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Chapter Text

» [𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥] «
1:26 ────〇── 2:17
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

"ᵇᵘᵗ ʷʰᵉⁿ ʰᵉ ʷᵃˡᵏˢ ⁱⁿ
ⁱ ᵃᵐ ˡᵒᵛᵉᵈ, ⁱ ᵃᵐ ˡᵒᵛᵉᵈ."

"Are you sure you want to come with me? You don't have to, you know. You could keep on studying here, live with your family and such," a male voice speaks up, startling the person in front of him. They hadn't expected anyone to suddenly barge into their room, as they were packing their suitcase.

"Luca! You can't give me a heart attack this way!" the person turns around, glaring at their friend, Lucas Errant. It's nothing new for the boy to randomly appear at their house. After all, he is like family.

"I didn't mean to. My apologies," he says, taking a step closer. "But seriously, there is still time to reconsider it, Y/n. You don't need to leave everything behind-"

Lucas is cut off by his friend. That's right. It's me. "I already decided a long time ago. I will come with you wherever you go. And if it's Darkwick that you're going to, I'm going to follow right behind you."

A little frown appears on Luca's face, concern etched in his eyes. It seems as if he doesn't agree with me. He has always been this way. Babying me, looking out for me way too much. It's as if he still doesn't understand that I'm the same age as him.

We haven't really known each other for long. Sure, we went to the same middle school together, but we didn't talk back then. I know he was quite popular with girls, though.

And the high school we got into... Well, it wasn't because we chose it. Really, I would have never thought I'd see someone like him there. Sure, it is prestigious, and he is rather smart, but there would be a lot of better choices than Emrys Academy. That's what I realised once I was invited there.

After all, why would someone like Luca choose a school where ghouls study? And that's when I found out. He is one of us. He made a contract with a demon and survived. This is no ordinary thing. It seriously isn't. But he managed to do it and gain powers thanks to that.

Not like I'm any less extraordinary. I did it too. I made a contract and got my wish granted. No idea how I managed to survive, but here I am.

"I don't think it's a good idea. Please, just stay here. It's not like I will be gone forever," he sighs, though his tone of voice is already suggesting that he has accepted defeat.

"In your dreams," I stuck out my tongue to him in a playful manner as I zipped the suitcase, having finally packed all my stuff. "By the way, what's the time?"

"We have exactly 2 hours left until our plane takes off. That means we have 45 minutes to find our gate at the airport. The ride there takes the majority of our remaining time," he explains, taking the suitcase from me. He really is a gentleman.

"Why didn't you tell me so before?!" My voice has a hint of panic as I grab my handbag and rush towards the door. "Come on now, Luca! We have to go and not be late!"

The purple-eyed boy holds my suitcase in one hand as he walks slowly behind me, as if he has no worries in the world. "It's going to be fine, no need to worry." I roll my eyes at his response. "You know, I could carry my own stuff too." But he shakes his head. "No, as a man, it's my duty to help another person."

"Seriously? What century do we live in?" I groan as I close the door of my room behind us. "Let me just say bye to mom before we leave," I then add in an audible voice, shoving him towards the front door.

As the tanned male walks away from me, I make my way to the living room, where my mom is currently watching TV. She seems not to be too bothered, even though she is probably a nervous wreck inside.

"Mom, I came to say goodbye," I say, walking up to her and giving her a hug. She doesn't say anything, though I can see her eyes tear up. After a moment of silence between us, she finally speaks up softly. "Do you really have to go? I'll get so lonely here without you." Her voice comes out as a whisper, her tears wetting my right shoulder.

"I'll be sending letters. Besides, dad will visit you from time to time as well," I reassure her, loosening the hug and pulling away. "What about your sister? What if you go away and never come back as well? I don't know if I can take it." She starts wiping her tears away, but her voice is still shaking.

"I promise you. I will return, one way or another."

With that, I stand up and give her a last smile. "Seriously, mom, I have to leave now. I love you. Goodbye. I'll text you when I get to Japan."

My heart aches a little. I have never been away from her for that long. It's going to be hard for both of us. But I made up my mind. I will go to Darkwick with Luca. I may just find some answers there.

I don't look back. Not when I step out of the house or when I get in Lucas's fancy car. I'm determined to leave, and looking back now would simply ruin my resolve.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

The ride to the airport is quiet, with a few occasions of Luca trying to make small talk with me. I'm not very talkative today, so after about 10 failed attempts, he gives up and gives me my desired silence. This is, until I speak up instead.

"Hey, do you really think that transferring to Darkwick will somehow help you get closer to finding your brother?" A sensitive topic? Perhaps yes. But it's not like I ever understood how this would make him uncover the truth. I guess the same can be said about me. Why do I think that Darkwick will magically give answers to all of my problems?

"Not really. But I will do everything I can. So perhaps it will be some kind of help. I haven't lost all hope yet."

He really is positive. I can't even believe how hard it must be to lose your twin brother. To think about it, I don't even remember him having one. I never saw him in middle school, and by the time we started high school, Luca had already devoured a demon and was talking about how his brother was missing. I wonder, when did it even happen? And what happened? I guess I'm never going to know unless he tells me himself. I am not going to cross-examine him for the answer.

With a sigh, I look out the window again. The trees rush past the car in a blur; it's almost impossible to make out the outlines of the objects that we pass by.

As I'm stuck in my own thoughts, I don't even notice the boy next to me looking at my face. His expression is curious but also full of worry. He still isn't happy about them coming with him. Sure, he is grateful that he has his friend to keep him company, but at the same time, he is worried that something bad might happen to them. He doesn't know whether or not Darkwick is safe enough. He wouldn't have to worry so much if they had just stayed back here, in the United Kingdom.

My head turns to my side as I feel someone's eyes on me. And sure enough, Luca's purple eyes are staring daggers at me. I can feel a shiver run down my spine. "So you're still angry at me?" He shakes his head. "No, I'm worried about you. Seriously, what if something happens to you? I can't promise I will be by your side all the time."

"Luca." I turn towards him and grab his hand with both of mine. "I understand that you're worried and that you care for me, but I am my own person, capable of protecting myself. There is no reason for you to act this protective over me. I will not disappear forever. I will be fine, I promise you."

From the look on his face, I can tell that he still seems uncertain. I sigh and let go of his hand, but before I can take them away, he grabs them himself. "I know it. I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable with all of this worrying. I just do not want you to get hurt. Please, understand that."

"I do. I understand. And I'm glad at least someone cares this much for me. So don't apologise. It's nothing bad. I just wish you'd trust me more." Luca lets go of my hands and nods. It seems he does understand my point as well. He probably won't be able to immediately stop his overprotectiveness, but at least he will try, and that's all that matters.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

"Come on! Just give me my bag! It's not that heavy! You already took care of my suitcase!" I cry out loud as Luca keeps on insisting that he can hold my carry-on bag.

"You don't have to bother yourself with this. If you need something, you can just ask and I'll give you your bag."

Wow, he sometimes acts like a real jerk. At least he has good intentions, I think. Whatever, it's pointless to argue. We have a full 14-hour flight in front of us, and our seats are next to each other.

The positive thing about having a rich friend like Luca is that I can get a lot of expensive stuff for free. I was ready to pay for my own seat in the economy class, but no, Luca's family insisted on paying for my seat in first class. I can't tell if it was Luca's idea or if it was seriously his family who thought it'd be nice.

For some reason, his mother adores me. I have no idea why, but I am not complaining. Wouldn't want my best friend's parents to hate me. That'd be unfortunate.

We pass the security with flying colours, and I snatch my bag from the conveyor belt before Luca can do it. He looks dissatisfied, watching me carry it, but doesn't object. We can both be very stubborn. Maybe this is why we get along so well? Even though usually opposites attract. Maybe in our case, the similarities attract instead.

We get in our seats as soon as the boarding begins. For some reason, the whole first class is empty, just us two alone here. I look around, confused, making Luca let out a soft chuckle. "My father paid for it; he didn't want us to be bothered. After all, what if something happens? Wouldn't want civilians being together with two ghouls."

He has a point. And I am not about to complain about having a whole section of the plane to ourselves. I hope Luca is willing to pay for the food, too, because I am not financially stable enough to cover the food prices here.

"Why do we have to sit next to each other when we have the whole first class to ourselves?" I then ask. This is quite curious, I must say.

"Why not?" the dark-haired boy simply answers. "It's easier to talk this way, wouldn't you agree?"

With a grunt, I nod. Sure, it's easier this way, but what about the space? If I had any other seat, I could just be in any position I want. Now there is no chance of even changing the seat. Not when I have the window seat and Luca is sitting by the corridor.

It's going to be a long, long flight to Japan.

Chapter Text

» [𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳] «
0:28 ─〇───── 2:55
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

"ⁿᵒ, ⁱ'ᵐ ⁿᵒᵗ ᶠᵃˡˡⁱⁿᵍ ᶠᵒʳ ʸᵒᵘ
ˢᵒ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᵐᵉʳᶜʸ ᵒⁿ ᵐᵉ."

My legs hurt from all the walking around. Damn, this school surely is big. Even after the orientation, we wanted to explore the school area further. Well, Luca did. I just decided to tag along. Now it feels like a grave mistake.

"What house do you think you'll be in, Y/n?" the boy suddenly asks. That's a great question. I wish I could remember what each of the houses was about.

"I'm not sure, probably the one where they study medicine? Medicine-based house?" I say, not sure exactly what they do in there.

I wasn't really able to listen to the whole orientation because I was thinking about the chancellor. Not in a weird way, I swear. It's just that he looks so young, yet manages such a big facility. How is that possible? Is he perhaps an anomaly himself? The teachers here are all quite quaint themselves. I don't think we had this unusual group of people back in the UK.

"Mortkranken, you mean?" Luca asks, and I nod. I guess it was something like that. "Yeah, my stigma could be really useful there, I think. Healing powers are always wanted everywhere."

The boy nods at my point. "You're right. Mortkranken would probably suit you the best. I'm not sure about myself. Frostheim may be a good fit, though I'm not ruling out other houses either. I gotta adapt after all. In all honesty, I kind of hope we will get to the same house."

"That would be nice. After all, we don't know anyone from this school. Getting to spend time together at least would be nice."

I can barely finish my sentence before Luca shushes me. I look at him with a confused expression, but he just stares forward, not explaining anything to me.

When I shut my mouth, I can finally hear the same thing. Someone screaming. A girl, I would say, judging by the voice. Then another voice chimes in. This time masculine. Once again, I assume this is a boy.

They are both speaking in Japanese, and thanks to Luca and his family, I can understand it fluently, though not speak as well as my dear friend.

Suddenly, the two voices start approaching us, and before I can understand what's happening, Luca has already run towards them. He throws the male onto the ground hard, and all I do is watch in horror. I can't even utter a word. Why would he do such a thing?

The yellow-haired boy screams in pain - and probably fear - as Luca points the end of his dagger at the stranger's neck. The girl accompanying the boy seems to be in the same shocked state as me.

It takes a moment before the guy on the ground starts screaming and begging for his life to be spared. And... Apparently, he also talks about how he hasn't gone out with a girl yet. That's kind of pathetic.

Luca then looks confused as he gets a better look at the person under him. "You're a human?" he mutters out, and that's the moment I get out of my shock.

"Luca! What are you doing?! You can't just attack a person like this! This is school grounds! What if you get in trouble for this?!" I grab his shoulders and pull him off the boy, who looks scared to death. Guess Luca didn't even have to stab him; he's already dead.

"Am I alive...? Did I survive that...?" the guy mutters, and I offer my hand to him. "I'm sorry for my friend, he tends to get a little... overcautious about everything."

As he grabs my hand and I help him up, I can get a better look at him. He appears to be wearing the school's uniform, which is now smudged with some dirt. 

"Sorry! Are you hurt? Let me see," Lucas then steps closer, an apologetic look on his face, eyebrows furrowed in concern. He's a good guy, really. But sometimes he just can't control his impulses.

"Sorry my ass!" the stranger screams, looking infuriated. "Of course, I'm hurt! My butt and my back and my head and my spirit are killing me!"

Okay, I guess he likes to complain a lot. It's not that deep, really. "My apologies..." Luca then starts again, looking ashamed of himself. "I saw you sneaking around in unusual clothing."

What in his clothing screams unusual? He probably goes to this school. "I assumed you were anomalies, so we were waiting here to ambush you."

"We?! You didn't even tell me your plan! Besides, you could obviously hear there were two human beings there!" I groan. He, once again, is trying to rope me into stuff that he is responsible for.

The yellow-haired stranger's eyes then look at me before widening. His green irises seem to be looking all over my face before they meet my e/c ones and look away. Yeah, that's what I thought. Not brave enough to look in my eyes.

I, myself, look over at the owner of the feminine voice. She is standing a few steps behind the boy, looking rather shy. She isn't wearing a school uniform, and on top of her head is a dark veil. Is she going to get married, and the theme is darkness, or is she going to a funeral? I guess we'll never know. Maybe she just likes cosplaying, and this is a character I don't know of.

"I've been very rude to you, haven't I? I'm really sorry. It seems I've forgotten my manners." Luca then gives them another bow, while once again his words are sincere as he offers them an apology.

