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rosietrace · 16 days

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Errand Boy

Divider by @cafekitsune !

[ This short story is important to the main story of the central character ]

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Central Character ; 『 Sumeragi Yuuta, “The Golden Rule” 』

Mentioned (Central) ; 『 “Rei-Rei”, ‘The Secret Silly Symphony’ 』

【 This is both a short story important to the central character's story; All Ocs belong to their respective owners and will be credited at the end. 】

Synopsis: Crowley's favorite errand boy just can't catch a break, can he? Well, at least it isn't most of his errands Yuuta has to run.

Warning(s): Angst, comfort at the end(?), backstory spoilers, nobody knows it's his birthday :(, not proofread because grammarly sucks now and we die like men

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Whatever they were talking about, Yuuta wasn't putting in any effort in listening. It was just how he operated most of the time.

Disassociation; a brief hum and nod as though he were paying attention; a snarky comment thrown in when he gets asked the age-old “are you even listening?”— all culminating into one of the most mundane ways for Yuuta to start his day.

Well, maybe that was a little cruel to say; Ellis and Circe seemed to be enjoying themselves just fine. Something about the former trying on a new shade of pink she, quote on quote, invented.

Yuuta sat on the couch he'd recently helped implement into Ellis' eyesore of a room, his eyes focused on the ceiling to refrain from rolling his eyes so far back they'd get stuck.

Are they done yet? Yuuta asked himself, completely disassociating from whatever conversation Ellis and Circe were currently having. He felt a little bad for being so inattentive; fashion was one of the few things he had in common with the duo.

Yet there he was, barely even paying a sliver of attention to whatever nonsense they were talking about. Something about ‘inventing new colors’, but he was too busy thinking to actually listen.

“Yuuta?”

He blinked, his gaze flitting between the pink ceiling — that he painted for Ellis — to Ellis herself. Seemed like while he was occupied with… anything other than what they were talking about.

“Hm?” He quirked up an eyebrow. “What?”

“We were just asking what you thought of this new design Ellis came up with,” Circe took hold of Ellis’ sketchbook and went over to Yuuta, handing it to him.

Yuuta got a good look at the sketch. It was good, he believed. Then again, Ellis always did have a knack for design.

“Well?” Ellis strode over to them, tilting her head to the side with a smile Yuuta couldn't dare break.

“What do you think?”

Why do you always ask me that? Yuuta thought. The praise Ellis received for her talent in fashion and all things related to it weren't unwarranted. She didn’t need to ask him, or Circe, or anyone about if a design looked good or not— there was no need to.

It was Circe's turn to raise an eyebrow. “Yuuta?” It was as though Yuuta couldn't hear them, hear anything.

Circe snapped his fingers twice, that hint of concern plastered on his face barely even comparable to Ellis’, who seemed to take that wave of concern and multiplied it by tenfold.

Yuuta couldn't stop thinking. About the day it was, about how nobody will know about the significance of it; about the errands he'll have to deal with today to keep Ramshackle afloat, about…

The buzzing noise of Yuuta's phone gave him that opening to leave as soon as possible. Better for him to complete his everyday tasks than to deal with the concern his friends had over him.

Yuuta stood, towering over Ellis but not quite doing the same for Circe. “I have to go,” he said in such a way that implied that whatever conversation they were going to have, it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, if at all.

“Huh?” Circe scrunched their nose. “What are you- No, where are you-”

“Errands,” Yuuta dismissed far too quickly than necessary, already making a break for the door before Ellis could intercept.

At least, he would have. Not until a thought popped into his head. So much so that he stood with his body halfway out of the door, frozen in place.

Circe's face contorted from silent concern, to surprise, to just straight up befuddlement. Ellis wasn't doing much better, tucking her arms behind her back with a similar expression on her face.

“What's he doing…-?” Circe whispered to Ellis, his nose wrinkling.

“I’m…” Ellis took a slight step forward, “... Not too sure.” Hence, from there, she walked up to Yuuta, tapping his shoulder with a featherlight touch to bring him back to his senses.

She could only hope that he wouldn't be like this for the rest of the day. The mere thought just made her even more worried than she already was.

“Erm… Yuuta?” Ellis called out to him, shaking him gently; body halfway out of her room, with his head hanging low. “Yuuta, are- Are you okay? Do you need a break, or something? I'm sure if we asked Crowley, he could let you take a bre-”

“Ribbon.”

Ellis blinked. “... Pardon?”

Ellis watched Yuuta turn his head to look her directly in the eye, his expression devoid of emotion.

“I'm gonna have to ask for some ribbons. Black, purple, and blue.”

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Crowley had been kind in the number of errands Yuuta had to run for today. Try as he may to hate the pathetic birdbrain, he could — at the very least — feel thankful.

Though…. If he continues to go on and on about his ‘kindness’, I might just punch my way through this goddamn maze.

