"My apologies!" The boy exclaimed, quickly lifting me up from the floor. "You seemed so familiar, I just had to test you."
"Huh? Test?" I winced, taking his hand. What is with all this abuse to my ass lately? And is he saying he ran into me on purpose?
"Perchance."
"You can't just say 'perchance'..."
"Either way, I am sorry for running into you like that," He said, eyeing me up and down. "You are not injured, correct?"
Incorrect, my ass is sore.
"Yeah." I said. "I'm fine."
"That is good!" He clapped his hands together with a big grin. "What is your name?"
I took a small step backwards at his odd demeanour. "I'm (Y/N) Shann.."
His eyes widened only slightly, but he quickly played it off. "Ahh, you are the one who returned my phone to Silver!"
I relaxed at the familiar name. He's probably not a kidnapper, then. "Yes, that's me."
"How wonderful! I have yet to personally thank you for that. Oh, and the chicken was delicious. Maybe we could cook together sometime!"
A strange shiver ran down my spine, and I rubbed my arm in confusion. "Uh... yeah, maybe one day dude."
He then proceeded to stare at my face in a thoughful manner, and I awkwardly fiddled with the strap of my bag.
'Why is he staring at me like that? Can he read my thoughts? Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow—'
He soon noticed how I pulled back, and quickly waved his hands. "My apologies! You are just very intriguing, I must say."
"Thanks? I guess?" My eye twitched in a grimace. "So, is there anywhere you need to go or...?"
"Right!" He laughed, "I forgot that one of the students is overblotting, so I have to get the Headmaster!"
"One of the students is WHAT—" I shouted, then quickly covered my mouth when an explosion-like sound went off further down the hallway, shaking the building.
"I suppose this area is unsafe for you," He said, ushering me back towards where I came from with a wink. "Allow us to go to the staffroom together."
My mouth hung open like a fish as he grabbed my hand, pulling me out of my shock.
'NRC is crazy..!'
I was barely able to catch up to him as he pulled me through twists and turns in the halls, and when he finally stopped I panted as I leaned against a wall.
"Crowley!" He exclaimed energetically, slamming the door open. "Kingscholar is currently overblotting! The others are trying to subdue him with magic."
"What?!" Came a shrill voice from inside the room. "I will head over immediately! I am gracious, after all."
I cringed at the last remark. 'I already know I won't like this dude.'
Gathering myself to stand straight, a man with a bird-shaped mask and a suit decorated in feathers rushed out the door. However, halfway through a step he noticed my presence and my eyes met his glowing(???) gold ones.
"You are not a student.." He paused, and looked at Lilia to explain.
The boy smiled, showing his fangs. "I found this young one wandering in the halls. I decided to bring them with me, seeing that the area was dangerous."
"Sorry," I said bluntly, "I overheard everything. Uhh, some students are my friends, so is it okay for me to come along? I'm kinda worried, with this being the second overblot..."
"Absolutely not—!"
"I shall watch over them." Lilia interrupted, making me raise a brow.
He winked. "I will be returning the favour for my phone."
"You do you bro." I shrugged. I didn't think my actions were 'favour-worthy', but I wasn't about to complain. Meeting Silver was enough of a reward for my good deed.
Crowley(?) sighed, "If Lilia insists, I suppose I can allow it..." He froze again. "Hold on, 'second'?! How do you know about Rosehearts's overblot?! I was sure I covered it up well enough so the public wouldn't know...!"
He began to mumble to himself nervously, making weird hand movements.
I deadpanned. 'Yeah, this guy's a total fraud.'
Soon the man who is somehow Headmaster snapped out of his muttering, and preened the feathers on his shoulders. "You're a very brave citizen for trying to help us! However, we have everything under control, so do not worry. Yep."
He nodded to himself, and began to speedwalk down the hall. "Let us go to Mister Kingscholar!"
I watched his cape sway dramatically with every step, and let out a big exhale through my nose. "I feel sorry for Yuu already."
"It is not as bad as you may think. Now, lets follow him!" Lilia said.
