Starchaser: No More
Chapter One: The end of it all
Leon's breath was shaky, and the crushed ruins of UA lay around him and his opponent. Nejire stood off to the side, giving him indirect fire support occasionally as she saw the opportunity. Despite the clear weather, the sun was setting, and Leon wouldn't be able to fight for much longer. He shivered as his ability to use his quirk slipped for a moment, before pulling himself together.
The thunderstorm-quirk user Cancer had been a tough opponent to fight, knocking him out of Nova-man twice. His ability to fly and fire lightning from the storm-clouds he generated made him next to impossible to fight when Leon was in his base form.
"Young man, you need to stop standing in my way. I will rewrite the corrupt laws of this country, and once the world has ceded control to me, I will make this world anew. You could have joined me." Cancer's voice was gruff in his middle age, his buzzed blonde hair standing up straight from all the static electricity. Lightning crackled from his eyes. "But now I can see that is not an option."
"Are you insane? I could never join you. Think of all the people you and your group have killed! My friends, my family...you've taken EVERYTHING from us!" Leon shouted up at the man, who was hovering mid-air. He gestured over to Nejire. "Nejire had to see her family die at the hands of Taurus… her mother crumbled to dust, you bastard! Do you understand? There wasn't even anything to bury… and that's saying nothing of what Taurus did to my family..."
Nejire walked closer to Leon, and spoke as she did so, her eyes tight with hate. "He won't understand. His mind has been warped by the quirk enhancers he's taken."
And that made the man pause, seeming to actually think for a moment.
"My goals are far-fetched, and it is regrettable what Taurus did. He and I were at odds, in most ways. But children, you must understand that as threats to me, I am forced to eliminate you." He shifted somewhat awkwardly, before steeling himself. "Starchaser, you have been a worthy adversary, and you are truly powerful. But I find myself in yet another impossible situation, where I am made to kill a child. You will continue to oppose me if I let you live…"
Leon got back into his fighting stance, and Nejire powered up, her exhaustion apparent.
"So you must die. Both of you," the older man said, turning to Nejire.
Leon's eyes widened, the tears appearing instantly. His face became harsh and desperate.
"Don't touch her! Please, anything but her!" His shout was more of a plea for mercy than anything.
Cancer shook his head. "I know you love her, but you are not the only one whose power wanes with the evening, young man. If I run out of time, she could disable me too." Turning his gaze to Nejire, who still appeared determined, he spoke honestly; "I will make this as painless as is possible." He flashed toward her, hand raised to strike. His face was grim, and she raised her defenses as best she could.
The ground shook slightly as Leon powered up. It wasn't enough, but he would defend her to his last. "You bastard, don't forget about me! RYAHH!" The power fluctuated between 30 to 45 percent, constantly wavering.
And just as Cancer was going to strike her down, Leon intercepted him, blocking the strike, hearing the bones in his right forearm fracture. But his arm still stopped the blow, so he aimed a left kick at the older man's head, as fast and strong as he could manage.
And it was stopped by the other man's hand. Easily.
"You were powerful enough to match me at 75%, but no longer."
The next thing Leon felt was slamming into a pillar on the other side of the battle field, all the ribs on his left side shattered. He coughed up blood as he continued to cry. He looked at his love, facing down their opponent. She was shaking, but doing her best to not let her fear show. But her power dropped.
"He really does love you. You must be a good woman, and an excellent comrade. I'm sorry," Cancer said, swiping his hand horizontally, faster than the eye could see.
Nejire had no time to react, and her head and neck fell from her shoulders.
Leon's breath caught in his throat as the tears flowed. He brought himself to his feet, shaking as the realization struck him. She was dead.
"No…"
Cancer turned from across the ruined courtyard, where Leon and Nejire had once had lunch. He seemed almost apologetic in tone.
"If it brings you any solace, I will bury you side-by-side." He appeared slightly closer to Leon, within comfortable talking distance, or about 8 meters. There was dead silence, as Leon brought his gaze to meet the older man's.
"I don't think you understand what you've done. I have nothing left to lose. And the sun is still up. You've lost." Leon's voice was crippled and haunting. Empty. He raised his left hand towards the horizon, and his hand covered the sun. His hand closed.
