The cough made both women in the middle of their fight turn to look at Leo.
Seeing that it was Leo, Jinx's beautiful, big blue eyes lit up, shining with a lovely glimmer. But surprisingly, the little psycho immediately calmed herself down again.
"Get the hell out of here, you idiot!" Jinx cursed at Leo.
Leo: ???
I'm here to help, so why is she yelling at me?
Jinx's reaction was not without reason.
Lacking any sense of security, her first subconscious thought upon seeing Leo was to ask for his help. But Jinx quickly remembered Leo's capabilities. Him, Leo, fighting this big lug?
Ha, better forget it.
Although she had only been with Leo for a week, they were childhood friends. Jinx wouldn't say she cared a great deal for Leo, but it had to be said that he did occupy a small place in her heart.
There wasn't much room in her heart to begin with; ninety percent of it was occupied by a girl with pink hair. That person was her entire world.
The other ten percent didn't belong to Leo either—it belonged to Silco. But during their time together, Leo had been using a small shovel to slowly carve out a place for himself.
Because of this, it wasn't that she didn't care about him.
She was paranoid and crazy, but that didn't mean she had truly lost her mind. She just desperately lacked a sense of validation and security and needed the attention and approval of others.
Leo happened to give her that feeling. Although he never said it, Jinx knew she had a lot of little problems. Many people had told her so: Mylo, Vander, Vi, Silco... they had all found her annoying, a complete nuisance.
But Leo had never said that to her.
Even though she had been pestering him constantly during this time, and was never still or quiet when they slept at night, Leo never found her annoying.
This allowed Jinx to find a trace of the feeling Vi gave her in Leo, a feeling that soothed her shattered heart and made her feel safe.
To put it plainly, she craved being doted on.
In the past, Jinx would always hear the grating voice of that guy, Mylo. But during her time with Leo, she no longer heard that awful, piercing sound.
And for that reason, Jinx did not want Leo to die.
Call it caring for Leo, call it not wanting to admit she was a jinx who brought death to those around her, or call it a drowning person grasping at the last straw.
She did not want Leo to die.
"Get out," Sevika said coldly upon seeing Leo.
To Sevika, this guy who had suddenly appeared posed no threat. He had no weapons, looked thin and weak, and had no tattoos. What kind of threat could an ordinary Zaunite be to her?
Seeing that Leo wasn't leaving, Sevika didn't waste any more time. She pinned Jinx with her mechanical arm, while her other hand quickly went to her waist. Sevika drew her pistol, aimed it at Leo, and prepared to fire.
"Big Sis Sevika," Leo said softly.
"..."
"Le...o?" Hearing his voice, Sevika froze. She stared at Leo's face and his black hair. Then, she blurted out subconsciously.
"It's me, Big Sis," Leo nodded.
He was a child of the Lanes, one of Vander's kids. The orphans of the Lanes were almost all under Vander's protection, so naturally, Leo had had contact with Sevika.
Being close in age to Vi and a boy, the younger Leo had run errands for Sevika. He, along with Malsen and the other kids, had once been very close to her.
"What are you doing here?" Sevika lowered her gun.
Seeing her chance, Jinx raised her leg, aiming a knee at Sevika's gut. But Sevika just twisted sharply, her mechanical elbow slamming into Jinx's abdomen.
"Urk—"
Jinx coughed violently, spitting up bile.
"Big Sis, can't we just talk this out nicely?" Leo said, running a hand through his hair.
He really liked this character, who had a significant role in Arcane. And... in his childhood memories, Sevika had been very good to him and Malsen's group of kids.
It was strange. Sevika had clearly disliked Powder and Vi, who stayed with Vander, but she was good to Leo and Malsen. Although she was strict, spoke harshly, and had even hit them before, she had also genuinely taken care of them. Sometimes, she would even give the kids extra rewards for running errands. In Leo's heart, if Vander was the benevolent father, then Sevika was the strict older sister.
Furthermore, thinking about the later events of Arcane... Sevika and Jinx's relationship, how to put it, felt a bit like a personal bodyguard and a fallen mafia princess? Leo also suddenly felt that the reason Sevika disliked Vi and Powder was perhaps because she believed they had made Vander weak. After all, in Sevika's mind, Zaun's dignity was more important than anything.
"This is none of your business. Get the hell out of here now, and I'll pretend I never saw you," Sevika said to Leo, her expression calm and her tone icy.
"Can you let go of Jinx first?"
"You already know her name is Jinx?" Sevika paused, then looked at Jinx. "I see. So you've been with Leo all this time?"
"What, is that a problem? Why do you have to stick your nose in every damn thing? What the hell are you, his personal pair of shorts? Silco tells you to carry his crap, and you just do it?" Jinx gritted through the pain, drool trickling from the corner of her mouth as she cursed loudly at Sevika.
"Do you have any idea that you're going to get him killed by doing this?" Sevika's voice grew even colder.
"Bullshit! I haven't done anything!" Jinx retorted.
Here we go again!
Again, they're saying I'm a jinx!
"Six Enforcers are dead topside. You even left your graffiti and a grenade at the scene. They're looking for you, and you still say you're not trying to get Leo killed."
"I... They won't find me!"
"Big Sis," Leo spoke up.
"Are you deaf to my words now?" Sevika turned her head, looked at Leo, and added, "Leo, you've gotten bold, haven't you?"
"Have you forgotten how I used to discipline you?"
"I'll say it one last time. Leave this place, Leo. This is not something you can get involved in. You are not one of us."
Sevika raised her right hand and drove a heavy punch into Jinx's stomach. She used eighty percent of her strength, causing Jinx to instantly double over like a shrimp and collapse to the floor.
Then, she turned and walked toward Leo.
"On second thought, I'd better throw you out myself."
Leo glanced at his status panel, then thought about the tests he had secretly performed on his body.
Then, he looked at Sevika and said with a smile.
"Big Sis, there's something I need to tell you right now."
Wiping her knuckles, Sevika walked toward Leo. Hearing his words, she asked, "What?"
Leo looked at Sevika and opened his mouth:
"Actually..."
His body vanished from the spot. Leo lunged at Sevika, moving so fast that he was a blur to the naked eye, his fist already rocketing toward her chest.
"...I'm a pretty good fighter myself."