⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
"𝓣𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓜𝓪𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓣𝓲𝓶𝓮!"
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
After the gang got the chestnut baskets, they immediately headed towards the school kitchen where they'll meet Trey to start the tart making. "Welcome back. I see you got all the chestnuts." Trey greeted.
"With this, we can make a huge tart!" Grim grinned. "Peeling all this is going to be a challenge, but, let's get to it." Trey said. "All of this... There's no end in sight..." Deuce sighed. "Making sweets is all about preparation." Trey stated.
"Yeah yeah, we get it! I'm so ready to get this over with!" Ace groaned. Ayaka immediately got to work, as she peeled the chestnuts at rapid speed. Everyone aside from Yuno looked at her with wide eyes.
"Ehhh!? How are you doing it that fast, Ayaka-Chan?!" Ace yelled in shock.
"Such rapid speed..." Deuce muttered.
"Does your hands feel tired from doing that?" Trey asked.
"No" Ayaka answered, still continuing. "Ayaka is always the one making desserts at home. So with her speed, she does the baking in a short amount of time." Yuno stated, peeling the chestnuts.
'Makes sense...' The fellow boys sweated.
After a long time of peeling the chestnuts, well, a short amount of time for Ayaka, everyone managed to peel all the chestnuts. "Puuaaah! We're finally done with the peeling!" Ace sighed in exhaustion.
"My arms hurt..." Deuce groaned.
"Haha. Good job. Your hard work will make it tastier." Trey complimented. "I'm full from just the smell." Grim commented, drooling from the smell.
"Next, we mix butter and sugar into the chestnut paste then add oyster sauce as the secret ingredient." Trey instructed. Everyone was a bit baffled by this information. Ayaka raised a brow at Trey's words, since the oyster sauce will be too salty for the tart to taste sweet.
"Oyster sauce!?" Ace, Deuce, and Grim yelled in unison.
"Yep. The savoriness of oysters adds depth and richness to the cream. Here's young oyster sauce with the walrus' seal of excellence. Famous patisseries use this in their tarts." Trey explained, holding the bottle of oyster sauce.
Now Ayaka really feels like Trey is just trolling them, cause no way people would use anything salty as oyster sauce to be thrown into a tart. She would know since she's an expert Baker herself, so she'd know what salty ingredients to add to balance the flavor.
"Seriously... That's a pretty salty sauce." Deuce said, not feeling sure about this. "Even chocolate gets in curry all the time... It might be good." Ace thought about it.
Yuno and Ayaka deadpanned at their words. "Senpai, maybe you should stop messing with them." Yuno sighed, facepalming. "Oyster sauce is an automatic no to add to desserts." Ayaka said. That's when Trey bursted out laughing. "Pfft. Ahaha! It's a joke. Oyster sauce does not belong in sweets." Trey stated, with a grin on his face.
"Screw you! You said it with a straight face." Ace pouted.
"Haha! If you took a second to think about it, you'd figure it out. Don't just accept things without a healthy amount of skepticism. Even Yuno and Ayaka saw what I did there. Better study up." Trey teased.
"This guy looks nice, but is pretty good at lying..." Grim crossed his arms at the ivy-haired senpai.
"You know what they say. Those who seem the nicest has another side of them." Yuno said, deadpanning at his senpai.
"Next is the whip cream... Ah!" Trey suddenly realizes something. "What's wrong, Senpai?" Ayaka asked. "You all gathered so many chestnuts that I got ahead of myself and made too much marron paste. We don't have enough whipped cream to mix into it." Trey explained.
"I can go out and buy some. Is it sold at the school store?" Deuce insisted. "You can find anything at that place so it should be there. Could I ask you to pick up a few other things? 2 cartons of milk, a dozen eggs, aluminum cups, and 5 cans of fruits..." Trey noted.
"I don't think I can carry all that alone. Ayaka-Chan, do you mind coming along with me?" Deuce asked
Ayaka smiled, "Sure, I don't mind."
"I'm going too! I'm tired of mixing flour endlessly." Grim said, joining in, while hopping on Ayaka's shoulder as the trio left.
«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»
Ayaka, Deuce, and Grim headed over to the Mystery S's shop to pick up some ingredients. They walk in to see so many different items around them.
"Pardon us... Wow, this place is amazing. There's a crystal skull, grimoires... What kind of taxidermy is this?" Deuce questioned.
"Woah. Do they sell whip cream here?" Grim asked, surprised by this store. "I've never seen a store like this in my life..." Ayaka commented.
