Blossom: Continued from Jean x Leona, part 1! (SORRY IT'S SO LATE; I HAD CLASS YESTERDAY! I'M SORRY FOR KEEPING YOU ALL WAITING AHHHH)

Scenario: A week has passed since the Magishift deal was made.

Ruggie thought he'd seen it all. Then the sight of Leona carrying a stack of overflowing laundry baskets down the hall proved him wrong.

Later that day, Ruggie peeked silently into Leona's room, trying not to disturb Leona's nap, and saw the housewarden studying. Actually studying! Ruggie rubbed his eyes, certain he was seeing things.

When he heard Ruggie enter, Leona's ear twitched, though he didn't bother turning to greet him. "What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy studying for Trein's test?"

"Don't you need me to do your homework for you or something?"

Leona snorted. "I already finished it. What do you take me for, a fool?"

"What about your laundry?"

"I did that earlier. Sayu's, Kazuha's, and Jean's, too." Half-turning in his seat, Leona added, "Oh, I forgot to do yours. Leave it outside your door next time."

"Uh, sure." Ruggie bowed his head and left, head whirling at this impossible turn of events. Since when did Leona do his own laundry, let alone other people's? Since when did he study for tests? Since when did he even remember his homework?

Demonic possession, Ruggie decided. It had to be demonic possession. There was no other possible explanation—even Jamil Viper from Scarabia wasn't strong enough to control Leona like this. With a shudder, Ruggie wondered what kind of horrible, ruthless demon could have preyed upon the housewarden during the night. Perhaps the Lord of the Dead himself.

"You look like such an angel, sister!" Barbara declared, wringing out the last bit of dampness in Jean's hair.

And though Jean brushed off the compliment with an embarrassed laugh, it was true. Gone was the practical outfit and hair kept neatly out of her way. She wore one of Barbara's dresses, a sky-blue one that fit snugly at her waist.

Stepping before the mirror, Jean hardly recognized herself. Then again, she didn't really spend a lot of time in front of the mirror. "I'm..."

"Beautiful!" said Barbara.

"Radiant!" Mona suggested.

"A flower amidst the sun-scorched realms of the east!" Fischl said.

"...different." Jean considered her reflection some more, still unsure about her new look. "I do feel a lot more relaxed after all that, though. Thanks for giving me this makeover, all of you."

"You deserve it. I will admit, I was surprised when you told me you didn't have anything else to do today." Ningguang, the one who had commissioned, designed, and funded the new women's bathroom, twirled her pipe. "You always seem so busy cleaning up after your dorm."

"Oh, um... yes. I guess I managed to finish everything early this week." For some reason, Jean found herself wishing to keep her deal with Leona a secret.

No such luck. Almost instantly, Yelan reported, with a glint in her eyes, "She's lying."

"Come on!" protested Mona. She pulled out her wallet and displayed its contents—a single coin—to everyone. "After all we went through to pay for your spa treatment and massage? I think you at least owe us the truth."

"Yes, reveal unto us, your closest confidants, the shimmering secrets buried beneath thy golden facade, Grandmaster Jean!" Fischl commanded.

How could Jean refuse a request like that?

Reluctantly, she told them the whole story about Leona stopping her after Magishift practice and offering her the deal.

When she mentioned Leona's concern, the reaction was instantaneous: Barbara clapped her hands together, Fischl nodded resolutely, and Kokomi looked up from her book with a raised eyebrow, while Yelan, Mona, and Ningguang exchanged knowing looks.

"Did he?" Ningguang mused. "So that's why you have time to yourself all of a sudden. Good for you, Jean."

Kokomi shook her head. "I'm surprised Leona would even care. Historically, it's unlike him."

"He doesn't—" Jean started to say.

Barbara's eyes lit up. "Ooh, I know! We should show you off to him."

A sinking feeling in her chest, Jean asked, "To who?"

"To Leona, of course!"

