Chapter Text
"Yuu?" Malleus calls out to them, his brows furrowed in frustration. 'Where could they be?' He uses his magic to take him anywhere near where Yuu could be. Students around campus jump at the sudden presence of Malleus as he disappears in an instant. An Ignihyde student points behind his classmate in surprise.
"Di—did you see that?!"
"Huh? See what?"
"You don't see Malleus popping in and out of thin air…?!" The Savannahclaw student checks his surroundings and shrugs. "You must be seeing things."
"No, I swear!" He watched Malleus' tail swish frantically as he entered the botanical garden. "There! Look! He just went into the garden house!"
His classmate stares at the entrance from far away. "Well, even if you are right, he's got a death wish going in there."
"Why's that?" Listening intently as his classmate twirls his hair around his finger.
"That garden is Leona's territory; he'd be lucky if Leona decided to actually attend class."
"Oh, you're right. It's probably best for us to pray the garden doesn't blow up."
He lies on his classmate's lap and sighs heavily. "Well, whatever, it's not really our problem…"
***
Leona relaxes his muscles under the radiant sunlight, inhaling the scent of freshly blossomed gardenias. His shirt unbuttoned at the neckline in search of the warm rays to shine down on him. Such peace, such tranquility…it's almost like a dream come true—
"Yuu! Are you in here?" Suddenly, an irritatingly gentle voice calls out for Yuu. Not knowing what's more irritating, the interruption itself or the idiot calling out aimlessly.
The lovely peace that filled the garden with its quiet and calming nature is now gone and buried in the seconds that have already passed. Malleus freezes once he feels someone's presence—turning his head back with a spin, that must be them!
"Yuu, there you are." He places his hand on their shoulder, making his face immediately scrunch up as he takes an uneasy step back, their silhouette familiar yet not the correct one…
Leona steps out of the shade, tail swishing behind him as his ears perk up, already feeling the sheer euphoria he'd get out of bothering him. "What? Were you expecting someone else?" He smirks, knowing full well the cause of Malleus' distress.
"Kingscholar." He stops, the way he said his name was… different, almost as if it were a good thing?
"Yeah, and you're trespassing. Is there a reason I shouldn't grab you by your ginormous horns and make you one with Scarabia's terrain?" Malleus gets closer, eyes filled with determination. Leona blinks and suddenly finds Malleus directly in front of him.
"Hey, are you deaf? I said you're trespass—"
An embrace. A warm, heartfelt embrace.
He could hear a heart beating rapidly against his chest, not knowing whether it was Maellus' or his own. He took a moment to collect himself before pushing Malleus away.
"Have you lost your mind?" Leona seemed much more irritated now.
Malleus stumbled back in confusion. Why did he hug him? It wasn't his intention. He simply wanted to ask if Yuu had been here; it was unnecessary to do that, yet…
"I apologize, it wasn't my intention to embrace you." He held his breath. Did he really mean that? It did feel nice to not be hostile towards him for once, but Leona must be fuming.
"…Whatever, why are you here?" Indifference.
Leona always started fights with him, sometimes out of sheer boredom, with a wide grin on his face. Why is he suddenly so tame?
"What I do and where I go is none of your concern, Kingscholar. I suggest you make do with your time and find a field of thorns to lay in."
" 'Scuse me? Repeat what you just said, you overgrown reptile, I don't think my ears are workin' right." He steps closer, his energy now blazing with rage.
Good. He's returned to his usual self.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the garden belongs to the academy; it's public to whoever wishes to visit it. Am I wrong?"
He grabs Malleus by the collar, baring his teeth with a snarl. "You must really want to die today." Malleus grabs his wrist firmly. This was not what he came here for. It's grown to be a nasty habit to pick fights with Leona; that's the only way they were able to communicate.
"I'm looking for Yuu. Have you seen them?"
"Don't try changing the subject!" He swung his fist straight towards Malleus' face. He caught it, repeating himself slowly.
"If you won't answer me, then I'll simply continue my search. Where are they?"
Leona bit his lip in frustration, using his left arm to free himself and attempting to land another hit.
"I'll have you on your knees begging for mercy!" He managed to strike him while he was caught off guard. Malleus tried blocking it with his hand, missing completely and taking a blow to his shoulder.
He put his arm out to block Leona's attack, but he ended up biting him. The bite unbearably painful—he keeps him there as the blood seeps into his uniform.
Malleus pushed him back against the wall, his knuckles scraping against the rough surface of the stone, protecting Leona's head from injury.
Malleus' fast-paced breaths gradually settled, Malleus' face scrunching up in pain. "Nrh…You. You need to calm yourself."
Leona's huffs come in short breaths, his canines still buried deep into Malleus' arm. The strange hold Malleus had behind his head made him calmer.
His anger subsided for a moment as he took in the gravity of the event that had just taken place. Malleus's hand cradling his head, bruised and bloodied all for Leona's safety.
