"Yeah, you filthy whore!"
It was dead silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
A few less interested eyes, now shocked stared at the scene.
They really talked like that to the only girl in the school? That's just being an ass.
"...Hehe.."
A small giggle broke the uncomfortable silence, it came from the female.
" 'Filthy whore'? Is that really all you could have come up with? You know, I could've eaten a bowl of alphabet soup and shit out a smarter insult than that." Emica had a teasing smile, earning a few snorts that came from the canteen
"HUH?! NOW YOU'RE REALLY PISSING ME OFF!!" The red-haired delinquent swung a fist towards the girl.
"AH! EMICA LOOK OUT-"
"Do you really think a lousy punch like that could touch me?" Before everyone knew it, the male was on the ground, slightly quivering while the female looked down with an eyebrow up.
"!!! YOU!" His white-haired friend yelled, going after her himself. Big mistake.
His fist collided with what he thought was her face but instead was her palm. The ravenette grasped firmly onto his fist, twisting his arm and pushing him away. She didn't want to accidentally kill him from all the pent-up rage being constantly built. He stumbled a little, regaining his balance, and turned towards her, his teeth gritted.
Ah ah~ I'm going to have to release all this anger without killing him somehow... Aha!
Before he threw another fist, the cafeteria seemed like it was darkening, the room creaking and the temperature beginning to drop rapidly. Students began looking around, a chill running down their spines. They looked at the girl, she seemed to be emitting an almost poison-like aura. It was choking.
"What? Do you really have a death wish or something?" She snarled. Her eyes glowed dangerously.
"Geh!!"
"GO ON! We're all waiting!" Her expression turned crazed, her smile was wide, showing off her pointed canines. Her eyes were widened in amusement.
"Y-Your insane..!" He managed to get it out of his throat, even though it felt like he couldn't breathe.
"Hm? I'm insane you say? Hehe... YOU SURE HAVE GUTS!" The ravenette's voice turned into a slight laugh, making everyone feel uneasy.
"You know what, since I'm feeling generous, I'll let you off with a small warning!"
All of a sudden. Emica was right in front of the white-haired male. The last thing he saw was her deranged smile.
WHOOSH!
Everyone only saw a flash of black and white before they could fully see the scene.
The female's leg was stretched out to the white-haired male's face, her foot was centimeters away from connecting to his face.
"GEAH!" A strained cry erupted from his throat, he clung to his jaw in pain as the ravenette retracted her leg and looked darkly down on him. The choking pressure disappeared and the temperature went back to normal. Everyone let go of their breath, not even realizing they were holding it. But before they even knew it, Emica swung her foot into the man's disco stick, you could see the pain contort on literally every single person there.
No more babies for you mister
"Your jaw seems to be dislocated and your cheekbone is slightly fractured, so I'd suggest you go to the nurse to get that fixed, I hope you learned your lesson from spewing childish words." Emica sighed, slightly stretching. The two delinquents stumbled up and ran out of the cafeteria, everyone's attention on them.
"I'm sorry you all had to see that, you may continue with your lunch without disruption," Emica said to the canteen, slightly bowing before she turned around and paid for her and Grim's food.
The students slowly went back to their chatty state, the small fight being the hottest of news to go around.
"I'll go find a table while you guys get your food," Emica said to her stunned friends, Grim now on her shoulders.
"R-right.."
The ravenette walked down the aisle, students staring at her while she made her way towards an empty table.
"Sigh, dealing with those types of kids makes me incredibly tired.." Emica rubbed her temples while she set Grim's portion of the meal on her left.
"G-Geez, you really didn't hold back on that guy!"
"Oh no, it was almost painful from the amount of force I held back on." She said, stuffing a fork load of lettuce into her mouth.
Ace and Deuce sat opposite of the two Ramshackle Dorm members.
"What was that all about?? Didn't you say you were going to keep it low-key?" Ace half-whispered.
"Sorry, I was just really angry, it was really the only way I could blow steam out without killing him.." The girl sighed, leaning her head onto her palm.
"How powerful was that kick?? You didn't even touch him yet the sheer force alone managed to dislocate his jaw!" Deuce yelled whispered.
"As I said, I was just really angry.."
