After their final class, the four girls headed down the hallway towards the direction of Ramshackle Dorm. Ba-bump! As soon as Kira felt a sudden painful pulsation shoot straight through her heart, she gasped sharply as she clutched her chest and fell to the floor, groaning in pain.

The other girls heard her gasp and turned to see Kira kneeling on the floor, gripping her chest and gritting her teeth painfully. "Kira-chan!" the girls cried in alarm as they rushed over towards Kira. Jazmin gently grabbed Kira's shoulders.

"Are you hurt, Kira-chan?!" Alice asked worriedly. "What happened?!What's wrong?! You okay?!" Aria asked, almost frantically. "Kira-chan?" Jazmin asked in concern. Kira let out a sigh as the pain diminished and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. No biggie." she said, giving them an assured smile.

"Are you sure?" Jazmin asked. "Yeah, quit your worrying. I'm a tough girl. I can handle any pain." Kira said confidently as she stood up on her feet. "C'mon, girls. Let's head back." Kira said as she walked down the hallway. The girls gave each other a glance before they merely shrugged their shoulders and followed Kira.

Grim was still too upset to say anything as Alice carried him in her arms. Kira frowned as she held a hand to her chest. "What the heck was that just now?!" she thought. "A heart attack? No way! It can't be! But it hurt like heck!"

As the girls walked across the courtyard, they tried to ignore the other students' hushed whispers and curious glances thrown their way. Since word about Riddle's Overblot incident at Heartslabyul spread like wildfire around campus, Alice and her friends have become somewhat famous.

The students from the other dorms often wondered how Alice had managed to obtain magic powers and defeat Riddle with one single blow. "Hey, isn't that the kid who brought Riddle Rosehearts down with one swing?" one student from Octavinelle whispered to his friend.

"Yeah. I heard he suddenly acquired some magic powers and managed to take him down." his friend replied. "It's so weird, though. I thought the Dark Mirror said that he and his buddies didn't have any magic at all. How was he suddenly able to get magic powers?" the Octavinelle student asked.

The four girls quickly picked up their speed and headed down towards Main Street towards their dorm. Once the girls were back at the Ramshackle Dorm, they occupied themselves with their own activities in the main lounge.

As Alice hummed to herself as she was sorting out the flowers Cater had given her earlier in a vase, Kira lay on an exercise mat doing sit-ups while Aria and Jazmin got to work in washing and drying the dusty blankets and pillows from their bedrooms.

The Ramshackle Dorm was still in need of some cleaning, and since there wasn't much to do today, the girls decided to fix up their dorm as best they could. As for Grim? He was slumped on the sofa and was having a depressing crisis.

"Aaahhhuuhh. I just don't wanna do anything... Nothing brings me joy if I can't play Magift." he grumbled glumly. His dreams of playing in the grand Magical Shift Tournament and having everyone gawk at his amazing skills and performance have been flushed down the drain.

Kira raised an eyebrow at him as she sat up. "Still not over that? Geez, you're really that eager to participate in that Magift Tournament, aren't you?" she asked. "It's okay, Grim. Don't give up yet." Aria said, trying to comfort him. "If you've got the time to sulk around, why not help us out with our chores?" Jazmin asked.

The three Ramshackle Dorm ghosts then appeared in the lounge and took notice of the lack of gusto Grim normally produced. They floated down to see what the cause of his despair was.

"What's up, Grim-y boy? Somehow your fur is not shiny lately." the short ghost, Shorty asked. "He's pouting 'cause they won't let him play in the Magical Shift Tournament~. Hee hee hee!" the fat ghost, Fatso said with a mischievous snicker. "Magical Shift sounds exciting if you've got magic to play it." Kira said with a sigh.

"...Must be really fun..." Despite herself, Kira couldn't help but sympathize with Grim. Since the minute she heard about the upcoming Magical Shift Tournament, she became very intrigued with the idea of playing the sport. However, since she didn't have any magic, she felt very dejected.

