Chapter Text
Mane stayed up all night, finally processing that his dead student was alive… sorta...?
Egg and Ghostbu woke up the next morning to find that Mane was already up. He was cooking breakfast, like he usually did when restless early in the morning.
"O-oh-! You’re up already?" Egg questioned, confused. It was 5AM.
"Didn't sleep..." Mane murmured, blinking slowly as he moved the pan back and forth over the stove.
Ghostbu walks in, footsteps so light that Mane could barely hear them. He held that eerie smile he always wore. Before, Wemmbu never smiled—unless he was with Egg—but now... he always wore a smile. Maybe he really was more peaceful now that death took him.
Manepear stiffened up seeing Ghostbu. "You’re up too?" He asked, voice devoid of any emotion—though his tail was still twitching, giving away his discomfort on seeing Ghostbu.
"Ghosts don't need sleep…" Ghostbu shrugs.
It made Mane flinch, hearing his voice again. "Right..." Mane mumbled. He turned back to the food, deciding not to pay attention to him. He pauses.
"Egg... you hungry...? I made a... slightly unreasonable amount of… food," Mane offered. Egg stifles a laugh.
"Sure-?" Egg shrugged, knowing he did not need food to sustain his body. He still accepted, since Mane was trying to be nice. "What are you making?" He hums, walking over to peer over Mane's shoulder. Quickly realizing he's too short to do that, he opts to just stand beside him.
"Bacon, Eggs, and uh... golden carrots..."Mane answers. He keeps stealing glances at Ghostbu, who's standing in the door frame.
When Ghostbu notices the behavior, he offers no words, just tilting his head slightly. Egg, unaware of the tension, bounces on the heels of his feet. "Okay, sounds good- can I make myself a plate?" He grins.
Mane steps to the side so Egg could reach the food. "Sure sure..." Mane mutters, hand wringing around the back of his neck awkwardly.
Egg happily makes a plate, getting himself a small portion, because again he doesn't need food to sustain this body—meaning he doesn't exactly have an appetite.
When Egg finishes, Mane makes himself a plate too, significantly bigger than Egg's—mostly for the fact his body actually does need the food, especially to keep up with how he trains his body.
Though, today, he barely touches his food. His eyes keep wandering to Ghostbu... who just... stands behind Egg, arms folded behind him, with that same smile.
It unsettled Mane, but Egg didn't seem to care at all. He didn't seem to see Ghostbu the same way Mane did. Every instinct in Mane's body screamed at him to fight, or atleast flex his claws just incase… but Egg said Ghostbu was harmless.
Mane felt that he should trust Egg… Wemmbu trusted Egg, even if he was a bit of a chungie. So, Mane will, too. It's what Wemmbu would've wanted.
The remaining time of their meal was silent. Egg happily ate, trying to make conversation with Mane, but Mane stayed dead silent, just pushing the food around on his plate. Eventually, Egg gave up, and with a huff, he turned to Ghostbu.
"You see this Wemmbu? He's ignoring me!" Eggchan grins, tone lighthearted and joking.
Ghostbu offers a breathy laugh in response. "I don't think he's ignoring you, Egg..." he quips, his smile widening just a tad as he ruffles Egg's hair.
"Hey, hey-! Hands off the hair, Wemmy!" Eggchan laughs, swatting Ghostbu's hand away. That was the first time he had laughed in months, making Mane actually look up in surprise, before stifling it down and forcing his eyes back to his food.
"Aww~ and why's that Egg? You afraid I'll mess up your bed head hair even more?" Ghostbu grins, using the same teasing voice he'd use when he was alive as he leans over Egg.
Mane's hand tightens around his fork. He doesn't like hearing that tone anywhere else. It should've died with Wemmbu, not live on in a ghost who didn't even act like him.
Mane tunes out the rest of their banter, focusing solely on the food infront of him. He feels the weight of many sleepless nights weighing down on his eyelids. The flavor of the food was good, like it always was... but it felt wrong to eat it. It felt wrong to express emotions, too. Everything felt wrong right now to Mane.. LIFE felt wrong. It felt wrong to just... move on, after killing his own student. He didn't feel like he deserved simple pleasures anymore, such as enjoying his own cooking, or cracking jokes... scratch that, he KNEW he didn't deserve it.
Because Wemmbu didn't deserve to die. Wemmbu deserved a long happy life. Not a life cut short by his own mentor through blind rage. And he still died, didn’t he.
Without realizing it, Mane had bent his fork at a noticeable angle, breathing heavy with barely contained anger. Not at the two in front of him, but himself.
Ghostbu and Egg had turned to look at him, both confused. "Uh, Mane... you okay...?" Egg starts, before abruptly being cut off by Mane.
"I'm fine," He growls, standing up, and walking out, leaving his half finished meal on the table.
"Wow.. okay... someone's in a mood..." Egg mumbles, still heavily confused, trying to lighten the mood.
Ghostbu laughs, putting a hand on Egg's shoulder. "Eh, I'm sure he's fine, like bro, it's probably been a rough patch for him... like... imagine what he's going through..." he points out, his soft smile never faltering once.
"Yeah... maybe your right..." Egg mumbles, a weird feeling in his stomach. "I'm just... worried... he's been like this... ever since... well, your death... Wem..."
Ghostbu talks before he can say anything more. "Everyone grieves in their own way, Egg... he'll come around to me being here... eventually-" he reassures, though he added on that "eventually" with a bit of doubt. In truth, he didn't know if Mane would ever accept him... only seeing his dead student's grave, and not the ghost standing infront of him.
"I hope so..." Egg mutters, leaning back in his chair. "You know... I'd probably do anything to bring you back Bu... even if you’re technically here... no one else but Mane and I can see you. It's dumb..." Egg admits with a frown.
Ghostbu tips Egg's chair an inch further out, and Egg topples, falling with a loud thud.
"Hey-! Dude what the fuck!?" Egg whimpers, rubbing the back of his head.
"Sorry- you were getting a bit too sad and deep dude-" Ghostbu shrugs with a grin.
"Oh, you are so on." Egg grins, standing up abruptly and tackling Ghostbu.
—with Manepear—
Mane was now deep in the jungle. He didn't have an exact destination in mind, but he felt like he needed to get out of that godforsaken house.
He explored until the sun had dipped deep below the horizon, bathing everything in a dim blue light. He already knew every inch of this forest, but he found himself uncaring. He cut down each and every vine that was in his way with his claws, muttering swears when thorns pricked him.
He walked until he reached the edge of the jungle. He huffed, turning around and doing another lap.
Honestly, Mane missed Wemmbu a lot. He missed the simple pleasures of training, and laughing, and having lunch in the training grounds. He missed doing Wemmbu's hair, the way wemmbu would complain when he called him his cub... he missed him, more then he'd like to admit, because admiting he missed Wemmbu meant admitting that he's the reason why he even has to miss him. If he hadn't been so stupid to snitch on Egg... if he didn’t demand that Wemmbu hand over his mace… and most importantly, if he didn’t get so mad at Wemmbu. If he hadn’t struck Wemmbu multiple times with his enchanted netherite axe while Wemmbu had no armor on.
That'd be too much for Mane to admit. It'd hurt his pride, his ego, and most of all, his heart. Despite it being hidden under all the layers of being a strong, confident player, who hated people, it was still there. Wemmbu, one of the few people he let into that care, that truth, died, and it'd been his fault. Admitting that would break him more than it already had.