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Idia had been excited for Ortho to come to NRC. Ever since his little brother had received his letter Idia’s spirits had improved drastically. Even the other introverted members of Ignihyde noticed. He had even shown up to the Housewarden meeting in person — not an entirely unheard of event because he honestly didn’t have the patience for ‘could have been an email’ meetings, but still exceedingly rare.
(“Is Idia actually here?” Vil had asked, not kindly, not mockingly but simply astonished.
“I’m happy to see you taking your duties seriously for once.” Riddle had said, unkindly.
“Did anyone invite Malleus?” Lilia asked.)
It’s easy to pick Ortho out at the ceremony. His blue hair shines like a beacon just like his smile. Idia, who wouldn’t have come if it weren’t for Ortho, fidgets through the first half of the alphabet, sneaking glances at his brother. He hates being around this many people, but every time Ortho meets his eyes and grins it’s worth it.
And then it’s Ortho’s turn.
And he gets sorted into Savanaclaw.
Idia Shroud, Housewarden of Ignihyde, makes the sound of a dying man. Across the hall, Leona Kingscholar, Housewarden of Savanaclaw, looks over at the racket just in time to see Idia fall to his knees.
At first, Idia does not want to visit Savanaclaw. Ortho visits him almost every day — he becomes a familiar face in Ignihyde. Idia laments, to any who will listen, that it seems ridiculous that Ortho isn’t a part of Ignihyde. How could his cute little brother be a jock? Never mind that Ortho has high agility stats, good stamina and actually enjoys physical activity. Ortho’s smart! He works on several projects with Idia — including a little alarm clock/pager/drone he mischievously names ORTHO that nags Idia to do things like eat food and go to sleep. Ortho’s a Shroud! He has to be diligent.
Then, Ortho asks him to come to his ‘first Spelldrive game’. It’s not a real game, just a practice within the Savanaclaw team but he sounds so excited. He wants to show off to his big brother. Idia prepares by not going to class for three days, storing up his socialization points and making sure his tablet and headphones are fully charged before making the trek to Savanaclaw. His first year at NRC had been rough — Idia hadn’t been prepared for all of the other students to whisper about his hair or comment on his appearance or be so put off by his interests or, frankly, genius. Over the years he had managed his anxiety by mostly pretending crowds were NPCs but direct confrontation still sent shivers down his spine.
Well, direct confrontation outside of his areas of expertise. When Idia is confident he’s unmatched, and occasionally, far too rude. But going to Savanaclaw is so far outside of his norm that even stepping through the mirror makes him shudder and pull his hood up higher.
The Spelldrive pitch is dusty and the stands aren’t crowded. In fact, almost no one is there and Idia can’t decide if it feels worse to be one of five people in the stands or better that he isn’t packed in like it’s an idol concert.
“Nii-chan!” Ortho immediately flies his broom up by Idia. There’s not even a wobble. It makes Idia’s chest burst with pride, even if the Savanaclaw yellow looks out of place to him. His own flying scores are rather abysmal but he only cares enough about PE to both not pass and hopefully avoid Vargas’s extra lessons.
“Look at you.” Idia reaches out and ruffles Ortho’s hair. “Supercool.”
“Hehe! Right? I won’t get to play in many real matches but something like this I can be a starter!” Ortho lowers his voice and gives Idia one of his best impish grins also, “I even have a rival in the Spelldrive club. You won’t see him today because this is just between Savanaclaw students, dorm bonding and all, but maybe you’ll come to the Spelldrive club practice match. . .?” The grin turns into a pleading look complete with begging puppy dog eyes.
Idia feels any resolve he had to not go to any other sporting events withers instantly. He can never say no to Ortho.
“M-maybe, yeah. Sure. . .”
“Great! Oh! We’re starting — see you after!”
Idia had never really seen the appeal of Spelldrive before. Sports weren’t his thing to begin with and there were almost no Ignihyde students in any sports clubs. But watching Ortho play is an entirely different experience than he expected.
