This Is Part 5 Of The "What If Yuu Didn't Want To Go Back?" Series!

This is part 5 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

Class starts in 15 minutes. First period is History of Magic- should be easy to find, right? After all, Vil made sure to give all of Pomefiore easy access to a map of the school. First floor, somewhere on the left...is this it? The room numbers match up.

The room is about half full. The paper says we have assigned seats, but it doesn't say where those seats are, so... where the hell do I sit?

"Grim... where's our seat?"

"Says we're in seat 34... so, third row, fourth seat?"

Counting the seats, we take our spot and hope for the best. Soon after we remove our notebook, textbook, pencil case, and folder, a boy with dark blue hair and an upside-down black heart on his face bursts into the room, panting heavily. The red color of his vest indicates that he's a Heartslabyul, but I can't tell if he's in the right room or not.

"Myaah? Hey, are you in class A?"

"Yes," the boy pants out, "seat 24... I'm not late, am I?"

"Nope! You're right in front of us."

The boy looks up, seemingly suprised at the sound of my voice. Our eyes meet- his are a beautiful, bright cyan. He'd fit right in at Pomefiore, at least visually.

"Wh...what?"

"We're in seat 34. Your seat is right in front of ours."

"Oh, okay." He looks grateful now, jogging to his seat and turning around to reach us.

"Ah, Deuce Spade- it's a pleasure to meet you!"

He sticks out his hand. I shake it.

"I'm Yuu- Y-u-u, not y-o-u."

Grim follows suit and sticks out his paw. Deuce takes a moment to catch on, but he does.

"And I'm Grim! Pleasure to make your acquaintance. "

Deuce looks relived, but that look soon turns to panic when he hears someone much older behind him.

"We are still missing someone."

A panicking #24 sits down quickly and puts his stuff down. The man- who is probably Professor Trein- lets the door shut behind him, but someone catches it. Another Heartslabyul, by the looks of it.

"Hey, teach! I'm on time, right?"

"Hey, Yuu! That's Trappola, from the entrance ceremony," Grim whispers. "He's claustrophobic. "

I laugh quietly. "That he is, Grim. That he is."

To Spade's horror, Trappola plops down right next to him, in seat 25.

"Heya! Nice to meet'cha. I'm Ace."

Deuce is visibly horrified. "I'm Deuce Spade. Please try not to be late in the future. "

Entrance Ceremony Claustrophobe scoffs. "What's up your ass this morning?"

Grim raises his paw. Trein calls on him. "Yes, Grim?"

"Trappola just asked Spade what's- and pardon my language- 'up his ass this morning.' It's distracting."

Now it's Trappola's turn to look horrified. Deuce, taking the opportunity, raises his hand. "I can confirm that. I can also add that he said that in response to me asking him to try to be on time more."

Trein looks pissed. Trappola looks terrified. I raise my hand, ready to put the final nail in the claustrophobe's coffin-box. Trein calls on me.

"I can confirm that both Spade and Grim are telling the truth." Trappola is very pale. He should get more sun. And more time management skills, but that's been pretty obvious for a few minutes at this point.

Trein's cat meows, and Claustrophobe's fate is sealed.

"Trappola, see me after class."

Deuce, Grim and I smile. Time to learn.

The rest of class goes by without a hitch. Ace's detention is that he has to wash all of the chairs in the classroom after school. Fitting, I think.

Deuce walks with me and Grim to alchemy. Crewel seems strict, but kind, so long as you stay in line. We don't brew anything just yet- big whoop, first day- but we do get a lot of notes. Deuce is turning out to be e great friend, too! He's an honor student, recovering delinquent, and generally great guy- Vil would approve. He doesn't look like he has much of a skincare routine, though.

The big thing happens during Phys Ed. Grim and I faint during the laps- Vil is going to be pissed when he hears about the lack of water- and Deuce is the one to single-handedly carry us both to safety, and then the nurse's office. Apparently, we already lacked energy. Oh, well. Nothing eventful occurs until lunch.

