*Ciel's POV*
We walk outside of the school right after class had ended like we had planned so it would be easier to get the chestnut. I looked around to see some apple trees and other kinds of trees with fruits on it. After looking around for a bit and me keeping Grim from eating the other fruits, we found the kind of tree we were looking for. In front of us was some trees filled with chestnuts in their leaves and they were ripe too. Luckily for us, the trees weren't to tall in height, so it was easier for us to grab them.
'Good thing I remembered what a chestnut looked like or else I would've been doomed.' I thought to myself
"Whoa! There really are a ton of chestnuts just layin' around. I'm gonna be livin' large on chestnut tarts! Mmm! Let's get grabbin'-" Grim cheered as he began to reach for one
"Wait, Grim don't! You'll-" I was cut off by Grim's cry of pain
"YOWCH!" I wince as Grim was holding his paws
"Hurt yourself from the spikes..." I stated as I began to check his paws
"Myah! The chestnut spines pricked my paws!" Grim shouted
"Luckily, no spikes were left in your paws, so you should be good Grim." I said as I let go of his paws
"I don't think we can do this with our bare hands. And we need something to put them in, too." Deuce informs us
"Maybe we can find some supplies in the botanical garden?" Ace suggested
"It wouldn't hurt to look." I said as Deuce nods in agreement
"Let's take a look." Deuce said
We went to botanical garden with Deuce and Ace leading since me and Grim don't know where it's located at the moment. Once we were there, we enter the building which was unlocked so we counted ourselves lucky. The sight before me left me in awe at what was all around within the garden. There were so many plants, some were that of flowers and others were fruits and vegetables. There were decorations that I don't know what they're called and bridges in some parts in the garden.
"Whoa, I didn't realize this place was so huge." Ace said in awe as another flash of a memory came to my mind.
"I remember my home having something similar but by a different name and a bit smaller." I said as I looked around at the many plants.
"If it's this large, it's got to have a groundskeeper. Let's split up and look." Deuce stated as Ace and I nod in agreement.
"Sure, Dibs on the right side." Ace said
"Then how about I go left, while Grim and Ciel go straight ahead?" Deuce suggested
"Will do, come on Grim." I said as me and Grim went straight as the Deuce and Ace went down their paths.
Me and Grim looked around to see if we could find the groundskeeper but with little luck as they were nowhere to be seen. Then I watched as Grim ran up ahead to what looks to be different types of fruits as he motions for me to come.
"Hey, come take a look at this! There's a ton of fruit growing here! Smells like they're ripe, too!" Grim said as I chuckle a bit
"I don't recognize these plants at all." I said truthfully as I felt I had stepped on something
"Ouch!" I looked around but didn't see anyone
"Huh?" I looked down but noticed nothing
"Feels like I just stepped on something..." I said as I heard noises behind me
"Hey! You got some nerve steppin' on my tail and just walkin' away!"
I turned to see that it was the boy that wanted to leave orianations, but this time he seems to be in his school uniform. Or what seems to be most of it with the jacket being missing, though he didn't looked bothered. Based on the colors of his vest, I was able to tell that he was from Savanaclaw. Though he doesn't seem to be in a good mood as it looks like he was woken up from his sleep.
"Are you the groundskeeper? Not sure you oughta be talkin' to student that way, pal." Grim asked
"Ain't nothin' worse than bein' in the middle of a good nap and havin' some jerk step on your tail." The boy said
'Then maybe don't leave your tail on the path...?' I thought to myself to avoid angering the boy
"You... I know you. You're that herbivore from orientation who couldn't use magic." The boy said with a smirk
"Yeah... Wait a bloody minute. Herbivore?!" I asked in shock as he got closer to me
"*Sniff* *sniff*" I flinched when I felt him smelling me
"Are you... Smelling me?!" I said in a surprised tone
"Huh. It's true. You don't smell of magic at all. Well, can't say it'd be much fun to hurt someone so helpless. Still gonna do it, though." The boy said
"I dunno what's up with this guy, but when he looks at me, it makes every follicle of fur stand on end..." Grim said in fear as I held him in my arms
"He's defiantly no good..." I stated as I backed up from the boy
"No one gets to stomp on my tail and just walk away without payin' the price. I'm in a bad mood on account of bein' woken up from my nap, too. That's gonna cost you a tooth." The boy informs me
"I can't afford to pay anything!" I shouted
"Ciel! Cheese it!" Grim yelled at me
But before I could run away from this boy, another boy, who had the same colors on his uniform, came towards the three of us. He had animal ears and a tail, but I didn't know what the name of his animal features were. He looked to the boy that was gonna hurt me with a smile and relief, but I also saw a tiny hint of annoyance.
"Leona! There you are!" The boy said to the other boy in front of me
"Heh?" Leona questioned, clearly annoyed from being interrupted.
"I knew I'd find you here! We git after-school classes today, remember?" The boy reminds him
"Ugh... And now I've got this guy on my tail..." Leona groans
"Leona, you've already had to repeat one year. If you get held back again, we'll be in the same grade!" The boy explains
"Oh, put a sock in it already. I'm tired of all yer yappin', Ruggie." Leona said
"Look, you think I like always being on your case? C'mon, man. You act like it'd be hard for you. You could skate through life if you'd just TRY. Come on! Let's go already!" Ruggie said with a deadpanned look
"Hrmph... Next time you stink up my territory, there's gonna be a price to pay, herbivores!" Leona threaten us as he left with Ruggie
"Myah! I don't like the sound of that! What is up with this nutso?" Grim asked after we both made sure he was gone.
