Chapter Text
“.......hhhhhhmmmmmmmmm…………..”
Yuu stared dazingly at the crimson rose in a white vase on the coffee table in the lounge room. It had been days since Tsunotarou last visited the Ramshackle dorm, and Yuu had dumbfoundedly put the magic preserved rose in a vase. Well, there was no point in giving it water…
Yuu rested his face on the table, and lazily poked the rose gently. The scent it gave off was pleasant, and it also made him slightly sleepy… Yuu was about to nod off, when suddenly-
Knock knock
“Hah-?” Yuu jolted up, and looked at the hallway. Grimm was out to buy some drinks from the school’s vending machine, could it be him? Yuu heard more knocking, he stood up, “I’m coming!” he said, walking toward the hallway, and to the door.
“Who is-... Lilia-san?” Yuu blinked, seeing the figure upon him was the short petite senior of Diasomnia. “Good day, Yuu,” Lilia greeted back. “May I come in?” Lilia asked, Yuu dazedly nodded, and let Lilia in. Yuu yawned when walking to the lounge room with Lilia, “....So what’s the matter, Lilia-san? It’s rare for you to visit Ramshackle dorm,” he asked.
“Oh, it is just that ‘Tsunotarou’ is not going to visit the dorm for a bit,” Lilia-san said, and that made Yuu’s eyes shoot up wide. “!? W-Wha-What?” Yuu asked, looking a bit confused and worried. “Kufufu, no need to worry like thus, Yuu,” Lilia chuckled. “He is just busy with the upcoming culture festival, since he is a member of a club,” he explained.
Yuu tilted his head, “Culture festival?” he asked. “Why of course, did no one tell you about it?” Lilia asked back. Yuu shook his head, and put his hand on his chin, a thinking gesture, “So in Twisted Wonderland there’s a culture festival too, huh?” he thought loudly. “Wait, so that means the Light Music club will also have to do something?” Yuu asked.
“Well, we will discuss it in a meeting, which it will be in a week,” Lilia said. “Does your world have a culture festival, Yuu?” the short senior asked. “Well, yea,” Yuu answered, “Though… I’ve never really taken a part in them….” he admitted with a low voice.
“Eh? You haven’t….?” Lilia asked, a bit shocked by this fact. Yuu laughed awkwardly, “Well, I was pretty busy at the time… I had no time for clubs and such,” he answered, looking longingly. “My….. Well, you are now a student of the Night Raven College,” Lilia said, smiling softly, as he pat Yuu’s head. “When the festival arrives, enjoy it to the fullest, until your heart is full of the fun times,” he smiled.
Yuu sighed, smiling a bit. “I sure will,” he answered. “Hm, now that I notice this,” Lilia said, glancing at the briar rose on the coffee table. “That is a briar rose, yes? Where did you get it, Yuu?” Lilia asked. “Oh, Tsunotarou gave it to me,” Yuu answered.
“.....My~” Lilia smirked, “Did he~?” he chuckled giddily, making Yuu blinking in confusion. “Ah yes, other than informing you about his absence for a while, I came with a gift,” Lilia said, pulling something out of nowhere. A pretty black box, with a golden rose pattern on it, “Here you go, happy new year~!” Lilia smiled, giving Yuu the box.
“? This is….?” Yuu asked, receiving the box with both of his hands. “This is a box of briar rose tea bags~” Lilia stated, “I thought it would be a nice souvenir from our hometown, you see.”
Yuu was brightened up, his eyes were literally sparkling. “F-For real!? This is…. A really generous gift, Lilia-san! Thank you very much!!” Yuu answered. Ever since he had this kind of tea, he had been liking it. It was a shame that he wasn’t able to savor the flavor longer, and the school didn’t sell briar rose tea. Thank goodness for the kindness of Lilia Vanrouge.
“Fufu, glad to know you are liking our special tea, Yuu,” Lilia chuckled. “Ah right, do drink this tea if you are going to sleep,” he said, “Briar rose has an effect to make oneself grew drowsy, it help them to fall asleep,” he explained, oh…. so that explained why Yuu felt a bit sleepy when poking the rose.
“I-Is that so?” Yuu asked. “That is so,” Lilia nodded, “Briar rose’s scent is very fragrant, one could say that the scent was very pleasant that one just dozed off without noticing it,” he stated. “Oh, and the scent of one fresh rose will linger for a while if one was near it,” Lilia smiled, “And your body indeed gives off the briar rose’s unique scent, Yuu,” he said.
“R-Really?” Yuu blinked, scratching his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. “That is right,” Lilia chuckled, “Well that is all the business I have, oh, and,” Lilia leaned on Yuu, tiptoeing a bit, and took Yuu’s long bangs on his hand gently, not grabbing them, just put them on his palm. “Why don’t you try to have your bangs cut?” Lilia suggested.
“Uum… I dunno about that,” Yuu stuttered out. “Well your long bangs are quite a charming point of yours, however, I think your face will shine out if you cut these,” Lilia suggested, and let go of Yuu’s bangs, walking out of the room. “A new year, a new look, perhaps? Just think about it, okay?” Lilia said, walking out of the dorm, and immediately vanished.