"You moron! Why the hell did you do that?!" He grabs Malleus' hand to inspect his injury. A pained expression crossed his face, guilt eating at him.
Both said nothing; dead silence filled the abundant garden.
A couple of awkward glances were exchanged between them. Malleus watched Leona curiously.
Leona is the only person who frustrates him more than anything, and yet… this side of him opens a small door in his heart.
Leona rested his head against the wall, his back hitting it with a thump. His thoughts filled with a million questions, unable to come up with an answer as to why Malleus had done what he did.
"You should get yourself patched up; we wouldn't want the only heir of Briar Valley to have his delicate skin scarred, now would we?" He scoffed.
"Stop that." Malleus looks at him, a delicate heart would shatter at the sheer sight of his sorrowful eyes. Leona's brows furrow in confusion. This is so annoying!
"What's with you?! Stop looking at me like that!" He roughly grabbed Malleus' face, pushing it away from his.
"Like what?!" He returned the anger and frustration, not knowing what the other is thinking.
That's it. He's had it with him. A short fuse, enough to cause an entire country to fall, was the first catalyst to this odd conflict.
Malleus cages Leona against the wall and holds him firmly in place. He pulls him in and mashes their lips together. Leona froze in place, holding his breath without reciprocating the moment.
He started feeling dizzy; turns out kissing is really suffocating. He wanted to push him away and end this, but something inside him kept him from starting another argument.
It felt….okay.
Malleus pulls back, and Leona finally exhales with a short "Pwha…!"
"You…You kissed me?" Their relationship was already a total mess; now he'd gone and made it even more complicated. That kiss ignited something in him; he wasn't entirely engaging in the kiss at all, but the look on Malleus' face was almost pitiful once he realized how Leona must feel.
"I…I'm not sure what came over me… "
"I do, you lost your fucking mind! Now I gotta kiss your sorry ass."
"Kiss…?"
"KICK! I MEANT KICK, FUCK."
Despite the initial threat, they remained still. A pink hue painted their faces in embarrassment. The sweet, lush scent of roses and gardenias filled his nostrils with a soft and gentle aroma, stirring something within him. He suddenly thought:
'Has Leona always been this breathtaking up close? Or was he too blinded by their rivalry to pay any attention to anything other than his ego?'
His long, slender hands trail up Leona's shirt in excitement. This moment was one of many unexpected things to happen today. Leona said nothing and just let it happen, his tail flicking back and forth; not knowing whether it was because of instinct or anticipation.
Malleus plays with the button of Leona's shirt, looking over every detail and action that made him want to feel the touch of his lips on his again.
"What are you doing?" Leona growled out, he could feel Malleus' eyes all over him, suffocating. "Get off me."
Malleus didn't budge; he wanted to keep Leona there, needing to sort it out in his head as to why he suddenly decided Leona was the person he'd wanted to kiss for the first time.
And for a moment, Leona thought about what it would've been like if he had returned the kiss. Malleus notices the black-stained smudge on Leona's lips…Pressing his thumb against his bottom lip and stretching it open, his gaze solely fixated on Leona's lips.
'He looks so…'
Leona smacked his hand away and turned his head to the side. "Yuu's not here, you can leave and forget this ever happened."
"What?"
"I'll let it go just this once, but if I see you in here again, I swear I'll kill you. Now go look for that shrimp you call your friend."
"Yuu…? Ah, I see…" That's right, he came in search of his friend. He'd completely forgotten what it was he came here to do. His mind began to spiral. Did Leona certainly hate him? Does he hate him even more after that? Up until now, he had only found their bickering and insults to be nothing more than entertainment.
"Yes, an accident, nothing more."
Finally, they agreed on something for once.
They're both royalty, yet Leona never treated him as such. In fact, that might have been the only reason Leona decided to direct his anger towards him.
Leona remained silent, but his expression spoke louder than his silence. He looked up at Malleus, visibly angry, and slightly…confused? It was hard to tell; however, he does know that Leona does feel some sort of way about him other than hatred.
"Then, I'll excuse myself—" He slowly got up and froze once he felt Leona's tail wrapped around his ankle.
"Leona, your tail." He pointed down awkwardly. Leona tensed up and quickly unraveled his tail, clearly embarrassed.
A small smile stretched on his lips; he found it almost adorable the way he tried to keep his feelings hidden behind that grouchy face of his. His thoughts were busied by the fact that Leona's body was more honest than he was.
What? …adorable? honest…?
He shook those thoughts away; no one must know of what had transpired in that garden. If one were to run their mouth about this, both of their reputations would be tarnished.
He continued his search for Yuu around the other side of the school, far away from Leona.
Leona sat there in defeat, his heart made no effort to slow down. He pressed his fingers against his lips; just thinking about the kiss made his heart race.
"Did he give me the flu or something? Why's my body so hot all of a sudden?"