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Emica grumbled as she tugged her bag back onto her shoulder when it started slipping. She went looking for Grim when she didn't find him in the cafeteria, which was odd considering he usually wants to stay there until lunch ends just so he can get a third meal.
"Who else would I mean? Epel is in the middle of something rather important. There are less than two months until VDC."
A familiar voice made Emica's head turn towards it. It was Vil standing across from Ace, Deuce, and Grim who didn't look like they were having any sort of friendly conversation by the looks on their faces
The dorm head turned to the boy with purple hair; he didn't look happy.
"You don't have any time to spend with potatoes that haven't even been washed yet. Don't try to make a pass at him in the middle of his lessons."
Ace made a face that made it look like Vil insulted his mother. "What? What the hell's your problem?"
Emica gave him a look with something along the lines of disappointment.
I just hope an all-out brawl doesn't ensure or else when they get in trouble, I get roped in because of Grim...
"We weren't trying to intrude."
The purple-haired boy peeled away from Vil's side, the sudden southern accent making Vil's face scrunch up in disgust. "Vil, stop talkn' down t' 'em. Th-This is my..."
"Epel, how many times have I told you to enunciate properly? We have nothing to talk about if you fall out of character every time you get emotional. You can't possibly become the red poison apple at this rate. Time to go, Epel." The man turned around without sparing a glance, the boy who Emica assumed was Epel looked hurt, almost like he was on the verge of tears.
"...But I don't want-"
The cold look on Vil's face was enough to make him stop talking. "Have you forgotten your promise to me? Just be quiet and come with me."
He looked frustrated as he stared at the floor, his fist balled up.
"Hey jerk, you might be a dorm head but I don't care. He would rather be doing anything else." Ace remarks.
"And I'm not gonna take your whole "potato" comment lying down, y'know." The monster added with a tone that usually meant he was about to cause trouble.
"Wh-Whoa guys. You do remember that the headmaster told us specifically "no picking fights", right? What if Emica finds out? She'll kill you herself... So don't provoke him."
Epel nodded, trying to give them a sympathetic look. "D-Deuce's right. I'll be fine so..."
"Hmmm. You have a lot of spunk for a bunch of spuds to talk back to me." Vil had a cruel smile as he looked down at them, "This will do as a nice replacement for my afternoon walk. Shall we see what you can do before I turn you into mashed potatoes?"
"No no, I don't think so. I think that's quite enough thank you." Emica waved a hand in front of Vil as she pushed Ace away who was getting closer and closer to the dorm leader. "I don't think it's a smart decision to be starting fights in the middle of the day, especially without authorization." She looked at Vil, a warning to stay clear glinted in her eyes.
"Emica? What're you doing-"
"I didn't say you could speak." The three looked at the floor to avoid his gaze after she turned to fully face Vil, fully facing his chest since he was a whole foot taller than her. "I'm sorry if my friends said anything stupid but getting in a fist-to-fist fight is a rather stupid way to handle all your problems. Now, if you'll excuse us, we must get going." She pushed Ace and Deuce back so that they'd turn around and follow her, as well as nudged Grim to stop staring and get going.
Vil stared at her with a bewildered expression while Epel looked at her with surprise.
"...Did she just... scold me?"
----------------
"Look, Emica, we're sorry, we didn't mean to almost start a fight."
"No, I'm not going to accept that apology. You know damn well you weren't supposed to engage in any of these stupid little quarrels." Her eyes seemed to glow in the dark hallway. Ace, Deuce, and Grim knew they couldn't look away, or else they would probably be in more trouble. "I don't know the full extent of why you guys provoked that, but I'm sure it was something stupid. And I know to some degree that Vil should've acted better, but that doesn't mean you guys can't." Emica looked upset, really upset.
"I hope you guys come up with a better apology by the end of the day, I'll be in the library." She turned around and quickly walked around the corner, leaving the three to themselves.
They all looked at each other and sighed.
"I didn't know she'd be that angry over something so small." Grim grumbled.
They found themselves back in the courtyard sitting under the apple tree, now in a more somber mood.
"I think she should be rightfully so, I mean. We've been in numeral fights, well, you two maybe, but, she's always been the one to deal and de-escalate with them. There's only so much she can take and I guess this was her breaking point." Deuce sighed as he leaned back.
"We weren't even going to fight Vil just for the sake of fighting Vil! We were defendin' that guy!" The monster argued as he looked up at the apple tree.
"Maybe she didn't hear the full conversation...?"
Ace stayed silent through their whole discussion before they eventually turned their attention to him.
"Ace, you look constipated, what're you thinking of?" Grim asked when he turned away from the apple tree.
"Did you guys notice how upset she looked? She's normally pissed when this stuff happens, but, this is the first time I've seen her with an expression like that." He mumbled as he stared at the ground.
"Well, don'tcha think she'd tired of dealing with us, and everyone else at this school? She's been doing it for half a year." The two boys looked at Grim.
"What do you mean?"