Back at Pomefiore dorm, where lunch is free, Rook stops to talk to us.

"Monseur Mystery, Monseur Chat! I heard you fainted today?" The concern in his voice sounds real.

"Yeah... the nurse says we already lacked energy."

"And we weren't drinking enough water. There's that too, Grim. "

"Why weren't you?" Vil sounds rather intimidating right now.

"Myaah, no water bottle."

Vil just sighs.

This is part 4 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

My bed is soft. Very soft. I don't want to leave, but I have to.

"C'mon, Yuu! We're gonna be late! Myaah, wake up! We have class!" Okay, he has a point. Being late to class on the first day would be horrible, both for our reputation and Vil's.

Mustering all my willpower, I drag myself out of the warmth and onto the cold floor. Oh, slippers! That's much better.

...Hold on.

"Grim, when did I change into my pajamas?"

"You didn't. Vil used magic to swap what you were wearing with those. He said he didn't want to wake you up." Grim beams. "I managed that trick, too! Look at me, mya-ha!"

Sure enough, Grim is wearing a white, collared button-down, a black-and-white striped tie, a purple vest that matches his magestone, and a dark grey jacket to top it all off. Worn below the collar of the button-down is the collar with his magestone, and there's a violet string-looking thing with a red stripe down the middle tied around his left front leg, held in place with a golden emblem that's carved to look like Pomefiore's crest. He has no pants, but that's pretty much what I expected.

"Your uniform's in the dresser, Grim's familiar."

"Come on, Mandible. You know his name."

...Korrak sounds exhausted! Is he not used to this kind of sleep schedule? I wouldn't be surprised. Mandible did mention that he has pilot parents, after all.

Oh, right. My uniform. Sure enough, it's in the top drawer of my nightstand, neatly folded. Looks like it has all the same parts as Grim's, plus pants, shoes, and socks. There's boxers in there, too. Better go change. Didn't I hear a sophomore mention walk-in closets at the entrance ceremony?

Yep, there's a door over by the foot of my bed. That must be the closet, which is soon revealed to be walk-in. Hey, there's a light! And a full-length mirror!

...This is probably a changing room. Oh, well. Figuring out where and how everything goes on is a walk in the park, and there's a shoe rack on my left. The only pair that seems appropriate for a regular school day are the loafers, so that's what I put on.

"Myaah, you look awesome!"

"Thanks, Grim! You wear it better, though."

"No way! We're familiars, so we both look equally awesome!"

Aww. "I'll let you have this one, Grim."

"Hey, Yuu and Grim. I've got your schedules over here. Says you're in class B. We aren't, unfortunately." Korrak frowns once he's done speaking, but I don't realize why until he pokes Mandible. "Hey, wake up. We have class too, you know."

Grim goes and gets the schedule from Korrak, and carries it back to me. Upon examination, I learn class does not start for another hour.

"Korrak, do you know why we're up this early?"

He sighs, unsuccessful thus far in his attempts to wake the exhausted opossum on his bed. "Breakfast and skincare routine. Both are mandatory in Pomefiore, and this wake-up time is recommended by our housewarden." Yeah, that explains it.

Mandible wakes at the mention of food. "Breakfast? Where?"

Korrak's face is what you'd expect from a sitcom mom. "The dorm dining room. Today it's fruit, I think."

Mandible's tiredness vanishes from his face instantaneously when Korrak says the word "fruit." Mine does the same.

I grab Grim. "C'mon, breakfast!" He does not complain.

Soon after stuffing our faces with way too much watermelon, Vil stops us in the hall.

"You fell asleep before I could give you this. All yours. Use it now. And Grim should be brushed every morning before you dress him." Vil hands me a small cardboard box that feels magically reinforced. He does not let go until I'm firmly holding it, probably because it's far heavier than it looks once he does.

