Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

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✿ This is my first real fanfiction, so if I make any mistakes/you have any advice feel free to let me know!

✿ I am NOT a professional doctor or therapist or anything along those lines, but I am diagnosed with most of the disorders my OC has.

✿ The story will begin from a year before the in-game events. I tried to keep it as close to canon as possible, but the information we have about that year is limited, and I may edit some parts if new minor details come out and clash with what I wrote.

✿ All of the characters will be aged up by one year except for Leona, Malleus, and Lilia. This is NOT made to sexualize the characters, but simply out of personal comfort for some age gaps in the relationships. Which means that at the beginning of the school year the first years will be 17, the second-years 18, and the third-years 19.

✿ There will be no explicit NSFW content. There will be classic sex jokes that teenagers usually do and suggestive comments at most, but nothing graphic.

✿ I will NOT include Ortho between the love interests. This isn't meant to start any "age discourse", I do not care what age he is perceived as, it's simply out of personal comfort, and his relationship with the MC will be strictly platonic.

✿ Lilia MAY be one of the love interests, but it isn't confirmed yet, and if I ever decide him to be, it's very unlikely that I will actually make him act upon his feelings and he will be ashamed by them considering that both Malleus and Silver are love interests as well. I'm saying this in advance in case anyone was expecting fluffy romance with Lilia in particular. Lilia is one of my favorite characters, so I get it if it's frustrating ^^

✿ This story will have dark themes but in no way are they meant to be romanticized or glorified. Any kind of "romanticization" will be done by characters as a coping mechanism and are not meant to be seen as healthy or normalized.

✿ There will be mentions of violence (like in the game) but also more graphic descriptions. Self-harm as a coping mechanism will only be mentioned, never described in action, but there will be times where characters hurt themselves on a whim/think about doing it, that could be more descriptive. (ex: She didn't even realize her nails were digging into her own skin, scratching frantically as red marks started showing, etc.)

✿ There will be mentions of sexual assault in general but NEVER descriptions of full-on assault. There will be some harassment that gets quickly shut down. It is not done by the love interests.

✿ Some other triggering topics will be: Child abuse, misogyny, depression, eating disorders, derealization episodes, suicidal ideation and attempts, and internalized ableism.

✿ I will try to be as consistent as possible with updates, possibly once a week, but since I try to keep my chapters around 5k words, it isn't confirmed. I'd rather publish a well-written longer chapter than a rushed shorter one just because I pressured myself with a time limit.

■ Introduction ■

Eva Zajac

(Art credits: https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/1407730)

This is just a reference, so you can picture how Eva looks easily, in case my descriptions weren't detailed enough.

■ Love Interests  ■

Heartslabyul

Ace Trappola

Deuce Spade

Cater Diamond

Trey Clover

Riddle Rosehearts

Savanaclaw

Leona Kingscholar

Ruggie Bucchi

Jack Howl

Octavinelle

Azul Ashengrotto

Jade Leech

Floyd Leech

Scarabia

Kalim Al-Asim

Jamil Viper

Pomefiore

Vil Schoenheit

Rook Hunt

Epel Felmier

Ignihyde

Idia Shroud

Diasomnia

Malleus Draconia

Silver

Sebek Zigvolt

Lilia Vanrouge (Possibly)

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I hope you will enjoy this story as much as I did while writing, thank you for reading!

Chapter Text

Today was the day. After way too many years stuck in this dreadful prison disguised as a mental health hospital, she could finally have another chance at freedom. She had accepted that she would keep living in it until she officially decided she had enough of everything, but by some miracle, that letter arrived.

When Doctor What’s-His-Name (she never bothered to remember it out of spite) knocked on her door to deliver a real letter, not just another prank by some of the people she upset before getting locked up, she thought her condition had simply worsened, and that her psychotic episodes would come even when full of meds and fairly coherent, but it was real. The infamous Night Raven College had sent her an invitation to apply as a student.

Now, her education had always been lacking. Being homeschooled and having no access to the internet or public libraries was far from helpful, but once she got out of her unstable home situation, she did her best to catch up on everything she missed out on, which included magic. She was aware of what NRC was, so her being sent an invitation to an all-boys school despite being a girl (she thinks) should have raised some waving red flags. And it did. Still, if she didn’t accept, she would have kept living among the most unstable individuals in Twisted Wonderland, which include her, so she might as well try this out.

Maybe it was a terrible idea, maybe it was all a trap and the letter was fake, written by some sketchy “company” that planned on trafficking a pathetic psycho who no one would miss, but the thought didn’t scare her. She could easily end her life as soon as things got suspicious, it wasn't like they would have all the anti-suicide furniture the hospital had. Goodness, she was as smart as always.

She managed to wake up even before her assigned nurse got to her door like usual. Even despite the pills, her sleep was rough due to the… excitement? Is that what she was feeling? It was probably just adrenaline, that’s all.

When her nurse knocked and entered the room, she seemed pleasantly surprised by seeing the girl already awake, but quickly recovered and gave her that usual polite smile everyone there had. She couldn’t tell if it was completely fake and the nurse secretly hated her or if she just hated her job, but she couldn’t hold it against the nurse.

“Miss Zajac, good morning. I have brought you a change of clothes to wear for your journey to Night Raven College.” The nurse spoke politely, placing the clothing over the empty desk in the corner of the bland room. “You can get changed after you take your medicine. As soon as you’re done, just knock on the door and a doctor will accompany you to where the Black Carriage will arrive.”

“I told you to call me Eva.” The girl repeated like every day, even if she knew that for some reason the employees here just refused to do what she asked. Seriously, it was a tiny small request, she could be so much more selfish if she wanted, but she never was. She was too kind to them, they didn’t deserve such a good patient.

