itaru’s player #2

Leona's eyes open slowly as he feels the sun's rays hitting his skin. Messy brown tresses sweep across his shoulders as he swivels his head, taking in his surroundings. His room was not in its usual state – for once, it was clean, and Leona knew exactly why.

Leona glances to the side, to the space beside him. Usually it's empty, just the way he liked, but recently the prince has found that he preferred the company of one very specific herbivore.

"Come back to bed," Leona mumbles aloud. He can't see them, but their smell still lingered in his room. Plus, his beloved Yujin never leaves without giving him a proper kiss goodbye.

And just as he suspected, Yujin was still there, brushing their teeth and wearing a pair of sleep shorts and one of Leona's yellow gym shirts. Their dark hair was tied into a messy ponytail, the layered ends sticking out like a lion's mane. Yujin's glasses are perched on their nose, and they hold up a finger before disappearing into the adjoining bathroom once again. Leona hears the sound of spitting and then the faucet running before Yujin re-emerges from the bathroom. They stifle a yawn as they make their way back to Leona's bed, slipping under the warm covers and curling up next to the prince. His arms and tail immediately wraps around them, and he intertwines a leg over theirs for good measure; no way were they leaving now.

"Mm, I know it's the weekend, but shouldn't we at least get up for breakfast?" Yujin's quiet voice pipes up as their finger playfully pokes at Leona's stomach. "Your Highness is bound to be hungry."

Leona grabs Yujin's wandering hand and brings it to his lips, kissing their fingers and lightly grazing his fangs over them. "That's what Ruggie's for," he answers with his eyes closed, ready to go back to sleep. "Told 'im yesterday to bring us food."

Yujin chuckles, knowing Ruggie was going to have a field day with Leona's wallet. They felt their heart soar upon realizing how well prepared Leona was for their sleepover. Leona had given his club members a break from practice for the weekend, and now he had prepared breakfast to be delivered to them. Everything was perfect–

"UNCA!"

Well, almost.

Like a sleeper agent, Leona bolts straight up in bed, now fully awake. But it was still too late; the door flies open, and a bright red blur dashs into the room and pounces on the housewarden's bed. Leona sputters as the tiny ball of excitement — also known as Cheka — crashes into his stomach in a hug.

"Ch-Cheka? What're ya doing here, brat?" Leona wheezes as he tries to peel the young cub away, but to no avail. Yujin slowly crawls further under the covers, trying not to be seen, but catches Ruggie sheepishly peering into the room.

"Sorry boss," he apologizes with a tired grin. "He recognized me in the cafeteria and wouldn't let go until I brought him to you. I tried sending you a text ahead of time."

Yujin watches with half amusement and half horror as Leona grapples with the sudden intrusion; amused because it was fun watching Leona be faced with an abrupt challenge, but also horror because...

"Why are you and Unca sharing a bed?"

Now the attention was on Yujin, who was trying to find an explanation for their being in Leona's bed. It wasn't as if they were doing anything embarrassing or private, and they were both modestly dressed (save for Leona being shirtless, but he always slept that way. And really, it wasn't that scandalous). But to a 5-year-old who only knew things in black and white, Yujin had to quickly come up with an excuse now that the young lion cub had his eyes focused on them.

"Because, um, I lost the keys to my room and, uh, your uncle was very kind enough to let me sleep in his room since my roommate wouldn't wake up." Yujin cheers internally at their answer, which wasn't entirely false; Grim was too deep a sleeper to be able to unlock the door to Ramshackle for them.

"Ohh!" the tiny prince's eyes widen. "Unca must really like ya, 'cause he never lets me have sleepovers back at ho– uwah!"

Seeing that Cheka was slightly distracted by Yujin's presence, Leona takes the opportunity to pick him up by the back of his shirt, not too roughly that he's choking on the collar, but enough to surprise the boy. A scowl marks his face as he glares at the child, who remains un-phased. In fact, Cheka was having a grand time with his uncle's attention on him.

"What're you doing here? Where's your attendants?" This really felt like déjà vu. "Did you run away from them again?" Cheka giggles.

"I did! I'm getting faster and faster, Unca! Oh, but it's okay because the man in the mask said I could visit my favourite Unca!"

