Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The school day had ended and clubs were beginning to wrap up. The sun shines beautifully and fills the air with warm rays as a light breeze blows through the campus. Birds chirped and pecked at the ground in search of food as squirrels roamed the courtyard. Jade found himself roaming the empty courtyard, having decided to take some time to himself before Mostro Lounge opened. Birds scattered and squirrels fled up trees upon noticing the eel approaching them. He smiled and chuckled to himself, finding delight in seeing the small animals run away in fear. Jade took a deep breath, taking in the afternoon air as a breeze blew through his hair. 

He turned to begin his walk to the dorm, but paused as he heard something above him. Looking up, he barely had time to catch the body that had fallen from the third story. The faint scent of citrus hit him first before anything else, he knew that scent by heart given that Floyd would often return home smelling of it.

“Oya Oya, Miss Yuu. Falling for-” Jade paused in his teasing as a very familiar scent flooded his senses.

Blood. The ramshackle prefect smelt like blood and the vice dorm leader looked down at the body in his arms. Yuu Homura was injured: her right eye was swollen shut, her clothes were dirty and her jacket was missing, she held her left shoulder which looked dislocated, her knuckles were bruised and covered in blood, her remaining eye was wide with a blown and unfocused pupil. Sensing she was caught, she tried to frantically wiggle out of Jade's arms, forcing him to tighten his grip on her.

“Miss Yuu. Miss Yuu!” Jade called her name. “It's me.”

“....Jade?” Yuu's eye looked up at him. “That you?”

“Yes. What happened-” he paused, hearing voices above him and quickly hid in the shadows.

“Shit, where did she go?” a frustrated voice was heard. “She couldn't have gone far. She was limping, so that means we broke something.”

“Man, she's probably hiding somewhere.” A nasally voice responded. “Let's go before we're found out.”

Jade waited for the footsteps to disappear and tried to tamper down his anger. Who in their right mind would attack Yuu like this and to this level of severity? He looked down at her, seeing as she had placed her head against his shoulder and closed her eye. She shakingly exhaled, body relaxing against him. His first thought was to take her to the infirmary, but her assailants might be lingering around, waiting for her to show up. She needed to be safe, somewhere where he could take care of her and keep an eye on her.

“Miss Yuu, I'll be taking care of you at Octavinelle.”

Yuu grunted in confirmation and Jade began to make his way to the hall of mirrors, sticking to the least traveled routes in the process. He entered the dorm with no problems and made tracks to his and Floyd's shared room. He closed the door and made to set Yuu down, only for her to latch onto his jacket.

“Don't.” Her voice was sharp in her command, even if she was struggling to focus on him. “Don't let me go, Jade...Please...”

Jade frowned. “I promise.” 

He sat on his bed and pulled out his phone, dialing one of the numbers he knew by heart. Now, if he was going to answer was the next thing. The phone rang, once, twice before being picked up.

“Nice job today, Floyd.” One of his teammates slapped him on the back as they left with the others.

Floyd grunted in acknowledgement as he pulled his shirt over his head and shoved his gym uniform onto his bag.

“Why don't you just button it up?” Ace asked as he flung his bag over his shoulder and closed his locker as Jamil focused on tying his shoes.

Floyd waved him off. “This way is faster.”

Ace opened his mouth only for Jamil to place a hand over his mouth with a snake of his head. Just then, Floyd's phone went off, startling Ace with the loud ringtone. Floyd rolled his eyes and answered it after the second ring.

“I'm comin’, you ain't gotta call for-”

“Floyd.” Jade's voice sounded extremely serious.

“Jade, what is it?”

“It's about Miss Yuu-”

“What about Shrimpy?” The sound of Yuu's nickname grabbed Jamil and Ace’s attention.

“She's badly wounded. I don't know the full extent of her injuries at the moment, but her eye is swollen and her shoulder is dislocated. She was attacked by someone, two of them, as a matter of fact. I am unable to take her to the infirmary with her assailants still out.”

The air in the locker room froze as Floyd processed the information. Behind him, Ace and Jamil’s eyes were wide, shock evident on both of their faces. Before either of them could react, Floyd quickly grabbed his things and slammed his locker shut. He bolted out of the locker room and made a beeline for the Hall of Mirrors. Anyone spotting him in the hallway quickly moved out of the way once they saw the look of absolute fury in his eyes. He ran past Azul and Riddle, both of them watching him jump over the railing of the stairway and land on the ground. 

Azul bid Riddle a goodbye and followed after Floyd, who ignored his dorm leaders' calls for him. Whoever had hurt his Shrimpy was going to wish they were never born.

Jade looked down at Yuu as she slept in his arms, he gently ran his fingers through her dark hair just as the door slammed opened. Jade looked towards the door as Yuu jolted awake, Floyd looked absolutely angry, pupils shrunken down to pinpricks with his phone in hand with cracks along the edge. He tossed the bag into the room as his eyes honed in on Jade and Yuu. Yuu squinted in his direction, body on edge as she tried to decipher who rushed in.

“Miss Yuu, it’s Floyd.”

“Floyd?”

Floyd was at her side immediately. “I’m right here, Shrimpy.”

She reached out for him and he gently grabbed her, pulling her into his embrace. He held her, not tight enough to aggravate her wounds, but tight enough to let her know he was here. Floyd buried his face in her neck and gave a shaky inhale. Jade quietly watched the scene unfold. His brother rarely cared about people, unless it was family or Azul, and yet watching his twin cradle his best friend set home what Yuu really meant to Floyd. She meant a lot to Jade as well, not only because of her friendship with Floyd, but because she saw and treated Jade like a friend and not someone to be feared or avoided.

“Who did this?” Floyd's voice was cold.

Yuu muttered. “Don't know, they hit me with some potion. Made it feel like I was drugged before they started attacking me.” She curled her fist. “Broke one of their noses though.”

“Good.” 

“Miss Yuu.” They both looked at Jade. “Do you wish for me to inform the others about your situation? 

Yuu opened her mouth just as Azul appeared in the doorway. He was out of breath as he leaned on the doorframe. 

“Floyd, what in sevens name is-” Azul adjusted his glasses and raised his head, eyes widening as he saw the prefect’s condition. “Y-yuu-san? What in Twisted Wonderland happened to you?”

“Some bottom feeders attacked her.” Floyd growled. 

“Do you-”

“No.” Yuu answered. “I don't, sorry.”

“Never apologize for this, Yuu-san.” Azul said softly as he walked into the room once he closed the door. “Just let us know if you need anything. Free of charge.” He added once Yuu sent him a look.

“Mmh, I'll hold you to that. Jade, you can go ahead and tell everyone.”

Jade nodded and pulled out his phone. While he typed away, Yuu leaned against Floyd and closed her eye.

“Shrimpy's staying with us until we find those bastards.”

“Indeed.” Jade added in. “Leaving her in the infirmary or sending her back to Ramshackle will leave her open for another attack.” Jade sent the text and multiple chimes went off from the phones. “And while I'm not discrediting Chestnut’s ability to protect her, he can't be with her 24/7.”

Azul hummed. “Is she going to stay with you two?”

“Who else is gonna protect Shrimpy better than me and Jade?” Floyd got up from the floor and set Yuu on his bed. “Besides, no one is that stupid enough to try and get her here.”

“That is true.” 

The three mermen looked at Yuu as she curled up on the bed, back facing the trio.

“I’ll get started on gathering any information. Perhaps Idia can hack into the cameras.” Azul left, but paused at the door as he took another look at Yuu. “Jade, Floyd, protect her with your lives.”

“We shall.”

“That’s the idea.”

Once Yuu’s wounds were patched up to the best of their ability, popping her arm back into place was the hardest part for the twins. Jade had made plans to take her to the infirmary come tomorrow, Floyd was going with them and that was final. Jade exited the bathroom, pajamas on as he ran a towel over his hair. He looked over at Floyd, dressed in a pair of white and blue striped pants, as he held an asleep Yuu close to him. The prefect was in one of Floyd's borrowed shirts and she was practically swimming in it. Jade made for his bed, only to be stopped by his brother's voice.

“Jade, Shrimpy's back needs to be protected.” 

He knows what Floyd meant. The left handed twin was a heavy sleeper, only waking up to a hard enough shake or the smell of food. He was asking Jade, the lighter sleeper of the two, to protect Yuu’s back and be alert for the smallest sound.

“Of course.” Floyd backed up to the wall and pulled Yuu into his chest as Jade joined the two. “Goodnight.”

Floyd grunted out a “Night” and fell asleep, Jade leaned over to turn off the light and slowly fell asleep. 

A small clicking sound woke Jade up hours later, golden eye glowing as he looked over at the clock. The time read one thirty in the morning as the clicking sound was heard again. Jade looked towards the door, the faint glow of the windows giving him just enough light to see the knob on the door slowly turning but stopping as it hit the lock. Frowning, he quickly shook Floyd awake.

He woke up, eyes still drowsy as he glanced at his brother.

