Leo vs The World Chapter 5: Leo vs The Universe, a fire emblem fanfic

Chapter 5: Leo vs. The Universe

Update:
Leo – Status: In love
Sakura – Status: In love

Niles – Status: Threw an awesome party for Other Leo (and you missed it)
Elise – Status: Unemployed
Hinata – Status: Still recording with Shura
Young Dwyer – Status: Background friend
Selkie – Status: Technically an adult
Corrin – Status: Almost getting a promotion
Oboro – Status: Party animal
Camilla - Status: That face when you lay your sister off work
Shura - Status: Doesn't actually know how to record
Velouria - Status: Who cares?
Luna - Status: Out of sight, out of mind
Scarlet - Status: Business tycoon

Odin Dark – Status: Pocket change
Benny Lee - Status: Making it rain (coins)
Subaki - Status: The cleaning lady's tip
Hana - Status: Spent on Sakura's porch repairs
Evil Exes #5-7 – Status: Unknown

Month: June (30th)

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Camilla walked into the main room, holding a cake. It was chocolate, which was not Leo's favorite, but the only kind Camilla could be bothered to learn to make. Leo and most of his friends sat squished together on the same couch.

Sakura leaned in on Leo's shoulder, smiling. "I'm happy for you, Leo."

"Thanks. We're still going to celebrate yours, you know, don't think I forgot about that."

Elise giggled. "So how old are you now, Leo? 30?"

"…22."

Hinata looked around. "Isn't Young Dwyer supposed to have shown up? He was gonna bring pizza."

Shura blinked. "Oh… I thought the delivery place had the wrong address… Uh boy."

"Great. A party with no pizza. Real nice," Oboro huffed. "Just wait until my next party! There'll be pizza everywhere!"

Month: July – Oboro's House

Leo and Sakura stood in the center of the living room, noticing pizza boxes all over the place. Leo nodded. "Oboro was not kidding."

"Heehee! I just realized, we haven't been in this house together since we first met in person."

With one comment, Leo's cheeks went crimson. "Yeah… You could've not brought that up…"

"Heeheehee!"

Then with one laugh, Leo's embarrassment faded. Sakura's laughs had that effect on him. Her gasps, on the other hand…

"What?"

"I… I think I recognize those men in the corner…" Sakura nearly whispered. "Try not to look directly at them."

Leo casually scoped the party and saw two similar men talking to each other in the corner with pizza. One had green hair, one had red, and their clothes matched. Green wore a button-up shirt and jeans, while Red wore a tank top, camo pants and sunglasses.

Name: Suzukaze 'Kaze' Shingaki
Status: Planning too much

Name: Saizo Shingaki
Status: Not planning enough

"Why are they here?" Leo asked. Sakura gave him a look, and he winced. "Okay, bad question. But still, they couldn't mean to attack me in the middle of this party, right? They seem to be enjoying it. I think. That red one looks mad."

Sakura nodded. "Saizo ran hot and Kaze ran cold."

"I've never really been interested, but what is it like to be in a three-person relationship?"

"Uhhh!" Saizo and Kaze whipped their heads over, and Sakura squeaked. The brothers walked over promptly, with Kaze speaking first. "Sakura, funny we run into you here. All by yourself?"

"Unless that's the infamous Leon," Saizo spat.

"Leo," the man in question corrected. He sighed. "So what, you guys want to fight right now?"

"Nohrians sure like to fight, it looks like," said Saizo.

"Easy, Brother. Ahem. Leo, was it? We're not barbarians, we're just here to have fun." He pulled out a remote and pressed a button. "Our friend, on the other hand…"

Vvvvvvt!

Leo and Sakura turned around and saw a little wooden man with buzz saws on his hand.

AUTOMATON HAS JOINED THE PARTY!

The robot immediately ran for Leo. He winced and ran into another room. "Gah! Why'd I leave the sword at home?!"

Kaze looked over to Sakura. "So you seem to be doing well. Does Leo give you everything you want in a person?"

"Y-yes!"

"Unlike either of us," said Saizo.

"I'm leaving." Sakura stormed off. Saizo shook his head.

