And soon, let the comedy material begin!
Aftermaths
"How is he? How's Gakushu-kun?" Gretel asked Arthur as they walk in one of the many food-courts of the Department, the blonde male was avid when Gretel to the hallways of the Department in Kungigaoko junior high uniform soaked by the rain.
Now the blonde was dressed in her dry attire, a sailor-like outfit with a wide and flared collar and small buttons. It is tucked into a high, long skirt that is longer than the coat, and has lace at the hem, finishing it with stockings. The coat she was wearing was usually fitted for a dark black suit, a black suit-jacket that was a bit too bit for her. As it was from Arthur who was insisted of her wearing it to avoid the cold.
"We found out that we can't have Rilliane be there with him, Gakushu-kun was calling her Ren." Arthur said as he placed his tray of food on the table. "The poor boy was crying out for her, like how Lucia cries out for her child. Don't leave me, come back he said."
"I guess we could confirm that from day one." Gretel felt sick to her stomach on the day she found out when Gakushu had the mental breakdown, his cries for Ren, for him not to go was heartbreaking. The way he clung to Rilliane when he was first admitted to the Ward and Rilliane checked her junior. "When is he coming out from the Ward?"
"Tomorrow." Arthur answered. Gretel softly smiled as she went to stab her salad with a fork. "Gretel did you knew?"
"Knew about what?" She asked as she looked up to him, although she already knew what Arthur wanted to know.
"That Gakushu had a 75% chance of having an episode." Arthur cut to the chase.
"Yes, I do. At the start of his school year." And she immediately answered to her old friend as she took a bite on her lettuce.
"Why didn't you tell us?" He asked once more,
"Do you think it would change the outcome, I had the updated reported where his chances just before he lashed out was 94%."
"… It was inevitable."
Ikeda walked with a small carton and inside is a slice of strawberry shortcake, with extra strawberries. He walked down the white halls of the Ward, passing the patients who was in each room through the large glass panels in each one to the next.
"Hey Shu, how's it going?" Ikeda asked, he stood behind the glass panel wall, patient no.132.
"Tired… but I can't sleep." Gakushu muttered as he curled himself in his bed. Tae-sik gave the light haired man a nod and allow him to enter the room. Ikeda closed the door behind me and sat next to the boy. The once black-ops man now worker of the Ward stood outside of the room for supervision as a precaution.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't do it… I was supposed to do my job but…" Gakushu whispered, Ikeda could easily tell that he could barely hold onto his emotion and tears from spilling.
"What happened?" Ikeda gently asked as he set the cake carton underneath the bed. There was no response from the young reaper, instead he slowly seat up from his blanket and sat closely to Ikeda, his head resting on the man's shoulder. The silence continued, but Ikeda allowed it, he will let Gakushu take his time.
And eventually, Gakushu did. "He slapped me, the chairman slapped me." He whispered, Ikeda did his fucking best not to dash out of this room to take a punch to that man's ribs.
"Does Gretel know about his? Ikeda asked, he was good at hiding the darkness from leaking into his voice.
The young boy shook his head. "No, and I intend to keep it that way. If she knew, heads will be rolling." Gakushu weakly chuckled and Ikeda followed along, Gretel's temper that easily outmatch of Gakushu's, it was quite funny and terrifying of the extent her wrath could do.
"… Why?" Gakushu chocked and Ikeda wrapped his arm around his shoulder, softly rubbing his shoulder as a gesture of comfort. Gakushu wished so desperately that his father did the same. 'Why could he do what Ikeda does, I mean… it's fucking Ikeda…' He wanted to chuckle at his inside-joke.
'Ikeda, my big brother.' Gakushu internally admitted the close bond the two shred. "When he slapped me, it broke him out of his robotic persona. That even he could feel."
He looked down at his trembling hands. "But then the thoughts came to me, why could you act like this then?" He asked to his father that wasn't here in the first place." Tears spilled over his cheeks. "Why did it come to this? Has it always been like this?"
"Ren didn't help either, he was far too kind…. He was the one who comforted me while my own father was own elsewhere." Gakushu further explained. "He was the one who gave me the warmth and love…. I'm going to lose him, he is going to died first before I could get my body back."
"… I realised now how much I care for him, how I wish for him to say I love you back…" Gakushu admitted his deepest of secrets to Ikeda, after his first days spent in the Ward, the seeds that was long sowed when he was 10, as it grew, it finally sprouted into a rose, he realised that now.
"A few moments later, after I ran out of the school… you know the rest." Gakushu finished his story.
"Gakushu, do you know what is going to happen next?" Ikeda asked.
The strawberry blonde shook his head, and then Ikeda groaned. "What happened?"
"You will get the report as soon you get out of the Ward." He answered as he dug his gloved hand through his light-coloured hair.
