Dancer in Twisted Wonderland [ M!Nilou x TWST] ((DISCONTINUED?))

Chapter 16 《Check up, Explaining, Investigate》

We all immediately dashed to Trey's room to check up on him. "Yo, man, how's it going?" Ace said as he opened the door. "How are you feeling, Trey?" Deuce asked. "We came all this way to see yout sorry face. It's cool- don't get up." Grim said. Uhm, what? "Are you okay?" I asked. Probably not. "Well, if it isn't, Adeuce! And Grim, Yuu, and [NAME] too! You're rolling deep today." Cater greeted. "Hey, Cater... I'm lost. Whaddaya mean by Adeuce?" Ace asked. "I mean it's you guys! You're Ace, he's Deuce- that's what you call an Ace Deuce in poker." Cater replied. "Don't give us a couple nickname!" Deuce yelled. I couldn't help but giggle a bit. "I think I'll be calling those two that for a long time." I thought. "Riiight... Anyway, how d'you feel, Trey? And how did you get hurt?" Ace interrogated. "Slipped on the stairs." Trey answered. How many people are going to fall down the stairs? I couldn't catch myself, and my ankle got all messed up. I'll be on crutched for a while." He added. Oh, Archons! "That's quite terrible!" I said. "Yikes. That sounds pretty bad!" Deuce commented. "Yep. Looks like I'll be warming the bench at the Spelldrive tournament this year." Trey sighed. "Myah.. I was hopin' your injury would be small enough for me to justify keepin' this, but.. Here. I brought ya a get-well can of tuna. Feel better, specs." Grim handed over his tuna to Trey. "Heh. Thanks." Trey thanked the small cat.

"Ugh, hastag #fail! Now that we've lost a power player, we have to redo our team roster!" Cater sighed heavily. "Wait, what?!" The Adeuce duo said. "Why are there so many people in here? Trey is supposed to be resting!" Riddle said as he entered the room. "Myah! It's Ragin' Riddle!" Grim jumped. Ugly nicknames... how familiar. "I am not raging. I will be perfectly pleasant if you obey the rules!" Riddle commented. "How are you doing, Trey? Can I bring you anything to eat or drink?" Riddle asked. "I told you, Riddle: you don't need to fuss over me like this." Trey smiled. "But it's my fault that you got hurt." Riddle sighed. "What? He didn't tell us that part!" Ace said. "Is it okay if you explain it to us?" I asked politely. "I needed to talk to him, so I went to the junior classroom at lunch. And then..." Riddle began to describe what had happened. "So they were going downstairs. Riddle slipped. And Trey caught him and fell. Now he's here." I noted. "Trey never would have slipped if he hadn't caught me when I was about to tumble over." Riddle sighed. "Yeah, but if I hadn't, you would have just broken your fall with a flight spell. It was stupid of me to intervene. So you don't owe me anything." Trey commented. "Still, I.." Riddle was at a loss for words. Although. These accidents are all really worrisome... if there's a culprit, if this is for the Spelldrive tournament, then what's the point? There's not really a need to harm others for a sports game...

"This is sounding more and more suspicious." Yuu sighed. After a bit of conversation, we all left to the Heartslabyul Lounge. "All right, Cater. Was there something you didn't want to tell me in front of Trey?" Riddle asked. "You're always a step ahead of me, Riddle." Cater smiled. "I get the feeling Yuu and [NAME] know something about it. Want to fill us in?" Cater requested. "Alright." I sighed. "So basically...." Yuu started. We both explained that we suspect these are more than accidents and that Octavinelle and Savanaclaw might be involved. "Ah.. So the headmage asked Yuu to investigate, and [NAME] decided to help." Riddle noted.
"I knew it. Grim coming by for a get-well visit? That's just plain sus." Cater commented. "I must admit that I found the circumstances odd as well. I've had Cater looking into it for me." Riddle said. "And I've found out that all the victims have been talented players like Riddle and Trey." Cater added. "To be clear, it wasn't as I I had been pushed, or that I had tripped." Riddle continued. "Your body just moved on its own?" I finished his sentence. "Yes. You are correct." Riddle nodded. "The other victims said basically the same thing!" Grim pointed out. "Is this some kind of magic or technology that can do this?" I wondered.

"I believe we can safely surmise that potential Spelldrive tournament players are being targeted." Riddle said. "You think someone is causin' accidents to take out threats from the tournament?" Ace questioned. "The whole world will be watching. A good performance can make a player's whole career. It's no surprise that some would resort to underhanded methods to even the odds." Riddle commented. "Sure, but it doesn't make much sense. I mean, you'd know if you got pushed off the stairs by a gust of wind magic or something, right?" Cater asked. "Certainly. I felt no external force." Riddle agreed. "Hmm.. it feels like I've heard about something similar.. what could it be?" I wondered. "...And we intend to help you do that." Riddle said. Why do I keep on spacing out? "Myah? YOU'RE gonna help us? What's your angle?" Grim asked. "You offend us, sir. One of our housemates was injured-why wouldn't we help him find justice?" Cater said. "We're all house-buds. Count us in." Ace smiled. "He's gonna pay for what he did to Trey!" Deuce exclaimed. "You two seem awfully enthusiastic about this." Riddle crossed his arms. "Ahhh... I get it. You're gunning for that open spot on our team, aren't you?" Cater asked.

