Noire watched as yet another Disney dream opened up before her. "Ah, so we got the Be Prepared bit after all." Noire mused as she watched Scar promise the pack of hyenas gathered below him that he'd ensure they'd want for nothing if they helped him kill his brother and nephew. "This is…pretty dark, now that I'm thinking about it. It's amazing what goes over your head when you're a kid…" She puffed up her cheeks a bit. "I gotta say, though, it'd be way more fun if there was someone else in here who could spectate and add commentary with me. My sparkling sense of humor is nothing without people who can appreciate it. I'll have to see if the good ole subconscious can summon someone up for me one of these days." The scene began to fade away. "I always wondered why Scar wanted to be king so badly, anyway. If memory serves, he was kinda…not that great at it once he actually got the crown…"
Noire sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Nothin' like a dream about one of your favorite musical numbers to get your day started." She set about getting ready for the day.
"Oi, Noire!" Grim called out as he nudged the door open. "Oh good, you're already up. Breakfast is bein' served at the cafeteria as we speak! We gotta get movin' now if we want somethin' good!"
Noire gathered up what she needed for classes. She, Enma and Grim walked toward Main Street.
"By the way, did you go somewhere last night?" Grim asked her. "I got up to warm up some milk and when I looked over to ask you if you wanted some too, you weren't there."
Noire fought the urge to let out a happy squeal. It wasn't every day that she got to see Grim being considerate (in fact, she was fairly confident that she was the only person he sometimes showed consideration for) and she didn't want to risk embarrassing him, lest he stop altogether. Instead, she smiled and butted her forehead against his when he hopped up onto her shoulder. "Funny story, actually. I was havin' a hard time sleeping, so I decided to step outside for a minute. I sat down for, like, two seconds and suddenly Malleus appears outta nowhere! Almost gave me a heart attack and everything! Aside from that, he seemed like a pretty chill guy. We had a nice little chat and then he teleported away in a sea green sparkle…firefly…things." She caught the dry look Grim was giving her. "I'm not joking! Enma will back me up; they were there too." Enma nodded in agreement. "Yea he was there."
"You humans are so weird," Grim commented. "So what this horned guy's name?"
"Malleus," Noire replied. "He did tell me I could call him whatever I wanted, though, so I wanna give him a nickname."
"Ooh, ooh, let me pick it!" Grim volunteered. He was silent for a moment. "Hmm… How do you feel about…" He waved his front paws dramatically. "'Horns'?"
"Listen to me very carefully, Grim…," Noire replied, her voice low and her expression serious. The pair stared at each other in silence for a moment before Noire spoke up again, just as serious as before. "You are a nicknaming genius, my dude." She giggled before smiling at him. "That's probably the funniest thing I've heard in a while."
"Really?" Grim asked.
Noire nodded. "Yeah. You didn't see him, but he was probably one of the most regal, elegant-looking people I've ever met, so calling him 'Horns' is just…" She snorted a laugh. "Oh man, now I really can't wait till the next time I see him. Hopefully he won't get upset."
"Hey, he's the one who said you could call him whatever you want, so he ain't got no business gettin' mad at ya for doin' what he said," Grim pointed out. "If Horns is a student here, we'll probably run into him in the main building at some point. If we do, you gotta introduce me! I ain't never met a human with horns before."
Noire was about to tell Grim that Horns was fae, not human, when she felt an arm slide around her shoulders and pull her against someone's side for a quick hug. She looked up to see Cater smiling down at her as Riddle appeared on her other side. "G'morning, Noirey, Em em~!"
Riddle glanced down at the bow Noire had tied her black and white uniform tie into. "Hold a moment." He waited until she'd stopped before stepping in front of her. "Your tie is slightly crooked." He loosened to bow before setting about fixing it for her. "Remember, a slovenly appearance suggests a slovenly dorm."
Despite Riddle's words, his tone was anything but harsh; in fact, to Cater it sounded more like an older brother looking after his younger sister. He'd never go so far as to call Riddle 'doting', but his fondness for her was evident.
"If the vice warden doesn't project an image of authority, their residents will never listen to them," Riddle continued as he adjusted her bow. "Although…" He glanced at Grim. "I suppose it's not quite the same for you, given that you only have Grimm since Enma is the dorm leader."
Noire smiled. "Yeah, something tells me that I could be dressed to the nines every day and Grim still wouldn't listen if he didn't really want to."
