Royal Pride (Leona Kingscholar/Yuu)

12 ~ Half and Half

Yuu had fallen asleep on the way to the infirmary, and when she finally stirred a few hours later, Leona was still there. He was napping but somehow sensed that Yuu was awake and woke up moments later.

"How do you always manage to wake up at the most opportune time?" Yuu mused, smiling at him as he let out a loud yawn.

"I'm always paying close attention to things, even when I'm sleeping." He pointed to his ears. "These aren't just for show."

Yuu pulled her knees to her chest. Her headache had majorly subsided, but she still felt a little disoriented. "How come you're still here?"

"Want me to leave?"

"N-no, I was just wondering..."

"Didn't I just tell you that you're more important than my club? You're also more important than whatever else I had planned for the day."

She stared at him for a few seconds, so long that he broke eye contact and started glancing around the room. "...Did that sound weird?"

"A little. But..." Yuu gave him a small smile. "It was endearing." She reached out to pat his head out of habit as she did to her other close friends, but he didn't pull back at all, so she kept her hand there.

He returned the smile and they sat in silence for a few moments before Leona leaned back in his seat. "As much as I'd love to keep talking like this, we should probably address the whole disc incident, hm?"

"...Yeah." Yuu had been trying to put it out of her mind. She thought that things would be safer for her at Night Raven College, but some people still had old-fashioned prejudices.

He tilted his head, silently prompting her to speak when she felt ready. She took a deep breath before giving him her thoughts, closing her eyes as she usually did to sort them all out. "I'm only about to tell you all this because it's you, okay?

"As you know and is very clearly evident, I am half-fae," she started. "There's always been a bit of a divide between humans and fae, even to this day. Humans see fae as these terrible, overwhelmingly powerful creatures, and fae view humans as insignificant creatures that aren't worth any trouble.

"This puts animosity between the two species, but humans are too afraid to provoke fae, and fae find it worthless to go after humans."

She stopped talking, unsure if she had rambled too long about such obvious history. "Go on," Leona said in a softer than usual voice. "I'm listening."

"Alright," she replied quietly, though it made her happy to know that she hadn't bored him. "Continuing from my former point, neither species will harm the other, but then you get those like me that are both.

"I have too many fae-like qualities to be considered human, yet too many human qualities to be socially accepted among fae. However, since I don't have the immense amount of magical power that most fae are born with, humans find it easy to take their anger out on me or other half-fae, and since we are stronger than the average human, fae often pick on us in the place of humans.

"Sebek, though half-human, is one of Malleus' bodyguards, so most people would be afraid of harming him. I, however, don't have Malleus as a shield."

Yuu let out a long sigh. "Sorry, I blathered for a bit there..." Leona crossed his arms. "Don't apologize. I asked for an explanation, and you delivered. That's all there is to it."

He sat in a thoughtful position for a bit before continuing, "Even for as powerful as you are, someone would attack you? I'd say you're around my level in terms of magical might, right?"

Yuu shrugged. "Probably. But I think the issue is that I don't exercise my power in front of others very much. Plus, you have the royal family behind you. Of course everyone would be too afraid to strike you."

"A few sophomores were acting up the other day, but I put them in their place. Picking on Jack, they were," he recounted. Yuu nodded. "That's exactly my point. You present yourself as an authority figure and act accordingly. I don't."

"That still doesn't explain how the disc was actually able to hit you, though," Leona said. "Especially with those other three there. All of you are usually capable of dodging a disc, no problem."

She fiddled around with her hands, thinking carefully. "I don't know who it could be, but chances are it's someone who dislikes fae—at least, that's what I'm speculating. And likely not a freshman, in terms of the power required to fire a disc like that. I'm assuming it's not a fae that's targeting me, since I know Malleus and Lilia wouldn't. And they're not in the Spelldrive club. Man, I wasn't expecting something like this to happen at this school..."

Yuu paused for a second. "Wait, who was the student that was freaking out over the disc?"

"This kid named Epel. I could bring him over tomorrow if you want, but I don't think it's him."

"Why not?"

"He's not strong enough to throw a disc like that. Plus, I'm pretty sure he was freaking out 'cause of the speed and how close it got to his face."

Yuu chuckled, though mildly disappointed that she hadn't gotten any closer to finding out who did it. "I might still talk to him if I don't have get any leads after some time. What does he look like?"

"Purple hair, Pomefiore, super feminine looking," Leona recounted. "But he's got a temper, too. Vil's got him acting prim and proper all the time, but he sure acts out during Spelldrive."

She fussed with the edge of the white blanket, taking note of those details. "Ugh, I think that's enough for today. I don't wanna talk about any more depressing stuff. We know it's someone decently strong in your club—plenty of information for day one of our investigation."

"You don't sound very concerned," Leona remarked with a touch of worry in his voice. "I mean, you got hit by a Spelldrive disc. I think that's cause for alarm, especially for someone as strong as you."

Yuu lay sideways in the bed, facing him, knees still curled to her chest. "Stuff like this always used to happen in Briar Valley when I wasn't around Malleus and them. And during middle school, kids started avoiding me when they found out I was only half human. The only startling thing is the fact that two housewardens couldn't stop it, but that's alright. They're just after me. I don't have much to do with anything, so it's fine."

"It's not fine. I hate seeing you like this." His voice sounded strained. "You shouldn't be used to this. If not for you, I'm catching the guy you did it for my own satisfaction, m'kay?"

Yuu couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you, Leona," she said gratefully, giving him a warm smile. His cheeks turned redder than usual, and he turned away.

"You should return to your dorm. I'll just go to sleep and see if I'm able to attend class tomorrow." It was getting late, and Yuu didn't want to take time out of Leona's sleep schedule, as much as she enjoyed being with him.

He hesitated for a second before asking, "You're sure?" Yuu responded with a nod, and he stood, pausing once more before moving the blanket a little higher to tuck her in before quickly striding away.

Yuu wished he'd stayed, but she understood the importance of alone time. Plus, she knew that once she drifted off, it wouldn't matter if he was there or not.

Even if they were mostly trying to find the perpetrator, it felt good to get some of that off her chest. She'd never really opened up before, except to Silver and Sebek.

But it felt good to tell Leona a bit about her childhood—it felt as though they'd gotten to know each other better. She could only hope that someday, she would learn about his past, too.