This Is Part 5 Of The "What If Yuu Didn't Want To Go Back?" Series!

This is part 5 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

Class starts in 15 minutes. First period is History of Magic- should be easy to find, right? After all, Vil made sure to give all of Pomefiore easy access to a map of the school. First floor, somewhere on the left...is this it? The room numbers match up.

The room is about half full. The paper says we have assigned seats, but it doesn't say where those seats are, so... where the hell do I sit?

"Grim... where's our seat?"

"Says we're in seat 34... so, third row, fourth seat?"

Counting the seats, we take our spot and hope for the best. Soon after we remove our notebook, textbook, pencil case, and folder, a boy with dark blue hair and an upside-down black heart on his face bursts into the room, panting heavily. The red color of his vest indicates that he's a Heartslabyul, but I can't tell if he's in the right room or not.

"Myaah? Hey, are you in class A?"

"Yes," the boy pants out, "seat 24... I'm not late, am I?"

"Nope! You're right in front of us."

The boy looks up, seemingly suprised at the sound of my voice. Our eyes meet- his are a beautiful, bright cyan. He'd fit right in at Pomefiore, at least visually.

"Wh...what?"

"We're in seat 34. Your seat is right in front of ours."

"Oh, okay." He looks grateful now, jogging to his seat and turning around to reach us.

"Ah, Deuce Spade- it's a pleasure to meet you!"

He sticks out his hand. I shake it.

"I'm Yuu- Y-u-u, not y-o-u."

Grim follows suit and sticks out his paw. Deuce takes a moment to catch on, but he does.

"And I'm Grim! Pleasure to make your acquaintance. "

Deuce looks relived, but that look soon turns to panic when he hears someone much older behind him.

"We are still missing someone."

A panicking #24 sits down quickly and puts his stuff down. The man- who is probably Professor Trein- lets the door shut behind him, but someone catches it. Another Heartslabyul, by the looks of it.

"Hey, teach! I'm on time, right?"

"Hey, Yuu! That's Trappola, from the entrance ceremony," Grim whispers. "He's claustrophobic. "

I laugh quietly. "That he is, Grim. That he is."

To Spade's horror, Trappola plops down right next to him, in seat 25.

"Heya! Nice to meet'cha. I'm Ace."

Deuce is visibly horrified. "I'm Deuce Spade. Please try not to be late in the future. "

Entrance Ceremony Claustrophobe scoffs. "What's up your ass this morning?"

Grim raises his paw. Trein calls on him. "Yes, Grim?"

"Trappola just asked Spade what's- and pardon my language- 'up his ass this morning.' It's distracting."

Now it's Trappola's turn to look horrified. Deuce, taking the opportunity, raises his hand. "I can confirm that. I can also add that he said that in response to me asking him to try to be on time more."

Trein looks pissed. Trappola looks terrified. I raise my hand, ready to put the final nail in the claustrophobe's coffin-box. Trein calls on me.

"I can confirm that both Spade and Grim are telling the truth." Trappola is very pale. He should get more sun. And more time management skills, but that's been pretty obvious for a few minutes at this point.

Trein's cat meows, and Claustrophobe's fate is sealed.

"Trappola, see me after class."

Deuce, Grim and I smile. Time to learn.

The rest of class goes by without a hitch. Ace's detention is that he has to wash all of the chairs in the classroom after school. Fitting, I think.

Deuce walks with me and Grim to alchemy. Crewel seems strict, but kind, so long as you stay in line. We don't brew anything just yet- big whoop, first day- but we do get a lot of notes. Deuce is turning out to be e great friend, too! He's an honor student, recovering delinquent, and generally great guy- Vil would approve. He doesn't look like he has much of a skincare routine, though.

The big thing happens during Phys Ed. Grim and I faint during the laps- Vil is going to be pissed when he hears about the lack of water- and Deuce is the one to single-handedly carry us both to safety, and then the nurse's office. Apparently, we already lacked energy. Oh, well. Nothing eventful occurs until lunch.

