Chapter 37: Learning To Let Go

A question mark appeared on Chase's face.

"We have a Plan B?"

"We didn't, but now we do!" Declared Rip who was bent on cultivating a good relationship between the roommates of the same dorm. "Even if we can't become friends, we ought to have a harmonious relationship since we are living together!"

Chase next to Rip, shrugged, "Well, you did befriend everyone in our old dorm."

A fire was set ablaze in Rip's heart upon facing this daunting challenge. 

A heroic spirit dominated his being, seemingly willing to sacrifice his all to achieve his world-dominating goal. 

"So what is Plan B?" Chase couldn't help asking since he had no clue what Rip had in mind if the latter didn't tell him. 

"Attack! Attack!! And keep attacking!!!" Rip shot his fist high into the air and shouted, making everyone in the cafeteria look at him oddly. "Even the coldest ice cube will melt under fierce temperatures!"

However, neither Rip nor Chase minded. Ignoring the stares of others, they were unashamed of their actions and continued to talk through their plan.

Chase remarked, "That doesn't sound much different from our Plan A."

"Oh, but it is. No more Mr. Nice Guy. We will release nonstop heatwaves on him until he caves in and melts into a puddle of water! I don't believe anyone can withstand our full-force, nonstop attacks of passion!"

"...We're going to fester him until he gives in?"

Rip grinned without a word, however, Chase easily understood his meaning. Chuckling, Chase could only shake his head up and down. 'Might as well.'

Looking at the corner where Blake was, Rip pointed at him and shouted.

"Attack!!"

With that, their fervent chase after Blake began.

*****

"Instructor Mary, do you know why I called you here?"

"Reporting to the young master, no." Instructor Mary stood straight as a pine with her hands behind her back as she replied. Her well-trained standard posture, nonetheless, could not conceal the undeniable respect and submission to the person before her as one of the Everett family's loyal followers.

"Since Butler Srca is currently unable to attend to his duties at the special training site, I want you to take the lead to inform all the trainees on the last day that the test they will be taking after the special training is going to be a…"

Instructor Mary waited patiently for his next words.

The teenager with dark-to-light purple hair and light purple eyes who sat in a swiveling chair looked gentle and polite, easy to talk to. He treats everyone he interacts with neither humbly nor arrogantly.

A faint standard smile that looked practiced hung on his lips, but genuine amusement flashed in his eyes.

"...Talent show." The words were said in a smiling tone.

Instructor Mary showed surprise. 

Ever since generations ago, the test that was given after the special training to decide the hires, has never been fixed on one type or format. The test ranged from written to practical to preferences, however, never once did the test come in the form of a talent show. 

But then Instructor Mary thought about it, technically, the talent show comes close to the preference type test which has the masters gauging their impressions of the trainees and whoever the masters like gets to stay. In the case of the talent show, probably the trainees who impress the masters with their talent get to stay. 

Instructor Mary calmly resolved her own problems.

"Yes, young master."

"After the special training ends, give them two weeks to prepare. I want to see something entertaining, something unexpectedly impressive from all of them, without exception," Ian ordered with his usual gentle smile on his face, along with a streak of sternness underlining his tone.

"Yes, young master."

"By the way, how are Rip and Chase doing with Blake?" Ian suddenly remembered the bet he made with Levi. He wondered how everything was progressing between them. 

Now that he thinks back on it, they only made a bet at that time but didn't state what to bet on. A sparkle in his eyes, Ian thought about what he wanted from Levi if he wins this bet.

'Maybe force him to stop wearing his ancient ropes for a week and wear modern clothes instead,' Ian snickered to himself. 

Although Ian understood that Levi's teasing meant no real harm, Ian still didn't like the feeling of being played around by someone, not even by his master. So now that he finally has a chance to retaliate, he'll be stupid if he doesn't grasp it!

Unaware of the childish thoughts in her young master's head, Instructor Mary went on to make her report on the trio.

Instructor Mary had not been informed of the whole deal by Butler Srca, however, he had instructed her to keep a close eye on those three trainees who were all top trainees in the special training that no one else can match.

"Yes. Lately, Trainee 132 and Trainee 26 have been following Trainee 93 around whenever they have free time on their hands. The two always ask Trainee 93 to partner up with them whenever there is a partner or group activity or exercise. I have yet to see Trainee 93 be alone for a long time. However, Trainee 93 continues to remain silent and cold to the hot enthusiasm showered on him by Trainees 132 and 26, passively accepting but not responding. That is all." Instructor Mary ended her observation report.

