"Just relax… You can do it.."
The blonde was the first one to arrive on the training grounds, preparing herself for the todays training session. Adorning her black and red uniform, Leo took a deep breath before doing warm up exercises. The area was still empty and there was comfortable silence surrounding Leo. It helped her relax for the stressful day that was to come.
Today's assignment she received was to meet up with the squad she was placed in for training. The captain that was in charge of the squad had experience in training with cadets and newcomers like Leo. The reputation she had was infamous due to her strict nature and tendency to break into angry fits if something turn out as she planned.
Soon the silence was broken by the chatter that grew louder as the source of the sound approached. The chatter came from the three women who prepared themselves for the upcoming session. The first woman was medium height; brown hair tied into a ponytail and had blue eyes. The second was the tallest, having dark skin and contrasting white hair. The third was the shortest, having short black hair with long front locks framing her fair and pale face. Her eyes were covered with a silk cloth that is tied like a headband.
"Ugh… I can't wait for this day to be over.." the brunette yawned as she prepared for the warm up, stretching her arms.
"You haven't even arrived yet and you are already complaining…" the taller woman scoffed as she glared back at the brunette. "If you don't want to be here, just leave."
"And have the commander get my case again? No thank you." the brunette retorted and turned around. Her sights were set on Leo, who was already doing warm up laps. She didn't pay attention to the girls, focusing on her training only.
"Hey…" the brunette spoke up to her companions. "Look who showed up."
They both turned towards the directed the brunette was pointing to, white haired woman looking at Leo with minimal interest.
"Nothing special…" she spoke up as she went back into the locker room. The brunette turned towards the tall woman then turned her glance back at Leo.
"I heard that she is Emma Kliesens daughter." the blindfolded girl spoke up, sitting down with her legs crossed. The brunette turned her head towards her in subtle curiosity. "There are also rumors that she raided a G-Corp train on her own. Even so far to steal some of the data."
"No kidding?" the brunettes eyes widened while replying in a sarcastic manner
"Like I haven't heard that before."
"Her energy is so wild and driven, or better yet, motivated by anger." the girl spoke up again with a slow sigh afterwards.
"Spare me." the brunet retorted quickly as Leo was approaching the meeting point of the group. She sat on a bench not too far from them. "I honestly couldn't care less of some brat who is in detention for bad behavior."
"Aren't you being a little too judgmental? Besides you are here for the same reasons."
"I am just saying that we don't need another rookie that will be slowing us down. I don't plan to be a babysitter."
As their conversation stopped, a tall figure entered the room. The figure was completely armored in black armor with red stripes, similar to the rest of the squad. The figure showed to be a woman with a rather muscular stature. Her eyes were glistening in a emerald hue. The hair thrown to the left side in a punkish fashion with the right side completely shaved.
"Well, well. We are not running late this time, aren't we Alice?" she spoke up while looking at the brunette, who narrowed her eyes at the woman's blunt remark. The woman turned her gaze to Leo who stood up as the woman arrived. She looked at Leo with sheer interest, towering over the young blonde.
"You are the little trouble maker I heard so much about." she said "What's your name, kid?"
"Leo Kliesen." the blonde replied as she kept her composure, her voice being cold and firm.
"Kliesen… You are Emma's kid." the woman uttered as she scanned Leo, looking up and down. "There is a lot of buzz about you. Let's see if you live up to that reputation, as a soldier that is."
"I will… You can count on it." Leo responded in a low growl, having the woman before her raise an eyebrow in sheer curiosity. The flare and confidence Leo gave off on the surface was intriguing to her, albeit seeming a little fake.
"Lars told me of what got you here and I have to ask… Do you really think you have what it takes to kill Kazuya Mishima?"
The other girls turned towards Leo, expecting an answer from the newcomer. The question itself shook the blonde a bit, even if she strived not to show it.
"Yes." Leo finally answered, causing the brunette in the back to burst into laughter. The blonde rolled her eyes on the obnoxious laughter cause that was coming from her. She had a goal to reach and keeping a cool head was vital. However, she could feel the seeping anger slowly growing, like it is gonna burst out soon.
