You didn't really have a plan in your mind when you ran towards Leona, but you knew the tug of war would only cause him to dry up his magic energy pool. He was controlled by his magic and his own negative emotion, and he might not even be himself. The more slowly you were, the sooner Leona's body would crack and turn into sand.
You got closer to them, but the air there was even drier. You could not hold but cough. The sand in the wind scratched your face and left some shallow wonders there. The sand entered your eyes that made you hardly open them, but this could not stop you from moving forward.
All of a sudden, a tornado with dust and sand appeared. It was created by Leona. It moved from him to where Riddle and the fellows while expanding at the same time.
"Everyone! Stand firm!!" You heard Riddle yell. Soon, they were submerged by the tornado and disappeared in it.
You felt your heartbeat rising. This was nothing different from those scenes in the disastrous movies that you had seen. There was no way you could get to where Leona was without entering the storm, as the radius of the tornado kept on increasing and it was as wide as the width of the stadium. You did not know what would happen when you get into the tornado. Will my throat be dried like Ace's? Will I be suffocated? These were the questions that popped up in your head.
I will be fine. You told yourself. You took a deep breath, and ran into the sand tornado.
You might think that you were crazy to do so in a normal situation. After all, you could not cast any protective spell to protect yourself. However, you did not make this decision on impulse or out of pure recklessness.
The potion that you drank before you came into the stadium could protect you from magical attacks. It could not protect you from the sand, as they were turned from other physical objects even though Leoan's unique spell was used to do so. It was counted physical attack. However, it could protect you if Leona tried to touch you directly and turn you into sand with his magic.
The only, and also the biggest problem was, you were not sure if the effect of the potion had worn off. It varied from person to person, and you did not know if it was still working, which meant there was a 50% chance that you would not be protected by anything when Leona touched you, and you would turn into sand and dust. It's a great gamble, much greater than the one you had with your father when your future was used as a bet, as this time, your life was.
But it's a gamble that you would not regret taking. Even though there was only 50% that you would succeed, you would do it anyway, as Leona's life depended on that.
The moment you enter the sand tornado, you found yourself surrounded by sand. Your vision started to become blurred, and everything you saw was sand spinning in the wind at a high speed. You blocked your face with your arm and tried your best to open your eyes.
"Dammit!" you let out when you lost your balance and fell onto the ground. Your palms were full of sand and were scratched. You wiped away the sand and stood up again. There was no time for you to waste. Walking towards the eye of the storm, every step was difficult as the strong wind kept blowing and creating resistance.
Finally, you could see a bit colour red in the gold and brown storm. It was Riddle's hair. Next to him, it was Sebek and Silver. It seemed that it wasn't easy for them to stand in the sandstorm.
It was probably your "dammit" which had caught Riddle's attention. He soon realized that you were also there in the storm, which was out of his expectations. He wanted to open his mouth and tell you to go back, but he knew once he do that, the sand would enter his mouth. He pointed at the opposite direction of the eye of the storm, trying to ask you to leave with his gestures.
Of course, you knew what Riddle was trying to say, but you would not obey that. You turned towards the eye of the storm and continued walking toward it. Riddle would definitely scold you afterward for ignoring your own safety, you thought. He was going to run towards you, but you soon disappeared in the sand and from his sight.
As you walked inner to the center of the tornado, the wind was stronger and sandier. Your sore and itchy eyes were nearly totally closed due to the sand. All of a sudden, you recognized a familiar figure. Your vision was not clear, but you were sure that it was Leona standing at the eye of the storm. He was releasing his power, so as to maintain the storm. You noticed that the cracks on his limbs had expanded, and even the skin of his neck started cracking. His magic did not stop backlashing him.
"LEONA-" You were cut off by your own cough. The sand entered your mouth and irritated your throat.
"Le- Leona!" coughing you shouted as loudly as you could, and it successfully caught the lion's attention. He looked towards you, but you could only see anger and despisal in his emerald eyes.
"You walked into the storm. How foolish you herbivore are, to choose death!" Leona mocked. It was that double voice again.
You ignored his provoking and kept on walking towards him. "Listen- to- to me-! Look at you- your arm, it's cracking-!" You yelled even though your throat was so dry that it hurt every time you talk.
Leona moved his eyes to his arms after hearing what you said. A sarcastic smirk appeared on his face, "Then let it be! You don't care about that anyways."
You remembered what you had said back in Ramshackle Dorm. "We're not in any special relationship. We're nothing more than schoolmates." You said that on impulse, just to make it sound hurtful after what Leona had said to hurt you.
