Thirty Days of Transparency
Summary: Even though he was only a means to an end, Vino was still an infant. And being the one now raising him, Clear Note tried to teach him something new every day. Here are thirty of his lessons over thirty different days. (Drabbles/Oneshot collection. Content warning for death, language, blood, suicide, and other mature themes. Subject to rating change.)
Disclaimer: I do not own no Gash Bell! Or Zatch Bell! They belong to Makoto Raiku, Shuukan Shounen Sunday, Shougakukan, VIZ Media, Touei Animation, and Cartoon Network.
Day 1: Please
"You're right, Vino, this hasn't been fun at all," Clear Note said with a sigh one night.
As of this point, only fifty Demons remained in the human world. Only fifty standing in Clear's way of fulfilling the purpose of his birth…
The eradication of Demonkind was approaching.
Usually, training was sufficient enough for the two: with their power almost every right had been a cakewalk for the two. There had been times where Clear and Vino didn't even bother entering a battle because they knew it'd be boring, a waste of time. Clear already planned to kill all the Demons, so killing one or two here and there was fun, but even that lost its allure every now and then.
So here they were, in the middle of Spain, fighting this Demon who had made a name for himself in the region. Clear Note sensed a decent amount of strength, but…
Well, either he was just too weak, or Clear was just too strong. Probably both.
"Vino, please-" he sighed as he noticed Vino beginning to fuss.
When Vino got all bored and frustrated he refused to read his spells. Of course, it's not like Clear Note really needed them to utterly decimate his enemies.
"Bored! Bored! You said this'd be fun!"
He scratched the back of his neck. It was almost embarrassing, watching Vino have a tantrum in front of two dead men. "You're right, I'm sorry: I thought this team could give us a good time, but I severely overestimated their power."
"DIOGA GANZURIGDON!"
The enemy was desperate now: they had long since abandoned any notion of strategies and just tried to overwhelm their seemingly invincible enemy with their strongest spell. Multiple strings shot from the opposing Demon's hands, forming together to create something akin to a giant knight wielding a warhammer. "This is… our last hope! Hector, put all your heart energy into it!"
"Right! We… we can win this!"
The warrior valiantly brought down the giant hammer, an attack that could demolish mountains and bring down skyscrapers…
… But Clear Note caught it with his right hand without even looking.
"That's… n-no way…" the Demon muttered, eyes wide with fear. How was this possible? They had defeated many strong enemies and bonded together as Demon and partner: how could anyone be this powerful only halfway through the Battle? No… how could anyone be this powerful, period?
Clear decided the best way to appease the child would just be to make him happy. He lacked a lighter or matches: it would have been embarrassing to literally be unable to burn the spellbook. "Tell you what: once we're done, why don't you decide how we deal with the human? Instead of just erasing him like usual. Just tell me what you wanna do and we'll make it happen. Consider it my way of saying sorry for letting you get bored."
"… Fishies!"
"Hmm? You want to drown him, Vino?" That didn't seem like him…
"No! The sharks are the fishie place!"
"Aquarium, Vino. We visited an aquarium last week. You want to throw him into the sharks?"
The baby nodded his head almost excitedly. "Cut him up all over then throw him to hungry sharks!"
Clear Note smirked.
"Alright, once we're done… First, we'll take the book keeper. Then, I'll 'borrow' some of the aquarium's sharks. We'll starve them for a day or two, cut him all over with a razor… inbetween the webs of his fingers and toes, and all over his torso too. Maybe take out an eye to make sure he bleeds exceptionally, then throw him in and see how long he lasts. Does that sound like fun, Vino?"
"Ye! Yeyeyeyeyeyeyeyes!"
The human, Hector, paled and stepped back. He could tell: he was serious. It was bad enough, the idea of dying in his early 20s, but to die like that!?
"Hey! Can you swim!? It's no fun if you can't swim!"
"Now, now, Vino… that's very rude. You need to say 'please' before you ask questions like that, and you need to be more polite, like this… Vino, please? Just for now?"
