Chapter Text
By now, Deny started to make his way back to his dorm, exhausted from his first lecture about a topic he barely understands.
He slouched over while making his way there, causing him to have gnarly back pain the rest of the way.
Deny moved slower than his usual agile self, maybe it was from sitting on the cold, hard floors underneath the staircase?
He considered it, yet never thought it’d be the main reason that he felt suffering.
He gets back to his dorm and drops his black bag on the middle of the ground, textbooks and notepads scattering out.
His baby-pink notebook travelled the furthest, hitting the back wall enough to almost leave a dent on the bottom.
He goes over to retrieve his prized notebook. He’s unsure how he received it, but somewhere on his case file he could barely read due to the small print, it told him to use it.
It felt like a treasure to him, would he be useless without it?
Deny picked it up with one hand and started to inspect the cloud-like cover, reassuring himself that there are no rips or tears.
After he inspected it, he set it down on his light-wood desk, blowing the dust off of it then plopping himself on his uncomfortable bed.
Deny stared at the ceiling, all boring and grey. The room colours were depressing to him, yet the decorations gave it the pop it desperately needed.
He twitched over to his side, staring at the ground expressionless, what can he do to figure this out? The case won’t exit his mind and that was causing him stress.
Deny sits up to reach for his notebook again, carefully reviewing his notes that his classmate told him.
Froste was apparently kind and empathic towards others.
Classy was respected by everyone… Almost everyone.
Yet somehow, when those two were together, everything changed.
Deny didn’t need other people's explanations, so he needed to come up with a different plan for now.
He thought long and hard and came up with his next goal: watch them.
It seemed simple, right? Maybe it was something only a creepy stalker would do, but perhaps it would work out.
Deny launches himself out of bed, forgetting about the lack of gravity and lands his feet stiffly on the ground, ankles twisting a little.
They were on “life support” from the landing, so Deny stood there for a second, trying to readjust them back into place.
The pain only stung for a minute, allowing Deny to leave his dorm with his notebook in one pocket and a pen in the other.
Did he know where to find them, absolutely not!
He was just lucky that his school loved to gossip in the hallways, even around people they haven’t seen before.
Deny roamed the halls, listening to the quiet whispers from the crowd around him, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Just your average school drama he didn’t need to focus on.
Deny worried that he couldn’t get his case started, until he heard a few girls chatting by a few lockers.
He didn’t pay much attention to it until he heard the names of the two people for his case.
“Did you see Froste pull Classy behind the stairwell earlier this morning?” - One of them asked another girl, who was leaning by a locker, filing her nails down.
She put the file down, looking back at the girl who asked her the question and responded:
“I saw it, but I seriously don’t understand Froste’s antics.”
The girl gave her a confused look.
“What antics? Doesn’t he just hate Classy or whatever?” - She responds, still processing the words of the other one while twirling around her silky, brown hair.
“Have you seen Froste, he’s quite nice and charming to everyone else, but there is something about Classy that’s different. I’m unsure what it is though.” - She explained.
“If I didn’t know any better, I'd say he loves Classy.”
The two girls went silent.
Deny’s eyes widened from across the hallway.
“Love? That couldn’t be it, right?” - He pondered, tapping his finger on his thigh as he wrote down a note.
A third girl finally chimed in to break the silence:
“Oh please, a cute guy like Froste wouldn’t be interested in him.”
The brunette nods in agreement but the second girl still felt that something was off with Froste, but doesn’t know what.
Deny kept his head down, trying his best to blend in with the crowd as he listened to the rest of the conversation.
He looked at his pages, now filled with even more notes. He flicked his pen between his fingers, curling and twirling it around as he kept on thinking.
He did his best to get everything down, but there was one thing he couldn’t possibly believe was true.
Love.
Deny saw one interaction and believed it wasn’t love, after all– they hated each other, right?
Love wasn’t supposed to be unfair to one when we all are equals.
Love wasn’t supposed to be mistreated and cruel.
Love wasn’t supposed to look like hatred.
