Chapter 23

When Jade and I returned to school, I did not want to return to Ramshackle Dorm where my friends waited to interrogate me. So, instead, Jade took me to the botanical garden, where he showed me the mushrooms he was growing and I helped him plant the new ones. All the while, he went on and on about this particular hobby. I did not find it all that interesting in and of itself, but I was fascinated with the way Jade clearly loved it. The look on his face was a far cry from the calculating one he usually had that made me think he was plotting something.

"There are enough mushrooms here of the right type for me to make a stew," Jade said after awhile. "Would you care to join me, prefect?"

I smiled at him. "Sure. Sounds good to me." I took this as a good sign that he was warming up to me - and if I had to be completely honest, I was warming up to him too. It seemed Floyd knew what he was talking about after all.

I followed him to the Mostro Lounge. It was still well before opening time and neither Floyd nor Azul were in sight, so no one bothered us as we made out way to the kitchen. I watched Jade as he made the stew. I offered to help, but he insisted he could handle it alone. It did smell pretty good, and it made me hungry. When I tried to steal a bit, Jade pushed me away and scolded me with a smirk.

Finally, when the stew was just about ready, he insisted I take a seat out in the dining area. I had not made it two steps towards the nearest table before Floyd nearly tackle me to the ground in a hug. "Shrimpy, you're back!" he exclaimed. "Where's Jade?"

I smiled as I hugged him back. "He's making us something to eat."

"Ohoho! So it went well?" Floyd let go of me only to put an arm around my shoulder.

"Yeah, it went really well. We had fun."

"Good!"

A second later, Jade emerged from the kitchen, two bowls on a tray balanced on his left hand. "Ah, Floyd, would you care to join us?" he asked.

"You got mushrooms in there?"

"Why, yes."

"No thanks!" Floyd withdrew his arm and took several large steps away from me.

"Not a fan?" I said as I took a seat at the table.

"Nope!"

Jade set the bowls on the table and then sat across from me. "Go ahead," he said, motioning to my bowl."

I did not need to be told twice. I picked up a spoon, dipped it in the stew, blew on it, and then put it in my mouth. I knew my face must have lit up. "Jade, this is amazing!"

Jade smiled. "I am pleased you like it, Ona."

"Me too!" said Floyd, who was hovering over out table. "You'll eat all the mushroom stuff he makes, right, Shrimpy?"

"Yes, won't you?" Jade said with a look I may have perceived as innocent if I did not know better.

I shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I can't pass up free, tasty food."

"Azul, guess what?!" Floyd all but shouted as Azul entered the room. "Ona is going to eat all of Jade's mushrooms!"

"That is good news," Azul said with a smirk that told me he was up to something. "Would you mind if I put that in a contract?"

"Yes, I would mind!" I said. "Why would I need a contract for something I want to do? Am I missing something here?"

"Do not mind them," said Jade. "They are not as generous with their time as you. They are quite mean, but I know you will eat everything, prefect."

I gave him a wary look. "I'm not going to regret this, am I?"

"Of course not." Jade smiled, showing his teeth. For the life of me, I could not figure out what was going on, so I decided not to worry about it and returned to eating.

Once I was finished, I walked back to Ramshackle Dorm. I had all put forgotten about my friends until I saw Grim, Ace, and Deuce sitting on the floor, playing cards. As soon as they saw me, they jumped up in a panic.

"You're back!" Grim shouted.

"And not dead," I said. I frowned as Deuce walked around me, examining my body. I rolled my eyes. "And I'm not injured. We had a good time."

Ace gave me a critical look. "I hope it wasn't too good of a time."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged. "I just think you being close to one of the Leech brothers is bad enough."

"Oh, come on. They're twins. They're kind of a package deal."

"That's what worries us," said Deuce.

"Look, I know what I'm doing. I may like them, but I'm not stupid. I won't let them pull one over me. I'll be careful."

"You better be," said Grim, "or I may need to start keeping an eye on them."

I smirked. "I'd love to see their reaction to that." Well, as long as they weren't actively trying to keep me away from the boys, I supposed I could deal with their excessive worrying. Especially since it mean that they cared about me. Hopefully they would soon realize the truth and give it a rest.

Tuesday evening at the Mostro Lounge, Azul decided I was ready to work on my own and gave me my own section to serve. It was a smaller portion than the veterans' sections, but it was still my own. I enjoyed serving and interacting with the customers. I got to talk to people who would otherwise pass me by. I did not know how well liked I was around campus, but everyone was very friendly. Well, there was a group of Diasomnia boys who were a little too friendly, but I did my best to ignore them.

I headed outside at the end of my shift feeling quite satisfied. I felt like I could really enjoy working there. Azul was a lot more tolerable boss than I thought he would be, and it was fun to be around Floyd and Jade. I was too lost in my thoughts to notice the four boys standing in my path. They were the Diasomnia students from earlier.

