Hello all readers and welcome to the second part of double update day! I am AquilaFalcon and I'm happy to finally be putting up chapter 4. I think this was my favorite chapter so far to write because I got to more clearly show how Nadeshiko feels in comparison to Hibari and what he really wants to put the older male through in terms of pain and humiliation. Their relationship is nothing short of dark and bent on causing the other pain. A fitting relationship for the prefect and any sibling of his, I think. Although I hope that I'm keeping certain characters IN character. The one thing I can't stand are OOC characters so I strive to keep them as cannon as possible.
Title: Bad Luck!
Summary: Hibari Nadeshiko has been eclipsed by his elder brother's shadow for as long as he can remember. As a gambler, he uses his wits and his gift of reading the emotions of others to get by and boost his own confidence. After a particularly testy battle with Hibari, he is offered a place in the Vongola alongside his companions. However, Nadeshiko has been dealt a prescribed hand of cards. He cannot add, he cannot throw away, he cannot trade in his hand. He has lost all the luck. All of it.
Pairings: OC x OC (It's not even here yet...)
Warnings: Foul language for Zengi Naderu's potty mouth (and to an extent, Nadeshiko's. And now we have to take Chiisai into consideration...can't wait for the Varia arc!)
Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. KHR belongs to Akira Amano and all other affiliated parties.
Nadeshiko could barely register the miracle that was unfolding before him. Hibari was supplicating to him, surrendering his weapons and bowing on his knees. The young man was pleading for exculpation and Nadeshiko's compassion. Nadeshiko pinched himself to snap himself out of this diabolically saccharine reverie. When he did not awake, he stared down at Hibari and chuckled. His physical body was probably drugged by the pure absurdity of this dream, yet in his subconscious he wanted this to continue. Nadeshiko wondered what all he could do with this dreamland Hibari. He slowly snaked his fingers underneath the submissive male's chin, tickling his pale skin red. He lifted Hibari's chin and made the kneeling man face him. The question now was what he wanted to do. Nadeshiko struggled between humiliating the male and beating him until he was an unrecognizable mess. He settled for beating the male while humiliating him to the point of suicide.
Poof! A bull whip was in his hand instantaneously. Hibari's eyes widened in contrast to the sly narrowing of Nadeshiko's. Nadeshiko felt like the hunter; the predator, the alpha. Hibari was the dog this time. And even if this was a dream, Nadeshiko would make Hibari feel like the worst piece of shit imaginable. Nadeshiko drew the whip against Hibari's face without hesitation. His older brother yelled in pain and covered the cracking welts that ran across his face. Nadeshiko pushed Hibari onto his back and straddled the older male's hips, bringing the whip down several times across his chest, stomach, and arms. The older male cried out in anguish; a sound that sounded rich, thick, and exquisite to Nadeshiko's ears. He wondered if Hibari experienced these same emotions when he brought delinquents to their knees; when his younger brother beseeched him to cease beating him all because of an idiotic card game. Nadeshiko swallowed his tears and continued to beat Hibari until he was ripping into raw skin. Searing, burning pain coursing down his face made him relent and leave his beaten sibling on the ground.
(This is the divider that never ends; it is dividing the paragraphs...)
The worst way to get spurred awake is by crying yourself awake. Nadeshiko didn't know whether or not he should be angry or ashamed at himself. He decided on a mixture of both emotions and subsequently the thick taste of self-loathing settled on his tongue. A faint ringing sounded in his ears from all sides. He looked over at his alarm clock and read the time with an anguished groan. It was only five in the morning. Chiisai and Naderu were still asleep, each immersed in their own respective worlds of whimsy. Nadeshiko carefully maneuvered his chair across the wood paneled floor to his desk and sat down. He opened his laptop and looked for OmnipotentAlpha on his messaging client. Talking to the contact was a part of Nadeshiko's nightly ritual; falling asleep without connecting with her (Nadeshiko assumed it was a female by her way of calling him PP-kun) was like a breach of their relationship. He saw that she was on and proceeded to exasperate her.
{PedanticPenultimate proceeded to wage his verbal battle against OmnipotentAlpha.
PP: hey you there?
OA: I sure am! It's weird for you to talk to me so early in the morning. Did something happen?
PP: i had a homoerotic dream about me beating my older brother to a pulp on the floor. before that, though, some guy messaged me named ZEN or something. it was really disturbing considering the fact that i had never talked to the guy before.