The nurse, as usual, simply gave her another polite smile as if to apologize for her “mistake” and walked over to her to give her the pills. Eva took them, swallowed them with no water, which was something she would never get used to but she would rather ignore her gag reflexes than ask anyone there for something, before opening her mouth for the nurse to make sure she swallowed it. She never tried to trick any of the nurses. She didn’t want to get found out and have them grow a negative opinion of her. Plus, the medicine isn’t even that bad compared to her unmedicated state of mind.

Once the nurse made sure Eva took the medicine. She smiled again and walked back to the door. “Then, I’ll leave you to get changed. I wish you a nice journey, miss.” Eva could tell the nurse wanted to say her last name again, but restrained herself. She didn’t call her by her first name either, though, so the girl wasn’t going to pretend that she was grateful. She simply hummed and nodded as the nurse left.

She stood still for a second, eyeing the pile of clothes on the desk. They were basic and boring, but infinitely better than the ugly hospital gown they made her wear, and she had no right to be picky, yet. She changed as fast as she could, still sure that her room had cameras in the corner even if the staff told her multiple times they couldn’t legally watch over the patients unless they were high-risk, but she had no reason to trust them. Maybe she was a bit paranoid, but it was better to just be safe.

She didn’t have a mirror but she liked to act like she did, standing in front of the wall and staring at it as she tied her white hair into two low and loose pigtails that fell over her shoulders, reaching just above her chest. She had always had this hairstyle from what she could remember. She just found it cute, and people kept telling her that they would look like floppy bunny ears, and that seemed to fit her pretty well.

As soon as she was done, she knocked on the door as the nurse had instructed and waited for it to open, since it couldn’t be opened from the inside. She didn’t wait long before some doctor she had barely seen before led her outside. He had no need to introduce himself since she was leaving anyway.

As soon as she stepped out of the facility, she took a deep breath. Technically she had some time in the courtyard, but she would still be surrounded by staff members and other patients, it just felt like fake freedom and she didn’t want to feel like someone was successfully fooling her. She could fool herself just fine.

Almost as if it was waiting for her, and it probably was, a dark carriage led by ominous black horses showed up and stopped right in front of where she stood.

On the way there, the doctor let her know that she would have to keep following her treatment and gave her a bottle of pills, just enough so that she wouldn’t overdose, and a prescription paper. He said that whenever she was about to run out of meds, she could just tell the headmaster who would then contact the hospital to ship them over. He also added that she could easily not take them in the first place since she was now “someone else’s problem” which made Eva think that maybe she already had an encounter with this arrogant prick and willingly forgot about it, but it didn't matter. She swallowed back the urge to spit in his eye and tell him she had multiple STDs, and stepped onto the carriage without looking back.

She now had the time to fully take in what was happening, the situation she was put in so suddenly, the fact that she was finally free after so long, or at least able to pretend she was. But she didn’t. It was useless, after all. So what if she’s free? So what if the scenery and the people around her change, when her mind and her body stay the same? She’d always have her mother’s condition, even if she tries to dye her hair to any other color other than white to hide it from others, her sight won’t improve, and her violet eyes definitely won’t look any different from her father’s. She did her research, she knew that albinism didn’t cause physical weakness, which means that hers was just another unrelated condition. How lucky. She wasn’t even going to address her mental state.

Not like it mattered anyway. She could handle herself just fine, she survived until now, she was clearly doing better than what everyone around her made her believe. After losing her parents and brothers, she got sent to the asylum by the only person she could genuinely call a friend. That obviously meant that the universe itself was against her, and so was every living being on the planet, she was sure of it.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to stay alone with her thoughts for long, since sleep caught her fairly quickly. It must have been the carriage’s magic, after all she would never willingly sleep in an unknown place where she was so vulnerable. It pissed her off, but she could only let it happen.

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When Eva regained consciousness, she was engulfed in darkness. She was lucid enough not to start thrashing around and yelling like a madman, even if the urge was there. Thankfully, after some muffled noises, a strong light replaced the deep darkness, and she had to close her eyes due to how sensitive they were to it.

“And this is the last one. After the sorting,  you Housewardens can lead your first years back to your dorms.” An adult male voice spoke from in front of Eva, causing her to slowly open her eyes, squinting to see who was talking. She could see a man wearing a mask resembling a raven’s beak and covering the top half of his face, along with a suit and a greatcoat with multiple black feathers over it. He had pointed ears and short, wavy black hair under a black top-hat

Eva just ended up staring wordlessly at the man. She guessed he was related to NRC in some way, or at least hoped so, but she had no idea who he exactly was, and she wasn’t used to such… eccentric appearances after years in the bland asylum. She could see some people behind him as well, probably students judging by their younger looks, but chose to ignore them for now.

“Ah- Headmaster, isn’t that…” A tall student with short dark green hair and glasses trailed off, looking back and forth between the girl and the older man, Eva noticed that he was wearing some sort of black, purple, and gold robes, and so were the other students, prompting her to glance down at herself. She saw that she was indeed wearing the same clothing and almost shivered. Surely they used magic to change her clothes, of course.

“Oh, do not worry about that, Clover, your magnanimous headmaster has already been handling this.” The man quickly said as he got Eva out of what she later realized to be a floating coffin, and he could have been a bit gentler about it, her flawless and delicate pale skin would definitely get a bruise now.

As she got led by this man, she took her time to think of what had just happened. This man at her side was the school’s headmaster that made… sense, she guessed. The students from earlier must have looked confused because she clearly presented as a girl, and this was an all-boys academy. She recalled him calling them “Housewardens” and yet they hadn’t been notified of her situation in advance even if the headmaster clearly knew? It seemed like this place was a lot more disorganized than she would have liked.

