Fortunately, the one-sided fight ended fairly quickly when Deuce punched the silver-haired delinquent right across the cheek and kicked his friend away from him. They crawled away as they stared up at Deuce in terror, almost in tears. "T-This guy's insane! That wasn't six hits, you liar!" the silver-haired boy shouted.

"We needta get the heck outta here! I beg all chickens for their forgiveneeeessssss!" his red-haired friend fearfully apologized. Deuce then pointed towards Alice. "Apologize to my girl too, knuckleheads! Apologize for makin' her cry!" he roared.

"We're so sorry, miss!!" the delinquents said as they quickly bowed to her, got up on their feet and fled, wanting to get away from Deuce as far as they can. Of course, the navy-blue haired boy wanted to have the final word. "You better be apologizin' a hundred times over the next time you eat eggs! Idiots!" he yelled.

"Eeeek!" Grim shrieked as he hid behind Alice's back for safety. Alice then shakily walked over to Deuce and placed a gentle hand on his arm. "D-Deuce-kun? It's...it's alright. N-No need to trash talk them now." she said in a soft tone.

Deuce was still enraged as he was breathing heavily due to the adrenaline having rushed through his veins. He looked down at the sky blue-eyed girl. Upon seeing her soft look of concern, his angry features immediately disappeared. He blinked when he quickly realized what he had done.

"...Oh, no!" he yelped as he took a step back away from her, looking at her with shame and guilt. He appeared to be completely ashamed of his actions. Once the situation looked safe enough, Grim ran over and climbed on Alice's shoulder. "What now?!" Grim asked.

"Deuce-kun? Are you...alright?" Alice asked anxiously. Deuce didn't respond as he looked down at his gloved fists. He gripped his head and stumbled back, his back hitting the pedestal of the Witch of Thorns statue.

He then slid down towards the ground and hung his head as he brought his knees close to his chest. "I-I screwed up... I vowed that I'd definitely, definitely be an honor student this time for sure...!" he said, mostly to himself. "Eeh?" Grim asked. Alice's gaze towards the boy softened as she sat down next to him.

She then reached out and gently took his hand in hers. Deuce lifted his head to see Alice giving him a small, gentle smile, quietly telling him that she was there for him. If he ever needed to talk, she was there to listen.

Deuce looked towards Alice, staring into her beautiful sky-blue eyes and took in a deep breath. "I-I screwed up... I vowed that I'd definitely, definitely be an honor student this time for sure...!" he said, his voice heavy with regret. Grim tilted his head in confusion. "Eeh?" he asked.

"All I ever did in middle school was screw around... I constantly skipped school and spent all my time getting into fights." Deuce slowly began. "I disrespected all my teachers, hung around the more sketchy groups, and bleached my hair to death. Even rode my Magical Wheel all over the place."

He gripped Alice's hand a bit tightly when he said that part. "I was a terrible person that went as far as to use magic to lord over those who couldn't." Every word Deuce spoke felt as heavy as lead.

Alice could understand that Deuce heavily regretted the things he had done in the past. He was even close to hating himself for the stupid actions he made back when he was in middle school. "That's literary textbook delinquent! You don't see a ton of those nowadays." Grim remarked.

"I...I honestly never would've imagined you... being someone like that, Deuce-kun." Alice said softly, surprised at what she was hearing. Even so, she never took her hand away from his. Deuce could still remember every little detail when he even joined that rough gang of teenage delinquents.

He was always a bit of a wild child during his adolescent years, but when he started middle school, Deuce had changed into something even worse than before. He was sometimes on edge, like a wild caged animal, ready to spring on anyone who dared to come near him.

Even the teachers had no idea on what to do with him, they just gave up on him. Knowing just how easy it was to go bad still scared him. When he joined the gang, he hurt a lot of people and he even got himself hurt, but he didn't care.

He did a lot of atrocious things. He didn't want to say half of it, let alone tell everything to this sweet, kindhearted girl beside him. In short, he was a plain moron. A complete idiot of the highest degree. "Who the heck do you think you are, you little tart?! Ya got a death wish or somethin'?!"

"I'll give you ugly scars you'll never rid of!"

"See ya tonight, Spade! We're gonna rob some cash from this goody-goody punk, so don't miss it!"

"My nagging parents are startin' to get on my nerves. I swear I'm gonna pound 'em one day."

He could still remember saying and hearing all those terrible things. He hated himself. He hated that life so much...especially when he realized he had been hurting the one person he never could've expected.

"Is it all my fault...? Have I done something to hurt my boy...?"

He had gone back home after beating on a kid who was known to be a teacher's favorite. It wasn't as much fun as his seniors had made it out to be, but still, it was at least something. He shoved his hands into his pockets and was about to head up to his room when he heard light sobbing coming from the living room.

Curiosity got the best of him and he went to check it out. Deuce quickly hid when he saw his mother crying as she spoke on the phone. Her tear-stained face was full of guilt and sorrow. She looked absolutely ashamed of herself.

