"I wanna offer ya a job."

Roa stared at Kitsune, eyes the size of baseballs and jaw on the floor, wondering if he'd heard correctly. The man calmly returned his look, that irritatingly wide smile set on his lips and eyebrows arched in expectation as he waited for the student to snap out of his daze.

"What-" Roa had to clear his throat to find his voice again. "A job," he repeated slowly. "How the hell can you be willing to offer me a job? Especially if you know what I did in that alley on Friday?"

"'S the best part, really," Kitsune snorted. "Yer job would be the temporary post as a bodyguard fer one of my clients."

"Body-" The words seemed to betray Roa, and he brought a hand up to rub his forehead as he tried to organize his thoughts. This whole scenario was absurd, and it got even more senseless with each passing second. "One of your clients," he stated, and Kitsune nodded. "What the hell do you do for a living, fox face?"

The man chortled and shook his head. "Can't tell ya that if ya don't accept the offer," he said and crossed his legs, his expression menacing. "The job's fer a week's time, when I'll be absent from this country. Got other duties callin'. While I'm away, I need someone ta make sure the client in question's kept safe, and based on what I saw last week, I say yer more than capable fer a job like this."

"But I can't... I mean... I'm a student!" Roa said loudly and threw his arms out to the sides. "You're expecting me to drop out of school to follow around some VIP all day?"

"Yer really tryin' ta tell me yer dedicated ta yer studies?" Kitsune sighed deeply and picked up a file from the seat next to him. "I gotta say, Shuusun Roa-kun, ya ain't seem ta have much interest," he jingled and pulled out the last five tests Roa had written, all with worse than terrible results.

"So what?" Roa snapped, not embarrassed in the least. "I'm not aiming for any grades at all, I just have to attend every day!"

Kitsune shrugged and slipped the tests back into the file. "Either way, it shouldn't be a problem," he said. "The client in question is a student at yer school."

Whatever Roa had expected, it wasn't this. "A student?" he repeated. "Who?"

"We're on our way ta meet 'em right now. In fact, I think we should be arrivin' at any second."

Barely had those words left his lips before the limo came to a stop, and Roa's jaw dropped to the floor when he looked out of the window to see they had pulled up into the driveway of what looked like a castle. The manor was huge, ornate with large, victorian style windows and beautifully carved decorative pillars holding up a balcony large enough to fit Roa's entire apartment.

"'S somethin', no?" Kitsune jingled when they stepped outside, Roa's shock extending even further when he saw the manor's garden, which seemed to be the same size as the house. "Ya don't really expect anyone ta live in houses like this, huh? C'mon, blondie, the young lord's waiting fer ya."

"Lord?" Roa scoffed and stuck his hands deep into his pockets. "If this guy's my age, I'm not gonna call him lord," he said. "Oh, for the love of-"

Kitsune had rung the doorbell, and Roa couldn't help but roll his eyes when a maid opened the large doors, bowing down as the two stepped inside. "Young Master is expecting you in the study, sir Kitsune," she said and motioned for them to move through the humongous hall and to a wide staircase.

"Aye," Kitsune hummed and made way for the stairs, and Roa had to really focus to not twist his head to the sides to look at the several paintings, sculptures and decorations on the walls like a kid in a candy shop, but he couldn't help but release an exclaim when looked up to the tall roof only to see what remained of a live sailor ship hanging in steel threads from the roof. The figurehead was vaguely shaped like a tiger, and although Roa could see the ship was decades, maybe centuries old, the sleek wood still shone brightly in the sun that leaked in from the large windows.

"C'mon, blondie, yer takin' too long."

Roa snapped out of his daze and hurried up the stairs, keeping completely silent as he followed Kitsune to the left and through a long corridor. Halfway through the hall, the man stopped and turned to face Roa with a wide smile. "Best behavior, yeah, blondie?" he said.

"What are you-"

Before Roa got the chance to protest, Kitsune grabbed hold of his shoulder with a surprisingly strong grip, opened the door and practically tossed Roa inside, chuckling as the student landed face first on the carpet. "Brought ya yer new bodyguard, young lord," he jingled.