'Crowley...' the three older individuals think in unison, already sick of their headmage's spontaneity. Cheka remains oblivious and instead turns his attention back to Yujin.

"Hey, I saw you after the Spelldrive tournament! You hurt your head! Are you okay now?"

"Of course they're okay," Leona clicks his tongue. He places Cheka at the foot of the bed and prevents his nephew from climbing up to his face by gently pushing him back with his foot. The innocent child, however, doesn't get it and thinks of it as a game. "That happened months ago. They're fine now."

"Hmph." Yujin has to cover their face at the cute pout Cheka puts on. "How should I know that? Unca hasn't called or visited home since winter break! I missed ya, Unca! When are you gonna come home again? Baba and Mama have been asking about you too! Oh, and can your friend come visit? I wanna show you both how good I've gotten at reading!"

The questions are unending, and Cheka starts to stand on the bed and jump with excitement as he speaks. Ruggie snickers and places the brown paper bags full of food on Leona's desk, along with his leather wallet that was still fat with thaumarks. He gives Yujin a quick thumbs up before dashing off, closing the door behind him. Leona sighs in annoyance and reaches for his phone.

"Tch, gotta call my damn brother."

"I'll go sit by the balcony," Yujin offers kindly, already reading Leona's mind. They get up from the bed and quickly grab their breakfast burrito from the bag Ruggie had brought in before heading towards the balcony. They settle down in an empty spot and begin eating their food.

The beastman feels a twinge of guilt as he watches his partner leave the warmth of his bed. Leona was grateful that Yujin understood his familial circumstances, but it didn't erase the shame he felt whenever he hid his relationship from his brother and sister-in-law.

Cheka became interested in the bag of food, and Leona took the opportunity to video call his brother. It only took two rings before Leona's reflection was replaced by Falena's, whose orange-brown mane took up the screen. A toothy smile appears on the king's face as the connection stabilizes.

"Leona, my brother! So wonderful of you to finally call us!"

"Cut the crap," Leona snaps back at his brother. "and tell me what he," the camera turns to Cheka, who was stuffing his face with a hashbrown. "is doing here."

"Ah, I see my son has made it safely into your care! Good, good." Falena beams as his son comes into view. "I'm glad his attendants found you so easily."

"No they didn't. Cheka ran off from them. He recognized someone from my dorm and tailed him." Leona feels the veins in his temple throbbing. "That doesn't answer my question anyway."

"What?" Falena's thick brows raise. "Cheka, my son, did you leave your attendants?"

The younger prince pauses mid-bite before nodding guiltily. He swallows and places down the remainder of the food before jumping on Leona's bed.

"Yes, I'm sorry Baba. But I saw one of Unca's friends! I remembered him from when I visited before! And, and, and the guards were having such a hard time finding Unca even after asking people for help, so I thought this was better!" His wide eyes are set in Cute Kitten Mode, and even from their space far away, Yujin finds themselves melting at it.

Falena sighs, clearly having a hard time scolding his son. "While I appreciate your intuitive thinking, you should at least have let Kimya and Tahiya know you were in safe hands. I'll let them know now, but you must be more responsible, my son."

Cheka nods his head rapidly, but with the way he snatches Leona's phone and darts off the bed, it's debatable whether or not he truly understood his father's words.

"Oh! Baba! Guess what! Unca was sharing a bed with a friend! I also saw them at the games before!"

"CHEKA!" Leona yells after his nephew, scrambling to get off the bed but is instead caught by the comforter wrapping around his legs.

He trips and falls instead, not fast enough to stop Cheka from darting in Yujin's direction. The prefect's eyes grow wide, like a gazelle in headlights, as the 5-year-old runs towards them at lightning speed. Cheka, ever the tablet child, easily flips the camera so that it's pointed at them, and all Yujin can do is hastily wipe the corners of their mouth and offer an awkward yet polite smile and wave. Yujin can't see Falena's reaction, but the silence is enough to know what the king was probably thinking.

Falena, meanwhile, paused the actions he was doing on his end of the call, his mind going blank at the words "Leona's friend" and "sharing a bed". The first set of words was already shocking enough; Leona had been at Night Raven College for four years, and never once had he mentioned a friend or even a classmate or Spelldrive teammate he trusted. Hell, when Leona became housewarden, he never mentioned the name of his predecessor. Leona did not make friends.

