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What a ( Not so) Strange World XI

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I was not very satisfied with how the previous chapter turned out, I am a little more satisfied with this one, although everything can always be improved.

( @jessiegerl )

Despite everything that had happened to you, you kept asking yourself how each situation you found yourself in was always worse than the last.

Seriously. What had you done wrong to deserve this treatment from life?

True, since you had first found yourself in the Shaftlands your life had taken a turn for the better: you had been adopted by a strict noblewoman with an - evil - talking cat, you were being taught by said noblewoman, by a fallen queen who was a potions master, by a fae who had earned the nickname 'Lady of All Evils', by a queen with an easy guillotine. You had discovered you had mixed magic. And that was in your 'world where you belong'.

In the 'other' world, you not only had legal guardians - a potions teacher who was also a successful stylist in his spare time and a history of magic teacher who had taught you how to talk to animals - who had taught you that you were not the idiot you had been made out to be. You had somehow acquired some lovely stepsisters and above all you had made friends.

Okay, your life had definitely improved.

But throwing yourself into a school of students with dubious principles, little respect for rules and akin to chaos seemed too high a price to pay.

You wanted to keep your neurons still firing and maybe keep your ulcer from bursting from stress.

Was that so much to ask?

But let's go in order. Or at least let's try.

You had finished preparing the tarts when Cater - who either had a sixth sense he hadn't told you about or had placed cameras everywhere - showed up to see the result of your hard work and then post it on Magicam.

In fact, helped by his presence, you took the opportunity to take a photo of him taking the picture and the little mess that remained

"What, NOW you decide to show up?" indeed Ace had a point, if Cater cared so much to taste a piece of cake he might as well come and help out first.

"I just came to see how hard my little newbs were working" he had said it in that pouty voice - while resting his chin on your head - that you found it hard to resent him.

He was TOO cute!

( And he knew it well)

"Someone's gotta be the official tester' you looked at him slightly askew, he didn't like sweets after all.

It wasn't until Trey used his Unique Magic that you understood why Cay showed up.

Knowing that you had eaten a chestnut tart and could taste the berries was definitely an unforgettable feeling.

No one pointed out how you were the only one who hadn't enunciated what their favourite dish was, but Yuu noticed, and that, to them, was just more proof of how you knew the older boys.

Yet you hadn't told them…It wasn't as if you had to, but to Yuu it seemed like you had taken their situation to heart, and sure, it might have been pity, but according to them there was something else behind it. Maybe you didn't want to talk about it?

(Maybe they would have asked you anyway?)

"That's gotta be a hit when Trey's having tea with the ladies" Cay had given you his 'playful wink' - which you thought was his hit when he was having tea with the ladies - and you'd missed the turn of Trey's eyes.

"That's way better than Riddle's stupid collar magic !"

"Oh, that's a whole other league. His signature spell is a weapon." you nodded in understanding, Riddle's magic was a really interesting tool, "Mine's just childish prestidigitation" this made you frown.

Being able to overwrite something was in itself magic that could not be called Childish Prestidigitation.

There were magical laws, and Trey's magic could bypass them.

And for him it was "Childish Prestidigitation".

( Among other things in front of someone who couldn't do magic, then).

When Trey said it was too late to deliver the tarts to Riddle, you were pretty sure a very unhappy expression had risen on your face.

If you weren't sure, however, there was Ace to point it out with that little voice of his that was only meant to annoy you.

"Nee, can I crash with you again? It doesn't sound like I'll be allowed back in my room tonight"

You raised an eyebrow in Trey's direction.

"It isn't right to keep mocking them, Ace" Holy Deuce.

Yes, Deuce was definitely your favourite Problem Child ™.

(Especially when Grim demanded payment - in cans of tuna - as if that was the important thing)

"What?! Guess I'm sleeping outside then"

"Sounds good to me. Maybe you can find some sleeping bags around."

Despite your sour mood, Trey proposed to Deuce to join Ace's sleepover so he could babysit his house mate.

( You and Yuu had no say in the matter?!)

Seriously, Yuu was too nice for your taste, and this would get them into trouble sooner or later.

Morning came following a night spent playing cards until the two unsolicited tenants - no come on, Deuce could stay - and the weasel had fallen asleep in the dorm lounge.

You and Yuu, on the other hand, had managed to 'settle' what little you could before going to your rooms to sleep.

(You had had the constant feeling that Yuu wanted to ask you something, but every time they seemed to make up their minds they made a guilty expression and retraced their steps).

Cater had come to pick you up to take you to the Unbirthday Party and at that very moment you felt a shiver down your spine, but as soon as you tried to talk to Cay about it he just put a finger to your lips and gave you his usual wink.

That was the great thing about Cay, one way or another he could always figure out what was on your mind and calm you down - or make you more anxious at times, but we don't talk about that.

"And you should probably hurry, because after the trouble yesterday, we're a little short handed."

One bad thing about Cater, however, was that he tended to minimise - his - problems. As if by not making them known he could solve them sooner, or perhaps he believed he had more control over them that way.

After the mini scare that was seeing Cay's Unique Magic in action, the ginger once again forced the group to paint the roses red.

Honestly, by the time someone invented roses that changed colour on their own, it would always be too late.

(You had the unhealthy idea of asking Cater if he could talk to Riddle about the plight of the little hedgehogs, but it didn't seem the time or the place, so you avoided it).

The tea garden where the Unbirthday Party was to be held was really fabulous. You were sure Queenie would have loved it - your other tutors a little less so, too confusing and almost frivolous - there was a kind of organised disorder.

In your world you had never managed to attend an Unbirthday Party. Queenie had explained to you that this was a 'fake' tradition: a way of making the punishment of time more pleasant for the Mad Hatter.

( Not that it concerned her much: the clique of stopped time, as she called them, were disorganised in everything they did, they had no sense of taste. According to her, you wouldn't have missed anything. )

Despite what Queenie said, however, you had always found the idea interesting. Not least because who chooses to celebrate 364 days a year with tea and biscuits. It's a peculiar choice, even for someone completely out of their mind.

As Riddle observed the organisation, you might have noticed some students getting irritated as their Housewarden spoke.

Yuu too seemed to have noticed, in fact you exchanged a slightly worried look, while the Problem Child didn't seem to notice anything.

Noticing all the anxiety emanating from the student body, you couldn't help but get into that horrifying vortex of thoughts that whispered to you that something would soon go wrong.

After Cater changed your clothes into something more presentable for the occasion - "Cay, do you think I can keep the dress, even after this is all over?"- you approached the rest of the tables.

There were several round tables, arranged in turn in a semicircle, so as to face the table where Riddle and Trey sat and at which Cater also sat later.

At their table there were still some empty seats, but out of sheer etiquette, you decided to avoid risking a bad impression or worse, breaking any rules.

(Maybe the Unbirthday Party had its own set of rules).

You and the others took a seat at the table closest to Riddle's - whom you greeted with a nod and a smile as soon as you met his gaze - so that, as soon as Cay had signalled Ace, it wouldn't be too difficult for the boy to approach the HouseWarden - and avoid unknowingly causing any trouble.

Not like that was possible anyway - big tired sigh.

When Ace approached Riddle, as helpful as possible, ready to apologise and you were convinced nothing could go wrong… well, everything did go wrong.

( It was becoming a constant, and a rather annoying one at that).

As soon as Riddle heard that it was a Chestnut Tart, your first instinct was to bang your head on the table and maybe play dead.

You were very tempted to put that instinct into action, but resisted, only to find out that you were actually right: Chestnut tarts were forbidden at Unbirthday Parties, but Trey hadn't quite got round to memorising all 810 rules.

( Understandable, anyway)

Only at that exact moment you felt tremendous guilt.

You knew all 810 rules, but you had decided, albeit in good faith, to keep quiet. If you had expressed your doubts maybe you wouldn't have had to face an angry Riddle

( He didn't look like a child playing grown-up now. No. He looked more like Frau Grimilde than Queenie, as far as you were concerned, not that you would have gone and told Riddle about it. Not at this juncture at least)

Riddle's outburst of wrath was all it took for Ace to throw all his goodwill in the bin - and set fire to the bin, you would have added.

That was also the first time you had seen Trey and especially Cater so serious and worried.

It worried you too.

No matter how much Trey and Cater tried to appease Riddle, he wouldn't hear of it - now, perhaps, he looked a bit Queenie when someone ate his tarts.

You didn't know if Yuu hadn't weighed their words, or was simply instinctive, the fact was that calling Riddle 'foolish' was not a good idea at all.

And Ace had seized on that not at all good idea and turned it into a bad one, taking Deuce with him while he was at it.

"Guys, please. Don't be instinctive."

You understood them. And you were also agreeing with them, but arguing with Riddle at that moment wasn't smart at all. On the contrary. It would only have angered the Housewarden more and made it even more difficult to clarify.

The Problem Child and Yuu seemed to have gone off on a tangent, ready to fight the tyrant that was their Housewarden. And again, you could understand them.

But this was neither the place nor the way.

"They meant no offence, Riddle. They were hurt by their-"

But Riddle wasn't the only stubborn one present, so trying to converse with them was as pointless as trying to clarify with Riddle.

Shaking your head you approached Trey, ready to ask if there was a way to get Riddle and the other first years away before the situation got even worse, but you had been far too slow

"OFF WITH YOUR HEADS !"

As if the situation wasn't already bad, Riddle ordered Trey and Cater to remove your group, which the two of them - albeit unwillingly, you could see - agreed to do, thus triggering even more annoyance from Ace.

You swore on whoever was the deity of this world - was it the seven? Swear on them then - that brat had to learn to control himself, because then he'd get on the wrong side.

Great.

Really great.

Omake

Vilderschön answered your story

[ Pic ] ' That's the bts of @CayCay pretty pictures '

Looks like you have a lot of free time, Potato.

I hope you didn't binge. Too many sweets are bad for your skin. I know Rook invited you to a tea party in our Dorm. Would next week be OK?

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

What a ( Not so) Strange World X

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So… I know I said I wouldn't be long, but hey…life happens I guess? I've had the chapter set at 1777 words for longer than I'm willing to admit, so let's briefly explain why I'm late: I'm a fucking dragon.

Okay, let's move on to the slightly longer version eh? I'm moving, so I've been messing around the house and realising I own more stuff than I thought I did or didn't even remember existed. Kind of like a hoardin dragon.

So, having some slightly more important priorities than publishing the chapters of various works, I kind of forgot that I actually had to publish those chapters.

I don't want to bore you with my misadventures, although I may need to complain to someone about it because, really, I could write a comedy series about it.

I apologise, again, for the delay, but I would also like to thank all the people who have started following the story in the last period. I was buried by notifications, and it was also thanks to this that I was able to complete the chapter.

So many thanks for your patience, ( if you have some left over can you lend it to me? I swear I will give it back to you. No? Anyone? Sigh)

Ohh right ! Before I forget, since you asked so nicely I couldn't help but accommodate you (sorry I didn't answer right away) so well, anyone who would like to be tagged please don't mind letting me know

@jessiegerl

"No kiddin! He collared me for eating one slice of tart! All his 'rule obsession' is outta control!"

It was true that 'Riddle' seemed a bit too rule-obsessed, but Ace wasn't really the best person to complain: if Riddle was rule-obsessed then Ace had no conception of what rules were - and probably broke them unknowingly for that very reason.

"Ace I don't thi-"

You were about to let Ace in on this too, but you interrupted yourself when you noticed both Cater and Trey stiffen slightly, realising that what was probably 'Riddle' had approached the table.

"My 'rule obsession' is 'outta control', is it?"

Yep. Definitely Riddle.

And Ace was talking bad about Riddle, to Riddle.

While he was talking you couldn't help but think how much he looked like a child; he was cute, he looked like a doll When Ace had asked him to take off his collar, you had to restrain yourself from snorting: it was a definitely absurd request.

( seriously Ace, after breaking rules and bad-mouthing the Housewarden, did he really think Riddle would give him his magic back? Naive)

You knew that Riddle was absolutely serious while scolding Ace, but all you could see was a child playing at being an adult - little did it matter that Riddle was older than you - and he was absolutely adorable

( He had adorable little cheeks! You wanted to pinch them. But you were keen not to have any dog collars around your neck, thank you).

You agreed that 'tolerating rulebreakers' might have taken the campus down a path you didn't feel like going down, but you didn't think this was the worst habit the HeadMaster could have.

There was something wrong with that thing and you couldn't help but worry

( worrying about you, about Yuu's safety, about Yuu's survival, about Yuu in general… and even about the evil weasel, in part… and maybe the Problem Child ™ … maybe, you weren't sure Ace deserved to escape the destruction he was causing)

Regardless of what Ace thought of Riddle - to which you could now even attach a face, yay - you didn't think the HouseWarden's thinking was so wrong.

If there were rules, it was only right that they should be obeyed... after all, they existed for a valid reason - right? - and if those rules were broken, then it was only fair that those responsible were punished.

Moreover, at least in Ace's case, Riddle had also been respectful of his education, since his punishment did not affect his school results.

( And you actually rather agreed with Riddle: The problems that an Ace without magic could create were certainly less dangerous than those that an Ace with magic would have caused.

It would still have created problems...might as well limit the damage).

"Now as per rule 339"

" 'The post - meal beverage is to be lemon tea with two sugar cubes' I know, I just don't have a clue where to find the sugar... or tea to be honest, I haven't seen a kettle around, and my sense of direction would allow me to get lost even in an empty room."

You hadn't realised either that you had interrupted Riddle, or that you had said all this out loud, or that the table's attention was on you... you didn't think you had spoken so loudly, but at that moment you cared about your survival.

You apologised to Riddle, smiling rather embarrassedly at him, because really, you hadn't made a fool of yourself yet today.

To your surprise, the boy took it rather well: his eyes were slightly wide, but he hadn't shouted at you…

( Now Ace could have said that Riddle was playing favorites? The situation seemed that serious to you)

After announcing that he was going to get sugar, and saying goodbye to the others, he asked you if you wanted to follow him.

And of course you gave him an affirmative answer.

You were a little afraid to leave Yuu, but Cay and Trey wouldn't let anything bad happen. Although you hoped nothing would happen in general.

So slightly reassured by the thought that in case something happened Yuu would be safe, you got up to follow Riddle.

(You were fully unaware that as you walked away, the negative comments about Riddle were only just beginning.

You were, on the other hand, fully aware that someone was abusing sugar, if Riddle's gritted-tooth comment was anything to go by)

You and Riddle had walked in silence along the path leading from the table where you had lunch to the entrance of the Cafeteria, where on a well-decorated table, away from the buffet area, was everything you needed to prepare tea and other beverages.

( Maybe you could have made yourself some hot chocolate? It's been a long time since you've had some).

Riddle had been kind enough to boil water and brew tea, adding sugar to your cup for you.

"Do you follow all the rules to the letter?" you asked after thanking him for the tea, and were not surprised by his sign of assent.

"But all of them? Like for Rule 529 'If you eat steak on a night with a full moon, a cat must play the violin' does the cat get charmed into doing it? Or is it trained?"

He thought about it for a moment before answering

"It hasn't occurred to me to put this rule into practice yet, but I am convinced that there are both trained and enchanted cats"

"It's interesting how seriously you take these rules" the boy was about to reply but you continued "No offence, it's just that sometimes it's hard to follow them all perfectly, isn't it?"

( You didn't have to tell him that it had taken you quite a while for your sugar cubes to reach two. You weren't particularly fond of sweets as a child.

And that had earned you a few feeding lessons from Queenie who had taken your low sugar levels to heart.

Although your eardrums were still suffering from it, those were the first loving cries you had been given).

"With a little bit of effort you can succeed at anything if you want to" he was looking at the table where your group was.

"Ace isn't bad" he looked at you in profile as you continued " At least, I don't think so, it's just… that he doesn't think enough before he speaks, I don't think he wanted to wrong you"

It was true. You didn't think Ace was bad…just tremendously insensitive and stubborn.

(And maybe a little stupid.)

"To me, however, he doesn't seem to understand what the problem is," and you nodded knowingly.

"I don't think he understands the point of those rules in general. Or the rules in general, for that matter." and here you saw Riddle smile slightly.

"I'm not going to take his collar off just because someone intercedes for him."

"And that wasn't my intent anyway. But if he returned a tart and apologised, he should be allowed back in the dormitory, right?"

You honestly knew Ace would cause more trouble, but as long as he caused it out of your sight - and possibly away from Yuu - it was fine.

What was not fine at all was the thought of Ace staying in Ramshackle Dorm.

One night had been enough, and you didn't want to leave Yuu at the mercy of two and a half Problem Children™.

"Those tarts had been prepared by Trey for the upcoming Unbirthday Party being held at Heartslabyul, but I guess it can still go well."

Riddle had noticed how your eyes had lit up at the mention of the Unbirthday Party: you looked like a child who was ashamed to ask his parents for a toy.

And indeed it wasn't too far from reality.

You knew all the rules of the Queen of Hearts, but you'd never had the chance to attend a real Unbirthday Party, but you could sense that they were an important celebration, at least for anyone who was part of Heartslabyul, and you would have liked to attend, but to invite yourself was rude, no matter what world you were in.

However…

"Um..so if, um, we showed up to this Unbirthday Party, obviously dressed formally, and with this tart…could we strangers attend as well?"

Riddle peered at you for a few moments.

You seemed to know and apply the rules as much as he did, you had been polite in your manners and your eyes were shining for him to actually say no to you.

( And besides, there was no rule forbidding people from attending Unbirthday Parties, otherwise Che'nya would have been 'off with his head' more times than was humanly possible )

"As long as the rules are adhered to, there should be no problem."

You had greeted him all smiling after thanking him, bouncing away.

You were a ball of brightness. You weren't bad to be around.

You, on the other hand, thought your group of friends - could they even be called that? - were trying to get rid of you, as the table where you had lunch was totally empty.

Rude. Very rude.

Rook hadn't helped either. At your look of "you've got something to say abou it?" he had merely shrugged.

You didn't believe him for half a minute.

( You were right not to believe him. Rook knew perfectly well what was going on, but it would have been fun to see how you would have behaved)

It was only thanks to two Beastmen who were complaining - one of them - about an interrupted nap and someone who smelled "not - magic - at- all" that you realised which direction to go in

(even though it didn't reassure you at all).

Why were they in the Botanical Garden of Grace?

(On thinking about it, it made sense that they were going to retrieve the tools to collect chestnuts from there, but you didn't know that the bunch of idiots - Yuu excluded - had decided to make a Chestnut tart)

Which by the way, how did they think you were going to reach them - because it was obvious you were going to reach them - without knowing where they were going? With magic?

(Well, maybe so, but you didn't know how to cast such precise location spells yet).

You found them heading for the kitchens with several baskets of chestnuts - they'd made you wander the campus for nothing then - and filled you in on their intentions.

