Leuko - Blind to the Sunlight

Chapter 42: Pitiful Grin

"So how was your first course?" Cynthia asked me while taking a bite of her meal. 

We were currently in the cafeteria after we finished our class with Colress. All of those who could be considered in my group were currently sitting here, with the notable exception of Clair, who was trying to sit the nearest from Lance's table, and Bea who stood right beside the War Archon.

As sad as I was that they decided not to stay with me, Cynthia told me to ignore them. 

We didn't really learn new thing, we just had to finish the quiz he gave us, it wasn't hard at all for me, however, it didn't seem to be the same for my other classmate, as I heard them groan for the rest of the class…it was quite annoying.

"It was good." I lied as I looked at the meal with disdain in front of me, it was once again the concoction…and as much as I feared its taste, I knew it was really helpful, from the simple fact that my organs were working even better than when I was born. But the worst was probably Pandora gleefully feeding himself with his tenth poképuff already…I guess he's still angry about me ignoring him.

"Really? I thought my class was boring." She said after gulping down another part of her lunch. "The teacher took the whole class to explain why it is important to have a good understanding of every language before asking us which one already knew every language…of course I was among the very few who did knew them all…and also that wasn't an Archon, proving once more my superiority." She put on a haughty air as she put her hand on her chest.

"Oh really? Then that means four people in this table can speak every language! We're the perfect team ever!" Iono exclaimed in joy, but it made Cynthia curious.

Her first reaction was to look toward Sabrina, who obviously nodded before she could even ask the question.

Not looking surprised by her answer, she proceeded to look at me instead. "You master other languages Luciel? I didn't know that."

I stopped fixing Pandora to look at her instead. "My progenitor told me that if I wanted my life to have any worth, then I should help him traduce for everyone. Most of the inhabitants came from multiple countries, so we always had communication issues…and I was the one sent to resolve it…they never seemed grateful…"

"…oh…well at least now you can use that skill for your own interest!" Cynthia reassured me before watching the rest of the group to find out who was the other person who mastered another language.

Her eye ended up on Allister, but he shook his head rapidly. "I'm only good at translating between living and death…I'm not great enough to go beyond that…oh, and I guess I can translate Sabrina for Luciel…but anyone can do that." He said in sadness while taking a bite out of his meal. 

"…oh, then who?" 

"Of course it can only be the brightest lightbulb that ever existed! Iono!" Iono rose from her chair in excitement, so I proceeded to clap my hands to assist her…

*Clap clap*

"Mhh mhh. Please calm your excitement dear public! Your hand will bleed if you clap every time you notice how bright I am! It's normal after all that I kept my standard to such a high level, otherwise how will I be able to talk to my fan who covers the entire world!" Despite saying that, Iono still kept her smug face, which started to annoy Cynthia.

"By Arceus, didn't you receive enough compliments for the day? Do you need more?!"

Iono stopped her show and looked at Cynthia in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Even Mina came back to her senses as she looked at Cynthia in wonder.

Cynthia looked in shock from the sudden focus she gained, but she easily regained her demeanour and started to elaborate. "Didn't your teacher also keep blabbering about how awesome we will be, and that to reach these expectations we had to work our best like we always did, then something about friendship? Sincerely, the thing I truly deserved to be praised for at this moment was my ability to stay awake!" She said with an annoyed face as she spiked her food with her fork multiple times.

"Congratulations for staying awake Cynthia, you're the best at staying awake." I did as she asked, but strangely, she seemed more embarrassed than thankful when I said that.

But her embarrassment was completely ignored by Allister. "Really…it was the opposite for us…" Allister said while digging around his food.

Noticing the confusion on Cynthia's face, Iono decided to elaborate. "Yes, he made quite clear that we were nothing more than a failed product…that we have no ambition and thus no future."

"Not like we didn't know." Mina sighed while steering her smoothie.

'Not like we cared.' Sabrina added coldly…or that's what Allister told me.

Cynthia froze her fork right over her mouth as she looked at us in shock. "And you just let him say that to you? Why didn't you try to tell him to eat a garbodor?"

