Yuu rubbed their tired eyes, they had a dream last night. They couldn't remember everything but they do remember that a blonde girl was saying something to the Queen of Heart.
Those words enraged the Queen and thousands of living human cards came raining down on her.
It sounded nonsense with those descriptions but that is how dreams goes.
They yawned as they followed the trio to the Heartslabyul dorm in a slow pace, making Yuu a few meter away from them.
They didn't have a good sleep since the collar is annoying and made their neck sore. They would have slept more but apparently Ace and Grim was too hyped up that they woke up early and woke them up.
As soon as they reached the rose maze, chatters of the heartslabyul students can be heard.
"Did you hear? They say someone's challenged Housewarden Rosehearts to a duel!"
"Riddle Rosehearts? Seriously?! Whoever it is has gotta be outta his mind. Riddle will have his head off in five seconds flat."
"Still, it's the first challenge since Rosehearts took power. I'm pumped!"
Apparently news travel quickly. Some of the students already gathered where the place of duel was held.
To witness a new 'Queen' taking the throne or to witness a failure of another subject that challenged the 'Queen', only time will tell.
The ADeuce duo looked a bit nervous but their determination shone through enough to make them looked brave.
A good few meter away from them, Yuu spotted Trey and Cater together, whispering to each other.
Cater with a disbelief and anxious face and Trey with resignation and worry. Yuu assumed they were talking about the duel since they looked like that. They walked over once they spotted the ADeuce duo.
"Of all the stupid ideas... I just hope this doesn't make everything worse."
Yuu vaguely heard Cater said that followed by Trey who absolutely agreed with him.
Indeed, it was really a stupid idea because this plan to overthrow the so called 'Queen of Hearts' by dueling with him sounds ridiculous. Although Yuu haven't seen how powerful Riddle magic, the facts that the seniors haven't challenged him speak for itself.
Yuu knew that Ace and Deuce magic were not powerful even if they were combined. It will be a disaster if the plan failed.
The fact that they have come to this situation came from the fact that Ace can't bring himself to apologize to him again.
It sounded stupid and it will be better if he had just apologized again but Yuu cannot find fault in Ace considering Riddle himself was the one who rejected the hardwork and apology.
Everyone will find it harder to say sorry if they were not in the wrong.
But this was the only choice if it mean to stop Riddle and getting rid of the collars.
Riddle showed up a few second later along with the headmaster. He glanced at the ones that dared to challenge him and his face openly displayed his displeasure.
The headmaster coughed at his fist to gain the attention of the students before announcing,"We are about to commence two challenges for the housewarden position at Heartslabyul House."
Crowley gestured to Ace and Deuce and then to Riddle dramatically, "The first challenger is Ace Trappola. The second challenger is Deuce Spade. The current housewarden they have challenged is Riddle Rosehearts."
"Now, in accordance with the duel rules, please remove the magic-sealing collars as they would provide an unfair disadvantage." Crowley looked at Riddle with a nod.
Riddle hmphed and use his magic pen-turned-to-staff to get rid of the collar. It was unfortunate that only Ace and Deuce had their collars taken off but it's understandable since it was not them who is dueling with him.
Ace stretched his neck, feeling pleasant when he heard the crack and the tension release. "Ah! FINALLY, the dumb collar is off!"
"Enjoy your moment of freedom. The collar will be back on soon enough. I could hardly believe it when I heard you two intended to duel me. Is this a joke?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Ace scoffed.
Deuce glared. "I'd never propose a duel as a joke."
"Hmph. Have it your way. Let us get this over with." Riddle step toward the other side of the battleground with his magic stafg ready at hand.
"Uh, Riddle," Cater who approached him began hesitately, "What do you want to do about today's afternoon tea?"
"A foolish question. You know that the rules stipulate I take my tea every day at 4 p.m. sharp."
"It's just that it's already past 3:30..."
"And you fear that I will be late? All the more reason to end this promptly. It appears I have little time to waste. Rather than facing my opponents in succession, I will take on both at once."
Ace and Deuce eyebrows scrunched together at that. They frowned even more when the student cheered for Riddle.
"You can do it, Housewarden! Knock 'em dead, sir!"
"Cowards." Deuce looked at them with dissapointment. Trey didn't said anything, his eyes were downcasted.
"Myah. I got a bad feelin' about this." commented Grim. Yuu started to stand rigid and put up their guard.
"Hey, at least we got a plan!" replied Ace cheekily.
"Headmaster, please give us the signal." said Riddle with no hesitation.
"When the mirror I've thrown shatters upon the ground, that is your signal to begin."
Crowley raised the small mirror in his hand, the mirror glinted blindingly by the sun ray.
"Ready...."
They all aimed their magic pen at their rival. Sweats dropping slowly on their face and hand. They gulped in anxiety for what was about to come.
"Go!"
"Off With Your Heads!"
"Bwaaaaah!"
It was so sudden, Riddle casted his Unique magic in a blink of an eye the moment the mirror made a shattering sound on the ground.
The ADeuce duo haven't had the chance to cast a spell and they were already got collared.
"Urrrgh... Not again. I didn't even have time to finish my spell!" Ace yelled in frustration.
"He shut us down like it was nothing..." Deuce looked helplessly and in disbelief at his collar.
'There goes the plan down in the drain' Yuu sighed inwardly.
Crowley hummed pleasantly, impressed with Riddle's display of magic. "Visualization is the key to spell casting. The better you are at accurately visualizing your magic's effects, the stronger and more precise it will be. It would appear Mr. Rosehearts has finely honed his magic."
"Myah... They didn't stand a chance."
"Hmph. You didn't even last five seconds. That was all you had, and still you thought to challenge me? You must be utterly humiliated. I guess my mother was right. A man who cannot follow rules is a man who cannot achieve anything."
Deuce scowled at him, feeling irritated at him for the first time "Tch... We agree that rules should be followed. But forcing others to follow nonsensical rules like the ones you've enacted is tyranny!"
"Then you agree that breaking rules is wrong. And in this dorm, I AM the rules. Therefore, those who cannot abide by my decisions deserve not the heads they use to complain!"
Yuu tilted their head, half lidded eyes stared unimpressively at Riddle as they said with no emotion, "But that's not right."
Their voice echoed out loud, devoid of any feelings as it sounded like, yet the demeanor and the way it worded looked like Yuu mocked him. The students stop their breath all at once, silence covering the place.
Yuu didn't like how he's insulting them or that attitude he's showing right now, that much is proven by how willing they are to risk peoples eyes on them even if they disliked it.
Yuu clicked their tongue. Normally, Yuu doesn't care about it but since he insulted Ḫ̸̢̥̭̲̪͙̞̜̳̰̮̿̽͘͜͠͝1̸̡͈͉̘̤͚̟̼̞̠̞̭͓̊̈́́͑̈́͊͗̽̌̇̔̈́́̊͝͝m̴̧̛̭̖̩̹͕̿̄̏̇̋͌͝͠ them right infront of Yuu then Yuu had to take this matter in their own hand to get rid off that collar themself.
Riddle gritted his teeth, unconciously stabbing the grass with his magic staff, "I am the one who decides what is wrong and right! What sort of pitiful education have you received, that you cannot follow such simple rules?"
"Our views completely contradicted each other. You don't know what's wrong and what's right and your definition of 'simple rules' clearly different from us. How could you decide that?" said Yuu calmly but there's a hint of sharpness in it like a knife that's intended to tear him to pieces until threads cant sew him anymore.
