Third person POV
It was a lovely evening in Clarines. The town and its people were peaceful— Void of any crimes this one day, the castle had a pleasantly calm atmosphere, and everyone is happy and relaxed within the gang.

"This is like a dream come true..." Akuma happily sighed, laying down onto the green grass.

"Haha! I can assure you that it's not a dream! You're living the real thing!" Shirayuki chuckled, placing her hand over her eyes to look up to the sky.

"I'm just... I'm so happy! I've never felt this way in almost a decade!" Akuma giggled, playing with her snow white hair.

"Well, I bet you'll be even more happy to hear that Raji will be visiting Clarines for a few weeks!" Shirayuki exclaimed, sitting up straight.

"Oh shi— I mean super~!" Akuma forced a smile, blinking her eyes furiously. She gave a swinging thumbs up.

"Your reaction doesn't say super." Shirayuki rolled her eyes teasingly, a smile plastered onto her lips.

"I mean, his dad basically tried handing my hand to Raji's in marriage. He's like, too old for me." Akuma snorted. "Plus, I have Ryu!" Akuma grinned, a faint blush over her cheeks.

"You two sure have gotten close." Shirayuki winked, her tone teasing the albino.

"Of course~! I certainly love him with all my surprisingly beating heart~! I mean, you and Zen have also grew to be more intimate~!" Akuma cooed, poking her index finger to Shirayuki's red cheeks.

"I-in the way I'm comprehending that— We d-did become closer!" Shirayuki blushed, turning her head away.

"Pft~! I mean, I'm sure Zen would like to get even closer~! Hahahaha!" Akuma laughed, seeing Shirayuki explode to an even brighter shade of red, brighter than her hair.

"U-uwah! Change the subject!" Shirayuki pleaded. Ever since Zen had taken Shirayuki out in town for a date, a couple of days ago, Shirayuki wasn't able to keep a calm expression.

"Hm~! Okay!" Akuma agreed, seeing that she got the teasing she wanted.

"So why is Raji visiting Clarines?" Akuma asked, closing her eyes.

"From what I know, a party is held for the upper class to mingle." Shirayuki said.

"Just to mingle? I'd expect there to be more reason for a party than to mingle." Akuma commented, opening her eyes and sitting up.

"That was what I had thought as well. Though it's not like I'll know the reason why." Shirayuki shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess we should head back. We've been out here for quite some time." Akuma said, standing up and dusting off the grass and dust from her knightly uniform.

"Agreed. We should do this more often too." Shirayuki said, smiling at the peace around them.

"Definitely!"
—————

*Knock knock*

"Come in..." A rather quiet and monotone voice said. His smooth chocolate brown hair bounced a bit as he wrote and his aqua blue eyes shined with focus.

"I see you're working diligently Ryu." Akuma said, walking over to the working boy with relaxed steps.

"Oh, hello." Ryu ever so slightly smiled, greeting Akuma politely.

"Whatcha working on?" Akuma asked curiously, placing her chin down onto his shoulders.

"I'm filling out a report about the fermentation process of a couple of herbs." Ryu said, picking up a clear bottle and turned it around into a few different angles to analyze its progress.

"Awesome~..." Akuma whistled, staring at the bottle intensely herself.

Akuma walked over to the window of the room and opened it slightly to make way for her to seat herself onto the window edge. She closed her eyes and openly embraced the warm sunlight and gentle breeze. She gently smile knowing that Ryu was near.

Ryu stared at Akuma for a few seconds, admiring her gentle like smile. He lightly exhaled, a tiny grin on his face.

"...!" Ryu flinched, almost seeing a different yet familiar person lacing over Akuma's features. He gasped silently and made the chair screeched ever so slightly.

"..... Kiroyuki...." Ryu muttered incoherently, his eyes widening in pure shock.

"Hm? Did your leg fall asleep or something?" Akuma opened one of her eyes, unable to clearly hear Ryu. One of her eyebrows raised upwards, questioning a now flustered boy.

"I-it's nothing! Sorry!" Ryu said, pulling up the collar of his sweater to cover half of his face.

"You know, I kinda want to learn more about herbs! Mind if I watch?" Akuma said, removing herself from her seat by the window, walking over to Ryu's side.

"Mm, sure..." Ryu said, his face becoming more calm. That was until he turned around to face Akuma.

As Akuma stated her interest of learning, Ryu made eye contact with the older girl. His jaw dropped and his face paled. He was again, shocked with the appearance of a ghost. Ryu was reminded of Kiroyuki's smile with her fondness of herbs within Akuma's sudden interest now.

"Hey~! You're spacing out~!" Akuma waved her hand in front of Ryu, her lips lined up unsurely.

"S-sorry!" Ryu exclaimed, whipping his head back to his report.

"....." Akuma frowned and internally sighed, her heart feeling a bit uneasy.

Akuma looked around the room for a quick second and brought over a spare chair to place it next to Ryu's. Sitting down, she observed his work and his description of the herb.

"We discovered recently that a Gashio root had similar properties to other herbs used to regulate your heart from strokes by being fermented for four weeks. I'm documenting the root every few days and week." Ryu said, carefully handing over the bottle to Akuma.

"This root could do all of that...? That's pretty amazing." Akuma commented and handed back the bottle.

"It really is." Ryu said, closing the binder of records and slipping it into place on his shelf with a small yawn.

"You know, you could take a nap right now. You don't have to force yourself awake while I'm here." Akuma said, petting Ryu's hair with a content grin.

"You sure...?"

"Go ahead and sleep under your desk Ryu. I have some errands to run too." Akuma got up and placed the chair back where it belonged.

"Alright— Thanks. I'll try to meet you later." Ryu said, fluffing his pillow up.

"Sure. See you later!" The right corner of Akuma's lips lifted, a crooked grin on her face.

Akuma exited the room and her failure of a smile dropped into a neutral frown. Her eyes lowered to the ground with a distant stare. For a few seconds, she hesitated to walk away from the door.
—————

"Kiki, could you look over these documents and sort them based on whether or not they have a stamp on them?" Zen asked, his eyes glued onto a piece of writing he was going over.

"Sure." Kiki responded, placing the last book to organize on the shelf.

*Slam*

"Yo Zen~!" Akuma waltzed into the room with a wide grin.

"What is it that you want?" Zen asked, placing his chin onto his palm with a small sarcastic smile.

"Teach me your lovey dovey ways you and Shirayuki always do!"

"..............."

"*Cough*" Kiki gestured to wake up a frozen Zen.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?! AND WHAT MADE YOU BRING UP SUCH SUBJECT SO SUDDENLY?!" Zen bursted into flames, slamming his desk in a flustered manner.

"Is that like a no?" Akuma blinked, cocking her head to the side.

"... I don't even know where to begin..." Zen sighed, sitting back down.

"On teaching me the ways?"

"NO! Asking you questions!" Zen exclaimed, face palming himself.

"... I mean, I see you two together all the time and it seems like you love birds are hitting it off pretty well."

"I-what-well-you-see-why are-*sigh*..." Zen froze after every word, a drowned expression taking over him.

"I finished sorting out the documents. I'll leave you two be to talk." Kiki said, exiting the room with a smirk.

"Thanks Kiki!" Akuma called out to nonchalantly, turning back to Zen.

"Why are you even asking me this?" Zen removed his gloved hand from his forehead, pointing it towards Akuma.

"... I... I'm not sure if things are working out between Ryu and me." Akuma confessed, lowering her gaze.

".... What...?!" Zen gasped, his entire body freezing in bewilderment.