"Pardon us!" As Deuce pushed the door open he was greeted by a room filled with various knick-knacks which were aesthetically reminded him of a voodoo store. Crystal skulls, jars with questionable liquids, and grimoires between shelves. Puppets and masks hung down from the ceiling. Some animal figures on the counter. Even a purple piano near the entrance.

"Geez, this looks like my house storage room," Ace muttered as he followed Deuce in. "Ya sure we can find actual ingredients here?"

Deuce glanced at Ace before glancing at the shopping list in his hand. Fresh cream, two packs of milk, two cartons of eggs, silicon cups, five canned fruits... Quite a lot actually. He was glad Ace joined him. Even if he was used to carrying lots of heavy groceries when going shopping with his mother on sales hours, it was always good when you have a helping hand.

"Hey! Little lost lambs!" Both Ace and Deuce jumped when a man suddenly popped from behind the counter. "Welcome to Mr. S's Mystery Shop!"

The lithe young man had magenta eyes, black-and-purple dreads flipped over the right side of his head, and an undercut. He had white skeletal markings painted beneath his eyes, on his neck, on his chest, and his forearms. There were also white rib markings on the bright purple vest that he wore beneath his maroon blazer; this skeletal motif was complete with a small skull affixed to his hat.

"What is it that you wish for today?" the man, who Deuce guessed was Mr. S, said as he rubbing his hand. "A charm against cheating? An ancient king's mirror? Or maybe, some cursed tarot cards?"

Deuce walked up to the counter. "We would like to buy the things written on this note," he said, sliding the note in front of Mr. S. The man took it and re-read it out loud, whistling when he reached the last thing on the list.

"What a pretty sweet line-up~" He pointed finger guns at him. "OK! I shall bring them out now."

When Mr. S walked deeper into the shop, Ace managed to stand beside Deuce. "You think he has those stuff here?" In which Deuce only shrugged.

To their surprise, Mr. S managed to come back with all the ingredients they needed. "Thank you for the wait~" he said as he put the last carton filled egg into a plastic bag. "It is rather heavy, so are you sure you can carry them all? If you act now, I can throw in a special bag to carry all of those things for 30% off of its original price~!" He ended with a wink.

Ace and Deuce exchanged glances, knowing that they had the same idea. "We can carry these on our own," said Deuce as he grabbed the one filled with canned fruit while giving the others to Ace.

Mr. S gave them a thumbs up. "OK, OK! Then, I shall be waiting for your return, lost little lambs! Bye~!"

"Geez... This is heavy," Ace groaned as both he and Deuce walked down the Main Street. The ginger-head glanced at Deuce. He carried twice the weight he was carrying! And how was this dude not sweating yet?! "How did you do it?"

Deuce glanced at him confusedly. "Do what?"

"This!" Ace lifted his grocery bags before lowering them again. "How can you carry all that without breaking a sweat?"

Deuce looked at Ace's groceries then to his own. "Oh, I help my mother carrying her groceries frequently," he said and Ace swore he saw the corner of Deuce's lips pulled up. "I'm the only man in the family, so I'm used to helping a lot with hard labor."

Ace frowned. "So, you're a momma boy?"

Deuce's cheeks turned red as he stopped his tracks, face blushing in embarrassment. "I'm not!"

Ace grinned. "Admit it! You're a momma boy!"

Ace walked ahead, laughing. He turned his head to look at the still red-faced Deuce which was amusing Ace thought. He grinned at the blunette again before looking straight ahead again-

*thud*

... Only to crash onto someone, making Ace lose his grip on the plastic bag filled with the eggs and let it feel to the street.

"AH! SHIT!" Ace immediately knelt in panic. When he untied the plastic to check on the eggs, it was already filled with yellow and white goo. "All of the eggs cracked!"

"Where the hell are ya lookin' at?"

Ace looked up. Two Hearslabyul students stood in front of him, way buffier than him. But Ace wasn't afraid. The ginger-head stood and glared at them. "And what about you? Standing in the middle of the road like a doofus."

The senior that he bumped into glared gack. "Huh? That how a freshie should talk to his senior?" His hand reached Ace jacket and he was pulled closer to his face. "HOW RUDE!"

Ace heard footsteps running toward him and immediately followed by another hand grabbing the senior's hand. "Senior." Ace froze. He glanced at Deuce. Did he just sound... deeper than usual? "Our carton of eggs is ruined."

The senior turned to Deuce. "The hell? You sayin' it's my fault, then?"

Deuce didn't look afraid of the bigger senior. He just kept glaring and speaking in that deep voice. "Yes. Please pay us back for the eggs. And also, please apologize to the chickens."

"Hah~? Why are ya makin' a ruckus over eggs?" The other senior decided to join in, sneering at them. "It didn't hit the ground so you can still eat it. Stop makin' a fuss over little things."

The senior who was holding Ace smirked at them. "Yeah~ I saved you the trouble of breaking them!"