Back at Pomefiore dorm, where lunch is free, Rook stops to talk to us.

"Monseur Mystery, Monseur Chat! I heard you fainted today?" The concern in his voice sounds real.

"Yeah... the nurse says we already lacked energy."

"And we weren't drinking enough water. There's that too, Grim. "

"Why weren't you?" Vil sounds rather intimidating right now.

"Myaah, no water bottle."

Vil just sighs.

This is part 14 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

"A nightmare? Both of them? I've heard of familiars having similar dreams, given how common it is, but it's generally accepted that having a familiar is a nightmare deterrent." Vil pauses, his face pensive. "Generally, though, having a familiar means you won't have any nightmare you can't be woken from. And you're sure it was a bad dream?"

"Positive. He kept begging some unknown figure for help; it was something like 'please, make this stop' over and over again, quietly."

"Hmm. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll see what I can do."

"You know, Roi de Poison, I have seen Monseur Smoke go and punch trees quite often, until he bleeds. Every time, his attacks last one half-hour, if uninterrupted."

"That does sound like it could be related." Vil turns his head towards me and Grim rather suddenly, as though he forgot we were there. "Yuu, Grim, go and eat. You need the energy, and you've already done enough here. Make sure to drink some water; you two haven't been drinking enough."

Grim and I follow Vil's instruction and leave. Breakfast is avocado toast, which I'm pretty sure is our housewarden's way of making sure everybody eats a decent amout of something green instead of living on fish like the whole dorm seems to try.

While the ice water is nice, I can't bring myself to enjoy it. What of my friends? What of Ace and Deuce, with their tyrant housewarden? What of Korrak and Mandible, with their unknown nightmares?

"H-Hey, Yuu."

"Hi, Korrak! What's up?" Looking into his smokey grey eyes, I can understand why Rook calls him 'Monseur Smoke.'

"Not much, but I'm p-p-pretty sure we have t-t-t-t-to join a club. What club are you joining?"

"Myeh? We have to join a club?"

"Yeah, by the end of the week," Mandible adds, "have you seen the options?"

"Uhh, nope." Grim and I speak in unison this time.

"Well, w-w-we can all g-go and look at the opt-t-t-tions lat-t-t- Mandible, you know what I was g-g-going t-t-t-"

"Sure do. Anyway, do you two wanna go to the courtyard later today and look at the options?"

"Sure! Sounds fun."

Korrak looks relived. "Thanks, bud. You've always b-b-been there f-for me." Korrak turns to Grim and I. "Th-th-the speech issue is w-w-w-worse when I haven't eat-t-t-en."

Grim and I nod. "Isn't everything?"

"Fair point." Mandible seems to share Grim's sentiment. I hand Korrak a piece of toast, and he starts adding butter and avocado almost immediately.

When Grim and I get to class, we discover a well-rested Ace with no collar on.

"Yeah, housewarden Riddle must've had a change of heart or something. He's stopped enforcing most of the rules, and now Ace's punishment for stealing is helping Trey bake the tarts for the party. We still can't play croquet after 5:00pm, though."

I smile. Grim and I were right. Riddle did just need a hug and some time to himself.

The rest of class goes by without incident. It would be boring if I weren't learning the history of an entirely new world, but, hey, I'm in luck!

Alchemy sees me successfully using magic to catch a glass jar that got knocked off of a shelf. It "certainly would've shattered" on the stone floor if not for my "catlike reflexes-" or so Crewel says, anyway.

To be honest, I didn't even realize I knew a spell that could save that jar. I just panicked and attempted one I've read about. Good for me!

P.E. sucks, as usual. Ace stays conscious, though! Not without a bad sunburn that got him sent to the nurse anyway, but baby steps.

Lunch is tomato soup, which is the first time the main dish of a Pomefiore meal does not and cannot include fish. Even this morning, there were pieces of salmon for the avocado toast.

"So, Epel, w-what club are you in?"