And as Cancer realized his mistake, the sun went black. And so did everything else, aside from Leon Weitz's fist, which heated up with energy so violently that it blinded everyone within the south-eastern side of the planet, the whole way from Beijing to Sydney. The light was visible in outer space as a large dome of energy, which ripped up through the atmosphere.
And as the skin and flesh melted off of Leon Weitz's arm, he suffused his legs with a small portion of the sun's energy, flashing to directly in front of Cancer, whose life was actively flashing before his eyes.
And with two spoken words and an upwards motion of Leon's left fist, he unleashed his ultimate technique. The one he'd hoped to never have to use.
"Supernova Uppercut."
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Leon awoke with a start, not remembering where he was for a moment. He quickly recognized his apartment, and shook his head, looking at the stump of his left arm.
"Yup. Still gone," he said, wiping away his tears. He had moved to Korea after his bitter-sweet triumph. The Japanese government had been more than happy to see him go. Starchaser had obliterated a fair amount of the surrounding area with his attack, but they settled with him and gave him a steady income to fulfill all his possible needs and wants. Cancer was the largest threat the world had seen in a long time, and for his role, Leon was allowed to quietly retire, minus an arm.
It had been a year since he had left, having no contacts in Japan aside from his financial and government representatives. Living in a high-end apartment in Seoul was nice enough, but he often had nothing to do.
"I guess…" he whispered quietly, looking at the private gym membership tag on his keychain.
His room was relatively open concept, aside from the adjacent en-suite bathroom. It was painted in subdued tones of blue and grey, and the furniture was sparse.
Leon had kept himself at an extreme level of fitness, though his use of his quirk was relatively low these days. He had gained no friends in his time in Seoul, tending to keep to himself. He had yet to need to put on his hero costume, which had survived the blast that leveled where UA had once stood.
He slipped out of his bed, pulling a black polo shirt out of his closet, and opening his wardrobe, finding his tan slacks and the belt that went with them. Slipping his clothing on, he pushed thoughts of Nejire away for what seemed to be the thousandth time this month. It was November again, approaching the anniversary of his victory, and of her death.
But he was so emotionally dead, that he just shoved the thought of it down. If his mother had been alive, he was certain that she would have tried to reassure him, tell him to move on.
He'd been trying to move on for a while. And it seemed to be working, but he obviously had better and worse days.
In Seoul, crime was rampant in some spots, but other parts were heavily policed, to the point that they were peaceful. He wasn't a sanctioned hero in Korea, but had met with their Board of Defense last year, and they had given him the green light to help the Korean heroes anytime it was truly necessary.
Honestly, the fact that it was more peaceful in his part of Seoul had helped him move on. Every time he activated his quirk, it was in a private room in his gym's quirk-user complex. It traumatized him to use it. Every time. It reminded him of his failures, so he had spent most of his time at the gym making his base as fast and strong as possible; great success had followed this particular endeavor.
Slipping on his socks and shoes, he grabbed his hat and keys from his side table. Putting his keys and black face-mask in his pocket, he walked quietly to his front room. Grabbing his dark grey, puffy winter jacket from the hook he'd installed a year ago, he slipped it and his hat on. The black ball cap had been the first thing he'd bought at Incheon International airport when he'd arrived. Too many people had wide eyes when they saw him before he put it on. But with it on, they'd quickly noticed him less.
He wasn't often talked to, but people did sometimes have a double-take when they saw him at the gym. They were sworn to secrecy about the gym's members and donors, as it was very exclusive. His gym, which was just a short walk away from his high-rise, was used almost exclusively by top heroes and celebrities.
He left his apartment, passing one of his neighbors on the way to the elevator. She had stopped trying to talk to him months ago. Leon was still a good person at his core, but that didn't mean that he was necessarily friendly. At all.
There was thankfully no one in the elevator when he entered, and the elevator descended with no one getting on until the second floor. A young woman he hadn't seen before looked up at him, and then quickly looked away. The limp left sleeve of his coat usually attracted some looks, and so did his obviously foreign features. Thankfully, he could pass as part Korean because of his father's mixed Korean and Japanese parents. Having grown four centimeters or so in the past year had left him at just under 182 cm, and he was glad for it, as his frame had filled out.
The young lady's interest had waned in a few seconds, and they parted ways on the ground floor, as she went over to the maintenance office and he headed out the front doors, nodding at the doorman on the way.
