Chapter Text
“Paint the roses red! Paint the roses red! Or else it’ll be off with our head!”
With a grumble, Yuu lifted her head from the table. She sat underneath a gazebo at a dainty table with miniature cakes and tea cups all around her. Wincing from the uncomfortable position she slept in, she stood up and looked around.
There were rose hedges as far as the eye could see. The entire garden glittered in a prestigious manner, everything was in perfect shade, shape, and position. Leaving her table, Yuu began to wonder about while taking in the sights. Everything was decorated with swirls, roses, and hearts. A cute cobblestone path attracted her curiosity as she skipped forward. Not long after, a chant caught her attention. Deciding the singing would be more intriguing than endless roses, she changed her direction and looked for the source. Splatters of red on white painted the flowers, leading her to her destination.
Strange soldiers with the bodies of cards but the limbs and heads of humans sang in unison. Around them were copious amounts of brushes and buckets holding red paint. They sang and danced while coloring every white rose red.
The roses were already so beautiful, why would they cover them up?
“Why are you painting the roses red?”
One of the soldiers looked over and with a smile waved his brush over to her.
“Why, you ask? It’s quite simple. We planted the wrong color, you see.”
Another soldier beside him chirped up as well.
“The Queen likes her roses red. If they’re white, we’ll lose our heads!”
They went back to painting, ignoring her shock. Paying closer attention, they were not singing and dancing from cheer, it was quite the opposite. Each smile was strained and their movements frantic, still, they did not step out of line and maintained an almost perfect image.
She walked forward to observe more trees, when a rumble teared through the ground. Cans of paint sloshed over as soldiers fell from their ladders. Yuu tumbled to the ground and used her arms to catch herself. Brushes and branches were being thrown everywhere. When she dared to look up, a menacing dark figure approached from further beyond. They made the earth shake with every step and every rose, no matter the color, bubbled out a black liquid from its center. On trembling legs, Yuu ducked behind a corner of the hedge.
Red roses fell all around her while the white versions stayed stubbornly on their stems. Vines quickly grew and created a dome over her, blocking any sort of light from entering. A strange imperfect white rose floated down from the top. She tried picking it up, but yelped and dropped it when its sharp petals cut through her palm. The rose, now red from blood, cracked when it hit the ground. With a cry, she ducked and used her arms to cover her head as the red roses popped and shattered like glass all around her.
<><><><><>
Her whole body jolted as she woke up. Blinking numerous times, her mind began to process what just happened. She went through a particularly strange dream, one which caused her to burrow deep into her blanket while holding her head in her arms. The dream had felt real, she could actually feel the flower petals or the cold paint. She tried rolling over and straightening out, but her face started squishing against something warm. Sitting up, she saw Grim tucked inside the pillow case, alongside the pillow. He was likely cold as she involuntarily stole the blanket.
Carefully picking him up, she moved him to be beside her as she covered both of them with the blanket. Laying back down, she could feel her consciousness drift away as she listened to Grim’s soft snoring.
It was a few moments after when a loud and unruly pounding at their front door began. She frowned as she hid her face into the bed, praying that whoever was there would take a hint and leave.
They didn’t. The longer she ignored it the louder it became. At this point they might as well bust the door down, it was a miracle that the door had even lasted as long as it did. Grim stirred next to her, rubbing his eyes and he crawled out of the pillow case to paw at her.
“Myaaaaahh, hey Yuu. It’s the middle of the night, but I think we have a visitor.”
“I know, I know. Ugh, I just don’t wanna get up.”
“Maybe it’s those pesky ghosts? They don’t know when to give up.”
“Haaaa, come on, let’s go see what it is.”
Sliding off the bed, Yuu stood up and walked down the stairs. With every knock a cloud of dust would fall from the ceiling, there were even some wood chips falling. Heavens forbid the nails start too, otherwise their feet may face an unfortunate fate.
“I’m here, so stop knocking now!”
Pushing against the door, it opened to reveal a disgruntled Ace. He was in his school uniform despite the fact that the sun hadn’t risen yet. The most notable thing however, was the large heart shaped collar around his neck.