"Spelldrive. Cain't wait fer practice t' start up, lemme tell ya! Hopefully I'll git bigger an' stop lookin' so-"

"Epel, Vil's in the room." Epel, despite having just been interrupted by four people, one of whom is a cat and another of whom is an opossum, does not delay his speaking. That's gotten pretty normal, after all.

"Whoop, sorry. Thanks, y'all. 'Nyway, I'd jus' like t' be a little less girly, y'know?"

"I g-get that. I got mist-t-t-aken for a girl all the t-t-t-"

"Take another bite of your soup, Korrak."

"Thanks, Mandible." He obeys. "Anyway, people u-used t-t-to think I was a girl all the t-t-time. They'd p-pick on me 'cause of that- you should've seen th-the looks on their faces when I beat the shit out of them."

Korrak laughs. I recall what I heard Rook say about Korrak punching trees until he bleeds, and spilling no blood for half an hour every time. Guess that's just what he's like.

Korrak doesn't strike me as a violent person so much as the retalliative sort. Why would he be violent? He doesn't start fights, he doesn't bully people, and he doesn't tolerate bullshit.

"It was always real f-funny, watching them s-s-suff-"

"Korrak." Our housewarden now stands tall behind the Korrak's confident figure.

"Uh, when I beat the bully out o-of them."

"Perfect." With that, Vil walks off. I wonder, why did it take him so long to react? Then again, this room is full of teens. Epel can't be the only potty mouth.

Korrak watches Vil go and shrugs. "That's life, I s-suppose." His stutter has noticeably improved since eating more of his soup, but is still present.

"Do you fight often, Korrak?"

"Only when I g-gotta. Kids back a-at my elementary school called me th-the gas st-t-t-ation, cuz I w-was nice t-t-to have around unt-il there were s-sparks."

Yeah, that makes sense. It's a little hard to imagine people pissing him off at all, but especially recalling the tree-punching thing. After all, Korrak stands tall and confident, with square shoulders and a smirk that suggests anyone who goes looking for trouble with him will find more of it than they bargained for. There's a spark in his eyes, like the sun peaking out from smoke, that makes it obvious: you fuck with Korrak, you've fucked up.

He's not shy, that's my point. He is kinda cute though, what with the hair- ashy purple and super fluffy. Combine that with his beautiful eyes and some teenage jealousy, and you've probably got at least one kid challenging him to make sure he stays away from their lover.

"Myah, we have class!"

Everybody's eyes widen. Evidently, the whole room forgot we aren't eating dinner.

Then, from various voices accross the room: "run!"

Luckily, Grim and I make it to class on time. Biology class is about morays today- specifically, the differences between cold sea morays and warm sea morays.

According to Trein, there's a trench that separates the sea. Morays who lay eggs on the south side lay two connected egg sacks. One side only has babies with magical left eyes, and the other only has babies with magical right eyes. The babies in each side fight until only one is left, and the survivors are twins.

Warm sea morays have nothing of the sort. Eggs can't be carried over the trench because the temperature change kills them, and keeping them on the side they weren't laid on requires keeping them at the temperature of the other side.

Cold sea morays can lay warm sea eggs, and vice versa. It's all location, and it's all very facinating. But, alas, class cannot go on forever.

MacGyvering shows us using drills as motors for fans, boats, and a variety of other things. Not really, though- we're making blueprints. Reasonable enough, if you ask me.

Finally, class is over. I hold Grim and carry him to the courtyard so he can sleep on the way. Korrak and Mandible are already waiting.

They wave. I wave back. Korrak motions to me to stand over by him, and I follow his lead. Beside him is a big list of all the clubs, pinned to the wall.

"I was thinking of joining the track and field club, but I'm not really sure. What do you think?"

"Well... what kind of stuff do you like?"

"The science club sounds fascinating. I've always liked all of it, anyway, but..."

"But what?"

"Well, I want to be more physical."

"You don't have to be in a club to use the gymnasium, Korrak."

