Chapter Text
Something had changed.
Tick.
The air felt different. Unnoticeable. A trap covered by fallen leaves.
Golden eyes stared out of the tall, dark windows from an impassive face.
Tock.
Firelight caught on the metal tapping slowly on the arm of his chair, the auric gleam capturing the reflected tamed flame so it curled and rose and bit into leather with each downward press. Above him, seven frames shone in the same burnished light, the only movement stirring the painted faces.
Tick.
“I know what you are doing.”
Far, far away, stars twinkled in a muted sky. Always watching; never caring for the clouds slowly circling in. He did not remember when last they’d changed, did not know if they ever truly had. They had no need to from their high perch, all they ever needed to do was watch what they wrought.
Tock.
Pushing his hair back from his forehead, he sighed heavily as the stars continued to glimmer merrily down upon him, down upon the school grounds he so faithfully kept.
Down upon their newest endeavor.
The ghostly light of Ramshackle was barely visible through his office windows, a flicker of something akin to life nearly obscured at the periphery of his vision. He pitied her.
Truly.
No one deserved the kind of love, the kind of understanding the stars saw fit to provide.
Tick.
But she had opened a door that should have stayed closed. She’d walked unwittingly into a forest of traps with only false starlight to guide her. Fallen into a scheme she never should have been a part of.
“I won’t let you ruin her.” Golden eyes from a mask-less face glared up at the shimmering night sky with his promise.
Tock.
He would save the poor child making the winds of change shift. He knew the traps laid for her better than anyone else. All he had to do was reach out his hand.
And this time…
This time he’d save the otherworldly child from the fate the stars desired.
Crowley raised his hand, the flames reflected on his talons leaping and curling upon the gold. His fingers clenched.
The captive fire in the hearth extinguished with an abrupt hiss. Night’s chill fell around him like a cloak. Above him, the frames floating in the air went dark, the starlight too weak, too distant to reach them.
Looking out over the school grounds, Crowley let the weight of the day settle upon him. Let the hazy memories he’d half relived at Yuu's death fade into the background.
The magic was changing.
And that meant that maybe he could—
No.
He would.
This time, he would save them all.
Tick.
They were gone.
The inky mushrooms were all gone.
Yuu stood, shoulders slumped and eyes drooping in the pale starlight before dawn, staring at the empty patch of churned dirt.
Where the inky mushrooms should be, where she’d sat just yesterday morning, where she’d laid down and…
She still had no idea of a how, of a why.
All she had was what it caused and an overflowing fountain of questions she didn’t want to ask.
Jade wasn’t going to be happy.
Losing all the mushrooms was probably worse than accidentally killing them all like she’d been doing. She’d have to apologize to him about that next time they saw each other, along with, well, everything else.
Hopefully, all the food for him and Floyd in the fridge would be an apology enough until then.
She’d spent a good chunk of the night in the kitchen, unable to bring herself to close her eyes. She didn’t want something to happen that would affect Riddle again.
(She didn’t want to—)
Besides, she had slept enough on the floor next to Riddle yesterday to make up for not sleeping through the night. Even if it was only for an hour until Ace and Deuce were at her door.
Even if she’d only woken because Riddle made her, shaking her shoulder, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. She could have slept for hours more, days more, eons more on the floor beneath her rickety dinner table, leaning against Riddle and unaware of the world.
But then he’d left, brushing off Ace and Deuce when they asked why he was there and leaving Yuu to explain the best she could.
Yuu hardly remembered what she even told them.
So, yes, she had slept long enough yesterday to not need to sleep through the night.
At least that was the excuse she gave herself so she didn’t have to consider the strange buzzing energy humming in her veins.
She couldn’t have slept even if she wanted to.
And she really didn’t want to.
A chirp broke her from her reverie, Roaring Drago requesting a digital breakfast from her pocket. Blinking away the sight of the garden, Yuu pulled the little toy out and cradled it gently with both hands. The light emitted was far stronger than starlight and she had to squint at the sudden brightness illuminating her palms. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the change, Ramshackle’s garden darkening in her periphery so she could care for the tiny virtual dragon.
He was growing quite nicely. Hopefully, Sunny would be happy with the little guy’s progress whenever she finally met him again. Yuu would feel worse about not getting Roaring Drago to Sunny sooner if she had the capacity to worry about that on top of everything else. As it was, Yuu had another task to complete this morning.
Slowly, she stood from her seat in the dew-covered grass and dusted off her pants. Drago chirped at her, and she gave him a small pat before returning him to her pocket. She would need both hands to prepare for what she must do.
Anything that could go wrong had gone wrong over the weekend, but today was a new day, a new week, a new start. She would have to deal with the realities of the revelations that had occurred later. Right now though, this very morning, she had her eyes set on a task fully divested from Heartslabyul’s arguments haunting her.
Beyond just cooking for the twins, Yuu had spent the majority of her sleepless night preparing to once again face the Savanaclaw spelldrive team. Now, more than ever, Yuu needed a win and the veritable mountain of protein-packed breakfast goodies she’d worked so hard to make was her best shot at finally proving to Leona that she wasn’t completely worthless to have around.
She had no idea what to do about the chaos she’d caused in Heartslabyul, so she would turn her attention to what she could do in Savanaclaw.
Taking a deep breathe, Yuu nodded to herself and turned from the garden fully, leaving behind the memories of what had occurred for now and letting her mind settle into focus. She had a job to do and this time—
This time she wouldn’t fail.
Heartslabyul clipboard with notes? Check.
Everything prepped at Ramshackle so she just had to run by and pick up Grim after practice? Check.
Enough food to feed eighteen teenage athletes so they didn’t hate her? Well, that remained to be seen but Yuu was feeling what could pass as confidence as she faced down the mirror portal to Savanaclaw. On one shoulder was her school bag and hiking backpack carrying her homework and several full tupperware. On the other arm was a picnic basket she’d found in the corner of the strange room filled with books when she’d gone in there momentarily after everyone was gone and Grim had fallen asleep yesterday. She’d been looking for answers about the strange bird boy she’d met, but the nerves of what was shown being real got to her before she’d cracked a single spine. Thankfully, the picnic basket had made the effort worthwhile.
It seemed oddly lighter than it should given how much food she’d stuffed within the larger than it probably should be interior of the basket.
Magic schools…best not to question it.
Regardless, it was a lifesaver and made carrying everything she’d made so much easier. Taking a deep breath, Yuu braced herself for the sudden shift in temperature she was sure she’d be experiencing and stepped through the mirror.
The downpour was entirely unexpected despite her preparations.
Within seconds of entering the dorm, Yuu was drenched beyond hope. The fortifying breath she’d taken wheezed out of her in a startled gasp as rain dripped beneath the collar of her jacket.
Cold!
Her feet were moving before her brain registered anything but the rain, hitting the dirt path she’d tread several times before in a muddy dash. She couldn’t let the food get wet! Not after she’d worked so hard on making it all. Not when it was the key to her success!
Thunder cracked over the savannah, drowning out the splish splash of puddles as she raced through them. Water leapt from below, decorating her shoes and pants in splatterings of mud while above the rain dripped from her hair, her nose, her lashes, everything.
Wet, wet, wet.
So so so wet!
She ran faster. In the near distance, she could see light amidst the deluge. Savanaclaw dorm rose through the gloom, a refuge she couldn’t refuse. New plan, go there before going to the practice field. Maybe someone could loan her an umbrella.
At this rate she was going to need a new uniform too.
