Chapter Text
“I’m so sad that I’m going to stay up all night,” they said. “Let’s just not go to sleep, for the sake of memories,” they said.
Ace and Deuce were already tucked comfortably in their beds, competing for the title of the loudest snorer. But no matter how big a noise they made, they couldn’t beat the infallible champion that is Grim.
Hung on the wall was the mirror that you’ve been looking at for as long as you could remember. You’d always known － you could feel it in your bones － that it was connected to something else. And that it could serve as a portal to your own world was not a big surprise either.
You just didn’t expect it to be done so soon.
A line of incomprehensible words, perhaps a spell, were scribbled on the worn out frame and were emittng a faint, humming light. Crowley had casted it a week ago, turning it into your ticket back home.
The news spread like wildfire in the campus. The prefect of the two-person dorm, unexpected non-magical user who was nonetheless accepted into the school, was going to leave. Some students, even though they never really knew you, were disappointed at this. After all, you’ve done so many remarkable things for the school.
Friends you made along the way made their visits one by one, with heartfelt farewells and delicate gifts. Jamil cooked you the grandest meal you’d ever eaten in your life. Floyd gifted you a handstitched shrimp plushie, even though it looked a bit messy at the trims. Riddle held a well-organized farewell party for you, ordering every students in Heartslabyul to make it as memorable as possible.
Almost everyone had sent their blessings. No - everyone except one.
And surprise, surprise. It was Leona, perhaps the person closest to you here in this foreign world.
It was probably safe to say that he despised you at first glance. It took him quite a while to look at you without prejudice, and even longer to accept you as his friend. Even after you’d helped him out of overblot, he was quite hesitant to let you in.
That being said, even Leona could be moved with enough persistence. It was only a matter of time until he started appearing by your side during breaks and lunch, hanging out with you instead of napping around the campus, taking your advice even though he feigned annoyance.
Before you knew it, you’d already got used his presence and his warmth, the safety he promised and the unsaid care.
But time was a mischievous kid, because it never waited. It just kept running and running, even sprinting faster if you called out to it.
Perhaps you’d realized it way too late. It felt as if the very moment you’d figured out your feelings for Leona, you were to leave this world. And of course, you could just stay. Forget about your previous life and live here forever. Alas, no matter how hard you tried, you could never fit in. You never belonged.
Which was… fine. You could just bury your feelings for him and hope for it to fade. It wasn’t like you expected him to return your feelings anyways, despite all the subtle signs that you took note of.
The thing was that, Leona, the person you surprisingly found yourself the coziest with, vanished as soon as news about your departure leaked. He was nowhere to be found. He was neither in the garden nor his room. You’d tried going to him at night, sure that he would be in deep sleep, but his bed was vacant with nary a wrinkle on the sheet.
It was like he was avoiding you on purpose.
And it hurt, even though he was known to be amateurish when it came to dealing with feelings. It hurt because you were leaving, and he didn’t even bother to say goodbye. Even Tsunotarou came with a dispirited countenance, so why hadn’t he?
Thoughts kept you awake despite protests. You decided to take a walk around Ramshackle, perhaps to survey the place one last time before your leave tomorrow.
The moment you yanked open the door, you came face to face with Leona, who had his fist held up in the middle of knocking.
“…Good morning,” he said.
“Oh! What are you doing here this late?” you asked.
“To say goodbye, of course. You’re leaving tomorrow, right?”
It was hard to make out his face, but you could tell that his eyes were everywhere but on you.
“Yeah, tomorrow. How nice of you to make a visit the night before at 2am,” you couldn’t help the bitterness in your voice.
“Look, prefect-” he inhaled. “Let’s just pretend nothing happened, okay? I don’t want us ending on a bad note,”
In all your times spent with him, he had never sounded so discouraged before. You dropped your hostility immediately and invited him into the lounge.
“Tea?” you offered, but he declined in fear that it’d keep him awake. So you sat by him on the couch, without anything to distract you.
“How are you feeling? About leaving, I mean,”
“Well, I ought to be a little sad,” you laughed dryly. “But everyone’s been trying to make it joyous,”
“I see,” Leona ended the conversation so abruptly that you feared that he was going to leave.
“I’m sorry for being out of reach for the past week,”
Leona apologizing. Never had you thought you’d live to see this day.
“Where have you been anyways?”
“…Out?”
“That’s the vaguest answer I’ve ever got,” you smiled slightly, but he still seemed to be bothered. “What’s the matter?”
His ears twitched in annoyance. It was such a rare sight. “Don’t you think you’re leaving too hastily?”
“Are you prompting me to stay?”
“No-no,” he replied, and with that extinguished your hope. You couldn’t understand why he was trying so hard not to say what everyone’s been saying. It’s not like he was the most understanding person either.
“I just thought you can… maybe linger for a few more days? If that’s not too selfish of me,”
“What is all this, Leona? It’s unlike you to be this considerate,” you teased him gently, and he finally mustered a small smile.
“That’s what you’ve always told me though,” he said, puzzling you. “It’s annoying… but I kept it in mind. Be more understanding, quit being self-centered, treat people with thought…” he trailed off when he saw your face. “What?”
You closed your mouth with a short chuckle, “Nothing. It’s just unexpected. Are you trying to be sentimental on my last day?”
“Did I do a good job?”
You nodded.
“Well, consider this a parting gift, then. The priceless experience of me being sappy,”
The night hadn’t gone how you’d quite expected. What had you assumed anyways? For him to make you stay out of selfishness? Would you have stayed, then?
You hated to admit it, but yes. He only needed to ask, but he wouldn’t, because you’d told him not to.
“Well then, thank you for opening up to me,”
He growled quietly. You looked down in what felt like disappointment. Tranquility installed between the two of you, but you could feel it even in the air, that the both of you had something to say, but wouldn’t. The words lodged in your throats like fish bones, difficult to swallow, even more so to spit out.
“Well then, I hope you don’t feel too sad about leaving,” he shot up and started striding for the door. You raced, heart pounding in your chest as you grabbed his arm, words blurting out of you without knowing.
“Is that all you have to say?”
“What did you expect?” he asked back, voice suddenly devoid of any emotion.
“I don’t know,” you confessed. “Something more?”
It seemed so self-centered for you to ask, but you were blatantly desperate. Leona paused for a while, before turning to you looking more defeated than ever.
“Look, prefect, I already spent the past week brooding, and you can’t imagine how hard it is for me to act all generous now. But I can’t hold you back, can I? You have your own world to return to, and -” he rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “I don’t want you to leave, but I have to let you go. Please don’t make it harder than it already is,”
Words died on your tongue as you realized how shortsighted you’ve been, thinking that it would be easy for him. You let your hand slip away quietly.
“Just promise to visit me, okay?” he pleaded.
“I don’t know if I can-”
“Just promise,”
“Okay,” you forced a laugh, croak and painful. “I promise,”
Leona pulled you into his chest, too tall to even rest his chin atop your head, but it was something he’d got used to already. You stayed in his arms, as if by clenching to him tight enough time would stop its malicious game and let you stay in this moment forever.
In the end, it was him who broke the moment and stepped away. The instant his warmth left, a raw coldness washed over you.
“Well then,” he stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned to leave. “Rest well, prefect,”
“You too,” you answered weakly and watched as his figure reached for the door, and vanished from your sight like he was but a whisk of fog.