"Yeah, great point. Science Club it is!" With that, he starts filling out an application that apparently just needed a few more fields to be filled in.

"Myeh?.. what time is... oh, I took a nap." Grim yawns, putting his, frankly, adorable little teeth on display. "What club are we joining?"

"I don't know yet. That's why we're here, Grim."

Grim hops onto the ground, does the iconic kitty stretch, and hops onto the bench. Before I can wonder why, he jumps onto Korrak's shoulder- the one that doesn't have Mandible on it- and onto my shoulder from there.

"You can just ask me to pick you up, Grim."

"Where's the fun in that?"

I sigh and roll my eyes. What clubs are there? Board Games, Mountain Lovers, Gargoyle Studies... out of those, Board Games seem like the best option.

"Where are the applications?" Korrak hands me one.

"Hey, you didn't even tell me what club you picked! We're both going, so we both need to approve!"

"I picked the board games club, Grim."

"Ooh. Sounds fun, I'm in!"

I grin. "We sure are!"

This is part 10 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

"Are you sure I can't use the power drill?"

"I ain't known ya fer all that long, ginger, but I wouldn't trust ya wit' a feather if I didn't think th' clinic had 'n open spot."

"What the fuck is your problem?"

"Trappola," I start, doing my very best to embody Vil's aura of a strong mother giving a warning, "say that again, without swearing."

"The fuck?"

"We both know what a swear is. Do not play with me, Trappola."

"Okay, fine. Hey, lavender breeze, what is your problem?"

"Lavender breeze? Well, I ain't no hussy city folk- you wanna fight me, ya better say it outright, ya concrete coward!"

"Oh, I'm a coward? You're on!"

"Say it, ya toilet-fire-fer-hair! Say ya wanna fight! 'R are ya too much'f a ketchup addict t' talk?"

"Korrak, right? Where is he getting those insults?"

"B-beats me, Deuce."

"Uh... hey! Ace! Epel! Not the time!"

Epel momentarily freezes, recalling the stories of Crewel's punishments he's heard from other. Trappola, not so much.

"Deuce, shut up!"

Something in Deuce snaps. There's a wild look I'm his eyes, and he's, evidently, just as sick of Trappola as he should be. "You wanna fight, just say it!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"Not 'ntil ya say it is, ya pigeon poop patootie!"

"Okay, fine! I'll fight you both!" With that, Trappola punches Deuce exactly once, in the shoulder, before getting his shit wrecked on the lab floor. Korrak even summoned popcorn, which would've pissed off the "pigeon poop patootie" if he weren't so busy getting his ass handed to him.

"You got it, Sir!" By the time I look up to see who said that, a tall, buff wolf dude is heroically lifting our damsel in distress from the linoleum and carrying him to Crewel. They briefly discuss something, and then Trappola's knight in shining armor is leaving him in a chair and walking over to us.

Crewel, having started sooner, arrives first. "Well, I can't have my pups dogfighting. Who was involved?"

Wolf boy, who has now finished walking over and is standing next to Crewel, speaks up. "The other Heartslabyul and the Pomefiore with no familiar, sir. Those are the ones who were fighting him. The others were eating popcorn."

Crewel smiles. "You and you, not Yuu," he begins, pointing at Epel, Deuce, and me in turn, "detention. You are to clean all of the stations in this room, top and sides, after class. I will let you have dinner first. Do not open the cabinets or drawers when you clean them, but do wash the cabinet doors and handles."

Epel and Deuce nod. "Yes, sir."

Crewel seems to approve. "Howl, you will be joining them in place of Trappola. Make sure they don't fight again."

"Yes, sir!" Howl practically salutes Crewel. Well, he doesn't, but I'm pretty sure Crewel had to tell him not to do that at some point, because that poor wolf boy looks like he has to physically stop himself from doing some kind of salute.

Once Crewel walks off, Wolfie starts glaring at us- mostly at Deuce and Epel, but everyone gets a taste of yellow eyes boring into their soul.

