Recap: Ayumi’s first day at college was filled with meeting friends and getting ‘juiced’. Russel retired from his job. Hercules met a woman named Diana and introduced her to Vincent. He also completed his Lifetime Wish and moved out. Asellus was given the proposition to move in with her boss-with-benefits.

It was a cloudy, rainy day when Ayumi went to her first class.

She flew as quickly as she could and bumped into someone on her way to the front doors. She muttered an apology before realizing all of the students were angry.

One of her housemates, Derek, was standing under an umbrella and groaning. She approached him and he held the umbrella over both of their heads. “What’s going on?” Ayumi asked.

Derek rolled his eyes. “Professor’s late. The doors are locked.”

“Oh… wonderful.”

Lightning struck and thunder followed closely after. Ayumi rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm herself. “I really don’t think he’s coming at all,” Derek said.

“What do you mean? He’s the professor, he has to show up… right?”

Derek shrugged and nodded his head in the direction of one of the buildings across the street. “I say screw it. No one’s gonna let us in and it’s pouring outside. I’m gonna go study elsewhere. You comin’?”

Ayumi was hesitant to follow Derek at first, as she didn’t want to start the semester off with a failing grade for having not gone to class. The more she waited and the harder it rained, however, the better his idea sounded. She followed him across the street and the two separated. Derek wandered off to check out some art from previous alumni and Ayumi sat beside someone at a computer, browsing the Internet while reading one of her textbooks.

When the rain did let up, she walked to a nearby coffee shop.

Just because she wasn’t able to attend her first class didn’t mean she had to forget it altogether. She sat down, whipped out a sketch pad, and started practicing drawing what was around her.

Later on that day, the sun came back out from behind the clouds and she showed up to her next class right on schedule. It was supposed to be a lecture about different forms of art.

Ayumi was pretty excited to hear it until her gaze locked on a cute boy sitting near the front of the room.

She felt her wings start fluttering and her heart jumped into her throat. She tried to swallow it back down into her chest, but it wouldn’t obey. She floated to the table, pulling the chair beside him out for her to sit.

The lecture began.

Ayumi sincerely tried to pay attention to what the professor was saying, but she could not move her attention away from the guy beside her.

He smelt of fresh dryer sheets. He sighed slightly everytime he had to write something down. It made her knees weak to hear the little breaths of air escape his lips. She tried to scoot her chair closer to him without being noticed, but it was nearly impossible.

He was very involved with the lecture. Whenever a question was asked, he was the first one with his hand up. When he spoke, the sound of his voice hit Ayumi’s ears like butter. Chills went up her spine and she desired more. She wanted to listen to his voice for the rest of her life.

Had it not been for this moment, Ayumi would never have believed in love at first sight.

The second class ended, Ayumi turned to speak to him, but he was gone. He was running out the door, presumably to get to his next class.

She didn’t even get to hear him speak his own name.

She went back to the house and began looking over another textbook. Asali and Derek sat down with her — Asali choking down some burnt food she had attempted to cook and Derek slurping his coffee.

“Damnit, I can’t cook for shit,” Asali moaned. She pushed her bowl away from her and sighed angrily. She eyed Derek and raised an eyebrow. “Coffee? In the evening?”

“Yeah, so?” he remarked.

“Coffee is for waking up in the morning. ‘Juice’ is an evening drink. If you’re thirsty, head to a keg party.”

“Mind your own business.”

Ayumi sank down in her chair, propping her feet up on the table and dropping her textbook on the floor. She rubbed her face with the palms of her hands, sighing. “Do you guys believe in love?” she asked.

Asali and Derek looked at her. “What?” they responded.

“Nevermind. I’m going to bed.”

Asali leaned across the table. “Hey, don’t leave us hanging like that. What’s the deal, here? You in love?”

“I think so… but I don’t even know his name.”

Derek chuckled. “It’s that brown-haired kid in the sweatshirt, isn’t it?”

Ayumi straightened herself. “How did you know?”

“I was in that class, stupid.” He took another sip of coffee. “My god, you couldn’t keep your eyes off of him.”

“That obvious, huh?”

“Ayumi, you’re in college now,” Asali retorted, “don’t set your eyes on one guy! For plumbob’s sake, it’s only been a couple days and you already think you’ve found ‘the one’? Live a little! Hook up with some classmates before going after the guy you really like!”

Derek scoffed. “What great advice.”

“Oh, what, like you’re a one-woman kind of guy. Please.”

“For your information, that’s exactly what I am.”

Asali crossed her arms. “Whatever. I see the way you look at our housemates.”

When Ayumi finally tore herself away from the increasingly heated argument between her two friends, she tried to remember exactly what the guy looked like. She started sketching out his face, but she had a difficult time getting the features just right. She frustrated herself so badly that she wound up tearing up every piece of paper she put a pencil to.

The next day, she caught him before walking into another class the two had in common. She smiled and waved at him as she ran to the door. He cocked his head, unsure as to what she wanted.

“Hi, I’m Ayumi!” she greeted. She held out her hand and nervously anticipated the feel of his skin on her own.

He didn’t shake it. He scratched the back of his neck. “Jackk.”

“Jackk…” She rolled his name around her tongue, savoring its taste before speaking again. “We were in that lecture class together yesterday. I sat at your table.”

“Oh.”

He wasn’t giving her much, but she kept the smile on her face regardless. “Are you from this area?”

“No. I come from Starlight Shores.”

“Really? That’s cool! I’m from Moonlight Falls, myself. It’s not nearly as glamorous as your hometown sounds. Lots of weirdos at night, if you know what I mean.”

