10 Facts About Your Future Spouse | Pick A Pile

Hawk tuah b4 u can talk tuah😼

reading karasu's fandom wiki page for a fic

i just KNOW otoya said hawk tuah 😭🙏🏽

DARLING

"the first time i learned real world super-powers live in three words, they revitalize my fraying bones."

OR

how hsr men love youuu !

pairings. dan heng, blade, aventurine x fem! reader (separate)

cc. modern-ish au w/ dan heng . not proofread so lmk for errors . fluff . kinda rushed

DAN HENG has never been the one to be good with expressing his love through the use of words. so instead, he shows how much he cares for you over actions.

he knows you know that for every time he goes silent after telling him you love him and then pulling his closer to him, that was his way of saying i love you more but through the way his actions suddenly shifts.

your lover is aware that you do not always need to be reassured that he loves you and all that, but whenever he's extra clingy during your alone time with him, you knew this was another one of his way of saying that he missed you, and he loves you dearly.

though, of course, there would be times where he feels the need to return your sweet words, not with actions — but with his own voice.

"baby?" you whispered, resting your head against his shoulder as you heard him hum back in response. "i love you so much. i appreciate you for staying."

he went silent for a good minute. and truthfully, you didn't really bother to think about it too much.

as long as he was there with you, alive and breathing, you were okay.

the two of you watched the sun melt from the beach, admiring the pretty orange and pink hues that painted the sky. the sound of the ocean waves sounded like the peaceful life you've always been craving for.

"i love you too." more than you know.

his words surprised you, in a good way. it felt so good hearing his voice, it's like the sound of your lover was the only way to cure the entirety of the pain you had.

a huge smile grew on your lips, dan heng slightly glanced to his side to see your gorgeous smile, earning a small one from him.

what a beautiful moment this was.

BLADE isn't a man of many words, just like dan heng, he relies on acts of service. wether it's putting your hair up with his hand while you eat your food, opening doors and pulling out chairs for you, or putting his hand on every corner you are near to whenever you crouch down to get something.

and you appreciated every one of them.

you cherished the way he'd always have something up his sleeve to make you feel cared about.

and maybe sometimes you can't help the feeling of wanting a verbal partner that constantly reassures you through literal words, but that idea of yours get shot down immediately just by how your man looks at you.

if his gaze could be compared to daggers threatening to stab their eye to others, then for you, the look in his eyes showed nothing but softness. all for you.

he lets you do stuff to him, no matter how silly it is. wether it be styling his hair into cute hairstyles or making him try different hand poses whenever you want to take a selfie with him. (it takes a lot to actually convince him to do these)

early into the relationship, it's common that he would have a hard time expressing himself. but further into it, he'd grow to be more comfortable around you.

he lets you see every part of him (👀) because he trusts you with his entire heart. he shares everything you want to know, his past? every detail.

it continues to be hard for blade to be affectionate, he's not that type of person. but if it's you, he's willing to make an exception.

you silently laid on your bed, feeling awful to the core. until you felt the opposite side of your bed sink with the weight of someone. making you sit up.

"blade.. i swear to the aeons i will kill myself tonight if this goddamn headache doesn't go away." you groaned, scratching the side of your head.

"sure you will." blade replied, making you roll your eyes. he laid back in the bed, pulling you on the waist with him. "im not kidding, it hurts."

your lover grunts, reluctantly sitting up and welcoming you in his arms without a word as the side of your head pressed against his chest. "it'll past. did you even take the medicine kafka gave you earlier?" you nod.

he continuously caressed your head, making you fall into slumber under his gentle touch. ah, he was a completely different person behind closed doors with you.

the softest snores were soon heard, with your beloved guarding over you as he planted a small kiss on the top of your head for his own comfort.

and it felt nice, you know, to not have to pretend.

AVENTURINE loves you like there's no tomorrow. i said what i said. this man would be HEAD OVER HEELS for you!! whenever you flirt with him, he'd be right up your ass. one simple i love you from you makes him crazy and all over you the rest of the day.

but in all seriousness, he doesn't limit himself with what he gives you.

he'd return every gesture of yours knowing it means so much to you whenever he does so. and he, your lover, wants nothing else but to be enough for you.

the first thing he does every morning if obviously admire you, duh. he just loves the way you look absolutely gorgeous under the sunlight even though he knows you'd be complaining once you wake up because he didn't close the curtains.