“Ace, why are you here?! Actually no, tell me what happened first!” She herded him in and quickly shut the door.
“What happened is that I’m not going back to Heartslabyul! I’m joining your dorm. For good.” Ace stomped his way over to the couch, his face scrunching up from the dust.
“What?!”
“You heard me! I’m not staying in the same dorm with a tyrant!”
Grim hopped onto the couch and sat beside Ace. He stared at the collar before questioning Ace.
“Yeah, I remember that collar. It’s the same one that psycho from before stuck on me. Whatcha ya do ta get that stuck on ya?
“I ate a tart.” Ace crossed his arms and gave a slight pout.
“…Beg your pardon?”
“Yeah, that’s all I did. It wasn’t even the entire tart! Just a part of it, but apparently that’s enough to get my head chopped off.”
“See, I crashed as soon as we got back. But we missed dinner and I woke up hungry, so I went and found some tarts in the fridge. They were big ones too. I only took a piece from one of them, but the Housewarden popped up behind me and put this collar on me! I’m not sticking around if that’s what he does for a tart…… So yeah, here I am.”
Yuu and Grim looked at one another before Grim got up and smacked Ace’s leg. “So basically, you’re both terrible.”
“Oh c’mon! He took away my magic for one slice from a tart. Besides, they were HUGE, it’s not like he could’ve finished them by himself!”
“If they were really big tarts, then maybe they were for something important, like a party. Heh, even I could put that together. You need to step up your game Ace!” Grim held his head high, but he did have a point.
“Yeah, I think Grim is onto something. There’s gotta be a reason for him to do something like that. But anyways, if he was that upset did you apologize afterwards? It must’ve been a big deal to him.” Yuu rubbed her eyes as Ace let out a small scoff. It was far too early to think clearly and her head was throbbing. Still, she did owe it to Ace to at least hear him out.
“I was a victim of tyranny, do you really think I stopped to say ‘sorry’?”
“Welp, that’s a no. Fine, but tomorrow, or I guess later today, make sure you apologize. I’m sure you want that collar off as soon as possible.”
“Okay fine, but this is your idea so you better come with me!”
“Sure.”
“Sweet, so uh, you got a place for me to crash?”
“Ummm, well about that…”
Suffice to say, ramshackle was no exaggeration of a name for the building. Anywhere he could possibly stay was incredibly dirty.
“Oí! There’s no other place that’s clean other than our room. If you wanna stay then you better start cleanin’!” Grim hopped off the couch and slowly made his way to the bottom of the stair case.
“Ugh, I hate cleaning.” Flashing a winning smile, Ace turned to her and clasped his hands together.
“Hey Yuu, won’t you let me stay with you. I promise I won’t take up much space.”
In response Yuu turned her head. Seriously, where did he get the audacity from?
“Hmph. How about no, but I guess everywhere else would make you sneeze to death.”
Turning around, she gave the closets a hard stare before turning back to Ace. He was holding a stare down with Grim before he noticed her watching him. Quickly, he brought his hands back up together and created an air of innocence. Grim, believing he won, went back to the room with his head high.
“How about this, if we can find some other blankets and pillows for you then we can make you a makeshift bed to sleep on in the room.
“Whaaat? Really?” His shoulders sagged at the idea of sleeping on the floor. There was only so much bed sheets could do.
“It’s the farthest I’m willing to compromise on you staying in our room. Or do you want to sleep here and let the pipes leak on you?”
“Nope, I’m good. Anything would beat out staying here.”
“Alright, but if you try anything funny I’ll let Grim maul you… and I’ll toss you out the window for good measure.”
“Hey!”
He got up and followed Yuu to a closet. Taking out as many blankets and bed sheets that were salvageable, they headed back to the bedroom. Picking the cleanest place on the floor, they went to work setting it up for Ace. Finishing it, Ace laid down whilst complaining about how the collar prevented him from properly laying down straight. Yuu tried to climb back onto the bed, but with Grim taking a good portion from the middle, there was little she could do. Still, in the face of beautiful sleep, the awkward curl she was in was nothing.