“Pardon me, sir…” She spoke up in the sweetest and shyest voice she could muster. “I fear I am pretty clueless about Night Raven College, I hope it isn’t inappropriate to ask for some… basic introductions?”

At her words, the headmaster seemed a bit surprised but nodded nonetheless, still walking who knows where to.  “Why, of course. I am Dire Crowley, the headmaster of Night Raven College. I assume you know at least a bit about the school since you accepted our invitation, correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct.” She smiles and nods. “I was wondering where we are going…?”

“Ah, well, since I was aware of your… situation, I let you be the last person to get sorted into one of the dorms, so that you won’t have to wait in the middle of a crowd. Aren’t I so generous?” As Crowley spoke, he reached a large door and confidently pushed it open, letting the girl follow him inside. “As you may know, the Dark Mirror in the mirror chamber will judge your soul and assign you to the most appropriate dorm for you.”

Eva followed him and tried to focus on his explanation, but being the last student to come in while everyone else was inside meant that the moment she stepped foot in the mirror chamber everyone would pay attention to the headmaster and her. Awesome. She basically glued herself to Crowley’s side, using her robe and hood to hide herself as best as she could, until they finally reached the Dark Mirror he mentioned. Crowley stepped to the side, so Eva figured out she would be doing this by herself now.

“State your name.” The face in the green mirror spoke up.

“...Eva Zajac.” She whispered, making sure that the other students couldn’t hear. She wanted to try giving them a fake identity instead of her real one, just to be safe.

She honestly had no idea what dorm she could get sorted in. Realistically speaking, she didn’t really want to fit into any of them. She was definitely lacking information, but from what she remembered from the research she did for that old friend of hers who really wanted to one day get into NRC, it was almost impossible for her to get into Diasomnia or Octavinelle. Definitely not Savanaclaw either, using her magic to make her body stronger in a dorm full of athletes would be too much. Ignihyde wouldn’t be bad, but she had never even had her own phone before, she wasn’t the best with technology. Pomefiore and Scarabia were… fine. She definitely cared about her appearance, and she was smart even if she didn’t care about grades or studying since she never went to a real school, but… were those things that defined her? Were those really part of her personality, or were they just things she assimilated to make people like her?

Whatever. She was going to accept those two, or even any dorm, as long as she didn’t get picked into Heartslabyul. The last thing she wanted was to feel like she ended up in another jail after having just escaped one. She knew the importance of rules, really, she just wanted to follow her own. A dorm that was based around strictness and keeping order, imposed by… someone who isn’t herself? Her worst nightmare. She couldn’t stand feeling like she wasn't in control.

“The nature of your soul is…” The mirror spoke again, dragging her away from her thoughts. “...Heartslabyul!”

Ah. Of course. How foolish of her to think that fate would have her back for once.

Before she had the time to consider scratching her wrists until she couldn’t feel her fingers, the same housewarden with green hair and glasses went up to her with a smile and an awkward look that most people wouldn’t have noticed. “Alright, since you’re the last student, the headmaster said we can go back to the dorm.” He spoke calmly, turning to a part of the large crowd. “Follow me, everyone.”

Eva watched him walk first, considering if she should stay by his side in front of everyone or go to the back of the line, but when she saw a short red-head glaring at her for no apparent reason, she rushed to the housewarden’s side, giving him a warm smile to make herself seem more approachable. She had no idea what that short kid had against her, and she had no intention of finding out. The taller boy glanced at her, and he clearly wanted to ask something but decided to wait until his task was over.

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After all the other students were given their magical pens (which Eva was very disappointed by, since she hoped she could have gotten a purple gemstone to match her eyes instead of this bright red,) and got assigned to their rooms, she was left with the housewarden. She already knew what he was going to say, so she beat him to it. 

“I’m truly sorry for causing trouble, I genuinely don’t know why I got an invite to an all-boys school, I hope I won’t make things too difficult for you all.” She made sure to bat her eyelashes and let a guilty expression wash over her face.

“Ah- No, no, the headmaster is clearly okay with it, or he wouldn’t have let you in, so don’t worry about it.” He said, a bit surprised by the girl’s concern. It was definitely unexpected for someone in NRC. “It just would have been nice if he had given us a heads-up.” He rubs the back of his neck.

Eva nodded along, actually agreeing with him. “I see. Then, I’ll do my best to help out with matters that involve me to make it easier for you. And even other matters, if you’d like!” She smiled sweetly before acting as if she had just remembered something. “Oh, right, my name is Eve Euchre, nice to meet you!” She lied easily.

“Nice to meet you too, Eve… I am Trey Clover, Heartslabyul’s housewarden, obviously.” He joked, watching her carefully. Seriously, she seemed way too nice for this place. He wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it was all an act, he would be pretty impressed actually, but he wanted to give her a chance. “Luckily, we have an empty room you can use.” He adds as he leads her to the last available room.

“Oh, thank goodness.” She let out a genuine sigh of relief. “Thank you for being so considerate.”

“Hey, Trey! I finished handing the first years their schedules! Ah, seriously, that was so much work, maybe I shouldn’t have accepted the position of vice-housewarden…” A tall orange-haired boy walked towards the two, sighing dramatically before noticing the first-year and freezing on the spot. “...Ah-?!”

“Cater…” Trey cleared his throat. “This is Eve, I was just showing… her to her room.”

Eva saw the pure shock and confusion on the ginger's face but kept a neutral expression before smiling again. “Eve Euchre, nice to meet you!”

“Ah-” The older student finally snapped out of his shock, giving the girl a bright but slightly strained smile. “Hi there! Wow, it's been so long since we had a real girl on campus, no offense to all the beautiful lady paintings!” 

