Leon Denair's Story

Leon leaned against one of the trees in the courtyard outside the academy. The novel he was reading was just about to get interesting. Unfortunately, he didn't own any Japanese books, and was reading a German one, so it would be a difficult transition from letters to characters. Nevertheless, it was one of his favorite books. Thus, it was worth it. Although he was fluent now, Japanese was definitely the most difficult language he'd ever studied. The kanji was the worst part, but he managed to remember the two thousand or so jouyou, the characters necessary for success in daily life. His father's friend, and the man he was staying with while in Japan, Eiji Mirazawa, had lightly lectured him about how he needed to regularly read Japanese books, so as to fortify his memory of the kanji. But Leon had insisted that he would be exposed to enough at Yosuka Academy.

He looked up from the dramatic, tragic German novel at the sound of a motor. A girl on a moped had pulled up to the school. He couldn't see her face for the helmet she was wearing, but the uniform told of her gender. Leon watched as she parked and sat down on a nearby bench. Upon further inspection, he realized that this girl was a transfer student. From where? he wondered. Leon watched for a few more moments, then turned back to his book. The hero's girlfriend just died. Tragic.

Leon thought once more about the transfer student. I wonder... I wonder who she is... He actually kind of wanted to talk to her. But, his shy nature, his charm point amongst the other girls in this school, took over. He brushed thoughts of the girl from his mind. He'd find out more about her later. Leon then became completely focused once again on the depressing book.

"You're slower today."
Vincent Smith heard, walking down the stairs of the house, wearing some "Starfox" pyjamas. It was his sister, who already was wearing the school uniform and was sitting at the table, having grapefruit, rice and scrambled eggs. Vincent wasn't hungry this morning, he just stumbled down and made himself a double espresso on the machine.

"Slow indeed..." moaned the young man, exhausted. He had been studying till after midnight, and while he was fluent enough in the language to prosper, he felt he had a lot to work on, especially in order to satisfy the expectations of his parents, who were in the living room, listening to some opera music and having their own share of the breakfast. Father was already a pensionnate, and didn't need to work anymore, which made him rather happy, because that meant all the journeying and moving would end, and he would finally be able to discover how to live his own way... soon. Before that, graduation time in a japanese academy.

His sister got up, picked up a briefcase and walked out the door without saying much else, while he hastily drank up his shot of coffee, ran up the stairs and put on his formal school clothing, grabbing his own briefcase and ran like hell out the door. His parents said something, but he didn't listen this time...

The walk to school was about fifteen minutes if he was quick, and with the coffee shot he was. His sister had the talent of arriving exactly punctual, while he had to deviate a bit to get at it early. She was like clockwork; If he would run past her, he would arrive on time; If not, then there'd be some explaining to do!

With a final dash, he sprinted all the way through the school's main gate, gasping and groaning loudly at the physical stress of running like a madman, and looked around. Ten minutes before the bell would ring. At first surprised, he started to smile; He might have woken up slowly, but he still achieved what he needed to pull off.

He adjusted his posture, still breathing heavily through his nose to recover from that run. He didn't want to seem overly exhausted or anything, no siree!
...and passed by a certain new girl sitting on a courtyard bench. He puzzledly looked at the gal, wondering why what he could recognize as a transfer student had arrived at this time of year, but kept walking along; He saw Leon, a kid from two classes below, whom he was quite happy to know. All the "gaijin" in school happened to have quite a colourful past and origins, which didn't make them immediately looked down upon by most of the fellow japanese students, whom, fitting for the country they were in, were generally nationalistic.

"Ach Leon, du Trauermiene!" shouted Vincent in the unformal German he had been taught by his father, smiling as he saw the fellow student reading some novel, leaning at the tree. "How're things?" he spoke, this time in Japanese.

