Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was Leon’s first day of highschool, not like he was super pumped about school but he got in for his insane talent in baseball which he also didn't really like, but he knew if he didn’t accept this offer his parents would kick him in the ass. So he begrudgingly packed my bag and a few items he knew he’d probably need like his phone, hair supplies, piercing cleaning solution since he just recently got a new one and he wasn't out of the healing stage yet and of course a baseball bat.

Then he wished his parents goodbye and got reminded for what felt like the one hundredth time to call them once he got settled in, until finally he agreed and headed out the door.

He was halfway down the driveway before spotting his “annoying” yet pretty cool little brother Masaru, he rushed towards Leon with a bright grin on his face. All he could see was his vibrant tomato red hair. It was only this bright as it was freshly dyed, as he and Masaru had dyed their hair together last night as a goodbye gift from Leon.

He was all scratched up probably because he was playing with his friends. He put his hands on his hips and looked up at Leon.

“Leon! Do you have to go already?”

Masaru had a pouting expression on his face. He was exaggerating again, probably trying to get Leon to stay longer but he knew that Leon wouldn't budge. Leon then dropped the bat onto the ground and opened his arms for a hug.

Masaru ran up into the hug and held Leon tight. Masaru muttered something along the lines of “you're such a jerk.” Leon chuckled a bit at that, he was going to miss him way more than anything else about this stupid city.

“Hey little dude I promise I'm not too far away and soon you're gonna be at Hopespeak Elementary as soon as it opens! Then we can get ice cream to celebrate!”

He then broke the hug and jumped up at the idea. We then wished each other one more goodbye and he went off back into the house. He seemed a little sad and Leon knew why it’s hard to say goodbye but it’s not forever.

Leon made sure he got inside all safe before picking the bat back up and walking to the train station to get to Tokyo.

“Train to Tokyo from Towa city departing now”

That was the first thing Leon heard when he got to the train station. Towa city was big enough that its train station would get packed during rush hours and that was clear to see here. There were many rushing people, mainly adults but some teenagers, maybe even from his school, were rushing to make it to the first train of the morning. He was disappointingly also one of those people rushing and being bumped into by many people trying to get on the train. He tried his best to not hit anyone with his bag or bat as he also tried to make it to the train.

Luckily Leon made it on the train in time and even scored a seat which was awesome! As he sat down he noticed a couple of the other teenagers on the train looking at him giving him weird glares and the like. It wasn't rare for people of Leon's age to look at him weird, ever since he’s gotten into expressing himself more he’s been called weird and strange which he can’t say he’d blame them it’s kinda the point of dressing the way he does, so he’s gotten used to it.

He got bored pretty fast and didn’t really want to hear what others were saying about him so he placed the bat onto his lap trying to avoid anyone as he did, and then put his old beaten up headphones on, opening his phone to look at some things about the new school.

When typing Hope’s Peak into the search bar one of the first things Leon noticed was a blog about the new students so he clicked on it to maybe hear what some people might be like. He scrolled for a while, most of the students being what he expected them to be like. A couple were cool like Owada Mondo who’s a famous biker gang leader but some others made me want to groan at how stupid their ultimates were. He wasn’t hating on people he hadn't even met yet, he just found things like being the Heir to lots of money like this Togami guy pretty boring and not what people would think of when you think of ultimate students.

Finally the train screeched to a stop. They had made it to Tokyo, Leon did the smart thing and waited before more people had gotten off before getting off the Train himself.

He had to do some more walking to get to Hope's Peak since it was in the center of Tokyo and the train was closer to the outskirts, so Leon walked at a decent pace listening to some rock band he put on earlier and couldn’t quite remember the name of. As he was walking the sky started to dim, Leon first thought it was just because he was walking underneath a cloud.

But then he heard something that would change the course of the rest of his life, screams, lots and lots of screams. People all around Leon were screaming and running. The screams were so loud he could hear them through his headphones. He was confused and started to panic. He wasn't far from Hope’s peak so he ran as fast as his body could take, until he made it to the large wide open front gates of the school. 

He didn’t know why he was running yet he didn’t want whatever was making other people scream to get him.

Leon looked around and saw there was that guy from the school blog Owada Mondo that's what his name was. He was at the door, holding it open and was helping people to get inside. I ran over to him and spoke up.

“Hey, do you need any help out here, it seems pretty bad out?”

Owada didn't answer, he seemed more focused on getting others inside but he then shook his head in agreement.

After his approval Leon knew he had to help in some way, luckily Leon was still chuck full of adrenaline. He looked around for anyone who wasn't running away from the school, that’s what when Leon noticed a guy who had messy brown almost caramel colored hair and these beautiful emerald eyes, he was also around Leon’s age. He also seemed confused and stressed. 

