Eventually Ace got the message and as dread slowly set in, the once frustrated male turned around to see the red haired Riddle Rosehearts glaring down at his with the rage of a thousand suns.
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"Fgna! It's the guy that put that weird collar on me during the entrance ceremony!" Grim exclaimed at the sudden appearance of the Heartslabyul dorm head, unpleasant memories returning to his mind upon seeing the short male.
"Will you quit calling someone's unique magic a 'weird collar'?" The red head asked with a displeasure leaking through his tone, brows furrowed as he looked at the cat but soon relaxed as he caught sight of a familiar face. "Oh, (name)."
"H- hello, Riddle! Happy to see you again." The flower boy greeted in response, lifting his hand to give a small wave to his acquaintance as he wore a soft smile.
"The pleasure is all mine. But... I must admit..." The second year paused as he glanced at the students around the timid male with a judgmental glint in his eyes. But it soon disappeared when his blue-grey orbs returned to gaze at his (h/c) haired acquaintance and he continued. "I didn't take you as the kind of person to sit with troublemakers."
"A- ah- well-... One thing just lead to the other and in the end we became pretty close so... Now I'm here!" The (e/c) eyed boy let out a nervous smile at his own quick explanation, the hand that once waved instead now moved up to rub his neck in a comforting motion.
"Hm... such an explanation makes me wonder what events lead to you becoming friends with such troublemakers. However the more I think about it the more I question why the headmaster even keeps such rule breakers in the school." Riddle's frown returned as his thoughts shifted, arms crossing and his mood becoming sour. "Honestly, I have to admit that the headmaster is soft. Nuisances need to be punished otherwise the whole system ends up collapsing. All you have to do is just cut off the heads of anyone who doesn't follow the rules, yet he barely does anything and leaves them to roam around the school like nothing ever happened!"
"The words coming out of his mouth really don't suit his looks." Ace whispered to the soft male beside him as he deflated into his seat, the dorm leader in front of him going off on a frustrated tangent that everyone had zoned out of. However, when the ginger glanced in (name)'s direction, he quickly noticed the troubled expression on his friend's face.
Probably due to the shock of hearing such strong words from someone he thought of as such an understanding person and the internal conflict that came with it, since he could both sympathise and understand Riddle's perspective but also wasn't pleased with how his friend was treated and wanted to defend him.
Sprinkle in some anxiety on top and you've got the perfect recipe for a borderline breakdown.
The first year's red eyes grew concerned at his companion's anxious state, and reached out a comforting hand which he lightly placed on the flower boy's shoulder after much hesitation.
"Hey... you good?" Ace quickly realised how dumb that question was after it had already slipped out from his lips and rushed to corrected himself. "I mean- you obviously aren't but..."
As the ginger's words trailed off, the timid male noticed that he'd actually begun to shake and he was even breathing in rapid, uneven breaths that were slowly returning to their normal pace.
"Y- yeah... I... think I'm okay." (Name) responded in a whisper, fiddling with the buttons of his blazer as his worries steadily dissipated away and a small smile replaced his anxious expression instead. "Thanks for asking though..."
"Of course!" The orange haired male replied just as quietly, glancing back towards the complaining dorm head before muttering one last thing. "We're... friends, after all."
The (e/c) eyed boy paused for a second with a surprised look on his face before his previous smile grew even bigger and the ace's chest grew even warmer.
"Yup!"
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Quite a lot of time had passed and Riddle's rant was finally coming to a halt, his words slowing down and the issues to speak of reduced in number. The short-tempered first year took this as a good opportunity to mention what he couldn't that morning, due to shenanigans with his flirtatious upperclassman.
"By the way, dorm leader, say... is there anyway you could remove this collar?" The ginger asked as casually as he could, trying his best to not anger the second year while also effectively getting his message across without beating around the bush.
"I was going to if you'd learned your lesson, but the way you were talking earlier clearly shows that you haven't at all. So you can keep it for a while longer." The red head denied, referring to the comments Ace had made just before Riddle's arrival, his arms crossed and a deep frown grew on his face. "Don't worry, as first years you'll only be learning fundamentals and no actual magic. But that's besides the point, you shouldn't just sit around chatting during lunch, quickly finish eating and head to your classes."