Honestly speaking, making chestnut tarts for an Unbirthday party didn't really seem like the best idea, but it had been Trey's idea and you doubted Trey had really wanted to get his freshmen into even more trouble than they already were.

Besides, if Riddle himself had requested such a tart, there shouldn't have been a problem, right?

(Although this did raise a few questions - which you kept sweeping under the carpet - such as, 'if Riddle is so bound by the Queen of Hearts' rules, how come he agreed to this crazy idea? )

After the chestnuts had finally been shelled and the two freshmen from Heartslabyul had been made fun of, you realised - Trey realised - that it was time to go to the school store to get some more cream, and while you were at it Trey asked Deuce to pick up a few more things.

You quickly pulled back: you had already walked enough around campus, this time you were going to pass.

After Yuu, Deuce and Grim came out you could "admire" Ace falling asleep on the table - with even a little bit of drool, how horrible.

"And he complained about our Dormitory, he can really sleep anywhere," you said looking towards Trey, who had a slight smile on his face as he approached you, leaning against the counter you had vacated.

"Thanks again for looking after him"

"It wasn't like we had a choice anyway. He did it all by himself. When he comes back to your dorm it will be terrible for you," you said, shaking your head.

There was a moment of awkward silence, or at least, that was what you perceived and you felt like you had to do something.

"When you make the muffins could you let me know? I'd like to help out."

And of course that something had to be awkward, damn you

Trey merely nodded.

You were about to open your mouth again when he anticipated you 'I didn't think I'd see you again. Certainly not under these circumstances," he chuckled.

"Well, um, I don't think anyone expected to see me again under these circumstances."

So you told him a very short version of your little trip from the RSA to the NRA, ignoring how he tried not to laugh openly, as Che'nya had.

You just couldn't help it. Trey had become even more handsome over the years, it was almost unfair.

Surely he had a girlfriend or something. That was even more unfair.

Your teenage self couldn't realise she had a crush on him when you had a chance!

You must not have been very subtle as you looked at him because, without missing a beat, he asked in the quietest tone in the world.

"You seem to be looking at something you like?"

Your shout - it wasn't a shout, it was an embarrassed and indignant babbling nonsense - had managed to wake Ace - who for once wasn't at fault - just minutes before Yuu, Deuce and Grim returned.

Deuce didn't look too good, but at that moment you didn't really care.

Your only thought at that moment was where you could dig yourself a hole to bury yourself from embarrassment.

(You were so engrossed in your thoughts that you didn't even notice how red the tip of Trey's ears were when he asked you that question, nor how from that moment on he would not only continue to glance at you, but also to make eye contact with you.

Which failed miserably because you didn't look up from the ground for another second.

In spite of everything, however, he was happy to still have the same effect on you. They were satisfactions).

Omake

While you were following Riddle around the Cafeteria, you didn't notice what was going on around you.

But Riddle did.

And he hoped you didn't ask him why he had suddenly changed direction.

But just as you wanted to survive Ace Riddle wanted to survive Floyd Leech.

Riddle knew it was him. He had a sixth sense for when the merman was around.

And in Riddle's opinion it was never good to be near the Octavinelle trio

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

Actual representation of me working on an assignment whose theme I chose :

Always me trying to understand WHY I chose that theme

My brain trying to understand what was I trying to say

Me during the whole writing process :

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

Espeon * trying to remember all the favorite I've had in the years * yep, Espeon

For my mutals:

I got a new sketch book and a bunch of pokemon stickers to decorate the cover with! So tell me what you're favorite gen 1-6 pokemon is (if you have one)

@writing-heiress @anxious-twisted-vampire @the-weirdos-mind @marrondrawsalot @yukii0nna @riddle-simp @nomatterwhatnomatterwhere @patchyegg87 @achy-boo @demon-lover-669

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

What a ( Not so) Strange World IX

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No, I am not dead - I apologize for the immense delay. Also I would like to thank @the-ace-reader for putting up with my rambling and especially for giving us the scene with Sebek ( so very thank you <3 )

As a student you were supposed to take classes-which were about to start-in a class that had not yet been assigned to you and whose location you had no idea about.

Given the rather high chances of getting lost around the school the situation was pretty good, wasn't it? You were trying to get to Crowley's office as quickly as possible when a voice made you stop, sigh with relief, and return to your anxious state

"To enter the classroom in your current condition would be disrespectful, I hope you know that."

You were definitely relieved to hear - and see - that adorable furball - not that you would have told him out loud - Lucius: If he was here, it meant that Trein was not far away; if Trein was not far away, it meant that maybe he could help you.

The only thing you didn't understand was why your "conditions" would be a disrespect-you looked as hard as you could, trying to figure out what the problem was, but you just couldn't figure it out.

( In your defense, the small footprints left by the hedgehogs were in places rather obstructive for you to see them.)

Distracting you from that thought, however, came, fortunately for you - as you had anticipated - Trein, who passed his gaze from Lucius to you and then snapped his fingers and did something

( make the stains disappear from your clothes and your face)

and then turned to you in what for many would have been a rather austere tone, but you knew better

"I am relieved that Lucius found you, we were afraid you would get lost before you got to class."

Oh.

So you had been assigned a class.

Your expression must have openly stated what your thoughts were given what Trein said to you as you headed to said class

("I will be your Homeroom Teacher. There will be no special treatment, and although I guess you already expected that, I wanted to emphasize that." )

Arriving just before the entrance to the Trein Classroom he slowed his pace slightly, before stopping to take Lucius in his arms, thus letting you enter before him-wasn't this considered special treatment? Delaying his entrance so that you would turn out on time?

The classroom was structured in a way that was rather new to you: the desks that stretched high rather than wide made you think more of the stands of a stadium than of a classroom, but you imagined that for a theoretical subject it made sense to structure the classroom that way.

Even from the outside you could sense the large number of people present-if you concentrated you might be able to distinguish the different murmurs-but upon entering you realized that most of them already knew each other, or at least were not total strangers

( If you had looked closely you would have noticed that your classmates were grouped according to dormitory, that's why you felt like they already knew each other, because they already knew each other.)

Compared to the first time you had arrived in this world you thought you had changed-hopefully for the better, but never take anything for granted-in many respects, but that of socializing with your peers had remained at a decidedly poor level:

At RSA it had been Neige who had approached you - and you had made a masterful fool of yourself - Rook had put an arrow to your neck - and you had made a fool of yourself again as well as ignorant. You had approached Mr. Fae by pure mistake, and since you had no chance of escape, you had maintained a conversation -- rather brief and awkward, by the way -- you had been assaulted by one of your temporary roommates, and you had found yourself in spite of yourself harboring a problem child under the dilapidated roof of the dormitory.

So, in short, you weren't good at socializing at age 8 and you weren't good at it now.

You hoped to find a medium-isolated seat, not too far away, not too close, from which to take class without too much trouble. Oddly enough -- for being the first day of class -- there were several vacant seats, even though you were late, so you didn't have too much trouble choosing a seat to your liking.

You sat at the third desk, just past the "aisle side" desk - the idea of someone giving you a shove as you walked by did not appeal to you, it definitely seemed painful - and you took advantage of the short time Trein had given you to arrange your material.

Kind of like whoever was sitting in the pew below yours was doing : he was wearing a green and black armband that matched his hair, which had drawn you in rather quickly.

(Had he thrown several pounds of wax on it, or was it naturally that way? You felt like stroking them, but it didn't seem quite right, it was rude, and none of your guardians would let you get away with it.)

Trein's arrival marked the end of your ramblings: he introduced himself as the Homeroom Teacher of your class, explaining what subject he taught and what his methods of judgment were-and introducing Lucius, of course-and then began the actual lesson by talking about the Mana Stones.

The topic was definitely interesting, and you were used to Trein's method of teaching, but you didn't feel like it was that difficult to keep up. The boy sitting next to you had hit his head on the desk after only five minutes.

To his credit, Mr. I Used Too Much Hairspray Today seemed to be holding up well; indeed, he did not seem to be affected in the least by Trein's monotone voice during his explanation.

The choice of topic then made you laugh; not because it was funny per se, but because of Yuu and the Problem Child ™s situation : there was a certain irony in talking about the Mana Stones, especially if students had risked their lives to retrieve one without knowing anything about it.

( At first you didn't understand why the older students didn't like Lucius, but after spending an entire class watching him wander around the class, annoying anyone who fell asleep or pointing out the names of those who weren't paying attention, you understood why he wasn't seen as the lovable, slightly snobbish furball you knew.)

Next you moved to Sport Field, for the hour you feared most given your possessing two left feet and being as graceful as a fawn on the frozen lake

( Lady Tremaine's efforts had been to no avail; during your etiquette lessons you kept tripping and dropping books-Frau Grimilde had suggested shoes that knew the dance steps, "just in case.")

Honestly? You had to find a way to be excused from that subject because A) you were incapable of doing the simplest of exercises without falling down and B) sweat absolutely disgusts you.

( C) you fear that Coach Vargas might decide to include his raw eggs in your diet.)

All the while you had done nothing but wait for the class to end as soon as possible, and when the coveted moment had finally arrived, the adverse fate had well and truly decided to bid you farewell

( Effectively you had been too lucky up to that point and it would not have been you if you had not made some embarrassing figure by involving poor strangers in your misfortune.)

You had no idea how it had happened-you had surrendered to being the plaything of fate-but after picking up your things, on your way to class you had stumbled.

Over nothing.

You hadn't put your foot wrong at all.

You had tripped over nothing, and you were bracing yourself for the impending head injury that would come shortly.

Only the head injury wasn't coming because someone had come chivalrously to rescue you.

( He was restraining you with one arm under your sternum, but he had a rather delicate grip, considering the force that must have been behind restraining you…you probably looked like a sack of potatoes.)

Except that instead of the Prince Charming ™ you might have expected you had found yourself covering your ears to protect your eardrums from the screams about your lack of attention that were being-absolutely unkindly-addressed to you by your…savior-which was none other than the boy who sat in the desk below yours in class

"WHY ARE HUMANS SO CARELESS AND CLUMSY! THEY SHOULD FOCUS MORE "

Seriously, what bad character problems did the students have? Were they all so … bizarre?

Which by the way he was not a beast man-or at least he didn't look like one-so either he was a fae-but you hadn't noticed any of the typical signs, nor did you sense the typical aura of magic that you had sensed in Mister Fae-or he was a merman, but either way saying such things was downright rude.

( He had been kind, though; he had prevented you from a potentially dangerous fall, and despite yelling at you he had checked that you were not hurt. Also, he was not wrong, you should have paid more attention to where you put your feet.)

Third period was with Crewel, who was in charge of explaining the basics of potionology to you, but you just couldn't concentrate: the smell of sweat was definitely strong for you, so much so that you wondered if the boys had used the showers after the previous class, because you really didn't understand.

You were also more interested in the Not- at- all Prince Charming : you had not figured out whether he was unaware of your arrangement , was simply ignoring you or was so extremely focused on the lesson that he didn't notice anything.

( Crewel, on the other hand, had definitely noticed that your attention was not on his lecture at all and was wondering if he should start worrying.)

When Break Time arrived you were supposed to head to the Cafeteria, for that lunch you had promised Cater, but it seemed to you that the stench of sweat stuck to you and you didn't want to stink, so you made a quick stop toward your room in the faculty wing, to freshen up a little

( although on the way to the Courtyard you saw out of the corner of your eye a gray ball of fur running wild.)

The ride, while long - you had missed a hallway and had to be shown the way - had been very quiet.

What was not quiet at all was what you saw as you entered the Cafeteria.

Was it possible that those idiots couldn't keep from getting into trouble? It was quite annoying how everywhere they went they seemed to make trouble.

( You hoped-more for their sanity-that the Problem Children would not assume that Yuu was their caretaker because that would be pure nastiness; they had already been through so much, letting them eat in peace seemed the least)

You were going to intervene - my circus, my monkeys I guess - maybe cast some little spells from a distance? so that you wouldn't actually have to get too close to those four, mainly because three of them … make that two and a half ( Deuce after all seems like a good kid) are mess makers and you get into messes just fine on your own without outside help, but before you could do anything the problem seemed to have been solved.

Just as well, you thought, as you took a look at what the Buffet was offering.

( you had been greeted by the ghost with whom you had cooked the previous afternoon; he had been very kind and had advised you what to take from the things that were left )

Feeling satisfied you began to look around for Cater's recognizable ginger hair, though in doing so you made eye contact with Rook who smiled at you and you sent him a nod of recognition.

Once you found who you were looking for you approached, being pleasantly surprised to see an old acquaintance again

( it must definitely have been the "Trey" effect that had made you smile like a moron seeing her first crush again which was indeed true)

" … the new Prefect from that dump of a- I mean the 'rustic' dorm"

" 'Rustic' is a compliment, that's actually a … I don't even know if there's a word to describe how much of a dumpster that dorm is " you inserted yourself into the conversation by sitting next to Yuu

(to whom you passed some of your food because theirs was being gobbled up by the weasel…maybe you could have made some Bento Boxes?)

You gave a general nod of greeting-even though you had to shoo Cater's hand away from your lunch.

"I've heard about luddites like you, but I never imagined I'd meet one in the wild !"

"Yuu's not a rare animal, you know that Cay?"

During Trey and Cater's explanation of the dorms there were some rather interesting moments:

When they pointed out to you a boy from Savana Claw you couldn't help but think you had seen someone very similar before: he was smaller and definitely more kawaii, but that Beast Man really did look a lot like Jack…maybe you should have contacted him? IF you remember correctly, he, too, should have been attending first-year

Rook pretending he didn't know you were talking about him and whoever was sitting next to him while talking about Pomefiore students.

"You two are morons. There aren't girls officially enrolled here" Thanks Ace, so you were either a cockroach in his eyes, or he didn't think of you as a girl at all, as if he wasn't aware of it…were you supposed to be offended?

The most interesting point came ( literally ) as you were talking about Diasomnia : among the boys Cater had pointed out to you was your Not-at all Prince Charming, but he was not the interesting point.

"Despite my fresh faced, boyish good looks it would be inaccurate to call me a child."

Lila Vanrouge was definitely a fae, you could also tell by the rather old-fashioned way he described himself-he seemed to be a little older than Mr. Fae, but he exuded less dangerous fae-ish energy

( Not that her mere presence didn't make you stiffen--and not that he didn't notice--she was still a Fae, and he seemed like one of those Fae who enjoy playing pranks on their neighbors.)

(Trey's reaction, however, made you smile slightly).

"And yet those guys over there aren't exactly rolling out the red carpet in terms of approchability."

You couldn't blame Deuce, the other two seemed ready to attack you if you made the slightest dangerous movement though….

"Um…" you had to be very careful, you didn't want to end up incurring a debt to a fae, whoever it was " I would really appreciate if you could be so kind to thank your…friend for helping me today."

Effectively, you had not thanked the boy, who in spite of his manners, had nevertheless done you a great deal of pleasure

The speech Trey made as soon as Lilia returned to his table left you slightly confused: he had not referred to Lilia's abilities as those of a fae. It was hard not to know it was…was it forbidden to talk about it? Something else you should have investigated as soon as you found the library.

Great, more and more infomation to look for.

Just great

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

(Hustle) Like an Underdog II

prev

You wouldn't have called yourself an avid reader; it wasn't as if you never touched a book that wasn't scholastic, but it also wasn't as if the bookstore next door gave you the award for most frequent visitor or most profitable customer.

You don't call yourself an avid reader because you don't have a collection of books piled on top of each other on your nightstand waiting to be read; you don't sort books by color, height, or genre; you even happen to write in them sometimes, on books.

All things that horrify readers-the real ones, the ones who have the complete collection in different adaptations, the ones who can tell you the story behind the publication, the ones who know the author's life story inside out.

You were never interested in those things.

Reading was just another pastime, a way to keep yourself busy when you were bored and didn't quite know how to use your free time.

Sometimes, however, when you thought a book was worthy enough of your attention, you didn't even realize how much time was passing while you were reading and you were captivated by the story.

You don't have a favorite genre because any genre may be worthy of your attention, just as one genre specifically may not be enough to keep your interest high or may lead you to ignore other genres you might like.

Kind of like people.

To be appreciated or not, a book needs time and attention to be given to it, only then can you tell whether what you have read is the "novel of a lifetime"-the one you always suggest when asked what book to read-, a "boring and predictable nineteenth-century detective story"-the murderer is the butler and you figured that out from page 12-or a "frustrating romcom that relies on poor communication skills"-this one ended up in the fireplace burning.

Kind of like people: they need time to be understood even a little bit.

But people, unlike books, change, so the process of understanding a person is slightly different from understanding a book, regardless of whether it is "The Little Prince" or "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Sometimes when you reread a book after not having read it for a long time, you notice things that you wouldn't have noticed at all when you first read it. It's not just the little foreshadowings of the plot that you recognize because you already know how the book will end, it's a different level of reading than before: if before you had only enjoyed, more or less, the story, now you understand the story and its motivations.

This does not happen because the book has changed in the time that you have not read it.

This happens because you have matured in that time that you did not read that book.

To understand a person you need time, but that person changes with the passage of time itself.

Being able to understand the human psyche is a rather interesting and complex skill to use despite the fact that it can be achieved in a simpler way than you think.

You just have to be able to read and know the different levels of reading.

Read their little ticks, the ones they are not even aware of, microexpressions or changes in tone. The way their eyes may light up when an interest of theirs is mentioned or how they will avoid eye contact when they are embarrassed and want to change the subject.

It is something that takes time, but when you work ardently for something you always get results. Maybe on the first try they won't be great results, but they will improve with time.

Time is a relative concept, and one does not need to know the theory of relativity to understand this fact.

Man is a bizarre animal: he has established how universally the flow of time should be measured, but this flow is perceived differently by everyone according to the events in our lives that we deem important or memorable.

Between the end of the first and the beginning of the second selection you had felt that time was running too fast for you to be able to do everything you needed to do.

You had gone through all the data of the surviving existences and noted their improvements, pointing out where they still needed to improve, their speed of adaptation, and how they could make the most of their potentials under their current conditions.

All this was then checked and reviewed by Ego, who always added something to your observations; once Ego approved them, the documents were passed on to Anri san. Once in Anri san's hands, the data were entered into the software that the boys would use in the first stage of the second selection.

In addition to that Ego had updated you on the Wild Card, which was what you considered his Side Project, but which you were not sure you could call a Plan B.

You knew from the beginning of the BlueLock Project that there was this Wild Card, but other than the fact that some sort of repechage of some players would take place, you did not know in what manner it would be done.

When Ego gave you the Wild Card guidelines the first selection was still in progress, albeit in its final stages, and you did not quite understand what Ego expected you to do. Initially you thought you would simply have to pass more papers to Anri san, then you realized that Ego expected you to act on that Side Project, and so between 'player analysis you found yourself sketching out something for the project.