"He dressed himself. Is there a cat brush in here?"

Vil nods. "There most certainly is." With that, he's gone. I set off to the room I fell asleep in last night.

There's a lot of people in here, but it still isn't hard to find an empty seat. I remove Grim's little uniform (as much as I don't want to) and begin brushing him. The process only takes a few minutes, and I use the opportunity to chat with Korrak, who's in the seat to my right.

"So, what class are you in? Grim and I are in class A."

"Me and Mandible are in class B. I hope it goes well."

The kid on my left speaks up. He has beautiful, fluffy, lavender hair and the second-prettiest blue eyes I've ever seen, in my biased-toward-Grim opinion.

"Hey, me too! What're you named?"

"Uh, Korrak. And this is Mandible. What's your name?"

I sit and return the cat brush to its spot in the box before reading the instructions for the skincare products. A few of them are for Grim, so I pull those out first- while continuing to eavesdrop, of course.

" 'S Epel! I like that there 'possum- 'Mandible', eh?"

I smile. The instructions are easier to follow than I thought they'd be, and the blooming friendship makes excellent background noise.

My writings: Masterlist

Remember to get your clicks in!

What if Yuu Didn't Want to Go Back? (Ongoing)

Trigger warnings: pet death, suicidality, swearing, mentions of being forgotten, homelessness, neglect

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Part 15

Part 16

Part 17

Part 18

Part 19

Part 20

Part 21

Part 22

Part 23

Part 24

Everyday Freak of Science (Ongoing)

Trigger warnings: experimentation, eating disorder, flashbacks, vomiting

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Oneshots

Noodling Around

This is part 15 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

"Heeeey, what club are you guppies joinin'?" Korrak and I ignore the voice. We're not guppies, so that can't be us, right?

"So, when do club meetings start?"

"Heeey, you! With the cat and the rat!" Okay, that guy is probably talking to us.

"W-W-What do you want, minnow?"

Immediately, the teal-haired boy's face twists into one of anger, his mismatched eyes flashing with rage. He leans back, placing his left hand over his right shoulder and separating his lips just enough to expose his triangular teeth to curious eyes.

"What was that, guppy?"

"I a-asked you what you w-w-w-wanted, minnow." Even through his stutter, Korrak sounds confident and dangerous, like he's this six-foot-something a warning.

"I'm no minnow... am I gonna have to squeeze some sense into you?" The yellow shade of his right eye is starting to remind me of a road sign used to warn people about some danger up ahead. I don't show my nerves, though, and Korrak looks fearless.

"What, I need more s-s-sense? You're the o-one who called us guppies." As much as I shouldn't be, I'm exited. Seeing Korrak fight would be awesome, and this dude with the dark stripe in his hair is annoying.

"You're on, minnow."

Korrak extends an arm to the bench, and Mandible takes the opportunity to dismount from his shoulder. Mr. Singular Dark Eye moves to punch him, but Korrak dodges, landing a good couple of punches on his opponent's jaw as he does so.

Teal Hair Boy doesn't even flinch. Instead, he swings another big arm, only to be met square in the golden eye with a fist, head-on.

Minnow flinches. Korrak keeps going, aiming mostly for joints and the back of his opponent's head. Despite the obvious pain he's in, minnow doesn't back down, and keeps swinging, kicking, and doing whatever else he can to try and land a hit.

Eventually, Korrak lands an uppercut square under minnow's jaw. Minnow grabs the back of his collar, much to my horror.

The grin minnow gives Korrak would've made me faint. "I've got ya now, little Angler."

"B-better. I'll give you that. S-still, you lose."

Korrak swings himself upwards, landing a solid kick on his foe's neck. Teal Hair drops him, choking on the force of it all and gasping for breath.

"My, my, Floyd. I haven't seen you in such a terrible condition since we were fry." Someone else has appeared, speaking more formally than Teal Hair. I'll call him Pronouns. Pronouns resembles Teal Hair, in the way your reflection resembles you.