The monster deadpanned the two and rolled his eyes. "Of course, you numpties wouldn't know. I think she's helped almost everyone at this school probably numerous times. I think she's stayed up during the night more times than she's been awake. She maintains being at the top of our grade while helping others who are failing. And aside from being probably the smartest person I know, even if I don't want to admit it myself... Ahem, she's dealt with every overblot there has been so far, don't you think she's burnt out from all of this?"
Ace and Deuce looked at him stunned, they didn't think Grim could be so observant, but here he was, explaining all of his observations. It would make sense since he and Emica are practically joined at the hip with how much they are together.
"I don't think we've helped her with any of that since she's always swooping in and taking care of it in less than a second. I think the most we helped her was with how to use a phone." The monster grumbled. "She hasn't received any help from Crowley to get her home, it's like he wants to keep her here so that she can do his chores! I found a drawer the other day stuffed with letters to her siblings that she can't send because our deadbeat headmaster keeps putting her off! Every time we go to his office to ask about it he just interrupts her with an 'Oh! I'm sorry, I'm just so caught up in work I can't properly research, but I'll go to the library during my break, we just got a new shipment of books!'. She just thanks him and goes! It's weird how she hasn't punched him in the nose yet." He shook his head in disappointment and crossed his little arms.
"Now that I think about you, you are right about practically all those things." Deuce sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know how she hasn't blown up the school yet..."
"Nyehehe! I'm glad you think so."
Ace was once again in a moment of silence until the other two were staring at him.
"...I think we should start making her apology. I'm sure Riddle will understand when he asks us why we weren't in class."
______
Different colored rays of sunlight beamed through the stain-glassed window. The sun was beginning the set. Most of the students in the library left to go to their respective dorms, leaving Emica in solitude in the corner of the second floor of the library. It wasn't as well-lit as the other parts of the library, but she could make do with it.
Emica found herself in a better mood after spending almost 5 hours reading through books she already read and a few new ones that recently came in. Reading took a lot off her mind since she could just focus on the book itself rather than the issues outside, thus leading her to spend much of her free time here.
"God, when did this place become a labyrinth? It's always so dusty and it smells like an old lady!"
"Oh, quit your complaining, we've been in here for two minutes, we aren't lost."
The girl looked up from her book to see Ace, Deuce, and Grim bickering. They spotted her and soon fell silent as they approached her.
She raised a brow. "Yes? How can I help you?"
They all gave each other a look and nudged Ace who was hiding something behind his back.
"Uh... We just... Look, we know we can be agitating some of the- OW don't pinch me... Sorry, most of the time." Ace glared at Deuce who was looking away. "But we don't want you to be angry or upset at us, and this is probably going to be a situation where it'll happen multiple times because unfortunately, that's how we are, but we will keep apologizing until you forgive us." The red-haired man declared as he looked down at Emica. "Oh yeah, we also made you this."
He shuffled his hands around and slammed it on the table. The cake had the world's worst frosting job anyone has ever seen with words you could barely read spelling out "We're sorry :(".
They stared at her in silence as she bewilderedly looked at the cake. Emica suddenly made a strained noise as she covered her face before bursting out in hysterical laughter. The three looked at her slightly confused and a little scared.
"HAHAHAha... Oh! That is the ugliest cake I've ever seen!" She wheezed and covered her mouth.
"Well, that wasn't nice..." The monster grumbled.
She waved him off and wiped the tear in the corner of her eye away. "Oh... Sorry, that just caught me so off guard I couldn't help it." She smiled at them while they were still very confused. "I've had people break in and come into my chambers to beg at my feet to be forgiven, but I've never had an apology quite like this one." She looked at the box with a small smile. "I wasn't really mad at you, more like upset you guys didn't handle it the way you should've. But I know how sincere you all are so I can't stay upset for very long. I hope you guys learned something from this, I know it wasn't your fault entirely, but still." Emica gave them a look of understanding.
They gave each other a smile in success before they looked back at her.
"Can we eat the cake now, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep myself from eating the entire thing..." The monster drooled, causing a set of amused and disappointed looks from all around.
"Did you guys make this yourself or did you have Trey help you? It smells strangely nice.."
Grim gave her a cocky smile. "We made it ourselves-"
"We got the recipe from Clover and made it ourselves, although we did need some help from him because someone kept getting eggshells inside the batter." Ace hissed as he glared at Grim who wasn't even paying attention.
"Well, I'm sure the librarian won't mind if we ate here." She shrugged, knowing that they probably wouldn't be caught because of how deep they are in the maze of a library they are in.
The three boys looked at each other and smiled. They were just glad everything was back to normal.
___
Lunch had began, which meant that almost everyone had flocked to the cafeteria for lunch.
"Well, they're probably preparing for the cultural festival happening soon." Ace said as he stretched himself.
"That makes sense... So why're we here?" Emica asked as she sat on one of the bleachers and placed her bag to the side of her.
"We're here practicing for the VDC, remember?"
"no..."
The red-haired boy gave her the nonchalant version of disappointment. "You didn't hear anything we were talking about...?"
