Author's notes: Please read the notes at the end, thanks!
Box Animal Fever
Chapter 4
Tsuna woke up screaming and feeling trapped. There was something warm wrapped around him and his shouts were being muffled, like his face was buried in someone's shoulder.
"-na! Tsuna!"
Sound begins to register in Tsuna's mind and then a flash of blue made him slump against whatever it was holding that was him up. The brunet tilted his head and opened his eyes to meet concerned hazel ones.
Then there was a warm hand on his face, glowing blue with pure rain flames. It lulled him further into calmness. The warmth wrapped around him (arms, Tsuna realized at the back of his mind, Yamamoto's arms) tightened and then Yamamoto pressed their foreheads together, inhaling and exhaling slowly. It took Tsuna a few minutes to realize that he was breathing heavily, almost panting, and instinctively he harmonized his breaths with his rain guardian's.
Eventually Tsuna calmed down enough to pull away a bit and look around, seeing the two of them alone in Yamamoto's room. "Where's…Natsu? And Gokudera-kun?"
Yamamoto gave him a reassuring look as he loosened his hold on Tsuna enough to have him lie down on the futon. "Gokudera went out earlier, he left a note for you, something about meeting the kid. And Natsu's with Koji and Jirou. He ran out earlier but they managed to get him back, they're downstairs."
Tsuna shivered but nodded at the explanation. He turned and got a glimpse of the clock. His eyes widened, it was three minutes to eight! The brunet almost sat up but Yamamoto gently held him down, "The time- school-"
"We're not going to school. We'll be late if we go anyway and we'll just get bitten to death by Hibari when he catches us." Yamamoto said in a reasonable tone. Tsuna opened his mouth to protest or maybe tell him why skipping was a bad idea but Yamamoto beat him to it, "I'm going to text the kid, he'll understand."
Seeing the serious look on his friend's face, the brunet had no choice but to acquiesce. He lied back down and turned to the side. He was worried about Natsu, especially after the realistic dream he had. But he had faith in Yamamoto's rain-type look-a-likes to be there for the ex-lion cub. Yamamoto got up to text Reborn about their absence before he sat back down, in front of Tsuna, and laid down next to him.
Tsuna gave him a startled look to which Yamamoto smiled back. He reached out a hand and gently pried Tsuna's fingers open, the brunet didn't even realize he had been clenching them into fists. The taller teen traced the crescent shapes Tsuna's fingernails made on his palms. In a soft voice, he asked, "Tell me?"
Tsuna looked at him, at his earnest hazel eyes, his open body language, and the gentle touch of his hands. The younger teen closed his eyes and moved a bit to grab Yamamoto by the sides of his shirt and pulled him into a hug.
The rain guardian allowed the movement, bringing up his arms around the other. He felt Tsuna bury his face in his shoulder, the grip on him tight. Yamamoto ran a hand through brown locks and whispered, "Tsuna?"
The brunet doesn't say anything. Nothing about the dream or his sudden need for comfort and contact. Yamamoto laid there, listening to Tsuna's hitching breaths. He closed his eyes and wished strongly that there was something he could do.
They remained like that for the rest of the morning.
"Reborn-san!" Gokudera greeted during that early morning when he saw the hitman perched on top of the slide, fedora tilted over his eyes coolly. He came as quickly as he could to Namimori park, like the arcobaleno said. A quick glance at the clock showed him it was eight o'clock in the morning. He was late for school, but he didn't really care about classes anyway. However, the tenth was bound to be at school by now, so maybe after his talk with Reborn-san, he could go to school too, even if he was late, for the tenth's sake.
"You got here quick," Reborn told him just as Leon turned into a phone and chimed. He saw the message from Yamamoto and pressed exit. Leon turned back to himself and crawled to his shoulder. "And you're alone like I instructed. Good job, Gokudera. I wouldn't expect anything less from a Vongola right hand man candidate."
Gokudera straightened proudly but then faltered, "C-Candidate? Is there someone trying to steal my position as tenth's right hand man?"
"That's not important right now," When it looked like Gokudera would argue, Reborn shot him a look that had him clamping his mouth shut. "There's a reason why you're here."
Gokudra automatically straightened his stance, "What is it Reborn-san? A secret plan? Surveillance? Secret lessons?"
