"How much for a night?" though the brunette teen gave a sweet smile, his tone was anything but nice, "How much will you offer me ma'am?"
The lady gave a sly grin, holding out the envelope before him, "50,000."
The brunette gave a nod of acceptance, taking the proffered item, "Very well. Shall we go?"
The alarm went off with a blaring obnoxious beep that roused the sleeper from his dream. The eighteen year old teen sighed before slamming the alarm clock shut. A few feet away, a cat with a lion-like appearance whined in equal annoyance. He gave a small pitying smile, "Sorry, Natsu. But I need to get ready for school."
The cat gave a growl before jumping into the warm covers of its owner.
The brunette gave a mocking glare, "You little mutt. You planned to do that from the beginning."
He shook his head in amusement before heading to the bathroom. Once inside he took a look of himself in the mirror and frowned as he noticed the lingering stain of lip gloss on his shoulder. He needed another shower…
"You're telling me that they have two people at once; and their men?" growled the brunette in anger.
The bartender, a female with blue hair and a distinctive scar on her right cheek, shrugged. "I am only passing on the information. They'll pay 75,000 each and that's their starting offer."
That shut him up. He gave a sigh before downing the last of his virgin cocktail and placing the payment next to the empty glass.
"Fine," said the brunette, grabbing the small post-it that contained the address and number.
"…You know, you don't have to do this. There are plenty who are more experienced," said the woman with a slight frown.
The brunette gave a slight nod as he slipped the note into his pocket before looking into the bartender. For a moment there was a flash of sadness in the male's eyes. But it was quickly demolished with a determined look.
"I'll be fine," answered the brunette with a small smile.
When there was no answer the younger male shrugged and proceeded to leave the empty bar. However, just as he was about to pull the door open, he was halted by a tug on his coat. The bartender knew that she was stepping out of line with the next query but nevertheless, she needed to know, "Why are you doing this? You don't look like someone would voluntarily do this."
There was a moment of silence as the brunette stood unmoving. After a moment he shook his head and smiled, "To spend."
The woman's frown deepened but she did not protest as the male pulled away, leaving the soon to be opened bar.
"Thank you for caring…"
He awakened to the sounds of whining. He looked towards the source and into the worried eyes of his pet. "Hey, Natsu. You're too loud!" chided the brunette with a small reassuring smile.
Natsu whined once more before attempting to drag a blanket over the male's bruised and tired body. He would have laughed at the spectacle if he were of the right mind. The idea of something that was only as big as his head, a little bit smaller, trying to take care of him was just too funny. After a while, the cat gave up and chose instead to cuddle next to its owner. The male stroked the cat as much as he body would allow him to and sighed. He was so close.
"Tsuna! Welcome back! Maa-ne, are you feeling better?" asked the baseball teen, worriedly, "If you're still feeling sick, then you can always go back. Me n' Hayato will take notes and send it to you!
"What do you mean, you and me? You never take notes, you stupid baseball freak! And don't be so familiar with me!" growled Hayato Gokudera, glaring at Yamamoto Takeshi. Tsuna had met these two at the beginning of the year and they had constantly filled his time at school with laughter.
The brunette chuckled, "I'm fine now. Thank you Gokudera-kun for the notes, they really helped. And Yamamoto-kun, thanks for the food, it was delicious."
He was lucky to have found such good friends that it made him infinitely guiltier for keeping it a secret.
"Boss, if you need anything else, I will be sure to get it to you!"
Tsuna gave a small pout, "You know, I'm not a boss, especially with my grades."
Gokudera shook his head, "I would definitely work for you, maybe as your right hand man."
Yamamoto frowned, "But what about me then?"
"Go work as a janitor, you idiot."
Tsuna shook his head at their silliness and could not help but laugh. He was indeed very lucky.
"Kufufu, kid. You actually got it all," whistled the heterochromatic man as he eyed the case with mild disbelief, "And under two years as you had promised."
Tsuna stared emotionlessly at the man, "The deal, Mukuro." He did not have much more time, he could sense it.
The man raised a brow and held up his hands at the brunette's impatience, "Alright. I am a man of my word. Chrome, tell Ken and Chikusa to find Verde. He is to set up an operation for the kid. I will honor my word."
Chrome gave a small nod, leaving the room without a sound. Once the two were alone, the dealer tilted his head, in curiosity. "Tell me, Sawada Tsunayoshi was it, why are you going so far for a deal that you didn't need to complete?"
Tsuna did not answer. When it was clear that there was going to be no reply, the man shook his head. It was no longer his problem. With this done, he had repaid the debt he had owed to the brunette's father.
"The operation was a success," said Verde with a slight bored tone, "Have him rest for the next couple of weeks. The medicine that he needs to take is here."
Tsuna nodded, taking the white paper bag from the green haired doctor. "Thank you."
Verde waved off the thanks, "Yes, yes. I will be off now."
The green haired man paused before tapping Tsuna's chest, "You should take care of yourself better. I wouldn't want to have another patient."
Trust the doctor to realize that something was up. Tsuna gave a tight nod before walking down the hall of the hospital to the room. He paused in front of the door and hesitated, almost crumbling up the paper bag.
