Alyssa was wandering the rose maze to find a few of the hedgehogs that had gotten loose. She was rather fond of the creatures that were part of the dorm, after all.

She found herself suddenly cornered by both of the Leech twins. Floyd had backed her into the bushes, and Jade was cutting off the quickest path to the dorm. However unlike that wretched alleycat, they did not try to pin her down and prevent any attempts to fight back.

Sure, Floyd was leaning in particularly close, but not to the point she felt like she was in danger.

She glared at them both.

"You two have a lot of nerve to come here and act like this."

"Fortune favors the bold, as they say," said Jade.

After being tied up by Alyssa, Jade had gone out of his way to read up on Kitsune. It had been very...enlightening. It had also stirred up the interest of the twins even more, learning that Riddle had the ability to shift genders on a whim.

Alyssa did her best not to squirm. She never anticipated being cornered in her safe space.

"If you try anything, the entire dorm will be on your head faster than you can escape."

"That makes this all the more thrilling, Goldfishie~" said Floyd.

Before she could react, he was kissing her. And not a gentle one either, but a demanding one. Caught off guard, she didn't attempt to fight him off.

Floyd had a satisfied glint in his eyes from pulling a fast one on the person he had been pursuing since freshman year. One kiss had her mostly defanged, as he could see the glazed look in her eyes.

Jade was hardly idle, as he played with the fur on her tail. They had learned during the time she had gotten drunk that one of her weak points was her tail.

Floyd and Jade continued their attack, never moving past light touches and brief kissing. Alyssa didn't know how to react, and was torn between relieved and disappointed when she heard someone coming closer.

"So this is where the kitten went to," said Che'nya, his eyes glinting with malice and protectiveness.

"Nii-san!" she said in surprise, her face flushed.

"I was unaware that a Royal Sword student was allowed to wander so freely on NRC grounds," said Jade, his smile full of teeth.

Che'nya let out a dark cackle.

"They do when they're part of the Royal guard," he said. He used his signature spell to disappear, before appearing next to a very startled Floyd who was far too close to his little sister for his liking. Floyd barely dodged the claws.

The two morays stared Che'nya down, entering into a silent stalemate.

Alyssa had enough of the posturing. While she wasn't sure how to feel about the way Floyd and Jade had been acting around her, she did know that having a fight in the maze was against the Queen's rules.

"Enough," she said imperiously, getting the attention of the boys. Che'nya straightened up slightly, but kept a wary glare on the twins. "If you want to fight, do it outside the dorm."

"Oh this wouldn't be a fight, goldfishie~" said Floyd, grinning darkly at Che'nya.

"Alyssa-hime, what's...Floyd, Jade, why are you here?" said Trey confused.

"I caught these two harassing Alyssa-hime," said Che'nya. "They were getting a little too friendly, if you ask me."

"We were just leaving," said Jade, though there was dark intent in his eyes.

"You better," growled Che'nya.

The twins left, and Alyssa had a confused look on her face.

Later that night...

"So the twins were putting on the moves on our Queen?" said Cater.

"Yeah, apparently Che'nya interrupted what looked like a heavy petting session or something," said Trey. He looked exhausted, as Alyssa had been out of sorts all day because of it. "He was really pissed about that, by the way."

"I bet! It's our sacred duty as the Unholy Trio to protect our baby after all," said Cater.

Especially after learning from Alyssa's mother that she was still considered a baby by her kind, despite looking like a teenager. Kurama had been bemused by the fact his child had picked up so many protectors, but had approved of their presence around Alyssa.

Coincidentally he found it hilarious that the nickname of the unofficial 'Royal Guard' as Che'nya had put it was also known by the lesser members as the Unholy Trio.

"Still...this is the Leech twins we're talking about. They won't leave something they find this interesting alone," said Trey. "And knowing them, they've likely alerted Azul to Alyssa already."

Cater winced at that. Riddle had been making great progress in coming to terms with his feminine side. The switch was far more seamless, and he hoped that eventually Riddle would allow his female side to wander the school properly, rather than just their dorm.

Alyssa had been very happy when she found out that the dorm had taken it upon themselves to teach that stupid alley cat a pointed lesson about targeting their Queen. Riddle had briefly chastised them once he realized what happened, but at the same time had quietly thanked them for it.

Cater wondered what would happen once Riddle finally accepted Alyssa properly.

As it turned out, he wouldn't have to wait long to find that out.

~*~*~*~*~

It had been a week since the twins had been busted by Che'nya, and while they had backed off their interest had not abated in the least.

Ever since then, Riddle had felt...off. He kept having strange urges at night when he was alone. It made his body warm in a way he couldn't explain. Even changing genders didn't help, since the twins had deliberately targeted...her.

Riddle was aware of Alyssa. His false mother had been sent to prison for multiple crimes because she couldn't stand the fact that she had been tricked into raising a youkai.

It had come out during the one and only meeting he had with the woman that the main reason she had forced him to become "Riddle" was because Alyssa drew entirely too much attention.

As Vil had once remarked, her charisma was absurdly high even when she wasn't actively trying to use it.

So much so that her 'mother' had felt threatened by it...especially when her husband was around. Dr. Rosehearts had done everything in her power to force her 'son' into a mold of an obedient child so that Alyssa would never have the chance to use her full charisma to lure her husband away from her.

