CH 51

Lexley Cricket Tournament (8)

I was so surprised that I became speechless. Was Leto a kid who knew how to speak like that? Not only being honest with his feelings, but also revealing them to other people. Leto’s voice was reverent and sharp, as he spoke from the bottom of his heart with a sincere expression.

When I was doubting if the person in front of me was really Leto, I noticed his red ears. At that sight, it was definitely Leto. So he had changed. At some point, I noticed that he had changed but I wasn’t sure of it yet since he was such a discreet person.

At this rate, I could not only prevent Leto’s murder but also remain good friends with him. But why am I still anxious?

He sighed deeply, perhaps noticing how I felt. When Leto let out a long breath, I unconsciously flinched. Leto turned around, disregarding what he had just said. My heart dropped with a thud at the sight of Leto turning his head away as though to forget it.

“What’s with him!”

Reze, who appeared next to me before I realised, murmured as he watched Leto’s back that was hastily walking away.

“So, will you be friends with me, Pierre?”

“…We’ll see.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do my best from now on.”

Forgetting the karma he had accumulated just now, I ignored Reze’s casual words. I ran to get to Leto’s side. I approached Leto, who was walking alone, completely ignoring Reze, who was calling my last name from behind. Leto’s steps hastened. No matter how much I ran, the distance between us did not reduce.

“Leah!”

When I called him out loudly, Leto, who was walking alone, turned his head. There was a brief sadness on his face as he glanced at me lightly, asking what I wanted. Upon discovering that, I regretted and questioned why I couldn’t answer Leto’s words easily earlier.

“I’ll make you happy. Always!”

Leto’s eyes widened slightly at my words, and he soon smiled bitterly.

“Sure.”

He clearly said he agreed, but something felt off. I felt as though I did not say exactly what Leto wanted to hear. Moreover, I felt regretful that I couldn’t convey my feelings clearly to Leto.

＊  ＊  ＊

Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks.

“Hello, Pierre.”

It was before the third test. At sunset, the students in the field were all warming up beforehand as the test was about to start. Leto and I were stretching, loosening each other’s arms when we heard a familiar voice from above. Even without raising my head, I could tell that ominous voice was Reze.

When I didn’t respond to his greeting, Reze repeated the words ‘Hello, Pierre.’ until I got fed up. He was determined to say it until I answered.

“Yes, hello.”

When I couldn’t stand it and finally respond to him, Reze smiled in satisfaction. Was everything he was doing right now all in order to get close to me? Reze, who said he would be nice to me, was rather pestering me more than before. He smiled without being aware of what I was thinking and met Leto’s gaze.

Whenever they did that, the two would constantly growl and glare at each other.

“Wow, are you a loner, Arsene?”

“Can’t you see I have a friend in front of you.”

“Oh, that’s because she will leave you soon to be my friend.”

Now, they would even fight over me. Leto directly raised his middle finger to Reze, not wanting to lose the argument. Reze did not just stand and watch that. Using both left and right. He raised both hands at the same time and flicked his middle finger at Leto. What a nice friendship. Looking at that, they oddly seem to get along well together. 

“Now, go back to your seats everyone!”

Just in time, a strict command was heard. A heavy silence soon fell on the field, which had been buzzing with excitement.

“Today, we are going to decide on the main cricket players. As you know, we will select two women and two men, and those selected will go through strict training for the rest of the year.”

The student nodded.

“Today’s test is simple. It’s a mental test.”

The students were befuddled at the strange announcement made by the captain. Although the first and second tests were somehow predictable, it was the first time hearing about a mental test. The captain continued to explain about the mental test, but the explanation was rather simple. It was to calmly find a solution no matter what kind of situation or crisis appeared.  

“This is an illusion magic that will create your crisis. Good marks will be given to those who take this and hold on.”

In the captain’s hand was a dark red pill. The seemingly dangerous pill made me more nervous than any other test. To be honest, I was worried. What should I do if Leto gets a panic attack after taking that medicine?

I glanced at Leto with an uneasy look, but Leto, the person involved, had a confident expression.

