..="=..="=..="=..="=..="=..Chapter 2: A Man of Compassion..="=..="=..="=..="=.. ="=..

His shift at the hospital had just ended. He was walking along the commercial district of York Shin City to find a nice cafe to lounge around when he noticed a girl with long blonde hair sitting at the corner of the street.

Coming from a poor family, Leorio could not bear to see people experiencing the same thing he suffered when he was a child. Being deprived of food and a decent place to live, those were the major hardships he had to cope with. His fate changed, however, when a man named Silva came to his town and took him away from his poor family. The man brought him to his mansion which, to Leorio's surprise, stood on top of Kukuru Mountain. The tallest mountain in the Greed continent.

He lived at the mansion for 10 years along with Silva's biological son, Killua, who was two years younger than him. Of why Silva took him in, he did not know. But he was thankful for the old man for changing his life tremendously.

Leorio approached the girl who was about to get up and leave.

"Hey," he called as she started to walk away. "Wait!"

She stopped walking and turned to face him. He was mesmerized the moment her eyes met his. It was a deep shade of red which immensely reminded him of blood; yet, it was also beautiful like a red diamond—if there's such a thing.

She's really beautiful, he told himself. "Don't you know that it's dangerous for a girl like you to loiter around here at a time like this?"

She only looked at him but didn't answer.

"Hello? Didn't you hear what I just said? I- "

"I'm not deaf. I heard what you said," she cut him off.

He was taken aback the moment she answered. Her voice was enchanting but there was a trace of coldness in it that made him, somewhat, sad

He paused for a moment and decided to introduce himself. "My name's Leorio. What's yours?"

"I don't remember asking for your name," she said, starting to get annoyed. This man's wasting my time.

He sighed. "No. But for me to help you, I need to at least know your name."

"Nor did I ask for any of your help," she said, her voice rising.

Leorio noticed that the girl was starting to get irked. He sighed. He never met anyone before who were as short-tempered as she was. All his life, this was the first time he had trouble talking to an opposite sex, not to mention a kid.

"Okay, look kid," he tried to reach for her. "Sorry if I'm annoying you or anything but I just wanted to know if-"

"Stop!" she backed away.

She was completely glaring at him now.

"I don't know what it is you want or what you're trying to do, but I'm saying this now mister," she exploded. "I won't hesitate to fight you if you try to do anything twisted to me!"

Twisted? What is she..? He was thinking now. He studied her for a bit and saw how anger was clearly etched in her face. But when he looked at her in the eyes, it was different. Her eyes were clearly saying that she was afraid of the man in front him. But why?

And then it hit him. He laughed. Why hadn't he realized it earlier? How stupid of him. She only gave him a confused look.

"I'm sorry," he smiled at her. "I didn't even think about how you'd feel after being approached by a complete stranger in the middle of the night."

She continued glaring at him.

"Of course it's only natural that you'd get suspicious," he went on. "But I assure you, I'm not a bad man. I just thought that you needed some help, seeing as you were alone and seemed to be brooding over something."

And then there was silence. She was no longer glaring at him now and he thanked God for that. She just stood there and looked as though she was deep in thought.

Oh well, he thought. I tried. "I'm going now then. Sorry to bother you."

He was only a few distance away from her when she called his name. He was surprised of course, but he turned anyway.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Can you . . ." she paused, thinking if she should continue or not.

"If you're trying to apologize, there's no need," he said as he continued to leave.

"Um, no, wait!" she called again. "I, um . . ."

Even from a distance, he could see her face flushed. He gave her a peculiar look.

"I'm waiting," he said, pretending to look at his watch like he was some busy businessman.

She made a deep sigh and finally spoke. "Take me somewhere to eat."

It wasn't even a request. It sounded like an order, judging by her tone. But he didn't mind. The fact that the girl asked her for something was enough.

"Say no more," he smiled.

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Yay! I'll start writing Chapter 3 tomorrow. xD