The red-haired boy walked towards his room in the complete and cozy darkness that the institution could offer him. In order to get to his bedroom, he had to pass each of the sections; from the glittering golden hall of heroes, to the nostalgic allies area, to the elegant halls dedicated to princesses; only after that he was able to reach the darkest part of the entire institution. With just a few torches dimly illuminating the dark corridors lined with black bricks, the young man could move safely.

The first thing he did was look into one of the rooms, he noticed a lot of children sleeping peacefully and he smiled. He closed the door trying to make as little noise as possible and turned to enter his.

He barely looked inside, he let out a heavy sigh and fell on the huge round bed located in the middle of the room.

That was the first moment he could feel his heart beating at an accelerated rate; the images of the night attacked him like quick arrows digging into every part of his body. They hurt, but for some strange reason he enjoyed it like a strange masochism. However, there was a face that made him snap back to reality; Luigi's.

"What the fuck did I do?" he snapped.

He sat up and looked at himself in the mirror. Then he took off the crown and his body returned to its original form. To the king of the koopas.

"What the fuck did I do?" he growled this time "What the hell is wrong with you?" he spoke to his reflection "You didn't have to meddle, now we're in trouble" he felt a severe anxiety rising through his hands "On the other hand, it's the brother of the protagonist, if something bad happened to him it would have been worse, right? But that's no excuse for asking for his number" stammered "–Although he looked very cute" thought about it for a while "No! Bowser, focus. You are a villain, you must act like one, you cannot affect your future or that of your brothers, UGH! Why of all the people I could meet in that bar should be that damn coward!? It's all Daisy's fault, but of course it's that girl's fault! She is always doing what she wants. If I could only... No, nothing like that. Bowser, just because you're a villain doesn't mean you're a bad person. You are a king, you must be safe and intimidating, but at the same time political and responsible" he sighed "I hate this" raised his eyes to heaven.

He fell back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. This one was full of stars that glowed in the dark; somehow, they always made him feel calm.

His cell phone vibrated, when reviewing the message, he realized that it was the photo that he had asked for some reason that he still did not understand. Without realizing it, his cheeks turned red and his tail flicked slightly from side to side.

In the end, as much as he tried to avoid it, he slept with a smile.

When he woke up the next day, he hurried to make the koopalings breakfast. Since, despite everyone having access to the general dining room, the villains were never usually treated well, not even by the staff.

"Did you have a good night, Bowser?" Wendy Koopa, the only girl in the group, asked in a mocking tone.

"Excuse me?" He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"You look in a good mood," Larry replied.

"Even the food smells better than other times," Morton added.

"Just eat, will you?" He put a bunch of pancakes on the table.

"Did you meet anyone?" Lemmy asked.

"Stop this, will you?" growled Ludwig, the oldest of the younger brothers. "Even if HE had, we are villains, remember? As much as Bowser wears the crown, he can't live with it forever.

"I told you to just eat," Bowser raised his voice.

The children looked down and obeyed.

"Have you already talked to Professor Miyamoto about making crowns for us too?" Bowser Jr. suddenly asked, the youngest of all and the only true brother of the king.

"He says you're still too young for that," he replied with a sigh.

"That's unfair!" Ludwig hit the table "We also want to go out without the people being afraid of us."

"Yeah! I want to play with other children" said Lemmy.

"And I want a boyfriend," Wendy blurted out.

"As if anyone was going to notice you," Roy tugged at her bow.

"And who do you think you are, idiot!? As a princess I order you to release me!"

"You're not a princess," he teased.

"Well, one day, when I marry a prince, I will be," she punched him.

"Better," he huffed, "don't you have anything to say, Iggy?" He turned to see the middle brother; but this one was only in charge of eating honey straight from the bottle "I already told you that eating a lot of sugar makes you sick" he took it off "Please, tell me that now you did make the personalized bombs that you were asked for as a task"

They all nodded and proudly showed them. The older one nodded and when he made sure that everyone had eaten and brushed their teeth, he led them into their classroom. Then he went to his own, of course not without his daily dose of everyone's prejudice towards his person.

When he entered, Luigi hadn't arrived yet, that reassured him, so he just took a seat. It was just him and Daisy in the living room. A chill ran down his back; he had to admit that in a certain way the princess scared him. Knowing that an almost supernatural force lived inside that apparently fragile body made every nerve stand on end.

