts. "We need to get the hell outta here." He added as he saw their pursuers running and was closing the distance.
"I-I can't move." She said and her breathing accelerated. "I'm, I'm scared Lee!" She raised her voice and tears began forming on her eyes.
He sighed, realizing that he had no other choice. He hoisted her up and carried her in one arm.
"L-Lee? W-What are you doing?!" She said and looked at him, her eyes tainted with fear.
"Taking you to safety." Lee grabbed her things and began running fast, ignoring the pain on his abdomen as adrenaline coursed through his veins.
"After them!" A thug yelled behind them as they chased after them. Magallan was surprisingly light, her things were heavier than her. Alley after alley, he shook away their pursuers. After running for a while, she tapped Lee's shoulder and he put her down.
"Uhmm, t-thanks for carrying me Lee, but I can run now." Magallan said and Lee nodded, and gently lowered her to the ground.
“Ready? Let’s go!” Both of them ran as fast as they could. Lee glanced behind them a couple of times but there were no signs of enemies. They rounded a corner and Lee pointed a way out of the slums. Both of them were sweating as they emerged from an alley that led to an intersection in downtown Lungmen.
"Are you alright?" Lee asked Magallan, worried about her mental condition after what she just saw. Her reaction clearly stated that she has no prior combat experience. She took a bottle of water from her bag and took a big swig out of it.
“Uh-huhm.” She nodded while panting. "I can manage. Let's try contacting-"
But before Magallan could finish her sentence, their brief rest was interrupted by a screaming thug charging at her with a sword out of nowhere. Lee didn't have the time to unsheathe his katana as the man swung his sword down, aiming for Magallan’s torso. His body reacted on its own before he could notice, years of battle honing his reflexes sharply.
"..." He shielded her and caught the blade in his hand, slicing his skin deeply and bright, red blood escaped the wound. He gripped the blade harder and yanked it free from the attacker’s hand. Lee counterattacked and punched the man hard in the face, the satisfying crack of bones were heard as his neck broke in the process, killing him instantly as his body fell limp to the ground. He let go of the sword and grimaced at the pain from his new wound.
"L-Lee... Your hand.." Magallan pointed out and hurriedly took out a bandage. It was this time that he again felt the stabbing pain coming from his abdomen.
Magallan suddenly flinched and moved closer beside him. She tugged on his sleeve and pointed in front of them. He cursed under his breath as he saw more enemies emerging from the alleyways.
Three of them charged all at once. He unsheathes his katana, ignoring the warnings he's receiving from his pain receptors. All of them swung their swords and Lee managed to deflect them, except one.
*Thunk*
"Ahh... What the?...A-AGHHH!!!" Magallan screamed in agony as she clutched her wounded shoulder. She tripped and stumbled to the ground, backing away until she hit a wall. Her white clothes was now stained with blood. Lee was shocked as he felt the burning rage inside of him snap again. There was red and black vein-like things lining up on his neck as his eyes glowed a deathly red.
"You... I'll fucking kill you all." Lee grumbled and glared at the attackers, his crimson eyes piercing through their souls. They flinched as they felt an immense fear deep inside them.
Hearing Magallan's pained cries made his anger tip to the boiling point. He flicked a button and his weapon transformed into Crescent moon. He held the Nodachi with both hands and dashed at the one who attacked Magallan, appearing in front of him with a flash.
"What the f-" The man wasn't given the chance to finish talking as he was immediately cut down by Lee. His body was cut in half, much to the horror of his companions. He spun around and did a powerful overhead move.
*Slash*
The heads of a group of thugs fly off from their bodies in a gruesome fashion as it hits the ground in a sickening thump. Amidst their beheaded corpses treads a very pissed off Lee. He grabbed a severed head from the ground and held it up. He has finally be able to discern who these would be thugs are. They were Lupos, and were from a certain Siracusian mafia.
'Why the hell would they target her.'
Four Sicilian brawlers immediately charged up to him, all of them wanting to get up close and personal. Lee smiled at the thought of him having fun again.
"Oh-oh? Come at me!" Lee flicked a button and Crescent moon transformed back into his katana. He sheathed it and raised his fists as the brawlers closed the distance.
One of them swung his fist at him, leaving his side wide open. Lee grabbed his arm and broke it with his knee, earning a yelp of pain from the poor guy before snapping his neck. He let go of the body as he narrowly dodged an uppercut. Lee kicked the man, breaking a few of his ribs before tackling him to the ground and rained down a flurry of punches. It all happened in a blur from an outsiders perspective. Lee's tremendous strength caused his face to be unrecognizable, as his skull caved in.
