6 Reduced Normalcy

"Welcome home, Leon!" Lean smiled at Leon from the doorway. She was washing the dishes when he came through the front door. "Sorry! I only managed to buy convenience store food, I hope you don't mind? I went home quickly and I still haven't bought groceries yet. Ugh, this rain ruined all my plans. What about you? Are you alright? You're not drenched or anything?" She added.

"No sis. I'm perfectly fine. I took a taxi just to be safe." Leon responded.

"I see. That's okay! I already prepared the tub. You should take a hot shower and then let's eat, okay?" Lean smiled.

'…was supposed to be the normal scenario but it was nowhere near my reality right now,' Leon thought as her sister's panicked face came into view.

"Wh-who is that Leon?! What happened?!" Lean dropped the dishes she was washing at once and immediately rushed to the entryway.

"Sis, I..."

"Oh, my gosh! Where's the towels! You're dripping wet! Dry yourself!" Lean was prancing about trying to look for clean towels.

"Sister, listen I..."

"Go to the bath.. No, wait, put her on the sofa first, then I..."

"Lean! Calm down, will you?" Leon raised his voice slightly, just to end his sister's disastrous prattling. "I'll leave her in your care, I'll explain later. If you're thinking of anything weird, don't. I saw her on my way home and I checked her vitals and it was normal. If she's really sick, then, let's take her to the hospital, but if not, at least we didn't waste any money." Leon looked at Lean's eyes to seek confirmation that she calmed down and that she understood him completely. "I apologize for suddenly putting you in this situation, I know it's not the best solution.. But I panicked and then I.." Leon continued. 'But even I realized how stupid my decision was. Too late though,' Leon thought bitterly.

"Y-yeah, of course! Maybe she just fainted from hunger or dehydration. Go and dry yourself up, you might catch a cold." Her face was now plastered with worry. Lean's frantic and a worrywart, sometimes it seems like Leon is the older one between the siblings.

-

'What an eventful night. What was I thinking? Bringing a stranger home? What if she's a really dangerous person or what if she has a communicable disease of some sort, wouldn't that make us the first victims? No, no stop thinking negatively. Let's try to think in a different perspective; maybe she's just hungry and dehydrated - yeah that's it. After she's well enough, she can leave and tomorrow and everything will be normal once again,' Leon thought as he was drying his jet black hair with a white towel as he just finished taking a quick shower.

After some time, Leon heard a quiet knock on his door.

"Leon? May I come in?" Lean asked from his bedroom door.

"Sure, you can."

"Umm.." Lean entered and closed the door behind her then proceeded to fiddle with her fingers while refusing to make eye contact.

"What's up, sis? She awake yet?"

"Hm-mm. Not yet," Lean paused before continuing, "Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

Leon explained what happened to Lean from the favor Mr. Rex asked of him to the moment he brought the girl home. Again, making himself realize just how stupid he became. 'Maybe the fatigue got to my head or something...' Leon defended.

"But you know what, I'm somehow happy. Because it's been awhile…"

"You know I hate word games like these. What do you mean by that?" Leon sighed. A little frustrated as he has some inkling to what his sister will say.

"I mean, it's been awhile since you cared for someone again… and not to mention, how beautiful she is. It's not impossible for my cold brother to…"

"Okay. I heard enough. But if it suits you, I can leave her to die outside…"

Lean just shrugged her shoulders and told Leon she knew he wouldn't really do that, but at that moment, Leon considered, what if he chose a different path, will he really be able to leave that dying girl alone? If he really left her whilst knowing the fact that she might be moribund and then found out that some random girl died at their school in the morning, will his conscience be able to withstand it? It seems that whatever path he chose, his normal life would've been affected one way or the other; in short, an impasse.

Did he really seem uncaring? Leon questioned himself as he pondered over his sister's words. For the most part, he just realized that caring is bothersome. For him, it was enough to have his only family to care about and his own self. Caring about others too much is unnecessary. If there's a risk that something you cared about might be lost in the future, it's better to not care too much or you'll just feel more pain and emptiness once they're gone. Damage control. It has been his defense mechanism since his childhood trauma and even he himself was surprised about the action he did today.

He can simply rule out that he panicked or was at loss of what to do, but under normal circumstances, he could simply just call an ambulance and let other people take care of it. There was no actual need for him to be involved yet he still did. Leon was known to be logical and level-headed but today it seemed like he also failed himself. Satisfied with the explanation that he was just tired and became momentarily stupid, he willed himself to stop thinking about it. He could mull over what happened for the rest of the night yet he knows nothing significant will change. It has always been a bad hobby of his to continually think about what ifs. 'It's no use to think about it anymore. Fact is: it already happened. I have to accept my actions and ready myself for the consequences,' Leon concluded as he readied himself to sleep.