Yuu and Grim ceased their bickering once Trey cleared his throat to speak. As much as she hated to admit it, Yuu was curious about the school she'd be stuck in. She leaned forward with interest.
"As Cater mentioned earlier, the dorms of this school are themed after the Great Seven. We have our dorm, Heartslabyul, modeled after the strictness of the Queen of Hearts. To run down the rest of them for you, we have..." Trey began to explain, Yuu listening as she began to recognize the different dorms:
Savanaclaw, based on the persistent spirit of the King of Beasts.
Octavinelle, based on the benevolent heart of the Sea Witch.
Scarabia, based on the mindful personality of the Sorcerer of the Sands.
Pomefiore, based on the tenacity of the Fairest Queen.
Ignihyde, based on the diligence of the king of the underworld.
And finally...
Diasomnia, based on the noble spirit of the Thorn Fairy.
Yuu remained quiet for a moment, an attempt to take in the new information, trying to make her brain remember. Finally, she spoke, a little overwhelmed. "Wow... that's definitely a lot to take in."
"All those names are way too long! How's anyone supposed to remember 'em?" Grim agreed, splaying himself onto the table dramatically.
Cater gave an amused laugh at Grim's antics. "Well, you get the idea. Want to or not, you'll learn them soon enough."
"At orientation, the Dark Mirror picks a dorm for you based on the essence of your being. As a result, each dorm ends up with a distinct sort of... flavor, we'll call it." Trey began, simplifying the rules of the school for her.
"That is sooo true. I totes see it." Cater agreed.
"'Flavor,' huh...?" Deuce muttered, trying to understand it.
Yuu, however, chose to catch everyone off guard, "Wow, we've only just met, and you've already called me taste-less." She joked, recalling the mirror's words of her soul being shapeless and colorless.
This lovely joke caused Trey to stumble across his words, attempting to explain how he didn't mean it that way, while Ace choked on the water he was drinking and Deuce attempted to cover his laugh with a cough. Cater looked at her, his eyes twinkling with amusement. Yuu gave a nod of satisfaction, finally choosing to calm Trey down.
"Sorry, I saw the opportunity." She said, awkwardly laughing as Trey finally took a breath, nodding.
"Y-yeah, I knew that." His voice cracked before he cleared his throat. "Anyway, take that guy, for example." Trey gestured to a very tall, tan and muscular fellow with very large ears on the top of his head.
Yuu's eyes widened in surprise, slamming her hands on the table. "He has dog ears?!" She yelped before clearing her throat, before attempting to play it cool. "Muscly dog man, sure why not."
"That rough-and-tumble vibe he's got has Savanaclaw House written all over it." Trey said. Yuu noticed how the boy's ears perked slightly.
"No doubt. That dorm is full of scrappy guys who are into, like, working out and fighting." Cater said, leaning closer to Yuu, who now seemed to be a bit less tense with him. "How should I describe the vibe...? Macho dudes? Gruff big brothers? Something along those lines. The black and gold armband is another giveaway." Yuu nodded, understanding.
"He's a lot like one of my cousins. That man looks scary, but he was a pretty nice guy. He even has a daughter now." Yuu said.
Grim lifted his head, pointing to a familiar gray-haired boy. He looked to be rather frail and wore glasses. Yuu looked to see that the boy had pale, very shiny skin.
"He's gotta be from Octavinelle House." Trey mentioned, motioning toward the happy-looking white haired boy from the entrance ceremony, and a very pretty dark-haired boy who seemed to be internally dying.
"And the student sitting at the table in front of him has a red and gold armband- Scarabia colors."
"They look like the sun and moon." Yuu remarked.
"Those dorms are for the smart students. They're always neck-and-neck in the academic rankings." Cater said, pausing for a moment. "Ah, but the current housewarden of Scarabia doesn't seem to be all that great of a student..."
"And here Cater goes off on some tangent." Ace rolled his eyes.
"Ha. You learn fast. Let's get back on topic." Trey said, dismissive of Ace's behavior.
"You see the flashy one with the purple and red armband? Those are Pomefiore colors." Trey pointed toward a very pretty-looking group.
"Whoa! The girl with the potion books, I really like her!" Yuu did a double take, the surprised meme sound effect playing in her mind as her eyes landed on a purple haired, delicate looking girl.
"What's she doing in a boys' school?!" Deuce yelped, looking suddenly nervous.
"You two are such morons. There aren't girls officially enrolled here." Ace said, poking Yuu in the side. "Right, Yuu?"
She jumped slightly, giving Ace an awkward thumbs up. "Y-yep!"
"WHAAAT?!" Deuce and Grim cried, the young boy turned around, confused.
"Speaking of girls, there's a portrait in the west hall who's a real beauty. Name's Rosaria." Cater teased. "If you'd like to meet her, I'd be happy to introduce you. Maybe we can set something up?"
Yuu furrowed her brow.
"A painting? Hard pass! I don't care how cute she is if she's two-dimensional!" Ace remarked, making Yuu poke Ace in the side. He jumped, glaring.
"Whaaaat? It's true. You're telling me you'd date a 2D girl?" He asked, defensively.
"I'm just saying, don't be rude. The paintings here have feelings." She said, turning her nose up at a very confused Ace. Mission: Dodge the question was successful.
"Come on, man. Who cares how many dimensions she's got!" Cater said, agreeing with Yuu. Yuu gave him a thankful nod as he began to continue speaking.
"Anyway, they take vanity pretty seriously at Pomefiore. It's basically a dorm full of models. Their housewarden has 5,000,000 followers on Magicam." Cater said, dreamily.