Teal Hair has a dark left eye and a yellow right one, whereas Pronouns has a yellow left eye and a dark right. Additionally, the dark stripe in Teal Hair's hair is on the right side of his face, while Pronouns' is on his left.

"Yeah, yeah... some Angler went and called me a minnow."

Pronouns shakes his head. "I didn't think anyone here could fight you and win. Would you like to visit the nurse?"

"Nah, I'll be juuuuust fine." Teal Hair's voice has reverted to the blithesome tone it was before.

"You're bruising."

"Is that right, Angler?"

"Floyd, come here." Pronouns holds his brother's face up to the light and checks. He sighs. "Brother, you have a black eye. Come on, let's go to the nurse."

"Aw, it's not that bad."

"We're morays. We aren't supposed to bruise."

With that, they leave.

"Way to go, bud! I knew you could do it," Mandible cheers. "You always have been great at that."

I am in awe. That was incredible! Korrak just took on a guy with shoulders twice as broad as his- and won. He got caught, and he still won.

Korrak extends an arm to the bench for Mandible, who climbs back onto his familiar. Both of them then take notice of my staring.

"You w-wanna learn how t-t-t-to do that?"

I can only nod. Korrak laughs, genuine joy bubling up for the brief moment it lasts.

"I'll sh-show you aft-t-ter the det-ention."

"Myaah, dinner!"

Immediately, Korrak and I are running, Grim and Mandible on our shoulders. I turn in our club application on the way, and we run the rest of the way- maybe P.E. is paying off.

Vil is waiting for us when we return to the dorm. "I heard from Octanville's vice housewarden that you," he points an accusatory finger at Korrak, "got into a fight with his brother. Explain.

"Well, s-some guy st-t-t-tarted calling us 'guppies' and ch-challenged me t-t-t-to a fight, so I beat him u-up."

Vil looks astonished. However, before he can comment, Rook materializes with one of his own.

"Oui, Roi de Poison! I saw it all- the grace! The skill! The elegance! Truly, it was magnifiqué!"

Vil pauses. "Rook, are you saying that you saw Floyd Leech get beaten up by a Pomefiore student and you didn't tell me?"

Rook does not pause. "Oui! I was hoping to tell you later."

"...A Pomefiore freshman won a fight against Floyd Leech?"

Rook nods. "Oui!"

Vil, clearly baffled, asks, "How?"

"With agility, cunning, and courage! Beuté!"

"Rook, you are a very unusual person."

Rook's smile remains. "Oui!"

"Myeeh, I'm hungry! This is taking forever! We want French toast, not French talking!"

Mandible and Korrak both burst out laughing. Rooks joins them, and, before I know it, so have I.

"Enough! All of you are permitted to go and eat. Rook, you stay with me. Korrak, meet me after dinner." He pauses, thinking. "And, Grim, French toast is a breakfast food." Only the slight, amused smile on Vil's face and subtly joking tone reveal the intentions behind his words.

"Oui! Roi de Poison, I shall follow your lead! Off to dinner, then?"

Vil nods. "Certainly."

Dinner is po boys. Grim and I eat one each, much to the suprise of Epel.

"Y'all eat way more than I realized! What's th' rush fer, really?" I'd answer if I didn't have a mouthful of food. Epel, noticing this, just shakes his head.

"City folk, I guess... so, anythin' interestin' happen?"

Korrak raises a finger to signal that he has something to say, but too much food in his mouth to say it. He does finish, though.

"I got int-to a fight. Against s-some guy named 'Floyd.' He w-was weird."

I, now finished with my own mouthful, toss my contribution into the ring. "Korrak won. It was great."

Epel shakes his head. "Yuu, yer th' only one t' stay outta trouble, considerin' th' lot o' us."

I nod. "Yep."

"Did ya catch 'is last name? This 'Floyd' guy?"