"Hm. Well, that's to be expected. I bet Blake will agree to be their friend as long as they ask him, but I doubt they will realize that." Ian laughed to himself.

"This…" Instructor Mary didn't know how to respond.

"It's alright, I don't expect you to answer. Continue to keep an eye on them and report to me again next week," Ian ordered.

"Yes, young master. I'll excuse myself now."

"Go ahead."

Click. The door of the study softly closed.

Playing with his lock of dark-to-light shades of purple hair, Ian smiled mysteriously to himself. 

*****

In the special training building.

Like Instructor Mary had reported, Rip and Chase surrounded Blake 24/7. Even if one of them wasn't free, the other would hang around Blake to brush up their presence. 

All the trainees have class together, which means that during the day, they pester Blake, and since they were all of the same dorm, they pester him even at night until Blake lays down in his bed.

To all this, Blake showed no visible signs of annoyance or frustration. He remained as calm as ever, the ocean in his heart was waveless and still except for an occasional ripple or two produced from the sometimes excessive and silly acts that the duo does that ends in disaster.

Once, outside in the garden of the Everett Mansion, Blake had been assigned gardening duties and he was watering all the plants expressionlessly.

When out of nowhere, Rip popped out.

"Blake! I'll help you water the garden!" Rip rushed up to Blake and snatched the water hose from the latter's hand.

In a moment of carelessness, right after Rip grabbed the water hose, he tripped on the long body of the hose and fell down on his face. 

"Ouch!" Rip's nose instantly reddened from the impact. Luckily, his nose was tough and did not bleed, sparing him from having to deal with a nosebleed. Unluckily, tiny beads of blood oozed out from his scratched cheeks.

The tender and clean face of the young child looked miserable.

But not as miserable as the innocent other party who suffered an undeserved disaster.

Because Rip had reflexively let go of the hose when he fell, consequently, the hose, no longer suppressed and free to run wild, whirled a wriggly dance and sprayed its running water up into the sky from which dense rain precipitated down onto the flowers, soil, and… Blake. 

Drenched like a drowned black cat, Blake, "..."

That wasn't even the worst part. As the hose finished its unique dance that no human can hope to imitate, it jumped—from the water pressure or as a part of its finale—and the metal part landed right on Blake's forehead covered by his wet black bangs, giving him a super wet kiss.

As the metal lips departed, a mark resembling red lipstick was left behind that melted into liquid and flowed down Blake's forehead onto his calm and composed face.

As if unable to feel pain, Blake did not make a sound or even flinch from the "heavy love" of the water hose.

Pulling himself up from the ground and onto his legs, Rip did not even have the time to check on the status of his face and cry from the pain before having to witness everything that happened to Blake.

Rip was stunned. He felt the sky collapsing onto him as the last light in his world of darkness extinguished.

Blake indifferently wiped away the water that was entering his eyes. As his hand left his eyes, the dark circles beneath his eyes like an illusion looked lighter than before. 

Having stood back up and regained his scattered wits, Rip bit his bottom lip as he tightly held the now under control water hose that was still innocently spitting out water like nothing happened. 

Blake calmly stretched out his hand.

No words of blame or actions of anger were expressed.

Rip delicately handed the water hose back to Blake while making sure to have the hose facing away from the other side so that the other party doesn't get wet again. Watering himself by the way, making it so that both of them looked like they went swimming in the pool fully clothed—Blake with his whole body, Rip from the waist down.

"Whoa! What happened to you?!" Chase exclaimed, his eyebrows flying high into his hairline. 

"...Nothing. I was trying to help Blake water the plants but then I tripped on the hose." Rip gloomily said as he squeezed the water out from his drenched pants. Reaching up, he hissed when he gingerly touched the scratches that were now covered with dried blood. 

His face looked like he had suffered through a tornado, coming out bloodied and horrible.

"And then?" Chase curiously asked for more details.

"And then, the hose slipped from my hand and shot straight at Blake like it was his enemy! …At the end, I handed the hose back to him."

"Hahahaha!" Chase laughed wildly without care about the reddening face of Rip. 

And then his laughter was abruptly cut off by a wet, dripping thing that was thrown onto his face.