“Hey kid over here!!”

Leon called out to him, waving to make sure he could see him, the guy heard me and came rushing toward me and inside the building but not before he gave Leon a quick thank you smile.

After a while we got as many people as we could inside the school, and Owada and Leon closed the door shut. The door was heavy and some sort of metal probably iron by the looks of it, if Owada wasn’t there Leon probably wouldn’t be able to close it.

There was fittingly a level of uneasiness in the quiet atmosphere. Owada sighed before looking up at Leon, or more like down since he was way taller than him. Strangely he didn't look at Leon with a gruff expression that he had earlier, it was more relaxed and exhausted now.

Leon then decided to speak up what Leon said, Owada looked confused as he heard what Leon said.

“So do you know why everyone was so panicked?”

“Now that you mention it no I don’t, I bet one of those smart asses in there would though.”

Leon laughed a bit before the two of them awkwardly walked into the cafeteria to see around 10 people who were confused and stressed out. Just then a small girl maybe around 5 feet came up to them, seemingly worried.

“Hey I’m Chihiro.. Are you the last people to get in?”

The girl was quiet; she was probably shy. You could tell she was something of the like because of her posture.

 Leon remembered reading something about her online, she was a very motivated programmer and coder was apparently like second nature to her.

Owada then nodded his head before finally speaking up.

“So uhm Chihiro do ya happen to know why everyone was screaming like mad out there? we were helping out and I realized I didn’t know what was happening"

Some of the others agreed, some who probably knew stayed silent, Leon would too if he was them it didn't feel like the answer would be good especially if you saw what it was.

Chihiro had a somber expression on her face before she finally explained what happened.

“There were giant robotic bears, I don’t know what was happening but people were dropping dead, just being too close to them.. it just happened I don’t know..”

The room went silent. It didn't sound real, evil giant robotic bears? All the sudden a scoff could be heard by none other than the ultimate heir, Togami.

“Do you really expect us to believe that? It sounds like something you’d hear in an awfully written apocalypse novel, any normal person wouldn’t believe something like that. Now tell us the real reason you imbecile”

Another guy with long spiky chocolate brown locs bit back at the heir, his expression seemed to be exaggerated but it seems to be just how he acted.

“The little dudes right! I saw them with my own eyes! So don’t start shouting at her!”

Everyone began arguing and those who couldn't stand it or didn't want to fight started to get to know each other making the best out of this strange situation. Leon still didn’t know for sure if this whole “bear's decision to fight back” thing was true but for now he wanted to relax. Leon was extremely exhausted by all the commotion and panic. Leon decided to be in the minority and relax. He looked around to analyze everyone and the room they were in. There were many different types of people all acting to what's going on in different ways, but one caught Leon’s attention. It was the first guy he helped get inside, he was sitting at one of the tables seemingly upset.

 Leon thought who wouldn’t be upset about everything, we still didn’t fully know what was really going on.

Leon then went over to him, he pulled out a chair and sat next to him, placing down the stuff he still had in my hands softly on the floor. He looked up and saw the guy then looked up at Leon still seemingly upset.

“Hey? You alright? I know it isn't the best way to start school.”

This made the guy laugh a bit which was nice it showed that Leon’s shitty humour still works. The guy then tried to smile yet his stress peaked through, he seemed so tired. Leon honestly felt bad he didn't seem like the guy to want to be stuck in the school. (I mean no one does.) The guy then spoke with the same exhausted smile on his face.

“Yeah, I’m more worried about my family, you know.. Oh yeah, the name’s Makoto Naegi by the way! Sorry for being so down you don’t deserve to hear me all like this-”

Leon spaced out, the world around him muffled as he took in what Naegi had said about his family and it hit him, what if those bears, if that's really what’s going on, got to Towa city what about Masaru and his parents! Naegi must have noticed the worried expression on Leon’s face because he started to apologize for making him worry which just made Leon laugh.

“It’s all good Naegi! I’m Leon Kuwata it’s nice to meet you as well”

The two of them chatted for a while longer until everyone heard a loud banging sound coming from the front door. It felt like whatever was out there was going to break through the strong doors. Owada gathered a few of us, the stronger ones including Leon rushed out toward the door. As they did, Leon could overhear someone back in the lobby telling the others to stay calm and find a dorm room to stay in.

A girl with white hair pointed out the locks on the door so well she held it closed, Leon and Owada closed the locks keeping the doors tight. The banging continued but they couldn't get in which was a relief. Then the girl with white hair looked down to face us before speaking.

“Today was long, we should probably get some food if you are hungry and if not you should go find a place to rest.”

She was very polite despite her strong and fierce appearance. Owada and Leon agreed and the two headed off to the dorms. 

