Vile Attraction (Floyd Leech/Yuu, Jade Leech/Yuu)

17 ~ Spying

"—Jade, could you please pass the henbane?"

The eel blinked a few times, smiling at the short redhead apologetically before handing him the requested ingredient. "Ah, of course. My apologies, Riddle, I was lost in thought."

Riddle took the henbane, adding it to the cauldron, before turning to face Jade once again. "You seem to be in a good mood," he remarked.

"Do I?" Jade chuckled. "I suppose I have been feeling merry today. I wonder why..."

In truth, Jade knew exactly why. He had gotten what he wanted out of Azul, not to mention that Yuu would be coming out from the potion's effect soon. The antidote sat heavily in his pocket, but that was just in case Floyd thought to slip her her next love potion dose before the effect of the previous came undone and she wasn't able to naturally come out from the effect of it (that's how Jade would have administered it, but Floyd wasn't Jade). An invisibility potion was in his other pocket, which he would be using later today.

Jade watched as Riddle meticulously stirred the potion ingredients into the cauldron, occasionally asking him to pass him something that was out of reach. Today would be the perfect day to visit Heartslabyul and spy on Cater.

"Riddle, would you mind if I perhaps stopped by Heartslabyul sometime after school?"

Riddle's steady stirring pace faltered for a brief moment. "...Is there something you need?"

"I've simply been meaning to stop by for a while."

"For what reason?" Riddle asked more sternly, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

Jade handed him the next ingredient in the potion book as he replied, "Nothing in particular. Heartslabyul has quite a nice scenery. I haven't been by in a while."

The shorter boy stared at him for a few moments as though he was trying to discern what he was really after by looking at him before his expression shifted uncomfortably. "You won't be... bringing your brother around, will you?"

A laugh escaped Jade at that. "No, it'll just be me. He won't know I'm stopping by."

Riddle raised his eyebrow at that statement, but he simply nodded. "I'll make sure to have refreshments prepared for your arrival."

Jade nodded, giving Riddle that polite smile of his. "I look forward to it."

Once classes were done, Jade made his way to the Mirror Chamber. He hated that this expedition would cut into his precious club time that he could be using foraging, but he needed to spy on Cater. Being sure to double-check his surroundings, he glanced around to make sure no one was near before drinking the potion of invisibility and diving into the mirror.

He expected to have to put in a bit of work to find Cater, but he was right at the entrance, painting the roses. Jade always thought the job to be tedious and unnecessary and almost felt sorry for him, but at least he didn't have to expend energy looking for him.

Cater's clones were scattered throughout the entrance and the rose maze, all painting roses. He would be a lovely help at the Mostro Lounge with his Signature Spell, but he was too smart to intentionally get tangled up with anyone or anything regarding Octavinelle.

After about what seemed to be an hour of watching Cater painting the roses with one hand and scrolling through Magicam with the other, he stretched his arms behind him, took a deep breath, and disapparated all of his clones with one swish of his magic pen. Jade was happy knowing that his assumption that the one with the phone was the real Cater was correct and followed him as he entered the Heartslabyul lounge.

It was definitely a bit trickier trying to not get caught here since much more students were in the area and especially since Cater was so popular, constantly pausing to greet and chat with other students. It was nothing Jade couldn't handle, though, and he followed Cater as he walked through the winding Heartslabyul hallways to his room.

He let out a quiet sigh as Cater quickly shut the door, not allowing Jade any time to slip in himself. He opted for waiting outside of his door, keeping his ear pressed against it and keeping watch for anyone who might want to make a stop to visit Cater.

A few moments passed before he noticed the quiet sobbing coming from the room. Then a loud noise, then the sniffling once again that he was only able to hear due to his nonhuman hearing. Cater Diamond was the one person of which Jade could not find any depth of information. Despite his overwhelming social media presence, he kept his cards close to his chest. He wondered what could be making the older boy cry, but that wasn't what he came here for.

Down the hallway, he noticed a familiar-looking freshman approaching, glancing around nervously. Ace Trappola, one of Yuu's close friends. She enjoyed telling Jade about their adventures and antics along with Deuce and Grim. What could he be looking so suspicious for?

Jade quickly took a step back as he realized Ace was heading for Cater's door. He rapped against it a few times, completely unaware of the presence beside him. "Cater, you there?"

The sniffling stopped immediately and Cater responded cheerfully, "Yeah, gimme a sec! I'll be right there!"

A brief moment later, the door swung open, Cater looking as peppy and bright as ever. "Hey, Acey! Wanna come in?"

Ace nodded and stepped into the room and Jade quickly followed, swiftly moving to the corner. Cater's eyes fell on him and he froze as he realized that his gaze wasn't wavering. There was no way he noticed him, right?

If Cater noticed his presence, he didn't say anything, turning to Ace and shutting the door. "So, got anything new for me?"

"Not really, but y'know how you said Floyd's probably intoxicating Yuu—"

"—Not what I said at all, but go on."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ace responded quickly, waving his hand in the air dismissively. "Anyway, so I've been hanging around the potion lab lately, keeping an eye out, y'know? But I haven't seen him come by at all!"

"Maybe it's 'cause what I said was just a hunch without any solid basis?" Cater laughed. "I told you it was a long shot, Acey."

Jade took in the conversation with surprise. So that was why Cater was observing Yuu's table so intently; Ace and Cater are trying to figure out what is going on with Floyd and Yuu. Of course it wouldn't escape everyone how sudden the change was.

"But it just makes so much sense..." Ace groaned, kicking the floor. "I just... Floyd gives me weird vibes, okay? I know something's wrong! I just wanna make sure she's okay..."

"I wanna say you're overthinking, but... it is weird. IDK what to make of it," Cater sighed, twirling a strand of his hair between his fingers. "I'll keep keeping an eye out, but don't waste your energy stressing about it so much, okay?"

"...Yeah."

Cater moved to put a hand on Ace's back comfortingly. "Anything else I can help you with, Acey?"

Ace slumped over, burying his face between his knees. "Nah, that was it." He stood, glumly muttering, "See you around," before slamming the door behind him.

Jade managed to slip out as Ace left and he exited Heartslabyul, sending Riddle a text letting him know that he wouldn't be able to make it after all. He had accomplished what he needed to do and was now heading back to Octavinelle, a content smile on his face.

As soon as Ace left, Cater checked around his room. He had the odd feeling of another presence earlier, but it was gone now.

"Oh well," he sighed, "Probably just a bad feeling..."

But he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, something that caught his attention. His previously closed notebook was now open and there was something scrawled on the corner of the page that sent a chill up his spine.

'Try observing Octavinelle's potion lab.'