Hesitantly I followed behind, tightening the hold on my bag.
'I do have the plushy in case anything happens..' I thought, looking over their heads to see further down the hall.
Aside from occasional rumbling, there wasn't much noise, with the NRC Headmaster's occasional mumbling being the exception. However soon there was distinct coughing and speaking from further down the hall, which is when the Headmaster picked up the pace, going into a light jog towards a bunch of students covered in sand in front of two large doors.
A strong wind seemed to hit the doors and the wall from the outside, along with muffled shouting. I sweatdropped at the noise, instinctively lowering my head at the sense of danger.
"You boys! What is the situation here?" Headmaster said, offering a healing potion to a guy with a gnarly scratch along his arm.
I saw Lilia glance at me out of the corner of my eye, before looking towards the door in thought.
"L-Leona Kingscholar overblotted..!" A student exclaimed, sitting straight. "Most of us decided to fight with those Heartslabyul guys, but some injuries got pretty bad.."
Crowley nodded, "I will intervene in this disaster. You boys go further down the hall before I open these doors, alright? For I am gracious."
Hoping to help, I outstretched a hand towards a student to help him stand up, but was swatted at in reply.
"I can stand myself." He grumbled, shakily getting onto his feet by using the wall.
I raised a brow at this, but put my hand back to my bag anyways.
Suddenly, I felt a sort of churning sensation in my chest, and my eyes immediately snapped towards the door. Or rather, what's ahead of the door.
I hid behind the Headmaster's large coat in time as a raucous noise went off, shaking the entire hallway with powerful magical energy. The guy who had just managed to stand fell down from the tremors, and for a moment I worried the roof would cave in. I felt a piece of my soul leave leave my body from the noise.
But eventually the explosion-like noise died down, and the building stopped cracking. The magical energy faded away, making the air breathable again.
I heard a sigh of relief from the Headmaster, and he quickly took the step forwards to open the two doors.
"NOW WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"
I winced at his voice, rubbing my ears which were still sensitive from the previous boom. My entire body felt pins and needles from the exposure to the massive amounts of magic, and I shook out my limbs to drive the sensation away.
"H-h-h-hEADMASTER!" Deuce's familiar voice stammered from farther away, and I felt a small weight lift from my shoulders. He sounds healthy despite the blast.
"It's about fucking time you get here!" Yuu's pissed voice also echoed through the doors. "The hot topic wannabe finally found the blue gumball son of a bitch."
"That is the headmaster you're speaking to!" A voice warned, and she clicked her tongue. I wondered who it was.
"Huh? What's a hot topic?"
"A topic that's hot? I dunno."
Feeling that it was safe, I headed towards to door to see what was going on. Lilia, on the other hand, huffed a breath of contentment and walked back into the halls.
I raised a brow at his actions, but decided that it was none of my business.
"Ohhh, the damage costs..." The headmaster cried, looking at his hands. "What would I do for spring break?! I was planning for the east..."
I grimaced at what was audible of his mutterings, and looked down at the stadium from the doors. From where I stood, I could clearly see Ace, Deuce, Grim and Yuu's battered forms gathering together to talk.
Yuu soon grabbed the two(plus Grim) into a tight hug, and the two boys flushed before struggling— then giving up and hugging back. Like some shoujo moment, they slowly separated from each other.
And then Ace proceeded to turn around and make gagging noises.
I smiled at the scene, seeing Deuce clear his throat with a still-flushed face and Yuu yell at the two of them, pointing at a long-haired guy who was unconscious in the centre of the stadium. Grim walked over to the guy, pawing his sleeping face.
Eventually during her rant, Yuu looked up towards the Headmaster's sulking form, only to make eye contact with me.
"Oh, isn't that (Y/N)?" She said, and the other three looked in my direction.
"Oh hey, you're right!" Ace said. "Yo! (Y/N)!"
I waved back at them, stepping around the Headmaster to trot down the stairs. As I got closer, I saw that everyone was covered in sand, and I grimaced at the state of their hair.