Ace seemed to deflate as he heard his upperclassman's suggestion, the sudden urge to not finish his meal just to spite the dorm leader was strongly present in his mind, but in the end he decided against it, just in case it could cause (name) to face the tyrant's wrath as a backlash.
"Laws of the Queen of Hearts - Number 271 - One should eat lunch and leave their seat within 15 minutes. If you break the rules... I'm sure you understand?" Riddle warned the troublesome first year of the consequences for his 'rebellious' actions while wearing his classic glare that the ginger had grown to hate.
"Haaah, another weird rule." The underclassman sighed in exasperation as he grimaced at the thought of having to follow another strangely specific rule unless he wanted to stay in his current, magicless state.
"The answer is 'Yes, dorm leader!'" Exclaimed the dorm head, snapping all the first years at the table into attention with his strict tone.
"Yes, dorm leader!" Ace, Deuce and (name) shouted in response, the flower boy had joined in despite his innocence due to Riddle's loud voice startled him into a respectful yell.
"Very good." The red head nodded at the underclassmen's words.
"I can look after them for you." Trey piped up with his usual caring smile, something that was familiar to the second year that made his tense expression relax.
"You are the vice dorm leader so I expect you to not act foolishly." Despite his now slightly calmer emotions, Riddle's strict demeanour remained the same as he spoke, only the tenseness of his shoulders lessened at his childhood friend's words. "Following the Laws of the Queen of Hearts - Number 339 - After a meal one must always drink lemon tea with two sugars. However, we've almost ran out of sugar cubes due to the influx of new students so I'll be going to the school store for more. (Name), Trey, have a good day."
With a polite nod directed to the calmer individuals amongst the lunch group, the Heartslabyul resident walked off with small yet quick strides. Leaving the students behind as he left the cafeteria.
After the flower boy had returned the red head's farewells with a small wave, he suddenly got a strong sense of dread that made his heart drop down into his stomach, which seemed to now be filled with a swirling, toxic acid that burnt his skin from the inside out. However, as soon as that feeling came, it was gone, and the conversation had already begun anew between the energetic boys around him.
Cater let out a big sigh of relief once the strict rule-follower had left the scene, his tense posture immediately relaxing into one of leisure.
"Eeehhhh! That was close!"
"That guy is so obnoxious, glad I was knocked out the last time I met him." Grim grumbled out with a sour expression as he went on to eat his lunch in a fowl mood.
"Grim! You can't just say that, it's rude!" Deuce reprimanded his classmate who continued to eat his meal as if he couldn't hear the blueberry boy.
"Yeah. He was actually very nice while you were injured." The timid male was able to gather enough confidence to place a childish frown on his face as he lightly scolded his dorm mate. "Even then, you've only interacted with him once, he might have just been in a bad mood today, you never know. So you shouldn't say things like that!"
The furrball couldn't help but feel a little guilty about his words as his friends reprimanded him with furrowed brows, but that feeling was quickly forgotten as the group overheard the conversation of some students nearby.
"Did the dorm leader leave?" One kid asked with a nervous shake in his voice as he glanced around the area.
"Yeah, I think so." His friend replied, a shiver running up his shoulders as he remembered his last encounter with the harsh upperclassman. "Recently I broke the Laws of the Queen of Hearts - Number 186 - One must never eat a hamburger on Tuesday. I was terrified of what would happen if he found out that I ate one."
"Uuggh! At least let us eat whatever we want!" The former student huffed out a frustrated comment in response, going on to rant about the rather infamous Heartslabyul resident and other pointless rules he'd reinforced.
The (h/c) haired boy and his companions grew silent at those words, an awkward silence sitting between them as some agreed with the complaining boys while others held different views of the situation. Eventually, with a small cough to break the silence, Trey ended the awkwardness by changing the subject.
"In his first week of school Riddle took the seat of dorm leader. He may speak harshly but he's just trying to make the dorm better, he doesn't have any bad intentions."
"You say that but someone with good intentions doesn't collar people over random crap." The small mammal rebutted obviously still sour over his treatment when he first arrived at Night Raven College.
At those words, (name) sent a small glare in his friend's direction and the third years at the table could only nervously laugh in response.
