Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters/places/anything mentioned from Zone of the Enders and everything belongs to its respective owners.

Note: this fanfiction contains spoilers from Zone of the Enders, so I advise that you do not read it if you haven't beat the game :)

Contradiction

Leo had always believed that finding Jehuty during the Antilia raid had been the turning point in his life. If he hadn't have found the Orbital Frame, his life could have turned out very different than the way it was now. He could have still lived with his father in the S02 residential unit. He could have still been bullied by his friends, still only finding solace in Celvice, and still being not needed by anyone.

Instead, he had found the Orbital Frame Jehuty and was finally needed. He had people giving him directions despite him having little idea of what was happening, and he found a friend in Jehuty's AI, ADA, as well. The small world that he had lived in suddenly expanded.

His mission to get Jehuty to the Atlantis, a UNSF civilian freighter, was no different. In a way, he had met a lot more people that he could rely on. He even came to trust them, agreeing to stay on the freighter while the preparations were made for Jehuty to be launched off to Mars.

The dismal information about ADA's true purpose came back to him, stabbing him with pain. He focused his thoughts back to the UNSF.

Rock Thunderheart, one of the pilots of the UNSF, had offered to train Leo in the use of the LEV Vic Vipers that were in development for battle. He had accepted the offer, but often found that he missed ADA's constant guidance amongst battle, and getting used to another frame other than Jehuty was an adjustment as well.

Leo found that he often got frustrated more than necessary once he realized that he was losing a battle. Using the Vic Vipers allowed him to learn how to pilot a frame without the use of an AI, but he was already used to having one in Jehuty; thus his "skills" were decreased slightly.

Over the past few months, his battles against his friend and mentor had gotten better, and he was starting to even the score a bit. This helped him gain a bit control over his frustration.

Rock Thunderheart didn't only teach him in the use of the Vic Vipers; he also was trained in enemy formations and recognizing patterns. This would give him an advantage when fighting unmanned Orbital Frames, but ones with runners would be more advanced.

"Kid, you have to get a better grip on your emotions," his mentor had told him after that day's practice while they were walking to the cafeteria, "the enemy will use that to your advantage."

Leo had already been tired of the constant reprimands that he had received that day, and now realized that, looking back, he should have just skipped practice. He had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. His mentor's words had only reminded him of what had been said earlier, when they were practicing with the LEVs, and it sent Leo over the edge.

Said emotions had gotten a better hold of him and he had lunged towards his mentor, his fist clenched and ready to strike. Rock Thunderheart, being completely unprepared for the attack, had gotten the full force of his punch and was sent through the cafeteria doors.

Leo didn't remember much after that. He was pretty sure he had said some things that he regretted, but the exact details weren't there. Every time he tried to think back, he got a massive headache.

As a result of his actions, Elena had given him a task. Leo had never thought that he had anger management issues, but Elena apparently thought otherwise.

He looked around the room, finding it bare other than the chair he was sitting in and a desk. He knew that Elena could probably see him despite the fact that he was alone; either through cameras or some other device, he guessed.

He gave a sigh, glancing at the piece of paper in front of him. Elena apparently wanted him to do his task old school…

"Leo, I want you to write ten things that make you angry or upset," Elena instructed as he was forced to sit down in the seat. She sat a piece of paper and a pencil in front of him. He stared down at the paper and then glanced up at her.

"Why?" the simple question came out of his mouth when he should have already known the answer. Elena beat him to it though.

"You seem to be having some… difficulty with certain aspects around here," she had struggled for a moment to find the right word, but continued nonetheless, "This should help you."

"How?" He figured that he was using numerous one-word questions lately, but he wanted to know more. He did have some 'difficulty,' as she had put it, with controlling his emotions under extreme conditions, but he wasn't sure how this would 'help'.

"You have been with us for a few months now and we have noticed that your ability to control your emotions in stressful situations has improved, but not by much," he opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off, "You attacked Rock Thunderheart, didn't you?"

He shut his mouth, adverting his eyes from her to the floor. Suddenly this conversation was taking a wrong turn…

"What did he say that made you so angry?"

