Author's Note: Welcome my dear readers to my first published story. Please be gentle with me (bows). I was always fascinated with the Varia from KHR and wanted to write a story about what life would be like in the organization. My story will be a bit more realistic and from an adult's perspective rather than the kid friendly version of KHR. I always thought the series was better suited for adult audiences than for children. I've just tweaked things, so it works from that perspective. Reviews are encouraged! Tell me what you like and dislike. I also wanted to note that Lussuria does use Japanese terminology like -chan. It just seemed to work for his character, and I'm keeping it. I admit that I'm a very ADD and sporadic author. If you let me know you like it, I'll be more likely to update it more quickly.
Much love,
Hanamaruko
There are times in your life where you really don't see things coming your way. I didn't expect what was about to happen nor the crazy world I would be thrust in. That said, I wouldn't do anything over again. This new world is much too amusing for me to walk away from. The best things always happen unexpectedly.
Let me explain myself. I was always the type of person to wander from place to place and do things on my own. I never really had a place I would call home. To me, home was wherever the people I cared about were. If you asked my parents where I was, they would just shrug their shoulders and say, "she'll come back when she feels like it". My dad always said I was like the wind, I could never stay in one place and no one could ever hold onto me. It wasn't like I tried to be that way; it's just the way I always was. Sometimes I would attribute it to the boredom that often plagued me, but the reality was that I just didn't feel connected to the world around me. Scratch that, it wasn't the world I felt disconnected from, it was the people. You see, I have extenuating circumstances that always made things really awkward for me around other people. Instead of being concerned with high school romances and friendships, I was more interested in developing my weapons skills and figuring out this weird "ability" I had.
In all honesty I can say I have always been a strange child. At a young age I started having weird dreams and believed I could fly. Sounds pretty normal so far right? Just wait, I decided to jump off of ladders to test my flying skills. As suspected I crashed the first few times. After more practice I began softly landing on my feet; then I ended up hovering in the air. It was at this time that my mom walked in and branded me a devil child. In my childish mind, I didn't see anything wrong with the situation. As a kid they tell you anything is possible. Anyway, back to the main story, my mom starting freaking out and told my dad. He labeled her crazy until he walked in on me hovering in my room seven months later making little glowing purple balls in my hands. He took it better than I thought he would. After sweating profusely and rubbing his eyes, he turned to me and smiled. My dad walked over and patted me on the head. He said, "that's pretty cool there little one. Where did you learn how to do that?" All I remember after that is about blabbing on and on about how I was now almost as cool as Batman. After I had gone on in my hyper ramble, he told me to never show anyone else what I could do but him. And to never ever, ever do anything like that in public.
About a week after that my dad sat my mom and I down for a talk. Apparently my dad had connections to the Italian mafia, surprise mom! I knew that my dad was a doctor but I never knew he was so awesome. Instantly Batman went down on the cool scale and daddy went a peg up. Touché Batman, my dad is now my hero! My mom was horrified, because my dad had kept this information from her. But wait! Her discomfort did not end there. My dad said that people have things called flames, but only a small percentage of the population is able to access them and use them. The mafia is one of the largest organizations that recognizes these flames and uses them. Apparently my devil child antics were just me using my flame. Scratch that, apparently I was able to use more than one flame. Seeing as that I was something like a prodigy, pshhh whatever that meant. I was more concerned with trying to itch my waterlogged ears (don't judge me, it was the end of summer and I swam all the time plus I had eczema in my ears from allergies). Anyway "prodigy" blah blah blah, "don't want you to be involved with the mafia… they'll try and take you away…" blah blah blah. All I really took from the conversation was that we were going to keep my abilities a secret so that I could lead as normal as a life as possible. Dad decided we were going to move and reduce our ties with the mafia. Apparently, he had a good relationship with the head of the Vongola family and previously talked about lessening his connection to the mafia ever since I was conceived. They worked something out to where my dad went into "mafia retirement", and he was able to only discretely see cases that the Ninth head of the Vongola referred to him.
