"What is a hero ?"
A little boy asked his mother, both curious and fascinated by such a phrase. His mother, who was reading a story to him, smiled, puzzled by his sudden question. She thought for a moment before simply replying with
"A hero? A hero is someone who helps those in need and does good deeds for others"
"Really?"
The little boy questioned, feeling even more curious than ever.
"Yes!" His mother exclaimed, " A hero is a person who does good to others without any ulterior motives, and they continue doing so because they are good people themselves."
The boy was amazed by his mother's words. His eyes widened as he asked his mother for more information about "heroes". His mother paused, and then calmly said to him, "You should go to bed now, Leonidas, or else you'll be late for school tomorrow."
Years have passed since then and the boy officially became a college student at an university that was further out than he planned since highschool. Now that he's 20, he lives alone in his apartment which was left to him by his deceased parents. The building was bought when he was born but due to a small virus outbreak, his parents took him to a small rural area so they never got to stay in the apartment. His father died around the time he was 6 and later his mother died when he was freshly 17. Although he had some relatives, they refused to keep in touch with him since they wanted his father to give them a part of his assets. However, as a caring father that he was, he left it all under the name of Leo, his one and only son.
Leo was in no financial crisis due to his father's assets but he still lives in the small apartment, as he has no need to spend so much for himself, not to mention the memories he had from his childhood deep within the rooms of this ancient building. Although this was not the best place to live, the apartment was, in fact, extremely cozy. The room's color was painted light yellow and it was big enough for him to study and workout in the evenings, but not so big that his bills were crazy high. The apartment was also quite close to his university which was pretty helpful on times when Leo was getting late to class. Regardless of such circumstances, as stated before, he didn't lack money.
However, even with the amount of money he has, Leo is quite a literal loner...
In high-school, he had many friends due to his politeness and the relations his family has with others in the small town, but since his college was further away from his hometown, he doesn't have many friends. His college life practically consisted of waking up, taking a few classes, and then working at a local bakery which he loved since the owner often gave him the leftover cakes at the end of the day. One particular day, however, he met someone who will change his life forever. That evening, Leo was done cleaning the plates when the front door opened. It was his shift so he had to greet the customer no matter what, but due to his nervousness around others, he dreaded such work. The bakery had a kitchen in the back so it was roughly a minute walk before the worker could even see the customer. Leo used to pretend he did not hear anyone enter the shop but after a few cases of theft or angry customers, he was warned to not do such stupid act.
As Leo walked outside to greet whoever approached the shop, he was startled by a voice that asked, "Hello, may I ask if you guys still have the strawberry shortcakes left? Those were my favorites!" He glanced at the owner of the voice and there stood a girl who seemed to be around the same age as him dressed in a white hoodie and a baseball cap. Leo scratched his head and searched the display cases for strawberry shortcakes. "I'm afraid not, ma'am. We only have strawberry flavored cake if that's okay with you," Leo stated, looking away from the girl for some reason. The girl, even with her outfit hiding her physique, looked extremely pretty under the lighting. Her eyes were that of a light blue color which sparkled as she spoke and her dark brown hair glistened under the light bulbs which hung above the cakes. She laughed and said, "I'm around the same age as you! No need to be so formal. I'll take the flavored cakes." Her hands reached into her pockets and pulled out a few dollar bills, "Name's Johanna. You?"
Leo shrugged and replied with, "That'll be $6.25, Ms. Johanna."
"Aww shucks. Such a hard headed guy," she teased as she handed the bill to Leo, "I bet you're a loner."
"That hurts," Leo said, "Leo by the way."
Johanna's face lit up after his name was given as if she knew it already. "You're that kid who almost died when giving that presentation on Wednesday!" she laughed. Leo glared at her instantly and firmly stated, "I'm not that bad at communication. Plus, I passed, didn't I?"
"Hmmm?" her eyes narrowed with a slim smirk upon her face, "You sure? I've heard tales, Leo. Really, really naughty tales." Leo flinched by such a statement, blushing due to this girl's bold, shameless personality. "Not possible. I don't even socialize."
"SO YOU ARE BAD AT COMMUNICATION," she exclaimed,"You just admitted it!"
Leo realized he fell under this girl's vicious trap and immediately covered himself with a "If that's all you need, please leave. I still have other work to do." Johanna chuckled as she left the bakery before saying, "Nice to meet you, Leonidas."
How did she know my name, Leo thought to himself as he cleared up tables.
After such an incident, he is not completely cut off from the world. He eventually made a best friend named Jose after showing up to class late. Johanna came to the bakery every Monday and Wednesday, and before Leo even knew it, they were dating. They would go around town on weekends and Johanna would invite Leo to different gatherings and parties. He only went because of food.
One morning, Leo was getting ready to go to his college when he was checking his assignments and his phone started to ring. Leo scurried to pick up the call with his toothbrush still fresh in his mouth.
"Hello, this is Leo. Who's this?" Leo asked.
"Hello Leo, where are you right now?" a voice answered. It was Johanna.
"I am just leaving for college, why?" Leo replied.
"Can you meet up with me before going to college?" Johanna asked.
"Yeah, Sure but what is it about?" Leo replied, confused though he didn't think much of it.
"Oh it's nothing much, just meet up I will tell you then."
Leo grabbed his coat and bolted through the door. Although Johanna did not give a specific location, Leo knew where she wanted to meet up at. The College Gate. The morning air was fresh from the scent of dew and puddles; the smell of nature made Leo cozy due to the safety he felt around the parks. His breath grew heavier as he ran towards the university. So much for being close to the college, he thought, thanks for nothing, apartment. Once he was approaching the location, he could see Johanna standing by the sign that said, "For Students And Professors Only." Johanna was wearing extremely well designed clothes and was seemingly well prepared, as if she had plans on going somewhere. This made Leo uncomfortable since he only came with a jacket and backpack full of textbooks about Neuroscience. Leo took a good, deep gasp of air before asking Johanna, "Are you going somewhere?"
"Yeah," Johanna started to say, "Actually I have to go to another city today."
Leo took a glimpse at her. Her face indicated that she that she was in a pretty bad mood. Her eyes seemed to have anger in them, as if she had been pissed off about something, and she lacked the bright energy that seemed to annoy Leo everytime they met. The expressions alone made it obvious for Leo.
Something's wrong, very wrong, he thought to himself.
"Johanna, why are you going there ?" Leo said calmly, trying to soothe her. "I am going to protest against those corrupted people who got power" Johanna replied with a fearsome expression. Leo knew she is gonna protest against some big people this time. Johanna isn't unfamiliar with protests, she is used to protesting against injustice in the university. She even protested against a dean once so it wasn't surprising for Leo. But question that was in Leo's mind at the moment was. Who was she gonna protest against now?.
Leo asked Knowing Johanna has a great sense of justice, she wasn't the type who would endure any injustice, she definitely would stand up to anyone as long as they are doing something wrong.
"Who are you gonna protest against ?"
"You know them well!" Johanna exclaimed.
"Them ? Who are they" Leo asked as his body steadily filled with only doubts and curiosity.
"I am going to protest against GK Corp's Chairman, Augustus" Johanna said with anger forming in her eyes.
Leo was Really Surprised as he exclaimed "What ?!?"
Episode 1 ends