Remarkably , Ace and Deuce manage to catch Grim. Grim struggles in Ryder's grip.
"Noooo, lemme gooo! I don't wanna go back to those boring classes!" Grim whines.
"SHUT IT!!" Ryder screams at him.
"Geez! Why are you being so strict today!?"
"Because I'm pissed that I was signed up for babysitting!!"
~~~~~~~
All four of them are relieved to finally head to lunch.
"It's finally lunch time! Wow, everything always looks so good here!" Grim cheers.
"Even my school back home doesn't have food like this, and that place is expensive. Not that I pay to go there though..."
"Fluffy omelet! Grilled chicken and bacon egg tarts!" Grim starts grabbing at the dishes.
"Shut up! You're so loud! Try being this excited for something more than just lunch..." Ace complains. Grim ignores him and grabs as many plates as he wants. He turns around to find a table when he bumps into some students.
"Ow!"
"Nooo! Oi, watch it! You broke the egg in my pasta!" One of the students growls.
"Whoa whoa whoa, breaking the egg is the best part of eating carbonara, you know? How you gonna pay us back for that!?" Another questions.
"Hand over that grilled chicken as compensation, otherwise we can't call this even," the first one demands.
"Hell no! This is my chicken!" Grim defensively pulls his tray away.
"Huh? You're the new kid here. This is what you call paying respect to your elders? Come around back!" The second yells. Both guys draw their magic pens.
"H-hey, settling personal squabbles with magic is prohibited..." Deuce quietly reminds them.
"Squabble? This is just seniors teaching their juniors proper behavior!"
"Better prepare yourselves!" The seniors face off with Ryder's group. She watches in unamused silence as her boys kick the asses of these two losers.
"M-maybe you're a little better than I thought..." the first one squeaks out.
"The pasta's getting all soggy... so we'll let you off for now!" They run off with their tails between their legs.
"Heh! Those guys were all talk! Never show us your ugly mugs again!" Grim cheers.
"Man, I don't have a good feeling about that..." Althea says, walking up behind them.
"Ah, you're here too," Ryder points out.
"We all have the same lunch period, ya know."
"Whatever. Let's just eat. I even missed breakfast. If I go any longer without food, I might just pass out..." Ace whines.
"At least if he passes out he can't get us in trouble with that mouth of his again..." Althea whispers to Ryder, making her snicker.
"We really have no luck. Given this is a prestigious school that's really hard to get into, the last thing I was expecting to come across cookie-cutter delinquents," Deuce moans. They go to sit at an empty table.
"No point dwelling on the riff-raff! Let's eat!" Grim ferociously digs into his assortment of food, launching into another newspaper worthy food critique. "So we saw your guys' dorm this morning, but what're the other dorms like?"
"You know those statues of the Great Seven on Main Street, right?" Cater invades the group. "The seven dorms of this school were made in the fashion of them."
"Hey, you're the guy from this morning!" Ace shouts at him.
"You tricked us into painting those roses for you!" Grim piles on.
"I got paint in my hair 'cuz of you!" Ryder cries.
"Aw, you're so mean! Not like I was doing it because I wanted to,
Cater defends. "I had no choice but to do it. It's part of our dorm's rules."
"You were grinning all the while..." Deuce reminds him.
"Now now, Deucey. Those rules are only while we're inside the dorm, so right now, Cay-kun's just your kind, friendly senior."
"D-don't call me Deucey!" Ryder and Althea howl with laughter.
"Haha, that's just how Cater shows affection," Trey and Demetria join them at the table.
"My bad. I'm Trey Clover, a third year in Heartslabyul. You're some of the students Demetria is in charge of, right?"
"Yep, those're my girls," Demetria confirms.
li heard from Cater all the trouble these guys have caused. Sorry about that."
"We're literally right here, dude..." Ace says.
"Come on, we're in the same dorm! No point being like this all the time. Let's exchange numbers and get along!"
"River is the only one of us with a phone, though..." Ryder points out.
"You don't have a phone!? That's crazy! You're like an endangered species! I know a place where you can get the newest models for cheap~ how 'bout we go on a date to choose one?"
"Cater, you're gonna scare the new kids off. Calm down a bit," Trey chastises.
"That would actually be really helpful though..." Demetria says.
"We can go when we get money... but I really don't wanna go on a date with this dude," Althea adds.
"Ahaha, sorry, sorry! You were talking about the dorms, yeah? That's a good conversation topic! Makes for a nice change. Let your elders tell you whatever you wanna know," Cater offers.