“Someone's at the door.”

“Eh?” Floyd raised his head, his own golden eye glowing as he looked at the door. “Who-”

The door clicked, but this time the lock didn't catch. Both of them quickly laid down and closed their eyes. The door opened and a voice was heard.

“Shit. Of course both of them have to be here and she's in the middle of them.” The voice quietly muttered. “I'll try again later...”

The door closed and the person left. Floyd and Jade sat up, the pair of them exchanging wide eyed looks at each other. This has gone far beyond just beating up Yuu and they needed to find those responsible and quick .

Chapter Text

The soft lights of the ocean greeted Yuu as she slowly opened her eye, blinking slowly as her vision readjusted. She could hear someone in the bathroom and there was a weight on her stomach. Glancing to her right, she was met with a mob of messy teal hair and the sleeping face of Floyd. He slept soundly as his arm subconsciously tightened its grip on her. With a soft smile on her face, she dragged her fingers through his hair in an attempt to fix it. Her leg, now sensing her body was up, started to throb in pain and taking deep breaths aggravated her chest. With a hiss of pain, she gripped her leg and sighed.

“Ah, you're up.”

She turned to see Jade dressed in his school uniform, his gloves were absent and so were his shoes.

“How are you feeling?”

“Still in some pain.” Yuu tried sitting up and Jade moved to help her. “Thanks. Have you seen my phone? The others probably want an update.”

“Unfortunately,” Jade retrieved her phone. “It's no longer functional.” There were cracks on the screen and it looked like parts of it had popped out of place. “Perhaps Idia can fix it for you. In the meanwhile, you may borrow mine and Floyd's.”

Yuu sighed and turned the phone over, as crappy as it was, it still helped her out when she needed it.

“Alright, thanks again, Jade.”

“You're welcome.” He reached behind her and shook Floyd. “Floyd, it's time to get up.”

“Mmh.” Came his drowsy whine. “Jade, go’way.”

“We have to take Miss Yuu to see Chestnut.”

“...” Floyd blotted up, eyes still closed. “Right, right...”

Yuu laughed a little. “Rise and shine, it's time for my doctor's appointment.” 

He opened his eyes and stared at her with a tired expression. He pulled her close to him and placed his cheek on the top of her head.

“Mornin’ Shrimpy.”

“Morning, how was your sleep?”

“It-”

A knock at the door came, grabbing their attention as Jade went to answer it.

“Good Morning, Azul.”

“Good morning.” Azul walked in, bag in his hand. “Yuu-san, these are for you.” He handed them to her. “They were delivered to me by Grim.”

“Grim, huh?” She opened it. Inside was a set of casual clothes with a note saying he'd see her soon. “You little furball...”

“How are you feeling?” Azul sat down on the bed. “We tried to help as best as we could.”

“In pain, but getting somewhat better.”

“Good, good.” He adjusted his glasses. “I've instructed the others to meet us at the infirmary once they're able to as well as contacted the teachers about your situation.”

“Thanks, octoboy.”

“You're welcome.” Azul softly smiled. “Now shall we get going?”

“Your ribs are bruised and some are fractured, you got a massive bruise on your shoulder from the dislocation, your knuckles are a little swollen, your ankle is twisted and your leg is broken. I can't see the damage to the eye until it unswells...” Chestnut said as he finished his diagnosis from the information his glasses had given him. “Whoever did this made sure to break your leg, there’s a bruise mark on it from their shoe.”

Howard Chestnut was NRC’s physician, a lop eared rabbit and snow tiger hybrid Beastman. The sleeves of his light green dress shirt were rolled up, his black slack covered legs were crossed. He wore a pair of slippers on his feet. A set of dark round glasses were on his face, hiding his set of blue feline eyes from view. His skin was pale as he settled back against his chair.

“Everything will heal in due time, of course the broken leg is going to take longer. Nothing a healing and mend potion can’t fix, but you’ll need to be exercising it so it can get stronger.” He looked over towards the octavinelle trio. “But I'm annoyed that you didn't bring her sooner. I could've at least seen what they might've drugged her with.” 

“Her assailants were still around, I couldn't risk that.” Jade calmly responded.

He got up and went over to a cooler connected to the large medical cabinet. He pulled out a small ice pack with a strap attached to it, he walked back over to Yuu and placed it over her eye. Chestnut adjusted the strap and lowered his voice.

“Homura, they only beat you up, right?”

Yuu knew what he was hinting at. “Just beat me up, like the cowards they are.”

“So, Shrimpy's fine, right, Doctorfish?”

“She still has wounds, Leech. Fine is not what she is, better would be a more accurate term.”

Floyd glared at Chestnut and grumbled.

“But I understand that you're worried about her.” He pushed up his glasses. “She's alive because of you three.” His ear twitched as he looked towards the door. “And things are about to get much louder..”

The door burst open, startling everyone but Chestnut. Ace, Deuce, and Grim stood in the doorway, not far behind them were Riddle, Cater, and Trey.

“Yuu!”

“Henchhuman!”

They rushed towards her, but were halted by Riddle’s voice.

“Hold it, you three! You don't know if it's alright to hug her yet!” Riddle crossed his arms. “Wait until you have the clearance from Chestnut.”

Their eyes turned towards the physician, who waved them towards her as he rolled away. Grim tackled Yuu, hugging her as his face was buried in her chest. Ace and Deuce hugged her tight, both of their faces were in her neck.

“I'm sobby!” Grim wailed, voice sounding watery. “If that make-up class didn't happen, I would've been there! I could've fought them off!”

“We all should've been there.” Deuce wiped tears from his eyes. “We're sorry, Yuu.”

“Who did it? You got names or faces at least?” Ace asked, Yuu could see anger in his eyes.

Yuu shook her head. “Nothing, sorry.” She ruffled the Adeuce combo hairs. “Let someone else have a turn, you three, and apology accepted.”

Ace and Deuce stepped back, but Grim stayed nearby, sitting down next to Yuu's legs on the cot. Trey, Cater, and Riddle approached her, Cater pulled Yuu into a hug and placed his chin on top of her head.

“Don't scare me like that, Yuu-chan.” Cater whispered. “I wouldn't know what to do if I lost you...” He stepped back and Trey took his place.

“Glad to see you're better.” He gave a soft smile and hugged her. “Grim stayed with us once we heard what happened.” He stepped aside as Riddle stepped forward.

“I...” Riddle seemed to be at a loss of words. “Hearing what happened to you and knowing that none of us could see you was hard.” He said after a few seconds. “To know one of my friends was hurt and that I could do nothing...” Riddle held her hand. “We'll find whoever did this to you. I swear on the Queen’s rulebook, they will not get away with this.”

“Thanks guys.” Yuu gave a soft smile. “It means a lot.”

Riddle nodded. “We’re off to our classes, we’ll come visit you again.”

“Take the trio with you.” Chestnut said from the medical cabinet, cutting off anything Yuu was about to say.

“What?”

“We’re staying here!” Floyd crossed his arms. 

“You three are headed off to class.” Chestnut mixed some ingredients together. “I’ll protect her from here, the only ones who know she’s here are the ones in your chat. If you aren’t in class, it’ll raise questions.”

Azul sighed. “He’s right.”

Jade narrowed his eyes slightly. “...Very well, but Floyd and myself will be checking in during the transitions between classes.”

“...You better keep an eye out, Doctorfish.”

The students departed from the office, leaving Yuu with the physician. He finished whatever he was brewing and handed it to the prefect.

“Here, it’s a pain and mend potion. Drink it every six hours.” Chestnut went to his desk. 

Yuu drank it with a grimace and looked over at the hybrid beastman. “...Did anyone come to you for a broken nose?”

“...No.” He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“The reason my knuckles are bruised is because I broke someone's nose.” 

“Oh, you got someone?” Grim asked and then smiled. “Good, they deserved it.”

Yuu ruffled Grim’s fur as Chestnut hummed. 

“...I’ll pass that onto the dorm heads. You’re free to fall asleep and whatnot.”

Grim curled up in her arms as Yuu laid down, falling asleep a few moments after.

She awoke to the sound of arguing in the room and she blinked her eyes open. Grim was still asleep on her stomach, mumbling to himself as his leg twitches.

“-You can’t just send her off to RSA!”

“Lower your voices, she’s still asleep.” Chestnut said.

“It’s the only way to keep her safe for the time being.” That was Crewel’s voice. “After hearing that someone has broken into the Leech brothers room just to try to attack her again, it’s the only clear decision.”

“But why should she have to be the one to leave and not them?” That was Ace. 

“Because we have no idea who attacked her, Mr. Trappola.” Crowley. “Her safety comes first.”

“If her safety really came first,” Jamil. “Then you wouldn’t have put her into all those dangerous situations.”

Crowley coughed. “Anyway, because she doesn’t know who her attackers are, she’s going to RSA until we can identify them.” 

“Didn’t Chestnut say Yuu broke one of their noses?” Epel. “We just need to find the student with the broken nose.”

