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Nozel retraced his footsteps back to the room where they just had their captains meeting. Forgetting his belongings wasn’t like him, but he had. He had left behind his favorite quill (he had a favorite quill), and he could not possibly go back to his Headquarters without it. But as he heard voices coming from the room, Nozel froze.
“So, Yami.”
Nozel flinched. He had never heard William speak with such a voice… It was strange. It was concerning. Nozel thus decided to listen. But it wasn’t eavesdropping. It was because the topic of conversation sounded important; he could not possibly turn a blind eye.
“I will not prevent you from leaving if you think it’s for the best,” William said.
“Yeah, really it’s for the best. Thank you for understanding, Goldie. I just prefer to go back home.”
“But maybe it would be time to tell everyone. I know you don’t like going behind your Knights’ backs. I don’t like it either.”
“Nah, it’s better if they don’t know.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Believe me, it’s better.”
“Then, Yami, if you have to leave… then do it early. So no one can see you.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to fall on anyone. That’d be a pain.”
“Ok. Well, goodbye.”
“Yeah.”
Nozel rapidly hid behind a corner. An administrative knight gave him a curious look before resuming her walk so Nozel straightened and tried acting a little more like the royal Magic Knight captain he was.
He waited a few minutes before retrieving his quill and deciding what his next step would be.
♣
“Yami’s going back to the Land of the Rising Sun?” Fuegoleon asked, surprised.
“It would appear so,” Nozel answered, eyes set on his cup of coffee.
“Are you sure?”
“No, I’m not sure, but that’s the most logical explanation.”
“Well… now that we do have ways to travel to other continents, he could indeed go back home...”
Nozel remained silent, before raising the cup to his lips. He sighed, “What do you think is going to happen to the squad?”
“Well, someone’s going to be captain in his stead. That’s how it works.”
“I know how it works. I was asking about… the members. You know how the Bulls are, and they don’t know Yami’s going to leave.”
“Really? He didn’t tell them?”
“It didn’t seem like they knew.”
“Yami is not big on goodbyes so it would make sense…”
“Do you agree with this?” Nozel asked. “I think that this stupid foreigner is wrong. He can’t leave like that with no warning; it would be bad for them and we don’t know what they could do. We need to tell his squad so they can at least say goodbye.”
Fuegoleon sighed, “No, I agree, but is it truly our place?”
Nozel shrugged, “This squad is bomb ready to explode; Yami leaving might just be the spark they need to… do something rash. They were ready to fight Damnatio for two of their members, can you imagine what they’d do if their captain left without telling them? They would think he was kidnapped or… I do not know what they would think.”
“Indeed. What about our fellow captains? And Lord Julius?”
“If William knows, then Julius must know. As for the others… I do not know.”
“Why would Yami leave, though? Is there anything for him in the Land of the Rising Sun?”
“I do not know, Fuegoleon.”
“Alright, well… you should go tell the Bulls. I’ll handle the captains. I don’t think they would forgive us if we kept quiet… I’m sure that they would want to say goodbye as well.”
“Yes. Let’s do this, then.”
♣
Nozel stood in front of the door of the Black Bulls base. Now, he would’ve preferred for Fuegoleon to come with him, because he had no idea how to break this piece of news in a manner that wouldn’t backfire.
He sighed and knocked.
The witch opened the door.
“Hey handsome! Noelle’s not here.”
“I’m not here for Noelle.”
“Ooh… you’re here for me, then..?”
“Yes, you and your entire squad. Can you gather everyone, please?”
“Goodness, did you just say ‘please’? What’s happening? Is the world ending?”
“Nothing major. I mean… no, it is quite major for you. Probably.”
“You got me intrigued, Little Eagle. Why are you here, in all your royal presence?”
Nozel sighed. Was there any good way to break it to the Bulls anyway?
“Your captain might be leaving the country.”
“What?”
“He might be going back to his homeland.”
“What?”
“I need you to gather your squad so I can tell them.”
“I’ll tell them. You don’t have to.”
“Um..?”
“Thank you, bye.”
The door almost slammed on his face.
That was incredibly rude.
But besides this reaction, Nozel would say that it had gone well. Pushing all his doubts, Nozel simply decided to fly back to his own base. There was only so much time he could afford to lose on something like this. He had done what he had to do, now, he would go back to work.