"Because it just doesn't matter…and he did say he won't be as strict toward us…so that's nice." Mina responded.

"Even then, this is not a reason to let him walk over you…" Cynthia looked at us, and noticed that none of us really seemed to be angry about that, so she just grumbled before taking another bite. "You're all acting like a person I don't really like."

Iono eye widened before strongly shaking her head. "no, you got it all wrong, the reason why I couldn't care less is because they judge us on if our goal have anything to do with becoming stronger, because if they really judged us by the high of our ambition, I wouldn't have been there."

Cynthia looked at her questioningly. "What is your goal then?"

Iono smiled brightly, as if she just awaited for anyone to ask her this question. "Oh, it's really, I just want to become…"

"DON'T YOU DARE INSULT MY SISTER LIKE THIS!" Iono was suddenly interrupted as everyone turned their head toward the direction of the scream.

Over there, I could see a tin boy with weirdly coloured hair shielding a way smaller girl with his two arms. On the opposite, was a man with deep red ginger hair who looked severely at the people in front of him.

…now how did this even happen?

***

"Stop eating so fast Leon, and same for you Raihan, If you continue like that, both of you will choke!" Sonia scolded both of her friends, who paid no mind to her advice and gulped down even faster their meals.

"If I can be defeated by only a meal, then so be…cough!" Raihan coughed after a piece of his mel lodged itself inside his throat.

"Ah! I told you to worry…" Sonia frowned before handing him her drink, which he instantly grabbed before drinking it content to ease the pain.

"Cough…thanks Sonny. Without you I would have been a goner." Raihan thanked her before noticing that her completely finished her drink. "Well…let me go fill your drink alright…" He stood up from his seat, before moving toward the kitchen.

"Ah." Sonia deeply sighed with her palm in front of her face before starting to eye Leon who didn't stop the speed at which he used to eat his food despite the recent accident. "Can't you slow down at least?" 

Leon briefly acknowledged her before shaking his head. "I can't, this food is too good to leave alone for more than one second!"

"Ah, why do I still have to take care of both of you? Aren't you both adults now, Why am I the only one who is responsible here?" She complained, before seeing Leon's smiling face.

"Because you're the best Sonny, without you we wouldn't have been in big trouble, so thanks a lot for your help."

Sonia blushed, before hiding her face from him with her hand. "…you're lucky I like you enough to keep up with your fooleries."

Leon chuckled at her reaction. "Well good thing I'm a fool then, because it allowed me to keep you."

"…stawp…" If before she was able to hide her blush, this time her whole face turned red in embarrassment,

"So, how was your class? I mean, if we both had the same content, then you should have been in more luck than me. You already know a lot of languages don't you?"

Sonia's expression returned to normal so quickly that Leon assumed he had done something wrong. But before he could apologize for anything, Sonia answered him. "We did have an exam to test our competence in the various languages…I think I was one of the few who was able to have a perfect score…only five of us got it anyway."

"You got an exam? Damn, your teacher must have been really hars then, our is really kind in comparaison, he kept praising us!"

"…how nice."

If before he had a doubt he said something wrong, now he was sure he had made a mistake, but as he was about to reach her arm toward her, a voice distracted him.

"Say, can I sit there?" Leon's eyes widened when he saw the cute form of Klara, who was blushing while trying to distract herself from her supposed embarrassment by playing with her hair.

"No, this place is free, go ahead." Sonia said with a smile, as she was inviting her to sit down.

"Are…are you sure that I can…you won't feel angry that I do?" Klara asked, which finally made Leon focus on the situation. "Why would we be mad?" 

"I mean…I'm poor…so maybe you would prefer not to face my presence…" She said with a dark look in her eye, as if she were ashamed of this fact.

"Ah, don't worry about this, we don't carry this type of judgment, we are also poor after all." Leon tried to reassure her, even if he did look confused about why her level of richness even mattered, but his shock only expanded after that.

"Oh really? So you were also forced to eat trash every morning and sleep on the street when you were lucky to even close your eyes?" Klara asked innocently, as she pulled her chair to sit on it.