"Honestly, I wanna know about our own dorm first. The hell is up with those crazy 'Laws of the Queen of Hearts?'" Ace asks.
"You know all about the Queen of Hearts, right? She created a wonderland of madness built on strict adherence to her rules," Trey informs them.
"Out of respect for the Queen, those of us in Heartslabyul traditionally wear red and black arm bands, just like her dress, and uphold the laws she made," Cater continues.
"Sounds way too stuffy for me!" Grim says.
"I don't hate the color combination, though," Demetria says.
"How strictly we follow the rules depends on the dorm leader. The last one was pretty chill about it," Cater admits.
"Riddle's way more serious about this than even some of the most notorious dorm leaders in our dorm's history. He follows those rules as closely as possible," Trey adds.
"Bleeehhh. What a pain," Ace moans.
"What about the other dorms?" Grim asks. Trey gives a brief overview of the other six dorms.
"I'll never remember all that..." Althea admits.
"Haha! Just the rough idea is fine. You'll remember eventually."
"You've already got it all, don't you?" Demetria leans in closer to Ryder to ask her. Ryder just smirks in response.
"Which dorm you enter is based on the judgment of the Dark Mirror when it looks into your soul at the entrance ceremony," Trey explains. "So you'll find each dorm is filled with similar types of people."
"You're right about that. I totally see it," Cater agrees.
"What kind of types?" Deuce asks.
"For example, look over there," Trey points out a tall, tan guy with spiky white hair and wolf ears.
"A furry!?" Ryder shouts.
"You see someone as built as that, you instantly think Savanaclaw."
"Totally! That dorm has a lot of people who're good at sports. They're like, the buff and gruff big bro types, if you get what I mean. They wear yellow and black armbands."
"Black and yellow black and yellow..." the girls laugh, referencing a song the guys definitely wouldn't know.
"Ohhh, okay. Then what about that guy with the gray and lavender thing?" Grim asks, pointing to Azul.
"Gah, that's Azul. He's in my class and he gives me a bad vibe man," Althea shudders.
"He's from Octavinelle. The guys with the dark red and yellow bands at the table in front of us are from Scarabia."
"Oh, Jamil's in my class too. He's a lot less creepy."
"They say the ones with the brains go to either of those two dorms. Always feels like they're both super close in test scores," Cater informs. "...that said, Scarabia's dorm leader isn't great at studying."
"And there it is, the sign that we're about to go off on a completely different tangent," Ace points out.
"You adjust quick, don't you? Getting back on topic, those flashy students are members of Pomefiore. Their armband is red and purple," Trey points to guy with a blonde bob and a short kid with hair lavender, similar in color to River's.
"Whoa! There's a super cute girl there!"
"Wha!? At a boys school!?"
"Deuce, we're right here," Ryder reminds Deuce. He blushes.
"Idiot, there wouldn't be girls here other than the ones in Ramshackle," Ace reminds him.
"Eeehh!?" Deuce and Grim shout, drawing the lavender haired kid's attention.
"If you're on the hunt for more girls, you should go see Rose, the portrait in the west building. She's got real class. I don't mind introducing you if you're interested. Should I set up a blind date?" Cater offers.
"I'm good. I don't doubt Rose is cute but... uh... she's a little flat," the girls all giggle like children.
"Hey, if you hit it off, who cares if she's flat?"
"If you don't like flat girls, you should go for Violet or Iris," Demetria says.
"Or you," Ryder points out that Demetria is well endowed as well.
"I politely refuse."
"I didn't even ask!" Ace yells.
"Well, anyway, Pomefiore's basically the top as far as appearance goes, and their beauty regimen is second to none. Their dorm leader is a magicammer with over 5 million followers!"
"Damn, that's like five times more than Iris and River have on YouTube or TikTok! And I thought those girls were a big deal," Althea exclaims.
"Hey now, don't act like their looks are all they got going for them," Trey chides. "Pomefiore is also known for a lot of its students being skilled at potions and curses."
"Ahaha, yeah, forgot about that. Usually I'd point out Ignihyde here but... I don't see any of them around. Their armbands are blue and black. Everyone in that dorm feels like they constantly have their guard up. Even I don't have any friends from there. They're the total opposite of Heartslabyul. We're all pretty cheerful, I'd say."
"So you mean it's full of pessimists," Grim deadpans.
"I feel like Violet would like that place," Demetria says.
