"Oh Boy," Mako sighed as he approached Bill and Leon and broke up their little fight.
Bill was still angry at Leon after what Leon had told him and he then directed this anger toward Mako.
"How could you help this guy after what he did?" Bill said to Mako.
Mako quietly observed both of them. Bill was furious and waving his hand up and down while continuously complaining like a toddler throwing a tantrum. On the other hand, Leon was surprisingly quiet. He wasn't shouting back or trying to make Bill shut up. It was quite a rare site to see as the Leon they knew was one full of anger and ego.
With his head bent downwards a bit, he quietly listened to Bill's continuous remarks and complaints with a somber expression on his face.
Only after listening to Bill for about 30 seconds, Mako was fed of Bill ranting on and on and he finally gave him a small slap on the cheek to bring him back to his senses.
"Calm down, dude! He also saved your life! I admit he didn't give me the anti-venom at the start however, he stood up on his injured leg and chased after me to give me the anti-venom, once I had picked you up and was about to leave." Mako started explaining.
"Think of it from a different perspective. Remember how mad you got when I talked back to you during our duel? You became so furious that you assaulted me in class and forced me to face you in the following duel where you even attempted to inflict a fatal wound on me."
Bill suddenly hung his head low from embarrassment and guilt as Mako made him remember his own deeds.
"You did all that and I still helped you, didn't I? I gave you a second chance and look at you now. So why doesn't he deserve a second chance as well?" Mako said pointing at Leon.
"He was furious and outraged as well when I defeated him in the battle royal tournament. He wanted to quench his thirst for revenge as well so I can't blame him for the actions that he took, but what matters is that in the end, he made the right choice and gave up the anti-venom to cure you." Mako finished explaining his reason.
Mako's reasoning was quite valid and now Bill felt like a big jerk for saying all those things to Leon who quietly listened to it all without even saying a word back.
There was a few seconds of awkward silence between the three of them until finally, Bill picked up the courage to turn toward Leon and apologize.
"Listen, I am sorry for saying all those things. I guess I was just so close to death that thinking back to it just made me lose all sense of judgment." Bill said.
Leon slowly lifted his head as well and first looked toward Mako who gave him a small nod while smiling before moving on to start a fire and then to Bill.
"I am sorry as well. I should have explained the entire story to you but I just couldn't tell the last part because it made me look weak." Leon replied.
"It's not weak," Bill replied as he opened up his right palm and rubbed it with his other hand.
"It's not weak to sacrifice yourself to save others. Instead, I believe it is one of the most courageous things you can do. I burned my hand while forging a duplicate key to escape from the warehouse I was imprisoned in. The lives of many people were riding on me getting the key and so I happily gave away my hand for the cause." Bill narrated the story of his prison break.
"The same was true for the person because of whom I am still alive today," Bill added remembering a certain someone.
"Who, Mako?" Leon asked as he was now hooked on Bill's story.
"No, Mako was the one who saved me after I escaped; however, it was Albert who allowed me to escape in the first place. He sacrificed himself to create an explosion that blasted the door open and allowed the remaining prisoners including me to make their escape. He is one of the most bravest and courageous people I know." Bill replied
"So never think that you are being weak for caring about someone else. Doing that is what makes you human... I know that now." Bill added.
************
Bill and Leon seemed to have formed a bond as they continued having conversations about different things in their lives. Leon still wasn't comfortable sharing some information, especially regarding those of his family but both Mako and Bill respected that and allowed him to gradually open up to them at his own pace.
Mako also added small comments when Bill was sharing stories, especially telling all the embarrassing details that made Leon finally crack a chuckle.
After a while, Leon's leg had healed up enough that he was able to stand up and move around while Bill still couldn't move as he was still too weak. Mako fed him another healing pill so that he could recover faster and this was the last High tier of healing pill that he had on him. Of course, he had more in his inventory, but he was afraid for taking those out in case he got caught.
Considering the Patrolling guard's comment about the higher official keeping a close eye on him, it can also be said that they are keeping track of all the resources he uses and if he keeps on using healing pills when he only found a couple from the Loot crates, he knew they were bound to get suspicious.
Mako even ditched one of the low-tier healing pills he got from one of the first crates so that he could pop the rejuvenating pill without messing up the numbers.
Soon, all the fish that Mako had caught were finished cooking on top of the fire. While Bill and Leon were busy talking, Mako was doing all the hard work gutting and preparing each fish and then cooking them on top of the water.
Using one of the loot crate containers, he found recently, he was also able to bring back a lot of water. Now with the fish cooked to perfection and a variety of tropical fruit, Mako presented the feast to them and just the smell was enough to turn them silent.
The growls of their stomachs could be heard as Both Leon and Bill were super hungry. Leon hadn't had anything to eat in the 24 hours as he was continuously searching for Mako and even though Mako tried to feed Bill while he was poisoned, he didn't eat much and was also rocking an empty stomach.
All three of them dug into the food and 45 minutes later, there was one piece of fish or a single fruit left. After having a burp competition where the person with the loudest burp was the winner, and sufficiently weirding out the patrolling officers nearby who were assigned to keep an eye on them and the higher officials sitting around the round table, the boys relaxed around the fire.
It had been quite a tough three days since they had landed and they were finally able to just sit back and relax for a while. Mako and Bill started discussing their plans for the future.
They looked at the map and saw that they were still within the southwest region of the island but they were definitely in a lot more centralized area.
"If we head out tomorrow morning, we can reach this area which looks to be another cave by sunset. I don't think it is feasible to keep traveling to our original spot considering all the beasts that are roaming around." Mako said pointing at a different area on the map.
"This cave is also in a central position and it looks like there aren't a lot of trees nearby. There is also a tablet nearby which is a must-have considering we don't even know what has been happening on the rest of the island for the last three days." Mako said.
"Now, the only problem is water. There is no source of freshwater within 4 kilometers of that cave and we are going to have to figure out something if we want to secure this area as our permanent shelter.
"We can perhaps dig a well and see if we can access some from underground and even in the worst-case scenario, we have Leon's speed which would be a huge help if we have to end up transporting water manually," Bill recommended an option.
"Huh, what?" Leon asked in confusion about Bill's comment.
Bill explained again that if there is no other alternative, they can rely on his speed to get some water. However, Leon wasn't concerned about the job but rather inclusion.
"You guys are taking me with you?" Leon asked.
Mako and Bill looked at each other before turning back toward Leon and nodding simultaneously.
"Of course, we you are coming with us. Do you expect us to just leave you alone on this island? Who will have your back if you ended up getting ambushed or God forbid poisoned yourself?" Mako said in a matter-of-fact type tone.
"Listen, guys. I really appreciate your hospitality, but I will only be a burden to you. It is better for us to go our separate ways." Leon said.
Mako and Bill were having none of it as they started arguing with Leon over various reasons to make him stay with them. It wasn't even because Paul had hired them to do so, they would have done the same regardless of the agreement they made with Paul.
After about fifteen minutes of constant arguing, Leon finally caved in and accepted to join Mako and Bill but he told them that he had a condition for him joining them.
"If you want me to join you two then I want my rematch with you," Leon said while pointing at Mako.
"I want an honest rematch against you and me, one on one, no weapons, interferences, or cheap tricks," Leon said making his intentions clear.
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