But Leon and Sonia weren't as nonchalant as her, as their expression betrayed their horror.

"Hmm, what are these expressions…Oh I see… perhaps my struggles are completely inferior to your…but believe me, I know I had it lucky compared to most, especially both of you!"

"No, no…you are right…We weren't that poor…we…we were just less fortunate than others…and I'm sorry you had to go through that." Sonia explained quickly with her hand raised in the air.

"Oh, how humble of you…But you don't have to mitigate your pain you know. My friend always told me it was unhealthy." She chuckled as she placed her plate on the table, revealing that there were only a few berries and just some gruel on the side.

But realizing their silence, Klara's expression changed to one of guilt. "Oh…why aren't you both speaking…did I interrupt something…I…I can go if you prefer." Without even waiting for their answer, Klara grabbed her plate and was about to stand up until Sonia directly grabbed her arm.

"Wait no, we were just trying to digest this information…sorry that you had the wrong impression! You're more than welcome here!" Sonia said with the most genius smile she was able to muster, even if she was clearly still uneasy about Klara's story.

However, this caused her to miss the dark expression on Klara's face the moment she grabbed her arm. An expression that disappeared before the two of them were able to notice.

"Well thank you, I'm glad that you accepted a trash eater like me at your table, I'm already feeling way safer!" She said with a smile as she grabbed Sonia's hand in return.

"Ah…well welcome…euh…"

"Ah, I forgot to present myself, my name is Klara. And I'm from Galar, and like you, I was able to join this academy and raise my status!"

"Oh, you're from Galar? That's awesome, we're also from Galar, welcome!" Leon said excitedly, as he tried to act as if he didn't listen to her previous life. Because no matter what, he wanted her to feel welcome among them.

"And don't worry, Leon is strong enough to protect us from the Archon, so you won't have to be scared." Sonia said in an attempt to reassure her, but Klara only answered her with a look of confusion.

"The archon…why would I be worried about the archon?"

"You're…you're not?" Sonia tilted her head. "I…I might have exaggerated you know…Leon is not that strong…"

"Yet!" Leon added.

With a deadpan face, Sonia continued. "Yet…but seriously…at least I'm glad you feel safe with us then…I'm sure it would be hard with your previous experience."

Klara looked at the ground as she started to tremble just enough for Sonia to notice. "…oh…no…I'm still scared…just not of the Archon…I…no, you probably don't want to hear more from me…my voice probably already annoys you."

Leon frowned as he stood up from his seat with a grave expression. No, explain your worry, I'm sure we can find a teacher who will be able to help us."

Klara only responded with a sadder expression, even if she tried to hide. "No… It's not worth it, they are in the same group after all…so if you just told them…then they will immediately take their revenge on me."

"What group are you even talking about?" Sonia asked while looking around in stress, as if this mysterious group could be anywhere.

Klara grabbed her own fist as she clearly seemed hesitant to answer, but after some supposed bravery, she finally opened her mouth. "The rich."

"The…heu?"

"Yes…I also thought it wouldn't be possible, for those being who were always presented to us as some noble who will never betray the value of their citizen to be mean to us…but I was proven wrong immediately." She pointed at her crown. "As I told you…I don't have any money to buy myself good clothing…but…but I thought that at least I could have my own style you know…I still want to look beautiful…I don't think it's too selfish to ask right? But, that's why my little brother, the treasure that he is, gave me this beautiful crown, so I could realize this selfish wish of mine."

Both of them listened at her story with attention, until they panicked once more when they saw a tear fall from Klara's eye, which she hurriedly tried to wash away.

"It's fine…it just…I remember again the mean comment they made about it…my dorm is composed of only rich aristocrats…but it isn't the only thing they shared together…they also shared their disdain for me, and they mocked the crown my brother but his love and soul into. I…I try to tell a teacher…but…but he only mocked me too…and told me that I should have been happy to even have the opportunity to defile their sanctuary with my dirty presence!" Klara was currently sobbing, as she tried to remove her tears from her face, which only made the group more awkward, until Leon's face turned into anger.