A small bit of silence before Chestnut spoke.

“No one came to me for a broken nose, so they’re hiding it.”

“I believe we should ask Child of Man what would be best for them.” Malleus. “We can not decide on her behalf.” 

“As much as I hate to agree... the lizard is right.” Leona. “Let Herbivore decide.”

Yuu sat up, staring at the curtain that surrounded the bed. Going to RSA... like hell she was going to do that. She wanted to see these assholes caught, so that she can kindly pay them back for what they did to her.

“Hey.” She spoke, silencing the conversation for now.

The curtain was pushed back and Yuu stared out at the group in the room. All of her friends and the staff were in the room. Floyd and Jade immediately broke off from where they were standing next to Azul to be at Yuu’s side. Floyd pulled her in for a hug, while Jade greeted her warmly.

“I’m staying here.” She raised her hand as Crowly tried to speak. “I have the utter confidence that you guys will find those responsible and when you do, please let me see them.” She smiled, mimicking the numerous villainous smiles she had seen from the others in the room. “I would love to talk to them.”

The group blinked before equally villainous smiles stretched on their faces. Floyd started cackling in a high pitch while Jade laughed behind his hand. This was Yuu’s home and like hell they were going to scare her away from her home.

Chapter Text

“So the idea of someone breaking into the bedroom doesn't bother you?”

Jade glanced up from his work as he sat on the couch in Azul's office. Azul was looking at the other side of the room, where Yuu and Floyd were playing cards. A bowl of peanuts and its shells sat between them, on Yuu's head sat Floyd's hat with his scarf wrapped around her neck. Her leg was wrapped in a magical cast and a pair of crutches were resting against the armrest.

“I mean...” Yuu looked up from her cards. “It's bold of them to even attempt it, just to come after me like that.” She slapped Floyd's hand as he tried to steal one of her cards. “But... I'm not scared, bothered, yeah, but not scared.”

Azul raised an eyebrow at that and Yuu added more context to what she meant.

“I've fought seven overblots, it's hard for me to be scared anymore.”

“Understandable.”

“Speaking of, did you guys find anything?” She slapped Floyd's hand again.

Jade hummed. “Sadly no, clubs were going on when you were attacked. Even going back to where I found you yielded no results.” He got up to take the discarded shells and trash them. “I've contacted Idia to see if he could pull anything from the cameras.”

Floyd huffed as he threw down his losing hand. “And no one's braggin’ about attckin’ you. There ain't even gossip about it.”

“Someone is smart enough not to brag about their crimes? That's unusual.” Yuu stretched. “Especially for this school.”

A knock at the door came and Jade got up to answer it.

“You cheated, Shrimpy.”

“I did not, you just had a shit hand.”

“Hello, Idia, Ortho.” Jade stepped aside as the Shroud brothers walked in.

“A rare Idia in the flesh.” Yuu teased. 

“Yuu Homura-san.” Ortho floated over and hugged her, which she returned. 

“Yuu-rin.” Idia’s hands were shoved into his pockets and his hood was up. “Here.” He handed her a new phone. “I moved over all your data into it, including your games, now you don't have to whale for those UR cards. And added some specs to it to make it run better.”

“Thank you, cause those cards were bullshit to pull for.” Yuu smiled. “You didn't have to do that for me.”

He shrugged. “Like Crowley was going to hand you another phone, it'll probably be shitter than the last one he gave you.” Idia sat down on the couch with Jade joining him. “Jade-shi, I did what you asked.”

“And what have you found?”

“Nothing.”

Idia's answer was met with confused looks.

“Whoever attacked Yuu-rin wiped the footage. So I went into the back ups to find those were wiped too. Including the early morning where they broke into Jade-shi and Floyd-shi’s room.”

“...Does that include Crowley's side of the footage?” Yuu asked.

“Yeah. Anything that was recorded that day is all gone.”

“Even I couldn't find anything.” Ortho added.

“Oh... That's distressing...” Yuu slumped back against the backrest.

“Wait.” Azul spoke, gaining everyone's attention. “Crewel keeps track of every ingredient in the potions lab, when they drugged Yuu-san, they must've pulled for those ingredients.”

“You're sayin’ we can track what they used on Shrimpy with what went missin’?”

“Precisely. Certain ingredients leave behind unique signatures when used.” Azul explained. “Due to the amount of magic attached to them. For example, we can tell what Chestnut used in the pain and mend potion, he used Eucalyptus and Cinnamon.”

“Oh really?” Yuu perked up. “That's cool as shit.”

“We might also be able to tie that in with the students who excel at potion making.” Jade added in. 

“Ortho and I will keep an eye on the cameras, maybe their hacker might've slipped up somewhere.” Idia got up to leave and Ortho followed suit. “Get better soon, Yuu-rin, Ortho and I need you for the tournament coming up.”

“Yeah! You're the best defender and attacker we got!”

Yuu laughed. “Well, I'll tell my body to hurry up and heal then. I miss causing problems on the goals. If not, I can always play from my phone.”

Idia made a look of disgust. “Only noobs and newbies do that and you're no noob.”

“Thanks, Idia, there's that vote of confidence.”

The Shroud brothers left, leaving the four of them in the office. Yuu popped her back and sat up.

“If I'm staying with you guys, I need to get some stuff from Ramshackle. It's better than Grim having to do it.”

“We’ll come with you, Shrimpy.” Floyd stood up and pulled Yuu from the couch, making her have to hobble to regain her balance. “We ain't lettin’ you go alone.”

“Indeed.” Jade grabbed her crutches. “Think of us as your bodyguards for the time being.”

“Damn, I get two? Lucky me.”

“You three get back safely.” Azul stood up. “I'll be locking down the Lounge in the meantime.”

“Alright, we’ll see you later.”

Entering Ramshackle showed nothing was out of place, whoever had attacked Yuu had left Ramshackle in the same state it was in when she had left that day. The lounge area was still clean and kept up with, seeing the newly designed couches, rugs, and various other decor fill the large area. Looking into the kitchen was the same result, except for the pantry being open with a few cans of tuna taken out.

“I’ll be right back, you guys can chill on the couch.”

“Do you need help?” Jade asked as he watched Yuu place a hand on the railing of the stairs.

“I’m good- Floyd!” Floyd had picked up the prefect and carried her up the stairs. “Put me down!”

“C’mon, Shrimpy, you don't gotta struggle around us. You need help and we’re given’ it to ya.” He placed her outside her door. “So shut up and let us help.”

Yuu rolled her eyes. “Alright, sorry. Forgive me.”

“I’ll think about it.” Floyd smiled as Yuu hobbled into her room.

Jade shook his head and chuckled at the pair's antics, he ascended the staircase and waited outside the room with Floyd.

“Do you think these bottom feeders are that smart?” Floyd leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. 

“The level of intelligence at this school does often vary.” Jade hummed and placed his hand on his chin. “Though, I do believe we can cut out any Savanaclaw students for this plan.”

“Eh? Ain’t they strong enough to do all that damage to her?”

“Strong, but not smart enough for this level of dedication. I can’t see any Savanaclaw student lock picking their way into our room-”

“Sharksucker could.”

“But he wouldn’t. In his own words, him and Yuu are ‘Broke buddies.’”

“Then who-”

Suddenly Jade’s phone went off, cutting off the brothers and causing Jade to pull his phone out of his pocket. Floyd leaned over to see who called him only to see the I.D display the name: Unknown Number. They looked at each other before Jade answered it.

“Hello?”

A heavy distorted sigh came through the speaker. “You and your brother are very determined to keep her.” The person’s voice sounded off and Jade realized that the person was using a voice changer.

“And who, may I ask, is this?”

“Doesn’t matter, all that matters is you give her up.”

Floyd let out a low growl as Jade narrowed his eyes. “We’re not handing over Miss Yuu to you.”

“I thought Azul’s henchmen were supposed to be smarter than this.”

“Jade and I will die before we ever hand Shrimpy to you.” Floyd snapped as a deep growl came from his throat.

“So be it.” The call ended and the brothers stared at the phone.

This was getting serious.

Chapter Text

“How do I know you two aren’t gonna just drag me under?”

“Don’t you trust us, Shrimpy?”

“We would never do that to you.”

Yuu narrowed her eyes at the brothers as they stared up at her from the water, both of them were in their true forms as they waited for her. Chestnut had said that in order for her leg to heal faster, she should exercise it and what better way to do that than swimming with a pair of mermen? Currently, the three of them were in Octavinelle’s pool room with the door locked. Floyd was leaning against the floor tiles, his chin was placed on his folded arms. Jade stood... swam... was behind Floyd as he waited patiently for Yuu. Yuu herself was in a cute blue floral two piece swimsuit and her leg was free of the cast. 

She limped her way over to the edge where Floyd backed up and raised his left hand while Jade raised his right, both of them silently asking for Yuu’s hand. She placed both her hands in theirs and was gently led into the pool. Both of them slowly swam away from the edge with Yuu swimming behind them, the only sound coming from the splashing water as she kicked.

