Chapter Text
The morning was early, but the sun had not yet risen at all.
The morning was cold, cold like Ramshackle's sheets, cold like the windows, cold like… Cold like a million cold and frozen things.
Yuu could imagine the murmurs of annoyance from the earliest students, even though they were in the main building and most of them should still be sleeping. Probably only Yuu liked Mondays, there was little mess at the start of the morning. They had done a good job on Saturday, so they did not need to get up to sweep.
Yuu waved to Crewel – who was already in the main laboratory preparing their first class of the day –, and Crewel waved back.
The castle that had been converted into a school was immense, but they already recognized every single corner.
They drew aside several curtains and opened a couple of windows, letting the fresh, cold morning air whip against their face and arranged the swords of several suits of armor. They walked through the hallways, making sure all the magical lights were on and activated a couple of magical mechanisms. They used multiple keys from his numerous keychains to open multiple doors and petted Lucius.
By the time the first students entered the building – with their uniforms half-adjusted, debating the history homework and the extracurricular courses, others were simply whispering loudly about their dislike of Mondays – Yuu was already in a corner. His first break of the day.
They went up to the east tower; no one paid attention to the east tower. Completely forgotten, its main use a few years ago had been to store old decorations, but Yuu used it to sleep while the students had their first classes.
The tower smelled of dust, but dust was already a recurring and comforting smell for Yuu.
They laid down and slept on an old mat.
When they woke up, they stretched a little and got back to work.
The students rushed to their classes after lunch. Some headed to Mathematics, others to Sociology, others to History, others to Herbology, some to Non-Magical Sciences, and others to Magical Biology. Soon, the day's classes would be over. And Yuu had to clean multiple classrooms.
But first, they had to clean the cafeteria.
Several students left their trays where they should, others did not. But he appreciated the small contributions. They took all the trays to the kitchen, washed and polished the tables, and, finally, they turned on the two magical brooms in the cafeteria. When they finished, with the sound of the magical brooms sweeping back and forth over and over, he went to the kitchen. The enchanted cutlery moved from side to side, following its magical programming.
Yuu took one last portion of food, sitting in pure silence while eating the meal.
He remembered his agenda: They had to go turn on all the magical tools of the Botanical Garden.
On the way to the Botanical Garden, the sun tried in vain to warm his pale and cold skin. Almost frozen.
When they arrived, there was hardly a soul – if theirs counted at all –. Almost.
Leona Kingscholar. Lying in the shade of a tree.
After the first attempts, Yuu had given up on telling the Freshman to go back to his classes.
Yuu didn’t want to be scratched, so they let Leona lay and sleep on the ground.
When all the magical tools were up and running, Yuu returned to the building.
They found his little janitor cart where he had left it the last time he saw it. Multiple enchanted brooms and cloths stored in it.
The students were already leaving the building, tired from the activities, exams, and school assignments.
First, he entered the history classroom.
Trein was already correcting activities at his desk, Lucius walked back and forth in the room, as if he were a tiger patrolling his territory, but returned to his master's lap upon seeing the brooms.
“Good afternoon, Yuu.” Commented the teacher, petting his feline companion.
Yuu let the brooms, rags, and cloths ignite, cleaning from left to right and from top to bottom. Trein looked up, the tools still cleaning.
“Do you want to continue talking about Greek Mythology, Yuu?” Yuu nodded; sometime ago, teacher Trein had asked them about how the history of their world was, encouraging him to talk a little more.
Yuu nodded, beginning to murmur a little about some myth of Hermes, and how the little baby god stealed the cows from his cousin, Apollo. Trein asked a couple of follow-up questions but let them speak; Yuu's voice was low: So low that it could be lost in a moderate breeze.
Yuu continued talking until the brooms, dusters, and rags went back to the cart on their own, indicating that he had to leave. Yuu said goodbye with a nod, walking toward the classroom he was supposed to clean next.
The air was noticeably salty in the Potions classroom. So Yuu took some gloves used by the students.
Crewel wasn’t there, but there was a paper with a note: “Do not touch the cauldron’s chemicals without gloves.”
Yuu already knew, but they appreciated the concern.
Yuu had never been good at perceiving smells, but thhe could bet that when he left the Potions classroom, the smell of salt was probably ingrained in his worn uniform.
They passed through countless more classrooms. Watching countless students in their workshops and extracurricular activities.
Dusk was approaching, the day was about to end.
He placed his cart in its designated spot. They closed countless doors with the countless keys on his silent keychains.
And they walked toward Ramshackle, trying to enjoy the last rays of sun before twilight.
After two years at NRC, Ramshackle was his true home.
When the semi-squeaky door opened, the first ghost appeared.
Morrow, the first to try to scare the unfortunate visitors of Ramshackle.
“Hey Yuu! How was your day?!” he asked, with his usual typical energy.
“Okay.”
One, two left.
“No special events?” Alaric’s voice filled the room.
“A student tripped over their own feet when they just arrived the castle.”
Yuu walked through the main hall of the Semi-Abandoned building. Alaric was reading a dusty book from the shelf perhaps for the umpteenth time, lightly levitating above the sofa as if he could still sit. Morrow and Alaric went on to have a conversation about some trivial matter from 70 years ago.
Two, one left.
The staircase creaked, a normal thing. And on the second floor, he found the third ghost: Solis. He didn’t do anything special, Solis smoothed his hat, as if he were still getting ready for that date 74 years ago. Being his second year staying at Ramshackle, Yuu already knew his Roomies inside and out, even if they were ghosts willing to scare everyone for fun.
“Good night, Yuu.”
“Good night, Solis.”
Three out of three.
“Have you had dinner?” he asked, lifting his gaze from his hat.
Yuu turned around and went down the creaky stairs, went to the poor kitchen of Ramshackle, and ate the first thing they found.
Now, after having dinner, he said goodbye to the three ghosts and wrapped himself in his sheets. Sleep quickly enveloped him, returning him to the realm of dreams.