Royal Pride (Leona Kingscholar/Yuu)

13 ~ Interrogation

The sight of Leona sitting on the same chair that he had left the night before and resting his head in his arms at the foot of Yuu's bed was not one she was expecting to see first thing in the morning.

'I am so glad I didn't accidentally kick him in my sleep.'

As per usual, just moments after she woke up, he started to stir as well. She leaned forward and scratched his head, an action he secretly seemed to be quite fond of. "Leona, what are you still doing here?"

He let a deep sigh escape him. "Surprisingly, I wasn't able to fall asleep in bed last night, so I came back here. And..." He trailed off for a moment. "It's probably a good thing I did."

"Did something happen?" The thought of something happening at night was jarring. Yuu was used to people just being straight-up brutal to her face, but the thought of someone sneaking around seemed even more terrifying.

He propped his face up on his hand, answering, "I felt someone's presence last night, but when I checked, there was no one around. They concealed themself well."

"That's... unnerving, to say the least," Yuu chuckled uncomfortably. "So it's definitely someone with good abilities."

Their conversation was interrupted by the nurse, who came buzzing in and rapidly checked on Yuu before putting a pad on her still swollen cheek and letting her go.

"Funny how fast magic can heal, huh?" Yuu emptily remarked, still a little on the edge after what she heard from Leona.

She checked the time on her phone. They'd both missed the first few periods of the day, but in a little while, it would be lunch. "You should go to class for once," she joked, "and I'll head back to my dorm and freshen up."

"I'll just wait for you in the Mirror Chamber," Leona said, suppressing a yawn. "Might get a few more minutes of sleep in if I can."

"Why don't you just wait in our lounge?" Yuu asked. She didn't want him to be laying in the middle of the chamber.

"Nah."

"Why not—oh, are you worried you'll run into Malleus? He should be in class now, though I suppose he doesn't always go."

"I'm not worried about nothin'. This is just a good napping spot."

"My, you're awfully stubborn," she said, rubbing his head gently. "Well, if you insist. I'll try not to be too long."

About half an hour later, Yuu had finished freshening up and went back out to join Leona who, just as he promised, was napping in the Mirror Chamber.

"Let's head to the cafeteria," Yuu suggested, pulling Leona up. She hadn't eaten since the picnic the day before and was feeling famished.

They headed to the cafeteria, where Ruggie ran up to them and immediately started barraging them with questions. "Why weren't either of you answering your phones? I heard you got hit by that stray disc that flew off during practice!"

"Let's get lunch first, then I'll tell..." Yuu was going to tell him what happened, but she was distracted by a purple-haired boy in a Pomefiore uniform.

She tugged at Leona's sleeve. "Hey, is that the kid you were telling me about? Epel?" Leona turned to where she was looking before nodding. "You wanna go talk to him now?"

"Yeah, you tell Ruggie what happened. I'll join you guys after we talk." Yuu started towards the table he was sitting at, noticing that Jack was sitting with him.

She placed a hand on the table. "Excuse me, is this seat taken?" She sat down before receiving an answer, though they both proceeded to say that she could sit there, anyway.

"Hello, Jack," she greeted, then turned to Epel. "You're Epel, right?"

His eyes widened slightly. "How'd ya know—I mean, yes, that's me. Can I help you with something?"

'Ah, so he's a country boy.'

"Actually, you can. See, a certain disc flew astray during Spelldrive practice yesterday, and it happened to hit me," she told him with a laugh, pointing at her cheek.

She was about to continue, but she found herself pausing as Leona and Ruggie took their seats right beside her. She closed her eyes and turned towards them. "Can you not—"

"Hey, don't let us interrupt your interrogation. Shyeheehee!" Ruggie snickered. Leona acted much more low-key, sitting down as though he had just chosen the seats because they were empty.

Yuu turned back to Epel, trying to ignore the two. "Sorry about that. As I was saying, would you happen to know who threw the disc?"

"Well..." Epel sat in thought for a second, and the group grew tense. "I'm quite certain that it came from a group of Savanaclaw students. Though, that's just judging by the direction I saw it fly from. I'm afraid I can't be of any more help."

"Are you serious?" Ruggie exclaimed. "Sure, we've got tons of strong guys, but I'll bet Leona's the only one who could throw a disc that strongly, but we all know it definitely wasn't him."

Leona sat with a glare on his face, deep in thought. Yuu hadn't seen that face in a while—he tended to be happier when they were together.

"Hey, kid," Leona said suddenly, making Epel jump. He straightened his posture. "Uh, yes?"

"Could you point out which herbivores you're saying were around where the disc launched from during practice today?"

Epel blinked a few times before rapidly nodding. "Yessir!" Leona grunted and leaned forward, resting his head in his arms. Out of habit, Yuu reached out and started scratching his head but then paused and retracted her hand, wondering if doing that in front of others would upset Leona.

As she was moving her hand back, he grabbed it and placed it back between his ears. 'I guess he doesn't care, then.' She let out a slightly suppressed laugh before continuing to scratch his head. Eventually, he dozed off, not to anyone's surprise.

"He's just like a cat," Yuu laughed. Ruggie scoffed, agreeing with her. "Tell me about it. He only lets you near him if he likes you, and he's a jerk if he doesn't."

They turned back to Jack and Epel, and the four of them ended up genially chatting with each other until lunch ended.