“Gross, gross, gross, this will never not be gross,” Daniel mumbled to himself, avoiding eye contact with his blushing visage in the enchanted window.

One week into his education at Alphabeta, and he’d settled into a bit of a routine, but this part of his day would never feel normal. He’d found ways to keep his diaper use to a minimum, peeing in the shower whenever possible, but there were certain things he couldn’t get around.

So, as part of his morning rituals, he would squat down in the corner of his room, think up something distracting to take his mind off things, and fill up his school-mandated diaper.

The sensation of muck spreading in his padded underwear as the seat bulged out never made him feel anything other than humiliated, and though he could strip out of it almost instantly and wipe up in a matter of minutes, he refused to let this become ‘normal’. If pooping his pants became normal, Rachel would win, and Daniel would never in a million years let Rachel win.

After an utterly degrading wiping session, he made his way to the prefect’s bathrooms, using the accessible one at the end of the line–a private stall that stood separate from the rest of the showers. Nobody else needed it this year, so it’d been reserved for his shower use. In a reasonable world, he’d get to use the toilet there as well, but he’d already accepted that his padding was intended to force him out of the school, and so any attempt at reasonability would be met with total refusal.

Besides–he was getting what he came here for.

An education.

It was slow, but it was steady. In a week, he’d gained a grasp of the fundamentals in a way he’d never experienced before, and as he practiced with Jen and worked with his coven, he found his experience levels multiplying.

If he’d continued to hit roadblocks and failed to learn anything, maybe it would have gotten to him, but as it was? He had a long skirt, a practiced walk to hide the waddle, and the most humiliating parts of his tribulation remained concealed within his bedroom. Rachel had nothing on him that he couldn’t push past.

Coven lessons had become a highlight of his day. They were still working through fundamentals, giving everyone the familiarity and experience needed to communicate thoughts back and forth while spellcasting, but whenever he got to be the Mind, he thrilled at the power. It was a taste of what was in his grasp: the control and power of a Warlock. They weren’t there to just indulge his fantasies, but he could imagine himself as the foci of a Coven of Eight, leading his own group, mastering the power and becoming high Warlock–

“Daniel?” Mathilde interrupted, snapping him out of his daydream.

“I’m sorry?” he asked, blinking a couple times. “Can you repeat that?”

“For the group project,” she repeated. “We need to do a demonstration on Monday. What role do you want to take?”

(Mind,) he thought instantly, but out loud he just said, “I’m happy to take any position, whatever is best for the group.” He didn’t want his ego to be that obvious.

“Familiar it is,” Asami announced. “This should be super easy, we will just be doing a couple basic spells in the general magic groups, but if we want to get in a practice session over the weekend, I can reserve us a classroom.”

“Are we doing the extra voxavin practice?” Hazel asked.

Radha tilted her head. “Well, are we going to try out as a competitive team, or just do the mandatory P.E.?”

“I’m good with us trying out,” Cassie said. “It sounded like a big deal.”

“Glinse always makes it sound like a big deal,” Mathilde snickered. “Funny how the class she teaches is the most important one.”

“We’re mostly second and first years, it’s pretty rare for a group like us to make it through tryouts,” Asami added quickly. “Just so nobody gets their hopes up.”

“Daniel?” Cassie asked, glancing at him. “What do you think?”

He shrugged again. He wasn’t trying to be an athlete, but his telekinetic control had been improving a lot, and this could be an opportunity to hone that further. “Let’s go for it. Worst case scenario, I’m not going to be too worried if we don’t get picked, but I wouldn’t mind trying.”

“Great.” Collecting a few papers, Asami said, “I’ll get that classroom, and we can do the extra practice right after, if that doesn’t cause an issue for anyone.”

“Oh, well, I was going to go to a big party with my extensive social circle,” Daniel snarked, shaking his head. “But it turns out, the only people who don’t hate me here are you all and Jen, so…yeah, I think I can swing that.”

It wasn’t exactly true. His reputation hadn’t exactly improved, but it’d been blunted as the week went on. There hadn’t been any more humiliating shows, and the rumor mill–with a little guidance via Radha’s motor mouth–had nudged popular opinion towards ‘Rachel is a diaper-obsessed prick’ rather than ‘Daniel is a weird diaper boy’. He wasn’t popular, and there were still circles of bullies and mean girls he had to avoid, but the giggles in the hall had waned.

Class began to dismiss, and the coven left their cubby, dispersing as they got ready for their respective classes. Daniel would need to find Jen so they could be potion partners together, but for now he lingered, holding back as the other students filed out, until he had a bit of privacy with Professor Blackburn.

She spotted him lingering and gave a significant glance, though her attention was focused on a notebook in her hands. Waiting until it seemed like she was at a stopping point, Daniel said, “Do you have a moment?”

“How can I help you?” she asked, an eyebrow quirking up at him.

“I was trying to do some research, but I’m getting stymied by the limits on what books are available to me,” Daniel explained. “I was wondering if I could get you to sign off on a pass to get me restricted section access.”

