I get to the dorm quickly, with Grim in tow. I don't want Grim let loose in a store yet. I don't know if he knows how stores work, and until I can provide proper guidance this is a thing we'll do later. But my concern is the kitchen. I head over, checking over and I'm pretty happy we have a full set of dishware, even if there's some mismatched. Pots, pans, and a couple old appliances. I turn on the stove by a knob and there's a flame. It looks like the oven works too—all beautiful things for me. There's a very large sink I could probably fit Grim in for a bath (yeah right), and I'm already familiar with the large dining room table. I could seat about twenty or so, but there's not enough chairs yet.

Luckily, it looks like Crowley's clean-up got the entirety of the kitchen and the dining room. I'm not worried about that anymore, as I realize I have no idea what to… Oh!

There's a large fridge and freezer. I open them up and check—there's filled ice trays older than time, and not much else. I busy myself with at least wiping down the insides. We'll have to keep some food on hand. Once the stipend comes in—I think it should be within the next week, and the uniforms, I should be good to go.

"I wanted to go to the store." Grim pouts.

"I don't want to go until my stipend comes in—we're lucky we're getting two meals a day and you literally eat anything. I want to get some groceries and things to help repair the dorm." And… lady stuff, but I don't really think Grim knows anything about that, and I, for one, do not want to teach him human sex ed 101.

I'm good.

I figure I'll have Ace and Deuce for the night, so I toss the blankets in the thankfully working laundry faculties.

There's also some clean clothes I switch out from last night, I'm cleaning all the linens, blankets, and clothes I found in the dorm. It's good to have spare cloth, and I'm lucky not much of it is moth-ridden, it looks like just one outfit from an end-room. Spare cloth I can make things out of, and if I need more clothes, I can use the other uniforms and stuff left behind.

"Grim, can you go turn on and off all the taps in the rooms? Flush the toilets if you can and see what isn't working?" The plumbing is also an issue if there's any not working. With the disuse, I'll be surprised if anything is still working… Well, no. These work fine—maybe it's not as old and abandoned as I think? I swear no one's lived here for a decade or so.

"Sure, sure…" I am surprised at how compliant Grim is, but it might be the collar. He's out of a lot of fight? Ah, that's worrisome.

Honestly, time flies by when you clean. I hear a knock on the door before I know it, and out I rush to open up, seeing the three with their arms full of bags. Does he really need that much for dinner?

"Come in!" I gesture, letting the three in with their arms full of bags.

"The kitchen's down the hall, can't miss it." I actually like the structure of the dorm; it's fairly open for the kitchen and dining room, leads right to the laundry, and most of the rooms are kept in one area and the upstairs. The lounge is fairly large—I could fit about twenty people there, or so. It's not as big as the other dorms, by far, but it's still nice to have this space. Even if I have to invest a lot of time and effort into fixing it. I'm glad that I got to help repair things when I was younger, so I have an inkling of an idea what I'm doing. I'll need some nails and hammers for loose trim I've found, and definitely some WD-40 or the equivalent for the front door and other hinges throughout the place.

They go, setting the bags on the clean kitchen counters, and Trey starts to sort through things. "No, do you have any allergies?" He asks.

"Peaches." I reply. Unfortunate. My food love…

"Ah, I will keep that in mind." It doesn't look like there's peaches. Sad. Trey looks a little relieved. "I assumed you didn't have much of anything, so we picked up a few basics to start you off."

"You didn't have to-" I start.

"No, I really did." Trey cuts in. "You're involved in our inter-dorm problem when you shouldn't be, at all."

"Then thank you for the apologies." I reply diplomatically, and I can also be bought with food.

"Oh, so you're finally feeling bad about all this?" Ace needs to shut up.

"Ace, really?" Deuce cuts in. "I'm starving—I'd rather have food than whatever you're starting."

Trey is poking around the kitchen, and looks pretty pleased with what he pulls out. "You have a fairly well-stocked kitchen."

"Well-stocked place, actually." I say. "It seems like the ghosts scared everyone else out. So… they left things. I mean a lot of things. Clothes. Uh—cleaning supplies, a full kitchen…" I'm pretty amazed at it too.

"And we're still here~" I see one at the end of the hall making a face at us.

Deuce and Ace jump and shout, Trey drops whatever he's holding. That's when Grim comes out of nowhere and puffs a bit of fire. "Oh no you don't! They're making FOOD!" Grim the Glutton triumphs over fear.