Before heading to find his dorm Leon went to get his stuff that he still had in the cafeteria before finally finding his dorm, the door was a vibrant red with his name and a photo of him on it, Leon opened the door and placed his things to the side before finally leaping onto the bed and falling asleep almost admittedly from all of the exhaustion of the long tiresome day.

Chapter Text

Leon woke up with the sun shining through the blinds and making him feel like he was going blind. Leon clearly didn't want to get up. It was too early but he opened his eyes just ever so slightly and that's when he realized the day before wasn't a fever dream, the panic of yesterday was all real, no wonder he was so exhausted. Leon thought to himself as he rolled over away from the sun to get at least an hour more of sleep. He then heard a knock from the door.

“Hello there Kuwata, it's Kiyotaka we met briefly the night before! I've come to let you know that we are having a group meeting in the cafeteria at eight o'clock sharp!!”

Leon groaned at his words Leon really didn’t want to get up and socialise it was to fucking early for that, but he got up anyway knowing Kiyotaka would probably come back if he didn’t. Leon quickly cleaned his new piercing, kind of regretting getting it since it would suck to take care of in a place like this. Finally after he was all ready he softly pulled  open the door and started to look around before walking to the cafeteria.

The school seemed off if everything was normal, people would be rushing to class or chatting with friends but there was none of that. No people, no classes to go to, the school just felt empty. As Leon walked he started to think back to Masaru, Leon wondered how he was, he worried about him a lot, he wondered if his parents could fend off those robots. He mainly just hoped they hadn’t reached Towa city at all at this point so everyone was safe and sound.

Leon then opened the door of the cafeteria to see that thankfully he wasn't the last person to arrive. It would be super awkward since he was already late as it is, but there was still a girl who hadn't arrived yet. So as we waited Leon relaxed a bit and went to grab some food since he was basically starving!

As he was eating a crappy ass cereal Naegi came up to Leon. He still didn't know much about the guy but he didn't mind sitting with him since it’s better for his sanity to socialize a bit.

“Hey there Kuawata, did you sleep well?”

Naegi seemed to be in a better mood than yesterday at least, but so did most of us so Leon seemed  didn't pay it any mind.

“Yeah pretty well wish I could sleep in more you know!”

The two of them laughed and talked a bit more. Naegi was a very kind guy, he seemed to be the more anxious type, which was kind of sweet.

Their conversation was about some hobbies but it had to be cut short as a guy dragged in the last girl. The girl was anxious, jittery and seemed annoyed just being there, the guy on the other hand looked kind of hobo-ey if that's the right way to put it, he also seemed to be older and taller than most of us if not around Togami’s age.

“Do I really have to be here! You all wouldn't want me around anyway!”
The anxious girl said as she pulled herself away from the guy brushing her arm that used to be held by the guy.

Kiyotaka then walked in front of the anxious girl, he seemed to be annoyed with her, which apparently was very common with this crew. Kiyotaka was taller than her, at least he seemed that way, it was harder to tell because the girl was slouching the whole time. 

Kiyotaka then cleared his throat before proudly stating to the girl.

“Yes Fukawa! I came to your room earlier and you didn't exit! This is a group meeting everyone must attend. If not , we might assume something bad happened to you!!”

Fukawa, the name rang a bell in Leon’s mind, he was pretty sure that he saw her name on the website, she was something along the lines of the ultimate novelist which kind of made sense. Leon didn't read much unless he needed to, so he assumed most writers just looked like shut in’s like Fukawa did.

“You're all so annoying, can we just get this over with.. It's not like you guys would care if something bad happened to me anyway…”

Just then Kiyotaka rounded all of us up at the bigger table which was just a bunch of smaller tables put together. Leon sat down next to Naegi as he was the only person he kind of knew. A lot of the others were muttering to each other before Kiyotaka stood up once again, putting his hands on the table probably in a way to get the group's attention..

“Let’s bring the HopesPeak resistance committee meeting to a start!”

The ‘team name’ if you could call it that, got some snickers which Kiyotaka didn’t seem to notice or at least he didn’t act like he noticed.

Kiyotaka then explained some things we should implement to make living here more easy. The big one is having a job, everyone would be split into different jobs based on things like talents. 

Fujasaki then piped up that she as the ultimate programer could work with security. Others agreed and Fujasaki got a team with the hobo guy whose name Leon came to find was Hagakure and Togami, who was acting like he was doing everyone else a favour by deciding to work with security.

Then the group were thinking of what other jobs would be useful or even needed for survival and a cheery brunette brought up the idea of doing a task force. People when it’s safe head out on missions once a week to get supplies like food and other necessities. This was something that peaked Leon's interest so he volunteered. So did a few others. This time the group made another team of three, this time being Leon, Owada and Sakura, who was the tall and strong woman from the night before.