So to hear that they were sharing a bed, a space his younger brother was very territorial of ever since they were kids, shocked Falena to his core. The cup of water he was holding spills on the marble floor of the Kingscholar Palace as he drops it in shock. His wife, who was in the next room and couldn't hear the call, peaks her head into the dining area where her husband was supposed to be eating breakfast at.

"My love? What's the matter?" Anaya asks, her dark brows pinched in a frown. She approaches her husband and peers over his shoulder, her own eyes widening as she picks up her son's excited chatter and the very awkward human he had cornered, wearing none other than Leona's shirt.

"This is Unca's friend!" Cheka rambles, in his own little world. "They were lying in Unca's bed, I saw it! That's so unfair because Unca never lets me sleep in his bed! But that must mean they're special, because you told me only family and lovers sleep in the same bed!"

And Yujin was clearly not the former (not yet, anyway). The magic-less human finds themself tensing up even more when a beautiful lion beastwoman comes into view, the crown on her head clearly signifying her status. And if that weren't obvious enough, then Cheka's continued ranting spelled it out for them.

"This is my Baba and Mama! They're the king and queen of Sunset Savanna, and I'm gonna rule the land one day! Oh, can they come visit the next time Unca comes home? Pleaseee?"

Before Yujin could protest and before the royal couple could answer, Leona snatches the phone from his nephew's grip, ignoring his cry of protest, and turns the call to Audio only. He marches away from his two companions to continue the conversation. Cheka was already over it and instead decided to interview Yujin, his new subject of interest.

"Leona...?" Falena's voice finally spoke up, his voice cracking with uncertainty at the new revelations.

"I don't want to talk about it." Leona growls before hanging up the phone abruptly. He tosses his phone on the bed before making a beeline back to Yujin and Cheka, the latter of which he grabs by the collar of his shirt again. As he drags his nephews away, he turns to Yujin. "Get dressed. We're leaving."

Despite it coming out as a command, Yujin didn't fail to notice how Leona's voice softened ever so slightly when he spoke to them. It was a new trick Leona learned how to do, after noticing how sensitive Yujin was to sudden changes in demeanour and tone. Leona was angry, pissed, annoyed. But it wasn't Yujin's fault, and he knew that. Yujin had come to appreciate greatly the efforts Leona took to make sure they knew that he wasn't cross with them.

Yujin excuses themselves and grabs their clean day clothes before heading to the bathroom. They hurriedly change and brush their hair before reemerging, stifling a laugh at Cheka who was climbing all over their annoyed boyfriend, who was now properly dressed too. Leona glares and pouts (yes, pouts) at Yujin.

"What're you laughing about?" he says, but there's no real bite to his words.

"Nothing," Yujin shakes their head and picks up their book bag. "Let's go?"

Leona throws Cheka over one shoulder and uses his free hand to grab Yujin's. He ignores his nephew's questions and the stares from his dorm-mates as they trudge towards Savanaclaw's entrance. Cheka giggles as they pass through the mirror and continues rambling gleefully to Leona, and occasionally to Yujin. The prefect entertains the princeling as best as they could, at the very least to distract him from tormenting Leona.

The trio are close to the cafeteria when two lion beastwomen appear at the entrance. They wear matching regalia, with lion masks over their foreheads and colourful robes. Yujin notes how similar they looked to the uniforms Leona and the others wore during the Cloudcalling Festival, with the primary colours being different. The guards immediately spot their two princes, and cross an arm over their chest as they bow.

"Your Highness," the guard with the mahogany-coloured afro speaks. Her voice is unwavering, and she speaks with solemnity. "I apologize for losing sight of the young prince. Please forgive me."

"I'm sorry too, your Highness." The second guard apologizes. Her hair was tied into braids with colourful beads at the ends, and she sounded much younger than her partner. "Prince Cheka slipped through a large crowd of students and it was hard to pass by them."

Leona sighs heavily and places Cheka down, but keeps a grip on the cub's head before bending down to his level. "Oi, furball, what do you have to your guards?"