As the hero in the story approached his final battle, Leon heard a familiar voice call out to him in rather colloquial German. He looked up to see Vincent, a student two classes above him. Leon greeted him in Japanese. "Good morning, Vincent-senpai. I'm fine... just reading. A little tired though. I woke up early," he said, marking his place in his book and closing it, holding it at his side as he spoke to Vincent. Leon raised an eyebrow at him upon further inspection. "I'm guessing you... ran recently?" he asked, unable to keep a small laugh out of his voice. His own morning had been rather peaceful. He had woken up earlier than usual, do he had sat on the porch, a blanket around his shoulders, and watched the sun rise. Later, he'd taken a warm bath, had breakfast with Eiji (who fretted about him as usual; the elderly old man was sometimes too thoughtful), and taken the half-hour walk to school all as usual. Nothing remarkable had happened so far. Besides, of course, the transfer student. 

"Oh!" went Vincent, stiffening up at the remark concerning his... quick jog to school.
"Yes, I suppose I've taken a quicker stroll than usual. I don't want a late arrival to jeapordize my day, now." said he, and performed a typically japanese act, scratching the back of his head in slight embarassment. Sure, being mocked by his little sister for being late would be petty and insignificant, but he tried not to make too much of an arse of himself.

He slightly turned around, looking at the gal on the bench. "Did you notice her? I don't think she's from here. Reminds me of us all. Our group's full of foreigners and gaijin and all that." said he, and just in that moment, Castiel, another pupil younger than him, had sat down beside Sakura.
Noticing this, Vince erfed, turning back around, not wanting to disturb the encounter between the two, not even with his glance from this dozen metres away.

He quickly changed the topic, diverting his attention to Leon.
"Hey, Leon, I got you something I know you'd like. My dad had this book of German poetry I managed to smuggle out our little home library, it's got Heine, Goethe, Brecht and Schiller in it." said Vincent, with a happy gleam in his eye, opening his briefcase, and tugging out a small pocket paperback. Its corners were stubby, the pages yellowed, and what used to be a bright red cover had been bleached a pale creamy pink tone by age.
"Just make sure I get it back when I move out of Japan next year after I graduate, okay? My dad'll smite me if it goes missing, and this book is older than I am." said Vincent, with a trustful smile he'd always show whenever he wasn't comically quixotic or confused. He didn't mind breaking one of his father's many mantras: "Never lend anyone neither books nor women. Especially not books." After all, his dad had so many books, he wouldn't think his dad would notice some missing little tome (Although honestly, his dad surely would...).

Leon took the small book, eyeing it in curiosity. "Goethe? Nice," he said, leafing through it. It was old and weathered, but Leon had no doubt that the verses in this book would keep him occupied for hours at least. He'd always been a poetry freak. That was another one of his things. "Don't worry, I'll return it." He looked up from the miniature tome. "And I did notice that girl earlier. It's not every day you see a transfer student. Oh, it looks like she's talking to someone." Leon identified the boy sitting next to the new girl. "Is that...Castiel? At it again," he said, shaking his head. "Some people." He sighed. "Anyways, thanks for the book, Vincent. I'm a real sucker for this stuff."

"Yeah, I figured. Let's just keep it to ourselves though. My sister might end up calling you an emo or something if she sees this, but it's just for fun." said Vincent. He would often bring this sort of thing up, justifying much of his paranoia with being mocked by his sister or something similar. He had never really recovered from what had happened last year at the academy, a spectacular cataclysmic and epic FAIL in front of the entire student body during a school play that left every single one of the 1200 pupils silent, except for her, with a loud, Milhouse-like "Ha ha!". He didn't like to talk about it... but he'd be sure to annoy others with his lack of closure.

He put his hands in his pockets, his briefcase on the ground of the courtyard, and looked out at the multitude of students stepping in through the gates and socializing around. He did not look at the bench with the transfer student and Castiel for a single second. He felt rather embarassed at all this boyfriend-girlfriend stuff, not understanding why it was such a big deal, but it intrigued him. Slightly. A wee bit. The thought of Reelle, his sister, calling him a little kid who wastes time with little girlies startled him back to the real world and out of the clouds, with him emitting a quiet yelp.

"Eh, anyway, Leon, you waiting for anyone before the bell rings? It's still a couple minutes till." he asked, eyeing at his analogue wristwatch.

