The Hyena Guy

That night, the mirror flashed again. Amongst the sound of the wind blowing by and the dark clouds, a lion couple walking towards the edge of a large rock platform followed by a baboon that carried a young cub. the monotone color was pierced by light as the baboon then held the young cub up in the air where the light shined over it revealing a bright yellow shade on its fur.

When Lotus opened her eyes again, she found herself on her bed. Having already rested in her ring, she left the room that morning. As per usual, she got out in her uniform and went to the cafeteria with Yuu and Grim as the cat wasn't the least pleased about the idea of classes.

That afternoon, Grim groaned as he waddled into the cafeteria line, "Ugh~. Mr. Trein has to be using some sort of spell to put me to sleep. No matter how hard I resist I lose to drowsiness!"

Deuce scolded the cat with a scowl, "You fell asleep five minutes in. That's not resisting at all."

Lotus shook her head and whispered, "Grim is a cat, after all..."

Yuu managed to stifle back a chuckle as Ace looked about the line ecstatically, "Lunch time, what should I have today~! Hmm? The cafeteria is extra crowded today."

Ace looked around the table curiously to find the line was indeed longer than before and the people at the table was more than usual. A ghost that was managing the cafeteria passed by with his gray cloak and white chef's hat turned to them answering with a smile, "Today is a special day that happens once a month! A super popular bakery in town is here to promote at school! It sells out fast so early bird gets the worm!"

"Three chocolate croissants for me!" A Heartslabyul student shouted from the line with a wide and eager smile.

"Yes! I actually got something this month!" The other student called out triumphantly, "This egg salad sandwich is the best!"

The ghost cried out with excitement in his voice, "The egg salad sandwich is already sold out! There's only one deluxe minced katsu sandwich left!"

"Eh..." Ace glanced upon the selection curiously, "Everything looks really tasty. I might have to go get something."

Seeing the number of people, Deuce noted with a smile, "It's really popular."

He turned to them, "Prefect, Grim, what do you wanna... Huh?"

"Grim's gone!" Yuu cried in shock.

Hearing this, Lotus sighed in exasperation, "And... The hungry beast has been unleashed..."

Sure enough, Grim suddenly appeared between the lines and began snatching the food before the others could reach for it, "Outta my way!! All of you! That deluxe mince katsu sandwich is mine!"

"Hey, jerk." A student called out, "No cutting in line!"

"You've got some nerve cutting in front of your seniors, freshman! Get outta here!"

"He loses himself to food way to easily!" Deuce commented upon realization.

"Aha..." Ace sighed shaking his head tiredly.

"Just shout for him to come home." Lotus joked with a smirk on her face.

"Lotus! He's not a dog..." Yuu scolded her in exasperation, "Anyway, let's stop him!"

Sure enough, the cat got himself into a fight with the seniors as Lotus watched on. She smiled as she watched Grim easily beat up the two to which Lotus made a mental note to take away his week's worth of tuna can in her mind. When he was done, Grim smirked, "Do you get how strong I am now! This last deluxe mince katsu sandwich is all mine!"

Having victoriously obtained the sandwich, Lotus watched knowingly as his eyes shifted over to the other meals greedily.

"Nyahaha!" Grim cried with a wide smile, "I'll also be taking yakisoba bread and cream-filled bread!"

Lotus shook her head when she noticed a movement in the corner of her eyes. She smirked and followed Deuce and Ace as the latter picked up the cat by the ribbon.

"Grim, knock it off already!" Deuce scolded the cat before turning to the surprised students, "I'm so sorry, everyone!"

"And, uuuhhh," Ace looked at the menu above them, "I'll have a roast been and lettuce panini!"

"You don't get to just cut in line either!" Deuce scolded Ace.

"Ah crap... I completely missed the lunch time free-for-all."

Raising a brow, Lotus looked aside and saw that guy with the hyena ears she had met a couple weeks ago slipping through the crowd quickly as he grumbled when he saw the leftover bread, "The deluxe minced Katsu sandwich Leona wanted is already sold out."

Her gaze was interrupted when Grim started laughing as they walked back to the tables, "The taste of victory, I'll take my time savoring it!"

With the leftover breads in hand, the hyena guy noticed Grim easily and called out, "Oh. Hey, you! That's pretty great. You got your hands on a deluxe minced katsu sandwich, huh."

Interested, Lotus stopped following Yuu and the others before staying behind to watch.

"Huh?" Grim scowled as he saw the hyena guy, "What's it to you?"

"I have to get that sandwich no matter what but they sold out right in front of me." Ruggie explained, "So I have a proposition. Could you trade me that deluxe minced katsu sandwich for my mini bean paste bread?"

"Huh?!" Grim cried out in anger, "No way in hell!"

"Now now." Ruggie said with an easy smile as Lotus could feel the energy in the room shift a little, "Don't say that... Here you are."

There was a sudden flash as Grim cried out, "Ffna?! What's going on? My arms and lefs are moving on their own..."

Seeing the flash, Yuu halted in his steps and looked back to find Grim trading his food with the guy in surprise, "Pigs are gonna start flying tomorrow."

Lotus laughed, "Do you really think Grim, who normally only has space in his head for food, would trade a mini bean paste bread for a deluxe?"

Yuu looked to her in confusion as she said this.

"There," The hyena smirked, "Negotiations complete."

With a strange snicker, the guy continued, "Thanks for being kind enough to trade me! That mini bean paste bread is just as good. It being tiny is a defect. Thanks and bye-bye!"

"F-f-ffgnaaaaaaa!" Grim cried in tears, "My deluxe minced katsu sandwich!!! Lotus!!!"

