"The psychology of the mind often depends on the situation one endured or is enduring."

Matthew read through this book about psychology on the daily, even though his friends gave him flack for it. He liked learning, so of course he would read about how people behave. Maybe soon he could read someone's past (albeit vaguely) and learn what sorts of situations happened to them in their lives.

"Hey, Matthew? We're gonna be late."

Matthew looked over his shoulder, and found that Emilia was gazing back at him. A quick glance around the room told him class had ended, and probably a while ago. The instructor was gathering his belongings and readying himself to leave.

"I suppose I read through the lecture again, hm?" Matthew muttered, completely straight-faced and mildly disappointed. He sighed, and stood, stretching his arms into the air.

"Yeah," Emilia sighed. "You really gotta pay attention more."

The instructor cleared his throat so as to butt into the conversation. "Emilia, your grades are some of the worst in the class. I'd wash behind my own ears before I went after Matthew, the only student with a perfect score in the class."

Emilia puffed out her bottom lip defiantly, but nodded obediently. "Noted, sir."

The gruff man stroked his beard as he left. "I couldn't see it within me to scold someone for using his time wisely and moving on from what he already knows." He gave the kids a half-hearted wave as he left the room.

"Well, we were going to the bread bar, right?" Emilia's questioned served only to break the silence; they each knew they were going, and had known for almost a week now.

"You mean the bakery?!"

Emilia jolted, squeeling as someone put their hands on her shoulders and spoke loudly so as to startle her. Ultimately, their plan backfired when Emilia elbowed them in the stomach. "Damn it, Eddy, you scared me to death!"

"Correction: you are not dead. Your agitated breathing indicates nothing more than a simple startling moment having occured."

Emilia screamed again, turning to find that another boy had approached from behind. "Oh, it's you Axel. I forgot you were in our class."

"Everyone neglects to remember Axel's presence. Axel has become used to it."

Matthew never cracked a smile, but did nod at Axel. "I did not forget your presence, if it makes you feel better Axe."

Axel held up a peace sign with two fingers, giving him a fake smile. "Axel's ability prevents him from feeling emotion. In the words of Emilia, it is no biggie."

Matthew raised his eyebrows. "Sometimes I feel like I don't have them either."

Axel held up a finger to oppose his statement. "This may seem true to Matthew; Axel, however, knows that the choice to call Axel by the name Axe is proof of at least a small level of preference."

Eddy put a hand on Axel's shoulder. "What about us? Why do you hang around us?"

"Hang around..." Axel mulled this phrase over in his mind. "Ah, yes, hang around, or utilize time to be around someone. I feel nothing for any of you."

"Damn, Axel! How cruel!" Emilia jovially pursed her lips at her emotionless friend.

"Was that mean?" Axel's inquiry left him thinking. "Axel apologizes then. Experience noted."

Matthew patted Axel's back. "It's fine, Axe." He stood, and stared blankly at the door. "Let's go, the bakery awaits our crew."

Everyone slowly shuffled out the door, and closed it behind them.

The trip to the bakery was short. It was just down the street from the school, and the smell infatuated everyone within a mile; the school children were constantly in agony awaiting lunch each day as the smell of cakes and pies drafted through the halls.

"It smells like today's special has pumpkin in it," Emilia sighed after taking a huge whiff of the bakery's air. "I do love me some pumpkin, may I just say."

Eddy shrugged, picking up a wrapped mini pie from a table just outside the bakery. "I mean, pumpkin is okay. I prefer literally any other possible taste, though."

Emilia slugged his arm. "How dare you not agree that pumpkins are the best flavoring for desserts? Pumpkins are the obvious choice."

Eddy threw his arms into the air. "I mean, I can respect pumpkins... If we're talking about the size."

Emilia tackled Eddy to the ground, and held his arm behind him. "SAY PUMPKINS ARE KING!"

Axel looked at Matthew, who simply shrugged. Silently, his gaze returned to the two that wrestled on the ground,watching as the two fought. Eddy threw such despicable words as 'sweet potato is the superior pumpkin' and 'pumpkin pie is an inferior replacement to real food'.