The shop owner, Sam, walks up to them. "Hey! My lost little Koni-Chans, how goes it? Welcome to Mr. S's Mystery Shop. What can I do for you today? A charm for uncharted lands? Mummy of an ancient king? Or how about some cursed tarot cards?" Sam suggested.
Grim yelped at this, and hid behind Ayaka. "Ffgna! You scared me!" He said. "Ano, We'd like the things written here." Deuce said, handing Sam the shopping list. "And some cans of tuna!" Grim added. "No! We don't need any tuna!" Deuce scolded.
"It's fine, Deuce. After all, the headmaster promised those canned tunas for Grim, so I'll get them myself. Excuse me, can you add some cans of tuna for Grim as well." Ayaka requested.
"Of course! Coming right up! Nani Nani? Whip cream, eggs... A sweet line-up! Ok! Coming right up!" Sam immediately grabs the ingredients.
"Thanks, Ayaka!" Grim thanked.
The three waited for a few minutes for their order of ingredients. But, Sam arrives back with the ingredients. "Sorry for the wait. It's a bit heavy, you got it?" Sam asked. "If you order now, you can get a 1/100 size floating platter to carry your purchases for 30% off." Sam recommended.
"What's that, it sounds so cool!" Grim beamed, intrigued by this. "W-We're fine! Time to go, Grim!" Deuce immediately rejects, pushing Grim out of the shop. "Ffnya! I wanna hang out more!" Grim complained.
"Ok, ok. Make sure to come by again, my little Koni-Chans!" Sam waved to them goodbye.
After they left, they each carried a bag full of the ingredients for the tart. "Man, that store was crazy." Deuce commented. "Tssk. Stingy Deuce." Grim muttered under his breath. However, Deuce heard his comment. "Who are you calling stingy?" He asked.
Deuce looks over at Ayaka, holding her bags. "Ayaka-Chan, are you feeling okay carrying those bags? I-I can carry them if they're heavy for you!" Deuce insisted. Ayaka lightly shook her head. "I'm fine, Deuce. But thanks for asking." Ayaka politely declined.
Ayaka turned her attention to Deuce. "Do you usually buy a lot when you go shopping? That's something you can get used to?" Ayaka asked. "Yeah. My mom always buys more than we need during time sakes, and I get stuck carrying all the heavy stuff. Since I'm the only boy, it was my job to take care of anything requiring strength... Oh, my bad. I've just been talking about myself." Deuce said.
Ayaka smiled at him, thinking his actions were very caring of him. "You must really care about your mom. Your mom is really lucky to have a caring son like you." She smiled.
Deuce frowned at her words. "...That's not true at all. I always made mom..." Deuce began to trail his words, until he bumped into someone. "Ooof!" Deuce ended up dropping the eggs that were in the bag, resulting in them breaking.
Ayaka and Grim panicked at the sight. "Aaah! The eggs!" Grim panicked. "Shit, half of the eggs are destroyed! There's eggs all over the bag!" Deuce panicked as well.
Ayaka looks over to whom Deuce bumped into, and what do you know, it was the same Heartslabyul delinquents from the cafeteria who nearly started a fight with Grim for the carbonara egg drop, which resulted them to get hurt by her. "Hey you! Watch where you're...wait... You're the fools that wrecked the egg in my carbonara earlier." The delinquent whose egg dropped at the cafeteria said to the four.
"Oi, Oi. You can't catch a break!" The other delinquent joined in.
"You were the ones who jumped out from behind the corner. At lunch, it wasn't like you couldn't eat the egg anymore but you still came to pick a fight... Just now, you destroyed half of our eggs." Deuce muttered, loud enough for the delinquents to hear. "Yeah, that's right!" Grim joined in.
"And? You saying it's our fault?" Delinquent A questioned. "Yes. Please pay for the eggs. And please apologize to the chickens, too." Deuce said, trying to sound polite, although a hint of anger was lingering in his voice. "Hmmm? You're getting all worked up over eggs." Delinquent B said. "Huh?"
"They didn't hit the ground, right? Don't sweat the small stuff." Delinquent A said. "We saved you trouble from breaking them!" Delinquent B added.
Ayaka heard a small mutter coming from Deuce. She could've sworn she heard him say "...to laugh about..." The delinquents look at him questionably. "Huh?
"This ain't something to laugh about! You don't get to make decisions for us! These eggs... Instead of becoming a chick, they were gonna make us a delicious tart! You get it! Huuuh!?" Deuce yelled, cracking his fists. Ayaka and Grim can see the big change on Deuce's face and in his tone of voice.
