"Who even are you?"
That was the first thing Ruggie said as we headed to the infirmary.
"I'm (Y/N) Shann." I answered. "I'm a resident of Sage Island, and a second year in Sage Online Academics."
He hummed lowly, as if telling me to continue.
"I have some friends in Heartslabyul who invited me to come watch the Spelldrive Tourney."
"I saw ya talking to that Diasomnia guy too."
"Yeah, he's also my friend."
We fell silent for a short moment before I continued the conversation. "Who are you? I only know your first name."
"'M Ruggie Bucchi." He mumbled, and I caught him as he stumbled for a moment before he continued, "Second year."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
I paused. "You have a nice Unique Magic. Very handy."
"Ya know what it is?" He said, raising a brow.
"Well, I can guess." Probably some form of body manipulation.
"Huh. Never had someone compliment my Unique Magic before. Do you have magic?"
"Yeah, I don't use it often though."
"You healed that Heartslabyul's wound."
"That was just a simple spell." I paused, realizing that I didn't notice he saw. Did others see me heal Ace, too? "I couldn't do it with yours since it's too large of a wound. A proper doctor is needed—"
"I know that." Ruggie grumbled, and paused, as if contemplating saying something. "But..."
I raised a brow. "Yes?"
"...Thank you." He said faintly, and I barely caught it over the sound of our footsteps. "For... making Leona laugh."
My eyes widened. If my assumption was right, his wound came from fighting Leona's overblot. And yet he's thanking me for making him laugh?
I wondered what kind of a bond the two have. "You're welcome."
We stayed silent after that, and a sign pointing to the infirmary came into view. We walked towards the door.
"Hello?" I said, knocking on the door. When no one answered, I decided 'fuck it' and entered the room.
The infirmary was empty.
"Seriously?" I muttered, "Here, get on the bed. I'll look and see if the doctor's anywhere."
He hummed, looking somehow relieved as he seated himself on one of the beds.
I searched all over the infirmary's branched rooms and even down the hallway, but there wasn't a soul in sight.
"Shit." I said, scratching the back of my head, "I don't know how to dress wounds."
"Well, the supplies are in here." Ruggie said, leaning over an open drawer filled with bandages and antibiotics. I mentally struggled not to stomp up to him and force him to sit his ass back down.
"I can do it myself." His ear flicked discontentedly when I walked towards the drawer.
"With one hand?" I said, crossing my arms.
He growled lowly, and took out a few rolls of bandages from the drawer and put them on the counter. "...You got a point. I'll guide you through it, but don't think I owe you anything."
"Wasn't planning on it." I said, taking a nearby stool and putting it in front of the bed. "Now sit down."
Reluctantly, he did. He sat on an angle so I could take off the handkerchiefs that were used in a mock sling, and I decided to throw the two into the garbage, since it was too bloody to be salvageable.
'I need to buy Ace a new one.' I thought with a wince.
"Okay, what's next?" I said, pushing the trash can away with my foot.
"Water." He said. "We wash the wound with water, than apply some antibiotics."
I nodded. "Let's get you to the sink, then."
Soon, we got the wound washed and cleaned, and I began to wrap the bandages while following his instructions.
Feeling awkward without conversation, I spoke, "So... you think Savannaclaw will win the Spelldrive tourney?"
"With Diasomnia for a first match?" He laughed dryly, "It'll depend on how we get thrown into repechage. With Leona leading, we could probably get second, overblot or not."
I hummed. "You have a lot of trust in your dorm leader."
Ruggie seemed surprised at first, but his expression fell with a flick of his ear. "Too much." He grumbled.
My gaze flickered to his face momentarily, but I dropped my gaze back to the bandages and hummed for him to continue.
"He never realizes all the potential or advantages he's been given compared to others— heck, compared to whole country!" His voice gradually rose, "I could barely get three meals a day and he's complaining about not having enough power as royalty?! I mean, I know it's deeper than that or whatever but it's a pain in the ass to see him all privileged and still moping around about where he stands! And then he almost kills me?! Like did he seriously have to hydro-flask and pumpkin spice latte's MY arm over his—"
He froze during his rant.
I paused my hands and looked upwards to see his muddled expression.
Ruggie slowly raised his head, glaring as we met eyes. "You better not tell anyone I said that."
I shrugged, securing the bandages with one last pull. "Okay."
His ear flickered with a look of surprise. "...What?"
"You don't want me to tell anyone about what you just said, right?" I rolled back in my chair, "It's not my business anyways, so I won't go around telling people about your 'high-on-blood-loss' thoughts."
He scowled, but it wasn't to intimidate. "You're not interrogating me?"
"Do you want me to?"
"Well, no, but—"
"Then I won't."
He sighed, ruffling his own hair. "You're as predictable as Yuu."
"Thanks." I snicker, putting the bandages back into the drawer as close to it's original position as possible. I paused once I closed the drawer, and faced him. "You want anything? Like, food?"
"Don't got the money." He sighed, getting a feel of his bandaged arm. "Mostro sucks."