Matthew sighed, and stepped over his bickering confidants to go inside the bakery.

"Axel is compelled to go inside with friend Matthew. Axel will do so now. Have fun living an overall inhibited life due to your argumentative nature, fellows."

Eddy was about to tell at Axel, but as he pronounce the A at the beginning of his emotionless friend's name, Emilia wrapped two fingers in Eddy's lip, pinching it and dragging him closer.

Axel sat next to Matthew, and stared forward silently. After a moment, he quietly asked, "Have you thought of something to order?"

Matthew looked over at Axel, whose blond hair reflected the sun into Mathias' eyes. "Same as per usual, I suppose; I don't know what sort of cream I'd like, though."

Axel stared blankly at Matthew for a moment, then said, "While you order several kinds of cream for your sweet bread, you enjoy the basic chocolate cream the best based on the lightening of your mood when you eat it; you are most consistently disappointed, however, with the strawberry one. Remember, you like strawberry flavoring, but have a strong distaste for real strawberries, so your craving for strawberry will do you no good."

Matthew looked back at him in shock. "How did you..."

Axel pushed his glasses up and smiled blankly. "Would you like more information?"

Matthew nodded.

"While your strongest liking seems to lean toward chocolate cream, your second is vanilla, specifically with nuts and salt on top. A couple just below that would be caramel and raisin spread flavors. A new suggestion for you would be the birthday cake flavor."

Matthew pondered this in an enlightened state. "I can't believe I haven't seen that."

Axel picked up a menu and pointed at the bottom corner. "I am not surprised, both because I can't be and because the cake flavored sweet bread spread is listed in the bottom."

Matthew raised his eyebrows, then decided quietly that he would indeed ask for the birthday cake flavor. While he sat in silence, the door swung open, Emilia and Eddy walking in. Emilia wore a huge grin, while Eddy sulked with a frown. Matthew assumed he'd lost.

As they sat, a waiter came to the table, a boy that was no older than his early twenties. He shook the blond hair from his eyes lightly, and smiled at Emilia. "Can I help you?"

Emilia cleared her throat and pushed her chest forward, saying "I'd like the berry preserves on top of the pound cake, if you don't mind. And if you're free tonight, I'd like to go out for dinner."

Axel, looking straight forward absent-mindedly, said "If Axel could feel, Axel would pity your desperation."

Emilia pretended she hadn't heard him with nothing more than a purse of her lips, and smiled at the guy. She earned herself a smile in return, and the waiter fumbled over himself as he agreed to go out with her.

"That was the berry on caramel, right?" His hands slipped over the notepad as he tried to flip the pages and write her order.

Emilia smiled seductively at the waiter, murmuring "Berry on pound cake, love. Caramel is too sweet."

The waiter wrote without looking at his paper, instead staring at Emilia and writing hahazardly. Managing to tear his eyes away after he wrote her order, the waiter looked over at Eddy. "How about you?"

Eddy thought for a moment, then said "Can I just get a water? I'm not too hungry."

The waiter wrote that down, then looked over at Matthew, who frowned back at him. "Are you alright?" The waiter asked.

"Peachy."

He nodded slowly, then gulped. "Um... Can I get you anything?"

Matthew could feel his strength swelling, his anger welling from within. He inhaled deeply, causing the waiter to gulp, then muttered "I'll have the birthday cake flavored cream. On sugar bread."

Eddy snickered so suddenly he choked on an inhalation, but Matthew's glare never relented; his eyes increased in intensity, making the waiter feel as small as possible before his unshown might.

"Axel would like chocolate," Axel blurted to cut through the tension.

The waiter looked over confusedly. "Is that... Your order?"

"Oh, apologies. I assumed you wanted Axel's food choice. Axel orders the waiter to take Axel to the restroom."

The waiter quickly urged Axel up and to the restroom, ignoring the weirdness of the situation to avoid any possibility of a wet seat.