"That's what she does best."

Elsewhere in the party, Selkie sat next to a drinking Hinata on the couch as they watched Leo throwing decorations at the automaton and breaking it. The Kitsune girl looked to her friend. "Hinata, why aren't you talking to Oboro?"

He winced. "Oooh… Well, we kinda broke up."

"Huh? You kinda broke up?"

"Well, maybe it was less ambiguous than yours and Leo's situation with Sakura, but-"

Selkie raised her eyebrow. "Uh, I don't get it."

The man let out a sigh. "Okay, I thought you figured it out yourself, but… you know Leo cheated on you, right?"

"…Nooo…"

"Well, yeah… He was so busted up over what Luna did to him, and you worshipped the ground he walked on, so he just figured dating you would be easy! He wouldn't have to try or risk anything!" Hinata shrugged. "Then Sakura came along, and… well it took him a few weeks to actually break up with you."

"O-oh…"

"Yeah, Leo's my bud, but… well, you had a right to know. I thought you already did, really."

At first, Selkie said nothing and allowed Hinata to finish his drink. Until her final question. "Does Sakura know?"

Selkie's answer was the fact that Hinata refused to make eye contact.

"That robot was less frightening than I thought," Leo said, between bites of cereal. He and Sakura sat together at her kitchen table, Sakura dressed for work. "Too bad those guys left the party before I could find them again, I bet it would've saved a lot of time."

"Well, you'll probably have another chance." Sakura stood up. "I need to get going. Don't you have work today?"

"It's Sunday."

"Oh. Right. Well, we're out of milk. Could you please pick some up today?"

"I should be able to."

"Thank you." She came closer and pecked Leo on the forehead. "I'll see you later."

Sakura left, and Leo finished his breakfast not long after. He went to the dresser in the living room to pull out some bus tokens (a birthday gift from Elise). But something caught his eye. For the first time, Leo noticed an envelope with a name written in Sakura's handwriting.

IZANA

Leo furrowed his brow, but ultimately grabbed two tokens and shut the drawer.

In Shura's room, he and Hinata sat together by the former's computer, while Leo and Elise were stuck on the bed. "Guuuuuys! When can we hear the album?!"

Shura winced. "Uh, in a minute!"

"You've said that for hours!" Elise complained.

"Okay, I need more minutes, then!"

Leo glared. "It's been months. Why haven't you guys finished?"

"Uh, band meeting!"

Hinata stood up and went over into Elise's room. The siblings sighed and got up to join him. He nervously rested his hands on his temples. "So… We have a show!"

Elise gasped, and Leo turned his head. "We do? For once?"

"Yeah, Oboro talked to some of her friends who were doing a show. They agreed, but only if it were competitive. So, another Battle of the Bands. This one's called 'Amp vs Amp' or something."

"Who are we playing?" asked Elise.

"The Super Shingaki Bros. Some kinda DJs."

Leo stroked his chin. "Shingaki Brothers… That name rings a bell… Wait, I think those were the guys at Oboro's party! They sent that robot after me!"

"Didn't you and Oboro break up? Again? Why would she do that for you?"

Hinata shrugged. "I dunno! But come on, we gotta practice or else we'll be totally screwed!"

Elise had automatically appeared behind her drums. "Then what are we waiting for?! ROCKIN' TROOPAS LET'S GO, ONE, TWO, THREE FOUR!" Elise began drumming, even though Hinata and Leo were without instruments.

On a bench in the mall, Selkie rambled into a phone about how Leo cheated on her all that time ago. It was mostly just a lot of fast talking and some sounds of moaning. She was talking to her good friend, Velouria.

"Uh, Selkie? I can't really understand you."

Over in the clothing store, Leo sat on a bench of his own while Sakura tried a different outfit in the changing room. "So are you going to go to our performance? It's at the old warehouse in Dia, one town over."

"Uh, maybe. I'll have to check my schedule," she said behind the door. "I'm not sure…"

Leo nodded. "Hmm. We're still trying to figure out what song we should open with. Elise keeps pushing for 'Threshold', but Hinata's really set on 'Pencilhead'. I'm kinda neutral on both songs, what would an outside perspective think?"