Riddle noticed it, his figure trembled as if he had just seen something horrible however Yuu's words offended him so much that his anger overwhelm his fear.
"If there were no penalties, no one would follow the rules. I have to wonder what sort of pitiful education left you unable to comprehend so simple a concept."
"Clearly, you were born to parents with no great magical capability. And as a result... You lack even the basic education necessary to attend a school such as this. It's quite sad."
He continued to jab about the lack of education. What's up with this education stuff? What does it have to do with this?
Yuu blankly stared at them, 'Did the anger roasted his brain to crisp?'
Deuce misunderstood Yuu's silence as truth since Yuu didn't answered him so he gasped lightly before he glared at Riddle, "You little..."
"Hey you, shut your spoiled little mouth!" Ace who thought the same thing as Deuce insulted him right away before punching him right at the cheek.
A gasp and murmurs broke out of the crowd.
Riddle looked dazingly at the ground before looking up at him. He raised his hand to touch his currently throbbing, reddish cheek slowly as if he couldn't believe that he just got punched.
"Wh–what?"
"Riddle?!" Cater and Trey hurriedly rushed over.
"Mr. Rosehearts?!" Crowley called out in concern.
"Whoa! He just punched the housewarden...!" Someone from the crowd yelled in awe.
Grim jumped and laughed, "Bam! Right cross to the face!"
Yuu looked dissaprovingly at Grim before heading toward Ace and a very flabbergasted Deuce.
Ace huffed, swinging his hand that he used to punch Riddle back and forth to ease the pain of the impact, "That's all I can take. Forget Riddle. Forget the duel. I'm done."
"That hurt! You... p-punched me?!"
"Kids aren't trophies for their parents to flaunt. And the accomplishments of a child aren't determined by the worth of their parents. It's not your parents' fault you became a tyrant - or anyone else's. You've been here a year and haven't even made a friend who will tell you you're outta line. And that's on you."
"What are you even talking about?"
"Yeah, maybe you had some rigid upbringing from a relentless helicopter-mom. Is that all you are? An extension of her? Can't you think for yourself? You call yourself the "Red sovereign"? You're just a baby who's good at magic."
"Baby...? Did you just call me a "baby"?! You don't know anything about me! You don't know anything about anything!"
"Nope, sure don't. And I don't need to. Your attitude tells me all I need to know - that you're nothing but a spoiled brat!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut UP! My mother was right! And that means I'm right too!"
"Riddle, calm down. The duel is already over." Trey tried to persuade him before it become worse. He knew he failed when Riddle's red face became more red instead of lessening.
"Mr. Clover is correct. The challenger has been disqualified due to physical violence. If you do not cease your conflict now, I'll have you written up for breaking school rules!" Crowley warned him.
But then someone shouted from the crowd.
"Ace is right, though! I've had enough of Riddle!"
Just as he said that, something got thrown right at Riddle's head, stunning those who was close to Riddle.
"Huh?!" Riddle looked up angrily.
"An egg?" said Trey with wide eyes.
"Who did that? Who threw that egg?!" Riddle roared with bulging angry eyes.
"........"
Whoever threw that egg was quite a bold person but nevertheless Yuu dissaproved of that action. No, not because Yuu cared about him or whoever throw that but because it might influence Grim to do bad things.
With better behavior, Grim will definitely stay here and continue to pursue his dream if Yuu were to go home one day.
That's a nice dream but they still have a long way to go.
Crowley frowned at the Riddle's behavior, "Cease this improper behavior now, Mr. Rosehearts. I expect better from you!"
A shame, Crowley should have scolded both. Both behavior were also very improper too.
Riddle began to giggle before it become a full blown out laugh. His eyes were wide and crazy as he looked at their fearful face.
An ink like marking began to form on his face.
"Heh heh... Ah ha ha ha! You say YOU'RE fed up?! I'M the one who's fed up with all of YOU! No matter how strict I am, no matter how many heads I remove, you keep breaking the rules!"
"All any of you care about is doing what YOU want to do! If the guilty party won't come forward, then I'll pass judgment on all of you! Clearly, none of you value your heads!"
The Heartslabyul Students panicked and began to scram when Riddle raised his magic staff, "Bwaaah! Let's get out of here! Urrrgh…"
But it was too late, all of them got collared in a blink of an eye. Riddle laughed maniacally at the sight of the struggling people.
"Ah ha ha ha! How do you like that, hm? Now no one can do a thing to me! Do you see now? My strict adherence to the rules was clearly the correct path!"
Cater turned to Trey and shouted, "Trey, if he keeps using his spell... This could get ugly, fast!"
Trey who had stepped away from Riddle at the first sight of ink marking, froze, knowing what he meant. He attempted to stop Riddle but Riddle was too engrossed in the insanity of being the one in control to listen to him.
'This must be what Grim's bad feeling was about. This is a really troublesome situation.' Yuu lamented inwardly.
They became wary when the ground began to shake. This doesn't seem like it's very normal? Especially the reddish fog seeping into the air around them.
Yuu tried to gather the trio around them like a sheepdog flocking the sheeps just in case something much more worse began to happen.
Ace let himself be dragged by Yuu as he hollered out at Riddle mockingly, "Wow, way to totally prove me wrong here, pal! I call you a baby, and you immediately throw a temper tantrum!"
Hearing that, Yuu immediately smacked Ace's head and blankly said, "Do that later. Right now you're getting us into a big trouble."
"Retract your comment immediately, or I shall skewer you where you stand!" shouted Riddle back.
"No way. I ain't retractin' squat." Ace replied back by sticking out his tongue at him which earned him a glare from Yuu so he pouted to himself.
Riddle screamed in fury. A large figure began to form behind him out of nothing. A heart shaped jar full of ink as a head with a crown on top of it. It's clothes were torn and sewed randomly in an effort to be called a dress.
'That thing looked like the one in the Dwarf's mine' Yuu's eyes widened slightly.
Cater was positively panicking. This is the first time something like this had happened and staring at it on first seat what not on his list!
"Dude, this is bad! You've G-2-G, now!"
Grim gasped as the rose trees began to pluck out of the ground and float ominously among the red fog.
"The rose trees! They're floating!"
"This is some serious magic!" Deuce commented in fear and in awe.
Riddle's eyebrows scrunched together, the being behind him groaned gutturally. "Mighty roses, tear this brute to pieces!"
Crowley shouted once more "Cease and desist at once!"
Crowley that stupid bird didn't do anything useful except talking. As if Riddle had the right mind to listen to stuff like this. The only words he listen to right now is his alone.
Yuu threw the trio out of the way just in time the being was about to struck them down with the rose tree. But in doing so, Yuu become the only target in the way.
"YUU!?" They scream with fear when the tree reached closer to Yuu's small figure.
But then, something else happened.
Instead of feeling the pain of being crushed or thrown until their bones broken, there was a bunch of small sharp pain all over the exposed skin.
Apparently, the rose tree had turned into playing cards. The force of when the rose tree-turned-to-cards strucked down caused the cards to become deadly as it rained on Yuu.
Yuu sweatdropped when they saw some of the cards vertically stucked to the dirt.
"Nngh?! What just–" Riddle was surprised to see what just happened in those few seconds.
"Yuu, are you alright!? Oh, no! You got hurt again! Why did you do that!? We should go to the infirmary quickly."
"Goddammit, Yuu! We could handle the tree if it hit us! How stupid can you be? You will be a bloody pulp in an instant. You better be glad it turned into cards, at least it gave you small cuts than a mess."
