This is Beauty and the Beast, 1827 style. I'll also be twisting the storyline and plot a bit so that it's more interesting...at least I think it'll be more interesting. Just read to find out!
Disclaimer: I don't own KHR!
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining and large castle. Even though he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled. Selfish. Unkind.
And then, one particularly bitter, cold winter's night, a young child came to the castle, seeking shelter from the snowstorm. All that was offered in return for the services was a single, red rose.
The prince was repulsed by the sight of this weak and pathetic herbivore, only sneering at the gift and telling the young child to leave before he was bitten to death. The young child warned the prince not to be deceived by appearances, for true beauty is found within. The prince only dismissed the child once more.
The young child immediately transformed, and in his place stood a handsome wizard, dressed in a sharp, black suit. The prince, realizing his mistake, tried apologizing but this time it was the wizard who sneered instead. As punishment for having no love in his heart, the wizard shot the prince with his magic gun, transforming him into a hideous beast. He also placed a powerful spell on the castle, as well on all who lived there.
Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast hid himself in his castle, with a magic mirror as his only source to the outside world. The rose the wizard had offered was an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first birthday. If the prince could learn to love another, and earn love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, then he would be doomed to live as a beast for all eternity.
As years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?
X X X
"Dear...are you sure that you should be working on this so early in the morning? I mean, Tsu-kun and the others are still asleep, what if you wake them up?" There was deep booming laughter, followed by a series of ominous clicks and bangs.
"Nana, my dear. You worry too much. Besides, there's nothing to worry about I'm one hundred percent sure that it's going to work this time." More clicks and bangs, then silence. "Now watch the magic begin."
X X X
Tsuna was shocked out of sleep when there was an explosion followed by a violent rumbling. He shrieked and shot up, clutching his sheets to his chest as the rumbling died down.
Still somewhat half-asleep, Tsuna scanned his room. What just happened? He rubbed his ears, trying to get rid of the strange ringing that was resonating inside of them. He faintly heard his parents yelling from the basement and sighed in relief. So it was just another failed experiment by his no-good father. There was knocking on his door, and it opened to reveal a head peeking out from the side.
"Tsuna-nii, are you awake?" Fuuta asked.
"Yeah, I'm awake," Tsuna yawned and scratched his head. Fuuta walked in, clad in his blue pajamas with star imprints on them. Tsuna was a little surprised to see I-pin walk in as well, dressed in her red nightgown. "But why are you guys up so early?"
"Well, Dad woke us up with his invention..." Fuuta frowned and rubbed at his eyes, yawning a bit.
"Yeah, Dad too noisy," I-pin chimed in, also rubbing her eyes and yawning. Tsuna smiled, then kicked off his covers. He made his way to the door and turned back to face his little brother and sister.
"Well, how about we go down and eat breakfast? I'm sure Mom made something really delicious." Fuuta and I-pin cried out in excitement and ran out of his room and down the stairs, all the while teasing each other about who would get first dibs on what to eat. Tsuna decided to hurry up before they really did eat all the good stuff.
When he entered the kitchen he was a little surprised to see Fuuta and I-pin standing in the middle of the room, staring at the table in horror. Tsuna followed their gazes and he stumbled back in horror at the sight in front of him.
"How is this possible!" he cried. Empty. It was so empty. Fuuta and I-pin ran over to Tsuna, clutching onto his shirt.
"Tsuna-nii! I'm just imagining it, right? I'm still asleep and dreaming?" Fuuta whimpered. I-pin whimpered as well and hid her face into Tsuna's leg, afraid that she would start crying. Tsuna hugged them closer and response and just shook his head.
"If this a dream, Fuuta, then it can only be a nightmare," Tsuna replied. Just then, Nana walked in humming a little tune. She was dusted in soot from head to toe, and sneezed a little when she breathed some in. All three of her children gasped in surprise and immediately surrounded their mother.
"Mom! Are you feeling all right? You're not sick are you?" Tsuna exclaimed. Nana blinked in confusion at the worried looks all of her children were giving her.
"What are you talking about, Tsu-kun? I'm just fine," and to prove her point she spun her arms around in circles and began hopping on one foot. "See?"
"But, Mama!" Fuuta grabbed onto her arm, causing her to stop spinning them and stop hopping. "You must be sick since there's no food on the table! You always have breakfast ready by the time we wake up!"
"But-"
Upon hearing this, I-pin began bawling and grabbed onto Nana's leg. "Mama sick!" she sobbed.
"Now just hold on!" Her children were struck speechless at her outburst. It was very rare for their mother to get annoyed, much less angry. "You're all overreacting! Just because there isn't food on the table one morning it's a disaster? I thought your father and I raised you to be less selfish than that. Be grateful that we have food to put on the table in the first place before you start complaining."
Her children were silent as they took the scolding. Tsuna especially bent his head down in shame. What his mother was saying was true. They were only acting like spoiled brats. They should know better than to complain like this.