Ace growled at him. "Why you-"

Before anyone could anticipate it, before even the senior could finish their laugh, a fist flew and hit the senior on the cheek. The attack was so hard that the senior dropped Ace like a ragdoll. Ace winched, rubbing his butt, but then he heard footsteps again. He looked up and saw Deuce, cracking his knuckles, glaring at the stunned seniors. Ace heard him whispered, "...to laugh about."

The senior whose face was punched turned his head toward Deuce. "The fuck you said to me?!"

"This ain't something to laugh about!" Deuce yelled with feral eyes. "You don't get to make decisions for us! These eggs will be used to make a delicious tart in place of turning into chicks, bastard! Do you understand me, huh!?"

What the heck is he saying?! Deuce! You want to be cool, but you just sound stupid!

Wait a minute. Ace has seen this before. It was only a second, but Ace remember he had seen that wild eyes Deuce had. That's right! It was back during their argument in the Dwarfs' Mine before Grim cut them off.

The other senior took a step backward in fear. Ace couldn't blame him. Deuce was really scary right now. "Wh-what's with him all of a sudden…?!"

"If you're not gonna pay me back for the six eggs..." Deuce stepped forward. "I got no choice but to beat the hell out of you six times."

"Huh!?"

"Grit your teeth, assholes!"

"Why you-!" The senior ran toward him. Ace immediately stood up.

"Idiot! Get out of the way!" he yelled. But Deuce just raised his fists, taking the challenge. The senior raised his fist, ready to hit him. But Deuce was also prepared. Just when the senior closed to him, Deuce punched him on the cheek, throwing the senior to the ground.

"Oi!" The other senior shouted, clearly not happy that his friend was being attacked. He ran toward him, but Deuce also started running. When they got, Deuce punched him from under his chin, sending him flying back to the ground.

The first senior got up again. "I'm getting you-" But before he could do anything Deuce turned around, giving him a couple of punches with his fists before gave him a spin-attack with his leg on the head.

The second senior got up and helped the kicked senior, Deuce was still standing, cracking his knuckles and growling a wild animal. "Th-this guy's a total madman!" they screamed. "Let's run! I'm so sorry, Mr. Chicken!"

"Apologize to the eggs a hundred times before you stuff your faces next time, dumbass!" shouted Deuce one last time before unclenching his fists, head down, shoulder going up-down, and breathing hard. Ace was still standing behind him, shocked at what he just saw. Deuce… Deuce just beat up two guys without breaking a sweat!

"Wh-" Ace immediately ran in front of Deuce, grabbing his shoulders, and Deuce lifted his head with a gasp. "Whoa, dude!" Ace shook his shoulder. "What was that?"

Deuce was still breathing heavily, but he didn't look feral. In fact, he looked… terrified? "I-I screwed up again…" the blunette whispered, not with an angry tone, but in a sad, almost guilt-filled, tone. "I promised myself that I'd be a model student for sure this time, and yet-!"

Ace blinked, not understanding the situation. Deuce lowered his head again, hugging his trembling arms. "I'm not supposed to do that…" he whispered again. "I can't make mom cry again…"

Mom? "You had a rough time at home?" Ace tried to ask.

Deuce shrugged a little. "More like I was a bad boy." Ace raised an eyebrow at him. Deuce? A bad boy? That doesn't sound right. But then again, he didn't know him so well. And from that fight, Ace knew he had experienced. "My mom didn't take my delinquent lifestyle well. So…"

"So, you want to change," Ace finished his sentence, in which Deuce nodded.

"Yeah." He gritted his teeth. "And yet… Damn it!"

"Hey!" Ace shook his shoulder again. "Listen to me."

Deuce was silent for the next few seconds, so Ace took it as the sign that he was listening. "Think about this: Isn't enduring all of that is also a part of being a model student?"

Deuce's breath hitched. He looked up, blue eyes staring at Ace in confusion. "Eh…?"

Ace dropped his hands from Deuce's shoulders. "Too bad I didn't get to join in the fight," he grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You took care of them too fast."

"Ace…"

Ace glanced at Deuce again. "Even model students have the right to be angry sometimes."

Deuce gasped. The wind blew softly as the two boys stared at each other. Slowly Deuce smiled. It was just a small smile, but Ace took this as a victory on his side, smiling back at him. He didn't know how Deuce's family situation was, but he wanted to know. After all of the trouble they've spent together in two days, maybe they are ready to get to know each other better.

Deuce looked at the yolk filled plastic behind them. He let out a sigh. "May those baby chicks rest in peace…"

Huh?

"Wait. What are you talking about?"

Deuce turned to him confusedly again and Ace raised an eyebrow at him. "Those eggs don't turn to chicks," Ace said. "They weren't fertilized, so they won't hatch into chicks in the first place."

...

...

...

"WH-WHAT?! YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"

Geez... This boy is a dumbass...