"Myaa, you stupid henchman. If you're gone who will feed me tuna can!? Who will keep the ghost away at night and cook food??"
Their words passed through Yuu's ear to another. They spotted Trey panting with a magic pen laid low in his other hand. He immediately rushed over to them from wherever he had been and now facing Riddle. His mouth open and close from talking but they couldn't hear anything from the trio's loud voice overwhelming their eardrums.
'Hm? The collar is gone. No wonder it felt a bit light' Yuu pat down their neck, feeling the tension ease from the lack of collar.
Grim noticed it and gasped, "All the magic- sealin' collars are gone!"
"What did I tell you? My magic can overwrite characteristics for a short time. So I used it to make "Riddle's magic" into "my magic."" Trey explained.
Riddle casted his unique magic to Trey and the collar efforleslly became flowers, scattering away easily by the wind.
Cater raised his eyebrows, "You can do that? That's some kinda loophole!"
Riddle became anxious before he gritted his teeth in annoyance, "N-no... Off with their heads! I SAID, off with their heads!"
His magic was dispelled instantly by Trey.
"Riddle, stop. Can't you see how you look right now?" said Trey sadly.
The Heartslabyul students that hasn't left yet began to chatter.
"He... He was really gonna do it!"
"He is completely out of control."
"He's like some kinda monster!"
But Riddle doesn't seem to care about that, priotising more about something that involved him, "What? Was my magic overwritten by yours? Does that mean your signature spell is stronger than mine?!"
"Of course it doesn't. Riddle, take a deep breath and listen to us." Trey coaxed him gently.
Riddle face went brilliant red in anger, "Are YOU going to tell me that I'm wrong too? After all I've done to protect the rule of law?! Do you know how much I've suffered for this?! I... I refuse to believe this!"
"Cease immediately, Mr. Rosehearts! Any further attempt to use magic will leave your magestone completely tainted with blot!"
Oh, Yuu forgot Crowley was still there. What in the world is he doing? No wait, he isn't doing anything. His effort was just that, opening and close his mouth. Why is that? He's still useless as ever. What did this person do to gain the title of headmaster? He can't even control the situation properly.
"But... I'm right! I'M the one who's right! There is NO! POSSIBLE! ALTERNATIVE!"
"Riddle, stop!" screamed Trey.
There was a burst of magic which stunned the few people in the area. Yuu squinted their eyes at the sight, not aware of the trio peeking out of Yuu's back to take a look at Riddle.
Riddle's Heartslabyul uniform transformed into some sort of a red shirt with tattered short sleeve with a the short gown in the same condition and parted in the middle to show a perfectly fine pants and thigh tall boots with heels.
Overall, his whole clothes looked like a bizzare dark theme of Heartslabyul. There's more black and red than white. Not to mention there's also ink clinging to his arms like sleeves with bunch of holes and a scar-like ink around the neck.
There's also a very noticeable marking of a heart right on his right eye with a crisscross inside of it.
The being behind him groaned and pull out another rose tree and threateningly raised it at them.
"Heh heh heh... AH HA HA HA! You are fools to defy me! You are not welcome in my world. In my world, I am the law. I am order made manifest! The only response I will accept from you is "Yes, Housewarden Riddle." All who defy me will lose their heads! Ah ha ha ha ha!"
Riddle laughed all his heart out, feeling content in the cries of fear around him.
Crowley said sorrowfully, watching as how Riddle cause chaos in his wake. "Dear me, what have I done? I've allowed a student to overblot in my presence!"
"....." Then you should have done something instead of talking in attempt to stop Riddle.
Grim whipped his head up at Crowley, "Overblot"? What does that mean?!"
"Overblot is a dangerous condition that mages must avoid at all costs. At the moment, he is overcome by negative energy, and has lost control of his magic and emotions."
"Okay, sure... But what does that mean?"
"Please explain!" Deuce yelled out in agitation.
Cater winced at one of the student that narrowly avoided the rose tree that got thrown at them, "To put it in layman's terms, he's in evil berserker mode!"
"If he keeps releasing magical energy, we could be looking at a loss of life here - his included." added Trey grimly.
"Uh, WHAT?!" grim mouth went wide opened.
"The well-being of my students is my top priority. Therefore, I must evacuate them immediately." Crowley wings flared open as he was getting ready to take off, "As for Mr. Rosehearts, we must restore his consciousness before his magical energy runs dry."
"For as bad as losing him would be, there are scenarios that are far worse… Listen well: I need all of you to seek help from the other housewardens and members of the faculty."
"Hiiiyah! Take that!" Ace shouted not far away from them.
Cater, Grim and Trey turned to look at Ace who threw a wind spell at Riddle and let out a loud noise of confusion and bewilderment.
"I summon thee, cauldron!" Deuce shouted next to Ace.
"Myah?!"
Yuu blankly stared at them. They look away for 1 minute and here they are provoking Riddle further.
"What do you fools think you're doing?" Riddle questioned in anger.
"What the–" Yuu grabbed Deuce by the shirt collar just as Riddle casted his unique magic on Deuce and the monster behind him trying to tackle him with the rose tree "–Heck are you guys doing?"
"Yuu!"
"Um, hello?! 911? We've got an idiot emergency!" Cater looked back and forth at them and his group.
"You DID hear that part about how reeeal bad things are happenin' with him, right?!" yelled Grim incredulously.
"That's why we need to stop him now! I don't want that on my conscience!" Deuce replied back, still hanging by the collar.
"And I'm not givin' up till I hear him say "I was wrong and I'm sorry."" Ace then yelled in frustration when the attack didn't do any damage to the monster, "Goddammit. Why isn't this working? This is just like last time but this one is freaking strong."
Yuu looked helplessly at them both and sighed. Stubborn and holding a petty grudge yet soft, that's just so like Ḫ̸̢̥̭̲̪͙̞̜̳̰̮̿̽͘͜͠͝1̸̡͈͉̘̤͚̟̼̞̠̞̭͓̊̈́́͑̈́͊͗̽̌̇̔̈́́̊͝͝m̴̧̛̭̖̩̹͕̿̄̏̇̋͌͝͠ them.
"At least be careful", was all they can said. Yuu is powerless in this matter but creating a plan was something they can do.
"Speak for yourself" Ace mocked them.
Yuu pretended they didn't hear that.
Trey sighed before he said with resolve "All right, let's do this. I can overwrite his magic for a little longer. In the meantime, do what you can! Headmaster, please evacuate the other students!"
"Wait! This is dangerous!"
Cater gave Trey a look of disbelief, "Are you S-R-S, Trey? You can't beat Riddle!"
"So what, you're not even gonna fight unless you KNOW you can win?" retorted Ace who happened to be in the ear range.
Riddle quickly approached him in anger and thus, getting closer to the rest.
Yuu quickly advised Ace to bait Riddle away from the them since he was really focusing on Ace due to his grudge. They also told Deuce to take the chance to ambush him and also take turn distracting him.
"Yeah, he's right. That's weak." Grim agreed wholeheartedly, unknowingly made Cater's will faltered from running away.
"This is the only way we can think of to snap him out of this!" Deuce who was now collarless, yelled from a distance.
"Yeah... I don't want to lose him. There're too many things I've left unsaid." admitted Trey quietly.
"Alright. Please combined your power and fight Riddle. I have a plan." Yuu instantly ordered them.
"Ugh, I do NOT like or subscribe to this, but fine!" Cater used his Unique magic and began to duplicate.