Dad was quickly forgotten in the mafia world, and he trained me on the basics of weaponry and hand to hand combat. After seeing that I was talented and obsessed with swords, he used his connections to have different associates train me. One of my favorite teachers was this old bastard called "The Sword Emperor". Tyr was grumpy and took no shit from anyone. He treated me like a mangy dog, but I really didn't care. Dude had awesome skills. Tyr only came around when he felt like it, and he left pretty soon after. Once I hit puberty and grew breasts (surprise! I have XX chromosomes. You thought I was a dude didn't you?), he became even more mean and sadistic. Cramps were not a legitimate excuse to not perform to his standards. At some point this pissed me off and I flew into a blood rage. I don't remember much of it, but after that Tyr actually waited for the pain killers to kick in and for me to wrap my breasts (such is plight of the big breasted swordswoman). He was also missing an arm after that. When I asked him what happened, he just looked at me strangely. I seriously don't know what that was all about.
Anyway a few years later, some douchebag decided to "off" Tyr. I mean I didn't really mind the whole idea of him being dead; I just thought he could still be useful. I was still learning how to counteract his new one-handed style. I was creating my own style in response to it. Once I felt that Tyr had over stayed his usefulness I was going to off him myself. Did I mention that he was a mean bastard? Yeah, no tears from me over his death. Said douchebag was apparently on a quest to fight all the best swordspeople (I'm a chick; I want to emphasize not all swordsman are dudes) in the world. As I was Tyr's only quasi-apprentice I was potentially on that list. I like fighting and I love swords, but I am in no rush to get myself killed. Seeing as someone was crazy enough to fight and win against Tyr, I didn't want to get involved in that nonsense.
I was still going to a normal school and had a normal life outside of the mafia. After the Tyr incident, I separated myself completely from the mafia. We moved once again and I was able to complete high school relatively unscathed under a new alias. Knowing that I could be a potential liability to my family, I finished high school a year and a half early. I began wandering around the globe and got my college education through several universities and online classes. Just because I act like a travelling gypsy, does not mean that I don't recognize the importance of an education. My dad was a doctor for goodness sake. He would have killed me if I further my education. Even with my degrees I just would go from job to job and country to country. Sometimes I would work in the business sector and other times I wait tables at a restaurant. I just did whatever I felt like doing.
I spent the majority of my time between America, the UK, and Japan. I have a grandmother of Japanese descent, so I was somewhat familiar with the culture. Growing up I could carry on a basic conversation, but the two years I lived there really improved my Japanese. I enjoyed living there, but I always missed living in Italy. My parents ended up retiring and spent their time between America and Italy. I would try to visit them at least once every year. One time it had almost been three years and I heard an earful from my father. I didn't want a repeat of that again.
Even with all the moving, I always returned to Eastern Europe. Prague became a favorite city of mine, and I could never get enough of it. It was during one of my stays in Prague that trouble came to me. I was living in an old industrial complex in one of the less glamorous parts of town. Using some negation skills, I was able to have the building converted for me. The bottom levels of the building remained relatively bare and were just open spaces supported by cement blocks and pillars. The upper two levels were my living quarters. Most people might have been freaked out by the empty and abandoned looking lower levels, but I found them perfect for training. I spent the majority of my time there and had come to love the place.
The incident happened on a rainy Friday evening. I had been training a new technique with my Cloud and Mist flames that allowed me to multiply objects and project a portion of my consciousness into them. You are going, "Oh wow, she can use Mist flames! So cool!" No not really. I suck at Mist flames. I have very little aptitude for them, but I see how combing them with other flames can be useful. I can honestly say that out of the flames, Mist flames are the bane of my existence. Not being naturally gifted in that area pisses me off, and therefore I practice using them on a regular basis. After ten years, I still couldn't do much but I could slightly alter reality. In your face bitches, the turtle eventually wins against the hare.
So it was while I was doing this new technique that I became overly tired and less in-tuned with my surroundings. I was minding my own business when a pair of hands grabbed me and a streak of silver flashed across from me. A large glass bottle was shoved into my mouth and a disgusting light brown liquid was poured down my throat. Don't judge me for not fighting back. Who expects that sort of thing, and I was really tired. Not thinking, I swallowed the liquid. It didn't really taste like anything, but it had a slightly bitter aftertaste. Within seconds, I fell to the floor almost entirely unconscious. I really had no clue what the heck was going on. Passing in and out of consciousness, I heard a feminine male voice talking.