[[Damn doublepost. *deletes browser cache*]]

Leon shook his head as he put the two books carefully into his briefcase. "No," he said, re-fastening the strap. "The library's just usually crowded with chatterboxes in the morning. It's quieter out here, that's all. Plus... the girls," he said with a half-smile. "Most of them can't wait 'till the host club officially starts to bother me." He held his case at his side. "Anyways, you're right, there's not a lot of time left before class. I'm gonna get going. You coming?" Leon tilted his head in the direction of the large school building, where classes were, in fact, about to begin.

Yuri pulled out his small mirror out of his bag to cheak on his hair. He was about to pull something out of his pocket, when noticed someone that he recognize in the relection. He turned around to see who it was "Leon-kun!" Yuri yells, waving while running towards Leon. "Hello, Leon-kun. How are you this morning?" Yuri asked, flashing one of his cute smiles. Yuri turned to Vincent, and bowed. "Hello, I am Ayame Matsumoto. Aya for short." He says in his usual cheerful tone.

Vincent tilted his head sideways, like a puzzled bird.

"A-Ayame? Isn't that a girl's name?" asked Vince silently, perhaps also tactlessly, but the look on his face was a puzzled, not a sarcastic one. Nevertheless, he also bowed in return. He felt slightly uncomfortable from Yuri's presence, but could not explain to himself why exactly...

He glanced at his wristwatch. Just five minutes left until classes would start and the bells would ring.

Leon inclined his head slightly. "Hello, Aya-san. I'm fine, just about to head into class." He couldn't help but smile back. His friend often had that effect on people. He brushed some of his hair out of his face and said to the two. "I'm going to go inside now. I'll see you guys later." With that, he turned from his friends and headed into the large building, his briefcase held firmly at his side. Hardly thinking, letting his feet take over, he walked to his classroom, 2A, found his seat and sat. A few kids were already in there. He let his hair fall in front of his face, so that it would be less likely for people to take notice of him. He eyed the clock, waiting for classes to kick off the day.

"Bye bye, Leon-kun!" Yuri yelled, waving to Leon as he walked away. Yuri turned around to face Vincent. "It's cute isn't it, my name." He said with a sweet smile. "What is your name, if you don't mind me asking?" Yuri asked in a polite fashion. "Any friend of Leon-kun, is a friend of mine." He said, giving one of his cute smiles that would normaly make his mother faint.

Vincent could barely wave Leon goodbye, and just as he was about to respond to Yuri, he was interrupted by Robyn.
"O-oh! Ehm..."
There it was, his typical lack of aptitude in absorbing new information unless he could feed it up himself. He scritched his chin puzzledly, his head still tilted.
"Hm. Lots of new students here, all of a sudden. Uh... The director's office should be on the first upper floor, you have to, ehm..." He said, snipping his fingers as if he had an entire encyclopedic volume of knowledge on the matter, yet couldn't express it due to some lack of eloquence.
"There's a map a wee bit to the left of the main lobby, should help you get there quicker, by the time I finish explaining, savvy?" said he, erupting in an English Robyn could understand. He had recognized that she came from the british isles allright, but couldn't define for sure where she came from.

He sure as hell was surprised of all the foreigners around. It's like Yosuka was a real international academy.

Leon carefully slipped out of the classroom for his midday break, bringing with him the poetry book Vincent had given to him earlier. He knew he wouldn't be able to focus, but it couldn't hurt. Sure enough, no sooner had he situated himself by a window in the hallway and opened the book that at least four girls swarmed him. He mentally swore, and tried not to look up from the book. However, it looked like peaceful reading was not an option. 

"Hi Leon-chaaaaan!" one of them chimed. Leon decided to give them what they wanted so they would go away. 

"Hi," he mumbled, his face turning red. He'd gotten better at blushing on cue since he'd joined the hosts. 

"Awwwww!" another piped. "What're you reading, Leon-chan?" 

"J...just some poetry, that's all," he said softly, turning his head so his dark hair fell into his face. 

"Poetry? That's so romantic, Lee-chan!" He had no idea where they'd gotten "Lee-chan," but he never truly understood girl's, except how to make them giggle. 

