Twisted-Wonderland: Our Precious Treasure (Part 1)

(9) WttVW: Out the Box

That afternoon was a surprise for Azul. The first day of school was used for the school club open house. Several new students were interested in joining the board game club, but that wasn't the thing that interested him. He had heard from his classmate, also from Jade and Floyd themselves, about the fight that early morning. A freshman student from Heartslabyul and a demon-cat were trying to burn each other but ended up burning the statue of the Queen of Heart. Riddle probably had the unfortunate freshman's head chopped off by now. He was still fuming, face red in anger, and was still in a very bad mood when Azul passed by him.

What interested him wasn't the freshman, or the fact that the cat that he, along with Riddle and Jonah Argentum, got rid of last night was back (that persistent little fellow~), but what others had said about someone else who got caught in the fight. Someone with an eye patch was trying to stop the fight but failed. Could it really be him?

"Hey, Azul." Azul turned to Jade who was walking beside him. "That's the kid. The one from the fight."

"Heh~" Floyd peeked from over Azul's shoulder. "He's so tiny... Like a shrimp! Or a baby seal!"

Well, well...it looked like his guess was right.

He walked toward the boy who was busy sweeping the courtyard, a pile of leaves not far from him. Jade and Floyd sounded confused behind him, but he didn't care whether they follow him or not. The point was, the peculiar kid has returned. Or maybe hadn't left at all.

"Mister Argentum," he called him. The smaller boy looked up from the ground.

"Senior Ashengrotto," he said with a smile and nodded, "good day."

Azul nodded back. "Are you visiting us again? Didn't the Dark Mirror send you back home last night?"

Argentum cringed, earning a raised eyebrow from Azul. "My situation is...kinda complicated," he said, tone rising and falling which reminded Azul of a kid who tried to hide something from their parents. "I'll be staying here for a while until we find a way to go back home."

Azul had already guessed that the boy stayed last night here, but to stay? He did not expect that. "Oh? What happened actually?"

Argentum shrugged sadly. "I...don't understand it myself. I can't seem to remember where I came from. It's like something blocking my memories."

Amnesia? Well, Azul certainly didn't expect this. How interesting. "Is there anything I can help you with your situation?" he asked.

Argentum shook his head, offering him a small smile. "Probably not right now."

"Then how about a room to stay?" Azul offered. "We have a spare dorm room at Octavinelle."

Once again, Argentum shook his head. "Oh, there's no need. I'm currently staying in the old abandoned dorm."

Azul blinked in surprise. "The Ramshackle Dorm? Isn't there unlivable?"

"Maybe after I do a few cleaning. Probably tomorrow though..." He let out a heavy sigh. He didn't seem to like his situation and Azul kind of understand it. The Ramshackle Dorm was on the edge of collapsing. One broken wood and the entire building could fall. He didn't know what the headmaster was thinking when he put this tiny child in a dangerous area.

"Can't believe I have to clean a thousand windows too..." He heard Argentum muttered under his breath.

"Oh?"

He rolled his eyes. "It was Grim's fault."

"Ah, was it about the burnt Queen of Hearts statue?" Azul guessed. And he was correct because Argentum's face suddenly became pale.

"You knew?" he asked with a small voice.

Azul held back a laugh. "Everyone is talking about it. Quite a fight you caught into."

Argentum groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "Sweet Nebula..." He let out a sigh again. "I hope Grim finishes scrubbing the statue already..."

Azul watched him finishing his job, sweeping the leaves into a trash bag, before tying it and throwing it into the trashcan. "I need to check on that raccoon. I hope he hasn't run away yet."

Azul chuckled. "A troublesome little cat, isn't he?"

Argentum rolled his eyes, but he managed to pull up a small smile. "More like a demon-raccoon." He turned to Azul. "It's nice to meet you again, Senior Ashengrotto."

Azul nodded again. "Call me Azul, Mister Argentum."

The boy chuckled. "Then you can call me Jonah. Argentum sounds too long."

Azul slightly shook his head in amusement. "Alright then, Mister Jonah."

Jonah nodded as a farewell greeting before walking away from him. Azul watched him walk, slowly disappearing between the passing student. He heard a couple of footsteps walking toward him, stopping next to him on each side.

"Heh...you seem close to him, Azul..." He felt Floyd rested his elbow on his shoulder.

"Is he the same kid you told us about yesterday?" Jade asked. "The one from the Entrance Ceremony?"

"Yes..." Azul smiled, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Jade, Floyd. We'll be closing Monstro Lounge early today." He heard Jade and Floyd let out some confused noises, obviously questioning Azul's decision. The first day of school should be a great time to open the lounge until late at night.

But Azul just smiled at them as he turned his heel and headed toward his next class. "We have a dorm to clean and repair."

-----

"I'm already beat from cleaning all day..." Grim groaned, flopping to an empty cafeteria table. "Now we have to clean one hundred windows, too..."

Jonah sat in front of him, massaging his bandaged hand as he rolled his eyes. After that chaos that was the burning of the Great Seven statue, Crowley took him to the infirmary, saying that if a small wound could heal naturally, they didn't need to use magic. Jonah agreed on that, already feeling guilty because the headmaster wasted his time for him. After that, he told them to continue with their job, Jonah with the sweeping and Grim cleaning the statue. They finally managed to finish the job right before the last bell rang. Now, they were waiting in the cafeteria for the headmaster and Ace to come.

"It's not like we can do anything about it," he muttered. "This is all you guys' fault after all."

Grim heard it. Jonah wasn't trying to hide it. The raccoon turned toward him, face pissed and tail up. "Hey! He started first!"

Jonah turned to glare at him. "But you attacked first because of your short-temper. Both sides are at fault here."

Grim crossed his paws in front of his chest, sitting on the table as he pouted. "Hmmph! Where is that Ace guy? How dare he make me wait like this!"

Jonah looked around the cafeteria. Students were walking in and out of the cafeteria, bringing books or snacks they just bought. "We don't know how long his class is. Give him time. He'll show up soon," he said, absentmindedly playing with his bandage.

And thus they waited.

-----

The cafeteria was already empty.

But there wasn't any sign of Ace.

"That's it!" Grim shouted, standing up, paws curled into tiny fists, the flames in his ears were burning hot. "I swear if he bailed on us-"

Jonah sighed. He slammed his hands to the table as he stood up, cutting whatever Grim was trying to way. "Look. This is why we get into so much trouble." He grabbed the raccoon by his neck, bringing their face together as he glared at him, saying with a low, threatening voice. "Control yourself or else I'm going to strangle you! Understand?"

Grim was silent for a moment, probably didn't know the correct way to react. Jonah surprised himself too. He didn't what got into him, but with was probably because of tiredness and just plain annoyed with this demon-raccoon.

Grim finally found his voice again, huffing in defeat. "Fine."

"Good." Jonah dropped Grim onto the table. "Comeon, let's go find him."