oOo

Chapter 2 - The Black Bulls

Finral wept as he sat on the couch and held a pillow to his chest. He was in the common room along with everyone, save Charmy, who was busy making them breakfast. He would've stayed in his room, but Yami insisted rather strongly that he would drag Finral downstairs if he didn't stop moping.

Finral was emotional not suicidal.

"Come on, Finral." Vanessa huffed. "It's just for breakfast."

"Why do they think I won't eat?"

He was a portal mage. If he was hungry, he ported to the kitchen to get food and ate in his room. He wasn't starving himself. Although it made him happy that his friends worried about him, but then again it did also make him feel a little guilty.

It was partly his fault for staying cooped up for several days.

It was just difficult to get back to the same routine after his falling out with Langris.

"Stupid," Finral berated himself. "Why couldn't you be honest with him?"

He continued to weep silently. He should've trusted his gut and told Langris the truth. It might not have hurt as much as it did now. He could've told his brother he was changing his last name and moving out for good… but then his thoughts turned to: Oh, I'm a failure so I'm just running away completely because it's too much to bear….

It still didn't sound better.

He just felt sick.

"I can't do this." Finral whined. "Can I be excused?"

"Don't move," Vanessa crossed her arms. "You're staying with us."

"But why?"

"Trust us, Finral. It'll get better."

"How?" He wondered, leaning back with tears in his eyes. "He doesn't want to speak to me. Even when I try to request a meeting, he cancels it. I'm barred from the Golden Dawn until further notice. They'd only entertain me if it was work related and it's not."

"So you screwed up."

"Vanessa, you're horrible."

"I'm just saying it how I see it." She moved to hug him. "It happens to everyone. Give him some space and I'm sure he'll ease up eventually. You'll be back in his life before you know it."

"But he's so angry."

Finral lifted the pillow to his face and tried to bury himself in it. Vanessa sighed as she prodded Finral to give in and accept his current fate. Mostly because he had no control over what Langris wanted versus what he wanted.

Vanessa thought, "He's so stubborn when he wants to be."

She started giving Finral some advice, but the more she went on the more Finral overthinked. He came up with so many excuses that it was becoming increasingly difficult to help him. It wasn't just Vanessa that was getting frustrated; it was everyone near enough to hear them.

Finral's constant whining and self-deprecating nonsense even got to Gauche, who was usually so tightly in tune with Marie's picture.

"Quit it!" Gauche yelled. "You're so noisy!"

Finral lay down on the couch and curled up in silence. Vanessa grimaced, but this wasn't new. Finral had always been an emotional sweetheart. He couldn't help but be himself. Vanessa decided to try and pry the pillow away from him to get him to open up with them, but it didn't work.

"No," He whined. "Just let me stay like this forever."

Vanessa opened her mouth to comment, but Gauche beat her to it. "Let him go." He said. "He's quieter that way." Vanessa rolled her eyes. Sometimes she wondered how the whole team functioned. Doing so only made her head hurt.

She needed some wine.

"Be a little sensitive, Gauche." Vanessa suggested. "Finral's trying."

"Yeah," Gauche whispered. "To get on our nerves."

Vanessa shook her head and grabbed a glass and a bottle of wine from the table. She decided she didn't need the glass, so she went without it and chugged down the bottle instead. She really needed it if she was going to last the morning listening to everyone complain. She tapped Finral's shoulder and he looked up.

"Want some?" She sweetly asked. "It's delicious."

"No, thank you." Finral mumbled. "You just want to get me drunk so I would talk."

"Exactly." She giggled. "Easiest way to spill your secrets."

"I'm not in the mood to drink."

"Come on, I'll let you cry on my chest."

"No, thank you."

Magna and Luck stopped running around when they noticed how completely silent Finral went. Even if it was a gag at this point between him and Vanessa, Finral refusing her offer was a big shock. Vanessa leaned back on the couch when Magna and Luck stared at her.

"Don't look at me." She huffed.

"He's been like that for several days now." Luck stated. "And he cries like Magna."

"Real men show emotions!" Magna defended. "Live a little!"

"Will he feel better if I fight him emotionally?"

"Don't you dare, Luck!"

