They ran as best they could and arrived just in time for the first class, which took place in the laboratory. For that subject they had to wear lab coats, safety goggles and rubber gloves.

The teacher was a young, attractive man named Divus Crewel. He was elegantly dressed and wore an extravagant coat of what appeared to be black and white striped fur. His hair was black with a large part dyed white. He had the habit of referring to students as 'puppies'.

"I see you're the fresh new faces who will be joining my class today." He told them when they arrived. "Hm? What unusual hair colors, and what an interesting shade of black, not bad at all. Make sure all of you to take good care of it."

Along with his style of clothing, that comment made Yuu think that he had to be someone very perfectionist with appearance.

He suddenly once again felt the burning in his left shoulder too.

After that, the teacher explained how the subject was going to be, assuring them that they would memorize many names of plants and herbs.

Neither Ace, Grim, nor Deuce seemed very excited about it.

In the second period they had Magic History class. This took place in the same classroom where Yuu and Grim talked with the talking picture.

"You seem enthusiastic, Yuu." Deuce told him after seeing him with a glow in his eyes on their way to the classroom. "Are you interested in History?"

"Oh, is that obvious?" He looked away a bit embarrassed for a short second. "But yes, it's my favorite subject!" He explained. "My father was a History teacher, he knew a lot about the history and culture of other countries and used to talk about it at home. He ended up hitting me with his enthusiasm."

"Well, look at that! Now that you are in another world you will learn a totally different history," Ace said.

"Yeah, I was thinking about that right now!"

But his excitement almost went to nothing at the beginning of the lesson.

The teacher was very different from Mr. Crewel: he was an older man dressed in old-fashioned burgundy clothes and holding a black cat with a look as serious and strict as his.

He introduced himself as Mozus Trein and the cat as his familiar, Lucius. He warned that he would not forgive those who fell asleep in class.

The content of the subject was interesting, but the class was slow and soporific with the monotonous voice of the teacher, accompanied by the long and deep meows of the cat.

What Yuu liked the least was that the first lesson was about the Dwarfs' Mine, something he wasn't very excited about because of the recent incident with the ink monster, but took notes as best he could.

Ace yawned and Deuce tried to show interest. On the other hand, Grim didn't hide his boredom.

That subject contrasted in every aspect with the following subject: Physical Education.

They had to wear the sports uniform for the subject, that took place on the sports field. The teacher was Ashton Vargas, a very muscular man with a lot of energy.

Yuu felt the burning in his left shoulder again, much stronger than with Crewel, along with a horrible feeling of discomfort and, for some reason, disgust.

"A magician without physical energy can't exist!" Vargas exclaimed. "So do twenty laps around the field! And then 100 sit-ups!

Luckily Yuu had good physical stamina, but he wondered if it was going to be enough to survive that insane number of sit-ups.

Before that, they did some stretches to warm up. "Uh... It's not that I don't like exercise, but I can't stand teachers like him," Ace commented.

"I'm confident in my physical strength," Deuce added with pride and an evil smile that Yuu would never have imagined on him.

"What's the fun of going around circles?" Grim asked with boredom. "I'm not a hamster, yanno?"

Someone laughed at the comment.

"What are you laughing at, Yuu!?" Grim asked with annoyance.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it."

Then he looked at the teacher, wondering why he had felt the burning that way when he saw him. "This teacher reminds me somehow a bit of my aunt," he commented, but that was not the reason for his discomfort.

"Really?" Deuce asked him. "How?"

"My aunt does a lot of exercise, she has a lot of strength and an incredible physical shape, but he seems like a male, taller, much more energetic, with atrophied muscles version of her."

"What kind of description is that!?" Ace asked in shock.

After finishing that period, it was break time. It would be lunchtime later, but Deuce wanted to check the timetable for the next class as they walked down one of the hallways.

"For a magic school, it doesn't feel very that much different from a normal school..." Ace commented.

"Really?" Yuu asked him.

"Yes, it's a lot more... ordinary than I thought. I guess I shouldn't worry too much about not having magic. Don't you think so, Grim?"

He received no reply.

"Grim?" Yuu asked after looking around and not seeing him anywhere.

Deuce winced in shock. "Look out the window!" He exclaimed. "That furball is in the courtyard!"

They peeked out and saw Grim running out there. The monster realized he had been discovered.

"As if I'm going to stay in boring classes all day!" he exclaimed from below. "I'm a genius, so I can be a great magician without them!"

And he ran again on all fours.

"Is he planning to skip classes the first day!?" Yuu asked in horror. "The headmaster is going to be furious with me!" He said as he hold the ghost camera hanging from his neck.

