Royal Pride (Leona Kingscholar/Yuu)

9 ~ Underlying Feelings

Things did not return to normal like Yuu thought they would. Sure, she and Leona were back on speaking terms and would hang out, but everything was different.

There was tension between them. Playing chess, when their hands would accidentally touch and they would both jolt away, blushing; simply talking, when they would make eye contact and quickly glance in a different direction.

And it seemed as though Ruggie and Lilia were spending more time around each other for whatever reason...

Considering how much time Yuu spent gazing off into the distance, thinking and letting her imagination run free, it wasn't a surprise when her grades started slipping. School seemed so insignificant now, and Leona felt like everything.

"..uu. Yuu?" Jamil stared at Yuu, who had just gotten lost in thought. "You've been getting distracted lately. Is everything alright?"

Yuu let out a laugh. She had started studying with Jamil to keep her grades up, yet she couldn't focus. "Sorry. You're taking time out of your day to help me, and I..."

"Don't be. Here, why don't we take a break?" He passed Yuu a chocolate bar, then proceeded to pull out one for himself. "Thanks. You're always so well prepared, Jamil."

"Well, when you have to tend to someone like Kalim your whole life, you have to be," he said with slight distaste in his tone. Yuu couldn't tell if she was imagining it, but Jamil always seemed to darken a little whenever Kalim was brought up.

She broke off a piece of chocolate. "Do you have any hobbies?"

"Well, I'm in the Basketball Club. And I enjoy singing and dancing. I learned quite a bit from tagging along to Kalim's lessons when we were children."

Yuu nodded. "That makes sense. You seem to be very nimble. You carry yourself with a certain poise."

"Oh, I'm nothing special," Jamil responded, shaking his head. "It just turns out that some of the things I learned from lessons can be applicable in the real world."

"Like?"

"Things like how to present yourself a certain way, or the basics to impressing people. Having a baseline understanding of many skills is useful."

"Is that what you do?"

"What do you mean by that?" Jamil's eyes gained a slight sharpness that wasn't there before.

"Do you have a specific version of yourself that you present others?" Yuu paused. "Sorry, I phrased that a little strangely. I mean, you're always so mild and agreeable. It's almost as though... you respond in whatever way would fit your persona the most."

Jamil smiled politely, though he still had that glint in his eyes. "I assure you that this is the real me. I just find it useful to know such things."

"Please forgive me if I overstepped," Yuu replied. "I often find myself overthinking and analyzing things unnecessarily." However, she was now curious as to what Jamil was hiding. He was a good liar, though, so she doubted she would find out any time soon.

He crumpled up his chocolate bar wrapper and tossed it into the trash can. "It's alright. It's just as you said—you're simply overthinking. Now, shall we get back to studying?"