"Good to see that you didn't get caught up in Ruggie's magic," Yuu said, emphasizing her malice on the person's name.
"Thank you..?" I said, seeing a boy's ear flicker at her statement from the corner of my eye. Standing near the unconscious guy with Grim, his arm was heavily bleeding from a crack-like wound. Was that 'Ruggie'?
I quickly dug through my bag, grabbing a large handkerchief and excused myself to walk up to the dirty-blond boy, who flinched at my sudden presence.
"If you don't wanna die of blood loss, I'd wrap this around that wound." I said bluntly, remembering how the last guy rejected my help if I gave it nicely.
His ears fell flat against his head (it reminded me of Chenya, but it's probably because I've never talked to many beastmen before), and he looked at my face and the handkerchief a few times before taking it and wrapping it around the wound tightly with his teeth.
"You better not be expecting it back," He grumbled.
"You're welcome." I said, and walked back to the trio and the cat. "Are any of you guys hurt? Sorry, that guy just seemed to have a pretty nasty wound."
The three shook their heads.
"Ruggie got the worst of it," Ace shrugged, "We were just fighting in the background."
"All this sand in my hair is a bitch though," Yuu mumbled, shaking her head so that some of the sand would fly out.
"Hey! That got into my eye!" Ace said, rubbing at his face.
"How the hell did you take on a second overblot?" I said in amazement, "And no offense, but you're magicless, so it would be extra difficult... Do you do any combat sports?"
"I do karate." Yuu replied, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "But I mainly used these two dumbasses as a shield. And don't worry, you're a lot nicer compared to some of these NRC guys."
"Damn. How did you even survive here—"
"I accomplished it through suppressed rage."
"Huh...my suppressed emotions doesn't let me do that."
Yuu shrugged. "You must not be suppressing enough rage."
"And you tell us to get therapy," Ace mumbled under his breath.
A red-haired boy walked over to our huddle, wielding a large staff.
"Are any of you hurt?" He asked, his voice calm but his brows furrowed as he eyed the three students. "And Yuu, that last move was very dangerous! You are not in pain anywhere?"
"Not physically."
"Now is not the time to be—!" He froze mid-shout as he made eye contact with me, and cleared his throat. "Apologies. Are you perhaps (Y/N) Shann?"
"Yes, that's me," I said with a thumbs-up. "You're...?"
"I'm Riddle Rosehearts." He said with a small bow.
"Your future spouse." Ace snickered, but quickly shut up as he was glared by a flushed Riddle.
"If you have enough energy to run your mouth, you must be fine." He scowled, and I couldn't help but snicker a bit a his expression.
"However, it is good to see that no one was fatally wounded," He sighed, "I must see someone after school, after all."
"Ooh, you're already being cheated on?" Ace snickered, a bit quieter this time as Riddle ticked.
"As in dating, or hallucinations?" Yuu deadpanned.
"I am seeing a therapist for the first time, actually."
"Oh, that's actually a really responsible thing to do." Yuu blinked, a faint smile evident on her face. "Good job!"
Riddle softly smiled back. "Thank you, Yuu."
Ace and Deuce defensively scooted closer towards her, and I snickered at the scene.
"(Y/N)?"
Hearing the voice behind me, I turned around to see Silver, who was battered from the fight but still as beautiful as fucking ever.
"Silver!" I said, checking him for wounds. "You're alright?"
He nodded, then looked around. "How did you get here? I believe all the guests were evacuated.."
"Ohh, I ran into this Lilia guy in the halls," I blew a raspberry. "He tackled me to the ground while getting the Headmaster, and then I got worried about the overblot and followed him."
He furrowed his brows. "Lilia tackled... you?"
"Yeah, my ass still hurts from the fall." I said, "What's it with Dijomnia and making me fall onto my ass?"
"Diasomnia," Yuu corrected from further away.
"Same difference. But also, this place is huge! I got lost just wandering in the halls."
Ace snickered. "Almost as huge as Deuce's ass."
Deuce flushed, sputtering inconherently. When a proper word wouldn't form, he proceeded to punch Ace in the gut.
