SUMMARY: After breaking her curse and losing her memories of Darkwick, she starts meeting a group of people who slowly become part of her life—each of them hiding the fact that they all know each other. When her growing suspicion pushes her to gather them in one place, the truth slips out, forcing the ghoul to erase her memories again.
─ I never thought I'm gonna write this skit for real, and it's so long that I make it in 2 part no less. (for the first time i wrote more than 1.200 words)
─ Part 1 | Part 2 | Side stories
─ MASTERLIST
She woke with tears on her face.
They weren't loud tears—just quiet, steady lines slipping to the pillow, as if her body remembered something her mind could no longer hold. Her chest ached like she had been running through someone else's dream. When she tried to chase the fragments, all she found was a cold emptiness and the faint echo of a voice that refused to form words.
The clock beside her read seven past dawn. The window was open; rain had come and gone in the night. She wiped her face, exhaled, and whispered, "Just a dream."
And life went on.
No one asked where she had been, she even doesn't realize it herself. Not her co-workers, not the neighbors, not even the barista who always remembered her order. It was as if she had never gone missing—as if the world had neatly closed the space she once left behind.
She fell into routine easily, the walk to work, the same tram seat, the same coffee shop every Thursday. It was an ordinary life, soft and quiet, and yet the silence sometimes pressed too close.
She couldn't shake the feeling that she was supposed to remember something important—something that would hurt, if only she could touch it.
Still, people started to appear around her and she know more new people.
A young man with pale ruby eyes who helped her carry groceries once and later began to greet her whenever their paths crossed—Rui.
A lifesaver she met in a festival—Lucas. He spoke curtly, often avoiding her gaze, but there was a gentleness in how he noticed small things.
She befriend Kaito, who frequented the same cafe she liked. He's loud and a chaotic blushing mess, but he smiled like someone who understood the weight of quiet people.
She met others too—Leo, harsh with his words and action but never really cross the line with him; Haku, who helped her once when her bus card broke down and joked like an old friend; Towa, who waved when she passed the park though she was sure she'd never spoken to him before.
And many people she doesn't expect to know at this short span of time.
Once, when she mentioned she sometimes woke from dreams she couldn't remember to Subaru, he looked at her a beat too long. "Maybe forgetting is its own kind of kindness,"
The tone was too knowing, but she didn't ask what he meant.
Different faces. Different days. Yet a strange familiarity clung to all of them, as if they shared some hidden rhythm she couldn't hear.
They came into her life separately, never overlapping, never raising suspicion except for the way their presences lingered long after they were gone. Still, she couldn't ignore the faint repetitions — a glance, a phrase, a rhythm that carried between them.
At first, she brushed it off as coincidence. But coincidences kept multiplying. Luka mentioned a name she'd heard Kaito murmur. Leo once waved to Romeo like they'd known each other for years, though they pretended otherwise when she asked. Sometimes, when she looked at them — really looked — she saw something too sharp, too alive flicker in their eyes before it vanished.
Her curiosity, quiet but relentless, began to stir. She started paying attention, noting patterns, words, expressions that slipped. She didn't mean to investigate,
she only wanted to understand.
Her heart pounded, but her thoughts stayed clear. Curiosity had always been her quiet talent, though she'd never called it courage. So she began to test the pattern. A message left with careful timing, an invitation crafted to seem accidental. Each thread pulled them closer, unseen, toward one point.
When the evening came, the air was heavy with rain. She waited in the corner of an old gallery she'd borrowed for a "small gathering." She didn't expect them all to come — not really. But they appeared.
The first to arrive was Kaito, his usual bright energy dimmed, eyes darting from the floor to her face. "Hey—did I get the time wrong?" he asked with a crooked smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Before she could answer, Lucas stepped inside. He paused when he saw Kaito, something unreadable flickering across his face. He know he can't backdown, so he take further step without saying anything.
Then came Rui, carrying the calm of someone who already knew what he was walking into. His gaze softened when it met hers, but behind that gentleness was unease.
One by one, the ghoul come and could only take step further inside when it's already too late to notice the strange situation. The tension was palpable, like a drop of water that threatened to fall in a smooth surfaces of a still water.
A calm surface that is too unstable
"Didn't expect a crowd," Haru joked lightly, scratching his cheek. His voice carried, but no one laughed.
The silence that followed Haru's voice stretched too long.
It wasn't confusion — not anymore. It was the slow, creeping awareness that something had gone wrong. That all their careful boundaries, all the invisible lines they'd drawn, had been crossed without a sound. They were all here.
And for the first time, they knew they shouldn’t be.
And MC saw it.
She didn't need confirmation. It was written across every glance, every muscle that tensed too late. Every smile, every chance meeting, every familiar glance… they all made sense now.
Her hand trembled as she spoke, voice small but certain. "So it's true."
Every head turned to her.
"I was right," she said, louder this time, though the sound wavered. "You all know each other. You've been pretending all this time."
No one moved.
It was strange — the stillness that came after truth was spoken. The air inside the gallery thickened, like rain pressed against glass.
Ritsu's calm expression faltered first. His eyes flicked toward Romeo — a brief, silent exchange, heavy with meaning. Alan's jaw clenched, his hands tightening at his sides, though he didn't look away.
Across the room, Lyca's breath hitched audibly. He took a half-step back, almost bumping into Taiga, who didn't even flinch. Jin's arms were crossed, but the muscle in his jaw jumped, betraying the sharp calculation behind his silence.
Tohma shifted his weight, expression unreadable, though his gaze swept over everyone like he was counting possibilities. Haku tried to laugh, to diffuse it, but the sound came out brittle — it died somewhere between them.
Yuri's hand brushed against Jiro's as if to anchor him, though neither of them said a word. Sho leaned against a pillar, posture relaxed, but his eyes were narrow and watchful, the faintest hint of tension pulling at his smirk.
Ren glanced around at all of them. "Well...," he murmured, "this is awkward."
No one answered.
The weight of twenty overlapping secrets pressed against the walls. The air was dense with something old — guilt, maybe, or grief. A recognition they had all spent too long pretending didn’t exist.
They had been careful for so long. They had stayed apart, orbiting her quietly, never intersecting. Never like this.
And now here they were, all twenty of them, standing shoulder to shoulder under the same dim light, caught in the gravity of her voice.
Some of them looked at her with worry. Others with fear. A few — like Rui and Subaru — with quiet resignation, as if they'd known this day would come.
But what unsettled her most was not the tension between them — it was the unspoken understanding shared among them. The subtle glances. The silent communication.
It was like watching a language she wasn't meant to understand — a pattern that didn't include her.
She realized, with a cold flutter in her chest, that she had cornered them. That her curiosity — so small, so harmless at first — had brought all of them here.
And none of them looked surprised.
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ . tbc...
Should I post the continuation? I don't really certain on posting this actually, that's why ߹𖥦߹
Early warning : Tbh, I'm still not finished all the episode to the latest update so I actually have little information while making this (please forgive me if there's any OOC, have mercy). All I ever make mostly inspired based on what people posting so I always link their post in my credit.
Word count: 1.319
Enjoy ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ oh, and leave your comment, pretty pleaseeee!!! (ㅅ´ ˘ `)
SUMMARY: After breaking her curse and losing her memories of Darkwick, she starts meeting a group of people who slowly become part of her life—each of them hiding the fact that they all know each other. When her growing suspicion pushes her to gather them in one place, the truth slips out, forcing the ghoul to erase her memories again.
─ Here the continuation that I promised ( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ
─ And I saw @/fluttyxcord said in reblog, yes I didn't include Zenji in here cause He's a ghost and I still don't know a lot about his condition. I'm sorry, I just can't picture him in this scenario (シ_ _)シ
─ Also, Do you guys want the side stories? I have a rough idea their bickering and tension in the scene right after they put MC unconscious, so if you want please let me know in comment section or reblog (•̀ᴗ•́ )و
─ Part 1 | Part 2 | Side stories
─ MASTERLIST
Something in the air cracked — not a sound, but a feeling.
The gallery's silence deepened, heavy enough to press against her ribs. She could almost hear their hearts beating — uneven, restless, too human for what they were.
Sho's eyes lowered, a shadow passing through his composure. Towa's lips parted like he meant to say something, but no word came. Behind him, Leo's patience thinned, a low exhale breaking from him like a warning.
Kaito's hands fidgeted, restless, fingers brushing the edge of his sleeve as if searching for a reason to laugh, to make this all disappear. Ed shifted closer to Lyca, gaze flicking from her to the others — like he was waiting for someone, anyone, to speak first.
But none of them did. They just watched her.
Twenty pairs of eyes, twenty different kinds of silence — guilt, fear, longing, resignation. And beneath all of it, something that looked too much like grief.
She didn't understand why her chest hurt so much. Why their faces — familiar and strange at once — made her feel like she was losing something she couldn't even name.
The quiet stretched until it trembled.
And then, because she had to fill it — because not knowing felt worse — she spoke.
"I just—noticed things," she said. "Little things. The way some of you say the same words. How you seem to already know what I'll say. How you—" she swallowed, "—move around me, like I'm something you're protecting… or hiding."
For a heartbeat, no one moved. Then, slowly, the shift began.
Leo's arms dropped from their crossed position, his brow furrowing as if the weight of her deduction pressed on him physically. Kaito turned toward her in disbelief, the nervous laugh caught in his throat never making it past his lips.
"She figured it out," Ed muttered under his breath, voice low and edged with something between frustration and awe. Rui shot him a warning look, but it was too late — the truth hung bare in the open air.
A murmur rippled through the room. Yuri gave a short, incredulous exhale, running a hand through his hair. "You've got to be kidding me," he whispered, but the faint grin tugging at his mouth betrayed reluctant admiration.
Across the space, Subaru's lips curved into a small, knowing smile. "Of course she did," he said softly, more to himself than anyone else.
Haku looked from face to face, realization dawning slower, heavier. "You're telling me… she tricked all of us?" he said, half in disbelief, half in pride.
Tohma's head bowed slightly, a quiet laugh escaping him — not mocking, but filled with something like relief. "She's smarter than we gave her credit for."
Ritsu exhaled a quiet, strained chuckle beside him. "And we thought we were the ones watching her."