OA: Did you block that user? It might just be me, but I wouldn't feel comfortable giving that guy such straightforward access to my network. It's like you're handing that creep the keys to your internet abode and he can just come in whenever he wants. It's not safe, PP-kun.
PP: thanks for sounding like my mother.
OA: If you had one!
PP: …touché. im proud of you. look the only reason im on so early is because of that dream that i had. i might as well go and make myself useful if im up.
OA: Oh, alright! Well, PP-kun, will I be talking to you again today?
PP: i can only sacrifice a tenth of my day to you, OA. no extra attention for you.
OA: You left me hanging today for hours as I waited at the computer for you! You can't bear to talk to me one more extra time?
PP: okay fine ill talk to you one more extra time today since you obviously yearned for the smooth strokes of my keyboard.
OA: Geez, so it's not just in this circle; you're a jerk all the time! Talk to you later, PP-kun.
OmnipotentAlpha stormed off and left PedanticPenultimate all alone.}
Nadeshiko ceased contacting his jilted internet comrade and stood up from his position at his desk. Staring at his desk now, he noticed that he never really did any work upon its surface. It was always used as a prop for his standard deck of playing cards, cup of anime-themed erasers, and laptop. Occasionally he would put a rough draft of a report at the right side of the laptop and type the document word for word to make it look less sloppy. His handwriting has always left something to be desired. It was a trait in the Hibari family; everyone had atrocious handwriting including Hibari. Nadeshiko ceased reflecting on his horrible calligraphy skills and fished out his school uniform, deciding that he was sufficiently healed from Hibari's onslaught days prior. He would stride seamlessly into Namimori and ignore everyone's inquiries about his prior ass kicking because the past was the past and everything in the past was left irrelevant.
Nadeshiko luxuriated in the singularity that he had been vying for since he started living with Naderu. There was no squabbling over mirror space or hair oil, and hot water ran plentifully from the chrome showerhead. Nadeshiko slid on his uniform without having to fret about his elbow bloodying Naderu's tiny nose. He slinked back into his bedroom to retrieve his cell phone and check the time. Only thirty minutes had passed since he started his tedious morning routine. He conceded that he was as much of a woman as Naderu for spending that much time in the mirror and then walked into the kitchen. He concluded that cooking a delicious breakfast would be ideal.
The kitchen was a foreign area to Nadeshiko. He wasn't completely comfortable around all of the utensils and their uses. All he knew was that chicken dusted with potato starch fried to an incredible golden brown. However, since Naderu was still slumbering, he had to take the higher road and cook lunch and breakfast for three people. Then he contemplated preparing a meal for Chiisai. He could warm himself something in the microwave; he was already sacrificing his paychecks for the kid.
First, Nadeshiko prepared two bento boxes for lunch. That took an hour of potato starch covering everything but the chicken, deformed rabbit-shaped apples, burned pumpkin and potato, umeboshi sitting on top of the rice ball it was supposed to go into, and nori sprinkling his hair and finding itself in his nostrils and pants. After he shook and blew himself free of all dried seaweed byproduct, he packed his pathetic excuse of a lunch and made a slightly better version for Naderu.
Nadeshiko was ready to give up by the time he focused on making breakfast. To his amusement, however, he made two successful stacks of blueberry pancakes with light honey syrup. He also made a few slices of toast and sunny side up eggs. Hibari would be disgusted at this blatant reverence of western culture. Subconsciously, that was the effect that Nadeshiko was aiming for. Naderu stepped into the kitchen fully dressed and ready to commit verbal murder against anyone who got in her way. The unbecoming scowl on her otherwise doll-like face let Nadeshiko know that his snarky ways would not be tolerated.
"You made breakfast?" Naderu took her seat at the small table in the kitchen whilst Chiisai came out of the bedroom fully dressed in his regular garb. "Impressive. Looks like you pulled it out of one of those magazines that highlight the western culture."
"Stop sounding so much like Hibari and eat already." Nadeshiko took his seat at the small table in front of his plate and Chiisai also took a seat. Nadeshiko had made a plate of breakfast for him despite himself.
"What's on your agenda today, fucknuts? Provided that you woke me up without even considering the fact that my hangover hadn't gotten the proper treatment." Chiisai took a hulking bite out of his pancakes and stared at Nadeshiko without much interest. Nadeshiko noticed that his eyes weren't obscured by those horrible glasses, and it made him appear much cuter.
"Well, Naderu and I are going to Namimori Middle, an institute that provides the best education that public interests can toss their tax money at. You, on the other hand, will be doing," Nadeshiko paused when a sharp cobalt glare was settled on him, "Whatever the fuck ten year olds do these days."