Yuu darted down the path toward the dorm, clutching her bag and basket closer and hoping that nothing was happening to the food as she ran. Her chest heaved as she bolted the last few steps and finally made it under the protective cover of Savanclaw’s main building.
The moment she was free of the deluge Yuu stopped, letting herself lean against the wall. Yuu took a moment to catch her breath, letting the dry warmth of the Savanaclaw doorway lessen the chill of her rain-soaked uniform as much as it could. Getting her breathing under control, Yuu squared her shoulders and looked up.
"Jack!"
The boy's white ears flicked back at her sudden greeting, his narrowed eyes scanning her sopping form. Yuu beamed brightly, relieved at seeing her friend first instead of on of the other boys. The weather may not have been in her favor, but at least her luck hadn't completely fled her.
"Mornin'," Jack said, voice still a little gravely with the early hour. His hair was a bit messy, the fluffy white hair falling slightly over his eyes. He was wearing a blue t-shirt, a lightly faded familiar image of a wolf with waves behind it in a circle on the front.
He was wearing a Laverne Seawolves shirt.
Ha! She knew picking them was a good choice no matter what Grim said! This just proved she'd made a good decision.
"What are you—"
"You're a Seawolves fan?" Yuu asked, shaking off the rain's chill in favor of this exciting new information. Obviously, she'd only just picked the team and it was primarily just because their website had been extremely helpful in teaching her the basics of the game, so she didn't have any real ties to it like she'd read some fans had for sport teams but still! It was a sign. It had to be.
She and Jack were destined to be friends.
"Yeah, what about it?" Jack grumbled, a frown marring his face as he crossed his arms over the symbol. He seemed cautious at her question, ears tilted back and eyes narrowed.
"I like them too!" Yuu said, hoping her enthusiasm would help quell whatever had caused his sudden nerves. "Though, I haven't really been a fan for long, I only picked them recently because their site helped me learn a lot about spelldrive. But I really like their logo! Wolves are cool."
Okay, maybe she didn't need to say that last part, it had just slipped out as she tried to explain herself. She didn't want to give Jack the wrong impression about how long she'd been into spelldrive.
Jack's fluffy ears flattened against his head, his eyes widening as his tail twitched behind him. Maybe it was the lighting, but Yuu thought his face became a little redder, though the color change was gone as he turned his head away from her. He scratched the back of his neck as the gears so obviously churned in his head and Yuu awaited his response.
"That's…cool," he said and his tail gave a small wag. "Wolves are cool."
Of course he agreed with her, they liked the same spelldrive team and were destined friends for sure now. This was exactly what she needed after this weekend.
"Do you need a towel?" Jack asked, side-eyeing the puddle slowly forming around her shoes. Yuu glanced down at her uniform, shivering slightly when water dripped onto her face. What she needed was a whole new outfit, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. She'd be horribly late to practice if she went back to Ramshackle for a change of clothes and umbrella.
"Nah, just gonna be rained on again during practice," she shrugged, not looking forward to the prospect but accepting it nonetheless.
"Practice is inside today," Jack said like it should have been obvious. Admittedly, thinking it through for two seconds longer, it did make sense. But, if she wasn't just going to get rained on more, then Yuu really didn't want to have to stay in her wet uniform. She wasn't sure how much a towel would help in her current state, but it would be better than nothing.
"Oh, then yes, please," Yuu hefted the basket and stepped toward Jack, eager for him to show her the way. Jack nodded and turned, walking deeper into Savanaclaw territory with Yuu trailing a path of water behind. The last time she'd been inside the dorm it'd be markedly more busy. Given the early hour though, most of the lights were still dimmed save a faint blue glow coming from the large pool dominating the main lounging area. Jack skirted the pool and deck chairs and headed for the main stairwell just as he'd done last time he led her around the dorm. That time felt so long ago now, though Yuu knew in her head it'd only been a few weeks.
Picking up her pace to stay even with Jack, Yuu let her gaze fall on the taller boy.
For as much as she wanted to claim they were destined friends, Yuu was well aware she knew precious little about Jack. He liked the Seawolves and cacti and had a hard time interacting with others despite being an incredibly hard worker from her observations of practice and his wish. But…
"What's your favorite color?" Yuu asked, curious to get to know him a bit more. She was incredibly serious about them being friends. Jack seemed like an exception to the warnings she'd received from Crewel and Trey, a person she didn't have to worry about ulterior motives with.
(Don't think about Trey, not now.)
Yuu knew Jack was a good boy, like Deuce, she just didn't have any proof of it beyond her instincts.
Jack's brows furrowed as he looked down at her, caught off guard by her question. Even so, he gave it a moment of thought before responding.
"Purple," he said voice low like he didn't want others to hear. Not that there were any others around at this hour. He led them into the open air stairwell, the rain pouring outside creating a cascading shroud of noise over them. A few lamps lit the area, dotting the stairwell leading up the several story maze of rope bridges and wooden plank stairs and casting a warm glow over Jack.
Purple. Huh. Yuu didn't know what she thought he would say but it wouldn't have been purple. Thinking it through more, Yuu thought it suited him well though. She wondered what kind of purple he liked. Was it the soft hue of the sage blossoms they'd been using in potionology or more the richer tones of twilight?
"What, uh, what about you?" Jack asked, scratching is neck as he led her up one flight of stairs and turned away from the continued climb she knew would lead them to his room. Yuu hummed, thinking on the question. What was her favorite color? The black forelock of hair grazed her finger as she tapped her chin. Black was a good color, it was in her hair and the twins hair, it's the color that made them match. But, if she liked the black in her hair then shouldn't she also like the white? It was so like the moon outside Ramshackle when she wasn't able to sleep or Jack's own hair. There was also the silver she saw in her eyes whenever she looked in the mirror.
Yuu grimmaced.
She didn't really like looking in the mirror right now. Eyes though….
"Mmm, red, yeah, I like red," she said, the idea feeling right to her the moment she said it. Jack hadn't given her a color that was just like his hair or eyes so she shouldn't either. This was her favorite color. Sure.
She could certainly say it was.
"Red? Like Heartslaybul?" Jack asked, brow furrowing in thought. Hmm, yeah she supposed it was kinda like the Heartslabyul red. That was probably where she was getting the idea of the color from.
"I guess, yeah, a good scarlet color," she paused, a shiver running down her spine, "—not crimson though. I like scarlet, not crimson." Yes, that was more correct. She'd been trying to run away from her problems in Heartslabyul and here she was saying their color was her favorite. She really couldn't escape it all that well.
There was a pause in conversation as she internally bemoaned her inability to distract herself fully and Jack didn't seem all that interested continuing to talk without her. A boon and a problem, but she could and would prevail. Yuu was only vaguely aware of where they were going as she trailed a wet path behind Jack, so when he stopped in front of a large yellow doorway she nearly ran right into him.
"Here's the bathroom," Jack waved his hand vaguely at the door, watching Yuu collect herself. The bathroom. Right. Because she needed a towel to dry off.
The bathroom.
The Savanaclaw Dorm guy's bathroom.
Hm.
This was…probably okay? Yuu took a step toward the door.
What would Crewel think though. What would Trey say? Yuu paused and shuffled back.
She didn't want to worry them more. All she was doing was worry them and cause them problems. She shouldn't be thinking about Trey. That was the opposite point of coming to Savanaclaw. But he would probably give her one of those really big sighs and disappointed looks if she told him about this. Jack was trying to help her though and she really didn't want to be wet all morning. That sounded miserable. What if she got sick? Then they might be even more worried about her…
(If they didn't hate her now.)
"There a problem?" Jack asked. No. Yes. Absolutely. Not at all.
