Strange use of Magic (Black Clover AU)

[Third Person's PoV] 

"HAHAHAHA! YOU MADE HIM APOLOGIZE! MAN, I WISH I HAD BEEN THERE TO SEE IT!" Yami laughed boisterously, banging on the table with tears in his eyes, his cigarette nearly slipping from his mouth.

"Oh, but you can…" Stephen smirked, casting his Image of Ikonn spell to create a projection of the scene.

Yami watched with interest as the scene unfolded. "Hmph, I'm never going to let him live that down," Yami huffed, blowing out a puff of smoke while smiling broadly.

"Anyway, good job, you guys. You earned us a bunch of stars for your deeds. We'll be out of the negative in no time!" Yami said, looking at everyone proudly with his chest held high.

Yami then turned to Wanda and asked, "So, what do you think of your very first mission as a Magic Knight?"

Wanda rubbed the back of her head. "Intense is the only word I can come up with…"

"That's right, this was your first mission, wasn't it? Talk about a crazy first mission," Stephen muttered, looking a bit surprised.

Noelle smiled at Wanda. "I think you did very well for your first mission. You definitely did better than I did."

Wanda felt a bit bashful at the compliment but smiled. "It was thanks to the training Stephen had me do the week before."

Just then, the door was flung open, revealing Magna and Luck. "YO! Hey, guys! Looks like you made it back from making your report before we did with our mission," Magna said as they joined the others.

"What were you guys even doing?" Stephen asked, raising an eyebrow.

Magna wiped his knuckles on his chest and blew on them. "Oh, nothing much, just took down a bunch of bandits and earned a gold star. The usual."

"Compared to what we went through, it really was nothing," Noelle scoffed, resting her head on her hand with a bored expression.

"What did you guys do then?" Luck asked with interest.

It was Asta's turn to act smug, copying Magna's arrogance. "Oh, nothing much. Just saved the capital from a terrorist attack and got promoted to Third-Class Junior Magic Knight."

"WHAT!?" Magna exclaimed in surprise before tilting his head in confusion. "What's a Third-Class Junior Magic Knight?"

"No clue," Luck shrugged.

"You two seriously don't know? Even after all this time?" Yami asked, looking confused before going on to explain the ranking system.

"It's the Magic Knight ranking system. Starting from 5th class up to 1st class, there are Junior Magic Knights, Intermediate Magic Knights, and Senior Magic Knights. Once you reach the 1st class, it moves up to Grand Magic Knight, and finally, the Wizard King. By the way, you guys haven't changed ranks since you joined. You're both still 5th class Junior Magic Knights. So, you'd better start treating Asta as your superior," Yami said with a teasing look at Magna and Luck.

"SAY WHAT!?" both Magna and Luck exclaimed.

"Oh, and Charmy's been raised to First-Class Junior Magic Knight."

"Bow down to my superiority!" Charmy cackled madly, but then she heard a cough and turned to see Stephen giving her a look, causing her to freeze.

"Not you, Senior Stephen! Your superiority knows no bounds and is far greater than mine!" Charmy declared, frantically waving her hands in a bow.

"WHAT!? THAT PIPSQUEAK IS MY SUPERIOR!? AND WHY IS SHE CALLING STEPHEN A SENIOR?!" Magna shouted, pointing at Stephen.

"Because Stephen is obviously a rank above her. Get with the program already," Yami scoffed. "He was promoted to 5th class Intermediate Magic Knight."

Stephen stuck his tongue out and flashed two peace signs.

"BULLSHIT!" Magna yelled, pointing at Stephen. "I'VE BEEN A MAGIC KNIGHT WAY LONGER THAN YOU! HOW DID YOU SURPASS ME BY AN ENTIRE RANKING SECTION?!"

"By being better, obviously," Stephen said, tilting his head as if it was the most obvious answer.

Magna collapsed on all fours. "The world is an unfair place."

Yami glanced at Asta, noticing he had a faraway look. "What's on your mind, kid?"

Asta gave a wary smile. "I can't stop thinking about Captain Fuegoleon."

Yami scoffed with a serious expression. "Don't worry about that hot-blooded hardass. Knowing him, he'll wake up earlier than planned and come back even stronger."

Asta chuckled. "YOU'RE RIGHT! SO IF HE'S GOING TO COME BACK EVEN STRONGER, THEN SO WILL I. HE DID DECLARE ME AS HIS RIVAL, AFTER ALL. I WOULDN'T WANT HIM TO LEAP AHEAD."

"No," Yami said, looking serious. "Ever since you became a Magic Knight, all you've done is train and go on missions. You need rest to clear your head. It's not just your body that needs rest; your mind needs it too."

