Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The dust of Ramshackle wasn’t anything Yuu wasn’t used to. If she had a dust allergy before, she didn’t anymore. Bodies. They could adapt! That did not mean, however, she enjoyed cleaning it. Grim was the same way, but way louder about it.

“I don’t want to do a buncha cleaning!” He pouted. “How come we gotta do it? Jamil-kun’s part of this dorm now, too! He should do it!”

“He’s working his butt off for the VDC with the others,” she groaned, tying her hair back for the umpteenth time. “The sooner you stop whining, the sooner we’re done.”

“They better be grateful for all this grunt work Grim the Great is doing for them,” the feline grumbled.

“I know I am.” She flashed a smile. “You missed a spot.”

“ Minion -“

“What are you filthy vermin doing here?” A new voice asked, low and demanding.

A puff of arrogance rose from the floor. His arms were folded with a huff, a brow cocked at the two peasants. Unlike the usual specter, this phantom wore epaulets and a sash over a rather royal looking uniform. The cartoony gloves covering his hands detracted from the regality, admittedly.

“Um, we live here?” Yuu leaned back on her palms to face him properly.

Grim sprung, happily tossing the sponge aside. Yeah, so scram! I know a thing or two about getting rid of ghosts!” To prove a point, a small spark of blue blew from his muzzle.

The ghost rolled his eyes, unimpressed at best. He rose his voice, calling to a group slowly floating through the floorboards. “These plebeians are trespassing in the princess’ guesthouse!”

“Outsiders are strictly forbidden!” Another bellowed. A breath of light curled around his palm before manifesting in the form of a lance.

Well, he’s got a weapon. That’s new.

“What princess?” Grim demanded. “This is my dorm-“ “ours,” Yuu deadpanned, “-meanin’ you’re the outsiders!”

A lanky one barked a laugh, raising a hand to his mouth to add to the mockery. “How absurd! This manor has belonged to our nation long before you rapscallions were so much as conceived!”

“I’ll have to give you a sound drubbing if you refuse to leave,” the first warned.

I’m getting a strong sense of déjà vu. Except this time they’re ghosts and not eels. “ Okay, okay, we’re leaving.” Yuu stood.

“ What ?!” Grim yowled. “But Minion! This is our dorm!”

“Remember the Fairy Gala? You’ve just got to roll with it. We’ll sort it out later.” And I rather not get stabbed by a ghost. I think I’d have an even worse disadvantage in the afterlife in this world, anyway. “Alright, gentlemen. Let me just grab some things and I’ll be out of here.”

“At least one of you is reasonable,” the commander relented.

“I’m plenty reasonable!” He protested.

Yuu stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned to the feline, an even more lethargic lift of a brow aimed at him.

“ Hey !”

She disappeared into Cater and Lilia’s room. She took a look around the bedroom before packing the essentials up. Basically, the things they wouldn’t kill her for leaving behind or be lost without. Luckily, each of them already packed relatively lightly. Of course, Jamil was the exception, being that he lived there.

She should probably call him.

Chapter Text

“Why isn’t Vil-senpai here himself?” Grim demanded with a huff. “This is just as much of a problem for him as it is for us, yannow?”

“He’s busy coaching Deuce-kun.” Jamil fixed the blazer with one hand, his other zipping his gym bag. “His parts require diction.”

“Diction? What’s that?”

“Pronunciation. In any case, it is still my dorm.”

“I’m sorry about all of this,” Yuu sighed.

Jamil shook his head. “I just want to sort this out as quickly as possible.”

“You’re taking this surprisingly well,” she commented with a teasing smirk.

“This is the second time you’ve been evicted from Ramshackle.” His tone was dead even. “I’m not surprised.”

She barked a laugh. “Me neither!”

“You two are too calm!” Grim hissed. “I want my bed! And my tuna stash!”

Yuu ignored him. “Maybe next year we should make it some sort of rite of passage.”

A smirk tugged his lip. “There are stranger traditions.”

“ Minion !” Grim tugged at Yuu’s pant leg with a whine.

Yuu scratched between his ears, much to the cat’s huffy embarrassment. “I know, I know. Crowley-sensei.” She took a deep breath, returning her attention to her senpai. “Can you come, too? He and I don’t have the best history.”

“I was planning on it.” Jamil curtly knocked on the door before pushing it open.

Crowley’s glowing eyes blinked at the abrupt entry. He rose to a stand from behind the large desk, a frown tugging his lip. “Heavens! What ever is the matter?”

“Headmage.” Jamil stopped just short of the entrance. He adjusted the strap of the gym bag, the headmaster’s attention quietly flicking toward the motion before returning back to him. “Our dorm was seized by a group of ghosts in uniform. They weren’t like the ones used by staff. Do you know anything about it?”

Yuu recognized the quiet presence Jamil took. It wasn’t polite or feigning comfort. A silent resentment simmered behind the mask of a professional tone.The blade was sheathed.

Maybe Ramshackle was just never going to have a good relationship with the crow.

Crowley hummed thoughtfully, a finger curled under his pointed mask. “A gaggle of ghosts evicting you?”

“That’s right!” Grim darted from behind Yuu. He skid to a halt with a puff, arms folded over his fluffy chest with flattened ears. “They just showed up and started acting like they owned the place! Then started spouting off jargon about a princess!”

“A princess?” His hand lightly tapped his palm, his mouth forming an ‘o’ shape. “Now I see!”

“So, you do know something about it?” Yuu mustered up the courage to ask.

He nodded. “Your dorm wasn’t occupied prior to this year, so I didn’t address the matter publicly before. It must have slipped my mind to tell you personally, but,” a bright smile blossomed on that eerily chilled face. “I suppose it’s that time of year again!”

“Come again?” She blurted. That does not sound good at all .

“The ghosts who so unceremoniously removed you from your dorm are the Ghost Bride’s retainers,” he elaborated, as if that explained anything.

Jamil was equally confused. “Ghost Bride?”

“I can’t tell if that title is supposed to be spooky or swanky,” Grim deadpanned.

So, Ramshackle is a honeymoon suite? For ghosts? How does marriage even work for them? Are ghosts born in this world? The entire concepts spiral in a spectral cycle.

“The story is that she’s a princess of a kingdom that fell long ago,” Crowley explained, deaf to Yuu’s existential crisis. “She dreamt of marrying a handsome prince, as any fairytale maiden might.” He frowned, deeply moved as he swayed into despair. “But she tragically perished before that dream could be realized. To this day, her ghost clings to that dream of marrying her own fairytale prince.“

Something like empathy dug at Yuu’s heart. She could understand, yet only in some twisted way. This princess didn’t let her dream die with her, living even beyond that so she might reach it. Yuu did not. She died because her dream was out of reach, never to be held or seen again. That wish, a dream that her heart made, died like a star in the sky. It must have hurt to watch everything around this princess crumble away and listen to the screams of metal ripped off her men. Yet she dreamt on as her reality burnt into ash.

“She always comes to Ramshackle around this time of year in search of a groom,” the Headmage continued. “It functions as a base as she combs through all of Twisted Wonderland’s bachelors. Out of all the schools and locations she could have chosen, she selected our humble Ramshackle!” A glinting smile glared from under the sheen of the mask. “It’s quite the honor!”

Grim growled. “We get kicked out of our dorm and you’re bragging about it? That ain’t right! You gotta get them out of there!”

“I’m afraid I can’t be bothered,” the lofty response came as easy as a breath. Jamil’s cocked brow snapped him back into reality. Crowley clumsily recovered. “I mean, though I sympathize with your plight, we shouldn’t disturb them at such a delicate time. After all, she is searching for a groom she’ll never find.”

“What do you mean?” Yuu prompted.

“Her qualifications for a perfect prince are as follows, and I quote: at least 180 centimeters tall,” a taloned finger stretched from his palm at the count, “with an air of nonchalance. Healthy, lustrous skin with deep eyes and a charming smile.” He waved off his now open palm. “There’s more, but you understand the gist. In summary, a perfectly prepossessing gentleman.” A cackling laugh crowed from him. “Her standards are pure fantasy. She’ll never find a man like that in all of Twisted Wonderland!” The cawing subsided, confidence preening his feathers. “Ramshackle Dorm is the only thing that suffers from her annual flight of fancy. Give her a few days, and she’ll forfeit and leave.”

“A few days? Sensei, that’s too long!” Yuu pointed out. “The dorm’s still being used for the VDC!”

Jamil took the created opportunity to drive the point further. “If we’re going to defeat Royal Sword, this will be a major setback.”

“I understand the concern,” Crowley assured, not that the three believed him. “But it’s hardly worth removing them. You’ve all proven to be quite adaptable, and it’s not as though your rehearsals themselves take place within the dorm. Temporarily relocating housing arrangements won’t sabotage a thing, I assure you.“

“We’d still have no where to go!” Grim protested.

“Right.” He hummed. “This is your dorm. Perhaps you could ask a friend to board you until this is over?”

Well, that would be difficult for both of them. For Jamil, his connections have been pretty much severed after his Overblot. Even if Kalim allowed it, the tension would be so thick you could cut it with a knife- and only Yuu was permitted weapons like that. As for said prefect, Grim and she were a package deal. Even Heartslabyul was apprehensive on taking them both in.

“ Headmage !”

The whirring of engines drowned out the silence. The doors, which had been closed behind them, sprung open with the knobs slamming the walls. Glowing eyes were wide with panic. They darted around the room, scanning all of them swiftly, before he zipped straight to the headmaster himself.

Crowley took it in stride, not moving an inch from the now very close android boy. “Why, if it isn’t Ortho Shroud! What could have gotten you in such a tizzy?”

“It’s an emergency, sir!” He blurted. “About Idia!”

“Yes, yes.” He sat behind his desk once again, Ortho’s illuminated eyes not leaving him for a moment. “What about your brother?”

“The thing is,” his palms gripped the edge of the tabletop, eyes blown wide in horror, “Idia’s been kidnapped ! By ghosts!

Idia-senpai? Don’t tell me…

“By ghosts?” Jamil pressed. “Were they wearing tall hats and odd uniforms?”

“Yes!” Ortho nodded vehemently. “It is exactly as you described! Here, I have some footage to show you. The campus security cameras recorded it last night!”

“Now, hold on!” Crowley balked. “You can’t just hack into our security access whenever you please!”

Ortho pointedly ignored him. A holographic screen projected in front of him. “Replaying the footage now!”

The Statue of the Sevens overlooked the lonely road leading into the dusked horizons. Idia huffed and kicked the ground as he stepped, dejected.

It was difficult to make out from the video, but he muttered to himself as he trudged down the faded bricks. “I preordered the latest volume of my favorite manga, but it didn’t come on time. It was a special edition with the autograph card, too!” A sigh groaned from his mouth, his hand rubbing the back of his neck as his head lulled back. “So much for my day-one nerd cred. Might as well swing by the school store and pick up a regular one. Can’t be called a fake fan just because of some lousy delivery.”

As Idia turned around, a phantom of a whisper caught the mic. The voice was like a song, haunting and chilling with a cadence to the tenor.

Idia stopped.

He looked around, his shoulders tightening and hands drawn in loose fists to his chest. “Huh? Who’s there?”

“I’ve really,” the lyrics a haunting melody, “found you.”

The silence was suffocating. Idia didn’t waste another moment, pivoting on his heel to make a run for it.

“My prince!”

There was a scream. The brush of a veil like the leap of a phantom engulfed the camera before plunging it into darkness.

Ortho rewound the footage and paused it at one frame. The blur of blue, clad in ghostly lace, managed out of shot while other spectral soldiers stood by. “It’s as I said!” He insisted, not letting the tension linger for a moment. Or maybe he was just immune to it.

“The one in the dress must be her,” Jamil commented plainly. “The Ghost Bride”.

“Dear, oh dearie me.” Crowley’s eyes widened with worry. The way those notches of light grew in the void sockets was stirring. “It would appear that she has found her perfect husband at last.”

“ Idia -senpai is perfect husband material?” Grim squawked. “Last I checked, he wasn’t like any fairytale prince I’ve ever seen!” His arms flailed for emphasis. “He’s all slouchy, never leaves his room, always looks down, and that creepy smile!”

“But he’s tall,” Yuu slowly reminded him, “and he was standing up straight in that video. He’s never out in the sun, so I guess you could call that perfect, too. And his smile is unique. Charming, you could say.”

Grim’s jaw dropped. “You can’t be saying Idia-senpai’s your type!”

She waved her hands to dismiss the thought. “No, but every girl has her taste, you know? It’s all in how you look at things.”

Crowley agreed with a nod. “His hair is literally aflame, so it could be considered ‘bright and shimmering’, and blue lips certainly qualify as ‘arresting’.”

“After all this time,” Jamil suggested, “maybe she’s gotten desperate for anyone who could come close to filling her criteria.”

Ortho didn’t seem to notice the critic’s remark, instead nodding away with a sigh. “My brother’s the coolest. Curse that ghost and her discerning taste!”

“Regardless,” Crowley continued, “the situation has taken a grave turn. Seeing as the Ghost Bride now has a groom, one of our own students, no less, Night Raven will turn into a wedding venue!”

Grim rolled his eyes, unimpressed. “So now you’re taking this seriously!”

Ortho projected several monitors. Students fought off phantoms in the kitchen, only for them to revive and strike even harder; others ignored them only to be forcefully relocated; several had their tests taken prematurely before kicked out of classrooms. “It looks like that’s already happening.”

“What did I say about hacking into our surveillance footage?!” The headmaster scolded.

Yuu stared at the live recordings. “I think we’ve got a bigger problem than that right now, sensei.”

“I think this is worse than when we got booted by those eel guys,” Grim decided.

There was a crash outside the door. Crowley  and Ortho’s attention snapped to the frame.

Yuu shot the cat a look. “You think?”

Chapter Text

The thing about Night Raven College that truly set it apart from its named competitors was its open mindedness to the morally gray. White universities like Royal Sword Academy and Noble Bell College were more traditional, Night Raven freely explored the nuance of morality through practice. In short, Night Raven College adapted to the students and their quirks rather than the other way around. Such flexibility could be considered unprofessional by some, maybe even chaotic. In the time that Yuu had spent there, she would easily argue against that misconception.

This was not the best example.

“Headmage!” Ace tore down the hall before skidding to a halt. “We’ve got a problem!”

“Let me guess,“ Grim cut in, “a group of ghosts turning the campus into a wedding venue?”

Amber eyes blinked, dumbfounded. “How’d you know?”

Yuu met his gaze evenly before gesturing to literally anything. The foyer that the mezzanine surrounded overlooked the chaos that was some elaborate chase scene between ghosts and people. The sound of Magic flicking through the specters echoed from below, crudely complimented by the battle cries.

Ace sighed a laugh, rubbing his neck. “Okay, that one’s on me.”

The pattering of approaching footsteps interrupted them. Yuu wouldn’t call it a run, but more like power-walking. Lilia and Sebek strolled over, the former’s eyes glittering with mirth. The freshman, however, matched his pace with enthusiastic strides reminiscent of a nutcracker’s march.

“What are you two doing here?” Grim asked.

Lilia stopped, hands outward in a shrug he didn’t mean. A smirk tugged his lip as he shook his head not-so-innocently. “To be provoked so easily from that little ridicule, what narrowed-minded ghosts.”

“So, you teased them,” Jamil deadpanned.

Ace was more concerned with the phantoms rounding the corner. At least they had the courtesy not to clip through the wall. “Why did you bring them here ?”

Sebek whipped around the gem of his Magic Pen sparking. “You, who bare your fangs to Lilia-sama, I will exorcise you!”

He cocked a brow, skeptically readying his own weapon. “You couldn’t have done that earlier?”

“I didn’t know he had experience in exorcism,” Jamil added on.

Sebek shot the two a glare sharpened by his oddly angular brows. “I will not tolerate slander from you humans!”

Jamil ignored him. “Yuu-chan, we should go.”

“I can take ‘em!” Grim protested, puffing a breath of fire to prove a point.

“It’s a waste of energy,” he reasoned. “They’ll revive themselves endlessly.“

Yuu couldn’t help but agree. “And that’s just asking for Blot.” Which was the last thing they needed: an Overblot monster amidst a ghost invasion.

“We’ll hold the line,” Lilia informed them with a snicker. “We’ll regroup in the sports field.”

“Crowley-sensei said he was heading there, too!” Grim remembered. “Are you some kind of psychic?”

Yuu followed Jamil at a jog. “We’ll figure that out later!”(Which, for the record she doubted.)

“Hey!” The cat scrambled after them. “Wait for me!”

Riddle, surprisingly, was already there. Yuu was more so expecting the boy to go to war with the intruders for trespassing. It wasn’t just him, either. The empty field hosted many students humble enough to make the strategic retreat. They huddled in groups, tending to their injuries. Vargas was quick to support with a first aid kit. From the sounds of it, Veprl and Crewel were still in the main building trying to corral people out. Trein was discussing matters with Ortho and Crowley on the edges of the immediate area. There was a heaviness in the air, muddled with annoyance.

“Are you taking refuge in the field, too?” Riddle asked as they arrived.

“Yeah,” Yuu caught her breath. “Lilia-senpai it’d be safer here.”

“It makes sense,” Jamil reasoned. “There’s not much here to repurpose for a venue.”

“Unless you really like grass for some reason,” Grim had to agree.

“Lilia-senpai?” Riddle echoed. “I didn’t expect him of all people to get held behind.”

“He was buying some time with Ace-kun and Sebek-kun.”

The red head sighed with a frown. “And knowing Ace-kun, he’ll burn himself out just to beat those ghosts.”

“Good thing Lils is a total chad!” Cater chimed in, swinging in and propping his arm on Yuu’s shoulder like a rest. “He won’t let him get too roughed up.”

Riddle cocked a brow at the ginger, thoroughly unimpressed. Yuu stifled a laugh at the 100% done expression he was sporting. She didn’t even notice Azul slip into the conversation with a warm smile.

The octopus greeted, “It’s nice to see you safe, Yuu-chan.”

Grim hissed indignantly, “Are we chopped liver to this guy?”

“I prefer he don’t address me at all,” Jamil stated tonelessly.

Azul feigned hurt with a frown. “Come now, Jamil-kun! Are you going to ignore our history?”

Gray eyes shifted toward him in a slow, careless slide- cold and cruel like steel. “What history?”

Yuu decided having whatever this tension was did not help the situation. At all. “Did you guys get chased out, too?”

“Yep!” Kalim chirped, popping out from behind Azul. “We got chased out from the lecture hall by ghosts who came out of nowhere! We were in the middle of a group study, too!”

“Kalim-kun.” Azul moved his arm, which had flung around dramatically during his tale, out of his face. “The correct phrasing would be we were helping you .”

Riddle sighed, folding his arms. “He was so close to working out the problem, too.”

“What about you, Cater-nii?” Yuu asked.

“I got kicked out of the alchemy lab.” He got off of her with a sighing smile. “They said it was the family lounge.“

“An alchemy lab for a family lounge? Isn’t that dangerous?” She stared incredulously.

“Well, yeah, but they’re like, totally dead.”

“You think that’s bad?” A gruff voice huffed from the ground. “I was just minding my own business in the bloody hall when those brain-dead halfwits got all in my face.”

“So, it’s true.” Vil approached in a regal stride, flanked by Epel and Deuce. Rook kept pace with his housewarden. “The campus has been seized by ghosts.”

“Who told you guys?” Grim wondered aloud.

“Ace-kun texted me,” Deuce explained.

“Night Raven College’s Magicam tag is now full of haunting photos,” Vil added.

Epel shook his head. “I just happened to be right next to Deuce-kun when Ace-kun texted.”

“Speaking of Monsieur Heart!” Rook’s hand covered his brow to see the group approaching.

Yuu turned to see the freshmen and Lilia power-walking to the refuge. Ace broke from the group, seeing his fellow VDC cast members, waving. “Hey! Sorry for the hold up!”

Vil’s eyes rolled. “Don’t tell me you honestly expected to best a group of ghosts.”

“I’m not stupid,” Ace grunted with a glare. “So, what’s exactly going on here? This is like, the second time we’ve been invaded this year.”

“If we have to get all dressed up again, count me out,” Leona growled. His sour mood sweetened with a smirk. “It’s octo-punk’s turn.”

“I’m out, too.” Ruggie crossed his arms.

“This is different from the Fairy Gala,” Jamil reminded them. “The Fairies didn’t attack us.”

Deuce’s eyes sprung wide with horror. “You don’t think those ghosts would kill us, do you?”

“Non.” The blond bob-cut man shook his head. “They’d be rather disadvantaged if the playing field were the same.”

Ace had to agree. “They were pulling some punches. They’ll rough you up and send you packing, but that’s about it.” His lip pulled into a frown. “But just why are they taking over our dorm? I heard some of them screaming about a venue or something?”

Epel blinked. “Like a party?”

“Let me explain!” Ortho chirped. The freshman jumped at his sudden appearance. “It’s about my brother…”

Chapter Text

To say that there was an uproar of laughter would be an understatement. A marching band- no - a parade would’ve been quieter. Jack and a few other Beastmen’s ears flattened at the riot, Ruggie definitely the least subtle by outright grabbing his.

“Idia-senpai a prince ?” Ace snorted through snickers. “For real?”

Cater chuckled, “She’s def got a type.”

“Idia-san,” Azul lamented in a sigh. His feigned frown cracked into a smirk he couldn’t hide. “To get ambushed for leaving his room for once-“ he couldn’t finish, erupting into a fit of quiet giggles.

“It is unfortunate,” Jade agreed with a nod. His expression was anything but somber.

“This is no laughing matter!” Crowley scolded harshly. “To be selected as a ghost’s groom, do you know what that means?”

To see the poker-faced Fae so openly distraught was already unnerving. A scary silence fell among the crowd like some supernatural pressure.

“Surely you all have heard of the common vow: ‘Til death do us part.”

The silence continued, realization slowly creeping like dawn. It shuddered the cluster with its chilling nails.

But ghosts can’t die.

Riddle’s eyes widened. “They’d be bound for eternity.”

“ Precisely !” The adamant joust of his finger snapped his audience’s attention. “To be wed to a ghost, as a living person, means losing your very soul!”

“Big,” Ortho stammered, eyes flashing a distressing signal, “Big Brother will become a ghost?” His hands curled around Crowley’s cloak, a silent beg for there to be some sort of mistake.

The fantasy of folly froze. The laughter choked into a stifling stillness. Desolate breezes of an occasional whisper only added to the ominous air.

“He’ll die,” Yuu muttered. She wasn’t sure what was worse: Overblot or whatever-this-situation-was. They both rang similar bells in some wicked poetic sense. One bellowed for mourning, the other tolled for celebration. Would they both ring for Idia?

Crowley was deaf to the silence. He smiled brightly, patting the tufts of flame atop Ortho’s head. “Fret not, Ortho-kun. If their comrade’s life is in danger, all students here will gladly-“

“No way in hades.”

Yuu choked at the audience’s deadpan decision. Ortho’s engines whirred in surprise, eyes scanning the group as he recalculated. “Why? Everyone, please lend your strength!”

Vil cocked a brow. “When you go out of your way to shut yourself off from the rest of the world, and then rely on those you’ve ignored in times of need, it’s too much.”

Ouch .

Leona wasn’t too be bothered. “It’s Radish Sprout’s problem. He can solve it himself.”

She wasn’t surprised by that one.

“I see.” Ortho frowned, dejected. “I suppose I’ll do it myself.”

“Wait, wait!” Kalim’s arms flailed for his attention. “You can’t go by yourself!”

“It’s a suicide mission,” Riddle agreed. “We need a plan.”

“Oh?” Rook blinked curiously. “Roi des Roses is debuting as the hero?”

“He’s our senpai,” Deuce had to agree. “If he needs our help, then we should at least try.”

“That’s the spirit!” Kalim cheered.

“I have a feeling we’re going to get roped into this no matter what we do,” Ace sighed.

“Jamil-senpai?” Yuu prompted quietly.