"Ikeda?"
"You will be a representative for Class-E. The Department is also stationing me to be a student-teacher at Class-E…" The older man stated, Gakushu's eyes widened.
"Why?" Gakushu was confused, first this new dispatch and his new partner assignment.
"Shu, you are a ticking time bomb in roomful of children. You are violent in your episodes, not like An but definitely like Lucia." Ikeda sorrowfully glanced to the little reaper. He had to correct himself. "No, you're worse. You are like Noct, like a crazed animal lashing out against the world. You also almost bit Antonio's ear off.".
'That bad?' Gakushu winced.
"Why couldn't they have only you in the first place?" Gakushu asked a good question. "It is as you said, I'm a ticking time bomb here. It is not like the Department can't plan for my death in the outside world."
"You have to go. You gave up your position, you are far too deep to give up now." Ikeda explained, he couldn't allow Gakushu's work go to waste. "Because they wanted to test your abilities. They still do. After all, it is not common for a reaper to graduate in his classes in a month with flying colours."
"I guess it would be a good thing that you only have one friend, everyone is cooling on their operations to finally get you to be close to your town and make more friends at that school of yours." Ikeda continued with his talking. "It is your choice, but the Department wouldn't recommend it."
"They hoped for another 'Ikeda' as An puts it." Ikeda teased as he ruffled the boy's strawberry hair. Gakushu did his best to remove himself away from his hand, it failed and the other won as he retracted back his hand. He won't admit it but Gakushu was glad they were going back to their old antics.
"You know, a reaper who talented enough to be put up with dispatches and spy missions at an early age." Ikeda smiled, the young boy looked at the man in horror, as he viewed himself like Ikeda, personality and all.
"Never." Gakushu objected and Ikeda laughed.
"It kind of backfired, but this would be only a 'thing'… and this type can be controlled." He gave more assuring words. "After maybe 5-ish years, we could work out the patterns and what to avoid."
"How?"
"From what I managed to gather, it seemed that what set you off was the concept and the harshness of reality." Ikeda gave his two-cents. "You snapped when you realised that Gakuhou could have been a father, but then what? Because he was human, he was going to die first and you live on for centuries afterwards. What was the point, why should I continue making him happy you ask yourself?"
"And for Ren, he had stolen your heart as it seems." Ikeda teased as he ruffled Gakushu's mop of strawberry blonde hair some more. Gakushu tried to push him away as his hair was quickly becoming a bird's nest and his face turned red as a tomato. Gakushu was almost regetting on telling Ikeda about that, although it was obviously ten times better than to tell Gretel. He felt a shiver going down his spine at the mere thought of Gretel founding out of Gakushu's feelings.
Ikeda retracted his hand back, his voice now going for a sombre tone."And as the first, he is going to die first before you could. Then you imagined that you would be the one who will be the one to witness his final breathe."
And then a horrible thought came flooding into Gakushu's head. "What about Ren!? I can't hang out with him anymore!?" He panicked.
"Shsssh. Deep breaths, deep breaths." Ikeda soothly whispered, calming the other down with breathing exercises. When Gakushu finally calmed down, Ikeda continued with his words.
"You can still hang out with him but we need to adjust a bit of your mindset." Ikeda explained, but Gakushu was confused as he titled his head to his words.
"You need to think like Gretel."
'…Oh.' Gakushu knew what Ikeda was talking about. Ivan told him the strangeness of the case around Gretel. Her love for Hansel would had long ago drove her into a mental breakdown, into madness like the many reapers Ivan had personally witness himself over his 40 years in his career.
"Her love for her twin brother would had push her into insanity long ago, but she turned that love into her end-goal." Ikeda repeated the words that Ivan told to him just earlier in his mind.
"If I earn my forgiveness, I can have my human body back and then I can be reincarnated so I can be will Hansel again."
"If I earn my forgiven, I can have my human body back and then I can be reincarnated so I can be with Ren again."
"If I reincarnate then I can be with Ren again. Focus on Ren." Ikeda glanced over to the reaper of almost 4 years as he took it all in. "From your expressions, you were already thinking about it since your first met him. It could decrease your chances of having an episode."
"The burden you would have now is that you would be required to have a partner coming to you for everything, shifts and daily routine out into the mundane." Ikeda voiced.
"Oh… I understand." Gakushu knew that, and Ikeda was going to be that partner. It was obviously to the boy when he was going to that class and Ikeda going to be an assistant teacher for class-E.
"There will be sometimes you can be alone but for the most part. But that partner cannot be Rilliane, and the Department decided that your partner is going to be me…"
"… I'm sure you know why." And Gakushu nodded to his words.