"Yeaaah, I don't think he's the groundskeeper..." I said as I saw Ace and Deuce coming towards us with the supplies we need.
"Yo, guys, we found baskets and tongs." Ace said with a smile
"What in the world happened to you two?" Deuce asked as he noticed our shaken state
"Oh, right, the chestnuts! We gotta gather those chestnuts so I can get my tart on!" Grim said as he had forgotten about the chestnuts
"We'll fill 'em in on the crazy groundskeeper while we forage." Grim said to me
"Agreed." I said
We left the botanical garden and went back to the chestnut trees and began to grabbed them with our tongs. As we were doing so, me and Grim took turns explaining the events that took place while they were looking. I let Grim finish the story as I focused on getting the chestnuts and get my mind off of what happened.
"... And then he peaced out!" Grim finished
"Yeah, no way was that guy the groundskeeper." Ace said as he grabbed some of the chestnuts
"Y'know, now that I think about it, he WAS wearin' the golden vest of that pajama-clog dorm." Grim stated as he grabbed some of the chestnuts
"Pajama... clog? You mean Savanaclaw?" Deuce asked
"I think that's what he meant, I was able to tell what dorm he was in thanks to the information Trey gave us." I inform Deuce as he nods
"You know, I'm starting to think that there's an awful lot of delinquents here at Night Raven..." Deuce said with a tone I couldn't recognize
I push back my question about the tone to the back of my mind and focused on the chestnuts collecting. I can ask that question later at a much more better time, but right now it wasn't appropriate. After a while of collecting, we managed to fill our baskets to the brim with hopefully enough chestnuts for Trey.
"All right, that should be enough chestnuts. Let's get these baskets over to Trey!" Ace said
"Myahaha! Now that we're all gassed up, it's destination: Flavortown, baby!" Grim cheered
We pick up each of our baskets and made our way to the cafeteria, where Trey was waiting for us. It was a bit slow getting there as we were carrying baskets of chestnuts and they were heavy. But we managed to get there and made sure that Riddle and any other student didn't see us so the plan wouldn't be messed up. Trey saw us and let us inside before leading us to the kitchen, I didn't see Cater so it looks like he was doing something else.
"Welcome back. Looks like you got plenty!" Trey said with a smile as we placed the baskets on the counter.
"Now you can make us some massive tarts!" Grim cheered
"Well, the bigger the tarts, the harder it'll be to peel all these nuts, so... good luck with that!" Trey informs us
"That makes sense, I guess?" I said in confusion
'How would I know? I can't remember much.'
"We have to peel all of these...? Suddenly the whole room is spinning..." Deuce said in a daze
"Preparation is the key to good baking." Trey stated
"Yeah, yeah, I know. We've come this far. We're not giving up now!" Ace said
"It can be tricky to peel a chestnut right, but that's where magic comes in." Trey states
"Ace and Ciel can't use magic, though, so it's the hard way for them." Deuce inform Trey
"Just watch me wipe the floor with you even without magic!" Ace shouted at Deuce
"How do I use this...?" I asked to myself as I had a 'I'm screwed' look with a smile.
"You guys... mmph!... ftand back and *munch* watph a mafter!" Grim said as he eat some of the ingredients.
"Hey! Quit stuffing your face full of the ingredients!" Ace shouted at Grim
"Bad Grim, no eating until we're done." I said as I back handed him
"Ouch!"
We began to peel the chestnuts one at a time as Trey was helping us, and he showed me how to peel as well. Deuce and Grim were using their magic to peel the chestnuts while me and Ace had to do it manually. But despite this, me and Ace kept a steady pace with the two as Ace was focusing at the task at hand. While for me a faint memory of me peeling a potato came to mind, which helped me peel the chestnuts much more faster and easier. After a while of peeling and getting half way, Ace showed us a perfect peel to me.
"Look, Ciel! Look! A primo perf peel!" Ace said as he showed me the peel
"Nicely done, Ace." I said with a chuckle
"Wow, Ace. You're remarkably deft." Trey complimented him
"I mean, one of us has to be. It sure ain't the furball or the tryhard." Ace jabbed at Grim and Deuce, but not towards me.
"Hey! My peels are perfectly fine, thank you. See?" Deuce showed us some of his peels
"Yeah! If you hold mine up next to Ace's, you couldn't even tell 'em apart!" Grim said as he showed off his peels
"They got you there, Ace." I teased him as he pouts
"Haha. Well, it's good you're all so fired up, because you still got a ways to go." Trey informs us
We continue peeling, I saw that Grim and Deuce were getting tired along side with Ace, but they continued to push through. I wasn't tired like them but that's probably due to the fact that I had peeled something before in the past. But my arms were beginning to hurt but I pushed through to keep up. After a while we finally got to the last chestnut as Deuce used his magic to peel it as I looked at all the peeled chestnuts.
"That was the last one. We're all done!" Deuce cheered
"Very nice. Even the manual side managed to get through pretty quick." Trey smiles as I smile and Ace smirks
"Well, duh. Any job's good as done if I'm on the case!" Grim said with a smirk
"All right! Next comes the straining." Trey said as Ace, Deuce, and Grim looked at him in shock
"There's MORE?!" Ace cried out as Grim and Deuce groans while I laughed a bit
'Did they think this will be easy? I already knew that this wasn't gonna be easy... Maybe I should've told them...'