"Aw! No fun!" The ghost vanishes, for now.

I laugh a little. "It's actually not too bad once you know they're just having fun and playing some pranks."

I'm getting some stares… Uh. "Food, then we can talk."

There's a murmur of agreement as we get to cooking.

I could die of some sort of happiness when dinner is over. I've had a full meal, meat, veggies—the good stuff in life. Some sort of nice seasoned chicken with a couple of vegetable sides. Delicious. And, there's bread baking in the oven right now for later. This. This is amazing. It's not just ANY bread—it's banana bread.

Life is so good right now.

Grim's even full, sitting back and rubbing his furry tummy. "That was the best!"

"Nothing like home cooking…" I say in agreement as I force myself to stand and take away the empty plates, starting to take things to the sink to soak—I'll clean it a little later when I don't feel like a tick about to pop.

After I finish the dishes pre-soak, I almost waddle over to the washer and dryer, starting to move laundry through.

"You have your own laundry?" Trey's up, and looking curious at the units.

"Mhm… why, don't the other dorms?"

"It's communal." He offers.

I make a bit of a face. I appreciate my own, private laundry facilities.

"Hey! We can come by and borrow your's any time, right, No?" Ace shouts from his seated position.

I give a hum. "I'll have to charge."

"Ehk! Really?" Ace seems a little offended.

Deuce laughs. "It's what you get for always wanting something as payback, Ace. No freebies."

Trey laughs too.

"You guys are staying here for free for a bit—while you're here you can do laundry. And homework." Oh, I am evil.

"Ugh! You're worse than Mr. Model Student!" Ace has his head on the table, defeated.

I pause. "Do you two have your things?"

"They do—I picked them up while I went to the dorm before we went shopping. School books and clothes." Trey explains. "I wasn't sure when the challenge would be, so in case they're here for a few days, they have enough to get by."

"Great thinking! We don't want to get behind so early." I sigh with relief.

The night settles pretty nicely, we get through some homework with Trey's guidance, and there's delicious banana bread for dessert. Our upperclassman leaves, and I think his guilt is a little abated for now—but as I escort him to the door. "So…" I pause a little awkwardly.

"Yes, No?" He asks, curious.

"After all of this settles, you definitely need a good talk with Riddle." Because talking helps!

He lets out a sigh. "You're right, No. I'll keep that in mind… I'll see you three later."

I wave him off. "Bye! Sleep well!"

I wait until he's out the gate before I close the door, heading back to the lounge where I see Ace and Deuce are teaching Grim another card game.

And there, a big yawn. "Ah—I think I need to turn in, it's been a rough few days." Now I'm heading up the stairs to throw myself in bed after a nice, hot shower.

"Eh—really Prefect? Early bedtime?" Ace teases.

Deuce shakes his head. "Let him sleep. We've had… a rough few days."

I yawn as I climb the stairs.

"Night, No!" Grim calls, oh! He's learning.

"Night you three troublemakers!" And I shut the door to not hear any back-claps from those jokers.

Honestly, a nice shower? And I'm off to dreamland.

iA girl stands at what looks like a witness box? Or—a stand? "Well, I'll show you! What kind of Queen are you!?" She shouts at the other figure, furious at the situation at hand. A hand on her hip while she points. "You are a selfish, evil old tyrant who thinks she can do whatever she wants!"/i

iThe queen sits at what looks like a judge's seat—a throne, too? All that is in color is red on her dress, and maybe something in her hair? Half a heart as a banner on the tall stand. "What did you just say to me, little girl?" The woman demands./i

iA striped cat appears as the crown on the queen's head. "She said you were a selfish, evil old tyrant!" It sounds so gleeful./i

iThe queen screeches, "OFF WITH HER HEAD!"/i

iAn army of cards appear around the girl, shouting as they grow in number. A man shouts, "The Queen's Orders! OFF WITH HER HEAD!"/i

iIt fades, it fades…/i

I wake up with Grim standing there looking far too chipper for the morning. "There! Finally awake!" Or maybe he by default smiles? I should pay attention, but I want way more sleep.

Ace is there too, back in his dorm uniform. Why? Ugh, I curl up a little more. "Today is the duel! Come on, get up and let's go!"

He's too excited. Ugh.

"Out! Out, both of you." I hiss a bit, because… uh, I am so glad with how I sleep because… reasons. Wow. Tiddy stealth 100.

"Ugh—fine! But you better hurry!" Ace does leave at least, and Grim follows.

