Lunar Awakening-Chapter 51: This Thing Called Trust.

The warmth of the hot bath soaked Leo’s entire being, somehow it relaxed him more than he would have thought. The aching in his chest had grown duller and less painful now and he could actually think.

There were many questions and memories surging in his mind, all needing to be sorted out.

The biggest question however was why and how he had forgotten everything that had to do with his mother-- her face, her voice, her entire personality—

And even her death.

Kevin climbed out of the hot bath and reached for a towel on a nearby rack, wiping his body. He stole a glance at Leo and spoke, "Hey doofus, get out of there before you cook yourself."

Leo did so yet however said nothing, he wiped himself off and changed back into a brand new set of clothes since his old one had been rough-handled. It was a simple white shirt and trousers, Kevin led the way to what looked like a relaxation room.

There were two sofas, a small table with a bottle and two glass cups.

Kevin fell into one of the chairs with a soft moan, "I apologise for my drastic measure earlier, it was really not appropriate."

Leo sat down and tried to shake off all the conflicting emotions in his head, "You know, normal people use their words."

This caused Kevin to chuckle for a moment, "As if that would work after so long."

Leo paused for a bit before he asked, "What was that metal suit anyway? Some kind of government project?"

"Heck no, it’s a project of mine." Kevin said with a bit of confidence. "I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to go against an awakened, so I built a couple of them. I call them Predators."

Leo looked at Kevin for the first time in a long while, the memories came flooding back into his mind. He remembered Kevin always being by his side when they attended the academy, the memories told him they were close-- yet somehow he totally forgot his existence.

"If I’m really troubled as you say why did my father not say anything?" Leo asked.

Kevin gave him a sudden but heartfelt reply, "Things like this take time to remember, I doubt he had the heart to bring back such troublesome memories."

Leo pondered on that for a few seconds, he had to agree it made sense. But he felt betrayed by his own father, he feared that even the memories he had of his current family might also be fractured.

He cleared his throat, "I actually came here for something." He raised the flash drive he had kept on his person the whole time. "It’s vital information, I can’t let fall into the wrong hands. It fried my laptop when I tried to open it."

"Can I see it then?" Kevin asked with an arm outstretched, he watched Leo withdraw slightly. "C’mon, do you still not trust me?"

Leo could not answer that question now, he could not let the information within the drive get to unwanted people. The old man had at least hinted that much.

But perhaps the real question remained, did he want to trust a childhood friend he had only just remembered after several years.

He was burdened with two things, the first was the information which was buried within the drive itself falling into the wrong hands. And the other was if he wanted Kevin to know what it was, he considered killing him if he did something funny-- for a moment.

Kevin stretched out his hand and said in a calm voice, "Trust me, if you want I can just open the drive and leave the room."

’That doesn’t mean you’re not observing from somewhere else’ Leo thought.

This perhaps had to be one of the hardest things he ever had to do, just because he had some history with Kevin in the past did not mean he could be trusted right now.

Back then they were children who played together without any care for the world itself but now things were much different.

He had become someone who was broken and damaged by his past and the Hellscape, and Kevin had become a tech wiz of sorts. All those years apart they had grown and met all kinds of people, growing into something new.

To a superhuman like Leo who had both hunted and killed things within Hellscape... The simple thing called trust was a luxury not many could afford.

Especially for someone like him who was a lone hunter—

The pressure to put his trust in anyone other than him in this harsh world felt nearly impossible.

Kevin seemed trustworthy enough, but didn’t everyone always seem the same way at first. Would he trust him not to betray him in future or would this just be a one-time thing.

Kevin noticing his friend’s dilemma pulled back and sighed, "Crap, I already forgot. The gift I prepared for Trish, she’s what now-- nine?"

Leo gazed at him with cold eyes for several seconds before replying in a similar tone. "Thirteen."

Kevin chuckled as he poured out a drink for them both, "My, has it been so long? She must have grown a bit."

Leo’s gaze fell down to the drive in his hand, as his breath tensed slightly, "Curses." He sent the drive flying in the air towards Kevin who snatched it from the air with acute precision.

Kevin looked down at the drive in his hand and then back at Leo, "Hmm, you gave it to me eventually? That’s unexpected."

"Make no mistake—"

Leo’s voice sounded grim and cold, carrying a threat.

"—you can stay but make sure whatever you witness does not leave this room."

A strange sense of déjà vu overwhelmed Leo as he recalled Cassandra saying something similar to him back at Glory base. He wondered if she had only recently just remembered him, and she had also had no way of trusting him but to use such an imposing threat.

In the end he had almost resorted to the same measure except for one little difference.

Leo wanted to know what it felt like to put his trust in someone for once, he wanted to remember what it felt like to have a friend.

Kevin startled him by laughing so hard his eyes watered, "Look at you now, giving orders. You used to be a cry-baby you doofus."

Leo simply stared at him, unsure if he was supposed to feel amused or not. He still found it hard for him to reciprocate the young man’s feeling, but he had to admit there was a strange warmth in his heart whenever he was with him there-- almost like with Cassandra.

Kevin pulled a shiny silver laptop from the side of the sofa and pulled it open, "So have you been in contact with Cassy or did you forget that too?"

Leo looked up at him, for a moment he was stunned-- not by the question itself but by the fact that he was almost compelled to answer.

"She’s good-- I guess," he said coldly. "So how have you been all this time."

Kevin continued to tap on the keyboard, "By Thomas Eddison’s beard, why does this drive have so much protection on it when it has only one folder."

Leo’s interest was piqued at the mention of this, he watched Kevin drop the laptop on the table and face it to him. "Thanks-- I guess." It felt odd thanking someone, and truthfully he had never done it. Somehow out of some force of familiarity he did.

That did not stop it from feeling bitter in his mouth.

His gaze fell down to the single name on the folder: Legacy Of The Dire Wolf.