The Lionheart (2)

'....Ok, this isn't fucking fair.'

Reiji pursed his lips in extreme frustration, cursing his luck.

'Nah, this has to be some sort of villain's halo or something. What's with this timing? First Haruna and now her?'

As he started spewing obscenities in his mind, Noa started running towards them, her backpack raised overhead in a threatening manner.

"Let him go!"

"Sora, I choose you!" Reiji yelped.

He nudged Sora forward and hid behind him.

"Nee-chan? NEE-CHAN!"

Sora, who was disoriented from being released from Reiji's grasp, brightened up when he saw his sister run towards him.

He jumped into her embrace as she dropped her bag and knelt down, hugging him tightly.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" she asked, checking his body carefully.

"Eh? Why would I be hurt?"

He scrunched his cute little face in puzzlement at her worried expression.

"Yagami, how dare you!? Why would you even go after a child?" Noa snapped, shifting her focus to the exasperated man who was scratching his chin awkwardly.

"....Listen, I don't know why you're mad, but I didn't do anything," Reiji muttered with irritation.

"Didn't do anything? Yo—"

"Nee-chan, why are you shouting? My ears hurt," Sora pouted while tapping her shoulders.

"Not now, Sora. First, I need to teach this man a lesson!"

"Huh? You know Onii-chan?"

"Know? Wait... Onii-chan?"

Noa looked at Sora quizzically, her purple eyes furrowing at her brother's words.

"Oh right! I haven't told you yet!"

Sora left her arms and pulled her towards Reiji, lighting up with joy.

"Nee-chan, this is the Onii-chan who saved me from the dogs!!"

"..."

Noa stiffened, her jaw dropping with shock as she stared blankly at Sora, who was jumping up and down with glee.

"W-Wait, what? Say that again?" she mumbled in denial.

Reiji chuckled internally at her disbelief, a wave of satisfaction coursing through him.

"Eh? Well, Onii-chan saved me from the dogs and took me to the hospital! Didn't I tell you this before?"

While Noa closed her eyes to process this, the others around them—like his friends and the babysitter—walked over in confusion.

With Sora running around to escape from Reiji's clutches, they had moved away from the group by a small distance, but they clearly saw everything that had happened and rushed over.

***

(Noa POV)

Noa turned to the small group that had approached them, recognizing some as her fellow students, as well as the babysitter from next door.

"President? What are you doing here?" the purple-haired student asked with wide eyes.

"R-Reiji-kun didn't do anything, we can v-vouch for him!" another boy piped up nervously.

Noa glanced at them and bit her bottom lip, realizing she had made a mistake.

"Uh... Fujikawa-san, I don't really understand what is happening, but this young man didn't do anything. He was helping wipe the chocolate off of Sora-chan's face."

The babysitter's explanation sealed the deal—the final arrow through Noa's ice-cold heart.

She looked down and saw a little bit of the sauce still staining her little brother's lips, and she understood how badly she had overreacted.

'.....How could I have such an obvious lapse in judgment?'

To be fair, anyone in her position would've done the same thing. But that still doesn't excuse it.

At least, that's what was going through her mind.

Noa turned to Yagami and saw him standing still with his arms crossed, a raised eyebrow that showed his amusement, and a small smirk that she felt like slapping off for some reason.

She hesitated and then bowed deeply, her long black hair held back by her high ponytail.

"I sincerely apologize for making assumptions and for showing disrespect to my brother's saviour. I hope you can forgive me."

Yagami blinked at her overly formal tone and laughed.

"...Geez, why are you being so serious? You're making me look like the bad guy here."

He pointed to the small crowd that was looking at them with curiosity.

"Th-That was not my intention!" Noa stammered, flustered at the commotion she had inadvertently caused.

"It's fine, it's fine. I accept your apology," Yagami waved his arms quickly to calm her down.

She relaxed for a moment... and then bowed deeply again.

"Great! Now, let me thank you for saving my brother. I appreciate your timely help. I cannot imagine what would have happened were you not nearby," she stated with equal seriousness.

"...Ok, now I feel like you're doing this on purpose."

Yagami scrutinized her suspiciously, but she looked away, feigning ignorance.

"I have no idea what you mean..."