Ace doubled down, clenching where he got hit. "Worth...it....."
I pretended not to notice their shenanigans, still facing Silver.
"Oh seven, your pen's all smudged with blot." I said, seeing the gem in his breastpocket. "But I've never seen a magical pen before."
Silver pulled it out, handing it over. "You want a closer look?"
I nodded, carefully taking the pen and observing its shape. Gliding a finger over the gem, I discreetly took in a fraction of his blot with my own magic.
I handed the pen back to him. "Dang, I wonder how much these could sell—"
"SILVER!" A booming voice interrupted, and I stumbled with my hold on the pen for a moment before facing the source of the noise. "HAVE YOU SEEN—"
The green-haired boy froze mid-sentence and mid-step, his eyes narrowing at where Silver held my hand to take the pen back.
The boy's jaw immediately dropped. "Silver! Having a partner without Lilia or Lord Malleus's approval is scandalous!"
It took a few moments to process what was said, and I immediately retracted my hand from the pen and wiped my clammy hands conspicuously against my clothes.
"Who the hell are you?" I said, seeing that his uniform signifies that he's from the same dorm as Silver.
"Sebek, you are misunderstanding." Silver said, putting the magical pen back into his pocket. "(Y/N) and I are not—"
"YOU are (Y/N)?!" Sebek interrupted him, moving his glare towards me. "Is this the one who assaulted you, Silver?!"
"No."
"I will report this—" Sebek stopped mid-sentence. "It's not them?"
"It is not."
Sebek huffed, crossing his arms. "For now, I will believe what you say. I will go find Lilia and Lord Malleus! You should do the same."
And he walked away.
I paused, before facing Silver. My face felt warm and I nervously laughed. "So, uh, that's Sebek?"
"Sorry about him," Silver said, bowing his head a little, "He tends to jump to conclusions."
'Urgh Silver's so pretty.' I cleared my throat. "Are you going to go look around, too? If it helps, I saw Lilia go down the hall Headmaster came from."
Silver blinked. "You did? I suppose I can go relay that to Sebek. Thank you, (Y/N)."
"No worries," I said with a grin. "Have fun!"
He nodded, before following Sebek's footsteps.
I turned back towards Adyuuce, who seemed to be watching our entire conversation.
"What."
"Who is that total hunk?" Ace winked teasingly.
"He's my husband." I shrugged.
Deuce would've comedically spat out his drink if he was drinking something. "Wait— really?!"
"He just doesn't know it yet."
"Bruh." Yuu deadpanned. "You and your husbands, I swear."
I snickered, "There isn't any laws on a limit for Sage Island. But hands off, Ace. Find your own husband."
"Hey! I'm not gay!" He exclaims, face pink.
When everyone looked at him disbelievingly, he proceeded to slap Deuce's arm.
"Ow! What the hell, dude?!" Deuce yelped, glaring at the ginger.
"Revenge, bitch!" Ace hissed.
They proceeded to fight with their fists, and ended up rolling on the floor.
Yuu could only sigh exasperatedly. "So that was the Silver guy you've talked about?"
"Yeah," I snorted, seeing Riddle walk up to their banter and put some sort of magic collar on the two.
"I see. Now all I have to meet is the rich CEO guy."
I hummed.
A buff student with wolf ears came towards Yuu, and paused when he saw me beside her.
"...Who's this?" He asked, his tail swishing behind him.
"(Y/N) Shann, a second year in Sage Online Academics." I said, giving him a polite bow.
He paused. "Jack Howl, first year."
"Oh! You guys met!" Ace said, rubbing the back of his head as he and Deuce returned back to our conversation circle.
"Jack's a pretty cool guy." Deuce said. "He's our friend!"
I saw Jack's bushy tail wag behind him as he scratched the back of his head. Albeit quietly, he murmured, "We're not friends—"
"Friends with benefits." Ace snickered, but was smacked across the back of his head by Yuu. "Uncalled for!"
"Damn, you guys should make a 'first years' group chat with all these friends you're making." I said.