It was a short while later, no more than five minutes, when he arrived at the Seoul Athletic Amphitheatre, his gym of choice. Pulling his keys out, he scanned his custom donor tag at the front door's scanner. It beeped, turned blue, and the doors admitted him access.
The girl at the front desk greeted him with a slight bow.
"Good afternoon, Donor 57," she said in Korean, having gotten to know him over time. He spent plenty of time at the gym, practically living there when he had some shit to work through. Which was often.
"Good afternoon as always, Jihyo." His tone was just a little kinder than curt, but not too sweet. If he was honest, Leon didn't talk much anymore unless someone pissed him off.
He made his way over to the male donor's locker room, scanning his tag again. The sliding door unlocked and then opened for him. The room was relatively empty, as most of the donors were businessmen with little time to workout outside of their homes. He opened the locker labeled 57 and found his gym clothes neatly folded, just as he'd left them. Mixing up his preworkout, he shook his shaker until it was consistent.
Getting out of his normal clothing, he changed into his athletic shorts and applied the nano-tech workout suit Hatsume had developed for him a month before the attack on the school. It covered his torso perfectly, including the scarred stub that was left of his arm. Taking his hat off, he folded his clothing and placed it and his hat in the locker and secured it.
He headed to the main floor of the gym, where most people tended to ignore him. His base was faster and much stronger, but for the most part it still didn't hold a candle to his old quirk-enhanced strength. And he only had one arm.
The gym's main floor was a large open section for gymnastics, flying movements and individual powerlifting. Surrounding the rectangular space was many different machines, and benches toward the outside of the room.
And his workout was nice, with Wednesday being chest, triceps and core as always. Until he was repping out a thousand pounds on tricep-extension on one arm, and he started having phantom pain from his other arm. Or at least where it used to be.
It was a jagged, ripping pain, coming from his stump and up his neck. A soft "fuck" came out of his mouth as the pain came and went. He went and sat on the nearest bench, not really paying attention. As he held his stump and tried not to cry, he noticed that he had just sat in a girl group's area.
"Fuck," he thought, as one of the girls came over.
"Are you alright?" she asked. She seemed to be about the same age as he was, and she was unfortunately very attractive (even through her mask), her pink hair pulled back into a ponytail. "You're kind of sitting in our area, and we don't know you. I'm just saying this before one of the less nice members comes over and hassles you." Her body was really nice too, he noted, but he tried his best not to look out of politeness.
"Ah. My apologies," Leon said, rising to his feet, coming to be about twelve centimeters taller than her, and much more broad. "The phantom pain is pretty severe, but it doesn't happen that much anymore. I just prefer to sit when it happens so I don't pass out." He shifted awkwardly as the pain dispersed, and he sighed in relief.
"Oh. In that case, it's not a big deal…" she said, looking closer at his face. Scrutinizing him. "Do I know you?" she asked, contemplative.
"Uh, well…" he said quietly, "not personally, if that's what you mean. You've definitely seen me here before if you're a regular."
"Fuck please don't realize who I am fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck…" Leon thought, trying to keep his face neutral.
"Well we are here five days a week, so that would make sense. Are you a hero? People are not the level of conditioning you are for no reason…" she said this as one of the other girls came over. This was a woman in her early to mid twenties, absolutely rippling with lean muscle, and she had aristocratic features and straight black hair, as well as dark violet eyes. He could feel the power coming off her in waves.
"Su-jin, is something wrong?" She eyed Leon distrustfully.
"No, he was just having phantom pain from… his arm, and he was working on the tricep extension right next to us. This was the closest bench. Please don't be mean, Ju-ri."
Ju-ri looked at his left side. "Oh. My apologies, mister, but Su-jin is our youngest member, so we're all very protective of her."
"Yeah I'm Seo-Jun Su-jin, and I'm only eighteen, so Ju-ri is always watching out for me." She said brightly, making a peace sign.
The other girls were looking at him now, too. It looked like they were going to come over too if he didn't wrap this up.
"Well, I'll see you around. But I have four more sets to do," Leon said, making for his machine.
"But we didn't even get your name," Su-jin said, slightly whiny.
"It's Leon," he said, not turning back.
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The rest of his sets had gone over unperturbed, though he had seen the group looking at him oddly until he left their general vicinity, Su-jin and Ju-ri especially. Finishing his set at 500kg for twelve reps, he felt his muscles burn and then the rush of relief as he stopped. He had a sip of water, and after wiping the sweat from his forehead, he wiped the machine down with sanitation fluid and a paper towel.
