#lynnycore

Due to Yuu not officially being a student of Night Raven College, they weren’t in any clubs. At least on paper they weren’t. Yuu often switched between clubs every day, usually against their will. Somedays they’d be dragged along to help Vil with props at the film club, other times Idia would shyly approach them and explain he wanted to play a new game but they needed extra players, so they’d be in board game club that day. Thankfully they rarely had to go into any of the sports clubs, mostly due to them all using magic. But basketball club was different. Ace would usually invite them, and he’d also usually miss every single hoop he tried to make. Though Yuu always did their best to cheer their friend on.

Floyd and Jamil on the other hand were great at basketball, Jamil for his genuine skill, and Floyd due to his height, didn’t even have to jump to get the ball through the basket half of the time!

The two usually wouldn’t talk much to the magicless student, either being on their phone during breaks or talking with the rest of their team. But today was different. The moment Yuu sat down in the bleachers, Floyd waved and skipped over to them, a carefree but toothy grin on his face. He laid down on the bleachers looking up at the prefect with the same goofy expression.

“Hiya shrimpy. So…I got a really important favor to ask ya. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna pull out a contract so hear me out, okay?”

“Okay?”

“Hehehe…You don’t have a club. That’s really sad cause you can’t participate in any school events involving the clubs! Did you know my brother has a club?”

“Oh, he does? What club is he in?”

“Mmm Mountain Lovers club! Or is it Mountain Hikers? I don’t know, but he’s the only member in his club. It’s really sad. Since you don’t have anything keeping you in one club, you should join him tomorrow. It’d really mean a lot to him, shrimpy.”

Despite how innocent the request was, Yuu couldn’t help but feel slightly uneasy about it. Both of the Leech twins, along with their best friend and dorm leader, were a shady bunch of people. Not to mention Yuu was still slightly salty at the trio for trying to steal their dorm.

“Maybe he likes being the only guy there? I mean even when I’ve seen Jade in a group he kinda just…stands there.”

“Mhm, that’s cause he only talks to people he thinks are interesting. Like you and Azul. If either of you bored us we’d leave you. But seriously, you should talk to him more. He really likes spending time with you.”

“Listen, Floyd. Did you and your brother get into a fight? Are you trying to mess with him by spending me to his club?”

“Huh? Why would you think that? Unlike my brother I have friends like crabby and sea snake and sea otter and goldfishy. But Jade…has me and Azul. That’s kinda it. I just think he needs more friends.”

Floyd sounded genuine, which contrasted drastically compared to his normal tone of voice, which ranged anywhere from mocking to bored. With a sigh, Yuu sat up, looking at the much taller eel.

“Okay. I’ll go to your brothers club tomorrow. But in exchange…get me more of that fancy tuna. Grim keeps asking for it but it costs so much. I can’t afford it.”

“Heh, okay. Baby seal will get some fancy tuna and Jade will have a new friend!”

Before Yuu could say anything else, the sophomore jumped up from his seat and got back onto the court, pulling Ace close and messing with his hair as the other struggled. Despite agreeing, Yuu couldn’t help but feel nervous. A sinking feeling settingly in their gut. Instead of staying longer to help the team clean up, Yuu left instead and made their way back to their dorm. After feeding Grim, the student passed out on the couch.

The next day went by painfully slow as if every second was another second before their doom. It would have been easy to try and escape back to their dorm, they could just say they had a lot of homework or that they were feeling sick. They could even blame the cafeteria food despite it being five-star meals in there every day. But any chance of escape was crushed as Yuu exited their last class only to see Jade standing outside the door, a large smile on his face as he spotted the human. He was also dressed…differently than usual. He wore an oversized track jacket along with track leggings and high end tennis shoes.

“Hello, prefect. I was informed that you are interested in the Mountain Lover’s Club. Oh my…those aren’t proper hiking shoes. Do you have any pairs of hikers boots or a good pair of tennis shoes?”

“Oh…Nope. I just have these, a pair of slides, and slippers. I guess this means-”

Before they could even finish their sentence, Jade took their hand and began dragging the student behind him.

“I feared this would be the case, so I put together a proper hiking outfit for you in our club room. You may get dressed then we can get going. I picked out a novice trail so you won’t strain yourself.”

“...How do you know your outfit and the shoes will fit me? What if they don’t?”

“Oh don’t worry. I simply asked Rook for your measurements. He knows the measurements of everyone on campus, I assumed you would be in that list and I was correct.”