Thar arcobaleno's fedora shadowed his smirk as Leon crawled to his hand and transformed into his preferred gun. He aimed at Gokudera, "What do you say about having a spar, Gokudera?"
The bomber blinked in surprise before he flashed his box animal ring. Reborn-san was going to spar with him like he did with boss and that damn Yamamoto! This was definitely secret lessons in becoming the best guardian and boss for the tenth! Reborn-san probably called him here because he believed Gokudera was the best of all the guardians to be training right now!
"It would be an honor, Reborn-san!" He said as his Vongola ring shone red, Uri appeared with a loud yowl and immediately began scratching the bomber's face.
Reborn's smirk widened as he aimed his gun.
An hour and a half later, at nine thirty in the morning, during math class, Ryohei slapped his hand on his table, making everyone jump in surprise. "An EXTREME bug-"
"Okay, that's it. Sasagawa head to the principal's office." The teacher, who had a headache from Ryohei's loud voice (and for drinking too much last night) pointed to the door as she massaged her head with her free hand.
"What? BUT-"
"I told you to keep quiet five times, Sasagawa. You yell when you're called, you yell when someone else is called, you yell when you see a bug- would it kill you to keep your volume down?" The teacher hissed in annoyance while the class tried to keep their laughter in.
"EXTREME MEN YELL WHEN THEY WANT TO BE HEARD!"
The teacher gritted her teeth and she fixed him a menacing glare as she said in a low, dangerous tone, "Principal's. Office. Now."
Seeing he had no choice in the matter, Ryohei huffed and headed to the door. He closed the door behind him with a loud sigh and headed to the principal's office. It was the third time he'd be sent to the principal's office this week for being loud. And it's only Tuesday too. Kyoko would be disappointed in him if she learned about this.
Just as Ryohei was contemplating heading to the boxing clubroom instead of the principal's office, so he could avoid being scolded again, someone turned the corner.
Ryohei's eyes widened when he saw Hibari walking towards him with a mini look-a-like perched on his shoulders. The skylark's dark eyes turned to him just as he opened his mouth to exclaim his surprise, but Hibari was faster and with a flick of his wrist, he threw his tonfa right at Ryohei's face.
The sun guardian fell on his back as Hibari approached him, grabbed his tonfa, and then grabbed him by the collar.
"That was an EXTREME throw!" Ryohei said in a choked voice. Hibari huffed at him and dragged him to the disciplinary office to the boxer's confusion.
Once there, he shut the door closed and dropped Ryohei roughly on one of the sofas. Hibari then lowered the girl from his shoulders and sat down on his leather chair, before pulling her to his lap. Rohei watched the exchange with wide eyes.
"Hibari, I didn't know you had an EXTREME daughter!" Ryohei raised his fists. Hibari glared at him, as though trying to tell him, with his eyes alone, that he was an idiot.
"This is Roll," Was the only explanation he gave the other.
"You named your EXTREME daughter after your EXTREME box animal?" Ryohei exclaimed again.
Hibari threw another tonfa to his face which Ryohei dodged, "I'll bite you to death if you don't keep quiet." Hibari said simply, "The baby arcobaleno did this."
Ryohei's brows furrowed, "You mean Reborn? He got you to adopt a kid?"
Hibari ignored his obliviousness, "Sasagawa Ryohei, did you see that baby arcobaleno? Or any of the other herbivores that swarm around him."
"You extremely mean Sawada and the others, right?" Ryohei thought back, "Nah, you should ask Kyoko instead, she's in the same class."
Hibari frowned, even as Roll nuzzled her face against his arm, "Useless." He lifted Roll and put her to the side as he raised one tonfa, "For wasting my time, I'll bite you to death."
Ryohei immediately went into his boxer stance, "You're the one who EXTREMELY dragged me here though, Hibari!"
Hibari ignored his complaints and rushed right at Ryohei, attacking.
By the window, Reborn leaned out of sight, his gun at the ready. He only had to wait for the fight to get serious before he could make his move.
It was around noon when Chrome was walking back from a nearby convenience store. She had a bag filled with junk food and her school bag in one hand. Mukurou (the owl) was on her shoulder, silent and watchful as always. He was enveloped in mist flames so that no one would stare at Chrome for having a white owl on her shoulder.
She turned a corner, passing through an alleyway, when a small figure suddenly jumped in front of her, making her stop in surprise. She met familiar dark eyes just as Mukurou flew in front of her, wings raised in defense.