"Um…it's just…." come up with something, come up with something. This really shouldn't be a big deal, she wouldn't even have thought it would be a big deal if Crewel and Trey hadn't gotten on her about keeping her being a girl a secret. And going into the bathroom to dry off felt like it might jeopardize that mission. But what could she say?
Jack was staring at her, waiting for some kind of answer, his head tilted curiously to the side. Right. This was Jack. He was a good boy, she could be honest with him.
"Public bathrooms just make me nervous," she started, hoping more would come out once she did. Nothing more came to mind, but thankfully Jack nodded.
"Yeah, I'm not a big fan either. But it's all this school has," he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Right. Jack didn't get along well with other people. Of course he wouldn't want to deal with public changing areas.
"Ramshackle has private bathrooms," Yuu said. It was one of it's perks. Granted even a communal bathroom would be private given she and Grim were the only ones to use it, but still.
"Oh, well, we can go to my room?" Jack offered and Yuu wasn't sure if the question was for her or if he was trying to figure out if that was an acceptable offer. Yuu beamed.
"That'd be great, thanks Jack!" Score for her. That was a win. This was absolutely a win. She was clearly winning this morning and would continue to do so.
At her enthusiasm, Jack nodded and started back toward the staircase and Yuu trailed happily along at his side despite her wet attire. It didn't take them long to climb the steps Yuu vaguely remembered to his room.
It wasn't until Yuu had stepped inside Jack's room and the door had clicked closed behind her that she realized the flaw in her winning plan. Jack moved to his closet and grabbed out a spare towel, tossing it her way. Yuu caught it clumsily, realizing that she would still need to get mostly undressed in order to properly dry off. She'd saved herself from someone random coming in to the communal bathroom.
But now it was just her and Jack.
The world was full of challenges.
Yuu pat at her wet jacket with the towel like it would help as Jack hovered awkwardly by the closet. What she needed was new clothes and a place to change. Neither of which she was likely to come by in Jack's room, nor anywhere really within Savanaclaw. Yuu shivered as water still dripped from her hair and slithered down her back. As if he'd seen the small movement, Jack's ears flicked back and he turned to his closet once more to begin riffling through it.
Staring at the broad tall back hunched over in front of her, Yuu severely doubted he would find anything in the closet that could help her. But the idea that he had even allowed her back into his room to help her out warmed something deep within her that not even the cold rain could touch. She could dry herself off well enough like this and then she and Jack could continue her mission to befriend the spelldrive team.
Yuu smiled and continued patting herself down, some of the tension she'd held since yesterday melting in the quiet warmth of Jack's room. Outside, rain continued to pour, but she didn't have to deal with it for now. She could just focus on Jack and the team.
"Here," Jack said, breaking her from her thoughts as he turned back to her. A sweatshirt was held in one hand, the same blue as Jack's shirt. Curiously, Yuu folded the towel over one arm and took the offered garment, letting it fall from it's neat fold so she could see it more clearly. As she'd thought, it was a Seawolves hoodie, but despite her earlier assumptions, it did look far more akin to her size then she'd expected. How strange.
"I didn't know we wore the same sized clothes," Yuu remarked, pleasantly surprised at the newfound knowledge. Jack snorted, an amused smile crossing his lips for a second before he shook his head in denial, the seriousness winning out.
"It's my little sister's. She snuck it into my bags so I wouldn't forget her or something," he said, cheeks turning a light pink under the yellow overhead lighting. Oh, how sweet! This being something from a younger sibling certainly made more sense then her fitting into anything Jack wore. Plus! It was a Seawolves hoodie! This was certainly even more of a sign that she'd picked the right team.
"Tell her thanks for me, okay?" Yuu asked. She placed the sweatshirt on Jack's desk and shucked off her outer jacket. Thankfully, while certainly damp, her button-up was at least marginally less sopping. And, since it'd been under her jacket, the wetness of it was warmer. Yuu pat herself off as best she could, Jack hovering in her periphery but looking distinctly away from her. Granting her some privacy despite the close quarters. She hadn't even had to ask.
How lucky was she to have such a good friend?
Once her shirt and hair were as good as she could get them, Yuu slipped the hoodie over her head. It fit better than she would have thought, though despite it belonging to his younger sister, Yuu still felt it was a little big. She certainly was not about to question how much younger a sister, not when she could see just how tall and broad Jack was as a first year. Yuu tucked her hands into the big pocket on the front and sighed at the warmth already soothing the rainy chill.
"Thank you so much," she said, gaining Jack's attention from where he was staring at the opposite wall. He turned to her and paused, blinking, then he shook himself.
"S'nothing," he shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. Yuu laughed, a light sound amidst everything still weighing on her, and she picked up her basket of breakfast goodies.
"Even so, I really appreciate it." And she did. She really really did. Jack shifted and she thought he stood a little straighter, thought she saw the ghost of a smile and a wag of his tail and that made her feel good. Like she'd done something right. And if that was the case then she could survive this morning, this day, this week. Just because she'd messed everything up in Heartslabyul, she wasn't without people at this school. Not yet.
"Let's go kill it at practice," Yuu said, beaming up at Jack as she tried to copy what she'd heard the other spelldrive boys say. Jack snorted, but he felt less tense as well as he opened the door so they could walk back down together.
She couldn't have asked for a better person in Savanaclaw to help her out. Yuu knew she could succeed.
Them, together — the Seawolves duo.
“Alright, I’ll say it, this? Fan-freaking-tastic,” Cam said, shoving the last of his muffin into his mouth as he talked. “What’d you even put in this?”
“Apples, oats, some protein flour, oh! And you know how it’s a little sweet?” Yuu said, rambling a little with how thrilled she was. She and Jack had made their way down to the Savanaclaw gym, the other first years arriving shortly after. While Jack had gone off to start his morning workout, Yuu had steeled herself for the real first test of the day. Befriending the first years. They were the most likely to interact with her so, even if it was usually to laugh at her, Yuu could at least approach them. Her offer of food had been met with dubious curiosity, but the muffins were proving to be a big hit.
Cam, Lee, and Besh had eagerly taken a muffin each, though Don remained as standoffish as usual. But his glower from the water fountain as he pawed through a sad box of small protein bars on the nearby table did little to quell her mood when the other three were so enraptured.
Jack was keeping his distance, as usual when the other first years showed up, but Yuu could vaguely feel his eyes on her whenever he paused between reps.
“Yeah, what is that? The apples?” Lee asked, munching on his muffin a little slower than Cam who was already eyeing another in the basket. Yuu pulled it a little closer to her and waved her finger at the hungry boy.
“Coach Vargas said it’s best to have a light meal before working out and then eat a bunch afterwards. There’s enough for everyone to have one before and two after practice with a few spares left over.” She explained when Cam huffed at her denial. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to get a stomachache from her food. Coach Vargas and Magoogle had both been quite clear on how best to approach eating around a workout.
“And, it’s only partially the apples, Sam only had a couple of good ones at a discount. So I chopped those into the big pieces and made the others into applesauce with this maple syrup Sam had on sale! I loved how soft the sweetness is,” Yuu said, smile growing as she talked about what she’d done. She knew it wasn’t a thing most people were interested in, but she was still quite proud of what she’d decided to do with the sale ingredients Sam had. She didn’t have the funds to be picky, really, and she had wanted to ensure she got good-quality protein ingredients within her limited budget.
“Oh shut it already…” Don grumbled, and Yuu’s eyes widened when she realized she’d rambled more of her thoughts than intended. Still, that was rather rude of him. Lee had asked her what was in the muffins and she’d only been explaining it. This was just like with the twins. If she wanted anyone to respect her at this school, she couldn’t let them walk all over her, and being rude was part of that.