Then the group figured out some other odd jobs for the rest to do and Togami showed the group a map. It was a full layout of the school, the group used that to help get used to the school.

You could tell this school was for the best of the best as it seemed to have a bit of everything, a garden, pool, sauna and more. Leon felt grateful to be stuck in here over anywhere else, there was so much space here and lots of things to do so at least he’d never be bored. 

The group talked a bit more on the odd jobs and locations in the school, some people in the group mentioning what they think each room could be used for before the meeting ended. Leon was about to stand up when Neagi walked up to him, his hands in his pockets kind of in a nervous way.

“Hey do you want to hang out? I kind of want to get to know someone and you're the only person who's been overly nice to me!”

Overly nice? Was I being overly nice, hopeful it doesn't come off weird I am weird? God I’m being too much aren't I.

As these thoughts rushed through Leon’s brain, he seemed to zone out; he was then brought back to the world when he felt Naegi touch his shoulder gently, staring at Leon with a face of worry.

“Hey Kuwata you okay? we don't have to hang out if you don't want to”

Leon snapped out of it realizing what Naegi had said and apologized before smiling. Neagi is such a good person Leon thought to himself, before agreeing to hang out.

 The two of them walked around the school just chatting to one another. 

As they talked they continued the conversation from earlier about their hobbies so Leon said how he liked playing guitar and how he wanted to be in a band. When it was Naegi’s turn he mentioned how he wanted to start picking up journaling as a hobby, which Leon thought was neat. Naegi and him are so different yet the two became close friends fast, life's pretty weird that way. 

The two of them spent a couple hours walking around the school and getting used to the layout of the school as well as getting used to one another. Leon found it a lot of fun and by his reactions he thought Naegi did too, but as it got late they headed to the cafeteria and got some dinner. It was a bit late in the night around maybe eight or nine, no one else was in the cafeteria so the two just assumed everyone else had eaten already.

Naegi made the both of them some eggs and Leon helped clean up the dishes, Naegi was a fucking wonderful cook. Leon kept telling him how much he liked the food and Leon knew he got the message the first five times Leon said it but it really was the best eggs he ever had.

 He cooked them to be just enough to be well done but with the runniest yoak and he added some pepper on top it was just perfect like restaurant perfect!

After the two finished eating they said goodbye and headed off to their rooms for the night. Leon was  really lucky to be friends with Naegi. He just makes this hell of a school more tolerable and for that Leon was so very grateful!

The school and this whole thing would be so much harder alone, but having something and someone to look forward to everyday was enough motivation to stay strong, not only for him but for Naegi, and Leon’s parents, and Masaru. Leon knew how much he missed his little brother and his worries seemed to get worse by every hour but Leon stayed positive. Leon thought a bit to himself about how Masaru would really enjoy Naegi, but knowing his little brother Masaru would find some way to make fun of Naegi.

Leon was getting ready for bed, just brushing his teeth when he heard a gentle knock on his door.

“Heyyy Kuwata right?”

It was Hagakure? Confused, Leon quickly finished up and opened the door, it in fact was Hagakure, he seemed a bit awkward fidgeting with his hand before he finally spoke up.

“Hey kuwata I was gonna take a smoke and I thought you might be the type, wanna come with, smoking alone is just sad?”

He was pretty direct about it but not going to lie. Leon didn't mind the directness. He seemed pretty chill, and Leon smoked a lot back in middle school, he had quit for some girl that broke up with him. But Leon really thought that smoking right now is just what he needed to end the night.

“Sure thanks Hagakure!”

Hagakure smiled and the two of them talked as we walked to the top floor and opened a window to smoke.

The top floor was the smartest idea as nothing could get to them, and it's better than leaving the window closed where the strong smell of smoke would linger and fester making this room basically inhabitable, and besides the fresh air was nice anyone could agree to that.

The world looked like a mess. Broken buildings, robotic bears running around breaking into windows and running around chasing a few survivors. They were really the whole bear thing, seeing them run around like that was surreal and it really got Leon thinking about everything and about how lucky he was to be in the school where nothing could really get in.

As Leon's mind started to wonder some more the more he felt worried about Masaru again and his parents, Leon really hoped they were okay and many others too. This is such a terrifying thing, every hour Leon is in here the worse it gets for everyone else, and the more likely they are to be in Towa city where his family was.

Leon then snapped out of it and tried to relax. Thinking about all of this too much was going to drive him insane, this is no way to think anyway, Leon knew his family was fine, they had to be and some day soon he’ll find them and bring them here where they could all be safe,

Hagakure noticed Leon’s expression and lack of talking so he tried to talk to Leon to make him feel better. He's got a bad sense of humour, worse than Leon’s which is pretty hard but it’s okay since anything is better than the looming feeling of despair that was just present in his thoughts.

