"Captain, how long are you planning to sleep? Wake up already."
Leonardo ignored Bey’s voice calling him awake and curled tighter into his sleeping bag, shivering slightly from the chill in the air. Muttering to himself, he pulled the fabric closer.
Seeing this, Bey sighed, clearly annoyed.
"You were the one who said we had to wrap up quickly and move on. And now you're just going to keep sleeping?"
"...Just a little longer..."
Leonardo mumbled in his sleep. Bey, giving up, turned to the others.
"He's really not waking up? Taylor, you give it a try."
"What? No way. He almost bit my head off last time I woke him up. Nero, your turn."
"I already got smacked once, remember?"
The task of waking Leonardo up kept getting passed around, each of them claiming they'd suffered worse. Eventually, Bey gave them a fed-up look and turned back to Leonardo.
"Captain, if you’re not getting up, maybe we really should leave you behind."
Leonardo frowned in irritation but remembered Bey's earlier words—that they needed to move quickly—and reluctantly tried to push himself up.
But something felt off.
Despite his will, his body refused to respond. His eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and there was no strength in his arms or legs.
Bey, standing before him, didn’t wait long. Soon, his footsteps faded into the distance as he walked away, leaving Leonardo lying there.
Left behind by his own team, Leonardo was seized by a sense of helpless frustration. He struggled to lift his upper body, but it was futile. His limbs wouldn’t move. When he tried to speak, no voice came out. Panic crept in.
Just then, another set of footsteps approached.
They stopped right in front of him—and didn’t move. Whoever it was, they simply stood there, silent and still, looking down.
Afraid they might leave him too, Leonardo tried desperately to convey his state. He wanted to speak, to gesture—anything—but not even his mouth would cooperate. His pretty brows furrowed deeply in frustration.
And then, the figure bent down, settling into a crouch in front of him. A hand reached out and gently smoothed his furrowed brows, as if to soothe them.
Leonardo, at that touch, felt a wave of relief.
The sensation grounding him, he slowly began to break free from whatever paralysis had seized his body. He grasped the hand in front of him and urgently whispered,
"Don't go..."
The muffled world around him began to clear. The sounds sharpened. Leonardo’s eyes cracked open.
He saw his hand tightly clutching someone else’s.
But the feel of it—it was strange.
Were their hands always this big?
Still half-asleep, still weighed down by lingering drowsiness, Leonardo shifted slightly and fiddled with the hand he was holding. The owner of the hand flinched in surprise.
A little cool to the touch...
Clutching the cool hand tightly, Leonardo turned his head toward the squad’s usual position. After blinking a few times to clear his vision, he finally made out the large figure at the tent’s open entrance.
He rubbed at his eyes to better see which loyal teammate had returned.
But as the blur cleared, and the face came into focus, a chill ran down Leonardo’s spine.
It was Hugo Agrizendro—staring down at him with an unreadable expression.
In an instant, the heaviness in his body vanished. The drowsiness drained away.
Leonardo immediately dropped the hand he'd been holding like it had burned him and bolted upright.
"...What?"
He stared in confusion, trying to piece together what was happening. In his mind, he had just been with his squad.
But now, like smoke from a fading dream, it all evaporated. And the stark reality of Hugo Agrizendro standing in front of him snapped his consciousness fully awake.
Memories came rushing back, dousing his mind like cold water: being caught in the Frost Territory three years after vanishing... dragged back to the capital... brought here, to the Elder Millie Peninsula, with this very man.
He remembered lying down only for a moment, thinking he'd rest until dawn.
Judging from the activity around him, it seemed the others had all woken and begun breaking camp—while he alone had been deep asleep.
Hugo refrained from commenting. The startled look on Leonardo’s face was enough. As amusing as his dazed, half-awake state was, Hugo also felt a touch of guilt—it had clearly shaken him.
Once the blankness began to fade from Leonardo's eyes, Hugo spoke.
"Looks like you slept well. We’ll be moving out after breakfast, so get ready."
He delivered the information plainly, then stood and left the cave with his usual detached demeanor. The other members—who had been sneakily observing—quickly averted their eyes and returned to their tasks as soon as the Commander passed by.
Leonardo couldn’t stop staring after him.
And then, as his eyes met the curious glances of the others, mortification crashed down on him. He wanted to disappear into the ground.
Fuck. What did I just do...?
He was mortified—he’d grabbed Hugo’s hand in his sleep. And even more so, that he hadn’t noticed someone approach. He had been completely unconscious, deep asleep, in this unfamiliar Elder Millie Peninsula, surrounded by Council operatives he didn’t trust.
Usually, even on missions, Leonardo couldn’t sleep unless the environment was secure and someone trustworthy was standing watch. Granted, the real issue was that once he did fall asleep, waking up was near impossible...
Which meant—
He’d felt safe.
The thought struck him hard.
He remembered the last thing he’d seen before falling asleep: Agrizendro taking over the night watch and sitting right there.
And then he asked himself:
Was it because he was watching over me...? That I felt safe? Here, of all places?
Leonardo stared blankly out of the cave, then muttered to himself with a hollow laugh.
