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"Whoa! There really are a ton of chestnuts just layin' around. I'm gonna be livin' large on chestnut tarts! Mmm!" Grim reached for a chestnut. Y/N had to focus on carrying Yuu, so he couldn't stop the beast in time.
"Let's get grabbin'-- YOWCH! Myah! The chestnut spines pricked my paws!" Grim pulled his paws back, going over to Y/N to show him. The horned man sighed, using his life-force to remove the microscopic spines.
"I don't think we can do this with out bare hands. And we need something to put them in, too." Deuce watched as Yuu slowly dropped out of Y/N's hold, using the taller man's arm as a way to stabilize himself.
"Maybe we can find some supplies in the botanical garden?" Ace shrugged, suggesting the obvious.
"Let's go look." Deuce led the way.
...
"Whoa, I did the realize this place was so huge." Ace looked around. Yuu looked at the place in awe while Y/N was crouched down by some flowers.
"If it's this large, it's got to have a groundskeeper. Let's split up and look." Deuce watched Yuu pull Y/N away from the plants and back to the group.
"Sure. Dibs on the right side." Ace called.
"Then how about I go left, while Grim and his Prefect and Vice go straight ahead." Deuce suggested. The group came to an agreement and split up, going down their respective paths.
...
"Hey, come take a look at this! There's a ton of fruit growing here! Smells like they're ripe, too!" Grim was about to pull one off but was stopped by the horned man, who picked him up. Y/N looked down the path, only to freeze.
"..Grim, you wouldn't have happened to see where Child Yuu went, have you?" The horned man slowly asked the beast. Grim froze up aswell, hesitating before he shook his head.
"I.. Lost the child..." Y/N dropped the beast, sighing and brushing his face with his hands.
[Off With Yuu]
"Oh, whoa! A wild kitty!" Yuu looked at the man behind the bush he'd fallen onto. It was the boy with lion ears from the ceremony.
"..Are you sleeping?" The human boy got off the bush and quietly sat beside the sleeping man. Yuu watched him for a bit before scooting over to his hair.
"...You won't mind if I just.." Yuu reached over to the lion ears on the man's head. He gently grabbed the tip of one of his ears, softly kneading the delicate fur.
"Mrgh....The hell?" A gruff voice growled as a hand found its way around the boys wrist. Yuu didnt startle and simply moved into the lion man's view.
"..The hell are you?" The man said as he saw the upside-down, doe-eyed boy above him. Yuu just smiled.
"Good afternoon nap, Kiwi?" The boy asked him. No response was given as the man sat up, an irritated look plastering his face.
"Ain't nothin' worse than bein' in the middle of a nap and havin' some kid touchin' your ears." The man glared at the boy. Yuu just sat back on his feet.
"Then don't sleep in the bushes?" Yuu suggested, and the man sighed.
"You... I know you. You're that herbivore from orientation who couldn't use magic." The lion man leaned towards Yuu, sniffing his neck before scoffing.
"Huh. It's true. You don't smell of magic at all... but you certainly don't smell normal." The man raised an eyebrow at the boy. Yuu just shrugged.
"You wanna go back to sleep?" Yuu asked, tilting his head. If anything, he wanted to go to sleep aswell.
"You.. Are you stupid?" The man deadpanned at the boy. Yuu just flopped down onto the grass.
"No, but I'd rather be blissfully unaware of the shitty world?" Yuu said curtly, making the man flinch.
"Hah. Wouldn't that be nice?" The man sighed. Even if he threatened the herbivore, they still probably wouldn't leave. Yuu heard a thud next to him, glancing over to see the lion man laying beside him.
"Hehe.. You're alot like my brother at home." Yuu grinned lopsidedly. The man looked at him from the side of his eye.
"Am I? I bet I'm a lot better." The man shrugged. Yuu thought about it for a bit before nodding.
"Mhm. My big brother always had me take the blame for some of the pranks he played. Of course, I did the same, but that's because he did it first!" Yuu tried to justify himself, earning a snort from the lion man.
"..Just go to sleep, herbivore." The lion man turned onto his side, away from the human boy. Yuu stared as his back for a bit before covering his eyes with his arm.
"The names Leona, by the way. Leona Kingscholar."
