Chapter Text
Araya nervously knocked on the door to Ramshackle. She and Valkyrie had just arrived at the school via the Dark Mirror and already got some looks from boys around the campus. She was already drained from going around the previous night for donations, now she has to talk to even more people. The dorm's new prefect answers the door.
"H-hi, are you joining our dorm or something?" Demetria asks them.
"Nah, we're good at our current school. We're just here to drop off these donations," Valkyrie lifts the boxes in her arms a little for emphasis. Demetria's face lights up.
"For real!? Come in! Oh my god, everyone! Get down here!" Demetria calls to the other girls in the dorm at the moment. Iris, River, Violet, and Bailey join them in the lounge. "These girls bring gifts!"
"Hey, I'm Valkyrie and this is Araya. We go to Camellia Academy across the ocean. Your headmaster contacted ours and asked if anyone at our school had things they could donate to you. I think we got a pretty good bounty!" Araya is very happy Valkyrie is willing to do the talking.
"NO WAY! Thank you so much, ladies!" Bailey could almost cry at the relief she feels.
"Please, sit down. I'll make you some tea!" Demetria bounces off to the kitchen to get some water boiling. Valkyrie and Araya awkwardly sit on the couch. Iris and Violet take the boxes from them.
"We also have some monetary donations..." Araya hands Bailey the jar full of Madol. "There's about 250k Madol in this," Violet practically does a spit take.
"N-no way..." Bailey forces herself not to cry in front of these girls.
"We... we can get phones with that!" Iris cheers.
"Yo, there's fucking bongos in here!" Violet pulls out the bongos the Mauvene donated.
"I think we can all agree that those should go to you," River says. Violet happily accepts. The girls sort through the mountain of clothes and essentials and divide them up, Bailey making sure to put things aside that she knows Althea would like. A lot of the cute clothes go to Iris, River, Violet, and Demetria. The other three were okay with more casual clothes. They also select one pen each from Araya's donations. Violet takes a pen with a night sky gradient, Iris takes a blue one with a dreamcatcher dangling from the cap, River takes one with a cat cap, Demetria takes one with a moon theme, Bailey picks out a watermelon themed one for Althea and one with a big fake diamond at the end for herself. Hopefully Ryder would like the dinosaur one that was left for her.
"What should we buy with all that cash!?" Violet asks.
"Phones of course!" Iris answers.
"Hold it, girls," Bailey kills the fun. "Demetria and I are gonna work out a budget with this later. We need to be smart with this cash until I start getting paychecks. I'll give you all 2,000 to use as you please, but the rest I have to decide on."
"Ugh... we had to have a responsible adult here, didn't we..." Violet whines.
"Yup," Bailey turns back to the Camellia girls. "Thanks again, really. This is a lifesaver."
"For real, I'm so happy to have a wardrobe! Is there any way we can repay you?" River asks. Valkyrie and Araya look at each other.
"Well..." Araya starts.
"We wouldn't say no to a meal," Valkyrie finishes.
"That can be arranged!" Demetria confirms.
~~~~~~~
Cater wasn't sure what compelled him to take the scenic route back to his dorm. All he knew was he felt an urge to go on a little walk, one that led him through the cafeteria, even though he wasn't hungry.
"Huh? It's the new girls. I haven't met them all..." Cater walks over to the table the girls, minus Althea and Ryder, are sitting at. A lot of eyes are on that table, unsurprisingly. "Hey hey~ I haven't met some of you yet, so I came to say hello!"
"Ah, this is Cater. He had lunch with me and the other two girls," Demetria fills them in. He quickly looks the girls over. He's met Demetria, and he recognizes Bailey from when she was assisting Crewel. The two girls with dyed hair look super Magicammable, in his opinion. The black haired girl with the loop in her hair and big boobs could also do well online. Then he gets to the last two girls. ' Oh, those uniforms are from Camellia...' The girl with the pitch black hair that goes into a blue gradient looks pretty cool to him. His heart almost stops when he gets to the last girl.