“You guys ever broken a limb before?” Yuu asked as Jade and Floyd let her hands go.

“Nah.” Floyd floated on his back as he circled Yuu. “Havin’ a broken tail fin would be the death of ya.”

“You’d turn into prey in a second.” Jade added in as he guided Yuu along. “Why do you ask?”

“Well,” Yuu switched to floating on her back. “You guys are still experiencing human things right? I just wondered what else you guys haven’t done.”

Jade hummed. “Are they strictly human experiences?”

“I mean, they don’t gotta be.” Yuu jolted as Floyd floated under her and pulled her against his chest. “Now I’m gonna be covered in mucus.” She whined.

“Shrimpy’s askin’ a lotta questions. Oh! I got it~ For every question you ask, we get to ask one about ya. Right, Jade?”

“Right, Floyd.” Jade swam over and smiled. “It seems only fair after all.”

Yuu rolled her eyes. “Fine. Uh...How was it walking for the first time?”

“Difficult.”

“It was fun~” Floyd chirped out. “Our turn! How strong are you?”

“Oh, I'm-”

“I do recall her punching you in the solar plexus the day the text results were live.” Jade remembered, a toothy smile shown on his face. “You went down just from that one hit.”

“Yeah, and she kneed you in the dick. You went down faster than I did ” Floyd responded with his own smile as he looked at Jade.

Yuu laughed at the glare Jade sent Floyd at the mention. “I’m plenty strong, clearly as you guys can tell. Spent like what...six years of my life boxing and whatever else I wanted to do in that time frame.”

“Ah, boxing. So, that's how you were able to handle Jamil like that.”

Floyd laughed. “You didn't hold back your punches.”

“He literally kidnapped me! I mean, we're doing better, relationship wise, but give me a break.” Yuu crossed her arms. “Next one, will you guys get longer?” She pointed at their tails.

“Yeah-huh, Pops is way longer than both of us.”

“Indeed, and Mother isn't too far behind.” Jade hummed and placed his hand on his chin. “Let's see...ah, you called Floyd and I ‘beautiful and cool’ when you saw our true forms for the first time. Was that you being truthful?”

“Have you not seen you two?” Yuu replied unabashedly and lifted up Floyd's arm. “The side fins for more speed and maneuverability.” She messed with his hand. “The claws cause you guys are predators, but your claws match your color scheme. You guys are teal colored, to blend in with the ocean more, so you guys must be terrifying as fuck to encounter when it's dark. And...” She trailed off once she spotted their faces. “Was I talking too much?”

Jade and Floyd had covered their faces as Yuu praised how they looked. She could see a faint blush run across both of their cheeks. Floyd made a happy sounding whine as the tip of his tail waved in the water, almost as if it was wagging from the praise. Jade cleared his throat and looked away, trying to hide his face. 

‘Ah, and cute too.’ Yuu thought mindlessly with a smile on her face. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize, Miss Yuu.” Jade spoke up after a few seconds.

“Didn’t know that you were focusin’ that much on us.” Floyd muttered. “I was expectin’ ya to be all like ‘Oh, you remember that? I’m so embarrassed’ or somethin’.” He mimicked her voice. “You’re no fun, Shrimpy.”

“I actively call you guys pretty to your faces. I ain’t bashful.” She frowned and then blinked. “Wait, were you wanting that response?”

Both Jade and Floyd looked off to the side, neither of them said anything.

“You assholes. Okay, have you-” 

The sound of the door opening caught their attention as all of them looked towards the entrance. Azul calmly walked in and stood outside of the pool.

“Floyd, may I borrow you for a few moments?”

“Fine...” Floyd handed Yuu off to Jade and swam over to Azul, getting out of the pool and following him out of the room.

A shiver ran through Yuu’s body, be it from the cold feeling of the room or Jade’s cold body.

“How about we return to the room, hmm?” He asked once he felt her shiver.

“Yeah, I need to dry off and get warm.”

Yuu sat on Jade’s bed, dressed in a red hoodie and sweatpants with a towel on her head, as she watched Jade work with one of his terrariums. His hands gently worked at placing each plant in a specific place. He readjusted a white mushroom with a black at the end of the cap, it was dropping the same color from the ends of it.

“Oh, they have Inky Cap’s here?”

Jade paused and he turned to look at Yuu with wide eyes. “You... You know what this is?”

“Yeah, we got them back in my world.”

“I found it on my hike the other day, in a meadow near one of the mountains.” He looked back at it. “I haven’t found out much about it.” He turned back to her. “Perhaps you can answer some of my questions about it.”

“I can try, hit me with it.”

Jade pulled out a notebook and turned to her. “Is it poisonous?”

“Nah, but if you eat it with alcohol, you’re gonna have a bad time.”

“I see...Why do they call it Inky Cap?”

“Uh...” Yuu thought of the answer. “Basically, the mushroom cap eats itself and causes the ‘ink’ like visual.”

“I never knew you were versed in mushroom knowledge.”

“Got a friend back home who was studying Botany and she was very hard focused on mushrooms for a while. She talked about it for four months.” Yuu rubbed the back of her head. “I’m sure you’d love her if you two ever met.”

“Hmm.” He wrote it down and before he could ask another question, Yuu cut him off.

“Jade, are you and Floyd not telling me something?”

Yuu watched as Jade froze momentarily before turning to face her. 

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I overheard you and Floyd talking to someone on your phone, back when I was getting my clothes.” Yuu crossed her arms. “I didn’t hear the full conversation, but if it’s concerning me, then I need to know what it is.”

Jade stared at her for a few moments, silent as he seemed to contemplate giving her an answer. He gave in and set his notebook on the table.

“Your attacker contacted me and demanded that I hand you over to them or Floyd and I will suffer for housing you.”

Yuu's green eyes narrowed. “Am I really that important enough to threaten you?”

“Clearly you are.” Jade crossed his legs at the knees. “Have you wronged anyone recently?”

“Nah. Unless someone takes offense to me just being alive.” She flopped back on the bed. “Or me being magicless. Or, I dunno, just me being friends with y'all.”

“Then for them to attack you for any reason would make them incredibly selfish and cowardly.”

“Yeah...” She yawned. “I want these assholes found.”

“And they shall be.” Jade got up and turned off the light. “Go ahead and take a nap, Miss Yuu. I shall be here when you wake up.”

She opened her arms. “Only if you nap with me, Jadey.”

“Is that you asking?”

“Demanding.”

Jade chuckled and climbed into bed with her. Yuu wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. He hugged her and pressed his lips to the top of her head 

“Thanks for humoring me.”

“Anytime, I quite like spending time with you.” 

She smiled softly and soon fell asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.

Chapter Text

“Alright, we’re flying with Class A today! So everyone pair up and get to flying!”

Jade mentally sighed as Vargas gave the order, he gripped his broom tightly as others around him started pairing up. 

“Jade?” He turned around to see Kalim smiling at him. “Do you want to be partners?” 

“Surely you would want to pair up with someone else, Riddle or Silver perhaps?”

Kalim shook his head and beamed, smiling growing brighter. “Nope! I wanna pair up with you!”

Jade gave another mental sigh, but steered his face and let out a light chuckle. “Very well.”

Kalim dragged Jade away from the group and got on his broom. He stared at Jade expectantly, red eyes wide and full of light. The merman reluctantly got on his broom and the pair of them began to fly, although Jade stuck low to the ground.

“C'mon Jade, you can go higher than that!” Kalim flew above him, doing little loops around the struggling eel.

“I'm- I'm fine right here, thank you.” Jade swallowed, mentally cursing his stumble.

“But you can't get better if you don't challenge yourself.” Kalim floated upside down and Jade really wished he wasn't looking at him. “Don't you want to get better?”

He sighed, no wonder Jamil had problems handing him. Jade opened his mouth to speak only for his broom to suddenly jerk to a stop. He looked down, confused, before it took off at a rapid speed, sending him flying high up into the air.

“Jade!”

He clung on tightly to the broom and closed his eyes as it continued its climb. He could hear various calls of his names through the sound of rushing wind. The broom came to another jerking stop and Jade dared to open his eyes, flinching as he saw how high up he was. He could barely see anyone below him and he could see the RSA building in the distance. Jade swallowed nervously and tried to bring the broom back down to the ground, only for it to take off again, climbing up before disintegrating into nothing. Jade’s eyes widened as he was sent into a free fall, body twisting this way and that in the process.

“Jade, hold on!”

Halfway into the descent, Kalim grabbed him and fought to keep his broom in the air at the sudden weight gain. Jade clung onto the dorm leader’s arm, basically clawing it as his body shook.

“Jade, I got you.” Kalim’s smile was strained and Jade could see the worry in his eyes. “C-Can you climb up?”

“I-I believe so.” Jade shakingly climbed aboard the broom. “Thank you kindly, Kalim.”