"Hello there," I said, trying hard to push down my nervousness. "May I help you?"

"Hi, girlie," said one of the guys. "You looked awfully good waiting on us today."

"Uh, thanks... I have to be going now." I took a large step back.

"Not so fast," said a second guy. "We thought you might want to have some fun with us."

"Yes," said the third guy. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't be out here all alone."

My heart rate picked up. I hoped I could figure something out to make them leave me alone. I did not know if I could take them all in a fight alone, especially at night when I could hardly see them. "Look, I appreciate the compliments, but I'm tired, and need to get home."

I realized I could not see the fourth guy until it was too late. Strong hands gripped my shoulders, and I froze. "Do not try to run," said a deep voice next to my ear. "We'll go easy on you."

I did not wait for them to make their intentions more explicit. One of them had already invaded my personal space when I clearly told them to leave me alone, so self-defense was entirely, justified. I simultaneously kicked and elbowed the boy holding onto me. This was enough to get him to release me, and I immediately turned around and punched him in the throat. He staggered back but did not fall.

"Now, none of that," said one of the guys behind me.

I shifted, ready to fight off the others, but suddenly, my body could not move. I noticed one of the guys smiling at me wickedly, his magic pen raised. Oh no... Martial Arts was useless against magic. "What are you going to do?" I asked.

Another boy smirked and closed the distance between us. "You will find out soon enough." He gripped my shirt with his hands before sliding one of them underneath the fabric. I shuddered at the contact of skin.

I willed my mind not to give into fear and shut down. I may not have been able to move, but I could still speak. I took a deep breath and shouted at the top of my lungs, "FLOYD!"

The guy touching me withdrew his hand and slapped me. "No one is coming for you," he growled.

I would glared at him if I had the ability. "FLOYD!" I continued shouting his name as all four guys crowded around me, pulling at my clothes. I tried to think only about my goal and not about the intentions of these guys and what they were doing.

"Get away from Ona," said a dark, threatening voice that I had never been happier to hear.

"And why should we?" said one of the guys.

"Yeah, wait your turn," said another.

In a matter of seconds, all four guys were on the ground, and Floyd was pulling me into his chest. Then he turned me around and pushed me towards Jade. "Take care of her," he said.

"Of course," said Jade.

"Wait," I said. "I can't move because of their magic."

"Not a problem." Jade quickly pulled out his pen and undid whatever spell that guy cast on me. As soon as I was able to move, I all but latched myself onto Jade's side. He did not seem to mind, though. He put an arm around me and guided me back to the Mostro Lounge, which was empty except for Azul, who froze when he saw us.

"What's going on?" he said, his eyes on me.

"Ona ran into trouble with some former customers," Jade said with an edge to his voice. "Floyd is dealing with them. You might want to step in before he kills them." Azul's eyes narrowed in anger. He nodded and left the room. Jade looked down at me with an almost gentle expression. "Do you need anything? Some calming tea, perhaps?"

"No," I said, straining to keep the emotion out of my voice. "Just... stay with me?"

"Of course." Jade led me to a booth and sat us down together. I took the opportunity to wrap my arms full around him and bury my face in his chest. He held me against him, saying nothing. A part of me wondered if he was being so nice to me for Floyd's sake and not mine. A larger part of my did not care. I simply needed the comfort his embrace gave me.

"I'm sorry," I said after awhile. "I shouldn't have let myself get into that situation. I should have asked for someone to walk me home. I should have-"

Jade went rigid. "Ona," he said in a low voice, "do not blame yourself. This is not your fault. It is theirs. Do you understand?" He pulled back and grabbed my chin, forcing me to looking his serious eyes, blazing with intensity.

I swallowed hard. "Okay, Jade. I understand."

Jade dropped his hand but kept my gaze. "I am sorry for not providing you adequate protection. I assure you, this will never happen again."

Tears filled my eyes. He cared. He actually cared about me. I clung to him again, hoping he didn't care if my tears dampened his shirt. He held me tighter this time, occasionally rubbing my back and whispering comforting words. Gradually, I calmed down to the point where my eyes dried and my heart and breathing returned to normal.

The door slammed open. I pulled away from Jade so I could look at Floyd. I could not help but gasp when I saw him. He looked absolutely terrifying. His eyes blazed with a rage I had never seen in them. His hat and gloves were missing and his clothes torn. He had blood everywhere, though I suspected the majority of it was not his own. He did, however, have a few cuts and scrapes. I decided I needed to do something about that. I stood up and started for the VIP room.

"You're afraid of me," Floyd said in his deep voice. "I understand. You should stay away from me."

I hesitated at the door. That's what he thought? My need to focus on one thing to cope took over, and I continued into the room. I quickly grabbed the first aid kit and headed back out. "You need to give Ona more credit, dear brother," Jade was saying. "She knows a hero when she sees one."