"Come on, watch how you explain these things!" Trey chastises. "Though it is true that they have a quiet and subdued image. Many of them excel at magical energy engineering or computing."
"Only the... Diablabla dorm is left," Deuce stumbles with his words.
"You're fooling no one with that straight face of yours. It's Diasomnia," Ace corrects him.
"I bit my tongue, okay!" Ryder giggles at Deuce's reaction.
"Diasomnia is... at, there they are. They're in all those booths in the back. That green and black armband tells you it's them. They're kinda like the super VIPs around here. They have this aura that makes it difficult for us normies to even try to talk to them. The dorm leader has mega 'don't come near me' vibes..." Cater's description makes Demetria very curious about the dorm leader. They see a group of three Diasomnia students nearby.
"Huh? Why's there a kid with them?" Ace asks.
"Kid? What're you talking about?" Demetria doesn't see any children around.
"This school technically lets students enter by skipping years. But that isn't what's going on here. He's a third year. Same as..."
"Lilia. Lilia Vanrouge," Lilia appears in front of them, hanging upside down. He startled everyone but Demetria.
"H-he just teleported right over here!" Grim freaks.
"Are you all curious about my age! Fufu, my cute visage is practically bursting with youth, but as your glasses friend and Demetria so kindly supplied, I am not exactly the age one would call a child."
"Bursting with youth..?" Trey mutters.
"I don't see it at all," Demetria agrees.
"There's no need to simply look on from afar. Come up and speak with us any time you wish. Are we not all students of the same school? We at Diasomnia will always welcome you with open arms," Lilia insists, but the two guys beside him keep their stone cold faces on.
"You, maybe, but I can't say the guys over there look that excited at the prospect of talking to us," Deuce says for everyone.
"Kufufu, apologies for dropping in on your meal. Until we meet again!" The Diasomnia boys take off.
"See you in class!" Demetria waves them goodbye.
"Our table is easily over 20 meters away from them, but you're telling me that he heard us talking!? Freaky?" Ace shudders.
"W-well... let's just say Diasomnia has many peculiar members. Many of their students excel at all kinds of magic. Their dorm leader, Malleus Draconia, is counted among the top five mages in the world," Trey explains.
"Malleus Draconia? What a name..." Demetria mutters to herself.
"For real, though. Malleus is like, the most super of super crazy powerful. Though on the topic, our dorm leader is his own brand of crazy," Cater says.
"So true! All I did was eat a single piece of tart and he collared me. His narrow mindedness is super crazy."
"Oh really? I'm super crazy, am I?" A short boy with red hair approaches Ace from behind.
"Sure are. Blew right past strict and straight into being a tyrant," Ace stupidly continues.
"Ace! Behind you!" Deuce warns, too late.
"Holy crap! Dorm leader!"
"Oh my, Riddle! You're super crazy cute today~" Cater compliments. Althea can't help but agree. He's about two inches shorter than her, but his big eyes and long bangs hit her straight in the heart. Though, with what she knows about his personality, she would probably try to steer clear of him. The subtle signs of attraction she experiences aren't lost on Ryder and Demetria.
"Hmph. Cater. If you run your mouth anymore, I'll take it off together with your head," Riddle threatens.
"Hey now, gimme a break!"
"Ffgna! This is the guy who put that weird collar on me during the entrance ceremony!" Grim moves closer to Demetria for protection.
"And you're the new students who caused all that fuss about a possible expulsion yesterday. I must ask you to refrain from calling my unique magic a 'weird collar.' For goodness' sake. The headmaster is far too soft. If you forgive rulebreakers, the whole system will collapse. All he has to do is lop off the heads of everyone who doesn't follow the rules," Riddle rambles.
"He may look innocent, but the words coming out of his mouth sure do suggest otherwise..." Ace says.
"The headmaster may have forgiven you, but make no mistake, the next time you choose to break the rules, I will most certainly not," Riddle warns.
"...say, dorm leader, there's no way you could, y'know.., remove this collar, is there?" Ace asks. Ryder and Althea zone out as Riddle prattles on about his ridiculous rules. He says something about leaving the table that neither girl catches. "Aaaand that's another weird as hell rule to add to the list..."
"The answer is 'yes, dorm leader!'"
"Yes, dorm leader!" Ace and Deuce shout.
"Very good."
"Listen, I'll look after them for you, okay?" Trey offers, trying to calm Riddle down.
