A.K.A. "How did I end up in this bunny suit? I HATE costumes"
Skull hated many things. Hated. Loathed. Despised with the fury of a thousand burning suns. Right now he was getting ready for school that he, wait for it, HATED. He looked in the mirror at his scrawny self and hissed. He pulled on his uniform. One white long sleeved dress shirt, one pair of black slacks, one pair black dress shoes. And then his uniform, seven piercings, one black leather belt, one steel belt buckle (Jormungandr image), one torn bike jacket, one guitar, one guitar case, and black military boots instead of dress shoes. No make up. Yes, he's naturally purple. Yes, it runs in the family.
He walked across the hall and knocked on his sister's door "Vi, hurry up or we're gonna' be late!" and he walked down stairs to wait. Within minutes his sister bounded down the stairs. In her uniform a purple hooded cloak, yes, she did wear the school uniform underneath. As he walked out he tossed back a purple bike helmet that Viper caught without looking and carefully stuffed her toast in her mouth before putting the gear on.
The two of them got on his bike, a 2013 Yamaha YZF-R1...with changes. Viper always called it 'the black beast'. Apt name. Soon the bike was parked and the two made their way to class. People started talking. He was used to it, his sister was the mysterious idol of the school. Popular with everyone and those who saw under the hood declared her a beauty without compare. He was the loner, even the other loners left him alone. He really didn't know what it was nor did he care. To him most people were just in the way.
As they entered the room Viper walked over and gripped his arm "Skull, how about you eat with me today? We've been going here for quite a while and you haven't even met my friends!"
He shrugged "maybe" and took his seat as his sister puffed out her lips in an pout that had people lining up to help her out with much vigor. Vigor that quickly died as they found out he was what she was pouting about.
The lessons were boring to Skull, he knew exactly what he was going to do after getting out, all the paper work had been filled out and the position already his. All that was left was to survive school. Not to mention that he had already read the definitive work on Thermo-Nuclear physics that the teacher was barely understanding. He sighed and the lunch bell rang, as he got up to go somewhere quiet his sister grabbed his arm and dragged him to her friend's favorite haunt.
As the two entered the room the six others stopped talking. Reborn saluted with one finger to the forehead. Colonnello grinned and let out a "KORA!" Lal Mirch slapped her brother for being too loud. Fon gave a serene smile and looked to Verde who wrote something in his ever present note pad and Luce hugged Viper. Skull didn't slip out of the room, he knew Viper would hound him later if he did, so he just went to the furthest corner and ate with the other's conversation a background buzz. After his food was gone he reverently unzipped the case and brought forth his guitar, his hands slowly checked every surface for flaws and he plugged in his head phones. They didn't need to hear him, nor did he care to hear them. As long as his sister looked happy he didn't care what they said.
His fingers floated over the silent strings to only a melody he could hear. The lunch bell rang and the group dispersed, Viper bounced over and grinned "so?"
He pulled out the head phones "so what?"
She huffed "what do you think of them?"
He shrugged and zipped up the case "as long as they make you happy I don't care" and as such he became a fixture in the room during lunches. After eating he would play with his headphones in as to block out the world. If it wasn't for his sister he would never go there. Never be seen with them. Never gotten into that fight.
Viper and her little group was called the "Arcobaleno" and were the most popular, most good looking/smartest/funniest/athletic, the list went on ad nauseum. Skull wasn't. so when it got out that he had been seen with them their fan club got pissed.
Within the ranks mutterings were heard why him? Is he better than us? hundreds of questions echoed forth. One particularly angry kid growled out why not teach him his place? a plan was formed. It was simple, ingenious, and as they thought fool-proof.
Unfortunately for them Skull was not a fool.
After school Skull would get his bike and meet his sister out front, today she had to fill out paperwork for some reason and Skull was leaning against the gate. Twenty of the fan club members attacked him. Needless to say it wasn't really a fight, twenty against one? Yeah, it didn't end well.
Lal ripped into the room and grabbed Viper by her shoulders and dragged her out to see her brother.
It had started badly, one of the flunkies threw a rock, now that wouldn't mean much if it hadn't hit the guitar. That was the one way to sign your death warrant instantly. Skull turned on his heel and smashed his fist into the boy's nose, then all hell broke loose.