"Alright! Enough with this hushy talk! I'm digging in! Oh! This is so good~! The omelet is so fluffy, and the cheese is so melty~!" Grim admired the food, making the group sweat drop and eat their own lunch. Emica's lunch consisted of a small plate of salad, a plate of chicken, and a small plate of lemons. She popped a lemon in her mouth, savoring the sour feeling spread over her mouth, Ace and Deuce gawked at her while she ate the entire lemon, skin included.
"Y-You just ate an entire lemon slice with the skin without cringing from the sourness..?" Ace's eyebrows were furrowed in concern.
"Hm? So?"
"I- Sigh, you've been constantly surprising me so I should have been used to this.." Ace shook his head.
"Mmph, By the way, I saw your guy's dorm a while ago, but what do the other dorms look like?" Grim brought up while still eating his food.
"You've seen the statues of the Great Seven by Main Street, right? This school has seven dorms based off them." A painfully familiar voice spoke up. Cater Diamond.
"Ugh! You're the dude from this morning!" Ace slightly yelled at Cater.
"He's the guy who tricked us into painting the roses red!"
"I didn't trick you, you know~? It's not like I wanted to do that either. I only did it 'cause it's the Dorm's rules." Cater explained, a small smile on his face.
"You looked so happy about it though.." Deuce muttered.
"There there, Deucey~ The rules don't matter outside the dorms so, Cate here is just you very gentle senior~"
"Pft, Deucey."
"P-please stop calling me that, senpai!" Deuce's cheeks slightly flushed pink.
"Haha. That's how Cater expresses his affection, you know?" A light voice suddenly spoke from behind Ace, they turned to see a tall male with short green hair with black glasses that sat on his nose. A black clover was painted on his left cheek.
"Wait... Who are you?" Ace squinted at the male.
"Oops, my bad. My name's Trey, Trey Clover. I'm a Heartslabyul 3rd year alongside Cater. You're from the Ramshackle- Ahem, The new student who's currently residing in the unused dorm, correct? I heard all about it from Cater. Sorry for the trouble our dormmates caused you yesterday." Trey said, he sat himself down next to Ace who slightly scooted away.
"Wha... He's just casually sitting next to me.."
"No, they're fine once you you properly understand their concerning size of a brain, I'm Emica, pleasure meeting you Trey Clover." She gave a small close-eyed smile towards the male.
"Haha, no need for you to be so formal now."
"Hey~ Hey~! Come on~ We're in the same school so we should get along~ Give me your number~!" Cater sat down close towards the female, his face inching closer towards hers. Ace and Deuce notice this, not very pleased with how their senior was acting towards their female friend.
"Eh- um,, could you..maybe not..."
"Oh~? Emica-chan, are you speechless? It's okay, breath in and out, relax~! Oh, are you the type who uploads and sends lotsa pictures~? Considering that pretty face of yours, you must be super popluar~! Tell me your account!" Cater only got closed before being stopped by his green-haired friend.
It's not that, you're just uncomfortably close to my face. Is personal space not a thing to you?
"Cater, the newbie's backing away. Keep it to a minimum." Trey lectured Cater.
"You remind me so much of my older brother Trey, it's almost refreshing." Emica smiled in thanks.
"Ahaha! Sorry, sorry~! So, you guys were asking about the Dorms? That's nice~! A fresh convo! Big bro here will tell you everything~!"
"I wanna know about our Dorm first and foremost. What the heck is that [Rule # something-something of the Queen of Hearts]?" Ace asked.
"I'm sure you're all familiar with the legendary Queen of Hearts, right? To establish absolute law and order, she made severe rules to oppress the eccentric citizen of Wonderland." Trey explained.
"And out of respect for the Queen of Hearts. our Heartslabyul Dorm wears red and black to represent the dress she wore. And it's part of our tradition to adhere to the Queen of Hearts' rule." Cater chimed in.
"Hm, I think I now have a full understanding of what you guys are saying."
"That's good, I'm happy you understand." Trey smiled at the girl.
"Sounds rough!"
"Adhering to the rules is the present Prefect's whims. The previous one was kinda chill about it~"
"Comparing to the other Prefects, Riddle is just a little bit more serious. That's why he's trying so hard to keep the traditions." Trey added to his friend's comment.
"Ugh... How annoying." Ace groaned.
"It sounds like he's pretty passionate about keeping the traditions alive, I've had my fair share of people like those." Emica stretched her back, hearing a loud pop come out.
"Hey, what kinda places are the other dorms?"