Moving to the main calisthenics area in the center, he started performing his flexibility and mobility exercises. Making his base powerful had been trouble at first, because of his lack of mobility. But over the last six months, his ribs had fully healed and he had been able to make massive improvements in most areas, being able to standing long-jump 30 meters, and jump vertically fifteen meters.
Leon recognized that his abilities had long ago surpassed the normal human range. But he was dissatisfied, as he still felt empty, no matter how strong he became.
He pondered some questions while he did single-arm handstand pushups. He hadn't used his quirk in its full capacity in a few months, but what could he honestly do with it these days? And what girl group had he just run into, and why was his first thought at looking at them about their looks? What the fuck was he doing?
Flipping backwards, he landed cleanly, his 86kg frame finally being balanced without his arm. Leon felt a sense of accomplishment at his improvement, but then again, even at his best, he had lost to someone who unfairly enhanced their abilities.
"Honestly, what the fuck am I even doing anymore?" he whispered to no one in particular. Leon strode off, making for the martial arts wing of the gym. He was primarily self-taught, but as he got off the elevator to the 3rd floor martial arts area, he found a familiar face.
Or faces, as it were, when his regular group of gym buddies were there. Some of the mid-level heroes of Korea, they were...23rd and 37th? He didn't really care to remember. They sometimes chatted with him, but most of the time, they came in, got their shit done, and left. Which Leon appreciated, as he didn't really talk much anymore.
Occasionally he was asked by someone in the martial arts area for a spar, but he usually turned them down. For the most part, as was the case that day, Leon just did his forms, hit a heavy-as-fuck punching bag around, and left.
And that concluded his workout, and as he waved to Jihyo and bid her a good day, something felt off. When he exited the complex, however, there was nothing wrong, and he started his walk home. He saw two people talking about forty paces from the complex, but everything seemed normal.
Except, one of the people, a partial cat-woman, was shivering uncontrollably, holding her shoulders. And as Leon looked closer, he saw a small object sticking out of her neck, which the other person, a shady figure dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt, retrieved.
"Blugh!" the woman retched, and vomited onto the ground.
"What did you do to me?!" she screamed in agony, as her torso started to swell, and the feline aspects of her features became more dominant, replacing the human ones. Her body steamed as it grew in size, and her voice became deep and incoherent. A tail ripped out the back of her clothing, and her anatomy rearranged itself. The other person started to walk away, as the woman's distorted screeches of agony filled the air. She was clutching her head in pain, laying on her stomach as her body forcefully mutated. Leon could see fangs break through her upper and lower gums, knocking out her human teeth.
"Yo! What the fuck did you just do?!" Leon shouted at the other person, whose orange eyes glinted cruelly as they turned around.
"She's taking to the serum wonderfully, isn't she? All for the glory of the syndicate, my friend. The indiscriminate aggression will take over in just a moment. Have fun," the man said, before clicking a button on his wrist and disappearing before Leon could react.
People on the other side of the street and nearby had started taking notice, some freezing in place, some running away, one person calling for help in Korean.
What Leon turned back around to, chilled his blood. She was unrecognizable at 5m tall, with tiger-like characteristics and a rabid appearance. She had warped to the point where she looked...demonic, and her eyes had sunken in, an insane expression falling on her face.
And she was in front of him in an instant, clawed fist as big as his torso about to crush him. He blocked the blow with his arm, and his arm held. A shockwave shook the surrounding area as the force dispersed.
He knew that he wouldn't be able to reason with her, and would probably have to fight her alone, which meant exposing his identity as Starchaser to the Korean populace. But he also reasoned that his untimely death would be a rather large setback in his training, so he decided he really didn't give a damn.
Blasting forward with all of his leg strength, he knocked the woman backwards with a flying knee to her midsection, creating a small wind-burst. It was at this point that people started to pour out of the facility, with the first one that he recognized being Jihyo, followed by a bunch of people he didn't immediately know.
And the demon-woman landed pretty close to Jihyo, noticing her. Leon had remembered seeing a 'Level 6' on her employee badge, and in the Korean quirk scale, that meant she was considered quirkless or very low quirk factor.