"Heh. Was it that obvious?" Ace chuckled. "Seriously?" I glared at the two of them. "N-no! That had nothing to do with it! I just wanted to avenge our housemate!" Deuce denied. I sighed in relief. "At least he genuinely wants to help us." I thought. "Fine... Your performance during the investigation will be taken into account." Riddle sighed. "Woo-hoo!" Adeuce cheered in sync. "Or not." I sighed in my mind. "Now, if we're going to apprehend this culprit, we need to stay a step ahead of him." Riddle started. "And we're going to do that HOW, exactly?" Grim asked. "By predicting which student will be targeted next and covertly following him. Should the target strike, we will protect the target and then immediately pursue the attacker." Riddle answered. "A stakeout, then. Let's do it." Yuu said. "Bingo!" Cater cheered. "I've already identified a number of potential targets from among the most promising players. I'll form a group on Magicam so we can coordinate our efforts and then give you access to the album." Cater explained. "Whoa, Cater, this is a ton of information!" Deuce exclaimed. Now, let's move!" Cater cheered. "Let's nail this creep!" Grim yelled.

We entered the mirror chamber and went to the Pomefiore dorm. "Whoa, their dorm is extremely fancy!" I silently admired. "Let's start here, at Pomefiore. There's a junior named Rook Hunt who's caught my eye. He has a blond bob cut and a fedora- you can't miss him." Cater introduced. "Rook is an exceptional player. He performed extremely well in last years tournament. But he's a bit of an odd duck, one might say." Riddle added. "Oh, so is that him sitting over there?" Deuce pointed. "Whoa. That dude's, like, a glitter bomb in human form. He's basically sparkling." Ace covered his eyes. "They look pretty normal to me." I commented.

(Of course they're normal, Nilou hangs out with pretty people here and in Sumeru. -Author)

"Non, Epel, non. When you lift the teacup, do not insert your finger through the handle. It is most inélégant." Rook instructed. "Oh... Right. I'm sorry." Epel apologized. "I just cannot decide how I want to do my makeup on tournament day!" The one in the middle sighed heavily, "I'm thinking maybe that new foundation from Felicity Cosmetics?" Felicity Cosmetics? What's that? "Oh ho how! Mon belle Vil, the Roi du Poison... Surely your beauté is not so faint that you need makeup to shine?" Rook smiled. Are we stalking them or something? "Uhhhh... and you're saying this guy is some kinda incredible athlete? Somehow, I doubt he's gonna be the target." Grim questioned. "Yeaaaah, maybe we should peace out and move one." Cater smiled.

We left Pomefiore and went to the courtyard. "Next on Cay-cay's potential targets are Jade Leech and his twin brother Floyd. They're both sophomores at Octavinelle House." Cater introduced. "Ah. I think I've heard of them before from other dormates." I said. I remember hearing some people gossip about how scary they are. "Word IA, they work so well together on the field that other teams don't know how to counter them." Cater added. "Whoa! They have, like, the exact same face!" Grim commented. "There might be a chance that they are twins." I added. "Is it just me, or do they make all the other students look tiny in comparison? They're giants!" Ace exclaimed. "I could see that being a big advantage for 'em." Grim pointed out. "So what do we think? Could they be in danger?" Deuce asked. "I don't know about that. If I were the culprit. I'd save them for last. Just look at those two. I wouldn't want to get anywhere near them- especially Floyd." Riddle commented. "Oh ho how! What is UP, Lil' Goldfish?" Floyd said, popping up out of nowhere. I jumped back on reflex. "He almost gave me a heart attack." I thought. Although, the nickname goldfish kind of fits Riddle. "Bwaah! He spotted us!" Riddle jumped.

"What brings you to our humble abode, huh? Playing hide-and-seek? Sounds like fun." Floyd said. "F-Floyd... I've asked you several times to stop calling me by strange nicknames." Riddle sighed. "But you're so smart.. and red! How are you NOT a goldfish?" He asked. "This guy seems like he's a few cans short of a tuna casserole." Grim muttered. "A talking cat? Now THAT'S something you don't see every day! Can I squeeze you 'til you pop?" Floyd asked. Upon hearing that, I instinctively picked up Grim from the ground. "My, it would appear that a contingent from Heartslabyul House has paid us a little visit." Jade said. Why is the majority of Octavinelle so suspicious? "Here to assess the competition in advance of the Spelldrive tournament, perhaps?" Then calmer twin asked. "Nah. We... can't really go into it, though." Cater said. "We take a dim view of spying at Octavinelle." Jade said. "Well, uh, we aren't trying to get information on you guys." I added. "I would only ask you to justify your actions on stalking us. And please, spare no detail." He said. "This guy sure talks fancy, but man, his eyes are stone cold." Ace commented. "Man, would you look at the time? Gotta run, guys! It's been real! Byeee!" Cater panicked. After hearing that, I immediately picked Yuu up on my back and ran. Considering how slow they run, they will get caught if I leave them.