"Huh, that's actually a good idea." Yuu said thoughtfully.
"I can make it." Ace said. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to add you, (Y/N)!"
"Bitch I'm a second year?!"
"Hey! He's awake!" Grim yowled, and I turned to see the previously unconscious guy with long hair sit up with a yawn. "I was starting to think he wasn't going to wake up! Now confess!"
"Urgh... what?" The guy said, wincing as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Mister Kingscholar!" Crowley said, crossing his arms. "Your negative energy accelerated into a rapid blot accumulation, inducing an overblot. Do you not remember?"
Leona dryly laughed, running a hand through his disheveled hair as he stood up. "Me? Overblotted? No way..."
I stayed behind with Ace and Deuce as Yuu and Jack walked over to stand behind Grim. The cat-beast jumped onto Yuu's arm and sat himself on her shoulder, tail swishing impatiently.
"The Spelldrive tournament's already about to begin!" Grim said accusingly, pointing at Leona. "Hurry up and confess your the culprit, so I can enter!"
Leona and I seemed to share the same levels of confusion.
"...If this is some joke, I ain't laughing." He growled, eyes narrowing.
Jack crossed his arms. "The headmage had Yuu and Grim investigate the accidents in exchange with allowing them to compete in the tournament."
"Whaaaat?" Ruggie gaped, staring at the two. "That's what this has been all about?!"
I noticed the blood seeping through the handkerchief I gave him and winced. Why is he still standing? And why isn't he going to the damn infirmary???
"You bet it has!" Grim snapped.
Yuu rolled her eyes. "I don't want to hear anything from the guy who's been pushing others down for some chance at winning."
"Gyah.." He winced, "That's fair... I suppose..."
"Well?" Crowley said, "Are you responsible for the injuries done to the magift players?"
"Urgh..." The guy's tail flicked behind him, "Yeah, that's me."
"Very well then!" Crowley snapped his fingers, "The Savannaclaw house will be disqualified from this year's tournament. The rest of your punishments will be decided after talking to the victims. Are we clear?"
"Please wait a moment, Headmaster." Riddle, who disappeared since I spoke with Silver, appeared at the entrance of the stadium alongside many other students who seemed to be injured.
I noticed Trey in the mass, and when we made eye contact he gave a subtle wave. I made sure to wave back.
Trey then walked forwards, to stand Riddle. "Headmaster, on behalf of the injured students, I request you to allow Savannahclaw to compete in the Magift tournament."
Yuu and Jack looked at each other in confusion, and Ace scratched the back of his head.
'Should I even be here...? This sounds like private NRC drama.' I thought, but decided that leaving now would draw unwanted attention to myself.
"So... you're saying that you're all forgiving them?" Headmaster said in confusion.
"No. That's the last thing we want." A boy with long black hair deadpanned. He sounded hella pissed despite his calm expression.
"If Savannaclaw gets disqualified from the tournament, we'll all lose our chance at revenge." Trey said with a smirk.
'Cottagecore enthusiast must be feeling a little sadistic today.' I noted mentally. 'What the fuck is with that crooked grin? Maybe he does sell contracts to minors. Huh, speaking of contracts...'
"Wh— what?!" Ruggie yelled, but winced at the volume of his own voice.
"Revenge?!" Jack exclaimed.
"Fighting with magic is prohibited on campus." Riddle stated with a smirk that rivalled Trey's.
Trey continued his reasoning. "But during a Spelldrive game, it's all in the name of sport, right? It just happens to be a sport where players face off using the fullest extent of their magic."
As the discussion went on, most of the injured students began to tease the injured Savannaclaw students, one even throwing their glove towards Jack.
I saw the previous guy who spoke with the long black hair grumble. "This won't be enough. I want to poison his food."
I pretended I heard nothing.
Ace sighed from behind me, shaking his wrist.
Careful not to draw attention, I whispered to him, "You hurt?"
"Fell on my arm weird." He grumbled.