Emilia looked at Eddy, who shrugged, then looked over at Matthew. "Are you okay, Mat? That was kinda out of the norm for you."

Matthew raised his eyebrows as if he hadn't heard her, but his mind processed what she said a bit after and he nodded. "Just fine, Emilia. How about you, are you alright?"

She didn't answer. She just looked away, and half-nodded. Matthew wondered if she was mad at him or if she thought it was something deeper, but he knew what it was. He shoved his thoughts down and stood.

"Where are you going?" Emilia asked him in a slightly annoyed manner.

He rubbed his nose to stop its itch, then replied plainly, "I need a breather. I'll be back before the food comes out."

Emilia realized the futility of pushing him to talk or asking what was wrong and let him go, hoping he'd be alright. She knew him to be pretty strong mentally, so she figured whatever inner demons he battled would eventually be brought down.

Once outside, Matthew leaned against the wall, inhaling deeply and sharply exhaling once to set the mood. He knew Emilia didn't think of him that way, so he pushed the thought from his mind. He wanted her to have fun later that night, even if it didn't include him. Even if he wasn't the one.

To top off the waiter situation, there the guy came, walking outside to take a smoke break. He leaned against the wall about ten feet from Matthew. After he lit his cigarette, he finally acknowledged Matthew.

"You're not her dad, you know."

Matthew pushed down the urge to tackle this ignorant pile of beautiful, blond hair, opting simply to say "I could fold you like an omelette, you know."

The silence was very awkward for the waiter, but Matthew was more than used to it. He often spoke too bluntly, and made the conversation go quiet without meaning to. In fact, that was why his only friends were Eddy, Axel and Emilia: Axel couldn't be put off by Matthew's directness, and the other two knew Matthew well enough to know he didn't mean anything by it.

Deciding to break the silence, Matthew asked "What's your name?"

"... Nate. Why?"

Matthew shrugged. "Just wondering." After a moment, Matthew blurted again, "So what do you see in her?"

"I don't know, she's just kinda cute I guess—"

Nate blinked, but before he opened his eyes, a hand pinned him against the wall by his neck. "So she just looks real nice, huh?"

-----------------------------

Emilia huffed, and looked over at Eddy, pursing her lips in boredom. "He's not back yet."

Eddy kept looking ahead, not really paying attention as he retorted "which one?"

Emilia thought for a second, then sighed. "Well I meant Mat. I forgot Axel was here."

"Everyone forgets Axel," Axel blurted from beside her, making her scream and elbow him

"Ouch."

Emilia looked over at Axel apologized. "My bad Axe."

"Axel harbors no grudge, but Axel will not hesitate to use this moment as leverage for a chocolate bar."

Emilia raised her eyebrows, and looked back at Eddy. "Should I check on him?"

"Axel did not approve of the emotions Axel felt from Matthew."

Emilia looked back over at Axel and said "I thought you couldn't feel."

"Axel is emotionless, not dumb. Axel thinks you should check on friend Matthew."

Emilia looked back at Eddy (who shrugged) and decided to get up and go check on Matthew. Axel let her out of the booth, and she walked to the door, opening it and walking out. Before she turned the corner, however, she heard two people talking, and recognized Matthew's voice. She decided to eavesdrop from around the corner so they couldn't see her.

"So she just looks real nice, huh?"

Emilia knew that was Matthew, but he sounded really agitated which was abnormal for him. She wondered who he was talking about.

"Hey, get your hands off me, you short creep! I'll knock you out right here!"

Emilia realized that was the waiter from inside, and listened a little more closely.

"I didn't ask you to sit here and make empty threats, I asked you to tell me what your motives are."

Matthew glared, but Nate gave him a grin that defiantly opposed the fear Mathias was outputting. "You're just a sawn-off prick. I might just go all the way with her tonight. Just to piss you off."

Emilia raised her eyebrows. This waiter was getting less appealing by the second.

Matthew tightened his grip, pushing Nate into the wall. "I don't think you realize what you're messing with, you utopian wannabe."