He then straightens up. "My name is Lucas Errant. My close friends call me Luca." It seems that he found it to be a good time for self-introductions. "What are your names?"

"My name's Aya," the girl introduces herself, her voice seemingly friendly. I can't tell anything from her expression, though, as the veil hides everything. 

"I am Kaito Fuji... But who is this fine babe next to you?" the boy asks, looking straight at me.

I can't tell if he's hitting on me, giving me a compliment or both at once. "Y/n L/n. Pleasure to meet you."

I hope my accent isn't coming through too strongly. I haven't had much practice with the verbal part of the language, so I may be quite bad.

"But why the hell would you attack me?! You're crazy, man!" Fuji then points his finger at Luca accusingly. My friend still looks quite concerned for the well-being of the blonde as he speaks up.

"There is a dangerous anomaly in the loose." My head whips towards him. "What? How would you know?" I question, looking quite confused.

"Well, I saw some students talking about it, so I jumped to conclusions," Lucas says. Now that he mentions it, I guess some people were kind of frightened-looking.

"You're not kidding, right?!" the blonde male then screams loudly. "That's a pinned post kind of disaster! I'm calling it - this day sucks!" He looks quite scared as well. He then seems to realise something. "Ah! Is that why it's so deserted around here? Did everyone but us evacuate?!"

I shake my head. "No, I'm quite sure that there are a lot of people inside, trying to find a cooler spot. It's pretty hot outside after all."

"I have to ask - what are you two doing sneaking around during an emergency like this?" Luca asks, but instead of letting these two answer, I speak up for them myself. "They obviously didn't know it's an emergency! Look at them, they both seem confused!"

I can't say that for certain, as the girl's face is still covered in the veil, so it's kind of difficult to make out her expressions. Lucas's eyes scan over the two of them before he starts talking again. "I'm sorry for hurting you, Kaito, but I do think most people would have made the same mistake."

With a groan, I shake my head. I almost forgot how dense he is sometimes. "Most people don't carry knives in their pockets!" Fuji decides to argue back. "Ugh, forget that for now!"

He then grabs Luca's shoulder and drags him away from me and the girl, Aya. Then just for a moment, he turns to us and smiles. "Hey, you two, just hold on for a moment, okay?" Aya just nods, and I don't argue with it either. It's not like I wanna go anywhere without Lucas. He is my guide here.

As they leave, going a few meters to our left, the girl and I are left in awkward silence. "So uh... You're a student here, too? I like your veil, it suits you," I start talking, but soon realise that I'm just speaking nonsense, so I shut up.

She lets out something like a laugh. "Thanks, it's not mine though. I got into some... Quite a peculiar situation." There is a moment of silence again before Aya starts talking instead. "I actually need to go home. Do you know where another train station is, perhaps?"

That's weird. From what I know, students aren't really allowed to leave the school area whenever they please. Maybe she got some special agreement from the counsellor, though. "I'm not sure, actually. Maybe Fuji knows better-" I can't even finish my sentence before the two guys approach us again.

"Hey! Sorry about that! I explained everything, and it's all cool now, so let's get going!" The blonde male speaks up, and the girl seems to brighten up. "Okay. Thank you." She probably couldn't have described it any better than this man.

"Hold on!" Luca then suddenly says, stepping closer to Aya. "This veil, you really ought to take it off," he raises a hand, grabbing the bottom of the veil, slightly raising it, but for some reason, the girl shouts "Stop!" and pulls away from Luca. How weird. That's not a normal reaction. There is something fishy going on here.

Fuji is quick to rush next to the girl and start straightening the veil while gaping at Luca with wide eyes. "Hey!! What the hel is wrong with you!? She's wearing it for a reason!" he shouts before leaning closer. "Sorry, let me fix it for you! How's this?"

Aya thanks the blonde male and then apologises. "Sorry for yelling like that..." Luca doesn't miss a beat, though and also apologises for acting so suddenly. Or that's what I thought he would apologise for.

"I'm sorry. I was worried that if your girlfriend continued wearing that veil, someone else might make the same mistake I did."

"Wait wait, hold up, girlfriend?! You two are a couple?!" I ask, voice louder than I planned. "Girlfriend...?" Aya also speaks up, tone confused. Fuji seems panicked a bit as he also shouts "Hey!"

Luca just tilts his head a little. "You're Kaito's girlfriend, aren't you?" At that, the blonde male pulls Luca to the side again. "Wow, they sure are a weird pair together, huh?" I let out a small laugh.

"Where did he take that I'm his girlfriend?" Aya then mutters. "You really aren't huh? I thought it's weird. Why wouldn't he just say so in front of us both?" I then glance at the two males who are busy whispering loudly. "Do you think he's lying to Luca? That's going to be a problem, Luca is quite naive and doesn't really think before talking. So lying to him is quite stupid."

Soon enough, the two males once again walk up to us. This time, Luca bows a little in apologetic manner. "I've troubled you with my behaviour. I do hope you can forgive me." But Aya just shakes her head, insisting that there is no need to apologise to her.

"Kaito told me you're leaving the academy. Are you in a hurry?" Luca then asks. Seems that Fuji told him her real objective. "Yes," Aya nods, "I'd like to get home as soon as possible." She then turns her head a little. "That's a bus stop, isn't it? Can I leave here by bus?"

Fuji shakes his head. "Ah... That bus stop's only for training camps. There's no regular service." Aya lowers her head a bit. "I see..." "You didn't have orientation, Aya?" the blonde then asks, and the girl starts stumbling, trying to find the correct words. "Ah, it's okay!" Fuji quickly starts speaking again. "Darkwick's super complex and confusing! I'm a second-year and there's still tons of stuff I don't know, so don't worry - you'll be fine!"

"Um, actually..." Aya starts speaking, but the blonde is still rambling on. "I am confident in my navigational abilities, though! We're actually nearly there!" He laughs loudly before starting to walk, turning behind the corner. Aya quickly gives me and Luca a wave before hurrying after him.

Luca waits a little before grabbing my arm and also walking behind the pair. "W-whoa! We have our own stuff to worry about! Fuji can easily show her around! We've been here for a day!" Luca doesn't answer me but lets go of my hand, still following the two students. 

Suddenly, Fuji turns around, addressing us. "Hey, you two? This is really fucking awkward!" he complains. "Please don't mind us," Lucas says. "We're keeping watch from the rear."

"That's what's making it awkward! Why are you all the way back there?!" the blonde shouts to us. "What I did to you both is inconsistent with my values as someone with the power to protect others. I can't say this will make up for my actions, but I will keep you safe from your jealous pursuer."

Luca... You poor, naive soul. They don't have any jealous pursuer, they aren't even a couple. "Nope! No thanks! We're fine! You really don't have to do that!" Fuji is still yelling. "But you're in poor health, aren't you?" Luca then asks, and Fuji's expression is all that I need to know that his lies have come to light. He chose the wrong victim.

"You are?" I can hear Aya's voice from all the way there. Suddenly, Fuji starts coughing. "Are you okay...?" The blonde man turns towards Luca again, seemingly pissed off. "You...! I told you not to say anything...!"

"I'm worried about you. And my name isn't "you". It's Lucas Errant. Please, call me Luca." The tanned boy puts one of his hands on his hip. 

Fuji looks like a fish gaping, but finally succumbs, nodding. "Fine... But if Ro- I mean, our pursuer - or that escapred anomaly shows up, you have to get rid of them, capiche?" Lucas nods as well. "Yes, of course."

"And quit skulking around behind us, you look like a stalker. Come over here. Christ, you might as well be Romeo..." the blonde mutters the last part as we two walk up to them. "I see, so too far away is no good either... It's difficult to judge the appropriate distance in a friendship."

Since when are these two friends? "Sorry, Aya, I made the call without asking you first. Is this okay?" Fuji then turns towards the short girl next to him. "Of course!" She enthusiastically replies. "I'm worried about you, too..."

Fuji seems to be taken aback for a moment, stuttering out some incoherent words before speaking up again. "Kind of a late question, but what's the deal with your uniform? Luca? And you too, Y/n."

"Ah, neither of us has explained that, huh?" He starts. "This is from the British campus. We're from England. Transfer students. Second-yearers at Darckwick starting from today," I finish his thoughts.

"For real?" Fuji seems shocked. "I'm a second-year too. Guess that explains why I haven't seen either of you around. I wouldn't miss such a beautiful face anyway." His eyes dart towards me before he starts complaining again. "Hold on. The first thing you do at your new school is pull a knife on your classmate?!"

"I jumped to conclusions," Luca rubs the back of his neck. "I'm glad you turned out to be a virtuous person. I don't know anything about the rogue anomaly other than its name - Hera's Snakes. I could only use my perception and gut to search for it, so I made an error."

"You didn't even think, you just charged straight in. Don't try excusing yourself," I sigh. "Hera's Snakes seems like a familiar name, though."

Fuji nods. "Yeah, I feel like I've heard that name in class." He tries to remember for a moment before giving up. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

"If you're forgetting things you've learned in class, you might not be spending enough time on revision," Lucas says, sounding way more rude than he probably intended to.

"Shut up! I'm a busy person!!" Fuji screams back. While these two argue, we have gotten to the train stop.

"We're here!" The blonde boy smiles quite happily. Probably his first time guiding a woman to a place and succeeding in it. "And without any dangerous delays," Luca nods as well.

"I hope you manage to get home safe and sound," I pat the girl's shoulder. "Thank you so much!" Aya's head moves as she looks at all of us. "I can get home now!"

"Man, I'm so jealous you can go home, Aya." Kaito looks at her with a melancholic smile. "Huh?" The girl asks, confused. "You can't go home?"

"Yeah... No way. I know I don't look it, but I'm actually a ghoul," Fuji rubs the back of his neck. "No way!" I shout, once again, louder than expected. "Sorry, I didn't mean it this way-" I quickly start apologising.

"No, it's okay, not a lot of people really expect someone like me to be a ghoul," he shakes his head. "You're a ghoul too?" Luca then asks as well.

"You too?" the blonde replies, though not as surprised. "I thought you probably were when you assaulted me back there."

Aya's voice is shocked as she speaks up. "Y-you're a ghoul too, Luca?!" It seems that she can't believe it. I mean, I don't know about Fuji, but Luca doesn't seem the type to be a ghoul.

"Me too! Me too! I'm also a ghoul!" I butt in, enjoying the way Aya's voice sounds even more shocked. But Fuji seems more shocked than Aya. "What? You're a ghoul? What could someone as beautiful as you wish from a demon-" Before he can finish his sentence, I hit his ankle.

He hisses in pain before turning back to Aya. "S-sorry for not saying anything... It's creepy, right?"

But the girl shakes her head. "No, not at all! Sorry, I was just a little surprised." I chuckle. "You seemed quite shocked. No need to deny it."

"I'm not at all creeped out! I swear! If anything, my impression of ghouls has been changed for the better..." the girl insists.

Fuji's cheeks then flush red as he pulls out his phone. "Oh! Um! In that case, do you want to maybe... um..."

"Please excuse us," Luca quickly speaks up, wanting to get away from the two as soon as possible. Right. We have to be ready early for the entrance ceremony.

"Oh... Luca, Y/n, could you two hold on a second?" Aya asks, ignoring Fuji's attempts to get her number.

Luca nods, a bit confused and then shouts: "Get down!!"

It was the right moment, because as soon as I had grabbed Aya's shoulders, pulling her down to squat with me, a bullet flew over our heads. "Was that a gunshot?! Smoke?!" She loudly speaks, standing up once again. It's hard to see. The smoke is really strong, as if something had exploded.

• . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. •

₊ Y/n has never been the biggest fan of compliments

₊ They aren't the best in Japanese, but they still try their best

₊ Luca and Y/n never talked in middle school, but became besties in high school immediately

• . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. •

Chapter Text

» [𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮] «
0:32 ──〇──── 2:59
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

"ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗʰᵉ ᵇˡⁱˢᵗᵉʳˢ ᵒⁿ ᵐʸ ˡⁱᵖˢ
ᵗʰᵃᵗ ⁱ'ᵐ ⁿᵒᵗ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵃʳᵉᶠᵘˡˡᵉˢᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵍⁱʳˡˢ."

Fuji cries about his eyes as Luca tries to get a hang of the situation. "Who's there!?" he shouts, standing in front of our small group. Suddenly, a voice speaks up from somewhere in the smoke.

"I've got you now..." A male voice says. I squint my eyes and make out a rather tall figure in the smoke, holding a gun on his shoulders. He removes his sunglasses, dropping them on the ground before speaking again.

"You're not getting away from me this time, Fuji!" he shouts and the said blonde's eyes widen in fear and surprise.

"Ugh... don't you ever quit?!" he shouts at the taller boy.

The latter seems offended. "Excuse me!?" he scoffs. "You keep running off, so I went out of my way to come get you!"

Oh, do these two have some fight going on? Or is Fuji just escaping his tutor? Damn, things in Japan work weirdly.

"Did I ask!?" the blonde shouts back. Now, as the smoke has cleared, I can see the stranger better.

