AHH HI…
I'M FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! So I can focus more on writing the next 3-4 chapters for this month, which I plan to release weekly after this chapter (hopefully!)
'At this stage of planning/writing, I'm pretty certain that I'm gonna post more CW at this rate. Chapter 4 is 'just meh, can handle' for now.' Yep, Chapter 5 has CW, except that it's written less descriptively than the previous chapter (in consideration for future chapter content). On a lighter note, there is another original character introduced in this chapter, besides Yulia :P
And Yulia gets to see a familiar face since the entrance ceremony… (I hope that I've written him in character haha)
What awaits Yulia and Grim once they return to the dorm?
[CW: THIS CHAPTER HAS MENTIONS OF BLOOD]
Chapter 5: Roses in Abyss Sea (1) (10444 words)
Previously…
"Hey, Deuce, what do you think about Yuu's sudden cold shoulder?"
"Call it a gut feeling but judging from that gaze, Yuu-san doesn't want to tell us… yet. We shouldn't speculate about it behind 'him'. Let's just return to our dorm. It's been a long day, especially for 'him', after all."
"Man, you're right. Do you think our dorm has snacks? I'm pretty hungry…"
Now…
Using her free left hand to wipe the tiny tears from her eyes, the 'short' raven-haired girl in a tattered janitor uniform took quick long strides toward the dormitory… rather, home. The cat-like creature seated on her shoulder stayed quiet throughout, perhaps out of consideration or simply exhausted, which the girl deduced it was the latter. Reaching the all-too-familiar metal gate, Yulia heaved a deep breath, calming herself down while giving Grim a pat on his head, whispering, "Let's just tell the ghosts everything that happened and then get our desired rest, shall we? And of course, I'm doing the narrating while you feast on a can of tuna, okay Grim?" "Hmrph! You better keep your word!"
Pushing the gate open, gently, Yulia glanced up, almost letting out a gasp of surprise when she noticed that the three ghosts were floating at the entrance of Ramshackle Dorm. Floating back and forth, in fact. Gathering her nervousness, a smile was spread over Yulia's face as she gave a hushed shout, 'Hey, Inizio, Chaim and Selig! We're finally back!' Gosh… I've already cried earlier, but seeing them reminds me of whenever Dad was waiting for Yulian to return, yet… in his heart, he had already accepted the fact that he won't see Yulian again…
"It's comforting to see the both of you, abelit it's rather late, but…" Inizio opened the door for the duo to enter, tilting his head slightly. Meanwhile, Chaim's eyes widened when he saw the back of Yulia's torn janitor uniform.
"IS THAT BLOOD STAIN THAT I'M SEEING? I'M GOING TO GRAB A FIRST-AID KIT FROM THE MEDIC'S OFFICE! MAKE SURE THEY TAKE THEIR DINNER!" The chubby ghost sped away, phasing through the wall of the lounge room. Selig on the other hand lifted Grim off Yulia's shoulder by his short arms, asking slowly, in a low voice, "Yuu, tell us what happened. Do not leave a single detail out. Else, we'll barge into the Headmaster's Office first thing tomorrow to demand an explanation for this." Gulp, I-I think this is the first time I've ever seen Selig being very angry, although it seems he's holding back?
The ghost's eyebrows were furrowed, complementing the same intensity his eyes seem to narrow down at Yulia. His lips were drawn into a thin line. She swore that she saw faint white smoke slowly emerging out of Selig's ears.
"Selig, let Miss Yuu take her dinner first. We wouldn't want to carry a fainted girl all the way to the medic's office now, would we? Grim, here's your can of tuna. Miss Yuu, what do you want to eat? I can go to the cafeteria staff kitchen to warm it up before bringing over."
"Thanks Inizio… but I'll just have a snack bar. I don't have an appetite now… " Opening the wrapper of her granola bar, Yulia started munching on it. She shifted her focus to hearing Grim gobbling up his food quickly amidst the suffocating silence, thinking of how she should relate the chaotic sequence of events that occurred after they had separated from Selig. I need to retell it in such a way that Selig wouldn't blame himself for not looking out for us. After all, it's not an obligation for any of the ghosts to do so… And, I guess it's good news for them to hear that I'm enrolled as a student here.
"So… Grim and I met this redhead student, Ace, who–"
"I'M BACK!"
"Thank you, Chaim. I just need the roll of elastic bandage. The bleeding's has stopped, you see?"
"Yuu, are you saying… Did you heal a 5-inch cut? An advanced spell?"
"Maybe we should let her recount what happened in detail first. Now that I recall, I received a box of tea packets from a ghost staff member when I asked around about Miss Yuu's brother. I'll go make us cups of tea."
…
"And so, I'm enrolling as a 'magicless' student to help Mr. Crowley in uniting the student body. That's all."
"Miss Yuu, are you feeling any side effects from using so many spells today? Considering that you are from a world that doesn't function the way our world here does…"
"J-Just fatigue. But with time and prolonged use, I'm able to recover in shorter intervals, don't worry about it! Besides, I had this magestone locket. I remembered that my father once enchanted it with a protective spell for my brother and me before we were born. I guess that's why I was able to use a 'full-on' illusion spell to demonstrate." Good thing that Grim is keeping silent about the fact that I was crying… he even headed upstairs to sleep before I finished narrating what we experienced today. Guess he must have been too tired out…
"Still–"
"Well, it's getting late, you should quickly bathe and rest for the night, Yuu! But firstly since you insisted that you're feeling fine, I would like you to head to the store first thing in the morning tomorrow to get these items on this list here." After subtly cutting Selig off, the chubby ghost floated to Yulia, passing her a short slip of paper. The long raven-haired girl who had taken off her locket started reading the items aloud.
"A dozen eggs, a packet of bacon slices, a packet of all-purpose flour, a small packet of white sugar, a packet of baking powder, a packet of salt, two cartons of milk, and a bottle of olive oil. Hmm, are most of the items for baking a certain food?"
"Haha, you got me, Yuu! Earlier, Inizio and I were sorting out the basement, and that's when I came across a baking recipe book. So, I would like to bake some pastries. You and Grim can have them for breakfast or snacks. But, it's been a long time since I last baked, hence, I want to start off with making pancakes for breakfast perhaps tomorrow, or else it's scrambled eggs and bacon slices instead if I fail by chance..."
"Oh! Thanks Chaim! I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure you'll succeed at making the pancakes. Yawn… I-I'm sorry about that! I think I shall just wash up and sleep. I'll get up early tomorrow to shower instead. Good night, Inizio, Chaim and Selig!"
"Good night, Yuu."
"Give us a shout if you're feeling unwell, Miss Yuu!"
"Yulia, you need to understand why you're making this promise, okay?"
('Promise'?)