Even Romeo, lounging in his corner with deliberate indifference, finally straightened, eyes sharp with a spark of reluctant respect. "Guess we got too comfortable," he said, gaze flicking toward Rui. "You said she wouldn't notice."
Rui didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on her — soft, sorrowful — as if he couldn't decide whether to be proud or afraid.
MC stood there, trembling, caught between confusion and the weight of so many eyes. She didn't understand why the air had grown so heavy, why guilt seemed to hum between their voices like a pulse.
"Why…" she started, the sound breaking. "Why are you all looking at me like that? I thought—" she hesitated, forcing herself to breathe, "—I thought it was nice, that you all knew each other. Why hide it from me?"
Her voice cracked at the end, small and human in the vast, echoing room.
No one answered immediately. The ghouls exchanged glances, tension shifting like a silent current between them — each one searching for a word that wouldn't break her further.
A memory pulsed faintly at the edge of her mind — pain, light, a curse breaking, and voices calling her name from the dark. But when she reached for it, it vanished like smoke.
Still, she smiled to herself, faint and trembling. "What are you exactly hiding? Did I—" she choked on her own word, need a few second to find her voice again,
"Did I forget something? Should I remember?"
Her question fractured the silence like glass.
For a long, unbearable moment, no one could answer her — not because they didn't want to, but because every truth they carried would destroy her if spoken aloud.
That was when Subaru moved. Just one step — small, quiet — but it broke the paralysis holding the others. His eyes softened, filled with a grief too deep for words.
"You weren't supposed to remember," he whispered.
Her lips parted, confusion breaking across her face, but before she could speak again, the air shifted. Lucas's hand curled into a fist at his side, his jaw tightening as he looked away.
"She was never meant to get this far," he said hoarsely. "You know what happens if she does."
"She won't," Leo said sharply. His voice was low, controlled, but the veins at his temple pulsed with restraint. "We promised."
A heavy quiet followed. Kaito's eyes darted from face to face — panic, disbelief, sorrow — and finally landed on her. "Wait, you can't—"
"She'll die if we don't," Ed cut him off, his tone eerily calm. His gaze never left her; in that stillness, he already carried the weight of what they were about to do.
Towa's voice broke next, small but certain. "Dandellion always finds us. Even when she forgets."
Yuri closed his eyes. "That's because she wants to."
"Then why take it from her again?" Lyca asked quietly, though his words were hollow, the fight already gone. "She'll just keep remembering."
"Because remembering hurts her," Jiro said. "And none of you can bear to see it again."
The truth of that silenced them all.
Haku looked down, guilt flickering through his expression. Luka's hand hovered near his side as if to stop him, but he didn't move. Taiga muttered something under his breath — too soft to catch — and leaned back against the wall like he couldn't stand to watch.
Ritsu turned toward her. She was trembling, tears gathering in her eyes, confusion written across every line of her face. "Please," she whispered, "I don't understand—"
"I know," he said softly. "You're not supposed to."
.
.
.
The world blurred.
When she opened her eyes, she was back in her apartment. Morning light spilled through the curtains, too bright, too normal. Her memories were soft again, as though someone had taken an eraser to the edges of her thoughts. She got up, dressed, and went about her day as if nothing had changed.
Only when she reached for a pen at her desk did she notice the small folded note hidden beneath the drawer's lining — a place only she would think to check.
The paper smelled faintly of ash. The handwriting was hers.
Don't show your claw too fast
She stared at it for a long time, a faint ache rising in her chest — something between fear and defiance — before she quietly folded the note again and hid it where it had been.
Outside, rain began to fall, steady and familiar, as though the world itself was waiting for her to remember.
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ .fin
Early warning : Tbh, I'm still not finished all the episode to the latest update so I actually have little information while making this (please forgive me if there's any OOC, have mercy). All I ever make mostly inspired based on what people posting so I always link their post in my credit.
Word count: 1.128.
Enjoy ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ oh, and leave your comment, pretty pleaseeee!!! (ㅅ´ ˘ `)
─ A quick post before I'm back diving into my irl stuff (this one even needs two weeks in the time i squeezed between my irl stuff)
─ I just realized I have a whole board on Pinterest for MC clothes for each dorm, so why not make this a light post? As I actually had this prompt for quite some time, and I see there's a chance now.
─ EARLY WARNING ‼ ; I'm not saying I'm pro at fashion or have a good sense for this kind of thing (I'm suck at it tbh), this is purely my opinion on how the ghoul would dress MC if they have the chance. Don't attack me
─ Frostheim | Jabberwock | Obscuary
─ Masterlist
❣ Frostheim;
As you can see, this dorm just screams money, the one whose expense is out of the normal people's sense. And at the same time, Frostheim has a cool and unapproachable aura surrounding them (Their dorm literally has a snow blizzard weather).
Based on my opinion, Frostheim is suitable with cold hues, clean lines, and a quiet elegance. Something that pictures the perfect kind of calmness and neatness.
This dorm for me comes as neat and minimal, but at the same time, it still holds that pretty and practical design for daily wear. No excessive patterns or accessories, and mainly centered on one or two main colors.
Jin's eyes narrowed the second she re-emerged in her usual clothes.
It wasn't a bad outfit. It was just not the version of her in the mission outfit, the one that had sharpened, refined, wrapped in Frostheim authority.
A small shift, really.
But after seeing her in the clean, sharp winter palette of their dorm, the contrast struck Jin harder than he expected. Watching her swap that for her comfortable, everyday wear poked something in him.
"Where are you going?"
"Back to the chapel," she answered, not thinking anything odd about his tone. "Why?"
"You're not wearing that."
She blinked. "This is literally my normal—"
"Don't care. You're not going anywhere like that."
Jin felt ridiculous for half a heartbeat, then doubled down because that irritation didn't go away. The outfit the dormitory provided for her made her seem like she was part of Frostheim from the start — untouchable, composed, dangerous.
Confusion softened her features, "And why is that?"
The everyday clothes made her look… approachable. And he hated how fast that shift happened. But he didn't know how to explain that, nor did he have any intention of saying it out loud.
"Ah— MC… you changed?" Kaito spotted her, rubbed his neck sheepishly. "N-no, it's not bad! You look great. You always do. It's just… the mission outfit suited you so well. It's hard not to miss it."
"I hope you won't take this the wrong way," Lucas approached, voice gentle as if careful not to make her uncomfortable. "But the earlier attire carried a certain… poise. It brought out something remarkable in you." His gaze flicked between her and Jin. "And apparently unacceptable to certain people."
Tohma, stepping quietly into the group, offered a gentle nod. "…You've changed the entire atmosphere in under a minute," he remarked lightly. "Impressive, in its own way."
MC stared at all four of them. "Why is everyone acting like I committed a crime?"
Jin exhaled, defeated by the combined interference and empowered by it at the same time. "We're fixing it."
"Fixing what?"
"Your outfit," they answered in unison — Jin sounding grim, Kaito enthusiastic, Lucas amused, Tohma thoughtful.
as if that explained everything.
.
.
.
☃ A black draped top with a fluid fall, the fabric gathering softly at the collar like a quiet swirl of night air.
☃ High-waisted trousers in deep espresso brown, wide-legged and smooth, carrying a composed elegance with every line.
☃ A sleek black belt cinched at the waist, the silver buckle catching just enough light to give the outfit a colder, sharper edge.
☃ Black pointed shoes beneath, barely seen but unmistakably present—clean, confident, grounded.
☃ A thin silver pendant shaped like a fractured shard.
Kaito insisted on the pendant, grinning but softened it into something smaller. "Fits you perfectly."
Lucas adjusted the sweater sleeves, beaming as if he felt more pleased than she did "Looks like you stepped out of Frostheim without trying."
"It suits your presence," Tohma tailored the color palette until it matched Frostheim's air of composed winter solitude.
Jin didn't say anything at first. He only watched her turn in the mirror, watched the way the cold tones balanced her warmth, watched how naturally the silhouette framed her.
"That's better." He approved it
MC studied herself in the mirror, stunned by how effortlessly the outfit fit her. Sleek, cold-toned, functional — but still comfortably hers.
"This is… actually nice," she admitted.
The boys exchanged glances, every expression slightly victorious, slightly smug. For a heartbeat, none of them spoke.
Kaito's grin lingered, Lucas's quiet pride warmed the space, Tohma's calm settled like falling frost, and Jin's gaze stayed fixed on her reflection as if confirming one last time.
Their eyes met in the mirror. Not hers.
Theirs.
If any other dorm saw her like this, they would surely draw their own conclusions.
A faint, knowing tension passed between the boys, subtle as snow shifting underfoot — not hostile, not possessive, not anything she would ever notice. Just awareness. A quiet agreement. A line in the ice they all recognized.
Lucas muttered, half to himself, "Certain individuals may… overreact. Terribly."
Kaito snorted under his breath. "Yeah, yeah. Their problem."
Tohma's eyebrow lifted just a fraction. "If nothing else, the spectacle should prove educational."
Jin didn't speak, but the faint tug in his expression suggested he found the coming chaos mildly… amusing.
None of them seemed inclined to stop it.
Kaito laughed softly and leaned back on his heels.
Lucas looked quietly thrilled for her.
Tohma offered a tiny, sardonic huff as if already pitying the bystanders.
Jin simply observed, and the hint of satisfaction in his eyes said enough.
MC spun once in front of the mirror, the frost-silver accents catching the light, her smile bright and unguarded.
She looked happy, and that was the end of the argument for all of them.
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ .fin
Taglist; @gulaaren-123
Early warning: Tbh, I'm still not finished with all the episodes to the latest update, so I actually have little information while making this (please forgive me if there's any OOC, have mercy). All I ever make is mostly inspired by what people post, so I always link their post in my credit.
Word count: 781
Enjoy ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ oh, and leave your comment, pretty pleaseeee!!! (ㅅ´ ˘ `)
SUMMARY: The ghouls have gotten used to how MC always does little things for everyone without even thinking. No one really questions it, not until she gets permission to visit her family and they tag along.