"Ria Uruku!"
And with his speed greatly increased, neither Demon nor Book Keeper could keep an eye on him.
"H-Hector! I lost him!"
"God, where the fuck did he g-"
"Excuse me, sir?"
Hector felt his heart skip when he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking over to see the grinning boy.
"I'm sorry, but can you please tell me if you can swim? It's going to be no fun for Vino if you can't, and there's nothing more tedious to a baby than being bored…"
Himself, too.
"Mars Rigguro!"
Dozens of strings shot from the Demons hands, wrapping themselves around Clear Note to restrict him while also sending a surge of burning energy to damage him. "G-get away from him, you bastard!"
Clear sighed.
It took barely a flex to break free from his strings.
"… N… no way…!"
He elbowed the man in the stomach, sending him to his knees as he grabbed the book and through it towards the Demon.
"Hector!"
"Teoradisu!"
And with a huge surge of annihilation energy heading towards the Demon and his book, it was over. He had a strong body, so maybe he survived. Also a good chance he killed him.
Oh well.
Clear spent a moment staring at the crater before yawning. "Now then, as for you…?"
"… Oh."
He smiled, looking down at the bleeding man. Deciding whatever fate he'd suffer at Clear's hands wasn't worth it, the man had reached for a pen he carried on him and stabbed himself in the throat, taking it out a moment later.
Now that was entertainment! Unfortunately, Vino didn't think otherwise, getting fussy once more.
"There there, Vino…"
"Uuu! You promised! You promised the sharks would eat him!"
"Vino, do you really care if it's this man who gets eaten, or would anybody else suffering that fate make you happy?"
"Wanna see someone get eaten by sharks!" He paused for a second at Clear's silence. "… Please!"
He nodded. "Then, as long as we do it to somebody else, will you be satisfied by it, Vino?"
"… No!"
"Do you mean 'yes?'"
Vino smiled. "… Yes!"
"Then let's go make it happen."
The mysterious disappearances of three sharks from the Madrid Zoo Aquarium and the abduction of 24 year old Jorge Campos were never solved, nor were they ever correlated.
Well, that was a fun drabble to write~
Well, I can't believe I'm actually writing for Gash Bell! again! The last time I did, I was only… 12, 13 years old? And then I stopped by the time I was 14, having moved on to roleplaying. I discovered I didn't care so much for writing stories as I did for sharing my ideas and seeing those ideas interact with others.
That being said, this was my first fandom, where I met my first friends! And as I've been really been getting back into Gash Bell I… sort of wanted to write something, you know?
So, I've decided to write this~ ideally I'd love to write one drabble or oneshot a day, but I'm not going to force myself to do so: but I want to complete this. Ever since I was 12, I've had so many ideas I've started but never finished… so just this once, I want to see a story to completion, you know? I'm not having these looked by a beta: I'm just writing it as I go along. I have the prompt words all thought out, but no idea what to actually write for them. This is a story I'm swinging from beginning to end!
And a special dedication: Chelsea, Rahkshi, Rabukurafuto, if any of you see or read this by any chance: I think I've told you all this, but you three are the reasons I'm still a writer now. The patience you all showed me, the encouragement, and the growth you all gave me when I was a literal child remains with me to this day: I am blessed to have met you all, and I'm blessed that I am still friends with you all ten years later. We're still all young, so let's take the world by the horns while we still can!
This is, ideally, the only chapter I will say a lot after the chapter is over. I hope you all enjoyed it, and please: if you have any sort of constructive criticism I'll hear it! Have a great day!
Prompt list:
1. Please
2. Beg
3. Food
4. Birth
5. Bored
6. Demon
7. War
8. Nuclear weapons
9. God
10. Instinct
11. Erase
12. Sleep
13. Friends
14. Lie
15. Mercy
16. Happiness
17. Shin Kuria
18. Magic
19. Master
20. Book
21. Suicide
22. Play
23. Sing
24. Heart
25. Hope
26. Money
27. Genocide
28. Home
29. Clear
30. Note