Ortho looks like a hero, smile wild and free, as he zips around on his broom. His magic control isn’t great and he dives head first into almost any engagement. He even gets scolded by the coach — who Idia knows, has met a few times before, is the intimidating Leona Kingscholar. Even if it’s Leona, Idia feels his hackles rising when he sees the Housewarden give Ortho a dressing down for his careless plays. But Ortho just smiles in response, ducks his head and looks at the Spelldrive field with fire in his eyes. His brother is flourishing. Idia’s heart catches in his throat as he stays for the entire practice game, watching Ortho fly with the sun on his face.
(In another universe, Ortho’s indomitable spirit and perseverance is on full display when he drags himself out of the Underworld to fight for his brother’s freedom. So, it makes sense that in this one the mirror sent him to Savanaclaw.)
There’s no way Leona didn’t know Idia Shroud. He remembers meeting Idia during his second year. Idia had been much shorter then but just as skinny and pale. Every time Leona met him the Ignihyde student was rapidly swinging between an egotistic rant and anxious apology. Notably, also, sometimes Idia wore headphones but wasn’t listening to music. Leona’s hearing is significantly better than a humans and even the best headphones couldn’t keep the low rumble of music away from his noticing. Then he stopped seeing Idia around until the new Ignihyde Housewarden was announced.
All of that aside, Leona could not know Idia now. Ortho talks about his brother all of the time with an adoration that makes Leona wince. He wonders if he ever sounded so naive when talking about Falena but even considering that brings bile to his mouth. It’s easier for a kid who hasn’t seen the world to say. Maybe easier too when his brother’s an actual genius. Leona may not be as tech savvy as the Ignihyde nerds but he’s far from stupid. Idia Shroud is eccentric but when he does actually participate in Housewarden meetings he has things of value to share. Unless it’s about a passion of his then it’s just a nonstop ramble Leona tunes out.
And, when Ortho fights tooth and nail for a slot on the starting Spelldrive team (Leona’s glad to have a talented first year that’s not on Pomefiore, he’s not going to let Vil gloat about Jack and Epel uncontested), Idia shows up to the game with glowsticks of all things, one blue and one yellow.
The completely unbridled passion and, if Leona is being honest, somewhat unhinged, glowstick waving Idia does to cheer for Ortho makes him laugh. At first just a surprised snort, but then a full blown rumbling laugh. It’s just a little goofy looking, but it lights a fire under Ortho. Savanaclaw slides to a solid win over Heartslabyul.
Idia is just as out of breath as Ortho is when he storms down to the sidelines to congratulate his little brother. Leona crosses his arms and watches, not knowing his face has taken on a look of one part disinterest and one part derision. Neither expression is correct to his mood but years of mirroring his seniors at Night Raven College with their aloof swagger and years of masking his emotions back home sometimes resulted in inscrutable facades. (He’s thinking about his first game of Spelldrive, when he was younger than Ortho and the way Falena had cheered him on then. He doesn’t know how he feels about it, now.)
“As expected of Ortho!” Idia laughs and swings Ortho around in a hug. He puts him down quickly, “Oof. . . I cheered so much my arms are dying.”
“Be careful, nii-chan!” Ortho laughs and even after he’s been put down hugs his brother. “And! Meet Leona-san, you probably know each other since you’re both Housewardens, but he’s amazing, right?”
Leona’s attention snaps back to the brothers, back to the present.
“Hah? What’re you babbling about.” Leona says at the same time Idia nervously greets him.
“L-l-leona-shi! It’s . . . thanks for looking after Ortho. I mean, sports are totally not really my thing. I don’t even know why I got up this morning, last night’s raid was fire and coming to a stadium on like zero sleep because of that is a total letdown comparatively, you know? Like getting into a fan exclusive event only to have to go to a 9-5 the next day. Hihi, right? Going from enjoyable to a real energy drain. I need a megaelixir.”