It also didn't help the fact that the required number of players from each dorm was 7, where there were only 5 of them. And besides Grim, Alice was the only one member of the girls' dorm who had magic, but she wasn't an athlete.

"If you wanna play Magical Shift that bad, we'll play against you. We were players that drove the crowd wild 90 years ago!" the slim ghost, Stretch said with a smile, reminiscing his youthful days when he and his friends participated in the games. Ahh, those were the glory days.

They were three of the best players and he was also quite the ladies' man at that. "We need a team of seven, right?" Grim muttered, still feeling downhearted. "Doesn't matter since it's not official. Let's go!" Shorty said.

Kira sat up, hope shining in her eyes. "Can I play too, even if I can't use magic?" she asked eagerly. "'Course you can, Kira! You and the others are more than welcome to join us!" Shorty replied with a smile. Kira beamed. She couldn't wait to play their own version of Magical Shift!

Grim also looked eager to play Magical Shift as he headed outside while Kira quickly changed into her gym uniform, joined by Alice. Once the two girls got dressed, Kira and Alice met up with their friends at the back of the dorm grounds where the ghosts were setting up the field for their game.

Two of the ghosts stood in opposite sides forming into a circular goal and the other stood in the sidelines, becoming a barricade. Grim was holding up a dark blue disc with his magic as he grinned, eager to get things started.

"So what rules should we go over?" Kira asked as they walked over to the field. "Don't worry too much about the rules. Just protect the disc and put it through the goal." Stretch replied. "Alright! I'm gonna leave you all in the dust!" Grim proudly declared. He couldn't wait to get started.

"Better watch out, everyone goes after the guy holding the disk with magic. Hee hee hee!" Fatso said, giggling. "Wait, what?!" Kira questioned. "Okay, game start!" Shorty announced. With that said, Grim took the Magift disc and ran across the field.

Kira was a little uncertain at first, but her strong desire to play the sport overrode any lingering doubt in her mind. She quickly shook off her hesitancy as she ran on Grim's left while Alice ran on his right. The three ghosts flew towards them with outstretched hands, ready to snatch the disc away from Grim.

Grim saw them coming and quickly blew his flames at them before he tossed the disc towards Alice. Alice managed to catch the disc and duck below one of the ghosts in time. Kira ran to keep up with them as she ducked and rolled around to avoid the ghosts' attempts to trip her up as they popped up underneath her feet.

Aria and Jazmin, who were sitting near the dorm's wall, cheered them on as they played. "Come on, girls! Go for it!" Aria cheered, waving her hands in the air. "Yeah! You can do it! Don't give up!" Jazmin added.

Using her Crystal Heart's magic, Alice kept her hold on the disc as she maneuvered around the ghosts that zoomed around trying to snatch it from her or get in her way. With her flexibility, Alice was able to slip past them by using her magic rose petals to blindside them as she leapt high into the air.

"Kira-chan! Catch!" she called out to Kira. The lioness looked to her left and saw Alice flinging the disc right towards her. Kira ran as fast as she could and caught the disc before she suddenly felt her ankle being grabbed and she was lifted off the ground. "Hey! What's the deal?! Lemme go!" Kira yelled as she flailed about.

The fat ghost, Fatso held Kira up as the other one, Stretch moved to take the disc away from her, but Kira saw that Grim was in the clear. "Hey, Grim! Go long!" she hollered as she swung her arm and flung the disc towards him.

Grim saw the oncoming disc, jumped up and grabbed hold of it. "Alright! I just have to take the disc and score some goals!" Grim exclaimed as he began running towards the goal on the other side of the field. He only ran a few feet before two of the ghosts suddenly popped up in front of him, making scary faces.

"Boo!" Fatso shouted, sticking his tongue out. The ghosts' sudden, scary appearance caught Grim off guard and made him stumble back in fear. "Gaaahh?! W-w-w-what are you doing?!!" Grim screeched. "Hee hee! It's natural to interfere with the enemy's shot, right?" Fatso replied.