He is tall. Just as I thought before, he looks a bit foreign for Japan. Maybe he's an exchange student too? He is wearing the school's uniform, but instead of Fuji's blue colour scheme, he has red instead. Do these colours mean the houses they're from? I wonder what house red could be. Perhaps we could be in the same one.

But aside from the clothing, that man is damn fine. He has this seemingly smooth skin, and even his hair looks as if he had just gotten it done. Can't even imagine how much he must go through.

Well, he also has a gun. A damn sniper rifle. How does this school allow this? It's kind of insane, to be honest. Do they not care about their students? I mean, there are not only ghouls in here, after all.  

"I was going to overlook this, but you're getting a bit full of yourself. How about I shut that insolent mouth of yours?!" Damn, this guy really hates the blonde. 

He even goes as far as to point his rifle at Fuji, seemingly ready to shoot. Behind me, there is some rustling, and I hear Luca's voice whispering. Then, I turn a little to my side and see the girl running. What a backstabber, leaving us here to deal with this gun-lunatic.

As Lucas steps closer to both me and Fuji, the stranger turns his eyes towards us. His gaze lingers a bit on me before moving to Luca, then moving between us.

"Hm? I don't recognise either of you. Who are you?" he asks, voice a bit softer, but still as strict as before.

"So you're Kaito's jealous pursuer," Luca says with a serious face. There is a moment of silence as the man stares at my friend.

He then lets out an offended scoff. "Excuse me?" he asks, brows furrowed. "What part of this mushroom head could I possibly be jealous of?"

Without the ability to read the room, Luca speaks up with his brutal honesty again. "Mushroom head? Is that your nickname, Kaito?" Honestly, if there were to be a hole that appears, I would crawl into it from second-hand embarrassment. 

"Of course not!" Fuji immediately says back. "He's just being an asshole! Come on, get rid of him!" That guy is damn bold, asking someone else to take care of his problem. Honestly, I don't even think that this tall guy is some weird, jealous pursuer. Pretty sure that Fuji made that story up.

Luca lets out a small sigh as he looks between the blonde and the gun-fanatic. "Let me confirm something first. This is your jealous pursuer, correct?" Fuji hesitates a bit before nodding slightly. "Yes... I mean... Well..." He doesn't even utter a normal sentence, stuttering over his words.

"That's the backstory you gave me?" the guy in the red uniform says, his voice betraying his disbelief. "Is your financial situation so dire you can't come up with plausible lies?"

There it is. Fuji was lying all along. He groans at the stranger's words. "Lying isn't nice, Fuji," I sigh. After all, every single lie will always come out. I've learnt it the hard way.

"Do you really think I, Romeo Scorpius Lucci, could be jealous of an off-brand man like him?" the tall male says. He's definitely not Japanese. This name sounds rather European, not even American. Were his parents fans of Romeo and Juliet, so they named him after that? It would be an interesting backstory for his name.

"This little toadstool is in my debt," he then simply says, looking at Fuji, whose face is losing any colour it held before. "I'm merely collecting what I'm rightfully owed." Romeo then pulls out a paper, waving it in front of our faces with a rather sly grin. "Care to see the paperwork?" He probably didn't think anyone would actually give a fuck about it.

Fuji immediately runs towards the guy, trying to grab the paper out of his hands. But because of their height difference, Romeo can easily hold it out of his reach, this shit-eating smirk still on his face. "Kaito, is this true?" Luca then asks, a look of disbelief on his face.

The blonde stops jumping around Romeo, giving the taller male an opportunity to seize the pendant around his neck. "How many times do I have to tell you? If you can't pay, just hand over this pendant instead!!" At those words, Fuji pushes the guy away a little, shouting back: "How many times have I gotta tell you, this is the one thing you'll never get from me!!"

Luca has then stepped closer and has decided to speak up. "Let him go." Romeo, who's still holding onto Fuji's collar, looks at the tanned male. "Excuse me?" he asks, voice calmer than before. "Who the hell are you? Did you hear what I just said?"

Maybe Luca should hold back. Maybe I should be the one stopping him. I've been standing on the sidelines for a while now. Even the girl who ran has done more than I.

Stepping up to Luca, I place a hand on his shoulder from behind. "Hey, leave it be. It's their own problem to deal with; you don't have to ruin your reputation on the first day," I say, voice quiet enough for him to hear. It'd be a shame if we got expelled on the first day of school.

Luca turns his head a little towards me, smiling softly. "I'm not going to fight, don't worry," he says, reaching into his pocket, pulling out some cash. I can't help but gawk at him. Does this guy seriously carry around a ton of cash? It's as if he's asking to be robbed! Sometimes I can't believe that this guy is actually smart. That's the difference between book smart and street smart, I guess.

"Will this suffice?" he reaches his hand out towards Romeo, who seems to have regained his smirk from before, as he accepts the money.

"50-pound notes, hm? Interesting. They'd better not be counterfeit." He starts counting the cash, reaching twenty separate notes. "The real deal," he then confirms, pocketing the money and taking a few steps away from the other males. "Are you serious...?" Fuji then whisper-shouts.

"You're quite a high-end man," Romeo comments, before adding yet another sum. "He still owes around 2000 pounds of interest, though." He then steps yet again closer to the males, placing a finger under Luca's chin. "Sorry, but this won't buy his freedom. As Fuji shouts "What?!" in disbelief, I pull Luca away from the foreign student. Touching someone like this is weird. Makes me shiver, honestly.

Romeo's eyes look towards me briefly as he lowers his hand. "All right," Luca then says. "In that case, I'd like another look at that document." This sentence makes Romeo scoff and pull away. This probably means the document isn't legal. Otherwise, he'd have no problem showing it yet again. "There's nothing worse than a man with a brain."

Suddenly, before things can escalate any further, a loud alarm starts blaring. I flinch a little at the unexpected loud sound, feeling my headache already starting. I've never been too good with loud noises, and this is honestly one of the worst things that could happen right now.

"What the hell is that?" Romeo says, straightening up, looking around for the source of the sound. "It must be an emergency alarm!" Luca assumes, staying rather calm, being the opposite of the panicking blonde. "Oh my god... No, no, no, no, what is that?! An anomaly!?"

He then looks towards the train stop, his eyes widening. "Wait... Isn't that Aya?!" And sure enough, as we all look towards the same direction as Fuji, there is the girl who had run off before. "Hold on... That's...!" Romeo mumbles, before rushing towards the girl. "Stop! Where are you going?!" Luca shouts, running after the taller male, leaving me and Fuji standing there awkwardly.

"Hey! Luca! Don't leave me!! What if something gets me?!" the blonde then panics, quickly going after my friend. I don't think they'd need another person there. After all, if Romeo wants to do something to Aya, Luca is strong enough to fight him off. Maybe I should lie low and go for yet another walk around the campus. It can't hurt to know the area where I'll be living better.

Besides, I need to get some painkillers. The headache has gotten quite bad already. The blaring alarm has not shut off, meaning the pain will probably get more intense. I leave the scene swiftly, finding myself in the courtyard yet again. It's beautiful out here. The Darkwick Academy really knew what they were doing with the design, inside and outside the buildings.

I know for a fact that there is a store somewhere around here. Now the challenge is to find it. I don't have a map with me. I'm pretty sure Luca has it on him. Damn, if I had known this would happen, I would've taken one for myself as well.

Somehow, I manage to make my way inside the main building. The hallways are echoing with chatter, as people seem to be rather here than outside, where an anomaly is at large. Wandering around the long halls, trying to get a hint of where the shop could be, I suddenly run into a stranger.

"Whoops, excuse me," they say, stepping away from me. I grunt a little from the impact. This is like some drama show on TV. Who in actual life runs into some random stranger in a school hallway in the literal meaning of the sentence?

"It's fine, I wasn't really looking, so," I also apologise, looking up at the person. It's a student, of course. Someone you haven't seen yet. He has green hair, the roots seemingly some reddish colour. He's also quite tall, not as huge as Romeo was, though.

"Are you new here? Don't believe I've seen you around before," the male then smiles. His smile is much warmer than whatever Romeo was doing before. Damn, am I really comparing this stranger to the jerk from before? How rude of me.

I quickly nod. "Yes, I'm an exchange student from England. My name's Y/n L/n," I put out my hand, which he accepts, shaking it. "From England, huh? Quite exotic, one might say." He chuckles a little at his own statement. "My name's Kusanagi Haku. Nice to meet you."

Kusanagi. Hm. His uniform is yet another colour, purple. So he's not from Fuji's or Romeo's house. He's yet another one. I still can't remember all the houses and the colours that are specific to them.

I had probably stared at his clothing for too long, maybe appearing as if I was checking him out, because he let out yet another small laugh. "Enjoying what you see?"

That does the trick, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Oh! No! I mean..." I trail off, shaking my head. "I was just trying to figure out which house you're from."

"Could've just asked that," the male shrugs. "I'm from Hotarubi."

Oh, right. Hotarubi. That's the purple house. How could I forget? Sometimes I wish I had the same brain as Luca, since his memory is great, but then again, I don't wanna be as oblivious. Maybe it's a side effect of the pact he made with that demon. Maybe it's a family flaw, though.

"You look kind of lost. Are you looking for someone?" he then asks, and I nod. "I was trying to find the campus store. I need some medicine for my head."

Honestly, I wish my stigma could work on myself, too. Healing others is so easy, yet I can not heal myself at all. It doesn't matter; I could be dying, and yet my powers would still be eventually useless.

The male takes a moment to think before speaking again. "Judging from the fact that you're an exchange student, I'd assume that you're a ghoul, yes?"

I nod. That would probably be an insulting thing to guess, but he's not wrong. That's what I am. "In this case, you'd probably be better off going to the Mortkranken house. Their medicine works better with ghouls than any of the medicine sold in the store or in the campus hospital wing."

That makes sense. There are a lot more general students here than ghouls. Most things are probably modified around them, bought from the normal world. But we, ghouls, do not have such a privilege. We need special treatment.

"Alright, sounds great. But now I have another question," I speak up, "Where is Mortkranken?"

Kusanagi sighs softly. I really hope I'm not annoying him. "I'm sorry, I don't wanna get lost and miss the entrance ceremony," I admit honestly. Besides, getting lost would also mean more walking to make sure I get somewhere I want.

"I was going to take a small break, but I guess I can show you around. After all, it's not every day we get such a cute exchange student, you know."

I blink twice. Did this man just call me cute? That's crazy. "Sure. Thanks." I'm not sure how else to answer this. He then turns around and starts walking, probably expecting me to go after him, which is what I do.

"So, what brings someone from England to here? I'd assume that the education there is better, no?" Kusanagi then speaks up, trying to make small talk. I shrug. "My friend came here for personal reasons, and I thought it'd be a good opportunity to study overseas for a year too."

"So there's another one? That's interesting, we seldom get any exchange students here, the fourth years sometimes go overseas, though," the green-haired male explains, and I nod my head, showing that I'm listening. "We don't have a fourth year in the UK. There are only 3 years, then you graduate. I guess in Japan, the education is more thorough?"

Kusanagi shrugs. "I don't think so, it's for ghouls only. General students usually graduate after three years as well." Oh, so it's a special program. "I see, I guess that makes sense."

Then I decided to ask a question of my own. "You immediately assumed that I'm a ghoul. So does that mean you're one too?" I know this could be a rather rude question, but he can just deny it if it's not true. "Yeah, doesn't seem like that, huh?" he rubs the back of his neck slightly. He then stops, looking toward the huge castle in front of us.

Okay, I exaggerated; this castle is quite small compared to the ones I'm used to seeing. But still, it's big. "We're here. Just go in and ask for the medicine."

I nod. "Alright. Thank you." Then it hits me. "Wait, how can I get back to the main building, though?" "Follow the path, you'll find your way like this," Kusanagi says, waving as he walks away. Right. I can do it.

I open the large door to the castle. It creaks. A lot. Damn, so much from a quiet entrance. "Hello?" I ask, looking around in the dimly lit building. "What the hell could someone need right now? I'm very busy, for your knowledge!" a voice sounds from somewhere in the building. Footsteps approach, and soon enough, I see a blue-haired male standing in front of me, his attire consisting of a rather long lab coat over his uniform.

His eyes narrow as he looks at me. "Huh, haven't seen you around before. What is so important that you had to bother me?"

This guy is damn cold. I kind of regret coming here. But oh well. Wait, isn't this Mortkranken? This house is what I want to get into. Does that mean that I'd have to deal with this rude guy every day? Not perfect, but this is life.

"I'm here to get some medicine. I have a headache."

At my statement, he scoffs loudly, not even hiding his displeasure. "So, because of a headache, you came here? Couldn't you have bought some painkillers from the campus store? Or from the general hospital?"

Oh, he probably thinks I'm a normal human. I wish it were true. "The thing is, the medicine general students use won't work on me. I'm a ghoul, after all." It's kind of embarrassing to say, but oh well. He'd find out eventually.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? Gosh, the newcomers are really stupid," he scoffs. "Jiro! Do we have any painkillers left?" the blue-haired male then shouts towards the part of the castle I'm not standing in. Soon enough, a guy emerges from the darkness. He's so fucking tall. Is he a monster full of steroids?! "Here you go," he says, giving the packet to the shorter male, who passes it on to me.