Despite Rip and Chase's repeated attempts and persistent efforts, the gloomy aura around Blake stayed the same, not lightening at all from the perceived warmth of friendship.

At times, it even deepened into tangible ink scaring Rip and Chase to involuntarily back away from him, not daring to continue with their tactics for a while. Until the aura died down to normal and they would again relentlessly approach like flies shooed away only to come back.

Beyond that, there were also times when they couldn't find Blake at all.

"Instructor Mary! Have you seen Blake?" Chase jogged up to Instructor Mary in another one of their etiquette classes. Although as servants and maids they do not have the need to be as noble and elegant as their master, they have to at least make sure they don't shame their master's reputation by acting improperly and poorly.

Instructor Mary looked around, and then shook her head. "I don't see him. However, he should be here. I heard him when I took attendance."

"Too bad. Thank you, anyways," Chase sighed and left to go look for Blake again. Scanning left and right, Chase's eyes subconsciously ignored the black-haired and black-eyed trainee walking past him.

Meeting up with Rip who was also doing his best to spot Blake, Chase sighed hopelessly and said, "Let's give up for this class. I still can't find him."

Rip also sighed in defeat. Blake's indifferent attitude and lack of response was not the most difficult challenge facing them on their quest, the highest wall they have yet to climb over was their subconscious act of ignoring him—aka, his nonexistent presence. They were simply unable to see him!

Over the course of the past few days, they have grown used to the sudden disappearance of Blake, but better than claiming he disappeared, it's closer to the truth to say that he became invisible to their perception.

Shaking his head, Chase cheered himself up quickly, regaining his bright and sunny smile. He didn't allow such setbacks to grind his spirit down. "Let's continue trying next class. Come on, let's work on this lesson first, the special training is our main priority."

Rip nodded, having no other choice. 'That's right. Lately I have been so focused on Blake that I forgot that I'm here to become useful to big brother Ian and not to make friends! I can always become Blake's friend after we finish the training, but if I don't learn everything well during the training, I'll disappoint big brother Ian and I definitely don't want that!' 

Rip slapped his cheeks. They instantly reddened from the merciless force he applied on himself. 'Snap out of it, Rip! Focus!'

So with renewed concentration and determination, they practiced their smiles and walking postures, critiquing where they did worse than the instructor demonstrated and then adjusting. 

All that while, they did not notice even once that the trainee practicing by himself gloomily next to their spot was the Blake they had been tirelessly searching for.

*****

At night, in the dorms.

"Hey, Blake, how was your day?" Chase inquired upon returning to their collective dorm room. 

Rip had gone to use the bathroom so Chase got to their room first and greeted Blake as usual.

"...Fine."

Although small and negligible, there were at least some positive results to their obstinate pestering. Blake finally spoke to them, answering their questions with occasional one-word answers rather than mere nods or shakes.

"Awesome!" Chase grinned. At this moment, his orange and yellow hair swayed, giving off an illusion as if there was a brilliant fire burning on him that gave light to the entire room instead of the artificial lighting. "On a side note, me and Rip didn't see you in etiquette class today, where were you?"

Blake rarely looked at them when he responded, so seeing Blake lift his chin to look him in the eyes, Chase was first astounded, followed closely by the emotion universally called "happy".

Improvement! This is what he calls improvement!

They were right to keep attacking!

The ice cube was about to melt!

A tsunami seemed to surge up in Chase's heart. An urge to call Rip to share the good news stirred in the pit of his stomach.

Then Blake uttered the longest sentence he had ever spoken to Chase—if Rip knew, he would be so jealous—, however, his words also made Chase fall into a world of self-loathing and despair. "…I was right next to you."

Chase seriously thought he saw pity in those pitch black eyes that normally exuded gloominess and alienation.

It seems even Blake could not stand to watch them being clueless any longer for him to speak out.

Chase, "..."

Never mind, this ice cube was as solid as ever.

Great! Their eyes slipped past him again.

*****

In the dead of the night, two shadowy figures met up to discuss the future of their important operations. 

One short and one tall, they made for an asymmetric sight. Not to mention the contrast of one's clear, fresh, and energetic blue with the other's bright and burning orange and yellow.

Their colors existed distinct from each other, seeming like they would clash upon contact. However, when they interacted, surprisingly, they got along well. 

"This isn't working." The orange and yellow haired figure showed a barely visible grave expression above the light of their phone's flashlights.