She has big, black hair, dark eyeshadow, and a face with a bit of sadness in it. He felt like he was hit with a cruel love spell, and he swears he could pass out right there.
Araya makes eye contact with Cater. Her entire body goes numb. It's clear as day to everyone at the table; love at first sight.
"Someone better say something before these two pass out," Violet breaks the silence. She can't deal with the awkward tension. Cater and Araya turn their heads in opposite directions.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Araya coldly denies. She refuses to make eye contact again.
"Y-yeah, I was just thinking it would be super cool to take a selfie with you all! Smile for the camera!" Cater quickly pulls up his phone camera. His phone disappears into thin air. "E-Eh!? What happened to my phone!?"
"I'd rather not be on social media, thanks," Araya reveals the phone in her hand. Everyone but Valkyrie gasps. The phone reappears in Cater's hand as suddenly as it disappeared.
"W-what was that!?"
"That's Araya's unique magic, man! She can take anything she's seen and make it appear in her hands," Valkyrie explains.
"Anything is right. Watch this," Araya manifests a handful of eyeballs.
"AAAAAHH!" Iris, River, and Cater scream.
"Cooool," Violet and Demetria marvel at it. Bailey seems indifferent.
"I'm just fucking with you," Araya drops the eyeballs on the table, revealing that they're fakes made of glass. "My magic doesn't work on human parts," she smirks a little.
"Haha! I think this is the first time I've seen you smile!" Valkyrie pats her on the back.
"I gotta have some fun once in awhile."
"You really got me~ you girls should add me on Magicam!" Cater pulls out his phone again.
"I don't use social media," Araya flatly tells him.
"I'll add you. I'm SkyHigh25," Valkyrie tells him.
"Added!"
"Wahh!? There's social media!? Iris, we need to make an account!" River shakes her friend.
"Get on it now girl!" River immediately downloads the app to the communal phone.
"Yes! OrchidAndOcean isn't taken!" River cheers.
"Going with the name you use in our world?" Violet points out.
"Found you! Remember to add me back!" Cater tells them, which River immediately does. Araya has noticeably withdrawn from the conversation.
"Thanks for pointing that out to us. Time to rebuild our empire!"
"Take a pic with me! I'll tag you so more people can find your account!" Cater points the phone at the girls and himself. They make some cute faces for him. "#Ramshackledorm #newgirls #cutegirls @OrchidAndOcean."
"He said the hashtags..." Araya sharply whispers. He wouldn't lie, it hurt him a little that this girl was being so cold with him. "I'm a little tired. I'm gonna head back. You can stay if you want."
"Yeah, I'm gonna hang around for a little while," Araya quickly stalks off, leaving Valkyrie with the girls at the table. "Sorry about whatever's going on with her. I don't know her that well yet, but she's known to be pretty gloomy."
"Heh. I kinda like her vibe," Violet says. Demetria notices Cater's dejected face.
"You okay, Cater?" Demetria asks.
"A-Ah, yeah. I just have some stuff I need to be doing back at the dorm. I'll see you later! Remember to add me if the rest of you join Magicam!" Cater runs off before anyone can say goodbye.
"Poor, poor bastard," Bailey shakes her head.
"You definitely can't trust so called 'love at first sight.' It's just sexual tension that ends in heartbreak," Violet says. The girls all nod.
"Ohhhh, Anthy is here!" Floyd runs up to River and gives her a tight hug from behind.
"Sup Floyd?" She's completely unfazed by his actions.
"Floyd, please be gentle with the new girls," a guy identical to Floyd pulls him off of River. "Oh, I see you've made a friend from a Camellia," Jade and Floyd turn to Valkyrie. "Valkyrie Windward, correct?"
"Why did you know that..?" Valkyrie asks.
"We know of many Camellia students.
"Hey, Flying Fish! Show us your wings~" Floyd demands.
"You know about that too, huh? We should probably go outside if I'm gonna take those out."
~~~~~~~
The girls and the twins stand in a field by Main Street.