"Dad, I do! But, you can't expect me to be a bystander when I could help in some way or another usi–"
"Using normal magic spells is fine, but not that spell! Even if you can use this family locket as a backup, there is a limit to how much you can lose!"
(Right, this must be when I was 12…)
"Then I promise that I would only use it when it's necessary. You know me well, Dad. I'm willing to lose my memories if it means someone else can benefit from it. Besides, I'm able to choose which ones to let go off, so what's the issue?"
(Yeah, I still have some control since I was able to use 2 memories stored in the locket during the fight with Inky, and another 2 more 'less memorable' memories when I was trying to prove to the Headmaster that I'm not 'magicless, but'...)
"Yulia, I'm considering the possibility of you ending up in my homeland, Twisted Wonderland, like your brother. It's highly possible that… you may lose such precise control in losing your memories whenever you use that spell."
(Something seems to block my mind from remembering what I dreamt about last night...)
(So, two of Dad's predictions came true… At this rate, it seems more–)
—Knock
(Hmm? I thought I heard something…)
"... I'd still use it, but only when the situation is dire, boleh?"
—Knock
(Well, I cried earlier out of relief because as a 'magicless' student, I doubt there will be a life-threatening situation when I need to cast it.)
"You really take after your mother's stubbornness… That promise's barely good enough, but fine, I relent… but please bear in mind that–"
Large blots of black ink suddenly appeared, blocking her father from her view in the form of a wall. Panicked, Yulia reached out for her father beyond the wall of ink, only to feel something pricky in her palm. Bringing her arm back to see the mysterious item, a striking red rose glared at her, with its sharp black thorns piercing deep into the skin of her palm.
(Ouch!)
—Knock —Knock
(There's really something off with this rose… I need to let go of it! Ah!)
[CONTENT WARNING: BLOOD]
Drops of dark crimson blood dripped from her palm, absorbing part of the black ink that had somehow enveloped her body, up to her ankles. Startled, Yulia stumbled backward from the wall, quickly letting go of the rose, before falling into the sea of ebony ink. Yet, she felt pricks spreading around her body. Holding in her breath as she tried to open her eyes, Yulia could see various roses with black vines wrapping around her ankles, knees, waist, and wrists, pulling her downwards into the deep voidness with great force.
(G-Get off me, d-damned creeeeepy roses!)
The more she tried to shake off the vines, the more of them winded around more parts of her legs and arms, the more they tightened their grip on her…
…And the more blood dripped from the girl's deep gashes pierced by the serrated thorns. In mere moments, she saw the black ink becoming… red.
(W-Wait..)
(T-This blood is m-mine, b-but…)
(W-Why's it consuming the i-ink?!)
[END OF CW: BLOOD]
—KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK
As if the roses could sense her realisation, her neck was soon shrouded by the black vines, lacerating its sides. Before Yulia could let out a scream in excruciating pain, a hand out of nowhere slapped her in the face.
Opening her eyes in an instant, the girl rapidly grabbed her coffin-shaped magestone locket, taking quick breaths to calm her mind… or rather her heart that was furiously beating away. Yulia removed her blanket checking her legs for… For what am I looking for actually? I-I don't seem to recall… Save for the memory of the promise, Dad did try to warn me about something, yet from that moment on, it's blurred… But, all I could barely see was an abyss sea of… roses? Simi-sai?! (What the shit!*) Hmm, for some reason–
—KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK
"Is someone knocking at the door?" Yulia rubbed her eyes with her right hand while getting out of her bed. She grabbed onto her locket, harshly putting it into a pocket of her sweatpants, annoyed that a train of thought had been interrupted. Thankfully, she wasn't the only one who had woken up.
"Myaaah... Hey crazy... I know it's the middle of the night, but I think we've got a visitor." Grim groaned slightly, jumping down onto the floor. Seeing how sleepy he was and slowly walking on his two short hind legs, Yulia decided to head out first, waving to Grim, "I'll go check. Just don't fall down the stairs."
Reaching the entry hall of the dorm, Yulia knocked slightly on the entrance door, calling out in an irritated tone, "Oi, who's here?", expecting someone unfamiliar. To her surprise, a very familiar voice was heard from the other side of the door.
"It's me, Ace! Just let me in, all right?" Ace? Why's he doing here? Shouldn't he be sleeping in his dorm? I'm pretty sure it's a much more comfortable place than here…
Hesitating to reach for the doorknob to let him in, Yulia decided to ask him further, "...Why?" Mere moments of silence seemed to pass before she finally heard a response, "I can't go back to Heartslabyul House. I'm joining your dorm. For good." This immediately prompted her to pull the doorknob and swinging the door inwards, wanting to confirm what the ginger head said.
"Hold on, what do you me– Oh." Her black eyes landed on Ace's neck, noticing…
"Ace? It's the middle of the night! B-bwah! That collar!"... a red-and-black collar bestowed by Ace's dorm leader, Riddle, which had become an object of fear to dear Grim. Noticing the bulky messenger sling bag that the redhead slung across his slumped shoulder, Yulia relented, and moved aside, making way for Ace to enter, sighing, "Come in and wait at the dining table. Grim, you too. This redhead said he wanna be our roommate."
"THANKS!" / "Myah?! Come again?!"
"SHUSH, do you guys want to wake Inizio, Chaim and Selig up?!"
…
"Here's a cup of warm water for you. Now, explain what's that collar about." Pushing the cup toward Ace at the marble table, she sat down, resting her head on her right palm, staring at the collar around the boy's neck. Arms folded, Grim was on her lap, receiving head pats from her left hand.
Gulping down a sip of water, all Ace said was, "I ate a tart."
"... That's all? 你以为我是那么笨吗? (Do you think I'm that stupid?*)"
Ace shrugged before replying, "I don't get what you said towards the end… But yeah, that's it! That's all I did! I was a little hungry, see, so I went down to the dorm kitchen and found some tarts in the fridge. Three whole tarts! Big ones, too!" For emphasis, he abruptly waved his right hand with a '3-finger' sign, slightly narrowing his eyebrows at the same time.
"So you ate a tart that didn't belong to you." Yulia retorted, while Grim responded with, 'Where's mine then?', which went over the ginger head.
"Hey! No one would have noticed if one SLICE of a tart went missing! It was pretty tasty as well, not gonna lie." Well, like what Grim said, where's ours? But… why did Riddle used his Unique Magic? There ought to be other ways to deal with such a small matter, right?
"Then, your dorm leader caught you while you were enjoying it. But, I don't get how you would get collared for this theft." Considering that we are currently in an educational institution, it seems the punishment system in his dorm is slightly stricter than back home…
Hearing this, Ace huffed, averting his eyes away to the side, retorting back, "Apparently, those tarts belonged to Riddle… and I broke rule 89 of the Queen of Hearts' rules, 'Never eat a tart without the Queen's permission.' And, here I am."