"No, just now was not magic~~!!" Grim shouted indignantly. Stretch then moved in, took the disc and flew off, heading towards their goal. Grim shook off his initial fear and ran after him, Alice and Kira following suit.

Shorty tripped up Grim and tried to float in front of Alice, but the blonde-haired girl quickly made a sharp turn before she made contact with him, using the sunlight's reflection on her Vorpal Sword to distract him, confusing the ghost for a moment. She then stopped in front of Stretch and dug her sword into the ground.

Vines started to suddenly sprout rapidly in the ground, growing in front of the ghost and halting him in his path. As he skidded to a halt, Kira ran over and grabbed the disc. She then ran ahead before stopping and turning right around to run towards the other goal.

Kira ducked under, moved around and leapt over the ghosts as she neared the goal. She saw Grim running alongside her and she tossed the disc his way. Grim caught it in his mouth and used magic to lift the disc over his head as he tried to get to the goal. He made the shot, but Fatso caught it before it could reach the goal.

"Ffnaa~~!!! Keeping control of the disc is hard!!" Grim panted, trying to catch his breath. "Hee hee hee! At this rate you'd be out in the first match you play." Fatso said with a laugh as Shorty and Stretch floated to his side.

"No, no. Well done for the first time, well done." Stretch said, seeing Grim's potential as a player. Grim puffed his chest out proudly. "H-Hmm. It's cause I've got talent! If I get used to it, I'll be a genius player in no time!!" he proclaimed. Both Alice and Kira sat on the grass near Grim, exhausted from their workout.

"I'm....sure...you will.... someday." Alice said in short breaths as she patted Grim's head. "That was awesome, girls!" Aria cheered. "Yeah, that was really great! You girls did great!" Jazmin added, giving them a thumbs up. "Thanks." Alice sighed.

"Whoo! What a workout! I'm starting to love this sport!" Kira exclaimed as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Too bad I don't have any magic to play in it." Aria smiled at her. "Don't worry, Kira-chan. You'll get your chance soon. Hopefully." she said. Grim was about to ask for a rematch when they all heard a familiar voice.

"Hello, everyone. Are you playing Magical Shift?" the voice asked. "Oh, please don't tell me..." Kira mumbled as the group turned around just in time to see Headmaster Crowley making his way towards them through the old iron gates.

Even the cat monster's once vigorous energy quickly vanished as he pouted at Crowley. "Geh. Now the guy who lowers the tension has come." he muttered sourly. "Hello, Headmaster." Alice politely greeted as she and the other girls politely bowed. Crowley sat the Magift disc in Kira's hand and gave a cheery smile.

"I see you're getting along well with the dorm ghosts. Splendid, splendid." Crowley said merrily, happy to know that they were all becoming friends now after all this time. Grim glared at Crowley. "We are not getting along! So, what'd you want?" he asked, pouting at him intensely.

Kira glared at him before she nudged his butt with her foot. "Ouch!" Grim yelped in pain. "Grim! Be nice!" Kira chided before she turned to the Headmaster. "I have a request to make of you. It's not simple chit-chat, so let's go inside." Crowley said, his tone suddenly becoming serious.

The four girls glanced at each other in concern before leading their Headmaster inside their dorm. The dorm's lounge was still rather dusty, but it was cleaner than it had once been, thanks to the girls' hard-earned efforts.

Once they were inside, Alice went into the kitchen to make some tea for Crowley as the other girls and Grim sat down in their seats beside him. "What's this request about? We aren't your handymen anymore, y'know." Grim asked irately, already growing annoyed at whatever boring chore Crowley had in mind.

Weren't they already done with his twaddle? Kira smacked the back his head, earning a painful yelp from him as Alice walked into the lounge with a freshly brewed cup of Earl Grey tea in her hand and set it in front of Crowley.

