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“Do you see this shit Deuce?”
“It’s just Rook talking with Vil, what’s weird about it?”
Ace sighed and patted his bestfriend/partner in crime/other half...of a braincell, and forced him to look better.
Deuce was confused, as he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
It was just the very, very usual daily scene that anyone knowing the pomefiore dorm would now be used to.
Vil, in all his pristine beauty, with his impeccable makeup, violet twinkling eyes never once looking away from Rook’s face, his soft blond hair up in his usual, perfect way.
And Rook, never without his hat, his blond bob swaying with each of his movements as he talked excitedly to Vil about something no one else would know about.
Their distance was as always...weird, Deuce thought to himself. But maybe they didn’t have a sense of personal space. Yeah it was probably that.
Vil, today too, was mere centimeters away from his vice dorm leader’s head, fastening his tie in a more orderly manner and acquiescing softly to whatever the hell Rook was saying.
Rook seemed to be laughing gleefully, and as soon as Vil ended what he was doing, the hunter took his hands and clasped them tightly.
Probably thanking him. They were both smiling softly now, and after what seemed to be slightly too long to be normal, they broke away from each other and went to class.
Ace looked at Deuce, expectation making his eyes twinkle with mischief.
“Come on” he began in a hushed tone, “you really don’t see??? It’s written on their faces though”
“Huuuh…” Deuce began tentatively, “they are very good friends?”
“WRONG! Come on Deuce, I’m not saying men can’t be close friends like that, but them? They’re fucking, I’m telling you that!”
Deuce became as red as his dorm leader’s hair, and his eyes went as wide as saucers. The poor boy did not think of this possibility, but then again, it would make sense, he thought. Besides both of them, their best friend, proud owner of the braincell in their friend group, was groaning in pain. He did NOT ask to hear about all the school love gossip first thing in the morning.
If he wanted that, he knew of three very talkative gossipy little fools in the music club who somehow got their grabby hands on every juicy information of value gossip wise. Enough to make even Azul jealous, probably.
Yuu sighed and just slapped Ace behind the head, earning him a yelp and a plethora of insults.
“Why did you do that you fucker!?”
“To make you shut up, now hurry up I don’t want to be late for Trein’s lesson”
“Just admit you want to pet Lucius, cat nerd” Ace grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.
“I’ll tell Riddle you’re the one who stole the tart I specifically made for him, last week”
“WAIT YUU NO I’M SORRY-”
***
Another day for Trey in the science club with one of the loudest people he had the pleasure to meet in his life.
“And you see, chevalier des roses, this material will be very useful for my roi de poison and his club, I hope he’ll be-”
Rectification. One of the loudest and whipped person he had the displeasure to meet in his life.
Don’t get him wrong. He loved his friend Rook dearly, but sometimes, just sometimes, he would like to stop hearing Vil’s name. Just once. Or he might begin to call Rook “not Vil” just to spite him. Unless it would make him happy to be associated with the blond leader. Urgh what a headache.
“Rook, I am happy to see that everything is going wonderfully with Vil,” he began, already tired to even have to talk with him, “but can you please help me with that potion? I somehow don’t wish to explain to professor Crewel why we blew up the lab, again.”
Rook seemed to come back from his daydreaming, and nodded energetically, rushing to help him with the newest potion they were trying out. It went like that, peacefully silent and agreeable, for an astonishing total of a minute - Trey should note that as a new record – before the blond slowly spoke up
“How many smoothies are too many for someone who love them?”
“I suppose that it depends on the-...Rook. Don’t tell me you’re planning something for Vil.”
“Fine, I won’t tell you then, mon ami. But can you please answer my question?”
“You will be the death of me one day Rook, you truly will be. I’ll answer but promise me that on your wedding day you’ll buy the cake from my family shop.”
Rook looked at him like he said something funny and giggled for seconds that felt like hours, like bells chiming in the middle of summer.
“As you wish, chevalier des roses, but who would I even marry in the first place? How silly of you to forget that part. So, anyways, do you think two smoothies would be enough? I do not wish for him to end up with stoma-”
Someone end him right now. Or Rook. Or both of them.