Ah, it also may be because Riddle's very strict, or he's annoyed with Ace for doing that? Damn… Wait, if he's here, does that mean–
"So, you're here because
you got nowhere to go, basically."
"So... The point is you're both terrible?"
"You don't think that it's insane for my magic to get sealed away for eating ONE slice of tart?!
For a mage, that's like having your arms and legs bound and shackled! And there were three whole tarts! THREE! It's not like he could eat 'em all himself! C'mon, you KNOW this is messed up!"
Not really? I mean, my homeland is typically known as 'The Fine City' sometimes… aside from its immaculate state, it is usually referring to the many different fines one can be imposed on there."It's kinda extreme, but you were in the wrong as well. Did you even apologize?"
"Man... I thought you'd be more sympathetic! I'm a victim of the dorm leader's tyranny here!"
Yeah, right… "Says the immature one who sprung on two janitors just to humiliate them."
"T-that's–"
Before Ace could finish his sentence, Grim suddenly hopped onto the table from Yulia's lap, declaring, "I mean, if there were three of 'em, they were probably for a party. Maybe it was someone's birthday or somethin'? Look at that! I'm, like, a master detective too!"
Not wanting to cause an argument given that the ghosts were sleeping, Yulia just shook her head, faintly smiling at Grim while giving him another pat on the head, "Wow, even Grim is more considerate than you, Ace. Anyways, once morning comes around, go and apologize. Hopefully, he'll forgive you."
"All right, all right. Fine. I get that I should apologize. But you're coming with me, Yuu. This was your idea, after all. W-Wait, don't reach for that ladle! Okay, hear me out first, I've realised that it's mostly my fault that we started off on the wrong foot. And, I've to admit that it was… wrong of me to assume things about you guys in the first place. I'm sorry."
…He finally realised it, huh? But more importantly… "Fair enough, and apology accepted. Well, as an amendment, can I trust you to keep my gender a secret? Just for the time being…"
"Of course. But, I'm already keeping
it a secret since we're friends."
"Huh? W-We're friends? When?"
"Human, since when were we friends
with this ginger spikey-head?!"
"Are you guys… serious? After all
that we been through, together?!"
"Uh…let's just discuss about the
more important issue at hand.
We need to settle where you'll
be crashing in tonight.
Any ideas, Grim?"
"You're actually letting him stay here human?!
Outside of the bedroom we use,
this entire dump does not have another clean bed.
So if he wanna crash, he better start cleanin'!"
"Dude, no way! I hate cleaning!
Just let me stay with you, Yuu.
I'm real slim. I won't take up
much space. You can even
put an extra pillow as a wall…"
Is he for real? That's a tad bit
too shameless of him, but still… Oh!
"You won't take up space, you say?"
"Yeah!"
"Great, I'll go prepare first while you finish and wash that cup.
Grim, follow me! Oh yeah, I'll take your bag and
place it in a corner of the bedroom.
Find us in the first room on the second floor. Laters!"
…
"You're telling me… to sleep on the floor?!"
"Not on the floor, there's a nice soft and clean mattress for you to sleep on! And since you're so slim, you won't bump into the bed frame and the side table near my bed. Technically, it's still letting you stay with me, right? It's definitely better than cruelly letting you use the hard, uncomfortable lounge sofa. Cuz' you'll experience cooler temperatures, since cool air settles to the floor…"
"Tch. Well, fine, since you're quite adamant. The floor it is. Night!"
Mere moments later…
"Hey, ah Ace? Are you still awake?"
"..."
"Guess not. But, thanks for being concerned when I got hurt. And not freaking out like Deuce when I used a 'near instant' healing spell."
"..."
"Uh… besides Grim, I'm still uncomfortable believing that we're friends, it's not that you're not trustworthy… but I-I need a little more time to get used to the idea of 'having friends', y'know? It's the same for Deuce as well… Just a bit of time is all I need, don't worry —Yawn."
"...!" Ace jerked his head, but Yulia has already leaned back into her pillow, dozing off while clutching onto her locket.
"A-Anyways, hope you will be able to get back to your dorm soon, hopefully, tomorrow! Gosh, that sounded too positive —Yawn….Good night. My sleepiness is closin' in…"
The gingerhead sat up abruptly, hushedly protesting as he turned his head to answer Yulia, "Wait– Oh, c'mon! You can't possibly blurt out all of that and then drift off to sleep so peacefully right after…"
"Oish, Ace!"
"Gah! Right, I'm
kicked out of my dorm…"
"Sorry to wake you up at this time,
but are you fine with having a simple
breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon?"
"What time is it now?"
"Uhhh… 5.30."
"...And, how long do you actually
need to prepare breakfast?"
"20 minutes."
"Yuu, the first-period lesson starts at 8.
There's no way I'm having
breakfast 2 hours ahead."
"Wait, we start lessons that late?
Damn, back in my world, we needed
to report by 7 plus so I woke up at 5 by habit…
But I take it you're fine with scrambled eggs
and bacon? I'll be going to the school store soon."
"Yeah, yeah. Wake me up when
it's a good time for breakfast, thanks."
"Sure. Hmm, just don't be startled
when you see Inizio, Chaim, or Selig
coming in later, bye!"
…
Walking down the stairs, checking that she got everything that she needed, Yulia notices Chaim floating in the kitchen. She adjusted her pacing so as to not startle the chubby ghost, greeting him with in a joyous tone, "Good morning Chaim! Where's Inizio and Selig?"
"They're currently still asleep, Yuu. Are you heading to the store? I'm afraid to say that it normally opens at 6."
"Right, right. Thanks for reminding me about that, but I'm currently going to sketch at Main Street for a while first then head to the store. I have the list with me. And, I have brought a bit more Madol than what you've kindly calculated and written on it, just in case. By the way, there's a guest named Ace who will be staying here temporarily. Do you mind informing Inizio and Selig once they have woken up?"
"I'll keep that in mind…Hmm, if I recall correctly, wasn't Ace that rascal who dared to poke fun at both you and Grim?" For some reason, with a sudden glint in his eyes, the ghost seemed to float nearer and nearer to the utensils section, no, more specifically... Woah, woah, he's not going to use a knife to scare Ace just because he was mean to us, right? RIGHT?!
"Y-Yes! BUT! But, he has apologised for it, don't worry about it, Chaim." Just put that knife and chopping board down!
"Ahem, if you say so. Well, have fun sketching, and make sure to stay out of trouble!"
"Yep, will do, see ya!"