"Sorry," they all apologized simultaneously. Nana let out an angry huff, but her anger was quickly replaced by a kind and gentle smile.
"As long as you all understand," she patted Fuuta and I-pin on their heads and gave Tsuna a knowing look. He was old enough now that he didn't need to be told twice. "I'll get started on breakfast then. How about blueberry pancakes?" There were instant cries of assent and yes's from the children.
"Pancakes, pancakes!" I-pin chanted then let out a squeal of happiness. Nana smiled then maneuvered around her children and made her way into the kitchen immediately pulling out things from the pantry and cupboard.
"How's Dad's invention coming along, Mama?" Fuuta asked, sitting down at the table along with Tsuna and I-pin.
"It still has a ways to go." Nana huffed in annoyance, "But I'm sure it would go by a lot faster if that older brother of yours decided to come home for once and help."
"But, Mom, I'm sure Dino has his owns things to do at work," Tsuna explained, trying to defend his older brother. "Managing a thrift market is pretty demanding. Besides, you know he'll only do something to break it if he tries helping."
Nana hummed in thought as she took in her son's words. "I guess you're right, Tsu-kun. Well, we'll just leave the work to Papa then." She went to the icebox and dug through it a bit before frowning. "Tsu-kun? Do you mind running to the market to get some blueberries? It seems like we've run out, and I can't make the pancakes without blueberries." Both Fuuta and I-pin gasped in shock at this sudden revelation.
"Go get blueberries, Tsuna-nii!" Fuuta begged.
"Please!" I-pin added, pouting a little for effect. Tsuna pursed his lips as they all continued staring at him.
"Just let me get changed," he sighed and stood up. Fuuta and I-pin let out little cheers. Tsuna made his way upstairs to his room and quickly threw on a simple white cavalier shirt and black plants. He slipped on his boots and grabbed his pouch of money, hanging it from his waist before running downstairs.
"I'll be back!" he called out before running outside. He jumped down the steps and yelped in surprise when he landed awkwardly and stumbled a few feet before coming to a stop. Tsuna glanced behind him, and to his relief no one had seen him in one of his dame moments.
Continuing along the dirt path he passed many birch and fir trees, which were turning red and orange with the coming of fall. He sighed and clasped his hands behind his back, wanting to enjoy this good weather for once. It wasn't everyday that the weather decided to be this nice, especially in the fall.
Tsuna eventually made his way into town, which was always crowded with people coming and going from home to work or just wherever. This kind of racket made Tsuna glad that he lived somewhat away from the craziness. Although...his family was crazy enough in itself, so did it really matter? The thought alone was making Tsuna depressed enough that he didn't even notice the eerie figure stalking him from behind.
"So you finally decided to come out, my beautiful flame? Kufufu. Today is the day I'll make you mine, Tsunayoshi-kun. You cannot run away any longer." The man stepped out of the shadows, closely flanked by his subordinates.
"You know? When you say things like that you sound like a really big pervert," the subordinate wearing glasses stated matter-of-factly.
The man felt a vein pop on his temple and he smiled a little too sweetly at his subordinate who was kneeling on the ground. "What was that?"
"Nothing."
"That's what I thought." The man went back to staring after the brunette who then turned into the alley leading to the market. "Soon, Tsunayoshi-kun. Soon."
Tsuna felt a chill run down his spine and looked behind him, but the people he saw were only minding their own business and paid him no attention whatsoever. He continued walking towards the market, resolved to just get the blueberries and run the hell back home. The brunette had a bad feeling that something was going to happen, and it wasn't going to be very fun.
"Tsuna!" Said brunette's eyes widened in surprise when he felt someone glomp him from behind. When he turned around he felt himself smiling before he registered that he was.
"Dino!" The blond smiled in return and gave Tsuna a noogie, "Whatcha doing at the market, Tsuna?" He let go and stood back, crossing his arms. Dino was dressed in a green, village rogue garb which, Tsuna thought, really did suit him. It made him look very professional.
"We ran out of blueberries back home, so Mom told me to run out and get some since she's making pancakes," Tsuna explained, trying to smooth down the parts of his hair Dino ruffled up.
"Mama's making blueberry pancakes?" Dino groaned and grabbed his stomach, "Oh, why do I have to work right now? I gotta tell you, Tsuna, maintaining a business is no easy thing. You have to deal with so many cranky people here that sometimes I wonder if it's even worth it."
"Sounds stressful," Tsuna added. Dino just shrugged.
"Well, the pay's good so I can't really complain. Anyways," Dino clapped Tsuna on his shoulder, "let's go get those blueberries for Mama, huh?" Tsuna nodded and Dino guided his little brother down the street, helping him maneuver through the crowd that seemed to never disperse. They finally made it to Uncle Kawahira's, who was quite famous in the town for his top quality fruit, especially his blueberries. His store consisted of just a little stand which was where he sold most of his goods.
