Key of Souls: Twisted Wonderland

Chapter 66: The Exhibition Match

Dawn's POV

After everything back at the infirmary was sorted out, Riddle, Leona, Ruggie, Jack, and I returned to Savanaclaw. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by Trey and Cater, who were worried about me after I was drained of energy from using a Grand Blitz from the Rose charm, but I reassured them that I was great, thanks to the tonic Leona gave me. However, they were a bit confused seeing some tension among the Savanaclaw trio and Riddle looking a bit exasperated. When Trey asked what happened, Riddle said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you..."

Perry jumped from Trey's shoulder to mine as soon as he saw me and nuzzled me uncontrollably. "Kyu, kyu kyu!! " he squeaked happily, seeing that I was okay. Then Grim came over and leapt into my arms as he pointed to where Headmaster Crowley was. Seeing the pleading look in his eyes, I knew exactly what he wanted now that we had finally solved the mystery of who was causing the accidents and caught the perpetrators. As soon as I approached the headmaster, Grim excitedly said, "Hey hey, Headmaster! We found the culprit, just like you asked! You're gonna let us play in the tournament like you promised, right!?"

"Eh!? Ahh~... I did promise you that.", Crowly said, looking like he just remembered his promise to us. "It's most definitely impossible, we've already announced the tournament lineup. What should we do about this?" The moment he said that it seemed like a giant boulder fell on top of Grim as he stood in shock with his jaw hung open; Perry and I gave the headmaster an unamused look for his excuse.

"...Seriously?...", was all I could say as Perry gave an unamused squeak. "Kyu..."

"Eeeeeehhhh!!!! That's cruel! You scammer!!", she shouted as he jumped out my arms and charged at the headmaster. "I'm gonna light your lying ass on fire! Ffgnaaa~~~~!" As he said that, he took a deep breath and looked ready to launch a fireball; I secretly hoped that Grim would take a good shot at him after everything we had gone through.

In defence, Headmaster Crowley held his hands up to ease the raging little monster. "Wait, wait, wait! Pause in your light things on fire. I'll come up with an idea. Hmmm. Hmmmm...", he said as he was thinking of a solution. At this moment, the headmaster said, "I know! How about playing in a special exhibition match? It will be like the opening act before the main event. I'm sure you'll be able to show off~!"

"An exhibition match?", I asked, feeling a bit skeptical.

"Kyu?", Perry squeaked, agreeing with me.

"Show off!?", asked Grim, surprised.

"Why of course.", Crowley said with a smile. Without a second thought, Grim broke a cocky smile on his face as he said, "I'm good as long as I can show off! Yay~! I'm gonna get a bunch of scouts after everyone sees my greatness on TV!"

I lightly laughed at his amusing enthusiasm, but I was happy for Grim if he was promised a chance to play. But I remembered something important and asked, "Headmaster, don't we need seven people for Magift... What about the extra team members?" I already knew that Perry couldn't be a part of the team due to his size, so we needed five more members to take part in the tournament.

"Extra members... Hmm, what to do... And we need a team for you to play against, maybe I can get a staff team together...", said Crowley.

"Ffgna!? Did you forget that too!?", exclaimed Grim in disbelief.

Both Perry and I facepalmed at our "gracious" headmaster's neglect of finding more players for our team. Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Ace right next to me and Deuce on the other side. "We heard everything," Ace said with a smirk.

"For extra members, we'll take those spots.", said Deuce as he pounded his fists.

"What are you talking about? Aren't both of you on team Heartslabyul?", Riddle asked, wondering why his foolish juniors would volunteer for an exhibition match when they were already representing their dorm.