Excerpt:

"Are you always going to be such a damn skeptic about everything?"

Andreas cocked an eyebrow at that--both the question and the vehemence behind it. While Leon wasn't exactly a push-over, he did tend to have the softer tones to him, even when he was using harsh language and joking crudely with his elder friend. It went to show just how deep this most recent accident got under his skin.

Acting his part as the supposedly more wise and experienced, though Andreas had no doubt about the latter, the hacker put his fork down and propped his elbows up on the table. His fingers knitted themselves together and he rested his chin atop them, watching Leon intently. "Maybe I am a skeptic," he began in all seriousness, "but that doesn't mean I'm not right in what I'm saying. You're way too feeling about these kinds of things. You don't even know the woman and you're willing to defend her honor. I know you mean well, but really, think about yourself for once. Stop being such a damn hero and at least consider that you're first of all, paranoid about this whole thing, and second of all, being a pussy over it. The bus crashed, the woman got her head busted in, and you ended up with a busted nose."

He sat back in his seat, taking his arms down from the table and giving Leon a narrow-eyed look. "End of discussion."

It was actually far from the end, of course. Andreas wasn't that much of an idiot, but he knew the only way to get Leon to actually talk about what was really bothering him was to bait him. It was a lowly tactic, throwing his authority around, but whatever worked, right? It wasn't as though he didn't already go around waving the fact that he was the only one with an income and was basically letting Leon live with him rent-free every chance he got.

Maybe Leon would give him another excuse to use that sort of argument.

The brace on his nose making him look absolutely ridiculous as he frowned angrily, Leon leaned forward in his seat, not wanting to let his guardian get away with his suppositions. "Don't you think it's weird that all this happened?" he demanded. "I mean, put aside the fact that the woman seemed to know what was going to happen. This is the fifth time in six months I've been involved with an accident of some sort--"

"So you have bad luck, big deal." Andreas tried not to think about his own thoughts on the matter of Leon's unfortunate fate.

The student persisted, "Ever since that accident two years ago, I've been having an accident every six weeks. There's just something not right about that!"

Andreas gave a show of rolling his eyes, ignoring the unsettling feeling he got just thinking about it. "Paranoia, my friend. It'll get you no where and fast," he said simply before picking up his fork again. He was just about to dig back into his meal when he looked up and waved his utensil at Leon once more. "I don't think it's very becoming if you think that some higher being or power is after you just because you made it out of that accident alive. You survived because you're damn stubborn and a fucking idiot. Nothing more. Nothing less. So just stop it with the whole believing freak accidents are your fault."