"No is always like that…"

"Shy or something." Ace scoffs, and the door is at least closed behind them as I get up and get dressed, rushing a bit to put my hair up in a ponytail like I need to for Crewel's classes. I think I'll need it if this is the same sort of fight as it was… uh.

I have no idea, I'm so tired still. I think everything is really catching up with me.

But I'm at least presentable by the time I head down, Ace and Deuce look so serious about all of this while Grim is almost overly-joyful.

Deuce hands me a wrapped-up piece of banana bread. "Thought you might want something."

"Thanks." I take it, and a bite as we head out. There's apparently no time for anything else, is there?

It's actually fairly quiet as we head to Hearslabyul dorm. I'm informed that Crowley stopped by earlier and told them that the duel was at three-thirty, but they at least let me sleep in. Sure, it's only two now and this doesn't take an hour, but they wanted to take the long way and burn off some energy first. Makes sense. We talk some strategies.

"Well, I don't know much but he can't cut off your magic—maybe if you pin him with cauldrons, Deuce, and Ace blasts him with wind enough to keep him from casting spells…? I don't really know, this is a much different fight than the monster." And that voice. I wish…

"If Grim could help I would've had a fire tornado after him but…" I shrug. "This is a your-dorm problem."

Deuce nods. "We'll do our best."

Ace scoffs. "He can't be that powerful."

Ah, considering the two are collared and how the entire dorm clearly fears Riddle Roseheart's wrath? I bet they're wrong.

We enter the dorm to see that just about everyone is there—dressed in their dorm uniforms for the event. There's a din of many voices, whispering and talking to each other as I see Trey and Cater give us worried expressions. I am pretty much here for moral support, huh?

Dire Crowley has already arrived, and he's speaking with Riddle Rosehearts. The teapot tyrant and the old crow. There's probably something poetic about this, but I'm not sure what it could be—not yet, anyway.

The stage is set, and this feels like it's going to be a shit show.

Now, the Headmaster of Night Raven College steps away, and puts his hands on his hips as he addresses the crowd. "NOW! It is time for this Heartslabyul Dormitory Duel to begin! The challengers today are Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade! And the challenge has been accepted by the current dorm leader of Heartslabyul, Riddle Rosehearts!" He is gesturing to them at least. This seems… proper? "Before we begin the duel, Rosehearts, please remove the challengers' collars!"

An easy wave of magic, and Riddle releases the two from their collars.

Ace breathes a sigh of relief. "Finally, that piece of shit is off." Wow.

Deuce shares in this relief.

Riddle's smirk, his expression, his stance—it's all so arrogant. "Enjoy your freedom while you can, I'll put them back on after I've won." It's sinister. "I couldn't believe it when I heard you two were foolish enough to challenge me to a duel. Are you two serious?" He looks… angry. Hm.

"Dead serious." Ace replies, scowling at his dorm leader.

"We wouldn't challenge you if we weren't series." Deuce continues.

The two of them are truly two peas in a pod.

"Whatever, then. Let's start." He's not angry about that, I'm actually curious what's going on in Riddle's head.

I keep my distance, and look to Grim. "Remember, we're here to watch…"

Grim sighs. "Yeah, yeah… but I want a shot at him too."

"Maybe we'll figure something out later." Okay, I'm a bad influence.

That does perk Grim up at least.

Cater interrupts for… whatever reason Cater has-"Riddle, what about your afternoon tea?"

"Afternoon tea isn't until exactly four P.M., so this will be over before then." Riddle replies, oof, that is some confidence there.

"But it's already past three-thirty." Cater remarks, using his phone as his clock.

"Do you honestly believe I could ever be late for anything in my life? This will be over quickly." Riddle replies coolly." Now he turns to address the duo. "As you can see, I do not have time for this—taking on both of you at once is faster. Come at me."

"You can do this! Do it quick!" The students shouts. Ah, my two are the underdogs.

"Sounds a little too confident." Deuce makes himself ready.

Grim scowls. "Rude! How rude of them!"

"...We don't have a strategy, really…" Ace considers, briefly, even though I suggested one earlier that might work in a team up—which is what I THOUGHT this was all along.

"Headmaster, let us begin this at once." Riddle isn't as demanding to Crowley at least.

"Then, when the mirror falls through my hands and lands on the ground to shatter, that is the time for the duel to begin." Crowley instructs. He then drops the mirror, and it shatters on the ground. "FIGHT!"

I once more, have a bad feeling about this. The duel's finally begun.