─ Side stories before I update 'see through your eyes' part 3 ৻( •̀ ᗜ •́ ৻)
─ Some of my friends said I tend to be act of service to everyone and wonder why (idk, I ask that too cause I do that without me realizing it), and that's giving me idea to make this skit as I try to find my reason.
─ ngl, I feel I have a tacky taste for tittle i made :P (bear with me, or give me tips about it) and I hate when Tumblr downgrade my image.
─ Appreciation post for my father (づ ᴗ _ᴗ)づ♡
─ Masterlist
Even in a place like Darkwick, she stood out in ways no one could quite explain.
Not through power, or temper, or charm — but through the smallest, quietest motions.
It was never planned, never performative—just the way she existed.
When they walked through a door, it was already open. When they sat down, the teacups were already there, the chopsticks placed in quiet symmetry. She unscrewed caps before handing bottles to them.
Always without looking, like some internal rhythm guided her.
"Hey, you don't have to do that," Haru says once, halfway through yawning.
She just smiles. "Do what?"
He doesn't even know how to answer. Because she never looks like she's trying.
She just is.
When Lucas forgets his gloves at training, they're folded neatly by his locker.
When Sho spills sugar on the counter, she's already wiping it before he can blink.
When Ren sneezes in the middle of a lecture, a handkerchief appears beside him like magic.
No one tells her to. She just does.
Her kindness wasn't loud. It lived in habits, stitched into muscle memory — the kind that never seeks a thank you.
It takes a while before they all notice — this quiet, unspoken choreography she moves through life with.
Sometimes, she caught them staring—Jin pausing mid-conversation, Taiga halfway to a grin that never quite landed, Ritsu's pen frozen above his notes. She didn't understand what they were seeing.
She just smiled and kept moving.
.
.
.
So when permission came for her to visit her family, a rare allowance in their world of shadows and rules, some of them insisted on accompanying her (Subaru, Ritsu, Haru, Lucas, and Sho).
"Security reasons," Ritsu claimed.
"Curiosity," Haru corrected.
She only smiled. "If you don't mind the long trip."
They didn't.
Her hometown lay quiet under a spring sky, streets washed clean by rain.
As they walked, she grew quieter — not uneasy, but tender, like she was walking through a memory too delicate to touch. The air smelled of persimmon blossoms and soil.
Her fingers brushed the old wooden gate before she pushed it open. When the gates opened to her family's home, the air smelled of citrus trees and fresh herbs.
A man stood waiting in the doorway. Not tall, not imposing — but the kind of presence that filled space without trying to. His smile reached his eyes, soft and certain.
"Welcome home," he said. Then, extending a hand, "Come here, my first love."
She laughed, embarrassed. "Lie. Your love is Mom."
He chuckled, squeezing her fingers. "She's my life. So you're my first love from that life she gave me."
Her head ducked, smile trembling between laughter and tears. "You still say that?"
He said, brushing her bangs back. "I'm old, but I'm consistent. You tie your shoes properly?" her father asked suddenly.
"Of course," she said, defensive.
He smiled like he didn't believe her, then bent anyway, fingers deft as he checked the knot himself. "Too loose. You'll trip again."
She made a noise of protest, cheeks warm. "Dad—"
"Humor an old man." He tightened the laces, patted her knee, and stood again.
Behind her, Sho mouthed to Haru,
He's literally her clone.
Haru just nodded, a slow grin spreading. "Or she's his."
The ghouls stood just behind her, momentarily silenced — not out of politeness, but from the quiet shock of seeing how effortlessly warmth could live in a man's voice.
"Come in," he said. "Your mother's making tea, and she'll scold me if you catch cold."
Inside, the house was small, but every surface carried the same care they saw in her: cushions fluffed, shoes lined neatly, a faint scent of soap and sunlight. Her father moved through it with familiar precision, wiping condensation from the kettle before pouring, turning each cup so the handles faced the same way.
The table creaked under the weight of their tea set. He poured for everyone, hand steady, movements quiet and practiced.
Subaru watched the man's every motion, wide-eyed. When the father reached to adjust her collar where it had folded, Subaru glanced away quickly, as if intruding on something sacred.
The air around him wasn't commanding, but gentle, shaped by years of small tendernesses.
He didn't ask for attention. He simply moved through love the way others moved through air.
And she — the girl they'd always seen doing too much, caring too naturally — was his reflection.
As the evening light shifted, the little gestures stacked themselves into something larger:
He poured water before anyone asked.
He noticed when the room grew dim and reached to switch on the light before it strained anyone's eyes.
He picked up a dropped napkin before it hit the floor.
He even straightened Ritsu's cup when it drifted out of place on the table.
Every act was small, instinctive, unthinking — and utterly familiar.
Sho leaned back, voice barely above a whisper. "Now it makes sense."
Lucas nodded, slow and sure. "She didn't learn kindness. She inherited it."
Subaru's gaze lingered on the pair — father and daughter laughing over nothing, hands occasionally brushing. he murmured "She's made of it."
Dinner stretched into laughter, the easy kind that fills spaces untouched by bitterness. Her father told stories about her childhood — how she used to insist on carrying bags twice her size, how she cried when a butterfly got caught in the rain, how she would sit beside him while he polished his shoes, pretending to 'help.'
When her mother entered, smiling fondly, he rose immediately to pull out her chair, then bent to tie the loose ribbon on her apron. No fanfare, no performance — just habit.
The ghouls sat in silence, struck by how love could exist without words or promises, in nothing more than movement.
Everything that made her who she was, lived here — around this table, in this love that had no need to announce itself.
Later, when they walked her back to the dorm, the sky had deepened to indigo. The air was cool, alive with cicadas.
Her father walked with them to the gate, hand still clasped around hers.
"Take care of her," he told the group gently. "She's strong, but she gives too much without noticing. Someone has to remind her to keep some for herself."
Subaru inclined his head. "We'll do our best."
Her father smiled. "That's all I ask."
Before she could turn, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles like he had when she was little.
"You take after me too much," he said softly. "That's my fault. But remember — love isn't measured by how much you give. It's how much you stay."
She nodded, eyes glassy, and leaned into his shoulder just long enough to memorize the warmth.
Then he let her go.
The road back was quiet, but not empty. They didn't speak until the house lights had faded into the trees.
Finally, Haru broke the silence. "I thought she just liked helping."
Subaru shook his head. "No. It's deeper than that. It's the language she was raised in."
Subaru's voice came soft, thoughtful. "Every time she holds a door, or fixes something, , or notices the small things—it's him, moving through her."
Lucas chuckled, hands in pockets. "Guess that's what love looks like when it grows up."
Ritsu smiled faintly. "No. She's the echo of how love moves."
She smiled, easy and bright, the same quiet warmth her father carried in every movement. And for a moment, they didn't just see her — they saw the home that made her.
And the ghouls realize — She doesn't just do kindness.
She grew up in it.
Every door she holds open, every spoon she sets down, every quiet act of care — it's her way of carrying that home wherever she goes. It was inheritance.
The purest kind.
when they reached the dorm and she try to opened the door for them, as always, he caught it before she could.
She blinked up at him. "Subaru?"
He stepped aside, holding it open instead. "It's fine. You first."
She smiled, surprised but touched, and walked through.
When the door closed, Haru whistled low. "Guess we've been spoiled without knowing it."
Lucas smiled faintly. "Or blessed."
They watched her cross the hall, moving with that same quiet rhythm, the one they'd always taken for granted.
Now they knew the truth of it.
She wasn't just kind because the world needed it.
She was kind because someone once loved her so fully, she became the echo of that love in motion.
And once you saw it, you couldn't unsee it.
.
.
.
Later that night, in the quiet of the dorm, a sheet of paper on the desk crumpled softly beneath his hand.
Ink bloomed where his pen had paused mid-thought;
"It's strange how the smallest actions reveal the largest truths.
She doesn't serve because she's told to.
She serves because she's loved.
And love, when received fully, always learns how to give."
The paper gave a soft rustle beneath his hand, folding as if it, too, couldn't bear the weight of what was written.
How cruel, the thought whispered, that fate could steal warmth born from such gentle hands…
...and cast it into a world that doesn't know how to hold it.
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ .fin
Eventhough this is based on my reality, why I add the last scene? Ofcourse we need the MC version of this (≖ᴗ≖)
Some of the scene is being exagerated, please note that, but most of them did true.
For anyone who reads this until the end, I hope you could find a little comfort in this and may you have a house more warmth than this for you to live and rest (´▽`♡)
Taglist; @gulaaren-123
Early warning : Tbh, I'm still not finished all the episode to the latest update so I actually have little information while making this (please forgive me if there's any OOC, have mercy). All I ever make mostly inspired based on what people posting so I always link their post in my credit if I ever did.
Word count: 1.556
SUMMARY: After the ghoul erase her memories the moment she start to remember her life in Darkwick, about them, there's still some tension and disagreement between them. Still, their priority is to keep her safe and away from any danger they might bring.
─ The side stories finally here!!!! ٩(^ᗜ^ )و ´-
─ This time, the story kinda long with more than 2k words. But I hope it doesn't bored you and you could enjoy to read it until the end (ㅅ •̯́ ^ •̯̀ ) Enjoy!!!!
─ Also, if you find any plot hole, grammatical error, or some scene that doesn't make sense, please pardon me. I write this long in one sitting and my back hurt now ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) *old back cracking noise*
─ Part 1 | Part 2 | side story
─ Masterlist
They had blown the match, and for a moment, the world went white.
The anomaly match burned like a tiny star — a blue, unnatural flame that smelled of ozone and old paper. The air rippled, caught between silence and the low hum of something leaving. The light washed over her like rain, then seeped through her chest in a pulse too soft to hear, too final to take back.
MC's lashes fluttered. Her breath caught halfway through a word that would never finish. Then her knees buckled.
Rui moved first, catching her before she fell. The motion wasn't heroic — it was instinct. Her weight hit his arms with a warmth that scared him more than the curse ever had.
"She's asleep," he said, voice steady but eyes unsteady.
For a heartbeat, no one breathed. The smell of burnt ozone lingered; ash floated down like dust, catching in her hair and on Rui's sleeve.
