Chapter Text
Zeke didn't get into the infirmary often. He'd pick his battles—any ranks higher than him, he'd leave alone.
Which weren't a lot. He was ranked 8th strongest of the entire school. He only had to kiss up to a handful of people. He'd be civil with those worth his time, but beyond that? He had a wide array of trash at his disposal. To do as he pleased.
As long as he avoided angering those more powerful, he'd be safe. Zeke thought he would. He didn't do anything wrong.
But John… Wasn't a cripple. He wasn't powerless like he should have been.
Little Johnny Boy, the one who'd Zeke had played with the entire year, beaten and bruised and berated like he deserved to.. was actually the strongest student in school, the true King.
What the fuck.
John had an ability this entire time, and he chose to hide it. When he did start using it, he remained anonymous, used that creepy mask and Zeke's used lunch bag that he was sure he threw into the trash. Disgusting.
And yet, he was the king. This whole time. He was joker, the one who defeated all the royals—even Arlo.
And the reason why Zeke was stuck in the infirmary, a foot in his grave. Despite Doc's treatment, the blood still seeped through the bandages in an angry red. Zeke hated having to sit back and 'get better.' He wasn't a weakling. He wasn't like any of the low tiers. So how did he get here?! John didn't deserve to be king. He didn't get to beat Zeke up like he was the scum of the Earth, didn't get to step on him like he was merely a pebble on the road.
But, the reality was that John was stronger than him. Stronger than any other student in Wellston. If Zeke wanted to survive.. he had to keep playing by the rules. Put the weak in their place, and respect the strong.
Some would call it other things, like sucking up or kissing up to them just because they're stronger. Well, yeah, that was practically it, but Zeke preferred to say he was just befriending those worth his time.
He and John may have been at odds since.. forever, but they could always put aside their differences. Besides, he had humiliated the Royals so easily! Zeke loved seeing them getting beaten to the ground. Isen, Blyke, Cecil, Remi, and Arlo.. What a bunch of pretentious bastards, always thinking they're hot shit. They all got their Karma. Seraphina in particular, losing her ability all together! Served them right.
Yes.. John as their King wasn't all that bad. Zeke wouldn't have thought he'd be saying this, but maybe they could even be friends. He just had to get on his good side.
Zeke spotted the Shadow King walking through the halls, and immediately rushed to follow. He'd forgotten how hard it was to track him—to pose as a cripple, he couldn't draw too much attention to himself, lest he get on any Higher Tiers' nerves.
He always hid behind the stupid "no fighting" rule in class, or on the rooftop with Seraphina. Even as he declared himself as king, and that the whole school belonged to him, he still mostly avoided students, like he wanted nothing to do with them.
As John turned the corner, Zeke quickly picked up the pace. But his shoes slipped, and he found himself stumbling forward into the ground, unknowingly missing John's punch.
"Oof!" Zeke landed frankly humiliatingly. Luckily, there were no other students to watch, but John had front row seats to the spectacle. So, wouldn't that be worse?
He sat up, finding John looking at him. For once, he didn't have a scowl on his face, too stunned. Zeke would have thought he almost laughed. But then John clicked into action and glared at him. "Dumbass. Why were you following me?"
"I wasn't!—"
"You think I didn't notice you tailing behind me?" John loomed over him, pressing his foot into the back of his head again. Goddammit, he keeps doing that!
"W-Wait! I acknowledge you as the new king!" He hurried. "If you need me to do anything—"
He let out a pained wince as John dug his foot deeper. He was sure that John spat on him as he said, "Sucking up to me now that I'm King, huh? I'm not falling for your bullshit. Stay the hell away from me." John stepped back, not rendering him a blood stain on the concrete this time, and simply walking away.
Despite the somewhat peaceful way things went(John was about to punch him, and he stepped on Zeke, but he didn't get hospitalised!…) he couldn't help but feel annoyed. Surely, becoming King wouldn't make him that much more annoying. Before John became king, he wasn't fighting back against Zeke. Then again, he was pretending to be a cripple, which was still weird as hell.