After around two hours Leon started to feel better and the two talked for a bit longer before they both decided to head off to their beds for the night. But before Leon went to sleep he wanted something to eat since he was a bit snacky, so he walked to get some sweets or anything half decent from the cafeteria when he saw Sakura and her friend Asahina. 

Asahina was the brunette from earlier with her cheery upbeat attitude never skipping a beat. The duo turned around once they heard me entering the room

They almost admittedly noticed Leon’s more relaxed composer and the stench almost right away. Asahina chuckled and Sakura looked at me with an annoyed expression.

“Hey ladies, fancy meeting you here, I'm just grabbing a few snacks just a bit peckish right now”

Asahina then spoke up in this playful sarcastic tone. Leon could clearly tell that she was teasing him.

“Oh you go on ahead then, you should probably shower after you know.”

Leon just stared at Asahina in this faint joking glare, the two both then laughed before Leon went up to the pantry to look for something good to eat.

Sakura finally sighed, chuckling under her breath as she did. 

“Just don’t push yourself Kuwata it’s late and you still need to get a good amount sleep”

Leon quite liked Sakura, she kind of reminds him of a mother figure always looking out for one another. And she was a badass similar to his mom, Leon just prayed that she doesn't start to fully remind him of his mother or leon wouldn't ever be able to smoke, he’d feel way too bad.

Leon chuckled once again and reassured her, finally grabbed a few snacks including some delicious donuts Asahina and her made. The trio talked for a bit before Leon wished them a good night, he now finally decided he was people’d out for the day and didn't want anything from getting in the way of his sleep and his time alone.

When he finally got to my dorm Leon lazily opened the door, he had a bit of a struggle from all the snacks in his hands but it was opened in no time, he then  put a show on the TV, some brainless nonsense he couldn't remember the name of, then grabbed a quick shower before flopping onto the bed and snacked a bit until the food was gone, the movie was done and he was out of it. 

It was getting really late and Leon felt like he was going to pass out any minute so he finally went to bed for the night, still wondering what really was the cause of everything, but knowing that he was safe, he also knew he would sleep well.

Chapter Text

Leon woke up to lots of talking outside of the dorms, they were so loud that he woke up with a bit of a headache. It wasn't the nicest way to wake up but Leon guessed that's a part of high school that no matter what happened wouldn't go away. Leon tiredly with no motivation but wanting to know what's going on got up and opened the door to see Owada and Kiyotaka arguing and poor Naegi was stuck in the middle.

“Hey guys were going to wake up the others why don't you guys go to the lobby or something to not wake up anyone else” 

Naegi suggested, which Leon thought was a pretty good idea. Naegi then noticed that Leon  was awake and gave him a sorry smile which just made Leon laugh softly in return. Owada then pretty loudly sated.

“Blame mister de facto leader over here he’s making me follow all his stupid pointless rules and say’n I’m the nuisance!”

Kiyotaka then combated in a polite yet stern tone.

“Owada I’m not trying to be a leader, you just need to listen and follow the rules to keep everyone safe! You're being a nuisance because you're making this more difficult for everyone else!”

The two then continued to argue, this was never going to end unless the two could find something they both agreed on.

Naegi slowly convinced the two to at least go somewhere to not wake someone else up.

After the two moved somewhere else, Leon and Naegi hung around the cafeteria getting some food and just chatting about the events from this morning. 

The two have started to come into a sort of routine with things already, Leon would wake up and hang out with Naegi and near the end of the day he'd go smoke with Hagakure. Leon promised him the two would do it often, since Hagakure didn't like smoking by himself, and Leon didn’t mind joining in. Smoking is a nice way to relax and all.

But today will be slightly different. Owada, Sakura and Leon decided the other day that every wednesday and sunday are good days to head out, depending of course, And today was sunday making it the tiro’s first official day, we were getting low on somethings too so today was perfect.

Leon felt slightly nervous; he knew that this could be dangerous. They needed to be able to find everything that everyone needed or even wanted. Leon was very worried that they might not get everything or he might get hurt or even worse. He seemed to be spiraling out of his nervousness.

Naegi seemingly noticed Leon’s nervousness and reassured him that everything will be okay. Naegi really is such a good friend. The two talked for a bit longer before they both decided to head out for the day. Knowing today was going to be a long day.

Owada sat in his room, he was annoyed at Kyiotaka for many different reasons, and the two were so upset at one another for different reasons, for Owada it was because Kiyotaka was acting all “leader” on him and trying to boss him around. 

