This Is Part 2 Of The "What If Yuu Didn't Want To Go Back?" Series! The Plot Thickens...

This is part 2 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series! The plot thickens...

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

Woah. This is... incredible.

I mean, it was incredible when I looked up and saw a fucking castle, but this? All this shiny white and gold? I feel like I'm going to be a royal's personal servant. But, this is Pomefiore dorm- and I'm in Pomefiore! Does that mean I'm the royal?

"Alright!" Vil's call for attention is met with the ceasing of the oohs and aahs in favor of all eyes on him. He looks powerful, but not in an intimidating way- rather, I feel drawn to him. Based on the body language of those around me, though, that might just be a "me and Grim" thing. The kid on my right looks meek.

"Third years, you know what to do. Second years, you do what the third years are doing. Rook, on my left. First years, I am still waiting on the list with all your names on it, so you will be placed into your dorm rooms now. Those of you with feline slash feline-adjacent familiars, stand in the circle." With magic, he draws a large, glowing blue outline of a circle on the floor to his right. I look at Grim and make our way through the crowd, my cat on my shoulder, and stand in the circle. There are nine people standing on Vil's right by the end of it, including me.

While I have Grim, there's a kid on my right with white hair, caramel skin, and an ice-blue panther-looking thing that's about as tall at the shoulder as he is at the hip. Its eyes are completely black, like ink, and it's apparently just as confused as its human.

To my left is a kid with an opossum. The 'possum has a deep blue body and tail, along with a white head that almost makes it look like the thing is wearing a skull. Its eyes are seagreen everywhere except the pupils.

Vil points at the kid on my left. "What's your name?"

"K-Korrak." The kid rolls the r as he says it.

"Alright, and what's your name?" He's pointing at me now. But, before I can stutter out my answer at the question I should've been anticipating, Grim answers for me.

"I'm Grim!" Vil does not appear as amused as he did. Grim, taking notice, adds, "and this is Yuu."

"You? I do not believe that is me."

"No, no, Yuu. Y-u-u, not y-o-u."

"Ah, okay. Yuu, Korrak, you two will be in room 109. There is a cat tree for your familiars to share and two cat beds for them to split. Here you are." He hands me a key with the Pomefiore crest on the end. Upon examining it, the number 109 is engraved on it.

"You two may now go to your dorm room and get settled in. I trust you know how to retrieve your things?" Korrak nods. Grim and I say nothing. Vil smiles, as though pleased. "Off you go, then."

Room 109 is easy to find. It's on the left, just like every other odd number, and is on the first floor. The door is huge, large enough to fit me and Korrak shoulder-to-shoulder with Korrak's familiar standing on his head, not touching the top of the doorframe.

Inside, there's two twin canopy beds, two small, blue cat beds, two pristine white nightstands, and- as promised- a cat tower, right in the middle. I take the canopy bed on the right. Korrak flops down onto his new bed, waves his magic pen, and starts unpacking the luggage he just summoned. There isn't much- just a two rolly bags and a backpack.

Korrak's familiar takes notice of my staring. "Pilot parents," it says, "everything has to fit on a plane." I nod. This new world has airplanes, too, huh?

There's a knock on the door. "Come in," Shouts the 'possum. Vil opens the door.

"Yuu, come with me. Now." I immediately approach, Grim now on my head, to follow Vil down the hall and into what looks to be a makeup department you'd see in a "behind the scenes: live-action movie" documentary.

A blonde boy I recognize as Rook is already standing there, motioning for me to sit in one of the chairs. I look to Vil for confirmation before taking the seat. Rook takes Grim off of my head, sits in the chair next to mine, and places Grim on the counter in front of him.

All Grim has time to say is, "myaah?" Before Rook pulls out a cat brush and starts brushing my familiar's fur. Grim soon settles into the comforting sensation with a continuous purrrrrr.

"Yuu. Look at me." Vil's voice draws my attention once more, and I look directly into his violet eyes. "Why the fuck is your hair this matted? When did you last brush it?"

"Uhh... good question. I'd tell you if I knew."