"Then, one night... I saw my mom hiding away in tears as she called my grandma. "Was the way I raised him wrong? Would it have been better if he had both parents?"" Deuce said as he recalled his mother's sad words.

"Was the way I raised him the wrong way? Would it have been better if he had both parents? I think I failed him... I'm such a bad, horrible mother...!" Deuce's mother sobbed as more tears streamed down her face.

Deuce stood in the hallway, listening to their conversation. His peacock-green eyes were wide as the rush of realization overwhelmed him. The way he acted like a wild animal. The way he disrespected his teachers. And the way he had hurt all those people... everything. And he had no idea how his mother felt through it all.

There was no doubt that she had been getting complaints from everyone and was just helplessly watching her son act that way. She had been blaming herself for his wild behavior all this time and he had hurt her badly without even knowing it.

"Even though none of it was her fault. Mom wasn't the problem here, it was all me!" Deuce continued. "So when a carriage came from a school as prestigious as Night Raven College, and I got to see my mom look so happy, I swore I would never make her cry again."

"This time, I'm going to be a diligent student my mom could be proud of. And then I go and pull this... Darn it...!" Deuce shouted as he slammed his fist against the cobblestone path. Alice sat in complete silence as she listened to his words.

Her heart ached for him and his mother. She was right the first time. He was such a good person. He's trying. He's doing his best to be a better person and make his beloved mother smile again. She can truly understand that notion. "But, y'know... Does being a good student mean you have to grin and bear everything?" Grim asked.

"Huh...?" Deuce asked, looking down at Grim. The blue-eyed cat gremlin spread a smirk on his face and raised his paw. "Those delinquents deserved another ten punches if you ask me!" His cocky smirk then fell. "You fought them off before I could, though."

Grim really wished he could have joined in the fray and fight off those bullies. Alice giggled softly as she shook her head. "But overdoing it is not good, is it?" she asked. "You guys..." Deuce said softly. Alice smiled at him before she laced her fingers with his own and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, making his heart jump.

"Even the most diligent of students get mad, too. It isn't good to hold everything in, but I can understand why you would do that. You wanted to improve yourself in order to protect your mother's smile." Alice said gently.

"All you want is to make her proud, but I believe that what you're doing now was more than enough. You left that delinquent group, you've cleaned up your act, picked up the pieces and started a new life in an extraordinary school. You're trying your hardest." Alice kept her smile, but her eyes fell to her feet.

Even though she didn't know the kind of life Deuce had before coming to Night Raven, Alice felt very proud of him. He was doing so much to improve himself. Of course, he still has that temper to work on, but it wasn't his fault.

He was provoked into doing it, and he was still doing what he could to be a responsible, well-mannered honor student. Despite what he had done before, his mother took the blame herself and still clearly loved her child. That was clearly something of an achievement.

"I'm pretty sure that your mother understands that, too. She sounds like a wonderful person, so she and I are probably sharing the same thought." Alice said, looking at him with a warm smile.

"That decision is your own. While it's amazing that you're doing all of this for her, you should also do this for yourself, Deuce-kun. Be the type of person you yourself can be proud of and enjoy this in your life. Keep being yourself, but don't be afraid to make changes. Relax a little, but still have as much fun as you can."

Deuce's peacock-green eyes slightly widened and a soft blush spread across his cheeks. Alice's words were so kind and sweet, yet they held a small amount of strength to them. He felt that those were the kind of words he needed to hear.

Deuce's face turned redder when he saw that Alice was still holding his hands. His heart started to beat uncontrollably as a strange, warm feeling began to swell up within him. He smiled back at Alice and nodded his head. "Really? Thank you, Alice-chan." he said gratefully. "...Heh-heh. May those baby chicks rest in peace."

Alice looked at the splattered eggs on the stone pathway and shrugged. "Well, those eggs aren't actually fertilized, so they wouldn't be able to hatch into chicks in the first place." she said as she twiddled her fingers.

Deuce blinked at her blankly before his mouth hung wide open. After Alice had explained to him the difference between fertilized and unfertilized eggs, Deuce stared at her before he suddenly screamed so loud that it made all the birds in the surrounding area rapidly fly out from the trees.

"Eeeeeeeehhhhhh????!!! You've gotta be kidding?!?!" he shrieked. After seeing Deuce's startled reaction, Grim just laughed. "Ha, ha, ha, ha! Oh, that's hilarious, yanno?!" he chortled. "It's even funnier than calling Alice "your girl"!"

Deuce stared at Grim, not believing what he just heard from him. "What?" he asked, slightly confused. What did he mean by that? His girl? Grim tilted his head with a smug knowing grin. "Don't you remember? You just referred to her as "your girl"." he said, crossing his arms.

It took Deuce a second to realize that in his rage he had, in fact, called Alice 'his girl'. Does that mean... Does that mean he likes her...in a romantic...?! His face then exploded into fifty shades of red as his jaw dropped to the ground.