"If I hadn't seen her using it, I wouldn't have believed it was her. She's just too pretty to have been Tyr's protégé. I can't wait to take her back to the castle; it'll be so good to have another woman around to talk to. With that figure of hers, I'll be able to dress her up into so many cute things! Isn't she's gorgeous Squalo? We'll have to keep the boss from scaring her skin. Squalo? Hey Squalo, aren't you listening?! I'm talking to you, you know. Oh…. I seeeeee. You're blushing Squa-chan. So she's your type huh? Someone has a crush on the new girl!" said the man is a singsong voice.
The other man, who I assumed was Squalo, grunted and moved closer to me. From my sprawled out position on the floor, I could grab his ankle with my left hand. Gathering some flames into my hands, I decided he was going to be my next guinea pig. At this point, it was would be pointless to try and fight them off. It would just piss them off and give them a reason to attack me. So far they had made no move to physically harm me. If they wanted me dead, I would already be dead. Obviously, they wanted something else from me. I decided that this man would be the first one I used my new technique on. Transferring my remaining consciousness and infecting him with Cloud flames, I decided I would try gain information to him. Sending my flames up from his ankle, he began to shake and tremble. Shortly thereafter, he fell to the floor right beside me. As he hit the ground I lost consciousness.
I have no clue how long I was out. The next thing I remember is waking up in a male body. Across from me laid my body in the back of a red sports car. A very loud and obviously gay man was yelling from the front seat.
"Squalo, make sure she's in a comfortable position. We don't want her to wake up all stiff and sore. She's already not going to feel well after that sleeping tonic we gave her."
"Voiiii," shouted the man I was currently taking residence in, "that'll be last thing on her mind. She's not going to be happy that she was kidnapped and taken to the Boss."
"Well there is that," replied the man in the driver's seat. "Why don't you put her head on your lap instead of her feet? I bet she'd feel more comfortable."
Looking into the rearview mirror, I could see the man with the green and orange Mohawk smirking. The man that I was in grunted and muttered under his breath. It was something along the lines of, "that flaming peacock is getting way too much enjoyment out of this." Squalo turned to me and grabbed me by the waist and awkwardly turned me around.
"Fine," he said as he out my head on his lap. Glancing up, Squalo looked once again at the other man in the rearview mirror.
"Shut up, Lussuria! Stop laughing."
The man had a huge grin plastered over his face. "Mahh, Squa-chan, I'm not laughing at you. It's just so cute and heart warming."
The man I was in quickly went quiet. After a few seconds, he responded to the man named Lussuria. "Say another word about this and I will kill you," replied Squalo in an icy tone. Lussuria darted his eyes to my body and then Squalo. Not saying a word, he nodded and went back to looking at the road. After a few minutes of silence, Squalo returned to staring at me. "Hmmm…" he said under his breath. Squalo reached out his hand and began to slowly stroke my hair. It appears that my consciousness was still somewhat connected to my body. I have always found that having my hair stroked is very relaxing and comforting. It didn't take long for me to go to sleep.
The next time I awoke, I was in a dark room. I was sleeping on something soft and warm. Opening my eyes, I slowly adjusted to the dim light filtering through the curtains. No, these weren't window curtains; these were heavy velvet drapes that surrounded a bed. Looking around, I saw that I was under a maroon and gold blanket. The curtains surrounding me were the same red color. Looking at my hands and checking out my body, I concluded that I was in fact in my own body. Apparently, my experiment with Squalo had been a near failure. I would have to work on that. It was after my inner ramblings that I noticed how badly I was hurting. My neck and back felt like I had been sleeping upright on moving horse. The rest of my body just felt like I had been hit by a rather large truck. Neither of those seemed like the likely source of my pain. I attributed it to the mishandling of my body during my kidnapping.