All around Skull and his untouched bike and guitar were all of the attackers, beaten and bloody, none were in any condition to move around. Skull kicked one in the stomach who tired to stand "twenty for me?" he spit on the leader whom he had just kicked "fuckin' insultin'"
Viper raced over to her brother before running her hands over him with frantic "are you okay?! Did you get hurt!? What happened?!" Skull patted her shoulder four times and she calmed down and growled "do you know what happened?" her glare scared almost everyone but her brother. He shrugged and grabbed the nearest victim by the collar and hauled him up.
Skull's purple eyes burned deep with the dark "listen here you little insect" his voice didn't hold hate, it held only contempt as if he was speaking to a cockroach "you will tell me why you attacked me and you will then leave"
The boy stared at him with a broken nose and a black eye, he spit blood on Skull's face and laughed "you won't get anything from me you little-" his words were cut off by a scream as Skull squeezed his collar bone until it snapped before pulling his sister on the bike and driving off.
The next day there was an unspoken rule as twenty members of the fan club limped in with varying degrees of injuries: don't mess with Skull.
Inside that room however nothing had changed, Skull still played to himself while the others ate. Day in day out for two weeks he was undisturbed. But when he was disturbed it was by the most dramatic means possible.
He had just finished a song that would have made stone weep and unplugged his headphones when a flyer was thrown in front of his face. The gigantic print read "DON'T LET THE MURDERER IN THE STUDENT COUNCIL ELECTION! COME BY THE FRONT OFFICE TO SIGN THE PETITION!" he looked around to see who threw the flyer at him.
He saw Luce staring at him "what do you think?" her eyes were filled with worry.
He blinked "who signed me up for Stu. Co.?"
Luce looked down "e-everyone, we thought it would be good for you!"
He groaned "not interested…" and he walked off.
Verde looked at Luce's despair and patted her shoulder "that was the longest conversation Skull's had on record with anyone but his sister"
Every day she bugged him about trying to get elected to the "cloud" position. The Student council was not normal. You see they didn't have traditional president, vice president ect. They had Sky, Mist, Cloud, Rain, Sun, Storm, and Lightning and one other person usually referred to as the Night. And just like at any school there were plenty of legends about them. For one there was always a relationship in stuco. This year was Luce's older sister, the Sky, Aria and the Night, Bermuda. Luce and Aria's mom Uni had gone to the school and had met their dad when they were elected to the stuco together.
One day Luce had bugged him for a good half hour and he slowly sat his guitar down and met her eye to eye. And didn't move. Luce's face started to turn red as Skull didn't blink those purple orbs. She looked down "now, if I allow myself to be dragged along in this charade you won't bug me anymore?"
She nodded and met his eyes again "but you can't just give up! You have to try some!"
It was his turn to nod and he muttered "and when I don't get elected you won't bug me?"
She nodded and squealed before running off to tell the others and get the rest of the paperwork set up. After school his phone buzzed and a text from Viper appeared on the screen doing paper work. Reborn said he could take me home. Go ahead and go to work. He shrugged and hopped on the bike.
As he pulled the garage door up three men in grimy coveralls shouted out their greetings to their future boss. While his mouth didn't smile his eyes held a certain light "where's David?" one mechanic flipped down a welding mask and pointed to the small office and Skull opened the door.
David wasn't a small man, at nearly 250 lbs and 5'7" he looked out of place in the small chair. David looked up and the brunette's green eyes looked fondly at his little protégé. Ask anyone who knew him and they would say that David loved looking back on the past, from his far away gaze Skull knew he was looking back on something.
Their first meeting. David had just opened up his garage for the day and a twelve year old Skull had asked to borrow an impact. David laughed "this is no place for a little kid!" and growled as no matter what he did the damn bike wouldn't start.
Skull walked over and quickly disassembled the fuel hose and injector system before putting it back with blazing speed and started the bike. It roared like a beauty. David started testing the little kid, it had to be luck he remember thinking. It wasn't and within a day the little boy had a job at the shop. And now six years later he was slated to inherit it. David's children had no interest in the shop, his son was a lawyer and one of his daughters was a baker and the other was a politician in the running for a small post that would, in the future, make her the Prime Minister.