“Don,” Lee sighed, looking over at the disgruntled bull-horned boy.
“Oh come on, stop messing around! You know as soon as the upperclassmen get up that kid is gettin kicked out. We don’t got time to be lettin some rando crash our practice. He’s an outsider.” Don huffed, still pawing through the box of bars as his nose flared. An idea clicked in Yuu’s head. She opened the basket and let the lovely aroma escape into their corner of the gym, causing Don’s attention to shift immediately to her and what she was doing. As steady as she could, Yuu took out a muffin and walked the few feet to stop right next to the surly first year.
The four of them watched her quite closely and Yuu had to swallow hard to not let any of her abundant nerves show. The odd energy still coursing through her body since yesterday did her well and kept most of her nerves at bay. The warm hoodie ensured they wouldn't see her shiver.
“Here,” she said, holding the muffin out over the box, offering it to him. She knew all four of them were staring at her, even Jack had paused to stare, but she paid no one any mind outside of Don. He was the rudest of the first years, but that attitude was nearly on par with what she’d gotten from the older students. If she was going to have any luck, she needed to get Don to at least not want her gone.
And besides, she knew what it was like to be hungry in the mornings.
The gears churned in Don’s eyes, his scowl softening into a frown as he looked between her and the muffin. She pushed it toward him further, urging him to accept her offer.
“It’s good, don’t be stub-ern,” Besh grunted, speaking for the first time since he’d started devouring his muffin. The boarish boy had often followed Don’s example of standoffishness toward her, and Yuu could only assume they were some kind of friend as his words caused Don’s ears to flick.
“Fine,” Don snorted, hand reaching roughly out for the offered muffin. But Yuu was prepared and in the split moment before he grabbed his prize, she yanked it back.
“Ah ah ah,” she chided, much to the confusion of all. Don’s eyes widened when his hand closed on nothing and his gaze flicked to meet hers. Just because she wanted to feed him, didn’t mean she had to put up with his poor attitude.
“These are for my friends,” she explained, and after a paused added, “and people I want to be friends with.” Yuu smiled softly, holding out the muffin again. Don’s droopy bull ears flicked back amidst his shaggy brown hair as he stared at the offered muffin for a good long second. For a moment, Yuu worried she’d gone too far, but she held her ground.
“If you don’t want it, I’ll give yours to those three. I want to make sure my friends do the best they can during the game. That’s the whole reason I’m here,” she said, including the three other boys in the kitchen as her friends despite not asking them about it. They would probably agree, or at least they would if she bribed them with more food. Don scoffed, nose wrinkling at the idea.
Then, the muffin was gone, Don snatching it lightning fast from her hand.
“Like anyone would wanna be friends with you,” he said but he was pulling off a chunk from the muffin and popping it in his mouth and Yuu couldn’t help but smile despite his rude words. He could say whatever he wanted, she’d still established just what it meant to take her food and he accepted it. This was undoubtedly a win in her books.
The look of surprise on Don’s face as he tasted the muffin was simply a cherry on top.
“Oh,” Don said, mouth twisting up into a arrogant smile as he looked over at the other three. “And if you’re lookin to help those who’ll be on the field don’t bother with those small fry. I’m gonna be the only freshman out there come game day.”
“Ehh? Tough talk from someone not on the starting line up yet!”
“Yeah! Don’t get ahead of yourself!”
“Shaddup, dude.” The other three retorted at Don’s cocky words falling into a lighthearted argument on who would be getting on the team in a week’s time. The atmosphere was lighter then it’d been, perhaps the lightest it’d ever been when she was at Savanaclaw.. Nearly like she felt at Heartslabyul…
No. Don’t think about them. Not now. Even the minor thought of Trey and Cater and Riddle made her heart squeeze. Besides, it wasn’t them this reminded her of, not really. The teasing and bickering reminded her of Ace and Deuce staying over to play cards, or all of them chatting at the bonfire.
For once, she wasn’t the target of the laughter and that was what mattered. That was all she wanted by doing this. She should be and would be happy at this.
“Ahaha,” Yuu giggled, covering her mouth when the sound caught the bickering boys' attention. Though it couldn’t hide her wide smile or sparkle in her eyes. She was too happy. After everything this weekend, after the rain, and the sleepless night, and everything last week…
Finally.
She was getting what she wanted.
“I don’t think any of you are getting on the main team if you just stand around arguing,” she shrugged. “Gotta get practicing if you want on the team.”
“Hard work ain’t gonna get us anywhere close to the team slots,” Lee said, though there was no bite to his words as he pushed away from the wall. Cam also stood, shucking out of his light jacket and leaving it on the floor, the pair the most willing to go along with what she was saying. Don merely eyed her, an emotion she couldn’t quite place but that seemed like thinly veiled annoyance on his face. No matter.
“Hard work and perseverance can get you anywhere,” hadn’t she proven that with befriending them? “Or at least that’s what I thought this dorm was all about. Be a shame if my Heartslabyul friends were more dedicated to Spelldrive than you four.”
Okay, perhaps she was just messing with them a little, but it was fun and along the same wavelength as they’d done to each other. If she wanted to be accepted here, she had to persist and adapt to this new group of people. And if a little bit of the teasing she’d learned from Ace slipped out, well, he didn’t need to know.
“You gotta lot of nerve sayin that,” Cam snickered. Lee grabbed her basket away from Besh’s searching hands and passed it off to her so she could keep it safe until the other's arrived.
“Was that too mean for a manager to say?” she asked, half joking, half serious. She didn’t want to offend, but teasing was the way this school operated as far as she’d experienced. Lee scoffed, hand landing on her head and ruffling her hair as he smiled down at her.
“Told you this kid is hilarious.”
Yuu watched as the guys slowly started doing some nominal stretches to warm up, chatting over her head all the while as she held her basket, quite pleased with how everything was going. Maybe luck was trying to make up for yesterday with a big success today.
(Nothing could make up for yesterday.)
She could still hear the rain pouring outside, a constant reminder of what would be awaiting her eventually.
(The rain in Savanaclaw was better than the overwhelming sun, the heat, the dreams…)
Shaking her head, Yuu turned to move further along the wall, out of their way as best she could. She didn't want to bother them while they worked. She wanted to help them but she could only do so much after all—
A hand yanked her back by the hood of her borrowed sweatshirt. Yelping, Yuu stumbled as the hand pulled her backwards too fast and made her trip. She didn’t fall, the hand holding her aloft with a terrifying ease as her legs regained their footing. Eyes wide, Yuu turned her head to see Don staring down at her, mouth curled into an cruelly amused smirk as she hung from his hold.
“Thought ya were gonna stick with us today. Or do ya wanna just sit around being useless again?” He snickered dropping her and turning to stroll toward one of the racks of weights. Curiously, Yuu followed him and the other freshmen as they made their way into the gym proper. She had no idea what Don meant, or what he wanted from her, but being useless was certainly the furthest thing from what she wanted to be. So, she just had to figure it out, do what needed to be done. Simple. Yuu glanced over her shoulder to see Jack eyeing their group with furrowed brows as he lifted a startling large weight with one arm across the room.
"Strength training today?" Yuu asked, turning back to the group. She remembered the term Vargas threw around when he broke out the weight racks instead of the brooms. It made sense since they were staying indoors given the downpour. All the better for her, this was far closer to what she dealt with during PE class.
