"How long have you known?" Theo asked.

"A while," replied Eleanor. After confronting his roommate, Theodore was finally exposed. His sorrowful smile shone bleakly in the night.

"I didn't expect anything less from Maurice's brother. Where do I begin?"

~
It started with the boy as a child, brief flashes of him with his younger brother. Mourning the loss of his parents; one taken by illness, the other, of heartbreak. But the memories of Maurice starting Arcadia were brighter, the colours more vivid. The younger Maurice with his rounder face and wider eyes, following and eventually running ahead of his older friends. Maurice becoming instantly well-liked. Joining the night patrol. And all the while, sifted in like sugar throughout the years was Theodore, the kitsune who saved Maurice from drowning in Arcadia forest.

Suddenly, as you saw Maurice laugh with his friends one minute and disappear with his secrets the next, you felt it. An immediate remorse and affinity for Eleanor's older brother. Because right now, you weren't much different from him.

You watched Maurice, hands in his long coat pockets, walking through the same woods. Beside his ankles trotted a beautiful red fox.

As the memories progressed, you saw less and less of Eleanor. It was Maurice, trespassing on the night student grounds, pushing up his glasses in Jack O Lantern's with his older friends, and scribbling religiously in what you had a feeling would eventually become the Creatures Almanac.

Suddenly, you felt a wide shift in time. This wasn't long ago. The violet sky hung over Arcadia as if someone had mixed too much black paint in it, and you not only saw the sense of urgency as Theodore burst into the store, you felt it.

"It's gone, they've been stolen." He said frantically. The door shut behind him.

"What's been-"

"My kitsunebi, they're gone," he said, canine teeth barred in fury. Maurice turned white.

"I was in the forest and someone or something was strong enough to knock me right out-"

"How is that possible-"

"I'm not hurt or injured, I just- I blacked out," he growled impatiently. Theodore ran to Maurice by the counter. A sheet of paper was suddenly slapped atop the wood, right next to the umber glowing candle.

Maurice quickly held it to his eyes as Theodore paced back and forth, tailless. Before you could watch the resolution, the foggy exterior of your subconscious began to swirl and swirl until you were aware that you were blinking. Each time your eyes opened the scene was one colour closer to reality, until Jack O Lantern's was replaced by the cottage with Maurice sitting across from you.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "How do you feel?"

It took you a while to process everything you'd seen.

"How many hours have passed?"

Maurice turned his head to the ticking clock above the kitchenette.

"About five minutes."

"Five minutes?" you repeated. It felt like, not even hours, but days, weeks, years had gone by. Like watching the biggest collection of home movies you had seen.

Maurice raised a silent hand.
"That's not important, we can get into the kioku tree specifics in a minute. What is important is that you understand what is going on here and what's at stake."

You looked down at your black cup to see it was smoking from the bottom.

"Something very important was stolen about a week ago. As you saw, I've been doing my fair bit of travelling, but living between here and Jack's since school started."

"What was it called, kitsunebi?" You tried out the unfamiliar word. "Who was the letter from?"

Maurice grimly extracted the same paper from his coat pocket, sliding it towards you. You read.

Kitsune,

I know what you are.
I have what you've lost.
And more-so, we know you won't survive without it. If you want your kitsunebi back, you will follow the instructions left for you in the short future assuming you don't make any unwise decisions. You are not to do anything until I have informed you of what to do. You are not to make any attempts to violate the kitsune code while the kitsunebi are in my possession.
I look forward to working with you.

(Oh, and you are to quit the night patrol. Make a decent excuse. You have more important things to do now).

You reread it, and then again, desperately trying to make out the hand. It wasn't one you recognized. You looked up at Maurice, who was visibly at a loss.

"What are kitsunebi?" You asked. You thought he might bring up you reading the almanac again but he didn't.