David shook his head to clear the fog of remembrance and his sad eyes made contact with Skull. "m'boy, I've got bad news…" Skull tilted his head to the side. When he said it was bad it was usually life changing "remember when that larger company man came in here a week ago?"
Skull put his boots on the desk between the two and put his hands behind his head. They both had the same position. Only David looked sad while Skull scoffed "the punk who tired to short change you ya' mean."
David steepled his fingers and put his elbows on the desk "yeah, his boss came in yesterday after hours. I sold her." Skull looked shocked, in all the years he knew his boss he never would have thought he would have sold his dream, "the money was better than I could have hoped for. They also decided to accept all the guys who work here…"
Skull sighed "so what's the problem?"
"…besides you…" Skull's body stopped. Just stopped. He didn't move for a long while. Finally his eyes slowly canvassed the small room to meet his boss's who was looking at his feet. "I tried to get ya' in but they wouldn't take somebody still in high school…ya' have to understand" David felt frantic under his friend's hurt stare "I couldn't say no, with Rose and me retiring we needed just a little bit more and they paid for it and more." Skull stood and tears ran down his face, one shaky hand gripped David's and the man gave one of his favorite people on Earth his last paycheck. As the duo walked out to the door David pulled Skull in for a hug and crushed the boy "if you need anything you know you can call me at anytime. I promise that if you need a recommendation I can only give the best" and he felt the boy nod. With his heart broken a little David released Skull who drove home.
As the door closed Viper looked up from her homework "hey, you're home early" and her smile dropped when she saw his face. He spoke quietly and his voice caught in sobs as he looked bent his body. His forehead rested on his palms while his elbows sat on his knees. Tears ran down his arm as he told her that he would have to get another job, meaning he would have to quit school and stop practicing his beloved guitar. After he told her he mechanically stood and walked to his room to sleep. Viper pulled out her phone and thumbed through her contacts until two numbers were sent a single text Meet me at the fast food joint at the corner. It's urgent he left a note telling her brother she was going out and locked the door before hopping on her bicycle.
Reborn and Luce met her at the restaurant and she gushed what had happened. Reborn and Luce looked on in horror as suddenly their best friend's world was turning upside down, one thing that they had always known had just been ripped out from under their feet. Reborn held Viper as she cried and Luce made several calls. Luce leapt up and let out a cry of joy, startling all the patrons of the shop. She told the other two. Soon all eight of the Arcobaleno, including Skull, sat in the sibling's house telling Skull what had just happened.
Everyone was in causal clothes but Skull who was in his biking gear with hair sticking up in every which direction and a sleepy look on his face. Luce wrapped her arms around his thin waist "I got you a job!" his eye's widened and his jaw dropped. She continued "my dad runs a jack-of-all-trades store, so you'll have to show him you can do all sorts of things, it's not hard every one of us works there!" and she made a sweeping gesture encompassing all the Arcobaleno. All eyes moved to Viper as she started talking.
A deep rumbling sound stopped her, her eyes opened up and her jaw dropped and she turned to look at her brother. His arms were around his stomach and his face didn't have his normal apathetic look. He was laughing. She hadn't heard him laugh in ten years. Luce and Lal looked at each other in disbelief. Even with the weird markings he was kinda cute. As he looked up he was smiling. He walked to the kitchen and picked up his keys and opened the door. Viper shouted "where are you going?"
He smirked as he looked at the group "I'm getting ingredients, I'm gonna' cook" He pointed a finger at Luce "I owe you one" and hopped on his bike and tore out across the street.
Viper hopped up and down chanting in a sing song "he's gonna cook, he's gonna cook!" they soon found out why she was so happy. His food, although simple, was amazing. He made a simple stock with flavor that Luce hadn't seen since her trip to France. As they all sat in the living room talking Viper, who sat across the room from her brother, asked "are you going to play for us?" the room went still as he shook his head vigorously, she giggled "we need to get you over your shyness…"
The next day after class Luce pulled all the Arcobaleno to her dad's shop. She hopped up to her father and glomped him with a "daddy!". Lanchia laughed at his youngest daughter and looked at the group.
"so you're the interviewee right?" he held out a hand to Skull who shook it and bowed slightly. Lanchia ran a critical eye over the skinny man "what makes you think you can handle being a handyman/jack of all trades?"