Roa ground his teeth together and rose into a sitting position, turning to send a furious glare at Kitsune, who returned his glare with a mischievous smile. Bastard, he thought.

"Have I not asked you time and time again to stop calling me that, Kitsune?"

The voice sounded from not far behind Roa, who suddenly had a hard time remembering how to breathe. A feeling all too familiar spread through his veins, and he had to clench his hands into fists to stop them from trembling. This can't be happening, he thought and slowly turned around, his eyes widening when they landed on the blue-haired youth that had occupied his mind for the past three days.

The man's eyes widened slightly as they locked with Roa's, and his lips parted slightly in surprise. "You..." he breathed out, absentmindedly bringing a hand up to stroke at his temple. Although the bruises on his face were almost healed, a yellowish shade still covered the entire left side of his face. A darker hue on the side of his neck indicated he'd been throttled as well, and the mere sight of the bruises made a dangerous spark of anger set in the depths of Roa's mind, waiting to explode at first sign of trouble.

"Aight, fancy pants, but callin' ya by yer first name's against the rules," Kitsune said loudly, snapping both Roa and the blue-haired man out of their daze. "Ya two already met each other, yeah?"

The man nodded curtly and averted his gaze from Roa, who couldn't bring himself to do the same. He stuck his hands into his jacket's pockets to hide the fact he was having a hard time coping with the strange feeling he was experiencing.

"Good, at least ya both remember," Kitsune hummed and pushed Roa forward, making the student stumble as his hands were currently unavailable to provide an assist in balance. "Fancy pants, yer new bodyguard's name's Shuusun Roa."

"I know his name," the young man said, still not willing to look at Roa. "We attend the same class at Raftel University."

"Ya do?"

"What?!" Roa groaned internally as the word had left his lips in a loud exclaim, but at least it served to once again capture the young man's eyes. "We don't go to the same class," he said, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Oh, so you are not the blonde delinquent who sits at the far back of classroom 27, constantly staring out the window and listening to music during class?"

Though everything he'd just said was correct, Roa didn't like his tone in the least. "Then how come I've never seen you before?" he growled.

"I sit at your row, but at the very front," the man sighed. "I have kept my hair colored black for almost six months now to not stand out so much, but the effect wore off one week ago... And with the amount of attention you pay during your time in school, I'm certain you would not be able to recognize me even if I had been sitting on top of your desk."

The corners of Roa's lips curled back into a snarl, but before he could give the man a sour retort, Kitsune stepped in between them. "Cool it off a li'l, yeah?" he chuckled. "Blondie, fancy pants over here's the heir and successor ta Atlas, the largest chain of companies Japan's ever seen. The late director's only son..." His voice trailed off and he nodded at the blue-haired man as if to tell him to introduce himself.

"Lance," he said curtly.

Roa's eyes widened in shock when he realized why the blue-haired man had seemed so familiar. Not a week ago, a picture had been spread out over the front page of Grand Line News with the title, "Atlas CO Director Funeral.". The picture had been of the ceremony, where countless people dressed in black had been gathered around the grave, and in the middle, Lance had been standing, his blue hair visually separating him from everybody else.

"Well, this makes things easier, no?" Kitsune hummed and pulled out a piece of paper from the file he'd been carrying. "So, blondie, sign this and we should be set ta go."

"At what point did I say I'd take the job?" Roa scoffed and glared at Lance. Even though the fire was still present in the back of his mind, he was currently feeling nothing positive towards the youth. "You haven't still given me even one reason why I should accept."

"If it's 'bout money, ya can see there's lots ta go 'round."

"It's not about money," Roa growled, the mere thought an insult. "But I need a bloody good reason to hang around that pretty boy over there for a week, constantly having to endure his presence!"

"Pretty boy?" Lance repeated slowly, an expression of offense and rage settling onto his features. "What insolence from an obnoxious delinquent as yourself!"

Once again, Kitsune had to step up in front of Roa to stop the two from murdering each other with their glares alone. "All valid nicknames, but let's focus on the matter at hand first, yeah?" he sang, sending Lance a quick smile and a nod before grabbing hold of Roa's right arm and pulling him towards the door. "'Scuse us fer a moment, fancy pants."