You were not totally satisfied with your work, you could definitely do better, but apparently your basis for the project was solid enough for Ego, which was already a great satisfaction for you. Any person with any knowledge of soccer history-so not the boorish existences participating in the project-knows how much Jinpachi Ego strives for perfection in his projects.

You didn't know when the Wild Card was going to be integrated into the Blue Lock Project, you just knew that Ego had taken your fundamentals and elevated them to their fullest potential, and that worried you a little in truth: from your point of view, you had already been quite rigid in your ideas, and knowing that they had been made even more difficult made it difficult for you not to worry about the possible consequences that the repossessed players might face.

From time to time you had also found yourself acting as an assistant to Anri san, who between meetings to go to, meetings to arrange, and various personnel to contact seemed to have no respite. You had answered a few phone calls and negotiated a couple of meeting dates, nothing extraordinary, but Anri san seemed grateful for the help.

It had seemed to you that the time between the first and second selection had passed too quickly, but for the surviving existences you were pretty sure it had been an eternity.

Training without being able to touch the ball must have been comparable to torture for those existences that had little footballs in their heads instead of neurons, when they were thinking about something instead of the gears turning you could hear the footballs crashing into each other.

You had seen how that bunch of mainly pathetic existences had entered the hall for the start of the second selection: A bunch of zombies in a bad apocalyptic movie were more graceful than they were.

There were existences, some of which you could almost have called tragic, that still possessed some grace or some form of charisma, but most of the "lumps of talent" were really in a pathetic condition.

Had that training exhausted them that much? Then they were even weaker physically than you had anticipated.

It had been funny to see how everyone had been surprised by Itoshi Rin's presence. You weren't sure what was funnier: the reaction to his "warm-up"? The fact that he hadn't made the slightest fuss about starting the second phase? The realization that he was Itoshi Sae's little brother?

Overall, his entrance had been intriguing, exactly as you expected him to be.

After Rin had officially kicked off the second selection, the other amoeboid existences had remembered they existed and started walking through the doors, but your eyes had been fixed on Team Z for a while.

How could you look away when those idiots had decided to use Chinese morra to decide the order of entry for the selection?

The imbeciles had taken Ego's concept of selfishness too seriously and in the wrong situation.

The first step of the second selection was what in your head you had called " imprisonment."

It was not as if the Blue Lock itself could not be considered a prison, but for you those 90 minutes had been endless and tiring and at times even boring.

You already had half an idea of who would make the best of "Imprisonment," you had watched them all during the first selection and had not been surprised in the rapidity of some subjects in evolving their individual skills during the first stage.

"Imprisonment" had two main purposes to make it obvious to the pathetic existences how incapable they were in the absence of other truly capable players and to actually improve the physical performance of the players who had figured out how to turn 0 into 1 and make the most of their abilities and potential.

You had tried to observe more or less everyone, but if for some it had taken only a few glances now and then to realize that their neuron-balls and reactions were working well and improving rather expeditiously, for others you got a headache from watching them repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

And then there was Shidou Ryusei, who was certainly trying hard to annoy you, taking longer than you had budgeted to finish the first Stage.

The demon-as he had been named by his fellow students in the building-had come to socialize with you before you had even decided it was worthwhile to relate to the pathetic existences, and, despite the bad temper and questionable moral ethics, he had not made you the least bit uncomfortable.

He was one of the few people in his building who used the monitor room, and every time he watched the games he really looked like a kid who had been given his favorite candy.

He was adorable, if you put aside his being a foul-mouthed.

From your point of view, he had a major behavioral flaw: he did whatever he wanted, heedless of what he was told. He had a code of ethics, but you had yet to fully decipher it. On the soccer field, however, he was one of the best players in the Blue Lock and had earned hands down a place among your favorites; not that you would have admitted it in front of him, he was self-centered enough as it was.

He had approached you, trying to strike up a conversation, but with little result: you were having dinner in the cafeteria of his building at a really awful hour, but you had waited for the pathetic existences to dislodge from the room, and yet, after only a few minutes the chair next to you had been occupied by a very tanned guy with a shit-eating grin on his face who had continued to stare at you while you were eating and then had followed you around the building trying to have some sort of conversation.

The situation had remained the same for quite a while; when he didn't have matches or wasn't training, he would wander around the building until he found you and then continue to follow you around, trying to get you to talk to him, failing miserably.

Until your meeting with Bachira.

From there you began to answer some of Shidou's questions and even some of his flirtations; it seemed to amuse him and somehow you would dare say excite him. Of the boys you had socialized with in the Blue Lock he was the most affectionate of all, leaning on you at every opportunity and circumstance, pouting when you ignored him.

At one point he had started calling you 'Babydoll.'

And you were definitely confused by that.

Shidou was attractive, there was no point in denying it, and probably outside of Bluelock he was used to smooth flirting-and you were pretty convinced he did it pretty well, too-but the fact that he was asking you out seemed more like a playful joke than a real possibility.

It wasn't that you were ugly, but you weren't the prettiest girl in the world either; you considered yourself to be within the norm, and indeed, living in BlueLock you realized that there were much prettier guys within the project than you could ever aspire to be.

This is not a way of underestimating you, it is an objective thing… moreover, you are particularly idiotic when it comes to possible romantic relationships: you don't consider yourself a person who is so much worthy of attention so you find it hard to believe that said attention could be directed to you as a person - given your questionable character - when there are so many other people in the world who are surely nicer and more pleasant than you, and you often don't notice at all the effect you can have on others.

Kind of like what happened with Shidou; the fact that no one else in his building approached you is because the little camp demon somehow called dibbs on you and the other players care about having their limbs intact.

Not that you have heard that

The formation of teams of three was something quite interesting, especially when most existences had nothing to rely on but their prior knowledge.

You had identified three decision paths

1 ) Rely on your rational side

It is definitely unnatural to choose someone whom you have never seen in action and whose capabilities you do not know : they may have passed the first stage, but it may also have been luck-as it was for many survivors-and not having an objective demonstration of someone else's capabilities, it was much safer for your own survival to choose someone familiar.

This was the path most wannabe-players had chosen; you didn't have much to laugh at : it was a safe tactic, boring and obvious, but safe.

2 ) I don't care ( as long as I shine).

Then there were those who didn't care so much who they formed a Team with, as long as they kept going through the selection process.

Rin and Barou were two clear examples, although the outcomes of their Teams were markedly different, partly because of the way they played ( as well as their character on the field)

3 ) I want something extra

These were the cases that fascinated you the most: they were players who, though it may not have seemed like it, had analyzed those around them and decided accordingly. Two totally opposite examples were Shidou and Kurona, who regardless of everything and everyone had a way of playing that made them good elements for any group

( although Shidou was unmanageable on the field if they did not do as he said)

Seishirou Nagi was a mix between 1 and 3, but you couldn't say you expected otherwise: he was a being who was easily bored and needed stimulation to continue, and Isagi was the one who had interested him in soccer.

You should have seen how Reo would fare; you expected this situation, it would come sooner or later, even if it came slightly earlier than expected for you.

When you had seen Igaguri ask Shidou to join him you had begun to laugh in a way that worried Anri san

"That imbecile has no idea what awaits him" was what Anri understood between laughs.

Igaguri had been used to being the tail end of the team since he arrived and was probably the most aware of his shortcomings and the incredible luck he had had in making it through the second selection; seeing someone lower than him must have given him a modicum of hope in his meager abilities.

What he did not know was that yes, Shidou was the 111 player to complete the first Stage, but it was only because the little demon was playing "let's annoy BabyDoll."

" You know, you shouldn't live this situation as if you were an extra."

You had been sitting on the floor, with your back against the bed, not thinking that Reo would be pleased to see you saying these things to him: he would see it as a paltry act of pity toward him, which it was not, but when we are hurt we tend to get carried away by our emotional and dramatic side.

Before entering the room, you had felt like half a stalker: prowling around the dorms to make sure Reo didn't collapse in on himself over the situation with Nagi

"That's right, Nagi left you behind because your kick was no longer working. That's not a bad thing. Neither for you, nor especially for you,"

you had turned your gaze to the ceiling, your head resting on the mattress.

"So what?" you heard the decidedly annoyed tone " Should I have wished him good luck? ' Find your kick without me?" he forgot about our promise."

You had heard him approach the edge of the bed, so much so that you could see his legs out of the corner of your eye

"Um, I know you don't want to hear this, but you both have to find your kick without the other, otherwise you won't be able to advance. Besides, I doubt that Nagi can forget anything about you. Try to improve for when you face him."

You stood up, ready to leave but at the last moment you turned toward him and found him staring at you

"You know, for what it's worth, I like you more than Isagi, but his soccer has this absurd and unfair ability to attract others to himself, so see if you can commit to it if you want to win back Nagi's interest."

He chuckled slightly "Is that all?"

"No, not really. I hate it when my expectations turn out to be wrong, so keep that in mind. Oh! While we're at it, will you have lunch with me?

The Nagi - Isagi vs. Barou - Naruhaya match had been less interesting than you had expected.

It was not as if it had not been an interesting match, but given the history you had expected more.

In a rather disconcerting way Naruhaya had surprised you, not in a good way.

The first thing Ego had explained to all the players in the buildings had been to aim to defeat whomever they deemed to be superior; it had literally been the first thing.

The fact that Naruhaya had ignored this concept could only make it obvious that he would not survive for long in the Blue Lock; it was not wrong to say that Isagi was a mediocre player, but Isagi had evolved but had an innate ability to adapt and ample room for improvement; Naruhaya had not undergone much evolution and his room for improvement was rather limited.

Of course, Naruhaya's strategy is not wrong no matter what; in some cases, in order to survive, one targets the weakest link in the situation.

The Blue Lock does not fit into any possible case.

"You can't be serious Babydoll!"

Shindou had rested his chin on your shoulder as he hugged you from behind, and was looking at you with that hangdog air you were pretty sure didn't belong to him.

"Sure enough, I am. If you want to keep being here, you can't keep beating up everyone who doesn't want to play against you "

Already by the second Stage Shindou had gotten into the bad habit of roughing up anyone who didn't want to fight against his team, and it was bordering on the ridiculous.

"If you keep sending so many players to the infirmary Ego will put you in Time-Out and no one will be able to help you."

At that moment you had felt his grip tighten a little more as he leaned more on you

"So you are worried about me" she had said it smiling and you had not denied it.

You were really worried about him but you were also worried about the project. If Shidou had eliminated players for physical incapacity before the actual disqualification according to the project rules, you predicted there would be a problem, but if omitting this thought would make the little demon a little more manageable you would not have complained.

"Promise me," you had said it in the most serious way possible.

"BabyDoll ! " he had pulled away slightly to look into your eyes, as if assessing your words

"If I hear that you beat someone again I will start to ignore you completely."

That seemed to have done the trick, as the boy had nodded his head and gone back to squeezing you

Since your conversation with Reo, you had started to spend more time with him and consequently with Chigiri and Kunigami.

The latter had even asked you if it was ethical for you to almost always watch their training and give them some indirect tips.

You had asked yourself this question, too, and finally came up with an answer

"I'm here to monitor your improvements, and if I happen to think out loud, it's just to make you aware of your condition. It's not that I provide you with analyses of your possible opponents"

It was true, your role here was to collect any kind of data you thought was important, but you were not told anything about not sharing some information with the boys as well.

Ego did it too, he was more incomprehensible than you, but maybe he could do it because he was the creator of the project? Well, if it was a problem, he should have told you clearly from the beginning that the information could not be shared with the pathetic existences, but you were never told that.

You were the one who considered that information "confidential", but that was not a given.

You liked being with them; Chigiri and Reo had already had a chance to form an opinion of you, Kunigami on the other hand was still a kind of 'blank canvas'.

You liked him. He was generally one of those personalities that were nice to be around, and you didn't really expect him to accept an invitation to such an establishment; he was an egoist who played fair.

He was endearing to you, he was a nice person, you would have been very sorry if he had lost that way about him. So for the first time in your life you were probably afraid of something.

It wasn't just fear, it was concern.

It was stupid, but this feeling had been with you since the three had told you about the meeting with Isagi's team. No matter how the match would end, you knew that the result would leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

You had grown fond of Reo, Chigiri, and Kunigami, but the opposing team had what you considered to be your favorite player in BlueLock, and two geniuses whose path you would have liked to see.

You knew there would only be one winner in the end, but it was still too early.

Moreover, there was still Shidou in the Matching Gate of the Two Teams, and you feared for those who would face him. Due to this situation, you had deliberately avoided watching the clash between the two teams, at least in real time.

You knew that you would have to analyze it sooner or later. But for once, you wanted to put it off, at least until the bad feeling in the pit of your stomach had subsided.

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

You little adorable gremlin I really adore you

First of all: How can you do stuff like this - saying nice things - knowing ( at least I think you know...) I don't know how to react...should I comment? Reblog? Whatch the post in hope it starts to speak ?

Second of all : At first I was like 'it hasn't been that much time' then I went to check and 'HOW IS IT BEEN SO MUCH!"

Third of all: My time-blindness is getting worst, I guess, sorry bout that.

You can talk to me whenever you want ( and you can call me out anytime : "It's been more than a month! ARE YOU DEAD?!")

MOOT APPRECIATION POST!!!

I love having moots!

Because some of them end up being super sweet and you can just chat with them about the fandom you share and they tag you in mutual stuff and it’s just it’s just a really nice bond! You smile every time you see their notifications!

And then there are those mutuals where you can’t really remember why you followed them way back when, but you enjoy how batshit insane they are. Just utterly unhinged. You talk to them occasionally and every time is a joyride but most of the time you just happen to see their posts and get slapped in the face with their absurdity.

Either way, I love my moots. Both my sweetie friendo ones, and my feral blorbo ones! 😂

Some Sweeties: @crookedlynerdywriter If we were’t mutuals I think I’d question everything lmao. Love you friendo! Even if you helped to drag me into the DCU fandom when I have too many fandoms already 😭😂

@lyle-my-beloved Sweet tagger twst moot! :DDD Also meme master lol you should check out the latest post/s on my twst sideblog friend if you haven’t seen them yet they are Cater related

@nomatterwhatnomatterwhere We need to talk again we stopped for a hot second but I really enjoyed our convos! Also fellow Jamil simp! 🐍

A Feral: @ashtifers-ballpit It’s Ash. It’s always been Ash. I’m scared to go on your profile at this point help- 💀

BONUS! The two famous moots that you don’t know why they follow little old you but every time you see they like your post and remember they’re mutuals you have a mini happy heart attack because ALFNFKSLCNFKWK 🥹

HI I LOVE YOU???: @not-close-to-straight I’m not sure why but when I went to find you it said I had unfollowed you???? TUMBLR???? THE AUDACITY?????? I have literally STILL been getting weird notifications from tumblr saying you “just” tagged me in years old completed fanfictions like EXCUSE ME YES I FOLLOW YOU?!?! 😤😤😤 I have refollowed you and am preparing to sue Tumblr for this grievous crime!!! Also I can’t list a fav Avengers or Spideypool fanfic - you have too many help 🫠 but don’t actually stop writing tho please don’t

@aurumacadicus I have followed you since your Reioka days and every time I see your owl I am happy! Your “Amaryllis and Peonies” is still to this day one of my fav Stony fanfics and “Featherbrain” one of my fav Stuckony ones! What can I say, I like the classics 😂 Also your updates just on your life are so interesting to read! You’re just such an interesting person. All your Avengers AUs are insane too I’m STILL addicted to them…

Anyway I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!

💜💜💜

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

(Hustle) Like an Underdog

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You seemed to have an almost sadistic enthusiasm for tragic stories.

Discovering why an individual is so passionate about something is thrilling, particularly when it becomes the reason of life for them, and it is amusing to see different people struggle with all their heart to sustain that something in their lives.

Tragic stories have the wonderful ability to make the viewer empathize with one or more characters, thus making them and their choices understandable and in some cases even justifiable; making you passionate about their stories, cheering because their dreams and desires come true, always hoping for a "second chance" following a failure.

When you can relate to a character - be it their determination, their approach to life, their manner of thinking - it amplifies the bond you feel with them.

That is why it is devastating when your beloved sees his dream shatter right before his eyes without any possibility of salvation.

It’s hard for this to happen to the protagonists; of course there must be failures, otherwise the story would be boring, uninspiring and stagnant, but you can’t tear his dream ; you can get close, but not totally, otherwise history would lose part of its bite.

The coo protagonists are already a little more at risk: they are the supports of the protagonist and rather often become the favorites of the public, but their total failure or even their departure is useful for the growth of the protagonist; despite criticism the public would understand and perhaps accept that theirs was a necessary sacrifice.

It is the protagonist of which we follow the events, no matter how much the events may be more interesting or exciting.

It depends on the author.

It is the author who chooses which of his characters is more or less worthy of the public’s attention and of having his story told.

The author chooses to tell a story that can be defined as "The Protagonist"

If a "Supporting Role" is liked so much maybe the author will deign his audience a side-story with him as a protagonist; the luckiest can even get their personal story.

Very rarely have you been passionate about the events of the protagonists or the others: you understand the stories and appreciate some, but you can not empathize with them.

Tragic stories arouse your absolute interest, and there is nothing more tragic, as a spectator, to see a character and already know what his fate will be.

Your favorites are never worthy of much attention: they are secondary characters, expendable for the purposes of the plot, whose dream will probably never see the light, with a potential absolutely wasted.

How tragic is it for someone to know that they have theoretically absurd potential and that they will never be exploited how much and how they should?

This is the principle that pushed you into this crazy project: in a fictional world, characters with tragic stories are always ready to improve, pushed into disadvantaged situations and evolve. In the real world, a tragic story only serves to justify an individual’s inability to improve as much as he could, given his potential.

This was what you thought as you watched those pathetic "unpolished lump of talent", as Ego called them, as they were being tested.

To you, they were a mixture of pathetic, pitiful and tragic lives, not yet aware of their situation. But you knew it, you chose it. Ego may have classified them according to his parameters, but the person who gave him his 300 diamonds in the ruft was you; you and Ego agreed on some positions, but disagreed completely on others. It was normal, your rating parameters are not the same and this varies some ranking positions.

Jinpachi Ego has that ability to push a situation to happen the way he wants, and you still lack that ability.

When they told you how fucked up the BlueLock system was, you laughed: Ego didn’t have your sadistic passion for tragic stories, but to come up with something like BlueLock, you had to be a sadist with a very twisted mind.

And maybe you were even more twisted for thinking about how this was your ideal place.

This project emanated a sadistic passion for football, and you could not help but appreciate it.

You were chewing on a berry lollipop when the first ones eliminated from the project came out : they were all filthy pathetic. The most pathetic of all was Kira, who kept whispering something incomprehensible, probably something about being the "jewel of Japanese football" or some shit like that.

