A/N: Okay, so did any of you guys figure out what the group was going up against? If not, you’ll find out soon ^^

Chapter 8: Thoughts

Have you ever felt like you were in a living dream? That things you could only fantasize about would come true?

Trisha really couldn’t swallow it up when she was greeted by 7 exact copies of Leon’s Vortege’ lined up in the hangar. Was Leon really serious about this?

No one spoke for a good few seconds as they had to take in the reality that was 7 gleaming white cars staring straight back at them.

“Well? What do you think?” Koharu asked, breaking the silence like a jackhammer through glass.

“I don’t know what to think…” Jason admitted.

The Peter looked at Leon as he pointed at the cars. “You’re not telling me that…”

Leon only nodded as he smiled rather triumphantly, for some reason.

“No way!” Ken and Chris exclaimed at once, startling the rest. “They’re for us?”

Eric only gaped at Leon as he hung his head on his shoulders. He was rather speechless, that much was certain.

Rose only moved forward to one of those cars and ran a hand through the hood. She then gazed at Leon meaningfully.

“Are you serious? You’re giving us one Vortege’ each?” she asked, Trisha noting the slight hint of doubt in her tone. Whether Leon noticed it or not, she wasn’t sure.

“Yeah, I’m serious. Either way, I needed to spend my wishes from Koharu one way or another,” Leon plainly replied.

Trisha made her way to the one on the extreme right, and mimicked Rose’s earlier actions of running a hand through the hood. It was smooth to the touch, flawless in almost any angle. She could even clearly make out her own reflection on the surface.

She knew it was almost downright rude to question one’s generosity, but it wasn’t everyday that one gave out a whole car for nothing.

“Why, Leon? Why us?” she asked plainly, not intending to sound hostile in any way. The others looked at her with almost disbelief. It sounded to them like she didn’t want it.

But Leon knew her best amongst them, so he only shook his head as he raised his arms mid-length.

She did have a point, though. Why only the 7 of them? What made them so deserving to receive a Vortege’ of their own? It was an unasked question, yet it played in everyone’s minds in an ominously continuous loop.

Leon then moved over to his own Vortege’ and leaned on it. He breathed in hard and answered.

“I thought long and hard before coming down to the 7 of you, just the 7 of you,” he said.

“The reason why I did it was because you guys are the closest to me, among all my friends.”

The rest shifted uncomfortably at where they stood. Leon was practically opening up to them there and then.

“See, I know I may not be the most comfortable person to be around with…” he said in a slightly lower tone. The rest only stole a glance at each other, save for Trisha and Rose. The two girls only looked at Leon, and then the cars they were next to.

“So I decided that…this is a token of my thanks, for being a friend to me. And my apology,” Leon finished, looking up to beam at everyone.

“Apology? Why?” Eric asked, quite blurred about this as the rest felt the same way.

“. I know I can be stubborn, tactful, annoying…I apologize for being such a total pain to you guys sometimes,” Leon said, looking at everyone with a slightly bruised ego. He was beating himself up, as far as the rest could tell.

“Sometimes?” Trisha asked, the others now laughing appreciatively. They found refuge in humor, a mask of sorts to hide the reality that Leon just uncovered.

No one felt comfortable in confronting such things head-on, and in front of so many people, to boot.

When the laughter died, no one spoke for what seemed to be the most agonizing 10 seconds of silence. Even Koharu was uncharacteristically quiet.

Then Ben and Gwen came out next to Leon. “Hey, so are you gonna give ‘em the keys or what?” Ben asked.

Leon then walked to them, rummaging into his pockets for something. He then handed each one of them an oval metallic remote, no bigger than lighter.

Peter gingerly inspected it with some interest and pressed the center button, which was an emblem of a shield and a sword.

One of the cars then beeped, startling the rest. On its hood, the car clearly bore the words Peter Lee on it in navy blue.

“How does it know…?” Peter asked, quite dumbfounded.

“Fingerprint recognition system. All you guys need to do is press the center button and it immediately registers the car under you as it’s one and only owner,” Leon said, showing the rest his remote.

“One and only…? Wait, does that mean no one else gets to use this?” Jason asked.

Leon and Koharu stole a glance at each other as they both hid their smirks.

“Only if you or the AI let them,” Koharu said cheekily.

The room was utterly silent for the next 3 seconds as the others just registered what Koharu meant.

“Wait, there’re AIs in those cars? Just like Leon’s?” Chris asked, the rest looking disbelievingly at Ben and Gwen.

“What? We’re for security purposes!” Gwen exclaimed, not really liking the way the others were looking at her.