“M-Monster!”
After seeing this, the remaining two turned tail and ran, but he won't let that happen. Lee drew one of his pistols and fired a short burst, shooting them in the back. Ozone hung in the air, as well as the thick smell of blood. He holstered his weapon and looked around, dead Sicilians lay on the street.
The attack happened in an intersection, and civilians were present but luckily no one got hurt. Police sirens were blaring in the distance as they rushed to the scene.
Lee knelt beside Magallan, who was sitting on the ground while hugging her knees close to her chest. He grabbed a bandage and some alcohol, hopefully cleaning the wound.
"Magallan, it's okay now. We're safe. I'm going to patch you up, alright?" Magallan nodded as Lee reassured her and rolled up her sleeves, inspecting her wounded arm. It wasn't deep, but as a non-combat operator, the traumatic event left her mentally scarred. He began dabbing it with alcohol, silently hoping that they didn't used a blade dipped in originium.
"Ahnn, Lee… it hurts." Magallan bit her lower lip and her eyes began tearing up. She was trying hard to put up a brave front.
"Hey now, it's going to be alright." Lee said and continued bandaging her arm. His touch was gentle, as her arms felt brittle in his hands. Somehow, it reminded him of past events from his time in Babylonia. When Liv was injured on their first mission, he was the one who administered first aid. After a few minutes, Lee finally patched her wound.
The sirens grew louder and several armored cars skidded in the road. L.G.D officers began pouring out of their vehicles and secured the area.
"I-I managed to contact the team while you were protecting me." Magallan said and tried her best to smile despite the pain. Her lips were trembling as fear overcame her again.
"Thank you Lee. I wouldn't be breathing if it wasn't for you." Her eyes teared up and she finally cried, tears pouring out of the scared girl.
'Crap, what do I do?' Lee said as he stared at Magallan. This was the first time he saw someone cry like this. Although he has extensive combat experience, comforting someone wasn't really his forte.
'Maybe this will work...'
Lee stretched out his right hand and touched Magallan's hair, then he lightly stroked her cheek. There was a cold and soft sensation.
Next was the faint, enveloping warmth, which spread from his fingertips. He gently wiped away her tears and fixed the stray hairs on her face. Magallan flinched at the sudden contact, but soon her body's trembling lessened and her trembling lips also calmed down. Her breathing stabilized and Lee handed her his handkerchief.
"Lee..." Magallan uttered. Lee extended his hand again and patted her in the head.
"There. We're safe now, okay? Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you again." Lee smiled at her and sat beside her, grunting from the pain as he took a seat on the concrete.
"Thank you, Lee." Magallan whispered softly, a tint of red spreading on her cheeks.
¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶|¶
"Whoa, what in the (Lungmen profanity) happened here?" A feline with golden brown hair said as she tread past the dead bodies. The station received a call from dozens of civilians saying there's a mob attacking two people in downtown. Now that they were in the scene, 17 Sicilians lay dead on the street. Some of them had their heads cut off, while others died grotesquely. She approached a tall man with blonde hair who was seated beside a wounded girl.
"Hey, did you do all this?" Lee heard a female voice behind him. Both of them saw a feline with a superintendent badge on her chest. She had a womanly vibe around her that Lee couldn't quite pinpoint.
"Frankly speaking, yes, yes I did." He stood up, making her strain her neck as she looked upwards. Then her attention went to his wounds.
"I-I'm Superintendent Swire from the L.G.D. I think you need immediate medical attention sir." She said and glanced around her, looking for a medic.
Lee waved her off. "No need, I’ll do it myself. I'm looking for the escort team Miss Swire, did they come with you?"
"Oh, you mean those people from Rhodes Island? There they are." Swire pointed at a newly arrived car. It halted and the car doors swung open. A pink haired girl emerged and began running.
"Lee! Magallan!" They heard the familiar voice of Blue Poison as she ran to their position. Andreanna, Matoimaru, Meteorite and Perfumer also followed suit. Their faces had a worried expression on it. Lee saw Silence behind the group and was talking to Ch'en and Hoshiguma.
"Perfumer, please see to it that Magallan's wounds get treated immediately." Lee said when the group finally approached them. The Vulpo eyed his wounds for a moment then headed to where Magallan was sitting.
"Lee, you're wounded too!" Blue Poison exclaimed. "Please sit down so we could treat it."