I glance to my left. Korrak is frozen in place, seemingly out of fear. Wolfie takes notice quite quick.

"Hey, are you alright?"

No answer. Wolfie tries again.

"Hey, you. With the deep purple eyes that have hints of pale blue in them. I'm talking to you. Are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse? I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?"

Looks like I misread Korrak's sudden lack of movement. Ever since he and Howl locked gazes and the wolf boy told him his eye color, my roommate has been blushing.

"Myaah, we have an assignment! Come on, I want a good grade!"

Epel just shakes his head and mutters something about "jus' don't know how t' be direct."

"Uh, name's Jack. Jack Howl. Nice to meet you, Mr...."

"K-Korrak. Korrak Dinik. It's, um, nice to meet you, Jack."

"C'mon, guys, we do have an assignment. And, Jack, I'll try not to get into another fight."

"Good. Deuce, right?"

"That's correct! How'd you know?"

"Heard the whole thing. Speaking of which, Epel, never insult people again. You're too good at it. Now, we need to find a way to use the drill that nobody would really expect."

Hey, I know this! "Flashlight."

"Drills have flashlights?"

"Yeah, so you can see where you're drilling. Just turn it on and you have a flashlight."

Korrak looks at Deuce, who nods and begins furiously writing on the provided paper.

"Now we can just screw around!"

"Question: why does the opossum talk more than the human?"

"Don't worry about that, Jack. But, hey, we get to slack off now! Mya-ha!"

Nothing significant happens for the rest of the class, but I did notice that, out of the three-sevenths of us who have fur, Jack's is the worst-kept. His fur looks very soft, to be honest, just... dusty. And like he doesn't put some fur oils on his brush before he uses it in the morning, which is what I expected, given that Pomefiore is the only dorm that makes a point of ensuring everyone and everyone's familiars are top-teir in skin and fur care.

Back at the dorm, however, Vil is waiting.

"Epel. I have been told you got into a fight today and that you are to return to Crewel's room after dinner. Explain."

"I didn't throw the first punch, he did. And he called me 'lavender breeze!' That ain't sumthin' 'e can git away with!"

"Who?"

"Trappola," I fill in.

"Oh, the claustrophobe from the entrance ceremony?"

I grin. "Yeah, him."

"And, Epel, are you hurt?"

Epel just grins. "Not at all!"

Vil nods. "Rook, make sure Epel returns to Crewel's room after dinner.

Rook appears out of nowhere with the typical "Oui!"

Dinner is salmon patties! Rook stops the mosh pit by the tartar sauce from becoming an all-out brawl, but someone still ends up with a black eye. Nobody gets in trouble because the kid tripped, and not a single punch was thrown.

As per usual, Vil makes everyone take something that isn't fish or tartar sauce, and we are not exempt. The cucumbers are good, though, as are the rest of the assorted veggies we wind up with. As some of the first people to get there, we get a load of carrots, which Grim devours the moment he's done with his patties.

The instant Epel finishes his food, he sighs. "Is he behind me?"

I don't have to answer. Once again, Rook just goes "Oui!" Epel puts his plate away, waves goodbye, and leaves. I toss in a "May the odds be ever in your favor!" That gets Rook to spend what I assume is the rest of the walk prateing about beauty. Because, hey, that's Rook. What else would he do?

Korrak goes to our bedroom and does whatever. I go to the bathroom, and, when I return, Rook intercepts me.

"Monseur Mystery, go get your phone and come with me." When I return, phone in hand, Rook says nothing more. Instead, he leads me wordlessly down the halls, and I recognize the route as the way to Vil's room.

When we reach the rather large door, Rook knocks only once upon it.

"Come in."

We do.

Vil's face softens when he sees me. "Yuu, I assume you may have trouble with setting up the phone?"

"I can't even figure out how to open the box."

"Alright. Let me show you."

This is part 16 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

"Korrak. Korrak, wake up. You're squirming. Hey, Korrak. Korrak? Grim, are you having any luck with Mandible?"

"Heeey! Myeh, no dice. Same with Korrak?"