"Uh… which one is which again? I…" A sigh. "I'm sorry, Leo, but… your songs all kind of sound… the same…"

"Wh-what?"

"I… I've just never really been into that kind of music before. Th-that's not to say anything about your band, but… well…"

"Oh. Oh yeah, that's fine, it's not for everyone," Leo waved it off.

"Phew. I'm glad you're not upset about that."

"Naaah. I don't even like our music that much," Leo said.

"Huh? Why are you in the band, then?"

"Well… uh… Hm."

Dia – O'Malley Warehouse

Young Dwyer helped the Troopas unpack their equipment from the car. "I can't believe you let me come with you for once."

"Come on, Young Dwyer, we haven't treated you that badly, have we?" Elise asked.

"I didn't even know you were performing until you called me to help with the equipment."

"Oh…"

Hinata looked around nervously. "So… who's on first?"

Leo looked at a flyer he held. "Apparently… both of us?"

"What?!" Elise asked. "How does that work?"

Like this:

The Rockin' Troopas (and Young Dwyer) stood onstage at the north end of the warehouse interior, with all their equipment. On the opposite side, the entire wall was covered in amps.

Elise gulped. "Oh…"

In the restroom, Sakura finished washing her hands, when she turned to find Selkie waiting for her. "Oh! S-Selkie?"

Selkie nodded. "That's me! Sakura, we need to talk."

"If… if this is about what happened in the library-"

"No, it isn't!" She blushed. "But, uh, I am sorry about that. But this is more important! Here goes…"

Sakura waited.

"…Leo… he cheated on me! On both of us!"

"…What?"

"He was dating me when you two met," Selkie explained. "But he didn't break up with me until after he'd already been seeing you for a few weeks! Hinata told me the whole story! Everyone just went along with it, but neither of us knew about it!"

"I… But… I think I need to go…" Sakura said, hurrying out of the restroom. Selkie caught the stressed look on Sakura's face and frowned.

Young Dwyer stood on stage left, holding his closed 3DS. "So are the other guys coming out soo-"

The Shingakis' amps lit up, and their keyboards slowly slid from opposite sides of their stage to join in the middle. The two brothers crept up, Kaze on stage left, Saizo on stage right. They stared soullessly at the Troopas.

Kaze spoke first. "Hello, Troopas."

"And goodbye." Saizo held down one of his keys, shortly followed by Kaze. As they held their notes, the Troopas and Young Dwyer waited.

"Oh gods… Can we do this?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah!" Elise nodded. "We've got this! Right, Leo?"

"Where's Sakura? I can't find her in the crowd…"

"Leo!"

"Aah! Yeah, let's take them apart!"

The Shingakis held down new keys, creating a sound wave that flew over the crowd and hit the Troopas' overhead lights. Young Dwyer flinched, narrowly avoiding a falling batten. "Dudes."

Elise narrowed her eyes. "Okay, no more holding back! ROCKIN' TROOPAS! ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!" Leo began to play bass, while Elise spoke to the crowd. "This is the beginning of our song!"

The Troopas started playing, as Hinata began to sing.

"I'm hearin' voices, animal noises! The crème de la crème, the feminine abyss!"
"And I'm reachin' my threshold, starin' at the truth 'til I'm blind!"

All the Troopas were getting into it, unafraid of the Shingaki brothers, themselves staring in contempt. Young Dwyer bobbed his head to the music. Only one crowd member, Sakura, felt upset.

"My body's stupid, stereo putrid, spilling out music, into raw sewage!"
"Reachin' my threshold, starin' at the truth 'til I'm blind!"

Saizo and Kaze nodded to each other, and turned their dials up to Setting 11. A giant, electrical projection of a four-legged dragon with antlers and wings emerged from their amps. Leo joined in with Hinata's lyrics.

"My threshold! (Threshold!) Reaching, my thresho-"

The dragon opened its mouth and sprayed torrential breath of some sort onto the Troopas and Young Dwyer, knocking them all down. The crowd in the center cheered at this marvel. Saizo scowled. "They went down like weaklings."