As the two argued, they barely noticed Grey- large and terrifying- move to stand behind them. The looming shadow caught their attention and they slowly turned around. Suddenly, Grey transformed with a puff of smoke into a perfect copy of Finral, one that wasn't sad and crying.

"It's probably a girl problem." Grey pointed out.

Vanessa's face remained blank as she absentmindedly chugged the bottle of wine down. Magna and Luck were speechless. Gordon mumbled, "He's just upset about family." But no one heard it. Yami looked up from his newspaper to roll his eyes at them and Gauche's eyes twitched when he looked up from Marie's picture.

"You're all insane." Gauche grumbled.

Grey (transformed as Finral) wrapped his arms around Magna and Luck and tried to drag them out the door to look for a date. Magna struggled and commented about Grey's creepy nature while Luck laughed like a lunatic. Out of the two of them, Luck clearly enjoyed the chaos.

"Copy me next!" Luck begged. "Let's fight!"

"I don't like fighting." Grey said, mimicking Finral. "There's no love in this world."

Gauche had enough.

"Knock it off, Grey!" He called out. "It's creepy! I can't concentrate on my little angel with all this noise!" After that, he trailed off and was once more distracted by his sister's picture. Everyone ignored Gauche and went back to figuring out a way to cheer Finral up. Their portal mage continued to lie on the couch looking like he had fallen asleep, but they knew he was pretending.

Suddenly, Charmy popped out from the door.

"Food is almost ready!"

Charmy blinked twice and moved closer to Finral and Vanessa.

"Is Finral okay?" She asked. "Is he hungry?"

"No need to worry, Charmy." Vanessa said, poking Finral's slightly exposed cheek. "Finral's fine. He's just emotional and a little bit dramatic."

"Am not." Finral mumbled.

Yami folded his newspaper and decided to join in on the conversation. "He'll stop whining eventually." Yami voiced as he lit himself a cigarette and blew out smoke. "Langris isn't going to let him back in his life after he ditched and didn't tell. Add that up with his brother's shaky trust issues."

"It was a mistake!" Finral cried harder. "I didn't think it would go that far."

"Yeah?" Yami huffed. "What made you think so?"

"I was afraid he wouldn't take it nicely if I suddenly told him."

"He's not taking it nicely now, is he?"

"Why are you mean, Yami?"

"You should've trusted your gut and told him the truth."

Finral had nothing else to comment. He buried himself back on the pillow and let himself lie flat on the couch like a dead person. Vanessa drank her wine as she patted and ruffled Finral's hair to comfort him. Yami rolled his eyes at the two. They weren't making it easier for anyone, that's for sure.

"Is he crying again?" Luck asked.

"Who's Langris?" Magna questioned. "A friend of his?"

"His little brother," Yami cleared. "He's the Golden Dawn's new vice-captain. He's also a spatial mage, but his magic isn't like Finral's. You and Luck haven't met him yet since it was before you two were recruited, but Langris was here for the Squad Trade."

"Squad Trade?" Luck repeated. "What's that?"

Yami gestured, "Ask them."

Grey (still transformed as Finral) embraced himself and trembled. "He was mean to everyone." Grey whispered. "He's almost as scary as the Captain." Grey trailed off and sat next to Gordon, who mumbled continuously about the tale even if no one could hear what he was saying. Magna and Luck thought Gordon was just cursing or hexing Langris.

"He was okay." Charmy said. "He ate my food."

Magna asked, "And how is that okay?"

"No one can resist my food!" She crossed her arms, slightly fuming. "He didn't say it was delicious, but I know he liked it!" Charmy suddenly declared, "He'll be back someday!" With that statement she drifted back to the kitchen to check on breakfast.

Vanessa laughed. "Too bad you two weren't here." She told Magna and Luck as she raised a newly opened bottle while she continued to stroke Finral's hair. "It happened last year just before Magna got recruited. Finral and Langris switched squads for a couple of days. It's funny, because Langris blushes exactly like Finral does."

"You're mean," Finral mumbled. "I don't like you."

"Shush now, I'm informing them."

"No, you're not."

Magna and Luck turned to Gauche, expecting a similar reaction.

Surprisingly, there wasn't.