"Yo, Kawahira!" Dino called out, leaning on the counter. A young, silver-haired man looked up from where he was sitting and smiled widely at the sight of Dino. As usual he was slurping up some ramen from the bowl he was carrying.
"Ah, Dino-san, Tsuna-san," Kawahira bowed to the both of them respectively. "What can I do for the two of you today?"
"We need some blueberries, Kawahira-san," Tsuna said after bowing back to the silver-haired man. Kawahira stopped in mid-slurp and broke off the noodles, quickly swallowing what he had in his mouth.
"Eh...how should I say this," Kawahira scratched at his chin with the end of his chopstick. "I'm all out." There was a moment of silence as Dino and Tsuna registered his words.
"What?" Dino asked in disbelief, "But you're never out! How could this happen?"
"Sold out. A guy and his friends came by asking to buy all the blueberries that I had in stock today. He seemed to be in a rush or something since he didn't even say thank-you," Kawahira let out an angry huff, then pursed his lips in thought, "Although, I wonder what he needed all of those blueberries for? It was very strange."
"So you don't have any?" Tsuna asked, crestfallen. He'd really been looking forward to having blueberry pancakes this morning.
"Well, I still have some other fruit, like apples and the like if you want to buy some," Kawahira suggested, slurping up some more noodles.
"No thanks, Kawahira-san," Tsuna sighed. "See you later, then."
"See you," Kawahira gave them a small wave before focusing his attention on his bowl of ramen. Dino turned to face Tsuna with a small frown on his face.
"We could go get apples from someone else, Tsuna," he suggested. Tsuna just frowned and shook his head.
"You know how mom is, Dino. If it's not from Kawahira-san then she won't want it."
"Yeah...Mama's picky like that, isn't she," Dino's eyebrows furrowed together in thought. The blonde glanced down at his younger brother who was looking absolutely crestfallen. Dino clapped Tsuna on his shoulder and smiled at him reassuringly. "But don't worry about it. I'm sure Mama will understand."
Tsuna nodded, and waved good-bye to the blonde as he went back to work. Although it had been nice seeing Dino, not being able to get any blueberries had put a damper on Tsuna's mood. While his mom would understand, Fuuta and I-pin were a completely different story. The brunette sighed and began walking back towards his house, dragging his feet as he did so. What else was there for him to do?
"Tsunayoshi-kun~" Tsuna froze when he heard that awful, silky and sultry voice call out his name. The brunette turned to face the speaker, praying in the depths of his being that it wasn't who he thought it would be.
"Mukuro..." Tsuna laughed nervously as the indigo-haired man strutted up to him, a smirk on his face. Not this again...
"What a coincidence meeting you here, Tsunayoshi-kun," Mukuro purred. Tsuna looked up at him, his caramel eyes meeting heterochromatic blue and red ones.
"Yeah...what a coincidence..." Tsuna frowned and crossed his arms. He was itching to just run away, but he had learned from experience that it wasn't very easy to do that. Mukuro was as stubborn as he was cunning, and he'd find a way to make Tsuna stay as long as it took for him to be happy.
"But you know, Tsunayoshi-kun, I couldn't help overhearing what you were saying. If you want, the Kokuyo group would be more than willing to give you some of our blueberries. We have more than enough," Mukuro rubbed his hands together as he anticipated Tsuna's reply. Tsuna on the other hand was debating whether or not he should take Mukuro up on his offer. It was suspicious in the first place, and Mukuro wasn't the kind of guy to do things for free.
"Oh, I don't know, Mukuro," Tsuna scratched his cheek, "You see, we only get our blueberries from-"
"From Kawahira-san, correct?" Mukuro interrupted. Tsuna frowned and looked at him suspiciously.
"Yeah...only from him..." Tsuna clarified. He didn't like where this was going.
"Well, you're in luck, Tsunayoshi-kun," Mukuro's smile seemed to get wider, "We just so happen to have bought blueberries from Kawahira-san this morning. Like I said we're more than glad to give some to you."
The indigo-haired man snapped his fingers and two people Tsuna recognized as Ken and Chikusa walked out from the shadows carrying a box. Mukuro took the box and opened it, holding it out for Tsuna to see. Sure enough, the box contained blueberries and just by the look of them Tsuna knew that they were from Kawahira's.
"Well, if you're so sure," Tsuna replied, taking the box from Mukuro. Then he frowned, "but are you sure you don't want any money or something for it? I don't want you to feel like I've cheated you out of the food you bought for yourself."
"Oya? Well if you insist on payment," Mukuro took a step closer to the brunette and grabbed him by the chin, tilting his head up so that they were staring into each others eyes. "How about a kiss as payment?"
Whew! I got this done. I really should be working on my other story, but how can I resist two of my favorite things merged together into one? Beauty and the Beast, and KHR.
Anyways, let me know what you guys think. You know, such as if you want me to continue? Reviews help motivate me to write.