"He just said that I had to get control over my emotions," Leo answered truthfully, still keeping his gaze on the floor. He bit his lip, realizing that the statement had been true, especially with how he acted.

"I can tell that there is more. Something had to prod you enough other than that statement," she continued, trying to get more out of him. Her words only sparked more enemies.

'How did you feel when you killed them?' Viola's voice rang through his mind, making the pressure his tooth applied to his lip increase. He kept silent, feeling anger and regret spike through him for the second time that day.

"Leo, you aren't telling the whole story-" Elena prodded a bit more, causing him to snap.

"I don't want to talk about it!" the volume of his voice increased as he stood up, knocking the chair over as he did so, "Why does everyone always have to know everything! Ever since this whole incident has started, it's been one thing after another! Why can't you leave us alone!?"

He bit into his lip again at the cold stare she gave him, seemingly unmoved by his words. His mind then registered that he should have said 'me,' not 'us'.

Am I so bothered about them sending Jehuty off? He wondered, knowing that his temper had seemed shorter now that his days with ADA were numbered. Jehuty would be shipped off to Mars and then infiltrate Aumaan, and then he would never see ADA again…

"Do you feel any better?" Elena's question startled him a bit; he wasn't expecting her to act like that… "Now that you've said what you've had to, I'll leave you to make your list. Once you have ten things listed, hold the paper up to the scanner by the door and it will let you out."

Leo stood up, having a sudden thought from her words. Elena had left and no one had entered since then. He had been left alone, so what kept him from leaving the room?

He stood in front of the door, feeling a bit irked at the fact that the door wasn't sliding open like usual. He quickly walked back to the desk and picked up the empty paper. Holding it up to the scanner, it beeped red and answered in a mechanical voice, "Access denied."

He let out a frustrated sigh, going to sit back in the chair and picking up the pencil. He briefly thought of putting down 'locked doors' for one of the answers as a joke, but then decided against it.

Better get started then, or else I might be here all day.

He tapped the pencil against the paper as he wracked his mind, trying to figure out what exactly to write. It was harder to realize what made you angry when you weren't physically angry.

1) Questions

He wrote down the first one, remembering that the questions Elena had been asking had both made him angry and uncomfortable. Maybe it was too many personal questions, but he just decided to leave it at that.

2) Bullies

His thoughts flew back to his 'friends' back on Antilia. They did make fun of him and tease him a lot, but he would have never wished their fate on anyone. This only brought the regret back in a stronger wave, but he pushed it away, realizing that there was nothing he could have done that would have changed anything.

3) Abandonment

He wrote the third one down, erased it, and then wrote it again, figuring that he should be honest. He ignored the sadness he felt and blocked out the echo of his parents fighting at the dinner.

4) Senseless violence/killing

This time Viola's voice did not echo in his mind, and he felt himself grower calmer. He hated that she had hurt Celvice, and that she was determined to kill over and over again, but he felt sadness at what she had to endure.

By the time he was done with the list and held it up to the scanner by the door, he had way more than ten things listed, but somehow he felt a lot better. The panel flashed green and the door opened, he started to go through, but hesitated. Looking back at the desk, he walked back to it and placed the paper on it.

He was sure that the list would reveal way too much into his personal life than he cared to let anyone know, but maybe someday it would help; that, and he was pretty sure Elena wouldn't have known the paper was double-sided from the scanner.

His mind flew back to everything that he had been through as he walked into the hall. He figured it was time to pay his mentor an apology in the medical bay.

Another headache made him pause as his hand went instinctually to hold his head. He winced slightly as the pain passed and realized that he had another reason to go to the medical bay. The realization made him laugh: maybe the reason he had the headaches was because of the punch he had received in return.

Another one-shot that entered my mind while reading over the in-between reports! Leo and Rock Thunderheart (got to love that name :)) did get into a fist fight in the cafeteria, but it isn't listed over what. I thought it would be interesting to explore just one of the many possibilities. Sorry if anyone is a bit OOC; I tried the best I could to keep everyone in character. I hope you enjoyed this and please leave your thoughts in a review!
-AnimeWolfGirl9