Key of Souls: Twisted Wonderland

Chapter 58: Late Night Reconnaissance

(A/N: Thank you Lightgail25 for inspiring me for this chapter.)

Dawn's POV

"I see now. This works.", said Ace, feeling pumped up from hearing Riddle's plan; we nodded in agreement. It was still risky, but if we followed it accordingly, then we should be able to stop Savanaclaw once and for all. "Leave it to Dorm Head Rosehearts.", Deuce said.

"Then, I'll be running around getting stuff done until the day of~♪.", said Cater as he took out his phone.

"I'm counting on you. Make sure to not draw suspicion.", Riddle tells him. Cater shifts his attention towards Jack and asks, "And? Now that you've heard Riddle's plan, what'll you do Jack? You out?" Jack crossed his arms as he looked away for a moment; he was silent for a moment as he glanced back at us. "...It's not a cowardly plan. ...I'll help you out, this time.", Jack said, clearing his throat and trying to sound cool.

"This guy isn't honest at all.", Grim said with a deadpanned look. Dawn managed to hold in a giggle; despite Jack's tough exterior, his reactions were somehow adorable.

"Let's go home. Ugh, I'm so beat.", Ace said with a tired sigh.

"We have a lot to do, so let's make sure we're ready for tomorrow.", I said.

"And I'm starving.", Grim said as he rubbed his stomach. I shook my head in disbelief and told him, "You're always hungry."

"Oh, by the way, first-years.", Riddle spoke as he looked at Ace, Deuce, Grim, and Jack specifically. "Since it was in the name of gathering information, I will overlook breaking school rule number 6, "Personal fights are strictly prohibited on school grounds", but... Next time it will be off with all of your heads. Understood?", he finished his sentence as he gave a terrifying suppressed furious expression on his face.

"Yes. I'm so sorry.", said Ace, Deuce, and Grim in a frightened tone. Even Jack looked intimidated by Riddle's warning as he replied, "...Uh-huh."

Riddle nodded, accepting their apologies. "Good. Let's go back to the dorm." Before they headed back, I quickly went up to him and Cater and returned their magical pens to them. "Here. I believe these belong to you two.", I told them.

Cater took his pen and gave me a wink and a cheery smile and said, "Thanks a lot, Dawnie~!"

Riddle gently smiled as well as he took his pen. "Thank you, Dawn. Ah, here's Perry.", he said as Perry jumped from his shoulder to mine and nuzzled my cheek. "Kyu, Kyu!", Perry squeaked happily. "Thank you for helping me keep my cool during the chase Perry.", Riddle said as he stroked Perry's head.

I giggled as I told him, "The best thing about plushies is how they always give us comfort when we need it." Riddle soon looked at me with a serious face that showed concern as he took my hands. "Dawn, I know you're willing to do what you can to help us. Honesty, I'm against what you're planning to do, but I can tell that nothing is going to change your mind about this. All I ask is that you please be very careful about how you approach this, alright?", Riddle asked me.

I understood why Riddle would worry for me over this, but from what I could tell it was the only way I could think about acquiring proof of Leona's plans for the Magical Shift tournament. I gently squeezed them and told him, "I'll try to be cautious as possible. If worse comes to call, Perry will be the trump card for us to succeed."

"Kyu!", Perry squeaked as he gave a soldier salute to Riddle. "Then I'm counting on you both.", Riddle softly said as he gave me and Perry a small smile and he and Cater left to proceed with the plan on their end. Once they were out of sight, Ace, Deuce, Jack, and Grim sighed in relief after experiencing Riddle's intense warning about fighting on school grounds.