Anything to stop this stupidly whipped man from thinking his love affair with none other than Vil Schoenheit was subtle.
He needed a good tart. And maybe oyster sauce. A lot of it.
****
Jack Howl just wanted to jog with his friend and then have fun with the magift training.
So why.
Why did it turn into this?
He had to spend the entirety of his jog with Vil wearing a scary expression. They would normally speak a bit here and there, joke around, but today it felt impossible.
Because every time he began mentioning his dorm or the magift trainings, Vil would tense up and looked seconds away from mauling him on sight.
Did he do something wrong???
He really would like to know!
He waited until their run was over, resting on a bench nearby after stretching, to ask his friend in an unsure voice
“Hey, is everything alright Vil? You’re acting kinda...weird today”
“Yes, everything is fine!” Vil spat out angrily, not even looking at Jack.
Ok, something definitely happened.
Before he had the chance to try to pry it out off him, Vil excused himself for bullshit reasons. Jack knew him well enough to understand the dumbass was running away.
It took him a few hours, and to bump into Epel, to finally get what was happening.
The small and fierce boy looked like he drank too much apple juice, shaking with his nerves ready to explode. The way his arm was grabbed by Epel was frantic, but he decided to stay silent and wait for his friend to talk.
“I need yer help Jack! They’re going to kill the entirety of the Pomefiore dorm if they don’t make up! I swear to Crowley those dumb-”
“Wait, can you explain to me...slowly?”
Epel sighed and began his long rant.
Vil and Rook fought. Well more exactly, Rook said something, and Vil was now giving him the cold shoulder, and no one knew why.
Jack could swear that their golden couple would really kill someone one day, and everyone was fed up with them for multiple reasons.
“Rook is pathetic right now,” groaned Epel, “no matter what we do, he’s sprawled on the couch of the common room and moping. Believe me you don’t want to hear him moping.”
It was true. Jack didn’t want to hear the weird man mope. He wouldn’t understand half of it anyways.
He sighed, his ears twitching in annoyance as he mumbled.
“How can I be of help to you?”
“Well, do you have any ideas as to why Vil would be mad? That way we can help them make up and I don’t know, smooch or something, I don’t want to see that honestly, it’s like watching your parents kiss.”
Epel shuddered a bit and crunched his nose in feigned disgust at the thought of the two kissing. Everyone should keep pda to themselves was what he thought.
The wolf boy blinked a few times, and connected the dots too quickly for his taste. He groaned, and said more to himself than anything
“So that’s why he was mad when I mentioned Savanaclaw...oh no it’s linked to Leona isn’t it…”
“Leona?” asked Epel confusedly.
“You should ask Rook if he talked of hunting down Leona lately. Might be the reason. Not sure though.”
Epel’s round eyes widened in realisation, understanding what happened too, and he rushed back to his dorm, only after having hugged strongly his friend and after thanking him a dozen times.
The following day, all of NRC could see that the number one couple was back on steady waters, as they were back to their disgusting married couple antics.
On their jog day, Jack jokingly mentioned it to Vil, a light smile gracing his face
“So you finally decided to forgive your boyfriend for whatever he did? Thanks honestly cuz’ the entire school is a bit lost when you two aren’t sweet with each other”
He watched as Vil stopped dead in his tracks, his eyebrows frowning ever so slightly as he answered, genuinely confused
“My boyfriend? What boyfriend?”
Jack rolled his eyes and went on with his jog. Vil was really a great actor, but no one was duped when it came to his love life.
***
“So,” Crowley began “I summoned all of you here today to have a talk between dorm leaders. I let you the honor to organize the main events for the next festival. I’ll take care of the paperwork once all of you are done choosing all the details. If you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere to go quickly”
Crowley disappeared, all clad in an attire that screamed running away to go fishing for the rest of the afternoon, and everyone groaned in unison. They really had a useless director.
Everyone was here, minus Malleus who apparently forgot today was the day of the reunion, so Lilia was replacing him, all smiles. Even Idia was here...if anyone considered that flimsy flying tablet to be him.
Riddle and Azul began speaking about the economic aspect, as well as all the organization it would need. They really were ready to do everything without Crowley’s help, huh.