Chrome looked at the arcobaleno, confused, "You're-"
"Chrome," Reborn greeted as he tilted his fedora, "Tsuna needs your help, will you listen?"
The mist guardian swallowed uncertainly but she gestured at Mukurou to retreat. The owl hesitantly perched back on her shoulder.
"I'm listening."
Reborn smirked, "Good."
Loud crying woke Tsuna up from his restful sleep. He jolted and sat up, blushing, when he realized that he fell asleep still hugging his rain guardian.
Said rain guardian blearily blinked up at him, "-Nh? Tsuna? Is there something wro-"
The loud crying came again, only this time, the window to Yamamoto's room slid open as Lambo threw himself right at Tsuna's face.
The brunet squeaked and fell backward as Yamamoto shot up in surprise. He looked down and recognized the familiar cow print patterned clothes of a certain child currently clinging to Tsuna's face. "Lambo?"
Tsuna let out muffled protests as he finally pulled the lightning guardian from his face, "Lambo! What are you doing here?"
"STUPID REBORN!" Lambo cried harder, snot dripping down his face much to Tsuna's despair. Yamamoto handed him a box of tissues to which the brunet accepted gratefully. He began wiping the cow child's face.
"Reborn? What did he do now?" Tsuna sighed as Lambo struggled to get away from his fussing. Yamamoto laughed at the display.
"H-H-He- and I-I- bam! S-smash! And t-t-then Bakadera went whoosh and s-stupid cat and then G-G-Gyuudon-!" Lambo made various motions with his small hands that was more of hitting Tsuna in the face than getting his point across.
"Oh," Yamamoto nodded, looking as though he actually understood what Lambo was saying, "I see. So you snuck up on the kid, because you saw him and Gokudera by chance. But then you got in the middle of something, so Uri scratched you and it hurt, so you took out Gyuudon but then Gyuudon got shot and he got lost? Did I get that right?"
"What?" Tsuna exclaimed, "How did you understand that? It was at least seventy percent sound effects and violent gestures!"
Yamamoto hummed thoughtfully, "Well, I do understand better with actions than words, maybe that's why?"
Lambo cried harder, "T-Then this stupid, big, naked man came out of nowhere and started following Lambo-san!" He kicked Tsuna in the chin, making the brunet let go with a pained huff. "Lambo-san ran around Namimori looking for no good Tsuna a-and you were just here being stupid!"
Tsuna rubbed at his chin as he repeated, "N-Naked? Was it some sort of pervert?"
Yamamoto gently scolded the lightning guardian, "Maa, maa… it's not nice calling people stupid, Lambo. Now why don't you tell us about this big man following you?"
Just as the kid opened his mouth to speak, there was a loud knock on the door, then a crashing sound. Lambo froze and then jumped up to hug Tsuna's face again. The brunet let out a screech of surprise, falling back while Yamamoto reached for his nearest bat.
Their box animals were probably still down there but there didn't seem to be any sounds of fighting. Yamamoto opened the door, "I'll go check."
"I'll come with you!" Tsuna's voice was muffled as he tried to pull off Lambo from his face. He managed to do it and the lightning guardian started wailing again. Tsuna decided to bring the box of tissues with him.
Tsuna and Yamamoto were not expecting to see a large, muscled, dark-skinned man with black hair and Lambo's face to be sitting on the sofa with Jirou, as he drank the tea Kojirou was serving them. Natsu was glued to Kojirou's side, eyes wide but not scared, probably just shy.
Thankfully, the large man, who they presume to be Lambo's stalker, was wearing clothes, though they seem to be a bit too tight for someone of his size.
"I'm sorry about the door," The muscled man said to them when they came into view.
Yamamoto put down the bat, "Uhm, it's okay?" He replied with an uncertain smile.
It's not okay! Tsuna screeched in his mind, "Who are you?" He said out loud instead.
"Takeshi! Tsuna! It's Gyuudon! Don't you recognize him?" Jirou said excitedly, bouncing in his seat.
"Eh?" Tsuna exclaimed, "By Gyuudon you mean-?"
"Lambo's box animal?" Yamamoto blinked in surprise, "But isn't Gyuudon a-?"
"-A bull?" Kojirou said in a serene tone, as though animal acquaintances turning into humans was a normal occurrence. But then again, he used to be an animal too, so bulls turning into men probably barely phased him. "It seems he was accidentally shot with the experimental bullet too. He came here looking for Lambo-san."