"It- it's not like that- Leona-" You tried your best to yell, "It is not- not like that I don't care- I do!"
"HA! As if you can fool me again with any of your lies!" he laughed. The next second, he further splashed his power and the wind became even stronger. You tried your best to stand firm even though your legs were shaking.
"YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND HOW I GET THROUGH THESE YEARS! BEING CONTEMPTED EVERYWHERE IN MY HOMELAND! BEING SCARED OF BEING HATED! NEVER WILL I BE KING! NEVER WILL I HAVE A FUTURE! HOW WOULD YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!" Leona bellowed. The cracks on his body further expanded when he was growling.
"Leona, I- I understand that..." you said, "That feeling of being abandoned, that the whole world is against you. The feeling that- you can't see the- the future, yet you can't do anything to change that- That hopelessness, that no- no matter how much you give you will never get what you want or be treated equally. I do understand that!"
Although it was just tiny, so tiny that you could merely notice that, the emotions in Leona's eyes did change when he heard your words. "Don't try to act like you understand me!" he yelled.
You shook your head with a small smile, "I know- it- it's impossible for me to totally feel what you feel, but I will try to! You don't have to swallow them all and bear all of them!"
"You are not hated, Leona! Not by me!" You told him, "And you do have a future! Don't trap yourself in the desire of getting the throne-"
Leona looked at you, the anger in his eyes was weakened, and there was hesitation, but he quickly shook his head followed by another bellow, "STOP DISTRACTING ME!!"
"Being the ki- king is not what you- really want, am I right?" You asked, "All you wanted was to be treated equally. All you want is your efforts and talent to be recognized. Becoming the king is just a- a method, isn't it?"
Leona slightly widened his eyes upon what you had said. He shook his head with hesitation, trying to deny that to both you and himself, although part of himself knew you were not wrong, "No... I WANT TO BE THE KING! I NEED TO! IT IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN BE SEEN-"
Suddenly, Leona paused when he realized that you had already arrived in front of him, at the center of the storm. Different from how it was in the periphery of the tornado, the eye was rather peaceful. The wind was not strong, and you could finally stand rigidly.
"It's not like that, Leona." you told him, "Your destiny does not control you and your future, You control them. You are seen. It's the heir system's fault, why make yourself suffer from that-"
"NO!" he yelled. He knew he was moved by your words but he refuse to admit that. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, AND... I DON'T CARE...! IT IS NOT TRUE!" he shouted. At that moment, Leona's brain became a mess. Part of him knew what you had said was true, but the other part refuse to accept that.
Being at the edge of overwhelm, Leona reached out his hand and grabbed your arm. "Foolish of you to come this close, because now I can turn you-" but he stopped. The moment that his hand that could turn anything into sand touched yours, he paused. He seemed to regret it, but it was too late. Once his hand touched it, your arm would turn into sand without doubts.
You tried to dodge that but fail. You were brave, but when it came you this life-or-death moment, you still could not help but pray to the god that the potion had not worn off. You tightly closed your eyes, getting ready for the pain in case the potion was no longer working.
...
Seconds passed, but nothing happened. You slowly opened your eyes and checked your arm which Leona was holding. There were not any cracks, meaning the protective potion was still working, and Leona's King's Roar could not harm you.
Leona looked at your arm with confusion. He did not understand why his unique spell was not working. He looked up at you with puzzle.
"This is not what you want, Leona. Innocent people, and children getting hurt. You don't want to hurt them." You said with a smile as you reached another hand to Leona's cheek and whispered, "I know you're in there, Leona. Please, wake up."
The golden yellow flame on his left eye nearly disappeared, and the sandstorm was noticeably weakened. You knew it was working. You were about to further calm him down, but all of a sudden, someone shouted and broke the peace.
"Right now, Sebek!" Riddle shouted. the next second, you were pulled backward, away from Leona by Silver. You tried to struggle and it was when you saw Sebek standing not far away from Leona, with his magic pen pointing at him.
"NO SEBEK WAIT!" You gushed, but it was too late. They caught the moment that Leona's concentration was broken with his magic power level decreased and attack the head of the lion with Sebek's magic.
----
Leona had a dream. In the dream, he was alone in a desert. There were only sand, wilt trees, and a skull of a buffalo. He lay on the sand, not being able to move. His body was cracking and turning into sand. He tried to yell and get help, but his throat was too dry, and could not produce any voice.
