Chapter Text
Tick-tock, Tick-tock, Tick-tock.
The continuous sound of the grandfather clock echoes to the Ramshackle lounge, cutting through the dead silence, but never enough to the tension between the two individuals who occupied the sofa.
Yuu can feel Cale's presence on the other side of the sofa. The distance between them is wide yet small, enough distance between a guardian and ward, but never enough to Yuu. They can feel his stare piercing through theirs at the back of their head, yet their head remains low, their eyes never left their clenched hands placed rather submissively to their lap. They swallow rather audibly, they can feel sweat slowly form and run down through their face as each second passes by, but they still refuse to give up. They're stubborn, too stubborn to look up and face the other, afraid that if they face him, they'll see the disappointment in his face that will bury them more from shame.
Shame on butting in from his business, shame on not being enough to control themself to not hover from his back like a protector.
They heard him sigh.
"Is that's all?"
Twang! Twang!
His words struck them, just like the ringing sound the clock made once it strikes twelve. The loud sound chimes to the room, loud yet hollow to their ears.
His words made them flinch, causing their grip to their clenched hands to tighten up that it make them feel their pointed nails dig deeper through their skin.
It finally came their opportunity to tell him. It was after they came back home after their visit to Pomefiore dormitory they decided to wait for him to confront him as soon as he came home. They didn't want their worry to swallow them whole, so instead of later, they had to do it now. They waited for him till the afternoon sun slowly faded and the moon was peeking at the horizon. As the clock struck 11:30 at night is where the door opened to reveal the man they're waiting, with different brands of paper bags hanging from both of his hands.
One look from Yuu, both understood that they had to talk.
"I'm sorry." Those are the only words Yuu can say in the end after they release their pent up frustration and worry to the one who's the source of said feelings they faced.
They heard him sigh again.
"Thank you for telling me."
Yuu eyes widen. They immediately raise their head to meet him whose attention is looking at the coffee table in front of them, also avoiding eye contact.
"You're not the only one who confined me to this." Cale chuckle that looks like it's force. "I realize that I kept a lot of people in the dark that it made them worry a lot."
"I don't understand though, why would you worry for someone like me? A trash of all people."
Yuu wants to stand up, grab his shoulder and shake it so hard and fast while screaming that he's not a "trash" that he believes himself to be while throwing many compliments about him along the way. They can feel and tell that his companions from his world probably tried many times to convince him he's the opposite of trash, but from the looks of it, he still didn't believe the good things of what others say about him, even if a god told him that he's a good person he's still probably won't listen.
"One of my family members advised me to tell them early on if I'm planning to do something so they can prepare themself, not be left out in the dark, and don't need to worry about what's running through my mind. I promised them that, and it seems to be I'm slowly going back to that old habit of mine…"
They watch Cale slowly raise his head and turn it to face them with an embarrassed yet sincere smile.
"I'm not the type of person who's breaking someone's promises, so thank you for telling me, and I'm sorry I guess, for making you worry too much."
Yuu blankly stared at him. His apologize looks like more of a question, it's so like him that is made his vision blurry. They blink rapidly, making their clear a little but feel something run down to their face.
Cale sighs. "Aigoo.... Why are you crying all of a sudden?" He asks. His words may sound harsh and blunt but the way he pulls out a handkerchief to one his pockets and use it to wipe their tears away says otherwise.
"You know why! You jerk!" They grumble with a sniff.
Cale chuckle. "Worrying was supposed to be my job."
"Then stop making me worried!"
Yuu notices his hands still for a moment before continuing wiping their wet cheeks.
"Then don't worry about me." He said and removed his handkerchief. "Kids like you shouldn't worry about what adults are doing. You were supposed to live freely without worries now that I'm here."
Cale sighs again when he saw Yuu's pout.
"I'll try my best to inform you beforehand, to not be left out and lessen your worries."
Yuu's pout slowly morph into a smile. "Thank you." They said, voice full of relief.
They were glad. They know he's not the type to make an empty promise, he always keeps his words in the end. They're relieved that he'll try because that is better than not trying at all. The suffocating words that they kept shoving it to the back of their minds and the weight on their shoulders slowly disappeared.
It's finally done. They finally took a step forward to confront him from their worries they got from his suspicious behaviour, now they need to know the cause of his suspicious behaviour.
Yuu was about to ask him about that when Cale cut them off.
"Tomorrow will be the last day of your break, right?" He asked.
Yuu raises an eyebrow and answers his question through a nod of their head.
Cale stood up from his seat and started walking through the stairs.
"Clear your plans tomorrow afternoon if you have any."
He stops when one of his feet touches the first step of the stairs. They watch him slowly turn his head to face them sideways, his red shoulder length hair flutter to his movements, causing his red strands to scatter through his shoulder and softly caress his face. His lazy looking yet intelligent reddish-brown eyes pierce through theirs with a lazy smirk.
"You want to know what I've been up to right? Explaining it is tiring, so let me show it to you instead."
"Epel?"
Yuu can't help but call his name out loud when they saw him standing in front of the mirror that led to the Octavinelle dormitory. They rapidly blink. It's normal for students to hang out even in the Hall of Mirrors, but the problem is, it's very rare to see Epel hanging around here, most of all if he's wearing a hoodie that covers the upper part of your face with a mask that covers the bottom part, as if he's hiding to someone.
They saw him turn around as soon as their call registered to his mind, his actions causing him to show the upper part of his face.
Yuu raises an eyebrow when Epel stares back at them with wide eyes.
"What are you doing here?" They ask.
Yuu watches him slowly turn his body to fully face them. From his actions done out of respect, they get to fully see his attire. He wore a loose long worn out sweater that reached his thighs, the design of the sweater made them realize that what he's wearing is a hand-me-down sweater from Deuce. To complete his sweater, he wore loose black sweatpants and white and purple sneakers.
