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“Hey Floyd?” Ace tossed the ball half-heartedly at the eel as they did their warm-ups, waiting for everyone to show up. Floyd just gave a “Hm?” in response. Not a good mood today again, sheesh. “You notice anything strange about Jamil today?”
“Sea Snake? You mean ‘sides the fact he ain’t here yet?” Catching the ball, he sent it flying back with way more force than necessary, nearly knocking Ace’s breath out as he caught it against his chest. Come on, bad mood is fine and all, but why was he taking it out on him? Not like it was his fault that Jamil was late! He huffed as he dropped the ball to the floor.
“Actually, I saw him in the lockers earlier, so I thought for sure he would be here.” That seemed to have caught Floyd’s attention somewhat, making the Octavinelle student huff and puff, all pouty. Ace rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the fact he actually found it kind of cute when Floyd did that. He just wanted to poke those cheeks… even though he knew Floyd would probably put him through some horrible revenge for it.
Before he could fully chase those thoughts out of his head, the eel was already storming towards the locker rooms, ignoring Ace’s cries for him to come back. Shit. Oh well, he’d have to follow now. If anyone asked, he’d just say he’d be left all alone since Floyd was his warm-up partner. And hope nobody pointed out they usually did this in a group of three anyway when Jamil was actually there.
He caught up with Floyd just as the merman slammed the door open, calling out for Jamil. And just in time to hear a weirdly high-pitched scream coming from the inside. Floyd stopped too, looking at Ace with a disgusted look. “No way Sea Snake of all people brought a girl in, right? I mean, totally impossible, right?”
“Yeah, he probably still believes girls have cooties or somethin’.” Ace muttered in response, pushing his way past Floyd to see what exactly was going on inside. There was no steam coming out of the showers, but the door was now closed, like someone ran in there when they barged in. Ace gave a rapt knock, calling out to his senior. “Hey, Jamil! You there? It’s just me and Floyd here, don’t gotta be shy!”
“Yeah, we’ve already seen everythin’ there is to see anyway.” Ace’s face went red when Floyd yelled over his shoulder, casually wrapping his arms around his junior’s waist. Now he got clingy?!
“Not helping, Floyd!” He struggled to get those arms off of him, almost missing the answer as the door finally slid open again.
“I kind of don’t think you have, that’s the problem…”
Jamil stood there in a hoodie that was a bit too big even for him. Something was off, though Ace couldn’t immediately tell what. Well, fine, Jamil’s face was kind of flushed, but other than that? Floyd’s face scrunched up momentarily before his eyes widened, and then a wide grin stretched his lips into thin lines barely lining the sharp teeth.
“Lookin’ good at least? Your face is pretty much the same~.”
“I’m sure you would find a way to be disappointed, Floyd.”
“Won’t know ‘till we try it~. Come on, come on~.”
Ace was starting to feel invisible, even with Floyd’s arms still wrapped around him. Clearing his throat, he reached out, yanking Jamil’s hood down with one quick tug. “Okay, enough of this vague bullshit! What’s going on?!”
The force was a bit much. He got a nice view of what was under the hoodie – a tank top, usually hanging loose, but now wrapped tight around Jamil’s chest, which was unusually full. Jamil shrieked, then immediately sneezed right into Ace’s face. Gross… Though Ace was more concerned with what he’d just seen. “Wait, what-?”
“Some weird potion accident or something…” Jamil grumbled, wiping his… her nose. Floyd decided not to be a jackass for once, handing over a handkerchief, which Jamil gratefully accepted. Ace scratched the back of his head, watching the whole scene.
“So… how long..?”
Jamil shot him a look and he immediately shut up. Somehow, it felt even scarier from girl Jamil than usual Jamil… “If you so much as think about doing anything weird while I’m like this, I will roast you like the crab Floyd says you are.”
“I could go for some crab~.” Floyd ever-so-helpfully chimed in, now taking to glomping Jamil for a change.
Ace quickly held up his hands defensively. “Hey hey-! Nothing weird! I was just gonna ask how long it’d take for you to get back to normal. We’ve got a tournament and all that, so…”
Jamil’s raised brow told him he didn’t buy it.
“Fiiine, and maybe I thought going on a date with a girl could finally get Epel to stop making fun of me ‘not being able to bag a baddie’ for once.”
Floyd laughed. Jamil sighed. Then they all sneezed in unison.
The following morning found NRC with an unusual sight. The usually loud and cheerful troublemaker from Heartslabyul had grown a messy head of long hair overnight, with a waist that could no longer hold his pants up. Scarabia’s reliable vice leader walked around even more bundled up, eyes barely peeking out from the hood. And Floyd… well, Floyd was already getting disciplined about proper attire before the first lesson even started. And before the end of the week, all three dorms were coming down with a rather strange sickness.