She grumbled and crossed her legs, "I was on the phone, dimwit, why would I be listening to you guys?"
"Are you going to join us, Emica?" Deuce asked.
She quickly averted her eyes away, "Nope. Seems unnecessary."
Ace unfortunately caught her eye aversion. "Wait... So you can't dance or sing ey?"
"Y'know, not everyone can suddenly dance and sing right out of the womb... And how did you even come to that conclusion?"
He seemed to find amusement in her failure, whereas Deuce was a little more confused. "I get the singing bit since it's pretty hard... But I assumed you could dance, you always look like you're dancing when you're fighting with a sword."
Emica smacked Ace over the head to stop his weird giggling. "The only form of dancing I can do is a waltz, it was required since we attended many balls and galas. And unfortunately for you, I wasn't raised as a lady of the court, so I was never taught to sing." She glared at Ace. "I never thought about how I looked when I fight, but I guess it would make sense for you to assume I knew how to do anything other than a waltz from all the twirling and weird side-steps, huh?"
Deuce nodded understandingly.
"Jeez, that locker room smelt like something died in there!" Grim ran from the locker room, why you may ask? He just wanted to look at himself. "Okay! We should get that dance down first. Start the music!" He shouted at the girl who just simply rolled her eyes and connected her phone to the speaker.
They got in their respective positions as the song started playing.
"Okee. Give dancing along with the song a go first." Ace smiled as he looked back at the two before he gave Grim a smirk. "Grim, you don't strike me as a dance. Have you ever tried?"
"Heh heh. Watch and behold the wondrous footwork of my hind legs.
Deuce looked a lot more nervous than the other two. "I-I tried to learn what I could last night, but I'm not sure how well. Oh, Emica, think you could clap to help with timing? That'd be great!"
"Yeah, I'll metronome for you."
Ace managed to get the first part of the dance down surprisingly well while Deuce barely caught up to Ace.
"Alright, so far so good." He smiled as he redid some parts he messed up on.
"Right arm goes forward when I step back then... Wait, which foot do I step back with?"
"Left foot Deuce, left foot."
Grim grumbled as he fumbled with his paw. "Ffna, next comes the peace sign? My forelegs can't make a peace sign, y'know..."
"Pfft. Whoa, there guys, this is the easy bit and you're already falling apart."
"Grr... I'll have this part down in no time. Watch!"
Deuce groaned tiredly as he rubbed his face. "Ugh... This part makes no sense to me, it's too complicated.
"Ace, how're you so good at this?"
The red-haired male only gave them an evil smile. "Master Ace, please help me!" Say that and I might just give you some tips."
"Ahh hell nah, bros got a superiority complex."
"Ffgna! Just cause you can dance a little... Grr, you tick me off, y'know!"
"You just stand right there, I'll get better at dancing without asking you for help! Ya got that?!
"Bwahaha! Deuce, you're tripping over yourself with even the simplest of the steps." Ace doubled over laughing while Deuce glared at him.
"Ugh... I've never danced before, so how am I supposed to be a master in a day?!"
"Grrr. My front and back paws kept moving at the same time."
"I don't think teaching yourselves is gonna work very much," Emica mumbled as she looked around when out of the corner of her eye appeared Jamil and Kalim.
"Oh? You guys are dancing? Can we join you?" The white-haired boy asked with a bright smile.
"Ffna. It's Scarabia's prickly boys."
"Don't give us random group names. And our relationship isn't prickly."
"Are you guys going for the VDC auditions, too?" Ace asked as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Uh-huh! It's a big festival, right? I wanna take the chance to dance my butt off. We're both good at dancing and singing. Right, Jamil?"
He sighed, "I'd like to not stand out in front of people but... *Sigh*"
"We were watching you guys practice from the back, but you totally suck! You looked like a freaked-out elephant stomping around on two legs! Ah hah hah! Right now you're super unsteady on your feet, but you'll have to sing at the same time during the audition. Are you okay?" Kalim asked.
"Guhh. There wasn't any malice in that which hurts worse."
"He just ripped you guys a new pair on accident, huh..."
"Oh yeah, you were helping Floyd learn how to dance during basketball practice before. Isn't dance your hobby? Couldn't you please give us some pointers?" Ace queried, looking at Jamil.
"Oooh, good idea! Jamil's the best coach."
"Why are you replying?!" He coughed in his hand in a way to brush Kalim off. "*Cough* Well, they say teaching someone else is a good way to review, so I guess I can. Novices should start with isolation. Put your feet shoulder width apart..."
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HAVE Y'ALL SEE THE NEW EVENT OMG
ik I said I didn't really want to write events but maybe I wanna do this one 🌚 if y'all don't know what event I'm talking about it's the Glorious Masquerade: Crimson Flowers and Bells of Salvation, you can find translations on youtube! (the one I watch from is Ekala)
also i've got like 71 wishes saved up for scaramouche but knowing my wishing luck i'm not sure if I'll even get him 😔 AND I ALREADY HAVE TOO MANY ANEMO CHARACTERS WHY DID THEY MAKE HIM ANEMO 😭