Please, someone, save me, he thought while watching himself turning into sand and dust, silently waiting for death to come.
"...Leona...!"
Just when he nearly gave up and close his eyes, he heard a familiar voice.
"...Leona! I know you're in there. Wake up!..."
Y/n..., he recognized the voice, it was yours. He wanted to answer you but he could not.
"....Please, come back..."
He tried his best to resist that invisible weight on his body. He knew he did not want to die yet. He could not die here, die in this way, silently accepting death.
He still wanted to see you.
--
"Y/N!" Leona opened his eyes and took a deep breath. What has happened? he thought.
"Your awake, Leona!" Grim's fluffy head all of a sudden appeared in Leona's sight and he was startled by it.
He sat up straight and looked around him. Ruggie and Jack, the Heartslabyul squad, and the Diasomnia trio. Why were they surrounding him, and why was the stadium looked like there was a war? Leona's head felt painful yet he could not remember what had happened.
"Y/n-san is in the infirmary, if you're finding her." A voice said, and it was Crowley. He stopped next to Leona and asked, "Kingscholar-kun, do you remember what happened?" Leona hesitated for a second before he shook his head.
"Your negative energy accelerated your blot accumulation, inducing an overblot episode." Crowley told.
Leona widened his eyes unbelievably while pressing his fingers against his temple, "Wait... me? Overblotted? That's impossible." but when he looked at the ruins in the stadium and the serious expression on everyone's face, he knew the headmage was not lying.
Wait... If he overblotted, and you were in the infirmary, did that mean...
"W-what have I done to Y/n? Did I-" He asked with a slightly shaking voice. He did not dare to speak out the guess that he turned you into sand with his unique spell.
"Don't worry, Leona-kun! Y/n is in the infirmary, but it is not mainly because of you." Cater next to his housewarden voiced before he moved his eyes to a certain grey kitten.
Hearing your name being mentioned, Grim immediately hid behind Deuce's legs. "It's actually me... I accidentally hit Y/n's head with the Spelldrive disc..." His fur all stood on end when Leona glared at him unbelievably. He cried, "It was an accident! I swear I did not do that on purpose!! I am sorry, Leona! Don't kill me!!"
"Luckily, Grim-chan's magic power was not that strong, and Deuce-kun cast a deceleration spell on the disc right before it hit Y/n-chan's head. She did lose her consciousness, but her situation should be stable now. Ace-chan is with her now." Cater informed.
Leona was relieved a bit when he knew that he did not hurt you with his deadly spell, but you were still injured. He tried to stand up from the ground by supporting himself with his arms, so he could go to the infirmary to check on you, but he fell down again due to the pain in his abdomen. "Urk!" He groaned.
"You should not be moving around when you have just regained your consciousness." Crowley said, "Besides, I cannot let you go, as I have several questions to ask you."
"Kingscholar-kun, were you responsible for the series of injuries sustained by competing players?" The headmage questioned.
Leona knew there is no way he could hide or deny that anymore. He let out a sigh and admitted, "...Yeah. That was me."
With Leona's admission of being the culprit, Crowley could officially announce his punishment, "Very well. Then, to begin with, Savanaclaw will be disqualified from this year's tournament."
Hearing Crowley's words, disappointment was shown on Ruggie and Jack's faces.
"The rest of your punishment will be decided after I discuss it with other victims. Are we clear?" Crowley asked. Leona did not reply but silently nodded as an answer.
"Wait a second, Headmage." All of a sudden, someone voiced, and it was Riddle. Behind him, it was Trey, Jamil, and victims from different dorms.
"Speaking on behalf of the victims, we want to make a request, Headmage." Trey said, "We would like you to permit Savanaclaw to play in the tournament despite their crimes."
Crowley was surprised by how gracious his students were, that they were actually willing to forgive the others. However, it was only before Jamil started speaking.
"If Savanaclaw is disqualified from the tournament, we'll lose our chance at revenge." Jamil' explained as his lips curved into his iconic mischievous smirk, "Fighting with magic is forbidden on campus. However, during the Spelldrive game, it's all in the name of sport, right?"
Trey added that all the other victims agreed on that, and the only thing missed was the headman's permission.
Crowley thought for a second, before he turned to Leona, who was still sitting on the ground, "I understand where you come from. However, the question is: Are these Savanaclaw students even capable of taking to the field? Kingscholar-kun has only just regained his consciousness."