"Don't bother." Yami declared. "Gauche was newly recruited when the Squad Trade happened. He was out on a mission. I'd say we were lucky he was gone. If Gauche had been there, the base wouldn't be standing and there'd be a lot less people in this room."

"Why did you exchange squads in the first place?" Magna wondered. "I didn't think that was possible."

Yami grumbled, "It was Julius' idea."

"Did it work?"

"Does it look like it did?" He snorted, blowing another puff of smoke. "The only one that had a good time from it was Finral."

Magna and Luck looked at Finral, who curled up tighter and whined something incoherent. Vanessa loomed over his ear and whispered something. She giggled when Finral tried to shoo her away. Yami snickered, making Magna and Luck turn their attention back to him.

The Captain looked up at the ceiling with a smirk on his face.

"If he wasn't so stuck-up," Yami said. "Langris actually fits the Black Bulls."

Vanessa knew Finral heard that. How could he not, when he was just pretending to be lost in his own world. She downed the rest of her wine as Magna and Luck stared at each other. Yami was done talking, any more goading and he'd probably snap.

Out of nowhere, Magna thought of something.

He hit his palm with a fist and pulled Grey, who was still pretending to be Finral, away from Gordon. "Here's the thing," Magna whispered his plans to Grey's ear while Luck listened too. "Since you know Finral's brother, why don't you try and pretend to be him and see if you can get Finral to talk."

"Or apologize," Luck said. "He clearly did something wrong."

"That too."

Grey stated, "It seems like a bad idea."

"Of course it is." Luck laughed. "It's Magna's idea."

"Shut up!" Magna said. "Just try it, Grey."

Grey scowled. It was unfitting on Finral's face. However, Grey gave in. Grey transformed with a puff of smoke. Vanessa couldn't warn them fast enough. She was too busy choking on her wine to get a word out. Magna and Luck continued to stare as they eyed the details, down to the uniform and Golden Dawn robe.

Yami just shook his head.

"Idiots."

Suddenly, Grey called out, "Brother!"

Upon hearing Langris' voice, Finral pushed himself to sit up. His eyes were teary and his hair disheveled from Vanessa's ruffling. Finral froze and paled when Grey took a step forward. It was like the whole world stopped. Grey crossed his arms and took a deep breath to scream.

"STOP ACTING PATHETIC AND MISERABLE!"

"G-grey…" Magna tensed.

"Eh," Luck laughed. "Is he like this?"

"LOOK AT YOU!" Grey continued. "ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO STAY LIKE THAT FOREVER?!"

Magna felt like his soul was flying away from him. He didn't expect Grey to start screaming bloody murder. It was way too early! He even told Grey to play nice to at least give Finral a chance to figure out what he wanted! What was this?! Luck wasn't helping either. He was just laughing and goading Grey to keep going.

"Idiots," Yami loudly mumbled.

"You're not helping!" Vanessa finally said. "And Grey, quit it."

It took a moment for Finral to react after Grey stopped yelling at him. "I already knew it was you, Grey." Finral said. "If Langris were really here, everyone would feel his mana and his words wouldn't be that... mellow." The reason he froze was because he still couldn't face Langris. Even knowing what he wanted to say in the back of his mind, he couldn't do it.

It was difficult.

Finral paled, feeling sick again. "You're right though!" He whined. "I am pathetic and miserable! And it's all my fault!" He fell back on the couch. "I knew what I was doing but I still went through with it."

"You guys are making it worse." Vanessa grumbled. "I have to deal with his complaining."

"You're not helping either." Finral said.

Distracted, Magna grabbed Grey and started shaking. "What are you doing?!" He asked. "You're supposed to be nice to him!" Still in Langris' form, Grey continued to act the part as he glared at Magna. Magna tensed, feeling like his soul was being ripped away from him again. "Why are you glaring at me, Grey?!"

"Who do you think you are, peasant?!"

"Don't call me that!"

Vanessa giggled at her weird friends as Magna and Grey (Langris) continued to argue while Luck tried to join in. Vanessa nudged Finral, who was lying at his side and facing the couch. "Come on, Finral. You're missing out on the fun." She softly voiced. "You did what you could. You're a good brother and Langris is lucky to have someone like you in his life."

"Is he though?" He asked. "I lied to him."

