“So people like that still exist...”
Lio sighed resting his chin into the palm of his hand. He was sitting at an empty table shaded by the neighboring buildings and a single small tree. It was just outside of a back alley cafe. It was by no means a good cafe, but the lack of business made it the ideal spot to relax and enjoy a cheap glass of water. He sighed again.
Earlier he had overseen another Mad Burnish raid on the city of Promepolis. Nothing was unusual. Burning Rescue came in and tried to put a stop to things with their outdated firetruck and weird new mechas. They did manage to hit one of the new members who were a bit unused to things, but it was nothing substantial and definitely not something a little fire couldn’t fix.
But what surprised him was when a teenager, probably only a few years younger than him, entered the chaos to check on the impaired Burnish. He had a large burn scar on his forehead, so he must have understood the danger he was putting himself in.
Lio had witnessed the teen scold the Burnish and yell at the Burning Rescue member who incapacitated him. Wasn’t he aware that Burnish sympathizers were being arrested, too?! He grimaced and pulled his fingers through his hair before sighing once more.
Of course the Burnish melted through that bit of ice easily and recovered, and Mad Burnish made their escape, but Lio could not stop thinking about the boy. Even if he wasn’t a Burnish, was it really okay to leave him? What if there was an observer who saw him defending the Burnish? The Freeze Force didn’t care what age someone was. If you help a Burnish, you are an enemy of the state. So many families were ripped apart because of their doing.
Lio subconsciously gripped the glass in his hand and made it steam in annoyance. Had he known he would regret not taking action earlier, he would have brought that kid with them. He concluded. But now there was no way to know what happened to him.... He looked down into the water with a frown after he calmed himself.