The Heartslabyul dormitory was unusually quiet that evening.
A group of first-year students had gathered inside one of the rooms, textbooks spread across beds and desks while unfinished assignments piled higher by the minute. Normally, a study session would have been accompanied by complaints and idle chatter.
Tonight, however, the atmosphere was tense.
Everyone knew why.
Exams were approaching.
And worse, Housewarden Riddle Rosehearts was watching.
The mere thought of receiving a collar was enough to send chills down the freshmen's spines.
"I heard he collared three students last week."
"It was only two."
"How is that supposed to make me feel better?!"
The room erupted into anxious whispers before falling silent once more. The mouse beastman lay comfortably on one of the beds and let out a long sigh.
"You guys are way too tense."
Several pairs of eyes immediately turned toward him.
"Easy for you to say."
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure my grades are already digging their own grave."
The mouse beastman chuckled.
"Then let's take a break."
"A break?"
"Sure." He stretched lazily. "How about some lemon tea? It'll help calm your nerves. We can go back to studying afterward."
The others exchanged uncertain glances.
"A break sounds dangerous."
"What if we waste too much time?"
"We should keep studying."
The mouse beastman simply smiled.
A strange smile.
Gentle.
Comforting.
Inviting.
"…"
The room suddenly fell quiet.
One by one, the students blinked. Their hesitation melted away as if it had never existed.
"…Actually."
"Lemon tea sounds nice."
"Yeah."
"We've been studying for hours."
The mouse beastman nodded.
"See? That's what I've been saying."
The students stood from their desks almost absentmindedly.
"Let's go make some."
"Maybe there are snacks too."
"Please tell me someone bought cookies."
The group shuffled toward the door.
None of them noticed the smile slowly widening across the mouse beastman's face. The door clicked shut behind them.
Silence returned.
The room sat empty.
Or at least it should have.
The mouse beastman remained seated upon the bed. The smile never left his face. For several moments he simply sat there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then his body began to fade.
Like mist dissolving into darkness, his outline blurred. His form unraveled. And before long—
Nothing remained.
Only an empty bed.
…..
The student store was a small cabin near the outskirts of the school ground. It looks rustic and had a rather strange yet familiar vibe coming from it as she noticed the store name next to the entrance, Mr. S' Shop. She's never seen a building with a purple tint. Was this normal? Moreover, even the vibe she felt from it was rather omnious and Deuce walked up to the door and opened it as it gave off a pleasant chime. Upon entering, the three was hit by a calm herbal fragrant of some sort. Deuce called out, "Hello, can I get some he- Whoa."
Deuce stopped midway as he noticed the large variety of merchandise. Dumbfounded by the large number of items, Deuce gasped in awe, "This shop is wild. They have crystal skulls, grimoires, taxidermied... Uh, I don't even know what animal that is!"
"You think they really sell cream here?" Grim doubted hesitantly.
"I hope so." Hoshi hesitated, "I don't think Trey would joke about this."
"Greetings, my stray imps, How fare you today?" A tall and skinny man walked out with a large top hat. He waved his gloved hands as Hoshi noticed that the skull tattoo on his face was actually part of one large skeleton tattoo spread all over his skin. His loud speech reminded her a street vendors and announcers as he smiled wide, "Welcome to Mr. Sam's Mystery Shop. What among my humble selection interests you? A charm from a secluded land? The mummified remains of an ancient king? A cursed tarot card?"
"Um... What?" Hoshi hesitated in surprise.
"Myah! I wasn't expectin' this kinda selection." Grim felt as though his mind was boggling from whatever this guy said.
"Um," Deuce hesitated after hearing this and handed him the list, "We wanted to buy all the items on this list..."
"Ring up two cans of tuna while you're at it!" Grim called out eagerly.
"No, Grim! We're not here for tuna!" Deuce scolded.
"What's this? Cream and eggs and..." Sam read the list and smiled wide, "Quite the sacchariferous list! I'll get everything for you."
"Whoa... He really does stock that stuff, huh?" Deuce muttered in shock.
"Here you go. It's pretty heavy… Are you sure you can carry this?" Sam carried a few large bags in his arms and set them on the counter. Just as they were about to respond, he added with a wink, "Luckily for you, our 1/100th size flying saucers are 30% off today. Perfect for carrying groceries!"
JUST as she was about to say he seemed like a rather nice store owner! 1/100th size flying saucers? 30% off? She doesn't know what flying saucers are, but she doesn't need to know what it is to know she's gonna get ripped off if she bought it for 30% and that it probably ain't cheap either.