“We’ve met, yeah.” Leona breaks through towards the end of Idia’s rambling.
Ortho looks between the two of them and then simply says, “I’m glad!”
Leona starts to see Idia at Savanaclaw once a week. The Ignihyde Housewarden usually scurries in and makes a beeline for his brother’s room but a day before winter break half the students have already left and it is quiet enough Idia doesn’t flee to Ortho’s immediately. He finally takes time to study his surroundings but also looks so out of place Leona can’t help himself.
“Lost?”
“L-leona-shi!” Idia jumps, literally. Both hands clasp in front of him but seeing it’s just Leona he relaxes a little. “Y-you haven’t. . . gone home yet?”
“Nah. Got winter studies to do to make up for my poor attendance. Woe is me.” Leona deadpans.
“Oh! Oh. That’s good. I thought Ortho might be the only one here. . .” Idia mumbles. “Since we’re not going home either for break. . .”
“Hm?” Leona gestures to the empty common room. “Doesn’t seem like it but a fair enough of the brats stick around. Just empty right now ‘cuz it’s near lunch.”
“You’re not — “
“Ruggie’s gettin’ me something. His last job before break.” Leona flops down onto a couch. “So, yer brother’s probably at the cafeteria too. Don’t you pay attention to time?”
In honesty, Idia had forgotten about lunch. It is true that usually he visits Ortho after classes but since classes had already let out for break it didn’t even occur to him. Idia had ten alarms set today but most of them were for events and his stamina/AP, not for actual times of day.
“W-wasn’t that important.”
Leona laughs. “Sure. So, you gonna wait for him?”
“If. . . yes.” Idia looks around the room again. He looks anywhere but Leona.
“You’re supposed to be a genius, right?”
“Maverick genius.” Idia replies quickly. “Once in a lifetime technomantic expert. Inventor extraordinaire. Electronic erudite blah blah.”
“Whatever. Sit down.” Leona gestures to the seat across from the couch. Idia shifts over and sinks down into it before pulling his knees up too.
“Leona-shi?”
“I assume that big brain of yours knows how to play chess.” From somewhere Leona pulls a worn folding chess board out and slaps it down on the table. With a flick of his pen all the pieces march out from under the couch and set themselves up.
“Of course I do.” Idia scoffs.
“Show me how smart you really are.” Leona drawls, not even bothering to sit up.
When Ortho comes back to lunch he’s greeted by the sound of Idia cackling.
“What kind of move was that?!” Leona is grumbling.
“L O L you took the bait! I was just being a massive troll.” Idia spreads his hands.
Ortho walks over and looks down at the board. His brother was awfully gleeful for having lost but Leona looks positively sulky also.
“Nii-chan, Leona-san, I’m glad you’re getting along.”
“Tch. Go on and scram.” Leona jerks his chin at them.
Ortho laughs and he and Idia disappear to his room to game. Leona scowls at the chess board. The game had been close and had been a lot of fun. His victory was impending but then Idia went and made the stupidest most insane move humanly possible and it shocked Leona. It had been so ridiculous he could only bluster while Idia had laughed at him.
It honestly feels good.
Leona doesn’t seek Idia out for chess matches, but if they happen to cross paths he usually has a collapsable game board with him. Idia complains about the game being analogue but always plays, anyway. Sometimes he surprises Leona with an absolutely insane move and says ‘I saw this in an anime’ and a few times he makes a show of hovering his hand over the board saying ‘I’m letting the heart of the chess pieces guide my moves.’ Most of the time he plays seriously, though and gives Leona a good challenge.
He does wonder if Idia begins to seek him out, after his Overblot, especially when eventually the Ignihyde Housewarden finds him in the botanical garden.
Idia sits down across for Leona without a word. The board is spread out. Idia picks white and moves his first piece. They continue in silence for a few turns.
“Leona-shi,” Idia fidgets with his sleeve. “Ortho said you Overblotted.”
Leona’s hand stills over his knight and he sighs. “Yeah. The whole dorm knows. Guess the whole school, now.”