Frustrating.

Probably the lowest point of his football career, a point from which he could only get up and improve and he decided to lock himself in an illusion. The "Protagonist" look was definitely wasted on him; not that the "Supporting Role" was a better one.

No. Kira had shown himself immediately as a marginal character: he might have had the appearance and the minimum of ability that is expected from a protagonist embryo, but he didn't have the necessary character or willpower; above all, he didn't have that goal that forces you to test yourself, typical of a protagonist

It had been obvious since his little show at the Project Presentation, but his ineptitude was even more obvious during the Tag game and in his stupid post-elimination speech. God. Someone like that did not even deserve to attempt the Wild Card, someone who did not want to understand the purpose of BlueLock would not survive long in that football that Ego was destroying and reassembling, it is a simple law of survival and only those who adapt can hope to get ahead.

If the existences of most "lumps of talent" were pitiful and pathetic, yours was certainly a comical one as you roamed the halls of BlueLock 5. Ego hadn't banished you from the dreary four walls that made up your room, but he had advised you in his gentle, caring way, like sandpaper or fingernails on a chalkboard, to take a map with you because if you got lost he certainly wouldn't come looking for you: you were a big girl whose sense of direction had to be at least decent. Definitely comfortable words when the walls and doors of the facility were fucking identical.

That's how you meet Meguru Bachira for the first time.

His was a tragic existence, the kind you always liked, the kind that got better by the second, but could rot into oblivion at the slightest misstep. You had been fully aware of what you were doing when you had presented his profile to Ego; someone like Bachira was an essential part of the project, especially when he would find someone to complement him. Having him and Isagi on the same team had proved to be the right choice, at least in the early stages.

You tried to get back to your room from one of the physical studios in Building 5.

He wandered through the building in his childlike way, looking for something, if his look into each room was a hint.

When he saw you, he smiled in a frankly adorable way and approached you. He bounced around and peppered you with questions that you chose to ignore because you didn't have the strength to carry on a conversation with someone as talkative as Bachira. He seemed neither offended nor annoyed by your attitude, almost pleased. You had arrived at Team Z's practice field when Bachira disappeared for a few minutes, only to reappear beside you with a ball.

"You have to give it back when you're done. You can't take the ball to the dormitory."

That was what you had told him when you parted ways.

Unlike Ego, you weren't interested in being a cloister nun locked in her room, so it wasn't at all strange for you to wander around the different buildings of the Bluelock. Ego had given you free access to all the facilities that the Best Striker wannabes had access to, although you frequented them when they were less crowded. Sometimes you happened to watch a training session or a match in person, rather than on the monitors.

The air in those moments was much more exhilarating than when you watched them play from the monitors. You didn't know if you were a nuisance, though you were pretty sure that some of the boys didn't notice you at all, considering how caught up they were in the moment.

Bachira is definitely not one of them: every time he sees you, he greets you and hugs you like he's known you all his life; he's definitely a very affectionate guy, and you don't mind it as much as you should. A few times he has forced you to help him with his practice; he hasn't physically forced you, he just does this adorable pout that makes it impossible for you to say no. At first you were limited to providing him with balls, then you started to give him little suggestions to improve, and finally you found yourself enjoying his presence and talking to him.

Bachira is the one who pushes you out of your "shadow zone".

"Your monster wants more," is what he tells you one night in the monitor room a few days before the game with Team Y, while you are doing some analysis.

"Did your monster tell you that?" you ask him, pulling his grubby hands away from your notes on the players; ego would have killed you otherwise.

"He wants to get out of the cage you keep him in," at least that's what you can tell by the half-asleep grumbling of the boy who is now sleeping soundly on your shoulder.

In your own life you have never seen yourself as a "main character", you don't have the ability to radiate a light of your own, but you have always been able to bring out the "main character", the light, present in other people, and you are satisfied with that.

This makes you one of those wretched existences that you so despise; perhaps you despise them because you recognize yourself as such.

You do not even glow with reflected light, and you have never felt the need to imitate anyone in order to feel like someone else. The ability to make the most of an individual's potential and make him or her someone has always made you aware of your own abilities. Even if no one knew that a nobody had become a somebody because of you.

You are a non-reflective surface that has never tried to attract light to itself, preferring to study the light of others from afar.

Perhaps this is why Ego took you as his protégé: you were as obsessed as he was with creating something spectacular out of those "tragic stories" you enjoy so much, but your skills have yet to be honed if you wish to do this as a profession.

Otherwise, yours would have been a wasted talent. And there is nothing Ego hates more than to see what he sees as talent being wasted

In retrospect, staying in your "shadow zone" didn't seem so bad, and it certainly didn't make you feel that even the way you breathed was a problem.

You ate your breakfast, but you could feel people staring at you. You felt like some kind of freak, you didn't understand why, and it bothered you. It had been a week since the start of the BlueLock project, there was no way the pathetic existences had really forgotten what a girl looked like.

You would have liked to have breakfast with Bachira, he was the only one of the "lumps of talent" you had a relationship with, but bi-colored bangs were nowhere to be seen, and you had work to do, so you couldn't wait for him forever, and if you had the chance, you would have gladly escaped the tense air you felt around you in the cafeteria.

You know who Seishirou Nagi is. He is a potential tragic existence as well as one of the geniuses in the draft.

He is one of the few players you have more or less interacted with. He had requested his cell phone, and you hadn't had too much trouble getting it to him at the dorm, since you had to go through there anyway. You were more than sure that the team was practicing, but this was Seishirou - Hassle Man - Nagi you were dealing with, and so you shouldn't have been surprised to find the boy sleeping all askew in his bed in the dorm. You had given him your cell phone and left. But that had been a one-sided interaction, the boy was asleep, so you didn't understand why he was staring at you as if you had offended him badly.

You had done nothing wrong, yet you felt like the worst criminal in existence. This continued even at lunch, and you felt increasingly embarrassed.

You had decided to observe their training in person that day - so you couldn't boycott yourself by running away at the last minute. You had sat with your back against the wall, using your legs to support your notes; you had been so engrossed that you had almost missed the moment when the training had ended.

You looked around in confusion; you had seen Nagi practicing, but now you couldn't see him anywhere.

"He went to the changing room at least forty minutes ago," Mikage Reo had dropped down next to you and stared at you.

He had a tragic story that you couldn't wait to hear: those chosen for the BlueLock project put their football careers on the line, knowing that they could be the reason someone else's dream was shattered. Reo Mikage has excellent potential and is already using it decently, but his relationship with Nagi on the field is a dangerous double-edged sword, and in a place like BlueLock, where only the best will survive, his relationship with Nagi can only drag him into mediocrity. You would have been sorry to see him eliminated. Mikage had been one of your favorites since you made the list of candidates, but if his dream was to become the best soccer player in Japan, he should have gotten rid of his dependence on Nagi

In terms of talent and ability, Nagi is far superior to him, but Mikage makes better use of his.

According to your criteria, of course.

Those two were the first in their building for a reason, which was the ability to score a goal and how it was scored.

"I wondered if I had offended him in some way," because for you that was the only explanation for his dirty looks.

"It must have been something if it got my Nagi's attention."

That evening you had been so engrossed in your work that you had almost forgotten to eat. You were convinced that the cafeteria would be deserted, but you found yourself listening to the exchange between Kunigami and Isagi.

They are interesting people, you decide.

In the morning, the stares that landed on you in the cafeteria were the least of your worries: in the afternoon, the meeting between Team Y and Team Z would take place and you wanted to attend it in person, which meant that later, you would have to catch up on work and it was best to relieve the burden right away.

In Team Y, there is a somewhat pathetic existence with great potential, and you wanted to see how he would play against a team with an element similar to him.

Isagi Yoichi had aroused your frustrated interest. He cannot be defined as a tragic existence, but rather as an annoying and frustrating one.

He is the only one who realizes the strategy of Team Y, although much later than he could have, considering his analytical abilities. How he didn't realize sooner how problematic Team Z's strategy was in so many ways is both surprising and annoying. His approach seemed to have some thought behind them, but the execution was decidedly botched due to his poor physical skills, but luck was disgustingly on his side.

Isagi had what Ego was looking for: He didn't excel in skill, talent or ability but he had the hunger not only to survive but to win.

This was something that would definitely take him further in the Blue Lock.

Despite Team Z winning, however, Niko was superior when it came to using his Weapon: you weren't worried about him in the least: this defeat had left its mark on him and now he would do anything to survive and get his revenge.

Niko was now a slightly less pathetic being than before.

That evening, you also left a first aid kit and a tray of food at the door of the Z dormitory.

You met Chigiri Hyoma on the night of their first victory.

Watching matches live was wonderful, but it forced you to catch other matches at ungodly hours, wasting more time than if you had watched them on monitors.

The monitor rooms that Ego had provided for the players were, in your opinion, more comfortable than Ego's monitor room; except for Bachira, who used this room more to spend time with you than for its intended purpose, it didn't seem like many people spent their time here. So you didn't expect anyone to come through.

On paper, Chigiri Hyoma was a very good player, and you knew that he had earned the nickname of "Phenomenon", but ever since he had arrived at BlueLock, he hadn't seemed very enthusiastic to you, and you hadn't seen anything phenomenal in him yet.

This was an unfortunate situation for him.

When he entered, he nodded at you and then sat down on the floor. You had colonized the table with your notes and you kept on sending the recordings back and forth in order to note down details that you would never have noticed otherwise. When you reached Isagi's goal, you saw Chigiri's eyes light up: Was it a mixture of jealousy and nostalgia? You weren't sure.

"Is it a good gol?" You asked him, looking up slightly from what you were doing.

"One of those that keeps you awake at night."

Oh. So that was the problem.

"You could have scored it if you wanted to", you were on a delicate path.

"Isagi and I do not have the same weapon.

"But if you wanted to, you could have scored", you didn't know if he wasn't yelling at you out of politeness or not "You were chosen because of your skills, but if you don't want to put the effort, then get lost. No one is forcing you to stay, and I'm sure the rejected will be happy to know there's a spot available".

"Stop talking like you know me" Fuck, you had pissed him off, but you couldn't stop, it was stronger than you. "I'm the one who chose your tragic existence, so I guess I do know you. I know you, your abilities, your weapon. It pisses me off to think that I was wrong. Make up your mind quickly if you want to be a disgusting, pathetic existence any longer." You gathered your things and left, but soon after, Chigiri had to face another confrontation.

"You could have told me it was the lemon tea," you said as you placed a glass of the aforementioned lemon tea on the table in front of a half-asleep Nagi, but you turned to Mikage.

"It would have been boring otherwise," the little shit even had the nerve to smile at you.

"I thought I had insulted the prodigy here, but it was really funny, I guess." You had gone through all the documents you had on the albino to understand what you could have done wrong to him, and the answer had left you stunned: he was damn stupid.

For breakfast, you happened to have lemon tea, which you later discovered was the child prodigy's favorite beverage. That damned spoiled child would rather stare at you as if you'd killed the hamster he didn't have than come and ask for that damned you because it was probably a nuisance.

You were having lunch with the Team V trio when you noticed Kuon talking to the Wanima twins; it wasn't forbidden, but it was strange. You knew they didn't know each other, but their teams were going to play that afternoon, and it was suspicious.

You were late for the game, but in another building there was another game that you couldn't miss, not when a protagonist existence was playing.

You arrived shortly after Kuon's third goal, but replaying the key moments you saw while the teams were in the locker room, you noticed that Team W looked decidedly subdued.

When it became clear that Kuon had betrayed the team, you were more annoyed than surprised: You knew that the guys involved in the project would have to do whatever it took, but in your naivety you took it for granted that they would play clean; for someone who had to cheat to survive, the stay at BlueLock would be short and even harder than it already was.

Only those who level up can advance, you cannot think of passing level 3 while at level 1.

Kuon's speech had made you sick: he hadn't understood the meaning of BlueLock at all.

To the boy's great misfortune and humiliation, the match had ended in a draw, but you still had a few apologies to make.

You were seriously frustrated, and Anri was sure that whoever had made you nervous should have watched his back very carefully. You were making a rather violent comment on a player's file; you wanted "the sub existence to have as much difficulty as possible in finding a football job after he was eliminated", the sub existence had been very disappointing to you.

His "ego" is an insult to the project and its participants, such a distorted ego will never have the success it seeks, and to think that you saw something in this downgraded being that turned out to be completely different than you predicted would only increase your anger at yourself.

It didn't matter how much Ego told you that such beings would fall and that you couldn't predict everything correctly.

"If you don't eat them, they will be thrown away, Zantestu."

You were already quite nervous when you arrived at the dinner table, but the sight of Kuon's suggestion of his previous tactic to Team V had increased your sourness. Fortunately, "Dumbtestu" had prevented your rice from landing in Kuon's face, that would have been a waste as well. Then the Isagi arrived, followed by Team Z, ready to declare war on Team V. To instigate an enemy to kill before a battle is what you might call a lack of survival spirit or utter recklessness, but apparently it didn't seem to scare Team Z in the least.

You were grateful that the trio had left so you didn't have to intervene.

You found yourself at the Z-team table with Bachira next to you, trying to feed you, though you weren't sure how it happened.

While the rest of the team was probably wondering who you were, you felt like a freak again.

"I owe you an apology," you looked at Chigiri, who was looking back and forth between you and his fried vegetables, "I shouldn't have provoked you… you played well. I knew you weren't a pathetic existence."

The match between Team V and Team Z was without a doubt the best match in all of BlueLock. You had seen what could be considered Bachira's best selfish moment yet; his play had thrilled you: this is what happens when a tragic existence evolves. Even the evolution of Chigiri's and Kunigami's weapons had satisfied you, you were almost proud that these tragic existences used the potential you had seen in them. The awakenings of Nagi and Isagi had also been something exciting; they were two different awakenings, but fundamental for their path. Nagi's had happened more on an emotional level, he had let his desire to win shine through, how fierce he could be when he committed himself to something and this had emphasized his already excellent abilities even more. Isagi had undergone a technical awakening, he understood what his formula was and how to make the most of it and once he improved his skills, he would be a nightmare on the field.

Despite all these monsters, none of them were the best player on the field. No, the best player of the match was that hothead Raichi; you didn't care that Ego might not see it the same way, but for you, Raichi's presence had allowed Team Z to win: he had marked Reo throughout the match, he had prevented Zantetsu's goal, and he had saved the ball that Isagi had scored on. The strength, not only of the body but also of the will that this boy possesses, is second to none.

They were all here as strikers, but there was no denying that some of them seemed perfectly suited for other roles as well.

Not that you would ever say it out loud, most of the pathetic existences would have yelled at you, and you didn't want to go deaf for hurting their fragile crystal ego.

You had more important things to deal with.

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

What a ( Not so) Strange World - VIII

AN: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update.

I'm working on some things and to tell the truth the chapter was practically ready for weeks, even if I wasn't convinced by the final part.

Sorry again

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You didn't know what made you think that, but you were convinced that once Heartslabyul sent one of his people to retrieve his lost child, everything would go decently.

You would accompany Yuu and Grim - who were a package from what you understood - to class, so as to minimize the problems that Grim might get into and which he would drag the Prefect into as a result, and then you would go and look for Crowley , since you didn't know what you were supposed to do with your time at this school.

(Of course it was a school, and during your tour the crow lover had named some classes you would take, but he hadn't bothered to give you a timetable for the lessons and as gifted as you might be with magic, you didn't have the gift of clairvoyance or mind reading. The questions of how someone like that could be put in charge of a school were still present in your mind)

But as you should have expected, your plans would not be respected, since you were all heading together and passionately – except Ace, who was not happy at all – towards Heartslabyul.

When Least Problem Child – even his nickname was due to what you understood about him from Yuu's story – showed up to see how Ace was doing you were surprised to see how Deuce – “D-Deuce S-Spade !” – really seemed like an unproblematic child.

He had been direct in telling Ace what an idiot he had been, and had been much less tragic while talking about the Housewarden than Ace had been.

(You had to suppress a laugh at their situation)

It was fun to watch them interact with each other.

(Though maybe, from Deuce's story, you could understand why Ace was being so dramatic, since their Housewarden seemed to be exaggerating a little, if he put the same collar as Ace on someone who had overslept.)

You offered the newcomer to have breakfast with you and saw him stammer "No thanks" for a good whole minute, avoiding your gaze with the tips of his red ears.

It was cute.

( Deuce remembered seeing you during the chandelier fiasco, he had tried to apologize on Ace's behalf when he came at you, and he knew a model student would apologize , but you didn't see him. Now you were here, all smiles offering him breakfast with you, a breakfast you probably made yourself. You were the prettiest girl Deuce had seen in his young life. Avoiding acting like a delinquent was definitely paying off.)

You headed to Main Street and Grim had been absolutely unbearable the entire way.

The teasing towards Ace had been funny at first, but after a while it had tired you, both because the weasel's voice was making your ears bleed in pain, and because he was attracting so much, too much, attention from the students who you met

(The students' gazes weren't too focused on Grim though – their ears definitely were – their eyes were focused on you and the animals following your group. 'Cute' animals rarely strolled around the NRC, unless Silver wasn't asleep nearby, and so it was decidedly bizarre to see them following someone)

You were convinced that as soon as Ace got his magic back, Grim would have a tough time; you hoped to get Yuu away as quickly as possible, with that temper he had you knew the little monster would cause problems.

You didn't really want to go to Heartslabyul, you had more important things to do - like find Crowley and figure out where the library was - but leaving Yuu with the Problem Child™ wasn't an option, last time they ended up fighting a monster to find a Mana Stone in the dwarven mines, who knows what they might have gotten up to while they were together.

You didn't want to know.

The Queenie-inspired Dormitory wasn't bad at all: it was regal but inspired a certain order and discipline, but it lost a little of its solemnity when you saw the rose bushes losing spots of color.

You knew that Queenie had a tradition involving painting roses, but you hadn't yet seen the tradition in action. It was definitely something interesting.

Certainly Yuu's poor attempt to not make Ramshackle appear as something totally destroyed and unlivable hadn't helped much.

Ramshakle was a “work in progress” for housing decency. Once that was achieved we could talk about something else.

To get to the dorm entrance you had to pass through a Rose Maze, and the path was littered with cans of red paint, although you were much more focused on the tiny red footprints that started from one of the paint splotches on the ground.

You had missed the moment when Grim realized that someone other than you was in the maze: little pink hedgehogs were pushing at your heels – they were trying and you were letting them – while they whispered anxiously that they needed help.

You didn't want to leave the group, but you really pitied those little hedgehogs - they spoke in a fast and almost scared way - and your willpower to keep Yuu out of trouble was slightly weakened; they were in a Maze, the worst that could happen was that they would get lost, right?

The little guys led you not too far from where you were, to a little cage that had another hedgehog stuck in it, who looked like he was about to cry, if the little whimpers he let out were anything to go by.