"Ooh, lemme see!" Grim leapt onto the table, "That sounds awesome!"
GRIM?!
"Grim, no!" Hoshi swooped up Grim under one arm and quickly grabbed the bag as Deuce paid same the total amount due.
"We're fine, thank you. Let's go, Grim." Deuce quietly hissed at Grim with a scowl.
"Myah! I didn't realize today was National No Fun Allowed Day!" Grim yowled bitterly.
"Very well. Then until next time, my little imps." Sam smiled and gave them their change as they hurried out the door, "Do come again! Ciao!"
As they walked through the main street, Deuce was still reeling from awe as he muttered, "That store was amazing."
"Yeah, and you're amazingly cheap." Grim grumbled in disappointment.
"Who are you calling cheap?! Hmph." Deuce glared at Grim before noticing Hoshi struggling to carry all of the cans with Grim still under her arm, "Hoshi, looks like you got the bag with all the cans. That must be heavy. Let me take that one. I've got a little trick for carrying heavy bags."
Deuce easily took the bags from her as she noted in awe, "There's even a trick for that? Haha. That's impressive. You're quite the power shopper."
"It is? My mom always used to stock up at sales, and the bags would get ridiculously heavy." Deuce blushed nervously, "I was the only man in the house, so I got to do all the heavy lifting, and- Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to monopolize the conversation."
"It's great that you helped out around the house." Hoshi smiled, "Sounds like you took good care of your mom too."
"No, it wasn't like that at all." Deuce hesitated, "The truth is, I-"
"Owww!"
A familiar voice cried out as someone crashed into Deuce spilling the carton of eggs onto the ground.
"Myah! The eggs!" Grim cried in horror as he hurried over to the bag that has the carton of broken eggs.
"T-the carton of eggs is totally smashed! And now the bag's dripping egg good everywhere." Deuce gasped.
"Ouch! Why don't you watch where you're- Hey!" The person who they crashed into looked up and called out to them, "You're the jerks who broke the egg yolk on my carbonara!"
Oh! It is the guys who picked a fight with them back in the cafeteria! The guy's friend shouted angrily, "I've had about enough of you punks. You need to learn your place!"
Though Hoshi didn't seem intimidated by their presence, it was mainly cause she was more concerned with how quiet Deuce had been as he stared at the broken eggs before his feet. Hoshi looked to him with uncertainty but he quickly changed his tone as he glared at them and hollered without his usual soft-spoken demeanor, "You're the ones who darted out at us from around a corner! And you picked a fight with us at lunch over an egg that you were still totally able to eat! And now you've destroyed six of OUR eggs!"
"Yeah! He's right!" Grim voiced his approval as though it mattered.
"So what? You sayin' that was our fault?" The other glared at him while inching closer to his face and raising his voice menacingly.
"I am. Please reimburse us for the eggs. And then apologize to the chickens." Deuce responded calmly without a budge.
"Ooh, look who's got his big boy pants on. You sure are makin' a big deal outta some stupid eggs." The big guy from earlier sneered.
"What?" Deuce's voice seem to shake as he watched them without flinching.
"They haven't even touched the ground, so they're still edible. Quit whinin'." The big guy huffed scoffed.
"You should thank us for savin' ya the trouble of crackin' 'em!" His friend sneered and the two laughed.
"That ain't funny." Deuce muttered with a shakey voice.
The big guy turned to him, "Huh?"
"I said, THAT AIN'T FUNNY!" He suddenly exploded with a menacing look on his face, "You don't get to call my eggs stupid. You don't get to call ANY eggs stupid! Those eggs may not have gotten to be chicks, but they were gonna make some amazing tarts! Do you get it yet? DO YOU?!"
"What is with this guy all of a sudden?!" The smaller guy cried out in bewilderment.
"You owe me six eggs. If ya ain't gonna pay me for em, then you're gettin' a bruise for each one!" Deuce declared as he glared down on them.
"Are you serious right now?!" The big guy looked to him in disbelief.
Cracking his knuckles, Deuce scowled, "Buckle up, jerks!"
In less than ten minutes, he had beaten those guys black and blue as they tumbled backwards onto the ground. The big guy cried out in horror, "This guy's outta his mind!"
"Bwah! L-let's get outta here!" The other scrambled to his feet and scrammed with his friend following after him clumsily.
