Royal Pride (Leona Kingscholar/Yuu)

35 ~ Kissier Than Expected

Yuu returned to her room extremely late the night before, so when Silver came to wake her up, she snuggled deeper into her blanket. "Let me sleep in, I'm pretending to be sick today."

"I'd love to, but Leona's in the lounge and we're trying to get him to leave before Malleus sees him. Sebek's already yelling at him for putting his shoes on the table."

She felt her pulse quicken, but she was still too overcome by tiredness to answer rationally. "So that's what the noise is. Just tell him to come here," she spoke through a yawn.

Silver raised his eyebrows at her before leaving wordlessly. Yuu felt herself just about to fall back to sleep when Silver returned. "Leona says he doesn't want to disrespect your privacy and enter your bedroom while you're in a half-asleep state."

"What a king," she exhaled sleepily, squeezing her lion plushie. She was tired, but not tired enough to under-appreciate him. "I'll be out in a second."

It had taken her longer than she'd expected to get ready, and she wished she'd moved a little faster. Malleus had found Leona, and the two of them were very obviously having an unpleasant conversation.

"Ladies, please, it's seven in the morning," she said, stifling a yawn. "Good morning, Your Highness." She then turned to Leona. "Not that I'm displeased in the slightest, but what are you doing here?"

Leona shrugged, standing up. "Walking you to class."

"So, you two are official now, then?" Lilia popped out of nowhere, hanging down from the chandelier above them. Leona let out a started yelp, causing Malleus to make a snide remark.

Yuu opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by Leona's arm wrapping around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. "Yeah, we are," he responded casually before guiding her out the front door.

"Is everyone in your dorm as weird as them?" He grumbled once they were a ways away from the Diasomnia castle, walking down the jagged path.

"You should've been able to guess as much when you met me."

He exhaled softly, a quiet laugh before moving to kiss her cheek. She felt her cheeks tinge pink as she awkwardly chuckled. "I don't know how to respond to that."

"How about you return the favor?" He joked, but Yuu went ahead and kissed him back gently on his cheek. "I doubt you'll be this affectionate in public," she said.

"Is that a challenge?" He asked with a lilt in his voice.

"If you'd like to take it as one," she giggled, stepping through the mirror to the Mirror Chamber.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind, leaning his weight onto her. "Challenge accepted~" he taunted, kissing her temple.

"You're much... kissier than I expected," she laughed as he peppered her with kisses in the hallways. She could sense the stares from other students in the hallway, but Leona's presence was much more overwhelming.

"I've just wanted to do this for so long. Is that a bad thing?"

"No, not at all." They stopped outside her classroom and she ruffled his hair. Leona still clung to her back, kissing the back of her head.

He smiled into her hair, pecking her cheek one last time before heading in the direction of his own classroom.

'Aw, he's actually going to class!'

"That was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life," Ruggie groaned, smacking Yuu on the back as a greeting.

"Jealousy~" she ridiculed him, taking out her notebook. He rolled his eyes, taking his seat next to her before pausing and staring at the blackboard.

She tilted her head curiously. "Something interesting up there?" He shook her head quickly. "Nah, I was just thinking about that time we got detention at the beginning of the year and when Leona busted in to save us."

A smile rose to her face and a faint blush dusted her cheeks as she recalled that day—the first day she truly spoke to him. Had a genuine conversation with him. She couldn't help but admire how far they'd come.

"...Aaand, there you go again with that dopey look on your face. Leona better pay me good money for stealing my best friend, I swear."

She ruffled his hair, laughing. "I think I talk about you to him much more than I talk about him to you. Don't worry, I love my friends much more than my boyfriend~"

'Boyfriend,' she echoed in her head. 'I have a boyfriend... That's... a little weird to think about. Not bad weird, but just... weird."

"Just making sure," he joked back, though Yuu could see some relief in his eyes. She felt a twinge of guilt—she hadn't planned on falling for Leona, but that just meant that she'd have to value her friendships even more.

She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, ruminating on everything that had happened over the last few months. There was so much that was still affecting her, and that probably wouldn't go away for a while. But she found herself lingering on the more pleasant thoughts, the happy moments between her and Leona that had drawn them closer and closer up to where they were now.

"Oh, right," Ruggie said, "You know what Leona has you saved under on his phone?"

She shook her head, and he showed a picture that he'd taken of Leona's screen from behind when he wasn't paying attention.

'My Omnivore ♥︎'