A Lion's Burning Passion! Leone X Male Reader

Ch. 20

When Leone and I got back from our first date, I went to see Air, but her room was empty with a letter pinned to the door. It said that she had gone out with Akame and would talk to me when they returned. I admit this made me anxious as I waited for my sister. She had started training in secret with Akame, and it was all too obvious this had something to do with that.

Luckily, Tatsumi and Lub were still awake so we decided to play a game of cards to keep my mind from wandering too much on what Air might be off doing. Back when I played my patrons at Lilith's Nest, I learned to cheat at cards because I thought it was important to control the game. Certain regulars needed to win so I'd switch out a winning hand for the worst possible cards I could get. On the other hand, there were loud and rude customers that I took for every cent they had. I practiced nearly every night so no one ever noticed when I switched out the cards or counted the cards in the deck perfectly so I always knew what everyone had to make sure the games went my way.

I had to fight back those urges here with my friends. We weren't playing for money, and I would feel horrible if I repeatedly crushed them in a fun game like this. Tatsumi was over-expressive, smiling widely and showing his teeth every time he won, and every time he had a bad hand, he'd tilt his head to the side and look disoriented while trying to figure out how he could pull a win. Later he'd complain how the game was impossible to understand when a previous winning hand suddenly became bad. Tatsumi was too honest to play against in a game, where you had to lie to win. He had no trace of a poker face. Lub and I instantly knew when we had to fold against him.

While the three of us played on the low table near the fireplace, Leone and Mein were sitting at the table behind the couch Lub. Leone had her feet up on the table, leaning her chair back while drinking another mug of beer.. Mein was sewing a new case for Pumpkin. The occasional "ouch" from pricking her fingers with the needle slipped out while she spoke when her talk with Leone distracted her.

Time flew by for the first two hours but after that... Every sound became like an explosion in my ear as I expected it to be Air's footsteps coming inside. The ticking of the clock, the flapping of the cards as we shuffled the deck and stacked them on the table, Leone's satisfied sighs as she downed another shot of her drink, and the rustling of yarn as Mein wove her materials together. It was getting on my nerves, pushing me closer and closer to my limit.

Suddenly, I heard Air's voice from the entrance of the base. "Hello?! We're back!"

"Everyone's still awake? Were you all waiting for us?" Akame's quiet tone followed after Air's.

"Air?!"

I stood up so fast that I slammed my knee on the table, nearly knocking all of the cards off. The pain shot through me, piling up on my injuries that I fell back onto the couch I was sitting on and writhed in pain.

"Argh! Damnit...!" I clenched my teeth as I rubbed my knee while rolling to my side.

"See, (Y/n)? It's when you do stuff like this, that makes us all think you have a sister complex."

I flipped Lubbock off and glared at him. "Piss off!"

"Big brother?" Air's soft voice called from behind me. "Y-you're still awake... T-That's great!" My eyes were still clamped shut as I rubbed my knee that I had stupidly slammed against the table.

Air sounded happy to see me, but from how she kept stammering, I could tell that she had hoped he would have until morning to plan out what to say. As my eyes slit open, I saw the state my sister was in.