Leon looked up at the girls and smiled warmly. "You think so?" he said innocently. The girls giggled and shook slightly. Perfect. He felt himself turn red again and looked at the floor. Now for the killer. "I think it's sweet... It reminds me of you girls." 

That did it. Squeals all around. Babble of how adorable and irresistible and charming he was. Leon smiled inwardly as the girls said their goodbyes and left him, giggling still as they went. Mission accomplished. He turned back to his book to squeeze in some more reading before break was over. 

Castiel slipped out of the classroom for midday break, and after carefully checking to make sure Sakura wasn't around he resumed his usual swagger.He spotted one of the other host club members being pestered by a bunch of girls and grinned. The guys name was Leon and as far as Castiel was concerned, he was a complete wuss. Once the girls had left, after Leon dropped some ridiculous line about poetry being sweet like them, Castiel walked over to him and sat next to him on the window sill.

Reaching out he swiped the book the book and held it above his head so the boy couldn't reach it, "What'cha reading Leee-chan?" He asked, mocking the boys newly appointed nickname. Grinning he read the title of the book, "Poetry huh? How adorable."

Leon made no move to retrieve Vincent's book. There was no point. King Jackass was striking again. Leon stood still and narrowed his eyes. He didn't have time for Castiel's antics. He would use the strategy he'd employed previously: Give Castiel what he wanted so that he'd be left the hell alone. Sounded like a pretty good plan to him. 

Calmly, Leon addressed the older student. "What do you want? I'm trying to read before break is over, if you don't mind, Castiel." Leon gazed at him evenly. Hopefully, the brute would get bored with him and move on, allowing him some peace at last. Alas, one never knew with Castiel. Leon could only hope that the boy wouldn't be entertained. 

It was pretty clear that leon didn't want him around, but then again, who did? Castiel wasn't about to up and leave, he was b-o-r-e-d bored. He had sat down with a distinct purpose in mind, to annoy Leon, and thats what he intended to do.

Castiel grinned in response to the question, "What do I want? Why, I just want to hang out with you lee-chan!" He took a moment to elbow Leon a lot harder then was strictly speaking necessary before he added, "What, you don't have time to hang out with your good pall me? Come on Leeee-chan?" He still held the poetry book above his head, showing no intention of giving it back.

Leon clenched his fists, beginning to get irritated by the pest. It looked like Castiel was here to stay, at least until break was over. Leon would have left, but he didn't dare leave Vincent's book alone in the hands of Castiel. Instead, he crossed his arms and sourly hissed, "Castiel. Just because no one likes you doesn't mean you have to bother everyone. Go away." Again, he made no move for the poetry mini-tone, as he was too small to reach it. Leon couldn't believe how much of a jackass Castiel was. If there was one person he'd like to see hit by a truck, it was Castiel. But that was, of course, to say the least. 

Castiel waggled his finger at Leon, "Now, now, there's no need to get angry. You see I pester people so they don't like me, not because they do." He smiled and stood up off the windowsill to stretch, "It's sort of my job. Who knows, if I didn't bother you so much then you might stop wishing me an early grave!" He began to walk away. It was at that moment that he was ran into by a fast little blur that knocked him back against the wall. Castiel's groan was stopped when he looked up and saw that he'd been hit by a little girl with white hair who was holding a katana. Perfect, he hadn't dated her yet, and this would annoy Leon to no end.

He smiled and grabbed the girls hand to haul himself off the ground. Still holding her hand he replied, "It's fine, to be honest, I stepped in front of you. I had to find some way to get your attention." Castiel smiled at the girl and then, as if he had just remembered it, he released her hand. Turning to Leon he tossed him the poetry book and said with has little sarcasm as possible "Here's your book back buddy. I found it in the trash,I guess those jerks who stole it got bored of poetry."

Amanda felt her cheeks turn a deeper shade of red when Castiel said he was trying to get her attention, a confused looking following after it before she looked over at the boy he threw the book at. Leon Denair, yet another prince of the school. "OH!, i'm sorry, did disrupt something?" she said, slipping the katana over her shoulder and holding on to its strap with both hands.