"Jihyo! DUCK NOW!" Leon roared at the girl, who he knew wouldn't be able to survive the swipe that was coming for her head. It seemed like she wouldn't be able to react in time, her eyes widening and her posture slowly starting to change. Just as her head would've been taken off, a violet blur of a person knocked the transformed woman's hand away, a burst of light taking place where the force displaced against itself.
And Leon used that opportunity to flash in himself and grab Jihyo, getting her out of the way and to the safety of the crowd.
"Get out of here, anyone with quirk levels two to six! Level ones and sanctioned heroes, stay and fight!" Leon yelled in quick succession, attempting to control the situation.
Someone had been able to hold her off as he looked back at the fight, and he darted back in, ten percent flaring to life around him with a soft white light. He quickly made eye contact with his ally, who was...Ju-ri from the girl group?!
Questions for later.
She punched the air, creating another burst of light, and she bounced backwards, giving him an opportunity to strike. Leon quickly closed with the demon-woman, absorbing as much light as he could as he moved, pushing himself up to about 20%. Dealing her a devastating gut-punch, she was launched back about thirty meters, crushing a car under her when she landed. Leon spun back through the air with the force of his own punch, landing sloppily. He looked for his ally, and found her close by.
"Hey! You! I can't subdue her like this, and I don't think you can either! I need time to power up!" Leon shouted over the cacophony of the defense vehicles showing up, as well as the sound of people screaming and running around. The demon-woman had stood up and was making its way towards them.
"Then do it, dumbass! I'll hold the line for as long as I can!" She shouted back, executing a backflip and kicking the air, driving herself forward with a flash. Leon saw her kick the transformed woman across the face, knocking her back over.
And with that, Leon concentrated. He would need Nova-Man for this, as much as he hated to use it, and he started to pull light in, his upper body expanding and his clothes burning off. He reached for his limits, and they responded, the light encircling him like it had so long ago. His hair stood on end and became like flame, and his pants had cuffs of flame form where they connected to his body.
Leon screamed with the effort, and off to the side, Seo-Jun Su-jin gasped. She knew where she knew him from, then.
And with a violent flash, everything went from white to a saturated blue, blinding all the bystanders, emergency personnel, and everyone within a kilometer in general.
And he was back, a soft heat emanating from him. With a slight movement of his legs, he was right next to the demon-woman, in between her and his ally. He rocketed off the ground, an upward strike rocking her abdomen, knocking her 100 meters into the air with a shockwave and a blast of wind. He flashed up to right above her, falling for a moment while he grabbed one of her arms, throwing her in an instant to the ground below. The burst of wind knocked most people off of their feet as she collided with the street, setting off every car alarm and knocking out a small portion of the power grid.
Leon landed softly after he propelled himself downward. He checked the demon-woman's body. She had started to shrink after she slammed against the ground, and she was thankfully alive, but comatose.
He dropped Nova-Man before too many noticed. He had only spent about 10 seconds in the form overall, so he hoped his phone and keys hadn't melted. He found everything in his pockets thankfully unharmed. He pulled his Korean government ID, and walked over to whoever seemed to be in charge, nodding to Ju-ri, who presumably had started to call the other girls to ensure their safety. The person in charge was an older man who had a scaly skin texture and snakelike eyes. He had an old semi-auto rifle slung across his chest and a grey plate carrier.
"I would like to keep this as hush-hush as you can," Leon said, extending the card, "my name is Leon Weitz, hero name Starchaser. I've been living here with full support and privileges from the Korean government."
The man was silent for a moment as he shook his head, looking at Leon's ID, before he spoke into the radio on his left shoulder.
"Tell the media to go away. This is now a classified matter, level zero," he said, looking at Leon. "Goh Namjoon, Chief of Police for Seoul," he intoned, offering a hand for Leon to shake, "We'll need to have a series of interviews with you concerning what happened today. As of right now, we have our intelligence people pulling footage and suppressing individual reports of the incident online, so your identity isn't exposed."
Paramedics were putting the woman on a stretcher, after wrapping her in blankets, and Ju-ri had made her way over to the two men.
"So... what happened to her?" she asked Leon. She didn't seem hurt, at least outwardly.
"Some shady guy with orange eyes injected her with something that did that to her. Also, can I get a jacket or something? It's fucking cold-one moment, before I make an ass out of myself." Leon said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out the square which was the black nanoparticle hero costume.
