IX

The next day found Leilyn in the gazebo out back, with Shinji and the boys.

It was nine AM and seeing as they have eaten their full – curtesy of Leilyn and Shinji – they all decided to rest outside. One look at the Leilyn nails, Shinji went upstairs and got the equipment for pedicure. The man brought the medium sized box containing the equipment down and out. Behind him, Ro followed, carrying a stool.

With passive aggression, Shinji worked on Leilyn's hands and feet. The boys just stood by the side, mouth agape as they watched him fix up Leilyn's hands and feet like it was nothing. When he was done, and the polish on Leilyn's hands and feet were dried up, she returned the favor to him. Although Shinji's feet and hands were perfect already with black nail polish, she still did it anyway.

The woman and her pseudo brother, after painting each other's nails, focused their attention on the boys, an unsettling smile and grin on their faces.  Soon, they were painting Jason and Zack's nails, respectively, while Rick was in the background, snickering his ass off as he recorded the whole thing.

"Okay, once again, this is weird." Jason says with a grimace. "I never thought you were one for… girly things." He gestures at her nails with a tilt of his chin, which were painted black and red by Shinji. The polishes was filled with diamond dusts, so it made her nails to have a sparkly and elegant look. As if that wasn't enough, Shinji went ahead to add tiny diamond stones on them.

"Jay, just because I'm me doesn't mean I don't like basic things like this." Leilyn chuckles. "Who do you think corrupted that psycho over there?" She jerks her head at the ever grinning Shinji, who wiggles his fingers - which were painted a simple dark blue by Leilyn.

"Don't you feel… I don't know, weird?" Zack asks Shinji.

"Why would I?" The Aesian cocks a brow at him. "Just like clothing, nail polish has no gender preference. It's something everyone can wear. Gender is just a concept for the weak minded. And when it's attached to things like this, it's honestly pathetic."

"But without gender, won't the world order come crumbling down?" Rick asks.

"With the current discrimination and disgust in the mindset of majority of the people on this plane, yes, yes it will. But like I said, it's for the weak minded."

"But still…" Zack mumbles.

"If I remember correctly," Shinji starts with a small smile, his eyebrow cocked. "Weren't people on this planet all wearing skirts and gowns centuries ago?"

"Yes, but that was centuries ago." Jason points out. "Men wearing dresses now is… fucking weird." He grimaces.

Leilyn and Shinji share a look between themselves.

"The so called New Age and you'll think people will be open minded." Shinji scoffs, going back to painting Zack's nails.

"No! It's not like that!" Jason bursts out, snapping his neck to face Shinji. Leilyn clicks her tongue, using her fingers to gently hit the back of his palm. Getting the message, Jason stills his hands. "It's not what I meant." The boy says. He takes in a deep breathe before continuing. "It's just that... unlike some people… we were not giving the opportunity to be open minded in some aspect of life. Right now, we… no, I, am still coming to terms about Leilyn's entire sexuality and character as a whole. It's a slow process… but in time… I- I will be more open."

Shinji lets out a deep chuckle, his eyes glinting with amusement and mischief. Leilyn just roll her eyes at him.

"Calm down, Mister Jason." Shinji chuckles out. "No need to get all flustered and babbly. To be frank, it's fine. You are not, and will never be, the last person who was brought up in intolerance and bigotry. I'm glad that you're working on that. But let me give you the sincere truth." Shinji goes back to working on Zack's nails.

"Your opinions of bigotry is of no concern to us. Lately, people don't give a fuck about the unneeded opinions of others, whose words are filled with hate and disgust. It's honestly not your life they are living, so your opinions are bullshit. Yes, it might sting them a little bit, but zero fucks will be given when the pain subsides away. As far as you don't take your bigotry to the next level, you can keep on spitting trash."

The atmosphere descends into a tense silence after that. The two adults kept working on the nails before them, taking their precious time in making them look beautiful. They decided to us the Multi-Color Polish, seeing as the boys could easily command it to change to whatever color they desire at any given moment in time.

Few minutes later, Leilyn and Shinji are done with the boys. As directed, Jason and Zack begin to blow on the nails, making the polish to dry up quickly. Their feet are in the air, having been perfectly manicured and cleaned.

