Chapter Text
“Alright! Attention please~! Welcome to Heartslabyul, freshies! We’ve prepared a welcome party for all of you who were sorted into our dorm!”
The buzz of the jittery and nervous freshmen was all that could be heard within the gardens of the Heartslabyul Dorm that night. Hooded figures of all shapes and sizes gathered around the tables laden with food and dessert and tea. They muttered such and such to each other, just as any sane person would after witnessing such a chaotic entrance ceremony.
Cater looked on as all this unfolded, smiling to himself at the sight of these new students. All the trouble he and Trey went through to make sure this party went off without a hitch sure seemed worth it…
Now, all he had to do was socialize and get to know these fellas well! And what impeccable timing, too, as the viridian-eyed third-year easily managed to catch an interesting conversation right at that moment.
“Hey, are you a first-year, too? Whaddaya think happened to that monster that was going wild at the entrance ceremony?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about we sneak out and go check it out at the Headmaster’s Office—”
Oho? Trying to skip the party, huh?
“—YAY!” Cater interrupted the two freshmen’s conversation, abruptly placing his arms over their shoulders, startling them. “Mr. First-Year with Spiky Hair, you’re quite the daring one, aren’t you? Your seniors did their utmost to prepare this event and you’re just leaving~?”
“J-jeez! When did you get behind me?!”
He watched in glee as the heart-adorned student stuttered and buffered because of him. Meanwhile, the other student—who had dark-blue hair and was marked facially with a spade mark—was as stiff as a brick. How cute!
”By the way, if you’re not present at the welcome party, Riddle will have you lose your head, y’know~?” the older of the three said in a teasing stone…although what he said wasn’t a lie at all. Upon taking the hint, the red and blue first-years began nodding vigorously, their smiles nervous.
“O-of course, I’ll just stay here, Senpai! I’m so moved by this, uh, wonderful welcome party!”
“Y-yes! Exactly.”
Hearing this, Cater smiled even wider, hugging them tighter.
“Good, good! Now pull yourselves together! Your reliable Cater-senpai worries about you! Though, now that I think about it, I haven’t caught your names yet…”
The first-year who’d suggested leaving the venue was the first to reply, having regained his composure already. He pointed at himself, grinning. “The name’s Ace Trappola!”
“And I’m Deuce Spade,” replied the other seemingly more uptight one, bowing his head slightly. Cater nodded in acknowledgment.
“Nice! My name’s Cater Diamond~!” Upon introducing himself, the third-year finally let them go. As expected, they were quick to move a little farther away from him. He chuckled a little because of this. “If you have any troubles, feel free to approach me and Trey Clover! Did you guys have any questions?”
Whenever Cater asked that in the past, the students would usually reply with queries about the dorm quarters or the rules, but…it seemed as if Ace had a more unique question in tow.
“Erm, about the dorm leader… Riddle Rosehearts, was it?” the red-haired freshman began, being very obvious with his attempt at fishing information. “He seems rather strict. Any tips on how to deal with him?”
He truly hadn’t seen this coming. Cater smiled in an attempt to mask his uncertainty.
“If you just follow 810 rules at all times, he won’t behead you~!”
“A-all 810?! That’s crazy!” Ace’s panic and disbelief was palpable. “No sane person would be able to deal with all that daily!”
That was true... But rather than dwelling on the topic, Cater instead chose to sneakily change it into something else entirely, because just how could a third-year advise a new student to simply “suck it up” when pressured to that extent?
Something of this degree couldn’t be solved through mere conversation. A far more drastic measure had to be taken.
Cater was more than willing to continuously take that risk.
(How ironic it was to find the venue for the earlier welcome party be in a state of such disrepair.)
A clash of flames and vines could be seen in the midst of the Heartslabyul gardens, the flames rising and rising until it was heralded as the winner.
“Off With Your Head!”
The grass patches were charred, the roses were in disarray… At the center of all this, one could find Riddle Rosehearts, still as indignant and dignified as ever, glowering angrily at an exhausted and collared Cater Diamond. The last of the latter’s clones had long since dispersed into the wind; it was a battle so unbalanced that it could hardly be called a battle at all.
“Haha…” Cater laughed bitterly as he willed himself to stand up, only to fail miserably. He gave Riddle a look that was a mix of contempt and awe. A wry smile etched itself on his face. “You’re so strong, Riddle-kun… Of course, I wouldn’t be able to defeat you…”
(Though he wished he did. How could he lack so much?)