AND he loves doing things for you! like heck yeah he could buy you flour that you needed to bake. he wants you to know that during your times of need, you could always count on him.

"honeeyyy! could you help me here please!" you yelled from the kitchen, alerting the blonde man who was up in your shared bedroom doing his own thing, now rushing downstairs.

he instantly sees you by the counter, prepping your freshly made cupcakes that earned a grin from him. "that f'me?" he asks, appearing behind you as his arms snaked around your waist.

you turned around with a cupcake and your hand and a sweet smile that could light up his entire day. offering your boyfriend to bite one as he did so with a pleasant look on his face that you could easily tell you rocked that cupcake.

"like it?" you ask.

"i love it."

with that, a grin appeared on your lips.

and then, he kissed you. roughly but tenderly. he still had some icing on the corner of his mouth but who cared! this was his way of saying he LOVED whatever you baked for him.

he appreciated you, so much.

likes & reblogs are vv appreciated, mwah! 🍓

the runecaster diaries - potential suitors

❀ inspired by the apothecary diaries ❀ [various! blue lock x fem! reader. royalty & magic au.]

By some twist of misfortune, you find yourself in the position of servant girl in Emperor Noa’s grand palace. Through a series of even more unfortunate events, you find yourself to be the general runecaster on the palace grounds, at the beck and call of all the potential heirs to cast whatever spells their hearts desire.

(you can read the full introductory piece to this series here.)

Emperor Noa's Court

❥ Lord Loki is the kind, benevolent overseer of the Gold Pavilion, where you currently reside. He’d interacted with you a few times during your time serving as an attendant in Snuffy’s residence, though he’d already developed a good impression of you thanks to Snuffy and Charles speaking highly of you. He often drops in on your training sessions with Charles (something the boy loves to repeatedly tell you he didn’t do in the past) and can be a bit prickly when the other heirs come into the Gold Pavilion requesting your services.

❥ Lord Itoshi— Sae, that is— is the overseer of the Jade Pavilion, and his cold, disinterested demeanor draws in suitors like moths to a flame until they are eventually met with his arrogant and condescending nature. It’s not often that you find yourself in the Jade Pavilion, but when you do, the task that he has requested your assistance with has less to do with casting and more to do with interrogation and piecing together parts of a mystery. During your debriefs following an investigation, it almost feels as though Lord Itoshi knows more than he lets on but withholds his knowledge for whatever reason, causing you to overexplain yourself and extend your stay.

❥ Lord Kaiser, the overseer of the Cerulean Pavilion, is equal parts adored and loathed by those residing in the palace, as well as the kingdom at large. His arrogance, like Lord Itoshi’s, is well-deserved, and his masterful mask carved from charisma has suitors throwing themselves at the doorway of his villa. Those within the palace know him for the cold, cruel individual that he is, though, and not even saving his life has earned you his respect. He begrudgingly allows his personal attendant and caster to request your help with certain spells, and insists that his lingering when you’re in the Cerulean Pavilion is just to ensure you don’t mess anything up. The more you’re requested to report to the Cerulean Pavilion, though, the more you realize that the tasks you’re assigned are ones that Alexis could handle just fine by himself— which always leaves you wondering why Lord Kaiser has assigned this to you in the first place.

❥ Knight Alexis is Lord Kaiser’s brilliant personal attendant, and the most skilled runecaster in the entire palace excluding those who are assigned to Emperor Noa. You’ve always admired his work from afar, keeping your dwindling skills sharp by trying to figure out what materials and casting methods he used in his spells during your time as an attendant. Working with him makes him even more impressive, though, and he often grows flustered when you watch him cast with wide eyes filled with admiration. You’d been warned by Grim in the past that Alexis tends to get territorial where his work and his lord are concerned, and though you’d gotten that impression at first, it’s hardly there anymore. He doesn’t mind working with you at all— if anything, he seems to perk up at the sight of you crossing into the Cerulean Pavilion, and loves to present his other projects to you for you to give feedback on (and, hopefully, to praise).