He wasn’t surprised by the unspoken question. Of course she’d want to save him. He loosed a breath. “If Kalim is involved, I have no choice.“

She winced. “Right.” Transfer or not, there were still some things that couldn’t change.

Jade’s voice murmured, “If we didn’t offer our assistance, I’d be concerned on how Ortho-san would react.”

Floyd barked a laugh. “Imagine those fireworks!”

Yuu blinked at the pair. “What do you mean?”

“Ortho-kun,” Azul explained in a whisper, “is an advanced blend of machinery and Magic. He has the ability to turn the school into ash if he so chose.”

Grim sputtered. “F-for real?”

“You make dangerous allies,” Jamil commented coolly.

Azul laughed it off. “I rather have my weapons where I see them.”

“So, you’re in this, too?” Yuu asked. “I mean, you two are friends, right?”

“Of course!” A grin brightened his face with a streak of silver. “Lending him a hand-“

“Means he’ll owe you a favor,” Leona scoffed from the ground. “Count me out.”

Grim looked up at Vil. “You pitching in, too?”

The blond folded his arms with a resigned sigh. “It’d be difficult to rehearse with so many ghosts back and forth. It’s only a matter of time before they confiscate the ballroom.”

“And all of Pomefiore,” Epel could imagine.

Rook chirped, “Oui. And if they intended to prolong their stay, the culture festival as a whole will be at risk.“

“And that’s saying nothing of the press,” Vil added.

“Indeed,” Lilia was inclined to agree. “Malleus, as the next heir of Thorn Valley, can’t afford the controversy. They’d likely criticize him directly for not sparing the effort to save one human child.”

“We cannot let something so disgraceful be uttered about the Young Master!” Sebek vehemently declared.

Where is Malleus-senpai, anyway?

“Should we count Silver-san in, too?” Jamil mused.

“Maybe!” Kalim laughed.

“Thank you, everyone!” Ortho meant in earnest, eyes practically brightening with renewed hope.

I guess he didn’t hear all that? Yuu wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

“Let’s brainstorm!” The droid continued eagerly.

“What if we tried talking things out with the bride?” Kalim suggested. “We could even do it over a dinner party! Maybe she’ll let him go once we explain.”

“A novel proposal, Roi d’Or!” Rook commended him with a bright grin. “Though there is one troubling detail: would a bride who’s spent so long searching for her marié parfait will be willing to relinquish him so easily?” An impish smirk hooked his lips, a seductive spice glinting in his eye. “Were it myself, I would never let my beloved go.”

Yuu took a mental double-take. Hearing the unreadable huntsman plainly declare his intent, even if hypothetical, was so blunt and curt like the flint of an arrow. It wasn’t aimed at her. His forest greens, the very plain which he ventured for sport, drifted elsewhere.

“The rules do not apply to the deceased,” Riddle lamented irritably. “I’d have their heads for abducting a student like this.”

“So, we do it the fun way?” Floyd hummed.

Jade shook his head. “Seeing as this is how we found ourselves in this predicament, I’d imagine it’d result the same.”

“Precisely,” Crowley agreed. “These ghosts cannot be defeated by a mere fight.” He frowned. “Things would be exceedingly troublesome if we provoked them. We should consider combat our last resort.”

“ Yeah ,” Ace drawled in a sigh. “I don’t think how that’s gonna work. I mean, they just keep coming! We need a better trump card.”

“We’ll need to outwit them,” Azul knew. “Sadly, I’m not familiar with dealing with specters.”

Lilia nodded, before an idea dawned on him. “That Sam is quite the authority on all that’s supernatural, you know. What if we sought out his expertise?”

“The guy running the school store?” Deuce asked.

He nodded. “I’m familiar with his great-great-grandfather.”

He stared incredulously. “Great- great ?”

Cater chuckled. “You sure love dropping those big deets on us, huh?” He breathed a light laugh. “And with no idea if you’re being for real or not.”

Yuu got back on track. “So, we’re going to Sam-san’s?”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Jamil agreed. “He’s more familiar with ghosts.”

“Cuz he’s a cryptid,” Cater chimed in.

“I’m fairly certain he is human,” Lilia protested evenly.

Chapter Text

Sam’s store was as eclectic in colors as usual, untouched by the chaos on-campus. Maybe he had some strategy to ward off the specters. The glass bottles sparkled in the daylight as the door opened. The curtain of cobwebs seemed to pull back at the swing of the timber. Wooden wind chimes and bells sang as their group entered. They had decided to downsize their party. Sam’s shop may have had many knickknacks and nearly anything the sun or shadows could offer, but an infinite space was not one of them.

“Well!” The eccentric shopkeeper swiveled around the counter, a bright grin stretching across his face. “If it isn’t the Headmage and his merry band of imps in-tow!” His top-hat rolled off his head, bounced off the crook of his elbow, and landed courtly in his hand. “What brings you into my humble store today?” The refined act broke at the bark of his laugh whilst he adjusted his hat atop his head. “I kid, I kid. I already know. You’re dealing with the Ghost Bride, aren’t ya?”

Riddle’s arms folded with a hum. “It seems you’re one step ahead of us. Almost like you knew we’d be coming.”

He simpered impishly. “My friends in the shadows keep me well informed.”

Azul offered him a smile as organic as plastic. “Very impressive. You must introduce me.”

“I don’t think that would end well,” Yuu chuckled.

Jamil rolled his eyes. “If he wants to get himself killed, let him.”

“Dangerous dealings is a sport for him,” the ginger prefect seconded. “It only stands to reason that his downfall will be the result of a poor gamble.”

Leona’s tongue clicked with a smug smirk. “Too bad the ghost chick picked Radish Sprout over him.”

Azul seethed behind his businessman smile. “I appreciate your concerns, but Idia-san really is a more suitable choice.”

“How so?” Riddle prompted.

“He’s already dead inside.”

Yuu decided to get back to the task at hand. “So, Sam-san, you’re familiar with ghosts, right? How do we save Idia-senpai?”

Sam mulled over the inquiry with a slight frown, a pensive pinch of his brows hardly hidden by the rim of his hat. “There’s no sending them back to the afterlife as long as there’s some sort of attachment.”

“So exorcism is out?”

“That explains why those guys kept comin’ every time we poofed them,” Grim figured.

“Yep!” Sam chirped. “Ghosts can be tricky customers.”

Ortho leaned over the counter with an impatient whirr of his turbines. “So how do we save my big brother?” The shopkeeper had to take a step back so their faces didn’t collide. “It’s not like I can add some unknown variable into the equation, like some item that will solves our problem-“

Sam had enough of him leaning closer and closer. Yuu was sure his retinas were going to start burning with the way the android’s eyes were prone to glowing. “ In stock !”

Leona’s brows raised. “You have something?”

Azul laid on the charm with a smile. “Your selection of wares never ceases to amaze!”

He waved off the compliments with a chuckle, taking the excuse to duck behind the counter- anything to escape the torch in his face. “Tragic brides have existed for eons. They develop lingering attachments and stick around as ghosts from time to time. Lots of ghost brides mean a lot of people suffering, dead and alive, so there are a lot of anti-ghost-bride items out there.” He popped out from behind the counter, a usafa blue box in hand. He placed it on the counter before the lid pulled back with a click. “Here’s your ticket to annulment: the Circle of Severance.”

Yuu gingerly picked up the piece. The silver band was unassuming enough. Its style was simple and craft smooth. She might have mistaken it for a real engagement ring, were it not for the finer details. Two waves, or maybe branches or even wings, failed to meet in the center. No brilliant diamonds promising eternity lustered in the light. The crowns were empty just like the promises to be made. There was something inherently sad about it all.

Sam didn’t seem to mind her. “Put the ring on the ghost’s left ring finger after saying this incantation: ‘I vow to love you for as long as you live’. The ring will then sever the ghost’s attachment and send her back to the afterlife!”

Azul admired the silver’s luster. “I see. It sets up an escape clause: ‘No promises once you’re dead’.”

She closed the box with a pained frown. “It feels wrong.”

“Hey, I’m just the supplier!” the shopkeeper crowed a laugh. “You imps are the ones with the demand.”

“This is our answer!” Ortho proclaimed ecstatically.

She waited this long, though, for her perfect prince. And now that she’s found him, we’re ripping it all away from her again . Her chest ached with phantom pain. I know what she’s doing is wrong. I mean, Idia-senpai will end up being basically killed if this marriage goes through, but doesn’t she deserve happiness, too?

“But this begs the question,” Vil interjected, “how we’re supposed to get this ring on her finger.”

“Giving her it as a gift would only startle her,” Lilia sighed.

“Not to mention on her left ring finger. No woman alive or dead would permit that.”

Jamil’s brow furrowed in thought. “Idia-senpai could do it, but he’s already being held captive. Relaying him the ring would be too risky.”

Azul’s lip tugged with a glint of mischief lurking in his eyes. “Then we must become worthy of bestowing it to her ourselves.”

Deuce was unconvinced. “How would we do that?”

“By becoming her fiancé, of course!” He chimed back much too cheerily.

Ace gave him an unimpressed frown. “But the bride’s already picked Idia-senpai. I don’t think she’s taking applications.”

“Ah!” Lilia’s face, however, brightened at the idea. “You mean steal her affections.” He snickered, a dark playfulness further poisoning his magenta hue. “I’ve seen this before. How intriguing and delightful!”

“Like a shoujo manga!” Ortho agreed feverishly. “The technical term is a love triangle, or even a reverse harem!”

“Precisely,” Azul confirmed curtly. “What girl wouldn’t want to indulge themselves in the fantasy? If the sales numbers are anything to go by.”

Me . Yuu just stared at him incredulously. I wouldn’t want that.

Although that strategy tracked with Azul’s scandalous habits. He probably employed the tactic a number of times, given he could only gain from the outcome. A broken heart meant another client.

Grim’s tail flicked. “Your face looks weird, Minion.”

Crowley seemed content with the plan. “Ask for the Ghost Bride’s hand, bestow the ring, and retrieve Shroud-kun.” A delighted grin tickled his cheeks. “I dub this scheme: Operation Proposal!” His pointed finger returned under his chin. “Now, who will most likely ensure success?”

Leona, surprisingly, decided to contribute. “You’re all forgetting something.”

“Do tell.”

He huffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. “Yuu.”

“Oh, yeah.” Ace replied dumbly. “She’s a girl.”

Deuce shot him a look. “You forgot?”

She groaned, “I’m right here.”

“This is an unseen boon to us!” Crowley proudly declared, gripping the girl’s shoulders with a grin. She froze underneath his curled claws. “What are your insights, Miss Yuu?”

Riddle and Jamil pried him off of her. The former stated simply: “Touching a student so casually is inappropriate.”

“My apologies.” The headmage’s hands were still sprawled from being plucked off of her.

Feeling the release of pressure, Yuu breathed a sigh. “There has to be some other way to save him.”

“Any other course of action would result in it being too late!” Ortho adamantly retorted. “Operation: Proposal has the highest chance of success!“

“She’s had everything ripped away from her before,” Yuu protested. She wasn’t sure if it was the nerves, or the tenderness of her heart, that made her burn inside. “And she’s waited so long just for one chance at happiness- whatever she calls happiness. And now that she finally has it, we want to rip it away from her?” A frown twisted on her face. “It feels wrong .”

Riddle slowly nodded. “But we can’t simply let Idia-senpai get spirited away, either. Even if her heart hurts, this course of action is inexcusable.”

She didn’t like the answer. It tasted bitter, and the flavor made her squirm. She could hardly stomach it.

Yuu felt Azul’s gloved hands slowly lift hers. He cupped her fingers carefully. Serene, blue eyes met crystal pools. “Everything comes with a price. If we are to save Idia-san, we must play the underhanded schemers for a bit.”

Vil agreed quietly. “Sometimes, we must play the villain to accomplish heroics.”

“You’re a kind person,” Azul continued gently. “But it’s as Riddle-san said: we cannot always factor in the pains of the heart if it pains others as well. It does not excuse the wrongs of the person.”

She stared. “What do you-“

“That sounds like something Veprl-sensei would say,” Jamil stated coolly.

She blinked, realization slowly dawning as the unsaid sang like dreary morning birds. Oh . 

“That’s why people like you are treasured,” Azul proceeded patiently. “Your forgiveness is something I wouldn’t trade for anything.“

“But forgiveness can only be given with repentance,” Riddle agreed. “Any sooner, and that only permits repetition. It only affirms poor behavior.”

“Yeah, I’m with our Dormhead on that one,” Ace chimed in. “Reminds me of one of my brother’s ex’s. He’d let the craziest thing slide saying it was fine and all that just to keep her happy. I think he meant it, too. But then she thought ‘oh, then it’s okay I’m doing this screwed up thing’!” He laughed. “We threw a big party when they finally broke up.” He shook his head. “But it’s not like every bad thing we do is some major thing either.”

Deuce nodded. “You have to take the good with the bad. We can only do our best.”

Yuu relented in a slow bob of her head. It was a difficult truth. But if anyone were qualified to clarify, it’d be them, after all. There was nuance to it all. She lingered in this world for centuries; it must have been lonely. But to be willing to kill for that love? They had to stop her.

“I have an idea,” Jamil interjected. “Sam-san, you said there are multiple items that can sever ties?”

“In stock!” He chimed.

“Then we have two options.” He observed the inventory the proud shopkeeper presented. “We go with Operation Proposal, while keeping a backdoor open.”

Azul’s interest was piqued. “What do you have in mind?”

“I don’t think Yuu-chan’s sympathy is a bad thing. We can use it.” A scheming smirk tugged at his lip. “She must have been lonely all those years. She may have been looking for a husband in that time, but would she object to a friend?”

“You want her to play friends?” Grim meowed. “We don’t even know what she likes! The only thing they have in common is that they’re both girls.”

“Not necessarily,” Azul objected. “What if she, too, were to fake an engagement?”

“W- what ?” Ace squawked.

Yuu’s head whipped to the cephalopod. “Yeah, what ?”

“If you approach her under the pretense of being engaged, she will likely accept you more openly,” Azul explained patiently. “Her guard will be down. After all, she did decide to marry a man within a moment of meeting.” He continued. “You can bond over the stress of planning a wedding together.”

“And then give her a gift while rehearsing vows,” Jamil finished. “If her attention is on you, then it will be less on Idia-senpai himself; it will be on you and the idea of marriage.”

“So she won’t be as hurt?” Deuce wondered.

“It sounds like she’s already smitten with her own fantasy. We’re just utilizing that.”

It’s not a bad idea. “So, I just have to be friends with her and give her something?”

“It’s feasible,” Vil was inclined to agree. “Yuu-chan does have ample acting ability. The question is, who will play the part of fiancé?”

There was a pause.

Then a beat.

Then complete quiet.

If silence could speak volumes, Sam’s Mystery Shop would be an orchestra.

Chapter Text

To say it was an awkward situation would be an understatement. Sam practically preened over the counter with enthusiasm, a running tab in hand. Crowley watched on with a similar excitement, intrigued by the inevitable chaos.

“Azul-san would be the best choice,” Riddle suggested. “They have experience playing the part, at least.“

“I’m not opposed to the idea.” Azul’s cool words were betrayed by the glittering excitement in his pools of washed out gray. Enthusiasm bubbled up and boiled with fervor. Yuu thought she might drown.

She took a step closer to the door.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Vil argued calmly. “They were playing characters, not themselves. It becomes more difficult to pass off authentic emotions when the person feeling them is yourself and not someone else.”

Ace rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Lying to yourself and all that.”

“They were pretty convincing to me,” Deuce muttered.

“Yeah, they sucked face!” Grim agreed with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

“W-we did not !” Yuu’s face burned a bright crimson, her eyes darting to a rose-dusted Azul. He cleared his throat awkwardly, readjusting the frames on his face. Not helping!

Another step back.

“You are all overcomplicating this endeavor,” Rook chided with a cheery chime. “I agree with Roi du Poison; casting Monsieur Suckerfish-“

“ Suckerfish ?” the cephalopod elegantly squawked.

“-would undoubtedly be complicated. They’d porter des masques.“

Riddle reconsidered. “So, we need someone with organic chemistry.”

“Cater-senpai?” Deuce suggested.

Said ginger choked on air. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You two are close!” He justified. “Acting like a couple wouldn’t be much different, would it?”

Ace slowly, astronomically slowly, turned his head to his classmate. He cocked a brow, not sure if he should even say anything. He decided it wasn’t worth it. Yuu wasn’t sure if she heard Leona scoff or snicker.

“I don’t think you have the right to think whatever you’re thinking, Ace,” Yuu chuckled. “You ghosted a girl.”

He jousted his arms into a fold. “Hey, that was a one time thing and that was forever ago. I screwed up, I get it.”

Character development , she acknowledged.

“Let’s not send Deucey into another crisis,” Cater warned with a breezy grin. “But anyway, I don’t think I could do it.”

Ace’s eyes rolled. “And that’s a load of malarky coming from you.”

What did I miss?

Green eyes blinked at him, before he shook his head. “I won’t lie that I love my Yun-Yun, but I don’t think I can do coupley stuff.”

Now Lilia was curious. “Why not?”

“Because I’d be faking it, you know.” He shrugged. “Like, ‘this is what it’s supposed to look like, so let’s do it!’” The grin stretching ear-to-ear wilted. “I don’t think I could do that. To any girl.” He barked a laugh. “And, c’mon! Yun-Yun is like my sister, lmao!”

Yuu loosed a breath she didn’t know she was holding. That was two down.

Come to think of it, who would I pick here? This is just to get Idia-senpai out of being killed at the altar- which is ironic- I need to take this seriously.

“What about you, Ace-kun?” Lilia suggested.

He gagged. “No thanks.”

And that makes three.

“What about you, Roi des Roses?” Rook asked. “Voulez-vous perdre la flèche de Cupidon?”

Yuu was half-expecting the housewarden to erupt with a flush of red. Instead, he shook his head calmly. “I’m not familiar with romance. I don’t think I could make it feel authentic.”

“Yeah, that tracks,” Ace agreed. “I mean, the way you talk about your mom, I doubt she even told you about sex.” A laugh bubbled out of him. “Oh, man! Veprl-sensei’s class!”

There was that indignantly rosy face, aflame with embarrassment. “Are you looking to humiliate me? I’ll have your head!”

“For embarrassing you?”

“For slandering your housewarden!”

“Okay, okay, chill out.”

“I am-!”

“But am I right?”

Riddle’s jaw snapped open for a rebuttal. He decided against it, growling as his tomato-red face reduced to a simmer. “What about Vil-san?” He proposed, voice gravelly from the grief he just endured. “He’s an actor.”

“You’d break a lot of hearts,” Cater gingerly reminded Vil.

“I’m not concerned about a scandal, if that’s what you’re implying,” Vil assured him, cool as ever. “But I’m concerned about lasting effects. She’s my manager for the VDC, after all. Pretending to be lovers, engaged at that? I can’t have her not looking me in the eye afterwards.”

“You’re not concerned about Idia-senpai at all,” Ace deadpanned.

“I meant what I said earlier.”

Cater smirked. “#Brutal.”

“I understand.” Ortho nodded. “There is about a 20% chance of new tension interfering with the VDC’s performance progress.”

Jamil, who was mostly occupied with listening in on the chaos, breathed a sigh through his nose. If she wasn’t looking, she might’ve imagined it, but he shook his head ever so slightly.

“Leona-senpai?” Deuce suggested, but even he didn’t sound convinced.

Vil raised a brow. “What have we learned about Leona?”

Cater’s hand rocketed. “That he’s lazy.”

“Yes. And?”

“That he cannot be coerced into anything into anything he doesn’t want to,” Lilia supplemented evenly.

“Stubborn kitty!” the junior chirped.

“I am right here!” Leona snarled.

“So you’d be down to fake-date Yun-Yun? Not that I’d let your mangy paws anywhere near her.”

“ No .”

“Looks like you get to keep your nine lives.”

“You’re doing it again,” Ace sighed in defeat.

I am missing something.

“I have no doubt in Yuu-chan’s acting prowess,” Vil openly confessed. “She could accommodate what Leona lacks. But we need to remember the chemistry. On that note,” he turned to her. “Who do you choose in this scenario?”

The android chimed with glowing eyes. “This is more similar to an otome game! It doesn’t matter what happens after, but the relationship needs to feel real in the moment! Regardless of how short the gameplay is!”

“That would make Yuu-chan, like, the MC, right?” Ace hummed.

She cringed. Please no.

“You’re awfully quiet, Jamil-senpai,” she turned to him with a light smile, trying to bring some levity in.

“It’s not intentional,” he assured her evenly. “They just talk too much.”

The breezy grin tugged into a toying smirk. “Are you calling them loud ?”

“No, this is tame.” He folded his arms. “Kalim’s spontaneous parades down the streets are loud.”

“And the migraines from them?”

“It blends together.”

“Multitasking.”

“Exactly.”

“How are you not deaf from all that?”

He looked her dead in the eyes, grays as monotone and steely as his deadpan delivery. Which, in itself, had its own subtle mischief buried beneath silver sands. “I wish I was.”

Yuu snorted.

“Y’know, I’ve been thinking.” Grim mused. “Why doesn’t Jamil-senpai just do it?”

Any composure the former vice might have had snapped, the threads of control fraying at the seems. His eyes popped wide at the idea, his lungs clamoring for a breath while his blood ran cold. Yuu wasn’t much better. She didn’t have much blood left to warm her face, and even if she did her face was numb from all the previous embarrassment. Her mind blanked on words.

Vil, blatantly ignoring the two’s dramatic reaction, considered it. “They do live together.”

“Please phrase it any other way,” Deuce begged, a faint blush powdering his cheeks.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Lilia concurred.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Yuu suddenly demanded.

“She has a point,” Jamil agreed, hiding his fuchsia face with the palm of his hand.

“Okay, sure.” Ace smirked. “Who do you find the most attractive?”

“I- Uh, Ngh-“ She sputtered her words. Yep, her brain overheated. It was official.

“You can’t just ask people that, Ace-kun,” Cater chuckled.

“Should I run a compatibility check?” Ortho asked.

Yuu vehemently shook her head. “No, thanks.”

“You do need to decide,” Vil reminded her. “We’re wasting time debating this.”

“I know, I know.” She grumbled, running her hands over the hem of her shirt.

“You’ve always kinda sucked with romantic stuff, huh?” Ace teased.

A nod.

“You’re embarrassing her,” Jamil warned, a serious look in his face. “This is bordering on harassment. She’s not some object to be won or used here. We need her for both plans to work, but she’s still human.”

“I guess we were getting kinda pushy,” Ace admitted sheepishly.

“No kidding,” Leona scoffed.

“Oh, look, the cat speaks,” Cater pointed out dully.

“Stress is known to hinder judgment and rationale,” Ortho sighed.

Yuu tugged on Jamil’s blazer gently. He paused, turning to face her. “Hey, want to get hitched?”

He stared at her. She stared back.

And then she realized.

Her heart stumbled into her stomach, hitting every rib on the way down in palpitations. It plummeted with a flurry of butterflies. Her ears hammered with the thrumming of wings, her mind a cyclone of articulated nonsense.

I did it again.

Jamil breathed a heavy sigh, doubtlessly not lessening the pressure building inside, if his flushed face was anything to go by.

Yuu would’ve given anything to know what he was thinking. Although, every thought terrified her. She flicked her hand off of him, snatching it back in the fluster. If the others were saying anything, she couldn’t hear them.

“You’re choosing me?”

She blinked, snapping her attention back to him. He couldn’t find it in himself to look back at her, eyes fixed on their feet. If she weren’t so close, she wouldn’t have heard him at all. His voice was low, a murmur of sand as the clock ticked. “After everything I’ve done, you’re choosing me?”

He’s still beating himself up about it. She took one of his hands. She threaded their fingers together.

“I’m the one who stabbed you in the back,” she reminded him with a lighthearted laugh. “Besides, I trust you.”

“Of course you do.” A quiet laugh breathed through his lips.