"Heheh. Nice to meet you, Kiwi. I'm Yuu. Yuu Mox."
...
"Child Yuu?" Y/N called out aloud. He and Grim had been looking for the boy since realizing he was gone.
"Where'd the human go? He usually sticks to your side like a lost puppy.." Grim grumbled.
"Ouch!"
"Ah- Feels like I stepped on something?" Y/N took a few steps forwards, turning to look at what was under his foot.
"Hey! You got some nerve steppin' on my tail and just walkin' away!" A man with lion ears that the two weren't familiar with stood up from behind a bush.
"Are you the groudskeeper? Not sure you oughta be talkin' to students that way, pal." Grim crossed his arms, frowning at the man.
"First it was the herbivore, now some horned jerk?" The man glared at the two of them.
"Sorry for stepping on your tail, but did a boy about.. yae tall come by here?" The horned man motioned just below his shoulder.
"Huh? You mean this guy?" The man with lion ears pointed behind him and back behind the bush where Yuu was.
"Ah, yes that's him. I lost him earlier, so you have my thanks for keeping him occupied. Even if you didn't want to." Y/N thanked, going to wake the boy up. The lion man got in his way.
"Who said I forgive you for steppin' on my tail? No one gets to stomp on my tail and just walk away without payin' the price. I'm in a bad mood on account of bein' woken up from my nap a second time, too. That's gonna cost ya." The lion boy purposely got in the horned man's way. Why'd the stupid herbivore have to be woken up because some horned dude lost him?
"..If you're still mad about that, feel free to hit me?" The horned man tilted his head to the side. The lion man looked at him, baffled.
"Leona! There you are!" A boy with dirty blonde hair and hyena ears came up to the group. A groan came from the bush, more specifically, Yuu who'd woken up by the hyena boys shout.
"Heh? Ah, the herbivore is awake." Leona glanced at the boy who was now sitting up.
"I knew I'd find you here! We got after-school classes today, remember?" The hyena boy went up to Leona. Yuu stood from the grass, the horned man patting the dirt off his back.
"Ugh... And now I've got this guy on my tail..." Leona rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
"Leona, you've already had to repeat one year. If you get held back again, we'll be in the same grade!" The hyena boy grinned, laughing.
"Oh, put a sock in it already. I'm tired of all yer yappin', Ruggie." Leona sighed.
"Look, you think I like always being on your case? C'mon man. You act like it'd be hard for you. You could skate through life if you'd just TRY. Come on! Let's go already!" Ruggie pulled Leona by his sleeve before going to leave first.
"Hrmph... Next time you stink up my territory, there's gonna be a price to pay!" Leona growled before catching up with Ruggie. Yuu paused before waving at their retreating backs.
"Bye-bye, Kiwi!" Yuu called out. Leona glanced back for a moment before waving to the boy. Ruggie looked at the lion man beside him with surprise before snickering.
"Myah! I don't like the sound of that! What is up with this nutso?" Grim shouted, frowning as the lion and hyena left.
"He's certainly not the groundskeeper, that's for sure." Y/N had a disgruntled look on his face. He takes his eye off Yuu for a second and he's made friends with some prideful buffoon?
"Yo, guys, we found baskets and tongs." Ace called out, waving to the three. Deuce was beside him.
"What in the world happened to you three?" The blue hair boy asked. Yuu's back was covered in grass while the other two had frowns on their faces.
"Oh, right, the chestnuts! We gotta gather those chestnuts so I can get my tart on! We'll fill 'em in on the crazy groundskeeper while we forage." Grim exclaimed, running up to the two Heartslabyul boys.
...
"...and then he peaced out!" Grim finished retelling the story.
"Yeah, no way was that guy the groundskeeper." Ace deadpanned. Y/N was holding onto Yuu's hand, refusing to let go ever since they left the botanical garden.
"Y'know, now that I think about it, he WAS wearin' the golden vest of that Pajama-clog dorm." Grim thought about it for a bit. Yuu snorted and looked away from the beast.
"Pajama...clog? You mean Savanaclaw? You know, I'm starting to think that there's an awful lot of delinquents here at Night Raven..." Deuce corrected before sighing. Who'd thing a prestigious school would have so many delinquents?