Emperor Ego's Court

❥ Lord Isagi is the shining hope of Emperor Ego’s heirs, the poster child of what every successor should strive to be. Polite, charming, skilled, and above all else, genuine, Isagi Yoichi is definitely your top pick for the throne, and you don’t even live in his kingdom. And just when you think he can’t get any better, you catch him heatedly arguing with Lord Kaiser in the Cerulean Courtyard— and winning. Lord Isagi spends a lot of time in the Gold and Ruby Pavilions, so it’s not uncommon for him to seek you out and ask to be trained in casting, since it’s his weakest point. You don’t think he’s giving himself enough credit, though; he’s a very quick learner and performs new spells almost as if he knows exactly what he’s doing, but checks with you to make sure he’s doing it right, just in case.

❥ Lord Itoshi— Rin, that is— is a picture-perfect snapshot of elegance, grace, and beauty, up until the point where he opens his mouth and proves to everybody in the palace that the condescension runs in the family. His behavior is incredibly similar to his brother’s, though he seems to be a bit more openly competitive and aggressive than Sae— at least, that’s the impression you develop of him when you run into him while carrying out an investigation for Sae that he insists he can perform and solve for his brother quicker than you can. Against your will, it ends up becoming a recurring thing, and at this point, you can’t tell if he’s seriously trying to solve the case faster than you, or if he’s actually trying to work with you. It’s not like you can ask him— you like him better when he’s being cooperative and would rather not piss him off, thank you very much.

❥ Lord Reo— Mikage, really, but he insists against being called that— is charismatic, sociable, and was raised to be royalty from the moment he was born. However, you hear from the servants of Ego’s other heirs that he’s a deeply jealous individual, which can sometimes be as inhibiting to him as it is encouraging. You bear witness to this when he’s prickly with you during your first meeting, obviously upset that his personal caster is cooking up the stupidest spells known to mankind with you rather than tending to his young master. However, things seem to smooth over after that, as he comes to be impressed with the work you get accomplished with Nagi, and even the work that you accomplish for him on your own— which he seems to be requesting you do more these days. Nagi often whines that you’re gonna replace him, which you think is a joke, until Lord Reo insists that two personal casters are better than one. Well, if he’s serious, he’ll have to take it up with Noa, you suppose.

❥ Lord Chigiri possesses the kind of beauty men start wars over, and his confidence in his skills and appearance only draws others in more. To your delight (and surprise— the prettiest heir around these parts is also the prickliest), he’s also rather friendly and loves gossiping, often bribing information about Noa’s heirs out of the palace attendants. You’re no exception to this, and the first time he requests your assistance, a spell that should only take a single morning to execute ends up taking the whole day because you’re too busy complaining to him about all the arrogant heirs and relaying to him your most dismal encounters with them. Your gossip sessions end up becoming a weekly meeting, disguised as “tune-ups” if the other heirs ask. Lord Reo ends up attending them at some point, and after overhearing a conversation between the two while actually working through a spell, you suspect that the two are scheming to convince Ego to try and get Noa to release you to their palace.

❥ Knight Bachira is a bundle of energy that you believe would fuel a million spells if he could be harnessed. Eccentric and cheerful, he somehow both contrasts and compliments Lord Isagi perfectly as his personal attendant. One day, when Lord Isagi approaches you with a private request, you’re surprised to learn that Bachira’s power doesn’t come from runecasting, but rather, from a curse— he was born with a demon latched onto his spirit, which had caused him and his mother to be exiled from their village. Bachira ends up becoming interested in you when start teaching Isagi spells meant to help Bachira control and coexist with the beast rather than suppress it. He can be a bit much to handle when you’re trying to carefully brew a spell, but you can’t bring yourself to be upset when his laughter never fails to brighten up your workshop.

