❝ʜᴇ'ꜱ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛ.❞

╰──➤ 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙉𝙂 𝙇𝙄𝙁𝙀 𝘾𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙄𝙎

Well, Scaramouche's suspension was over.

"A new student will be joining your class today. Introduce yourself."

...

Miss Gunnhildr sighed, "This is Xiao, your new classmate. I've set up another desk at the back of class, behind Y/n."

Xiao wordlessly walked to the back row of class and sat down behind you. You glanced over to Scaramouche and saw a blank expression on his face as he wrote in his notebook. He looked almost peaceful. His eyes were calm and his lips weren't pulled in any particular direction; he looked neutral. That was the best expression you'd seen on him so far. He sensed your gaze and turned his head, causing you to look away as quick as possible.

"Y/n, will you be able to catch Xiao up on all his classes?" Miss Gunnhildr asked.

Your head perked up, "I'm sorry, but I don't have the time."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm very sure."

"Hm... Sucrose, then?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Sucrose piped up.

"Alright. You can all do whatever you'd like until the bell rings," Miss Gunnhildr declared.

You quickly pulled out your homework folder and took out a worksheet you didn't get to finish the previous night. You were working until 1 am, when you fell asleep at your desk. Scaramouche noticed your actions and raised his eyebrows, surprised that you hadn't already completed it. He looked closely at the contents of the paper and identified it as the History practice sheet.

"You aren't done your homework yet?" He asked.

"Does it look like I'm done?" You sighed.

Seems like she's been in a worse mood than normal... 

"Do you need help?"

Wait, what? He thought.

You looked up to him and observed his face, looking for any signs of an ulterior motive, but nothing showed itself. You exhaled quietly.

"I thought I was supposed to be helping you. Your answers are probably wrong..."

"I checked all my answers online last night," he rolled his eyes.

"Still, I'm not gonna cheat on my homework. Stop distracting me."

"Fine, don't accept my help," he shrugged nonchalantly.

You only had a few questions left, and you answered most of them with ease. One took a bit more brainpower to figure out, but you got it soon enough. You put the paper back in your folder and stuffed it in your backpack. While you did so, Scaramouche finished the picture he was drawing with a led pencil.

"What'd you draw now?" You queried.

"None of your business."

Despite his words, you leaned toward him to get a better view of his drawing and once again, you were amazed by the talent he held. It was an image of what looked like a pier, with a bunch of boats scattered around it. There was no color, but you could imagine what it would look like as a final product. You truly believed Scaramouche had more talent in his left pinkie than you did in your entire body.

"You never cease to amaze me with your skill," you admitted. "As much as I hate you, you're talented."

"You hate me?" He asked as he looked at you through the corner of his eye, raising an eyebrow as a smirk tugged at his lips. You gazed into his eyes, seeing a surprisingly attractive glint of mischief.

"...No."

"Oh, really? I thought you said I was the worst," he mentioned.

"I was having a bad day, you know that."

"Yeah, I just like messing with you."

"Jerk."

"Can you quiet down?" Xiao hissed from behind you, startling both you and Scaramouche.

"Sorry," you apologized. "I didn't realize we were disturbing you."

"It's fine."

"By the way," you said in a softer voice, looking back to Scaramouche. "Did you get the job?"

"Yep," he snickered.

"...And you're not trying to stalk me so you can murder me in my sleep?"

"I just need money."

You chose to believe him, deciding that it was the most likely scenario anyway. Of course he wasn't stalking you! You felt silly for even considering that.

"When do you start?" You asked.

"Today, after school."

Great, I'll have to work with him today...

Despite your thoughts, you weren't sure of how you viewed Scaramouche. You admired his resolve and how he really was trying to get things done, but at the same time, he was so annoying. He loved pissing you off and he focused so much on himself that he had no room in his head to think of others. You didn't hate him, but you didn't particularly like him, either...

The bell rang; an almost defeaning sound after spending so much time in your thoughts. You spun around in your chair to face Xiao.

"Good luck on your first day," you said, to which he mumbled an incoherent response.

Scaramouche ignored you and stood up, sauntering across the room and out the door. You followed everyone else in the room to history class with your bag slung over your shoulder. 

♕︎❯────「♕︎」────❮♕︎

Seeing Komore Teahouse was a relief to you, since you could finally get to work and not walk alongside Scaramouche in an awkward silence any longer. He'd suggested joining you on your journey to work since he had to be there as well, and you were dreading your next work days if you had to travel there with him. He barely said anything during the walk! All you could do was fiddle with the cloth of your shirt as your eyes shifted uncomfortably from the ground to the world above.

So once you changed into your uniform, you felt all the panic wash away. 

"Can I take your order?"

"An order of tricolor dango, please."

"Coming right up, sir!"

Being a waitress took up all your mental energy. Constantly throwing a smile on your face in front of customers was more draining than one would expect, especially with all the stress you were under. And your voice had to be enthusiastic as well so you'd have better chances of getting a tip. Exhausting, but you were almost perfect at it.

Scaramouche, however, was not well versed in this area. And you could tell as you overheard him while you walked by.

"What would you like?"

"I'll have an order of Onigiri."

"Okay."

With how awkward he sounded, you wanted to die from secondhand embarrassment. Thank god Thoma was advising him instead of you.

