*
"Hearing your sighs...watching you die inside, my heart stops just looking at you,"
**
Cafeteria
"It requires physical touch for me to enter the Garden of Memoria," Y/n says, saying the real name of the realm she calls Ahtohallan due to both realms being so similar. After all, water has memory. "And I would rather ask permission to look into your heart...so stop looking like you're constipated," she bluntly stated. Ace and Deuce turned flustered by her statement while Trey and Isfrid tried their hardest to not laugh. Cater, however, was full-out snickering.
"S-Speaking of which - are you still not gonna let me into the dorm until I buy a tart, Cater?" Ace asked to change the subject while Deuce coughed slightly.
"Don't @ me, but...yeah. That's rule 53, so my hands are tied," Cater said with a grin. "By the way, Riddle always looks forward to eating the first slice of the whole tart," he added, shaping his hands into a tart shape. "So if you want him to forgive you, you had better bring a whole tart!"
"What happened to 'We're all from the same dorm, let's try to get along?' Throw me a bone here!" Ace exclaimed.
"That's one thing. This is another," Cater replied.
"A whole tart has gotta be pretty expensive," Deuce commented.
"Seriously?!" Ace exclaimed in annoyance. "I don't have that much money for that!"
"I can buy you one," Y/n offered.
"Oh? Really, Lil' Rabbit?" Ace asked, his eyes brightening.
"Absolutely not!" Isfrid exclaimed. "I'm not letting Y/n give you the easy way out of YOUR problem! You're on your own for this one, human," he sassily says, crossing his arms.
"Oh, come on!"
"Then why not make one yourself?" Cater suggested. "Trey's the guy who baked all those strawberry tarts,"
"Wow, that's pretty amazing," Y/n praised, quite impressed Trey's baking skills. "Making homemade tarts is much cheaper than buying one,"
"You made those tarts, Trey? That's incredible!" Ace beamed. "That was like something you'd find at a bakery!"
"Heh. I appreciate that," Trey smiled, having a small blush on his face from the praise.
Suddenly, Ace stood up and slid behind Trey, beginning to massage his shoulders. "I'd also be sooo happy if you'd teach me how to make them! Or whatever," he beamed. "Come on, Trey. Won't you lend me your cookware?" he asked, causing Trey to sweatdrop from Ace's obvious antics.
"I volunteer for taste tester!" Grim happily says.
"Well...I was planning on doing a little baking," Trey says.
Ace's eyes shined at his words. "Then..."
"We do have most of the stuff you'd need, but..." Trey says before he rested his head in his palm with a cheeky grin. "I'm afraid I'll need something from you in return,"
"Wha- You're gonna charge me to make it?! What kinda racket...?!" Ace exclaimed in disbelief.
"Nah, I wouldn't make money from a freshman!" Trey laughed. "I was gonna make this chestnut tart Riddle wanted, so I'm gonna need you to gather a ton of chestnuts,"
"That sounds just as annoying!" Ace shouted. "But...fine. How many chestnuts are we talking here?" he asked.
"Let's see," Trey hummed, estimating how many is needed in his head. "To make enough for the merry unbirthday party we'll need...about 200 to 300 hundred of them,"
Deuce gasped in shock. "Did you say HUNDRED?!"
"For real?!" Ace gasped, sweatdropping.
"Hehehe. After that, they're all gonna need to be boiled and shelled," Trey giggled with a mischievous glint from his glasses. "I'm going to need some help turning it into a puree,"
"UGHH!"
"Alright, I'm gonna head out," Grim bluntly says.
"I'm leaving too," Deyce added.
"Me too. I have to tutor someone from my dorm and cook their dinner," Isfrid says, stating his reason why he can't help out. After all, he really did have to tutor three students about the art of swordsmanship. Those students are Malleus, Silver, and Sebek. Lilia asked if he could give them special lessons and Isfrid agreed, after all, he is one of the aura swordmasters in the world. Also Malleus pleaded Isfrid to cook their dinner because Lilia offered too.
"You heartless cowards!" Ace exclaimed in betrayal, earning a glare from Isfrid.
"Don't worry, Ace. I have free time to help," Y/n assured him.
"Y/n...you're an angel!" Ace smiled brightly, glomping Y/n, causing her to fall back into Isfrid who caught himself and his sister, widening his eyes in surprise.
