“Uuuuuuuughhhh...” June sighed. She sat on her knees at the coffee table, eyes closed and rubbing her temples. “Think I’m getting a headache...”

“It’s easy, really!” Ciel said cheerfully. He flipped over his hand and out of thin air, a little flame sprouted. “Normally it’d be bigger than this but... well, mortal form.”

It was later that day, and as June excitedly suggested earlier, they were testing to see if she could harness some of Ciel’s powers. June copied Ciel’s hand motion exactly, with no results.

“Maybe because you’re hoarding all the magic, I can’t use any...” June said.

“I’m not a hoarder!”

“Magic-hoarder...”

“No!”

June sighed yet again, holding her cheek in her hand. “I suppose this should’ve been expected... of course something that cool wouldn’t happen to an ordinary person.”

“Hey, I’m cool, and I happened to you! Don’t be so negative!” Ciel boasted, slamming his fist on the table.

June laughed tiredly. “So lame...”

“No, no! You mean cool!! Right!?”

Just then, the door opened. Oh, that’s right, June thought. Jack was coming over; they’d made plans earlier in the week to go to the arcade tonight.

“Hi, June!” Jack waved cheerfully. Then he noticed the other one in the room. “Oh... hi Ciel,” he said politely.

“What’s with that look on your face!? Also hey, Coconuthead, I’m cool aren’t I?”

“Why are you calling me that again... and uh...” Jack looked at Ciel for a solid minute. “Sure you are!”

Not catching Jack’s odd tone, he turned to June huffing with pride. “See? Even James thinks I’m cool!”

“Who’s... James?” Jack asked.

“His name is Jack.” June said.

“Jack, yeah! Your Jack thinks I’m cool too!”

Jack looked as though he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “So... June... arcade?”

“Sure... I’m a bit tired though...”

“That’s okay!”

“Did you say arcade!?” Ciel perked up. “I’ve never been to one of those before! Take me with!”

Jack looked as though this was the last thing he wanted. June noticed how cold Jack was to Ciel, which wasn’t really like him at all. And with how offhandedly Ciel treated Jack, he was making matters worse... but it did give June an idea. This could be an opportunity, she thought.

“Yeah, of course you can come with!” June smiled.

Jack gave her a look as Ciel celebrated, but he didn’t protest. Jack was never one to hide his feelings, but he also was always very considerate of June and what she wanted, so she knew that he wouldn’t ask for Ciel not to come with. Using that made her feel a bit guilty but... while for Ciel’s sake to learn the virtues (which she reminded herself, had part of her soul on the line), it would also be for the best for everyone if the two could learn to get along. Knowing Ciel, her plan could backfire completely, but if he’s able to realize and resolve the situation on his own...

“Okay then, let’s all go!” June said, grabbing her raincoat and umbrella.

It was still rainy outside, but the thunder and lightning had stopped, and the downpour was slowing. June wore her raincoat and held up the umbrella for both her and Ciel, while Jack had his own umbrella and coat with him. She and Jack made some smalltalk on the walk there, while in her head she was quickly thinking of how to best leave naturally.

Once they reached around the halfway point, June stopped walking.

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked immediately.

“Oh haha it’s nothing just- agh... my stomach started hurting suddenly.”

“That’s not nothing!” Jack’s eyes shone with concern. “We should head back, c’mon...”

“No, no, it’s okay... I think I’ll go home and take some medicine and rest for a second. You guys go on ahead without me! I’ll join up with you later!”

“You... sure? You sure you don’t need me to walk you home or anything?”

“Yeah! I’ve got my raincoat after all... Here Ciel, take my umbrella– ah, and the quarters are in here– now I’ll head back.”

Ciel looked a bit uneasy for some reason, or was it... worry? “Ok... rest up, June... mortal forms are really fragile...”

June silently shushed him, before waving goodbye. “See you in a bit guys!”

Ciel’s use of the word ‘mortal’ did not go unnoticed by Jack. Rich people, I swear, he thought to himself. They both kept walking to the arcade in silence, neither sure of what to say to the other.

After a few minutes, Jack finally started to speak. “Hey... I just want to know... What are your intentions with June?”

Ciel’s eyes widened and his face went a bit red. “Wh-what, what sort of question is that?”

