To the Unplanner: As a member of Vulpes, I just gotta say... you're not wrong. Also, if you (and anyone else reading this) are just playing Union X for the story (and if you haven't done it already), you can skip missions in Standard Mode (the default mode for story missions). Any missions with story points have a yellow film reel on them- or you can just skip to the last mission available to you. Don't burn yourself like I did and go through 500 story missions straight in 2 weeks (getting SN - KHII Kairi A and attaching Defense Boost V helped a LOT in that tho).

I've decided that the minimum word count for each chapter is going to be about 1,200 words, since that's what the rough average is so far. I also think that I'm going to keep a calendar of sorts for this story, that way it would be easier to keep track of time flow in case of time skips or whatever. So far, the past few chapters have taken place in January, at the end of winter break. Maybe I'll do something where four chapters represent four weeks in story (unless said otherwise), so maybe in the fifth chapter it'll be February? It's something to think about, at least.

You know what fun I have the most in writing Disney fics? Referencing old pieces of Disney lore, or the people who worked on them. 'For the love of the Nine Old Men' is a particular favorite of mine, I've used it in one of my Epic Mickey fics ever so long ago. Somewhere along the line, I will bring up 'leave room for Ub Iwerks' when ballroom dancing happens. You know I have to. For science.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

Ephemer hated being interrogated by the headmasters. Invi had been the one to catch him this time- she had all but strapped him to the visitor's chair in her office as she looked over him with a grimace. For extra effect, she occasionally paced from one corner of the room to the other, then back in his direct eye range. When she finally spoke to him, her tone was cold and not at all in the mood to be sympathetic.
"Again, Ephemer? Really?"

The boy only shrugged. If he looked up at her now, he would have started laughing, and that would not have gone well in his favor. He could never take any of the headmasters seriously. Of any of them, Invi – he knew – would be the last to give him a severe punishment, no matter what he did.

"Do you have nothing to say for yourself?" Invi asked as she made her way behind her desk. She sounded so tired now- Ephemer couldn't blame her, he knew he was a handful most of the time. Hearing her tired voice was what finally made him look up at her.

"It was an accident."

"You were caught going through the student records!" Invi thundered, slamming her hands on her desk. "How is that an accident, Ephemer?!"

Again, Ephemer just shrugged as he put on a sheepish smile. "What can I say, Prof? I'm a curious guy."

Defeated, Invi sunk into her chair and hid her face in her hands. "Oh for the love of the Nine Old Men, Ephemer..."

Suddenly, from behind them, the door to Invi's office swung wide open as someone demanded, "What did he do now?"

Invi wearily looked up as Ephemer craned his neck around to see who arrived. It didn't come to any surprise to see Aced standing there, his arms folded and his face carved into a scowl. Behind him was Ira (who looked just as irritated) and Ava (who looked like she was regretting every choice that led her to this very moment), each trying to get past him to enter the room as well.

"Ephemer was found in the student record room," Invi informed the others. "Doing exactly what we tell him not to do."

Ava gave Ephemer a quick side glance before looking back at Invi. "Whose record was he going through?" she asked. Instead of Invi answering, everyone turned their attention of Ephemer himself.

"It was-" Ephemer started to say, but was cut off by the cocky voice of Gula saying;

"It was the new student, of course. Come on Ava, don't ask questions you know the answer to."

Ava looked at Gula and gave a small grimace. "Ask a stupid question..." she mumbled to herself, but loud enough for him to hear. The other headmaster simply shrugged it off.

"Besides," Gula then went on as he took a spot near Invi's desk, casually leaning on top of it, "I don't particularly blame him. Not only is the kid weird enough for getting an acceptance letter during winter break, but she's also the first kid in years to almost test into all our houses. Didn't she almost make it into Vulpes by one point?"

"Even if she did," Ira told them, diverging the subject for the moment, "This is not the time to be addressing it."

Taking the cue, everyone turned their attention to Ephemer again. The silence that was greeted between them made the boy shrink in his seat.

"So..." the boy then tried to say, changing the subject once more, "Is this the part where you guys give me my thirteenth warning for the year, and let Ava escort me back to my dorm?"

The headmasters all looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Ephemer. They all gave a collective sigh of defeat as they looked away from him.

"Come on." Ava told him, motioning for them to leave. Ephemer did not need to be told twice, immediately jumping up and leaving the room. He could feel the eyes of the other headmasters on him as he did so. Once Ava closed the door behind them, Ephemer let out a sigh of relief. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Ava put a hand on his shoulder.

"You are in a lot of trouble Ephemer." she hissed in his ear. "And don't you think I'll forget it soon."
"And yet," the boy hummed as he shrugged Ava off of him, "When we go to dinner tonight, we'll look each other in the eye and have no ill will against us. No one will be none the wiser."
The frown on Ava's face did not waver. With a flick of her wrist, she motioned for Ephemer to start walking toward the dorms. He gave her a boastful side smile as he did as he was told. The two started to walk back to the dorms without a single word spoken between them.

As the duo opened the doors to the main building, someone had shouted "Hold the door!" at them. Ava had already gone through the doors and wasn't paying much attention, but Ephemer stayed behind to hold the door opened. Whoever had called at them seemed to run even faster after noticing Ava, accidentally bumping into Ephemer as they slipped through the doors.

"Sorry!" the person quickly said as they stumbled past Ephemer. Once they were through, Ephemer stood where he was and tried to get a look at what that person had been holding in their hands. But whoever that person was, they were long gone.

"Skates?" he wondered under his breath. Why would anyone have roller skates here on campus? It's not like there was a skate park or anything near here… Was there even a good place on campus to skate around in? Now that he came to think about it, Ephemer had never even seen that person before, and he knew just about everyone around-

"Ephemer." Ava's voice reprimanded, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"I'm coming Mom," he then teased, "Just give me a minute, would ya? Someone else might want to come through the doors. It's called 'common courtesy,' I believe."

Ava still didn't give him the satisfaction of a smile- but there was a faint blush to her cheeks. Ephemer gave himself a proud smile. There were days when he'd unintentionally called Ava his mom, and then there were days like this when he did it on purpose. It made the headmaster super flustered no matter what the context had been, but one could argue it was due to how they knew each other. Their connection was why he wasn't suspended on a regular basis, why he wasn't afraid to snoop in places he wasn't allowed to, and generally cause more trouble than what he was worth.

Letting the door close on its own behind him, the boy quickly caught up with his headmaster so they could walk side by side. Along with the never ending smile on his face, Ephemer's eyes now twinkled with the curiosity of an eager child.

"Hey Ava," he mused, "Since it's the day of asking stupid questions, I gotta ask; does the new kid like roller skating?"