Of course Rook helped him out…the student sighed before Jade brought them into a small classroom, leaving a moment later so they could get dressed.

To be fair, Jade and his twin had good taste in clothes and shoes. Making the outfit that was chosen for hiking actually rather nice. A few minutes later Yuu emerged with a similar outfit to Jade’s, though unlike the eel’s clothes, which were gray and purple, the shorter students outfit was gray and pink.

“Ah, I knew you’d look wonderful in that. And now we match, how delightful.”

“We do match…Wanna take a photo?”

Yuu instantly regretted their words as Jade stared down at them with a blank expression, only for an awkward smile to grow on his face a second later.

“I would really enjoy that…”

Jade said, his voice much quieter than it usually was. Yuu then took out their phone and opened the camera, holding it out to Jade so he could take the picture due to him being the tallest. And instead of simply taking it, Jade kneeled down to Yuu’s height and put a hand on their shoulder, giving a soft smile as the picture was taken.

“You’ll send it to me when we get back, right?”

“Of course. But…”

“…Is something the matter?”

…Jade looked kinda sweet when he didn’t show off his abnormally sharp teeth, though that statement didn’t need to be spoken aloud.

“Nothing, I just think we should take some more pictures together when we’re hiking.”

Seemingly satisfied with Yuu’s answer, Jade nodded as the two went on their way to the woods behind the school. Despite how sunny the day was, it was still cool enough for neither of them to get overheated as they finally made it to the school's campgrounds.

“Yuu, may we take another picture here?”

Jade chuckled softly as the shorter student replied by taking out their phone again, the two posing as another photo was taken.

“Now, since it’s your first time hiking we’re not going far. I mostly wanted to forage for mushrooms today anyways. I hope that’s alright.”

“It works for me. It’s actually kinda nice to be out here so…”

“Ah, did you expect it to be different? I only hike on days with good weather. The last thing you want to do is put your body at risk of hypothermia or hyperthermia!”

“Ah. No I meant…I guess I was a bit scared to come out here with you. Floyd was being really shady and I assumed he was trying to pull a prank on me.”

Yuu instantly regretted their words, Jade’s gentle smile fading, not into a look of anger or mischief, but rather one that seemed sad.

“I mean he said you had taken a liking to me and I just found it hard to believe, I apologize if I offended you.”

“…I’ve always had an interest in you. Though I believe he was trying to tease, not you but me.”

Not understanding his words, the sophomore simply tilted their head, as if asking for Jade to continue. The eel sighed for a moment before looking away from his peer, only then did he begin to speak.

“…I like you, Yuu. You are very interesting to me, and you impress me with everything you do. I understand you probably think this is some joke or something of that sort but I assure you it isn’t. I wanted you to spend more time with me so you could hopefully feel the same one day. Floyd said he’d find a way and…now here we are.”

“…You’re cute.”

“…I beg your pardon?”

Jade said as he turned around, staring down at the student with a shocked expression, which in turn caused Yuu to laugh softly.

“You’re cute…You could’ve just asked me yourself. I’ve never rejected anyone who wants to spend time with me. I wouldn’t have rejected you…I…I’m willing to try things out with you if you’re alright being quiet about it for a bit. Last thing I want to hear is Ace and Decue and Grim nagging me about who I’m dating-“

Jade suddenly kneeled down in front of the student, taking their hand and leaving a soft kiss on it, causing for Yuu to go speechless.

“Anything for you, ask and you shall receive.”

“…Heh. You really are cute.”

As Yuu left a quick kiss on top of Jade’s head, the eel giggled softly, standing up a moment later, still holding onto their hand.

“Now…Let’s go look for your mushrooms.”

“…Being with me means you’ll have to taste any new mushroom recipe I make. You can live with that, right?”

“As long as it’s edible I’ll eat it.”

Finals were coming up as was the end of Yuu’s first official year at Night Raven College. So much had happened in just that short span of time that it felt overwhelming to remember it all sometimes. What mattered was the present, the horrible overblots of the past were but a distant memory, not to mention no one had even overblotted since winter break! This had to be a new record!

What mattered most was receiving good grades on their finals, as the headmage promised to upgrade their phone plan from ninety minutes per month to unlimited if they received all A’s on their finals or in turn, made it within at least two of the top 50 test scores for finals. Which seemed highly unlikely considering mages such as Riddle and Azul attended the school. Plus NRC students were known to cheat on occasion, even if Yuu studied with all their might, they might get bumped down a few places because of a cheater.