The two delinquents flinched back at his change of attitude. "Eek! What's this guy's problem all of a sudden!" Delinquent B said, sounding scared. "If you don't wanna pay for the six eggs you broke... I'll punch you six times instead." Deuce threatened.
Ayaka would have stopped Deuce by now, since they shouldn't fight on school grounds again. But yet, the delinquents were the one who won't apologize. Her parents tell her that if someone is dealing with certain problems, it's best to let them deal with it. Ayaka can see that Deuce is getting more angry by this, so she thinks it's best to let him be. Although a part of her partially regrets that decision.
"Grit your teeth, assholes!" Deuce yelled at the top of his lungs, as he started to beat up the upperclassmen.
Ayaka and Grim had a scared and worried expressions, watching Deuce easily beat up the delinquents from Heartslabyul.
After Deuce beat up the Delinquents, they immediately stumbled back in fear from Deuce's wrath.
"T-This guy is straight up mad! That wasn't just six hits! Liar!" Delinquent A said in a stuttering tone.
"Let's get the hell outta here! I'm sorry to all chickens!" Delinquent B yelled, and he and the other delinquent ran away.
"Apologize 100 times next time you eat eggs! Dumbasses!" Deuce yelled at their retreating figures.
Ayaka flinched at this change of attitude. "I-I think you can tone down the trash talk, Deuce..." Ayaka said. "Eeek!" Grim whimpered, hiding behind Ayaka.
Deuce huffed his breathing, before he realized what he did. "What's gotten into you?" Grim asked, still a bit frightened. "I-I screwed up... I vowed that I'd definitely, definitely be an honor student this time...!" Deuce said, utterly ashamed of himself. Ayaka and Grim were confused and concerned about this. "What do you mean, Deuce?" Ayaka asked, genuinely concerned for him.
"In middle school, all I ever did was screw around... I constantly skipped school and spent all my time getting into fights. I disrespected all my teachers, hung around sketchy upperclassmen, and bleached my hair to death. Even ran around all over the place riding a magical wheel. I was a terrible person that went as far as to use magic to lot over those who couldn't." Deuce explained.
"Just now, you went full bad boy on those guys!" Grim exclaimed. "I never would've guessed..." Ayaka commented. Ayaka remembered when Deuce suddenly had a change of tone back at the dwarf's mine when he got angry at Ace. "I do remember you changed into a bad boy tone back at the dwarf's mine for a bit." Ayaka said.
Deuce looked down in shame and guilt at what he was gonna say next. "Then, one night... I saw my mom hiding away in tears as she called my grandma. 'Was the way I raised him wrong? Would it have been better if he had both parents?', she was wrong. Mom never did anything wrong. It was all me! So when the carriage from Night Raven College came to get me, my mom was so happy and I don't want to make her cry again. This time, I'm going to be an honorable student my mom can be proud of... Then I do this. Shit!" Deuce cursed.
Ayaka felt bad for Deuce. For him to have such a delinquency background in the past, only to try to change for the better for the sake of his mother. It kinda reminds her of her father's background when he was younger. He tried to change for the better as well, but he completely changed when he met her mother.
"You know, Deuce, you can't be an honor student if you keep your feelings beared in like that." Ayaka said, surprising Deuce. "Huh?"
"I agree! Those delinquents deserved another 10 punches if you ask me! You fought them before I could. Even Ayaka had the urge to fight them." Grim agreed.
Deuce stared at the two in shock, utterly surprised by their words. "You guys..."
"Deuce" Deuce turned his attention to Ayaka, seeing her walk up to him. "If you plan on being an honor student, the best way to be one is to show your honest self. If you keep bottling up those feelings, then it'll just spill badly. It's okay to be mad, a lot of students get mad. Even if it means you're being mad for the things you see is right, then you're already an honorable student to me. Real honorable students are honest, and will always try their hardest to do what is right." She stated, making Deuce's eyes widen.
Deuce tried to retain himself from letting tears form as a blush coated his cheeks. "Ayaka-Chan..." He muttered.
Ayaka smiles up at him. "We'll support you as much as we can to help you become more of an honor student." Ayaka said.
"Really? ...heh heh. May those baby chicks rest in peace." Deuce smiled softly, feeling relieved.
Ayaka sweat dropped at him, not knowing how to bring up the truth about the eggs.
"Uh, Deuce, I hate to say this but, there won't be any chicks." Ayaka said, sheepishly. Deuce's eyes widened after hearing that. "Eeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh!!?? You've got to be kidding!" Deuce yelled, feeling like his whole life was a lie.