"Ready for this?" Valkyrie asks. Everyone cheers her on. Two massive, angular black wings expand out from her back. They have a beautiful golden halo that sparkles like the sun, yet the wings themselves reflect zero light.
"Those are beautiful!" River yells.
"Ehe, Flying Fish is super cute!" Floyd says.
"Thank you. I know."
"Well, we've had our fun. We really must get to work," Jade announces, pulling Floyd along with him.
"Byyeee Flying Fish! See ya tomorrow, Anthy!"
"What an interesting dude," Violet comments.
"Oh yeah, we should add each other on Magicam too," Iris says to Valkyrie.
"Yeah, let's take a pic together. I only have about 1000 followers, though," Iris and River surround Valkyrie and take a friendly looking selfie with her.
"Alright, I'm ready to head back to the dorm. Do you wanna come hang out for awhile, Valkyrie?" Bailey asks her.
"If you guys are cool with it."
"Totally. Let's go play one of those board games your school gave us or something," Violet suggests. The group heads back to Ramshackle. Valkyrie is a little worried about Araya after her strange attitude, but she lives with her. She has all the time in the world to check on her. And these girls could probably use a friend in this world.
~~~~~~~
"Wow! There really are chestnuts all over the place here! With this many, we could have all you can eat Mont Blanc... hehe. Let's get picking..." Grim grabs some chestnuts with his bare hands. "Ow ow! The thorns pricked my paw!"
"It doesn't seem like we can pick the, with our bare hands. It'd be handy to get a basket or something to put them in as well," Deuce says.
"Wouldn't the botanical garden have stuff like that?" Ace suggests.
~~~~~~~
"Wow, it's bigger in here than I thought," Ace is right that it's massive. Ryder's school had a greenhouse, but it was nothing compared to this.
"Given the size, there must be a caretaker or two in charge of this place. Let's split up and see if we can find someone."
"I'll go right," Ace volunteers.
"And I'll head left. Would you three mind checking the back?" Deuce asks. The group goes their separate ways.
"There's a bunch of fruit! They smell so good!"
"They do look good, but don't touch!" Althea lightly smacks Grim's paw away.
"Ow!" A deep voice yells from the ground.
"...did I step on something?" Althea looks around.
"Oi. You've got some nerve stepping on someone's tail without saying anything," a tall guy with cat ears and long hair stands up in front of the girls and Grim.
"Are you the caretaker here? You seem a bit vulgar for that..."
"Can it, Grim!" Ryder sharply whispers at him.
"I was right in the middle of a nice nap, then you go and walk all over my tail. This sucks."
"Sorry! People don't have tails where I'm from," Althea tells him.
"Hey... you're those herbivores that the mirror said can't use magic? Interesting..." the guy leans in to sniff the girls.
"Jeez, buy me dinner first," Ryder groans.
"...ha. I really don't smell a speck of magic on you. It's not really my style taking on opponents that can't defend themselves properly, but..."
"I dunno why, but being scrutinized by this guy is making my fur stand on end!"
"Don't make it worse!" Althea whispers to Grim.
"You step on the great Leona's tail and you expect to walk away scot free? I was having such a lovely nap, and now I'm just pissed. Hope you're ready to leave behind a tooth."
"Y-you're seriously gonna hit a magicless girl!?" Althea yells.
"Let's get outta here!" Grim shouts.
"Leona!"
"Huh?" Leona looks irritated at the new voice.
"So you were hiding out here after all. It's time for your remedial lessons, ya know," the new guy reminds Leona.
"And now the annoying one's here," Leona complains.
"It's 'cause you keep failing, Leona. If you get held back another year, we're gonna end up classmates."
"Oh, just lay off already. I don't need lectures from you, Ruggie."
"It's not like I enjoy having to nag you all the time! Jeez, it's not like you're stupid. You could manage fine if you just tried. Whatever, let's go!" Ruggie orders.