"Sate…" Shinji gently drops his painting equipment down and stands up, a wide grin on his face. Both he and Leilyn turn to look at Rick with unholy glints in their eyes. The teen quickly gets the picture.

"Oh, hell no!"

Rick tries to bolt, but Shinji runs after him. The ash grey haired man easily catches up to him and grips him tight. Rick starts flaring his arms, trying to get away. Leilyn, Jason and Zack just watch on in amusement as Rick dragged over to their direction.

Everything comes to a stop at the sound of a familiar bell. A large screen pops up in the gazebo, showing a direct feed from the gate.

"Ms. Leilyn. It seems that the Enforcers of that day are here again." Zoranne's impassive voice says.

Leilyn and Shinji throw a knowing glance at each other. The woman drops her equipment and rag from her lap on the floor before getting up from the soft padded stool she was sitting on. She dusts herself of invisible dust before swiping her short hairs and placing them behind her ears. Today, she wore knee length shorts that hangs tightly on her waist and a cropped tank top.

"Let them in." Leilyn commands at Zoranne, who did as told.

The five of them watch as the Enforcers – who left their car outside – walk up to the house, face grim. They watch as they walk up to the door, once again ringing the bell. With a sigh, Leilyn plasters a small smile on her face before she makes her way back inside the house, Shinji and the boys close behind. They change their outdoor slippers into indoor ones before heading in. Shinji and the boys decide to lounge in the parlor, taking sits on the couches, eyes still trailing after Leilyn as she walks up to the door. As usual, Zoranne slides the door wide open and Leilyn comes face to face with Sam Rogram and Thomas Huang. With the way they glance over her shoulders, Leilyn knew they could see Shinji and the boys afar off.

"Good morning, Enforcers." Leilyn greets, and as the perfect gentlemen they were, they returned her greeting. "How may I help you two again?"

"Is mister Zack around?" Sam asks with a grimace.

Leilyn nods her head slowly, brows furrowing as she lightly frowns. "Yes… he is. Is… is everything alright?"

"I'm afraid it isn't." Thomas sighs out.

Before Leilyn could ask what was wrong, Zack walks up to them, taking the spot besides Leilyn, blocking the Enforcers' sight of those in the living room.

"Hello."

Sam inclines his head. "Hello, Zack." He gives the teen a small, grim smile.

"Is something wrong?" Zack asks.

His question gets the Enforcers grimacing. Their reaction has him frowning.

"Is… is it my parents?" He asks, voice unsure and tone worried. "Are they awake yet?"

"Zack…" Sam sighs, removing his glasses from his face. "I'm sorry Zack… but… your parents are dead?"

"…what?" Zack whispers out, his eyes going wide. Beside him, Leilyn's eyes go wide a little.

"Your parents sadly gave up this morning, precisely around eight AM. We investigated and had tests done to see it they was any foul play, but it all came back negative." Thomas says, giving the still shell shocked boy a sad look.

"Wha-?" Zack gasp out. "They… they are dead?"

Sam and Thomas give a curt nod. Zack stumbles back, his expression as of one in anguish.

"Zack…" Leilyn reaches out, but the boy was already walking back inside. Jason calls out to him, voice filled with worry. Leilyn watches as Jason and Rick leads the boy to a couch, each sitting by his side. Shinji walks over to her, his expression filled with worry.

"What's wrong?" He asks. He glances at the Enforcers for a moment before turning his eyes on his sister.

"Zack's parents are… they were found dead this morning." She replies, a hand wrapped around her stomach while the other on her chest.

"What?" Shinji's eyes goes wide. He stares at the Enforcers, wanting to know if what his sister said was true. A nod from Sam answers his unspoken question. "Shit. Fuck."

"Pardon my intrusion, but, who are you?" Thomas asks with a frown.

"Oh, right." Shinji stretches his hand at them. "I'm Shinjuro Takanaki."

"I'm Enforcer Rogram," Sam shakes his hand before gesturing at his partner, who also shakes Shinji's hand. "And this is my partner, Enforcer Huang."

"Nice to meet you." Shinji gives a curt nod at them.

"If I may ask," Thomas begins, "How do you know Mister Zack?"