So why did Deny feel the warmth of love behind the staircase?
.
.
.
.
.
Deny started to re-question his own Cupid-Senses, that wasn’t the love he learned up in Cupid’s Clouds.
At the same time, why would he be given a case where they were already in love? The arrow is supposed to make them fall in love, that’s the rule of Cupids, no?
Why would he need the arrow if they are already in love? How stupid would that be?
Deny wiped the sweat from his brow and closed his baby-pink notebook. He wasn’t writing down that there was real love unless he saw it for himself.
He sat with his hands on his head, with his back hunched over, his posture out of place. He reeked of nervousness.
He didn’t want to fail a mission that seemed easy, it would be humiliating for someone like him to mess up when the Head-Cupid trusted him so much.
But he couldn’t let his mom down.
Deny grabbed his baby-pink notebook with a look of determination, he was anxious to continue on with his sole mission. But he will never be a quitter.
Deny went to look for anything else he could write down in his notebook, personality traits, behaviors, something useful that would make his job easier.
Thanks to everybody who can’t keep their mouths and opinions shut, he learned a few things about Froste.
Froste was athletic, intelligent and quite popular for only being a second year, it seemed typical for a guy like him, but one crucial detail stayed the same.
Froste was kind towards others, and Deny heard that from every single person he’s eavesdropped on.
It was rather interesting hearing all of the nice things they had to say about Froste, at least that’s what Deny thought.
Yet Deny kept on walking the long halls, uneasy with the amount of information he was receiving.
He eventually paused his wandering when he reached the doors to the infamous courtyard. He gazed around the room until he felt that familiar feeling.
Love.
Deny tried to not give in, but he had to.
So he walked over there, behind a dimly lit corner.
What could he possibly find this time?
Deny took a quick peek behind the wall, not fully expecting who he saw back there.
Due to the poorly lit area, he couldn’t make out who those people were at first, until he looked at the silhouette.
It was Froste and Classy once again, but he didn’t hear as much loud bickering as the first time he saw them.
Deny flashed his phone flashlight at the two guys, and he noticed Classy whimpering, trying to get away from the grasp of Froste but to no avail.
Classy opens his eyes to see Deny, the look in his eyes tells Deny to intervene again, so that’s what Deny did.
“Froste, what is your problem?” - Deny asked, startling Froste who jerked his head backwards.
Froste lets go of Classy, allowing him to move only an inch before he grabs him again.
“I don’t have one. But clearly you have an issue with it. Maybe you should start staying in your own lane?” - Froste snarked, making huge gestures with his hands.
But Deny noticed something unusual in Froste’s behavior and actions.
The way he looked at Classy despite saying harsh things, the way his face flustered a bit when Deny mentioned Classy’s name during their interactions.
The way Froste kept looking up and down at Classy…
It was all too familiar.
Deny thought he was overthinking it, but one gaze from Froste towards Classy gave it away.
Deny’s eyes widened in realization.
Froste was in… love?
But that couldn’t be love, the way he treated Classy wasn't love, it was hatred.
Deny snapped out of it and helped Classy out, until there was only Froste left in that area.
He studied the reaction of Froste, he seemed desperate, but for what?
Maybe he was desperate for Classy to stay, but what else could it be?
Deny turned around and left, leaving Froste alone in the dark.
“I guess those girls were right, but how am I supposed to navigate this?” - Deny asked himself, now feeling confused as ever.
Froste was in love with Classy, and that changed things for Deny.
Did Classy like Froste back, Deny didn’t believe that Classy would.
Especially after how Froste treats him, why would he like him back?
The worst part was that Froste never looked guilty, not even once. He was confident with every word he said.
Was he aware of the hurtful things he said? Deny didn’t know, all he could do was go back to his dorm to take a nap.
He couldn’t deal with those two for another second, and the thought of a bed made him crave sleeping more.
But as he kept on strutting his way to his empty dorm, he couldn’t help but wonder.
What was going on with Froste, and why did this case suddenly become more complicated?
Deny knew he’d figure it out one way or another.