Ichigo was tired, but at least Ace was man enough to admit he had made a mistake.
The second she saw Riddle, she understood what the real issue was.
"Let me get this straight... Riddle's mother was an extremely controlling person, but is so respected that no one is going to call her out on it or her insane restrictions on her son?" said Ichigo, mostly for clarification.
Trey nodded, unhappily.
"Question...is Riddle considered a legal adult, at least enough that if he goes no contact with his mother she can't turn around and force him to move back in with her?" asked Ichigo seriously.
Trey blinked at the question.
"Legally, he could live on his own. However I don't think he's emotionally or mentally capable of it at the moment."
Ichigo sighed in exasperation. After learning Ace was still banned from the dorms until he replaced the tart for the Unbirthday party, Ichigo had gone to question the Vice-Housewarden to get some details.
"This is a damn mess. Riddle's so traumatized by how his toxic mother raised him that he's taking it out on everyone using what little control he has over his own surroundings. It's far too obvious something is going to cause him to snap and all hell break loose," said Ichigo.
"How do you know that?" asked Trey, confused.
"My dad is a doctor, he runs a clinic. It's rare, but we do occasionally get abuse victims, though he never let us deal with them or their abusers directly," explained Ichigo. "After the first time, when I accidentally uncovered a parent abusing their seven year old, dad taught me how to identify the signs and how to handle it. Riddle is showing several signs of being raised in a highly toxic environment."
Trey blinked at that.
"So what are you planning to do?" asked Trey.
Ichigo sighed.
"I'll help Ace remake the tart, but I think you might want to double check the rules to insure that it won't break some arbitrary 'rule' of the Queen, considering she seems to have made a lot of them and Riddle apparently has them memorized. And you really need to look into getting Riddle into therapy, immediately. He's old enough to make his own decisions, and you could claim it's so the students aren't constantly terrified of their housewarden that it affects their grades," said Ichigo.
Trey winced at the idea. Once Ichigo left, he took out the list of rules the queen had made to check about any regarding tarts.
He found one several chapters in and far too many rules later regarding chestnut tarts...the same kind he was going to suggest they make as an apology. Apparently the queen had a problem with them being served during Unbirthday Parties.
His estimation of the lone female student went up considerably since they nearly had a disaster on their hands.
Some time later...
Riddle was suitably annoyed with Ace, but the tart he made as a replacement for the one he ate was acceptable. Barely.
However he tensed up when afterwards Trey took him aside to seriously talk about therapy. Especially with Ichigo there as a mediator.
"I don't need therapy!" he said irate.
Ichigo gave him a flat look.
"Housewarden Riddle, you have been displaying multiple signs of mental and emotional abuse. It's obvious to any trained professional that your mother's method of raising you was entirely toxic and left hidden scars on your psyche and development," said Ichigo calmly, but with a flat, no nonsense tone.
"Leave my mother out of this," said Riddle pissed.
"I hate to break it to you, but your behavior recently is pretty indicative of the fact that the toll is starting to wear you down...even your own housemates notice it. You're lashing out at them for every perceived slight against the rules, you've been overusing your magic to discipline minor infractions, and you're dangerously close to...what did you call it again Trey?" asked Ichigo.
"Overblot," said Trey quietly.
"Trey, you can't be serious," said Riddle angrily.
"I am serious, and she's right. You've been lashing out at everyone, including freshmen who were only sorted last night who haven't had a chance to even read the rule book," said Trey flatly. "I'm not saying you have to undergo therapy...I'm just asking as your friend to at least consider it."
Riddle looked extremely angry and betrayed.
"If my mother found out that I was attending therapy over the way she raised me..." said Riddle.
"Trey said your mother was a doctor, right?" said Ichigo. Riddle looked at her and nodded after a moment. "Well what if you spoke to a different doctor who has zero reason to speak to her about the matter and can be trusted to keep client information private even if she did somehow show up and demanded to know what you said during therapy?"
Riddle, rather than look offended, had a cautious and curious expression on his face.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"My dad runs a clinic and he's handled abuse cases before. It wouldn't be the first time a helicopter parent tried to force their lifestyle on their kid, and odds are he'd know someone willing to at least have phone sessions with a patient. I know for a fact that there are several therapists who do that sort of thing pro bono," said Ichigo.
Seeing Riddle was wavering, Trey went in for the kill.
"Riddle, please. At least go to one session. I hate seeing you hurting this bad and I don't want to see you go so far that you snap and overblot," said Trey.
Riddle wasn't fully convinced, but Ichigo offering to let him use an unused room in Ramshackle to lower the chance of any of his housemates overhearing something they shouldn't at least convinced him to give it a try. She even let him borrow her laptop.
Aside from the restriction of not mentioning magic, he was free to vent to a therapist as much as he needed in peace.
At least he removed all the collars after the party.