❥ Knight Nagi is just as brilliant of a runecaster as Alexis is, though he has one fatal flaw: he’s lazier than a dog. Your first few assignments from Lord Reo are agonizing, as he doesn’t help you at all and you have to do the work of two casters all on your own. It’s not until he catches you crouching behind some bushes in the Gold Pavilion, cackling to yourself as you put together a new spell to be used in your and Charles’s escalating prank war, that you finally catch Nagi’s interest. After that, Nagi can often be spotted with you crouched over a brewing station, the overgrown man draped over you as you two bicker over which combination of ingredients would yield the most sinister effects.

all posts for this series will be tagged with #ceru.runecaster

my requests and comments are open if you want to let me know who'd you like to see an interaction with! if you'd like to be added to a tag list, please feel free to comment on this post! :>

just had this said to me 😭

DAMN IT

FUFKKCKK

MY ARTS BEING AI IFIED

ENDME NOW

SHJRIHSHHSHFUCK IHATE AI NONOOO

MY STYLE IS TOO BASIXC

have yall seen that tiktok trend where it’s like “ when he’s copying your snaps so you pull this move ” and it’s them flexing then a pic of the guy flexing and it’s like. BOOK SHAKALAKA YES GAWD

i wanna write for that so bad

Something is brewing for Christmas ☕

I just love the idea of Azul being a total boy loser. Like that man could be so pathetic and babygirl omg he's so perfect. Imagine just a wet sopping dog from the rain!

Or just honestly the twst boys who have high esteems just not having their way. I find it entertaining to think about when things dont go their way and they are just beyond frustrated and annoyed. Or sometimes desperate, needing to take desperate measures depending on the context. I dont hate any of them but its most likely the sadism in me kicking in hahaha

Like Vox Akuma once said "...because it's the one with the most confidence that are the most satisfying to break."

Some prompts popped into mind on what I should write about and it led me to thinking that huehueheuheuheuheu

Like just imagining Leona failing trying to catch your attention or Riddle absolutely getting humiliated horribly when you reject him. Oh lord, that would cause quite the stir. Whoever was there to witness that is DEFINITELY going to be writing a paper on how to mind ones own business. Or perhaps turning down Vils advances. You mean THE Vil Schoenheit? HIM? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! Is he not good enough for you?! Perhaps Azul has a chance, of course! who wouldn't want to- ahhhh and there he goes. Azul is just flabbergasted and embarrassed because who WOULDNT want to be with Azul? Well obviously you wouldnt reject Malleus right? The crown prince himself who- you didn't let me finish. Well, he's not really embarrassed, more so amused and intrigued that you'd want to reject HIM. But he is offended, like you have the audacity to reject him? So bold of you really, he kinda finds himself liking it. You probably wouldn't hear a peep from Idia, having Ortho do majority of the talking for him. You dont outright embarrass Kalim but Jamil is experiencing second hand embarrassment from the way the whole ordeal just went, you were nice about it though.

its similar to the ghost bride event but instead its you they are trying to pin for. But for your own valid reasons, you reject all of them hehehe. Its such a funny imagine honestly ^^

Hear hear hear me out wouldn’t it be so cool if Slytherin!Kaiser x Ravenclaw! Reader go to snape’s class for Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in existence. Smelling different to each person according to what they find attractive, the potion was considered to be dangerous as it could induce obsessive infatuation in the unsuspecting drinker. And Kaiser ends up rambling like “Damn It smells like books and *specific stuff about reader*” being absolutely Oblivious about Amortentia, Reader being a Ravenclaw is aware of said potion and just pauses as she smells his perfume too, But everyone around them is just like Stunned for his ignorance

They don’t drink Amortentia though!

Just a lil Thought i wanted to share cus i love bllk x hp crossover

characters ; michael kaiser (with hiori yo & raichi jingo) || wc ; 906 cw ; gn!reader, no pronouns used, hogwarts!au a/n ; so i actually i covered what kaiser smelled in the very first fic in the slytherin!kaiser chronicles, but tldr: he smells freshly baked bread, cedar wood, and lavender (reader!). but since that was in the present, i'm travelling back to the past for this one.

ravenclaw and slytherin students are paired together for potions this term during their seventh year along with a couple of advanced-level sixth years that join. kaiser and reader aren't in the same potions class, but their friends are aaahahaha. in kaiser's class, he shares it with hiori and in reader's, they share it with raichi. calling raichi and kaiser is friends is a bit much since raichi finds the latter wayyy too arrogant for his liking, even for someone of his caliber, but he still holds some respect for kaiser since he was the one that chose raichi to be a beater on their team. it's not a lot, but it's there haha

hiori and you are close—you met him through your other friend, karasu, another fellow ravenclaw (i'd be doing him an injustice if he was anything but). you find his company the most enjoyable since you and him understand each other to a degree where you can sit in silence, do your own things, and still be completely content. so he makes for a great study buddy and you often invite him to your dorm to study together up late into the evening. what he notices, however, when he comes over closer in the closing hours of the day, is that you'll often spray a little bit of your bed and your area of your shared dorm with a bit of lavender water, a pleasant smell that hiori has grown to associate with you.

he asks you one evening as you're studying together for a magizoology test why so, and you say with a grin that your mother taught you that lavender helps with a good night sleep, so since you were little, she'd always spray some lavender on your bedsheets to relax your energetic self.