"That one never learns, right?" Deuce commented.

"It's your first day as prefect and are you already being careless?" Ace teased. "Do you want us to help you catch Grim?"

"Yes, please!"

"I want a chocolate croissant from the cafeteria!"

Deuce decided to seize the opportunity: "Then, I shall have some café latte from the cafeteria."

Yuu growled at the mischief of his new friends. "Are you serious?"

"Come on, come on. At this rate Grim will escape. Do you really want that?" Ace asked, still with his wicked smile.

"Ok, fine! Deal!!" Yuu sighed impatiently when he realized he had no other choice.

"Then we have an agreement!" Ace exclaimed. "Well, Deuce. Shall we help our poor, helpless Yuu?"

"Of course, Ace," he replied with the same wicked smile. "I look forward to lunchtime."

Yuu rolled his eyes and ran to catch Grim again. Along the way, Ace borrowed a net from a closet with cleaning tools and utensils.

Fortunately for them, Grim hadn't left the courtyard, but he was a fast runner. After chasing him for a while, the three of them managed to surround him and Deuce summoned a cauldron that fell on top of Grim, trapping him in the act.

"Yay! Lunch obtained!" Ace exclaimed victoriously.

"All right, Grim," Deuce told him. "Be nice now and go back to class."

"You only work as a team at times like this," Grim complained as Yuu crouched in front of the cauldron to grab him.

"I got him, you can get this off now."

Deuce and Ace moved the heavy cauldron away and Yuu secured the little monster in his arms.

"No, I don't wanna!" Grim complained, trying to get free. "I don't want to go back to those boring classes, yanno?"

"You keep quiet and behave yourself!" Yuu ordered sternly as he held him firmly against his chest. "Didn't you wreak havoc these two last days because you wanted to enter this school!? And now you're trying to get away because you find it 'boring'!? The headmaster was very considerate in accepting you and seeing your potential, so don't waste this chance! If you keep being like this you'll never be the great magician you want to be!"

"Dammit! You're very strict today!" Grim exclaimed.

"I'm just doing my job. I also worry about you! They'll kick you out if you don't do your duty as a student!"

Ace and Deuce compared the situation to that of a mother scolding her son.

After saying all that, Yuu sighed. Not even the children in the day care center where his mother worked caused such a fuss...

Shortly after they arrived at the cafeteria, full of people.

"Yay! It's finally lunchtime!" Grim exclaimed, completely changing his mood as he climbed onto Yuu's shoulders. "There are so many delicious stuff."

Yuu noticed that the buffet food was very complete and varied for a school cafeteria.

"A fluffy egg omelette!" The little monster screeched as they reached for trays and plates. "Fried chicken and bacon and egg tart!!!"

Poor Yuu felt his ears screech.

"You're very noisy!" Ace exclaimed. "You're really energetic even at lunch time."

"Careful, Grim," Yuu warned him. "If you move so much on me you will make me trip."

"Yuu! Get the fried chicken! Come on, there's only one left!" he insisted without paying much attention to what he said. "Oh, and also omelette! And bread and jam! Take it all!"

"Grim, I can't get that much! Remember that you made me owe Ace and Deuce something."

In one of his sudden movements, Grim accidentally pushed the silver-haired student next to them, who dropped something to the ground.

"Ah!! Hey, idiot! My pasta's soft-boiled egg is on the floor 'cause you bumped into me!" He yelled.

"Oh man!" Exclaimed the redheaded student next to him. "The egg is the best part of the carbonara! How are you going to pay for it, jerk!?"

"I guess I'll take that fried chicken you have there as compensation," the silver-haired one said.

"What?! I don't wanna! It's mine!" Grim refused.

"Eh? Is a freshman talking that way to an upperclassman? How rude!" The red-haired boy exclaimed indignantly before pulling his magical pen.

"Excuse me..." Deuce intervened, trying to help. "But it's against the rules to use magic for personal gain..."

"Personal gain? We're just two seniors giving you a lesson."

"Stop!" Yuu's stern voice commanded.

His friends looked at him in surprise as he set his tray of food and Grim down on a nearby table where there was still nobody. Both of them were two heads taller than him, but he wasn't intimidated by that.

"I'm responsible of my partner, and I'm sorry for the trouble we have caused," he said in a firm voice. "But the last thing we want is trouble, much less because of an accident, so I ask you to listen to my friend and stop the violence. Just accept our apologies."

"And who do you think you speak to us in that way, pipsqueak? Either you pay for my food or you make it up to me with yours! Otherwise you'll be the one who pays the consequences!"