“You're wel-” Kalim was cut off as his broom suddenly disintegrated just as Jade's had.

They both started tumbling to the ground, but Kalim had a grip on Jade, keeping his body pressed tightly to him. The ground was rapidly approaching and Jade squeezed his eyes shut as he waited for the impact. They landed in someone's arms a few feet from the ground.

“I got you two.”

Jade opened his eyes to see him and Kalim in the arms of Silver, he had an ironclad grip on the two of them as he stood on his broom. He gently floated to the ground where the rest of the class was waiting. Kalim let go of a trembling Jade, who stumbled away, Riddle ran up to steady him.

“Are you two okay?” He asked, worry noticeable in his voice and on his face.

Jade couldn't find his voice, instead choosing to slowly shake his head.

“Leech, Al-Asim!” Vargas came up to both of them. “What happened up there?”

“Coach, we should take both of them to Chestnut’s office.” Riddle interrupted, using his eyes to flicker to the crowd gathering around them and then back to the man.

Vargas crossed his arms and frowned. “Yeah, go ahead. Make sure they're both okay.”

As Riddle and Silver led Kalim and Jade away, they could hear Vargas demanding everyone to stay where they were until he could get Crowley. Jade was trying hard to control his shaking, he tried to ignore the looks his classmates were giving him as they entered the office.

“Chestnut?” Silver's voice grabbed the hybrid beastman’s attention. “We need help.”

“With-” He took one look at Jade. “Get him on the bed.”

“Get who on the-Jade?” Yuu had appeared around the corner, cast removed from her leg and only sporting bandages on it now. “What the hell happened?”

Jade sat on the bed and as he heard Yuu approach, he wrapped his arms tightly around her and buried his face in her neck. He took shaky breaths and ran his hands up and down her back in an effort to calm down. 

Yuu ran her fingers through his hair and spoke in a calm manner. “It's okay, you're okay.”

A shudder ran through his body and he fought to keep from crying. He could vaguely hear Chestnut asking what happened.

“His broom suddenly took off.” Kalim explained. “He was really high up before it, I think, blew up?”

“Blew up?” Chestnut inquired. “Brooms don't explode, no matter how fast or high they go.”

“I caught him, but then mine disappeared...” Kalim continued.

“I caught both of them before they hit the ground.” Silver added in.

Riddle approached Jade and Yuu with a cup of tea in his hands. “It's a rose tea blend-”

“Add lavender to it, Rosehearts.” Chestnut added in. “It'll calm him down a little bit more.”

Riddle nodded and pulled some lavender from the cabinet while Yuu pulled Jade's face out of her neck and placed his ear against her chest.

“Just listen to my heartbeat for a while, okay Jade?”

He nodded and closed his eyes, listening to the calming sound of her heart as she continued to run her fingers through his hair.

“Did anyone feel any high strength magic go off?” Chestnut asked.

“No, I didn't feel anything.” 

“I was too focused on Jade to feel anything.”

“Jade?” He peeked an eye open as Riddle handed him a mug. “Here you are.”

“Thank you, Riddle.” Jade shakingly took it and drank some.

Chestnut sighed. “For now, return to class- actually, clubs are starting up right now. I’ll keep Mr. Leech here and contact his brother.”

The boys nodded and departed from the office, Jade sets the tea on one of the stands next to the bed. He falls back onto the bed and closes his eyes, he feels Yuu start to get up and he reaches to grab her hand.

“Do you want me to stay?”

“..Please.”

She sits down next to him and Jade feels himself starting to drift into what he hoped was a restful sleep.

“That’s it for today! Go and hit the showers!” The coach called out.

The Basketball Club members started to leave the gym, each of them chatting with one another, but a few people still lingered behind. Floyd, who had been begging Jamil to teach him more dance moves, got up from the floor after another failed maneuver. 

Jamil shook his head. “Are you satisfied?”

“Nah.” Floyd beamed. “Sea Snake is really good at this~”

Jamil sighed and walked towards the bleachers where his gym bag was sitting. He pulled out his phone as Floyd made his way to his own bag.

“Hey, Floyd.” Ace spoke as he joined Floyd in making his way out of the gym. “I’m gonna tag along with you to see Yuu, if that’s fine.”

Floyd shrugged. “Fine by me.”

They walk under the basketball goal, unaware as the goal above starts to shake violently. Various screws pop out before the goal plummets towards the ground.

“Floyd, Ace!” 

A body slams into both of them, pushing them out of the way as the goal crashes to the floor, right where they where they once were. The basket fell first, pressing against the tempered glass and shattering it, pushing it out of its fixed position. Glass and broken parts littered the ground and the sound of the impact grabbed everyone’s attention. Ace stares at the goal with wide eyes, Floyd looks around at the amount of glass and parts around them before looking to see who saved them. Jamil was looking back at the goal, body tense from what had happened. 

“Sea Snake...”

“Holy shit...” Ace muttered. “That would’ve killed us.”

Jamil sat back and shook the glass from his back. “Are you two okay?”

“I-I’m okay.” Ace looks over at Floyd. “You’re bleeding.”

Floyd looks down at his arm, seeing some shards of glass embedded in his sleeve as blood starts to cover the fabric. “Oh...”

Ace quickly gets up and helps the merman stand as the coach rushes over.

“What happened!?”

“The goal came loose and fell.” Jamil answered as he got to his feet. “The screws unscrewed themselves, which sent it to the floor.”

“But it was fine a few moments ago...” the coach mused and looked at the screws on the ground. “These get checked weekly, the last check was yesterday. For now, take Leech to Chestnut’s.”

“Yes, Coach.”

Jamil grabs the discarded bags as Ace leads Floyd out of the gym. The walk to the office was silent until Floyd spoke up.

“Hey, Sea Snake... How’dya know that was gonna happen?” Floyd looked at him as he held his bleeding arm.

“Kalim sent me a text, saying that something happened to Jade’s broom in flight class. It launched him into the air before exploding and disappearing.” Jamil explained and quickly added in as he spotted Floyd’s eyes start to widen. “Kalim caught him, but then his disappeared. They got caught by Silver before anything deadly happened. I was going to tell you what happened when I saw the goal start to move.”

“Wait, what? Someone went after Jade too?” Ace asked. “Who the hell would do that?”

They entered the office to see Chestnut sitting at his desk as he typed away at something on his computer. He looked over at them and froze before getting up.

“Seeing both Leech brothers here was not how I wanted my day to go.” He said as he pulled Floyd over to check him over.

“Both?” Jamil and Ace asked as Chestnut pointed over to a closed curtain.

Yuu pushed the curtain open and her eyes widened as she saw Floyd. “Oh no...”

“Hey, Shrimpy.” Floyd greeted like nothing had happened. “You takin’ good care of Jade?”  

“Y-yeah, but what happened?”

“The goal-” Floyd flinched as Chestnut removed the glass from his arm. “The goal fell in club today, nearly crushed Crabby and I, if it wasn’t for Sea Snake pushin’ us outta the way.”

“What?” She looked over at Ace, who raised his hands to show her he had no wounds. “Thank you, Jamil. You and Kalim out here saving my eels.”

“No problem, I got to head to Scarabia and check on Kalim.” Jamil turned to leave. “Just take care of them, alright?”

“Will do.”

Jamil left and Ace sat down next to Yuu, Chestnut wrapped Floyd’s arm up and sighed.

“This has been stressful, two murder attempts in one day.” He crossed his arms. “Who did you piss off, Leech?”

“No one.” Floyd grumbled.

“We’ve been innocent eels all week.” Jade commented as he woke up. 

“I gotta say, whoever wants to kill us has some balls.” Floyd started snickering. “They ain’t gonna like what happens next.”

“I do owe whoever did this a long talk.” Jade smiled with his teeth on display.

While the twins started plotting, neither of them could see the worried look Yuu was sending them.

Chapter Text

“My, my, I was not expecting to find you out here.”

Yuu looked up, seeing Lilia infront of her with a smile on his face. She currently sat on the steps outside Mostro Lounge, the dinner rush had ended and the sun had set, painting the ocean themed dorm in a darker light. Azul’s jacket was over her shoulders and Floyd’s scarf was wrapped around her neck, she held onto both articles of clothing.

“Are our wonderful trio not keeping an eye on you?” He sat down next to her.

“They are.” She jerked her head behind her to where the glass doors were. “They’re sitting in the dining area talking business.”

“I see...”

“Sorry for the bluntness, but shouldn’t you be packing up to leave soon?”

“Oh, don’t worry, my dear.” Lilia smiled and waved his hand. “I stopped by to tell you what I happened to overhear.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Someone was talking about the incidents today-”

“Well, it was all over the school-”

“They said ‘How could you miss?’”

Yuu froze as Lilia pulled out his phone and opened up a video. On it was an image of a closed classroom door with something covering the window. The old fae hit play and handed it to Yuu.

“How could you miss!?” A voice yelled, clearly full of rage.