"Wait, wait." the brunette finally started talking after calming down. "You, a rookie, really think that you can kill Kazuya Mishima..? Sorry to burst your bubble, kiddo, but that ain't happening. You shouldn't even be here."
Leo simply kept quiet, gripping her fist. The voice in her head simply screamed to her to fight back. She was visibly shaken by the snarky comments thrown by her "comrade".
"Ambitious just like her too..." Renee thought as she observed the young blonde. Her look then turned towards the rest of the group, having the same analyzing look.
"We have been given an assignment; it will take place in a few days." Renee spoke up after a brief moment of silence. "There is a Mishima Zaibatsu outpost that is responsible for transporting equipment for research."
"Great; another retrieval mission. Let me guess, we have to sneak in order to do it." Alice spoke in a disinterested, sarcastic tone.
"Yes, however the one doing the sneaking will be our newcomer here." Renee replied "We have a talent on our hands that could be useful."
"I find that hard to believe.." Alice retorted while spitting to the ground at the side. She flinched after feeling a hand harshly smacking the back of her head. Alice widened her eyes upon seeing that the blind-folded girl smacked her like that.
"Seriously..?" she growled while narrowing her eyes.
"Quit your bullshiting..." the girl replied in a lower voice, then spoke up towards Renee "Please continue, captain."
"Thank you, Yin. As I said, Leo will be the one to sneak in and get the schematics and other essential data on the main computer." Renee continued, looking at Leo. "Think you can handle it, kid?"
Leo nodded silently, keeping silent. Renee smiled at her quiet reply, coming up towards her once more.
"Given that you are that confident, you might as well show me what you can do."
Her green eyes pointed at an obstacle course that consisted of a climbing wall, rope climbing and what seemed to be a passage with traps. Leo was closely examining the course, picturing the path and smallest details. It seemed like the ordinary course, but leo knew Renee nor any of the squad mates wouldn't make it easy for her. The only way to survive in this force was to play by their hard and cold rules.
"How about this..." Alice approached Leo, tapping her shoulder "We are gonna see who has the best time on the course."
"Really..? A competition..?" Leo groans in frustration as she flicked of Alice's arm of her shoulder. The brunette giggled and ruffled Leos blonde mane, messing it up on purpose.
"Yea, you silly. If you want to be one of us, you have to play by our rules."
"Riveting..." The blonde sighed as she was correcting her scattered hair locks.
"Let me guess, you and I will race. Then if you win you continue to boast about your nonexistent skills."
"Well.. Ye- Wait, what?" Alice's eyes widened at the sudden counter from the blonde. The retort also caught Renee's attention, having to bring a smile to her face.
"And if I win, you will run to your mom, crying about having your ass kicked by a rookie. Am I right?" Leo continued, keeping the firm tone. Alice simply stood in shock at her words, seeing that Leo doesn't break that easily.
The brunette simply shook her head and got closer to Leo, eyes squinted in frustration.
"We will see who is the best around here, you little brat!" she yelled and gestured the blonde to position herself at the starting line. As Leo prepared for the race, another figure entered the scene.
"My my... This will be interesting." a female voice spoke up as the others turned to see another brunette. She looked similar to Renee, her hair also tied up in a neat ponytail with her bangs shifted to left side.
"I hope I am not intruding. I was just hoping to see our new star of the show." She walked over to the two contenders, looking at Leo. The blonde kept her cold demeanor, yet she did find the woman to be really strange. She seemed a lot nicer compared to most of the people who shunned her and it left her kind of skeptic.
"Aren't you supposed to be in the gym?" Renee turned towards the younger woman, placing her arms across her chest.
"Yea, but I wanted to see the new kid." the girl replied as she was looking at the blonde. "Name is Alexis."
Leo simply kept silent as Alexis offered a handshake, slowly lifting her hand. Alice made an annoyed expression and knocked the hand away.