“I'm Cater Diamond, Heartslabyul’s vice and Trey's bestie~” He threw his arm around the taller student's shoulder. “Or you can call me Cay-Cay if you want to!”

This guy sure had a lot of energy, and he seemed to be very social, which was actually pretty tiring for Eva, but it was also very convenient. She gave him a bright smile, rivaling his own. “Haha, if you’re sure, Cay-Cay!” She cringed at her own words. How stupid could you be to name yourself something so ridiculous?

“O-M-G, you're so cute! Usually first years just ignore it completely. We should TOTES exchange numbers!” He let go of Trey to get his phone out of his pocket.

“Oh.” Eva's smile faltered a bit. Right, her phone. The one she barely learned to use before it was taken away from her by the asylum. Normally, they didn’t even take phones away unless the patient was high-risk, and when she got in, she definitely was. “I'm a bit embarrassed to say this, but I had to sell my phone some time ago, so I fear I don't have one.” She makes herself look ashamed enough for it to do the trick.

“No way, you're going to school with no phone?! Ah, that won't do!” Cater gasped dramatically. “We HAVE to go shopping one day, I'm sure you'd get millions of followers on Magicam in less than a week~”

“Cater, we should let her settle down before that, it’s just her first day after all.” Trey convinced his friend to let the girl breathe.

Eva smiled at Trey, appreciating the help. “Thank you, Housewarden, I'd definitely like to rest a bit for now, but I'd be more than happy to hang out with you, Cay-Cay.” She looked up at the ginger. She really needed to get closer to him as quickly as possible just so she could use another nickname on him.

Cater seemed a bit surprised, just like Trey was when she showed such gentleness, but brushed it off. It would be hypocritical of him to judge. “That's great~ I'll make sure to ask you out once you get used to NRC, rookie!” He then remembered to hand Eva her classes schedule, which prompted the girl to take a step back towards her room.

"Ah, before you go," Trey stopped the girl. "Heartslabyul students all need to wear a mark that represents one of the four card suits on their face." As he explained, Eva could see Cater point to his own red mark on his cheek. "Usually, the housewarden is the one who picks the suit for each student, but since you're the first one out of all the first-years, I can let you pick."

"You're already trying to win her over? Oh, Trey, you sly fox!" Cater patted his friend's back with a teasing smile, to which the Housewarden simply sighed in amusement.

Eva chose to ignore the feeling of intense envy at seeing them interact, like she did with pretty much any friendly gestures she saw that wasn't made towards her, and thought Trey's words over. She made her fake name Euchre because it's where the joker card originated from, and she just found it funny, so she would have liked to be able to change her suit every day to keep the joke going, but there was no way she would actually ask that. "Mh, I guess there isn't one specific suit that I prefer over the others..." She mumbled before pointing to her right eye. "I guess a heart here would be cute!"

"Yes! She joined the red team! That's 1-0 for me, Trey!" Cater joked while Trey pointed his magical pen to her face, almost hesitating after seeing her small flinch, but quickly using his magic to create her mark so he could put his pen away as quick as possible "I'm the housewarden, Cater, I don't have any mark so I'm not part of any team." He replied.

"For now. You'll totally get Clubs once Riddle-" Cater shut himself up at the same time as Trey turned his head to look at him. "...Anyways- Rest well, Little Bunny!" He waved at Eva with a bright smile before basically running off. Trey let out a sound that was a mix of a groan and a sigh before giving Eva an apologetic smile. "Goodnight, Eve." He said as he followed his vice.

...Alright, then. After restraining the urge to chase the two down just to placate her curiosity, Eva managed to finally get in her room. She didn’t have any bags with her, so she opened the closet, hoping to find something. She saw two uniforms, both consisting of an outer jacket, a red vest, and a white undershirt, but one was red and white, Heartslabyul-themed, while the other was full black, more generic. Definitely not pajamas.

She looked down at the robes she was still wearing. Not ideal for sleeping, but much better than sleeping naked in a school full of men. She'd definitely need to talk to the headmaster in the morning, both about her situation, her clothing, and her name, hoping she could convince him to let her go by a fake one.

⋅──⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰──⋅

The next day, Eva woke up after getting only one or two hours of sleep. She had gotten so used to taking medicine every night to sleep better, it was almost like she forgot how to fall asleep naturally. Not only was she sleep-deprived, but she also decided not to take her medicine for the rest of the day. She wasn’t sure why, maybe she was trying to prove to herself that she got better, or maybe she missed feeling miserable.

Either way, she got ready for the day, put on the black school uniform, and headed for the headmaster’s office. There was still some time left before classes started, so she rushed there. Thankfully, she had asked her housewarden where the office was, or she would have to wander around the hallways and ask around. Too shameful.

When she reached her destination, she knocked on the door, fixing her hair and clothes as best as she could. She didn’t even have makeup to hide her eye bags, but that could make her seem even more pitiful, so it worked in her favor. She heard the man invite her in, so she opened the door and smiled politely, walking to his desk.

“Good morning, Sir Crowley. I apologize for disturbing you, but I would like to ask some questions about my current situation.” She tried to keep her voice gentle and stable, but the tiredness in it was clear even to the headmaster.

“Of course, well…” He cleared his throat, not sure how to start. “You see, usually the headmaster of the school, which is now me, is the one who sends students their invitation letters. However…” He hesitated. “...I am not the one who sent you that letter.”

“What.” The word slipped out of Eva’s mouth like the smile slipped off her face. “Then, who did?”

“I… am unsure.” Crowley had at least the decency to look ashamed about it. “I had received news of your arrival just before the sorting ceremony, from the Dark Mirror. It simply told me that a letter was sent to Eva Zajac and that she would enroll as a student here, but didn’t elaborate any further on the specifics.”