«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»
The three of them made it back to the school kitchen, with Deuce still sulking from the information he got from Ayaka about the chicks. Ayaka keeps reassuring to him that he has a good heart for thinking that, as much as it did sound stupid. "Oh, you guys are finally back. That sure took a while." Ace said.
"Let's finish this up." Trey said, as he gave the rest of the instructions to the first years as they were doing what they were told to finish up the tart.
"Last, we dust the top with powdered sugar..." Trey said, as the first years finally dusted the powdered sugar on the tart. "Finished!" Ace and Grim said in sync. "Finished..." Deuce said, without any enthusiasm. Ace raised a brow at Deuce's sulky figure. "Did something happen while you were out shopping?" Ace asked.
Ayaka smiled sheepishly at him, choosing not to say why. "Just leave him be." She responded. "For 16 years I believed that..." Deuce muttered in despair.
"Making sweets takes so much time. I'm exhausted..." Ace sighed in exhaustion. "Making desserts takes a lot of time with precise prepping. Even the small mistakes can ruin the dessert." Ayaka informed.
All of the sudden, Cater comes by. "Good work~ Is the tart finished? The decorations are super cute!" Cater smiled at the tarts.
"It's totally magicamgramable! Let me take a pic." Cater quickly took a picture of the tarts. "Ah! What'd you come here for?" Ace asked the orange-haired upperclassmen, sounding grouchy. "I came to check on my cute underclassmen, working so hard. Ahaha, you look beat!" Cater laughed.
"So you chose to come at the last minute?" Yuno sighed.
"Things you aren't used to tire you out quick. So when you're tired, you need to eat something sweet. Go ahead and try to Mont blanc we made." Trey said.
"Yay!" Ace, Grim, and Cater cheered.
"Cater-Senpai, you did come here just in time to try the tart!" Ace said in amusement. "You can just think of me as the taste-tester." Cater replied.
"Waaahaaa... It smells so deliciously sweet. The chestnuts on top are glossy, while the cream underneath is so fluffy! Itadakimasu!" As soon as he said that, everyone took a piece of the Mont Blanc and tried a bite, and the look on their faces were pleased.
"Holy crap!" Ace yelled, staring at his tart with wide eyes. "Umai!~" Cater chirped in as well. "Sugoi, it's like what you get in stores." Deuce said, utterly surprised. "It's not overly sweet but still has richness to it! It's like a garden of chestnuts in my mouth!" Grim smiled, still chewing on the tart.
Ayaka chewed on the tart, with sparkles in her eyes. "This is really good. I forgot how good Mont Blanc's are." She said. "You haven't made them in a long time." Yuno commented.
"It's like the ones in the stores." Deuce complimented. Trey folded his arms, "Is that really a compliment?" Trey asked sheepishly.
"Hey Trey-Kun, do the thing." Cater said, patting Trey's shoulder. "The thing?... Aah, that." Trey realized. The first years tilted their heads at this. "Huh?"
"What is everyone's favorite foods?" Trey asked all of a sudden.
"Mines cherry pie and hamburgers." Ace answered.
"My number one is canned tuna. And cheese omurice, and grilled meat and pudding~" Grim listed off.
"If I had to pick, Omurice, I guess." Deuce said.
"I don't exactly have a favorite food. I just like eating foods with rice." Yuno shrugged.
"And mine is grilled Lamb with Diablo sauce. What about you, Ayaka-Chan?" Cater asked.
"Hmmm. I like eating lots of things. But the one food that brings me a lot of happiness is fruits with cream." Ayaka smiled.
"Alright, here we go... Doodle Suit!" Trey used his magic on the tarts that the first years, plus Cater, took a bite out of. The first years grew curious of this. "Now take another bite of the mont blanc." Trey said.
Everyone took another bite of the Mont blanc, and was shocked by the new taste of it. "Hm? Hmmmmmm? This is... This mont blanc tastes like cherry pie!" Ace exclaimed.
Grim smiled widely. "It tastes like canned tuna! Nom Nom Nom! Ohh, now it's cheese omurice! And grilled chicken, munch munch, and pudding!" Grim beamed.
"Isn't it fun? if you did this while having tea with a girl, they'd be super impressed!" Cater grinned.
"It's amazing. Is changing the flavor of food your unique magic, Clover-Senpai?" Deuce asked, amazed by this.