Applying it to his chest, it activated, covering his upper body.
"That's much better. Haven't used this in forever. Also, the guy mentioned something about how it was 'all for the glory of the syndicate,'" Leon noted, "he really fucking creeped me out. I wanted to stop him, but he had some form of short range teleporter, and then I had to deal with an angry cat demon-lady."
"So we're just going to skirt over your identity like it's nothing? You're really him?" Ju-ri asked as Namjoon observed the two.
"Starchaser? No, he died when Hado Nejire died. You have to understand…" Leon said, looking at the setting sun, "I'm not a hero anymore. I'm retired. I don't go on patrol. I did what I did today because it's what anyone with the ability should do."
"You're a good man." Ju-ri said. He could feel her looking at him, and he turned, grey eyes meeting violet. Leon didn't quite know what he found there, maybe admiration, maybe not.
"And you both need to come to the station with me, if you wouldn't mind."
And mentally, the two of them had the same thought, albeit in different languages.
Fuck.
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The first thing that Leon noticed about the chief investigator's office was its clinical organization and tidiness. He and Ju-ri had been brought there, and the rest of the bystanders had been brought into the PRC, (police readiness center) where dinner of bulgogi and japchae was being served with kimchi some cop's mom made.
The two of them had been seen to medically, though it had been merely a cursory check. Then they were given an option to eat, which both had politely refused. Which left them at where they were now.
The chief investigator was an odd woman, asking all kinds of questions and making them sign many sworn statements. And while sitting next to her, Leon had noticed just how good looking Ju-ri was in non-athletic clothing, as she had changed into a smart-looking pair of slacks and a nicely-fitting blouse. She wore flats.
Leon had been allowed to grab a spare change of clothes from his gym locker before being driven to the station. Now wearing a comfortable maroon sweater with a pair of jeans, Leon felt much more comfortable than wearing his hero costume. Unfortunately for Leon, Ju-ri had caught him looking at her more than once, and he was forced to look away awkwardly each time.
After interviewing them both strenuously, the chief investigator was filling out some paperwork, preparing for more questions. Leon could feel his reserves waning, his body not used to Nova-Man anymore.
"Excuse me ma'am, but I'm somewhat weak after using so much power today. If we could wrap this up, I would appreciate it."
The lady looked at him over the rim of her glasses, clearly not appreciative of his question.
"You were transformed for ten seconds. The energy levels you emitted were high, but not that high."
Leon's face crinkled with annoyance. "Because, ma'am, Nova-Man doesn't let out ambient energy. It recycles it. The amount that is released over thirty minutes is less than two percent of the energy I use in total."
"But that would mean…" the lady said, disbelieving.
"Ma'am, I literally nuked a dude in the face once. I did lose an arm from that one, but still. I know how much power I produce."
Ju-ri raised an eyebrow, looking at the limp sleeve of his sweater.
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"Hey." Ju-ri said, looking at Leon through the snow, which was falling somewhat quickly, "I just want you to know that the girls and I really appreciate what you did. I know I helped you, but…"
Leon turned to face her, his eyes glinting cooly from the streetlights above. They had been released to go home, and he was really tired.
"You did more than you think," he said, exhausted, but smiling faintly, "you did a good thing today. We both saved people. Your name is Im Ju-ri, right?"
She looked taken aback for a moment, before realizing. "The paperwork, yeah. That's me. You're just 'Leon' to me, though."
"Well, Ju-ri, I haven't fought alongside someone in a long time," he said, his eyes haunting as they teared up slightly. He wiped them away with his sleeve. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so emotional with a stranger. Have a good evening." He felt awkward cutting off the conversation in such a way, but he didn't even know anything about her.
He bowed slightly, but before he could turn away, she spoke.
"It's okay. Could I at least get your number? Or something, do you have a business card?" she asked, pulling hers out of her wallet. "Here's mine."
He stepped closer, walking up a few stairs to close the gap between them. Taking her card, he examined it. It had been professionally done. Im Ju-ri was the lead vocalist of a group called REDline, and she was actually a business major.
"I don't have one, but since this has your cell number on it, I'll just text you now," he told her, seeming confused for a moment. She saw his left shoulder move underneath his jacket.
"Damn," he said, "I forgot I only have one arm for a second. Can you take this for a moment?" he asked her, offering the card back to her. She chuckled as she took it from him, and he stepped back to adjust himself.