I really didn't want to move. That said, I had no intention of staying around. If I found any opportunity to escape I would take it. I started moving and edging over to the side of the bed. Peeking through the curtains, I was able to see a large banquette of windows. I peaked further out of the curtains and saw no one around me. Slowly and quietly I stepped down from the gigantic bed and planned my escape. From what I could see through the fading twilight, I was in a large and ostentatious bedroom. I saw two doors that lead to my potential salvation or demise. I didn't like the second of those options, so I choose another path. To the windows I go! Finding the latch to one of the large windows, I opened it carefully and looked at the ground below. I was at least three stories high in a very large building. Seeing no one around, I did one of the things I enjoy the most. I jumped down to the ground. One good thing about refining my Cloud flames is that I am able to control my movements in the air and decelerate before I hit the ground. A slight bend of the knee and we have a gentle landing! Eyeing a large grove of trees, I decided that would be my first destination. I really needed a piss break.
After I had finished my business, I ended up looking for a path away from the monstrous looking castle that I had been in. My destination was the opposite way of the building. Running away quickly, I managed to get a good distance between myself and the building. It was when I was finally giving myself a little internal victory speech that I noticed how quiet it had suddenly gotten. The trees seemed too still and no animals were heard. A whooshing sound came from behind me. I was able to jump out of the way as a barrage of knives came at me.
"Sempai, you missed. You can't see can you? I told you that your hair should be cut."
"Ushishishi, shut up Flan. It seems like this peasant has some skill."
"Are you sure sempai? It just like your old age is catching up to you. You are really past your prime. Don't you think it's about time you retire?"
"Shut up Flan! I'll make you into a stuffed frog."
Using their bickering to my advantage, I assessed the situation. The frog hooded kid named Flan seemed to be content to watch the other do all the work. The blonde haired male wearing a tiara was the knife wielder. Looking closely at the knives, I was able to see a slight gleam come from their handles. It was only because of the exact position the setting sun was in that I spotted the wires connecting the knives to the blonde man. How lucky is it that he uses metal wires? Metal acts as a great conductor to lightning. Setting an electric charge in my hands, I grabbed onto the knives. "Fshhhhhshhh" could be heard as the knife wielder collapsed twitching on the ground.
"Hey sempai, are you ok? You're looking a little fried." All that could be heard was an "ughhhnnn" sound as the man's head hit the ground.
"So," I said as I changed my flames into a sharpened edge and cut through the wires, "I'm not interested in picking fights I don't have to. If you agree not to come after me, I'll leave you alone. You can tell your superior that I got away after electrocuting you and your sempai over there," I said as I pointed with a handful of knives.
"Hmmmmm, the boss will be mad if we let you get away, but he can't really do anything to me since I was only supposed to assist. You better go before the others find you. They won't be as willing to negotiate."
I slightly nodded my head, backed away, and jumped into the trees. I would have to be more cautious and get out of here as quickly as I possibly can. I had been able to retrieve a little over a dozen knives. They were sharp and well made, but they weren't the most ideal weapon for my situation. My knife skills were not nearly as good as my sword skills, because they required a closer proximity for their usage. I could certainly handle myself with them, but they made me somewhat uncomfortable. Because of my cautious nature, I preferred the distance a sword gave me. I could certainly throw them at the enemy, but that would quickly deplete them. Ugh, I really didn't want to kill someone unless I really have to. It would be so messy and take up valuable time.
Running further into the woods, I was able to go ten minutes without incident. It was as I was about to pass through a slight clearing that I heard a familiar "Vooooiiii".
"Voooooiiiiii, find the woman and bring her to me before boss the finds her. He's pissed that she escaped."
An unfortunate looking man with facial piercings and umbrellas sticking out from his back ran into the clearing. "Captain Squalo! Belphegor and Flan have been defeated. They were guarding the west sector when they were taken out. They have been taken to the hospital wing."
"Damn it! Voooooiii, get a move on and find her. Boss is going to be seriously angry."
"Yes, sir," said a group of men with a rain symbol on their clothing.
"Levi take your troops further ahead to the west. See if you can cut her off there."
"Yes, Captain Squalo," he answered as he ran away.
