Sweet At First Glance | Twisted Wonderland X Reader

9: Research Discoveries (And Heartslabyul Shenanigans)

"This isn't a magistone...?" He seemed confused, tapping on the crystal's surface with one of his pointed fingertip rings.

Then he shrugged, pocketing your iolite.

"Do either of you have any verification, like a license for a magic car, name on a shoe?" Crowley easily asked, not at all seeming to notice the disheartened curl of your fingers as you brought your hand down to your sides.

He'd just taken the last thing you had left of your mother....

Your eyes remained on the ground, not paying attention to anything that was happening between Crowley and Enma. Which, you probably should've been, considering you would've seen a device alien to you.

Enma had searched through his pockets for a few seconds, before pulling out a small rectangular device.

"Ah" Crowley brought both hands to rest on the bird handle of his cane, "Could you try phoning a friend?"

Enma perked up, smiling as he flipped open the rectangle, its length being doubled. "Of course! Koito and the guys...!"

Crowley's eyes narrowed slightly at the name, unsure of its origins and disliking the strange feeling it left in his ears.

Enma's excitement quickly dissipated as his eyes met the screen, "No signal..."

While Enma put the device back away in his pocket, you remained zoned out of the conversation. Arms moving to hug your body for comfort as you kept your gaze on the ground.

Grabbing onto his wrapped stick, he squeezes it in his fist, keeping himself from clenching his teeth too hard. "Guess I'm not making it to the tournament..." He whispered to himself, disappointment etching its way across his face.

"We worked so hard to build the kendo team." Enma looked to the ground, emotions dancing in his eyes as he spoke. "We were finally ready to start entering tournaments. But now..."

He trailed off, swallowing hard as he began to shake. Crowley wasn't able to pertain what emotion was making Enma tremble like that, but he brought a hand to his chin, adjusting his posture.

"I can see from your demeanour that you are not lying.... But dear, dear, dear." Crowley shook his head lightly, leaning forwards on his cane. "We cannot keep people at the academy if they cannot use magic."

"No. That's okay." Enma stated, grabbing his bags again and beginning to walk out of the library. "I'll just have to take it one step at a time. If I ask around, I might find some clue to help me get home."

Crowley recoiled in surprise at the mild display of defiance, mixed with perseverance and hope. "Wait!" He cried, hoping it'd stop Enma in his tracks, yet it didn't, so he tried another tactic instead of just a simple 'wait' to get the boy to remain in the library.

"It's not safe to wander around aimlessly when you are unfamiliar with the world and its workings!"

Enma continued to leave the library.

"There must be some other way..." Crowley mumbled to himself, hand coming back up to clasp his chin in a panic as he hurried to figure out a way to make him remain.

"Of course!"

You were brought out of your head with the sudden yell, flinching slightly at the volume you were previously blind too.

"There is a vacant building on campus that was once used as a dormitory." He called out, swinging his arms out to the sides as he announced it. "I can allow you to use that building as lodgings for the time being!"

Enma stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at Crowley, whereas you just stared stunned at the birdman. "Are you sure...?"

Enma's question was answered with an over-enthusiastic response from Crowley, one that seemed to be a bit out of character for him from what you'd seen of his personality so far. "It would pain me to simply leave you out in the cold."