Mother of Pearl: A Floyd Leech x OC Fanfiction

Chapter 61

I cradled my head in my left hand as Professor Crewel reminded us all to do our holiday homework. It was the last class and throughout the day my stomach began to ache more. It was uncomfortable and I was ready for the day to end.

"At one o'clock you are permitted to use the Mirror Chamber to travel home. Once you have your luggage, head over to the Hall of Mirrors," Crewel instructed to close off the class.

"Yes!" was our monotonous answer in unison. Students began chatting amongst themselves. I let my head fall onto the desktop with a soft thud.

Yuu bent over and whispered to me, "Are you alright?"

I whispered back, "M.A.R.V.I.N. is coming to spend the holidays with us..."

"Crap, did the nurse say anything about your potion coming in?"

"It's coming late tonight they said...I'm allowed to go get it from the infirmary tomorrow on my own..."

"Ah~ Finally free from our cramped dorm life!" Ace relished, oblivious to my distress.

"Just as expected of Night Raven College...They gave us so much homework," Deuce wallowed in his own dismay.

Yuu shot them both a bored look as they gave me pats on the back, "I wonder why I'm still friends with you two sometimes..." they sighed.

"Oh yeah, you still haven't found a way back to your world, huh?" Ace asked. A hint of concern graced his words.

"So, I guess that means all three of you will be staying at school during the holidays," Deuce surmised.

"Yeah! We're going to have a feast with the ghosts!" Grim happily shared.

"I see. With all the ghosts on campus, you really won't be alone," Ace smiled. His body relaxed at his conclusion.

Deuce placed a finger on his chin, "But...if school is closed during the holidays...Doesn't that mean the cafeteria and store will be closed too?" There was a moment of silence between us all. We let the facts that Deuce just shared sink in.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me," I groaned into the wooden desk.

"Fgnya! That's right! What are we going to do about our feast!" Grim grew increasingly worried.

"I do not want to starve during break," I added.

"I really hope the headmaster thought about this..." Yuu pleaded, but there was little hope in their voice.

Deuce sighed, "We should probably check with him as soon as possible."

"I'm pretty sure the headmaster will be at the Mirror Chamber, since he needs to be there to see kids off. Let's get going," Ace took the lead.

We walked with the hoard of other students to the Hall of Mirrors, with floating coffins greeting us upon entry. Deuce sighed as he scanned the cramp room, "There are so many people here already."

"Haha, everyone is so jittery~" Ace laughed off lightly. He craned his neck to try and look over the sea of heads. "Okay, so Headmaster is..."

"Everyone! Please hold onto your belongings as you go through the Mirror," a loud announcement cut through the student murmurs. "If you let go of you bags for even a second, they may end up in a different location. If you have items you absolutely cannot lose, please ship it at the school store."

Our eyes were drawn to the headmaster's voice. He stood close to the mirror, acting like a flight attendant. He still wore his ornate raven mask and clawed gloves, but the rest of his outfit was more of a sick joke. Crowley had on a white fedora paired with matching white Bermuda shorts. A totally dad-level Hawaiian yellow shirt with palm fronds, apples, and crows showed off his thin, milk pale arms waving about. The five of us all yelled out in pure astonishment, "HE'S READY FOR VACATION!!"

Ace rattled off in the speed of light, "A Hawaiian shirt in the middle of winter? He's like a bird who's going south!"

"He's not even trying to hide how ready he is for break," Deuce whimpered with disappointment.

I hung my head on Yuu's shoulder. In a mixture of laughter and agony I said, "Michael Jackson is going to the beach!"

"Viv, stop making references that people here, including me, won't know," Yuu tried to shake some sense into me.

"Hey Headmaster!" Grim called as he bounded forward. "We need to have a word with you!"

"Oh my, what are you all doing here?" Crowley looked surprised at our presence.

"What do you think?" Yuu cut to the chase. "Are you even looking for a way for us to get home?"

"Ah!..." Crowley flinched before righting himself. With a customer service smile he went, "Aaaah~! How to get you back to your world? Haha! Of course, I'm looking!"

"I smell bullcrap. Just saying," I grumbled.

"For winter break, my plan was to go down south to research and find new leads. I am very serious, after all," Crowley tried to savage what scraps of an excuse he could.

"That doesn't look like someone who is going to do research..." Ace half-heartedly pointed out.

"That's right!" Grim backed him up with more ferver. "You look like you're ready to go relax on vacation!"

"What are you talking about? This is formal attire in the south. When in Rome, do as the Romans do," Crowley stuck with his story.

Is Rome a place here too?

I nudged Deuce and whispered, "How accurate is that statement?"

"You're asking the worst person that question, Viv," he whispered back.

Crowley longingly muttered, "Escaping the cold of winter and drinking some coconut juice in a hammock while gazing at the calm sea in the tropics; I was definitely not thinking about enjoying such an elegant vacation. Not at all."

"Scratch that, he's making this up," Deuce corrected himself as we all slowly lost more faith in the head of the school. "That was very specific..."

"You're not being fair!" Grim whined. He was jumping at Crowley's feet, "Take us with you!"

"Eh~? But that would completely ruin my fun-," Crowley complained. When he saw Yuu's death glare he changed his tone, "Ahem! This will be a very dangerous journey, so I must go alone. Besides, I need you to stay at the school, because I have an important mission for you. The existence of Night Raven College is at stake!"

Of course, he has a mission for us. If it was sooo important, why didn't he tell us sooner?

"The school is fine," Yuu flatly pointed out. Their tolerance for other's problems void.

"If you accept this task, then I will make sure there will be food during holiday break," Crowley negotiated.

"So, you were going to leave it empty with no food," Yuu and I mumbled together.

"I will include a big feast with roast turkey, cake, and a gingerbread house," Crowley listed off. Yuu's interest slowly came back, while Grim was drooling. "That's right! I'll also add spareribs and french-fries! How about it? What do you say?"

"Fgnya...spareribs...french-fries..." Grim licked his lips. "Hmph, I guess I can hear you out."

"It's really easy to convince you, huh?" Ace sighed at the cat beast.

"Proving once again that Grim would sell us off for a tortilla chip," I pinched the bridge of my nose.