"Huh?" Floyd's eyes fell to the first aid kit. "What are you doing with that?"

"Jade, can you bring me some water and I washcloth?" I said.

"Not a problem," said Jade.

I set the first kit on the table and then walked up to Floyd. "You have some injuries that need to be taken care of. I'm first aid certified in my world, so..."

Floyd glared at the ground. "I'm fine. You can leave. I know you don't want to see me like this."

I sighed. "Jade's right, you know." I grabbed both of his hands in mine. "Floyd, look at me." He slowly turned his head to meet my gaze. The anger had faded, but he still looked miserable. "For the last time, I am not afraid of you. How could I be? No one who knows the whole story could blame you for what you did to those guys. I don't like violence, and even I would find it difficult not to lose control if I saw people hurting someone I cared about. The only difference is that you are able to cause more damage. You saved me, Floyd. I don't know what I would have done if you were not there. Thank you. Will you please let me help you?"

Floyd's expression softened slightly. "Okay."

Smiling, I led him to the booth and sat him down. Jade arrived with a bowl of water and washcloth, which he set in front of me before taking a seat on my other side. "Thanks." I dipped the washcloth in the water and wrung it out before bringing it to Floyd's face. I carefully cleaned up all of the blood and then the cuts. Next, I cleaned the cuts with a rubbing alcohol wipe from the first aid kit.

Floyd let out a hiss. "That hurts!"

"Sorry. It will be over soon." Glancing at the cuts, I realized something. "This would be easier with magic, wouldn't it? Maybe Jade should-"

"No!" Floyd grabbed my hand with the cloth and placed it back on the cut on his cheek. "I want you to do it, little shrimp."

I gave him a small smile. "Alright." I continued my work. Once the scratches were clean, I placed a bandage on each of them. Then I closed the first aid kit. "There. All better."

Floyd smiled at me. "Thanks, Shrimpy."

"No, thank you, Floyd." I glanced at Jade. "You too, Jade." I held my hands out to both of them. They moved closer to me and each took a hand. I felt comforted by the way they both pressed against me.

"Tomorrow, you should stick with us. We'll make sure everyone knows you're under our protection."

"And if they are stupid enough to bother you anyway," said Jade, "we'll take care of them."

"Thank you. You're both amazing." For once, neither of them made a comment about how dangerous it was more me to trust them. We all knew the truth.

We sat there together for a long time until the door to the Lounge opened again. Azul stepped inside, the anger on his face softening when he looked at me. "Ona, how are you doing?" he asked in a gentle tone I never imagined him using.

"I'm fine."

"Fine?!" exclaimed a new voice. From behind Azul stepped Grim. "How can you be fine?!"

"Grim!" I smiled in relief at my partner.

"I heard everything from Azul." Grim scrambled onto the table and looked me in the eye. "Were you really attacked?" Behind his anger, I saw concern and... fear.

"...yes." Floyd's hand tightened around mine.

"And you two..." Grim looked from Jade to Floyd. "You saved her?"

"That's right," said Floyd, a growl in his voice.

"I'm afraid I did not have the chance to do much," said Jade.

"You comforted me," I said. "That's hardly 'not much.'"

"I see," said Grim. He crossed his arms and appeared to be thinking hard about something. After a moment, he nodded. "Alright. I've changed my mind about you two. You can stick around Ona... if you keep up what you did today."

I grinned at him. "I don't think that will be a problem for them." I grabbed him and pulled him onto my lap.

"Aw, does Baby Seal like us now?" said Floyd, rubbing Grim's head.

"I never said that," Grim grumbled.

"Azul, what happened to the students?" Jade asked.

"They are in the infirmary," said Azul. "The headmage was... unreachable, so I will speak to him tomorrow morning. I will make sure the situation is dealt with properly."

"Wow, that's pretty nice of you, Azul," said Grim. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

Azul frowned. "I feel just fine. And before you ask, no, I do not want anything in return. It is my duty to make sure my employees are treated well. It would not do well for business if word got out that I let one of them be assaulted."

"That sounds more like it," Grim grumbled.

"Thanks, Azul," I said, smiling at him. "While all that may be true, I know an additional motive is that you care."

Azul adjusted his glasses and looked away. "You are mistaken." He cleared his throat before glancing back at me. "In order to prevent future occurrences, I do not want you to walk home at night without either Jade or Floyd by your side."

"That's acceptable."

"Good. Now, do you think you are well enough to return to your dorm? Accompanied, of course."

I hesitated. Floyd wrapped an arm around my waist. "She can stay with Jade and me tonight, can't she, Azul?" he said.

"Can I?" I said. "Just for tonight?" I looked down. "If it's alright with you."