"We'll have to thank that Oboro for setting this up."

Across the warehouse, the Troopas picked themselves back up. Hinata's ponytail came undone and he moaned. "Maaan! Can we just break up now and get it over with? We screwed the pooch on this one!"

"Not happening!" Leo told him. "I'm not running from these exes anymore! We're doing this."

"Woo! I feel motivated already!" Elise said, getting back into her seat. Young Dwyer merely nodded, while Hinata took a deep breath.

"You're right."

Elise tapped the drumsticks together.

"Reaching my threshold! (Threshold!) My threshold! Reaching, (Threshold!) my threshold! (My threshold!)"

The crowd roared, and the twins prepared another dragon. When the instrumental portion began, Leo stomped his amp's footswitch, conjuring an electrical projection of a stony torso with a medallion for a face. "ROOOOOOOAR!"

BOSS: SUPER SHINGAKI BROS.

Saizo and Kaze tried powering their dragon with more notes, but the Troopas' beast punched the dragon right in the face. The dragon got in a few hits with its front legs, but the golem began to block with its arms before hammering with both fists.

Young Dwyer giggled. Sakura frowned. Saizo and Kaze scowled.

The dragon turned around to whip its tail, but the golem grabbed it, and started spinning around. After a few turns, it hurled the dragon back at Saizo and Kaze.

"Saizo-"

"I know."

The dragon crashed into the brothers and their keyboards, as well as the amps behind them. The dragon dissipated and several amps from the wall's central column collapsed. Its job finished, the Troopas' projection faded away.

KO!

+5000 pts!

As the crowd cheered for the Troopas, Leo finally saw Sakura's telltale pink hair. He immediately unplugged his bass and handed it to Young Dwyer so he could pursue. "Uh, where're you going?"

"She looks upset about something."

"Who?"

Leo squeezed through various crowd members until he finally caught up to Sakura. "Hey! Sakura! Are you all right?"

"Huh? O-oh… That was… a nice show, Leo…"

"Sakura, what's wrong?"

"I… I just have a lot on my mind right now," she answered.

"Did… Did I do something?" Sakura winced, but Leo misinterpreted. "Did you really not want to come here? Hey, if we ever get another show, you won't have to-"

"I just want to be alone right now, Leo." Sakura began to walk away, head glowing again. "Um… that means at home, too…"

"Uh… wait, so I'm being kicked out?"

She turned around. "N-no… It's just… for tonight, I'd really rather be alone… I'll see you around, Leo…"

In that moment, the Rockin' Troopas' victory and the defeat of the Shingaki Bros. felt rather insignificant.

Niles & (Other) Leo's Apartment – Two Days Later

"Sorry again it didn't work out with you and Sakura," Niles said, flipping a pancake. "But I'll admit, I missed you. Lucky for you there's a vacancy here while Other Leo's visiting his cousin."

Leo stood at the counter-table, rolling his eyes. "It's not like that. She just wanted some alone time."

"Mm-hmm. Sure. Whatever you need to tell yourself." Niles walked over to Leo and set his plate and Leo's down. "So I couldn't find anything on those twins."

"Eh, don't worry about it. We beat them at the Amp vs. Amp event right before Sakura… said what she said."

"But I did figure out one juicy detail!" Niles announced. He slipped Leo a blurry photograph of a man. It looked like he had white hair in a ponytail and white clothes- a jacket and jeans. Disappointed, Leo focused on his breakfast. "Izana Tochika, reclusive owner of the Duke's Palace club in Shirasagi, Hoshido."

"Reclusive, huh?"

"Yep. The guy's a party animal, but he doesn't like photos." Niles tilted his head. "So if he's the last ex, what happens after you beat him?"

"Hm?"

"Well, like, are you and Sakura gonna do the do?"

"Aaah! Niles! I… huh… Uh, that's not important right now!"

That afternoon, Leo and Elise walked along the sidewalk, toward Hinata and Young Dwyer's house. "So did you ever find a new job, Elise?"

"No… I don't know what I'm gonna do, Leo."

"Ouch… I sort of lucked into my job." Leo knocked on the door and Young Dwyer answered.

"…What."