He pulled out his phone, putting her name in the contacts first and foremost, then entering her number. He texted her: "It's me, Leon."
Her phone buzzed in her pants, and she pulled it from her back pocket. She texted back a confirmation: "It's me, Im Ju-ri."
He got the text and nodded at her jab at his simple text. "I don't really do much talking anymore. That being said, you can text me if you really want to." He yawned, stretching. "I'm really exhausted, have a good evening now." He bowed slightly, following the social courtesies.
"You as well."
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He had just gotten back to his apartment, and he hadn't gotten any notifications. Not that he expected any from an idol, but she was interesting, at least.
Slipping off his jacket, he threw it on the chair in his front room, not feeling like hanging it up. Walking back to his bedroom, the lights turned on automatically, and he flinched at the sudden adjustment. Shaking off the exhausted surprise, he left his shoes on the mat just within his doorway. He took his phone and keys and other various shit out of his pockets and put them on his side table. From there, his clothes came off in a line on the way to his shower, where he proceeded to wait until the water was nuclear hot before he stepped in.
"Ahhhh." he sighed at the feeling of the hot water running down his body. For a moment he felt young. Which was what he was. An adult, but just barely. Thinking of a formless woman in a swimsuit, for some reason, had him in a situation, but he figured he would wait it out, and the issue would go away on its own.
As he waited, though, for his erection to go down, he pondered why he was cursed with such strong hormones. "Damn you, mom and dad," he whispered quietly, diligently cleaning himself. And by the time he was done cleaning himself and he turned off the water, the problem had gone.
He dried himself, and then put the towel around his neck, walking back into his bedroom. Dressing himself in comfy boxers, he got into his bed, picking up his phone. He noted a missed call.
It was from Im Ju-ri.
"Oh, fuck me."
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It was 10pm, and the dorm room that the five girls of REDline shared had its lowlights on, with the five of them mostly just up to their own devices. Su-jin had asked Ju-ri if she could thank Leon when she learned that she had gotten his number, and Ju-ri had quickly relented after the youngest member wouldn't give up.
Unfortunately for Su-jin, he didn't pick up, and she seemed kinda put off by that.
Ju-ri had showered since and had changed into her purple polka-dot pajamas, and was quietly unwinding with a novel. The other girls had learned better than to bother her when she was this tired. Her phone was charging when it started to ring.
She lowered her book, looking to see who it was. Did her Mom get notified on accident of what happened? Nope. Mr. Leon. An eyebrow raised, she unplugged her phone and picked up the call.
"Su-jin," she said, putting the phone on speaker, "Mr. Leon called back."
"Really?!"
I forgot how to format
And Leon heard that from the other side and sighed, imagining the pretty pink-haired girl getting excited over him calling. An idol, getting excited over him? What was the world coming to...
"Yeah. I was showering, so I didn't get your call. I, unlike you, live a pretty easy life in retirement. Unless the task requires two arms. Most cooking, let me tell you, is pretty hard with one arm." He could hear Su-jin chuckle at his self-awareness.
"Hey mister, it's me, Su-jin! I hope you're feeling well," she said, almost uncharacteristically soft, "because Ju-ri told me how tired you were, and I saw what you did today personally. Can we make this a video call? Because I like to look at the people I'm talking to, or I have no idea what to do with my face."
Leon laughed then, soft, but present enough for the two of them to hear. "Yeah, sure, go ahead, but I apologize in advance, you'll probably be jealous of the view."
Ju-ri's side of the call then showed it was sharing media footage, his phone asking for dual-function consent, which he approved.
The first thing he saw was Su-jin's face, and he smiled at the initial anticipation he saw. She was exceptionally pretty too, with full lips and brown eyes that were full of youthful life.
"Am I just talking to Su-jin, or would Ms. Im like to speak as well?"
Hyujin pouted, and she pointed the camera over to Ju-ri, who waved, tired as all hell. But the younger woman quickly turned the phone back to herself. "I'm the one who wanted to thank you personally. Ju-ri is just tired. But I guess you're used to pretty girls giving you attention, huh?"
He felt his cheeks heat up. "Um...not really, anymore. I've been more or less alone for the past six months, since my ribs healed fully from...before."
"Well," she intoned gently, "maybe you'd like to spend some time with a pretty girl sometime soon, you know, get you used to it again." She made a slight kissing motion at him, a faint pinkness across her cheeks.
