Scenario in which Yuu accidentally consumes a musical drink and can only communicate through song
(Italicized lines are singing—each one is taken from and references a song or musical number!)
She didn’t mean it. Honest! With a bad habit of procrastinating on homework, Yuu hadn’t slept much the night before. She had stumbled around Ramshackle with a blur in her eyes, thirsty and bleary and possibly late for class. She had thought she grabbed a water bottle from the kitchen, it had the familiar blue label and tasted normal enough.
Her tongue had tingled, not quite burning but most definitely simmering, and her throat felt a little stuffed—as if it were fighting off mucus. She kept coughing during classes and when she wasn’t coughing she was discretely trying to clear imaginary phlegm from her throat. Anytime she was called upon to answer a question her voice cracked rather pathetically. It drew a few laughs from students, and more concerned looks from her friends. At some point Riddle had suggested she grab tea during lunch. Yuu agreed that it would help.
Except, her voice only grew more unsteady and unreliable. She could hardly control her inflection anymore, emphasizing the wrong words. Her volume fluctuated randomly; even Sebek had been a little put off by how suddenly she would raise her voice at times. Yuu had elected to stay silent after so long.
Maybe a good night’s rest would do the trick. She had been missing out on sleep lately. It was a comforting thought as she drifted into a fitful rest filled with the echoes of a song.
The next day she feels fine. Yuu tests her voice in the quiet of Ramshackle, hums approvingly to herself when it comes out normal enough, and goes about her day. She ignores the fuzzy sensation on the back of her tongue.
Lunch comes around soon enough. Grim picks off of Yuu’s plate and devours his own, meanwhile Ace and Deuce debate the practicality of backpacks vs. shoulder bags in school. Epel joins their table, handing Yuu an apple juice he had grabbed with his own.
“Thank you ~” she hums. Pauses. Strange.
Epel simply offers her a smile and digs into his meal. Yuu takes a slow sip of her juice, feeling that strange tickle in the back of her throat.
It takes her a moment to register a question put her way. Yuu blinks inquiringly at Ace.
“I said,” he begins, “what do you think about the new pie?”
He offers her a spoonful and she takes a bite, allowing his hand to hover under the utensil for her. She hums, feels her face pinch. A very sour lemon pie.
“There is something sweeter, everybody needs.”
Yuu sits back abruptly, eyes blown.
Ace laughs. “Okay, dramatic? What’s your suggestion for ‘something sweeter,’” he says, mimicking the musical tone.
“A spoonful of sugar ~” Yuu doesn’t let herself finish before her mouth clamps shut again. What?
Now the whole table is filling her with odd looks. Epel nudges her gently.
“Someone’s in a musical mood,” he teases, though he seems more curious than anything.
Yuu shakes her head gently, testing her voice again. “Nooo, no no no—no no no, no no no, no no no no, no no no no—“
Oh this can’t be happening.
She looks around the table urgently.
“You’re. . .not doing it on purpose?” Jack says.
“Real funny, Prefect.” Ace’s laugh is a little unsure.
“I don’t think she’s kidding,” Deuce says nervously.
“This is not what I want; this is not what I planned!” Yuu bleats, loud enough to draw the attention of other tables.
“Human!” Sebek barks. “If you’re going to project your voice, do it with intention!”
Yuu stands, slamming her hands on the table.
“I JUST GOTTA SAY, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND!”
Her voice seemed to erupt of its own accord.
“Something is really—something’s not right.” Yuu steps onto the table, why is she on the table. “Something’s not right!”
Each word that falls out she tries desperately to stop, but her tongue isn’t her own right now.
“SOS, please, someone help me!”
The rest of the table springs to action. Ace and Deuce hover around her, checking for any odd injury or something that looked out of the ordinary as they try to get her off of the table (now she’s dancing?!). Epel rushes to get her some water, hoping it would help somehow, and Jack vanishes somewhere in the direction of the classrooms, Sebek marching after him with words of confusion.
Soon enough half of the cafeteria if crowding their table, rather curious about the situation.
“What’s with all the singing? Can I join?” Kalim chirps from someone behind her. Yuu opens her mouth to deny but thinks better of it at the last second. Ace and Deuce are still trying to get her to step down, but she keeps pulling random dance moves that evade them (someone help?!)
Ace dodges a well-timed kick. “Something’s wrong with the Prefect!”
“Wrong how?” Riddle demands, his mere presence commanding everyone to part for him.
Yuu spins to face the young Housewarden.
“So she said ‘what’s the problem baby?’” She drops to a knee, hand outstretched to the poor boy. “What’s the problem? I don’t know! Well maybe I’m in love!”
Riddle recoils. “She’s lost it!”
