By Zephyria “Captain, how long are you going to sleep? Wake up.”
Leonardo ignored Bay’s voice waking him up and pulled the sleeping bag closer, shivering in the cold air. Bay sighed with a displeased look at his sluggish appearance.
“You said we had to finish quickly and leave. Are you going to keep sleeping after saying that?”
“Just a little more….”
Leonardo replied in his sleep, and Bay turned to the other soldiers.
“He can’t wake up? Taylor, you wake him up.”
“What? No way. He got really angry when I woke him up last time. Nero, you wake him up.”
“I got hit once, you know?”
They passed the task of waking Leonardo to each other, saying that they had been treated more harshly. In the end, Bay looked at them as if he couldn’t help it, then turned his eyes back to Leonardo.
“Captain, if you don’t wake up, we’re leaving you behind?”
Leonardo frowned as if he was annoyed, but he reluctantly tried to get up because he remembered the reason why Bay said they had to finish quickly and leave.
But for some reason, his body suddenly didn’t listen to him, contrary to his will. He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids were heavy as lead, and he couldn’t put any strength into his arms and legs.
Bay, who had been waiting for him for not even a few moments, turned around and left him behind, still lying down.
As his footsteps faded away, Leonardo resented his comrades for leaving their captain behind without hesitation and struggled to raise his upper body.
But no matter how hard he tried, his body wouldn’t move, and he tried to call out to the soldiers, but strangely, no voice came out. Leonardo was overcome with a sudden sense of anxiety.
While he was struggling with his motionless body, another footstep approached again. The footsteps stopped in front of him and seemed to be staring down at him without moving.
Lest his comrades leave him behind again, Leonardo desperately tried to tell the person standing in front of him about his situation. But even opening his mouth didn’t work as he wanted, and his beautiful eyebrows were furrowed.
Then, the soldier seemed to realize Leonardo’s situation, bent down and sat in front of him. Then, he reached out and gently stroked his furrowed brow as if to comfort him. Leonardo felt relieved at the touch.
At the sensation touching his skin, Leonardo gradually broke free from the shackles that had been binding his body. He grabbed the hand in front of his face and urgently opened his mouth.
“Don’t go.”
The buzzing sounds around him gradually became clearer. Leonardo opened his eyes halfway.
He saw his hand pulling someone’s hand and holding it tightly. But the feeling of the hand was a little strange.
‘Were their hands this big?’
He still felt drowsy and struggled to open his heavy eyes, and fiddled with the hand he was holding. The owner of the hand flinched as if embarrassed.
‘It’s a little cool, though.’
Leonardo held the cool hand tightly and turned his head slightly, still lying on his side, to look at where his squad members would be. After blinking his dry eyes a few times, he saw a large figure in front of the open tent door.
He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand to see who the commendable guy was who had returned alone. Then, his vision gradually became clearer and he began to see his face.
But when the blurry image in his eyes had completely found its place, Leonardo had to feel a chill run down his spine.
Because Hugo Agrizendro was looking down at him with a slightly strange expression.
In an instant, his eyelids, which had been heavy as lead, suddenly became light, and all the sleep that had been pouring down disappeared. He checked who the hand he was holding belonged to and was startled and let go as if throwing it away. He reflexively raised his body that had been lying down.
“…What?”
Leonardo was not sure what was going on. In his consciousness, he had clearly been with his comrades until just now.
But as if it was just a dream, the clear image of Hugo Agrizendro dragged Leonardo’s hazy consciousness straight into reality and threw him down.
His dazed mind and memories began to return quickly as if he had been splashed with cold water. He remembered that he had been captured by this man in Frost Territory and taken to the Imperial City for the first time in three years, and that he was now with him all the way to the Eldermilli Peninsula.
He had clearly fallen asleep thinking that he would only close his eyes for a moment because there was not much time left until dawn. Judging from the situation that flashed behind him, it seemed that everyone had woken up and was cleaning up the tent, while he was still fast asleep.