A smirk appeared on Leona's face, the confident and smug one that he always had. "Heh heh... Ha ha ha! Don't you underestimate me, Crowley! I would not even need to be awake to handle this sorry pack of herbivores." He laughed and turned to the victims, "I got no intention of bowing to anyone. If you want my apology, come and take it."
Seeing the determination and both the victims and Savanaclaw., Crowley shook his head and sighed, "Dear me. Aren't I the fool for thinking you all wanted to talk about your feelings?"
"Your petition is granted. Savanaclaw will be allowed to participate in the tournament as originally planned." He announced. Of course, he would not tell his students that part of the reason for his permission was because the whole world was watching, and he would like to keep their little scandal under wraps.
After the students from other dorms left for preparations, Leona tried to stand up, "All right, let's- Urk! That hurts...!" but the pain just would not let him do that successfully. Suddenly, a hand with a black leather glovelette entered Leona's sight. He looked up, and found that it was Ruggie offering him a hand.
"Don't you think you've earned my forgiveness?" Ruggie crossed his arms and said, "But it still pains me to see that pathetic look on your face. Your usual smug, sneering grin, somehow, that suits you better."
"But for those hurtful things you said to us, on behalf of your Savanaclaw students, I'm going to tell you the two compensations that you'll have to make." The hyena told his boss.
Leona rolled his eyes, "Go on, what do you want?"
"First, you have to lead Savanclaw to the champion at all costs," Ruggie stated.
"I'll do that even if you didn't tell me to do so." Leona replied.
"Great. Second, as I've mentioned your smug back there." Ruggie said while a smirk started to appear on his face, and Leona could sense that whatever it was coming, it would not be great.
"We would like you to wear that when you entered the competition venue, so Leona-san... LAUGH WITH ME!" Ruggie activated his unique spell and put on a wide grin.
The next second, a grin as wide as Ruggie appeared on Leona's face, but obviously, it was forced. "Oiii! Ruggie, what are you doing...?!" Leona tried to refuse that and objected, but his grin made it difficult for him to do so.
"She shi shi! I can't tell you how long I've wanted to do this!" Ruggie laughed. He then took out his phone from his pocket. With the flashlight, a photo of Leona's grin was taken, and Ruggie made sure that it was saved in his gallery. He moved to the back of Leona and pushed his housewarden to the player preparation room with the grin still remaining on his face, "We have to hurry up, Leona-san. The game is going to start."
"Wait, Ruggie! At least let me go to the infirmary first!" Grinning, Leona requested. He really needed to go there, as he wanted to see if you were fine before the competition.
"Leona-san! Your dorm mates are waiting for you, yet you're still thinking of the dating stuff. Request objected! Let's go visit Y/n-chan after the game." Ruggie stood firm and ignored his housewarden's objection.
"Oi Ruggie! RUGGIE!!"
——
You slowly opened your eyes. Your vision was blurred and your head was painful.
"Y/n, how many fingers can you see?" Suddenly, a paw entered your sight, and you could immediately recognize that it was Grim's.
"Umm... four?" you answered.
Hearing your reply, the grey kitten turned to the others and cheered, "See? I told you. Y/n is totally fine!"
You sat up straight, and it was when you found that you were on the bed in the infirmary. It was already evening, and you could tell it by the navy colour of the sky. You looked around the infirmary, Jack, Ruggie, and the heartslabyul duo were there.
"Y/n, you remember how Grim threw the Spelldrive disc at your noggin and knocked you out?" Ace next to your bed asked.
You tried to recall, and you did remember some unconnected scenes. Leona had just returned normal from his overblotted form. You were sitting at the stand, resting, but Grim took the Speeldrive disc to be used in the game without permission because Crowley did not allow Ramshackle Dorm to join the tournament. Grim insisted that he had to show off his skills so Crowley would be impressed and allow him to join the game, but he ended up losing control of the disc and threw it at your head. The last thing you could remember was total darkness.
Grim claimed onto your bed and reached his paw to your hand, "Y/n... I am sorry. I hit you with the disc. I swear it was an accident!"
You gave him a helpless smile with a shrug, "It's alright. After all, I am fine now."
You all of a sudden remembered the tournament. You were going to watch it, but you had lost your consciousness before the opening ceremony started. "How was the game? Which dorm won?" You asked.
"Well everything was fine, except everyone we played was ignoring the disc and throwing everything they had at US" Ruggie standing in front of your bed sighed, "We were dead on our feet by the time we faced Diasomnia, so they ended up taking first place."