John wasn't like any of the Royals. He hated Zeke just like them, but they mostly avoided him as long as he didn't mess with them. Zeke could do as he said, and just stay away from him. He doubted that was good in the long run, though. Reminder; Zeke had been putting John in his place every chance he could since the moment he enrolled into the school, and pretend-cripple-turned-king was a ticking time bomb. If he didn't get on his good side soon, John would sooner or later take out his anger on him as revenge.
Let's see… What was the easiest way to someone's heart? To get Johnny boy's frown upside down? Whenever Zeke was pissed off, he usually went looking for a low tier, but somehow, he didn't think that would work for John. He had literally beaten up all the Royals, and still looked one wrong move away from murdering someone.
Decisions, decisions… maybe a drink or something? That would cool off his hot head, right?
No.. not a drink… something better. Food.. Ice cream? Ah, but where would he even get that? Off campus, definitely, but finding John would already take a while. It'd melt by the time he gave it, and who liked ice cream soup? It would be another reason for John to hate him. Still, a dessert was in the right direction…
…!
That's it!
Who would be able to resist..
THE TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE?!
It was a battlefield. Zeke had to skip class in order to rest at the cafeteria and wait for the stalls to open. And yet, there was a long que of students, all doing the same thing he did. Then there were the students fighting, even after the Triple Chocolate Cakes were served.
He wished he could have gotten the rest of his goons to line up, but the Triple Chocolate Cakes messed with the minds of people. Even if you coerced someone into giving you their slice.. They would risk everything for a taste. Their fear of you would never go above the heavenly taste of Triple Chocolate Cakes. Take the John and Seraphina incident, for example. The Queen of Wellston had demanded a slice, and the pretend-cripple had denied immediately. Even when she froze him with her ability, John didn't let her take his Triple Chocolate Cake, and let it fall to the ground. 'If he can't taste it, nobody can.'
Well, anyway, in the end, Zeke won his prize. His delicious Triple Chocolate Cake. Even if he couldn't taste it, but he could still admire the glistening ganache and the milk and dark chocolate aromas. He still remembered how rich it was… Maybe he should just eat it—-NO.
Stick to the plan, Zeke.
"Hey, John!" He plastered on a smile on his face when he finally found him, the cake hidden from sight in a takeout box. "How's your day been so far?"
"Zeke.." The king gave him a death glare. "I told you to stay the hell away from me."
"Y-yeah, I won't bother you for long," He swallowed nervously, trying not to mess this up. "I just wanted to give you this."
Zeke handed the box to John, who immediately grabbed it violently. If it were any other treat, he would have been silent, if not confused, but then this was the Triple Chocolate Cake. He risked his life for this! Seeing it mistreated squeezed his heart, and he let out a pained sound.
John wound his arm back, about to smash it against Zeke's face, when he yelled frantically—"THAT'S THE TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE!!"
He paused in his assault, brows furrowing on whether or not that was a good enough plee, or if it was even true. Does John just never visit the cafeteria anymore? No wonder he's always so cranky. He needs a snicker.
Nearby students perked up at his shout, already salivating. There were whispers of some being too late for the Triple Chocolate Cake, and some saying they loved it and wanted another slice. At that, John inspected the box, opening the folds at the top to reveal the Triple Chocolate Cake slice, still magnificient in its rich glory. Whatever they used to keep the cake from thrashing around, it came in handy.
There was a spark in John's eyes. Heh. No one could resist the Triple Chocolate Cake. Not even the tyrant of a king.
"Dumbass.." John said through gritted teeth. But he carefully closed the box and cradled it protectively against his chest. "I'll let you off this time. I don't want to see you again."
He turned around and hurried to leave, any thoughts that plagued the King seeming to evaporate as he prepared to eat his Triple Chocolate Cake slice.
Zeke smirked. He was getting closer to the King, he was sure of it. John may be playing hard to get, but Zeke knew just how to get his favour. A Triple Chocolate Cake slice every month would be possible.. He'd just have to figure out what else to do in between. If he pissed him off any more, he might just become a glorified delivery man, rather than have real influence over the school.
He took the first steps, at least. For now he'd give him some space..
Later that day, he decided to visit him in the dorms.
What? He's had enough space.
