Yuu had some prior knowledge of celebrities from his world.
Drama, breakups, jealousy and sabotage.
Things like how Eric Clapton stole George Harrison's wife.
Or that weird drama between Miley Cyrus and Nick Jonas.
Just cheesy news.
There were movies about artists hating one another in his world, too. Like Sharpay Evans being mean to the aspiring artists in High School Musical.
Okay, the truth was Yuu really didn't know much about celebrity drama.
Nothing prepared him for the mess The Vocal & Dance Championship (VDC, as people liked to call it) turned out to be.
Ramshackle Dormitory was taken over again, this time, with the Headmaster's permission. He looked truly desperate to make the College win and get a better reputation.
Yuu didn't understand it. Everybody talked about how Night Raven College was an elite institution…
Oh, yes.
There was an obvious issue.
Most students had a penchant for villainy and some of it seemed to be connected to Yuu's weird dreams. He even told his friends about his visions at night, but no one believed him.
It would be dishonest to say Yuu wasn't disappointed, yet, there wasn't much he could do without evidence.
Still, it's not pretty when you tell the truth and no one believes you.
Yuu and Grim ended up having to share the Ramshackle Dormitory with the competitors. They were Ace, Deuce, Kalim, Jamil and… a famous performer who also happened to be the leader of Pomefiore dorm, his eccentric vice leader and a shy first-year student who turned out to be a force of nature.
Yuu never was close to meeting a real-life celebrity before.
Vil Schoenheit was a terribly attractive young man. He could sing, act, model, make choreographies and organize rehearsals.
He was clever and distant and scarily quick at understanding things.
Vil Schoenheit also happened to behave like a drill sergeant nasty.
The VDC's reward was a big amount of mandol. Vil and Rook Hunt, the vice leader, promised to donate the money to the College if their team succeeded at the championship.
Dire Crowley talked about remodelling the building of Ramshackle Dormitory with the prize. Grim talked about buying lots of tuna cans. Yuu talked about what a mess it would be, but no one listened to him.
Vil Schoenheit's training regime was very strict. He was a serious no-nonsense man and showed it very well.
Like a dictator, that is.
He made everybody live inside the Ramshackle dorm to achieve better results in training. They would have to follow a strict schedule, eat and drink what Vil said and follow a strict beauty routine. Vil and Rook would switch places some nights to sleep at Pomefiore's castle and check the state of their own dormitory: news of students who failed exams, took part in quarrels and mischief reached the team here and there.
Thankfully, Grim and Yuu were saved from following the worst part of training: the pair didn't pass the audition test but still got put into the job of managing the team. Vil gave them indications and instructions about how to assist them with specificity and seriousness.
Life in the military couldn't have been much different from that.
Rook Hunt sometimes helped, too. But the guy creeped Grim and Yuu, so they tried to avoid him at first.
Rook Hunt was a peculiar young man. Tall, with a raspy voice and a haircut that looked taken from a movie knight. He had weird hobbies and sometimes behaved according to his mood swings. Vil would criticize Rook as much as he depended on him.
Rook graciously took it all and showed an eerie optimism. He did have good points: during the auditions, he was the one who had said good things in contrast to Vil's brutally honest comments.
The small dimension that belonged to Pomefiore's dormitory looked like a cliché setting for a fairytale: an elegant stone castle, rich decorations and gorgeous antiques. The outside was sunny and the place seemed to be surrounded by woods that wouldn't be out of place in a period movie.
Yuu saw Carter Diamond, a robot child and that gaudy-looking Diasomnia student who brought him a New Year's card. He had made odd comments about an absent student who didn't want to appear at the auditions.
Rook would help Epel Felmier, too, that pretty-looking first-year boy who swore like a sailor when he was mad. He also aided Yuu and his friends when they showed issues with homework. For all his eccentricities, Rook was a clever young man.
If he only didn't shoot arrows from the windows of Ramshackle towards things outside it all would have been more peaceful...
Even Yuu & co's visit to Pomefiore Dorm was started by an invitation they received… attached to an arrow that landed dangerously close to the boy.
Thankfully, the ghosts solved the issue with Rook's mischief.
With sobrenatural violence.
Rook graciously accepted his defeat but made creepy comments about how the dead would be interesting prey.
Yuu and Grim decided they couldn't blame Vil for the way he sometimes treated Rook. He was a natural troublemaker.
Or was that the other side of what comes with independence?
Yuu would never be sure about that. But something was clear: Rook was an open-minded man who would defend what he believed to be right.
That was how they lost the VDC. But that was how they also avoided a real-life murder.