“If you don’t want to, I can ask Azul-“

“I don’t mind.”

She stared at him.

“If it’s you,” he repeated, an echo of a nighttime memory, “I don’t mind.”

Chapter Text

You know. He had been in a lot of situations. Grinding for hours just for a certain material not to drop even though it had never been an issue , getting beaten out from the top rankings by some whale, his phone deciding to tell him that his low battery was more important than some combo, substats rolling into flat defense, sudden lag, the wifi crashing, having a favorite character powercrept, etc..

“Suddenly being surrounded by ghosts, bound by a rope.” His wrists shifted in the crude bindings. His skin burned at the friction. “And now a forced marriage?”

Yeah, that kinda topped anything else. He would rather take an eternity of server maintenance than this!

“I’m not tying the knot while I’m still a student!”

Idia sprung into action. He leapt forward, lunging into the air like a snapped rubber band.

And he collapsed to the ground like a bowling pin.

On cue, his ‘bride’ fazed through the wall, bubbling with giggles and covering her mouth with her gloved hands. “Oh my, Idia-sama! To be hopping around so excitedly- even your healthy side is wonderful.”

Another specter, this one fashioned with either a wig or hair (which was bizarre considering they were all skeletal otherwise) clasped her hands together. “Finally, the ideal gentleman for our dear Eliza. This is truly a happy occasion!” Her bright smile crumpled like paper. “Your lifelong dream will finally come true. To think it was taken from you in that instant- fate can be so cruel . If only this nanny,” she folded her hands over her aching heart (or the cavity of where it would have been), “reached your room in time. You would have been able to escape.”

“Oh dear, Nanny. Are you reminiscing? Please don’t be so sad.” The bride-to-be smiled warmly despite her cold face. Her blue eyes, chill pools of ice, glittered like the sunrise in winter. Her delicate hands cupped her own cheek, nostalgia softening the snow of her cheeks. “All the sad and painful times were nothing but a winter for me. I flourished in the frost, you see? And now! Spring is here! All the sad and painful times, it was all to meet Idia-sama! My spring daffodil.”

“Oh princess,” The womanly phantom wiped a tear from her eye socket. “How romantic .”

Eliza took no comfort in the humble praise, instead enveloping the woman in her arms. The fantasy ever warm, as reality melted away.

“Where is my dialogue option to refuse?” Idia demanded.

“What a noisy guy.” A round ghost picked up the grim groom and propped him up against the southernmost wall as if he were just some painting or decoration. “Be happy the princess chose you as her bridegroom!” He thrusted an intangible finger into his chest.

“ Happy ?” He shook his head vehemently, the force of the situation giving him a head rush. “To be forced to marry a ghost without any right to refuse? I don’t even know her! I don’t remember picking her route!”

The guard’s indignant glare softened slowly. The intense blue fires slowly simmered into charred coals, his resolve just as resigned. “You wouldn’t understand. To be able to be tied with the innocent princess for all eternity.” He looked away from his captive, his attention captivated by the woman in question. “What happiness that would be.”

“A quarrel?” The princess, seemingly prompted by the tender glance, swam through the air hastily. “Puffy, don’t bully Idia-sama!” Her dainty fingers coiled around her begrudging-at-best bridegroom’s shoulders, squeezing them together with affection. It only teased her trophy to the sore-hearted loser of the battle. “After all, he’s the one to be my husband!”

“Yes.” The guard, Puffy, nodded soberly. “Please forgive me.”

“Don’t fret so much!” Eliza giggled, grinning ear-to-ear, and releasing Idia from her grasp. “I know you’re simply having some fun. A minor incident won’t tarnish your centuries of good!”

Idia glanced between the two. Got it. He’s the childhood friend type. His grinding teeth only made his head hurt. But if I’m the MC here, there’s no way in hades she’ll ditch me for him. He’s a total NPC! 

“Come now, Puffy!” the bride beckoned. “There’s much to do, and you always have had the best taste!”

Her trusted friend didn’t hesitate to follow her through the wall.

Rook was delighted. “What a beautiful couple you two will be!”

“I dunno.” Cater smiled all the same. “Their aesthetics totally clash.”

Azul shared the chilled smile that he snatched from the depths of his will. “They do make a surprising pair.”

“There’s this saying: opposites attract,” Riddle reminded him coolly.

“Yeah, fair point,” he forfeited in a sigh. “Alright. So they’re Operation Bridal Besties.”

I have a feeling only Cater-nii will end up calling it that.

“So who’s doing this Operation Proposal thing?” Ace asked.

Vil hummed in response, scanning the room.

“Why, no need to make this so complicated!” Crowley crowed, clapping his hands together. “We let Yuu-chan decide!”

Yuu cocked a brow at the bird’s decision. She couldn’t say she was surprised by the responsibility being ousted onto her. “Why me?”

“Why not! You are our female representative after all!”

“But I’m not the bride.” She waved her hands in front of her face. “Everyone has different tastes.”

“Yeah, Yuu would suck at long-distance.” Ace nudged her with a teasing smirk.

She shot back with just as sharp of an aim. “And you’d get bored too fast being more than ten minutes away from your girlfriend!”

Ortho, prompted by the debate, ran a dew calculations. “A majority of romantically-interested people have an ideal type. We know what the bride’s is, so we can fulfill it! Like a checklist!”

Azul thought about the prospect. “As delusional as the princess appears to be, straying far from her ideals would be an unnecessary use of resources.”

Leona cocked a brow. “Did you just call people resources ?”

“He is not too far from the truth,” the headmaster protested. “Our best weapons are you fine gentlemen!”

“We’re screwed,” Ace sighed. “No one can check all that chick’s boxes.”

Ortho puffed up with pride. “My brother really is one of a kind.” He relaxed, before continuing. “Proposing multiple options would give us the best odds for success. Even if they won’t be as perfect as my brother, even the fantasy of being fought over will surely lower her guard!”

“Or the opposite,” Jamil protested evenly.

Deuce nodded. “Good thing we have a Plan B?”

Rook smirked. “If we fire multiple arrows, one is destined to meet their mark. Cupidon est vraiment cruel avec son arc, je suis sûr que beaucoup peuvent en témoigner.”

Vil nodded. “Azul-san is right, callous as his phrasing was. Sending waves of suitors will only overwhelm her, and will subsequently shut down both operations.”

Yuu sighed, the whole situation exhausting her, “And you still want me to pick?”

“No.” He folded his arms. “Don’t forget, I’m still a director. Allow me to cast the parts and turn them into fine grooms. The benefit of being overrun by ghosts is the fact they like to talk. We have a deadline, we simply must meet it.”

Leona barked a laugh. “Welcome to hell .”

Yuu snorted.   “Thank the Seven.”

“But I will still need you, Yuu-chan,” Vil told her bluntly. “You will be our final run-through before the show.”

She stared at him, bewildered. “What do you mean?”

A control spark of mischief twinkled in his eyes. “It’s a surprise.” He pivoted on his heel, selecting an engagement ring from the shelf. Sam was all to eager to add it to the bill. Crowley sighed at the tab. “In the meantime, you and Jamil-kun have your own rehearsals.”

Just like that time with Azul- she mentally shook off the thought. -No. That was Anastasia falling for Dimitri. This time, I have  to be in love with Jamil- her face threatened to reignite. She patted down the bloodflow, which only made it worse. At least it was consolidated into handprints. Jamil only cocked a brow at the gesture, but ultimately said nothing.

“We each have our missions,” Lilia reiterated.

“Do you think Idia-senpai will be okay?” Deuce wondered.

Azul smiled. “So long as we succeed, he’ll be too grateful to be mad.”

Ace shot him a look. “So we’re not going to tell him how you just didn’t want to help?”

Yuu was more concerned with the task, her task, at hand. I know how couples act now, at least. But if we try to rush it and pretend like we’ve always been dating, there’s no way anyone would believe us. It’d be awkward.

She looked to Jamil, who was idly busy on his phone. It was strange to see, really. Usually, he listened in on conversations instead of tuning it out.

But she quickly found out why from an unintentional glance at the screen.

Warmth settled in her chest like a blanket. A smile budded the corners of her lips. He may have been outwardly listless, maybe even seemingly disinterested. But she could see that pink dusting sprinkled on his cheeks, even under the harsh light from his phone.

He’s just as lost as I am.

Chapter Text

Jamil didn’t dislike her. That’s probably why he agreed to this. This wasn’t something he ‘had’ to do, bound by his bloodline like a leash to the Al-Asim. Even if one argues illusion of free choice, he couldn’t agree. Although Ramshackle often found itself at the headmaster’s mercy, Jamil was never truly ‘forced’ into things.

But could he really say he wanted to do this? That was a complicated answer he rather not think about.

He meant what he said, at least. If it was Yuu, he didn’t mind.

That noose of his bloodline didn’t steer his head for that decision, nor did it pull on his heart with marionette strings, his flesh but a puppet to those whims. The gavel of guilt, ready to condemn him, had long since lifted. After all, she had every right to judge him for those crimes. There was never a verdict to be given. She dropped the mallet to embrace him warmly into her humble abode, worn and torn as it would forever be. It was no palace or estate. He never found himself drawn to those ivory pillars; they were no different from a cage. The walls of Ramshackle, though plain and simple, where homely. And he didn’t want any more than that.

Although, this wasn’t Ramshackle. It would be rather hard to perfect this act in a haunted house. In the meantime, they had their own suite off-campus in a comfortable hotel.

“I never took you to have expensive tastes,” Jamil observed. He couldn’t help the smile he tasted on his mouth.

She smirked, mischief twinkling in those crystally eyes. “The bird’s paying for this.”

He snorted. “That doesn’t sound like him.”

“Oh yeah.” She flopped on the bed. “I think Trein-sensei said something to him. Like, ‘these kids are houseless without any other place to board them. It is your responsibility to fix this. Don’t push this off on Divus-san or Ambrose-san.’” She rolled over on her back. “I’m going to milk every Thaumark. So if you get hungry, feel free to call room service.”

He nodded, dropping his bag on the ground. The suite was simple- nothing lavish, but nothing chintzy either. There were the standard furnishings, including a standing dresser and closet, a small television mounted to the wall with a table beneath to host the cable and some flowers. The room itself was painted a cream color. On the wall paralleling the entrance to the suite, center of it as opposed to the right, was a door that led to a small balcony. Paralleling the two full-sized beds was a couch facing said mattresses. Between the two of them was a table with three drawers and a lamp with a deluxe bell shaped shade. To the right of the beds, each fitting with carnation pink, was a door two the quaint yet private bathroom. Aside from the balcony window, the walls were devoid of any outside lights. But there was a light fixture providing some sight from above. Not that any natural lighting would have mattered given the late hour. A tall vase boasting some leafy plant was not uncommon, either.

“Thank you for grabbing my things,” he told her, sifting through a bundle in the bag.

“No problem. You going to shower?”

“Did you want it first?”

“Go ahead.” She waved him off. “Take your time. I’m going to order dinner.”

He took that as his cue to slip into the bathroom. The tile was a baby blue hue, if not a shade or so lighter. A single light glowed from the ceiling between the door and tight shower. The sink had a marble finish, or at least a lookalike. The inside of the shower was already fitted with a bottle of vaguely scented shampoo and conditioner. Not that it mattered, given that she had the mind to grab his hair product from his cupboard.

He undid his hair first, setting aside all the jewels and accessories in the meantime. He slipped behind the curtain.

The exhaustion crashed into him as the spray of water washed over him. This whole ordeal with the specters was draining, even with the definites in play. They had exactly one week to pull off this scheme. Seven days. One week starting tomorrow. It could have been worse, he rationalized. Every second pricked his skin as the water licked at his figure.

The shortest solution was simple, but he didn’t dare to think about it for more than a moment.  It really was some cruel irony that his Unique Magic was something so twisted, coiling in Jamil’s mouth oozing with venom.

Even so, he would never bite her. Even if the answer was easier, even if logically it was sound, and even if she allowed it- Jamil would never pierce her like that with his fangs. Those words would come from her lips from her heart, and not by some twisted saliva strings laced by his own tongue. He wouldn’t puppet her like that, sucking away at her heart just to coil the reins of control.

And so, that fleeting thought was quickly killed. He had no desire to even ask about it. This had to be natural. If only they really were playing love interests so they could hide behind the mask of the role. No, Vil was quick to point out how superficial that would come across- even to strangers.

The idea still made him weary. What exactly were they to do here? The heart was a disgusting organ, but nonetheless a vital one. It pumped blood into the body, but was arguably the most feeble of the vessel. It even had the audacity to hide behind a bone cage. It had many weaknesses, prone to failing, and a heavy burden harbored in the chest. Jamil resented such a frail thing for being so easily wounded.

But that was the difficult part, really. Could he really expose his so easily? Would he allow himself to be exposed like that? The idea was frightening, the unknown ever more daunting. Jamil couldn’t possibly risk such a revolting thing to be wounded, even for some high-stakes charade. He had been beaten and rejected enough. The crack of a whip, the veined bane, a cruel reminder of his place in this world.

But that wasn’t Yuu. No, quite the contrary. She had every reason to resent him, and he wouldn’t fault her for it in the least. She met him with a true kindness, oblivious to her own soothing. The same back she chucked a knife at, was the same she massaged every so often with ointment. Her hands were merciful and soft, not a fist ready to meet his spine. She didn’t see him like someone beneath her, or even something to be pitied. She didn’t look down at the snake; she lifted him. They were equals . He didn’t have to earn it, either. All that ceaseless striving for sunlight came to a stop the moment he donned the white uniform.

If it’s her-

The shower-head silenced with a hiss. He slipped out quietly before sliding on his pajamas: a sleeveless shirt and sweatpants. He squeezed his hair dry with a towel before exiting.

“Yuu-“

She blinked at him. Mouth full of pancake. Her lips were kissed with strawberry pecks. A bamboo tray was balanced perfectly in her lap, teetering with even more. And a cup of- he took a breath through his nostrils- cocoa.

He cocked a brow, slowly . “This late?”

She swallowed the thick batter, washing it down with the warm chocolate. “It’s only ten.”

“How do you have any energy after today?” Jamil stared incredulously.

She barked a laugh. “That’s what the sugar’s for.”

Flawless logic. He shook his head in disbelief, lowering himself onto the bed beside her. He took the spoon to the side, stealing a bit. She didn’t stop him. In fact, she grabbed her fork, scooped a bite of berry batter, and offered it to him.

Jamil’s eyes flicked from the fork, to her. “You’re feeding me?”

“It’s what couples are supposed to do, right?”

She’s nervous , too , he noted. Not that the stress-eating didn’t give it away. “If you stay up all night trying to figure this out, you’ll only be asleep tomorrow.”

She frowned. “You know me too well.”

“We live together,” he reminded her curtly. “It’s natural.”

She withdrew the bite from the air before plunging the fork into her mouth. “I can’t help it.”

“Were you this nervous about Azul?” He allowed himself to wonder.

“Not really. We were playing love interests. That was the script.”

Then Azul was just selectively delusional. “I guess that’s true. Would you rather play a character this time?”

Another bite stopped before it could hit her mouth. “What do you mean?”

“Playing some role, even one of your own creation, might be easier for you.” He took a sip of water from his bottle at his hip. “To protect your heart-“

“If it’s not my own?” She finished.

“Yes.”

“Sounds like something Vil-senpai would say.” She shook her head. “Maybe. But I think I’m tougher than that.”

He didn’t know why, but he found a smile on his lips. “I know you are.“

“What about you?” She met his eyes. “Are you going to play the part?”

Of fiancé.  Jamil shook his head. 

“But you wouldn’t like that,” Yuu finished.

It caught him off-guard. “What do you mean?”

“I know you.” She smirked. “We live together.”

“And?”

“You said ‘because it’s me’.” That smile was innocent enough, blissfully gracing her lips like the sweetness of her snack. “And that wouldn’t be me.”

His lips tugged a bit at the sentiment. A warmth, unfamiliar and gentle, budded in his chest. Its sunlight touched startled him.

But he wanted more.

Jamil’s fingertips grazed her knuckles, slowly steering her hand. His mouth opened a bit, before stealing the bite of batter from the fork.

Yuu blinked at him, staring at him, saying nothing.

“Do you like it?” She asked.

“It’s sweet,” he noted, running his tongue over his lip to savor the sugar.

Yuu chuckled. “Well, yeah. It’s strawberry.”

He didn’t dislike it.

Chapter Text

“I just don’t get why we can’t storm the school now,” Grim huffed. “So what if we have a week? I want my bed!”

“We only have one chance,” Trey reminded him. “Just hold on a bit longer.”

“You’re lucky you’re not sleeping outside,” Ace teased with a haughty smirk.

Deuce agreed in a sigh, “Yeah, Savanaclaw wouldn’t take him again.”

“Yun-Yun’s kinda the best part of that deal,” Cater nodded. “Grimmy’s like the cheap toy in a tappy-meal.”

The feline hissed, “ Hey !”

Deuce ignored him, far more concerned with the problem at hand. “How do you think Yuu and Jamil-senpai are doing?”

Riddle opened his phone, reviewing their last several messages. “Yuu-chan’s been fairly responsive, so I’d assume they’re well.”

“Does she even know how to date?” Ace wondered. “Like, for real?”

Cater sighed with a wobbly smile, “That is the question.”

“I’ve sent her a few articles,” Riddle volunteered.

The junior leaned over his shoulder, gawking. “You did not link her a wikihow.”

“Of course not!” He squawked. “I sent her more reliable sources than that!”

Trey snuck a peek. “Those certainly look,” he paused, considering his choices before settling on, “professional.”

Ace just snatched it from him. “Yeah, I don’t think all the numbers are going to turn her on.”

“That isn’t what we’re going for,” Cater’s smile was just as warm and welcoming as the seventh circle of hades.

“He has a point,” the vice sighed. “I don’t think these will help her.”

Riddle stole his phone back with a huff. “What do you recommend?”

“It’s hard to say.” His brow furrowed in deep thought. “My sisters have had crushes before, but I’m out on dating advice.”

“So you’re useless,” Grim deadpanned, ears flat and dissatisfaction written on his face.

Ace shot him a look. “Do you have any ideas?”

“Smooch and get it over with.”

“That’s a no,” Deuce sighed.

“There’s no way you can force it,” Ace decided. “You either work or you don’t. If you’re trying, you’re trying too hard.”

“That would be great advice if this wasn’t a life or death situation,” Cater lamented in a sigh.

The vice shook his head. “I think he’s onto something.”

“What do you mean?” Deuce asked.

“Maybe we shouldn’t get involved,” he reasoned. “Giving them advice is only going to stress them out. Especially Yuu-chan.”

The ginger junior agreed in a sigh, “Talk about pressure.”

“So we let it rest,” Trey resolved. “And be here when either of them need us.”

Riddle nodded slowly. “We should support them when they need us.”

“You guys are slow,” Ace decided.

His housewarden ignored the jab. “We have our own mission to take care of. Cater-kun, weren’t you enlisted in Operation Proposal, as well?”

He blinked, snapping his attention off his idly scrolled through Magicam page. “What about it?”

“Why do I have to do this again?” Azul sighed.

“Because you’re invaluable,” Vil stated simply, as if that answered anything at all. He hummed to himself, brushing Azul’s hair with his hands for the umpteenth time out of his face. Quite frankly, the cephalopod was growing increasingly annoyed. He was meticulous about his appearance, but apparently Vil could find the flaws he didn’t see. The jerk.

“You didn’t seem to think so for Operation, what was it, ‘Bridal Besties’?”

“I’m not about to put Yuu-chan into that situation.” He observed his work. “You’re too obvious. It’s risky.”

He floundered, panic erupting like bubbles in his chest. “What are you implying?”

A sigh rippled in his throat. “You ask a lot of questions.” He stepped back. “I won’t bother sugarcoating it. I think your emotions are dangerous.”

Azul’s agape mouth slowly closed. That bottle teetered on the edge. He didn’t dare let it spill and splatter. That indignation, that hurt, mixed in the vial undisturbed. He tightened his grip on the glass through grit teeth. “What are you implying?”

“I know how you are with people. If your feelings are true toward Yuu-chan, I’m not going to let you near her,” he stated matter-of-fact. The cool tone was gratin as he repeated, “It’s risky.”

“You’re protecting her from me,” he seethed the accusation. The statement rolled off his tongue passively, the steam caught in his mouth.

Was he really that much of a loose cannon?

Vil scoffed. “She doesn’t need me for that. Azul, you’re not from the surface, so I doubt you understand, but desire is playing with fire. It may be warm, but you can just as easily be scorched by it. And, it can burn out of control.”

“You’re going through a lot of trouble to involve me, then,” he noted.

“Because I want you to use your hearts for something else.” He turned him around rather forcefully. “Out of the lot here, you are the one with the most earnest emotions. So instead of letting you ruin whatever relationship you have with Yuu-chan, you can channel that into your act.”

He frowned. “That sounds counterintuitive.”

Vil hesitated for a moment, likely distracted by something else he found on him, before speaking. “You weren’t there, but this is something my troupe is aware of. In entertainment, you have to lie. The act is a lie to the audience, and in order to truly become the character, you have to lie to yourself. Otherwise, no one is fooled. A fantasy is no different than some grandiose fib. I’m sure you’re familiar with these concepts to some capacity.”

Vaguely, at least. Azul knew well how disillusioned people could be. The truth was hard to swallow, and the pain of imperfections weighed heavy in the minds and hearts of any mortal. It was easier to detach your mind from such a cruel vessel, whether that bondage be broken by booze or some relief in escapism. He didn’t offer them another picture to see to keep their attention away, but rather offered the ability to change this very truth.

Improvement started with a lie. ‘I can do

this’, ‘I can do better’, ‘I deserve more’. No one has to believe those mantras at first. Most don’t. Azul couldn’t afford to let such hope trickle in through the dark depths of despair. Such light could only be presented through his lenses, the warmth in his gloved hands and the sun itself in a scroll-bound contract.

But that wasn’t what Vil was saying, was it?

That murky past wasn’t what Vil continued to see, aware of it as he was. He wasn’t the type to let sludge cling to him.

He was referring to that falsehood imbedded in the script. Those sweet lies of ‘I love you’s’ were never meant for him. Those lips he kissed and memories he cherished weren’t his to treasure. Try as he might to claim them for himself, he was merely a vessel for the role.

But it wasn’t forgotten princess he fell for. He knew that with absolute certainty. As charming as the royal was, he was enamored with the quick wit of the person behind that mask and makeup. Even if she was crass at time, even going so bold as to smack his rear playfully, he treasured her. Her laugh was intoxicating, something he drank freely and felt lighter. His heart skipped at her smile. He loved her hands, warm in his cold touch, always reaching for him. She didn’t hide away from others; she was much braver than he. If he dared to hide away in a pot, she’d reel him out. She’d find him. She found him. She played his games. He couldn’t be mad.

But therein was the lie.

Three days. That was all he had asked for. It was a losing bet, Floyd was all-too-eager to point out later. A poor investment, Jade quietly confirmed.

But he wanted to lie to himself that he might be deserving of the moon. Someone as filthy and dark as him could never dream of feeling that cool warmth from so low. He was a bottom-feeder, preying on the rotting carcasses. He bathed in blood, and drank the love out of hearts. He stacked corpses to climb higher without a shred or remorse. But as the moon drew closer, so did the tide rise. And just for a moment, he wanted to dream.

He wanted to believe that lie.

“I understand,” Azul relented at last.

Vil seemed content with the answer, his hands suddenly far less rough on his form. “At your simplest, you’re a salesman. I want you to sell her on that lie, too.”

“You’re mistaking me for a con man,” he muttered.

“If it’s concerning you,” he flicked his shoulder, “it’s both.”

Chapter Text

“We really need to figure out how we’re going to make this work,” Yuu decided, flopping onto the bed beside him.

Jamil bounced at the sudden weight, but was otherwise unfazed. “You make it sound like we’re headed for divorce.”

