Ah, sorry if I took a while, school taking up a lot of my time, and finally I have time to put this up... Anyway, this one is a bit longer than the first one. Squalo is a pretty tough character to write about, to be honest. Anyway, we now have our shark~ Enjoy reading~! Some reviews would be nice as well!

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR! Credit goes to Akira Amano

Head Bruises

The door of a bedroom was slammed open. A long-haired man walked in, muttering angrily to himself. He slammed the door shut and rubbed his head before wincing in pain when he found a new bruise.

"Stupid Boss..." He growled. It was another "normal" day at the Varia Mansion, which consisted of fighting, eating, missions and more fighting. Squalo, the infamous long-haired second-in-command, had just gone through it with yet another injury. He cursed his Boss, Xanxus, under his breath as he ran his hand through his hair again.

He usually never minded the injuries, he would rampage for a while before forgetting about it. Today he was, however, fed up with this. A day never passed without Squalo getting hit on the head with something. Never. He was tired of having to wake up every morning finding strands of silver hair all over the place due to stress, and have a throbbing head for days before he would heal- only to get injured again. Speaking of injuries, he remembered feeling like this before. But when? Squalo sighed and closed his eyes as a flashback replayed in his mind.

A beautiful woman was standing behind a finely made chair in a grand living room. Her silver-haired son was sitting on the chair, his arms folded around his knees, waiting patiently as his mother ran a brush through the boy's hair.

"Squalo..." She said suddenly, a frown forming on her face. "You really should take more care of your hair, do you even wash it after practice?" Squalo was a fencing prodigy and had professional lessons everyday. The boy sighed and gave his usual answers.

"No, Mom. Sorry, Mom."

He winced as his mother undid a tangle in his hair, even though she did it as gently as possible, it hurt the same. As she ran the brush through Squalo's hair again, she stopped suddenly. He thought it might be another tangle, but it wasn't. His mother put the brush down on a small table and ran her fingers at the place where she stopped. Squalo winced. She had found the bruise.

"Squalo, what happened?" She asked, eyeing her son worriedly.

"I slipped." He said flatly, rolling his eyes at his own foolishness. How did he not notice the wet floor as he walked back home from practice?

Squalo's mother sighed and rubbed the boy's head softly after a few minutes.

"Squalo, sometimes, I swear, I don't know what to do with you..." He couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed of himself. It was the same thing everyday, but today he felt guiltier than ever. His mother seemed to have noticed this and smiled lightly. "Let me teach you a trick my mother taught me, Squalo." Squalo turned his head to the side a little and gave his mother a puzzled look. "Whenever you get bumps on your head," She began, still massaging his head. "Do it gently, but for your hair.." His mother then roughly ruffled Squalo's hair but also being careful not to touch the bruise.

"V-voi! That hurts!" The boy yelled, grabbing his hair with his hands in an attempt to not get any further harm.

"I'm sorry." His mother said and stopped instantly.

Squalo had quite a strange habit of yelling out "Voi" in times of pain, anger or distress, but it was very rare. It almost the only word he said as a toddler, since he heard it frequently, and over time, it stuck. Unlike him, his mother had a soft, quiet voice. Squalo had taken his powerful voice from his father, but most of his looks were from her. Her long, silky silver hair was draped over one shoulder. The boy found it amazing and beautiful. He heard that many people had wanted to marry her for this. His father was the lucky man and took her before everyone else. Squalo felt a little bit of pride spread in him, he had his mother's looks. Well, most of them. Due to this, he had stole the hearts of girls who lived nearby, not on purpose of course. Whenever they tried to win him over to their side, he, much to their dismay, shattered their hopes by excusing himself and walking away.

"How's that trick of yours supposed to help?" Squalo asked, rubbing his head. His mother then chuckled a bit.

"You know, that's what I told my mother when she first taught me how to do it. It hurts at first, but then you get used to it and you end up with silky, soft hair and," She paused for a moment and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "A pretty much bruise-less head." Squalo just blinked at this. His mother laughed. "Go on, now, you'll be late for your next lesson." She said before dismissing him. Squalo hopped off the chair and walked away. He couldn't help but smile. He wanted his mom to be happy- No, proud. Yes, very proud. Of him. The boy ran his fingers through his hair and found the bruise. It didn't hurt anymore, but it was still there, almost like a reminder of his goal.

A proud, nonchalant grin spread across his face. He was Superbi Squalo. All he needed was pride. As long as he had it, nothing stood in his way.

He wondered about that now.

The technique his mother taught him always worked for his hair, but never for his bruises. Was he not gentle enough? He was doing it for years-no, half his life! And the effect never made it to his bruises. Squalo grumbled angrily. He was foolish to think it would work. All the bruises and bumps would still be there. The swordsman rubbed his head one last time before stopping suddenly. He felt a small dent on that side of his head. It was the same place where he got his first bruise, but it had shrunk over time and became a small dent. A reminder of his long-forgotten goal. "This feeling..." He began, holding a fistful of silver hair before letting go of it.

"It's called nostalgia, huh?" Squalo stayed quiet for a while, shook his head and walked back outside. All he needed was pride, and nothing else.

- Fin -

I will try to put up the next one as soon as possible, when I'm free, hopefully. I would appreciate some reviews, I've already gotten one! Anyway, the next one shall be Byakuran~ Be on the look out for it, see you~!