♣
After having called back every single Bull (except Yami) to the base, Vanessa stood silently in front of them. Well. There was no need to beat around the bush.
“Yami has to go back to the Land of the Rising Sun,” she said, going straight to the point.
“What?”
“What do you mean he ‘has’ to go back?”
“I don’t know. Nozel Silva just stopped by and told me that Yami was leaving.”
“Yami would never leave us!” Magna said. “…right?”
“Maybe he doesn’t have a choice,” Noelle noted. “If it’s Nozel who told you that, then maybe it’s a decision from the Parliament. Maybe they passed some law about foreigners having to be thrown out.”
“What?” a few Bulls chorused.
“Wait, they can do that?” Magna asked.
Noelle shrugged, “They can do basically anything.”
“Hold up, what about witches?” Vanessa said. “Am I also being thrown out?”
“What? No, of course not!” Noelle said.
“I don’t wanna go back to the Forest!”
“We can’t lose Yami and Vanessa!” Grey whimpered.
Finral got up and opened a portal, “I’m going to see Finesse. Maybe she’s heard something about this law; her family has contacts at the Parliament.”
“Why don’t we simply thrash the Parliament?” Gauche asked.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Magna pointed out.
“We’re fighting someone?” Luck asked.
“If the law is passed, it’s too late to do anything!” Noelle said.
“How does Yami know he has to leave?” Nero asked.
“Newspapers!” Asta yelled suddenly.
"What’s going on?” Noelle said as she started frantically looking for Yami’s discarded newspapers. “We’re losing, Yami, Vanessa and now Asta is smart!”
“Wait, does that law mean you need a birth certificate from Clover?” Nero said. “Because mine was destroyed 500 years ago in a fire.”
“Oh my god, we’re not losing Nero on top of that!” Noelle said. “Who else has a doubtful situation here?”
“I’m an orphan!” Asta shouted suddenly. “I don’t have a birth certificate!”
“Surely Father Orsi registered you,” Noelle said, although she sounded unsure.
“I’m not sure he did! I have to ask Yuno! I’ll be back! Hold up, Yuno will be sent back to the Spade Kingdom?”
“They can’t send the golden boy back there,” Magna said. “He’s Vice Captain!”
“They’re sending a Magic Knight captain back home, they can send a Vice Captain,” Zora noted.
“I don’t wanna go back to the Forest… I don’t want to leave you all…”
“We’ll do something!” Noelle said. “We’ll… I don’t know. We’ll do something about that law! Gordon, anything in the papers?”
“No,” Gordon said, a little louder than he usually would.
“Keep looking into it!”
Henry also went to help read the old newspapers.
“Let’s just thrash the Parliament first and ask questions later,” Gauche suggested as he grabbed a broom.
“Yeah!” Luck said encouragingly.
“No!” Noelle said. “We can’t do that if we’re not sure—”
“What’s going on?” Yami asked.
His idiots were visibly panicking and he didn’t like it when their kis were like that. Really, he didn’t like it. That meant that a disaster was incoming. Grey was crying, Vanessa wasn’t far from it, Gauche, Magna and Luck looked like they wanted to start a war, Zora looked like he would also join in on that war, Asta had his sword out and was about to fly out, Noelle was pacing, Gordon and Henry were skimming old newspapers, Nero was just standing there, quieter than ever. Finral and Nacht, two of the rare sensible Bulls, were absent.
Not good.
They all turned to him and Vanessa jumped on him, assaulting him with a tight hug, “Captain!”
“What’s going on?” Yami repeated.
Now all of his idiots were looking at him with teary eyes.
“You’re leaving!” Grey whimpered. “And Vanessa is going back to the Forest! And maybe Asta and Nero will have to go too!”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“The law!” Magna said.
“I don’t wanna go back to the Forest…” Vanessa whispered.
Yami slipped away from the hug and stared at her, before staring at all his idiots.
“I don’t understand what you’re all babbling about. What law?”
“Nozel came here and told Vanessa that you were going back to the Land of the Rising Sun,” Noelle explained.
Yami blinked, “But I’m not?”
They all blinked back, confusion clear on their faces.
