Royal Pride (Leona Kingscholar/Yuu)

31 ~ Healthy Communication

Yuu started folding a shirt on Leona's couch. "You really ought to keep your room cleaner," she remarked, taking a look around. "That balcony sure is nice, though."

Leona ignored the first remark. "Yeah, it is," he agreed, sitting next to her.

"So... how do you want me to make it up to you?" His tone had changed, much more emotion integrated into it than before.

She leaned against him, hugging herself with her arms, and he put his arm around the back of the couch. "This reminds me of that one day you called me over cause you missed me," she sighed, pleasantly recalling the memory.

He grunted in response, unsure of how to respond. He could tell by her saccharine tone that she was silently seething.

"You left me at my worst," she said suddenly, not moving at all. Even her tone was the same, as light as she'd spoken before. "Isn't that what I said to you? And what was it you said? That I was being clingy, or something of that likeness? That you should've kept your distance from me in the first place?"

"I'm sorry, I was angry and didn't mean any of it—"

"That doesn't change that you said it. Now, if you'd told me that on a normal day, it would've been fine, but..." She twisted her fingers together, fussing with them.

"I really hate myself," she finished. His body jerked to face her, and she let out a hollow laugh. "I'm not saying I want to die or anything, so don't worry, but sometimes everything really sucks."

Leona slowly pulled her hands apart and took one of them, soothingly rubbing circles on it. "I should've never left you, even with everything I was doing."

"Don't blame yourself. I just want you to see how I was doing when you said that."

Yuu tilted her head back, relaxing into the couch. "Ruggie and I got into a fistfight shortly after we fought. Managed to rope in Riddle and the tweels."

"The who?"

"Jade and Floyd Leech. It was very stress-relieving, if I do say so myself." She closed her eyes, recalling the moment with a smile. "Ruggie and I talked afterwards and sorted everything out between us. I remember wishing that the two of us could communicate like that."

"It's my fault we weren't able to," Leona said, voice low and near inaudible.

"Ever since I was abducted, my mind's been doing this thing where it'll insult me over the pettiest things. It's gotten easier to laugh it off, but for the first few days, it was terrible. I used to imagine the people I cared about saying the cruelest things to me." She paused for a moment. "You were the worst, by far. Your little incarnation in my head was so mean," she laughed.

He gave her a gentle hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered repeatedly. "I shouldn't have left. I shouldn't have said those things to you. I should've stayed by your side."

Yuu ruffled his hair. "Don't worry! It's all in the past now, save a few things." She took a deep breath. "But that's enough about me. Now it's your turn to tell me what you've been thinking over the last few weeks."

"But—" She held a finger to his lips in a shushing motion, giving him a smile. "I told you everything I just told you, didn't I? Though if you're truly uncomfortable telling me, then I won't push it."

He held eye contact with her, though his lips were pressed together in a firm line and a rosy blush spread over his cheeks. "I don't wanna tell you 'cause I'm worried you'll think lesser of me."

She brushed a piece of hair out of his eyes, still smiling. "I don't know what could make me think lesser of you than what already happened," she laughed.

"There's something about you," he sighed. She curled her knees to her chest, listening closely. "Last year, when you first came to the dorm with Ruggie. Remember those herbivores who tried to fight you since you 'encroached upon their territory?'"

She shrugged. "I can't say I do. A lot of your dormmates picked fights with me."

He let out a chuckle. "I remember the way you beat up the six of them. Like they were hardly worth the effort. It was a whole lot more intriguing than it should've been.

"And then you started coming by more, and we started playing chess together. And I started looking forward to when you would come by and invited you over myself. That was when..."

She knew what he was going to say, yet she still wanted to hear it. She knew he liked her, but she wanted the affirmation directly from him. "That was when what?"

"That was when I realized... I love you."