Expectations When Expecting

Book 1, Chapter 13

The guy, clearly stupid, as Yuu had initially assumed, threw the first punch. For a moment, the pregnant woman hesitated, concerned. Is it really a good idea to intervene in a fight between guys? The logical part of her asked. No, but I have to stop Deuce. He can't be expelled! The emotional part of her argued.

Yuu made her way over, flinching as Deuce's fist connected with the guy's face, sending him flying backward, reeling from the shock of a punch from Deuce. Deuce, clearly blind with rage, did not stop there, instead making his way over, getting on top of him and grabbing him by the collar.

Yuu's eyes widened in horror as she watched Deuce raise his fist.

"Deuce! Stop! At this rate, you really will be expelled!" She cried, her words pleading as she hoped to reach him.

Miraculously, Deuce froze at these words, releasing the guy, who scrambled away. "This guy's outta his mind!" He yelped, running past his friend, who finally seemed to recover from his shock.

"Bwah! L-let's get outta here!" He shouted, stumbling away.

"Next time you eat an egg, you better apologize a hundred times, you buncha chumps!" Deuce called, warning with a ferocious snarl.

Yuu tentatively made her way over to Deuce, placing a hand on his shoulder. "W-woah! Hey! D-deep breaths!" She attempted to soothe him shakily while he panted, breathless from the encounter.

She felt Grim rush to cower behind her legs, peeking over at Deuce fearfully. "Whoooooa..." He shivered.

Yuu watched Deuce's face in concern, noticing how his wild eyes seemed to clear at the sudden calm before his face paled and his expression morphed into one of horror and realization. Deuce let out a choking sound.

"What's wrong?" Grim asked, hopping up to Yuu's shoulder.

"I did it again, didn't I...?" Deuce muttered before crying out in panic. He slammed his fists into the sides of his head. "ARGH! I was dead-set on becoming an honor student this time, too!" He wailed, placing his head in his hands.

"Huh?" Grim asked, confused.

"When I was in middle school, I was pretty wild." Deuce confessed, eyes downcast. "I used to cut school all the time and got into a lot of fights. I called my teachers names, hung out with bullies, bleached my hair..." Yuu listened carefully to his words, keeping quiet as he continued.

"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." He lamented, Yuu comfortingly patting his shoulder. She'd never been very good with words of comfort.

"So you were only a little more annoying than you are now?" Grim remarked as Yuu shot him a warning look before speaking.

"Well... That's a little hard for me to picture."

Deuce sighed. "Yeah? 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." Deuce bit his lip, making Yuu's heart ache empathetically. "She was saying how she must have been a horrible mom, and that maybe she never should have tried to raise me by herself."

She knew how much a mother's tears hurt the child. She'd experienced the pain when she'd seen her mother wail. Yuu fought back her own tears as she listened.

"That had nothin' to do with it! She hadn't done anything wrong. It was all me." Deuce cursed himself under his breath before continuing. "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!"

Yuu gasped, remembering his reactions to being told of the possibility of expulsions and at the way he reacted to his own outburst.

"I mean, did ya, though? Is putting up with jerks what honor students do?" Grim asked, making Yuu realize what the cat was doing. Deuce's head shot up to look at Grim, who sat on Yuu's shoulder, grinning.

"Even I, Grim the Magnanimous, was ready to pound those losers into tuna paste! You just got to 'em first."

Yuu nodded. "Y'know, Grim's right! Honor students are role models. Not pushovers." She said.

Deuce stood, dumbfounded. "You guys..." He murmured.

"Even honor students get angry sometimes." Yuu mentioned, remembering her high school years. She was a part of the honor roll, and remembered how she would fight back.

"Heh heh... I guess you're right! I just hope those chicks can rest in peace." Deuce smiled, looking over the mess of the eggs.

Yuu stopped, considering Deuce's words, wondering about his reference to chicks when he'd fought those boys.

"Don't worry about it too much, Deuce." She said, attempting to soften the blow. "Those eggs weren't the type that hatch."

"Wha- WHAAAAAT?! Are you kidding me?!"

.

.

.

It took the group quite a bit, almost to sunset to get Deuce walking again. Yuu felt bad for having assumed that he'd known about which eggs would hatch and which could not.

She carefully led the way, listening to Deuce's murmurs of confusion as she shuffled along, shellshocked from her previous reveal.

Yikes. If I have to reveal the news of my being pregnant, and a girl... Poor kid. I think I might just break him. Yuu thought to herself, occasionally tugging on Deuce's uniform to avoid his collision with a pole.

She finally managed to get the group back to the kitchen, knocking and attempting to deepen her voice.

"Deliver for Mister Trey Clover?" She chuckled to herself silently when Trey opened the door with an amused smirk.

"Ah, you're finally back! Took ya long enough!" Ace called from the inside, wet and exhausted looking.

Yuu smiled teasingly at Ace as she ushered Deuce in.

"I take it you got dishwashing duty?" Ace scoffed, annoyed.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Good. 'Bout time you did something." She giggled as Ace's jaw dropped.

"Says you!" He retorted, ringing out his shirt and splashing her with droplets of water.

"Ack! You-" She hissed.

She froze, hearing the amused laugh of the upperclassman.

"Alright! Settle down, you two!" Trey set the bags down on the counter. "Let's get this tart-y started!"