Kaito rubbed the back of his neck, his expression twisting between guilt and disbelief. "This feels wrong," he muttered. "We could've talked to her. Explained. Anything but this—"
"Explained what?" Leo snapped, the edge in his tone too sharp. "That she broke the oldest curse in existence? That she's why Darkwick's still standing — and why we are too?"
The room stilled again, as though the word Darkwick itself carried weight enough to choke them. Leo's anger wasn't loud — it was weary.
"Maybe she deserves to know," Tohma shot back, his voice thin, stretched by fear more than defiance.
"She deserves to live," Rui murmured, brushing her hair back — a gesture more prayer than comfort. "Knowing won't help her do that."
The words struck like a verdict. None of them wanted to agree, but none had strength to argue. The air thickened — guilt and resignation folding over them like a shroud.
Rui's words lingered like a bruise, too gentle to argue with, too painful to accept.
Kaito looked away. Leo's jaw tightened. Someone's breath hitched. Only MC's slow breathing filled the space between them — fragile proof she was still here.
Still theirs.
Lucas broke the silence. "Rui's right. If she remembers the curse — if she remembers Darkwick—"
"She doesn't even remember Darkwick exists," Leo cut in. "That's the point."
Haku crouched beside her. "She shouldn't have to carry this," he said quietly. "No human should."
"Especially her," Rui murmured. His voice softened into guilt. "The Kyklos should've never broken through her."
Towa frowned. "It wasn't her fault."
"No one's ever fault," Romeo said, leaning against the wall, pretending calm. "But you can't just walk away from something like that. Darkwick won't let go of her who survived the kyklos curse that easily."
Kaito turned toward him, eyes bright with anger. "So that's it? We just erase her every time she remembers? Like she's some experiment?"
"Like she's someone who survived what none of us could," Leo said flatly. "That's why Darkwick wants her. That's why we can't let them find her."
The name hung heavy in the air — Darkwick.
Yuri spoke up from the edge of the room, voice rough. "She broke the Kyklos. Do you even understand what that means? The Kyklos curse wasn't meant to break. Now that it has, everyone down there wants her."
"Darkwick always wants what it can't control," Leo said, bitterness curling his voice. "And she's the first thing it's ever lost."
A sharp silence followed. Even Taiga looked away.
Shohei, quiet until now, crouched near MC and brushed a lock of hair from her forehead. "She never asked to be part of this. She didn't even know what she did."
"And that's exactly how it needs to stay," Subaru said.
Ren let out a humorless laugh. "We're all pretending we know what we're doing, but we don't. We're just scared."
"Speak for yourself," Yuri muttered, but his tone lacked conviction.
"I still don't get it," Haku crouched beside Rui, his usual grin nowhere to be found. "We're supposed to protect her, right? So why does protecting her always feel like killing her?"
Ritsu gave him a quiet look. "Because it's easier to destroy a memory than to live with the fear it might come back.''
Silence pressed down, thick as dust — the kind that filled the lungs and settled in the bones.
For a heartbeat, no one moved. Then Taiga's foot scuffed the floor, snapping them all back into the moment — to the girl lying motionless, and to what they'd just done in the name of keeping her safe.
From the corner, Towa's hands were folded so tightly they whitened. "Dandelion will be fine," he said, but the sentence sounded like a question.
"Fine?" Taiga scoffed without humor. "You call this fine?"
He jabbed a finger at the floor as if the marble itself had answers. "She'll wake up forgetting and smiling and thinking everything's normal. And if she ever close to remember again, we'll do this again. And again."
His voice cracked. Fear stripped him bare.
Alan's jaw worked. "We did it to keep her alive." He spoke like a man pressing a bandage to a wound. "You all know the risks if she remembers everything."
"Do we know?" Yuri snapped, startling at the sharp edge in his own voice. "Do you remember what it looked like? What she became? We promised each other—"
He stopped, head shaking. Words were failing the gravity of what they'd done.
Jin had been silent, arms folded, and he finally spoke — soft, iron-edged. "Promised to protect."
Tohma let out a breath that was almost a laugh. "We protected her from those who still targeting her, from us, and paid ourselves the cost."
"We might thought it was mercy," Romeo said, voice cutting the air with a veneer of careless charm that barely hid the tremor under it. "Funny thing about mercy — sometimes it's just cowardice with nicer wrapping."
Rui flinched. "Don't."
"Don't what?" Romeo shrugged. "Speak the truth? Say what we're all thinking?" He softened only at the sight of MC's peaceful sleep. "No. Not all of us..."
The quiet around his words sounded like regret.
he took a deep breath as if that way he could release all the feelings haunting his soul before he retreat. "Just saying the truth. Doesn't change what we are now."
Yuri's hand twitched, barely holding back his temper. "You could try shutting up for once, Romeo. Not every truth needs to bleed."
A small sound escaped Luka — not quite a laugh, not quite a sigh. "It's funny, we all call this mercy, but none of us look relieved."
"That's because it's not mercy," Jiro said. "It's fear. We're afraid of her remembering."
Ed turned toward him, jaw tight. "You'd rather she remembered and throw back in danger once again?"
Lyca crossed his arms, gaze hard. "Maybe dying's better than living like this."
"Don't," Lucas said quietly. His voice wasn't angry — it was pleading. "Don't make this harder than it already is."
Ren leaned against the wall, "Too late for that. She cornered us. Outplayed us. And she will try to remember again, once that moment came again... we can't keep pretending this'll stay buried."
Haru sigh heavily "So we keep her like this. Living half a life, never knowing why strangers seem familiar. Why we hover. Why she keeps waking up with that look like she's forgotten something important."
"Would you rather she wake up in Darkwick's lab?" Subaru asked.
"No," Haru said, meeting his eyes. "But I'd like to stop pretending mercy doesn't hurt."
Edward watched everything with a kind of cold distance until he suddenly spoke, quiet but final: "Then... if she dies because she remembers, did we fail her by letting her live? If she keeps living half a life because of us, do we own that?"
No one answered him — the question was sharper than any blade.
"I don't want to be the person who took her memory away," Ren shoved a hand through his hair, breathing fast. "But I also don't want to stand by and watch her get hurt by the thing she's root to."
He was half argument, half confession.
"Then what do you want?" Kaito demanded, voice suddenly sharp and painful. "We're the ones who have to make sure she couldn't remember, so Darkwick could never touch her again."
Subaru stepped forward. "We keep the plan," he said. "Take her home. No traces. We stabilize her. We watch."
He sounded calm because he needed them to be calm.
He sounded cold because it was his way to survive. "We are not going to fight about this here."
"But look at her," Sho protested, bending down to smooth a stray curl from MC's temple. "Look at what we just made her lose. Do you feel that hollow?"
"I can't stand that hollow." His voice trembled now.
Haku's jaw worked. "None of us can," he said. "That's the problem." He gave a short, bitter laugh. "We have to doing this once more if she start to remember, because someone has to be the coward who chooses the lesser pain."
"Someone being us?" Sho snapped, outrage and shame tangling. "We're not 'someone'. We're friends. Or at least, that's what we tried to be." His hands fisted at his sides.
"Since when did protecting someone become the same as stealing their life?"
A heavy silence fell like rainfall hitting the roof. The small ash of the anomaly match lay dark against the marble, an ugly truth of what they'd done.
"Rui," Lucas said finally — no accusation, just a raw need for the man to answer. "Do we need to do the same if this ever happen again?"
The question sat between them like a living thing.
Rui looked at each of them in turn, and something like fatigue — old and deep — crossed his face. "As long as we must," he said quietly.
"Until someone finds another way." His voice broke on the last word. "Until someone finds a better way."
Leo scoffed softly, but it was a sound without humor. "Until then, we fake normal. Take her home. Pretend the night never happened."
"Pretend?" Lyca's laugh was soft and empty. "We're already pretending."
The silence that followed was final. No one tried to argue anymore. The fight had gone out of them, leaving only the weight of what they'd done.
Subaru exhaled slowly, the kind of breath that sounded like surrender. "Enough. We need to move now."
Rui lifted MC in his arms again, careful, almost reverent. Her head rested against his shoulder, the curve of her hair brushing the collar of his coat. Kaito reached for her fallen notebook, slipping it gently into her bag. Haku straightened the overturned chair. Tohma extinguished the last of the candlelight with a single breath.
They cordoned the gallery with gestures that were more like a habit than a plan — lines of people moving together, silent and efficient. Footsteps were muffled with the heavy tread of grief and exhausted resolve. They left the door open just a crack so the rain could get in and blur the footprints they left.
Still, the guilt was thick — it didn't fade with movement. It clung to them like the damp in the air, heavier with every step toward the door.
Haku's voice cracked the silence. "She really did it," he muttered. "Got us all in one room without us realizing."
Kaito gave a sound that wasn't quite a laugh. "Outsmarted twenty-one ghouls in one night. Some miracle that didn't get her killed."
Tohwa's smile was faint, brittle. "That's her. Always ahead, even when she shouldn't be."
"Don't romanticize it," Leo said. "She didn't win anything tonight."
"But she's alive," Subaru replied, quiet. "That counts for something."
Ren exhaled, long and tired. "Barely."
The tension rippled again — not explosive, just spent. A tired ache instead of a wound still bleeding. None of them looked at her.
None of them could.
Kaito's voice came from near the threshold, small and sudden. "If she remembers again and chooses to keep the truth…" he began, voice raw, "then we face that. We can't keep pretending we can always 'fix' her."
"Maybe we can't," Subaru answered softly, "but right now the choice we made was to keep her alive." He looked at Leo. "This is on us. We live with it."
"Then live with it," Taiga snapped, tearing at his own sleeve to rein in the trembling.
"Live with it and stop making it her burden to carry."
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ .fin
♡(˃͈ ˂͈ ) Taglist; @gulaaren-123
Early warning : Tbh, I'm still not finished all the episode to the latest update so I actually have little information while making this (please forgive me if there's any OOC, have mercy). All I ever make mostly inspired based on what people posting so I always link their post in my credit.
Word count: 2.096
Enjoy ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ oh, and leave your comment, pretty pleaseeee!!! (ㅅ´ ˘ `)
─ Yesssss, another post not long after the previous one. I'm too sleep-deprived now, any error, mistakes, or inconsistency (you name it) would probably be edited after I have enough sleep. goodnight!!