"Just like Cater said a while ago. This school has 7 Dorms dedicated to the Great Seven. First, we have our dorm that's grounded on following the Queen of Heart's Laws with our entire being: Hertslabyul Dorm. Then there's..."
"Savanclaw that's grounded on the fortitude of the King of Beasts."
"After that, we have Octavinelle that was founded on the Sea Witch's benevolence."
"And then we have Scarabia that was formed from the careful planning of the Sorcerer of the Desert."
"Pomefiore, the house grounded on the magnanimous effort of the Beautiful Queen."
"Then there's Ignihyde whose foundations lie on the perseverance of the King of the Underworld. Lastly..."
"We have Diasomnia that was founded on the gracefulness of the Queen of Thorns." Trey wrapped up on his speech, although the number of words he spoke seemed to confuse the three. Emica was used to things like this, having to remember so much at once in one sitting.
"That's quite a lot, huh."
"All their names are friggin' long! I can't remember all that!" Grim whined, now beginning to forget everything that Trey said.
"Ahaha! That's completely okay~ You'll remember them even if you don't want to~" Cater laughed.
"Just like you've witnessed during the ceremony, the Mirror of Darkness decides what Dorm you'll belong to after looking into your soul. I guess you could say that the dorms really reflect the student's character."
"That's true. I totally get it~"
"Character...?" Deuce asked.
"For example... Look over there." Trey pointed to a guy who was getting his lunch. He was incredibly tall with white spiky hair and a pair of white wolf-like ears sat on his head.
"Seeing some macho guy with dog ears is somewhat a new sight." Emica gawked at his ears.
"Judging by appearance, he looks like he's from Savanaclaw," Trey observed the tall male.
"Totes~! They look like a dorm that's got a lot of athletes and guys that're good at scruffles~! They're pretty brawny? Or I guess you could say, they're pretty buff? Either way, Savanaclaw's colors are yellow and black." Cater tried to explain.
"Oh~ Then what about that one with the gray and uh... Light purple on their sleeves?" Grim pointed to a guy with lavender-grayish hair and glasses, he was the same one from the entrance ceremony.
I think his name was... Azul?
Azul was sat crossed-legged while talking to two students, they both had teal hair and a black strand of hair on either side, although they couldn't see their faces because their backs were turned to them. Azul saw Emica looking at him and gave her a short smile before looking back to the other students.
"He's from Octavinelle."
"He's got a rather suspicious feeling about him..." Emica mumbled into her hand, she didn't like that suspicious feeling.
"The two sitting on the table beside him with the dark-red and gold colors are from Scarabia." Trey pointed to the two students, one of them had a turban and a cream-colored sweater while the other one had a hoodie underneath his school jacket.
"It's been said that both are dorms full of smart people. When it comes to written tests, nothing can beat those two. Ah, but Scarabia's Prefect's only so-so when it comes to studying~" Cater sighed.
"Alright, I sense a red flag there."
"You adapt pretty quickly, huh~ Going back to the topic, those bright and sparkling ones over there are from Pomefiore. Their colors are purple and red." Trey looked over to the shiny students.
"Wha-?? There's a really cute girl over there!" Grim pointed at a student with lavender hair and a soft face that could be mistaken for girls.
"Eh?! Even though this is an all-boys school?! I thought Em was the only girl here."
"Sigh, you idiots. That's obviously a boy, you can tell by the shape of his eyes and the measurements and joint of his body, notice how his arms and more flat than curved like mine." Emica explained, but the two boys didn't seem to get it.
".....?" The boy looked over to the group to see Grim and Deuce gawking at him, he huffed and turned his head back around.
"Speaking of girls, Miss Rosalia's portrait in the West Building's pretty awesome. I can introduce you if you're interested~ Want me to set it up?" Cater asked with a sly smirk.
"No need! Even if she's cute, she's not really uh... 3 dimensional." (A/N: Neither are you Ace 👁👁
"It doesn't matter, does it~! Well, in any case, Pomefiore's full of pretty faces who take their beauty routines very seriously. Their Prefect's a pretty famous influencer who's got over 5 million followers~" Cater said in a sing-song tone.
"Hey, don't judge them based on face value alone. Pomefiore's got a lot of students who excel at alchemy and charms." Trey lectured his orange-haired friend.
"Ahaha, that's right~ Then, there's Ignihyde, and they wear blue and black, but I don't see them around anywhere. The students from that dorm are all sorta private, so I don't have friends there either. I guess you could call them the complete opposite of Heartslabyul?"