Everyone was debating heatedly of the best idea for each dorm, and if they acted as if Idia never uttered the words “maid café” out loud, it was for them to know.
He heard Kalim mention poetry and music and, without meaning to, his mind wandered to Rook.
That’s only when everything fell silent and all eyes were on him that he realised he said the name of his friend out loud.
The silence stretched out for long, until a crispy noise, seemingly deafening in the otherwise silent room despite being hushed words, made all the blood rush to Vil’s face.
“Shut the hell up we know you got your love route and happy ending but not everyone have the chance to live an otoge life, can he ever stop talking of Rook... fuck pretty people”
Leona was the first one to laugh, to the point he was holding onto his sides. At least someone seemed that this was fun.
Idia was dead.
Vil waited until the laughing fit of all his dear, dear colleagues in misery, subsided and turned to the tablet. He smiled brightly and said in an icy tone.
“Oh my, what a cute, very tempting tablet. It must be nice to crush, no? My heels were itching to find something ugly and useless to stomp.”
“Huh…? Wait Vil-shi I didn’t me- STOP NOT MY TAB-”
What happened after was a mystery to anyone who wasn’t part of the dorm leader faction. But rumors were that Idia cried the loss of his beloved tablet for a few days, and shivered in fear every time he met Vil’s gaze, and every time he saw his heels.
Never anger the proud beauty of the Pomefiore dorm was the message delivered.
****
Vil sighed as he got out of class, trying to understand what was happening around him lately.
He couldn’t shake off the feeling of being scrutinized by everyone. Well, more than before that is.
People always whispered between themselves when he was near, but it was never to that point. Even his fellow dormmates were doing the same, and it was strange that it happened so much these past few days.
He didn’t even want to talk about the dorm leaders reunion. He still didn’t understand what happened there.
All he remembered was being mocked upfront, and losing his temper. Idia deserved it. He didn’t understand all the happy end and otoge talk, but he was sure that if the others laughed so much, it couldn’t be good.
Why was him mentioning Rook accidentally such a big deal for them? No one made such a fuss when Kalim chanted Jamil’s name like it was the only word he knew, so why act like that when he did one minor slip up?
...Maybe it was because Kalim was too cute for his own good. Yeah it must be the reason. He was too pure and no one wanted to mock him.
But then again...something wasn’t right, and Vil couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Oh, mon Roi de poison, here you are!”
Vil stopped his intense reflection as soon as he heard the voice calling out to him, and looked up with a slight smile.
Rook’s happiness was contagious, he hated to admit it but it was true.
His friend and vice leader rushed to him with a bright smile and began talking his ear off about his latest history lesson. Vil thanked him for not mentioning a single time Leona, as last time...maybe he got a little jealous of all the attention his hunter friend gave to the lazy. Fat. Cat. That man only had his face for himself, so why was Rook so obsessed with the idea of that beast cornering him? Sigh, he didn’t want to know, just thinking about it again made him grumble internally.
Talking of the lion and you see his tail. Vil cursed when he noticed Leona staring at them. He watched as Leona whispered something to Ruggie, who cackled wildly beside him and both smirked as they passed in front of them.
Vil promised himself he wouldn’t snap like he did to Idia’s tablet.
He failed as soon as he heard the deeply exaggerated words the two said.
“Oh...Rook~” began Ruggie in a false needy tone
“shut the hell up we know you got your lov-”
It was too much for Vil, who yelled his name to stop him.
“LEONA KINGSCHOLAR!”
Leona just chuckled and saluted, before taking his sweet time to get away from there, his laughter accompanied with Ruggie’s excited voice.
He hated them.
Rook just stared at Vil, amused and asked in a soft voice.
“Roi de poison? Did you understand what their little addlib was about? Hearing my name from them surprised me more than I care to admit, but it seemed like a wonderful prestation!”
Vil sighed and decided he wouldn’t answer Rook.
He got pestered a few times by the hunter but it didn’t last long, and a new conversation arose between them.
They were back to normal as they headed to the pomefiore dorm, and it was all Vil asked, his hand brushing Rook’s own tentatively.
If his cheeks were flushing red, he did as if he didn’t notice it, and blamed it on the weather.