"Hi, Young Dwyer! Are you and Hinata ready for some pizza?"

He blinked. "…Hinata already left for Pizza Fang. He went with Shura."

Elise put her hands on her hips. "Man, why is he spending so much time with Shura lately?!"

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Young Dwyer asked. "Whatever."

Leo checked his phone. "Still no reply… I'm starting to think Sakura's avoiding me…" He looked over. "Elise, could you maybe help me out?"

McDonnel's

Leo stood behind a stone column as Elise sat at a table. "This is really the best place you could think to invite her?!"

"Shut up, Leo, you're lucky she even agreed to meet me! Oh! There she is!" Elise waved Sakura down, inviting her to the table. "Hi Sakura! Did you enjoy the show the other night?"

"Hm? Oh, it… For what it was… I th-think it was good…"

"Yeah, we sure showed those twins who's boss, didn't we?"

Sakura sat down. "I… I suppose you did."

Leo walked out from behind the pillar and sat beside Elise. "Elise, they don't have the napkins you like- Oh! Sakura! I'm surprised to see you here!"

She narrowed her eyes. "Leo… are you serious?"

He sighed. "Okay, yeah, that was pathetic of me." He turned to his sister. "Thank you for the help, though."

"You'll just owe me later! I think I'm gonna get something while I'm here. I was trying this new diet, but I think I can afford to cheat this once." Sakura flinched at the word 'cheat'. "Sakura, do you want anything? Whoa."

Sakura's head glowed purple, confusing Elise. "Uh… Is your head supposed to glow like that?"

"Okay, so I wasn't just seeing things!" Leo exclaimed.

"Wh-what are you talking about?!"

"The purple lights all around your head!" Elise nearly yelled. "Is that normal?!"

Leo shrugged. "It happens to her sometimes, but I just figured it was an astral thing… or something."

Sakura brushed some hair behind her ear. "I… I don't know! And I'm not the only one! I th-think I remember something like that happening to Leo once or twice… Usually when he thinks about high school or Luna…"

"Wait, it did?" Leo questioned. Elise tried to think of such an occasion, but fell short. He sighed. "Well it doesn't matter now. The DJ-Twin-Jerks are behind us, that samurai is behind us, River City Ransom is behind us, it's just Izana now." He remembered the letter. "It is over between the two of you, right?"

"Wh-what?"

"Gah, nothing…" He sighed and put his head on the table. "So I have a question. I know you said 'Evil Exes' before, but why have you only dated jerks? Not one friendly person in the whole pack? I mean… Benny was okay…"

The serial dumper groaned. "Leo… Why do you think I try so hard to be positive? If I focused on every bad thing I've ever done, it'd destroy me!"

Elise awkwardly looked around before excusing herself from the table. "I'm gonna… go take a call…"

Sakura continued. "I've… I've done a lot of things I'm not really proud of, Leo. You heard Owain, Benny, Hana…"

Didn't work out? You feared me and left without another word!

My family was actually staying in Hoshido for a little longer, and she knew it. I tried to find Sakura again. I saw her, cuddling up to that 'perfect' jerk!

I was just a phase to you!

"That's part of why I came to Windmire. To start over! And… and I thought someone like you would be different from the people I used to know… but you're just another Evil Ex waiting to happen!"

Leo picked his head back up. "What?! How am I hurting this?!"

She took a deep breath. "Leo… did you cheat on me with Selkie?"

Leo tensed up. Suddenly he felt a fierce headache. "Aaaah! N-no. I… I cheated on Selkie with you… That's… No that's really not any better."

"No it's not!" She began to shudder. "You're… you're no better than them… Than me… I… I thought you… You s-seemed so nice! Y-you were a little awkward, but honest. You gave an effort… You made me feel like I could start over…" She stood up, and the glow around her was more potent. "I'm… I need to go. Tell Elise I'm sorry…"

"Sakura, I-" Sakura quickened her pace and ran out of the restaurant. Leo hung his head in defeat. "…I screwed up."