"Hold up! Haven't you ever heard that food tastes better if you make it with your friends?" Cater asked Deuce and Grim. "This'll be a memory to treasure! It could even be your chance to make a splash as a cooking blogger!"
"Don't tell Riddle, but chestnut tarts are at their tastiest when eaten right out of the oven," Trey says, agreeing with Cater's statement. "And the only people who get to experience that culinary privilege are the ones who make it,"
"Well, when you put it that way..." Grim mumbled before nodded, making his final decision. "Come on, humans, let's do this!"
"You sure changed your tune quickly," Isfrid cringed, pushing Ace away from his sister.
"Where can we find chestnuts, anyway?" Y/n meekly asked as Ace pouted from getting pushed away from the crown princess.
"I heard there's a whole bunch of chestnut trees in the campus's botanical garden," Trey informed.
"Cool. Plan made," Ace huffed. "Let's meet at the botanical garden after last period,"
"We're gonna be up to our ears in chestnuts!" Grim exclaimed excitedly. 13 minutes soon had passed, signaling that it was time to get up from their seats and had to class.
*
Botanical Garden - Temperate Zone
"Whoa, I didn't realize this place was so huge," Ace awed at the sight with Deuce, Grim, and Y/n walking nearby.
"If it's this large, it's got to have a groundskeeper," Deuce muttered, looking around for chestnuts with the others.
As Ace walked passed trees, he scratched the back of his head in confusion upon seeing no chestnuts anywhere nearby. "Hmmm. Don't chestnuts like, fall on the ground? I heard they were around here somewhere,"
"Let's split up and look," Deuce suggested.
"Sure," Ace nodded, turning a heal over to the right direction. "Dibs on the right side,"
"Then how about I go left," Deuce says before turning to Y/n and Grim. "You two can head further into the gardens," he recommended.
"Got it," Y/n nodded before the group walked off toward their own separate direction. As Y/n and Grim walked further into the garden, the crown princess couldn't help but be amazed by the beauty of the garden. "There are some colorful plants I've never seen before..." she muttered in awe.
"Hey, hey! Come take a look at this!" Grim shouted, gaining Y/n's attention. "There's a ton of fruit growing here! Smells like they're ripe, too!" he says. Y/n noticed how Grim was oddly close to one of the fruits and immediately lifted him up as he reaches over to the tree. "One bite wouldn't hurt..." he drooled.
"Don't pull an Ace," Y/n bluntly says with a dumbfounded expression. "We came here to search for chestnuts, remember?"
"Hmph! Stingy N/n!" Grim huffed, pouting as Y/n carried him under her arms.
Y/n let out a sigh from Grim's comment, securing Grim under her left arm like a sack of potatoes as she continued to walk down the path. "Maybe there's a chestnut tree just around this corner," she muttered. At the same time, her foot stepped onto something soft.
"Ouch!"
Y/n paused in her steps upon hearing a deep voice, looking around in confusion before she looked down at Grim. "You're suddenly sounding gruff, Grim,"
"It wasn't me," Grim denied.
"Hey. You've got some nerve steppin' on my tail and just walkin' away," Someone growled. Y/n and Grim turned their heads behind. "Ain't nothin' worse than bein' in the middle of a good nap and havin' some jerk step on your tail," the figure says, stepping into view from behind the tree. "This sucks," he scowled.
"This guy is a punk..." Grim mumbled, having a deadpanned stare.
"Then maybe don't leave your tail on the path...?" Y/n bluntly stated out loud, narrowing her eyes at the student with lion ears. She eyed the vest color, which would state what dorm he was in but she couldn't remember the name. "Take responsibility for your own stupidity..."
"How dare..." The lion growled before his eyebrow perked up in realization. "You...I know you. You're that herbivore who oddly looks familiar to me," he smirks on his lips before he lean down toward her, oddly close to her neck and began to sniff in her scent. "*Sniff* *Sniff*"
Y/n flinch in surprise from the lion's breath tickling her neck and took a step back. She stared at the lion with a stern look on her dull eyes. "Are you...smelling me?" she questioned.
'Hm...she indeed does have a familiar scent...where do I know this smell from?' The lion thought as his smirked grew slightly wider. "Huh. It's true. Despite having powerful magic, you don't smell of magic at all. You even have that lizard's scent all over you..." he snarled slightly.
'I smell of a lizard...?' Y/n titled her head in confusion before she lifted her free hand up to her nose, sniffing herself.
