This Is Part 20 Of The "What If Yuu Didn't Want To Go Back?" Series!

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.

I mean... as a sibling, yeah. Makes sense. I don't know what happened, but it makes sense.

(The guest room is a work in progress)

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.

This is part 6 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

"Hey, Yuu! Hey, Grim! How's your day?"

"Hey, Korrak! Hey, Mandible! Guess what happened in first period?"

"Ooh," Mandible chirps, "did someone flirt with the teacher?"

"Myeehh... Nope. Some kid showed up late, and asked another kid what he had up his ass when the other kid told him to try and be on time!"

Epel, Korrak, Mandible, and Rook all burst out laughing, along with several other kids who heard Grim telling the Tale of Trappola.

"Firs' period 'n our class, sum' kid wen' on ahead an' tried t' flirt wit' Crewel! Didn't go well fer 'im, no s'prise there."

Vil is still trying to hold in his laughter. "Who exactly thought it was a bright idea to show up late for first period?"

"The claustrophobe from the entrance ceremony. I told the teacher, mya-ha! He asked the question to a new friend of ours."

I nod. "Yeah, there's a Heartslabyul right in front of us who's really nice. Then there's Trappola..."

"The gall o' some folk, eh? Hey, I dun' think we've really met- name's Epel! Nice t' mee'cha!"

"Nice to meet'cha too, Epel! I'm Yuu- Y-u-u, not y-o-u- and this is my familiar, Grim!"

Epel and I shake hands. Epel then shakes hands (paws?) with Grim unasked, so I like him more than I did listening to him, Korrak, and Mandible becoming friends this morning.

"It's nice to see you all getting along so well. Remember to keep a balanced diet, alright? In other words, that is entirely too much watermelon. Take some of the fish."

"We did, Vil."

"Where is it?"

I point to Grim. Vil chuckles.

"Well, just make sure he switches shoulders every once in a while. Otherwise, it'll ruin your posture. Same with you, Korrak. Mandible needs to sit on your left shoulder as often as he stays on your right."

Korrak nods. "Yes, sir."

"Ah, such young innocence, pushing through the teenage years! If only lunch lasted longer... Alas, there are many things I cannot change. Nonetheless, Beuté!"

"Hey, Rook is right! We have ten minutes to get to our next class!"

"Mandible is right. Come on, Epel!"

With that, Epel, Mandible, and Korrak all rush off to finish their food and get to their next class. Grim and I share a look before running after them, eating watermelon all the way.

"Bye, Deuce! We'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye, Yuu! Bye, Grim! I'll see you in History!"

I sigh. "That wasn't so bad, was it, Grim? For a first day of school, I'd say that was awesome!"

"I have to agree! Can't wait to go to dinner and bed..."

I laugh. Grim is sitting on my other shoulder- per Vil's advice- and is flat-out pooped. He appears satisfied, though. I imagine I look similar. Oh, well. Nothing to do now but eat, the bedtime routine we're going to be doing all the time now that we're in Pomefiore, and a good night's rest. Maybe a meet-up with Korrak and Mandible- after all, you don't have to be Heartslabyul to spill tea.

Dinner is mostly silent. Everyone is too hungry to talk and too tired to stay at the table once they're done- such a thing would delay bedtime! Most of the chatter occurs on the way to and in the Backstage Room, as we freshies have started calling it.

"So, what happened to the flirt?"

"Ah, he had t' wash all th' mirrors 'n the school- 'cept the magic one, course. All wit' Vargas watchin'! 'Heard 'e kept on givin' 'im terrible dating advice th' whole time! Musta been a sight t' behold, I tell ya. What o' Trappola?"

"He had to wash every seat in the classroom after school. So, 40 chairs. By hand. Alone. To a shine. Those chairs are going to be cleaner tomorrow than they were today!" I glance left. "Korrak, wake up."

"Eh?" He really needs sleep. He got here first, though, so I imagine he'll be first to bed.

"You're done with the routine, Korrak. C'mon, let's get to bed." Korrak complies with his familiar's suggestion and carries himself out of the room, 'possum in his arms. I stop brushing Grim and flip him over.

"Purrrrrrrr, this is awesome. Rrrrrrrrrrr..."

Grim continues his happy rumbles as Epel stands and yawns. "See ya' t'morrow, pal." With that and a pat on the shoulder, he's gone, as are most the people in the room.

"Murrr, that's it?"

Grim keeps purring as I pick him up, stroke his stomach, and carry him to our dorm room. Korrak has done us the favor of forgetting to lock the door, so I do that myself before I put a sleeping Grim in his cat bed and a tired myself into my changing room of a closet to put on my pajamas.

"I wish I had magic..." The words are quiet, nearly silent on my lips, but oh-so-true. These people- these mages- can do so much with so little, and I just can't.

The glass of water is still on the nightstand when I lie down in bed. Now or never, I suppose.

