As lunch ended, Leige was heading out of mystery man Kouji's office, holding his rucksack filled with books and his now empty lunchbox when he heard two voices. Although he wasn't very curious about what they were talking about, they were so loud that he couldn't help but hear every single word clearly.
"I'm so nervous!!" A girl's voice sounded through the corridor.
"It's literally a month away, why are you nervous now?" Another girl's lower, calmer voice followed as they both were walking through the empty corridor.
"Because now's my chance to prove myself to Prince Victor-sama!!" She excitedly claimed, earning a raised eyebrow from the girl next to her.
"I don't think he knows who you are though..." She trailed off at the upset look on the now dejected girl's face, sighing at patting her back. "We can practice together after school."
The girl's face lit up once again.
"I love you Rika!!"
"Yeah yeah."
The voices faded out as they walked away from Leige and into the third year's corridor. Leige was walking into the first year's corridor and honestly didn't think much about their conversation until later, at the end of the last lesson before the teacher was about to dismiss them.
"Oh, by the way, you'd best start training for it next month, it's a great opportunity to prove your skills... if you don't have any however, maybe drop out now and avoid the inevitable embarrassment." The teacher looked pointedly at Leige for the last sentence, to which he snapped out of his daydream and looked back at her blankly.
He had ignored her last comment and had been thinking about if George could cook because then he could just stay by George's side forever and not have to actually do anything... what?
He had only caught the last bit about 'next month'. He connected it to what he had heard from the two third-years and imagined some sort of end of year test... he tried to think of what happened in the game but could only remember something about the heroine winning and getting something... although that much was already obvious considering that she was the heroine...
He was nudged from the side and looked slightly irritable before that morphed into subtle surprise as he saw the heroine looking at him nervously. He had completely forgotten what the heroine looked like, not even considering the fact that she had been sitting next to him the whole time.
"Leige-sama... what's happening next month? Should I be worried?! What's happening?!" She gradually turned quietly panicked as she began to think of possible outcomes in her head as for whatever was happening next month.
Leige was about to shrug when a voice sounded from behind them.
"Well, well, well... you want to know what's happening next month?"
They both turned around, Yumi panicked and Leige sighing at having to crane his neck, deciding on twisting his body around to ensure comfort as he prepared to listen to something that was probably a scene in the game, considering how no one was stopping them from talking and the person who had spoke to them had purple hair...
"No, Samishi-kun, could you tell me?!" Her eager eyes made 'Samishi-kun' blush lightly before arrogantly smirking... Leige had been lost by the name. Samishi... sashimi... it was a shame the boy's hair wasn't orange, otherwise it would've been absolutely golden. However, the name was still funny to him although the purple hair was a let down, and Leige attempted to contain his laughter unsuccessfully as he let out a light giggle which was heard by both of them.
Sashimi snapped his head over to look at Leige with wide eyes. He hadn't expected the dumb, annoying boy to let out such an angelic laugh... more importantly, the brat had interrupted him! His eyes narrowed as he glared at Leige, who looked unperturbed and continued attempting to contain his laughter, obvious by his puffed cheeks.
"What are you laughing at Leige-sama?" Yumi's attention had been easily diverted by the boy's laughter, completely forgetting about the boy in front of them.
Leige looked at Sashimi and back at Yumi, who's eyes were shining with ultimate curiosity. He leaned over and Yumi tucked her hair over her ear.
"Samishi.. Sashimi" although it honestly wasn't that funny, Yumi laughed delightedly, probably more at the fact that he had decided to tell her what he was thinking rather than it actually being that funny.
The class looked curiously after hearing Yumi's laugh, seeing Leige with his puffed cheeks and Yumi smiling brightly, and Samishi seeming to have caught on that they were making fun of him evident by his angry blush... it was a rather entertaining sight.
"O-Oi!" Yumi looked to Sashimi, her eyes widening as she realised that he was still there.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, can you repeat that?" She looked apologetically at him which was enough for him to regain his pride as he smirked again.
"Well, next month is the annual Academy tournament! It's so famous that every single person in the kingdom watches it, and it's aired on tv! There's also a live audience with loads of influential people watching, that's why it's an amazing opportunity! I mean, unless you're a rank 5..." He glared at Leige, which he ignored.
Counting out the obvious exaggeration on some statements, Sashimi had actually provided some useful information.
"Do we get a chance to take on higher years?" Yumi asked curiously, to which he looked at her weirdly and shook his head.
"Of course not! Second and third years are on a completely different level! Actually, first years and third years get the most screen time and attention, because first years showcase new talents and third years showcase perfect talents! Of course, the third year viewing will be off the roof this year, with Kouji Jentarou of the Aglessia Kingdom and the First Prince Victor and the legendary George Devereux, even though he's just a Duke house!" Sashimi said excitedly.
Leige perked his head up at the mention of his brother. So he had been that good at fighting? Well, that was just another reason to cling to him for the rest of his life and ignore all other responsibilities. He could just imagine it now...
A daydream performed by George and Leige
"Hey! You need to pay your taxes otherwise I'll kill you!!" A man with a bat came running towards Leige, who had been eating instant ramen contentedly. Leige took one look at the man and said,
"George." Within the blink of an eye, George appeared and grasped his sword.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" And with that, George rushed to slice his head clean off as Leige continued to eat happily. As George returned, he gave him an apple as payment that he had been carrying around, which suddenly had appeared in his hand.
George took the apple gratefully and dissipated into the shadows...
...that would be heavenly... Leige sighed to himself
George - What am I, a dog?! What even is instant ramen?! Why would a tax collector come at you with a bat?! Why am I getting paid with an apple?!
Leige seemed to have mixed up his past life and his current life... shrugging, he only wished that it would become a reality as he stared off into the distance, no longer paying attention to the two students.