“I-i told you when you pulled me aside, I haven’t fully developed it!” Another voice, frightened and probably trying to shrink away from the angry voice, said. “Besides, I never wanted to do this in the first place!”

“Shit, shit, how do we get rid of them now?” The angry voice muttered. 

“Would you calm down?” A third voice, much calmer, spoke. “Floyd will get bored of having her nearby and Jade too. You know how the Leech brothers are, if you ain’t interesting, then you ain’t worth having around.”

“But it’s Yuu! She’s best friends with him!”

“So? Floyd ain’t one for friends, he ain’t capable of having them.”

“A-are you two not afraid of getting found out? S-she’s friends with the strongest people in this school!” The frightened voice pointed out. “And two of them are princes!”

“They won’t find out if you keep your mouth shut. If you go to anyone about this, I’ll throw you under the bus as the one who cursed Jade’s broom and the basketball goal. Understand?”

“I fear Malleus more than I fear you, Ri-”

The sound of something loud dropping near the phone caused the conversation to come to a halt. The video ended as Lilia no doubt disappeared somewhere before he could be found out. Yuu stared at it in shock before looking at the elder fae.

“Please tell me atleast one of these voices sounds familiar.” 

“Sadly, I don’t recognize them.” He shook his head and took back the phone. “If it wasn’t for that noise, we would’ve gotten a name.”

“Shit...” 

The sound of the door opening behind them grabbed their attention and they both turned to look. Jade, looking less shaken up, stood in the doorway while Floyd lingered behind him.

“Eh? What’s Devilfishie doin’ how here?” Floyd leaned against Jade while Azul opened the other door.

“I overheard the culprits after your accidents and I was showing Yuu the video.” Lilia stood up. “Sadly, they blocked the video, so I couldn’t see who they were.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Jade and Floyd left the doorway as Azul locked up the lounge. “Perhaps we might be able to.”

“Or Idia-san could.” Azul added in.

“If it’s the same guy that hacked into the cameras, then he doesn’t wanna be found out.” Yuu said. “This is the closest thing we got.”

Lilia bowed and smiled. “I won’t let anything happen to it.” He turned to leave, waving as he left for the portal. “Have a good rest of the night!”

“So close and yet so far.” Jade helped Yuu up off the steps. “But, I suppose, something is better than nothing.”

“Yeah...” She muttered.

“Yuu!” 

The prefect smiled as she approached the table of first years. Chestnut had given her the okay to return to her classes, but Jade and Floyd would be escorting her to her classes if they could. Ace and Deuce scooted over to make room for her, Grim jumped into her lap the moment she sat down. Her card soldiers hugged her, clearly missing having her around all the time. She ruffled Ace and Deuce’s hair and messed with Grim’s fur.

“They were complaining, asking when you’d be coming back.” Jack smiled.

“Indeed.” Sebek added with his own smile. “Ace and Grim said they weren’t worried about you, in the slightest.”

“That’s not true!”

“The Great Grim doesn’t complain!”

“Really?” Epel chimed in. “You guys were really focused on her condition, right Ortho?”

“Yep! Ace Trappola-san and Grim-san were crying about when you’d come back and if we should see you and protect you-”

Ace shouted at them to shut up with a red face as Grim tried defending himself, both fell on deaf ears as the group started laughing. Yuu shook her head with a smile and glanced around the cafeteria, everyone was engrossed in their own conversations, no one noticed she had returned. She spotted Lilia sitting with Malleus and Silver a few tables down, she raised a hand to wave to them only for Silver to suddenly pull Lilia away as his plate...melted!? Whatever food was on it ate through the ceramic plate and started dissolving the table, it grew to start surrounding other parts of the table. Students jumped up and quickly moved away before it could come after them, Malleus waved his hand and captured the growing mass.

Wordlessly, Crewel showed up and took the thing from Malleus. The remaining teachers quickly dismissed everyone to go to their classrooms, leaving a number of questions unanswered. 

“I wonder what happened?” Ace muttered as he sat next to Yuu in the classroom.

“Someone going after anyone from Diasomnia is like asking for trouble.” Deuce said.

Yuu leaned back against her seat and stared forward with furrowed eyebrows. “Was it because he talked to me...?”

“Did you say something?”

“I-”

“Homura.” Trein entered the classroom. “Come with me. Trappola, Spade, Grim, you three come as well.”

The named students wordlessly got up and followed Trein as he made his way to Crowley’s office. Everyone Yuu knew was waiting inside as Crowley sat behind his desk, for once looking very serious.

“The magic,” Crowley began once Trein had closed the door. “That had caused the Leech brothers accidents is the same magic that caused Mr. Vanrouge’s incident.” He sighed. “It is at this point that I firmly believe it is time for the prefect to go to RSA, for her own safety as well as others.” 

“What!?”

Crowley raised his hand for silence before the group could start arguing. “If the ones who caused this were simply avoiding capture, that’s one thing, but they are actively targeting others because they are choosing to help Ms. Yuu.” He cleared his throat. “Now the last time this was suggested, she said she wanted to stay here. Is that still the case, Prefect?”

All eyes focused on her, waiting for an answer as she sighed.

“If it keeps you guys safe, I’ll transfer to RSA for the time being-” She was cut off as the shouts of disagreement started up, each boy trying to protest against what she said. “This was before these guys were so willing to hurt, no, KILL you guys!” She shouted, cutting off any further disagreements. “Jade and Kalim nearly fell to their deaths! Floyd and Ace nearly got crushed to death! And who knows what that stuff would’ve done to Lilia!”

She sat down in one of the nearby chairs and placed her hands on her face. “These guys have been covering their tracks every step of the way just to make sure they’re never found out. And all because they either want me dead or gone at this point. I can’t keep risking your lives just to make sure I’m safe.” She drove her fingers through her hair. “Come after me all you want, I can handle it, but the moment you guys are thrown into the mix and hurt... That’s where I draw my limit...”

“Would it...” She looked up to see Malleus, who had bent down in front of her. “Be too selfish to ask for some more time?”

Yuu opened her mouth, but paused as she spotted the inside of the prince’s jacket. It was green, indicating what dorm he was in. Her eyes widened, closed her mouth and got up.

“Child of Man?”

“Hold on, Tsunotaro...”

Yuu walked over to Floyd and lifted his jacket up, showing off the light purple lining.

“Shrimpy?”

She looked around the room, eyeing each of the boys before getting a quick flash of the attack. Yuu could see flashes of the culprits through the beating, but more importantly, she saw the inside of their jackets. It was... Purple and Blue..

“Ignihyde and Pomefiore...”

“Eh?”

Yuu moved away from Floyd and looked over towards Vil and Idia. “The guys who attacked me were from Pomefiore and Ignihyde.”

The absolute horror on Vil and Idia’s faces spoke volumes.

“One of my own...” Vil covered his mouth. “Potato, I... I’m sorry.”

“Yuu-rin...”

“Just...” Yuu took a deep breath before turning to Jade and Floyd. “Find them, but bring them back to Ramshackle. Do not harm them, cause they have to deal with me. Understood?” Her voice was dark and chilling, basically causing the temperature in the room to drop. “Can my eels do that for me?”

Jade and Floyd looked at each other before smiling at Yuu, teeth on full display as they laughed.

“Yep~”

“Leave it to us, Miss Yuu.”

Oh, Yuu was going to have a field day once those bastards were caught.

Chapter Text

“Now that we’ve all gathered, we can begin.”

Currently, Jade was in Pomefiore as Vil had called a meeting once classes had concluded. Rook took his place by the dorm leader’s side, his back straight and a smile on his face, but his eyes were harsh and cold. Epel was up front with them as well, his arms were crossed as he glared at his dorm members. Multiple people whispered as they spotted Jade standing on the other side of Vil, their eyes flicking to the Octavinelle vice, only to flinch as Jade met their gaze.

“Recently, there has been a series of incidents happening.” Vil began. “The prefect of Ramshackle, Yuu, was attacked and injured.” He paused as various gasps rang out. “And for the time she was injured, she was under the care of Jade and Floyd. Both of them were also attacked for sheltering Yuu. Thankfully, the only injuries they received were minor. But, it stands that whoever attacked Yuu also attacked them.”

“Then why is Leech-san here?” Someone asked.

“Because Yuu remembered who it was that attacked her and said one of the culprits was in Pomefiore.” Vil answered as he closed his eyes and opened them, fixing his dorm members with the sharpest glare he could muster. “The dorm I have control over, whoever attacked her is a coward and a blemish on what this dorm stands for.”

Jade could see the echoing of flinches throughout the crowd at Vil’s statement.

“Yuu-chan has been so kind to us.” Someone said, “Why would anyone attack her?”

“She’s been very helpful as well.” Another one added in.

Soon, the group began talking, each of them highly praising Yuu and damning whoever assaulted her. Through the conversations, Jade could see Rook lean over to Vil.

“The one in the middle row on the left side, Roi du Poison. Sylvester Argo.”