Yuu sighed and showed them the ghost camera. "Do you see this camera? The headmaster entrusted me with the title of prefect the charge of photographing all those students who break the school rules. If I take a picture of you in a fight, I'll show it to him and it will be you who'll pay the consequences. And it doesn't matter if you take it from me or break it, since we have many witnesses around us who won't mind saying that there was a fight here..."

Both of them fell silent when they heard the word 'headmaster' and stared at him to make sure he was serious.

"W-we'll let you go off this time because my pasta's getting cold!" Said the silver-haired student before leaving with his friend.

Deuce, Grim, and Ace looked at him again.

"Wow! That was so cool, Yuu!" Ace exclaimed.

"I didn't think you could be like this!" Grim added. "Those guys talked a lot but did little! They deserve it!"

But Yuu slapped his palms on the free table and took a deep breath. "Man, that was scary!" He exclaimed in dread. "For a second I thought we were finished!"

His friends blinked a few times at his sudden change in attitude.
"Then what were you thinking throwing yourself at them like that ?! Ace exclaimed. "They could have fried you! You've done exactly the same as yesterday!"

Yuu felt more relaxed. "I've only done my job as a prefect, and I didn't want to stay there without doing anything. I thought that if I could survive a giant monster, I can go through anything! Of course, saying that about the camera was what helped me..."

"You must be careful! You could end up hurt." Added Ace.

"You did a great job anyway," Deuce congratulated him. "You looked strong and you had courage. You seemed like a defender of justice!"

"How exaggerated..." Grim commented.

"You think so? I admit I was a bit nervous..."

"Yeah, yeah! You were great! But let's eat now," Ace urged. "I missed breakfast and I'm starving."

"To think that such brutes are allowed in this prestigious magic school..." Deuce sighed.

They found a free table. Deuce, Yuu and Grim sat on one side and Ace on the other.

Grim, sitting on the table's surface, did not wait to eat. "By the way," he said with his mouth half full. "We saw you guys' dorm, but what do the other dorms look like?"

"You have already seen the statues of the Great Seven, right?" Cater asked suddenly beside him, this time accompanied by another tall student. "This school has dorms based on them."

"Hey! You're the dude from this morning!" Ace exclaimed.

"You tricked us into painting the roses red!" Grim added angrily.

"It's cruel of you to say that I tricked you, you know?" Cater replied with an almost feigned pain as he sat down next to Grim and Yuu. "It's not like I wanted to do it, it was the dorm rules."

"You looked so happy about it though," Deuce sighed.

"Come on, Deucey. We don't have to follow the rules outside the dorm, so I'm your kind senior now," he replied cheerfully.

"Please do not call me that way!" Deuce said sheepishly.

The student who accompanied Cater laughed in amusement as he sat down next to Ace. He wore glasses, had dark green hair and a black, clover-shaped mark under his left eye. "That's Cater's way of showing affection, you know?" He explained.

"Wait, who are you?" Ace asked him.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Trey, Trey Clover." He kindly introduced himself. "I'm in third year, just like Cater." He looked at Yuu. "You must be the new student from that ruin-..." He stopped as he realized what he was going to say, and cleared his throat, "...from that unused dorm who became the prefect, right?"

"Yes, Yuu Oshiro. Nice to meet you."

"Cater told me everything, I'm sorry our dormmates caused you so much trouble yesterday," Trey told him.

Ace sighed resignedly and looked away with some embarrassment.

"Come on, come on! Since we're in the same school, we should get along," Cater said cheerfully as he pulled out his smartphone. "Let's exchange e-mail addresses!"

Ace shrugged and took his smartphone out of his pocket. Deuce did the same.

"You too, Yuu!" Cater encouraged him. "You can also tell me your number and your Magicam account to follow you! You look like someone who uploads lots of pictures!"

"Eh!? Er..." Yuu muttered in response and looked away.

"What's the matter? You seem tense. It's ok! Breathe in and out, relax! Don't be shy!"

"No, it's not that! It's just that... I don't have a phone," Yuu admitted sheepishly. For once that a handsome, cheerful boy openly asked for his phone number, he had to leave it in his home world, he thought.

"What!? You don't have a phone?" Cater asked, dumbfounded. "That's crazy! You're like an endangered species! I know a place to get the newest models for cheap. How about we go shopping there together on a date to choose one?"

Yuu couldn't control his blush. "Date!?" He whispered, hardly believing it.

"Cater, you're making him uncomfortable," Trey stopped him amused, as if it wasn't the first time. "Hold it back a bit."