"I've heard that Draconia-senpai was talented at Spelldrive, but he was literally dominating the game! He was incredible! You will not believe that, Y/n!" Deuce praised. He had always respected Malleus as he was scarily talented, yet he saw him as his role model and hoped that someday he'd be as strong as Malleus was.
Hearing his classmate's words, Ace immediately bit Deuce's arm with his elbow so as to remind him not to praise the other dorms, especially Diasomnia, when the Savanaclaw members were literally there.
"So speaking of Savanaclaw, I mean, how is... Leona?" You asked. This question had been in your head since you woke up. Before you faint, Leona still had not regained his consciousness.
Ruggie shook his head out of helplessness with a sigh, "Why are the two of you asking about each other once you woke up from your coma?"
You could feel your cheek heating up a bit when Ruggie mentioned that Leona also asked about you when he regained his consciousness, but at the same time, your anger for his action had not faded. You worried about him, and you did do everything to save his life when he overblotted, but you could not just wake up and pretend everything he had done to you, the other students, and the innocent audience had never happened.
Seeing your expression, Ace understood your feelings. He intentionally raised his voice while walking towards his sophomore upperclassman, "Ruggie-senpai! Have you apologized to Trey-senpai and the other victims?"
Ruggie seemed to be a bit confused, "Yes, we did, just back there in the corridor. You were there too, Ace-kun, why are you even asking?"
Ace exaggeratedly shrugged and again liberated raised his voice, "Ah, nothing. I just all of a sudden realize that Trey-senpai and the victims have earns their apology, but SOMEONE seems to still owe Y/n an apology." He said while moving his eyes to the bed opposite yours. Ruggie immediately understood the intention of the freshman and moved aside at once with Jack.
On the bed on the other side, it was Leona sitting there, glaring at Ace with a "WHY DID YOU SELL ME OUT" face, before unwillingly looking away.
"Leona-senpai, do you have anything to tell Y/n?" Ace further asked. Everyone in the room, including you, had their eyes on the lion, waiting for his reply. You could feel your heartbeat raising. You looked at Leona and found that he was looking at you either, with nervousness shown on his face.
Leona rubbed the back of his neck, as he had no idea how to react. He knew what he should say to you, but when there were a bunch of people, especially when all of them were underlassmen, his stupid dignity and nervousness stopped him from saying so. He did turn to Ruggie and tried to seek help, but all he got was Ruggie turning away and facing him with his back. He could literally tell Ruggie wasn't being like "You gotta fix your own shit" in his mind.
The silence remained for moments, moments turned into seconds, and seconds turned into minutes. No one in the infirmary dared to break the silence and waited for Leona to say anything.
Finally, Leona had come up with what to say. He cleared his throat before he started, "I-" but he was cut off before he could finish the second word.
"Leona-ojitan! You're here! I finally found you!!" A high-pitched voice called. Everyone looked around the infirmary and found that its owner was a little boy whom they had not seen before. The boy was around 5 years old. He had red and yellow hair with a pair of lion ears on the top of his head.
"Huh? What's this kid doing here?" Grim questioned.
The boy ignored the kitten's confusion and climbed up Leona's bed. He started shaking Leona's arm with a wide grin on his face, "Leona-ojitan!"
The only thing written on Leona's was shock and annoyance. "Ah... The screech box found me." He rolled his eyes.
"Leona oji-tan...?" Jack widened his eyes when he heard how the little boy called his housewarden.
Leona tried to stop the boy from touching his face and his hair while explaining, "That furball is my brother's son, Cheka. You know... my nephew."
"NEPHEW???!!!" Everyone in the room gasped in shock. They did not expect a kid that showed up from nowhere would be Leona's nephew.
Ruggie was the first one to accept this shocking news and calm his head down. "If he's your nephew, then it means that this is who's next in line for the throne...?"
The boy Leona called Cheka that his uncle was the only person he could see and hear. "I saw you play, Ojitan! You were so cool!! Next time I visit, teach me how to play!" He cheered.
Leona tried to keep a distance from his nephew, but the little boy was just too enthusiastic. "Fine, fine. Just stop screaming in my ear." Leona sighed, "Where're your attendants? They gotta be tearing their hair out looking for you!"
An innocent smile formed on Cheka's face, "I couldn't wait to see you, Ojitan, so I left them all behind! Hee hee!" Beaming, Cheka climbed onto the abdomen of his uncle.
