Yuu was early enough to the courtyard to witness Azul’s arrival, and where she was still a mess from magically-induced memory sleep, he was… quite the opposite.


    Yuu had seen Azul at his worst. She’d seen him exhausted, his usually pristine uniform rumpled, his glasses slipping down his nose, his hair in such disarray that Floyd had actually called him “fluffy.” She had seen him with ink smudged on his fingers, seawater clinging to his collar, and venom-weary shadows under his eyes. She had seen him come undone.


    But now—now she was seeing him put back together.


    Freshly cleaned and composed, Azul entered the courtyard like a man who had reclaimed himself. His uniform was immaculate once more, tailored lines emphasizing the sharpness of his frame. His uniform tie was perfectly folded, pinned in place by a silver clip that glinted in the afternoon sun. His gloves were crisp and unblemished, each motion of his hands deliberate, elegant. And his hair—seven hells, his hair—was back to its usual pristine styling, not a strand out of place, the light catching just enough on the silvery sheen to make him look unfairly divine.


    It was infuriating. It was devastating.


    And then he adjusted his glasses.


    He knew.


    Yuu caught the flicker of amusement in his gaze as he took his time, adjusting the frames with slow, meticulous precision. His fingers, gloved and deliberate, skimmed along the rim before he tilted his chin ever so slightly, peering at her through those ice-blue eyes.


    Oh, dear. She’d been tormenting this man for the past two days….


    “You’re staring, human,” Grim muttered, wacking her with his paw.


    Yuu swallowed, hard, right before Azul caught up to them.


    “You—You cleaned up.”


    “Of course. You didn’t think I’d stay disheveled forever, did you?” His smirk was criminal. The smooth confidence in his voice a far cry from the Azul she’d been tormenting the past two days.


    Pull yourself together, Yuu! You’re tired. You’re venomed. He’s not that serious, remember?


    She wanted to be mad about it. She wanted to roll her eyes, to make a joke, something to cut through the heat curling in her stomach. But all she could think about was how unfairly, obnoxiously attractive he looked when he wasn’t on the verge of passing out.


    Readjusting the bag at his side, he produced a silver flask, and offered it to her.


    “For you,” he said smoothly. “Thought you might need it.”


    “Are you trying to make my human owe you something?" Grim pawed at one of Azul’s shoes suspiciously.


    Azul rolled his eyes. "Would it kill you to assume I have some basic decency?"


    “Hmmm…..” Grim growled.


    “Don’t be rude, Grim,” Yuu said, embarrassed, but not entirely trusting, herself. She accepted the flask and opened it, and smelled something minty, and a little floral. “Thank you, Azul. What is this?”


    “It’s a refresher tea, with some rejuvenation potion. Don’t worry, Jade did not prepare it. It was me.”


    Yuu couldn’t help laughing. She took a quick swig from the flask. “Well, if it wasn’t Jade, then I’m satisfied.”


    The effects were immediate, energy and a feeling of restedness shooting down to her toes. She could practically feel the bags under her eyes packing up and leaving.


    “Wow, Azul… that’s…. That’s fantastic.”


    “I’m considering adding it to the lounge’s menu,” he said with a quick, sleek sort of smile.


    “I would come more often if it were…Um. The three hours is almost up. Should we…?”


    It was certainly awkward, now that she was more awake, and fully processing Azul’s proximity as he sat her down on the stony courtyard bench. A clear, waking breeze blustered through the courtyard, blowing her hair into her face, and hardly touching Azul’s. Unfair.


    Grim watched in horror, and distrust as Yuu undid her top button to give Azul access to the mark, but he at least had the decency to cover his eyes with a paw when Azul started the, ahem, medical process.


    Yuu was infinitely grateful that this whole thing forced Azul into a position where he couldn’t see her face. This time was different from the others. She barely felt him over the clamoring heat of her own traitorous face.


    It was of course, at the most crucial point of the withdrawal, when his magic was reaching through her actual veins, that everything went terribly wrong.


    Ace and Deuce chose that moment to come barreling into the courtyard like they were ready to make a citizen’s arrest.


    "YUU?! What the hell—?!" Ace skidded to a stop, eyes darting from her, to Azul, to Azul’s arms around her, to his mouth glued to her shoulder. "Okay. Okay. Let’s start with the obvious—WHY ARE YOU WITH AZUL?"


    She winced as Azul twitched, doubtlessly focusing all his attention on finishing this quickly.


    Deuce, panting from the sprint, looked even more alarmed. "You disappeared for TWO DAYS! We thought you got kidnapped! And now you’re alone with him?" His voice cracked at the last word. “Doing…. Um….”


    “You guys have the timing of a sneeze during a sword-swallowing act,” she growled at them as they approached. “Wait a minute, would you?”


