Clown and Sunflower 2

"Oi. Wake up!" Leo said, poking at Meimei's face. She opened her eyes and closed it again.

"It's still dark."

"It's morning."

"The sun hasn't come out."

"It's morning."

The girl didn't reply, only turned the other way. Leo was losing his patience. He stood still for a while, annoyed that he had to deal with this baggage. Why had he taken her? If he had known that she wasn't the one who used the barrier, well, he'd have left her. His mind shifted to the gifted with the barrier ability. By now the Orca had them. People in the Upper Half did not care what your circumstance was. It was every man for himself and unless you were in the Orca or Wolf, the word friendship was just a word with no meaning to it whatsoever. So if someone saw a person who had managed to get away from the Orca, they reported it immediately.

Leo removed the cloth from Meimei. The girl curled in a ball from the cold, then immediately straightened up, going back to sleep.

So she can automatically regulate her temperature but it goes off when she is shocked, Leo noticed. He left her side, going up the slide. He removed the lid, looking left and right, before coming out.

The streets were full again. People were going to their various workplaces, or more specifically to one workplace. If you didn't own a shop, you had to work at some factory belonging to Pulsar which manufactured products for the Above. It was dangerous, sometimes. Orca members stood by to grab their cash, especially at the end of the month.

Leo walked through the streets, looking round him. He noticed the place where he had seen the girl at. Meimei. He also noticed that the drunk man was gone. Obviously gone to grab a refill. Being drunk was a safe thing to be. Sure you couldn't control yourself, but you were looked on with disgust. Even Orca members avoided drunks as they were unpredictable. Sure they gave them a few kicks but they were left alone.

The guy he'd seen was pretending, Leo had noticed. But he didn't care.

"Hello Mr. Ishaan." Leo said with a smile, "How's business?"

Mr. Ishaan rolled his eyes before turning to Leo. "Great, it's you. Go away, my free stock's all done."

"Oh don't worry, I got a coin." Leo said, showing a coin to him. Mr. Ishaan looked at him and shook his head.

"Congratulations, a man is a penny less because of you."

"He had two more."

"Pickpocketing is pickpocketing. Don't matter if he had a bunch of them. At least you left him enough to pay the Orca." Mr. Ishaan handed him two loaves. "Why did you do it though? Ain't like you to go full lengths to pickpocket."

Leo sighed. "Got extra baggage."

"Really."

"Yeah. A stupid girl."

Mr. Ishaan smiled. "Since when did you have a girlfriend?"

"Nope. Just need to ditch her at Zero and be on my way."

"Wouldn't hurt to keep her. Who knows, when you two grow up, you could get married."

"Highly doubt it. I'll be off now."

Leo almost bumped into a guy. The guy was a teen, probably 15. He was also part of the Orca. He merely glanced at Leo walked past him. Leo looked at him and walked away.

The guy's name was Nathan. Nathan Wyrn. He was in no way related to Torn, just his underling. Nathan was like any other guy in the Orca; taken as a child, trained and put on the streets. But amongst them all, he was the most dangerous. Talented, he could take down anyone he laid his eyes on. He had even once taken down the Tigre during one of her mental breakdowns.

Nathan today was just taking a stroll through the streets. He liked to do that. That was the one thing he'd been taught that he had taken a liking to. Walking through the streets, unperturbed, not pestered, just a cool walk through the streets.

He stopped in front of an old house. The snow fell silently around him. The house annoyed him, bringing an overwhelming anger over him. This was the house that he grew up in, the house that he lived with parents. Until…well.

He continued his walk, crossing the street, taking a turn to the right. He walked past the Pulsar building. The guard watched him with keen eyes, his hand resting on the gun in his holster. Nathan paid no attention to him. He continued on his walk, passing by a scared woman who rushed into the building.

"Wow. You are really lost in thought."

Nathan turned to face the dagger that was pointed at his face. Nathan took a deep breath.

"Just wanted a breather."

"Yeah," Torn said, "What did I teach ya? Keep your eyes on the road, not in your head. You passed by a lot of bright energy, you know."

"They weren't worth it."

"Save one. A kid."

Nathan looked at Torn. "His isn't worth the trouble, Its minute."

"Yeah. But there was residual energy around him. It was too powerful, don't know how you couldn't tell but that thing was way too powerful."

"We won't find the kid."

Torn smiled, "You underestimate me, boy."