Well outside, Kitsune swiftly kicked the back of Roa's left knee, making him drop into a sitting position with his back against the wall. "What the-"

"Arite, blondie, listen up an' listen well." A rush of goosebumps broke out over Roa's arms at the sudden change in Kitsune's tone. The silver-haired man leaned over him, speaking quietly so no one else in the world would hear. "I followed the entire scene where ya flipped out and went all incredible hulk on those thugs," he said. "And I ain't got a clue why, but I know it was somethin' 'bout the young lord that made ya go berserk. Correct so far?"

Unable to do anything else, Roa nodded. "Arite, now let me paint ya a li'l picture," Kitsune went on, his voice cold as ice. "Say I leave the young lord without a bodyguard while I'm away on business. What do ya think's gonna happen? At the moment, he's the underworld's most wanted man. Ya get his signature on a piece of paper, ya could live like a king fer more than one lifetime. How would one get that signature? They kidnap him. How do they convince him ta sign? Torture."

The word made the fire in Roa's mind flare dangerously like a provoked beast threateningly baring its teeth at its assailant, and although Kitsune could sense the sudden shift in the student, he didn't stop talking. "Carve his skin, break his bones, drug him, anythin' that pops inta mind," he whispered, his lips only a few inches from Roa's ear. "And when they're done, when the young lord ain't needed no more, they-"

"Alright, I got it!" Roa jumped to his feet and quickly secured a safe distance between himself and Kitsune, who's expression instantly switched back to the usual smirk. "I'll sign the damn paper," he snarled. "Just stop speaking about disgusting shit like that!"

"Fantastic," Kitsune said loudly and clapped his hands together before fishing up a pencil from his chest pocket. "Arite, so put yer name there..." He waited until Roa had signed the document before releasing a triumphant chortle and swinging the door to Lance's study open again. "So, as I was sayin', we're good ta go," he jingled and let the document flutter down onto the desk. "Yer gonna be seein' a lot of each other from now on, so try ta be nice, yeah?"

Lance sent Roa a look indicating he wasn't about strain himself to be friendly, a look the blonde returned with equal disdain. Either not seeing it or choosing to ignore it, Kitsune resumed speaking as if nothing was out of order. "Now, ya ain't on duty until tomorrow mornin', the very second I drop fancy pants off at the university," he said and flipped through a small calender. "After that, yer gonna have ta stick together no matter where ya go, which means, blondie, if he needs ta go ta the bathroom, yer keepin' watch outside."

"Yeah, because there's gonna be an assassin in the toilet stalls," Roa scoffed, but he instantly wished he hadn't said anything when Kitsune smacked the calendar over his head.

"Ya ain't takin' this seriously enough," the silver-haired man sneered. "Better get this inta yer head, blondie; yer gonna become siamese twins fer the next seven days. Yer gonna have ta gather yer things and move here, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Roa raised a hand to interrupt Kitsune, who arched a curious eyebrow in return. "I'm not moving here," the blonde said curtly. "No way. I can agree to guarding the bathroom and taking him to his ballet-lessons or whatever it is he does on his spare time, but if we have to live together, he's moving in with me."

Kitsune tilted his head to the side and sighed in defeat when he realized arguing with Roa over this would lead them nowhere. "Arite, fancy pants, ya gotta cope with this," he said. "It might actually prove ta be smarter, seein' as no one would expect ya ta be stayin' anywhere beside the manor." He turned to face Lance, whose scowl informed them how dissatisfied he was with this arrangement, but he nodded all the same.

"I do hope a caveman like you have had enough sense to at least acquire hot water," he sighed and turned his back to Roa, who had to really focus to suppress the will to strangle the blue-haired man.

"Arite, maybe ya should head home fer today, blondie," Kitsune said, for the first time showing a form of exhaustion as he closed his calender and rubbed at his forehead. "I'll have Jonas drive ya home, and a file with all information yer gonna need fer the followin' days will be delivered ta yer address in three hours. Sound good?"

"I'll walk home," Roa grumbled and turned around on the heel, steering his steps towards the door. "I'll wait for you at the university gates tomorrow morning."


So there's the explanation for this story's name, Seven Days. Heheh, Roa spending seven full days with Lance... lots of things can happen, right? ;) until next time!