"does it actually work?" he had inquired as he sniffed the bottle of diluted lavender you handed.

"dunno, but it's been working all these years, so it feels wrong to go to sleep without it," you shrugged with a small laugh.

so when kaiser is consistently twitching his nose over the cauldron that he and hiori share in their potions class, trying to identify the smell of the last thing he smells in it, hiori just stares incredulously. kaiser keeps babbling about it, getting frustrated that he doesn't know what this scent is and keeps describing it in blurbs that hiori isn't really comprehending.

"it's like... i don't know, soap?" kaiser groans, taking another deep inhale of the shimmering potion. "but it's sweet. and woody. kind of makes me sleepy."

the last statement makes hiori look up from scribbling kaiser's notes on their worksheet. he wants to say an epiphany is approaching him, but it lingers on the tip of his tongue, hesitant. while he can't smell what kaiser is smelling, hiori has a sneaking suspicion that he knows exactly smell what the blonde is talking about more specifically, why kaiser smells it.

on the flipside, your face twists at the last scent you pick up when you're doing the same assignment. it's a cologne, you acknowledge, and it does smell familiar. it's this mix of a citrus aroma with a pepperish flair to it, a cologne you're sure you've smelled in passing before. it's a rather masculine scent, so you think it has to be traced to someone that's close in your life that's male. initially, you think it's yoichi considering you and him are basically joined at the hip, but yoichi smells like clean laundry with a hint of sage, not whatever this is. your dad doesn't really wear cologne, so you scratch him out of the picture.

eventually, the class wraps up and ends, with raichi earning a detention after he threatened to sock igaguri multiple times after he kept messing up their potions to your amusement. you end up going your usual dining hall table where you'll eventually meet your other friends, hiori included.

you smell it suddenly when you sit down, the cologne of what you had smelled earlier in the cauldron is still lingering in the air near you ever so faintly like a ghost. when you go to whip your head around to get a glimpse of someone who might own such a cologne, you suddenly spot ness walking your way in a bit of panic, whisking between tables with a worried visage. he comes closer to where you are and sighs out in relief when he plucks out a textbook from underneath the bench that sits next to you in relief. he whisks himself away back into the corridor.

by the way the cologne's scent is fading, you don't think that someone like him could wear such an elegant fragrance, so you don't think too much of it as you follow him out of the corner of your eye.

until they widen at the sight at who ness meets in the middle of the corridor, the familiar flash of blonde halting all your senses except the ability to smell. suddenly, you find the aroma of the cologne stronger than ever before.

a/n ; the cologne is based off my actual partner's haha, so kaiser wears penhaligon's opus 1870. had to give him a british brand since yknow... they're in britain.

Real

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but if you’re at a low point:

If you were a fictional man right now, there would be *at least* ten people if not a large portion of the fanbase that would call you their wet beast poor little meow meow

this is too funny to me cus bro these are the shows on sae's tv back there

and i hollered cus i had one sae x reader in the draft somewhere but with sae secretly getting invested in spanish soap opera... (not reality TV, but well, close lol). like he won't admit it, but you once caught him watching an episode of [insert uber dramatic title here] with way too much focus... and you're in japan. yes, your living room tv in japan now has dedicated spanish soap opera channels—which, you're certain, was NOT your doing.

"it was just on," he says.

but the remote is right there, untouched. and he is leaning forward slightly, jaw set, arms crossed, too focused on the drama unfolding on screen.

you don't call him out right away. just quietly lounge on the other couch beside him and watch, waiting to see how long it takes for him to realize you're onto him.

at one point, you clear your throat and go,

"so what's the deal with the husband again?"