    “Hey, human, I sorta wanna know the answer to these questions, too,” Grim chimed in unhelpfully.


    Twenty of the most awkward, painful seconds of Yuu’s life passed while Ace and Dauce got closer, and Grim decided to come out from behind his paw and leer with the other two. She wasn’t the only one who had gone stiff. Azul, once a warm barrier against the chill blowing over campus, was now as stony as one of the rooftop gargoyles as his magic reached through her—faster, and much less comfortably—to finish what he’d started.


    Then, once he was done, he slyly slipped one of his handkerchiefs onto the wound so that the blood wouldn’t be visible, and turned to face their audience.


    Azul, ever the picture of patience, gave a pleasant, businesslike smile and adjusted his glasses.


    "Gentlemen, please. Must everyone always assume the worst of me?"


    Ace’s eyes narrowed. "Yes. Yes, we must." He pointed an accusing finger. "And don’t try to talk your way out of this, Octopus! Yuu disappears under mysterious circumstances, and when she finally resurfaces, she’s alone with you—with your hands all over her like you own her!"


    Yuu groaned. "It’s not like that—"


    She stopped mid-tracks.


    Technically, it was exactly like that, but Azul was trying to fix it….


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Ace, ignoring her completely, kept pointing dramatically. "Admit it, Azul! You kidnapped her, didn''t you?! Or—OR WORSE—" He gasped, face twisting in exaggerated horror. "Did you propose?!"


    Azul made an undignified choking noise. "Excuse me?"


    "Yeah, Azul! What did you do to her?!" Deuce demanded, crossing his arms.


    Azul straightened his coat, clearly trying to regain his composure. "If you must know, Yuu and I were simply—"


    "I was poisoned," Yuu cut in flatly, hoping to salvage what little sanity remained in the conversation.


    Deuce''s face paled. "Poisoned?! Wait, WHAT?!"


    Ace threw his hands in the air. "And YOU were the one treating her?!" He turned to Yuu. "Yuu, blink twice if you need help!"


    Yuu scowled. "Oh, for the love of—No! It’s—It’s a long story! But the crucial part of it is is that he is TREATING me, Ace. As in HELPING!"


    Ace’s eyes widened. "It’s TRUE! You are being held hostage!" He grabbed Deuce’s arm. "Quick! You grab her, I’ll grab him, and we’ll be outta here before—”


    “You go ahead and go, Azul,” Yuu muttered to Azul. “I’ll handle this.”


    “I wouldn’t complain,” Azul said smoothly, already withdrawing.


    “Thanks for the tea,” she mumbled, as he collected himself and headed for the hallways, Ace and Deuce now arguing so heatedly, the delusional duo didn’t notice his withdrawal until Azul was already halfway out of the courtyard.


    “Hey! Stop right there!” Ace shouted after him. He didn’t slow.


    Deuce, however, was staring at Yuu’s shoulder—the spot where the venom had been pulled from. His expression darkened. "Ace… I think she’s telling the truth."


    Ace followed his gaze, and his face contorted in even deeper horror. "OH SEVEN. He BIT you?! Azul, what the HELL?!"


    Yuu pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling slowly. "He did not bite me. If you’d allow me to explain—"


    Ace ignored him. "I KNEW IT. I KNEW he was shady, but I didn’t think he was feral!"


    It was all Yuu could do to talk them down and get them to the next class, although persuading Ace not to go spreading wild rumors about her and Azul… she might not be planning on staying in this world for much longer, but she still wouldn’t with the kind of stories Ace could come up with on anyone—especially since Azul was heling her, thank-you-very-much.


    Unfortunately, their next few meetings throughout the day didn’t get much better.


    Yuu messaged Azul suggesting that they should meet on the sports field, behind the bleachers next, for more privacy.


    Covered in sweat from class, Yuu met Azul before his own class began.


    “Are you sure…we should keep meeting on campus?” she panted.


    “It is your schedule that is difficult, not mine,” Azul retorted, looking as ruffled as she had from Vargas’ demands.


    Once more, just as they began, the PE class decided to take a sudden lap around the bleachers. Most were too focused on the competition to see them, but Jack howl saw them and immediately stopped mid-run.


    “...Should I be concerned, Yuu?” he said, leveling a growl at Azul.


    “No!” Yuu exclaimed trying frantically to wave him off before anyone else saw him.


    “Leave,” Azul snarled back, from around her shoulder.


    Jack, of course, did not leave, peppering them with MORE questions before Vargas had to come and pull him back, himself.


    Having learned from bad experience, they met next in an empty classroom. Just as Azul started extraction, the door opened, and a gaggle of students also looking for an empty study room froze in the doorway.


