#Sereia x Leona

[sukarabia]

Sereia x Leona - A disastrous first meeting

Disclaimer: Sereia is @kirseduwu‘s OC! Mary-Ann is one of my (still unrevealed) OCs, and they’re both 1st years at the time of this drabble. I’m sorry this took so long, and sorry if Sereia is OOC, I tried working with the character sheet you provided me T_T Regardless, I hope you like it! <3

“... You’re seriously weird, you know.”

Sereia stopped in her tracks. That voice- it was unmistakable. Swift as thunder, she turned around.

“.. Ara, if it isn’t Leona-san. Is there anything I could help you with?” She titled her head, softly smiling at him.

“There you go again. Seriously, aren’t you tired?”

Dusk was slowly setting on the courtyard, yet the light seemed almost blinding to Sereia as she processed what Leona had said. She responded, as imperturbable as ever, a fake smile plastered on her face.

“I’m afraid I don’t follow, Leona-san. I am just putting away the practice material, after all. Is there anything wrong with that?”

“... Ha, look at you, with that fake smile n’ all. Don’t you know your eyes ain’t even smiling when you’re grinning like that?”

She had to resist the urge to bit her lower lip as she fought the growing uneasiness swelling inside of her.

“’A fake smile’? You must be mistaken, Leona-san. Why would I pretend about anything?”

Somehow, her voice had faltered a bit. And when Sereia looked up to meet Leona’s gaze, she understood that he had noticed. Shit. Why did this guy have to butt in? He threw his head back, looking down at her with a cocky expression.

“Hah, so I was right. Seems like our lil’ mermaid can reach her limits, too. Must be tiring, smiling around those idiots all day and pretendin’ you care. Kinda admire you, in a sense.” He paused, and his expression got colder. “... But man, you seriously creep me out.”

--

“You seriously creep me out”.

As much as she wanted to play it cool, Leona’s words rang in her head. Seriously- what did that jerk even want anyway? He barely showed up for class, despite being held back once already. He barely interacted with his classmates, scoffing whenever anyone would talk to him, and purposefully skipping on any social activities. What even was he up to? Who knows, but Sereia knew what she wanted- to have a smooth high school career, both academically and socially, in order to land a nice job post-graduation and finally become a person who matters. Which, obviously, a spoiled royal like Leona would never understand.

“Se~re~ia~-chan~”

Absent-mindedly, Sereia tapped on her pencil. Did he figure her out? Well, not that it mattered, or that she was in the wrong. For someone like her, it’s important to keep on a façade- because unlike Leona, she has to be liked. Because no one is going to fold their back for a rootless orphan- she had to be the one to appeal to people. She was going to erase the scars of the past. She was sure of it.

“-ia-chan?”

But man.... regardless, she was irked. It was her adage to avoid troublesome matters- but trouble had just found her. She just couldn’t understand- why would he purposefully go out of his way to tell her that she creeped him out? When he is such an aloof person by nature?

“Heeeey....”

Sereia jolted up as she felt something cold on her cheek. Startled, she looked up to see her classmate Mary-Ann handing her a soda can, pouting.

“Oi, Sereia-chan, you just ignored me for a good 5 minutes y’know? Seriously, after I go all the way to the cafeteria to bring you something to drink? How mean ~”

“... Ara, Mary-Ann-san, I didn’t see you. My apologies.” Sereia smiled as she took the can from her hand.

“‘Didn’t see me’? That ain’t not seeing me, that’s straight up ignoring!!” Mary-Ann sat down next to Sereia, sighing.

I didn’t even offer for her to sit.... was Sereia’s first reaction. Ah, seriously, we don’t match. Mary-Ann was extroverted and exuberant, the type of person that anyone could figure out at first sight. The very opposite of Sereia- yet when they met on the first day, Mary-Ann suddenly decided they’d become best buddies, and tagged along wherever Sereia went. She wasn’t a bad person, but she was way too simple-minded.

“So, what’s up with you?”

“Huh?” Sereia looked at her. “Ah... Nothing much. I was just thinking.”

“Nah, no way, you literally look like you swallowed salt.” Mary-Ann put her chin in the palm of her hand. “Is it Leona-san?”

For a split second, Sereia couldn’t control her expression of surprise. How did she even figure that out?

“Eheh, hit the nail on the head ~” She laughed as Sereia stared at her with a suspicious expression. “- Oi, what’s up with your face? Swear I didn’t spy, but I saw you both talking when I was putting stuff back after Vargas’ class.” She grasped Sereia’s arm, her face way too close for the blue-haired girl. “Soooo, what happened?”