Grim pauses between bites. "Leech. Why?"

A look of shock stuns onto Epel's face. "Floyd Leech? The Floyd Leech? Tell me ev'rythin'! I been lookin' t' git a piece o' 'im myself!"

Somewhere in the distance, I hear Vil sigh.

This is part 14 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

"A nightmare? Both of them? I've heard of familiars having similar dreams, given how common it is, but it's generally accepted that having a familiar is a nightmare deterrent." Vil pauses, his face pensive. "Generally, though, having a familiar means you won't have any nightmare you can't be woken from. And you're sure it was a bad dream?"

"Positive. He kept begging some unknown figure for help; it was something like 'please, make this stop' over and over again, quietly."

"Hmm. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll see what I can do."

"You know, Roi de Poison, I have seen Monseur Smoke go and punch trees quite often, until he bleeds. Every time, his attacks last one half-hour, if uninterrupted."

"That does sound like it could be related." Vil turns his head towards me and Grim rather suddenly, as though he forgot we were there. "Yuu, Grim, go and eat. You need the energy, and you've already done enough here. Make sure to drink some water; you two haven't been drinking enough."

Grim and I follow Vil's instruction and leave. Breakfast is avocado toast, which I'm pretty sure is our housewarden's way of making sure everybody eats a decent amout of something green instead of living on fish like the whole dorm seems to try.

While the ice water is nice, I can't bring myself to enjoy it. What of my friends? What of Ace and Deuce, with their tyrant housewarden? What of Korrak and Mandible, with their unknown nightmares?

"H-Hey, Yuu."

"Hi, Korrak! What's up?" Looking into his smokey grey eyes, I can understand why Rook calls him 'Monseur Smoke.'

"Not much, but I'm p-p-pretty sure we have t-t-t-t-to join a club. What club are you joining?"

"Myeh? We have to join a club?"

"Yeah, by the end of the week," Mandible adds, "have you seen the options?"

"Uhh, nope." Grim and I speak in unison this time.

"Well, w-w-we can all g-go and look at the opt-t-t-tions lat-t-t- Mandible, you know what I was g-g-going t-t-t-"

"Sure do. Anyway, do you two wanna go to the courtyard later today and look at the options?"

"Sure! Sounds fun."

Korrak looks relived. "Thanks, bud. You've always b-b-been there f-for me." Korrak turns to Grim and I. "Th-th-the speech issue is w-w-w-worse when I haven't eat-t-t-en."

Grim and I nod. "Isn't everything?"

"Fair point." Mandible seems to share Grim's sentiment. I hand Korrak a piece of toast, and he starts adding butter and avocado almost immediately.

When Grim and I get to class, we discover a well-rested Ace with no collar on.

"Yeah, housewarden Riddle must've had a change of heart or something. He's stopped enforcing most of the rules, and now Ace's punishment for stealing is helping Trey bake the tarts for the party. We still can't play croquet after 5:00pm, though."

I smile. Grim and I were right. Riddle did just need a hug and some time to himself.

The rest of class goes by without incident. It would be boring if I weren't learning the history of an entirely new world, but, hey, I'm in luck!

Alchemy sees me successfully using magic to catch a glass jar that got knocked off of a shelf. It "certainly would've shattered" on the stone floor if not for my "catlike reflexes-" or so Crewel says, anyway.

To be honest, I didn't even realize I knew a spell that could save that jar. I just panicked and attempted one I've read about. Good for me!

P.E. sucks, as usual. Ace stays conscious, though! Not without a bad sunburn that got him sent to the nurse anyway, but baby steps.

Lunch is tomato soup, which is the first time the main dish of a Pomefiore meal does not and cannot include fish. Even this morning, there were pieces of salmon for the avocado toast.

"So, Epel, w-what club are you in?"