"Hmm?" Shinji blinks before he catches on to what was being asked. "Oh! Right. I'm afraid I don't know the kid much." He replies, a small smile on his lips. "I just got here. I only know bits of him and his situation, according to what my sister told me."

"Sister?" Sam asks with a frown.

Leilyn heaves a sigh "He's my brother."

"…huh…" Both Enforcers look at Shinji – who's clad in a tight tank top and low riding sweatpants, with his hair in a bun – from head to toe and honestly couldn't find the resemblance.

Seeing their confusion, Shinji says with a deep chuckle, "Pseudo… or adoptive. Whichever suits your taste."

"Oh."

"Who's with Zack right now?" Thomas asks.

"His friends; Jason and Richard." Leilyn replies. "They have been visiting him for a while now. I'm just glad that they came today. This is a horrible news." She wraps her hands around herself. "Poor boy."

Shinji, with a sad look on his face, asks the Enforcers, "How did this happen?" The Enforcers frown at his question and he quickly clarifies. "I mean, how did they die? Sis told me that the doctors said that they were doing fine, although comatose."

Sam heaves a sigh. "Honestly, we weren't sure that they will make it. It was a 40/60 chance. We were hoping that they will wake up, even if it's for just a minute or two, and try to give us details of what happened. But, no such luck." He sighs again.

"And with the cameras tampered with, it will be difficult to catch the killer." Thomas says.

"What?" Leilyn blinks, a frown on her face.

"The videos from the surrounding cameras that night have been completed erased. There's nothing about that night, not even in the government backup files." Thomas says.

"Wait, are you saying that there's nothing at all?" Shinji ask, his brows furrowing.

"Nothing."

The siblings share worrying looks between themselves before facing the Enforcers again.

"Damn. They must be really good if they managed to erase government files." Shinji says.

Sam and Thomas snorts in unison.

"So, there was nothing at all in the house that could lead you to the killer's identity?" Leilyn asks, her face still bearing a worried look.

Sam shakes his head. "Even with blood splatters all over the floor and walls, none of them belonged to the killer, only the victims."

Leilyn nods slowly. She wasn't surprised to hear about blood splatters. With the injuries Zack sustained by his father before he killed him and his wife, there will be evidence that he was there. That's why she put Zoranne on the task to change the results if blood and fingerprints were tested and Zack's name appears. Hmm… like always, Zoranne does an assigned job to a perfect to the T.

"Please, don't stop looking." Leilyn says softly. "Please, bring justice to Zack."

Sam and Thomas nod.

"Don't worry Mrs. Xander. We'll do our best to solve this case." Sam says.

Leilyn gives a curt nod, a hand still on her chest.

The four adults talk for some few minute more before the Enforcers finally leave. Shinji and Leilyn watch as they walk over back to their car and then driving off. The two siblings share a look between themselves before they walk back into the house. They calming walk to the living room and they were met with Rick and Jason who sit on both sides of the still shell shocked Zack.

"Mrs. Lyn!" Jason exclaims, rising up. Rick jumps up too, a worried look on his face. "What's going on?!"

Leilyn raises a hand up, putting a stop to them from talking. The woman then raises her head towards the ceiling, a small smile on her lips.

"Zoranne?"

"All clear, Mrs. Leilyn."

"Hm." She drops her hand, dropping her head and facing the boys once more. She walks over to Zack, taking a sit beside him. "Zack…"

"They… are they really dead?"

"Dead and gone." Shinji grins dementedly, folding his arms. "I made sure of it. I don't play with my missions after all."

Zack lets out a chocked sound. The boy drops his face on his hands, shoulders trembling.

"Zack…" Leilyn reaches a hand at him, hovering over his shoulder. She looks at him with worry.

A deep chuckle was heard. Then another. And another. Soon, Zack was fully out chuckling, shoulders trembling.

Leilyn share a worried look with Shinji and the boys. Has… has this broken Zack's mind?

Zack chuckle finally dissolves into full blown laughter. It was loud and hysterical. The boy held his ribs, his face facing the ceiling as he laughs dementedly. The boy suddenly stops, a wide, toothy deranged grin on his face, and his eyes blown wide. The teen stands up, opening his arms wide.