Okay. This was fine. Unexpected, and weird, and creepy, and possibly making Eva spiral, but she pushed her nails into the skin of her arms to ground herself. “...I see…” She took a deep breath to recompose herself. It was useless to ask more about who could have sent the letter, and this man didn’t seem very… trustworthy. She could just do her own investigation herself. “Thank you for telling me.”

“I also have another request that I would like to make, if possible. This is very selfish of me, but if it doesn’t cause too many issues, I would appreciate it if my name would be officially recorded as Eve Euchre instead of Eva Zajac.” She saw Crowley about to open his mouth to say something, but she continued before he could get a word out. “Being the only female in a school that is known for, and I apologize for my rudeness, unruly male students, I truly fear for my safety. I trust that you and the other teachers and employees will do your best to make sure that nothing bad happens, but it would make me feel much better knowing that no one will be able to find out about my personal information outside of school, through my name.”

She wasn’t really lying this time. She was very aware of what could happen to her, especially since she willingly presented herself as a defenseless prey, but what really bothered her was the chance of meeting people from her past who would expose her secrets to others. Her appearance staying unchanged throughout  the years definitely didn't help, but she was pretty sure she could find a way to lie her way through any possible encounter if the headmaster and the school itself had her back.

“Ah…” Crowley considered her words. It was an unusual request for sure, but the circumstances themselves were just as unusual. Technically, even if he was not the one who sent the invitation, he was still the headmaster of the school, which made him mostly responsible for the students’ safety. “Why, of course! Since I am so gracious, it’s only natural that I put my students first! It shouldn’t be much of a problem since I had no time to add your name to the list of students- which I will do now, since it’s the first day, of course.” He had totally forgotten to do it earlier.

Eva smiled, ignoring her headmaster’s obvious carelessness. At least she got what she wanted. “I am so grateful, Sir Crowley!” She then looked at the clock on the wall. She had more than enough time to get to class, but she didn’t want to stay with him longer than necessary. “I will take my leave now so that I won’t be late. Thank you for all your hard work.”

With that, she excused herself, seeing that the headmaster had no objections. Alright, her name was dealt with. Apparently, there was nothing she could do about her whole situation, and dropping out was definitely not an option, so she could only suck it up and hope for the best. She could focus on getting as many people as possible to like her quickly, which shouldn’t be too hard as the only girl in the school, but that also meant the risk of unwanted attention. At least it was better than the asylum or her old house.

Chapter Text

Eva pulled out the paper with her schedule written on it, seeing alchemy as her first class. Her education was always severely lacking, and she learned the hard way just how stressful and embarrassing not knowing things was. She hated when people were smarter than her. Actually, they weren't. They were just luckier. She could have definitely learned more things at a much faster pace if she had the chance. She already knew the basics of magic, and she even already had a Signature Spell. She was better than them. Which is why she was going to do her very best in class.

She managed to find class 1-B pretty easily and went inside. There was still some time left before the start of the lesson, so not many students were in their seats. She saw that the seats were numbered, so she guessed that each number corresponded to a student, but she wasn't assigned any, due to her not being on the list. Great.

Thankfully, the teacher arrived just one minute before class officially started. The tall man's hair was black and white, and parted at the side. He wore a thick furry coat and a suit underneath it. He definitely looked like a rich and arrogant hotshots who thought he could buy people's favors at the snap of his fingers. Or maybe Eva was just assuming things.

"Excuse me, teacher." She politely walked up to him, standing with her hands clasped in front of her. "I'm not sure if Sir Crowley has already explained my situation, but he told me that I wasn't added to the students' list yet..."

The man looked at her, understanding in his eyes. "Yes, the headmaster already told us about you, pup, don't worry." He spoke with a firm and confident voice, but it seemed comforting to Eva. Which was absurd. "Eve Euchre, correct?" He asked, to which the girl nodded. "Your student number is 05, so that will be your seat." He pointed to one of the desks with his teaching pointer but spoke again before Eva could.

"I do not know what that man was thinking, letting a girl in a school of rabid dogs," He sighed. "But I hope that your education won't be negatively affected by it. If any one of these pups try anything, feel free to let me know and I will make sure they receive appropriate punishment." He speaks warmly.

Eva almost didn't know how to reply for a second. A grown man, a teacher nonetheless, actually understood the gravity of the situation she was in and how risky it could be? No way. He must have been faking it just so that he could get closer to her to take advantage of her. Yes, that made more sense, she knew how male teachers were a long time ago. Still, she put on her act once again. "Oh, thank you very much, sir! I hope nothing of the sort will happen, but I'll keep it in mind."

"It's the least we can do. Actually, if you'd prefer, Night Raven College could provide you with a customized version of your school uniforms. I never got the chance to design a female version for them, so it would be good to have an excuse for it." The man suggested.

Eva considered it. She personally didn't care about male or female clothes, she looked good either way. But having a variety of clothes to pick from, even if it's just two versions of the same outfit, made her feel like she was a bit more in control of her choices, so there was no downside to agreeing. "Oh, that would be so lovely! But I wouldn't want to impose..." She acted humble.

"It won't be a problem at all, pup, I actually insist." He added, just as she wanted.

"Then, thank you, truly. I will make myself useful to hopefully repay you, sir." She smiled, and Crewel looked almost thrown off. "That really won't be necessary." He said. She knew better than to push her act too much. She wanted to be seen as kind and helpful, not as a dumb doormat, so she backed off, nodded and thanked him again, before going to her seat. It was in the third row, all the way to the left side of the classroom.