"They're what a kitsune like Theodore needs to survive. They're white glowing orbs that are nearly impossible to obtain from a kitsune, but somehow..." Maurice took a breath. "Without them, Theodore is nearly powerless. The only reason he's a human now is because that's how he was when they were stolen. He can't transform into anything unless he has at least one, and that not even considering his other powers. That's not even considering they're his life source, like a heart for you and me. And someone is holding it in their hands."

You didn't know what to say. Maurice continued, his jaw quivering.

"I owe Theodore my life," he said darkly. "And he is in immense danger. I'll do anything to save him... god. I can only imagine what they want with him. And he won't have a choice either. He's a kitsune. He'll either die at their hands or die for not doing what they say. He belongs to them now."

"Who do you think might have taken the kitsunebi?" You asked.

"I'd put my life on the night students," Maurice said in a strange voice. "It has to be. Why else wouldn't they want him in the night dormitory?"

"But why?" You asked. "What do they want with Theodore?"

"Theodore is nearly as powerful as those demons, whatever they want, it's not good y/n." He said. "But since I can't just walk in and Theodore can't do anything, there's only one student who knows the truth and has been getting along with the night class."

Your heart sank.

"We think you have a good chance of finding out who took them y/n. They won't suspect anything from you. And you won't get hurt- I can teach you how to protect yourself. I can teach you anything you want to know. But please," he choked. "I can't stand not being able to do anything. I know Theo is your friend too. I would never forgive myself if anything ever happened to him."

You looked at Maurice and saw a flicker of Eleanor in his pleading voice.

"Will you help us?"

Without saying anything, you nodded.

"What do I have to do?"

~
Eleanor couldn't believe the words that came out of his roommate's mouth. And to Theodore, this was just one more grievance that he didn't need. Not now.

But Eleanor was sharp and asked right away where his kitsunebi were. And while Theodore was bound not to tell anyone anything, he shrugged his shoulders as if his very life weren't in danger and hoped Eleanor would understand, somehow.

Theo was too tired to deny it. In Arcadia forest, the same place he met Maurice, he was now being confronted by his little brother. There was nothing to deny;

The weekends Theodore spent with Maurice or following y/n (although Eleanor didn't have to know that part). The time Theodore spent following all sorts of people. Getting so drunk in the Lair one of his tails appeared. Not being in class. Nobody knowing where the hell he was. The only surprise was that no one figured it out sooner. And the only reconciliation was that his friends noticed his world was falling apart even though they didn't know why.

So he told Eleanor. He couldn't erase his memory even if he wanted to. And believe it or not, he didn't. He wanted someone to know. Whether it was an age old instinct that someone was going to need to know in the future, or just mischief working in his favour, he left the almanac outside for that very reason. After he'd taken it back from Roman and done what he had to with it, of course.

But there wasn't much he felt y/n could be categorized under, and now, what started as a silly kitsune joke, had become someone taking control over his life. That part Eleanor didn't need to know. Not right now anyway. Maurice would have to tell his brother everything at some point. And God knows Simone's memory didn't deserve more abuse.

So Theodore left Eleanor to his suspicions, offering little but false hope and the promise that soon, things would make more sense. Maybe.

As he made his way back home, to his real home, he thought of y/n, and what she would think of the unwarranted expectations dropped on her shoulders, and of Simone, innocently waiting for her night patrol friends, only for no one to come.

~
It was rather like being in a boxing match. Your opponent had hit you with a combo breaker- ribs, jaw, uppercut- each more questions you never asked for the responsibility of baring. You didn't sign up for a caged fight.

"If there is another way we will find it," Maurice said, false confidence in his voice.

You played over the scene in your head, rewinding and rewinding, each time coming back with a different feeling. Yes? No? How did anyone expect you to react to this idea?

"I don't know how you'll take this, or if it'll even work, but I'll lay it out as honestly as I can," Maurice said. Why did it sound like he was trying to convince you of something?

"You're already close with the night students. If you can try to figure out as much about them as possible- do you think you could do that?"

"I think so," you said.

"Good... good..." he said apprehensively. "And- you asked about the kioku plums- the snow plums- earlier."

"Yeah, you said you thought they might be the answer?"