─ Today's fic: OM! MC still tries to blend in to Darkwick without anyone noticing, but it seems very hard, and no one wants to really point it out directly to her, which makes her more agitated in fear and anxiety. And what's worse than that? Leo
─ Taglist; @gulaaren-123 (please dm me to be added or removed, ty)
─ MASTERLIST [ Mismatch; (1) | (2) | (3) ]
It was Leo.
Unlike most people she'd met at Darkwick, Leo gave her the distinct impression that noticing things wasn't a skill.
It was a hobby. A hobby he enjoyed far too much.
"Interesting?" she repeated carefully.
Leo smiled. Immediately, her level of concern doubled. "You looked startled."
"I almost walked into you."
"You almost did something else too."
Oh no. Her heartbeat immediately sped up.
Not visibly. Years of surviving Lucifer's scrutiny had trained that out of her. Internally, however, every alarm she possessed began activating simultaneously.
Did he notice? No. Impossible.
The spell hadn't even formed. The magic barely manifested. Nobody should have sensed anything, especially not someone from this world.
Right?
Unfortunately, confidence became difficult to maintain when Leo continued staring at her like she'd just become the most interesting thing he'd seen all day.
Which, given this was Leo, wasn't reassuring.
She folded her arms. Mostly because it gave her something to do. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Hm." That single syllable somehow communicated complete disbelief.
Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
The conversation had existed for less than a minute, and she already wanted to leave. Unfortunately, Leo seemed perfectly content keeping her there, which she doesn't understand. Actually, now that she looked closer—
He seemed unusually cheerful.
This immediately made her suspicious because she didn't know Leo particularly well. What she did know came mostly from observation. And one conclusion had become abundantly clear.
Leo in a good mood was probably bad news for everyone else.
The same way Mammon smiles near expensive objects. Or Belphegor smiling near unsecured plans. Or Solomon smiling in general. Nothing good ever followed.
"...Why are you smiling?"
Leo blinked, then smiled wider. Mistake, that was a mistake. She should not have asked. "I didn't realize that bothered you."
"It concerns me."
Leo snickered, which somehow confirmed every concern she had. "Maybe I learned something interesting recently."
Her stomach tightened immediately. Not because of what he'd said, but because of who had said it.
Over the past week, she'd learned enough about Leo to understand that information wasn't something he merely collected. He enjoyed it. Pulled it apart. Examined it from different angles. Poked at it just to see what happened. The man treated secrets the way some people treated puzzles.
Which would normally be irritating. Right now it’s terrifying.
The panic arrived first. Logic followed several seconds later.
Because Leo's stigma existed.
And she knew that.
She knew enough about Dark Wick and the ghouls by now to understand that Leo wasn't simply observant. His stigma let him hear things ordinary people couldn't. Snippets. Fragments. Hidden details. Information people weren't supposed to know. Information like—
Her pulse jumped again. No. Stop.
The panic immediately started losing ground the moment she forced herself to remember.
Every conversation, the important one, the dangerous one. All of their conversation, actually. She'd been using concealment spells, Leo shouldn't have heard anything.
Nobody should have. Which meant she was panicking over nothing. Probably. Hopefully.
Leo continued watching her. The silence itself felt deliberate. Like he was waiting.
For what?
A flinch? A mistake? A confession?
The realization settled unpleasantly in her stomach. He was looking for a reaction.
"...Interesting?" she asked carefully.
"Alan came back in a terrible mood yesterday," Leo hummed, a very annoying noise. "Apparently, he'd gone all the way to Frostheim for something. Next thing I know, he's stomping around looking like he wants to punch a wall. I heard Jin was involved somehow."
Another baited hook. Which was exactly why she refused to react.
The mention of Jin had caught her attention. She knew it had. The memory of that argument she'd witnessed while following Lucas and Kaito surfaced immediately.
Jin looked angrier than she'd ever seen him. Tohma is looking equally unwilling to back down. At the time, she'd only caught fragments. Enough to understand they were fighting. Not enough to understand why.
Was that connected?
Her stomach sank. Leo was watching her again, watching far too closely. And suddenly she understood.
Oh. Oh, he was fishing.
The realization hit with enough force that she almost laughed. Not because it was funny, but because it was irritating.
The annoying part? It was working.
Because she genuinely wanted to know what happened between Jin and Tohma. Unfortunately, wanting to know and letting Leo know she wanted to know were two completely different things.
"That sounds unfortunate," she said.
"Hm." That was all he said. Just that single syllable. And somehow it was infuriating. "You know, I couldn't hear much."
His tone seemed to imply that it was bothering him, but the expression on his face didn't match his tone of voice. If anything, he seemed entertained. Which was exactly why she didn't trust it.
"I hate when my stigma cuts out at the interesting parts. And that Himbo was no help. Every time I asked, he got annoyed. Which is rude." For someone supposedly complaining about Alan's mood, Leo looked far too pleased with himself.
She stared at him. "You were literally trying to listen to something that wasn't your business."
"Exactly."
The answer came immediately. Without hesitation. Without shame. Without even a hint of self-awareness. She honestly didn't know why she expected otherwise.
Leo crossed his arms. "I was gathering information."
"That's called eavesdropping."
The problem was that Leo said it with the same tone somebody might use when explaining basic arithmetic. Completely unbothered.
As if the distinction between "gathering information" and "eavesdropping" existed only for people who enjoyed making life unnecessarily complicated.
For a moment, he looked genuinely confused by her objection, then he shrugged. "You know what, I think eavesdropping sounds cooler, actually."
Of course he did.
She should've known arguing with Leo was a waste of energy. The man would probably argue that gravity was optional if it annoyed enough people.
"You know," Leo continued, seemingly abandoning the topic entirely, "I was expecting something way more interesting."
Immediately suspicious, she narrowed her eyes. "About what?"
"You."
Every conversation involving Leo felt like accidentally stepping into a trap you couldn't see. The worst part was that half the time she wasn't even sure he knew where the trap was either.
He just enjoyed throwing things onto the floor and seeing what somebody stepped on.
"What about me?"
Leo hummed. A long, thoughtful sound.
The kind people make when deciding whether or not they should say something. Unfortunately, Leo had never seemed particularly burdened by such decisions.
"You've been weird lately."
Her heart dropped. There it is. The thing she'd been waiting for. The thing she'd been dreading. The thing that apparently every person in Darkwick had collectively decided to notice.
Fortunately, panic has become familiar territory recently. And familiar territory was easier to navigate.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"See?" Leo pointed at her immediately. "That's weird."
"...What?"
"Normally you'd ask who."
The response came so fast she almost missed it.
Leo looked pleased. Like he'd found an unexpected piece while assembling a puzzle. She felt a flicker of alarm. Small. Sharp. Dangerous.
"You remember stuff like that?"
"NPC, I remember everything."
The nickname somehow sounded less insulting and more matter-of-fact when it came from him. Which honestly wasn't better. But considering Leo's personality, maybe that made sense.
The original MC had spent years helping everyone. Showing up whenever somebody needed something.
Fixing problems.
Running errands.
Supporting people.
Being available.
Being reliable.
Being there. Always there.
The role itself practically encouraged becoming part of the background.
The person everyone relied on. The person nobody really questioned. And she supposed from Leo's perspective—
Someone suddenly developing stronger opinions probably would seem strange. But the realization didn't make her feel better.
Leo leaned slightly against the wall.
Not blocking her path. Not trapping her. Yet somehow making it impossible to leave naturally.
"I mean, usually you'd ask."
"Ask what?"
" 'Who said that?' " His voice shifted slightly as he mimicked the conversation.
" 'When?' " Another gesture.
" 'What exactly did they say?' " Another.
" 'Why do they think that?' " He dropped his hand.
"You skipped all that." The smile returned. "You accepted it really fast."
For one horrifying second she wondered if she'd actually made a mistake. Then she stopped herself.
No.
Because the more she thought about it, the more obvious the pattern became. Leo wasn't presenting evidence. He was collecting reactions. The same thing he'd been doing since the conversation started.
He noticed something. He said it. Then watched.
If somebody reacted, great. If they didn't, he moved on and found something else.
She'd spent enough time around manipulative people to recognize when somebody was deliberately steering a conversation like this one.
Solomon did it. Asmodeus did it. Diavolo occasionally did it while pretending he wasn't.
Leo was doing it now.
The difference was that Leo wasn't trying to guide the conversation toward a specific conclusion.
He was watching. Testing.
Dropping pieces onto a board and seeing which ones made people react.
And suddenly she understood why he made her nervous.
Unlike people such as Romeo or Jin, who approached problems directly, Leo seemed to enjoy circling around them.
Leo tilted his head. "You could probably get replaced and nobody would notice."
She stared at him. "...Excuse me?"
"I'm serious." A little smirk tugged at his mouth, the kind that made her want to throw something at him. "If Sho suddenly closed his food truck because he got bored of it, everybody would notice."
She hesitated for a second. She wasn't entirely sure how to respond. "That may be a little concerning."
"Exactly." Leo pointed at her. "See? You're getting it."
She wasn't getting anything.
"You disappear for a week, people ask where you went."
A shrug.
"You disappear for a month, people get worried."
Another shrug.
"You get replaced by some weird clone?"
He paused.
"Honestly, I think half the school would still ask you for favors."
Her eye twitched, not because the comment was particularly cruel. Because it wasn't, and that was the problem.
Leo had managed to summarize months of the original MC's existence in a few careless sentences, reducing her to the person everyone called when they needed something.
God, she hated that.
Hated how casually everyone seemed to accept it. How normal it was for people to take and take and take, then act surprised whenever MC wasn't immediately available.
And the worst part? Leo wasn't even wrong.
Leo immediately perked up. "Oh, there it is."
"what is?"
Leo leaned back against the wall. "You never used to look annoyed when people said annoying things."
"I absolutely did."
"No."
The answer came immediately. Like he'd already decided she was wrong before she opened her mouth.
"You looked tired." The correction landed so casually she almost missed it. "You know how old phones look right before they die?"
"...What?"
"You had that vibe."
She blinked. "What does that even mean?"