"Grim. You have to admit that you were pretty out of control at the entrance ceremony, you nearly burnt the room down! I'm pretty sure that doesn't count as 'random crap'." Even though the anxious male wasn't one to get angry very easily, he couldn't help but become frustrated as his classmates kept on grumbling about Riddle behind his back. From his previous encounters with the red head, he'd been quite nice, and the strictness he held seemed to hold something else that was just barely visible to the intrigued eye.
Something... indescribable, but incredibly worrying.
Yet it seemed that the flower boy was alone with that feeling of his, as his companions continued their complaints.
"But-... but that collar cuts off all your magic. It feels horrible and it sucks..."Grim struggled to get out his words under the troubled gaze of his usually timid classmate, something that he'd never seen before and never wished to see again.
Coming from someone who was usually so soft and kind, his displeased eyes made the furrball feel like he'd commuted a grave crime.
"Hm?" Cater hummed as he overheard the pair's conversation, his posture perking up a bit as he participated in the discussion. "Do you mean Riddle's unique magic?"
"Unique... would that mean that it's magic only he can use?" The blue haired boy deduced upon hearing the playful ginger's words.
"It's magic that's strictly limited to one person." Trey elaborated as he fixed his glasses on his face, perching them back into the correct posture before continuing. "Simply put, it's magic that reflects the character of the user and is something that only they can do, hence 'unique magic'. You'll learn it in class eventually."
"Riddle's unique magic lets him seal another person's magic for a fixed amount of time. It's called-" The flirtatious upperclassman kept on with the flow of conversation, wearing his usual smile as he provided further details on the strict dorm leader.
"Off with your head!" Cater dramatically recreated, Ace and Grim joining in with much less enthusiasm as they remembered the phrase that had resulted in multiple unpleasant memories for them.
"As a wizard, having your magic sealed hurts like losing your head." The third year described for (name), who had yet to know the absolute pain that came with the red head's ability. "Therefore you shouldn't break Riddle's rules inside the dorm."
"Oh... that sounds..." The flower boy's guilt quickly came crashing into him upon learning that information, his hesitant hand moving up towards his neck as he tried to process just how painful that must feel. As he did so he couldn't help but glance in the direction of the collar's victims with an apologetic look in his eye, but a smile from Ace and a shake of his head rid any self-hatred forming in the soft male's heart. "That sounds horrible..."
"It's definitely not a pleasant experience but that's nothing for you to feel bad about, (name)." Trey said with a comforting smile. "It just means that those who follow the rules have nothing to be scared of."
"But basically, if we sum everything up, it just means that I need to go by a tart or else Cater will kick me out again, right?" The ginger's expression had reverted back to its previous troubled state after looking away from the timid male at his side, asking his question with furrowed brows.
"That's right! As decided by Laws of the Queen of Hearts - Number 53. In particular, Riddle really looks forward to eating the first part of a whole tart, so he won't forgive you unless it's whole." Cater confirmed.
"But aren't whole charts pretty expensive?" The blueberry boy asked with a slightly worried expression as he glance in the fierce first year's direction.
"Blegh. I don't have that kind of money." Ace's shoulders drooped when he remembered his lack of funds.
"Then how about making one? All the tarts you ate were made by Trey so he can help you if you don't know anything about baking." The playful third year gestured his head in his classmate's direction as he spoke.
"Trey, you made those tarts? That's so cool! They were so good it was like they were made by a pro!" The troublesome first year exclaimed with excitement as he found the baker behind such delicious pastries, brows raising as he turned to look at the green haired upperclassman.
(Name) reacted in a similar way, his brows rising and eyes widening as he looked at his green haired friend with a joyful glint in his eyes.
"Haha! Thank you. It's true that I have all the books and seasonings, but I won't be helping you for free." Trey said with a small smile on his face. "I'm not the type of person to squeeze money out of underclassmen, though. I'll just need you to gather lots of chestnuts for me if we want to give a riddle the perfect tart."
"Well, I don't really have any other choice so..." Ace glanced off to the side with frustration furrowing his brows, he'd hoped to just bake the pastry and be done with it without having to put in any extra effort but unfortunately that wish wasn't going to become a reality. "How many will you need?"
"To make it for the Unbirthday Party we'll need... around 2 to 300, I think."