"Hmm? Is that right?" He looked at Grim again, this time with a smirk on his face. "If he does end up giving you trouble, don't hesitate to let me know. I've got a collar that would suit him quite nicely."
"Fgnya!" Grim whimpered before hunkering down behind Enma and burying his face in his neck.
Riddle finished retying Noire's bow, stepped back to get a better look at his handiwork, and nodded with a small smile on his face. "There we are. That's much better."
"Thanks, Riddle," Noire said as she smiled back.
"I don't see Ace and Deuce with you guys…," Grim pointed out as he slowly peeked out from behind Enma's neck.
"In accordance with Queen of Hearts' Rule 249, they are currently feeding the flamingos while dressed in pink," Riddle informed them. He glanced around quickly before leaning closer and lowering his voice. "There was another accident last night."
Enma, Noire and Grim exchanged a worried look. "Really?" Grim asked.
Cater nodded, keeping his voice low as well. "One of the school portraits saw everything. Apparently it happened in the cafeteria kitchen. The victim was a guy named Jamil Viper, a sophomore in Scarabia."
"Scarabia's the dorm with the dark red and gold armbands, right?" Noire asked.
"Correct," Riddle confirmed. "We need to speak with Jamil as soon as possible. It's still breakfast time, so he might be in the cafeteria. Let's go."
"Okay, so what's this guy look like anyway?" Enma asked as the group walked into the cafeteria.
"We're looking for a guy with dark skin and long black hair partially tied into intricate braids," Cater informed them as he glanced around the cafeteria. Noire's eyes widened just a bit at the description, but Cater nodded toward a table a short distance away before she could say anything. "Oh hey, that's him over there."
Noire looked in the direction Cater had indicated and realized that, sure enough, this Jamil guy and the guy from Scarabia that she'd been low-key simping for were one and the same. "Oh snap," she whispered, barely noticing as Grim hopped off her shoulder. He, Riddle, Enma and Cater began making their way toward the table, but Noire couldn't bring herself to move just yet. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite pull her gaze away from Jamil and she didn't think burning a hole in his head with her stare was going to make the best impression. 'I know it's not his fault, but why does he have to be so dang pretty?!'
Cater looked back once he realized Noire wasn't following them. "You okay, sweets?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm good," Noire replied.
"You sure? 'Cause you've been starin' pretty hard at-" His glanced over at Jamil as he spoke, his eyes widening as he connected the dots. "Wait a sec~" He gasped. "He's the guy from Scarabia that you've been-"
Noire clapped a hand over Cater's mouth before he could finish, lowering her voice to a whisper as she pulled him closer to her. "Shhh! How do you even know about that?" A look of realization passed over her features. "I'm gonna kill Ace."
"Hold your horses there, Noirey. Ace didn't tell me; I actually overheard you guys talking about it the other day," Cater admitted. "C'mon, you know Acey would never betray your trust like that." He glanced over at Jamil again. "You've got good taste, though."
"Don't I, though?" Noire joked. "I'm pretty sure my brain short-circuited the first time I saw him too. At least, this time I was able to pull my eyes away before it got creepy."
"So how do you feel about talking to him?" Cater asked.
Noire shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I've never really been the type to trip over myself when I'm talking to someone I'm at least aesthetically attracted to. If I'd caught romantic feelings, that'd be a different story, but we aren't there yet. If anything, I'm more concerned that he's gonna end up being a huge asshole."
Cater quirked a brow. "What do you mean?"
"In my experience, people as attractive as Jamil are usually very aware of how good-looking they are and some of them can be…pretty arrogant about it, like just being attractive somehow puts them above everyone else," Noire explained. "I can't tell you how many times I've gone up to talk to someone I thought was one of the most gorgeous people on the planet…only to completely shatter the illusion as soon as they started talking. I know it's my own fault for buying into the 'beauty equals goodness' thing, but it's still a gut punch when it happens. It's all well and good to confident in your appearance, but there's a difference between being confident and just being a jerk."
"I get what you're sayin'. We've got people like that in this world too," Cater agreed. "But obviously not every pretty person is like that; you certainly aren't. I don't really know Jamil that well, but from what I've heard, he's not really the arrogant type. He doesn't really seem to like calling too much attention to himself, either."
"Well, that's reassuring," Noire replied as she and Cater began following after Riddle m Enma and Grim. "I guess we'll find out one way or the other."