Idia laughs quietly, briefly. “I don’t think so. Savanaclaw’s awfully protective, though who knows about the Heartslabyul students. . .” Ortho explained that Savanaclaw had a real in-group status. They close ranks and protect their own but people who betray Savanaclaw don’t make it very far. Ortho always sounds happy when he describes it, like he’s finally part of something and Idia understands that but it just sounds unpleasant to him.
“So, why’re you askin’?”
“. . . I know a little about Overblots.” Idia plays with his hair, blue flames twisting and flickering around his fingers. “It’s been the topic of a lot of scientific papers and stuff.”
“And?” Leona finally makes his move.
“. . . I just wanted to . . .” Idia trails off. He stares at the chess board and then abruptly stands up. Leona can hear his knees pop and is surprised that Idia has the core strength to go from sitting to standing that quickly. “Are you okay?”
“Gloomiest guy on campus is asking me if I’m okay?” Leona snorts.
“Yeah.” Idia replies. “Because I’m gloomy, I know something about not being okay.” His eyes slide to the left, away from Leona’s face.
There’s something he isn’t telling Leona, but Leona had never felt the need to pull truths out of everyone. He lets people come to him at their own pace. Time with Idia is something of a safe haven, no responsibilities and yet engaging. He’s not going to ruin that by calling him out.
“. . . the truth, then? You want it?” Leona’s reply is measured. Outside of Ruggie Idia is the person he’s closest to at school in a funny way. Unlike with Vil they don’t brutally snipe at each other but they do bicker. Idia brings something unusual to Leona’s life — unexpectedly bright and gloomy in turns — he wouldn’t say he trusts Idia but at the end of the day. . . he’s a third year. Idia’s not the type to spread rumors or try and drag Leona through the mud.
Why not, a traitorous part of his heart says, why not try trusting him?
“If you want to give it.” Idia looks down at him. “. . . I know life’s not like anime, as much as people around me are waaaay easier to deal with when they’re NPCs. You can always reset a game to your last save and even save scum through it if you want. I wanted to reroll when Ortho got Savanaclaw, I won’t lie.”
Leona stays silent. Idia extends a hand to him.
“You’ve been good for Ortho. He really likes it here, I think in the future he might even try to go into Spelldrive for real. He’s having dreams of what he’s going to do in the future. That’s priceless to me. So, I’ll listen if you want to talk.” Leona doesn’t know just how much it means to Idia. He doesn’t know that a few years before Ortho had begun to lose his sunny disposition. The reality of his life had begun to weigh on him and it had killed Idia to see his brother sound so resigned.
“‘M not okay.” Leona finally breathed out. “Not so bad either, though. Feels a bit like I’ve become dried meat.” He takes Idia’s hand. “Now what? Ya gonna pull me up?”
“Do you think I can do that?!” Idia retorts, but he doesn’t let go. “You’ve got to put in the work, that’s how it works. It’s like, pay to boost an account and get to your capstone skills faster but do it properly and you’ll know how your class works for the rest of your life.”
“What does that even mean.”
“It means that I can’t do anything for you, Leona-shi. I’m a DPS unit not a support, but I’ll join your party.”
They stay like that for a while and then with a deep breath Leona uses the leverage from Idia’s handhold to stand up. “Heavy shit to say during a chess game.”
“Guess so.” Idia shrugs. Then he exhales heavily. “Ahhhh! I’m glad that went well. I was really worried there, like, you’re so stoic most of the time if you had just done your oh no I’m such a cool badass thing it was a GG for me. I hate these kinds of conversations too, like, what do I look like? I’m the complete opposite of the lovable sidekick that can support the MC through their difficulties.”
“Ya gonna let go of my hand?” Leona asks. Idia yelps and lets go — but Leona doesn’t.
“L-l-l-l-leona-shi.”
“Decided I might like it.” Leona smirks.
They end up not finishing the chess game, but spend the afternoon together regardless.