Black Clover: Nah I'd Lose (UPDATED)

(Guys, this week's goal is 400 Powerstones Whether this fic will continue or not would depend on the support I am getting which is decided by the number of Powerstones this fic receives or the number of Patreon members)

"I would be lying if I said that I am not a tad bit nervous," Akeru looked at his reflection in the mirror.

BAM! The door slammed open. "Akeru, are you ready?" Leopold barged into the room.

"Yeah, I thought we would have to get dressed up or something for the party," Akeru thought, surprised that this wasn't the case, especially at a party involving royalty.

"It's fine. Nobody said anything to me until now," Leopold said, motioning for Akeru to follow him out of the room.

Wait, the wording he used... I feel like I've dug myself into a trap, Akeru thought, imagining a very likely but unwelcome scenario.

Ugh, whatever. I'm too tired to deal with this, Akeru thought, starting to walk alongside Leopold.

"I couldn't believe you were holed up in the library for a week. Old Man Geld was shocked by your tenacity."

"Nah, he was just annoyed by you causing trouble there. That's why he was shocked that a kid your age could be silent and use the library properly," Akeru taunted.

"Th-That's not true!" Leopold quickly said, unintentionally raising his voice.

"Now that's unusual for you to stutter. I wonder if there's a story," Akeru said with a teasing smile.

It seemed he was on the cusp of something.

"There is no story!" Leopold quickly said, gesturing with both hands to form an "X."

"If you say so..." Akeru decided not to poke him further.

The party was held in one of the halls of Kira Estate. Despite the three families residing in the same castle, the area was enormous. It took them 10 minutes to get there.

"Talk about fancy," Akeru said, looking at the decorations, which were even more extravagant than those at the central house of Vermillion Estate.

"Don't tell anyone, but the king is just useless. The only thing he can do is shine, and that's why the Kira Estate has gone overboard with their decorations," Leopold said, keeping his voice low.

"I think you're supposed to say that more quietly, not in your usual tone," Akeru deadpanned at Leopold's definition of subtle.

"Yeah, you're not supposed to say that out loud," a voice said from behind, startling Leopold.

They weren't maintaining their mana fields, so Leopold was caught off guard and looked like a deer in headlights.

"Mimosa, long time no see," Leopold greeted.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Besides, didn't we meet yesterday?" she asked with a polite smile.

"Oh, we did? I seem to have forgotten. I was training all day. My apologies," Leopold said sheepishly, rubbing his head.

What is this conversation? Are they pretending? Or are they serious? Akeru was baffled by the exchange in front of him.

They were currently standing outside the hall where the party was supposed to be.

"Oh, you must be Akeru. Leopold has told me a lot about you."

"Has he now? He's said a lot of things about you, Mimosa?" Akeru said, glancing at Leopold.

"Yes, that would be me. What did he say about me? I'm curious."

Leopold's eyes widened, and he subtly glanced at Akeru.

Don't tell that.

Don't worry, I won't.

They exchanged glances, at least that's how it appeared to Leopold.

Akeru said with a smile, "He said that to summarize you in three words, it would be 'oblivious, rude girl.'"

Leopold's eyes widened, giving Akeru a look of betrayal.

"Cousin, do you see me like that?" Mimosa asked with a polite smile.

However, Akeru, who wasn't very familiar with Mimosa, could tell there was a hidden meaning in those words.

"I can explain. It just came out wrong," Leopold waved his hands around.

Jeez, these guys are slightly different from how they appeared in the canon. Or is it due to the butterfly effect? Akeru thought, observing their conversation.

Nah, I'm overthinking. In the anime, their interactions were mostly with Asta. Plus, they're younger than when the canon started. Humans are complex. If Mimosa is kind, it doesn't mean she can't be angry. That's illogical. Anyway, my memories are blurry, so I might be wrong. Akeru spaced out for a moment.

He instinctively took a step back as he felt Leopold grabbing his shoulder.

Akeru noticed both cousins looking at him.

"Uh, what did I miss?" Akeru asked with a wry smile.

"Nothing much. I'll have a proper talk with him later anyway," Mimosa said, much to Leopold's displeasure, whose shoulders slumped.

"Now, now, I was just teasing Leopold. He really looks up to you as a kind person. He also likes that you're mostly blunt," Akeru said, deciding to save Leopold.

He didn't want to be on the receiving end of Leopold's later complaints when they were alone.

"Oh, really?" She glanced at Leopold, who was currently looking away.

"Anyway, I'm also curious about what Leopold thinks about me," Akeru asked the girl with Vermillion hair.

"Hehe, he's said many things about you," she said with a smirk at Leopold, who was still looking away.

"Ohhhhh, that's interesting. My curiosity is piqued," Akeru said, not minding Mimosa using the same tactic as him.

Leopold would only be casual in this case.

"Well, I'll just say the main parts. He really admires you and wants to defeat you, so he's increased his training intensity by a few folds. Let's spare the details," Mimosa decided not to put Leopold in a more difficult position.

He was already walking a tightrope. Who knows how thin the rope could get before he fell into the pit and got devoured by some cubs?

"Tch, that's not really new information, but I guess we'll leave it at that," Akeru said.

"Ah, I forgot to mention, but nice dress. You look cute. However, Leopold told me we don't really need to dress up," Akeru turned to Leopold, who had returned to his boisterous self.

The look he gave Akeru said, Don't mind the small stuff.

"I think you asked the wrong person for that kind of advice," Mimosa gave him an apologetic smile.

Akeru just gave a wry smile in return.

Screw it. It's not like it would have mattered. I need to be in combat gear to be prepared. Who knows, maybe someone will bomb the castle today, Akeru consoled himself.

"Oh, Noelle, here!" Leopold called out, or rather shouted, embarrassing the poor silver-haired girl.

"You didn't have to shout," she said after approaching.

"Haha, my bad."

Mimosa also greeted Noelle, who returned the greeting.

"Oh, is it him?" she asked Leopold.

"Wait, what?" Akeru was surprised by this.

"Don't you know you've become famous? Everyone knows you here," Mimosa said.

"Wait, why didn't I know about this?" Akeru looked at Leopold accusingly.

"You were holed up in the library for the most part. You still would have noticed the looks people were giving you, wouldn't you?" Leopold pointed out a fair point for the first time that day.

"I thought they were just looking at me because I was new here or something," Akeru sighed.

He didn't have much experience interacting with people and intentionally avoided making eye contact while walking.

Because, according to me, Making eye contact -> Person looking back at you -> More likelihood for them to strike up a conversation -> If I ignore them, it might seem rude.

So, Akeru had a habit of walking with his head down.

"Well, your news probably wouldn't have spread if Leopold hadn't blabbed so much. Even people from House Silva know about it, despite being on the opposite side of our estate," Mimosa said, pointing at Noelle.

The latter just awkwardly nodded to confirm Mimosa's point.

"What did you do?" Akeru glared at Leopold, biting his lip.

It really looked like an ugly face.

He grabbed Leopold's shoulders in case he tried to run away.

"Hey now, I need to let people know that you defeated me, so I would get social pressure. Plus, it's not like it's a secret," Leopold said with a confident smirk.

"Whyyyyy did you have to advertise that? Now many people will try to prove themselves and will definitely challenge me," Akeru whined, shaking Leopold's shoulders.

"Crush them."

"Huh?" Akeru asked dumbfoundedly.

"Defeat them. Brother said you didn't show all your cards during our duel, which means you must be stronger, right?" Leopold said with a confident smirk.

"Tch, I guess after this party, I would have too many enemies" Akeru sighed while letting go of Leopold.

***

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