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Leona has always been a lazy big cat, proud and a bit egotistical, sometimes mean or annoying without any particular reason; but he is one of the bravest, kindest men you've ever met. 'Leona? Kind?' you may wonder, 'after all he has done?'
But yes, he is.
Behind the grumpy mask he always wore, behind the screen of laziness and minimum effort, a noble prince laid hidden, waiting for his worth to be recognised by someone, anyone. Desperately.
This unexpected kindness is the reason why he's laying immobile on his bed right now, his expression restless, his lightly open eyes filled with void, his beautifully tanned skin turning pale in a sickly grey shade of colour.
It started two days before now, with the preparations for the seasonal Magift Opening Game.
Leona left the Dorm with the morning sun heading towards the Silent Woods along the Magift players chosen to participate in the official team, which will be facing Royal Sword Academy for the title; he will be playing the role of active captain with Draconia as his strategist —a hard choice to make since Malleus was asked to be kept in the backstage instead of stealing the spotlight again, meaning the complaints from Ambrose fell not on deaf ears, yet whatever the true reason was, Cowley refused to keep him away from the field. And Malleus himself found a way to help him, with Lilia's intervention of course.
Leona though he's made it to piss him off since the o' so kind Headmaster was busy enough to skip the explanation, indeed; but somehow managed to get along with the plan after Vargas, with your help, had spoken to him, bargaining to the old crow in his name for a few days off and a couple of extra points in his final grades. You felt relieved when he agreed to give Leona those days off, meaning you'll be able to spend some time alone with him —no Ruggie roaming around, no Trein hunting him off.
And those days off came.
However, they were brought along the worst circumstances...
The official team was not big; just twelve players, four students to help them out and the two captains armed with their bodies and brains alone. The trip was supposed to represent no risk, the part of the woods Vargas chose to hold the camp was supposed to be safe and already surveyed by the College staff. Then... Why does it slipped right through their fingers?
Day One ended in white numbers: no injuries, good results, somehow Leona and Malleus managed to work side by side without, literally, killing each other.
Day Two was exactly the same, Malleus even gave in to Leona's requests about positioning some members in specific places and heights of the 'battlefield'.
But the third and final day...
The last training session was coming to an end with the sunset as their signal, when the team suggested having a small friendly match between themselves: two teams, Malleus versus Leona. Losers had to gather the wood for that night's bonfire and prepare supper for everyone.
Everyone had the explicit order from Leona of not going deeper than the first meters of the treeline if the disk flew away, but there's always a reckless herbivore willing to believe himself smarter than the captain —it was a horrified, raw scream what let everyone know that.
Leona didn't even think about it, he charged forward on his broom into the forest, zigzagging between the trees until reaching the poor soul in need. A sticky black monster made of stones and jewels crawled toward a student that laid now curled against a rock; Leona immediately identified the black plasma as Blot energy —a blot monster had cornered one of his players and was about to strike.
As smart as the second prince was, he didn't have time to reach for his magical pen or even activate his King's Roar as he jumped between the two figures with a loud roar. The black figure stumbled back a few steps before charging with rage towards the Dorm Leader, who had time to push the defenceless student aside before the figure hit him with its rock-made arms.
He was thrown against a sturdy tree and hit right on the nape. Everything became a blur from there on: a green thunder falling deafening in front of him, the sound of rock scattering, hurried steps surrounding him, Ruggie and Epel's voice desperately calling on him as slim, cold fingers lifted him into the air as if he weighed nothing... and then everything faded black.
And here you were, today. Three days later, when Leona had finally regained consciousness.
The nurse told you that Leona could be taken back to his room since he had no injuries or serious damage that warranted keeping him under his or the doctor's surveillance. Malleus carried him all the way back to Savanaclaw, where you asked him to please not say a word about it or Leona wouldn't recover as soon as you all expected him to. Tsunotaro, the loyal friend he is and a man of worth, assured you he wouldn't for the sake of yourself.
Day one was the hardest. You realised Leona had woken up because of the restlessness on his body as he twisted and stretched in bed; the first thing you did was crawling on top of him and hug him, snuzzling your nose in his wild mane as it fell between neck and shoulders. The stiffness on him faded as he felt your weigh relaxing on top of him, despite your efforts on hiding it, he could hear your quiet sobs and feel the little teardrops that fell over his sleeping shirt and the skin of his cleavage. He tried hard to 'open' his eyes and look at you, but despite feeling how he could actually move his eyeballs, nothing came in sight; darkness, a few figures lined on smoke. But nothing else.