…
Wearing the locket necklace around her neck, hidden by the loose, black long-sleeved turtleneck shirt that she changed into to beat the morning chill, Yulia propped herself down on the concrete pavement lining the Main Street, making sure to avoid getting her sweatpants being caught by any sharp rocks on it. Glancing at the pocket watch, Yulia recalled how she had obtained it… Its cover had a steampunk style, in which an opal gem was adorned in the middle of it, with four repeating flowy intricate gold metal designs surrounding it, each separated by either a small round gem of amethyst or aquamarine. She had found it near her side table upon returning to place a mattress for Ace, with a note slotted undearneath it:
Dear Miss Yuu,
The three of us would like to pass you this pocket watch as a gift of protection. We are still worried about your safety because we do not know how long the protection spell that your father cast on the locket would last, you see.
Besides telling the time, this watch was originally passed down from the preceding dorm leader to the succeeding dorm leader. That was over a long time ago… back when we were still alive, but that's a story for another time. We hope that this watch may be useful to you, and do apologise for being unable to recall what it does actually…
Finally, we sincerely believe that you are meant to inherit this item, or in other words, Selig, Chaim, and myself deem it was fate that this watch had appeared suddenly in a place we commonly pass by on the day you caused the 'earthquake'. Perhaps, this pocket watch may have amplified your magic when it was adapting to this world in some way… it's just a hypothesis on my part, but who knows?
With warmth,
Inizio
…
I really need to do something for those ghosts in return, at this rate, it seems they're like my uncles, not like I ever had an uncle before, but still, it seems like a good idea to get a gift for them, perhaps I could request the Headmage if I could explore outside of school this coming weekend? I mean, I only have him with the authority to grant me permission…
But then, I'd need someone familiar with the area to guide me. Well, I could ask either Deuce or Ace, but there's a high chance they are also unfamiliar around here, given that they're first-years, who else can I ask? Hmm… w-wait, if they're first-years, then how old are they actually? Oh gosh, I forgot to ask such a crucial question back in the Headmage's Office! What if I was older than them?! Argh!
Anyways, I have about 20 minutes, and that's enough time to do a rough outline of each statue… Guess I'll start with the Queen of Hearts first.
Hmm, first, I'll draw the outline of her and her dress using simple shapes: An oval as her head, followed by a circle for the upper half of her dress, then a tenmoku bowl shape for the bottom half. Okay, are the proportions aligned correctly? Yep. Moving on, her arm movement is the next easiest to simplify, maybe I can just sketch it as accurately as possible first…
—Scribble, scribble —Rub —Scribble
"Alright! Now, I think I can roughly add the details according to the statue here… although they seem too plain for a queen, just saying…"
Add a heart-shaped 'lollipop' thingy in her right palm, and then her tiny crown, followed by lines on her dress… Oh, right… the roses at her feet–
"It's rare to see a freshman this early here. And even rarer to see one entirely focused in sketching one of these statues."
—Piang!
"Bwah! Oh shi– Uh, is it really that strange, sen– sir?" Fumbling for her mechanical pencil which was thrust onto the pavement, Yulia glanced up in the direction of the light, indifferent voice. What she saw was a man dressed in a black long-sleeved cashmere sweater with a white collared shirt adorned underneath, paired with plain black suit pants. Thin golden threads formed a similar design as intricate as the one on the ceremonial robe on the short Russian-violet half-cape draped over the left side of his sweater, with an emerald gem broach golden chain necklace attaching it in place near the white collar. At first glance, one could instantly form the impression that this man was a neat and tidy individual, given that his entire outfit had little wrinkles or any seams sticking out.
Yet, what stood out to Yulia was his hair that was tied in a mid-ponytail. Against the dark morning sky and the man's outfit, its iridescent, moving pattern of red, green, blue, yellow, purple, aqua, pink, and any other colour she could have imagined… simply illuminated softly each time it was gently blown about by the morning breeze. Woah… it seems to be naturally silver? No, wait, it's more toward opal… T-That's very rare, unless he dyed it but… since his eyebrows and eyelashes are of the same colour, it should be natural. Hmm… was the way he styled his hair the reason why I mistook him for a senior earlier? It does add a youthful vibe to him anyways.
"It certainly is." While the man did let out a light chuckle, Yulia could only wait awkwardly, feeling a little chill from his dull, tired hazel-brown eyes. Not giving an indication of whether he had noticed the sudden tight grip on the mechanical pencil in the student's hand, he continued on in the same indifferent tone, "Just carry on with what you're doing, I'm heading back to my office anyways. It's a nice sketch."
"T-Thank you sir. Hope you have a good day today!"
Having his back already turned from her, the mysterious man merely gave her a wave with the back of his hand, strutting towards the main building. Upon seeing the half cape fluttering with each step the man took, it was only then that Yulia noticed the large transparent tumbler held in his right arm.
Okay… that's really a large amount of caffeine in there. Maybe that staff member is still tired from… whatever work he's stuck with. If so, then it kinda accounts for his weird lukewarm behaviour. Wait, what's the time now? Alright, the store should be open now, gotta get going then…
…
"Given that it's coming to 6.15, Chaim should have enough time to prepare the pancakes. Maybe I should help him by making scrambled eggs and bacon to ease his workload… Hmm?" Yulia muttered to herself as she opened the gate, and was about to make her way up the slope to Ramshackle Dorm until…
"Hey, Deuce! Have you taken your breakfast? Else, I can make your portion." It seems that he had rushed over right after putting on his full uniform…
He turned around abruptly, eyes widening for a moment before quickly waving at Yulia, smiling apologetically, "Bwuh! Oh, it's just you, Yuu-san. I haven't actually. What do you plan to make?"
"Just scrambled eggs with bacon. Or do you want pancakes instead? Chaim's planning to make them. Come in first."
Following Yulia into the lobby, Deuce asked, tilting his head slightly, "Who's Chaim?"
—Whoosh
"Me!"
"GAH!"
—THUD
The chubby ghost had popped out of nowhere, appearing right beside Deuce, 'nonchalantly' holding something in his hand, shocking Deuce such that he had lost his balance, and fell backward. Yulia quickly stepped in between Deuce and Chaim, extending out her hand, and helping Deuce to get up on his feet.
"Are you alright Deuce? Chaim, put that butter knife down– Wait… Selig what are you planning to do with that pail of water?"
Seeing Yulia approaching him, Selig stopped in his tracks at the bottom of the staircase, still holding the pail of water, before slowly turning back to answer Yulia, "Yuu, from my past experience, this is the most effective way to wake up the pair of sleepyheads… Right, Inizio?" The ghost looked behind at the tall ghost already up the staircase halfway.
Before Inizio could hide the other pail of water behind himself or speed away, Yulia had quickly grabbed both pails from him and Selig, exclaiming, "Gosh, if you guys want to prank them, there's another way to wake them up instead of using these. And, it's more effective!"