My interest was piqued. "Mostro Lounge? The restaurant in NRC?"
"Yeah," He shrugged. "It's ran by shadies though. Too bad Sam's shop doesn't allow students to work."
I pretended to listen, but my eyes widened as an idea came to mind. My eyes sparkled as I began to brainstorm solutions.
Ruggie's eye twitched. "...I don't like that look."
Snapping back into reality, I sheepishly smiled. "Haha, ignore that."
"That's kinda hard to do." He scowled.
"I can buy you something?" I offered.
"Donuts." He answered without hesitation.
I bit my lip. "The concession didn't have any donuts."
"Then I'm not—"
"How about chocolate milk?"
"...sold."
I stood up from my chair, grabbing my bag which was on the desk. "I'll go buy some then. Try not to move around too much, alright?"
"Just get outta here." He shooed me out the door.
Rolling my eyes, I closed the door behind me as I exited the infirmary and headed towards the nearest concession. As I was counting the change I had in my wallet, I tripped over a small, moving thing(?).
Unlike the last time, I was able to catch myself and regain footing. However, the coins I was counting dropped everywhere.
"Waaah! I'm sorry!" An orange-haired child said, looking at me with worry. "I ran in to you..."
I smiled at the child. "It's okay! I wasn't looking where I was going. You're not hurt?"
He shook his head sheepishly, "No..."
The kid then paused through his words, and began to get teary. "Are you sure you're okay?! You smell like blood!"
I froze. 'Ah. Beastman child.'
He began to cry, running towards my leg and hugging it. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
I sweatdropped, patting his head. "It's alright! I'm seriously not hurt, uh..."
He sniffed, and I cringed at the noise. "'M Cheka..."
"Rest assured Cheka, I'm not hurt." I say, holding his hands. "I'm (Y/N) Shann, by the way."
"B-but," He sniffled, "Why does (Y/N)-tan snell like blood?"
"My... friend got hurt." I said, and took my opportunity while kneeling to pick up a few coins that I dropped. "I was going to buy him a drink to cheer him up."
"You were?" He looked at the scattered coins, and pounced on them. "I'll help you buy your friend a drink! For a sorry!"
I nervously laughed. "Are you sure? Where are your parents, Cheka?"
"They're watching the tour—" He fumbled with the word, "Tourna-nent..."
"Tournament?"
"Yeah that!" He said, and gave me the change he picked up. "Here you go!"
"Thank you." I stood back up. "But I think you should go back to your parents, Cheka. I'm sure they're worried about you."
"But..." As he was about to say something, his ears pointed to the side towards the end of the hall. "I smell papa!"
"Oh— that's good!" I said, confused over the rapid turn of events.
"Bye, (Y/N)-tan!" He grinned, waving as he ran down the hall at insane speed.
I sighed as he turned a corner, disappearing from my line of sight. "Children. Now, the canteen..."
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"Everything's cured," Ruggie said, sipping on the chocolate milk.
"I bet it is." I agreed sarcastically, putting my bag on my lap as I sat back down. "Who's matches are on right now?"
"That's the thing." He groaned. "It hasn't started yet."
"Huh?" I furrowed my brows, "It's been like an hour since the overblot was resolved."
He shrugged. "Technical issues, maybe? Well, the building did get pretty screwed with all the negative magical energy and 'earthquakes'. I guess they're doing repairs."
I hummed exasperatedly. "I guess that's a good thing?"
"Sure."
Suddenly, a muffled voice came through the speakers from outside the infirmary, and I huffed. "Well, guess it's starting now."
"Yeah." He replied dismissively.
I hesitated, before asking, "So, you want a job?"
"I guess?" Ruggie furrowed his brows at the sudden question. "I just need the money. The only store in NRC that hire students are shady as hell, so it'd be nice to call quits for a lax job. Too bad the Headmaster refused when I asked to work outside."
I blinked, feeling a glimmer of hope in my chest. He seems like a good hire!
"...The hell are you looking at me like that for?" He said suspiciously, his ears falling flat on his head. "And why do you keep asking me about Mostro?"
"Nothing!" I chirped quickly. 'Don't rush into decisions, (Y/N). But Yuu seemed to like him enough—'
Ruggie frowned, and scooted a little farther back on the infirmary bed. "Whatever you say—"
"Can I have your number?" I asked.
He froze, mouth dropping in a look of horror. It was a miracle he didn't drop his carton of chocolate milk.
'Huh, those are some cute fangs,' I thought while waiting for a reply.
After some time, he whispered. "...Why...?"
"Uhh..." I rushed to think of an excuse. "...Because I think you're cool?"
"Wow, I totally believe you."
"I know, I'm simply amazing."
He groaned, putting the now-empty carton on a nearby desk and began to dig through his pockets with his good hand. "Whatever, I'll give it to you. You seem like an airhead, anyway."
I mentally cheered. Though he certainly noticed my grin when he handed over his phone.
"Just punch it in."
I paused as I stared at the 'New Contacts' screen.
"Is this a Nokia?"
"Shut up."