Jade and Vil looked in the direction Rook had stated, both of them spotting the named dorm member looking off to the side, trying to hide his eyes behind the strands of his olive colored bangs. He was no doubt trying to find a way to leave the lounge without being seen. 

“I know Potato instructed only you to get him, but I wish she had let us have a moment with him before sending him off to the gallows.” Vil spoke as Jade left his side. “But that would be too kind for a cowering weed like him.”

“Far too kind.” Rook echoed.

Jade made his way through the members as they easily parted for him to pass. Sylvester froze as Jade stood above him, he stared down at him with all the cold of the Coral Sea reflected in his eyes.

“Make it fun for me, bottomfeeder,” A cold and cruel smile graced Jade’s face, teeth on full display as he bent down to stare at the teen. “And run.” His eyes shrunk down into pinpricks.

Sylvester took off without hesitation, tearing through the hallway as he tried to escape. Jade straightened up, rolled his shoulders, and began his pursuit. He slipped down various hallways to cut off Sylvester, regardless of the pathways the fleeing student tried to take.  Jade stuck to the shadows, his voice echoing throughout the halls as he teased him. Eventually, Sylvester panted as he rounded the corner and leaned against the pillar.

“Persistant bastard.” He grumbled and pulled out his phone. “I need to tell Ri-ack!”

Jade appeared in front of him and tore the phone out of Sylvester’s hand. “We can’t have you doing that, now can we?”

Sylvester snarled, brown eyes narrowing at Jade. “She can’t be that important to you!”

He reached out and grabbed him by his collar. “You’re wrong, she means more to me than you would be able to even fathom or grasp.” Jade kept him locked with his grip and walked towards the entrance of the dorm. “You’re very lucky I promised Miss Yuu that I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I-i’m not afraid of her!”

“If you weren’t, then you wouldn't have drugged her.”

“M-My father will hear about this!”

“I’m sure he will, imagine his disappointment.” 

“Jade-senpai!” Jade paused and turned to see Epel.

“Yes?”

Epel’s eyes flickered to Sylvester and back up to the mer eel.

“You’ll get your turn with him later.” Jade answered the unspoken question. “I’m sure Miss Yuu has something in store for him.”

“Alright.” Epel glared at Sylvester as he and Jade left through the portal.

 “So, you know how Yuu-rin hasn’t been around lately?” Idia shoved his hands in his pockets.

Floyd was leaning back against one of Ignihyde’s pillars as Idia addressed his dorm. Ortho floated next to Idia, his eyes never leaving the group.

“Yeah, she’s normally here for gaming nights.” Someone muttered. “She’s the only one who knows how to actually stay on the point.”

“Well...” Idia trailed off and rubbed the back of his head. “Someone did an AOA on her and it crit. She’s healed up and told me who led the attack. It was someone from our dorm.”

“What?!”

“Bro, not cool!”

“Dude, she’s like the only other cool one in this school!”

“This is why we can’t have nice things!”

Floyd rolled his eyes as the students started complaining, leave it to the dorm with the most isolated students to complain about the wrong thing. His eyes scanned the crowd until they fell on a set of glaring heather colored eyes.

“Sea Angel.” Ortho turned to Floyd, who jerked his head in a ‘Come here’ motion. “Whose that?” Floyd pointed at the student.

“Hmm? Oh! That’s Richard Travis-san! We call him Richy.”

“Got it.” Floyd moved away from the pillar and made his way to Richy. “Hey.”

“What do you want, Leech? Trying to shake us down for money or some shit?” Richy crossed his arms and threw his long amber colored hair over his shoulder. “Gotta pair up with the Dorm leader to do that?”

Floyd glared at him and cracked his knuckles. “You’re the one who hurt Shrimpy and who broke into my room.”

The room had grown silent as everyone watched the two of them, anyone standing next to Richy immediately moved away from him.

“And if I did?” Richy didn’t even try to defend himself.

“Then you better start runnin’, bottomfeeder.” Floyd growled, baring his serrated teeth.

“I ain’t gonna run with my tail between my legs.”

“Really? Cause you did a lotta hidin’ instead. You ain’t strong enough to take me on or Shrimpy, for that matter.” 

Richy narrowed his eyes and threw a punch at Floyd, who caught it without flinching. He slammed the Ignihyde student onto the ground and twisted his arm behind his back. Richy kicked at Floyd, dislodging him, and getting to his feet. Floyd started laughing, his high pitched frequency causing the students to flinch as several of them fled the room. Even Idia moved back with Ortho by his side.

“Guess I gotta break my promise to Shrimpy...” Floyd threw Richy onto the floor as he locked his legs around the student’s neck and pulled his arm up. “Shame that I gotta do that, but she’ll understand.”

“Let go, you worthless piece of sea trash!” Richy tried pulling himself free.

“You talk all that big shit, but you can’t follow through?” Floyd huffed and tightened his grip. “Typical.”

“All this for that bitch!?”

As soon as that word left Richy’s mouth, Floyd wordlessly and effortlessly broke his arm. Yelling in pain, the eel mer let him go before grabbing him by the throat and dragging him out of the dorm.

“Floyd-shi is scary...”

“Mmm, Yuu Homura-san is really the only one that can control him.”

“She’s just as scary...” 

Yuu leaned back in her chair as the door to Ramshackle was thrown open. Jade and Floyd walked in, dragging the culprits behind them. The twins tossed them on the floor and stood by her side. Grim hissed at them from his spot in Yuu’s lap.

“Floyd.” She tilted her head up to the merman. “I said not to hurt them.”

“He called you a bitch and like hell I was gonna let him get away with it.”

“Fair enough.” She got up, forcing Grim out of her lap. “I’ll give it a pass. So, who are these assholes?”

“Sylvester Argo.” Jade answered.

“The bastard’s Richard Travis.” Floyd crossed his arms 

Yuu pointed at Richard, “Your name is Dick?” She started laughing as he growled. “Oh, that makes WAY too much sense! Your name is Dick and you are a dick!”

“Shut up!” Richard shouted.

“Okay, so,” Yuu calmed her laughter. “You’re clearly the one who came up with this plan, meaning you’re the one that also took out the cameras and broke into Jade and Floyd’s room. Because this one,” She pointed at Sylvester. “Looks like he’s about to shit his pants just because I’m looking at him.”

Sylvester swallowed thickly. “I-I demand that you let us go.”

“Not gonna happen.” Yuu clapped her hands. “Tell me why you went this far out of your way to get at me. If you don’t....” She trailed off and glanced over at Jade, who was smiling. 

“You’re a blight on this school.” Richard started, with no hesitation. “Ever since you came here, we’ve been having overblots left and right. How has a nobody managed to succeed where they were destined to fail?” 

“Y-you have Draconia at your beck and call, Vil-senpai spends so much time with you, a-and countless others are always on your side.” Sylvester pointed at Jade and Floyd. “You even got the Leech brothers. How did the only girl in this school get everyone eating out of her hand?”

“You’re magicless, the very bottom of the totem pole. You don’t belong here among the elite. And you’re the reason for all the overblots, everything was fine until you came in and changed everything. You’re turning us less into villains and more into those spineless wimps over at RSA.”

Yuu waited with her arms crossed and an unimpressed look on her face. Behind her, she could hear the sounds of Jade holding back Grim and Floyd.

“You done?” She coldly asked.

Richard and Sylvester looked at each other before sending her a questioning look.

“Y-yes?”

“Good.” She smiled, grabbed Sylvester’s hair and slammed her fist in his face.

He yelled in pain and his hands reached up to cover his now bleeding nose, she twisted his hair around in her hand and threw him to the ground. Yuu pressed her knee hard into his chest and tugged harshly on his hair.

“Y-you broke my nose!”

“I’ve already broken your nose once, so breaking it again shouldn’t mean much.” Yuu punched him across the face a few more times before throwing him on the ground. “I like to keep myself calm when dealing with people like you, come after me all you want, but don’t you ever, ever , go after my friends.”

She straightened up as Sylvester tried to crawl away, she stomped on his ankle and moved to grab Richard before he could do anything. Pulling him over while keeping the Pomefiore student pinned, she punched him in the stomach and then kneed him in the face as he went down. Yuu then grabbed Richard by the back of his shirt and slammed him down onto Sylvester. She wasn’t even out of breath as she moved a piece of her hair behind her ear.

“You guys forget that the mirror chose me, meaning I’m not that goody two shoes everyone thinks I am.”

She turned around to see Jade, Floyd, and Grim staring at her with wide eyes.

“Holy shit, Shrimpy...”

“My word...”

“Hench human, I didn’t know you could do that!”

“I’ve been training as a boxer for like six years.” She turned back towards the groaning boys. “Tell you what, boys, you can go.” They both shot her shocked looks. “I’ll let you go, where you can spend your days doing whatever and I’ll let this all go under the rug.” She raised her hand as she heard Grim start to say something. “But, you guys have to last, hmm, three days without being caught by anyone. If you are then.... You’re getting expelled and I’m just gonna let the guys kick your asses even more than I already did. Got it?”