Just like that, Leo sat alone at the table for the next hour. He considered all his mistakes, and his headache worsened. His own head began to glow purple, just as Sakura had described. Suddenly, his phone vibrated. Vvvvvvvvv! Leo said nothing, as he checked his phone. It was a text from Elise.

"What? Isn't she at the count… Ohhh… Oh no."

Elise: Greetings, Leo. This is Suzukaze Shingaki. I am borrowing your sister's phone. I am also borrowing your sister. Come to the Krakenburg Catacombs within two hours. I trust you will arrive in a timely manner. Until then.

"Oh you did not!"

Leo stood up and ran out the door.

Not far from the underground mall, there were catacombs beneath Castle Krakenburg. This dungeon used to serve as a secret passageway in and out of the castle. Ever since Krakenburg was largely closed off, the catacombs have become a tourist attraction. Though some tunnels still served darker purposes...

BOSS: SUZUKAZE SHINGAKI

Leo slammed into a wall. A very disheveled Kaze dusted his hands. "So this is how the mighty Leo falls."

"Rrrgh… How'd you even get out from under those amps?!" Leo complained.

Elise sat in a nearby cage. "Yeah! We beat you fair and square!"

Kaze looked over to her. "I teleported out of the way, thanks to my ninja training." He then balled his fist tightly. "My brother… was a bit too slow."

"This isn't even about me, can I just leave now?" Elise asked.

"You helped Leo defeat us, now you're helping me defeat Leo!"

Leo stood back up and wiped his mouth. "So you took my sister hostage? Figures. You hide behind your robot, then your music, now you have to distract me with a hostage. Do you win all your fights by cheating?"

Kaze folded his arms. "Hmph. Cheating is what got me and Saizo into this league. I overheard you at Oboro's party. You thought my brother and I had an open relationship with Sakura? You couldn't be more wrong." His eyes narrowed. "Sakura cheated on us!"

Elise gasped, while Leo simply stared. "…What?"

"That's right. She was impulsive, kept trying different things. After she split off from that samurai girl, she decided she wanted to pursue my brother." Kaze cleared his throat. "Don't tell him I said this, but he kind of has a thing for pink hair."

"Uh…"

"But apparently that wasn't enough for her," Kaze stated. "No, when she wanted to try different things… she thought she'd try to date both of us at the same time! Saizo's a bit simple minded, so she went to me for my intellect. And she'd just go back and forth as she liked, until we found out, and she dumped us both!"

Leo blinked. "But… What?! Then… She was so upset when she found out about me and Selkie!"

"So she's a hypocrite. Or maybe she was yelling at the version of herself she saw in you. I don't really care anymore," Kaze pulled some ninja stars from his pocket. "It's time to end this and restore Saizo's honor. HYA!"

Kaze hurled his stars at Leo. The bassist gritted his teeth and jumped out of the way, but one of the stars grazed his shin. "Gah!"

"No big deal, I have plenty more."

"Ugh… You're messing with my head, aren't you? Some kind of ninja trickery, I don't know!" Leo glared at the green-haired man. "Once I beat you, and I beat Izana, then everything will go back to how it was with Sakura!"

"I'm being completely honest, Leo. Did you really think Sakura was some pure angel woman?"

I don't like seeing these fights. It just reminds me of all my mistakes.

Why do you think I try so hard to be positive? If I focused on every bad thing I've ever done, it'd destroy me!

I've done a lot of things I'm not really proud of, Leo.

You're… you're no better than them… Than me…

You made me feel like I could start over…

Leo's reflexes saved him from more ninja stars. His hands glowed and he summoned brambles from the ground to attack Kaze, but the Evil Ex did a backflip, avoiding them. "Start over…" Leo whispered.

"That's right, she came here to Nohr to hide from herself. Or Izana. Either way, you're done." Kaze threw a star and hit Leo in the shoulder, bringing him to his knees.

"Aaaah!"

"Leo, are you really taking this abuse for Sakura's sake? Not just me, but all of us in the League?" He squinted. "Because I doubt she'd do the same for you." Kaze dashed over to attack.

"You can do it, Leo!" Her brother did not respond, getting beaten by Kaze. "Leo, come on, take him out!" Still nothing. "What's wrong with you?! Fight him!"