"You'll have time for that later." she spoke up "Let's get the race done with, so that I can whoop your ass, Kliesen."
Leo shrugged and prepared for the course, however was pushed aside by Alice.
"Ladies first." she growled and looked at Renee, who prepared the stopwatch. With both of them on the starting line, Alice sprinted forward before Renee could give the start signal. Leo immediately followed up after the brunette, managing to keep up with her fast paced sprinting.
As Alice and Leo got to a tall wall, the brunette in desperation sprang forwards and latched herself on the rocks that were used for climbing.
"Cya later!" Alice yelled off sarcastically and continued to climb up the wall.
Leo simply watched as the brunette was slowly climbing the wall. Her gaze was directed to the top, as she noticed a steel pipe above the top of the wall.
Alexis and Renee were intently watching with a puzzled look. The blonde simply stood there, not even trying to catch up to the Alice.
Leo then smirked and launched her grappling hook on the steel pipe, retracting it afterwards to help her climb faster than Alice towards the top. As Leo was reaching the brunette, she gently tapped her shoulder with a small smirk.
"What?!" Alice's face grew pale in a shocked expression gracing her features. After the initial shock, she tries to climb faster and accidentally slips, falling with a loud swat against the mattress.
"Ouch…" Leo cringed as she witnessed the accident from the top, along with the rest of the group who were standing aside.
Alexis walked over to the brunette who was lying on the mattress, not moving at all.
"Hey, sis? You ok-"
"I am fine!" Alice immediately stood up, her face flaring up and her left eye twitching. She ran up to the platform ladders and climbed up to the blonde.
"We are not done yet!" she yelled at her and ran towards the finish line, with Leo following after her.
"Good lord, Ali…" Alexis sighed as she saw her sibling lose her mind over some obstacle course. She then looked at Renee who was standing next to the white haired woman and Yin.
"You are not gonna do anything about this?" she asked in a serious tone, narrowing her eyes a bit.
"Relax, Lexi." Renee responded, having a calm demeanor. "The rookie has it all under control."
"If you say so… and please stop calling me that."
Leo and Alice reached the tire track segment, both struggling to get the advantage over each other. The blondes' legs were slowly giving up with Alice gaining more and more pace. Noticing this, Alice smirked and in the rush picked some dirt, throwing in the blondes face.
With the dust getting in her eyes, Leo groaned in pain as she tried to wipe out the dust.
"That's cheating!" Alexis yelled, looking at Renee who didn't react to the said deed.
"Scheize!" she cussed. The burning was so bad that she couldn't open her eyes.
"Come on…" Leo shook her head and took a deep breath, not willing to be beaten by a loud mouth. She picked up the pace and sprinted like mad. The two soldiers, being at each other's heels, were approaching the finish line.
The second before approaching the finish line, both of them slid towards it and lifted a huge gust of dust. Renee, Alexis and the other two women waited anxiously for dust to clear. Alexis herself clenched her fists, hoping that the tricks Alice used didn't assure her the victory.
As the dust cleared two figures were lying down on the ground next to each other. Alice lifted her head and checked if she passed the finish line first. Her face turned from a victorious grin to an angry expression.
Leo managed to reach the finish line with her foot, just an inch more than the brunette.
"Holy shit!" Alexis jumped out of happiness and cheered like a schoolgirl. "She won by a landslide!" Renee grinned, seemingly impressed by the blondes capabilities.
"Fuck!" Alice yelled as she smacked the ground in an angry fit. The blonde got up and dusted herself. The blonde got up and dusted herself. She simply looked down at the screaming brunette and walked away towards the spectators.
"Well I'll be damned.." the white-haired woman's eyes widened in surprise as she muttered to herself.
"You changed your mind, Chiamaka?" Yin smirked a bit, hearing the subtle muttering.
"If she manages to keep it up, I might be convinced." Chimaka quickly retorted, keeping her calm image. "This is just beginner's luck."
Alice hopped over to the blonde, a big grin gracing her features. Leo stood neutral and rubbed her eyes a bit, getting rid of the remaining dust.