The days passed and Vil finally understood what was happening when he accidentally eavesdropped on Rook and the music club.
Sometimes he forgot that all those social butterflies liked to talk together for no reason, and he found himself in front of the door, blinking confusedly as he registered all that was said. He just wanted to find back his hand cream dammit.
“You know Rook,” began a chirpy and melodic voice that probably belonged to Cater, “you’re always so fun to be around and sweet, and brutally honest sometimes too I’ll admit. But man I’m a whore for honest and uselessly romantic men, shame you’re taken or I would have tried my shot with you, because I can totally see how well you treat your lover!”
“What Cater says is...rather true on some points” what seemed to be Lilia added “you are an awfully romantic young man, enough to make maidens swoon. Your other half is as lucky to have you as you are to have him”
“You two are so cute together! I always feel hungry for crackers when I see you!”….that was Kalim.
There was a short silence before Kalim hurriedly whisper yelled
“It’s not my fault ok? I got too used to eating crackers when watching romance movies! It got ingrained in me now!”
Vil stayed silent, listening attentively to catch any reaction from Rook. After all, when did Rook get a lover? How come he, Vil, wouldn’t know about that!? His chest felt tight at that thought, but he waited, and waited, until a soft noise he knew well enough reached his ears.
“A...lover? Who?”
He sounded confused beyond repairs. Well, at least it meant he didn’t have anyone! Vil sighed in relief, before feeling his cheeks reddening. He shouldn’t feel so happy about that, but his stupid, stupid crush on Rook was making him feel petty.
“Huh, Rook, there’s no need to lie to us you know?” said Cater, “we know that you and Vil are together. The whole school knows.”
“What? But...we’re not...we’re only friends. My roi de poison only see me as a dear friend, nothing more, those kind of jokes aren’t pleasing to hear, so please stop.”
Oh. So that was why everyone was acting the way they did. The stares, the hushed whispers as they passed by...the pleas to make up with each other formulated by everyone else…
Was Vil really that obvious in his infatuation?
He couldn’t stay here.
He didn’t try to hear the rest of their gossiping, and ran away, back to his dorm, back to his room. Here he could feel safe. No one could try to pry his heart open.
No one could know about how much he loved Rook Hunt.
No one could know of the way his heart would beat faster each time his eyes crinkled as he laughed, twinkling with unshead tears.
Couldn’t know the way Rook’s rough hands slitted perfectly into his own, like puzzle pieces made to fit. How his voice was like a melody to Vil’s ears, making his entire body melt whenever poetry was hummed.
They couldn’t know how many times he wished to kiss him stupid, kiss him until Rook lost the ability to make a single sentence. Kiss him breathless, hurriedly before they would have to part, grabbing his face softly and whisper awfully romantic words to him before running away.
They couldn’t know of the envy tearing him apart sometimes, when he felt the reflection in his mirror mocking him, when all he wanted to do was take him in his arms and hear him reassure him, tell him that he was beautiful and loved.
They couldn’t know that Rook’s words were a way to stop those disgusting thoughts, this gnawing self hate to reach his roots.
Truly, they couldn’t, and shouldn’t, know the extent of his love for Rook Hunt.
Or that’s what he wanted to tell himself.
Because apparently the entirety of night raven college knew and honestly, fuck them?
Why was no one apart from Rook dense like a rock in this school when it came to his crush?
He didn’t know that at that moment, the gossipy little trio was convincing Rook to confess because “believe us and shut up for once Rook, Vil love you, ok?”
A few days passed, and Vil tried his best to ignore the utter shame of everyone knowing his little secret. Now he couldn’t even let himself indulge in the moments when their hands were clasped together, nor could he entirely appreciate letting Rook rest his head on his lap, because he could swear he could feel it more than ever. The stares. And now that he knew what was said, he felt his stomach churn unpleasantly.
Only when they were both studying in his room, away from trouble, and from stupid rumor spreaders, could he be at ease.
He plopped down on his large canopy bed and sighed as he let himself relax, closing his eyes in bliss.
He felt the bed shift beside him and heard Rook clear his throat to get his attnetion. Weird of him to not just ramble directly.
