Expectations When Expecting

Book 2, Chapter 18

"Three-in-one, and this is the best you can do? Pretty pathetic, guys." The hyena boy cackled as he watched Yuu limp after him as she lacked a shoe.

"What is WITH this dude?! He's crazy fast!" Ace panted, attempting to speed back up.

Even Deuce, the one with the best physical agility of the group was struggling, gasping for breath as he spoke."It's not just that he runs fast... It's like no terrain even slows him down!"

"I don't even think I can catch him." Grim wailed, falling behind.

Ruggie laughed again, proceeding to taunt the group again. "Compared to the backstreets of the slums, this is a cakewalk." He turned, grinning widely. "Did you even think this through? Let's say you do catch me—can you even be sure that I did it?"

"What? Of course you did it!" Deuce argued.

"And what about evidence? Do you have a witness who saw me casting spells? For that matter, did anyone snap a picture? You don't have anything like that, do you?"

Deuce seemed to hesitate as Yuu called out.

"You're a coward!" She ripped off her other shoe as Ruggie belted out a laugh.

"A coward? I take that as a compliment, honestly! Next time you wanna come after me, do me a favor and gather some proof first. Though that sounds like a tall order given your track record."

Ruggie did not make it very far after that comment.

Yuu glared before sending a silent prayer, launching her second shoe, this time actually colliding with the side of Ruggie's head.

"Ow, what the fuck?!" He noticed the wall getting closer and the others gaining on him as he stopped, placing two magic pens and a bottle of vitamins onto the floor.

"Damn, okay. Well, I'm done playing tag for today. I'll leave those pens of yours I stole right here for you, okay?" He held his hands up, backing away before putting up a peace sign. "Toodles!"

Ace and Deuce came to a stop, frustrated as Yuu walked around to go retrieve her shoes.

"He really gets on my nerves!" Ace growled, picking the pens up.

Deuce picked up Yuu's shoe and her vitamins, jogging to meet her. "Housewarden Riddle is not going to be pleased." He offered the two items to her, which she took gratefully, calming herself.

"Do you think he's going to keep doing it?" She asked the boys who looked tensely.

"I don't know... probably?"

Yuu sighed as she knelt down to fix her appearance, grumbling as she dusted a bit of dry grass off of her socks.

"So you guys are still on the hunt, huh?" Yuu turned in the direction of a familiar voice, her eyes meeting golden eyes that belonged to a certain wolf.

"Yup." Ace responded before he looked up at Jack with an expression of annoyance. "Hey, here's an idea: Next time, maybe give us a hand? There is seriously something wrong with that guy." He grumbled.

Jack Hunt grunted in response. "Why're you going through all this trouble for the sake of total strangers?"

"I'm not sure I follow." Deuce spoke, staring blankly at Jack.

"I mean, I'd understand if you were out for vengeance for an injured friend, or something." Jack clarified, crossing his arms as his ears flicked.

Ace rolled his eyes, speaking to Jack as if he were stupid. "Buddy, you're missing the point."

"What?"

"We're not doin' this for anyone else's sake!" Ace announced.

"This is just a chance for us to score some kudos by catching the culprit." Deuce agreed.

"Yeah. I'd do anything to get on my dorm's team so I can show my talent to the world!"

Grim nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too! I wanna catch the guy so I can get this glorious mug of mine on TV!"

Yuu groaned, rolling her eyes. "I honestly don't care about the stupid spell drive tournament, but I do wanna avenge Trey." She sent a look at Ace, Deuce, and Grim, who smiled shamelessly.

"Look. I feel bad about what happened to Trey, but if there's an opening on the roster... I'll take it!" Ace responded, making Yuu sigh.

"Why am I not surprised by any of your motivations?" She deadpanned before standing up to face Jack.

"Wow. I was doubting whether I could trust people who would suffer like this for strangers, but..." Jack spoke, regarding the boys with an air of annoyance. "It turns out you guys're total scum."

"If we're scum, then you're less than scum, because you knew all along, didn't you? You knew exactly who the culprit was." Ace retorted, making Jack's ears flatten, his tail finding its place between his legs, a sign of shame.

"Oh! I get it!" Grim remarked. "That's why you were sure he wasn't gonna come for you—you knew the culprit was from your own dorm!"

"... Fight me. The whole lot of you." Jack muttered, annoyed and ashamed.

"Huh? Why should we?" Ace raised an eyebrow.

"If I'm gonna trust you, I gotta size you up first. Prove to me that you ain't all talk, and I'll tell you everything I know." Jack responded.

"Ugh, do I have to? I hate getting all sweaty." Ace muttered, gesturing for Yuu to move away.

"It's always fighting with you boys..." Yuu muttered, making her way behind the tree.

"Now you're talkin' my language. Let's cut that smack-talk and THROW DOWN!" Deuce cheered, taking an offensive position as he pulled out his pen.

"I'll never get used to him flippin' out like that!" Grim meowed, startled by Deuce's words.

Yuu sighed, giving Grim permission with her gaze.

"Okay, fine. Let's let our fists do the talking." She sighed, resigning herself to the inevitability of a fight as she stood. "Okay, I'm gonna go grab everyone breakfast sandwiches so we can get to class after this. I'll be right back." She stood, walking away as the fight began.