It's been forever since we've seen a Case Of- chapter. Mostly because it's the way I planned out the chapters (we've had a lot of 'arcs' that cover three chapters since Aced's chapter). Unfortunately, because of winter break, we're not going to be able to see Ava's Case Of- chapter until next year. Whoops.

Thank you for reading!

Well, there was no way that Gula could deny this particular stunt. Someone had spray painted a rather massive mural on the backside of the Leopardus boys' dorms. The most unfortunate shame was that it wasn't a bad mural either. It depicted a leopard, crouching as if it were ready to pounce on its prey. Behind it was a near midnight sky colored with Daybreak Academy's signature colors: ivory cream and purple. If you looked close enough, you could almost see each individual hair on the leopard and the white glistening in its eye.

Gula brushed a hand against the mural, admiring the amount of detail that had gone into it. The paint had gone dry but the color was still vibrant. Whoever had done this had finished it recently. If not early this morning, then it must have been late last night. Gula's eyes traced from the main mural to the signature- a tag in this case consisting of bubble lettering with the artist's initials. At least, he assumed they were the artist's initials, and not some dedication to who the mural was designed for.

The Leopardus headmaster took a step back from the mural and placed his hands on his hips. He knew bits and pieces of the art scene. He knew that this paint certainly was not water based, as it didn't show any sign of dripping. The vibrant colors also indicated that it was a good brand of paint too; barely any filler ingredients that would make the color duller in comparison. Gula gave a small, thoughtful hum to himself as he started to pull out his phone. He had an idea, he wasn't sure if it would work or not, but it was definitely worth the shot.

He punched a number in his phone and waited for it to ring over. Just when he thought that he was going to get voicemail, the friendly voice of the music director (who also happened to keep a tight booking on the auditorium) answered her phone.

"Hey Ms. A," Gula greeted with a chipper tone. "I've gotta question; is the auditorium booked for anything this afternoon? I've got some kids I need to guilt trip."

. . .

If there was one thing about Leopardus students, it was that if they were called for an unannounced assembly, they either looked completely annoyed or totally guilty. Gula learned far long ago that the kids who looked the most guilty, were not the ones he needed to rat out. Not during these seemingly random assemblies for just the Leopardus house, any way.

Gula gave a small head count to make sure all the Leopardus students were in attendance before starting his speech.

"Good afternoon, everyone!" he greeted in a loud, but not demanding, voice. "Everyone enjoying the first Monday in November?"

The auditorium then chorused with various degrees of enthusiasm. Gula couldn't help but smirk. The faces on the students may change, but their attitudes never did.

"Sounds wonderful." he said to them with a grin. "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why we're having this little assembly. You see, either early this morning or late last night, someone gave the backside of the boys' dorms a little makeover. Since I know the true artist isn't going to show themselves that easily; I've set up a little test. Behind me is a large canvas- just large enough so everyone can spray paint a little something onto it. Doesn't have to be big or bulky, I just want you to pick up a can of spray paint, make an impression on the canvas, then go on your merry way. I'm going to go by year first, then alphabetical order. Which means our first subject will be… Hana Aeducan."

With this, Gula's little theory and test was now underway. One by one, year by year, Gula called up every Leopardus student at Daybreak Academy. He watched as they picked up a paint can, did a small tag (or, in some cases, a single line), then left the stage without another word. The students who were shaking so hard that they could barely hold the cans straight gave him a good chuckle; they obviously were not the ones he was after.

He gave nods to the students he saw more regularly. In fact, a part of him expected Ephemer to question this assembly in one way or another, and that kid sure did not disappoint.

"Why are you doing this?" the 16 year old asked with a raise of his eyebrow once the two were close enough.

"Because if you did it, I would have already found out." came the instant retort and knowing grin. Ephemer couldn't argue with that; he even gave a small half shrug of indifference.

"Fair enough." he decided before getting a good look at the spray paint cans.

"Let's see…" the boy went on to muse, possibly with full intentions to annoy Gula, "Which kind has the most vibrant color...?"

Gula cast the student a small side glance. "Ephemer, I have no idea; it's all the same color anyway. Just pick one and tag it already."

A small chuckle came from Ephemer's lips as he picked out a spray paint. He did a small heart with the letters 'E+A' inside of it before leaving the stage. Gula let out a light laugh of his own before calling up the next student.

As he started to go into the later years, Gula was starting to wonder if he had been wrong. Perhaps his theory was off and it wasn't a Leopardus student that had tagged the dorms? It wasn't too uncommon for there to be overlap in student abilities, after all. But he had been so sure that it was someone in his house. The level of skill he had seen usually did come from Leopardus students. It wasn't until Gula called up a Ninth Year student named Jake that he completely changed his mind about being wrong.

Jake, like many others before him, gave Gula a skeptic raise of his eyebrow before looking down at the spray paint. His first instinct was to grab the first can he saw, but then the young man paused. He hesitated, for only a moment, before moving his hand over to a different brand. Gula watched with interest as Jake shook the spray paint can as he tried to find a blank spot on the canvas. The young man then started a bubble outline that clearly gave away his initials.

If Gula wanted to, he would have ended the assembly right then and there. But he didn't. He had to keep up the charade for a little bit longer- if only for effect.

. . .

Jake didn't bother knocking on Gula's office door before entering. Not that Gula was particularly strict on the choice. In fact, he had been waiting for Jake, sitting at his desk with his head resting on knitted hands.

"So you decided to give the back of the dorms a little makeover, huh?" the Leopardus headmaster teased. Knowing that he had been caught, Jake's entire body stiffened for a moment before it turned into annoyance.

"So what?" Jake impatiently questioned. "Am I suspended now? Have to clean the whole mural by hand, or something?"

Gula lulled his head from side to side as he considered the idea. "No." he decided. "If fact, I brought up the idea with Ira and the rest of them, and we were all agreed; how would you like to decorate some other bare areas around campus? There's this real ugly area behind the cafeteria that should really be cleaned up. A bit of color there would do wonders, don't you think?"

Jake looked like Gula had up and punched him in the jaw.

"You're not mad at me?"

"Oh I was," the Leopardus headmaster agreed, "But then I saw the technique that went into your last piece. Did you outline everything first, or just go with your gut?"

For a moment, Jake just continued to give a dumbfounded stare. Eventually, he sputtered out a bewildered, "I used a block out method. Big shapes first, then fine tuning them into smaller details. I've never actually outlined anything before."

Gula gave a very impressed nod at this discovery. "Impressive," he even approved. "Hope it's not going to take too long- you're gonna get paid by the hour."

"I… I'm what?"

"Didn't I mention? This isn't just a volunteer job, we're paying you. Invi rearranged the budget already. Aren't you special?"

Jake stood frozen in shock. Eventually, in a strangled voice, he tried to stammer. "T-thank you Headmaster… Headmaster Gula! I… Thank you!"

Not for the last or first time that day, Gula gave his student a knowing smirk. "My pleasure." he told Jake in a pleasant voice. "Just don't do it again. Our budget ain't that high."