"Now go. We'll be meeting soon enough for your health check," the guy says, disappearing into the darkness himself. "Make sure not to take too many. One or two pills should be enough," the tall guy, who I assume is called Jiro, explains. "Thanks, I'll be sure not to overdo it," I smile slightly. The guy gives a short nod before also walking away. Damn, this guy must be a ghoul. No, I'm judging the book by its cover again. He may just have some great genes.

Now I have to find something to take the pills with. Water would be ideal. That means finding either a store or a sink, somewhere to get the drink from. With a sigh, I get going. I hope Luca isn't too worried about me, because I am worried about him, and also worried about how the fuck I will find my way back. There are a ton of paths, and I did not pay attention as I came here with Kusanagi.

Unbeknownst to me, Luca has been internally panicking. He's not sure where his best friend went. He knows they're not the best at getting from point A to point B. So they could be missing, for all he knows. He has checked his phone and there have been no messages. He has sent a lot himself already. Even called. But there has been no answer. He can't just run to find them either. At least he can comfort himself with the fact that the entrance ceremony will start soon and Y/n will probably be there, at least. If they aren't, he may have to go out of his way to find them.

• . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. •

₊ Y/n has heard the last name Lucci from somewhere, but they can't remember

₊ Their stigma is a little strange, especially when they use it, since it backfires a lot

₊ Y/n is sensitive to sounds, especially loud ones, so they are in quite a lot of pain when it's loud

• . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. •

Chapter Text

» [𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳] «
1:33 ──〇──── 4:40
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

"ⁱ ᶜᵒᵘˡᵈⁿ'ᵗ ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ᶜʳʸ, ˢᵒ ⁱ ᵏᵉᵉᵖ ˡⁱᵛⁱⁿᵍ
ˢᵒ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵗʰᵉ ʳᵉˢᵗ ᵒᶠ ʸᵒᵘʳ ˡⁱᶠᵉ ᵇᵉᶜᵒᵐᵉˢ ᵐᵒʳᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵐᵒʳᵉ ᵘⁿʰᵃᵖᵖʸ."

Somehow, by a miracle, I make my way into the auditorium, where the entrance ceremony is going to be held. The big room is quite dim, the candles barely casting any light upon the hundreds of seats in the hall. Most of the students are already here, in their uniforms. I feel really out of place, but then again, I'll be one of them soon, whether I like it or not. Well, more special, though, since as a ghoul, I actually have powers.

I scan the auditorium, trying to find a good place to sit, when I suddenly see a rather familiar face. It's Luca, sitting in a rather far corner of the room, looking around. I quickly hurry to him, not wanting to be awkwardly standing when the ceremony starts.

"Hey, Luca!" I whisper-shout as I reach his seat. He slightly turns, looking at me with wide eyes. "Y/n, where did you go? I was worried. You could've at least told me something."

I rub the back of my neck as I answer him. "Oh, right. Sorry, I got a headache and I forgot to text you. I also couldn't tell you, because you were so busy with Fuji and Romeo and such."

Luca opens his mouth, seemingly wanting to scold me even more, when a spotlight suddenly lights up the big stage. There stands the Chancellor in his glory, well, in as much glory as his short form can have. 

"Congratulations to all our new students!" his high-pitched voice says, echoing through the auditorium thanks to the microphone in front of him. "With no further ado, let's begin the Weighing of Souls for the special admission students!"

Weighing of Souls? That's interesting. We didn't have such a thing back in England. After all, ghouls were looked down on. It's not like any of us actually wanted to become the way we are. It's just that the promise of a wish fulfilled in a desperate situation is sweeter than anything else.

"Could all the new ghouls please come up to the stage?" the short male then asks, and soon after, four guys walk up to the stage. What's up with the ratio of males and females being ghouls? Why are there so many male ghouls? Damn, I've yet to see any female ones, honestly. This is some kind of sexism.

All four are wearing the same uniforms as me and Luca, the ones we got from the school administration when we arrived here. 

There is awkward silence as everyone's eyes are on the four, when one of the new students speaks up. "Ahem," he says, his blue eyes scanning over the whole auditorium. "My name is Shinjo Ritsu. I will be joining Darckwick Academy's special admissions program."

He says that as if it weren't obvious. Of course, the Chancellor only asked the ghouls there. So why does he need to introduce himself that thoroughly? Kind of reminds me of Luca a little.

"Give him a round of applause, everyone!" the blue-haired short man says, as the room starts clapping, quite unenthusiastically, I must note. "Now, please take the hand of this mannequin, and envision your ambitions for your time here."

Oh, so that's why there was a mannequin on the stage. I did think it was weird but not noteworthy, honestly. Sometimes these types of schools just have weird interior designs.

The student, Shinjo, steps close to the human-like statue and grabs its hand, squeezing it. I assume that he closes his eyes as well, even though I can't really see it from this angle. Then, as if by magic, his robe started glowing different colours. Red, purple, blue, yellow, turquoise, orange, magenta. All seven colours of the different houses which are represented in this school.

Then, as soon as the light appeared, it disappeared, and the male took off the robe, revealing his new clothing underneath. Now, his skin is covered by a rather fancy clothing, most of it tinted in red, the most notable being the long, red coat. Haven't seen this colour around yet.

"Congratulations! You'll be in Sinostra House!" the Chancellor says with a bright smile. At that, the students start talking quite loudly, seemingly excited. But the guy himself doesn't seem too pleased, as his lips move, though he's talking too quietly for me to hear anything.

"No mistakes - the result of the Weighing is final. There is surely a reason to your assignment," Cornelius shakes his head. I wonder what they are known for in Sinostra. I don't remember, once again.

The Chancellor then claps his hands. "Next, please!"

Another student walks forward, eyes glued to his phone. Doesn't seem that he's too bothered by being here. "Leo here. You can clap now," he lazily says, barely gazing over the hall. The Chancellor isn't pleased with this introduction at all. "Just a moment!" he says, hands on his hips, "You have to introduce yourself properly first!"

The guy then looks away from the glowing phone, a frown on his face. "Ugh. I'm Kurosagi Leo, and my ambition is world peace." Wow, this guy and world peace? He seems like a total jerk. Oh, here I go again, judging the book by its cover. "You can clap now," he says once again. But no clapping is heard. "Wait, wait! That was too abrupt!" The Chancellor tries to argue, but Kurosagi has already grabbed the hand of the mannequin, and his robes did the same colour flashing as Shinjo's.

When he took off the robe, though, instead of red being the dominating colour, it was yellow instead. Instead of the fancy clothing that Shinjo got, Kurosagi looks more like a thug that you'd meet on the street. The chatter that was among the students immediately dissipates. Then, applause is heard. 

"Grr!! Congratulations!" Cornelius says, obviously mad. "You're in Vagastrom House!"

Now that I do remember. Wasn't this the house where all the delinquents are? Oh, maybe I'm wrong, though. It's what I slightly remember hearing. "You're so loud..." Kurosagi groans, stepping away from the spotlight. It doesn't seem that he cares to be here any longer.

"Next, please!"

The person stepping up now is like a 180 from the other two. Seems that he doesn't want to be here at all, and he'd rather be somewhere else, doing absolutely nothing. He stops right outside the spotlight and sighs, before introducing himself, if you can call it that.

"Shiranami Ren..." he says in a rather quiet tone. This name was hard to catch, honestly. Someone, give him a microphone. "Mr Shiranami! Please stand in the middle, and speak up!" the Chancellor echoes my thoughts.

"That's harassment, you know," Shiranami places one of his hands on his hips. "You can't lecture me in front of an audience. What decade is this?" This guy is annoying. Gosh. Sure, it's not like I enjoy being the centre of attention either, but it can't be that hard to say your name while standing in the spotlight for a single moment.

The Chancellor groans slightly before telling the crowd to applaud the guy. There is even less enthusiastic clapping than there was with any of the ghouls before. "Okay, now take the hand of the mannequin like the others-"

"Is this gimmick really necessary?" the male speaks up with a sour expression. The more he acts like an idiot, the more he has to be in the centre of attention. But eventually, he does grab the hand and squeezes it. When he discards his robe, though, his clothing seems to be from another world. Why the hell is he wearing a damn jumpsuit?!

"Congratulations! You'll be in Jabberwock House!" The Chancellor has a smile on his face once again.

"What the-" Shiranami seems quite angry at the current state of his clothing.

"All right, last but not least! Come on up!"

At these words, a light-haired male steps into the spotlight. Just like the previous two, it doesn't seem that he's too thrilled to be here. "Haizono Sho. Sup." 

"Mr Haizono! Please say your full name!" The short-staffed member once again isn't happy with his new student. "What?" the ghoul stares at him, quite pissed off. "Urk... P-please give him a round of applause, everyone!"

And yet again, the crowd is clapping their hands together. I've been too interested in watching the ceremony unfold that I've honestly not clapped at all. "So I just have to fill my heart with wondrous ambition and give this thing a squeeze?" the male asks, voice filled with obvious sarcasm.

"Oh! Yes! The hand, if you don't mind!" I have no clue what else someone would squeeze, if not the hand. This mannequin has no balls, so it'd be out of question, right? Maybe the neck, then?

Another display of flashing colours, and as soon as Haizono removes his robe, it's apparent that he's in Vagastrom as well. Seems that getting two ghouls to the same house isn't too common here, as the public starts talking quite loudly again. "Wow, congratulations! That's two for Vagastrom this year!"

As Haizono walks back to the other first-year students, I swear that I can hear them talking as well. As the crowd keeps getting louder and louder, the Chancellor's voice is heard through the speakers again.

"Quiet, please, everyone! The Weighing isn't over yet." As soon as he utters these words, the whole auditorium gets quiet. "This year, we have not one, but two new second-year ghoul students joining us!"

"Let's go," Luca mumbles as he grabs my hand and starts walking up to the stage. Seemingly, he's the first one to go up in the middle, so I just stay behind, watching him from the shadows, as weird as it sounds.

"My name is Lucas Errant. I'm a transfer student from Emrys Academy in the UK," he starts speaking, his whole posture screaming confidence. I could never be like that. Oh, how I envy him. "I'll be joining the second year. I look forward to studying with you."

As he finishes speaking, the whole crowd, yet again, starts talking. Gosh, do they have to be that loud? I don't want to take another pill for my headache. "A round of applause, everyone!" The Chancellor didn't even have to say it, as the students are clapping louder than before. Another minus about this. "If you could concentrate on your ambition for your time here and take the mannequin's hand, Mr Errant."

"Yes, sir!" Luca says, stepping up to the mannequin, closing his eyes and squeezing its hand. He, like all the other students, has the colours playing around him before dissipating quickly. When he takes off his outer robe, the first noticeable thing is the dark-blue colour. His clothes are also a lot fancier than what he usually wears.

"Wow, congratulations! You'll be in Frostheim!" That's the house he thought he'd work well in. Guess that praying for it really works. Perhaps I should really think about Mortkranken? Could I possibly get in there this way?

Luca quickly turns towards me, smiling, before walking off the stage, leaving me alone. From what I can see, he went to Fuji, who is sitting there with a girl. Probably Aya. Damn. Hopefully, I won't be too anxious. Honestly, maybe I should try getting into Frostheim, too. Then I could be with Luca and Fuji. That'd be fun, right? To be with people you somewhat know. But at the same time, I should try to get into somewhere that I actually want to be. Like Mortkranken, it works the best with me. So no time to think about my connections.

"Next, please!" Cornelius then says, and with a deep breath of air, I step into the spotlight. Immediately, I can feel everyone's eyes on me. Honestly, in such a situation, it's not rare for me to forget my own name as well. But I can't fuck up. The important thing is not to talk in English. I'm in Japan. I have to speak up in their language.

"My name is Y/n L/n," I start. Good. Correct language. "I'm also from Emrys Academy. It's a pleasure to be here today. Thank you for accepting me."

Great. Now I seem like some idiot. Why do I start saying some nonsense when I'm nervous? It sucks. A lot. 

"Another round of applause, please!" As the crowd starts clapping, I feel really embarrassed. Not only did I just fuck up my introduction, but now I have to suffer through the stupid applause as well. "Now, please squeeze the mannequin's hand, just like all previous ghouls did!"

I step closer to the rather tall structure and grab its hand. I shut my eyes, probably tighter than I should. I can feel the magic happen. The robe flatters as the soft breeze of different colours probably dances around me. As soon as the small wind stops and I open my eyes, something in my gut tells me that it didn't go as planned. Something's wrong. But I don't know what.

As soon as my hands reach to take off the outer robe, my stomach turns. What is this? Anxiety? About what? It's not like I chose the house myself. I shouldn't be anxious about it.

So, with my hands shaking a little, I push the robe off my shoulders. Immediately, I can hear gasps from the audience. I look at the Chancellor, and even he looks shocked. What the fuck is happening?

Then I gaze down at my uniform. That's it. That's the reason. There is the turquoise colour, which I was kind of expecting. But it's not the only colour. There is also magenta. This isn't normal, right?

Seems that the whispering students think the same. I bite my lower lip. I didn't want this shit. Why did it happen to me out of all people? Out of all ghouls? I guess I've been cursed with bad luck since birth, or something. It's not the first time something as bad as this has happened.