Cheka taps his pointer fingers together and his ears droop as he looks at his toes. "I'm sorry Kimya, Tahiya."

The older beastwoman takes a deep breath before matching the prince's eyes. "I know you're excited, my prince, but your uncle is a very busy man, and we are guests here. We cannot treat this place like your home, okay?"

She continues speaking to her ward, making him promise to not run off again. Yujin observes in silence, attempting to hide behind Leona, but they are easily seen by the second attendant, whose yellow eyes zoom in on their face before trailing down to their hand in Leona's. Yujin freezes as she makes an O shape with her mouth.

"Prince Leona," she starts suddenly. "May I ask who your... friend is?" The hesitation causes dread to creep under Yujin's skin; they're starting to understand more and more how Idia feels.

"Them?" Leona drawls, green eye peeking at Yujin. "This is Yujin. They're my partner."

There's a brief silence before every individual, save Leona, makes a shocked noise of some sort. Even Yujin makes a startled noise, to which Leona tilts his head at.

"What're you surprised about?" he raises a brow, causing Yujin's face to flush.

"Well, I just, I didn't expect you to be so outward with it." Yujin replies honestly, knowing how he reacted during his call with his brother. Leona scratches the back of his head as he frowns.

"That brother of mine already saw you, so there's no point in hiding it. He's going to tell his wife, who's going to talk about it with all her closest attendants. Besides," his gloved thumb brushes against their wrist. "I'm not ashamed of our relationship. I just hate my family's nagging, and I don't want them all over you."

Yujin "ah"s at Leona's honest answer. They had only been dating for a few months, and while they've swapped information about each other's families, they had no intention to meet Leona's side anytime soon. Especially with classes in session, and the next break being months away. Yujin also knew that Leona wasn't very close with his family and that interacting with them was a pain, so they weren't offended that Leona hadn't told his brother about their relationship.

But after Cheka's impromptu visit, the phone call with Falena and now meeting the guards, there really wasn't a point in hiding the truth. Leona had a bit of a possessive streak anyway, in which he always made sure everyone on campus knew that Yujin was his partner whenever they were out together. It was never too affectionate (the two preferred to keep those moments private), but simply holding hands or Leona's tail brushing against Yujin did the trick.

"Ah!" the younger guard gasps before giving a slight bow. "It's nice to meet Leona's sweetheart! I'm Tahiya, a guardswoman of Sunset Savanna, and this is my senior, Kimya. Apologies for interrupting your time off with our prince."

"It's okay!" Yujin replies, polite but flustered. "You've got a job to do and all. It's nice to formally meet you too."

Kimya gives Yujin an odd look, but a glare from her prince changes it so fast that the prefect doesn't catch it. She gives a stiffer bow to them.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," she formally greets. "We won't disturb you any further. Come, Prince Cheka. We have business to attend to."

Leona quickly lets go of Cheka, who remained clueless by the entire encounter. He grabs Tahiya's hand and turns to his uncle and Yujin with a wave.

"Bye Unca! Bye Unca's friend! Come visit soon, okay?"

Yujin smiles and waves as the child and his party leave. Once they're out of sight, they let out a tiny sigh. Leona squeezes their hand lightly, causing the prefect to turn to him. There's a soft expression on his face, his brows creased.

"You okay?" Yujin smiles and nods, readjusting their glasses.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm glad we didn't have to scour the entire school for Cheka's attendants." They stare into the cafeteria, eyes widening as the ghost chefs began clearing the room. "We should hurry and get you some food before they close up."

Leona hums and lets Yujin lead the way into the cafeteria. One of the ghosts pauses in her tracks as she looks at the duo and tells them that orders will stop in five minutes so that they can clean and prepare for lunch. Barely glancing at the menu (breakfast was often the same thing every morning: a sausage and egg sandwich, waffles or pancakes, cereal or oatmeal, a fruit of some kind, and a few other optional sides like the hashbrown or toast), Leona orders the breakfast sandwich. He asks Yujin if they wanted anything else, and they think for a moment before asking for some green grapes.

"You have odd tastes," Leona teases, but asks for a to-go cup of the fruit anyway.

"Grapes are delicious and fruits are good for you." Yujin defends their choice. "'Sides, I need something sweet after that savoury burrito."