"Oh? Hey? I never said anything about guaranteeing your food, clothing and shelter for free, did I? Labor is a beautiful thing, isn't it, Grim? Ladies?" he said jovially before he picked up the cup and took a sip of his tea. Kira rolled her eyes. "Stingy old turkey-brain..." she grumbled angrily under her breath.

"Oh, dear. I don't think we have the option to turn him down..." Alice said nervously as Grim was now looking just as nervous at that subtle threat Crowley had hidden within his words. Once Crowley had drank his fill, he set the cup down and began to elaborate on the favor he wanted from them.

"Ahem. Then I will get straight to the point. Recently, there have been an increasing number of students getting injured in suspicious accidents. I'd like to have you investigate them." he said in a serious tone.

Kira and Jazmin's eyes widened with shock as Alice and Aria both let out a small gasp of surprise. That didn't sound good. "Injuries~?" Grim asked. "Yes. Tripping down stairs, burned by boiling water... The causes vary, but in the past several days, the number of patients in the infirmary has dramatically increased." Crowley explained.

"Including the person who fell down the stairs yesterday, that makes 10 people injured. I'm glad none of the injuries have been severe, but..." The girls all grimaced at the news. "Gee, that sounds terrible!" Kira remarked as she frowned.

"Oh, how dreadful, those poor dears." Alice said, now becoming deeply worried for their fellow students. The girls could hardly comprehend the news. Ten injured people had been sent to the infirmary... Kira felt her stomach twist uneasily. This seemed way too much to be deemed as some sort of coincidence.

"Aren't they all just clumsy?" Grim said surprisingly, giving out a reasonable explanation. "The whole school is giddy for the approaching Magical Shift Tournament, that's true." Crowley said.

"Even still, there's too many people getting hurt if you look at past years. On top of that, those injured in these accidents were all in the running to be starting members for their dorm's team." Grim put his paw under his chin as he started to ponder. "Huuuh?" he hummed. Kira narrowed her cat-like eyes as her mind raced.

Something clearly wasn't right about this. "Judging by the sound of this, I don't think these are just accidents." she said. "One or two might've been, but for that many people to get hurt in such a short time... Sounds like foul play is at work."

She bit her lip as she held her arm and touched her leg, recalling the intense pain her body had felt before back in their old world. Falling down the steps, misplacing her possessions, tripping on her feet. Things like that can be passed off as clumsiness. But those types of accidents can never happen more than once.

Crowley gave a small nod of agreement. "Very nice deduction, Miss Ironclaw. However, I have no evidence to prove it was foul play." he said. "All the victims were injured in places with plenty of other people around them. Nevertheless, all bystanders had this to say: "It looked like they weren't paying attention"."

"Sounds like they all just screwed up. There, problem solved~." Grim said, not giving the case a second thought other than blind recklessness. Also, he didn't want to waste his time with something that didn't involve him.

Crowley raised a brow at the cat and placed his hands on his hips. "Oh my, Grim. That's quite irresponsible of you." he said. "It has nothing to do with me. Why can't I participate in the Magift tournament anyway?" Grim said with a bite of sullenness in his voice.

"Doesn't matter what happens to the tournament. Ptooey, ptooey!" he spat bitterly. "Is that so... I'd thought to give you a tremendous reward for your help but..." Crowley said. Grim's ears twitched at that and he shot Crowley a dirty look.

"Hmph! That's not gonna work this time! You'd need at least 100 cans of tuna to buy my help." he huffed. "That's a terrible thing to say, Grim." Alice said. "Tch! Obviously, he'd say something like that." Kira scoffed, looking away from Grim in disappointment. Grim just glared at her and stuck his tongue out to mock her.

"Then, the slots for the Magical Shift Tournament... How about it?" Crowley suggested. That made Grim pause in his tracks as he turned to face the Headmaster. "Eh?!" he shouted. The four girls all gaped at Crowley. "What?" Alice asked, raising her eyebrow. "Is he serious?!" Kira exclaimed.

