A/N: Thanks to everyone who've followed, fav and reviewed:)
Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart."
― Haruki Murakami
Burning red hair.
Dark orbs that seem to represent darkness itself.
An enigma.
(Something just doesn't seem to add up)
Dangerous.
All the brunet could register was the fact that the mysterious guy that enrolled in their class was dangerous.
The redhead has a kind of deadly grace, comfortable in his own power that was conveyed in the way he carried himself. (But the brunet just couldn't put a finger to it. His intuition blares loudly awayawaystayaway but he couldn't find a reason for it. Kirin just seems harmless. And maybe a little lonely.)
So when Yamamoto decided to invite the new guy to lunch, Tsuna pushes away the pounding in his head that screams dangerdangerdanger! and agrees, while tagging along to invite the redhead.
"Yo, want to eat lunch with us, Kirin?"
He could see Kirin being jolted out of his thoughts, a flicker of shock flash through his eyes before it vanished.
The brunet can't help but frowned at the mask Kirin has slipped on.
"Eh?"
The brunet blinked his eyes in apprehension, unsure how to react when Kirin was staring at him in confusion. He fidgets minutely and opened his mouth to respond, ignoring a flash of black (Reborn?) outside the window.
"A-Ah, it's alright if you don't want to."
Gokudera cuts in at this time and the brunet could see Kirin placing a placid smile on his lips while his eyes remain -curiously-… cold.
"I would love to join you… Just that you see, I didn't bring lunch and break would probably be over by the time I manage to buy any food from the canteen."
(Another mask.)
Tsuna couldn't help but feel like kicking himself when he saw the redhead slipped on another mask, creating another expression to fit the situation. He couldn't help but feel that the three of them was responsible for it.
(Our fault…)
(Of course it is.)
"So you don't have food?"
"I guess you can put it that way. But I'm sure I'll enjoy the presence of the three of you during the break."
Beaming a smile back at the redhead, the brunet could only hope that his smiles will become much more real.
"Well, let's go!"
x.X.x
"Kirin-San? Kirin-San?"
"TEME! HOW DARE YOU IGNORE JYUUDAIMEI!"
The redhead slips on another mask.
The voice in the brunet's head taunts smugly (Your fault!).
"Sorry. I got slightly distracted. What were you saying?"
"A-Ah. We've reached the roof."
"Ahahaha, you're pretty funny!"
The brunet could feel the redhead stopped as they entered the roof and a piercing gaze turned on them and disappeared in a heartbeat before the brunet could confirm his suspicions that it was from Kirin.
"Kirin-San?"
Tsuna winced when he saw a sliver of hurtpainsadness thread through the dark orbs before being tucked away carefully and hidden under layers and layers of masks.
"Sorry," Kirin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly (Fake!) and let his lips curved slightly, "I need to go to the washroom..."
"Sure! We'll be waiting!"
"Che."
Tsuna shot a smile at the redhead. "Okay."
x.X.x
A figure slipped unseen over the wall surrounding the mansion, passing by the lax guards placed at the entrance. Red hair tied neatly in a low ponytail, the black-clad man quickly sped into the interior of the place, pausing only long enough to avoid setting off traps in the Varia mansion.
He glanced around, quietly slipping into the study room and paused to listen for any noise or movement. Kirin adjusted his white fox mask that was painted with the red and he moved.
He moved like a predator and silently as he gently rummages through the documents that is stacked neatly into a pile. His eyes scanned over the documents, committing everything to memory before putting it back.
The redhead tilt his head to the side, his hair fluttering from the wind cause by the huge force that swing the sword, missing his head by several centimeters.
"VOI! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!"
Kirin cocked his head slightly and adjusted his mask while Squalo narrowed his eyes at Kirin's appearance.
And everything clicked into place.
"Voi, why is the famous Blaze here."
The two continue to stare at each other, tension strumming their blood in a glorious symphony.
Fast as a striking cobra, Kirin's hand shot forward, only missing by several inches before being able to crush the shark's windpipe as he lunges backwards and swing his sword to cut the redhead down.
In the same movement, Kirin twisted away, rotating on one foot as his other leg came up and lashed out at the swordsman before being blocked by the sword and was pushed back.
A dash forward, maddening blood-lust pounding through his veins, and a harsh blow against the knees should have been enough to disable him. What Squalo doesn't expect is the smooth back-step that allows him to barely avoid the swinging metal, followed by a duck of the head when he instinctively swipes at him. None of his attacks meet their mark, and Kirin elegantly dances away.
"VOIIII! DON'T RUN AWAY AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!"
Kirin glanced back, his eyes glisten darkly with mirth that threads across in and was gone in a blink of an eye.
"What makes you think that I'm a man?"
A flash of crimson and the man was gone as he leaped out of the window. That hair is a weakness, Squalo thinks after he lost sight of the man, staring across the mansion grounds where Kirin once raced across with his crimson ponytail whipping around wildly in the wind.
The shark clicked his tongue in annoyance.
That man is Varia Quality.
x.X.x
"Reborn-San."
"Information?"
Kirin nodded his head slightly and passed a folder that contains Varia tabs on the Vongola.
In a banner of red under the waxing white moon, Kirin was gone after the folder touched the chubby hands of the hitman.
x.X.x
Bang!