Leona snorts. "Only thing grapes are good for is in a nice wine. But I guess you don't drink, huh."

"No," Yujin scrunches their nose. "If I had to choose an alcoholic drink, I'd choose a piña colada."

The two continue to banter lightly about different alcoholic drinks as they waited for their food. Yujin was glad that no other students were around; they didn't want to get in trouble for talking about alcohol around underaged students. They were really glad that Leona was legally able to drink in this world.

"Here you go," the chef interrupts the two as she hands the sandwich to Leona and the grapes to Yujin. "That'll be 6 thaumarks."

"Thanks for the fruit, and the burrito earlier," Yujin says after Leona hands the coins to the ghost. They knew Leona was rich and that 6 marks was nothing, but considering they barely got anything from Crowley, they counted every gift as a blessing.

"Don't worry about it," Leona says simply before frowning. "That damn bird is giving you enough, yeah?"

The two exit the cafeteria hand-in-hand. Yujin pops a grape into their mouth, relishing the sweet-sour juices. They swallow and reply, "Yeah, but I have to use a lot of this month's thaumarks on a new bed set. The ghosts played a trick on Grim, and he accidentally scratched up AND set fire to the current set we had."

"Tch," Leona takes a big bite of his sandwich. "That shouldn't even be your burden anyway. It's school property."

"Yeah, but Grim destroyed it, and I'm responsible for him so..." they trail off.

"Are you gonna order a new set through Sam?" Yujin nods. "Don't, I'll get you some new ones."

Yujin begins to protest, but Leona isn't having any of it. "The weasel might be your responsibility, but it's not your fault he messed things up. Stop worryin' and let me spoil you."

Yujin stares into their plastic cup of grapes, watching as they roll around in the clear container before nodding. "Okay. Thanks, Leona."

The housewarden doesn't say anything, but squeezes Yujin's hand in acknowledgement. They wander the campus idly, finishing their food in comfortable silence before throwing out their garbage in one of the outdoor trash cans.

"Got any assignments due?" Leona asks after ridding himself of his sandwich's wrapper.

"Mm," Yujin thinks for a moment. "Trein gave us an assignment, but it's not due until the end of next week. I can hold off working on it until tomorrow."

"What about the furball?" They both knew who Leona was referring to.

"Ortho got some new gaming system, so he and some other first years are trying it out back at Ramshackle, since it's the least crowded. Grim should be with them."

"So no dice staying at Ramshackle." The beastman thinks for a sec. "Botanical gardens it is."

Yujin follows Leona to the gardens. The couple head towards Leona's favourite spot, the very same spot where they first formally met many months ago.

"Remember when you almost kicked me in the face?" Yujin smiles. Leona shakes his head and groans.

"And why are you smiling about that?"

He lays in his usual spot, pulling his partner down with him gently. Yujin places their bag at their side before laying down beside Leona, their head resting on his chest right above his heart. Leona's left arm drapes lazily around their shoulders while his right one is folded behind his head. Yujin curls their right arm to their chest, their left arm lying on Leona's stomach.

"I mean, that wasn't very nice of you," Yujin replies, listening to Leona's soothing heartbeat. "I don't know what would've happened if Ruggie hadn't interrupted. But it was also the first time you ever spoke directly to me, so there's a silver lining I guess."

"You're odd."

"And you're dating me, so what does that make you?"

Leona looks directly into Yujin's eyes. "The luckiest man in the world."

Yujin feels their face grow hot at the sweetened words. Leona is rarely ever suave, opting instead to show his affection in other ways, but Yujin discovered that the prince enjoys shaking things up and catching them off guard. It reminds them that Leona is a prince, and thus can act stereotypically prince-like like in one of Idia's otome games.

"Okay, Casanova. I hear you."

Another silence follows, and Yujin feels their mind drifting off under the warm sun when Leona speaks up again. This time, his voice is more serious.

"They're gonna want to meet you." Yujin opens their eyes, not moving as Leona continues. "Especially after Cheka saw us. He's going to be begging my brother and sister to invite us over."

"How do you feel about that?" Yujin sits on up their arms, their gaze meeting Leona's. The man sighs.