"This is unacceptable! I will tell Miss Geeta immediately!" He screamed in anger as he was bout to storm off the room, but he was suddenly grabbed by the arm by Klara, whose face was still covered in tears.

Of course he was way stronger than her, so he could have easily freed himself, but her expression made him rethink his decision. "Please don't, she's not as fair as she looks!" She only cares about the truly powerful, like the archon. if she learn you will go against her will, she will expel you, and I will lose my newfound friend! I can fight them alone!"

Leon's eyes widened as he started to realize how troublesome the situation was becoming. 'This Geeta is powerful…I wouldn't be able to beat her…and my only notable achievement was to arrive fifth in the admission test…she will never look at me again…' But a single glance toward the tearjerker of Klara was enough to make him adopt a resolute expression, 'How dare I make an excuse to not intervene when someone is crying to me!'

Leon put his hand on Klara's shoulder, much to her surprise, before smiling widely. "Do not worry my friend, I will make sure to protect you so that no one will ever dare to bully you again." His eyes softened as she started to pet her hair, which drew a blush from her. "Also, your crown is very pretty, it brings out the light in your eye."

The blush on Klara's face monumentally faded as she had to resist the urge to look at him in derision. 'Ah, it would almost be cute if not for the fact that I know that light died years ago.' Klara thought inside her mind, but outside, she affiched a shy smile as she giggled in embarrassment. "Thank you…for doing that for me…but I really don't want you to get into any trouble…you don't deserve to sacrifice yourself just to help lowly me."

"She's right, Leon, even if you want to help her, you must at least have a plan! I know you don't care that much about your own being, but if you fail too hard, then both you and she will be impacted." Sonia added as she tried to look sternly at Leon.

"Don't worry, I have a plan!" Leon announced proudly, which made Sonia immediately panic.

"Please tell me your plan doesn't solely consist of ignoring whatever advice I will give you."

Leon truly looked shocked by her statement as he removed his hand from Klara's head, who profited from the occasion to fix the placement of her crown. "What do you mean? Since when did I ever not listen to your advice!?"

"Like yesterday, when I told you to hold my hand so you don't get lost, and ended up getting lost anyway!"

"But I was curious if there was any more painting in the hallways…and then it's not my fault that the building is so complicated."

"IT WAS A STRAIGHT LINE!"

While both of them were bickering, Klara used the opportunity to bring out tissues to clean up the tears from her face. Once she was assured she took them all out, she nodded before looking behind her and making a sign, then she turned around before any of the two could notice as she continued to act pitiful. "Heu…sorry…"

Sonia and Leon looked back at her in surprise, before turning back in shame. "I'm so sorry…I completely forgot about…" Before Sonia could finish her sentence, she managed to cover he mouth, but it was too late.

"Don't worry…I can understand why you would prefer to forget the sight of me." Klara looked to the side as if she wasn't affected by her statement, even though she was. 

This sight only made Sonia more guilty, as she tried to reach for her, but this time Klara dodged her attempt. "It's fine, don't force yourself to touch someone like me…"

"That's not what she meant Klara, I know Sonia more than anyone, and I know she only meant this because she was already distracted with attempting to form a plan to help you." Leon intervened as he tried to defend Sonia.

Klara suddenly smiled at him as if she was admiring him, yet strangely, it only gave Leon chills on his back, but as he found no observable reason for this, he brushed it off as just getting cold. "Wow, you must know her a lot, I would hope to have the same type of relationship with my friend. Sadly all I have is someone who wants me to become someone that be will understand…you wouldn't treat me that way would you?"

Something about how she said it made Leon confused, but just from that he already had a bad impression of whoever that friend was, he only kept his mouth shut because he could still feel tenderness from her words.

"…of course not, in fact, I believe you're way better the way you are!"

"Really? How admirable that you don't judge someone based on only how she looks."

"I would never!" Klara's smile only widened, but he attributed it to the fact that she was happy that someone didn't judge her, but reality was completely different.

