No matter how much Jerry pleaded, he was soundly ignored.
He sat on the fluffy sofa facing Jack with a desolate look before a loud sigh escaped his throat.
Actually, Dina had expected this. After all, with the amount of time Jack's depression had been mentioned in the plot, it'd be suspicious and even downright alarming if he went along with it casually.
Despite knowing that, it still felt demoralizing to be rejected so blatantly.
An evil idea reared its head, and for a minute, Jerry wanted to sit before the snubbing child, eat everything rather loudly, and leave with a triumphant grin.
But if that didn't tank the mission, it'd surely make it much more difficult.
'I wanna leave and give him a break until whenever he feels like it, but looking at how thin and exhausted he looks, along with the amount of food thrown into the dustbin, I can tell he hasn't eaten for a while now…'
The last thing Dina wanted was a dead target — that was an automatic game over.
…Not exactly, but it'd lead to more sporadic developments she'd rather avoid.
The question remained: how was one to coerce a depressed child who stubbornly refused to eat… to do so?
Jerry popped out his phone and, after a series of searches, concluded that he was doomed. It was either therapy, inviting friends over, or moving away from the toxicity.
Everything he couldn't do. So what now?
After hovering about for a long while, he scooted closer to Jack, whose back was still turned to him, and whispered:
"Young master, what if I told you that with ten bites of this meal, I'd vanish like the wind? You won't even notice I'm here! What do you say?"
There was still no reply, but Jerry pressed on.
"Eight bites…? You should really consider, young master, or I'll make this place my new lair."
Still no answer.
"I'll turn on the television to the maximum while loudly chuckling and buzzing around like a fuzzy bee."
A light twitch. Jerry smirked. He reached out to the remote on top of the nightstand.
"Young master, what's your favorite show so I can avoid it?"
Still no reply.
"I'm very talkative, young master, and even while watching, I'll try my best to explain it to you."
A clench underneath the dark blanket.
"Young master…."
"Young master~."
"Young mas~t—"
"Fine!"
A sharp voice cut him off aggressively, causing Jerry to flinch in response.
This brat sure took his sweet time.
A pair of weary spring green eyes strained on Jerry before a voice, an odd mixture of childishness and masculinity, spoke:
"Five bites, then you leave."
'Damn, he looks just like his mother.'
"I hope you're smart enough to NOT say that to his face."
'Of course I'm not stupid.'
"I have my doubts."
Dina: (╹◡╹)凸
Jerry beamed. "Of course, young master! But you have to brush first!"
The grumpy boy murmured, "I'll take my bath whilst at it, so don't disturb me."
The bathroom door shut tight, followed by the sound of brushing.
'Damn, he's gonna brush away his teeth with that intensity.'
"..."
But Dina was pleased. Not only did she solve the eating problem, but the boy also took care of the bathing problem on his own!
How lucky!
In less than ten minutes, the teen strolled out wearing a pair of new clothes… which were being drenched by wetness from his hair.
Jerry wanted to volunteer but, afraid he would ruin the mood, decided to let him be and instead hoped that the child wouldn't get sick.
That'd be a whole 'nother hell to survive, with his already standoffish behavior.
Jack sat down by his bed, and Jerry placed the now-cold food before him. He picked up the fork and took his first bite.
Even though Dina knew she shouldn't have hoped, she still felt her heart crash into pieces when the teen's face remained as it was.
Forget being impressed— he seemed a bit annoyed, if anything.
He ate in silence, and after the promised five bites, he placed down his fork.
Jerry greeted with a smile. "Thank you, young master."
He was ignored by the male, who retraced his steps back to the bed. However, his goal had been achieved, and with light feet, he strolled out of the room.
As soon as the door shut, Jerry's face fell.
"This is worse than I thought, Zero. Is this how it's gonna be from now on??"
"You'll be fine."
"Ugh, I was never a fan of teenagers, and now I'm stuck with a depressed one! I really didn't think about this mission enough before picking it."
Zero wanted to tell Dina she'd have ended up doing it either way but decided against it.
"You'll do fine. A slow approach will eventually lead to victory."
"I fucking hope so!"
***
Zero was wrong. Very wrong. Or perhaps Dina was too impatient for this 'steady' approach.
A whole week had passed, and the highest achievement she had gotten was managing to clean out the teen's room—not because he left it, but because he hung around in the bathroom throughout the whole thing.
They were still stuck at five bites, but today was the day!
Dina was not only determined to have him finally eat a gourmet meal but to leave that depressing space of his.
Thus, after their usual five-bite agreement, Jerry stuck around for so long while making his presence painfully clear until Jack gave up and crawled out of the bed looking like a pissed-off ghost, not that the perpetrator cared.
"Hold my hands?" Jerry smiled.
What he got in response was a glare, so he shamelessly held his young master's hand, and the excited male, along with a disinterested one, went along.