With Ruggie glaring at the screen as I typed my number in, I sent a message.
▐░░░░░░░░░░░░░▌
RUGGIE BUCCHI
is typing...
RUGGIE
Yo
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When my phone buzzed, I nodded contentedly and gave his phone back. "Thank you!"
"Whatever." Ruggie muttered, putting it back in his pocket. "Since I can't do anything right now, I'll just lay down."
And so he threw the sheets over his head.
"Lay down? You mean sleep?" I blinked, gazing at his silent form under the blankets before shrugging. Not my problem anymore. Just as I was about to stand up, the door slammed open.
Flinching at the sound, I whipped my head around and held my bag tight to my chest.
At the door was a man with black and white hair, wearing a large fur coat. And in his arms was...
"Yuu?" I said, seeing her limp form in his arms.
"Who are you?" He said, eyes narrowing. I felt my heart leap to my throat from the nervousness. This guy was intimidating as hell.
"I— I'm (Y/N) Shann." I quickly sputtered as he strutted into the room, placing Yuu on a bed. "Ruggie— yeah, he's sleeping there. He got really hurt so I brought him here."
The man clicked his tongue, placing Yuu's unconscious form on a different bed before spinning around to open a drawer. "He was injured from Leona Kingscholar's overblot? And the damn crow didn't tell me? This is why I should never trust his word, period. I'm assuming you did his wounds?"
"I tried my best..." I trailed off with a wince. This guy is probably in charge of the infirmary, from the way he seems so familiar with the place.
He huffed, and began to treat Yuu's head where there was a burn and a scratch. "I'll check on him once I'm down with Yuu here."
I stood awkwardly in the corner as he wrapped gauze around her head.
"..What happened?" I asked, and cringed at how quiet my voice was. Did he even hear—
"Her stupid cat threw the Spelldrive disk at her head."
"Oh."
I peeked out the window to see what's currently going on at the stadium. It was a dark red and a purple-coloured dorm going against each other..
..and dark red seemed to be losing pretty badly.
Squinting, I tried to get a better view of the match and the people, but to no avail.
I jolted in surprise when my phone dinged.
And again.
And again.
The guy gave a scary, disapproving look at the noise.
"Sorry!" I said, taking my phone out of my pocket and opened the cause of all the notifications.
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ALCHEMIVICH
sent you (4) messages!!
ALCHEMIVICH
(Y/N) ARE YOU ALIVE
ALCHEMIVICH
IS IT TRUE THAT SOMEONE NUKED THE MAGIFT TOURNAMENT VENUE
ALCHEMIVICH
LOOK AT ALL THESE CAPITAL LETTERS IM BECOMING CAPITALIST BECAUSE OF YOU 🤢
ALCHEMIVICH
MY MEOW OF THE TOWN ARE YOU ALOBE
[(Y/N) is online!]
ALCHEMIVICH
ALIBEG
ALCHEMIVICH
ALUVE
ALCHEMIVICH
ALICJE
ALCHEMIVICH
ALIVR
ALCHEMIVICH
ALIVHE
(Y/N)
Do i need to call an ambulance
ALCHEMIVICH
YOURE ALIVE 🙀🙀😸
(Y/N)
I am so sorry for making you capitalist for a moment there 😢
ALCHEMIVICH
how am i going to atone for my sins now
(Y/N)
Idk 💀 also where tf did you get the idea that someone nuked the venue—
ALCHEMIVICH
cater said so in his recent post! ;3
(Y/N)
..I'm gonna snitch Riddle
ALCHEMIVICH
go ahead 😼
ALCHEMIVICH
but are you uninjured¿ 🙀😿
(Y/N)
Yeah i was with the headmaster when shit went down LMAO also he's a prick smh i prefer RSA's headmaster
ALCHEMIVICH
w‼️‼️‼️🔥😼
ALCHEMIVICH
you can still transfer to rsa
(Y/N)
no ❤️
(Y/N)
Ya'll scare me with your optimism + neige the muppet bastard is there 😟
ALCHEMIVICH
😔 cmon turn that frown
ALCHEMIVICH
ALCHEMIVICH
upside down! 😺
ALCHEMIVICH
(Y/N)
I will rip your fingers off of your hands one by one
ALCHEMIVICH
3:<
ALCHEMIVICH
you wouldn't&!&[*]|!\8'Qnakzb^]!
ALCHEMIVICH
Chenya's housewarden here. I will be taking away his phone.
[Alchemivich is offline!]
(Y/N)
💀 LMAO AIGHT
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Anyways here's my headcannon spelldrive draws
I TRIED TO MAKE IT MAKE SENSE 😭
And no, Octavinelle did not pay to get the bye, it was pure luck I swear
Anyways the ranks would look like this:
1st- Diasomnia
2nd- Savannaclaw
3rd- Pomfiore
4th- Heartslabyul
5th-Octavinelle
6th- Ignihyde
7th- Scarabia
(P.S. Ignihyde is ranked above Scarabia because they scored more points or something idk ajdbsjfbjd)
Please vote! Thank you!