As if on cue, Grim's voice called out from nearby. "Hey! You're the guy that got hurt in the kitchen yesterday, right? Tell us about it!"
Jamil looked up from his meal, his expression equal parts bored and irritated at the interruption. "Hmm? And just who are you?"
"Aahhh! That's the raccoon that set my butt on fire during the entrance ceremony!" exclaimed the white-haired boy sitting next to Jamil. Noire had been so distracted that she hadn't even noticed him, but she remembered his ruby red eyes from the ceremony.
" Wait what"
" Yea he did" Enma conformed
"Honestly, Grim. Can't take you anywhere," Noire chided as she and Cater caught up. She offered Jamil an apologetic smile as Grim hopped back onto her shoulder. "I'm so sorry about him."
"Yes, it would do you well to be mindful of how you talk to people, Grim," Riddle agreed before turning his attention to Jamil and the boy sitting next to him. "We apologize for interrupting your meal."
The red-eyed boy smiled brightly. "The dorm leader of Heartslabyul and the fire-breathing raccoon from the entrance ceremony!" He laughed jovially, causing his earrings and other jewelry to make a jangling sound. "Ah ha ha! Well, this is an interesting combo!"
"I ain't no raccoon!" Grim protested. "I'm the the Great Grim!" He tapped Noire's head with his paw. "And this here is Noire. She's one of my henchmen! The other is Enma"
Jamil caught Noire's eye (though he didn't have to work very hard) and mouthed 'Really?' before flicking his eyes toward Grim for a moment. Noire gave him a subtle head shake and mouthed back 'I just let him believe that'. His lips quirked upward in a barely visible smirk before the white-haired boy spoke up and pulled Noire's attention back to him. There was a flash of resentment in Jamil's dark eyes as he side-eyed the boy, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared as he schooled his features into a neutral expression.
"Ooh, really? Well, I'm Kalim, the dorm leader for Scarabia!" Kalim nodded toward Jamil. "Jamil here is my vice dorm leader. It's nice to officially meet you!"
Grim blinked. "Uh…y-yeah…" He leaned down to whisper to Enma. "Most people are all 'yeah, whatever' when I introduce myself, probably because you humans don't know greatness when you see it. But this guy's so…nice. Kinda threw me for a loop."
"And?" Jamil spoke up, keeping his eyes on Noire. "Why was your cat asking about my injury?"
"The headmaster asked us to investigate the accidents," Enma answered. "Apparently, everyone who's been hurt was in the running for their dorm's Spelldrive team. We'd really appreciate any information you can share with us."
"The headmaster tasked you with this?" Jamil asked, a slight hint of surprise in his tone. "Well, I don't suppose there's any harm in telling you. Last night I was in the kitchen making agemanju per Kalim's request."
"Jamil's agemanju is the best!" Kalim chimed in. "You guys should come try it sometime."
"Please don't get us sidetracked, Kalim," Jamil warned without taking his eyes off the group. Judging by the way he said it, Noire and Enma guessed he was used to having to keep Kalim from getting distracted.
"Ah, my b, my b," Kalim apologized.
"I was chopping the ingredients when I suddenly lost control of my hand and cut myself," Jamil continued.
"Jamil's incredible with knifework! Even the cafeteria ghosts was blown away," Kalim commented. He looked over at Jamil. "Do you think you were just tired from Spelldrive practice?"
Jamil shook his head. "No. At least, not so tired that my hand would slip like that. However, while I was cooking, I remember feeling my consciousness slip away for a moment."
Noire tilted her head. "Like you were feeling light-headed?"
"Most people might think so, but I've actually felt that sensation before. My guess is that it was someone's Unique Magic," Jamil theorized, causing the Heartslabyul/Ramshackle squad's eyes to widen.
"Oooh, right! Your Unique Magic is-" Jamil slapped a hand over Kalim's mouth before he could finish, causing the poor boy to sputter in shock. "ffmmgghpfff!" Kalim sent a glare Jamil's way as he removed his hand, but it didn't look at all intimidating. "…Puwah! Why'd you cover my mouth?"
Jamil narrowed his head at Kalim. "Because we aren't talking about me right now." He looked back at the group, neutral expression back on his face. "Anyway, I think this person's magic somehow lets them control the movements of others."
"I see," Cater said. "So that's why everyone thought the victims were just being careless."