“I’m afraid I don’t follow.” The rest looked at Rose. It was the first comment she made since Leon unveiled the cars and Ken almost forgot the fact that she was even here.

“The Trinity had a much simpler AI installed into the Vortege’ for security reasons. Say, if the car was stolen, the AI would not allow the thief to drive away with the car. In fact, it’ll boot out the car and drive home to the owner,” Leon said.

Jason, Eric and Chris laughed at that comment in a way that was more friendly than sarcastic.

“But part of my wish included a more complex AI system inside, with personality traits,” Leon continued, nudging his head to Ben and Gwen, who both grinned and waved.

“How complex?” Peter asked. If it was anything computer-related, Peter was always within the loop.

“Military-spec,” Leon grinned.

The rest exchanged glances as Jason moved forward to ask Leon.

“So we each have Bens and Gwens in our cars?”

“Well,” Leon began as both AIs hid their snickers. “You each get one AI in your Vortege’s. Any other questions?”

The rest then shook their heads.

“Okay, then. You can start up the cars and go home,” Leon said.

“Wait!” He almost got into his car when Trisha called out.

As he turned around, Leon saw Trisha walking closer to him, looking concerned.

“How am I gonna explain this to my folks? That my friend just generously gave me a whole car?” Again, Trisha’s tone wasn’t hostile, but rather inquisiting, to say the least.

Leon took another deep breath as he readied himself to reply. He could see that the rest were just as curious. Trisha posed a very good point.

“Tell them as it is. It’s a gift from me. Nothing more, nothing less. I’ll even explain the whole genie business if I have to. But the truth of the matter is that the car is yours and yours-only. The necessary paperwork was done as part of the wish, so there’s no problem with the government on this matter.”

Leon now crossed his arms, leaning on the car door.

“But what if my folks want me to sell the car off?” Jason asked.

“Simple. You can’t. Part of the written document states that the car will permanently belong to you,” Leon said.

“Is such a thing possible?” Eric asked Jason, who shrugged.

“Seems like you gave us a burden as well as a gift,” Trisha remarked. The rest only held their breaths as they looked back and forth between Leon and her.

Leon only gave her his trademark pout and shrugged. “Hey, every silver lining comes from a dark cloud, right?”

“???” was all the rest thought. “Isn’t it the other way round?” Jason asked aloud.

Then the one person who laughed startled all of them. “What Leon means is that every good thing comes from something bad, like these cars,” Rose said as she tried to suppress her laughter.

The rest only looked at her with rather curious expressions as Leon beamed at her.

“I knew you’d get it sooner rather than later,” he said. Rose only returned that smile before circling the car.

Trisha took one look at hers and frowned after realizing something. “Leon, can I remove the lower bumper skirting? It makes the car look chunky…” she asked.

Leon only nodded as he gave Koharu one look. The fox-girl only grinned as she snapped her fingers and the lower bumpers on Trisha’s Vortege’ disappeared in a flash of colors, giving the car a smoother look.

“Thanks, Leon,” Trisha grinned, crouching to examine her new car.

Peter made his way to Leon until they were within whispering distance when Peter said “Leon, thanks. I mean seriously, even if it was through a wish, thank you for giving me an entire car.”

“Hey, you deserve it, man. All of you do. I should be saying thank you instead. You’ve helped me through a lot, Peter,” Leon said meaningfully.

“We all helped each other, Leon. That’s what friends are for,” Peter replied, patting Leon on the shoulder once before walking over to his car. Even if he wasn’t a car-fanatic, the reality of having a supercar for free did entice Peter nonetheless.

Ken then walked over to Leon, Chris only inches behind him. “Say, is it possible to ask Koharu for a color change? White’s not my color,” Ken said, grinning wistfully.

Leon only smiled wider as he patted Ken once on the shoulder. “C’mon, lemme show you all something. Hey all of you! Come here!” Leon gestured, gesturing everyone to one of the Vortege’s.

Ken unlocked it with his keyless entry, and Leon sat in the driver’s seat, Ken sitting on the front passenger seat. The rest moved gingerly against each other to get a better view. Leon noticed this and pressed a button on the side console.

Then the two side panels near the door slid open, startling everyone else as it fully opened to reveal a back seat.

“It’s actually a 5-seater car, but the sliding panels make it look like a 2-seater. Practical, ain’t it?” Leon asked as the rest exchanged impressed grins.

He then activated the front screen panel as the other 7 got into the car or stood outside to see what Leon was up to.

“Okay, the original Vortege’ comes with a Level 2 Nanotechnology Augment, allowing it to repair minor damage and scratches. But I added in a military-spec Level 3 Augment. And it allows the car to do this.”