The girl looked at him out of the corner of her eye and made a mocking smile "What's up, Bow?"

The koopa looked away nervously.

"Daisy," he replied out of courtesy.

After that, everything was quiet until the next person entered the room.

"Lu! " The girl got excited as soon as she saw him "Good God, you finally arrived, I got up early just to talk to you."

Bowser could feel how his heart stopped for a few seconds just hearing that name.

"You getting up early? That is something strange to see" laughed the boy as he sat next to her.

"How couldn't I? You must tell me all about yesterday"

"What are you taking about?"

She rolled her eyes "What are you talking about?" She imitated him "You don't want to avoid it Come on! You can't say that nothing interesting happened on your first time in a gay ba...

Her best friend was quick to silence her by placing a hand over her mouth. "Keep your voice down, I remind you that we're not the only ones here," he whispered as he looked at Bowser.

The girl leaned out and looked at the koopa reading a book with headphones on.

"He can't hear us," she said.

But the reality is that he did. Because, even though he did indeed have headphones, there was no sound coming out of them.

We'd like to clarify that Bowser isn't much of a gossip, but in a case as risky as this, he had to make sure Luigi didn't suspect anything about the mysterious boy from the last night.

"You must tell me about him," Daisy said as she showed him the photo that her friend had sent her.

"He's just a boy I met" answered the brown-haired man.

"I will not be worth that answer! You took a photo with a super hot guy and all you say is "A guy I used to know." Come on, Lu, I need more context. What is he like? He asked you to dance? That photo is from outside the bar. So?"

The boy heaved a heavy sigh "Well, his name is Bowie and he also comes to Fungwarry."

"OH REALLY!? It's new?"

He nodded – he's the hero of a new story that's being worked on.

"Oh, so he's heroic?"

"He's... I think he's amazing. He was very considerate when he reached out to help me when another guy was bothering me. He never seemed to have any other intention beyond making me feel safe" he smiled unconsciously.

"So you like it?"

"WHAT!?" he yelled with burning cheeks, "Of course not! I'm just saying that he's a good boy and that's it."

"Yes, of course," she teased. "Are you going to tell me that you don't think he's cute?"

"I can say that he is, it doesn't mean that I'm interested" he looked away.

"Ok" she answered not very convinced "And you say that he only came to help you."

"Yep"

"And why did you leave the bar?"

"He saw me agitated and wanted to help me. I tell you that he's a good person."

"And hhe didn't flirt with you? Not even once?"

Luigi thought about it for a while –I think he did it.

Bowser hid his face behind the book to try to hide the huge blush that invaded almost all of his face. In fact, he didn't even know why, but he had flirted with him.

"But I made it clear that I'm straight," the boy concluded.

"Are you still with that!?" Daisy snarled

"Well, I am!" he insisted.

"Come on, Luigi, you can't feel anything when you're with women. I saw you more excited telling this story with a boy than any time you've spent with me."

"Is a lie. We are destined, I like you."

"I already told you that's not how it works! Link and Zelda are too and I saw him very comfortable in the arms of another yesterday."

"What are you two lovebirds talkin about?" Peach appeared behind them.

Like an instinct, the friends stuck together and forced a couple of smiles.

"About how much we adore each other," they said in unison as they clasped their hands.

"Seriously, you're one of the cutest unofficial couples in school," the blonde blurted out as she pinched both of their cheeks.

"They would be official if my brother wasn't so anxious" Mario mentioned as he held Luigi's shoulders "I'm surprised you arrived so early."

"Lu and I had unfinished business," Daisy said.

"Well, if I were you, I would be careful around the surroundings" he looked at Bowser out of the corner of his eye as he sat down "Little brother, move a little more over here; otherwise the bad smell can stick to you."

"Oh, yes, Mario," he obeyed without giving it much thought.

It was the first time that morning that Bowser had reasoned through the situation. Luigi had spent the night before with Bowie, the caring and attractive hero who provided him with security; not with the smelly and evil king of the koopas. He had to admit that, despite having heard those kinds of comments all his life, this occasion was the few times it had truly hurt him.