After freeing the little one, the other hedgehogs decided to remain hanging on your body: you had one on each shoulder, the one just freed had decided to stay in your arms to be petted, the last one had decided to take a walk from grass up to your legs - where it was definitely comfortable - but since you had to go back to the others, you picked him up too.

“Why are you painting the roses red?”

When you returned to the others you were greeted by a decidedly interesting panorama: Deuce was fighting with a rose that was supposed to be red but tended more towards blue; Grimm was no better off, as you could see some singed roses; in the end the ones in the best position were Ace and Yuu who were literally painting the roses red.

“Why are you not painting the roses red?” Ace sounded totally betrayed – dramatic, downright dramatic.

You raised your arms to show the small animals – as if they weren't already visible with those bright colors they had – asking where you could leave them.

Nobody had time to answer you, because someone was faster: you felt yourself being hugged from behind, with the newcomer's arms settling just under yours, catching a glimpse of a very familiar lock of hair.

“Hi! Hi! There you are! I was soo worried 'bout you” he placed a hand on your back and started pushing you in another direction, without any of the others having time to say anything.

(As Cater dragged you away, Yuu could see how you didn't seem the least bit surprised or worried by the older boy's attitude, as if you were used to it. Ace was still shocked, he had to paint the roses and you were escorted in a very kind way, given the character of Cater, who knows where. Deuce was still realizing the situation; he was so entranced by your cute figure holding those little hedgehogs that he almost missed the moment Cater dragged you away)

You were arranging the hedgehogs in a basket that seemed much more well-stocked, and above all comfortable, than the trap in which one of them had gotten stuck, when Cater had leaned on your left shoulder and actually greeted you.

(actually, he had tried as soon as he saw you, but the hedgehog on your shoulder gave him a very dirty look and was a good deterrent, he didn't want quills on his pretty face the first time you saw you again together, although maybe that would have made you want to take care of him? Hmm, he would have thought about it.)

“Hi,” he said, lowering his voice slightly and looking you straight in the eyes, and my God how much you missed his eyes, even though, at that moment, they seemed a little darker than you remembered.

"Hello to you too"

You stared at each other for a few seconds before the hedgehog on your other shoulder nuzzled his nose into your neck, waking you up from that sort of trance.

"Oh right!" Cater's eyes widen slightly at your tone. "The hedgehogs would appreciate a strengthening spell when you use them as balls and maybe if you avoided all those traps in the maze they would be a little calmer and maybe avoid escaping."

"Did they tell you?" Cater was still hugging you with his chin on your shoulder. "I'll talk to the Housewarden about it, but I can't guarantee anything."

Once the sidequest was finished you returned to the others, with a decidedly sulky Cater

(He had just seen you again in person and didn't have the slightest desire to share his time with you with the other firsties, but he had work to do and it was best to avoid Riddle's tantrums. Ugh!)

“I hate to say it, Ace, but I need you to leave before Riddle sees you.”

Sure, Rule 53 made total sense, but having to kick Ace out before the warden saw him also seemed over the top, even by Queenie's rules.

As you watched Cater fight Deuce and Grim you realized that unless "Riddle" was a rather common name, the Housewarden of Heratslabyul and Che'nya and Trey's friend must have been the same person.

You didn't understand how a personality like Che'nya could coexist with a "tyrant" like this Riddle, it couldn't be all thanks to Trey, despite all the wonderful abilities the boy possessed.

During the fight you had cast a small protection spell on Yuu, it didn't make sense for them to get hurt… now that you thought about it, if they had had a protection spell on them maybe they would have managed to avoid the physical attack repercussions that 'being friends with the Problem Child™ would have meant… yeah, you could try that.

“Shouldn't you send me away now too?”

You received a dirty look and a childish “Gno” in response as CayCay – that was the nickname used when Cater acted like a child – went back to hugging you like a Teddy Bear

“I need to find Crowley” “Gno” “I need to go” “Gnoo”

Awsome, you have been kidnapped by Cater

“You need to paint those roses red”

At this he let you go, very reluctantly, making you promise to spend lunch with him, which you gladly accepted.

Back in the Hall of Mirror two things hit you hard Where the hell could you find Crowley and above all hope that the Problem Child™ and Yuu didn't get into trouble during your absence.

You should have stocked up on headache potions, maybe Crewel would have provided you with a supply if you asked.

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

What a ( Not so) Strange World - VII

A.N : I referred to Yuu as They/ them. I don't know if it makes sense to do this and I apologize if I didn't do it correctly

In my head Yuu, even in the game, is a boy since NRC is an all-boys school and no character ever raises questions about it, I take it for granted that Yuu is a boy.

But I don't want to impose on anyone, so I preferred to opt for a middle ground. I don't know if it was the right choice.

So I already apologize if I offend anyone, it wasn't my intention.

Indeed, if anyone has any suggestions to make, I am happy to listen

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You were starting to reevaluate the idea of ​​waking up with the birds having their gossip sessions, their chirping was decidedly less annoying than the violence you perceived from whoever was knocking on the door.

When it came to Neige it had been much less annoying, but you imagined it was because Neige was Neige, the delicacy in his movements seemed to be an intrinsic characteristic of him, while instead whoever had decided to cheer you up - you, Yuu and the two Problem Child ™ - with that oh-so-sweet sound didn't have the slightest bit of delicacy.

After Mister Fae had disappeared, leaving some wonderful fireflies in his place – and taking with him the cup you had offered him – you had heard the sounds of approaching footsteps.

There were two silhouette and at first you didn't recognize them, but then, after the flying weasel had not only bumped into you but had also shouted at you - with that strident voice of his - what the hell were you doing there in their dormitory, you had recognized the two for the incident with the chandelier.

(Grim didn't mean to be so rude - you smelled good and didn't seem dangerous at all - but he was a monster, he didn't know much about human customs and he was also slightly afraid they'd sent you here to kick him out of the NRC, you couldn't! He was a student… and even if you had kicked him out he would have come back… he was used to coming back after being kicked out)

The one you later realized was Yuu tried to save the situation by trying to cover the little monster's mouth, but it was of little avail as the weasel started complaining about how his Henchman must be on the Great Grim's side.

You felt sorry for them. You weren't sure you would be able not to cast some spell on the little guy - like stealing his voice like the Sea Witch had done with the youngest of Triton's daughters.

Ignoring the weasel who demanded answers left and right – even though in this case he was right, you were a stranger barging into their house – you ushered them inside, introducing yourself and explaining that the HeadMage had brought you there and that you had replenished their supplies. food pantries.

Hearing the last part of the speech Grim became even more unbearable; not because he was the unbearable one, unbearable was the feeling that had gripped you in the pit of your stomach when you had offered him a pair of those cans of Tuna that had made Crewel worried.

He seemed so happy and relieved, he even asked you if he could actually eat them, as if he couldn't believe it.

Was that why Yuu didn't attack the little monster?

It was annoying, now not only the place, but also its tenants reminded you of your orphanage days.

Yuu had noticed your look and while Grim ate his well-deserved meal - even if you didn't know how much it was deserved - they whispered to you how much Grim wanted to stay in this school and that he had even gone so far as to sneak into the opening ceremony causing some problem

(And in that moment the message you had received from Crewel while you were at the RSA made much more sense)

You then took the opportunity to ask them why this Dormitory was in such bad shape, in short, the possibility that there were students in this dormitory was very low, but both Yuu and Grim were living proof that some student could end up in this dormitory.

You discovered at that moment - also thanks to the ghosts who had joined you - that this dormitory was now being used for the first time in centuries due to Yuu's "fault".

You sympathized with them when they said that they were not originally from this world and that they felt a little disoriented by everything around them; you could understand the situation, but at least you had responsible adults to take care of you, Yuu on the other hand had whatever Crowley was.

Something that surprised you a little was discovering that Yuu came from a world without magic: you had seen the look they had given you when you had reheated the plate – it was a very simple elemental spell – and it had taken them a moment to realize it.

You asked them if there was something wrong – you were afraid you had burned or scared them anyway – and they told you that they had to get used to the fact that this place was magical and that this was the second magic they had seen. They also told you that Crowley had promised to find a way to send them home - even if you had some doubts about it - and that their first - second - day at the NRC had really been something.

You were increasingly worried about them: in an unknown world, without magic, in a place that was falling apart, and sent to face a monster that could kill them.

You asked them if they needed anything, if they were hurt, but they kept saying they were fine so you didn't insist, even if you glanced at them from time to time.

( Yuu saw your face go from shock, to confusion, to annoyance and ending with worry, they weren't sure how to take all of this)

Picking up Grim - who had fallen asleep after gorging himself on Tuna - you went up to the dormitories and you took the opportunity to remind Yuu that if they needed anything "the one in front is my room" and that they were free to come in. You fell asleep quite easily, despite the discomfort of the bed – were the boards solid or held up by magic? – because the day had definitely been eventful, even if your sleep didn't last too long.

You woke up sneezing, damn dust lurking where you don't see it, because someone was knocking ungracefully and violently on the dorm door.

It took you a moment to realize that you weren't imagining the sound, and with a lot of willpower you got out of bed.

You met up with Yuu and Grim as you went down the stairs and as the little monster went to open the door you noticed Yuu's confused face; sure, they too had just been woken up, but that was the face of someone who had had a nightmare.

You were about to ask them if once whoever woke you up was gone they would like to talk about it, but you didn't have time because Grim's scream about a certain "collar he would recognize anywhere" made you both hurry up to the Entrance Hall of the dormitory.

“I can't go back to Heartslabyul House. I'm joining your dorm. For good"

The angry boy in front of you was the same one who hit you in the shoulder.

'Nocturnal nuisance' was being added to the list of negative characteristics of Problem Child N°2 – that's what you had started calling him while Yuu was telling you about their misadventures, Grim was Problem Child N°1 – along with his voice being too loud, for be you know, the middle of the night.

As Yuu and Grim sat the boy down in your Lounge, he began to explain why he wanted to leave his dorm.

Your conclusions?

He was rude. Eating other people's food without permission and not even apologizing for doing so. And he also claimed to be right.

Among other things, it was also insensitive: talking about how difficult it was to be without magic for a magician, in front of Yuu, who had just arrived in a magical world that was completely different from their

“What kinda wishy-washy answer is that?!”

He had come to Ramshackle waking everyone up, demanding to stay, complaining about the rigidity of his Housewarden for something he had done wrong and he also wanted to be right.

(You hadn't noticed, but while you were analyzing the situation Yuu had observed the expressions change on your face again, and what they saw at that moment was just very, very, annoyance)

Both Yuu and Grim were trying to reason with the boy, with little success, you were biting the inside of your cheek to try not to say something that was too much; Problem Child was annoying, but you didn't know him or his Housewarden, so your judgments might be clouded by lack of rest.

“I'm a victim of the Housewarden's tyranny here!”

…and okay, the ginger still didn't see that he was in the wrong too.

You were about to intervene, but Grim beat you to it, even though you weren't entirely sure Problem Child No. 2 understood why he should apologize.

Plus it wasn't clear to you why Yuu should go with him, what was it? Did he need moral support?

You bit down a little harder – you could taste blood a little – when you heard Ace – who hadn't noticed you yet, you imagined – begging Yuu to let him sleep with him because “No way, I hate cleaning”.

This guy was seriously getting on your nerves.

“I'm sure the lounge sofa will be perfect for your short stay here”

You told him before dragging Yuu up the stairs and wishing both them and Grim a good night.

Once in your room you tried to go back to sleep, but you couldn't. You kept turning in bed looking for a comfortable enough position, but there was absolutely nothing you could do.

Maybe, just maybe, you felt a little guilty about how you had spoken to the boy downstairs; he hadn't been polite and he certainly was annoying, but that didn't give you the right to treat him badly. Plus the collar he had on didn't seem comfortable at all, you weren't sure he would be able to sleep.

You took one of the pillows in your room, removed as much dust as possible and went down to the Lounge.

This was a way for you to eliminate the guilt of abandoning him to his fate on that dusty sofa.

Nothing more.

When you reached the sofa you confirmed the thought that that collar must have been really uncomfortable, given that the boy was turning around trying to find a decent position.

You handed him the pillow and he responded with a very sweet – yes, like nails on a blackboard –

“What am I supposed to do with this?” complete with a raised left eyebrow

“I dunno. But I guess this is better than those armrest”

Since you were going to the kitchen anyway to make yourself some hot milk - because there's nothing like hot milk for sleeping - you asked him if he wanted some and the boy followed you into the kitchen.

( While you were preparing, Ace took the time to observe you, he didn't remember bumping into you, and had actually ignored you while he was complaining about Riddle; try to understand, he was in a state of nervousness and anger, he wasn't able to focus on something other than his own situation. He had only noticed you when you had dragged the Prefect and the weasel up the stairs. You were cute. You weren't the prettiest girl Ace had seen, but you had a certain charm as you moved around the kitchen. You also had a particular aura. He wasn't sure what it was)

“Just so you know,” you slipped the cup into his hand, “I think you're more wrong than you think. Your Housewarden was definitely exaggerated, but you were wrong in the first place. You are not as much of a victim as you would like to be.”

You looked him in the eyes and smiled at him and then wished him good night, going up to your room again together with your hot cup of milk, hoping to be able to sleep soundly, now that that guilt you had was gone – more or less.

And then you found your brain on alert again because someone else was trying to punch down the poor front door of your dorm.

You were preparing breakfast for the others, Yuu trying to tie a decent tie, Grim was dozing on the counter – and occasionally talking in his sleep – and Ace was asleep.

Or at least, he was, until he was hit by a very heavy coughing fit due to the dust that the knocking on the door had raised.

(It was almost comical to see Ace go through what you went through when he showed up at your door.)

The day had just begun and you already had a headache.

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

What a (Not so) Strange World - VI

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“So you had prepared a room for me”

The room was on a red, white and black theme, clearly Crewel's work, but it wasn't dark at all; There was a beautiful window that looked out onto a small balcony, the curtains were probably also a stylistic choice by Crewel, as was the four-poster bed - which was very reminiscent of the one you slept in at the Crewel house. He told you that in any case there was a spell thanks to which the room would light up as needed if requested.

Even though the presence of Crewel's hand was visible, you knew Trein had contributed too. You could see it in the choice of the wooden desk, large as you liked, in the library already full of books, some definitely off target but with a very emotional meaning. The dresser and the wardrobe - and the clothes inside them - were Crewel's work, you were pretty sure the man wouldn't agree to a deal about something like how you would get around.

There was also a bathroom, nothing exaggerated, but still a personal bathroom

(Crewel had actually taken care of most of the things in the room, he had also made sure to provide you with not only several uniforms but also more casual clothes - what monster wouldn't give a child at least a change of clothes - many clothes were from his fashion house; in the same way he had provided you with various beauty items and some potions kits. Trein had focused more on the 'little things', he didn't hide that Crewel might have some more knowledge on the style you would have preferred, but Trein knew what you were interested in - not that Crewel didn't know, you simply talked more to Trein about the little things that caught your interest - hence the different books that talked about how to make the most of elemental magic or the fairly rare editions of some potions manuals; at the top right of the library you could find a photo album of when you were at Trein home, an idea of ​​Anastasia and Drizella.)

“Why shouldn't we? Do you like it?”

Well you sure liked it better than that … thing in Ramschackle. Nothing to take away from the place, which in its golden years would certainly have been splendid, but as you saw it, it wasn't a totally habitable place.

You had already wondered how Yuu and Grim could live in those conditions, but now you actually had someone to ask.

Except that the answer left you rather confused.

What the heck did “I’m pretty sure nobody lives there Pup, well, if we don’t count the ghost of course” mean?

So you told Crewel what the ghosts had told you about Yuu and Grim, and Crewel confessed to you that he had no idea who you were talking about; he didn't think there were any students with those names.

The ghosts may have been messing with you, but the room you had seen had been cleared out and you doubted the ghosts could take care of it.

Your roommates were the reason you shopped with Crewel's card.

The man was interested in this conversation

“Well…I looked around that ehm, place” you were playing with your fingers, you were afraid Crewel would scold you and you didn't really like the idea “And I found out that their fridge, if we can call that thing like that, was totally empty and they had nothing to eat, like nothing at all, nowhere” that situation had partly reminded you of your time in the orphanage, where when you did something you shouldn't have done your portion of food was halved.

(It had never happened to you, even though you were an outcast you were still a calm and definitely not problematic child, but other children were not so calm at all, they were children, but that was what was called 'Tough Love' and for a while you had come to think it was normal, but the more time you spent with Crewel and Trein and your guardians in your world, the more you realized that this was just psychological abuse. Thinking that something like this could happen to someone right before your eyes gave you shivers.)

“That's kind of you, Pup” you were convinced Crewel was going to scold you for doing something without permission but he was just ruffling your hair “But you're banned from using my card for buying all of this Tuna again” ah there, well you could expect something like this.

You asked him if he knew any spells to make a kitchen work, since you weren't sure if the one in the Dorm wouldn't decide to explode at any moment.

He looked at you as if you had offended him personally, but it wasn't directed at you. No, it was directed at Crowley and his very poor decision-making ability.

“Um…there's a kitchen I could use in the meantime?” you were reluctant to ask anything, given the look in his eyes that contemplated revenge.

He accompanied you to the school kitchens - he had thought about taking you to Vargas, but he was quite convinced the man would be quite a hindrance to you, not to mention the absurd diets he could subject you to, it gave him the shivers - and left you in the care of the ghost of the canteen.

He had some bureaucratic paperwork to look at.

When you finished you were quite satisfied with the result, you had overestimated the amount of food you would need, so you offered some students who were stationed near the kitchens to taste something, and they didn't have to think about what to do

(at first they were attracted by the smell, you didn't have to be a beastman to smell the scent coming from the place, but then they saw that the source of the wonderful smell was a cute girl – and as far as they knew, the NRC was an all boys school - and the aforementioned had offered them to taste the food she had prepared with a really kind smile. To refuse such an offer would have been really stupid of them)

The ghost invited you back, he liked having company and you were really friendly and – even too – kind, compared to the students he was used to; It didn't matter whether they were beastmen or not, most of them at lunchtime were comparable to hungry beasts.

Some of the students had offered to help you carry your things to your Dorm, but their good intentions went up in smoke as soon as they saw Trein and Lucius coming – especially Lucius, that cat was not nice at all.

But apparently that beast had some weaknesses too, as as soon as it saw you it started meowing happily, even though you were threatening it not to come closer – having cat hair in your food wasn't exactly your initial idea, no matter how clean his fur was - fortunately the cat had decided to sit in the arms of his owner, who in the meantime had floated everything you had prepared.

The walk with Trein was funny, how could it not be with Lucius sourly comments on Crowley – and Trein didn't disagree.

