Chapter 8: Proposition

"Weakling," The Red Reaper greeted Leo as he ate quietly, enjoying the rather peaceful day he's had so far. He looked up and saw the red-eyed girl staring at him intensely. He let out a sigh and put down his plastic utensils and met her gaze. 

"Red Reaper," He said in return. "What do I owe this pleasure of your presence?" He said, just a bit of sarcasm lacing his voice, but if she picked up on it, then she didn't say anything. 

"You came up to me yesterday, but that, girl interrupted you. What did you want?" Leo's eyes widened. Perhaps this girl wasn't as shallow as he first originally thought? He shrugged internally. 

"I wanted to offer you a job," He began as she rose her eyebrow, skepticism plastered all across her face. 

"And that would be?" She said, trailing off waiting for him to reveal the job he was offering. 

"My bodyguard. You see, after the whole Flynt incident, I feel like people have been gunning for me a lot more than usual. The only thing holding everyone back is the fact that I can hire people, I want you to be my bodyguard to stop any threats from trying such things. Thoughts?" She seemed in awe that a miserable weakling would actually try and recruit her to be a measly bodyguard. 

"I'm," She said, sounding a lot more confused and unconfident than usual. "Interested?" What could she say? She needed the extra pocket money. "How much money would I get paid?" She asked. Leo shrugged. 

"Is a thousand a week enough? I can go higher if need be," He explained as he watched her suddenly inhale deeply before she started choking on the air. Choking. On. The. Air. 

When she was done and could breathe right again, she was red-faced and her eyes had some tears building up from the intensity of the coughing. 

"T-That's about right," He let out a relieved sigh. 

"Thank God, I was afraid that you'd just take my money and beat me up if I didn't." She scoffed at the idea. 

"I may be strong, but I won't lower myself to steal money from weaklings. The only reason why I beat you up in the first place was that you made me spill my drink on myself." She said, shaking her head. Leo let a small, embarrassing chuckle emit from his throat as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

"Yeah, sorry about that. Some asshat pushed me," She let a small smirk across her face as she nodded. 

"I guess I'll be your bodyguard, but I won't listen to your every word. My only job is to protect you, okay?" He nodded vigorously, an eager smile on his face. 

"Of course," He began but was suddenly interrupted when she held up a single finger, halting him. 

"But, I also request something different payment wise." He rose an eyebrow, making her continue speaking. "I want you to do my homework and classwork as well. I can't focus on protecting you and focusing on my studies as well." Leo pretended to ponder over it for a few seconds before he nodded. 

"That's easy enough, I got in Brikston for my grades anyway so an extra stack of papers is nothing." The Red Reaper closed her eyes and seemingly nodded to herself before she stuck out her hand. Leo grasped her hand and the two shook it. 

"Welp, since we're going to be working together, I feel like I should get to know my protector's name?" The Red Reaper impersonator let out a small, low sigh before she spoke. 

"My name is Alexis, but you can just call me Alex if you want." Leo grinned. 

"Nice ta meet ya, Alex!" 

"That I am the Red Reaper!" Leo said, his mask making his voice way deeper than it usually was, making him sound and look even more intimidating than before. The girl's eyebrows shot to up faster than an arrow that was just shot off a crossbow. 

"No, y-you're lying!" She said, pointing an accusing finger at him. Leo let out a soft chuckle as he bent down, getting eye level with her, his red eyes glowing in the night. 

"I am many things, a murderer, a revolutionary, a genius, maybe even a monster, but a liar is not on that list of things." He tilted his head to the right before he lunged forward, jumping over the girl as two different arrows from her two comrades hit where he was standing. 

"Ah, yes. I almost forgot about you too, I must be losing my touch after three years." 

"The true Red Reaper is dead! We know this for one reason, and one reason only!" The boy shouted, causing the girl that Leo had just humiliated to curse. 

"Because I told them." Another voice said, their voice echoing throughout the alley. Leo looked up and saw a single person dressed in crimson with a single hood on, but nothing hiding their face. He could only see their lips and jaw, and from that, he determined that it was a girl. 

"How on Earth could you lie to your own subordinates?" He said as he watched the girl land softly on the ground between him and her comrades. 

"I did not, I apologize for my foolish friends, especially the one claiming to be a dead man, but I cannot allow you to kill them." Leo's eyes widened momentarily before he began laughing. 

"I swore off of killing after the war, I'd rather not be plagued by dreams of flesh and blood any more." He said as he took out his knife once again. "But I did not swear off of breaking bones and putting arrogance in its place. So tell me, Crimson Cloak, who's under that hood?" The Crimson Cloak froze for a second before they began laughing. 

"Oh, that's good, that's really good. But, the only way you'll find out who I am is if I found out who you are. But I doubt you'll be willing to tell me," Leo shrugged. 

"I've already told you who I am, I'm the Red Reaper." She shook her head as if dealing with a child. 

"No, you are not. The Red Reaper is dead in all but memory," She said as she took out a long thin sword that was strapped to her hip and pointed it at Leo. "I don't wish to fight you, but I will if it's necessary." Leo shrugged. 

"Your friend killed a few people when they were defenseless. That's wrong," She tilted her head to the side. 

"If you're the Red Reaper, didn't you do the same thing?" Leo cursed. He had walked into that one. 

"I did, and I regret it every day. But," He got into his fighting position. "I will not falter here just because I'm outnumbered, I've taken on armies before and won, this, this is nothing!" And with that, he charged.