"That was amazing!" she giggled and patted her head. Renee walked over to the blonde, clapping slowly.
"Not bad blondie, not bad." She spoke up, having a satisfied grin. "You made a good first impression. There is some talent there."
Leo dropped a heavy sigh and ruffled her blonde mane for a bit. Even if this was just an obstacle course, the blonde felt like the life was drained out of her.
"Take a little breather and join us a bit later." Renee said, seeing how worn our Leo was. "I need everyone to be on full strength. No questions asked."
Alice's eyes narrowed as she looked up to the blonde in sheer anger. To be so humiliated and beaten by a mere rookie was a thought so wretched and vile to the brunette that the anger simply took over her senses and reasoning.
"I will not let it slide…"
Leo took the advice and went bathroom and refresh herself for a bit. Opening the water tap and taking off her gloves, the blonde washed her face with a splash of cold water. The sound of the water going down the drain was resonating the bathroom walls.
Leo took a deep breath as she lowered her head, trying to relax before the next training session. As she looked up, a figure that was in the mirrors surface startled her.
It was Alice. Her stare was dark and menacing, as if she was preparing to kill someone.
"Ali-" before Leo could turn around, Alice slammed Leos head against the mirror repeatedly with loud crashing. The mirror was cracking with pieces falling down, having stains of blood on them. Alice then tossed the defenseless blonde on the ground, with a small pool blood forming from her head.
"Think you are the big shot huh?" Alice growled, starting to kick Leo square in the gut. "Look at you now. Look at you! So weak and pathetic! I'll teach you to respect you superiors!"
Alice was panting after stopping her rampant kicks. A twisted smile formed on her face as she was looking at Leo, who was lifelessly lying on the ground. Alice was proud of her masterpiece, thinking she got rid of her competitor for good.
"Hope you have learned your lesson, you little brat..." she giggled and left the bathroom, paying no heed if someone found Leo in that state while closing the door behind her. They wont know the real culprit anyway.
Faint footsteps were heard as Alice was leaving the scene. A familiar smaller frame of a pink haired girl was walking towards the bathroom.
"Leo-san..?" she called out "Are you there?"
When she reached the bathroom, Alisa slowly took the doorknob and opened the door. The horrific, bloody scene left the pinkette in shock as she found Leo lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood.
"Leo-san!" Alisa knelt next to Leo and sat her up, checking if she was still alive. The blood from the wound in Leo's forehead was sliding down her face.
"Can you hear me?! Leo-san!" Alisa panicked as she struggled to get a response out of the blonde.
Leo slowly opened her eyes to see the pinkette kneeling next to her. She felt extremely dizzy and weak, trying to figure out what happened to her.
"A...li...sa..?" she barely managed to utter her friends name. This was a sign of relief for Alisa.
"Thank goodness! Hang in there! I'll go get help!"
Alisa ran off, heading to Lars and Renee in a panicking fit with her voice echoing in the hallway.
With a small passage of time, Leo was placed in the infirmary. The nurse was carefully patching up Leos wound as Renee and Lars where there to insure Leo didn't run off.
"There we go..." The nurse placed the bandage on Leos forehead and tied it up like a headband. After finishing up she turned towards the two commanders.
"She will be fine. However, the impact left a large scar on her forehead."
"Thank you." Lars thanked the nurse and she walked out of the room. The sweed and the brunette turned their attention to Leo who was sitting on the bed, completely silent.
"Do you feel any better?" Lars asked while sitting on a chair in front of her, hoping to get some answers.
Leo silently nodded, lifting her head.
"Do you remember who did this to you...?"
The blonde shook her head slowly. "I just remember me being in the bathroom and then... everything went black..."
Lars sighed and patted Leos shoulder. "Are you sure..? Can you remember at least a little detail?"
The blonde held her head in frustration, as she tried her best to remember the incident. The images running through her head were fuzzy.
"Leo, look at me." he shakes her for a bit. "Try to remember, at least something."