Vil was a hard-working person. But behind his seriousness and frigidity was a man who loved art.
The afternoon of the VDC Yuu learnt many things:
First, he saw in first person the students of the Royal Sword Academy, the rival college Leona Kingscholar and Ruggie Bucchi disliked. Their uniforms were white and pompous as if taken from a period movie. White and blue, with big ribbons. Stereotypically prince atirre.
Second, Yuu got to meet other teenage idols: Neige Le Blanche and the rest of his… band, if they could be called that. They were cute-looking dwarfs. Some even had strange hair colours.
Third, Vil's magic was something terrific.
His Overblot looked like that of a religious figure.
Black ink. An elegant purple dress with gold accessories. Creepy words that came from a distorted voice. An ancient-looking crown.
Vil had tried to poison Neige Le Blanche when he saw the overwhelming success of his rehearsal. At the moment of the performance, there were photographers, reporters and fans. The rehearsals were public. And public was the success Neige had with people, too. A naïve, charming boy of black hair. It was obvious there was not a single mean bone in his body.
The contrast with Vil was huge.
Neige spoke with sincerity and good intentions. Vil never hid the harsh truth.
Neige had a soft presence if a bit vanilla. Vil's presence was sharp and cold.
Neige seemed to be the type of person who would need to be taken care of. Vil was the unofficial Mama Hen of Yuu's team.
Day and night. Water and oil.
Vil was a man who loved to be in control of things. So, when Yuu & co saw Vil's expression after the public rehearsal, everybody knew something was deeply wrong.
Yuu's vision of an old hag poisoning an apple didn't help. Grim was mortally quiet and that itself was a signal of the gravity of the situation. Vil's refusal to speak with his team and the way he retired from the stage was eerie.
It took Yuu, Grim, Rook and Kalim's efforts to avoid murder. But most of the credit went to the last two. Kalim, despite all of his failings, showed a lot of emotional intelligence at reading Vil. And Rook, well… he balanced simping and common sense, albeit in a strange manner.
Well, Jamil deserved credit, too. While they were confronting Vil, the boy had taken action and helped evacuate the people reunited at the stage. And there were a lot.
All of Vil's pent up tension and frustrations were released horrifically. Poison that extended like dangerous gas. A man who loved beauty to the point of desperation when it could not match his own definition of it.
Vil Schoenheit's Overblot was terrifying.
Yuu had seen Riddle and Leona talking about murder and destruction when they lost control. But that was after the Overblot. Vil's fall into desperation was his realization at the fact he could never beat Neige Le Blanche who, despite all of Vil's hard work and dedication, had almost everything given to him for his cute appearance.
It must have been hard.
Yuu realized there was a reason why Vil put so much pressure on Epel and focused on the boy's success. Epel's natural-looking cuteness was something Vil tried to reach with desperation because his own sharp adult looks would never have the easy reach of people that Neige Le Blanche's presence had.
It was too specific.
Vil was selfish. But his pursuit of perfection was true. He had dedication to his aim, but a dedication that drove him to the point of obsession.
Sometimes, you just could not win. It was as simple as that.
It's impossible to always be successful at everything we propose ourselves to do.
Vil was secretive in his insecurities and hard on the pressure he put on himself.
Yuu could never fully understand a man like that. But he knew a thing or two about frustrations.
Vil's Overblot happened inside the dressing rooms. They were trapped in a closed space full of poisonous gas.
Rook's comments about Vil's beauty in the middle of the madness didn't exactly calm Yuu and Grim. Kalim was frozen. His unique magic over rain would not aid them there. Neige was safe because Rook had driven him away.
Jamil was their saviour. The boy drove them out of the dressing rooms on the magic carpet. The very same object Yuu and Grim used to escape Scarabia's dormitory after Jamil kidnapped them there.
Talk about irony.
It was raining outside. Yuu had to improvise the battle formation of his team against a murderous Overblotted Vil Schoenheit. It was cold and dark and eerie.
Something was wrong with the world. Even Rook made a comment about how the climate matched Vil's inner turmoil.
It was sunny a few minutes ago…
Salvation sometimes comes from surprising places.
Deuce's discovery of his own unique magic helped them put Vil in place. Success was chaotic but no one was harmed.
Sometimes it's necessary to become harsh to keep your people in check.
If Vil's Overblot was chaotic, so was his return to normal. He was confused. He was stunned. He was sad.
And their predicament couldn't be worse.
The stadium around them was in a disastrous state.
Minutes before an important performance. With a mass of people waiting outside.