"Hmmm…" I thought as Levi and the Rain Troops went away. "That guy seems to be higher up in the organization. He seems pretty confident to send out the other troops and not have any back up. They'll most likely come back to him to report and get more orders; but if I can get in front of the area he is guarding, I have a good chance of getting out of here." I decided to follow the captain until I was able to pass him. I needed to get an idea of how large the area was that he was guarding and how far they thought I had possibly gone. The plan seemed to be working until Levi came running back and hit the tree I was in.
"Squalo," he yelled as he came running towards us. "The boss is throwing a fit! One of the servers dropped his filet mignon. They asked the kitchen to make some more, but they're out. They won't get a shipment in until the morning."
"Shit!", yelled Squalo. "The boss will try to kill us all. Send some underlings out the nearest open market that carries it."
"By the time they come back," said Levi, "it will already be morning".
Squalo froze and tension could be seen throughout his body. All was silent until a loud "Voooooiiiiiii!" rang through out the forest.
That's when Levi really started to panic and ran into my tree. "We're all going to die! The boss he'll hate us!" "Wham!" he went into the tree.
Squalo turned to look as I lost my balance and fell behind Levi. His eyes went wide as he saw me. Just as he was about to speak, I threw one of my knives at him and hit Levi in the balls. How did I do this you ask? First, grab onto a knife as you are falling out of a tree. Before you hit the ground, throw the knife towards the forward facing opponent. Once you hit the ground, take advantage of the opponent whose back is towards you. Seeing open legs, lift up your foot and slam your leg into the groin. Now you know how to do it. Levi fell to the ground and howled in pain. As he was on his knees clutching his family jewels, I gave him a solid roundhouse kick to the face. A sickening crunching sound could be heard as his nose obviously broke. It was clear that the kick had also knocked him unconscious.
As Levi slumped awkwardly to the ground, I was able to finally get a good look at Captain Kidnapper Squalo. I was slightly shocked at how good looking he really was; I mean I had seen a little of him when they gave me the drug, but he was really good looking! Alright, I admit it. I have a fetish for long, well taken care of hair. It was so long, and glossy, and shimmery, oh my! I was having a hard time deciding what color it really was. Is it gray? Silver? White with a grayish tint? I really couldn't decide. It was then that Squalo addressed me.
"Woman, what are you staring at?"
Immediately I responded, "Your hair. It looks very well taken care of. What color is it by the way?"
That was when he took his hand off of his bleeding upper arm (caused by yours truly) and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Voooiii, woman. You've caused a lot of trouble for me. Come back with me to the castle, and it'll save me some time calming down the boss."
"Ummmm….. no," I replied, "you do realize that you kidnapped me. That sorta makes a person not want to go with you."
"Uggghhhhnnnn," sighed Squalo. "If you had just stayed in the room, this would have been so much easier. Please come back and the boss will explain everything to you."
"You see I'm doing this thing called escaping. It's where you run away from danger. So your answer is no."
"Voooooiiii woman, I really don't want to do this but you leave me no choice," he said as he pulled up his spatha.
Me + 14 knives + no sword = having to resort to less than desirable measures. No I'm not talking about stripping; get that out of your head. "Sorry dear," I said as I began to crouch low to the ground, "don't be mad at me. You're literally armed with a sword (get the pun? Hahaha). A girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do." I put my hands in the Goku power ball position as I brought them up from the ground. Squalo was staring wondering what I was about to do, as I kicked a large amount of dirt and debris in his face.
"Vooooiiii," he yelled. His distraction left him open for an attack. Concentrating on creating a negative flame, I grabbed his sword with my hand. Now kids this not something you should try at home. It is very dangerous and will likely leave you with no hands. The only reason I could do it is because the flame can protect the person using them. His sword turned into a block of ice. Squalo turned and stared at me with a mystified expression on his face. His grey eyes were wide and went from staring at his sword and back to me. "Woman, where did you learn how to do that?" he asked incredulously. I gave him a nice smirk as I came around and gave him an uppercut to the face. Squalo snapped out of his daze with a rather angry looking jaw and a bleeding lip. "Vooooooiiiiii! What was that for?"
