𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄- 𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐀 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑

WHAT IF I DO?

"Azul-kun, let's make a deal."

Your plan succeeded. The anemones on your friends' heads were removed, and Ramshackle Dorm was secured. As for Azul, he was looking up at you on the floor, with frustration and tears in his eyes.

"Aaah, aaaaah..." Azul sobbed, "It's gone... My carefully amassed collection of magic... My omnipotent power..."

"Without that, I... I'm back to being that 'silly little octo-twerp" again...How pitiful..." He let out a sarcastic laugh and wiped the tears in his eyes.

You looked down at him with a bit startle in your eyes, not expecting this change in tone of his. He had always been mischievous and unscrupulous, yet, at this moment, he was like a little boy whose favourite and most valuable toy had been taken away, sobbing desperately on the ground.

"Everyone, please give Azul some time." Jade turned to you and the others and said.

"Jade-senpai, what does he mean when he called himself... 'the silly octo-twerp'...?" You asked out of curiosity. What made those golden contracts so valuable to Azul that made him cry like it was the end of the world?

"..." Jade thought for a moment before he spoke again, "Azul did not look like how he is now when he was small. I assume you all have seen that in the photo you've gotten from the museum."

His words confused you. "Huh? I don't understand that, Jade-senpai. Azul-kun was in that photo? Why can't I see him?" I said while taking out the photo from your pocket and checking one more time, but there was still no sight of Azul. It was just some merfolk kids in the photo.

Smiling a bit, Jade politely pointed at the bottom left corner of the photo, "Look more carefully. Azul is right here."

You and the boys took a closer look at the spot where Jade was pointing and saw a chubby little boy with black octopus tentacles instead of legs, silver hair and grey-purple skin.

"EHHH??!!" The boys gasped.

You widened your eyes when you realized that it was Azul when he was a kid. "Jade-senpai, so that's-"

"Yaaa!! Koebi-chan is so clever! That's baby Azul. Isn't he chubby and cute?" Floyd next to his brother said excitedly, which was totally different from his previous deathly vibe, "This is a picture from our school field trip! That takes me back!" You could tell why Ace called him a mood swinger.

"Due to his appearance and the fact that he would spill inks when he was nervous, Azul was bullied by other merfolk kids when he was small." Jade explained, "To get rid of that, Azul made deals with others throughout the years and slowly collected different spells while improving himself in all aspects."

You kept silent for a moment, clearly not expecting that Azul had gone through being bullied. He was not right for making shady business dealings with students and stealing their magic, but you could not help but feel a bit bad for destroying his contracts, something that he had been collecting for years.

"Azul got his schoolmates' yearbooks and the negatives from the photographer and even laid claim to every single old photo of him through a whole web of deals." Jade continued while looking down at the photo in your hand, "But there doesn't seem to be any legal way to dispose of this last photo."

"Azul probably wants to remove himself from the photo with some software." Floyd shrugged a bit and added with a carefree smile, "I can't see how that's a big deal though. I like the old Azul. Round and cute!"

"AAAAAHHHH!!! NO!" Azul at the back all of a sudden cried, "Don't look! Please don't look!" He then turned to the twins with anger and embarrassment, "Jade, Floyd! You two have signed an NDA covering that exact topic!" He cried with teary eyes. But all he got in return was the playful smiles from his fellows.