“...........” Yuu blinked, closing the door of the dorm with a click. Walking to his own bedroom, Yuu looked at the mirror in the room. He had been wondering, Mickey didn’t visit him again ever since that time. Was that just a dream? Or it wasn’t the time yet to meet Mickey again?
Looking at his own reflection on the mirror, Yuu played with his own bangs for a bit, opening them slightly, to see his eyes reflected on the mirror. ‘A new look, huh…..’ Yuu wondered. Yuu looked at the mirror once again, considering the suggestion…
.
.
.
“I. Am. Back. Dazo~!” Grimm announced his arrival, opening the door with ease. But his greeting was greeted back with silence, “Fgna? Where is Yuu?” Grimm wondered loudly, walking through the hallway of Ramshackle dorm. His ears flicked, when he heard light noises from Yuu’s room.
Snip snip, he heard. Grimm quietly and steadily tiptoeing to their room. He peeked through the small opening of the door, and in the room stood a figure. Beneath the figure, there were hairs scattered around his feet. Grimm trembled, watching the figure continue to snip his hair away.
“F-Fgna……” the figure moved a bit, noticing there was another being entering the dorm. He turned around slightly, and through his dark bangs, he looked at the cat monster-! “FGNAAA!! A-a-a-a-a-a….. g-g-g-g-g-g-g-....GHOST DAZO!!!!!!!” Grimm shouted in terror.
“Huh..? A ghost?” Yuu asked, looking at Grimm unamused. “You’re back already, huh, Grimm. Welcome back,” he greeted, and continued to cut his bangs a bit more. “.....Y-YUU!?” Grimm exclaimed.
“Hm? Yea, what is it?” Yuu asked, not looking at the furball, he was too focused on cutting his hair. “Y-.... What are you doing?” Grimm asked, a bit confused as to what Yuu was doing, and why he did it. “As you can see, I am cutting my hair,” Yuu answered flatly. “Why?” “Well…. Lilia-san said that I might need a new look, y’know, new year new look thing?” Yuu shrugged.
“It’s more like uuhh…. Changes of phase, maybe,” he stated, a bit unsure if Grimm could get him. “Oh? But I thought you are okay with those loooong bangs of yours,” he stated. “Well…” Yuu murmured, “I guess it’s time for me to move on,” he said silently. “Move on from your old gloomy look?” Grimm joked, then received a death glare from Yuu, making him yelp, and zipped his mouth.
Yuu looked back at his own reflection, seeing that his bangs weren't that long anymore that he had to brush them away so he could see. Yuu patted his hair, so any hair strand that was cut could fall off to the ground. Looking back at the mirror again, “.....Hm, not too shabby,” Yuu commented on his own handiwork.
“Since when you know how to cut?” Grimm asked, climbing to the bed. “........” Yuu sighed, “I used to cut my mom’s hair, since we didn’t have money to go to a hair salon,” he explained, looking longingly at the mirror.
Yuu caressed his own face, his mouth pursed lightly, ‘....Mom’s face……’ he thought melancholically in his mind. It was hard for Yuu to just cut away his bangs. Not because he was not too good with cutting his hair, it was just…
His face reminded him of his mother…. It pained him so much….
“I’ve just noticed that you have a girlish face nandazo,” Grimm smirked, “Is that why you hide your face with the bangs?” he asked jokingly, not knowing that the topic of his face was a bit painful. “......” Yuu sighed lightly, looking at his own reflection, “....I don’t mind having a girlish face… It’s just…..”
“It’s not easy to see the face of your deceased loved one…..” Yuu stated, sadly, his eyes lowered with sadness written all over them. Grimm flinched, stopping his own joke, and approached Yuu’s feet silently. “Uum… I’m sorry…. Dazo…..” he said, feeling guilty that he had hurt Yuu without realizing it.
“.....It’s okay,” Yuu sighed, “There’s nothing much you can do about it anyway,” he stated. Grimm pursed his lips, and thought for a minute. He then got an idea, “I know! I’ll get some sweets from Trey, okay!” he said enthusiastically.
“Eh?” Yuu blinked, and looked at Grimm, surprised, “Sweets can cheer someone up nandazo! I’ll go get some~!” he declared, dashing away out of the Ramshackle, and to the Heartslabyul dorm he went.
“.....” Yuu blinked several times, then giggled lightly. Grimm had truly grown up with human society, he too had started doing some of human customs without realizing it. Yuu felt his hair a bit, then looked at his own longer backside hair. He decided to cut them short as well, and leave his signature 2 long strands of hair be.
Patting away the rest of his cutted hair to the floor, Yuu was satisfied with his new hairstyle now. Not too much different from his old hairstyle, his bangs were still a bit long, but it didn’t completely cover his eyes, and his hair was more manageable and not too wild looking. His head looked lighter now…
Yuu smiled at his own changes, but soon, that smile dropped...
Oh, how he missed the old times he had when he was just a naive kid….
“My~! Yuu-chan is good at cutting mommy’s hair! I’m so glad to have you!” his mother once smiled, glancing at Yuu, who was carefully cutting her hair.