"Next time you eat an egg, you better apologize a hundred times, you buncha chumps!" Deuce hollered at them.
"Whoooooa..." Grim watched in awe.
Hoshi walked over to Deuce, who was still clutching his fist, and lightly tapped his shoulder, "Deep breaths, Deuce. Just take deep breaths..."
Surprisingly, Deuce actually listened to her and quickly came to his senses as he was taken by surprise by the stinging from his fist, "... Urk!"
"What's wrong?" Grim looked at him in confusion as Deuce had a complicated expression on.
"I did it again, didn't I...?" Deuce blinked as though he was tearing up and shouted in frustration, "ARGH! I was dead-set on becoming an honor student this time, too!"
"Huh?"
"Why not tell us what's troubling you?" Hoshi suggested calmly, "You seemed really dead set on becoming this sort of 'honor student' that you dreamed of."
Uncertain, Deuce was quiet before he opened his mouth, "When I was in middle school, I was pretty wild. I cut school all the time and got in fights. I called my teachers names, hung out with bullies, bleached my hair... I blasted around tight curves on my Magic Wheel... I'd show off my magic to kids who couldn't use it yet... I was a total punk."
"So you were only a little more annoying than you are now?" Grim's eyes widen in surprise.
However, Hoshi did not say a word and Deuce continued rather emotionally, "But one night, I saw my mom talking on the phone to my grandma. She was trying to hide from me, but I saw her, and I could tell she was in tears. She was saying how she must have been a horrible mom, and that maybe she never should have tried to raise me by herself. That had nothin' to do with it! She hadn't done anything wrong. It was all me. When the carriage came to take me to Night Raven College, she was so happy for me. I decided then and there that this time, I wouldn't do anything to make her cry. This time, I'd become an honor student - someone she could be proud of. And I already messed it all up!"
"I mean, did ya, though? Is putting up with jerks what honor students do?" Grim pointed out with a frown.
"Huh...?" Deuce blinked with confusion.
"Even I, Grim the Magnanimous, was ready to pound those losers into tuna paste!" Grim declared determinedly, "You just got to 'em first."
"Your image of an honor students seem to be quite the stereotypical type. Meaning, this is just an image that everyone strives to be. A person that doesn't exists in reality." Hoshi pointed out calmly.
"It doesn't?" Deuce's eyes widen in shock.
Hoshi shook her head in confirmation, "It just an unrealistic image schools wants the adults to have to send thee kids to tha school. Like when Sam was advertising his products back there making it sound so enticing that it made Grim wants to buy them."
Deuce slumped over in disbelief, "No… No way…"
She continued, "Although your determination is good, you seem to think that an honor student doesn't get into fights at all and try to solve matters peacefully. But, even with my lack of memories, I don't think that's what it means to be an honor student. In fact, I think the way you are now, including how you fought off those guys makes you a pretty good model of an honor student. If an honor student has to hold back their emotions in every scenario, that probably wouldn't be an honor student, but more akin to being a puppet. Nobody wants to look to becoming a puppet."
She smiled, "I'm not your mother, but... I don't think she would want you to be a puppet. Bleaching hair and riding a magic wheel around? I think she's more worried that you would get hurt while driving around, ruin your health from bleaching your hair and even get into deep and dangerous trouble when you become an adult. If anything, I think your drive and effort you put in to settling things today makes you an honor student, Deuce. But, please. You and Grim better not over do it."
"You guys..." Deuce teared up and smiled, "Even honor students get angry sometimes.To be honest, I really enjoyed that. Heh heh... I guess you're right! I just hope those chicks can rest in peace."
Hearing this, Hoshi paused with a troubled expression across her face and looked to Grim who gave back a look of confusion. It looks like Deuce's mother is also just as forgetful as her son. She took in a deep breath and hesitated, "Um... Deuce?"
"Hm?"
"About that..." She muttered nervously, "Most grocery store eggs? Unless they have the word 'Fertilized' on the packaging... They… Well… don't become... W-Well... They don't hatch."
Deuce's eyes widen like saucers as his jaw dropped, "Wha- WHAAAAAT?! Are you kidding me?!"
.....
Back in the kitchen, Hoshi and Deuce returned with a new batch of eggs included. Grim was busy helping out as he balanced the milk in his front paws. Seeing the three return, Ace looked both relieved and annoyed as he huffed, "Ah, you're finally back! Took ya long enough."
"I'll take that." Trey helped take the bag from Hoshi's arms and smiled, "Let's get this tart-y started!"