At his name, Lambo began kicking up a fuss again, "NO! I don't know him!"
"L-Lambo-sama," Gyuudon's eyes began to fill with tears as he began crying loudly, "Lambo-sama, please don't hate me!"
Everyone covered their ears at the loud cries. Natsu whined and pressed his face into Kojirou's sides.
"L-Lambo," Tsuna winced as he tried to get the cow child to stop fussing, "Look, he's not a stranger. He's Gyuudon, your friend, remember? He just got turned into a person that's all, but he's still the same."
Lambo stops his kicking and looked up at the strange, big man. Gyuudon stops crying and looked back at Lambo, eyes big and hopeful.
"You're Lambo-san's Gyuudon?"
"Yes, Lambo-sama!"
Lambo looked at him up and down, a strange look on his face. He turned to the broken door by the takesushi entrance and pointed at it, "Did you do that?"
"Y-Yes, but it was an accident!"
Lambo grinned wide, a mischievous expression on his face as he said, "That means your strong! Gyahahaha! You're my subordinate from now on! Pick me up!"
Tsuna reluctantly handed his lightning guardian to an ecstatic-looking Gyuudon. The ex-bull reverently placed Lambo on top of his head, not even wincing when the cow brat started pulling at his hair.
"Look, no good Tsuna! I'm taller than you are now! Gyahahaha! Lambo-san is awesome!" Lambo yelled, "Gyuudon, let's head to the park and scare Bakadera! If he says sorry for hitting Lambo-san, I'll only let him buy me grape candy for a week!"
"Yes, Lambo-sama!" Gyuudon excitedly heads out of Takesushi. Lambo accidentally hits the doorframe and started crying but Gyuudon didn't notice as he ran towards the park, leaving the others behind to stare at them.
"I think all that power got into Lambo's head." Yamamoto observed thoughtfully.
Tsuna exhaled heavily and buried his face into his hands, "What is Reborn thinking? I thought he got rid of that bullet! He's probably doing this to make my life harder on purpose!"
Yamamoto's expression turned serious at those words and he exchanged looks with a calm Kojirou, who had his arms around Natsu.
Jirou laughed at Tsuna's words, "Maa, maa… it's fine! The more the merrier! And besides it's interesting to see what everyone looks like as a human!"
Tsuna gave Jirou look that could be translated as disbelief for his words. Yamamoto couldn't help but laugh too as he reassured, "It'll be fine, Tsuna. Look, let's just push that aside for a moment and go eat. We slept through breakfast and lunch anyway and good food tends to bring up the mood."
Tsuna sighed again and looked at the broken door, "But what about-"
"Jirou and I will handle it." Yamamoto said smoothly, "You and Natsu can set the dishes and Kojirou will heat up lunch for us. Dad probably left some food for us before he went out for that afternoon bargain fish sale."
Tsuna nodded and murmured an apology about the mess Lambo and Gyuudon left.
"It's fine." Yamamoto said again. He wondered when he started sounding like a broken recorder when it came to the brunet. Tsuna shot him an uncertain look.
Kojioru led Natsu and Tsuna to the kitchen while Jirou and Yamamoto went to get some supplies to fix the door.
"Hey, Takeshi," Jirou called out as they gathered the stuff needed from the storage room, "It will be fine."
Yamamoto looked up in surprise, meeting his more cheerful counterpart's blue eyes, "Jirou?"
Jirou gave him a happy smile as he leaned forward and pinched his master's cheek to stretch his expression into an awkward smile. "It's hard to believe someone who doesn't believe in what they're saying you know." The brown-haired version of him scolded lightly, "That's why Tsuna worries." He pulled back and grabbed the things they needed, heading back to the broken front door. "Now come on, let's get this done quickly. I'm hungry!"
Yamamoto stared at his ex-dog's back and he rubs his face with an amused huff.
Jirou was right, of course.
Unconsciously, he had been worrying about Reborn's plans in turning the box animals into humans. He worried about not being enough in helping Tsuna with whatever he was going through. He knew his feelings were probably bleeding out and probably worrying Tsuna even more, which was why his assurances to the brunet sounded like empty words.