You discovered – and were quite shocked – that Trein had a cell phone; there was nothing strange about it, it just sounded bizarre to your ears… well, during your time with Crewel you communicated with Trein through letters, it was strange to imagine the austere man writing messages via smartphone.

When you got to the dormitory, Trein's expression was unreadable – he had your room in the staff area ready in a day and Crowley couldn't even get the dust out of a couple of rooms. Absurd.

He made sure the kitchen didn't explode in the short time you were there, and cast a spell that would make the dust disappear – it didn't last long, there were probably centuries of dust in that place and just one spell wouldn't have been enough.

Trein insisted on staying, but you politely refused, you weren't actually sure that seeing Trein's stern face as soon as they got home would make a good impression. You had grown up with Trein, but you too were aware of the aura the man had.

The ghosts were amazed, they didn't think you would return and they were definitely happy with the company - you didn't have the heart to tell them that it would only be for that evening - but of the other, er, living tenants, there was no sign.

Time passed and you were definitely getting worried, you were starting to think that there really wasn't anyone else besides the ghosts.

You were also starting to feel cold, obviously there were drafts in this place too.

You let the ghosts show you where you could find clothes that could keep you a little warmer and obviously you found a rather dusty blanket…

You know what? You didn't feel cold, not at all.

You were really about to give up when you heard a noise that resembled footsteps and immediately ran out of the dormitory to see if, finally, Yuu and Grim had returned.

“Um…Hi” you were uncertain.

In front of you there was a very tall boy, with two horns on his head and two really, really beautiful green eyes, who was staring at you somewhere between confused and curious.

You were about to ask him if he was Yuu or Grim, but noticed a couple of things that made you stop: first, his eyes really reminded you of Maleficent's, you weren't sure what specifically - it could even be the eyes and horns combo – the second, was that the boy in front of you was probably a Fae, the aura of magic was slightly noticeable, but it was the ears that made you widen your eyes with understanding.

And the boy understood it too; after all, that was the expression everyone made when they recognized him, and then they moved uncomfortably just like you were doing at that moment.

“I guess you know who I am, Child of Man”

You stiffened slightly at his question, was he someone you should have known?

(Malleus could read the anxiety in your movements, you had an expression of recognition, but when he asked if you knew who he was you went into a slight panic. Was he really that threatening in your eyes?)

“I'm sorry, I don't know who you are”

You weren't meeting his gaze, but Malleus still wasn't clear on why…if you had no idea who he was, why did you look so uncomfortable?

“However, I do know what you are…”

To your great surprise the boy chuckled for a few seconds, well you definitely hadn't expected this reaction and he was partly relieved that you weren't afraid of him as a person

“So, you're not scared of me?” this made you raise your head at a rather impressive speed

“It's not that I'm scared…I'll say I'm uhm…wary” it was true, Maleficent, despite her name, had been rather kind to you, but she had still warned you to be very careful of Fae.

“So you're not gonna give me your name?” he smiled curiously, it was the first time in a long time that Malleus found something, someone, interesting

“Uhm, I can't give you my name but you can call ..uhm… as you like, I guess?”

You weren't very good at avoiding questions, especially when it involved your name; in your defense you had never had to lie about it and this was the first time you had met a Fae

“Uhm… I'm not sure if I can actually ask for your name now, but can I offer you something like, uhm I don't know, would you like some milk and honey?”

You had to be polite to the Fae, but there was no point in inviting them into your house; Ramshackle wasn't your house, but it didn't seem the case of inviting him in anyway, so maybe offering him something was a good middle ground?

“I believe it is better for you to not know my name, Child of Man, but I would gladly accept your offer”

You were still a little hesitant; offering him anything in the terrible dorm garden didn't seem very nice, but the fact remained that you couldn't let him into the Dorm, just in case.

You asked him if he minded taking this milk, on the steps - hoping they would hold your weight - and he nodded, which made you relax a little

Malleus watched you prepare the milk, but he told you he wouldn't enter the dormitory, and he wouldn't. It was nice to talk to you, unlike others you weren't uncomfortable about who he was, but more about what he was, and you were still trying to be nice despite everything. Furthermore, your suspicion in this case intrigued him, it was the first time he had seen such a reaction.

He was quite interested in knowing what experiences you had with the Fae, since you acted as people would have done many centuries before – and many had been lost to time - when talking with Faeries.

You sat on the steps drinking this milk and honey, which you really hoped wasn't disgusting.

“Uhm, since you say it's better for me not to know your name, how should I call you er…Mister Fae?”

You didn't mean to make him laugh, even though his laughter was really pleasant to hear, you were seriously trying to be polite towards him, but you didn't get any other response, since in the blink of an eye the boy had disappeared in a whirlwind of very bright lights. similar to fireflies.

This was because not too far from your position you could hear some footstep approaching in the distance.

Omake

It's been a while since an intruder could be noticed among the numerous dishes present in Diasomnia. It was a cup, anyone could tell it wasn't in its prime: chipped, faded, a few small cracks in the handle, but no one knew who its owner was. It had appeared out of nowhere but was always among the other dishes, no one had ever seen it used.

Also because it seemed to be attached to the shelf and no one had yet managed to grab it.

(so much for the Sword in the Stone, here we are at the ' Cup on the Shelf levels)

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

What a (Not so) Strange World - V

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The more you looked at the statues the more you wanted to laugh.

It wasn't the awkward laugh you'd give when you look away when someone compliments you, nor the laugh when someone makes you laugh.

It was the laugh you'd have when you don't understand something and your brain thinks the most logical reaction is to laugh.

Damn, if Neige could be related to Snow White due to the similarities the two scared, here there was not the slightest doubt that those the statues depicted were the ones you had known firsthand.

Hell some of them had raised you.

“Madam Biche, are you interested in the Great Seven?”

Oh, that's right, Rock was with you, you almost forgot.

“Yeah, I guess you can say that…uhm, what did they do to become the Great Seven?” you asked, continuing to let your gaze wander between the statues

(The Queenie statue was a little burnt, now that you looked at it carefully…)

The boy narrowed his eyes slightly, but continued to smile at you

“ Never heard of them? I guess you must be from very far away”

Now he was calling you ignorant right?

You weren't sure you should have heard him, since he was whispering, but you had heard him and you felt a little offended.

It wasn't as if you had grown up with the stories of these Great Seven, in fact, the stories you knew certainly wouldn't have earned them statues. You were sure of it.

On the other hand, however, Rook did not know that you were not of this world, and therefore it was probably strange that you did not know the deeds of these great Rulers.

But you didn't like being called ignorant - even if in this case it was true.

(Rook was amazed that you didn't know who the Great Seven were, but not for the reason you thought; no, when you approached the statues you stopped to look at them with a confused expression, as if you didn't understand why there were statues with those features. You became more and more interesting)

He told you the events that had made the Great Seven ,well, the Great Seven and the more he told you their stories the more genuinely confused you seemed.

The information Rook had given you was what you knew, it was generic information, but it matched the personalities of your world, yet the epilogues were completely different.

You should do some research

Ahh, you could already foresee the big headache that all this would bring.

The universe must have wanted to have fun with you, it was obvious

While you cursed everything that came to your mind, Rook wondered if all your emotions could be seen on your face; your expressions were cute

Rook later accompanied you to the president's office and greeted you, inviting you to have tea with him in the Pomefiore common room, and as soon as the name of the dormitory left his lips, the blond could see your eyes light up and your smile form

Très Magnifique

And he walked away with a feeling of warmth.

You on your side recognized the name of the dormitory and knew that Vil was its Housewarden.

You didn't know what the characteristics of each dorm were, but you could imagine that being charming was one of Pomefiore's characteristics, if Rook and Vil were part of it.

You knocked on the office door several times, but no one answered, so once you confirmed that it wasn't completely locked, you entered.

The room was decidedly dark.

The curtains were open, but there were some kind of grates on the windows and therefore natural light was reduced; this explained the chandelier on the ceiling, even if the amount of lights out made you doubt the functionality of the object

And definitely messy.

The desk was covered in documents, open folders and scattered papers.

You'd get a headache just looking at them.

But beyond the paintings of the Great Seven there wasn't much else to look at.

There was really something bothering you about the room and you weren't sure what it was.

“Luckily for you, I am kind enough to not make you feel guilty for entering my office without permission, but please, know that such a violation wouldn't normally go unpunished.”

It took a lot of willpower not to yell at him that it was his fault that you had entered his study

The man in front of you seemed rather theatrical to you, had he not clearly said that this was his office you would have doubted he was a principal.

He must have liked crows given his…peculiar clothing. Was he stylish? Perhaps. But in your eyes that feather cloak was very tacky… but the claw rings were really pretty, you could give him that

Crowley – “Dire Crowley” - after having ascertained several times that you were the student that he had kindly and compassionately agreed to host – he had literally asked you if you were from the RSA, with a rather annoyed look you could add – he had pushed you out of the room, highlighting how lucky you were at that moment, after all it wasn't every day that the Headmage himself acted as a guide around the school

You doubted that having such a character as a guide was a blessing, but the RSA HeadMage had warned you that Crowley was peculiar.

The man gave you a tour of the school, showing you the classes in which you would have lessons and underlining several times how he had insisted on certain classes, for the good of the students, because he cares a lot about their well-being.

He also explained to you that since you were a special case, your accommodation had been prepared especially for you, but in a hurry and therefore it shouldn't surprise you too much if there were some small jobs to do.

Your quarters hadn't been made especially for you at all - but you didn't need to know that - it was the Ramshackle Dorm, because unwanted guests were now residing there - you didn't have to know that either - Crowley did it for you, you would have definitely feel lonely if you had a room of your own - and he didn't have the slightest desire to renovate one of his closets, er, staff rooms - at least you'd have someone to look after you - he was a Headmaster, not a babysitter.

(Crowley had totally forgotten, however, that both Crewel and Trein had in fact brought one of the teachers' quarters back into use, that they had told him so, and that he had also given permission to do so. He had been oh so busy, that it had completely slipped his mind)

As you moved, however, you began to hear several screams coming from what you soon discovered was the Cafeteria.

You also discovered that the man could be quite scary when he was angry.

You weren't really sure of what had happened, but there was a chandelier on the floor and then there was Crowley yelling at three students that they had been expelled, then they all started talking in lower voices and you didn't quite understand what they were saying to each other.

All you knew was that then the three – four if you counted the unconscious weasel – had run away and one of them, the one with the red hair, had bumped into your shoulder and hadn't even apologised.

Rude.

(Actually Ace hadn't seen you, he had other things on his mind, but Deuce had turned to apologize, but you had your back turned and hadn't seen him)

You had heard Crowley complaining about the paperwork he would have to deal with for the expulsion as he looked at the now destroyed chandelier.

When he realized that you were there too, he apologized for having made you see this not so nice side of him, ' but sometimes you have to have an iron fist with the students ', and then he returned to his jovial tone as you headed to the place where you would have stayed.

The Hall of Mirrors was…different, you had expected it to be more majestic than it actually was, but nothing would surpass the look of disgust you had as soon as you saw Ramshackle.

(Crowley couldn't blame you, the place was in terrible shape, but he was committed to making it habitable, more or less.)

And so your tour of the school ended.

In front of a creaking door of a dilapidated building…

Had Trein and Crewel really agreed to this being your arrangement?

It wasn't that you were spoiled or anything, it just didn't seem like a very safe building to live in.

Hmm, you would have talked about it with your guardians

When you walked through the door you kicked up so much dust that you started coughing and thinking you were going to die from it.

The wooden floor – which was probably not moldy thanks to some magic – creaked with every step you took, and you admired how most of the furniture was covered in sheets to protect it from the dust.

You approached the kitchen area, which seemed a little less abandoned than the rest of the building, but you couldn't do much, because a ghost had approached you

(he had emerged from the kitchen fires while you were trying to light them up)

When he came out you opened your eyes wide, but he didn't seem very happy with your reaction, in fact he seemed to be quite upset about it.

You must have looked a little worried as you heard a voice that reassured you

Well, hearing that voice scared you and all your worry about the ghost in front of you was gone, as the said ghost was laughing like a maniac – if you wanted to be mean, he probably died laughing before becoming ,well a ghost .

The voice belonged to a rather skinny ghost with well-pronounced cheekbones and dark circles under his eyes – you didn't think it was possible, but the universe was having fun proving you wrong.

“We've been alone for sooo long, we had to find a way to pass time. Sorry for scaring you”

While the other ghost was still laughing at your expense, the ghost with the dark circles gave you a little tour of the building pointing out everything that was wrong – that is, everything.

You were quite satisfied when among all that dust everywhere - on the stairs, on the windows, on the floor - you found a decent room; okay it was dusty and there were several cobwebs, but its condition compared to the rest of this room was perfect.

(apart from another little ghost, slightly stockier than the others, who came out as soon as you grabbed the door knob. Yes, they must have been here for a long time and they certainly had a little fun)

You were almost about to change your mind about Crowley's good intentions, okay, the place was what it was, but at least the man had deigned to give you a room in good condition, when the ghosts told you that that was Yuu and Grim's room

It took you a few seconds to realize that you would have roommates, that they were nowhere to be seen at the moment, that Crowley probably hadn't thought about you and your living arrangements at all, and that you had no idea how or why Yuu and Grim were willing to live in this place that would probably fall down at any moment.

As soon as you recovered from the very heavy attack of dust that had overtaken you as soon as you opened the window of the room you had claimed as yours, you set to work cleaning up and thank goodness Frau Grimilde was a bit of a clean freak and you had learned a few little spell of order and cleanliness and in that moment you were so grateful for it, given that without the help of magic it would have taken you three times as long to make that room livable

(Grimilde is not a cleanliness freak, but she demands that the place she is in is tidy - a queen cannot live in a stable - also because making potions in a messy and disorganized place creates nothing but disastrous results)

And okay, if Crewel and Trein didn't complain about your accommodations, it meant there was effectively nowhere else they could have you stay. But it was rude not to put even a bottle of water in the fridge or a pack of biscuits in the pantry - suppose you have to recover from having cleaned a room in terrible condition.

Forcing your guests to do the shopping, this was new.

You probably would have liked to be on good terms with your new roommates, so you asked the ghosts if the two had any preferences

(Apparently Yuu ate little and none of the three had any idea of ​​their preferences, they told you about Grim that he had a strong obsession with Tuna, what the heck was him,a cat? Was it even healthy as thing?)

Remembering the way to Sam's shop - also thanks to some students you had asked for information - you started shopping at the place.

This place was also dark – it must have been the aura of the school – but it was difficult to concentrate on just one thing in particular. You obviously picked the ones that reminded you of home because there, in that shop in another world, there were Madame Tremaine's earrings and ring, but in what from the outside looked like a mouse's hole you could find literally everything .

You'll probably come often, it seemed like a nice place.

When you paid – in addition to noticing a shadow moving strangely – the clerk, who you realized was Sam, you gave him Crewel's credit card number, and he laughed as he looked at what you had purchased.

Just a few seconds later you got a call from Crewel

“My dear Pup, could you explain why it's look like I've bought 10 cans of Tuna?”

“Cause I did buy 10 cans of Tuna…”

“And you did it because…”

“Because I have to make dinner, I guess”

You heard a very heavy sigh before hearing Crewel say he would be there shortly

When the man arrived at the store – you were waiting outside though – Crewel gave you a look somewhere between disgusted and confused.

(Crewel had given you his card number for emergencies, because he would actually never send you out without a Madol, but he wasn't totally convinced that buying Tuna was considered an emergency)

He took your bags and you started walking, you wanted to try to explain why you made these purchases, but you forgot everything as you realized that you were heading in the opposite direction to the Hall of Mirrors

“Didn't you come here from your room, pup?”

“Yeah, my room in the Ramshackle Dorm”

“Sorry, your room in where pup?”

Omake

(“Hi” “Hi little one” “Do you accept credit cards?… Good, put it on the Crewel's one, I'm kind of his daughter if you're wondering” “Thoose seems kinda heavy, lucky you, I have these auto-portable bags at 30%” “No, thanks, and dad would kill me if I ever bought something that ugly, sorry” “Not even if it is twofer?” “Only this one though”)

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

What a ( Not so) Strange World - IV

A.N: as always, there's no beta Reader, so sorry for any mistake

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The carriage ride was… something.

It wasn't the first time you had traveled in a carriage, apart from Maleficent who had alternative means of transport - said ability being open portals thanks to her scepter - your other guardians considered traveling in a carriage to be the bare minimum.

Once, before embarking on one of your usual study trips with the Queen of Hearts, you had asked why you couldn't directly teleport to your destination, given that you had a Fae at your disposal - kind of - who could create portals: Frau Grimilde had looked at you for a few seconds as if you weren't worthy of breathing the same air as her, Queenie was starting to scream about how some heads would be cut off since "The requested carriage was another one and for her own name where was the escort?!", Lady Tremaine was the only one who let you know that moving in certain ways resulted in higher social status, and added yet another book about social status to your educational reading.

Your favorite way to travel remained the Flying Carpet that had 'kidnapped' you in Agrabah: by not walking on the road it avoided bumps and potholes on paths that weren't exactly walkable, furthermore even with sudden braking you didn't risk head trauma either because there was nothing that you could hit, and because the Carpet didn't usually brake hard - the only problem was falling off, but the Carpet had its own safety measures and no one was dead yet, or so they told you.

At first you thought that Che'nya would only accompany you to the carriages, but when he told you that he was so very bored you realized that you were wrong; when you saw him make puppy eyes – was that even the right term when talking about Che'nya? – you realized you would have a travel companion

(Neige may have been adorable being Neige, but Che'nya's eyes were literally asking you to "Paw-lease" and who were you to refuse?)

The Beastman looked just like a kid who was about to receive his longed-for candy, in Chen'ya's case the candy was cuddles, since he didn't even give you time to sit down before he leaned on your lap, holding your right hand on his hair.

An attention-seeking cat, and that wasn't even a metaphor.

He purred.

The boy told you that the route you were taking was not new to him, but he had passed it more times on foot than in a carriage, and he knew all the shortcuts; he often went to the NRC to meet – and annoy – Trey and Riddle. It wasn't the first time he'd told you about this Riddle, but every time you tried to ask about him, Che'nya would just tell you that you'd probably like him but he wouldn't be the one to ruin the surprise for you.

You sighed.

What did you expect? Che'nya was still Che'nya, he wouldn't miss the chance to see something fun.

After a while the cat boy fell asleep and you took the opportunity to observe the view.

When you left the RSA you had crossed the bridge that connected the school to the rest of the island, after the small clearing you were a little anxious because you were heading directly towards a rock face, but Che'nya seemed calm, without not a worry in the world, and you highly doubted the Headmage would let you die on the way…right?

