Royal Pride (Leona Kingscholar/Yuu)

16 ~ Scarcity

"I'm so sorry, Jamil, I forgot to tell you earlier that I won't be able to study with you for the next two weeks!" Yuu exclaimed, reminded of their own study-buddy deal in the cafeteria.

Jamil tilted his head slightly. "That's alright, but why not?" She averted her eyes and smiled awkwardly, knowing that he would probably scold her.

"I... may or may not have made a contract with Azul, and I have to work at the Mostro Lounge for the next two weeks."

"What could possibly be worth making a contract with him for?" He jabbed.

She caught him up with all of the events that had happened since the Spelldrive incident, trying to stay quiet since the cafeteria was bustling with people, and he listened intently.

"I'm sure you've accounted for how dangerous it is to sign off your magic in your position," he said with resignation in his voice. "We can only hope that nothing happens to you in the meantime."

"Yeah, not to mention how inconvenient this is. This reminds me of when Riddle and I would spar, and he would behead me." She paused for a second, looking around. "Speaking of Riddle, I haven't seen him in a while. You know where he is?"

He shook his head. "Now that you mention it, though... I haven't seen him in a few days. The last time I saw him, he seemed very on edge. He's been pretty stressed out with some of the underclassmen, lately."

"Yeah, he was telling me about that," Yuu remarked, recalling their earlier conversation. "I wanna check on him now, make sure he's not getting too bent out of shape. Well, I'll see you later!"

She walked around the cafeteria until she caught sight of Trey and Cater. "Hey, no Riddle today?" She greeted, sitting down across from them.

"Hey, it's Yuu! Looking as photogenic as always~" Cater responded as he set down his phone.

Trey finished chewing his food before answering, "No, he's not here today. He hasn't been coming to lunch for the last few days, actually. Any specific reason as to why you're asking?"

"Well, I know he's been stressed lately, and I haven't seen him in a while. Wanted to check in. Is he doing okay?"

"He's been so pressed lately," Cater whined, resting his head in his palm. "He's been beheading freshmen left and right! Makes me even more paranoid that I'm gonna screw up..."

Trey allowed a sigh to escape him. "Yeah, and any attempts to defuse anything result in him blowing up even more. Problem is, none of us can do anything about it. It really sucks seeing him like this."

"I'd love to come and try and 'talk' some sense into him, but... I'm preoccupied today."

Cater let out a laugh. "Man, I remember when you two used to 'spar'," he laughed, making air quotes with his fingers. "He'd always come back super salty about getting beat up!"

"In my defense, I didn't like to see him picking on people for wearing the wrong color of socks on Tuesday or whatever other illogical rule he had in mind!"

Trey cleared his throat. "I don't think physically beating him up will be good for him, anyway, especially as things are right now. He's become more withdrawn, so hopefully all he needs is more space... I've never seen him like this before."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Cater let out a gasp. "Oh my gosh, Yuu, I've been meaning to ask you! Is it true that you and Leona are finally dating?"

"If one more person asks me if we're dating, I'm going to lose it. Go ask Leona!"

Things had gotten chaotic lately, but she definitely hadn't forgotten about him. When she found out that he'd made that folder just to help her, it made her heart soar. His constant reassurance that he would try his best to help her made her blush.

She just wished that all of this stalker drama was figured out so she could go back to playing chess with him in the greenhouse, or doing homework together, or just chatting. She just wanted to be a normal student with him.

But she'd made a deal, and for the next two weeks, she would have to be content with seeing him scarcely.