"Tch... you're right that I wouldn't hit a girl, but you won't be forgiven so easily. Watch out next time you even think about entering my turf, herbivores," Leona and Ruggie leave. The girls sigh in relief.
"Whew! I'm sweating bullets! Why would they hire someone so intimidating as the caretaker!?" Grim questions.
"He wasn't a caretaker, Grim," Ryder points out the obvious.
"We found a basket and some tongs over there!" Ace and Deuce rejoin the group.
"...did something happen to you guys?" Deuce notices the tense air around the girls and Grim.
"Ah, that's right! The chestnuts! Our part of the tart will get smaller if we don't get a bunch. We'll talk about our encounter with the caretaker while we work," Grim leads the way back to the forest.
~~~~~~~
"...that's what happened," Grim finishes recounting the tale of their run in with Leona.
"There is absolutely no way that was the caretaker," Ace states.
"Think back now, that guy was wearing a yellow vest, so he must be from that banana dorm," Ryder and Althea giggle at Grim's nickname for the dorm.
"Banana... does he mean Savanaclaw? Is it just me or are there a lot of delinquents at this school..?" Deuce complains.
"Alrighty, our chestnut pile is pretty big. Let's get them back to Trey!"
"Nyahaha! This tart is gonna be awesome!"
~~~~~~~
"Welcome back," Trey greets. "I see you picked quite a bit."
"With this, we can make a huge tart!" Grim cheers.
"Thanks to that, peeling all of this is going to be a bit of a challenge, no doubt. Better get to work, you five."
"All of this... there's no end in sight..." Deuce groans.
"Proper preparation is key to successful baking."
"Yeah, yeah, we get it already! I'm so ready to get this over with!" Ace complains as they get to work peeling and puréeing.
"God, we're finally done puréeing them all!" Ace whines. The whole process took a couple of hours, which none of them expected.
"My arms are aching..." Deuce groans.
"Haha. Good job. Your hard work will make it tastier."
"Of course you can say that from your ivory tower..." Ryder snarks at Trey.
"Next we need to mix butter and sugar into the chestnut paste, then add the secret ingredient: oyster sauce."
"Oyster sauce!?" Ace and Deuce scream.
"There's no way we'd believe that," Ryder mumbles.
"It's true. The umami of the oysters adds a deep richness to the cream. Specifically, I use this Walrus Approved Young Oyster Sauce. Famous patisseries use this in their tarts," Trey swears. Ace and Deuce take a small taste.
"Seriously..? It tastes pretty salty."
"Then again, people put chocolate in curry... maybe this will taste alright?" Ace points out. Trey starts howling with laughter.
"Of course it wouldn't! Who would put oyster sauce in dessert?" Trey reveals.
"Screw you! I was actually starting to take you seriously there," Ace yells.
"If you took a second to think about it, you'd realize something was up."
"Ryder wasn't fooled for a second though..." Althea reminds them.
"Don't just accept things without a healthy amount of skepticism. Consider this a lesson from your senior."
"This guy looks nice, but he really can tell lies like they're nothing..." Grim mutters.
"Now we take some cream and... oh!" Trey pauses.
"Something up?" Ace asks.
"You all gathered so many chestnuts that I got ahead of myself and made too much marron paste," Trey tells him. "We don't have enough cream to mix into it."
"I can go buy some," Deuce offers. "Is it sold at the school store?"
"Yeah, you can find anything there. Could you pick up a few other things while you're there?" Trey gives Deuce a whole grocery list.
"I don't think I can carry all that alone. Would someone mind coming with me?"
"I'll go," Ryder offers. "I'd like to see the store."
"I'm going too! I'm tired of endlessly mixing flour," Grim joins them.
~~~~~~~
"Pardon us... wow, this place is amazing," the three take in the sight of the school shop in all its purple glory.
"Whoa, do they really sell cream here?" Grim asks.
"Hey, my lost little imps! How goes it!" A man with dreads and skeleton makeup approaches the group. "Welcome to Mr. S's Mystery Shop. What can I do for you today?" The man offers a variety of enchanted items.