“W-We got it.”

“Good. You got five minutes, run.”

They both scrambled and took off out of Ramshackle, Floyd whined as he approached Yuu.

“Shrimpy, you just let ‘em go?”

“I will admit,” Jade joined his brother. “That was rather anti-climatic.”

“You let them off too good.” Grim crossed his arms. 

Yuu glanced over at them. “You guys are still here? It’s been five minutes.”

Jade and Floyd sent her a confused look before it dawned on both of them.

“Ehehehe~” Floyd giggled. “Shrimpy really wasn’t let them go scott free~”

“You got their hopes up.” Jade chuckled behind his hand.

Yuu pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to their shared chat. “The hunt is on boys.” She hugged Jade and Floyd. “Thank you for taking care of me, now go have fun.”

Floyd wrapped her in a bone crushing hug and ran out of the dorm. Jade brought her hand up to kiss it before following after Floyd. Grim jumped up in excitement and left the room. Yuu sighed and flopped down in her chair.

“Let’s see how long they last.”

Chapter Text

Yuu's making breakfast when she sees a text come in, sent to the group chat she shared with the other members of NRC. She opens the message as she takes a sip of her coffee. 

Rook: Madam Trickster, they have two hours left until they're “free”. Shall we attack now?

Yuu hums and smiles behind her mug. The two bastards were located thirty minutes after she had let them run away. Her nails tap at the ceramic cup as she thinks.

Yuu: Go ahead. I'm surprised you guys managed to last as long as you did.

Jamil: We were waiting for your signal.

Yuu: Well, shoo shoo. Go catch them.

Ace: We'll send you pics.

The conversation ends there and Yuu continues her day. All of the boys had been excused from their classes. The staff except Trein, who actively tried to have them handle it only to give up, had let the students handle everything. A knock sounds at the front door, pulling Yuu out of cleaning the kitchen.

“Tsunotaro? Lilia?” She opens the door to see the named faes. “What's up?”

“Hello, Yuu.” Lilia greeted with a smile. “Do you remember that third voice we heard on the video?”

“Yeah?”

Malleus and Lilia stepped aside to reveal a timid Diasomnia student with violet hair and auburn eyes. Malleus was glaring at the student and Yuu could hear thunder in the distance.

“Child of Man,” He spoke with a frown. “I apologize for the actions one of my dorm members took.”

“It’s fine.” She looked at the student. “You the one that cursed Jade, Floyd, and Lilia?”

He nodded and bowed his head. “I-I’m sorry! Sylvester and Richy forced me to help them! My Unique Magic was found out and I was blackmailed into attacking the upperclassmen. I came clean to Malleus-senpai and Lilia-senpai when I couldn’t handle my guilt any longer.”

Yuu leaned against the door frame and hummed, she crossed her arms and fixed the student with a stare. “What’s your name?”

“M-Michael Stafford.” 

“Hmm, tell you what, Mike. First of all, you came forward on your own instead of being found out, so points for that. Second, I’m not mad since you actually did that on your own. Now I can’t speak for Lilia, Floyd, and Jade, but I don’t hate you. So, since you’re Mal’s dorm member, I’ll let him punish you how he sees fit.”

“T-thank you, Prefect.”

“Oh don’t thank me, whatever he decides to do might have you wishing that I dealt you a different hand.”

Lilia led Michael away, leaving Malleus with Yuu.

“Since you came here, I’m just gonna assume those two were taken care of.”

“They were. As soon as you gave your blessing, Hunt shot them both in the leg.” Malleus answered. “Rosehearts locked their magic away and we picked them off.” He reached into his pocket and handed her an envelope. “Shroud asked me to deliver this to you.”

She takes it. “Oh? Okay, I’ll check it out later.”

Malleus nodded but lingered a bit as he tried voicing what was on his mind. “I believe you let them with a... what did Kingscholar call it? A wrist slap?”

“I broke a nose, kicked their asses, and sent them running for their lives.” Yuu huffed. “What was he expecting me to do? Kill em?”

The draconic fae just raised an eyebrow at that and she grumbled.

“Yeah, no, I forget the lot of you would kill someone for less...”

“Indeed.” He bowed. “I must get going before Sebek and Silver come searching for me. Good Afternoon, Child of Man.”

“Bye, Tsunotaro.”

He left and she closed the door, she opened the envelope and her eyes widened once she looked at the contents. 

“Wonder what Shrimpy has planned...”

“She did say she wanted to take us out for dinner.”

A couple of days had passed since Sylvester and Richard had been expelled from school and everything was returning to normal. Currently, Jade and Floyd were making their way up the walkway to Ramshackle. Floyd shoved his hands into his dark jean pockets as he walked, his open gray and red jacket hung off of one shoulder, and he wore a yellow randomly logoed t-shirt underneath. Jade was the opposite, sporting a long sleeved black dress shirt with a dark blue tweed vest and a similar colored pair of slacks. His jacket hung off his arm as they reached the door. 

Floyd pounded on the door and waited, ignoring the way Jade shook his head at his actions. A few moments later, Yuu opened the door. The twins went silent as they stared at her outfit. Yuu’s hair was tied back and in a ponytail. She wore a short white dress with red and pink faded flowers on it, it was sleeveless and showed off her bare shoulders. A light pink purse hung off her shoulder and she wore a pair of white strappy heels.

“You guys look good.” She smiled and closed the door behind her. 

“So do you...” Floyd trailed off as Jade cleared his throat and offered his arm.

“Shall we depart?”

“We shall.” Yuu took his arm as they began their departure from NRC.

They reached the restaurant and were seated as soon as they entered. Floyd shoved a couple of the breadsticks in his mouth as Jade leaned on the table.

“Miss Yuu.”

“Hmm?” Yuu was nibbling on her own breadstick as she looked at him.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you come across this place and get us in without much of a waiting time?” He looked around the restaurant, seeing how packed it was.

“Cater sent me pictures of this place and I have my ways.”

“Ain’t you, like, broke, Shrimpy?” Floyd swallowed his food.

“So...” She trailed off as a waiter came to take their drink order. “Oh, you guys can get what you want, I’m paying for everything.”

“Don’t tell Jade that, he’ll rack up the bill.” Floyd grumbled.

“As much as I would like to test the limits of that,” Jade smiled. “I’ll be nice... for now.”

After deciding what they wanted to drink, the waiter left and the attention shifted back to Yuu.

“Right, no getting out of this. Well, turns out Sylvester’s dear old dad is the mayor of somewhere. Idia sent the video I recorded of those two to their office, the mayor begged Idia not to post it and paid him off so he wouldn’t. You know how Idia is, so he posted the video an hour after the money was given to him. He gave me all of it and...” She waved her hand around. “I wanted to spend some of it on you two.”

“...How much did he give you?”

Yuu shrugged. “...Like, I think, maybe a million thaumarks?”

“Holy shit, Shrimpy.”

“Do not let Azul know this.”

“I won’t.” She laughed as their drinks were delivered.

They ordered and a few minutes passed by before their food was delivered to their table. They ate and talked, with dessert being delivered afterwards. They departed back for Ramshackle, Jade’s jacket found it’s way over Yuu’s shoulders as Floyd flung Yuu’s hand around as he held it. 

“Give me a second, I got stuff to give you guys.” She walked in and made for the stairs as Jade closed the door behind them.

“Shrimpy’s spoiling us~”

“Yes, but don’t we deserve it? After all, we did so much for her.” Jade smiled.

“Eh...” Floyd rocked back and forth on her heels. “Maybe...”

Yuu returned with a pair of boxes, which she handed to the brothers. “These are gifts I got for you guys. Again, thanks for everything you did.”

Floyd tore into his without being told to and Jade, after getting a nod from her, opened his. Inside was a beautiful house shaped glass terrarium, next to it was a crocheted mushroom hat with a necklace of a mushroom encased in a clear sphere. A small keychain with an eel and mountain charm was inside of the terrarium. There was a set of hiking books along with a few mushroom covered small journals. 

Inside Floyd’s gift was: a pair of shoes he had been eying for a while now, a container filled to the brim with takoyaki, some homemade snacks, a necklace with a starfish and seashell inside of a light blue sphere. On top of his shoes sat a keychain with an eel and a basketball charm on it. With wide eyes, the twins look at a smiling Yuu.

“All of that, apart from some stuff, is homemade. The hat, the keychains, the food, the little booklets, etc etc.” She pulled them down and gave them both a kiss on the cheek. “I didn’t know how to properly thank you, so I hope this is enough.”

“I-it’s more than enough.”

“Yeah...”

“Then, I’ll see you guys tomorrow! Good night!”

Jade and Floyd left Ramshackle and lingered on the porch once the door shut behind them.

“Floyd.”

“Yeah, Jade?”

“I believe Father would love to meet her.”

“Mama would never let her go.”

The two left, already plotting as to how they would introduce Yuu to their family.