The purple-haired girl, who couldn't wait any longer, burst out with interest.

"Can someone explain what just happened?"

She, as well as the others, saw what happened but couldn't hear them. All they knew was that Noa was mad for some reason.

Yagami tilted his head playfully and looked at Noa, as if he wanted her to answer them.

"...I just saw Yagami holding down my little brother, and panicked. I'm ashamed that I jumped to conclusions," she said, not forgetting to give Reiji a quick glare before doing so.

"PFFFTT HAHAHA, WHAT THE HELL?"

The girl bent over, unable to hold back the tears forming in her eyes, clutching her belly with laughter.

"I can't even—pfft—I can't even blame you, President. Look at him," she giggled, gesturing to Yagami's stylish but delinquent-esque appearance.

Yagami flicked her forehead, a vein throbbing on his own.

"Shut it, you little..."

"See? He's so violent! President, write him up for assaulting a student!"

Noa's lips twitched—partly with irritation, but mostly amused at their interaction. They seemed quite close, like siblings that bickered every time they saw each other.

"Th-That's not true! Airi-san, what if she takes you seriously? President, Reiji-kun r-really is a nice person!"

The moss-haired boy stepped forward, a raging determination in his eyes as if he were heading to war.

"...Don't worry, he isn't in trouble," Noa responded slowly.

The number of things that had happened in the last five minutes had completely overturned Noa's perception and mental stability.

From thinking Yagami was hurting her brother, to finding out he was the one who saved him in the first place.

From confronting him with rage, only to see multiple people defending his innocence.

And from thinking he was a no-good delinquent, but discovering that things weren't so simple after all.

"Well, I was just here to pick up Sora because he's late for his art classes. I'm sorry once again for the trouble I caused, and thank you, Yagami, for your help. Sora, say goodbye," Noa said, patting her brother on the back.

Sora, who had been happily munching on his strawberries, completely disinterested in whatever talk they had going on, looked up in complete dismay as if the world was coming to an end.

"WHAT?? NO, I WANT TO STAY WITH ONII-CHAN!" he wailed, tugging at Noa's skirt in desperation.

She frowned and squatted down to talk to him more easily.

"Don't cause trouble. You know you have a test that you can't skip today."

"I DON'T WANNA!"

"You..."

"Sora, do you think Lionhearts throw tantrums?" Yagami spoke up with his arms crossed and a stern look.

The little boy turned with a sniffle, thinking carefully.

"N-No?"

"Then why are you throwing one right now?"

"Um... I won't. I'm sorry, Nee-chan," Sora gave in, a pout still etched on his face.

'...What? Why did he listen to him and not me???'

Noa's internal computation was going haywire, her eye twitching with frustration. She wasn't sure if she should be thankful that he managed to appease Sora or be jealous that someone else had evidently stolen away some of his affection.

"Ok, we'll get going now."

She finally just decided to reply simply and get away as soon as possible to process everything that had happened—and maybe get more details from the child who was currently kicking a rock in irritation.

"We have to leave as well. Goodbye, everyone," the babysitter also decided to head back, pulling along the three children as they joined Noa and Sora.

***

Reiji and his friends waved despondently as they all left, sad that they hadn't been able to spend much time with them.

"They didn't even stay for that long..." Ren groaned.

"Y-Yeah... I wanted to spend more time with them."

"Maaaann, this isn't fair," Airi said sadly.

The three of them had already gotten attached to their adorable antics.

"They probably got here before us. Their classes end much earlier, I think," Reiji sighed.

'I wasn't expecting to see both of them together so soon... I thought it would be much longer before she found out it was me, but this isn't too bad. Maybe she'll lay off me now at school?'

He popped the last strawberry in his mouth and turned to the others with a smile.

"Well, we can still have some fun if you guys are up for it. Unless you're done and want to go home."

"Hell no, we're gonna party till the sun sets and rises again!" Airi pumped her fists.

"...The exhibition ends in two hours, Airi-san," Ren reminded her.

"I was just joking, I'm not an actual idiot...."

"Really? Lying isn't good for you, Airi. We already know about your condition," Reiji scoffed.

"I swear, I'm gonna destroy you in the mid-term rankings!!"