My answer is honest. The rage in Vil's eyes is bright like floodlights.

"Why don't you know?" I shrug. Vil's voice is low and nearly sinister- but not quite.

"Grim." Vil's head snaps toward Rook, as though daring him to speak again. "When was the last time Yuu brushed his hair?"

Grim shrugs. "I dunno. We met just before the ceremony."

The upperclassmen now appear confused, Vil more so than Rook. "You... Just met? Today?" Vil alone speaks at first, but his and Rook's voices blend together for the final word.

"Yeah, Grim wanted to enroll and broke open a coffin-box so he could have a uniform."

"Hench-Human knew my name. Somehow, I knew his. Dunno how that works, but that probably means he's my familiar, right?"

Both the blondes are stunned into silence. Rook is the first to break it.

"So, did you meet and magically bind as children, only to forget and be reunited years later as familiars?" He looks... exited now. "Beauté!"

"Probably not," I jump in, "given that I'm not from a world with magic, and can't use any myself."

Vil looks shocked. "What do you mean, you can't use magic? How in tarnation did you get a spot at Night Raven College with no magic?"

"Hell if I know. Hey, where are we? I know we're in Pomefiore dorm at Night Raven, but... geographically, where are we?"

Vil sighs. It's obvious that he never expected that question, or the lack of magic.

"Twisted Wonderland, spud. That's the broadest way I can put it."

"Okay. Broadest way I can put it, I'm from the Milky Way Galaxy."

Now he's looking at me weird.

"We are in the Twisted Galaxy's Selm system, on the specific planet 'Wonder.' People usually call our planet 'Twisted Wonderland.' With that in mind, where are you from?" Rook's elaboration gives me a better idea of what to say next.

"Earth, of the Milky Way Galaxy's Sol system. I've only really heard people call it 'Earth.'"

"Myaah, I never knew Twisted Wonderland was the name of the planet! That's so cool!"

Vil sighs and starts cutting my hair. "Let's... worry about that after we get this rat's nest off your head." Rook goes back to brushing Grim. For a moment, I allow myself to believe everything is okay. And, for the first time in my life, that feels true.

Quick note: don't do this if it's an adolescent and it's snowing out! Adolescents don't yet have the defense from the cold that adults do. If you release an adolescent into snow, they'll either die or get back in. It's better to keep them in a secure cage with food, water, bedding, and a lock until the weather warms up or you can drop them in a mansion.

Seriously. They're endangered, mostly because of ignorant people dropping adolescents out into the snow.

sick of all these horror movies vilifying Slashers. just because you don't find them cute and cuddly doesn't mean they don't play an important and necessary role in natural ecosystems. don't claim to support biodiversity if you dismiss species like Slashers just because pop culture has convinced you they're "creepy"

This is part 17 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

Today did suck. Grim and I nearly fell asleep during every class except P.E, when we fell asleep and were just left in the shade because Vargas wouldn't let anyone carry us to the nurse. Lovely. That nap gave us the energy to report him, and then it was spent.

I can't remember anything else. Just reading my notes feels like a fever dream. The writing is so messy, it's barely legible, if at all- I can hardly read anything at this point.

The one thing I do remember is going out into the forest for some peace and quiet with Korrak and Mandible. Oh, and falling asleep on Korrak. That too.

Waking up is better. I feel more refreshed already. When I turn to look, though, Korrak is awake.

He sees me staring and laughs softly. "Morning, lil' bro."

I smile. This world really is the best thing to ever happen to me. I have an older brother! And, thinking back, I've probably called Vil "mom" at some point, which probably makes Rook the dad.

"This is nice, isn't it?"

I smile. Grim is right, this is nice. There's a gentle breeze blowing softly, the sun is high enough to light the area but low enough to be out of our eyes, and the clouds are floating lazily overhead, shifting shape as they do.

Korrak has the right idea, lying on his back and looking at the sky.

"I've heard p-people say that it's th-th-these gentle little moments th-that make life comfy." He closes his eyes and reopens them after a second. "Never understood that u-until now."

"Never paid attention to them?"