With that, he tapped something on the screen, and a soft hissing sound, very much like the one earlier in the race came from around in the car.

Trisha and Rose, who were both listening from the outside, gasped as they stood back. The boys who were in the car all rushed out to see what was happening.

Just like Leon’s car earlier before the race, Ken’s was now changing by what appeared to be pixel-by-pixel from white to jet black.

“Whoah…” Rose muttered.

“Graphics can be uploaded into the car’s mainframe, such as hot-rod flames,” Leon said, the car now turning red with the flame motifs on its sides that actually burn and flicker like real fire would.

“Racing stripes,” With that, the flames disappeared as in its place black streaks ran through the car.

“And my personal favorite.” Leon said as all the doors closed, and the car suddenly turned invisible, much like before.

When the passenger door swung open, the rest could see the inside of the car clearly, like it was floating in mid-air.

“What good will this do, Leon? Being invisible on the road ain’t helpful, y’know,” Trisha noted as the rest began to laugh.

“Well, what if you’re being chased by some people who want the car, and need a getaway plan? The optical camouflage does the trick,” Leon said, tapping something on the screen, the car then turning back to pure white.

“Yeah, I see myself getting chased a lot in my near future,” Rose said to much snickers, but only got a playful squint from Leon.

“So, any other questions?” Leon asked, getting out of Ken’s car and making his way to his own.

“Just one,” Eric said, the rest all looking at him.

“How’d you wish for 7 cars when you have only 6 wishes from Koharu?”

Leon and Koharu grinned at each other before Leon answered.

“It’s quite funny, actually. I wished for the ability to create anything I want out of thin air, thus making the Vortege’. Then I decided it’s not fair that only I had one, so I wished for 7 more just like it. So I just used up 2 wishes. Including the 1st one I made some time back, I’ve got 2 more to go.”

“Whoah, so you can make anything you want to appear right now?” Jason asked.

“No, unfortunately. Since Koharu’s a demi-genie, her powers are limited. So my ability only lasted for a good minute or so, just enough for the Vortege’,” Leon said, Koharu nervously laughing and saying “Gomen…”

The rest then moved on to their own cars as Leon opened the hangar door, Chris yawning as he opened the door.

“9 pm? I’m getting tired and it’s only 9 pm?” Chris asked, covering his mouth as he finished with that yawn.

“Ah, we’ve all had a long day, man,” Eric reasoned, playing around with the console in his Vortege’, which then turned a dark shade of blue.

“So I’ll see you guys tomorrow, then?” Leon asked, leaning on his car again.

“Yeah, you will. Thanks again, Leon. I owe you big-time, man,” Jason said as he waved goodbye from his car before driving off.

“No. We’re even,” Leon muttered with a smile as Koharu got in the passenger seat and yawned. “Oh gosh, all this genie business really takes a lot outta me,” she said before reclining the seat.

The rest all said their goodbyes and thanks as they drove off, save for Rose, who was still outside her car.

“What’s wrong?” Leo asked, fearing the worst. She took one look at him and shook her hands. “No-no-no! Don’t get me wrong, Leon! It’s not that I don’t want the car or anything. It’s just that…my folks know you, Leon. They’re bound to ask you about this,” she said, tapping the hood of her Vortege’.

“When it happens, it happens. I’ll explain it to them thoroughly, Rose. No worries,” Leon said, grinning. He hardly had any alone-time with Rose at all, so this was in all accounts, a blessing.

“But…why me, Leon?”

Among all the questions, that was the hardest to answer. Leon only gulped as he looked down, suddenly finding his shoes very interesting.

In his defense, Leon did answer that question earlier in general when Trisha asked, but now was for a totally different reason altogether.

“Well…you are one of my closest friends, Rose…” Leon simply replied, the girl turning a little pink in the cheeks.

It was a simple, platonic answer. A little too platonic, in fact.

“Oh? So there’s no other reason behind it?” she prodded further. Leon only shook his head and broke eye contact with her.

“T-There’s no reason, Rose,” Leon defended. He knew it was a 50%-50% chance, so lying had to make do for now.

“Really? None at all?” Rose asked. She knew there was a reason. But she couldn’t point it out just like that.

“No. None whatsoever,” Leon said as he raised his eyebrow. What was with all the questions?

The girl then faked a sigh as she proceeded to her car. Before she got in, the brunette turned around to look at Leon one last time.

“Leon, thanks,” she said with a smile warm enough to counter the air-conditioned hangar. Leon himself felt the heat rising to his cheeks as he returned the smile.