"And if the magic was only in effect for a moment, those who were injured would mistake being manipulated as their own carelessness as well," Riddle added. "When I fell on the stairs the other day, it didn't feel as though I had been controlled to do so."
"Trying to find a student with that kind of Unique Magic would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack," Cater said. "We're basically playing on hard mode now, guys. What should we do?"
"Hmm… If I had magic like that, I'd really being able to clean this place out on bakery day!" Grim said.
Riddle sighed. "Truly, Grim? You can't set your sights any higher than that?"
Grim continued as if Riddle had never spoken. "Then I could eat all the deluxe pork cutlet sandwiches I- Wait…"
"Speaking of the sandwiches…," Noire said, trailing off as she, Enma and Grim flashed back to just a few days ago. Ruggie offering to trade Grim for his sandwich, Grim adamantly refusing but still putting his paws out to hand over the sandwich after Ruggie extended his as well, and Grim's comment about feeling his paws move on their own… Putting it all together, it could only mean…
"AAAHHH!" Grim shouted, startling everyone.
"Whoa, you good?!" Kalim asked with concern. "Why are you shouting all of a sudden?"
"We know who has that Unique Magic!" Grim exclaimed, bracing his hind legs on both of Enma's shoulders before grabbing some of Noire's hair in both paws and tugging as if he was holding a horse's reins. "Run, henchman! Move it!"
Noire yoinked Grim off of her shoulders, forcing him to let go of her hair. "Okay, first of all, I'm only okay with hair-pulling in one, maybe two, specific circumstances; this is neither of them. And second of all, we still need to explain to everyone else."
"Yes, what do you mean you "know who has that Unique Magic"?" Riddle pressed.
"It's Ruggie Bucchi. He used it on Grim to force him to give him his sandwich," Enma explained.
"Ruggie?" Cater repeated. "You mean that little guy from Savanaclaw?"
"We must catch and interrogate him at once! There's no time to lose!" Riddle said.
Cater pulled out his phone. "Says here Ruggie's in class 2-B."
Riddle nodded before offering Kalim and Jamil a grateful smile. "Thank you both for your help."
"Sure! I don't really get what's going on, but good luck with whatever you're trying to do!" Kalim replied encouragingly.
"I hope your hand feels better soon, Jamil," Noire said as Enma had Grimm in his arms.
"Ah…thank you," Jamil replied, as if he hadn't expected her to address him directly. "And good luck to you, Noire With this and-" He glanced at Grim again. "-everything else."
"Sooo~? What's the verdict on Jamil?" Cater asked as soon as Kalim and Jamil were out of earshot.
Noire laughed before gently elbowing Cater in the side, Grim having already hopped out her arms to rush toward Ruggie's classroom. "Okay, first of all, what are the odds that his name's just as gorgeous as he is? Also, I definitely think you were right about him not wanting to draw a lot of attention to himself." She glanced quickly over her shoulder to see Jamil talking to Kalim about something. "Hopefully the next time I talk to him, it'll be more casual and not 'hey, I need information about your mysterious injury'. He seems like an interesting guy and I wanna get to know him." She rolled her eyes playfully at Cater's mischievous smirk. "Are you really that surprised that I'm hoping to see him again?"
Cater shook his head. "Not even a little. I saw that little moment you two had after Grim introduced you as his henchman." He leaned closer and lowered his voice. "I also noticed him checking out your legs a couple time when Grim and Kalim had you distracted."
Noire felt her cheeks get warm as she subconsciously patted her skirt. "R-Really?"
"It wasn't sleezy or anything though, honest," Cater assured her quickly. "Actually, I don't think I've ever someone check someone else out so politely before. It was kinda cute, really. Like, whenever you were distracted, he'd look at your legs for a split-second, catch himself, and try to look somewhere else, but he kept getting pulled back in. He may have been embarrassed about it, but he was looking…respectfully." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Soooo, that might be something to keep in mind for whenever you see him again."
Noire let out a shaky giggle, trying to will away the lingering heat in her cheeks while Cater scrolled through his phone. "Too bad I don't actually know when that'll be."
"I might be able to help you there," Cater said. "Kalim's in the Pop Music Club with me and he told me a while back that Jamil was in the Basketball Club. I doubt it would raise any eyebrows if you just happened to be at one of their games."
"Won't that be a little…obvious, though?" Noire asked. "Especially since I wouldn't know anyone on the team besides him?"