Yami then turned to Stephen. "That goes for you too. I know you like to lock yourself in your room and study, but your mind also needs a break. So, tomorrow, I'm giving you guys an official day off. Captain's orders."

Stephen sighed. "Guess I can't complain if they're Captain's orders."

Just then, Finral's portal appeared beside them. "What's this? You guys have vacation days? Then I know how we're going to spend tomorrow! We're going to a mixer!" Finral said, stepping out of the portal.

'A mixer!?' Noelle inwardly exclaimed, looking at Stephen worriedly.

"Can't. Sorry," Stephen said, shaking his head.

Finral was taken aback. "What? Why? I was especially hoping you would come, Stephen."

"Huh? Why would you?" Stephen asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"You're a good-looking guy! The chicks would dig you, which would attract even prettier girls," Finral exclaimed, stars in his eyes.

"I am?" Stephen asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Hearing his confusion, everyone blinked as they stared at him.

"What?"

Vanessa, watching from a distance, covered her mouth to suppress her laughter. 'Oh my god, he's oblivious to his own looks. That just makes him even cuter for some reason.'

Stephen shook his head. "Sorry, no matter how much you try to get on my good side, I must decline. I have a fiancée… it would be disrespectful to her if I went."

'Why am I relieved and saddened at the same time?' Noelle wondered to herself.

Finral's eye twitched at Stephen's thinking he was only trying to get on his good side and he sighed, shaking his head. "I forgot you were engaged… I guess I'll take Luck as your replacement."

"I feel like I should feel insulted for some reason…" Luck said, narrowing his eyes before shrugging.

"So, what are you going to do tomorrow on your day off?" Finral asked curiously.

Stephen rubbed his chin as he pondered the question. "I suppose… I'll take Mimosa on a date."

"What!?" Noelle exclaimed.

They all turned to look at her with a weird expression.

Noelle turned bright red and waved her arms around. "I was just surprised, that's all! HAHAHA!" She laughed nervously. "I mean, come on, you're taking my cousin out on a date. I wasn't expecting that! I was curious why you would do that."

"Because she's his fiancée, obviously," Asta said, shaking his head as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Noelle only glared at Asta, gritting her teeth.

Stephen shrugged. "It's mostly to get to know her better. We agreed to give this whole fiancée thing a try."

"I see…" Noelle muttered, turning her head with a distant look.

Finral looked up at the ceiling with tears gathering in his eyes. 'Stephen, I hate you! You good-looking bastard!'

…

At the end of the day, as Stephen was heading to his room after a bath, he found Noelle standing by his door, leaning against the wall and staring down at her feet with a pensive expression.

"What are you doing here?" Stephen asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you need something?"

Noelle scratched the side of her head awkwardly. "I... I wanted to thank you... But I feel like that's all I've been doing lately. I sound like a broken record," she muttered.

"Thank me for what?"

Noelle glanced down and briefly smiled to herself. 'He doesn't even see what he did as something that needs gratitude…'

"For standing up for me against my brother. It's something I never had the courage to do myself. And getting the Wizard King to make him apologize? I never thought I'd hear an apology from him in a million years. So, not wanting to sound like a broken record again, thanks." She chuckled softly.

Stephen placed a gentle hand on her head and patted it. "You don't need to thank me for that. They were being jerks. You don't deserve to be spoken to like that—no one does."

Noelle looked down to hide her trembling lips and teary eyes. She felt the warmth of Stephen's hand on her head and closed her eyes to savor the moment, when she would usually have pushed his hand away.

"Right, sorry—your hair," Stephen teased, remembering the other times she had swatted his hand.

With a faint smile, she shook her head and walked past him. "Don't worry about it. That's all I wanted to say... oh, and I hope you enjoy your date with Mimosa tomorrow," she said as she walked away.

"Thank you?" Stephen replied, looking after her with a puzzled expression before stepping into his room.

Tears welled up in Noelle's eyes as she muttered, "Why did I have to say that... And why do I feel like crying… What is wrong with me?" She wiped her eyes and sniffled as she continued walking.

Unbeknownst to her, Wanda stood at the corner, holding a pillow and blanket. She had seen Noelle's teary exit and sighed quietly.

"I feel like I just witnessed something I shouldn't have..." Wanda muttered to herself.

(End of Volume 2)

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A/N: What a high note to end this off on, don't you guys agree? And so as it's the end of the Volume you guys know what this means! 

Your Favorite Moment of the Volume Time! Yay!

We had many good moments this Volume, like battling Mars in the mirror dimension, rescuing Wanda, Meeting Cyttorak, Stephen and Secre getting together, secretly meeting Mimosa in her room and having their talk (Which for some reason was my favorite moment)

Comment below which was your favorite moment! (I sound like a fucking YouTube channel) 

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+31 advance Chapters on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3