He didn't know much from how Kiyotaka’s brain was going through though, and if he was honest he didn't want to know, Kiyotaka was being such a pain in his ass and he didn't want to even want to learn, if its Kiyotaka it’s going to be the most morally correct answer. 

Owada wasn't just sitting in his room for no reason, at this point he was trying to avoid Kyiotaka like the plague, he wasn't scared of him, no one would be afraid of Kyiotaka, the guy's kindness made him sick.

So there Owada was, he knew he had to get going soon since it was sunday, but he really didn't want to go or do anything at this point, Kyiotaka had exhausted him from all the arguing earlier in the day. Owada was so used to not needing to fight with anyone due to his status, so seeing Kyiotaka, who wasn't even bothered by him was baffling for him, it drove him insane.

Owada had to do something to distract him from his confusion, maybe going to the sauna, or getting something to eat would help.

So Owada stood up and fawning confidence opened the door and headed his way into the sauna.

As he turned the corner there stood Kiyotaka.

“Kuwata, where is Owada? it’s been thirty minutes and he isn't ready to go yet”

Sakura was right, the two of them had been standing in front of the door with Hagakure ready to open it up at any second. But there was no Owada. Leon was slightly starting to get worried, he had been arguing with Kiyotaka all morning. What if the two got hurt and he was being too stuck up to tell anyone.

Leon dropped off his bat with Sakura and then went out on my way to look for him.

It took Leon a couple of minutes before finally deciding that Owada would most likely be in his room, since Leon checked several other areas he would be. 

Leon walked up to Owada’s dorm, and he gently knocked on the crimson door, only to hear Owada call out in response. He was way louder than Leon’s knock so it took him by surprise for a moment.

“What the fuck do you want this time Kiyotaka?! Am I in my dorm too long? Am I against another one of your stupid made up rules”

Leon was about to answer that he wasn't Kiyotaka but before he could Owada slammed the door open, he looked pissed but he sighed and just seemed to look more exhausted when he noticed that it was Leon instead of who he thought.

“Long day Owada?”

Leon said, trying to be a shoulder to lean on. Owada only scoffed in response.

“Is it obvious? Like fuck he can't tell me what to do all the damn time, we've only been here for around a week and he’s constantly on my fucking ass about everything! And worst of all he keeps trying to come to me with things, if he finds something he doesn’t like he comes to me, if he just needs someone to get his anger out it's on me! I’m so done with his punk ass”

Leon thought it over, he kind of understood both sides, Owada wanted to get used to life and try to adjust, but Kiyotaka was trying to help everyone in the way he knew how, but Leon did tend to agree more with Owada’s stance on things.

Leon and Owada chatted for a couple more minutes to try to calm Owada down a bit more before Leon finally spoke up.

“Owada, it’s sunday, we’ve got to go out for scavenging remember, we can't leave it too late.”

Owada then sighed once again, he seemed so done with everything.

“Right, the getting supplies thing. Kuwata you cool if I sit this one out? Today’s been a pain in my ass and I might draw attention like that”

Leon thought about it, he knew that Owada needed the rest and the time to himself. Leon also agreed on Owada’s point. So Leon agreed with Owada and apologized for disturbing Owada's peace and the two bid each other goodbye.

After that Leon headed back to the lobby to meet up with Sakura.

The metal door creaked open and the two walked out into the sun. The world was dark, the sky was a deep crimson red with the bears running around rampant. Luckily Leon had my bat and Sakura picked up a metal rod and the two of them started to hit a couple of them to help the two get through the chaos.

The two continued to make it through the city, trying to avoid the bears when able. They passed by many stores, most of the stores were already broken into or raided, Leon and Sakura were trying to find stores that seemed untouched or almost untouched. So for around an hour that's what they did, they looked around in the areas that used to be the most popular buzzling parts of the city now left to ruin.

It was strange, the world used to be so full of life not even a full week ago but now everything was gone. That's what Leon thought, it was slowly making Leon less and less hopeful but everything changed when they were near the Shibuya crossing.

As the two were about to walk into Shibuya crossing when Sakura stopped them.

“Kuwata, how about we go to the outer parts of the city. There’s a higher chance that those areas are untouched or at least not raided.”

Leon agreed almost right away with Sakura’s plan, her idea was smart, there would be less specific items but there would be a higher chance of getting items at all. So off the duo went to the outskirts, Sakura marked down on her phone what stores they’ve checked out on the way.

It took them around thirty minutes to get to a spot that had un raided stores. Leon felt a sense of hope walking around a few general stores, they even passed by a clothing store, jewelry store and flower shop. As they passed by the flower shop Sakura spoke up again.

“Why don't we split up? I'm going to go into the flower shop and see if I can get fruit seeds, since we have that garden upstairs.”

