Riddle had a very pleased expression on his face.
"Well done. You get exceptional marks," said Riddle. Usagi beamed at him.
"You're a really good teacher!" she said honestly, which had Riddle smiling.
"Don't sell yourself short. You've learned the proper etiquette for the Unbirthday parties faster than most freshmen, despite not being surrounded by it like Ace and Deuce. The fact you caught up on such basic knowledge in order to have a proper foundation for magical theory is to be commended," said Riddle.
"But learning all the rules of the Queen of Hearts is so fascinating!" said Usagi honestly. "They're so interesting and trying to figure out the reason why the rule was made is a lot of fun!"
Riddle's smile widened considerably, as he found Usagi a breath of fresh air.
As they were putting their books away, Cater came up to Usagi.
"Can you do me a huge favor and let the guys know that I won't be able to make it to the meeting room today?" he asked. "Professor Crewel has me doing make-up work."
"Sure!" said Usagi cheerfully, as she totally understood.
She was a tad disappointed learning that Kalim was unable to make it to the meeting room either, as he had housewarden duties to attend to. Which left her and Lilia.
"Well this is a shame," said Lilia. "I had hoped to share some new music pieces with everyone today."
"It's not quite the same with just the two of us, huh?" said Usagi.
"At least I have a lovely young lady to spend it with," said Lilia, which caused Usagi to blush a bit. "Besides, you spend more time around Cater than you have Kalim or myself."
"Cater is really great at helping me understand the Queen of Heart's rules. They're so interesting," said Usagi wistfully. "I sometimes wonder if the Unbirthday parties are similar to what actual noble parties are like."
"So you like stuffy old parties like that?" he asked.
Usagi had an odd smile.
"I sometimes have this weird dream of being at a grand ball, dancing with a prince with all these fancy guests around us. But I can never remember his face or why I'm there," said Usagi quietly. "I guess I've always been interested in that sort of thing, which is weird because Japan doesn't have royalty like that."
"Sounds like you really enjoy that sort of thing," said Lilia with a cryptic smile.
"I think Riddle was surprised when I asked him about what sort of etiquette you're supposed to use during Unbirthday parties. Apparently it something the freshmen have to learn by rote since proper manners was important to the Queen of Hearts, even if her rules about what was allowed were so odd."
"Well there are a few princes currently in attendance right now. If you were really interested you could probably ask if they know what sort of tutors you'd need to get up to speed on that sort of thing," said Lilia.
"That is still so strange, attending school at the same time as actual royalty. I wouldn't know how to react towards them at all, and I'd probably make a complete joke of myself," sighed Usagi.
Lilia chuckled a bit. Usagi was really too adorable at times.
"Would you like to learn proper etiquette?" he asked.
Usagi visibly perked up at that.
"I'd love that, actually. It's not like I could share that hobby with my friends, and there's no way my parents would pay for lessons when I could barely keep my normal grades up."
Lilia had a strange smile on his face hearing that. He could tell Usagi wasn't interested in trying to snag a rich husband...if she were, she would have likely been all over Kalim the second she found out who his family was. She reminded him of other princesses he had seen among the humans...the good ones that actually cared about their people and did their job correctly.
"So where do you wish to begin?" asked Lilia.
"You mentioned before that your dorm head is a prince. What's his territory like?" asked Usagi with open interest.
Lilia smiled slightly, as Usagi had asked similar questions to Kalim after hearing about his home.
They spent several enjoyable hours with Lilia telling her about Briar Valley, the ruling family, and the current political climate. Usagi paid rapt attention, and even asked a few questions that were met with Lilia's approval.
~*~*~*~*
"Grim, get back here!" shouted Usagi in annoyance.
"Nyahaha! You'll never catch me alive!"
Usagi had to admit defeat, as she wasn't the most athletic of girls and Grim was annoyingly fast.
"Usa-chan!" said Cater in a sing-song voice. Next to him was Kalim. "What did Grim do this time?"
Usagi had a deeply annoyed look on her face.
"Grim ran through my freshly cleaned clothes with muddy paws, so now all my underthings are dirty again. I only had the one set," she explained. "The only clean outfit I have is the one I'm wearing!"
Kalim blinked.
"Can't you go to Sam's for more?" he asked, confused.
Usagi had a deep red blush from embarrassment.
"Yeah, I can see that being a problem and I highly doubt Crowley would bother shelling out cash to buy new bras," said Cater with a wince.
"It was a nightmare having to explain why my so-called allowance had to be a bit higher to buy supplies," she replied. "Fortunately Professor Trein realized the issue and did most of the explaining for me, but it was still absolutely mortifying."
Professor Trein was deeply sympathetic as he had raised two girls and thus knew the headaches of a period. He had been kind enough to supply her with some medications until she was able to source the necessary supplies, but Crowley had been a total pest about the whole thing.
Worse, she'd had to hide her chocolate fast from Grim, because the glutton would have eaten it all before she could have any.
"Why not come with us?" asked Kalim brightly. "We're heading back to Scarabia for a feast!"