She looked up at him, propping up on her elbow with a smile. “I mean, maybe.”

“You couldn’t have mentioned this sooner?” He smirked. “The wedding is in less than a week.”

“Our poor deposit.”

“Crowley-sensei will never recover.”

Yuu snorted. “Screw him.”

He chuckled at her antics, smiling easily as he put away his phone. “What do you have in mind?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “Maybe we should see a couple’s counselor.”

“I think they’d be rather concerned given our ages,” he countered coolly.

“Could you imagine their face, though?” She laughed. “How long do you think it’d take them to pick up we’re not actually a couple?”

Jamil shook his head. “It’d be near impossible to book multiple sessions in a week.”

“But you thought about it.”

He shrugged.

Yuu sighed, head suddenly in his lap. “Well, do you have any ideas?”

Jamil looked down at her. He was silent. She didn’t appear to know why. He breathed a sigh through his nose, brushing her loose tangles with his fingers. “You act the most impulsively when you’re stressed,” he decided.

“I do?” Big, crystally eyes blinked up at him.

“You usually have a sound head on your shoulders. Except when you’re stressed,” he commented, absentmindedly brushing her thick locks with his hands. “Especially if others are involved.”

Yuu hummed, leaning back into his hands. His thumb brushed her forehead at the readjustment. “I guess you’re right. You should have seen Azul and Leona-senpai’s faces when they found out about Ruggie-kun’s arm. I guess you can count that bet as a whole.”

“And now for instance,” he reminded her.

“What do you mean?”

He gestured to her. Her hair bloomed on his thighs like a lily, her head perfectly cushioned. Her hands were resting on her stomach, unbothered by the situation. Or maybe it never occurred to her.

She flushed a deep crimson. “Oh, uh-“

“You’re fine.”

Those two words shut her up rather quickly, but did not diffuse that fiery face of hers. Whatever embarrassment she might have caused him was paid back with those rosy cheeks. It reminded him of the setting sun- warm and flush with pink. Crimson, even.

“Are you sure?” Yuu wondered.

“Kalim used to hang on me all the time when we were younger. This is nothing in comparison.”

She chuckled. “He’s always been kinda clingy, huh?”

“He’s very physically affectionate,” he lamented in a sigh.

That didn’t reassure her. “You can tell me to get off, you know.”

He cocked a brow. “Are you uncomfortable?”

“No,” she hummed with a subtle smile ghosting her lips. “You’re pretty comfy, actually.”

“You sound surprised.”

“Well, you’re really muscular,” Yuu retorted. “Like, toned? Azul’s more squishy.”

“So, is this a habit of yours?” He gestured to her.

“Oh, no. But I did smack his butt.”

Silence filled the room. She stared at him, unfazed by what she just said- as if she didn’t realize what came out of her mouth. He wasn’t surprised. He barked a laugh at that nonchalance. The shock of that casual confession paled in comparison to the humor of it. He could picture Azul’s flabbergasted face easily .

“You’re a lot less serious now,” Yuu commented.

Now was his turn to have his interest piqued. His brow pinched in bafflement. “What do you mean?”

“Well, when you were in Scarabia, you never smiled. Especially when Kalim was around. I get why, but you were always so-“ her brows dropped, mouth flattened into a fine line. Such seriousness was almost comical on her. It broke as soon as his eyes rolled at the mockery. “You’ve loosened up a lot.”

He disagreed. “I don’t think I’ve changed that much. I’m still Kalim’s retainer. That will always come first with him.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“And as his retainer, I have to maintain positive relationships with people around him. Otherwise, it’d reflect poorly on the Asim family name.” He leaned back on his palms. She steadied herself from rolling. “But now, most of the school knows what I’m really like. I’m not exactly popular. Most avoid me. But at least I don’t have to fake it. They can like me or hate me. I don’t really care. I just don’t like people,” he put bluntly.

Yuu nodded, laughing openly at the sentiment.

“What do you think?” Jamil asked her. “Do you like the ‘old me’ better?”

“Definitely not. The old you wouldn’t let this happen.” She folded her arms behind her head, a smug, toying smirk playing her lips.

He breathed a chuckle. “You’re certainly blunt.”

“I’ve been told,” she sighed. “It’s a problem.”

“It causes quite a few misunderstandings,” he agreed in a hum. “But I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I rather you just tell me what you’re thinking than guessing. It’s exhausting .”

“I can imagine with your whole bodyguard-thing.”

He nodded.

Yuu flicked his thigh. He blinked, snapping his attention to her. “But this is the real you.” The question came out as a statement- matter-of-fact.

Something went unsaid between them. She met his gaze evenly. They were soft despite their steely color. They reminded him of an oasis under starlight.

Jamil’s voice breathed gentle like a feather, “I have no reason to hide anything from you.”

There was nothing she hadn’t seen, anyway.

“Then can I be honest with you?” She asked him, flipping onto her stomach. She propped her face in her hands, elbows pressed into the mattress.

He cocked a brow. That was all she needed to continue with the question. “I meant it when I said I’d pick you.”

The wind was snatched out of his lungs. Time froze. He stared. He couldn’t stop staring . His heart seemed to lurch and stumble in his chest, bludgeoning his rib cage with painful palpitations.

That could mean a lot of things. But his ever-calculating brain couldn’t offer a single coherent thought. White noise wasn’t particularly helpful.

What did that mean ?

“But I guess you didn’t have much of a say, huh?” She chuckled to herself, swinging upright beside him.

“No.” He choked on the word. He coughed at the way it caught in his throat. “I’m the one who agreed to it,” he corrected himself, salvaging control of his voice.

“Doesn’t mean you wanted-“

He cut her off. “You’ve never made me do something I don’t want to do.”

“Did you want to?”

Once more, he was silenced. He bit his tongue before it could slip any syllable. His open mouth closed with a tap of his teeth. He wasn’t sure what would manage out of his mouth.

But she waited on the answer. She wasn’t accusing him of anything. She just wanted to understand. The thought of that would’ve terrified him long ago. He would’ve rather slinked in the shadows than be shriveled in the sun.

If it’s Yuu-

He could have lied. She would’ve believed him.

“I don’t know. The idea of anyone else doing this pissed me off, especially with how they were treating you.”

She tilted her head. “You were protecting me?”

“You don’t need me for that.”

“Well, whatever the reason. I’m glad you chose to do this.” A smile warmed her cheeks. “If it were anyone else, I’d probably be focused on faking it, y’know? Like the play. But with you-“ she paused, correcting herself- “ because it’s you, I can just be me.”

That confusion only grew as he searched her eyes for something . He really wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Finding nothing, as expected, he forfeited a sigh.

He brushed her knuckles, warm as they were. His fingers threaded through hers wordlessly, like a snake hiding amidst some sunbathed rocks. The tips found solace in the softness of her palm. She didn’t move or say a word, letting him do as he pleased.

“ Only because it’s you,” he finally confessed in a breath.

I wouldn’t want anyone else.

Chapter Text

Cater spun on his heel, the end of his blazer flaring as he twirled in front of the mirror. He hummed to himself in consideration, trying to make out the details in the back, before sighing.

“I get that this is for that rescue mission, but it feels surreal .”

“Looks good,” Trey commented from the doorway.

The ginger jolted at his voice, stumbling and flailing to catch his balance. His foot all but smashed the mirror from the hook of the hit, but narrowly escaped death through dumb luck alone. He hobbled and hopped on one land before landing with the elegance of a beached whale. Cater wasn’t sure what was worse: that Trey didn’t laugh, or the fact he watched it happen with an unchanging, resting smile.

As a consolation prize, Trey offered him an, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Well you kinda did!” He barked, standing like a normal person now.

“My bad.”

He breathed a sigh, smiling off the embarrassment. “We should get you a bell. So, what’s up? Want to see your ‘Vil-kun’’s handiwork?” He flung his arms wide, palms flat out like he was pressing against two walls.

Said ‘work’ was more intricate than the others’- at least by Trey’s standards. The trousers were simple enough, black and reaching the dress shoes. Said brogues were of the same monochrome color, but with diamond-shaped gold embellishments in place of the broguing’s more iconic circular designs. The undershirt itself was white, with a red shawl lapel to match. The real star was the jacket draping over the piece. It was crimson in color- the same shade of a freshly painted rose- with gold stitching making out more diamond shapes identical to the one he usually sported on his face. The underneath showed off that gold in full glory. The usual paint on his face was present still, but blended effortlessly into subtle yet glittery eyeshadow. Extra care was put into those heavy lids, with the glitz only adding to the blankets’ warmth. His ginger hair was pulled back, but with far more confidence and style. The top was pulled back with the rest into a short knot, with a tuft of red peeking out like a leaf from a floret. Some additional strands flew free to frame his face. Kissing his earlobes were studs of earrings.

“It feels so official,” Cater lamented in a sigh. “Vil-san knows what he’s doing. Not that I’m surprised. This is his thing.”

“He did a good job,” Trey agreed, a chuckle warming his voice.

“I wonder what he’ll put you in. He better not hold back.” He decided adamantly, stuffing his hands into folds.

“Knowing him? He won’t.”

Cater flipped out his phone. “We should do a photo shoot after the dust settles. I mean, it’d be kind of a waste not to!”

“ After we get Idia out.”

“Well, yeah. Duh.” A smile ghosted his lips. “With how good I look, I bet that princess will ditch him.” Green eyes found the intricate stitching of the jacket. His fingers ran over it, its coarseness carving into his prints. “Heck, even if the others look half as good as this, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ortho-kun’s reverse harem does happen.”

Cater wasn’t sure what he said, but something dipped Trey’s mouth into a noticeably smaller smile. The ginger opened his mouth to ask why, but he beat him to the punch. “It might not even come to that. Yuu-chan and Jamil-kun may surprise us.”

He hummed.

“But if that plan does end up paying off, would we see Yuu-chan in a wedding dress?” He wondered aloud. “I’ll have to ask Vil-kun if he has any ideas for that.”

“Now you’re just messing with me,” Cater pointed out with a slight glare.

A light laugh escaped him, brow furrowing with a sheepish smile to boot. “Well, you always beat around the issue, so I thought it might be easier to just do the same?”

“It’s weird,” he bluntly decided.

“Sorry.” He shook off the blunder with the swivel of his skull. “So, you were put on this rescue team, too, huh? I thought you’d jump at the chance to play Yuu-chan’s fiancé.”

He stuck out his tongue. “It’d feel weird.”

“I can imagine, but I didn’t really picture her with Jamil-kun. I know they’re dormmates now, but it’s a surprising combination.“

“I still don’t trust the guy,” Cater confessed openly. “But I know he wouldn’t pull that kinda crap with her. I mean, yeah I thought he was sus and kinda lashed out, but I think the guy’s lost his edge after getting stabbed.”

“And Ace-kun called you out.” Smug pride bolstered his chest.

“That, too,” he sighed with a shy grin. “I got my ass handed to me.”

“Well,” Trey heaved a sigh or relief. “At least that’s better than last time.”

“Last time?” Green blinked at him.

He folded his arms. There wasn’t a smile to match- only a soft expression barbed by concern. “Last time you and I talked about this.”

That bubbling anxiety spiked with a fever pitch. His blood ran cold at the heat. He swallowed thickly, his voice evaporating in the strangling confines of his own throat. Of course, this was all internal. On the outside, Cater just smiled. “You think so?”

He nodded. The ginger didn’t move an inch as his steady hands brushed off a few stray hairs off his shoulders. He was a breath away. It was suffocating. He still smiled.

“Cater-kun,” he spoke. “I don’t mean to pry, but what did you mean by ‘family stays’?”

Ah.

“Well, you’re kinda stuck with them, y’know?” He shrugged. “You know I moved around a lot, y’know. The only thing that kinda stuck around was my own fam. And that whole thing’s messy.” A laugh creaked from the cracks of his mouth. “I mean, how messed up is that? They’re all I’ve got, and I can’t stand them.”

“You’re talking about your sisters,” Trey observed. That calm, passive statement came from a sweet heart, he knew, but his skin burnt from the oven’s warmth.

Cater’s fingers fuddled with the buttons of the blazer. “Yun-Yun’s not like that, though. She actually cares about the kinda guy I am, and not my profile.” He laughed, waving his smartphone with a free hand. “But I put a lot of work into that, too! It’s like she can see right through me.”

“But you still fake it with her,” he countered.

“Can you blame me?” Sour greens all but burned holes into the carpet.

“You’re just afraid to lose her.”

His head whipped back up at him, eyes flung wide in horror. The air was stolen from him. He choked. He smiled. “I mean, yeah.”

Trey sighed with a frown. “I won’t pretend I get it personally, but I understand.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to.” The corners of his lips dug into his face with needles, the stitching of a smile sewn into his skin. ‘ I wouldn’t want you to’ went unsaid

But here was Trey. Alone in his room, patient and willing to listen. Not to the chipper chimes of a songbird, but to the grimy diamond beneath. The horror of it all had long since vanished. It was more like lukewarm water. He almost rather it be bone-chilling than this uncomfortable temperature that gnawed at his pruned hands. Maybe it was because Trey was concerned, or maybe he wanted to give him a much needed mirror so he could find the things he didn’t want to see.

“I want to protect her,” Cater repeated, echoes in a quiet chamber uttered in a whisper. “I want her to smile, I want her to laugh. I want her to be her honest self. I don’t want her to be anything like me. I-I’m her brother .” His fingers dug inside his pockets. His nails might’ve torn it. Not that it would’ve mattered since it wasn’t visible. “But yeah. I don’t want to date her. I love her. If I’m her brother, even if she doesn’t need me, I’ll be there. And I’ll wait, no matter where I am.” A noise squeaked out of his throat. “Not that I can hide from her. She’d chase me down if I even tried to. She’s crazy like that.” He shook his head. “But I love her. I love her so much it scares me, Trey. And I don’t care if I get hurt. I don’t care if at all comes crumbling down. I can’t lose her.”

And that was the truth.

Chapter Text

It was dark.

Yuu blinked a few times, as if that would lift the deep veil eclipsing her vision. She was met with an overwhelming darkness. She took a step forward, hands stretched into nothing for balance.

It was wet.

The liquid swallowed her ankles with thick gums gnawing at her skin. It clung to her bones as she swam through it, shallow as it was, to an unknown that would engulf her all the same. Maybe it would have made little difference moving or staying, but there was at least a chance of some light somewhere else in this empty abyss. She just knew she couldn’t see there.

Eventually, that hope came in the form of a lone stat at the end of the quagmire. A sense of relief washed over her as she trudged through the filth, the sludge slowly crawling up her legs. When she finally made it to the light- a keyhole- it was up to her knees. She took a deep breath, reaching into her pocket for a key. It glinted white in the small sun-speck, as she inserted it into the ridged slot. It clicked, before cracking, and shattering.

She spilled to the ground, thick ribbons of ooze gushing out with her as she fell. Smashed glass shattered and trilled into glitter in the murk like stardust. Yuu spat a cough, the black ink bleeding underneath in this empty, white room. Its color, or lack thereof, was blinding. She winced as she felt the thick liquid caress her skin, waiting for her eyes to adjust.

“This ends the dorm assignments, I presume?”

Yuu’s eyes snapped wide at the voice. The small red head stood to her left, arms folded and back to her. His ceremonial robes draped over his small figure like a blanket, yet he held himself with his usual pride.

But this isn’t the Mirror Chamber , she dully noted.

“Listen up new students,” he instructed firmly. “Here in Heatslabyul, I am the law. Break it, and it’s off with your heads.”

His voice echoed in the empty chamber. Yuu reached a hand to grab his attention.

“ Ugh .” She froze at the low growl. Yuu whipped her head to the lion, who was suddenly northwest of her. “The stuffy ceremony is finally over. We’re going back to the dorm.” Like the red-haired boy, he spoke to a crowd of the bleach-soaked box, back turned to the only other listener. “Savanaclaw, follow me.”

Directly in front of her, a splash of silver snagged her attention. “To the new students, congratulations on entering this academy. Enjoy your life here to its fullest.” His hand, reached up to find something on his face, the silver hooks on his ears shifting at the prodding. “As the dormitory leader of Octavinelle, I will support you to the best of my abilities.”

“Which reminds me.” Yuu snapped her head to the man at her right. Beautiful blond locks fell in front of his face, lovely lavender pooling at the ends. “Where did the Headmaster go? He flew out right in the middle of the ceremony.”

The rocking motion of the boy between the blond beauty and lion-eared man caught her attention. The purple bow of his turban bounced with the morion. “Did he get a stomach ache or something?”

A sigh got her to spin southeast. Blue breaths of fire spilled out of the black hood as he shrank to make himself appear smaller, even with his face hidden. “Abandoning his post,” he muttered under his breath.

“Not at all!” The accused’s voice crowed as he entered. His shadow stretched over all of them, blanketing them in darkness. Even the horned prefect, who had said nothing, was met with the eclipse. “I was merely doing one last walkthrough. It’d be very unfortunate if we missed one. I don’t even want to imagine it!”

Yuu’s brow slowly wove with worry. A dread crawled and coiled slowly like sludge in the pit of her stomach. She studied Crowley’s features, finding a stagnant smile stretched under the beak of his mask. That’s not how this went.

“You’ve got some nerve talking back to me!” Riddle’s jaw snapped wide and snarled shut as he shouted into the empty space. Yuu flinched at the scolding heat spitting from his mouth. His small figure trembled in his uniform, the heels only elevating the quaking tower of a man. Fury singed all the way to his ears. He recoiled at some reprimand only she could hear by memory. He recomposed his wrath, a hell’s chill budding in his lips. “In the year that I’ve been dorm leader, not one student from Heartslabyul has gotten held back or expended. Do you know why that is?” His hand flung to his chest, fingers sprawled like a pointed crown across his heart. “It is because of my rules! It is because of me who upholds them, and ensures you do the same! All you have to do is follow my rules without talking back!” The crown crumpled into a fist, wringing wrinkles into the stiff uniform below. “I’m not cutting off your heads because I want to,” he insisted in earnest, fury subdued by the bleeding heart. “It’s because I care about you.”

“Mama,” a small voice behind Riddle asked. The shorter boy faced her, still in the center, but hid his gray eyes from her. They trembled and spilled tears, tiny fists stealing them from his plump cheeks before they could spill. “I love them, just like you love me. So why?”

Another pause. He willed away a flinch before barking back, “I should have known that you would betray me in the end!”

“ Why ?” The child demanded.

“Everything I do is out of love!” Riddle seethed in a screech. “Don’t you all see that?!”

“Mama, what rule do I have to follow to get this pain to stop?”

Yuu reached. Her fingertips bent at some unseen wall. She blinked, trying harder with a bang of a fist.

Riddle’s voice snapped small at the crack’s call. Blots of ink bloomed with ebony beauty burning his skin with midnight thorns, melting his gloves and sleeves like acid. His skin bleached ashen white at the floret’s famished hunger. The blooms pecked and ruffled around his hips. His elegant suit and cape tore like flesh at the ends, tendrils of spilled cards flaring down like an opened ribcage. Metal knives sprung from his neck in an agonizing cry, blood and black splattering with the stab of silver. Branding his throat was a scorched kiss of a broken heart. He threw his face in his hands, a sob wracking his body. The golden crown on his head melted tears his eyes like molten glass.

“ Riddle !” Yuu cried. She lurched forward to just reach the falling petals.

The plea fell on deaf ears. “Where were you-?!”

“Trey, why did you watch?” the child wondered numbly. “You saw me, a-and just watched. Why didn’t you say anything? I was so alone. I-I was scared!”

“How dare you!”

“It’s okay,” he promised. “I’m not mad. But do you think that we can play again?”

Yuu could only watch as the scepter of a spade crashed down into the ground. The world around them trembled as the ground cracked underneath the impact. The child behind the ink-struck figure crumpled to the ground, knees drawn. His fists covered his ears. He was small. So small. So scared. It made her heart sore. The phantom of a monster was unbothered by the sobbing child as cards sprayed from the spearhead like a geyser. It chipped away and diced at Riddle’s body. Ink splattered with each scrape, chunks of flesh melting away into the cursed fluid. He didn’t cry as his entire body was feasted on by paper teeth. Yuu screamed for something , as each inch of his body disappeared into nothing. The red sweater of the child was sprayed with the black blood. He didn’t look. She prayed he’d never have to.

“It’s over,” another voice, deep as it was empty, breathed. Yuu hesitated, turning slowly to the dark maned man. The feline ears atop the sea of deep umber slowly folded back. “ Over .”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” a lighter tone mewed. The cub of a boy sat on the ground, a trembling lip the only thing keeping him back from tears. The quaking dam did nothing to hide the pure disappointment and sorrow of the situation.

“If Malleus is going to play at top form, there’s no way we can win. It’s already decided.”

“What’s the point in trying? I’m tired.”

There was a pause, before Leona scoffed. “Your nagging’s annoying. Let me give you a dose of reality.”

“Don’t make me hope. It’s tired of it.”

“You’re just a worthless hyena from the slums,” he pointed forward, before thrusting his thumb into his chest. His teeth gnashed into a snarl, “No matter what we do- what we try- That will never change!”

“I messed up. I shouldn’t have let you dream, either. I’m sorry. I won’t let it happen again. I-I just,” his voice broke, “thought, that maybe if I can help someone as low as you, then maybe I can be something.” He smiled, sad, before turning his head a bit to the side. “You and I are a lot alike, y’know? I kinda hate it. But I’ll make sure it hurts, so we don’t forget this time.”

Leona’s arm raised, before slashing with sand splattering the white space around him. Ruggie , she noted in horror. The shape of a crescent moon of gold earth carved the ivory void, stars of crimson peppering the silhouette. Ebony crawled up his arm, fingertips dripping in blood, the charcoal curse mottling his skin. The pain shook him with labored breathing.

“I’m better off alone. I know that.” He laughed, swiping at his eyes before the silver collapsed. “Farena is the one with the pride. The people love him. I’ll never have that. I guess I was just gleaning the scraps. It tasted pretty good, though.”

“How’re ya feeling, Ruggie?!” Leona thundered, a laugh roaring in his throat. “I bet it hurts real bad, huh?!”

“No matter how much I close my eyes, there’s no better tomorrow. The sun doesn’t shine for me.”

“In this world, it doesn’t matter how much talent has, or effort someone makes- it doesn’t make any difference!” He bit at the words feverishly.

“I’m so tired .”

“I’m not a king-!”

“That’s not what I want. Not really.”

“-And I never will be!”

“But if that’s all I’ll ever be, a shadow of what isn’t? I rather not be awake to see it. What if I just slept forever?”

His hand grabbed his shoulder, the other limp to the deathly affliction. He jerked forward at the pain, most of the ink dropping like lead. The shredded sickness clung still up to his elbows. His feet weren’t so lucky as the ebony ivy climbed up his legs.

“It’s so dark-!” His voice cracked, sand filling his throat. “No matter what I try, no matter how hard-! This agony, this despair-!”

“Leona-senpai!” Yuu banged on the invisible walls, desperate for something, anything to break. Something to give-

He staggered where he stood, knees buckling as he held his roaring chest. Black fluff bloomed from his collar, each a shiny needle of a bristle of bur. The bones below sprung forward, glistening with bloodied gold with a wheeze. He clawed for release- just to breathe - a black corset tightened around his frame, as some halfwitted attempt to keep him together as he threw everything he could off his skin before it could melt into it. The pride of his dorm, a bright bandana, sagged off his hips before being shredded by a zephyr of sand. Each granule scraped his skin, ink clotting the wounds into skin-tight coverings. He buried his face in his hands. Summer’s winter bleached his hair as it licked back his locks. He screamed. She heard a crack. A small tear of ink fell from his face. He slowly raised his head, his left claw tipped with the faintest blood.

