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In the world of courting three rules must be followed at all costs:
1) Rule n.1: Be Kind.
(self-explanatory: don’t be mean.)
2) Rule n.2: Be Respectful.
(don’t call them names, don’t insult them, don’t tease them and so forth.)
3) Rule n.3: Be Gallant.
(hold the door for who we hope will be your future partner, avoid cursing and cussing, cover their head if it’s raining, walk on the sidewalk closest to the street to protect them, that sort of thing.)
Needless to say, Ace Trappola struggled to follow all three of these rules.
All he could do was follow a step by step guide on how to court a certain magicless human from another world… A pity such guide did not exist. All that was left was for him to create one from scrap.
Step n.1: Compliment them.
Easy enough, right?
All Ace had to do was walk to the prefect, catch their attention and say something nice to them.
Yeah, it was easy, even he could do that.
Yuu was sitting on a bench in the school garden, with the blue-haired boy both Yuu and Ace came to know all too well: Deuce. With them there was Grim, who was making a ruckus, laughing boisterously, prompting other students to turn their head towards the group.
“Sheesh, keep it down, Grim! Everyone’s staring at us.” Deuce complained, to no avail as the cat-like creature only started laughing more loudly.
Yuu simply shook their head as they sighed, a soft smile on their lips. They looked up to catch a glimpse of the gingerhead: Ace’s hair was unkempt due the breeze that was breathing on him, a pair of red eyes was set on the prefect. And… Did he just slap his cheeks? Yes. Yes, he did. He shook his head and jogged towards the prefect, his usual grin on his lips.
“Prefect!” He called out, lifting a hand mid air, waving it lightly as Yuu moved a bit to the side, making space for Ace to sit next to them.
“Hiya, Ace.” Yuu greeted the gingerhead, nodding his way.
“What is it this time?” He asked, eyeing Deuce, who was trying to shut Grim up by placing his hands on his muzzle as the cat-like creature tried to wiggle out of his grip on him.
Yuu chuckled as the breeze ruffled their hair, as locks brushed against their skin. “The usual.”
A beam grew on Yuu’s face as the corners of their lips gently formed a smile, their eyes softened with grace, a tinge of fondness in them. They weren’t looking at Ace, as their gaze was directed on Grim and Deuce instead, making them look more ethereal than ever, as a tender blush painted their cheeks.
“You look amazing.” Ace muttered under his breath, his voice practically a whisper, but still loud enough to make Deuce and Grim freeze and halt every movement. They stared at Ace, absolutely horrified.
“What did you say?” Yuu turned around as confusion twirled in their eyes.
Shit.
The mission had to be aborted.
“I said you look like grazing!” He shouted, hastily getting up as he tried to scurry away, almost tripping and stumbling on his feet in the process. “Goodbye, Yuu!”
In complete silence, Deuce and Grim exchanged a look, as Yuu stared at Ace’s back, astonished and dumbfounded.
“I look like… Grazing?”
Did Ace just say Yuu resembled cows’ food?
Yes. Yes, he did.
Nice one, Ace.
This is exactly how you sweep someone off their feet.
Step n.2: Impress them.
A basketball game: the perfect opportunity for such formidable quest.
Ace had invited Yuu to tag along during one of his games. They were now cheering for the gingerhead from the gallery. Needless to say, Deuce and Grim were with them: wherever the prefect went, they followed.
The boy was moving with swiftness on the field, dodging his opponents with grace and rapidity, without almost breaking a sweat, scoring point after point.
“He looks pretty cool.” The prefect commented as they lightly clapped their hands. A smile was creeping on their lips.
“I’m just waiting for him to mess up. Wanna bet a tuna can he’s gonna miss his next throw?” Grim remarked instead, folding his paws as he struggled to stay awake. There were tears in his eyes from yawning too much.
“He won’t, he’s doing wel-”
A voice the trio knew all too well interrupted their chitter-chatter: it was Ace. He had just successfully retrieved the ball and was now ready to throw it toward the hoop.
“Yuu, this is for you!” He exclaimed, bright-eyed, his hair tied up on his head to prevent his bangs from getting in his eyes.
Yuu’s eyes widened as they stopped their clapping, freezing on the spot as they felt everybody’s eyes on them.
The gingerhead made a leap forward, the basketball bouncing on the gym floor. They jumped, threw the ball and… Score!
No, wait.
The ball twirled around the hoop, making one, two, three circles, until it got out. It was now bouncing on the floor as silence filled the gym.
“Told you so. Where’s my tuna can?” Grim rubbed it in, a bored and unimpressed look in his eyes.
“Grim, you jinxed it.” Deuce rebutted, sighing.