"It means you looked like somebody running on a three percent battery." The grin returned. "And now you don't."
She hated that comparison.
"Actually, that's what was bothering me."
"Bothering you?"
"Yeah."
His gaze narrowed slightly. "You actually react now."
She frowned. "I reacted before."
"No." The answer came immediately. "You tolerated things before."
A finger lifted.
"You'd smile."
Another.
"Nod."
Another.
"Fix whatever disaster somebody dumped on you."
Another.
"Then disappear."
"Now you look annoyed, you actually push back" His grin widened slightly. "And honestly? It's way more interesting." He looked far too entertained.
Her stomach tightened. Immediately. Because he wasn't wrong. And because he sounded entirely too pleased about it.
Leo gestured vaguely between them. "The old you would've escaped this conversation ages ago."
That caught her off guard. "What?"
"You would've done the polite thing." A hand gesture.
"Smile."
Another.
"Then leave."
His eyes flicked over her face. "But you're still here."
The words weren't accusatory and that's the problem.
If Leo had been accusing her of something, she could've denied it. If he'd been suspicious, she could've laughed it off. If he'd been trying to prove something, she could've picked apart his logic.
But he wasn't doing any of that.
And every casual observation felt like another finger pressing against a bruise she was desperately trying to hide.
Her shoulders locked. Her pulse thudded unpleasantly against her ribs.
Don't react.
Don't react.
Don't—
"Huh." The sound left him suddenly.
Her pulse immediately spiked. "What?"
Leo blinked, then laughed. "Oh wow."
"What?!!"
"You did it again."
Her stomach dropped. "Did what?"
"That face."
"What face?"
"The one where you look like you're trying really hard not to panic."
"..."
"..."
Leo snorted. "There it is."
She hated him.
Leo pushed away from the wall. Still grinning. "You know..."
His voice turned thoughtful. Or at least Leo's version of thoughtful, which mostly sounded like trouble preparing itself.
"The old you was easier." The statement landed strangely. "The old you would've nodded by now. Way less fun, though."
Her stomach tightened.
"You make me sound boring."
"You were boring." The answer came immediately, without hesitation.
Leo grinned. "You were useful."
Somehow that felt even worse.
"You just showed up, solved problems, and disappeared."
That...
Actually sounded disturbingly accurate.
"You didn't argue."
Another point.
"You didn't roll your eyes."
Another.
"You definitely didn't look at me like you're doing right now."
His grin widened. "There it is."
She hated this conversation. She hated it so much. Mostly because she couldn't tell how much of it was nonsense and how much of it was genuine observation.
With Leo, those two things seemed to overlap far too often. Fortunately, she'd already reached her limit.
Lucas. She needed Lucas. Or Kaito. Either one.
Immediately.
Preferably before Leo decided to continue whatever bizarre social experiment he was currently conducting.
So she took a step backward. "I have somewhere to be."
"Frostheim?"
The answer came too fast. Her eyes narrowed immediately.
Leo looked delighted. "Wow."
"..."
"That was a really good reaction."
Damn it. Absolutely damn it.
He laughed again, like the conversation had confirmed something entertaining.
"You're impossible."
"I get that a lot." Leo looked pleased by the response.
Of course, he did. At this point, she was beginning to suspect he treated irritation as a form of positive reinforcement. It's only strengthened her desire to leave.
Preferably before he found another conversational landmine to throw in her direction.
A hand caught her wrist.
The movement happened so suddenly that her body reacted before her mind did. Her muscles tensed. Magic threatened to surge instinctively beneath her skin. For one dangerous second she nearly twisted free on reflex.
"Hey—!!" The word died halfway out.
Not because Leo was holding her particularly hard. Because he wasn't smiling anymore. Even the lazy, careless attitude that seemed permanently attached to him had disappeared.
Leo had leaned slightly closer, his fingers remained loosely wrapped around her wrist. "You know, if somebody ever does replace you..."
Her entire body went cold. For a second she genuinely forgot how to breathe.
"...tell them not to."
Silence.
Her pulse slammed against her ribs. The hallway seemed to disappear. Every sound. Every voice. Every movement.
Gone.
"What?"
She hated him.
Hated how often he stumbled dangerously close to things he shouldn't know. Hated how easily he kept holding on details that everyone else probably tried hard to miss. Hated how impossible it was to tell whether he was joking.
Because he couldn't know.
He couldn't. Nobody knew. Nobody was supposed to know.
Then why did it feel like he was staring directly at the secret lodged inside her chest?
"If somebody steals your spot, puts on your face, starts pretending to be you..." A small frown appeared, like the hypothetical itself offended him. "...they should give it back."
Her heart nearly stopped. "What the hell are you talking about?"
The question came out sharper than intended. Leo ignored it. Or maybe he simply didn't care. Both were equally possible.
His gaze remained fixed on her face. Then, finally, the corner of his mouth lifted. "Because if I find out somebody actually replaced you..." His voice softened. "...I'd find out what happened to you."
A pause.
The smile on his face didn't reach his eyes. "And if they're hiding you, I'd drag you back."
Another pause.
"If they're pretending to be you, I'd make them slip." His fingers tightened ever so slightly around her wrist. "And if they still refused to leave..."
The words came out almost thoughtful. "...I'd stop being nice about it."
Silence stretched between them.
"Actually, scratch that." His grin widened. "I don't think I'd be nice about it at all."
Something cold crawled down her spine.
The words should've sounded ridiculous. They should've sounded like another joke. Instead they sounded horrifyingly sincere.
Not because he knew anything.
Because he sounded like he'd already decided what he'd do if it happened.
The thought terrified her. Because Leo wasn't looking at her like somebody making a joke. He was looking at her like somebody imagining a scenario. And deciding he didn't like it.
Then suddenly he blinked.
The moment shattered. Just like that. The strange intensity vanished, his grin widened. And Leo was Leo again.
"Oh." He laughed. "There it is."
"What is wrong with you?!" The outburst escaped before she could stop it. Several students glanced in their direction.
Leo looked delighted. "See? This never gets boring with that face."
She yanked her wrist free immediately. "You're insane."
"I've heard that one before too." Leo shrugged, completely unconcerned.
Like the last thirty seconds hadn't happened. Like he hadn't just reached into her worst fear and squeezed. She couldn't tell whether he'd meant any of it. Couldn't tell whether he was joking. Couldn't tell whether he was guessing.
The uncertainty followed her even as she turned away. Fast.
Because for the first time since arriving in Darkwick, she wanted only one thing. Find Lucas. Find Kaito.
Immediately.
Before she had time to think about the fact that Leo had just described her exact nightmare without having any possible way of knowing it existed.
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ .fin
Early warning: Tbh, I'm still not finished with all the episodes up to the latest update, so I actually have little information to go on while making this (please forgive me if there's any OOC; have mercy).
Word count: 3.034
─ Here's the other house version!!!! (For the other house..., let's see my mood)
─ EARLY WARNING ‼ ; I'm not saying I'm pro at fashion or have a good sense for this kind of thing (I'm suck at it tbh), this is purely my opinion on how the ghoul would dress MC if they have the chance. Don't attack me
─ Forgot to post this on Sunday, my bad.
─ Frostheim | Jabberwock | Obscuary
─ Masterlist
❣ Jabberwock;
This dorm gives off this lively, chaotic energy — the kind of place where nothing stays clean for more than a minute because there's always some anomalous animal running around or something exploding in the background.
In my opinion, their clothes match that vibe perfectly. Practical pieces meant to survive dirt, mud, or whatever weather decides to appear that day, but still bursting with personality. Lots of vibrant colors and silhouettes that look thrown together but somehow make sense on them.
It's the kind of style that feels impulsive and cheerful, like they're too busy living to worry about looking "proper", and yet it becomes unmistakably, confidently Jabberwock.
Haru noticed it slowly at first — a different jacket here, a new top there — but after a week of watching you stroll into Jabberwock in outfits that looked nothing like your usual picks, he finally couldn't pretend it was nothing anymore.
Peekaboo was the first to react. Perched in Haru's hoodie like a small, judgmental cabbage, he stared at your clothes, blinked twice, and let out a tiny, pointed "Boo."
Haru laughed immediately. "Even my son's confused," he said, tone bright and teasing, though there was a thread beneath it — something he clearly hoped you wouldn't catch.
MC blinked, "Oh, this? Well, Frostheim boys insisted I wear the clothes they gave me."
"And you kept it on," Ren drawled from the side, voice smooth but carrying an edge he didn't bother hiding today. He didn't look up from his phone, but the slight narrowing of his eyes said enough.
Peekaboo leaned forward again, squinting at you like he was evaluating the fabric quality. Then he poked your sleeve with a tiny paw and said another, softer "Boo…" as if deeply unimpressed.
"It's comfortable," she shrugged, missing every layer of tension gathering around her. "Why are you all staring at me like that?"
Haru kept smiling, but the smile twitched at the corners. His posture stayed loose and cheerful, but the moment your eyes drifted elsewhere, his shoulders tightened for half a second. Peekaboo nudged his chin, and Haru patted him like he needed the reassurance himself.
Because now that he thought about it…
Frostheim didn't make casual decisions. They didn't do anything without purpose — not even clothes.
And dressing her like one of them?
That could easily be taken as a statement.
Maybe even a provocation.
He let out a small laugh with no humor in it and scratched Peekaboo's ear. "Let's not overthink it, right? Haha…"
Peekaboo did not look convinced.
Then Ren added, "Well… at least you look tidy now." His gaze flicked toward Haru. "Though it does look weird seeing Frostheim stuff get dirty when you're running around here."
Peekaboo immediately puffed up and slapped Haru's chest twice — tiny, outraged thumps — like a toddler demanding his father do something about this.
That did it. That was the final push.
"You're going to help around here often," he said lightly, "so it might be better if you had clothes suited for this dorm too. Something you won't feel bad getting dirty."
Peekaboo nodded enthusiastically. "Boo!"
Towa suddenly burst into the common room, eyes shining. "Yes. Yes! Let's do that. Dandelion needs more clothes."
"Wait—what?" She blinked.
.
.
.
☘︎ A crisp, short-sleeved knit top with a neat collar — the kind of piece that stays comfortable from morning errands to late-night walks.