"You’ve lost it, Leonardo."
****
Leonardo quickly packed up his gear and walked over to the lake, now gleaming under the morning sun. He scooped up handfuls of water and splashed his face, scrubbing hard, as if trying to wake his very soul.
He did it over and over, until his skin turned red. Then, brushing his soaked hair back, he stared into the rippling surface. A droplet clung to the tip of his sharp chin before falling into the lake.
Flynn, who had been gathering gear outside the cave, spotted him and approached.
"Oh, Blaine’s finally up? You wouldn’t budge no matter what I said earlier."
Leonardo stiffened and shot him a look colder than the water he’d just used.
Startled by his reaction, Flynn stopped in his tracks.
"...You tried to wake me up?"
"You didn’t know? You even replied."
Flynn answered casually, unaware why Leonardo was reacting like that. Leonardo didn’t say anything more, just let out a long sigh, raking a hand through his golden hair in visible frustration.
"Ha... fuck, this is insane."
He walked off with a dazed look.
Flynn, having been told to wake Leonardo by the Commander, had found the tent still quiet while everyone else was up and moving. When he peeked in, Leonardo had been fast asleep, completely still—his expression peaceful, his breathing soft.
Flynn had hesitated. He looked so tired, and frankly, so serene.
Still, they had to depart. Flynn had opened the tent flap wider, stepped halfway in, and called softly:
“Blaine, how [N O V E L I G H T] long are you gonna sleep? Try waking up.”
“Just a bit more...”
Leonardo had murmured, hugging the sleeping bag tighter.
Flynn had tried bluffing.
“If you don’t wake up, we’re leaving you behind.”
Leonardo’s brow had only twitched slightly in response.
At that moment, Hugo’s voice had come from a distance:
“Flynn, if he doesn’t get up, leave him. Just pack up the gear.”
“Understood.”
So Flynn had left, and a little later saw Leonardo by the lakeside—looking unusually troubled.
But after hearing that irritated curse, Flynn could only watch him walk away, frowning.
"...What’s with the mood swing?"
****
“I’m going to scout the area. Stay here until I return.”
“Yes, sir.”
After finishing his meal, Hugo stood. Leonardo was still half-spaced out, mechanically chewing. Then, something entered his view—an energy bar.
He blinked and looked up.
It was Agrizendro. From his own rations, it seemed—he wasn’t eating it himself but offering it to Leonardo.
Leonardo stared blankly at the energy bar... and at the wrist that wore that familiar watch. Then, without a word, he took it.
“Finish your breakfast before eating that,” Hugo said firmly, like a warning.
Then he left with two others to scout the path ahead.
Leonardo stared in the direction they’d gone, then glanced at the energy bar and shoved it into his pocket. He picked up his fork again to continue eating—but for some reason, the image of that watch wouldn’t leave his mind.
It wasn’t the watch itself, really... it was the memory tied to it. Something they’d said while looking at it—something important.
But the memory wouldn’t surface. Only a vague sense of discomfort lingered.
Frowning, Leonardo turned to Flynn.
“Hey, Flynn.”
“Yeah?”
“Does your Commander have a lover?”
Every head around the campfire turned to look at him.
They all stared like they’d just heard something wild. Leonardo glanced around, annoyed.
Flynn, caught off guard, didn’t even register that Leonardo had used his real name and not “Teo.”
“...Probably not? Why do you ask?”
“Really? Nah. Never mind.”
Flynn gave him a wary look, but Leonardo answered so casually that it made it more suspicious.
Flynn’s mind raced.
Why would he ask that? Is he—? No way...
Leonardo noticed his expression and raised an eyebrow. Then he laughed.
“What, worried I’ll seduce your precious Commander?”
Just then—crunch.
The sound of metal being crushed rang out.
They turned.
The 8th Platoon Leader across the fire had crushed her canteen with one hand. Her glare was ice cold, locked on Leonardo as if he’d insulted her god.
The smirk disappeared from Leonardo’s face.
Flynn stood up quickly.
“Whoa, Platoon Leader. He didn’t mean anything by it. Right, Blaine?”
He laughed awkwardly, trying to defuse the tension. She said nothing—but her glare lingered before she finally looked away.
Leonardo’s brow furrowed, irritated.
But looking at her cold expression, something clicked in his memory.
She’d pursued him relentlessly before. One of the reasons, he now realized, seemed tied to what he’d been trying to remember... something to do with Agrizendro’s watch.
“Someone precious.”
Bey’s voice from his dream echoed in his mind:
“You said we have to finish quickly and go.”
Leonardo’s eyes widened.
“Hey—what’s today’s date?”
“Huh?”
Flynn blinked at the sudden seriousness but answered,
“The 23rd.”
“The twenty-third?”
Leonardo repeated, stunned.
Flynn, now eyeing him more carefully, saw how anxious he looked.
Leonardo bit his lip hard and ran a hand through his hair.
Damn it. Ever since I got caught, my sense of time's been shot. I completely forgot...
Then—he suddenly stood.
Flynn blinked in confusion, watching him jump to his feet.