As a result, Yuu had requested studying sessions with the top student in all of Night Raven College, Riddle Rosehearts. Despite being the smartest student, Riddle was rather helpful and never turned down a student who honestly wanted to improve their grades. Not only did he often tutor Deuce and Kalim, but he’d even study with students aiming to try and take over his rank as top student such as Azul. As such, when Yuu asked if Riddle would be willing to help, he agreed without hesitation.

Today was their third study session with the top student, they’d be focusing on the history of magic today and alchemy. While Yuu didn’t have any magic of their own, they were expected to remember alchemical formulas and ingredients regardless of their lack of ability to do anything with them. Seeing as Riddle had been such a big help already, Yuu decided to make him a dessert as a thank you for all the help. After attempting to read through the Heartslabyul rule book and only making it to rule two hundred and twenty eight ‘flowers in gardens must never be picked on Wednesdays’, you figured that you’d just avoid making a tart as to avoid the same mistake Ace made all those months ago.

Knowing Riddle affinity for anything strawberry, you decided on vanilla strawberry cupcakes, which while difficult to decorate, weren’t that hard to actually bake. With their cupcakes in tow and their book bag in another, Yuu set off to Heartslabyul and soon enough entered the labyrinth-like dorm. After what seemed like longer than usual, Yuu entered the lounge, not many students were taking up space there. Either due to them being busy studying in their rooms or at the library. The kitchen door opened a moment later as a familiar ginger man walked out, holding a cup of steaming tea.

“O.M.G! It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you around here! What brings you here? Your freshies are on flamingo duty today soooo…”

“I came to study with Riddle.”

At this statement, Cater makes a face, almost as if what the Ramshackle student said was most peculiar. Yuu half expected Cater to suddenly blurt out something along the lines of, ‘rule 637 states that students can’t study on Saturdays from 1 to three pm!’ But instead he merely sighs.

“Did he not tell you?”

“Tell me what? Is he busy?”

Cater shakes his head, a sigh escaping his thin lips a moment later.

“Riddle is like, sick. Like, really sick. He got a cold so he’s resting for the day. He really didn’t cancel on you?”

“No, I wouldn’t have come if I knew he was resting…”

Shortly before leaving to the hall of mirrors, Yuu had sent Riddle a quick text to make sure things were still on for today, in which Riddle liked the message before stating that he was still available to tutor Yuu. And yet according to Cater, he was rather sick.

“Well like since you’re already here…”

Cater motions for Yuu to hold out their hand, only for him to place the saucer and teacup into the prefects hand a moment later.

“You can cancel your study session and give him some tea! Well I’ll be seeing you!”

Soon enough the bouncy Heartslabyul student disappeared from their sight, leaving Yuu alone. With no other option they immediately headed to Riddle’s room, making their way to the door before making a soft knock on it. After a few seconds of silence, Yuu could hear a soft groan on the other side.

“…Come in…”

A weak voice called out, hoarse from coughing no doubt. As Yuu opened the door to Riddle’s room, she found him at his desk, a thick blanket draped over his shoulders, a small trash bag filled with used tissues, and a box of them on his desk. Despite his apparent cold he still had a textbook open on the desk, sniffling as he mumbled to himself.

“The best way to harvest mandrakes…ACHOO!”

He quickly grabbed a tissue and sneezed into that, blowing his nose a moment later and dropped the now used tissue into his bag full of them as Yuu walked over to his desk, placing the tea next to him. Slowly he turned to look up, staring at Yuu with a tired expression before his sleepy eyes widened, his nose red from his cold and all the blowing.

“Yuu! I’m sorry, I haven’t looked at the time in awhile I forgot…don’t worry, we can get to studying right away-”

He sucked in a heavy breath before turning away from the prefect, coughing hard into his elbow before turning back to them.

“I have masks if you’d feel more comfortable studying with a layer of protection or we may do a call…”

“Riddle, you need to rest. You look horrible…”

Instinctively, Yuu’s hand went towards the dorm leaders forehead, pressing against the soft skin and frowning at the red head.

“Riddle you’re burning up bad. You must have a fever. You really need to rest.”

He grunted softly, looking away with one of his hands clenched into a fist as his body shook lightly.

“I’m. Fine. Whatever I’m dealing with can be handled once finals are over.”

“Riddle…”

Moving their hand from his forehead, Yuu pulled the dorm leader into a sudden hug. Instantly he tensed up under their touch, though before Yuu could pull away, he slowly moved one hand to hold them back.