“Mary-Ann-san, you’re misunderstanding, nothing happened.” Sereia clarified as she wriggled her arm out of Mary-Ann’s embrace. “Leona-san just had things he wanted to talk about, that’s all.”

“Leona-san? Talking to anyone? As if. Plus, judging by your face, he was totally being a jerk, wasn’t he?”

... Maybe Sereia misjudged her, and she wasn’t as oblivious as she thought.

“Aaaah, seriously, that guy pisses me off ~ He doesn’t talk to anyone in class at all, and then he comes around and insults you? You’re like, the kindest person in the class!”

.... Or maybe not.

“Ara, I really am not.” Swift as thunder, Sereia feigned a smile. “I guess I must have irked him the wrong way....”

Mary-Ann suddenly got up, startling Sereia. The blonde girl clapped her hands, a grin on her face. What is she up to....

“Well, you don’t wanna keep a misunderstanding around for too long, right? That Leona guy definitely doesn’t have any reason to hate you, so you should clarify things with him!”

“He leaves straight after class, so-”

“Aaand that’s where I come in! I’m on classroom cleaning penal- ahem, I meant duty with him today, so if you cover my shift tonight, you’ll get to talk to him!”

“.... Mary-Ann-san. Surely, you aren’t just trying to escape your cleaning duties?”

“Eh-? Ahah, no, I would... never do that...” Letting a nervous laughter out, she waved her hands. “And I’ll like, totally pay you back by covering your shift when you’re paired with a hot guy, m’kay?~”

Sereia sighed. That just sounded like trouble, but... she felt as if she had to clarify things with him. She was used to contempt and scoffs- but for some reason, Leona’s words made her heart ache.

“.... Alright. Thank you, Mary-Ann-san.”

--

Sereia regretted agreeing almost as soon as she entered the empty classroom. Leona was napping on a desk, obviously not intending on helping out at all. Sereia cleared her throat.

“... Is this how you clean?”

Surprised, the Savanaclaw student removed the book he was using to block the light. He slightly raised his head to peer at the young girl in front of him.

“Well, if it isn’t our lil’ mermaid. What are you doing here? I thought I was on cleaning duty with that blonde chick?”

“She isn’t ‘that blonde chick’, that’s Mary-Ann-san.” Sereia sighed. “I’m covering her shift for her, so please start cleaning already.”

“... Well, would you look at that, ever-so-kind.” Leona grinned, resting his head on his arms. “Do you get some brownie points for that?”

Irked, Sereia turned around.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now, if you would please start cleaning.”

“And what do I get for it?”

Sereia turned around once more. Upon seeing her face, Leona’s grin disappeared. Her eyes had turned cold. Interesting, he thought.

“Leona-san. I assume as a royal heir, you haven’t had the opportunity to clean after yourself, never mind after others, am I correct? Well, now that we are both Night Raven College Students, please understand that you are to do as us plebeians do.” Sereia’s voice came out as colder than she had intended. But for some reason, Leona’s arrogance really brought out the side of her she’d rather hide.

“Ha, what a quick change of attitude. How creepy.”

“- Would you please stop saying that.”

The tone of Sereia’s voice perked Leona’s interest, as he raised himself up with a big yawn. His gaze met Sereia, and the intensity of his predator eyes caught Sereia off-guard.

“... You’re an interesting one, you know.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you said I was ‘creepy’ a few seconds ago. Talk about a change of attitude.” Sereia tried her best to keep her composure, but the air seemed to grow heavier as Leona shifted towards her.

“All those lil’ herbivores ain’t worth my time, but you...” He stood up, and stopped right in front of Sereia. “.. You seem to have some fight in you, y’know. The way I see it, you can’t stand those idiots either, but why do you go around pretendin’ you do? What are you trying to get out of them?”

Sereia took a step back, only to be met with the wall behind her. Shit, she thought. The tension made her feel like her legs could give in at any moment- yet she couldn’t turn her eyes away from Leona’s gaze.

“... I already told you, I’m afraid you’re mistaken about this.”

Leona let out a chuckle as he placed his arm above her head, hovering over her.

“You’re still going on about that even in this situation? Hah, my instincts didn’t fail me- you’re intriguing. Y’know, I can’t stand those innocent, goody-two-shoes types, but you....”

The setting sun made Leona’s eyes shine even more in the dusk-coloured classroom. Sereia gulped, almost enchanted by the sight in front of her.

“... Something tells me you might be the one to make this pretentious school less boring.”