The lion almost let out a chuckle from how adorable this airhead in front of him was. "Well, can't say it'd be much fun to prey on an opponent I can't win against, especially a women," he says, drinking his respect women juice like a certain demon. He then crossed his arms and smirked. "What, you're not gonna just walk off after stepping on my tail, are you?"
"Y-Y/n..." Grim shivered. "I dunno what's up with this guy, but when he looks at me, it makes every follicle of fur stand on end..." he mumbled.
"May I go now?" Y/n bluntly says with a nonchalant look. "I'm quite busy so I don't have time to deal with an overgrown cat's tantrum," she says, having an aloof expression the whole time.
"Hah," The lion smirked, getting more pissed from how nonchalant she looked when insulting him. 'She really knows how to rub people the wrong way...' he thought. "You've got guts to try baiting me. 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," he says, grabbing ahold of Y/n's neck and forced her to look at him directly in the eye. "That's gonna cost you a scale," he said with a glare.
Y/n gritted her teeth slightly as she grabbed the lion's wrist with her free hand. "Listen here...you overgrown cat..." she softly says before letting go of his fists and immediately slapped him across the face, causing him to let go and step back from the sheer force.
The lion widen his eyes in surprise as he placed a hand on his cheek that was growing slightly swollen. He even felt some ice bits on his skin and melting from his body heat. "Huh...? Did you just-"
Y/n's eyes looked cold, shaking off her hand as Grim looked at her in worry in his eyes. "My apologies for waking you up, but you have no right to retaliate in such an ill-mannered way, especially for a prince such as yourself. After all...YOU'RE the one who left your tail out in the open. It was just begging to be stepped on..." she bluntly spat out.
The lion gritted his teeth in anger. After all, her words reminded him of Isfrid, who is just as harsh when insulting him. They were twins after all. "Y/n! Just cheese it!," Grim shouted out.
Just before the lion said a word, another voice was heard. "Leona! There you are!"
"...Yeah?" Leona turned around, obviously annoyed.
'It's a cute hyena...' Y/n thought, staring at the other student.
"I knew I'd find you in here," The hyena sighed. "It's time for your remedial lessons, remember?"
"Ugh...And now I've got this guy on my tail..." Leona groaned in annoyance.
"Ugh...Leona, you've already had to repeat one year. If you get held back again, we'll be in the same grade!" The hyena scolded.
"Haah...put a sock in it already," Leona sighed. "I'm tired of all yer yappin', Ruggie," he scoffs.
Ruggie immediately got annoyed with his senior. "Look, you think I like always being on your case?" he snapped.
Then, Leona noticed that Y/n walked toward Ruggie. He had a confused expression before his face turned beat red when the crown princess placed a hand on his head, petting him. "So cute..." she mumbled.
"Wait...What?!" Ruggie yelped. He couldn't help but lean into her touch, feeling a sense of longing but he was unsure why. Her touch was so warm...despite its coldness. After 5 seconds, he got back onto the main topic. "You act like it'd be hard for you. You could stake through life if you'd just TRY,"
"There, there..." Y/n says, petting Ruggie some more, causing his tail to wag uncontrollably.
Ruggie then quickly stepped back. "C-Come on!" he stuttered and yanked Leona forward. "Let's go already!"
"Hrmph..." Leona scoffed before turning back to Y/n. "You Better watch your back the next time you find yourself in my territory...herbivores!" he warned before he walked off with a still flustered Ruggie.
In response, Y/n sticked her tongue out in a mocking manner behind Leona's back.
"Myah! That was nerve-wrackin'!" Grim let out a shaky sighed. "What it up with this nutso?"
"Yeaaah, I don't think he's the groundskeeper..." Y/n mumbled.
"Heey!" Ace called out from afar. "We found a spot where there's chestnuts! And some baskets and tongs," he says, walking over to Y/n and Grim with Deuce.
Deuce noticed a small bruise on Y/n's neck, narrowing his eyes in concern. "What in the world happened to you two?" he asked.
"Lil' Rabbit...your neck," Ace frowned, stepping closer to Y/n and caressed the bruise.
"Hm? What about my neck?" Y/n asked, placing a hand over her bruise. Ace sighed in relief when the bruise began to disappear, healing on its own.
"Oh, right, the chestnuts!"
~To be Continued~
*
Modern-era Secrets:
-Isfrid is the literal definition of male wife
-He cooks, he cleans, he does the laundry, etc. All during his role as a guardian knight of the crown princess.