"HAHA! FINALLY! They are fucking gone!" He exclaims cheerfully, spinning over to Rick and Jason. "God, it feels so good when your plans come together!"

Shinji and Leilyn blink at him in confusion.

What?

Rick blows out a puff of air, drawing the two adults' attention. He adjusts his glasses while Jason just folds his arms with a sigh.

"Yes, but it took a lot of time, and an unexpected turn of events before it could happen." Rick says. "Now, all that's left is to kill mine and Jason's parent, then we are home free."

Leilyn's eyes go wide with surprise.

What?

"And it was all thanks to you both." Zack points both hands at their direction, a Shinji like grin on his face. It was so out of place on him. "The universe really sent you both as helpers. Not only did you help us, you covered for us."

Once again, what?

"Okay, can someone please explain to me what is going on?" Leilyn asks with a sigh of exasperation. Shinji cocks his hip and places a hand on it, an icy platinum blond eyebrow raised.

"Since you both helped us with this, sure." Jason says with a smirk.

Rick goes on to tell them both how it was a plan all along to have their parents killed. It was supposed to go down next month, but the attack on Zack speed things up. Yes, the injuries were from his father; yes, he was being abused. What they failed to admit was that it wasn't only Mr. Smith that was brutalized, but also his wife, and that the boys came to Zack's rescue. Jason and Rick were not afar of when Zack called for their help through the watches they made just to ping each other when they were in trouble. Jason and Rick – after Rick hurriedly disarmed the alarm in their home - broke into the house through the front door and ran to Zack's rescue. Jason tackled Mr. Smith while Rick Mrs. Smith. When Zack got his bearings, he then proceeded in beating the two to death's door. The three teens, once they thought the adults were dead, left the house and the area. They hacked into the government system and deleted their footsteps.

"What?" Leilyn blink. "But wasn't it Zoranne who…" She then notices the glint in Rick's eyes. The dark red copper haired woman huffs lightly, an amused look on her face. "I take it you managed to hack into Zoranne's home system?"

Shinji snaps his head at her, a look of surprise on his face.

"Yep." Rick replies, adjusting his glasses again. "It wasn't easy, but with some few tricks here and there, and you being distracted sometimes, I managed to send a bug into their system which makes them believe that they had done as told. They might inform you of what happened, but it will be omitted."

Leilyn and Shinji stare at the boy in awe. For someone to crack into Zoranne's code, even though a little bit, was goddamn impressive. Zoranne prided herself for her system and code, so for a child to hack into her was disorientating.

"…he's right." Zoranne speaks up. Leilyn looks up at the ceiling, an eyebrow cocked. "He did manage to place a bug in me in the small code he cracked. Processing and deleting it right now." And the A.I went silent.

Leilyn drops her head and settled her eyes on the boys, who were either smirking, grinning dementedly or had a blank look on their faces.

"At first, when we heard that they survived, we were worried." Zack starts. "But then, you went ahead to call someone to take care of them, making our plan to succeed perfectly."  He chuckles darkly. Zack tilts his head, looking at Leilyn with eyes filled with unstableness and evil. "It's quite a shame we have to kill you both and destroy Zoranne." He brings out a switch blade, pointing it at her. Jason brings out a dagger, looking at Shinji with a certain look. "It was fun while it lasted. But your deaths, along with Jason and Ricks parents, will prove that the killer is still out there. No hard feelings."

Leilyn cocks an eyebrow at him, tilting her head to look at Jason. "Jay? Are you going to allow him to do this?"

"Like he said, no hard feelings Ms. Lyn." Jason replies. He didn't look at her, either because he didn't want to take his eyes off Shinji – who everyone feels was dangerous – or because he couldn't bear to look at her before she died.

"You all just know too much. No hard feelings." Rick shrugs.

The room descends into a thick silence, which lasted for a minute. The silence was broken by a deep chuckle. The teens turn their head to its direction and was met with the sight of Shinji, whose head was bowed and shoulders shaking.

Shinji abruptly throws his head back and started cackling. His laughter resonates loudly in the living room, and it made an unsettling shiver go down their spine. Shinji drops down his head and stared at them, an unsettling evil smile on his lips.