Cater laughed. "Sorry, sorry! You were asking about the dorms, right? All right, that's an interesting conversation. Let us, your older brothers, explain everything to you!"

"Wait, before the rest of the dorms, could you explain us first about ours?" Ace asked. "What the heck are all those weird 'Queen of Hearts' rules?"

"You already know the legend of the Queen of Hearts, right?" Trey asked them. "To establish absolute law and order, she created harsh rules to control the eccentric inhabitants of Wonderland."

That name became familiar to Yuu.

"And out of respect for the Queen of Hearts," Cater continued. "In Heartslabyul we wear the colors red and black on our arm band to represent the dress she wore. And it's part of our traditions to follow her rules."

"Sounds like a harsh dorm," Grim commented.

"It depends on how strict the dorm leader is with traditions," Cater explained. "Our previous leader was chill about it."

In comparison to other dorm leaders, Riddle is much more serious and devoted," said Trey. "That's why he always strives to keep the tradition."

Grim's eyes widened upon hearing that.

"Ugh, how annoying," Ace complained.

"Hey, and how are the other dorms?" Grim asked.

"As Cater said, we have seven dormitories inspired by the Great Seven," Trey replied.

He started listing them all: Heartslabyul, based on the severity of the Queen of Hearts; Savanaclaw, on the fortitude of the King of Beasts; Octavinelle, on the benevolence of the Sea Witch; Scarabia, based on the careful planning of the Sorcerer of the Desert; Pomefiore, on the efforts of the Beautiful Queen; Ignihyde, on the perseverance of the King of the Underworld. And finally, Diasomnia, based on the elegance of the Witch of Thorns."

"There's a lot," Yuu commented.

"And they all have very long names!" Grim exclaimed, feeling his head explode. "I won't be able to remember all of them!"

"Ha, ha! That's ok!" Cater laughed. "You will end up learning their names sooner or later!"

"As you saw at the entrance ceremony, the Dark Mirror assigns the dorms after looking into your souls," Trey said. "You could say that the dorm reflects the student's character."

"Character?" Deuce asked curiously.

"For example..." Trey pointed at someone at a far table. "Look there!"

It was a tall, muscular student with tanned skin and animal ears that accompanied his silver hair.

"Oh! Does he have dog ears?!" Yuu asked surprised. He remembered the young man with lion ears, but it did not occur to him that there would be more people with ears of different animals.

"Judging from his appearance, he must be from Savanaclaw," Trey said.

"Exactly!" Cater exclaimed. "It's a dorm full of guys good at sports and martial arts. We could say that they are very muscular or that they are like older brothers... In any case, the colors of Savanaclaw are yellow and black."

"Oh. Then what about that boy with the gray and... lavender sash tied around his arm?" Grim pointed to a young student with silver gray hair, which Yuu recognized as the person who was with Riddle to catch Grim.

"He's from Octavinelle, and the two boys with dark red and gold colors who sit on the table beside him are from Scarabia."

The three students seemed to be talking to each other. Yuu immediately recognized the boy with the huge and kind smile he helped in the entrance ceremony.

"Both dorms are full of smart people," Cater said. "Nobody beats them on written tests and they are in the same level. Ah, but the leader of Scarabia is not very good with studies."

"Okay, we're drifting off topic," Ace warned quickly, remembering the beginning of the conversation.

"You adapt pretty quickly, huh," Trey commented. "Going back to the topic, those bright and sparkly ones are from Pomefiore. The colors of their arm band are purple and red."

Trey pointed to one of the closest tables, there was a student with blond hair who was wearing a big hat with a feather. This one was sitting with another adorable-looking young student with lilac hair.

"Wow! There's a really cute girl over there!" Grim exclaimed after seeing the lilac-haired boy.

"Eh!? In an all-boys school!?" Deuce asked, puzzled.

"Idiot, how would they let a girl into an all-boys school," Ace snapped.

"Eh!?" Grim and Deuce exclaimed in shock at the realization, drawing the attention of the young boy they were talking about.

Yuu didn't think of him as a girl at all, but now that they mentioned it, he noticed that he had a bit of an androgynous appearance.

And even if Ace said that, Yuu couldn't help but imagine Yukiko studying alongside him in Night Raven College. "Just as I thought, this is an all-boys school," he commented, remembering his realization from last morning when he didn't see a single girl. "But what about girls? Are there any magic schools similar to Night Raven College for them?" He asked.

"I know there are all-girls and mixed schools," Ace answered. "But I can't think of any that have as much fame, prestige and history as ours."

"Speaking of girls," Cater said, "the girl in the portrait in the West Building, Rosalia, is very pretty. I can present it to you, if you're interested. Do you want me to set a date with her?"