Having recovered from his fall and receiving a cup of hot chocolate from Chaim as an apology, Deuce got up from the dining table hurriedly, not liking that Yulia shared the same mischievous glint as the other two ghosts. Upon seeing the broken metal bat starting to float out of the grey pouch, Deuce ran over, pushing it back into the pouch.
"Allow me to wake Ace and Grim up. Isn't settling for breakfast more important, Yuu-san? You wouldn't want to be late for class, would you?"
"Hmm… fine, they're in the first room on the second floor. Thanks!" Yulia quickened her step, pouring away the water in the pails before proceeding to take out the grocery items on the kitchen counter. Chaim beamed at her, saying, 'Thanks, Yuu!' while he began preparing the pancakes.
—Crack –Piak —Crack
—Crack –Piak —Crack
"Well, well, there's another time we can pull that prank on them. Oh! Hold on for a moment, Mi– Yuu. Selig, do help he– him bring that big bag on the sofa to the dining table."
"What is it, Inizio?" Yulia asked over her shoulder, having already started cracking 4 eggs into a clean big bowl and throwing the eggshells away into the bin beside her.
Floating over, Inizio continued, "The Headmage came by earlier when you aren't around, and so asked me to relay his message. During the lunch break, you would need to go to the Headmage's Office for a discussion regarding your request and other matters. Apparently, besides the two teachers, the Headmage has also invited the school medic, so he asked that you not be too alarmed about it."
"Hmm? There's a school medic here? Who is–"
"Here are the uniforms you'll need. The few ones in this pile are your school uniforms, while the other pile has your PE and lab wear attires. You currently do not have a dorm uniform, which the Headmage said it will be discussed further when you meet him later."
Taking the bag from Selig, Yulia made her way to the bathroom located near the kitchen. "Dang, thanks Inizio and Selig! I'll go change first then."
"Wait, Yuu–"
…
"Okay, it's good that this uniform has three layers. Kinda liking this vest's shade of grey. It seems to match the dorm's emblem that I always see in the lobby. But, if I'm gonna have PE later, how the heck am I gonna change?! Sigh, let's just settle that later… Maybe I would have to rush over to the toilets near the cafeteria to use one of the stalls instead, then run back? Oh well… Eh? What's this broach pin for? Oh wait, was Selig about to tell me about this? Yikes, I should have waited…"
Holding the silver pin with a dull silver gem in her hand, Yulia carried the bag of uniforms back to the dining table, asking slowly, "Uhh… Selig, what were you saying about this pin earlier? Sorry, I was kinda excited to try the uniform…"
"It's fine, Yuu! Anyways, as for this pin, it's an all-in-one student pin specially made for you to get your free meals at the cafeteria, so you wouldn't need to spend Madol on them, since the Headmage believes you don't have a single Madol, given that you're from another world and that he did not give you your pay for yesterday's work… It also serves as your identity pin when you want to borrow books from the library and a travel pin for you when you're taking transport outside school premises."
Ah, so it's like a credit/debit card… Hmm, do they actually use such cards in this world, though?
Selig floated nearer, pointing to the silver gem in the pin before continuing, "However, you need to insert a bit of your magic into the gem in the middle to activate it first. Once activated, it will change its form according to your soul symbolises, similar to how the Dark Mirror works."
"Huh, I didn't expect the Headmage to be that responsible in giving me this… right after yesterday's incident. Guess he isn't receiving a complaint from you guys, right?"
—Clack —Clack
"Well, as the headmaster of this college, he should have sent you to the medic's office right away last night! Even before I pointed out that large tear in your janitor's uniform!" Hearing this, Selig and Yulia turned to the stairs seeing the ginger spikey head drowsily lifting the paws of the ash-grey weasel cat clinging onto his left shoulder with Deuce trudging behind holding it. Giving the trio a wave while using her other hand to put her PE uniform into her grey pouch, Yulia greeted them brightly, "Oh, good morning again Ace! And Grim! Thanks for waking them up, Deuce!"
"No problem, Yuu-san. Ah… Looking at the time now, we ought to head out to our dorm first to let Ace apologise to the dorm leader. I'm afraid Ace and I have to skip breakfast, Chaim."
"Mmnyahh… Crazy human, what's for breakfast?" Grim suddenly leaped out of Deuce's arms, making his way to Yulia.
"RIGHT! Breakfast! I was in the middle of making scram–"
"Haha, it's okay, Yuu. I've already prepared those. And thankfully, the pancakes aren't burnt and do not taste weird. Here you go, we have helped you guys pack the food and clean plastic utensils into a bag for each of you." Chaim floated over to the 4 of them, passing them a small bag paper bag each. (Only Grim received an extra chilly pat on the head, to his surprise.)
"That's great and thank you Chaim! Tomorrow, I'll help out with breakfast, I promise! See ya, Inizio, Chaim and Selig! Hey, the three of you should head off first, I'll need to lock the door, you guys can wait for me at the gate."
"Alright, alright, just finish these and head on to class on time!"
"Yep, make sure to seriously stay out of trouble, Yuu!"
"Miss–Uh 'Mr.' Yuu, the Headmage said you're in Class 1-A. Don't forget that!"
("Hmm? Ace, did you hear what the
tallest ghost just said? I think I heard
him address Yuu-san as 'Miss'?")
("Nope. Even if I did,
you must've heard wrongly.")
("Yeah! My human's a henchman,
not a henchwoman!")
("Well, true, this is an all-boys college,
guess I had really misheard then.")
("At this rate, I'm starting to think
I'm stuck with a dorm mate who's
way too naive for his own good…")
("Did you say something Ace?")
("Nothing!")
("Both of you are the most
idiotic humans I've come across.")
Upon walking the concrete pavement along Main Street, Yulia was reminded of her encounter with the indifferent staff member earlier. Munching and swallowing the last bit of her breakfast, Yulia spoke up. "By the way, I met a school staff member who had opal hair and looked like he was in his late twenties. Do any of you know who he is?"
"Definitely not one of the teachers. Most probably the school medic… Dr. Won… wait, that didn't sound right…Was it Dr. Wand?" Tilting his head slightly to the side, Deuce tried his best to recall.
"He meant Dr. Von," Ace deadpanned, before jerking his head to face Deuce, "You could said you aren't sure what his name was, stupid."
Dr. Von, huh? Strangely, it sort of suits him? Now that I know that he's the medic here, it's no wonder he needed such a large dose of coffee. Hmm, speaking of coffee, I feel like getting a matcha latte later, only if the cafeteria has it though… Wait, if I'm at the Headmage's Office during lunch, I need someone to help me get that drink…
Without a moment's hesitation, Deuce gave a long, level look at Ace, calmly responding to his light libel, "At least I'm not collared, unlike you." Damn, that's a smart retort, good job Deuce.
"U-Ugh."
