Azul was a bit surprised to have the Prefect come to him directly looking for employment. Still, he wasn't about to argue over the fact he was going to get a willing worker.

"So, what exactly can you offer my business?"

"I can come in after hours to deep clean the place, and I know how to clean a kitchen that maintains basic health and safety standards," Crow said promptly. "I used to work part-time at a sushi restaurant after hours and part of my duties was making sure the place was spotless in case a health inspector showed up unannounced."

Azul blinked.

"So you want to be part of the after hours cleaning crew then."

"I'm not interested in acting as a waiter, I can only cook basic dishes and I wouldn't know how to mix a mocktail if my life depended on it," Crow deadpanned.

Azul pushed up his glasses.

"Would you object to a basic competency test for the kitchen? Even if it's only the appetizers, having someone who has some experience during a major rush would be beneficial," he asked.

"I have no problem with that," said Crow calmly.

Azul gave her a set list of about ten dishes, and if she could successfully cook at least half of them, she would be given an additional pay bump every time she was part of the kitchen staff. He also allowed her to use her phone to look up the recipe in question, since she was from another world. Fortunately, she recognized most of them.

Jade, Floyd and Azul all tested the food. Azul was privately surprised that the Prefect had managed to cook the food to his standards without being told.

Either way Azul soon took out the part-time contract and adjusted it. Crow would be added to the roster of those who deep cleaned the restaurant, and would join the kitchen staff from Friday to Sunday, when they were the busiest.

Crow double checked everything before signing the contract. At least she would be able to take leftovers home, since Azul wasn't about to make his staff work on empty stomachs. Even if it was mostly just some communal stew left for the employees to get a few bowls from, it was still free food.

"I'm curious...why did you come here for a job when the Headmage is letting you live in the dorm for free?" asked Azul, once the paperwork was done.

"There's no way I can afford food and other supplies on the budget I got from the headmage," said Crow. "Clothes are expensive, even second hand and don't get me started on the amount I've already had to shell out for cleaning supplies. Ramshackle is an absolute mess since it's been abandoned so long, even if Riddle was kind enough to let me borrow a few things."

Letting her borrow the tools to help clean the dorm was a small thing, and they had quite a few of them. However cleaning supplies were expensive, especially with how dirty Ramshackle was. Riddle also looked the other way if Ace, Deuce and Cater happened to help out as well, since it meant he wouldn't be breathing down their necks over homework for several hours.

Azul had to stare at the other student for several moments, completely baffled as to how calmly they were taking things. It made perfect sense why they were so quick to get a job, if their funding was that low.

Hotaru was vaguely aware of the fact that there was someone who kept wandering around the grounds at night. Why, she had no idea but the lights were beginning to annoy her because she saw them reflected on her laptop screen while she was attempting to watch her shows.

Which was why she decided to confront whoever it was and find out why they were there.

She was not expecting to see the most beautiful creature she had ever encountered in her life, looking more bemused than anything at her presence.

"I had heard that the forgotten dorm was now inhabited. Such a pity," said the upperclassman.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The older male looked even more bemused at her question. Almost as if the fact she didn't recognize him on sight amused him greatly.

As it turned out, the male liked to observe the gargoyles and other forgotten places on campus, and found it restful to come to her dorm late at night due to how quiet it was. Which...she had no problem with, honestly.

Hotaru did politely ask that he knock if he wanted to enter the dorm first, especially at night. It was only polite after all.

What a strange male, and he still didn't give her a name to call him by.

"What about Hornton?" suggested Grim. The familiar was adorable, but a bit of a handful.

Hotaru made a face, as the name did not suit him at all. Then she happened to see something on her screen, as she had been watching something before she went to chat with her late night visitor.

He had the most enchanting green eyes, and his horns reminded her of a dragon. Add in the pointed ears, and she suspected he was among the faeries that attended the school.

Lilia had been rather cheerful about explaining that yes, faeries did in fact exist and that he was among the few attending the school at the moment. She was still hoping to see a mermaid, which had amused the boys even more.

The show that was paused on the screen had a young dragon with green eyes. An idea occurred to her, and she grinned.

She now had something to call him, since he had been rather amused by the fact she didn't know who he was. It was like the idea of a nickname pleased him for some reason.

"Here to observe the gargoyles again, Spike?"

He blinked.

"Spike?"

"Well you wouldn't give me a proper name to call you, and Spike is a bit more dignified than the one Grim suggested," she said cheerfully.

The newly dubbed 'Spike' looked at her with bemusement.

"What name did your familiar suggest?" he asked.

"Hornton," deadpanned Hotaru. "Which, I can kinda understand considering how prominent yours are, but you look more like Spike than a Hornton, so..."

He didn't seem offended by the nickname. If anything he looked rather pleased.

"Why Spike though?"

"Because you remind me of a dragon from a show I was watching when you showed up last night," replied Hotaru cheerfully.

Mostly because they both had green eyes.

She still found it odd that he kept calling her "Child of Man", despite telling him to call her Crow. But he was rather polite overall and he didn't mind listening to her rambling.

A few days later...

Ortho was rather eager for club activities today, because he planned to see if his suspicion was right regarding the oddball prefect. Idia was still somewhat in denial about Crow's identity.

Which was why he waited for the prefect to sit down and begin fiddling with their phone, since it was pretty early for club activities to start.

Ortho sent a DM to Idia's friend Yatagarasu...and saw Crow look up with a grin.