"Actually, it's magic that 'overwrites a component'. So not just taste, but I can also overwrite the color or scent or anything. The overwrite only lasts a short time so that's why it's like a doodle or scribble. That's why I've named this magic 'Doddle' since it's not permanent." Trey stated.
"With your doodle suit, my dream of all you can eat canned tuna isn't just a dream. It's so much better than the magic Riddle uses to bully people." Grim commented.
Trey sighed at his words. "No... My magic is nothing more than child's play when compared to Riddle's. He's on a different level." Trey commented, looking down.
"... It's gotten late. Let's go home and give Riddle the tart tomorrow. Tomorrow is the Unbirthday party. Don't be late." Trey reminded the first years.
"Ayaka-Chan~ Will you let me sleep over again? My cruel upperclassmen aren't going to let me in the dorm." Ace asked, scooting over to Ayaka. "Wow, so prickly~" Cater sweat dropped at Ace.
"Ace, don't force Ayaka-Chan to spoil you too much." Deuce crossed his arms at his dormmate.
"Yeah! You gotta pay to stay! 10 cans of tuna!" Grim added.
"I also kinda feel like you'll bother everyone, Ace..." Yuno huffed, crossing his arms.
"Eeh!? Are you telling me to sleep outside!?" Ace groaned.
"It's fine, Ace. Like I said, you're free to stay in Meraki until Riddle forgives you. I make Meraki feel like home to anyone who stays there. So you can still stay with us." Ayaka assured. Ace had sparkles in his eyes. "You're the best, Ayaka-Chan~" Ace gave Ayaka a side hug.
"Then, Deuce, why don't you stay in their dorm to keep an eye on Ace? As Vice dorm leader, I give you permission." Trey said. "Trey, aren't you spoiling the newbies?" Cater asked, taken back by this. "I'm jelly. Ayaka-Chan, can I go too?" Cater turned to the bluenette. "Not allowed." Trey turned down his request.
"Tch. Bringing me down." Cater pouted. "Ayaka-Chan, I'm sorry for forcing those two on you, we're counting on you tomorrow." Trey smiled to the female. Ayaka nodded at his words. "I understand." She replied.
"Tomorrow is the Unbirthday Party. This damn collar is definitely coming off! Just you wait, Riddle!" Ace declares, as he and the rest of the first years left.
✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧
As soon as Trey and Cater got back to Heartslabyul, they were immediately greeted by a first year resident. "Trey-Senpai, Cater-Senpai! I'm so relieved you're finally back!" He said, standing in front of them.
Trey can notice the fear and panicked look on his underclassmens face. "What's the matter?" He asked. "The dorm leader caught us drinking lemonade with honey. Violations of Laws of the Queen of Hearts, No. 256: 'One mustn't drink lemonade with honey after 8 PM.' But we didn't know!" The resident cried.
"Can't even eat or drink what we want..."
"That damn dorm leader... There's gotta be a limited to all this rule crap!"
"I... I'm sick of living like this... Bound by rules I don't understand... I wanna transfer dorms..." A resident frustratedly said, clenching his fists.
Trey stays silent at his underclassmens words, before he reached his hand on his shoulder. "... It'll be alright. Back to your rooms, guys." Trey ordered. Cater sighed at this. "... Haah. Well... I'll go make our Queen some tea with his Mood." Cater said, walking away.
"Sorry, Cater. Oh yeah. Brew some Herbal Tea instead if Black. Pretty sure Rule no. 153 mentions the type of tea house can have to drink at night..." Trey mentioned.
"... Roger that." Cater left the room. The other first year residents also left the room, leaving Trey by himself.
Trey thinks of all of the students fear, anger, and feelings towards Riddle, and he can't help but feel like he's being useless. Trey's mind flashes with Ayaka engraved in it, making him hesitant. He can't help by feel some sort of relief when she's around, but what really surprised him was that she never got him angry for not knowing some certain rules of the Queen of Hearts. She was also rather excited about the Unbirthday Party.
"I hope Ayaka can help Riddle..."
☆彡彡 ѕтσяу ƒα¢тѕミミ☆
✦ Sam's shop reminded Ayaka of her Aunt's shop.
✦ Cater secretly took a pic of Ayaka eating her Mont Blanco, thinking it was adorable. He also posted it on Magicam.
✦ Deuce think his mom would love to meet Ayaka.
✦ Trey was impressed with Ayaka's intelligence with Sweets.
✦ Some members of Heartslabyul wished they could Transfer to Meraki.
A/n: I still worked on this despite me being sick... ╥﹏╥