"Hid from him," She corrected. "Because you didn't want to hurt him." She smiled, offering him some wine. "Don't beat yourself up over something you can't control. You can't mope around forever."

"I guess not."

Finral sat up properly and fixed his clothes and hair.

He took the wine glass Vanessa offered and let her pour him a glass. He downed it in one go. Right on time, Charmy popped out from the door and called out "Food is ready!" Her sheep trickled one by one from the hall to the common room, carrying large trays of food. Yami got up and moved to sit next to Finral and Vanessa.

"Oi, Charmy." Yami ordered. "Don't forget to wake Henry up."

"Roger!" Charmy saluted.

She quickly ducked to the hallway to fetch Henry. Gauche reluctantly changed seats to join them. Grey shifted back into someone other than Langris and sat beside Gordon. Magna and Luck joined Gauche. All of a sudden, the base started shaking. The wall opened up at the side to give space for Henry's room.

"Good… morning!" Henry greeted. "I'm… starving."

Everyone greeted him back.

Charmy, who enjoyed the small ride down, took a plate from one of her sheep to hand Henry some. After that, she grabbed another plate and took a spoon full of food and moved to Finral. Finral looked down and Charmy shoved food into his mouth. He had no choice but to chew and swallow while Vanessa laughed beside him. It was delicious, of course, but he wasn't really feeling it.

"Have some more!" Charmy said. "Or do you want me to feed you?"

"I'm not sick," Finral chuckled. "I'm just not hungry."

"Nonsense! I know when someone's hungry."

Charmy handed him the giant plate of food and it was enough to make him nauseous. It was probably because he was actually hungry. He placed the plate on his lap and thanked Charmy, who settled next to Grey and Gordon to chow on her own meal.

"Cheer up," Yami said. "I'm sure his temper won't last."

Finral mumbled, "You think so?"

"Do you think it will?"

"Maybe."

"Trust me." Yami mumbled. "It won't last. Your brother's stubborn, not stupid."

Finral sighed as he tried to take his mind of his little brother. He was surprised to find it so easy to do, especially in a house like this where everyone was having a conversation. Back at House Vaude, it was so quiet and a little depressing with no one but the maids or servant to talk to.

Here, in the Black Bulls base, everyone was doing their own thing.

It was… uplifting.

"This is my home now." Finral thought. "Officially my home."

There was no going back.

Magna was arguing with Grey, who transformed into a copy of Luck to try and rile him up. It was working too. The real Luck was laughing, because it was fun to mess with Magna. Gordon was still mumbling about the Squad Trade story while Gauche was asking Charmy what he'd buy for Marie since they were almost the same size. Charmy wasn't offended, but she tried to point out she was a young woman. Yami was having a conversation with Henry and Vanessa. Vanessa multitasked as she took off her constricting clothes to feel a lot more comfortable.

It was chaotic.

It was the complete opposite of House Vaude.

If he wasn't so stuck-up, Langris actually fits the Black Bulls.

Finral smiled and silently laughed at the idea Yami had presented to him. "In another world, maybe." He thought. One day, when Langris was calm enough, they would talk and Finral would explain everything. He would explain why he exchanged House Vaude for… well… this chaos.

If Langris would let him, Finral would tell him about the Bulls and how they made him feel, how they worried, how they cared… or how they pushed his limits compared to how he felt when he still dwelled in House Vaude under their parents rule.

He was sure Langris would understand.

Besides, his little brother was in good hands. He had a good future ahead of him. He was popular and had a wonderful reputation. He had everything. Finral didn't need to worry. He carefully gazed at everyone in the room. Finral was sure that Langris had friends. It was impossible not to have any.

"This is my home now." He smiled. "And I'm happy here…"

He remembered what Yami had told him.

You can have more than one family.

Yes.

He can.

"Feeling better?" Vanessa nudged him. "I see you smiling."

Finral laughed, "With you guys, it's difficult not to."

For the rest of the day, he was bombarded with chaos. His friends, although he already told him he was feeling better, continued to make sure he was. It was gratifying and emotional. He got teased from time to time for being an emotional baby for crying when he got overwhelmed, but it was worth every tear drop.

He was home.

oOo

"You can also check this story out on AO3"

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