I sigh. "So, what house am I in?" The Chancellor seems to have finally collected himself over the initial shock. "Well, we'll talk about it later! For now, you can go and sit down! Please, another round of applause."

But there is no clapping this time. Instead, everyone's eyes that are turned onto me seem to be judging me. I walk down the small stairs, reaching the group consisting of Luca, Fuji and presumably Aya. Luca looks at me with concern in his eyes. For him, it had gone easily. But here I am, wearing a robe with colours from two different houses.

Fuji and Aya seem to be worried as well. But none of them have time to voice their concern, as the Chancellor starts moving on with the entrance ceremony. Maybe it's for the better, so that everyone will move on from my situation.

"This is a disaster!" are his first words. Okay. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he's not trying to move on. "Where is Professor Hyde?! I told him to prepare the kudan!"

Nevermind. Seemingly, there is another disaster besides this. I'm glad. "I don't see him anywhere... I'll check outside," another professor says. I don't remember his name, but he looks like a doctor, so I'd assume that he is in charge of the hospital. "Thank you! Honestly! I really cannot deal with unpredictable people!" the Chancellor lets out a loud sigh. "The year's only just begun, and it's been one calamity after another..."

"The professors seem flustered. Has there been a problem?" Luca then speaks up. It doesn't seem that he wants to talk about my situation, probably understanding how uncomfortable I feel about it myself. "Oh, yeah. Let's just hope there's not already a fight over the new ghoul assignments..." Fuji mutters, and I can feel his eyes drift over to me. Yeah, no need to hide it, huh?

"There are seven houses, right?" Aya then speaks up. Yeah, it's her voice. "Does that mean some won't have new students this year?"

"Yep! No firsties for Hotarubi this year!" This is the house Kusanagi is in, right? "Mortkranken probably either, though who knows where L/n is going to end up." Okay, he's damn shameless. "Yeah, I know, right? That's like, super weird. I didn't know something like this would happen at all."

"Man, I hoped you'd be in Frostheim too," Fuji sighs. "There are a few ghouls in every house, but the Weighing doesn't always spread them evenly."

"If the other houses are struggling, we should offer our help. What are the Hotarubi students like?" Luca then asks. "Artsy," Fuji answers with a single word. "A lot of them work in creative fields."

"Artsy... There really are a lot of talented people here, aren't there?" Aya asks, and Fuji nods. "That's probably why they're all a little unique. They feel kind of fake, though, you know? The professors are always harping on about Hotarubi being full of model students."

"Guess we know why you're not in there," I can't help but comment, earning a small chuckle from Aya. Hah, at least my humour is still working great. "Gifted, talented, perfect little angelrs... They've gotta be hiding something, right?!"

"Sounds like someone's seriously jealous of them." "Envy festers unless you turn it into motivation for your own improvement, Kaito."

I and Lucas have managed to speak at the same time. Quite different things we both said. Sometimes I wonder how we have become such great friends. "I never said I was jealous..." Fuji groans, but his comment goes unnoticed.

"I've met the Mortkranken students already. They handled my health check when I first arrived."

I look at Lucas wide-eyed. What does he mean? "They checked your health? Nothing such happened to me! They said I should expect them to pay me a visit!"

"Yeah, they're always in charge of stuff like that," Fuji nods, probably answering to Luca's statement. "They major in specialist medical fields like anomalous medicine. They're you're first stop if you get sick or hurt."

"They seemed quite cold, though, when I went to ask for a painkiller," I sigh. "Their ward is like out of a horror movie, right? And Isami is damn scary too!"

Isami? Is that perhaps the student I met there first? No, I doubt it. "They perform experiments of some sort, don't they? I saw an anomaly preserved in a strange liquid there," Luca then explains, and Fuji scrunches his face. "Eugh... See, there's definitely something up with their captain... My suggestion is to not get injured, okay?"

This guy has got to stop scaring me. I'm literally the one with Mortkranken's house colour on my robe. Why does he make it sound so scary? "Though, if L/n gets there, then I wouldn't mind getting injured as much anymore!"

Okay, this guy is a total simp, but this is going too far. "Sinostra, Vagastrom, Hotarubi, Jabberwock, Mortkranken, and our house, Frostheim," Luca counts six of the houses on top of his head.

"How'd you remember them all so quick?" Fuji is surprised. Honestly, I would be too, if I weren't already aware of his great memory capabilities. "I have an ear for languages. I've received special training for it since I was a child. That's only six houses, though. What's the name of the seventh?"

"It's the newest one of the current lineup," Fuji decides to explain. "There are no general students, and even most ghouls students can't join it. Let's just say it's special. You can't be assigned there via the Weighing of Souls."

His eyes then once again drift onto me. "Well, you couldn't until today. Seems that L/n is doing history out here." I groan. This isn't what I was planning on. So much of a normal school year.

"I don't know much about them either, but rumour has it their captain was the one who-"

Fuji's explanation is cut off by the Chancellor's voice. He demands silence. He starts speaking as the whole auditorium falls silent, but my thoughts are elsewhere.

So one of the colours on my robe isn't even normal? You can't get to this house like this? What the fuck is happening then? Why did I get this stupid two-coloured shit? I just wanted to spend a normal year, not get into some mysterious and special house. It can't be this difficult, right? 

• . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. •

₊ Because of Y/n's origins, they were able to get into Obscuary as well as Mortkranken

₊ They don't have any idea about Aya's curse or powers

₊ They want to be a normal student, but life keeps changing for the worse

• . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. •

Chapter Text

» [𝘷𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦] «
1:21 ───〇─── 3:12
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

"ⁱ ʷᵃⁿᵗᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵇᵉ ʸᵒᵘʳ ʷᵒᵐᵃⁿ, ⁱ ʷᵃⁿᵗᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵇᵉ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᵐᵃⁿ
ⁱ ʷᵃⁿᵗᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵇᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ʸᵒᵘ ᶜᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵘⁿᵈᵉʳˢᵗᵃⁿᵈ."

Everything goes by so fast. I barely listen to the prophecy and almost miss the way Aya passes out on the stage. Then, the students start scrambling out of the auditorium, and a message is heard on the speakers.

"Frostheim students Fuji Kaito and Lucas Errant remain in the auditorium. Y/n L/n, please go to the Chancellor's office."

Well, isn't this just great? Now I have to go there. Whatever, hopefully it clears out any misconceptions. Maybe I can finally get an actual house to stay in. "I'll be back soon, hopefully," I wave at the two males who have remained seated next to me the whole time. 

As I head out of the auditorium, I realise that I have no idea where the office actually is. I have been there once, and that was when I came in from the main entrance. Now I'm somewhere else, completely lost. Time to wander the halls once again. Maybe I'll get lucky and find the correct place easily.

I try to follow the signs on the walls. Firstly, it seems to be on the second floor. Somewhere in the middle. And sure enough, as I approach the place where it should be, I see the big doors. I knock and then peek inside. The sheer number of people in the office is what shocks me. I thought it would only be the professors, perhaps, but there are also students there, one of them wearing the same magenta colored robes as me, and the other two are the Mortkranken students I saw before.

Oh gosh. Am I going to get kicked out of the school already? Damn, what a shame it would be. "Come on in, L/n!" the familiar high-pitched voice says, and that's what I do. I step inside the office, and everyone turns their eyes on me. "Please, take a seat," he then points towards the only chair in front of his desk. Awkwardly, I sit down. It's weird when everyone else is standing.

"So, as you probably figured, your case is not ordinary. In the history of Darkwick, I've never seen anything like this. You got two houses at once, yet one of them isn't even a choice."

His face is more serious than you've seen it. "Obscuary isn't a house where people can get assigned this way. We've got to do something about it. So I've asked the captains and vice-captains of the two corresponding houses to come here, and also the house advisors. Since a ghoul can't normally be in two houses, we've got to come to a compromise."

I can feel chills run over my skin. What if none of the houses want me in them? What if I don't actually fit either? Am I going to be thrown out in this case?

"Hah, since it's obvious that Obscuary isn't even a choice, then they should come to Mortkranken, no?" The blue-haired student from Mortkranken speaks up first, a smirk on his face. "Hey, don't go stealing a cute student from my house!" the blonde guy, who seems to be from that other house, Obscuary, then argues back.

"It's not even your house! Your captain can't even bother to come to the entrance ceremony! I doubt he'd care about whether or not there is a new student," the blue-haired student doesn't back down. "Yuri's right. We could use some help in Mortkranken," the guy, whose name I assumed to be Jiro, speaks up next to the shorter male, who, now I've learned, is called Yuri. Honestly, these are probably their first names, so I shouldn't call them by these when talking with them.

"I wouldn't mind some help around the house either, you know?" the Obscuary student is still arguing back. "Silence!" The Chancellor's voice shuts all three of them up. "I've talked with Professor Moby and Professor Nicolas. We've decided that L/n won't be joining any houses for now."

At that, Yuri's mouth falls agape. "But they obviously are fit to come to Mortkranken! Even their stigma is meant to be used by doctors!"

"I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about it, Mr Isami, but we have decided to send L/n and the honour student to live in the old Clementia dorm."

"This rundown place? It's not fit for living anymore," the blonde student sighs, looking at the Chancellor disapprovingly. "Can't they at least live somewhere where the roof isn't threatening to collapse on them?"

"We have no such place, Mr Mizuki! You've got to understand at least, no?"

The blonde, Mizuki, sighs. It seems that there is no arguing against the Chancellor. "I'd like it if one of the three of you showed L/n where the Clementia house is."

"I can do it, no problem!" Mizuki then speaks up, seemingly excited now. "If I can't have them in my house, then that's the least I can do."

"Whatever. It's not like anything would've changed anyway. Jiro, we're leaving," Yuri, whose last name is apparently Isami, says, walking out the door. The tall guy, Jiro, simply follows him. "L/n, I'll send you the uniform later. Hope you're not too disappointed."

I nod. Sure. Why not. I'm actually very disappointed. I just want to fit in. But no, I have to be with Aya now. Apparently, she's the honour student. I don't even remember what she could do. But she has some powers too. Damn, this girl is pretty. I bet she has a ton of guys swarming around her, trying to win her heart.

"Come on, cutie, let's get going," Mizuki offers me his gloved hand, helping me to my feet. "Thanks," I mutter, letting go immediately after standing up.

We leave the room with three pairs of eyes watching us. "Do you really think it was the best course of action?" Professor Nicolas asks, his eyes still looking at the door, which 4 people had just left closed behind them. "I'm not sure," the Chancellor lets out a sigh. "They're different from the other ghouls, that's for sure. We have to keep an eye on them. But for now, I think they should work alongside Ms Aya. Not as an inspector, but their powers are strong. Healing someone with a simple touch? This could even be dangerous if it were to be paired with the stigma enchanting power. I wouldn't be surprised if they could bring people back from the dead."

The three staff members in the office all know one thing for certain. Having such a strong healing ability that hasn't been properly trained is going to become dangerous one way or another.

Walking alongside Mizuki is a challenge on its own. This guy is trying to hit on me. A lot. He keeps on saying what a shame it is that a cute student like me won't be joining Obscuary. He also managed to make me call him by his first name, which is Rui.

Also, the problem isn't him trying to flirt. Honestly, there is nothing wrong with it. Not the first time it has happened. The problem is that this guy is so good-looking himself that it's kind of scary how much he keeps on complimenting me. Has he even looked at the mirror and maybe tried complimenting himself?

"So, how is it in the UK? Hm? Do these schools only produce beauties such as you?" he then asks. With a sigh, I decide to finally answer. "It's not bad, honestly. I don't know about the beauty scale, though. Guess you'll have to figure it out yourself."

"How is your Japanese so good anyway? This other guy, too, whatever his name was. You two are really good at it!" At his comment, I just shrugged. "We've been studying Japanese for quite a long time. Well, Luca has been learning it since he was small, along with other languages, but I started about 6 or 7 years ago. I'm not too good at it."

"You're kidding? I couldn't even tell you're foreign! I wish I could go outside Japan too; it'd be nice to travel. But then again, I could probably only go to some colder country," he sighs, rubbing the back of his covered neck.

"Why so? Are you sensitive to warmth?" I then ask, now a bit more curious than before. "Oh, no, it's nothing like that," he laughs. "It's just that I'm cursed! Kinda funny, huh?"

His smile never drops, but from the tone of his voice, I can tell that he's uncomfortable. Probably not because of just the talking, but it could be about his curse in general. I mean, if I were cursed, I'd feel bad too.

"Oh, is that so? What does your curse do then?" I decide to ask another question. "If you're okay saying, of course," I then add.

"It's nothing big! I'm used to it by now! Besides, you don't need to be scared of me, my curse only works skin on skin! Besides, I would never do anything to hurt a cutie like you!"

There he goes again, joking and flirting. Great coping mechanism. I should try it sometimes, too. I mean, I've tried humour and stuff, but I've never been brave enough to flirt outright. "Hah, you're really trying to flatter me, hm?"