"Once the case is resolved, I'll prepare a slot for your dorm to participate in the Magical Shift Tournament." Crowley said with his big cheery smile. "How's that sound? Aren't I just the most gracious ever?" Kira glared at him.

"Gracious?! Ha! Who're you trying to fool, birdbrain?!" she angrily thought. Grim stared at him, his eyes bulging from their sockets, not believing what he was hearing. "Ffna...Ffnaaa...?!" he exclaimed. Kira just sighed and rolled her eyes with disdain. "Oh, great." she grumbled.

"It is quite an effective tactic on Grim, to be fair." Alice whispered in her ear. "Your gallant figure will be broadcast worldwide. And you'll be able to bask in the applause of the coliseum filled to the brim." Crowley said with a very sly, cheery tone. ""Woooh, woo! Here comes the expected rookie player, Grim!", they'd scream."

The three girls giggled softly while Kira just simply scoffed at Grim's naiveté as stars again shone in his eyes. He pictured himself in his fantasy world: Him being the center of the game, running alongside the best players in the Magift field as he aims for the goal.

The crowd gawking at his amazing athletic talent, watching his great prowess as he dodges the enemy and scores every point. They were all being left in awe as Grim scores the final point with his signature move and are cheering his name loudly.

"Oh-Oh, no... I can already see it happening...!" Grim said, his cobalt-colored eyes widening in his fantasy's limelight as a huge idealistic smile appeared on his face. Crowley then gave a sad frown. "But you said that you wouldn't help solve this matter." he said as he sadly shrugged.

"Unfortunately, you must forget anything I said." Grim's smile instantly dropped from his face and he heard his vision shattering into pieces. Crowley was about to get up from his seat when Grim suddenly hopped onto the coffee table.

"Hold it right there~~~~! We'll do it! We'll definitely do it!" the cat monster screeched at the top of his lungs, looking up at Crowley with pleading eyes. "Oh? You will now?" Crowley asked with a feigned look of surprise, his golden eyes wide with contrived shock, all the while hiding the smug grin on his face.

"He's got him." the girls all thought with a smile. "Being in the tournament changes everything! Right, girls?!" Grim asked, turning to his four female colleagues with both a proud smile and a demanding look to get them to agree.

If this was any other day, Kira would have outright refused to help out a lazy, loud-mouthed, gluttonous cat monster like Grim. However, after hearing that she might get a spot in the Magical Shift Tournament, she saw this as her chance to play Magift. No way was she ever going to give up an opportunity like that!

If they manage to catch the culprit, and she hoped that they do, then they'll get the opportunity to play Magical Shift, where everyone will be cheering her on. How thrilling that would be! She then shook her head with a sigh.

"Boy, I'm starting to sound like Grim..." Kira thought before she looked up at her Headmaster and smiled. "Sure thing, Grim. Let's nab that culprit and enter the tournament!" Kira said confidently, pumping her fist in the air. But she then frowned. "Oh, wait! Don't we need 7 players to make a team?" she asked.

She then looked back at her friends. "With us girls, Grim included, that makes five of us. We need two more people." Crowley then stepped up. "Fret not. As the headmaster, I will perform a magical miracle to supplement the other two people you need." he said to assure her.

Grim pumped his paw into the air, excited about getting his chance to participate in the tournament. "Alright~! You've got a deal!" he declared before turning towards Kira, "Kira, let's hurry up and ask around!"

"I'll be counting on you two." Crowley said with a bright smile as he then took his leave. Grim was just bursting with a new sense of motivation while Kira could only sigh in resignation, accepting her fate. "Looks like I should really start getting used to this..." she thought.

Even though she felt reluctant to do it, her desire to secure her spot as a player for the Magical Shift Tournament hung over her head. "This better be worth my while." Kira silently hoped. Since Crowley told them that most of the victims were held up in the infirmary, that would be the first place to gather some clues.