But unlike Riddle, he didn’t go for the kill. He didn’t judge the world with the gavel of death and the swing of a scythe. Leona’s claws dug into his own skin. The talons tore through his flesh slowly. A laugh squeezed through grit teeth as nothing came out. Only blackened sand. He roared with laughter, his eyes pouring with more and more ink, before it fell like sand. Yuu couldn’t watch as he crumbled away. Shards of glass jutted out from below at his thunderous howls of pain. Her ears burned with every crack of the whip- bones crackling like timbers in a fire of self-loathing. The kitten behind him was unbothered. He only glared at the ground cracking around him.

“Leon-“

“Hey, it’s okay.”

Her jaw clicked shut. The kitten stared at her, catatonic and so exhausted . A small smile was matched with sleep-worn eyes.

“I’m not scared. Just a little lonely, that’s all.”

A curtain of blackened sand draped over him. He didn’t flinch as shards of earth fell over him with tears of glass.

“My contracts,” a smooth voice, quiet and calm like the shoreline pulled her in with the tide. “Are they safe?”

“They’re all I have,” a smaller voice, quiet and wobbly reminiscent of a toy bobbing on the water, added. The tiny inkling was round and small- a humble dollop. His skin was more ashen, devoid of sun’s light, and thicker like a buried treasure. Thick coils of black tentacles furled in to make him appear smaller. “I’m nothing without them.”

“Give them back!” Azul demanded, reaching for something Yuu couldn’t see. “I’ll give you anything! Whatever you’d like! Test notes, graduation thesis, altering your attendance records- you’d have quite an easy time graduating, wouldn’t you say? A free diploma with no effort required!”

“I’ll only be a small chubby octopus. I have nothing to give anyone. I’m better hiding in an octopus pot. No one has to see me.”

The breath was taken away from him. He only watched the memory in horror. His life’s work crumpled into sand. A familiar sight. “My golden contracts- all turned to dust…”

“I don’t need to be loved.” The baby blue lamented quietly, clenching his small balls of fists. “I’ll never be pretty, skinny, or popular. Jade and Floyd will leave, too, once they don’t need me anymore. There’s no reason for them to stay. They’re just using me for fun. I’ll use them, too.”

“It’s all dust in the wind!” Manic laughter erupted from Azul, bursting like erratic bubbles from a vent of his distorted heart. It was like a cackle of lightning and echoed like thunder, his hair a tussled mess as he combed it back with torrents tearing through it. “What have you done? Without that- I’m back to being a stupid, clumsy octopus!” He buried his face in his hands. “I don’t want to go back! Not again!”

“But sometimes, I’m scared. I’m better off in an octopus pot, away from everyone, so they can’t see how ugly I am. How worthless I am.” A frown gnarled his face. “I’m scared what’ll happen when people try to look inside. There’s nowhere lower to go. Where can I hide?”

“Shut up!” He snapped. “You have no idea how I feel!” Those thick trails lined his cheeks, dripping freely from his jawline. “Constantly made fun of as a ‘stupid, clumsy octopus’! You’ll never understand!” His hands twisted knots into to his silver locks, pulling them and fraying some strands in broken waves. “Oh yeah!” An elated idea lit up his voice with heat lightning. “If it’s all gone, I’ll just have to take more ! ”

Yuu could only murmur his name in prayer as she watched hell take hold.

“No matter how many contracts or deals I make, it’s just me. Every contract comes to an end. I know that. I just like to pretend sometimes. It’s silly. I know it’s not real.” His smile held no warmth. “The game’s really fun, even though winning’s even worse than when you lose.”

Azul screamed, knees buckling as the black bubbles of his shadows grew into waves. Dark blots covered him in a whirlpool of ink. The tails of the shadow spun in a sickly spiral. Harpoons jutted out of Azul’s skull, webbed and threaded in chains at the top. Dead coral and barnacles grew from his chest with dark ice spikes, a black oil spill floating above in a ring like a collar. Dipping even lower, his thin legs bloomed into a monstrous eight with a eerie underbelly lined with suction cups. Clamping his waist were spiraling shells twisting into spikes. His arms were barbed with Blot, gills marring his waist like fresh knife cuts. His arms flung wide in an embrace, an offer of cold dread outstretched like death’s servant.

“Let’s make a deal!”

The ground below him fissured and erupted with black bubbles. The cracks grew and spread to the center, interconnecting with the rest.

“But I don’t forget them. I remember everyone’s names just in case. Even if it hurts, it’s the best I can get. That’s all bottom-feeders like me can hope for.”

Cracking -  she tapped her foot. So this room is made of glass?

“But I don’t let them get too close. It’s better if I bottle my hearts away. If it’s going to hurt, I won’t let them see. I’ll prove them I’m not some lump of blubber.”

She tested the theory with her foot. The ground beneath shook as Azul’s howling laughter thundered with a storm’s pain.

She couldn’t bear to look or listen on anymore as the leaden liquid spilled.

There was a crash.

But she didn’t fall.

Her arms flung up, legs dragged by the same force. She blinked a few times, watching the glass, white pieces fall freely down an endless black abyss ribbed with light blue. She flailed her arm, only to find it tied by scarlet.

Red strings?

She craned her neck as far as she could to see a familiar hand, taloned like a bird, holding each strand in crude bunches. It was as if he severed them himself, only to hold fate’s fray in his clutches.

“Thank you,” was all he said, as they, too snapped with his smile.

Yuu gasped for air, springing forward and holding her hammering heart. She coughed and spat from drowsy drownings. Her head buzzed with a fuzz she hated. It burned her ears.

But it was over.

That wasn’t like - she reeled, trying to soothe the irrational panic of the pain as her eyes darted around the darkness. -That wasn’t like the normal ones.

They were like broken memories. Maybe she could still have nightmares of her own, as dumb as it may sound. She wasn’t sure if that was any better, really. The ones painted with ink were usually the ones that painted a grim future. This one was like pained stained glass panes, ever dipped in dye.

Well, I guess I’m not sleeping . Yuu took a deep breath before swinging her bed around the mattress. She was quiet, considerate of her roommate, before slipping to the balcony.

The night air greeted her with a chilled kiss and caress. Even with the stars bled out of the night, there were still plenty in view. The urban atmosphere added metallic tang to the air, but also provided an array of lights to admire. There was also a warm spice to taste.

Wait. Is that cinnamon?

She turned over to see Jamil standing in the glass-door walkway of the balcony, two standard issued mugs in hand. Steam breathed off the mouths of each clay maroon body. He wore only an old jersey top, and his sweatpants slid off a bit at his hip, exposing more than she was used to seeing. Sweat stained his skin, and only glistened in the city light. 

She was just happy to see him here. Her chest bloomed with warmth. There he was, calm grays greeting her with silent sympathy, as he took a seat beside her on the cheap furniture. His free locks waved like a comforter’s toss in the brisk breeze.

“You had another nightmare, didn’t you?” He asked her gently, extending one mug to her. The breath of warm comfort kissed her lip.

It was chai, just the way she liked.

Chapter Text

“It wasn’t about Vil-senpai this time,” she laughed lightly. But it probably would’ve gotten there eventually.

Jamil scoffed, “That’s not much better.”

She hummed into her mug, letting the chai warm her throat. It wasn’t particularly cold, but an expected chill of night. It felt even more brisk from the break of terror. A more soothing and gentle plunge of ice, one could suppose, but anything was better than the way those refracted memories- that weren’t even hers- burned into her soul.

“Why are you up?” Yuu asked quietly, glancing at him from the side.

His eyes weren’t pried from the muted skyline. The stars of city lights reflected lotus blooms in pools of gray. “I couldn’t sleep, either. I tried waking you, but you wouldn’t. I figured that you’d wake up eventually, so I want to the kitchen to make something for when you did.”

She blinked at him. “You had a nightmare, too?”

“They’re not uncommon for me,” he admitted plainly. “It’s rare that they scare me.”

She stared at him in the open cover of twilight. He leaned over the rail, his half-emptied mug in his hands hanging over it. He didn’t meet her gaze, and his expression was hard to read even with the caress of gold. What she could make out was a slightly woven brow and a pensive frown. The stick of cold sweat clung onto his skin even still, the light from below lapping at every drop.

“You were scared?” she echoed.

A nod, quick as it was subtle. “But they’re just dreams.”

Jamil flinched at the sudden jolt of the bar. Her elbows bent on metal, and big, crystally eyes stared at him.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He hesitated, before looking away. “I don’t see a point.”

“You listen to mine,” she reasoned.

Gray eyes rolled. “Yours actually mean something.”

“It still feels better to talk about them. Like, it gets it out of your mind at least.” She smiled gently. “I’ll listen. But if you don’t want to, that’s okay. We can just be quiet together.”

He was silent. She didn’t mind. He drowned the stillness in chai. Cinnamon warmth shared the space between them, breathing comfort in the quiet. And even when both ran out, there was still a shared sweetness lingering in the breath of night.

Minutes melted into hours.

The stillness shattered with a sudden shudder.

“You’re cold,” he observed.

“Aren’t you?” She shot back, as if she wasn’t folding herself for warmth.

A chuckle rumbled in his throat, shaking his head at the small bundle rattling beside him. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”

She shuffled in with a yawn, “ Okay .”

He slid the door behind them closed with a click. “Are you going to try and go back to sleep?”

“It’s too late.” She flopped on her bed. “Or early. Whatever.”

“You have a point.” He placed his emptied drink beside hers before taking his spot on the opposing mattress.

She sat up with a grunt, drawing her legs into a crossing posture. “You really don’t want to talk about it?”

“My dream? Not really.” Gray met opal. “But I’ll listen to yours.”

“But I’d feel bad,” she sighed. “Like I’m using you-“

“You’re not.” Those two words shot out of his mouth with a blunt force.

She blinked, doubt beaten by the blow. If Jamil said it, he meant it. He had no honeyed words on that silver tongue of his left. The sweetness had long since soured in clots of ink. And even if he did, he’d waste none of it on her. He had no reason to. She had seen everything.

She resigned in a murmur, “Okay.”

He waited, voice a whisper. “Okay.”

Yuu took a deep breath. If only the air could suffocate that smoldering anxiety. But she wasn’t scared. Not of him. “It was about school. Not like homework and stuff, but orientation.”

“When you and Grim appeared?” He wondered.

“Yeah, except it was different.” She leaned back on her palms, the cushion of the mattress causing her to sink a bit as she looked up at the ceiling. “It wasn’t the Mirror Chamber; it was this empty, white room. I was in the middle, and they all were facing away. It was just the dorm leaders in their robes. Even Malleus and Idia-senpai were there. What was even weirder was that Grim wasn’t there. It was like we never existed.”

He nodded.

“And then it changed.” The pressure hit her chest. “I saw everyone Overblotting again in this plain white room. But that wasn’t the worst part.” A shaky breath wracked her lungs for reprieve. “Behind each of them, there were mini versions of everyone. Like, they were kids. And while they kept screaming, those kids would cry .” The memory made her sick. “Not at the sound, but because of how it felt. It was like they were saying what they were feeling, while the older versions- our versions- Overblotted from it.” Her voice cracked at the recollection, “L-Leona-senpai killed himself when he Overblotted. And do you know what little-him said?,” the tremble of terror hollowed her heart, “‘It’s okay. I’m not scared. Just a little lonely, that’s all.’ H-how messed up is that?”

“Yuu,” Jamil interrupted, adamant and urgent, yet soft with caution. “It wouldn’t have been your fault.”

“But what if that’s what would have happened if I wasn’t there? Would he kill himself? Sevens .”

“There’s no point in worrying about what-ifs,” he chided. She opened her mouth to protest. He cut her off. “And even if that did happen, it wouldn’t be your fault.”

“I know that,” she begrudgingly admitted. “It just,” she sighed, restless hands wringing the hem of her shirt, “it’s hard. I’m the only one who has any sort of warning on them- the Overblots- so I have to do something . And even when I don’t get those weird dreams, and it happens, if I’m not there, what would happen? What would have happened?”

Jamil was quiet for a moment, searching her ghostly gaze for those terrors that haunted her. They were tucked away glass walls smoked by stress, yet he could see them plainly. He said nothing, moving to sit beside her. He didn’t share those ink-stained night terrors.

Instead, he shared a memory- or a nightmare they had lived. “If you weren’t there, what I would have done would have been my fault. Kalim’s blood would have been on my hands. Not yours.”

His warm palm caught one of her fuddling hands. It stopped with the fidgeting. Her wrist pivoted to hold onto him. He didn’t mind. She leaned against him with a sleep-stifled yawn. He didn’t mind. She was quiet, listening, for a snake’s silent whisper.

“But I’m glad you were there,” he confessed in a whisper.

“At the-“

“No. After.” His thumb brushed the back of her hand. She knew what he meant- those secret words he hissed in the breath of his heart. It wasn’t that she stuck on the shoreline around after he sank. She gave him the room to breathe- something a shadow never needed. Air was a thing a flame drank, and for once, he was a spark on a wick. A small growing ember with the room to grow.

“You sound scared,” Yuu noted bluntly.

The smile he hid wasn’t one of joy. Amusement, cruel and intrigued like an adder’s bite, “The dream I had,” he continued, “was that you weren’t there. That after I Overblotted, after you stopped me, that I stayed in Scarabia. It all stayed the same .”

“I’m glad you came,” she decided stubbornly. “To Ramshackle, I mean.”

A laugh wheezed from his chest, eyes lulling in a roll. “I had nowhere else to go.”

“But you still came. I’m glad you’re here.”

Here. Ramshackle, this hotel room, or with her. Any would be accurate.

“Jamil.” His voice from her lips was a simple thing. Two syllables that came easily, but it always sounded so much better from her. Two syllables strummed into a song he drank in. Whether it be as loud as a parade cymbal, of quiet like a whisper, he heard her say it each time. “I’m not going anywhere.”

A sweetness made his stomach sick with a flutter. “I know.”

“You’re stuck with me.”

“If it’s you,” he echoed, so that both might know that meaning they could share. A secret he couldn’t hide. “I don’t mind.”

“But just because you don’t mind doesn’t mean you want to,” she reminded him with a slight pout.

A truth he knew. His silence had often been taken as impassiveness. A wordless agreement that preceded a silver medal. And even with a promise as short and simple as that, she was discontented. She wanted him to want - something he wasn’t allowed. But this time, in this bed they currently shared of his own accord, he was allowed to indulge in that depraved hollowness gnawing his heart. A pain he seldom acknowledged, lest it fester and infect him once again.

But with her, she wanted that. It didn’t burden her in the least.

What did he want anymore? Not to snuff out Kalim. He wanted to live. He wanted to burn. He wanted to feel all of it. He was free . He didn’t have some blood-bound bond tethering onto him like some velvet rope. Not with her.

It could have been anyone there that day. In fact, there were several. There were even a few who visited him afterwards. But it was Yuu that chose to find him. She was the one to see him- all of him- and welcome him. All of him.

He wanted to be with her. He wanted to know her. He wanted to hear her sarcastic comments. He wanted to see her trip over her two left feet.

And if it wasn’t her, he wouldn’t want anyone else.

“Did you fall asleep?” Jamil asked in a murmur, toying with her fingers.

“No,” she whispered back. “Are you?”

He scoffed. “How could I have asked if I was unconscious?”

Yuu shrugged. “I dunno.”

“Are you tired?”

“Not really.” She nuzzled into him. He didn’t so much as flinch as she buried her face in his neck. Her breath tickled his skin, a shiver pecking his skin and making his hair stand on end. He didn’t mind, even if his heart tripped in his chest. He was very aware of the heat scorching his cheeks, all the way to his ears, hidden by the cover of night.

“Comfortable?” Was all he could manage.

“Are you?”

He wanted to laugh. They had just talked about this habit of hers. But he didn’t hate it. The way her body was pressed against him, molding perfectly and folding into him with a warmth he didn’t know he craved ?

“Yeah.” He yawned, settling in. His head slowly fell atop hers. Cinnamon and sugar flooded his senses. Her soft hair tickled his face in a cool comfort for his flushed face. “I am.”

Chapter Text

“So what do girls like anyway?” Floyd asked, teetering back and forth from side to side at the edge of the booth. The lounge was freshly cleaned, the bucket of chemicals resting by his foot and a glass-cleaning rag left on the table. “Like chocolates and stuff?”

“That is a good question,” Jade agreed in a hum, a finger thoughtfully curled under his lip. “Chocolate is popular among women, as far as I know.”

“Shrimpy-chan orders it enough,” he snickered.

He smirked at the memory. “That she does.”

“So what does ghost lady like? Do you think she can eat? Or will it just go right through her?”

“I wouldn’t phrase it that way in front of her,” he chided, amused all the same. “And surely there must be something she can eat. Or perhaps something she can smell.”

“Like flowers?”

Now that was an idea. “Exactly.”

“That’s so boring, though,” Floyd whined.

“We could always try a grander gesture?”

He suggested.

“Like what?”

“If we are truly emulating a ‘reverse-harem’, as Ortho put it, perhaps something like-“

There was a boom, a smack, and a slam all at once. Floyd blinked at his twin, a confused smile printed on his face, the wind from the force still combing his hair. He blinked once or twice at him, two arms pinning him to the wall. “I don’t get it,” he decided.

“I’m going to regret asking,” Azul’s voice cut in, a look of disgust marring his expression, “but what are you two doing?”

Jade released his prey, Floyd freshly freed. Only to slam his palms into the wall, trapping Azul and pinning him to it. The cephalopod sputtered, looking up at him in shock, before quickly relaxing.

“We’re practicing,” Jade at last explained, peeking over Floyd’s shoulder to look over his prey.

“You’ve smooched a girl,” his twin remembered, still holding Azul down, watching as his face flushed all the way to his ears. “What do we do?”

The captive sighed, as if his face wasn’t on fire. “Given we know little about her, we should play it safe.”

“So this is good?”

The depths of hell would have been colder than the icy stare his boss shot him from below. “Unhand me.”

Floyd barked a laugh, at last relinquishing the little octopus at last. “So, what’s the plan, boss?”

He sighed, “Considering that this woman has been waiting for her ‘prince’ for centuries, using common tropes is not the worst idea. She’s had eons to fantasize.”

“And she’ll be disappointed if Idia-san is her choice,” Jade commented.

“Agreed.” Azul nodded. “If we are to leverage her naivety, we’ll need more data.”

Floyd frowned. “What do you mean? If it’s book stuff, you’ve lost me.”

“There’s no need for that, when the research has already been done for us.” He smiled, bright and merry as it was fake and cryptic.

“Shall I start packing?” Jade asked.

His twin’s eyes darted between the two. “Wait, where are we going? A strip club?”

“No. Something more age appropriate.”

“I doubt our ghost bride would be interested in anything we could replicate from there,” Azul speculated.

“She did pick firefly squid,” Floyd agreed in a hum. “She likes ‘em pasty and flat. The boss is too chubby, she’s not Jade’s type, and she sounds like a drag.”

“I’ve lost most of my weight, thank you!”

“Which is a shame,” Jade lamented in a frowning sigh.

“You still pack it in the rear, though.”

“Yuu-chan happens to like my round behind,” Azul protested, as if that proved anything.

“Humans are weird,” Floyd decided.

“Yuu is a special case, too,” Jade agreed. “But to bring the conversation back to the task at hand, given the bride has proven herself delusional, we will probably succeed in wooing her despite appearances.”

“Which means we’ll need intel,” their boss agreed. “Gentlemen, prepare to take notes and feel slightly uncomfortable. We’re going to a host club.”

“A what ?” Floyd returned, head cocking to the side in confusion.

“You’ll see when we get there. Because quite frankly, I don’t trust either of you to actually succeed.”

“Says the one still pining.”

Jade watched the two of each other with apparent amusement. “Perhaps we can all learn a thing or two from this endeavor. Although this is an all-boys school, surely the experience will prove valuable in the future.”

“You’re not fooling anyone with that,” Floyd deadpanned.

Chapter Text

Look, Idia was well versed in romance. He wouldn’t consider himself a pro or anything, but he was quite open to an otome game or two. He was rather vocal to Ortho and unknowing online forums about his waifus, and he was no stranger to OTPs. He had a tier list based on compatibility and chemistry because duh . And why so many of the female characters went after such a vanilla guy was confusing in and of itself. And unrealistic. A carpet would have more personality than your guess-the-protag with black hair and blue eyes, and yes they always had that same look. (Call the clones, if you will)

But clearly Eliza didn’t care about his personality. Would that make here a yandere? She did want to un-alive him, sure, but she didn’t appear to be particularly malicious. Delusional, yes, but not evil.

Didn’t mean he didn’t want to get the hell out of there, though.

“ I don’t wanna die !” Idia screeched, skidding into an empty classroom, shoulder ramming into the wall with a grunt, and falling to the floor. If he had a shred of athleticism, he could have easily sprung off the ground like some gymnast. But Idia was a nerd, and not a jock.

Eliza didn’t seem to mind in the least, instead bubbling with a sparkling laugh. And if Idia had to place that sort of sound, it’d be champagne. No sober person would find this whole situation funny . “Now, now, darling,” she chided, the sweet smile never leaving her face. “Thrashing about will only make Nana and Grampy’s job that much harder.” She bent at the waist, floating above him with a smile. “I know you’re shy, but I can’t stay here with you forever.”

Idia sputtered a scoff. I wish you wouldn’t stay with me at all!

“Just sit here a little while longer,” she told him with a flick to his forehead and a wink. “ Darling .”

He took the chance to make a break for it. He could phase through her, right? Maybe? Could he roll for that-

He didn’t budge.

Well, apparently, he rolled a natural 1.

Screw him.

“What kind of technology is this?” He squawked, writhing in his own flesh. He didn’t so much as flinch.

And instead of answering, of course, Eliza just waved him off with a giddy grin. “There we go. He’s all yours!” And with that, she floated through the wall. Right next to the door.

Weird flex but okay.

In her place, two sunken-skulled phantoms floated through the floor. Because doors and stairs were a thing for mortals, and they just liked to cheese reality by clipping through it. Whatever. Okay.

“We’ll have him dressed to the nines!” The masculine specter swore. “We’ll make you a proper groom yet.”

“Hold up-“ He squawked. “Did you say dress me?”

“Of course, dear,” the one on the right assured him in a motherly tone.

He found no comfort in it. Maybe it was the mommy issues. Or y’know. The actual horror of this whole scenario. “Pause!” He barked. “I'm headed to like the worst of all possible bad endings! How did I end up in this story branch in the first place?”

She frowned. “You don’t have to look so dour. Do you doubt our skills as attendants?”

“Who cares about your skill? Are you just gonna ignore the fact that I don't want to marry the ghost lady?”

“Oh, hush,” she chided, already running her hands through his hair. He wanted so badly to burn her soul into hell.

But the answer was no, apparently.

‘Grampy’ huffed a sigh. “Let’s get this over with!”

Idia was a creature (a chaotic gremlin creature, but a creature nonetheless) with low esteem and questionable pride. A lot to unpack, yes, but understood by those who had met him or met his tablet.

So, that being the case, he had no shame in screaming.

The sky was robed in deep purples, jeweled with fading stars. Despite appearances and the dying breath of the night, it was technically early morning. The sun hadn’t so much as peek from behind the hedges. It was a familiar sight, like an old acquaintance, to Riddle, but not so close to be called a friend. He seldom wandered into the maze a such an early hour. It was an odd gap where the night owls (there was a lights-out time, yes, but Riddle had learned leniency with it. Ironically, he found himself more exhausted trying to enforce it), and the early birds’ rising. An hour to himself only filled with the spilled red paint and his thoughts.

“In accordance with the Laws of the Queen of Hearts,” he murmured to himself, feeling the viridian leaves with his fingers, “I’m supposed to finish pruning these roses before tomorrow.” His mouth twisted with a frown, spite spitting against his grit teeth. “But because of this Phantom Bride nonsense, I’m nowhere near done! I’m busy enough as is, why must I prune atop everything else?“

“That’s quite the impassioned soliloquy,” a monotone voice commented.

Riddle jolted at the sound of the unknown audience. The intruder made no effort in mask his presence as he continued to approach him. Even if he wanted to, there was no point in hiding those tall twists of horns atop his head. Striking green eyes pierced through the night. His thin brows were slightly curved in subtle curiosity.

