Chapter 6- Highschool Sweethearts

"Hi." Leon awkwardly stood at the door, not really sure what to say at this point. He had accepted his mom's offer to get him a tutor, but that didn't mean he was very enthusiastic about the idea.

"Alright, well I'll let you guys get started. Wouldn't want to delay you." Leon's mother walked over to Leon and patted him on his shoulder.

"Pay attention, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Okay." 

Leon's mother walked away and the two teenagers were at a stalemate until Iris walked into the room and placed her bag on the nearby messy desk.

"What's your weakest subject?" She asked as she unloaded the textbooks she had brought.

"Probably math. I'm not super great with science either, but I'm pretty good at English and history so I won't need too much time with those." He sat, walked over to the desk and observed the textbooks Iris had strewn casually around. 

Iris frowned a bit, math wasn't her strongest subject either. Her knowledge should still be more than enough to tutor Leon, but she should probably look into refreshing her memory if she wanted to do this properly. 

"Can you bring me your math and science tests from this past semester? We'll start with those and look into other subjects later."

"Okay, some are on my laptop, so I'll have to dig it out."

-

The study session went well, both Leon and Iris were able to focus well. Iris glanced at her phone, the study session was coming to an end but she still needed to find something to do. She didn't want to go home this early.

After Iris had finished packing up and was about to pick up her bag, Leon walked over to her and leaned on the nearby desk.

"So why tutoring? When I talked to the front desk about this, they told me someone named Lily would probably be the one doing it. So why did you end up doing it?" He cocked his head to the side, his golden hair falling.

" I just started tutoring, I thought it would be a good experience." 

"I see." He watched her for a few more seconds, as if thinking of something. After a short while he seemed to have made up his mind and said;

" Can I treat you to some dinner before you go? As thanks. My parents are out tonight so I was going to eat out anyway." He flashed an endearing smile at her.

Iris didn't answer immediately. She just looked at him for a while, her eyes narrowed. She looked as if she was trying to discern something from him. He just stared back at her, questioningly. She finally averted her eyes back to her bag.

"No thank you."

"Oh okay. See you later." He didn't seem disappointed, sending her off.

As Iris walked, with no particular destination, she thought about her next plans. She didn't want to rely on Syra's parents any more than she had to, especially since it seemed like it would only get more troublesome. But in this world she was a simple 16-year-old girl with no extraordinary means. 

As Iris walked, considering her options, there was a loud noise in the alleyway to the right of her. She peered in and saw a group of large men hovering over one, smaller man. They looked intimidating. It was most likely a mugging, they might have weapons. Iris started walking over, taking off her backpack before she held it by its top handle and started swinging it. As she got closer, the man closest to her heard her footsteps and turned to look.

"Hey! What are you-" Before he could finish, Iris swung at his side with a force that did not match her body. He fell to the side, the wind knocked out of him. The rest of the group stood slack-jawed shortly before they regained their mind and charged at her. Iris nimbly avoided incoming attacks while taking them down one by one, using her heavy bag. 

As she fought, the smallest smile started forming on her face. A terrifying pleasure radiated off of her. However, none of the people present had any mind to notice this. One of the men attempted to get up, but a boot landed on his hand. He let out a pitiful screech before looking up at Iris. She was looming over him, a horrifying figure of blood and dirt with a glazed-over look. She bends over, bringing her face closer to him.

"Money."

"W-what?" His voice was small and terrified.

"Give me your money." Her voice however, was from hell.

He quickly reached into his pocket, fumbling as he barely grasped his wallet and handed it to her.

Iris stood up and saw the man being mugged had run away a long time ago. She walked over to each of the men and rifled through each of their pockets.There wasn't many of them and their collective amount wasn't much.

But it would be enough for her to start investing in it. Iris looked down at herself and frowned, she was a mess. There was dirt and blood everywhere and her clothes were ripped in places. She would have to clean up before she went home. As she walked down the sidewalk, she passed someone but suddenly felt her sleeve being tugged. She turned around with a frown.

"Syra?" Leon looked at her with concern and confusion. Iris realized that she hadn't gotten very far from Leon's house and it looked as if he was coming back from dinner. 

She nodded at him in acknowledgment before continuing to walk. But Leon grabbed her sleeve again.

"Hey! Don't just walk away! Are you okay?" He looked over at her, she looked completely different from when he had seen her 45 minutes ago.

"Did something happen? Do you need to come to my house? I can help you clean up." He looked at her earnestly.

Iris was originally going to buy some wipes and clean up that way, but it would be more convenient to wash up in the shower. 

"Ok."

"What?"

Iris started walking in the direction of Leon's house. Leon started after her when he realized.

"Are you coming over? We have a first aid kit if you need it, but if it's serious you should go to the hospital or the police."

"I'm fine. Just dirty.