Expectations When Expecting

Book 3, Chapter 5

Yuu was stuck in a momentary stare down with Azul, and she didn't like it. His eyes seemed to burn into her eyes and stare into her soul before he opened his mouth to speak.

"Oh, are you...?" He paused, pushing his glasses up again. "No, I don't see an anemone on your head."

Yuu narrowed her eyes as Azul continued to speak.

"I'm afraid we're having a staff meeting right now. If you don't have a stake in this matter, I must ask your leave for us to sort this out internally."

Yuu didn't budge, neither did Jack.

"You think I don't have a stake in this? I was planning on studying on my own and out scoring these guys in a fair competition." The wolf boy snarled at the boy on stage. "And now you've ruined that. I think I DO have a stake in this!"

Yuu gave an internal sigh of frustration. Great. They've messed with Jack's principles.

From the front of the crowd, Yuu heard a touched mewl from her feline friend.

"Yuu, Jack? Are you here to save us?!"

Yuu opened her mouth to respond before Jack cut her off.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm disgusted with every last one of you." The entirety of the room flinched with the exception of the boy on stage.

"Why would I side with the slimeball offering shady backroom deals OR the guys who chose to let others do their work for them?"

Yuu sighed again. "Jack, hun. Easy on the insults." Yuu muttered.

"What are you here for, then?" Ace questioned.

"Actually, I think Jack's right. He's given me the wake-up call I needed." Grim announced, his words eerily seeming to be ready to cause chaos.

"If you wanna win, you gotta snatch that victory yourself! In other words..."

"Grim, don't you do it-"

"If I can snatch my contract from Azul by force and tear it up, it's null and void!" The little monster announced, earning himself the agreeing murmurs of the crowd.

Yuu massaged her temples in annoyance. "Dammit, Grim. These guys are hopeless..."

She heard a slight snicker from Jack, who quickly covered it with a low grumble.

From the stage, Azul sighed dramatically. "Dear me. I really didn't want to resort to violence, but alas." Yuu could instantly tell that he was very excited to resort to violence.

From the sides of the stage, two very tall and lanky teenage boys, clearly identical twins, stalked from the shadows, wide grins on full display appearing more like feral beasts than boys. Yuu recognized them as the two that Riddle had feared during the Savanaclaw incident.

Her eyes widened as she saw Azul flash them a look. "Oh shit."

"Jade. Floyd. Play with them for a bit."

The more serious looking one gave a gentlemanly nod. "Understood, sir."

The second gave an insane cackle, his golden eye sparkling with pleased insanity.

"Oh man, I get to squeeze 'em all? Ha ha, niiice."

Yuu, extraordinarily panicked, stared at the twins with wide eyes. "Ffffffuck."

.

.

.

Yuu stared in absolute horror as each boy threw a spell, only for it to bounce off the contracts and redirect toward the crowd of anemone boys. Within moments, a few were on the ground as the three boys at the front of the room looked down with expressions of amusement, disappointment, and mild disgust.

"Geez, what a bunch of wimps. They're barely worth squeezing." The taller twin, Yuu was assuming was likely Floyd as he was the more infamous of the two menaces.

Azul gave an annoyed sigh, looking at the cowering crowd of anemones. "It's like a whole school of feeble small fry..."

Beside him, the other twin, Jade, gave a nod, flashing a terrifyingly sadistic smirk at the crowd.

Ace stared in horror and confusion.

"How many kindsa magic can this Azul guy bust out? I call bull!" The ginger protested with a high pitched whine.

"Did Azul's golden contract deflect all of your attacks?" Jack asked aloud from beside Yuu, still in a defensive position, his arm held in front of her stomach.

"This is just showing me how hard I lean on my specialty normally..." Deuce muttered, dizzy from the thrashing.

Grim, equally dizzy, whimpered, lifting his head, giving a slightly pathetic mewl. "... I ain't a weasel..." Yuu winced as Grim fell back with an audible THUD.

"You have all signed these golden contracts. An official contract is completely unbreakable, regardless of how many bodies you throw at it." Azul lectured smugly. "No magic can harm this document in any way." Azul and his twin menaces gave a smirk, chuckling amongst themselves.

"As long as the sea anemones stay on your heads, you will have no choice but to follow my orders. Now," Azul clapped his hands, giving the anemone boys a cold smirk. "Why don't you start by cleaning up the lounge? You can handle ingredient prep work afterward. Go on, now. On your feet and get to work!"

The boys all gave a loud yelp as the anemone began to pull, Ace, Deuce, and Grim walked past Yuu and Jack with their heads hung in shame.

"Is this for real...?" Ace asked helplessly, hissing as the anemone pulled again.

Azul's smile dropped and he turned to the twins."Jade. Floyd. You're in charge of instructing the new staff."

The one that Yuu assumed to be Jade gave a polite, gentlemanly nod. "Yes, sir."

Floyd gave an overly enthusiastic salute, less formal than his brother. "Yessir!"

With the twins gone, Yuu shook herself out of the shock, noticing as Azul stepped off the stage, making his way to Jack (who had yet to drop his defensive position) and herself. He gave a practiced smile similar to the ones a car salesman would give and spoke as if he believed himself to be better than them. .

"You're...Jack Howl from Savanaclaw Dorm. And you're Yuu from Ramshackle Dorm, I believe? I would appreciate it if you took your leave now." He said politely, the hair on the back of Yuu's neck rising as she sensed an underlying warning in his tone. She couldn't help the step she took to back away from him.

"Why don't you come by as customers next time? You're welcome whenever you like." He smiled, walking toward them, making Yuu take another step away from him.

Jack looked at Azul, giving a low growl before ushering Yuu away. "C'mon, Yuu. We'd better fall back and regroup."

Yuu, having never seen Jack back down the way that he had, stared in surprise. "... But what about Grim and the others?" Both their gazes flickered to look at Ace, Deuce, and Grim who were miserable as they wiped down tables.

Jack placed his hand heavily on her shoulder, "You saw how that fight went down. We're not gonna get anywhere unprepared."

Yuu forced herself to look away, biting her tongue. "Fine. Let's go."

Don't worry guys. We'll be back. We'll find a way to save you...