“But why would Nozel—” Noelle started.
“I don’t care what he said, I’m not leaving.”
“You don’t know about… the law?” Magna asked.
“What law?” Yami asked.
“To expel all foreigners from Clover,” Noelle said bluntly.
“What the hell? That’s a thing?”
A portal appeared and Finral came out, visibly puzzled.
“There’s nothing about such a law at the Parliament right now. No blueprint, no draft, no bill, nothing. Not even talks. Finesse is positive, it must be a mistake.”
“What?” Noelle said in disbelief. “But…”
Yami clicked his tongue angrily, “Finral, get bird-face here right now.”
♣
“This is… exactly what you heard?” Vanessa asked Nozel.
Nozel nodded, “These are the exact words I heard, yes.”
Vanessa burst into bitter laughter, “Oh my god… I can’t believe it…”
“So… you’re really leaving, captain?” Asta asked.
“Asta, I think that this is a huge misunderstanding,” Finral said softly.
Yami sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, I’m not leaving.”
“Come on!” Vanessa told Nozel. “How did you immediately think about Yami going back to his country from this conversation?”
Nozel shrugged, “That looked like the most logical explanation.”
“No! It’s not! Oh my god… it all makes so much more sense now. Everything. Yami sneaking back home at dawn. His mood being weirdly better lately...”
“I don’t understand how you went from what I said to a law,” Nozel pointed out to the Bulls. “I said nothing of the sort.”
“Noelle said that if it was you who told us, it meant that it was coming from the Parliament,” Finral explained.
“So all this mess is just because of you Silvas blowing things out of proportion,” Yami said.
“We—!” they chorused before being interrupted by Magic Knights Captains bursting into the base, followed by an apologetic-looking Fuegoleon.
“What the hell, Yami!?” Jack shouted.
“You could’ve told us you were the long lost heir to the throne of the Land of the Rising Sun!” Rill said.
“You’re going to be king?” Charlotte asked.
Yami turned towards Nozel and glared at him, “Great. Thank you, bird-face.”
Nozel remained standing there, face blank, until he decided that hiding his face would be a good idea and looked down at the ground.
Yami sighed, “Finral, go get Goldie. Let’s clear this up. All of you, sit the fuck down, wait patiently and stop talking.”
♣
William and Yami ended their explanations and silence filled the Black Bulls’ living room. Vanessa was the first to talk, “So you were referring to…”
“Me, leaving the Golden Dawn base in the morning to go back here to take a shit. William would rather I stay in the morning, even if that means that I have to use his bathroom, but if I had to leave, told me to do it with discretion so I wouldn’t fall on any of his Knights. Apparently, I was heard a few times.”
“I guess that now that you all know, there is no need to concern ourselves with that,” William said in a sigh. “I should also let my squad know.”
“Now that it’s cleared up,” Yami said. “Who’s the one responsible for all of this?”
All heads turned to Nozel.
“How was I to guess it wasn’t about him going back to his country?” he asked, very seriously.
The reactions ranged from groans, sighs, hands thrown in the air to laughter. Nozel cleared his throat and turned towards Yami and William, “Congratulations or whatever is in order, but I now know more about you two than I ever needed to. I will be taking my leave.”
“Hold up, you’re not off the hook!” Vanessa said as she rose from the couch to catch up to him. “I had the fright of my life here!”
Nozel turned towards Vanessa, an eyebrow raised, “You misunderstood. That’s not my responsibility.”
“Maybe it’s fifty-fifty.”
Nozel sighed.
“How about you make it up to me, handsome..?” Vanessa asked with a smirk.
“Oh my god…” Finral said before facepalming and shaking his head.
“I will also be taking my leave now,” Noelle said rapidly.
“Yes, Yami, William, congratulations,” Charlotte said. “But I’ll go back to my squad.”
Yami sighed, watching the captains as they started leaving his base.
“See?” Yami said to William. “This is what I meant when I said that no one should know. It’s a goddamn mess.”
“It was quite a funny way to come out to all of them at once.”
“You’re enjoying this?”
“At least now, everything was cleared up and there will be no further issues. I’m also glad nothing of the sort has happened within my squad.”
“Actually,” Asta said suddenly. “I sent a note to Yuno about—”
“ASTA!”