<><><><><>
A pounding racked the building for a second time that day. Gritting her teeth, Yuu sat up from the bed and peaked over at Ace. He positioned himself to be half-sitting in order to accommodate the collar. Holding a pillow over his face, he was likely attempting to ignore whoever was at the door.
Even if he was a run-away and camping in her room, wouldn’t it be rude to have her guest open the door instead of her? Not to mention it could create some unneeded questions if the wrong type of people were at the door.
Walking back down, she opened it to find Deuce.
“Oh, Good Morning Yuu.” He greeted her with a smile and a wave. Far better than what she could do. Going to sleep late and then being woken up twice was NOT doing her head any favors. “G’mornin, any reason you stopped by?”
“Yeah, Ace wouldn’t happen to be here, would he?”
“You got that right. Come on in, I’ll go get him for you.”
Leading him to her sad excuse of a couch, she trudged her way back before pulling the pillow off of Ace’s face.
“Hey, Deuce came to visit you.”
“Yeah yeah, I’ll get up in a minute.”
Too tired to push him any further, Yuu fell back on her bed. She nearly dozed off if it wasn’t for Grim’s tail slapping her face.
When Ace finally lifted himself off the floor, he rolled everything up and proceeded to dump it on the bed.
“Hey! What was that for! Get back here!”
At least it woke up Grim.
Letting out a large sigh, she proceeded to grab everything and dropped it on top of her.
“What are you doing, human? Ya better give some of that ta me!”
“Please Grim, let me fake die in peace.”
Closing her eyes and curling up, she retreated back into the mound. Yup, definitely warmer than just the one blanket she shared with Grim. It was stupid of her to not bring up any more sheets before Ace appeared.
Actually……where did they come from? Yuu definitely remembered there were not that many clean blankets or pillows the previous time she checked the closet. Almost all the sheets had holes running through them or were simply too weathered and ragged to provide any semblance of warmth or support. Yet here were three good able pillows with a few blankets to boot.
The sense of cold and suspicion ran through her body as she quickly threw them off of her.
“Did you finally come back to your senses, henchman? How could you take them without leaving me any?!” Without any care Grim pounced into the pile and went to work patting down the mess to make it more comfortable for himself.
“Seriously, the nerve of this human.”
Yuu could only blink at him. Perhaps her lack of sleep was causing her to worry too much or remember things differently. It might have been her own inadequacy when checking the closets.
Nodding her head, she got up and opened the door.
“Grim, I’mma go check up on the other guys. Remember to come down soon, okay.”
“And why would I do that? Ace disturbed my beauty sleep and I’m sore all over from ye-.”
“DON’T- uh, I mean, we have school to go to, remember?”
Grim flinched at the sudden increase of volume from her voice. His eyes widened as his body moved backwards, yet it only lasted for a second as his memories of being accepted into NRC replaced any nerves.
“Yeah, the all powerful Grim has been accepted! Just you wait, I’ll be even greater in a flash!”
Jumping down, he ran out the door and straight down the stairs. Rubbing her eyes, Yuu followed him with far less energy.
Down at the lounge, Ace was leaning heavily against one of the couches as Deuce talked to him. Whatever he said seemed to only make Ace sag even further.
Grim pounced onto the broken rocking chair before settling down and pointing at Ace. “What happened ta Ace? He looks even worse than tha dorm.”
He smacked Grim’s paw away and gave him a stink eye. “It’s ’cause Riddle’s still on a rampage. Yuu, you promised to come with me when I apologize, right?”
“I remember saying that, so are you gonna do it?”
Raising a hand to his head, he gave out an exaggerated sigh. “…Fine.”
Nodding, she gave him a thumbs up for encouragement.
“Hey Yuu, you and Grim are going to start attending as normal students, right?”
Deuce turned to look at Grim and then her. He had a confused look on his face, like he was suddenly faced with the question of how Grim opened doors despite not being tall enough to reach the knob. Seriously, what was the secret…
“Of course! The great Grim will show you just how to be a true wizard!”
“If that’s the case, then do you have a uniform ready?”