Each of them showed various of expression ranging from exasperation, hesitation, readiness and so on.
Crowley who was still there made a noise of reluctance "Ngh... I'll be back as soon as I've gotten the students to safety. Stand firm until then!"
With that being said, he began to fly away and usher the students to safety.
'Had their feet refused to move from fear?' Yuu wondered to themself, seeing as how there's still many student left.
"Such defiance, from every last one of you! I shall take all of your heads!" Roared Riddle.
Trey urgently reminded them, "Riddle's body can't take much more of this. We need to stop him before it's too late!"
"But the monster doesn't take any damage!" said Ace, "this is on another whole level than the one we fought before."
"You fought someone whos's overblot before?" questioned Trey.
"No. Not really" Deuce answered with uncertainty, "The one we fought before only have the monster. There's no sight of a person nearby."
"Myaaa, then what do we do!?" Grim yelped and dodged a flying branch.
"Aim at Riddle" Yuu said with no hesitation.
"What!? Are you cray-cray??" screamed Cater uncharacteriscally.
"He's about to lose his life and you're suggesting another life risking way?" Trey look at Yuu in horror.
Yuu blinked, "If he fainted then he won't be able to cast anymore spell right? I'm sure he won't go overblot anymore since he's asleep."
"...That does make sense."
"I told you I have a plan."
-
"Hey. Over here you baby! Can't you even walk properly!?" Ace taunted.
Riddle and the monster screamed as they went after him. However, the monster's movement were disturbed as multiple Caters used their magic and aimed at him.
It tried to pick the rose tree on the air but Grim came out of nowhere and breathed out his fire, burning it in the process.
He laughed in victory when every trees it tried to take incinerated, making it a bit defenseless to every spell Cater had thrown.
"Cater will be dealing with the monster. That monster act as a powerful shield and spear, thus hindering us from ever getting close to Riddle."
"We will focus on Riddle. Since we are trying to stop Riddle from using magic any further, we should distracted him."
"Cater's job is to duplicate and make sure to distract it from ever helping Riddle and Grim will assist you."
Riddle turned to glare at both of them but before he had any chance to summon his magic, a gust of wind and splashing water caused him to stumble away from the sudden attack.
Riddle looked up in annoyance and confusion. The sight of Ace and Deuce wielded a magic pen bring him uncontrollable anger.
"Ace and deuce worked perfectly as baits since he held grudge toward you guys. Take any chance to attack him when he got distracted."
Riddle dodged their attack and made a noise of frustration. He use his fire magic and attack them both. However, as soon as that fire reached them both it had turn into a bunch of confetti.
"H-Huh!?" Riddle turned to look at Trey who was standing behind him, multiple Caters and Grim can visibly seen near Trey, struggling to fend off the monster but succesfully occupied it's attention.
"You!? You traitor! I'll cut off your head!" growled Riddle, "I am the rule and you dared disobeyed me!?"
Another bunch of magic were thrown at Riddle, making him grunt from pain and annoyance as well as disrupting his magic.
"Trey, will be the back up. You will help the others by using your unique magic to make sure no harm ever come to them. If any danger had come to you, Ace and Deuce will have your back".
Riddle's movement began to become sluggish. His eyes became weary and droopy and his attack barely had any power and at the verge of being unable to summon due to his muddleheadness. Even his talks became incoherent mumblings.
"I don't think this will make Riddle unconcious, but hurt him instead. Are you sure this will work?"
"Those kind of magic won't hurt him, this is just buying us time."
"What?"
"Trey... How confident are you to overwrite these fog characteristic into a sleeping gas?"
"Keep it going, it's working!" Ace yelled with delight.
"Wh-what is this..?" Riddle murmured dazely, struggling to stand on his two feet.
The monster bellowed near them followed by Cater's shout. The monster was growing weak, it's attacks didn't packed any power in it and didn't even made a dent in the ground.
There were ink dropping from it, almost like it's melting.
"Riddle can't move anymore and that monster is looking weak right now. It's our chance!" said Deuce urgently
All of them started to cast their most powerful offensive magic at it. At first, it tried to withstand it but it only took a few second before it buckled and scream animalistically from being hit.
The monster squirmed but the ink melt faster and faster until it's nothing but a puddle of ink. It then vaporised into nothing.
The moment it was gone, the fog began to dissipate and a clear blue sky can be clearly seen.
It was a mess everywhere they see. There's holes on the ground, countless broken rose trees and red roses scattered all over the place.
And among those bed of scattered roses was Riddle who was back to normal and asleep.
The worriness in Trey's voice couldn't be hidden as he rushed to his side and tried to wake Riddle up as gently as he could.
Yuu approached them slowly and saw that Riddle's eyebrows scrunched together even though he's alseep.
'A nightmare then'. Yuu concluded.
-
Riddle have a dream or rather, a nightmare.
His childhood flashed before his closed eyes. All those sufferings of wanting something but never given. Cooped inside the house and never associating with everyone that his mother never seen fit.
Relentlessly obeying his mother's rule so as to not sparked his mother's anger and dissaprovement.
Day and night, there's only lesson and her eyes watching close. He was lonely, the food he ate barely satisfied him nor was to his liking, but he kept quiet.
If he disobeyed, it will result in punishment. It ingrained severely into him that make him into who he is after he disobeyed the rules.
She is the most accomplished in the city, and therefore the most correct.
However there was a deep yearning for that time he had spent with his friends and that strawberry cake he had for the first time...
"Riddle!"
Riddle shot his eyes wide opened with a gasp. He saw Trey, Ace, the headmaster and the others surrounding and looking at him with different reactions.
From the gaps between their bodies, he saw a terrible mess. He looked around in confusion, wondering where did the marvelous place had gone to.
"He's back!" said Ace.
"Well, it's about time... We were just about losin' our heads here– figure of speech, sorry– 'cause we thought you might never wake up!" Cater sighed in relief.
"What in the world happened...?" Riddle asked puzzlingly.
He couldn't remember what happened that can caused this destruction. All he remembered was that he had became so angry during the duel and something happened. And then, the nightmare...
Yuu noticed his confusion like he had no idea how it had came to this or that he had overblotted.
'Overblot huh...' Yuu trailed off. 'Both of the monsters looked similar with their jar-like head. Crowley didn't mentioned anything about overblot at that time we get back from the Dwarf's mine.'
Yuu looked at Crowley who looked relieved that Riddle have finally woke up with heart full of doubts.
"Don't worry, Riddle. Just try to rest." Trey assured him.
Ace quickly speak out his dissaprovement with no hesitation. "Yo, that's just the sort of coddling that led to him going nuts in the first place! Now the garden is tore up from the floor up, not to mention that we could've died!"
"He's right. It was looking bad for a while there. If it weren't for Yuu's plan, it could have gone for worse." added Deuce.
"For cryin' out loud. When you humans let that stress build up, the results sure ain't pretty." said Grim irritatingly.
Riddle bite his lips down and his eyes started to glisten. "The truth is, I... I really wanted to eat the chestnut tart."
It was so out of the blue that Ace let out a dumbfounded 'huh' in respond.
"And I don't care if the roses are white, or the flamingos are pink. And I prefer honey to sugar cubes in my tea, and I like milk tea better than lemon tea anyhow. And after a meal, I want to be the one sitting around talking with everyone..."
Yuu blinked when Riddle began to cry and admitted everything. The secrets he kept inside his heart poured out so easily like a broken dam.
Who would have thought it's just a child wanting to do what normal children does behind this mean, strong and tyrant facade?