He shakes his head, the grass underneath his hair rustling quietly as he does. "Never h-had any I could p-p-pay attention t-."

He pronounces "attention" as "addention" and stutters at the word "to," but only once. Instead of trying to say both letters, he just gives up after the first holdup.

"Why not?"

"B-being calm is a p-privilege I just couldn't afford." His expression saddens. I didn't even realize I had spoken until he answered me.

"Yeah," I start, knowingly this time, "I get that. Like life is a racetrack and being content is taking a leisurely walk, and by the time you realize running is optional, you're surrounded by people who either don't know or don't care and you have to keep going or you'll get trampled. Like there's a wall of people between you and joy, and the only way to slow down and survive is to be removed from the track entirely. I get that."

"Y-yuu..." Korrak is crying now. I don't know when he started, but there are tears running down his cheeks.

"Do you really f-feel like th-that?.. H-hey, you can s-stay on the t-t-t-t-track. Don't go." His voice drops to barely a whisper. I almost can't hear him over the breeze.

"P-please, not you t-t-t-t-too..."

Oh, he doesn't know the part about leaving the track was supposed to refer to me suddenly waking up a student at Night Raven College- he thinks I'm still suicidal.

"Korrak... That's not what I meant by that."

"W-what could you h-h-have meant? Did you j-just lie down f-for a nap and sit u-up in T-T-T-Twisted Wonderland?"

"Uh... pretty much."

"What?" This time, Mandible talks. Korrak lies still, presumably processing what I just said. He soon turns, looks at me, and gives Mandible a "You do the taking" short of look.

"So, I... I'm not from a world with magic. I'm from another track, so to speak. One day, I woke up in a coffin, met Grim, and got sorted into Pomefiore. In under ten minutes."

"What the fuck? Yuu and Grim didn't meet until the first day entrance ceremony?"

"Kinda. When I lived in the other world, I had a cat. He had a condition where the end of his tail split into a trident, just like this," I'm holding the end of Grim's tail now, he's snuggling into me and purring in a successful attempt to calm me down, "and he was my only friend, and he died, and I was never the same. And then, I saw him at the entrance ceremony, and..."

I'm crying now. Korrak has moved onto his side, wrapped his arms around me, and placed my head near the junction between his neck and shoulder. I'm hugging back, and Grim has moved to the same spot on me to purr.

"It's okay. I'm o-okay. I have Grim back, and I have magic, and I'm happy."

Everyone is crying now. Me, Korrak, Grim, and Mandible, crying and hugging and smiling and lying on the ground and, in Grim's case, purring.

"As much as I hate to interrupt this, Roi de Poison would like you all back inside before twilight. Is is dusk."

Rook is right. We have our skincare routines, and dinner, and bedtime, and I should probably shower. At the very least, though, I think I'm a little closer to cracking the smokescreen that is Korrak Dinak.

Rook leads the four of us back into the dorm. Vil is waiting patiently at the door, likely to make sure we're okay.

The clock says we've been out in the woods for over two and a half hours. That gives us enough time to shower, do our usual skincare routine, and still get to bed on time.

Before we go to the Backstage Room, Rook hands each of us a small plate with some very appetizing food on them.

"Eat quickly," he whispers, and then he is gone. I listen, but Vil stops us.

"Do not choke. Take reasonable bites."

We did need the reminder. Finally, we're off! Hopefully, some hot water will help me sleep.

The shower did help. I passed out the instant I flopped onto the soft, welcoming comforter, and that was that.

Not a great day, but an excellent conclusion. I'll take it.

We don't wake up too early this time, either. Korrak and Mandible aren't in the room by then, so we just go straight to the Backstage Room and get that managed.

"Yer tellin' me you ain't never seen 'n apple tree? How th' fu- fresh hell does that work out?"

Epel's morning over-breakfast talk is extra entertaining when you also listen to Vil sigh in the background.

"You think everything has apple trees? No. Korrak, pass me another one of the fruits."

Mandible chews on his apple and Epel stares in disbelief. "Y'all're city folk? An' here I thought you lotta come from somewhere interestin'!"