Despite my efforts, all I get are ripples across the surface from the students still walking in the hallway. I sigh. No magic for me.

"Come on, Yuu. You're in Pomefiore, the dorm of tenacity! You can do it. Just go to sleep and stop worrying, just for the night."

I smile, softly. "Come on, Grim," I start, "we both know that mirror sorted you." My voice is somber. Why wouldn't it be? I'm too tired to pretend I'm Perfectly Fine with being the only one in a mage school with no magic. Still, Grim is right- I should just go to sleep.

Tonight, I dream of miracles.

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 12 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's words echo in my head like laughter echoes in a cave. My brain struggles, trying desperately to wrap itself around this information, and it suddenly succeeds.

Tears resume flowing down my face- tears of joy, because, finally, I am alive. I am real. Finally, after all these years and all this pain, I live. For the first time, I live. I've been alive this whole time- since my arrival- and I didn't even know.

Perhaps Vil and Rook know I'm crying happy tears because they remember my rant, or perhaps it is because of the stupid smile on my face, and my laugh, my most genuine laugh ever, unrestrained.

This whole time, the ripples on the water were mine- and I didn't even know. Maybe I'm too used to bad things- maybe I died before, and this is the universe's mercy. A new world, and my first life.

The pieces are all here, not yet assembled, but here, and I am aware of them all. I have Grim, I have parents, I have friends- given how Rook and Vil seem to care for Korrak and Mandible behind closed doors just as they do for me and Grim, maybe I have a brother or two. Maybe Epel is a cousin. Who knows? This is my first life, and I love my shiny new family.

I love us, all of us, with all of our imperfections and weirdness and disadvantages and problems and quirks- I love this family, and, maybe, that includes me. It certainly includes Grim, and he's my familiar, so...

Oh, well. Who cares? Finally, my breaths sustain life- my life. My heart beats with meaning, with purpose other than obligation. I have a whole life ahead of me, for the first time ever.

Once again, Rook's arms are wrapped around me, his chin resting on my shoulder.

"Your joy is beautiful, Monseur Mystery."

I look. Grim is... crying? So is Vil.

"Are you guys... alright?"

Vil nods. Rook pulls back, revealing his own, tear-stained face to me.

"We are more than alright, little one." Despite his tears, Vil's voice does not break, and his eyeliner does not run.

"Your elation is contagious, Monseur Mystery."

"Rook, Vil, Grim... thank you. All of you." My voice breaks. "I just can't thank you enough. Thank you so much, for everything. For all the little moments when I needed help and you were there, thank you. For every time I needed a hug, or a hairbrush, or a reminder to eat something other than fish, or a reason to live before I realized I was alive, thank you."

We stay there, the four of us, for a long moment, just crying shared tears of shared joy. It only lasts, however, until Vil looks at the clock on the wall.

"It's nearing bedtime, little one. Go to your room and get ready to sleep." He smiles. "You've earned it."

I nod. "Alright."

"Would you like an escort, Monseur Mystery?"

I laugh. Even in these vulnerable, important moments, Rook is still... well, Rook. He's always himself, always open and never vulnerable, somehow, until these little moments. And, somehow, the subtlety of that change just makes it all the more golden.

"I'll take it, Rook."

When we arrive at the dorm room, I take care not to wake our roommates. Rook just leaves, as he probably has some important Vice Housewarden business to attend to. Grim and I wave before the door closes.

I take a look at my magestone. The black only covers 3/4 of it now, so I can probably attempt a spell without overblotting.

I close my eyes and grip the gem tightly in my palm, imagining myself in my pajamas before I wave the pen.

When I open my eyes, I have changed clothes. Admittedly, it takes a lot to avoid squealing out of delight. Alas, excitement is tiring, and I have yet to finish my skincare routine.

Grim and I head to the Backstage Room, finish up, and leave. We don't talk, but there's an air of contentment as I brush him, an acknowledgement of the fact we both know: today, a new chapter in our lives has started.

I can't wait. Even as I lie on my bed and try to sleep, my heart pounds. Why wouldn't it? Today has been filled with so many firsts- first willing cry, first spell, first time realizing I not only exist but live.

Despite that, when my heart calms, I immediately sleep. I do not dream; I am too tired. And yet, my excitement remains.

When I wake, Grim wakes with me, and I am ready. I want to see what the day will bring, I want to live and laugh and love, and not in the midwest-white-lady way.

Korrak, despite not being exited in the morning, at all, ever, is still in some kind of better mood than usual.

I brush Grim like usual, but without the air of "I don't really belong" that used to invade every moment of every day, both before and after I gained life. The absence of that once-constant aura is welcome, and, for once, I feel hope. Real, genuine hope, just for the day.

I spend breakfast trying to get water in a glass to hover midair, and, though I do fail, it's only because the magic didn't break the surface tension.