Rolling her eyes on how he is handling the situation, Renee tapped Lars' shoulder and gestured him to come to the corner. As he stood up, he walked over to the brunette, who didn't look very happy.
"Why don't you give the girl some room to breathe?" she asked in a coarse tone, her eyes narrowing at the captain.
"We need to know who did this in order to help her."
"How would you feel if someone banged your fucking head against the mirror multiple times? Its a shock to the system that needs time to subside." Renee growled and raised up her voice a bit.
Lars looked at Leo with an anxious expression. She was holding her forehead because of the stinging pain that came along with her scar. He dropped a heavy sigh and glanced at Renee again, who crossed her arms across her chest.
"What do you propose?"
"Let me talk to her. I am not willing to lose a good potential soldier just because of some bullies and a "captain" who doesn't know how to handle one incident." she said firmly and walked towards Leo, who was lying on the hospital bed, holding her forehead. That sentence stung Lars, as he tried his best to keep a cool head.
As Lars watched from a small distance, Renee gently tapped Leo to get her attention. The blonde slowly sat up, wincing from pain and dizziness.
"Mind if I talk to you for a moment?" Renee asked as she sat down next to the blonde, having a small smile on her face. Leo simply nodded still remaining silent, anxiously waiting for the squad leader to get the conversation going.
The eerie silence was broken as Renee started to speak up in a relaxed tone.
"Never mind asking who did this to you. Let me rephrase the captains question. Are you afraid of the one who did this to you..?"
The question left the blonde frozen for a moment, her mind tried to process the images from before the incident.
"Excuse me..?" the blonde finally spoke up, her face matching the puzzled tone of her voice. Renee kept silent, letting Leo process the question for herself. She closely watched the blonde who scratched her head in confusion.
Leo slowly remembered the person she saw in the reflection of the mirror, the grim look of the person who sent her to the hospital bed. The images of Alices anger fit on the course started to match to the incident.
"Well..?"
"I.. I am not scared." Leo finally spoke up look at Renee with the same determined look she had before the incident.
Renee saw Leos hand shake a bit as she was speaking. She was definetely startled by the recent event, trying her best not to show it.
"I see." she spoke softly "Given that you are new to the program, I will give you a set of training exercises to have you catch up with others."
"Haven't I beaten the course?"
"You have, but that is only a small part of what you need to learn." Renee replied, gently ruffling the blondes mane. "You told me you have the stuff necessary for beating Kazuya."
Lars anxiously listened to the conversation, placing his palm on his face. He wanted to jump in between them and drag Renee away.
"Let's set up a nice challenge for you." Renee propositioned "If you pass my five challenges, I'll know if you ready to take on Kazuya."
"You've gotta be kidding me right..?" Leo narrowed her eyes, watching Renee with a disinterested look on her face.
"I am serious. If you want to avenge your mother, you have to prove yourself. Not just to me, but everyone else here."
"I don't have time for this.." Leo growled and got up from the bed, walking away. Renee raised an eyebrow on her reaction.
"So... You are scared." The brunette taunted the blonde, who tried her best to block out the words that are directed to her. Leo simply walked out the infirmary towards the lockers.
"Leo!" Lars tried to go after her before being pulled by Renee,
"Let her go." she said, having no qualms of the blonde leaving the room. "She had enough trouble for today as it is."
Lars agitatedly shook his head and sat down while glaring at the brunette.
"Oh please… Don't give me that look." Renee retorted "Your way of dealing with someone like Leo involves yelling."
Lars sighed to the answer, exiting the infirmary. He saw Leo sitting on the bench in front of the infirmary along with Alisa. The two of them were sharing somewhat light conversation.
"Kliesen." He called out the blonde while walking over to the two. Both Alisa and Leo stood up, with Leo holding on to the pinkette's shoulder.
"Captain.." Alisa spoke up, having a tad worried expression. Lars examined the blonde, raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms across his broad chest. Leo kept quiet, her eyes glaring at her commanding officer.
"Alisa, make sure Leo gets home safely." He commanded, turning his gaze towards the pinkette.