"No, thanks!" Ace insisted. "Even if she's pretty, she's not very... three-dimensional."

"Does that really matter? She is really lovely, despite being a painting. But anyway," Cater said, returning to the topic, "Pomefiore is full of pretty faces who take their beauty routines very seriously. Even their dorm leader is a famous influencer on Magicam with five million followers," he said as he pulled out his phone once more to show them pictures.

"Hey. Don't judge them just by their looks," Trey cut him off. "Pomefiore has a lot of students who excel at alchemy and spells."

"Ha, ha! Yeah, that too," Cater laughed. "Well, the next one would be Ignihyde. They wear a blue and black arm band, but it doesn't seem to be any of them around here. The students in that dorm are a bit lonely, so I don't have any friends from there. We could say that they are totally opposite to the outgoing people of Heartslabyul."

"You mean they're gloomy?" Grim asked.

"Hey, hey! Be careful with what you say!" Trey snapped with a nervous smile. "Although it's true that all of them tend to be calm and introverted. That dorm is full of students great at magical energy and they're pretty techy."

With Grim's comment, Yuu really wished that the people around them didn't realize they were talking about them from the beginning of the conversation. He hoped they didn't offend anyone...

"And finally, there would be Dia-something dorm," Deuce tried to say. "Right?"

"Don't pretend you said it right, man," Ace snapped. "It's Diasomnia, okay?"

"I bit my tongue! Ok?!" Deuce apologized with some embarrassment.

Yuu laughed a bit at that.

Cater looked around for a student in that place: "Diasomina is... Oh, over there. They are those guys sitting at those exclusive tables in the cafeteria. They are... how to put it? Very popular? Their colors are lime green and black," he explained. "They have an aura that makes it difficult for commoners like us to get close to them. And their dorm leader gives off some strong 'Stay away from me' vibes."

They took a better look at three students in particular: two young students, one with silver hair and the other with light green hair, both with a very stern look that made Yuu shudder. The person sitting between them, whose huge magenta eyes accompanied his friendly expression, was a stark contrast.

"Oh, there's a kid with them," Ace commented, referring to the latter.

"It's true that this school lets skip grades," Trey said. "But he's not a child at all, he's a third year like us..."

He had barely finished speaking when a sound reminiscent of a sparkles sounded above them.

"I'm Lilia. Lilia Vanrouge."

Everyone at the table winced at the sudden appearance: the person with magenta eyes they were talking about had teleported just on top of them and was levitating upside down.

He had caught his uniform jacket by the shoulders to keep it from falling to the ground, since he was wearing it above his shoulders.

Lilia laughed amused by the reaction, turned around and fell in his feet to the ground. "Are you interested in my age?" He asked before laughing softly. "It is true that I have this young and adorable face, but just as this young man with glasses said: I am not at the age that could be considered as a child."

"Young and adorable..." Trey repeated, perplexed, still taken aback by the scare.

After thinking about it, Yuu recognized him from his voice: he was the person he saw at the end of the entrance ceremony before being left alone with the headmaster.

"You don't have to look at us from afar, you can talk with us whenever you want," he assured them kindly. "Aren't we classmates at the same school? Diasomnia dorm will always welcome you."

As an antithesis to his words, the boys who were eating with him, which Yuu named as I-want-to-kill-you face #1 and I-want-to-kill-you face #2, were watching them in silence from their seats, vigilantly and distrustful.

It was impossible not to notice those stares.

"Those two don't seem they want us to talk with them..." Deuce replied.

Lilia turned his gaze to see what he meant and sighed in amusement. "He, he. Excuse me for appearing like that while you were eating. I have to go now, see you later." He said before walking back quietly to his seat.

Ace lowered his head close to his friends.
"We are sitting twenty meters away from them and he could hear us from that distance!?" he whispered in horror. "So scary!"

"Well... that's how it is," Trey said calmer. "Diasomnia has very special students with great talent in magic. It is said their dorm leader, Malleus Draconia, is among the five most powerful magicians in our world."

"Good thing he's not offended..." Yuu commented, remembering his previous concern as he saw the green-haired student, nicknamed as I-want-to-kill-you face #2, talking insistently to Lilia like if he was asking lots of questions.

"By the way, Malleus is powerful, but dangerous," Cater commented. "Although our dorm leader is also pretty dangerous."

"Tell me about it!" Ace reproached, pointing to his neck. "He put this collar on me for eating a piece of his tart! He's crazy and he's the worst!"

"Hm? I'm crazy and I'm the worst?"

[Published in 28/7/2021]