Shared Pain

After the Machi showed up Leon was finally able to breathe, he didn't think that he would arrive before the ice queen. It was easy for an assassin like him to lose the gang chasing him. When he told Chrollo about what happened Uvogin had almost immediately formed the idea that Leon had done something with Machi.

Leon and Uvogin were close to trading blows when Machi busted down the door, ' Overall it was a pretty good day, I should have known spending so much money in a place like this would paint a giant kick me sign on your back. ' Machi and Leon had spent nearly a thousand dollars to buy various pieces of furniture and supplies, Leon bought several rugs as the bedrolls they had weren't very soft and the floor of the warehouse was solid concrete.

The only other pieces of furniture were the set of chairs to use at the metal table Leon had retrieved from the junkyard, the rest of the money was spent on supplies like bottled water, canned food, and a whole bunch of plain fabric and leather. Instead of having different outfits when someone's clothes ripped they would bring them to Machi and she would repair them. Leon was surprised by how much skill the ice queen had with the needle, he didn't think just sewing on patches would give a person that level of skill.

The incident in the market turned out to be a rare scenario as everything seemed to mellow out, Leon's first week within the group was mostly spent inside the warehouse as he got to know the individual members. Uvogin was a brash guy who seemed to be like an older brother figure in the family, Machi was a disapproving sister who only gave criticisms.

Feitan was the messed up younger brother, Leon walked in on him dissecting a rat that had bruise mark's around its neck. Nobunaga was a teddy bear compared to the others as he was the first member that approached Leon, the two ended up talking about swords somehow.

The last two Pakunoda and Franklin distanced themselves from Leon, Fraklin was just an introvert while Pakunoda was suspicious of him which was fine with him. While he wasn't in the warehouse Leon observed the city taking notes of the gang fights as new ones seemed to appear almost every day and then fall a week later.

What Leon wasn't able to understand was the bond between the citizens of Meteor City, while they fought against each other when needs must everyone would band together to take care of the problem. One example he found was the Tramp Incident.

About 10 years ago, a tramp without papers was arrested for murder. When the local law enforcement tried to look for information about the tramp, they found nothing. It was then that the tramp confessed that he was from Meteor City. The police of the country refused to believe his innocence from the murder, instead forcefully extracting a "confession" that he did commit the crime. During the trial, the lawyer appointed by the court did not do anything and allowed the tramp to be condemned. Three years later, the real murderer (a drug addict) was arrested and his crime was brought out to the public. It was then recognized that the tramp was falsely accused.

Shortly after the information was revealed, a total of 31 people consisting of the police, judges, inspectors, witnesses, jurors, and lawyers who took part in the false accusation of the tramp were assassinated. In one of them, a message was found near the corpse's foot, saying, "We'll accept anything you leave here, but don't ever take anything away from us." The assassins were 31 Meteor City residents that attached a bomb onto their chests, then exploded themselves with their victims, all at the exact same time, in different locations. All because one of their companions was falsely condemned, 31 people sacrificed themselves, and 31 others were killed, in the name of revenge.

' I won't be able to find anything at this level, all the decision making is with people that are too high up for me to handle. Damit I really don't want to get punished. ' Leon fell onto his back looking up at the dark sky, it would have been peaceful if not for the cries of people fighting below. Sitting up as he felt someone walk onto the roof, " So this is where you've been hiding. " Leon frowned, " I wasn't hiding I was studying and at this rate, I probably won't pass my dad's test. "

" Do you hate your family? " Machi sat down a few feet away from Leon pulling her knees into her chest, " No hate is a strong word it's just that, ever since I was born I've been trained to be a perfect assassin. I don't know what a normal childhood looks like but, I'm enjoying mine. Why do you ask? " Machi was silent before a little bit before she rested her head on her knees, " You asked me what Chrollo rescued me from. My mom and dad owned a tailor shop in one of the safer areas of the city, one day my dad ran into the shop bleeding. He had pissed off a nearby gang and as he escaped wounded. When the gang arrived he tried to protect us but he was killed, a bullet straight through his head. My mother knew she couldn't escape her fate so she offered herself to the men in exchange for my life. What happened next I can't remember I just knew my mom was dead, I ended up on the streets until Chrollo found me and took me in. "

Leon looked over at Machi, " Now my family seems downright peachy. " Machi's ice queen facade broke as she smiled, Leon grinned " Has anyone else seen your smile, It's really beautiful you know. " She stopped smiling as she leaned over and punched Leon in the arm, wincing Leon rubbed the spot " If you tell anyone about this I'll kill you. "

Standing up Machi walked away leaving Leon alone on the roof, sighing Leon reached into his pocket pulling out a small device. Pressing a button classical music started to play soothing Leon as he laid back closing his eyes.