"Yes, yes, let's do that!" The other girls pulled Jean to her feet. "Come on!"

Digging in her heels, Jean blustered, "Wait, wait, wait, no. Why would you do that? I'm sure Leona's busy, and tired..."

"Oh, I'm sure he's exhausted." Yelan smiled, looking as delighted as if she'd just stumbled upon a whole gang of Treasure Hoarders. "Which is exactly why we should take you to see him."

Leona was exhausted.

He'd woken at eight in the morning to the sound of his alarm ringing, which was ridiculous, since he never set alarms. Looking at the time, he realized that he was nearly late for class.

[Doughnuts]! That deal with Jean.

Despite rushing to Trein's class, Leona was still late. He tried to stay awake through the whole thing, but old habits persisted, and he fell asleep halfway through.

In exchange for the history notes he'd missed, Leona did the laundry for Azul, as well as Jean, Kazuha, and Sayu. Later, he had to apologize to Kazuha for dyeing all of Kazuha's white robes pink. No one told Leona you had to wash the red ones and the white ones separately! Didn't you just stuff everything into the washing machine and press a few buttons?

He hung up the clothes to dry, only for the wind to blow all of it down into the dirt. So he washed everything again, returned the clothes to their respective owners, and realized that he needed to do his homework.

A slight problem, seeing as he'd never paid attention in class. Leona skimmed over the previous textbook chapters and slogged through the assignments due tomorrow.

"What's this stack of paper on my desk?" He flipped through it. Oh. It's the homework I wanted Jean to do for me. 27 missing assignments.

For a brief, tempting moment, Leona considered asking Ruggie to do it for him. He'd never been against cheating to make his life easier, after all.

If Jean saw him now, he knew what she'd say. Pathetic. You call yourself a housewarden?

Well, there was no way he was going to make Jean think he couldn't handle doing all her chores. Because he definitely could. For Seven's sake, he was the housewarden! He was sure that—

Something was on fire. The scones!

Luckily, there was a bucket of water nearby, left over from when he'd mopped the floor of the dorm. He put out the fire, wiped the oven clean, and took out the charred scones. They didn't remotely resemble the images from the cookbook.

Should I throw them away? 

They're not that bad, right?

For dinner, Leona ate the burnt scones. He made a fresh batch as a present for the Savanaclaw Magishift team for their hard work, and to their credit, no one complained about the taste.

After dinner, he helped Sayu finish her alchemy homework. Twice he almost snapped at her for dozing off during his explanation. Was this how Ruggie felt when he tutored Leona?

By the end of the day, Leona was ready to leap into bed. If one more person approached him for help on their homework, he'd probably curl up like a kitten and mewl.

The sight of a figure at the end of the hall stopped him in his tracks. Somehow he knew who it was even before seeing her face. The flickering light from the torches cast a dim halo around her, and her hair was sunlight dancing across the blue ocean of her dress.

All thoughts of heading to bed—alone, at least—vanished from his mind.

"Go on, Jean!" someone whispered, nudging Jean's shoulder.

Jean felt several pairs of hands push her forward down the hallway, and turned back towards the others for a final show of support—but they had already vanished like wraiths, leaving her alone in the hall with Leona. She heard their receding giggles melt into the chirps and rustles of the night.

Without her sword, Aquila Favonia, in her hand, Jean felt vulnerable, like her arms were mere ornaments that hung at her sides. She wobbled down the hallway in heels she had yet to grow accustomed to.

Jean had never retreated from a challenge, whether she was facing ten bands of hilichurls, six Abyss Heralds, or Stormterror himself. But as Leona's face sharpened into view, more and more doubts surfaced in her mind.

Why was she doing this again?

As Jean's heartbeat quickened, her footsteps slowed. There's still time to turn back! She half-considered taking off her heels and bolting down the hallway barefoot. Never mind the dusty floor.

