The group sat on the floor, recovering from the overblot, Yuu sitting in between Ace and Deuce with Grim on her lap. She sighed, heart beating out of her chest as the boys, with the exception of Riddle, all stared expectantly.
"... So you guys still remember the whole... thing?" She asked, hopelessly suggesting that they forget. When they gave a nod of confirmation, Yuu groaned loudly.
"Dammit, Crowley!" Her small outburst caught the attention of Riddle, who shakily sat up, his energy depleting rapidly after such a taxing ordeal.
She inhaled, irritated and anxious as she spoke again. "Alright... I guess I literally have to do this now... but if I find out that anything I say here has been leaked in any way, I will not apologize for the person I will become." She warned, eyes falling to Ace and Deuce specifically, seeing as they were the most reckless.
Ace and Deuce nodded, eyes wide. "Yes!"
Yuu relaxed her shoulder a bit, eyes sweeping over the others. "I... As Crowley so randomly revealed, I am indeed a girl and, additionally, also expecting a baby." She announced, trying not to meet the other's eyes.
"W-what?!" Riddle yelped, face contorting into horrified realization before paling as he tried to shoot up from his position.
"Don't do that!" Yuu scolded, face red with embarrassment. "Please don't pass out."
She sighed. "Look... I wanted to reveal it when I was ready, but given what happened, someone." Yuu shot a look at Crowley, who flinched from his place on the other side of the garden. "Apparently struggles with volume control."
The boys all looked curious, yet hesitant to speak. Yuu took this as the moment to allow questions.
"You get one question per person. Go."
Ace was the first to speak, blunt in tone and borderline rude.
"So... You're a chick?"
Yuu looked at him, a look of insult in her eyes. "Yes. But if you ever call me a chick again I will make you sing soprano for a week. Don't test me, Trappola." Yuu half-warned, making Ace flinch, his red eyes shooting down slightly.
Next was Cater, who managed to keep himself from laughing at his underclassman's reaction. Cater's question was the standard, "When'd you find out?" Which Yuu was happy to respond to.
"Literally, about an hour before the carriage showed up and kidnapped me." She gave an awkward smile. Cater gave her a sympathetic look.
It was Deuce who spoke up next, albeit, a bright red, stuttering mess, but respectful nonetheless. "I- um... H-how far along are... are you?"
Yuu's gaze softened slightly, chuckling at the precious reaction. "About two months. Thankfully, you guys did not have to witness my... less than graceful moments. Seriously, you guys sleep like bears in hibernation." She joked, Ace's jaw dropping at the playful insult.
"No u." He said with a sniff, making the others laugh. Yuu threw a nearby stick at the ginger, who ducked.
Trey sat quietly for a while as he thought. He looked up after deciding his question. "What about your husband?"
Yuu froze instantly, tensing up. "... What about him?" Grim seemed to sense her distress as he pressed against her, grabbing her hand and placing it atop his head. The green-haired boy noticed and tried to backtrack, suddenly looking guilty for his question.
"I- You don't have to answer if you don't want to!"
"No... You're fine, I-" Yuu bit down on her tongue, taking a deep breath, forcing herself to speak. "It's just... still a bit of a sore subject. I lost him last month? Maybe? We were gonna be married in the spring..." She clutched her own wrist, focusing on the feeling of her nails digging in.
The boys all looked shocked at the revelation, hesitation in their faces as they considered going to comfort the girl. She waved them off. "Okay, I'm not gonna cry. I'm fine. Okay, Riddle gets a question, if he wants to ask it."
The group turned toward the exhausted red-head, who lay back against Trey, despite his eyes being open wide and conscious, Yuu could tell that he was in pain.
Riddle nodded. "If I may... have you thought of your plan for the child's birth?"
Yuu thought for a bit, shaking her head. "No, not really. But, I guess I should, just in case of the baby being born before I get to go home." She laughed.
Cater suddenly stood after a while, stretching. "Welp, looks like we got some cleaning up to do. All that work making the garden Magicam-worthy, and now it's a total tire fire. Laaame."
"I'll help out." Trey said as he shot up after Cater, who merely pushed him backwards.
"No, why don't you get Riddle to the nurse's office." Cater suggested. "That was a full-blown case of overblot. We need to make absolutely sure he's okay."
"Mr. Diamond is correct." Yuu yelped, turning to see the headmage, who was already grabbing Yuu. "I will go along with you."