She gave him a long, level look, thoughts moving efficiently behind her gaze. “Your performance has been adequate, Mr. Aster, but not exceptional. I have no issue with ambition, but perhaps you should be focusing your efforts on your assigned work before doing additional studying.”

“Alright,” Daniel said, sticking out his chin. “Give me a grade to aim for.”

That got her attention, and Blackburn finally seemed to give Daniel her full attention. “Excuse me?”

“If you won’t give me the pass because I’m not performing well enough, how well do I need to perform? Give me a target, and once I hit it, give me the pass.” He smiled, feeling confident in his gambit.

Blackburn smirked, and his confidence waned. “You don’t lack bravado, do you?”

He shook his head. “I know what I want, and I’m willing to work to get it.”

She nodded, looking thoughtfully down at him. “Tell me what books you want, I’ll have them set aside for you,” she replied.

That wasn’t what Daniel wanted, but he’d expected this. “I want to know as much as I can about the history and founding of Alphabeta.”

Once again, she gave him a curious look, and Daniel found himself feeling a bit intimidated. Just by being thoughtful, Blackburn was more threatening than any of Coach Glinse’s angriest rants. “Why is that?”

“I got in on a technicality,” Daniel admitted, letting the prepared lie do the work for him. “But…it’s obvious that the Dean wants me gone. She’s letting Glinse treat me like crap, and turning a blind eye to Rachel’s idea of ‘discipline’. I want to know if there’s any precedent for male students, anything I can use to defend myself if they start conspiring to have me expelled when their whipping boy routine doesn’t force me out.”

Glinse leaned back against her desk and set down the notebook she’d been studying, tilting her head as she looked at Daniel. She seemed about to speak, but Daniel interrupted before she could.

“You’ve been fair to me, you’ve only expected that I do as well as anyone else, and that’s all I want. Fairness. A chance to learn. I don’t want special treatment, or extra lessons, or for you to stick your neck out and go to bat against Madrigal.” He inhaled, chest swelling with self-assuredness. “Just give me information, and I’ll do the rest.”

Rubbing at her chin, Glinse nodded. “History books about the school. I’ll see what’s available.”

Smiling, Daniel nodded. “Thanks.”

It wasn’t as good as a free pass to wander the restricted section, but it might tell him what the school was built on, and what dangers were pressing down on the academy that he could prevent.

He turned to leave, but Professor Blackburn cleared her throat. “One more thing, Mr. Aster.”

Daniel turned in the doorway, frowning. “What?”

“I said your performance has been adequate, which is true, but I shouldn’t leave it unsaid. Your improvement within your coven has been exceptional. Keep it up.” The compliment was delivered flatly, and she turned her attention back to the notebook after delivering it, but if anything that made it feel more impactful. She wasn’t trying to butter up his ego, it was just a statement of fact.

Pride stroked, Daniel found himself strutting down the hall towards potion lessons. Jen was waiting for him outside, and her eyes lit up when she saw him.

“You’re looking happy,” she commented. Her glasses had been broken again, with new spell-o-tape wrapped around the center support. “Coven class went well?”

“I’m getting some books from the restricted section,” he replied. “Professor Blackburn signed off on it.”

“Nice!”

“She also said that I was learning very quickly.” Blushing, Daniel rubbed at the back of his neck. “Thanks for that. Your extra help has been invaluable.”

Jen beamed, eyes almost closed as she radiated joy. “I’m really glad to hear that.” Leaning in conspiratorially, she added, “Did you hear what Candice was saying about Rachel?”

“No,” Daniel said, flowing smoothly with the subject change. Jen had a habit of changing focus on a dime, and he’d learned to keep pace with her so he didn’t drown in the topics flowing past. “She’s not in my coven, you hear a lot more from her than I do.”

“There’s a rumor going around that Rachel wears diapers, and she’s making you wear them as a distraction so nobody notices hers.” Jen giggled. “Someone tried to pull her skirt down in a voxavin game–they claimed it was just a misguided spell, but everyone was trying to get proof.”

Daniel whistled. He hadn’t started that lie, but rumors had a habit of growing out of control, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit of vindictive joy at the comeuppance. “Sounds like she’s getting what she deserves.”

“Mhmm,” Jen said. “I bet if you hid a diaper in her purse, she’d go ballistic.”

Daniel thought about it, but ultimately shook his head. Rachel would know it was him–he was the only one with diapers in the school–and that was just asking for revenge. “Better not poke the bear,” he said. “Rachel going ballistic means going ballistic at me, after all.”

“Point. Shall we?”

“I think we shall.”

They entered potion class, gossiping like fiends until it came time to start brewing.

When they were done, Daniel was chosen–probably not at random, Professor Saito had chided them twice for giggling during lessons and causing a disruption–to rinse out the cauldrons before taking his free period. Gloves and safety glasses donned, he stayed behind as the class filed out, ensuring nothing caustic remained in their brewing stations that would damage the school equipment.

It didn’t occur to Daniel that this would result in him being left alone, until he heard the classroom door click shut. Even then, he didn’t quite yet recognize the danger until he turned to see who had walked in.

“Hey, Spark,” Rachel announced, glowering with fury. “We need to talk.”

...

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