"All right, that should be enough chestnuts. Let's get these baskets over to Trey!" Ace said, smiling as he brought a hand to the back of his hand. Yuu tried to free his hand from Y/N's to help carry the baskets, but the horned man pulled him back.
"Myahaha! Now that we're all gassed up, it's destination: Flavortown, baby!" Grim laughed as he ran ahead of the group. Y/N snapped his fingers as (f/c) particles lifted up a basket, not bothering to be careful about his life-force. The botanical garden acted similar to the Ancient Forest, allowing the horned man to gather a little extra life-force.
...
"Welcome back. Looks like you got plenty!" Trey greeted the group as they came back.
"Now you can make us some massive tarts!" Grim grinned as he jumped up onto the counter.
"Well, the bugger the tarts, the harder it'll be to peel all these nuts, so... good luck with that!" Trey wished them luck. Yuu froze and Y/N stared at the chestnuts blankly before raising his hands and backing away.
"We have to peel all of these...? Suddenly the whole room is spinning..." Deuce grabbed onto the counter as he looked at the baskets of chestnuts. Yuu snickered, but backed up with Y/N.
"Preparation is the key to good baking." Trey smiled.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. We've come this far. We're not giving up now!" Ace frowned as he looked at the duo. Grabbing them by their sleeves, the orange haired boy pulled them over to their own basket.
"It can be tricky to peel a chestnut right, but that's where magic comes in." Trey fixed his glasses. Yuu grunted while Ace sighed.
"Ace and the Prefect/Vice duo can't use magic, though, so it's the hard way for them." Deuce rubbed the back of his head.
"Just watch me wipe the floor with you even without magic!" Ace pointed at the blue haired boy.
"You guys...mmph!...ftand back and *munch* watph a mafter!" Grim said between eating chestnuts.
"Hey! Quit stuffing your face full of the ingredients!" Ace pulled Grim away from the baskets.
"Haa... Guess I have to." Yuu ignored their bickering and started to work on the chestnuts. Y/N followed, deciding to do the work manually.
"You all better get started, or me and Child Yuu will have to just watch." The horned man was working quickly, not needing to put much strength to crack the shell and peel away the skin. Yuu was also pretty quick, having found his own way to peel the nuts.
"As if I'd lose to you two!" Deuce got to work on his basket, the others quickly following.
"Look, Prefect! Look! A primo perf peel!" Ace grinned as he showed the horned man. Y/N looked at the orange haired boy before clapping and giving a satisfactory nod.
"Wow, Ace. You're remarkably deft." Trey praised as he walked over to check on Ace.
"I mean, one of us has to be. It sure ain't thr furball or the tryhard." Ace smirked as he side-eyed the mentioned two.
"Hey! My peels are perfectly fine, thank you. See?" Deuce held up his own peeled chestnut.
"Yeah! If you hold mine up next to Ace's, you couldn't even tell 'em apart!" Grim held up one aswell. Yuu chuckled as he watched them from the corner of his eye.
"Haha. Well, it's good you're all so fired up, because you still got a ways to go." Trey laughed as he watched the group.
...
"That was the last one. We're all done!" Deuce said as he peeled the last chestnut with magic.
"Very nice. Even the manual side managed to get through pretty quick." Trey praised the group as he fixed his glasses.
"Well, duh. Any job's as good as done if I'm on the case!" Grim praised himself. Yuu gave his hands over to Y/N, the horned man gently rubbing the boys palms.
"All right! Next comes the straining." Trey grinned as the usual three flinched.
"There's MORE?!" Ace looked at the junior with panicked sorrow.
...
"There! Finally got 'em all pureed!" Ace groaned, exhausted.
"My arm is killing me..." Deuce sighed, rubbing his arm.
"..I neva wanna do that again." Yuu's forehead hit the taller man's chest. Y/N rubbed the boys head as he nodded.
"Nice work. It'll be all the sweeter for your pain!" Trey chuckled as he watched them.
"The snell alone already has me droolin'..." Grim... How do you explain that expression? Traumatized but also sane?
"I just need to add butter and sugar to the chestnut paste, and a sensible splash of oyster sauce-- that's my secret ingredient!" Trey smirked at the group mischievously. Two of them flinched.