"Hmph. You're meant to be the vice dorm leader, so I expect you to get your act together," Riddle leaves, muttering something about sugar to himself.
"Whew! That was a close one," Cater sighs in relief.
"That guy is so obnoxious," the girls nod in agreement with Grim's comment.
"Hey! That's rude!" Deuce reprimands. Yet, they hear other Heartslabyul students smack talk Riddle around the room once he's out of earshot.
"The dorm leader wrestled the seat from the previous dorm leader in his first week here. He can be a little harsh, but that's just him trying to make the dorm better. He's got good intentions at heart," Trey defends.
"Someone with good intentions doesn't randomly collar people!" Grim protests. Cater and Trey awkwardly laugh.
"Grim, don't forget that you're the one who caused me all that trouble at the entrance ceremony..." Demetria reminds him.
"Grrr... but that collar just suddenly cuts off your magic. It hurts and it sucks!" Grim whines.
"Hmm? You mean Riddle's unique magic?" Cater interjects.
"If it's unique, does that mean it's a magic only he can use?" Deuce asks.
"Leaving aside the question of if only one person can use it or not... generally, it is indeed very distinct magic that only that person can use, hence unique magic. You'll probably learn about it in class pretty soon," Trey explains.
"Riddle's unique magic lets him seal another person's magic for a fixed amount of time. It's called... OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" Cater does his best Riddle impression. Grim shrieks.
"Just the name is terrifying!"
"Having your magic sealed as a mage really hurts as much as losing your own head, after all! And that's why you should try and avoid breaking Riddle's rules in the dorm."
"On the other hand, he isn't scary at all if you just follow them," Trey says.
"Would you say you're 'only following orders?'" Ryder implies something the guys wouldn't understand.
"W-what?" Trey asks.
"Forget about it."
"So what you're saying is I have to go buy a tart or Cater will kick me out again?" Ace asks.
"Right. As decided by the Laws of the Queen of Hearts No. 53. I should also let you know that Riddle really looks forward to having the first slice of a tart, so he probably won't forgive you unless it's whole."
"Weren't you just talking about getting along two seconds ago? Just turn a blind eye!" Ace begs.
"That is that, this is this."
"But aren't whole tarts pretty expensive?" Deuce asks.
"Ugh, it's not like our pockets are overflowing with Madol here, ya know."
"Our pockets don't have any Madol at all," Demetria reminds them.
"Then why not try your hand at making your own? All those tarts you saw in the fridge were made by Trey," all the girls turn to Trey.
"Whoa, you can bake!?" Althea asks.
"C-can we try your baking sometime?" Demetria asks. The girls are practically drooling at the prospect of delicious sweets.
"You made that tart, Trey!? Holy crap! If you told me they were bought from a patisserie, I would've believed you!"
"Haha, thanks. It's true that I have all the seasonings and utensils that you would need, but... asking for my help won't come cheap."
"Huh!? You're making me pay for it!?" Ace freaks.
"Pffft, don't lose your head now. I'm not gonna go around squeezing money out of the new kids," Trey reassures. "If we're going to make the tart, we need a lot of chestnuts. Could you gather them for me?"
"Ugh, either way is a pain. Well, how many do you need?" Ace asks.
"To make enough for the Unbirthday Party, we'll need about... two, three hundred, I think."
"That many!?" Grim and Deuce scream.
"After that, I'll need you to roast, peel, and purée them. I can do the rest after that."
"Can I go home?" Grim asks.
"Me too," Deuce adds.
"There's no way I'm involving myself in this," Demetria adds.
"Traitors!" Ace cries.
"Come on, now! Nothing tastes more delicious than food you make together with friends. You get to make some fun memories! Never know, might even be your debut as a food blogger," Cater suggests.
"That's more Iris and River's speed," Demetria says.
"Don't tell the dorm leader, but Mont Blanc tastes most delicious when it's freshly baked. Only the one who bakes the tart gets a piece of that," Grim and Althea drool a little.
"Ooh ooh ooh!! Let's get a move on! We're gonna pick chestnut after chestnut!" Grim cheers.
"I'll still have to pass. Crowley said there's something I gotta take care of at the dorm after class," Demetria informs them.
"I'll go!" Ryder and Althea shout.
"There should be plenty of chestnut trees in the forest behind the botanical garden," Trey tells them.
"Then we meet after class in front of the botanical garden," Ace lays out the plan.
"Go! Go! Chestnut picking~"
"Ah, you guys should take the ghost camera," Demetria hands it over to Althea.