Yuu paused. Come to think of it, this expression..... This certain personality.... It's kind of similar, like they had seen it somewhere.
As if it's a trigger, a face of that p̷̠̟̓€̸̭͈̒̄̆͘®̵̗̽͆§̷̘͎͗¤̶̧̠̪̬̒̀n̷̝̞̝̥̓̕ overlapped Riddle's face and Yuu's breath stuttered.
Yes, that's right. It was Ḫ̸̢̥̭̲̪͙̞̜̳̰̮̿̽͘͜͠͝1̸̡͈͉̘̤͚̟̼̞̠̞̭͓̊̈́́͑̈́͊͗̽̌̇̔̈́́̊͝͝m̴̧̛̭̖̩̹͕̿̄̏̇̋͌͝͠.
"Riddle...?" Trey called out unsurely.
"And I really wanted to play with you and Chenya more, Trey. *Sniff*... *Sniff*... WAAAAAAAH!" Riddle cried even more.
"Riddle Rosehearts, in tears... Hashtag #WOW."
Riddle felt a hand laid on top of his head and began to pat gently. He looked up through his teary eyes slowly to find Yuu with entranced dead eyes stared back.
Riddle blinked his tears away from his blurry eyes. It was strange. How can his eyes looked so emotionless, and the next one reminded him of his mother and now...
Those very same dead eyes emitted such sorrow and yearning underneath it.
Meanwhile, those who surrounded them both were too shocked to say anything when Yuu unexpectedly pat Riddle's head especially the trio since they knew full well that head pattings given from Yuu is usually a sign of fondness.
And to give it to Riddle? He had no good impression or even done something for Yuu that can make them instantly became attached to.
Unless Yuu themself is weak to tears??
Ace hmphed, looking at Riddle with doubt and jealousy, "You think a few crocodile tears is all it'll take for me to forgive you and gained Yuu's sympathy to let you off? It won't be that easy!"
Deuce sweatdropped as he tried to persuade Ace to give a break to Riddle which Ace turned his head away out of stubborn.
Trey sighed sorrowfully, "I'm sorry, Riddle. I knew you were suffering, and all I did was pretend not to notice..."
Riddle who tried to held in his tears started to cry again and sobbed. Yuu paused before continuing again, their eyes appeared to be sympatising and soft. Ace and deuce shared a dark look at this.
"So I'm gonna say what I should have said earlier. Your way of doing things was wrong, and you owe everyone an apology."
"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry." Riddle sniffed as he uttered out those words pitifully.
"I know I've been saying I wanted an apology from Riddle, but now that I got one, y'know what? One stupid "I'm sorry" doesn't even come close to making up for what he did!" They all gasped at Ace reply with an exception of Riddle and Yuu. Riddle looked like he doesn't know what to do but throw a tantrum and Yuu looked they want answers.
"DUDE! Way to be a capital- J Jerk!" said Cater with mouth gaped open.
"And proud of it! Have you forgotten how he made a total fool outta me?! Have you forgotten how he just threw away that chestnut tarts we worked so hard on?! That ain't something you can make go away with a few tears and a flimsy "I'm sorry"!"
Grim whispered to Yuu, "Wow. I ain't never met anyone who was better at holdin' grudges than I am."
Yuu nodded however the part about the tart made them realised one thing. Yuu forgot to mention to them that the ruined yet still edible tarts was all eaten by Grim.
Yes, all those 15 palm size tarts. Yuu didn't expect Grim's tiny body was able to gorge those tarts all by himself.
They might have been too stunned to mention it to them or that they had been completely forgot about it because, well, Deuce did said not to think too much.
"Then... Then what do you want me to do?!" Riddle's voice full of frustration snapped them out of it. Yuu wasn't aware they had already stop patting and removed their hand away.
Ace glanced at Yuu, after a few second he opened his mouth, "You know... I don't got a birthday coming up anytime soon."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" questioned Deuce.
"So I demand a do-over for the unbirthday party! Except this time, we ain't gotta do squat. This time, YOU'RE the one who brings the tart! And no getting Trey to make it for you! Do that, and then things are square between us."
"But Trey had been helping us make the tarts, though?"
"Quiet from the peanut gallery! What do you say, Riddle? We clear?"
Riddle looked down, "Yes... We're clear."
Crowley who had been watching from sidelines smiled pleasingly, "Ah, yes. Compromise is a beautiful thing. I believe that concludes this matter."
Cater sighed, he then glanced at his surrounding, "Welp, looks like we got some cleaning up to do. All that work making the garden Magicam-worthy, and now it's a total tire fire. Laaame."
"I'll help out." offered Trey.
"No, why don't you get Riddle to the nurse's office. That was a full-blown case of overblot. We need to make absolutely sure he's okay."
"Mr. Diamond is correct. I will go along with you." suggested Crowley.
"Understood. Thank you, sir."
"Man, am I STARVED after usin' so much magic! Hmmm Hey, I smell somethin!" Grim excitedly ran to a certain place.
He looked around and sniffed in between. His eyes light up in delight when he held up a black magestone. He eagerly show his finding toward them with his toothy grin.
"Aha! I know my nose ain't lying about this delicious stuff. It's another black magestone, just like the one we found at the Dwarfs' Mine!"
"You're right. Wonder where it came from?" Deuce hummed puzzlingly.
Ace frowned and looked at Grim in warning, "Just don't put it in your mouth this time."
"He's right, please give it to me..." Yuu stared at Grim, their blank face and monotone voice perfectly masked their nervousness and concern.
There was no doubt that this black magestone came from that monster. Afterall, this is area is where it had been dissolved to nothing.
Yuu attempted to take it off from his paw but Grim avoided it and stick out his tongue.
"No way. After how great that last one tasted, I can't get that thing in my mouth fast enough!"
With that, he instantly devoured the magestone.
"Aaand there it goes." Said Ace in resignation as he watched Grim happily savoured the magestone.
Cater who watched this made a disgusted face, "Oh, Grimmy... Have some self-respect, honey! That was literally trash."
"Ahhhhh! Rich and sweet, but with a complex hint of bitterness in the aftertaste. Equally delicious, but with quite a different mouthfeel from that last one I ate."
Grim's face was pure bliss and he didn't even hear a thing what others said. Despite that, Yuu was still worried even though Grim said it was delicious.
They waited for any sign of changes but spotted nothing so they let it be. They quietly noted to themself that if they ever found the black magesone, they will take it away first.
Knowing Grim, it's always first come first serve.
"As a monster, maybe his stomach works differently than ours?" Ace pondered out loud.
"Even still, eating trash can't be good for anyone." said Deuce.
"Oooh! I just tried the grass, and the flavor was surprisingly pleasant! Crisp, eve–" Grim who was happily crunching on the grass got his cheeks pinched and stretched by Yuu who was not really happy that he ate grass. "–H-Hey! I gwet it, I gwet it! I'll stahp eatin it!"
"You should be! That's our lawn you just ate!" scolded Deuce as he pointing agressively at the uneven patch of grass.
"Uh, A-F-K while I go throw up..." Cater's face was full of discomfort as he turned away to leave.
Ace waved his hand dissmissively, "Yea, yea you go do your thing. We're just gonna scold this damn furball over here for eating the grass."
"Hahaha, after you guys just ruined the lawn?" he laughed before he muttered quietly, "But... seriously, guys. Thanks."
"Did you just say something?" Ace raised an eyebrow at him.
