Leo's pupils constricted the moment he opened the door to the club. He had been expecting himself to be alone today, but there was someone else in the room as well it seemed.
"Wakaoo!"
"Hiyaaa!!"
"Wachaoo!!!!"
Well, those tiny little battle roars were certainly familiar to Leo.
Spike was standing right in the middle of the hall throwing punches and kicks at the little teddy bear in front of him. It really left Leo a bit speechless.
"Hmmn?" He seemed to have finally taken notice of Leo and turned around to wave at Leo with a smile on his face.
"What are you doing here? Isn't it a holiday today?" Leo asked as he walked up to the little guy, and he immediately grabbed onto Leo's pants before climbing up to his shoulder. He sure didn't like talking with his head raised.
"There is no holiday for a Martial Artist," Spike said with a prideful look on his face.
Leo just shook his head with a smile.
"What about you?" Spike asked curiously.
"Well, I was getting bored. So, I thought of trying something which I had been working on theoretically," Leo replied with a smile.
"The machine stuff?" Spike asked.
"Yeah," Leo nodded with a little laugh.
"By the way, we made it as a club. We just need to wait to get a place allotted now." Spike looked at Leo with a joyful look on his face.
Leo had already heard about it in the chat group.
They had actually got approval as a club.
Then there was another piece of good news. The Academy had decided to compensate Leo and Harry for the incident a few days earlier. Both Leo and Harry had decided over the call that they were going to be asking for funding for the club.
And, hence the request was made.
As a result, their Club had actually had enough funds to rank among top 10 funded clubs among the whole Academy.
The news certainly had drawn attention towards them, but not in much of a good way. They were a group of weirdos so there still weren't many who were willing to join them. And, a few who dared to come were all scared away by Biggie.
In the end, the incident resulted only in making a few other clubs jealous of them.
"What course are you in, Spike?" Leo suddenly asked, he didn't remember hearing him speak about his course back then.
"I am in the Literature Department," Spike replied with a smile.
Leo immediately froze, and a second later turned his head to look at the little guy on his shoulder.
He certainly wasn't expecting that from him.
"Why does everyone give me that look? Can't I be a scholar?" Spike complained, and it left Leo speechless.
"I am the first from my planet to venture out. My parents have high hopes for me. They want me to achieve something in my life and represent our race. For that, I must be able to communicate properly." Spike looked at Leo with a serious face.
"I understand, but weren't you interested in Martial arts?" Leo asked him with a helpless smile on his face. He couldn't be blamed for it.
"Yes, that certainly is true. But, I would be skinned alive if I talk about it at home. My parents are orthodox type. They don't understand the greatness of Martial arts and only see it as something for the boorish people. For them, education is everything." Spike sighed.
Leo really didn't know how to feel. He never had expected to have a conversation like this with a Hedgehog before. It was certainly an unimaginable thing for the previous him.
The two were about to move into the Workroom when an announcement rang.
"Aiden Silver is hereby ordered to report to the Dean's Office at this instant." The news immediately put a frown on Leo's face. He didn't know why he was being called.
"Hmmn? Did you do something, Leo?" Spike asked in surprise.
"It might be related to that incident a few days before," Leo said with a smile.
"Well, let's go then. I am having my break time anyways," Spike was all in for it.
"But, I was the only one called. You sure you wanna come with me?" Leo asked, looking at him.
"Don't worry. I have my ways." Spike smiled with a confident look on his face as he jumped into pocket on Leo's vest and disappeared into it.
"Don't worry, I have retracted my needles. It won't hurt." Spike pushed his thumb out from the pocket.
Leo smiled, and then just walked out of the place continuing to walk towards the Dean's office wondering what it was all about.
…
Dean's Office
"Come and have a seat," Valen said as he looked at Leo standing in front of him.
Leo nodded, and took a seat.
"..."
A silence ensued in the room as Valen stared at Leo.
Leo forced a smile on his face not knowing what this was all about. It was certainly awkward.
"Is there any problem, Sir?" Leo finally couldn't hold back and ask him. The stare was really killing him to be honest.
"I think there is." Valen looked at Leo with a calm gaze as if he was trying to pierce into his soul.
Leo's brows twitched on hearing that reply.
"Be truthful, how much did Jack tell you about that Extra Dimensional creature called Zest?" Valen tapped the glasstop of his table while staring at Leo with that piercing gaze.
Leo immediately began to feel the sweat on his face, and even his back had begun to get drenched.
He knew they were done for.
"D-Dean I-"
"Don't lie, it won't end well. You need to speak the truth. There is a lot going on, and I need to know the truth," Valen said with a serious look on his face. He was well aware of Jack's personality. The moment Leo and Harry had covered up for Jack and protected him, he knew something was wrong there.
A student would be a student, Jack had learned everything he had from Valen. There was no way he could have outsmarted him. Valen only needed a few minutes to figure out all the possible routes that Jack could have gone through to pull Leo and Harry on his side.
Yesterday, he called Harry to his office and managed to get the truth out of him.
So, it was useless for Leo to lie.