You had to explain to him the nurse's diagnosis: partial blindness caused by a concussion due to light inflammation at the occipital lobe. Due to the healing magic they cast on him, it was supposed to not hurt anymore and he wasn't in any danger of permanently loosing his sight, but he'd have to rest for two weeks... at best.
To your surprise, he was really calm while processing the blow of the news. He sighed on resignation and leaned back on his bed again. He wasn't in the mood for much other than sleeping through it; thanks to you, it was going to be bearable, but he didn't know how long. Certainly, he preferred to nap most of his days away, but being kept in the dark for what seemed like an eternity...
You offered him food, only to be greeted by a grunt in response. You didn't nag him like you usually did, neither tried to spoon-feed him in bed; you knew better than that, and while this was for you an act of service full of love and concern, he might take it the wrong way. Because, whether you liked it or not, Leona wasn't still good at reading or communicating feelings.
Day two came without further trouble, only dark circles under your eyes product of a sleepless night. You couldn't take the thought out of your head; 'what if Leona was feeling depressed?'. Well, of course he was. He was just reluctant to let you see that; as you made your way towards Savanaclaw at lunch, you realised that it didn't matter how much he loved you, he was not going to open up yet.
As you were reaching for the doorknob of his bedroom, you heard a loud clatter inside followed by a stream of flowery curses and a couple of animalistic growls. You pushed the door open just a crack, catching sight of him; your mate kneeled beside the nightstand, picking up a golden brass glass, a fork, a knife and a quarter plate of the same material. He did it with such naturality you wouldn't even think he had lost his sight.
"Are you gonna stay there staring at me or you gonna help?" he growled towards the door. Very conscious it was you and not Ruggie or any of the guys.
You ran to help him get up, meeting with the hard shove of a strong hand against your shoulder. Leona pushed you away and rose on his feet alone. You finished picking up the fallen dinnerware on the tray on top of the nightstand and, after useless attempts of getting an answer from him, he ended up asking you to 'get lost'.
Your heart ached, of course it did. You've been together for months now, he was the closest person you had here at the Twisted Wonderland, your mate, your partner. But you understood the hardship he was going through, he probably blamed himself for it. The least you could do was giving him space.
And that's exactly what you did.
Every day, you visited him at sunrise, before the first bell rang. You usually didn't wake him up but only checked on him; the few days he did wake up, you pressed a light kiss upon his temple and tucked him back on bed. Then, you walked by his room at lunch, making sure he had something for breakfast and had taken his medications; by this hour he was fully awake, you usually found a mess made of the chess board when he had thrown it away in annoyance, rarely did you find the dinnerware scattered on the floor or the nightstand, just once did you find the dented glass on the floor after being thrown against the wall. A few hours later, when your classes were over, you gave a quick walk through the dorm to see if his mood had improved; usually you didn't stay long because it was the time for Ruggie to bring him dinner. Then, you called him at night...
Sometimes he picked up, as you asked the same old questions as ever. 'How are you feeling?', 'How's your day today?', 'Can I do something to help you?'. His answers were always the same. 'I'm fine', 'As every other', 'You're doing enough'.
Some other times, he didn't pick up. He didn't even bother on checking the phone at all, he just heard him ringing on the nightstand and turned what he thought was the other way around.
From there on, Leona's displays of annoyance were unusual. But his displays of affection became even more rare.
You knew you were supposed to be his number one supporter trough this, you knew you were supposed to be standing by his side even more than Ruggie despite their history together. But you couldn't handle it anymore. One thing was Leona being rough with you because he was not good with feelings, because he was not used to opening up and loving someone; another completely different was being actively mistreated because the Little Prince didn't know how to handle his frustration...
He had never known. And you were aware of that, you tried to be a pillar for that exact reason.
For days you sneaked meat to him hidden on the tray of balanced food he was supposed to be eating to get better. You tried encouraging him to play chess with you, he knew the board by memory so he just had to tell you the letter and number of his move as you described the game for him. You even tried suggesting reading him once... But he always brushed your every suggestion off.
By now, you didn't know if the ache in your heart was due to his deplorable condition, the way he didn't do anything to help himself other than nap and growl at every soul that tried to comfort him, or the fact that he didn't seem to even want your help.
Another day went by, and between discarded suggestions and idle talk, the first week was over.
It was close to sunset by the time you reluctantly headed to Leona's room with fear coiling in your chest. You knocked for the first time in ages, Leona let you in, as you checked on him and asked your usual questions, a sting of relief spread across your body as he confessed now being able to see some greyish shadows and small light flashes. It made you think it was worth to bear with his awful mood...