"You mean get on your laptop and watch pornography?"
"Yes, get on my laptop and defragment my discs." Nadeshiko tilted his head to the right to avoid a knife that had been catapulted in an attempt to hit him straight between the eyes. Chiisai was visibly seething at the comment. "Naderu, time to go pick up Tsuna!"
"Oh? Is it? Okay, let's go!" Naderu ran out of the kitchen and into the living room to fetch her shoes.
"Are you going to be okay here by yourself, little man?" Nadeshiko asked while finishing his breakfast.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. You just go and do that…learning thing." Chiisai was busy shoveling the remains of Naderu's breakfast onto his plate. Nadeshiko left the male to his devices and walked out of the kitchen. He slipped his shoes on and picked up his shoulder bag before following Naderu out of the door.
When the duo reached Sawada's household, the first person they noticed was a tiny toddler who had come out of the house ahead of Tsuna. The brunette looked befuddled as usual, the expression a perpetual one and as such was more common than a smile or a frown on the young man's face. Nadeshiko and Naderu both knew the tiny tot personally. The minuscule fedora-wearing chameleon owning man had bullied himself into Tsuna's life and subsequently into the lives of everyone that Tsuna knew. It wasn't such a problem for Naderu, but for Nadeshiko, it was as if a tinier male version of Naderu was around. It was true; Reborn wasted no time in berating Nadeshiko and comparing him to Hibari. After exchanging a few obligatory greetings, the group grew to include six with Gokudera and Yamamoto joining. With the assembly kept on their toes by an argument between Naderu and Gokudera, they all headed to Namimori. Reborn detached himself from the group when they reached the school gates.
The day seemed to go skeptically smoothly for Nadeshiko. He actually paid attention in class and wrote down a good deal of notes for later reference, although they were construed and written in chicken scratch. He went up on the roof with Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Naderu and resisted the usually recalcitrant urge in his fingertips and loins to play a riveting game of poker with the dirge of the school. That was, until Reborn came onto the roof.
"R-Reborn-san! What are you doing here?" Tsuna's eyes had gotten wide and Nadeshiko thought that he saw the young boy trembling.
"I'm not here for you. I'm here for Hibari Nadeshiko." For him? "You know how to play poker, right?"
"Haven't lost in ten years."
"Then do you want to play?" Reborn held up a deck of cards whose backs were wreathed in green vines.
"Sure."
"Let's make a bet. If you win, you can ask anything you want of me and I'll acquiesce with no trouble. If I win, you have to fight Hibari and get back those items he stole from you."
"Those are steep stakes. You're on."
Due to Nadeshiko's request, the author has been cajoled into making a long story short and saying that Nadeshiko lost horribly. Instead, the author has been given leeway to talk about the emotional impact that this loss had on Nadeshiko. It had a soul crushing, heart rending effect; Nadeshiko was reduced to nothing but a blank-eyed husk of a man on the roof of Namimori. That would be if he gave a shit. Sure, it was his first loss in ten years, yet it didn't affect Nadeshiko as much as he thought it would. Perhaps it was because his opponent was a baby and as such he registered the infant's victory as a fluke. At any rate, he never went back on a bet. He went to locate Hibari and challenge him for his bucket. With any hand of fortune contributing to his venture, he could probably make his dream come true…
You know. Minus the bull whip.
(This is another great divide, it divides everything in sight owo||)
Nadeshiko could feel the dread threatening to lock up his bones as he approached the Disciplinary Committee's hub. The number of pompadour-donned males started to increase until they were gathered in a small cluster at the doorway of the daunting room. Nadeshiko passed by these grunts with little to no difficulty since the majority of them regarded him as someone significant. It was always something that Nadeshiko pondered over a plate of food or a poker game; why the lower members of the Disciplinary Committee gave him the same amount of respect as Hibari but when it came to Hibari himself, he was nothing but an earthworm. Nadeshiko placed his handle on the door and steeled his heart. He had to appear confident to the male that he was boldly going to face, or he would be disregarded with the utmost haste. Trembling fingers threw open the door to the Disciplinary Committee's office and narrow steel blue eyes were staring into their darker counterparts. Foreheads covered by the same soft raven black hair almost clashed. Nadeshiko hadn't been expecting Hibari to be right there. Like he had smelled him down the hall.
"Herbivore."