"Oh...um, well I wouldn't be opposed, for sure."
"Great. You can talk to Ju-ri for now, but I'll have her send you my number. The group has some white space before we have our next set of shows, so we'll figure something out. Sweet dreams, mister."
She then handed the phone to Ju-ri, who rolled her eyes.
"I think she likes me," Leon noted quietly.
"Oh, she does. I can see why, too. I admire you, myself, but you're not really my type. Don't hurt her feelings, REDline only has members with level one quirks, and we will jump you. Su-jin just doesn't like using her quirk, so we'd do it for her."
"I know how that feels. Everytime I use mine like I did today, I break a little bit." Leon said, putting his phone into the phone clip he had attached to his bed frame. "You don't mind if I leave my phone pointing at myself like this, do you?"
"Not at all."
"Thank you, a few hours after dark I tend to get really tired, unless I put more energy in reserve for the evening. The fact that Seoul is so cold doesn't help either."
"Do you mean literally?" Ju-ri asked, "like with putting energy in reserve, you can just do that?"
"Yeah. I sometimes forget that all people can't do most of what I can do. It was a technique I created for combat, in case I needed to transform quickly later in a large-scale battle." Leon asserted around a yawn, which escaped him.
"Well, my quirk is Forceful Elasticity, where I can redirect energy off of anything, including the air. It's not very powerful, but that's because I'm physically not built for combat. I imagine if I were to train to be just a hero, it's ability would increase proportionately to my strength."
"Well, I think I'm in no shape to be analyzing quirks right now, considering that I'm usually asleep an hour ago," Leon chuckled, "so I'll probably talk to you sometime later. I'm at the gym every day. Look for me there."
"Will do, Mr. Retiree. I'm gonna send you Su-jin's number after I hang up. You're years older than her, so be respectful," she noted reproachfully.
"Actually, Ms. Seo-Jun and I are probably only months apart in age, as I'm eighteen as well. But I will be anyway." He said, picking up his phone. "Make sure you send it right away, so I don't forget and go to sleep."
Ju-ri seemed surprised, but she said nothing.
"Alright. Rest well, friend."
"And you as well, Ju-ri."
She hung up, and he put his phone down, going to his kitchen to get some water. He was quietly mesmerized by the skyline, a cold blue evening having faded into a snowy, dark night.
He loved those nights the most, in Seoul and at home in Japan. The sunrises the next day were always the most powerful.
His water having been retrieved, , going to his kitchen to get some water. He was transfixed and mesmerized by the skyline, as he usually was on nights like these. A cold blue evening had faded into a dark, snowy night. He loved these nights the most. They had the most beautiful sunrises in the morning.
After retrieving his water for the night from the kitchen, he walked back to his room.
He saw a new notification at the side of his phone's hotbar, and his stomach jumped.
Su-jin.
And indeed, it was Ju-ri, having sent him the younger woman's contact card.
He added it to his contacts and texted her: 'Hey. It's Leon. What is your favorite feature or trait of mine?'
And for about five minutes, she didn't respond. But when she did, it was concise: 'It's Su-jin, mister. That's a good question. Your eyes were the first thing I noticed about you. Personality wise, your good-naturedness is something I've always wanted in a man. Like, your willingness to do what's right, no matter the cost. Now tell me your favorite feature or trait about me, if you wouldn't mind, that is.'
He responded quickly to indicate that he wasn't asleep.
'I don't mind. Physically… that's a tough one. I noticed your hair first because of the color, but your lips are what I keep thinking about. The fact that you were the only person that has cared when I had a pain attack in public in six months speaks volumes about how you care for others, in my opinion.'
'My lips? What about them?' Was her response.
'Well, they're really full and nicely shaped…' And he clicked send. Wow, he really said that...
"Fuck, why am I so awkward?" He said aloud, smacking himself in the face.
'Well I'll be sure to remember that on our date. I need to go to bed, we have dance rehearsal early on Thursdays. Will we see you at the gym tomorrow? Say… 2pm?'
'Works for me. I hope you rest well, Su-jin. Also, I'm blushing now.' Leon responded.
'Good, I hope to see that blush in person. Have a good night, Leon. And by the way, my friends call me Jin.'
And Leon thought, maybe finding someone new might help.
