When she returned to the infirmary, Lotus came upon a strange sight to behold.
"Jack?"
The beastman's ears perked up and turned to her with a raised brow and saw the bag in her hand, "Lotus, looks like you went on an errand?"
Lotus nodded, "Looks like our senpai put up a tough fight..."
"Yeah..."
On Jack's shoulders were both Leona and Ruggie who were both out cold. Lotus smirked as she fought back a giggle, "I'll open the door"
When she entered, they surprised Deuce and Ace as Jack plopped Leona and Ruggie onto the nurse beds one at a time.
"Wah?!" Ace called out in bewilderment, "L-Leona and Ruggie are still both out?!"
Jack heaved a sigh and plopped down on a stool, "Pretty much it. We've gone against the Diasomnia's dorm in the last round."
"We saw the game." Deuce responded before looking over to the two, "What did the nurse say?"
"They'll come around later." Jack responded bluntly.
Lotus placed a few energy drinks and a grilled squid on the table, "I got some energy drinks. Thought it'd probably be a good idea seeing you guys running around all day."
"Thanks." Ace responded and took one.
Lotus tied the bag up and responded with a sigh, "I made a stop by the dorm and dropped off a few of the snacks in the lounge for the prefect."
She made a quick glance at Yuu who was still out cold on the bed with his short messy black hair wet from the ice pack over his head. The sweat on his athletic uniform has already evaporated leaving a white sweat mark over it. She's thought of it before, but the prefect is very ordinary looking compared to Ace, whom she find to be slightly above average to begin with. She shook her head and heaved a sigh of dismay.
This guy only knows to jump in when others do not wish for it and helps without expecting to be repaid. If he was in her world, he'd have either died an early death for being too good or have to wait for a fortunate opportunity for who knows when.
Lotus put the sleepy Grim next to Yuu's pillow before sitting back on another chair.
Ace smirked, "I bet the guy gave you a run for your money."
Lotus shrugged, "Nope. He was already tired after the game with the Savanaclaw. Like this, he'd be an obedient child tonight."
"Wah..." Ace grumbled, "You really do see him as a child, after all..."
Lotus sighed, "Since when does a child don't throw a tantrum, complain, or decide to play the runaway trick everyday?"
"E-Everyday..." Jack stared at Grim in disbelief before looking at the prefect and Lotus who were probably the one dealing with his little antics everyday, "Unbelieveable..."
Ace sighed, "That does sounds like him..."
Deuce shook his head in dismay, "Not even my younger siblings can keep this up everyday."
Lotus smirked, "Right, but he's been doing pretty well as of late thanks to the games."
"Games?" Jack raised a brow.
"Ah, you mean Magift..." Ace responded before his eyes widen in bewilderment upon realization, "Wait a minute... You mean, you've been having him run around the whole time to use up all his energy... and..."
Lotus sighed, "Even if the ghosts played with him, it won't be enough to wear him out. Welp, it was good while it lasted."
"What do you mean by that?" Ace looked to her in confusion, "He won't play magift after this anymore?"
"That's not it." Lotus responded as she grumbled, "To get better at something you practice again and again. If the thing you're getting better at is a physical subject, wouldn't you build better stamina? So, if he keeps this up, it'll be difficult to wear him out again later on."
"So, you're putting a hold on it till he's back down again?" Jack responded with a frown and deep thoughts, "I don't know if that would work."
Deuce nodded, "My younger siblings doesn't go through that as they grow older."
"It'll work a little for Grim." Lotus responded, "Becuase this guy doesn't have a human body, remember? Much less a beastman."
"That's true..." Deuce nodded, "Children are always developing I remember my mother said that it was even more important for us to eat well at this age because it's when we develop the most."
Lotus nodded, "Grim can't grow more anyway. If he does, then that just means there's something abnormal and we don't want a six foot Grim breathing down on our necks, right?"
"Ugh..." Ace grimaced as he thought this, "Don't even mention something impossible."
"Right?" Lotus sighed, "So him playing magift as an outlet would be the best. Though..."
She paused for a bit before responding, "That game a few days ago was rather dangerous... Well, after this, it'll be back to studies for him."
"Back to studies?" Ace raised a brow, "Do we have a test coming up?"
Jack raised a brow when he noticed that Deuce had also looked at her quizzically. Lotus sighed, "Have you guys been preparing? We have Finals coming up, remember?"
"Ahhh!" Ace jolted up upon realization.
"I forgot!" Deuce's eyes widen in horror upon recalling this.
Lotus frowned, "Now, I'm worried if Grim even remembers..."
"Who can he forget if you make him study all day?" Jack looked to them in confusion.
Lotus smirked, "You'd be surprised. This guy would try to study under my watch and he'd get so confused that he'd forget what he was studying for in the beginning!"
"Seriously?!" Jack looked to her in surprise with flat ears.
Ace grumbled, "Either Grim really is an idiot or Mother Lotus is just that terrifying."
"Not to mention, Grim has hardly ever scored over an 80 and he has gotten his canned tuna taken away so often." Deuce responded nervously, "If it was our video games, we'd probably not see them till the end of the school year..."
Ace nodded as he added, "And all he needed was a single 80."
Lotus nodded, "I've never taught a cat before, so this is a rather good lesson for me. At least, he can read properly now. Even if my other grades are something I can earn on my own, flying a broom is something I definitely can't do by myself."
"It was just hovering in midair, right?" Jack responded.
"That's right." Ace laughed, "But with Grim, he'd make it at first before losing control."