“…You’re going to catch whatever I have.”

“I don’t mind…Riddle. I know finals are important…”

“They’re the most important thing in my life as of this moment.”

“Your own health should come before any test.”

“I can’t fall behind, I can’t…”

Yuu tenderly pet the back of his hair as the dorm leader sniffled again, this time clearly in an attempt to hold back his tears as opposed to trying to provide relief to his nose.

“You won’t fall behind…You’ve been an excellent student since your start here. I’m sure the professors could make accommodations if you’re still sick. But you won’t be able to perform well if you’re sicker than a dog.”

“…Trey said the same thing…But I…If I don’t do well then what example does that set for my students? I’d be a failure!”

His voice kept getting quieter and quieter the longer he spoke, Yuu attempted to pull away briefly from the dorm leader in order to grab the tea so he could soothe his clearly raw throat, but seeing as Riddle clung tighter to them as they tried to pull away, it seemed it would be for the best if they stayed close to Riddle for now.

“…Riddle, you wouldn’t be a failure. You’re still human at the end of the day, you need to rest sometimes…I know it must be upsetting to get so sick right before finals, but you didn’t plan this. It just…happened. Life is cruel sometimes, but we still have a month to prepare. If you rest now then you should have more than enough time to study.”

“…What if I don’t?”

Riddle looked up from his friend's shoulder, tears beading at the corner of his eyes, clearly distraught just by the idea of missing valuable study time.

“…You will. I promise. And…until you're better, I’ll study for you, catch you up on any material you need help with. For now, you just need to focus on resting.”

“…Do you really think I’ll be better in time?”

“I’m sure of it.”

Slowly Yuu helps the dorm leader to stand, guiding him over to his large bed and helping him to settle down in it. They walk back to the desk and return with the tea.

Riddle takes a sip, humming at the warmth before he allows for the prefect to help him drink the rest of the cup.

“…Yuu?”

“Yes?”

“…Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

Vil seemed to take an interest in a lot of things. Makeup and fashion were always the first to come to mind. Aside from him being the spokesperson for multiple famous brands, he was always giving people advice on how to look like their best self, regardless if they asked for it or not. He also was very passionate about music and dance, being trained in ballroom dancing from the moment he could walk and always sharing whatever new artist he was into with his friends.

Another thing Vil adored was film, regardless if it was making his own, starring in a film, or simply watching them. According to Rook, his dearest house-warden was simply appalled when he arrived at Night Raven College and saw that there wasn’t a film club. The first thing he did on campus was establish one. Oftentimes, Yuu was dragged along or asked to help out with the club. Though, they didn’t seem to mind; even if Vil was a perfectionist, any time spent with him was well spent.

Once a week, the club would vote on a movie to watch and then they’d watch it on the weekend while working on props. While not a club member, Yuu joined the club every weekend unless they were studying. And due to being around the house-warden, Yuu noticed something: they had never seen Vil laugh. Not even once. Occasionally, his lips would curve up into a gentle smile, but nothing more. He didn’t even laugh during comedy movies, perhaps they weren’t his style of humor but they had even seen Leona and Malleus laugh before. And yet, they couldn’t ever recall Vil laughing.

While Yuu tried their best not to dwell on it, they couldn’t help but think about how Vil’s laugh would sound. Perhaps he didn’t laugh because his laugh was ugly? Everything about Vil was perfect, if he had one flaw, aside from his jealousy, it might be his laugh! After all, for example, Sebek tried not to laugh often due to him having a snorting laugh. Maybe Vil’s was similar?

Despite that thought, it seemed unlikely. Vil wouldn’t hide his laugh even if it wasn’t a pleasant sound. Maybe he just didn’t find a lot of things funny. But even if that was the case, Yuu couldn’t understand how he didn’t even laugh during the most crazy scenarios.

Today, Yuu was on their way to Pomefiore as they had asked Vil for help with potionology. But the real reason for their visit was to make Vil laugh. For starters, they had asked Lilia to help them get a goofy outfit. They were wearing bunny slippers, nerd glasses, sweatpants and a top that had a terrible cat pun. This would easily make anyone laugh, or at least hold back a chuckle. It had to pull some sort of reaction out of Vil! As they finally entered the dorm and entered their lounge room, they saw Vil sitting on his throne as usual, reading one of his many fashion magazines.

“Hi, Vil.”

“Ah good, you’re here just on time-WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!”