Riddle’s gaze on him stayed the same—cold and disdainful. He tapped his heels impatiently against the charred grass, the expression on his face souring by the minute.
“Until when will you continue this farce, Cater?” he asked, trying his damnedest to keep his anger at bay. His gray eyes looked steely from where Cater could see him, and they seemed to glow in fury, almost as if they presented the tranquil fury of the moon above. “This has been the fourteenth time since last year. Don’t you dare think you can laugh this off. I know the real reason why you still keep challenging my leadership!”
The Heartslabyul dorm leader marched towards where he knelt, making the third-year grimace as the red-haired boy held him by the collar of his uniform.
“You… I’ve been letting you off so far out of respect. Since you are my senior, as well as my predecessor,” Riddle spat, his words venomous, the ones that followed even moreso. “But you persist. Do you doubt my leadership that much? Hasn’t it sunk in that it’s these ideals of mine that defeated you? I swear the next time you challenge me, it will be the end of you!”
It’s painful. This is all so painful.
His grip on Cater’s collar tightened, and his patience thinned. “—I am, and I have always been superior. Just how beat up must you become for you to realize your inferiority?!”
Stop telling me things I already know.
Cater opened his mouth to reply…but the words Riddle later on yelled were enough to render him silent.
“YOU ARE NOT THE DORM LEADER ANYMORE, CATER! …Let that sink in!”
Riddle let go of with a huff, turning his back on Cater as he released him from his unique magic. He didn’t look back—not even once.
“…Make sure to clean this mess up before dawn,” was all that he said before he disappeared into the dormitories, leaving his companion more broken than he’d ever been.
(…No. He wasn’t just broken.)
(He was shattered.)
The truth was that Cater had always known just how little he mattered.
He’d always been aware of it. Why else were his interests and desires so easily thrown in the trash way back then? Why else would he overcompensate for all that he lacked through faked smiles and obscure relationships?
He had always drifted through life aimlessly, convinced that anything he’d hold dear and appreciate would be just as easily abandoned and forgotten. His identities have been acknowledged and rejected in the same sentence, in the same breath, and endlessly, he’s always had to just live up to what was expected of him.
Cater…never really had anything significant to hold onto. He didn’t have anything that breathed purpose into his entire existence.
“When I became the leader of Heartslabyul…I thought that was it…” he muttered to himself in his lonesome, eyes devoid of any light and life. “I was wrong… I was wrong again…but…”
…Why?
Why can’t I still find it in me to give up?
Memories resurface. Cater remembers witnessing the suffering of the Heartslabyul students subjected to Riddle’s anger…
He remembers the students’ tears as they cried in front of him and Trey. He remembers the pity, regret, and uncertainty flash across Trey’s face. He remembers Riddle’s frustration, remembers how that mature yet immature dorm leader couldn’t understand just what it was he was doing wrong.
He remembers his heart swelling in a rare emotion of hurt as he watched all this unfold.
(It wasn’t perfect, but Heartslabyul was all that he had right now.)
Shaking, he willed himself to stand up. A reckless, almost desperate, yet determined look becomes apparent in his viridian gaze.
“…Split Card.”
One clone was all that he could muster at that moment. But it was enough.
The other, newly-spawned Cater looked at him blankly, the disdain in his eyes expressing all that there was to be said. Yet he paid no heed to this. Instead, he limped forward, heading off to God knows where.
“Stay here and take my place,” he said, finally, not giving his clone even so much as a glance, like he couldn’t even bear to look at himself anymore. “I’m going to…go and prepare for my final challenge to Riddle.”
It took a while before he disappeared from sight entirely and completely. The second Cater continued to stare blankly at the direction he’d gone to until familiar footsteps came into earshot, prompting him to look to his left and meet a warm, amber gaze.
“Cater! You’re injured!” Trey Clover yelled as he ran towards where he was. Calloused hands clasped his face in worry. “What…what happened? Why is the garden in such a mess? We have to tend to your injuries before we clean up…”
Lies. You know exactly what happened… You’re just pretending you don’t.
The current Cater could barely keep himself from scoffing when his companion’s fingers suddenly interlaced with his, catching him off-guard.
“Hey… I’m always here for you, okay?” Trey said so gently and tenderly that…he almost believed that concern was true. Almost.
“I’ll be alright, Trey,” ‘Cater’ said, smiling as he tilted his head. “I’ll be alright…”
The first drop of blot thus resonated from an unforeseen future.