Jack seemed to not notice the odd phrasing. “I don’t get it, you know... why are you sticking around her like this, mooching off of her, when you have wealthy parents? Can’t you at least ask them for money? Why do you need to take up June’s space and resources like this? I know June tolerates you because she’s genuinely a good person, but... I don’t think I can tolerate this obtuseness like she can. So tell me. Why?”

“I... uh... haha...” Ciel seemed shocked out of a response. At that moment however, they reached the arcade, and Ciel instantly leapt away from the conversation.

“We’re here, we’re here!” he said excitedly, forgetting the tense atmosphere just moments ago. He grabbed Jack and dragged him in despite his protests.

The arcade was a beacon in the dark, rainy evening. The navy blue carpeting bore all sorts of colorful abstract patterns, the machines all shone in a rainbow of colors and blinking lights, and the air was filled with the cheerful chimes and melodic flourishes of the games. Laughter and easy conversation permeated the room.

Ciel ran to the first game he saw– a racing simulator– but was stopped in his tracks as he... didn’t know how to operate the thing. Jack sighed, grabbing the small bag Ciel held, pulling out a couple quarters. He pushed them into the little slot on the right side of the machine.

Ciel bounced up and down in anticipation. “Thank you!!” He then proceeded to immediately crash into the wall and lose the race.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Quickly losing interest, Ciel ran over to another game, repeating the cycle of starting a game and then failing instantly. Jack started to feel more and more like a babysitter with each passing second. “Here, let me try,” he said.

This time it was a shooter game. Jack started up the game, picked up one of the guns, and expertly began shooting. He hit nearly every single target bullseye, only missing one. Ciel watched in awe.

“Woah... you’re so good!! Let me try again, let me!”

Jack sighed in irritation, collecting all his golden tickets spewing from the machine. “OK...”

Ciel missed all the targets except one, which he just grazed the edge of. “W-well, this game is simply... beneath me is all!” Ciel said, huffing. “Woah, what’s that one!?” And then he ran off again, forcing Jack to chase him down.

“A claw machine...” Jack said.

“Oh, oh! I want that thing! That one fits someone of my stature most!” He pointed at a polar bear plush. The plush seemed huggable, it was cute, but the eyes were... slightly askew. It looked a bit goofy as a result.

And so, Ciel tried again and again and again. He also failed again, and again, and again. He growled in frustration.

“GGRHRAGH! What’s with this game??” He turned to Jack, giving him a pleading look.

Jack sighed heavily. “Ok.” With one shot, he managed to rescue Ciel’s true love from the glass cage that was the claw machine. United with his love, Ciel squeezed the polar bear in his arms.

“Thank you Cocon- Jame- I mean, Jack!!” he said.

“Yeah... sure...” Ciel’s struggle to pick out his actual name just further ticked Jack off.

“Oh, look over there!”

When will this end? Jack begged internally.

It was a skee-ball machine. Ciel rubbed his hands together villainously. “I’ve seen this on T.V. before...” He turned to Jack, giving him a thumbs up. “Don’t worry! I’ve got this!”

Ciel inserted some quarters, grabbed as many balls as he could carry, and then climbed on top of the machine. He chucked the balls into the center hole, causing tickets to vomit forth from the slot like an arcade machine someone cheated at. Oh, wait.

“C-C-Ciel!” Jack said.

“Huh?” Ciel said, not looking up at the approaching employee. A very tall and quite intimidating lady placed her hand on Ciel’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

She gave a terrifying smile. “Sir...”

“Can’t believe they kicked us out!!! I was just playing the game!” Ciel said angrily. It was still raining outside, so he held his new polar bear friend’s paw in one hand and the umbrella in the other.

Jack’s eyes were obscured as he looked down, holding his umbrella low. “You... God, what is your problem!?”

“Huh? Huh? Huh, what?”

“You- you... you dragged me around, just doing whatever you wanted, completely ignoring my questions earlier- I don’t even know why June puts up with you! And I still have no answers! I’m so... ugh...” Jack sighed at the end. “It pisses me off. You seem to just do whatever suits yourself...”

Ciel stared, silent. It took him a while to formulate a response, as Jack’s accusatory glare bored into him. “... The truth is... I don’t know if I can tell you really... I um... did some kind of dumb stuff, and so my parents they uh... they don’t want anything to do with me right now. I couldn’t ask for help even if I wanted, they live uh... far away. Even if they were nearby, I don’t really want to see them. My mom would... Anyway.