“Go on Rook, what’s on your mind?”
‘Me’, he hoped, but kept silent about that silly idea.
“Well, Roi de poison, have you heard about a...quite original rumor, going around the school recently?”
Vil gulped and forced himself to sit down, smoothing his features to seem unaware.
“A rumor? Do you mean, the one about Floyd biting Azul for fun in the cafeteria after saying his favourite food was poulp?”
This one wasn’t a rumor, and they both knew it. They were here to witness it live. It wasn’t surprising, as it was Floyd they were talking about.
Rook laughed, voice airy and soft to Vil’s ears, and he left himself be basked in that sunny smile the hunter gave him.
“Oh, roi de poison, I’m asking seriously for once, you know?”
Vil just stared, trying very hard to make it seem like he totally didn’t get what he meant, and Rook gave up, sighing as his cheeks slowly warmed up and he began, his voice wavering slightly
“The rumors...are about us. Some people..well the whole school more exactly...believe that we are...a couple. I wanted your opinion on this idea...how...do you feel about that rumor?”
Vil stared as Rook, for the first time in the years they’ve known each other, avoided his stare, looking down with his face so red he couldn’t help but be reminded of Epel’s family’s apples.
It felt like a test from the great seven.
He licked his lips, that felt awfully dry now that he thought of it, and began carefully.
“Those kinds of rumors are stupid, and meant to mock people who are close to each other.”
He let himself breathe in and out for a few seconds, unaware of the panic it instilled in Rook, and added tentatively
“But..if your question was about how I would feel about truly being in such an intimate relationship with you… I suppose I wouldn’t mind having someone as attentive and loyal as you by my side...forever...but well, it is a what if scenario..you would need to ask me out first for it to happen…”
He wanted to hide his face in his soft pillow, scream, and never show himself again.
Way to go, Vil, you sounded like a dumbass.
He was dreading the silence that stretched awfully long, trying hard to ignore the little voice in the back of his mind that would whisper to him that he wasn’t good enough, that he was horrible and didn’t deserve someone as good as Rook by his side. It was becoming more difficult each second.
The little, devious voice, stopped when he heard sobbing sounds come from beside him.
He blinked and acted upon realising what the sound meant.
He took Rook’s face in his hands and forced the hunter to look at him, and surely, the blond man was crying, with a soft, horribly soft smile on his face.
“Does this mean I have the authorization to court you, mon cher roi de poison?”
Vil’s lips quivered a bit, and he answered quickly
“No need to court me, just date me already you fool, we’ve run in circles long enough for everyone to see through us”
Their first kiss sealed the deal, soft and innocent, holding a promise of something that would last forever and ever. Vil let his head rest on Rook’s shoulder and sighed with content, holding his hand with strength, and he whispered
“I love you Rook”
“Je t’aime aussi mon amour”
***
The entirety of NRC was regretting bitterly the old times.
No one knew how it was possible, but they did it.
They were. Worse. Than. Before.
Rook and Vil singlehandedly made the teachers vote a rule against public indecency.
And they made the entire school vote for or against it.
It was not surprising to see less than ten votes against such a rule.
Everyone had enough of seeing the Pomefiore dorm and vice dorm leaders suck faces in the hallways every morning.
They had enough of seeing them feed each other, one in the lap of the other, each lunch.
They just. Couldn’t anymore.
The braincell squad looked as Rook and Vil held hands and discussed about..things, they weren’t near enough to hear nor did they want to. Ace was smirking, proud of his statement being true. ‘Yeah sure they are together, Ace, now shut up or we spill the tea on your own crush’ was what Yuu and Grim told him when he rambled about it for the third time in a week. It was only tuesday.
Jack stayed silent about the matter, more amused at the idea that rumors now shifted to when they would get married and when they would adopt Epel.
Deuce was just confusedly happy for them.
Epel...just wanted for them to stop kissing all the time. And he wanted to forget the time he called Vil dad accidentally. But he wouldn’t admit that it happened to anyone.
Now if only Vil and Rook would stop reminding him daily about it…
“Oh, Rook, my love, look at that, our son came to get a little kiss from his favorite dads”
“DEAR CROWLEY PLEASE N-”
FIN