"After all, you did eat part of the dorm leader's tart. You really are an idiot, Ace." Woah, woah that's a total burn…
"Oh, shut up! Like you're one to talk! Anyway, uh... Is he still mad?" Ace sped suddenly, grabbing everyone's paper bags to throw them into a bin nearby, 'smoothly' changing the topic simultaneously.
"Not at all. Maybe a touch irritated if anything. A few of our dormmates overslept this morning… But only three of 'em got your treatment." Hold on, isn't it just the second day of school?
"You call that 'not at all' mad?! Sounds like he's still on the rampage, to me." This time, I'd admit Ace's darn right on this one…
"Regardless, you're not going to be able to participate in class if you can't use magic. So why not just apologize to the dorm leader? It's a small price to pay for having the collar removed."
"Aaaaargh! I hate doing that so! SO! Much!"
"But, Deuce's right. Just get the apology over and done with, Ace. On that, let's chop chop! (Singlish term used to hurry people*)"
"I get it, I get it! Argh, this better work, or else I'll need to sleep on the floor again!"
"Like I said, if you wanna stay, you oughta start cleanin' a bed for yourself! There's no way I'm getting my paws dirty for you, spikey-head! And don't think about asking my henchman here for help!" The same old annoying voice of Grim's pounded slightly in Yulia's left ear, as Grim was currently seated on her left shoulder.
"Hey, you didn't clean yours either, Grim–"
"U-Uh shut it, la- human!"
"Guys, let's just focus back on our objective… Anyways, we've reached the Hall of Mirrors, c'mon, Heartslabyul dorm's this way." Being one of the (slightly) more sensible ones in the quartet, Deuce led the way to a particular mirror and immediately stepped in.
Before she could do the same, Yulia glanced up, yet abruptly took a step backward, knocking into Ace, who managed to get his balance in time. On the other hand, Grim had lost his seating on her left shoulder, falling onto the marble floor with a 'Thump!'. Sensing something was amiss, Ace bent slightly to grab Yulia's right shoulder, shaking it gently to get her attention. As he did so, part of his red-and-black collar brushed past Yulia's neck.
"Oi, Yuu, you feelin' unwell?"
H-Huh? Oh! Uhh, his collar is cold to the touch, brrrr…
"Ah, no, I'm fine. I thought I saw something odd for a moment… Sorry about that Grim, let's go in." After picking up and placing Grim back on her shoulder, Yulia rubbed her eyes and stepped into the mirror, thinking, For some reason, those tall rose bushes are giving me the same sense of dread as yesterday… Nah, it can't be… I mean, there are students in there, so there shouldn't be any monsters like Inky. But, I swear I legit saw a wave of ink blocking my sight just in mere moments… Except there were many, many roses embedded in it… Okay, maybe it's a side effect of whatever dream I had last night, I did wake up feeling… as if I got trapped with no way out… Gosh, Yulia, you're overthinking again! Focus, focus, you bodoh (a stupid or foolish person*)!
"You guys took quite long to come here, did any–"
"Dang, this place is swank! This is nothing like our dumpster of a dorm." Nice accidental 'save' for once, Grim! Mental note to self: Give Grim another can of tuna as a bonus.
"Hey! You shouldn't compare the place that Inizio, Chaim, and Selig have been treating as their home so unnecessarily! They have been living there for who knows many years… Oh, do we have to go through this… rose maze to get to your dorm?"
"Yep! Don't worry about gettin' lost! We just need to take a couple of turns to reach it. Argh, this collar is getting heeeeeavy…"
After taking around three turns…
"Aww yeah, I am getting my paint on!" Hmm?
"Ah, someone's here." Hopping off Yulia's shoulder, Grim led the group to the source of the new voice.
"They all gotta be red, or it's 'off with my head'! Huh...? You guys need something?" I recognise that short light orange, mid-length ponytail… Lemme check for a small red diamond on his face… Yep, it's him. He should be–
"What are you doing there?" Ace spoke up.
"Are you blind? I'm painting these roses red, duh."
"What? Why?!" To not get collared like Ace, Deuce… but jokes aside, yeah, what's the reason behind doing that? Another absurd rule?
"Ah ha ha. So naïve, you put the 'n' in newb. Hold the phone, I know you! You're the ones who broke a chandelier that cost a billion Madol and nearly got expelled for it, yeah?"
Covering his eyes with his right palm, Ace groaned, "That chandelier is gonna haunt us till the day we graduate, isn't it?"
"And you! You're the one who ate the dorm leader's tart that same night! You guys are THE hot topic around campus! I've gotta get in on this fleeting fame. I'm just gonna grab a selfie real quick… It's cool if I post this on Magicam, right? Gimme your names so I can tag you." Seeing his phone reminded me that I still do not have a working phone, okay another mental note to self: Ask Deuce or Ace on how to turn on Dad's phone and how to charge it during break later.
"I'm Deu–"
"Hold on, isn't it common courtesy to introduce yourself first before doing that, uh, C-Cater? Did I get your name right?"
"Bwuh! You guys know each other, crazy human?! / Woah there, how do you know him, Yuu? Ace's here, by the way."
"Oh, right, right. My bad! No wonder you seemed familiar, you're the one who beat this furry creature here before Riddle stepped in! I'm Cater Diamond. I'm a junior here at Heartslabyul. But Cater is fine. Or Cay-Cay works just as well too! It's nice to meetcha again, Yuu. Yuu? Hmm, I remember you by a different name, though. I definitely heard lots of students repeating 'Ying Yue', save for your first name…"
Ah, so he's a third-year. Urm… out of all people, he actually remembered that among the chaos back at the ceremony? Woah!
"It's nice to see you again as well. I didn't manage to thank you for your help back at the ceremony, so thanks for that! But you're right, my full name's actually Yulia Law Yìng Yuè, the Headmage couldn't pronounce it correctly so he simplified it to 'Yuu'. I would honestly prefer if you address me as 'Yuu', given that my name's a little too girly, y'know? Anyways, this cat's Grim. I'm apparently his henchman haha." Okay, let's not include my middle name, because that's blatantly screaming 'I'm actually a girl'…
"I'm Deuce. Huh, if that was your reason for not telling us, I understand. Everyone's got a part of their identity that they wouldn't like anyone to tease them about. I got to admit, it seems you been through a lot more than anyone since you got a more feminine look…"
("'A little too girly', my foot! C'mon, Loosey-Deucey, you gotta be kiddin' me! Ouch! Whatever you stomped on my feet for, Yuu?!")
("Shush! If you wanna expose my secret so bad, do you want to be stabbed by a broken bat?")
"Uploaded! Sweet. Now that I recalled, you're the prefect of that so-called Ramshackle House dorm, right? Like, I can't believe you actually live there! It's way too gloomy for me to post on Magicam. No filter could salvage that place." He exclaimed with a shake of his head, putting his phone back into his pockets.