Skull's eye lit slightly, this man reminded him of when he first met David "give me a challenge and you'll see" soon Skull had passed cooking, driving, repairs, technical, customer interface and a dozen others.
Lanchia grinned "David told me you were good…now one final thing. Can. You. Entertain?" and he pointed to the guitar that had held it's loyal spot on the man's back. Skull pulled out a small amp and got ready to play.
As he was about to strum the first note he stopped, he looked to the father "do you have somewhere…private?"
Lanchia laughed "why nervous?"
Skull shook his head "I really don't like to play in front of groups…" and soon the two were off to the small sound proof garage that held the tools.
As the two walked out both of their faces were like Aztec idols, stone. Lanchia handed Skull an ID card and grinned "welcome to the company" Skull bowed again and the two siblings left. Uni wrapped her arms around her husband's chest "was it a good idea?"
He smirked and kissed her forehead "of course, you had it"
The Arcobaleno sat in the lounge of the shop doing homework, relaxing or whatever they felt like. Viper and Lal were trying to help Colonnello with his homework but the dolt wouldn't listen. Reborn, Verde and Fon were playing some card game, Luce sat with her sister and her boyfriend chatting about the upcoming stuco elections. Skull as always sat in the corner playing his guitar. Lanchia broke the scene by opening the door "men, we've got a job!" as everybody rose he waved the girls back down "sorry ladies, this is a man only mission" they shrugged, the wanted some girl time.
As the guys walked into the public section of the building they saw a little boy sitting on the couch fidgeting as the group walked in. the boy stood "hello, my name is Basil…um, my job is a little…awkward. I need to have one of you be my boyfriend for the day" and like that only Skull, Reborn and Fon remained. The three sat down on the couch across for Basil and listened in for the details of the job. "I-I've always been known as 'the gay guy' but I tried not to let it get me down. Last week though it got really bad. I got beat up behind the school" the middle schooler lifted his shirt to reveal large bruises across his bony torso. "my friends though I should try to get a boyfriend so that he could help me…I can't find one. The guys that beat me up last time said they would do it again tomorrow. I need to have somebody around me Saturday so I get home safe and sound. U-um my brothers recommended this shop to me saying that you guys could do any job…"
Reborn tipped his fedora up "you got all the paperwork cleared with the boss?" Basil nodded "then all that you need to do is pick one of us and give us the rest of the details…"
Basil looked at them "I need someone intimidating so sorry but I can't choose you…sorry" the shy little middle schooler pointed at Fon.
With a serene smile he patted Basil's head "good luck little one" and walked back into the break room while Basil tired to gather his wits and wipe off a deep red blush.
Skull looked at Reborn with his normal apathetic face "let me handle this one" at the other's raised brow he continued "not that you can't be intimidating but I doubt pulling out a berretta on school grounds would go over well. I've got the Beast so I'll look the part"
Reborn chuckled "your first job: pretend to be a gay boyfriend, haha what the start"
Skull ignored the jibe and walked over to Basil and got the time and place and such.
Basil blushed, this cold man would certainly shock his friends and that gang of bullies.
Basil stood next to his friends nervously and looked at his watch, Skull should be their any minute. He rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans. He looked in the window of the store. No, his white tee nor the plaid unbuttoned shirt had moved since he last checked…two seconds ago. The group of bullies rounded the corner, led by their fat leader "looky here boys, it the fag again. Guess he didn't get enough last time" and he smirked. A roar that deafened them stopped any action. The black bike pulled up to the curb and a figure in a black racing suit with purple striped down each side dismounted. The purple helmet reflected the fat kid's face back on him.
The voice from behind the mask looked to the shy Basil "is this him?" and Basil nodded. Skull picked the kid up by his collar and the kid's nose was almost touching the visor. "now listen to my you little shit" Skull pulled off his helmet and tossed it to Basil. With eyes showing no passion that bored into his soul Skull gripped the bully tighter "if you mess with my boyfriend again. I. Will. Kill. You. Clear?" at the frantic nodding he dropped the kid who scurried off. Skull walked over and put his arm around Basil's shoulders. Basil's friends looked shocked. He was king.
