Twisted Wonderland | Mickey's Print

8. Bad Vibes

At the moment Ace said that, someone was walking right behind him. "Hm? I'm crazy and I'm the worst?" He asked in a stern voice.

Sitting across the table next to Deuce, Yuu immediately recognized him as the young redheaded boy from the ceremony entrance.

His worried look accompanied the horrified ones from Deuce, Cater, and Trey.

However, Ace had not realized the situation nor did he deign to turn around to see it. "Exactly!" He answered the question. "Only a tyrant would have such absurd rules. Give me a break!"

"Ace! Behind you!" Deuce told him in a trembling voice.

"It was nice meeting you, Ace," Yuu muttered.

Ace's gaze paled immediately as he turned around and saw Riddle. "Eh?! Dorm leader?!"

Riddle kept his arms crossed and his harsh gaze on Ace.

"Wow, Riddle! You look adorable like crazy today!" Cater exclaimed in an attempt to help Ace.

Riddle's gaze turned serene. "Cater, if you keep talking like that, you'll be beheaded next to that talkative mouth of yours," he warned him.

"Come on, don't be mean to me!" Cater answered nervously.

Grim also recognized him. "Ah!? Look, Yuu! This is the guy who put that weird collar on me during the entrance ceremony!" He said while pointing defiantly at him with a paw.

Hearing that, Riddle took a quick look at the first years. "You are the ones who caused a disaster yesterday, right? And you, could you avoid referring to my Unique Magic as a 'weird collar'? Good grief... the headmaster is too soft, ignoring someone who breaks the rules will destroy the balance of the school system. Anyone who doesn't follow the rules should be beheaded," he said with a serenity that shook the atmosphere.

"What he said contrasts with his adorable face," Ace whispered almost inaudibly.

"The headmaster may have forgiven you, but the next time you break the rules, I won't," he warned sternly.

"Uh... By the way, dorm leader," Ace called him with a nervous smile. "Could it be possible that... you took off this collar from me?"

"I was thinking on removing it as soon as you regretted your actions, but judging from what you just said, I see that you haven't yet." Ace's smile disappeared. "I'm going to leave it to you for a little longer."

Deuce, Yuu, and Grim exchanged worried glances.

"Don't worry, first year lessons focuses more on basic theory than magic training," Riddle continued. "Without the ability to use magic, you won't cause another ruckus like yesterday, so that's a good thing, don't you think?" Nobody answered. "Okay," he said, taking a step back, "when you're done eating, hurry up to your next class. Rule #271 of the Queen of Hearts," he announced: "'One must not spend more than 15 minutes sitting at the table after eating'. If you break the rules," he frowned unsparingly, "you know what will happen, right?"

"Another weird rule..." Ace sighed reproachfully.

Riddle stood firm: "The answer is 'Yes, dorm leader'!

"Yes, dorm leader!" Ace and Deuce said aloud.

"Very good," Riddle nodded.

"Come on, come on," Trey tried to calm him down, "I'll take care of them."

"You're the vice-dorm leader, so I expect from you a good job," Riddle replied. "As the Rule of the Queen of Hearts #339 states: 'After eating, one has to drink lemon tea with two sugar cubes'. For the sake of fulfilling that rule, I have to buy more sugar at the school store, so I need to go."