"It was best before, when you were yet unaffected and somewhat watching over Rilliane." Rilliane too had mental-breakdowns, unlike Gakushu that the eventual deaths of his father and friend was his breaking point, Rilliane's occurs because she could no longer remember or see what eye colour she once had.
"She would always be my main senior." Gakushu declared, Ikeda smiled as he felt the same for his man senior.
"I know." Ikeda smiled, just like An.
"Hey Ikeda?" Gakushu whispered, his face flushed like a strawberry and his lips trembled. Ikeda felt a hand tugged on the sleeves of his coat.
"Yeah Shu?"
"Could you stay here a bit longer?"
"Sure."
"Focus on Ren."
That was Ikeda's advice as it echoed to him as he stood in front of Class-E. Dressed in his signature uniform made to be seen by the mundane. Gakushu blankly looked over the class, he could easily tell that Ikeda was proud of his work, as he worked up the class with tension, as if it was a stage-play.
"Wait, were you going to be their mole?" Rio meeked, Gakushu coldly glanced over to the blonde girl and she flinched. Even Karasuma was suffocating under the intensity of his eyes, those eyes that spoke of experiencing the horrors of the world.
"Yes, it would had gave me the perfect cover. A student of this school, who lost his place as first to be transferred to class-E. Would anyone had questioned it?" The strawberry blonde nodded, confirming of their fears. Gakuhou looked like he was slapped multiple times. "Until, certain variables forced out to change the plan."
'No, nobody would had questioned it.' Everyone in the class thought.
"The boy who wanted get back at his father, who suffered under his hand. His teachings unreasonable, corrupting the youth with his ugly ideology, where it could had led his students to take the final solution." Gakushu remarked, Gakuhou blanched at the thought, the only reason why he had to change his teaching ideology was to avoid another incident that he has never forgave himself of. However, his father didn't know that Gakushu decided to follow the path as that old student of his did, all those years ago.
How cruel fate was on Gakuhou Asano, he changed his ways to save his son only instead to set his path as a Grim reaper.
"Now, Gakuhou Asano." Gakushu coldly said as he turned to his father, "You will say to the school that your son has joined class-E for allowing Karma Akabane to take first rank." Karma felt his achievement hallow now, all of their achievements when faced against the strawberry blonde felt meaningless.
"Not doing so, well… everyone would know what is going to happen neck." He darkly chucked, he shot glares that his father didn't deserve that expression. "You are not allow to tell your son's connection to the Department nor it's existence to the public." The class could see how Ikeda was enjoying this as he smirked.
"I will no longer stay at that house you called home." Gakushu said as he side-glanced his father, "I will stay elsewhere, far closer to the Department." He walked to his father, and whispered to his ear.
"That's what you get for hurting Ren." Gakushu darkly muttered to his father's ear.
'Stage one, disconnecting from that man.' Ikeda thought to himself as he smiled, 'Good.'
Gakushu pulled away, and Gakuhou looked deeply into his inhumane eyes. He hide his flinch very well.
"Alright, we will see you at work tomorrow." Ikeda sang as he grabbed the back of the boy's collar and started to drag him away. He happily waved to the class.
"Let's go junior." He chirped. Gakushu continued his glare at his father as he was effective dragged away by his co-worker, arms crossed as the heels of his boots skidded on the wooden floors.
If this happened in the presence of the Department, this would had been funny. And some worry for some possible broken ribs from Ikeda.
"Ikeda, you bastard!" Gakushu cried when he realised that he was being dragged away and by the collar too. By the time he realised, he was already in the parking lot and standing infront of one of many of Ikeda's luxury sports car.
"Come on Shu, I want to go to Disneyland." Ikeda whined as he entered his car and started the engine. Gakushu was very close on lifting this car and throw it, along with the annoying bastard.
But he had enough drama for one day. "We already went this year." He grumbled as he entered, closed the door and strapped himself the seatbelt.
"Tourament arcs don't count." Ikeda chirped as he adjusted the side mirrors.
"Oh don't you remind me. The initial matches were beyond belief." Gakushu exclaimed, Ikeda agreed. "I lost a few years."
"But you're a reaper-"
"Figure of speech, you bastard!" Gakushu yelled at the man's ear only for the other's response to laugh.
"Haha, good times." Ikeda laughed and now they were on the road.
"I rather not be dangling for dear life on a piece of rope as I fly across the city." The strawberry blonde grumbled with his arms crossed.
"Or that time when I missed the opportunity in seeing An in a wedding dress." And Gakushu blushed, because he was the one who wore that dress for the first set of games, the first team-up game that felt more of a sport festival activity.
"You saw her half naked when you looked down."
"I'm in a moral dilemma." Ikeda sighed.
"You perverted playboy."
"Huh, that's a new one."
Writing Ikeda and Gakushu are the most fun.