"You know, despite popular belief, I don't bite," said Leona, obviously sensing Jean's reluctance to approach. "Unless you want me to."

Before she could think, Jean blurted, "That's good. Consent is important."

Leona blinked at her, and then laughed—a rich sound that echoed down the hallway. "Are you sure you've been getting enough sleep?"

"This whole week, yes." Jean turned away, hoping that the dim lighting hid her blush. "So, is my performance in Magishift satisfactory now?"

"Oh, perfectly satisfactory," Leona said, in a tone that would have gotten him expelled from the Church of Barbatos. "Although you still have some trouble working with the others on the team. Like me, for example. When I move here, you should try to get over here... and take the disk from me." He gestured in the air to show what he meant.

Jean challenged, "Or maybe you just don't understand the way I move." As she spoke, she felt Leona creep up behind her, his presence impossible to miss, like the sun's less innocent cousin who only came out to play at night.

His breath warm against her ear, Leona whispered, "Then why don't you show me?"

"Maybe I will."

For the first time in years, Savanaclaw won the annual Magishift tournament. Even the famous Malleus Draconia was no match for the Dandelion at her full strength and the lion himself, Leona Kingscholar.

Separately, they would have lost for sure, but the unlikely duo worked together so seamlessly that they almost seemed to share one mind. Whenever Jean needed someone to pass to, Leona was there, and whenever Leona was about to be swarmed by enemy players, Jean was there.

As reporters questioned Draconia about his unexpected defeat ("I'm just pleased to have been invited," was Malleus's unfazed response), Jean looked for Leona amid her cheering teammates, wild joy turning to disappointment when she couldn't find him. Had he gone back to the dorm already?

Perhaps last night had only been a fling after all, and the past week just a necessary sacrifice for Leona in order to secure their victory in Magishift. Well, what had she expected, really? That he'd somehow changed... for her?

Someone touched her on the shoulder. Jean whirled, and Leona was there, pressing a fragrant bouquet of purple flowers into her hands.

She stared at the bouquet, then at him. "What's this?"

"Lavender." Leona's eyes twinkled mischievously. "It's supposed to help you fall asleep. At least according to that silver-tongued herbivore from Scarabia."

Elbowing his way over, Ruggie shook his head at Leona. "Idiot. You're supposed to kiss her, not give her flowers."

Leona arched an eyebrow at Jean. "I could do that too, if she wants."

While Jack and Ruggie howled with laughter, Jean waved her hands in stark denial. "N-no! I do not want that."

With a shrug, Leona said, "Suit yourself. Consent is important, after all."

It was no secret that Leona and Jean liked each other.

Whenever they passed each other in the hallway, Jean made a mock-angry face at Leona, and Leona rolled his eyes right back. Though it was more for fun than anything else at this point, the whole mortal-enemies charade never failed to amuse the other students.

To spend more time around Jean (although he claimed the real reason was that he couldn't let Jean's grades beat his), Leona tried to attend his classes regularly. Every once in a while, he still missed a class, but Jean made sure to give him a sound scolding afterwards.

Occasionally, sprigs of lavender materialized on Jean's desk or in her purse. In return, Leona sometimes opened his textbook to find peppermint leaves pressed between the pages. When they were both too busy with their own tasks to spend time together, it was their way of staying in touch.

On the field, their affection came in the form of light touches and casual brushes that occurred just a little too frequently to be accidental. To the awed audience, they almost appeared to be dancing.

One day, when they were both lying on Leona's bed in comfortable silence, Jean thought to ask, "So, are you still against hating people?"

"Hating people takes a lot of energy, it's true," he conceded with a yawn. One hand propped up his head, while the other reached out to take Jean's. "But loving people... it takes even more."

In spite of her best efforts, Jean couldn't keep the smile off her face. She hugged a pillow. "Why bother with me, if it's so much trouble?"

"Well, I tried not to at first. But I discovered, after a while, that I like you too much for that."

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