It seemed that her deskmate still hadn't arrived. She could only hope that he was... normal. That was when she noticed that the student in front of her was staring blatantly at her. He had short, fluffy dark blonde hair that faded into a sand-like color at the tips. But the first thing Eva noticed were his large hyena ears on the top of his head.

She had never discriminated against anyone for the way they looked or their background, but for some reason almost every beastman she met before had always been so... aggressive towards her. She used to think it was just misogyny, but she later learned that many male beastmen are often intimidated by women, so that couldn't have been it. It was ironic how she was just a human, and yet even beastmen classified her as prey.

For her pride, Eva chose to stare back at the boy. She should have kept up the act, she should have shyly looked away with a flustered expression, like a blushing maiden, or she should have smiled sweetly and flirtatiously at him, anything to make herself seem weak. But she couldn't. She didn't want to. She wanted to understand why he was looking at her like that.

Ah. Of course, it was just because of her gender. What other reason could there be? A girl in an all-boys school, she couldn't even blame the guy- No, that wasn't true. She could easily blame him like she did with many before. She was so annoyed. For once, she wanted someone to look at her for reasons unrelated to her gender or looks. Hell, she would have been fine with someone figuring out all of her secrets and lies just from a single look if it meant that someone would really see her.

...Maybe not taking her pills wasn't the brightest idea. She had no idea what expression she was making, but judging by the boy's face it couldn't have been very lovely. Still, she couldn't be bothered to apologize or pretend she was having some sort of facial paralysis, so she simply looked down at her desk. She realized she had literally nothing. No books, no notepads, no pens or pencils, and no bag. Seriously, what was wrong with her head, not considering the already well-known issues?

The boy in the desk in front of hers noticed her lack of supplies as well, but before he could open his mouth, the chair next to Eva was pushed roughly and someone sat on it quite fiercely. To be honest, she didn't even want to see who it was, but that would have only made things awkward, so she raised her eyes.

Big mistake. She found herself looking at a fairly buff first year who was looking back at her. He looked so generic and boring, and unfortunately with an Heartslabyul armband to match her own, but she didn't like the look in his eyes. She knew it very well. The stare of a predator who just found its meal. She knew this would happen sooner or later, but during class? And by her own deskmate? This was fate's twisted sense of humor. But it didn't matter. As long as he wouldn't try anything, she had no reason to-

"No way, they're letting chicks in here too now?" The student said, not loud enough for the teacher to hear, but far from a quiet whisper. "Guess I lucked out, huh?" He spoke with a condescending smirk on his face.

Eva knew perfectly what kind of guy he was. Another overconfident boy who thought that being loud and obnoxious meant being charming. Honestly, she hated him. She didn't care that she just met him or that hate was "a strong word", it's what she felt at that moment. She hated very easily, and she currently hated him.

She never really knew a polite way to keep the conversation up, and punching him in the jaw wasn't an option at the moment, so she had to settle with letting out a slightly uncomfortable laugh. Ah, it was meant to sound more genuine... Oh well.

The guy seemed unbothered by her reaction, probably not even caring, as he kept talking. "You're in Heartslabyul too, huh? Hey, tell me, what's your room? We could hang out after classes sometime." And he even dared to place his arm over her shoulder.

Goodness. Is this how the students here are? Was her housewarden the only exception? How annoying. What was she even meant to do now? Giving him her room number was obviously not gonna happen, but he didn't look like the type to take no for an answer. Maybe she should just stay quiet and hope he'd get tired of her.

Thankfully, the hyena in front of her, who had been watching the interaction since it started, had quick reflexes. "Hey, man, you shouldn't flirt with someone else's girlfriend, ya know?" He lied on the spot, which caused the creep's head to snap towards him.

"What, she's yours?" He asked, clearly not believing it. It seemed like he didn't want to start a fight with someone from Savanaclaw, but the hyena looked a lot weaker than the buff and intimidating beastmen he met.

"Yes, I am." Eva quickly played along, swallowing down the urge to gag at her own words. Sure, this guy helped her, but he had to pull out the boyfriend card, reinforcing only the idea that her rejection wasn't valid unless a man was involved. She would have found a way to get rid of this guy without any help, she was sure of it, she just didn't have the time. "Sorry!"

"Come on, she's a pretty one, you can't even share for a bit?" The arrogant student kept trying, talking about the girl as if she wasn't sitting right next to him.

"Mh, no." The other boy immediately rejected. "We can be pretty territorial, ya know?"

Eva chose to stay quiet. Great Seven, give her patience. She had to use every muscle in her body to not snap at both of them. She wanted to lash out, to yell at them to stop treating her like an object that can get borrowed or passed around, but she couldn't. She also really needed to take her pills again.

The Heartslabyul kid seemed really hesitant to back down, and clearly stopped only after he received a nasty glare from the teacher, who also introduced himself as Divus Crewel as the lesson started, which also reminded Eva that she didn't have anything to take notes. Well, surely her boyfriend won't mind helping her out. "Hey, babe, I forgot all my stuff again." She said, looking at the hyena with some bashfulness. "Do you have any spare... of everything?"

The boy's lips twitched downwards for a second, probably already regretting getting involved with her. It would have seemed weird if he refused since they're "dating" but to give his things to a stranger... "Yeah, of course." He said, voice slightly strained.

⋅────⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰────⋅

The day had just started and Eva had already fucked things up. She thought that things wouldn't have been too hard to handle considering that just the previous day she was getting along with her housewarden and the vice even if she had just met them. But then she clearly annoyed some asshole (which didn't bother her that much) and the guy who lent her a hand. If things kept going like this, everything would just get harder. She should take up on Cater's offer, that might give her a chance.

Class ended, and just as Eva was about to give the beastman his things back, she got an idea. She watched the prick that was sitting at her side leave so she approached the hyena. "What's your name?"