“That sounds like a great plan well you do that i’ll go get some food and anything else that might be useful”

After that the two split up, Sakura entered the flower shop and Leon entered a general store.

 As he entered he picked up a basket to help him carry things. The general store felt so uncanny, unlike hopespeak the store didn't have a generator to keep the power on so it was pretty dark. Leon didn’t want to waste the power on his phone so he walked around in the dark for a while, looking for a flashlight and some batteries.

After a few minutes of searching Leon found what he was looking for, after Leon put the batteries into his flashlight he made sure to grab several packs of every type of battery, and a few more flashlights as you never know when you might need them.

Leon’s next task was finding some food, preferably non perishable foods since they would last longer, so Leon went to the more snack based section in the food area. When he got there he saw the amount of options there were for chips, noodles and candies. He grabbed a little bit of everything. 

At this point Leon was kind of wishing the store had a shopping cart, he had to get around enough food for ten and he knew that one basket full of stuff wouldn't be enough.

Leon remembered seeing a shopping cart on his way there and he deeply regretted not bringing it with him, but Leon begrudgingly went back into the front of the store to snatch up another Basket.

As he walked back to his other stuff he passed by a magazine and stationary spot, something like that wouldn’t normally cross Leon's mind but it reminded him of Naegi, the guy said something about journaling the other day so there stood Leon standing in front of notebooks, memo pads and fountain pens. He wanted to get Naegi something, he thought it would be a nice gesture or something.

Sakura then entered the store and came up to Leon. She had a basket full of seeds and gardening supplies, there were all sorts of stuff in her basket. It's almost like she knew a lot about gardening. She noticed Leon's expressions and spoke up, putting a hand reassuringly on his shoulder.

“For Naegi?”

“Yeah I kinda have no idea what he writes with but we talked about it one time and thought it would be nice..”

Sakura then laughed a bit and grabbed a thick notebook and some pens with all different colors, placing it in her basket next to the gardening items.

“Get him what reminds you of him, Kuwata your his friend I think he’ll love anything you get him. Have you gotten anything else?”

“Yup some things in a basket back by the snacks, and thanks”

Sakura did a soft nod to Leon before heading off to pick up Leon's other basket and probably more items that he had forgotten or wouldn’t have thought about.

So after a bit more thought Leon picked up a soft green notebook and some other supplies like some spring themed stickers, and pens including the same pen set Sakura picked up, he liked all the color options and he knew that Naegi would make some use out of it he acted like the creative type.

Leon looked around at a couple magazines and picked a few up for the others to enjoy the thought of putting them in the lobby or something poked in his head. He then went looking for Sakura who he found in the baking section grabbing some box mix probably for Asahina since the two seemed to be doing lots of baking together.

Sakura gave Leon back his other basket, it didn't have too many other items in it, only a few more types of chips that he didn't grab.

Leon went over to the soda section after grabbing some different types, ones he liked and ones he didn’t like as he knew that everyone had different tastes.

After a little while longer of shopping Leon and Sakura met up again, Sakura had picked up some reusable bags, an extra basket and two water jugs along with everything from before.

Well Leon had gotten some more notepads, putting them in the basket that didn't have Naegi’s, canned fruit and soups, water flavour packets for a change in pace every now and then and some other odds and sods.

They felt like today was a success and Sakura wrote down where this place was so they could come back here again on Wednesday for more.

The duo passed by many different places on the way back, they were roughly an hour and a half away from the school but the two were at a decent pace so that they would get back before dinner time.

One of the things they passed on the way back was the shopping cart Leon was daydreaming about earlier, they put some of their things inside of it to make the trip back a bit nicer. Mainly Leon as Sakura didn’t see phased by carrying two baskets on one arm and two water jugs on another.

Leon felt like he was getting along pretty well with Sakura, the two talked a lot on this trip, a bit about everything. Sakura mentioned that the stationary stuff she got was for Asahina as she wanted to make a cookbook for their baking, that in turn got Leon asking about what they were planning on making.

The two talked about baking for most of the way back, Leon almost convinced Sakura to let him be their official taste tester but nope he knew he wouldn't be able to win that battle.

When they were around thirty minutes away from the school Leon saw the train station, the same one he exited only a few days ago, the one that had a direct way to Towa city. 

It had him thinking a bit about Masaru as he continued walking, he wanted to go back, to look for him. Masaru seemed to cross his mind all the time but there was nothing he could do, they weren't ready to go find others, and definitely weren't ready to protect a kid as young as him.

So he let those thoughts pass him by, he knew that soon he’d be ready and able to be there for him, Masaru just had to be strong enough to hold on and wait for him. He’s a tough kid, Leon believed in him, he knew that Masaru wouldn’t give up so easily.

