Lover Behavior (Floyd Leech/Yuu)

10 ~ Crabby

Ace dashed to find Yuu. He had to tell her what Floyd had said to him; even if they were fighting, she was still one of his closest friends. She wasn't in Ramshackle, and he definitely couldn't go to Octavinelle, so he was running around campus blindly, hoping to encounter her.

He let out a sigh of relief as he saw her and Grim at the end of the hallway. He opened his mouth to call out to them but was quickly cut off, only registering a painful smack to the back of his head before he passed out.

"G'morning, Crabby~!" A familiar voice sang. Ace tried to open his mouth, only to find that there was a large piece of tape over his mouth and he was bound to a chair with rope.

He let out a bunch of muffled grunts; Floyd only laughed at the sight. "Y'know, I was gonna take care of Lil' Sealie first since he always gets to be around my Little Shrimp, but you just had to go and get on my nerves~"

"Augh!" Ace groaned as Floyd violently ripped off the tape on his mouth. "W-What the heck!? You're insane! Where are we?! You can't just do this to people!"

"We're somewhere where no one will hear your screams for mercy~"

Floyd kicked Ace in the stomach, knocking him, along with the chair he was bound to, over. "C'mon, we can-we can talk about this! I'll stay away from Yuu! I'll do whatever you want! Don't kill me!"

"Hm, I think I'll have some fun with you first before listening to what you have to say~" He landed another kick on Ace, this one on his jaw, causing a gasp to escape him.

Ace clenched his teeth together tightly and tried to brace himself, but there wasn't anything he could do against Floyd. He was stuck to the chair, being used as a punching bag.

'I'm really gonna die here, aren't I..?'

His eyes welled up with tears as he heard a small crack and felt an intense pain in his chest. He let out a loud cry of pain as Floyd slowly twisted his arm in a direction it normally wouldn't be able to go in until it broke, limply hanging in an abnormal position.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Floyd moved Ace's chair upright, undoing the ropes. "Look, Crabby, you can move now~!" He taunted, laughing at Ace's expression.

"So, you said you'd do anything if I kept you alive~ Didn't you?"

Reluctantly, Ace nodded his head, wincing at the pain that came along with it. "But do you really mean it?"

"Just-don't kill me," Ace pleaded desperately, spluttering as he coughed up blood. Floyd grabbed Ace, by the chin, forcing eye contact.

"I might just take you up on that offer~"

Floyd wiped some of the blood from Ace's chin, laughing at Ace's hopeful expression. "You sure value your friends a lot, don'tcha, Crabby? You can go back to actin' all buddy-buddy with them. But, hmm..."

"What?"

"You don't wanna kill for me, do you, Crabby~?"

Ace felt his blood run cold. "Hey, hey, don't make that face. I won't make you kill anyone if you don't want to~" Floyd chuckled before the look in his eyes shifted. "But let's say I wanna take care of someone myself. Would you cover for me, Crabby?"

'...What?'

"You already know who I'm planning on goin' after. It's up to you; your life, or your useless sense of justice and morals~?"

Ace stared at him, his vision blurring as he tried to look closer. He didn't seem to be showing any signs of joking. Ace shifted his eyes to the ground as he contemplated Floyd's offer.

'I can't be considering this. I'm crazy to be considering this. No way! I can't let Grim and Deuce get murdered and help him cover it up! I would never agree to that!

'But... if I don't, I die right here. They'll be killed by him, anyway. There's no good ending here-I just need to worry about surviving.

'Poor Yuu. She doesn't deserve any of this.'

Though all of the goodness in him was screaming at him to deny Floyd's offer, Ace was too set on survival. So, begrudgingly, he gave him his answer.

"I agree. I'll cover for you."