“Well, hello, Malleus-senpai,” he greeted in a calm sigh. “To what do I owe the pleasure? I hope you're not here to send a frost upon our flowers.” He offered a small smirk, but he meant it all the same, “The poor roses are cowering in fear.”

“A frost?” He echoed, bafflement evident on his face. “Ah, yes. That’s a classic Thorn Fairy anecdote.” He shook off the comment easily enough. “You can relax. That’s not why I’m here. I actually wanted to thank you, Riddle Rosehearts.”

“Thank me?” Gray blinked at him. “For what exactly?”

“You’re going to rescue Shroud-kun, yes? I’m aware my retainers are lending their aide in my absence. Even so,” he concluded, a hand placed over his chest in a silent oath, “I’d like to extend gratitude to those involved.”

Riddle was familiar with formalities. “I see. There’s no need to thank me, though.” His hands left his esteemed florets. He met his gaze evenly. “The Heartslabyul housewarden is expected to show initiative during campus emergencies. I understand your situation, of course. We don’t need some scandal or political incident brought on by something as trivial as this.” And at last, something toying shined in those determined, gray eyes- like the glean of a blade. “I will expend all my efforts to find a solution. Why would I flout tradition?”

“You're rather mature for someone hardly older than a newborn babe,” Malleus commented.

His expression, as usual, was difficult to interpret. Whether it was to be condescending, amused, or curiosity, was something Riddle wasn’t sure. He didn’t make any assumptions, taking the remark at face value. Malleus wasn’t some frivolous frosh eager to prove their mettle to the hardened housewarden- he was a prefect, too.

“Are you familiar with the concept of noblesse oblige?” Riddle asked him.

“Certainly.”

“It's a prominent school of thought that has a long history in the Queendom,” he continued, looking over the scarlet blooms once again. Not every one was brushed with blush. White blossoms still budded from the bushes. “I’m not sure what definition you use, but the sentiment we have is, ‘Those with power and status have a duty to aid the weak, proportional to their station.’ I simply honor that precept.”

“I see,” Malleus acknowledged. “Although, even though you’re aware of my situation, I wonder if you judge me for it. It’s cowardly for a leader.” He took to Riddle’s left, caressing the delicate floret with his fingertips. “I have the power to deal with the problem myself- to save Shroud-kun, but I can’t.”

He was quick to renounce it. “I don’t think that at all.” He looked up at the Fae towering over him. He wasn’t met with sharp green irises. Instead, an emotion plain as day broke through the night. His brow was threaded into a tense frown, his lip pensively thin with clear frustration.

Riddle knew that feeling well.

“Leader or no,” the ginger pressed, “I come from common lineage. That, and my small stature might make me less than eligible for this princess. But even so, there is one thing I can do. Even if I fail, it’s the one thing in my power I can use.“

Malleus spared him a wide-eyed glance, before a chuckle squeezed through his lips. “I was worried for nothing,” he decided with a contented smirk.

“What do you mean?” He prompted.

The prince spoke frankly. “I've witnessed firsthand how you care for your vassals and your determination as a leader. Common birth or not, you have a noble heart. I assume you've received no royal tutelage, yet you have the mark of a king.”

Riddle’s mouth opened at his words. They weren’t anything more than what Malleus wanted to say, yet each one hit some mark in his chest. The breath escaped him in a word, “Malleus-senpai.”

“You’re right,” he continued. “There are things that we can do, even with our limitations. And though I may not be able to directly interfere, I will offer my support.” He turned to him fully, looking him up and down evenly. The lithe ginger took no offense to it, instead watching him look him over like it was some sort of challenge. “You carry yourself with dignity, but you lack a certain,” he paused, “regality. If you don’t meet the bride’s expectations with your height, you should at least wear something else to garner her attention. She is a princess.”

“I’m not an aristocrat,” Riddle reminded him. “I don’t have anything to denote merit or status.” He looked up at the stars, that inferior feeling lurking like moss at the foot of his heart. Somehow, he was smaller still. “My parents are notable, but nothing that would interest her. The only accomplishments I can truly boast is my position as housewarden.”

Something warm pressed against his chest. Riddle snapped his attention back down to find a blazing blossom burning against his bosom as Malleus smiled warmly. The corsage pinned itself to his uniform with a gold finish for the clasp. “Malleus?”

“When adorned upon you,” he answered to his name, “this simple rose carries more weight than any medal. If you are the king of this garden, you must carry you must carry yourself with a rose's strength and nobility. Swear it.”

Riddle felt the pristine petals in his hand, something like comfort kissing the tips like frost. It was petite, nothing like a crown or blue-blooded bloodline. This was a flower, something the princess had likely seen in dozens or more. But they weren’t his . He took care of them- each one- whether they knew or not. He loved them, these buds and blossoms. A small smile was fastened into a determined smirk. “I really can’t make myself a fool now. I swear, upon this rose, I shall fulfill my duty as housewarden!” He dipped into a bow, cordial and noble with a princely grace. “ And my oath as a Rosehearts!”

And come what may, he would show the world his thorns if they dared to rip his petals away.

Chapter Text

The dawn slowly pulled her awake with birdsong. The warmth of day poured through the glass doors of the balcony in gold ribbons. Yuu wasn’t sure what time it was. She wasn’t really used to being able to sleep in. Even during days off school, there was always a hungry mouth eager to remind her what meal she was late to make. Another thing that sentenced Grim to just being called a cat, really. So, she cherished these moments where she could let the sleepiness slowly fade out, rather than fight it.

A deep breath drew her out of her mental musings. Her eyelids snapped open to find the snoozing frame of Jamil in her bed. His sweatpants still threatened to fall off his dipping hipbones, and the jersey did nothing to hide how toned he was. His dark hair was a mess of a river flowing from his crown. One arm cushioned his head, his other stray from his hip to her hands. Their fingers were still tangled together.

In most cases, this would be an embarrassing thing to wake up to.

Huh. Not the first time this has happened.

There were occasions where Yuu would wake up to an empty spot in her bed, with the clear silhouette sunken beside her. The vessel of medical ointment would sit dormant beside her, the herbaceous aroma long faded. When she did follow him downstairs, he had breakfast ready for both of them. She never was one to turn down free food.

But this was the first time she woke face to face with the sleeping man in question. His stern expression the world knew him for was put to rest in the night. Thick lashes brushed closed, his brows free from the stress of the waking world. His lips slightly parted in a stream of silent words. Even breaths drew from his chest in steady waves.

He was beautiful. That was just fact.

But she had rarely seen him so at ease. His mouth was usually laced with venom, or tongue slipped with sarcasm. This close, the ghost of worry lines were seen nestled between his delicately thin brows. The worries of life vanished in a moment. His lips, ever so slightly parted, were dormant of blunt distaste. It was so domestic- not an uncommon sight for her, really. But Jamil always had these walls up. He wouldn’t deny that. Whether those barriers kept people from seeing the person inside, or to push them away from the Asims inner circle, Jamil let very few people in. After everything that had happened, she couldn’t blame him. Even before that, though, he was quick to brush off any attention. She still remembered how reluctant he was to help her, deeming Kalim more qualified by birthright. Or how that cool façade shattered into pure bewilderment when she insisted anyways.

But in these quiet moments, under the curtain of dawn, all of that faded away.

He was just Jamil Viper, and everything that came with it.

“You’re staring.”

She blinked, staring at those slowly blinking eyes. Pools of gray placidly tugged awake with the tide of morning.

“Did you have another nightmare?”

Yuu shook her head, a grin ghosting her lips. “No, I slept great. Thank you.”

His brow furrowed slightly, unconvinced. “Then, what were you thinking about?”

“You’re beautiful.”

He blinked at her softly smiling face. She sat up now, back cushioned against a crudely positioned pillow. The sun caressed her velvety skin with heaven’s grace.

Jamil didn’t feel shadowed by it. That which condemns found forgiveness. He at last smirked at her oblivious remark, moving to sit beside her. “Thank you. Did you know that you snore in your sleep?”

She stared. “Do I?”

“You do.” But it was really no different than a kitten’s purr.

“Did you know that you’re super clingy in your sleep?”

“Am I?” He was. “It must be habit from when I used to share a bed with Kalim. Most assassinations happen at night.”

She cringed. “You both say the darkest thing with the straightest face.”

“It’s not like you’re any different,” he jabbed. She wasn’t.

“But I’m joking! You’re serious!”

“Did you mean it, then?”

“What?”

His fingers tightened their hold around hers. They threaded together like strings, woven in the divine morning. She watched the snake coil around her palm. “When you said I’m beautiful.”

And at that, her face burned. Her focus darted and fumbled between his two even eyes. She didn’t miss the way the corners of his mouth slightly tipped up with the mischievous taunt. Her mouth opened, but her brain supplied her with nothing. She swallowed the blunder, firmly grasping onto the situation.

“You’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever met,” she promised.

“Even prettier than Azul?”

“You don’t need me to fuel your ego,” she jeered.

“No,” he agreed, dipping his head low. “But I’d love to hear you say it.”

That sharp gaze pierced through her with a silent sputter of a gasp. His grip on her stifled her breath. Her heart hammered in her ears. The way her face burned a scarlet hue in the heavenly morning light was downright sinful.

He barked a laugh. “So you can’t take what you throw?”

Something sparked in those clear, and clearly flustered eyes. Oh, this was a challenge . “Fine. You’re the most beautiful man, Jamil Viper. Even prettier than Azul. Happy?”

“Was that so hard?”

“Not really,” she hummed. “It’s an easy order, Master .”

That was Jamil’s cue to completely blue-screen. Jaw gobsmacked in slack. His face glowed with a sunset’s furious red flush. It singed his ears in the mute room. Oh and how she reveled in the expression. Beautiful .

He cleared his throat. It didn’t fool her into thinking he was calm. No, his face was still aflame. “Don’t call me that.”

It complicated things. That odd feeling in his chest writhed at the name, eager for more.

“You liked it, though,” she pressed, an impish smirk carved her face.

“But hearing it from you-“ he stopped, taking a breath to cool that boiling blaze inside, “it’s strange.”

He hungered. He thirsted. It demanded to be fed, but he wouldn’t allow himself that reprieve.

“I thought you liked it when people called you-“

But he wouldn’t dare taste that sweetness. He wouldn’t take what wasn’t his.

“Not you ,” he adamantly insisted. There was something strained to be said about his tone. Something tipped and edged to one side, threatening to fall.

She needed to say it.

Yuu didn’t push. “Okay.” She picked up her phone from the nightstand, easily returning to her bookmarked travel site. “What do you want to do today?”

He hesitated, before loosing a sigh. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we can’t just stay in here all day. We should go on a date or something.”

“A date?”

“Isn’t that what couples do-“

“You’re back to this again,” Jamil huffed, snatching her phone in one swipe. “What do you want to do?”

She groaned at the error, rolling in her seat. Yuu nearly tumbled herself right off the mattress, but managed to catch herself before she could slip. Jamil pulled her back into place.

“Whatever’s fine,” she finally concluded.

“You don’t care? Or you just have no ideas?”

“Well, anything sounds great. We could go watch a movie, go grab some brunch, or take a walk. It all sounds fun. Because it’s you.”

He didn’t respond. Yuu didn’t even know what caused the silence that time. All she knew was that she was met with wide eyes and a loose jaw. Was it something she said? Something she didn’t say? Or something in between?

“Because it’s me,” he at last breathed the echo.

That brow wove itself with worry again. But this time, something deeper swam in silver. Something without luster she wanted to find.

Yuu grabbed his hands and smiled. “Well, yeah. You’re you.“

He breathed a laugh. “Do you mean it, then?”

And that’s when that hidden treasure sparkled in that silver oasis. It glimmered in those deep waters. Some secret hidden in the desert mirage.

Oh .

He was drinking in her words, soaking in her silence. He was quiet, savoring every drop. Almost as if she was that very ocean he craved in a parched land of sand. Something he had searched for relentlessly, only to find it a breath away.

To be enough for someone, just for being Jamil, that was a truth he had known. Yuu never asked more than what he was. She saw him, much as he tried to hide it. Much as he tried to remain in the shadows, her candlelight found him still. But her light didn’t burn. It warmed him. It comforted him.  It saw how awful he was, how his blood burned in his skin, and still welcomed him with warmth. She didn’t look away from him, or call it something beautiful. She saw all of him for what he was.

And that was enough-

He wasn’t just some silver medal. He wasn’t just someone to settle for. It didn’t matter to her what he couldn’t do- only what he could.

-and she chose him .

Jamil had known all of these things. They weren’t secrets she kept from him.

So why was this different ? Why did his chest suddenly ache? Why did his heart throb with thorns piercing the flesh of the valves? Why did his soul burn cold?

Because she said it.

“Jamil?”

He loved the way she said his name. Two syllables never sounded so sweet. Like a song, and her voice was loveliest.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered under his breath. She blinked, confused by the compliment. Or if she even heard him right. “The most beautiful woman I’ve met.”

Her face blazed in embarrassment. For one so mercilessly flirty, she did find herself speechless at the same prodding. Beautiful .

“It’s strange,” he added, voice low and husky with warm breaths stroking her face. “Maybe that’s why I didn’t want anyone else doing this. Maybe I just wanted you all to myself.”

Don’t take this from me.

“D-Do you mean it?” She asked, eyes blown wide in surprise.

“I don’t lie to you,” he promised.

Then, she blinked. And she laughed. It was like bells, chiming in his ears with a lovely ring. “Jamil Viper, are you flirting with me?”

“It took you a while to notice,” he commented, a toying smirk playing his lips.

“W-wait- hold on-“ she stammered, the words stumbling nonsense out of her mouth.

He didn’t let her suffer, as much as he loved seeing her squirm. Call him a coward, but he didn’t dare look at her. His face fell onto her shoulders, cool against his heated face. “You can forget if you want.” Goosebumps budded at his breath. “We can pretend it never happened. We can just be playing our parts, and never speak of it again.”

“W-why me ?”

He laughed. “Because you’re Yuu .”

And that was enough. More than enough.

In what felt like a lifetime ago, he would have dreamed of power. He would have been smitten with scarlet robes and gold platings, the whole world at his feet. They needn’t know his pain, he only wanted that power. He wanted to see his masters crumble like the desert sand. He wanted to fly free like a bird, and sing song with that same grace.

But not anymore.

What I want is Yuu.

“But I don’t want that,” she finally spoke. “I don’t want this all to end, and it be some dream.”

He smirked against her skin. He loved the way she shuddered. “You dream of me?”

“Well, yeah!” She squeaked. That indignation had little bite to it. He chuckled at her voice’s crack.

“Tell me.” Those two words came simple. Easy. Like his own Spell. His eyes met hers, now only a breath away. And how she felt that: the way each kissed her lips. “I need you to tell me.”

He was calm- but he wanted .

The way he looked at her, in this way, just because it was her? Like she was someone special ? Like she wasn’t just some student that stumbled in. Like she was more than a friend. More than a lackey or minion. Like she was someone worth loving. Worth the trouble.

Because it’s-

She took a deep breath. The words he wanted. The words he craved. What he needed to hear-

“I love you.”

Jamil melted . Three words unravelled him. They burned him to his core. He was just a humble body of wax. A staggered breath burned from his throat. She reached to catch a falling tear slipping from his eye. The silver slid down her fingertip. Her palm cupped his face. He leaned into her warmth.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Are you asking me?” He chuckled.

She huffed at his impish taunts. “Well, do you want to?”

“ Yes .” Need rolled off his silver tongue. Heat burned in his eyes. “Tell me-“

“Kiss me.”

And that’s all he needed.

And that need poured, as he took the distance given to him. A breath apart he shared. He drank in her gasp. He met her with passion that burned, this newly ignited feeling, with the gentility of a bird’s feather. He’d never hurt her. He wouldn’t sink his fangs into her. She was no prey. But she was his light . And he soaked in it. He drank it, every delicious sound from her throat. And as she drew breath, he offered little reprieve. But he wasn’t greedy. No, he was slow, and patient. Savoring her flavor. Cinnamon, he’d note. His cinnamon.

She wasn’t his everything. That was what was beautiful about her.

They didn’t need each other. Neither believed in that romantic lie.

But they chose each other. And that was enough.

Chapter Text

“That was an idea.” Jade hummed, adjusting his tie.

“An awful idea,” Azul sighed, combing his disheveled hair with his hand. He clearly needed to reevaluate his train of thought, because it had crashed and burned.

“I had fun,” Floyd chirped with a chattering laugh.

His brother smirked. “I was worried Azul-san would be scouted.”

“He does have the look for it! Too bad he flubs with romance.”

“I do not ‘flub with romance’!” Azul huffed indignantly. He adjusted his glasses with a chest puffed with pride. “As you’ve been so quick to remind me, I’m the one who’s received a kiss!”

“And got his tushie smacked,” Floyd supplemented.

“A badge to wear with honor,” Jade added with a nod.

Azul simmered with rage. As did his face- but that was a genuine toss-up between embarrassment or anger. Neither of them cared, rather amused by the way his face glowed like some bioluminescent jellyfish. And if he were in his other form, that would certainly ring true.

“We should review our intel,” his vice decided. He wasn’t sure whether that was a mercy blow, or he was actually concerned about the task at hand. Azul wasn’t sure if it was worth caring about.

“We know girls like ‘em pretty?” Floyd offered. “Like real pretty.”

“They like feeling validated and listened to,” Azul added. “And cared for.”

“Yeah, but that’s too boring!” And this is why Floyd hasn’t tried therapy. Not that Veprl hadn’t offered it on multiple occasions. Bloodlust wasn’t exactly normal.

“Hence why each host has their own skill,” Jade added. “They want to be charmed.”

“Charisma,” Azul clarified. “As well as charm.”

“And a ton of booze,” Floyd finished.

Jade thought it over, a finger tapping his bottom lip as he mulled the idea. “I don’t think trying to get our bride drunk will work. Or be permissible by even the Headmaster.”

“We know she’s definitely old enough for it. At least she’s a pretty hag.”

“We can’t bring any alcohol on campus,” Azul sighed with a frown. “We’ve tried before.”

“We need to be charismatic and charming,” Jade reiterated. “We need to cater to the woman’s every want and need, or politely turn down advances with grace when disagreements arise. We need to indulge in her delusional fantasy.”

“Sounds perfect for the boss,” Floyd hummed, smirking ever so slightly.

The cephalopod cocked a brow. “What ever are you implying?” If looks were a problem for the bride, maybe he could reproduce Vil’s moisturizer. Floyd was overdue for a good wringing.

“I agree with Floyd,” Jade chimed in. “You have the skill to allure most anyone into a contract. This is similar.“

“You are a pretty liar,” his brother agreed.

Even Azul had to admit there was something slimy about it. Deception wasn’t anything he was above. He knew that skill was well within his multi-limbed grasp. He had employed such heartless tactics many times in the past. And though for the greater good, it felt like some sort of cruel irony. Maybe it was because the affections were at play. This was the exact opposite of what he wanted.

But he knew what it was like to love a lie, too.

Oh well. He could take out his frustrations on this psychotic ghost. If she were so willingly to in all intents and purposes murder Idia so she could marry a specter, then he would oblige in her dream by offering the perfect suitor. Which wasn’t Idia. Anyone could tell you that. Besides, this what Vil had wanted. If the casting director truly trusted the part to him, who was he to refuse such a deal?

“I hope you two don’t intend to slip away unnoticed,” Azul chided.

“Ah, he caught us,” Floyd sighed.

“What do you want us to do?” Jade asked. “You’re clearly more skilled in this area.”

“You’re missing a crucial detail about this whole host business,” Azul informed them. A smile slid on his lips, coy and sweet yet dripping with venom. “The client has options.”

“I think the rest of you guys have that covered,” Floyd decided.

He wasn’t going to let the eel slip out of this ordeal. “But we’re hardly coordinated. You two will do your best to entice her- together.”

Jade’s expression was listless. “I see. So you want to employ a two-for-one strategy?”

“I’m sorry, what ?” his twin squawked. “As if I’d share anyone with you! I mean, just look at me and goldfishie!”

“And I have no intentions of letting you near Trey.”

“Then fight over her,” Azul sighed, their bickering already rekindling that headache. “I don’t care.” And if they botched the job, he wouldn’t be surprised. But if he was going to suffer, he was dragging them with him. Out of loyalty? No. They were capitalists. Loyalty had nothing to do with it.

Chapter Text

“How do I look?” Yuu asked, spinning around for good measure.

Jamil allowed a small smile to slip. “You look the part. Are you comfortable?”

The anticipated day had pounced on them just like the Ghost had seized Idia a week prior. Even with some warning, it wasn’t much of an improvement. One could even argue that the forewarning was even more foreboding. They didn’t have time to get cold feet about it- especially since the specters could beat them in that area. The couple had yet to regroup with the suitors, as they were supposed to be deployed first. The thing with Ghosts was that they could be anywhere . They didn’t need a suspicious spy spilling that Jamil and Yuu shared the same intentions as the Bride’s new bouquet of groomsmen.

But the charade would mean nothing if not presented properly, hence the costumes. Jamil knew Yuu had a bit of fun with dressing up, and he certainly couldn’t complain. However, he wasn’t one to compromise comfort for his own pleasure. And he wasn’t quite deluded to say ‘Yuu looks good in everything’, although she did look best when comfortable. It just so happened that she preferred more casual clothing, but he indulged in the treat for the eyes he was offered.

Cinnamon had a sweetness to it, after all.

Yuu fluffed the skirt out with her hands. It was a rouge dress, reaching mid-thigh. What would have been a slim skirt actually puffed out from the inside with white ruffles petaled and plumed like a bouquet of ivory roses. Thin straps clung to her round shoulders. She didn’t dare to try high-heels. They both knew that she couldn’t walk in them. Instead, she opted for red shoes with a bow on the back, where her ankles were cuffed loosely. The ribbon itself wasn’t anything special, made of the same material. There was a slight heel to them of a quarter-inch, only elevated the allure of her creamy legs. Her hair was pulled back into an elegant high bun, giving full access to the back of her neck.

As for him, he wore a rouge suit sharing the shade of her dress. It was classic in style, even with such a color contesting otherwise. The jacket boasted peak lapels, but buttoned in instead of fanning out. A black satin shirt could be seen beneath the blush blazer with gold shirt studs. He didn’t bother with tying the tie, instead allowing it freedom to rest across his shoulders. The trousers were as expected, sharing the same primary color as the suit’s outermost garments, plunging to his shiny black dress shoes. For his hair, he left it mostly the same, but with less jingling accessories. He wasn’t above gold studs popping out of his sea of dark hair like pearls in a deep ocean, however, intricately interwoven in the braiding. It was nothing he would choose to wear given if the occasion was his own, but that didn’t mean he didn’t put care into it.

“It’s comfier than it looks,” Yuu assured. “Besides, the roses on the bottom are pretty soft.” She turned. “What about you? How does yours feel?”

“It’s nothing I’d pick for myself,” Jamil admitted plainly. “But it feels nice. Nothing as complicated as those Fairy Gala costumes, at least.”

“You were so pretty, though!” She protested in earnest.

“You say that about anything I wear,” he reminded her evenly.

“Maybe you’re just that effortlessly attractive,” she challenged with a coy smirk, puffing her chest with her hands on her hips.

He scoffed at the compliment, rolling his eyes and taking it in stride. “You forgot something.”

“What-“

She cut herself off as he took her left hand gently in his. With his other, he slipped on the Severance Ring, gliding it down to place silently. He raised the ringed hand to his lips, sealing the secret deal with a kiss.

All to set Yuu’s face aflame. He smirked at the simple victory, pride and mischief glinted in his gray gaze.

“Never took you to be such a flirt,” she managed with a huff.

He denied it simply. “I’m not.“

“Then what was that ?”