“Looks like you got something out of this after all, eh?” Koharu asked from inside the car, Leon looking reproachfully at her.

The next thing Leon saw was the headlights of Rose’s Vortege’ shining brightly as it sped off into the dark night. He chuckled as he noticed that it wasn’t white anymore, but an elegant shade of red.

“If you’re done basking in her afterglow, can we go now?” Gwen suddenly asked, Leon positively scowling at the hologram.

“If you weren’t a hologram, I’d flick your nose,” Leon muttered as he got in, Ben snickering at his sister.

“If you don’t shut up right now, doofus, I’ll do much worse than just flick your nose,” Gwen growled at Ben, who flinched on the screen.

“I swear, sometimes you guys act like you’re 10,” Koharu muttered as both AIs now stared at her.

“Technically, we’re programmed to have the overall appearance of 15 year-olds,” Ben reasoned as Leon started the car and drove out, closing the hangar door behind him.

The boy stifled a yawn as he sped past the highway, easily passing the 100-kilometer mark. “Hey, hey, hey! The speed limit’s 80, Leon!” Koharu said reproachfully.

The bespectacled boy only jerked his head from what appeared to be a daze and let go of the gas pedal, gently applying the brakes. “Sorry, was busy thinking about something…”

“You were in a daze while driving??” Koharu hissed.

“He’s tired, Koharu. The race really took it outta him,” Gwen reasoned. “Want us to drive, Leon?” Ben offered.

Leon thought for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, thanks guys,” he said, reclining his seat slightly as he let go of the steering wheel.

He then closed his eyes as Koharu cautiously stole glances at the steering wheel, not really comfortable with the fact that it was moving by itself.

“Are you guys really sure about this?” she asked the 2 AIs. “Duh. We’re both military-grade AIs, after all. Don’t you think we know how to drive a car?” Ben quipped.

Koharu only stuck her tongue out at Ben, who laughed from the screen. As if life wasn’t weird enough….She was now having a fight with a computer, of all things.

Koharu then looked at her brother, who appeared to be sleeping, or just deep in thought. But what was he thinking about? Or rather, who?

*

“You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not.”

“He seriously gave you this car? Seriously? What did you do, kiss him or something?”

Rose only gave her brother one dark look and he raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Ok, ok. I’ll let up. But sis, seriously, what did you do to get this?” Shaun asked, circling the car once.

“Being his friend. Nothing else,” Rose replied honestly. Her bespectacled brother only gave her a disbelieving look.

“Geez, if that’s all it takes, I’d have befriended him more myself,” he chuckled, the long-haired girl rapping him once on the head.

“Ow! Okay, okay! I’ll quit it!” Shaun said, rubbing that particular spot on his head.

Rose then locked the car and shut the front door. She was rather thankful that her parents were on vacation for the week, so she’d have some time to tell them about how the Wan family suddenly acquired a car that was worth more than their cars and entire house combined.

Rose then got into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of juice before sitting down on the sofa. Today was rather hectic, what with the race and all.

What was Leon trying to prove?

She took one thoughtful sip and continued to watch the rather illogical action movie Shaun switched the channel to.

The next few minutes went in silence as both siblings just continued to watch as a crane smashed through a building in the movie.

Rose knew Shaun was still painfully curious about the car, because he was shifting uncomfortably in his seat. It was his telltale sign of saying that he was restless about something.

“Spill it, Shaun. What d’you wanna know about the car?” Rose asked, putting the glass down.

“Well, did Leon ask for anything in return for the car?” Ah, so that’s what this is all about.

“He didn’t. I don’t think he’s that kinda guy, Shaun. Don’t you know him well enough to know that too?” Rose asked in return. She did have a very good point.

Her brother only avoided her gaze as he turned his attention back to the TV. It was all a ruse, that much was certain.

“I don’t get it, sis. Why is he always so kind to you? I mean, to give you a car, of all things…” he muttered.

“I wasn’t the only one. His closest circle of friends got them too,” she said. Rose wasn’t all that sure whether Trisha was considered one of Leon’s closest friends in the first place. Then again, was Rose herself in that circle?

She didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about it. She had more pressing matters to attend to, like the Physics test that was coming soon. College did suck sometimes, that was for certain.

But she took one look outside the front door’s glass center, looked at the elegant red car staring back at her, and couldn’t help but curl her soft pink lips into a little smile when she remembered something.

Hey, every silver lining comes from a dark cloud, right?

Yes, yes it does.

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A/N: There, another chapter completed. Tell me if this one sounded a little weak to you guys, kay?

On another note, Rose is gonna start reading this novel! Yay! ^^

I’ll start on chapter 9 A.S.A.P.