Of Purple Cardigan and Red Scarf (for PJO ship week #8)

Heroes of Olympus © Rick Riordan

Toumei Answer © Jin

An alternate universe by Chocochino

The author does not take any financial profit from this story

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Taking one more glance to the mirror hanging on the bedroom wall near the door, Reyna made sure that her purple cardigan was not going to embarrassing her and wondered why in the world did she even dared to put it on in this particular hot summer day for a hundred times.

As an erudite—it was a very good word to call herself, better than 'geek' which every student in her high school referred to—whose goals was to excel every lesson in school that need the ability to think properly, Reyna did not need to care about her appearance. She usually dress up with a blouse, a pair of long jeans, braided long ebony hair, big black backpack, and a pair of black Converse. Definitely not stylish enough to attract boys.

But on the first day school after spring break, the weather was cold enough to make her putting on her long-time untouched purple cardigan, given from her aunt for Christmas two years ago. She rarely used it until that time—and today included. No one ever noticed it but a boy named Leo Valdes.

Leo. He is the only person at school who had enough guts to make a conversation with Reyna—not just talking, but also followed her at lunchtime and accompanied her walk to a small apartment where her mother and sister would wait for her (they accidentally lived in the same building but different floor). The Hispanic guy was not a clever one—especially those lesson which needs good memory like Biology or History—and having a weird obsession to one particular dirty red scarf he wore every day, including hot summer days like this.

When she asked him about it, he simply just laughed and said, "Because red is the color of hero! And it's warm and cozy, too." With a mischievous glint in his gaze, Leo told her one more shocking thing: "Oh, and your purple sweater looks good on you. Why don't you put it on every day? We can match!"

There is no way Reyna will follow his order. Except today.

On the bus, the chocolate-haired girl opened her backpack and took out a dirty red scarf. Somehow, she found it neglected by the owner in the class, two hours after school was over yesterday evening. Reyna also forgot to bring her physics textbook back home and she left it under her table at the certain class, not in the locker. That was how she collected Leo's scarf.

By the time she arrived at school, the red lover was nowhere to be seen. In every class she had with him, on lunchtime, at every spot they usually went to spend recess by learning and talking. Leo Valdes never absent, same as her. Something must have been happened to him.

She finally knew the truth in the last period after asked another student in front of her seat. The answer were simple yet shocking at the same time, just like his request for her to wear purple cardigan on a specific spring day.

"Don't you hear the news? He fell from the school's rooftop yesterday and died."

What? Leo Valdes killed himself?

He was the happiest and the most carefree person Reyna had ever known, how could he did such thing as suicide? There are so much problems could be hidden by a fake smile.

Her purple cardigan, which made her felt extremely hot today, was unable to keep her warm. She pulled out the red scarf from her backpack and sobbed onto his last signature slowly, wondered if she had the permission to keep it. Since then, her cardigan might looked dirty, but she never forgot to put it on to school. And college. And even office.

(somehow, she searched for him after his death, in every place.)

*THE END*

Even when the smile had folded up and died from soaring from the window
Even then, I don't think that I'll forget, such a pretty smile

IA – Transparent Answer (English translyric by JubyPhonic)

A/N: I do mean it to be like this. Since the Lazel week contained Lost Time Memory, I think it's kinda okay to insert Toumei Answer here, right? I actually wanted to make it Percabeth, but as my OTP, they should have a bizzare story. Not that I hate Leyna-they're kinda cute, too.

See you next week! :D