Leo stood there looking at the little girl with a grim look on his face. He couldn't believe that he was being blackmailed by an 8 year old. This had to be a joke.
Wasn't an 8 year old supposed to be all cute?
What was with this little devil?
"I will count to three before screaming," The little girl muttered in a low voice before beginning to count, "One.."
Leo immediately got back to his seat. He sure didn't want to be labelled as a pedophile.
"You shouldn't blackmail your elders, little girl. It's very rude." Leo tried to nicely talk to her, but she wasn't having it.
"Cut the crap, tell me if you are going to help me or not?" Clair looked at him with a calm but serious expression on her face.
"How can I help you? This is not within my power. To be honest, I can't even call myself your sister's friends. We are just strangers. I don't think it's right for me to interfere." Leo was almost about to cry. He really felt helpless here.
"I never asked you about those things. You just need to do what I ask you to do." The little girl was sure not paying attention to his emotions here.
'This girl…' Leo muttered inwardly.
"If you don't help me, you can leave.." Clair said calmly, and Leo was definitely taken back until he heard the rest of the sentence, "..only if you have the guts to do so.."
She sure wasn't going to let him go.
He sighed heavily, cursing his luck. He wondered what he did for this all to be happening to him.
"What do you need me to do?" He finally asked her with a dejected face.
"Good, I want you to do either of the two things."
"First, you make my sister literally fall in love with you."
Leo's eyes immediately widened.
What was wrong with this girl?
"Are you crazy? I don't even love your sister." Max looked at the girl in disbelief.
"I don't care if you leave her with a broken heart later. May be that would put some sense in her dumb head and she would learn to judge people," The little girl casually replied as if they weren't even talking about her sister at all.
"Can we please move onto the next option?" He immediately asked her with a drop of sweat sliding down his cheek.
"Sure, to be honest I am not too big of a fan of this idea as well. I mean my sister deserves better."
Leo's face twitched. This girl sure had a nasty mouth.
"The second thing is….you need to get my sister to break up with her boyfriend."
"Don't ask for the impossible. I don't even know who her boyfriend is." Max shook his head nervously.
He really didn't want to get involved in this mess.
"Then find him," The little girl further added as she crossed her arms, "You are the perfect person for this job. Do whatever you do, I don't care. You can make that guy jealous, use lies, create misunderstandings…use any method you want, but break the two apart…"
Max gulped inwardly.
He couldn't believe his ears.
This was an 8 year old speaking.
If she grew up, then what would she be like? Leo definitely didn't want to imagine that.
"So, what's your decision?" She asked him with raised brows.
"Are you leaving me any choice?" Leo sighed.
"Of course you can refuse, if you have the guts." Clair smiled sweetly.
"You aren't someone of your age. I bet there is an old crafty lady inside you." Leo looked at her with a complicated look on his face.
"I don't know. But, I have been like this since I was born. I just feel that people around me are too stupid." Claire just shrugged.
"You are too smart for your age.." Leo shook his head.
At this moment, a waiter walked towards them, "Sir, would you like to place your order?"
"Um…bring me a coffee.." Leo calmly replied.
"Umn..what is that..?" The waiter asked in confusion.
'Don't tell me they don't drink coffee here?' Leo frowned and then looked at the menu.
"Latte please," He replied with a forced smile, 'These guys know what latte is but not coffee?'
It sure was weird.
"What about you little girl?" The waiter asked Clair with a smile.
"Brother will order for me!" Clair released a sweet smile and held Leo's hand acting all spoiled.
"You really have a cute sister, Sir," The person replied, and Leo's face twitched.
"Yeah.." He nodded, "Just bring her a cup of hot milk."
"Sure.." With that the waiter walked away.
As soon as he was gone, Clair immediately let go of Leo, and sat back again.
"You are mocking me?" She asked with a frown.
"When did I?" Leo had an odd look on his face.
"Why did you order milk for me then? I wanted a black coffee or lemon tea.."
Leo's face twitched again, "You understand what coffee is?"
"Obviously, it is just how people refer to in Eastern Galaxies." She replied with a calm look on her face.
A few minutes later, their order was brought. And, as soon as the waiter went away, Clair took Leo's order and passed him her hot milk.
Leo looked at her and sighed.
She was a mature kid.
That was the right thing to describe her.
….
"Do you have anyone to drop you back home?" Leo asked as he looked at her.
"No," Clair replied as she reached out and grabbed Leo's hand.
"What are you doing?" He asked her.
"I am a kid. People around my age have to act like this," She calmly replied.
"Do you fool your family as well?" Leo asked her curiously.
"Yeah, it will spoil your mood if the kids don't act like kids. I mean my mother will be depressed if she finds out I am too mature for my age."
"Why come out now?"
"I needed a pawn to protect my sister. And, then I heard about you. With you, I don't need to bring my true face in front of them."
"I see. Anyway, let me drop you home," Leo still didn't feel well leaving a little girl all alone like this.
"No, it's been a while since I have come out. I will take a look around and then go back. You don't need to worry about me," Clair replied with a smile.
Leo frowned, but before he could say another word, his smart link flashed as a call came in.
"Give me a second.."
He saw the call was from Harry and took a step to the side, "Yeah?"
"We have a problem!" Harry's nervous voice rang through the other end.
"What happened?" Leo asked with a frown.
"I just received a message from Billy. We totally forgot about meeting him after school! Wasn't he going to help you be your sparring partner?!! He has already been at the gym for more than half an hour!"
"I am already getting ready to leave, you come out quick as well!" Harry hung up after that.
'Crap! I forgot about that!' Leo felt a headache thinking about it.
The incident with Runeko and then this with Christina had made him forget about the meeting with Billy.
He really didn't know much about the guy. Hence, it was better not to get in any mess with him. After all, he was strong.
And, he was getting closer to Lv 10. Getting to spar with someone at Lv 17 was definitely a very good opportunity for him.
"I will have to leave." Leo turned around and said to Clair. She was standing right next to him.
"I will send the driver to drop you home," He further added, and planned to go to the gym alone.
"No need, I will go along with you." Clair came forwards and grabbed Leo's hand once again.
"Do you even know where I am going?" Leo asked her while shaking his head.
"Yes, I heard you over the call." She nodded, "It's perfect as I am bored and I could even check out your capabilities. I need to see whether you can handle my sister's boyfriend or not."
Leo could only sigh.
He tried to reason with her, but it failed and in the end, she tagged along with him.
"This should be the place," Leo muttered to himself as he looked at the old rundown gym. He couldn't see many people around, but this was the address that Billy had sent.
"You are here."
Leo turned his head, and saw Harry walking towards them.
"You are on foot?" Leo asked in surprise. He remembered this guy clearly lived quite a bit far away from the place.
And, he sure hadn't seen a public vehicle around. You had to walk a lot before you could find one.
"Yes, I actually got down at the wrong place," Harry replied with a forced smile on his face.
"By the way, who is that little girl?" He immediately changed the topic on seeing Clair by Leo's side.
"I am Clair Wolfez, I am here with my brother-in-law to watch him fight," She replied with a sweet smile before latching onto Leo's arm.
Harry's eyes immediately widened while Leo's face turned dark.