"All we can do with the rain, got any fancy ideas on what to do manager?" Cam asked, the teasing obvious from the slight derision at her title. But the joke was on him. Yuu actually did have ideas for gym workouts if they were genuinely asking her for them. The only thing she could do during PE class was running or strength training and Vargas was keen on her participating. And…
"What's that? A book?" Lee peered over her shoulder as she proudly pulled out the red Heartslabyul clipboard and it's abundance of pages. She grinned and flipped to the back where several pages of neatly written workout plans where intermingled with her messier scrawled notes. Riddle was thorough in everything he did, and when she asked for help understanding Spelldrive to be a manager, he'd given her more than just the rule book. Maybe it was bad manners for her to share the workout routines of Heartslabyul, but she didn't think it would really hurt their chances for winning. And if it made her seem more credible here, then all the better.
It would take more than a few spilled routines to disrupt Heartslabyul's plans for victory.
(It would take more than her alone to ruin everything Heartslabyul had. Surely.)
She'd done her best while the muffins were baking to write out everything she could remember picking up on during practices and jot it down. Yuu hadn't really expected to get to use the weight training pages but now her scrawled rememberings of which position each player was in came in handy.
"Workout routines!"
"Huh?"
Yuu smiled brightly at the confusion evident in the freshmen at her reply. Last week had clearly set their expectations for her incredibly low, understandably so, and now that she actually had something to provide they didn't know what to do with it.
It was Don that reacted first. He snorted, head rearing back as he loudly laughed at what she'd brought, teeth and horns gleaming in the overhead lighting. Outside, Yuu could hear a crack of thunder echo across the savannah.
"Like any of us would take advice from someone too weak to even do the workouts, come on stop humoring him—"
"I can!" Yuu interrupted, eyes widening when she realized what she'd said. She absolutely could not. Sure she'd been trying to follow some of the plans Vargas gave her but these were put together by Riddle and Trey for use by already athletic guys.
It was just…she didn't want all her other work to go to waste. She was so close, Yuu just knew it.
She had to be.
"Oh, yeah? Okay, prove it," Don said, grinning like he'd just given her the gatcha moment of the year. Eyes sliding down to the clipboard in her hands, Yuu looked at the challenge in front of her. The muffins were just an entry point in. If she wanted to stay in this den of perseverance she had to prove herself to be more than expected. That was the only path forward. Her only goal.
Prepared or not, she would prevail. That at least, she swore to herself.
"Where can we start?"
Why did she say yes?
"You sure you want to go?" Deuce asked, peering down at her. Yuu trailed a step behind him, half-awake on her feet and dreading every step she took. Her limbs felt like weights were attached to them and her lack of sleep the night before had hit her around lunch and not gone away since. Yuu was hanging on by pure strength of will and she knew as soon as she got home that was likely to fail.
"Gotta," she huffed pushing herself forward and through the soreness and exhaustion. "I got a fifty-two on the last homework assignment."
As much as she wanted to retreat to Ramshackle and finally crash, Yuu still had one final school task to accomplish. Trein's classroom door loomed at the end of the hallway, his weekly study session the only thing standing between her and sleep.
And sleep was the only thing between her and returning to Savanaclaw once more.
That was what got her to put one foot in front of the other, grinning internally to save the energy it'd take to smile.
She hadn't been sent away this morning. In fact, the first years had quite enjoyed getting to see her try her best at following one of the Heartslabyul training regimes, throwing in additional challenges for her from their own routines so she hardly had any time to rest.
But…
Even if the upper years had given her many a side-eye, she hadn't been kicked out. Been subjected to quite a bit of ridicule? Yes. But not kicked out. Most of them ignored her and her offers of food in favor for their own workouts. Those who didn't were either too busying laughing as she struggled to keep up with the other first years or eating the muffins she made to tell her to leave.
Leona had never showed up though.
"Good afternoon, Professor," Deuce greeted as he opened the door and stepped into the classroom.
"Good afternoon," Yuu called out as well before flopping into one of the front row desks. Deuce took the one next to her, claiming their usual places as the sole two students at this session. Trein looked up at them from over the rim of his reading glasses and neatly set down the papers he was reviewing. Knowing well his expectations, Yuu and Deuce pulled out their red-marked homework and notebooks, a few black inked questions intermingling with Trein's corrections.
Seemingly satisfied with their preparations, Trein stood and made his way toward them, picking up both pieces of homework to review their scrawled attempts at a good grade.
"Neither of you clearly took the correct notes on the Great Savannah Drought of the early 100s. You would think students should care more for the great seven origins but I digress. The answers you were looking for were on page 232 of your text book and Wednesday's lecture notes, do write that down, now—"
There was something a little soothing in being lectured by Trein, Yuu thought. Her exhaustion weighed on her but when she was one of only two people he was speaking to, her brain didn't dare try and doze. It was commanding, but patient despite his occasional comments on their lackluster notes and distract in class. Honestly, Yuu far preferred the quiet full attention of Trein more than being one of a number in his class. Glancing over at Deuce when he frowned as Trein checked over the notes he was taking, Yuu wasn't sure if her thoughts were shared by many.
No matter, that was how it usually went. Her lip twitched up remembering the one time she'd been allowed to rest this morning. The two upper years who'd actually bothered to speak to her instead of just laughing or ignoring her. It was sometime after Lee's elder brother, Shan had showed up with an entourage of third years. Yuu had been almost certain Shan would kick her out, his scowl fierce enough to curdle milk.
But…he hadn't, despite her assumptions. She'd been allowed to stay and sometime between arms and legs, Yuu had found herself resting against the wall near a second and third year.
Both had been injured, much to her surprise. Yuu had thought Savanaclaw had been safe from the mysterious threat Crowley had set her to finding, that Grim had accused Ruggie and Savanaclaw of being.
Clearly, they were wrong, and Yuu was happy they were.
"Correct, Mr. Spade. Now, tell me why do you think the King of Beasts was so successful in arranging the negotiations necessary to bring together so many during the drought. I'm looking for specific notes from your assigned readings."
The second year, Burney, Yuu had recognized as he was the same boy who stole the food she'd made for Jade and Floyd last week. He looked awful and Yuu had a half a mind to think his injuries looked more like the results of a fight then the accidents plaguing the school. But he insisted he'd just tripped down the stairs with what few words he deigned to speak to her. Yuu was glad she hadn't allowed her darker thoughts to take hold last week and attempt to set the twins after Burney. He seemed to have had a rough enough weekend without her telling on him.
Unlike last week, Burney refused to eat the food she'd brought, not even when she'd insisted. The injured third year who'd joined them during Yuu's short break though, was more than happy to take Burney's share of breakfast.
"Uh, he had a plan, right? A plan to end the drought everyone was in in exchange for becoming King—"
The third year was named Atticus and he seemed kinder than most of the Savanaclaw students Yuu had met. Outside of Jack, he was the first one at practice who had smiled at something she said without the intention of laughing at her. Atticus was…nice, calm, especially for someone with a sprained wrist who could tragically, as he'd said, no longer play during the Spelldrive tournament. He was far less upset then Burney was about the being sidelined.
Yuu wasn't entirely sure what to make of him. He was almost too good at being nice to her, too calm, but who was she to not accept his kindness when that was all she'd been wanting since crashing their practices?
Atticus even complimented the hoodie she'd borrowed from Jack.
No one else had. They'd all laughed when she insisted the Seawolves were her favorite team. Some had even said she should pick another. It was…funny, probably, but it was nice when Atticus didn't do that.
When Ruggie eventually arrived, Yuu didn't think too hard on how he'd found her quite quickly while seated next to Atticus, nor the unfriendly expression he'd given her. No. Yuu would not think too hard on any of that. She was far too busy getting run ragged by the first years badgering her to work harder to keep up with them, and Atticus telling her what a shame his accident had been.