"Oyster sauce?!" Ace and Deuce shouted. Yuu looked confused, having never hear of, or tried, oyster sauce. Y/N paused, realizing something wasn't right.
"Yep. The umami of the oysters gives the cream a deep, savory flavor. I use this one here: Walrus-brand Young Oyster Sauce. All the best bakers use it in their tarts." Trey fixed his glasses as he blatantly lied to the group.
"Really? But isn't oyster sauce like, super salty?" Deuce asked. Yuu, now curious, wanted to try the mentioned sauce.
"Some folks put chocolate into curry, don't they? Maybe it's the same idea." Ace tried reasoning. Y/N sighed.
"Pfft... Ahahaha! I'm totally lying! No one in their right mind would put oyster sauce into a pastry." Trey burst out laughing, startling Yuu.
"What?! So you were just yankin' our chain?" Ace frowned at the junior.
"Ahaha! I mean, if you'd used your brain, you'd have realized how ridiculous it was! Let that be a lesson to you. Don't believe everything you hear." Trey advised the ones for fell for the obvious lie.
"Feh. And here I thought that human was actually somewhat decent." Grim frowned.
"Mm.. Can I still try the oyster sauce?" Yuu looked at the junior. Trey flinched, looking at the boy in surprise.
"I haven't heard of oyster sauce til now, so I'm kinda curious." The boy walked up to Trey, who set the sauce onto the counter.
"Well, sure...? I don't see why not." Trey grabbed the bottle and rummaged around the kitchen for a disposable spoon. Putting a small amount on said spoon, the junior handed it to Yuu.
"..Mmph!" Yuu pulled the spoon away from his mouth in surprise. Ace laughed while Deuce and Trey chuckled at his reaction.
"It's super salty!" The boy said, though didn't seem to dislike it. It was just surprising and new. He's mainly eaten sweet or savory things back at the forest.
"So, do ya like it or hate it?" Grim asked, curious. He wouldn't try it for himself, but he'd like a review.
"It's not bad. Pretty good, actually. Just surprising." Yuu laughed. Y/N shook his head. He wasn't the biggest fan of 'super salty'.
"Haha. Glad you liked it? Next, I'll put in the cream... Oh!" Trey paused.
"What's wrong?" Ace turned to the junior.
"You guys gathered so many chestnuts that we may have overdone it with th chestnut paste. I don't think we have enough cream to mix in." Trey fixed his glasses as he sheepishly laughed.
"Then I'll go buy some. Do they sell it at the school store?" Deuce offered his services. The horned man began cleaning any messes the group made.
"They sell pretty much everything, so... probably. Can I have you pick me up a few other things? I need two cartons of milk, two packs of eggs, some muffin cups, five cans of fruit..." Trey listed, though ultimately decided to write it down, signing his name as the bottom.
"I don't think I'll be able to carry all that back. Prefect, could you come with me?" Deuce turned to the horned man, who was now showing Yuu how to clean efficiently and quickly. Y/N looked to him and nodded.
"I've never been to a store before, so it'll be a good experience." Y/N walked up to Deuce as Yuu continued to clean where the taller man left off. Trey sweatdropped.
"Then I'm comin' too! I'm getting dizzy from all this stirrin'. I need a break!" Grim hopped up onto the horned mans shoulder.
...
"Hello, can I get some he-- Whoa, this shop is wild. They have crystal skulls, grimoires, taxidermied... Uh, I don't even know what animal that is!" Deuce looked around the shop, surprised at the wide variety of items. Y/N got distracted by yellow star stickers.
"You think they really sell cream here?" Grim stuck close to Deuce.
"Greetings, my stray imps. How fare you today? Welcome to Mr. Sam's Mystery Shop. What among my humble selection interests you? A charm from a secluded land? The mummified remains of an ancient king? A cursed tarot card?" Sam, the shopkeeper, listed multiple artifacts.
"Myah! I wasn't expectin' this kinda selection!" Grim exclaimed, baffled.
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I want a big brother Leona. I don't know why. Sorry if any characters are OOC during certain parts. And for any bad grammar or errors.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and enjoy the story.