☘︎ A washed denim slip dress layered over it — relaxed in shape, lightly structured, with adjustable straps and a straight silhouette.
☘︎ Long side slits along the skirt — adding movement, airflow, and a quiet sense of ease, making the outfit practical.
☘︎ A thin cord belt tied loosely at the waist, decorated with small tassels.
☘︎ Minimal black sneakers — fresh, simple, and versatile.
Peekaboo circled her twice on the table, then plopped down like a tiny fashion judge granting his approval.
"Where do you even get all of these clothes?!" MC was at a loss. "And—okay, this outfit is cute, but I'm still not sure it's suited for running around in Jabberwock either!"
"Oh, this one?" Haru chirped. "This is for outside Jabberwock! You'll need casual sets too, something for daily use." He glanced at the Frostheim shirt now neatly folded beside him. His smile wavered for barely a second before he forced it bright again. "You shouldn't have to rely on… those."
Peekaboo kicked the folded shirt off the table.
Ren smirked without looking up. "Yeah. Wearing Frostheim stuff here looks ridiculous. What, you think only they plan ahead?"
Haru shot Ren a quick glare, then immediately returned to her with a sunny grin that was almost too cheerful. "We just want you to feel comfortable here. And it didn't feel right watching you walk around in clothes someone else forced on you." He rubbed Peekaboo's head, then his own neck, embarrassed but sincere. "Especially not clothes from them."
MC threw her hands up. "Okay—okay! Hold on. How many clothes did you even bring?"
A beat of silence. Peekaboo raised his tiny paw like he was volunteering to answer.
"A few." — Haru.
"~~♪ ~~~♬" — Towa.
"A problem?" — Ren.
MC swallowed. "This feels like a conspiracy."
"It is," Ren answered immediately.
"No, it's not," Haru insisted, way too cheerfully.
"It's absolutely a conspiracy," Ren repeated, deadpan.
Towa giggled. "A fun one~~!"
"You're all impossible." MC pressed her hands to her temples as Peekaboo flopped onto her lap and stared up with big, expectant eyes, tail twitching.
"Boo!" (Which could only mean: welcome to the family)
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ .fin
Taglist; @gulaaren-123
Early warning: Tbh, I'm still not finished with all the episodes to the latest update, so I actually have little information while making this (please forgive me if there's any OOC, have mercy).
Word count: 821
Enjoy ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ oh, and leave your comment, pretty pleaseeee!!! (ㅅ´ ˘ `)
─ The original script has 6,2k words, so yeah, off into two parts we go!!! I'm enjoying this too much. Yeah, probably would expand WAY MORE than I originally planned to.
─ Today's fic: OM! MC still tries to blend in to Darkwick without anyone noticing, but it seems very hard, and no one wants to really point it out directly to her, which makes her more agitated in fear and anxiety.
─ Taglist; @gulaaren-123 (please dm me to be added or removed, ty)
─ MASTERLIST [ Mismatch; (1) | (2) ]
Jabberwock was chaotic.
Not the loud, explosive kind she was used to back home.
No screaming brothers. No property damage. No Lucifer threatening someone's allowance while Mammon argued his innocence with increasing volume. It's just—
Constant movement.
The kind that never seemed to stop.
By the time lunch was over, she had helped move three crates of feed, helped clear a large grass field, and spent fifteen minutes holding a rabbit that looked like it had four eyes while Haru checked the bandage on its back leg.
The creature had tried to bite her exactly once. After that, it had decided her lap was acceptable.
Which, apparently, was normal.
"See? They like you." Haru sounded entirely too pleased about that fact.
Haru continued to examine the anomalous creatures roaming freely in the Jabberwock area, carefully inspecting their feeding grounds while continuing an uninterrupted conversation. She still couldn't understand how he managed to do it.
The man never stopped moving. Or talking.
Mostly talking.
It was actually impressive. The man could maintain a conversation almost entirely by himself. Not that she minded.
Compared to some of the conversations she'd been forced into over the past week, listening was significantly safer than talking. Talking required pretending. While listening mostly required just nodding.
"Oh, right! Ren skipped morning duties again."
Of course he did.
"And you let him be." Haru frowned as if her words had offended the Jabberwock's code of ethics, but he didn't try to deny it at all.
She was starting to suspect Haru enjoyed being overworked.
Nobody could possibly volunteer for this much responsibility otherwise.
The entire Jabberwock grounds felt less like a dorm and more like an ecosystem desperately pretending to be organized. Creatures wandered through designated areas.
"Ren says he's being oppressed."
"Is he?"
"Absolutely." The answer came immediately, and then Haru grinned. "By responsibility."
She almost laughed. Almost.
The last thing she needed was another person noticing she wasn't acting like their usual MC.
"Y'know..." He tilted his head. "You're kinda different lately."
Oh.
Oh, that's bad.
That is very, very bad.
For one horrifying second her mind immediately supplied every possible mistake she'd made during the past week.
Maybe she'd answered something wrong.
Maybe she'd forgotten something important.
Maybe she'd been acting completely unlike their MC this entire time and nobody had said anything yet because they were all waiting to compare notes before confronting her.
Internally, every alarm bell she possessed began ringing at once. Externally, she forced herself not to react.
Years of surviving Lucifer's interrogation face were finally paying off.
"Different how?" Her smile stayed perfectly intact.
"Mm..." Haru actually thought about it. Which somehow made it worse. "You still feel like you."
Not reassuring.
"But also not."
Not reassuring at all.
Her heartbeat sped up immediately. Keep smiling. Act normal.
Do not panic.
Do not panic.
Do not—
Haru laughed.
The sound immediately knocked several catastrophic scenarios out of her head.
"You know," he continued, crouching beside another creature that looked vaguely rabbit-shaped if someone had designed rabbits while actively misunderstanding how rabbits worked, "it's hard to explain."
She maintained a smile. Internally, she was preparing contingency plans. "I feel like there's a problem behind that."
"I mean it in a good way."
Somehow that was even worse.
Haru reached forward to adjust something on the creature's harness before continuing. "You've seemed lighter lately."
"...Lighter."
"Yeah."
That was not what she'd expected.
"You used to look tired all the time."
The statement caught her off guard enough that she nearly missed her next response.
"You still help everyone. Still show up when people ask. Still do all the same stuff." He smiled slightly. "But before, it felt like you were carrying something."
His hands moved absentmindedly through the creature's fur.
"Now it feels like you're breathing a little easier."
The words settled somewhere uncomfortable. Because he wasn't entirely wrong. Not for the reasons he thought. This body wasn't hers. This life wasn't hers. These people weren't hers.
But neither was the burden. The responsibilities. The expectations.
The invisible threads connecting this world's MC to seemingly half the student population of Darkwick. She was only carrying fragments of it. And even those fragments were exhausting.
For the original owner? It must have been overwhelming.
The realization sat strangely in her chest.
Before she could answer, movement caught her attention. Or rather, a stare. Her eyes shifted across the enclosure. And immediately met Towa's.
The ghoul wasn't particularly close.
Actually, he was far enough away that nobody should reasonably be paying attention to him.
Yet somehow she kept noticing him.
Or maybe it was because he kept noticing her.
Towa stood near one of the fences, partially obscured by the wooden structure beside him.
Watching. Not approaching. Just watching. His expression wasn't hostile. That would've been easier. Hostility she understood. Suspicion she understood. This felt different.
Like a dog that had caught a scent it couldn't identify.
The comparison immediately reminded her of something Kaito had said earlier in the week.
"Towa's kind of a liability."
At the time she'd assumed he meant dangerous. After meeting him?
She suspected Kaito meant something else because danger implied predictability. Towa felt unpredictable. And unpredictability was significantly worse.
Especially for someone currently pretending to be another person.
Her stomach tightened slightly. Does he notice something?
No. Impossible.
He couldn't know. Nobody knew. Lucas and Kaito only knew because they'd witnessed the swap happen. Everyone else should be seeing exactly what they expected to see.
The same face.
The same voice.
The same body. And yet—
Towa kept staring. Like he was waiting for something. Like he was trying to solve a puzzle.
A puzzle she very much did not want solved.
Thankfully, unlike several other people she'd met recently, Towa never actually approached.
For that alone she was grateful.
Because if there was one thing she'd learned from Kaito's increasingly concerned explanations, it was that Towa operating on instinct tended to create problems for everyone involved.
So if his version of suspicion involved remaining twenty feet away and silently staring?
She would happily accept that arrangement.
Unfortunately, Darkwick seemed fundamentally opposed to giving her nice things.
The moment she finally finished helping Haru and escaped what felt like her fifth unexpected responsibility of the afternoon, another problem immediately appeared.
Freedom sat only a few steps away. She could practically taste it. The plan was simple.
Find Lucas or Kaito. Preferably Lucas.
Lucas was difficult to deal with, but at least conversations with him usually involved information instead of surprises. Kaito, meanwhile, tended to bring surprises.
She had barely made it halfway across the grounds when a loud metallic groan echoed somewhere behind her.
Across the field, Haru stood near the large anomalous bus. Or rather—
He stood near a bus that appeared to be having some kind of emotional breakdown.
The massive vehicle shook violently. One side lifted several inches off the ground before slamming back down. Windows rattled. Something inside the engine made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl.
A growl. From a bus.
At this point she wasn't even surprised anymore.
She was beginning to suspect Darkwick had the same relationship with logic that Mammon had with financial responsibility.
Meaning none whatsoever.
"H-Hey, hey, calm down!" Haru sounded genuinely worried. The same way he'd sounded earlier while treating injured creatures.
The same way Luke used to sound whenever Cerberus sneezed. The comparison surfaced unexpectedly.
So did the memory.
For a brief moment she remembered kneeling beside Cerberus while all three heads tried demanding attention simultaneously. One head wanting food. One head wanting praise. One head wanting absolutely nothing except to start problems.
Honestly, the bus wasn't that different. The thought nearly made her laugh. Then the vehicle slammed against the fence again. Her amusement disappeared. Haru looked increasingly troubled.
And despite everything, she felt a small flicker of sympathy.
