Maria P.O.V Heartslabyul Dorm - Trey's room
We ran to Heartslabyul dorm to check on Trey after hearing the news about his accident, when we got to Trey's room
"Pardon the intrusion" Ace said as he opened Trey's door
"Trey! Are you okay?" I asked as I rushed inside and headed towards his bedside
"Maria, I'm okay. I apologize for making you worried" Trey said
"Yo, glasses! We heard you're down in the dumps and came to pay our respects!" Grim said
"Oh, it's Maria-chan and the A-Deuce combo! Plus Grim" Cater said as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders
"Ah, hello... Cater, what's that A-Deuce thing?" Ace asked with a confused look
"Huh? It's cause both your names ends in '-ce' so I put them together" Cater said with his arms still wrapped around me
"Don't be lazy!" Deuce shouted
"More importantly, how's Trey's injury?" Ace asked
"What happened Trey?" I asked sounding worried
"I miss-stepped going down stairs. I did my best to catch myself, but my right foot is toast. I'll be in crutches for a while" Trey said, and I looked at him sadly
"Aw! Don't be sad, Maria-chan!" Cater said as he hugged me
"Ah, that's a pretty bad injury" Deuce said
"I'm probably completely out of this year's Magift games" Trey said, and Trey walked towards Trey's bed with a can of tuna
"I wasn't gonna do this if it wasn't a big deal but... Here, a get well can of tuna. Keep your chin up, glasses" Grim said as he handed him the can of tuna
"Haha, thanks a bunch" Trey said
"Ugh, cut me some slack. Our star player, Trey is out makes everything harder, and we have to do the tryouts again" Cater complained
"!! Tryouts?" Both Ace and Deuce said in unison
Then we heard the knocking sound, and entering the room was Riddle
"Hm? What are you all doing? Taking over an injured person's room..." Riddle said
"Ffgna! It's hot headed Riddle!" Grim screamed in fear
"Hot headed, huh. I won't get angry if you all don't break the rules" Then Riddle turned to look at Trey "Trey, how are you? Is there anything you want to eat or drink?" Riddle asked
"Didn't I tell you not too worry about me so much?" Trey said
"But... It's my fault you got hurt..." Riddle said with a sad look
"What does that mean?" Ace asked
"Riddle, what do you mean?" I asked as Cater released me from his hug
"I had something to take of, so I went to the 3rd year classroom during lunch. Then..." Riddle started to explain what happened
Flashback~
"I'll be a little late, so start Magical Shift practice without me" Riddle said to Trey
"Sure" Trey nodded, and Riddle was about to leave
"See you later... Wahaaa!" Then suddenly Riddle started to fall
"Riddle! Watch out!" Trey managed to protect Riddle, but it ended up him getting hurt in the process
Flashback end~
After explaining what happened, Riddle looked like he was ready to cry
"Trey went out of the way to keep me from falling down the stairs, and got hurt..." Riddle's voice started to tremble
"I'd think you'd be good at falling after flight class. I sprained my ankle, that's nobody's fault" Trey said as he tried to calm Riddle down
"But..." Riddle's voice still sounded trembled, and Ace tapped on my arm
"Maria, is this..." Ace whispered to me
"This is just like the other cases from the other students" I whispered back
"Now, now, Riddle! No getting all gloomy, alright. It sucks what happened to Trey, but you'll just have to fill in his part as well" Cater said, and Riddle started to calm down
"Ah, yeah. You're right" Riddle said
"I think it's about time to let Trey get his rest. Outta here everyone" Cater said as everyone started leaving Trey's room, but before I left, I kissed Trey's cheek and left Trey's room
No one P.O.V
We went to the lounge, and Riddle started talking first
"Okay, Cater. Is there something you don't want to talk about in front of Trey?" Riddle said
"Very nice, Riddle. You catch on quick" Then Cater looked at Maria "Maria-chan, do you know anything about how Trey got hurt?" Cater asked, and Maria started to explain everything about what she knew so far and how the headmaster gave her the job to figure out the case
"I see, so that's what the headmaster thinks..." Riddle said as he put his finger under his chin
"Thought so. You guys didn't come here to just wish Trey well, except for Maria-chan" Cater said
"Actually, I thought something strange was going on, so I had Cater start gathering information" Riddle said
"It was obvious pretty quick that all the people getting injured were starting candidates for their teams like Riddle and Trey" Cater said
"At that time I didn't trip over anything or feel someone push me from behind" And Riddle was deep in thought about the incident "But... how should I put this, it felt like my body moved on its own" Riddle said
"Everyone else was saying something like that!" Grim said
"I think it's safe to say someone intentionally is targeting Magift candidates" Riddle said
"They're targeting their rivals to up their standing in the Magical Shift Tournament?" Ace asked looking shocked
"The whole world will be watching. One's performance in their matches can lead to a career in the future. It's not strange that some will do whatever it takes" Riddle said
"Hmm. Still, it's weird. You didn't feel any weird magic coming from behind you, right?" Cater asked
"Yeah, it didn't feel like an attack" Riddle said
"There were some who were injured during class. I really wonder what's going on?" Cater asked
"We will just have to catch the culprit spill everything when we catch them. To that end, I will assist you in the search" Riddle said, and Maria's eyes widen
"Really? You're gonna help us?" Maria asked
"Huh? You're gonna help? What's your angle? Especially you, Cater!" Grim shouted and pointed at Cater
"Wow, rude much. This is what you do when your fellow residents are targeted" Cater said sounding hurt, and Maria smacked the back of Grim's head