Usagi perked up at that, because she was starving. Besides, maybe she could get away from all this Spelldrive nonsense everyone kept talking about. While it looked interesting, she wasn't the sporty type so all the talk about it just put her to sleep.
Grim, lured by the promise of free food, was swiftly captured. Usagi was still irritated with him though.
In the Scarabia dorm...
It was beautiful...but at the same time, ridiculously hot. Usagi was glad to be indoors, because the temperature became a bit more bearable.
"Is your home like this all the time?" asked Usagi.
"Yup!" said Kalim cheerfully.
"There's a reason most of us wear our dorm uniforms during the day if we're staying in here," said another student dryly. "They're equipped with cooling charms until we get used to the dry heat."
Usagi was very surprised when Jamil approached her after dinner with what appeared to be a dorm uniform.
Even more surprising, it was in her proper size, and had been adjusted for a female.
"I didn't know Scarabia had female uniforms."
"They don't," said Jamil bluntly. "However when it became clear that you were likely to continue spending time around Kalim I had one ordered."
"Why?" she asked, honestly confused. Riddle she could understand, as he was firm on the dress code.
Jamil had an inscrutable expression on his face.
"I would rather not have to deal with you getting a heat stroke from wearing the wrong outfit, and something tells me you're going to be a frequent visitor," he explained calmly.
Usagi accepted the outfit, still slightly confused. To be fair, she had limited interaction with Jamil before this, besides the times he came to retrieve Kalim.
On the plus side, Cater was able to take her shopping in the village that separated Night Raven from it's rival school, Royal Sword Academy. It was a relief not to have to wear the same clothes over and over again, plus she was able to stock up on supplies without worrying about the entire school knowing about it.
~*~*~*~*~
Usagi had a bad feeling, hearing about all the accidents. She wasn't the most sporty type, but by this point she had become friends with quite a few people. Some of whom had been given a 'chat' by Lilia and Cater both.
She held Grim close, as she didn't want anything to happen to her familiar. The two had settled into more of a 'sibling' relationship, often bickering over who ate what snacks, and homework. It was nice, and Usagi had always wanted a cat.
Usagi was beyond horrified when she saw Riddle start to fall. She cried out in alarm, and it was only Trey's swift intervention that prevented him from being seriously harmed. However Trey landed wrong, and he let out a cry of pain as his ankle looked wrong.
Everyone was so busy wondering what was going on that Usagi almost missed the slightly guilty look on a sandy-haired beast kin's face. He wore the uniform for Savanaclaw, and something made Usagi think he might know what happened.
"Are you alright?" asked Usagi, openly concerned.
Trey winced when he briefly attempted to stand. He could tell his ankle was sprained at the very least.
As Usagi went to help him up, she felt something strange. A sort of power seemed to flow from her body and into Trey, which caused them to blink.
After a few moments, Cater used his clones to help half-carry Trey to the nurse.
Usagi waited worried about Trey, when Cater came back.
"Trey's under observation, and his ankle is sprained, but otherwise he's fine. However he'll have to sit out the tournament," said Cater.
"She also said that he had traces of a sloppy healing spell on him," said Riddle. He looked at Usagi directly.
"Wait...why are you looking at me?" she asked.
"The spell the nurse found could only have been cast by a female mage, according to them," said Riddle.
Usagi looked dumbfounded.
In short order, she found herself in the nurse's office, with Grim being kept quiet by Ace and Deuce. Anyone who went about using healing spells without the proper training could easily cause more harm than good. That went double to those who had the right affinity to it.
The doctor in charge did a thorough examination.
"She's a natural light mage," he announced.
"Are you sure? The Dark Mirror said she was magic-less," said Crowley.
"I can easily see why it could make that mistake. Her magic was dormant, mostly asleep until recently. Some female mages only awaken their ability with the onset of puberty," explained the doctor patiently. "Ms. Tsukino here has a rather impressive core, one attuned to healing and purification. However it will require a great deal of training."
"You make it sound like I'm some sort of saintess or something," said Usagi.
"In the old days, you would have been classed as such, or possibly as a cleric," agreed the doctor. "Fortunately you are in one of the best schools for mages in the world. It's highly recommended you undergo medical training, so that you don't accidentally cause permanent damage by healing the wrong thing."
Usagi mentally translated that to spending more time around Riddle, who knew a lot about that sort of thing.
"What about the purification thing?" asked Usagi.
"To put it simply, you have the unique power to completely purify blot. As such having you around will be very beneficial to the young men training here, because it lowers the risk of an Overblot happening. Just being around you makes it hard for it to accumulate."
Considering the damage Riddle caused when he snapped, Usagi shivered at the thought of dealing with it again.
In any event, she would need training. At least she wouldn't feel left out of magical training.
Though instead of getting a spell pen, much like what everyone else had, Usagi instead opted for a more 'old fashioned' option. She wore her new pendant on her tie, which meant she was unlikely to drop it in a fit. It seemed oddly fitting, and she joked to her friends that it could be Ramshackle's "signature" since everyone else had special magestones charmed with the colors of their dorm.