Kaze wailed on Leo too hard, speaking to Elise as he did so. "Don't bother. Leo's just discovered how pointless this whole thing was. The least I can do for him now is end it quickly."

"…Aha!" Elise pulled out her phone. "Stupid ninja," she said to herself, "giving me my phone back. Though I guess he really did only kidnap me to get to Leo… C'mon, Sakura, pick up! Leo needs you!" She grimaced at the sight of her phone's bars. "No…. We're underground, it won't work! Man… Wait!"

She turned around. "HEY LEO! Sakura texted me!"

While Elise had messed with her phone, she missed Kaze kicking a grounded Leo in the gut. "Ow… What?!"

The younger sibling gulped. "Uh, yeah!" She stared at her phone with no reception. "She… she said she's sorry, and wants to know if you're okay! I'm gonna tell her you're about to whoop this guy back to Hoshido!"

Kaze gasped. "What? She's… sorry?!" Leo smirked and slammed his fist on the ground. More brambles emerged from the ground and wrapped themselves around the ninja man. "What?!"

"I've had enough of you…" Leo regained his strength and stood back up. "If you respawn, I want you to tell Izana something for me." Knuckles cracked. "He's next. HYAAAAA!"

In one mighty swing, Leo decked Kaze right in the face, detonating him and sending coins everywhere.

KO!

+6000 pts!

Leo ran over to Elise's cage and punched it too, making it fade away. "Elise!"

"Leo!" She wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, Leo! This time you really did save me!"

He looked down awkwardly at his sister. "I… I guess so." He sighed. "You're safe, right?"

"Yeah. Heh, he knocked me out at the restaurant. When I woke up, I was in the cage and he gave me my phone back." She smirked. "He was just using me to get to you."

"Mmm."

"Leo," Elise began, "you should go to her. I think you and Sakura have a lot to talk about."

"All right… But we're taking you back to Camilla's first."

"That'd be nice. Thanks, Leo. And I'll root for you!"

Bringing Elise home and catching Camilla up on events took more time than Leo expected, especially when Camilla thanked him so profusely for rescuing their sister. But that night, Leo booked it to Sakura's and his place. As far as he knew, this would be his last chance to make it right.

Leo barged in, noticing that Sakura was not in the living room. The kitchen lights were off, too. Leo hurried upstairs and found Sakura sitting on her bed. She was actually unsurprised to see him.

"Oh… Hi Leo."

"Sakura…" She appeared to be fading out of existence, with some purple lights around her. Sakura looked like she had been crying. "Sakura… Kaze came back. But I took care of him! And… he told me some things… about you. But I don't care about that! I still love you! So you made some mistakes, but that's why you're here, isn't it? To start over?!"

She blinked out of existence for a little longer. Leo came closer. "Sakura, you try to be positive even after all the mistakes you've made! I wish that I could do that!" He got down on one knee. "So I can throw a few punches, big deal! I'd say you're the strong one in this relationship! I don't care about your past, I just care that… that we love each other."

She sniffled. "Th-thank you, Leo."

"No problem, Sakura. I-"

"I had fun. You… your friends… your entire, precious little life…" She smiled sadly. "You really were the nicest person I've dated."

Then... Sakura vanished.

"Sakura?!"

Nothing.

"Sakura!"

Leo waited in that bedroom for ten minutes.

He eventually noticed the crumpled envelope where she had been. It was the letter to Izana. Ignoring it, Leo got around to exploring the other rooms of the house. She was nowhere to be found in any of them.

Leo was alone.

…

At the university kitchen, Leo was still out of it. "I can't do anything right… I'm going to die alone."

One of the other cooks looked at him. "Dude. It's just a burrito. You can try again."

Leo blankly looked down at the botched burrito in his hands. "Oh."

…

Hinata joined Leo at the lunch table. "I'm gonna guess she's still gone, huh?"

"…"

"Hey… Oboro says she's sorry about the Amp vs Amp thing. She was mad, but she didn't think the Shingakis would try to kill us. She's gonna get us an actual show to make up for it. Wanna practice later?"