"Oh, I would definitely die there." Yuu muttered. She did like makeup as much as the next girl, but she didn't really have much of a sense of style.
"Hey now, they're not all just pretty faces. The students at Pomefiore are among the best at potions and casting curses." Yuu shuddered, reminding herself not to go too close to Pomfiore.
"Heh heh. True dat." Cater chuckled at Yuu's slightly disturbed expression. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a single, gloomy-looking boy. He seemed on edge with all of the people around, and Yuu pouted sympathetically. It took her years of training from her friends to get used to talking at all. She noticed him scamper away upon grabbing his food.
"Next, we have Ignihyde... Their armbands are blue and black, but I don't see any around here." Cater said, looking at Yuu. "They tend not to be the most outgoing of students. Even I don't have a single friend from that dorm. They're kind of the polar opposite of us sunny, fun-loving Heartslabyuls."
"So they're gloomy and miserable?" Grim asked, Yuu shushing him.
"Not everyone who's quiet is miserable, Grim. They're just more comfortable with alone time. I would know, I was like that when I was younger."
"Exactly!" Trey agreed. "They just have a reputation for being quiet and serious, is all. That dorm tends to attract magical-energy engineers and students who are good with tech."
Yuu grinned at Trey. "They'd be good with my family. Most of us have engineering degrees."
"And that just leaves... Diahonyalara, was it?" Deuce asked, making Cater snort in amusement.
"You were off to a good start, and then you rammed right into the guardrails. It's 'Diasomnia.'" Ace corrected.
"I know that! I just misspoke, all right?" Deuce snapped back, making Yuu pat him as a way to say she understood.
"Diasomnia House is, hm... Ah, look over there. Those guys in the special seating area." Cater nodded in the direction of the far end of the cafeteria. Yuu had to squint to see the boys.
"You can tell from the neon green and black armbands. They're basically campus celebrities. The vibe they give off makes it real hard for regular schmucks like us to even approach them." Cater stated before adding, "And their housewarden is that times a thousand."
Ace stood up, very obviously pointing with wide eyes, "There's a little kid in that group!"
"Ah, we do get some child prodigies here." Trey explained awkwardly, a forced smile on his face. "But that guy there is no kid. He's a junior like us. Name's-"
"Lilia. Lilia Vanrouge." A deep, playful voice sounded from behind her, making Yuu turn around so fast, she was almost dizzy.
"H-he just teleported!" Grim cowered, suddenly wrapped in Yuu's arms. How he'd managed to get there without her knowledge, Yuu would never know. She simply stared, bewildered at the young looking man.
"I understand my apparent age interests you? As this bespectacled fellow accurately noted..." Lilia flipped over, dusting himself off and flashing a fanged smile. "Despite my fresh-faced, boyish good looks, it would be inaccurate to call me a 'child.'" He paused, noticing Yuu.
"'Fresh-faced,' he says..." Trey said awkwardly.
Yuu became nervous when Lilia's eyes quickly flashed down to her abdomen and his gaze seemed to soften a bit. He walked up to her, offering a hand as he smiled once more. "You need not gawk at us from afar. You may feel free to speak with us directly."
Yuu was completely speechless at the strange behavior. "I- Well..." She stammered, making Lilia give a hearty laugh.
"Why... We are schoolmates, are we not? All of us at Diasomnia House welcome you without reservation."
Can he tell...? Yuu thought to herself, making a note to herself to find him later and ask.
"And yet, those guys over there aren't exactly rolling out the red carpet in terms of approachability..." Deuce said, shrinking in his seat. Yuu looked over to where Lilia had been sitting, noticing two, very serious looking boys eyeing their table. She herself felt like shrinking back.
"Forgive me for appearing above you during your meal. I do hope we can speak again." Lilia chuckled as he bowed before taking Yuu's hand in his own and placing a kiss on it. Yuu looked bewildered, blushing at the gentlemanly nature, yet entirely confused.
Once Lilia had left, Ace gave Yuu a semi-disgusted look. "What the heck was that...? Nevermind." Ace cut himself off before continuing. "Their table has got to be over twenty yards away from ours. And they overheard our conversation? That's WAY creepy!"
"Well... Diasomnia House does have a bit of a reputation for having lots of special students. Some of them are extremely talented at magic." Trey explained, dismissingYuu's first encounter with Lilia. "Their housewarden, Malleus Draconia, is considered to be one of the five best mages in the world."
"Malleus is reeeeeal bad news." Cater said, pausing before he added, "Though I suppose the same could be said of our own dear housewarden."
Yuu noticed a familiar-looking red-head coming their way just as Ace went off on a tangent. "No kidding! He collared me for eating one slice of tart! All his rule obsession is outta control!"
Yuu, in a pathetic attempt to get him to shut up, glared at him with wide eyes. She failed to recognize that Ace was a very reckless idiot, as the shorter boy glowered at Ace from behind.
"My 'rule obsession' is 'outta control,' is it?" He asked, his voice dangerously calm.
"Ace..." Yuu said, trying to direct Ace to look behind him as he continued.
"You bet it is. Riddle's just a petty tyrant who leans into the whole 'rules' schtick as a pretext to keep everyone under his puny thumb!" Yuu, knowing she could no longer save Ace, proceeded to shove her elbow into his side, making Ace squeak in surprise. "Ow! Yuu, what the hell?!" He began to ask before Deuce cut him off.
"Ace! Behind you!" He said.
Ace suddenly paled, slowly turning to face the sudden visit. "Bwah?! Housewarden!" He yelped. Yuu watched the young man as he gave a sicily sweet smile for a moment before his face erupted in an angry crimson tone.
"Oh boy..." She muttered.