And when her husband was murdered, well she had blamed her 'son' for it as he had not died quietly.

Riddle had cuddled with Trey and Cater for a solid week before he was able to reconcile this new knowledge of why his 'mother' had been so strict with him growing up.

Alyssa's immediate acceptance by the dorm had made it easier for him to accept his feminine side. Being reunited with his actual mother and later his aunt had helped a lot as well. His grandmother Shiori was very kind, and had accepted her grandchild, despite the oddity of him being a kitsune.

Riddle gave up attempting to sleep for the moment. As he walked towards the bathroom, his eyes caught the full length mirror by the wall. It took him a second to register something off.

Alyssa was standing in the mirror, not Riddle. While his other self had accepted him as part of her without question, he had always had reservations on the matter due to that woman.

Seeing the calm smile on her face, Riddle touched the glass and saw her reciprocate. Something inside him relaxed a bit.

He was Alyssa, and Alyssa was him. The only one who still held reservations of her existing was him.

He felt the glass under his hand warm, and it took him several seconds to register the fact that he could feel the warmth of someone's skin on his own. His eyes widened, and there was a sudden sense of vertigo.

Riddle had once asked Cater what it was like, splitting himself into another self.

The sensation he felt now was exactly as Cater had once described, as the pressure that had subtly built up in his mind suddenly snapped.

Riddle had to stare at the other figure in his room, as Alyssa seemed to step out of the mirror.

"Finally, we have a chance to properly talk," she said cheerfully.

"How..." started Riddle, but Alyssa put a finger to his lips.

"We're kitsune, remember? There's plenty of stories about powerful ones being able to create false bodies," said Alyssa smiling at him. "Besides, this way we'll never be alone again."

Riddle gulped...but at the same time, he had so many things he wanted to ask her.

"Then... let's talk. But only so long as it doesn't violate the rules!" said Riddle. Alyssa grinned at him.

Breakfast...

Alyssa was downright cackling at the way people were crashing into walls upon realizing that Riddle and Alyssa were out at the same time.

Cater wasn't the only one recording...so was Alyssa, who found the entire thing hysterical.

"So you can split into two now? Clone buddies!" said Cater taking a pic while making a 'V' with his fingers.

"Not for very long...doing this is incredibly draining on my power," said Riddle with a sigh. "I can only hold this for an hour at most."

"Same," said Alyssa. "However switching genders never really took much power beyond the initial swap."

Cater grinned while putting his head on Alyssa's own, grinning at her.

"Aw...so does this mean you'd be willing to let Alyssa wander the school properly?"

"Not right away," said Riddle. "Just because I've accepted that part of myself doesn't mean I'm willing to break one of the major rules of the school. Yuu is an exception made by the headmage due to her circumstances after all."

"Yeah, Night Raven is an all boy's school after all," said Alyssa in agreement.

"But...I might be willing to relax that particular rule after class hours," conceded Riddle. "It's not like the teachers are unaware of my other half."

Cater had a sudden thought, followed by an evil grin.

"Think you can wait till the weekend? If we're going to reveal Alyssa-hime properly, then I want to get a video of other dorms crashing into walls."

Alyssa's grin was positively evil and full of mischief herself.

"I think that can be arranged~" she chirped. Riddle shuddered and was glad he wouldn't have to deal with it direct.

~*~*~*~~*

Riddle was beyond pissed. He knew of the Ghost princess that visited once a year to 'find her perfect groom'. How she thought that a school full of teenage boys who weren't remotely ready for marriage was a good place to look for her husband was a mystery.

He knew that peripherally, people married very young but forcing one of the living to marry her was ridiculous.

And now it had come to bite them all in the ass, as she had taken one look at one of his fellow housewardens, Idia Shroud and had determined HE was her ideal husband.

Riddle watched as his fellow students attempted to forcibly remove the bride. He was 'exempt' purely because of his height, which annoyed him greatly.

Riddle saw red when Cater was captured alongside Trey. Having both of his 'royal' guard being held hostage by a delusional princess pissed him off.

Looking at the clock, Riddle realized that if things continued then Cater would be violating the Rules of the dorm. Not only that, but at this rate then odds were that his fellow housewarden would end up forced into a marriage he clearly didn't want and was openly against.

He could feel Alyssa uncurl from the nap she had been taking from the back of his mind. Upon reviewing the situation, she made an interesting proposal.

He had been meaning to let her out in the school proper for weeks now, but had never had the proper time to do so. If the ghosts were on edge against potential intrusions from the students, then how would they react to a literal Queen coming to read their spoiled princess the riot act for her misbehavior?

The idea had great merit, and in all honesty would likely have more success than the headmage's half-assed plan. They would need to prepare first.

Ace noticed it first and straightened up. Deuce was slated to be among the next sacrificial victims to head into the school to get rid of the princess.

"You two. Straighten up and attend to me. We're going to deal with this before it becomes a bigger mess than it already is," said Riddle sharply.

"Yes, Housewarden," they replied with a proper salute. Riddle went and bought some seeds, as Alyssa wanted to make a proper entrance.

Alyssa smirked and couldn't wait to see how this pampered Princess handled an actual Queen.