Luckily you didn't crash anywhere, in fact you found yourself on a path with several houses on either side of it and not far away, to the left of the carriage, you saw a small river . The beastman chose that moment to wake up and move slightly - that is, he decided to lean on on your left shoulder – but he continued to keep his eyes closed, you had also passed by a lake, before you saw a rather steep hill – add 'steep hills' to the list of reasons why traveling in a carriage was uncomfortable – to your surprise however, you found yourself in a slightly familiar situation.

With your back to a school gate.

“That was pawsome. Do you think they could keep this portal open? It's always so pawthersome to climb that hill"

“You mean you do that every time you come here?!”

When you saw him nod your eyes widened slightly; obviously Che'nya would climb a mountain simply because he was bored.

It made you tired even just thinking about doing the same.

“What do you have to do meown, nya?” Che’nya asked you as he helped you out of the carriage

“Mmh, I think I'll have to meet with the Headmage and my guardians”

It was actually quite strange that there was no one to escort you to your destination, that was how guests were welcomed

Frau Grimilde would have point out how this peculiar choice lacked elegance and Madame Tremaine would have agreed, Queenie would have scream about how this was a breaking of some rule and Maleficent would just have point out the gross lack of respect – you didn't know if she would or wouldn't curse the place.

(In another place all four were sensing a disturbance in the force)

“Eh, that’s pawthersome” and in doing so Che'nya walked away in a direction unknown to you, he was probably on his way to annoy Trey and Riddle.

You, on the other hand, walked along the Main Street, even though, to be honest ,you felt rather observed; You had this feeling ever since Che'nya left and at first you thought it was some prank of his, but you didn't feel any sense of the cat boy, so you thought it was just a feeling.

But the closer you got to what looked like statues, the more you felt observed.

You had also looked around several times, but you had never seen anything.

Until that moment. Well, you heard it rather than saw it, but that's secondary details

With one of the little magic tricks you had learned you teleported yourself to where you felt that slight movement of air: having a Fae as a teacher was useful.

(Actually it wasn't really a teleporter, you weren't Fae, you didn't have that kind of power, but you had learned to increase speed in short periods of time)

It was the first time you had tried this trick over a distance of more than a couple of meters away and you were definitely pleased with it, as you had remained fairly silent.

Well, not enough to not find an arrowhead very close to your neck

The person holding the bow didn't appear to be much older than you; On his left arm, over the school uniform he had a purple ribbon and over his blonde hair he wore a hat.

He was a hunter. It had to be like this.

He had been very quiet and the way he held the bow was certainly not that of a beginner.

It was fascinating. Not on Vil's level – but you suspected there was someone more charming than him – but this boy had his charm too.

While you had these thoughts the boy had lowered his weapon and stood up from his slightly crouched position.

His eyes were half closed and he was smiling at you.

You weren't really sure if it was a sincere smile.

“Um… Hi… I’m sorry um, I disturbed your hunting trip, but I felt like I was the one pray in this one.”

He chuckled

What you said didn't seem funny at all so either you had a sense of humor that you weren't aware of or the blonde boy in front of you had a decidedly different sense of humor than you.

You were betting on the latter.

“Oh Madame Biche” and he tilted slightly his head “My deepest apologies. I didn't mean to scare you I just felt like something unexpected was coming…and here you are"

The boy introduced himself as Rook Hunt and you introduced yourself.

When you asked him what was he doing – other than trying to figure out who you were, you guessed – he told you that he liked to observe, then asked what brought you to cross the threshold of Night Raven College in a carriage from the Royal Sword Academy.

As much as you were taught never to give out all the information, Rook didn't seem dangerous to you; sure, he had put an arrow at your throat and was probably studying you, but if that rivalry between schools that Che'nya spoke about was true, it was reasonable to try to understand what the 'enemy' was doing in his territory, so you explained to him - in great lines – that you were supposed to meet the HeadMage, and that a guide would probably come in handy

(In reality Rook wasn't studying you at all, he knew who you were – how could he not have known – he was just pleasantly surprised by you. He could begin to understand what Roi de Poisson had seen in you, after all it was very difficult to take Rook by surprise. You were quite interesting)

In a similar way to what Neige had done in your very short stay at the RSA, Rook also took it upon himself to guide you, explaining what the places you passed were and told you little curiosities about some of the students - you had no idea who these students were , but Rook seemed ecstatic to talk about it and you enjoyed listening to him .

He also told you that your friend had probably gone towards the Hall of Mirrors, where all the mirrors leading to the different dormitories were located

You didn't understand why he was giving you all that information, some of which seemed like sensitive information to you, you were a stranger – and he had threatened you with an arrow minutes earlier – why was he being so friendly with you?!

He told you that he had a feeling that it would be useful for you to have them, but he didn't argue further.

It annoyed you, but then he had no obligation to tell you everything he knew…

(You couldn't have known that Trein and Crewel had set aside a room in the staff wing for you. But Rook knew.)

As Rook spoke you couldn't help but look around.

Even if the RSA was much more elegantly curated, you appreciated the slightly darker air of the NRC. You weren't sure what it was exactly, but there was something about it that reminded you of home.

Oh dear! Were you feeling homesick?

During your time at Twisted Wonderland you had become homesick while you were with Crewel; not because the time spent with him was bad, simply put, compared to the time spent with Trein, when you were with Crewel you had good memories of your own world and the people who were waiting for you there.

This was your second day here, and you were already homesick? Was it because the NRC reminded you of home?

Surely the road you were traveling on, with its respective forest at the side – was it some school thing? to have a mini forest on school grounds? – reminded you of the route you had to take to get to Lady Tremaine's house.

“And these are the Great Seven, every dormitory in the institute is based on one of them”

You had come in front of seven statues and the name had reminded you of something, but this was overshadowed when you noticed how familiar some of those statues were to you.

Without realizing it, you approached what must have been the Queen of Hearts and goodness, you didn't have the slightest doubt that it was the same Queenie you knew, just as you were sure that among those statues there were also Frau Grimhilde and Maleficent.

The other statues were also familiar to you, even though you had had no direct contact with the individuals they depicted: you knew the Wicked Sea Witch's writing too well - you had studied her journals, it was the same handwriting as the contract the statue held - the man with the serpent-shaped scepter must have been the Grand Vizier who had attempted to usurp the throne of Agrabah – that scepter was kept under magical lock in their museum and there were several descriptions of it in the magic books – you didn't know much about the lion statue, but you were pretty sure it was another one who had tried to usurp his brother's throne, the same thing happened with the statue of the burning man, it looked like the God of the Underworld but the statue was different from how you imagined him – which incidentally, was based on how Maleficent described the man (?) and that wasn't a good description at all.

Oh.

Ooh.

Oh shit

(Oh, but yeah, let's throw away all the good manners you had diligently learned)

This was all fucking fucked up

And apparently you were even more so

Damn.

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

What a ( Not so) Strange World - III

A.N: after some time without any shred of inspiration, I was hit by an epiphany so here we are again. As always, if there are any errors, please point them out to me, because I haven't yet gotten over the embarrassment of having a beta read what I write. Sorry for the inconvenience

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The morning came a little differently than your usual morning awakening.

The birds had come to sing at your window as usual, you were still too sleepy to understand what they were singing – and you honestly didn't want to hear their morning gossip.

(The last time you tried to understand, you had understood that some royal of you didn't know where would never be a good ruler, or something similar, your interest was directed more towards your very comfortable feather pillow than his birds outside from your window)

After a while they started tapping on the window.

There had been no threat to pluck the birds from Lucifer.

No crow had come to act as traffic assistant in Maleficent's name.

No shouts stating that the birds were late or ahead of schedule.

And above all no promise to use the birds in some potion or create one, - in case there were no potions that included the aforementioned - if those wretches dared to disturb Frau Grimilde's beauty sleep again.

(Honestly? It was nice not to wake up to all that confusion)

Realizing how too quiet was surrounding you, you woke up fully, sitting up in bed, remembering that you were back in Twisted Wonderland and were currently at the RSA.

Another thing that caught your attention was the incessant, yet gentle, sound of someone knocking on the door.

Walking down the stairs, rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you made your way to the bottom floor.

You hadn't even seen half a clock in any of the rooms and so you didn't know exactly what time it was; you didn't think you'd woken up very late, but then the bed was among the most comfortable you'd slept in, so you might actually have slept a lot more than you should have.

Back home you were used to waking up sometimes even before dawn, since every now and then Frau Grimilde would make you see or pick specific plants or herbs that needed to be harvested in that specific period of time; every now and then Maleficent also made you get up at sunrise or at other absurd hours to make you attend some rites or celebrations of the Fae or other magical creatures.

Opening the door you found yourself dazzled by the figure of a smiling and embarrassed Neige - not that you had noticed, but the boy was vibrating on the spot - who was holding a basket covered with a red and white checked cloth from which a smell came absolutely fabulous.

You blinked a few times.

Slamming the door in Neige's face would have been really rude to him, but it was what you wanted to do at that moment.

(at the other end of the island Vil had had a shiver of joy for no reason)

In front of you was a Neige with his big sweet eyes, the small friendly - embarrassed - smile with the blushing face that made him even cuter than he already was. With what you thought was his school uniform on which there were pins shaped like birds.

Adorable.

Practically perfect from every point of view.

And then there was you.

Just woke up, probably with a confused look as to what your name was, with a messy mass of hair - probably some of the birds had nested in it - presumably with pillow marks on your face.

In a nightgown, kindly offered by the house, which you didn't think could fit worse than it already did.

(In another universe Grimhilde was probably sensing a heavy disturbance in the force and Lady Tremeine was wondering what was wrong with your upbringing)

With a voice thick with sleep, because by now you had already made a fool of yourself, you invited Neige to sit down while you made yourself at least presentable, asking him if he would like some tea, and upon his affirmation, you cast a spell so as to save time, while you went up to the second floor.

Neige wanted to surprise you, but he was still a polite person and therefore he had sent you a message, but seeing your confused look he guessed that you shouldn't have read it. Of course, the fact that you were still in your pajamas made it even more obvious, but he was too caught up in how cute you looked when you just woke up.

When he saw you for the first time he thought you were wearing makeup, no makeup makeup, because you were really pretty, but seeing you as soon as you woke up made him realize that he was absolutely wrong. You were endowed with an innocent beauty, perceivable even when you had just woken up.

You were lovely no matter how he saw you.

(If he had taken you for a modeling audition they would certainly have taken you, his career would have been at stake)

After you cleaned yourself up to look decent, you went back down the stairs, finding yourself in front of a Neige who was already sipping his cup of tea.

"I hope you don't mind Fairy-san, I didn't want to wake you" and he looked away slightly "but I thought you would like to have breakfast together…" and he pointed with his head to the basket, now without cloth: inside there were different types of biscuits and Krapfen.

Sitting down across from him, you smiled at him, thanking him for the thought

You remained in silence for a few minutes, enjoying your meal, until the boy spoke

“Do you already know what you will do for the day?” Neige brought his face closer, resting his chin on his hands “I mean, after you talk to the Headmaster?”

You actually had no idea.

It all depended on what the Headmaster would answer, after all you didn't know how the man intended to get you to Crewel and Trein: you suspected he would use a portal, but you had no idea what kind.

You knew that there were different types of portals - mirrors, coffins, forests, etc. - but you hadn't seen anything like them in the HeadMaster's office; also who told you that you had authorization to use one of the school portals? You were still a stranger…

Maybe he would have made you use an enchanted mode of transportation? If you remembered correctly, there were carriages that had those characteristics, but in that case you didn't know how long it would take.

Remembering that Neige was still waiting for an answer you blinked, as if to snap out of your train of thought, then turning to him.

“I guess it depends on what the HeadMaster says, but I think I will have a bit of time to spare…Do you have any suggestions?”

Neige had never had much free time, but when he wasn't busy with work he didn't mind going shopping, but that was out of the question in your case, or just relaxing…

He was a little embarrassed to tell you this, it didn't make him sound very cool right?

You giggled, there was nothing wrong with dedicating yourself to yourself after a tiring day.

Once your breakfast was over, Neige proposed to escort you back to school, so that you could get to the principal without getting lost and you happily accepted.

Before leaving you went up to your room again to get your cell phone, hoping that no one had called you

(Heck, if you missed a call from Crewel or Trein you would never see the end of it, you'd be back to being escorted around by Lucius and with an even stricter curfew, you were sure of it)

Luckily for you, there were no missed calls, just several messages you should have responded to.

Along the way you found walking with Neige relaxing, it was easy to converse with him, and you enjoyed it when he got excited with a certain topic. That was until he started getting mobbed – not literally – by other students.

Yes, Neige had to be a rather popular personality, but you didn't want to question him, it didn't seem appropriate.

He left you in the chair, then increasing the speed with which he moved, there was no point in being late for class.

Before you could even knock on the door, it opened on its own, presenting you with the same environment as the day before, only the HeadMage was missing.

Entering without the owner's permission was rude, but seeing as the door had opened on its own, you took the gesture as an invitation.

You sat in the same chair as the day before, thanking her when she moved – for all you knew she could be sentient.

While you waited, you picked up your phone again, reading and replying to the various messages, at least until you felt like you were being watched.

No, the HeadMaster hadn't arrived yet, on the other hand you had a sugar bowl floating in front of you looking at you judgingly

(The sugar bowl didn't have a face at all, but its crossed handles on the front made you feel like it was judging you)

“Is this, um, your way of asking me what I'm doing here?”

The sugar bowl is moving in the negative direction, so you tried again

“Um, are you asking me if I want some tea then?”

And in that case it moved as if to say 'You've finally understood it'

You nodded. “But you know… shouldn't the Teapot be the one to ask if anyone wants tea?”

The little one started to walk away offended… if it had had a face she would probably have been sulking

"I didn't mean to offend you. I was curious… I could really use some tea” and you gave it your best puppy dog ​​eyes.

Before it could answer you, you heard a giggle.

It was the Headmaster sitting at the desk, with his usual kind smile.

“Please continue, I didn't mean to interrupt your chat, but I have to talk to our guest, so if you could make another tea I would be very happy”

When the sugar bowl moved a little further away, he began to whisper

“ It must really like you. I've never seen it approach my guest myself. It is a little sensitive”

and while he was saying this the sugar bowl turned to 'look at you'.

This made you chuckle.

While you were having tea the HeadMaster explained to you what he had to do.

He had spoken to both Crewel and Trein and they had both agreed with him that the best place for you to arrive was the school, but they had rejected the idea of ​​having you arrive in their hall of mirrors, it would have been definitely problematic, so it would have been better to have you use the portal which would lead you to Main Street, but it would take some time to get to it from the portal. They also had to talk to the HeadMaster of the NRC, no one can enter his jurisdiction without his permission, and he wasn't really in the mood to let in some 'special guest of the Headmaster of the RSA', but in the end he approved.

(apparently the competition between schools that Che'nya told you about was also present among the staff)

They would open the gate exclusively for you, so you would have a time limit to get through. Having addressed the problem of the arrival gate, we needed to talk about the departure gate.

The mirror room at the RSA didn't have a mirror leading to the portal you were interested in, but you would be able to reach it using one of the carriages the school would provide - although The Headmage had chuckled about a couple of students going to that portal on foot – but the road would have been a bit long, so it would have been better to leave quickly

(“No, I’m not chasing you out. But Sweet Child, you have to know that Crowley is quite a character to say the least” the fact that he told you this while laughing was not a good thing in your eyes)

Thanking the principal who directed you to the carriages, you bid farewell to both him and the sugar bowl as you left the room.

(She was nice…for a sugar bowl)

Once you left you texted Neige, apologizing for not being able to say goodbye properly - and he replied with a teary-eyed face and another crying face, how could he be so adorable even via text?! – and one to Che’nya, asking if he was bored.

He replied with a photo of you on the phone, the location not looking too far away.

You turned towards the direction from which you thought the photo had been taken, but you didn't see anything; you were undecided whether to move or wait for the boy to reach you, but to solve your problems you received another message from Che'nya

From : Kitty cat I'll wait for nya

And with that you went to the entrance of the building where you found Che'nya to whom you quickly explained the situation as you headed towards the carriages: he seemed ecstatic.

He responded happily to your silent question

“Cuddle time!”

You shook your head smiling: you had actually promised him, but there hadn't been a chance, so it seemed legitimate.

Your affirmative response apparently seemed to enlighten Che'nya, who began almost running to drag you along the way.

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

Series :

Twisted Wonderland

Various! Characters x F! Reader

What a ( Not so) Strange World

(Not) a Whole new World I - II

What a ( Not so) Strange World I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI

BlueLock

(Hustle) Like an Underdog I II

One - Shot :

Nothing yet :(

If anyone happend to actually read this, just know I accept request for anything my brain may be fixated on, some example ( but not all, cause I forget a lot of stuff i watch/ play if not triggered) are :

Alice in Borderlans ( I actually have a thing going on on Ao3, if you're interested check it out)

Angel of Deaths

Boku No Hero Academia

Brother Conflict

Bts

dance with Devils

Diabolik Lovers

Fairy Tail

Fruits basket

Mad father

Magi The Labirinth of Magic / The Kingdom of Magic/ The Adventure of Sinbad

One Piece

Pokemon

Shall we date?: Obey me

StrayKids

TxT

Whaterver I might remember

Soo, yeah...feel free to ask, I do write Gender Neutral Reader, but since I've never wrote a Male Reader, I'm not sure if I can write that correctly, but I can try.

Soo...hope to chit chat with some of you sometime

( Do I look to creepy writing this? I sure hope not. I'm socially ankward though I might look creepy sadly)

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

What a (Not so) Strange World - II

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Leaving the room, you retraced the path you had traveled with Neige, looking around for a teacher – you didn't want to make a fool of yourself by mistaking a 'normal' student for the Housewarden, you would rather have buried yourself – who could accompany you, or at least point, towards the guest rooms.

You had peeked into several classrooms, finding them completely empty; you were about to text Neige asking him to come get you until you felt something tickle your nose, making you sneeze. You ignored it, focusing more on your main quest - find an adult and try not to get lost in the meantime - but after a few minutes you felt something that sent shivers down your spine

And then an all too familiar chuckle.

Looking around again looking for the source of the noise, you didn't see anything, and your expression probably denoted your annoyance, since you heard sneers

"It would be nice to say it's nice to see you Che'nya, but since I don't see you I won't"

"Nya, you're meowt funny" and behold you saw - and felt - Che'nya's arms wrap around you from behind and his tail wrap around your right leg.

“Now I can say I'm half happy to see you” - you know, since he's half visible

You smiled as Che'nya rested his head on your shoulder

"It's Pawsome to see you"

"I'm happy to see you too" and stroked his hair, getting a purr from the cat boy

You asked him if he had any idea where the guest rooms were and if he could help you find a teacher and he agreed, as long as you cuddled him a bit.