Everything was okay. As best as it'd ever been during a spelldrive practice. Her plans were finally succeeding.
"Yuu!! Deuce!!" Ace's frantic voice snapped Yuu from her reverie and back to the present. The red head was at the door, gasping for air and staring at them both with wide eyes. Trein turned to him, mouth set in a hard line at the interruption.
"Mr. Trappola—"
"Sorry, professor but Ri— my Housewarden set me to get them," Ace explained and that alone sent of warning bells in Yuu's head. Since when…since when did Ace listen to a thing Riddle said?
"What does Mr. Rosehearts want with them?" Trein asked, his displeasure melting into the beginnings of concern.
"It's Trey, he's….he— he fell down the stairs and is hurt pretty bad."
Are you…
"Is he okay?" Deuce asked, standing from his desk and already grabbing his books to slide them in his bag. Yuu followed suit, the words knocking around in her skull. Hurt. Trey. Hurt. Fell down the…
"I don't know! Cater told me Riddle wanted us back at the dorm," Ace huffed clearly peeved with all the questions. Yuu paused in packing her bag. Right, this was a Heartslabyul thing. She…she wasn't part of that.
She doubted Riddle, Trey, or Cater would want to see her right now. Not after yesterday. Why did Trey have to get hurt after yesterday? Ice slithered in Yuu's veins and the classroom light seemed just a bit too bright.
"In light of Mr. Roseheart's request, you both are dismissed but I expect you both to pay more attention in class tomorrow," Trein said but Yuu wasn't fully paying attention to him. Something felt wrong. Something wasn't right. It had to be how tired she was. Her head was playing tricks on her.
It felt too warm.
"Of course sir, thank you sir, come on!" Deuce grabbed Yuu's wrist and yanked her toward the door and it was all Yuu could do to keep hold of her book bag. The moment they were out of the classroom, Ace took her bag from her and Deuce wrapped an arm around her waist, hefting her up and throwing her over his shoulder as the two took off far fast than her tired legs could hope to run. Yuu yelped but neither were paying her any attention, too worried for their upperclassman.
They took the staircase down to the first floor instead of up to the infirmary and Yuu felt her heart skip with how quick it was beating. Heartslabyul.
They were going to Heartslabyul.
Trey was at Heartslabyul…Riddle…Cater…
Trey was hurt…
She could still see the pain in his eyes from yesterday.
She'd hurt them all yesterday.
Today wasn't yesterday.
She wasn't ready to see them again.
This wasn't her fault.
Somewhere, curling from the back of her mind, the laughter of the boys this morning cackled in her head as the trio broke from under NRC's roof into the bright sunlight, hurtling toward Heartslabyul.
Despite how utterly unnecessary it was to carry her, Yuu didn't want Deuce to set her down. Neither boy had slowed from the school to the mirror hall to the front steps of Heartslabyul. If it'd been any other time she might have teased Ace for how obviously worried he was. But not now.
No, not now at all.
They knew the path up the confusing stairs better than Yuu did, however she knew the door they'd barged through quite well. Her pulse was too fast and it wasn't from their mad dash as they stumbled into Trey and Cater's room. If it wasn't for Deuce carrying her in, Yuu wasn't sure if she could have made herself walk through the doorway.
Trey was hurt. It wasn't her fault.
Yuu didn't even know why she had to convince herself so hard of that.
(She'd caused so much strife and anger and pain of course she would think that.)
This was an accident. The same kind of accident Crowley had asked her to look into. The same kind of accident she'd barely been thinking about in favor of befriending the Savanaclaw team.
(Right, of course, that's also why it was her fault. That had to be why she felt like she was missing something and the lapse was gushing guilt.)
He fell down the stairs, how hurt was he? How could she look at him? Would he look worse then yesterday? She couldn't bare the thought. Not with Trey, not after everything he'd done to help her. She should have looked into what Crowley asked earlier, she shouldn't have caused so much grief yesterday, she shouldn't she shouldn't —
"Put Yuu down, she's not a flour sack," Trey huffed and there was a hint of laughter in his voice.
Wait? Laughter?
Deuce quickly followed the order, much too quickly for Yuu who was quite sure her limbs were too full of nerves to work properly. He gave her a sheepish look as he set her carefully on the ground next to him and she was glad he stayed close enough for her to still lean into. Something grounding and solid and very real as she forced herself to look up at the mess she'd caused.
"Nyah! My henchman isn't for carrying around!" Grim agreed, bounding to the end of Trey's bed. Trey grimaced as Grim carelessly bumped into his bandaged leg but he didn't seem upset. Cater was sitting on the edge of his bed, phone in one hand and back lightly resting against Trey's shoulder on the headboard. They were both staring at their group, amusement glimmering in their eyes, their smiles.
Yuu stared at the pair she'd seen in such a state yesterday with utter confusion. And they both looked back at her with none of the anger she'd braced herself to see.
What?
"Yo, man, how's it going?" Ace asked, and Yuu might have snorted at how casual he was trying to sound when she knew how worried he'd been if the situation was any different.
"Are you okay, Trey?" Deuce asked as well.
"Aw lookie, you got ADeuce all worried about you," Cater snickered and Trey rolled his eyes.
They were…teasing each other…
"ADeuce? Hey don't go giving us a couple name!"
"Yeah, I don't wanna be paired with him!"
They were sitting next to each other so casually, but Trey's leg was propped up and his ankle was bandaged and they were so upset yesterday and…
"It's alright," Trey said and Yuu' head jerked up, having fallen to face the floor without her knowing. Trey and Cater were a bit blurry but she didn't know why.
Why were they here and so calm and okay?
He was hurt and it was her fault. She was so busy with Savanaclaw that she hadn't listened to what Crowley told her. She was too busy messing everything up for Heartslabyul that she'd run to another dorm and now what? Now she'd done it again, she'd hurt them again, this was her fault, she was missing something, it was all her fault—
"It's just a sprain, nothing that can't be fixed."
You promised me that I hadn’t done anything that couldn’t be fixed!
"Oh, hey, Yuu-y!" Cater said, drawing all attention to her. She couldn't really see anyone's reactions, the world was so blurry and her face was getting wet and were those sniffles coming from her?
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. Her hand had Deuce's jacket sleeve in a white knuckle grip. She was tired. So very very tired. "I'm so sorry."
"Whoa, what wrong?" Ace asked.
"It's okay, what happened?" Deuce said, free arm flailing a little before it settled on her shoulder. Yuu took his less than offer of a hug for more than it was and leaned into him, burying her face into Deuce's chest so no one else could see that she was crying.
Look at her. Trey was hurt and all she could do was make everyone worry about her. Why weren't they mad at her for doing that? For causing them all so much grief?
Man, she was really pathetic wasn't she?
Deuce wrapped his arms around her back and she could feel the confusion radiating from him. He hugged her anyways. Would he still if he knew all the problems she caused his upperclassmen?
"No offense Trey, but are we missing something? Cause you don't seem this hurt." That was Ace talking from somewhere near her. Yes. They were missing something. A lot of somethings…
"Yeeaaahhhh, we all were it seems. Thankfully little Grimmy told us everything," Cater responded and she could hear Grim grumbling over her sniffling breath.
Grim? Yes, of course, Grim knew about what Crowley had asked. He hadn't been shy sharing it with Ruggie, no doubt he would've told Trey and Cater too now. And they'd know she messed this up along with everything else.