He nodded slowly. The doors to the building suddenly opened and students started piling inside to make it to their classes. “See you,” he said.

“Inside, right?” she shouted. He looked her up and down with confusion written all over his face before making his way inside himself. Once he was out of sight, Ayumi cursed herself and slapped her forehead.

Derek started a bonfire that night, inviting a bunch of classmates to come hang. He prodded at the fire for the most part, almost as if he were bored of the party he had thrown.

Ayumi wandered up to him and started poking the fire herself.

“Hey, watch it, don’t fry your wings or anything,” Derek warned.

She set down the stick and plopped herself on the grass, laying down and closing her eyes. Derek shook his head before laying down next to her.

“You’re at a party, you know. You can’t be spreading this negative energy or people will leave.”

“Maybe you should take your own advice,” she countered. “You’ve looked uninterested in everything happening around you since people started showing up.”

Derek put his hands behind his head and used them as a sort of pillow. He closed his eyes and shrugged. “Not really my kind of people.”

“Then why invite them?”

“You know how it is. Social status and whatnot.” Derek opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow. “I dare you to jump over the fire without using your wings.”

Ayumi looked over at him. “What? I’m not doing that!”

He stood up, reaching his hand down to her to help her stand. “Come on. Don’t be a wuss. You can do it.”

Ayumi took his hand and stared at the bonfire. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to keep her wings from rescuing herself from the heat touching her heels, but she went ahead and jumped. She landed on the other side with the bottoms of her shoes slightly burnt.

She floated over to him. He was clapping. “Impressive, Thrones!” he said.

“Oh my god, you wreak…” Ayumi held her breath for a moment, then started to chuckle. “I dare you to go kiss that girl over there.”

“Pfft. Okay. Don’t see the challenge in that but whatever.”

Ayumi watched as Derek tried to put the moves on the girl she had picked for him only to be shut down the second she got a whiff of his stench.

Derek sauntered over to where his friend stood and watched her laugh. A smirk formed on his lips as she placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. “Guess that wasn’t love at first sight,” he remarked.

Ayumi nodded slowly, a sigh tempting to escape. She took her hand off his shoulder. “I know it sounds silly, but I really do think he’s the one.”

“And… why are you telling me this?” Derek crossed his arms. “I’ve only known you for, like, a day.”

“I know, but we’re going to be spending a lot of time together since we’re housemates. Might as well establish the friendship now.”

He looked away from her, his eyes locking on the bonfire. “Can’t argue with that logic,” he said.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Every day that Asellus visited Octavio, he would bring up living together.

She had spent a lot of time lately thinking about the kind of life she wanted to live and the future she wanted to have. Of course, she was going to one day become the Emperor of Evil and whatnot, but did she want to reign over evildoers all by herself?

Octavio’s place in her life was specifically in the bedroom in the beginning. She used him to get further into her career. Over time, she had actually told him things about herself outside of being evil. She explained to him the family life she had growing up and how much she hated her mother. She told him what the distant future was like. Asellus had learned how to trust Octavio and even spoke of the dreams she had at night.

It was an odd feeling, knowing that someone was actually listening to every word she said.

His house felt like home. She hardly ever stepped foot into her own house anymore except when she needed to grab some toiletries for overnight stay. Why not go ahead and move in with this guy?

Or better yet…

Why not just go ahead and marry him?

“Asellus… what are you doing?”

Octavio had never said her first name before.

She held the ring closer to his body. “Come on, you knew where this was headed.” Asellus grabbed his hand and began to slip the ring on his finger. He grabbed her arm and pulled her upright before it was snug.

“Whatever happened to ‘you’re not the only man I’m bedding’?” he asked, cocking his head slightly.

“Are you really going to make me say it?” Asellus sighed. “Okay. I admit it. I’ve fallen in love with you. It was not my original intention, but… an empress needs an emperor, right?”

He smiled. “You sexy little thing, you. You’ve been putting on this front all along when in reality, you couldn’t stay away from me.” He took the ring from her grasp and slipped it on. “Yes, Thrones, I will marry you.”

“That’s another thing… I’m taking your last name. I don’t want to be associated with that goody-two-shoes family of mine. From now on, I’m Asellus Rowell.”

Russel went all out on Asellus’s wedding. He booked one of the local clubs and made sure no one was allowed inside who wasn’t invited. Cid and Vincent were not too pleased to watch Asellus get married, but Russel was ecstatic and even high-fived her before walking her down the aisle. She had always been his little girl, despite the fact that she was not the easiest child to raise.

The ceremony was quick and didn’t include any vows or speeches. They simply exchanged rings, kissed, and proceeded to buy a round of drinks for all of the guests.

Hercules and Vincent kept away from the party and played foosball on their own with Diana. They had never been close with Asellus to begin with (especially Hercules, who actively tried to stay away from her after the pranking years), so they didn’t care she was getting married. Vincent was actually excited that she was moving out of the house and thought it might be a good idea to ask Diana to move in.

Asellus and her new husband wasted no time consummating their marriage once the wedding was over. She had moved out as quickly as she could, knowing she wasn’t going to miss her life at the Thrones household. She was evil. She needed to be surrounded by others who shared the same trait.

She hoped that one day, she and Octavio could rule the town together side-by-side, changing the world the way they saw fit.

Cid and Vincent started dancing in delight the second they returned home. Asellus had moved out. Russel, on the other hand, had already started to miss her.

The house was beginning to empty. Hercules was off living his own life, Asellus was married, and Ayumi was off at college.

At least he found comfort in knowing that Ayumi would eventually be returning home, hopefully with a diploma in her hands.