Zeke found his way through the halls of doors, remembering just which dorm room he'd been assigned to when he tried following him in earlier in the year. Blyke had been there standing in his way, so he couldn't go through with his plan of.. You know. Typicial things cripples deseerved. But John ended up not being a cripple, so it was good that he didn't do it.
He wouldn't run into Blyke either, that pretentious bastard. Word was that he was rooming with Isen— ("And now they're roommates!" "Oh my god they are roommates.")
Good for them, I guess.
Zeke felt a bit annoyed at that, but tried to pay no mind. So what if they being all weird and sharing rooms and walking to school together? Gross. At least now he wouldn't have to face Blyke throwing around his goddamn Jack title, acting all high and mighty just because he didn't pay attention to lower tiers.
He stopped in front of the door, suddenly realising how strange this was. He had never visited John before, never talked to him outside of school. Acting like friends was necessary to trick him, he knew that, but still. This was weird. What did John do in his free time? He'd hang out with Seraphina, but, well, they weren't friends anymore. One hell of a break up. Maybe that was why John was so cranky. He lost his hot overpowered GF and now he didn't have anyone to do all the ability stuff. Did using his ability drain his energy? John never showed signs of fatigue, but he should investigate..
During his musings, the door swung open, revealing just how ridiculous Zeke looked; his hand raised up as if to knock, face contorted like he was constipated, and a bag of chips in his other hand.
"Uh. Hi?—"
The door slammed shut with a bang.
"Hey! Wait, John!" Zeke knocked insistently on the door. "Let's hang out!"
"Go away!" came from the other side. "You can't fool me, Zeke. You just don't want a repeat of the lunch bag incident. Or that time you challenged me in front of everyone."
"Obviously!" Zeke snarked. He still remembered how painful it had been. God, washing the blood out of his uniform had been a pain. And then he heard the footsteps retreating deeper into the room, and he panicked. "I was a dick, alright? I deserved it!"
No, Zeke didn't think so. But everybody always wants to believe they're the right one, that what they do is justified. No, that does NOT make me a hypocrite!
"You don't do things without a reason. I realised that now!" Zeke realised nothing, he was just spouting whatever could get John to trust him. "I just want to make up for what I've done, and help you in anyway I can!"
...The door slowly creaked open.
John's face was unreadable. His face wasn't in that permanent scowl, no. Although his eyes looked like the same old glare, he just seemed tired.
It annoyed Zeke. He thought his happy go lucky, justice driven character had been annoying, but this was worse. It looked so wrong for John to look like this. Zeke had spent every interaction beating him down, trying to extinguish that fire in his eyes—and now, it was finally gone.
"You want to help? Fine." John held up a flimsy piece of paper, obviously crumpled before this, judging from the creases. "Take down all these posters at the school."
"Uh… Okay? What is this.. Safehouse?" Zeke squinted at the text, holding back a cringe. No fighting allowed? What the hell did they even do here?
"It's a cover," his eyes darkened. "They're just using that to take control of the school without me. Traitors, all of them. They made this club just as I became king, pretending to care for students."
That made sense. More sense than the Royals just… treating the Low Tiers nicely. Like, why would they even do that? Who would stand up for them? They didn't even contribute to society.
The Royals have always been messing around, too. Seraphina stepped down from being Queen, yet she still expected everyone to do as she said. Cecil was supposed to be the Jack, but the other Royals decided to promote Blyke, instead. They did whatever they want. And with John as King—stronger than all of them combined—they wanted a place where they'd be the ones in control.
"Figures. I always thought this Safehouse was strange."
John's attention went to him, his eyes narrowing, as if trying to tell how genuine he was. He must have been satisfied with what he saw, because Zeke didn't get punched in the face.
"So, take down the posters? That's all?" he tilted his head.
"Yes.." John murmured. "If I see one, I'll kill you." Somehow, he didn't sound all that threatening.
The plan seemed to be working, slowly but steadily. His grand masterplan was taking place. John wasn't suspicious of him anymore—he even trusted him with a task. Everyone knew that being capable, being dependable, was a step closer to being a King's right hand man.
He didn't accept the chips, though. For now, the Triple Chocolate Cake was the only gift he'd receive.