His breaths came out in sharp pants as gloved hands slid over the smooth surface of bones nary a year old. Light was too much of a warning. His eyes sharpened, adjusting to the nearly pitch black sky. He spotted it. Carefully snatching what he was after he said a small prayer over the pile he'd created. Without a trace he left, swinging his spade over his small frame in accomplishment.
A shout. He burst forth into a full on run rather than his steady trot and headed, bag, spade and all towards the ditch. It was rather large, about large enough for a small man to squeeze in. Perfect for him. Perfect for hiding it.
As the light of their large flashlights nearly grazed his skin he felt his breath hitch, then relax. He would not be caught. As soon as backs were turned he swung over the other side of the ditch. Landing gracefully the same fast speed resumed until under the protection of the forests foliage. His breathing had become labored although he was used to this sort of thing. The adrenaline was wearing down but one thing was for sure,
he'd gotten what he came for.
"Tsunayoshi..." Hana Kurokawa let out an irritated noise before smacking the sleeping boy straight over the head with her medical book. This seemed to work. He shot up instantly, suddenly very aware of his surrounding and forgetting he had previously been enjoying a small nap. What he hadn't expected was to be slammed on the head with a considerably thick textbook.
"That hurt!"
"You were sleeping on the job, Dame-Tsuna. It's not my fault I had to take matters into my hands." Hana thought herself to be rather mature. She never worked in the children's wing, drank wine only on special occasions and was far more refined than most of the other staff. Although Tsuna found her actions to be rather contradictory when it came to keeping him in line.
He was truly the clumsiest person on the planet so everyone confirmed. The brightest face but the worst at keeping things neat. Two IV drips had been broken this past week alone.
"Rude."
Hana held up the book threateningly to which he responded by shrinking back into his chair. They were currently in the break room, far from help. He could always scream and bear the ridicule for a couple of months again. He decided to go for it and make a run. Using the table corner to propel himself forward he sped around the table and dove for the door.
Only to be tackled by one of his patients. Sasagawa Ryohei was a surly boxer who had taken to Tsuna since their first meeting. He was often in for boxing injuries although it was incredulous to Tsuna how the heavy boxer could ever get hurt by anyone.
"Please get off." He wheezed as if he were being crushed, which he was.
"Sawada! Did you hear the news?"
Tsuna stiffened at the words. He usually never watched the news, not even their local channel. "What kind of news?"
"Some rich guy had his grave dug up last night. No one knows who it was but it was extreme!"
In response the brunette merely scratched his head in response and shrugged. His eyes swept over the arm cast Ryohei wore. "You know, your sister might get worried if you keep tackling people with a broken arm."
"It's fine, Sawada! This is the sixth time I've broken my arm."
"That's-"
"Pure idiocy." Hana cut in with her book tucked safely beneath her arm. She didn't spend years at medical school for this. "It's you shift, Sawada, get your ass moving."
Ryohei watched with something of a frown as Tsuna apologized and hurried down the hall.
He piled them carefully so as they would not shatter. Wiping beads of sweat off his forehead. How long had it been? An hour or two he guess, judging from his dimly lit watch. It was here somewhere he just had to find it. Naturally he looked in the most obvious places first but began digging around more. Suddenly out of the corpse's breast pocket slipped an envelope.
Squinting he examined it before stuffing the letter into his front pocket and taking up the spade once again. The tune he lowly whistled was dark and dreary as his work. The wind moaned as he walked past the living under the cover of darkness.
Clearly this would be no walk in the park but it was all he could do. For now.
A gunshot rang in the darkness but no blood was spilled. For he had come to take and he had. No longer was there anyone to stop him.
Please enjoy this test chapter for the new grave robber au I'm also working on thanks to the help of my new friends. Technically this is the prelude to the actual first chapter which I will attempt to write out soon. Please let me know what you think and how I'm doing so far. Thank you!