"Urk! That hurts! Get offa my stomach, Cheka!" Leona groaned. His stomach was injured when he overblotted, and the tiredness after the Spelldrive game made it even sorer.
Jack still could not believe what was happening in front of him. The housewarden that seemed not to have many emotions and care about the others was being ridden on like a horse by a little kid.
"All of you, stop gawking at us!" Leona grumbled out of embarrassment.
"Ojitan, ojitan, who is Y/n?" Cheka all of a sudden asked his uncle, and it totally caught Leona off guard, and so were you.
"How- how did you know about Y/n?" Leona asked while acting calm, trying to earn himself more time to think of how to answer Cheka's question.
"I heard that onnisan with a heart around his eye say that." Cheka told his uncle with an innocent smile remained on his face, "Ojitan, what do you want to tell Y/n?"
Leona was totally speechless. He had no idea how to explain the complicated relationship between you and him to Cheka, when even himself was not sure about that.
The infirmary again fell into another dead silence, with Cheka looking at his uncle with his innocent big eyes, while Leona froze and totally not being able to respond.
"Thing is like this, Cheka-kun." Ruggie was the one who broke the dead air. He bent down a bit so as to meet Cheka's eye level. "So when a boy and a girl fall in love with each other, just like your Leona-ojitan and Y/n-chan over there-"
"RUGGIE!!"
"RUGGIE-SENPAI!!"
You and Leona yelled at almost the same time so as to stop the hyena from speaking. It was obvious that Ruggie did that on purpose, and as to trick his boss. The eyes of you and Leona once again met when you heard each other's voice, but soon looked away due to nervousness and embarrassment.
The boy looked at the hyena with confusion, before he moved his eyes to his uncle, and to you who was sitting on another bed. After a while, a shocking and unbelieving expression with his eyes widened and jawbone dropped was shown on Cheka's face.
"Leona-ojitan, is Y/n your girlfriend?" Cheka asked.
Hearing the question, Jack and Deuce tried their best not to laugh, while Ruggie and Ace had already laughed out loudly.
"W- what- Cheka- That's not-" Leona did not know what he could say to explain everything clearly to his nephew. Of all questions in the world, it was the last question that he had thought that Cheka would ever ask him.
You were already embarrassed enough that you could only cover your eyes and rest your forehead on your palm.
"So it is why you seldom come back home to visit us! Because you're dating Y/n here!" Cheka continued without waiting for a reply from his uncle.
"No! I am studying here! How am I supposed to return home anytime I want??!" Leona claimed.
The misunderstanding became greater and greater like a snowball. The incident, at last, ended with Cheka's attendants arriving on time and taking the little prince to rest. However, they brought Leona another bad news: Under Cheka's strong request, Leona's brother, that was Cheka's father, permitted Cheka and his attendants to stay in the Night Raven College for a few days, so he could spend more time with his uncle and looked around the school. Leona looked like he was going to bump his head into the wall with the attendant told him the news.
After the school-based doctor's checking, you were allowed to return to your dorm, while Leona still had to stay one more night. Looking at you walking away, Leona had the urge to stop you. He reached out his hand, but soon took it back. You would not want to talk to him, after what he had done and said to you. He did not deserve a chance to talk to you again, he thought. Having these thoughts, Leona lay down on the bed and covered himself with the blanket. He turned to the other side, and face the direction of the entrance with his back.
You were about to leave, but you stopped. You decided to look back to Leona for the one last time, only to find him facing your direction with his back. You took a deep breath, before turning around, and stepping out of the door.
——
It was the day after the Spelldrive tournament. You and the trio had just finished Trein's magic history lesson and were heading to the laboratory for the alchemy lesson. All of a sudden, a few familiar figures showed up, and it was Cheka and his attendants.
"Yo! Cheka-kun!" Ace crouched down and greeted with a beam, and so did Deuce.
"You're Ojitan's friends, right? Good morning!" The little lion greeted back to the duo, and turned to Grim with excitement, "You are the talking cat! Can I touch your paw?"
You also bent down to greet the little prince, "Good morning, Cheka-kun."
Hearing your voice, Cheka moved his eyes from the duo and the cat to you, but the smile on his face all of a sudden disappeared. He turned around with crossed arms and faced you with his back, walking away after leaving a snort like "Humph!"
You looked at the back figure of Cheka. Question marks were all above your head. Cheka was totally fine with Ace, Deuce, and even Grim. Yet, when it came to you, he did not even try to hide the fact that he did not like you, but why was that?
"Huh??? What have I done wrongly??"