As for Yuu, they were left speechless.
Nice job, Ace, you totally impressed them and left a mark… For the worse.
Step n.3: Pay for their meals.
Ah, yes, the first quintessential rule of chivalry.
It was impossible to screw this up… Right?
The first years had decided to go all out to treat themselves to some bubble tea: Sebek, Epel, Jack, Ace and Deuce were together. And Grim, of course.
Yuu was standing in a line and it was almost their turn.
Ace, who was standing behind them, mentally prepared himself as he rehearsed his next move. It was easy! But it had to be smooth or he’d make a fool of himself. He would simply slip forward, say ‘I’ll pay!’ and slide the thaumarks on the counter.
Easy, quick, painless.
Yuu moved forward: it was time to act.
Ace took a step forward as his grip on his wallet tightened: Yuu was making their order.
“I’ll pay!” The gingerhead almost yelled, his tone of voice perhaps as loud as Sebek’s. He slammed his wallet on the counter as he shut his eyes from embarrassment and… Was that a ticking noise the one that reached his ears? He slowly opened one eye, readying himself for disaster. The ticking noise continued: coins were spilling everywhere, sliding on the floor, ending up under the chairs, the counter and the tables. The bar was now filled with pennies.
Ace checked his wallet: the zip was open.
“That’s a lot of coin…” Jack started saying, eyes open wide. Epel was trying his best to suppress his laughter, unlike a certain cat-like creature, who started snickering at the boy’s disgrace.
“Dude, how do you have that many? That must be at least 50 thaumarks! All in coin!” Deuce interjected, absolutely astonished.
“I admire your readiness for any inconvenience, human. It’s good to have this much money on you.” Sebek commented, pensive, a hand to support his chin as he nodded.
In all response, Ace only felt his cheeks burn.
For the Seven, how could this get any worse?
“Are you going to pay with these?” Yuu inquired, an amused smile on their lips, as innocence flickered in their eyes.
That’s exactly how.
Step n.4: Shield them from the rain.
“Man, it’s hot.” Deuce complained as him, Ace, Yuu and Grim were waiting outside of a popular restaurant, one specialized in making fluffy pancakes. The place was too small for its own good, with not too many tables to sit at and there was always a huge line outside of it, no matter at what time people went.
The heroes of this story were waiting for their turn outside, under the blazing sun. To say they were melting for the heat would be an euphemism.
“And to think the forecast said it would rain…” Yuu observed as they raised an arm to shield themselves from the rays.
“Well, Ace does have an umbrella…” Grim stated as three pairs of eyes set on the gingerhead, who felt like a cornered prey.
“Yeah, but you guys are missing on something: it’s not raining, we can’t use it.”
“… Or can we?” Deuce raised an eyebrow as a grin formed on his lips.
Ace blinked once.
“Yeah, pull it out!” Grim shouted.
Ace blinked twice.
Then, he searched for Yuu’s gaze, looking for support, hoping they would back him up. They chuckled as they gave the boy an apologetic smile. “You heard them.”
The gingerhead sighed. “You can’t be for real…”
It was a little later, about 15 minutes had passed, when a waitress had went outside. She found three people and a cat standing under an umbrella on a very warm day: the gingerhead was holding it up high with one hand, gaze averted and a light blush on his cheeks, the blue-haired boy was waving a hand to break wind as he sighed, the third person was crouched to benefit form the shadows cast by the umbrella, the cat in their arms.
She snickered before quickly going back in. “A table for four is available.”
Ace thought he woud never forget the amused expression on the waitress’s face.
But hey, he might not have been able to shield Yuu from the rain, but he managed to make them avoid a heatstroke, so… Mission failed successfully?
Step n.5: Walk on the sidewalk closest to the street.
Ace was losing all hope, but this one also looked easy enough: he felt confident he could pull this off, no matter how tremendously wrong all his previous attempts at courting were.
Despite the heat of those warm days, the rain arrived fast enough during a class trip in an historical city of Twisted Wonderland but, luckily, he was prepared; he had an umbrella with him, ready to be shared. He was waiting just for the perfect moment to use it.
He spotted Yuu crouching under a porch as they stared at the uncontrollable rain, an arm stretched out to let the rain drops fall and bounce on their hand, wetting the skin.
“Prefect!” He called out, catching their attention as he hovered the umbrella over them. “You’re lucky I’m here, right? We can share the umbrella as we regroup with the others.”
The corners of Yuu’s lips formed a gentle smile as the prefect stared at the gingerhead. “My knight in shining armor.” They teased as a tinge of amusement flickered in their eyes. Ace grinned feeling, for once, proud of himself. He offered a hand for Yuu to take, who grasped it without hesitation. He pulled, so that the prefect could get up.