"Yeah, sure," said Grim.

"Very well," said Azul. "Just for tonight. I will bring some blankets over to their room."

"Yay! Sleepover!" Floyd cheered.

Azul piled over a dozen blankets in Floyd and Jade's room. I was too out of it to really examine the room, but I did notice the blankets were placed on Jade's side because Floyd's side left little room to even walk. Grim collapsed immediately. Meanwhile, I could not fall asleep. It was not that the blankets were uncomfortable. I just could not get past the day's events.

Finally, I got up and ventured across the room to Floyd's side. "Floyd?" I said softy. I reached out to gently shake him before pulling my arm back quickly, not knowing how he would react to being woken up.

"What is it?" Floyd grumbled without looking at me.

"I can't sleep. Can I...?"

Floyd's eyes shot open. "Come here." He scooted over to give me room to lay down beside him. He immediately wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to him.

I sighed in contentment. "Thank you."

"Anything for you, Ona. 'Night."

I smiled to myself. "Good night, Floyd." His arms felt so safe and warm that I was finally able to drift off to sleep.

When I awoke, I felt quite at ease. My head was on Floyd's chest while our arms were around each other and our legs entangled. From his breathing, I could tell he was already awake. I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to get up either.

"I know you two are awake," Grim said, sounding very close. "Up and at 'em! We have classes to get to."

"Since when do you care about classes?" I muttered, not moving.

"I am sure the headmage will not mind if she skips today," said Jade. "She has been through a lot."

I held in a sigh. Now that he said that, I knew what he had to do. "No, I've got to go. I need things to go back to normal."

"Aw, are you sure?" Floyd whined.

"Yes. It's what's best. We should probably get up."

"Fine." I tried to ignore my disappointment when he released me.

I did my best to get ready with what little I had around me. By the time the four of us were ready to leave, there was a knock on the door before Azul entered. "I spoke to the headmage," he said.

"Floyd's not in trouble, is he?" I said nervously.

"No, not at all."

"Good," said Grim.

"He agreed with my idea to make sure one of us accompanies you home after a shift. While he will take care of the culprits, he asked that we not tell anyone about the incident."

"What?!"

"It would not look good for him or the school if word got out," said Jade. "In fact, the headmage may feel pressure to remove Ona from the school, a magicless female."

"Yeah, I get it," I said. "I won't tell anyone. I don't really want anyone to know anyway."

"What about Ace and Deuce?" Grim asked.

"It's probably better if they don't find out. I don't want them to worry." And while the story may help them see the Leech twins in a better light, they may also illogically assume the exact opposite.

"Good," said Azul. "If you are ready, we will head out."

Together, we made our way to the cafeteria for breakfast. Floyd and Jade walked close to me on either side. "What do you think you'll be having today, Ona?" Floyd said lout enough that people started turning heads. I knew that was the idea, but it still made me a little nervous.

"Yes, we will do what we can to make sure you get what you need," said Jade. He looked around at everyone with his intimidating smile, and everyone turned away quickly. Everyone except two Savanaclaw students. Leona shook his head while Ruggie gave me a grin and a thumbs-up.

I rolled my eyes. "At least someone approves of me hanging out with you guys."

Jade followed my gaze to Ruggie and chuckled. "He believes it is an excellent survival strategy to attach yourself to stronger predators - which it is."

"That wasn't my intention at all!"

"And it wouldn't have worked if it was," said Floyd.

"Enough chatter," said Grim. "Let's eat!"

I agreed wholeheartedly. After breakfast, I had to leave the Octavinelle trio, but they assured me they would see my later. I ended up seeing Floyd a lot sooner than expected. He barged into my second period class right before it began, shouting, "Shrimpy!"

I smiled at him and met him halfway to hug him. "Hey, Floyd. What are you doing here?"

"I just came to check on you." I knew everyone's eyes were on us as he hugged me tightly. "I gotta make sure you're alright."

I forced myself to ignore our audience and enjoy hugging him. "Thanks. I'm doing well."

"Good." Floyd pulled back, beaming at me before running out of the classroom.

My smile faded when I returned to my seat to be met with disapproving looks from Ace and Deuce. "What?"

"We should be asking you that," said Deuce.

"What was Floyd doing here?" said Ace.

"He was just checking in on me," I said. "He does the same thing to Jade sometimes, you know."

"Oh yeah?" Ace did not look convinced.

"You don't need him to check in on you," said Deuce. "You have us."

"I think it's kind of nice," said Grim. The boys gave him horrified looks. "Hey, say what you like about the twins, they are not a danger to Ona. You have to trust me on this."

Deuce and Ace exchanged looks. "If you're sure..." said Deuce.

"Fine, knock yourself out," said Ace.

I smiled slightly. "Thanks, guys." It was a start, at least. I pat Grim's head, grateful for his support.