I sigh. Korrak is writhing more than last night, and he's still out cold.

"P-please... let us... h-hide..."

Yeah, definitely a nightmare. Even if he weren't begging an unknown dream entity for help, the pained expression on his face and constant movement are dead giveaways.

We need to tell Vil and Rook. They're our housewarden and vice housewarden, not to mention upperclassmen- they're better equipped to deal with this. Unfortunately, it's early, and they likely aren't awake.

Grim and I only woke up to go to the bathroom, but this? This is too worrying to ignore.

Despite that, we'll have to until morning. We can't tell Vil until he wakes up.

Sigh. This sucks. Since yesterday, I've seen Korrak as a sort of older brother figure, and, just as any little sibling would be, I'm worried sick.

"Hey, Yuu... Do you think they're going to be okay?"

"I hope, Grim. I don't know enough to trust myself to accurately judge that, but I trust Rook and Vil to find out if they don't already know.

"We need to go back to sleep. You know Vil's going to be mad if we stay up too long."

"Yeah, I do. Should be easy enough, right? You're a cat, so you can probably go to sleep quickly, and we're familiars, so that should apply to me, too."

Grim shakes his head. "Iistening to you talk in the morning is a lot like listening to myself think."

I glance at the clock. It's two hours until we're supposed to wake up. Vil will be pissed about our inevitable lack of sleep, but what can we do? The answer is try anyway.

...The lack of sleep is visible. Neither Grim nor I got any sleep after we woke up. We went to the bathroom, but we did not rest. Our eyes did not want to stay closed, and it's showing now.

"Monseur Mystery."

I nearly shout in suprise, but appearing out of nowhere is kind of Rook's "thing," along with speaking French.

"Hey, Rook." He saw the several seconds of totally silence and shock as we processed his arrival. His face shows it.

"Come with me."

He takes us to Vil's room. When he knocks, and we hear the "come in," I nearly pass out with relief. Finally, we can tell Vil about what happened.

"Yuu, Grim- what happened? Did you stay up on your phones? Did you feel too sick to sleep? Did you have too much caffeine? Why do you look so exhausted?"

"Myeh... We woke up to go to the bathroom, but Korrak was having another nightmare, and we couldn't sleep after that."

"It was worse than last time," I add, "he was moving more and wouldn't wake up. He also kept begging some unknown entity for help. And we missed two hours of sleep."

"Oh, dear..." Vil is very clearly, very deeply concerned for us. It shows plainly on his face, and he soon maneuvers me into a chair in front of the vanity.

Rook tries to grab Grim, but there's a knock on the door before gloves meet fur.

"Come in."

Korrak opens the door. He looks even worse than me, and Mandible looks worse than Grim. I didn't even know an opossum could look so tired, but... Well, I'm not Wikipedia. I don't know everything.

When the door closes behind him, Korrak abandons his balance, and falls. Rook catches him, of course, and my lagging mind registers that Korrak hasn't seen me and Grim yet.

"What happened, Monseur Smoke?"

"I dunno." For once, the syllables slipping from Korrak's mouth are blending together. "Jus woke u-up like th-th-th-th... this." He yawns.

Poor Korrak. Seeing him like this is a little terrifying. I know he's stronger, and smarter in fights- I watched him beat up a guy a whole head taller than him just yesterday- but seeing someone that powerful, made so weak in just a night... plus, knowing he got eight hours of sleep and still has dark bags under his eyes just unsettles me. Brr.

During my think, Vil went and got another chair to place in front of his vanity. Looking into the mirror, Korrak finally notices me.

"...Hey. Something h-h-h-happen?"

"Woke up to pee and couldn't go back to sleep. You?"

He sighs. "Nothing much. I s-s-slept all night and I'm more t-t-t-t-t-tired than when I went t-t-t-t-to bed."

"That sucks."

"Y-you have no idea."