"Nyah! But it's nothin my henchman should be cryin over!"
"That is true, come on Yuu-y, no need to harsh the vibe in here," Cater said and Yuu picked her head up to look at him out of sheer incredulousness. Huh? What did he mean??
"There ya go," Cater smiled lightly at her and Yuu's eyes darted to Trey.
He was also smiling at her. A small thing. A tired thing. A kind thing.
"But it's my fault…" she mumbled, sniffling.
"I tripped, Yuu," Trey patiently told her.
"Maybe," Cater corrected and Trey sighed.
"Can someone fill us in?" Ace asked. Yuu felt Deuce nod above her head. Of course they were confused. She hadn't told them anything about Crowley's request.
She didn't want to worry them or make them think they needed to help her out.
Grim had no such reservations. It was just like at Savanaclaw, only his tone was far less accusatory now, as her cat companion regaled all of them once more with Crowley's suspicions and request. Upon revealing that there might be a bad actor among the student body purposefully harming key spelldrive players Ace and Deuce rightfully got up in arms. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. Someone should put a stop to that.
It was her job to put a stop to it.
"So what do we do?" Ace asked once Grim finished his tale.
What do we do.
We.
"If some guy thinks he can mess with Heartslabyul, he's got another thing coming," Deuce agreed, flexing his hands into fists around her back. He hadn't let go of her yet. Even knowing this was her job that she'd neglected.
"Bet it's someone who's jealous they didn't make the cut," Ace grinned.
"Or someone cowardly who doesn't think he can win head-on," Deuce replied, excitement in both their tones at the idea of there being someone out there who caused this injury. At there being something they could do.
They. Together.
"Haha," Cater laughed and it was at once the same and oh so different from yesterday. "Okay, settle down. I like your ideas though, I just knew ADeucey would be good at brainstorming a schemer's motivations."
"Heh, thanks."
"Wait, what?"
"But!" Cater clapped his hands together before Ace and Deuce could say anything else and hopped off the bed. Trey opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but closed it just as quickly as Cater sauntered over to Yuu and Deuce. Looking up at Cater, Yuu logically saw the smile on his face but that also meant she could see the tiredness in his eyes.
"I wasn't kidding about the vibes being harshed, I'm gonna take Yuu-y for a few minutes to go clean up, okay?"
Ah. So this was it. They just didn't want Ace and Deuce to know. She could understand that. With more trepidation then she wanted, Yuu pushed away from Deuce's chest, wiping at her eyes with her jacket sleeves now that her arms were free. Cater ruffled her hair before settling a hand on her shoulder, a comforting gesture if it didn't give him the ability to direct her from the room. Ace, Deuce, and Grim protested slightly but Trey easily quelled their concerns. Before Yuu could really think, the door was closing on all four of them and she was alone in the hall with Cater.
"What a day, huh?" Cater asked, his shoulders slumping the moment they were out of sight. Yuu nodded mutely, unsure what he wanted her to say. The hand on her shoulder gave her two quick pats then pulled her along down the hall.
"Mind helping me with a quick chore? I'll get ya a snack after."
He…wanted her to help with something? Oh, huh.
"Sure," Yuu said though it was so quiet she could almost believe she'd said nothing. They walked mostly in silence back down the stairs and through the winding halls. Occasionally, they'd happen upon a student and Cater would chat with them as she'd seen him do so often, all light grins and snappy responses. Always knowing so much about everyone.
Honestly, that was probably most of what she knew when it came to Cater. Maybe that was why it was so shocking to all of them when he finally spoke his true feelings yesterday.
Who knew? Yuu certainly didn't.
They walked out a side door and down a familiar path. The sun was warm and not too bright. She could hear the flamingos squawking at their lake on the cool near autumn breeze. It was such a nice day in Heartslabyul compared to how Savanaclaw was this morning. Yuu rather thought the weather in each dorm should be reversed. At least the rain here would match how she was feeling walking next to Cater.
Would match the knowledge that she'd yet to see Riddle while here.
"Do you like croquet?" Cater asked, pausing on their path to the hedgehog enclosure to stare off in the direction of the lake. The question stopped her more dour thought processes in their tracks.
"Croquet?'
"Mhm, you played it last Unbirthday party," he reminded her. She knew that, of course, Riddle had specifically ensured he taught her how to play. Oh, wait…was that also just because he felt guilty? Yuu looked down, shoulder slumping at the reminder.
"I'm not a big fan of croquet," Cater said, cutting off her train of thought. "I'd never even seen a match until I got to this school even though Trey says they are all the rage in the Queendom. My first year we hardly played any matches, our Housewarden also wasn't a big fan, so even when Trey tried to teach me I really didn't care much. Its a game with too many rules and not enough action and honestly it's not a super cammable sport," Cater paused, fingers drumming lightly on her shoulder. She didn't know why he was telling her this exactly, it wasn't at all the conversation topic she thought he was going to go for, but…it was also more information on Cater, from Cater, then she usually got.
"So, knowing that, do you like croquet?"
"I'm not very good at it," Yuu answered honestly. Riddle had probably critiqued her form a dozen times, Ace laughing with her whenever she missed an easy shot.
"I didn't ask if you were good at it, I asked if you liked it," Cater corrected.
She'd only really played the game once so it was a hard ask. It was true she'd been pretty terrible at it. She had missed most of her shots despite Riddle's coaching and Trey's advice. Despite Ace and Deuce lending her their hedgehogs and flamingos cause surely one of them might give her better luck.
A lot of people had laughed at her misfortune and poor skill. At her vain attempts to follow all the confusing rules as best she could.
And she'd been one of them.
"Yeah, it was pretty fun," she said and Cater hummed to himself. In the silence, Yuu tried to churn through the reason he was asking her this.
"Do you still not like croquet?" she asked.
"I still don't think it's all that interesting. But it is fun to play with passionate people and there are a lot of those to go around in this dorm," Cater smiled easily down at her even though the tiredness in his eyes was still there. Yuu felt like she was mashing puzzle pieces together hoping some of them might click. This whole conversation was nothing like she'd expected.
"Like Riddle?" she hesitated to ask but it felt like what Cater was hedging toward. A nod gave her the comfort that she hadn't thought wrong.
"And others, most people in this dorm actually. Don't even get me started on Acey and Deucey, their such little troublemakers. I feel like I can never anticipate what they are going to get up to! Also, he never wants to show it but Trey can get so serious about his desserts and school and I swear the number of people he helps if higher than my magicam post count most days. It's totes cray-cray that any of them have the energy to be like that all the time. Can't deny it keeps school life interesting though."
Yuu couldn't help but snort a little at his fond complaints, no actual distaste to any of them. It didn't escape her notice however, that there was a person his word choice had specifically left out.
"What about you? You're pretty passionate too, right?" He had to be. His words yesterday had been so fierce, so harsh. He'd spoken of trying so many times and it never mattering.
Cater just sighed and started walking toward the hedgehog enclosure once more.
"I haven't really told you much about my unique magic have I?" He asked, not even attempting to dodge Yuu's question. Still, she didn't want to push him too hard or mess anything up again so she let me meander them and the conversation where he wanted.
She shook her head in response. Outside of his unique magic letting him make duplicates of himself and there supposedly being a problem when one went through a portal, she really didn't know much at all. Quite akin to how she didn't know a lot about Cater in general. He opened the door the enclosure and ushered her inside.
"Ugh, I just love the little babies, they are sooo cute to take pics of," Cater murmured, trotting over to a pen where a familiar couple of hedgehogs were sleeping. In the corner nearest them, Yuu saw a slightly raised and confined area containing several babies. She recognized one instantly, the soft white fur helping it stand out in the dim shadows. Egg, the baby hedgehog Riddle had given her and her trio, slept soundly amidst the straw with his siblings.