Yuuta had already been in a questionable mood ever since the incident with Ellis and Circe earlier in the day, it just seemed like his mood worsened when he had to perform the tasks bestowed upon him by his “enigmatic” headmaster.

“Something on your mind?” Juvia asked, noting the grumbling Yuuta's been doing for the past few minutes while they assisted in painting the roses in Heartslabyul.

Juvia, bless her heart, knew that Yuuta wasn't going to be able to do everything himself, and out of the kindness of her blot-covered heart, had convinced Yuuta to allow her to help him out; well aware of his stubborn nature and his utmost refusal to receive help most of the time.

“I'm fine,” like everyone else, Juvia played victim to the dismissiveness of Sumeragi Yuuta. May the Great Seven bless her with more patience than anyone in NRC could muster.

Yuuta picked up another bucket of paint, heading for the next bush of unpainted roses with a look so nonchalant it almost disturbed Juvia to see him in such a state.

“You're clearly thinking of something.” Juvia climbed up a ladder to reach the upper parts of the rose bush she was painting; which just so happened to be next to Yuuta's. He wondered if that'd been intentional on her part.

But that thought faded very quickly. “Well, whatever I'm thinking of, it isn't any of your business.”

“I feel like as your roommate—”

“I'm basically your landlord.”

“No you're not! Crowley's the landlord!”

“Yeah, and he's a shitty one, too.”

He let out a tsk, proceeding with the tedious task of painting the roses red without staining his uniform.

Juvia’s frown deepened. “You're clearly thinking of something, y'know.”

Yuuta's eyes rolled. “And why’re you assuming that, of all things?”

“Because,”— Juvia pursed her lips in hesitation —“you have that look.”

He blinked. “What look-?”

“Y'know! The look!” To try and prove — as well as emphasize — her point, Juvia mimicked the expression currently worn on Yuuta's face.

Yuuta merely deadpanned, unimpressed by her feeble efforts at trying to get his thoughts out of him. She's too much like her.

He shook that thought away faster than the last one. No. She isn't her, and it isn't good to try and pretend that she is.

Bad, Yuuta. Bad.

Ignoring whatever Juvia had to say next, Yuuta finished his last batch of painted roses before he could leave to fulfill the rest of his errands of the day— not without taking two deliberately unpainted white roses from the bush, of course.

That was when Noriko ‘You must not bring dishonor to Lady Victoria's name!’ Dolion intercepted him on his way out.

“Where do you think you're going?” Noriko challenged, crossing their arms in disapproval. “Housewarden Rosehearts won't exactly be pleased if he saw you with those… it violates the conduct of the Queen of Hearts.”

Yuuta chortled, brushing past Noriko and retorting back, “As if you didn't plan on doing the same thing for your favorite Fae in Pomefiore.”

And so, Yuuta left Heartslabyul with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes; with Juvia falling from her ladder, caught into the arms of a blue-haired Spade, and Noriko red in the face in shame.

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“You didn't have to do this, you know.”

“Yeah, well, I insist,” despite all of the errands he had to deal with earlier in the day, Yuuta had graciously offered to help Miren with two of his latest concoctions.

Some pastries, mostly cupcakes; as well as a creation so spicy it could potentially challenge Miren’s spice tolerance if he wasn't careful.

What confused Miren was Yuuta's insistence on making cupcakes while he was making that spiced up monstrosity.

“Didn't take you as much of a cupcake person,” Miren narrowed his eyes. Skeptical, and almost intrigued. At least until Yuuta got some frosting on his cheek.

Yuuta clicked his tongue. “What made you think that?”

“You don't eat sweets that much, clearly.”

“Well you clearly haven't seen me during a Heartslabyul unbirthday party.”

“That's only because your schedule's so jam-packed, you barely have time to attend them anymore,” Miren groaned out a sigh.

“Seriously, I'm starting to think you're only running so many errands for a better paycheck.”

That's one of the reasons, an unsaid reply from Yuuta. At least for today.

“Come to think of it…” Miren hummed. “You've been…. Busier, today.”

Yuuta arched up an eyebrow. “Hah?”

“You know what I mean. It's like you're overexerting yourself on purpose,” it had, very clearly, occurred to Yuuta that Miren Lockhart wasn't going to back down from this topic; possibly more so than stubborn Ellis, sassy Circe, and worrisome Juvia.

Miren leaned against the kitchen counter. It was hard to take him seriously with that smudge of frosting on his cheek, Yuuta thought.

Wanting nothing more than to just leave, Yuuta did just that. Taking the two of the dozen cupcakes he'd made, one with purple icing and the other with light blue icing, he held them with one hand to focus his free hand on lifting Miren's chin.

Once he'd done so, Yuuta had teasingly licked the frosting off of Miren's cheek. Which… just happened to be the same time Carol came in, with Mayuu and Chizuko in tow.