"I'm afraid no. That wound in my abdomen is from a gunshot, which went through my vest and shouldn’t be possible. I believe they used originium tipped bullets." Lee replied, which made the group stiffened. Blue Poison worriedly looked at him.
"This is bad." Was all Andreanna say before distancing herself and seemed to be calling someone. Matoimaru and Meteorite patted his shoulder and began checking the dead bodies as they helped secure the perimeter. Perfumer and Silence was helping Magallan, who was sitting in an ambulance. Hoshiguma was with them, probably for her statement.
"Lee, uhmm, let me patch your hand." Blue Poison said and led him to another ambulance. Lee removed his coat, along with the kevlar and shirt. He grunted as he felt another pain on his abdomen, this time spreading to his sides.
"The wound is deep, and you lost a lot of blood." Blue Poison said as she began sterilizing his hand. He looked at her and saw sadness spreading across in her eyes. "I'm sorry we weren't of any help." She whispered, enough for him to hear.
"It's not your fault. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Lee sighed and remembered the helpless look on Magallan's face.
"*Sigh*, if I wasn't careless, Magallan wouldn't have been hurt." He gritted his teeth in frustration. Blue Poison continued patching his hand, her touch somewhat soothing his anger down.
"You did your job Lee. At least Magallan is safe now." She smiled at him and they both stared at each other, seemingly lost in thought.
‘Why is it that her eyes are so…'
"It's not the best time for honeymoon is it?" Ch'en emerged from behind, breaking the comforting silence between them. He wanted to shout at her for ruining that peaceful moment but ultimately refrained.
Realizing that Lee is topless at the moment, Blue Poison's face heated up and she excused herself. "I'll go check on Magallan for a minute." She said and waved goodbye. After leaving the two of them alone, Ch'en took out her phone and played a short clip.
"Do you always fight like this?" The 15 second clip played some of the events, specifically when he severed several heads in an instant. "This was uploaded 30 minutes ago on the internet, and became the most viewed before we took it down." Ch'en pocketed her phone and pinched the bridge of her nose. "*Sigh*, now I get it why Dr. Kalt'sit assigned you here."
"Don't blame me Miss Ch'en, I was just doing my job. They wounded Magallan, so they'll pay with their lives." Lee replied with a shrug.
"Still though, Originium tipped bullets huh." Ch'en said while pointing at his wound. "You really don't want to go to the hospital?"
"I'll remove it myself, I don't wanna risk infecting others if I do get infected." Lee said and grabbed a tweezer. Besides, going to the hospital would cost money, not that he cares. The other reason is that Kalt'sit is the only one who knows about his blood, and if news spreads outside that he has the lowest originium crystal density, It'll be a pain in the ass to deal with.
"Excuse me, but you wouldn’t wanna see this." Lee shooed Ch'en and she complied. He injected anesthesia to null the pain, and he proceeded to remove the bullet deep inside his stomach.
"Fucking hell." He grunted as he pulled the bullet out, the black originium tip smeared with his blood. He covered his wounds with bandage and wore his bloodied shirt and coat.
After cleaning up the bodies, the L.G.D decided to finally wrap things up as they escorted them back to the headquarters. The media was waiting for them and luckily, Lee managed to evade them.
∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆•∆
Magallan decided to approach him when he finished giving out a statement to officer Swire. She waved goodbye to the group as they boarded the elevator. Silence and Blue Poison eyed him for a moment before the doors closed.
“Lee, thank you for protecting me back there.” She said and smiled at him.
“I’d do it all over again if needed.” Lee replied. “Oh, how’s your wound?”
“Ah, it’s fine now, though it sometimes stings a bit.” She was wearing a shoulder sling since she was told not to move it too much.
“I see, that’s great.” Lee sighed with relief and they stood there in silence. The soft glint of the moonlight shining above them. Magallan noticed that she was staring at him for too long and quickly composed herself.
“Oh, uhmm, I was thinking if… you know, if you would like t-to have dinner with me sometime.” Magallan said while fidgeting with her hair. “As a token of gratitude or something like that. Besides, I want to get to know you better…” She whispered the last part.
“A dinner huh? Normally I’d reject invitations, but oh well.” Lee said and smiled at her. “Since it’s you, I’ll take you up on your offer. Just tell me when.”
Hearing this, Magallan lit up and genuinely gave him a bright smile.
“Really? Thanks Lee!”
Lee chuckled as they walked back to the elevator, both of them talking and laughing as if nothing bad happened that day.