From his casual attire alone, they deduce that he's probably trying to not draw attention.
They watch Epel scratch the back of his head. "Well, you see-"
"Heh~ your joining us today Yuu? That's a first."
Yuu turned to the voice who cut through Epel's explanation, only to see Ruggie in his usual respective dorm uniform attire.
"And what are you doing here Ruggie-senpai?" Yuu echoes their question to Epel to him time.
This is the location Cale told them to come, so why on earth others coming here instead of him? This is driving them nuts.
They saw Ruggie raise an eyebrow. "To meet Cale-san of course."
Meeting him? They're also going to meet him today?
"He's probably waiting inside." Epel but in and face the mirror.
"Are you sure?" Yuu can't help but ask. "I message him on where he is right now and he still haven't replied to me ye-"
"Yoishu~~♪♬"
Their words cut off when they felt two hands placed behind their back and a force that pushed them sideways with, sending their body to meet the mirror of the Octavinelle dorm.
"Ruggie-senpai you bi-!"
Their last words cut off when their vision and mind distort and undergo a sudden change of scenery. It took them three blinks for their vision to clear up, but not enough to stop the ringing sound piercing through their eardrums. They let Epel grab their hand and guide them with Ruggie who's on front and making his way to what appears to be Mostro lounge.
From the entire journey, Yuu closes their eyes for a moment and rubs both sides of their temple with one hand.
"Welcome gentlemen." Jade's voice registered once the hazy feeling of being teleported to a new place was gone.
"Cale-san has been waiting for you three on your usual seat, I'll lead you three there." Jade said and turned around "Come along now." He continues and starts walking, the three immediately follow.
Yuu looks around while they walk. The Mostro lounge never ceases to amaze them for the aesthetic it holds, it always gives them a mature vibe that they are in a bar rather than a school dormitory. It made them wonder if they sell alcohol here, because Cale would definitely love to chug one of those and maybe them too if they let them.
"Oh you're all here."
Yuu immediately turn their attention around to face the familiar voice. Their mind already forming up words full of nagging on why the fuck he didn't reply to their messages when it immediately dies down when their eyes land on the table in front of him.
"Is that…." They heard Epel whisper beside them with a gasp.
Yuu blankly stared at the table. There lies different varieties of food, from main dish to desserts, it's all there full of meat, vegetables and sweets. There's so many food that your favourites are probably in there based on the sparkle eyed looks of both Epel and Ruggie.
"Nice! meat!" Ruggie let out a gasp.
He immediately took a seat to the chair on the other side of the table, while Epel took a seat next to him. Cale tapped the seat beside him, which they immediately took that as a sign and take a seat next to him, their eyes never leaving the food placed in front of them.
"Wha-"
"Eat." Cale cut them off. They watch him grab a plate full of sticky honey pork and place some on their plate.
"You still haven't eaten lunch right?" He nonchalantly says, making them blush from embarrassment because they got caught.
"Eat first, we'll talk later."
Yuu sighs in defeat and starts eating along with Ruggie and Epel. The sound of their spoon and fork meeting the glass plate are the only sound surrounding the peaceful silence between them.
"I've been feeding Epel for the past few days."
Yuu almost choke on their drink when Cale's words cut through the silence.
They let out a cough. "Excuse me?"
"I noticed he's getting thinner these past few days, only to find out Vil has been making him go through an extreme diet regimen that it got to a point that he's only eating at lunch and the food portion is very little." Cale said while twirling the dessert knife between his fingers.
"Called him out about it and it made him act like a bitch-"
Yuu heard a wheeze and a choking sound on the other side of their table.
"-in return. So I bluntly told him that I'll ruin his diet regimen."
"Never knew you had the guts to say that to his face." Yuu said with a chuckle.
"I'm sending him foods made by me which slowly became hard to do so because he's keeping watch. Had to make a deal to Rook for him to send the foods to him without getting caught."
Cale scoffs. "Who does he think anyway? Controlling what they need to eat or not? To a child no less? Let them eat whatever the fuck they want, it helps them grow and be healthy dammit."
"I want more donuts." Ruggie nonchalantly but into his rant session.
"Jade! More donuts here please." Cale called to Jade who immediately responded to him with a smile and nod.
"Anyway, Vil told me that he'll let him eat normally tomorrow, so Epel." Cale calls Epel who's been silent the entire time.
"Eat as much as you fucking want." He said with a smile, perfectly timing the fresh batch of donuts being placed on the table by Jade.
"Shishishi! Let's mark this as a celebration for his escape from hell!"
"You're just saying that so I'll order more food for you to stuff on."
"Is it working though?"
Cale turning to Jade who now pulled out a notepad from his pockets is the only response Ruggie got to him.
The silence became lively as soon as their stomachs filled with delicious food, contradicting the mature aura the place holds. Cale and Jade talk about the food Cale's ordering, Epel shoving Yakiniku to his mouth while tears running from his misty blue eyes full of happiness, and Ruggie pats Epel's back while laughing at him, Yuu watches all of those happen with a smile on their face.
They remember Cale always said to himself that he's trash, a good for nothing bastard, but this scene alone, will always remind the people who are there to witness that he's very different to what he said to himself.
He's a really good person.
Omake:
Yuu: By the way, if what you're doing is for Epel, what's Ruggie-senpai doing here?
Ruggie: Blackmail him that I'll tell Vil that he's feeding Epel here.
Yuu: But didn't he said that he already straight up told him that he's feeding Epel behind his back?
Cale: Don't worry, he'll pay for it *"innocent smile"*
Ruggie:
Ruggie: haha….fuck