"Hm? Nope. Not a thing. BIF, I think you guys should take Yuu to the infirmary." He made a vague gesture to Yuu's face who had various small cuts all over their face and exposed neck." Look at that pretty blemished face, you need to patch those cuts before it turned out for the worse. Ciao!"
The ADeuce duo froze before they shouted in surprise.
"AHH! HOW CAN WE FORGOT ABOUT THIS!? I'M SORRY FOR NOT REALISING IT."
"WE HAVE BEEN STARING AT HIM FOR AWHILE NOW BUT WE STILL DIDN'T REALISED IT!"
Yuu winced inwardly from the loud voice next to their ears.
"Eh, it's fine" Yuu simply said.
It is fine indeed, the cuts did bring them some pleasant throbbing for a while and Yuu already took their time relishing them before it's gone dull.
"No, it's not! Where is your sense of self preservation?" Ace bonked their head with his fist repeatly just like when someone hit a broken TV but not with too much force. "Did the fall on your head somehow made it worse?"
"Stop hitting his head, you might be the one who's making it worse!" Shouted Deuce with an irk on his neck.
He waved Ace's hand off so he can settled both of his hands on both of Yuu's shoulder to direct them away from Ace. "We should go to the infirmary right... now..."
Deuce's eyes trailed off from Yuu's face to their neck. His face went pale and he began to stammer.
Yuu blinked, unsure if there's some terrible cuts had formed on their neck or something. But their sense of pain doesn't tell them there's a big wound or anything.
"What are you looking at? His eyes are up here" Ace clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers twice right at Deuce's face.
"B-But! Here! Didn't you see this?" Deuce touched Yuu's neck, ignoring Ace yell of "Hey, don't touch him". Deuce's rough fingers rubbed carefully and gently at the slash right across the neck. "There's... there's a large healed cut right across his neck!"
"What?" Ace shove Deuce out of the way and leaned into Yuu's personal space.
And true as Deuce said, there was a scar on their neck. It was pinkish in colour and the small cuts from the cards around it enhanced the size of the scar.
This view alone stood out on their pale neck.
Yuu had no emotion on their face as usual as they both examined whatever that is on their neck.
When Deuce mention about the scar on their neck. Yuu recalled that they do have a scar over there but they have forgotten it.
But then again, it's not like they always looked at the mirror to examine themself so it's reasonable to say that they truly forgot about it.
Ace's eyes snapped up toward them in a flash. Yuu tilted their head in respond, a vague gesture of "what is it?"
"Where did you get this? I don't think the cards can make this huge deep cuts" He said seriously. There was shadows on his face as he leaned even more toward Yuu's face. "And it's already healed, is it from that collar?"
Deuce who was frowning all this time, frowned even more at that remarks, "Is this what the collar does to a non-magical person?"
What an absurd thought.
"....It's not. It's already been there for a long time", said Yuu.
"I have never seen this before. Are you sure you're not lying?" Ace rubbed the scar gently, feeling the slight bump underneath his finger as he traced it from end to end.
He had unknowingly used his whole hand around Yuu's neck, and something inside him shivered with glee when his hand wrapped perfectly around their neck. The difference in size was something to behold and amazed at.
He had not realised that Yuu was that tiny. He had always disregard that fact because they were always not entirely there in his mind.
They always dissapeared into the background, present but yet not. They were still the same even when danger came but the difference is that, they will stood into the scene to sacrifice themself for them.
Yuu eyes stared back at him, those dull, red eyes reflected him that was still holding their bare, fragile neck. But he knew those eyes doesn't always reflected him.
'Who was that ghost that haunted Yuu?'
'Who are you trying to save, Yuu?'
The trust they gave to wasn't for him but to that ghost, so he doubted those words.
"I made a promise and I had already fulfilled it. And you asked if I lied to you?" said Yuu with a trace of confusion in it.
'Yes' "No, of course not" Ace schooled his features back to normal.
He felt a hand held unto his shoulder. Ace peeked at the owner of the hand, Deuce cold eyes glared and that hand tighten in warning.
Ace stared for a few second before letting go his hand off of Yuu's neck.
Deuce smiled tightly, but his hand went slacked. "Come to think of it, Yuu never exposed his neck. He always covered his neck with shirt's collar so it would make sense we have never seen it."
Grim who had been clueless about the interaction between Ace and his henchman retorted angrily when Ace accused his henchman of lying, "Yea! Aren't ya dumb, Ace? Of course you can't see it. I know my henchman ain't lying, because I've already seen it before."
"...Is that so? My bad!" Ace laughed loudly as he brushed behind his neck sheepishly. "It's just that he had so many injuries and I thought Yuu was hiding the scar so he wouldn't make us more worry."
His eyes darkened but the smile never faltered, "Since we are all friends, we shouldn't hide things, yea?"
"That's right. There shouldn't be any secrets between us. And that includes hiding your pain and injuries" added Deuce seriously. He put his arm around Yuu as he direct them to the exit, "With that being said, let's go to the infirmary."
"Myaa, what's up with you two? You guys are acting strange!" yelled Grim in annoyance as he followed after them.
'Strange indeed' Yuu thought to themself. That one second moment where Ace and Deuce glanced knowingly at each other didn't escaped their peripheral vision.
Who would have thought this simple scar would have changed them so abruptly for a few minutes. As far as they concerned, this scar is just the same as the others.
It came from a sharp object, it's not different from that the cuts they had from the flying stone or the cards.
Yuu inwardly shrugged and dismissed it completely.
-
"All hail our leader, the Red Sovereign himself... Housewarden Riddle!"
"We salute you, Housewarden Riddle!"
Riddle walked down the path laid down for him, the students proudly raised their magic pen above their head, akin to a knight raising his sword.
His face was serene as he swept his eyes across the place, the tables and it's feast.
"Hm. The garden roses are red, the tablecloths are white... This seems a proper unbirthday indeed. Is there a dormouse asleep in the teapo-" He held in his tongue before continuing, "Er, well, I suppose it's fine either way."
Trey smiled at that, "Not everything has to change completely, you know.
Like, maybe spread the jam on your scones, instead of on the dormouse this time? Let's try to set the bar at "it's great if it's this way," not "it absolutely has to be this way." "
"Yes, that makes sense...."
Ace arrived at the unbirthday party with a sigh as he loudly complained, "I can't believe we got roped into cleaning up and prepping the garden again."
"Well, at least the housewarden recovered from his overblot without any complications and Yuu had no tiny scars anymore, thanks to the healing potion the Headmaster gave us." Deuce piped in happily as he entered the venue.
Cater cutted in after that, holding his phone up as he took a few pictures. "And the garden is Magicam-worthy once again! Hashtag #nofilter on this gorgeousness!"
"Blah blah blah! Let's just eat already!" Grim grumbled, his stomach growled at the smell of desserts.
"Then eat we shall! I'll get the–"
"–Wait a minute!" Riddle interrupted suddenly.
"Huh?"
Riddle narrowed his eyes at some trees, "There's a white rose...!"
Ace choked when he saw what Riddle saw, "We missed one?!"
"Ace, Deuce, I told you to make sure to paint EVERY rose!" Cater called them out instantly.
Deuce gaped his mouth open at the blame, "Wait, this is our fault?!"
"R-Riddle, listen..." Trey have a nervous face when he attempted to calm him down, "I think you should try to understand first..."
Riddle sensed Yuu's gaze and his cheeks went tinted pink before he coughed lightly on his fist, "Well... I suppose I can overlook one or two missed roses.
