Ooh, my chapters are getting longer :D I'm getting the hang of this. Read and enjoy!
Tsuna closed the glass door of the Vindice Ward behind him, knees shaking. He slumped onto the adjacent wall, resting his head against the cool glass, willing his breathing to calm down.
"I want Tsunayoshi-kun."
He closed his eyes, trying to block out the sentence that was going round and round in his head. Making his way down the corridor, he didn't realize that there was somebody in front of him until he bumped into them.
"Hey, hey, watch where you're going!"
Tsuna jolted out of his trancelike state, looking up into kind bespectacled eyes. "Oh, it's just you, Shoichi-kun," he looked at the blonde standing next to the redhead, "and Spanner."
"You looked really out of it then," Spanner started, "Something happened?"
"Uh, no, nothing at all, haha," Tsuna forced out a smile and a laugh, keeping his voice light, "I'll just be on my way then. See you both later!" He ran down the hallway, footsteps echoing loudly.
Spanner looked at Shoichi questioningly, wondering what would have made the brunette this agitated. Shoichi just shook his head and shrugged. "If Tsuna doesn't want to say anything about it, just leave him.
"He must have a good reason for staying silent."
The walls suddenly transitioned from their normal cream colour to a pure white, signifying the change from the old Varia Wing to the newer Millefiore Wing. The two doctors stopped in front of a door, listening to the bickering going on inside.
"No, Daisy you have to do this!"
"But it's more fun this way. Bluebell you always spoil it."
"The instructions tell you to stick them together, not rip them apart."
"This is my game, so leave me alone!"
"Nyunyu…"
Spanner rolled his eyes in the direction of the noise. The two children really were a handful at times. He smiled at the shorter doctor. "Well, there's a new coffee shop open down the street, want to go there after work?"
Shoichi smiled, "Yeah, sure."
"Don't overwork yourself, alright?" The taller blonde placed a small kiss on Shoichi's forehead. "I'll see you later then." He stuck a lollipop inside Shoichi's mouth. "Stop frowning, it doesn't suit you." With that he pushed open the door and entered, prising apart the two arguing children.
Shoichi chuckled lightly. Spanner always had been good with kids.
"Well then, time to go check on Zakuro," he said to himself.
Shoichi closed the door behind him lightly, not wanting to disturb the currently sleeping patient. It had been a rather…explosive session, and he dreaded to think about the bills that would be mailed to his house in a couple of week's time. An entire wall being demolished was by no means a cheap payment.
He halted in front of a white door, with a nameplate saying "Byakuran Gesso" stuck onto it. There it was again. That frightening and intimidating oppression that came over him every time he stood in front of that door. It was almost as if the aura around that room was crushing him into pieces. But he couldn't help but feel a pull towards the patient inside, like two ends of a magnet.
Shoichi pushed open the door and walked inside the white room. Everything was so blindingly white, it was always a little disorientating. He walked over to the white-haired man with a purple tattoo sat in a plush white chair, and settled himself opposite him. Once again, Byakuran was munching on marshmallows and playing chess with himself. He looked up with his slit-like eyes and said in his lilting, cheerful tone, "Hello again, Sho-chan." Shoichi felt a little shiver down his spine. He mumbled an intelligible reply.
"Do you have any questions for me today?" Byakuran popped another marshmallow inside his mouth and moved his white knight, taking out a black pawn.
Shoichi said, "Not much, really. Have you changed your mind about world domination yet?"
"Nope," Byakuran said lightly, "I will destroy this world."
"Why do you want to destroy it?" Shoichi asked.
"Hmm?" The black queen knocked over the white knight. "This world is disgusting. Everyone talks about world peace, but people are making nuclear weapons. Everyone talks about equality, but people are starving everywhere while others look down on them like dirt." The white knight took out another pawn. "I want to change it. And the only way to change the world is by destroying the current one and creating a new one."
"But you could change it by some other method!" Shoichi protested, "Not everything has to be destroyed."
"You're right," Byakuran said, "Not everything has to be destroyed. But I will show the ignorant people how horrible this world is."
"How?" The clatter of glass knocking against glass echoed around the room.
"By taking away what is most important to them," Byakuran answered simply. He removed a black rook from the chessboard. "Quite like what Spanner is to you, Sho-chan."