Che'nya had always been particularly affectionate compared to Trey or Vil, he was even more affectionate than Cater and Jack - not that the wolf would admit it - but you didn't mind. In fact, Che'nya occasionally acted so much like a cat that it was now nearly impossible for you to refuse his requests for cuddles.

He, too, knew you had a soft spot for this side of him; You'd told both him and Trey that you weren't used to physical affection and Che'nya still remembers how your face lit up when you asked him if you could stroke his tail and he nodded.

It was difficult to meet loving people at the orphanage; the adults were always busy doing adult things and there was no need to disturb them – you didn't want to make them angry- even among the older children there weren't many gestures of affection: the younger ones had, you dare say, preferential treatment (the younger ones were the ones who were adopted more quickly and therefore there was a little more attention towards them) among the older ones instead every occasion was good to look better than the others; you with your magical ineptitude were an outcast from the start

When you arrived in the Shaftlands you began to be a little more open, also thanks to Anastasia and Drizella - and Lucius - who showered you with compliments and hugs, but you felt uncomfortable being affectionate yourself. You didn't know how not to be embarrassing to others

(Although Stacy and Drizzy wanted to let you know that was unlikely: you were adorable whatever you did, so, there was no way you were embarrassing; but they were older and you were an 8-year-old girl who had experience making friends with other children)

At one point you convinced yourself that adults weren't affectionate – who can blame you, the examples you had in your world weren't the best – thank goodness since you arrived in Twisted Wonderland you had known different types of affectionate adults

Trein was more subtle, looks and smiles of approval when you solved difficult problems all by yourself and pats on the head when you least expected it. You liked it when the man complimented you, you understood - Lucius had told you - that Trein was quite strict with his students but when he paid a compliment then he meant it.

Crewel would also send you approving glances and smiles, but he was much more vocal with compliments, even when you did something basic, so you thought every now and then he'd say it so as not to hurt you – he'd then explain that it was okay to feel recognized even if you'd done something of simple.

(You still had a little difficulty accepting them anyway)

The problem was your peers: you grew up knowing that you would be rejected no matter what you did, so you weren't too sure you wanted to interact with other children. Luckily you'd improved a bit since then, and had less trouble showing affection, even if you were still a little shy about it.

Not with Che'nya though.

Che'nya was the one you hugged without a problem, the one who could snuggle up on your lap and be stroked, the one who could drag you around hand in hand without the slightest complaint

Che'nya was the one you sent the most pictures to in your absence from this world and he didn't mind rubbing that fact in Trey's face

(Which for no reason would have decreased the dose of cakes that the cat boy usually swallowed)

Che'nya was amused by how oblivious you were – not that he would tell you; telling you would have meant less cuddle time for him.

As you walked - Che'nya with his hands behind his head beside you with his tail gripping your waist - you exchanged updates on what had happened before seeing you again.

It wasn't like you never spoke to each other when you returned to your world, but your conversations were rarely of vital importance. Often they were photos: yours were mainly photos of cats, landscapes that excited you and things you thought he would like to see, he would send you photos of him, photos of him and Trey, photos of sweets.

Mainly Che'nya contacted you when he was bored to let you know he was bored and you played along, because you couldn't resist the beastman's soft eyes

He explained to you that he occasionally sneaked out of the RSA to go to the NRC, crashing Heartslabyul's Unbirthday parties and to say hello to Trey and Riddle, who you didn't realize who he was. He told you he enjoyed it when NRC students found out he was from the rival school

(And Che'nya couldn't resist disappearing right in front of them and watching them run around in vain pursuit. He sure was a playful kitten)

In response, you told him how your studies were progressing: you were learning how magic was used in other places as well and you were absolutely amused and interested, even if the person who was in charge of this "study subject" was…rather peculiar

Not that Frau Grimilde and Maleficent weren't slightly bizarre themselves, but hey, Maleficent was a Fae and the Fae were always peculiar, and Frau Grimilde, well, she said she was a royal and all royals had a weird way of behaving.

(Lady Tremeine seemed the only vaguely normal)

She was a woman who did not practice magic, but as queen she had access to many more magical texts than Maleficent and Frau Grimilde, and as a diplomat - a term to be reviewed in your opinion - she could request texts and manuals from other kingdoms that would not normally have arrived in the your hands - see the Sea Witch's diaries and potions books.

Also, when you happened to have to undertake short trips to other realms – experiencing the culture was an easy way to learn – you needed a tutor and the Queen was the obvious choice…

You would have preferred Lady Tremeine, but the woman did not have enough authority; the same was said for Frau Grimilde, who could not use her "royal card" for security reasons; Maleficent then, it was appropriate not to talk about it, as far as you knew the Fae was considered dead by those few who remembered her.

The problem in your eyes was that this woman, the Queen of Hearts, looked too much like a figure you've heard of before in the Queendoom of Roses.

It destabilized you; in the stories you had read thanks to Divus her figure was more… magnanimous (?) than the one you knew, who instead didn't have too many problems threatening anyone who didn't agree with her.

The first few times you were terrified of staying in her presence but apparently both this Queen of Hearts and the Queen of Shaftlands seemed to have set up the same rules and lucky for you you knew them and applied some of them

You didn't tell Che'nya all these details, but you did tell him about some bizarre situations you had experienced

Like the fact that this woman had threatened the sultan's guards you were staying with with blue flamingos because they were taking too long – more than fifteen minutes – to finish their meal. You wanted to hide, and indeed someone had heard your prayers: a monkey that spoke too fast for you to understand more than “hide” and “Go” and a flying carpet that had taken you with it, all while the guards tried to recover the hostage -you- by the two – apparently these things were the order of the day.

You thought he was holding back his laughter too much out of any respect for you, but Che'nya had continued to chuckle until you'd reached your destination.

(How damn had you walked? The castle you had come so close to now seemed very far away again and it would get dark in moments)

The building, if you could call it that, was rather peculiar - but then what could be considered non-peculiar in this world? -

It was a series of small houses in a small clearing – you no longer wondered about how large the school grounds were, you would have had a headache otherwise – they looked like cottages set in different ways in some trees.

The clearing was not free to pass, in fact there were some sentient trees - they moved and seemed to talk to each other - who stood guard over it. You approached them to find out which house to go to.

At that moment you noticed how Che'nya had disappeared – it must have been useful to have such a “Unique Magic” – leaving you talking to one of the trees, who pointed you to one of the cottages and as you walked away you heard him say (threaten) that every unnotified intrusion would be severely punished.

The Cottage wasn't bad at all: the fact that a tree made the base made it very fairytale-like, in your opinion. By eye you would have said that everything was made of wood, from the floor to the windows to the doors. Downstairs there was a stone kitchen, a living room and a small bathroom; the stairs, also in wood, led to the bedroom which then led to a slightly more spacious bathroom.

Sitting on the windowsill in your room, you checked the messages that had arrived

From: Fashionable Parental Figure

I'm really glad you're back, you don't have idea Pup

I've already informed Train.

We're lucky you landed not too far away, I still don't like the thought of you being surrounded by those rascals, but I guess since what happened today here, it's for the better.

Don't worry, you won't have to stay there for too long.

Glad as you were to know you'd be seeing both of them again soon, you certainly hadn't noticed the tone of the messages, and you couldn't help but wonder what had happened to make the messages show how tired Crewel was.

It was not possible that the students had screwed up already on the first day…did the day of the Ceremony count as the first day?

Che'nya told you that the NRC students were a bit more "touchy" - so to speak - than the RSA students, but you didn't think there would be many problems at least on the first day…it would be a waste of time useless, as well as a major nuisance and surely a punishment that could have been avoided – as long as anyone who caused trouble hadn't been expelled.

You relaxed on the bed, turning over a couple of times to find a comfortable position, and after having also warned the others that “Hey, I'm back and you guys are probably be a lil angry at me”, you shook a bit on Magicam – by posting a couple of the photos you had taken as soon as you arrived at the RSA.

With nothing else to do you went down to the kitchen to fix yourself something to eat, complimenting both whoever stocked the fridge and yourself on the great meal you had prepared.

You had set everything up without magic – as the equipment looked rather old-fashioned – and nothing had exploded.

And then Frau Grimilde said you had no spirit of adaptation

Mpf

After eating, without much else to do, you abandoned yourself to the warmth of the sheets on the bed and let yourself be lulled into a blissful sleep

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

What a (Not so) Strange World

A.N: I guess we can say this is the continuation of the (Not) A Whole New World series (?); that was supposed to be a two-shots thing, but I found myself scribbling the follows below.

P.S: Being honest I don't know if I'm gonna keep writing this reader insert with the reader as Yuu or not. There are some scenes that would feel 'forced' with the idea I had in mind.

Plz send help to this perpetually indecisive soul

Next

To say that you were standing in front of the gates of a school wasn't entirely correct, actually.

It was more correct to say that you were already inside a school

You had come out of the usual forest – or at least to you it seemed the same as always – but this time you had found yourself inside a building, more or less, so this time the forest was inside a well-defined place, rather that on the edge of something, as you were used to by now.

(So ​​the forest was within school boundaries? Was it even a legal thing?)

Well, you were back, so there were two things to do: figure out where you were this time, and how far you were from Crewel or Trein and maybe let them know you were back in Twisted Wonderland and figure out how to get to them – so maybe things to do were a little more than two.

Among the various apps that Drizzy and Stacy had explained to you that were on your cell phone, there was a sort of digital map that could understand your position, you thought it was called 'Maps' – in your world people had made technology progress, but only in some specific areas far away from where you lived.

By activating it you hoped the place you were in didn't have any concealment spells of its location – back home, the Wicked Sea Witch's cave had been given this treatment to prevent other Merfolk from trying to play with her potions – otherwise you should have used the old method : walk until someone had found you and maybe explained where you were.

The Navigator let you know you were on the Isle of Sages, but didn't specify your exact location, so perhaps there actually was some sort of cloaking spell where you were.

So you had to go exploring…

Before "setting off on the adventure" you took a couple of photos of your surroundings - it didn't seem like a bad place, maybe you could post them on Magicam? – and sent them to Crewel

To: Fashionable Parental Figure

Morning, Hope you're having a wonderful day

[ Pic ] Guess I'm Back

Send Help, I don't know where I am

Thanks

After looking around for anything that might indicate the presence of a path that would lead you back to civilization, you walked down a path that seemed to have been formed by continuous passage.

By doing so you found yourself in a very well-kept garden: the hedges had been pruned and some of the bushes on the road were already in flower (mainly irises and daisies), furthermore you had noticed several lavender bushes.

You couldn't see any water sources, but in the background you could hear a stream running by. After all, you were on an island, it made sense that there were rivers that flow into the sea.

After a while you managed to see a castle in the distance, was that normal?

Maybe you were wrong. Maybe you weren't in a school at all, but instead landed in some royal castle?

Were you in trouble? You had probably crossed some border, after all royals are always protected – it wasn't entirely your fault that you were there, and furthermore you didn't seem to see any guards.

With a deep sigh you turned in the direction of the castle, you were far away but this place didn't seem abandoned to you so you should found someone by continuing to walk.

Your walk continued peacefully, occasionally you chatted with the birds that flew around you, and according to what they told you, this was actually a school but they were all busy with the Entrance Ceremony.

At one point you noticed a little squirrel following you, trying to keep up with you, so you stopped, asking him if you could be of any use to him, and he asked you if you could be his means of transport for a little bit

(The idea of ​​traveling on someone's shoulder had always intrigued him, but he was still a squirrel, his was a shy species but you definitely smelled of something too good not to give it a try, and like so many animals this too chipmunk trusted his sense of smell to decide whether or not you were a danger)

You were in the middle of an avenue with several forks, and at that point you were surrounded by more animals than you remembered - the further you moved towards the castle the more animals were curious about you, and they didn't seem to bother you. In their eyes you were quite comfortable – when they started arguing about which direction to take you.

(if Frau Grimhilde had seen you she would probably have made a disgusted expression, your being a magnet for animals reminded her too much of that concentrate of disgusting goodness and puking kindness that was her stepdaughter)

Once they had agreed, you followed their instructions, finally managing to see the castle in all its majesty: it was pure white with several towers, some of which were lookouts, which stood quite high

To your eyes, it reminded too much of the castle that Maleficent, the old Fae who had taken you under her wing - quite literally - loathed with all of herself. You didn't know the details because she didn't like to talk about it, but you knew that that castle had been the place of her decay as a Fairy, earning her the definitive nickname of 'MIstress of all Evils'

You had done some research – as much as you possibly could since there was little of this event in the history books – and you had come to the realization that the event the Fae were referring to was the Feast to celebrate the birth of Princess Aurora . You weren't sure of the precise historical period, but you knew it couldn't be too long after the story of Snow White had been disclosed - there were too many similarities for it to be mere coincidence.

From your humble point of view Maleficent was not entirely wrong in doing what she did: she was still a high-ranking fairy and not inviting her to the princess's christening was a rather serious lack of respect that could even lead to a war.

It was bizarre, how that castle so similar to the one you had in front of you, had been the scene of Maleficent's only defeat and even more bizarre was how no history text ever spoke of what other evils the former fairy had done - in reality none book available to ordinary people was about your mentor.

As you approached the castle entrance, you heard a voice and also noticed how different animals were heading in the direction the voice was coming from, and before you knew it you too were moving in that direction

You were standing next to a wishing well – it might as well have been a regular well for all you knew – and right there in front, surrounded by a bunch of woodland critters was a boy who might be around your age, or maybe he was even younger than you, you weren't sure.

What you were sure was how absolutely he must be related to Snow White – or was a huge fan of hers.

Skin as white as snow and lips as red as a rose.

Even the delicate features made one think of her.

If for Lady Treimein and Mr Trein you had noticed a certain resemblance, but they were more than trifles, in this case you just couldn't help but think how even the boy's movements were too similar to how Snow White moved.

You were so caught up in your thoughts about the familiarity this stranger had with someone who wasn't technically supposed to exist in this world, that you didn't notice that the boy was watching you too

You were really pretty

He knew you were, the animals around him warned him that someone was approaching, describing you in outline

Their descriptions didn't do you justice.

You had your eyes fixed on him, but it didn't seem like you were looking directly at him, but the light had hit your eyes in such a way that they looked like two gems in how much they sparkled.

You also had to be very delicate in your movements, since if it weren't for the animals, Neige would not have noticed your presence so quickly.

Even the clothes you wore seemed to be specially made to flatter your figure; they weren't too elaborate at all, in fact, on someone else they would certainly have been rather anonymous, but on you…you really looked like one of those female leads from the romantic films Neige was starring in.

A little squirrel was perched comfortably on your shoulder! Those little creatures tended to move away from him too, and there you were in front of him, completely unaware of the wonder in his eyes

But as good as you were in that idyllic setting that was the garden of the RSA, as much as you seemed like a fairy in that situation, you were definitely in the wrong place

“Fairy-san. Are you lost perhaps?”

The Snow White look alike had spoken to you – even if at first you didn't realize he was speaking to you – and he had also tilted his head in an awfully adorable way

“Is it that obvious?” you chuckled back, making the boy across from you smile as well

“Well, it's not everyday you see girls like Fairy san in an all-male school like RSA”

The boy, who introduced himself as Neige, explained where you were, geographically speaking, and when you asked him if there was any way you could get to one of your guardians he said you should probably go to the HeadMaster, so to be able to use the Magic Mirror

“ But I think you should wait a little bit, Fairy san, at least till the opening Ceremony end”

Actually barging into a room during a ceremony that seemed quite important didn't seem like the most brilliant introduction you could make of yourself, so you had Neige escort you on a sightseeing tour, learning a lot about both the school and the boy.

Neige, in addition to being a second year at the RSA, seemed to be quite a famous person, if you had to consider all the times his cell phone seemed to receive notifications – the guy had set the bird trill as ringtone – but he seemed to be used to it, seeing that he hadn't finched even once.

"I'm not that popular" he was shaking his head quickly "I'm just very social"

(It should have been illegal how adorable he was in that moment)

After some wandering around the school Neige took you to what he told you was the presidency but before letting you go he asked if she could have your contact information and if he could contact you occasionally

(“I won't bother you too much” his face was slightly flushed and his eyes were traveling everywhere but on you “it's just that talking to you was…well…refreshing”)

After exchanging contacts with Neige - who had brought along a rather annoyed squirrel - you checked if Crewel had answered you, but nothing. In fact he too was a teacher, probably he too had to do with some kind of opening ceremony.

You hoped to hear from you soon

You knocked on the door three times before it opened.

You found yourself in a medium sized room with a huge glass window - the whole wall in front of you was taken up with that thing - one of the walls was taken up with several bookcases piled high with books, while the opposite wall was papered with photos of former students and various awards.

In front of the window was a large desk, in a decidedly modern style, compared to how ancient the castle itself seemed, and sitting in the chair was a decidedly elderly man dressed in blue who smiled at you

“Good morning, would you like some tea?”

His voice was very gentle and cordial, and as he spoke you saw not only one of the armchairs moving to approach the desk, but above all a tea set which flew quietly - minus the sugar bowl which followed its own rhythm - until it landed on the desk

After the tea was served

(“Would you like some sugar or milk?” “Mmh, two cubes, interesting choice”)

“Now, may I know who are you sweet child?”

You explained to him how you had found yourself in the forest inside the school, that you had no idea how you got there and that you were hoping there was a way for your guardians to come and rescue you.

All the while the Headmaster had kept his gentle smile, nodding at your story

"Interesting" he smiled at you closing his eyes "You know, Sweet child, there are a lot of ways students can get to this school, the most used are the carriages that cross the portals, but the forest you're talking about is itself a portal. In ancient times they called it the Enchanted Forest, but it has been in disuse for centuries now, in a way it looks like a sentient portal, which refuses to act as a portal, for many it is now just a legend of yesteryear. That definitely makes you an interesting subject."

And with that he crossed his hands under his chin

“You don't seem too shocked by this revelation so while I doubt you knew this little story, this isn't the first time something like this has happened to you, right? But that's a conversation for another time, I'm not going to force information on you that you don't feel like sharing. I guess you want to warn your guardians of the situation, would you by any chance have a name for me?”

When you gave him the two names, the man chuckled jovially

"I just find this situation very amusing" he didn't elaborate.

"You are very lucky Sweet child, they are also on this island, even if a little far from our position. I hope you don't mind staying here a little longer, feel free to ask the teachers or Housewardens to escort you to one of the guest rooms, tell them you are my special guest. I think it will take a while to get one of your guardians to pick you up"

Was this man locking you up in his school?

“As much as it would be an immense pleasure for me to have you as a guest, I doubt your guardians would be too pleased with the accommodation, although you are more than welcome to return whenever you like”

A little speechless for what had just happened, you thanked the man for the hospitality and turned -ran away - towards the exit

Once the door was closed Ambrose laughed happily shaking his head.

Dimensional Traspasser who crossed the Enchanted Forest even if they possessed dark magic, this was truly a story to be told