"I have to hand it to you Lyn, you sure know how to pick 'em." He glances at Leilyn, who has an unsettling smile of her own.

Her eyes are narrowed as they stared at them with a pleased glint in her eyes. Her lips are fully stretched in a smile and it honestly has a hint of crazy in it. Zack gulps, taking a step back.

Suddenly, Shinji is in Jason's face, his ever wide grin in place. The teen grunts in surprise, taking a step back to evade him and raise his dagger up. In one quick second, Shinji disarmed the teen with ease. The icy platinum blond haired male grabs Jason wrist and twists the dagger out of his hand. He then kicks one of the teen's knee, bringing him down on the other knee with a pained yell. Once down on a knee, Shinji uses his knuckles to jab at the teen's throat, making him choke. Shinji lets go of his hand as he starts gasping for air.

"Jason!"

"Jay!"

Richard and Zack yell out. Zack's momentarily distraction is capitalized by Leilyn, who dashes at him.

"Zack! Look out!" Rick exclaims.

Zack snaps his head back at Leilyn's direction. Before the teen could move out of the way, Leilyn's fist connects hard and painfully with his stomach. The teens lets out a choked gasp, specks of spittle flying out and eyes going wide in pain, his hand letting go of the switch blade. Whist he's distracted by the air leaving his lungs, Leilyn rights her stance and curls her fingers. With the edge of her palm, she slams it into the teen's chin like a sucker punch, making his head to fly back with the force of it. Zack stumbles backward, cursing in pain. Leilyn spins and lands a roundhouse kick on the teen's face, making him to fly over a couch.

"Zack!" Rick calls out. He looks from Zack to Jason, unsure of what to do.

Leilyn brings down her leg, dusting her pants of invisible dust. The dark red copper haired tusks in the stray bang back behind her right ear.

"I applaud you boys for getting a better of my sister and me for a sec there. Not many have achieve that." Shinji says, drawing everyone's attention. He walks over to Leilyn and takes her left. He folds his arms, looking down on the three teens with cold eyes. "But if you ever point a weak ass knives at either of us again, I'm personally gonna rip your hearts out with my bare hands and feed them to you as you take your last, chocking breath. Are we clear?"

The boys nod sharply, scared out of their wits. Jason and Zack slowly stands up, walking over to Rick. Zack held his jaw and abdomen while Jason held his throat, limping.

"How… how did you-" Rick stutters out.

Leilyn chuckles, her lips tilted in a ghost of a smile, her eyes crinkled. "Years of experience. Did you really think that this body was for shit and giggles?" She cocks a brow, gesturing her toned body.

"So… you guys are secret agents?" Rick asks.

Shinji snorts. "Not even close. Better yet, we kill them."

Leilyn slaps his shoulder with the back of her hand, giving him a patronizing look. "They didn't need to know that."

Shinji just grins toothily at her, eyes glinting mischievously.

"Who we are doesn't matter." Leilyn turns her head to the teens. "What matters is that you all have potential and it's wasting away in this dump. It's a good thing I'm already planning to send you boys out of here before all this-" She waves her hand. "Reveal."

"Are you saying that you're gonna train us?" Zack asks eagerly with a sort of maniacal glint in his eyes.

Leilyn smiles at him. Even a little bit crazy, Zack was still cute. Or maybe it's the consequence of being surrounded with people who were batshit crazy (coughShinjicough) that has clouded her judgment.

"I'm not. Shinji is."

"What?" The boys blink at her.

"I'm officially retired. Of what? Literally everything. Heck, if I can retire from life without actually dying, I'd do so in a heartbeat." She ends with a deadpan look. Huffing, she continues. "Anyways, Shinji and a few others will oversee your trainings and make you three better versions of yourselves. Currently, you three are pathetic."

The teens wince in unison. Shinji just watches on in amusement.

"Jason and Zack, you two became so distracted and turned your eyes and attention away from your opponents. If it were to be a real fight, you both would be dead by now."

The two in question awkwardly scratches the back of their neck and head with a grimace.

"And Rick. What exactly were you doing?" Leilyn cocks a brow, face pinched in confusion. "I get that you are the tech guy and all, but buddy, you need to know how to fight. In case of situations like this, you'll provide better backup for your friends as they try to get back up. Don't be all brains and no muscles. And don't be all muscles and no brains. They have to be balanced."