Shoichi's eyes widened. How did he know about that? He was pretty sure he had never brought up the topic.
"The lollipop," Byakuran clarified. "It's a total giveaway." He leaned forward and tilted his head to the side. "You must really love him, don't you?"
"Yes…" Shoichi didn't like where this conversation was heading. "But I don't think my personal life concerns you."
"Oh, but it does, Sho-chan, you just don't know it yet," the white-haired man said, smiling. "Then do you love me?" The white queen took down the other black rook.
Shoichi felt his cheeks grow hot. "N-No, of course not."
Vivid purple eyes gazed into Shoichi's dark ones. He felt another tingling down his spine, and an uncomfortable prickling on his skin. It was almost as if those eyes could see right through him, and into his innermost thoughts.
"I can see that whenever you come into this room," Byakuran said, eyes open and without a single hint of a smile on his face, "there's always an aura of anticipation and excitement around you. You can't fool me, Sho-chan."
Shoichi turned his gaze away from Byakuran, who was still staring intently at him, and nodded slightly. "I do like you, as a person, but not in any other way."
Byakuran moved his last piece into place and checkmated the black king. "Then I'll change your mind." And with that, captured Shoichi's lips with his own.
Damn it, where is that Spanner when you need him? Fran thought viciously. He has my USB, and I need it right now or else Reborn will be on my tail again.
He stormed into the Millefiore Ward and was just about to open the door to the kids' room when he saw Byakuran's room door slightly open. Immediately, he knew something wasn't quite right. Shoichi wouldn't be so careless, he thought.
He moved to close the door, but what he saw inside rendered him incapable of all action.
OH MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING? His mind was reeling, although his face remained impassive as ever. I WILL NEVER GET THIS OUT OF MY HEAD, OH GOD, OH GOD…
He quickly and quietly retreated out of the ward, all thoughts of finding Spanner and his USB forgotten. All he wanted to do right now was to scrub his mind and his retinas. The image of Byakuran pinning Shoichi down on the bed and straddling him, as well as suckling on his neck while Shoichi just clutched at the other man's shirt was too vivid for Fran to handle. But one thing was clear in his mind. Do not tell Spanner.
Much as he was a good friend and should tell him that his boyfriend was cheating, he couldn't bring himself to break the news to him. Contrary to popular belief, Fran did have feelings, and he felt that it would be best for Shoichi to tell Spanner himself, and not for Spanner to hear it from a third party. After all, it was their relationship, and he shouldn't interfere. Right?
He looked up from his feet. While he had been pondering the information he had received not too long ago (AH, DELETE THAT IMAGE), he had unconsciously came to the room of the one person he trusted all throughout his life. Maybe it would be good to talk to him.
Opening the door, he stepped inside the dark purple and indigo room, practically covered in mirrors. A crystal ball sat on the bedside table, along with a small photo frame. An indigo-haired man sat in front of a pile of papers, counting them.
"5603, 5604, 5605… Who is it?" he said in a lilting voice.
"It's me," Fran said in monotone, closing the door with a soft click.
The indigo-haired man turned around in his swivel chair, triangular markings mirroring the ones underneath Fran's eyes. "What do you want? Our next appointment isn't scheduled until the day after tomorrow."
"Something came up," Fran plopped himself onto the bed. "Or is it wrong to come visit your own older brother now, Mammon?"
"No, but you just made me lose count," Mammon said, a hint of annoyance in his tone.
"You got up to 5605, I remember," Fran said, rolling his eyes. "But really, why are you counting paper?"
"Because you therapists won't let me anywhere near paper bills, that's why," Mammon said, picking up another piece of paper and placing them on the ever-growing stack on the floor. "5606. I see a question pricking at your mind. What's up?"
"Well…" Fran began, hesitating. Should he tell Mammon or shouldn't he? He decided on the former. "Say one of your friends is dating somebody, but you find out that that somebody is cheating on your friend. What should you do?"
"Is it that blondie and the redhead? The ones in charge of Millefiore?" Mammon asked. Fran nodded. "Thought so. What do you think you should do?"
"I wouldn't tell Spanner, but I'm not sure if that's the right thing," Fran said exasperatedly. "He's a great friend, but he really loves Shoichi a lot, so if I just told him, it would be a bit harsh, wouldn't it?"