The boy looked at her, lifting an eyebrow. "Ruggie Bucchi." He held his hand out, gesturing for his things that she was holding, clearly wanting to get away as soon as possible. But the girl had something else in mind. She figured that, since she had already annoyed him, it couldn't hurt to take advantage of the situation. She smiled at him and walked over to the teacher's desk, his supplies still in her arms.

"Excuse me, Sir Crewel." She spoke politely, catching his attention. "I fear I have to ask for your help much sooner than anticipated. My current deskmate is a bit... hard to handle." She didn't need to go into detail for the man to understand what she meant. "I would like to request a change of seats, if possible. My classmate here was very kind and helped me out, and currently he's the only other student I feel comfortable around, and I would feel much safer with him at my side." She gestured to the hyena who had followed her just for his stuff, but then clearly looked surprised by her words.

"Ah..." Ruggie honestly wanted to refuse the switch. It's not like he really cared about his current deskmate, he didn't even know the guy, but this girl really looked like trouble, which was the complete opposite of what he wanted while accepting the invitation to NRC. Still, with the way Crewel was looking at him, almost impressed... There was no way he was going to miss out on having even an inch of respect from a teacher, especially one as intimidating as him. "It was really nothing..." He acted humble.

Crewel thought about it, but not for too long. "If both of you are alright with it, I see no reason to decline. Getting rid of problems from the start will make things easier for sure. Still, I'll make sure to have a chat with that rowdy mutt you mentioned." He accepted, which prompted Eva to smile brightly.

"Thank you very much, sir. I wouldn't want that student to get in trouble because of me, but I will leave it to you." She said, faking a hint of guilt in her voice. She then turned to Ruggie and handed him what he had been waiting for. "And thank you as well, for the help and for letting me borrow your things."

Ruggie eagerly grabbed his stuff and almost thought she was genuinely grateful and asked for the switch just out of her personal comfort, but that glint in her eyes made him think that she did it just so she could keep leeching off his notebooks. "Right, no problem..." He muttered before quickly excusing himself to the teacher.

Alright, Eva got a free walking backpack. Still, he didn't seem too reliable, so she should still visit the school's shop for supplies before her second class started. She excused herself after asking Crewel for the shop's location and headed towards it.

୨୧ ⏔⏔⏔⏔♡⏔⏔⏔⏔ ୨୧ 

Great Seven, it was only the first day and Ruggie already wanted to drop out. Okay, not really, the invitation to NRC was probably his one and only chance at getting a good career and finally escaping poverty, but he didn't think his first day would go like that.

The night before he tried to suck up to the housewarden, knowing of how rich the Kingscholar family was, but he refused to get things without doing anything at all for it. He was far from morally correct, and wouldn't hesitate to steal if he needed to, but he didn't want people to just... pity him. He was also not dumb enough to try and steal from Leona, so he settled for unofficially working for him. It wasn't even too bad, the housewarden even threw at him his old first year uniform. It was a bit too big for him, but it stayed on his body and he wouldn't have to spend money on getting a new one.

What he didn't expect was to see a girl in his class, sitting at the desk right behind his. Most women in his homeland were strong and fierce, so he was used to never underestimating one, but was putting one single girl in an all-boys school wise? Especially with how she looked. Her body was fully covered up, but he really doubted she was hiding some buff muscles. She was deadly pale, which made her eye bags even more prominent.

He wasn't sure if it was her hairstyle, her eye shape, or her vibe as a whole, but the image of a small white bunny popped in his head when he saw her. Seriously, there was no way she was going to last more than a week in here. What was the headmaster thinking? Was he even thinking in the first place?

He didn't even realize he was staring at her until her eyes met his, and he almost took back every thought he had about her until that point. She still looked weak but her eyes were far too cold. Even Leona's eyes had that feeling of constant tiredness, but what was behind hers was impossible to comprehend for him. He didn't like it. He didn't even have the time to look away as her deskmate arrived.

He helped her out of pure instinct, the words slipping out before he could even think about them. Whatever, he could just make her owe him later, maybe she was secretly loaded and that was how she got into NRC. He could definitely get something out of this.

He didn't. Not only did he have to share his school supplies that he had to buy himself, by the way, but he ended up feeling like she was playing him, stringing him along as a pawn in some scheme that she had already planned. He knew better than to underestimate her, and he still couldn't turn the situation around to his advantage. What happened to making her owe him? Why did that smile and look in her eyes make him feel so weird? Not even a good kind of weird, just... vulnerable. He had some bad encounters in the past, but he easily figured out how to get out of them since he could tell what they all wanted, but her? He knew nothing, he wanted to know, but couldn't. Was he overthinking it? Probably. He didn't even know her name.

He could only hope he wouldn't see her much outside of classes.

୨୧ ⏔⏔⏔⏔♡⏔⏔⏔⏔ ୨୧ 

Eva finished her quick shopping spree at Mr. S's Mystery Shop. She was extremely ashamed by having to keep a debt open with the owner, Sam, but she was completely broke. She couldn't even blame the asylum for it since she had no money even before she was locked up. At the very least, Sam was understanding enough to give her by the end of the month to pay him back, and even let her know a few tasks she could do around the school that would give her money. She hated working, but she hated owing favors to people, so she planned on trying to pay the debt off as soon as she could.

She only bought school supplies for her next classes, having to temporarily give up on everyday clothes and pajamas due to her debt. Crewel seemed to have a talent with making clothes, but there was no way she would go out of her way to ask him for more. As she walked to her animal languages class, she thought about talking to Cater and hoped that he would have pity on her and buy her some basic stuff for the night, or maybe even flirt with him to make him lend her some of his clothes.