Oh, if only he knew.

This is part 20 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

"Okay, I'll go first. I'm the oldest."

Grim and I share a look. A silent, mutually thought idea is agreed upon and placed into action. Grim dismounts from my shoulder and onto the desk with the board.

"Can I go first? Please?"

He sits, loafing, on the wood, giving his best kitten eyes directly to Idia, and mews softly.

"Alright, sure. Why not?"

Ortho turns sharply to stare at his brother. "Idy! I can't believe this! Willingly abandoning better chances for a cat? And no gain? You shouldn't!"

"You know me, Ortho, you know me! He's too cute; I can't help it! I'm a cat person, and I cannot abandon my primary morals!"

I roll the die. We move four spaces, onto a spot where a cliff leads. We might wind up there again later.

"Your turn, Mr. Oldest."

Grim looks at me. Ortho looks at Grim. I look at Ortho. Smugness and anger and amusement, and only one die has rolled. Only one piece has moved. This is going to be so much fun.

Grim looks at Ortho with the same adorable stare, and Ortho falls just as his brother did.

"...Fine. But only because you're cute, okay?"

Grim gets up, saunters back over to me, and gets on my other shoulder. "You heard him, Mr. Oldest. Your turn."

Idia rolls a three. Ortho rolls a five. Azul walks over and sits at the table, between me and Idia. I look at Idia, who refuses the eye contact but stares at the bridge of my nose long enough to say it: "he could still join the game."

"Hey, Azul! Not sure why you're still wearing those. Barbed is more in-style."

Azul sputters and stutters, eventually settling on, "You are a vice housewarden! You should know what glasses are!"

We laugh. "Hey, if we let him join, he might spend the whole time talking instead of playing. Y'know, like he did with the chessboard."

Azul sputters again. "I will not!"

"Myeeh... I don't think so. Prove it."

"Fine! I wi- wait! You're just trying to make me mad!" He inhales deeply. "I am going to go do something else."

Then he gets up and leaves. The other four of us just look at each other, shrug, and continue playing.

The game itself is uneventful, but the interactions are comedy gold. My favorite two are:

"Oh, come on! I could easily fly right back up there!" -Ortho

"Well, Grim, we've fallen... pretty far. You roll the die now; I have two broken legs." -me

All in all, it's a win. Not really- Ortho won the game- but the experience was a net positive.

"Good game, guys!"

Ortho and Idia agree. "Good game."

Ortho sighs. "Everything is so much fun. I'm so glad this happened."

"We're glad we joined."

Ortho laughes a little at that. "Not really what I meant, but I'm glad you joined, too."

"Myeh? What did you mean?"

"Well, I kind of... Died? And Idy managed to make a body for me. I'm technically a robot, but I do have a soul!"

Idia smiles, his sharklike teeth easily visible. "It was a little difficult, but I'm glad I did it. Being an only child sucks."

"Myeh, that's so cool! Azul is giving you a funny look, by the way."

"He is?" Ortho turns around. "Hey Azul, what's it to ya?"

Just like that, club time is over. It's now back to the dorm to rest and eat.

Korrak is awaiting our return. He's pouting a little, but, after Rook explains that new science club members don't get to handle acid on day one, things start making a little more sense.

"Well, I still don' like that Azul feller."

"We g-gotta meet Heartslabyul's v-v-vice housewarden. He made p-pastries, but didn't b-bring any."

"I got t' meet th' housewarden o' Savanahclaw. 'E really ain't all that plesent."

"Azul is annoying. Fun to mess with, though."

"'Ere's a lot o' folks on th' Spelldrive club. Tons o' Savannahclaws."

"All I had to do was look cute at them, and they let us roll first! It was great!"

"At Azul? Or at s-someone else?"

"At Ignihyde's housewarden and vice housewarden! It was hilarious."

" 'at's all it took, eh? Good fer y'all! By th' way, Leona said somethin' 'bout a celebrity- y'all know what 'e meant? 'Cause I don' know no celebrity."

Rook bursts into a laughing fit beside us. I can feel Vil's eyes from across the room, though there is notable confusion in his gaze.