After spending the afternoon with his "boyfriend" Skull drove Basil home, with a bow and a flourish he hopped back on his bike and drove away. Basil walked in and saw his brothers, Fuuta the youngest and the eldest twins Tsuna and Giotto. As Basil walked in and sat at the table he was in a stupor with cheeks redder than a fire truck, Tsuna took one look at his brother and chuckled "the 'date' was that good huh? Too bad he won't be able to be in stuco" and he shrugged and shook his head.
Basil's and Fuuta's ears perked up at this and the former rushed the elder of the twins "why can't Skull be part of Stuco?!"
Giotto looked on with amusement while Tsuna explained "Hibari won't allow Skull to take part because he doesn't have anyone to endorse him" Fuuta patted the distraught boy's back. Anyone who made his brother smile like that couldn't be a bad guy.
The two youngest siblings retreated to Fuuta's room and began plotting.
Hibari looked at the twin suns doing their work and growled, all the new Arcobaleno but the biker were in various states of gazing on him ranging from hostility to begging. Two little herbivores opened the door and he glared; the siblings of the suns didn't stop but rather ran up to the man and kicked him in the shins. The room became very silent. Like hear-pin-drop silent.
The Arcobaleno sat around the break room table in silence. Waiting. For him to wake up. Skull sat on a chair with his feet propped on the table with his helmet on and his music player chords plugged into the protective gear. Behind the visor his eyes were closed and a soft snore issued forth from his mouth. As to why they were waiting, Skull has a bad habit of annihilating whatever woke him up. Except alarm clocks. Cause they did it from twenty feet away. His partner of three months sighed and kicked his booted feet of the table before running to hide behind her brother. As he turned to look at her a purple helmet flew in a perfect arc before hitting him square in the face.
Lal stood up and grinned "now that you're awake we can tell you the good news!"
Skull sleepily rubbed his eyes with a gloved hand and groaned "what news?"
Luce giggled "you're being allowed in the election!" he groaned and she pouted "c'mon we gotta celebrate!" and she tried pulling him off the couch by an arm. He didn't budge. Viper sat in the corner nursing a coke when Lal Mirch came to the rescue.
"if you get up and sign the paperwork I'll spring for another piercing." he grabbed the pen out of his messenger bag and went to work quickly before pulling Lal onto his bike and racing off.
The other's went back to work other than Viper and Luce. Luce looked wistful as the bike turned and disappeared behind some buildings. Viper looked at her friend and patted her shoulder "don't worry, it won't work out between those two…"
Luce sighed "I know but I don't want him to feel bad"
Viper gave a quiet chuckle "it takes a lot to get him down. I have to say though, it's amazing how much you care even though you're not crushing on him or anything."
Fon walked over "has she told him?" both women shook their heads.
Viper looked at the Asian man "why don't you tell him you're dating her?"
He shook his head and put his hands under his large sleeves "I'd feel bad. I don't know why she wants to be his friend and yet leads him on like that…"
Luce tuned the other two out and thought about what her friend had said. It's true they weren't like that but he was a nice enough guy. She walked over to where he had his nap and soon found herself falling asleep in the sent of him. It was hidden under a multitude of other smells-oil, his body wash, the spices that he often dusted things with, but underneath it all was his own sent, a light smell. To her his sent was as complex as he was.
Luce's face was red as two arms wrapped around her bare stomach and pulled her closer to him on the silk sheets. That smell made her turn over and bury her face in his chest as he chuckled that deep throaty laugh that mesmerized her. She looked up and ran her fingers through his short hair. She pulled his head to her lips before pulling it lower and he kissed her right above her breast. She let out a breathy gasp as he continued to molest her. She pressed herself up against his thigh and felt him run a feathery touch across her abdomen, just light enough to make her muscles twitch. His fingers slowly pressed against her skin going lower and lower until he pressed right up against that spot and-"LUCE! WAKE UP!"
She practically leapt across the room and looked at Viper. She rubbed her eyes "whuhappend?"
Viper was the only other one in the room, she had a dark blush on her face and looked around before sitting next to Luce "the other's went out to get some lunch and you started moaning in your sleep"
Luce's face matched Viper's "m-moaning?" she crossed her legs and felt a damp spot.
"yeah, moaning like you were having some great sex" and both blushed deeper as she said the word. Their conversation was cut short when the others came in followed by a giggling Lal and Skull who kept his mouth clamped shut like a steel trap.