It's not that he doesn't believe that everything would turn out fine, it's more that he couldn't help but worry how he was going to help. So far, all attempts at getting Tsuna to open up was going nowhere and Yamamoto felt useless just sitting by the sidelines, not saying anything because he just doesn't know what to say.
Still, he'd like to think that he was helping in a small way. He'd like to think that his rain flames was helping Tsuna sleep and that his patience was helping Tsuna unwind from his constant tense stance.
Yamamoto stopped walking and inhaled deeply.
He was worrying again and that wouldn't help. He should relax and believe in Tsuna, believe in himself and his box pets. Everything would turn out fine because even if Tsuna doesn't say anything in the end, Yamamoto would be there to help him. That's what's important.
Jirou stopped walking in front of him and turned to look back at him. Yamamoto gave the other a happy smile and Jirou returned it with a bright grin, "Feeling okay now, Takeshi?"
Yamamoto gave the ex-dog a fond look as he caught up with him and ruffled his hair, "Of course. Thanks Jirou."
Jirou laughed happily and led the way forward.
In the kitchen, Kojirou paused by the stove where he was reheating the curry left by Yamamoto's dad. Natsu tilted his head in question behind him while Tsuna carefully set the table, oblivious.
"Kojirou?"
The ex-rain swallow closed his eyes and placed a hand on his chest. He smiled quietly as Natsu approached, worry disappearing when he saw the expression on the taller teen's face.
Tsuna looked up just in time to see the gentle smile on Kojirou's face. He couldn't help but ask, "Did something good happen?"
Kojirou opened his eyes, the smile still present on his face as he hummed, "I just feel lighter, that's all Tsunayoshi-san." He replied before he turned to Natsu who was looking up at him with curious ochre eyes. The expression on his face softened impossibly as he leaned forward and kissed the ex-lion cub on the forehead.
Tsuna squeaked and dropped the plate. The crash made everyone jump
Yamamoto called out from the front of the restaurant in worry, "Tsuna? What happened?"
Tsuna stuttered, looking down, horrified at the broken plate, then looking at the worry in Kojirou's face. The ex-swallow grabbed the nearby broom and dustpan, quickly sweeping away the broken shards
"Tsuna?" There were sounds of approaching footsteps.
"I-I-I-" Tsuna swallowed as his rain guardian appeared with Jirou close behind, "I'm sorry, Y-Yamamoto, I broke a p-plate."
"There's no harm done" Yamamoto assured him quickly then asked, "But are you okay? Did you get hurt?"
Tsuna shook his head, "No, I'm fine. I was just- Er, you know how clumsy I can be." He blushed, not meeting his rain guardian's eyes.
"Natsu, don't move, you might step on a shard." Kojirou told the ex-lion cub who stepped forward to help. He finally finished sweeping and threw away the pieces of the plate. He gave Tsuna a reassuring look, "Everything's okay now, Tsunayoshi-san. I'm glad you weren't hurt."
Tsuna looked down guiltily at the commotion he caused.
"Did you finish fixing the door yet, Master?" Kojirou asked Yamamoto who laughed at his formality.
"Just Takeshi is fine, Koji." Yamamoto reminded his ex-swallow, "Ah, we're about to finish. Give us a few minutes and we'll join you to eat. Just go ahead and eat without us okay? You must be starved." He patted Tsuna on the shoulder. It took everything in Tsuna not to flinch in surprise.
Yamamoto went back to the front door while Jirou cheerfully nuzzled Natsu before following after his human. The affectionate gesture startled Tsuna while Kojirou turned off the stove and helped finish setting out the dishes.
"Master," Natsu called out shyly, "Is everything okay?"
Tsuna snapped out of whatever trance he went into and nodded vigorously. "Y-Yeah, everything's fine!"
Natsu looked at him closely and then gave him a small smile, "It's okay, Master. It doesn't have to mean anything, if you don't want it to."
The brunet looked at him in surprise and confusion, "E-Eh?"
"You'll figure it out." Natsu assured him before he pulled the brunet to sit down so they can start eating.
When Jirou and Yamamoto finally joined them to eat, Tsuna felt like he was missing something obvious as he watched Kojirou feed Natsu food from his plate while Jirou nosed the back of the ex-lion cub's ear every few minutes.
"They're really affectionate, aren't they?" Yamamoto commented casually, making Tsuna choke on his food.
For some reason, Tsuna got the feeling that he wasn't the only oblivious one of their group right now.