Hugo was holding back his words because the guy in front of him seemed quite confused. His face, which was dazed because his mind hadn’t fully returned after waking up, was quite a sight to see, but at the same time, he seemed quite surprised, so he felt a little sorry.
After a while, when his dazed gaze returned to his eyes, Hugo thought that he had regained his senses to some extent and opened his mouth.
“I’m glad you seem to have slept well. We’ll be leaving right after the meal, so get ready.”
Hugo, who had briefly stated the business, stood up with an indifferent face and headed out of the cave. The members glanced at the two of them, and when the Squad Leader came back this way, they pretended not to see and went back to their own work.
Leonardo could not take his eyes off Hugo’s receding figure. Then, suddenly, he made eye contact with the members who were glancing back at him after Hugo had passed, and he felt so ashamed that he wanted to dig a hole in the ground and disappear.
‘What the fuck have I done?’
Leonardo was ashamed that he had grabbed his hand in his sleep, but he was also very confused that he hadn’t sensed anyone approaching while he was with these unbelievable Council bastards, even in the unknown Eldermilli Peninsula, where you never knew what might pop out.
Normally, he couldn’t sleep deeply on missions unless he was in a situation where he felt safe because he was always protected by reliable comrades. Of course, once he fell asleep, it was hard to wake him up….
In other words, the fact that he had fallen into a deep sleep meant that he had subconsciously felt ‘safe’.
Thinking that far, Leonardo recalled Agrizendro sending the member on watch duty in and sitting in his place in the last scene he remembered before falling asleep.
Then he asked himself a question.
He felt safe because he was protecting him? Me? In this Eldermilli Peninsula?
Leonardo stared blankly out of the cave, then chuckled and muttered to himself.
“You’re crazy, Leonardo.”
* * *
Leonardo quickly packed up his things and headed for the clear lake that sparkled in the sunlight. He scooped up a handful of water and splashed it on his face, washing it as if trying to wake himself up, rubbing his skin until it was red.
After a while, he wet his hands, swept back his hair, and stared quietly at the rippling water of the lake. A drop of water formed on his sharp chin, then fell and mingled into the vast lake.
At that moment, Flynn, who was organizing the luggage he had left outside the cave, spotted Leonardo and approached him.
“Oh, Blaine’s awake? You wouldn’t wake up when I tried to wake you up earlier.”
Leonardo flinched and turned to look at him with a cold face. Flynn, startled by the look of shock on his face, hesitated and stopped walking. Leonardo, stiff as a board, asked Flynn.
“Did you… try to wake me up too?”
“Didn’t you know? You even answered.”
Flynn was clueless as to why he was acting like this and answered as if it were obvious. Leonardo couldn’t say anything, then sighed deeply as if the ground was sinking. Then, with a scowl, he roughly ruffled his golden hair and got up.
“Ha… fuck, this is driving me crazy.”
He muttered, looking confused, and walked off somewhere.
Flynn had gone to wake Leonardo up earlier on the Squad Leader 8’s orders. Everyone else was up and packing up their tents, but his tent was quiet.
Flynn cautiously approached, opened the tent door slightly, and looked inside. There, Leonardo was fast asleep, oblivious to the world. Flynn was a little curious about his peacefully closed eyes and felt a little sorry to wake him up because he looked so tired, making only small breaths without moving.
However, he had to prepare to leave soon, so Flynn fully opened the tent door, went halfway inside, and casually spoke to him a few times. When there was no response at all, he shook him gently and said.
“Blaine, how long are you going to sleep? Wake up.”
“Just a little longer….”
Flynn hesitated for a moment, seeing him mumble in his sleep and hug his sleeping bag. Then, Hugo, who had ordered Flynn to wake Leonardo up, said to Flynn from afar, knowing it wouldn’t work.
“Flynn, if he doesn’t wake up, leave him and pack up the luggage first.”
“Ah, yes, I understand.”
So Flynn left Leonardo and was moving the tents and luggage out of the cave to organize them. A little later, he found Leonardo washing his face by the lake, having woken up at some point, and when he spoke to him, who looked complicated, the reply he got was the one from just now, mixed with annoyance.