Lal flopped on the couch and popped open the top on a beer and speaking to the others "this genius here decided to get his tongue pierced" and then she proceeded to tell them about the entire thing.
The two had hopped off the bike at Skull's favorite shop and walked in. Zakuro looked up from his playboy and grinned "hey, Pin cushion back for another round?" Skull smirked and nodded as he and Lal followed the man back to the piercing station. Zankuro pulled on some gloved and grinned "where now?"
Skull flopped down on the chair and stuck out his tongue. Zankuro shrugged and grabbed his hole punch looking piercing gun and pulled the trigger. Only the gun didn't go far enough or let go. Curses flew as Zankuro tried to get the gun off of Skull. Who was flailing around like a fish with eyes clamped tight. Lal was no use as she was giggling her ass off at the sight.
Skull opened his mouth to show off his new hardware: though his tongue was a pin with a chrome wolf head inside a glass bead. After having a good laugh at his expense the group sat back down and started eating. Skull was eating very slowly and like his entire mouth hurt…which it probably did. Luce didn't look at him or Viper the entire time. It would be embarrassing having to explain to him or his sister "hey, yeah I was dreaming of us having sex. Only I really think that maybe you should get to it faster, I mean C'mon! I was nearly ready to-" she looked back down and tried to banish the thoughts from her head. They did go away…only to be replaced by scenes from the dream. Or her fantasies carrying on where she was woken up.
Two months later they met on a Saturday, Skull's day off. A few days ago Skull had retreated to his room and stopped going out. Viper was worried and turned to the other's who didn't know either…or didn't want to answer. Luce decided to try and see if she could help. Maybe with her all encompassing compassion she could get him out. She knocked on the door and Viper slipped out saying she needed to talk to Reborn. Luce opened the walked into his room.
Skull sat on his bed with all the lights off and death metal playing softly in the background. He had his back against the headboard and one knee up and the other laid out flat. He rested an elbow on his knee, between his fingers he held the neck of a glass bottle, he brought the bottle to his lips and drained it before tossing it to the floor with dozens of it's sisters. His eyes weren't glassy or any thing out of the ordinary. Just sad. Sadder than usual. Like he had put his faith in something that shattered. Luce sat on the edge of the bed "what are you doing?"
He lifted his head back and let out a dark chuckle "can't you see? Drowning my sorrows of course"
Luce crawled up to him and cupped his cheeks "don't do this to yourself." after a moment she had to ask "what happened?"
He growled out his answer "Lal fuckin' Mirch"
The job was a simple repair. It took the two teen about half an hour to completely fix the bakery oven and leave. It had been Lal's birthday so Skull promised a one of a kind gift. They had gone to her house afterwards, which wasn't a big deal seeing as how all the Arcobaleno were always welcome in another's house, but Skull was fidgety.
Lal popped the top on a coke and sat next to him, he blushed as their shoulders made contact "what's my present Skull?" and he blushed deeper as she stared deep into his eyes. With trembling hands he freed his guitar and the small amp that he had taken out when he proved himself to Lanchia. He cleared his throat before singing and letting his fingers dance over the silken strings. As the last echo of the strings faded Lal's face was close to his, he leaned down and her lips brushed against his. With a giggled Lal leapt up ripping the floor right up from under Skull.
She bounced to the other side of the room with Skull's gaze following her, a mix of amusement and confusion. She laughed "if I had kissed you what would you have done?"
He leaned back and strummed a chord "wrapped my arms around you and never let you go"
She chuckled clicked her tongue three times before grabbing another coke and draining it "my boyfriend wouldn't like that!"
His face fell but she didn't notice "boy…friend?"
She nodded "Fon and I have been together for about two years now!" she gave him a huge smile.
He walked to the door and opened it to find himself face to face with Fon. The man he envied gave a serene smile before giving a pleasant "hello"
Skull pushed past him as Fon's smile dropped off at Skull's face-pain and betrayal. Lal raced out to see Skull putting his guitar on his bike before yelling out for him to stop, he walked up to her and growled "you didn't have to do that"
She mistook him entirely and grinned "no problem" he growled again and turned around. She grabbed his arm with a serious face "what the hell's your problem?"
He snorted as Fon put his arm around Lal's waist and he turned around "foolishness. That's all I have" and to add insult to injury a truck slammed into his bike without stopping. He rushed over to find the entire thing completely obliterated. Not even a master mechanic could put it together again.