The room filled up over the next few minutes, and despite the fact that Miyamoto had already begun to explain the topics of that session, Bowser could never find his concentration. He felt his mind was a complete mess, on the one hand, part of him knew that he would treasure that night as one of the most beautiful memories of living with a partner, but he didn't want it to be the only one; however, he couldn't risk being discovered in the end either, he was aware that it was something that could only happen once.

During class, he couldn't help but cast discreet glances at Luigi. He found it hard to believe that he was the same as the night before; for the first time he could tell that his classmate was someone attractive; With slightly fluffy brown hair that fell to the lower part of his neck, he looked so soft that he began to wonder what it would feel like to touch him. And his eyes so blue and serene that they could transport you to the most beautiful and calm sea in the world. His body was slim, but if you looked closely, you could see a slight paunch that the koopa found adorable. The more he looked at it, he felt a lump form in his throat and his heartbeat quicken.

He remembered his smile, the sound of his voice, the way he'd looked at him when he thought he was talking to Bowie. Bowser hated to admit it, but he wanted a repeat of that night. He wanted to admire him again under the moonlight. He wanted him to speak to her in the same way that he had made him feel so calm and comforted. He wanted to know him more.

But what he wanted the most was that what he felt was just something fleeting, because he was aware that the more he felt it, the more it would hurt him to realize that it could never be.

"And are you going to text to him?" he heard Daisy whisper to Luigi.

"I don't know," the boy admitted, "I mean, we get along and all, but I don't want to send him the wrong message, do you understand?"

"You mean?"

"I don't want a repeat of Peasley."

"What? That he thinks you're gay?" She stifled a laugh.

"Don't mock! It was one of the most awkward moments of my life."

"But didn't you two end up as friends?"

"Yes, but... I don't know," he sighed. "It seems so the same to me, but so different this time. I think I want to get to know Bowie more, I just don't want to hurt him by making him believe things that aren't."

"Ok, Lu, let's assume that you are straight."

"Because I am," he growled.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You already clarified that, if you invite him and he misinterprets it, it would be his fault, not yours. Based on what you told me, I think you got along well and wouldn't it be nice to have a friend like that?"

"I guess."

"I say you talk to him."

"I need to think about it."

And he wasn't the only one, although Bowser wanted to know more about his classmate, he knew it was risky. As much as it pained him to do so, if Luigi spoke to him, he wouldn't respond; of that he was sure.

At the end of class, everyone jumped up from their seats. Many would believe that, being a training school for video games, the classes would be more interactive and fun. And although it was true that several did have these characteristics, like any good school, theory could not be missing; and this class on how to stay calm and not take things personally was without a doubt one of the most boring of the entire program.

"Bowser," Miyamoto called before he could leave the room, "can we talk for a moment?"

The koopa nodded and walked towards him.

He could hear Mario let out a laugh as he whispered something in his brother's ear.

He heaved a heavy sigh.

"Are you feeling well?" the teacher asked.

"Umm yes, why do you ask?"

"Today I saw you somewhat distracted."

"An apology, I only stayed up last night."

The professor crossed his arms. "Don't make me take your crown, Bowser."

"It won't happen again," he insisted.

"By the way, can I know what you use it for?"

"I just go out, sometimes I go to bars, I talk to people" he smiled without realizing it "Totally normal things."

Miyamoto gave a light laugh. "Did you meet someone?"

"What?" He blushed.

"I know that kind of gestures. What was he like?"

"Amazing," he sighed, "But I'll never see him again."

"Why do you always have to be so negative? I already told you that I can improve the crown and that its effects last longer."

"I don't think it's right to deceive people so much, less the ones you care about."

The professor nodded "You're a good guy, Bowser" he patted his arm "Keep it up" he walked towards the exit.

"Could you say the same to the rest of the world?"

"You know I can't," he left.

The koopa grunted and got out too. As was his custom, he reviewed in his mind everything that was happening in his life today. He was a powerful king, single at almost thirty, he had to take care of nine children, he suffered discrimination from the entire school and now he had mixed feelings with the younger brother of the protagonist of his franchise.

He checked his schedule; his next class would be in three hours; so he decided to go to his bedroom and get some sleep.

But a text message completely ruined his plans when he had barely laid back.