Wow, he seems... superficial. Seems like he really loves being on social media? Still, he didn't have to–
"Y'know, you've done nothin' but diss us here, pal!" Yep, I agree with you on that note, Grim!
Ignoring Grim, Cater went on to give an exaggerated sigh, "Gah, what am I doing? I don't have time to chat! The party's tomorrow. If we're not ready, it's 'off with my head'!" And, as if a light bulb had light up in his mind in the next second, he suddenly pointed at them one by one, "One, two, three, four. Seems enough… Hey, do you guys wanna help me paint some roses?"
—Clink
"Yeah, uh... Why are you doing that exactly?" While Ace raised his arm to scratch the back of his neck where the collar was, Yulia noticed a faint red mark around it. Well, now I feel a little bad for 'forcing' him to sleep on the floor, hais, maybe I should- Wait, when he apologises to Riddle, I won't have to do that! Anyways, back to focusing on our 'quest'...
"Because red roses are so much more photogenic! Or...something...? And after that, I've gotta start getting things ready for the big croquet tournament. And that means coloring all the flamingos." Cater sighed.
"You're colorin' flamingos now? Isn't anything the right color around here?!" Grim exclaimed, letting bits of his frustration seeped out. Meanwhile, Deuce slapped his fist against his other palm, declaring confidently, "Now it's coming into focus, Ace. That tart you ate must have been for the dorm leader's birthday. That explains his reaction!"
"Hm? Oh, no, it's not Riddle's birthday." Come again?
"It's not? Then whose birthday is it?" Bewildered, Ace took a step back, scratching his head in confusion.
"It isn't anyone's birthday. Tomorrow is our dorm's traditional unbirthday party. It's a special tea party we throw when no one has a birthday—if the dorm leader feels like it."
"And why would you do that?"Came another question from the redhead.
"Again with the questions! Listen, I need these roses to be red. Like, yesterday. Can't you guys help out with magic or something? Oh, but Ace is on magical house arrest and Yuu is magicless, so you two better stick to paint. Sorry about that, Yuu!"
"It's fine. I can use this instead." Yulia grabbed a paint roller with a cover out from her grey pouch. Removing its cover, she felt it was too quiet, which prompted her to look up, noticing the stares from everyone. "Yes? What's the matter?"
Cater leaned forward to have a closer look at her grey pouch, "It's lit how you managed to secure one of these! Apparently, there are very few magic artisans who can produce such bags with unlimited capacity, so it's very expensive in the market nowadays…"
"How did you know it has that kind of capacity, though? Is it something to do with this queer-looking design?"
"Yep! FYI, it's called a thread ideogram. You see this circle intersecting with 10 triangles, similar to a sun? It's a trademark logo made by Elio's, the only group of master artisans who founded this kind of craft for bags. Unfortunately, the craft was lost 34 years ago. That's why the trend of carrying such pouches dwindled since then. Brutal."
Ah, so that explains why NRC stopped giving out these graduation gifts… wait, my math is weak but then, assuming that students here graduate at the age of 19 years old and that the batch of students who graduated 34 years ago was the last one to receive those pouches, how did Dad get this pouch at 13? I clearly remember that he is a year younger than mum, which is 1975… Did that mean he had a older brother? Or maybe I'm just overthinking, since this pouch could have been gifted from his older cousins-
"Wait, isn't the fact that he put that in, out of all things?"
"I mean, it's Yuu-san's bag so 'he' can put in anything what he wants.. But you want us to recolour the roses with magic, huh…"
"Relax, it'll be fine. You got this! But maybe do it before I lose my head? K thanks!"
"Can't say I've ever done this before. But I'm Grim-sama! This should be a piece of cake!"
Uhh something tells me that pairing Grim and Deuce together is definitely a no-no…
And I was darn right…
"Red... Red... BAM! Wh-whoa! It turned blue?!"
"Change, o foul color! Change! AHA! BWAH! The rose caught on fire!"
"Wow. You're even less competent than I thought."
Yulia craned her neck to see the commotion diagonally away from her. To say that it was chaos would not be sufficient to describe the scene before her eyes. The poor rose bush was surmerged in aquamarine flames, embedded with an uneven mixture of blue and white roses. The culprits, on the other hand, had already summon water several times. A sensible decision done quickly, yet its delivery resulted in: (A) The three of them getting soaked wet, with Cater taking the least hit (of course, he had jumped away in the nick of time). (B) The red paint was washed off on the roses that were already done.
"Dang, and yet they have it so muuuuch easier than me. I'm stuck with painting manually!"
"Hey, I'm the one speeding up our progress!"
"Tell me who was on the lookout whenever you cast spells, 'Magicless' Prefect?" Plopping his arm over Yulia's shoulder, Ace rest his chin on her hair, while painting a rose that was at Yulia's eye level, making sure to block the thin silvery glow surrounding the girl as she cast another spell to turn a several roses red. Yulia didn't mind it at first, yet…
"But you didn't have to tower over me everytime to do that. Your collar kept smacking my head, always making me lose focus while casting, by the way!"
"Aaaaanyways, when are you gonna tell Deuce that you're actually a girl? He overheard the Inizio guy addressing you as 'Miss' earlier, so Grim and I had to cover up that… Who knows what other slip-ups may happen in the future if you don't come clean about it soon?"
"For now, I would rather keep him in the dark… Knowing his character, Deuce may become overly worried and I would feel I'm being a burden to him that way. Besides, we're not friends yet. So far, only you, Grim, the ghosts and another guy who goes by 'Leona' know about it. I don't think he knows I'm enrolled, so my secret's still safe. There shouldn't be anyone else…"
"Okay, hold up. Why're you forcing yourself to keep a distance from us? I mean, you didn't tell us about your actual first name, until you were confronted about it by Cater. Not that I really mind it a lot… Pretty sure Deuce played it cool because he didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable, but I'm sure he was feeling hurt. Because to him, you're that friend who basically save his butt yesterday! It's normal for him to feel worried about his friends! Or does the idea of having friends not exist in your world?"
"This is just a personal issue I've to deal with by myself lah! It doesn't have anything to do with my world! Wait, why're you speaking in his place?"
"L-Like I said, it's normal for friends to trust in each-"
"Hey! Is everything alright there? Oh, you guys are doing much better than I expected, strange… Nah, it must be because your other two buddies are way too poorly skilled at this."
"Eek!" Yulia shrieked, knocking against the red-and-black collar with a 'Clang', earning an 'Ouch!' from Ace, having his chin knocked with great impact by it. Yet, in order not to fall backward due to the sudden swift in his balance, Ace accidentally exerted his strength into bending his arm which slid up to her neck. I didn't hear his footsteps, how did he get over here so fast? And, dang, at least loosen your grip around my neck, Ace!