"So I was right...Idia is Gloomurai," said Crow with a cackle.

Idia sputtered.

"Wait...so you really are Yatagarasu?" he said in disbelief.

"Well duh, why else would I tell people my name is Crow when that's just a shortened version of my handle?"

"Wait...if your name isn't Crow, then what is it?" asked Azul.

"Hotaru. It means 'firefly' in my native tongue," Crow replied. "I prefer the name Crow though."

Ortho beamed at her, mostly because now Idia had no excuses.

"Next you'll be telling me that MuscleRed is here too," said Idia, shaking his head.

"You mean Lilia?" asked Crow.

Idia sputtered.

"What."

"MuscleRed is Lilia Vanrouge," said Crow. "We shared our handles during the first club meeting and he was beyond amused when he learned who I was."

"You're telling me the vice-housewarden of Diasomnia is a gamer?" said Azul, sputtering.

"He's going to laugh when he finds out who Gloomy is," chuckled Crow.

It was as the club meeting was wrapping up that Crow had a fun idea.

"We should totally have a LAN party at my dorm."

"A party? This close to the Spelldrive tournament?" said Azul.

"The what?" said Crow baffled.

"Spelldrive. It's the most popular sport in the school and the magical world," chirped Ortho. Crow made a face at the word 'sport'. Especially after hearing the rules from Ortho.

"So basically it's Quidditch, just with slightly different rules," she deadpanned. Ortho snickered.

"Close enough," said Idia.

"What day is this tournament anyway?" asked Crow.

"It's about three weeks from now," said Azul promptly.

"Let me guess, you're the one who runs the major betting rings over who wins," she said. Azul merely smirked at her.

"The real hassle is hiding the betting action. Last time the headmage demanded a cut, otherwise he would have shut the entire thing down," said Azul.

Crow did some quick calculations before a smirk appeared on her face.

"What if a neutral third party were to hold onto the wagers, in exchange for a small portion of the cut?"

Azul's glasses gleamed.

"Do tell," he said smirking. His own reputation proceeded him, but this sounded like a nice work around. Crow was a complete wildcard after all.

Idia watched the byplay slightly disturbed and fascinated. Azul was clearly enjoying himself and for whatever reason Crow seemed to know exactly how to talk to him. Azul looked incredibly pleased with the deal he made with Crow.

"So...LAN party?" said Idia.

"Don't tell me you're not interested Gloomy. A chance to raid with me and Muscles IRL instead of hiding behind a keyboard and having to worry about the moderators complaining about language?" said Crow grinning.

Idia perked up at that.

"What exactly is a LAN party?" asked Azul.

"It's where people gather to play games on a single network," said Idia.

"That sounds like the most boring party ever," said Azul flatly.

"For an extrovert, yeah," Crow snarked back. "But for introverts like us, it's the closest we ever want to get to being social."

Idia nodded enthusiastically at that. It also sounded like fun, since it was unlikely he would have to socialize beyond the inevitable snark contests that happened during a raid.

Ortho looked to Crow with interest.

"You really want to host a LAN party at Ramshackle?" he asked.

"It'll be bring your own snacks and computers, since Grim already eats me out of house and home," said Crow. "And it'll be fun actually being able to raid with my online friends in person."

Lilia was all for it, when she suggested it.

It took a bit of organizing, but eventually they were able to set up an agreed upon night to raid a major boss on their preferred games.

Hotaru was almost bouncing in place when the door opened, revealing Ortho and Idia, who had come early to set up the laptops.

"Do you mind if I hug you?" she asked Ortho.

Ortho giggled, before he shook his head. Hotaru immediately glomped him.

"You have no idea how much I've been resisting that urge," she said grinning. He was just too cute.

Idia had to smile a little at the sight.

"So where's Muscles?" asked Idia.

"Lilia said he had something to do, so he'd be about twenty minutes late," said Hotaru.

"The room looks...nice..." said Idia. He wasn't much for small talk.

"You don't have to mince words...the place is still a mess because I can only devote so much time to cleaning. It used to look a lot worse," said Hotaru shaking her head. "And don't get me started on the bathrooms."

"I don't get why you threw out all those old blankets! They looked fine to me!" said Grim.

Idia perked up at the sight of Grim. He loved cats.

"I told you before, there's no telling what was on those old sheets, and most of them were moth eaten. I'd rather just buy new ones," said Hotaru. "Seven only knows what was left on them from the previous tenants, never mind the possible mold."

"Good call," said Idia.

"Sorry I'm late," a voice called out. It was Lilia.

"I still can't believe MuscleRed was so close this entire time," said Idia.

Lilia chuckled at that. He looked rather odd carrying his laptop.

"Shall we hook these up and get started?"

"If we still have time later, I have a projector and a copy of Mario Cart," said Hotaru grinning wickedly. Idia smirked at that.

"I hope you're prepared to get pwned," said Idia.

"Only if you don't mind your butt getting kicked by a girl," she snarked back.

Idia was about to respond before his mind screeched to a sudden halt as it replayed her words.

"What?!"

Ortho snickered at this, as he had figured that out within their first meeting.

"You're a girl?" said Idia, in shock. Lilia snickered, as he had figured that out a week ago due to certain reasons.

Hotaru smirked at him.

"Want to watch Azul's brain go blue screen of death when he finds out?"

"Hell yes!" grinned Idia. Besides, they had more important matters to worry about, like killing that raid boss.