The group scanned the cafeteria but no one was wearing a blue and black ribbon on their arm.
"Hm, they kinda remind me of my older sister, she's always holed up in her room unless she's called or forcibly dragged out.." Emica said, remembering her older sister, she was tasked with dragging her out of her room when she was required to attend a meeting or a banquet.
"So you mean, they're pretty gloomy?" Grim asked.
"Hey now! Don't be rude. Though, it's true that they all seem pretty behaved and quiet. They've got a lot of members who have great magical energy and they're pretty techy too."
"Then there's... Diasomthing Dorm, correct?" Deuce said with a straight face even though he completely butchered their dorm name.
"PFFT-"
"Sigh, stop acting like you got it right man, it's Diasomnia, got it?" Ace corrected his Heartslabyul friend while his Ramshackle one was trying not to fall off her chair.
"I just bit my tongue!"
"Diasomnia is... Oh, there. They are the guys who are sitting by the cafeteria's exclusive tables. Their colors are light green and black. They're kinda- How do I put it? Super popular? They've got an aura that makes it hard for us commoners to approach them. Their Prefect's SUPER difficult to grasp..." Cater tried to explain.
"Oh?" Emica turned her head towards where Cater was looking. There was one guy with lime green spiky hair, one with silver hair, and the other had black and pink hair, he was the same guy from the opening ceremony. Yet she didn't feel intimidated or scared of them, they just seem like normal people.
"Hm, but they don't look too hard to approach.."
"Oh? They've got a kid with them."
"Grade-skipping is allowed here, so that's possible. But, he's not a child, he's a 3rd year like us. His name is-"
"Lilia is my name. Lilia Vanrouge." A deep voice suddenly interrupted Trey, it came from above.
"??!!"
"Th-this guy teleported here!" Grim half screamed, at Lilia who was upside down, and right above their heads.
"Pray do tell, are thou interested in mine dorm members? Fufufu, it is true that I might resemble a sprightly and endearing young boy. However, just like that man in glasses has said, I am a child no longer." Lilia smiled, his sharp fangs poking out.
"Sprightly..."
"Prithee, why not approach us instead of simply watching from afar? Are we not comrades from the same school? We from Diasomnia will welcome you anytime."
The group looked over to the two boys, their faces were stone frozen stern.
"'Comrade'? Didn't Emica say that to us earlier.." Ace put a hand to his chin.
"Oh?" Lilia looked over to the girl, observing her features, although she looked frail, she was incredibly strong from the kick she threw earlier.
'Could she be..?'
"I dear say, might I ask if you one of those?" Lilia asked the female, who looked up at him. He saw her eyes slightly widen, her lips then curved into a smooth smile.
"Hm, I'd say I'm one of those.." She said with a close-eyed smile. The group was confused with their way of talking, it's like they've met before even though they haven't.
"I see... Well then, we must talk again some other time, I'd like to chat with someone who's the same as me. Pardon me for appareling from above while you dined. We will be taking our leave now." Lilia disappeared and was back in his group.
"Our seat is practically 20 meters away from theirs, but you're telling me he heard us at that distance...?! Scary..!" Ace whispered to the group.
"W-well... Diasomnia's got a lot of special students. Their dorm has a lot of pretty gifted members. Their Prefect, Malleus Draconia, is said to be one of the five greatest sorcerers of our world." Trey commented.
Top five greatest sorcerers of their world huh? I'd like to see that for myself.
"TBH, Malleus is sorta like, the awesomest of the awesome. Well, our Prefect's pretty dangerous too~"
"You're telling me! He puts a collar on someone just for eating his tart? He's the worst no doubt!" Ace ranted, unaware of the man behind him.
"Hm~? I'm the worst?"
"PFFT-"
"Yeah. Only a tyrant will keep with those kinda rules. Gimme a break." Ace huffed out, leaning his head on his hand.
"Ace, look behind you!" Deuce kicked Ace's shin, making him turn around, immediately regretting his choice of words.
"GEH! Prefect?!"
-------------------------------------------------------
Ok maybe that wasn't a short chapter but still-
What's your favorite arc? Mine's the Octavinelle one, I just like the whole fish mafia vibe :3
Also, I wanted Emica and Lilia to interact more often considering they both went to war and were generals. (In lilia's personal story)
Thank you for reading :)