"Oh, don't take it the wrong way, I can't help but feel my heart beat faster when I'm by someone beautiful!" he winks, making me roll my eyes. I'd be lying if I said that his words do not affect me, but they're not enough to sweep me off my feet either.

"We're here," Rui stops in front of a rather broken cathedral. "Are you sure this is the correct place? This place looks like it's gonna collapse right now!"

More laughter escapes Rui's mouth. "Yeah, this is the place where you and the honour student will be staying. Want me to court you inside, too?"

"No, I'm fine. Thank you, Rui. You were very helpful," I smile at the blonde who nods, smiling. "Of course, anything for you! Don't be afraid to come by Obscuary, I still believe it should be your house of residence!"

He waves at me as he starts walking away. Now I'm standing in front of the dangerous building of Clementia. Or what used to be Clementia, from what I can understand. I decide to carefully step inside the house when suddenly, I hear a female voice behind me. There is no way this place is cursed, is there? Or is there an anomaly here?

"L/n!" Wait, that's my name. I turn around and notice the girl from before. Aya. "I'm so glad you're here with me! I wouldn't dare to stay in this cathedral myself," she says, walking up to me. Her reddish eyes scan the door, probably contemplating whether or not to actually go inside.

"It doesn't look too good, huh? Honestly, I think I'd rather stay in Mortkranken or Obscuary. But it is what it is," I look at the girl once again. "Besides, if you get hurt here, I can just heal you. Convenient, isn't it?"

The girl shakes her head. "Oh, no! I could never make you do something like this!" "It's fine, after all, my stigma is quite literally healing, so if there is nobody for me to heal, I'm quite useless."

I push the door open after my sentence, immediately stepping backwards. The amount of dust that is now flying in the air is abnormal. "Gee, has there not been a person in here for years?" I manage to mutter out, coughing. The short-haired girl next to me is sneezing, and she's damn loud with that.

"Welp, should we go inside then?" I ask, stepping on the floor, only for one of my legs to fall through the floorboard. "Damn it!" My bad luck is at it again. What the hell is happening? How are we supposed to live here? 

"Are you okay?!" Aya quickly rushes up to me, giving me her hand. I nod, and with her help, manage to get out of the hole I just created in the floor. "Those damn people are so rich, yet they can't even give us a normal place to stay," I sigh, brushing dust off my dual-coloured robe. Not like it does anything, though. I'm going to get more dusy, most likely.

"It's not that bad, at least we don't have to stay outside," Aya smiles slightly, trying to find positive sides of the story. But I'm too tired to stay positive. "Sure. You're right."

Being extra careful, we make our way to the stairs. It doesn't seem that there is a lot to do downstairs. Aya is the first one to walk upstairs. "Hey, there's a bed here. And a table. And a couch. There's actual furniture."

I go after her, and sure enough, there is a single bed and some other furniture. "Who's gonna take the bed?" the girl then asked, and without hesitation, I answered her. "You can take it. I'm fine on the couch. We could swap each night, if you want."

She nods. "Okay, sounds good."

I walk up to the couch. It's full of dust. I pull out my phone to get some light and brush off most of it. "Here, you can have one of the pillows. I don't think there is an extra blanket, though," Aya brings an uncomfortable-looking pillow over. It's better than nothing. She doesn't seem too egoistic either. The pillow left on the bed is seemingly as bad as this. "Thanks," I smile at her, placing the fluff-filled cloth on one of the handrests.

"I hope you don't snore too loud," I then say, plopping down on the sofa. "I-I don't! I swear! I've never snored!" she quickly rebuts my sentence, waving her hands in front of her. Damn, is she from an anime or something? I can't help but smirk slightly. "Okay, princess, whatever you say."

Gosh, did talking with Rui for the walk time really rub off on me? Why the hell did I just call this girl a princess? Well, what's done is done. Besides, her reaction is funny. She got all quiet and probably red from embarrassment. "Hey, by the way, can I get your number?" I then ask. Okay, maybe I'm too straightforward. "You know, just to stay in contact, since we're roommates and all now."

The girl walks closer, sitting on the couch as well. "Sure, give me your phone." Obediently, I place my unlocked phone in her hand, and she quickly puts her number in there, adding the contact info as well. She then takes her own phone and puts my number in there. She's not shy at all. She probably seemed that way the first time I saw her, because she was hiding behind that veil. What even happened to it?

"Hey, Aya?" I speak up, and she looks at me. "What happened with that black veil you were wearing?" Her mouth forms a 'o' as she realises that I don't know it.

"Right, you weren't there when it happened," she coughs her throat clean. "Basically, the veil was this anomaly called Hera's Snakes, the one that escaped. And I couldn't take it off on my own, so Luca helped me."

Of course, he did. Playing hero again. "Then, it transformed into a ring, see?" She holds up her hand, showing me the ring. "It won't come off, though. Professor Nicolas tried it, and I tried it. Nothing works. But it gave me the ability to boost the ghouls' stigmas. So whenever I hold their hand, their power will be stronger."

I scoff. That's such a cringe way to boost powers. "Well, seems you'll be losing the hand-holding virginity, huh? Good luck, some people have really sweaty hands, wouldn't want to be you in this case."

"Oh, be quiet... I'm already nervous enough," the girl shakes her head in disbelief. "I don't even want to be here. I was just going home from a concert, and then I ended up here because I was cursed by some weird anomaly."

"Hah, tell me more," I smirk. "Being cursed can't be all that bad, right? I mean, you've got super cool powers now, right?"

Aya bites her lip. "It's not funny. I have a year left to live. Didn't you hear at the entrance ceremony?"

Oh shit. A year? Now I feel like an asshole. "I'm sorry, I was stuck in my own thoughts. I was busy trying to figure out why I'm in two different houses at once."

What a lame excuse. "But Darkwick is doing their best to break the curse, right? Even if they aren't, I'll be happy to help you if I find any clues. Nobody deserves to die because of a curse."

The girl smiles softly. "Thank you. I'm glad I've got you here."

"Of course. I mean, it's nothing personal; I'd help anyone break their curse. Because it's shitty."

Does that mean I should help Rui break his curse, too? Yet, he didn't say that he's going to die. So maybe his curse is fundamentally different? I don't exactly remember what we learned about curses in school. I got to ask Luca if I want to get more info.

"Well, I'm gonna sleep now," I yawn loudly, and the girl gets the hint. "Right! It's late already! And tomorrow is a school day! Goodnight, L/n!" she says, quickly rushing to get her clothes changed. Why the hell does this girl get pyjamas and I don't? Man, this life is full of unfairness.

So, instead of changing, I simply lay down on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Today has happened a lot. I wonder how Luca's doing? Should I text him? Maybe he has texted me? Just checking wouldn't harm, right? With a sigh, I take my phone and put the brightness to the lowest. No notifications. The last time you were missing, Luca did text me quite a lot. Maybe he just knows that I'm safe?

I close my phone and place it on the table next to the couch. That's great. Now I have nothing better to do than stare at the ceiling once again. Quite interesting, honestly. Okay, that's a lie. It's a good tactic for falling asleep, though. Doing something boring.

I wish that I could get more info about the way I was sorted into two houses. Does that mean something extra? Do I perhaps have to go on missions with Obscuary and Mortkranken both? Does that mean you have two house captains and now they have not an extra ghoul in their house but half a ghoul? That'd be weird. 

I wonder, what role does Aya play? Sure, she has powers to boost stigmas, but what good will she be if she can't even fight? How will she go to missions, if she's going to be in a position most of the time where she could die, because she has no fighting experience? Wait, I'm assuming again. Maybe she has a black belt in karate or something. Just in case, I shouldn't mess with her too much. Wouldn't wanna be kicked unconscious because of my stupid assumptions.

I can feel my eyelids getting heavier. Hah, sleep is here earlier than usual. Well, that's great. I can't be exhausted on my first day.

• . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. •

₊ Y/n is an ambivert, leaning both ways the same amount

₊ In theory, Y/n is also kind of cursed

₊ People can't help but compliment them a lot, because they are ACTUALLY beautiful

• . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. •

Chapter Text

» [𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦] «
1:45 ───〇─── 3:53
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

"ᵍᵘᵉˢˢ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ʷᵉ'ʳᵉ ˢᵒᵘˡᵐᵃᵗᵉˢ ⁱⁿ ᵈⁱᶠᶠᵉʳᵉⁿᵗ ˡⁱᶠᵉᵗⁱᵐᵉˢ."

I groan, opening my eyes, as a sudden breeze blows on my face. This is totally not the way I would start my day. Gosh. What time is it? I grab for my phone and squint my eyes to see the time on the screen. Before my brain can comprehend those numbers, a cat suddenly jumps on top of my stomach, running off. A hiss of pain escapes my mouth. That damn feline was heavy when jumping.

"Who the hell let the cat in?" I sigh, slowly sitting up. Aya looks at me with an apologetic smile on her face. "Sorry, the cat was here to repair the window, and when I opened it, the little cutie came in."

Guess this girl really loves cats. I love them too, but not when they disturb me as the first thing in the damn morning. "Great, at least something in this house is now fixed."

I look at my phone once again. "It's only half past six? What the fuck? I could've slept for so much longer!" I say, desperation obvious in my voice. This stupid cat stole all the hours from my sleep. Now I can't fall into slumber again, because it's so damn bright. I prefer a dark atmosphere a lot more.

"I guess we have time. Since the classes don't start until 9, we can just look around on the campus, maybe?" the short-haired girl suggests. "No thanks. I've walked through it for the past two days. And even though I'm still not sure about where anything is, I'd rather not force myself to go through the hell of it again."

I then look at the table, noticing two boxes on it. "Hey, what are these?" Aya turns her attention to the table as well. "I'm not sure, but one of those is apparently for you and the other for me." She pushes one of the boxes closer to me. As I open it, a uniform stares back at me. Well, not literally, as it doesn't have eyes. It's a normal uniform, not themed after any of the houses. Not one you saw Romeo, Fuji or Kusanagi wearing yesterday.

Aya also opens her box. She seems to have a uniform as well. When she takes it out, it appears to be with a skirt. Damn, hopefully mine isn't. I take out the top blazer, and on the bottom of the box, right above the shoes, are pants. That's great. Makes fighting anomalies easier. In a skirt, it would be impossible. But you never know what Darkwick has to offer.

"Should we get dressed, then?" I ask, and Aya nods. She then looks around as if to find a place to go. With a scoff, I shake my head. "Don't worry, I'm not a pervert. But if you want, I can turn around." She gives me a small smile, and I take it as a sign to turn my back to her. I don't get the problem, honestly. When Luca and I were training, back in the UK, we always changed clothes in the same room; neither of us complained. But whatever, if this girl feels comfortable this way, then it shall be.

"I'm ready," she says soon, and I finally turn around. Not going to lie, she looks damn fine in her attire. Hah, I bet she's going to be popular amongst the students. I mean, honestly, if nobody wants her, then I should shoot my own shot, no? I'm hurrying ahead too much. I should dress up in my brand new uniform as well. Without waiting for the girl to turn around, I start taking off the robe from yesterday. Honestly, it wasn't all that uncomfortable to sleep in.

The uniform fits perfectly as if it were made for me. I guess it kinda is, huh. After all, Darkwick asked for my measurements before coming to school. Never really gave it any thought, though.

As I finish tying the tie around my neck, I stand up. "What should we do now? Wanna look around here? I mean, yesterday it was too dark to look around at our temporary home." The girl nods, agreeing with me. "Sure. After all, we'll be living here."

We ascend the stairs, Aya in front. It's great, if there is somewhere else to fall through, she's going to do it. I already broke the floor last night. There, on the left of the staircase, is a rather extravagant hallway. There are stone statues lined up on either side of the hall. It seems to be from some older time. This cathedral does look old, so I wouldn't be surprised. As we walk through the hallway, steps echoing, we find ourselves in front of a rather big door. Made out of wood, but in a better condition than that wooden floor.

As Aya uses all her strength to push it open, light envelopes the hallway from the gap. It seems that behind this door is another big room. "Wow... Is this a church?" she asks, awestruck. "Well, they did say it's a cathedral, so yeah, I'd assume so," I nod. The view would be extraordinary if it weren't for that same damn floor as in front of the outer door. On the other side of the room is a big organ, probably not working any more, judging by the damage that has been inflicted on it and also on other parts of this room. All the benches are damaged, and the wooden planks from the floor are lying everywhere.

Aya takes a step and suddenly yelps, grabbing onto my arm, as she falls through the floor the same way I did hours before. I can't help but let out a weird sound as well at the sudden gravity that's pulling me towards the floor. Right now, I'm thankful for the extra strength that comes along with the ghoul package.

"Don't just grab onto someone else when you're falling! It's a lot less damage if only one of us gets hurt!" I say, as I help the girl back on the more stable ground. "Sorry, it was my reflexes," she sighs, not looking too pleased with herself either.

Suddenly, there is a loud bang somewhere else in the big cathedral. I can't help but flinch at the sound. "What was that?!" Aya asks, seemingly scared a little. "Hey! L/n! Where are you?" a voice then asks. I know who it is. "Gosh, it's Mizuki Rui. Obscurary's Vice Captain," I sigh. Great. What does he want?