    “Oh, Seven! My bad!” the student exclaimed, slamming the door on them.


    “At least this time they only think we were making out,” Yuu said insensitively.


    “I’m already resigned to the rumors this is going to start,” Azul grumbled, straightening his tie.


    “And you have a plan to mitigate them?” she checked.


    “Obviously.”


    The last time, and arguably the worst, happened during Azul’s evening lab.


    Azul dragged Yuu into the alchemy lab because it had the tools to monitor how much venom was left in her bloodstream, and carried the added perk of him having reserved it for the evening. Unfortunately, he’d forgotten that Professor Crewel liked to monitor the building after hours.


    The professor walked in with Azul hovering dangerously close to Yuu, her shirt unbuttoned, and immediately adopted the scariest face Yuu had ever seen on a teacher. It was part scowl, part threatening grin, and she was certain that if she’d been showing any signs of real distress, Azul might have ended up as a greasy smear on the floor.


    “If you’re going to seduce my favorite mutt, Ashengrotto, at least have the decency to finish your other….assignments first.”


    He said it as though ‘other assignments’ were going to start including untested potion consumption, and tutoring first-years free of charge.


    “This is NOT what it looks like,” Azul shouted over the cauldron, looking highly offended.


    “Then perhaps there is incompetence present in TWO forms… really, I expected better.”


    Crewel then swept out of the room, leaving them both stunned.


    “Years of cultivation of a reputation with my professors…” Azul groaned at the closed door.


    “And now he thinks you’re a bad kisser,” Yuu blurted.


    “That is the least of my problems, Yuu,” Azul hissed, looking truly upset for the first time since they’d begun this venture together.


    Yuu reached up, to do what, she wasn’t sure. Comfort him? Pat his hair? Kiss him to prove Crewel’s suspicions were unfounded?


    She paused midway, unsure.


    “Well, I don’t think it would help if I chased after him to set the record straight,” she offered. “But for what its worth, I do think that the amount of distrust you’ve been getting is… insulting.”


    “I keep telling myself that it’s better than the alternative…” Azul groaned.


    “The alternative?”


    As if on cue, Floyd and Jade slithered into the room, grins wide, and eyes twinkling.


    “Oh, no….”


    "Oh my. Azul, I didn’t realize you were keeping her all to yourself now.” Jade was beaming.


    "Daaang, Boss, are you sure this is about venom? You seem awfully close~" Floyd preened, already pacing around the cauldron to grin down at Yuu.


    “"Ooooh, look at you, Boss, all fidgety for your little guppy~?"


    Azul maintained his composure, albeit barely.


    "I am not fidgeting. This is a professional arrangement—"


    Jade ignored him. "You know, Azul, you''ve never let anyone get this close before."


    Yuu cringed into azul as Jade leaned too close.


    "Whoaaaa, Boss! Look at you, all up in each other’s space~! You know, we’ve been hearing all sortsa tasty rumors today. Didn’t think they were true.”


    Azul pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses back into place.


    “Floyd, I swear on the Seven, I am going to use you as ingredients in this very cauldron if you don’t desist."


    “Oooh, violence!” Floyd preened. “You know, Yuu, he doesn’t bust out the violence for just anyone. Feeling special?”


    “You would be the ‘just anyone,’ in this situation, Floyd,” Azul growled.


    Floyd shrugged. “And I am special.”


    Jade, watched Yuu’s reactions to all of this, wearing the face of a poultry inspector.


    "You know, Miss Yuu, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Azul voluntarily lose his composure like this before. Fascinating, isn’t it?"


    "WHY ARE YOU ENCOURAGING THEM, JADE?! And FLOYD! How did you two even get in here?”


    “Lockpicking, Azul!” Floyd crowed. “It’s a calling.”


    “OUT!” Azul ordered.


    The twins only cackled.


    “So, Yuu! You staying at Octavinelle tonight, right?”


    “Of course she is, Jade,” Floyd smarmed. “Azul’s not going to be traipsing around campus in the dead of night.”


    “Scandalous,” Jade added.


    “How the rumors would change…”


    “Perhaps he should, then…”


    Any composure Azul had left dissolved. Well, almost all of it. He calmly picked up a stack of papers, and threw them at the twins’ heads.


    “Both of you, LEAVE. NOW,” he demanded.


    “Come, Floyd!” Jade agreed, brushing papers from his shoulders. “We have things to prepare.”


    “Extra rooms to destroy?” Floyd suggested.


    “Well, I wasn’t going to SAY it,” Jade snickered, as the tweels slithered out the way they’d come.


    Azul was actively refusing to look at her.


    “So…” Yuu sighed awkwardly. “Octavinelle tonight?”


    “Yes…. unfortunately,” Azul groaned.