Until it was enough.
Two days later, your routine kept the same: Leona, school, Leona, homework, trying to call Leona, going to bed. Just this morning, Leona was nowhere in sight; you tried asking Ruggie, Jack, any other of the Savanaclaw members but no one had seen him since the evening of the day before. Although it wasn't abnormal for him to go walking around taking random spots to nap it, it was indeed dangerous doing so in his condition —he looked the same as ever, the only difference was the vacant look in his eyes. He was smart, he was a predator after all, but even with his superhuman hearing and senses, he wasn't fully safe at the school grounds.
As you rushed through the Main Castle, skipping your classes to look for him, heart hammering so hard against your chest it hurt your ribs, something at the back of your head did not feel right. He was nowhere in sight so you moved to the Coliseum and the grounds surrounding Main Street, but he wasn't anywhere close either, no one had seen him around since the day of the accident.
The only two spots left to look for him were Ramshackle, but you knew he wouldn't go there, he didn't like the atmosphere and the ghosts weren't as friendly to him as they were to you and Grim.
And the Botanical Garden.
When you approached, the shadow of dusk was already closing into the sky. Leona had many napping spots inside the enormous glass dome, it would take you half the night to search through the whole place alone —but as if the Seven had heard your pleas, you spotter a tall, tan figure ahead. Towering over a bench, white hair messy and the Track Club jersey over his shoulders was Jack; he was looking at Leona, whose almost still vacant eyes were aimed to the ceiling.
"You can't keep being this destructive to yourself!" the younger growled, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Leona-san, we are all worried about you. Ruggie has even stopped making pranks around the dorm, you have to—"
"Ruggie can do whatever he wants to, I give a shit" Leona growled, covering his eyes with his arm, turning around for his back to face Jack.
"And what about your mate?" he asked in a low growl. "Have you thought at least one bit on what this is doing to—"
"That's another burden I don't want to concern myself with right now" Leona interrupted, this time his voice was aggressive. Broken.
You couldn't help the gasp that escaped you. Even if you had tried to run, Jack would have caught you in an instant, and with both of them being very sensitive beastmen, there was no way they hadn't heard you just now.
"[Y/N]..." Jack whispered, his ears going flat against his head.
You didn't make a sound, your eyes darted towards Leona. You waited, and waited but no sound came from him either. You only nodded with your head, slowly walking towards them.
"Leona-senpai", you started, trying hard to not let your voice strain. "I apologise if I caused you any inconvenience... It won't happen again."
You saw Leona's ears twitch, his tail flicking in annoyance hard towards the floor, his breath ragged with what you didn't know if it was anger, sadness or pain. A broken sigh escaped you, but he still didn't turn around.
Through the past week, he had smacked your hand away, he had withdrawn from your touch, dodged your kisses, he hadn't taken a bite of the snacks you sneaked him. He hadn't answered the many 'I love you' you've dropped him whether he was asleep or awake, he had only silenced you whenever you tried to recall your endless happy moments together. He had shut himself away from you...
Yet his silence right now had hurt you more than all of that together.
A single tear slid down your cheek, landing audibly on the floor. Your breathing remained the same, slow and steady. Not because of pride, because of love. Because you loved Leona Kingscholar enough to walk out of this one with your head high.
Jack supressed an uncomfortable sigh. He knew his loyalty lied in Leona as his Dorm Leader, but you were one of his closest friends. There was no way he could favour one another.
"Leona-senpai..." he pleaded, voice as low of a whisper that a normal person wouldn't have heard it unless close enough.
He was opening his mouth again when you gently pressed your hand against his chest. He looked at you, eyes full of confusion, as you shook your head in denial.
"It's all right, Jack..." you spoke, fighting hard the violent sob that strived to escape your throat. "I understand. I didn't know how to help him in the way he needed to be helped..." your voice, miraculously, was steady enough to speak normally. But your eyes were cast down, at your trembling free hand closed in a weak fist. "I just wanted to make sure you ate. Or slept... truly slept. Or..."
You bit your lip, feeling the violent pounding of your heart on it. You couldn't keep going, your voice cracked at the last word and it didn't come back. You took a step back slowly. Then another.
You'd be fine, the sooner you left him, the better... Or so you tried to convince yourself of.
A woeful growl echoed through the glass dome as Leona sat straight and smashed his closed fist on the wooden bench. Not hard enough to make the old wood crack, but enough to make it creak.
