Yuu had been practically carried to Heartslabyul by the two taller boys, who had picked her up so they could get there faster.
Yuu dangled from their arms as they stopped in front of the Heartslabyul house dormitory, allowing Yuu to stand on her own feet for a while, regaining her balance.
She thanked the two boys for not dragging her before the first years rushed into the dorm, Deuce now taking the lead to take the group to Trey's room before knocking and allowing himself in without waiting for a response.
She furrowed her brows as the group of first years entered the room to see Trey sitting on a bed, his ankle bandaged carefully with a pair of crutches at his side.
"Yo, man, how's it going?" Ace said softly, making his way over to the bed.
"How are you feeling, Trey?" Deuce asked gently, approaching the third year as if he were approaching an injured bird.
"We came all this way just to see your sorry face. It's cool—don't get up." Grim said as Yuu cradled him in her arms.
Cater, who'd entered the room with a cup of water noticed the group and grinned, the exhaustion barely visible in his green eyes. "Well, if it isn't Hunting Season!" He teased the two younger boys, smiling as he noticed Heartslabyul's favorite Ramshackle residents. "And Grim and Yuu too! You're rolling deep today."
Yuu smiled, greeting the ginger. "Hey there Cater!" She chirped, rubbing her bare arms realizing that she'd gotten used to wearing jackets.
Cater seemed to notice this as he reached for his jacket, Yuu managing to appear as if the jacket were wearing her as Ace spoke up, somewhat confused.
"Hey, Cater... I'm lost. Whaddaya mean by 'Hunting Season'?"
"I mean it's you guys! You're Ace, he's Deuce—that's what you call an Ace Deuce in poker!" Cater remarked, the two first year boys scrambling away from each other.
"Wha- gross!" Ace yelped, turning to look at Deuce in disgust.
"Don't give us a couple's nickname!" Deuce cried, equally horrified.
Ace, regardless of his own reaction, turned to look at Deuce with a look of annoyance before he finally returned the conversation to the topic of a fairly amused-looking Trey.
"Riiight... Anyway, how d'you feel, Trey? And how'd you get hurt?"
"Slipped on the stairs." Trey muttered, a little embarrassment evident on his face. "I couldn't catch myself, and my ankle got all messed up. I'll be on crutches for a while."
Yuu sucked in a breath, essentially realizing that Trey was hurt worse than she'd hoped.
"Yikes. That sounds pretty bad!" Deuce stated, voicing Yuu's thoughts unintentionally.
"Yep. Looks like I'll be warming the bench at the Spelldrive tournament this year." Trey said, sitting up a bit, grimacing as his ankle shifted.
Grim's ears pressed against his head as he looked at the tuna can that Yuu had not noticed that he'd been cradling, suspecting that Grim kept a secret stash hidden both at Ramshackle dorm as well as Heartslabyul. He gave a sad mewl as he stepped over to the bed, placing the can on the edge.
"I was hopin' your injury would be small enough for me to justify keepin' this, but... Here. I brought ya a get-well can of tuna. Feel better, specs." He said, making Yuu fight her instincts to coo at the surprisingly cute display.
"Heh. Thanks." Trey said with a smile, adjusting his glasses as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed to face the group.
Yuu placed a hand on Grim's head, smiling brightly as she silently praised the little monster. Good job, Grim.
Cater groaned loudly, falling onto Yuu's shoulders dramatically, making her stumble slightly. "Ugh, hashtag #fail! Now that we've lost a power player, we have to redo our team roster!"
Ace and Deuce look incredulously at Cater for a moment, their lips flapping for a moment before they yelp loudly.
"Wait, what?!"
The door creaked open, startling Yuu enough for her to spin around, only to come face to face with Riddle.
"Why are there so many people here? Trey is supposed to be resting!" He hissed, carrying an ice pack and a bottle of pain medicine in his hands.
"It's Ragin' Riddle!" Grim yowled comedically, hiding himself behind Yuu, who greeted Riddle with a very awkward wave.