Not even Vil's powerful magic could have aided them.
Oh, yes. That day, Yuu would learn many things.
Ramshackle's dorm Mysterious Visitor had a name.
A very famous one, it seemed, for the way his friends behaved around him.
Randomly, as with many things in Yuu's life, Tsunotaro appeared out of nowhere. Yuu greeted him cheerfully, something was relaxing in seeing a familiar face in the middle of a mess. Grim immediately caught on to what was going on: he smiled in recognition and commented on how that horned dude was the guy who would go and wander around their backyard at night, and that the horns on his head truly existed.
The Horned Guy made a bitter expression. Grim made it seem as if their visitor was some sort of vagabond, but Yuu kept his mouth shut because it was true.
Grim was silenced by a scared Deuce.
Their visitor didn't seem to understand much about what was happening, aside from his dislike at Grim's words.
Rook asked how 'Roi du Dragon' entered the coliseum, to which he answered about Yuu's invitation. Then, his expression changed bitterly, as if he had taken personal offence and stated he even carried his ticket with him!
Yuu didn't understand his expression, but then, he didn't understand so many things about Tsunotarou.
The boy had met Malleus once, after his imprisonment at Scarabia. He had seen green fireflies one snowy night and gave him the entrance tickets Vil brought him for being the manager. Yuu and Grim would not be able to see the spectacle with Malleus for their roles as managers, but it didn't mean Yuu wasn't able to catch on hints concerning mysterious holiday greeting cards.
Rook inquired on how Vil's poisonous gas didn't harm Tsunotarou, to which he answered that he felt something odd, but it would never curse him. The Horned Guy had a smile full of sufficiency when he said that.
Vil, ever the Mama Hen, chastised the boy on how he took advantage of Yuu's naïvety and inexperience. The Horned Guy didn't drop the smile. The manipulations weren't a surprise to Yuu, but he decided it was wise for his mouth to remain shut.
Vil, with sharp words, revealed the Horned Guy's name was Malleus Draconia and his role as the leader of Diasomnia dormitory.
Apparently, he was a prince, too.
Pompous as hell.
Yuu and Grim were surprised at the same time as if they truly were One. Yuu couldn't help but remember the holiday card. The initials were M.D.! Grim connected the dots and remembered Ace's words about the mysterious super student who was a champion of Magijift.
The guy's expression turned into one of full sufficiency.
''See? I told you. The mention of my name makes people feel frost spread across their skin* '' He had said.
As always, Tsunotaro was full of himself.
What a funny way to talk about shudders. Yuu had a déjá vu about the first night he encountered him.
Malleus then inquired, in a teasing manner, what had happened to Vil. The young man, ever so proud, didn't have a nice reaction, so Malleus asked Yuu to tell him about the mess.
It was awkward to narrate the previous events because some things were too fresh and Yuu didn't have time to process it. Malleus was patient and listened to Yuu's words without interrupting nor pressuring him when he was caught up in his thoughts. Ace and Deuce had to forcefully shut Grim up to make sure he didn't make things worse.
Yuu always knew some things were not normal around Malleus but when everything is new and weird in your life, you just start lowering your standards and try to avoid judging too much.
Malleus spontaneously and effortlessly performed powerful magic that cleaned the ruined stadium. A rhyming spell, a few hand movements and voilá!
Now, Vil owed him a favour. The expression of the Pomefiore leader wasn't a happy one.
Vil, who always wanted to be independent and self-sufficient.
Everybody felt a huge pressure on their bodies. The air felt strange, foreign around them. Grim showed an ugly expression and his fur looked bristle. Green dyed wind, thunder of the same color. Malleus said odd words that sounded like a spell and told them it was his gift for them, Children of Man.
Then, he teased Vil again, who, as proud as a peacock, said he would show him an amazing performance. There was a fondness in Malleus' voice when he talked to Vil. Like an old married couple.
The Horned Guy left as soon as he arrived.
And there was a performance to do, too.
Oh, yes. That day was full of surprises for Yuu.
But not all of them were pretty.
* watch?v=H2X10d_SMhU&list=PLPyc2826sfpKPA4NRLySGfeUCsQDzb7CN&index=67 (I took a few liberties here and there with the translations)
**After rewatching the scenes, I realize this probably was a callback to the first meeting between Malleus and Yuu.
I'm trying to work on more worldbuilding here. If you have read the previous chapters, you'll see there are subtle differences with the canon of Twisted Wonderland.
Btw, I still have to correct chapter 10. It will be, again, from Malleus' point of view. After that, the plot will start moving faster.