"I'm sure he was only referring to me as his frie—Aaah!" Alice said before she let out a yelp as Deuce suddenly gripped her wrist and practically dragged her away as he ran as fast as he could. With how fast Deuce was running, Alice's arm was nearly pulled out from its socket when they made it back to the cafeteria's kitchen.

Alice looked up at the navy blue-haired boy in slight confusion as his face was still beet red and he looked extremely embarrassed. What was wrong? Why did he suddenly look so flustered?

Grim had only asked an innocent question, right? Or at least, she believed he had. There was no issue in being called Deuce's girl. He said that as a way of calling her his friend, right? She tried to ask Deuce, but he was too embarrassed to even look at her.

They walked into the kitchen when Trey, Kira and Ace greeted them, more so Ace as he quickly ran over and swung his arm around Alice's shoulders. "Oh, you're finally back. That sure took a while." he said as he narrowed his eyes at Deuce, to which the former delinquent returned in full.

"Let's finish this up." Trey said. After placing the rest of the ingredients on to the table, everyone got back to baking the tarts. Trey and Deuce were using their magic while Alice, Kira and Ace did the old-fashioned way as Grim stood by, bored as he can be, but still looking forward to eating the tarts.

Now that they had a few extra, it was smooth sailing from there. Well, sort of. Half the time when Alice tried to talk to Deuce or even walked by him, his cheeks would quickly turn beet red, and he would head towards the opposite direction. She didn't know what was bothering him but figured that he just needed space for now.

Even Kira was curious about what had happened between them but decided to keep quiet. Alice then went to her side and began to flour her surface and grab the rolling pin from the side, rolling the dough and shaping it into the pan, humming a little tune as she worked on her tarts.

"Haha, either you have a talent for this, or your aunt was quite the teacher." Trey said as he scooted over towards Alice and gave her a smile, earning him a stare from the other two boys.

Alice smiled up at him. "It's all my aunt's doing. Aunt Helena is an astonishing teacher and an even better baker." she replied. "You did mention she owns her own bakery, so that's no surprise. You seem to have a good relationship with her if you're giving her praise." Trey said.

"I do. I mean, we do. She has helped me and my older sister a lot when we first arrived to live with her, so I wanted to repay her in some way. That's why I decided to give this a try and work alongside her." Alice said.

"You live with your aunt and uncle? Do your parents work far away or something?" Trey asked. It was an innocent question, but the boys noticed how quickly Alice froze mid-action as she mixed another bowl. Even Kira took notice. A sad expression overtook Alice's lovely face as she cast her eyes downward.

She was silent for a moment before she smiled again. "Y-Yes, our parents live...far away. They had a lot of work to do, so my aunt and uncle decided to take my sister and I in. Until they come back, that is."

"Ha, classic Alice-chan, but that's to be expected." Ace said with a smile. "How long have you been living with them?" Again, Alice hesitated as she carefully chose her words before answering. "U-Um...s-six years." she said. All the boys stared at Alice in wide-eyed shock when they heard her answer.

"Six years?!" the boys all exclaimed. Alice's face flushed as she looked down, mixing the batter rapidly. "You mean, your parents had been gone for six whole years? They haven't come back once?" Deuce asked.

"Well, it...it wasn't their fault. It-It was just short notice and they had to go." Alice said. She then let out a soft giggle and smiled. "But, let's not worry about that now. Let's have fun with tart baking." The boys looked at each other before they went back to their work. Kira said nothing as she also went back to work.

Alice was whisking the bowl so rapidly; she didn't realize she was making a bit of a mess and a drop of cream flew up to her right cheek. Trey, Ace, Kira and Deuce looked up from their work and saw the cream on her face.

They all then started to chuckle. Alice looked back at them with confusion. "What? What is it?" she asked curiously. "You've got some cream on your cheek." Trey replied. Alice tried to wipe it off, but she wiped at the wrong cheek. That made Trey laugh. He then walked over to her and gently cupped her cheek with his hand.

Alice blushed slightly. "Tr-Trey-senpai...?" she asked, a bit nervously. Trey used his thumb to wipe the cream off her right cheek. Then he brought his thumb towards his mouth and licked it clean.

"AAAAAHHHH?!" both Ace and Deuce exclaimed as they stared bug-eyed at Trey, shocked by what they had just witnessed. Trey nodded in approval. "Nice work on making the cream, Miss Liddell. It's very sweet." the green-haired teen said with a smile.

"Oh, thank you, Trey-senpai. Y-You can just call me Alice, I don't mind." Alice said, smiling shyly with a pink blush on her soft cheeks. Trey smiled down at her. "If that's what you want." he replied. Alice giggled softly.

"Alright, that's it!" Ace shouted as he suddenly grabbed Deuce, shoved him over towards Trey and grabbed Alice's hand, pulling her over to his side. Deuce glared at him. "Hey!" he yelled. "Let's just get this over with!" Ace yelled, ignoring his glare. Trey just chuckled, amused by his antics.