"Is this a sign from above that we should stop? I have never seen a stone as hard and cold as him, no matter how the wind whips him and the rain chips at him, nothing changes, the rock remains the same as before the wind and rain touched him." The shorter figure with blue hair and eyes that looked weary and hopeless entered a state of self-doubt.

The orange and yellow haired figure looked at the only other figure present and seriously said the following words. "I've noticed for a while now, and now it's confirmed. You're superstitious." Extremely so.

The blue haired figure puffed up his cheeks and said, "I am not! I just believe in signs and hidden messages from the world!"

"...That's what we call superstitious."

"I told you, I'm not! And that's not the point. We've strayed from our focus." 

"…"

Suddenly, silence descended on them as no one spoke.

The blue haired figure didn't speak because he was waiting for his companion to speak next as he had already spoken. While the orange and yellow haired figure was lost in thought because he was not told the exact purpose their late-night discussion was for. 

His companion had dragged him out of bed in the middle of the night to the bathroom without a single explanation. Then all this talk about superstitions got his mind stuck in the gutter.

Sleepy and unable to think straight, the taller figure asked the shorter figure for help. "So what was the main focus of our discussion?"

"Our plan to befriend Blake, duh!"

"Ohh! Right. I think we should…" The orange and yellow haired figure paused for some reason. 

"What? What?" The shorter figure was getting anxious, but the taller figure just didn't say anything. "What is it?"

As if slowly coming out of his thoughts, the taller figure finally reacted to external stimulus. 

While the latter had been deep in thought, the former had gone on a long rant about their plan A and B not working, and that no matter what they do, nothing works on Blake, etc. He just kept rambling until his seemingly asleep companion spoke out, stoppering the continuous flow of words.

"Let's… fall to Plan C," the figure with orange and yellow hair suggested after listening half-heartedly to his shorter companion moping about the failure of both their Plan A and Plan B.

"Plan C?" The other furrowed his brows, teary-eyed.

"Plan C—Abort Mission."

The glum short figure wasn't as shocked or surprised at what his taller companion suggested as he expected. 

That's to say, a sense of calmness and inevitability prevailed within him that swept out of his body and onto his external appearance.

In his heart, he probably already knew that it was time they give up. It's really not good to pester an uninterested party. It takes more than good ingredients to cook a delicious recipe. Likewise, it takes more than the body to become friends, their hearts and minds need to be in on it too. 

Sighing in complete and utter defeat, the shorter figure resolved, "Okay. Let's stop bothering him. Although he doesn't show it on his face. He must be bothered by us. He's just too nice and taciturn to say it. But aren't you disappointed, Chase?"

Smiling warmly with a hint of imperceptible wiseness, Chase slowly shook his head. "Rip, you're still young so you might not understand. In life, some things just can't be forced."

He spoke as though from personal experience. 

In the darkness, Rip could not see the expression on Chase's face. The light of the phone was too dim and weak to shine far. It touched only the edge of the nostalgic yet melancholy look on his face. 

Chase comforted Rip, "Your goal was to have a harmonious roommate relationship with him in the first place. It's fine if we don't become friends, I'm sure we can live harmoniously together regardless. From what we've seen of his behavior these days, you can tell that he's not one to stir up trouble."

Rip thought about it and nodded. "I guess."

Then his head drooped, almost touching the cold tiles. "But mostly, I wanted that gloomy aura and unpleasant atmosphere around him to disappear. Whenever I'm near him, I can always sense it and it gives me the chills! It makes me want to run away and I had to give it my all to keep my legs stuck to the ground. I don't want to ignore him or avoid him for my own selfish comfort, so I thought that if we become friends, I won't be bothered by it anymore."

Chase's eyes slightly widened, he had not known that there was such a story behind Rip's fierce pursuit. 

Chase smiled. "I understand your good intentions but, sometimes in life, you can't always face things and challenges head on. You also need to learn to run away, avoid it, or even give up. It's not shameful and it's not cowardly. It's life. Running headlong into a stabbing knife instead of dodging it or running away is what's truly foolish." Chase spoke like an experienced elder to an ignorant and green child.

Within the immature child's heart, a voice that sounded familiar yet deeper softly whispered, as if transcending through space and time from a past life to give guidance to the young version who needed his intervention. 

"Learn to let go…"

Rip didn't say anything, but the relieved expression on his face said everything.