Leonel's eyes snapped open. His first instinct was to jump up, but the creaking of his bones and his splitting headache made him think twice.
"Hm?"
The sound of a breathing rhythm Leonel was certain was his caught his attention. He turned to the side, only to find Aina curled up like a kitten, her mask still on. Leonel couldn't blame her though, it was probably far more comfortable for her to sleep with it on rather than off.
Leonel's bed was quite large, enough for even four people to sleep on without bothering each other. So, though Aina was curled up to his side, she was still about half a meter from him.
Leonel couldn't help but smile. The little mink and Aina cuddled up together was definitely an adorable sight to behold.
Leonel's stirring seemed to alert Aina. Her eyes opened only to see Leonel's smirk.
A deep blush colored Aina's face. She couldn't help but be thankful that she had this mask now.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"Good as n --" Leonel hardly finished his sentence before he grunted. His whole body felt like it was cramping, he never thought such a thing could be so painful.
Aina frowned. "You pushed yourself too far."
Leonel smiled bitterly. He didn't think he had in the moment. He was just doing whatever was necessary to win. But, he hadn't thought that the impact on his body would be so severe.
Ultimately, using the Four Seasons Realm to display combat prowess beyond his means was like pushing his body past its breaking point. The more he did so, the greater the backlash would be.
Though the Four Seasons Realm allowed a person to challenge those in Dimensions beyond them, there, of course, had to be a price to pay.
Luckily, Leonel's body and mind were already within the Fourth Dimension or else the backlash would have been even worse.
Touching upon the true Four Seasons Realm was beyond anything Leonel could have expected it to be. It was only right that there was a small price to pay.
However, Leonel wasn't very worried about it. He believed that very soon, he wouldn't have to deal with such backlash at all, not because his body would be invulnerable, but rather because he'd become much better at healing himself.
Leonel suddenly grabbed his chest, sucking in a sharp breath. A cold sweat matted his forehead.
"Ah!?"
Aina shot up, waking the little mink.
"Leonel? Leonel!?"
Aina crawled over to Leonel's side, her hands pressing against his chest as she tried to see what was wrong. With her knowledge of the human body, it really wouldn't be much of a problem to do so. After all, she was a Five Star Professional. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact her Internal Sight was lacking, she wouldn't need to touch Leonel at all.
But, what happened next left Aina completely stunned.
Leonel, who had supposedly just been in pain, suddenly shot an arm around her waist, sending her crashing toward him.
Leonel winced before laughing evilly, his master plan having worked to perfection.
Seemingly realizing she had been tricked, Aina pouted and tried to push herself up.
"Ah! Ah!" Leonel didn't need to fake it this time.
"Okay! Alright! You win!"
Aina gently lowered herself, inwardly shaking her head. She had given Leonel space so that she wouldn't harm him, only for him to pull such a stunt.
"Yip! Yip!"
Feeling left out again, the little mink dashed away, likely going to find Little Tolly to bother again.
"You see the things I have to do to get you to say my name?" Leonel joked.
Aina didn't know how to respond. After a moment of silence though, she said something that left Leonel speechless.
"Everyone calls you Leonel or Leo... I don't want to be like everyone else."
Aina felt very lucky she didn't have to meet Leonel's gaze at this moment. She buried her head into his chest as though trying to find a hole to hide in.
Leonel suddenly began to laugh. Aina could feel the rumbling of his chest against her ear, causing her face to redden like a ripe tomato.
Aina tried to run away again, but Leonel's pained act cause her to have no choice but to stay in place again.
Leonel's laughter waned, leaving a smile on his face. His hand ran through Aina's hair, the smell of apple tickling his nose.
"You'll never be like everyone else to me."
Leonel grinned. For a moment, he felt the pain in his body wasn't so bad after all.
The two laid in silence. In fact, Leonel almost lost himself in another round of dreams. If it wasn't for the fact that his mind felt refreshed and he was quite enjoying the feeling of Aina's waist in his arm he might have drifted off again.
Aina's stiffness gradually disappeared after hearing Leonel's words, her hand laying on his chest along with her head. She couldn't help but feel a silent, swelling sweetness.
"Do you think that Earth will be alright?"
After asking the question, even Aina felt a hint of surprise. She hardly had any attachments to Earth. To her, whether it survived or not hardly mattered. All she cared about was her revenge.
But, she found that after she accepted more of her feelings for Leonel, she began to care more. She didn't know how Leonel felt about the Fawkes Family. But since they were related to him, as long as Leonel wanted it, she would try her best to help.
Leonel remained silent for a long while before he spoke.
"As long as I'm here, no one will touch Earth."
Leonel didn't know what this ambition his Coach wanted him to grasp was, nor did he care for the Fawkes much if at all. In fact, it could be said that he leaned more toward hating the Fawkes family than anything else. Their actions continuously left him disgusted to his core.
All Leonel knew was that this was how he felt now. Call it a sense of duty, a foolish pandering, or a gripping guilt... but regardless, this was his resolve.
This world was a cruel place. Since he had strength, he would make it just a small bit less so if he could.
"Okay." Aina smiled lightly. "I'll be there too, then."
**
As the couple lay in their own world, a silent rumbling of space shook a small corner of Earth. One after another, troops of soldiers surged out, finding themselves in the middle of a vast ocean.
It seemed the Powers of Terrain had arrived. But, not so unfortunately, their teleportation hadn't been as accurate as their City counterparts.
That said... while their location was highly inconvenient.... Not a single soul of Earth seemed to be aware of their arrival.