"Friends and Soap Foams"

Thursday night came. While Lia, with only a backpack with her, was waiting for an e-bus at the station, a cute blue car arrived in front of her.

BEEP! BEEP!

The driver then rolled down the window. "You goin' home, right? I'll drop you off." It was Sanno.

Lia swiftly opened the car door and sat in the front seat. Inside the car was cold, and Sanno was wearing his usual long-sleeved shirt. "Why were you this late, too?" She said as the digital clock had just displayed "10:30:00 PM".

"I had dinner with mom," said Sanno as he started driving. He did have dinner with his mother, but he used most of his time in typing codes. "How about you?"

"I was worried about my mutant because he doesn't look well. I requested for a mat, thick blankets, and thick mattresses so I can check up on him without going way up the lofts," she explained. "I willingly had three-hour overtime."

"Wow, I'll give you a Best Caretaker award," Sanno said jokingly but noticed that Lia gave a blank expression. It looked like she was thinking so seriously about something. Seeing that she wasn't her usual self, he asked, "You okay?"

Lia was startled when she heard Sanno. She turned her head, looking at him, furrowing her eyebrows. She was so bothered by Aesop's favor that got her thinking if she could do it, even at the risk of getting fired. "Sanno… Can I trust you?"

Sanno was dumbfounded and thought that it was a weird question, especially coming from Lia who trusts people too much. "Why are you asking that…" Then, he thought that Lia may have another problem, one that had nothing to do with his mission. He needed to be careful with his answers, and try not to overthink. "Of course, you can trust me. Is there something bothering you?"

"My mutant, he…" she started explaining, "He wanted me to check his family,"

"Oh? Why?"

"I made him like that, I…" Lia tried forming sentences in her mind, but she was about to cry and struggled to speak. "I...brought the doctor and the veterinarian... to do a check-up on him…"

"Mmm… Then?"

"He told me the reason why he was disobedient… The scientists, they… made him eat… rotten meat…"

"WHAT?!" Sanno shrieked as if surprised by her revelation. He already knew that the scientists were doing questionable and wicked experiments, just like what he had read in some of the classified reports that he had acquired. He felt a tinge of anger as he tightly gripped the steering wheel.

"I made him...remember…" Lia said, trembling, and soon after, her tears fell. "Now, he's telling me that he might die... if the scientists started experiments on him... He said that he wanted to know, at least… how his family is doing…"

"Hush, stop crying, okay?" said Sanno, and he pulled over to an emergency lane. He reached for the tissue box from the backseat, pulled three sheets, and gave them to Lia.

"Thanks, Sanno," Lia said, wiping her tears. She quietly sobbed as she continued. "What should I do? I couldn't say no to him... Poor mutant…"

"Did he tell you where they were?"

"Yes… in Sambridge."

"Oh! I'm going there tomorrow. I have to get some things from my father's friend," Sanno said, gently tapping Lia's head. "I'll go with you tomorrow if you'd like."

"Really?" she widened her eyes. "But if ever we'll be caught by D.M. Cadre, you will also be fired."

"They won't catch us," Sanno gave her a reassuring smile. He continued patting her head, then whispered to himself, "Especially me."

In Makylee City, at the Brentvale residence, Lorus and Lemmon just finished decorating the kitchen.

"Alright, everything's set," Lorus said while placing down the last piece of wineglass. "Now, sis just have to arrive."

"Yeah," Lemmon replied. "Good thing that Leo's here to cook for us."

"Of course," Leo said while fixing his face mask. He had cooked Lia's favorite grilled fish, fried chicken, and sweet and sour pork. "Lia's my best friend."

The door suddenly opened as Lia turned the doorknob after inserting her key.

POP!

Confetti suddenly rained down on her head!

"Congratulations on your recovery! Welcome home!" the two brothers shouted, like how they practiced before she came home.

Lia was touched with her brothers' surprise. She tightly hugged them both, as she shed tears of relief. "Thank goodness, I'm home."

Leo then approached her, and placed a polka dot party hat in her head, while placing the garter strap under her chin.

"Yo, Leo," Lia greeted him. She released her hug from her brothers, "I smell my favorite dish."

"It's your usual," Leo replied. "Mom said that she misses your noisiness in the restaurant."

"Ohh, why is it that it's only your mom that missed me? How about you?" she said, chuckling.

"Well… I also mi-" Leo put a stop to his words when he noticed a man leaning at the door. "Who's that?"

"Oh, I forgot to introduce him!" Lia said, going back to Sanno's side. "He's Sanno, my colleague."

"I'm Sanno. Nice to meet 'ya." he smiled at them and shook hands with Lia's brothers. When he drew closer to Leo, he gave him a smirk.

Since Sanno offered a handshake too, Leo grabbed his hand but gave him an intimidating look. For him, there was something off about Sanno. He wasn't sure if it was just jealousy or if he smelled something fishy about him. Why does this guy smell like cinnamon too much?

While the others were eating, Leo sat at the dining area with them but he didn't eat. He said that he already ate with his mother, and throughout their eating time, Leo couldn't help wonder, why the hell was Sanno eating with them. He even sat beside Lia while Leo sat in front of them. Not only that, he placed grilled fish meat onto Lia's plate, and to make things worse, he was glancing at him, sneering!

"I'll go wash the dishes," Leo volunteered after everyone was done eating. "Go sit at the couch with your brothers. You need to catch up."

"Thanks, Leo! You're the best!" Lea said as she happily left him the dishes.

Leo took a tray and slowly placed the dirty dinnerware in the sink. When he was about to get the other batch of used plates and cups, Sanno came into the washing area, bringing with him a tray of plates and cups.

"Everything's here, go wash them," Sanno said as if mocking him. "Why were you glaring at me, Mr. Leo? Afraid that I'll take your precious Lia?" he laughed on his own.

"What are you talking about?" Leo then squeezed the bottle of liquid soap out to the sponge. He poured some water to make it bubble.

"You're too obvious," Sanno leaned his back on the counter close to the sink beside Leo. "Should I help you?"

"Why should I trust you," he replied, continuing to clean plates with the sponge. He was annoyed, but that time, he could only squeeze to sponge very hard, to try to suppress his irritation. "I can smell something bad in you."

"Oh? And why would you smell me?" Sanno chuckled. "How can you smell me when you have that face mask on you. Let me help you take it off."

When his right hand was about to approach Leo's face mask, Leo immediately grabbed his arm using his wet and foamy right hand. Soap foams were scattered on their clothes.

Sanno was amused by how Leo reacted. "Why are you stopping me?" The two of them glared at each other.

"Stop fooling around," said Leo in a stern voice.

"Why?" Sanno smirked, provoking him. "Are you hiding something in your face mask?"