***
"You don't have to worry, young master, just a tour around your house and the garden is enough, and then we can return."
Jack was silent. Ever since the arrival of this new caretaker of his, his peace had been shattered.
He should be used to this by now, with how obsessed his family was with pairing him with a new caretaker whenever the former 'retired.'
With a contract that practically stated they were to serve for ten years and endure whatever was meted out to them, and even with the dreadful term that they'd die if they broke the contract, you'd think no one would want such a dubious and slave-like deal.
Turns out he was always wrong, and souls this desperate could still be found.
If only their desperation came with intelligence, they always seemed to end themselves after making one stupid decision or the other.
Jack glanced lightly at the beaming male.
White hair and pink eyes, extremely good looks, and… a Normal. Just like him. He suddenly understood, if society was just as he believed it was, then the desperation could be understood.
Their walk was surprisingly silent. Jack had expected the talkative male to blabber all through their 'tour,' but he respected his quietness.
They were done circling the house and were moving toward the garden. Unlike what Jerry had expected, Jack was totally fine.
He wasn't out of breath and even seemed like he could do a redo if needed. Turns out using one's looks or lifestyle choices as parameters to judge their physical ability was inherently flawed.
They arrived at the garden filled with all sorts of flowers and vegetation, with a fountain in the middle, and just as Jerry was about to say something, a loud, shrill voice shouted at them:
"Hey boys!!"
The two looked forward, and Jack's face dimmed. Within the garden was a small terrace housing a fancy table and chair setup, Jerry's plan had been to rest there with Jack for a bit after their tour.
However, it seemed their plans would have to be erased because sitting across the beautiful terrace were two teen girls.
The one who had called out to them had a cute smile. She had light green hair packed in a left-sided pigtail and red eyes, with a small and round face making her appear like an adorable little angel.
She stared at Jerry curiously, with a deepening blush on her cheeks, which were still plump due to the baby fat she had yet to lose.
The other girl stared at them intently, especially him, as if trying to see through him.
She had crimson eyes, and her long dark red hair was in a messy bun, appearing oddly rogue for a child her age.
Jerry felt Jack stiffen in his arms, and he understood. Never mind the innocent looks of these children, they were actually demons.
'I feel like I fucked up big time.'
"Really?"
'...I hate you so bad…'
Well, eventually this plot point would arrive. Might as well get it over with… right?
Jerry slipped his hand away from Jack and rapidly approached the girls.
"Yes, young mistresses?"
He made sure to lower himself in a show of humility, hoping to at least appeal to the girls' ego, when a heavy hit landed on his head.
He hissed softly, biting his lip to suppress the pain.
"What a hardass head," the red-haired one, Jennifer, muttered while the little angel-like girl, Jessica, giggled.
'Fuck, they're real nasty. I think I'm cooked.'
Jennifer grabbed the back of his hair, pulling him inward as her eyes morphed into cat-like slits.
They could finally see 'eye to eye,' and she growled, like actually growled, Dina was shocked by how animalistic it sounded.
No, even more dreadful— why was this child releasing her beast heritage?! They were just Normals!
"She said boys, not a boy. Are you retarded?"
Jerry grimaced pitifully. "Sorry, young mistress."
He was shoved back strongly, causing him to stumble and nearly fall. This was a Beastman's power? It had to be, there was no other explanation as to why a child's shove could be that strong!
'I feel like a gym bro shoved me aggressively. These genetics simply aren't fair!'
Perhaps the push was stronger than he thought, or Jack was a master in the art of silence, but by the time Jerry's dizziness wore off, the teen stood silently behind him with a dead look.
'He's never gonna hear me out again after this, is he?'
"No."
'Ah, fuck.'
Jennifer barely spared him a glance, but Jessica was rather eager to have his presence, and before Jerry's startled eyes, Jack went on all fours and the 'angel-like' girl roughly sat on him with crossed legs.
"Jenny, hurry up. I wanna visit the newest BL shop downtown to buy some new copies," she spoke with a pouty voice, holding a mirror to her face while applying her makeup… which she had kept on top of Jack's head.
Jerry grimaced. God knows how much his neck must hurt maintaining a position that wouldn't send that stuff scattered across the floor.
'What kind of mess did I land us into?!'
"Heh."
'This is not funny, Ze—'
An afterimage came flying at Jerry, which he caught instinctively, and looking up at the shocked and enraged look on the red-haired girl's face, he was driven to speechlessness.
"I'm fucked, aren't I?"
Jennifer grinned while cracking her knuckles.
A yellowish tail with black cloud-like spots and round cat ears sprouted from her skirt and hair, respectively. Her eyes turned to slits, and a pair of fangs poked out of her lips.
She smirked. "Excellent speculation."
It was a jaguar heritage. Dina finally understood why everyone in the family, excluding their mother, had a name beginning with J.