"W-well, I don't know any, s-so I can't really h-help."

"Myeh... maybe he just meant 'moderately popular influencer' and doesn't know what a celebrity is."

"Th-that's probably it. Th-then again, I probably w-wouldn't know one if they b-brushed my hair."

Accross the room, I see Vil sigh and shake his head. He's probably figured out that none of us keep up with pop culture. He might know the celebrity, but I say it's none of my business.

The sun is low on the horizon, our food is eaten, and our dorm uniforms are cozy warm. Rook is still giggling beside us, Korrak is still complaining about the lack of handling acid he got to do, and Epel is calling Leona lazy.

It's been a good day.

This is part 8 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

Vil stares for a moment, just a moment, and then smiles. Grim is still looking at me weird, but says nothing.

We leave to eat. Grim's strange looks halt when he sees breakfast: poppyseed bagels with cream cheese and lox. We eat instead of talking, and I take the time to admire just how clean this place is.

Everything is so shiny. There aren't any paintings or pictures, noticeably, but there is a mirror hanging over there. It was probably put there to allow people to look at the oven without having to turn around, given the location and angle.

Looking in the mirror... Hey, it's Korrak and Mandible! And...Rook? Looks like he's intercepting them, too. At least he's giving them food first. Korrak walks toward the stairs with half a poppyseed bagel in hand.

Oh, well. That's none of my business. I'm done with my bagel, though, so it's off to the Backstage Room!

Grim finishes his breakfast on the way, and I brush him until his coat is soft and even. He doesn't complain about me stopping this time, but he does set off on a quest of magically dressing himself.

When I finish my routine, we head off to put my new phone up, and then it's off to History of Magic.

Trappola isn't here yet, surprisingly. I figured he'd've learned his lesson after yesterday, but I guess not. Oh, well. His problem! We'll snitch again if he starts today with a repeat of yesterday.

By the time we sit down and start talking to Deuce, Trappola walks into the room- with a collar on?

"I see your stares. Don't ask."

With that, he sits. Deuce stares right at him for a solid 20 seconds before speaking.

"We don't even have oolong."

"Not what happened."

I sit there, contemplating why this kid is wearing a heart-shaped collar with a lock on it to class. Very much a "Heartslabyul" look, though. Half is black, half is red, and the outlines are gold.

The bells rings, and Trein starts the lesson. I take notes and help Grim do the same with his levitation magic. He picks up on it pretty fast, and his writing is easily legible within 5 minutes.

Crewel gives Trappola a funny look when he walks in, but says nothing and the way he teaches seems normal. This is only the second time I've had him, though.

More note-taking commences. I'm rather tempted to question Trappola where he got that and why he's wearing it, but class is ongoing, so I refrain from asking and make sure Grim does the same. He shoots me dirty looks whenever I close his mouth for him, but he stays quiet.

Grim and I actually manage to stay conscious all through P.E.! That's a win for us.

"What, you think you're special just 'cause you didn't take a nap when you fell?"

"Nope! We think we're special cause we aren't the ones wearing a collar, and one of us is a cat."

Trappola turns bright red. "What the hell?!"

"Mya-ha, that's what you get!"

"He has a point, Ace. How did you get that, anyway?"

"Shut up, Deuce."

"Hey, Trappola, remember that one time you were snarky with Deuce and wound up cleaning all the chairs in Trein's room? I do."

Trappola shuts his mouth, forgets his lesson, and speaks again. "Hey, you can call me 'Ace.' I don't mind. Why do you only ever call me by my last name?"

"That's what the headmage called you during the entrance ceremony. Besides, we also call you 'entrance ceremony claustrophobe.'"

"Behind my back?"

"To your face, entrance ceremony claustrophobe."

"Okay, guys, that's enough."

"Shut it, Deuce."

"Dude, what is your problem?" Evidently, Deuce has finally had enough.

"It probably has something to do with the collar." Okay, being a dick here won't help, but I'm bored and hungry, so I'll care after lunch.

"Yeah, it does!"