Vil dropped his magazine, rushing over to the shorter student as he took the glasses off of their face and looked them up and down with a displeased expression.

“Oh uh…I just thought I should dress comfortably if we’re studying.”

“This isn’t comfortable. This is a fashion disaster. Do you even need glasses?”

“Nope, but they make me look smarter.”

“Who even told you such a lie?”

Before Yuu could answer, Vil took hold of their wrist and dragged them to his room.

“I don’t care if you want to be comfortable, you could still put effort into your appearance!” the taller man shouted as he dug through his closet, pulling out a cropped purple shirt and a pair of flared leggings, and holding them out to the fellow junior.

“Here. Get dressed in this then we can start your studies.”

Yuu sighed as the house-warden left. Plan number one was a complete bust, but that was okay. Yuu was in this for the long haul. They had plenty of tricks up their sleeve. Once they were dressed in Vil’s clothes, the student decided to look around his room for a moment, after all it wasn’t every day Vil allowed someone into his bedroom. As expected, his room was stylish and grand, fit for a queen one could say.

Yuu walked over to his vanity, gently picking up one of the many skincare bottles on the table. A rice water toner…made by Vil Schoenheit. Was this the product Yuu wanted to ask for another bottle of? At the moment, they just couldn’t remember. Their train of thought was quickly cut off as Vil opened the door, sighing as he saw the student was distracted.

“Yuu, what in sevens name are you doing?”

“Just looking through your stuff.”

“And why would you be doing that? We need to study.”

“...Vil, can you do my makeup?”

The queen raised his eyebrow, walking over to the student and placing a hand on their shoulder.

“Why? You never seemed all that interested in this kind of thing before.”

“Mmm…I was just thinking. Makeup is usually used to change features, but it can be used to enhance existing features as well, right? I wanna try that style of makeup.”

Yuu was slightly taken aback when Vil walked away and into his bathroom, only to return with multiple different makeup products and all sorts of odd tools. Without saying another word, Vil began to apply some sort of sticky serum onto Yuu’s face, causing them to wince slightly.

“It’s just primer, calm down. It helps to make foundation and concealer smoother to apply.”

“Okay…”

For the most part, the sensation of having a handsome man grabbing at your face while he applied makeup was pleasant. Even when Vil would click his tongue in slight annoyance when Yuu’s eyes would flutter at the touch of a brush, he simply continued onward.

That was, until it was time to apply blush. Vil gently swiped some powdered blush onto a large brush, and then began to blend it onto Yuu’s skin. only to stop when he heard soft giggling come from the shorter student.

“What’s wrong?”

“It tickles! Is it supposed to feel like that?”

“No, but it isn’t uncommon. Rook said the same thing the first time I did his makeup. You’ll get used to it. Now hold still.”

Despite their best efforts, Yuu just couldn’t seem to do as Vil commanded. Giggling and moving slightly every time the house warden ghosted the brush over their face.

“Just stay still! How hard of a request is that? I’m going to get blush all over your face if you keep this up!”

“It’s not easy! I’m trying! I mean, how would you feel if someone was doing this to you?”

“I’ve never been ticklish, especially not my face.”

“...So you’re not ticklish?”

Vil slowly put down the makeup brush, taking a step away from Yuu as they stared at him with a mischievous grin. The magicless student stood up, quickly rushing at Vil who in turn tried to run away. But it was too late, Yuu managed to grab Vil’s arm and pulled him close, ticking his neck and stomach.

Vil gritted his teeth, trying his hardest to pull away from the shorter student. Vil was one of the strongest people at Night Raven College, if he wasn’t being so viciously attacked he could have easily pulled away, but instead he was trapped. Not being able to hold it in any longer, Vil let out a loud sound.

“Gwahahahahaha! Stop it! I’m telling you to stop!!!”

With a satisfied grin, Yuu let go of the housewarden, who instantly began to catch his breath.

“W-Why did you do that?!”

“I mean you kinda set yourself up for that. And I wanted to hear your laugh. Even your laugh is queenly.”

With a flushed face, Vil placed both of his hands on Yuu’s shoulders, staring down at the student before suddenly ticking them back.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“See?! It’s not so fun when you’re on the receiving end!”

As soon as Vil stopped tickling Yuu, the student leaned onto him, still laughing as they came down from their high. Vil didn’t push them off, letting them rest on him instead. Once Yuu had calmed down, Vil gently entwined their hands, looking away from the student as he spoke.

“We…should start your studies. Come along now.”