"I am fi-" Leo tried to speak up but was cut off but a sharp pain in her forehead.
"She will make sure you recover properly and let me know if you try to do something stupid." Lars continued with a strict tone.
"I will make sure Leo's recovery runs smoothly." Alisa assured their commander. Leo held her forehead, letting Alisa sort things out with Lars.
"Come on, Leo-san." The pinkette took Leos bag and gave her a shoulder to lean on while they were walking.
"She will be a handful…" Lars sighed and returned to the facility.
As Leo and Alisa were walking down the park, the blonde was quiet. She was still trying to process what happened today, with her gaze being empty and distant. Alisa looked at Leo, being worried about her friend's condition.
"Leo-san?" she spoke up breaking all the silence. "Are you okay..?"
Leo stopped for a bit and took a deep breath, looking up at Alisa with a forced half smile.
"Don't worry about me.." she spoke up in a gentle tone "I just need to lie down for a bit."
Alisa tilted her head and wondered what she could do to make the blonde feel better. As the gears in her head turned, her eyes lit up and Alisa clapped her hands in joy.
"I will make some ramen for you!" she squeaked with her eyes lit up. "We can even have some tea!"
Leos features were graced by a genuine smile, the childish happiness Alisa beamed with at that moment made the day a lot brighter.
"I could use some tea after a crazy day like this." Leo admitted and stretched herself a bit.
Their attention was taken by a sudden sound of a little girl crying. It was accompanied by a voice that was familiar to both Leo and Alisa.
"What was that?" Leo spoke up and walked over to the source of the sound with Alisa following her.
"Give it back!"
"Finders keepers, missy!"
Leo's eyes narrowed as she saw Alice bullying a little girl, taking a lunch box from her. As Alice slapped the girl, without any thinking she walked over to the woman with a dark expression on her face.
"Leave the girl alone, Alice." She spoke up, much to Alices surprise. The little girl turned towards Leo, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Kliesen, what a surprise!" the brunette giggled and walked up to the blonde. "Dig the new bandages. They look good on you."
Alisa watched anxiously as she ran over to the little girl and distanced her from Alice. The girl clung on to Alisa, observing the standoff.
"Give the girl back her lunch box." Leo growled at the brunette who,a fter a few seconds of silence, bursted into laughter.
"Or you'll do-" Alice was cut off by Leo dealing a sharp blow to her ribcage with her palm, having the brunette fall down. Alice curled up, whimpering and struggling to deal with the pain. Alisa and the girl next to her cringed at the blow delivered by the blonde. Leo simply picked up the lunch box, looking down at the brunette.
"Next time I catch you harming anyone, I will make sure you have your tombstone here. Now... BEAT IT!"
The booming voice of the blonde sent shivers down Alice's spine, causing her to flee while tripping over her own feet. Leo then turned to the girl and knelt down to her, offer the lunch box that was stolen from her.
"Thank you…" the little girl bowed "But, the mean lady threw away the sandwich that was for my mom… Mom will be angry with me.."
Leo took the bag and opened it, taking out her own sandwich.
"Now she won't be.." Leo smiled and gave the lunch to the little girl. Alisa simply watched with a smile, being happy that all the bad events don't make Leo blind to the needs of the little school girl.
The girl smiled and placed the sandwich in the lunch box, happily hugging Leo.
"Thank you!" she said and ran off in a hurry. Alisa and Leo waved back to her and continued on their own way. Leo winced again as she felt the sharp pain again.
"You shouldn't have pushed yourself so much." Alisa said as she gave Leo some support on her shoulders.
"Yea…That is painfully obvious…" Leo replied, gritting her teeth a bit.
"Its also painfully obvious that you need to sleep. Let's go." Alisa retorted and helped Leo walk towards the apartment.
Running away from the scene, Alice hid herself in a dark alley. She sat near a container, still shivering from the encounter. Her teeth chattering and body shivering, theimage of her nemesis haunting her mind.
"I'll... I'll...I'll kill you."