Riddle waved back awkwardly before looking at Grim with an insulted expression. "I am not 'raging.' I will be perfectly pleasant if you obey the rules!"
The red head turned to face his childhood friend, moving to fuss over him much like a mother would. "How are you doing, Trey? Can I bring you anything to eat or drink?"
"I told you, Riddle: you don't need to fuss over me like this." Trey spoke, attempting to reassure his very frazzled housewarden.
Riddle pouted, his gray eyes saddening a bit. "But it's my fault that you got hurt." He muttered.
"What? He didn't tell us that part!" Ace yelped, looking at Riddle.
Riddle shrunk a bit, shame weighing down on his chest as he appeared to look like a kitten left out in the rain.
"Well... I needed to talk to him, so I went to the junior classroom at lunch. And then..." Riddle began to explain what had happened, Yuu moving closer to him in an attempt to calm Riddle, one of the only ways she believed that she could be useful.
Yuu listened carefully as Riddle explained how he and Trey had been walking down the stairs, and how Riddle had been going over the plans of the upcoming Spell Drive tournament when Riddle had suddenly lurched forward. Yuu's mind thought of the incidents and she frowned deeply.
Riddle's face flooded with guilt as he recalled how Trey had caught him mid fall and he'd ended up being the one to topple down the stairs.
"Trey never would have slipped if he hadn't caught me when I was about to tumble over." Riddle sighed.
"Yeah, but if I hadn't, you would have just broken your fall with a flight spell." Trey reasoned in an attempt to comfort his friend. "It was stupid of me to intervene. So you don't owe me anything."
"Still, I..." Riddle began again before stopping himself.
Ace, who'd made his way over to Yuu whispered in her ear. "Hey, Yuu, d'you think...?"
Yuu nodded, understanding what Ace was referring to and she leaned in, whispering back. "Yeah... This is sounding more and more suspicious." Her mind flitted between the correlations between the incidents.
"Riddle, come on! It's not gonna do anyone any good to have you harshing the vibe here. It's lame that Trey got hurt, but you'll rock the field that much harder to make up for him, right?" Cater chided, loud enough to interrupt the conversation between Yuu and Ace.
His words also allowed for Riddle to take hold of Cater's words to pull himself out of the pit of guilt that he'd been wallowing in.
Riddle paused for a moment, nodding in agreement as he answered. "Well, I suppose that's true."
Cater grinned before turning to the freshmen. "All right, peeps, we should let Trey get his rest. Out, out, out!"
Yuu nodded, ushering her group out of the room before pausing. "Feel better soon, okay, Trey?"
"Of course, I will."
.
.
.
Just before Yuu could leave, Cater tugged on the sleeve of his jacket, ushering Yuu over to meet with Riddle, who still appeared to be miserable with his thoughts consuming him, Yuu (completely forgetting herself) poked Riddle's cheek with her cold finger, startling the younger boy as he jumped.
"Ack! That's cold!" He yelped, rubbing his face as Yuu smiled gently.
"Welcome back!" She said teasingly.
Riddle gave her a smile before turning to Cater curiously, his gray eyes trained on his upperclassman. "All right, Cater. Was there something you didn't want to tell me in front of Trey?"
Cater gave the shorter redhead a kind smile. "You're always a step ahead of me, Riddle."
Yuu smiled, tugging Cater's jacket around her shoulders and attempted to warm her hands. Cater turned to face Yuu as he spoke.
"I get the feeling Yuu & co. know something about it." He chirped, making Yuu gape for a moment before shaking herself out of it. "Want to fill us in?" Cater suggested as Yuu shrugged, nodding.
"Yeah..." You're far more perceptive than you let on. "Alright, so..." Yuu began, explaining the Headmage's request, skipping over the manipulative words that Crowley had used to get Grim to agree.
Riddle seemed to be turning red as he fumed internally.
"Ah... So the headmage asked you to investigate?" He asked.