"Myeh... I'd just take it off."

"I. Can't."

"Why not?"

"You say that like you don't know."

"They're first years from a different dorm, Ace. Of course they don't know. You have to tell them."

Trappola says nothing. Apparently, that thought didn't occur to him. I'm guessing most of them don't, though.

Trappola sighs, but still doesn't say anything. Deuce, clearly fed up, turns to us. "Our housewarden's signature spell is called 'Off With Your Head,' and he uses it on Heartslabyuls who break the rules. The spell places a collar around the target's neck," Deuce motions to Trappola, "and seals away their magic. I'm not sure what Ace did to get collared, but only Riddle can remove it."

I remember one of the Pomefiore sophomores explained all of the housewardens and dorms to the freshmen, me and Grim included. That's how I know Riddle Rosehearts is the Heartslabyul housewarden, a sophomore in the dorm based on strictness. No wonder, huh?

"Myaah... hey, Redhead, did you complain about yesterday in front of Rosehearts?"

Trappola looks stunned. "Yeah... How'd you know?"

"You swear when you're mad. That's probably banned."

"...You're right."

Grim appears prideful of his accomplishment, chest out and everything. Trappola looks lost. Deuce looks hungry.

"Let's go to lunch. Come on, Ace."

Grim and I wave. "Bye, Deuce! Bye, Trappola!"

The walk back to the dorm is tiring, but it's nice knowing we're just a little step closer to whatever it is we're reaching for.

The lack of development Riddle got. We see him as a tyrant up until the aftermath, with little to no good foreshadowing of his backstory.

Azul's octopus form. We only ever see it when he overblots, and that's not the most accurate description of him, since we've seen that overblots change someone's physical appearance.

Censorship. In the JP version, Jamil freely admits he's a servant of Kalim's. Also in the JP version, Vil has no problem with Epel's accent, his problem is with Epel's sailor mouth. In the English version, Vil hates Epel's accent, Epel doesn't swear, ever, and Jamil being a servant is censored. I hate that.

Sprites. Specifically, the chibis of asymmetrical characters (Floyd, Jade, Jamil, Ace, Deuce, Trey, Cater, etc.) Just flip to turn them around (like when you're fighting them in a crafter's gauntlet battle, or when they're not your study buddy but are still in the alchemy lesson), and it results in things like Floyd's right eye being yellow instead of his left, or the heart on Ace's face being on the wrong side, or Jamil's hair suddenly being braided on his right instead of on his left. It drives me insane.

FEM!READER FICS BEING TAGGED AS GN!READER. X READER ON POSTS IRRELEVANT TO SHIPPING. VARIOUS CHARACTERS BEING ABSURDLY OOC IN FICS WHERE THEY'RE YUU'S BF. (AC; DR people mischaracterizing/mistagging everything)

People saying characters are [adjective w/ negative meaning/connotation] and refusing to look a little deeper into the character in cannon, which would prove them wrong (i.e. people saying Vil is "just cruel" even though examining chapter 5 further would prove he's really just a "tough love" sort of person with Epel and the others)

Mickey's presence in-game. He feels unnecessary, like a clothing tag in the armpit of your new shirt. Like he's just there to remind you you're playing a Disney game. I get it, he's probably going to be important to the plot, but I'd like the game more without him.

Tell me something you don't like in Twisted wonderland or on its Fandom in general (only actual opinions not free hate, except if it's Crowley)

I'll start:

Crowley. Seriously, he's the literal meaning of useless and stupid

Shipping. Not everything is about romance, the fact that a character will or not be together in the end of the game doesn't influence on anything and you don't need to be rude to someone just because they don't like your ship (I personally dislike Jamil x Azul, Ace x Deuce and Malleus x Cater)

The game not actually giving proper screen time to NCR staff. The most we see is Trein being there on Glorious Mascarade

Grim. The reason why is because I just see him as the annoying sidekick and it's there just to send merch and be the mascot of the game

Yuu/MC not having more lines to define better their personality and even not having basic options of how to define your basic personality to have a character that is at least a bit similar to the player

What about you?