Chapter Text
As soon as that strange ink started to cover riddle they went into fight or flight. Yuu’s thoughts raced for a solution, but one thing they knew for certain was that Riddle could hurt someone. This had been partly their fault, that’s at least what they thought. They didn’t want others to get hurt for what they saw as their mistake.
Yuu lunged at Riddle, taking both his hands and twisting them behind his back. They kicked the back of his knee and used their weight to keep him on the ground. It would have worked if this was a world without magic. That one simple fact they forgot in the heat of the moment. Riddle has magic.
They could only vaguely hear the others yelling—screaming, before they felt a sharp searing pain worse than anything they’ve ever felt. They screamed, loud. Yuu may not get loud very often but it doesn’t mean they can’t. They were screaming bloody murder—because it practically was—for only a few seconds before they fell to the side off of Riddle. When their head hit the ground they were out.
The next time Yuu was conscious they were confused and in terrible pain. The source of the pain was a throbbing in their abdomen. Riddle had gotten them like a damn kabob. If it wasn’t for magic they would have certainly died. As much as magic had been the cause of multiple headaches as of late, they were now grateful for it.
There recovery was steady, and a few weeks in Yuu started to get a bit restless so to speak. They were ready to start taking walks—not long exhausting ones, short ones to keep them active—but everyone thought it was too much too soon. Yuu wasn’t particularly happy about that.
One night while Grim was dead asleep—he’s such a heavy sleeper—Yuu decided to go out by themselves. They got out of their bed, wincing quietly while doing so, put a button up over their shoulders and made their way outside. It wasn’t a long walk—only to the end of the path that leads right up to Ramshackle—and they took their time. They leaned against what remained of the fence to let themselves just take in the outdoors. A gust of wind blew past them, ruffling the open sides of their undone button up. They had missed being outside.
While Yuu was gazing at the surrounding area some fireflies came out of nowhere. In the wake of the fireflies a tall man with large black horns and striking green eyes appeared.
“Holy shit! S-sorry, you just surprised me.” Yuu felt a bit bad for how they exclaimed at the sight of the man, but they had been caught quite off guard.
“What are you doing out here, child of man? Why linger in such a place while in such a state?” The man said while staring at the bandages still covering Yuu’s stomach. They got a tad embarrassed and started to button up their shirt.
“Oh, me? I live in Ramshackle.” Yuu said trying to be a bit not polite now. “What are you doing so close to my residence?” They wanted to sound firm, but not rude.
“Pardon any intrusion, I was unaware someone took residence here. I had been coming to observe the architecture of it.”
“Oh, I see. Well I suppose that’s not a problem. Feel free to look as much as you’d like.” The man chuckled at Yuu’s response.
“How delightful you are giving me permission.” Yuu didn’t find it as funny as the man seemed to but they ignored it. They looked over him again this time noticing his pointed ears and sharp fangs. Everything he had going on was a dangerous combination.
“Are you aware of who I am?” The man asked
“Afraid not. The only thing I can tell is that you’re an upperclassman.” Yuu responded honestly, not pretending to know more than they do.
“This is quite amusing. My name is—“ He cut himself off.
“No, I shall not. Considering your ignorance of the world, I shall permit you to call me by a name of your choosing.” The man finished his thought.
“Really? are you sure? I don’t want to be rude.” Yuu responded honestly.
“Nonsense, I have given you permission to call me what you wish.”
“Well, uh, alright then. I’ll get back to you on that. Hell I might never decide and just call you the man with horns forever.”
“Oh you are quite amusing, child of man.”
“That’s the second time you’ve called me ‘child of man’ is that like a fae thing? Oh, crap is that rude? I just kinda assumed given your features.”
“Calm yourself. I do not take offence to your assumption, it is correct after all. I suppose referring to humans as children of man may count as a ‘Fae thing’ as you put it.”
“That’s pretty interesting.” Yuu gets an abrupt shiver down their back, then start becoming a bit more unsteady.
“What is the issue, child of man? I saw bandages on you before, are you injured?”
“Yeah, I’m healing fine though.”
“Why are you out here?”
“I still need to get some level of exercise even if it’s just a walk, although it seems I’ve stayed out a bit longer than I should have.” Yuu put their hand over their abdomen and leaned as much weight against the fence as they could. They shiver again from another gust of wind.
“Well that won’t do. It was foolish of you to come so far out, especially in a shirt so thin.” The man took off his jacket.
“What are you—“
“I’m ensuring that you’ll be better by next we meet.” He said putting his jacket over Yuu’s shoulders. Yuu stood straight up, no longer supporting themselves on the fence.
“Please, that’s really not all that necessary!” Yuu stepped forward, but due to the sudden movement their front leg gave out and they went crashing into the man.
“Ah! I am so sorry!” Yuu tried to move back, but the man was holding them against him.
“You call it unnecessary but you clear require assistance. Now it’s time for you to get back to bed.” The man starts walking Yuu back to Ramshackle, it normally wouldn’t take long given how close the building was, but Yuu was a bit slow right now.
“You know, I never realized how nice the school jackets were.” Yuu commented, any ounce of embarrassment they could feel being clouded by a desire to be back in bed.
“You do not have one of your own?”
“Well I do, technically. Crowley found a few old uniforms to give me, but none of the jackets on them ever fit. They’re all to small around my shoulders. But yours fits quite well.” Yuu starts to ramble a bit now that they aren’t so focused on how they’re being perceived.
“I see.” The man looks Yuu up and down. “Keep that one. I have many.”
“What? Seriously? But it’s yours.”
“I have an abundance of them, and you will require one in the coming months when it gets colder.”
“Well then I’m not in a position to turn you down, considering you’re right about the cold.”
Yuu couldn’t remember much of the conversation they had after that, they just know that the next morning they woke up back in bed with the horned man’s jacket. That was their only proof they hadn’t been dreaming.