The thing about being the most powerful family in the mafia, Reborn thought as he looked down at the fallen bodies of men in dark suits who'd try to ambush an oblivious Lambo as he bullied Gyuudon into buying him sweets, Is that they never run out of enemies.
Lambo's loud, obnoxious laughter echoed inside the sweets shop as Reborn sighed. Leon turned into a phone and he texted the Vongola dispatch team to get rid of the bodies. Then he texted Bianchi to come and get the stupid cow. The Poison Scorpion would expertly derail anyone trying to follow them. She'd get the lightning guardian home safely while Reborn scoped out the hideouts of these men. It was better to deal with enemies early before they become too troublesome.
A hitman tutor's job is never done. Leon turned into a whip, helping Reborn scale the high walls of the next building. Reborn quickly made his way across the broad roof, a thoughtful look on his face. Eradicating Vongola mafia enemies aside, Reborn still had something more important to look forward to tomorrow.
All the chess pieces have been gathered, Dame Tsuna. Reborn thought with a frown on his face, Here is another battle to face and I have given you all the pawns you may need to win. The only difference is that this time… your enemy is yourself.
Reborn stopped running when he reached the house next to Takesushi. He watched as his student laugh at something his rain guardian said. The arcobaleno looked at the peaceful gathering, face thoughtful. Will you win?
…Or will you self-destruct?
Reborn tilted his fedora down and he jumped down into the cover of the dark just as Tsuna looked out of the window, confused.
The answer lies in your dying will.
End of Chapter
Author's notes: This would have been out earlier but I redid the whole chapter haha. I don't know if it's better or worse than the other version.
So, Tsuna is in another pinch. No surprise there. There's another battle, not as grand-scale as the past ones thought, however as equally important. Will Tsuna succeed or fail? That depends on my mood as I write that chapter, haha
Chapter notes: (1)Anyway, I was googling how dogs show affection and 'nosing' was one of the ways to do that, which explains why Jirou is so affectionate and nuzzly. He loves Natsu that much! On the other hand, birds…
Me: *googles how birds show affection and reads* "If your bird regurgitates his meal in an attempt to feed it to you, then he's displaying the utmost trust and love for you - aww. It might even mean he thinks of you as being his mate, funnily enough."
Me: … *tries to imagine that with human Koji regurgitating food for human Natsu*
Me: Yeah, no, we're going for kisses. Sorry, bird mating rituals, I can't turn regurgitation into anything romantic in the human version. (-inserts Kojirou feeding Natsu scene instead-)
(2)Oh and on the naked Gyuudon part, Reborn convinced him to wear clothes before he chased Lambo. He had the ex-bull hide in one of the tunnels at the park while he got them from a random nearby house, whose family had their clothes out to dry. Reborn compensated them by putting money in their mailbox.
(3) If no one got why Kojirou was smiling to himself by the stove, it was because Yamamoto's decision to believe that everything would turn out fine, made him feel like he shed something heavy in his heart. Basically, Yamamoto's funk was affecting his hearts (Jirou and Kojirou) and when he lightened up, so did they.
Character notes: So, Jirou is an interesting character. I think Yamamoto and Kojirou unconsciously leave him out of the more serious stuff because of how happy he is. The same way the other guardians sometimes exclude Ryohei and Yamamoto from all the serious stuff because they think those two were too oblivious and innocent to understand what was really happening. I like to call this the happy, naïveté effect.
Jirou is the pure, happy part of Yamamoto. He's also the optimistic side. He understands what's going on and he believes that even if things get worse, it will all eventually turn out for the better. Kojirou and Yamamoto need reminding of that sometimes, but that's okay, that's what Jirou's there for.
Oh and on the case of Chrome's owl:
Mukuro is the human.
Mukurou (pronounced the same as mukuro's name but is one character off from mukuro and means owl, so basically like Mukurowl) is the box animal, so people don't get confused.
(Summary: the one with the 'u' at the end refers to the owl, and the one with the 'o' is the human Mukuro)
Other notes: Random news, I set up a donation link on my tumblr, emrysblu. You can see the link in my profile or just visit my tumblr and use #donate to search for the post. This is only if you wish to monetarily support me in my writing endeavors. I don't want to force anyone into donating, especially if they require the money more than me, so it's fine even if you don't donate. I'm just leaving this as an option if by some miracle someone does want to donate. Thank you very much for reading!