“You forgot the ring,” was all he said, reveling in her face’s pink hue. How he could make someone unravel without a word was a strangely novel phenomenon he intended to cherish. Coupled with the fact she couldn’t take what she could dish out added to the game. The fact that he got to see her composure crack with a dumbstruck smile was something he intended to keep all to himself.

“Let’s review the plan,” he decided. “We arrive a day and a half early, get close to the Bride, and ideally get this ring on her somehow. And if that doesn’t work, the others come in.”

Yuu didn’t press him for the change in topic. “So, what’s our story?”

“You’re my new fiancée,” Jamil put bluntly.

She nodded to herself. “Right. And I’m asking her for romantic advice, or something like that?”

“Whatever feels natural for the moment, but more or less.”

“What else?”

“You want to limit inconsistencies?” He assumed.

“I mean, yeah. Even with the Bride caught up in the fantasy, she’s going to be on edge, right? The way she sees it, this is her big day. She won’t want anything ruining it. Even with her very unwilling groom.”

Jamil nodded. “Using as much of the truth will definitely help.”

“Are you sure?” She asked with an apprehensive pinch of her brow. “I mean this,” she gestured between them, “is pretty new.”

She was trying to prevent a fallout, he knew. “I have nothing to hide from you.”

“You’ve said that,” she sighed. “But just, let me know if I ask something you’re not ready to answer?”

He nodded. That was what he was planning regardless. “We met at school.”

“And we got really close after winter break,” Yuu added.

He frowned. “We could probably move back the timeline a bit. Let’s say, last year?”

“That quick?” She paused. “I guess the Bride wouldn’t be one to judge.”

“And if Idia-senpai somehow overheard, he doesn’t know the full extent of what happened. He couldn’t easily denounce it,” he smirked. “At least not convincingly.”

Idia was a man of many words. Most of which he stammered or coded with lingo very few could understand. He doubted that this deluded fiancé of his would understand even if he unintentionally spilled their secret scheme.

“How about the proposal?” She asked, subconsciously rubbing the ring with her thumb.

He thought it over before wondering aloud, “How would you want to be asked?”

With grace and elegance, all she could offer was an, “Um.”

“Um?”

“I never thought about it before,” she confessed. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like romance and whatever. But I’ve never really had any crushes or anything. So I’ve never really thought about what being married would look like for me .” Her pale gaze drifted away from him. “I thought something was wrong with me for a while, actually. Because I had people ask about first loves and all that, and I never had one. Maybe it was because I was stressed. I don’t know. But I would have much rather have had close friends .” She sighed. “But that’s not how I feel about you. I don’t know why, but maybe because it’s you?”

Because it’s me , his mind echoed. There was pride he took in that, as much as those painful feelings continued to drip the soaked heart. He steadied her thumb with his, pulling out of her self-spiral with a tug. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”

Her apprehension was plain. “Maybe. But again, that’s not how I feel about you. I don’t really know when it happened, but,” she sighed. “It’s different.”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me,” he assured gently.

It felt like a lie, in a way. The heart’s matters were fickle and friendless, loyal to none and selfish to self. Blood was a gross byproduct of life oozing from a sinful spot in the chest. He seldom explored those compulsions. It couldn’t be trusted. The mind was much more reasonable. Yuu wasn’t like that. She was far more emotionally impulsive and empathetic. He didn’t find it repulsive, oddly enough. It was because of her heart that she was loved by other. It was because of her heart that he was given another chance. But even so, she couldn’t quite find the reason behind her emotions. It was something he didn’t fully understand. Maybe one day he would, but for now he didn’t need to. He had time.

“What about you?” Yuu asked. “Have you thought about it before?”

He scoffed. “My life was already decided before I was born. I didn’t entertain the idea of choosing a partner. It would have been arranged for me, anyway, to produce the most viable offspring to continue the Viper-retainer legacy. And if by some odd chance I did find someone, they would have been taken from me for being a distraction, or for Kalim’s sake in general.”

“Well, we have to tell her something ,” she sighed, just as visibly frustrated by that fate as he was.

Which was still odd to him, for the record: someone feeling those pains he harbored alone. He never asked her to shoulder such a burden. He didn’t like inflicting more pain than necessary, though he was quite adept at it. He was supposed to be a shadow, after all; an undesirable and overlooked byproduct. But she was just that bright and warm, he supposed. She didn’t burn out the dark, but chose to accept it for all of its worth.

“The Fireworks Fest,” he mumbled at last. And suddenly, he could see it in that dark crevice of his mind he hardly entertained. His heart seemed fond of that idea.

Understandably, Yuu hadn’t an idea what he was talking about. “The what?”

“It’s a holiday from my hometown.” Something small and warm like a candle flickered in his chest. “I proposed to you under the fireworks.”

Her clear eyes widened, but all he could see was the color behind them, like dancing lights. It was captivating . He found himself smiling slightly. “That sounds so sweet . What’s the Firework Fest about?”

“That hardly has to do with the mission,” he dismissed, suddenly finding himself too warm.

“It doesn’t,” she bluntly agreed. “But it has to do with you, right? So what is it?”

Jamil sighed. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who could be undone by a word. Though, he would hardly let his ribbons show. “It’s a major national festival. They say the Firework Fest came about because of one particular legend. In short, it’s a celebration of a forbidden love becoming united. The Genie of the Lamp commemorated their union by sending countless rings of light into the sky. This didn’t go unnoticed by the townsfolk, and all were deeply moved. Even after the couple passed, their love has continued to move people, and the tradition of the festival has been kept.”

Okay, even he had to acknowledge the irony. Damn it all.

He couldn’t find himself being to irritated by fate’s joke. She was smiling at the misplaced memory. “Do you like the Festival?”

He scoffed, but humored her with a small smirk ghosting his lips. “When I was a kid, I used to squeal with delight when I saw the fireworks light up the sky. I certainly don't squeal about anything these days, but I still look forward to the festival every year.”

“I’d love to see that one day,” Yuu decided, giving his hand a squeeze. “You under a canvas of color.”

He rolled his eyes. “I hope you don’t expect a real proposal.”

She barked a laugh. “Definitely not. But it works as a good story for now, right?”

“For now,” he agreed.

Yuu hummed, still smiling at the idea. “Well, I’m kinda helpless here, but what made you fall for me?”

He stopped in his tracks. He hadn’t planned on being asked so bluntly. An oversight, yes. A very stupid oversight uncharacteristic of him.

So this is what it was like being Kalim. Damn it.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about it. He had. A lot. He just hadn’t given the name to the emotion. He wanted to snuff that warmth in his chest, but it was just as stubborn as the rest of him.

He sighed steam through his teeth.

“I won’t say nothings like ‘you gave me a reason to live’,” he at last offered, slow, quiet and, calculated, as he pieces together the syllables for his own solace. “I was given a purpose the second I was conceived, even if I resented it. I won’t say it’s because ‘I need you’, or ‘you complete me’, or anything like that.” Jamil paused. “You wouldn’t let me fade into the background. You didn’t need me, but still chose me .“ He looked down at her, taking in the bewildered bouquet wrapped in silk. “I was enough the way I am. You didn’t ignore or try to hide the worst of me. You chose all of that. I didn’t fall for you because you gave me a second chance or any of that, but because you’re you . And I want to choose that.”

Her face didn’t bloom with a scarlet color. No, she sparkled silver with a smile he wanted to steal.

“Well, now I feel bad,” she sighed, still smiling. “Because I still don’t have a specific reason.” She shrugged, cutting off a sentence he hadn’t even started. “Maybe I just love all of you.”

There she went with that unapologetic bluntness. He laughed, much to her bewildered embarrassment. He didn’t care who saw him overflowing with just baffled amusement as they passed by, brief as it was.

Yuu didn’t let him get away with the victory so easily. Once the dust settled, she asked him, “Do you want kids?”

“Do you?” He asked her, quieted down, but keen on her answer.

“I don’t know if I really want to go through pregnancy. It just sounds really painful,” she admitted with a shrug. “I’d be okay with adopting, I think.”

“I knew I didn’t have a say in the matter,” he confessed. “My bloodline is bred for guardianship, as you know. But if I did have a choice, I wouldn’t want to bring a child into this world. Not with the way my family is.”

Yuu nodded in understanding. “Then we can leave that as a no.”

For the some reason, he was relieved she didn’t press the topic. And that they were on similar pages with all that. That was definitely a topic they could revisit if the time came.

She shifted uncomfortably, “Do you think she’s old-fashioned enough to not ask about if we, uh, y’know-“

“The answer is no.”

“Thank the Seven ,” she sighed with heavy relief. 

Chapter Text

“Princess!” A guard called, phasing through the wall and scuttling to the dining hall. “There are intruders at the gate!”

“Intruders?” Elizabeth squawked, mouth covering her o-shaped mouth. “It’s quite rude to crash a wedding.” A mirthful grin tickled her lips. “But I suppose I can’t fault them for wanting to see a momentous occasion.”

“They don’t seem to be particularly malicious,” another guard supplied with a skeptical side-glance. “They’re requesting an audience with you, Elizabeth.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Puffy argued with a furrow of his wispy brows.

“I don’t like how we’re still ignoring the fact I got stripped and reskinned into this!” Idia protested in a defiant shout from his stand. He stood perfectly still like a doll, yet wasn’t bothered to be boxed. No, he’d find his own coffin-shaped box soon enough. For the time being, he was being wheeled around on a dolly. Puffy glared at him for the sudden outburst. Try as the Ghosts might, they couldn’t snuff out his sound.

“There are only two of them,” the first guard from before added apprehensively. “A young lady and gentleman.”

Yuu-chan? Idia’s blanked reeled in surprise. Who’s with her? Azul-shi? Vil-shi? It doesn’t matter, he decided with a sly smirk. Suddenly, his own spirits felt lifted. They’re trying to bust me out! Roll for friendship check!

“A couple?” the bride glittered with a beam.

“They appear to be so, yes.“

“Friends of yours, I assume?” Elizabeth asked, floating over to her soon-to-be-dead husband. The guard took that as his cue to make himself scarce.

He snapped out of his own devious musings as she hovered. Her eyes sparkled with anticipation. Facial expressions were never his thing, but she didn’t look particularly bothered by these ‘intruders’. If anything, she looked excited at the prospect of new guests. Or maybe for his approval. Which wasn’t likely, mind you, because if she really wanted that then this whole wedding would be called off!

But yeah she wasn’t going to listen to reason. Her common sense must have been attached to her long-gone body.

“Uh,” he replied gracefully, “yeah.”

But I’m still out on which one of them is with her.

“Would you like me to let them in?” She prompted, her smile only growing wider.

That sort of kindness was suspicious coming from this chick, Idia decided. Like. Way suspicious. “You’d do that?”

“Of course!” She trilled with a giggly grin. “You have no guests of your own-“

Because you kicked them out , he cut in.

“-so as long as they behave, I’m happy to have them!”

Maybe Idia’s standards were becoming dangerously low, but he couldn’t help but be grateful for the basic decency his phantom fiancée offered. The only question was why was she being so nice all this sudden?

He’ll take what he can get, he decided. It’s not like had had many other options. “That would be great.”

And if it’s Azul-shi, maybe he can smooth talk me out of this!

“Sorry for the intrusion,” a voice slithered in.

Wait-

Deep crimson entered the room, with a curtain of deep brown unfurling from the top. The woman, whose identity already went without saying, had her arm entertained with his. Her pale gaze broke through the eerie atmosphere with a gentleness comparable to a feather, yet unwavering like a wing beat. As for her partner, there was a surprising softness behind cool pools of gray. They remained still, unrippled by genuine delight, yet a smile soothed his expression.

“J-J-J-amil-shi?” Idia’s sputtering splattered through spits of snapping teeth.

“You don’t appear too happy to see him,” Puffy muttered under his breath.

“Could it be?” Elizabeth wondered with a mischievous grin twisting her mouth. “A love triangle?”

Idia gawked. “ What ?”

Yuu waved her hands with a shy smile. “Oh, it’s nothing like that! Senpai’s just always been a little awkward around people.”

The guard wasn’t convinced. “Is that so?”

The fiancé didn’t seem to mind, nodding as she made a mental note. “I’ll keep that in mind for the future!”

I’d be happier if you forgot I existed, thanks!

“So why are you two here?” Puffy asked, leering into the duo’s eyes. Suspicion spiked his sockets for eyes with pupils pricking the place in apprehension.

Yuu shrunk a bit under the scrutinizing gaze of the guard, mouth open for a response. Her escort spared her a glance, before she finally managed a reply. “We came here for advice.”

“ Advice ?” The repeat was almost mocking.

Jamil cut in. “Yes.” He grabbed Yuu by the waist and snatched her to him. Her face popped pink in surprise, as he gracefully intertwined his free fingers in the flyaways of her hair. It was then, and only then, did Idia’s eyes widen at the sight of striking, signature silver. Jamil offered his audience an impish grin, deviousness dimpling the corners, matched with a toying glint in his eye as he boasted his catch. “We’re newly engaged, and hoped that maybe with your years of experience, you might be able to help us.”

Elizabeth, whose nonexistent breath was stolen by the dramatic proclamation, beamed at the prospect. “How romantic!”

Meanwhile, Idia’s mind reeled with an incessant static sting: When did this happen?!

Yuu, to her credit, recovered quickly, resting her head on Jamil’s chest. Her bashful face, still dipped with a rosy glow, peeked out from underneath the quiet comfort of her beau. “Marriage is a once in a lifetime thing, you know? I want to get this right.”

‘Once in a lifetime’ my ass , the ‘groom’ silently seethed.

“But!” she chimed in, voice chipping with an anxious realization. “We wouldn’t want to intrude or ruin your big day, either!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t think that at all!” Elizabeth assured. She stole her away from her fiancée ( apparently ), and her cold, clammy hands clapped over Yup’s warm ones. “I’ll be happy to help you as much as I can before the big day!“

Pale eyes blinked back at her. “Really?”

“Of course! The girl code works regardless of century!”

What girl code am I missing?

“Besides! It’ll give us bride-to-be’s plenty of time to gossip! Oh, I’m so excited!” She giggled with a ghostly delight. “A friend who I can share an experience with! I’ve missed this feeling!”

And before anyone could interject or comment, Yuu was spirited away. Quite literally, too.

“So,” Idia muttered as the snake slithered over, “I gotta know. When did that happen?”

Jamil supplied him with the most unhelpful smirk. “Yuu and I are both good at keeping secrets.”

“Gee. Thanks.”

Chapter Text

There were three things Yuu learned within roughly ten seconds of talking with Elizabeth.

One: she was delusional.

“Idia really is the perfect husband,” she swooned, a soft look in her eyes and a tender touch to her voice. “I’ve known as much since we first met! He’s so humble wit such a gentle soul! I have an eye for these things, you know. My attendants used to praise me for my exceptional matchmaking skills.” A wistful sighed escaped her cold lips. “I really can’t wait to spend the rest of eternity with him.”

More like crippling low self-esteem. “He is modest,” Yuu drawled an agreement. “I’m not really close with him, though. Will you tell me about him?”

Two: she only saw what she wanted to see. (Which admittedly went with the first point)

“Only if you tell me about your beau!” Elizabeth playfully giggled.

“Deal.”

The princess hummed into her smile, tapping her lip as she thought. “Where do I begin?” That finger stretched forward to the ceiling as the realization struck her. “I’m sure you’ve seen how handsome he is. His skin’s so pale, it could rival mine! And those eyes are like liquid gold. And those cool, blue lips! Don’t get me started on that glowing head of hair he has, either. “He looks like an angel-“

Or a cryptid, Yuu mentally supplied, sipping her tea.

“- my angel to save me from despair.”

Three: Elizabeth died far too young.

She held the teacup over her lip. “What do you mean?”

Something softened her delightfully fiery blue eyes into puddles of melted wax. The bright grin stretching across her face simmered into a small smile. “Well, as I’m sure you’ve heard, I’ve waited a long time for my prince. Several lifetimes, even. Even before my life was stolen from me, I dreamed of finding my prince. I think that’s the only thing keeping me tethered to this world, and it’s the only thing I have to hold onto. They took everything from me, Yuu-chan,” and even so, Elizabeth kept smiling, “even my life. But not my heart.”

Yuu was silent for a moment, yet her thoughts reeled with a loud thrum of nonsensical syllables. So that’s why she’s attached to him. It could be anyone, so long as it fills that dream. She’s had everything taken from her, and yet…

“But that’s enough about me!” She beamed. “Tell me about your fiancée! Jamil, was it?”

She can’t take back what was never hers. “You have a good memory,” she laughed lightly. “What do you want to know?” That sounds sterile, doesn’t it? “I could go on for a while .” But for the love of the Seven please don’t make me. I don’t think I could keep it together.

Elizabeth giggled. “There’s a lot we could talk about! But I’m curious, how did you two meet?”

Right. Now came the time to paint the eager bride a picture. A memory, coats of color saturating the true hues, brushed the canvas as Yuu spoke.

But if I’m going to sell this, I’m going to have to tell her some truths, too.

After all, the best shades have similar pigments.

“We met at school about a year ago,” she recalled. “I don’t think he liked me at first, though.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“I can come across kinda pushy,” she laughed. “He’s really humble, even if his sarcasm and deadpan nature makes that hard to believe. I think I annoyed him since I kinda saw through that.”

Elizabeth hid her laughter poorly behind an amused hand cupping her pale lips. “My, that sounds absolutely precious! When did that change?”

Yuu hummed to herself, leaning back in her seat a bit. “I don’t know. I think it just kinda… happened. I’m still not a hundred percent sure when that opinion changed. It just did.” Which probably sounds the least fairytale-like. Not that I care, but she probably does. “It was probably after something happened,” she realized slowly.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I won’t really get into the gritty details, but Jamil was going through a really hard time. And he’s a pretty self-reliant guy, so he pushed everyone away. Even me.” A smug smirk tugged her lip as her audience laughed, only for it to crumple at the edges into something more simple. “I think he was just scared. He’s gone his whole life with things being taken from him, so people close to him are no different. I think that’s what changed. It wasn’t like that between us.”

“It sounds like you were his prince,” Elizabeth teased. Yet underneath that toying smile, Yuu saw the true heart behind every word.

Maybe I can convince her to call all of this off without the Ring. After everything’s she’s been through, I want her to smile at the end. But if it doesn’t work, I can’t hesitate, either.

“I don’t really think I saved him, though,” she humbly protested. “He never really needed that. He’s strong, you know?”

“You think too little of yourself,” the bride decided. “The way you tell it, it certainly sounds like its own fairytale! You’re very lucky, Yuu-chan!”

“I’m the lucky one,” Yuu decided. “I mean, it’s not like either of us really needs the other, I don’t think. Sure, we’re there for and can rely on each other, but we don’t really need the other. We choose to stay around because we’re just us . Not what we can do for each other, but who we are.”

“That goes against everything I was taught,” Eliza admitted with a breezy laugh. “It doesn’t sound romantic at all!”

“Maybe not, but that’s okay.” Yuu set down her teacup, the vessel empty. Her hostess’ hands still clung to her dainty porcelain. “It might not be a fairytale, and it’d probably make for a pretty boring movie, but it’s real . And that’s all I care about.”

The bride said nothing, listening on with an unreadable expression on her face. Maybe that was a good thing.

“It’s okay to dream,” she continued. “We wouldn’t have anything to reach for if we didn’t, you know? But if we focus on that too much, we’ll miss what’s around us. And sometimes, the people around us are more precious and wonderful than some faraway ball of fire.”

The two girls shared the silence together. Yuu snuck a peek at Eliza’s confused expression, though her befuddlement of the topic was clear. Her brows wove together pensively, like some haphazard stitching to mend a precious fabric. The cup in her hand, still full of tea, trembled in her dainty hands.

“You’re different from my attendants,” Elizabeth concluded at last. “They’ve been by my side for everything, and have helped me get this far. I owe them everything. They’re all I have left of my kingdom.”

“You really care about them, don’t you?”

“Of course!” An almost offended gasped squawked from her lips. “They’re my family in death!”

“I was just thinking,” Yuu smiled with a shake of her head, “that you’re lucky, too, Eliza-chan. You must be very loved.”

A bit embarrassed by her outburst, all she could do was laugh. “I suppose you’re right! My old kingdom has been burned and doesn’t have a record to speak anymore. We’re but ghosts of a memory that time itself forgot. But I’ve never felt lonely.” A bright smile spread across her face, its glow like a lamp and warmth equally dull. “And now that I’ve at last found my prince, it will be like it never happened, really! All of this time, all of the heartbreak of failures will be over!”

I almost had her. Yuu took a deep breath. “Eliza-chan, may I ask you something? As a friend?”

“Of course!”

“What exactly do you feel towards Idia-senpai?” As the ghost opened her mouth, Yuu rushed to finish her sentence, “I know you said you love him. But I can’t help but wonder, what do you really know about him? Other than his looks?”

“There will be time for formalities after the wedding,” Elizabeth dismissed. “My predecessors before me are a testament to that!”

Ah. Arranged marriages. That’s another factor.

“You say you love him-“

“I do!”

She’s not even listening to me anymore. Yuu steeled her nerves. But I need to at least try- “But you haven’t described him at all. Just what a good husband he’d be.”

“What are you saying?” That frown slowly dipping her lips felt like the rise of a gavel, or even a guillotine. “That I have poor taste?”

“Not at all.” She waved her hands for emphasis. “But to me, it sounds like you’re in love with the idea of him, and not him. I mean, anyone could be Idia-senpai as long as they check off those boxes. It doesn’t have to be him, as long as they make that list.”

Indignation burned in a blue blaze. “I’ve waited lifetimes for this moment, and I’ve searched Twisted Wonderland time and again! At last my prince is within my grasp-“

Yuu couldn’t afford her to anger burn out of control. “Yes! You have waited! But Elizabeth , he hasn’t! This isn’t the future he wants, either! Can’t you see that? You’re stealing that from him to make your future happy! I understand that you’ve had so much taken from you, and I know you’re hurting, but forcing someone into something like marriage that they don’t want? Out of ‘love’? He’ll only hate you for all of eternity.”

“And here I thought you were a friend,” she seethed. “I understand now. You’re a home-wrecker! I’ve come this close, and I won’t be convinced by some wench!”

“Eliza-“

“I’ve had enough!” The air shuddered with a chill as her wrath burned with blue flames nibbling at the edges of her form. A spectral spectacle, one could see. She stormed out in a blue blur of fury.

I screwed that up. Yuu watched her go, hands wringing the lap of her dress. The cold air ribbed her skin. But she didn’t kick us out.

“So, uh, you and Yuu-chan, huh?” Idia awkwardly started.

“What about us?” Jamil side-eyed him skeptically.

“When did you two make it official? I know you two are like, living together but marriage ? Just what goes on in Ramshackle?”

“Whatever you’re imagining, don’t.” The sharp barb of his tongue made him flinch. “We haven’t been exactly hiding it, but there’s no point in making some announcement, either. Our relationship is our business.”

“Well, yeah, anyone with eyes could see you two had a thing for each other.”

That caught his attention. “What do you mean?”

There must have been something about his expression that made Idia jerk. Then again, it was Idia. Either were possible. “U-um, just the way you look at each other? You just look super comfortable?”

“That’s all?”

He didn’t answer.

Was Jamil really that intimidating? He sighed. “I’m not mad.”

“R-right.” He was unconvinced. “It’s just that you two kinda like…. Belong to each other. I guess. That doesn’t make any sense let me try again.” He calmed himself, which was a miracle in and of itself. “The way she looks at you isn’t that different from how she looks at other people, but the way you look at her is softer, I guess. You look for her, but not really like how you look for Kalim-shi. Less wrinkles. But she lights up when you find her.”

We chase after each other? He hadn’t noticed. No, it’s not that.

“I don’t need to look for her,” he slowly decided. “But I want to.”

“Right! That!” If Idia could move, he had no doubt he’d be pointing at him excitedly. “Like, I’m not really that surprised you two are engaged. You guys look like you’ve been dating a while!”

