(POV: Sophia)
---
There are moments that change your worldview.
For example, when I first learned that baby puffins are called "pufflings." Or the time Ava told me that jellybeans are technically not vegetarian. Or, more recently, when Leo caught a frisbee behind his back mid-sentence without looking.
Let me rewind.
It was a chill Saturday afternoon. We were at the park near our favorite cafe because someone (Ethan) wanted to "touch grass" after rage-quitting a group project. Ava was sunbathing with her eyes closed. I was mid-rant about a book that had the audacity to kill off a likable side character, and Leo—Leo was just walking a few feet ahead, sipping iced tea like an NPC with a side quest.
That's when it happened.
A frisbee, bright neon green, came flying through the air like a discount UFO. It was heading straight for him. Full speed. No warning.
Leo didn't flinch. Didn't turn.
He just… snagged it with one hand behind his back like some kind of chill ninja.
Mid-sip.
"What the hell," Ethan muttered beside me, mirroring all our thoughts.
"Did you see that?" Ava sat up, blinking. "Tell me I imagined that."
"You didn't," I said. "You absolutely did not."
Leo turned around, spotted a kid running toward him, and tossed the frisbee back with a perfect spin. Then kept walking like it was Tuesday.
Naturally, we followed him. Because what else do you do when your friend might be moonlighting as a superhero?
"Leo," I said as we caught up, "how did you do that?"
"Do what?" he asked innocently.
"The frisbee," Ethan said. "You didn't even look. You just caught it. While drinking tea."
"Oh, that." Leo shrugged. "Felt the breeze."
"What are you, a Jedi?" Ava asked.
He grinned. "Nah. My hand just moved, I guess."
We dropped it… for now.
---
Cut to: The next day.
It started at brunch.
We were at this little rooftop café Ava had found on one of her "spontaneous scrolls of doom." Pretty place. Good food. Loud seagulls. One aggressive toddler. The usual.
Ethan was ranting (as always), Ava was trying to take aesthetically tragic photos of her pancakes, and I was midway through a sip of mango smoothie when it happened.
The waitress tripped. Not her fault. Uneven tile, rogue breeze, maybe the universe had a grudge. The tray went flying. One glass of OJ somersaulted midair, aiming directly at Leo's head.
Leo?
Leo tilted his head—absentmindedly—and the juice missed him by literal inches.
Didn't flinch. Didn't pause. He just blinked and said, "Is this mine?" pointing at a plate like nothing had just airmailed past his ear.
I stared. "Leo, did you see that?"
"What?"
"That glass of Orange juice that you just dodged."
"Ohh...." He replied looking at the now spelled juice, "Must have been luck."
---
Cut to: Incident #3
It happened that evening at the park. Because apparently fate wasn't done messing with our reality.
We'd grabbed ice cream. I was walking beside Leo, having a genuinely philosophical debate about why strawberry is the most chaotic of the flavors, when he suddenly stuck his arm out across me like a mom braking in traffic.
"Hold on," he said calmly.
Just as a rogue kid on a skateboard zoomed past us, missing me by inches.
I blinked. "How did you know that?!"
"Wheels," he said, nodding toward the faint sound behind us. "Didn't sound like a cart. Figured it wasn't someone shopping aggressively."
I stared at him.
Ethan caught up, winded. "You save one more life today and I'm reporting you to Marvel."
---
We spent the rest of the day trailing him like investigative journalists.
He dodged a low-hanging tree branch without pausing. Stepped over a broken tile while talking. Snatched his phone out of Ava's hand when she jokingly tried to take a selfie.
By dinner, our theories were getting… weird.
"I think he's secretly in a high-level martial arts program," Ava whispered.
"Wrong," Ethan replied. "He's an AI. Like, full robot. Probably recharges in a supply closet somewhere."
"He's a cat," I declared. "That's the only explanation. The reflexes. The blank expressions. The way he disappears then reappears with food."
"...Wait, that tracks," Ava said. "I've literally seen him blink once in an hour."
---
Eventually, Leo turned to us with a crooked smile. "You guys done turning me into a conspiracy theory?"
"Not even close," I said. "You're a reflex-based anomaly, and science demands answers."
He leaned back in his chair. "Or, maybe… you just notice it more now that you're watching."
"Or maybe you're an undercover vigilante," Ethan shot back.
Leo raised his glass. "If I was, would I tell you?"
Touché.
---
Later that night
We all walked back from the café we ended the day in. Leo walked slightly ahead, humming a song I couldn't place. Ethan was trying to reenact Leo's juice-dodge using dramatic arm movements. Ava kept throwing little pebbles near Leo's feet just to see if he'd notice.
He did. Every single time.
Final verdict?
Leo's reflexes defy logic, gravity, and probably half the laws of physics.
And honestly, I don't think he even knows how.
___
End of Chapter 42.