Nate puffed his cigarette smoke into Matthew's face. "I couldn't possibly be scared of you. I've come second in the tri-city combat tournament twice now."

Matthew coughed from the smoke, then looked back at him. "Second? I knew I recognized you. You're that prick that spit in my face before the championship match."

Nate's eyes widened.

"That's what I thought... Nate," Mathias muttered jovially and discriminately at the same time.

Even Emilia shivered at the sound of Matthew sending fear coursing through this guy's nerves. She wouldn't dare step out to break it up now.

"I'm kind of hurt that you would throw around your status in the tournament like that. No one know about that place unless they're recommended, so the fact that you just tell people about it willy-nilly is disheartening."

"P-please, man, I—"

"Relax. I know what the punishment is, but if I was gonna kill you I would have. I'm not like that. I just do the tournament for the thrill. Life doesn't cut it anymore. The thrill of someone trying to leave you unconscious is... Well, it's enough to keep me coming back every year, that's for sure. Instead, I'll let you off with this message."

Emilia was metaphorically on the edge of her seat. She had never heard Matthew talk about any of this.

"Love..." Matthew thought for a bit. "...Jeez, I'm not good with speeches. Anyways, Love isn't what you see and what you get. I won't deny, nor would I ever, that Emilia is hot enough for ten girls."

Emilia felt stupid for taking this long to realize they were talking about her. This news that Matthew thought she was pretty was... Well, news. She had never used her magic on Matthew before, so she didn't know how he really felt.

Nate was still silent as Matthew spoke. "But that's not what love is. Emilia, to you, is a really hot chick that just asked you out, and you said yes. But to me... Emilia is the only thing I crutch on. She's all I have left other than my dad, and he's not usually around. Other than fighting, she's all I have. That's why my love for her goes so much deeper than fawning over her, or romance in my own mind. She's my everything. And that's why I would gladly let my grip go for the right guy. You? You aren't him."

The wind picked up, blowing Matthew's blond hair to the side. Other than the rushing breeze, silence had ensued.

"Seduction magic," Matthew sighed. "She can make anyone fall in love with her. Lose the feeling, tell her no. I wouldn't want to make you serve someone who just flushed your face through the toilet."

Emilia went back in the door, sitting down.

"Is he fine?" Eddy asked.

"Oh, yeah, he just wasn't feeling well. He'll be inside any second now."

Axel stared at her. "Something is troubling you. Axel will neglect to speak of it when Matthew returns to his seat. But Axel will also use this situation as another form of leverage for a chocolate."

Emilia sighed. "Crap... What is that, the second one today?"

Axel nodded. "In the words of Eddy yesterday, pay up pimp."

Emilia looked back at Eddy and whispered "What?"

"Axel owed me money for a chocolate I bought him."

Emilia looked around, then reached a hand in both sides of her bra, one chocolate bar from each cup. "I'll have the last one tomorrow, Axel," she muttered, giving him two chocolate bars.

"Axel knows not why chocolate makes Axel happy, but Axel does enjoy it more when it comes from Emilia."

Emilia hugged Axel. "I know you don't really feel anything, but I can't help but be attached to you, ya dummy."

"Not only are you wrong, but Axel is charging one chocolate bar extra for tomorrow. Axel is no dummy."

Matthew came in as she groaned, agreeing annoyedly to bring two chocolates.

"Is he running you up for chocolate again?" Matthew asked.

Pretending there was nothing out of the ordinary, Emilia nodded, groaning again. "He just got two from me, and he already has two racked up for tomorrow."

"Axel is unclear whether Emilia means racked as in 'in backlog' or racked as in 'having large breasts.' Please tell me which usage you used."

All three of the others at the table stared at Axel, blinking in shock.

"U-um... The former, Axe," Matthew elaborated.

Axel nodded, and looked forward, leaving the others to sit in awkward silence as Nate silently served them their plates. When they were about to leave, Nate caught Emilia and informed her that he would be working an extra shift that night, which she was totally understanding about. He wasn't really her type anyways. Once they had spoken, she hurried after friends.