“I don’t really know why June puts up with me either. So... we’ve got something in common there at least haha... but she uh... June agreed to help me with some stuff, and I really am grateful to her, even if I can be a pain... even if I...

“Well, anyway! There you have it. Half the truth is enough right?”

“... yeah, I guess that’s enough.” Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean to explode there... I don’t disagree with what I said, but I did say it a bit too harshly so... Sorry. But thanks, now I feel like I’ve actually got some idea of who you are exactly, even if it is pretty vague. I had some idea that your parents might’ve been... but even so, I didn’t know how unreachable they were.”

“Yeah... well... Hey. Where’s June!?”

“At home...?”

“Yeah! She said she’d catch up later, that liar!!!” Ciel exclaimed.

“Oh jeez, what if she got more sick...” Jack worried.

The two then hurried back to June’s place.

↼⇁

June was half asleep on the couch when the two burst in.

“Are you okay!?” Jack asked.

“LIAR!!” Ciel shouted.

This was enough to bring June to full alertness. “Oh, you guys are back! Did you have fun?” she asked cheerfully.

“Why didn’t you come back? Are you sick? Here, I’ll get you water-” Jack went off to get water.

“Ah- no, no, I’m okay, really...” June’s guilt deepened. “I just uh... got really tired is all, yeah!” Jack handed her a glass of water which she accepted regardless. Sipping it, she looked at the two of them. Some of that tension seemed to have eased up, she thought.

“So... did you guys have a good time...?” she asked again.

“Yeah! We got kicked out!!” Ciel said happily.

“Only because someone decided to cheat at the skee-ball machine like an idiot.”

“Hey! I’m not an idiot!! Anyway... they said I am not allowed near the skee-ball machines anymore!! Oh, and Jack won me this!” Ciel held up the polar bear. “I’ve decided I will name him Coconut James in his honor...”

“Hey, I did NOT agree to that!”

June laughed. “Well, it sounds like you had a good time...”

“Yeah... Ciel’s surprisingly okay!”

“Surprisingly!? Okay!?” Ciel spluttered.

“Anyway, it is kind of late... jeez, 8 already... I’m going to head back home now!” Jack said. “Thanks for the quarters June, I’ll supply them next round! And uh... thanks Ciel.”

With that, Jack left the room.

“What was the last thank you for?” June prodded.

“Wh- well...” Ciel began awkwardly. “He was really annoyed about some stuff so I told him some stuff...”

“Could it be... did you tell him you’re a god?”

“No! Not that! I just... sort of explained my family situation so he’d stop being pissed at me for living with you.”

“Oh... huh...” June smiled. “I’m glad you were able to resolve the situation alone then! You’re really improving fast, Ciel...”

Ciel blushed a bit. “Th-thanks...”

The necklace lifted, another bead glowing. With an abrupt burst of light, a third bead was revealed, on which was carved an open hand showing its palm. To communicate openly, to not simply ignore confrontation, to be sincere; it was the symbol of Honesty. Ciel held the bead in disbelief. Three already... He felt a deep sense of... something he hadn’t felt in a long time. What was it again?

June took Ciel’s hand. “I’m so proud of you Ciel! You’ve come so far in such a short amount of time...”

Oh... yeah. That feeling. Ciel’s eyes threatened to water, as the sound of the rain outside seemed louder than ever.

“Hang on...” Ciel said, shaking his head. “Something doesn’t seem right... you don’t... look sick?”

June froze. “Uhhh hahaha, I took the medicine so...”

“But then why didn’t you come back? When we came back, it didn’t look like you were about to leave or anything...”

“Ahahaha, it’s getting late isn’t it? Let’s go to bed...”

“LIAR!!!”

“It was for good reason-!”

“And you’re supposed to be my mentor figure.... my role model! How do I learn good morals if you lie!?”

“You guys needed the time to resolve-”

“Liaaaaaaaaaaaar!”

June sighed, rubbing her forehead as Ciel laughed.

“Ciel...”

“OK, okay...” Ciel got up, as did June, and they headed for their rooms.

“Goodnight!” Ciel said.

June gave a tired smile. “Goodnight...”