“Pierre, if you’re scared just give up now. I’ll participate for you.”

Reze, who had been sticking next to me since a while ago, said something that I wasn’t sure if it were words of comfort or insult.

I pushed Reze away and accepted the medicine the captain handed out. There shouldn’t be any side effects, right? The captain who handed out everyone the medicine told me to take it right away, and I swallowed the pill without hesitation. The pill didn’t taste bitter or bad, but was oddly tasteless. It was like swallowing air.

The feeling was rather strange, and just when I was feeling bloated, something jolted inside my stomach. If I had to describe it, it felt like smoke was passing through my intestines and up to my oesophagus. Instead of gushing out of my mouth, the smoke rushed rapidly into my brain.

I sat down on the floor. My eyes closed by themselves. I thought I would get in trouble if I collapsed like this, so I opened my eyes again and saw a truck right in front of me. The speed of the truck rushing towards me was frightening. My feet couldn’t move as though they were bound tightly, and my body was already frozen like ice. I couldn’t avoid it.

“!!”

I closed my eyes and lowered my head. I thought I was going to get hit by the truck, but strangely, I did not feel any pain.

When I opened my eyes again, there was no truck that tried to hit me, only an unfamiliar space laid out in front of me. And I saw my classmates in front of me. Strangely, only one, Leto, was missing. 

“Guys, where’s Leah?”

I asked the kids who were looking around.

“Leah? I don’t know. I woke up and appeared here.”

“Is Leah important now? Let’s quickly get out of this gloomy place.”

As the students were looking around for an exit, the class rep in the distance suddenly screamed and collapsed. Surprised by the sudden sound, I dashed and ran to the fallen class rep. He had a pale complexion and black smoke appeared beside him. It was black magic. The class rep was having a seizure and shook before he suddenly stopped breathing.

“W-What?”

My hand trembled at the sight of the class rep who had turned cold in front of me. What is going on here?

“W-Wake up!”

I hurriedly tried to wake up the class rep and remove the black fog around him. There must be a magic circle that could eliminate this black magic. I tried to dismantle the black magic in front of me by drawing whatever magic circle that I could remember. However, no matter how many magic circles were drawn, the powerful magic remained on the class rep and rather than disappearing, it flew towards another student.

“Kyaaa!”

When I looked around, the black smoke stuck towards another kid’s body this time. Soon, the smoke enveloped the student and strangled them. I couldn’t do anything and when the student collapsed, the black smoke moved towards another student. My friends were dying one by one. Who on earth casted this black magic?

It would have been easy to cancel the black magic as long as the person who casted it was found. As I hurriedly turned my head around, I paused when I felt a presence from above.

‘No way…’

“……Leto.”

I looked at Leto Arsene flying in the air. His red hair blew in the wind and covered his face. There was no focus seen in Leto’s black eyes that was visible through the gap. The appearance of him who acknowledged me and honestly revealed his feelings to me was nowhere to be seen. He made a light gesture and controlled the black magic. His appearance was like that of a body without a soul.

“Leto! Stop it!”

Leto looked at me as I shouted.

“Leto!”

“…….”

“Leto, don’t do it! They’re friends. They’re all your friends…”

I cried out, but Leto pretended not to hear me. Then, Leto’s finger pointed at me. My image was reflected in those emotionless eyes. I felt the black magic that killed all my other friends approach me. I looked around. In the quiet silence, the only ones left were me and Leto with pale expressions. He was going to kill me.

“Leto!”

Black magic enveloped me and choked my neck. I was suffocating, but why was I still worried about Leto? Why was I so worried about Leto’s state, who would be left alone after killing everyone?

“…If I die, you will be all alone.”

Leto’s fingers flinched at my words.

“Th, Then it would be scary, Leto. It’s scary to be alone.”

I lost strength in my body. Not long after, my body collapsed and hit the cold floor. During the state I was still a little conscious, I looked at Leto, who was left alone. Emotions began to appear in his eyes, and he frowned in pain. He looked at me in disbelief as though he couldn’t believe what he had done, but eventually moved his finger and pointed at himself.

Leto?