"He's doing great," you said sarcastically to your coworker as you headed into the kitchen. "An order of Tricolor Dango at table 3."

You handed Kokomi the paper where you recorded the order and glanced around the room.

"Gorou's not working today?" You queried.

"Ah, he's sick today. It's been very stressful," she responded. There were other chefs, of course, but Gorou helped her with a lot of the work, so you understood how it could be hard for her. None of the other workers were as enthusiastic and helpful as him, which never came as a surprise to you.

"You can do it," you smiled. "Okay, I should keep working now."

The heat from the various dishes being cooked spread throughout your body and you wanted to leave the room as soon as possible. The clanking of knives and other various utensils was also unbearable. You really hated the kitchen.

"Okay, is anything ready?" You asked hurriedly.

She handed you a sashimi platter and you took it gracefully. You looked at the note attached to the plate and nodded, rushing out to serve it. 

Meanwhile, Scaramouche was fumbling through everything. He had no idea what he was doing, he didn't understand the numbering system, he couldn't make himself seem more enthusiastic than he really was, and he hated having people tell him what to do. Even though he got a practice day on the weekend, he still knew practically nothing. Thrown into the deep end.

He couldn't wait for it to be over.

♕︎❯────「♕︎」────❮♕︎

"You barely even looked up from your notepad-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. That stupid ginger already told me how bad I am at the job."

"His name is Thoma and he is perfect in every way."

Something about that phrase made Scaramouche's blood boil.

"What, are you hooking up with him or something?" He snapped.

"Ew, no, he's almost finished college. I'm not trying to get him into jail," you replied with a disgusted expression. "Anyway, focus. You need to catch up on science now. Soon enough, you'll be able to leave my life forever if you want!"

He rolled his eyes at your enthusiasm and wondered if you wanted him to leave. He assumed so, considering how he always acted annoyed in your presence and he was never exactly a joy to be around. 

"Fine, whatever."

Most of the work was you helping him with practice sheets, so you had to sit considerably close to him in order to see the paper properly. The both of you were sitting criss-crossed, so your knees and shoulders were touching. You didn't pay much mind to it, but it was somewhat distracting for Scaramouche. Especially since he could turn his head the slightest bit and you'd be right there. 

But he still worked anyway. After a while, when you were about to suggest a break, Teucer threw the door to your room open with a bright smile on his face. You blinked in surprise and tilted your head, looking for an explanation.

"Big Brother Ajax is home!" He cheered.

...

Scaramouche could instantly sense how irked you were. Your expression hardened and you furrowed your eyebrows as a frown momentarily tugged at your lips. You hastily put on a smile for your little brother and stood up.

"Oh, is he? I'll go say hi to him, then," you said, patting Teucer's shoulder as you passed by him in the doorway. You left him with Scaramouche and the two boys could hear your footsteps as you stepped down the stairs.

Teucer narrowed his eyes at the older boy before glancing around and catching a glimpse of a sketch that was pinned up on the same wall your photos were on. He drew a quick picture of an image you gave him while he was on his break, and you asked to keep it while you were walking to your house with him. So, you hung it up.

"Woah!" He gasped, dashing over to get a closer look. "That looks so cool!"

Scaramouche was startled by his reaction, but he didn't say anything.

"I didn't know Y/n could draw like this..." He said.

"I drew that."

Scaramouche didn't have a desire to speak with Teucer, but he certainly wasn't going to let you steal the credit for his work. The little boy suddenly turned to look at him and the glimmer in his eyes was clear as day.

"Really!?" Teucer asked. "Wait, can you draw a picture of Mr. Cyclops?!"

...

"Um... Sure, I guess, if you give me a reference..."

He didn't want to refuse and have the kid pester him, but he also wasn't sure how to deny when his eyes looked so innocent and pleading. Teucer raced out of the room and came back with an action figure for reference, sitting down beside Scaramouche to watch him work.

Meanwhile, you were questioning your older brother.

"Are you ready to tell me why you're back so early?" You asked. "You should still have two more hours of work."

"...They sent us home because someone got sick."

"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard from you, Ajax."

"It's true! Someone got sick in the kitchen, so now they're sanitizing the place. It's a high quality restaurant, they care a lot about that stuff."

"...Fine," you sighed. "How was your day, then, aside from the sickness?"

"I got an A on the essay I had to write about the first universal war and how it affected life for the people."

"That's good," you smiled. "By the way, how long was Teucer alone at home?"

"What?"

"You left early for work," you mentioned. "How long was he here?"

"When did you get home?"

"6:40."

"Only five minutes," Ajax shrugged.

"Good. Why did you leave early, though?"

"I wanted to make sure I got there on time," he replied.

"Okay..." You said skeptically. "Anyway, I'm going back upstairs. My friend is here."

"Mona?"

"No, actually."

"Wow, you have two friends?" He queried, raising his eyebrows from surprise.

"Yes, stop making fun of me."

"Okay, okay."

You walked upstairs and stood in the doorway, surprised to see Teucer with his head on Scaramouche's shoulder as he watched him sketch. Neither of them seemed to notice you were there, so you quickly took your phone out of your pocket and snapped a picture. You would've used your actual camera, but it was in your bedroom and it would've alerted them. It was cute, how peaceful they looked. Weird, though, considering Teucer previously thought Scaramouche was a murderer.

Well, children could change their opinions, right?