Maurice's face twisted with relative discomfort. He adjusted his frames, and sighed heavily.

"The thing about snow plums is they're... connected to people. I mentioned how eating them will relieve you of recent memories, and when combined with alchemy skills you can make decent memory potions- anyway... by nature, the one who takes the bite of the snow plum is the one it becomes linked to. From that tree's leaves, the tea can be made. Then whoever drinks it will get their unfiltered memories- depending on how much tea they drink, and the fertility of the tree."

"Right..."

"You don't seem to be affected by the memory altercations of the fruit. Vampires aren't affected either, as far as I know. So even if you were to get one to eat it, and plant a new tree, and everything else, they wouldn't forget you giving them the plum."

"Are you suggesting we use these... these kioku trees to look inside their memories-"

"And determine the thief, yes, that is exactly what we're suggesting."

You felt something important was being left out. Something crucial.

"But given that the vampires have probably seen kioku plums before in their lifetimes, and none of the boys are stupid, we'd have to get a bit more... creative." Maurice hesitated. "We retrieved the pit of the plum you ate y/n, from your garbage. I thought maybe it wasn't you who ate it because when we made the tea, nothing happened. It was rather... odd."

After briefly complaining about Theodore taking things from your room without your permission and realizing how hypocritical that was, Maurice continued.

"These plums have strong energy. Magical energy. It's a substance that can be transformed, adapted. We think there's a way to get them to eat the snow plums without them eating the snow plums."

You were lost. The boy continued, a blank expression on his face, those dark eyes on yours.

"If we can just extract it, make it into an elixir perhaps, and have you drink it..." Maurice continued.

Your heart raced to your throat. Could that really be what he was implying?

"You want them to drink my blood, don't you?"

"Like I said," Maurice had your full attention again, "It should work. If a vampire consumes the essence of the kioku plum then it has to be connected to them. The plum always has to be connected to someone, and it seems with you, specifically you, we have a blank canvas. It'll just go into your system and the memories will be attributed to whoever..."

"Whoever drinks my blood." You said sharply.

"We are doing everything we can, y/n." Maurice said softly. "But as much as I hate to admit it, Theodore is in danger right now, and the night students know we're close. I can't do anything without putting him at risk."

"But it's okay to put me at risk?"

"No," Maurice frowned. "No y/n, I know it's not. Believe me it's not. But we will work together and do everything we can as a team. And believe it or not, you're already in danger. We've been looking out for you, but if we do this we'll teach you everything you need to know, and more. I don't care what you think, there's something more to you and you can't deny that. Together we can figure out what it is."

Maurice held out a hand.

You thought of your first day at Arcadia Academy. Of your ride on the train. Even Maurice chasing it. Over the past few months you'd become exceptionally close with your friends, even though things weren't always perfect. Even though you had your own questions about them. You'd never want anything bad to happen to them. And you knew Theodore didn't deserve this.

The memories. They were bittersweet now, and you could see the pain in Maurice's eyes. You had the chance to be the hero. To do something. To write your own story with you as the protagonist in a world that didn't seem possible to be real, and yet...

You knew your friends would do the same thing for you. You just knew it.

You swallowed, then shook Maurice's warm hand.

"I'll do whatever I can."

"Thank you, y/n," he said sombrely. His expression was a mixture of gratitude and worry. He stood up, saying you had better get back home. Tomorrow, you'd have a busy day.

During the break you'd work with Maurice. You'd learn what you needed to know. You'd do everything you could.

Then at night, you'd do what you'd already been doing without realizing it; making five of the most dangerous people you'd ever meet care for you. Only this time, there was a life at stake. Maybe more than one.

~
Fan here, I'm way behind on everything (so sorry) but I'm coming back with force. This might be the longest chapter yet. Don't worry, as you can probably tell the next chapters will have more night boys than you'll even want to deal with. Leave lots of comments, tell me what you think because I'm really curious. Could this plan work? I'll see you all soon, lots of love,
~ Your number one Fan <3