Flynn blankly followed his retreating figure after the sudden curse, then frowned slightly and muttered as if he couldn’t understand.
“Why is he suddenly so angry?”
* * *
“I’ll go take a look around. Wait here until I get back.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Hugo, who had finished his meal, got up first. Leonardo was staring blankly and putting food in his mouth bit by bit, when an energy bar was suddenly pushed in front of his eyes.
Leonardo, who had been staring only at the campfire, turned his gaze to it. It was Agrizendro.
It seemed that it was in his food supply, but he wasn’t eating it himself, so he was giving it to me.
Leonardo stared silently at the energy bar and the watch on his wrist and accepted it. Hugo said to him firmly.
“Finish your meal before you eat it.”
Then he went outside with two other members who had finished their meal early to scout the surrounding area.
Leonardo looked back and forth between where he had gone and the energy bar, then shoved it roughly into his pocket. Then, as he was about to cut the omelet with his fork again, he suddenly felt that the watch on his wrist was constantly bothering him.
To be exact, it seemed to be related to the conversation he had while looking at his watch. But he couldn’t remember exactly what it was, so he was left with an uncomfortable feeling. It was as if he was about to remember something important.
After thinking for a while, Leonardo asked Flynn, who was next to him, without much thought, to tell him anything he could remember from his conversation with Agrizendro.
“Hey, Flynn.”
“Yeah?”
“Does your Squad Leader 8 have a lover?”
All the members sitting around the campfire turned to look at him. They all looked as if they had heard something strange. Feeling this, Leonardo looked around with a ‘what are you looking at?’ expression.
Flynn was just as embarrassed by his sudden question, so he opened his mouth awkwardly, not even realizing that he was calling his name for the first time with his real face, not Theo’s.
“…I don’t think so? But why?”
“Really? No, just asking.”
Flynn asked with a suspicious look, but Leonardo answered as if he really didn’t have any thoughts. However, Flynn’s mind was already in a state of utter confusion. This was because he could only think of one possible intention for asking such a question.
‘Why did he ask? Could it be….’
Leonardo, who had picked up his fork again, tilted his head at Flynn’s serious expression, then chuckled as if he knew what he was thinking.
“What, do you think I’m going to eat your Squad Leader 8 up or something?”
At that moment, there was a sharp sound of metal being crushed.
Leonardo and Flynn turned their heads in that direction at the same time. The canteen in the hand of Squad Leader 8 across from them was crushed by her grip. Her eyes were so cold that she glared as if she couldn’t forgive Leonardo for insulting her superior.
The smile disappeared from Leonardo’s face as he met her eyes. Flynn, noticing the two of them, got up to stop them.
“Haha, Squad Leader 8. I don’t think he meant anything by it. Right, Blaine?”
Flynn tried to stop her with a forced smile. Nevertheless, her fierce gaze was still directed at Leonardo, but when Flynn continued to try to calm her down, she turned her eyes away again without a word. Leonardo frowned, dumbfounded, wondering what he had done wrong.
But looking at her cold face, Leonardo suddenly remembered that he had been in a hurry for something when she was chasing him so persistently. Of course, there was more than one reason, but one of them felt strangely connected to what he was trying to recall while looking at Agrizendro’s watch.
“A precious person.”
Soon after, what Vega had said to him in his dream that morning flashed through his mind.
“You said you had to finish quickly and go back.”
At that moment, Leonardo’s eyes widened and he asked Flynn, who was next to him, urgently.
“Hey, what day is it today?”
“Huh?”
Flynn was flustered by the serious voice, but he calmly replied.
“The 23rd.”
“The 23rd?”
Leonardo asked back with a shocked face. Flynn, noticing Squad Leader 8’s expression, wondered what was wrong with him again, but carefully watched his reaction. His expression looked very anxious.
Leonardo bit his lip tightly and swept back his hair with a frown.
‘I’m really going crazy. I’ve completely lost track of time since I was captured and forgot about it.’
Then he suddenly jumped up from his seat. Flynn just blinked and stared at him.