"I don't know… MAYBE KIDNAPPING ME!" Sticking out my tongue, I backed away from him and attempted to continue my escape.
"Come back here! Woman don't you run away from me!" Thus began an episode of Tom and Jerry between myself and Squalo. It involved me running away, hiding, and successfully tripping him all while he was trying to capture me. After we had both gotten somewhat out of breath, we stopped running and continuing our arguing.
"Nice legs you have there Rapunzel. I didn't think someone who spent so much time on her hair would be able to keep up."
"Vooooiiiii! I'm no woman!"
"I'm not convinced. Your hair has too much body in it for any man. You use extra hair products. I bet you use mousse!"
"Voooiiii! Who would use that crap!"
"Ahhhhh! Squalo, there you are!" said Lussuria. "We've been looking for you for the past half hour! Squa-chan why do you look like you've been rolling around on the ground? You look ghastly!"
"Lussuria,"said Squalo in a low and drawn out voice, "what do you think I've been doing?"
"Ah! I see! It's good to see you up Cloud-chan. You shouldn't have run away! The boss is very mad that he had to go looking for you himself. He also didn't get to eat his favorite meal, so he's in a very bad mood right now. You're probably hungry and can use a bath right? Come over here and Mama Lussuria will take care of everything for you. What's your favorite thing to eat? I'll make it for you."
At this point, Squalo and I were both crouching with our hands on knees trying to regulate our breathing. I exchanged a "what the f&*$" look with Squalo who just nodded in return. Raising my eyebrow, Squalo returned my gaze and nodded even more vigorously. This was normal behavior for this individual? Kidnapper number two had a mothering complex? This was just a bit too odd for me to process. Are the playing good cop and bad cop? Is this some sort of technique to break me down, so I will go back to the castle? I really don't get this. Just as Squalo and I were about to once again engage in conversation, a loud crashing was heard in front of us. A large glowing lion stepped out in front of us.
"What the hell? Why is there a lion here, and why is it glowing? Where the hell did you take me to?"
"Good Bester," said a man as he walked out from behind the lion. "Good work on finding them," he said as threw the lion a raw piece of meat. At this point I was thoroughly freaked out. This isn't normal even for the mafia. "Oi, trash," said the man staring at Squalo. "You better have a damn good reason for making me come out here to find you."
Squalo cringed and looked slightly uncomfortable. "Boss I was just trying to get her."
"Is that the girl?" he said looking over at me.
"Yes," piped in Lussuria, "she's rather lively. She'll make a great addition to our team." Pausing a second and looking between us, Lussuria took notice of Squalo's arm. "Squa-chan! Why is your arm frozen?"
"She did it," said Squalo rising up from his crouching position and pointing a finger at me.
As he said this, I was trying to process what the hell was going on. A fucking lion? It looks angry too. And that scarred boss guy looks tough. Shit! This is why you need Mist flames. Putting my hands behind my back, I went with the only possible option I had to get away from these dangerous people. I created a bomb on both hands of Cloud and Storm flames. The Cloud flames enhance the destructiveness of the Storm flames. It seems that the scary dude noticed that something was going on.
"What do you think you are doing trash?" he asked.
Smiling I held the bombs behind my back in the air and brought my hands forward. "What do you mean?" I asked innocently. Squalo gave me a look that was clearly suspicious. It seems he was wisening up to my antics. "Wh-what, what is that?" I stuttered pointed in the air with panic in my voice. The three idiots took the bait and looked up. "Yessss!" went my mental happy dance. "I can get out of here!" I threw one bomb out from behind me at their feet. The sudden explosion caused them to fall back for cover as I ran the hell away. I took the second bomb and spread it out using my Cloud flames. It would decrease the strength of the attack, but it would act as a sort of wall that would slow them down and alert me of their progress.
I was able to run unharmed, but it wasn't long until I heard tiny recurring explosions. Cursing and shouting could be heard. It sounded like they were gaining on me, so I made the choice to hide. The strain of using my flames after my body was already in bad shape was running me down. I found a little nook that was caused by a large tree's roots and a small rocky outcrop. I wiggled my way into the open space and drew back from the entrance. I calmed my breathing and began to wait.