Oh, that hadn’t even crossed her mind. The outfit Crowley gave her the day before was supposed to be for her role as janitor, but now that she was a student she had jack squat.
“…Well crap, now what? I don’t have any other clothes other than this jumpsuit and a burned robe.”
“The dorm has a few spare uniforms in case something happens. Maybe we can ask the housewarden to lend you one?”
“You can’t be serious, are you seriously considering asking him?! He’ll probably have your head for ‘not being prepared’ or something.” Ace jumped up from his position on the couch. He shot an accusing glare at Deuce before moving to look at Yuu and pointing to his collar.
“Not happening, especially after this.”
She could understand his hesitance, after all if worst came to worst then they might end up begging to have his collar removed. Asking for a favor directly after won’t be the greatest move, but what was she going to do, show up to class in a dirt stained jumpsuit?
“You’re right, and there’s the fact that Grim burned up orientation. I don’t think he would be willing to help us after that, or anyone for that matter.”
There wasn’t anyone else she even knew………Oh wait a minute. Two kind souls who would likely cause her to faint if she did see them popped into mind.
A bang hit the front door and brought her out of her thoughts. The door, having suffered so much abuse from Ace, Deuce, and now this new person, could no longer withstand it. The door knob let out a sharp cry as it fell and landed with a thud. “Oh… but why?”
“Good morning! If I didn’t know better, I would say Ramshackle has grown a decade older!”
How offensive, that door knob did nothing to deserve this treatment! Now it lies cold, and alone. Yuu vowed to remember its sacrifice. “Good morning to you too, sir.”
“Eh!? Headmage!?” Her two guests jumped onto their feet and stood at attention.
“Why, I would have expected you to be more excitable. After all, it’s not everyday someone is accepted into NRC without any magic.” Closing the door the best he could, Crowley strode forward with a plastic container in one hand and a bag in the other.
“Myah! Of course the human could get accepted with my help. It was a breeze, wasn’t it human?” Where did Grim get the confidence after the disaster that was the previous day? They charred a statue, broke a chandelier, and …other stuff.
“Yup, as calm as a hurricane. Anyways, what do you have with you sir?”
“This?” He put down the container onto her kitchen table before handing her the bag. “As a new and rather unorthodox student, one of our professors saw it fit to gather this assembly of items for you. It contains your uniforms, a map of the campus. a notebook, and two pens. Keep in mind that every classroom already stores the necessary items for the students, so I wouldn’t recommend taking the bag or notebook with you throughout the day.”
It was a rather nice drawstring bag, on the front was a Raven with the letters “NRC” printed on. It looked like tourist merchandise if anything. The uniform itself was the same as the two boys besides her, except the vest was black instead of red. There was also a black and white ribbon accompanying the left arm of the blazer, just above it was an emblem with another Raven.
There was also a tracksuit inside as well. It was a nicer quality than the janitor uniform. It has white streaks running through the arms and legs. However, one feature shined more brightly than anything else. It was clean ! A clean, non ripped, non charred uniform. If something else ruined her clothes for the third day then someone would be maimed. “I- well, thank you! We were just talking about what I was going to do about my uniform. It’s a real miracle that you came in when you did.”
“Ah hahaha, um, well yes, of course! Anyways, as a student of NRC, I expect you to be diligent in your classes and please watch over Grim. Expulsion exists for a reason you know.” With that final warning he turned on his heel and left.
“You heard the man Grim, no funny business.” Now if only Grim would actually listen to her, their lives could have been a lot easier.
“I guess you should get ready Yuu, the headmage is probably keeping an eye on you guys after yesterday.” With good enough reason behind that statement, Yuu bid a quick goodbye to the boy’s before leaving to change into her uniform.
“Hey, if you could do me a favor, can you check that container Crowley left? Okay thanks, bye!” Rushing up the stairs, she dumped the contents of the bag on the bed.
It was the first day as a student, second day of being allowed to stay, and the third day since she first arrived. Suffice to say, her nerves were haywire. With Ace collared and Grim on a high horse despite their terrible first impressions on the student body, the chances of a quieter day was slipping through her fingers, again.