Vil initially didn't pay much mind to the lone female student. He had taken one look at her and dismissed her because it was obvious she didn't take care of her appearance at all and was likely not worth his time. So he was somewhat dismissive because of this when she chose to become part of his film club.
He did not expect her to immediately chose to become a stagehand (they were always short handed on those) or to be so useful.
They were about to start a production of Romeo and Juliet when he found out something that made her far more interesting.
As one of the sophomores from his dorm attempted to cast themselves as Juliet, Vil happened to notice Ichigo shaking their head in annoyance. The fact that she hadn't tried to claim the role herself surprised him.
Vil walked up to her, curious.
"Do you take offense to a boy performing the role of Juliet?" he asked.
"I take offense to people mangling the lines so poorly," said Ichigo.
Vil blinked.
"Mangling the lines?" he repeated.
Ichigo nodded to the stage.
"The only part of the play they're really attempting is the most well known, nothing else," complained Ichigo.
One junior took offense to that.
"I'd like to see you do better, freshman."
Ichigo's eyes gleam, as she looked to Vil who nodded. She walked up to the stage and without even once looking at the script began to recite passages from the famous play without missing a beat.
"My only love sprung from my only hate,
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love is it to me
That I must love a loathed enemy."
Vil was stunned, as was the rest of the cast. The role of the two lovers was far too important to give to just anyone, and Vil was more inclined to stay back so that he could insure the play went off without a hitch.
"You know the play?" asked Vil.
"I'm a fan of Shakespeare in general," said Ichigo. "Personally I liked Macbeth better, since the whole mess with Romeo and Juliet could have been resolved if those two idiots had told their families they had eloped in the first place."
Vil snorted at that.
"You'll have to do better than that if you want to be Juliet!" said the same junior.
Ichigo stared at him.
"Is that a challenge?" she asked, honestly.
Seeing the glare he shot her, she sighed.
"Am I limited to just lines from the play or can I use a different source?" she inquired.
"Surprise me," said Vil, magnanimously.
Ichigo straightened up and there was a royal aura around her as she delivered one of her favorite lines from a series she knew would be a major hit among the students later.
"I haven't come here to ruin anything. On the contrary, dear, I've come to give you a gift," she said to the junior, who unknowingly paraphrased the other half of the line she was using.
"I want nothing from you," he snarled.
"But you shall have it. My gift to you is this happy, happy day. For tomorrow, my real work begins. You've made your vows, now I make mine. Soon, everything you love, everything all of you love, will be taken from you. Forever. And out of your suffering will rise my victory. I shall destroy your happiness, if it is the last thing I do."
Vil was openly impressed.
"What is that from? I don't recognize it."
"A series I got hooked on before I came here. Unfortunately the series ended, but that was from the pilot episode. It's called Once Upon a Time...and that line, ironically enough, came from the Evil Queen herself. Or the Fairest Queen, as you call her," said Ichigo.
Vil looked openly intrigued. In any event, Ichigo had done a far more admirable job of playing Juliet than the others had.
Ichigo made a note to introduce Vil and his house to the series later.
"If you're so good at it, then why don't you play as Juliet then?" demanded the junior.
"Just because I like Shakespeare does not mean I want any part of that particular play. Playing Lady Macbeth, sure, but Juliet? No thanks. Juliet was foolish enough to kiss a man she knew had just drank poison in order to join him," said Ichigo flatly.
"A pity," said Vil.
"Besides, from what I've seen you need stage hands that actually know what they're doing more than actors. Maybe next time."
"Would you consent to helping them with their lines?" asked Vil. From what he saw, Ichigo at least had a fair idea of how the characters were supposed to act.
"Sure," agreed Ichigo.
As she predicted, the second the other students saw the first episode of Once Upon a Time, it became a massive hit. Vil in particular was a major fan of Regina...she portrayed the Fairest Queen perfectly, in his professional opinion.
Riddle looked emotionally wrung out, but he had just finished a session so that was normal.
Once he was outside the room, he wandered over to one of the cleaner couches and flopped down.
Kon wandered up with a small tea tray balanced between his two front 'paws'.
"Thanks," said Riddle.
"Ichigo told me to take care of you and I know you like tea," said Kon.
Riddle calmly sipped his tea, and was rather glad he had met Ichigo. By this point, he had begun to see her as an older sister of sorts, one he could confide in.
The therapist she recommended was doing wonders for him...even if he couldn't mention magic, just being able to vent to a trained professional helped a lot. It didn't hurt that the doctor in question was able to put into words how he really felt about his mother.
As toxic as she was, he still loved her in his own way. He just wanted a chance to be himself, rather than the mold she was forcing him into.
"The common room looks better," said Riddle.
"Ichigo let me borrow her spell pen or whatever it's called to clean the place. The ghosts were somewhat helpful when I asked them about what spells to use. Besides, I have a lot of free time," said Kon proudly.
When Riddle finished his tea, he went back to his own dorm.