After snapping out of his thoughts he ran up to Sakura a bit since he was walking pretty slow, Sakura seemed to notice Leon’s lost and worrying appearance but she didn’t bring it up, only putting her hand on Leon’s shoulder once again.

Time flew by pretty fast, the rest of the day went by like a blur, Leon ate dinner with Naegi and the others, Naegi and him catching up. Leon didn't give him the gifts just yet, he wanted to but it didn't feel right to do it at that moment so he saved it for another day where he was less exhausted.

After dinner Leon headed to his room to put some things he got for himself in better spots and washed up, then he headed upstairs to the top floor. He hated having to walk up so many stairs but he knew that it was worth it by the time he was up.

When Leon got up there he saw Hagakure who was already relaxing. He was also scribbling something on a piece of paper which peaked Leon’s interest, so Leon finally sat onto the hard ground slowly. Hagakure noticed Leon and he looked up with a smile on his face.

 Leon loved getting to know everyone, he was kind of worried that he would come off as harsh but he seemed to be way more relaxed in this kind of environment.

“So today I was doing some work with Togami and after you guys got back we took note of what you got and I'd say this is a great start dude!”

Leon didn’t really want to talk about things work like, but he couldn't lie that he felt a deep sense of pride at the fact that they got so much and everyone's reactions when they got back, it made him feel so much more important just knowing he was one of the major people helping keep everyone afloat.

“Thanks, Hagakure, do you want me to pick you up anything well we’re out on Wednesday. I’d be happy to get you anything you might need or want, we’ll have Owada next time so that means another set of hands.”

Hagakure thought for a little bit then he went on about this idea he had, he said that it could happen over time but he thought it would be a cool idea to make this classroom into some sort of den, so the two of them could hang out at night in a more comfortable environment. Leon agreed to it almost right away the two pitching ideas back and forth, they also had the four baskets and cart now so bringing the stuff they needed would be easier to get.

The two were walking about everything more and more as Leon finally lit up his cigarette when Owada walked in. He didn't say anything, just kind of soaking in what the duo were talking about.

“Hey Owada, me and Hagakure are just smoking. What's up?”

Owada smiled and asked if he could join, which we couldn't really say no to. Owada seemed more relaxed than ever, which was slightly nice.

Hagakure then informed Owada on the plan to turn this room into the best night spot, Owada seemed to perk up on the idea giving his ideas and input as well, Leon pitched in on where they might be able to get some of the things and Owada wrote it down on his phone with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth.

After a while the talking shifted into more casual conversations about childhood and other things along those lines, Leon brought up his brother and some of the things they’ve done together like how Leon taught Masaru to ride a bike and held his hand when he got his ears pierced.

Owada seemed to stare at Leon, the guy seemed to have a look of mixed feelings. Leon couldn’t word what it was but he knew that Owada seemed a bit closed off when it came to family so he didn't mention it.

After Leon’s turn Hagakure pitched in telling everyone a few stories about his childhood, Hagakure was one of the oldest people in the group so he had more years of experience and in life yet he acted a lot like the rest of the group.

Hagakure was explaining a story from his childhood, his father once got so distracted with his smokes that he once forgot the oven was baking something and he almost burnt the house down.

The other two stared at Hagakure for a moment. They didn't know if they were allowed to laugh or be worried, Hagakure picked up on this and embarrassment perked up onto his face as it turned a soft pink.

“Sorry guys, that isn't as funny as I thought it was, but hey my family's all good now no worries!”

Leon now also felt bad, he didn’t want Hagakure to feel bad or awkward for sharing a childhood memory.

“No no Hagakure you don’t need to apologise, it's alright I promise!”

That in turn made Hagakure chuckle and Owada gave him a sorry look in turn which made Hagakure laugh even more, he looked at the other two and spoke up pretty cheeringly.

“Whatever you two say, and also Yasuhiro or Hiro is fine, Hagakure is too formal, we're smoking buddies aren’t we?”

That made the others laugh, they both agreed and the group chatted more, Yasuhiro trying to crack up jokes, Leon thought his sense of humour was awful but Yasuhiro had the sense of humour to kill a dead cat. Somehow Owada thought it was the funniest shit ever and was laughing at everything, it in turn made Leon laugh at just how baffling it was.

After around an hour or more of smoking and chatting the group decided to call it quits as everyone seemed exhausted. Leon was so tired he could barely walk and he needed to shower to get the smell off of him so he was the first to leave, so Leon bid the two good nights and headed down the stairs to his dorm. Once he got to the bottom he thought he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. Leon assumed it was his eyes playing tricks on him, he and the smoking trio were really the only ones up at this hour.

So Leon didn’t pay it any mind and he headed to his dorm, if it really was a problem it could wait until tomorrow, he was too sore and high to deal with anything else tonight.