The pair started walking toward the place everybody was supposed to meet at as they were given an hour of free rooming around. It had started raining all of a sudden, completely unexpectedly for those who hadn’t watched the forecast, so for pretty much anybody who wasn’t Ace Trappola, who was waiting for a moment such as this.
Yuu wasn’t unaware of how the boy was holding the umbrella so that no rain drop would fall on them, despite that meaning Ace’s shoulder was instead getting wet. That made their smile stretch ever so slightly.
“You can hold the umbrella a bit more toward yourself, I don’t mind it, Ace.”
The boy shook his head. “No, no, prefect, it’s my job to make sure you won’t catch a cold. So let me be your knight in shining armor for once.” He said, grinning, before adding as he moved to the sidewalk closest to the road. “Ah, right, this part is more dangerous, wait…”
He almost didn’t finish his sentence that a car passed by as it drove at full speed on a puddle, successfully splashing both Ace and Yuu, in equal measure, leaving them soaked and cold.
They both froze in their track as they stared to the road in front of them.
After a moment, Ace turned his head and looked Yuu straight in the eyes. “There was absolutely no way I could avoid that this time.”
Step n.6: Give them flowers.
Mr. S’s Mystery Shop was by far the most astonishing place in all Night Raven College, far more than the Mirror Chamber. Anything you needed, whenever you needed, Sam had it.
So how come there were no flowers?
How was it possible flowers out of everything, of all the times that store had, were sold out? Who - for all that is holy for the Great Seven - wanted flowers in an all boys school?
“I’m sorry, little imp. Try coming next week!” Sam suggested, but could Ace really wait? He had to patch the situation up somehow: he had put on the spot and embarrassed Yuu not once, not twice, but five times. This had to end.
Defeated, he sighed as he walked away.
He had to find another way he could apologize to the prefect. He figured doing something as embarrassing as giving flowers to them would be enough, he thought the shame Ace would feel would be sufficient to be forgiven.
He was dwelling over the events of the past few weeks when he felt someone tapping on his shoulder from behind. He turned around to spot the prefect, who was clearly holding something behind their back.
“Prefect?” He asked.
“So, Ace… What’s your deal?” They inquired in return, straightforward and frank.
“My… Deal?”
He feigned ignorance, but he perfectly knew what they were talking about: all the disasters, the catastrophes he had subjected them to were probably getting to them.
Ace didn’t reply as he simply sighed, inducing a chuckle from Yuu, that progressively transformed into a prominent laughter, making the gingerhead stare at them in confusion.
“Here, this is for you. For your troubles.” The prefect stated, revealing what they had been hiding behind their back: a bouquet of red roses, that they were now offering to Ace. “I just hope you won’t find this embarrassing, but I didn’t know how else to thank you. I figured you probably never got flowers in your life so I thought of doing it myself.”
“M-My troubles?” Ace muttered as he caressed a petal.
“Yep.” The prefect smiled. “For trying to impress me. And for trying to be nice to me. For a change.”
Ace quickly rebutted as he faked annoyance, making Yuu’s smile grow wider: “Hey, what do you mean ‘for a change’?”
“You’re not exactly an example of chivalry, Trappola.” They teased, leaning forward with their bust. “And the least you can do for putting me on the spot so many times is accept these roses, I don’t care how embarrassing it’ll be for you.”
The boy sighed, defeated as he grabbed the bouquet from Yuu’s hands. “Alright, alright… Thanks.” He added in a whisper as he averted his gaze, a light blush on his fair cheeks.
Yuu’s smile wavered slightly. “So really, what was all that for? Be honest.”
Ace lifted the roses so that he could hide his face: an attempt at concealing his blooming embarrassment. “I don’t know… I just wanted you to like me more… I guess.”
Yuu shook their head in disbelief, as a smile never left their lips. “What for, silly? I already like you enough. And I like you for who you are, not for who you try to be.”
The gingerhead spied the prefect from behind the roses, searching for the right angle to look at them through the flowers. “… And how do you like me?” He whispered.
Yuu beamed, as affection transpired not only from their smile but from their eyes as well. Ace stared at them, he saw them ponder and reflect until they found their answer: their lips were tugged upward as a tender blush spread on their cheeks, one hand was clasping the wrist of the other one behind their back, they looked at the grass beneath them before directing their gaze toward the gingerhead again. There was a fundamental step Ace had forgotten, the most important one, the most crucial one out of all the others, but Yuu wasn’t as unprepared as him. They knew what the real first step was, as they simply said:
“Enough to ask you out on a date.”