Expectations When Expecting

Book 1, Chapter 12

"Very well. Then until next time, my little imps. Do come again! Ciao!" She heard Sam call.

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"That store was amazing!" Deuce gushed, recalling all of the strange items in stock. Yuu nodded, matching his energy as she marveled at how neatly organized the store was, despite its seemingly random assortment.

Grim, who was still sulking at the lack of tuna and flying saucers in the purchases, simply scoffed, ears flat against his head. "Yeah, and you're amazingly cheap."

"Who are you calling cheap?!" Deuce cried, eyes wide at Grim, who proceeded to stick his tongue out at the boy.

Deuce, in turn, gave a huff before turning to Yuu, "Hey, Yuu, looks like you got the bag with all the cans. That must be heavy." Yuu smiled awkwardly.

"Just a bit, but don't worry!"

"Here, let me take that one. I've got a little trick for carrying heavy bags." Deuce smiled, trading the bags. Yuu, touched by his actions, gave him a grateful smile.

"Thanks. I didn't know there was a trick to carrying heavy bags. Y'know, without losing blood circulation in my hands."

"Yeah." Deuce laughed fondly, as if remembering something. "My mom always used to stock up at sales, and the bags would get ridiculously heavy. I was the only man in the house, so I got to do all the heavy lifting, and- Oh, sorry." He stopped. " I didn't mean to monopolize the conversation."

Yuu furrowed her brow. "No! Don't worry, you're fine!" She said, attempting to make him know that she wasn't bored. "Actually... It sounds like you took good care of your mom. You must be quite the gentleman."

"No, it wasn't like that at all. The truth is, I-" Deuce said before crashing into a very tall boy, falling to the ground. Deuce gave a pained grunt as he landed.

Yuu felt her heart clench as she heard a crunch, and for a second, she feared the Deuce had injured himself.

"Deuce? Are you okay?!" She yelped, getting onto her knees to check on the younger boy.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Deuce said before paleing slightly as he looked down. Yuu followed his gaze and gasped.

"Myah! The eggs!" Grim cried, confirming the unlucky event.

"T-the carton of eggs is totally smashed! And now the bag's dripping egg good everywhere." Deuce deflated slightly.

"Ouch! Why don't you watch where you're- Hey!" A gruff voice resounded in the courtyard. Yuu flinched as she recognized the voice. "You're the jerks who broke the egg yolk on my carbonara!"

"Great. It's egg man." She muttered to herself.

"I've had about enough of you punks. You need to learn your place!" Snarled his second friend, who Yuu also recognized.

Yuu turned to Deuce, helping him up, noticing the scary look on his face. Deuce seemed to be attempting to calm himself down.

"You're the ones who darted out at us from around a corner!" Deuce said, his voice shaking with barely contained rage. "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!" He said.

"Yeah! He's right!" Grim said, darting in front of Yuu as he glared up at the boys.

"So what? You sayin' that was our fault?" The first one spoke mockingly, irking Yuu.

"I am. Please reimburse us for the eggs. And then apologize to the chickens." Deuce said, polite in his manner of speaking. His calm prompted Yuu to try to drop the subject, impressed with Deuce's maturity.

"Ooh, look who's got his big boy pants on. You sure are makin' a big deal outta some stupid eggs." The taller guy teased, smirking.

Yuu felt the atmosphere become heavy with tension again, Deuce's polite expression becoming somewhat dull and cold.

"What?" His voice was dangerously calm, making Yuu freeze as she noticed the look in Deuce's eyes.

"They haven't even touched the ground, so they're still edible. Quit whinin'." The first sneered.

"You should thank us for savin' ya the trouble of crackin' 'em!" The other taunted. Both laughed at the expressions of anger on the first year students, pointing as if they were proud of their tasteless humor.

"That ain't funny." Deuce's expression was hidden by his hair, but Yuu noticed how he was clenching his fists.

"Deuce..." She muttered, hoping that her voice was enough to deescalate the situation.

The first boy simply walked up to Deuce, towering over him before placing his hand around his ear. "What was that?" He mocked.

"I said, THAT AIN'T FUNNY. " Deuce snarled, making Yuu grab Grim and back up. You idiots brought this on yourselves. She thought, before flinching as Deuce grabbed the guy by the collar, pulling him down and getting close to his face.

"You don't get to call my eggs stupid. You don't get to call ANY eggs stupid!" Deuce's expression resembled the one on his face at the dwarf's mine. "Those eggs may not have gotten to be chicks, but they were gonna make some amazing tarts!" The guy attempted to back away, only to get pulled back by Deuce, who continued to yell.

"Do you get it yet? DO YOU?!" The guy's eyes were wide, as his friend simply stood, dumbfounded.

"What is with this guy all of a sudden?!" He yelped, his voice shaking as Deuce released him.

"If you aren't gonna get me six eggs..." Deuce cracked his knuckles, a deadly glare directed at the two older guys. "I'll hafta slug you six times!"

"Are you serious right now?!" The second cried, falling back slightly.

"Square up, punks!" Deuce roared, making Yuu's eyes widen, realizing that she would have to intervene.

She put Grim down, her body seemingly moving on its own. I have to stop this.