Their first meeting was at the funeral of his father. The red haired teen stood surrounded by a group of what seemed to be friends and guards. The letter that held the last words of his father was tucked away safely in the inner pocket of his suit. Once he saw the teen, Tsuna could not help but be more determined to do it. He sighed before walking towards the group.
"What's your name?" asked Tsuna, with a reassuring smile, ignoring the blatant dislike from the people around him. The teen in front of him gave a tense smile in return, "Enma. Kozato Enma."
Tsuna nodded, "My name is Tsunayoshi. But you can call me Tsuna for short," said the brunette extending his hand out to shake.
After a moment, Enma clasped the hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Enma. I heard that you're going to be transferring to Namimori High. I will be in class 1-B."
I'm sorry Enma.
"I want you to stay away from him," said Suzuki Adelheid, glaring at the brunette with distrust, "Even if he doesn't know, I know that you're the son of that despicable man. If it weren't for him, the family would have been happy."
Tsuna could not help but flinch at the venom in her voice but he did not stop from going into the house. In his hand were the books that he had promised to get for the red haired teen. "I apologize, Suzuki-san. But that is something I can't do." Tsuna ignored the woman though inside, he desperately wanted to make her take back those words. However, he couldn't… not until he finished.
He shook himself from his thoughts. How long had he been standing there? Seconds? Minutes? The medicine was still in his hands and he had made no move to open the door. He could hear the happy chattering of the people inside and he was reluctant to break the mood. However he had to. He knocked once, twice, three times, before letting himself in. The room hushed at his entrance. There was a varied amount of reactions throughout the room. Goukdera and Yamamoto who were talking to P. Shitt and Kaoru Mizuno respectively, waved to their friend, while Rauji Ooyama and Koyo Aoba each gave a nod of acceptance before returning to their conversation. Adelheid and Julie Katou, on the other hand showed varying degrees of wariness. But that was not his problem. He looked towards the occupant on the bed and smiled. Finally, it was over. "Congratulations on the successful transplant."
Enma grinned, "Thanks."
"Ah, I just bumped into Doctor V. and he said that you have to take this just in case," said Tsuna, handing the medicine over to the red haired teen, "Uhm, I have to go, so I'll catch up with you guys later!"
"Aw, Tsuna! Come on and stay a bit," said Yamamoto with a grin.
Tsuna gave a small laugh, "Sorry! But I have to go back. I didn't feed Natsu. If he is left unattended then there will be a mess and an angry cat."
"Hey, boss. Are you okay?" asked Gokudera suddenly, a frown on his face, "You don't look so good."
Tsuna gave a small uncomfortable laugh, "Well I never really like hospitals, if you get what I mean."
There was a round of laughter as the issue was dropped. The brunette bid farewell before departing.
The rain that night was pouring down hard. "What do you want?" said Tsuna suspiciously at the man standing in front of his apartment door. He was tired, he wanted to sleep. Rain always made him drowsy. A familiar envelope was tossed at his face before dropping to the floor. "…No. I no longer do that," said Tsuna before quickly closing the door.
However, the man seemed to anticipate the action and shoved the door back open. Tsuna was thrown on the bed as the man staggered towards him. Natsu yowled in anger at the man and attacked with all its little might. However it was futile as the man simply knocked the cat away into the wall, rendering it unconscious.
"Natsu! Damn it, you bastard!" snarled Tsuna and with strength he did not know he possessed, he sent the man sprawling.
He moved towards his injured companion picking him up and bolted from the apartment and out into the wet night lit streets. He got as far as the unlit part of a small park before a shot rang through the vicinity. He dropped to the ground as pain spread from that one area on his chest. Natsu had fallen a little way from where he laid.
He knew without a doubt that he was dying. The man who shot grabbed the brunette by his hair and sneered.
Even in the rain, Tsuna could clearly tell that the man was intoxicated, "If you won't do it, then you don't need to live, you prostitute."
Tsuna glared before spitting in the man's face, too tired to actually speak. The man snarled and kicked the brunette in the gut before leaving.
The rain poured down unrelentingly as Tsuna lay where he was. He closed his eyes as he felt himself fading away. Suddenly he felt a scratchy lick on his cheek. Natsu. Tsuna gave a small smile, "You're all right, eh?" Natsu continued to lick the brunette's cheek, as if hoping that if it did it enough, then he'll be fine. Tsuna gave a breathy laugh, "I'm sorry Natsu, but I don't think an alarm clock is going to wake up from this sleep."
Natsu whined once before nestling near his wet neck, providing warmth for the body that was quickly growing cold.
It would be a day before the body was found, a day to find out that the boy was malnourished before the incident, a day before the culprit was captured and jailed, a week for the funeral and two weeks to find out the reason why the brunette did it. Two weeks to realize just how much the brunette had given up to carry out the will of his father.
Enma stared at the grave with haggard eyes, "What were you thinking, Tsuna? How can you expect me to comply?" In his hands he held the worn letter tightly. There were words added to the letter by the brunette himself.
Live, Laugh, Love.
I hope this does not offend anybody. I wrote it out of a moment's inspiration, therefore it is rushed. Feel free to leave a comment or opinion.