I looked around to make sure no attention was on us, then proceeded to put my hand above his wrist. He raised a brow, and I focused my magical energy into the palm of my hand, feeling where his wrist was sprained and visualizing stitching a cloth together.
"Woah." He said under his breath as light emitted from my palm and illuminated his wrist. When I pulled my hand back, he shook it out, noticing that the pain is gone.
"Sometimes I forget you can use magic." Deuce, who saw the whole thing, commented. "Or that you were even invited to NRC."
"I don't use it often." I shrugged, and went back to spectating the injured students, Yuu and the Headmaster of NRC.
"Well, the spectators surely have gone wary waiting to return to the stands and for the players to appear." Crowley said, "So do make haste!"
Leona rolled his shoulders with another yawn, seemingly deep in thought. He was pretty, and would probably be more so if he didn't have one foot in the coffin.
"So that guy overblotted, huh." I asked, facing Deuce.
"Yeah."
Despite being a few meters away, Leona heard and snapped in our direction. "You got a problem with that?"
I raised my hands in a mock surrender. "I don't even know you. Why should I have a problem? I'm more concerned about your health then anything."
He stared, and I blinked back.
"Dude, you don't know the second prince of the Afterglow Savannah?" Ace hissed, pulling my hand down.
"Oh, so you're Prince Leona. I thought your last name sounded familiar." I said, eyes widening. "No, I don't really bother listening to royal drama. But I guess the rumour of him being good-looking is true."
Deuce gasped somewhere behind me, and I got a snicker from Leona, though he was still obviously wary. Yuu facepalmed, muttering something to herself.
"What do you think you're playing at?" Leona said.
"Dude I suck at games, I dunno what you're talking about."
"(Y/N)!" Ace hissed. "He'll kill you if you keep taunting him like that!"
"Sounds festive." I deadpanned.
While I faced Ace, Leona began to chuckle, then go into full-blown laughter.
"Hahah!! Who is this herbivore?" He said, a fang glinting under the sunlight. I noticed Ruggie sigh out of the corner of my eye, clutching his head.
"Your biggest nightmare." I said.
"That's (Y/N) Shann." Yuu sighed.
"I see." A sort of grumble resonated in the back of his throat. "Jack, Ruggie, come with me. You guys are checking what players are still able for the matches."
"Hey, don't think I've forgiven you already!" Ruggie protested, and Leona's eyes widened as he caught sight of the wound and bloody handkerchief.
"Okay... and?" Leona said, brows furrowed.
Ruggie grumbled, seemingly more upset at himself. "So, I'll have some sweet revenge my own way. 'Laugh with Me!'"
Leona irked as his hands moved at its own volition, lifting his face so that he would smile. "Wha—?!"
"Shye hee hee!" Ruggie snickered, his hands in the same position, "I can't tell ya how long I wanted to do this!"
"You—!"
But as quickly as Ruggie had used his magic, his arms fell back down limply, undoing the spell that affected Leona. He seemed to sway a bit where he stood.
The blood was pouring out quicker than before.
"Ace, do you have a handkerchief?" I asked quickly.
"Y-yeah—" He pulled a large fabric out of a pocket.
"I'll be borrowing this." I said, jogging over to Ruggie and wrapping it around his arm, over the old one. I hooked it over his head in a mock sling.
"Hopefully this'll do..." I mumbled, messily tying a knot behind his neck.
"Oi." Leona said, and I looked up into his green eyes. "Take him to the infirmary already."
"No need to tell me twice." I said. "You guys just do whatever NRC needs sorted out."
Ruggie looked like he was about to protest, but was silenced by a quick look from Leona. Even he could tell that the blood loss was bad.
"You can trust (Y/N)." Yuu said from a distance away, and that seemed to bring ease the boy's mind as I put his uninjured arm over my neck to support him.
Despite my dislike towards the Headmaster, I gave him a quick bow before pulling Ruggie along towards the exit.
Note: Ace and Deuce and Yuu won't be part of (Y/N)'s 'harem' lolol
Neither will Leona, since he's 20 years old, and (Y/N)'s 17 😟
Anygays...
take this lol 🤝