—Kaff kaff
Realising that he had put Yulia in a chokehold, Ace quickly regained his balance and let go of her, clearing his throat as he turned to face Cater, "Y-Yo, m-maybe you should just l-leave the roses white! They look perfectly pretty 'n stuff to me."
H-Huh? Is Cater frowning slightly? Oh, he's back to that light neutral expression again… guess I must've seen wrong?
"It's a matter of tradition. You can't have an unbirthday party without the roses being red.
And you can't play croquet without seven-colored flamingos as mallets and a hedgehog for a ball. Oh, but of course, the roses need to be white when the garden flowers put on their spring concert. That's absolutely crucial."
Hearing this, the furry creature that had shook itself dry exclaimed in annoyance, "All your rules are completely insane!" Agreed. At this rate, I'm starting to think that Heartslabyul dorm deserves to be called 'The Fine Dorm'! (a reference to her country, Singapore, being known as The Fine City*)
"They say the Queen of Hearts made up these rules herself - she was one of the Great Seven, you know. And Riddle is all about tradition. Probably more than previous dorm leaders, tbh. I'll admit that he's, well... a bit extra."
"Yeah, no kidding. I sure don't have time for this nonsense. Is Riddle here? I gotta talk to him."
"Yeah, probably. But are you sure that's wise? Did you even bring an apology tart to replace the one you ate?" Ace needed to do that? Okay, this negotiation's going downhill…
"Uh, no...? I came here first thing in the morning!" I think you meant Deuce and I forced you to come here straight after you have woken up.
"Ah ah ah... That could be a problem. Have you forgotten rule 53? 'Stolen items must be replaced.' If you're not in compliance, I can't let you in."
"Are you serious?!"
"All dorm residents must obey the rules. If I let you slide, it would be 'off with my head' next! I hate to say it, Ace, but I'm gonna need you to leave before Riddle spots you. Thanks."
"I... think this guy is for real. You guys, do something!"
"Are we helping him, crazy human?"
"Uh, how it's our problem that he's in this mess?"
"You're right, Yuu-san. Why should WE do anything?"
"C'mon, please, guys! I can't use magic! Hurry, he's—"
Noticing the leaves on the ground around Cater's feet were being lifted, Yulia grabbed a corner of Ace's uniform jacket, forcing him to dive along with her onto the ground, "Move out of the way!"
—WHOOSH —Thud —THUD
Meanwhile, Deuce and Grim had managed to dive in the opposite direction the moment they saw a whirlwind of leaves forming. When the whirlwind died down, the group of four were stunned.
"Bwuh! Crazy human! We're separated by… Four Caters?!"
"How did he do that?! Ah, try to hold out, Yuu-san!"
"Hey, what about me, huh?"
"Got it, Deuce! Just dodge those spells that the two Caters are casting at us!"
"Psst, Yuu, can't you just like cast those spells
from yesterday? We could really use them
right now!"
"Not a chance, I'm afraid. Cater seems too observant,
if I use magic now, he'll know I'm not magicless per se.
Especially when there are 4 clones of him surrounding us."
"Darn… Do you have any ideas then?"
"Why not just surrender to your fate?
I mean, that's the only way left…
And it's the easiest!"
"Sigh… you're right. HEY! We sur–Gah! Yuu! W-Wait, no, no, no! Loooooooook ooooooouuut!"
Before Ace could grab Yulia in time, a sudden whirlwind was summoned underneath her feet, lifting her body a great height from the ground. The same for done for Ace, except that he was thrown toward Deuce and Grim, knocking them down. Expecting that the same would be done to her, Yulia closed her eyes tight…
"Gwah! Oh, at least I'm not being thrown like him… That scared me." …she was stuck, floating as if she was lying down in the air. Seeing this, clutching a side of his head, Ace pushed himself up before dashing up to the nearest Cater, raising his voice albeit too loudly in his face, "I was saying, we surrender! PUT HIM DOWN!"
("Mynahhhh… I'm feeling a sense of déjà vu…")
("I didn't expect that he would pull such a stunt on us. That's unfair of Cater to do this to us.")
"Hmm~ Do make sure you bring that tart next time, m'kay? Bye-bye now! And as for you, Yuu, we need to have a little talk~" The furthest Cater from Ace simply waved at him from… How did he climb on that tree so fast? Wait, now that I look down…
"Uh, yes? But first, can you lower your wind spell? It's nice to float and whatever, but it's kinda too high for my comfort… Woah! You could have at least give a warning first!" Yulia could have sworn her heart beated faster upon feeling a sudden drop by at least a foot before floating again, except that this time she could turn her head slightly to match her eye level with Cater's. With a shrug of his shoulders and still swinging his legs below the branch he was seated on, he started in the same cheerful, yet softer voice, "Gotcha! Anyways, I hope you don't mind if I call you Yue Yue instead. It's the other easier part of your name that I can kinda pronounce… It does sounds 'girly', but I've a feeling you wouldn't mind it, right?"
—Gulp
He can't be implying that he knows about my gender, right? RIGHT?!, Yulia panicked while slowly giving Cater a thumbs-up sign, wordlessly.
"Hey! Why aren't you putting Yuu-san down?!"
"Why did he drag away my henchman away for? I can't leave my crazy human behind!"
"Is that guy for real?! ARGH! I can't hear what they're saying cuz' of the wind! And these other clones are blocking our way!"
Judging from the friendly grin on the third-year's face, Yulia started to calm down, coming to a slow realisation, It's not like Cater's out to threaten me guys, rather…
"You got to be reeeeeally careful here, just focus on staying low-key, okay?"
Whatever do you mean by that?!
As if he had read her mind, Cater swiftly extended out his arm, patting her head, "I meant when you're walking, keep your head up high, look forward, not down." Then, he pointed at his shoulders and legs, "Always keep your shoulders square. Take larger strides and walk with your legs further apart. Oh, and talk a bit louder. Hais, I was hoping that if you're enrolling here, you wouldn't be still walking and talking in your normal way… That's hella bold of you, Ying Yue, after all-"
"...!"
Before Yulia could be fully assured by his warm smile out of the blue, Cater fleetly leaned forward, reaching out to steady her by holding her left hand tight while slowly releasing his wind spell with his magic pen, letting them back onto the grass.
"You're taking a huge risk in pretending to be a guy. That's basically playing with fire, y'know~"
I think I'm gonna try to drop more hints about Yulia's potential, because I sort of planned out (or rather, just brainstormed lol) her magic capability, considering that she's not purely from Twisted Wonderland. And, bits of her past as well, especially regarding the reasons why she seems guarded to admit that she has friends…
Thank you for reading, and do consider leaving a review :) Stay safe and see you on the next chapter release! ~Ribia74
Chapter 6's one-liner plot: The chaotic morning continues… thanks to a certain furry before Yulia's meeting with the staff