"That many!?!" The first years all exclaimed in shock at such a large number of chestnuts, though (name)'s voice was noticeably quieter than his classmates'.
"Then I'll have you roast them and remove the outer shell to take out the nut." Trey added to his previous statement, something which didn't help bring motivation to the already unenthusiastic underclassmen.
"Can I go home?" Grim didn't hesitate in asking as soon as the green haired male finished speaking.
"Me too." Deuce joined the furrball in his attempted escape.
"Traitors!" The ginger cried out over his friends' betrayal, shaking a fist at them with an annoyed expression.
"A- ah!... If you ne- need, I can you help you with some of the work." The timid male spoke softly as he made his suggestion, rather nervous after seeing his other friends back away so soon. "I'm not the best at cooking, but I've done a lot of work in g- gardens so I should be fine with that type of stuff!"
Ace's anger quickly evaporated at the caring thoughts of his classmate and his cheeks grew flushed soon after due to the kindness his (h/c) haired friend possessed. On top of that, since the other two in their usual group of mischief had decided to leave, it would only be him and (name), making it the perfect time to bond and grow closer.
"(N- na- name)! You're a saviour!" The anger-prone first year exclaimed with his face and ears incredibly warm, a thankful smile worn on his face as his eyes almost seemed to sparkle when he looked at the flower boy.
"Awww!~ Look out our little flower!~ He's so cute and kind, all in one!" Cater cooed with a flirtatious smile and even felt bold enough to send a wink despite the death threats sent to him last time.
"He is quite cute, isn't he?" Trey agreed as he gazed at the ramshackle resident with affectionate eyes, a calm yet loving grin grew on his face.
The (e/c) eyed student soon became flustered at the surrounding boy's words, playing with the cuffs on his uniform's sleeves as he tried to quell his increasing nervousness, muttering quiet 'thank you's to his companions.
"Of course (name)'s cute, he's my apprentice." Grim grumbled under his breath as he watched the conversation on with a frustrated gaze.
Deuce was in a similar position, with a small frown on his face as he looked at the joyful Ace who seemed to be jumping over the moon.
Soon, it clicked, the reason why the usually trouble ginger was now so cheerful appeared into the blueberry's mind and frankly, he wasn't pleased with what he'd discovered. So without a second thought, his raised his hand high into the sky and raised his voice to the point where it would easily interrupt the conversation without causing the timid male any alarm.
"I'm coming too!" The blue eyed student exclaimed, his face holding an expression of determination as he spoke.
"...Huh?..." Was the orange haired first year's response, deadpanning at his companion's intrusion.
"I said I'm joining you guys in gathering chestnuts." The Heartslabyul resident repeated without any hesitation, giving Ace a pointed look that seemed to send a message of why he'd had this change of heart all of a sudden.
The news made the ginger frown, but there wasn't much he could do so he simply huffed and looked in a different direction in an attempt to rid himself of any annoyance.
"Hey! If you're going too then I'll be left out!" The grey furrball cried out in frustration, flinging his paws in the air to make his anger more noticeable. "If you're all going then I'm going too!"
Trey couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the first year's little plight.
"If that's all settled, then you'll want to find the chestnut in the forest behind the botanical garden." The third year eventually said once his chuckles died down.
"Th- then we'll all meet in front of the botanical garden after classes?" (Name) asked to make sure, a doubtful look flashing across his face before affirmations from his friends calmed his soul.
"Go! Go! Chestnut picking!" Grim shouted out to announce the final decision that had been made and with that, skull-ringing sound of the school bell rang, signifying the end of lunch and the beginning of classes.
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Sup ya'll!
Sorry for such a late update 👉👈
I've just been going through a large amount of assessments and stress which hasn't allowed me to write a lot, along with that I struggled with motivation for a bit and some other minor stuff before arriving to the present where I'm back up and pumping!
However, don't be surprised if the updates end up slowing down for a while since I've got a really big assessment coming up that involves a lot of time, effort, patience and a lot of playing around with unknown programs.
It's gonna be an interesting ride but once that's done, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to safely garantee the return of your usual weekly updates.
No promises though!
Besides that, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I wish you all a good day or night! :DDD
- ✨Author-san