"Aya and I are here! In the organ room! Or whatever it's called," I add the last part quietly. I'm seriously not sure what this kind of room is called. But it seems that the blond knows exactly what I meant, because within a minute, he's already standing in the doorway, his regular smile on his lips. "Whoa! Look at that! Two cuties in the same room! I must be in heaven!"

Aya lets out a rather awkward laugh at his comment, while I sigh loudly. "Do you need something? Or did you just decide to pay a visit to us?"

"Oh, right! I was meant to fetch you to see the Obscuary's captain... But I'm not sure it's such a great idea, honestly," the man says, his smile turning into a frown slowly. I raise an eyebrow. "And why not? I mean, I'm partly in your house, after all, aren't I? It would only make sense for me to meet the captain as well."

Rui's expression turns even more sour at my words. "It's not like he's actually doing anything as the captain anyway. You could say that I'm running the house, mostly." But I keep on insisting, so he has no other choice but to bring me to their captain's room.

"See you later, Aya!" I bid my goodbyes to the brunette, who waves at me with a smile. I feel kind of bad for leaving her behind, but she has her own things to worry about, like getting to classes at the correct time. Or finding the classrooms, for that matter.

"Are you like, certain, that you wanna see him? He's not a pleasant person to be around," Rui asks, rubbing the back of his neck, as we walk towards the Obscuary campus. "He can't be that bad now, can he? I mean, I've met a ton of assholes in my life, I doubt he can challenge them."

Rui's dry chuckle is all I need to hear to know that I was wrong. But seriously, it can't be this crazy.

I was dead wrong. This guy is... Definitely unique.

"Gosh! Why didn't you clean up!? I told you, we had a new person coming over!" Rui complains, as the view of a messy room fills our vision, and he opens the double doors to a huge room. "I'm too old for the cleaning job, Rui. You should've done it yourself," the male, who's apparently the owner of this room, sighs loudly.

His eyes then move to me, and his lips curl up in a smile. "Oh, look at who you brought in." A shiver runs down my spine as his eyes move down my body and then back up to my face. "Hm, isn't that interesting? Say, are they in our house, Rui?"

The blonde, who had busied himself with cleaning, sighs. "I told you before, they're half in our house. They're also part of Mortkranken." The lazy man chuckles. "Right. Excuse my poor memory. I'm just so old, I don't remember everything."

I swear that I hear Rui cursing him out under his breath, but it may just be my imagination. "I'm Y/n L/n. I'm a transfer student from England," I quickly introduce myself, as I realise that I didn't have the chance to do it yet.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, really," the captain of Obscuary house says, still smirking. "I'm Edward Hart. The most powerful vampire in the world. So be careful, or I may just bite you."

Instinctively, I take a step back, making the guy laugh. "I'm joking, I wouldn't bite you unless you want me to."

"Shut up for once, would you?" Rui then says, finally emerging from the room to stand next to me. It seems that he gave up on trying to tidy up this huge mess. "You can't harass everything that's breathing, be for real." He then turns to me once again. "Would you like to get going? You probably haven't eaten any breakfast, so I want to show you where the cafeteria is."

"Alright, sounds good," I nod. As we turn around, leaving Edward alone in his room, the dark-haired vampire suddenly leaps towards me, whispering in my ear. "You should be careful around others. After all, you're different from them, mind that."

"Gosh! Ed! Stop this!" Rui doesn't hesitate to pull me away from the vampire, who has now started coughing, even more pale than before. "Sorry, I shouldn't make such rapid movements. Enjoy your breakfast," he says, walking back to his room.

"I'm so sorry about him," Rui immediately apologises, a groan escaping his mouth. "I told you, it's not a good idea to meet him, even if the Chancellor wants it." I simply shrug. "He was weird. Sure. And I don't think I ever wanna see him again, but you know, I had to find it out on my own, I can't trust your word."

"You wound me!" Rui dramatically brings one of his hands to his chest in mock hurt. "How could you not trust me, Mizuki Rui? I'm the most trustworthy person on the campus!" I can't help but laugh a little. He's super dramatic but in a good way.

"How was your first night here? I hope the cathedral wasn't too funky for your liking. You know, you could easily just come by the Obscuary and hit the sack there; we've got a bunch of empty rooms that nobody's using. And it's not like we're getting any new students soon."

"I wouldn't wish on anyone's fate to go to that run-down mansion of yours either," a voice suddenly speaks up behind us. As I spin around to see who's speaking, I see the house captain of Mortkranken. Isami Yuri, I think, I hope. 

"Wow! What great timing, Yuri!" Rui bitterly says, also turning towards the slightly shorter male. "What have we done to deserve the blessing of your appearing?"

The blue-haired doctor scoffs, rolling his eyes. "I have to do a health check on L/n. So I'd appreciate it if you would let them come with me to Mortkranken." "We were just about to go eat breakfast. Are you really going to starve your poor housemate?"

"It won't take long," Isami insists. "They'll have enough time to eat later. The more time we spend uselessly talking here, the less time all of us have to do what we want. Got it?" He then turns towards me. "Come on, I don't have all day. I barely have ten minutes to spare here."

"Well, I guess I'd better go then. Catch you later, Rui!" I wave, hurrying after Isami, who's walking quite fast towards his own house. "Take care, make sure you won't let him experiment on you!" Rui shouts. Wow, so reassuring. Isami lets out a loud scoff. "This guy... He's still as annoying as always."

"Do you and Rui know each other?" I then ask. "It doesn't matter now, does it? It has nothing to do with your physical state whatsoever."

This is the whole conversation. This guy is too scary for me to say anything else. As we get to the same castle I had been in yesterday, where I got my medicine from them, Isami immediately rushes inside. I blink a few times before stepping in as well. The smell of medicine is strong, and a lot of people are walking around, barely glancing at me. I wonder if I really would've been in this house. The vibe is completely off from what I thought it would be.

"You're L/n Y/n, right?" a voice then asks. I turn around and see the same tall guy as yesterday. I can't remember his name, though. "Yeah, that's me," I quickly nod. "This way then."

He's so tall that he has to bend his neck a little to get through the doorway. I wonder whose genes he got to be this tall. "You can go over to that bed there and change out of your clothes. The new robes are also there."

"Alright," I nod, walking up to the bed he pointed at. I pull the curtain around the little space and quickly change out of my new uniform, pulling on the hospital gown. As soon as I finish, the curtain flows away, revealing Isami and the tall guy standing there. "Great! We can start and get it over with!"

"I'll start with some basic questions," the purple-haired guy says, pulling out a notebook and flipping to an empty page. "What's your full name?" You answer, and the guy writes it down. "Date of birth?" Another answer, another writing down. "What about your stigma? Incantation? What does it too?"

"I can heal people with it. Well, I get all their pain to myself, so it's not really effective, but with small injuries it works quite efficiently, especially since, as a ghoul, I heal a lot faster," I explain, looking at Yuri, who's walking around the bed, examining you this way. "It activates with medeor​​​​​​." 

"Interesting, so no effect when you simply say it? Do you have to make sure you think of activating it? Some of the ghouls' stigmas activate without them wanting to."

I nod. "Yeah, it was a lot of training, but I can control it quite well, so there won't be any accidents with my power."

"Jiro, prepare the syringes. We're going to need to run some analysis and take some blood. We'll figure out the blood group this way."

The tall guy, called Jiro, whom I now remember as well, nods and goes to a cupboard-looking thing, taking out a special syringe and some containers to put the blood in. "It'd be better if you looked away now," he then says, approaching me and kneeling by the bed, gently grabbing my left hand, touching the inner side of the elbow for good veins.

I turn my head away, and soon enough, there's a stinging feeling. Then, you can feel the blood flowing. It goes through tubes into the containers. When Jiro's done, he wraps a bandage around the place and makes me bend it, so the blood flow will go back to normal. In the meantime, Isami has taken the samples of blood and inserted them into some sort of machine, which he's now waiting for the results from.

"Interesting. I have never seen something like this!" he then says, beckoning his assistant closer. Jiro sighs, walking up to Yuri and the screen with the results. "Hm, you're right. What is this even for?" "We've got to find out, obviously!"

The blue-haired doctor then turns around, facing me. "Do you have anything to tell us? Have the doctors ever found anything in your blood that shouldn't have been there? Anything at all?" I shake my head. "I've rarely had my blood tested. I've been quite healthy, so there's been no reason."

"There goes this. Well, whatever. Everything in your blood seems to be normal. You can change back now. I don't see a reason to check anything else," the male dismisses. "Are you sure we shouldn't do a physical check on them, too? We did that with the other transfer."

"I'm certain. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than to check on a healthy person." Isami turns away before adding, "I'll be expecting to see you around here more than around Obscuary. Your power is really effective."

This catches me a little off guard, but I nod. "Please, put your uniform back on. I'll show you the way out later."

At Jiro's words, I can change once again. Third time today. "I'm done," I then notify, and sure enough, Jiro helps me get out of the Mortkranken dorm. "Don't mind Yuri, he's always like this. Obviously, you're welcome to swing by anytime. After all, this is your dorm as well."

"Thanks for the thumbs up," I smile. Jiro hums and disappears back into the castle. "Hey, Y/n! Done already?" It seems that Rui had walked out here to wait for me. "Yup! They did some basic tests, and this was it. I'm way hungrier now, though. So, shall we go?"

"Sure thing," Rui smiles, and we start walking towards the school building. "I hope we have enough time to grab something to eat. Otherwise, the classes will start, and you'll have to wait until lunchtime." "Are the campus stores not open in the meantime?"

"They are, but you won't have time to go there, the breaks between classes are quite short and you have to navigate the next classroom in that time... Well, not like I would know much, though. I rarely go there. I'd prefer not to kill some innocent person when bumping into them."

Fair point. "So you just live here without taking any classes?" "Kind of, yeah. I do go to missions, though. So I'm at least somehow useful. Oh, we're here. Quick, grab something to eat. I'll get going. I'm sure you can go on from here yourself. Drop by Obscuary sometimes, too, alright?"

With that, the blonde disappears, leaving me in the still bustling cafeteria. Time to get some food.

• . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. •

₊ The Mortkranken ghouls were seriously confused about Y/n's blood test results

₊ Luca was kind of worried when he didn't see Y/n at the Clementia's dorm

₊ Y/n has been healthy most of their life, even before getting healing powers

• . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. •

Chapter Text

» [𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺] «
1:17 ────〇── 2:47
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

"ᵃⁿᵈ ⁱᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ᵍᵒ, ⁱ ʷᵃⁿⁿᵃ ᵍᵒ ʷⁱᵗʰ ʸᵒᵘ
ᵃⁿᵈ ⁱᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ᵈⁱᵉ, ⁱ ʷᵃⁿⁿᵃ ᵈⁱᵉ ʷⁱᵗʰ ʸᵒᵘ."

I look down at the timetable that I got a few days ago, trying to locate my first classroom. "Anomalous biology, huh?" I mutter to myself as I arrive in front of a classroom with big doors. I push them open, and sure enough, chatter is filling the room, as people have already found their seats, mostly in the back of the class. How cliche.

Scanning the room for an empty seat, I spot Luca, Aya, and Fuji all together. Cautiously, I approach them, sneaking up on Luca, trying to scare him a little. But the guy doesn't even flinch. The one who actually gets scared is Fuji, who lets out quite a scream. "L/n?! Don't sneak up on people like that!" he says, his eyes still big from the surprise.

"Morning, Y/n. Did you sleep well? I didn't see you when we went to the cathedral, Aya said you left already with a blonde guy," Luca welcomes me, completely ignoring his housemate. "Yeah! Rui came to pick me up to show me the Obscuary dorm, and then Isami took me to Mortkranken for a health check."

"I see. Did you get anything to eat?" he then asks. I can see Fuji and Aya looking at us, a little confused. Guess they're not used to hearing English around here, and even if they are, it's probably not with this accent. It's kind of fun to piss people off, using a super forced British accent.

"Yeah, I was dropped off at the cafeteria, so I grabbed myself a sandwich and some juice," I reply, taking a seat at the empty table. I don't really care who sits next to me. Apparently, it's going to be Luca. Not too surprising, we've sat together in a lot of classes, especially since we were the only ghouls there.

"That's great. At least you're not starving yourself." I look at the guy, dumbfounded. When have I ever starved myself on purpose? Sometimes I just forget to eat or can't because I've just finished treating a person, and as a result, I suffer from their sickness.

I decide to change the subject by asking: "Why hasn't the class started yet? I thought for sure I got here at the last minute. Did I read the time wrong?" Lucas shrugs. "I don't know, I'd assume that the teacher is here by now. Guess they aren't as punctual in Japan as we may have thought."

"What are you guys whispering about?" Fuji asks from behind us, having sat there with Aya. Oops, we forgot to change back to Japanese. This is what happens when you know more than one language. Well, Lucas knows tons of languages, but this is besides the point.

"We were wondering why the teacher hasn't arrived yet. Class should've started by now, shouldn't it?" Luca asks, twisting his body a little to look behind him. Fuji sighs at his question. "This is Hyde's class, though... I don't know if he's ever been on time."