'They all think that, they always do. The same way they mistook their kindness for openness. Because if you tolerate anyone, you also tolerate intolerance, which no one does, but it's fun seeing a fool sing their own praise, now I wonder what it would take for him to dance as well.´Klara thought deep down, even when she kept afflicting her kind look outside.

"That's really admirable you know, I always thought that this type of person only existed in a hero book, but I'm so glad to see that I was wrong…or maybe you are a hero who left it comic book to help us all." She said while widening her eyes in admiration while leaning toward him.

Leon's eye also widened as he started to blush, but he try to dismiss it by scratching his head, but Klara caught it, and had to use all of her self-control to prevent a smirk from appearing on her face.

'A single compliment it seems.'

"No no, I'm not that impressive…just a big brother who wishes to set the right example for his little brother." Leon tried to wave off her compliment, but he was clearly still shaken by the compliment.

So Klara took this opportunity to press further. "You don't need to sell yourself short, and you need to be from a fictional work to be a hero."

"No…that that too much of a big title for me to bear." He still tried to wave it off, but he was clearly less insistent about it.

Contrary to Klara, who insisted even more. "But that's exactly what people need right now! Don't you see how everyone is terrified, whether by the archon trying to establish their supremacy, or the rich who already possess it! They need someone to rely on, someone they can trust! And you are the perfect candidate! I know you are too humble to remark it, but I know you were among the first to reach the top, you were even faster than some Archon!"

Klara's proposition was so much that Leon wasn't able to replicate, which even surprised Sonia who never saw him this conflicted.

But before anything else could happen, all of them heard a scream happening at the center of the cafeteria.

"DON'T YOU DARE INSULT MY SISTER LIKE THIS!" Leon barely had the time to register who was saying this and a little girl shivering in terror right behind him, that Klara bounced from her seat to join him with the same look of fear.

Without thinking, Leon did the same as he had the feeling that he wanted to involve himself in this situation.

"Hey, I'm back…" Raihan suddenly reappeared with three smoothies in his hand, until he realized that the only one still seated was Sonia, who was also preparing herself to leave until she saw him. "What is happening?"

"I'm not sure, but I think our new friend is in trouble!" She hurried even more, but Raihan was still confused.

"New friend? I've been gone for five minutes."

Sonia grew frustrated, so she grabbed the smoothie in his hand to put them on the table before grabbing his hand. "I will explain later, just that if we don't help Leon right now, he will also get himself in trouble."

"So like usual?"

"Yes like usual! Now move!"

She try to reach him before he could cause any problem to himself, but it was too late, as she already saw him confronting the person responsible for the event in the first place. 

Behind him was Klara who seemed as concerned as her as she restrained the person who screamed while she kept repeating to him not to cause problems with the rich. 

Finally, her gaze ended on the person she could only associate as the rich person himself. He was a boy with deep ginger hair, and with a pretty handsome face if she could say so. He also had the start of a beard below his chin, which helped him have a more mature atmosphere. But his orange gaze not only showed that he was bothered by the situation.

"What is it, do you also want to dirty my presence with your friendship?" He spoke with a cold voice, but Leon didn't even flinch at his remarks as he stood tall. 

Noticing that the situation wasn't close to being solved, he pushed an annoyed sigh as he stood up from his seat to meet Leon, which revealed that he was approximately as tall as Leon.

"My name is Lysandre, may I know the nature of your intervention?" He asked more in formality than care.

Leon furrowed his brow at his disinterest, but he still answered truthfully. "My name is Leon, and I stand in front of you because I hate bullies. And I suspect you to be one."

"Wonderful observation, you would make a blind man proud. Now, what if you just leave me alone, and take these disgusting beings with you so that I don't become as blind as you are."

"So that ehy you were harassing them? Because they were poor?! Didn't you hear the same pitch as us?"

"The one about inclusion, and us being the future of humanity, yes I did hear it, the problem is that the teacher must not have known that this doesn't correspond to this gutter liver." He said with derision as he looked in disgust at Pier and Klara.

"…that's enough, if you're not ready to realize the pain you're causing, then I shall stop you directly!"