"ex-husband," sae says neutrally, his eyes still on the screen. "he's a serial cheater who's slept with her best friend, her colleague, and now her younger sister. and now she's had enough."

"who's the younger guy from earlier."

"that's the guy who's pursuing her now. a man ten years her junior." he continues, still hyper-focused.

you're smiling so, so wide now. oh, he knows all the dirt of all these characters.

“are you rooting for them?” you ask innocently.

sae barely blinks. “no.”

but the way his jaw tenses when the younger guy finally confesses says otherwise.

KQISHSNAKUDHX

In which (Y/n) tells the dorm leaders that they're the most handsome person in Twisted Wonderland.

What was meant as an April Fool's joke somehow turns Night Raven College into a battlefield.

Idea by anon.

"Why did you go around and tell the dorm leaders out of all people that they're the most handsome person in the world? Why, (Y/n)?"

Deuce paced back and forth between the fire place and the couch of Ramshackle's living room, his hands crossed behind back. The frown on his face deepened even more when he found you lazily lounging on a nearby recliner.

"I thought it would be funny to see everyone's reaction!" you said and laughed to yourself. "And actually, seeing Riddle turn as red as his hair was hilarious. Also, you should have heard Idia's screaming through the tablet."

Ace's lips quirked upwards into a grin. "Okay, that does sound funny."

"Quit the yapping," Grim yelled from the other side of the living room. He had a few wooden boards in his arms and a hammer balanced on top. "I need help barricading the windows."

"Right." A hum of exasperation escaped Deuce's lips while he pointed into the direction where all the commotion was coming from. The noise must have originated from the main building, and the fact that it was still audible in the Ramshackle mansion was incredibly concerning. "I don't think you realise how dire the situation is out there."

"Did someone call me?" a newcomer suddenly asked.

All four of you whirled around to find Crowley standing by the entrance to the living room. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest. Without allowing you any time to react to his sudden appearance, he rushed over to your side with wide steps. His heavy shadow loomed over you.

"Oh, it's just you, Headmaster," you began and sat up. "How are you—"

He interrupted you with a dramatic sigh. "You truly offend me, my darling child." Without further explanation, he put his hand to his forehead and sank into the couch, right next to you.

"What?" You sat up straight. "What have I done now?"

"You go around telling the dorm leaders that they're the most handsome person in the world! But you forgot about me?" A playfully offended frown decorated his face. When the resident ghosts dared to peek around the corner in curiosity, he addressed them immediately, "Did the prefect also compliment you three?"

"Of course!" the ghost in the middle exclaimed dreamily. His eyes practically took the shape of hearts when he put his hands to his chest. "My heart began beating so quickly, I thought I had come back from the dead. The prefect truly has a way with charming people, dead or alive."

His reply had the headmaster sink into the cushions of his seat even further. "Oh, how you wound me..."

Deuce furrowed his eyebrows in innocent confusion. "Is that why you came here, Headmaster?"

At his words, Crowley lazily rose to his feet again and straightened his cloak. "Partly, yes." He cleared his throat, although he sent you one last glare before moving on, "I also came because the entire campus is a warzone. The dorms have decided to band together and fight against each other to defend their leader's honour. Everyone thinks the others are lying."

"See?" Grim pointed to the windows he had already barricaded. "And you think I'm the one overreacting?"

The volume of his voice had you rolling your eyes. "Calm down, everyone." Then, you finally summoned the willpower to rise to your feet. "Can't I just talk to them?"

"You must, since you are the perpetrator."

A rush of annoyance came over you. The constant noise from the main building caused a headache to form. You rubbed the bridge of your nose. "It was just an April Fool's joke... I didn't think anyone would take it this seriously," you muttered in resignation. "These boys... Fine, I'll go out and clear things up."

Grim stopped you before you could leave the living room. His large blue eyes shone meaningfully. "Henchhuman, just in case you don't return, I wanted to tell you that..." he trailed off and took your hand into his paws. "I'll be taking your favourite scarf! You won't need it anymore, right?"

At once, you ripped your hands out of his grasp. "You're an idiot, Grim," you grumbled and simply walked around him to exit the building.

Deuce came rushing after you. "We'll accompany you, (Y/n). That's what friends are there for."