"If that's what your instincts tell you, then stay loyal to them," Mammon answered, noting down the number of papers he counted and turned around to face Fran, purple eyes boring into Fran's green ones. "I may be psychic, but I'm no clairvoyant. But remember," His eyes grew dark, "the future depends on our choices. What you decide today shapes tomorrow."
They both stayed silent for a long time, their eyes never leaving each others. Mammon shifted suddenly, and resumed counting his pieces of paper.
"By the way, how's Bel?"
Fran's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected question, then darkened when he thought of the blonde, tiara-wearing faker who gave him so much trouble ever since the second they met.
"Fine," he said curtly.
Mammon sighed and spun around in his chair. "Really, you have to let it go someday, little brother. It's no use holding grudges for so long."
"Hn."
They stayed like that for while more, Mammon staring at the ceiling, Fran fiddling with the bedsheets.
"He's hiding something."
"Hm?" Fran looked up from the duvet cover.
"Bel, I mean," Mammon glanced at Fran from the corner of his eye. "And it's something pretty damn big. But I can't figure out what it is."
"You can't?" Fran said with just a tinge of incredulousness. Now this was a first. Mammon practically knew everything, he was just that good at reading people.
"It's pretty damn complicated. So many different layers, all intertwined with each other that it's impossible to distinguish," Mammon murmured.
"And you never thought to tell me?" Fran said, now slightly angry with his brother. This could be crucial to cracking Bel's illness once and for all.
"I never thought it to be important enough," Mammon shrugged. "And besides, it was something like 2 years ago, and I haven't seen him since."
"It's most probably some sort of regret or guilt, believe it or not." Fran snorted. Mammon insisted, "It's true! It isn't as strong as something like anger or depression, and it doesn't have the same vibe as maliciousness, but there's an underlying sadness and overall negativity." When Fran just looked at him dubiously, Mammon said, "I swear on my name as Viper."
Then Fran knew exactly how serious his brother was about this. Viper was a taboo word in their two-person family, as it was Mammon's birth name. Anything to do with his life before the age of 14 was a painful memory to him, because it had taken so many things away from him, including his parents. Fran was too young to understand back then, but under the name Viper, he had killed his own mother and father. It had been out of self-defense, but he was never quite the same after that.
"The only way to find out what's going on in Bel's head is by talking to him in person," Mammon continued quietly.
"So you want me to talk to him," Fran said flatly. Mammon nodded. "No way in hell am I ever going near that fake-prince ever again," Fran outright refused.
"But I'm sure Bel wants to speak to you though," Mammon said.
I must be going mad. Fran thought to himself as he stood in front of yet another door. Absolutely barking mad.
He waved his security pass at the guards stationed at the doorway, and they moved aside to let him pass. He saw sympathetic looks thrown his way, and returned them with a blank expression of his own. Carefully pushing open the door, he walked inside a room he hadn't been in for 3 years.
It hadn't changed at all. Still the same blood-red walls, the same fake chandelier, the same gold and black trimmings on the bed, even the same knives stuck into a dartboard. What was different, however, was that there was nobody lounging on the scarlet sofa anymore. But there was a person confined to the bed, restraints on his wrists, neck, ankles and his abdomen.
Fran tentatively walked over to the confined person, blonde bangs covering his eyes as usual. "Yo, fake-prince-sempai, you awake?"
"Ushishishi~ Of course the prince is awake. And the prince is not fake," Bel grinned like a Cheshire cat. "So finally you decide to come see me after years." His grin softened into something like a real smile. "The prince missed you, uncute kouhai." He strained his neck to peer behind the teal-haired doctor, who was stood as still as a statue. "Where's the other guy?"
"I'm alone right now," Fran answered simply, digging his hands into the deep pockets of his lab coat.
"Shishishishi, Mammon must have told you something to get you down here," Bel said.
"In fact, he did," Fran replied, "He said that you have a really big secret. And I want you to tell me what it is."
"Shishi? He doesn't know?" Bel said, surprised. He was very pleased with himself to have hid it so well for so long.
"No, he doesn't, stupid fake prince."
"Don't call the prince fake," he hissed. "But really, he has no clue? And you don't either?"
"Why else do you think I'm down here?" Fran said like he was talking to a preschooler. "I'm not psychic like Mammon, and he can't figure it out. And neither do I have a super-intelligence network like Hibari."