Vil has retrieved a hairbrush and two stools. One stool goes behind my chair, the other behind Korrak's. I see Vil's reflection in the mirror, right behind my own. Behind my roommates' sits that of Rook.

Rook starts brushing Mandible's fur. Vil begins brushing my hair. I relax into it, letting the gentle tugs of the bristles sway my head ever-so-slightly. It's almost hypnotic, the soft pulls on my scalp. Maybe I'm too tired to judge; maybe I'm just starved for the slightest scraps of affection; maybe my brain has been trying to sleep for over two hours and failing, but regardless of why, I allow Vil's careful strokes to lull me into closing my eyes.

"You shouldn't sleep off-schedule, but you need it. Rest, little one."

With that, I am asleep.

"Yuu. Wake up." Something soft and faint, a pressure, of sorts- oh, Vil is shaking my head. "You have to eat. Come on. I've managed your morning routine for you, okay? It's time to get up now. You need to eat."

I open my eyes. Vil's violet irises meet mine, and he smiles as softly as he speaks.

"Do you feel better now?"

I nod. I'm sleepy, still, but some things just cannot be dodged. I do feel better, though- just the slightest bit more rested. That bit will probably make all the difference today.

"Monseur Smoke. Wake up." Rook lightly taps on Korrak's head until he wakes, slowly. "There you are, Monseur Smoke. Come on, you must eat."

Korrak turns to look at me, and we make eye contact. The look is mutual; shared:

"Today is going to suck."

Quick note: don't do this if it's an adolescent and it's snowing out! Adolescents don't yet have the defense from the cold that adults do. If you release an adolescent into snow, they'll either die or get back in. It's better to keep them in a secure cage with food, water, bedding, and a lock until the weather warms up or you can drop them in a mansion.

Seriously. They're endangered, mostly because of ignorant people dropping adolescents out into the snow.

sick of all these horror movies vilifying Slashers. just because you don't find them cute and cuddly doesn't mean they don't play an important and necessary role in natural ecosystems. don't claim to support biodiversity if you dismiss species like Slashers just because pop culture has convinced you they're "creepy"

This is part 9 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

Lunch was going to be mostly sushi, but Vil went out of his way to make sure everyone is eating a balanced diet, so there's a salad, too. Grim doesn't seem to like it, but I have dressing, so the two of us eat it anyway.

"You know, one of the Heartslabyuls in our class was talking about how they have an 'unbirthday party' coming up. Apparently, their housewarden is bored, so they're throwing a huge party just because." Mandible finishes talking and takes a huge (for his size) bite of romaine. Evidently, he and Korrak are the type to eat salads one ingredient at a time.

"Wow. Ain't them folks based on bein' strict? Parties're fer havin' fun! Bet their party'll be real borin'." Epel, on the other hand, adds as much blue cheese as Vil will let him get away with and douses the whole thing in ranch.

"You know, our class has two Heartslabyuls who sit right in front of us in history. One of them is pretty chaotic." Grim attempts to lick the dressing off of a leaf and put it back in the bowl, but I shoot him a look and he begrudgingly eats it.

"That doesn't mean it's going to be fun to attend, Grim. Fun to watch? Absolutely." Having eaten all of his romaine, Mandible nabs a decently-sized chunk of blue cheese and starts turning it over in his paws.

"Small bite-ts, Mandible." Since this morning, Korrak has been talking more. He does so slowly and quietly, and doesn't say many words with the "t" sound in them. When he does, it's often a word like "nettle," where the "t" sound can be safely ignored or pronounced like "d" without anyone noticing his stutter. I'm glad he has the confidence to speak in a room full of people- chances are, we have Vil to thank.

That also explains why Mandible does most of the talking. Pretty clever fix, if I'm being honest. Also, it seems like Pomefiore is way more familiar-based than the other dorms. Not only do we seem to have more familiars than the other dorms, but Pomefiore also provides uniforms for them, and is the only dorm that does. It doesn't cost extra, either.

Ah, well. After lunch is over, we have a biology class, followed by an art course and then a lesson on improvised engineering, my favorite class. Apparently, it's a "joint class," which concerns me, as using my joints too much makes them sore.