“Qu’est-ce que c’est?” Hums Rook, ever playful just by his tone, and Yuu can hear the smile. “What was that most enchanting voice? I felt my own heart soar to hear such a melody ~”
Before anyone can explain, Yuu practically falls into a certain huntsman’s arms, surprising even herself.
“I’m your biggest fan, I’ll follow you until you love me—!” She covers her mouth in a frenzy, voice muffled for a moment until it breaks through her own fingers, simultaneously panicked and passionate. “Baby there’s no other superstar you know that I’ll be—!”
Rook blinks down at her in shock, but it’s quickly overtaken by a palpable delight. He swings her through the air, laughing.
“Très bien! Let me hear your beautiful voice, mon Trickster!”
Yuu shakes her head furiously despite her still running voice, barricaded only by shoving her tie into her mouth. Her vocal chords burn.
It’s Vil who speaks next, passing her a pitying look. “For your sake, Prefect, I hope you aren’t trying to woo him. He won’t let it go.”
Yuu turns to the ever regal Vil, lips flying before she can stop them.
“HEY! I just met you, and this is crazy! But here’s my number!” She smiles nervously, trying to form an apology that won’t come through. “So call me maybe!”
Azul laughs. “Oh, you poor, unfortunate little thing. Would you like me to hang onto your voice for you until a solution is met?” His eyes betray his intentions, and Yuu shudders.
“Boy don’t try to front, I know just, just what you are!”
Azul pushes his glasses up with a hum, smiling. He’s shoved aside by a laughing Floyd.
“Let me at her! I wanna hear Shrimpy sing!”
Yuu shrinks into Rook’s overbearingly sweet hug, singing a dreadful “I ran so far away, I couldn’t get away.”
The enthusiastic hunter coos down at her.
“Down, naughty pups!” Professor Crewel barks out, storming through the crowd with Jack and Sebek in tow. “I can’t even see the child with you all hounding her!”
Suddenly Yuu is set down, dizzy enough to fall back into her seat, and Crewel kneels in front of her with something that looks like a medical kit. He takes out a small thermometer-looking tool.
Yuu shakes her head, lips sealed.
“Pup, I need to check you for something. Open.
Yuu utters a muffled “no,” covering her mouth with her hands for good measure. She was not going to let her voice betray her further, not with the soft peals of laughter surrounding her.
Suddenly she feels several deft fingers along her side, and she’s overcome with a ticklish sensation that has her howling with laughter. Crewel takes the narrow opportunity to slip the thermometer into her mouth.
Ruggie pops up on her other side with something of an apologetic smile, snickering.
She can’t find time to glare at him because the thermometer beeps. Crewel retrieves it with a frown.
“Just as I thought. A musical remedy.” He sighs. “It’s supposed to be taken only in the case of a lost or stolen singing voice.”
Azul snorts out a laugh, as Jade fixes him with a slightly amused look.
“However,” Crewel says pointedly, “we usually don’t have to worry about such instances. I imagine you weren’t aware of what you had taken. How did you even come into possession of it?”
Yuu doesn’t have a clue what something like that would even look like. Then she remembers the “water.”
“Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no no—“
“What?” A panicked Adeuce ask in tandem.
“New and a bit alarming, who’d have ever thought that this could be.” she continues, the horror of her situation settling in.
Several pairs of eyes trade confusion.
“I’m such a fool, I can’t be free. . .” Yuu buries her face in her hands. This is humiliating.
“I can’t stop singing!” She cries. “Make it stop, make it stop, am I real or just a prop?!”
With a tired sigh Professor Crewel brings Yuu to her feet, speaking over her anguished one-woman musical.
“The effects usually last a few days, give or take. In the meantime, you should all at least save her dignity and not poke fun at the situation.”
He points a glare in the direction of Lilia, hovering somewhere in the background and not bothering to hide his laughter. Malleus stands beside him, awestruck at his child of man’s voice. A Diasomnia student snaps his fingers in front of the fae’s face, with no response.
Crewel continues. “All of you can return to your lunch. You’ve only a few minutes until the next bell. I’ll be escorting Yuu back to Ramshackle—do not follow—for her to at least agonize in private. Stay,” he threatens Rook, who practically prances after them. The hunter sighs, clutching his heart.
Crewel leaves the cafeteria with a singing, crying Yuu, offering words of comfort, not that she hears them. Everyone else slowly returns to their prior meal.
A moment of silence passes before—
“I’M TRAPPED INSIDE A MUSICAL!”
Cater laughs nervously into his sparkling water. “She’ll be fine.”
“I’M NOT FINE—I’M NOT FIIIIIIINE—!”
Oh, everyone thinks collectively. Except for Epel, who actually says, “oh.”
Vil side-eyes the poor boy.
Ace: Prefect, why are you dancing?!
Yuu: *crying and flossing* I can’t stock boogie woogying!