"Spelldrive. Cain't wait fer practice t' start up, lemme tell ya! Hopefully I'll git bigger an' stop lookin' so-"

"Epel, Vil's in the room." Epel, despite having just been interrupted by four people, one of whom is a cat and another of whom is an opossum, does not delay his speaking. That's gotten pretty normal, after all.

"Whoop, sorry. Thanks, y'all. 'Nyway, I'd jus' like t' be a little less girly, y'know?"

"I g-get that. I got mist-t-t-aken for a girl all the t-t-t-"

"Take another bite of your soup, Korrak."

"Thanks, Mandible." He obeys. "Anyway, people u-used t-t-to think I was a girl all the t-t-time. They'd p-pick on me 'cause of that- you should've seen th-the looks on their faces when I beat the shit out of them."

Korrak laughs. I recall what I heard Rook say about Korrak punching trees until he bleeds, and spilling no blood for half an hour every time. Guess that's just what he's like.

Korrak doesn't strike me as a violent person so much as the retalliative sort. Why would he be violent? He doesn't start fights, he doesn't bully people, and he doesn't tolerate bullshit.

"It was always real f-funny, watching them s-s-suff-"

"Korrak." Our housewarden now stands tall behind the Korrak's confident figure.

"Uh, when I beat the bully out o-of them."

"Perfect." With that, Vil walks off. I wonder, why did it take him so long to react? Then again, this room is full of teens. Epel can't be the only potty mouth.

Korrak watches Vil go and shrugs. "That's life, I s-suppose." His stutter has noticeably improved since eating more of his soup, but is still present.

"Do you fight often, Korrak?"

"Only when I g-gotta. Kids back a-at my elementary school called me th-the gas st-t-t-ation, cuz I w-was nice t-t-to have around unt-il there were s-sparks."

Yeah, that makes sense. It's a little hard to imagine people pissing him off at all, but especially recalling the tree-punching thing. After all, Korrak stands tall and confident, with square shoulders and a smirk that suggests anyone who goes looking for trouble with him will find more of it than they bargained for. There's a spark in his eyes, like the sun peaking out from smoke, that makes it obvious: you fuck with Korrak, you've fucked up.

He's not shy, that's my point. He is kinda cute though, what with the hair- ashy purple and super fluffy. Combine that with his beautiful eyes and some teenage jealousy, and you've probably got at least one kid challenging him to make sure he stays away from their lover.

"Myah, we have class!"

Everybody's eyes widen. Evidently, the whole room forgot we aren't eating dinner.

Then, from various voices accross the room: "run!"

Luckily, Grim and I make it to class on time. Biology class is about morays today- specifically, the differences between cold sea morays and warm sea morays.

According to Trein, there's a trench that separates the sea. Morays who lay eggs on the south side lay two connected egg sacks. One side only has babies with magical left eyes, and the other only has babies with magical right eyes. The babies in each side fight until only one is left, and the survivors are twins.

Warm sea morays have nothing of the sort. Eggs can't be carried over the trench because the temperature change kills them, and keeping them on the side they weren't laid on requires keeping them at the temperature of the other side.

Cold sea morays can lay warm sea eggs, and vice versa. It's all location, and it's all very facinating. But, alas, class cannot go on forever.

MacGyvering shows us using drills as motors for fans, boats, and a variety of other things. Not really, though- we're making blueprints. Reasonable enough, if you ask me.

Finally, class is over. I hold Grim and carry him to the courtyard so he can sleep on the way. Korrak and Mandible are already waiting.

They wave. I wave back. Korrak motions to me to stand over by him, and I follow his lead. Beside him is a big list of all the clubs, pinned to the wall.

"I was thinking of joining the track and field club, but I'm not really sure. What do you think?"

"Well... what kind of stuff do you like?"

"The science club sounds fascinating. I've always liked all of it, anyway, but..."

"But what?"

"Well, I want to be more physical."

"You don't have to be in a club to use the gymnasium, Korrak."