Cater blinked before smiling, "R-really?! That's so generous of you, Riddle!"
"If we work together, we should be able to get them painted in no time." He suggested, already raising his magic staff in anticipation.
Ace yelled in disbelief, "What? They still gotta be painted?!"
"Even so... I'm impressed. You've changed, Riddle." Said Trey, feeling a little bit proud and happy.
Grim grumbled when his stomach growled for food, "I'm starvin' here! Let's just get these stupid roses painted or whatever!"
Riddle was already heading toward to said tree with a small yet excited smile, "All right, is everyone ready?"
"When's the last time you did the painting, Riddle?" Trey smiled as he reminisced the old time.
"Hard to say. I've let the dorm members handle it since I became housewarden."
"It's kinda fun once in a while. Well, less so with a bunch of clueless freshmen." Cater smiled teasingly at the trio.
"Hey! Do you mean us?!" Ace glared at him.
"After all the painting I've had to do, I'm about to wipe the floor with Riddle!" Declared Grim with confidence.
Riddle smirked as he raised his magic staff, "Heh. We'll see about that."
Despite haven't done this for a long time, Riddle effortlessly painted all the roses in one tree in one go. He hmphed proudfully at his work.
The others began to follow suit, painting all of the remaining tree.
There were bickering here and there but Yuu who have been watching them for awhile from the sideline couldn't help but think that the scene were quite harmonious and peaceful.
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Yuu paused and closed their eye. They've done it again. Snippets of memories flashed before their eyes.
What is their ties with H̶͍̊1̶̜̝̃ͅm̵̢̠̖̱͠?
Why does their chest began to ache?
It made them hesitant to remember and they wondered, what will their heart felt when they meet H̶͍̊1̶̜̝̃ͅm̵̢̠̖̱͠.
"–So demanding! I thought you were finally gonna chill out some." Ace whining snapped Yuu's from their thought. They glanced to Ace who reluctantly redo his paint. "This is like my second time painting roses using magic. As much as I hate to admit it, of course, it's a terrible work."
It looked like they were almost done. Ace only have to repaint it properly before it's officially finished.
Cater laughed, "He might chill out a little, but he wouldn't be Riddle if he weren't a perfectionist."
Riddle hummed in agreement, "Like I always say: if you're going to do something, do it perfectly. I want the very best party! And that means no cutting corners!"
Ace squinted his eyes at him just as he was done. "So what happened to that tart, Housewarden?"
"I made it for you, as I promised I would." He brought them all, including Yuu, to a table where he personally sit and made them all sit down before presenting a tray with a huge strawberry tart on top of it before them. "Here: one strawberry tart, crafted by yours truly."
Trey took one look and instantly brighten up and proceed to compliment him. "Nice! The shape's a little off, but I can tell you put a lot of work into that glaze. A fine job indeed, especially considering it was your first!"
Ace scoffed, "Oh, puh-leeze. How about we actually TRY it before you start fawning all over him, Trey?"
Just as Trey began to cut it, Cater interupted him while holding his phone up for a picture.
"Hold it! Don't you start cutting that before I get my Magicam snap! ...Okay, got it!"
Ace clicked his tongue, "Tch. I see Cater hasn't changed a bit either"
Trey chuckled as he carefully and efficiently cut the tart to several pieces and put them on different plate. "Here, Take a plate. I already cut them."
Everyone took their plate excitedly, only Yuu was given personally by Trey with a wide smile.
Yuu was unsure why he does that but they still nodded and thanked him.
"All right, let's dig in!"
They all began to munch their tart. Riddle nervousness shown through his calm exterior when everyone's expression started to change at the same time.
"Hmm...?"
"This is kinda..." Trey and Cater said at the same time.
"Salty!" They all shouted in synchronization.
Riddle was startled that he let out a 'Whaaat?!', unexpected that his tart were not to his expectation.
"Err? This isn't KINDA salty - it's a full-on salt lick! What did you put in this?!" Ace scrunched his face.
"But I followed the rules exactly, and measured everything precisely! Unless..." Riddle frowned before his eyes lit up in realisation, "Oh! Could it be... from the oyster sauce?"
Deuce sputtered, "Wait... did you actually use that Walrus-brand oyster sauce Trey jokes about?"
"But Trey said that oyster sauce is an unlisted secret ingredient in all tarts! He said all the finest bakers use it..."
Ace tone was that of preplextion but the corner of his lips couldn't help but rose at each words he uttered, "And you actually believed him?! How could you not tell that he was joking?!"
"You fell for it too, Ace!" said Deuce which prompted a smack on his mouth by Ace who shushed him.
Cater raised both eyebrows at Riddle, "Even if you believed the joke, it was only supposed to be a splash. How much did you put in?"
"It's an unlisted ingredient! How could I measure it if he wouldn't tell me how much to put in?!" defended Riddle, his cheeks became red for believing the joke.
"Pfft... Ah ha ha ha ha! I can't believe someone actually fell for the ol' oyster sauce prank!" Said Trey with a teary eyes
"Ha ha ha... Yes. Quite humorous indeed. I truly am a fool."
"Ha ha! It really is so disgusting that it's actually kind of funny!" said Deuce with a grin.
Ace followed him,"Yeah, what else can we do but laugh?"
Grim piped in, "You know, in it's own weird way, I think it's actually kinda good!"
"Right? It really isn't half as bad as you'd think." Cater unexpectedly agreed with Grim.
Deuce blinked at him, his voice lowered with skepticism "Seriously? You're agreeing with Grim, Cater? He literally eats garbage off the ground."
"Look, I'm not saying it's amazing or anything!"
Trey cutted in with a knowing smile, "But you like it because it's not sweet, right?"
"Huh?"
"You've never really liked sweet things, right?"
"Yeah, you got me." Cater laughed sheepishly, "But how did you figure it out? I've never told anyone that."
"Because you casually bring up my 'Paint the Roses' spell every time we're eating sweets. You hide it pretty well, but that was a giveaway."
Cater jumped, playfully covering his face as if he was embarassed, his grin still etched in place. "Ack! My secret is out! This is so so embarrassing! Especially after what happened to you and Riddle. I should have learned by now that keeping your feelings on the DL is not a great idea."
Trey laughed at that, "How about I cook up a quiche for the next unbirthday party?"
"That sounds totes amazing to me. Just make sure it's as photogenic as the tarts!"
And while they were talking to each other, Yuu had been staring at a floating piece of cake next to them for awhile. Their tart already long finished.
"......" Yuu doesn't know what to think about when the floating cat-eared head appeared into view and took another bite.
Che'nya eyes squinted in delight when their eyes met. He munched the floating cake, swaying aimlessly in the air toward them.
When Yuu realised his intention, Yuu immediately steered away from the invisible hands that attempted to hug them and make their head as his head rest.
They looked dissaprovingly at him whose purple tail swayed side to side slowly with a mischeivous grin on his lips.
"Hey hey hey~ How is everyone's tarts taste like? Does it bring joy as it should be? A sweet tingling to your tongue? If it is, then let's do it again and again." He crooned, making the others jumped, dumbfounded at the appearance of the unwelcome guest.
"Che'nya!?"
"Mm mm mmm! Your baked goods are always so delightful, Trey."
"What are you doing here, Che'nya!?" Yelled Riddle.
Che'nya smiled broadly as he casually took the tart and ate it, feeling the saltiness of the strawberry cake bursted in his taste buds.