Cater was right, they were adorable. He was also avoiding the question he himself had asked.
When she stayed silent, Cater sighed again.
"I learned how to use Split Card my freshman year. I was one of the youngest in my class to figure out their unique magic so you can imagine I was a pretty big deal," Cater chuckled to himself. Yuu found it hard to believe Cater was ever not a big deal, he was too charming and outgoing.
"I was practicing in my room with Trey when I got it, sadly no cool story to go with activating it, but oh man did I freak Trey out when there were suddenly two of me in our room. I was really excited, like, that's my UM I'd just figured out, that's the 'core of my magic' or whatever the professors say, and then….I threw up."
Wait, what?
"You threw up?"
"Mhm, my excitement bought me like, a minute of adrenaline and then I actually had to feel what I'd done and it sucked so much," Cater grimaced. A small blue hedgehog woke from it's nap at his story and slowly stood from it's group of colorful friends. Yuu was pretty sure it was one of Riddle's, Azure if she remembered correctly. Cater leaned down to scoop up the little guy as he approached the edge of the enclosure.
She'd never once thought of the idea that split card might hurt. She'd seen him use it so often and not just when people asked him to. Or so she thought at least.
"I didn't know it hurt," she whispered, suddenly feeling even worse for all the times she'd benefited from there being multiple Caters around. The boy in question stood, hands gently cupping Azure as he turned to stare at her incredulously.
"Hurts? Aw Yuu-y, I'm not some benevolent Octavinelle guy, if my UM hurt me I'd never ever use it. No matter what anyone asked."
"But you just said—"
"Yeah, that I threw up and that it sucked. Not that it hurt. Whatcha gotta understand is split card makes really, and I mean really, good clones of me. Like, if I can do something, they can for the most part. It's pretty sweet, except when you realize that all the clones can see and hear and taste and feel and experience the world exactly as I do. You'd think since it's my magic making them, maybe my magic woulda made a filter for information or something buuut—"
Oh. Huh. That made sense, in an odd twisted kind of way that Yuu couldn't fully wrap her head around. Of course she knew that Cater was aware of everything his clones did and experienced, the clones could talk and react just like the real Cater could. But she'd never thought that might mean he had to experience all of those senses twice. More than twice. How many times had she seen multiple Caters around.
"Don't worry, I've gotten a lot better at it. I think the best way to describe it is like a panorama photo, you know?"
"That's where several photos are all stitched together right?"
"Yep yep! We will make a magicammer out of you yet! But yeah, if I've got a bunch of clones all in one area all experiencing roughly the same thing just from different angles, it's honestly a lot easier than you'd think to tune out most of the sensory input. Plus it makes it waay easier to control all of them. Magic keeps them around and can help direct them to do small things but I've gotta control all the big ideas."
The more Cater talked so flippantly about his UM the more horrified Yuu became. She was trying her best to understand what he went through, how all of it would feel but she just couldn't. How did someone live like that?
"Ugh, Yuu-y, stop looking so sad about this, I'm not telling you to make you feel bad. I'm telling you this to explain what happened yesterday," Cater snapped. He froze the moment he realized his frustration, his head drooping and he turned to look away from her.
"Sorry…" she whispered and Cater sighed.
"It's annoying when you apologize for things that aren't your fault, you know."
What was she supposed to say to that? It was her fault for not understanding easily, wasn't it? Not wanting to interrupt further, Yuu twiddled her thumbs along the wooden fence of the enclosure and waited patiently for Cater to continue. She wanted to understand him and why he reacted the way he did yesterday.
"Mmm, okay, I'm saying all this cause sometimes when there are too many clones or when one strays too far from me or I get too distracted or whatever, I lose some control over what the clone does. Trey mentioned that he told you that mirror portals are the actual worst when it comes to my clones. That's because it's a magical connection that sends and receives info between us. If there is a lot of distance that connection starts skipping like a scratched cd and some of the orders I give don't go through correctly, which is headache inducing lemme tell you. But if you put it through a mirror portal, it's kinda akin to putting the signal through a blender." Cater shivered at the idea and Yuu grimaced with him.
"So that clone you saw yesterday? I really didn't know what all was happening as it occured, plus I was sick as can be from it, and the clone was just reacting to the vibes of the situation," he paused, looking pointedly at her, "—which you know were terrible. I have so many questions about what I remember from yesterday because some of it cannot be true but—"
He paused again and leaned forward on the fence, gently petting Azure. In the quiet, as Yuu waited for whatever else he would say, she watched as the specks of dust floated around Cater's face. A few shafts of sunlight had crept in through the upper windows and, maybe knowingly, he had placed himself right along the edge of one. Face half illuminated, half shadowed.
Yuu couldn't help but feel like it matched the words he was telling her.
"But, all this is to say that you should never trust a clone of me, okay? Especially not one that went through a portal. I promise I'm not lying when I say I didn't mean everything yesterday. So, I'm sorry alright?"
Didn't mean everything. There was a distinction in his words she didn't want to press. His apology, however genuine, did little to quell the guilt still roiling inside of her. They hadn't touched at all on anything she or Riddle had revealed. Nothing about the fact that all of it had started because she'd…because she'd died and Riddle had brought her back. They'd only talked about Cater and how he seemed to feel he'd messed things up.
He wasn't wrong. He wasn't right.
It was awful they'd put him through that situation. No wonder Trey had looked so horrified when he realized.
They lapsed into a silence that was neither comfortable nor tense, the still air between them a translucent barrier only the squeaks of sleeping hedgehogs could cross. Yuu tried to sift through his questions to find the common thread. Or at least find something to help it all make sense. At the very least, she didn't think Cater was very mad at her. And maybe that meant Trey wouldn't be either.
That still left Riddle.
Yuu was glad she hadn't needed to see him yet.
Even so, knowing that Cater and maybe Trey didn't hate her for causing so many problems yesterday was enough to alleviate some of the guilt threatening to drown her.
Yuu took a slow, deep breath.
"Do you resent him?" Cater asked and his voice was low, barely more than a whisper.
"Who?" she asked though she had a good feeling on who he was speaking about. Cater let out a soft snort and shook his head, reddish waves falling into his face and casting all of it in shadow.
"Ha, never mind, just being a little dumb," he said and Yuu's fingers curled into the wood under her arms. She knew what he was asking. She just didn't have an answer for him.
"Do you?" she asked and she couldn't tell if the sharp intake of air meant she'd done the correct thing or not. Still, after he'd said so much to her, Yuu was curious. She wanted to know Cater. Not one of the clones he said she shouldn't trust.
Instead of answer, Cater leaned into the enclosure and set Azure carefully down. They watched as the small blue hedgehog scurried back to his friends and joined them. Blue. Red. Green. Yellow. Once they were settled, Cater pushed himself off the fence and finally turned to look at her.
He ruffled her hair and huffed lightly.
"You're a really smart kid, you know that Yuu-y?" he hummed, lip twitching up. Yuu snorted because that was about the last thing most people would tell her. She was a lot of things, but she knew she wasn't really all that smart.
"Is that you saying it, or a clone?" she asked, half joking, half…half something. Because Cater was laughing as well, a soft thing she'd never heard from him before. Beyond the coop, Yuu heard her name being shouted, Ace and Deuce and Grim's familiar voices floating in the air.
And then the warm hand in her hair was gone as magic diffused through the confined space leaving Yuu alone with hedgehogs.