"…I don't even like our music…"

"Yeah, but that hasn't stopped you before! C'mon, it'll take your mind off things!"

"My heart wouldn't be in it…"

"Who else can play bass?"

"I don't know. Young Dwyer?"

…

Leo sat alone on the swing in Windmire Dusk Park. Corrin walked up to him and sat in the empty swing beside her brother. She frowned. "Leo... are you doing all right?"

"This was where we had our first date."

"Do... do you think she was the one? Did… you see a future with her?"

"…I think so. Ugh… Why'd I fall in love with a girl with eleven evil exes?"

"I thought it was seven."

"Whatever."

…

Niles came over for a visit, sitting on the couch with Leo and watching a movie. "C'mon, guy. You love One Thousand Cherries! You could quote the movie in your sleep!" He winced. "I think you did, once."

"It hits a bit too close to home right now, Niles."

"Hey, maybe you were just too good for her after all. What more could you have said to her?"

"…Is that supposed to be helpful?"

"Ah. You know I'm more of a tough love type. It was worth a shot, though."

Windmire Bus Common

Leo and Corrin stood together as Camilla and Elise prepared to board the bus. "Do look after yourselves," Camilla said.

Corrin nodded. "Come on, Camilla, we're not kids. You have fun in Macarath."

"Mm."

Elise hugged Leo tightly. "Leo… I'm really sorry it didn't work. If you want to move back in too, I'm sure Xander wouldn't mind!"

"Thanks, but… I still have a job to think about, you know…" Leo tried to smile for Elise and returned the hug. "So you're just taking her back, Camilla?"

"No, Leo. Didn't I tell you? Greg's is relocating to Macarath, so I'm moving there too. That's why we're leaving. One of my friends is letting me stay with her for a while."

"Oh… I… Wow."

Camilla leaned down and kissed Leo's cheek. "For luck. I think we'll both need it."

"Yeah… Good luck, guys," Leo told his sisters. Corrin smiled.

"Hey Elise, did Camilla's roommate ever give you that copy of your album?"

"Yup! One of four existing copies of the Rockin' Troopas' only album!"

Finally, Leo sat on the bed. He took the crumpled letter and opened it.

Izana,

It's over. I'm not coming back. I'm starting over. Best of luck with Duke's Palace.

-Sakura

Leo was not sure what he expected. This seemed to be a running theme in his life, this past week.

He leaned back and tried to fall asleep, to forget everything.

[CHAPTER 5 CLEAR… SAVE?]

Post-Script A/N:

What an uplifting chapter that was.

So again, we're now more into comic territory than movie territory. But I did add the movie's Amp vs Amp scene, because it's a real great scene, and it's more interesting than "twins have Scott/Leo fight Robot #2". But to give the scene some more weight, I did make it the final defeat of at least one twin. In the comic, both twins kidnap Kim and face Scott. You know, I didn't originally like the movie's version of the twin fight, but it definitely grew on me, becoming one of my favorite scenes. We also get into one of the advantages the comic has over the movie- Ramona.

In the comic, they really explore the fact that Ramona wasn't a real good person, using her exes and breaking up with them as if it were nothing. But after Gideon, she wanted to start over in Toronto, and that's where she met Scott. Scott himself is an all right guy, but a bit of a jerk and self-centered. Childish. Over the course of the story, Scott and Ramona's feelings for each other deepen and they're both willing to become better for each other (and more importantly, for their own good). The movie glosses over a lot of it, and it was even going to end with Scott and Knives together rather than Scott and Ramona. But I'm told that the strongest ships are there because their component characters tell a story. And I think two people trying to move on from their mistakes and grow up is a pretty nice story.

I love that this story's pacing of "next chapter = next month" got me to have the fifth chapter start on Leo's birthday, just like the fifth volume starts on Scott's birthday. Did not intend for that, but I'll take it. Otherwise, the only new characters today are the twins. Kaze and Saizo. There was no other way, it had to be them. It was too perfect. Also, the movie Niles and Leo watched is a reference to Rapis Razuri's Senbonzakura AKA "the Leo/Sakura fic that got everyone else to write Leo/Sakura fics".

Tomorrow will be the last chapter.