She reached her class and saw that she was probably one of the last students to enter, but at least the lesson hadn't started yet. She headed for her seat, this time next to Ruggie, and saw that the delinquent that harassed her earlier was now sitting at an empty desk on the opposite side of the room. Served him right.

While scanning the classroom, she also noticed someone staring at her. It was the same short student with red hair and grey eyes that glared at her during orientation. She didn't realize that they were in the same class before... Somehow things kept getting worse.

She sat next to the hyena who wasn't even looking at her. She studied him for a bit, noticing how his uniform was too big on him, probably originally belonging to someone else, and he looked too skinny for the average teenage boy. She had hoped that he was some rich brat so that she wouldn't have to feel bad about taking his things, but she was most likely wrong. It got even worse when he moved his arm to hand her the notebook that she had used during alchemy so she could use it again. She pushed it back to him, getting out her own things from her new bag. "Don't need it." was all she said.

Ruggie looked hesitant but didn't push it. "Not even your own notes?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Nah, I'll just write them again back at my dorm. I remember everything I noted down anyways, I just didn't want the teacher to think I was being lazy." She shrugged and then froze. Why was she telling him so casually? Did she feel that bad? She just borrowed his things and basically forced him to sit next to her, but that wasn't really a bad thing. She had done much worse in the past with no regrets, so what now? It must be because she didn't take her medicine, for sure. "You can keep mine, you're gonna need them." She added. She knew her notes were perfect.

Ruggie scoffed in amusement. "Yeah, I think I'll manage with mine." He said, but still opened the notebook she had used. Okay, maybe they weren't as bad as he thought. The more he read, the more he thought that maybe the girl had every right to act arrogant about it. Not only was her handwriting very neat and aesthetically pleasing, but she managed to catch every important information Crewel taught, adding almost everything but in a way that didn't make reading overwhelming. Whatever, it was just notes. "Alright, I guess I'll use these as part of the payment for what I did earlier."

That made Eva snap her head towards him. "Excuse me?" Technically, she did owe him, but she also didn't ask for his help, he did all that himself, which should have meant he did that out of pure kindness. Obviously, he didn't, but she also didn't care. "And why only a part?"

"Oh, come on." Ruggie snickered. "No one here does anything without having something to gain from it. I'm actually a lot kinder than many other students, especially from Savanaclaw." He continued. "And it's only a part because they're just one page of notes, while I pretty much saved your ass earlier."

Ah, this brat. Should Eva even try to act as usual or should she let loose for a bit? Realistically, her act was so perfect that even if he snitched on her, it would be unlikely that people would believe him, but rumors would only complicate things. "...Then, how do I make it up to you?" She swallowed her pride.

"You can start by telling me your name." Ruggie replied.

"Would that be considered another part of the payment? How many parts does it even have?" Eva tried to hold this out for as long as she could. She didn't even mind giving him her name since it's a fake one, but she just wanted to try and get on his nerves.

"As many as I want, what's your name?" He asked again, seemingly unbothered but with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Eve Euchre." She gave up easily. "Does that satisfy you?"

"Not at all. But free lunch will." He grinned mischievously. "It's only our first day so I'll be considerate and be satisfied with just today's lunch."

Well, that was troublesome. She was hoping for something even like physical labor, at least that wouldn't get in the way of the debt she already had with Sam. "Yeah, about that..." It was no use beating around the bush. "I can't even afford lunch for myself."

Ruggie froze for a second, his eyebrows raised. "You're joking." He stated, not meant as a question, but Eva simply shook her head. "What, not even a sandwich? A salad?"

"Not even a drink." She added and watched his face morph from confusion to shock and almost pity.

"You don't have any money at all?!" Ruggie didn't really know how to feel. He grew up poor, he was far from a stranger to these situations, but even he had some Thaumarks saved up. "What about that small allowance the school sends with the invitation letter to buy school supplies and uniforms? You already spent it all?"

That made Eva shut her mouth. Allowance with her letter? She didn't receive anything- Oh. Obviously, that damned doctor of hers must have pocketed the money for himself before giving the letter to her. That also made her wonder why there were uniforms in her dorm room that seemed to fit her just fine. She thought the school itself would provide them, but it seemed like students had to buy them by themselves. Curious. Apparently, the expression she unconsciously made was enough of an answer for the hyena. He had no intention of asking her about her private life, he wasn't even curious at all, he told himself, he just found it weird.

"Great Seven, alright..." He sighed. Getting her to pay for his things was not an option, but he could work with what he had. "How fast are you?"

"Fast enough." Eva didn't want to give out too much information about her skills, especially her speed. "Why?"

Ruggie pulled out a few Thaumarks from his pocket. "My housewarden wants me to get him the deluxe grilled cheese sandwich since he can't get it himself because it's apparently so good that the cafeteria runs out almost as soon as lunch time starts." He handed her the money. "If you get it, I'll drop the debt. If you think of running off with the money, I'll tell Leona that you stole the sandwich from me, and you'll have to handle it with him yourself." He basically threatened.

She grabbed the Thaumarks, looking at them while thinking about his words. "What if I just don't make it in time?" She'd never make a deal without knowing all the details.

Ruggie shrugged. "You'll have to find a way to get one of the students who managed to buy it to give it to you. If you don't, I'll still tell Leona. Simple enough, right?" He smirked.

She ignored his smug look because she agreed. It was far too simple for her. She didn't even know where the cafeteria was or how many students would be there, but she could handle it just fine, she was sure. A part of her was almost tempted to fail just so she could see this Leona guy since she was curious about why this first year was already at his beck and call, but she didn't want things to get even messier than they already were. It was a shame that Ruggie didn't seem to like her enough for her to use magic and boost her speed, but she was confident nonetheless. "Deal."