"What did you say, shark trash?!"
"Muu, why did you let him slip away."
"Ushishishishishi, the shark lost to Blaze? Didn't you say that you're the best swordsman?"
"Don't worry boss! I'll kill him for you!"
"VOIIIIIIIII! I DID NOT LOSE- YOU SHITTY BOSS! "
Wine dripped over silver locks as the Varia leader glared vehemently at him.
They are going to obliterate the fox trash.
x.X.x
With a heavy sigh, Kirin tossed his mask on the coffee table. Not bothering to change out of his black outfit or make a trip to the bedroom, the redhead simply dropped onto the couch, throwing an arm over his eyes. A short nap should be alright. If he was lucky, those weird dreams would leave him alone for a little while.
x.X.x
"The roof is out of bounds to students. Go back to class."
Kirin blinked his eyes after stealing a last glance at the sky.
Nuvolo?
The redhead shook his head slightly and squinted his eyes to focus on the prefect that stood in front of him, instead of the platinum blond that seems to shadow over the raven hair boy every time.
"Herbivore," Hibari started again, glaring at Kirin to express his annoyance. The man had a faint frown creasing his brow but didn't respond otherwise. "Go back to class."
The redhead sighed, "But the teacher ordered me to get out of class."
"Roof is out of bounds to students."
Talking directly to the redhead seemed to finally gain his attention and the prefect soon found himself on the receiving end of a pair of scrutinizing gaze. He stiffened at the flash of grief that surfaced briefly, but when he blinked, the redhead looked as impassive as ever and Hibari's frown deepened.
"I'll bite you to death for breaking school rules."
Kirin ran a hand through his ponytail, tugging at the ends in frustration. "No."
Hibari eyes narrowed dangerously as anger roared in his chest.
The moment the skylark whipped out his Tonfas, the redhead was gone and he could see his deep crimson hair as he slips through the Sakura trees planted in school and vanished.
And Kirin ran as memories flashed across his eyes.
He ran and ran and ran, his heart urging faster! Faster! Faster!, but he can't outrun the memories or the hollow, aching emptiness inside of him.
Those people (SkyTempestaAmeNuvolo don'tdon'tdon'tcannotwillnotforget!) that have slipped into his heart in his dreams was gone.
Gone, gone, gone.
They are all gone and only Kirin is left.
x.X.x
His dark orbs were bright and empty and his smiles were nothing. They were too bright, too blank, too full of emptiness. Kirin offered kind words like a philanthropist, and they meant just as much and just as little. Everyone thought he was sweet and gentle and kind, but Tsuna had different thoughts.
Kirin, Tsuna thinks, wanted to die.
It's peaceful. A waxing moon floats overhead and the stars are bright, the breeze warm but not humid or overwhelmingly hot.
The brunet continues to entertain those thoughts as time ticked pass. It didn't feel right, to leave Kirin to shoulder his loads alone.
He is a friend after all.
Maybe I should ask the other two about it…
x.X.x
"Yo! Want to join us after school? We are going to the arcade."
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING BASEBALL FREAK?! WHY ARE YOU INVITING PEOPLE WITHOUT JYUUDAIMEI PERMISSION!"
"A-Ah, Gokudera-Kun, I was the one who wanted to invite Kirin-San…"
"As you wish, Jyuudaimei! Che! Be grateful Jyuudaimei is bringing you along!"
"Hayato! Where's Reborn?!"
"S-Sister…ack…"
The bomber clutched his stomach as his face paled and he collapsed on the floor.
"Gokudera-Kun!"
"Ahahahaha!"
Tsuna hurried over to the bomber, checking him over for any other injuries before slinging the bomber's arm over his shoulder, Yamamoto on the other side.
x.X.x
"W-where…" Kirin shot Gokudera a placid smile.
"Nurse's office."
The bomber blinked before turning his head from side to side, trying to see if Bianchi was anywhere near. "Where's Jyuudaimei?"
"Tsuna and Yamamoto are with Reborn." Gokudera nodded his head and the two fell into silence.
"That woman… She's your sister?" Gokudera narrowed his eyes as Kirin broke the silence turned his back on the bomber, staring out of the window at the setting sun.
"Che. So what if she's my sister. Wrong. It's half-sister."
"You hate her." The redhead asked plainly and continues to stare at the scenery while Gokudera turned his back against him and lay on his side.
He spat out darkly. "Of course."
"My parents died when I was a baby," Kirin didn't look at him, simply staring ahead with the glow of the sunset reflecting against the dark orbs, turning them to a golden hue. "And I never had the opportunity to say goodbye to the parent figures in my life." The dark orbs glimmers under the sunset glow turned and met Gokudera's own head-on. "I think that if I ever had any family, even if I got into a huge argument with them, I'd still want to do everything I could to make up with them."
Gokudera couldn't even blink and froze as a deep, grieving sorrow flashed across the redhead's face for a second before his face shuttered close, leaving a passive expression behind. "Because you never know when that chance will be taken away. Then you'll be left with nothing but regrets, and I think that's the saddest thing of all; to know what you could've had, should've done, but with no way to fix it."
Gokudera continues to stare as Kirin turns away.
"There are things, once lost, will never come back and nothing, is worse than regret."