Royal Pride (Leona Kingscholar/Yuu)

5 ~ Not So Subtle

"...but try to keep that on the down-low, okay?"

Yuu and Jack had just reached the Mirror Chamber, and Yuu had finished telling Jack what had happened. He nodded in affirmation, agreeing to not tell anyone.

"What are we keeping on the down-low~?" Ruggie appeared out of nowhere, making the two gasp in surprise. Jack began to greet Ruggie in a flustered manner, but Ruggie turned away from him to focus on Yuu.

"Yuu," Ruggie tauntingly drawled, "How was chess? You guys were playing for a really long time, shyeheehee!"

Yuu smacked Ruggie's shoulder on her way to the Diasomnia mirror. "Shut up," she spoke in a slightly strangled voice. "Literally nothing happened!"

"Awwwhh, so this is nothing~?" Ruggie held up his phone, revealing a picture of Yuu and Leona napping on each other. Yuu moved so fast it seemed like she teleported to Ruggie, ripping his phone out of his hand.

She stared at the picture and felt herself begin to smile, but she pressed her lips into a flat line. "Nice pic," she said, discreetly sending the picture to herself. Ruggie laughed again. "You two looked super cozy!"

Jack lingered around the mirror for a few moments before disappearing through it. Yuu's voice dropped and she hissed, "Ruggie, can you please try to keep this a secret?"

"Okay, first of all, you two were literally in the greenhouse, a public area on campus, and second of all, everyone already knows you two've liked each other for ages. What's there to keep a secret?"

"...what?"

"Aren't you guys dating—" Yuu pressed her hand firmly on Ruggie's mouth to stop him from talking. "No! We were just talking last night and lost track of time and fell asleep! And as for that last part, I don't see him in that... way..."

Yuu's voice trailed off as she lost herself in thought. "Dude," she whispered, "I have a crush on Leona."

"..." Ruggie sat in silence for a good while, long enough to make the situation uncomfortable.

He then broke out into hysterical laughter. As in, rolling on the floor laughter. "Congratulations! You're officially the last to know!" He managed to communicate through his laughter.

Her face flushed bright red—or at least, that's what it felt like. Naturally, the thought had passively occurred to her in the past, as it usually does in the minds of some people when they befriend someone, but it had never been a serious inquiry. She'd always brushed it off.

But now?

She couldn't brush it off. Yuu had a crush on Leona Kingscholar. That would explain why it felt so addicting being around him, why she felt like floating whenever he laughed at her jokes, why she didn't mind when he went back to sleep on her shoulder, even though her shoulder was starting to ache.

"Nah, but actually, are you telling me that you just recently developed a crush on him then?" Ruggie asked after calming himself down, though he was still grinning widely from laughing so hard.

Yuu nodded her head, pressing her hands to her cheeks to feel their warmth, a sensation she'd never felt so strongly before. "I'm not sure anymore..." Her gaze shifted from the floor to Ruggie's eyes. "What do you mean by everyone already knows?"

He let out a low whistle, eyes darting to the side. "It's kinda been a hot topic of gossip among the sophomores and juniors about you two." He took one look at Yuu's expression and continued, "I mean, not like a hot hot topic or anything, but like, if you were to go up to someone and be like 'hey, y'know Leona and Yuu?' They'd probably be like 'oh, what's the latest news about them? Have they gotten together yet?'"

"...I see..."

"Yuu? You okay?"

Yuu grabbed Ruggie's arm and earnestly took a step forward. "But like, when you say 'you two like each other'... you mean..." Yuu continued circuitously rambling on until eventually trailing off without finishing the sentence, but Ruggie could tell exactly what she was trying to ask.

"Yuu, the guy's head over heels for you. He's literally been in love with you since last year."

Ruggie stated it as though it was a fact, but Yuu couldn't wrap her head around it all. She put the back of her hand to her mouth and turned towards the mirrors. "I...I think I'm gonna go get ready for the day."

She quickly strode into the mirror before Ruggie could get a word in and dashed towards her room, though her thoughts were running faster than she ever could.