"Yeah, great point. Science Club it is!" With that, he starts filling out an application that apparently just needed a few more fields to be filled in.

"Myeh?.. what time is... oh, I took a nap." Grim yawns, putting his, frankly, adorable little teeth on display. "What club are we joining?"

"I don't know yet. That's why we're here, Grim."

Grim hops onto the ground, does the iconic kitty stretch, and hops onto the bench. Before I can wonder why, he jumps onto Korrak's shoulder- the one that doesn't have Mandible on it- and onto my shoulder from there.

"You can just ask me to pick you up, Grim."

"Where's the fun in that?"

I sigh and roll my eyes. What clubs are there? Board Games, Mountain Lovers, Gargoyle Studies... out of those, Board Games seem like the best option.

"Where are the applications?" Korrak hands me one.

"Hey, you didn't even tell me what club you picked! We're both going, so we both need to approve!"

"I picked the board games club, Grim."

"Ooh. Sounds fun, I'm in!"

I grin. "We sure are!"

This is part 10 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

"Are you sure I can't use the power drill?"

"I ain't known ya fer all that long, ginger, but I wouldn't trust ya wit' a feather if I didn't think th' clinic had 'n open spot."

"What the fuck is your problem?"

"Trappola," I start, doing my very best to embody Vil's aura of a strong mother giving a warning, "say that again, without swearing."

"The fuck?"

"We both know what a swear is. Do not play with me, Trappola."

"Okay, fine. Hey, lavender breeze, what is your problem?"

"Lavender breeze? Well, I ain't no hussy city folk- you wanna fight me, ya better say it outright, ya concrete coward!"

"Oh, I'm a coward? You're on!"

"Say it, ya toilet-fire-fer-hair! Say ya wanna fight! 'R are ya too much'f a ketchup addict t' talk?"

"Korrak, right? Where is he getting those insults?"

"B-beats me, Deuce."

"Uh... hey! Ace! Epel! Not the time!"

Epel momentarily freezes, recalling the stories of Crewel's punishments he's heard from other. Trappola, not so much.

"Deuce, shut up!"

Something in Deuce snaps. There's a wild look I'm his eyes, and he's, evidently, just as sick of Trappola as he should be. "You wanna fight, just say it!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"Not 'ntil ya say it is, ya pigeon poop patootie!"

"Okay, fine! I'll fight you both!" With that, Trappola punches Deuce exactly once, in the shoulder, before getting his shit wrecked on the lab floor. Korrak even summoned popcorn, which would've pissed off the "pigeon poop patootie" if he weren't so busy getting his ass handed to him.

"You got it, Sir!" By the time I look up to see who said that, a tall, buff wolf dude is heroically lifting our damsel in distress from the linoleum and carrying him to Crewel. They briefly discuss something, and then Trappola's knight in shining armor is leaving him in a chair and walking over to us.

Crewel, having started sooner, arrives first. "Well, I can't have my pups dogfighting. Who was involved?"

Wolf boy, who has now finished walking over and is standing next to Crewel, speaks up. "The other Heartslabyul and the Pomefiore with no familiar, sir. Those are the ones who were fighting him. The others were eating popcorn."

Crewel smiles. "You and you, not Yuu," he begins, pointing at Epel, Deuce, and me in turn, "detention. You are to clean all of the stations in this room, top and sides, after class. I will let you have dinner first. Do not open the cabinets or drawers when you clean them, but do wash the cabinet doors and handles."

Epel and Deuce nod. "Yes, sir."

Crewel seems to approve. "Howl, you will be joining them in place of Trappola. Make sure they don't fight again."

"Yes, sir!" Howl practically salutes Crewel. Well, he doesn't, but I'm pretty sure Crewel had to tell him not to do that at some point, because that poor wolf boy looks like he has to physically stop himself from doing some kind of salute.

Once Crewel walks off, Wolfie starts glaring at us- mostly at Deuce and Epel, but everyone gets a taste of yellow eyes boring into their soul.