Deuce nodded, "Lotus always had to jump in to catch them whenever they fell from the broom."
Ace's smile disappeared with a shiver, "Not to mention, the height is really scary. The first time that happened, we were nearby so we barely caught them in time."
Deuce nodded, "Since then, Lotus has been watching over them closely so we could focus on our magic."
Ace sighed, "Until now. With Lotus all beaten up, we're gonna have to help her watch over them."
Lotus smiled, "Haha... Thanks."
Lotus turned her focus onto Grim as she watched him grumble and roll off the pillow. She then watched on as Ace began poking on the little guy with a finger, "This guy can really sleep..."
"That's my chicken..." Grim snored and waved a paw a little, "Fgna, fgna... Super long shot..."
"This is guy still playing Magift?" Deuce raised a brow, "Ah!"
Suddenly, Grim rolled over and fell off the bed with a loud thump on the floor. Yet, the little guy still continued to sleep.
Lotus shook her head with a sigh as the two looked at him slightly flabbergasted.
.....
"Ah!" Grim's voice interrupted the conversation as he cheered, "You're awake!"
"...Huh?" Yuu grumbled slightly dazed as he got up groggily, "Where am I?"
"You pass out in the second half of our match after Grim nailed you in the head with the disk, remember?" Ace pointed out.
"I was trying to score with a super long shot!" Grim stated matter of fact.
Jack sighed as he got up, "Newbies shouldn't try stuff like that."
"Anyway, I'm glad you woke up." Deuce responded in relief, "We were really worried about where you got hit since you didn't wake up for so long."
"What?" Yuu looked around in surprise when he heard this, "How long have I been out?"
"You've been asleep for so long that the closing ceremony is long over and they've already started dismantling the venue." Ace responded.
That was right. It's been a few hours now since Yuu had been asleep. It was already evening and the afternoon sky had been dark. Lotus had continued to leave her butterflies all over the place to keep monitor as she supervised the injured in this room. What worried her the most was the fact that the child had gone missing from the group of bodyguards and the butterfly have been tailing the little guy all the way to the school building.
"Wah...." Yuu grumbled nervously before a thought came to mind and he looked to them, "Which dorm won?"
"The champion was Diasomnia." Leona responded with a grumble.
"Uughh." Ruggie groaned, "In the end, we didn't stand a chance. The other dorms were all a mess so this year's tournament was a shit show."
"Oh!" Lotus looked to them in surprise.
"Leona, Ruggie!" Jack looked to them in surprise, "Are you finally awake?"
"Tch..." Leona clicked his tongue, "I can't believe I'm using an infirmary bed for something other than a nap."
"The fact that not a single person from Diasomnia is in here really ticks me off." Ruggie scowled.
Ace nodded in defeat, "I heard the rumors but Diasomnia's dorm head is stupid good."
"Yeah..." Deuce nodded, "It was something else. I wish you could've seen it, Prefect."
"Seriously?" Yuu stared at them in disbelief.
"They stole the disk back several times." Lotus responded bluntly as she leaned against the edge of the table, "It wasn't just Savanaclaw that lost in such a manner. Octavinelle and Scarabia lost too. With all this..."
She turned to Leona, "I'm assuming the headmaster must've brought up having their dorm leader sit this one out at least once or twice in a meeting."
"Seriously?" Jack looked to her with a growl.
Brushing it off easily, Lotus sighed, "Glare at me all you want, Jack. But it's not that the headmaster is worried about just the Savanaclaw dorm. You've seen Octavinelle and Scarabia. It'd be unusual if the headmaster hadn't thought about this at least once."
"He did." Leona responded bluntly as he laid on the bed lazily, "But all the dorm leader was against it."
"All seven dorm leaders?" Deuce looked to him in shock, "I can see Dorm Leader Riddle being against it, but the other dorm leaders too..."
Lotus nodded firmly, "I can get why Leona-senpai was against it, but nobody knows much about the other dorms for certain..."
Ace sighed, "I totally get why no one can imagine beating him."
"Hmph." Jack huffed in dismay, "No one can win if they give up before they even try."
He raised a fist with a ferocious expression, "I'm definitely going to beat Diasomnia next year. Without using underhanded tactics, only my own strength."
"Hmph." Leona pointed out bluntly, "'Underhanded tactics' require one's own strength, y'know?"
Yuu shook his head with a sigh, "Do you feel bad about this at all?"
Lotus smirked with a chuckle, "You don't seem like you've learned your lesson..."
"Feel bad?" Leona sneered, "What do I have to feel bad for? I gave my all to win this year. And I'll give it my all again next year."
"Shishishi!" Ruggie snickered, "That's the Leona we know."
"Now I'm already worried about next year..." Jack grumbled.
"You mean on the field." Lotus corrected Leona with a smirk.
Leona glanced over to her with narrowed eyes. However, she didn't flinch as she put into the lion's head a message telepathically, "Hey, Leona! It's Peony! Your nephew has sniffed out your whereabouts..."
"I'm gonna be in the tournament for real next year!" Grim stated firmly as Leona's eyes widen on the sidelines with rare flat ears.
"We've gotta do our best to make sure we get a spot on the team next year, too." Deuce reminded everyone.
"You're right. I don't wanna stand out for being dumb like this year." Ace said resolutely with a bright smile.
Though they said this, Lotus was more interested in Leona's funny reaction of slight defeat and irritation when the door opened slowly and a red-haired little boy with a yellow shirt stepped in curiously looking around with bright brown eyes.