𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄- 𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐀 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑

SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO KNOW

"It's been a while, Y/n." Tsnotarou smiled and walked towards you as he heard you call him by his nickname.

It had surely been a long while since the last time you saw him. Tsnotarous's visits were not regular, but his last visit was about two weeks before you and Leona were transferred to the Enchanting Forest, which made you wonder where he had been. Little did you know that Lilia, the one who helped Malleus to monitor the dorm was sick. Under Sebek's 24-hour guarding was already difficult to escape, with this sudden situation, Malleus didn't even get the chance to visit the Ramshackle Dorm, and that made him moody for days.

"Glad to see you being safe." He said, but his eyes widened when he saw your bandaged arm. "What happened? Why is your arm-" you could see the panic in his eyes. You smiled softly and slightly moved your arm. "No worry, Tsnotarou. See? I am totally fine." Despite your comfort, the worry in the boy's eyes didn't fade. His eyes were still on your arm as if the wound would take your life away. Wasn't Kingscholar with you? Why didn't he protect you from whatever made you get hurt?

"C'mon, I'll tell you what happened." You said, and led him to the porch of the dormitory building, and sat on the swing. It was a present from the three ghosts living in Ramshackle Dorm. They said they would like to give you a welcome-back gift, and they successfully persuade Crowley to help them prepare this.

With the soft breeze and Tsnotarou slightly swinging the chair, you told him everything that happened in the forest, including how you stepped out of the Dark Mirror and found that you were in a place that looked nothing like the Shaftland, the bloodthirsty three-head dog, how you cut your arm to rescue Leona, the forest tribe, and how Leona sacrificed himself to save you. Of course, you didn't mention the part about the chat between you and Leona. It's something between the two of you, and besides, you didn't think Leona want the others to know about that either.

After hearing your words, Tsnotarou slightly nodded. Apart from the impulse of killing the three-head monster and Tarhan, there was still one question that remained in his mind. "You and Kingscholar... You are close to him?" He threw a question all of a sudden, and it caught you off guard.

You unconsciously looked away and avoided eye contact out of unexplainable nervousness, which was why you couldn't see Tsnotarou pouting when he saw your reaction.

"We're not close, like totally," you assured and tried to explain, perhaps not only to persuade Tsnotarou but also yourself. "But... I guess... I don't hate him as I did at the beginning." you mumbled, and a tiny smile appeared on your face.

You didn't hate him...? What did that mean? There were question marks all over Tsnotarou's head. Did that mean you like him or not? He had heard you mentioning Kingscholar before during the conversations, but why did it feel like there were something more than schoolmates, if not the captain and the manager, between the two of you when you talked about him this time? You used to call him by his last name. Why did it turn to 'Leona' this time? Tsnotarou did not understand, and these questions made him feel insecure.

"Talking about Leona, you seem to be familiar with him, don't you?" It's your turn to ask a question. Throughout all your conversations, you felt like Horton-san knew everyone in this school, yet he seemed to know nobody, and you couldn't explain that. Of course, he was not willing to tell you either.

"He's the Housewarden of Savanaclaw, right? Everyone knows him," he replied, just like the time you asked him about Vil.

"You're kinda mysterious and weird, Tsnotarou." you smiled and joked.

Hearing that, Tsnotarou again widened his eyes with shock. At almost the same moment, the sky was all a of sudden raining. "Mysterious... Weird... In a bad way...?" you heard the boy ask worriedly.