"Really? Do we have to?" Ace asked with raised eyebrows. He seemed reluctant, still remaining by the fire place where he had last stopped pacing. But even he wasn't immune to Deuce's pressing gaze, and with the headmaster joining in, he was done for. Begrudingly throwing his hands into the air, he joined your side. "Fine..."

"I'll stay here," Grim yelled after the three of you, "to make sure they don't break in and steal my tuna."

"They're in the Hall of Mirrors. Please stop them before they destroy my prized mirrors!"

°

°

°

"I knew you were a schemer, Azul. But I didn't take you for a liar."

"You call me a liar, Riddle? Me and my business are very much trustworthy. The same couldn't be said about you, though."

You arrived in the Hall of Mirrors not a second too late. The place was packed to the brim with students from every dorm. Just blinking once had been enough to lose track of Ace and Deuce. And by now, you had given up on finding them in this huge mass of people. You would have never thought that you would one day see so many people fit into this hall. But here you were, struggling to make your presence known with the loud and large crowd.

You could already see most of the dorm leaders facing off against each other in the very middle, where the students had formed a pit. But none of them seemed to hear your voice over all the murmuring.

"Come on, let's get this over with quickly," Leona said and rolled his eyes. "As soon as we have established that you're all in the wrong, I can go back to doing something more productive, such as napping."

"Guys, why can't we all be the most handsome person in the world together? I'd be open to sharing the title," Kalim said in worry when he noticed how everyone's voice dripped with malice.

"As a matter of fact, 'most handsome' is the superlative form and implies that the title is exclusively reserved for one person only." Everyone's eyes solely lay on Malleus as he spoke, his deep and calm voice bouncing off the walls to reach your ears. The air turned cold out of a sudden, and nobody dared to whisper even a single word — not even you.

But Rook dared to cut through the tangible air with his cheery voice. "Oh, a fight for beauty! This battle will be legendary!" he exclaimed in excitement, as if he had been born for this very moment. "I will gladly defend your honour, Vil."

His dorm leader didn't seem to reciprocate his enthusiasm, however. "Quit it, Rook. We all know that the prefect's compliment for all of us was in mere vain — a joke to gauge our reaction," Vil said and flicked his wrist elegantly. "Tell everyone to return to whatever they were doing previously, I have more important matters to attend to."

"Ortho, can you get me more popcorn—" a voice came from the floating tablet in the first row. An embrassed shriek escaped its speakers once everyone turned their attention to it. "Oh, I forgot to mute... Sorry, everyone." And on cue, the speakers went silent.

An awkward cough went through the crowd, but the dorm leaders quickly returned to facing off against each other.

"So, shall we begin?"

"I suppose."

Just as one was about to make the first move, you managed to stumble into the middle of the pit. "No, stop it!" you yelled at the top of your lungs.

A round of gasps went through the crowd, and everyone's eyes widened in surprise at your sudden arrival. Vil was the only exception. "Ah, the prefect has arrived," the dorm leader drawled. Knowing chuckles escaped his perfectly painted lips. "Now, would you mind enlightening the others about your little joke?"

"Right, tell the others who you really think is the most handsome."

"Yes, I want to see the grins wiped off their faces."

You hated yourself after having gazed upon their expectant faces. Most of them wore a pair of puppy eyes that gleamed brightly with eagerness. Unable to face them, you lowered your gaze in shame. "Actually, I told every one of you that you were the most handsome person in Twisted Wonderland." Nervous chuckles escaped your lips when the entire hall went deadly silent. You raised your hands into the air defensively. "Please, it was just a joke. Today is April Fool's, guys."

Riddle clicked his tongue. "A punishment for unfunny jokes is in order."

"You hurt our feelings, (Y/n)!" Kalim cried out and put his hands on his hips. When Jamil handed him a handkerchief, the dorm leader blew his nose loudly.

An unreadable smile appeared on Azul's face. "Perhaps it is time we banded together," he suggested, as if negotiating for a contract.

Your smile turned more nervous by the second, especially when they began to circle you. "Guys? It was kinda funny, don't you think?" you said, suddenly unable to hold in your laughter anymore. "Your reactions were priceless."

"Get the prefect!" everyone yelled at once.