"Hm? I came to celebrate my unbirthday with all of you. A very merry unbirthday to you, Riddle."
"The unbirthday party is a Heartslabyul House tradition. It does not pertain to you."
"And those two? What about them?" Che'nya's flying hand attempted to touch Yuu which they effortlessly dodged and on the verge of smacking it away.
"Hey! You're that weird semi-invisible cat guy from before!" said Grim. "So you never told us–what dorm are you from?"
"Che'nya isn't even a Night Raven student. He's a student at our long-time rival school, the Royal Sword Academy." said Trey with rounded eyes.
"Whaaat? You go to a different school? No wonder we haven't seen those clothes around." Commented Deuce.
"The frickin' Royal Sword Academy, no less?!" said Ace loudly.
The moment Ace said that, every students nearby perked up.
"Did that guy just say the "Royal Sword Academy"?!"
"He's one of those pompous jerk-faces?!"
"What?! Who's from Royal Sword? We gotta run 'em outta here!"
Che'nya laughed when the students simultaneously sat up and ran toward him. "Well, now that I've tasted some tart, perhaps I should see myself out."
"He's running for it!"
"After him! Don't let him get away!"
Grim was amazed when they all started to chase after him. "Whoa, everyone turned bloodthirsty real quick."
Riddle quickly explained, "The vast majority of Night Raven College students perceive the Royal Sword Academy as the enemy."
"No surprise, given that they've kicked our butts every year for a hundred years straight..." Trey winced at the memories.
"Hey, stop harshin' the vibe! This is supposed to be a day of celebration. Can't we all just enjoy our unbirthdays?" said Cater with a pout.
"Myah! Merry unbirthday or whatever! I'm gonna eat till my stomach explodes!" Grim declared before gorging on the nearest dessert.
"Eat slowly, it won't go anywhere..." Said Yuu after being quiet for a long time. They sighed as they wiped his messy mouth with a handkerschief.
"Dear prefect," Riddle called them out, Yuu turned to look at him and spotted a strawberry cake in his hand.
Yuu glanced at him to find that he was avoiding their eyes and his cheeks were tinted red. They approached him slowly, leaving the table and the others behind.
"Erm, that... I baked this cake for you." Riddle stammered. Yuu tilted their head at those words. Why would he baked a cake for them? Riddle owed them nothing but to Ace and the others.
Seeing that Yuu doesn't seem to get it, Riddle pursed his lips before explaining, "I just remembered that I've said some terrible things to you when I overblotted..."
"I thought that I'd make this cake as an apology but seeing that the tart was too... salty. I guess this one was the same too. So, erm, I was thinking of throwing it away and redoing it but–"
Riddle whole face became red at this point, not from anger but from embarassment. He planned to give this cake to Yuu when the time was right and not so many people around.
However, when he learnt that the tart tasted salty, he planned on baking the cake all over again since he had added the same ingredient he poured into the tart.
But the thing is.... Why is he standing here admitting it instead of holding back his tongue and redo the cake again before presenting it to Yuu?
Riddle blushed harder, where did all his perfectionist skills go? To think he presented such a failure of a cake to the dear prefect that had saved his life was unforgivable. It made his apologies sounded insincere!
Seeing that Riddle had frozen and having a various thoughts in his mind made Yuu worry. They don't understand what's going or what they exactly did for Riddle to personally bake an apology cake for them.
Sure they remembered about the lack of education and parents thingy but to them, it wasn't really much of an insult. Those kind of thing doesn't hurt them at all.
Their train of thoughts directed them about throwing the cake away because of how unpleasant it tasted is simply just rude and a waste. And not to mention, Riddle work hard on this and to make him bake again just because they doesn't accept his apologies?
Why, Yuu isn't that cruel.
Yuu picked a fork and cut a small piece. Their action snapped Riddle from whatever dilemma he was having. Yuu put the cake into their mouth and as expected, it was also salty.
Spotting the strawberry, Yuu plucked it off on top of the cake and plop it into their mouth to wash away the aftertaste. Then, they licked their lips in case there's creams stucked there.
Everything looked normal to Yuu but to Riddle, it looked enticing. From the way they leaned forward to opening their mouth to take a bite as well as the way they plopped the strawberry into those soft pinkish lips and licking it.
Riddle flushed furiously when Yuu's eyes met his. Riddle started to stuttered incoherently, unsure what to respond.
Yuu blinked and saw a flash of H̶͍̊1̶̜̝̃ͅm̵̢̠̖̱͠ doing the same thing, fidgeting and blushing as he offered a peace offering. This made them smiled fondly unconciously, unaware that Riddle happened to witness and caused his heart to skip a beat.
Yuu think inwardly, 'Did he got overwhelmed in gratitude that I had accept his apology cake? But I haven't properly thanked him for making the cake yet.'
Yuu gently took the plate of cake away and said, "Thank you for the cake."
Riddle experienced a lot in the same moment he felt like the cogs in his head had started to stop working.
His face was already heated up he felt like bursting. He turned his head away and cough to his fist in an attempt to get rid his blush.
"T-thank you and I apologize for the taste. I'll bake it again to make it up for it."
"You don't have to–"
"But I insist! As a housewarden, I must not let our guest, a savior nontheless, to eat such cake. It will make a bad reputation for the Heartslabyul dorm if I allowed it."
"What do you think they're talking about? Riddle's face is so red but he isn't scowling..." Deuce whispered to Ace suspiciously.
Their table was a good meter away from them both so they couldn't hear anything other than watching their reaction.
"Who would expect he fall like that so easily. To our dear prefect as well..."
"What are ya talkin about?" said Grim after chewing, "you all better hurry up before I gobble all of this!"
"Nothing you should–What the–!? Hey! Did you just steal my pie?" Ace almost shrieked when he saw his missing pie.
"I told you, you should hurry up." Grim taunted him with the said pie in paw.
"You lil–!"
"Hey, the forks!"
Both Yuu and Riddle's one-sided conversation was cut short when Ace, Grim and Deuce who somehow got roped in almost dropped a bunch of plates, trying to steal back the foods from each other.
Cater started taking pictures of the aftermath and posted at Magicam as Trey smiled sheepishly at Ace, Deuce and Grim who got scolded by Riddle.
Yuu who is at the sidelines stared, the feeling they were quite familiar with yet forgotten, rose as each second passed, reminding them once more.
All those antics and smily faces, no matter how similar it is to H̶͍̊1̶̜̝̃ͅm̵̢̠̖̱͠ or how many time they had interacted with, They don't think they will ever fit it.
It just doesn't feel right.
-
"Awww, sounds like those Heartslabyul twits are having some kind of feast today. Must be nice. How come Savanaclaw doesn't have any traditions that involve eating lots of free food?" Ruggie whined as he scroll down Cater's Magicam account. The longer he stared at the food, the more his stomach grumbled. He sighed sorrowfully.
"Bah, it's a beautifully sunny day and they're stuffing their faces with cookies and cake? Grossin' me out over here." Leona who was gazing at the bright sky grumbled. His sharp green slitted eyes lazily turned to look at Ruggie. "Anyway, Ruggie. You know that's not what I'm here to ask you about."
"Ah, that. Just leave it to me, Boss. All the preparations are proceeding smoothly!" Ruggie grinned cunningly.
Leona smirked in satisfaction. His tail swayed lightly at the good news. "Then those fools won't be happily guzzling tea for much longer. That goes double for that snob Malleus. They got no idea what's comin'... Heh heh. Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"
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A/N:
The Heartslabyul Arc finally end.
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