The pregnant woman's face burned in embarrassment as she was held in the arms of the Headmage. She waved his hand away, instead, picking herself up.
"Understood. Thank you, sir." Trey said, beginning to help Riddle up, allowing for Riddle to use him as a crutch.
Dusting herself off, Yuu gestured for the headmage to go on ahead, silently informing him that she'd need a bit of time to help the others. Crowley nodded, walking behind the two others as they left.
Yuu, Grim, and the other three stood silently for a moment, the awkward atmosphere returning, seemingly full force as they all seemed to avoid looking at Yuu. The silence was broken rather quickly, given Grim's stomach protested loudly.
"Man, am I STARVED after usin' so much magic!" Grim announced, making the others stare at him, bewildered, yet not surprised.
Yuu raised an eyebrow as the little monster began to sniff the ground like a raccoon. Eventually, he stopped in front of a strange-looking stone, one that Yuu recognized to be similar to the stone on the ground of the Dwarf's mine, the very same one that Grim had eaten.
"Hmmm. Hey, check it out!" Grim took it in his paws, raising it to the first-years as if he'd found an intact piece of tart. A prize jewel in the cat's eyes. "That's another black magestone, just like the one we found at the Dwarfs' Mine!"
Deuce moved forward, examining the stone in the cat's paws. "Huh. You're right. Wonder where it came from?"
"Just don't put it in your mouth this time."
Both Yuu and Ace approached, both with distrusting expressions.
"Ace, don't encourage him." She deadpanned, Ace turning to her, insulted.
"Wha?! I told him not to!"
Yuu turned to face the little monster, holding her hand out expectantly. "Grim, give me the stone please..."
"No way!" Grim turned away from her, drooling slightly as he clutched the stone against his furry chest. "After how great that last one tasted, I can't get that thing in my mouth fast enough!" Yuu watched in horror as Grim gave her a toothy grin, shoving the entire thing in his mouth and chewing.
"Grim, nO-!" The pregnant woman yelped.
Ace sighed, annoyed. "Aaand there it goes." He did not flinch, when Yuu turned to glare at him.
"Oh, Grimmy... Have some self-respect, honey!" Cater's voice came from behind Yuu, clearly having been attracted by the curiosity of wanting to know what the commotion had been about. "That was literally trash." He pointed, wrinkling his nose in distaste.
Yuu looked at Cater, gesturing to the cat. "This... this is what I have to deal with."
The upperclassman laughed, amused at her words. The two turned to see Grim who purred loudly.
"Ahhhhh! Rich and sweet, but with a complex hint of bitterness in the aftertaste." Grim detailed, eyes sparkly at the flavor. "Equally delicious, but with quite a different mouthfeel from that last one I ate." The cat praised, tail swishing. Yuu rolled her eyes.
"Let's hope that doesn't make you sick, you trash panda." She quipped.
"As a monster, maybe his stomach works differently than ours?" Ace suggested, placing one hand on his hip as he sent a judgmental look to the cat.
"Even still, eating trash can't be good for anyone." Deuce muttered, going over to stand next to Yuu.
As if to prove Ace's point, however, Grim nibbled on the grass, his eyes lighting up. "I just tried the grass, and the flavor was surprisingly pleasant! Crisp, even!"
Ace and Deuce's jaws dropped at the audacity.
"What the-! That's our lawn! Don't eat that!" Deuce scolded, making Yuu smile, standing next to Cater as she watched the three younger idiots, her heart warming as Ace and Deuce caught Grim, holding him from the scruff.
"Uh, A-F-K while I go throw up... But...seriously, guys." Cater said from beside her, turning away from the group before whispering a part that Yuu had barely caught.
"Thanks." Yuu's eyes softened as they landed on the boy.
"Did you just say something?" Ace called over, turning to face the other two.
Cater turned to Ace briefly. "Hm?" Yuu looked at Cater.
"Nope. Not a thing."
~~~
A/N:
Hey guys! Thank you all for reading! Tomorrow, I will be releasing the last chapter of book 1 and have started writing Book 2! I am extremely grateful for you all! I appreciate the comments (and the corrections, seeing as I did somehow manage to skip over the 23rd chapter) and the votes! I'll be doing a livestream on twitch this week, where I hope to be able to figure out a more coherent timeline of events for the game so I can properly plan out Yuu's pregnancy throughout the books and events. If you're all interested, then please feel free to join! Once again, thank you all for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Signed,
Nyx Nightshade