"…" Nadeshiko was stunned. There was no moisture in his mouth that he could swallow, and his hands refused to stop their gyrations. Hibari pushed past him with a flourish of his jacket. His lackeys bowed in his presence, lining the sides of the hallway. Nadeshiko watched him walk away with trepidation snaking its way into his limbs. The sensation replaced the saliva in his mouth and coated every surface of his orifice. "St-stop!"
"I have better things to do than to waste my time with you, herbivore." Hibari curtly answered.
"I want my poker winnings back."
"Those trinkets? Take them. They are useless to me."
"Then why did you take them before?" Nadeshiko exclaimed in spite of himself.
"You allowed me to. As an herbivore, you allowed me to take your contraband and then beat you. It was amusing for the five minutes I wasted on you."
"Wasted…am I not even worth beating to you?"
The two boys faced each other on opposite ends of the hallway. Hibari's apathetic stare was settled on Nadeshiko's fiery glare. The former began to take smooth gliding steps towards Nadeshiko's body. The latter's stomach was twisted into a rigid tether as were his fists. Every fall of Hibari's booted foot caused Nadeshiko's fists and stomach to pull taut harder and harder until he felt like he couldn't breathe. His body was numb with adrenaline begging to be released. When Hibari had gotten to the point where he was a few feet away from Nadeshiko, he drew his tonfa. He was going to put Nadeshiko in his place. Was it too late to go back on the bet? Nadeshiko wasn't ready for this. He wasn't ready. He just wanted his things back. That's all he wanted.
Nadeshiko had been so preoccupied with panicking that he wasn't quite privy to the abashed expressions on the face of Hibari's lackeys. He didn't understand why his fist was suspended in the air. And there was no plausible explanation for the reason why there were two tonfas on the ground and why Hibari's left cheek was suddenly red. Nadeshiko stared at his fist before the truth trickled down and shocked him. He punched Hibari. He punched Hibari. He punched Hibari. He punched Hibari.
There were no words.
"Herbivore…I'm going to bite you to death."
Nadeshiko did the only reasonable thing to do whilst Hibari slowly bent down to retrieve his tonfas. He ran screaming into the disciplinarian's office, sliding the door shut behind him. He looked around the office for a place to hide. The window at the far right was wide open, offering an easier method of escape. It was tempting for Nadeshiko, but he settled on not having bones broken by the cruel conventions of gravity. The table settled in between the two sofas was too small to take refuge under. Plus, Reborn was sitting on it.
Reborn was sitting on it? Shit; ignore him!
Nadeshiko took refuge underneath Hibari's desk and listened to the older male's footfalls. Each was reminiscent of an explosion in Nadeshiko's ears. His bladder almost couldn't handle the suspense. His dignity wouldn't let his bladder lose its grip on the situation. The door to the committee room opened slowly; forebodingly. Nadeshiko felt like screaming, so he sunk his nails into the back of his palms to suppress his act of cowardice. He wondered if this was how cornered animals felt before they died. The door to the committee room closed harshly. The deafening echo from the slam made Nadeshiko's leg unintentionally kick out. He tapped a hard object with his toe and to his relief; his bucket was right in his grasp. It was a surprisingly uncreative hiding spot for contraband, but Nadeshiko wasn't complaining. He hugged his bucket to his chest and kept quiet.
"Toddler. You've come for a fight? Now isn't the right time."
"Oh, no, this area is just ideal for coffee."
"Can you come back later?"
"No; I haven't finished my coffee."
"Have you seen a doppelganger of me seek refuge in here?"
Nadeshiko instinctively rose to one knee and prepared to run towards the window with his bucket in hand. Reborn had no incentive to defend him and as such was probably going to expose his position underneath the desk. However, he didn't take a moment to consider that Reborn had no particular reason to sell him out, either. The toddler was particularly plucky about those sorts of situations; his allegiance was never set in stone.
"I saw some kid jump out of the window. I don't know if he landed safely or not." Nadeshiko could hear Hibari's footsteps approach the window. He leaned over the ledge of the window for a moment and then stood up. "Anyway, I think I had better go."
"Wait Reborn!" Nadeshiko swallowed his fear and ignored Hibari as he climbed from his hiding place underneath the desk. "Th-thanks for covering for me and all, but I need to do this on my own."
A small smirk played on Reborn's infantile face. "Suit yourself, Nadeshiko. But I would watch out since your brother is currently about to smash your head in."
That's a horrible thing for me to do; leave the story at this point. At the clash between the siblings. Boom.
Sick fires.
xAF