"If that's the case, we'll help too" Ace said
"We gotta get payback for Trey!" Deuce said
Both Maria and Riddle looked at them with a surprised look at their determination
"You guys are all fired up" Riddle said
"No kidding" Maria said and Cater understood their intentions
"Oh, I get it. You're after those open spots on the team?" Cater asked with a knowing look on his face
"Hehe, you caught me" Ace admitted
"N-No, I'm not! We have to look out for each other!" Deuce said trying to defend himself
"My goodness" Riddle sighed "I'll take it into consideration depending on your efforts in finding the culprit" Riddle said
"Yay!" Both Ace and Deuce cheered and Maria giggled at them
"Back to what we were talking about. If we're going to catch them, we need to anticipate their next move" Riddle said
"Anticipate them? How?" Grim asked
"You mean like guarding them or something?" Maria said
"Exactly, my rose. We'll put a guard on the students that seems likely to be the next target. When something happens, we promptly get the student to safety. Then we hunt down the culprit in that immediate area" Riddle explains
"Amazing. So it's both guarding and stakeout strategy" Maria said looking amazed
"That's exactly right, Maria-chan!" Cater said as he hugged her "Among the many starting candidates, there's already a bunch that I've got my eye on that seem like they'd be next. I'll make a private group on Magicam so we can message each other. Take a look at the group's album, okay?" Cater said as ding was heard from their phones, and looked at the group message
"Diamond, this is a huge amount of info" Deuce said looking surprised
"I know~ Now let's go figure out the next target" Cater said
"And we're off! Let's go!" Grim said sounding excited, and the group left Heartslabyul
Pomefiore Dorm
Once they passed through the mirror that leads to Pomefiore, they were greeted by the brightness of the dorm. It took the group awhile for them to get used of the brightness, and they started sneaking inside the dorm's lounge
"First up, Pomefiore Dorm. I've marked third year Rook Hunt in my Cater Check" Cater said as he pulled out his phone
"Last year, Rook was a stand out player. But there's something off about him..." Riddle said
"Ah, isn't that him sitting over there?" Deuce asked as he pointed at Rook who was in his dorm uniform and sitting next to the lavender haired boy that they saw during lunch
"Wow, I didn't know the dorm uniform for Pomefiore will look amazing" Maria said, looking in awe
"They look almost shiny..." Ace said as he squinted his eyes
"Non non, little Epel. It is not elegant to put your fingers through the handle when you drink tea" Rook said to the lavender haired boy named Epel
"Eh... Ah, alright. I'm so sorry" Epel apologized
Standing by the table was the dorm leader, Vil
'He looks gorgeous' Maria thought to herself as she looked at him with an awe look
"I am still undecided about the makeup for the tournament. I'm very curious about the new foundation from Felicite Cosmetics" Vil said
"Ha ha ha! My lovely Vil, our Rui du Poison! Your light is not so fleeting that it needs cosmetics to compensate" Rook said
"I am aware, my dear. But if I want to aim one rank higher, I can't hold back" Vil said
"Wonderful! That spirit of yours, it is truly marvelous!" Rook said
"Huuummmmmn. That guy doesn't seem strong at all. If I was the culprit, I wouldn't go after him" Grim said
"Remember Grim, looks can be deceiving" Maria said
"That's very true. Now, let's go check the next group" Cater said as they started to leave Pomefiore without being seen, but Rook caught a glimpse of a long rose blonde hair and smirked
Courtyard
"Next is Octavinelle Dorm. For my Cater Check, I marked the brothers Jade and Floyd Leech as high probability" Cater said as he pulled out his phone again "According to my info, they're known for their combo attacks and using them to wipe the floor with any opponent" Cater said, and the group looked at the identical twins
'Oh. I didn't know Jade has an identical twin' Maria thought to herself
"Wah! There's two dudes with the same face" Grim said looking surprised
"They are identical twins Grim" Maria said to Grim
"Then you want to mark those two?" Deuce asked
"Hmmmm. If I was the culprit, I'd saved those two for last. Those guys... especially Floyd, aren't the people I want to get anywhere near to" Riddle said feeling nervous, then they heard a playful voice
"Aaah! It's Goldfish!" Floyd said as he appeared in front of the group
"Ggh! He found me!"
"Goldfish, what're you doing? Hide and seek? It looks like fun" Floyd said as Riddle hid Maria behind him
"F-Floyd. How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that weird nickname?" Riddle said
"But you're small and red, just like a goldfish" Floyd said
"This guy's a weirdo" Grim said
"Wow, a talking cat!" Floyd looked excited "So funny. Hey, hey, can I give you a squeeze?" Floyd asked
"S-Squeeze!? No way!" Grim hid himself behind Maria's legs
'When did I become a shield?' Maria asked herself with a sweat drop
"Ah! You're the coffin girl! You're very pretty~" Floyd said looking at Maria with a lovestruck look
"T-Thanks..."
"What's this? Heartslabyul is all together" Jade said as he appeared from behind "Are you perhaps doing reconnaissance for the Magical Shift Tournament?"
"Uummmm... It's actually a rather long story..." Cater said feeling nervous
"We cannot simply overlook your attempts at spying now can we" Jade said with a grin "Could I trouble you to go into detail about your reasons for coming t spy on us?"
"This guy's demeanor says calm and collected, but his eyes aren't smiling at all..." Ace said feeling scared
"A-Anyways, pardon the intrusion!" Cater said as he grabbed Maria's hand and the group started to run away from the twins, but the twins decided to chase after them
To be continued