The plan was set, the die was cast. The group of collared teens simply had to wait as their prey arrived to return a book from the library. Luckily for Yuu, she'd gotten quite a bit of help from the magic portraits in tracking Trey.
Her mind and heart burned with questions for him after the terrifying display that had taken place earlier that day.
She watched through the holes between the books on the shelves, tapping three times on the books. He's here. She signaled before following after him.
"Hello, Trey." Deuce said, announcing his presence, effectively surprising Trey, who turned on his heel.
"You four!" He exclaimed, eyes wide as he pieced together the group's formation.
"We figured that if we waited at the library, you'd show up to return your tart cookbook eventually." Deuce admitted, maintaining a respectful attitude toward his upperclassmen.
"We still got a problem with the way Housewarden Riddle is handling all of this." Ace declared, as opposed to Deuce, he seemed to be more casual.
Trey examined the faces of the collared group, eyes flooded with guilt as he sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I thought you might say that."
"Come clean with us. What's your take on Riddle? Is it true you've been pandering to him since the two of you were kids?" Ace stepped forward, demanding answers from the green-haired teen.
Trey paused, surprised at Ace's revelation. "What?! Who told you that?"
"A certain cat." Yuu responded, allowing Deuce to finish.
"A guy who called himself Chenya."
Trey blinked. "Chenya..." He thought, shrugging after a few minutes. "Huh. That explains it." Trey removed his glasses, wiping them. It was something that Yuu considered to be a nervous tick, as she recalled how Anthony would do something similar when faced with an uncomfortable situation.
Her eyes saddened for a moment at the memory before she forced herself to harden them again.
"What I don't get is, aren't you older than Riddle? Why haven't ya told him off already?" Grim asked, hopping out of Yuu's arms, demanding and confident as he marched toward Trey.
"I do when I need to. I don't think the situation calls for it." He explained coolly. Yuu bit her lip.
"Why not?" Ace huffed.
"These sorts of strict rules..." Trey paused, perhaps considering the proper phrasing, allowing for a moment of uncomfortable silence with the teenagers. Trey swallowed before continuing. "They're what created Riddle."
Yuu furrowed her brows, mouth twisting into a frown as she considered the implications of Trey's words.
Deuce, however, made a sound of confusion, quickly prompting Trey to further his explanation.
"His parents were famous magical healers. Everyone where we're from knew their names. His mom was especially talented, and she really wanted Riddle to live up to her legacy."
The group took a breath.
"So, from the moment Riddle woke up to when his head hit the pillow at the end of the night... Every aspect of his life was planned, down to the minute, by the education program she made for him."
Yuu felt her frown deepen. A helicopter parent is never healthy... She zoned into the contents of Trey's brief story.
"Sounds pretty lame!" Grim said, yelping as Yuu nudged him with the tip of her foot. Her warning glare quieted the cat-monster very quickly.
"What he ate, what he wore, what soap he used, who his friends were - every last detail had been predetermined for him. And to please his parents, Riddle obediently completed every task they'd laid out for him." Trey continued as Yuu's heart began to ache as she imagined a life like that.
"He mastered his signature spell by age ten. He's been the top student in all of his classes. I can't even imagine how hard he must have had it." The taller boy sighed, pushing his glasses up.
"A life with no freedom... That sounds horrible..." She said, biting the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from crying.
"Riddle sees the enforcement of strict rules as a service to his dorm members. In his eyes, being bound by rigid guidelines - by fear - is a fast-track to personal growth. Because that's how it worked for him. And on the flip side, he sees the violation of those rules as an inexcusable offense." Trey explained, hoping to get the other students to forgive his childhood friend.
Yuu's hand grazed over the metal of the collar to remind herself not to instantly forgive the boy. However horrible his life had been would be no excuse to harm others.
I could have lost my baby. I refuse to let that happen.
"Look, I totally get why you see Riddle as a tyrant, and why you disapprove of his methods. But for me... I can't hold that against him, you know?" Trey explained. Yuu pushed down the empathetic tears, hardening her gaze.
Deuce and Grim, after having heard that story, seemed to have deflated a bit.
"So that's why he's like that..." Deuce muttered as Grim gave a sad meow.
Yuu looked at Ace, trying to see how he'd proceed. The ginger stayed silent for a while as he let the information sink in.
"...... All right, now I get it." He nodded before pointing accusingly at Trey. "It's YOUR fault Riddle's like this."
"What?!" Deuce and Grim yelped, eyes wide.
It gave Yuu a sensation similar to whiplash, given the sudden brutality of the comment. If she'd been standing next to Ace, she might have whacked him over the head.
"Riddle didn't get to choose his parents. But you know what his parents did to him, and you know it was wrong, right?" Ace reasoned, tone stern as Trey nodded.
"I mean, yeah..." Trey looked down in shame.
"Well, now Riddle's making the exact same mistake that his parents did." Ace explained. "You're going easy on him because he had it rough as a kid? Don't you see where that's leading? You're letting him make a pariah out of himself!"
Yuu sighed, realizing that she agreed with everything Ace had said.
"As brutal as this idiot was in his wording... I can't say I disagree. Just because someone had a bad childhood doesn't mean they get to hurt others when they're older." She looked at Trey, who remained silent as he considered their words.
"Ace, Yuu... guys, come on..." Deuce said, attempting to try and soften the blow of their words.
"So why don't you say something? Are you just afraid you'll 'lose your head' too? That's pathetic! You guys are supposed to be childhood friends?! Then act like it." Ace scolded, making Trey somewhat shrink on himself.
Yuu was about to open her mouth to speak in an attempt to soften Ace's words, however, she ended up jumping a bit as she heard a very loud and familiar voice squawk out, "You there! Be quiet! You are in a library!"
She turned, eyes widening as she noticed a blur of glossy-black feathers sprinting at full speed toward their spot. She sighed at Crowley's antics.
"You're yellin' louder 'n any of us, though!" Grim retorted.
"Oh!" The crow-man exclaimed, clearing his throat before continuing. "Yes, my apologies. But let us strive to maintain the library as a quiet place for reading." He turned to face Yuu, flashing her a happy smile as she returned it, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah... I'm sorry if we were being noisy, Headmage." She noticed the books in his arms, eyes widening as she flushed at the titles.
"What to Expect when your human is Expecting"
"Parenting 101"
"How to prepare for a human baby."
And another, more different book, which Yuu had never seen.
She flushed, coughing to get Crowley's attention. When he turned, she flicked her gaze to the very exposed books, which he made a little "Oh" expression, before flipping the books to hide their titles, and placing the unknown book over the other three.
"So!" Yuu said, attempting to draw attention away from the awkward moment. "What are you doing here, Headmage?"
"Oh! Yes! I'm researching methods to send you back home, as well as that other little detail. Precisely as I promised I would." Crowley beamed with a coo. "Oh, but I AM gracious! And the library is, of course, an ideal place for serious research. It's not as if I came here just to secure the newest book in that popular series of novels. No, certainly not." He said, making Yuu raise an eyebrow.
"Incidentally," Crowley made a sound like a curious crow, a bit of croak. "What are you all discussing with such grim faces?"
"Well, since you asked..." Deuce muttered as he began to explain the situation.