The teens nod, eyes focused on her.

"Apart from those short comings, I have to say, I'm impressed. Not only did you three manage to fool me, you managed to fool him." She jabs a thumb at Shinji. "This guy could easily detect if someone is untrustworthy or not just by them being in his vicinity. I don't know how you did it, but y'all get an A fucking plus from me."

Beside her, the corner of Shinji's lips tilts in an amused, knowing smile; eyes narrowing as he stares at the teens in front of him.

"And as if that wasn't enough, you managed to plant a bug in Zoranne without her or me even noticing. How did you do that?"

It was impossible – until today that is – for anyone to hack into Zoranne, nevertheless managing to send a virus into her. How did Rick do it?

Shinji must have said something because the teens were looking at him with wide, surprised eyes. She turns to face him, blinking in confusion.

"Did you say something?"

Shinji looks down at her, a soft smile on his lips.

"I said that training them won't be a bad idea." His smile widens. "It's a good thing you found them. They will be good asserts to keeping this fucked up planet from falling apart."

Leilyn hums, looking at him suspiciously as Shinji just smiles at her. She shrugs internally, facing the boys once again. They kept on staring at Shinji with unsure eyes, eyes darting from him to her.

"How are your bruises? Hope we didn't hurt you boys too much?"

Jason and Zack rub and massage at where the two adults hit them, a grimace.

"We'll live. This isn't the first time we have been hit like this before." Zack shrugs.

Leilyn and Shinji's eyes narrow and their lips curled in disdain. Oh, if only Zack didn't send his parents into a coma.

"Yeah. It's okay. They'll eventually subside." Jason waves her off, a grin on his face.

Leilyn hums, mind already setting a reminder for her to work on the Nanobots project tonight.

Shinji claps his hand together, a wide grin on his face. "Oh well. Since that's settled, where were we?"

Both adults set their eyes on Rick, an evil smile on their faces.

"Oh shit!" Rick made to run, but Jason tripped him.

Shinji, with a wide grin, hoisted Rick onto his shoulder into a fireman's carry. With a protesting Rick on his shoulders, Shinji and the boys went back out, Leilyn heading to the fridge to grab some snack for them.

                         ---------------

Four days later, Shinji and the boys were leaving and heading for Eurosia. After doing all that needs to be done – Zack's parents' cremation, signing of the papers concerning their assets and getting an overseer in the form of her step-father, the boys were ready to leave.

They already have their most important possessions in Shinji's boot and were about to get in when Leilyn calls them to her.

"I want you three to do your best." Leilyn starts as they stood before her. She dusts their shirts and tugs at their jackets gently. "Sensei can be hard on new comers, but if you are still alive after a month and are less traumatized after a year, I can guaranty that you three will become deadly men."

"Don't worry Ms. Lyn. We won't let you down." Jason says and the rest nod in affirmation.

With a nod, Leilyn reaches into the left pocket of her lab coat and brought out two small color cases and hands them over to Jason and Rick.

"Take those when you're about to sleep."

The boys open them and they were met with needleless injections with liquids at the base.

"They are Nanobots. They will help with any injuries." Jason raises a finger and Leilyn hurriedly adds. "All except decapitation, gutting, gunshots to the head and all the rest that causes instant death." She ends with a deadpan. Jason drops his finger down with a pout. "Shinji." She calls her brother over. The blond walks over to her, a hand on his hips. She reaches into her pocket and brings out another case. "Three vials are in there. Hand them over to either mother or Lex."

Shinji nods in understanding before collecting the case.

Leilyn pockets her hands. "Well boys. I'll say this will be the last time you see me for a while. Do try not get yourselves killed."

They all give her a shit eating grin, making her to sigh in exasperation.

The four males made their way over to the car. Before he got in, Shinji reached into his pocket and throws a small, wrapped gift at Leilyn with a shout of 'Merry Beltane Lyn!' She caught it easily and unwraps it. Inside was a sliver neckless holding a black obsidian. With a warm smile aimed at him, she puts it on.

With one last goodbye, they drove off, leaving behind a waving Leilyn to her unknown fate.