"I mean, I don't even want to go back home. My brother's a nuisance and my sister-in-law even more so. But at least I can deal with them. You..." Leona goes silent, but Yujin already knows what's going on through his mind.

Yujin had already met Kifaji during the Cloudcalling Festival, but they didn't have the opportunity to meet the other members of the Kingscholar family. Leona and Yujin had just started dating at that time, and so they hid their relationship from the prince's old mentor. It was clear that, even if Kifaji had noticed anything, he didn't utter a word to anyone else. But as daunting as the idea of meeting the literal king and queen of Sunset Savanna was, it wasn't Yujin's main worry.

No, what Yujin and Leona were truly concerned about was answering the interrogation Yujin would be put under. "Where are you from?", "What are your intentions with Prince Leona?", "What is your family like?", "How are you a student at Night Raven College when you can't perform any magic?". Leona knew that Kimya had already caught onto the fact that Yujin had no magic in their being; it was clear by the curious glance she threw their way back at the cafeteria. He was thankful that Tahiya was younger and less experienced. It was going to be a lot.

"I'll meet them." Leona's green eyes widen at Yujin's declaration. "I'll answer all their questions."

"Are you sure? I can tell Falena to back off. You don't have to do this–" Yujin cuts off Leona with a kiss. When they pull back, there's a smile on their face.

"I'm serious, about this, and about us." They suddenly get shy again. "Just, hold them off for a few weeks, and let me know at least three days in advance when they're ready."

Yujin's face flushes as Leona begins to laugh, eyes crinkling shut and his pearly white fangs flashing through his parted lips. When he's done, he gently brings Yujin to lay back down and kisses their forehead.

"Whatever you need, your Highness," he chuckles. "I ain't letting you go through this alone."

if you’re on twitter, you’ve probably seen those “who’s the most influential/famous yaoi/yuri ship” polls that went around like crazy. if you haven’t, you could probably guess what it was about.

two of the ships for the yuri/GL polls were lumity (owl house) and bronseele (ggz + hi3 + hsr. admittedly, the OP specified hsr while using a pic from an older game). and y’all, i thought this shit was going to be a friendly lil game, but certain people made this shit serious. saying lumity had more impact “because they showed pride flags” and “it’s disney’s first queer main couple!” or something, and then basically insinuating bronseele flops bc they weren’t as openly queer, didn’t hold pride flags, etc.

completely ignoring the facts that 1) the pic the poll OP used was them kissing, 2) they’re canon in the older games, and 3) them kissing predates lumity/owl house show by many years.

but anyway, i wanted to go more into the fact that acting like bronseele (or any queer characters/ships from non-western countries) wasn’t impactful to you as a westerner is really ignorant to queer people elsewhere. but specifically using bronseele as an example since being queer still isn’t legal in China, media censorship is Real there, and yet hoyoverse STILL passed bronseele canon (& so many other queer coded characters) into their media over and over despite the GOVERNMENT LEVEL challenges.

disney and hoyoverse are both companies that suck and i’m not bootlicking either of them. they both have a LOT of work to do to be better as a company. but praising DISNEY of all companies for queer rep when they’ve always had more freedom to do so earlier (and just chose not to to appeal to its more conservative audiences) yet chose not to, is certainly a choice. and disney still has yet to have a queer main character in its main movies.

i’m not dismissing lumity fans, nor am i dismissing how impactful they might’ve been to you (because even as a non TOH fan, i do see how impactful they are! bc ultimately they still are a queer couple consisting of the MAIN character in a popular disney show). but dragging down foreign queer content and queer ships bc they don’t fit YOUR criteria of “is it actual representation” is weird, especially when you ignore the socio-political barriers in said region/country.

same thing with Alice Osem*n making claims that “yaoi”/Asian BLs are fetishistic and lumping all Asian queer media together. the superiority complex is crazy.

like i’m so sick of western/yt queers thinking they’re the spokespeople for the entire queer community + queer content, forgetting how other people in other countries still have to go through legal loopholes in order to simply have their queer content PUBLISHED (or even further, having the right to exist as an openly queer person). and that even if we all had the same rights, the way queer content is delivered and expressed would STILL be differently because the LGBTQ+ community is NOT a monolith.