Cater stopped scrolling once he'd found the information he was looking for. "Ah, but according to my sources, you do know someone else on the team. Looks like Acey joined the Basketball Club this year. I'd say you got yourself an in, sweets~! You and Ace are together all the time, so nobody would think twice about you showing up at his game. And you could always bring Deuce along too if you want that extra layer of 'I'm-totally-just-here-to-support-my-friend-with-no-ulterior-motive-at-all'."
"I mean, I do want to go and support Ace too, but I like the way you think," Noire said as she and Cater moved to catch up with Grim Enma and Riddle.
Jamil stared after the group as they rushed off in search of Ruggie. Once again, his gaze gravitated to Noire's legs before he could stop it and he quickly looked away before it could linger there. He'd heard the rumors about her, but he still hadn't been sure what to expect should their paths ever cross. He certainly hadn't expected her to focus so much of her attention on him, especially not with Kalim next to him. Both Kalim's sunny (and, quite frankly, obnoxious) disposition and Jamil's position as a servant to House Al-Asim meant that he tended to fade into the background in most social situations. This didn't bother him most of the time, as he was an introvert at heart, but occasionally he found himself wondering what it would be like to have someone's attention riveted to him. He wasn't blind; he'd noticed Noire's eyes lock onto him almost as soon as she'd stepped into the cafeteria, not to mention the fact that she didn't even seem to notice Kalim was present until he'd started speaking.
While he couldn't deny that he enjoyed the feeling of being the center of someone's attention for once, he couldn't completely silence the internal voice that wondered if she had some sort of ulterior motive, namely that she was going to attempt to get closer to Kalim through him. He knew it was unlikely; if the rumors about Noire being from another world were true, and by all accounts they were, she likely had no idea who the Al-Asim family even was, let alone that Kalim was the heir. Besides, if that really was her intent, why would she bother focusing so much of her attention on him when Kalim was right next to him?
The most interesting bit of information he'd gleaned, though, was that Noire, Enma and Grim were evidently held in high enough esteem by the headmaster that he trusted them with figuring out who was behind the string of injured Spelldrive players. Either that or he just wanted to foist the work onto someone else, it could really go either way with Crowley. Regardless, if the headmaster trusted them (well, probably mostly Noire, to be more precise) it was likely they had his ear in some capacity. The gears began turning in his head has he thought about how he might make use of that connection. 'Maybe it wouldn't hurt to get on Noire's good side.'
"-mil? Hey, Jamil!" Kalim's voice rang out, pulling him from his thoughts.
"Hmm? What is it, Kalim?" Jamil asked.
"I was just saying that Noire seems pretty nice," Kalim commented. "Don't you think?"
"I suppose so," Jamil answered noncommittally. "She certainly doesn't seem like an unpleasant person, but I'm not sure how you're so confident when we've only talked to her once."
"It's just what my gut's telling me!" Kalim chirped brightly. "I'm an excellent judge of character, you know. I'll have to make sure she Enma and Grim get invited to one of my parties sometime. I bet they'll keep things lively!"
"'Lively'? Are you sure you don't mean 'chaotic'?" Jamil asked. "I'm surprised you'd be willing to have Grim around at all, considering what happened at the entrance ceremony
"Oh, that was ages ago! It's all water under the bridge now," Kalim replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Besides, there was no harm done. I was surprised to see him again because I thought the headmaster had thrown him out, but he didn't try to set my butt on fire this time. I'd say that's a real improvement!"
Jamil blinked. "Well that's certainly one way to look at it, I suppose." A moment of welcome silence passed between them for a moment as they kept eating…only for Kalim to break it, causing Jamil to sigh inwardly.
"Noire has really pretty hair too, doesn't she? You don't curls like hers very often. And Cater says they're natural, too! Can you believe that?" Kalim rambled. "Do you think she'd let me play with her hair sometime?"
'Why are you asking me?' Jamil thought, trying not to roll his eyes. "I'm not really sure, Kalim. That's something you'll need to talk to her about." 'Assuming you don't forget as soon as this conversation is over.' "Just please make sure you actually get her permission before attempt it. We both know you sometimes have issues with respecting people's boundaries and personal space."
"Don't worry! I'll be super respectful!" Kalim assured him. He took another bite of his food before a thought dawned on him. "Right! So about what we were talking about before-"
Jamil shot him down without missing a beat. "You are not getting a parrot for the dorm, Kalim."
