Twisted Wonderland | Mickey's Print

21. Nocturnal Visitors

That same night in Ramschackle dorm, after finishing their homework, taking a good shower and having dinner, Grim was able to fall asleep quickly as soon as he lay down on the bed.

"Mnnng... Mnya mnya... Did ya see my super long shot...?" He asked excitedly in his sleep. Apparently, he was playing Magical Shift in his dream and doing well there.

On the other hand, Yuu was unable to fall asleep. Not only because he was still unsettled from the incident in Savanaclaw, but also worried about meeting the shadow girl in his dreams once again. So he had decided to listen to the music from the MP3 someone had given him to try to relax a bit.

Of all the songs he had heard so far, one that had caught his attention the most had two versions: a happy one that conveyed a romantic feeling, and a calm one that sounded like a lullaby. He chose to listen to that second version another time:

I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream...

I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam...

But seeing that it wasn't helping him as much as he wanted, he decided to take off his headphones, put on the slippers he'd been given and went outside the dorm to walk around and clear his mind.

He felt the night chill invade his body as he descended the stairs to gaze from afar at the building, which still kept the old planks of wood blocking the windows.

How many days had passed since that old building had become his new home? He already lost count.

"I wonder if I'll be able to go home..." He sighed out loud.

Despite the fact that in that place he made incredible friends, met interesting people, saw and learned unimaginable things and he was under the protection of a kind and considerate guardian, he could not help but miss his old home, his belongings there, his old friends and, above everything, his family... He had never been separated from his sister or his mother for such a long time before. What could they be doing at that very moment? What about his aunts? Were everyone thinking of him the same way he was thinking of them?

He thought he was alone in the garden, but a sound a few steps behind him told him otherwise.

"Hm? Who are you over there?" A deep, calm voice asked him, apparently surprised to see him there.

That voice was not a familiar one, Yuu flinched and turned around quickly. "Who's there!?" He asked alarmed. He began to fear that going out in the middle of the night would turn out to be a mistake.

His quick movement slightly startled the newcomer, who nevertheless kept his cool. "This really is a surprise, you are a child of man," he observed as he finished approaching him at a leisurely pace.

Yuu could see him better, he was an attractive, young man with pale skin and black hair whose length reached below his shoulders. He was really tall, dressed in the school uniform with the lime green color in his vest, magical gem and arm band, which pointed out he was from Diasomnia.

What most caught the eye were his long, elegant black horns on his head, his eyes of the same shade of green with dilated pupils, as if they were those of a reptile, and his long, pointed ears. All of this said that this person was far from being a human being. Yuu had learned recently about faeries and different kinds of fairies in that world, some of his characteristics matched theirs.

He didn't feel in danger nor did he believe that he would want to hurt him like those from Savanaclaw, but kept looking at him warily.

"Do you live here?" The young stranger asked. "This dorm had been abandoned for a long time." He frowned dissatisfied. "I'd quite been fond of it as a place I could be quietly left alone," he murmured with a thread of frustration in his voice.