I glance to my left. Korrak is frozen in place, seemingly out of fear. Wolfie takes notice quite quick.

"Hey, are you alright?"

No answer. Wolfie tries again.

"Hey, you. With the deep purple eyes that have hints of pale blue in them. I'm talking to you. Are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse? I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?"

Looks like I misread Korrak's sudden lack of movement. Ever since he and Howl locked gazes and the wolf boy told him his eye color, my roommate has been blushing.

"Myaah, we have an assignment! Come on, I want a good grade!"

Epel just shakes his head and mutters something about "jus' don't know how t' be direct."

"Uh, name's Jack. Jack Howl. Nice to meet you, Mr...."

"K-Korrak. Korrak Dinik. It's, um, nice to meet you, Jack."

"C'mon, guys, we do have an assignment. And, Jack, I'll try not to get into another fight."

"Good. Deuce, right?"

"That's correct! How'd you know?"

"Heard the whole thing. Speaking of which, Epel, never insult people again. You're too good at it. Now, we need to find a way to use the drill that nobody would really expect."

Hey, I know this! "Flashlight."

"Drills have flashlights?"

"Yeah, so you can see where you're drilling. Just turn it on and you have a flashlight."

Korrak looks at Deuce, who nods and begins furiously writing on the provided paper.

"Now we can just screw around!"

"Question: why does the opossum talk more than the human?"

"Don't worry about that, Jack. But, hey, we get to slack off now! Mya-ha!"

Nothing significant happens for the rest of the class, but I did notice that, out of the three-sevenths of us who have fur, Jack's is the worst-kept. His fur looks very soft, to be honest, just... dusty. And like he doesn't put some fur oils on his brush before he uses it in the morning, which is what I expected, given that Pomefiore is the only dorm that makes a point of ensuring everyone and everyone's familiars are top-teir in skin and fur care.

Back at the dorm, however, Vil is waiting.

"Epel. I have been told you got into a fight today and that you are to return to Crewel's room after dinner. Explain."

"I didn't throw the first punch, he did. And he called me 'lavender breeze!' That ain't sumthin' 'e can git away with!"

"Who?"

"Trappola," I fill in.

"Oh, the claustrophobe from the entrance ceremony?"

I grin. "Yeah, him."

"And, Epel, are you hurt?"

Epel just grins. "Not at all!"

Vil nods. "Rook, make sure Epel returns to Crewel's room after dinner.

Rook appears out of nowhere with the typical "Oui!"

Dinner is salmon patties! Rook stops the mosh pit by the tartar sauce from becoming an all-out brawl, but someone still ends up with a black eye. Nobody gets in trouble because the kid tripped, and not a single punch was thrown.

As per usual, Vil makes everyone take something that isn't fish or tartar sauce, and we are not exempt. The cucumbers are good, though, as are the rest of the assorted veggies we wind up with. As some of the first people to get there, we get a load of carrots, which Grim devours the moment he's done with his patties.

The instant Epel finishes his food, he sighs. "Is he behind me?"

I don't have to answer. Once again, Rook just goes "Oui!" Epel puts his plate away, waves goodbye, and leaves. I toss in a "May the odds be ever in your favor!" That gets Rook to spend what I assume is the rest of the walk prateing about beauty. Because, hey, that's Rook. What else would he do?

Korrak goes to our bedroom and does whatever. I go to the bathroom, and, when I return, Rook intercepts me.

"Monseur Mystery, go get your phone and come with me." When I return, phone in hand, Rook says nothing more. Instead, he leads me wordlessly down the halls, and I recognize the route as the way to Vil's room.

When we reach the rather large door, Rook knocks only once upon it.

"Come in."

We do.

Vil's face softens when he sees me. "Yuu, I assume you may have trouble with setting up the phone?"

"I can't even figure out how to open the box."

"Alright. Let me show you."