We do? But if Idia-senpai thinks that, how long have we been avoiding it? That’s not right, either. The realization crept slowly like ripples of dawn in an empty night sea. She was waiting for me. She didn’t want to force me. She doesn’t need me.

“Who confessed first?”

The blunt question snatched him out of his thoughts. Huh. He never expected Idia to be that nosy about relationships of all things.

“Yuu”

He nodded. “I can imagine that. She’s super forward. That confidence is something else…”

A laugh escaped him. “You could say that.” He shook his head a bit at the amusing thought. “I’m not sure if I would call it brave, or plain stupid.”

“For a smart guy like you, you don’t seem to care either way.”

“There’s a gray area.”

“Says the morally gray one.”

He cocked a brow at the smirking mouth of the not-so-sly prefect. He squeaked, finding his confidence snuffed by the look.

Regaining control of the conversation, Jamil sighed. “She’s a bit of an airhead sometimes, but she’s mine.“

He didn’t elaborate on that, not to Idia. These were affairs he wanted to cling and hold close to his chest. He wanted to cherish the warmth that spread from his heart and burned through his vessels. He wanted to hold onto this living feeling like a lifeline, and savor the sweet flavor that lingered in his mouth from honeyed words. To spill too much would risk it being taken from him.

Come to think of it: would the day ever come where this love was discovered, and demanded forfeit, what would he do? Would he forfeit this treasure to be thrown in vault with the rest? Or would he pull against that leash of blood bounding him to his name?

He didn’t really need to consider it. It would be an inevitable obstacle, especially if he brought her home. But he had no intention of letting anyone take her from him. If she chose to fly away, then he’d let her. But so long as she wanted him, so long as she chose him, so long as she looked for him, he’d keep her close. One may call it selfish. He didn’t care. They would be the only ones who could decide that.

“You love her, huh?” The thought mumbled out of Idia’s mouth.

He didn’t even need to think about it. But he still couldn’t say it. If he did, it would be out. Those words would become a breath that could be stolen.

And that thought terrified him. Not only that, but-

Jamil compromised with a nod.

-I want her to hear it first.

A breath he could share with her was one he wasn’t afraid of being stolen.

“I ship it,” Idia decided.

He wasn’t really sure what to respond to that with. “Thank you?”

Chapter Text

Yuu belly-flopped onto the bed with the pop of the springs. Moonlight filtered in through thin veils of curtain. It was quiet in the infirmary- surprisingly so-  given the circumstances. Then again, what would ghosts even need a clinic for?

“They’re not throwing us out, though,” she sighed into the pillow. “I still hate the gym showers, though.”

Jamil hummed, albeit even that was with reluctance. The mattress dipped beneath him. “I’m assuming Elizabeth didn’t budge, either.”

“It was going great,” she sighed, sitting upright and teetering her balance between shifts of her hips. “But then I made her mad.” Irritation rippled in a sigh. “She really thinks that Idia-senpai has been the one she’s been waiting and suffered for for so long. Like as if all of that,” she gestured vaguely to the window, “was all some part of divine plan, and that she’s entitled to him. I asked what she liked about him, and it was all just twisted descriptions. I’d kinda get it if she genuinely thought it was charming. Like saw all of that, and found it charming. But it’s backwards .”

He snorted a laugh, a sharp smirk hooking his lip. “I’m not surprised.”

“She’s not a bad person,” Yuu groaned, rolling onto her back. “But she just doesn’t get it . She doesn’t see how things are, just what she wants them to be.”

“So she’s delusional,” he offered listlessly. “We knew that.”

“She’s living her own kind of twisted fairytale,” she lamented in a sigh, before looking up at him. “But how’s Idia-senpai doing?”

“He’s not exactly happy with the situation-“ which was putting it lightly, “Not that I blame him.”

“So it looks like the guys will have to come in after all.” Although she bemoaned the very idea, it was their only option left. They had tried to peacably discourage Elizabeth to call off the marriage of her own volition, but she still clung to that shadow of a dream.

“You’re making that face again.”

“Hm?”

“You’re thinking,” Jamil accused flatly. He paused, then sighed, “You thought that she would give in.”

“I was hopeful,” she corrected. “But I can’t just let her do what she wants just because of her past. That’s like saying she’s right.” She paused. “I guess maybe that’s how she’s gotten this far. Her servants never said no to her, either.”

His brow wove together pensively. “They probably feel responsible for what happened to her. In a way, they might view this as some sort of atonement.”

“Maybe, but I think they do care about her, too.” A frown dug into her face. “But letting her do whatever she wants, just because it makes her happy, isn’t really love, either. If they’re doing it out of guilt, then are they really putting their own feelings above someone else’s life ?”

Or maybe it’s their way of a happy ending, too, she wondered silently. If Elizabeth gets married, that means their souls will be at peace, too, right?

“Jamil,” Yuu called, frustration snuffed by a yawn, “do you think they’re using this to move on, too? Or just to repay some debt to their princess?”

He considered it for a moment. “They haven’t said anything they’ve wanted personally, from what I gathered. If I had to make a guess, Elizabeth is their lingering attachment to this world, and since she can’t move on, neither can they.”

She hummed sleepily. “I don’t think they’d use her like that, though. I think they want to see her smile, by any means necessary.“

“Good intentions are only worth so much,” Jamil agreed. His gray eyes swam with unseen complexities, yet she understood all the same. “Especially when other people take the fall because of how blinded you are by your own emotions.”

She didn’t see the need to state the obvious. They both knew what was unsaid.

“People suck sometimes, huh?” Yuu sighed with a bittersweet smile.

“Most of the time.”

“Now you’re just being cynical.”

“I’m being honest,” he insisted, folding his arms. “I’m speaking from experience.”

She rolled her eyes. “You need to make more friends.” She then smirked, “Maybe with Azul? You two are similar-“

“ No ,” he all but hissed.

She barked a laugh at the snarled defiance. His glare, though lacking much of an edge, sharpened, only squeezing more laughter out of her before it ebbed to quiet. “Who do you think has the best chance of distracting her? Like the best suitor?”

“Azul-san may be charismatic,” Jamil forced himself to admit, “but he’s too short.”

“He’s taller than me. Not that that’s saying much.”

“Exactly.”

“So, who’s your pick?”

Jamil didn’t hesitate on an answer. “Vil-senpai.“

Dawn pulled back the ebony curtain of night. Sparkles of silver and the sheen of satin fabrics dazzled in the morn light. A dazzling debut, all to a dead audience. But the show must go on.

“I know I am the right man for your princess,” Vil insisted, a haughtiness warming lilacs into summer blooms: a radiant bouquet for the absent bride. “Do not accept any substitutes!”

His blond hair was brushed back into a more formal style much more reminiscent of Crewel’s, with the light blush of purple adding a regal softness to the gold blond crown. His chiseled jaw was unveiled, as well as his seldom boasted masculine features. While he’d rather be praised with beauty, there was something to be said of his handsome attributes. His broad shoulders fit snugly into a thistle suit embroidered with gold thread and fine details. Of course, he was mindful not to make the suit too intricate. After all, you do not embellish the band of a ring lest you detract from the gem inside.

Jack choked on the speech, ears flat and eyes wide. He wasn’t particularly subtle, even with comparatively modest clothing. After hours of fitting, Vil had known better than to stuff him into a proper ‘monkey-suit’ (as Leona so gracefully put it). He didn’t waste the effort, but did do his best to at least make him presentable. A loose suit of a sandy shade showcased his muscular build. His unruly gray locks were pulled back with copious amounts of gel.

Before the guard could even open his mouth, Vil persisted. “The princess will definitely come to like me. That’s why,” he clasped his hands over the guard’s ghostly palms. His eyes were sharp, piercing through the specter with his demand. “Let me meet her.”

The guard recoiled, flustered and flummoxed by such a brazen attitude. He drifted away, taking the scene in from afar.

“Oi,” Leona whispered lowly, brows dropping into a deadpan stare. “Your character’s changing.”

As for the prince himself, he was unfortunately familiar with formal attire- and how to wear it. Taking cues from his Fairy Gala robes, he wore white with shimmers of stars sparsely sprinkled in the silky fabric atop his gray suit. The pseudo-shawl stretched over his back, clinging to his shoulders with angel’s grace, roosted aloft his broad frame. His wild mane had been pulled back into a low ponytail.

“I am a model,” Vil reminded him under his breath, “and also an actor. I can adapt to any situation. The opponent wants a ‘prince’, right? A pro should be able to fulfill the client’s wish.”

“Senpai,” Jack’s face twisted with discomfort, “you,” he struggled for the words, “are you going to deceive a person you don’t even like with your looks? Love is something more serious than that,” his hand rubbed the back of his neck, eyes darting to the ground, “I think.”

“ Eh ~~?” Floyd leaned forward, tottering on his heels with a curious grin. “Uni-chan, so serious!”

“I just can’t join something that feels like a fraud,” he insisted.

“You and that omnivore are too soft,” Leona scoffed.

“They’re both naïve,” Vil politely disagreed. “This is a battle, where me must charm our target into submission. Though we have numbers, our foe’s will is clearly strong enough to delude herself into thinking Idia is an ideal prince of all things. I won’t go easy on any battle,” he vowed with adamant confidence, “That’s all.”

He frowned. “Disgusting. The usual you is much better.”

“Oh, you miss me?” He taunted him with a coy grin playing his lips.

“Never.” Leona’s ears flattened as Vil shared breath with him, with how close he challenged him. Green thorns pierced lovely lilacs, a sultry perfume palatable to the eyes.

Jade chuckled under his breath, “At this rate, I don’t think the princess will believe that they’re interested in her.”

“All of you are the gentleman who intend to propose to me?” A light voice drifted in.

Their attention snapped to the breezy figure of the bride in question. Blue eyes blinked at the group curiously. Not skeptical, Vil would note, but childishly intrigued. They could work with that.

“That’s the ghost bride who kidnapped him!” Jack whisper-yelled under-over his breath. One would think with his sensitive ears he’d be keen on volume control.

“I would like to apologize, even though you’ve already come here,” Elizabeth started kindly, hands folded over her chest. “I already swore an oath to spend my future with my prince, Idia-sama.” Her eyes fluttered with a gentility akin to a moth’s wingbeat. “I’m very happy with your feelings, but compared to him….”

“I’m definitely better!” Vil and Leona snapped, confidently puffing their chests for added emphasis, as if they were presenting their very hearts as bouquets to the princess.

To which, her eyes widened at the pair. The other suitors were exasperated by their proclamation. Maybe they had a chance of stealing the victory with how brazen they were.

“Very well,” she conceded in a breath. “If you’re so persistent, I suppose I’ll have to prove where you fall short. Let’s test how suitable you all are to be my bridegroom.”

Chapter Text

“Let’s start with you.” Elizabeth decided in a damning sentence, an even more accusatory, ghostly figure hovering over Leona. “The rugged one with cute ears.”

“You’re talkin’ to me, right?” Leona asked flatly. Vil wanted to smack him for his nonchalant tone. He needed to take this seriously! As if feeling his un-subtle glare, he forfeited in a sigh. “Okay, yeah, hey, I’m Leona Kingscholar. Go ahead and test me. I’m your guy, guaranteed.”

Vil wanted to kill him. Y’know. Just to make them remotely compatible. Or believable .

Eliza, to her credit, was unfazed. Or at least they thought so. Until she started singing , “ Would you believe how long I've waited~? ”

One could hear a pin drop. Leona stared blankly.

“ I've waited for so very long~! ”

His green eyes darted between the bride and the other suitors (who did anything but throw him a life line. Screw them.).

“ For a glimpse of that tender smile,” Elizabeth threw out her hands in invitation, fingers closed and delicate palm extended, “ from you~!”

A deadpan smacked the melody out of orbit. “I am so lost.”

And Eliza, to her credit, gave him a few beats to come up with something . It was then and there the rest of them knew Leona had royally screwed it up.

“I think her brain died with the rest of her,” the lion grumbled.

“ You’re out!” A smack rang in the room as Eliza’s palm collided with his cheek.

Sebek stammered, “W-Why did the ghost suddenly slap him?!”

“My kind of girl,” Floyd snickered.

Jack’s ears flattened. “So much for loyalty.”

“I’ve got two hands!” He flexed his fingers for emphasis.

“I have a feeling you’re both talking about very different things,” Vil sighed.

“Unbelievable!” Elizabeth scolded the quite literally stunned lion, as if she had been scandalized by such a poor performance (Vil couldn’t blame her). “A princess was singing right in front of you, and you wouldn't even join her for a duet! You're no prince at all! You’re a phony !”

Jack rubbed the back of his neck with a distressing frown. “And senpai’s the only actual prince in our group…”

Vil couldn’t resist. “As expected of someone like him.”

Leona’s ears dropped low, lips pulled back in a snarl. His piercing green eyes caught the light with a challenge. “Come closer and say that to my face, you damn coward.”

He shot him a wink as Elizabeth moved onto him. “You there! With the pretty blond hair!”

He took the cue with annoying grace. “Hello there. My name is Vil Schoenheit.”

“Alrighty.” She glossed over that fact, clearly not caring. She instantly started the tune again, “ Would you believe how long I've waited?”

And without missing a beat, Vil responded. “ Waiting for me all this time! ” his hand hovered delicately over his own heart, almost as if he feared the sting of newfound love.

Leona wanted to kill him so the heartless blond bastard could actually feel it.

“I've waited for so very long~!”

“My feelings won't steer me wrong!”

“For a glimpse of that tender smile~”

And in perfect unison, they joined harmonic hands. “ From you~~!” Vil’s fingers ghosted Elizabeth’s and she was intentional with her evasion.

Sebek was flabbergasted, and a little impressed. “Is he actually singing along with some random ghost shanty none of us have even heard before?”

Jade hummed with a sly smirk, “and in perfect harmony, I might add.”

Floyd snickered, “that’s beta fish for you.”

Vil notably ignored their praise, but he seemed to soak it up all the same. Leona wanted to smack him for it. “I could serenade you forever,” he confessed (lied) with a voice as soft and tender as cupid’s feather. “That's the least I could do for someone whose love I long for.”

Eliza giggled . Her ghostly face bloomed a baby blue at those honeyed words (Trey wondered if she could even taste them), as she hid her mouth behind her hands. For a moment there, they had hope. Maybe this would work out after all! Vil was a professional, after all!

Yeah, Leona knew that was their first mistake.

“Now,” the bride-to-be continued, hovering over and smiling sweetly at her suitor. “What’s your dog's name?”

And Vil, for all of his professionalism, was still practical . And though acting was a liar’s art, he somehow failed even that. Love might want honesty, but Elizabeth? “Why are you asking about dogs? For one thing, I live in a dorm. Of course I don't have a dog. I wouldn’t mind some time in the future-“

And that’s all he wrote as the sideways guillotine of Elizabeth’s hand smacked him clear across the face. “ You’re out! ”

It instantly snapped Vil out of the fairytale he had carefully crafted. “ Ow! ” He griped, the perfect shape of Elizabeth’s hand imprinting a bold red mark on his visage. “I don't believe this! Have you any idea how valuable my face is?”

Jack gave a nod. “That’s the Vil-senpai we know.”

Floyd sighed with a loosely entertained smile. “Anybody'd break character if they got turbo-slapped like that.”

Leona barked a laugh, “I think you mean bi-“

“You’re no prince in my book!” Elizabeth spat venomously. “You don’t even have a loyal dog who will come to your aid with a whistle!”

“Idia-san doesn’t have a dog, either,” Jade hummed.

“I think she’s just making this impossible on purpose,” his brother offered with a shrug.

Trey shook his head with a sigh, “She’s pretty close-minded when it comes to what makes a prince, huh?”

“You’re gonna blow your chance if you say things like that, Sea Turtle-kun.”

All the slapped suitors could offer were groans- but they didn’t move from their place.

That tipped off the Heartslabyul vice. “What's wrong? You're both freezing up. Did she slap you that hard?” She did have a good swing at them, but surely the housewardens were undoubtedly stronger, right? Or at least more stubborn.

In unison, they blurted: “ I can’t move. ”

He stared, staggering back in horror. “W-what?!”

“It's like I'm frozen from head to toe,” Leona growled, eyes shifting to his arms. “Can't even move my fingers.”

Vil grunted. “I can't use Magic, either. What is happening? Was this your doing?” He demanded the bridezilla.

Elizabeth huffed indignantly, arms folding across her chest. “I've been searching for my perfect prince for half a millennia. Yet you dare to march in here and claim to be him when you're so clearly not ?!” She screamed. Then quieter, a sadness sullying her baby blue gaze. “Where were you before?” She shook it off, those flowers burning with spite. “You deserve an extensive lesson on the dangers of toying with a fair maiden’s heart.” She thrust her finger at the dead-in-their-tracks duo. “I'd say the same amount of time I've spent waiting should suffice.”

Sebek choked on air. “Five hundred years?!”

Jade hummed as he watched the bride huffily hover. “I've never heard of a ghost who could paralyze humans with a mere slap. Her power is apparently just as exorbitant as her obsession.”

Floyd’s neck cracked as he swiveled his head. “This lady's been really gettin' on my nerves. Can I squeeze her?”

Jade put a hand in front of his twin. “No. You will get reinforcements.”

“Aww, why me?”

He hit him bluntly, “You don’t stand a chance.”

He whined with closed lips, eyes squinting skeptically at his twin.

So he sweetened the deal. “Riddle-san will be there.”

Sebek’s jaw hit the floor. “Did you just use Riddle-senpai as a bargaining chip?”

It left a bad taste in Jack’s mouth, too. “That’s cold.”

Jade only smiled.

Trey, Riddle’s most loyal friend, decided rather quickly, “We’ll distract her.”

“Fine,” Floyd agreed with a delightfully devilish smirk. “But make sure you record the second Jade gets rejected.”

Chapter Text

“You've got a lot of nerve turnin' me down over some bullshit!” Leona snarled, still stiff as a board.

Vil’s glare was just as steely. “How dare you rebuff my advances! You need to get over yourself.”

Jack frowned at the two mannequins, whom the attendants had posed into some crude decor for the venue. ‘They’re pretty enough!’ They had babbled as they maneuvered their stiff limbs. It was painful to watch, and just as humiliating, no doubt- especially for people like Vil and Leona. “I’m not a fan of lying, but…” he swallowed thickly, “If two of our housewardens couldn’t make the cut, we’ve gotta step up.”

Jade hummed, “I agree.”

“If only Ma-“

The eel made a quiet cutting motion across his throat

“- he , could participate,” Sebek lamented. “He’d sweet this ghoul off her feet without an issue!”

Jack looked at each of them- himself included- and decided almost instantly, We are screwed.

“You there!” Elizabeth’s demanding voice yanked him out of his thoughts. Jack flinched at her call, and stared at the finger that was pointed at him. “The strapping young man with the big, white ears.”

Here goes nothing. “The name’s Jack Howl.”

“How's your skill with a sword, Jack ? What's the biggest monster you've slain?”

What good's a glorified metal stick when I can just punch it? Is what he wanted to say. But he can’t imagine that would go well. Still, lying wasn’t his taste, either. “I’ve taken out a monster the size of a lion.” But stretching the truth was fair game, right?

Jack could feel Leona’s weighty glare on him. He’d have to pay for that later.

Still, it at least interested the petty princess. “A lion?”

“Y-yes! Big and, uh, scary?”

That curiosity vanished in an instant- a violent instant. Burning pain cool and callous as ice seared his cheek. “ You’re out!”

“Hey, that hurt!” Jack barked.

“Someone with such poor vocabulary can never hope to win the heart of a woman!” Elizabeth seethed.

“We skipped the princess part and went immediately into womanhood,” Jade observed with a chuckle.

Eliza didn’t hesitate to move down the line. “You there! The handsome one with sharp eyes!”

He stiffened so much at the call one would assume he had alreafy. “I am Sebek Zigvolt!”

“What instruments do you play? The piano? With your volume, perhaps a woodwind?”

Ignoring the backhanded compliment, he answered, “You wish to know about my musical talents? I'm so glad you asked, Ghost!”

“Not even her name?” Jack muttered. He didn’t have any hope to begin with, but whatever not-bad feeling he had held onto, a feeling he didn’t know he had, evaporated.

“Let me tell you about my lord,” Sebek continued, undeterred.

Vil frowned. “Strike two.”

“His proficiency with stringed instruments is renowned across many lands! His violin melodies are hauntingly beautiful,” he confessed, swatting away a few tears. “His cello rocked me to my very core! His music-“

“ You’re out! ” And she slapped him to silence. “Bringing up a totally unrelated person during a romantic interlude! How obtuse are you?”

“P-pardon?!” The knight stammered, as if he somehow hadn’t seen the rejection coming. “Aren’t you rude! I haven’t even finished speaking.”

“You’re just yapping about the Lizard,” Leona called. “You should thank her for putting you out of your misery and saving you from embarrassing yourself.”

“He has no shame,” Jade commented. “I did warn you, you know.”

“Why are you ganging up on him?” Trey sighed disappointingly.

“Oh?” The eel’s mouth twisted into a smirk. “Do you have anything to say in his defense?”

He didn’t answer.

“The one with the fetching spectacles!” Elizabeth called.

Trey’s smile was forced, wobbling at the edges. “I’m Trey Clover. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness.” He bowed for good measure.

Is this what they call a dark horse? Jack couldn’t help but wonder.

Elizabeth covered her eyes. “I can’t do this anymore!” She declared dramatically, zooming off to the other corner of the room.  “Farewell!”

Trey stared at the specter against the wall. Tears as fake as her feelings fell from her eyes gracefully. It was a little pathetic. And clearly staged. Even Jack could tell with the way she un-subtly darted her eyes to and from the spectacled suitor.

“Am I supposed to give chase?” Trey muttered.

“I’d assume so,” Jade offered.

“Alright then.” He took a deep breath, dramatically reaching for the bride. “No! Please wait!” He called with as much desperation he could muster.

Jack heard Vil scoff.

Elizabeth’s comically wobbling bottom lip pursed into a thin, taut line. “Didn't I just say we couldn't see each other? Please, don't spare me a second thought!”

Leona rolled his eyes. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

And Trey, to his credit, did not immediately back down. He instead froze, if you could call nervous jittering ‘frozen’, and slowly turned to his peanut gallery (Jade). “Now what?”

Jade chuckled with affection. “You’re supposed to sing a song for her.”

Jack would’ve flinched if he could move. “A song?”

“I’m not exactly the best singer,” Trey confessed in a murmur, before giving it a try. “Uh,” it fell flat. Vil sighed. He pressed on, more confidently, “Your….”

He scrambled for a line. Elizabeth, knowingly or not, threw him one. “Hm? My what?”

“Your veil,” he sang shakily, “your veil is,” he decided in a blurt, “ As bright as a freshly-bleached dishtowel ~!”

They all knew they were screwed.

Trey kept trying, though. “ And your eyes, they're, um , like grapes~? ”

“Not too sure on that one?” Leona jeered.

“You’re out!” Elizabeth screeched, her hand swinging broad and smacking his glasses clean off.

Trey staggered, chuckling as the brand burned his cheek. “Yeah, no surprises there.”

“No kidding,” Vil shot flatly.

“My veil is a dishcloth ?” The bride squawked. “My eyes are like grapes ? A prince would never use such utterly unromantic analogies!”

“Your similes were a tad mundane, to be fair,” Jade offered innocently. “I’m shocked you couldn’t even manage, ‘your eyes are like jewels.’”

“Look,” Trey sighed, “I'm just a normal guy. All I could think of were things I knew.“

Vil deadpanned, “Your improv is deplorable.”

“And last we have you,” Elizabeth moved on, eyes landing on Jade who smiled sweetly. “The handsome man with a pleasant smile.”

“Jade Leech,” he introduced himself, hand on his chest in faux reverence, “at your service, milady.”

“M-Milady?” Sebek and Jack stammered.

“Do be gentle with me,” he requested with a hum.

Vil’s eyes widened slightly. “He nearly sounds like a host.”

Leona cocked a brow. “A what-now?”