Carol wasn't even the least bit surprised. “I'm not even going to ask,” she said with a disapproving huff of breath as Yuuta brushed past her, Mayuu, and Chizuko.

Chizuko squinted her eyes, thinking it relevant that the look on Yuuta's was most uncharacteristic for him, indeed, but not putting in the effort to say anything about it. Simply crossing her arms and shaking her head.

Mayuu went over to Miren, slightly disgusted at Yuuta's embarrassing display. “What's going on with him?”

Miren looked off at the kitchen's doorway, his hand covering his right cheek, his face reddened with blush.

Miren just sighed, letting go of his cheek and shrugging his shoulders. Whatever bothered Yuuta about today, it was clear he wouldn't tell any of them about it.

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Finally, it was night. Yuuta liked late night walks; he'd indulged in them every so often with Ellis, often encountering ‘Tsunotarou’ on their walk around campus.

But tonight was a special night. A night where he wasn't burdened by a constant demand to help those around him, where it was just him. Alone. No Tsunatarou, no Ellis, no anyone.

He sighed to himself, his eyes fixated on the glimmering lights in the dark midnight sky. Gods….

He cursed to himself, far below his breath. Why had it come to this? Why was his persistence in pretending today wasn't special getting him to such a sad, pathetic, point?

He didn't know the answer to that. Yuuta didn't know if he'd ever know the answer to that. And maybe he'll know one day, and maybe he won't.

Clearly, it wouldn't be tonight.

“Maybe in some alternate timeline where I'm not… me,” Yuuta murmured, taking out a ring of keys from his pocket.

He unlocked the doors to the botanical gardens, making sure to not make the doors creak too much; Crowley had been surprisingly easy to bribe to get the keys, the old coot was even ‘generous’ enough to give Yuuta full ownership of the keys.

He made sure not to wake any of the others when he snuck out. And any opportunities to run into Malleus were quickly evaded with, in his words, “some impressive maneuvering skills”.

But that wasn't as important as what he was to do next. Other than the keys to botanical garden, Yuuta had brought a small bag containing… stuff.

He'd gone to the most secluded part of the garden, one where the glass walls couldn't see him, and a spot not even Leona knew about. A spot personal only to Yuuta.

He sat down, setting everything up with a forlorn, almost sorrowful smile on his face.

Two cupcakes with purple and blue icing respectively, with candles of the opposite color stuck on the top; two unpainted white roses with purple, blue, and black ribbons crudely tying them together.

And finally, a black rabbit stuffed animal with a blue ribbon bowtie, and bracelet.

The stuffed animal, in particular, had the added consequence of getting Yuuta relentlessly teased by his friends when they found it in his room. He never elaborated on why he got it, or where he got it, because it simply wasn't their business.

They didn't need to know any more about him than they already did.

Besides, Yuuta sucked in a breath, his throat tightening. it was her favorite animal…

Lighting the two candles of the two cupcakes together, Yuuta held in a breath, singing a soft, melancholic version of the birthday song. He sang it in such a short, hiccupped manner, that he knew — he just knew — he was on the brink of tears.

And he didn't fight them. He never fought those tears. Not when they were for her. His only true friend, his truest, kindest, friend.

A friend — a girl he saw as a sister — he'll forever miss.

“Happy birthday,” he breathed out, tears barely wiped, “to… me.”

Yuuta looked up at the glass ceiling, crying his little, broken heart out. Things couldn't be changed. He couldn't change the past for what it was, and he knew he couldn't change the way he treated her.

He wondered where she was, often. He cried himself to sleep, sometimes, at the idea she could be hurt. She didn't deserve that, she never deserved that.

Yuuta sniffled, closing his eyes after making his birthday wish. A wish he'd been making ever since her departure from his life, all those years ago.

I want to see you again, Rei-Rei. And just like all the times I've said it before, I'm sorry.

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【 Taglist / Credits 】

↳ In order of OC appearances/mentions

Ellis Clawthorne — @starry-night-rose 💖

Circe Erfinderin — @geminiiviolets 👾

Juvia Yuyi Espejo — @jasdiary 🧡

Noriko Dolion — @terrovaniadorm / @hallowed-delights ‼️

Victoria Shard — Me! 😈

Miren Lockhart — @authoruio 💙

Carol Ann — @fumikomiyasaki 💚

Chizuko Minato — @sakuramidnight15 ⛓️

Mayuu — @nem0-nee ⏰

“Rei-Rei” (UNRELEASED) — @jasdiary

|| @twsted-princess || @mystery-skulls-ghost || @abyss-wonderer || @absolutelyobsessedkiya / @twistedsongstressofstarz || @spadecentral || @oseathepebble || @valse-a-mille-temps || @twst-stupid-ocs || @mintychocolate04 ||

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