"But… it's so obvious," Bel said, his grin faltering. "I thought you would have known already."
I would have known? Fran thought, puzzled. Me, and not Mammon? This makes no sense.
"Well if it was so obvious, as you put it," Fran countered, "then why don't you tell me right now?"
"Shishi, it wouldn't mean anything if I just told you," Bel replied playfully, his grin back in place.
Fran gave up. This guy wasn't cracking. "Suit yourself." He walked back towards the door and placed his hand on the handle when he heard a name he hadn't been called for years.
"Hey, Froggy."
He halted all actions. That name. He hated that name. It had always been a symbol of humiliation when he was younger, and it was made all the worse when he first came to Vongola as a patient. Why? Because of Belphegor's relentless teasing and bullying that stemmed from it.
"If you become my therapist and put up with me for 6 months no matter what I do, then I'll tell you."
He pulled open the door and closed it behind him.
But not before he heard one last sentence.
"Ushishishi~ Nice to see you're still wearing the ring and the hat."
Fran fingered the metal band encircling his right ring finger, tracing the contours that he had already become so familiar with. The crest that Xanxus had created stood out proudly on his finger, the Varia ring. At first, it was just part of a system to keep track of what ward each patient belonged to, but after a while, it became a symbol that each patient could relate to. He remembered the first day that he arrived at Vongola, and the welcome he got from it.
A white room with a couple of tables and sofas. Some guy with long hair screaming at the top of his lungs. This other guy who looks like he doesn't give a damn about anything. Another guy who looks like he was dipped into buckets of paint. And another guy who has nothing special in particular.
"VOOOIIII YOU FUCKING FAGGOT! I WON THAT GAME!"
"Squ-chan, calm down, it's just a game~"
"NO I WILL NOT FUCKING CALM DOWN UNTIL THAT SHITTY BASTARD ADMITS THAT I WON!"
"Don't call the boss a bastard!"
"Trash."
"WHAT DID YOU FUCKING CALL ME?"
"I see you've met the rest of them."
Fran turned around to see his brother approaching, followed by a blonde guy with really long bangs covering half his face and a tiara perched on the side of his head.
"So they're the dysfunctional group I have to put up with for pretty much the rest of my life?"
"They're not all that bad once you get used to them," Mammon shrugged. "And don't forget, I'm part of that dysfunctional group too, so mind the words you use."
"Ushishishi~ Mammon is this your brother?" the blonde guy asked in a sadistic tone.
"Yes, but don't you dare do anything to him, or I'll charge you," Mammon replied over his shoulder. "This person is Belphegor, but you can just call him Bel or pretty much anything you want."
"Shishishi, peasants should call me the prince~"
"Will do, fake prince," Fran said sarcastically. Then he felt a sharp pain in his forearm.
"Bel…"
"Yes Mammon?"
"What did I just say about not doing anything to my baby brother?"
"Oops."
Only then did Fran look down at his arm, which was stabbed with a ballpoint pen and warm blood trickling down it.
"Oh shit," Mammon cursed, "Squalo, get your sorry ass over here and take Bel back to his room."
"VOI, DON'T YOU DARE ORDER ME AROUND, BRAT!"
"I said, NOW."
Squalo took one look at Fran's arm and blanched. Just as he was about to grab Belphegor's arm, pens, scissors, knives and other sharp objects started coming out of nowhere into his hands, and all Fran felt after that was wave after wave of excruciating pain.
Mammon's anxious calls and Squalo's screams fell on deaf ears. He slumped to the blood-stained ground with a resounding thud, feeling something cold slip onto his right ring finger, hearing nothing but the raging rhythm of his own heart.
When he woke up, a ring glinted in the harsh hospital lights, and the frog hat was placed on his bedside table. Next to it was a note.
"Welcome to Varia, uncute kouhai."
"Yamamoto."
The tall baseball player looked up from his session plan to see Fran walking through the doorway. "Oh, hey Fran, I was just finishing off this therapy plan for Squalo." He snapped the folder shut, smiling in his usual carefree way. "Did you want me for something?"
"You'll be taking care of Mammon from now on. Don't worry; he's not difficult to handle."
Yamamoto's face blanked out for a second. "Eh?"
"I'll be in charge of Belphegor."
Aha, I feel proud of myself :) Reviews and constructive criticisms very much appreciated :D