"Damn it, herbivore!" He howled. "Damn it and damn you..." he whimpered.
You froze in place, eyes wide at the desperation that pooled on his eyes; it was a look so sorrowful, you couldn't recall seeing him like that ever since the day he overblotted. Jack tried to pull you protectively behind him, but you snapped his hand and took a step closer to Leona.
He turned towards you guided by sound as you kneeled beside him, his beautiful green eyes were still clouded, half-empty, devoid of light. But his expression was raw, full of a vulnerability and pain you prayed to never see again in him.
"Do you really think I want you to see me like this?" a bitter laugh rumbled in his chest as a tear rolled from one of his eyes. Your heart shattered, your trembling hand hesitating on cupping his cheek; "I can't train, I can't play chess, I can't eat on my own without making a fucking mess. I can't even fucking walk without—" A violent sob left his chest as he curled on himself, you didn't let him shut himself away again; you closed your arms around him, forcing his head on the space between your neck and your shoulder. "I can feel the way you look at me like I am... broken. You, Ruggie, the pup... you all look at me as if I were a weak mice..."
You sobbed on his hair, hands clinging harder to his head.
"You're not weak." You whispered, caressing the messy, knotted strands of his beautiful mane; when was the last time he had brushed his hair?
"I am no better now than I was before" he growled, self-loathe gnarling in his voice. "I can't bear for you to pity me... Everyone else at home already does..."
There it was. You'd finally found the needle in the haystack.
"Leona, look at me..." you whispered, guiding his face in front of yours with a gentle motion of your hands.
You mentally slapped yourself for the poor choice of words, which probably Leona felt as he leaned his forehead to touch yours. His vacant eyes seemed to look for you in the dark, you lifted a hand to lead him on closing them, feeling his shoulders drop and his jaw relax at the slightest of your touches.
"I'd never pity you." You started, voice rough and dry from days of sleep deprival and not feeding well. "Leona, how many people you know that would jump in the face of danger to save an innocent?" you asked, voice kind, warm. Full.
He clicked his tongue, one of his hands reaching for the one of yours that cupped his jaw, leading it to his lips.
"To me, you are a hero. And to that kid, I bet you're too..." you continued, racking your brain for words that would root him to the present and take him out of the darkness in his head. "You're stubborn, and powerful, and brave. I love you more for that."
A broken sigh escaped his lips as his arms embraced you and pulled you towards him.
"You're a pain, herbivore..." he whispered against your hair, basking in the scent of your hair against his nose.
"I know..." you whispered back, arms curling around his waist, burying your head on his chest.
Jack looked up at the sky, admiring the beautiful and intricate patterns of the crystal ceiling as he slowly, as quietly as possible, walked away.
That night, Leona allowed you to take him back to Ramshackle with you. You let him sleep on your bed to recover from the shock of what had happened earlier, while you spoke about his particular condition with the ghosts —surprisingly, they offered you a hand to take care of him while he rested there. Grim didn't put much resistance either, since he got a free pass to rest all day long for a week if the Headmaster bought it that he was helping you take care of the Savanaclaw Dorm Leader.
Crowley allowed you to house Leona in your dorm for a week, since he was presenting symptoms of recovering his sight, and granted you a special permission to be absent during that week since the bargained price for his help at the Magift team preparations couldn't be granted as you'd have wanted to.
The next days, Leona opened himself to tell you how he was feeling, to ask for help to dress up or undress, to eat, to reach for his phone. He took up on your proposal of playing chess with your guidance, and to no one's surprise he kept his winning streak. Everything went smoothly, and five days out of seven flew away.
The sixth day, as you entered the room you had lent him with a tray of breakfast in hand, he was already sat and ready. You smiled, placing the tray gently over the nightstand.
As you sat beside him on the soft mattress, his bedhead looking as wild as a real lion's mane, his right hand tugged your waist towards him while his left hand cupped your cheek. Before you had time to react, his lips were already on yours.
Tender and hungry, full of love and care while at the same time it felt like he wanted to bruise them all over. A breathy laugh escaped you the moment he pulled back.
"What was that for?" you asked, warmth growing on your cheeks.
A smirk crept to his mouth, one you haven't seen since the day before he left for hell's camp. You looked up from his swollen mouth into his eyes —two beautiful emeralds, sharp as they locked with your eyes, clear and full of light. Your heart swelled at the sight.
"Just wanted to see if I still could make you blush." He grinned and winked at you before stealing another kiss.