"Hey, Yuu, do you have a joint class t-today?" I've noticed Korrak doesn't stutter on the "m," "k," "n," "a," "d," "i," "b," or "l" sounds. I think that's because they're all in his and Mandible's names.

"Yeah."

"Do you know w-what that is?"

"Nope."

Epel's face brightens. "I do! Got one later t'day."

"Myaah, really? What class?"

"MacGyvering. Pr'tty damn good skill, ain't it?"

"Not on our schedule."

"Epel... Our join-t class is Improv-vised Engineering."

"Yeah, yeah, they c'n call it by whatever th' fancy fuckin' shit they feel like, but I'm tellin' ya, that righ' there's a class 'n MacGyvering."

"Epel, language."

"Ack! Vil!"

...Okay, maybe the fact that I have to actively not laugh at the sight of a terrified Epel sitting right in front of an upright, clearly displeased Vil means I'm going to hell, but can you really blame me? There has to be a foot and a half of height difference between them, and Epel's face is priceless.

"Repeat that sentence without swearing."

"Uhh... they can call that whatever th' heck they wanna, but that doesn't mean it ain't a class on MacGyvering."

"Your word choice is on thin ice, but that is an improvement." Vil leaves.

"Um... S-so, Epel, are you any g-good at MacGyvering?"

The concern instantly evaporates from Epel's face. "You betcha sweet biscuits, I am! Back at th' farm, ya don't jus' fix things, ya MacGyver 'em. Ev'ry shed's got a hinge held t'gether by a dow'l, or a nail, or sum'thi'n else. 'M pretty good at it, 'f I say so myself."

"So... MacGyvering is just using whatever to fix stuff? Sounds easy enough."

Epel laughs. "That ain't all it's about. MacGyvering's 'bout comin' up wit' creative fixes to stuff. Y'know, shit most city folk jus' don't consider."

"Epel."

"Um, solutions most city folk jus' don't consider."

Vil nods. "Perfect!"

"Uh, class is st-t-tarting soon. We should leave."

"Oh, shit, Korrak's right!"

"Yuu. Try that again."

"Oh, fuck, we have five minutes!"

"Without swearing!"

"Myaah, we need to go right now!"

"Yuu, not Grim."

"We're gonna be late!"

Vil sighs. "I'll accept that, but you are on thin ice. Now, hurry."

Disobeying him now would be a death sentence, so off we go!

Biology was pretty interesting. From what I can tell- aka Trein starting class with, "the only reason you have this is because most schools don't clear up the local misconceptions about other species-" the only reason we have this class is because most schools don't clear up the local misconceptions about other species.

Time flies when you're having fun, though, so we are soon off to health class- which is boring, honestly. Trappola actually fell asleep there, and Deuce had to wake him.

And then, it comes. The long-awaited MacGyvering class, taught by Crewel.

Turns out: "joint class" means "multiple classes, one lesson!" We just so happen to be going with class B, so this'll be fun.

It's here that Grim and I learn Trappola has apparently never seen an opossum before.

"Huh. That's cool." Trappola says stuff is "cool" a lot. That probably means it caught his eye more than anything else.

"Myeeh? What is? The fact that we have multiple friends in the same dorm as us?"

That gets the present Pomefiores to snicker for a while, much to Trappola's evident disdain.

"No. I meant the fact that you," he points at Grim, "are friends with a rat," he points at Mandible. "I just find that weird.

For a solid minute, all six of us are staring at a very confused redhead.

"Dude," Mandible starts, "I'm an opossum."

Trappola stands there, mouth open and eyes darting around, for a couple of seconds.

"Oh."

Crewel walks in, voice booming as always. "Hello, pups! Today, we will be continuing our course on using basic tools for unintended uses. To begin, you should have a group of up to five, but you may work alone if you please. Now, you need to locate the person in your group who is the most responsible and have him raise his hand." We pick Korrak.