Grim crashed into her in tears as he hugs her like a child throwing a tantrum on the playground, "My deluxe minced katsu sandwich!!!"

"I don't remember having a teary cat for a child. What an embarrassment..." Lotus said in exasperation feeling some eyes on her, "You really have no shame..."

She picked him up by the scruff and dragged the cat back to the table where Ace and Deuce stared at her in exasperation.

"Man, this never gets old..." Ace said with a sigh.

Having finally settled down, Grim began eating away at the bread in frustration as he said in anger between the bites, "Ooh ohh, Today... is the worse... day ever..."

Grim, having calmed down sat on the table with irritation as he stuffed the last piece of bread into his mouth, "This bread is hard to swallow..."

"He says after vacuuming up three of them." Ace pointed out sarcastically.

"Then what was that earlier?" Deuce questioned Grim in a lecturing tone, "If you're going to complain this much, you shouldn't have traded in the first place."

"That's not it!" Grim protested, "When that guy stuck his arms out my body moved in the same way on its own... The trade was over before I knew it."

"Oh I see, you just kinda went along with it." Ace nodded upon understanding, "That happens sometimes."

"That's not right either..." Grim cried out in frustration, "Grrr, I can't explain it well!"

Grim scowled, "I'm confused I'm just gonna eat to feel better! Deuce, gimme some of your pasta!"

"I'm not a part of this! Knock it off!" Deuce snapped pulling his plate of pasta closer.

Annoyed, Lotus picked up her fish patty sandwich and smacked it into Grim's mouth surprising the cat before he started chewing on the food rather satisfied. Deuce gave her a nod of gratitude before he sighed in relief and returned to eating his food as Lotus passed the rest of her lunch to Grim who happily ate it shamelessly on the table. Seriously...

She never recalled adopting such a shameless cat in her life...

"By the way," Ace spoke up, "the headmaster said he has something to talk about so to come to his office after class today."

"Isn't it probably about the stuff that happened with Dorm Head Rosehearts the other day?" Duece pointed out.

"The 'evil berseker mode' incident? Probably." Ace nodded in agreement.

"It's called Overblot." Lotus corrected with a sigh, "He said it was connected to negative emotions together with using too much magic. He probably wants to warn us now that he probably has everything sorted out to the best of his abilities."

"Hah!" Grim smirked having perked right up, "We might get a whole pile of canned tuna for how hard we worked!"

"No canned tuna please." Ace laughed.

"That reminds me..." Yuu spoke up curiously, "Where have I seen that guy from earlier before..."

"I believe it was with the lion guy from Savanaclaw we ran into the other day." Lotus replied, "You know, that time we went picking chestnuts?"

"Oh!" Yuu's eyes widen upon realization.

Lotus nodded with a smirk, "Since he helped us out, why not just let things slide this time? Eh, Grim?"

Chewing away on the sandwich, Grim growled, "Hell no! There's no way I'm letting that guy off after he stole my deluxe sandwich!"

Lotus shook her head in exasperation but still retained the smile, "I thought so. And here you said that Ace holds grudges more than you do. There's always next month."

"But, that's a long time away!" Grim said tearfully before he scowled, "I can't wait that long!"

"You mean, the wait is too long..." Yuu corrected in exasperation.

Lotus yawned, "Welp, I need to go to the library for a bit. I'll see you guys at the Headmaster's office later."

"Huh?" Ace raised a brow, "But, didn't you study last night for the test?"

Lotus shook her head in exasperation, "I did. However, there's something I absolutely want to look into."

"Huh." Deuce looked to her curiously, "What's the subject?"

"Herbology and medicine." Lotus responded, "I've owned a few books on the subject but it's not really enough. I'm also curious about some of the drier parts of this world, such as the Afterglow Savannah and the Land of Hot Sands. Both should have warmer weathers so there should be more diversity with herbs than other areas..."

"Agh..." Ace grumbled, "It's fine if you want to talk about plants, but don't talk about it as if we're still in class..."

"That reminds me." Yuu looked to Lotus in admiration, "You memorized all one hundred different plants that day Mister Crewel tried to drill it into our heads."

"Well," Lotus raised a brow, "I already knew the majority of them before I came here anyway."

"What?!" Grim scowled, "That's almost cheating..."

Lotus shrugged off his accusation as Ace looked to her in bewilderment, "But what kind of reason would you need to remember so many plants? They could all look the same..."

"I've worked with them before where I need to know their effects, usage, and types." Lotus answered, "Learing to tell them apart and their names are just the first steps and are pretty crucial. One mistake and I'd probably get a lot of enemies than allies."

"Fgnaaa..." Grim responded in shock, "That's scary..."

Deuce nodded with a sigh, "If you mess up between a poison and a herb, you'd be on the run for you life, then."

Ace raised a brow, "But how do you know so much?"

"My biological family ran an apothecary when I was little." Lotus responded with that one massive lie, "Because we were part of a small group that traveled a lot, my family is rather well-known in our small group. Except I wasn't wanted since I didn't have magic and was on the run for a good while. I just took what my mother taught me and lived off of that."

"Then, you came across one of the staff here that brought you in later, huh?" Deuce concluded.

"Ah, that makes sense now." Ace nodded before he sneered, "If those idiots knew of your knowledge, they'd..."

"Oh, they don't know." Lotus responded, "I can't let them know. They're rather old fashioned, you see."

"What do you mean?" Yuu questioned in confusion.

Lotus smirked, "Why don't I let you guess? Anyway, I'll see you guys later."

With that, she got up and patted Grim's head, who tried to fight back with a glare, before leaving the table.