The poor guy was probably going to spend the next several hours trying to figure out what was wrong. Assuming the bus didn't eat anyone first.
She glanced around. Nobody was paying attention to her. Good. Very good. Because she was beginning to have an idea.
A stupid idea.
Which unfortunately didn't stop it from being an idea.
Her fingers shifted slightly against her sleeve. Magic had always felt different depending on who taught it.
The brothers' power felt overwhelming. Like standing beside a storm. Solomon's magic had always felt quieter. Less force and more control is needed to be more effective.
A whisper slipped past her lips.
Soft enough that nobody could hear it from where she stood. The words dissolved into the air before they fully formed.
Magic followed.
The same kind of calming spell she'd used countless times before on nervous magical creatures. A gentle nudge. Nothing more, yet the effect was immediate.
The bus stopped.
"...What?" The confusion in Haru's voice carried all the way across the grounds.
She immediately looked away.
Nope. Not her problem. Absolutely not her problem.
On his spot, Towa stood motionless. His gaze wasn't on the bus. It was on her. Even after the bus stopped, his attention never shifted. On the contrary, it became more focused. More intent.
Unlike Haru, his attention had shifted the moment she'd murmured the spell. Not because he'd heard the words, the distance made that impossible.
But he'd seen something.
The subtle movement of her hand. The timing. The way the bus had calmed almost immediately afterward. His brows slowly pulled together. A faint frown formed as he watched her retreating figure.
Yet strangely, he didn't move.
Didn't approach. Didn't call out. He simply remained where he was, standing beside the fence with his eyes fixed on her back. As if he couldn't quite decide what he'd seen—or what he intended to do about it.
Yet fortunately, she was already gone before anyone could act on it.
And for the first time since arriving in this world, a small amount of tension eased from her shoulders.
At least her magic still worked.
Which meant she wasn't completely helpless here. The thought was reassuring. Until she remembered she still had absolutely no idea how to get home.
Then it became significantly less reassuring.
Her next objective was finding either Lucas or Kaito. Preferably before another socially complicated situation found her first.
Naturally, fate interpreted that as a challenge.
"MC."
She stopped. Immediately suspicious. The voice belonged to someone she didn't recognize. Which automatically lowered her confidence in the next five minutes.
A student approached from the opposite path. Well-dressed. Confidence. The sort of confidence she'd started associating with people connected to Sinostra.
Which usually meant trouble.
"You need to come with me." The student didn't even hesitate. "Romeo is looking for you."
Of course he was. Of course. Why wouldn't he be?
At this point she was honestly surprised multiple dorms weren't scheduling appointments.
Something about the expression on her face must've slipped through because the student frowned slightly.
"You forgot?"
No. She absolutely had not forgotten.
The problem was she had no idea what she was supposedly remembering. Which was becoming an alarmingly common problem.
Several responses immediately came to mind.
Most of them involved leaving. One involved running. Another involved pretending she suddenly had class. Unfortunately, all of them collided with a very important realization.
Their MC probably wouldn't do that. And that was the issue.
Every interaction had become a balancing act. Not what she wanted to do but what their MC would do.
A distinction that grew more exhausting every day.
She suppressed a sigh. "...No problem."
The word physically hurts to say.
The student nodded immediately. "Good. Follow me."
Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
She changed direction and followed.
Internally, however, she was already preparing herself for whatever new form of nonsense awaited her inside Casino.
.
.
.
The trip to the Casino somehow managed to be exactly as unpleasant as she expected.
Which, considering her expectations had already been catastrophically low, felt almost impressive.
Students moving through the halls with the kind of confidence normally possessed by people who either owned several businesses or had successfully committed tax fraud.
Possibly both.
She was still trying to determine whether there was a difference.
The moment she arrived, she was ushered through several corridors and deposited directly into Romeo's office.
By the time she entered the office, Romeo was already seated behind his desk, looking as though the entire world had personally disappointed him before noon.
A stack of documents sat nearby. Several more were spread across the desk. He didn't even look up immediately. Which somehow felt more intimidating than if he had.
"You're late."
She had arrived exactly when his underling found her. Somehow, that still counted as being late.
"You should've anticipated I would need you."
Her eye twitched. Slightly.
Years of surviving Mammon's nonsense prevented the reaction from becoming visible.
Romeo finally looked up. "Help me with tidying some of the Casino's financial documents this month."
Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
The meeting had somehow become worse within thirty seconds.
For the next two hours, she found herself trapped in what could only be described as administrative hostage-taking.
Romeo reviewed schedules. Romeo reviewed reports. Romeo complained about reports. Romeo complained about the people responsible for the reports. Romeo complained about people who failed to follow correctly.
By the end of it, she was honestly beginning to suspect complaining might be one of Sinostra's official dorm activities.
The truly horrifying part?
He was actually competent. That was what made it difficult. If Romeo had simply been difficult, she could have dismissed him.
But buried underneath the arrogance, the impossible standards, and the constant criticism was someone who somehow kept an entire organization functioning.
A moment ago, she'd considered arguing. Then she remembered that their MC probably wouldn't. And given this man's competence, that made arguing much more difficult.
The desire remained. Unfortunately.
Eventually, after what felt like several geological eras, Romeo finally set the documents aside. For one glorious moment she thought she was free.
Then he spoke again. "Find Kaito."
The hope died instantly. "...And then?"
"Bring him here."
"...Why?"
"He owes me something."
That was not an answer.
Unfortunately, Romeo appeared perfectly satisfied with it. "You know where he usually disappears."
No, she actually didn't.
Kaito seemed to exist according to rules known only to himself.
Half the time she was convinced he materialized from nearby walls whenever the plot required him. The other half she suspected he simply enjoyed causing confusion.
Neither possibility helped her current situation.
Romeo returned to his paperwork. Conversation over. Dismissed. Just like that. She stood there another moment. Mostly because she was considering her options.
Option one: Find Kaito.
Option two: Don't.
Frankly, option two was significantly more appealing. The problem was that option two required explaining herself later. Which would inevitably create more work.
A terrible cycle. She hated it.
With a sigh, she turned toward the door. Already trying to think of ways to delay the inevitable.
Maybe Kaito was busy. Maybe Kaito was in class. Maybe Kaito had fallen into a dimensional anomaly. Actually—
That last one felt surprisingly plausible at Darkwick.
The thought followed her into the hallway. So did her growing determination to avoid everyone for at least fifteen minutes. A completely reasonable goal.
One that immediately became impossible.
Because the moment she stepped around the corner, she saw Taiga.
Of all people. Why.Why him.
The tall red-haired ghoul was walking down the corridor ahead, hands shoved into his pockets, looking thoroughly uninterested in everything around him.
Normally, that would've been fine.
Unfortunately, "normally" did not exist anymore. Because over the past week she had learned several important things.
First, Taiga's temper possessed the same stability as a lit stick of dynamite. The second was that Taiga seemed capable of creating problems through sheer existence. And the third—
The third was that she absolutely did not have the energy for whatever conversation fate wanted to force upon her today.
No. Absolutely not. She refused.
Her fingers shifted slightly inside her sleeve. A familiar spell formed almost automatically. Subtle.
The magical equivalent of encouraging people's attention to slide elsewhere. Just enough to make herself difficult to notice. The sort of thing Solomon had taught her years ago when discussing concealment.
The spell settled over her immediately. Then she started walking.
Keep moving. Don't look nervous.
Don't make eye contact.
Everything is fine.
Everything—
Taiga's head snapped up.
Her stomach dropped. Immediately. Violently. For one horrifying second, his eyes locked directly onto her position.
Not through her. At her.
The reaction hit so fast she nearly stopped walking. Don't stop.
Keep moving.
Keep moving.
Keep moving.
But something about the look made cold unease crawl down her spine. Because those weren't confused eyes or distracted eyes. They weren't even suspicious eyes.
They looked aware. Dangerously aware that she's near him.
The feeling reminded her of standing near demons at their most dangerous. For a brief second, she felt almost exposed, as if the spell had failed.
As if he'd somehow looked directly through it.
Impossible.
That was impossible.
She had used variations of this magic before. The brothers barely noticed it. Solomon even praised her for it. Even demons with absurdly heightened senses usually needed a reason to look first.
Yet Taiga's gaze followed her movement for one long second. And something about it felt wrong.
Her pulse jumped. What the hell?
Nobody should be able to—
The thought died immediately when Taiga frowned. The expression looked almost irritated, almost disappointed. Then he glanced around the hallway.
"…Thought I saw Kitten coming out of Lulu's office." His gaze swept the corridor once more. "Where'd she go…?"
The words sent another unpleasant shiver down her spine. She didn't wait to hear more. The moment his attention shifted elsewhere, she increased her pace. Then increased it again.
The corridor disappeared behind her. Only after turning two separate corners did she finally allow herself to breathe.
Okay. New conclusion. Very important conclusion.
Taiga was going on the list.
The list of people she absolutely did not want discovering she wasn't their MC.
She needs to search for Kaito or Lucas, who knows what they're doing right now, rather than searching for a way for her to go back home. When she took a turn, her shoulder clipped another person's arm.
The contact lasted less than a second, a second that was somehow more than enough.
Her body reacted before her mind did.
Years of instinct. Years of training. Years spent around demons, sorcerers, curses, magical accidents, and brothers whose definition of "normal day" often involved some form of catastrophe.
Power surged automatically.
Her fingers twitched inside her sleeve. The beginning of a spell rose instinctively to her lips. A defensive one. Yet the magic never fully formed. The realization hit just in time. Stop.
Her pulse jumped. The spell collapsed immediately.
Thank every realm. Nobody noticed. At least—
She hoped nobody noticed.
"...Interesting." The voice immediately destroyed that hope.
Her stomach dropped. Slowly, she looked up. And discovered the universe had apparently decided she hadn't suffered enough today.
Leo stood directly in front of her.
For one terrible moment, she considered simply turning around and walking away. Unfortunately, that would've been suspicious. And if there was one person she absolutely did not want becoming suspicious—
It was Leo.
Damn it!
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ .fin
Early warning: Tbh, I'm still not finished with all the episodes up to the latest update, so I actually have little information to go on while making this (please forgive me if there's any OOC; have mercy).
Word count: 3.233