As soon as he finishes his sentence, a yawning teacher walks in, still wearing the same blindfold as from days before. Still not sure why, but everyone has their own preferences, so I'm not gonna question it too much. Probably. "Mornin', sorry I'm late," he starts, stretching a little. "First class of the new year, huh? Let's get the ball rolling."

"Oh, right on cue," Fuji comments, leaning back on his chair and looking at the white-haired teacher expectantly. The male in front of the class scratches his head before speaking up yet again. "I think you all know me, but just to be sure - I'm Professor Hyde, and I specialise in anomalous biology," he introduces himself.

"Today's just gonna be a review of what you learned last year, so you can take it easy." Damn, I thought we were gonna learn something new, but whatever, this works out too, I guess. After all, at the start of each year, it's just going over last year's things.

"Here we go again," I sigh, leaning backwards on my chair, getting as comfortable as possible. I wonder what the next lesson is. I did look at it, but I completely forgot.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

"That about sums up the main points from last year," the teacher finally says, obviously at the end of the class. Gosh, I can finally get out of here. This stuff was everything I learnt when I went to high school, within the first few weeks. Maybe their program here works differently, so that they learn it more slowly. Perhaps more focus is on combat and such.

"There are a couple of ghouls in our midst today," Hyde then adds, looking towards me, Luca and Kaito, "You guys are considered to be a type of anomaly, too." No shit, professor, is what you want to say. However, you must be respectful, especially to those with higher status.

"Demonic pacts, possessions, and curses are also categorised as anomalies. Our world is overflowing with curiosities."

Suddenly, Luca stands up from his seat, just to ask a question. "Excuse me, sir," he says, catching Professor Hyde's attention. "Oh... Sorry, I'm not really taking questions right now," the teacher brushes him off. But my friend is not that easy to stop. "Sir, what type of training do I need to do to learn to subjugate demons as quickly as possible?"

"What...?" I can hear Fuji question that, quietly, but still loud enough for my ears. "I came to this academy so that I could learn to subjugate demons." At that point, most of the people in the class had diverted their eyes towards us, staring at Luca as if he were from another planet. Great. Now, both of the transfer students are weirdos in their eyes. Welp, can't help it.

"Hm..." Hyde mutters. "You're one of the transfer students, right?" Lucas nods, immediately introducing himself. "Gotta give it to you, Lucas," the teacher then says, slightly smiling and crossing his arms. "I love a can-do attitude. But I can't really give you a good answer for that, sorry."

In fact, this man does not sound sorry at all. It's as if he just felt like saying sorry. "Even to us researchers, demons are uncharted territory. We're still unable to define them. However, through your missions, you'll very occasionally encounter things that are clearly the work of demons."

At those words, Luca perks up, listening even more intensely than before. "If you capture the anomalies involved in those incidents and study them, you may find the answer to your question." Luca then sits down. "I understand. Thank you." His face is more serious than before, but he also seems more satisfied, having gotten some kind of a hint.

As soon as the tanned boy has sat down, Fuji grabs him by the collar and pulls him closer. "Idiot!" he whisper-shouts. "What did you do that for all of a sudden!?" Luca simply tilts his head a bit, not sure what the blonde guy exactly means. "I simply wanted an answer to my question, Kaito. Do you not do such a thing in Japan? I'm sorry if I offended you in any way," the tanned boy frowns slightly, making Fuji even more frustrated.

"No! It's not that, it's just- forget it!" he gives up on trying to explain anything to the stubborn guy, letting go of his clothing. "I don't really understand the people in here. Am I doing something wrong?" Luca then turns to me. I only answer him with a shrug. Can't tell him that he's sometimes being quite insufferable with his oblivious acting.

"Alright! You're free to leave!" Hyde then says, marching towards the door, escaping the big classroom first. Only then do people start packing their bags, chairs scraping against the wooden floor as the students stand up.

"What's the next class for you, L/n?" Fuji then asks, turning towards me. "Let me check," I say, pulling out my timetable. "Huh, it's practical fighting-"

"Me too! Oh, that's great, we have the same class then!" the blonde happily announces, but when Luca speaks up, his expression gets rather sour. "I have the same class. It's nice to have people I know there." Then, Aya opens her mouth as well. "Oh, me too! Though I don't know how much or what I can do there..."

"We'd better get going, from what I understand, we have to change clothes too. Guess it's like physical education in this matter," Luca deduces, as he starts walking towards the door. "Does he even know where we have to go?" I ask and hear Fuji sigh. "Probably not. Just come after me, the three of you." With that, we've gotten ourselves a tour guide.

"The changing room is for both genders, so you'd be wise to use the cabins when they're free. Some people use the bathrooms instead because the line to the changing cabins is too long for their liking," the blonde male explains, as we walk to our destination. "Why don't they just build more of them then?" I ask, not getting the point. Darkwick is quite a rich school; it wouldn't kill their budget to make their students' lives easier a bit.

"Man, I don't know," he admits. "I usually get there super late, so I don't have to wait in line or anything." Hopefully not this time. It'd be a shame to be late for the first practical. But to my surprise, when we get there, it's a literal line outside. "Do we even have the uniforms for that?" I look between Aya and Luca, who both seem to be sharing the same thought as me.

"See you later, Fuji! We'll be heading to the field already!" I pat him on the shoulder as the three of us walk away, leaving the blonde standing in the long line alone. "Are you sure we're allowed to go in our normal uniforms?" Lucas asks, looking a bit concerned. "I don't really know, they didn't give us anything else, after all. I and Aya both simply had these uniforms given to us." The brunette girl enthusiastically nods in agreement. 

As we get to the field, there are quite many students already, all dressed up in their correct uniforms, unlike us. There is also this teacher I saw yesterday. The octopus looking one with some kind of VR headset on is showing his emotions. This guy is kinda weird, probably an anomaly that they managed to tame and make a teacher out of. It's quite fascinating at the same time. We didn't have anyone like that in Emrys Academy.

The squid-teacher is looking over everyone in the crowd, before his "eyes" stop on me, and he starts moving closer. "Oh, hello, L/n," he says, speaking rather casually, the tentacles behind him swaying slightly. "I wanted to acquire the information on how you've gotten accustomed to your houses by now. I hope that nobody in Obscuary has troubled you too much."

I shake my head. "Everything's been rather fine. Rui has been nice enough to show me around, and I got my health checked in Mortkranken today. So I'd say I'm getting used to this quite nicely."

The professor seems quite happy at this revelation, as the holographic mouth turns into a smile. "I'm glad! Don't be afraid to tell the staff members if someone is giving you trouble!" With that, he squiggles away, moving in front of the class. Soon enough, most of the students have made it here. The last one to arrive is painting Fuji. It seems that he was almost late just now.

"First-time students, nice to meet you," Professor Moby speaks up, his voice loud enough to shut up all of the chatting students. "Returning students, welcome back. I am Professor Moby, and I specialise in anomalous law."

Interesting. I wonder why he's teaching practical then. Maybe they don't have enough teachers, so they had to assign him here. "Special artifacts are handy objects that Darkwick has permitted the use of due to their utility on missions." Yeah, we had some back in Emry as well, but we weren't allowed to take them outside of the country. Kinda sad. I really liked my lyra.

"But with great power comes great responsibility- they are heavily regulated via a strict licensing system," the teacher continues his explanation. "Today's class doubles as an opportunity for you to renew your licenses or apply for new ones. Please take it seriously!"

As people start talking again, pulling out their weapons or such, Moby approaches us again, this time looking at Aya, who seems a little bewildered. "You're the new honour student, correct?" At that, the girl jumps a little, looking up at the tall man-creature. "Oh, I didn't mean to frighten you. My apologies. Hee hee," he lets out a small laugh, the machine around his head changing the colour to green.

"You'll have to sit this class out and just observe, I'm afraid. Because of that," he points at Aya's ring with one of his tentacles. Oh, when did that get there? Damn, I didn't even notice. I'm such a great friend for real!

"This has been officially recognised as yours and newly registered as a special artifact. Whether it was a special artifact to begin with, I'm not sure," he places one of his hands on his hip. "Darkwick's licensing system limits the possession of special artifacts to one per person."

As Aya nods, the professor continues. "On paper, you have already acquired one. Though, as special artifacts don't work for just anyone, it would be more accurate to say it acquired you."

"Oh, okay... I understand," the girl says, looking down at her hand, staring at the ring. "Sorry about that," the teacher says, not sounding that at all. He then looks down at a paper in his hands. "Now, who's next... Mr Errant? Is Mr Lucas Errant from Frostheim here?"

My friend immediately speaks up. "Yes, I am Lucas Errant." Professor Moby turns towards him, nodding. "There you are. Good. L/n is here as well, so I'll tell you both at once."

"Since you just transferred here, you'll be applying for a new special artifact alongside the first-years," he then points towards a door on the side of the school. "You'll find them in the storeroom over there."

"I can choose any one I like?" Lucas asks, just for confirmation, which he doesn't really receive. "Well, it may be one you like. It may not. A picture's worth a thousand words. Why don't you take a look?"

"Let's go," I say, stepping inside the room, Luca right behind me. I find myself in a big storage room, filled with display shelves for weapons and simple everyday things for use. Apparently, these are all considered special artifacts. Without missing a beat, Luca hurries towards the section of swords. He had a sword back in England, too. Maybe I should go find myself a new lyra here.

As I walk towards the section where I see different instruments, there is a sudden loud noise of glass shattering. This is probably Luca's doing. Doesn't especially concern me. Seems that Moby ran up to him as well, and so did Aya. 

I look around, trying to find myself an artifact, but none of the instruments seem to want me. I don't feel the connection. Does that mean I should go and try my luck with weapons as well? Maybe so.

Guns aren't really my thing. I've never been too good at shooting the target; I usually miss, and the bullet hits something else. So that's probably a no. Swords? Nah, too big and bothersome to carry around. Chainsaw? Scythe? Also too big. Damn, guess it won't be so easy. "Found anything yet, Y/n?" Luca's soft voice asks. I look at him and then at his weapon, which appears to be twin swords. Cute. Like Lucas and his twin, even though I've not seen him ever in my life.

"No, I'm still searching. Seems that it won't be a Lyra this time. Maybe I shouldn't be such a pacifist."

I reach the shelf with smaller weapons and spot a dagger with a white handle, some lines engraved in it with gold. "That's pretty," I note, picking it up. As I look closer, I can also see a small barrel, the type that guns usually have. "What's that? A knife?" Luca asks, approaching me once again. "I think it's also some kind of a gun," I answer, looking at it. There is a little button on one side of the trigger. As I push it, a trigger comes out, mostly to shoot the weapon. The ammunition is probably put in from the back of the handle.

"I'm taking this," I then say, spinning it around in my hand, careful not to get cut. "Let's go then," Luca says, walking towards the exit with me trailing him.

"Hm, what do we have here?" Moby immediately asks, and I show him the dagger. "Oh? A pretty thing you found! Take care of it. Please, the two of you, get in line now."

Luca and I walk up to the other students, standing in the long horizontal line. "Are you ready, everyone?" Moby asks and receives some "yes" words. "Please think of these moving targets as anomalies, and disable them with your special artifacts. Ready... Begin!" At his words, the inanimate targets start moving.

Everyone has their special artifacts out, ready to attack the targets. Fuji has a big crossbow in his shaking hands. It doesn't seem like he's doing too well with the aiming.

Looking past him, I can see a few students I remember from yesterday. If I remember correctly, one of them is in Jabberwock and the other one in Sinostra. I can't help but chuckle in my head, noticing that one of them has a book and the other one a damn swim ring. Good luck to them, fighting anomalies with these things. Well, not that I can actually laugh, having a lyra back in England.

I barely manage to aim the dagger-gun's barrel to be on the target when the professor speaks up again. "Listen up, everyone. As a rule, you should aim to capture anomalies, not destroy them! Please keep this in mind at all times. Anomalous research is full of emerging disciplines! Wanon destruction is very problematic! This is one of Darkwick's flagship policies. Hee hee!" He finishes it all off with that weird laugh.

"How can they expect us to think about that when we're up against monsters?" Fuji mutters as the professor nudges us to capture the targets. With a sigh, I change my aim to the "leg" of the target, shooting it to "weaken" it. Then, I look over to Luca to see how he's doing, only to see Fuji holding his hands. Wow, kind of fruity. What exactly is happening?

"Kaito. This is not a sparring exercise," Luca starts to voice his discomfort. "Would you please stop holding my arms down?"

"No!" the blond argues. "I can see it in your eyes, you're dying to stick up your arm and ask, 'Please sir, how do I obliterate demons?""

Luca shakes his head. "I'm not going to obliterate them. I'm going to subjugate them." "Stop." "I don't understand the issue. If I can't ask that question, there was little point in my coming to this academy."

"Listen, I do not go on missions. Not now, not ever. You promised you'd protect me, didn't you? And that you'd turn me back into a human?"

"Damn, look at you, Luca. Promising a ton," I let out a scoff. The tan boy's eyes move between me and the blonde.

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₊ The dagger-gun was actually specifically made for Y/n

₊ Luca promised Y/n a long time ago to give them back their normal life

₊ Y/n prefers to speak English with Luca because it's easier and because people won't understand as much

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