Skull looked at Luce and whispered "you all knew" it wasn't a question. It was a truth, an accusation.
She nodded "w-we all did but since she didn't tell you we didn't know what we should do…" she moved to his side and leaned against him. She had done this many times when she was too tired to support herself, as had all the others. He was their hidden support. He was their Atlas, he held them up when they couldn't do it themselves. This time was different, who was there to help him? She slowly turned to look at the bottles on the floor. The label was one she recognized from her sister's stories. It was nicknamed liquid coma, it usually knocked a person out in a few sips. She grabbed his hands "I want you to stop drinking…what do you usually do?"
A sore chuckle slipped out his mouth and he ticked off fingers as he spoke "fight-promised Vi I wouldn't, Drive-my bike got turned into shrapnel, play my guitar-with my bike in mechanical heaven. All I got it drinking."
Luce grabbed his face and turned it towards her "w-what if I gave you something else?"
He shook his head "not gonna work, sorry"
Luce frowned for a moment "than I'm calling in my favor. Stop drinking"
He looked at her amazed for a second "wow, using your favor on me." he looked more intently at her "than what am I supposed to do?" Luce muttered something, Skull leaned closer "what?"
She practically shouted "THEN KISS ME!" shocked was an understatement. Skull looked like she had just suggested robbing Fort Knocks. ..it was about the same level. As he stared at her she sighed and pressed her lips to his. A lightning bolt hit him square in the conscious and burned him like Hellfire.
He gently pressed her away and she leaned forward to keep kissing him. "Luce stop, w-we can't do this"
She huffed and crossed her arms "why?"
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair "I don't want you to do this out of pity"
She looked at him aghast "you think this is out of pity?" he nodded and she let out a small laugh "you'd be wrong"
Viper knocked unlocked the door to find Luce sitting on the couch with an unreadable expression on her face. She set her bag down and asked "…so, did it go okay?"
Luce twiddled her thumbs and blushed "m-maybe…I guess" Luce went to leave and a sudden wind blew up her skirt.
Viper fell on her ass "L-luce, where are your panties?"
Luce blushed and pushed her dress down before running off.
Skull sat on his bed unmoved by anything. He touched his lips and grinned before looking over and seeing said clothing on his floor. Unknown to him Luce was thinking something that would have made him blush 'too bad we didn't get further, he really is as good with his hands as I thought'…
Skull looked at his calendar, tomorrow was the first day of public campaigning for the stuco…things were gonna' get interesting
The next day was Monday…and the resurrection of the apathetic Skull.
At lunch things were tense and several steps backwards. Skull put his headphones into helmet as soon as the bell rang for lunch and sat in the farthest corner from the Arcobaleno. Occasionally one would glance over with apologetic eyes, only to be met with a chilling expanse of blacked glass. At one point Colonnello tried to speak to Skull and only got silence. Lal Mirch tried to move towards him but a growl of sheer rage froze her in her steps.
Viper stepped over to her brother "Skull…you can't keep this up forever…" he flicked up the black safety glass and lifted one brow, as if to say "oh, really?' he looked around for a pen and when he couldn't find one he ripped his finger open on the corner of the desk and in his own blood wrote one word across the black expanse of his face mask.
Omerta.
The bell rang and the classroom once again filled, each person scooted their desk as far away from the seemingly psychotic thug as possible. The teacher called for Skull to go see the principal and continued teaching after the class gave a sigh of relief at his departure.
He walked into Kawahira's office and the laid back man sighed "do you know why I called you in?"
Skull first shook his head then pointed to the blood word on his helm, the principal sighed and ran his fingers through his hair "okay, then the problem I have is this" he slid the "stop the murderer" flyer across his desk and Skull examined it before shrugging "I can't have someone with a title like that just running around the school…do something to look less…menacing"
Skull drug a line of blood across the word before speaking for the first time in three days "I don't care, I was made to take that because of Luce. How do you propose I become less menacing?"
The principal grinned "I order you to…."
Kawahira looked up from the ICU bed at Skull in a bright pink bunny suit, he giggled psychotically and pulled over the Arcobaleno as Skull stalked off and laughed "So damn worth it" he was met with gazes questioning his sanity.