"Ffgna! You scared me!" Grim yells.
"Hot..." Ryder whispers to herself.
"We'd like the things written here," Deuce hands the man the list.
"And some tuna!" Grim adds.
"No! We don't need any tuna!" Deuce protests.
"Let's see what we have here. Some cream, eggs... what a tantalizingly sweet lineup! Ok! Coming right up!"
"He's such a ham," Ryder giggles.
"He really does have it all..." Deuce says in wonder.
"Sorry 'bout the wait. It's a bit heavy. You got it?" The man hands them the bags. "If you order now, you can get a 1/100 scale floating platter to carry your purchases for 30% off."
"What's that!? It sounds cool!" Ryder grabs hold of Grim before he can spend money they don't have.
"W-we're okay, thanks! Time to go!" Deuce pulls Ryder and Grim along.
"Boooo! I wanna hang out more!" Grim whines.
"Okay, okay. Make sure to come by again, little imps! By!" The shopkeeper sends them off.
~~~~~~~
The group walks down Main Street.
"That store was crazy," Deuce sighs.
"Tch, stingy Deuce," Grim insults.
"Who are you calling stingy!?"
"For real, Grim. Deuce saved me from your impulse spending," Ryder defends. Deuce clears his throat, blushing slightly.
"Ryder, that bag looks pretty heavy. Let me take it. There's a trick to carrying heavy bags," Ryder gladly hands the bag over.
"There is? And I don't know it??"
"Yeah, my mom always buys more than we need during sales, so the bags end up really heavy. Since I'm the only guy in our household, it was always down to me to do the heavy lifting. Ah, my bad. Didn't mean to talk your ear off about this."
"It's fine. It's nice that she has you to help out. I have two dads, so I don't really ever get asked to do any heavy lifting. Never met my bio mom. I think it's cute that you care about yours so much," Ryder says, making Deuce blush harder.
"...that's not true at all. I always made mom– Ow!" Deuce collides with some other students.
"Aaahh! The eggs!" Grim screams in horror at the bag full of cracked eggs.
"Shit, a whole pack of eggs is completely destroyed! It's all over the bag!"
"Hey! Watch where you're... hang on..." the group come face to face with their lunchtime harassers yet again. "Ain't you the piece of crap that wrecked the egg in my carbonara!?"
"Again? Can't stay outta trouble for one day!" The other delinquent whines.
"...You were the ones who jumped out from behind the corner. Even at lunch, it was as if you couldn't eat the egg anymore, yet you still tried to pick a fight with us," Deuce lectures.
"Are you running an insurance scam or something!? You know you gotta jump in front of cars, not people, for that right?" Ryder adds.
"You do realize you just ruined our whole pack of eggs, don't you?"
"Yeah, yeah!" Grim backs up.
"And? You saying it's our fault?" The first delinquent grows angrier.
"Yes. Please pay for the eggs. And apologize to the chickens, too," Deuce demands.
"Huh? They're just eggs. Why you gettin' so worked up, huh?"
"...Excuse me?" Deuce's face goes cold.
"They ain't on the ground, so you can still eat 'me. Don't swear the small stuff," one delinquent says.
"We saved you the trouble of breaking them!" The delinquents start laughing.
"...a laughing matter," Deuce breaks their laughter.
"Huh?"
"I said this ain't a laughing matter, you assholes! You listenin' to me!?" Deuce's demeanor does a total 180. "What makes you think you get to decide what matters to us! See those eggs? They were gonna become a delicious tart to make up for not getting to hatch into chicks!"
"H-hold up," Ryder tries to interject, offended by the misinformation.
"That making sense to your thick heads or what!? Huh!?" He continues. The delinquents shriek at his scary face.
"W-what's this dude's problem all of a sudden!?"
"If you don't wanna pay back those six eggs you broke... I hope you're ready to get your face punched in the same amount!" Deuce raises his fists.
"Whaaaaat!?" The delinquents and Ryder shout.
"Square up, you pieces of shit!"